NEWSLETTERVol. XIV Nos. 07-08

April 2007

Indian Institute of Management,

CONFERENCE PAPERS

Kumar, Sushil, and Kant, Shashi 2007. Exploded Logit Modeling ofStakeholders’ Preferences for Multiple Forest Values. Forest Policy andEconomics, 9(5): 516-526.

INTERNATIONAL COLUMN

Identification of all possible forest values andelicitation of stakeholders’ preferences iscrucial for framing inclusive forestmanagement policies, aimed at achievingsustainable forest management objectives.Forest value preferences of four majorstakeholder groups in NW Ontario – Aboriginalgroups, Forest industry, Environmental Non-government Organizations, and OntarioMinistry of Natural Resources (OMNR) – areanalyzed using a parametric statistical tool –Exploded Logit Modeling. Five dominantforest value themes – spiritual value,environmental value, recreational value,

economic services value, and economicproducts value are derived using hierarchicalclustering of forest values collected throughConceptual Content Cognitive Mappingtechnique. The results indicate that people, ingeneral, regard environmental value of theforests as the most preferred benefit, followedby spiritual and recreational values. However,there is widespread inter-group variability inpreferences for five types of forest valuesacross four stakeholder groups, as well asacross different demographic and economicgroups. Policy implications of empiricalfindings are highlighted.

AWARDSProf. Anjani Koomar, HumanResource Management Group,was awarded “Best HRAcademician” award at theinaugral session of the AnnualSeminar on ‘Leading

Organization Change, Transformation &Rejuvenation’ , held at Hotel Taj Residency,Lucknow, on April 20th, 2007. The AwardCommittee of NIPM UP Chapter has decided tohonor him with the award . Prof. Anjani Koomarwas given this award for the year 2006 too.

Raj, Piyush and Srivastava, Rajiv K. 2006. Throughput Improvement in Long-Cycle Product Environment. Paper presented (as well as published in the pro-ceedings of ) an International Conference on ‘Production and Operations Man-agement Society’’, held at The China Europe International Business School,Shanghai, China, during June 19-23, 2006.

This paper characterizes the uniqueness of Long-cycle products and addresses the problem of im-proving their throughput taking example of ship-building. We review the planning and schedul-ing environment for Long-cycle products andhighlight the due dates driven hierarchical plan-ning structure. We identify constrained spatialresources towards the end of manufacturing pro-cess and suggest spatial scheduling for their ef-

fective utilization. We use due dates suggestedby these constrained resources and propose pro-ductive centric work group structure to ensurebalanced and uniform flow of constituent prod-ucts. Comparison of slack time uniformity at con-stituent levels provides a good metrics to evalu-ate the flow. While ratio of working time indicatesuniformity at constituent levels. Also since theseconstituents products are bulky and heavy, we

CASES

Mital, Amita. 2007. Rewrite Rules at Pantaloon. IIML Case Series 2007/4 .

This case is designed for the sessions on BusinessLevel Strategy Formulation and OperationsStrategy in the Strategic Management course ofan MBA program. It outlines the growth ofPantaloon, one of India’s largest organizedmodern format retailers established in 1997. Thefirm retailed a range of branded and Private Labelapparel, footwear, perfumes, cosmetics, jewelry,leather products and accessories, home products,books, music and toys with over 2,70,000 SKUs,complemented by services offerings. In a shortspan of nine years, the business grew from onestore in Kolkata in 1997 occupying an area of8,000 Sq ft to 72 stores, and 22 factory outletslocated in the multiple cities occupying an

aggregate area of 21,07,608 Sq. ft. The firmfocused on Lifestyle segment through 14Pantaloon stores, 3 Central Malls, 2 mall, 2Fashion Station and 1 MeLa store. In the valueoffering to mass customers, the firm had 21 BigBazaar and 30 Food Bazaar outlets. Focus oncustomers supported by systems and processes;and a committed work force were the key factorsthat contributed to the success and helped inscaling as the firm grew.The case allows fordetailed exploration of fit between businessstrategy and operational strategy and the roleof coordination mechanisms in businessoperations.

propose a lay out of workgroups to reduce cycletime and inventory movement. Finally we pro-

pose a phased implementation strategy for a ship-yard and draw inferences for other industries.

