Invest Racha

Archive for June, 2010

The effects of online reputation management are important to the well-being of any company or high-profile individual. It’s important to remember that in an age where there are countless pages with tons of information about everything from Aaron Burr to ZZ TOP, your reputation is going to be examined thoroughly.

Online reputation management offers you the opportunity to control the way you are portrayed on the Web. We’ve all seen the Internet provide more rumor mills than one could imagine, stating lies like: KFC changed their name because the FDA says their meat isn’t real chicken; Mountain Dew has a die that impacts the genitals; and Snoop Dog died. These rumors are all equally outrageous, but unless handled properly they can overwhelm an otherwise stellar reputation. Here are some of the positive effects an online reputation management program can have:Improve customer satisfaction – By gaining valuable insight into what your reputation is, you can be proactive in changing areas of your company or operations that are receiving negative publicity.

While there are all sorts of negative comments out there, companies such as Apple have incredibly positive comments about them floating about. So not everything is negative. Increase perceptions of brand – By seeing what customers and potential customers are saying about your brand and the brand(s) of competitors, you can improve upon perception. It’s almost like free market research. Maintain shareholder Value – By decreasing risk by having ears close to the ground where opinions about a business are being formed and propagated. Engage in more effective public relations by understanding who the real influencers are. Gain understanding – Scores of companies spend hours, dollars and other resources attempting to discover where their strengths and weaknesses are, at least in terms of what customers perceive. The relationship between user generated content and traditional forms of online media, e. g. news, print, etc. has a wealth of free information if you know how to read it.

Provide early warning systems for reactive and defensive PR. Reduce marketing costs – Learning to act and react cheaper is a necessity in today’s economy, and effective relationship management can produce procedures and processes that will evolve the way you market. Reduce internal costs – Employing services which save time and money can make or break a company. Online reputation management can achieve just that. Help identify gaps – Gaps related to products, services, attitudes, relationships and more. These can be developed for profitable niche markets.

Gain insight into online networks and keywords and key phrases found in user-generated content, which can help to bolster natural search results about the person, product, or business. Having quality online reputation management is obviously an important part of any modern business. This isn’t just a matter of making sure everyone likes you and/or your product, it really is focusing in on how to best craft the messages being sent around the Web. The information is out there, you might as well have a say in how it’s viewed.

Credit card is one financial product if handles properly then definitely you will admire it the most. It is a good alternative to make payments when you are short of cash. But choosing a right card could be quite a challenge. There is a wide range of choice that is available in the market like Standard, Premium, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Titanium etc.

You just need to play it smart — rather than falling prey to the spiel, walk the extra mile and choose the one you want. You need to pick the right card; there are different types of credit cards stack up on interest rate and other features. The important factors that decide whether you will get a credit card are your residence and your profession. If you reside in a locality that is blacklisted (on grounds of poor credit history) by the card-issuing bank, chances of your getting a card are less.

Banks are also hesitant in issuing credit cards to individuals in certain professions. Also, if you have been servicing other lines of credit, the bank will take a look at your credit history. Lastly, the credit limit the bank gives you is, in most cases, a function of your profile. A basic question that you need to ask yourself is why exactly you need a card. Before you apply for credit card you should have a look at the below mentioned Credit Card Offers.

A) High fuel consumption: – In case you travel a lot through your vehicle then a card, that offers no surcharge in petrol purchase will be a good card to go for. Most commonly Titanium cards offer no surcharge while purchasing petrol. In case you are not eligible for a Titanium card, the next option should be a Gold card. In different cards the surcharges are wavered at a particular range like from Rs. 400 to Rs. 4, 000. It means if you purchase fuel less than Rs. 400 then there won’t be any waver in surcharge and if the transaction is more than Rs. 4000 then again there won’t be any waver. Few example of credit cards that offer no surcharge are Citibank Indian Oil Credit Card, ICICI Bank, ICICI Bank HPCL Gold Credit Card,

B) Traveling through Air: – In case you travel through flights then you should go with a card that offers discounts while traveling. A card like Platinum is one of the examples of credit card that offers special discounts to there card holders. Few banks that offer travel discounts on there credit card are Abnamro Bank’s -Smart Miles Titanium Credit Card, ICICI Bank-British Airways American Express® Credit Card, Singapore Airlines VISA Platinum Credit Card, Citibank-Jet Airways Platinum credit card and many more.

