1. finance
2. personal finance
3. insurance

Vol . xxxxi No.2
fountainhead of excellence
MAY-JUN 2015
Contents
New Insurance Bill
2015
In Conversation
with the Mystic
5
D D Singh
10
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Voices & Choices
New Insurance Bill
Vision and Paradigm
Shift...
13
Voices of Triumph
16
D K Mehrotra
From an Unknown
Blogger to a Best
Selling Author
Preeti Shenoy
20
Building High
Performance Teams
Using ‘S.C.O.R.E’...
22
Prof Sattar Bawany
How to benefit from
the Indian stock
market?
N Kannan
25
EDITOR
Gp Capt R Vijayakumar, VSM (Retd)
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From the editor
Dear Members,
The month of March dawn with enjoyable weather and
was eventful with a flurry of activities. We are just on the
brink of summer and the heat is already on and driving
people to head for cooler locations. But at MMA, the heat
is on to extend high quality management event including
MMA Awards, Election to MMA Managing Committee,
AGM and many more. I am also happy to inform you that
our endeavour and hard work for the last four years with
the support of Senior Advocate, Ms Pushya Sitaraman
resulted in an Income Tax Order in favour of MMA. This is
an important judgement by the Income Tax Tribunal that
would enable MMA to enjoy the benefit of exempt from
income tax and continue to offer high quality educational
events to propagate management movement in this part of
the country. But the saga continues...... We win one to fight
another... Story of all Indian businesses.
The recently concluded MMA Women Managers
Convention on the theme “Voices” was a grand success
attended by more than 700 women delegates. The
Convention was addressed by a galaxy of speakers from all
over India and we are delighted to present to you in this
edition, the transcript of interesting sessions on “Voices &
Choices” and “Voice of Triumph” for your reading pleasure.
MMA organised a Conclave on the theme “New Insurance
Bill 2015: Vision and Paradigm Shift Facilitating
Opportunity” in association with CAMS Repository
Services in April 2015. The country has a long history of the
thought and practice of insurance.
The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 becomes
important against the backdrop of this historic, present
and an evolving insurance industry landscape. The bill has
several provisions that can enable Indian consumers, as
well as domestic and foreign companies, to benefit from
India’s vast and at present an almost unpenetrated market.
The experts from the regulators shared their insights on
the New Insurance Bill 2015 and I am happy to present to
you the transcript of the Keynote Address by Mr D D Singh
and Mr D K Mehrotra for your understanding of the farsighted Insurance Bill.
Should the internet be touched? Net neutrality is the basic
right of every individual as it gives them choice to access.
In one way, it represents freedom of expression which is
the hall mark of our democracy. In the present times, it can
be very well said that the “Internet is freedom” as it has the
power to make a person believe that nothing in this world is
beyond his/her scope of achieving it. On one hand we have
a visionary government focussing on a “Make in India”
and on the other we gave telecom and eCommerce giants
who envision a competitive – free market by scraping Net
Neutrality. We need to express our views and save the
internet.
India offers highly attractive investment opportunities for
domestic and international investors. Such investments
are critical for fostering entrepreneurship and innovation.
India already enjoys a strong reputation. It is a global leader
in delivering quality services at low cost – demonstrated by
the extraordinary uptake of mobility phones and banking
services by rural Indians.
Innovation is the key driver of growth in any economy.
Innovation is a reality of today’s integrated economies.
What industrial revolution was to the 18th and 19th century,
mass production was to the 20th century, innovation is to
the 21st century, the pivot of effectiveness and of obtaining
an edge.
In the Indian context the focus on innovation must follow
a special path of inclusiveness – involving everyone in the
country not just those who produce and consume at the high
end. In this direction, MMA joined CavinKare to celebrate
the spirit of entrepreneurship & innovation to recognize
young businessmen/women running small and tiny scale
industries by instituting the Award - Chinnikirishnan
Innovation Award - the man who pioneered the sachet
revolution. This Award will be an annual event focus on the
overall value of the innovation in terms of its uniqueness,
its benefit to the people and its ability to be scalable. The
proud winners will also have access to marketing advisory
services facilitated by MMA & CavinKare.
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi’s Convocation Address to the
class of 2015 at IIM Calcutta was thought provoking. Ms
Nooyi’s exhortation to the management students to learn,
earn, and return and to always stay humble is timely
advice especially when families are increasingly becoming
nucleus and the concept of old age homes is catching on.
Ms Nooyi’s move to ask the students to give their parents
a round of applause was indeed thoughtful. I do hope our
young managers and students emulate the advise of Ms
Nooyi and lead a happy life!
Gp Capt R Vijayakumar, VSM (Retd)
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
In Conversation with the Mystic
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Founder, Isha Foundation
This article is a summary of conversation with the Mystic Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev by Mr Venky Rajgopal, Managing
Director, Indian Terrain Fashions Ltd and Past President, MMA at MMA Annual Convention held on 20th February 2015.
Venky Rajgopal: Sadhguru, at the outset, let me express
the immense gratitude of the Madras Management
Association. You have fulfilled a number one on the wish
list of the MMA, which has endured for many years. I was
President a few years ago and you were always the first
target. So, very grateful, Sadhguru, and personally it is
a great privilege to be sitting with you and having this
conversation.
You are cool on the outside and hot on the inside,
Sadhguru, that is what I can see. Can you tell us what is it
that emanates this cool persona?
Sadhguru: Anyway, the language has gone through
a certain amount of transformation. In the sixties and
seventies, to describe the same quality, we used to say,
“Oh, he’s hot.” Now they say, “He’s cool.” Probably the
impact of global warming, changing our language. So what
is it? Let’s come down to something very mechanical. If
any machine has to work with a certain level of efficiency,
for example, a simple air conditioner, look at the amount
of noise it is making. So improving technology means
one day, there will be an air conditioner that you will not
notice, but it will just do what it has to do. It is supposed
to just cool the hall, but it is making bad music. So, this is
happening with human beings. They are supposed to do
one thing, but so many other things are happening with
them. They want to handle one issue on the outside, but
they themselves are one big issue.
One thing I did with myself was make sure that I am
never an issue. Because I am not an issue, we handle the
outside issues, to the best of our ability and in the time
that it allows. Why I was talking about machines and being
efficient within is because whatever aspirations you have,
business or otherwise, essentially it is about functioning
at a higher level than you are functioning right now. Every
tool that we create, every machine that we build is only
about enhancing our existing capabilities. Because we can
speak, we made up a microphone so that we can speak
clearly and loudly. Then we made up a telephone because
we can see all kinds of scope for this.
Essentially, every tool, every machine, whatever we
create is only to enhance our already existing faculties to
different dimensions. By turning inward we could enhance
5 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
ourselves immensely, but that would need some work.
Technology means someone else will do it for you. You do
not know how your cell phone really works, you just have
to learn to use it. With the inner dimension, you have to do
it – no one else will do it for you.
Today modern science is beginning to talk about this, but
the yogic science has been talking about it forever: whether
it is an atom or the whole cosmos, the fundamental design
is the same. It is only the complexity and sophistication
which is improving. Whatever the technology, the
fundamental science has not changed, only the complexity
and sophistication of arrangement is changing. You
can rearrange the complexity and sophistication of your
own existence in so many ways. One person is more
sophisticated than the other simply because he has
arranged a few things little better.
How smoothly something functions on the physical level
is a question of geometric perfection. The whole physical
existence is a certain type of geometry. Whatever is not
geometrically correct will collapse into itself. Only what
is geometrically correct will exist and continue in the
universe. Right now for example, if you take the solar
system, all these planets are keeping their beat of going
around the sun because they are in a geometrically correct
pattern. If you disturb them a bit, it is finished, the whole
thing will collapse. The same is true with you. If this
system is geometrically in a correct state, its existence will
be smooth; its existence will not be a struggle of any kind.
To sit here, it is perfectly easy. Because I am at ease, you
say I am cool.
That is your word for me being at ease. It is just that, if
you bring something to a certain state of geometrical
perfection, everything is at ease. If you check my pulse
rate right now, I have just had breakfast and come, it is
somewhere around fifty-five probably. If I was hungry and
I just sit quietly, it will settle down below forty, because
the geometry is correct. Because of that, whatever else you
do happens with the least amount of friction – with the
least amount of effort. What is the big difference between
an Ambassador car and a BMW that you drive today? Just
geometric perfection.
When I was riding motorcycles, we used to do our own
engines. We would buy a brand new Yezdi motorcycle and
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dismantle the whole engine – we called it “blueprinting.”
We had to re-align the whole engine before we rode because
we want to ride in a certain way. The stock engines would
never ride like that. But today, you buy it off the showroom
and just go away. It is simply geometric perfection which
has made the difference.
The same thing goes with you. The whole system of yoga is
to rearrange your system. Your genetics and so many other
things might have given you various levels of distortions.
If you do a little bit of work with yourself, you arrive at
a certain level of geometric perfection physiologically,
psychologically and energy-wise, where your system
functions with ease. That means you are never an issue.
There are issues in the world, but depending upon our
interest and time, we will do whatever we can.
Venky Rajgopal: Sadhguru, I have been in the business
of building an apparel brand for many years and I have yet
to get it right. Which brings me to the question Sadhguru,
I see you perfectly attired and you carry it off with so
much elan. There is a brand of the Foundation and there
is a brand which is Sadhguru. I would like to know is it a
happy coincidence or by deliberate design that you know
who you have to attract, and you know who you have to
embrace, if this country has to change? And this persona
is important to make them part of your vision. Please help
us understand, how do we arrive at this?
