Why I Dislike Glorifying "Jugad"

Why I dislike glorifying - Jugad.

Before you throw rhetoric at me let me explain the context.

At the RAI Leadership Summit, in Mumbai,  yesterday I had the honour of releasing the book Jugad Innovation. This book will sell well just for its name. Indians feel proud when an Indian concept gets internationally acknowledged. I only wish we were more aware and proud of the “zero” Aryabhatta invented to give meaning to Mathematics.

Jugad is a colloquial usage to mean a lot of things that is contextual - but generally it means “innovatively finding a way out of a tight corner”, even though it may not be the best solution. 

Jugad is a name given to a culture that is inherent in the modern Indian work ethics, and here I might be exaggerating to make a point. Indian work ethics replies too much on “Shoot and aim”, for some reason that escapes me, there is some allergy in spending quality time deliberating and planning. It is considered “theoretical’ and relies too much on the view -that we will correct it as we go. This will only result in quick to start and slow to finish, and a lot of leaks on the way, wastage and over runs.

 Hence, I believe in planning longer and deeper, to try to get as many things sorted out as possible before starting. Surely time is of the essence, as always, but prior planning should not be the victim of Jugad.

 It probably stems from some things that are ingrained in my subconscious from my early years of having worked with the Japanese, of planning in detail to get it right first time. You might not eventually get it completely right totally, but it is the duty of managers to fool proof to the extent that is visible and possible.

As a junior in the Japanese company my first insight to planning was the meticulous manner in which the Japanese colleagues put together a programme for the visit of Vice president from Japan. They outlined the Moments-of-Truth and wrote down a action to meet its requirement, every contingency, and in an era where cell phones didn't exist it became even more dependent on the every one doing his/her job on time and correctly. It is not a process its part of a culture. 

I concede that in an uncertain environment the horizon is not always without clouds, but ‘fool proofing” of even what we know is a good approach.

 Why is there an allergy to -get it right the first time?

Over the years Jugad has become a matter of pride, and Indian businessmen consider it a virtue to have. Is poor planning leading to non-delivery and at the spur of the moment to do something that obviates the problem, considered smart and a matter of pride? Well I for one wont doff my hat to that.

A word that needs to enter the lexicon of Indian business seems to be “rigour”. The word means the diligence in, say, planning that goes behind every event, and more importantly to get serviced providers outside your company /group also aligned to such rigour.

Jugad must be seen for the positive elements of the phrase. In India where a lot of things are not totally predictable even when planned, to retain a sense of innovation to solve the problem is not only good but also essential to surviving in Indian Business. But let that happen after some careful planning has happened prior to the event.

Frog in a Boil - Indian Retail - is This Where We Are?

Most often in life changes don't come is perceptible torrents that we should sit up to take notice. Changes good and bad, happen and are happening in tiny tiny measures that we don't sometimes see, until either it's too late to correct, or if it's a good thing, goes unnoticed.

This is like a frog in a boil. The narration goes that if you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water it will obviously jump out. But what if you put the frog in water that is at room temperature? It will happily swim in it's small world pool. Now if you light a low fire under the pot, a very low and slow one, the water heats up almost without having changed anything to frog. It's body adjusts quickly to the heat, till it become too late.

I have this nagging feeling that Indian retailing has been quite like that. In all the years in retail I have not seen significant changes. Infact things have even gone down at the store level. In Foodworld I remember as a VP Operation we ran a drill every day called STUC- Show that you care. Every cashier wished every customer. As small and simple as that. Store being ready before that first consumer comes in. Face ups happening at 3pm. And many small nuances by now would have become hygiene, for the staff and consumer. But check outs are as slow, stock are as high, range is lower, neatness is lower.

Is there a realization that retailers must be on constant vigil so that the small things are corrected and bettered.

Are we on a boil. Well Friedman regret in his latest book "that used to be US", that the US is surely that way. We know for a fact that China is not.

Ice Cream in Winter and Carbon Footprint

I remember, many moons ago, as a younger retailers in Foodworld, I was subjected to a presentation by a Danish company that used to distribute Ice Creams in Europe, and were looking at setting up a similar business in India. This was as far back as 1999. I took them around the Indian cities and markets. It is today a day in 2011, and they have never returned since! Should I laugh or rue the fact that India has changed only at the margins in food distribution.

