Understanding the difference between a product and a brand

Watch this Video that explains the difference between a product and a brand with the help of Apple Case Study.

Also Watch this Video to Understand - What is a Brand? Its definition, meaning and origin. 

Politics in Development: A Grassroot Case Study

The Meaning of Politics

The political process can enable or inhibit development. The word politics “comes from the Greek word ‘politica’, moderated on Aristotle’s ‘Affairs of State’ the name of his book on governing and government written in Latin and translated in English in mid fifteenth century.

Politics is the art as well as science of government. It consists of social relations involving authority of power. It is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions and is not restricted to behavior within civil governments alone. Politics has been observed in all group interaction including corporate, academic and religious institutions.

In other words, political institution express and embody the wisdom of the people of the time and the route to good political and social institution is by deepening of wisdom and by broadening of vision.

Understanding Development

Development is an act or process, a step or stage in growth, progress, advancement. It is a relative term and is comparable to different countries, different sectors, different time periods.

The scope of development is vast and all encompassing – social, economic, industrial, technological and so on. However, development is strongly linked to economic growth and advancement because it is evident that economic growth usually leads to other types of development.

Development practitioners and experts have evolved different indicators for measurement of sector wise development, for example, increase in annual GDP is an indicator of the economic growth of a country. Literacy level among women is considered as an indicator of social development.

Basing on the frequently found difference in development between urban and rural areas, development is also commonly understood as rural development, i.e. the status of development in rural areas of a country. Rural development implies both economic betterment of people as well as greater social transformation.  

Indicators of Development

By consensus, the international community has accepted the following five as the indicators of development:

1. Literacy, education, and skills
2. Health: life expectancy, maternal and infant mortality, quality of life, and the levels of health care available in situations of morbidity
3. Income and economic welfare: high levels of employment, high per capita incomes, and increased gross national product, with appropriate corrections for environmental protection and for income equity
4. Choice, democracy, and participation
5. Technology: the capacity to develop technological innovations and to make technological choices)

Background

Kanpur is a typical Indian village. It comes under Nakichua Gram Panchayat of Rasgobindpur Block of Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. About 58% of the population in the villages is tribals. The village is situated at the fringe of Similipal Biosphere and is surrounded by reserve forest. Minor forest produce and wage earning on daily basis are the main source of livelihood for the tribals.

Evidence suggests connectivity leads to economic development; however that has not been the case for Nakichhua GP. Here, the community is languishing in poverty, low literacy and other characteristics of backwardness. Distress migration and distress sale of forest products are regular affairs. Local trade and commerce is mainly controlled by outsiders.

An analysis of the politico development of Nakichua reveals there has not been visible development in the gram panchayat. It is a fallacy that the people of the gram panchayat are relatively more educated and closer to developed regions but the development in their own area is much less than expected.

Kanpur is the revenue village with two hamlet villages. Nibas sahi is the tribal and dalit dominated hamlet and the other hamlet known as Kanpur is the upper class dominated hamlet. Development projects sanctioned to the village is always implemented in the upper caste dominated hamlet. But in the official record, it is reflected against Kanpur revenue village. While the Kanpur hamlet has electricity, piped drinking water, pucca internal road, community hall etc, Nibas Sahi, the other hamlet continues to remain in darkness.

Implementation of Government Programmes

In the village, the development projects are never implemented as per the scheme objectives and guidelines. Since the last 6 years, one NGO initiated some activities in the village commencing with the youth club. Initially, people from different caste and economic groups resisted the initiative as the mooted idea by the NGO did not confound to their local intra-community groupism and pettiness. It went through ups and downs often conflict among youth from different caste and economic groups. However, it seemed to catch the imagination of people from all sections despite of nasty politics by the various political party leaders at the gram panchayat or block level.

Malfunctioning of Village level Democratic bodies

In 2007, a gram sabha meeting ended mid way with fight and bloodshed between two factions of the community having support from two rival political parties. On paper, gram sabhas are held as per provisions, but villagers can hardly recall when they attended a gram sabha meeting for the last. The prevailing situation created by the local political parties doesn’t allow a villager to enjoy the constitutional right to exercise his choice and participate in development decision making process.

