Why You Have To Put Yourself First

March 8th, 2010 by Armen Shirvanian(pickthebrain.com)


The most important person behind each of your decisions has to be yourself. Your health and attitude are what give you the ability to perceive everything else around you. Often times, we initially make our decisions based on how someone else will react, or how fitting the decisions are to society’s standards, but society would not be visually available if you couldn’t see it, or audible if you couldn’t hear it.
This is a reminder to put yourself first in a big way. Although it may be a big way compared to what you were doing before, it is probably not big enough compared to how relevant your presence is in the world.
Conversation Example

With all the hesitation that you may face when going up to someone in a public setting, conference, or party, most of that hesitation doesn’t take into account that, if it was not for your senses and perception, the person would not be there for you to make conversation with. You’re a puzzle piece in the interaction just as much as they are a puzzle piece in the interaction. When we assume that our presence is not meant as part of an event, we lose the majority of our socializing energy, and get stuck in a mental circular loop of doubt or questioning.
I might have written this article, but as you read it, all the marbles are on your side of the table. If you close your eyes, my text is not there(except in visual or verbal memory), and the only person that is left will be you and your thoughts. You have to keep this in mind when making decisions. After various interactions or questions with others, the point that you always return to is home base in your own mind. This constant reminder gets you to toss away any debilitating thoughts of how people will react, which I know have cut off my actions an immeasurable amount of times.
Two Thought Patterns

Here are the two patterns I routinely see us take, if I had to bifurcate(split) them into a common type and a successful type:
Common Type
Have a thought
Doubts come into the mind about how others will perceive it
Worry and fear comes from each option related to that thought
Disappointment comes from not even being able to carry out one idea
The result is nearly no action, and a bit of frustration
Successful Type
Have a thought or idea
Have a doubting thought about it, or how people will perceive it
Crush the doubt in the mind, based on the idea that you also have a say in how the world works
Keep crushing any doubts while implementing the idea
See the gains from taking action, and end up without that frustration from not putting yourself first
As you can see, the common way to act gets you almost no output, and also gets you frustration or disappointment, so it is a lose-lose scenario, regardless of the first intent to not let others down. Now, looking at the successful way to act, you can see that it might look rude during the process, in that it doesn’t seem to include much concern about others. However, the result is real action and productivity, lack of disappointment because the process was completed smoothly, and lastly, a result for others that is more beneficial to them than the intent the average type of person would have during the entire time. This case is a win-win scenario. Don’t let that “intent to be proper or not offend” be what constantly leaves you with no end product.
Discard Any Hindrance From Family And Friends

I also have to add in this section about how your family affects you. For those of you who constantly limit yourself due to your family, and don’t want to disappoint those closest to yourself, realize again that you are “numero uno” in that context as well. Family provides larger internal pressure than friends or colleagues, but you have to take this pressure and use it to create more for yourself. Doing something just to impress a family member will leave them wondering if you have your own foundation of goals and intent.

Put yourself first in a big way, because this whole world is only there because you can see it and hear it and feel it.

Indian Retail: Changing Trends in 2010

Nice Article from Times
Indian Retail in 2010 faces a simple challenge, how to grow, and do so at a fast pace. Kamlesh Pandya speaks to a cross section of retail personalities


Given the challenging economic scenario in the previous year, Indian Retail has swung across extremes. “We have seen the retail graph hit the highs and the lows, owing to the volatile economic conditions,” says Dharmesh Jain, CMD, Nirmal Lifestyle.
“The beginning of 2009 witnessed a few retailers expanding their formats and geographic reach, consolidating their businesses and operating through wafer thin margins to sustain themselves. But, 2010 is a new beginning and I expect it will see a different perspective,” he adds.
Retailers cannot influence macro economic fundamentals, but they can influence spend behaviour at a given retail chain and/ or store, says Susil Dungarwal of advisory firm Beyond Square Feet. “In the present sort of economic climate, marketing spends are reduced and therefore it is critical that funds allocated to marketing are spent optimally.”
The Golden Adage in Retail is that 80 per cent of profits are from 20 per cent of the customers, says Dungarwal. Therefore, it is critical to focus on the core customer base of the business. If one lakh is the marketing budget, the same needs to be focused on a customer base of a lakh, then the marketing efficacy is Re. 1 per customer. Alternatively, if the core customer base is just 20,000 then the marketing efficacy is Rs. 5 per customer. So, strategically, it is important to identify the core customer base of the business. This helps reduce customer acquisition as well as customer retention costs and at the same time, makes the spending more efficient. This is the entire basis of precision marketing, the ‘new age benefactor’ for retail marketers,” he adds.
The retail setup in India is very different from what is available globally. The mindset of an Indian consumer is very different from that of Singapore or Dubai and the retail infrastructure needs to develop itself in tune with local needs and sensibilities, says Alok Dubey - VP & Brand Head, Arvind Brands. “It is imperative to provide that choice of spectrum to the consumer instead of just air-conditioned large spaces with window of the world which is a likely zone for an occasional flirting for the consumer but not necessarily a comfortable shopping space of their own. “Businesses need to move away from ‘lowest price leader’, mass marketing and mass acquisition tactics and instead focus on profitable and sustainable 77 growth, says Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India. “Retail businesses need to focus nurturing a core customer base that is profitable to the company. Successful retailers generate majority of their profits from this core base,” he adds. In 2010, he expects retail businesses to focus on continuous innovation in terms of store formats, marketing tactics to product offerings. It is critical that there is a strong focus in this area as the Indian market is still an emerging one,” he adds. "Mr. B K Soni of Ecoreco says a retail approach works best, even when it comes to the ewaste recycling business. The retail approach provides an organised manner of reaching out to our target audience, and it has been a success," he points out. "For India, retail is a 'natural' success story," he adds.
There are many examples of retailers across the world creating exceptional retail brands by adopting practices that create exceptional retail experience, says Kumar Rajagopalan. “Back home, the traditional retailers have always adopted techniques like customer recognition, home delivery and credits to create customer experience. In 2010, India’s modern retailers should take retailing to the next level by adopting either a customer experience strategy or a clear price strategy.”

