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بســـم
الله الرحمن
الرحيم |
BETTER BUSINESS PRACTICES - A TALK
A talk on the above subject was conducted by Professor Ranjan Das - one of India's leading Management exponent, who teaches Strategy and International Business at the premier IIM - Joka. It was held at Badri Hall on Sunday 27th Nov: '05. Janab Amil Saheb Yunusbhai Saheb (DM) graced the session.
I would like to share with netizens a few of the nuggets that I managed to gather from the very interesting and motivational talk buttressed by statistics and hard facts. The talk revolved around ambition and passion for business, where complacency has no place. One would be relegated to history, if one only talks about the past achievements and past glory of his business. In his words - ' the more you talk of history, you yourself become history'. The world is changing fast and we have to keep ourselves abreast, by learning to think out of the box.
He posed a query as to why the 800 or thereabout shops of our community in Kolkata did not increase two or three folds. Was it because of lack of opportunity, or lack of education, or simply because we did not want it. We were complacent inheriting our father's businesses, merely running the show, and satisfied with the profit generated, thinking we are doing a 'great job'. He forewarned that if we do not wake up, do not foresee and adapt to changes, we will facing a bleak future.
Citing example of Amazon.com he stated that a shop may not be nowadays of mere brick and mortar but can be one on the Net. Wall Mart - a $350 million dollar behemoth having 4000 stores in far flung areas, started in 1982 only, giving a run for their money to long established business, with the simple strategy of opening stores where the consumers are, thinking out of the box, doing away with standard practices adopted by established stores of giving seasonal discounts and implementing unique EDLP (every day low price)
Professor Das confided that for many years he has been teaching to MBA students but he likes to create entrepreneurs, as creating one MBA graduate means creating one job, whereas creating one entrepreneur ensures that10 or 15 or many jobs are likely to be created, and in this way he will be having a satisfaction of fulfilling a social responsibility.
A very interesting point he touched on the question of - Should we invest more in business or stay liquid ? According to him idle money is a criminal offence, a business man must be motivated by social responsibility, by developing his business, he is creating more jobs, contributing towards nation building.
There was a lively question answer session after the talk. Professor Das advised that there is very good potential and rapid growth in service sector businesses, and the future of small scale manufacturing sector is very bleak. Professor Ranjan Das rounded off his talk with a very interesting anecdote.
When the sun rises in the jungle the gazelle wakes up and reflects that it must run the fastest to avoid being a prey to the hungry lion. When the sun rises the lion also wakes up and reflects that it should run faster than the slowest running gazelle, or it will remain hungry. So one should always be motivated, keep trying, set benchmarks, because success is a journey - it is never ending.
I am indebted to Professor Ranjan Das and also to Bhai Mudar Patharya, who very true to the bengalee bhadrolok spirit of - ekla cholo re - (go the path alone) is trying to enlighten the business community by arranging for such sessions. I for one know how difficult the job in hand is. I pray that may he continue to strive and I am confident, the mindset will change for the better.
During Sehrullah he managed to arrange for an interactive session titled ' Dreaming Big' by Mr. Mohan Das Pai - Director - Finance. Infosys. His lecture as I commented to Bhai Mudar later, was like a fast paced, action packed Western movie, where statistics and hard nosed facts, came swift and fast and in the end, he achieved what he set out to achieve. We were mesmerized and motivated.
My niyat is to share the knowledge that we were fortunate to receive.
May Allah grant our beloved Aqa Moula (TUS) sehato -aafiyat-ta-kiyamat. Ameen.
Abde Syedna (TUS)
Asgar Fakhrudin
| Asgar Fakhruddin | asgarubi@gmail.com |