Strategy Wall - 14th Edition

STRATEGY WALL THE STRATEGY AND CONSULTING CLUB OF IIM ROHTAK

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS AS A STRATEGY FOR MARKETERS MANAGING BRANDS IN THE TIMES OF COVID-19 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE = FUTURE?

14TH EDITION

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

-George Bernard Shaw

Contents 01

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS AS A STRATEGY FOR MARKETERS

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MANAGING BRANDS IN THE TIMES OF COVID-19

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE = FUTURE?

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RISING ABOVE THE CRISIS

START LIVING WITH THE VIRUS – A SUPERANNUATED CONCEPT!

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A STRATEGY FOR INDIA

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DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAMS IN THE AVIATION SECTOR

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STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME THE ECONOMIC CRISIS POSED BY COVID-19

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ODISHA VS. CYCLONES: A LESSON IN MANAGEMENT

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AN INSIGHT INTO THE WORST AUTOMOBILE CRISIS

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SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS AS A STRATEGY FOR MARKETERS -- Priya A Saxena, Saveen Kaul (SIBM), Bengaluru “It is not the brand that will tell the consumers what it is, it is what consumers convey each other”. Did you come across Virat Kohli’s new Instagram post where he is grooming his beard live by a Philips Trimmer? Such posts in times when the internet usage has seen a surge is not a coincidence, it is a strategy.

to continue to reach consumers. Even today, the COVID-19 pandemic continuous affect every aspect of our lives, especially the traditional part of advertisements.

Therefore, today in this uncertain world & people spending more time on media platforms, Influencer marketing is seen as a hope for brands & looked upon as a saviour of marketing.

But is the concept of influencer marketing new? Influencer marketing hasn’t come from the parallel universe, In fact it is being said that the Queen and the Pope had been there long ago in advertising folklore & they used to endorse medicine for the benefit of the common people. They are also being called as first influencers in the history of influencer marketing.

So, what is an Influencer in Today’s time?

In the middle of the lockdown, Mr. Kohli on Instagram subtly ran a campaign where he urged his fans to stay wellgroomed & try new looks using Philips Products. Not only celebrities but millennials and Gen Zers with only a few thousand to millions of social followers are actively involved in these platforms branding a product.

As social media platforms are flourishing, how are brands trying to stay relevant?

The stupendous growth had forced the advertising industry to change and adapt

An Influencer is someone who has the power of swaying the purchasing decision of others because of their area of expertise and popularity. Those influencers essentially spread the virtual word of mouth, and most of the consumers perceive it positively and reacts to a message that comes from a trusted friend or an influencer the major type of Brand influencers is mentioned below:

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Parameters while selecting influencer:

of your friends tweets an image with their Starbucks cappuccino, both are the To select an appropriate influencer, there examples of influence marketing. The are few criterions that one should fulfill so question here is whom do you relate more that the objectives or goal set should be to? As per the researches, achieved. Therefore, judgement criterion • Consumers trust influencer schematic diagram is given below: recommendations • Influencer marketing delivers healthy ROI • It appears more credible, authentic & likable.

• Boosts Brand awareness.

Brand Activation (Examples)

How do influencers help to build a brand equity??

Well, the world has changed quite a lot recently in terms of marketing. Those marketing methods that used to be popular like traditional marketing on TV and prints which don’t work that well anymore because people don’t spend time on those media anymore, instead the dominance of social media like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube & now Tik Tok is the champion of influencer marketing with millions of brand-sponsored posts put by influencers. When a celebrity or an artist confesses its love for Taaza tea (wah-wah! Taaz) on social platforms & one

by

Influencers

Actor Ayushman, who is known for his shayaris, is seen doing a live chat on Instagram in a similar style about an upcoming show on Hotstar with actress Bhumi, who is known for her straightforward attitude, where she is seen saying “It seems, Hot star has paid you pretty well and that’s why you are recommending”. These celebrities, who have more than 11 million followers, indeed created a buzz about the show with their wit.

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However, an influencer need not be just a celebrity. Anyone who has a good number of followers or has excelled in a niche where people look up to him can be a follower. It can be a popular animal photographer on Instagram, or a wellread home décor blogger who tweets, or a respected marketing executive on LinkedIn.

posts, he aims to educate and inspire about topics including mental health, queerness, and inclusion, which helps in creating an open-minded culture in society.

Similarly, 26-year-old Youtuber, Ashna Shroff has over 176k followers & is seen in DIY videos using beauty products of various brands like Corioliss, Kew Gardens, BBlunt along with fashion products of Lifestyle and Westside, influencing her followers.

While a trend of YouTube vs Tik tok is doing rounds, no matter which platform wins, the winners are always the brands which have gained visibility and shares through influencers. Influencer marketing works because it is nothing more than a natural social interaction and the credibility and genuine authority are established in the minds of the audience. The best trick here is the absence of a trick. More and more businesses are reaping benefits of it, making it one of the most popular marketing techniques. We might be aware that it is a type of paid advertisement but still be more influenced rather than a star’s advertisement.

Many social media influencers have also used this platform for raising awareness about social issues like gender equality, women safety, LGBT rights, and animal rights. One such influencer is Mr. Vivek Shraya, an artist who has recognition in the field of music, literature, visual art, theatre, and film. Through his Facebook

Conclusion Today, Analytics is also used to map the defined variables & models to find out the effectiveness of the campaigns. If the company’s goal is more visibility, the metric will be the number of new potential customers who became aware of the brand through the campaign & if the company decides to increase engagement then a valuable metric is the cost-per-engagement (CPE).

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Managing Brands in the times of COVID-19 -- Aditya Shukla (XIMR), Mumbai

COVID-19 has been declared as a global health emergency by WHO. After its outbreak in the Wuhan city of China, the virus has reached many countries leading to disastrous effects on human health, businesses, countries, and different economies across the world.