The case tracks the development of Bata IndiaLtd. as India’s largest manufacturer and marketerof footwear products in the organized sectorover a period of 7 decades. Bata India was partof the Bata Shoe Organization, Toronto. Thoughthe company was the leader in footwear, by theend of 1994, there were indications of declineas profit dropped from Rs.20 crores to Rs. 95lakhs within a year. This was attributed toenvironmental contingencies. The parentcompany BSO stepped into reposition BataIndia as an affordable, market driven fashion-conscious lifestyle brand and to streamline thewhole business to improve the performance ofthe company. This is a simple case designed forunderstanding strategic control and continuous

improvement. The failure to achieve objectivesoften reflects shortcomings of a firm’s controlsystem. While the traditional approach relied onfeedback control, contemporary approachesstress feed-forward control. Strategic Control isconcerned with tracking strategy as it isimplemented, detecting problems or changesin its underlying premises and making necessaryadjustments. The case helps in understandingtwo sets of question –-Are we moving in the proper direction? Arethings falling in place? Should we adjust thestrategy / implementation process?- How are we performing in terms of cost,revenue, cash flows? Are operational changesrequired?

Mital, Amita. 2007. Bata India Limited. Repositioned or still footweary ? IIMLCase Series 2007/5.

Mital, Amita. 2007. Archies vs. Vintage - Are we in the business of Greetings ?IIML Case Series 2007/6.

This is a simple case designed for theintroductory session of Strategic Management.By the end of the discussion, students would beable to understand the relationship betweenCorporate Vision, Mission and Strategy. Thediscussion may also bring forth the inevitabilityof firm’s response to changing businessenvironment and how it forces managers tostand back and review whether the firm isfulfilling its basic objective.The case outlines the growth of twoentrepreneurial firms that started in 1979 and1983 respectively. Archies started with andinvestment of Rs. 1000/- for selling postersthrough mail order and went on to becomeIndia’s most well known Greetings and Giftscompany. However, over a period of 25 years,the growth in the greetings segment sloweddown, particularly with the advent of internet,while the market for gifts was picking up. Thisled the entrepreneur to rethink whether by

focusing more on gifts rather than greetings, hecould continue profitably in the Business ofEmotions or would that take the business awayfrom its vision and mission. Vintage Cards andCreations was the brainchild of Anil Kapur andVaishnav when a few cards made by them wereappreciated by the customers for quality anddesign. Initially it was a part time business, butsoon became a full time occupation with localartists to create new designs and distributors andretail outlets expansion for future growth. Archies proactively responded to technologychanges in form of e-cards, SMS and MMS, whichwere taking the market away from traditionalgreeting card by diversifying into gifts as theywere another means of expressing emotions.Vintage , on the other hand did not respond tochange and found itself burdened with a hugeinventory of cards with no market for them. Thecase also brings out the change imperative withdiscontinuities in technology and demography.

Mital, Amita. 2007. Cyber Media - The Leadership Quest. IIML Case Series2007/ 7.

The case outlines the growth of anentrepreneurial firm that started in 1982 by afirst generation entrepreneur, Mr. Pradeep Guptato publish a specialized magazine for the IT sector.The firm went on to become South Asia’s largestspecialty media house with 9 publications in theIT, ICT and Bio-technology areas. It captured anend-to-end media value chain including theinternet, events and television by focusing onhigh growth areas. In 2005, 23 years after itsinception, it was on the threshold of goingglobal. At this juncture, while Pradeep Guptawas confident that the globalization track wasthe way to growth, other board members were

contemplating whether it really made sense forthe company to expand globally.The case focusses on corporate level strategy.Strategic analysis and choice is the phase of thestrategic management process when businessmanagers examine and choose a businessstrategy that allows their business to maintain orcreate sustainable competitive advantage. Thecase provides an opportunity to students toevaluate and determine which value chainactivities provide the basis for distinguishing thefirm in the customer’s mind and examinestrategic choice by addressing two basic issues– what strategies are most effective at building

Mital, Amita. 2007- 08/1. Delhi Land and Finance . Strategy or Serendipity ?IIML Case Series 2007 - 08/ 1.

