Category Archives: Business

Where Will the Good Jobs Come From

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Basab Pradhan

Yglesias rebuts Ed Luce in the FT. First, Ed Luce: …a paradigm that has outlived its usefulness – the view that globalisation is an unmixed blessing for the US economy, and that America’s disappearing manufacturing jobs will be replaced by … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Economics | 6 Comments

Consumer Electronics Packaging and Wrap Rage

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Basab Pradhan

New York Times has an article about amazon.com’s battle against consumer “Wrap Rage” – the frustrating experience of unpacking stuff that you buy from them. I have long been amazed at how stupid packaging has gotten, especially for small electronic … Continue reading →

Posted in Business | 3 Comments

IT Services Companies Should Empower Middle Management

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Basab Pradhan

Last week was quite eventful in the “Workshop of the World”. Foxconn, a Chinese manufacturer for companies such as Apple, Dell and HP, gave a 20% ad hoc raise to its workers after as many as ten suicides which called … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Offshore Services | 11 Comments

IPL on YouTube

Posted on May 17, 2010 by Basab Pradhan

From the FT today Mr Walk said a recent Indian Premier League cricket series had notched up 55m views on YouTube – more in the US than in India – and it found a market for Bollywood in Estonia by … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, India | Comments Off

Employees Vote Apotheker Out of SAP

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Basab Pradhan

There are several interesting things about the change of guard at SAP. That Leo Apotheker resigned, (or his contract was not renewed) is hardly unique. But for the Chairman Hasso Plattner, to actually apologize to customers, and take some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Business | 4 Comments

Piracy Pulling Down Music Sales

Posted on January 23, 2010 by Basab Pradhan

The FT reports that 95% of digital music downloads are illegal. The RIAA has tried many things, including taking college kids to court. Nothing works. To my mind, piracy of music: 1. Is inversely related to the chances of getting … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Information Products | 8 Comments

Management Consulting in India

Posted on January 20, 2010 by Basab Pradhan

A new research paper Management Matters: Evidence from India suggests that the average Indian company can be improved significantly with the help of modern business practices. The study involved offering free consulting to a set of mid sized companies in … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, India | 8 Comments

Google and Free Speech

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Basab Pradhan

Google issued a statement alleging that agents acting on behalf of China had tried to hack into certain corporate networks, including Google’s and the Gmail accounts of Chinese dissidents. They also announced that they would no longer censor search results … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Technology | 3 Comments

Coevolution in Telemarketing

Posted on December 5, 2009 by Basab Pradhan

Coevolution in species (predator-prey, for example) is a commonly occurring phenomenon. The same thing, loosely, can apply to many other things like criminal behavior and how it coevolves with law enforcement techniques. An interesting place where you see coevolution at … Continue reading →

Posted in Business | 1 Comment

Here’s How You Manage Healthcare Costs

Posted on November 21, 2009 by Basab Pradhan

There is a terrific piece in the WSJ today about Narayana Hrudalaya and Dr. Devi Shetty called The Henry Ford of Heart Surgery. Narayana Hrudalaya has successfully “mass produced” heart surgery, in the process reducing its price by an order … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Economics | 2 Comments