EDITORIAL
Greetings Dear Readers from the Editorial Team of Crucibles.
Crucibles wishes all its readers a very Happy Independence Day!!!
It gives me great pleasure in releasing the 24th
edition of E-Zine. I hope that all of you are happy
and enjoy reading our magazine.
This month being the month in which India achieved its independence, our cover story features
India and the Independence Day celebrations held in the country.
At first, I was very confused as to what to write and what not to write in the article, as India is a
very vast topic. But I have tried to cover majority of the things and hope that you all enjoy
reading the article.
I would like to thank all the contributors for this magazine who have taken out their valuable
time and sent us articles. I hope that this association continues to thrive.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi “One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed
they must be defended against the heaviest odds.” I personally like this quote a lot as I feel
that it has a deep meaning. It means that one should form ideologies after knowing all the details
because once those opinions are formed then one should stick to them come what may.
Happy Reading!!!
HARSHITA GARDNER
PGP/F-FW/12-14
SATYAMEVA JAYATE
India. What comes to our mind when we hear this word? Well, I can think of many things like-
culture, heritage, vast, empires, history, secular and the list goes on and on. India is officially
known as The Republic Of India, is the seventh largest nation in matter of area and the second
largest nation when it comes to population. India has many names that have an interesting history
in themselves like Bharat and Hindustan. Basically the word India is derived from the word
Indus from the Old Persian word Hindus.
India has a history of rich culture and heritage with dynasties like the Great Mughal Dynasty to
the Rajputs, Cholas, Mauryans, Pallavas and many more. These various dynasties gave the
country a lot of marvellous monuments and wealth. There was a time when India was called
„The Golden Sparrow‟. But unfortunately the British came and stripped this beautiful country off
all its wealth and riches.
India got its independence on the 15th
of August 1947 after the British rule was over. The Indian
rebellion was started in 1857 which took place on a large scale in Northern and Central India but
was brought under control by the British. This rebellion was triggered off by Mangal Pandey
who was a sepoy for the British. This led to breaking out of many revolts followed by mutinies
that gave birth to popular uprisings against the British. The decades that followed the uprising
were a blast of political awareness among the people. The Indian National Congress, the current
ruling party of India was formed in 1885 in Bombay under the guidance of A.O. Hume.
Thereafter, many movements like the Salt Satyagraha, Simon Go Back etc. were organised to
drive out the British. Finally, The Quit India Movement paved the way for a total independent
India.
The partition of India took place at the same time when Pakistan was separated from India as per
the wish of Mr. Mohammed Ali Jinnah who demanded a separate nation for Muslims. The
partition was a very sad and disturbing phase in the history of India. Many Hindus most of them
Sikhs, migrated from Pakistan to India and many Muslims migrated from India to Pakistan
leaving behind their assets like land, cattle, homes etc. but most importantly the emotional
attachment that they had with the land. Riots broke out on both sides and Hindus and Muslims
were butchered in equal numbers. Since the partition, both the countries have struggled to
maintain peaceful relationships, though dispute over the land of Jammu and Kashmir still
prevails.
India is well known for its religious diversity and the major religion followed by the people of
India is Hinduism.
Today, India has the tenth largest economy in the world and has the third largest standing army.
India has a parliamentary form of government governed under the Constitution of India. The
major occupation of the people is agriculture followed by the industrial and service sectors.
Independence Day in India is celebrated on 15th
August every month with a lot of zeal and
enthusiasm. It is also celebrated by the large number of Indians who reside out of the country.
This day commemorates the independence that India achieved from the British in 1947. India has
three major national holidays namely Independence Day, Republic Day and Gandhi Jayanti. It is
a very important day in the history of India.
On Independence Day, the Prime Minister of the country hoists the Indian National Flag at the
Red Fort in Delhi and delivers a speech for the citizens of this motherland. The occasion is
honoured by the firing of twenty-one gun shots. A tribute is paid to the brave freedom fighters
who struggled and gave up their lives so that India could gain her lost glory. After the Prime
Minister‟s speech there is a march-past on the Raj Path by various divisions of the Indian Army
and other paramilitary forces.