Sadhguru: I am not targeting any particular group of
people. We are doing programs and events for the highest
level of corporate, academic and scientific communities.
But almost seventy percent of our work is in rural India.
And we spend almost ten to fifteen percent of our time,
resource and energy in the prisons of the world. So what
is the relationship between you and the man who is a
convict in the prison? It is just that both of you happen to
be human.
Whether someone is a criminal, policeman, politician,
corporate or tribal person, essentially they are human.
My interest is human beings. When you come as a human
being, you have come with a possibility that other creatures
on this planet do not carry. For every other creature on this
planet, nature has drawn two lines. Within those two lines,
they must live and go. Once you have come as a human
being, there is only a bottom line – the top line is gone. So
the struggle of the human being is, he is not able to grapple
with the freedom that nature has given him.
People are not struggling with their bondages. They are
struggling with their freedom. They are trying to create a
comfortable bondage within which they can live. At every
point in their life, they create a bondage and within some
time they realize it is a different kind of torture and from
one torture to another torture, they keep moving. But
what they are struggling with essentially is their freedom;
they do not know how to deal with it. If a tiger is born, a
tiger is not sitting and wondering how to become a good
tiger. There is no such thing. If he eats well, he becomes
a good tiger. All he has to do is find enough food and eat
well. But once you come as a human being, see how many
6 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
things you have to do to become what you consider as a
good human being, forget about others.
And however much you do, still you do not know where you
stand by yourself. In comparison to another person, you
can say, “Oh, I am better than this person.” By yourself,
you do not know where you stand. When you think you
are doing well, someone will come by and say you are no
good. Because we know what is a perfect earthworm. We
know what is a perfect tiger. We know what is a perfect
mango tree. We know what is a perfect elephant. What is a
perfect human being, you do not know because there is no
top line. It is a limitless possibility. Because it is a limitless
possibility, people are trying to create a comfort zone of
limitation, but no human being is ever comfortable with
his limitations. He always wants to be something more
than who he is. If that happens, he wants to be something
more and something more.
Human struggle is with their freedom, not with their
bondage, and that is a tragedy. If you are struggling with
your bondage, there is a solution – liberation. But if you
are struggling with your freedom, what is the solution?
Bondage is a solution? People are trying to find bondage as
a solution and it has not worked. You see, as people become
more and more successful, generally they are becoming
more and more joyless. So you are sending out a message
to the world, “Success is suffering” – which is a very bad
message. If you keep doing it, the next generation will not
seek success. Any society which does not seek success is a
wash away generation; it is down the drain because success
is the sweetest thing in human life. Whether it is a small
thing or a big thing, you want it to be successful. That is
how important success is. But successful people in the
world are sending out a message that success is suffering.
This happened in the ‘60s in United States. The successful
people were so straitjacketed and you could barely ever
see a smile on their face. The youth said, “What is the
point living like this?” So they thought smoking pot on the
street side is a better thing than working for your success,
because at least they are happy. That is the argument, and
you cannot beat that argument because what is really the
point, anyway?
All this is in pursuit of human wellbeing and that is one
thing that has been forgotten. The first time I was in the
Economic Forum, a few people saw me and they were
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almost resentful. Two of them came up to me and they said,
“What is a mystic doing in an economic summit? What are
you doing here?” I looked at them and asked, “What do
you do?” He said, “I am the CEO of a computer hardware
company. We are the second-largest manufacturers of
computers on the planet.” I said, “See, whether you are
manufacturing a computer, a safety pin or a spacecraft, it
does not matter, the essential purpose of all this activity
is human wellbeing. The fundamental business is human
wellbeing, and that is my business too. That is why I am
here.” You might have forgotten in the process of doing
it, but essentially every activity is about human wellbeing.
Wellbeing will not happen to you because of what you wear,
what kind of car you drive or what kind of home you live
in. You are well only when you are truly joyful within you.
When your insides are really pleasant, that is when you feel
well. If your body becomes pleasant, we call this health. If
it becomes very pleasant, we call it pleasure. If your mind
becomes pleasant, we call this peace. If it becomes very
pleasant, we call it joy. If your emotion becomes pleasant,
we call this love. If it becomes very pleasant, we call it
compassion. If your very life energies become pleasant, we
call this blissfulness. If it becomes very pleasant, we call
it ecstasy. If your surroundings become pleasant, we call
it success.
To make the surroundings pleasant, you need the
cooperation of many people and forces involved or you
need a certain skill to organize those things. But all the
other aspects of pleasantness are entirely you and you
alone. At least that much everyone should do if they want
to be successful. At least you must be pleasant. The rest
we do according to our capabilities. Each human being
is capable in a different way. How much pleasantness
you can create outside is subject to capability, time
and inclination. But this much is clear – for you to be a
pleasant and wonderful human being, it does not take any
time. It does not matter if you were born a thousand years
ago, today or a thousand years later, you can be pleasant
within yourself. External pleasantness is subject to various
realities. We may manage it in a large way or in a small
way, but if you and me are pleasant within ourselves, what
is the problem with the external situation? It is very simple
to manage. So that is all the business is. Don’t make too
much out of it.
Venky Rajgopal: Sadhguru, you have built a fantastic
organization called Isha, you have hundreds of thousands
of people who follow what you say and revere you for
your teachings. And your lifestyle is so accomplished, and
is what every entrepreneur would want to be – driving
fast cars, piloting helicopters, playing golf. These are the
trappings of a successful business person. Yet, you do
not seem to be in it. These are things you do and these
are things which we all pursue, but there is a tremendous
difference in the way you have embraced it. Whereas we
make it the end all of what we strive for, what part of your
life is it? Can you help us understand what is economic
pursuit?
7 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Sadhguru: I am not driving fast cars or flying helicopters
all the time. Somewhere once a year, when I drove
something or rode a motorcycle here and there, someone
records it and plays it every day because that is what excites
them. So it looks like I am doing this on a daily basis. Now
the thing is just this. What we do in the world should not
be about us, because what we do should be relevant to the
situations in which we exist. Whatever I do in the world is
never about me because I do not have to do anything. If
I close my eyes and sit, I am done. I can sit here till I fall
dead. There is really no need to do anything. If I close my
eyes, the world is gone for me. This is very simple. Some
fundamental things have not happened to people and they
made it very big. For example, a camera. If you put a lens
cap on it, it cannot see anymore. It does not see any light
or any image. So, what you call as your eyelids are like lens
caps. Once you put them on, you should not see anything.
But most human beings on the planet, if they close their
eyes – not just one world, twenty-five worlds will happen
at the same time. Madness will go on because things have
not been taken charge of. In the sense, see you are sitting
with the iPad and missing the “I.” You are really padded
up for life. Padding up for life means you do not want life
to hit you. What I am asking you is, have you come here to
experience life or to avoid life?
Venky Rajgopal: Experience life, Sadhguru.
Sadhguru: But right now, just see how many strategies
you have as to how to avoid life.
Venky Rajgopal: True.
Sadhguru: First of all, if I utter the word “life,” for most
people, they think about their work, their family, their car,
their house and whatever else. No, these are all accessories
to life. If you were here 200 years ago, your idea of
accessories to life would be to have a nice buffalo in your
house. Maybe now it is a BMW or a Bentley but it used to
be a buffalo at one time. So accessories change according
to the times in which we exist and where we are. This does
not make life; these are just accessories. What you call as
“life” is within you, but that dimension has never been
touched, people are just busy with accessories. When I say
accessories, I am not only talking about your home, car
and clothing. I am even talking about your body and mind
because you gathered these also.
What you call as your “body and mind” you gathered
over a period of time. Everything that you gather, at the
most, you can temporarily claim “It is mine.” You cannot
say, “It is me.” So because this one fundamental fact has
not been grasped experientially, and what is “you” and
what is “not you” is not clear to you, this whole struggle
is going on. Give whatever you want to people, they are
struggling with it. If they are poor, they are suffering their
poverty. You make them rich, they suffer the taxes. If they
are uneducated, they suffer that. You send them to school,
eternal suffering. They are not married, they suffer that.
You get them married – I won’t say anything. No children
they suffer that; give them children, daily suffering. What
is it that people are not suffering? If you suffer every aspect
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of life, naturally you will pad up with an iPad. If you are
padded up for life, that means “nothing should hit me.”
No, life should happen to you in every possible way.
your hallucination versus my hallucination, it will go on
endlessly. After all it is a dream, we can change it. But they
will not change it, because it is fixed dream.
People come to me and say, “Sadhguru, please bless
us, nothing should happen to me.” I say, “What kind of
blessing is this? My blessing is let everything happen to
you. Everything that is life, let it happen to you.” If you
want to avoid life, there are more efficient ways to do it. If
you want to avoid life, death is the most efficient way to do
it. If you are alive and you try to avoid life, you will make
yourself half alive – this is going to be torture. If we want
to torture you, we won’t kill you. We hold your throat half
down, then it is torture. Being half alive is always torture
and that is all human beings are suffering. Out of fear of
what may happen to them, they have made themselves
half a life. Whatever happens, they suffer, whatever does
not happen, they suffer. Nothing in particular needs to
happen to them.
