Learning space

25 Management Tools from Bain

2010-02-24T11:11:00.005Z

I was going through a few searches for Strategy tools and hit upon the website of Bain. I learned that every year, Bain conducts a survey of the top strategy tools that corporations use to make their lives simpler. In the 2009 edition of the "Management Tools", Bain listed out 25 or so different management tools. 1. Balanced Scorecard 2. Benchmarking 3. Business Process Reengineering 4. Collaborative Innovation 5. Core Competencies 6. Customer Relationship Management 7. Customer Segmentation 8. Decision Rights Tools 9. Downsizing 10. Growth Strategy Tools 11. Knowledge Management 12. Lean Six Sigma 13. Loyalty Management Tools 14. Mergers and Acquisitions 15. Mission and Vision Statements 16. Online Communities 17. Outsourcing 18. Price Optimization Models 19. Scenario and Contingency Planning 20. Shared Service Centers 21. Strategic Alliances 22. Strategic Planning 23. Supply Chain Management 24. Total Quality Management 25. Voice of the Customer Innovation

Where is Google heading to!!!

2010-02-11T14:25:00.006Z

Google plans to experiment with an Ultra hi-speed ISP service in cities across US. This it plans to do by building its own infrastructure of fiber network to deliver speeds 100 times faster than conventional networks - a 1-gigabit-per-second fiber-to-the-home connection at a competitive price to potentially 500,000 people. An interesting discussion happened today around the diversification of Google and we ended up realizing that Google is into more things than we thought it was, as a layman user. Here is what came out: 1) Search Engine, 2) Online Advertising Real Estate, 3) Mobile O/s, 4) Cloud apps (edocs), 5) Ultra hi-speed ISP (with Fiber network). Now if you put all of these in a melting pot, what do you get. A technology company which provides free search facility, which provides a mobile O/s, which provides you internet connectivity (ISP), helps you use applications on the future and the best part...it still makes major chunk of its money from advertisement dollars. Now here is my theory. Firstly, in a couple of years, it could raise wireless towers and connect them with the fiber optic, bid for 4G license and become a full fledged telecom company. Secondly, in the Era of Cloud, host all its sensible applications (computer & Mobile apps) on cloud, allow access to these apps through its high speed fiber and telecom network.You wake up, You text, You call, You browse internet, you write a document, you work on a spread sheet, you teleconference, you connect to your VPN through hi-speed net, you access applications on cloud. All this on a Google phone, through a Google 4G wireless and fiber network. What else does a human need? It will not take long for Google to make this theory a reality.

North American Monetary Regime - Is it possible?

2010-02-11T13:01:00.001Z

There is a theory of an economic co-operation among all countries in North America. That there is a possibility of "amero" in North America like "Euro" in Europe. NAFTA might already be in place but a common currency like amero could change the dynamics of all countries in NorthAm. After normalizing all currencies for the first time, how would subsequent exchange rate fulctuations be taken care for amero?. Subsequently, the value of canadian amero and US amero will remain fixed after currency normalization. The catch is, there is every possibility of change in value of each currency in real time. Which means amero normalization needs to be done in real time. However this need not be done if other countries still maintain their currenies and have amero as an additional currency. In that case, why is there the need for amero. Economics seems complicated.

Location Based Services - Changing Mobile Dynamics

2005-08-12T12:33:00.000+01:00

Focus: The value web of the Location Based Services (LBS) and its challenges.

Defining LBS: LBS is a location technology that can be provided on any mobile unit (PDA, SmartPhone, personal navigation Device). The location of the mobile can be computed by triangulating the device by three adjacent Mobils Switching Centers (MSC) or by GPS imbedded in the device.

To make an LBS Service work , the following components talk seamlessly to each other. These include:

The Mobile Unit (PDA, Mobile, Smart Phone, GPS etc.)
The GSM Network of the Mobile Service Provider
All the other OSS systems of the Network operator (for security, validation and authentication of user)
The Location Enabling hardware and Software
The systems of the Application Service provider (The LBS Provider responsible for fulfilling the request from mobile user)
Enterprise Servers of other Business Service Providers (Like Pizza Hut, Travel Agents, Hotels, etc.) The LBS Engine and the GIS Applications and Databases.

How LBS Works?

Bill is traveling for the usual sales call and now needs a hotel reservation for his overnight stay. He sends an SMS to a Number say 7656 from his mobile, which is indexed to the hotel services. As soon as Bill's SMS is received, the service provider's OSS Systems (Billing, Security etc.) authenticates his credentials and immediately his request is routed to the Application Service Provider (ASP) to which 7656 is indexed.