Flag hoisting is done in all the government buildings throughout the country and also in all
schools and colleges. Its a day of joy and enjoyment for all. Students sing various patriotic songs,
the famous ones being „Vande Mataram‟ and „Sare Jahan Se Achha‟. They also perform various
skits and plays. Some institutions also hold sports competitions and other competitions like
drawing, singing, dancing etc.
This day also poses a lot of threats in matters of security for the nation. The security is beefed up
everywhere, especially at the borders and in major metropolitan cities like Delhi and Mumbai
and also troubled areas like Jammu and Kashmir. The air space around the Red Fort is declared
as „no-fly zone‟ so as to prevent attacks from the air.
The crime rate in India has gone on the rise. Where in the same country women are holding the
position of Chief Minister, women are also being raped and exploited for dowry. This is a very
pathetic situation and the government is not being able to take strong legal action. The criminals
walk free after paying money. Corruption is rampant in every part of the country. The Delhi rape
that took place last December is an example of poor governance and exploitation of women.
Though, there are many programmes and schemes for women in India, they are still exploited
and treated as inferior in this male dominated society. People are also fighting for separate states.
Independence Day is celebrated on 15th
August every month, but the day when women will be
treated equally and corruption levels will come down, will be the day when India can be called a
truly independent nation.
HARSHITA GARDNER
PGP/F-FW/12-14
A NEW LESSON OR PROBABLY A NEW EXPERIENCE
Sometimes you are just bored and want to see what‟s out there, so you might just talk to
someone to discover new interest or sometimes it‟s just coincidence that you meet people and
discover something. Like you might see someone doing something peculiar, at first it‟s easy to
dismiss it as odd, but you never know what you discover is, what you just needed to boost
yourself.
Meeting someone different will change your life in one way or another! The more people we
meet and share values, opinions, and stories with, the more we learn about the world we live in.
Everyone has a different life story. Meeting someone new and listening to them is like listening
to a live movie.
Sometimes it‟s worth just talking to someone you‟ve never even imagine talking to, just to snap
you out from that anti-social bubble we all tend to fall into.
There is so much to be gained from meeting someone else. Meeting other people makes us grow
as individuals. As people say we learn more by chance, than we do in a classroom.
Meeting someone different can make you appreciate what you have.
Along that same line, someone may have thoughts just a little bit more advanced or complete
than your own. This may help you form an opinion you were otherwise unsure about.
New perspectives and ideas are added to your pile of stored information so that you may make
more educated decisions in the future.
You can have your own views on previous matters be completely shifted. Perhaps you realize
you were viewing something the wrong way all these time or maybe you may realize a whole
new angle you never considered before.
Finally I would end it by saying meet more people, talk and share more. You‟ll definitely end up
learning something after the conversation.
ANKITA SHAH
HR Trainee at Amazon
SIX SIGMA: SCORING SIXES IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR
As it is said, “that was then, this is now”. Both Six Sigma and its close cousin, lean are not only
commonly practiced in both provider and payer organizations, they have entered the mainstream
of the health care industry. Indeed , two separate studies , one conducted by the American
College of Healthcare Executives and other by the American Society for Quality, both point to
the fact that 40-50 percent of healthcare organizations have employed lean six sigma as a
strategy to cut costs, increase capacity and improve quality.
Over the past ten years, challenges with the implementation of Six Sigma caused many
healthcare organizations to take pause, for many this delay paid off as they discovered quicker
gains by implementing waste reduction strategies inspired by lean manufacturing. There was
battle of champions in performance improvement Six Sigma Vs Lean. While both Six Sigma and
Lean focus on waste reduction as a key aim (recognition waste comes in many forms), this is the
end of any common ground between the methods. Still, most organizations find that in any
project, a mix of approaches is necessary for true breakthrough improvement.
