Services Business Model for Maid Servants in India

Bodyshopping was the derogative name given to companies that were doing placement services for Indian Software programmers. These companies took 40-60% of the programmers salaries. Infosys and other companies then positioned themselves as companies whose business model is the same as that of consulting companies like Accenture etc. but in software domain.

The success of this business model is now set to proliferate across several other domains, including for Maid Servants. In India, Maid Servants are paid dismally low and they reciprocate by doing a shoddy job. It has been a lose-lose situation for all. Some shrewd Entrepreneurs have adopted the Service Business Model for this domain.. These entrepreneurs assure professional quality service and in turn ensure that the maids are better paid, inducing a cycle of win-win situation for all. Also, hopefully these maids are also provided other benefits related to social security.

As India is vying for a service oriented economy, this business model has to be successful in many many domains, creating win-win situation for all. This adoption is also critical for shifting the large population that is currently underemployed in the Agricultural Sector.

I have been visiting several farms across Tamilnadu. One recurring compliant from small farmers is that it is now very difficult to get labour these days. The Textile Industry has successfully lured the agricultural labourers by providing additional benefits related to social security. If this trend continues, other industries would grow at the expense of agriculture. This would threaten the self-sufficiency of the Country.

My solution for this problem is that someone start a major service agency for agricultural labourers, which would provide benefits on par with other industries. There is seriously lot of money to be made in this space.

The recent walmartization of the Indian retail industry could also be thought of as the adoption of the service model for retail industry. Currently, those working in the retail industry (especially in kirana shops) are more or less like bonded labourers. Streamlining this industry with the service model would lift millions out of poverty.

The adoption of the Service Business Model across domains is inevitable and seems unstoppable.

Jetix Hero Wins Local Body Elections in Tamil Nadu

An independent candidate contested the local body elections in a village called Veerapandi, near palladam, a town in Tamil Nadu. He had selected Jetix heros as his election symbol and started distributing jetix heros branded balloons and other toys..

It happened that he scored a resounding win in the election, beating leading political parties like the Ruling DMK, AIADMK and others.. But why did the public vote for him?


This is what they have to say :

"We have voted listening to leaders for a long time.. In this election, we listened to our kids who were cheering for this Jetix guy.."

Globalization making the world a better place

Here comes a research report that states that violent conflicts in the third world countries are declining.. making the world a better place..

"Without new superpower "proxy wars" starting in the Third World, overall armed conflicts have fallen by more than 40 per cent, and extremely violent conflicts -- those with 1,000 or more battle deaths -- have dropped by 80 per cent... International arms transfers, defense budgets, armed forces personnel and refugee numbers have also all decreased."

Good News?

But the interesting part of this story is : Andrew Mack, the Report's Author finds people reactions to his report as curious..

Reaction to his report ranges from disbelief to relief to scornful dismissal. Those on the political right and left each accuse him of siding with the other."

Tamil Remix

Tamil Popular Culture has been monopolized by Cinema for more than 5-6 decades.. Internet has not been able to impact pop culture till now.. but YouTube and its cousins are going to chance this situation very soon.. It is going to give millions strong audiences to artistes who want to experiment and explore venues themes..

This Tamil Video is a precursor for things to come.. YouTube stats say about 58,000 visitors which is quiet a good audience.. As YouTube is going to pay for its contributors, it is going to provide a business model also for supporting the emerging tamil Rap and new art styles..

Tamil Culture desperately needs new voices ..

so may a Thousand Videos Bloom..

Of the world's 100 largest economies, 51 are now global corporations, rather than countries

• Of the world's 100 largest economic entities, 51 are now corporations and 49 are countries. (see chart)
• The world's top 200 corporations account for over a quarter of economic activity on the globe while employing less than one percent of its workforce. (source)
• The richest 1 percent of Americans own 40 percent of the nation's household wealth (as of 1997). (source)
• The assets of the world's 358 billionaires exceed the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people. (source)
• The average CEO in the U.S. made 42 times the average workers pay in 1980, 85 times in 1990 and 531 times in 2000. (source)
• The courts have given corporations the basic Constitutional rights of persons, but workers lose those rights on entering the workplace.
• The corporate share of taxes paid has fallen from 33 percent in the 1940's to 15 percent in the 1990's. Individuals' share of taxes has risen from 44 to 73 percent.
• The World Trade Organization effectively gives corporations veto power over our U.S. environmental and labor laws, weakening your right to protect ourselves and our land by our legislation.

This is How the System Works

These facts give lot of insight into the state of Global Economic Scenario..

Can India sustain its growth?

SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR, thinks India can sustain its growth rate for a long time in this post.. He has lot of other thought provoking articles as well..

