Financial Management by P V Kulkarni & B G Sathyaprasad

B G Sathyaprasad was my mentor and professor and he has this flair for deliverence. His lectures were a treat in the sense, he would meticulously present the concepts which came so easily to him and he would transform the blackboard into the free flow of ideologies/facts from the 'Financial world'. As David Francis observes:  "Overnight, Finance changed from a primarily descriptive study to one that encompassed rigorous analysis and normative theory; finance today is best characterised as ever-changing with new ideas and techniques". This applies to the whole book.

His book is a thoroughly good read with a lot of illustrations and the treatise is very refreshing.

For e.g. 'Responsibility Centres'
This is a relatively 'new concept' well dealt in this book. It  says 'Reports prepared by managers pertaining to only those costs or revenues over which he/she is expected to have control' in small groups and applied to the whole enterprise. In a responsibility centre, costs are charged to the person who has the authority over the acquisition as well as the use of service. Hence, it is a 'personalised concept' and are of three types viz., cost centre (which measures the ability to control cost, tracing procedures used for product costing cutting each activity as a cost centre), profit centre (controlling the bulk of income and the bulk of expenditure on an operation taking into account both inputs and outputs)  and investment centre (on the basis of returns on the capital employed)

CEO Speak

Angela F. Braly, CEO, WellPoint
A government-run health plan would not address the underlying issues of cost and quality.

Michael S. Dell
We're concerned that one word that seems to be missing from a lot of discussions is "competitiveness". It's a word that should be used more often

Robert Griefield, CEO, Nasdaq
Withing the leadership of the Business Community, there is a concern. The attitude is not so much wait-and-see but wary. They are wary with respect to the tax policy and obviously are also concerned with the burden of helath-care costs.

Jeffrey B. Kindler, CEO, Pfizer
We have to accept the reality that the vast majority of the people in this country(USA) get their insurance from employers and if we create a system that provides an incentive for employers to not provide their employees with insurance, then under certain scenarios huge numbers of people under public option would move out of the employer system into the public system. That would not be a good outcome because it would impose a tremendous burden on the taxpayers.

W. James McNeny Jr. CEO, Boeing
A level playing field for American companies and workers in international markets is more important than ever.

Duncan L. Niedarauer CEO NYSE Euronext
On tax policy: The US-headquartered companies are forced to cut jobs to reduce costs to make up for the increased tax burden. It would encourage a lot of American Companies to be incorporated elsewhere and potentially moving jobs out of USA  and moving headquarters and operations abroad.

Ratan Tata, TATA
We do a lot of homework to make sure the acquired company fits into our culture and value system. If we find that a company follows practices that we are not in agreement with, we would not go into it.

Richard  Branson, Virgin Atlantic
My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.... from the perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it.

'SEX' debacles in A D V E R T I S I N G - A critique by Chunawalla

'In International affairs, it isn't always the virgin who gets deflowered' This ad appeared in the magazine 'New Yorker'.
It is too difficult to associate the economic affairs with the loss of virginity. The typography is white against the bold red background. It is highly suggestive. Perhaps the ad intended the treading of the familiar and unfamiliar territory. Perhaps it blended the sexual and financial fantasies. But it is not in the best taste.

Sex is a great help in attracting attention in the midst of the advertising clutter. It also helps in holding interest for recall value. e.g. Calvin Klein uses it to promote undewear but promotes cologne showing fully clothed people. Over-use of sex diminishes its attention arresting value as in the following e.g.

MR Coffee commercial (Malaika Arora-Khan) on TV: The Storyline:

We see a young upwardly mobile lawyer entering the house
We see a woman in shirt perched on a stool.
There is a cut to lid of coffee
The woman gets unbalanced to lock her legs around the man's hips.
They twirl around; and move to bed'
There are shots of gas burner, coffee beans and the rest as cutouts.
The action accentuates. The woman pulls off the men's specs, loosens his tie and begins to pull off his shirt
A few steamy shots as the coffee brews. They do too.
They enjoy a cup of coffee post-coital
The VO: Real pleasure can't come in an instant. MR Filter Coffee.
Longer to brew, but unforgettable.

Alayque Padamsee called this the tastiest campaign in bad taste. Perhaps the brand has not assessed the impact of outraging the prudish the middle-class modesty. Going too far by being extra-libeal in the present cultural milieu of India is as bad as being too much dictated and controlled, crippling creativity in the process. We have to choose our checks-and-balances judiciously.

Understanding Language as Communication (Intercultural Context) by Trilochan Pande

Have you ever wondered on all the immigrants from India who have made homes far from home in the Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago long ago and made 'Unaccustomed Earth' their motherland but, still, carry the roots from India and our cultural heritage gets metamorphosed into the cultures of the land they have adopted.

This book is a very interesting analogy of the 'Indian Professor' deputed to living 3 years in Trinidad to teach the Hindi language to the locals. There are a lot of new musings like 'lyming' means idle chit-chat; The pappy show means 'making fun of'; honky - unskilled labour (whites); Pecker-lazy, ignorant & rustic person (whites).

There is a lot of character and message spread wider being the vox populi, like the following quotes immortalised by the poets with an ironical tones used against the British empire. "London Bridges falling down" which is popular even today.

The sysem won't change, Unless we the people change.
Between the Black and White man, we want freedom
My people's demand, I quote - Is simply, one man, one vote
Yuh foolin yuhself, and yuh think yuh foolin me
Girl - yuh face hard like a steel band pan. - (To the British girl)
Black man don't get nothing easy
In the West Indies, Cricket is played according to colour
Ah - want me grand father's back pay
Yankees gone, and the Sparrow takes over now
I like bananas, because they have no bones
You ill never find a lover like me
Honey, I m bound to go

They quoted projecting the personality of the singer or the poet as an impetus to performance:

'What I've done for all mankind, Must be remembered, as I'm getting Blind - Lord Executor (whatever he had done was not for personal benefit)

Never mind whatever measures are employed. Kaiso is art, and cannot be destroyed - Attila the Hun (any art form has to face severe opposition anywhere)

But if it is blood, sweat and misery, We going to fight, till we get our Liberty - King Radio (the Nation's spirit speaking in such a way that cannot be suppressed)

Between Capitalists, Union and Government, You can't tell, who guilty or who innocent - Mighty Unknown (there is a sense of reality and no one is to be blamed fully in a situation)

It is an editorial in a song, of the live we undergo, That and only that I know, is true Calypso - Iron Duke       (The definition of 'Calypso' the most appropriate in two simple words "editorial" and "song")

Wearing Dashiki all that may be fine. But changing yuh clothes, doesn't change yuh mind - Black Stalin (the superiority of the mind has been asserted which is in line with their tradition)

Come! experience the music as language is being used both as an action and as a motion moving effortlessly from verbal into the non verbal channel and skillfully presented in the "medium" of Intercultural Exchange.....