Moonlighting

If moonlighting by any employee in anyway compromises with his/her full-time employer's interests, then does it make sense to be acceptable to the latter? Surely, the answer would be an unequivocal NO.

On the other hand, if it does not compromise with the full-time employer's interests in any way whatsoever, then it's only prudent for the employee to take his/her Bosses into confidence, before getting into it.

Yes, times may have changed, and the 'employer-employee' relationship too may have undergone changes in varying proportions, depending on the culture of the organization.

But one aspect will never ever change, and that is, the element of 'trust' as the edifice of such a relationship.

Rate increases by US Fed

If the US Federal Reserve is bent upon making sizeable rate increases until they regain control of inflation, and even if it means risking a recession for the US Economy, then are they prepared to tackle the recessionary trends in the US Economy, should their aggressive rate hikes actually result in the same? Would they again resort to monetary easing to revive the economy followed by aggressive rate hikes later on?

That their aggressive rate hikes are leading to strengthening of the US Dollar vis-a-vis other currencies in different proportions, depending upon the state of the respective economies, thereby leading to flight of capital to the US and other consequences, should be a matter of concern not only to the central bankers across the world, but also to the IMF in particular. The latter may have to bail out so many troubled economies in the foreseeable future, all due to the fallouts of such measures of the US Fed.

If the key issue is to tackle inflation to bring it to "tolerable" levels, then all the central bankers especially in the emerging economies, need to form an informal group to deliberate upon the new definition of such "tolerable" limits, taking into account other macro-economic scenarios in their respective economies. Besides, they need to deliberate upon some out-of-the-box solutions to address inflation, without risking the highly avoidable side effects of recession. Perhaps, reducing dependence of US Dollars, and giving very lucrative sops for attracting Foreign Direct Investments could be part of the solutions.

It's here that our RBI could take a lead, by forming such an informal group. IMF should be an enthusiastic member of such a group for obvious reasons.

Rejuvenating Indian Film Industry

Some years back, at a social get-together, I met one of the top film makers of Bollywood. He revealed that in quite a few cases, when a film is first conceptualized by way of a script, it is something else. Then, before the shooting even begins, it undergoes some changes to meet the requirements of some important stakeholders, and then during shooting there are again some other changes, and finally when it is released there are yet some more changes.

Assuming this to be an authentic information, I wonder if it's indeed a miracle that such films do well.

Media is indeed buzz with thoughts regarding ways to revive the glorious days of Bollywood in particular, and Indian film industry in general.

While our films today may have made quantum leaps in technical aspects as compared to what prevailed decades ago, yet they do seem to be sorely lacking in great storylines, glamour quotient, soul stirring lyrics and music etc as compared to what we got decades back. It's no surprise that in quite a few singing reality shows, kids prefer singing some chartbusters of yesteryears, perhaps when their parents were toddlers or yet to be born.

Top stars do have all the right to demand astronomical fees, if they are indeed so confident that it's they who can drive masses to the movie halls by themselves. But they would do well to realize for their own survival, that it's the overall ecosystem involved in a film production, that accounts for their success.

Going by the massive success of some films made in south of Vindhyas in the north of Vindhyas, besides in some key overseas markets, it's now time for a pan-India Film Association to take root, to rework the entire business model to revive that golden era.

This should also include strategies such as - talent scouting, storylines, minimal or preferably nil changes after a script is finalized, profit-sharing instead of astronomical fees paid upfront, and above all time bound completion of films etc.

RIL's acquisition of Campa Cola

By acquiring 'Campa Cola' for a highly bargain price of Rs. 22 crores, has the energy-to-telecom and now to FMCG conglomerate 'Reliance Industries', managed to disrupt the concept of 'core competence', or the jury is still out?

Well, having some memories of 'Campa Cola' going back by four decades, must admit that my preference those days was tilted towards it's key competitor - 'Thums Up', mainly due to latter's taste. Their highly entertaining commercials served only one purpose for me, and that was entertainment, and nothing more.

Now, to take on giants like Coke and Pepsi in the aerated drinks segment, RIL should not stick to Campa's old formulations, but invest in R&D to 'attack' these giants with 'arsenals' involving - price, taste, and above all, health and hygiene which have become the buzzwords in the post pandemic world.

That Coke and Pepsi too would be already gearing up their respective 'war rooms', to be prepared for their new 'battleground', is anyone's guess.

Till the jury on RIL's latest move is out, we can be reasonably sure that they are well on their way to disrupt the concept of 'core competence'.

