Obama in Cairo

I wanted to write about it the moment I started to hear him speak, but life has an irritating habit of getting in the way. What is normal after such intereference by life, is that I shelve the idea. But this particular event is just too important to be lightly tossed aside in my "expired" folder.

The fact that a US President would be visiting a "Muslim Majority" Country before Israel, was in itself a huge departure in recent practice. There was speculation as to where he would speak from. Options ranged from Al Azhar Mosque (which I personally think would have been an excellent, yet impractical location) to Sharm el Sheikh. He settled on Cairo University.

The whole city of Cairo virtually came to a standstill on June 4th. Rumors abounded of 10,000+ snipers, 20,000 troops coming in on their own helicopters from the US and other such fantastic numbers were bandied about.

Passes to the event were carefully distributed by the American Embassy from what I gathered, to ensure an appropriate balance of profiles. 15 students from each major university were invited.

The Government declared a holiday for all its offices. A lot of Universities postponed exams to cope with this extra holiday. A number of private companies too decided to give employees the day off, fearing that they may be stuck in one of the road clearance drives. People who had parked their cars in certain areas along the route, were told to remove them the day before the President was due to arrive. (Now if we can only get similar celebrities to visit different parts of Cairo each day, we may be able to get those broken down heaps that masquerade as cars, that take up precious parking space to get towed away - How's that as a long term solution to Cairo's parking woes?)

But I digress. Coming back to the speech.

It was absolutely brilliant. There was no fault that an unvested interest could find in that speech except perhaps for him mis-pronouncing hijab and Al Azhar. But given the content and message, those are errors that can be easily overlooked.

The greatest strength of his speech was that he identified with his audience on a personal level. Compared to his predecessor whose speech writers made assume a superior and supercillious tone, Obama came across as "one of us". He drew attention to his Indonesian and Chicago life experiences amongst muslim communities.

He gave them praise where it was due, for their innovations in printing, algebra, architecture and then came to his main point. That he would fight negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they may appear. A statement that was greeted with loud applause, that almost died down with his following sentence "But the same principle should apply to Muslim stereotypes of America" This did not seem to be what the crowd wanted to hear. Until then, Obama had seemed to be a cheerleader for the Muslim world, but this statement showed that he wasn't going to unilaterally support the Muslim world. There was going to have to be some give and take.

Once the audience reconciled themselves to this idea, things improved again.

I will not get into the rest of the content of his speech, as it has been discussed ad nauseum on multiple fora.

It was a wonderful bit of speech writing to include references from the Torah, the Bible and the Quran. When he said "Jerusalem - is a place for all the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully", I had goosebumps and I know many Americans who have made Egypt their home, who were moved to tears by this sentence.

His body language was firm yet conveyed his openness to change. He came across as determined while engaging the public through eye contact and clear speech. Again, notable when compared with the last guy to hold his post.

He changed the terminology from the aggressive posturing of the previous government to one based on mutual understanding and dialogue. Instead of general nonsensical terms like "War on terror", he firmly stated that "America is not at War with Islam"

Another firm departure from previous policy was when he clearly stated "America does not presume to know what is best for everyone" If he can follow through on this and not have American Foreign policy and their idea of Democracy being stuffed down the throats of unwilling citizens of countries that aren't ready for the American idea of Democracy, it will go a long way in building bridges that had seemed burned and irrepairable a year ago.

The speech was transmitted live on Facebook and was texted as sms in English, Arabic, Farsi and Urdu. Thus upholding his campaign strategies of involving the younger generations by utilising media more familiar and accessible to them. It has also been uploaded onto Youtube.


The reaction to his speech by most locals that I know, has been "Let's wait and watch" "We want to see actions, not words" This guy is talking about change in policy, so maybe we can stop suspcecting the littlest sneeze. But to start trusting the Americans, we need to see concrete proof. We need to see steps being taken in the right direction. Words will not be enough.

It is undeniable that the US has a large role to play in World Politics. We can only hope and pray that instead of mindless wars and Nuclear arms races, we can at least have dialogue and hope for a future of peace.

In Obama's Words "All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort – a sustained effort – to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings"

Also Published on desicritics.org

FlyDubai, Dubai's First Low Cost Carrier Starts Operations

Flydubai, Dubai’s first low-cost airline began its commercial operations on June 1st.

The inaugural flight took off from Dubai International’s Terminal 2 at 10:30 bound for Beirut.

FlyDubai is currently flying to Beirut and Amman. They will start flights to Damascus and Alexandria next week and plan to expand rapidly to countries in the Middle East, GCC and India. The evenutal plan as stated on their website is to extend to Iran, Eastern Europe and North & East Africa.

Fares are really low. For eg there is currently a flight from Alexandria to Dubai for 825(LE) Egyptian pounds. When I checked a week ago. A return flight between Cairo and Dubai was roughly costing about 3000LE on Emirates airlines and 2100LE on Egypt Air.

