The flame of enterprise

Book Review: Non-fiction/Business/Memoir, Flame: The story of my mother Shahnaz Husain by Nelofar Currimbhoy, Hachette, 236 pp; Rs295 (Paperback)

Aristocratic background can’t make a flaming spirit saturated; Shahnaz Husain’s exceptional entrepreneurial journey makes the belief firmly established. She made her business plans modestly and started her further deliberations with the help of family and close friends, though rose to the rank in no time with her consistent innovation in the business of cosmetology. She and her company deserve credit for pioneering Ayurvedic beauty treatments; today it’s hardly surprising if the peoples from sixty countries are having reliance on her hundreds of beauty products. This could be inspiring for young entrepreneurs who have drive to strive best in the segment of small and medium businesses with frugally available resources and frequent odds on the way.

Nelofar, author and daughter of Shahnaz covers intricately about the mix shades of her mother’s long journey into a filed less travelled by the Indian entrepreneurs. The focussed narratives on the facts than impulses, the best quality her book has. She has learnt and lived up avidly her mother’s professionalism and spontaneity in judgement that this biography exudes well in beat and pieces. Life of an extraordinary businesswoman and a mother, both are precisely covered and in great deal it leaves momentum for readers to get in the success story with their own perspective too. Here, a less authoritative yet balanced command of biographer makes around the overtures very simple and meaningful, which enthusiasts of businesses may find apt and worth of sustained preservance.

The opening of Indian economy twenty-one years back has played formidable role in shaping of the consumer driven businesses, infact both the company-Infosys and Shahnaz could be counted among its outcome of high shot. Also they strengthen the notion that India’s business growth path is uneven and diverse through fluctuation in ‘economies of scale’, which India’s new entrepreneurial spirits correspond with the market sentiments and their end targets. Well before the present time, when business strategies are more in news for their consistent shambling drives, India also had a period of productive market experiments, when ideas indeed worked with the capitalist leverages. Without going in deep of its rational, it would be right if acknowledgement be made that entrepreneurship plays not less pivotal role than the market conditions.

Nilofar’s work will be read by the peoples from different set of profession and choices as the subject of her delineations can be correlated with all of them without stucking a tint of confronting spikes. When a noble business idea get execution well streamlined, world knows it for long as phenomenon, when not then certainly otherwise. There is nothing like sole powering of only big businesses in the domain of ideas, the good business idea and its executions is attainable to a large extent by the small/medium business too, which Shahnaz’s business confirms.

This is not the best time for growing companies, unlike few years back when ‘glitters too were resembling gold’. Situation is more compressed now with the prolonged indecisive policy approaches on the domestically generated ‘downward spiral’ in business. Whether things will be good or bad-time will tell but India’s chances are still alive in the world market, which atleast some of India’s original business practitioners is maintaining. A biography is always good if it tells the truth instead compulsively ordered letters, this book follows the previous case, so certainly it deserves to be taken in cognition by the readers. Book writing pattern is swiftly changing in India, ahead, which will be breaking the conventional settings where the conclusion could be drawn in different prisms and order!
Atul Kumar Thakur
July 26th, 2012, Thursday, New Delhi
Email: summertickets@gmail.com

Essential Etiquettes

Book Review: Business-Self Help/Business Etiquette by Shital Kakkar Mehra, Collins Business/Harper Collins publishers, 2944 pp; Rs250 (Paperback)

Shital Mehra is the lone figure in Indian corporate, who thought sincerely to write and spread awareness on Corporate Etiquette...for last four years, she has been writing a column for Economic Times-Corporate Dossier on soft business skills and now with her book, she is allowing a chance to those who found lesser pastime to read pink papers quite regularly but never feel short to do business. For doing business, etiquette is very essential-that can be to an extant enhanced and optimized by reading this book and further keeping ideas in practice..!

I have been reading Shital Kakkar Mehra's columns on business etiquette in Economic Times/Corporate Dossier for years and one morning was glad to found her on my blog's followers list. Her book “Business Etiquette” deserves to be read by all aspiring/and established folks in corporate world, who either lacks collective demeanour or knows it little...and also by those who wants to confirm their actual hold on behavioral action.

Under the consistent bad fluctuations in global market, the overall morale of working class has badly deteriorated. Peoples management lacking the essence of functional etiquette from top towards the middle to the bottom order...here Shital’s book would be of great help in specially bringing some basic redefinition of much needed etiquette among influential authorities.I read the book and found it very-very useful, those who are less savvy with the ET, will be more benefited with reading Shital's take on business etiquette!

