Theory P Management

In today's age of MNCs, Amul is probably amongst the very few indegenous companies that has remained a leader in its own field. Dr. Kurien's vision of integrating the rural women of western India under one corporate umbrella called Amul has seen much more beyond than just India's no.1 rank in milk production. Prior to the white revolution, co-operative farming was a myth. A perishable product like milk was over produced and wasted. Dr. Kurien combined "social entrepreneurship" with an economic bent of mind to actually revolutionise the dairy industry in India and today the country boasts to be the world's largest milk producer. The revolution called Amul has provided self employment to millions of rural women and it has provided an "assured market" at remunerative prices for the producer. Amul has completely overhauled the marketing system of diary and today milk produced is being marketed by an "enhancement package". The company has done away with middlemen who were the key determinants of the extent of the farmer's profit and today profit goes directly to the producers. A striking aspect of the Amul model is that, in its complete revolutionary measures, it has not disturbed the farmer's own model of production. In a way, "agro economics" are in place. Its massive networking has not only given it volumes and economies of scale, it has also kept the smallest producers within its folds. This model could be extended to different small scale unorganised industries also. For example, the rural textile industry which operates on a small scale is poised for a phenomenal growth. But the lack of marketing and the lack of corporatization has not seen a boom so far....despite the advent of the quota free regime. The beneficiaries of the Multifibre Agreement are only the big names in organised retail. Kanchipuram of Tamil Nadu is of course organised to a significant extent and it is an international brand name today. It makes sense to look at the plausibility of Kurien's model for the textile industry in India too...ITC has organised the agri market to a considerable extent through its e-chaupal, which of course is a different model but is based on the same principle of "social entrepreneurship with an economic bent"...why not the textile sector now? Let's make rural India our strength and tap the untapped resources before another East India Company does it for us...

I have always believed that the solution to any geopolitical problem is more in economics than in politics. The problem of the nature of the dispute on Kashmir has had its share of discussion in major political circles and solutions proposed for the problem have ranged from a U.N sponsored government or a joint Indo Pak government to simply independent Kashmir. Feasability of such governments for a trial period of hundred years similar in line to the Hongkong-China case has also been examined. All these proposals have their own set of problems. So will any solution driven by economics.

Let us first have a look at the issues involved with the Indo Pak problem: Kashmir, cross border terrorism, water sharing disputes, Siachen, the recent Baglihar dam case and the fifth "p" of the marketing mix: "people". Let us now drift towards a bit of philosophy. A fusion is always more desirable than a fission. A political union of South Asian countries could be a plausible option. When you are part of the larger cake, you tend to behave yourself as the rottening effect of one part spreads to the whole cake. This should solve the issue of cross borrder terrorism. It is probably not as simple as "no borders...no cross border terrorism" but this is definitely expected to cater to the problem in a significant manner. A South Asian Union will see a huge market for industries. There will be an overall shift from politics to economics. The kind of foreign inflows that are going to take place will provide a platform on the same level as China. Critics are likely to term this as futuristic"....well, the problem NEEDS a futuristic solution....Former world war foes are part of the same economic union today....well that's an "ECONOMIC" union and not a "POLITICAL" one. It is true that it will take a lot for a political union to materialise. The will and the drive from both countries should take care of it. India is possibly going to play the "big brother" in such a union and she will have to grapple with her own fair share of problems. A South Asian Union COULD later materialise into a South EAST Asian Union in the future with China being part of it. The bigger union should have a strong voice in most international lobbies like those with WTO. The muscle involved in such a union will be driving force for economies of scale in the member countries....and the risk is worth taking....as the returns are more than proportionate. But it seems that the "WILL" is simply not there. It is bull headedness to keep egos at high levels and it makes every sense to some together for a fusion... Kautilya in his Arthashastra said that "any neighbour is an enemy or a potential enemy" and it looks like this holds true. But the enemity could be held at controlled levels through common interests in the form of economics.

My internship at Karvy Comtrade Ltd. has given me an insight into commodities broking. I have always believed that a summer internship project is more than just a project. I felt that learning the organizational culture forms a major part of the entire learning process. The organizational culture is pretty informal and comfortable. It is a young organization run by young people. Even senior positions are occupied by the young age group. It is the kind of organization that one reads of in management books on organizational structure. Everything seems to be in place. I would have loved some disorder, actually.And one striking aspect is , people are PATIENT, despite being young and dynamic. In short , you actually find dynamicism combined with maturity. I love that combo.I would describe Karvy as a blend of Indian and American culture. On one hand you find the " perform or get fired" aspect , on the other you also find a slight conservatism on the part of the male population in terms of their opinion on women and the existence of an executive cafeteria is a reality.Female employees are few and far between; the same occupying senior positions are even less. I am not sure if that communicates anything ( in terms of the corporate glass ceiling). Canteens are VERY Indian, in fact very SOUTH INDIAN! Anyways, I have stopped complaining on that long back. Food is just a four letter word now.We have state of the art technology and people are willing to learn , teach and share resources. Goals are ambitious and reasonable at the same time. Hoping to learn more...