EDITORIAL Greetings Dear Readers from the Editorial Team of Crucibles. Crucibles wishes all its readers a very Happy Independence Day!!! It gives me great pleasure in releasing the 24th edition of E-Zine. I hope that all of you are happy and enjoy reading our magazine. This month being the month in which India achieved its independence, our cover story features India and the Independence Day celebrations held in the country. At first, I was very confused as to what to write and what not to write in the article, as India is a very vast topic. But I have tried to cover majority of the things and hope that you all enjoy reading the article. I would like to thank all the contributors for this magazine who have taken out their valuable time and sent us articles. I hope that this association continues to thrive. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi “One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.� I personally like this quote a lot as I feel that it has a deep meaning. It means that one should form ideologies after knowing all the details because once those opinions are formed then one should stick to them come what may. Happy Reading!!!
HARSHITA GARDNER PGP/F-FW/12-14
SATYAMEVA JAYATE India. What comes to our mind when we hear this word? Well, I can think of many things likeculture, heritage, vast, empires, history, secular and the list goes on and on. India is officially known as The Republic Of India, is the seventh largest nation in matter of area and the second largest nation when it comes to population. India has many names that have an interesting history in themselves like Bharat and Hindustan. Basically the word India is derived from the word Indus from the Old Persian word Hindus. India has a history of rich culture and heritage with dynasties like the Great Mughal Dynasty to the Rajputs, Cholas, Mauryans, Pallavas and many more. These various dynasties gave the country a lot of marvellous monuments and wealth. There was a time when India was called „The Golden Sparrowâ€&#x;. But unfortunately the British came and stripped this beautiful country off all its wealth and riches.
India got its independence on the 15th of August 1947 after the British rule was over. The Indian rebellion was started in 1857 which took place on a large scale in Northern and Central India but was brought under control by the British. This rebellion was triggered off by Mangal Pandey who was a sepoy for the British. This led to breaking out of many revolts followed by mutinies that gave birth to popular uprisings against the British. The decades that followed the uprising were a blast of political awareness among the people. The Indian National Congress, the current ruling party of India was formed in 1885 in Bombay under the guidance of A.O. Hume. Thereafter, many movements like the Salt Satyagraha, Simon Go Back etc. were organised to drive out the British. Finally, The Quit India Movement paved the way for a total independent India.
The partition of India took place at the same time when Pakistan was separated from India as per the wish of Mr. Mohammed Ali Jinnah who demanded a separate nation for Muslims. The partition was a very sad and disturbing phase in the history of India. Many Hindus most of them Sikhs, migrated from Pakistan to India and many Muslims migrated from India to Pakistan leaving behind their assets like land, cattle, homes etc. but most importantly the emotional attachment that they had with the land. Riots broke out on both sides and Hindus and Muslims were butchered in equal numbers. Since the partition, both the countries have struggled to maintain peaceful relationships, though dispute over the land of Jammu and Kashmir still prevails.
India is well known for its religious diversity and the major religion followed by the people of India is Hinduism. Today, India has the tenth largest economy in the world and has the third largest standing army. India has a parliamentary form of government governed under the Constitution of India. The major occupation of the people is agriculture followed by the industrial and service sectors.
Independence Day in India is celebrated on 15th August every month with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm. It is also celebrated by the large number of Indians who reside out of the country. This day commemorates the independence that India achieved from the British in 1947. India has three major national holidays namely Independence Day, Republic Day and Gandhi Jayanti. It is a very important day in the history of India.
On Independence Day, the Prime Minister of the country hoists the Indian National Flag at the Red Fort in Delhi and delivers a speech for the citizens of this motherland. The occasion is honoured by the firing of twenty-one gun shots. A tribute is paid to the brave freedom fighters who struggled and gave up their lives so that India could gain her lost glory. After the Prime Minister‟s speech there is a march-past on the Raj Path by various divisions of the Indian Army and other paramilitary forces.
Flag hoisting is done in all the government buildings throughout the country and also in all schools and colleges. Its a day of joy and enjoyment for all. Students sing various patriotic songs, the famous ones being „Vande Mataram‟ and „Sare Jahan Se Achha‟. They also perform various
skits and plays. Some institutions also hold sports competitions and other competitions like drawing, singing, dancing etc.