The power of controversy - Nice one from Times

XTRA ORDINARY ISSUE

The power of controversy

Pritish Nandy

Many of us knew of Arthur Andersen, the global consulting firm. But when it broke up and morphed into Accenture, not many made the exact connection. The connection was made on that fateful day when the media decided to out Tiger Woods for his sexual transgressions. Suddenly, all the brands he had endorsed, from Accenture to Nike, made it to the headlines of every newspaper, with eager readers panting to find out who would drop him first. A golfer worth a billion dollars is not the world’s most loved person, however much he may be admired. But this column’s not about celebrity hunting. It’s about controversy. The power of controversy.
Nothing builds a brand quicker than controversy. The uglier the controversy, the more profitable its outcome. You can ask me why this happens in a world where we are always taught to sidestep trouble, walk the straight and narrow. The reasons simple: Controversy polarises opinion. When public opinions polarised on any issue, be it Tiger Woods or MNIK, Raj Thackeray or Mayavati, Husain or Bt Brinjal, it immediately grabs headlines. You can’t help but notice it. In fact, everyone notices it and then, thanks to the Net, everyone reads up everything on it. No amount of paid publicity can ever achieve the phenomenal reach controversy delivers. A broken theatre and a few torn hoardings can give an unbearably boring film screaming front page coverage for days on end, and fans a righteous cause to fight for. Yes, it was the Sena that made MNIK such a success. There was little buzz about its promotions till Saamna attacked it and SRK cleverly turned the tables on them.
This brings me to the smart art of conflict management. Take an issue, any issue. Instead of spending a fortune on putting out your point of view, it’s much easier to design an emotionally charged controversy around it so that people can take extreme positions. Make it a clear love/hate choice and, before you know it, everyone’s on one side or the other. The commercial objectives will be instantly realised. Funnily, no controversy ever goes to waste. The worms in Cadbury chocolates led to Amitabh Bachchan being brought in to repair the brand’s image. He not only repaired the image but brought the brand back into business, stronger.
Every time consumer activists attack soft drinks, they sell more, almost as if by consumer defiance. The more we rant about transfats, the more people flock to fast food counters. It’s not only the young who refuse to have health concerns forced down their throat; everyone resents being told what not to do. Any pressure exerted, be it not to see MNIK or not to drink Coke or not to eat a burger at McDonald’s only helps increase their sales. Word of mouth, an old aphorism we used in the context of movies that people saw, liked and spread the word about, no longer works. People want to make their own choice these days. A tiny movie called Thanks Maa has got rave reviews this week. Will they sell one extra ticket? Unlikely. Will the film be around in theatres long enough to reap the benefit of word of mouth publicity? Unlikely. Quality and saleability walk on divergent tracks these days.
Actually good, clean entertainment is no longer in great demand. Good, healthy, nourishing food hasn’t even taken off. Brain-dead cinema rules. So does wicked food. The moment you talk about wholesomeness, you drive away consumers. Good is confused with bland. It works on the same principle that Sarat Chandra (author of Devdas and Parineeta) once espoused, that the more you denigrate a woman, the more you call her immoral, the more attractive she appears to everyone else. Simple question: Would you rather spend an hour with Mother Teresa, listening to her homilies, or with Angelina Jolie risking your perfect marriage?
So let’s not kid ourselves. If you have something to sell, go make such a huge controversy around it that the world stops dead in its tracks. Husain’s fortunes were flagging when the saffronites went for him. Tyeb, Souza, Gaitonde, even young Subodh Gupta had hijacked his best-selling tag. Auction after auction saw Husain’s prices tanking. Now, post this silly controversy, he’s back — right on top. Raj Thackeray followed the same strategy in politics, instigating one controversy after another, to ensure that he created a space for himself in Maharashtra politics. It’s not a unique strategy. Balasaheb Thackeray, Mayavati, Jayalalithaa, Mamta Banerjee, and even Sonia Gandhi used every controversy to further their political cause. Each controversy helped consolidate their presence in politics, enhanced their play. Just as Sanjay Dutt became a bigger star after Khalnayak and his stint in jail. Salman has hit a purple patch with every controversy. Saif even got a Padma Shri for riling the Bishnois.
It all goes to prove the point: If success is what you seek, go get yourself a controversy. Or else, consign your dreams to oblivion.

