Business & Finance

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 10 may 2015

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and cardiovascular disease, are a major healthcare concern for India. They cause more than 60% of deaths and amount to 70% of healthcare spending. Health economist Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, chairman of Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, is working with Indian government to develop a policy framework to effectively tackle India's healthcare issues and concerns. According to him, 'It's got to be public-private partnership (PPP). So today, India spends about 4% of its GDP on healthcare. About 1.5% of that is the government and the rest is private. So we just need to scale that up - probably proportionally to something like 5-6% of GDP.' He further adds, 'We really need to build up the primary care infrastructure. We need more manpower, more hospital beds, but we really need capacity - building up primary care clinics, primary care models that really deal with identifying chronic disease, preventing it and managing it...The government has to play a role in funding, particularly low-income populations - the poor that live in rural areas, urban poor...The government's got to play a leadership role...We need to sort of change the way that healthcare services are paid for. So today in India, 60 percent of spending is out of pocket. So we need to change that from out-of-pocket buying to something like a primary care package (subscription) or an insurance product.' Read on...

Reuters: Primary care centres key to reforming healthcare in India - Health economist Kenneth Thorpe
Authors: David Lalmalsawma, Robert MacMillan

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 24 apr 2015

For organizations to continuously innovate and provide better products and services, it is imperative that innovation and creativity becomes part of the workplace culture. Dave Ranson, MD of Moog India Technology Center (MITC), says 'A workplace culture wiped clean of fear of failure has the best climate for innovation.' He suggests the following to encourage innovation - (1) What It Takes To Innovate: Right people; Right processes; Right resources; Discipline in strategy, planning and execution of innovation programs; Leadership support. (2) What Leaders Must Do To Foster Innovation: Drive away fear of failure from workplace; Knowing when pursuing innovation and give it the best; Continually reinforcing courage to take risks; Encourage the practice of learning from failure, adjust and move on; Recognize and reward innovative behavior; Judge innovation projects with two questions (Is it producing valued and tangible outcomes and is it creating valuable new knowledge). Read on...

The Economic Times: What business leaders do for workplace innovation
Author: Amrita Premrajan

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 02 apr 2015

India's growing number of Internet users, about 300 million and just behind China and US, is facilitating the rise of e-commerce. Considering the ease, convenience and available choices for consumers to buy online indicates that e-commerce will stay and continue to grow. But legal experts view the current laws regarding internet businesses insufficient to handle the unique attributes of e-commerce business processes and transactions. Click-wrap agreements on various e-commerce websites that act as 'user agreements/e-contracts' also involves sharing of customer's personal information with third party service providers that are invisible to users/customers. In India, the Information Technology Act, 2000, deals with the concept of violation of privacy in a very limited sense (from a handling of data perspective). All contracts in India, whether electronic or otherwise, are governed by Indian Contract Act 1872, which mandates free consent, lawful consideration, lawful object and competency to contract. Specific legal framework related to e-contracts and online agreements is still underdeveloped and doesn't provide much recourse to consumers in cases such as violation of privacy or misuse of personal information by third parties in e-commerce transactions. E-commerce websites operating in India are 'intermediaries' as per the provisions of the IT Act. The IT Act has exempted intermediaries from any liability in respect of third-party information, data or communication link hosted by it. The Consumer Disputes Act, 1986, does not address the role played by online marketplaces and evolving forms of service providers. This need to be addressed. Online businesses are currently governed by multiple laws like IT Act, Indian Contract Act, Companies Act 2013, Indian Penal Code 1860, and also other taxation, intellectual property and employment laws. Considering the dynamic nature of e-commerce and internet businesses there should be a unified and distinct legislation that governs these businesses. Read on...

The Financial Express: Indian digital economy needs clear laws
Authors: Sharanya G. Ranga, Pooja Thacker