This day also poses a lot of threats in matters of security for the nation. The security is beefed up everywhere, especially at the borders and in major metropolitan cities like Delhi and Mumbai and also troubled areas like Jammu and Kashmir. The air space around the Red Fort is declared as „no-fly zoneâ€&#x; so as to prevent attacks from the air. The crime rate in India has gone on the rise. Where in the same country women are holding the position of Chief Minister, women are also being raped and exploited for dowry. This is a very pathetic situation and the government is not being able to take strong legal action. The criminals walk free after paying money. Corruption is rampant in every part of the country. The Delhi rape that took place last December is an example of poor governance and exploitation of women. Though, there are many programmes and schemes for women in India, they are still exploited and treated as inferior in this male dominated society. People are also fighting for separate states. Independence Day is celebrated on 15th August every month, but the day when women will be treated equally and corruption levels will come down, will be the day when India can be called a truly independent nation.
HARSHITA GARDNER PGP/F-FW/12-14
A NEW LESSON OR PROBABLY A NEW EXPERIENCE
Sometimes you are just bored and want to see what‟s out there, so you might just talk to someone to discover new interest or sometimes it‟s just coincidence that you meet people and discover something. Like you might see someone doing something peculiar, at first it‟s easy to dismiss it as odd, but you never know what you discover is, what you just needed to boost yourself. Meeting someone different will change your life in one way or another! The more people we meet and share values, opinions, and stories with, the more we learn about the world we live in. Everyone has a different life story. Meeting someone new and listening to them is like listening to a live movie.
Sometimes it‟s worth just talking to someone you‟ve never even imagine talking to, just to snap you out from that anti-social bubble we all tend to fall into. There is so much to be gained from meeting someone else. Meeting other people makes us grow as individuals. As people say we learn more by chance, than we do in a classroom. Meeting someone different can make you appreciate what you have. Along that same line, someone may have thoughts just a little bit more advanced or complete than your own. This may help you form an opinion you were otherwise unsure about.
New perspectives and ideas are added to your pile of stored information so that you may make more educated decisions in the future. You can have your own views on previous matters be completely shifted. Perhaps you realize you were viewing something the wrong way all these time or maybe you may realize a whole new angle you never considered before. Finally I would end it by saying meet more people, talk and share more. Youâ€&#x;ll definitely end up learning something after the conversation.
ANKITA SHAH HR Trainee at Amazon
SIX SIGMA: SCORING SIXES IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR As it is said, “that was then, this is now”. Both Six Sigma and its close cousin, lean are not only commonly practiced in both provider and payer organizations, they have entered the mainstream of the health care industry. Indeed , two separate studies , one conducted by the American College of Healthcare Executives and other by the American Society for Quality, both point to the fact that 40-50 percent of healthcare organizations have employed lean six sigma as a strategy to cut costs, increase capacity and improve quality.
Over the past ten years, challenges with the implementation of Six Sigma caused many healthcare organizations to take pause, for many this delay paid off as they discovered quicker gains by implementing waste reduction strategies inspired by lean manufacturing. There was battle of champions in performance improvement Six Sigma Vs Lean. While both Six Sigma and Lean focus on waste reduction as a key aim (recognition waste comes in many forms), this is the end of any common ground between the methods. Still, most organizations find that in any project, a mix of approaches is necessary for true breakthrough improvement. Lean Six Sigma not only reduces waste but also brings returns on investment. One of the quickest ways to demonstrate the return on investment from Lean or Six Sigma is to focus on the elimination of waste from operations. It has been said that if Six sigma is about those “critical few” variables that drive process performance , then lean is about the “trivial many”.Targetted initiatives such as the popular ”5S” method have been credited with making significant improvements in the efficiency of the workplace by attacking the low hanging fruit or the trivial many in waste reduction. 5S is a method for organizing a workplace to maximize efficiency .5 steps undertaken in order include, sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain. Many healthcare organizations have added a 6th “s” for member “safety”. Despite these challenges, reports of savings from Lean and Six Sigma initiatives have been steadily adding to the credibility and potential of the methods. There was a time many healthcare executives were downright fearful to introduce the concept of Six sigma in their organizations, unsure of how staff would respond to the mystery behind the method. But today such fears are in the past, indeed examples of successful Six Sigma projects
abound in todayâ€&#x;s environment , and the reader need only visit goggle for scores of published case studies. The healthcare section of the ASQ website alone boasts over 15 projects leads in the health and managed care space. Hence when you implement a Six Sigma program you are going to learn some things about your organization that you did not necessarily want to know. For all those organizations still on the sidelines, it is time to get in the game.
To be sure, the next ten years it will be interesting to watch as the arrival of healthcare reform demand even higher levels of performance, quality and affordability.
