Guest Lecture by Mr. Amitesh Jasrotia, Manager- Ad Sales, Zee Business (ZNL) on 24th of September

Guest Lecture: Media Industry - An Overview

Speaker:  Mr. Amitesh Jasrotia, Manager - Ad Sales,  Zee Business

24^th Sep, 2011.

The enthusiasm and excitement of Mr. Amitesh Jasrotia was very evident in his presentation. And why not, it’s always great pleasure to visit your Alma matter. Mr. Amitesh Jasrotia, a 2004 batch pass out of DoMS IIT Roorkee conducted a highly informative and interactive session on Media Industry.  In very small time he beautifully described the entire picture of Media Industry starting from media history, TAM and media basics and the role of media agency to media planning. It was a complete knowledge session which made all the students conversant with almost all possible media jargons.

The discussion started with an overview of media industry starting with the history of media industry in 1991 and the changes occurred thereafter. The media industry today mainly constitutes of clients, media partners and media agencies. Previously the role of media agencies was to buy media, where the creative sector used to come up with the concept behind the advertisements. But in the 21^st century a lot of changes have taken place and now, creation of ads, media buying, media planning and research, all are done by the media agencies only. Thus they form an important part of media industry.

Following are the roles of media agencies:

1. Media Planning
2. Consumer Research Specialists
3.  Media Research
4.  Media Buyers
5.  Implementation Planners
6.  Interactive cell
7.  Out-of-Home(OOH)
8.  Operations
9.  Billing and Collection
10. Events/Retail/On-Ground

Then the discussion turned to the TV media and various methodologies used to measure television ratings. The only method being used till date is TAM (Television Audience Measurement) developed by A.C. Nielsen. It replaced the old Diary System. It has a remote and a monitoring device to record the frequency of channel being watched over 8000 sample homes across the country. The jargons commonly used in TV media were also explained such as Reach, SEC, TRPs, CPRP, Frequency, TG, GRPs, etc.

A business problem in media industry is addressed by a market analysis followed by a marketing plan. A media strategy in handling this situation is never conceived without a communication plan. A media strategy facilitates a certain target group (TG) in a SEC (Socio-Economic classification of TG) considering the ratings of GRPs, Frequency and Reach. It mainly serves the media mix consisting TV, Print, Radio etc on the basis of scheduling strategy which can be continuous, flighted or pulsing patterns. The main element of a media plan is the media budget which caps the activity level, media mix, scheduling, creative units for TV, print and planning objectives and deliveries.

The pros and cons of each component of media mix such as Print, TV, Radio, Magazines, Cinema, Outdoor and Internet was elucidated by the speaker providing the students with a clear picture of every media type. The marketing plan in media industry also decides the media objectives concerning major issues such as brand launch, sales promotion, educating potential consumers and brand reinforcement.

While answering our queries he stated that there is immense potential in media industry for MBA under marketing sector. He extended his help and guidance should anyone of us is keen to join this challenging sector.

Wriiten by: Priya Adhikary & Sachin Kabra.

Presentation on CSR Activities by THDC India Limited on 22nd September

Thdc csr presentation 22 sept 2011

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Exuberance 2011

Nobody is perfect, hence I may be imperfect but it is my team and it is the combination and synergy with us that makes my team Perfect.

Remembering the Titans

Management teaches us to compete, to excel and to emerge as winner. Exuberance - 2011, the annual sports meet of Department of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee ended last week in which second year emerged victorious. Least to say it was a tough competition between first year and second year students. Second year, also the winner of Exuberance – 2010 had the experience and the fresh faces of first year participated with infinite zeal and passion. Out of 200 points distributed among various sports, second year students were the first to cross 101 points.

Tournament started with an exciting match of football, which looked evenly poised most of the time, it was just four minutes before the closing time that second year scored two back-to-back goals. First year bounced back with a victory in Cricket match following day. Then was the time for the entry of female counterparts in tournament. First year girls outperformed second year girls in both Table Tennis singles and Badminton singles, however second year boys won these respective matches in boys leagues. First year students won TT men doubles. This was the time when second year got the much-required lead in Basketball and Volleyball.