Gadgets - Boon or Bane(nice article from Times)

TILL GADGET DO US PART

Do your friends and family members crib about your being constantly hooked to your blackberry and laptop? You may be headed towards a tumultuous relationship, says Lisa Mary Thomson

THERE’S an anecdote about a middle-aged professional who sat his son down to break the bitter news that he and wife were going through a divorce. After a few minutes of explaining the details to his son, the father was left dumbfounded when the young man perked up “This is the first time Dad you’re actually talking and listening to me, without your phone or your laptop in tow.”
While it may not be exactly be a punishable offence to check e-mails via the phone or to spend some time after dinner finishing work on a laptop, it’s a visible addiction that professionals in India are fast falling prey to. Ergo, the men and women fidgeting with their phones, answering emails or taking calls - be it in a social gathering like a wedding or under the table during a private dinner. While being wired to the office on a 24/7 basis may bring the next promotion closer, it’s often at the cost of family and relationships.
Ask any psychologist or corporate counselor and they’d probably point out the increase in the number of those whose obsession with their black-beauties has led to ugly confrontations. In the rare occasion, even divorce. According to Monica Chib, senior consultant psychiatrist at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, technologically charged couples have far less time for each other which has definitely had an impact on closeness and physical intimacy. Most often, because they are just too tired at the end of a long day to cater to the needs of a partner.
The problem is even more acute in the case of those who work in firms where the parent company or clients are overseas. It isn’t uncommon for employees to return home and then shut themselves in a room for hours to attend to conference calls. “These conference calls are often at “overseas office hours” which means that they will have to attend to it in their personal time. This has a negative impact on family life and members are beginning to drift apart,” points out Ranjana Rawat, regional manager-north of 1to1help.net which offers counseling and employee assistance programmes to organizations.
While children who grow up in such families tend to be extremely independent, experts feel that they lack bonding skills and find it difficult to develop a level of closeness with people. In extreme cases, they have made unsuitable alliances in the attempt to find some affection.
However, for a larger number of young families where both spouses lead extremely high powered lives, partners have come to the terms with the fact that their marriage is simply a convenient arrangement. “So while neither may be able to spare each other time for months on end, it’s convenient to have a husband or a wife who they can take to a social do,” says Dr. Chib. Those who work in sectors with long work hours face the added challenge of having to explain their closeness with colleagues to spouses who feel threatened by the level of intimacy. Experts feel that this insecurity has broken up many a marriage.
But if the men have come to terms easily with working long hours or into the night, for the women, it’s often meant dealing with a sack-load of frustration and guilt. On one hand, they feel that if their jobs that require putting in extra-hours, their spouses should understand it and if necessary, just call for home-delivery for dinner. On the other hand, there is also the guilt associated with the fact that they are letting their family down.
Human resource experts, though, believe that it’s more a question of discipline given that devices like laptops and Blackberry’s have given employees a great deal of flexibility. Says Surbhi Mathur Gandhi, general manager, permanent staffing at TeamLease services, “While handing over a device like a laptop or a Blackberry comes with the expectation that the individual will be available for any situation, optimal utilization is the prerogative of the individual.”
Though company culture and the demands of customers account for some amount of an employee’s addiction to devices, Pramod Sadarjoshi, executive director of human resources at IDBI Bank feel that individuals always have the option of declaring themselves off-limits without having to face recrimination by their employers. Sadarjoshi feels that as long as an individual has a genuine reason and has a credible reputation; it isn’t difficult to negotiate for some time off. He even insists that employees of the bank compulsorily take a few days off to rejuvenate and spend some time with their families.
Bangalore-based Anand Halankar, who was young Blackberry user, when he worked for an organization in Dubai, feels that an individual always has the option of replying to e-mails only if they are urgent. While the tendency is generally to respond to at least some mails to prevent them from piling up, Halankar says that in the two and a half years that he used it, it never affected his personal life. He adds that more people in India tend to work after work hours in comparison with Dubai where people took their after work time and holidays very seriously.
Closer home too, both individuals and corporates have increasingly begun touting the need for work-life balance as a priority issue. Infosys, for instance, has a Health Assessment and Life Enrichment (HALE) plan with a hotline aimed at helping individuals balance their professional lives with the personal. Other companies have chosen to have flexi-time or work-from-home options, childcare facilities at the workplace, concierge services for employees, periodic social gettogethers and so on. Employees too seem to be placing more value on companies which allow them to strike the balances. Anuradha Oza, senior associate of the human capital team at the consultancy Mercer feels that while remuneration is a key factor, work-life balance has also become a primary driver influencing people in favour of certain jobs. In fact, Oza recollects a time in the US when Blackberry addicts were referred to as ‘Crackberry’ addicts.
The bottomline, however, seems to be the need for individual discipline with technology and the attempt ‘to be present entirely when you are present’. Frenny Bawa, VP-India of Research In Motion which offers the Blackberry smartphones, can vouch for this. In her view, her much-maligned product allows people to drive greater productivity out of their time. For Frenny herself, who had begun to visit the office on a Sunday night to deal with the barrage of mail that would be awaiting her on a Monday morning, her Blackberry has been as a great way to get ahead of the curve without being chained to her desk. So after all, this may just be a question of personal choice.
lisa.thomson@timesgroup.com

Zen Habits - Nice Article from V.Shakthi(@v_shakthi)

Zen Habits

Simple Productivity

How Not to Hurry

Slow down and enjoy life.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ~ Lao Tzu

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

Consider the above quote from Lao Tzu, (perhaps mythical) father of Taoism: how can it be true?