C) For Shopping:- If you are a shopaholic then, your choice of card should be in such a way that you get the maximum out of your shopping, may be in a form of cash back, reward points or gift voucher. While shopping through your credit card you can actually earn, it’s just that you should be aware of the offers available on your credit card. Few banks that offer shopping discounts on credit card are Citibank- Cash Reward credit card, HDFC Bank- Women credit card, Axis Bank-Gold & Platinum credit card and many more. Beside above factors you also need to check the charges taken at the time of late fee, revolving the payment and etc. Remember, once you have started using a credit card; make every effort to pay the total amount due in full before the due date of payment. Delay in making regular payments not only affects your credit history; it also does not let you make use of the free credit days’ facility.

Business Management Colleges of India offer various courses in marketing management. Many students prefer to go for a course in Finance but few of them are unaware about all the courses in Finance. Students of finance prepare themselves for this career by studying topics like planning, making wise investments, raising funds and controlling costs.

Their knowledge in these areas sets them for a number of career paths in corporate finance, financial institutions and investments. Those who are in search of finance students look for a particular kind of skills and studies. If you want to get the best education of the finance from your undergraduate education, put some focuses into which classes to take that may fall outside the finance curriculum. Finance courses are mentioned below:

1. Mathematics: Finance students must take a course in mathematics. Courses in calculus and algebra help them in learning how to solve equations in highly complex financial markets. And statistics helps to take decisions based on the probability of many outcomes and allows the students to learn to reach conclusions about basic differences between large batches of information and groups.

2. Accounting: This is an integral part of finance. This course teach finance students to understand, report and record financial transactions, monitor an organization’s quarterly and annual budgets and performance and examine the costs of many products as well as services.

3. Economics: A course in this helps students get an overhaul of the world economic scenario. Economics basically looks at allocating scarce resources to get wants and needs. If a student takes up a course in macroeconomics teaches then it will help him / her understand the impact of financial market activities on the overall economy.Microeconomics helps students in understanding the different behaviors that occur within firms and among consumers and also in making several financial decisions that can impact a firm’s success.

4. Psychology: In finance, a professional requires to understand the basic thought and behaviors processes that help trigger movements in financial markets. If a student takes up a course in psychology, it helps him / her in developing a critical thinking that a finance student must have to reflect and evaluate an argument and examine situations in all dimensions before reaching to a conclusion.

5. Writing: A course in technical writing teaches students to put clear, forth strong and organized ideas, purposes as well as explanations in the form of reports, memos and letters. So, choose the course of your interest and go for it

Business continuity planning (BCP) is the creation and validation of a practiced logistical plan for how an organization will recover and restore partially or completely interrupted critical functions within a predetermined time after a disaster or extended disruption. The logistical plan is called a business continuity plan. Hence, BCP is the phenomenon by which a company plans out, how to stay in business in the event of disaster.

Incidents include local incidents like building fires, regional incidents like earthquakes, or national incidents like pandemic illnesses. The company has a formal printed manual available for reference before, during, and after disruptions have occurred. In 2007, the British Standards Institution published another standard part for BCP, BS 25999-2 “Specification for Business Continuity Management”, that specifies requirements for implementing, operating and improving a documented Business Continuity Management System (BCMS). BCP methodology is useful for any organization of but adopted by only regulated industries. However every organization should have one in order to ensure the organization’s longevity.

It is evident that firms do not invest enough time and resources into BCP preparations are sufferer in disaster survival statistics. According to a research study, fires permanently close 44% of the business affected. In the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, 150 businesses out of 350 affected failed to survive the event. Whereas, the firms affected by the Sept. 11 attacks with well-developed and tested BCP manuals were back in business within days. For a small organization, BCP manual may be simply a printed manual, containing full details of crisis management staff, general staff members, clients, and vendors along with the location of the offsite data backup storage media, copies of insurance contracts, and other critical materials necessary for organizational survival.