The case outlines the growth of a real estate firmover a span of six decades. DLF started off acolonizer at Delhi pre-independence byRaghvendra Singh who figured that partitionwould lead to mass migration and the newmigrants would need homes. He built 21 ofDelhi’s landmark residential colonies between1947 and 1961, by persuading farmers to sell theirholdings on credit as he had limited financialresources. The firm went through some phasesof regulatory discontinuities, therebydiversifying into unrelated businesses and exitingthem as they were unprofitable before emergingas India’s leading real estate player. Sitting on a

wealth of resources and developing capabilitiesin exploiting them profitably, led to theemergence of India’s largest real estatedevelopment firm.The case is designed for use in the session onResource Based View normally covered in the“Internal Analysis of the Firm in the StrategicManagement course for MBA students. It enablesthe students to identify and examine the internalresources of the organization; classify and assessresources; understand what makes a resourcevaluable and analyze how resources provideand sustain competitive advantage.

sustainable competitive advantage of businessand whether or not a firm should diversify. Thecase also brings out how a firm creates value by

sharing or transferring core competence bydiversifying into related areas.

Mital, Amita. 2007-08/2. Gati Limited- At the Threshold of big leap. IIMLCase Series 2007 - 08/ 2.

The development of Indian express industryduring the eighties saw the real entry ofprofessional players into this market, though theindustry had been in existence for a considerabletime. “Express industry” comprised couriercompanies providing express and door-to-doorpick up and delivery services for documents andnon-documents shipments other than freight tovarious domestic and international destinations.In an industry comprising about 2000 players,with 98% in the unorganized sector, Gati wasincorporated in 1995 and positioned itself toprovide cost-efficient and flexible expressservices ranging from traditional point-to-pointtransportation to complex end-to-endintegrated logistics and supply chain

management solutions. The case presents factsthat could be evaluated along the variouscomponents of the firm’s value chain to bringout where and how it stands apart from otherplayers.The case focuses on differentiation strategy ofGati and its positioning in a highly fragmentedmarket. By the end of the discussion, studentswould be able to understand how firms canbuild advantage by differentiating themselvesto provide superior customer value, using eitherthe balanced score card or Porter’s value Chainas a tool. The case exposes students to a decisionsituation, giving them the changing dynamicsof the industry, which they analyse and proposea future course of action for Gati.

EDITORIAL ASSIGNMENT

Prof. Saji K.B. served in the programmecommittee and on the editorial review board ofthe conference proceedings of the 7th AnnualConference of the International Academy of E-Business (IAEB) held at Vancouver, British

Columbia, Canada during April 5-8, 2007. Thetheme of the conference was ‘E-MergingResearch & Practical Dimensions of StrategicBusiness Management’.

Kapoor, Sanjeev. 2007. Vulnerability and Rural Poverty - Enlarging the Scopefor Micrifinance in India. Paper presented in National Workshop on Poverty,Unemployment and Rural Development Program held at Lal Bahadur ShastriNational Academy of Administration, Mussorie, during April 6 -7, 2007.

Risks are one of the key components ofenvironment for rural people. The risky eventsmay be of different type, affect the ruralhouseholds in different capacity. Rural peoplemanage these risks and crises, but at a hugecost, which are sometimes non-recoverablethroughout their whole life. Over the pastdecade, micro-finance has yielded a positiveimpact on the poor in terms of increasedhousehold income. However, focusing only onstatic measures of household earnings andincome ignores the other side of poverty, thevulnerability of the poor to risk. Withoutaccess to micro-insurance, many poor peopleseem to be trapped in vicious cycle of poverty

where shocks and debt prevent them to rise inthe ladder of economic prosperity. No doubt,micro-credit ser vices are importantinstrument in helping the poor to build theirassets, but without the ability to protect theirassets, reducing the poverty through assetacquisition, can be a temporary for largenumber of clients of MFI’s. Using the marketanalysis framework, the present paper tries tounderstand the demand for micro-insurance inrural areas. It also points out the Keyrequirements in developing the insuranceproduct for rural sector in terms of price,product, promotion, and delivery channel.

PRESENTATION

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENTPROGRAMMES

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FROM THE PRESS • It’s therefore seems natural that MBA

programmes have realised the impor-tance of incorporating ethics, environ-mentalism and social values into theircurricula to prepare Leaders for the fu-ture. A trend that started quite while agoin Global B-schools, is catching up steamin traditional B-schools, but there aresome promising indications.

Take the Indian Institute of management,Lucknow(IIM-L), for instance. The Insti-tute recently started a course to educatestudents about the changing relation-ships between business and environ-mental management. With big nameslike Reliance, Tata Steel and Jindal Steelset to enter the carbon market, the course

is expected to equip future managerswith the Knowledge and potential ofthese markets.