Is it possible to never hurry, but to get everything done?

It seems contradictory to our modern world, where everything is a rush, where we try to cram as much into every minute of the day as possible, where if we are not busy, we feel unproductive and lazy.

In fact, often we compete by trying to show how busy we are. I have a thousand projects to do! Oh yeah? I have 10,000! The winner is the person who has the most insane schedule, who rushes from one thing to the next with the energy of a hummingbird, because obviously that means he’s the most successful and important.

Right?

Maybe not. Maybe we’re playing the wrong game — we’ve been conditioned to believe that busier is better, but actually the speed of doing is not as important as what we focus on doing.

Maybe we’re going at the wrong speed. Maybe if we are constantly rushing, we will miss out on life itself. Let’s let go of the obsession with speed, and instead slow down, stop rushing, and enjoy life.

And still get everything done.

Let’s look at how.

A Change of Mindset
The most important step is a realization that life is better when you move at a slower, more relaxed pace, instead of hurrying and rushing and trying to cram too much into every day. Instead, get the most out of every moment.

Is a book better if you speed read it, or if you take your time and get lost in it?

Is a song better if you skim through it, or if you take the time to really listen?

Is food better if you cram it down your throat, or if you savor every bite and really appreciate the flavor?

Is your work better if you’re trying to do 10 things at once, or if you really pour yourself into one important task?

Is your time spent with a friend or loved one better if you have a rushed meeting interrupted by your emails and text messages, or if you can relax and really focus on the person?

Life as a whole is better if you go slowly, and take the time to savor it, appreciate every moment. That’s the simplest reason to slow down.

And so, you’ll need to change your mindset (if you’ve been stuck in a rushed mindset until now). To do this, make the simple admission that life is better when savored, that work is better with focus. Then make the commitment to give that a try, to take some of the steps below.

But I Can’t Change!
There will be some among you who will admit that it would be nice to slow down, but you just can’t do it … your job won’t allow it, or you’ll lose income if you don’t do as many projects, or living in the city makes it too difficult to go slowly. It’s a nice ideal if you’re living on a tropical island, or out in the country, or if you have a job that allows control of your schedule … but it’s not realistic for your life.

I say bullshit.

Take responsibility for your life. If your job forces you to rush, take control of it. Make changes in what you do, in how you work. Work with your boss to make changes if necessary. And if really necessary, you can eventually change jobs. You are responsible for your life.

If you live in a city where everyone rushes, realize that you don’t have to be like everyone else. You can be different. You can walk instead of driving in rush hour traffic. You can have fewer meetings. You can work on fewer but more important things. You can be on your iPhone or Blackberry less, and be disconnected sometimes. Your environment doesn’t control your life — you do.

I’m not going to tell you how to take responsibility for your life, but once you make the decision, thehow will become apparent over time.

Tips for a Slower-Paced Life
I can’t give you a step-by-step guide to moving slower, but here are some things to consider and perhaps adopt, if they work for your life. Some things might require you to change some major things, but they can be done over time.

1. Do less. Cut back on your projects, on your task list, on how much you try to do each day. Focus not on quantity but quality. Pick 2-3 important things — or even just one important thing — and work on those first. Save smaller, routine tasks for later in the day, but give yourself time to focus. Read more.
2. Have fewer meetings. Meetings are usually a big waste of time. And they eat into your day, forcing you to squeeze the things you really need to do into small windows, and making you rush. Try to have blocks of time with no interruptions, so you don’t have to rush from one meeting to another.
3. Practice disconnecting. Have times when you turn off your devices and your email notifications and whatnot. Time with no phone calls, when you’re just creating, or when you’re just spending time with someone, or just reading a book, or just taking a walk, or just eating mindfully. You can even disconnect for (gasp!) an entire day, and you won’t be hurt. I promise.
4. Give yourself time to get ready and get there. If you’re constantly rushing to appointments or other places you have to be, it’s because you don’t allot enough time in your schedule for preparing and for traveling. Pad your schedule to allow time for this stuff. If you think it only takes you 10 minutes to get ready for work or a date, perhaps give yourself 30-45 minutes so you don’t have to shave in a rush or put on makeup in the car. If you think you can get there in 10 minutes, perhaps give yourself 2-3 times that amount so you can go at a leisurely pace and maybe even get there early.
5. Practice being comfortable with sitting, doing nothing. One thing I’ve noticed is that when people have to wait, they become impatient or uncomfortable. They want their mobile device or at least a magazine, because standing and waiting is either a waste of time or something they’re not used to doing without feeling self-conscious. Instead, try just sitting there, looking around, soaking in your surroundings. Try standing in line and just watching and listening to people around you. It takes practice, but after awhile, you’ll do it with a smile.
6. Realize that if it doesn’t get done, that’s OK. There’s always tomorrow. And yes, I know that’s a frustrating attitude for some of you who don’t like laziness or procrastination or living without firm deadlines, but it’s also reality. The world likely won’t end if you don’t get that task done today. Your boss might get mad, but the company won’t collapse and the life will inevitably go on. And the things that need to get done will.
7. Start to eliminate the unnecessary. When you do the important things with focus, without rush, there will be things that get pushed back, that don’t get done. And you need to ask yourself: how necessary are these things? What would happen if I stopped doing them? How can I eliminate them, delegate them, automate them?
8. Practice mindfulness. Simply learn to live in the present, rather than thinking so much about the future or the past. When you eat, fully appreciate your food. When you’re with someone, be with them fully. When you’re walking, appreciate your surroundings, no matter where you are.Read this for more, and also try The Mindfulist.
9. Slowly eliminate commitments. We’re overcommitted, which is why we’re rushing around so much. I don’t just mean with work — projects and meetings and the like. Parents have tons of things to do with and for their kids, and we overcommit our kids as well. Many of us have busy social lives, or civic commitments, or are coaching or playing on sports teams. We have classes and groups and hobbies. But in trying to cram so much into our lives, we’re actually deteriorating the quality of those lives. Slowly eliminate commitments — pick 4-5 essential ones, and realize that the rest, while nice or important, just don’t fit right now. Politely inform people, over time, that you don’t have time to stick to those commitments.