Now the major task of the ASP is to provide Bill with hotel reservations information at location nearest to his current location say 15th Street. How does the ASP do that? The ASP fetches Bill's current location from the cellular Service provider at a cost (if Bill himself does not provide the ASP with his current location) and feeds it to the LBS engine.

The LBS engine does two things with the location information. Firstly, it fetches the reservation information (form Enterprise servers of hotels that have a tieup with the ASP) for Bill nearest to his location, and secondly fetches the navigable map of the area from a map database (hosted at the ASP). The LBS engine then overlays the hotel reservation information on the navigable map and sends the package to the ASP which further sends it to Bill through the cellular service provider.

This makes Bill's life simpler. All he did was sent an SMS. Now he knows where he is going to spend his night. And the good part is, he has directions to the nearest hotels.

Operational Scenario:

While Bill was having a burger in the filling station on the 15th Street after he sent the SMS, some major events have occurred at the ASP and the GSM Network Provider’s systems:

Locating Bill (Initiation of query by the LBS Engine based on Bill’s location)
Interaction of LBS Engine with the GIS Server (for spatial data and map) and the Enterprise Servers (for Hotel Information)
Information Exchange between the GSM Network (Bill) and the ASP (Through any installed network between the ASP and the GSM Network Provider)
Display of information on Bill's Mobile (Graphical or Text)
And finally the use of the GSM network of the mobile service provider.

In all of this accurate location of the Mobile is a major input. The other factors are speed of execution by the ASP and accurate information by the Enterprise Servers of hotels.

Challenges:

Bill's is a simple example of the LBS application. LBS could find usage in other areas where the location plays a crucial role. However, the major challenge is that the location obtained from the cellular service provider is not accurate (not as accurate as a GPS position) and involves a cost. As long as there is a cost factor involved in obtaining the location of the mobile, services will remain premium.

Making Your Own Way - GIS Navigation

2005-05-02T08:42:00.000+01:00

Think about large vessels carrying shipments on a strict deadline. Think about an oil spill on the route of a vessel carrying important shipment to be delivered on time. Think of a truck load of medical supplies, which doesn't reach on time because it missed a turn. Think of a family going on vacation to a remote resort. These are real world challenges. And then think of how easily all these challenges can be addressed if there were a navigation system that guided each of these people/vessels/trucks to effectively reach their destinations. GIS plays a major role in developing and operating these navigation systems of the real world. The most advanced auto pilot in the modern day aircrafts is a result of meticulous calculations done by the navigation solution inside the aircraft's computer. GIS navigation solutions can be classified as Personal Navigation Solutions and Commercial Navigation Solutions.

Speaking of personal solutions, In-Car Navigation and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) based navigation solutions are on the top of the charts. No matter where you are in the world, a navigation solution can help you reach your desired destination running on a desired route. The route could be the shortest route (in terms of distance) or could be the quickest route (in terms of time). In most of the cases , the shortest route is the quickest root, considering traffic conditions.

A Navigation system is the integration of a few very vital components namely, the geographic map of the territory, the Map display engine, Routing Engine, navigation Engine and the GPS. These components are required for both In-Car navigation system as well as PDA based solutions. The other accessories are the display screen and the speaker. The user has an option to have both screen display as well as voice or either of them. But however voice instruction is almost always preferred.

The map of the territory is a huge database consisting of the base map and the attributes of each feature (mosque, church, retail outlet, gas station etc).

The Map Display engine is required to display the navigation map on the user screen. This can be opted out if the user needs only voice instructions.

Routing Engine calculates the route from the source location to the destination based on user preferences.

GPS is a homing device that gives (fixed to the car or in to the PDA) the location of the user in terms of latitude and longitude. The GPS uses half a dozen low orbit satellites put up by the Department of Defense, USA. At any point of time, the GPS has access to three satellites and locks in its position in the earth.

The Navigation engine, the most crucial component of the Navigation solution, reads the real time co-ordinates (latitude, Longitude) from the GPS, and interactively displays it on the map, and gives turn by turn instructions, based on the route selected.

The PDA solution is a little different from the In-car systems. All other components remaining unchanged, the database is in a compressed format as PDA's don't have vast memories. All functionalities are same in both the solutions.

Theses solutions can be used on any part of the world provided the map of that territory exists.