As the world grapples with the virus, citizens worldwide are seeing major changes in their lives like country lockdowns, health care infrastructure issues, social distancing which is recommended by the WHO as an integral first-aid measure to control the spread of the virus. COVID-19 has lead to a lot of supply-side issues due to excessive demands from consumers for essentials, as consumers across the globe start hoarding goods in fear of uncertainty.

India observes a national lockdown to combat COVID-19. Consumers are spared with more time since work to outdoor entertainment standstill, as they are forced to stay at home. In these times of uncertainty it becomes essential for us as marketers to devise our marketing plans insync with the current atmosphere.

In this article I mention 3 important things that brands need to look at while crafting their communication strategies.

3 things that brands need to do in this lockdown:

1. Break-away from the holy-grail ‘Brand guidelines’ I am a firm believer in the power of brand guidelines, and how important it is as marketers to stick to their positioning statements. Although brand guidelines offer consistency to the brand and help it anchor to its defined associations, going beyond the brand guidelines will bring the spark and surprise element to the brand in these times.

The reason I propose this : Consumers need more sympathetic, friendly, and trustworthy brands right now since they are always worried about themselves and their families. Looking at the economic situation of the country, consumer confidence will reduce, and hence they will avoid any kind of experimentation.‘Trust’ in the brands would be the key driver of the purchase now onwards. Brands need to come out as brand leaders when they interact with consumers, igniting trust about the brand whenever they interact.

I back this up with a very unique case-study of a brand I happened to work on recently which is HUL Lifebuoy at MullenLoweLintas. Lifebuoy is a huge brand in this country, with strong market share and high-awareness levels due to its years-long pedigree and single value proposition of ‘protection from germs’. As a brand that has always talked about health, .

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hygiene and germ protection, the brand took an initiative in the early stages of COVID-19 in India. The PSA devised was a message that was simple, different and delivered the right message seamlessly.

We aimed to educate consumers on how important was hand-washing in the times of COVID-19 and how it could help save lives The brand started with a print campaign with awareness messages clubbed with a 6-step precautionary message titled F.I.G.H.T.S. along with something that no brand in the category had ever attempted to do - The PSA mentioned it’s close competitors Dettol, Lux, Santoor and Godrej No.1 and asked consumers to use any soap brand nearest to them.

consumers, critics, gurus, and top people from the world of brand management, making it one of the most successful communications in Lifebuoy’s PLC. Although this example is a print media case, the essence that it conveys remains the same even for digital space. Also, note the same was adapted for digital platforms immediately post success of print across markets.

This helped Lifebuoy to be a leader by supporting its competitors for a larger good.

Lifebuoy chose its larger mission of saving lives over just doing business. Results?

The PSA received immense praise from

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2. Stop following yearly marketing calendar Brands need to put a break on their marketing calendar. Since COVID-19 was an unexpected event, brands were ready with their yearly marketing plans. Although a lot of energy and investments is spent into creating communication assets it doesn’t mean that we need to stick to them and employ them, since any kind of promotional, desire creating communications won’t have much impact on consumers minds, since they are not in a mind-space to consume it, due to reduced consumer confidence and restrictions on retailing due to lockdown. In mathematical terms marketing calendar = ineffective communication.

Look where can your brand can help consumers Marketers should change their focus from brand-building communication strategy to a Consumer Problem - Brand Solution approach, by actually helping them in these tough times and creating a long-lasting brand impact. Marketers need to map the solutions they can offer against the problem - where can their core competencies be used for the benefit of the society?

Be in constant touch with your TG, and communities. Let them know you are there for them and keep rekindling optimism. For eg: If you are a kid's centric brand, host online art competitions and help parents keep their kids busy and entertained.

In these times of lockdown, brands should Tailoring the brand communications in restrain leveraging this as an opportunity, context with COVID-19 anchored by core which would lead to negative brand associations of the brand is the key to associations having long-lasting impact on the brand even after lockdown. communicating in this lockdown.

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE = FUTURE? - Keerthana V. (SIBM), Bengaluru

"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it."

- Henry Ford.

The quiet emptiness which lurks around every corner of the world caused by the deadly virus is slowly infesting the human mind with negativity, uncertainty and fear.

The COVID-19 outbreak has forced global economies to shut down its operations which ultimately led to a deep recession.

Amidst corona, rapid technological advancements are being made by many companies in order to seize the maximum competitive advantage in this new era.

Especially in the field of artificial intelligence, companies have been gradually making progress in reaping the benefits out of it. Vast amount of labelled data is required to train AI algorithms.

Since many companies have just now started to gather the virus-related data, it will take a lot of time to build, test and deploy AI in the real world. But tech giants

like Facebook, IBM and Google have been making a significant progress in deploying AI. One of the social media giants, Facebook has deployed AI to fight against COVID-19 misinformation. 50 million posts of fake news regarding coronavirus were spread on Facebook in April,2020. 2.5 million ads for face masks, COVID-19 test kits, and other coronavirus products tried to surpass an advertising ban which was imposed from 1st March,2020. In alliance with 60 fact checking organisations around the world, Facebook found out that the 50 million posts were based on 7,500 false articles. In order to identify the false information, Facebook developed a new similarity detector “SimSearchNet� - a system which finds and analyses near duplicates of an image. Currently, this system is also inspecting every image uploaded to Instagram and Facebook throughout the day.

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be placed on similar background but the small change in the pixels would not be noticed). But this system identifies only the object by ignoring the pixels around it” as said by Mike Schroepfer, Facebook chief technology officer.