ANN VARGHESE Assistant Quality Manager Care hospital, Banjara Hills
CADBURY AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
It all began with drinking chocolate in Birmingham. John Cadbury the founder and Father of Cadbury used to sell tea and coffee on the streets of Birmingham. But he was very fond of drinking hot chocolate. Being a Quaker in England in the early 19th Century, he found it impossible to get into any University or even the Military. Ultimately he made up his mind and got into the business field. He set up a small chocolate factory at Wall Street in 1824 where he used to emulsify chocolate into solid bars. His brother, Benjamin, jointly helped John a lot with the business, but in 1961 gave it up to his sons Richard and George who held it responsible from then.
Before the entry on Cadbury in India in 1984, it had already seen a lot in its journey. It was the One Company in UK that all the people were proud to be called their own. Hence the people undoubtedly showed disinterest towards the acquisition of Cadbury by the US based Company, Kraft, as the obvious would have happened, loss of jobs. Avoiding the issue Cadbury was ready to be acquired by Kraft. In 2010, the least expected fact was that Kraft initially offered an amount of US$16.2 Billion for Cadbury, which the concern stated was a clear act of undervaluing the Company. After a lot of political and public unrest Kraft agreed upon US$ 18.9 Billion and closed the deal. As well established as the company was, the name remained Cadbury. During the commotion to purchase Cadbury Hershey‟s too had expressed interest and made an attempt to acquire the company. But Hershey‟s eventually backed off, as they were unable to counter Kraft‟s final offer. Not to mention, it was the RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland, that had funded the Kraft takeover. In 2011, Kraft spilt into 2 companies, one of them Mondelez International of which Cadbury is a subsidiary.
The Cadbury Dairy Milk bar was launched in 1902, the Fruit and Nut version in 1928 and the whole nut version in 1933. I wonder if the Cadbury had a consistency in taste even back then. Then again there would be a question a quality. Coming to the Indian context, Cadbury was established in India in 1948(truly a celebration of ambiance to enter) and began its operations by importing chocolate. Cadbury India, part of Mondelez International since 2011operates in 5 broad categories, i.e, Chocolate Confectionary, Beverages, Biscuits, Gum and Candy. It has effortlessly been able to maintain the tag of an undisputed leader over the years. They have exactly 6 manufacturing units located as in Thane, Pune, Gwalior, Bangalore, Himachal Pradesh and Hyderabad. Its 4 Sales Offices are in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. And the Corporate Office is located in Mumbai. Cadbury enjoys a value market share of 70% and the Cadbury Dairy Milk continues to carry the „Gold Standard‟. Moving to a flashback, no one will find it hard to recall the one crisis that Cadbury faced in October 2003, a month before Diwali, where the customers found worms in the Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate bar. The Food and Drug Administration did not buy the concern‟s argument that it was the storage issues of retailers and not their manufacturing defect. But the then Managing Director, Bharat Puri, guided the company to tighten their belts and work on revamping the package of the chocolate. No extra price was charged for this change in packaging. Even Amitabh Bachchan, the Brand Ambassador did heavy duty endorsement putting his own personal credibility at risk. Ultimately in June 2004, the case was closed and the consumers were back to purchasing Dairy Milk bar, thus recovering their dip in consumer confidence.