Lean Six Sigma not only reduces waste but also brings returns on investment. One of the
quickest ways to demonstrate the return on investment from Lean or Six Sigma is to focus on the
elimination of waste from operations. It has been said that if Six sigma is about those “critical
few” variables that drive process performance , then lean is about the “trivial many”.Targetted
initiatives such as the popular ”5S” method have been credited with making significant
improvements in the efficiency of the workplace by attacking the low hanging fruit or the trivial
many in waste reduction.
5S is a method for organizing a workplace to maximize efficiency .5 steps undertaken in order
include, sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain. Many healthcare organizations have
added a 6th “s” for member “safety”. Despite these challenges, reports of savings from Lean and
Six Sigma initiatives have been steadily adding to the credibility and potential of the methods.
There was a time many healthcare executives were downright fearful to introduce the concept of
Six sigma in their organizations, unsure of how staff would respond to the mystery behind the
method. But today such fears are in the past, indeed examples of successful Six Sigma projects
abound in today‟s environment , and the reader need only visit goggle for scores of published
case studies. The healthcare section of the ASQ website alone boasts over 15 projects leads in
the health and managed care space. Hence when you implement a Six Sigma program you are
going to learn some things about your organization that you did not necessarily want to know.
For all those organizations still on the sidelines, it is time to get in the game.
To be sure, the next ten years it will be interesting to watch as the arrival of healthcare reform
demand even higher levels of performance, quality and affordability.
ANN VARGHESE
Assistant Quality Manager
Care hospital, Banjara Hills
CADBURY AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
It all began with drinking chocolate in Birmingham. John Cadbury the founder and Father of
Cadbury used to sell tea and coffee on the streets of Birmingham. But he was very fond of
drinking hot chocolate. Being a Quaker in England in the early 19th
Century, he found it
impossible to get into any University or even the Military. Ultimately he made up his mind and
got into the business field. He set up a small chocolate factory at Wall Street in 1824 where he
used to emulsify chocolate into solid bars. His brother, Benjamin, jointly helped John a lot with
the business, but in 1961 gave it up to his sons Richard and George who held it responsible from
then.
Before the entry on Cadbury in India in 1984, it had already seen a lot in its journey. It was the
One Company in UK that all the people were proud to be called their own. Hence the people
undoubtedly showed disinterest towards the acquisition of Cadbury by the US based Company,
Kraft, as the obvious would have happened, loss of jobs.
Avoiding the issue Cadbury was ready to be acquired by Kraft. In 2010, the least expected fact
was that Kraft initially offered an amount of US$16.2 Billion for Cadbury, which the concern
stated was a clear act of undervaluing the Company. After a lot of political and public unrest
Kraft agreed upon US$ 18.9 Billion and closed the deal. As well established as the company
was, the name remained Cadbury.
During the commotion to purchase Cadbury Hershey‟s too had expressed interest and made an
attempt to acquire the company. But Hershey‟s eventually backed off, as they were unable to
counter Kraft‟s final offer. Not to mention, it was the RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland, that had
funded the Kraft takeover.
In 2011, Kraft spilt into 2 companies, one of them Mondelez International of which Cadbury is a
subsidiary.
The Cadbury Dairy Milk bar was launched in 1902, the Fruit and Nut version in 1928 and the
whole nut version in 1933. I wonder if the Cadbury had a consistency in taste even back then.
Then again there would be a question a quality.
Coming to the Indian context, Cadbury was established in India in 1948(truly a celebration of
ambiance to enter) and began its operations by importing chocolate. Cadbury India, part of
Mondelez International since 2011operates in 5 broad categories, i.e, Chocolate Confectionary,
Beverages, Biscuits, Gum and Candy. It has effortlessly been able to maintain the tag of an
undisputed leader over the years. They have exactly 6 manufacturing units located as in Thane,
Pune, Gwalior, Bangalore, Himachal Pradesh and Hyderabad. Its 4 Sales Offices are in New
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. And the Corporate Office is located in Mumbai.