The new world of open trade has substantial binding over many paradigms of life. Under its guise, sphere of culture is also passing through a very new situation that was never so compulsive for an integrated existence-even though with many direct or indirect disclaimers. In the last two decades, world has changed rapidly and made peoples more and more close in terms with all things superly activated in search of accomplishing hyped anticipated commercial goals. By its effects, productivity being taken only in price terms and values are thought for sidelining…lately, such tendency marring even the lowest possible ethics in behavioural terms.

Here is need of immediate relooking on the sidelined essential etiquettes for making business sustainable and more decent that what it is in present form. Also, etiquettes should be known and practiced more as a universally applicable quality rather categorizing it among the many blocks. Hence, for practicing business etiquettes, learning social norms would be remain imperative. With subtle details, this work would endow its readers some very important basics of etiquettes…its prolongations from business to the different domains will be highly desirable.

Learning always helps in finding the maximum insights and in most of cases, it never comes too early or late. Only matters, how one take the success in commerce or in other field as for transitory sake or look for a stable landmark! In fair world, that up to extant being decided by etiquette…in alternative world, terms and conditions hardly exists-we all know this open secret!
Atul Kumar Thakur
March 31, 2012, Saturday, New Delhi
Email: summertickets@gmail.com

Material extremes!

Book Review: Non-fiction/Business, Extreme Money by Satyajit Das, Penguin, 514 pp; Rs699 (Hardback)
More than misnomer, it would be a tragical travesty of long standing exercise if someone tries to see the world of finance through a different prism, away from western policy dominance! A long slavery of impure and irreverent economic policies has already stocked abundant flaws in the entire financial system whose risks are being maximised by the unrealistic integration of global trades. However, against that slapped backdrop, some voices have started appearing very resolutely, which are pragmatic, less pontified and chasing the way out of pervasive financial gloom.

Also it must not be considered a sacrilege, if someone defies the non-holy motives of Adam Smith’s texts including little anti-literature of his own basic thoughts “Theories of Moral Sentiments” or naturally opportunist courtesan economist, Kautilya’s “Arthshashtra”. Even beyond these two economic scribes, most of economic theories and its propunders too need a very articulate revisiting, better if much as stern as Jacques Derida demands in “textual rereading” framework. But certainly, this practice should not be sanctified like the way bandwagon tradition, it has confronted.

Satyajit Das, an internationally renowned expert of finance with earthly understanding of actual happenings in the global financial world, has come out with “Extreme Money”-a detailed work on monetary evolution, its rise and now the questionable survival. His views are formed through inside exposures in working with giant financial conglomerates and central banks across the world, especially in advanced western economies which possess capacity to make or mar the potential of financial growth outside of its terrain too.

Before the catastrophe broke at Wall Street in 2007, Satyajit has written celebrated book “Traders, Guns and Money”, as the name suggests, he exposed the unethical and undeserving derivatives trading with insightful inside account. Like Nouriel Roubini, he too sensed the impending financial failures ahead, in tune many others also felt so but alas their apprehensions were succumbed under the heavy acts of sidelining by the greedy financial experts and sadly passive regulators. Rest is history, how black acts drove financial markets initially weird and later over-vulnerable to be in tussle of surviving an unforeseen bizarre “hand to mouth like situation”.

As financial evolution and its rapid growth is a sort of declaration by human race for its supremacy over the rest participants of the whole ecosystem, so its perilous binding over the modern world could be easily conceived. En route this, questionable money games have lead to massive yet incoherent bubbles of fake growth, exotic financial plans like Ponzi and whole allowed gambling of capital markets denounced the all minimum values of business altogether at bay. That affected innumerable losses of jobs, private savings and overall the beliefs of common men from the financial sector. This is very alarming per say, if this sector really wants to rebound gracefully, though its chances are very minimal.

Author of this book has tried very well to encompass how the trap of financialising everything, from home mortgages to climate change have made selected fortunes and affected many. In his judicious conviction, Satyajit Das tells very realistically how “extreme money” is unreal, how still exotic financial instruments are generating huge profits and the exorbitant acceptance of Ivy League trained financial jovial minds leading the stream finance towards black whole from where return would be as exciting and unrealistic as beating the enemy nation in a Bond’s cinema!

