Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Business consulting in IT firms: Role of a consultant


Business consulting in IT firms: Role of a consultant


Have you always wondered what kind of work business consultants do in an IT firm?

Are you aware of the different consulting groups in leading IT firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL?

If these questions have been bothering you for a long time and you have no clue about what business consultants do, no issues!

You can easily get a peek into the role of a consultant working as a business consultant in IT firm!


Check out my article published by a leading Indian business blog Trak.in

Here's the link:

http://trak.in/tags/business/2012/07/30/business-consultant-role/



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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Why Chennai Autowallas charge you exorbitantly?



Why Chennai Autowallas charge you exorbitantly?


I was in Chennai for a month. During this time, I used to frequent by Autos.
If you are not aware, the chennai autowallas charge too high in our country.

For 10 kms, you pay around 80 in Mumbai, and around 90 in Delhi.
Whereas you may have to shell minimum 150 in Chennai.

This is a pure game of demand and supply, along with rules and regulations governing autowallas.

In Chennai, public transport is too good and is too cheap. When people have to wait for just 3-5 mins, and have to pay just Rs. 10-12 for 10 kms distance, why would they pay 150 for an Auto !
Also, the city has good number of people with their own vehicles. Most people commute by bikes or by their own cars. Thus, the Auto-wallas are left with almost no passengers !

Its common to observe that whereever volumes are high, prices are low.
In Mumbai, Autowallas are almost always occupied. You will see that there are more people waiting for autos and so there is more demand for autos and less supply. Since volume for autowallas is high, they can afford to travel at low cost. Also, add to it the stringent rules and regulations that are enforced upon them. So the authorities strictly control the auto fares in Mumbai.

In Chennai, the equation is totally opposite. The supply of autos is more and demand is too less. Since volumes are low, autowallas have no option but to charge v high from those who take an auto. Add to this, no strict govt rules and regulations and so the prices are controlled by autowallas (as in they work like a cartel)

As an example, if an autowalla is travelling 200 kms per day in mumbai, charging Rs 8 per km, his revenue is Rs 1600 per day. If an autowalla is travelling 100 kms per day in chennai, to make Rs 1600 revenue, he will have to charge you Rs 16/ km !! which is 2 times that of Mumbai !

So, how has been your experience with Auto-wallas in your city ?
If you enjoyed my article, do subscribe to my blog.

PS: You should say sorry to Chennai autowala if you dared to quote him below Rs 30 (even for 1 km)

Friday, August 12, 2011

Impact of US downgrade on global markets


Guys,


My article on "Impact of US downgrade on global markets" has been published by InvestmentYogi.com.

Here's the link to the article. 

Check it out, below as well:

What we have witnessed in the past few days is the bloodbath in markets across the world. The S&P downgrade of US from AAA to AA+, in my opinion will have a short to medium term impact on the world economy.

Reason is that most economies deal with US for business and if US is hurt, tremors will be across the world (butterfly effect). An example is IT industry. With downgrade, US will get less fund flow, and so the organizations will find it difficult to raise money and so this will impact their capacity to implement IT solutions. This way, they will cut down on IT spending, thus hurting IT vendors across the world.



But when we look at emerging economies like India and China, they have too much domestic consumption, so even if these countries are hit on exports, they will make it out on domestic consumption. So, In my view emerging economies will have only short to medium term impact due to this downgrade.

Investors across the world will now move to safe haven like gold and other metals and so the prices of these commodities will definitely rise as more investment flows in these asset classes.
There is definitely a cause of concern for economies which are heavily dependent on US for exports. For example- Japan, which exports around 16% of its total exports to US; and Taiwan, which exports around 10% of its total exports to US. Such export driven economies which have high dependency on US will have to look at measures to reduce their exposure to US by diversifying their exports and by making domestic consumption better.

China, followed by Japan, is the highest holder of US treasury securities, which means that these countries will have a huge concern over the downgrade of treasury.

So overall, China will be hit by its huge accumulation of US treasury securities; but will be protected by it's huge domestic consumption.

In the long run, I feel that the BRIC nations will be less affected compared to other economies. There is definitely impact on shares of Indian corporate, but this also offers an opportunity to buy blue chip stocks at throw-away prices. One should look for investment in those companies which have strong fundamentals and whose stocks are available at low prices and go for long term investment in such companies. 

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Saturday, May 21, 2011

Recent developments & business opportunities in Indian financial markets

Dear Friends,


Good news !

My article on "Recent developments and business opportunities in Indian financial markets"- has been published by CoolAvenues.com

Here's the link for the article:

I have covered the recent developments in Indian financial markets and the business opportunities that one can avail in this space.

Please read the article [ http://bit.ly/jSEBr3] and I would be thankful for your comments and feedback.


Have a good weekend and do subscribe my blog via email to keep receiving regular updates.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Can less liquidity on an exchange be beneficial ?

Well friends, I am one of those who believes that more the liquidity on an exchange- better it is for the exchange. It helps get more business, more volumes and thus more revenues for an exchange- in terms of getting more transaction tax - if more volumes.

But, can an exchange benefit if the liquidity is too less ?

Naturally, by common sense - one would say that less liquidity is killer for an exchange. But there can be some circumstances where it can be asset.


Let us look at one such circumstance.

Let us suppose we have 2 exchanges. On first one (A) - we have huge liquidity- almost 90% liquidity. Remaining 10% is with exchange (B).

