antarjaal

Leisha & Pears

2009-10-06T17:42:00.004+05:30

Leisha is a my daughter and Pears is premium brand of soap from the Unilever company. So what is the relationship between the two?
Leisha made her debut as a model in the tvc commerical and print advertisement of Pears soap ! Here is the link to the advt : http://www.tinyurl.com/leishadogra
She makes me proud !

Whose company is it anyways?

2009-03-16T09:26:00.001+05:30

Over the last year or so we have just been hearing about the excesses that have been committed by the companies around the world. Check – the management of the companies. Check 2 – the top management ‘Board’ of the companies. Decisions for growth, profitability, self remuneration et al. And, the resultant collapse of the mighty empires whose so called rock solid foundations have proven to be hollow. The leadership which was dynamic and class dithered to dust.

And, today morning here back in India, which has had its share of worldwide flu – comes a pleasant, confident and overpowering look at what good companies are made of. “The fundamentals of Corporate Governance” by Sudhakar Ram, CMD of Mastek Ltd a pioneering IT solutions company from India takes an objective look at the role of leadership. Sudhakar has interpreted the ideology behind the governance of an organization with that of a model which is proven, trustworthy and evolved from the concept of a true organization – governance of the organization for the organization by the organization from within its hierarchy based on value, principles and processes.A refreshing thought and viewpoint away from the mundane – do and don’ts being propagated by one and sundry. Have worked on imbibing this philosophy in my wake of life. It works.

My experiments with twitter.com

2009-01-13T19:17:00.008+05:30

I know about things when I read them, see them or am told about it. But how can I make my own understanding absolute about them and find out the truth behind them – the only way I know of (all my education taught me this) is to test it out for self. Experiment it. Use it, live it, be part of, adopt it, propagate it …
For the past month or so I have been experimenting with twitter.com. I had read about, seen it, been a dormant player on it for a while. So I decided to move to fast track. Learnt more about, more than anything else observed what the “conversation” is that is happening. My observations led me to categorize (Top 5 & others) the conversations as (oh let remind – twitter prompts: “what are you doing?”)
1. Posting items that is believed to be of interest to others based on self interest 35%
2. Posting response (my understand that the post is only to be “active”) 25%
3. Propagating self – blog, service etc 15%
4. Actually conversing (Question & response) 8%
5. Really what the person is doing 7 %
6. Others 10%
The obvious questions then is what category do I belong too? I belong to the categories 1, 4 & 5 – not in that particular order. The experiment is still on as my conversations are becoming more aligned to the real purpose of twitter. Long live twitter.

Care for environment from space

2009-01-08T16:58:00.004+05:30

Today, we all are concerned about and working directly at various levels to care for our environment. One initiative that caught my attention is the "The Glory Mission" of Nasa. The Nasa website says about the mission that

"The Earth's energy balance and the effect on climate requires measuring black carbon soot and other aerosols, and the total solar irradiance. Glory is a low Earth orbit (LEO) scientific research satellite designed to achieve two major goals:
Collect data on the properties of aerosols, including black carbon, in the Earth's atmosphere and climate system. It will enable a greater understanding of the seasonal variability of aerosol properties.
Collect data on solar irradiance for the long-term effects on the Earth climate record. Understanding whether the temperature increase and climate changes are by-products of natural events or whether the changes are caused by man-made sources is of primary importance.

So that is what Nasa will do. What can you do? Here's an opportunity for you to participate in the project by "sending your name around earth". Click on the link below and participate to show your care for our environment!

http://polls.nasa.gov/utilities/sendtospace/jsp/sendName.jsp

Follow or not to follow

2009-01-07T17:46:00.002+05:30

Today, the #3 IT company in India and a world leader in IT outsourcing revealed that it was built on the basis of internal fraud. The founder was the fraudster leading a dual life - propogating governance and working against it.
There is so much one can now do (write) to critic the company, management and various authorities that were supposed to create a supportive and governing environment to prevent a fraud.
My two cents take was that not to go this path but to only say what is the learning that we have - we can learn from this history now.

