Market Forces (Journal of Management, Business and Economics, College of Management Science, PAF-KIET)
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Teaching English in Multilingual Contexts: Current Challenges, Future Directions The Aga Khan University
No full textThe 5th International seminar entitled Teaching English in Multilingual Contexts: Current Challenges, Future Directions was organized by the Centre of English Language, the Aga Khan University, at the AKUH. The two-day conference was aimed to identify problems of second language learners in multilingual contexts and propose some regional solutions compatible with the real world needs. The current practices of English teaching should be pushed forward in tandem with the increasing utility of technology in learning and the diverse needs of the learners
CREATING A GLOBAL FOOTPRINT: A CASE STUDY O\ THE RESOURCE GROUP (TRG)
No full textThe Resource Group (1 'KG) was founded in 2002. As a publicly listed company where stocks are traded on the Karachi Stock Exchange a short spell of 6 years it has become one of the largest Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Company in the world. According to an estimate it has about 4,000 employees' world over with current revenues of $185 million. "1 KG has controlling stakes in a number of business services companies in North America and Western Europe. 1KG is repositioning itself for growth using a globalized service delivery model."1 KG has acquired well-known, award-winning service providers across the US, Canada and UK, including: (1) Alert Communications, (2) Central Voice (3) SKY North America (4) SKY Europe, (5) Reese Teleservices, (6) Telespectrum. Currently '1 KG is focusing on the teleservices industry. It provides voice, Web, and email based call center services to small businesses, as well as, Fortune 500 companies. '1 KG is also catering to the demand of offshore back office services such as finance functions, software development, data processing, IT helpdesk, marketing and administrative support.1KG's first venture as an offshore facility in Pakistan began with an operational unit at Lahore in 2002. Within few years the number of employees increased to 1000. After realizing the growth potential in Pakistan, "1 KG opened its second facility in Karachi, Pakistan. Additionally, it is currently implementing facilities in Manila, the Philippines and Casablanca, Morocco. This case study describes the rationale behind '1 KG's business model, the challenges associated with operating in a nascent offshore location, and the strategies employed to overcome these challenges. The case study also examines the prospect and potential of BPO in Pakistan.Keywords: BPO, "1 KG, offshore outsourcing, Alien
WHY DID I BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR? CASE STUDY ON S. M. ASAD-UL-HAQ
No full textThis case study is based on the proposition that it not necessarily the characteristics and the personality traits, but rather the circumstances in one's life that are at the heart of a person's decision regarding the choice of the profession that one adopts for sustaining his/her lifestyle. The subject of this case study is S. M. Asad ul Haq, a remarkable student of mine who started a fast food restaurant while studying for his BBA. The stool begins from the days of his grandfather who was a jagirdar in the Indian state of Behar. The rationale for beginning the investigation with the story of the grandfather is the premise that to understand a person one has to study the antecedents of the person and that the investigation should begin two generations prior to the birth of the subject of the study. A major watershed in the story happens with the partition of India in 1947 which uproots the family from its ancestral lands and forces it to migrate to East Pakistan for survival. The change in the family circumstances following the migration forces the family to change its lifesole. Education and job oriented profession rather land ownership becomes the means for survival for Asad's father who prefers to educate himself and join a bank. In 1971 the family is forced to endure a second migration as a consequence of the partition of Pakistan. The second migration breaks the joint family ,rystem that had endured the family lifestyle for generations. The change of profession from job orientation to entrepreneurship happens when Asad's eldest brother completes his education. The family's first foray into the word of business is Construction which fails. This however is not the end of the story. The family re-enters the world of entrepreneurship when Asad's second brother completes his education. This time the business enterprise is a Barbeque restaurant which eventually ends in a tragic failure. The case also involves an examination of the reasons for the failure of this venture. The final section of the case is the stool of Asad and his fast food venture. The case study is a stool of the enduring spirit and enterprise of a remarkable person and his family to break old traditions and the creation of new ones. It is hoped that the case study will inspire others to actively contemplate about the possibility of starting their own business venture and becoming entrepreneurs.Keywords: Entrepreneurship; SME, Mitigatio