The next step that is happening now is, in search of human
wellbeing, we are looking outward. In looking outward,
we are destroying our very sustenance of life. The Living
Earth statistics say that if all the seven billion people
acquire the kind of comfort and convenience that an
average American citizen enjoys today, we need four and
a half planets. But we have only half a planet – not even
a full one. So, our idea of business, talking in trillions of
dollars, is just a pipe dream that is going to burst. It has to
burst. Anyway a whole lot of people are taking a one-way
ticket to Mars, that may be a saving grace. Please export
as many as you can, then maybe it is okay, not otherwise.
On this planet, only that many people and that much can
be done because physical material is limited.
People come to me and say, “Sadhguru, I cannot take my
mother-in-law, she is too much. My wife, she is impossible.
My boss, I cannot.” I say, “Don’t worry, your mother-inlaw, boss, wife, husband, nobody is going to enter this
ashram. You don’t worry, I’ll give you a nice place to
stay, nice food to eat. You don’t have to do anything, no
work. Just sit in the room. Every day, we’ll feed you, we’ll
take care of you for the rest of your life. Only thing is,
whenever I come and check, you must be joyful. That is
the only condition.” Twenty-four hours you keep them in
one room, they will go crazy without the mother-in-law,
without the wife, without the boss, without the husband.
The important thing is to know, when it comes to any kind
of suffering, you are on self-help. You do not need anyone
else’s help, you just sit alone for twenty-four hours and
see, how many things you go through. When you are alone,
if you are suffering, obviously you are in bad company.
You have to fix that. If you fix this one thing and this
company is pleasant and wonderful, then being with
anyone, working with anyone, doing whatever we have to
do is a natural outcome. Whatever is needed in the world,
we will do. Otherwise there is no need to do anything.
But right now, it is compulsive action. Whether the world
needs it or not, you have to do it and in the process, the
world is getting destroyed.
In pursuit of human wellbeing, people have looked up for
a long time. Now, you are sitting on a round planet. Not
even on the North Pole – at a certain latitude, in Chennai,
probably twelve degrees. And the planet is spinning. If
you look up, invariably you are looking up in the wrong
direction. You do not know what is up and down in this
cosmos. Is it marked somewhere, “This side up?” You do
not know and you are incapable of knowing. You cannot
know what is up and down, you cannot know what is
forward and backward. It is only contextually for practical
purposes we say this. But in reality, you do not know. So
if you look up, you become hallucinatory. The world has
suffered because of these hallucinations. For the last 2000
years people have been fighting continuously – because
8 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Especially now, everyone of us have become superhuman
beings in our ability to do things. When such tremendous
capabilities have come to us, it is important that our
consciousness is not still about how to make ourselves
bigger than someone else. It is a stupid way to live. Our
way of existence has to become far more inclusive. Our way
of existence has to come from a deeper dimension than the
way we are functioning right now because we are no more
ordinary creatures. We are all superhuman beings by any
context. Even people fifty years ago would consider you
superhuman beings with the capabilities you have today.
Do not take this for granted, this is not a small thing. This
is a phenomenal time, that we exist here as superhuman
beings compared to any other generation ever on this
planet. But this intelligence and this competence could be
our nemesis if we do not handle it intelligently.
In 2008 when I went to the Economic Forum, just then
the recession was hitting the Western markets and these
1200 people who control almost eighty percent of the
world’s economy were all carrying long faces. Only the
Indians were bursting around a little bit because they were
running an “India Everywhere” campaign in Switzerland.
So, they asked me to handle a session “Recession and
Depression.” I said, “Recession is bad enough. You do
not have to multiply it with depression. You always
complained about work, this is the time to take a walk on
the beach.” I told them, “See, the way you have structured
the economic engine on the planet is such – if you fail,
you’ll be depressed. If you succeed, we will be damned. I
prefer that you are depressed.” Because right now, we have
structured everything in such a way, if we really succeed,
we will fail. This has to change. If this has to change, first
of all the direction in which we search for our wellbeing
has to change from outward to inward. If your wellbeing is
within you, now you will look at what is the best thing to
do. If you are searching for your wellbeing outside, you do
not care what happens, somehow you want to do it. That
is where we are still. We need to change because we are no
more small creatures. We are super human beings.
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New Insurance Bill 2015
D D Singh
Member (Distribution), Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (IRDAI)
This article is a summary of the Keynote Address delivered by the Chief Guest Mr D D Singh during the Conclave on ‘New
Insurance Bill 2015’ held on 20th April 2015.
I would like to thank MMA and CAMSRep for giving me
this opportunity to be here today and share my views
on the New Insurance Bill. The previous speakers, Mr.
Mehrotra and Mr. Manickam have touched many of the
aspects of the bill in their speech. The Insurance Bill is
generally perceived in the public brain as 26:49 transition
and the Indian ownership of Insurance companies.
These were the two most predominant headlines, which
occupied the space of the print other media. There are
however quite a few aspects in the bill which are focused
on the Development of Insurance industry and the Benefit
of the Customers. These customer centric aspects in the
bill have unfortunately, not hogged the headlines. I don’t
expect them to hog the headlines but at least these should
be discussed and elaborated by the Consumer Activists
and the Consumer Groups for the benefit of the customers.
It is heartening to note that MMA is doing a good job in
bringing out the important aspects of the insurance bill,
which intends to give a lot of benefits to the customers.
Agents to give best financial solution to customers….
The first and most important thing, which the Insurance
bill provides, I think, is enabling and empowering the
insurance advisors to provide good ‘insurance advice’ to
the customers. It is not explicitly put that way; but it is
what the bill implies. The bill states, all of you know, that
the insurer shall be responsible for all acts of omissions of
its agents including violation of code of conduct and liable
to a penalty which may extend to one crore rupees.
Good financial advice by Insurance advisors is possible
only if the Insurance Companies provide good training to
their agents and they make the agents totally adequate to
give very good financial advice to the customers. Agents
should understand the financial need of the customer; do a
proper need analysis and give a very good financial advice
to the customer. The insurance agents have now to become
a true financial advisors and it will be the responsibility
of the insurer and the insurance agents to develop this
expertise.
IRDAI has issued the first set of guidelines on ‘Appointment
of Insurance Agents-2015’. The IRDA Agents’
1 0 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Appointment Guidelines 2015 ensures that interests of the
insurance agents’ are protected; the consumers’ interests
are protected; and the Insurance Companies take keen
of interest in building the capacity of the agents to guide
the customers. The guidelines specifies that the Insurance
Companies will provide training to the agents and build up
the capacity of the agents to provide good financial advice
to the customers. It is the responsibility of the insurance
company to give a good training to the agents so that the
customer’s finances are safe, and customer’s don’t feel that
they have got a wrong advice. Insurance companies can
use the resources available to them, external or internal,
to adequately develop their agents knowledge and skills.
The Agents Appointment Guidelines 2015 also
prescribe there that agents can be given training in Skill
Development. National Skill Development Corporation
(NSDC) has been suggested for this purpose. The BFSI
Sector Council has also been recommended as one of the
channels for developing the skills of the agents to work
in the market very effectively. Financial products cannot
be sold just by anybody. All these words like ‘mis-selling’
which has dominated the newspapers for the last couple
of years should not continue, and there should be ‘good
financial advice’ rendered through trained and skilled
agents.
Multiple Options of Distribution Channels…
IRDAI also tried to develop good distribution channels so
that the customers can approach the distribution channels
and purchase insurance. I hope, the day when you go
and purchase insurance is very near! One such channel
is the Common Service Centres (CSC). The insurance
wing of the CSC channel has been developed in such a way
that it is fully automated. A customer can go to the CSC
center, select the product he wants, and decide on the sum
assured, premium, mode of premium payment and the
term of the policy. This will be the customer’s selection.
After selecting this, the customer can put his biometric
authentication through fingerprint; the entire ‘Customer
Data’ is pulled from UIDAI – Adhar - and his proposal
form populated. There is connectivity between Adhar and
CSC for obtaining the data. If the nominee accompanies
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
the customer, the nominees biometric identification is also
captured, the nominee data including the bank account
where the money has to go in case of claim is also populated.
The customer has already selected the product and the
transaction is completed on the spot and the customer is
issued the policy. This process is operating in one-lakh
CSC centers, which have been enabled to provide on line
insurance marketing. Customers should be educated to
select and buy insurance products. Financial literacy is
very important and the customers should understand that
he has to select the product suitable to him.
IRDAI has also developed other channels like the
Insurance Marketing Firm (IMF). An experienced
salesperson or agent can set up a Finance Outlet, get a
license and sell all financial products there. The draft
regulation is in public domain for comments. We have
allowed the web-aggregators to advice on products. You
will see advertisements from some of the web aggregators
like Policy Bazaar. Web aggregators help the customer to
compare different products and buy the product that suits
the need of the customer. Online Marketing has also been
approved for products, which the insurer wants to offer
such products online and where the insurer does not have
any conflict with other distribution channels.
Wider Insurance Penetration….
Giving options to the customers to have multiple
distribution channels options where he can make
selection of product is the most important work, which
has happened in the last couple of years in IRDAI. The
Government is launching Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti
Bima Yojana (PMJJBY); Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima
Yojana (PMSBY), and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) from
1st June 2015. These are the most innovative insurance
schemes. These schemes are the successors to the Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana in which around 12 crores of
Bank accounts have been opened. All persons with bank
accounts including persons enrolled under the Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana will be covered under the
PMJJBY and PMSBY. These are not subsidized schemes.
The premiums are fully contributed by the customers.
Anybody who has a bank account can buy this scheme.