Similarly, IBM has equally harnessed the power of AI to study COVID-19 and its potential treatments. A cloud based molecular explorer with corpus of 3000 therapeutic candidates was launched to enable researchers to do advance study and find molecules which will form the basis for future treatments. With the help of a graphical interface provided by the explorer, researchers can filter therapeutic candidates accordingly and can export data from the tool to other applications for further analysis. The second AI tool launched by IBM is Deep Search, a search engine which consists of large number of academic papers published about coronavirus. This AI model also consists of Clinicaltrials.gov, DrugBank, GenBank scientific databases as well as CORD-19 dataset created by Microsoft Corporation as well.

It works by extracting objects from images which violate Facebook’s policy by adding it to a database. An automatic check is done by comparing the objects in the new image with the objects found in database image. This database allowed SimSearchNet system to train the classifier to find specific objects (Examples: face mask, hand sanitizer) in new images without entirely depending on finding image matches. “Naïve AI systems can be easily tricked (For instance: a face mask can

Google’s DeepMind known for its AlphaZero; a self-learning AI is helping the scientists in understanding the features of the virus. The latest version of AlphaZero is capable of predicting the protein structures of SAR-COV-2 virus. This technology can help the medical science in the future study and development of drugs or vaccine against the virus. Google in collaboration with Apple developed a software which relies on Bluetooth wireless technology. This software is used

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detect when a user has spent time one another user who have been tested positive for the virus. The app which is created by two rival tech giants do not make use of GPS to track the people’s location due to privacy and accuracy concerns and the identity of the app users will be protected by encryption.

From analysing huge volumes of data to find the underlying patterns and recognising the fake images, it is clearly seen that the power of AI has been harnessed by the tech giants in solving the pandemic problems. But the question is: “Will the adoption of Artificial Intelligence increase post COVID-19 pandemic?”.

But here are few images from a report published by BCG Henderson Institute which shows that AI is capable of making productive changes post COVID-19.

When it comes to optimising a value chain redundancy, AI has the capability to optimize cost in manufacturing sector witth better prediction in planning and maintenance.

Since the pandemic has

altered people’s taste and preferences, companies like Alibaba have deployed AI to develop new products with respect to Chinese consumers and to monitor the performance of those products. Progress in construction industry will be little slow because it requires workers to be physically present. But London based Disperse used AI to improve the workflow of those products. Progress in construction industry will be little slow because it requires workers to be physically present.

But London based Disperse used AI to improve the workflow of construction sites.

It captures on-site visuals through a 360degree camera and helps project

managers spot issues. As lockdown pushed to people to work from home, robots have been working in grocery stores to replace humans. PayPal is using chatbots for providing customer service and for machine driven content monitoring, YouTube has increased its reliance on it.

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Aftermath of this crisis, will make the companies to adjust their business models to the new reality. Since AI systems continuously learn and adapt, their capabilities will be valuable for those companies who strive to achieve consistent growth and competitive advantage in their environment. So, the presence of AI

will continue to persist even after the pandemic for stabilising the scenario. As Henry Ford quoted, human beings will endure the impact and the consequences of the pandemic during the course of evolution. But still, they will have the power to survive with the help of artificial intelligence.

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RISING ABOVE THE CRISIS - Krishna Lakshmanaperumal (IFMR), Sri City

The Indian Economy’s growth already has been slowing down even before corona hit us with the lockdown. We are presently at a point in time where the growth is at a standstill. This means that the government’s revenue has been falling and not meeting its targets. This is a classic case of widening and rising fiscal deficit. India’s fiscal situation has been deteriorating since past two years. Recently, Fitch evaluations a month ago had cautioned that a further weakening in the monetary viewpoint because of lower development or financial facilitating could pressure the sovereign rating.

India enjoys BBB- rating from Fitch since 2006 with different outlooks. Now, because of the economic slowdown and the upcoming crisis, The Indian Government will have to spend more money to start pushing the economy. But it seems like the government itself doesn’t have enough money to come up with a stimulus package.

They have already announced that 1.7 lakh crores of the package is not going to be sufficient to pull out the economy from this crisis. It is a crucial period for the government to raise a capital in order to come with a stimulus package. It is obvious that India’s fiscal deficit will rise while raising capital. Since the past 2 years, our economy has been slowing down and the outlook has changed from positive to negative. At this point adding more debt to the capital may lead to rating downgrading.

What could be downgrading?

the

impact

of

It is impossible to ignore the effect of downgrading, because they do play a major role in foreign direct investments.

Foreign investors like Sovereign wealth funds and pension funds are not allowed to invest in non- investment-grade bonds and securities, commonly called junk bonds. We might think that foreign investors are interested in an emerging market like India and there is no point in worrying about ratings, but losing them at this moment might add fuel to the fire and recovery might get delayed. Moreover rating downgrades or even an outlook cuts play a major role in investor’s confidence and will reflect even in the share market. We cannot afford another stock market crash while amidst the crisis.

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What’s more important?

According to CMIE data because of the locked-down, 30 days moving average of the unemployment rate is 25% (on 10th May 2020). In urban India, it is 25.7% and in rural India, it stands at 24.7%. Almost 4 times the average unemployment rate of the past 50 years.

The state-wise number mainly depends on the number of corona positive cases and how effectively lockdown is being implemented. States which depend on manufacturing and constructions is facing

a higher unemployment rate. Even after lockdown, it’s actually very difficult to pull back the rate to normal. After lifting the lockdown Many MSMEs and small businesses will face working capital issues. This is the point where the government can provide loans to stressed firms to make sure there is a scope for economic growth and employability. further interest rate cut can speed up this process. To provide loans or to come up with a stimulus package how are we going to raise money?

Without facing rating downgrading.

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How can we raise capital?