Some ideas for a transformative agenda by leading hospital chains

Some such ideas could include:

1. Exploring strategic tie-ups with 'A class' commercial buildings, MNCs, co-working spaces, 5-star hotels etc. for safety audits of their workplaces, with specific focus on sanitation and hygiene, which are now paramount in the post Covid era. Opportunities to promote other healthcare related offerings by such hospital chains, to such entities would be substantial,
 
2. Leveraging expertise to enable corporates ensure a pro-active approach to overall wellness – both physical as well as mental, of their team members, thereby boosting their morale and productivity levels. Besides various features of such healthcare management program, options like team members undertaking strenuous activities need to undergo specific tests periodically, which should be notified via SMS or Whatsapp, without them having to take the trouble of reaching out to book appointments etc. Also those exhibiting symptoms of undue mental stress due to various reasons, could undergo right counselling by such hospital’s team.

Detailed reports of such tests and counselling with suggested correctives, to be shared with the respective HR Heads for the necessary action at their end,
 
 3. “With You, Anywhere, Everywhere” offering. Any member travelling to any city can avail the services of that hospital chain if it is present in that city, and without having to carry bulky medical records with him/her. A chip-enabled card which has the entire medical history can be introduced for such members so enrolled, and
 
4. Conceptualizing “With You For Life” offering, whereby such hospital chain, remains the preferred health partner for every member enrolled in the same. Babies born in such a hospital could be automatically enrolled in this scheme, to get free medical attention for the first five years and so on. A nominal amount could be charged to the parents of such new-born babies as a premium for such a scheme, and the same could be passed on to the partner insurance company which will then reimburse the cost of any treatment for such new-born babies till they attain the age of five. Going further, this premium can be revised and repaid by his/her parents to ensure free treatment of their child till he/she attains X age, and so on. While such a hospital chain will get life time patrons from such a scheme, the partner insurance companies will also get life time policy holders.  And all this without much effort.
     
And so on….

Reimagining the Movie Exhibition Business

It’s time to re-imagine the key channel of movie exhibition business, which are the movie halls.

This is essential to motivate the movie lovers to prefer the ‘big screen’, instead of watching the same content on the OTT platforms or YouTube, and within the comfort of their homes. Of course, assumption being that the quality of the movies are worth a visit to the movie halls.

Besides, our smartphones and more specifically, the ‘forwards’ in our WhatsApp chats, have become a kind of addiction to most of us, and have the potential to keep most of us away from the movie halls.

Some broad ideas for leading players in the movie exhibition business, and having screens in multiple cities could be:

1.Conceptualizing a guest culture in their movie halls for all the visiting patrons, by ensuring a warm welcome to each patron upon arrival, service with a smile during snack-breaks, and then a warm send-off post the show,

2. Creating an entertainment ecosystem by exploring strategic alliances with establishments such as - some reputed restaurants, hotel chains etc for mutual cross-selling of offerings to the visiting patrons,

3. Conceptualizing gift cards, which would also have special offerings from the participating establishments of the entertainment ecosystem. Assuming an attractive entertainment ecosystem in place as conceptualized above, every visiting patron would gain more than just few hours of entertainment in the movie hall, by reaping benefits extended by participating establishments in the ecosystem,

4. Positioning such gift cards as unique stress busters with various add-on features, and marketing of the same by such players in movie exhibition business to entities such as - 'A class' commercial buildings, MNCs, co-working spaces, 5-star hotels etc for their employees/clientele. While steadily increasing the number of their loyal patrons, such gift cards would also benefit the participating entities through better loyalty and productivity from their employees/customers,

5. Identifying loyal patrons city wise, and working out Privileges cards for them, which would entitle them to discounted movie tickets in such the movie halls of such leading players in other cities as well, as and when such loyal patrons travel to those cities. They would also be entitled to benefits being extended by the establishments, which are part of the entertainment ecosystem in those cities, and

6. Enable feedbacks on the movies being screened from the patrons via an app/website, which can be collated and shared with those producers/directors. Each feedback needs to be duly acknowledged, and valuable ideas to be given due recognition, say by way of a poster of that patron in a movie hall in the city where that patron is based. Furthermore, such producers/directors could make use of such feedbacks in their next production.

And so on..

Back-to-office strategy

Those CEOs who wish to see their respective colleagues back-in-office, should first revisit their respective "Employee Value Propositions", jointly with their respective functional heads.

They need to emphasize to all their colleagues down the hierarchy, that each one of them is a highly valuable resource, and all efforts would be made to ensure a warm welcome back-to-office, besides ensuring a memorable work environment.

Needless to add, such caring attitudes by the senior management need to be convincingly demonstrated, not only by the respective HR Heads, but also by each Functional Head under the able guidance of their respective CEOs.