Similarly, even earlier in 1988,when I was involved with the Indo-Nissin Foods project (makers of Top Ramen and Cup Noodles - then a Unilever JV), I toured with an outstanding FMCG executive by name- Ken Sasahara, from Nissin Japan, (he is today President of Nissin, USA), all over India, and he was adventurous in food exploration. We ate at all types of restaurants, from way-side to 5 star hotels- from Kakeda hotel in delhi, to Dhabas in Punjab to Muniandi Villas and Military hotels in south India. In typical Japanese style he catalogued everything on this laptop.
In a month we were back at our office at Brookefields in Bangalore. As he made his report he asked me- "hey, I have catalogued here 100s of delicious dishes. When there is so much food around, who will want to eat noodles? It will always remain a small category". And so it is. Since Maggi launched in 1983, instant noodles has grown but in the context of the over all food category, it remains minuscule.

Coming back to the ice cream story, the insights from that presentation were startling. The Danish company showed the trends in sales over a year in Denmark. I saw that the sales did not decline in winter and peak in summer, as it does here, to a factor of 10. I saw that in Denmark where it is cold, read freezing, for most of the year, the sales never declined. They themselves could not answer why, and infact it never occurred to them to ask why. It struck me then that their homes, and offices and cars are all climate controlled to 16 to 20degrees at all times. So then what does it matter even if the outside is -20degrees? Our homes in India nor the offices are warmed up in winter. Even in the west and south of India where in winters temperature do not go below 10 degrees, it is considered winter and there is decline in cold beverages and ice cream.

I then begin to think, of the huge carbon foot print that the western countries have compared to India and they consider India polluting? China,USA and Europe account for account for 54% of world's carbon emission. India disconcertingly is in the 5th position, 5%.
Let's not use ice in Coke that is cold, plastic lid off a glass of beverage, cut off the air-conditioning at 6 am, etc. Walk more drive less. These are small things that we can do silently to save our planet. Let's not do it the news papers, let us do it for ourselves, for our own silent satisfaction.

Top Management - Forgotten to lead from the front? The bane of the cozy corner room.

I have been bitten by a “reading history”, bug. Something has provoked my interest in Indian Medieval history of late, and why not? Isn't it true that "the one who forgets history is condemned to repeat it?”

In a passage in it, there is a narration of the life of an Afghan raider of the Sur clan, later to be known as Sher Shah Suri. His conquest and expansive reign was short lived, 1540-45. What is interesting here is that in the 5 years when he was king from his fort in Chunnar, Sher Shah defeated Humayun the great Mughal twice, and the latter barely  escaping with his life, but with the great Kohinoor Diamond!

But finally, Sher Shah in his attempt to capture the fort of Klinjar in Rajasthan, died at the battle front when a rocket rebounded off the wall of the fortress and landed on a pile of ammunition, which exploded to badly burn and char the Afghan. He was a departure from many of the other kings, in  being constructive for the lower strata of people. He reorganized the administration and weeded out corruption from the army ranks (poor man didn't have an Anna then), and many other acts that are admirable. But a raider and looter he remained.

I think in terms of today I wonder how many of the leaders - CEOs, Presidents, VPs, go to  face the gunpowder? How many come down the ladder to the front end staff to understand, empathize, absorb, and act? They need to come down not only to empathize , but to align to what is "on the ground", and what the employee is saying, thinking and serving the consumer. High level decision making, we see happening without a full understanding of consumer speak. Once an individual reaches top-management, he is sucked into other shareholder priorities. I have seen insular decisions made all the time.

I know of only one retailer who does, and it shows in his business.

This is true of all businesses, where the cozy corner room removes the decision makers a long way away from reality. That is unwise for any business. Sam Walton again stands out, for this obsession with being in close contact with the front end associates. Who is our Sam Walton?

India eats what media cooks-Anna included

Who are these two people? One on the right we know by now, our own Anna Hazare. But the one on the left?
Wikipedia tells it better- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irom_Sharmila
Irom has the record for the longest fasting in the world! but hopefully that is not what she will be remembered for.
And who is this man, who died?