THE CATERING KING: CASE STUDY ON HANIF RAJPUT
No full textHanif Rajput pioneered the catering business in Karachi. Weddings in Pakistan had become a festivity and the ever increasing guest list forbade the possibility of holding such functions at homes. This need was satisfied by Hanif Ka/put in the 1970s. Within a decade this company spread its operations in all parts of Sindh and Pakistan. Hanif rose from a humble background. Despite his lack of experience in the Hospitality Industry, he organized his operations with meticulous details expected from people with rich experience in business which Hanif lacked. Package deal taking care of food, decor and lighting was the main product which conveniently took care of all chores related to marriage functions. Serving10,000 guests with sumptuous cuisine certainly requires logistical planning which Hanif Regput performed admirably. The present challenge before the catering industry is stiff competition and government regulations to cut down excessive spending and move towards austerityKeywords: Caterers, Marriage Functions, Decorators, Diversification, Hospitality Industry
Bata India Limited- A Catch-22 Situation
No full textAbstractThe Bata Shoe Organization (BSO), established in 1894 in Czechoslovakia, occupies a unique position in the world footwear industry operating in different countries through subsidiaries. Bata India Limited, a subsidiary of BSO, started operation in 1931 in Kolkata. Today, Bata is a household name producing and selling footwear through a network of retail stores all over the country for all segments of the market, with popular brands among middle and upper middle class customers. Despite being a mature company, it has a fluctuating record of profitability. It registered its first ever loss of Rs. 8.57 crore in 1992, made a turnaround in 1993 but again incurred a heavy loss in 1995. In 2000, sales started falling and in 2002 it went into red with an operating loss of Rs. 11.20 crore. The company continued to suffer losses till 2004 before making a profit of 1.85% and 6.18% on sales in 2005 and 2006 respectively. The company possesses a huge capacity with a high fixed cost. To recover the fixed cost, product price has to be kept at high. However the prices of products can not be increased at will due to consumer resistance against price increase. There is stiff competition from the unorganized sector, having the advantage of a low fixed cost setup meeting 60% demand for footwear in the country. These factors lead to underutilization of capaci0 and thereby in fixed cost recovery. For removing the pile of high cost stock, frequently sale at a discount is effected making it more difficult to recover cost. Despite an effort to retain customer loyalty by various innovative marketing strategies and cost reduction measures, the company management seems to be at a loss as to how to reposition itself in a price-sensitive market to bring back profitability on sustained basis.KeywordsCustomer loyalty, Indian footwear industry, Financial performance, Cost recovery
Applied International Business Conference-2008 Labun School of International Business Finance, University of Malaysia Sabah (6th to 8th November-2008)
No full textThe Conference was organized by the Labuan School of International Business and Finance, University of Malaysia Sabah (UMS) at the Grand Dorset Hotel, Labuan, Malaysia. The theme of the conference was "Towards Enhancing International Competitiveness". The conference spanned three days during which 133 research papers were presented in 33 concurrent sessions by academicians belonging to 16 countries including Malaysia, United States, United Kingdom, India, Belgium, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Philippines, Iran, Iraq, Mauritius, Nigeria, Bahrain, and Pakistan. From Pakistan 9 papers were submitted by academicians belonging to International Islamic University, Quaid-e-Azam University, Riphah International University, and PAF Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology. It was heartening to see the participation of Pakistani Universities at an International Conferences
Indian Banks in the Era of Global Financial Crisis - Emerging Challenges and Opportunities