“ India can annually make around $200 mil-lion in the clean development mechanism(CDM) projects. It currently accounts forjust 13.72% of the global CDM market.There is tremendous potential for com-panies to grow in this segment and it isessential that future managers are madeaware of this”, said Sushil Kumar, profes-sor of Agribusiness and a pioneer of IIM-L’s course.

[Excerpts from The Economic Times, NewDelhi. April 3, 2007.]

FORTHCOMING MANAGEMENTDEVEOPMENT PROGRAMMES

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GYANODAYA - RECENT ARRIVALS

1. Myerson, Judith M. 2007. RFID in the sup-ply chain: a guide to selection and imple-mentation. Boca Raton: Auerbach: 425p.

[Excerpts from Times of India ,Times NewsNetwork, New Delhi , April 16, 2007, Pg #11.]

• Satisfied with the appropriate punish-ment for the killers of his sonManjunath, a relieved RhaghuvendraShanmugam on Monday said he wouldnow work for promoting the principleshis son stood for and “ save many moreManjunaths serving in every nook andcorner of the country”. Anjali Mullatti, a1993 IIM- Lucknow graduate and trusteeof Manjunath Shanmugam Trust, said thepunishment has sent strong messageacross the country that guilty would bepunished. Lucknow University Vice-Chancellor R. P. Singh, who received thefirst Manjunath Integrity Award lastweek, hailed Manjunath as a “NationalHero” and congratulated the police and

Legal fraternity which worked hard to en-sure that guilty were brought to book.

[Excerpts from The Times of India, TimesNews Network, March 27, 2007.]

• Jamshed J Irani, director, Tata Sons Lim-ited, is the new chairman of Indian Insti-tute of Management (IIM) Society andBoard of Governors at IIM Luccknow. TheHuman Resource development (HRD)ministry has appointed him for a periodof five years. “ The whole IIM Lucknowcommunity is looking forward to gainfrom his able and visionary leadership”,said IIM-L director, Prof. Devi Singh.

[Excerpts from The Times of India, TimesNews Service, Lucknow, April 24, 2007, Pg.# 02.]

• Yogesh Agarwal, MD, State Bank of India,inaugurated bank’s new branch at IIMLucknow, campus. Dr. Devi Singh, direc-tor, IIM Lucknow, Shiv Kumar, CGM, SBIand others were present at theoccassion.The customers of the branchcan have access to their accounts frommore than 4,500 CBS branches all overthe country and abroad .

[Excerpts from The Times of India, Lucknow, May 1, 2007, Pg. #11.]

• Realising that business schools, todaycannot afford to neglect the importanceof teaching environmental managementstrategies to the future business manag-ers , IIM-L has introduced a course, Cor-porate Environmental Manageementand Carbon Markets, providing its stu-dents with an understandiong of chang-ing relationship between business andenvironmental management. In additionto exposing students to intricacies of Car-bon Markets and their potentials, thecourse describes various concepts relatedto environmental management systems.

2. O’ Hair, Dan. 2005. Strategic communica-tion: in business and the professions. 5th ed.Boston: Houghton Mifflin: 462p.

7. Tegler, Nancy. 2003. New era value investing:a disciplines approach to buying value andgrowth stocks. New Jersey: John Wiley:222p.

8. Scolpe, Vinod. 2006. Managing IntellectualProperty: the strategic imperative.NewDelhi: PHT:330p.

9. Chen, Stephen. 2005. Strategic Manage-ment of e-business. 2nd ed. Chichester:John Wiley: 366p.

10. Kanji, Gopal K. 2006. 100 statistical tests.3rd ed. New Delhi: Sage: 242p.

[Note: More books/reports can be accessed at http://192.168.1.13/ca1006.pdf]

6. Lewis, David, 2007. The management ofnon-governmental development organiza-tions. 2nd ed. London:Routledge: 290p.

5. Bhavani, T. A. 2006. Globalisation and In-dian small scale industries: technology andcompetitiveness. New Delhi: Anne: 265p.

4. Gupta, G.K. 2006. Introduction to data min-ing with case studies. New Delhi: PHI: 457p.

3. Clarke, Steve. 2007. 2007. Information sys-tems strategic management: an integratedapproach. 2nd ed. London:Routledge:196p.