After brawn in the field it was the turn of brain, first year defeated second year back to back in Chess, Carom and Pool. But as luck would have it at this moment of time second year students were standing up in the ladder with 105 points.

After 5 days of exciting competition, Exuberance was concluded with closing ceremony by Dr Z Rahman with Mr. Bharat Venishetti, an alumnus of DOMS, IIT Roorkee as the chief guest. The trophy went to second year students however the immense learning was the take away for all the participants. Vineet Chama from second year was awarded as best player of the tournament. Someone rightly said Moments do pass but Memories remain forever and these memories are imbibed in the mind of Domsonians.

Domination September 2011

Domination September 2011

Guest Lecture: Jauss Polymers’ Revival Strategy

Speaker: Mr. Pramod Pant, VP- Marketing, Jauss Polymers
12th Sep, 2011.

Introduction to Jauss Polymers:
Realizing the potential of a food grade and recyclable polymer as versatile as PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), Jauss Polymers Limited successfully ventured in the field of manufacturing of all types of PET bottles, containers, jars etc using advanced Injection Stretch Blow Molding(ISBM) technology. It is one of the oldest PET Bottle and Jar Manufacturers in India. Jauss Polymers was established in 1989 with its first plant in Kurali (Dist. Ropar) 25 Km from Chandigarh. .The Second Plant was commissioned at Surajpur, Greater Noida In 1992. Presently all operations are undertaken at its Plant in Malpur, Baddi, Himanchal Pradesh.

Summary of the guest lecture:
Mr. Pant began by giving us a brief overview of the polyester packaging industry. This industry began as a substitute product for the glass industry in 1965. Production in India started in 1984. Pearl Polymers were the first entrants in India. He also talked about the primary and secondary packaging industry. Primary packaging is the material that first holds the product and envelops it. Primary packaging includes items such as jars, PET bottles, strips etc. Secondary packaging is outside the primary packing meant for grouping the primary packages together. Examples include paper and boards, cartons etc. Carbonated soft drinks constitute 70% of the total PET market with packaged water behind it

He then gave an overview of the production and consumption capabilities at different point of times in India. In 1991-92, the total consumption was 2000 tons, raw material was imported and there were heavy margins. The focus during this period was on developing new end users for the industry. In 1993-94, Reliance setup a plant having a capacity of 2L tons, when the consumption was 5000 tons. Until 1995, the industry was in the development phase and FMCG companies used PET jars as a promotional tool. Today, the consumption is around 3L tons and it is an industry having very thin margins. The industry employs about 3L people in India.

Need for Revival:
Jauss Polymers initially concentrated on developing the market for PET bottles in India. It spent a lot of money on promotion and development rather than on sales. Market awareness improved but sales were still to the same buyers. As a result, around 1995, the debt on the company was three times the revenues of the company and its survival was at stake. The main aim was to repay the debt first and then go for expansion.

Revival of the company:
Jauss Polymers started concentrating on generating revenues. For doing this, they shifted their focus from all of their customers to the few profitable ones. By 2000, they had a settled revenue model; however there was still a huge debt left. Finally they adopted a one customer, one supplier model and became the exclusive suppliers for Wrigley’s. This meant they had only one customer which was a big business risk for the company. But, they managed to exploit the model to their advantage and the company became debt free in 2010. He, however, stressed that this was a dangerous strategy to follow. Jauss achieved success by being proactive and maintaining a successful buyer supplier relationship.

Opportunities and Threats:
Mr. Pant then discussed the threats and opportunities for the industry. He said that there were many manufacturers in the industry and margins are very low and industry has had to go downward price revisions many times. Also, it is not commercially feasible to supply PET bottles beyond 250 km as transportation costs are huge. It is like transporting air. Transporters charge by volume of shelf space used and this is the primary drawback. Also, technological innovations such as reducing the weight of the bottle have a major impact on profits. Recycling is another big issue for the industry. Coming to the opportunities, he emphasized on the fact that there are many industries where there is significant growth potential. These include industries such as liquor, pharmaceuticals etc who are yet to adopt PET packaging in a big way.