If you don't know, you are forgiven, because the 4th estate has not bothered to spend time on him. This man  is Swami Nigamananda, who died fasting for the cause of a clean Ganges. The media didn't cover it for more than 30 minutes I guess, since it won't sell. Even when it did, the swami was dead.
And the lady in the pic is someone, manipuris call "Menghaobi" ("the fair one"). Her fight is against the  Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA). She feels it is draconian and unlawful. The Govt thinks otherwise.
Some Pointers on which to Ponder -
1. The Media is needed to make a Cause a Movement. But then what about Gandhi's independence movement in an age where there was only letter writing and postal service? Well even then the Dailies played a key role. But then Gandhi was an enigma, that we can't totally explain! In Modern times it is difficult to get a movement except through the media into which the millions of ears are tuned. The clutter of noise is so high that unless there is something of the thunderous proportions of the kind Anna is doing, it wont be heard. 
2. People are interested only in what affects them locally. Corruption does, and hence the the tuning in. But Telegana does not, the AFSPA does not- it is in Manipur, Narmada does not- it is in Gujarat. We are so busy living, that we don't mind letting some things die, as long as it is not in my neighbourhood, or it affects me. Do people in Mumbai raise a voice for bad roads in MP?
3. Media: selling airtime to eye balls is Money.  Media is a Profit making company. Anna sells well, Irom does not. They are prey to the people's moods. Salman sells , Ritwik Ghatak does not. Poor media blokes, just as much as they want to be a good Samaritan they can't. I was watching a byte on the internet from the Editor of Wall Street Journal, who says that he does not "care about Democracy" he only understands Capitalism - free market economy. From the Holy grail of business if this is what comes out, why are we surprised about what happens in the USA?
We are what we want to be. That is sometimes the problem. We may not end up being what we Like ourselves to be. We don't sometimes know we should be.

Anna Hazare – a Messiah or a Ticking Time Bomb?

We Indians are always known for holding extreme views, and emotions not laced by “pure reason” (as Tagore calls it in Gitanjali). From worshipping our cricketers to burning their houses, from acts of honour during the Kargil war to the 3G Scam.

I am afraid many of those in that rally, proclaiming “I am Anna”, “mein Bhi Anna”, don’t have a clue as to the difference between the Lokpal bill as passed in the Parliament, and the Jan Lokpal bill. Are the youth wrong? Not at all. The youth in any country and era, always wants a cause to attach themselves to. The Indian Government, if it had the leadership to move the country ahead to become a world super power, then that passion would have ignited the young minds to rally around that cause. But alas there is none!
Now Anna arrives on the scene, as a (seemingly) affable old man. Only if the young people knew that the same Anna had in his village flogged two young people for drinking alcohol, banned liquor shops there, regulated TV time, and almost forced people to lead a pious life. Once a driver in the Indian Army, Anna, has now risen to this stature from his own conviction. But unlike Gandhi who never used fasting like an antagonistic tool, Anna is using it to fight adversaries. Anna must remain rigid against Govt attitude but flexible to diverse views. That is the essence of democracy.

So will I not join the rally? Yes I did join the rally. But for me Anna is only a reason. Anna is living his convictions and fighting corruption. We must commend him for rising to the occasion. But even he never would have expected this kind of support he is getting, just as he did not expect such ineptitude on the part of the govt. Why this kind of support? The support is for the cause more than support for Anna, who is revered for being the reason of it.

Some people are asking, whether the Anna movement has dented the Indian image of a democratic nation? In fact to the contrary, it is an emphatic affirmation that democracy in India is truly alive. Thousands came to the street, but all non-violently, for a country where the mob at the smallest provocation torch buses.

Anna has put Corruption on red alert. This is fabulous. Decades ago as a young man in Kerala I heard a wonderful speaker and Gandhian, M P Manmadhan. Even in the 70s he spoke of the curse of corruption. He said the difference between corruption of old and of new, was that in the olden days there was“sourness” (pulip -“sourness” in Malayalam) when it was done. But now there was no sourness, it had become a matter of course. I agonized always, over whether my sons would grow up thinking corruption is ok? Anna has held up the mirror to our faces. At least the sourness is back.

But then that is it. It ends there. I don’t agree to the Jan Lokpal bill being greater than the parliament. Then who will be the Lokpal of the Lokpal?  Anna is saying that impeccable humans will be chosen to head the Lokpal. This is untenable. There is no perfect human. Only Collectively we check and balance.
 I would like every government official to come under the Lokpal bill. Put all the investigating agencies under the Lokpal and then let all findings be sent to the parliament to decide, for major issues.

But what about the small local cases of corruption, who will control and monitor? I don’t know yet.

But let’s give Anna his due and thank him for bringing back the sourness and stirring up the pot. But he needs to be flexible to “listen” to other views from similar crusaders. Let not the situation get reverse engineered- let not public’s misconceived ideas of the Lokpal bill become a burden on Anna himself. Let not Anna be in the situation of Deva Anand in the film “Guide”. Let not his cause become his nemesis. Let us not turn Anna into a time bomb. 

Pesticides Ok for Indian Consumers?

Recently I visited Nasik Area in Maharashtra. Not being an Agri professional, I have had to learn the fundamentals of products at the field itself, with the help of my colleagues. Nothing gives me more pleasure than a new thing to learn (and I hope like hell it will keep Alzheimer away!).