It would be wrong to presume Indian economy emerging unscratched through the ongoing financial crisis began with subprime lending failures and now reaching another round of debacle with Euro zone crisis. The governing policies for reckless financial adventurism have still not getting the consideration it deserves, the prolonging of lackluster regulatory overtures further jeopardizing the chances of recovery and making the world truly wary from its havocking affects. The valid question arises, why central bankers are not converging with the actual scenario in western world?

The multilateral organisations are long back stopped performing any rational role to make international financial system harmonic and less risky. So it should be considered by the central banks, including RBI that the dividend of open trade is not restricted for equal sharing among the stakeholders but the downfall is very fairly attributed on them when the economies worldwide touches tailspin. No matter, how much international trade is integrated the role of national regulators and government is as much crucial as they used to before liberalisation wave in 1991.

Unrealistic euphoria may be destined to short-lived like financial bubbles generated by manipulated financial policies, so time is to think with proper imagination rather getting accustomed to be fall thinker and its myopic practitioner. Extreme Money is a serious step forward in this regard with well researched symptoms and solution of global finance within its fold, this work should be essentially read by the enthusiasts of finance and normally timid academic, who teaches finance-with or without real zest!
Atul Kumar Thakur
March 20, 2012, Tuesday, New Delhi
Email: summertickets@gmail.com

Micro finance: A Panacea of Sustenance

Micro finance notionally stand with social aspects of economic requirements for marginal or weaker sections,both at the rural and urban spaces. It caters the micro credit for immediate requirements of initial capital for farming activities as well as for lower scale entrepreneurial activities.It introduced superb social binding over its recipients with it's theoretical aim to promote group effort during the attainment of specific enterprise.
Popularly these groups are known as Self Help Group(SHG) can be regarded as a forward move with community involvement as a key specialty potential in strengthening the social fabrics and further ushering towards the more regulated social development.

Micro finance as a concept reemerged and gained popularity in 1970’s in East Asian and South Asian countries like Philippines , Bangladesh etc: later caused for the social orientation of banking in developing nations. By which affect the formation of rural banking (Gramin Bank) in Bangladesh and India infused immense hope for inclusive development in these countries.
Dr. Muhammad Yunus received accolades and numerous international awards for his extraordinary accomplishment, so much so that many believe that Micro finance as an institution began only in the 1970’s and that too only in Bangladesh. In fact there have been also earlier claim of successes like William Reiffcisen’s village banking movement; another noteworthy was caisse populaire of Alphonse Desjardins in France were amongst the notable instances where considerable improvement was brought in the condition of the extremely disadvantaged peoples.

Such early conceptions were not entirely hypothetical, though all the previous success of Micro financial activities were not operationalised in an organized banking system,so, such initiative were largely remained confined beyond the institutional pattern.
So, seeing huge success of Gramin Bank in Bangladesh under the visionary leadership of Md Yunus and satisfactory success of Indian Gramin Banking (RRBs) in their goal; now this so far untapped sector is drawing fresh insights from commercial banking NBFC and NGOs.Over the years,Micro finance has emerged as promising way to check the poverty and empowering the underprivileged especially Women, Unemployed and Disabled.
In India a measure policy initiative was made by NABARD in 1992,for SHG-Bank linkage as a pilot project which in course of time grown into one of the largest micro finance programme in the world.

IN AN ANOTHER GREAT MOVE:-
The NABARD is planning to start a MFI to take financing to the” poorest of poor”. The venture will be launched in partnership with Commercial Banks(49%) and NABARD(51%). NABARD will also launch a Financial Advising unit to help bring down the high incidence of farmers suicides.
Despite observing high growth of rural credits and other small segments of lending in last decades the formal sector, nevertheless Microfinance accounts for less than 40% of the agriculture and rural credit; these demonic reality still haunts the welfare aim of institutional finance.Another alarming area of concern would be the burgeoning SHG and Microfinancial organizations becoming a favourite hobby horse of the NGO for exorbitant business that is going to be a grave challenge for original conception behind this movement. Most of them fail on all the basic criteria. Such tendencies needs an immediate cure through stringent regulatory mechanism…

Recently the Government is also proposing a legislation by which it will be able to regulate the Micro financial institutions to ensure fair, equitable and ethical practices and democratic functioning but that regulatory checks must be timely implemented before loosing the essence behind this social venture.Legislation also propose a ceiling of Rs50,000 by MFI; which is considerable in rural segments of Micro credit but will not be suffice in enterprise finances. NABARD would be its regulator.
In some more forward move banks must approach to a customized savings products targeting the poor. NGO should assist SHG to usher in flexible savings options too likewise banks and MFI should deliver agricultural seasonal loans with flexible repayment options through groups on a pilot basis.