He concluded by saying that Jauss Polymers is looking to expand its business by extending its customer base and by entering into related businesses such as making caps for the jars.

Systems Thinking

Guest Lecture

Topic: Systems Thinking

Date: 18/08/2011

Profile of guest faculty: Prof. L S Ganesh, Ex-HOD and Professor at (DoMS-IIT Madras)

Description of Event:

Wikipedia says, Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. We got greater insight of the concept one fine day when prof. Ganesh explained it to us with real world examples. He opened the lecture with an event that happened in 1993 in Bangalore. Farmers were lathicharged during a protest and in that order government signed on a suicide note. It all started with a weed called Parthenium Hysterophorus which affects the growth of crops and its pollination creates asthmatic problems to the people who come in contact. When people complained, government acted upon the issue by forming a committee to look into the matter. In due course of time, they were able to come up with a natural solution, a beetle called Zygogramma bicolorata which fed on parthenium.But the story did not end here.Eventually, beetles ran out of Parthenium and started eating sunflowers in nearby farms. When farmers ran out of options to control them, they protested and government’s response came with a lathicharge.

Now, where can we put systems thinking in this matter! First we need to identify the flow of events. Exactly as prof. Ganesh said,” using the power of mind’s eye”.

Parthenium weedàCity people affectedàComplain to govtàExpert committee formedà solution found in beetleàBeetle ate Parthenium.

When entire mind focus is on solving symptoms of the problem ,we find a plausible solution but the root cause remains unaddressed which gives rise to unintended consequences. In scientific terms, we call it counter-intuitive type 1. Missing the connectivity in nature is a basic reason for CI-1.This happens in various dimensions including national level policy decision making where we have all kind of experts analysing all kind of situations. Some classic examples are: King toad problem in Australia, elk problem in yellow Stone Park. World of allopathic medicines are full of CI-1 situations.

In counter-intuitive type 2, when we reach to the solution for a problem, an anti-problem arises. The primary reason for this phenomenon is: working against the flow in nature. It can be related to a titration experiment where an extra drop leads to a sudden change. In phrasal term, last straw on camel’s back. Common example: consider a movie which gets a ban. It attracts the interest of people and that pulls them to watch it.Prof.Ganesh also reminded us of beetle bailey cartoon where ,to solve the problem of increasing number of rats an incentive of 1 $ was introduced which led to more breeding of rats for the benefit. In Thane and Jalandhar, this case happened for real and people responded in same fashion.

How to resolve these problems:

To address the root causes of the problems as explained earlier, what is needed is a larger window of perception. In this connection, Donella Meadows used a simulation model in 1972 of earth systems which predicted that earth will reach the limit of economic growth in 150 years. This is a cumulated effect of missing infinite connectivity and using “me today” as window of perception to solve systems problems. Great souls who walked this planet had eternity and universality as their window of perception. What we can do is to enlarge the window to learn the way systems work. For a manager, understanding the importance of integration of knowledge and people is a top priority in order to achieve the desired goals.

Guest Lecture on Sugar Industry - Day 2

Guest Lecture on Sugar Industry - Day 2

By Mr. G. S. C. Rao, President, The Sugar Technologist's Association of India

On the afternoon of 9th September 2011, we the students at DoMS were addressed by Mr. G. S. C. Rao, President of The Sugar Technologist's Association of India and Executive Director, Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd.

The address was mainly focused on the Sugar Industry and how there is a huge opportunity for techno managers in this area. Mr. Rao started off by giving facts and figures about where the Indian Sugar Industry stands in the world. India is the largest consumer of sugar with a production capacity of 24 million tons and a consumption of 22 million tons. There are around 10 million sugarcane farmers in our country. There are approximately 620 sugar factories spread around 8 states in India. But in the next ten years the demand would rise to about 34 million tons. Here lies the interest for the young budding managers of our country to seek an opportunity.