Now, if 2 parties have to do a block trade - which one would be a better place to do it ?
Well, it will not be A, but rather the exchange B. The reason is as follows -

On exchange B, since the liquidity is less, the prices would not move fast- so an intermediary involved in block trade would sell stocks for one party and simultaneously buy stocks for another party. Since exchange B is not so liquid, the intermediary can protect prices for the 2 parties involved in block trade and would be in a better position in getting the buy and sell prices for these 2 parties.


Now, what would have happened had we done this on exchange A:

Since A is highly liquid (90%) and so the bid- ask spread are very tight, it would mean that if a huge buy order is placed, it would be absorbed very quickly from ASK side and similarly if a sell order is placed, again it would be absorbed very quickly from BID side. So movement will be very quick as liquidity is high on both bid and ask side. So, problem is that - for an intermediary, as soon as he buys it, there may be someone on other side who comes and sell all its stock at a very huge price and so the intermediary may suffer losses. And so conducting a block trade can become a challenge because your average buy may not match up very well with your average sell price.


Such a condition would have very less chances to arrive at exchange B- reason being that due to less liquidity, spreads would be far and there would be less players trying to game this exchange. So if intermediary is buying a huge stock, it would have less chances to get someone who sells a huge stock. So on a less liquid exchange, intermediary can buy for one party and simultaneously sell for another party and very well ensure that these trades match up and so the two parties can do block trade with quite stable prices while using an intermediary.

This way the buy and sell prices can be somewhat protected and we can do a much better block trade compared to exchange A.


I hope I have made my point. Any comments in this regard are appreciated.


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Monday, May 9, 2011

How to clear Bloomberg Aptitude Test [BAT] ?


Do you know what BAT is ?




Well it is Bloomberg aptitude test.

So what does this test contains? And what benefits will you get if you pass this test ?

I definitely feel that this test is a value addition to you. For 2 reasons:

1. It adds value to your profile and potential recruiters would know that you are serious about making a career in financial markets.

2. When you study for this test, you will learn many areas that are covered in this test.


Well, friends, here are my experiences while appearing for the Bloomberg test:

1. I found the test easy as most things were already covered during my MBA program- so if you are in midst of your MBA, its a big plus for you.

2. Following were the key areas from where the questions were asked:

Economics
Financial Statement Reporting and Analysis
Valuation
Investment Banking - Corporate Finance and Financial Advisory
Investment Banking - Capital Markets Issuance / Syndication
Global Markets
Investment Management
Verbal Skills
Math Skills
Situational Judgment
Ethical Reasoning
Tasks

So friends, what are you waiting for?
If you want to add value to yourself, do check out the Bloomberg aptitude test !


I have collected the following links to help you with your preparation for BAT -






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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Games2Win creates controversy on facebook by creating a 'Kill Osama' game

Games2Win.com creates controversy by creating a 'Kill Osama' game

We all know that Osama died a few days ago ! Today, I came across an interesting game and what's more interesting is the response that this game has received.
Games2Win has created a game which has created a controversy on facebook and has not been taken up very well by the facebook users.

For me what's interesting is the way this game has been taken up by the people.
Response for this game has been overwhelming !


The game begins by locating Osama and then shooting him. Once he is shot dead, the player can cut his throat by drawing the knife on the neck and cutting the neck slowly.
Then the game shows that the blood is flowing from the neck of Osama and he dies.

The first comment on facebook (after Mr Alok Kejriwal- founder of Games2Win - declared that his game has been created) is as follows :-

"Holy God!!! are we really this sadist???"


I certainly agree with this comment and feel that this may not have good impact on value system of any human being.

Since games are meant for relaxation of mind and are very well taken up by children and by society, such a game which shows blood and slow killing would definitely
have a negative impact on those who play it.

Though Osama was responsible for death of innumerable people and what finally happened to him is right - in the sense that he got the punishment for wrong doing. But
again as per humanitarian grounds - his killing would not be right as human nature is that of care and of protection and natural death is the proper way of leaving the world.
Since Osama did acts which were beyond the imagination and he killed so many people, his killing is a relief for the world and is not taken up by human rights activists.

Now, coming again to the game. Here are some more comments on this game. Please read the following:

"Well....not sure if I will want to play it..maybe Great Execution.....but Sick idea.... "


"Awesomely cool. Who was the sick mind who came up with this ?"

"The knifing part is really gory"

"cudnt cut down the neck..........thatz y I didnt like it"

"In very poor taste :("

"the idea to it becoming a game... not ok"

"I feel like this has the potential to negatively impact the brand. Killing, or capital punishment etc are sensitive issues. Majority of the developed nations have eradicated capital punishment anyways (US excluded). This is very much against the basic instinct of human beings,which is to protect, care etc. But you maybe able to get away with this one as this is guy is the worst possible human being since world war 2. Overall a thumbs down from me:) "

"Nothing has changed. This game is just the shoe on the other foot. Osama killed 1000s, the US through its policies has killed at least 10x that amount. Nearly every government is guilty of that at some point in its history or future. This is nothing to do with Osama being a bad guy. When we strip away the sanctimonious bullshit it boils down to this: we just need a legit outlet to indulge in our blood lust and glory in it. The same emotion that charges a WWF ringside cheers and jeers. This game feeds off that blood lust."


Finally, I feel Alok is in dilemma about the way this game has been taken up by the community.

Anyway, my question to my readers is:
What you feel about such a game?

Do you like such games or you feel that such games are sick and sadistic ?