How does flydubai keep its fares low?
1. The tickets are one way tickets for one person, priced on a system based on availability, demand, time of day etc etc. Quoted prices include all applicable taxes. Prices will be quoted in the currency of the country of departure of the flight
2. You pay to change: If for some reason, you need to change your flight, you pay 100dhs per ticket plus the price difference from your original ticket if upwards and get a voucher refunded to you if the price moves downwards. You do have to pay the 100dhs charge per ticket, no matter what the scenario. (There are "free to change" tickets too, but these are normally priced higher than "pay to change")
3. Changes or cancellations can only be carried out 24 hours prior to the flight. Any later than that, you lose the whole amount.
4. Children above the age of 2, pay full fare.
5. If traveling with a child below the age of 2, there is a service charge of 50dhs plus taxes.
6. Fares are lower if you book from the website. A service charge is levied if you book via their dedicated call center (35dhs) or through an agent.
7. The quoted fare allows you upto 10kilos of hand baggage. You have to pay higher for more luggage. If you pre book your extra luggage on the website, it will be cheaper than just arriving at the airport and then paying for the luggage.
For eg: Your 1st piece of checked in baggage (upto 32 kilos) if pre booked online will cost 40dhs, but if you do it at the airport, it will cost you 150 dhs. The 2nd piece will cost 100 and 150 respectively.
8. If you want to select your seat, you pay 5dhs.
9. If you want a seat with extra legroom, it is 50 dhs.
10. A boarding pass is issued as soon as you book your ticket.

In these times of Recession, this airline could really take off, if they find a large enough market segment.

As I see it, business and holiday travelers without much luggage could find this airline cheaper than its competitors.

For those people I have often seen in the Dubai airport ahead of me, trying to check in 5-7 suitcases each on Egypt Air flights back to Cairo while trying to semi-conceal another 4-6 pieces of hand luggage, this would not be an economical choice.

Nor would it work for people who travel to Dubai with the primary purpose of shopping. I have seen so many piles of new clothes and childrens toys unceremoniously dumped in heaps at Dubai's airport, because paying the excess baggage fee on Emirates airlines does not make those clothes and toys worth it. People seem to find it cheaper to just dump the stuff (some with tags not yet removed) than pay the excess baggae fee. These people aren't going to be travely FlyDubai any time soon.

This will work for people who just carry their laptop and a change of clothes or two. Its also just 40dhs more for 1 piece of checked in baggae provided you book it online at the time of booking your ticket. So this option will work for a weeks long travel.

I wonder if the airline allows toiletries in hand luggage with the above restrictions that they have placed. If they dont, it would be cheaper to buy and discard toiletries on arrival than pay 100dhs to check it in.

They must have researched their pricing before coming out with this strategy. It will be interesting to see how full their flights go. There is a large market, given that it is still impossible to get a ticket on a Thursday evening Emirates flight from Dubai to Cairo, if you haven't booked well in advance.

You can book tickets directly on their site:
http://flydubai.com/


Also Published on desicritics.org

Oasis - Portable Career

Text of this article, can be read here.

Oasis - Are you financially Confident?

This article appeared in the Oasis Magazine for the month of October:





Text of the Article:

Are you Financially Confident?

Money is an important criterion that one considers even before moving to a new country. Is the move finically viable? Will we be able to make ends meet? Will we be able to enjoy the same or a better lifestyle if we move? These are some of the questions that one considers before moving.

Making a budget when moving to a new country, is as important as having a budget when back home. If you really want to start right from Day 1, then have a simple budget for the first month. What is the total income going to be for the month? How much of this do we want to save? How much of this are we saving for something specific - like a trip to Hurghada at the end of the month? How much of our income can we spend?

In the first month, the outflow will be higher. There will be some beautification to be done of the house. Little knick knacks, paintings on the wall, a piece of furniture you know will be perfect in your foyer. Perhaps your landlord refused to replace the shabby curtains and you just can’t bear to look at them, so you have to buy new drapes yourself. The kitchen will need to be stocked with basic spices and condiments from scratch.

If your sponsor company provides a relocation reimbursement, then it would be wise to check what will or will not be reimbursable. If they provide a flat sum, then that makes life a lot easier.

By the second month, you will have a better idea of the Cost of Living and your basic expenses. Make a note of all the monthly essentials. Rent, salaries for the household help, cell phone bills, electricity, club fees, insurance premiums (here and at home) all the recurring expenses that are almost fixed. This could even include your gym membership or art classes that you feel are essential for your child. Include all the expenses for things that you just can’t do without (except groceries and eating out.) The sum of this is your fixed expense for the month.

Now set aside a budget for groceries, eating out and entertainment. Allocate a certain amount for this monthly and try to stick to the budget. If you spent money on imported exotic vegetables that were out of season, then compensate by ordering one dessert less when eating out or rent a DVD instead of going to the theatre. Although the amount itself is fixed, you have the discretion on how you want to spend it.

The rest of the money is your savings. What you are saving for is something you need to decide. Is it very long term like college education for your children or down payment on a house when you return to your home country? Is it long term like an annual foreign holiday/summer break? Is it something shorter term, like an expensive gold necklace, an Egyptian carpet or a piece of Mashrabiya furniture?

Once you have decided what you want to spend your savings on, now you can take a decision on how to save that money. If your savings are short term (but longer than a month) and you intend to spend the money in Egypt, then check with your local bank what rates they offer for Fixed deposits. The interest rate is normally higher than what it would be for Savings Accounts. The Egyptian stock market is quite volatile and meant only for the serious risk takers.

If your savings are long term and meant to be spent back in your home country, then it may make sense to send the money home via wire transfer. The best rates for this can normally be got by having a bank account with the same bank in Egypt and in your home country. This will help save a lot on transfer fees.