I have come to see that there is a big difference in being an expert in Grapes and being a Marketeer of Grapes. Let me illustrate.
      The grapes industry, as you might not know if you are not deep into its working, is surprisingly well organised, in parts. The part that is well organised is part that exports grapes to Europe and the part that is horrendously disorganized is the one that supplies grapes to the Indian consumer, that is you and me.

      Grape farmers have to make a decision at the beginning itself, whether are they going to make the field to cultivate grapes suitable for the European or the Indian market. If for Europe, then the soil maintenance, the kind of pesticides used, the dosage, the row distance, the leaves per stem, etc. gets well kept, as dictated by whom? The European Food laws.All grapes to Europe are "Pesticide Residue free". And grapes for Indian consumers? Well Chalta Hai! Pesticides residue is OK?
       The European grapes are 16mm in length, and the grapes supplied in India: 8mm to 10 mm, assorted. Do our Indian consumers not deserve pesticide residue free grapes, 16 mm and clean and crispy? 
      Why would they not be supplied to the Indian market? This is because the Indian Consumer is SAID to be price conscious. I decided to test this (what I thought was a Myth). 
       My company (Future Freshfoods, Mumbai) sourced grapes meant for Europe, redefined the sizes, put them in punnet boxes(plastic boxes), and sold them in the FoodBazaar outlets in Mumbai at prices which were Rs. 10 higher per kg than the market, but these are14 to16mm length grapes with pesticide zero residue, no infestation, no surface cracks - clean and neat. Everyone of the experts inside and outside told me that I was being foolish, that the punnet would add cost to the grapes, and that the cost would render the product a non-starter.
    I may not know the botanical name of grapes, but my wife is the consumer-silly, I hear it from her!  
It was sold out! 15,000 boxes in a day. Don't believe me see the pics. I believe the consumers in India have never eaten such delicious and top quality grapes consistently available. 
Don't Indian consumers, deserve to eat grapes of the standard that  European citizens eat? We need to get out of the mind-set that we Indians will make do with lower quality.It is not about being rich it is about being discerning. So help me God!  

Litter Moms !

I ask myself, is growth an indication of how well India is doing? I think we would be naive to think so. Why do I say that? I am not the only one who might be saying that, anyone who introspects will say that. We continue to be discourteous publically - have low thresholds of  sense of patience, forbearance, and sacrifice. We have a high degree of tolerance to inadequacies - litter on the street, dirt in the public bus, broken panes in a govt building, spit and sputum in building corners. Apathy from bureaucrats, corruption from politicians, and inefficiencies from private enterprise. We live happily with that without discomfort.

I was standing outside Crossroads mall near Haji Ali, Mumbai the other day when a very well to do mom, had her 10 year old son by his hand, while waiting for the car. The obese kid was sucking on a straw in a paper glass of something from MC Donald's. As the Benz arrived, she grabbed the paper cup and threw it onto the pavement. She wanted her car clean, but not the street. She is the one I cannot forgive, being educated, aware and expected to be responsible. She is a “Litter-Mom”. She symbolizes those educated people who don’t pay back to society with good conduct and good practice. And don’t pride in bringing up children who are law abiding citizens. I think charity must begin at home, where children are taught the meaning of the word - “patience, kindness, empathy, tolerance and respect”. How will they grow up to be worthy citizens, if they have a “Litter-Moms”?

I believe this is what causes rot in society when they grow up. For me the measure of success is more than growth.

In my years in Indian Retailing, I believe retailers have positively modified the behaviour of thousands of young boys and girls, who later go on have a family of their own, and I hope those service attitude good practices stick as a habit.

Retail stores intake youth at the age of 19 to 22 from a diverse set of backgrounds and teach them to be – hygienic, neat, courteous, punctual, systematic, team players, and teach them to take pride in what they do. I think I may have personally seen over 40,000 employees. But this is a constant endeavor that is lifelong effort. Most service industries inculcate this behaviour. I have seen this particularly in the hospitality industry.

I take courage that there may be more moms who are not litter moms, and India will in years to come build a society that is kind and orderly, and which believes that the “means is as important as the end”

If it is any consolation, to moms, I use the word Litter Mom, euphemistically (applies equally to the litter dads!) - so moms don’t get wild with me. 

TIC-TIC !

The Immediate Community (TIC)

Concept

See the Table 2 Below- 

In Indian Cities there are as many poor (Q1), as there are Rich and Middle class (Q5 to Q2). 20 Mn HH poor and Q5 to Q2 are 20 Mn HH.

