IIPM Editorial: 04/01/2013

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

B&E Indicators

Office space absorption to decline
The year 2011 saw record completions and absorption of office space. About 37 million sq. ft. of space was absorbed in 2011, higher than the previous peak of 33 million sq. ft. achieved in 2008. While construction is slated to continue at a high pace, leading to 19% higher completions in 2012 than in 2011, absorption is likely to be subdued. Policy issues and concerns over growth will also keep demand under check.

Trend of large sized leases slows
With the global financial crisis intensifying in 2008, MNCs operating in India, the key drivers of office space demand, started to take their space expansion plans cautiously. As a result, the average lease size declined sharply to 26,980 sq. ft. in 2009 from 89,650 sq. ft. in 2007. Although the industry recovered by 2010 to move up to average lease size of 35,280 sq. ft., it seems that there is still some sluggishness, when it comes to the prime locations in all major cities. Average lease size for H1 FY 2013 is pegged at 25,100 sq. ft.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

Friday, April 26, 2013

“There is no dissidence in BJP”

The party does not believe in individual milestones and works as a team, says BJP president Nitin Gadkari in an exclusive interaction with Anil Pandey

B&E: You have completed more than two years as the president of BJP. What are your achievements?
Nitin Gadkari (NG): We in the BJP do not believe in individual achievements. We work as a team and take collective decisions by consensus. As far as the party’s overall performance is concerned, we periodically review our performance and take effective measures to further improve it.

B&E: Factionalism was rampant in BJP when you became the national president. Have you been able to control it?
NG: I am afraid your assessment about the BJP is untrue. There is no factionalism in our party.

B&E: It is said that some central leaders of the BJP have fueled the Yeddyurappa and Vasundhara Raje episodes. What have you done to stop this?
NG: All these are completely baseless and motivated allegations against the BJP’s central leadership and deserve to be dismissed with contempt. I am sorry to use harsh words. But it is becoming a fashion in a section of the media to defame BJP leaders.

B&E: One of the groups within BJP made sure that Khanduri lost the elections. In UP, Yogi Adityanath and Varun Gandhi openly issued statements that harmed the party. Yet you did not take any action against them.
NG: There is no basis for such allegations. We have analysed the factors responsible for our below expectations performance in UP and are taking corrective measures to galvanise the party for the upcoming 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

B&E: What, according to you, were the reasons for the party's defeats in UP and Uttarakhand?
NG: We have not lost the Uttarakhand elections. We beat anti-incumbency. It is very unfortunate that we could not form the government. About UP, I have already stated that we are trying to improve things in the state.

B&E: Lack of communication among senior leaders was one of the main issues discussed at the recently held coordination meeting of RSS and BJP. How will you ensure proper communication?
NG: All existing party mechanisms are being streamlined to further improve communications at all levels in the party and between the party and the BJP-ruled state governments.

It is being said that no party will win a majority in 2014. Do you think the BJP will be in a position to form the government?
NG: I am confident that the BJP-led NDA will form the next government after the general elections, whenever they are held.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

“The biggest challenge is to manage uncertainty”

Rohit Saboo, President & CEO, National Engineering Industries (NEI), talks about the challenges of the market he operates in

B&E: Last year, the Indian automobile industry performed below expectations. This had a negative impact on the growth prospects of the auto components sector as well. How did you offset the decline?
Rohit Saboo (RS): We are present across the board – ball bearing, roller bearing, et al. Except for the four-wheeler industry all other industries are doing fairly well. Although growth rates are lower than last year, they are still not that bad. While the commercial vehicles segment is growing at 13%, two-wheelers is growing at 19%. This year we too have grown 17% compared to 30% last year. But this is still better than the industry growth rate. We are focusing a lot on exports to get better growth rates so that we can utilise our total manufacturing capacity. We are trying to tap Daimler, BMW, and Ford for the same.