Do note, that unless your account in Egypt and in your home country is in the same currency, you will lose a small amount in currency conversion. Check around with the banks to see who gives you the best rates of conversion and interest both here and at home. Try and transfer money whenever your home currency is at a strong rate. With the dollar fluctuation, it is quite easy to increase your savings, just by following the currency exchange rates daily. It barely takes 10 seconds on the internet.

With inflation rising at a higher rate than interest rates on Savings accounts, you are better off investing your long term savings in options like mutual funds, stocks, shares and bonds. Blindly investing in these markets is not advisable at all. Try and check on past performance. The markets across the world have being going through a downturn, so do go back at least a year to check on performance.

If you invest in SIPs (Systematic Investment Plans) of mutual funds, it will help you balance out the irregularities of the market. How this works is that every month on a pre-assigned date, a fixed amount is deducted from your account towards a particular mutual fund. Mutual funds and SIPs are advisable if you are looking at holding the investment for at least 3 years. The risk is minimized if you consider this time horizon.

Try and ensure that you activate the Online banking options on all your accounts and credit cards. This is a huge time saver if you regularly move across geographic locations.

Each country has different Tax Regulations. Ensure that you follow the regulations of your home and host country regarding filing of returns and paying of taxes. You do not need anything catching up with you at a later date.

These are just general guidelines to help you stay in control of your finances. Each country also has different laws for non-residents, pertaining to investments. Educate yourself about them and try to adhere to the rules and regulations of your home country.

Karishma Pais (Kim) is an expat trailing wife in Cairo. She has a Masters Degree in Human Resources and Behavior. She consults on HR projects, delivers intercultural training at the CSA, counsels new and experienced expats, writes for several magazines – online and offline, she runs whazzupcairo@yahoogroups.com and whazzupcairo@googlegroups.com among other activities. Her Social Commentary and blog about life in Egypt can be read at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

M T R Foods Sold for $100 Million

MTR Foods has taken a Scandinavian turn. It's not US spice king McCormick that will buy MTR Foods as speculated earlier, but the Norwegian foods-to-metals group Orkla.

Shock/dismay/sadness/happiness.... a series of feelings ran through me when I read these headlines in Finance Asia & the Times of India.

Shock since I did not have any idea that MTR was up for sale, being in this faraway land. Dismay & sadness that a Scandinavian Company has taken over at the helm of MTR. What do Scandinavians know about Kannadiga cuisine? Happiness that MTR as a brand was worth 450crore, three times its current turnover. But mostly I feel sad. What Orkla will do with the brand & the product compositions remains to be seen. But things can never be the same.

Why am I writing on business news which I normally just read & never write about ? Because I have a deep personal connection with MTR. To me, MTR is like the khansama from an ancestral kitchen who keeps giving me treats, tips and tricks to turn out better food in my own kitchen.

My love affair with MTR began when I moved to Bangalore in 1999 & was introduced to the Mavalli Tiffin Rooms in Lalbagh. The institution is over 80 years old and produces some of the best, most authentic South Indian Vegetarian cuisine ever. There is always a long line of people waiting to get in. Right from 6:30 in the morning when it opens. Fluffly idlis, crisp dosas, the rava idlis that they popularized. Words cannot do justice to their piping hot sambhars and other yummy food.

Three floors were not enough to house their customers, and they later branched out into a fast food principle based "Namma MTR" in Bangalore & Dubai to keep up with the demand.

MTR pickles found pride of place in my kitchen right next to the pickles that my mother and grandmother sent me. MTR spice powders and masala mixes were the number 1 choice if I did not have the time to make my own.

When I left for the US, half my luggage was MTR instant Bisibele Baath mix on request from several colleagues who were missing the "taste of home".

By the time I returned they had vastly increased their range and had also introduced the "Ready to Eat" line. Heat and eat, even simpler than the "Instant Mix" and much less oily than a lot of other brands prevalent in the Indian market.

When we moved to Cairo, a large part of our shipment consisted of MTR instant mixes - rava idli, dosa, upma, gulab jamun among others. From Soups to Ready mixes, to Papads to Chips to Ice Cream mixes to Pickles to Ready to eat and Frozen Foods - MTR prepares and sells them all to their hungry customer base.

Their forays into North Indian food and Malayali food can be forgiven since they seemed to manage a pretty admirable job with those items too.

The restaurant and the packaged food business were separate entities. As of now there isn't much clarity on whether the restaurants will also belong to Orkla.

I hope Orkla does not tamper with the product compositions because they have been perfected with a lot of care. I pray they do not destroy the brand completely like other MNC's have tried to do with Indian Acquisitions. And I wish they will start exporting to Egypt.

Published on desicritics.org

Al Jazeera English: Is the News Good or Bad?

"The latest weapon in the Middle East is neither a missile nor a bomb. It is a Television Station."

I read this the other day in an editorial in Business Monthly, a journal brought out by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.

The editor who was talking about Al Jazeera English going live goes on to say that by all reckoning, the slickly produced news broadcast is more powerful than the 170,000 coalition forces in Iraq with the potential to destroy administrations and topple governments.

Al Jazeera English was launched on 15th November 2006 as the first global English language news and current affairs channel headquartered in the Middle East. The channel is already available all over the world and free to air in most of them (perhaps in all of them) They claim to reach over 80 million cable and satellite households worldwide. It is also potentially available to the one billion users of the Internet worldwide as a live stream.

Headquartered in Doha, Al Jazeera aired its first exclusive on the 20th of November - news footage of Naypidaw in Myanmar - formerly Burma - and a high level interview with the Minister of Information, Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan.

