Marketing is all about making things sell.
The marketing professionals take pride in increasing the sales of a company.
Often when the economy is down, these same professionals cannot perform and blame it on the markets.
If markets are going to influence the sales of a company then what exactly the marketing professionals do?
Where is the creativity and the skill of marketing professionals in recessionary situation?
We have many examples where innovation has influenced marketing.
The Sony Walkman is an example where the market was not present, and the Walkman provided a new market.
Mobile Phone is another such product.
In these cases innovation rather than marketing created the market.
Well one can argue that such need was predicted or forecast by assessing the market needs by these marketing professionals.
I don’t think so, as in case of Mobile & Walkman it was the innovation and the utility of these equipments that markets were created.
I always wonder then what is the role of marketing.
If everything goes well in a company then the Sales and marketing professionals are regarded as the people who drive a company forward but in recession the company does not do well, then the same marketing professionals get away saying that market conditions are bad.
The Product quality and its role in customer satisfaction is an accepted fact. Only if the quality is good can the product sustain in market.
If that is so, then why need marketing?
Let the product speak for itself.
Lux soap, Dalda, Pepsi , Coca Cola, Macdonald Burgers are household names and they need no marketing, they sell because consumers like them.
The marketing professional only facilitate the product reaching the customer’s mind but the sustainability is not because of them.
If that is so why then manufacturing professionals are not in par with the marketing guys?
Can we then conclude that Manufacturing is the mainstay in business rather than marketing?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Interesting Quotes
Management & Leadership.
Management is doing things right.
Leadership is doing Right Things.
Quality:
Quality is never an Accident.
It is always the result of
High Intention, Sincere Effort, Intelligent Direction,&
Skilful Execution.
Vision & Action.
Vision Without Action is a Dream.
Action without Vision is Just Passing Time.
But Vision with Action can change the world.
Imagination:
Whatever you Vividly Imagine, Ardently Desire,
Sincerely Believe, & Enthusiastically Act upon would inevitably Happen.
Experience:
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
There is nothing so easy to learn as experience and nothing so hard to apply.
Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment.
Decision Making:
Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate results.
Technology:
It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day's toil of any human being.
Opportunities:
Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.
Hard Work:
Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
Education:
Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.
Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.
Humour:
Humor is the instinct for taking pain playfully.
Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.
Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth.
Change:
Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.
Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.
Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.
The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.
We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.
If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living.
Common Sense, Wisdom.
Common sense is not so common.
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself.
Wisdom is the quality that keeps you from getting into situations where you need it.
Anything that is wasted effort represents wasted time. The best management of our time thus becomes linked inseparably with the best utilization of our efforts.
He who promises more than he is able to perform, is false to himself; and he who does not perform what he has promised, is a traitor to his friend.
We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.
Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.
Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.
A little tact and wise management may often evade resistance, and carry a point, where direct force might be in vain.
We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it.
Courage is saying, "Maybe what I'm doing isn't working; maybe I should try something else."
A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.
Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity.
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”
Management is doing things right.
Leadership is doing Right Things.
Quality:
Quality is never an Accident.
It is always the result of
High Intention, Sincere Effort, Intelligent Direction,&
Skilful Execution.
Vision & Action.
Vision Without Action is a Dream.
Action without Vision is Just Passing Time.
But Vision with Action can change the world.
Imagination:
Whatever you Vividly Imagine, Ardently Desire,
Sincerely Believe, & Enthusiastically Act upon would inevitably Happen.
Experience:
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
There is nothing so easy to learn as experience and nothing so hard to apply.
Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment.
Decision Making:
Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate results.
Technology:
It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day's toil of any human being.
Opportunities:
Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.
Hard Work:
Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
Education:
Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.
Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.
Humour:
Humor is the instinct for taking pain playfully.
Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.
Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth.
Change:
Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.
Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.
Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.
The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.
We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.
If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living.
Common Sense, Wisdom.
Common sense is not so common.
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself.
Wisdom is the quality that keeps you from getting into situations where you need it.
Anything that is wasted effort represents wasted time. The best management of our time thus becomes linked inseparably with the best utilization of our efforts.
He who promises more than he is able to perform, is false to himself; and he who does not perform what he has promised, is a traitor to his friend.
We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.
Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.
Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.
A little tact and wise management may often evade resistance, and carry a point, where direct force might be in vain.
We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it.
Courage is saying, "Maybe what I'm doing isn't working; maybe I should try something else."
A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.
Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity.
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Role of Auditors
It is statutory for companies to get their accounts verified and checked by external auditors.
These Auditors are paid heavily to safeguard the interests of the stakeholders of a company.
How come these auditors do not do their work efficiently and detect wrongdoings on the part of promoters,managers in a company.
Classic examples are Enron and now Satyam.
To say that they followed standard auditing practices and are not liable for any mishaps in a company is preposterous.
The role of auditors is to unravel any misreporting and or mismanagement on the part of promoters.
It is ironical that the auditors do their jobs so bad that promoters get away with murder.
It is no way better than our police system in India where the investigations are carried out in a callous manner and the culprits get away scot free in courts due to lack of evidence.
Could we tolerate such behaviour on the part of auditors?
Price Waterhouse has now suspended the officials in the Satyam scam.
Is that sufficient?
The auditors involved in the Satyam scam are equally responsible and involved in the scam as much as the promoters.
Only strict punishment for auditors would bring in better sincerity and discipline amongst the auditor community.
These Auditors are paid heavily to safeguard the interests of the stakeholders of a company.
How come these auditors do not do their work efficiently and detect wrongdoings on the part of promoters,managers in a company.
Classic examples are Enron and now Satyam.
To say that they followed standard auditing practices and are not liable for any mishaps in a company is preposterous.
The role of auditors is to unravel any misreporting and or mismanagement on the part of promoters.
It is ironical that the auditors do their jobs so bad that promoters get away with murder.
It is no way better than our police system in India where the investigations are carried out in a callous manner and the culprits get away scot free in courts due to lack of evidence.
Could we tolerate such behaviour on the part of auditors?
Price Waterhouse has now suspended the officials in the Satyam scam.
Is that sufficient?
The auditors involved in the Satyam scam are equally responsible and involved in the scam as much as the promoters.
Only strict punishment for auditors would bring in better sincerity and discipline amongst the auditor community.
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