In connivance with the Block Chairman and other elected PRI members, BDO and engineers at the block level are only interested in cornering the contracts issued by the block office for infrastructure development of the local area under various government schemes- NREGS, Bharat Nirman, Indira Awas, Watershed Development and others. The need and priority are never looked into while sanctioning the work as the decision depends on other factors- which community group that the political party that wills the power will decide all implementation related matters. In such a situation, how an aam aadmi could expect benefit or justice?

PRIs are political bastions

Legally, the lower two tiers under Panchayat Raj system are apolitical. Panchayat elections are naturally fought without party lines or party symbols Panchayat elections are supposed to be free from any influence, be it political parties, muscle power, money power and so on. But, in reality, the political parties select candidates to contest the gram panchayat and panchayat samiti election. Political parties bring out victory processions after declaration of panchayat election results.

There is no effort from any quarter to clean the system or ensure that panchayat raj institutions remain apolitical. Perhaps, the civil society organizations are too scared to fight for the cause.

Continuous denial of justice has caused disinterest among the common villagers to participate in the process

Presence of muscle power and money power and the nexus among the local politician, PRI office bearer, business community and government officials has left no room for the common and the poor to get their right and/or justice. Those not belonging to such nexus and coterie has lost interest in the process of local self governance, participatory development decision making. Village level to district level development planning exercise has become totally a farce. What people desire is not planned. What the powerful within the community decide has been sanctioned. The concept of ‘Equity’  and ‘Right’ exists in the planning commission and the constitutional document.

Lockers: The Future of last mile delivery

Consider this scenario a couple of years ago even in the developed market. You order a product online to be delivered at your residence. What would happen at the time of delivery of your parcel if you are not at home?

1. Delivery guy will probably call you & ask for instructions?
2.  Drop the parcel with the neighbors or take the parcel back & reattempt the delivery probably at a later time or in all possibility on an alternate day.

This is a common scenario especially among the urban dwellers, who fear either the package may not be delivered or may be stolen if left unattended. This is a perfect nightmare for any online store as well. Imagine the cost associated with the failed delivery attempts in monetary terms as well as impact on the overall productivity. Add to this other factors such as cost associated with handling customer calls through customer service, dispatching a replacement item in case of lost item or even potential loss of sale due to customer switching to alternate retailer.

To address these challenges e-tailers have been working either on its own (Amazon) or closely with the logistics solutions providers such as Singapore post, Finland’s Itella, InPost Canada, Australia Post for building a network of smart lockers for delivery of parcels. It’s a win-win situation for customers as well as sellers. This solution is helping the etailers & logistics solutions providers not just to avoid the cases of failed delivery attempts, but also with improved productivity due to multiple deliveries at the same point resulting in reduced cost per delivery. Add to factors such as lesser chances of a lost parcels, deliveries during the non-peak hours resulting in avoiding the traffic congestion. Othe benefit being explored simultaneously is, for the reverse logistics. Lockers also work as pick up point for returned items.

How the lockers work?

Smart lockers are generally installed in public places such as Malls, convenience stores such as seven-eleven which are in the vicinity of the residential areas & often visited by the natives for the daily needs. It has compartments of varying sizes to accommodate wider variety of items & can typically handle items weighing upto 10 pounds.

Once the parcel has been delivered with the locker, automated tracking systems trigger the communication over email or cellular phone as preferred by the customer. Mail or SMS sends the details required of opening the lockers. Generally a passcode or QR code. Some of the locker models are also using the Bluetooth connectivity feature for added security.

Items are typically held in lockers for about 3 days for the customer to pick up the items. The backend system is designed for even reminding the customer for pickup of the items or alternate instructions in case item cannot be picked up within the set time or if customer wants the items to be returned to the seller.

While we all hear about the pilot projects of deliveries using drones to address problems relating to cost, traffic congestion, speed & agility, lockers have slipped in quietly into those convenience stores & doing the job assigned to them with ease & offering the convenience to the customers

Challenges

While the lockers are being successfully implemented in developed nations where people shop online mostly using internet banking & credit cards, it will be interesting to see how this works in developing Asian markets such as South East Asia & Indian subcontinent where preferred mode of payment is still cash on delivery. 

iOS Vs. Android: Clash of the Titans

One of the hottest & most debated topics in the tech circle. Who is the winner? 