Al Jazeera English was granted exclusive access to Naypidaw - a first for a foreign broadcaster. The interview ranged from Aung San Suu Kyi's detention, the roadmap to democracy, the move to Naypidaw, insurgencies around the country, and the effect of sanctions and the lack of aid to Myanmar's people.

Al Jazeera English's SOP states,

Broadcasting from within the Middle East, looking outwards, Al Jazeera English will set the news agenda and act as a bridge between cultures. With unique access as the channel of reference for Middle East events, and broadcast centres strategically placed around the world in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC, Al Jazeera English will balance the information flow from South to North, providing accurate, impartial and objective news for a global audience from a grass roots level, giving voice to different perspectives from under-reported regions around the world.

Al Jazeera English is building on the ground-breaking heritage of its sister Arab-language channel - Al Jazeera, which was responsible for changing the face of news within the Middle East, now extending that fresh perspective from regional to global.

Viewers of "Western" News Channels will find the formats abd imagery quite similar. They even have the familiar faces of David Frost (ex BBC) and Riz Khan (ex CNN Correspondent).

Reactions to Al Jazeera English here in Egypt have been mostly positive, considering that a lot of the population here has friends, relatives or acquaintances among the nameless and faceless people who are simply collateral damage to the American War on Terror. These people who are dying on "the other side" are simply statistics and numbers to the "Western" media. Forever to remain unnamed.

Hence Al Jazeera's tag line of "Watch the Other Side of World Events, Hear the Other Side of the Story" has found its mark. Their other affirmations like "We want to change the News Agenda - It's a Fundamental Goal," "Do the Right Thing for the Right Reason," all have found their mark at least among the English speaking population of MENA.

They don't seem to be heavily slanted in their perspective as of now. Someone mentioned that it's somewhere between the spectrum of FOX News and Hezbollah's Al Manar Channel and will slowly find its gradient on this scale of extremes.

The editor of Business Monthly summed it up brilliantly when he said,

Western Governments will need to carefully consider their political strategy - the World has a New Perspective and it comes from the people on the receiving end of their Foreign Policy.

Published on desicritics.org

Is India Turning Litigious Like The USA ?

The Telegraph Reports :
Foul cry over XLRI entry route

Jharkhand Education Tribunal (JET) today served a showcause notice on the XLRI School of Management, Jamshedpur, over alleged irregularities in the admission process.

The chairperson of the tribunal, Justice (retired) L.P.N. Shahdeo, today gave 15 days to the premier management institute to respond to the petition filed by a resident of Noida, Raj Gandhi, whose son had appeared for XAT this January.

In her complaint, Raj claimed that despite qualifying in the written exams, her son, Samrat, was not given admission to the institute.

Accusing the director of the institute and chairperson of the admissions committee of handling the admission process arbitrarily, she claimed that her son had secured 96.3 per cent marks in the written exam conducted in Jamshedpur and should have qualified even if he failed in the interview.

Samrat did not make it after he could not crack the interview round, a reason that has not satisfied his mother who blames his exit on the rampant irregularity in the admission process.

Expressing shock, XLRI sources said the student had approached the institute after not finding his name on the list of successful students and was conveyed the reason for his rejection. "Usually the ratio of the number of candidates called for interview and the number of seats is 5:1. So obviously there is a great chance that a good written score might not see the candidate in," sources said, adding that this was the first time such a charge was brought against the 57-year institute.

"His parents had come to me with a request for admission. But, we could not admit him as he did not qualify the interview. The All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) rules say the candidate must qualify both. We cannot ignore the guidelines," said XLRI director Father N. Casimir Raj.

He said the institute was yet to receive the showcause notice issued by the JET, which has said it will admit the case only after hearing out both sides.

Fortunately the JET has said it will admit the case only after hearing both sides.

Is India going the US way? Frivolous law suits are popping up all over the place.

Christian organisations secured a temporary stay on"The Da Vinci Code" a work of fiction because they feel people might believe it to be true.

Why are we so insecure in our own lives? What are we trying to prove? What are we trying to hide?

Lets look at the Mother of Samrat Gandhi: Mrs. Raj Gandhi.
She feels that just because her son has secured 96.3% in the XAT common entrance, he should automatically be given a seat at the institute. She says the selection process is arbitary.

In fact XLRI is one of the few management institutes in India which has done away with the GD process for selection, because they felt that the GD was arbitrary. A lot of potential students attend GD development classes & simply try to drown out the other participants voices. The ones who have good points to contribute but are too polite to shut down the others don't get a chance to speak.

Now lets look at the interview as a selection process. Specifically the XL interview process : There is a panel of 3 professors from the college. These professors have taught generations of students and are skilled in human behavior (at least one is normally from the OB stream) They are a 100 times better & more skilled at finding the right student than the triplet judges on a host of reality shows.

Just because someone has great marks it doesn't make them a great person or a great manager. (fyi: there are potentials who secure 99% too) In India the education system at the school level seems to focus only on marks and not the all round development of the child. Mrs Raj expects the same to hold at post graduation level too.

To be a great manager, you need some amount of intellect, some amount of empathy, some amount of maturity, some amount of logical reasoning and a few other things besides.

I think that : if Mr Samrat takes after the mother, quite a few of these qualities would be missing.

Unable to handle rejection, she has gone running to the courts, much like an American citizen who sues the city muncipality if he falls down on the street. That he might have been drunk is besides the point.