Raising taxes on super riches, Introducing wealth tax and sort of inheritance tax may not work. They are regressive tax measure and higher tax measures more than a certain point have not worked in any country. The rates won’t be accepted and will lead to tax aversion and moreover India will become non-competitive when other countries were trying to give a competitive tax structure.

This certificate offers 8% of annual interest. At this moment where the interest rates are reducing, these low-risk bonds with 8% interest can attract more investors and which can help us to raise further capital.

There is also a large scope for the government to save money from the existing budget of 26.99lakh of crores.

This is a time for the government to stop all the leakages in the cash flow and should seriously look into saving There is a potential to raise tax on foreign measures. And then even a 10-15% tech companies, E-commerce, and digital savings can rise around 2.7lakhs to 4 domain, which run their businesses in India. lakh of cores into the system.

This digital tax can be levied on companies that have been leveraging on data to push The government should also consider for products and services in India. raising capital from western markets Companies like Google, Facebook, and where the interest rates are almost zero.

Netflix currently pay meager tax of 6%. By The government should also consider doing this we are not making India non- increasing its fiscal deficit by at least 2 % competitive for foreign investments for the of the GDP which can raise around 6 lakh simple reason that if a foreign company crores. It’s time for the government to wants to set up an Indian subsidiary, their leverage itself to come up with a stimulus tax rate will be as low as 15% if they enter package. And finally, to get money into into manufacturing. Thus fresh investment the Indian economy we need to make our on Indian subsidiary or joint venture won’t economy attractive and competitive. It’s a time to attract foreign investors who are be affected. moving from china to other countries. If Like NSC certificates Government can they come to India, they will bring jobs, introduce COVID bonds to raise money like Technology, foreign trade, and business this should be the solution for the long our national savings certificates. run.

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START LIVING WITH THE VIRUS – A SUPERANNUATED CONCEPT! - Vani Sondhi (TAPMI), Manipal

While India is being appreciated worldwide for its potent implementation of the lockdown, for how long can we continue like this?

The year 2020, which was believed to be a prodigious year for the growth of the Indian Economy is turning out to be a complete commotion. The business activities along with the government took a hit. India reported a PMI of 55.3 in January 2020 which is a seven-year high. If you are wondering what is it, let me explain. It is the ‘Purchasing Manager’s Index’ issued

by The Institute for Supply Management that is a compilation of 5 key topics of the manufacturing sector which are supplier deliveries, production levels, inventories, new orders, and employment level. But it has a circuitous relationship with the economy. With a range of 0-100, a value of 50 indicates an even-steven in the

sentiments of the respondents. A value above 50 indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector along with the economy. In the past few years, it resided in the vicinity of 50. In the latest release, the value slipped to 27.4 for April which is 13.6 points below the forecasted value of 41. This impinges the “Animal Spirits”, which refers to the emotions residing inside an investor that tend to come out in case of highly volatile financial times like this, that is further taking the financial markets down the hill.

As an investor, this pandemic has influenced the way our portfolios used to look. Everybody’s perspective has taken a shift towards a pessimistic approach due to the skeptical future. While some investors are attaching weight to maintaining liquidity by holding more cash, others have changed the valuations

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techniques. Blue-chip companies are now treasured more than ever as they are believed to be resilient in times of crisis, observed during the 2008 Financial Crisis.

But the decrease in the retail sales of the United States by 16.4% for the month of April indicates in a different direction. With

Therefore, would we, at some point in time, have to step out to restructure the business plans for companies and rekindle the financial system of the country? Do we really need to learn to live with this virus?

While it is true that knowledge of tomorrow is more reliable than the knowledge of yesterday, but the past can guide us through rough times like these. Small Pox, a contagious disease, is caused by the ‘Variola Virus’ (VARV). From the 16th century, it has had its crucial role in the history of mankind. From Mexico to America claiming almost 60% to 90% of the population progressed further to wipe down almost the whole native American population starting from Chile to

he consumer sentiments being negative and the highest unemployment rate in the history of the world’s largest economy, revival will be sluggish. How many major undertakings would be able to survive this existential crisis?

Massachusetts to Lake Ontario. Amongst this Boston, Massachusetts encountered 6 epidemics from 1636 to 1698. During the 18th century as well, smallpox killed at least 30% of the Northwestern Native Americans. It was during the early 1800s that the smallpox vaccination program was started. The last epidemic was recorded in the years 1901-1903 with a mortality rate of 17%.Not only in America but it contaminated a population of almost 10 million in Africa in 1967. Though it is now claimed that no deaths are being reported due to the virus, it can be seen that having a vaccine doesn’t mean that the virus has disappeared. But somewhere in the labs of Moscow, the virus is still preserved. The government of the United States still

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hoards the vaccination enough for each and every citizen. We might still be living with it!! We still fear the outbreak!!

Covid19 is an outbreak that is just ahead of the pack. We need to deal with it by inculcating some major changes in our

lifestyle as well as in our portfolios. So, you might be thinking- "how?" The consumer being the best barometer to gauge the market trends, modify your valuation criteria by including these trends of the modern and more conscious society.

Adapt and be agile to take advantage of these bearish markets. For our body, a simple way is to lead a healthy and hygienic lifestyle until the vaccine comes.

A good diet to strengthen your immune system will help us fight the virus if contracted. But at the same time, looking at the current numbers, it needs to be contained before we continue living our normal life. Hence, till the time the government gets control over it, #StayHome #StaySafe and get prepared to live with #CoronaVirus.

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A STRATEGY FOR INDIA - Bharath MV (IIM), Udaipur

COVID-19, a deadly respiratory disease, has destroyed many countries, demolished numerous economies, and crushed the dreams of billions, bringing the death toll to rise over 320,000. The world has been at a stand-still since the beginning of 2020, and sufferings don’t seem to end. While India, like many other countries, is trying to recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic, there lies a range of possibilities for her to become the biggest manufacturing hub for companies all over the world, edging ahead of China. Can India seize the opportunity to open new avenues for businesses?