According to Apple Inc. iOS is an easy-to-use interface, with amazing features and security at its core. iOS is the foundation of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. It’s designed to look beautiful and work beautifully, so even the simplest tasks are more engaging. And because iOS is engineered to take full advantage of the advanced technologies built into Apple hardware, your devices are always years ahead — from day one to day whenever.

According to Google Inc. Android is the operating system that powers more than one billion smartphones and tablets. Since these devices make our lives so sweet, each Android version is named after a dessert. Whether it's getting directions or even slicing virtual fruit, each Android release makes something new possible. 

We always hear from technology experts about the features, designs, app store, ease of use  etc. So we thought we will bring you an opinion from a end user prospective. Here you go.

Thanks to Athang for making this video available for publishing through Casestudy.co.in

Case Study: Applying Six Sigma to Cricket

Case Study: Applying Six Sigma to Cricket

Mike was the best batsman in the Club Acme cricket team. The probability of Club Acme’s winning a match was higher when he batted well and scored more runs. His batting form had been declining the past few months, however,affecting the team’s win percentage and revenues. Improving Mike’s consistency with the bat would help the team win more matches. The team hired a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt to analyze the factors affecting Mike’s batting and develop an improvement plan. A project team was formed with the chief batting coach as the project leader.

Problem Statement

The average number of runs scored by Mike per inning was 32.5 for the last 50 matches (January 2011 to December 2011) compared to his benchmarked 40 runs per inning. Team won only 36 percent of the matches they played in the same timeframe. (See Figure 1.)

Process Capability

Forty runs in a completed inning was the benchmark and set as the lower specification limit (LSL) for assessing process capability. Any complete innings in which Mike scored fewer than 40 runs was considered a defect. Mike played 50 matches in 2011 and as he usually batted at the top of the batting order, he was dismissed in all 50 matches. He scored more than 40 runs in only 14 out of 50 innings.

Figure 1: Run Chart of Runs

Batting Statistics for Mike in 2011

The project team determined the improvement target by using the 1-sample percent-defective test

Figure 2: Summary of 1-Sample Percent Defective Test

The 1-sample percent-defective test compared Mike’s current defective rate to a target of 50 percent. With a 0.05 level of significance and a calculated p-value of 0.001, the test verified statistically that Mike’s current percent defective was greater than 50 percent. At a 90 percent confidence level, the true percent defective was between 59.74 percent and 82.21 percent. (The confidence interval (CI) quantifies the uncertainty associated with estimating the percent defective from the sample data.) The team concluded that if Mike scored 40 runs or more in 50 percent the matches played, it would be a statistically significant improvement.

Root Cause Analysis of Batting Performance

The team analyzed data for all of the innings in which Mike scored fewer than 40 runs. In 30 out of 36 defective innings (83 percent), Mike was dismissed for fewer than 20 runs. Once Mike crossed 20 runs, the probability of playing a longer inning was high – he was dismissed only 6 times between 20 and 40 runs out of the overall 50 completed innings. Why was Mike dismissed so often before scoring 20 runs?

The team used a Pareto chart to identify the dismissal types when:

 Mike scored fewer than 20 runs

 Mike scored more than 20 runs

Figure 3: Types of Dismissals for Innings with Fewer Than 20 Runs

Figure 4: Types of Dismissals for Innings with More Than 20 Runs

Being caught behind was the most frequent cause for dismissal when Mike scored fewer than 20 runs: 50 percent compared to 10 percent when he scored more than 20 runs. Why was Mike getting caught by the keeper and the slip fielders so often at the start of his innings? Club Acme’s statistician provided the shot data for Mike as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Type of Stroke Relating to Type of Shot Played 

(Left = Type of Stroke, Right = Attacking Shot Played)

Of Mike’s caught behind dismissals at the start of his innings, 67 percent occurred while he was playing attacking strokes. In particular, the attacking shots (a subset of attack strokes) that contributed most often to the caught behind dismissals were three types of high-risk shots: hooks, pulls and upper cuts. A Closer Look at the Shots The team analyzed the success of these shots played by Mike at the start of his innings and later in the games. By looking at Mike’s historical strike rate, it was clear that he used to play 25 balls to score 20 runs. The team tested the success of his hook, pull and upper cut shots during the first 25 balls played by Mike in comparison to shots played after 25 balls. The strike rate for balls 26 and higher was almost double compared to the first 25 balls. compared to 10 dismissals out of 28 attempts in the first 25 balls, Mike was dismissed just 4 times in 117 attempts after playing 25 balls.