Mrs. Raj Gandhi needs to examine her own son & realistically consider his plus & minus points before rushing to the courts. Otherwise this may set off a slew of law suits against educational institutions & corporates too by candidates who interview with them (thinking themselves to be the cat's whiskers) and don't get selected.

Published on desicritics.org

2003 IIMC Alumnus, Vinayak Lohani, Shows The Way

I recently became aware of efforts of Vinayak Lohani, an IIMC Alumnus (2001 -03) who opted out of placements and started a home for abandoned children in Calcutta : Parivaar

The Director IIM Calcutta Prof. Sekhar Choudhary in his 15-20 minute speech at the Annual Convocation on 1st April, 2006 spoke for at least 4-5 minutes on Parivaar. (excerpt of the Parivaar portion from his speech is reproduced below)

I am very happy to inform you that besides the Initiative for Community Action (INCA) which I just mentioned there is another very important social sector initiative taken by one of our recent graduates. 'Parivaar', a social service organization, was started by Shri Vinayak Lohani, an IIT Kharagpur and IIM Calcutta alumnus of the 2001-03 batch.

Shri Lohani did not seek final placement through the Institute's Career Development and Placement office. Inspired by the spiritual and humanistic ideals of Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda, he decided to devote his life to the upliftment of homeless children. It started with just 3 children in a small rented building with almost no financial resources, and today
there are currently 162 children who have found a new Home, Family and Future at Parivaar.

Parivaar Ashram at Bakhrahat, about 30 km from Kolkata in 24 Parganas (South) district, is spread over 2 acres of land. Currently Parivaar runs two (2) Bal Ashrams. A facility with a capacity of 400 hundred children is now under construction.

The children admitted into Parivaar Ashram can be broadly classified as homeless and family less and are from categories like orphans, abandoned children, street and pavement children, railway platform children, children from red light areas and other such highly vulnerable children. The children are admitted at a very young age (generally 3 to 8 years) and have no exposure to any kind of education. It is a great challenge to train them initially to enable them to get admission into a class that corresponds to his/her age in a quality formal education school. To achieve this the child admitted in Parivaar undergoes an in-house Rapid Learning Course for a period of one year. The admission into quality formal schools is not easy as the children have to go through rigorous competitive entrance examinations conducted by various schools. Thus the child has to compete on his/her merit.

Since the category of children Parivaar works with needs total rehabilitation, which includes meeting all living costs like food, clothing, education, recreation, etc., the average cost per child is very high compared to education and other day-care initiatives.

Parivaar works with the idea of providing support to each child with a minimum commitment of 12 to 15 years, right from his/her kindergarten stage till he/she grows up and makes good in life. Parivaar has been successful in this by attracting funds through financial contributions from individuals. A point to note is that 300 IIM alumni have enrolled as regular Parivaar donors and more than 200 IIM Calcutta alumni have donated to Parivaar.

For one who is so well qualified, having graduated from two of the most acclaimed institutions in the country getting jobs in top MNCs would have been a cake walk. However, Vinayak chose a life of sacrifice for a larger cause. For one so young such sacrifice is even more poignant. A visit to the Parivaar Ashram where the hitherto uncared for children are laughing, playing and living happily in gay abandon is a most humbling experience. The Institute community is extremely proud of the achievements of our alumnus Shri Vinayak Lohani.

A lot of us graduate hoping to be able to do something for Society somewhere down the line. Some of us feel the call a few years into a job. But it takes a lot of courage, to actually give up a well paying career & plunge whole heartedly into a social cause. Vinayak Lohani is one of these courageous people.

His attempt to start something to help these children at the Grassroot level is something that our Politicians can learn from. Improve basic standards of education & then there will be no necessity for "Reservations"

Parivaar is more than just a day care centre, it covers all living costs like food, clothing, education, recreation etc. Because of this, the cost of maintenance for each child at Parivaar may seem a little high when compared to other Social Organisations. But, rest assured that the money is well utilised with a minimum commitment of 10-12 years with each child.

Parivaar is registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act XXVI of 1961 and donations made to Parivaar, fall under Income Tax exemptions under Section 80(G) of the Income Tax Act

The costs per child at Parivaar vary as per the child's age but are around Rs 15,000 annually. However, in the Support A Child Scheme (SAC) they have kept the common contribution at Rs 12,300.

If you contribute to Parivaar, each rupee goes into the programs. This is not a case via a plethora of agencies interfacing between the end donor and grassroots that have a fundraising cost upto 40% of the total funds raised.

For more details on how you can contribute to a child's development at
Parivaar, visit Parivaar's web site

Posted on desicritics.org

Socializing : A Career Development Strategy

On hrfolks.com

© Rajat Sinha
© Shirish Wadivakar
© Karishma Pais
© Supreet Singh

Introduction :

Organizational Socialisation is the process by which a new member learns and adapts to the value of system, the norms, and the required behavior pattern of an organisation, society or a group.

Socialisation is the process of "learning of ropes", the process of being indoctrinated and trained, the process of being taught what is important in an organisation or some unit thereof. It occurs in school. It occurs again and perhaps most dramatically, when the graduate enters an organisation on his first job. It occurs again when he switches within the organisation from one department to the another or from one rank level to another. It occurs all over again if he leaves one organisation and enters another.

Socialisation dose not include all the learning, but only include learning of norms values and behavior pattern that from an organisations point of view expected from an employee. This learning is defined as the price of membership.