Try these things out. Life is better when unrushed. And given the fleeting nature of this life, why waste even a moment by rushing through it?

Remember the quote above: if nature can get everything done without rushing, so can you.

Business – Lessons from carrefour(from spoonfeedin.wordpress)

Business – Lessons from carrefour

Raghavendra Kamath

Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer, is all set to enter India – it will launch its own cash and carry venture this year. The buzz about the French retail giant finally tying the knot with Kishore Biyani’s Future Group is also getting louder.

Though Carrefour has its sourcing office in the country for over two decades, it has been playing hard to get over the last five years as negotiations with almost all big Indian companies – Bharti, Wadias, DLF, Parasvnath and Reliance Retail – ended without any results. According to reports, the long wait is about to come to an end with the Future Group being the lucky one.

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So what will Carrefour, which had a turnover of 92 billion euros (Rs 6.25 lakh crore), over half of which came from international operations, bring to the table when it starts its operations in India? What makes the brand tick in 35 countries all over the world? A lot, really, say retail experts. Here are some of them.

LOCALISATION

“Localisation has been the biggest strength of Carrefour in the countries it operates — from local tie-ups to hiring local executives to run stores, local sourcing to merchandising, they do it well,” says Purnendu Kumar, associate vice president of Technopak Advisors, a business consultancy.

Retail experts say China was a classic example of how Carrefour adapted to local conditions. Carrefour entered China in 1995 by forming a joint venture with the Chinese management consulting firm Zhong Chuang, and established a firm called ‘Jia Chuang’. When most foreign retailers viewed China as a large market, Carrefour saw it as many small markets.

It designed stores and launched private labels to suit Chinese consumers and each store ran independently. It hired local people in key positions and kept the staffing lean. “Since their hypermarkets are large, they hired qualified professionals to run it and gave them as much freedom as possible, thereby each store manager ended up running a store like a CEO,” says Hemant Kalbag, partner and vice-president at business consultancy AT Kearney.

Each store manager could take decisions depending on the local traditions and customs. “Since retail activities are all about contact with people, the group consistently emphasizes local recruitment plus management and staff training on the job wherever they work,” says the Carrefour group’s website.

SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES

Carrefour mostly uses ‘direct procurement strategy’ in the markets it operates. It sources 90-95 per cent of the products on its shelves locally, depending on the country in markets such as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Italy and Greece. This helped Carrefour to maintain lower prices compared to other foreign retailers, in international markets.

And India is no exception to its strategy. Carrefour currently works with about 90 suppliers/ farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana; directly dealing with the farmers for quality production and effective supply chain management. The various products being exported from India include organic clothing, fruits and vegetables to Europe, UAE, Indonesia, Europe, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Carrefour exports goods worth $ 170 million (Rs 782 crore) from India.

It also keeps its supply chain very economical and flexible. It uses vehicle from trucks to bikes depending on the need, area to be covered and cost, says a former Carrefour employee.

Initially, Carrefour used the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for procurement, which required electronic linking of stores, warehouses and suppliers through computer networks. After 2003, the retailer adopted Integrated Composite Application Network (ICAN) software to integrate its stores, distribution centres and supply chain partners in various countries. “They have efficient processes, supply chain, back-end systems which are working very well for them. Retail is nothing but making right choices about merchandising, supply chain and systems,” says Kalbag of AT Kearney.

STORE OPENINGS

Decentralisation is another key strategy of Carrefour. In China, all foreign retailers followed the centralisation policy, with one headquarter controlling the operations of all stores in the country, Carrefour did exactly the opposite. It set up regional offices in each of the Chinese provinces and that office took care of shops in that particular region.

It is also adapting stores to local needs. Carrefour has been making its hypermarkets compact depending on lifestyles of customers in countries where it operates. According to the company, its average size of hypermarket has come down to 54,000 sq ft in 2008, just two-thirds the size of a store opened in 2004. In Bogotá, for example, Carrefour opened two hypermarkets with less than 26,000 sq.ft of sales area. In Taiwan, Carrefour’s growth is being driven by compact and mini formats, some of which are located in shopping malls and offer a wide array of services and leisure activities.