Cadbury enjoys a value market share of 70% and the Cadbury Dairy Milk continues to carry the
„Gold Standard‟.
Moving to a flashback, no one will find it hard to recall the one crisis that Cadbury faced in
October 2003, a month before Diwali, where the customers found worms in the Cadbury Dairy
Milk Chocolate bar. The Food and Drug Administration did not buy the concern‟s argument that
it was the storage issues of retailers and not their manufacturing defect. But the then Managing
Director, Bharat Puri, guided the company to tighten their belts and work on revamping the
package of the chocolate. No extra price was charged for this change in packaging. Even
Amitabh Bachchan, the Brand Ambassador did heavy duty endorsement putting his own
personal credibility at risk. Ultimately in June 2004, the case was closed and the consumers were
back to purchasing Dairy Milk bar, thus recovering their dip in consumer confidence.
Cadbury has only been on the rise since then. It is now ranked 4th
among the 50 Most Admirable
Companies of India by Fortune India. Like they say, failures are the stepping stone to success. In
2011, as part of CSR, the company has invested in a Water Scheme in Induri Village which
guarantees to supply water to 11000 villagers.
Back in 1965 Cadbury pioneered Cocoa cultivation in India and even worked for 2 decades with
Kerala Agricultural University to undertake Cocoa research and to improve its yield. They had
also educated farmers on the aspects of Cocoa cultivation. It is not surprising that people call the
Cocoa tree, „Cadbury tree‟ out here.
Apparently all the marketing strategies used by the company revolve around their concept to
„Create Joy‟. All the jingles created it the ads, be it, „Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye‟, „Kiss Me‟, „Shubh
Arambh‟, „Beta, Mann Main Ladoo Phoota‟ and „You have to earn a Bourville‟, they all simply
cling on the mind. Cadbury stands out in reminder advertising.
The ad which currently has the highest recalls value, especially for children is definitely the Oreo
Biscuit ad. A hilarious fact about the Oreo Biscuit is that it has 12 flowers, 12 dots and 12 dashes
on each side. Surely we would be curious to check this, next time we buy an Oreo. And the
children wouldn‟t even bother to notice it between the Oreo brand signature ritual of „Twist, Lick
and Dunk.‟
Along with all the success of holding operations in 80 countries, earning a revenue of US$ 36
Billion as in 2011 with around 1,00,000 employees working with them worldwide, Cadbury is
planning to expand in India. And proud to realise that they have chosen none other than Andhra
Pradesh (now Seemandhra) to make their Rs 1000 Crore investment. Just as we all thought that
the whole „T‟ issue in Andhra Pradesh would take a toll on business as well as investments in
India, bright side, Cadbury has already acquired 134 acres of land in the Sri City in AP.
This multi category food campus or unit will be the largest among their South Asia projects. The
present largest manufacturing unit is in Beijing. Cadbury has projected to end the 1st phase of the
project by 2015and the 3rd
or the last phase by 2020 further estimating to achieve 1600 direct job
opportunities in the year 2020.
The on-going projects in Sri City include 90 companies from 25 countries. The Sri City
Managing Director, Ravindra Sannareddy, is looking forward to this project as it would „add
impetus to the economic development of the region.‟ Well said, considering the current macro-
economic scenario of our country a whole.
The President of Mondelez International (India and South Asia), Anand Kurupali, says that
„India is a Priority Market‟. And why not? Cadbury has learned a lot from India and is still
exploring into the depths of India with the sole objective of blending its culture into its motive of
„Creating Joy‟.
References:
http://www.mondelezinternational.com/in/en/home/index.aspx
http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/dec/24cad.htm
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-08-08/news/41201963_1_cadbury-india-sri-
city-ravindra-sannareddy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadbury
NEETHU UNNIKRISHNAN
ISBE/PGP/F&FW/12-14
HIRING IN E-TAIL
“With shoppers all across the country developing a fetish for online shopping, each market
player in the still nascent E-Commerce industry has to make correct hiring decisions so as to gain
competitive edge”.