Such a value system, norms and behavior pattern could include

• The basic goal of an organisation.
• The preferred means by which these goals should be attained.
• The basic responsibilities of the member In the role granted to him by the organisation.
• The behavior patterns required for effective performance in the role.
• A set of rules or principles that pertain to the maintenance of the identity and integrity of the organisation.
  

Socialization
Socialisation as a process is also found in colleges in the form of ragging, in schools in the form of rules, regulations and the models to emulate and in the society by confirm to the constitution of the land and the customs. Upending experiences are deliberately planned or accidentally created circumstances that dramatically and unequivocally upset or disconfirm some of the major assumptions new employees hold about themselves, their companies or jobs.

Socialisation can take place in various ways, for example;

To provide assignment so easy or trivial that they carry the clear that the new employee is not worthy of being given anything important to do. The assignment could be so tough that the failure is a certainty, thus proving that the new employee is not smart.

An interesting example would be of a company in which the manager would ask the new employees to examine and diagnose a particular circuit, which violated a number of text book principle but actually worked very well. The baffled new employee would check and re-check the circuit and pronounce the circuit as faulty. At this point the manger would confidently show the new employees that the circuit works

The speed and effectiveness of the Socialisation determine employee loyalty, commitment, productivity and turnover. The basic stability and effectiveness of the organisation therefore depends on their ability to socialize the new members.

The success of socialisation would depends on two factors,

• Initial Motivation- If the initial motivation of the individual is high then he will tolerate all kinds of uncomfortable Socialisation experiences.
• Interest generated- The degree to which the organisation can hold the new member captive during the period of Socialisation.

To invest much time and effort in the new member and thereby build up expectations of being repaid by loyalty, hard work, and rapid learning. To make a series of small behavioral commitment he can justify, that only through the acceptance and incorporation of company value.

In some instances socialisation is considered a negative process questions are raised as to if the company is on the ethical path to change the very behavior and values of an individual without his consent. The fact remains that Socialisation serves a very definite function in an organisation that of standardisation. As we see later on in this paper socialisation uniforms process and removes ambiguity. For example if an employee knows that promotion will be performance based he will spend more time in producing rather than politicking.

The information on how to conform to the accepted norms can be given through,

Official literature,
Examples set by key models,
Instructions given by trainers, coach or boss,
Example of seniors who have been in the organisation for much longer periods
Rewards or punishments given to the new employee for his efforts, and
Experimenting with new values and behavior.

How do organizations socialize

To facilitate the understanding process of Socialisation in as usually carried out in companies the process can be broken down into 7 steps. Each step is explained with suitable examples.

Step One: Careful selection of entry level candidates
Trained recruiters use standardised procedures & seek specific traits that tie to success in the business. It is at this point that a well-informed applicant would deselect himself if he feels that the organisation does not fit with his personal styles and values.

Entry into an organisation includes the period of preparation and training on the part of the individual, the recruitment & selection process that occurs prior to accepting a job, the actual hiring decision and the initial job placement.

The kind of education that an individual opts for goes a long way to the deselecting process. In the sense that if an individual opts for engineering after his 12^th then he has effectively deselected himself from being a doctor, an accountant or a lawyer. This is deselecting at a very basic level.

In order to find the right job, it is necessary for a person to develop a realistic appraisal of his talents, needs and values. This self-concept also needs to be continuously reappraised because a persons map is always changing.

The concept of "anticipatory socialisation" is well worth looking into at this point. This when an individual prepares himself for his early career by developing what he considers to be the attitudes and values necessary for succeeding in his chosen occupation. A businessman would be committed to a profit motive, a social worker to a service motive and so on. It would be therefore better for an individual with a Holland score of artistic to go in for an organisation, which holds premium on creativity such as Advertising agencies. It is when an organisation or an individual makes a misinformed choice and is not able to fit in the culture and the process of the organisation do problems like turnover frustration etc. arise

From the organisations point of view this step would be a failure if any of the following occurs:

• A high-potential recruit does not accept a job offer.
• A high-potential recruit joins the organisation but leaves soon after because of disillusionment or disappointment.
• A high-potential recruit joins the organisation but loses motivation & becomes a marginal performer.
• A seemingly high-potential recruit joins the organisation but turns out to have low talent, low motivation or values incompatible with those of the organisation.

In order to avoid these kind of failures, an organisation should have self-insight. Which would mean that the recruiters should have a very clear idea of what jobs need to be filled, what the characteristics of those jobs are, how those jobs would change over time. In short the selection process should be designed in the same way as the organisation works. If it is then, in screening interviews there is a greater possibility of accurately describing to the recruits what they will be doing both in the short & in the long run.

The recruitment/selection system must be able to diagnose long range growth potential in a person as well as short range potential. Its selection procedure should be congruent with the requirements and the organisations value system.

This selection process is one of the primary bases on which a candidate forms his impression of the company. The organisation should therefore be careful not to project something that they are not, because this could cause a candidate to deselect himself. This would be a loss to the organisation esp. if the candidate is a high-potential performer.

Finally, organisations must make more of an effort to integrate the recruitment/selection activities with those of job placement and early supervision. Because, lack of congruence at this interface, would run the risk of producing early disillusionment & turnover.

Involving line mangers, the new recruits’ immediate boss, in the process, can do this. If the number of people to be recruited is too high to involve all the line managers, then there should be frequent contact between the recruiters and the line managers.