For most complex organizations, a BCP manual may outline a secondary work site, technical requirements and readiness, regulatory reporting requirements, work recovery measures. They should have all the documents for the reestablishment of physical records, a new supply chain, or new production centers. The development of a BCP manual can have five main phases:

1. Analysis: study of various impacts and threat, its consequences.

2. Solution design: to identify the most cost effective disaster recovery solution

3. Implementation: execution of the design elements identified in the solution design phase

4. Testing and organization acceptance means to achieve organizational acceptance that the business continuity solution satisfies the organization’s recovery requirements

5. Maintenance: divided into three activities,

• a). the confirmation of information in the manual, roll out to all staff for awareness and specific training for individuals whose roles are identified as critical in response and recovery.
• b). the testing and verification of technical solutions established for recovery operations.
• c). the testing and verification of documented organization recovery procedures. Microsoft’s Business Continuity Solutions Microsoft Windows Server 2008 provides the most robust business continuity platform, delivering proven technologies like Network Load Balancing and Clustering as part of the operating system.

It also provides support for a wide range of industry-leading, shared-storage solutions to deliver Quick and Live Migration along with partner cross-site data management and data replication technologies. IBM – COOP Systems IBM Business Continuity and Resiliency Services is working with COOP Systems headquartered in Herndon, VA to provide business continuity management software namely myCOOP. With a reputation for no risk deployments, low costs, and ease-of-use for all types of users, myCOOP is the next generation of business continuity software.

The year ending always come with high expenditures, whether you want to buy new clothes for New Year party, new furniture for your home or anything else. And if you are among those who use your credit card frequently, you would be well to steer clear of following pitfalls.

1) Read the fine prints: Mostly people are not aware of the rate of interest, charges, and offers available on their credit card. Lack of knowledge & awareness about the products results in miss usage of credit card.

2) Minimum amount due: The credit card users are in impression that paying minimum due amount every month will reduce their outstanding amount. Whereas, it actually pushes one into a debt trap. The card issuer considers the remaining balance to be overdue and charges a heavy interest, which could vary from 42-49% per annum. Given this, the debt burden is unlikely to be eased by paying the minimum amount due.

3) Pending disputes: Whenever a dispute arise against our credit card, the credit card issuer follow us through phone calls or by text message, but we simple ignore them and as a result at the time of payment late payment fees and other penalty charges are due on us.

4) Drawing cash from credit card: With your credit card you can withdraw cash through ATM but it is not advisable, as the interest charged on it is quite high. There is a misconception that the interest on the amount withdrawal will be charged after 45 days but very few knows this that the interest will be charged from the same day.

5) Overdrawing credit limit: Keep a check on the credit limit of your credit card. Using your credit card above your credit limit will result in huge charges. So, to enjoy festive in a happy mood do remember the above pointers. Click here for apply credit cards

Definition Of Mortgage Refinance Buying a house is a big investment. Imagine having most of your salary disappear every month for the next 30 years. In these tough times, everyone is finding ways to cut back and save. Good news is, you can save significant amounts on your mortgage payments. With mortgage refinance loans from usloanz. com, you can have your monthly payment slashed, because they will pay off your old loan and replace it with a home refinance loan carrying better terms and lower interest rates to suit your needs.

Types of mortgage refinance available in market Several types of home mortgage refinance options are available today. At usloanz. com, we offer, in addition to regular mortgage refinance loans: Loan Modification – Have the terms of your existing loan changed to reflect better interest rates and more affordable mortgage payments. Many lenders are willing to negotiate the terms of mortgages, just ask. Making the conditions more favorable to you increases your likelihood to repay and reduces defaults on loan, allowing them to recover their investments. This is a long term solution for those who otherwise, might face foreclosure. Bad Credit Mortgage Refinance – Those with poor or bad credit can also be accommodated at usloanz. com. Bad credit mortgage refinance is specifically tailored to persons with less than ideal credit ratings, who wish to pay off their current mortgage and take on a new one with usloanz. com.