So what is taking them so long to enter India when their international rivals are already here? Make no mistake: the retail giant is doing its homework well.”They have hired a lot of people in the National Capital Region where the staffers’ job is just to check the varieties of different products available in the stores of Indian retailers, their pricing and so on. They want to be the best in offering and pricing when they enter” says a former Carrefour executive who did not want to be quoted.

Kelloggs tussle - nice article from Times

India's organised retail story has just begun 27 Jan 2010, 0621 hrs IST, Rajiv Banerjee, Moinak Mitra & Writankar Mukherjee, ET Bureau

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The end came after months of a tense stand off. Hectic talks and parleys between the two parties, sometimes muted and sometimes threatening led to a nought. Finally, the Kellogg’s brand was pulled off the shelves from 148 Big Bazaar stores. “We pleaded with them to listen to us and understand the issues. At the end, it was a futile exercise and some what humiliating to go to them again and again,” a senior official from the Future group says, commenting on the imbroglio. When Big Bazaar banned Kellogg’s, it replaced the counters with its private label Tasty Treat corn flakes on the shelf. The claim by Big Bazaar officials so far on the off take of the private labels performance vis-a-vis Kellogg’s is encouraging. If Big Bazaar with its strikingly similar colours and packaging to Kellogg’s packs is able to entrench itself in the breakfast cereals category, it will open a new chapter and another front between the fledgling own labels programme of retailers and national brands in India. The Kellogg’s-Big Bazaar fracas indicates that the working relationship between retailers and brands will remain a stormy affair. Both parties will test each other to assess the strain one can take in this battle for shelf space. Even as officials at Future group claim that Kellogg’s refused to acknowledge the reason behind the increase in margins which the retailer was asking for, Kellogg’s response is it didn’t make business sense. “We can’t accede if they ask for the moon,” the Kellogg’s executive states. He adds that even Carrefour, Wal-Mart in developed markets never remove market leaders from the shelves and terms it as an “unnecessary show of strength”. Industry observers call this tussle as a natural progression as both parties are trying to settle into a marriage. “Even today modern trade constitutes around 4-5% of the total trade serviced by national brands. So brands were not looking at it seriously, where as retailers after tasting blood with private labels feel emboldened,” says Asitava Sen, director, business consulting, The Nielsen Company. Thomas Varghese, CEO, Aditya Birla retail says private labels currently accounts for approximately 19% of his company sales across categories with around 13 power brands and store brands covering almost 300 SKUs at More stores. “Large international brands across countries have also had competition from private labels and now the time has come for them to face similar competition here as well,” he says. SHELF HELP The private label programmes definitely got a fillip courtesy the slowdown. While consumers held back on high ticket purchases, there was a downgrading by consumers which the retailers seized as an opportunity with the store labels. Devendra Chawla, business head - private brands, Pantaloon retail says the growth from zero to Rs 180 crore turnover for own labels is a result of same value at less mark up. Citing the example of foods and beverages, where the company has presence from — from noodles to colas — Chawla says it’s an engine for growth in the time to come. Damodar Mall, customer director, Future group seconds the thought. “Most of the purchases are non branded and therefore it’s a open level playing field right now. Category will expand, consumers will change, who will win? The jury is still out,” says Mall. At the same time, national brands have been working with the unorganised trade under taking retail initiatives like the Supervalue Stores from Hindustan Unilever (HUL didn’t respond to our queries) and Purple Kings initiated by Cadbury with varying degree of success. Sen however reckons the partnering with conventional trade has its own pangs. “After all, its franchisee management and brands are going through a learning curve here as well. But identifying the high net worth stores and nurturing them makes a lot of sense and is lot easier compared to developing relationships with modern trade.” So the road ahead means some smart manoeuvring both by retailers and brands. Aditya Agarwal, director, Emami admits that getting shelf space is a challenge as retailers increase their focus on private labels. “Brand building will play a major role. We plan to increase our investment on brand building, come up with more SKUs and merchandising for modern retail to fight this game of private labels,” says Agarwal, adding that there will always be a set of consumers who are price conscious and not brand conscious. Brands believe that retailers shouldn’t discount the pull factor of national brands. “Private labels has to be there for modern trade to survive. At the same time, retailers need national brands to grow categories for their own labels to ride,” states Sunil Sethi, ED, sales and customer development, Cadbury. Despite the differing points of view, retailers know they need the national brands and manufacturers realise the importance of a new channel like modern trade. This applies for OTC brands as well. Case in point: GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK) joined hands with Shoprite from South Africa which runs a cash-n-carry format. The company worked closely with Shoprite to help grow two categories – Antacids and Pain Balms which do not get purchased from the modern trade, explains Navneet Saluja, EVP - sales, GSK. “We worked closely with Shoprite and drafted a channel strategy for modern trade, where cross-category and checkout placements were identified as an opportunity to create a shopping occasion through impulse buying.” As a result of this exercise, the antacid category has grown 6 times in Shoprite and pain balm category has doubled, states Saluja. Another trend likely to gain root according to industry experts is brands sticking to its core proposition and resisting the temptation to become a retailer themselves. Citing the example in fashion retail, Govind Shrikhande, CEO, Shoppers’ Stop says that apparel brands opened their own stores in the hope of increasing off take. “So inside a mall, they are present in MBOs (multi brand outlets) and also stand alone. So they are killing business opportunities for everybody as there isn’t enough throughput. “Instead why don’t you pay me 30-35 % margin, I give you the shopping experience, get the throughput and achieve the sales target,” he states. Indeed the jury is still out on how exactly will the changes shape up the modern trade landscape in the future. For along with the changes on the shelves, there has been a course correction on retail network as well as back end. The organised retailing story is by no mean over, infact, it’s just begun.