P&G has a lengthy form that all aspirants have to fill. Based on this form they shortlist people. The shortlist candidates then have to go through 3~4 sessions of interviews, which are mostly "Behavioral Event Interviews". Suppose an MBA student has done his summer project at P&G, then after he has completed his summers, his guide, other people in the department and the VP sit together and discuss whether the concerned person would fit into the organisation or not. The emphasis is not on the persons’ work but on whether he will fit in. P&G focus a lot on minute details and this is evident in its application form. We have live examples of students in XL who have not applied to P&G because their form was very long & meticulous, this is a good example of deselecting.

Until now HLL used to have two Group Discussions. One would be case based and the second would involve a 1 minute presentation by each shortlist candidate followed by a GD on the same topic. This would culminate in a 30-min interview. People who have done their summers at HLL would all be called to a major city for a long drawn interview, where there would be atleast 2 directors on the panel. The questions asked are mainly theoretical or academic. This year HLL has introduced the component of the written test which checks for theoretical knowledge as well as application skills. The questions span all areas of management.

Step 2: Humility -Inducing experiences:

Consider this- A management graduate from XLRI joins ICI and on landing there declares-"I would like to formulate the new IR policy of ICI" This happens most of the time. Management graduates with their new found knowledge think that they can change an organisation overnight. Considering the ground realities their ideas being implemented is hardly practical.

A new trainee has much to learn not only will his idea be thrown out of the window if he is not accepted in the organisation but also has the new trainee learn how the organisation operates such as the political wheeling dealing, the power-centre how to sell his idea to a group etc. To learn all this way adopted by the organisation is to make a trainee on jobs, which they would perceive as unimportant. This has repercussion as the new inductee learning the ropes of the organisation, getting a feel that they for the organization and not the organisation for them.

Step 3: In the trenches training

Companies would ideally want that a MT should be able to put his theory into practice for the benefit of the organization. But for this the MT has to know the ground realities. To get the trainee in place most of the companies follow a rigorous one to two year training probation period. This would ideally consist of short stints in all the functional areas and a longer stint in the MT's specialization area.

For example as Pepsi's probation period for their marketing department trainees consists of the trainees not sitting and formulating strategy for a product but going with the delivery trucks to the vendors and taking stock of the situation. Going to small vendors such as paanshops in small town and cities and convincing them to keep Pepsi at an observable position in the shop for the ease of the consumers.

Step 4: Adherence to values

The new trainees have to perhaps go through a lot disillusionment , personal sacrifices( missed occasions with family and friends over the week end) and adjusting to the vagaries of the organization by changing the labile self. This is compensated to a certain extent when the organization gives something in return. A quid pro quo of sorts. For example the employees of Delta airlines accept the fact that during hard times the company will stand by them even if the industry is laying of their employees, the employees of Sony, Mitsubishi accepts the fact that for his dedication he has got life long employment. This gives a sense of security to the MTs in a New World. And even they then try to give their best to the organization.

Step 5: Rewards & Control Systems

Rewards and control systems are meticulously refined to reinforce behavior that is deemed pivotal to succession the market place. The employees who don’t adhere to the Cultural and Behavioral Norms of the Organisation, due to the dissonance between the Values of the Individual and the Values of the organisation; are given a clear warning to either shape up or ship out.

The IBM way of a Penalty Box, is a very apt example. In India, the PSU’s have a habit of shunting away their "mis-fits" to assignments and other jobs which take them away form the organisation’s mainstream. These are the Siberian Postings in the companies.

Step 6/7: Reinforcing Folklore, Consistent role models

Folklore is used as a reinforcer to make the employees behave in a certain way that helps the organisation. This creates a culture in the organisation.

Take the example of 3M. The culture of 3M articulates thus—

Our corporate culture encourages a lively exchange of concepts and information across different areas and functions. You're expected to be creative. To share your knowledge, freely and often. And to demonstrate a ready willingness to solve problems, act on your initiative and motivate others.

In 3M the legend of Founder member like Francis G. Okie still lives on. His ideas like using sand paper instead of razor to rub a man's face smooth is taken as an example of thinking wild. Or if we take the story of how the scotch tape was invented to service only one customer and for which alternate uses were found and which finally grown into a $750 Million business. The story is reinforced in 3M to force its employees to think creatively. Folklore reinforces the culture of an organisation. It is often seen that the culture of the organisation is influenced to a great extent by the personality of its founders. Nearer home could take the example of the TATA empire which is influenced by J R D Tata’s (not its founder) personality of being a highly ethical and caring organisation or the case of Reliance which carries Dihrubahi’s mark. OF being aggressive and a workaholic organisation in the competitive world. Legends and folklore in the organisation reinforce the culture in the minds of the new recruit as he acclimates to the culture.

Why do companies socialize:

Why do the companies go to such extents of molding their employees in a mould and run the risk of making them robots, killing creativity, risk making them into administrators rather than entrepreneurs. There is a good reason for this. The reason being that Socialisation creates order and consistency. To control and bring about order to the organisation there are two ways either we have formal controls such as rules for every move an individual makes Or we impose informal controls which can be imposed through organisational culture which is build through ages and is passed on to the next generation through Socialisation.

Companies, which have a strong culture and socialise effectively eliminate a lot of ambiguity and free up time for the executives to do more of productive work. For example in 3M it is assumed that you will not be punished for your failures if you are trying out a new idea or a concept so one can go ahead and take risks. You can afford to have a Nelson’s eye to the boss. Because the organisation reinforces that culture. On the other hand you try something like this in a PSU the employee will be shown the door.