Surprisingly 91% of the Q5 rich are in rural. Only 9% of the Q5 rich are in the Cities! So the Rich cats in the cities, you are not so rich after all!

How can we help the Urban Poor?

We keep seeing NGOs struggle to do something, and great inspiring stories also come to the fore of admirable individual initiatives. At those times I have felt a sense of longing to be one of them to help those who are less fortunate than I. But we can all start here and now - to use a an old saying - let charity begin at home. 

So here is a plan.    

The concept is  one of The Immediate Community. TIC.

All HH Q5 to Q3 will surely have 2 to 3 people who provide some service or the other - Cooks, Top Workers, Drivers, Car Cleaners, Dhobi, Ironing man, Delivery boys, Plumbers, Watchmen, Electricians, etc

They constitute 90% of a city in India! They work for the Q5 to Q3. This I don’t mean in a derogatory way. I mean that there is an Eco-system of Need-Fulfillment-Payment-Survival.

But here is the difference. Can Q5 to Q3 do something more in a structured manner to help those who serve them? I have no doubt that every one gives a Diwali bonus and feels good about it. It is no favour we do them. It is but our means of explicitly thanking them for their service to help me live well. 

Q5 to Q3 must vow that they will help them not only  "live" by paying equal to the services they render, but will support them Additionally . This is what TIC programme. here are the steps:

1. Recognize the presence of the Immediate Community around us.   They render valuable service for as low as Usd100 (Rs5000) per month full time work. They maintain their families with this.

2. It is never good to dole out extra money as cash. It will not be well used. Instead give then material support, as shown in table 1

What it costs  Q5/3 HH is Rs. 400 per month. That is the cost of a  Pizza dinner. See the table below-

 Table1*

Kinds of Support	Monthly	Annual	Total
Medicines	100		1200
School Books		500	500
School Fees	150		1800
School Vehicle	100		1200
Medical Insurance		200	200
Long term Life Insurance		200	200
		Total	5100
		Monthly	425

* some quick estimates

So to support a Family in this way it costs only Rs. 425. To support  2, it costs less than Rs. 900, (half the cost of any fine dining) 

So if all Q5 to Q3 support 2 families each, it will send out support worth Rs. 900 cr a month!

Every Family income will go up by 10%. This can compensate for the inflation.

So start Today. Make sure that no one who is in your TIC ever goes Hungry

The best feeling is when you have started it and not told anyone that you have. No fun posting a secret entry on face book !

						Urban rural split
Population Quintile arranged by Income	% Households(mn)	% of all HH Income	% of all hh expenditure	Surplus Income as a % to total Income	Income Index	Urban rural split	Urban%	rural%	Urban HH(mn)
Q1(LOWEST)	18(38)	6%	9%	-12%	100	52-48%	52%	48%	19.76
Q2	19(40)	9%	12%	11%	161	44-56%	44%	56%	17.6
Q3	20(42)	14%	17%	20%	225	23-77%	23%	77%	9.66
Q4	21(44)	21%	22%	31%	335	17-83%	17%	83%	7.48
Q5	22(46)	51%	40%	55%	841	9-91%	9%	91%	4.14
Notes	Almost equal No of HH across Quintiles	51% of the income is in the hands of 22% of the HH	22% account for 40% of the expenditure. 18% of hhspend 9%	Lowest poor are in perpetual debt, but all others have surplus	Richest is 8 times the poorest		Only 9% of the rich are Urban. 4.14 Mn only are urban, 41 Mn are rural ! 20 Mn HH of the poor are Urban. The growing Urban poor is a real problem.
Source: NCAER-CMCR

Gross National Happiness (GNH)