The Reason You’re Stuck (and the one best way to avoid the six ways that will keep you stuck)

Nice Article from Zenhabits.net

Photo courtesy of Pikaluk.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from best-selling author and top bloggerSeth Godin, author of the new bookLinchpin: Are You Indispensable?.

Why is it so difficult to ship?

Ship as in get it out the door. Ship as in make a difference at work. Ship as in contribute your art and vision and expertise and passion to the project you’re working on.

Regular readers of this blog (and of Leo’s life-changing book) have seen first hand what happens when you force the distractions out of your life and focus on what needs to be completed instead. What he has taught us is that when you focus your efforts and energies on things that matter and cut out the stalling and distractions, amazing things happen. It’s absolutely astonishing how much we can accomplish (and insanely disappointing how few people do).

What separates the few who ship from the masses who stumble, stall and ultimately surrender?

The resistance.

Steven Pressfield first wrote about the resistance a few years ago. The resistance is that little voice in the back of your head, the one that tells you that it will never work, the one that insists you check your email one last time, the one that worries that people will laugh at you.

The resistance loves committees and it hates a mission. The resistance creates fear and uncertainty, and it will do almost anything to keep you from being noticed. There’s a biological underpinning to the resistance–your amygdala. The amygdala is the pre-historic portion of your brain, located near the brain stem. It’s responsible for fear and anger and revenge and sex and survival. When the amygdala is aroused, when it feels threatened, when there’s a sense that people might actually laugh at you, it takes over. It rises up in rage and fear and shuts you down.

And so the resistance kicks in. The resistance goes to meetings and plays devil’s advocate (I didn’t know the devil needed an advocate.)

The resistance finds excuses, it makes tasks needlessly complex (or oversimplifies so much that you fail). The resistance uses phrases like, “see, I told you it would never work.” The resistance demands that you study the issue more, or grab a Diet Coke, or go visit those friends who are in from out of town and you won’t be able to see them unless you go right now. The resistance invented yak shaving. The resistance is also responsible for giving you an even better idea just before you finish this one… in fact, the resistance will do anything it can to prevent you from shipping.

Why do little companies get so much more out the door than big ones? Because big companies have committees, groups of people designed to protect the status quo, to prevent failure, to avoid catastrophe. The committee is made up of humans, each of whom is battling her own version of the resistance. “If this ships, my boss will see it, and I might get fired.” “If this ships, a kid might use it, cut of his finger and I might get in trouble.” “If this ships, people are going to think it was my idea, and there’s a chance, just a chance, they might hate it.” Most of all, “if this ships, people might laugh at me.” And so the committee shoots for the lowest common denominator of safety, a product or service or idea that arouses no one’s lizard brain. Which means mediocre. Or late. Or both.

The iPod came from two people, Steve and Jonathan. The Zune came from 250. Which product would you rather own?

The resistance sabotaged my work for years. It pushed me to focus on average topics, delivered in a blameless way, because that felt safer.

So, when others were starting search engines or revolutionizing the online world, I was busy creating sort of ordinary books for sort of ordinary editors who were looking for the next small thing. And no one scolded me for doing this. No one looked at my sort of average work and called me out on it, because they were fighting the very same resistance as I was. It’s surprisingly easy to get through life and make a career out of being average… the resistance would prefer it if you did.

The resistance is powerful, so powerful that all the shortcuts, time savers and focusing tools are powerless in its path. Now you know its name. Now you know how it sneaks in under the radar and sounds quite sensible as it undermines your work and compromises your vision. When the resistance appears, you must call it out. Call it by name. Recognize it for what it is and then defeat it. You will defeat it not by rationalization or even a calm discussion. You will defeat it with single-minded effort, effort so deep and dedicated that it might exhaust you.

Unfortunately, the web is filled with tips and tricks and lists that appear to help you in your quest to shut up the lizard, to defeat the resistance. I say unfortunately because these lists are calm, practical and ultimately ineffective. They are polite in the face of a nefarious enemy, they are rational in the face of screaming insecurity. None of them are working for you because you may not be serious about actually defeating the resistance. It’s fun to procrastinate and comforting to dissemble, because not shipping doesn’t arouse the lizard brain. It’s safe.

The challenge then, the missing link in the Zen Habits is this: you must quiet the lizard brain. You must defeat the resistance. You must find something SO IMPORTANT that it is worth enraging your prehistoric fears, SO IMPORTANT that you can’t sleep until it ships, SO IMPORTANT that yes, you are willing to go through all the hoops Leo lays out for you in order to ship.

Either that, or you could be mediocre instead.

Seth Godin is the author of a new book called Linchpin. It’s about recognizing, defeating and ultimately destroying the resistance on the path to doing work that matters. Read more about the book.
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9 Great Reasons to Drink More Water

Article from happyyou...

