The Indian middle class anyway places a premium on education; now with the education minister taking an active interest in improving the quality of education and trying to introduce reforms, the are has been in the news for awhile now.

With so much happening though, it has left parents, even those who are usually well-informed, a little flummoxed as to what all this will mean to them and their kids. For one, there is talk of introducing standardization, in the same breath, we hear of new curricula and boards being introduced including international ones such as IGCSE and IB.

Additionally, the Indian school system has been “accused” of encouraging rote learning at the expense of encouraging children to think independently and originally. This has led a section of parents to supplement school education, and also at times explore alternate systems.

Based on our conversations with discerning parents, we found that they perceive a need to stay updated on the possibilities for their children – they are looking for constructive and concrete ideas and inputs to enhance the quality of their child’s learning experience.

And so, to complement our foray into the education vertical, we have decided to launch a magazine for parents to address this very need.

To be launched shortly, our initial feedback from dip sticks have been extremely positive.

We welcome suggestions on what you would like to see in this magazine as we go forward.

Watch this space for more on this in the coming weeks………

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Last Sunday I read an article by well known economist Swaminathan Aiyer on this topic- Jugaad refers to inventive spirit and ingenuity of Indians, who have learned to make the most of a resource strapped situation. Be it successful reverse engineering in Punjab, or large scale working around the system by the likes of Dhirubhai Ambani, the underlying pattern is how to make things work, look at possibilities, rather than get bogged down by what is not available.

Think about it, and this is indeed one of India’s greatest assets. Being able to thrive in a resource rich environment is one thing, but building large scale companies and creating successful entrepreneurial ventures when the business climate is not conducive is something.

The important point is however that India and Indians must not lose this spirit as our economy progresses and some of the constraints ease out. Imagine the advantage we would have as a young aspiring nation with this spirit of inventiveness.

Only time will tell how we protect this trait, as a nation.

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The recent news item about Democrat senator Charles Schumer calling Infosys a chop shop has sparked off a lively debate and understandably drawn a lot of comments from the Indian IT industry. Clearly, political compulsions and an economy that is taking its time to recover are triggering such statements.

This is ironic from an Indian IT industry stand point though. During its heydays ( mid nineties to mid 2000’s), the word global delivery was merely a euphemism for large and multiple development centers in India, for most companies, including the large ones. Likewise, the proportion of global talent was not very significant. In the last few years however, the scale players especially have gone about globalizing their operations more systematically, hired locals, especially from the US, which continues to be the most attractive market notwithstanding the recession, and begun to behave like a global corporation, albeit slowly.

This episode underscores the need for Indian companies and industry associations to focus more and more on brand building to communicate strongly the value being delivered by the global outsourcing industry.

Comments?

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I had recently started a discussion in one of the marketing forums I’m part of and the topic was - How can we ensure that our message reaches the right audience and creates the right connect?  This post got some good responses and two key takeaways that emerged were -

a. be genuine and honest about what you are communcating

b. Try and understand your audience before generating content – listen more to your customers/prospects

On understanding the audience part, there was an interesting view on using online surveys to judge what your audience responded better to. FOr example, they were treated to a random mix of statements combining features, benefits etc. Based on an analysis of  how people responded to these statements, it is possible to get a better idea of what to convey through your communication. Using this method, marketers can segment their audience and target relevant messages to them. I thought this was a different approach and will definitely work well in a B2C context. In B2B contexts, at Prayag, we do something similar by talking to a cross-section of stakeholders – customers, field force, management, analysts, competition etc to get insights into what the market is looking for and hence what may work.  At the end of it, we need to communicate in a way that resonates with your target audience. WHat is your view?

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Here is another take on the same subject i.e. listening to your customers. How can companies channelize these feedback mechanisms to survive and thrive. According to Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company:

• Businesses in many industries may lose up to 50% of their customers over a five year period.
• It is 6 to 7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain a current customer; and
• As little as a 5% increase in customer retention can increase profits by 25 to 95%.

Despite these well proven studies, many businesses still focus on acquiring customers as their primary growth strategy rather than protecting and nurturing what they have.

But why do customers leave?
Before we can start retaining our customers, we first have to try and understand why customers leave. According to work done at the American Society of Quality Control, the main reasons customers leave or stop doing business with a brand are:

• 1% die
• 3% move to another area
• 5% are influenced by friends or contacts to go elsewhere
• 9% are lured away by your competition
• 14% don’t stay because they are disappointed with your product or service; and
• 68% because of your indifferent attitude to them

What does it mean to you?
That is the million dollar question, because you need to figure out. But the key point is, if this note has initiated the thought process about the integral role of CSAT/ VOCs in your company’s growth strategy, it has served its purpose.

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The lead article in “The Atlantic” magazine this month is a provocative piece titled “The End of Men”. Author Hanna Rosin argues that the era of men as the dominant sex may be coming to an end. While males will not disappear completely (!), certainly technology and advances in biological sciences have ensured that women have crossed the last frontier i.e. reproduction without the presence of a male. Indeed, data collected by sociologists concludes that single mothers do a better job than single fathers and that the best parents are lesbian mothers!
Among the many significant changes taking place in our world today is the seismic shifts in gender relationships. Let us women not make the mistake of celebrating in advance the demise of men, for a world without men being on an equal footing with women is just as bad as the reverse. For what is feminism but sexism inverted? Although America and other developed nations may well celebrate the giant strides taken by women, the developing nations have a long long way to go to achieve these same equalities. A world where gender equality is a norm, not a distant dream would be the Utopia we all strive for.

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