Today I read with great relish an article in the Mint Lounge about Bhutan. I had toyed with an idea of a holiday there. In this article about the country by Namita Bhandare (particularly well written), I read that Bhutan has concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which has an interesting set of 4 indices (I quote from the article) - "Sustainable economy, Culture, Environment and Good governance, and the nine domains of well being (including health,health living standard,community vitality and psychological well being, amongst others)".
Interesting.
This got me to ponder of how little we think of the softer issues in our daily work. I am not a great proponent of work life balance, since I don't practise that well, but it will always auger well for a company to focus genuinely on the "happiness factor" in consumers and employees. Lets look at some unseen factors that could lead to GPH (Gross Personal Happiness).
In retail it is always only Price, Availability, and Service. Even though these are so cliched and well trodden, few actually will score well on all counts together.
In 1997 when I got into retailing and there was no Indian template then of successful grocery retailing, (not that there is any infallible one now), I always, as Operations head, looked at moments of truth as a good guidance to the completion of a  holistic shopping experience.The most effective loyalty driver will always be the overall happiness after shopping, when you get home.
To this end in a small way I started the STUC programme (Show That You Care), many old Foodwolders will remember. It was simply this:
I found that in retailing which has self help and with a cashier to negotiate at the end of the trip, the Last impression is the Lasting impression.
 So how do we make the last impression a pleasant one? Getting the staff  to do these three things consistently was such a problem- 1) Eye contact with the consumer. 2) Smile&Greet. 3) say Thank you, please come again! (and the particular way of taking the money and handing over the bill and change)
So I made this a Drill. For 1 year we ran a mock STUC everyday, in all stores, during the morning briefing and change over shift, where every staff member did this as a drill loudly wishing and greeting, and doing the actual smile greet and taking and handing over the money. In a few months it happened automatically. It became part of the training modules. Newer staff who came in, even without much effort learnt from the "gurukul" of the store. Mystery shopper scores were instituted and awards and rewards were given. And I dare say that was at time, and even by today's standards the best additive ingredient to the GPH. Consumers began to enjoy the smile (didn't realise how difficult it is to make a person smile). This is just a small example in a larger initiative.
For the employee, what can make for better GPH? Only salary? Well that seems to be the trend in think nowadays. But I can assure you for young employees, it the always the 4th or 5th. I believe the more important ones are Security (physical and professional), Learning opportunity (enhances market worth), Dignity( treat me concern) and the Salary (my net take home). I could write a lot about this but just a small example is the Toilets in the store. The argument always came up about separate Consumer toilets from that of Employees. I have said they should be the same (location permitting). What is good for consumers is good for employees, and visa versa.
Indian public toilets have over the past decade has improved dramatically, and I believe when we begin to attach more concern to smaller seemingly insignificant elements that make for very huge lift in GPH, we can say that there is concern and directionally society is moving in the right path. May sound silly that I use the Public toilets as a case in point , but that is only incidental the the major idea.
The quicker we as Individuals, as Families, colonies, companies, and a nation, realise the importance of GPH, like Bhutan has, the easier will it to become law abiding responsible citizens. Let Charity begin at home.

Never Ask a Centipede How it Walks!

Senti the centepede was happy with life, feeding on debir and dead organic matter. Till one day the wise owl asked it a question. The following is their conversation.

Owl: Hi Senti how are you today?
Senti: Oh Owli. I am very well indeed, thank you.How are you doing?
Owl: I am not very well. I have been consumed by a puzzle, that I have been trying to figure out. I am not able to make rational sense using the laws of physics or engineering.

Senti: what may that be, wise one that worries you? You know everything about the world. There is nothing you dont know. We use you as our counsel.

Senti quickly move up the branch, all 100 legs working together in perfect alignment to get closer to the owl, who looked on with fascination.
Owl peered at Senti and said "I am puzzled about you"
"Me?" asked Senti
Owl: I am wondering how your 100 legs work, so perfectly, so synchronised? How do you manage it Senti, without ever tripping over yourself?
Senti: I, I ,I,...actually I never thought about it..(peering down at his hairy legs)
Senti was puzzled as well. He never make any effort to walk, all 100 legs moved in an amazing coordinated rythm. They flowed without effort. Senti even started feeling proud of his body part that he had never thought about at great depth.Senti began to think how the 100 legs move.
As if by a trigger Senti found some difficulty in walking now. Some of his legs were stuck, some intertwined. He was amazed again, he could not walk anymore. He could not figure out why. He looked up to see Owl flying away, chuckling.
Retail, folks is something like this. In an earlier article I had called it the Ecosystem. It is. Many a time we are unable to explain our successes in retail and our failures, in fact the latter may be easier than the former. Successful retailers try to replicate factors of success, without asking why. Is this good? Well, who would quarrel with success?
Retailing has millions of moving parts, that have to work in unison. In no other industry is the aspect of human coordination so well exemplified than in retailing.
But an analytical mind is always good, and necessary. But it may be inevitable that we cant explain everything that leads to success or failure.

God Speaks on Vegetable Prices

Man called God to complain about the prices of vegetables. The conversation was as follows

Man: God ? U there? Oh Hi ! What up with these vegetable prices? We are in crisis buddy. Noah did so much to keep the flock together, can't your department of agriculture keep the prices down?

God: Is that so? Where do you live?
Man: what diff does it make? OK, I live in free India in a great populated city with 12 million brethren. And you know vegetables have become more so expensive that we in our house share one carrot amongst 4 ! just Imagine.
God: Well, that is not what your brother in the village is saying. he says he is getting a better price and is happy. What do you do?
Man: BPO
God: whats that? Below POverty?
Man: Laughs forget it you wont understand, it is ahead of your times.