The E-Tailing industry in India is poised to touch the “$76” billion marks by “2021” as per a
study by technopark, a leading consulting firm. In such a Scenario, an HR professional cannot
help but anticipate the kind of talent that may be required to fill in already existing positions and
the positions that shall be created due to business demands. With the advent of the more and
more market players in the E-Commerce space, most of the organizations are young that are still
growing on their people strategies. “JABONG.COM”, is one such young and vibrant
organization. The start-up business model at “JABONG”, has helped the management discover
new dimensions of hiring to suit their business needs.
THE HR AND LEADERSHIP:
A leader in an organization has set up to look up to the HR to help the organization grow,
because he firmly believes that in a young organization. “HR” is a crucial function to create the
right kind of culture in the organization. It is highly important to build vibrant HR teams. The
role of “HR” is not just restricted to admin or maintaining a hiring hygiene, rather it goes much
beyond that, ”he shares and adds”, “more so, at ‟JABONG‟, HR is involved on a daily basis with
the workforce, be it managing KRA‟s skill building, and everything that relates to the life cycle
of the employee.
Also, a very strong fundamental that has been kept in view while designing “HR” policies at
“JABONG” has been that “HR” can never be copied or cloned and that it varies in every
organization according to the demography, business, and a lot many other factors. The subjective
approach also helps „HR‟ and „LEADERSHIP‟ collaborate and understand mutual needs for
hiring.
Both “HR” and “LEADER” are on the same page and understand that we don‟t only need a lot of
summer soldiers rather have to make sure that the same people stay with us in the winter too. “So
while hiring, the „HR‟ and leadership have an understanding that the talent will be hired on the
basis of several standpoints. The most important criteria on the checklist happens to be that the
candidates require to exhibit multiple talent since the workforce these days believe in hiring
multiple skills, and this in turn also benefits the organization. Secondly, the leadership also
gauges as to how do the person fits in the organizational hierarchy in the long run. Last but not
least, domain expertise is the most important criteria.
ALL THE NEEDY IS QUALITY HIRE:
“JABONG“, being a young organization does at least a lot of “Gen-Yers”, however, this is not
an intentional hiring strategy. “for the kind of deliverables and performance”, require for the
business do not necessarily restrict them to a particular workforce generation. The skill set is
definitely more important than the age factor. “That being said, given the nascent stage of the
“Industry, Fashion- orientation, start-up nature and reliance on new age technologies”.
They do end up attracting a younger employee demographic compared to traditional industries
want all the employee‟s to be self starters thought leaders, risk-takers and hungry to deliver the
best experience to the customers-there seems to be some correlation between these qualities and
an age people, ever though they don‟t actively manage age.
Also so as to make quality hires apart from behavioural assessments at “JABONG”, practical
tests are given a great weight-age during the interview to ensure that the potential employee‟s
can improvise, adapt and overcome problems at a much faster pace, considering the nature of the
organization.
Coming back to the job markets and dynamics of the E-Commerce sector in India, although,
leaders does agree that probably right now the “HR” , function in E-Commerce is still getting
more organized with greater understanding of business. However, they also adds that jobs in the
sector would only grow (140 million people), in the world after the “US” and “CHINA”. Even
though the absolute base is large, it only represents “11%” of our population. Furthermore, only
“16%”of this internet population transct online while only “13%” of the online transct apparel
and shoes. As these macro tail winds continue to improve in the coming years, as anticipated the
business is bound to grow. Consequently the job market in the E-commerce sector will flourish.
So probably every company needs people in more or less the same function, namely, “Marketing
operations, Merchandising”, So and so forth however at “JABONG”, apart from what function
the hiring is being made for, one criteria that stays in the checklist of the recruiter remains
common. “SUCH ORGANIZATIONS NEEDS PEOPLE WHO ARE HUNGRY FOR
GROWTH AND INNOVATION”.