Cadbury has only been on the rise since then. It is now ranked 4th among the 50 Most Admirable Companies of India by Fortune India. Like they say, failures are the stepping stone to success. In 2011, as part of CSR, the company has invested in a Water Scheme in Induri Village which guarantees to supply water to 11000 villagers. Back in 1965 Cadbury pioneered Cocoa cultivation in India and even worked for 2 decades with Kerala Agricultural University to undertake Cocoa research and to improve its yield. They had
also educated farmers on the aspects of Cocoa cultivation. It is not surprising that people call the Cocoa tree, „Cadbury tree‟ out here. Apparently all the marketing strategies used by the company revolve around their concept to „Create Joy‟. All the jingles created it the ads, be it, „Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye‟, „Kiss Me‟, „Shubh Arambh‟, „Beta, Mann Main Ladoo Phoota‟ and „You have to earn a Bourville‟, they all simply cling on the mind. Cadbury stands out in reminder advertising. The ad which currently has the highest recalls value, especially for children is definitely the Oreo Biscuit ad. A hilarious fact about the Oreo Biscuit is that it has 12 flowers, 12 dots and 12 dashes on each side. Surely we would be curious to check this, next time we buy an Oreo. And the children wouldn‟t even bother to notice it between the Oreo brand signature ritual of „Twist, Lick and Dunk.‟ Along with all the success of holding operations in 80 countries, earning a revenue of US$ 36 Billion as in 2011 with around 1,00,000 employees working with them worldwide, Cadbury is planning to expand in India. And proud to realise that they have chosen none other than Andhra Pradesh (now Seemandhra) to make their Rs 1000 Crore investment. Just as we all thought that the whole „T‟ issue in Andhra Pradesh would take a toll on business as well as investments in India, bright side, Cadbury has already acquired 134 acres of land in the Sri City in AP. This multi category food campus or unit will be the largest among their South Asia projects. The present largest manufacturing unit is in Beijing. Cadbury has projected to end the 1st phase of the project by 2015and the 3rd or the last phase by 2020 further estimating to achieve 1600 direct job opportunities in the year 2020. The on-going projects in Sri City include 90 companies from 25 countries. The Sri City Managing Director, Ravindra Sannareddy, is looking forward to this project as it would „add impetus to the economic development of the region.‟ Well said, considering the current macroeconomic scenario of our country a whole. The President of Mondelez International (India and South Asia), Anand Kurupali, says that „India is a Priority Market‟. And why not? Cadbury has learned a lot from India and is still exploring into the depths of India with the sole objective of blending its culture into its motive of „Creating Joy‟.
References: http://www.mondelezinternational.com/in/en/home/index.aspx http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/dec/24cad.htm http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-08-08/news/41201963_1_cadbury-india-sricity-ravindra-sannareddy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadbury
NEETHU UNNIKRISHNAN ISBE/PGP/F&FW/12-14
HIRING IN E-TAIL “With shoppers all across the country developing a fetish for online shopping, each market player in the still nascent E-Commerce industry has to make correct hiring decisions so as to gain competitive edge”. The E-Tailing industry in India is poised to touch the “$76” billion marks by “2021” as per a study by technopark, a leading consulting firm. In such a Scenario, an HR professional cannot help but anticipate the kind of talent that may be required to fill in already existing positions and the positions that shall be created due to business demands. With the advent of the more and more market players in the E-Commerce space, most of the organizations are young that are still growing on their people strategies. “JABONG.COM”, is one such young and vibrant organization. The start-up business model at “JABONG”, has helped the management discover new dimensions of hiring to suit their business needs. THE HR AND LEADERSHIP: A leader in an organization has set up to look up to the HR to help the organization grow, because he firmly believes that in a young organization. “HR” is a crucial function to create the right kind of culture in the organization. It is highly important to build vibrant HR teams. The role of “HR” is not just restricted to admin or maintaining a hiring hygiene, rather it goes much beyond that, ”he shares and adds”, “more so, at ‟JABONG‟, HR is involved on a daily basis with the workforce, be it managing KRA‟s skill building, and everything that relates to the life cycle of the employee. Also, a very strong fundamental that has been kept in view while designing “HR” policies at “JABONG” has been that “HR” can never be copied or cloned and that it varies in every organization according to the demography, business, and a lot many other factors. The subjective approach also helps „HR‟ and „LEADERSHIP‟ collaborate and understand mutual needs for hiring. Both “HR” and “LEADER” are on the same page and understand that we don‟t only need a lot of summer soldiers rather have to make sure that the same people stay with us in the winter too. “So while hiring, the „HR‟ and leadership have an understanding that the talent will be hired on the
basis of several standpoints. The most important criteria on the checklist happens to be that the candidates require to exhibit multiple talent since the workforce these days believe in hiring multiple skills, and this in turn also benefits the organization. Secondly, the leadership also gauges as to how do the person fits in the organizational hierarchy in the long run. Last but not least, domain expertise is the most important criteria. ALL THE NEEDY IS QUALITY HIRE: “JABONG“, being a young organization does at least a lot of “Gen-Yers”, however, this is not an intentional hiring strategy. “for the kind of deliverables and performance”, require for the business do not necessarily restrict them to a particular workforce generation. The skill set is definitely more important than the age factor. “That being said, given the nascent stage of the “Industry, Fashion- orientation, start-up nature and reliance on new age technologies”.