Sugarcane which was initially used just for the production of raw and refined sugar is now used for multiple purposes. Ethanol is generally available as a byproduct of sugar production. It can be used as a biofuel alternative to gasoline, and is widely used in cars in Brazil. It is an alternative to gasoline, and may become the primary product of sugarcane processing, rather than sugar. For example, in Brazil there are Flexi-Cars which run either on ethanol only or a hybrid which runs on petrol as well as ethanol. Moreover ethanol is cost effective and causes less pollution as well. Imagine a situation where all countries produce only ethanol and then the whole world can get rid of the dictating terms of the oil rich nations. Hereby lies the importance of the sugar industry.

Bagasse the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice. It is currently used as a biofuel and as a renewable resource in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials. Agave bagasse is a similar material that consists of the tissue of the blue agave after extraction of the sap. Moreover about 400 different chemicals can be made from sugarcane with some of them being highly importance from manufacturing perspective.

A part of the ethanol produced is then used to generate electricity which is distributed in the neighboring areas of a certain sugar plant or can be sold off to a government power grid. Sugarcane molasses are used in the drinking alcohol segment, for example- in producing rum. Now where does India fit in this whole scenario? According to Mr. Rao, India is a big player in the sugar industry because of two sole reasons. One being size and the other being technology. Nowhere in the world is sugarcane used to produce such a diverse range of products and utilities. The one area in which India has huge opportunity is to use ethanol as a renewable source of energy like Brazil along with other unconventional energy sources like solar energy and hydro energy. This can be a great boost for developing other industries as well which require large amount of fuel and power.

According to Mr. Rao ,the importance of sugar industry as a source of energy can be seen by the recent changes that are taking place amongst the oil companies. Huge oil companies like Shell and BP are now trying to acquire sugarcane fields because they see ethanol as the future ahead. India, which has a very amiable environment for the sugarcane plantation, must see this as a huge business opportunity.

Thus Mr. Rao concluded by inviting all the students to any queries they had. He asked us to see the sugar industry as an area that has huge potential and extended his help to each and everyone of us if should we would like to join this mammoth industry.

Guest Lecture on Sugar Industry

Guest Lecture on Sugar Industry

by Mr. Anil Shukla, Secretary General - The Sugar Technologist's Association of India (STAI)

Today, September 08, 2011 we had an eminent guest, Mr. Anil Shukla, deliver a lecture on the sugar Industry and associated functions in our economy.The Speaker gave very valuable insights into the sugar industry and associated industries with the sugar industry. The industries primarily associated with the sugar industries are :

1) Raw Material Procurement Supply Chain

2) Transportation

3)Infrastructure

4)Equipment and Machinery

5)Diesel and Biofuel

6) Automobile

7)Waste disposal

8)Carbon Credits and Environment

Sugar industry is regulated by the government of India. On one hand, there is a MSP (Minimum Support Price) to be paid to the sugarcane cultivators. Because of fixed MSP, the cost of raw material is fixed and leaves very little scope for any reduction in cost of sugarcane procurement from cultivators. On the other hand, the major output of the sugar industries is to be sold to the government of India. The government buys around 80% of the sugar produced at a fixed price. The sugarcane industries are allowed to sell only 20% of the end product in open market at competitive rates. This regulation is currently being opposed on a large scale by the union of sugar industry owners.

Of the 20% sugar which is sold in the open market, there are various brands which are now selling packaged sugar. 80% of the sugar which is bought by the government is then distributed by the government. Due to fixed price of purchase of raw materials and fixed price of sale, the industry is made lucrative and profitable by excellent resource availability, efficient management and optimum supply chain design.

The eminent speaker offered our students a chance to work in different live projects with any of the associated functions with the sugar industry. He asked us to select a function of our choice and focus on data research and finding effective and better solutions to increase profit margins.

The lecture gave us very valuable insight and it was duly attended by our Placement Incharge Prof. Vinay Sharma and students of MBA first as well as second year.