B&E: As a manufacturer of bearings, rolled rings and other such products, how would you describe the challenges of the market you operate in?
RS: The biggest challenge of the market we are present in lies in its uncertainty. About 42% of our turnover comes from the automobile sector and 18% from the aftermarket and half of that 18% again comes from automobiles. So overall around 50% of our turnover comes from the automobile sector, which is a very cyclical industry. If the economy is good our business also does well. If growth slips, our revenues take a hit. So we have to balance and manage this cycle very well. We plan to invest over Rs.5 billion over the next five years. But this investment will have to match the business cycle. Because if the relationship between the investment and the business cycle is not in sync, and if we invest in the wrong cycle then we will face a loss. The next challenge that we have is that most of our clients are going for higher technology items and better products at the cheapest rate. So we have to gear ourselves up to meet the market requirements. That is why we are investing a lot in our R&D so that we have better products at a lower cost.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

Saturday, April 20, 2013

International

Inflation in China
A trade-off between inflation and growth is always difficult to manage for countries and so is China finding it to its discomfiture. Inflation in China soared to new heights, reaching 4.5% in January, the highest in the last three months. Food inflation also witnessed a sharp spike, settling at 10.5%, from the earlier 9.1%. High consumer prices are threatening to derail growth in China. Rising inflation also offers a challenge for policy makers in China who have so far been liberal with the purse strings because of heady growth untrammelled by fears of any creepy inflation. But the recent spike in the inflation breaks several months of easing prices after inflation hit a three-year high of 6.5% in July last. A possible reason being cited for the rise in inflation is the New Year, which sees a lot of consumer activity and shopping. But the rise in the consumer price index, a key indicator for measuring inflation, is surprising since despite factoring the festive season in the calculations, inflation for January was projected at 4.1% by several international experts. What is more startling is that in the same period, imports sank 15.3% y-o-y, while exports saw a decline of 0.5% only. The change in these figures indicates faltering domestic demand, which can be a red signal for the future. The drop in exports left China with a trade surplus of $27.3 billion in January, its biggest in six months.

Sony’s ratings
The changing of the guard at Sony, with Kazuo Hirai set to take over as new CEO in April, has failed to impress the market. Standard and Poor’s has lowered its assessment of Sony’s long-term credit worthiness from A- to BBB+, citing poor earnings, price erosion and falling demand as the main reasons. Stiff competition from Korean and Chinese entities also pose a severe threat to the profitability of the Japanese electronics powerhouse. S&P added that Sony’s rating could see a further downfall if it did not see any recovery in earnings within the next six to 12 months. S&P said that a major blame for the current apathetic situation of Sony rests on its strategy of aggressive expansion despite strong competition, massive erosion of prices and its high cost structure as compared with overseas competitors.

Not a good time for arcelormittal
The year 2011 wasn’t good for the world’s largest steel maker, which made a net loss of $1 billion in the Oct.-Dec quarter. The losses are attributed to large tax payout, downward revaluation of fixed assets and restructuring charges. The company has had to cope with deferred tax payment of $ 0.9 billion, a further $0.2 billion on the cost incurred on downward revaluation of fixed assets and another $0.2 billion spent on restructuring associated with its asset optimisation plans. Profit for the full year 2011 was dragged down 22.43% to $2.2 billion vis-a-vis $2.9 billion for 2010 while EBITDA for quarter (Oct.-Dec. 2011) was down by 7.5% to $1.7 billion.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2013 : DNA National B-School Survey 2013
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2013
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

M&A: An option or a compulsion for MRF?

Blame it on the rising raw material cost or the inverted duty structure, MRF is now exploring opportunities for acquiring companies outside the country, all to protect shrinking margins and remain profitable. But, is it really the right strategy?

Although MRF, India’s largest tyre manufacturer, entered the business much earlier than most of its competitors, it chose not to invest any money in building plants or acquiring companies abroad. Instead, it has focussed on building its brand in international markets. But not anymore. Blame it on the rising raw material cost or the inverted duty structure, MRF is now exploring opportunities for acquiring companies (as well as rubber plantations) outside the country, all to protect shrinking margins and remain profitable.

While the company is yet to announce full results for the year ended September 30, 2011, Arun Mammen, the Managing Director of MRF took a lot of pride in announcing (at a press meet in Chennai recently) that the company’s turnover has crossed Rs.100 billion mark in FY2010-2011 (the first Indian tyre manufacturer to do so in any financial year) at a growth rate of about 30 % over the previous year on the back of buoyant demand. Though the topline has not posed a serious problem for MRF (the topline of the company has doubled from Rs.50 billion in 2007) so far, the bottomline has taken a dip due to high raw material costs. MRF reported a net profit of Rs.2.2 billion for the nine month ending June 30, 2011 against a net profit of Rs. 2.7 billion during the corresponding period last year, a decline of 19.08%. And not just MRF; in fact, the tyre manufacturing industry, as a whole, has been operating at a margin of 1-1.5% for the last one year or so.

The reason is simple. The rubber prices have gone up from Rs.140 a kg to Rs.235 in the domestic market over the last one year. Although prices have plateaued now, they are still high for an industry that is marred with an inverted duty structure – a scenario where it costs more to import rubber (20% import duty) than importing a brand new tyre by paying just 7% import duty.