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 01 apr 2015

For long-term success and continuous growth of their businesses, corporate leaders focus on innovation, performance excellence and risk management as their priority agenda. Their innovation strategy includes 10 types of innovation - product, service, platform, structure, process, business model, network, channel, customer engagement and brand. According to Andy Boynton, Bill Fischer and William Bole, co-authors of 'The Idea Hunter', as a long-term success mantra, corporate innovators need to cultivate habits of curiosity, deliberate observation, diverse information seeking and engagement with other creative people. Peter Sims, author and entrepreneur, explains 'In addition to idea flow, enterprise innovators need to nurture habits of taking 'little bets' via creative play, prototyping, learning and pivoting.' Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clayton M. Christensen, co-authors of 'The Innovator's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators', suggest 'At an individual and organisational level, corporate innovation calls for skills in questioning, observing, networking, experimenting and making associations. Gerald Tellis, Director of the Centre for Global Innovation at University of Southern California, says 'In an increasingly competitive and globalised economy, it is only 'unrelenting innovation' that can help companies sustain a long term advantage.' According to Madanmohan Rao, research director at YourStory Media, large corporations can seek innovative ideas and creative solutions by partnering and collaborating with entrepreneurial startups in variety of ways. This will help them save time, money and effort that goes into in-house innovation. He provides 15 tips and suggestions for big organizations to tap startup innovation - (1) Acquisition (2) Accelerators (3) Calls to Collaboration (4) Hackathons and Hackdays (5) Startup Competitions (6) Conferences and Local Meetups (7) Startup Hotspot Visits (8) Customer Engagement Models (9) Thought Leadership Via Startup Media (10) Special Interest Groups (11) Startup Networks (12) Entrepreneurship Networks (13) Incubators (14) R&D Grants to Entrepreneur-focused Universities (15) Entrepreneurs in Residence. Read on...

YourStory: 15 innovation tips - how large corporations can successfully engage with startups
Author: Madanmohan Rao

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 mar 2015

Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to transform and disrupt various industries like healthcare, infrastructure management, transportation, utility etc. Recent report by Verizon estimates that by 2025, organizations that extensively use IoT technologies in their products and operations will be upto 10% more profitable. According to Arun Kundu, Director of Professional Services at Verizon Enterprise Solutions, manufacturing sector will be hugely impacted by IoT. He says, 'IoT is creating opportunities to capture and interpret data leading to new services, avoiding commoditisation. And of course, manufacturers are always looking for ways to streamline processes and increase efficiency. IoT-enabled asset tracking not only provides manufacturers with better control of their logistics, but using the data can also enable them to offer their customers near real-time tracking of shipments, an appealing differentiator.' He further adds, 'The factory of the future will be more capital efficient and flexible. Updates from product design teams will be introduced more quickly, and customisations incorporated more easily. Schedules will reflect changes in demand within hours, not days. Managers will be able to see what stock and raw materials are on hand, and exactly where they are, from their tablet.' Remote monitoring of the conditions of the equipment and visualize indicator's of imminent failure, and production-line monitoring and automation leading to predictive maintenance are some other uses of IoT that Mr. Kundu mentions. Read on...

Business Standard: Internet of Things can have massive impact on manufacturing
Author: Rakesh Rao

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 25 mar 2015

The recent rise of India's e-commerce industry with names like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Quikr etc making headlines in the media, rush of just-out-of-school entrepreneurs to create start-ups and venture capitalists pumping money in internet-based companies, there is much talk of the development of India's start-up ecosystem. But there are critics who point out that India's laws predate the start-up and e-commerce culture. They argue that even though billions of dollars are being invested in the sector, there are lack of clearly defined laws, regulator, ministry or watchdog. As e-commerce companies look to take the IPO (Initial Public Offering) route and seek listing on stock exchanges, there is news of SEBI's (Securities and Exchange Board of India) working towards making the norms easier but at the same time safeguard interests of investors. One of India's top investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, in a recent interview with CNBC-TV18 commented that Indian e-commerce sector is in a bubble with high valuations of companies and lack of profitable business models. Read on...

Business Standard: India's startup ecosystem needs a Sebi of its own, and now!
Author: Itika Sharma Punit

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 18 mar 2015

The consistent growth of 'Business Process Outsourcing' (BPO) industry over the last years in India have now transformed it from a simple outsourcing utility to a mature and innovative sector. It is currenty often termed as 'Business Process Management'. This transition has also affected the human resources employed in the industry. There is a trend towards niche expertise and more specialization. According to Muralidhar Teppala of Genpact Headstrong Capital Markets, 'Business Process Manager' is a profile that will be in high demand in the BPO/ITeS industry in 2015. Similar sentiments are echoed by Manuel D'Souza of Serco Global Services, 'As more and more companies realise the impact effective business process management can have on business performance and profitability, the demand for qualified business process managers will continue to grow.' Experts suggest following required skills for effective business process manager - (1) A good blend of communication skills and technical competence like computer proficiency & knowledge of Six Sigma, Total Quality Management etc. (2) Embracing growth and learning. (3) Critical thinking and problem solving. Read on...