Better terms and interest rates await those who choose to take this step, as well as financial security and the path to better credit. Adjustable Rate Mortgages – These mortgages can be very beneficial when interest rates are on a downward trend like they are today. As they get lower, payments are adjusted down, and as they go up, adjustments are made to suit. Fixed Rate Mortgages – These provide stability to those who desire it. Payments are the same over the life of the loan and will not reflect adjustments during periods of low or high rates. Second Mortgages – If you’ve built up equity in your home, you can apply for a second mortgage using that equity as collateral.

Procedure to get mortgage refinance If you are interested in any of the mentioned mortgage refinance options, all you need to do is Fill in the handy mortgage refinance application form available at usloanz. com. It’s free and there is no obligation A professional loans representative will contact you soon after to discuss your case and possible options As soon as you’ve decided that this option is right for you, usloanz. com will prepare the paperwork for your to fill in and sign When completed, you can start saving hundred of dollars on your very next payment Advantages of refinancing mortgage from our site When you get mortgage rate refinance at usloanz. com, you get quality service that is second to none. With the lowest rates available anywhere whether online or offline, you are guaranteed to be satisfied.

It’s quick and easy to get started and there is no obligation in the unlikelihood that what we present does not suit your needs. Refinance Mortgage with usloanz. com is such a prompt service, you can start paying a lower monthly payment with lower rates on your next mortgage payment. There are options for every type of mortgage refinance need, bad credit mortgage refinance included.

While some have just joined and are still helping the business grow, the climb to the top for most others has been tricky. These women have thrown their entrepreneurial energy in to the family business and helped the firm stay ahead of the curve while taking on ever greater responsibilities on key accounts.

They have broken the psychological block that a son and not a daughter is a potential successor!As, women continue to expand their role in the business world and show that they are as capable as men, fathers are giving key positions to their daughters in the family business. Very recently a succession plan was announced by the chairman of health service provider Apollo Hospitals. Prathap Reddy said his eldest daughter Preetha Reddy will take charge of the group once he retires. Reddy has four daughters and they have become the four pillars on which his pioneering enterprise stands today.

His eldest daughter Preetha Reddy is Apollo Hospitals’ managing director while Suneeta Reddy is executive director (finance) and Sangita Reddy is executive director (operations). Shobana Kamineni looks after health insurance and new initiative businesses of the group. Reddy, in some of his recent media interviews, has said his daughters are brilliant and they are managing things beautifully. With a health care empire that only seems to be growing, all thanks to the dynamic four daughters, Pratap Reddy is one proud father. The eldest daughter of industrialist A Sivasailam, is the pride of her parents and a well known entrepreneur of India. Mallika Srinivasan joined her father’s Amalgamations Group in 1986. She was made the general manager of Tafe (Tractors and Farm Equipment) Company. She converted Tafe into a hi-technology-oriented company and increased the turnover substantially. The company found a niche for itself as the leading tractor manufacturer, and expanded its area of operations under her guidance.

Mallika did her MA (econometrics) from Madras University. She then went abroad to pursue further studies. She did her MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Married to Venu Srinivasan, the chairman and managing director of TVS Motor, she is one of the most successful women CEOs in India. She was Economic Times Businesswoman of the year 2006. Interestingly, Lakshmi Venu, daughter of Venu and Mallika Srinivasan, was recently inducted as a director on the board of auto-component maker Sundaram Clayton Ltd, TVS Motors’ holding company. This move was viewed as a succession plan for TVS Motor, India’s third-largest two-wheeler manufacturer by sales. Besides having successful industrialist parents, Lakshmi has impressive educational credentials.

The school topper from Sishya School in Chennai, Lakshmi joined Yale and graduated in economics and is a doctorate degree-holder from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. Sulajja Firodia Motwani is the joint managing director of two-wheeler firm Kinetic Motor Company, a position she inherited from her father. Being at the helm of Kinetic, she faced the challenge of leading a company after their joint venture partner, Honda, moved out. She had to deal with the market when scooters were not in fashion and motorcycles were the rave. Kinetic had to make its debut in the motorcycle business and tied up with overseas manufacturers to bring in modern scooters to lure back customers. Sulajja coped with this difficult part, made her parents proud and paved way for her siblings. Sulajja did her MBA from Carnegie Melon and worked in California for a couple of years before heading back home to join the family business. Roshni Nadar, the only daughter of tech billionaire Shiv Nadar, took over as executive director and CEO of HCL Corporation at the age of 27.