There is a negative sentiment against China after the outbreak of the virus.

Companies that have concentrated their supply chain in China, have been greatly affected by the strict lockdown policies enforced to contain the spreading of the virus. The mistake was that these companies had solely relied on China for their manufacturing operations. The new order calls for diversifying their businesses, which means moving out of China to various other parts of the world.

Manufacturing companies primarily look for cheap labour, which many south-Asian countries can offer. But India being the second largest market in the world after China, has a better chance of attracting these companies. India can offer a lot more than just cheap labour. Right from policy changes to tax reductions, the

companies can sustain and thrive in here, thereby powering the economy and employment rate. Let us look at some of the key strategies that India should follow.

The new supply chain and purchasing power The prime minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi had expressed his thoughts on strengthening local supply chain. To put it simply, “produce where you sell, sell where you produce� is the main idea behind developing a local supply chain. The dynamics of local supply chain are completely different from the integrated supply chain that India currently has.

But India is no stranger to this new concept. Milk, one of the toughest products to handle, needs to be stored and sold quickly, as it can spoil in about 6 hours due to the tropical heat that India has. But the Indians have mastered the art of selling the milk in the region where it is produced.

This has increased the production as well as the consumption rate of milk in India.

Therefore, designing local supply chain architectures for all the other goods/products is going to be so much easier for Indians who have successfully designed the local supply chain architecture for the toughest agricultural produce. Look at the image below to see how milk production has increased over the years. Once the local supply chain is designed for all the other goods and products, it enables the local people to 17 receive better income!

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An increased income translates directly to an increase in the purchasing power. An increase in the purchasing power directly connects to ten-fold increase in revenue for the manufacturing companies. India offers the manufacturing companies a huge market with increased purchasing power. Imagine a market with 1.3 billion people with a potential to buy products at a good price. This is the edge that India has over the other south-Asian countries.

Powered by Digital Transformation, Robotics and Data Analytics Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is flying at the rate of knots, powered by the engine of Information Technology and digital transformation. Corporate companies all over the world fight COVID-

19 using technology. Technology has enabled business continuity in the form of video conference meetings, work-fromhome (WFH) facilities, network connections and much more.

But manufacturing companies face a stiff problem. There are certain jobs that cannot be done from a remote location. In such cases companies can be encouraged to replace human effort with robots. Please be noted that this transformation would no head to unemployment as the local supply chain businesses mentioned earlier would provide the required employment. Though the fixed costs of setting up robotics would be high, the average fixed costs would be low. Besides, robots need not be given salaries unlike human employees!

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This would ensure minimum presence of humans in a manufacturing plant which would enable employees to practice relevant social distancing.

Data analytics is a powerful tool. The trends and relations that can be inferred from the results would blow our minds. The Government of India can provide the companies with data about all the 736 districts of India which would help the incoming companies to decide on where to locate their plant, which line of products to produce, which business to enter and so on.

India’s strategy to recover its economy relies on attracting more manufacturing companies. The best way of attraction is to follow the 3 important points: 1. Improve local supply chain and increase the purchasing power of people (people buy, companies sell) 2. Improve on robotics and alter policies to enable maximum utilization of robotics 3.Provide data about each and every district so that companies can better plan to establish themselves here

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DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAMS IN THE AVIATION SECTOR - Ankur Sharma (SIIB), Pune

First of all let’s understand what is Diversity and Inclusion. Diversity will question about “which candidate do we bring into our company?” and Inclusion will question about, “How do we make the employees feel welcome when they work here?”

India is a trend setter in terms of gender diversity in aviation sector. According to a survey conducted by Society of Women Airlines Pilot, India has highest number of women commercial pilots as compared to other countries. Global average of women commercial pilots stands at 5.18% whereas that of India is 12.4% much behind those of developed countries like France (7.6%) and US (5.1%). Indigo has the highest proportion of commercial women pilots followed by Air India. Indigo

Airlines has seen number of pilots increase from 80 to 330 in last 5 years due to its strong agenda of diversity and inclusion.

If any airline company wants to include people with more female employees, they should provide benefits refocused to include flextime, on-site day care, parenting leave. This will attract more women employees to join that particular airline. Also providing assignments and participation in Leadership development programs that enable women to move up in the aviation company.

If Dimension of Diversity is religion, then various issues could creep in like conflicts between work and religious obligations, scheduling issues, foods that meet religious requirements. The various :

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potential solutions/inclusion programs to this are: · Learning/Development programs to increase interfaith awareness. · Providing them prayer rooms is also an important diversity and inclusion programs that are being adopted by most of the airline companies. · Flextime adjustments or scheduled leave for religious holidays and daily prayer.

Also providing them Religion-compliant foods offered in cafeteria. More and more airline companies should allow reasonable accommodations allowing their employees to wear religious garb such as head coverings, to wear certain hairstyles, or to have facial hair. · There should also be Stringent workplace policies in the airline companies prohibiting retaliation of employees who request a reasonable accommodation or complain about religious discrimination

For Sexual orientation dimension that is gender identity or expressions, the various issues could be benefits for partners, equitable opportunities for flextime and other benefits provided for traditional families. The various diversity inclusion programs are: · Benefits refocused to include flextime, on-site day care, parenting leave should be adopted more and more by the airlines. · Benefits equity for life partners · Zero Wage Gaps · Maternity Benefits- India is the first country to provide 26 weeks paid maternity leave to women pilots and crew members. · Offering crèche services and office roles to pregnant employees · Pick and Drop services to women employees between 6 pm to 6 am for ensuring safety.

