65th Week@XIMB - 2nd September to 8th September 2012
2nd September - I submitted a team project report on Asian Paints in SDM. The whole process of data mining, compilation, editing, and printing with the team was good learning.
There was a scheduled industry talk of SREI Sahaj CEO on Sunday afternoon. The topic of the Talk was 'challenges in the service delivery channel and route to market strategies in rural India'. It began late on time but went quite fantastic overall. The Key learning - 'Positive dissatisfaction' is a good start for a young professional like us. There are more standard operating procedures and compliance in a big company, hence it is not a good option for fresher to start their work there.
Guest : Mr. Sanjay Panigrahi , CEO of SREI Sahaj
No rural people will pay for information on weather and government schemes. So business for information directly to the end consumer is not a viable option currently. Delivery and Management should be the key focus for a good business model in rural India. Most companies in India have a strong urban model while only Agri-input companies can claim to have a dent in the rural market. Few companies like Unilever, Dabur, and CavinKare have partial success in this rural arena. People who had worked in rural branches of SBI and RRB's have also knowledge of the rural mindset. Amul is like any other MNC in the front end while rural in the back end.
How to identify and define rural areas? This is a bigger question in front of companies. (I agree with this questioning as one sure way to get the wrong answer is by not framing the right questions). LG has defined an area below the population of 1 lakh as rural. That is an absurd definition. The worst criteria are population as consumer behavior differs due to cultural aspects in different parts of India. Assam and Bengal are more outgoing for education than Bihar and Orissa. One of the good methods employed by companies to classify rural pockets was the distance from highways.
The largest expenditure incurred by companies on advertisement is taken by DD due to its outreach. Local broadcasting channels like Mahua TV and Sarang TV are a good way to reach a rural audience of particular regions. Government has credibility in the rural areas that are lacked by private players. There are nearly 77,000 branches of banks and 1,36,000 Post offices (data not exact) in India. Yet, that number is quite low. Along with high operational cost, due to this trust factor, local MFI's and banking correspondent were used by leading banks for lending in rural India. This shows the importance of trust in making transactions with the rural customer segment.
There is more need for micromanagement in India. Everything is okay, not great at the policy level but implementation is bad at the panchayat/block level. The private player has also to manage and engage daily with governance complexities and lack of infrastructure. Three critical steps changed India in the last decade: First, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and The Golden Quadrilateral. This made rural areas more accessible for product/service delivery. Second, increase in funding through various social welfare schemes. And third, rural laborers were paid remittance through a safety net like NREGA.
There is a huge generation of data that requires intelligent MIS and data analyst. There is more need for knowledge before investing time and money in rural India. There is a need to understand the domestic market more than ever in recessing market example tolerance level is more in rural customers. In this quest for understanding rural consumer, answers can be dramatically different and contrary to the popular belief.
3rd September - A very hectic day amid regular classes. I gossiped a lot in the night for mental relaxation. Last class of SDM. It ended overall on a high note with a surprisingly good TED talk video.
Daniel Pink on the surprising science of motivation
4th September - There was a group presentation in ESM on Organic Farming in Cuba. I wanted to raise several statements of protest in front of Professor. I rather restrained myself in the end.
5th September - There was the last class of QRM that lasted for 45 minutes. I had talked with our Professor. She told us few things about rural management education and pedagogy in India. There is a dearth of teaching cases in the area of rural management. This shows a lack of research and funding in this field.
Key Learning: Writing up field notes immediately is one of the sacred obligations of fieldwork. Sometimes maintaining this diary becomes both boring and painful. I repeat the same behavior every day and expected to churn out a new insight. There are confront unpleasant facts, including lack of acceptance, ambiguity about a question, and gaping holes in the analysis. Believe Everything and Trust Nothing is the mantra of the observation to see clearly through the ideological maze.
While Managers are prepared for risk aversion and to achieve profits, an entrepreneur is a risk-taker. In the rural setting, business development and community mobilization become a key tasks for anyone. Trust is something on which business works in rural areas.
6th September - A great news for XIMB RM 2011-2013 batch. Our batchmate Sreevidya Gowda (India) was chosen among the TOP 50 INDIAFRICA BUSINESS VENTURE Winners. Nirmal purifier has been designed to provide access to iron-free safe drinking water at a low cost. The design was a semifinalist at the Dell Social innovation challenge and a finalist at the Acara Challenge conducted by the University of Minnesota.
Listening to the New Amul Manthan Song
The Manthan music video has a unique emotional appeal. The lines like 'khush rahe tera beta beti' in the new music video show how it is because of the efforts of a rural milk producer that nutritional requirements of a child to an urban mother are taken care of.
7th September - HRM paper over. Do you know who is Amanda Ammann? I was also not knowing about her details till now. I meet her few times but she never revealed her real identity and just enacted as a normal exchange student.
8th September - MFM paper is over. The tragic story of making mistakes in the balance sheet went on this time also.