God: I understand and don't understand. Have you seen what you waste? Rs50,000 Cr worth of stuff each year? Let me show you some pictures of a whole Sale Market in your city. This is just 4 bags of radish that your hard working brethren farmers has cultivated and sent to this city of yours hoping someone will take care of his baby and sell it and send him the money after sale. Little does he know that his trusted agent has thrown into the dust bin. 

I see such huge wastage that I have now started living in the villages. Man are listening? Hello

Man:.........

God: Oh he logged off, or the call must have dropped- yep now a days the "attoot network" is also dropping calls...Man, oh man. when will you grow up?

Seriously. And jokes aside this must be the real truth. the city squanders, and wastes. There is no regulatory authority in the wholesale markets, to maintain handling standards and cleanliness. The dealers and agents are themselves not conscientious of the need to be careful with produce. They are not self-driven to better standards. I have seen bigger markets in Thailand and Malaysia. They are worth emulating. They are also in Asia. 

The Govt is easy target for criticism. But does anyone have to tell these agents and shop keepers to handle produce more carefully and keep their premises clean?

I am afraid this thing about "hum Aise he hain"( we are like this only) is the most dangerous way to think. I suggest we don't make a virtue of a vice. If we waste we must pay. That we are doing now. Wake Up Sid  and smell the beans ! 

     

Which Tomato will win?

Can a Lowly Tomato make you win the battle of retail? If it is sounding silly, let me explain, there is nothing silly about it.

Look at the two Photographs. These are tomatoes from two  different stores in Chennai. One is a successful exclusive Fruits and Vegetables store (sells Rs100lakhs worth of produce a month from 3000 sft ! Is that successful enough?), and the other from a large Hyper market. Which one is likely to win the consumer's heart? The one on the right was Rs. 2 more expensive than the one on the left.

The one on the left though is less red is also a different variety, but is also bruised and cut. There is no doubt that the one on the right is the winner. 

This speciality store is not cheap, but wins on quality and range. 

Every retailer has to understand the right mix of Price and Quality. 
I have seen retailing in India for over a decade now and I think the consumer is now maturing to pay for Value other than paying for Price.  This is indeed good news for everyone - FMCG companies, and retailers alike, and of course farmers. Conversely, it is a wake up call - Wake Up you price mongers, here comes the time to be counted for the lip service that you have always rendered. Price reduction will no more have the same elasticity it had earlier. Consumer will pay as per value (Price x Attribute). The ones who are truly good in Relevant-Quality must rejoice, for they have lived through the difficult times; their time has arrived.
In retrospect, Modern trade must change what they are now. What in grocery terms have they done all these years that is different from the kirans? The main difference has been only 2 things - larger choice (transferring power from FMCG companies to the consumer to cast the vote on the brands), and air conditioned shopping. There has been little or no approach to Solutions for the consumer like supermarkets have provided abroad. Super markets and FMCG companies in India are very weak in the category level thinking. Let us take an example - bakery. What solutions have they provided for bakery? No supermarket carries a full range of breads and buns at reasonable prices. They have not taken the trouble to create categories - instead have continually dug deeper and deeper in the same Red-Ocean, by competing for a share of the milk bread market! There is no mind set to create a Blue-ocean in bakery. Meat and Fruits and vegetables are similar.
Retail competition just simply steal consumers from each other, and don't create new consumers! There may have come a time now when Blue Ocean can be created by not lowering differentiation when price is lowered!
Oh! What are you saying? Can a super market create consumers?  Well now even Life seems to have been created, then why not new consumer?
 Yes they can. Next blog!

Who are You ?

The Topic sounds almost insulting.
I speak in the realm of retail but this topic is equally relevant to any product or service. It is not new, but it is given little attention, or rather as much attention as may be needed. Let me cut to the chase.
It is POSITIONING I am referring to.
Wikipedia has a good note on this topic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positioning_(marketing)
Having been around in the retail scene for a while, I have seen attempts at serious Modern Trade Retailing in grocery by large Indian corporates. In all cases I have seen that senior leadership have lacked clarity of thought about "what are you", and  what  they want the retail outlet to be. Positioning is the most significant one pager that the senior leadership must "literally write", laminate, and distribute to anyone who has anything to do with decision making in the company. This clarifies at a high level the identity of the retail outlet.