The maximum cover offered under Pradhan Mantri
Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana is Rs.2 lakh of death cover and
the accident cover under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima
Yojana is Rs.2 lakhs. The premium is Rs.330 per annum
for Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Rs.12
for Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Suraksha Yojana. On a total
combination of Rs.342 per annum, that is Rs.1 per day
roughly, you get Rs.2 lakh life insurance cover and Rs.2
lakhs accident cover. The customer can enroll under these
schemes through the bank. These schemes will make a big
impact on Insurance penetration and Insurance density in
India, and will be the biggest paradigm shift. The insurance
1 1 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
penetration that is at 3.9% is bound to reach new peaks. A
lot of work is happening there. Some of the developments
in the insurance sector will be the contribution of the Bill,
some of the development will be because of the initiatives
of the Regulator and some because of the initiatives of
the Government. It cannot be said that the insurance bill
alone is going to be the reason for paradigm shift; it is the
insurance bill, the regulator, and the initiatives’ of the
government, which will bring about the paradigm shift.
Ultimately the people of this country are going to witness
a paradigm shift in the insurance and financial markets. If
every insurable person in the country has a bank account
and an insurance account, I think, that will be the most
creditable thing. It looks to me that it is going to happen
much sooner than we ever thought. Hopefully in the same
hall we will be talking about the new figures of Insurance
penetration and insurance density in the MMA meeting
next year!
Stand-alone Health Insurance Vertical…
The FDI increase from 26% to 49% was one thing and
Indian ownership was another thing most of us know
because they were hogging the newspapers. The new
bill recognized Health Insurance as a separate line of
business. Earlier health insurance was generally taken as
part of Non-life insurance. Now it as a separate vertical.
There are five Health Insurance Companies operating in
this country. Every citizen needs health insurance, and
I think there will be many health insurance companies
operating in the future, which would fulfill the great
demand. If we have more companies operating here, the
cost will definitely come down which will again be good for
the country. The Insurance bill has created that separate
space for health insurance.
Reinsurance Entry…
All Indian insurers are eligible to set up IFSC Insurance
Office (IIO) in SEZ to carry on Reinsurance Business.
IFSC Insurance Office (IIO) is an office registered with
the Authority to transact Reinsurance Business in
SEZ. An insurer registered with a foreign Regulatory or
Supervisory Authority can also set up IIO in a SEZ subject
to certain conditions laid down in the IRDAI International
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
Finance Service Center Guidelines 2015. This will help in
the development of reinsurance business. We have one
Reinsurance Company, which is GIC-Re. Lloyds will also
be coming into this country. The bill has allowed Lloyds
to enter Indian market as a branch but even as a branch
it will make a very significant impact. This is also a very
important aspect of this bill.
Redefined Nominations, Assignments…
The previous speakers have discussed the changes in the
provisions of Nominations and benefit thereof.
The Insurance Act now states that policy can be assigned
“Wholly or in Part”, which implies that now EVEN a
portion of benefit proceeds of any Insurance Policy may be
assigned as per terms agreed between the Assignor (P.H)
and the Assignee, with or without consideration.
Now a person can assign for Rs. 4 lakh for his housing loan
and still have the other Rs. 6 lakhs and can assign the
same to another bank for his child’s education. With the
new Assignment clause, a person can use the Insurance
policy very effectively. Most of the policies today have
riders such as health rider or accident rider. These riders
are also attached to the policy and the rider also goes to the
assignee. If the policyholder suffers a health condition and
if the policy is assigned, there are various questions as to
who will get the rider benefit and because it is assigned, the
assignee should give the discharge etc., the technicalities
are very complicated. Now a person can assign the main
policy and keep the rider with him. A person may need
your Health Rider or Critical Illness rider at any point of
time. This is another important aspect of the New Bill.
Section 45 Emphasis…
As per the Section 45 of the Insurance Laws (Amendment)
Act, no policy can be called into question after three years
of it being into force. This was an amendment to an earlier
provision of the Insurance Act 1938 that said that a policy
cannot be called into question after two years except cases
of fraud. This will definitely protect customers interest.
Removal of Licensing of Insurance Agents by
IRDAI..
Licensing of insurance agents has been removed. This was
one of the central points, which was often referred to as
hindering the progress of the distribution channel. No
more going to IRDA to get a license. In one stroke it has
been said, “No licensing”. An eligible candidate just has to
pass the insurance exam and approach the insurer with the
insurance pass certificate to be appointed as an agent. It is
as simple as that. A Class X pass certificate and insurance
exam pass certificate are the basic requirements to be
appointed as an Insurance agent. Insurance exam pass
certificate is a must because the company is responsible for
the act of the agents. Agents should have a minimum good
amount of insurance knowledge. Many of these changes,
which have been brought about, are mostly customer
focused and they will ultimately help the customers to
become more empowered to have his insurance policy well
serviced.
Summary
These are the important aspects of the Bill. The Finance
Ministry has almost finalized the two schemes viz.
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and they
are likely to be rolled out by June. These two insurance
policies will bring about a change in ‘insurance coverage’.
¾¾ PMJJBY and PMJSY will enable ‘insuring the
uninsured’,
¾¾ Pradhan Mantri’s Jan Dhan Yojana will enable ‘banking
the unbanked’ and
¾¾ MUDRA will enable ‘funding the unfunded’.
If these three financial schemes work out, all the good
things, which we wish to happen, will definitely happen!
SAVE THE DATE!
Dear Members,
You are cordially invited!
MMA Awards Function and MMA 59th AGM
Friday, 3rd July 2015 at Hotel ITC Grand Chola, Guindy, Chennai-32
2.30 pm Seminar on ‘Managerial Excellence’
6.00 pm MMA Awards Function & MMA 59th AGM
8.00 pm
Cocktails & Dinner
AGM Notice & Invitation will be sent to you shortly. Kindly block your diary
and register your participation: [email protected] / 2433 3757
1 2 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
New Insurance Bill
Vision and Paradigm Shift
Facilitating Opportunity
D K Mehrotra
Former Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India &
Chairman of the Board, CAMS Repository Services Ltd
This article is a summary of Special Address delivered by Mr D K Mehrotra during the Conclave on ‘New Insurance Bill
Vision and Paradigm Shift Facilitating Opportunity’ held on 20th April 2015.
I would like to thank the organizers of this conclave, the
Madras Management Association (MMA) and CAMS
Repository Services Ltd. who have jointly organized this
conclave on a very pertinent and important issue as on
date. I would like to welcome the distinguished guests, the
eminent personalities on the dais, friends from media and
ladies and gentlemen.
the exposure to 26% through FDI. The Industry opened up
in 2000 and people thought that LIC being a public sector
organization would face a big set back. But LIC had learnt,
being in the process, to survive. More and more companies
gradually started setting up in this country because of the
large market potential. Penetration was very low at that
point in time and is still low even today!
Today we are meeting here to discuss one of the very
important bills that has been enacted in the Parliament,
the Insurance Bill 2015. As rightly said by my predecessor,
the story of insurance is not new to this country. It goes
back ages.
Global players started entering India and forming small
and big companies in life and non-life segments. At
this time, the the industry faced a capital crunch and
policymakers wanted to increase the FDI cap from 26%
to 49%. The thought to first increase FDI limit to 49%
occurred in 2008. Since then it had been deliberated upon
over the years. Finally in 2015 the Parliament enacted the
Bill that FDI can be increased to 49%. Now the questions
before us are: Is this a paradigm shift? Is it going to give
an opportunity to us? We know that $2 billion will flow
into the country now and $10 billion in the long term. Is
capital the only requirement to spur the industry growth
today? Or are there other challenges also which we have
to identify?
As we all know the first insurance company in India,
Oriental Life Insurance was set up in 1818 and it wound up
in 1834. Subsequently the country saw many companies
being established, both - private life insurers and non-life
insurers. Today the oldest existing insurance company
in India is the National Insurance Company that was
founded in 1906 and is still in business. Taking stock of the
performance of insurance companies, the policymakers in
their wisdom decided to have one entity under which all
these companies could be clubbed together and as such an
ordinance was issued on 19th January 1956 nationalizing
the life insurance sector. Thus, LIC came into existence on
1st September 1956 on amalgamation of 245 companies.
Thereafter the journey started for insurance, moving along
smoothly.
LIC was a monopoly. We insured people; people came to
us and we did not make much effort to reach out to people;
they came to us because they had no choice. However, in
the mid 1990s once again, the policy-makers thought that
it was time to shake up the equilibrium, time to shake up
this monolithic organization and see how to restructure
this industry. Malhotra Committee was set up to look
into the restructuring of the Insurance Industry and seek
suggestions on the same. Subsequently post numerous
discussions and deliberations on the subject, in 1998 the
Cabinet decided that India will allow foreign participation
in insurance through the route of FDI and FII to the tune
of 40%. But a year later, in 1999, it was decided to restrict
1 3 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Every constituent of this industry has to understand and
find out what are the challenges and the roadblocks. If
you look into the performance of the industry, it is not a
very happy scene. Performance had peaked in 2008 but
subsequently there has been a slowdown in the pace.
And today I believe that there is some de-growth in the
industry. Even after almost 60 years what is it that is
stalling growth? Is it capital or are there some challenges
that we have to find out? Is it the distribution? Are the
challenges pertaining to regulatory issues? Should there
be innovation of products and technologies? Can all these
challenges be addressed by increasing the FDI limit?
Today we know that there is lot of euphoria. Money is
going to come in; a lot of capital would flow and everybody
is jubilant about that. But can this inflow of capital take the
industry to a sustainable level over the next 10, 20 years?