This young heiress did her MBA in social enterprise management and strategy from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. After completing her education and returning back home Roshni kept herself involved in brand building and social initiatives of HCL. As her degree suggests, she has her skills set in the social enterprise management, and therefore in her role at HCL she is involved only in the development side of business, while her father and founder of HCL, Shiv Nadar has full discretion to take key decisions in the interest of the company. Roshni is involved only in the investment company HCL Corp, and not in either HCL Infosystems or HCL Technologies – both managed by a group of professionals.

Interestingly, this young lady had her interests in media and had changed her major from Economics to film. She majored in radio, television and film and did internships with CNBC and CNN before she went to pursue a career in management. Another great example is Meher Pudumjee. She took the chair once occupied by Thermax founder and her grandfather AS Bhathena, nurtured by her father Rohinton Aga and preserved by her mother Anu Aga. Meher joined Thermax as a trainee engineer in August 1990. In a year’s time, she was given the responsibility to manage the company’s overseas operations in the UK. She returned to India in 1996 and became a member of the board of directors.

After her stints with the treasury and working capital management functions, she moved to corporate strategic planning. In 2001, Pudumjee was appointed non-executive director of Thermax and became vice-chairperson in 2002. She learned the ins and outs of the business for 14 long years before succeeding her mother in 2004. Along with her husband (Pheroze Pudumjee), Meher has put Thermax on the path to success. Meher, is a postgraduate in chemical engineering from the Imperial College of Science & Technology, London. She was the Business Standard CEO of the Year for 2007-08. Although Anuradha Desai may have inherited her father’s empire by virtue of her birth, she has strived hard to expand into newer areas of poultry business and survived bird flu outbreaks.

Daughter of late BV Rao, pioneer of organised poultry business in India, leads the Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group whereas her two younger brothers work closely in the group. Anuradha has fine tuned the vision she inherited from her father and is today the voice of the Indian poultry industry. She has increased the turnover of her father’s business manifold. She now oversees a multi-activity business including eggs, egg powder, poultry feed, animal feed, vaccines, biotech, research and development and even wine distribution and entertainment. She also added the export initiative of Venky’s Chicken to her success story. Shefali Munjal was inducted into father Sunil Kant Munjal’s Hero Group to explore the company’s greenfield projects. Where others failed, she kept the IT and ITeS businesses afloat, and added new ones to the portfolio. Besides these projects, she has been an integral part of the business development and strategic decision making team at Hero Corporate.

Shefali is actively involved in strategic reviewing of operations and is a good team player. She is currently doing a senior management program at Harvard Business School, and is expected to graduate in 2011. She is also a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s National Committee on Insurance and Pensions, a founding member of the CII Young Indians Council, the Entrepreneurs Organization (Delhi Chapter) and The Art of Living Foundation. Shefali is also a trained pianist, adventure sports enthusiast, amateur artist and is fluent in French. Pia Singh manages her father’s entertainment venture. Daughter of KP Singh, chairman DLF Group, heads DLF’s entertainment venture, Digital Talkies (DT) Cinema as well as handles the group’s retail business as its managing director. This multi-tasking persona worked with GE Capital in risk underwriting before joining the group. Interestingly, Pia’s inclination towards films was not newfound. During her academic days she pursued a short term film-making course from New York University after graduating from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania with a major in finance. Priya Paul took the reins of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels after the untimely death of her father Surrendra Paul.

Younger sister Priti Paul looked after the shipping business of the Apeejay Surrendra Group, while their brother was studying. Priya gave a new dimension to the Park Hotel chain. Priti took over the creative side, and looked after the Oxford bookstore, the Cha Bar chain and the real estate division. Brother Karan Paul is now chairman and handles other businesses. Priya is a Bachelor of Economics from Wellesley College, USA, while Priti is a Master in Design Studies, from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture, minor in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. For Godrej daughters it was tough, the kids had to join as interns, prove themselves, and move ahead.