To write the Positioning statement needs Clarity on the following necessarily in this order:

1. Vision of the Promoter. Lets not fool ourselves. It is the one who spends who calls the shots! I may choose for some or any reason, that I want to be a Gourmet Food retailer (high end value added foods), or someone else decides that they find Mass retailing to be the market they want to play in. It also gives a peek into the mind of the promoters of their risk appetite and expectation of the horizon of investment pay back. Having an endless tranche of cash flow also does not guarantee success in Indian retailing. Learn from Sam Walton and the subsequent CEOs after him in 1996. He never ever since he started nor to this day had any confusion of "who are you", he is the ultimate mass retailer - Pile high let Fly.
2. Who are we talking to?  Clarity from 1. above then begs the question - "if I know what I want, then who is my target Audience?" A mass low price retailer setting up average quality merchandise in Causeway Mumbai, or Malabar hill, or Vasant Vihar in Delhi or Boat Club road in Chennai, is in the wrong place with the wrong concept.
3. What do we sell to them? Clarity from 2. above forces category managers to understand and look for merchandise that suits the price, quality, and range requirements of the target Consumer. Need i say more? Well i need to say a lot more. I am not sure how many senior category heads in this county will pass the test of writing a category plan. Do they understand what CDT means, Mind Mapping, Assortment and Promotion efficacy? If they don't pass this test then they are the captain of the Titanic!
4. How do I serve them? Clarity from 2. and 3. above will tell you what kind of outlet will be suitable for the consumer - glitzy, funky or functional? What kind of outlet might sell Disney products of MTV memorabilia, and what kind onions? I had seen a gourmet outlet in HongKong called Great - with truly high end food (the only gourmet worth its definition, to some extent Jaisons in Singapore).
5. What else do I need to know? Clarity from 3. above raises many new questions- how do i get products to them- supply chain, promotions philosophy, visual merchandising, etc.

Positioning, as you can see, is the core to everything. Even for individuals at the age of 47 it is not too late to try to rediscover your calling and competence (corrected after Ninad's comment, below). But Early in life we must understand we must study and work for gaining Competence, and Capability. And this comes only from direct hands on experience. What is your Positioning? Write down the things you are good at, and that can make a difference to the people around you or to the company you work in. Don't be a John Doe! 

Can a Retail Store Influence the Country

It is disconcerting sometimes when one sees the low level of restraint and sense of responsibility that is exhibited by Indian public figures, be it the Captain of the Indian cricket team or the Minister of Environment making snide remarks at a matter of national importance and sensitivity, or the leader of one party calling some other party leader a "dog".

Have we ever heard a Chinese leader make a statement that leaves the nation embarrassed? I am not so well read but I think not.

Of what use is personal freedom if individuals cannot exercise judgement and restrain in private and public life? Of what gain is education if it does not teach forbearance and patience towards weak and impatience to get work done and not the other way around?

When will we be seen, individually and collectively as a people who pride in following the law and rules if not for the sake of pride, at least from fear of punishment? But then who are we to fear if we drive on the wrong side of the road, or litter the street?

This has always bothered me when I have dealt with store managers. We leave stores of 2000 to 100,000 sft to a store manager in his/her late 20s. The store is a like Country by itself - has a boundary to protect, goods to guard, staff to motivate and train to follow the rules of the store, serve the consumers, make profits and manage the stocks and costs. There is but that much the company can do to train them, but a lot of the foundation of his (using the male gender only for convenience - read her as well) action is built on the innate personal beliefs and values. What we personally believe is also highly influenced by our national beliefs and that of the community that we live in.

The store manager is influenced by many layers of influencers

1. level 1- parents and family
2. level 2- immediate community (society) - friends, neighbours, and colony
3. level 3- company- how they train, and practise the values
4. level 4 - political- news papers and channels - what politicians say and do

A Store is very much like a sailing ship. that is why mariners are considered very resourceful people - no one to turn to other than to they themselves for any help on high seas. A store in this sense is much less isolated but equally self contained. So a store manager must be well rounded not only in the processes of the store, but also in the values that the company wants the manager to imbibe. It is very possible for a Company to instil values that are different and better than some of the values that the store manager sees around him. For example, punctuality, and hard work. The company can inculcate standards that are different from what the store manager sees from some government employees around him- may be even the way his father of mother who may be government opine about certain issues or work.

The point is, the Retail store can be the unit that changes values in society and not only the other way around. Hence, if organised retail employs 1 million people, can influence as many households and four fold the number of people.
Let me therefore, entreat all companies to begin the reverse Influence, much like the "jago re" campaign of Tatatea. 
So lets remember what J F Kennedy said. Think what you can do for the country and not the other way around. JaiHo, JaiHind !