Trust what you factually see and is presented to you -- yet take a deep dive when look out for warning signals. These signals are not necessarily in annoucing the problem - yet symptons which could be totally isolated.
Create and live with back-up options while the going is good - not when something goes wrong.

The only other thing that is on my mind right now is the 50,000+ employees of the company whose TRUST has been betrayed.

Yet, another question arises in mind - was there an opportunity for someone to stand tall and blow the whistle?

The Economics of Consumer-Supplier: Indian Perspective # 3

2009-01-06T15:13:00.003+05:30

This post is prompted by an article I read in the Economic Times of India of today titled "The devil is not really in the retail" (this text is also posted to the letters to the editor)
I agree with the bottom line of the article that we have to increase (sustain + increase) private consumption. What is mixed up is the relationship between the private consumption and the modern retail. For one, what kind of private consumption should be increased? Daily consumption items or lifestyle items? What is modern retail? How is modern retail making it possible for increase in daily consumption items and lifestyle items – this is the area which is still gray. Rather, it is shade of higher grey towards the consumer lifestyle items to which the modern retail is as of now related to in India.
The so called modern retail is not a vehicle to provide a public place to meet. That is the business model to entice spending while doing so. There is no social good being done by the modern retail. It is in fact creating a burden on the existing infrastructure by not planning its operations at a location where it can benefit from the economies of scale and lower costs.
The advent of modern retail and discounting on daily consumption items is no backed by the quality parameter (in the case of unbranded goods manufactured by leading brands). The use of purchasing power to enable a discount is not reflected in the delivery of quality goods. This is evident from the fact that the so called modern retails are branding their consumer items under own or third party brands and packaging without having any certified quality standards. They do not confirm to ISI or BIS or any other published transparent self created standards. Creating a discounting modern retail model and expecting it survive in the long run without investing in quality is not going to be profitable to the consumer and hence to the retail industry.
The modern retail industry believes it needs to be in the thick of consumers and hence is plagued by high costs. If it was smart enough to not incur costs but let the consumer incur the reach costs – it would be strategically located in a better, bigger, convenient (to reach with public transport or create a transport model) and cheaper location – to benefit from tax structures and lower cost of utilities. The modern retail industry is profitable in spite of the so called cost structures and inefficient government policies – well then there is scope for further discounting and giving flip to consumer demand. Which demand – of course that is the question?
The modern retail industry would do good for itself (thru doing good for the consumer) if it lobbied with the government to update, modify, change the outdated and inefficient measures / standards enabling the consumer get a truly better quality goods for consumption –both daily consumption and lifestyle.

Innovative Product / Services Companies in India-2008

2008-12-31T09:54:00.003+05:30

This week I was responding to a survey about innovation and it got me thinking about which are the Top 3 innovative companies in India that I would vote for. To do this I took a step back to assess what are the characteristics that would need to be ascertained for qualifying the companies. The top ranking items on this list include

Are these companies
• doing something different to enable consumers benefit from their offerings
• able to reduce the cost of products / services they charge by passing on their internal innovation gains
• creating offerings which are new and satisfying a latent demand

Also, at a personal level (which could be a satisfying condition for a majority of consumers like me)

Are these companies
• creating internal operational processes that enable a consumer take advantage of all the services they can provide
• offering breakthrough products / services offerings

The final list of Top 3 companies that meet these criteria are ::

Maruti Suzuki :
Over the last 25 years consistently created products which meet the Indian consumer needs which are competitive and value for money.

HDFC Bank :
Created ease of use and reach thru network of branches, ATM, and online channels; working with corporates to entice usage by employees of the services and multi-channel marketing along with cross selling of products. Addressed internet security concerns by innovative use of technology.

LG Electronics :
Value for money products launched in Indian market - which are technologically better than the existing ones and superior to the ones available anywhere in the world. All of this with customization to suit Indian consumer environment.

Disclaimer: I have used or currently use products from all these companies.

World Wide Rave

2008-12-30T14:44:00.008+05:30

I had read the book by D M Scott book "The New Rules of Marketing and PR'" -- a borrowed copy :) and then when I came across him on twitter - I started following his posts. And then, there was this post of his about his website for the forthcoming book "World Wide Rave" and the website for it World Wide Rave. An innovate idea (am sure which is probably detailed in the book) was to request photos with posters of this upcoming new book - I immediately requested for one. How could Bombay be behind in representation :) So me and my family used our Christmas day outing to capture photos with the poster. The one I submitted for the site is the one with my two kids - their first public photo doing PR on the internet. Thanks Scott.

"ecommerce" :: IT Works in India

2008-12-29T15:15:00.002+05:30

All along, wherever, around the world i travel and during the course of travel, there are a lot of people from various nations that I meet. One of the pertinent questions posed to me is - does "ecommerce" work in India??
And, I for one, cannot resist delving into the success of ecommerce in India. I have personally used ecommerce service providers - who are both pure digital and/or mortar and brick shops for last 8 years. Yes 8 years and it works with the same precision as expected from world class providers. Of course there could be the normal hic-cups too. One recent service provider whom i came across on Christmas is Zoomin.com (click on logo below for more details). The provide printing services for digital photos. I read its details, uploaded the pics of family that we had shot on Christmas outing and 3 days later the prints are here. All in good shape and condition. At a competitive cost!!

For the middle class, by the middle class

2008-12-24T09:50:00.002+05:30

The only reason why this post exists here is because of KK Iyer. I met KK about 5 years back for the first time. He came in as the head the the team I worked in at Mastek Ltd. There were two key word that I got from him. 1. Rigor & 2. Change (though only the first one is fully creditable by his extensive usage to him). After a distinct stint he move to other functions and then abroad to further company growth. Today, morning when I read in the papers about this new political party for which he has become the spokesperson - I was realistically surprised. "Change" the key word i mentioned earlier - came from his actions. Here's a link to his party site http://www.ppi.net.in/. Will he and his team make this change they are dreaming of? There is an opportunity of window I can say at present that this party can leverage and become a niche influential player. Wishing them all the best.

Problem Solving : Problem Definition

2008-12-23T11:01:00.003+05:30

Throughout the various situations at work or personal life, whenever, I have encountered 'problems' - one of the biggest challenges in finding 'the solution' has been the definition of the 'problem'. A clearly articulate 'problem' which the various stakeholders can equally understand, relate to and identify with 'is' the definitively starting point for the solution to emerge. More proof on this aspect that problem solving is all about articulating and defining the problem into manageable portions at http://tinyurl.com/45yrl5 .

The Economics of Consumer-Supplier: Indian Perspective-1

2008-12-22T17:12:00.006+05:30

Consumer is King (maybe in his own home!!) Here are two corporate airlines (http://tinyurl.com/7fslcd) finding technical reasons which have no concern with the consumer to not pass thru cost benefits of falling production cost. If they are so concerned about consumers benefits that they advocate - then they should transparently pass thru the real costs which are of third party. Well, they do not have the systems to do it - then they need to invest in those. Consumers will want and demand transparency in costs - Value that they pay for. When? Sooner than we know. (Vested interest declaration : I avoid both these airlines 100%!!)

update : 29 Dec 2008

Both the airlines have today announced cut in base fares ...finally the market forces force them to do it without any other reason to bank on.

Mind Maps

2008-12-19T16:37:00.002+05:30

I have been using mind maps for last 3 years plus now. Its a tool that i like a lot and use it wherever possible. Here's a biggners map for those who would like to give it a shot.

Feedback on Feedback

2008-12-18T10:47:00.002+05:30

I have a response to the letter from the big cinema company which is mentioned in a earlier post.
1. They responded :)
2. Justification to my points raised - on 3 different levels - from providing me 'luxury' to 'legal' aspect to 'value'.
3. e-commerce model does not lower costs for cinema industry - wow!!!
I have responded with my feedback and observation - to close the matter if they cannot get it that e-commerce is about both lowering cost and enhancing profits along with providing service!

The Economics of Consumer-Supplier: Indian Perspective

2008-12-17T09:27:00.006+05:30

For the past 2 months now, that i have been following up the financial crises and it implications in the world over; the impact of the same on Indian economy is clearly evident. In the meanwhile, one thing that has been intriguing me :: who is actually suffering in this economic crises -- the consumer or the supplier. I am taking the view as these two identities are the fundamental cornerstone of the economic enterprise.
In India, the inflation is down 4 -5% over the last 2 monts from a record high, economic growth is projected at over 7%; interest rates are down due to government intravention; job losses announced and unannounced do not seem to be a big issue; Oil price (India is a big importer) are down to 40's $/barrel; Airline fuel costs are down accordingly; YET -- there is NO

downward revision in prices of air tickets;
not many discounts being offered on consumer goods;
fall in demand for services industry;
reduction in prices of house by builders.

(not an exhustive list)

Two items from the above list 1> airline ticket and 2> house prices are the ones that bring in more wonder to me. Why are they not falling??

The airlines who have been charging extra in the name of fuel surcharge had to simply reduce this component proportionately per the price reduction in fuel. Yet they don't -- leading to confirmation that this so called fuel surcharge includes items of making more margin rather than covering the cost by a pass thru to consumer. What are the consumer doing about it -Nothing. Have they stopped buying tickets - NO. Have they protested in media, directly to airlines or consumer forums - NO. Why?

On the other hand, the builders have been running after the government to take action. Lower interest rates, enhance credit facilities for loan etc - what is that the builder is offering from his pocket(profits) - NOTHING. Why are consumers not waiting - shunning high prices; complaining etc. Because the consumers have money, they are themselves party to the price rise by creating a demand - and giving opportunity to the builder (suppliers) to raise prices.

So is consumer activism (ability to know its rights and ask for them) linked to the economics of everything?

I voice my concern and will advocate it to the world. The consumer is king (without clothes) today and it needs to regain its clothes by advocating its rights.

The Link !

2008-12-16T16:50:00.001+05:30

> people > expertise > commitment
> engagement > delivery > value > monetary translation >
transaction > community > communication > people >

Does Feedback Work ?

2008-12-15T18:30:00.005+05:30

I am doing an experiment with truth. A market leader in cinemas in India offers on-line booking of tickets. Wow - that is good. But it charges a service charge for the ticket. And, beyond that one has to again to the ticket counter and collect the ticket spending ~10/15 mins time. Not at all comfortable, cheap or friendly method to get a customer like me!
So i have explained this issue and writtent to the CEO and COO of the company. This by writing to their official emails and on their corporate website feedback form. Now wait and watch!!
The questions that are going thru my head at this moment are :

will I single handedly be able to change the way a company looks at customers and services models?
What will I do if they will not do anything w.r.t. my feedback or give me a 'reason' for why it is needed?

Right now, i will wait for the river to come and then decide how to cross it?

Conversation Key Words

2008-12-15T15:25:00.003+05:30

The conversation over "conversation" (called in many other words - yet meaning the same) has been now increasing. It is reaching a to a hype maturity level. This is specially true with respect to the "sell side" communication. There are certain key words floating between the two sides.

Connection
Uniqueness
Comfort
Variety
Community
Context
Continuity

My source of these keywords is the two key sources right now which in turn have a bigger reach and outreach. Forrester (http://www.forrester.com/) and David Armano (http://darmano.typepad.com/).

But what about the meeting point? Where do the buy side and sell side meet? What about the real buyer - consumer? While on the face of things it looks easy - they both meet as they are buyer-seller -- but lets look at reality. The "Seller" is selling to the real consumer who is not in any way connected to the "Buyer" from whom actually nothing is direclty being bought. So how does the conversation get the real consumer (ultimate buyer) involved?

Prakash & Ruchi on German Post issued stamp

2008-06-30T01:38:00.004+05:30

Ofcourse that is me and myRuchi on the German Post issued stamp. Legal and valid in Germany.
wow. Its a good feeling.

Meetings & mobile - the way out finally.

2007-07-27T09:47:00.000+05:30

I am working on an idea to make it getting disturbed in between meetings by your mobile calls a thing of past. The idea is :
The mobile calendar is in sync with the calendar of meetings from a computer systems or direct meeting entries are made into the mobile calendar. When the meeting time is approached the mobile does two things :
1. it changes the profile of the phone to "silent" or in"meeting" automatically avoiding the rush to press multiple buttons to change the profile of the phone by the user - which invariably we forget to do until the call actually comes thru or warned by the moderator of the meeting.
2. it sends a message (without requiring confirmation by user) based on service providers program for subscription to this service : wherein on the start of the meeting time -- the caller tune is changed to a tell the caller " i am in meeting - please call me back later or at appointed hour" or pick up the end time of the meeting and say that.
when the meeting is over then the profile and caller tunes are set back to normal (default).

Am working on writing this piece of software....

any help is welcome.

"Bio DaVersity Code" - The biggest block bluster

2007-03-13T09:52:00.000+05:30

Rating : *****

This is the biggest real (reel) life adventure that you can participate in and join animal symbologist Robert Penguin and the dashing agent Sophie Minnow as they race to expose what most of us deny. Can they crack the Bio DaVersity Code, or will they fall victim to the lurking killer just a step behind?

Join in.

Seminar Notice...Free

2007-03-13T09:44:00.000+05:30

A seminar is being organized by Arik's Aurora....details on his blog.

Free Webinar with Craig Fleisher & Babette Bensoussan Wednesday 11 April on their New Book "Business and Competitive Analysis"Free Webinar with Craig Fleisher & Babette Bensoussan Wednesday 11 April on their New Book "Business and Competitive Analysis"

Worth it.

Lets work for a living planet.

2007-03-05T12:17:00.000+05:30

WWF~the real adventure sport of positive action for the nature is what i believe in. And, have been working and contributing virtually for the success of initiatives across the world. One wish i have is that all of us, need to participate in this and i want to garner support for this among my readers too. Logon to passport.panda.org and start your contribution today.

Lets work for 'our' living planet.

CIO Agenda....one more take..

2007-03-02T17:17:00.000+05:30

It seems like a season of survey results~the winter is over.
"What's on CIO agendas in 2007: A McKinsey Survey" on McKinsey Quarterly is view of the New technologies and trends constantly compete for a share of the enterprise IT budget. In 2006 two areas of critical focus have been software as a service and server consolidation and virtualization—two trends that CIOs, a year earlier, had cited as important.
In 2007, a migration to service-oriented architectures and the introduction of lean-manufacturing principles to data center operations are cited as two areas that will be increasingly important.
One thing that I keep hearing from my teams and peers is ultimately 'its all about money (honey!!)'
Lets wait n watch for the next survey results...

'CEO is CEO and CIO is CIO, and never the twain shall meet

2007-03-01T13:34:00.000+05:30

"OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet" ~ when Rudyard Kipling recited his poem --wonder if ever forecasted the situation of a CEO and CIO. Numerous studies, treatises and management thought has been written and surveys conducted to ascertain the "who does" and "what to do" to make the business meet its goals (of IT ? or business?)
Forrester 's George Colony has given his take on the relationship of CIO and CEO in an interesting executive briefing "My View : The CEO and The CIO" Sure to generate a lot debate.
my take.. i like the coining of the term "technology knowledgeable business people (TKBPs)".

what to do when your office doesn't want you to see...

2007-02-28T11:10:00.000+05:30

A regular proxy server blocked message is splashed across the webpages or sites are blocked to save precious resources...and all you wanted to do was do company competitive intelligence work. And then you run around getting permissions is possible ... my security expert friend Dharmesh enlightened me on a trick one can do. "Using Google to View MySpace or Any Restricted Site ". check it out.

Scent of an information...

2007-02-28T09:51:00.000+05:30

Yesterday evening i was hearing a radio program which was talking about the famous movie Al Pacino movie "Scent of a women". As i sat there reminising the movie, a thought came to me about the work passion that i have for scenting out information. "Scent for an information"~~ i wondered if there was anything like this ever thought of.
Behold, yes, it is already in use. "Designing for the Scent of Information" is a proven concept that explains how people navigate large sites and how the design decisions you make can either improve the site or make it worse. Jared Spool and Christine Perfetti with David Brittan’s help, have put their knowledge into this exciting report, jam-packed with examples and helpful hints. "The "scent of information" is a working theory we use to explain how people navigate large information spaces. Users scour pages for strong scent, using those clues to help them know where to click. When scent is successful, the users find what they're looking for effortlessly. When the scent is poor, the users get lost and become frustrated" -- how true.
I personally was more inclined to understand the information gathering aspect of scent. How we sense the scent and then keep foraging further on its trail. Will have to smell a bit stronger to reach my goals...

2007-02-27T09:59:00.000+05:30

"Rich, vibrant and complex, India is an ever-growing international presence. The world’s largest democracy continues as the leading IT outsourcing destination..." that is CIO spelling out its trip to India. CIO has published a special report on The IT Manager's Essential Guide to India.

This report is a good primer as well as resource for those CIO's and companies who are wanting to take a competitive advantage in their internal operation.

Its a good tour guide that the CIO editors has compiled of their travel. One thing that i have never been though able to understand is the fascination for pictorial stories of the "India in Transition". An economy that is investing in upgrading its infrastructure, mixing the old and new, enhancing its progress through economic upliftment of a whole mass of people... hmm well it must be fascinating ...

Change... even the monolith has to...

2007-02-27T09:43:00.000+05:30

Today, there is an recruitment advt in the leading economic daily of india inviting applicants for senior positions in their business intelligence unit(BIU). This is probably the first time that i have seen a publication industry company clearly articulate the needs of a BIU and set forth a competitive unit to gain advantage.
Changing Times.

CI

2007-02-26T17:44:00.000+05:30

It was way back in the days of MBA (1988-90)college that i read Micheal Porter talk about competition, competition analysis and its relevance to businesses. Now more appropriately termed as Competition Intelligence or simply CI. It was one of the things that interested me and i have been fortunate to be able to imbibe myself in it.
When i was in sales it was tactical CI; then in pre-sales consulting it was strategic CI and so i have been alternating between the two.
Among the current set of professionals who are practicing CI and evangelising them is Arik Johnson. I met about 2 years back when i attended a program on CI by him and there is no looking back. Thanks Arik.
A good resource for those interested in CI is scip.org.

Return ...

2007-02-26T17:15:00.000+05:30

Its been a long wait .. wait that i had to overcome for myself. I have returned...

what is google upto.....

2005-07-23T16:04:00.000+05:30

Google has created for itself a 2 way relationship with its users and admirers - love~hate - no other words to describe it. To better understand the phenomenon of what is that google users do - i landed up at the doorsteps of google blog. Saw a german word out there on the right hand side of the page 'zietgeist' - rattled up my brain to brush out what ever i know about german language (having lived in Germany briefly - i believe know it all!). Well 'Zeit' is 'Time' but what about the rest... i enter the Zeit zone ... and am in a different time world.

Zeitgeist Pronunciation: 'tsIt-"gIst,'zIt
Function: noun Etymology: German, from Zeit (time) + Geist (spirit) Date:
1884 Meaning: the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an
eraBy permission from Merriam-Webster'sCollegiate®Dictionary.

The time of our time is a unique perspective of what we - as in we humans - are upto at this moment thinking, doing, wanting, aspiring, wishing, writing, loving, hating, feeling, sensing about around us and about us! Do i now have a better understanding of this love~hate relationship with google?

Amazon is 10!!

2005-07-22T12:07:00.000+05:30

That is good to hear and I thought a good time for me to pat my back and claim to fame for an important contribution I made [No proof - but dead sure about it:)] Amazon did not have a 'ship to multiple' capability - the help desk actaully wanted me to continue making purchases through a lengthy cycle of processing for all the gifts (same one) that i wanted to send out....
why did i not start a online bookstore of my own!!!sigh!!
here's the original email conversation - now history!

-----Original Message-----
From: feedback@amazon.com [mailto:feedback@amazon.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 1999 10:12 PM
To: Prakash Dogra/CS/SEEPZ
Subject: Your Amazon.com Inquiry

Dear Mr. Dogra,
Thanks for writing to us at Amazon.com!
I'm glad to hear you are interested in our new Auctions service. We're really excited about our newest venture, and I encourage you to visit this section when you get a chance.
In regards to your suggestion, at this time we have not added the capability for customers to have items sent to multiple addresses in a *single* order. If customers want to send items to multiple addresses, they still must place separate orders for each address.
Please know, your suggestion has been passed along to the appropriate department in our company and is being reviewed. Please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any further questions or comments, and thanks for shopping at Amazon.com!
Best regards,
Anthony Lopez
Amazon.com
Earth's Biggest Selection
http://www.amazon.com/

>X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.0.1460.8)
>Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 11:46:22 +0530
>Subject: RE: Amazon.com Auctions is now open
>To: Jeff Bezos
>From: Prakash Dogra/CS/SEEPZ
>Dear Jeff,
>It nice to hear from you about the Amazon.com Auctions. I am sure like Amazon this venture too will scale new heights. Wishing you and your team all the best.
>Second, in December'98 I had tried contacting you and written in an application feature that you should be provide in the book store. This was shipping to multiple addresses in one transaction. I haven't shopped for a
>while but am not sure if it has been implemented. I am enclosing herewith the correspondence I had on it. I look forward to hearing from you on this.
Regards,
>Prakash Dogra

Dear Prakash,
Greetings from Amazon.com!
Thank you for sending us the thoughtful suggestion to allow shipment to multiple addresses in a single order. I've passed it on to the appropriate department in our organization for consideration. We truly value this kind of feedback, as it helps us continue to improve our store and provide better service to our customers.
Feel free to contact us any time -- we will always be glad to hear your questions or comments. We hope to see you again at Amazon.com!
>
>Best regards,
> Richard Drawhorn
>Amazon.com
>Books, Music and More
>http://www.amazon.com/
>
> >X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.0.1460.8)
> >Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 12:55:46 +0530
> >Subject: message for Mr. Jeffrey P. Bezos
> >To: feedback@amazon.com
> >From: Prakash Dogra/CS/SEEPZ
This is an important message for Mr. Jeffrey P Bezos.
Dear Mr. Bezos,
I am surprised to find that Amazon does not offer a simple facility which we in normal parlance term as "ship to multiple addresses" of the same order. Let me try to explain in more detail : I want to send a particular book "ABCD EFGH" to 27 of my associates using Amazon's gifting facility. For this I been instructed by your team to enter my order 27 times !!! It takes about 4 -5 minutes to enter one order and I am supposed to take 27*5 = 135 minutes doing ordering ????
Simple systems of purchase have a facility to order one item and deliver it to multiple locations. Infact, my company has developed over 100 such systems and a ERP system which caters to this facility. I don't see a
reason why such a facility is not available at Amazon.com.
I am sure that incorporation of such a facility will increase your sales multifold. Do let me have your feedback and we shall be too willing to assist Amazon implement such a system.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.
Regards,
Prakash C Dogra

>*******************************
Thanks for writing to us at Amazon.com!
All of the items on an order must go to the same address, so you will need to place a separate order if you wish to have any items sent as a gift. To place a gift order, simply mark the appropriate gift option on Step 3 of the online order form.
For gift orders we will not include prices on the packing slip. You can include a personalized gift message in your order. These services are free of charge. We also offer gift wrapping, for which we charge $2.00 per order.
You can then specify the name and shipping address of the recipient on the shipping address page. If you are sending gifts to different people in the same household, you will want to place separate orders for each recipient, or else indicate in the gift message which item is intended for which recipient.
Please note that if you request shipment of an order to a new address(one you haven't used with us before with the credit card(s) we have on file for you) we ask you to reconfirm the credit card for your own security. This way, should some third party guess your password and attempt to order items for themselves on your account, the attempt would fail. We hope you'll understand that this is a valuable security precaution designed to protect our customers.

Feel free to write back if you have any further questions, and thanks for shopping at Amazon.com!

Best regards,
Kevin Tate
Amazon.com
Books, Music and More
http://www.amazon.com/

> >X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.0.1460.8)
> >Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 19:00:42 +0530
> >Subject: ship to multiple addresses
> >To: help@amazon.com
> >From: prakashd@meghdoot.mastek.com
> >This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.
> >------ =_NextPart_001_01BE2CE6.325D5912 Content-Type: text/plain
> >hi,
> >I would like to order a book and ship to multiple addresses -- about 25. How can I do this without having to select the book each time for one copy and address it to one addressee?
> >Regards,
> >Prakash C Dogra

broadband over power line (BPL) technology - a way to light....

2005-07-13T08:47:00.000+05:30

Broadband over power line is enabling electricity now becoming an omnipotent solution and enhancing its role in our lives. It all set to 'shock and roll' the internet access world. IBM is partnering with a Texas utility to deliver broadband over power line (BPL) technology in the Houston area, joining the small but growing number of companies rolling out high-speed Internet service using standard home and business wiring. http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=37212.
'Power me up!!'

"War of the Customers World"

2005-07-06T08:20:00.000+05:30

Wonder what 'War of worlds' directors would have done to the story had they seen the aliens as customers!!
I took this quiz at the CIO magazine (www.cio.com) which is prepared based on the book "Return on Customer: Creating Maximum Value from Your Scarcest Resource" by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers (www.amazon.com) to see some amazing insights. Log on to assess where your corporation stands. http://www.cio.com/survey/peppers.html. The important thing here is the emphasis and orientation that it can bring back to the team and help kick start a focused process for customer value maximization. Ofcourse , resulting in better returns!

Monday blues on tuesday...

2005-07-05T10:10:00.000+05:30

Taking a day off on monday - i thougth was a great idea. Have a long weekend, rest, enjoy, movies and all...well now that i am back at my work desk - the email and pending task list is bringing out the monday blues!
Right now exploring this new site : http://researchzilla.com/ Right now it is in beta stage - but i believe it will transform into a good resources over a period of time for people interested in research, competitive intelligence etc.
Wonder if there is a name for tuesday 'work blues'!

Deep Impact

2005-07-04T16:35:00.000+05:30

Deep Impact : From fiction to reality and from being the one who gets hit to a hitter! Finally the Comet is hit by the impactor in space. Check out http://www.nasa.gov for more details on the deep impact.
"A small impact for the comet; but a deep impact by mankind"

Antarjaal - just another name??

2005-07-04T16:04:00.000+05:30

Antarjaal - is the internet! The world with space and no limits. A place to share, shape, change, learn, ask, respond and many more things that cannot be encompassed in this very space.