Speaking of commercial Navigation solutions, Fleet Management solution plays a vital role in the transportation industry. With this solution, an entire fleet can be navigated, controlled and directed from a single control center. The control center has the exact position of each truck/vessel, thereby allowing ease of operations. Fleet management plays a vital role in the transport and logistics where timely delivery and dispatch are very crucial for customer turnaround. The solution helps the fleet to bypass major traffic delays, work on the shortest and fastest routes and deliver shipments on time.

So you see, how important a role the navigation systems can play to make our lives easier and comfortable.

GIS & IT - Brothers in Arms

2005-03-15T09:37:00.000Z

GIS (Geographic Information System) is a discipline which throws light on how the location component (Latitude, Longiude, Altitude) can be used in conjunction with IT (Information Technology) to make human lives easier. A misconception is that whenever we say CAD/CAM it's GIS. Actually it is not so!. GIS is a much broader field which uses CAD/CAM only as a basic level tool to provide solutions to nagging challenges in the areas of Environment, Agriculture, Telecommunications, Transportation and Logistics, Power, Water, Traffic Telematics & Navigation, Municipal & Government operations and many more. GIS can be used in busines of retailing to map a district and have an idea of the density of population for setting up a new retail outlet. It can be used by Transport companies for fleet tracking solutions (with the help of GPS). It can be used by the local government for making 3D city models and for further planning. Telecom companies use it for line of sight solutions, new connections, maintenance, mapping networks and many more. Power companies use GIS in conjunction with power analysis softwares to attain network efficiency. Many such uses can be found. In order to have a GIS system in place, one needs to have the base map, the geodatabase, the necessary map display engine and on top of it the customized solution to make the whole system work. The range of functions that come within GIS are Digitization, Photogrammetry and Image Processing, Network creation and Maintenance (with Geo referencing), custom application development, creation of Digital Elevation and Terrain maps, Automated Mapping / Facilities Management and many more. How is IT related to GIS? Well! most GIS applications sit on the platforms developed and marketed by ESRI, Mapinfo, Bentley, Intergraph, GE Smallworld and AutoDesk and their licensed partners/resellers. These companies continuously develop applications/platforms suited for every industry where ever there is a possibility of using GIS. And then there are other companies that develop custom applications on these platforms. The comparison can be made to that of a software company developing a banking application on the .NET platform. And again the GIS system of an organization can be integrated with many of the enterprise applications already implemented. GIS can be integrated with the SCADA (Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition) system where real time information has to be continuously mapped on the transmission or distribution network of a power company. It could be integrated with the CRM & billing solution or SAP/ERP systems for various objectives. It can be integrated with the OSS (Operation Suport Systems) like the inventory system to have an idea of the inventory in each location. The basic example of GIS in use could be the online mapping tools. Just have a look at the yahoo maps or also google maps. What you will see is the use of GIS in the basic level. The next blog will focus on how GIS plays an important role in the navigation systems used in vehicles and also how GIS helps in fleet management. Ravi.

Sarbanes Oxley & Corporate Governance

2005-03-12T05:34:00.000Z

We all know by now, what forced major legislators worldwide to enforce Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 and the likes of it the world over. WorldCom, Enron…the names flow. What is Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) and how is it related to corporate governance? Well! SOX is “An act to protect investors by improving accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the US Securities laws” and the birth of SOX is the effect of clandestine mis-governance of corporations by the agents (as in Agency Theory).

Simply put, Corporate Governance is a mechanism of having an oversight over the functioning of the Management and to maintain transparency and disclosure norms when communicating with the stakeholders (investors, employees, society etc.). The Structure of the board is designed to constitute Independent Non-Executive Directors who member and chair various committees like the Audit Committee, the Finance Committee, the Nominating Committee etc. to which, respective functional heads directly report and are answerable to. This kind of reporting to an independent authority leads to transparency and disclosure, which otherwise would not have been possible because of the financial or other interests of the organization and also because of the entrenched management.

These independent directors are selected every year at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) by the investors/stock holders themselves, but the major groundwork is done by the Nominating Committee (comprised and chaired by Independent Non-Executive Directors), who scout for, invite professionals from various disciplines for directorship and recommend them to the AGM for election to directorships and also decide on the director’s compensation.

SOX, underlines guidelines as to the composition of such boards, qualification of candidates suitable for such directorships, transparency and disclosure guidelines, and many others. As of today, most of the companies originating in the US and outside companies operating in the US environment strictly adhere to and fall under the purview of the SOX Act.