KRANTHI PARITALA
PGP/WIN/13-15/IIPM
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
There is a famous saying that the role of pen is mightier than that of the sword. But unfortunately
there are people who believe that the use of force is necessary.
The pen is a symbols of an idea, expresses feelings and soon whereas sword is symbols of
violence. What a pen can do cannot be done by sword. Sword only knows to destroy but pen can
destroy but also build. Although a pen looks a small object but strong and sword can be wielded
well only by those who think there are mighty. The best case is as follow:
Malala Yousafzai Vs Taliban
Malala Yousafzai is a teenage girl from Swat District of Pakistan. It‟s a region bordering
between north-east Pakistan and Afghanistan, a place defined by high mountain, greenly, clear
water and as well as lot of conflict. In early 2009, at the age of 12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under
a pseudonym for the BBC which describes life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control
of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls.
In 2011 Malala was nominated for the International Children Peace Prize and in December of
that year received Parkistan First National Youth Peace Prize for her efforts because of fighting
against injustice law which made by Taliban. So she also received death threats. Malala was
repeat warned by Taliban and to be silent to immediately discontinue her public criticism and to
stop speaking out for the rights of inferior gender. In eye of Taliban, Malala and all other women
should surrender in the course of Taliban laws but Malala kept no silence.
On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by
Taliban gunmen while returning home in a school bus. In the days immediately following the
attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition.
At the age of 15 she fought for girls to get right for education make better themselves and other
women's rights. Malala Yousafzai is the enemy for Taliban. To the Taliban her words were
dangerous than any other weapon to any other in war fear. So Taliban declare the war on the
small girl because she was “…the symbol of the infidels and obscenity.” But Malala did not die.
She escaped death by the inches. Her recovery has encouraged many people across the planet.
On 12 October, a group of 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a legal judgment against those
who tried to kill her. The assassination attempt sparked a national and international outpouring of
support for Yousafzai. Deutsche Welle wrote in January 2013 that Malala may have become
"The most famous teenager in the world." United Nations Special Envoy for Global
Education Gordon Brown launched a UN petition in Yousafzai's name, using the slogan "I am
Malala" and demanding that all children worldwide be in school by the end of 2015. Brown said
he would hand the petition to Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari in November. In the 29 April
2013 issue of Time magazine, Malala was featured on the magazine's front cover and as one of
"The 100 Most Influential People in the World". On 12 July 2013, Yousafzai spoke at the UN to
call for worldwide access to education.
Malala Yousafzai's story is a compelling one unfortunately is not new story. Every day same
story commented throughout the world. People like Malala Yousafzai‟s give inspiration to others
to fight against crooks.
Since the pen is used to express ideas and the sword is used to impose one's will by superior
violence, the statement really means that ideas have more influence than violence. The pen is the
vehicle of thought and ideas have helped man to raise over purely savage conditions. They have
built up free institutions and democracy.
It is in this sense that the pen is mightier than the sword. It must be emphasized that non-violence
is not a method for cowards. If one uses this method because he is afraid or merely because he
lacks the instruments of violence, he is not truly non-violent. The phrase "passive resistance"
often gives the false impression that this is a sort of do-nothing method in which the resister
quietly and passively accepts evil. But nothing is further from truth.
BBC blog:-
“I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taleban. I have had such
dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I
went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taleban had issued an edict banning
all girls from attending schools.
Only 11 pupils attended the class out of 27. The number decreased because of Taleban's edict.
My three friends have shifted to Peshawar, Lahore and Rawalpindi with their families after this
edict. ”
Among the first public photo of Malala recovery
is this one “a young girl reading a book”
“The journey of a thousand miles starts
with a single step.”
Malala Yousafzai, 3 January 2009 BBC blog entry
Ashish Joshi
PGP/FW/11-13/ISBE-E
R.B.V.R.R. Womens College