The Economic Times: Must have skills to be a business process manager
Author: Neha Singh Verma

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 13 mar 2015

'Make in India' concept has the potential to do for manufacturing sector what economic reforms of 1991 did to the information technology industry (IT services & BPO). Jugaad is an inherent Indian trait to find a fix or an instant solution by applying unconventional and non-standard processes. According to Banmali Agrawala, president & CEO of GE South-Asia, 'The Make in India campaign has been getting a lot of jugaad reaction, particularly in the case of capital goods, to raise import barriers and to go around World Trade Organization norms to impose forced localization. Jugaad is at best a stop-gap measure. To move forward, encouraging creativity and innovation at an affordable price point through serious research and development must become the cornerstone of this campaign.' He points out factors that drive global investments in manufacturing, namely domestic demand, skilled workforce and efficient governance. He further explains and analyzes these three factors in Indian context and concludes - India's domestic demand is modest, requires thrust from government spending, support through competitive financing for exports, production efficiencies and quality output at competitive prices; India have skilled workforce but to leverage its full potential needs focus on innovation, research, design, engineering and high end of value-added manufacturing. Indian companies have to invest more in such manufacturing related activities; Although India has strong institutions in place but there is room for improvement in achieving better and efficient governance with transparency and predicability. Read on...

Livemint: Making in India beyond jugaad
Author: Banmali Agrawala

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 08 mar 2015

The pharmaceutical industry in India and around the world is one of the fastest growing industry with a total revenue of about US$ 3 trillion. Indian pharma industry's revenue in 2013 was US$ 12 billion and is primarily driven by exports in the regulatory and emerging markets. India has 20,000 pharma companies and 60,000 distributors and large number of big and small retailers. Marketing is one of the most critical component of pharma industry. Continuously chaning business environment due to strict regulations, policies and guidelines have driven companies to adopt innovative ways to expand their customer base and stay ahead of the competition. Pawan Chaudhary, CMD of Venus Remedies, provides his perspective on the evolving aspects of the pharma industry, marketing strategies to survive in the dynamic and competitive environment and the future challenges that the industry faces. According to him, Patent Act of 2005 has shifted the approach of most pharma companies from merely generics to branded generics and towards R&D orientation. They generally spend 8-10% of their total sales on marketing related activities to properly position and promote their products. Due to highly specialized nature of his company's products, he explains the following tools that are used for effective marketing - Key Opinion Leaders (KOL); Webinars; Expositions; Conferences/Seminars; Social Media; Continuing Medical Education (CME) Programs. According to him the challenges faced by the pharma industry are - Rising costs of research and development with 8-10 years of time and US$ 800-1000 million investment to successfully develop a new chemical entity; Increasing regulations and drug policies like National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy (NPPA) to reduce prices of essential medicines. He suggests that companies now need more agile, smarter and smaller marketing teams and field staff. They have to focus on new drug development and competitive pricing strategies to provide best value to customers. Read on...

The Financial Express: Art and science of pharma marketing
Author: Pawan Chaudhary

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 20 feb 2015

Government of India's Union Budget 2015-16 is now just around the corner and business community is eagerly awaiting to find out what is in it for them. India's entrepreneurial ecosystem is evolving and going through structural shifts with incubators, accelerators, angel funds, startups, entrepreneurs etc getting more attention then before. The new generation of startup successes is inspiring young entrepreneurs to get into the startup mode. Moreover government itself has shown its commitment through Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' concepts. Also last year Finance Minister Arun Jaitley himself announced the setting up of Rs. 10000 Crore fund for startups and small & medium enterprises (SMEs). V. Shankar, mentor & investor with Chennai Angels, says 'The good news is that start-ups are on the budgetary radar, and we hope that all the above and more promotional measures are put into place to generate a vibrant start-up culture.' Dipti Gore, co-founder of Techstory.in, lists and explains some of the expectations that startups and entrepreneurs have from the government - (1) Specifics of the Rs 10,000 crore startup fund declared by the government. (2) Favorable taxation environment for startups. (3) Elimination of Angels Tax. (4) India's low ease of doing business ranking of 62 out of 125 countries, is a cause of concern for businesses, particularly for entrepreneurs as the speed to launch an idea into business is a critical element of their success. Administrative aspects of doing business have to be optimized in favor of startups. Read on...

Techstory.in: What Startups expect from Budget 2015?
Author: Dipti Gore

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