Further, the removal of anti-dumping duty by the government on truck and bus radials (TBRs) imported from China and Thailand from August 2011 onwards has only made the situation worse for tyre manufacturers, including MRF, in India. The move is expected to make imported tyres not only cheaper by almost 15-20%, but will also limit the pricing power of domestic players in replacement TBR market thereby further impacting their margins.

Notwithstanding the concerns of relatively lower distribution reach and inconsistency in quality of the imported tyres, the attractive price point is expected to pose a serious threat to domestic tyre manufacturers particularly in the replacement segment where MRF happens to be one of the dominant players, placing large Chinese tyre manufacturers like Giti Tire Company Ltd. and, Weifang City Gunaite Rubber Co. Ltd. in direct competition with it. “It was said that the imports of rubber is being discouraged because of the larger interest of the domestic rubber growing community. But one cannot understand that if this was the intention why there has been a rise in the imports of finished tyres from other countries, how is it going to help the domestic industry?” questions Rajiv Budhiraja, Director General, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

Is this perch a wobbly one?

From an OEM to a technology brand, Samsung’s journey to global fame and fortune has been a terrific case study in recent years. But could it be its own worst enemy?

The word Samsung means ‘three stars’ – or a business that will be huge and eternal. It looks quite apt today when you consider how the company has grown from strength to strength and is credibly challenging the biggies like Sony and Apple in their own spaces.It’s the 17th most valuable brand of today as per Interbrand, larger than even American Express, Nike and Pepsi. A Samsung top official declared in 2005 that the company’s intent was to be valued like a BMW. That approach seems to have worked wonders for its transition from an OEM to one of the hottest technology brands in the world of today.

Samsung Electronics recently made news when it overtook Apple in smartphone shipments for the third quarter as per IDC data. With shipments of 23.6 million, it has a major lead in the market with a share of 20% as compared to Apple (14.5%) and Nokia (14.2%). But in a technology world where heroes are built and vanquished in fairly short spans of time, and market advantages come and go fairly quickly, can Samsung prove true to the ‘eternal’ aspect of its vision?

When you compare Samsung to LG in a market like India, the difference looks glaringly huge, more so because Samsung has placed its bets right. Samsung India has beaten LGEIL to become a bigger player in the Rs.1.1 trillion consumer electronics (as per retail advisory firm Technopak) and mobile handsets market, thanks to its booming mobile handset business. Considering that the Rs.750 billion mobile handset market is more than twice the size of all consumer electronics and appliances put together (roughly Rs.350 billion), it doesn’t look like LG can browbeat Samsung anytime soon. Samsung has strategically brought in innovative and timely mobility products (especially since Galaxy was launched) where replacement cycles are faster, typically a year, compared to a segment like refrigerators or TVs, where it can be anywhere from 5-10 years. Almost 50% of Samsung’s revenues are coming from the mobility segment, which is also the fastest growing. It’s already the largest tablet and smartphone maker in India, and aims to achieve 40% of the market by the end of 2011. It achieved net sales of Rs.116.63 billion and net profit of Rs.4.02 billion for the year ended March 2010, against LG India’s Rs.106.91 billion in net sales and Rs.3.47 billion in net profit, as per data with Registrar of Companies (RoC). Samsung’s sales projection for 2011 shows a revenue of Rs.224 billion, a growth of 40% yoy. By 2013, Samsung India hopes to touch around Rs.460 billion and become a $10 billion company by 2014.

Whether Samsung will be able to sustain its leadership in India will also depend on how it sustains its leadership in the smartphone and tablet spaces globally. Though Apple is its biggest competitor, Samsung also shares a symbiotic relation with the former. Since Apple doesn’t make the iPhone itself, it depends on various suppliers, and Samsung provides some of iPhone’s most important components: the flash memory for apps, music and operating software; the working memory or DRAM and the applications processor, which account for 26% of the component cost of an iPhone. Samsung thrives on this business model; acting as a supplier of components for others gives it the scale to produce its own products cheaply. But if the Nokia-Microsoft combine can make a mark (considering the stakes for both, they are expected to be extremely aggressive with product launches) and if Apple starts getting more aggressive in third world markets, Samsung may find its leadership tougher to sustain. The threat will also be significant as the Apple-Samsung war intensifies in the IP arena. Samsung was recently stopped from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia. The two are in the midst of around two dozen patent wars in 10 countries.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

Friday, April 12, 2013

Caught in The Wrong Job?