No full textABSTRACTFinancial crisis in US gave the birth to the global financial crisis. These crises have created a fipple in the financial markets worldwide. Fortunately, the Indian financial sector has shown remarkable resilience to these developments. However these developments have led to many challenges for the Indian banking industry. This paper briefly touches upon the emerging challenges and possible solutions which are required to be focused upon by Indian banks in the quest for competitiveness. The study analyzes the parameters like priority sector advances of SCBs, globalization of Indian banks, credit-deposit ratio, movements in non performing assets and the IT index. On the basis of these parameters the study finds some emerging challenges, for example, Indian banking is still distant from 100 percent globalization, technology is also isolated in Indian banks, especially in the public sector, rising priority sector advances have enlarged the NPA's and human resource management is also poor. To face these challenges, this paper suggests some measures like increasing the number of Debt Recovery Tribunals to remove NPAs, products be provided at lower prices to capture market share, banks should adopt the latest technology, and job training should be provided to inefficient bank staff. All the parameters have been analyzed for the periods 2006 and 2007 except the IT index. This is analyzed for the pre-IT and post-IT period. Ratio analysis is used to analyze all the parameters.Keywords- Emerging Challenges, Possible Solutions and Implication
Learning in the Workplace Strategies for effective practice Stephen Billet
No full textStephen Billett, the author of "Learning in the Workplace-Strategies for effective practice" critiques some assumptions shaping current discourses on workplace learning and proposes that these assumptions restrict how workplace learning is conceptualized and discussed. In particular, he focuses on how describing workplace learning environments and experiences as 'informal' and that 'informal learning' occurs in workplaces constrains understanding about how learning occurs through work and, consequently, the development of a workplace pedagogy
MAKING THE ELEPHANT DANCE: CASE STUDY ON MUSTAFA KAMAL AND (CDGK)
No full textMega city status for Karachi would be a hollow slogan if it does not attract investment", is the watch- word for the City District Government Karachi (CDGK). Municipality plays a crucial role in creating the image of a city. Unfortunately, due to bureaucratic culture of these organizations their efficiency and overall effectiveness remain below standard. However, whenever dynamic and sincere leaders take the rein of these organizations, prosperity trickles down to the masses. CDGK is one such model of the recent era, which has spread its wings and literally used a magic wand to transform the city of Karachi. Syed Mustafa Kamal as city nazim during a brief span of three years has been the motivating force in trap forming this semi-autonomous body into an effective and efficient organization. Besides his charismatic personality, Kamal's crystallized vision and his ability to obtain the cooperation from a bureaucratic body could be attributed to his success. Leaders, who are able to lead by personal example, communicate intensely and practice team-work will always motivate others. Political support and transpareng of budgets were also important factors that led to this _phenomenal progress.Keywords: Public sector, city government, Nazim, Annual Development Program, Tameer-e-Karachi, Union councils, municipalit
Coca-Cola India: Losing Its Fizz
No full textAbstractThe Coca-Cola Company, acknowledged as one of the world's most valuable and recognized brands, was the largest nonalcoholic beverage company in the world. It offered a portfolio of sparkling and still beverages in almost 200 countries, starting with Coca-Cola and extending to over 400 soft drinks, juices, teas, coffees, waters, sports and energy drinks in the year 2007. The company had, till date, invested over USA' 1 billion in India and employed over 5000 people, owning 60% of share of the beverage market. The company claimed to adhere to the 'highest ethical standards' and aspired to be an outstanding corporate citizen in every community it served (as stated in the 2006 Corporate Responsibility Review: The Coca-Cola Company). Yet Coca-Cola India was being charged with several indictments for degrading the environment. This case compares and contracts the firm's stated corporate social responsibility (CSR) with the reality of the company's actual practices. The company was being accused of dying up farmers' wells and destroying agricultural land in its pursuit of water resources to feed its own plants. With the campaign against Coca-Cola in India intensifying and catching international attention, the company undertook image building through its multi-million dollar marketing campaigns. The case questions the authenticity of firm's CSR initiatives in the light of its inability to manage the delicate community-business relationship. The case also discusses Corporate Social Responsibility as the extent against which and the way in which an organization needs to be consciously responsible for and accountable for its actions and non-actions and the impact of these on its stakeholders and ultimately the firms' sustainability.Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Community-Business Relationship, Firms' Sustainabilit