For Ethnicity and race, various issues could be language barriers and other cross cultural communication problems. Also conflicts between employees with different ethnic backgrounds.

The potential solutions that should be adopted by the aviation companies are: · Cross Cultural communication skills training · Access to reference tools and detailed business and cultural information on other countries. · Recruitment of Bilingual employees would prove to be good diversity and inclusion program for the airline companies.

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LGBT Community: Companies like Southwest Airlines have shown constant dedication to the LGBT Community by celebrating LGBT Pride month every year in June to promote inclusive environment.

This helps them to keep motivated and also is a great way to appreciate their sincere efforts towards the airlines. More airlines should come up with this type of diversity and inclusion program to encourage LGBT Community to apply to the various positions in the aviation sector.

HR should have four powerful tool at its disposal in influencing managerial skills: the four T’s (Transparency, Time, Teams and Training), which can be valuable strategies for creating a global mindset and enhancing the multicultural awareness of leaders and senior managers. · Transparency- Managers need to make sure that information appropriated is transparent while dealing with critical and sensitive issues like diversity.

Management should make employees realize how diversity helps in generating a competitive advantage. Example: United Airlines implemented that and worked with

the human rights campaign on their training modules that include instructing employees regarding the continuance of gender norms and further initiatives. · Time – It should not be assumed that the diverse employees will work flawlessly straightway after diversity training. They should be given more time and the manager needs to be patient and tolerant in this case. In time, the heterogeneous groups are excellent in working out issues. ll they need is some initial extra time in understanding the process. · Teams – Working on teams and international projects is another effective way of helping individuals within that aviation company develop cross-cultural management skills. Team assignments may be functional or cross-functional, and it depends upon the various circumstances and situation as well. In terms of integration of the Diversity & Inclusion process, managers can be trained to form all their teams within an eye toward diversity and inclusion (sex, gender identity, generation, culture etc) and also for the problem solving and advantages in innovation of more diverse teams. · Training - Comprehensive Diversity & Inclusion management training is an essential aspect of the 4 T’s. Some Diversity Leadership abilities, such as mentoring or coaching, can be developed, so training in these skills should be a part of the organizations Diversity & Inclusion initiatives. Training courses contribute to both skill building and expansion of

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personal relationships. When courses focus more on more than functional skill building, they can also foster and reinforce a global mindset and enhanced cultural awareness.

because the industry is finding it difficult to find the right candidate. Also a diverse workforce is the best way to reap rewards that come from latest business innovations since creativity comes from a variety of viewpoints in the workplace.

In the end, it can be concluded that gender, equality and diversity are not only terms but critical issues in Aviation

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STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME THE ECONOMIC CRISIS POSED BY COVID-19 - Anandarup Ghosh (NIFFT), Jharkhand

Introduction The CoVID-19 pandemic has caused a crisis in India that is unsurpassed in our country post-independence. Apart from the medial concern, the economic consequences of such events can have catastrophic effects on a fledgling economy like India’s. In order to prevent a human tragedy of unprecedented proportions, the central government was forced to impose a nationwide lockdown.

But this event has had cataclysmic consequences for the Indian economy.

According to analysts from reputed firms, GDP growth for the financial year 2020-21 will take a major hit and is expected to reduce by 1-1.5%.

To overcome this daunting economic challenge, the Government of India needs to undertake a multi-pronged strategy.

Momentary Stimulas The CoVID-19 pandemic has devastated the people near the bottom strata of the socio-economic pyramid. This includes daily wage workers, labourers and other blue collar jobs which have simply been wiped away. Majority of the sectors where these type of jobs exist depend on cash circulation within the economy. As the lockdown was imposed across the nation, a sense of panic and fear has spread which apart from resulting in a huge slump in demand has also dented investor

confidence who are moving their investments away from the Indian market to more stable markets where they can get guaranteed returns on their investments.

Also, coupled with these are the mass layoffs that is bound to occur in industries that have been crippled by this pandemic.

According to CMIE, India’s unemployment rate soared to 27.11% in April and it is likely to get even worse before it recovers.

In the current scenario, the government no doubt finds itself in a tough spot with respect to its current fiscal situation. With the entire country locked behind closed doors, economic activities across critical sectors have come to a grinding halt.

Revenue collection has plummeted to historic lows. Also, in these tumultuous times, disinvestment targets are unlikely to be met. Borrowing from the domestic sources will only sharpen the yield in bond markets and it will have a detrimental effect on the private industries and small businesses some of which desperately need this capital to stay afloat.

Compounding this downward spiral is the decrease in savings rate which can be mainly attributed to the massive unemployment coupled with the massive hit in revenues the companies are forced to absorb. The Indian market has been volatile for some time now and the Rupee has seen sharp depreciation in its value in the past few weeks.

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It is indeed an extremely difficult spot to find oneself in where a government has to bet against its future economic interests to rescue its present.

The first priority of the government will be to ensure Direct Benefit Transfer to the bank accounts of these marginalized sections an ensure that they have the means to survive these difficult times and that access to essential commodities is not hampered due to cash crunch. Another thing that this infusion of cash will take care of is that rural consumption isn’t hampered. This will at least keep at bay to some extent the demand problem.

The government has already announced to ensure the food security of these people by providing them with the essential food grains for the next 3 months free of cost his will approximately cost the government around Rs45000 crore rupees. The othe

r measures that have already been put in place are increased MNREGA wages that will approximately Tcost the government an additional Rs5600 crore rupees. Rs34000 crore on outlay of ex-gratia payments of the old, women and disabled and Rs13000 crores for free distribution of cylinders have already been allotted. While all these measures are highly commendable and will go a long way in alleviating the distress of these people, it is not enough. Other additional steps must be taken to alleviate the plight of the common man.