That is the real issue. If this capital is the only trigger, will
it ensure that the industry reaches a level of sustainable
growth or we need some other interventions? This is
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
what we are going to learn from the eminent speakers
and panelists on the dais today. What are the issues we
are facing today? How is it going to impact insurers?
How is it going to impact the common man, existing and
prospective policyholders. Suppose we believe that there
is going to be geometric growth in the insurance sector
in the next five years with this capital flowing in, are we
prepared to manage this growth? Growth management is
a very big challenge. This is the right time that MMA and
CAMS Repository Services have come together to organize
this conclave.
The Insurance Bill has provided a lot of relief to the
customers in terms of servicing and claim settlement. It
has also taken care of the insurers’ interests of managing
growth by envisaging that in future e-Insurance should
be preferred, thereby giving relief to insurers considering
the scale of operations they are likely to have. Can the 5
Repositories approved by the IRDAI play an important
role in mitigating some of the issues or the pain points
which the insurers are going to face in managing growth?
The deliberations today will definitely address the inherent
challenges which are faced by the industry and the
challenges which we all can together as a team try to solve.
We should start creating awareness among the people
about the importance of insurance because I believe, I may
be wrong, that Insurance is the most discussed subject but
the least understood subject in today’s environment! A
subject which was not discussed much four decades ago
is attracting attention today and rightly so as insurance
forms an integral part of the lifecycle of an individual.
This is the forum where we request the experts to help us
understand insurance; talk about the challenges and the
benefits that would flow out of this new Insurance Bill to
the customer, the insurer and the general public at large.
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1 4 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
NEW
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Voices & Choices
This article is a summary of Special Sessions on
‘Voices & Choices’ and ‘Voices of Triumph’ during the
MMA Women Managers’ Convention held on 14th
March 2015.
As part of Annual Women Managers’ Convention 2015,
with the central theme on Voices, a session was conducted
by MMA on the relevant topic ”Voices & Choices”.
Justice Prabha Sridevan, Former Judge, Madras High
Court, was the Chairperson of this session. She is named
as one of the 50 most important persons in the Intellectual
Property World in 2012 (the only Indian) and in 2013. The
speakers for this session were Ms. Apsara Reddy, Editor–
in-chief, The Red Kite, Ms. Pushpanjali Banerji, Brand
Director, Kyndal Group and Ms. Vasudha Chakravarthi,
Nature Photographer, Film Maker and Entrepreneur.
Justice Prabha Sridevan initiated the session stating that
while the theme is on “Voices and Choices” she was not
really sure whether the voices of women were really heard
as loudly and clearly as they should be. She said that the
women in the audience are the fortunate few who have a
platform to raise their voices while most of the womenfolk
in India are invisible. She insisted that our voices should
speak of the ‘informed choices’ that we want to make.
She read inspiring writings which reflected several views,
including that of a Buddhist monk from the 6th century
BC. She narrated a real life story of a woman who was
a victim of acid attack by her husband. Apart from the
scars, she almost lost her eyesight. The striking point of
this case is that this woman did not sit back and suffer.
She approached the court of law; took all possible legal
remedies against her husband. She later forgave her
husband, but decided that she would start leading her
life on her own Justice Prabha Sridevan also narrated
another story of a woman who was a victim of physical
violence and was driven out of the house by her husband.
This woman was not aware of the laws related to domestic
violence and shared household. However, she was aware
of what her rights were. She was strong enough to say
that she would stay in the house and fight for her rights.
Justice Prabha insisted that every woman should know
her rights. She pleaded that we as the fortunate women
should help make audible the unheard voices of the
voiceless women.
Ms. Apsara Reddy, a transgender woman approaches
life with a simple goal, ‘to be true to herself’. She
studied in Australia and London and completed a BA in
Investigative Journalism and a MA in Developmental
Economics. She has worked as a News and Current
1 6 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Affairs Journalist at BBC Radio London before handling
the features operations of two leading dailies in India –
The New Indian Express and the Deccan Chronicle. At the
very outset, she made it very clear that she did not want to
gain love and tolerance from everyone; what she needed
was only acceptance. According to her, everyone deserves
acceptance. She shared the battle, agony and trauma she
underwent in the process of becoming who she is today.
She said she does not believe in tiptoeing around who she
is. She feels we should be comfortable in our own skins.
She always takes pride in who she is. She stated that her
success in breaking the glass ceiling, made it easier for
other transgenders like her to be empowered. Everybody
in this country of a billion plus people has the right to
voice. She stated if her voice in India and in Tamil Nadu
could be heard, then everyone should be bold to make
their voices heard.
According to her, the choices that we make are very
important. She was of the opinion that being who you are
should come from within. The choices you make should
empower you to be a better individual; not to be someone
based on others’ validation and approval. She has come
through a rocky journey but she claims that such a journey
would not be painful if one envisions one’s outcome.
Fighting for women’s rights is tough; it is even tougher
to fight for the rights of transgenders. She realized that
before people could accept her, she needed to first accept
herself. She expressed her gratitude to her family who
were willing to accept her as she is. She stated that she
was strong in using her voice to convince them to accept
her as she is. She also believes that one should have a
voice of reason and a voice of dignity. She appealed to the
audience to withdraw from treating individuals as Asian,
American, and European, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, male
and female and connect with each other as human beings.
She asked the audience why we are not able to connect
with others as one talent pool with dignity and respect.
She is very strong in her stand. She believes that God has
a plan for everything. While some people asked her to
change her choices, she was bent upon her convictions
and continued to believe them. She insisted that we
should have the courage to fight small-minded attitudes
and follow through our choices. She said that there will
be voices of dissent, discrimination and discouragement
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
but we should be determined to not give up on the course
we have chosen.
Ms. Vasudha Chakravarthi studied photography from Light
and Life Academy, specializing in nature, travel and fine
art. Her research led her to start Green Gurukul – a Vision
house focusing on environmental balance, education and
sustainability.
Ms. Vasudha spoke on the lack of support for women
entrepreneurs. She pointed out the various challenges
faced by women entrepreneurs such as lack of financial
support and other road blocks that are encountered in a
patriarchal society. She quoted research papers of Nehru
and Shubra Bharadwaj – assistant professors in Mathura
University who have written papers about women
entrepreneurs. According to their research, entrepreneurs
play a very important role in the socio economic welfare
of the country. They are innovators, researchers and risk
takers of a company. Today business is built around human
capital and women are one of the most valuable factors
of production. Globalization and liberalization have
encouraged women to become entrepreneurs and start new
ventures.
She also walked us through her own life journey. She
shared the challenges she faced in accomplishing her goals.
Against the wishes of her parents, she decided to enter the
field of nature photography. She faced a lot of physical,
mental and social stress in order to be successful in her
field.
The next speaker on the Panel was Ms. Pushpanjali Banerji,
Brand Director, Kyndal group.
She attributed her success to sheer luck of having been
brought up by an educated, affluent family. At the same
time, she also felt that attributing one’s success to luck may
be one of the biggest mistakes women make. She quoted
some research statistics which concluded that women feel
external factors are the reason for their success whereas
men feel success is dependent on them. She pointed out
that women don’t negotiate for themselves. They have a
negative co-relation to power and success whereas men
have a positive one. Men reach out for opportunities
without fear and women are afraid they will not be
respected if they speak out too loudly.
Her main concern is that very few women hold top
positions in corporate houses worldwide. The situation
is worse in India where only 9% of senior management
level positions are occupied by women. Globally 20% of
senior management positions are held by women in 2013
down from 24% in 2009. According to Grant Thornton
International Business Report, about 38% of businesses
worldwide have no women at senior management level!
The situation is better in the Asian subcontinent as women
representation is comparatively higher in Thailand,
Singapore, Hong Kong and China.
1 7 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
She feels that women’s economic equality is good for
business. Companies will greatly benefit from increasing
leadership opportunities for women which in turn will
increase organizational effectiveness. It is estimated
that companies where women hold three to four senior
management positions score higher in all dimensions of
organizational effectiveness. To her, the benefits are not
only economical; they are linked with many other factors.
When more women work, economies grow.
She also shared about her personal life where she gets the
utmost support from her husband and family members.
She has passed through rough waves in her career as a
woman living in a man’s world. She also expressed her
distress over women who live a double life – who marry
for the sake of parents or for getting a better life style. She
says that these women have a lot of potential, but they give
up and give in. Lack of self-confidence and their love for
parents holds them back. After marriage, the husbands
object when they want to take serious career decisions.
The session was followed by a question & answer round. The
questions were highly insightful and they were addressed
by the three speakers and the chairperson in a stimulating
manner. When questioned regarding the quota system for
women, Justice Prabha Sridevan categorically answered
that there is no need for a quota system for women. She
said men and women are equal and one is not less than
the other. More so, women are not neutral like watercolorless, odorless and tasteless. Women bring their varied
experiences and diversity to the places where they work.
Justice Prabha Sridevan concluded the session by thanking
the panel members for their inspiring talk based on their
experiences in their journey towards becoming successful
women.
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
Voices of Triumph
accomplishments include building up internal roads and
connecting the village with the main road, opening up of a
Bank and Computer Lab and setting up of Self-Help Group
Centers to cater to 1000 women to make their livelihood,
building up of toilets (for 900 houses, 800 toilets have
already been built) etc., to mention a few.
She narrated her journey as a Sarpanch of Soda village and
the challenges she faced in transforming the village Soda
on the development path. She spoke about how many of
us living in urban areas choose not to live in rural villages
which form the foundation of our country and are yet to
be developed. She calls for a revolution to bring about
positive change in rural India. City dwellers should work
together and take the responsibility to improve the lives of
their counterparts in villages.
