Golmuri » management

Temple Town Dharmasthala, Karnataka

rohit — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:52:28 +0000

This temple town is similar to university towns across the world. Everything in this town is managed by the temple trust, from food to lodging. It is located on the banks of the river Nethravathi, in the Dakshina Kannada district. It is a scenic drive from Bangalore (275Km) or just 100 Kms from the biggest university town of India, Manipal. Dharmasthala has a lovely Manjunatha temple, with a Lord Shiva Idol. This temple is visited by more than 10000 people daily and it is most crowded on Mondays and holidays. The town also has one of the remotest vintage car museums where you can spot Cadillacs, Rolls-Royeces, Dodges and Renaults. To your surprise all these cars are in running condition. You can also visit the Manjusha Art Museum which has some unique collections.
The operations beauty of this place is to see the temple volunteers serve tens of thousands of visitors piping hot meal everyday. The moment you sit for the lunch, within one minute you will be served the leaf and delicious food pours in almost instantly. It hardly takes 9 minutes to finish the lunch from start to finish. And all this happens simultaneously for a batch of more than thousand people in a huge hall.
Rogues

Taxonomy in life: Branding of Everything!

rohit — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:15:49 +0000

How do you differentiate a common product from your favorite product? What is that makes your buying decision easier?
These questions were answered as early as 1300 B.C. Artisans used to put a mark on their products which made it different from others. In return the customers found it a reliable method to evaluate the products and thus giving birth to the concept of brand loyalty. This branding was passed on to many ancient products like watermarks on paper, bread marks and other crafted goods. Branding of products instilled a sense of security among the buyers and lead to flourishing of the best producer.

Let us conceptualize it:
1.      Make your product identifiable if you believe in your product
2.      Promote the identification mark to inform your customers
3.      Reap the benefits of increasing revenues!

The evolution of traditional branding:
Branding evolved steadily along with the evolution of industries. Tobacco manufacturers used different bags in 1800s with differentiable labels. This was because the flavor of tobacco varied significantly with the change of climate in which it is cultivated. To ensure that the customers got their favorite flavor, the companies branded the products based on the country produced in. Branding got a boost when countries initiated changes in trademark laws in favor of manufacturers. The modern branding started with the introduction of a star on candles produced by Procter & Gamble. Customers almost always asked for this star mark before buying candles. This forced the company to put this mark consistently on all their candles produced. Thus, a brand was born. Further, National biscuits, Heinz and Coca-Cola lead the branding game to astronomical levels. Today Coca-Cola’s brand value is more than $64 billion!

Which products can be branded?
The answer lies in the fact that any thing can be branded and is being branded and will be branded. Chinese silk, Indian Spices, German technology, Arabian horses and other regional products are associated with the country of origin. The bottled water industry is a classical example of branding. Bottles are branded based on the source of water like spring water, mountain water, glacier water, with each relating to different level of perceived purity of water. The air you breathe can also be differentiated like air of Beijing and air of Amazon. By the name people can evaluate the quality of air. Even the services provided by companies like Infosys, Taj Hotels and HSBC bank are used to distinguish certain products. Guess why do companies use brand ambassadors for branding?

Rogues

Freeman or Friedman

rohit — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:51:12 +0000

Once Vioxx was the largest selling drug in history. It was manufactured by Merck & Co. since 1999. A very potent drug, very effective painkiller and was easier on stomachs. In short it was a revolutionary drug! In 2004 during some clinical trials, it was found that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks. Its competitor naproxen was hard on stomach but had no visible side effects on heart.

In 2004, 50,000 people sued Merck for damages caused by the side effects of Vioxx. In 2005 Merck was found liable in the firt case. In all Merck paid $ 4.85 billion as damages to the affected people.

Now, Let us see the better half of Merck! In 1980 Dr. Mohammed Aziz accidently discovered that the drug Ivermectin (highly potent parasite killer in animals) is the solution for River Blindness. River Blindness is an endemic with 13 million people affected and another 21 million at risk. It is prevelent in African and some Latin American countries. Dr. Aziz’z discovery helped Merck to develop the drug Mectizan which was extremely effective for this disease. Merck, after finding that the target segment for Mectizen were so poor that they would not be able to buy this medicine at $1.5. It approached many countries to fund distribution of this pathbreaking medicine. Finally Merck made history by taking a project, one of its kind. It distributed the medicine to millions of people in the risk zone free of cost. This corporate governance portrayed by them have proved the world that pharma companies do care for mankind.

Looking from Freeman’s point of view Merck was absolutely correct on Mectizen distribution programme, which actualy helped them to promote as a responsible company. While the Vioxx may be a seemed as an correct decision from Friedman’s point of view.

The question remains, Can both the views co-exist for a single company?

Note: Fiedman’s views: Profit maximization for the organization

Freeman’s theory stresses on Stakeholder values

Rogues