This includes relaxing the norms for borrowing from one’s provident fund accounts, usage of deposits of construction worker’s welfare funds and increasing the limit of collateral free loans to the women’s self-help groups.

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The major problem the government is facing is regarding the financing of these initiatives.. Regarding the exit route from the current predicament we find ourselves in, the best way is to opt for a threepronged approach to finance these measures and all these measures need to be taken simultaneously and they should also be calibrated to the degree such that

Tax Free Bonds Another potent method by which the government could raise additional resources is by issuing tax free bonds. In these tumultuous times, the security prone Indian citizens especially senior citizens would find it a lucrative investment of their funds since it is government backed and ensures a fixed interest for a long time.

the balance is not disturbed. The three methods that need to be deployed are Quantitative Easing, secondary market bond purchases and surplus transfer by the RBI.

Other Measures 1) Exemption from tax for at least two quarters for the severely afflicted industries like the aviation industry, automotive industry, construction industry, manufacturing industry and tourism and hospitality industry.

Financial Policy The RBI recently cut its fiscal rate by 75 basis points. Following suit the banks will also cut their interest rates. This will ensure greater liquidity in the system as the cost of money decreases. The availability of cheap money will ensure that the distressed sections of the economy get the relief that they require.

But like everything before, all is not hunky-dory.

Due to this pandemic, many businesses had defaulted on their payments which has only piled the misery. The Indian banking sector and financial institutions have already gained a notorious reputation for having accumulated large stockpiles of NPA’s. Adding onto this pile of NPA’s will result in erosion of capital of lender. The Indian stock market has been experiencing significant amounts of volatility in the past few months and it will become increasingly difficult for private banks to raise capital from the market.

2) Rationalization of GST rates.

3) Exemption from income tax on the income generated from dividends obtained from the stock market.

4) Writing off the loans or restructuring the loans of MSME’s and of individuals and organizations related to agriculture.

5) Abolishing the personal income tax.

6) Buying up of troubled assets of distressed financial institutions on the lines of TARP. 7) Amending the contractual rules so that no party is discriminated against.

8) Single window opportunity for asset reclassification.

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ODISHA VS. CYCLONES: A LESSON IN MANAGEMENT - Agnivesh Tripathy (IIM), Indore

As the world struggles to come out of the Coronavirus pandemic, the east coast of India has readied herself for a doublewhammy. The cyclone Amphan, that hit the coasts near Sunderbans, has released it wrath on Odisha, West Bengal and Bangladesh. Lying in a cyclone hot spot, of the 36 deadliest cyclones in the world, 27 have hit the east coast of India. Odisha has been hit the most. 110 cyclones hit Odisha from 1891 to 2018, and then cyclone Fani in 2019 and now cyclone Amphan in 2020. Due to climate change, as the sea temperature rises, cyclones becomes more frequent. In the past 8 years, 5 major cyclones have hit Odisha.

So how does prepare for these annual mega events? Let’s explore.

Learning from 1999 Super Cyclone: It’s been almost 21 years, but the date 29th October, 1999 still remains fresh in the minds of the people of Odisha. The most intense recorded cyclone in the North Indian Ocean had hit Odisha. Official figures reported 9887 deaths, while estimates run into 30000+. 11 days earlier, the state was hit by a very severe cyclonic storm, so this super cyclone compounded the damage. Total damage caused by the cyclone was $4.44 billion (USD, 1999).

The disaster exposed a lot of things that could have been done. There was no communication and coordination. There

was a lot of complacency in disaster management. Not only in Odisha, but even at international stages, the issue of disaster management was in nascent stages. Complacency was also there among the district level responders and the population at risk. Moreover, since no one had ever seen a storm of such magnitude, everyone was wrong at judging the scale of damage; there was no adequate shelter arrangement, nor ration.

All these factors contributed to the mass scale devastation. The response of the authority was reactive instead of preemptive.

If we look at the Nazi concentration camps today, they have a message written all over the camps- “NEVER AGAIN”. Odisha made it her core-value.

Establishing a dedicated management organisation: Odisha State Disaster Mitigation Authority (renamed as Odisha State Disaster Management Authority) was established immediately after the cyclone in December 1999.

Prior to OSDMA, disaster management was not a specialised function; it was being handled by district administration; who more often that not were not skilled enough for the challenge.

OSDMA not only works in preparations against natural disasters but also in capacity building and rehabilitation post

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the disaster. The fact that the body is autonomous, makes them address disasters in most effective manner possible.

Similarly, in 2001, Odisha Police built a force of 10 units, the ODRAF(Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force). They are equipped with all necessary equipment like cranes, generators, chainsaws, boats, carriers, concrete trucks etc. to carry out rescue and frontline operations in case of any natural disaster. These teams undergo rigorous training throughout the year in order to stay prepared to respond to emergencies.

Building Infrastructure: At the time of 1999 cyclone, there was no proper infrastructure to address the requirements of the people who were at risk, who had to flee their homes. After the disaster, Odisha Government got into swift action and started building cyclone shelter buildings.

Now, there are 800+ multipurpose cyclone and flood centres built across Odisha. Along with that, on the

news of a cyclone, several pre-demarcated buildings are converted into temporary shelter houses for the people who are evacuated from the risk prone areas.

Health camps are setup near all evacuation centres to ensure that no epidemics break out.

Similar was the case with tech infrastructure. Earlier Odisha had to rely on New Delhi and Kolkata for weather prediction, that too over telephone. Due to lack of proper communication, and coordination between various departments, there was delay in warnings.

Now, along with advancement in technology, the State Government acquires and provides information in real time. During the cyclone Fani, 1.8 Crore location-based SMSs were sent out, television commercials were run, Additional microphone announcements were made and coastal sirens were engaged. Now, the Government has started focusing on controlling loss of property, and devise plans to come out of the aftermath really quick.