They do end up attracting a younger employee demographic compared to traditional industries want all the employee‟s to be self starters thought leaders, risk-takers and hungry to deliver the best experience to the customers-there seems to be some correlation between these qualities and an age people, ever though they don‟t actively manage age. Also so as to make quality hires apart from behavioural assessments at “JABONG”, practical tests are given a great weight-age during the interview to ensure that the potential employee‟s can improvise, adapt and overcome problems at a much faster pace, considering the nature of the organization. Coming back to the job markets and dynamics of the E-Commerce sector in India, although, leaders does agree that probably right now the “HR” , function in E-Commerce is still getting
more organized with greater understanding of business. However, they also adds that jobs in the sector would only grow (140 million people), in the world after the “US” and “CHINA”. Even though the absolute base is large, it only represents “11%” of our population. Furthermore, only “16%”of this internet population transct online while only “13%” of the online transct apparel and shoes. As these macro tail winds continue to improve in the coming years, as anticipated the business is bound to grow. Consequently the job market in the E-commerce sector will flourish. So probably every company needs people in more or less the same function, namely, “Marketing operations, Merchandising”, So and so forth however at “JABONG”, apart from what function the hiring is being made for, one criteria that stays in the checklist of the recruiter remains common. “SUCH ORGANIZATIONS NEEDS PEOPLE WHO ARE HUNGRY FOR GROWTH AND INNOVATION”.
KRANTHI PARITALA PGP/WIN/13-15/IIPM
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword There is a famous saying that the role of pen is mightier than that of the sword. But unfortunately there are people who believe that the use of force is necessary. The pen is a symbols of an idea, expresses feelings and soon whereas sword is symbols of violence. What a pen can do cannot be done by sword. Sword only knows to destroy but pen can destroy but also build. Although a pen looks a small object but strong and sword can be wielded well only by those who think there are mighty. The best case is as follow: Malala Yousafzai Vs Taliban Malala Yousafzai is a teenage girl from Swat District of Pakistan. It‟s a region bordering between north-east Pakistan and Afghanistan, a place defined by high mountain, greenly, clear water and as well as lot of conflict. In early 2009, at the age of 12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC which describes life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls. In 2011 Malala was nominated for the International Children Peace Prize and in December of that year received Parkistan First National Youth Peace Prize for her efforts because of fighting against injustice law which made by Taliban. So she also received death threats. Malala was repeat warned by Taliban and to be silent to immediately discontinue her public criticism and to stop speaking out for the rights of inferior gender. In eye of Taliban, Malala and all other women should surrender in the course of Taliban laws but Malala kept no silence. On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while returning home in a school bus. In the days immediately following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition. At the age of 15 she fought for girls to get right for education make better themselves and other women's rights. Malala Yousafzai is the enemy for Taliban. To the Taliban her words were dangerous than any other weapon to any other in war fear. So Taliban declare the war on the small girl because she was “…the symbol of the infidels and obscenity.” But Malala did not die. She escaped death by the inches. Her recovery has encouraged many people across the planet. On 12 October, a group of 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a legal judgment against those who tried to kill her. The assassination attempt sparked a national and international outpouring of support for Yousafzai. Deutsche Welle wrote in January 2013 that Malala may have become "The most famous teenager in the world." United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown launched a UN petition in Yousafzai's name, using the slogan "I am Malala" and demanding that all children worldwide be in school by the end of 2015. Brown said he would hand the petition to Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari in November. In the 29 April
2013 issue of Time magazine, Malala was featured on the magazine's front cover and as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World". On 12 July 2013, Yousafzai spoke at the UN to call for worldwide access to education.
Among the first public photo of Malala recovery is this one “a young girl reading a book” “The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.”
Malala Yousafzai's story is a compelling one unfortunately is not new story. Every day same story commented throughout the world. People like Malala Yousafzai‟s give inspiration to others to fight against crooks. Since the pen is used to express ideas and the sword is used to impose one's will by superior violence, the statement really means that ideas have more influence than violence. The pen is the vehicle of thought and ideas have helped man to raise over purely savage conditions. They have built up free institutions and democracy. It is in this sense that the pen is mightier than the sword. It must be emphasized that non-violence is not a method for cowards. If one uses this method because he is afraid or merely because he lacks the instruments of violence, he is not truly non-violent. The phrase "passive resistance" often gives the false impression that this is a sort of do-nothing method in which the resister quietly and passively accepts evil. But nothing is further from truth. BBC blog:“I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taleban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taleban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools. Only 11 pupils attended the class out of 27. The number decreased because of Taleban's edict. My three friends have shifted to Peshawar, Lahore and Rawalpindi with their families after this edict. ”
Malala Yousafzai, 3 January 2009 BBC blog entry
Ashish Joshi PGP/FW/11-13/ISBE-E
R.B.V.R.R. Womens College