The conclusion from this analysis was that Mike had to avoid playing those higher-risk shots in the initial stages of his innings.

Other Inputs for Batting

In a brainstorming session, the project team identified the various factors related to runs being scored and created the cause-and-effect diagram shown in Figure 6. Items highlighted in red are the ones deemed to be most critical and that were investigated further.

Figure 6: Factors Related to Runs Scored

The project team did not find any difference in Mike’s performance when batting first or when chasing a target. His performance on flat pitches, however, was better compared to green pitches. What was affecting Mike’s batting while playing on green pitches? The batting coach suggested the team look at the type of bat Mike used and his batting position. While the type of bat used (light or heavy) did not have any measurable impact, Mike performed better on green pitches when he was not required to open the batting (bat first) and face the new ball bowlers. On green pitches, his batting average in fourth position was 52.6 compared to 12.1 when Mike opened the batting, a statistically

significant difference (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Pitch Versus Batting Position

The project team collected data for Mike’s batting and shot selection against different types of bowlers. Shots played by Mike that did result, or could have resulted, in a dismissal were identified as false or risky and termed “defective.”

The proportion of defective shots was contrasted against the total number of balls played against each type of bowler. As shown in Table 3 and Figure 8, there were differences among the percent defectives for different bowling types at a 0.05 level of significance (p-value: 0.000). From the analysis, it was concluded that Mike played more false or risky shots while playing left-arm seam bowlers (21.48 percent) in comparison to other bowlers such as right-arm seam

bowlers and spinners.

Figure 8: Percent Defective Comparison Chart

The chief batting coach analyzed video footage of Mike batting against left-arm seam bowlers. Mike played a left-arm seam with a closed stance, similar to what he used for right-arm seam bowlers. The orthodox stance blocked him before he played a shot, and he ended up playing around his front pad (protective clothing). He also kept his back swing too straight, playing across the line (moving laterally to the incoming ball) and ended up chest-on to the ball.

Mike was advised to play left-arm seam with an open stance and wider back-lift. With an open stance, he could better align himself up to the incoming ball. For a wider back-lift, he had to pick his bat over the off stump or the first slip area (angle of the bat while playing the ball changes depending upon the starting position of the bat) rather than over the middle stump.

The Improvement Plan

After the analysis was complete, the project team summarized its results and made its improvement

recommendations for Mike and Club Acme.

Table 4: Action Plan

Project Outcome and Benefits

The action plan recommended by the Black Belt and the project team helped improve Mike’s batting consistency. He scored an average of 49.32 runs per inning in the 28 innings of the first six months of 2012 compared to his previous baseline average of 32.52 runs per inning, as shown in Figure 9. In addition, Club Acme improved its win rate to 54 percent (16 out of 28).

Figure 9: Batting Improvement Project Results

Things To Consider Before Investing In An IPO

IPOs or Initial Public Offers are means by which a company can raise debt free capital through sharing the ownership and profits. There have been many companies opting for the IPO route over the last two decades. There have also been many big success stories with people making decent profits through these investment tools. However, there are always some items to consider when investing in an IPO that can reduce the risk in this. 

IPO Basics

As the company starts growing, there is a time when it needs huge capital to take it to the next level of growth. Some companies decide to raise debt to get this capital; others opt for profit sharing without adding to the debt. The second option is the IPO route. In effect, when you invest in an IPO you are opting for part of its profits and losses too! So you need to be very selective on which companies you want invest in.

No History

It's hard enough to analyze the stock of an established company. An IPO company is even trickier to analyze since there won't be a lot of historical information. Your main source of data is the red herring, so make sure you examine this document carefully. Look for the usual information, but also pay special attention to the management team and how they plan to use the funds generated from the IPO.