Here it’s a chance to create a Micro financial promotional agency on the lines of Pali Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) of Bangladesh programmes.Government must consider making NABARD MCID (Micro Credit Innovational Department) an autonomous promotional body. Having lower competitions among MFI is an another area where the India lag behinds from Bangladesh. Here some innovations are needed in Indian financial sector to infuse competition in Micro financial segments.
This is need of hour to innovate the existing products and introduce to some new product lines. Such some products which has called attention in Bangladesh can be also effective in India because of having many common grounds between two countries, some of those are: -
I. Risk Mitigation – As their insurance programmes are community managed on the basis of mutuality, they do not extend cover for risk of a co-variant nature, such as flood cover and crop failure.
II. Flexible Savings – To cope with food insecurity, employment insecurity etc.
III. Agricultural Finance- This product is already exists in India; only it needs more optimization for better needs and outcome.
IV. Larger Individual Enterprise Loans- This segment has drawn attention from policy makers like Dr Arjun Sengupta, chairmen, National Commission for Enterprise in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) expressed his views “If Micro finance properly nurtured and strengthened the unorganized non farm sector can be a pertinent tool of employment creation, poverty reduction and faster inclusive growth and would go a long way in closing the widening devide between urban and rural India.

NCEUS targeted fund corpus of 1,000 crores by 2011-12,target group for this corpus are small enterprise and the unorganized sector covering non farm activities employing less than 10 workers, primarily those with investment in plant and machinery not exceeding Rs5 lakh (excluding land and building at 2004-05 prices) if engaged in manufacturing and investment in plant machinery not exceeding Rs 2 lakh if engaged in non manufacturing.
However the upper limit of financing by the fund would be for enterprise with investment in plant and machinery not exceeding Rs25 lakh if engaged in manufacturing and investment in equipment not exceeding Rs 10 lakh if engaged in non manufacturing activities. As the commission cites the third census of SSI(2001-02);98% of all the manufacturing non agricultural small enterprise employed less than 10 works with an average capital investment of Rs1.47 lakh, quite a good number of them are also engaged in service business and trade.

Despite having all such arrangements, they hardly received about three percent of gross bank credit during 2002-03 to 2004-05 against the RBI priority sector plan that Micro enterprises should get 60% of total credit to SSI, they have been getting just about 40% and this had skidded to 34% in 2004-05.Even more surprising within the non farm, unorganized sector, the most vulnerable group is the smaller size micro enterprises with investment up to Rs 5lakh.
Here it will be quite imperative to channelize better policy options to minimize the suffering of this sector and enabled them for more healthy functioning. It could be a major area of employment generation, which follows by its stabilizing factor to domestic economy, So Government must also leveraged corporate to enter in Micro financial sector in more efficient and regulated manner-away from exorbitant aim of business.

Present presence of Corporate is still standing in obscure proportion, hope they will more motivated in near future with obeying the regulatory norms.In recent years Indian financial institution specially the Regional Rural Banks, some commercial Banks and to some extant Co-operative Banks displayed healthy trends in delivery of Micro credits in rural areas for farming and other employment generation programme. With merger and consolidation, RRBs being able to systematize restructuring of its business and healing from previous loss, now strengthening RRB; would indeed influence much stoutly to Micro finance programmes in near future.
Its huge branch network and strong presence in rural areas would be the most strategic factor in rural credit disbursement.Having tuned negatively for their poor financial structure and inefficient management system ; Co-operative Banks lost much of its reputation as pioneer of Micro financial movements.

Though implementation of Vaidyanathan committee is infusing some new hopes for their strategic revival. If it will able to regain its potential glory then, of course the task of mushrooming productive Micro credits would become much smooth.In present circumstances of financial meltdown, it would be desirable for Indian policy makers to stressed more on domestic financial features ; because it’s sheer domestic demand which is catalyst in sustaining the growing economy.
Hope the Micro financial programme along with other Priority sector programmes would get more attentions from policy front irrespective of any political rotations...besides RBI and NABARD have to keep vigil alive to not let deviate the social orientation of Microfinance for exorbitant greed of business by Corporates.

Atul Kumar Thakur
New Delhi
23rd March2009
atul_mdb@rediffmail.com