The ‘Old Favorites’ page includes some of my old favorite posts. These are tough to select! Posts that are included are not necessarily the ones that have the highest readership.
50 ways in which Pune has changed over the past 15 years (Parts 1 & 2)
This article discusses my observations about how significantly Pune has changed over the past 10-15 years…and yet some things still remain the same.
Having lived outside Pune for nearly 13 years from 1994-2007, these changes really standout from my perspective. Maybe people who have been around Pune all through this period won’t think too much about them. It’s typical human nature, that if you live through something, it doesn’t appeal as much as if you were transported back to that place after a big gap of time. [Read More, Click Here]
An Insider’s View Into Consumer Goods Supply Chain
I recently wrote an article for PuneTech on the inner workings of a consumer goods supply chain, and how various business processes and software solutions work in concert in dealing with various challenges.
This is a story of ‘Star Glucose Biscuits’, an iconic brand manufactured by Star Biscuits India. The story starts off with a packet of ‘Star Glucose Biscuits’ in ‘SuperMart’ on FC Road in Pune, and traces the journey from the factory through the supply chain to the store. Various real world business challenges are thrown into the mix, as we see if the biscuits reach the customer in time for special T20 World Cup Promotion. [Read More, Click Here]
Demise Of The Big 3: How Detroit Icons Lost Their Way Over The Past 3 Decades
A lot has been written about the Big 3 bailout. Majority of the articles published thus far talk about all the current problems that are faced by Detroit. Relatively few have discussed how they got here in the first place. I thought I will add my 2 cents to this angle.
“You bailed out the Financial Institutions to the tune of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars! All we are asking for is a fraction!” This seems to be general line of lobbying (pleading is probably a more appropriate word…) that the Big-3 automakers are taking to the Congress. This, coupled with the specter of 3 Million direct and indirect job losses, is creating an apparently ’strong’ case for them. [Read More, Click Here]
Random Thoughts – A New ‘Wall Street’ Trilogy?
Oliver Stone’s ‘Wall Street’ made in 1987, starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen is one of my all time favorite movies. Who can forget the one and only ‘Gordon Gekko’?!
I was not following the financial markets back in 1987, and hence cannot relate first hand to that period. Still the way this movie captures the core human emotions; especially ‘Greed’ that transcends across generations, and multiple financial crises, is extremely revealing. And Michael Douglas is fantastic. I am surprised that a blockbuster sequel (or a set of sequels) has not been launched since. [Read More, Click Here]
The Illiterate 21st Century Consumer
In the 20th century, illiteracy was something that was thought to be primarily confined to the developing world. Literacy was very simplistically defined as the ability to read and write. By this definition, nearly 100% of the developed world and an ever growing percentage of the developing world would be termed ‘literate’. In the developing world, it is often repeated over and over that one of the primary root causes of all the social, political and economic problems is lack of literacy. However, now that we are turning ‘literate’, are we really resolving these issues? I would like to argue that merely reading and writing doesn’t constitute true literacy. To be literate, one needs to really understand one’s world that we live in. Today, there are ever increasing tools of knowledge and information. Yet real knowledge is seen to be sorely lacking. [Read More, Click Here]