Inflation is a big threat that would however affect the common man.. Already prices for essential goods have risen about 10% this year in North India.. and Wheat about 17% .. Wheat Exports have been banned

The government and Reserve Bank have in the recent past unleashed a number of steps to curb inflation and money supply.

Only yesterday, RBI hiked the Cash Reserve Ratio by a half per cent to six per cent to control money supply in the banking system - a move to curb credit flow.

India’s central bank said it will react “swiftly” and use all policy tools to stem inflation that may derail record economic growth.

“The firming up of inflation bothers us,” Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Rakesh Mohan said in a speech in Mumbai on Tuesday. “It is a key concern for us in overall macroeconomic management.”

Real estate - Crunch Situation in India & Chennai

I am hunting for a house which is worth its price for the last 3 months.. Prices in Chennai have reached the roof.. people are still buying because they fear that cost might go further beyond one's reach.. This sunday, I witnessed the sale of about 150 apartments each costing about 50 laks in 5 hours.. The apartment complex is at Medavakkam, about 15 kms from Chennai City..

Will the Price go high or down next month? That's the Million Dollar Question Now...

Here is an article in Financial Times:

India is in for a liquidity crunch

Quoting the article here,

INDIA'S real estate and stock markets are heading for a correction, with a liquidity crunch in the banking sector likely to accelerate the trend, according to one of the country's most influential bankers.

Indian stock valuations are inflated and property prices in many areas are beginning to exceed what people can afford to pay, said Deepak Parekh, chairman of the Housing Development Finance Corp, which controls India's second largest private sector bank.

"I'm concerned about overheating real estate prices. I'm concerned about overheating of stock markets, that some of the valuations are not justifiable," Mr Parekh said.

"The kind of returns people got in the last two to three years, they would be foolish to expect this year. The Indian story is fully priced."

Foreign investors eager to tap into India's rapid economic growth of above 8 per cent have been pouring funds into stocks and specialist private equity funds investing in property and other sectors.

India commanded nearly half of foreign fund flows into emerging markets tracked by Morgan Stanley last year, with the average market capitalisation last year nearly 50 per cent higher than a year earlier.

In cities such as Mumbai, housing prices have risen threefold since 2004, with residents reporting increases in rent of up to 2.5 times in two years.

"Real estate has to do with affordability. There is no point building houses of Rs10 million ($293,000) and Rs20 million when people don't have the resources to pay for them," said Mr Parekh, whose bank specialises in loans for first home buyers.

Banks such as HDFC and its rival ICICI, the country's largest private sector bank, have been reporting credit growth of more than 30 per cent, as Indians borrow to buy homes, cars and appliances.

But Mr Parekh warned that across the banking sector there was an emerging credit crunch, with loan growth outpacing deposit growth by about 10 percentage points.

"This is a cause of concern because this creates higher interest rates and this creates a slowdown of the economy," he said. "The Government keeps talking of a benign interest rate policy, but with demand for funds in excess of the liquidity available, something has to break somewhere."

He said he expected a correction rather than a crash, with the stock market likely to settle 10-20 per cent below its current levels and real estate price rises to stall rather than collapse.

Chetan Ahya, an economist at Morgan Stanley in Mumbai, said indicators such as inflation and property prices showed the current economic growth rate was unsustainable in the short term.

Where you are trumps Who you are (or) World is still Round

Globalization has made World is Flat .. it might be wishful thinking according to G. Pascal Zachary in When it comes to Innovation, Geography is destiny..

Proof ? Look at iPod.. which bet Creative hands down.. What wins in US becomes COOL in the eyes of the Global Villagers..

Silicon Valley stills rules because of First Mover Advantage and Increasing Returns.. till Silicon Valley is able to retain its Hegemony, Innovators have to gravitate to US.. if this situation exists, US is going to dominate tech sector and proceed to dominate the Global Village too.. undermining the World is Flat premise..

Grapes of Wrath - An Archetypeal Story for Globalization

Displacement from one's homeland is a common theme for many affected by Globalization.. especially in India.. While Software Engineers might have it good, all the Indians do not get to do globe trotting ..Special Economic Zones (SEZ) is displacing poor villagers and forcing them to move to the cities to find a new life.. Singur is West Bengal is a much publicized example..

The popular media would not have enough space to cover the stories of the people of Singur.. One novel/film comes to my mind that could be the archetype of these people's stories..

Grapes of Wrath by Steinback..

It tells about scores of farmers moving to the city (California), in search of a new lifestyle/job, after losing their farmlands. It shows what happens to the members of one such family during the journey..


Another Movie (Tamil) that reminds of this theme is Mahanadi by Kamalahasan.. It tells the story of a family which migrates to the city (chennai) in search of new dreams...

There would scores of tales that resonate this theme..

In this blog, I am going to try and bring real stories based on themese like these and many more..

Inspiration

I got the idea of bloggin about globalization from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/

There are lot of stories to be told ..