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Public Participation: In the times of a natural disaster, public participation and consciousness becomes a key differentiator for the execution of preventive measures. The moment cyclone warnings are issued, people start preparing for it. Fishermen don’t go to the seas, everyone stores ration in their homes and volunteers join in the evacuation mission, relief distribution and shelter management.

Leadership: A very crucial yet highly intangible factor in any organisation is the leadership. The Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik had seen the tragedies of the 1999 cyclone when he took over as the CM in 2000. Since then October 29 is observed as Disaster Preparedness Day to remind everyone that “Never Again”. He concentrated on building an infrastructure that was capable to respond to emergencies. He improved connectivity to every nook and corner of the state so that no area remains isolated in case of any

Impact: Now, coming to the impact of the measures taken. In the recent years, Odisha has been hit by 5 major cyclones.

And the Government has succeeded in controlling the loss of lives to a great extent. From 10000+ deaths in 1999 cyclone, it came down to 44 deaths in Phailin (2013), 2 deaths in HudHud (2014), 77 people in Titli(2018) and 64 deaths in Fani (2019). OSDMA carried out some of the largest evacuations ever. They carried out their biggest evacuation during cyclone Fani, evacuating 1.55+ million people and moving them to 9177 shelters (879 of them were multi-purpose shelters). They ran 7000+ kitchens to feed the evacuees.

25000 tourists were evacuated from risky areas by mobilising 23 special trains and 18 buses. OSDMA was also engaged in the rescue and relief activities of Nepal Earthquake in 2018. OSDMA was awarded the SKOCH award in 2018 for disaster response. After all, the strategy is what the end result is.

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AN INSIGHT INTO THE WORST AUTOMOBILE CRISIS - Vedant Kabra (SXC), Kolkata

The Indian automobile sector is a key driver of macroeconomic growth and technological advancement. It is a major contributor (7.5%) to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), exports, and employment.

This sector has witnessed a huge growth potential accounting for its significant cost advantages, availability of low-cost labor, and a slew of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI).

The Indian automobile sector had been accelerating for the last two decades. The major drivers of this were large unsaturated domestic markets for small cars (due to the rising middle class), low production cost, and skilled engineering talent. Global presence, joint ventures, and tie-ups with international and wellestablished brands enabled technological up-gradation and synergy in the productive capacity.

However, it seems as if its fortune has taken a “U” turn to enter into gloomy roads with perpetual bumps that become worse, the further they drive.

In 2019, there was a 35.9% drop in domestic sales for the market leader Maruti Suzuki with only 94,728 units sold.

The sales of Tata Motors fell by 58%, while that of Honda cars India and Toyota dropped 51%and 21% respectively. In October 2019, the passenger vehicle sales of Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) slipped by 23% to 18,640 units.

You might be wondering why the automobile industry started showing a double-digit decline in its overall business when it was doing well all this while. Well, don’t, I have got you covered on this.

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The burden of taxation - The auto sector contributes roughly 15% to GST collection.

It attracts the highest tax slab of 28% and the imposition of additional cess pushes the effective taxation to a whopping 50%.

Further, the upward revision in road and registration charges by state governments is making vehicle ownership unaffordable as highlighted by the Maruti chairman.

NBFCs crisis - In July 2019, NBFCs financed almost 70 per cent of the new two-wheeler vehicles sold in the country comprising the now financially distressed Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) and Dewan Housing Finance Ltd. (DHFL). Thus, the automobile sector was suffering from liquidity and credit crunch.

Conversion from BS4 to BS6 standards - The government had set April 2020 as the deadline for the conversion of the Bharat Stage (BS) 4 standards to BS6 standards-compliant vehicles. Thus the prospective buyers started deferring their expenditure till the last moment, waiting for hefty discounts to be offered for selling off the old inventory.

Nationwide lockdown on account of COVID19 - Due to the nationwide lockdown announced on March 24, 2020, to contain the spread of the global pandemic COVID19, all automakers temporarily closed down, including Maruti Suzuki, Honda, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra and others. Many companies like the Indian two-wheeler giant, Hero MotoCorp invoked force majeure, a clause that removes the liability on account of unavoidable events and prevents the participants from fulfilling obligations. The industry has been suffering since the last 6 months and this crisis has set them back by at least a year since consumers will not have any

Rapid expansions of online ride-sharing apps - The recent developments in technology have impacted the way people travel. These applications help people rent or book a vehicle at a lower cost as opposed to paying a considerable upfront cost to buy a vehicle right away.

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disposable income to spend on luxuries like cars. The government has taken small steps to support this industry by allowing the sale of 10 per cent of the unsold BS4 inventory pan India barring Delhi-NCR region with a condition to sell it within 10 days after the 21-day lockdown reopens.

However, this might have mitigated the losses but did not majorly elevate their position.

It is conjectured that due to the pandemic, the paranoid public who would be

concerned for their health, would shift their traveling habits, from using the public transports to traveling on their private vehicles, post lockdown. This might give a boost to the automobile industry in the near future. Conversely, the industry may take a long time to recover and would require immense governmental support in terms of incentives to the suppliers and tax reliefs for the consumers, throughout this difficult phase of declining demand, job losses, and the economic impact of the global pandemic.

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THE STRATEGY AND CONSULTING CLUB OF IIM ROHTAK snc@iimrohtak.ac.in AKANKSHA LAWHALE AMRISH RAI MEDHA WAGHÂ SAURABH AZGAONKAR TANVI RANE TEJASWI NETTAM VARIS KUMAR KALIA DISCLAIMER: THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINION OF THE STAKE HOLDERS OF IIM ROHTAK