The truest essence of Corporate Governance is the separations of the chairs of the CEO and the Chairman (Independent). However, this is found to be rare in corporations and rarest in the Indian companies because Indian businesses are predominantly family owned, and the management is entrenched.

In the Indian context, the draft reports of Kumar Mangalam Birla Committee Report, NR Narayana Murty Report and the report by the CII make a good reading and could provide more insights into how Indian Corporate Governance functions.

Microsoft's Competitive Strategy as I see it

2005-03-11T12:41:00.000Z

Ten years ago, when Internet was booming, Netscape came up with the Netscape Navigator, Microsoft (MSFT) did too. Subsequently, MSFT killed Netscape by bundling its Internet explorer with its Windows O/S Licenses. History speaks, "The Anti-Trust Lawsuit that lasted for 10 years", which obviously hasn't harmed MSFT a bit, except for the fall in share prices for that period, a penalty to pay and a small change in the way it sold licenses. The major losers were the MSFT employees under the stock option plan, which MSFT managed to somehow mitigate, but the ultimate losers were the customers who did not have another choice for the net explorer as MSFT had succeeded in killing its rival Netscape. MSFT has been involved in a lot of such antitrust lawsuits and has a special cell to take care of such things, under its corporate governance structure. Today, 2005, when google is the search king, MSFT has now its own search engine MSN. And fortunately for MSFT, it is supposed to launch the newer version of its Windows named "LongHorn", scheduled for release in 2006, which would probably be bundled with the MSN Search Engine. The Interesting fact is that the MSN Search is tagged with "Encarta Encyclopedia Software", which gives answers to direct questions like, "Who won the 1994 Stanley Cup?". Encarta, tagged with MSN search bundled with the Longhorn, could take MSN's position in the search market way ahead. The present scenario of search market is: Google - 35%, Yahoo - 27.1% and MSN - 15.4% market share. MSFT's long-standing strategy has been the announcement of the release of newer versions/upgrades of its softwares even before the beta version is ready. This strategy actually helps MSFT retain its customers in between the version enhancement periods, in a way that the customers expect and wait for an enhanced version rather than switching to another branded promising software. The way MSFT has been strategizing its product releases and competitive practices, the seemingly interesting questions as a researcher are "What would be the repercussion of such bundling (Encarta+MSN Search bundled with Longhorn) again?", "What could ultimately happen to google in the coming years?", "Would there be another such lawsuit filed against MSFT in the near future?", "Would MSFT be again able to walk away with style without major scars?", like it did with most of its antitrust judgments, and ultimately killing its rival (google/yahoo). And at what cost, just the penalty for anti competitive practices... WILL MSFT GO BACK TO ITS OLD STRATEGIES IN THIS NEW ECONOMY? wait and watch...

Just in for first day

2005-03-11T06:43:00.000Z

This is the first time in my life that i am writing any kind of a log. I felt the necessity for the log to understand patterns if any...and also to use this as an archive platform.. I had been recently reading business world when i came across a few technology updates..which go as follows: First the Magic Ink from Magink (Manufacturing partner with Mitsubishi for Mitsubishi Sign), an Israel based company now in US has developed an ink (a blend of organic molecules) that produces a paste consisting of tiny structures resembling the DNA helix. Each helix is about one micron long and responds in a predictable way to signals from a control grid, when applied on plastic or glass substrate. Under white light, the helixes normally look red. But send a certain signal from a computer to a specific grid junction, and the helixes there change shape slightly and turn blue. Other signals produce green, yellow, or other hues. The screen can be repainted 70 times a second -- double the speed for full-motion video -- or an image can be frozen for months without fading. This makes it possible for transmitting real time information in railway station displays, weather displays on the roads, bill boards any where while all are connected to some central systems. The messages on the billboards can be changed/manipulated with the help of wireless systems. Earlier systems used LED's (Light Emiting Diodes) and LCD for such interactive displays which are cubersome and not very interactive. Second..BBN of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has come up with and delivered a technology codenamed "Boomerang" where in it can tell the soldiers the direction, elevation and range of the sniper location by hearing the shock waves created by the rifel shot. This device was designed, developed and tested for realtime conditions in 66 days and the only objective was to use it for street patrol in wartime e.g like in Iraq. The Boomerang has a radio interference shield and will hear rifel shot shock waves, its mounted on a single van and all these can be done on the move. The further enhancement the agency is looking at is to integrate this sniper detection system with robotic guns which can take inputs from the device and fire back at the sniper locations. Ravi.