As part of the Women Managers’ Convention 2015, MMA
organized a Session on the theme “Voices of Triumph”.
The session followed the journey of women who have
beaten the odds and excelled in their respective fields.
Ms. Sarada Jagan, Managing Director (HR), The Sanmar
Group was the Chairperson of this session. The Speakers
were Ms Chhavi Rajawat, Sarpanch of Village Soda in
Rajasthan, Wg Cdr Pooja Thakur, Indian Air Force and Ms
Rasheeda Bhagat, Journalist.
Enriched with over three decades of management
consulting and industry experience, Ms. Jagan initiated
the session with her insights. According to her, in most
cases the ‘villain’ for women, tend to be other women and
not men. She substantiated her stand by her own life
experiences. After her marriage, she wanted to pursue
her studies in a top management school in Mumbai.
However her aspiration of getting a management degree
was hampered by the Director of the college. The Director,
a woman herself rejected Ms. Jagan’s application stating
Ms. Jagan was married and hence supposedly would not
be serious about her studies! Nevertheless, Ms. Jagan,
fortified with her strong determination, did get admission
into IIM Ahmedabad the following year and came out with
flying colours, despite her other commitments. Ms. Jagan
also added that today’s women suffer from the ‘superwomen syndrome’; they want to excel in every sphere,
which can get tiring. There are many things that a woman
has to manage and balance in her life. According to her,
women should break stereotypes and become successful in
their lives and career.
Ms. Chhavi Rajawat holds the credit of being the first
woman MBA Sarpanch for the village of Soda in Rajasthan
since 2010. During the first five years of her tenure as the
Sarpanch, she put her heart and soul in transforming the
village into a model community that would serve as an
inspiration to rural areas in India. The highlight of her
1 8 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
She narrated the inspiring episode of her struggle to desalt
the water reservoir in the village. The ground water in
the village was declared unsafe even for the purpose of
irrigation owing to natural contamination. The reservoir
in a village is the lifeline of its people. For desalting the
reservoir, huge financial support was needed. While
the government and politicians did not come forward to
finance the desalination project, she managed to raise
some funds with the support of her own family and friends
to kick start the project. The rest is history.
With the will to succeed, Ms. Chhavi Rajawat has tackled
challenges diligently and hence her re-election as Sarpanch
for village Soda is no surprise!
Ms. Rasheeda Bhagat, another woman of substance has
broken many stereotypes, started her talk with a sharp
protest on the ban of the documentary film on Daughter
of India recently produced by a British Journalist. Being
a journalist for 36 years and her versatile experience in
writing stories mainly on rural issues, she expressed her
distress over the development of village girls. She says the
predictable dreams of village girls to become a teacher or
a doctor or even a Chief Minister, will hardly become true
given the condition of schools in villages. Her concern is
that if girls in villages are pulled out of school on attaining
puberty, there is no scope for them to pursue further
career prospects.
As an avid traveller, Ms. Bhagat has travelled across
countries during her profession as a Journalist. She
narrated her visit to Iraq during the US War on Iraq and the
dilapidated condition of women in Iraq. She was shocked
to see educated career women being forced to leave their
jobs after the Shia Fundamentalists took charge of Iraq
following the war. She voiced the concerns of women she
came across during her travel to Afghanistan.
Being one of the first women reporters, she faced gender
discrimination in her career after the birth of her first
child. According to her, male dominated corporate world
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
cannot stand the growth of a woman. However, she was
strong in her convictions and battled all odds to reach
where she is today.
She feels that violence against women begins at home.
“Although we talk of rapes on roads, many children are
molested at home itself. Many mothers keep quiet about
this and do not want to expose the real situation. Some
don’t even want a girl child to be born. Under such
circumstances in the society, some women still rise to the
top. Salute to them!”
The next speaker in the panel was Wg Cdr. Pooja Thakur.
The first Lady Officer to head the inter-services Guard of
Honor during the visit of the US President Mr. Barack
Obama to India during the Republic Day Parade, Wg Cdr.
Pooja Thakur needs no introduction! Ms. Pooja joined
the Indian Air Force in 2000. She feels that difficult
experiences help stretch our capability. She substantiates
this with her own experience after joining the Academy
where she had grueling routines, waking up at 4 am and
running 10 kms with a heavy back-pack. When her parents
asked her to drop out on witnessing her troubles, she
followed the 5-seconds rule and decided to stay back in the
Academy and here she is today!
She says that women play multiple roles in life – a
daughter, mother, daughter-in-law, and wife and so on.
1 9 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Women not only have voices of their own hearts but also
voices of commitment at home, commitment to career,
dreams and so on. Small or big, everyone fights a battle
every day. So, women should listen to their inner voices
in order to choose the right path, whether it is with respect
to their career or with respect to their married life. When
she had a 2-month old child and had to report back to
duty, she took a conscious decision of returning to work
knowing that she will receive support from her in-laws and
also from her own family. She says that there is nothing
wrong in taking help from others. Taking help does not
mean that one is weak. As a woman who is open to new
and challenging experiences, Ms. Pooja took up sky diving.
She feels sky diving has increased her internal and external
strength. Though she desired to learn sky diving, she had
some apprehensions and fears while actually trying it out.
By taking help and support from her instructor she was
able to succeed in her passion.
The session concluded with a Question and Answer round
where the speakers and the chairperson provided some
very valuable insights to the thought provoking questions.
Edited and Summarised by:
Anisha Sequeira
Consultant, Cerebrus Consultants
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
From an Unknown Blogger to a
Best Selling Author
Preeti Shenoy
Best Selling Author
This article is a summary of Keynote Address delivered by Ms Preeti Shenoy during the Validctory Session of MMA Women
Managers’ Convention on the theme “Voices” held on 14th March 2015.
I have a strong Chennai connection as I finished my schooling
in Kendriya Vidyalaya located in IIT Madras. I attended all
the sessions during the morning and it was wonderful to hear
all the women speak. Keeping in tune with today’s theme
which is Voices, I am going to take you through my journey
from an unknown Blogger to where I am today. I must tell
you that I keep hearing voices from my head. My job is to
translate those voices into books. That is what my connection
with voices!
I think, six years back I don’t think MMA would have invited
me. Six years back I was an unknown someone. How did I get
to being an unknown someone to where I am today, one of the
highest selling authors in the country? More importantly, I
am going to share what are the lessons I learnt along the way.
Before that let me tell you something about my work. I have
written six novels so far, the first one came out in 2008 and
every year since then there has been a book from me and they
have all been on the Best Seller List. Apart from writing, I also
make portraits. I make pencil portraits. I also do Surreal Art.
Apart from this I do paper quelling which is an 18th Century
Art from Italy. People used to wonder at my works and say
that I am good at multi-tasking. Honestly I do only one thing
at a time.
What are the key things which have helped me to come to
where I am today? If I look back at my journey I could pin
point a few key things which I did and I want to share them
with you. I would call them as the “Five lessons for personal
growth”.
Get out of your comfort zone…
The one thing that is very important if you want to take that
one step ahead is, get out of your comfort zone. Most of us are
so cozy in our comfort zone; we don’t want to get out because
getting out is uncomfortable and none of us likes to feel
uncomfortable. In my case too, it was the same. I was happy
doing what I was doing -workshops for children. But in 2006
a very big tragedy happened with me. I lost my father with
whom I was very close. One moment he was with me and in
the next moment, in the middle of a conversation, he passed
away! He was hale and hearty and nothing was wrong with
him. That came as a huge blow to me. I did not know what
20 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
hit me. I sunk into a black hole; there was no other way but
to claw my way out of that hole and it was something which I
had never experienced before. But I had two young children
and so I had no other option but to put on a smile on my face
and attend to them. To get over this deep grief, what I did
was that I started a blog. At that time I did not even know
what a blog was. I started it anonymously under the name
of PS and no photograph of mine was published. I was so
scared to reveal my name. Gradually lot of people started
reading my posts and my posts became very popular. It was
nothing great, I used to post little snippets and I posted only
positive thoughts. I did not want to feel down and my blog
grew in popularity. I suddenly found readers from all over the
world, from UK, US, Australia, Poland, Netherland and they
started writing back to me. They all wanted to know who this
PS was. They wanted me to put up my photograph. I was so
frightened and put one small pixilated photo by which even
after enlarging, they could not make me out at all!
In January 2007, one of my blog posts got picked up and that
post won the Perfect Post Award. That post was about my
dad! That came as a huge pat on my back. I realized that my
writing was good and there were lot of readers for my blog
posts. At that time my greatest desire was to see my name
on print. All along I was writing only online. Now I thought
I should write in some newspaper and my name should be
printed there. I approached one of the local papers which are
given free in the neighbourhood, showed them the prizes and
certificates that I had won during my college days and told
them that I had no background in journalism but I wanted
to write for their paper. They gave me my first assignment
to write 500 words on calendars. After all there are day, date
and month in a calendar and I was appalled how I would write
500 words on calendars! I had already dived in and there was
no way to swim back! The Executive of the Paper asked me
to go with him in Pune and meet people and take their views
on calendars and go ahead writing about calendars. I was
initially scared about that person but he turned out to be a
gentleman. I wrote the piece and it got published and it was
the moment that I actually could see my name in print. After
that I continued to write for them. Then I approached Times
of India. The Editor loved my work and took me on board of
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
Times of India. Then I wrote for Readers Digest and many
other magazines. My poetries got published in the Sulekha
book series. Some of my pieces got published in the Chicken
Soup for the Soul. The result of all of these is my first book “34
Bubble Gums and Candies” which was the first creative nonfiction to ever come out in India. It was all a collection of my
blog posts. That is how my first book came to be.