Adi Godrej’s daughter Tanya Dubash is now president, marketing and executive director in Godrej Industries and younger daughter Nisha is executive vice president for development in Godrej Industries and is also on the board of Godrej Agrovet. When his son, Pirojsha, started work at Godrej properties after a three-week induction programme like all others, all his father had to say was that Pirojsha’s career would depend solely on his performance, as it would for any new entrant in the group. Same was the case with Shalaka Gulabchand, daughter of Ajit Gulabchand, chairman and managing director of Hindustan Construction Company, and the man behind Bandra-Worli sea link. She joined the company in September 2000 as an executive (planning and business development). There was no time frame for the only daughter as to when she will be part of the board. It was performance based. In June 2007, Shalaka was appointed general manager-business development. Shalaka, holds a bachelors degree in international relations from Boston University. Sminu Jindal, daughter of Prithviraj Jindal and granddaughter of OP Jindal, joined the family business as a trainee at the fag end of her teens in Swastik Foils, a unit of Jindal SAW. She turned around the sick unit into a profitable venture in the very first year of joining by pioneering the production of ultra thin gauge steel that was unheard of in that era and time. She then trained her sight on Jindal SAW in 1997.

Soon she was at the helm of affairs as the managing director. In spite of being confined to the wheelchair due to an accident at the age of 11, she never allowed her spirit to be chained. She initiated environment protection steps like effluent treatment plants and environment friendly processes much before the government regulatory authorities’ drive. Jindal SAW Ltd was one of the very first companies to be awarded all environmental clearances. Prakash Chauhan’s three little stars were groomed to join the Parle Agro business from the very beginning. The eldest, Schauna Chauhan did her B-schooling and joined the Parle Agro in 1999 and by 2002 she was running the business. She is now the CEO, while daddy remains the chairman. Alisha Chauhan was passionate about fitness and opened ‘V3′ a chain of health and fitness centres. She diversified the business through this venture. Meanwhile, the youngest, Nadia Chauhan, started to attend marketing meetings with her dad at the age of 11. Officially though, she joined the business in 2002. For publishing major Ashok Malhotra succession planning was never an issue. His daughters Monica Malhotra Kandhari and Sonica Malhotra took over the reins very early.

A commerce graduate, Monica explored her passion for publishing by joining the family business as a trainee in the MBD group’s publishing and printing wing at the age of 16. She is now the senior executive director of MBD. Meanwhile, Sonica, executive director at MBD and an MBA in finance from International Management Institute France, handles key projects in hospitality and real estate sector, right from project planning to execution and is also responsible for branding, positioning and assisting in expansion plans of the group. Lara Balsara, joined father Sam Balsara’s Radison Communication at the age of 26. Lara did her BA from St Xaviers College in Mumbai and went to the UK to pursue her masters in marketing from Bristol University. She came back and joined Madison as a trainee in 2003. She diversified the business further and was responsible for the success of Madison Teamworks and Entertainment, Madison Retail Paradigm and Madison RKD retail/iq. Rangita Nandy joined father Pritish Nandy’s PNC as a management trainee and has progressed to creative head of the company. She has been a producer of bollywood films like Chameli, Jhankar Beats, Shabd and Pyar ke Side Effects.

Meghna Puri has been a part of dad Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts from the age of 16. She helped her father fulfil his dream of setting up an institute to teach film making. Today, she is the president of the institute–Whistling Woods International. She did her business management from King’s College in London in 1999. Devita Saraf joined her father’s Zenith Computers while she was a student. The Topper Laptop, Power of Seven Laptop range, Infotainer II, Multiply and the Topper Desktop are some of Zenith’s products launched under her leadership. She currently spearheads Vu Technologies, the pioneer in the concept of ‘Luxury in Technology’. She is also executive director of Zenith Computers. Ashni Biyani, daughter of Kishore Biyani, got herself involved in the innovation and incubation division of Future Group at a young age of 22. She did her schooling at Queen Mary, studied at HR college in Mumbai, and did a course in textile designing and design management.