Merck Today stands at a Juncture where it Requires a Major Overhaul in its Strategic Outlook. Does Kenneth C. Frazier (its current CEO) have what it takes to Guide a Pharma Giant in times of Patent Expiry?

What if you happen to be the recently appointed CEO of a pharma giant in an era of patent expiry & dwindling healthcare policies? And what if, the blockbusters, which generate a quarter of your company’s revenues, are unfortunately poised to go off patent in the next two years? That’s exactly what Kenneth C. Frazier has been struggling since he took over as President & CEO of Merck & Co. from Richard T. Clark on January 1, 2011.

Although facing increased competition, patent losses, and a pipeline of late-stage drugs with poor chances of approval over the last few years, Merck had greatly improved its long-term outlook by acquiring Schering-Plough (for $49 billion in March 2009), but then the challenges remain for Frazier. Raison d’être: Still reeling from the patent loss on its hypertension drugs Cozaar & Hyzaar in early 2010, Merck faces the loss of its next top drug Singulair (for respiratory ailments) in terms of revenue generation in 2012. Considering Singulair represents over 10% of the combined sales of Merck & Schering, the blow will certainly make a big dent on the drugmaker’s topline. Further, Merck faces some remaining legal risk with Vioxx (its popular painkiller). While the majority of plaintiffs participated in the $4.85 billion settlement (in 2008), a few holdouts could ring up additional settlements and significantly hurt Merck’s net profit, which has already witnessed a significant fall, from $12.89 billion in 2009 to $861 million in 2010 (a pathetic 93% drop).

No doubt, indicating a shift in strategy, Frazier, on February 3, 2011, had announced an investment of $8.5 billion in R&D for 2011, but considering that Merck’s efforts to develop a reliable late-stage pipeline have yielded questionable results during the last couple of years, is it really a good bet? “Not really,” feel several critics. By doing so, Frazier has not only compromised the company’s EPS forecast for 2013, but has also offended the Wall Street, which responded back by cutting Merck’s stock price by 2-5% (from the date of announcement). Interestingly, around the same time, Merck’s competitor Pfizer had slashed its R&D budget to $6.5-7 billion from the earlier $8-8.5 billion. And investors awarded the move as the drug giant’s stock price increased by 5-7%.

Such market reaction can perhaps be decoded by expounding upon how this business is evolving. In 2010, the top 10 pharma outfits shelled out a total of $67.41 billion on R&D. In fact, according to statistics compiled by the Tufts Centre for the Study of Drug Development, spending to develop new drugs has been constantly growing over the years. But, what the data also reveals is that after the mid 1990s, new drug approvals have been falling steadily (only 16% win regulatory approval) and research pending has almost doubled in the last one year. This certainly explains the reason for the fall in Merk’s stock price.

If the issue still isn’t clear, then a little flashback might settle the remaining dust. In January 2011, Merck shutdown a study on Vorapaxar and took a $1.7 billion write-down on the drug (a blood thinner which was expected to bring in sales of upto $5 billion). Later in March, it shelved another blood thinner because competitors were way ahead of the development cycle. Further, the 8,000 patient trial of a Staph vaccine was also suspended soon after. All this clearly indicates that Frazier should now be rethinking his strategy. Even if he plans to invest heavily in R&D, it should be focused on a few drugs & executed in a better manner – if not it will continue to fail.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Bite This Chile, Miguel!

Chile’s Economy Grows 9.8% in Q1 2011, the most in 15 years, as The Nation rebuilds after a quake. So far, so good. However, The Government now needs to make an extra effort in fiscal adjustment in order to deactivate the risk of destabilising Imbalances that are threatening The Chilean Economy.

Chile’s economy expanded at the fastest pace in 15 years in the first quarter of 2011 (America’s fifth-largest economy expanded 9.8% in the first quarter, after an increase of 5.8% in the previous quarter and only 1.7% one year before) as consumer spending jumped and manufacturing recovered from the biggest earthquake in 50 years. Sounds astounding for an economy that had contracted 2% in March 2010 after the devastating earthquake (on February 27, 2010) made an estimated $30 billion dent in the $164 billion economy. But there lies a catch!