Embrace your Rejections…
However, it was not a smooth sailing from there. Publishing
one book does not make things easy for the author! At that
time I moved to the UK and there was a big lesson waiting for
me to learn which was, ‘embrace your rejections’. In UK I
came across what is called Bipolar Disorder and I researched
on Bipolar Disorder for two years and wrote the book “Life is
What You Make it”. What happened was that it got rejected
not only in India but in UK too. It got rejected 39 times!
The rejection was across the world as though nobody would
want to read anything about mental disorder. But I have
invested two years of my life to that book. Finally a small time
Publisher from Delhi agreed to publish my book. He looked
at the book and asked me to cut out the number of words from
1, 00,000 to 60,000 words. I did that and modified the book
which turned out to be a great book and the title continues to
be the highest selling even today. In 2014, it was the highest
selling title. After that many Publishers came back to me and
said that they wished they had accepted this title when they
initially got it! The lesson I learnt is that “If you are rejected,
don’t ever take it to heart because you will get real rejections
in life”. The rejection what I mean here is the real rejection
in life say a promotion that you are due or the job you are
hoping to get. When you have invested something of yours
and you have not got it, embrace such rejections because it is
happening for a reason and you are destined for something
better.
Discipline your routines…
The third lesson which I think has stood me in great steed
is discipline. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of
discipline. When you say “best selling author” most people
think that my life is really rosy and glamorous surrounded by
photographers and audience surrounded for autographs! Yes!
My life is like that, but only for 10 days of a year. The other
355 days of the year is really strenuous. I sit day after day and
night after night and I write, write and write! In any field, I
think discipline is paramount. When you say ‘discipline’ what
comes in your mind is the PT master standing with a stick in
the hand in the school! I don’t mean that kind of a discipline.
What I mean as discipline is choosing between what you want
now and what you want most. Make that choice. You have to
give up what you want now in order to achieve what you want
most and that is discipline. That is going to take you a long,
long way. Whether it is to lose weight or to write a book, when
you really want to accomplish something that you have always
wanted, discipline is paramount.
2 1 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Branch out, innovate…
Sometimes what happens when you are going along our
chosen path, you might come across road blocks. You may
not be able to move any further and grow any further. A little
plant grows up to certain level and stops growing. At that
time, what we do is that we branch it out. In my writings, I
do different kinds. I write a news paper column, (It is out in
the Financial Chronicle on every Saturday). I write novels. I
write opinion pieces. I write different kinds of things which
are essentially ‘branching out’. Lot of people ask me whether
I am facing writers’ blocks. I have never faced any writers
blocks because I am doing different things. In your career
life, if you are facing a road block, may be, the universe is
telling you to try something else. May be it is directing you
on a different path. It is extremely important to branch out,
innovate and to do different things. Of course, if you are
happy doing the same thing day-in and day-out, and you don’t
want to do anything else, that is fine too! But according to me,
if you keep doing the same thing every day, you stop growing
at some point. I think growth is extremely essential. I think
you grow old when you stop your personal growth. Mentally
if you are alert and trying out new things, I think you remain
young forever.
Gratitude..
I cannot tell you how important it is to be grateful in life. All
of us sitting here are extremely privileged. We have access
to the computer. If we are able to communicate with each
other, and if we are able to connect to people like this in a
hotel, we are so privileged for which we have to be grateful.
I get thousands of letters every day and I shall share some
of them with you with their prior permission. People tell me
how much my writing has changed their lives. This is a letter
from a young boy whose mother is a single mother and how
my book helped him to get acceptance. This is a letter from
another person who had a psychological problem and how my
book had helped him overcome his mental imbalances. I feel
so grateful to be able to impact someone’s life in a positive
manner. It is important to feel grateful because what we
think we create; what we feel we attract; what we imagine we
become. Trust me; you can attract anything to yourself.
These are the lessons I learnt which I hope will help you all too.
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
Building High Performance Teams
Using ‘S.C.O.R.E’ Framework
Prof Sattar Bawany
CEO & C-Suite Master Executive Coach of Centre for Executive Education
& Senior Advisor to Eduquest International Institute
Introduction
“Every company faces specific performance challenges for which teams are the most practical and powerful vehicle at top
management’s disposal.”
- Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith (The Discipline of Teams, Harvard Business Review, 1993)
Many of us find ourselves working on teams these days, and are probably quite familiar with the advantages and
frustrations of this type of work. In many ways, working on teams can be a positive and productive experience. It provides
opportunities for collaboration, the synergy of diverse skills, and collegial support. However, team work also raises
issues of less autonomy, accountability to colleagues, the requirement of frequent communication, and group problem
solving. A consistent challenge is getting individuals to work together effectively on teams when individual members
have differences in communication styles, project management priorities, time management, information gathering and
decision making.
From our consulting experience, in Developing High Performance Teams in both regional and global corporations, we
found that most, if not all, of their senior leadership teams advocate teamwork. And they should. Teamwork represents
a set of values that encourage listening and responding constructively to views expressed by others, giving others the
benefit of the doubt, providing support, and recognising the interests and achievements of others. Such values help
teams perform, and they also promote individual performance as well as the performance of an entire organisation. But
teamwork values by themselves are not exclusive to teams, nor are they enough to ensure team performance.
Leading Teams to Success
Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith, in their ground-breaking 1993 HBR article, The Discipline of Teams, define a team
as “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance
goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.” That definition lays down the discipline that
teams must share to be effective.
Katzenbach and Smith discuss the four elements - common commitment and purpose, performance goals, complementary
skills, and mutual accountability - that make teams function. They also classify teams into three varieties - teams that
recommend things, teams that make or do things, and teams that run things - and describe how each type faces different
challenges.
Groups don’t become teams just because that is what someone calls them. Nor do teamwork values alone ensure team
performance. So what is a team? How can managers know when the team option makes sense, and what can they do to
ensure team success? Katzenbach and Smith answer these questions and outline the discipline that defines a real team.
The essence of a team is shared commitment. Without it, groups perform as individuals; with it, they become a powerful
unit of collective performance. The best teams invest a tremendous amount of time shaping a purpose that they can own.
They also translate their purpose into specific performance goals. And members of successful teams pitch in and become
accountable with and to their teammates.
The fundamental distinction between teams and other forms of working groups turns on performance. A working group
relies on the individual contributions of its members for collective performance. But a team strives for something greater
than its members could achieve individually: An effective team is always worth more than the sum of its parts.
The authors identify three kinds of teams: those that recommend things—task forces or project groups; those that
make or do things—manufacturing, operations, or marketing groups; and those that run things—groups that oversee
some significant functional activity. For managers, the key is knowing where in the organisation these teams should be
encouraged. Managers who can foster team development in the right place at the right time prime their organisations for
top performance.
2 2 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
‘S.C.O.R.E.’ Framework for Developing High Performance Teams
Teams have become a principal building block of the strategy of successful organisations. With teams at the core of
corporate strategy, your success as an organisation can often depend on how well you and other team members operate
together.
In today’s highly networked business environment, teams are critically important to getting work done. Yet not all teams
are created equal. Some fail to perform, or they perform below expectations. Some start out well but later lose their focus
and energy. Teams are extremely valuable if they are working well. They are very costly if they are not. It is critical for
managers and team leaders to find ways to ensure their teams are working effectively and are achieving their results.
In most teams, the energies of individual members work at cross-purposes. Individuals may work extraordinarily hard,
but their efforts do not translate into team effort, and this results in wasted energy. By contrast, when a team becomes
more aligned, a commonality of direction emerges, and individual energies harmonise. You have a shared vision and an
understanding of how to complement each other’s efforts. As jazz musicians say, “You are in the groove.”
From experience gathered through team effectiveness consulting engagements, it is found that a high-performing team
demonstrates a high level of synergism – the simultaneous actions of separate entities that together have a greater effect
than the sum of their individual efforts. It is possible, for example, for a team’s efforts to exemplify an equation such as
2 + 2 = 5!
High-performing teams require a complementary set of characteristics known collectively as ‘S.C.O.R.E.’ (See Figure 1):
1)Cohesive Strategy and shared purpose,
2) Clearly defined roles and responsibilities,
3) Open and transparent communication,
4) Rapid response in adapting to a changing environment, and
5) Exemplary and effective team leadership.
FIGURE 1: Characteristics of High-Performing Teams
2 3 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
The characteristics of each element of ‘S.C.O.R.E.’ are outlined in Table 1 below.
Tabel 1
Characteristics
Description
S: Strategy and
Purpose
High-performing teams with a cohesive strategy and team purpose will demonstrate why they are in
existence by articulating a strong, uniting purpose that is common to all team members. They will
describe how they work together by defining team values and ground rules or team charter. Finally,
they will be clear about what they do by defining key result areas.
C: Clear Roles and
Responsibilities
Successful teams determine overall team competencies and then clearly define individual member
roles and responsibilities. High-performing teams realistically examine each individual’s
responsibilities in terms of personality, interest and ability, resulting in an accurate understanding of each member’s accountability and contribution to the team.
O: Open
Communication
Communication is the key component in facilitating successful team performance; its lack limits
team success. Effective communication relies on the proper use of communication channels such as e-mail and voicemail.