1. Water gives you bright and healthy skin.

Water naturally moisturizes skin and ensures proper cellular formation underneath layers of skin to give it a healthy, glowing appearance. Water stimulates the circulation of your blood, fluids, and the necessary elements inside your body. It also controls and regulates the skin’s natural balance. When water is warm, it has the energy to hydrate, refresh, detoxify, and oxygenate your skin. Warm water also gets rid of blackheads and makes large pores smaller. Drinking water makes the body more relaxed and rejuvenated.

2. Water keeps your brain healthy.

Your brain tissue contains about 85% water. Regularly drinking water keeps your brain to function well. Studies have shown that dehydration is a key factor in causing migraines, headaches, chronic fatigue syndrome and depression. The most common cause of daytime fatigue is actually mild dehydration.

3. Water flushes out those nasty toxins out of your body.

The function of your kidneys is to get rid of any waste from your body. If these toxins stay in your body they make you feel tired and sometimes unwell. These toxins also place a harmful burden on the other systems in your body. Water aids in the digestion process and prevents constipation.

4. Water regulates your body temperature, particularly during exercise.

When you exercise, you lose water through your breath and by sweating. As the sweat evaporates, your body cools. Replenishing any water you lose during exercise is vital for physical performance and good health. Too much water loss will increase your risk of heat exhaustion. In addition, to your normal six to eight glasses of water each day, drink a glass before you exercise. Then, for each 20 minutes of exercise, drink another cup or more. Be sure to drink a cup or two after you finish.

5. Drinking plenty of water lessens the risk of heart attacks.

Research has also shown that people who drink more than 5 glasses of water a day are less likely to die from a heart attack than people who drink less than two.

6. Water raises your metabolism.

Metabolism is the way by which the food you eat is converted into energy. The first chemical process that takes place is digestion. This process prepares the nutrients in the food to be absorbed by the body and transformed into energy. Drinking plenty of water is essential to maintain good digestion which keeps your metabolism going. The health benefit of water is better consumption of the nutrients you consume resulting in loads more energy.

7. You lose weight by drinking water.

Water helps you maintain a healthy body weight by increasing metabolism and regulating appetite. Drinking water is important if you’re trying to lose weight, some studies have shown that thirst and hunger sensations are triggered together. If there is a slight dehydration the thirst mechanism may be mistaken for hunger and you might eat when the body is really thirsty. As most food contains some water, if you don’t drink much they may be subconsciously driven to eat more to gain the necessary water supply however, you also consume more calories. So in short, drinking more water can help to prevent overeating and benefit weight loss.

8. Water is absolutely essential to the human body’s survival.

A person can live for about a month without food, but only about a week without water.

9. Drinking water lessens your chance of cancer.

Drinking plenty of water can decrease the risk of certain types of cancers, including colon cancer.

The importance of the cat in meditation

A nice read from the blog of Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho

Having written a book about madness (Veronika decides to die) , I was forced to wonder how many things we do are imposed on us by necessity, or by the absurd. Why wear a tie? Why do clocks run “clockwise”? If we live in a decimal system, why does the day have 24 hours of 60 minutes?
The fact is, many of the rules we obey nowadays have no real foundation. Nevertheless, if we wish to act differently, we are considered “crazy” or “immature”.
Meanwhile, society continues to create some systems which, in the fullness of time, lose their reason for existence, but continue to impose their rules. An interesting Japanese story illustrates what I mean by this:

A great Zen Buddhist master, who was in charge of the Mayu Kagi monastery, had a cat which was his true passion in life. So, during meditation classes, he kept the cat by his side – in order to make the most of his company.
One morning, the master – who was already quite old – passed away. His best disciple took his place.
– What shall we do with the cat? – asked the other monks.
As a tribute to the memory of their old instructor, the new master decided to allow the cat to continue attending the Zen Buddhist classes.

Some disciples from the neighboring monasteries, traveling through those parts, discovered that, in one of the region’s most renowned temples, a cat took part in the meditation sessions. The story began to spread.
Many years passed. The cat died, but as the students at the monastery were so used to its presence, they soon found another cat. Meanwhile, the other temples began introducing cats in their meditation sessions: they believed the cat was truly responsible for the fame and excellence of Mayu Kagi’s teaching.

A generation passed, and technical treatises began to appear about the importance of the cat in Zen meditation. A university professor developed a thesis – which was accepted by the academic community – that felines have the ability to increase human concentration, and eliminate negative energy.
And so, for a whole century, the cat was considered an essential part of Zen Buddhist studies in that region.

Until a master appeared who was allergic to animal hair, and decided to remove the cat from his daily exercises with the students.

There was a fierce negative reaction – but the master insisted. Since he was an excellent instructor, the students continued to make the same progress, in spite of the absence of the cat.
Little by little, the monasteries – always in search of new ideas, and already tired of having to feed so many cats – began eliminating the animals from the classes. In twenty years new revolutionary theories began to appear – with very convincing titles such as “The Importance of Meditating Without a Cat”, or “Balancing the Zen Universe by Will Power Alone, Without the Help of Animals”.

Another century passed, and the cat withdrew completely from the meditation rituals in that region. But two hundred years were necessary for everything to return to normal – because during all this time, no one asked why the cat was there.


in my book “Like a flowing river”