But companies should realise the fact that Socialisation should only be carried to a particular extent after Socialisation will be counterproductive.

Negative Effects of Socialization

The new inductee’s stable and labile self are the two things that are likely to get affected by the induction program. On can imagine The Labile self as a flexible covering and the Stable self as the strong core, around which the covering exists.

Normal Induction of the company can be described as a mesh. The individual’s flexible covering has to be adjusted to the shape of the meshed holes yet the holes must be significantly larger that the stronger core inside the flexible layer. This is the process of induction happening correctly. At some times the Induction process may not be as self-controlled and can be compared to forceful pressing of the labile self into the shape as desired by the company. But shaping as to not touch the strong inner Rewards and control systems are meticulously refined to reinforce behavior that is deemed pivotal to succession the market place. The employees who don’t adhere to the Cultural and Behavioral Norms of the Organisation, due to the dissonance between the Values of the Individual and the Values of the organisation; are given a clear warning to either shape up or ship out.

Problems start occurring when the company’s induction program puts so much of pressure on the self that not only does the Labile (Flexible) gets distorted, but the stable self is also pressed and tried to put into shape.

This kind of induction program kills the individuality of the person. This can be very dangerous for the organisation as the personal creative talent dies out. More personality and mis-fit problems are seen to arise form this effectively.

The Future

We believe that a company should have a strong culture and also must be reflected throughout its ranks. These cultures should also help the company to remain flexible and keep up with today’s rapidly changing business environment. This can only be done if the culture promotes creativity and innovation, full and duplex, yet informal communication throughout the organisation, enough autonomy to the employees and other such things.

In line with what we were saying: these are some of the Induction Practices of some new and progressive MNC’s, in India for entry level inductees. These companies are trying hard to build cultures that promote openness and innovation. The data has been made available through Eicher Consultancy Services, who have developed and implemented these strategies, hence the client names are not disclosed.

Treasure Hunt:

Here the inductee team is broken up into small groups of five ~ six inductees. They are put at different parts of the city (in this case Mumbai), and like a treasure hunt, they are left with a set of clues to try and reach the "treasure". Each group has a co-ordinator, who is a employee, he/she sticks along and travels with the group as a city guide. The set of exiting clues sends them to the corners of the city (they are given enough mobility), and also tests their ability to "think on their feet", besides providing them with lots of fun and excitement.

The hunt "successfully" ends at the company HQ building where they are welcomed and then introduced around. The team members have already learnt enough about each other and the company during the Hunt as the clues also keeps informing them about the company’s who’s who and other information.

This organisation is a very young firm and even most of the senior executives would fall in the 30~35 age group.

With the Boss: at his home

This is a company, which is a basically deals with Corporate Finance Management. During the induction of their new Treasury Officers; one weekend is left free for this special program.

Here their immediate boss (Sr. Treasury Officer) invites the team of the new junior traders the weekend to his home. Where the new team of four ~ five inductees spend the entire weekend with him and his family, talking, going-out and doing a host of other activities with the boss and his family.

This leads to a very different way of "learning the ropes", and a very unique and "close" way of socialising.

The Lonavla Retreat

Here the company is a fast up-coming FMCG, based in Pune. The new inductees are taken to Lonavla a hill station very close on the Mumbai – Pune Highway. The company has its training division based at a farmhouse near Lonavla.

A weeklong induction program, covers the company specific information and a host of aptitude assessments. Some days are spent with their immediate bosses for half-day hikes, and over night adventure camps.

These activities are basically directed towards the building of camaraderie between the boss and his future team. The week at Lonavna (generally in the rains) is enjoyed buy employees and inductees alike.

The Boss-a-Day Experience

This company deals with Financial and Business Consulting. Here the inductees are previously given six months of lecture-room induction ad training. But after that the difference is seen in the way the conclusion of the induction is done.

This company deals with Financial and Business Consulting. Here the inductees are previously given six months of lecture-room induction ad training. But after that the difference is seen in the way the conclusion of the induction is done.

In the last week, the inductees are assigned to the various Consultants and Sr. Consultants and they are made to take over the superior’s role. They do all the activities their boss does in those days. And it’s really serious, they are to make independent decisions. The Boss stays with them but he can only suggest if the inductee asks for advice, or is stuck up with some contact.

This is done pretty seriously in the organisation and at the end of a week a rigorous review is done jointly between the inductee and his/her boss.

The Mud Fights of this Company

This is an upcoming IT Company in the Western region of the Country. They have an equity partnership with a world-wide IT Company based in Germany.This is an upcoming IT Company in the Western region of the Country. They have an equity partnership with a world-wide IT Company based in Germany.

Here the inductees, during their initial days of the 24-week induction process, have a mud and water fight. The company books an amusement park space for a day. The inductees and their immediate intended superiors engage in battle. The different groups protect their space in the park using water pistols, water balloons and mud balls as the only weapons. There is an actual "war – planning" that goes on before the fights take place.

The fight works out very messy and loud, but the results of the socialisation are very easily tackled.

Bibliography

1. H. Schein Edgar pg.83 Sloan mgmt review, Organisation socialisation and the profession of management.
2. H. Schein Edgar The individual , the organisation, and the career : A conceptual scheme.
3. Richard Pascale "The paradox of corporate culture ": reconciling ourselves to socialisation.