Although the economy is re-accelerating this year (mainly boosted by expansionary policies to support post-earthquake reconstruction), growth has now reached an overheating speed. As per Banco Central de Chile (Chile’s central bank), the economy expanded 5.2% last year, the fastest pace in five years, and could expand 5.5% to 6.5% in 2011. Even, according to projections made (in January 2011) by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), and the World Bank, Chile is one of the three countries (the other two countries are Peru and Colombia) in Latin America that will lead in growth in the region for 2011. This certainly indicates that the country’s policymakers are bound to a have a tough time going forward, reining in the uncontrolled Chilean growth.

It’s not that the policymakers are not aware of the situation. In fact, to neutralise the overheating economy, Chile’s central bank has increased interest rates in 11 of its past 12 monthly meetings, from a record low of 0.5% in May 2010 to 5.25% at present, but all in vain. What’s more? Chile’s economy is firing on all cylinders. The economic activity in this Latin American nation continues to advance faster than potential, keeping the economy in overheating territory. In fact, in May 2011, the index of economic activity reported an annual growth of 7.3%, after an increase of 6.3% in April 2011, advancing at an average rate of 6.8% in the first two months of Q2, 2011.

Further, excess demand, the upward inflationary trend, and increasing imports are some prominent signs that indicate Chile is overheating. For instance, excess demand in Chile is hovering at about 16% of GDP at present, after reaching 20% in December 2010. This clearly shows that strong domestic demand is not fully satisfied by national production, and as such is finding accommodation in increased imports and higher consumer prices. Although inflation (at 3.44% in June 2011) remains just above the 3% target at present, an increasing trend in headline and core components is clearly visible (annual inflation reached 3.44% in June 2011 from 3.26% in May 2011 and 3.21% in April 2011 respectively), which makes the situation more worrisome. In fact, the relatively controlled inflation is mainly the result of excess demand mostly accommodated in imports rather than in prices, as well as domestic prices benefiting from lower international prices. Also driving strong demand for imports (which have grown by 36.8%, 26% and 20.6% in Q3 2010, Q4 2010 and Q1 2011 respectively) is a strong peso that has appreciated 8% against the US dollar since the beginning of the year, and robust private consumption (private consumption has grown 12.6% in Q1 2011), which is the result of credit growth and low unemployment (unemployment rate in Chile has come down from 8.8% in June 2010 to 7.3% in July 2011).

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

Monday, April 1, 2013

B&E This Fortnight

INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & FINANCE
Osama Dead Bringing the 10 years worldwide efforts to hunt down Osama Bin Laden, the infamous leader of al-Qaeda, to an end, the US government in a covert military operation gunned down the most wanted fugitive on the planet. Osama’s hideout was a conspicuous, three-storied structure with high boundary walls in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, just 61 Kms north of Islamabad. In an operation that according to the US officials was unknown to the Pakistan government, the Navy SEALS of the US military shot down Bin Laden after some resistance from him. Reportedly, Osama was hiding at the Abbottabad mansion for the last five years and the Pakistani army was unaware of his whereabouts even though Pakistan’s top military academy is within 800 yards. As the rest of the world celebrated the death of the father of terrorism, Islamic fundamental groups like the Hamas, Hezbollah and al-Tufayli have been mourning and honouring him in the Middle East where the reaction to his death has mostly been ambivalent and even indifferent. To prevent his dead body from becoming an object of deification by his supporters, he was buried in the sea. But his presence in Pakistan has obviously led to the speculation about possible connivance by Pakistani army officials regarding Bin Laden’s hideout all these years.

GM posts Q1 Profits
General Motors reported Q1 profits, which more than tripled from a year ago to $3.15 billion due to strong demand for fuel efficient vehicles. The results are all the more striking considering that GM had less than two years ago declared bankruptcy and had to be bailed out by the US federal government. This is the fifth consecutive profitable quarter for GM, which goes to show the impressive turnaround managed by the Detroit-based automaker. But, despite the company’s revenue rising to $36.2 billion from $31.2 billion last year, its shares have stalled around the $33 level due to investors’ concerns over rising gas prices and higher costs for launching and selling new cars. The company has also faced recent glitches over steering and transmission problems across its popular Chevrolet Cruze model and had to recall more than 154,000 Chevrolet Cruze cars from the huge North American market.

Sony CEO’s apology
Sony Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer apologised to users of its PlayStation Network and Qriocity as hackers had compromised the data of more than 100 million accounts used for accessing games and music over the Internet. In a letter posted on the PlayStation Blog, Stringer also said Sony has put in place a $1 million identity theft insurance policy to cover affected users. Stringer’s comments come after he faced criticism of his leadership since Sony revealed hackers had compromised the data of more than 100 million accounts.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist). For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles