HP's new enterprise strategy in India

This is one very good news for all those techies out there who are waiting to join HP........

New Delhi: Hewlett-Packard announced its new enterprise strategy and product portfolio and plans to strengthen its sales forcein India

Read More

Who is the world's worst accountant?

The problems at Enron have highlighted what can happen when an accountant goes off the rails. Indeed, the energy giant's former CFO Andrew Fastow was sentenced to ten years in a US jail for his sins.

But a brief trawl through the AccountancyAge.com archives reveals a surprising number of finance professionals, fake accountants and just plain fraudsters who have been tempted to fiddle the books.

Read More

Hindujas set up 1,000-seater BPO in Mysore

HINDUJA TMT, a leading IT and ITES player, has forayed into its first tier II location with a 1,000 seater BPO facility in Mysore and this is expected to grow into a 2,000 seater in the next two years. It is expected to make an investment of around Rs 20 crore in two years.

The Mysore centre will initially cater to the domestic market and later on to overseas clients once the operations are in full swing.

"The talent that is available here is at par with the talent base that we have pan India and hope that by moving here we will have better access to manpower which will also help in containing attrition rates," says Satya Sai Sylada, head of HR, HTMT. B N Narasimha Murthy, senior vice president, domestic markets and transition, HTMT said: "The opening of HTMT's Mysore Centre of Excellence signals the start of our expansion into tier II cities in the country.

Read More

US engg jobs continue to go to India

US engineering jobs are being "offshored" to countries like India and China, a trend that is "gaining momentum", says a study just out.

But it says that it is still "not clear" whether this would erode US competitiveness or provide long-term benefits to the West.

"What is clear is that there is insufficient independent research on this study," says the study by the Durham, NC-based Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering Research. The study is titled "Industry Trends in Engineering Offshoring".

Read More

1,000 trainees inducted into Gems SEZ institute

Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (Andhra Pradesh) today handed over one thousand appointment letters to on-job trainees (including 600 women) who had been selected to be trained at the newly opened Diamond Training Institute of the Hyderabad Gems SEZ, promoted by the Gitanjali Group.

Formally handing over the appointment orders to the trainees at Secretariat, the Chief Minister expressed happiness over creating jobs to local unemployed youth and congratulated the group of youth, which included a disabled person.

Read More

Delhi among top hubs for outsourcing

Indian cities led by Delhi’s national capital region (NCR) have grabbed the top seven slots in a global ranking of the competitiveness of cities as outsourcing destinations. Close on the heels of Delhi are Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai, according to a study released by US-based consulting firm neoIT.

The other three Indian cities at the top of the list are Pune, Chennai and Kolkata in that order. Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Manila (Philippines) and Shanghai (China) are the three non-Indian cities which figure among the top 10 offshoring destinations.

Read More

Hotel Industry Salaries To Move Up The Ladder

The salaries of hotel employees have increased by 20 pct-25 pct in the last one year. According to the latest report of HVS International, a hotel consulting firm, salaries at the managerial level have taken a quantum leap, anywhere between 60 pct-100 pct in the last three years and are expected to rise further. The shortage of manpower, especially of skilled manpower for the hotel industry, is one of the main reasons for the hike in salaries. According to the HR heads of various hotels in India, only 20 pct of fresh hotel management graduates choose to work in hotels, with a major chunk being employed by airlines and BPOs. With this kind of demand, salaries will further rise. As salaries are rising and the industry is facing manpower crunch, various solutions are being considered by industry heads.

Source: 30-10-06 The Economic Times New Delhi Edition

IBM second largest BPO employer in India

IBM has emerged as the 2nd largest BPO in India today. After acquiring e-Daksh in 2004 which had a headcount of 6000 employees at the time of aquisition has grown to 20, 000 employees. IBM-Daksh added over 10,000 staff in the last 12 months ( phew ! I wonder how they recruited).

But what would be quality of the services of these companies. At the same time, some of the problems that have dogged the sector could become bigger. For starters, quality, so essential for the tasks, could get diluted. As companies hire in large numbers, managing growth is going to be a key challenge.

Read More

TCS to invest $109M in new Pune facility

IT - Services industry is on the boom breaking all the barriers, more and more companies are investing in new facilities, Thus opening further more opportunities for jobseekers.

Recently TCS announced that they will be investing $109 Million in their New Pune facility. After the BPO Industry - IT Service companies like TCS, Wipro, Infy etc are eyeing the small towns in India to find talent for thier needs. As India Inc is growing at a faster pace they will further venture into more smaller towns, thus providing a golden opportunity for the youngsters in these towns.

So you ppl in small towns dont worry may be some of these companies are coming to your town soon .... keep your fingers crossed.

Do go through the article below. Comments appreciated.

===================================



MUMBAI: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India's top software services exporter, said on Saturday it plans a new software development center in Pune.

The company also said it plans to hire 9,000 people by March 2007 for its existing unit in Mumbai and the one in Pune.


Read More

AMD To Double Staff In India

Amd one of the leading microprocessor and graphics and media solutions company is planning to ramp up its engineering staff in India to 200, as it seeks to step up sales in the country.

Besides platform engineering and R&D, the firm is also strengthening its sales and marketing teams at its centre in Bangalore.

Amd also want to capitalize on the talent pool and the opportunites India can present as there is ample of talent for R&D activities in India. India is fast becoming a R& D hub for companies worldwide.

Read More

Jobs In India-infocus

This article gives you a quick snapshot of all the hotjobs coming up into the Indian job market in near future.......................

Read Here

Genpact to hire 3,600 in 2 months

HYDERABAD: Genpact is now looking at expanding delivery base to tier II cities. The company is planning to take its overall headcount to 45,000 by 2008, besides targeting revenues of $1-billion. Genpact is looking at recruiting about 3,600 people in the next two months in India to add to its current workforce of 19,000.

Read More

Source : Economic Times

3,75,000 network pros needed by '09

HYDERABAD: India is staring at a huge shortfall of 1,00,000 networking professionals, the plumbers of the Internet, by 2009. The demand for networking professionals, currently at 1,55,000, is expected to touch 3,75,000 by 2009, while the supply would remain at 2,75,000. The demand is growing at almost 26% year-on-year, according to a study by the International Data Corporation.

Read More


Source : Economic Times

Campus placements not an entry ticket to Infy anymore

BANGALORE: All is not well at Infosys Technologies’ Mysore Campus — touted as the world’s largest training services facility — where the company puts thousands of freshers through their paces before moving them to the workplace.

Infy freshers at Mysore are learning the hard way that campus placements do not necessarily guarantee a job after the IT major changed its training policy. Until recently, recruits had six options, including two vivas, to clear the training programme. Those who failed had to undergo training again.

Read More

Source : Economic Times

Hinduja TMT buys US BPO co AFFINA

Hinduja TMT has acquired a US-based BPO company, AFFINA, as part of its move to grow the BPO business and substantially expand the number of employees.

HTMT’s turnover will nearly double to about $130m due to the acquisition. Its total number of employees is expected to rise to about 9,000. Hinduja TMT decided in April this year to demerge its BPO business into a separate company and list it on the stock market.

Read More

Capgemini to double headcount in India

BANGALORE: France based IT services company, Capgemini plans to double its headcount in India to 10,000 by the end of next year and is looking at three more cities in the country......

For more info ..
Read here

Payscales In India - Ask what you are worth for !!

Are you being paid peanuts ??

Not aware how to negotiate your salary with your potential employer ??

Awaiting a hike ??

Difficult to predict what would be your next hike ....How to know what would be right pay package you can negotiate with your employer ...These are a few questions pop into your thoughts.This post is dedicated to all those brain stomers who are worried about their hikes / negotiating thier pay with their present / potential employers or just for people who are just figuring out what is their market value.

At times it's really a mess to think about what would be the right package .... Lot of my friends are in a dilema when it comes to the pay packet "What to ask for".... in the background we always keep figuring out "Am I expecting more" or " What I expect is less according to my skills".

According to a salary survey conducted by Payscale.com the projected figures are below :

Median Salary by Job - All People in All Surveys (India)

Currency: US Dollars (USD) Updated: 10/25/2006 Individuals reporting: 17,427

Median Salary by City - All People in All Surveys (India)

Currency: US Dollars (USD) Updated: 10/25/2006 Individuals reporting: 17,422

Median Salary by Years Experience - All People in All Surveys (India)

Currency: US Dollars (USD) Updated: 10/25/2006 Individuals reporting: 17,418

=======================================

For personalized salary projections visit www.payscale.com

Mobile handset firms see roaring business in India

More and more global mobile handset manufacturers, including Motorola, Haier and Sony Ericsson, are planning to set up manufacturing units in India to “be where the business is”.

Motorola, the world’s second largest mobile phone firm, is setting up its first manufacturing unit in India during the first quarter of 2007.

Read More

How to Evaluate a Job Offer

How to evaluate your Job Offer ? A tough call to make - for most of us. What are the minutes which need to be analysed before accepting a Job Offer.

You've spent the last few months answering help wanted ads, visiting recruiters, and networking. You've sent out your resumes and gone on a bunch of interviews. And now the moment you've been waiting for is here. It's your turn now. You have some job offers to consider. During those long days pounding the pavement, you didn't think making a decision would be this difficult. But this is serious business. The job you take now may be yours for a long time to come.

What's the most important thing to consider? Is it salary, health benefits, or vacation time? Or could it be the corporate culture or the length or your commute? What about your boss and co-workers -- will working with them be pleasant? As you can see there are a number of factors to take into account and only some are negotiable.

Read More

Fujitsu, Hitachi to outsource software development to India

Fujitsu Ltd, Hitachi Ltd and other Japanese technology companies plan to farm out software development to India in order to lower costs and cope with staffing shortages.......

A whole lot of new employement opportunities awaiting.........

Read here

When its time to GO -- !!!!

I was just cruising different blogs this morning and came across this interesting post "When its time to GO" by Mr. Ben Gothkin. He has penned down his views, why and what are the reasons for his job shift.

According to him its not his boss, his job, his compensation, etc which pushed him to look for a change. He's only leaving because he'd been presented with an opportunity to move up into a strategic leadership role, an opportunity that would not have happened with his current employer for at least a few more years.

Read More

Do you agree on the same ???

Unions protest BBC's plan to move jobs to India

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is moving its finance-based work from Britain to India.

In a statement, the corporation said it was outsourcing the work to Indian tech company Xansa in a contract worth around 85 million pounds over 10 years.

Read More

10 Powerful Career Strategies for Women

The general impression is that women are becoming incrementally more successful in the workforce -- and some of the news is good. Women are represented in the workforce in greater numbers than ever and holding a higher percentage of managerial and executive jobs than in the past. Women-owned businesses have doubled in the last dozen or so years.

Lack of pay equity and the ever-present glass ceiling continue to be obstacles to women's career success. But women have secret weapons, opportunities to deploy their special strengths, and the ability to adapt talents typically thought to be men's domain. If our 10 strategies seem to suggest male-bashing or a war between the sexes, that's not the intent. It's just about leveling the playing field in a work world that has been inequitable for women for far too long

Here are 10 strategies women should consider for advancing their careers:

Read More

Is Technical Writing a viable career option?

Ever thought about what goes into creating the user manuals or instruction brochures of your music system, mobile phones or even the car maintenance guides? Most of us just manage to glance through the item, leave alone going into the technical details.

Since such information is meant for the layman, simplifying the jargons associated with any particular product or process is the key function of technical writers. A bridge between technology and its users, technical writing is also the ‘science’ of designing, validating, and packaging the information created to meet a certain objective. The irony of the situation is that in spite of playing such a crucial role, not much work has been done to assess the number of technical writers in the country. The IT industry, which absorbs a major chunk of technical writers has also shied away from giving due credit to this work

In today’s customer-centric business model , the very process of acquiring and losing deals depends on the effectiveness of the technical writers. According to Priyadarshi Tripathi, consultant, HCL Infosystems, “Any organisation that is conscious about the information/messages catering to its customers, employees or business partners employs technical writers who are specialists. ” Pradeep Henry of Cognizant Technology Solutions adds, “ For a software services organisation, its user manuals and technical write-ups act as its public face and reflects its level of professionalism.”

Technical writing as a niche profession

Read more

Top Jobs for the future

How would you feel if the job you've been doing for most of your life just moved offshore without any warning?

What if you just spent several years getting an education for a job that was no longer in high demand?

How would you like to know the secrets to choosing a satisfying career that will also be in high demand?

By understanding the major trends that are affecting our lives, you will be able to play an active role in planning and directing your career. By understanding these trends you will have a better chance of seeing the big changes before they hit.
This look into the future will show you the careers that are expected to have high demand and some that aren't. But more importantly this article will show you the basics of "trend spotting" so that you can make your own intelligent career choices.

If you are not interested in "the how and the why" of looking into the future of careers and jobs, simply click here to jump to the list of "Top Jobs For The Future."

Premier IT event to focus on IP development

Bangalore: The eighth edition of India's premier IT event, BangaloreIT.in 2006, slated from Oct 28, will focus on intellectual property (IP) developments taking place in the country to create high-end products for global markets.

Among the foreign countries to be represented by their companies are Australia, Belgium, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, Singapore, Spain and the US.

Read Here

Organisation Behavior

Well friends i am not going to brief here anything on this topic...ya but would recommend you all to read the book by Fred Luthans-'Organisation Behavior'.

Its a must read book for all who are about to take the plunge and those who are already into the feildwork.

Some amazing case studies ,a good lot of relevant examples are illustrated and you can get a close look on how important every aspect of human behavior is and its impact on the organisation as a whole.

Corporate Policy Making,due you have any clue.......

Well, I am not really going to talk about corporate policy making techniques here. Just wanted to share with you a little piece of internet humor, that is going around as email forwards. Most of you probably have already read it, but no harm having a hearty laugh once again.

Put eight monkeys in a room. In the middle of the room is a ladder, leading to a bunch of bananas hanging from a hook on the ceiling.

Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, all the monkeys are sprayed with ice water, which makes them miserable. Soon enough, whenever a monkey attempts to climb the ladder, all of the other monkeys, not wanting to be sprayed with cold water, set upon him and beat him up.After a while, none of the eight monkeys ever wants, or attempts, to climb the ladder.

One of the original monkeys is then removed, and a new monkey is put in the room. Seeing the bananas and the ladder, he wonders why none of the other monkeys are doing the obvious; undaunted, he immediately begins to climb the ladder. All the other monkeys fall upon him and beat him silly. He has no idea why!(??) However, he no longer attempts to climb the ladder.

A second original monkey is removed and replaced. The newcomer again attempts to climb the ladder, but all the other monkeyshammer the hell out of him. This includes the previous new monkey, who, grateful that he’s not on the receiving end this time, participates in the beating because all the other monkeys are doing it. However, he hasno idea why he’s attacking the new monkey.

Kanbay opens new campus in Hyderabad

Kanbay International Inc, a US-based global leader in delivering end-to-end IT solutions, Wednesday opened its new software development campus in Hyderabad.Inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the campus with world-class infrastructure has come up on 15 acres of land in the IT park.

Kanbay India managing director Cyprian D'Souza said the company would also look at other potential locations for expanding its operations in India.

Read More

BODY LANGUAGE,makes all the difference

How to appear defensive

Avoid eye contact and looking away. Cross your arms and keep your hands clenched. Keep rubbing your nose or one eye or one ear. Lean as far as possible from the other person; cross your legs if seated and swivel your feet towards the door if standing. These tactics should get the other people on the defensive too and ensure failed communication.

How to appear anxious

Blink frequently and lick your lips. Try clearing your throat regularly too. Tug at one ear and put a hand over your mouth when speaking to make all conversation in distinct. Open and close your hands frequently. If you are sitting down, keep fidgeting in your chair and jig your legs up and down. Such behaviour should ensure a total atmosphere of nervous tension, which is bound to stifle any real communication.


How to appear aggressive

Stare at the other person, preferably over the top of your spectacles. If you don’t wear spectacles, try raising your eyebrows in exaggerated disbelief or amazement; or you could always wear an 'I've heard it all before' smile. Point your finger at the other person or thump the table. If that fails, grab the back of your neck and rub it while frowning. Stand while the other person remains seated and then stride around so they have to keep moving to keep you in sight. If you decide to sit, lean back in your chair, legs splayed and hands clasped behind your head. This approach should terrify even the strongest of individuals and ensure total communication failure.
Of course, if you would rather encourage communication and solve people problems, try the following three patterns of behaviour:

How to seem friendly and co-operative

The other person in the face without staring. Smile when you see them and nod your head as they talk. Keep your hands open, occasionally moving one hand to your face. Do not cross your arms. If you are sitting, keep your legs uncrossed and lean forward to show interest. If you are standing, move closer to the other person, but not so close as to be threatening.
The behaviour will ensure a relaxed and friendly response from your colleagues and give every chance for successful communication.

How to seem confident

Look into the other person’s eyes, thrusting your chin forward and avoiding blinking. Stand straight and at ease with your hands behind your back, or steeple your fingers; but at all times keep them away from your face. When you are seated, lean back with leg stretched out in front of you; at all times avoid sudden movements.
These tactics should ensure the other party is aware of your strength of resolve and confidence in the outcome of any negotiation.

How to seem thoughtful

When listening, tilt your head to one side and make small agreement noises without interrupting the flow. Stroke your chin, or pinch the bridge of your nose. Lean forward to speak and back to listen keeping your legs still.
This approach should ensure that you seem thoughtful and willing to listen to the other person’s point of view.

Indian Pros To Get Long-Term Visas

In what is turning out to be a major bonanza for Indian professionals, Mauritius is working on a long-term visa that will allow them to work there for years. There will be no limit on their stay in terms of duration. Mauritius plans to grant them all privileges except the right to vote. Indian professionals working in Mauritius would also be allowed to purchase property after putting in certain years of work, according to Mr Madan M Dulloo, the Mauritian government’s minister for foreign affairs and international trade. The visa liberalisation programme would be part of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) that is being negotiated between the two countries. The move would allow Indians to explore the opportunities available in the southern and eastern parts of Africa as Mauritius has strong economic relations with countries in the region. Besides, Indian companies setting up business in Mauritius will also enjoy the freedom to hire from India without restrictions. The move would be subject to reciprocal benefits for Mauritian professionals in India.

Source: The Economic Times New Delhi Edition

94,000 Heads Needed To Manage Hospitality

With hospitality industry set to add 53,000 new rooms across 40 properties over the next five years, the industry needs about 94,000 fresh heads to manage these new hotels. Apart from the major metros - Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore - the big demand for hospitality manpower is slated to come from tier II cities like Pune, Jaipur, Goa, Hyderabad and Cochin. Tech city Bangalore will add over 7,700 rooms over the next five years. This is slated to increase its stock of human resources in the hospitality sector from 3,300-level to over 17,000 in the next five years, a jump of over 400 pct The pink city of Jaipur which adds over 2,700 rooms over the next five years, will need to over 4,700 heads more to manage the extra inventory. According to Mr Saurabh Gupta, head, Hospitality Executive Search, HVS International , the hospitality industry will start feeling the impact of manpower shortage from 2008 onwards when bulk of additional supply starts flowing in. Over 40,000 new rooms are set to enter the market between 2008 and 2010.

Source: The Economic Times New Delhi Edition

Infosys - Hire And Fire

Buoyant market conditions and increasing demand for people will see Infosys Technologies adding a little more than 28,000 people during the current fiscal as against its projected number of 25,000. Meanwhile, for the first time perhaps, there is ‘involuntary attrition’, with Infosys firing people who don’t measure up performance wise. For the second quarter of the current fiscal, Infosys made a gross addition of 10,795 people, which is the highest for any quarter in its history, the company said during the announcement of its second-quarter results. For the quarter, it made a net addition of 7,741 and takes its total headcount to 66,150 as against 58,409 people in the first quarter. The distribution of its headcount was also spread across its different business units, while software services added 7,900 followed by its BPO operations at 2,628. The rest were among its various subsidiaries like Australia, China and consulting business. Mr TV Mohandas Pai, director, human resources, said they would be adding 9,500 people in the next two quarters of the current fiscal and has already made offers for 13,000 freshers for the coming fiscal. The fresh hirings will see bulk of them coming from Karnataka as Bangalore has already reached the saturation point, he said. However, in line with its increased hiring, the attrition rate of Infosys also showed a 1 pct increase from 11.9 pct in the first quarter to 12.9 pct in the second quarter.

Source: 12 Oct' 06 The Economic Times New Delhi Edition

Hot Sectors of the next decade in India

If 1990s was the decade of privatization of the Indian industry, this decade promises to be the one in which the private sector achieves its full potential, while new industries find a place in the top ten list. We have brought to you a list of happening industries, which promise to take centrestage on the Indian industrial scenario in the next decade - Writes Meha Khanduri

• BIOTECH
• IT ENABLED SERVICES
• MEDIA
• IT (Software)
• TOURISM
• PHARMACEUTICALS

Read More

Reversing the Brain Drain !!

For each foreign student eyeing internship options and job opportunities in the booming Information Technology (IT), Information Technology enabled Service (ITeS) and services sectors in India, there is today a swelling number of Indian professionals working abroad, who are keen on returning to their motherland. The widening canvas of lucrative career options to choose from is proving to be a major draw for the high-quality Indian expatriate manpower, writes Upasna Pandey.

Read More

Welcome back ... Do feel free to reach me for any more inputs. Would be glad to assist you.

How to sail through your first job !!

By Pallavi Jha

After all those grilling sessions and competitive academic trails, you have finally landed yourself that dream job. But you somehow find it completely different from what you had expected. Does this sound familiar? If it does, relax.

The trick is not to get bowled over, but to learn a few strategies that will take you through the little hurdles and help you retain the enthusiasm of the dream job.

Read More

Dont you think this would be the right strategy :-)

Leadership and Team building

Organisations are gradually realising the importance of effective, high performimng teams as the most essential ingrediants of organisational development and growth.One of the most effective methods of building teams is by letting them go through an experiential learning experience in outdoor environment.

Globalization has created intense competition. To survive in the market, it is extremely important for a company to have a motivated and efficient workforce..

We need team building, self empowerment, self confidence, creativity, communication skills, risk management, handling failure, business etiquettes and social graces, corporate dressing and deportment, body language, presentation skills, motivation and group discussions etc...

Read More

Why to have a Career Goal

Why to have a career goal? Does a career goal limit your future?

Many of us spend most of our working hours engaged in work. Yet over 75% or working population is not happy with their current job situation. Here comes the importance of having a Career Goal. A career goal helps you focus on what you want to do for a living. A career goal can be a specific job you want to do – such as doctor, teacher or engineer – or a career goal can be a particular field you want to work in, such as IT, Education etc.

Rather than limiting your future, a career goal may help you discover career opportunities that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. There are several job opportunities with ......

Read More

Developing a Career Plan

With all kinds of career possibilities available, how do you make a decision? Once you know what career path you want to follow, how do you get there?

Following are simple rules to follow - Develop a career plan. Think about what you want to do and find out more about the kind of training, education, and skills you will need to achieve your career goal.

Assess your skills and interests. Think hard about what you enjoy, what you are good at, what kind of personality you are, and the values you hold.

Research occupations. Find out more about the nature of the jobs that interest you, such as education requirement, salary, working conditions, future outlook, and anything else that can help you narrow your focus.

• Analyze and evaluate your skills and capabilities.
• Set career goals.
• Create a high profile resume.
• Grab information on Industry Trends and specific companies.
• Develop sophisticated networking capabilities.
• Develop winning interview skills.
• Prepare yourself for salary negotiations.
• Use marketing techniques to get a competitive edge.
• Use an approach that meets your needs.

Read More

Desi IT cos flock to South America

P P Thimmaya BANGALORE

LATIN America is now a favourite destination for a large number of Indian IT companies. It’s closeness to the US is driving these companies to set up delivery centres in the region. Even the cost differential is not much when compared to other centres.

A host of companies —TCS, Wipro, Mphasis BPO, 24/7 Customer and most recently ICICI OneSource — have set up their in Latin America.

Mr Siddharth A Pai, partner, TPI India, said that Latin America is an ideal location to offer services like remote infrastructure management and maintenance services.

TCS, for example has already got development centres in Brazil and Uruguay providing its services for ABN AMRO as well as its other clients in South America. According to Mr Sudip Nandy, chief strategy officer, Wipro, this region as a delivery centre would evolve over time. “It is a critical market not just for the export of services but also for the domestic market.”

Wipro got a foothold in Latin America through the acquisition of Portugal based company Enabler, which has a development centre in Brazil. There is also competition for Indian IT services from MNCs like IBM, Accenture in the region .Mr Sudin Apte, country head-India, Forrester Research, said that the multinational IT firms have been supporting their US clients from these locations for some time and believes that the Indian companies are catching up.

But the expansion would be more evolutionary as the Indian players will have to get used to the local language and culture. Mr Pai said that there would be operational issues as the Indian players will have to understand these local markets though the replication of IT global delivery centre is not very difficult. Mr Apte felt that as the brand identity of Indian companies is quite limited it would be difficult to attract talent.

Source : Economic Times

HR ALIGN:A Unique Product Linking People Strategy

Neterson Technologies Pvt. Limited the IT arm of the Neterwala Group* has embarked on an ambitious project of filling a much needed gap in the integration of workforce management with best in class HR practices. This business-critical HR suite is called HR Align®.Unlike other workforce management and HR products in the markets HRAlign® permits you to seamlessly align and unleash the hidden potential and latent talent of your human capital into achieving your company’s objectives. A lot of effort has gone in to make this software, process friendly by linking People, Strategy and Performance in an organized and efficient manner. It improves performance and accountability, by providing a matrix of critical tools, workflow and information that helps companies drive business results from your HR activities.

Any takers may contact the below and do visit their site for more info: http://www.netersontech.com/

manoj@netersontech.com

HR Align® has just been launched and we have received excellent feed back wherever we have demonstrated the product. We have received orders from several large to medium size companies. We believe this to be a benchmark product of the future a must for all IT & HR personnel in getting positive results from your workforce and managerial team in attaining your company’s goals.
Manoj...

BPOs

BPOs are the most happening sector in the Indian employement market today.A close look into the present senario and we can forcaste the future employement gaps and fills..............
Read here for more info:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articlelist/26865660.cms

Job aspirants cheer up, more hiring in Oct-Dec 2006 !!

BANGALORE: It’s a good news for those in the job market right now. All major sectors are expected to increase their hiring activities in October-December quarter, according to the TeamLease Employment Outlook Survey. The main recruitment drivers include retail, media, FMCG (all at 95 index points), IT (94 index points) and financial services (91 index points). The five sectors are expected to hire at a rate faster than the growth of their business.

Read More : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2154051.cms

Pay them, pamper them and add 20% to your bottomline

Companies which lay stress on human resource activities and provide their employees incentives such as pay hikes and flexitime may get several benefits, says a new study.

Such companies could enjoy a 10-20% improvement in employee retention, employee productivity, profitability and stock price, said the study that is to appear in the upcoming issue of the journal Personnel Psychology.

Read More : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1941547.cms

For countries like CHINA & INDIA where the cost advantage matters, what would be the diverse effects of this kind of a policy. Raise your comments ...

Satyam to add 4,000 staff in Asia Pacific

SINGAPORE: Satyam Computer Services is planning to expand its footprint in the Asia Pacific region with the addition of 4,000 employees this year.

A large part of the increase in headcount will be in China where the company is planning to set up a 3,000-seat development facility. The company is also close to clinching an acquisition in Japan in the IT services space.

Read more : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2062328.cms

Leadership styles-Management styles

There has always been a thin line between the basis of leadership and management.lets see what the 'big and successful' define both by their real life experiments.

Read here:
http://www.secretsofsuccess.com/leadership/

So how do YOU define both.........?

7 lakh IT jobs to be created in 2006

Indian Economy has seen a rapid growth in these couple of years, and we have seen up's and down's in the job markets as well. The Ma Foi Employment Survey has pegged the new number of jobs in ’06 at 10.3 lakh plus.

The IT and ITES sector will account for over 7,00,000 jobs ....

A detailed article has been published by Economic Times

Read : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2143003.cms

Any comments are welcome on this subject.

The essence of Leadership

The essence of Leadership, according to Mr Vivek Man Singh of Dell lies in the building trust and connecting with people



He says “A manager can tell his team what to do, but it is the leader who makes them want to do it.’



Read http://www.thesmarttechie.com/Leadership/StoryDetails.asp?stid=240&cat=Leadership

Hospitality sector may add 94,000 new recruits !!

WITH the hospitality industry set to add 53,000 new rooms across 40 properties over the next five years, around 94,000 fresh heads are required to manage these new hotels. Apart from the major metros, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, big demand for hospitality manpower is likely to come from tier II cities like Pune, Jaipur, Goa, Hyderabad, and Cochin.

As per latest research by hospitality consultancy HVS International, around 53% of the fresh room inventory is entering the luxury and first-class segment across ten key markets in the country. To manage the additional inventory, the hospitality industry will need to increase its current stock of hotel professionals by over three times from 45,000-level to over 1,38,300 over the next five years.

The Pune market will add over 4,600 rooms between 2005-06 and 2011-12, and the city will see 900% growth in hospitality manpower in the same period. Hyderabad will see its stock of hotel-related human resources grow by over 500% from current levels of around 2,500 to over 15,000 in the next five years.

The Nizam city will add over 7,400 rooms in that period, the bulk of which will be in five-star and five-star deluxe category. Tech city Bangalore will add over 7,700 rooms over the next five years, over 50% of which will be in luxury and first-class category. This is slated to increase its stock of human resources in the hospitality sector from 3,300-level to over 17,000 in the next five years, a jump of more than 400%

Another market that will register almost 300% growth in its hotel manpower stock is Cochin, growing from current figure of around 600 to beyond the 2400 mark by 2012. The port city will add over 1,000 rooms in that period, 60% of which will be in the mid-market and budget segments. Chennai will have over 11,400 hotel professionals by 2012, growing its current stock by 214%. The southern metro is set to add over 4,400 rooms over the next five years to its current inventory, with close to 60% in five-star and five-star deluxe categories.

The pink city of Jaipur, which adds over 2,700 rooms over the next five years, will need to hire over 4,700 heads to manage the extra inventory. Sun and sandy state of Goa will add another 2,600 rooms and an additional 4,500 heads in the next five years. Delhi and NCR will see its stock of hospitality-related pool grow by 155% to cross the 31,000 mark in the same period while in case of Mumbai, the figure would be touching the 30,000 mark from the current 13,000.

Delhi/NCR and Mumbai would see the biggest growth in room inventory over the next five years, adding between them over 20,000. The Eastern metro of Kolkata will see its pool of hospitality professionals grow to more than 6,700 from the current 2,300 level over the next five years, as it adds another 2,400 rooms to its inventory, the bulk of which will be in mid-market and budget segments.

According to Mr Saurabh Gupta, head of hospitality executive search, HVS International, the industry will start feeling the impact of manpower shortage from 2008 onwards when bulk of additional supply starts flowing in. Over 40,000 new rooms are set to enter the market between 2008 and 2010. The average employee-to-room ratio in India is 1.8, across all markets, with the only exception being three-star hotel category where the ratio drops to 1.5 per room. Incidentally, Indian hotels remain overstaffed by 20-25% compared to international standards, where the average is 1.6 person per room.

Top 10 geek business myths

Myth #1: A brilliant idea will make you rich.

Reality: A brilliant idea is neither necessary nor sufficient for a successful business, although all else being equal it can't hurt. Microsoft is probably the canonical example of a successful business, and it has never had a single brilliant idea in its entire history. (To the contrary, Microsoft has achieved success largely by seeking out and destroying other people's brilliant ideas.) Google was based on a couple of brilliant ideas (Page rank, text-only ads, massive parallel implementation on cheap hardware) but none of those ideas were original with Larry or Sergey. This is not to say that Larry, Sergey and Bill are not bright guys -- all three of them are sharper than I can ever hope to be. But the idea that any of them woke up one day with an inspiration and coasted the rest of the way to riches is a myth.

Myth #2: If you build it they will come.

There is a grain of truth to this myth. There have been examples of businesses that just built a product, cast it upon the ether(net), and achieved success. (Google is the canonical example.) But for every Google there are ten examples of companies that had killer products that didn't sell for one reason or another.

Myth #3: Someone will steal your idea if you don't protect it.

Reality: No one gives a damn about your idea until you actually succeed and by then it's too late. Even on the off chance that you do manage to stumble across someone who is as excited about your idea as you are, if they have any brains they will join you rather than try to beat you. (And if they don't have any brains then it doesn't matter what they do.)

Myth #4: What you think matters.

Reality: It matters not one whit that you and all your buddies think that your idea is the greatest thing since sliced pizza (unless, of course, your buddies are rich enough to be the customer base for your business). What matters is what your customers think. It is natural to assume that if you and your buddies think your idea is cool that millions of other people out there will think it's cool too, and sometimes it works out that way, but usually not. The reason is that if you are smart enough to have a brilliant idea then you (and most likely your buddies) are different from everyone else.

Myth #5: Financial models are bogus.

As with myth #2 there is a grain of truth here. As Carl Sagan was fond of saying, prophecy is a lost art. There is no way to know for sure how much money your business is going to make, or how much it will cost to get to market. The reason for doing financial models is to do a reality check and convince yourself that making a return on investment is even a plausible possibility. If you run the numbers and find out that in order to reach break-even you need a customer base that is ten times larger than the currently known market for your product then you should probably rethink things. As Dwight Eisenhower said: plans are useless, but planning is indispensible.

Myth #6: What you know matters more than who you know.

The truth is, who you know matters more than what you know. This is not to say that being smart and knowledgable is useless. Knowing "what" is often an effective means of getting introduced to the right "whos". But ultimately, the people you know and trust (and more importantly who trust you) matter more than the factual knowledge you may have at your immediate disposal. And there is a sound reason for this: business decisions are horrifically complicated. No one person can possibly amass all the knowledge and experience required to make a broad range of such decisions on their own, so effective business people delegate much of their decision-making to other people. And when they choose who to delegate to, their first pick is always people they know and trust.

Myth #7: A Ph.D. means something.

Reality: The only thing a Ph.D. means is that you're not a moron, and you're willing to put up with the bullshit it takes to slog your way through a Ph.D. program somewhere. Empirically, having a Ph.D. is negatively correlated with business success. This is because the reward structure in academia is almost the exact opposite of what it is in business. In academia, what your peers think matters. In business, it's what your customers think that matters, and your customers are (almost certainly) not your peers.

[UPDATE: this is not to say that getting a Ph.D. is useless. You can learn a lot of useful stuff by getting a Ph.D. But it's the knowledge and experience that you gain by going through the process that is potentially valuable (for business endeavors), not the degree itself.]

Myth #8: I need $5 million to start my business

Reality: Unless you're building hardware (in which case you should definitely rethink what you're doing) you most likely don't need any startup capital at all. Paul Graham has written extensively about this so I won't belabor it too much, except to say this: you don't need much startup capital, but what you do need is a willingness to work your buns off. You have to bring your brilliant idea to fruition yourself; no one else will do it for you, and no one will give you the money to hire someone to do it for you. The reason is very simple: if you don't believe in the commercial potential of your idea enough to give up your evenings and weekends to own a bigger chunk of it, why should anyone else believe in it enough to put their hard-earned money at risk?

Myth #9: The idea is the most important part of my business plan.

Reality: The idea is very nearly irrelevant. What matters is 1) who are your customers? 2) Why will they buy what you're selling? (Note that the reason for this could very well be something like, "Because I'm famous and I have a huge fan base and they will buy sacks of stale dog shit if it has my name on it." But in your case it will more likely be, "Because we have a great product that blows the competition out of the water.") 3) Who is on your team? and 4) What are the risks?

Myth #10: Having no competition is a good thing.

Reality: If you have no competition the most likely reason for that is that there's no money to be made. There are six billion people on this planet, and it's very unlikely that every last of them will have left a lucrative market niche completely unexploited.

Six Tips for Redirecting Highly Charged Conversations

Let us imagine a scene when we are a part of some tough and highly charged conversation.Whether we react, or slam the door or handle it tactfully ?

Here is a short but very meaningful article by Jamie S. Walters on the subject.

Hope you all will like it.


":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":

Almost everyone, at some point, has found him or herself in a conversation that takes an unfortunate adversarial turn. Whether one of the conversation participants is stressed and has "a short fuse," or begins to forcefully protect a belief that seems to have been threatened, the conversation takes on a heated, and decidedly uncomfortable and unproductive, tone. In facilitated meetings, different opinions and conflicting beliefs are more easily navigated, thanks to meeting ground rules and skillful facilitation. But what about your average workday conversations that have neither specific agendas nor third-party facilitators? When someone "goes off" into an attack or diatribe, it can seem frightening, embarrassing, and unpredictable.

In some cases, the aggressor is simply having a "short-fuse" moment, but in other cases he or she might be purposely trying to shut down conversation by using hostile -communication tactics such as attacking, name-calling, blaming, or using forceful body language, tone and wording. Being caught off-guard by a conversation that becomes super-heated often produces one of three outcomes: both parties react to the "hot buttons" and become agitated and confrontational (or just unskillful); or one party simply backs down and shuts up, which can lead to resentment and jeopardized relationships; or a hybrid of both. There are several tactics that can be pulled, as needed, from your "interpersonal-communication skills toolbox," so that a heated dialogue can be self-facilitated or cooled off to allow for a more productive, less harmful interaction. And remember: these tactics are for heated and conflict-prone conversations, not hostile situations which threaten bodily harm (in which cases, fleeing to safety is probably the best tactic!). For other heated conversations, though, the following tactics offer pathways to more productive dialogue:

1. Stay aware and centered


In some cases, the aggressor is simply having a "short-fuse" moment, but in other cases he or she might be purposely trying to shut down conversation by using hostile -communication tactics such as attacking, name-calling, blaming, or using forceful body language, tone and wording.

Being caught off-guard by a conversation that becomes super-heated often produces one of three outcomes: both parties react to the "hot buttons" and become agitated and confrontational (or just unskillful); or one party simply backs down and shuts up, which can lead to resentment and jeopardized relationships; or a hybrid of both.

There are several tactics that can be pulled, as needed, from your "interpersonal-communication skills toolbox," so that a heated dialogue can be self-facilitated or cooled off to allow for a more productive, less harmful interaction.
And remember: these tactics are for heated and conflict-prone conversations, not hostile situations which threaten bodily harm (in which cases, fleeing to safety is probably the best tactic!). For other heated conversations, though, the following tactics offer pathways to more productive dialogue:

2) Respond, don't react

Always a good interpersonal rule, choosing to respond rather than react is to remember that we can be conscious, civil, gracious, and calm in our communications even when someone else chooses quite differently. We might choose to say nothing at all for a moment, preferring instead to listen rather than to interrupt with a "yeah, but..." or other type of reaction. In responding, we choose to listen, to inquire, and to resist our own desire to defend a position, belief, or comment. We also release our need to be right, realizing that it is sometimes the only route to a more productive dialogue (or at least one that doesn't escalate into a screaming match).

3)Inquire and validate

Another potential interpersonal tactic in the face of someone's heated reaction is to inquire and validate the intentions, beliefs, concerns, etc. that are "behind" the heated words. For example, one inquiry might be, "It sounds like we've really hit on something that's very important to you. What's most important to you about this?" The person may or may not respond, but the inquiry breaks the escalation in the "conversational thermostat" and offers an opportunity for dialogue. A potential follow-up question, if needed, is, "What's most concerning to you about this?" Once the concerns or "prized positions" behind the defensive (or aggressive) conversation are revealed, you can validate the person's right to think, feel, or hold those concerns or priorities. And then you can reorient the conversation back to the primary intentions or priorities.

A primary challenge when someone seems to be bowling you over with a caustic reaction (or even a verbal/energetic attack) is to stay fully present and centered, so that you can make good choices regarding how to respond. Staying aware and centered is like an internal conversation, where we say to ourselves, "Gosh, this seems to be an overreaction, and I don't want to go there," and then plant our feet and take a breath and go into "deep listening" mode. The opposite of staying aware and centered? Letting the force of the other person's heated communication send us into "fight or flight," where we tend to shut down and flee, or shoot off an unskillful reaction that only fuels the fire.

4) State your intention

Once the pattern of verbal escalation has been broken (by inquiry and validation, for example), you can begin to reorient the conversation to either a relatively pleasant close (even if temporarily) or shift the focus to the more important priorities of the conversation. One way to reorient is to state your positive intention for the conversation or interaction, e.g. "My intention for the conversation isn't for us to end up in a screaming match, but to calmly and respectfully exchange ideas so that we can make a decision on this project." Stating your intention -- a positive one -- can also serve as one way to break the pattern of escalation to allow for a slight "cooling off."

5) Redirect or reschedule

If you're unable to redirect the conversation back to a more productive course, it may be best to state your intention for a positive, productive conversation and suggest that "this conversation seems to be getting too heated for us to do that, so maybe we should allow for some cooling off and revisit the issue later." It may well be that this tactic, too, acts as a pattern-breaker, or it might simply allow the postponing of the conversation.

6) State your appreciation for the interaction

Regardless which outcome occurs for any particular conversation, it's good form -- and skillful communication -- to express your gratitude and appreciation for the person's time, honesty, willingness to redirect, etc. Doing so allows an open door for continued dialogue.

TWEAKING THE NOSE OF FAILURE

Sometimes, life may hit you on the head with a brick. But there are those 'hard-headed' people, who are just brick-resistant. So, if you are happy in your skin and love what you do, nothing can stop you, believes Kunal Guha.

He dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months. He didn't have a dorm room, so he slept on the floor in friend's rooms and returned coke bottles to buy food. But he didn't give up and gave in to his fascination which led him to calligraphy classes which helped him later while he was designing the first Macintosh computer . Ten years of toiling , took the garage venture to become a $2 billion company with 4000 employees. Nothing could fall apart after that, right? Think again. He got fired from the company he started himself at the age of 30, because of divergent visions with the board.The man was none other than Steve Jobs. Getting fired from Apple was one of the biggest public failures for global business case books. But as Jobs believes, "Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. Five years after being fired from Apple , I started a company named NeXT and another company named Pixar. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance ." This story tells us that if you've found what you love to do, you shouldn't let any form of setback pull you down. You will find below similar stories of dreamers who've hopped all odds and yes, tweaked the nose of failure.

THE TEST OF GREY

Nirvik Singh, President South East Asia and Chairman, South Asia of Grey Worldwide, a strong believer of 'from failure comes success and strength' , remembers, "The year was 1997. Ravi Gupta (the founderchairman of the then Trikaya Grey) had just passed away. From a well-defined path of growth and grooming, I was suddenly thrown into the pilot's seat and asked to take charge of the agency. The overall economic mood in Asia was recessive, and the mood within was no better !

" I found myself... dealing with senior management scepticism within and clients questioning our capabilities, instead of charting a path of profitability for the agency when we were burdened with financial instabilities. Adding to all, the agency was also moving from a Trikaya to a Grey management, which brought about many cultural changes and reservations. I believe my best skills came to their fore... in the face of these adversities . I always thought I was here for my advertising capabilities . But in the face of pending failure, I discovered a leadership style in me that brought out not just the best in me when the need arose, but I was able to draw out a wealth of latent talent that existed in people around me. The one thing I learnt... was that however grim the situation, never show it to the people who are looking to you to lead them and especially those among them that you believe are going to be key and instrumental in helping you through the crisis .

NEVER SAY DIE

He braved two major blows- as two of his ventures had failed due to the negative labour environment . Yes, this is Mr. Never-Say-Die , Deepak Puri, Chairman and Managing Director, Moser Baer. I don't like the word failure... rather I use disappointment . I looked at the disappointments as hurdles, which have to be jumped and cleared. Also, it is a great help that you have a strong family support backing your decision; especially my wife has been very supportive during those tough times. There were a lot of learnings... from my previous disappointments . One of the key learnings was the importance of people, IR and HR in business. I am proud to say that in over 20 plus years of Moser Baer's history, we have never had any labour related issues. I think that one of the important facets of an entrepreneur is that he is always open to learning and not just learning from disappointments .

BRAVING SWEETS

He was full of energy and enthusiasm, having freshly graduated from SIBM. He had a burning desire to do something different. But being different doesn't always spell success. Yes! We are talking about our vada pav maverick - Dheeraj Gupta. His previous vision was to brand Indian sweets like kaju katri, rasgullas and gulab jamuns . His dream failed to gain market acceptance. But he bounced back with Jumbo King Vada Pav, with the knowledge that he has to score from the first ball itself. Branding Indian sweets... meant going against the grain. Mithai was always accepted fresh, while we were trying to brand it as a packaged product. Here, shelf life was a challenge since the packaging industry in India is so basic. The product had a very niche category and hence it would have taken at least 4-5 years to gain acceptance. And I couldn't wait that long to realise my efforts. So, I had to shut it. When you've just shut a business... you're trying not to start another. But I'm big fan of "Focus" which talks about how niche products can be scaled up. I took to reading autobiographies of how ventures like McDonalds and Walmart started off with a simple idea. If you're not exactly a Tata or an Ambani… …you have to have a product which has ready acceptance and then you provide a value-add as a differentiator in the market . And when I started Jumbo King, the product was already there in the market, we just gave a value for money offer with the size differentiator and some packaging modifications.

Source Economic Times : 26.09.2006

Does higher employee empowerment improve productivity?

I believe empowerment is a good thing as long as you don't empower just anyone for a particular position.

Some people are good at organizing and getting the job done, but they may not be effective at getting other employees motivated or in line with the company's goals.

Some people are excellent at employee retention because everyone they manage absolutely loves them. But is the work getting done? Or do they gain popularity through socializing? How many of the employees a company retains are actually working?

These are serious considerations for a company that wants to stay in business.

Eventually, the people who need to be empowered are the ones who have a gift for instilling a positive go-getting attitude in others, while maintaining an open door policy for those who need additional motivation and assistance in improving job skills so they can feel good about the quality of their work.

Managers who encourage new concepts and/or ideas in how the work gets done will be pleasantly surprised at the results.

I've worked for companies who only hire or promote people who "manage through intimidation".

Because of the fact that lesser jobs, requiring little or no experience, are easy to get employees are often treated like sheep.

Over time they start acting like sheep. Basically, they just shut down and do as they're told and hope that the next raise they get will cover the cost of living and the medical plans they chose.

They also lose hope of aspiring to the next level, too, and companies will lose alot of potentially good managers.

When that happens, you lose alot of the creativity that keeps a company strong. Eventually it will inhibit growth and the business will lose steam and credibility in its particular industry.



LINDA HALL
US