R: Rapid Response
A high-performing team needs to be adaptable and respond quickly, as necessary, to changes in the
environment, using creativity and ‘outside the box’ thinking. When faced with a problem, these
teams brainstorm possible solutions and create innovative resolutions.
E: Exemplary and
Effective Leadership
An effective team leader is able to adjust his or her style, as necessary, depending on the task at hand and the skill level of each team member performing that task. The team leader also plays a
critical role in raising morale by providing positive feedback and coaching team members to
improve performance.
Case Study – Turnaround of a Highly Dysfunctional Team
The client is a leading Fortune 500 Information Technology company dispatched a team of highly qualified and
experienced IT engineers to deliver a large-scale strategic project for one of their clients in the mobile telecommunication
industry. Sustaining market leadership for this client is critical for the success of this firm. However, high employee
turnover, especially amongst the mission critical talents, had created misalignment in what was once a strong performing
team. Moreover, as competitors encroached, relationship management was critical with this strategic account. All this
transcended the sound technical expertise of the IT engineers whose demonstrated primary form of communication was
email. There was a lack of direction and clarity on the respective project team members’ role and responsibilities, which
was compounded by the relatively ineffective team communication which resulted in poor performance and results.
We introduced the CEE ‘S.C.O.R.E.’ Framework through facilitation of a series of team effectiveness meetings and
workshops. The project team achieved breakthrough results in customer satisfaction, company, employee, and operational
value. Thanks to the team’s shortened response times and improved communication, project delivery was achieved within
budget and on time.
Relationship management became second nature as team members became more expansive leading to the early
exploration of new business opportunities. A post customer satisfaction survey confirmed acknowledgement of the value
that our Client provided to their customer.
Finally, our Client preserved its strategic account and strengthened the customer relationship thereby sustaining market
leadership. The project team’s ultimate proof of transformation was its unanimous decision to distribute among all team
members annual performance bonuses previously assigned to a select few. This presents evidence that high performance
teams not only impact the organisation and marketplace but above all, the gratified individuals that constitute them.
Conclusion
The success of a team should be measured at regular intervals so that team spirit can be encouraged, either through
celebrating achievements or through sharing problems. In terms of measuring success, it is perhaps easier to gauge the
progress of a sports team than it is to rate the performance of work-based teams. For example, the performance of a sports
team can usually be tracked by league tables.
Working as part of a successful team makes work enjoyable. It provides employees with a supportive work environment
and enables them to address any conflict that might arise in a constructive way.
In high-performing teams, leadership shifts during the stages of team development based on team needs. Unlike
organisational leadership, which remains somewhat constant, team leadership can shift from very directing, when the
team is being formed, to more delegating, when the team is functioning effectively. To transform into a high performance
team, an easily implementable framework such as ‘S.C.O.R.E.’ would assist towards achieving that end goal.
24 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
How to benefit from the Indian stock market?
N Kannan
CEO, Wealthbull Services
Exhibit 1.2
We live in a world of instant gratification, the world of the
quick fix. Retail investors want quick money in the financial
market. However they seldom realise that it is too difficult to
make money in a short term. Staying invested in the market
over the long term has historically paid off. Plenty of research
suggests that investing in the stock market over the long term
produces a return that can beat inflation
Take for example the case of Infosys
1993 Infy IPO investor gets 100 shares at 95 /Share
Year Corporate action
Shares
1994
1:1 Bonus
200
1997
1:1 Bonus
400
800
1999
1:1 Bonus
Split to Rs
Nov-99
5 face value
1600
2004
3:1 Bonus
6400
2006
1:1 Bonus
12800
2014
1:1 Bonus
25600
The above table informs if one would had invested a paltry
sum of Rs 9500 in the Infosys in the year 1993 now it would be
worth around 5.5 crores. It is not only Infosys which rewarded
the investors. Almost all the quality stocks have rewarded the
long term investors may be not to the extent of Infosys but
they have all out beaten the other investment classes.
Many stocks have rewarded the long term investors and here
the some of the pictorial representation of them. The following
stocks inform how investors would have made killing money
in stocks if they preferred staying invested in the stock market
for long term gains.
Exhibit 1.1 shows that if one would have invested 1 lakh in
Astral polytechnic in the year 2010 would have reaped in 50
lakhs in a span of 5 years.
Exhibit 1.1
Exhibit 1.2 shows how a 1 lakh in invested in the Symphony
in the year 2010 would have transformed into a whopping Rs
15 lakhs.
2 5 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
There are plenty of examples in the Indian equity which could
have fetched decent returns if one looked for long term gains.
The problem with the retail investors is that they tend to judge
success or failure over very short periods – a day or maximum
a month. The simple nature of the market to show the price
has put the retail investors in a quandary. The volatile nature
of the market has forced the retail investors to trade in the
market.
If you are planning to invest your money into the market,
or have already invested with a goal to achieve capital
appreciation, staying invested makes more sense than
moving in and out of the market. Every good financial advisor
preaches and practices the mantra - “time in the market is
more important than timing the market”.
But this is easily said than done. That is the reason why 97%
of the retail investor loses money in the stock market because
they try to time the market and would like to be traders.
In order to cultivate a better investing habit it is better
to follow Peter Lynch advices. Peter Lynch managed the
Fidelity Magellan Fund from 1977 to 1990, during which
time the fund’s assets grew from $20 million to $14 billion.
More importantly, Lynch reportedly beat the S&P 500 Index
benchmark in 11 of those 13 years, achieving an annual
average return of 29%. This record is not beaten so far by any
fund managers in the US.
Lynch after his retirement wrote several books on how to beat
the market but one of the best advice of Peter Lynch is:
Buy what you know: Lynch believes that the average
investor knows more than they think. Not only do you
consume an array of products and services on a daily basis,
but you’ve developed unique career insights that can give you
a leg up on the Street. Put them to use! Invest in what you
know, understand, and are comfortable with, and leave the
rest for the “pros.”
Let me explain how you would have benefitted from this simple
concept given out by Peter Lynch. Indians have been in love
with Pizza in the recent times. Domino’s pizza is a dominant
player in pizza markets and Jubilant Food Works Ltd holds
the master franchise for Domino’s Pizza in India, Nepal, Sri
Lanka and Bangladesh, and also for Dunkin’ Donuts in India.
If you loved pizza you would have bought it in IPO at the issue
price of Rs145 in the year 2010! Even on the listing day the
stock commanded 58% premium. Today the stock is trading
close to nearly 1500 which mean we could have gained 10
times of our initial investment.
Having understood about the benefits of long term investment
let us milk money from the Indian markets.
Fountainhead 0f Excellence
Registering Memories
Gp Capt R Vijayakumar, VSM presenting memento to
Mr G S Ramesh during the MMA-Cambridge English workshop
on ‘India: a world-class workforce? What is needed?’.
Ms Angela ffrench delivered the Keynote address during the
event
Mr R Srikanth, Vice President, MMA welcoming the dignitaries
during the conclave on ‘New Insurance Bill 2015’ organised by
MMA in association with CAMSRep
(L to R) Mr C Siva Kumar, Mr Narain Karthikeyan,
CA T N Manoharan and Mr Achanta Sharath Kamal during
the talk on ‘Success Stories - How it was done!’ organised by
MMA
(L to R) Ms Apsara Reddy, Ms Pushpanjali Banerji,
Justice Prabha Sridevan and Ms Vasudha Chakravarthi during
the Special Session on ‘Voices & Choices’ during the MMA
Women Managers’ Convention 2015
(L to R) Ms Rasheeda Bhagat, Wg Cdr Pooja Thakur,
Ms Sarada Jagan and Ms Chhavi Rajawat during the Special
Session on “Voices of Triumph” during the MMA Women
Managers’ Convention 2015
Mr Ajay Antony, Vice President. T.I.M.E Pvt Ltd during the
Special Session on “Athena – The Great Mind - Quiz” during
the MMA Women Managers’ Convention 2015
(L to R) Dr Renuka David, Ms Sangeeta Shankaran,
Ms
Pavitra
Singh, Ms Sushila Ravindranath and
Ms V Sudharma during the Panel Discussion on “Voices
Through the Ages” during the MMA Women Managers’
Convention 2015
Mr Raju Venkatraman, President MMA presenting memento
to Ms Shobhana Ramachandran, Convention Chairperson &
Managing Director, TVS Srichakra Ltd, during MMA Women
Managers’ Convention 2015
26 BUSINESS MANDATE | MAY-JUN 2015
MAKING INDIA
THE GLOBAL TALENT HUB
AREAS OF TRAINING
LEADERSHIP AND PEOPLE
MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME
for all levels of Working Professionals
CEE-CLPM MASTERCLASS
WORKSHOPS
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INNOVATIVE LEARNING SOLUTIONS (eLearning)
Over 200 eLearning Modules Across 10 Strategic Areas
EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS AND PERSONAL
EFFECTIVENESS PROGRAMME (ESPEP)
GLOBAL EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
PROGRAMME (EDUTOUR)
Eduquest International Institute Pte Ltd
1, Sophia Road, Peace Centre, # 07-13,
Singapore 228149.
Tel: (65) 6338 7151 | Mob: (65) 8499 7151
Email: [email protected] | www.eduquest.com.sg
Eduquestindia Institute Pvt Ltd
21 Krishnama Road, Nungambakkam,
Chennai-600 034, Tamil Nadu, India.
Tel: (91) 44 4238 2200 | Mob: (91) 988 404 2200
Email: [email protected] | www.eduquestindia.in