And what about the underwriters? Successful IPOs are typically supported by bigger brokerages that have the ability to promote a new issue well. Be more wary of smaller investment banks because they may be willing to underwrite any company.

Studying the Company

A good starting point for your IPO analysis is to look at the financial reports of the company for as many years as possible. One thing that every company must publish is its total debt and total asset value. As long as the asset value is more than the debt, you know that enterprise can pay off its debts so it would survive. Also look at the difference in the assets value and debt which in effect is like the company value. Check what is the effective company value based on the IPO price and number of shares. If the IPO price is less than this value you are in for good profits on listing. 

Besides value, another good indicator is the company growth seen in the profits it has made over the past few years. Sometimes the enterprise is new, so its current value is less, but a strong growth pattern would be that its value is going to increase in future so it is a good longer term investment. 

Third important thing to look at is whether the company is stuck in some legal tangles. Typically, if the verdict goes against it, it would affect its finances and more importantly the stock price in the market. You could lose lot of money, in that case. So study these aspects well before investing. 

Lastly, analyse its market standing among the peers. If you use its products, you know it is a good company and you can invest with lesser risk. But if it is an unheard commodity, you need to be cautious.

The Lockup Period

If you look at the charts following many IPOs, you'll notice that after a few months the stock takes a steep downturn. This is often because of the lockup period.

When a company goes public, the underwriters make company officials and employees sign a lockup agreement. Lockup agreements are legally binding contracts between the underwriters and insiders of the company, prohibiting them from selling any shares of stock for a specified period of time. The period can be anything from 3 to 24 months. The problem is, when lockups expire all the insiders are permitted to sell their stock. The result is a rush of people trying to sell their stock to realize their profit. This excess supply can put severe downward pressure on the stock price.

Flipping

Flipping is reselling a hot IPO stock in the first few days to earn a quick profit. This isn't easy to do, and you'll be strongly discouraged by your brokerage. The reason behind this is that companies want long-term investors who hold their stock, not traders. There are no laws that prevent flipping, but your broker may blacklist you from future offerings or just smile less when you shake hands.

Of course, institutional investors flip stocks all the time and make big money. The double standard exists and there is nothing we can do about it because they have the buying power. Because of flipping, it's a good rule not to buy shares of an IPO if you don't get in on the initial offering. Many IPOs that have big gains on the first day will come back to earth as the institutions take their profits.

Avoid the Hype

It's important to understand that underwriters are salesmen. The whole underwriting process is intentionally hyped up to get as much attention as possible. Since IPOs only happen once for each company, they are often presented as "once in a lifetime" opportunities. Of course, some IPOs soar high and keep soaring. But many end up selling below their offering prices within the year. Don't buy a stock only because it's an IPO - do it because it's a good investment.

Conclusion

Besides these points, other items that could affect the IPO price on listing are market sentiments, the economic outlook, general industry news, etc. These are so dynamic that they cannot be used a guidelines, and you need to go with the market flow. 

In short, investing in IPOs is risky, but with careful analysis you can reduce the risk. For this there are some items to consider when investing in an IPO. As long as you do your homework, the risks are limited.

References

1. http://ezinearticles.com/?Think-Long-Term-When-Investing-in-an-IPO&id=4400955

Ice cream and General motors - A case study

Ice cream and General motors - A case study 

This is the case of a Vanilla Ice Cream that puzzled General Motors!

Read on to learn about this interesting case study story that teaches you never to underestimate your Client's Complaint, no matter how funny it might seems.

It is said, this is a real story that happened between the customer of General Motors and its Customer -Care Executive.

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors:

'This is the second time I have written to you, and I don't blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we've eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem.....

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds "What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?" The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it out anyway.

The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fine neighbourhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn't start.

The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got

chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start.

Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavour. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor.

Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn't start when it took less time. Eureka - Time was now the problem - not the vanilla ice cream!!!!  The engineer quickly came up with the answer: "vapour lock".

It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavours allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapour lock to dissipate.

Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution, with cool thinking. Don't just say "problem is at the other end or it is  IMPOSSIBLE" without putting a sincere effort.In the end, what really matters is your attitude and your perception.

Moral of the Story is "Try to Fix the Bug instead of making it as a Known Issue.