Strategic tools for the practising manager

KIT

The global jeans market was worth Rs 2,210 billion in 2004 and is expected to rise to Rs 2,400 billion by 2012. The Indian jeans wear market is estimated at Rs 17 billion at present and is growing at 12-15 per cent a year.

The Indian jeans wear market is estimated to stand at 50 million pairs annually. This cuts across all income segments. About 80 per cent of jeans sold in India are sold to people aged between 15 to 24 years, and there is a clear male bias (90 per cent).

Broadly, the jeans market in India can be classified into the upmarket premium segment, mid-market and the economy section.

The upmarket premium segment consists of international brands like Lee, Lee Cooper, Levi's, Pepe and Wrangler. It is the smallest segment (approximately 20 per cent by value, and 4 per cent by volume) and is growing at about 30 per cent a year.

The mid-market segment consists of better-known Indian brands like Flying Machine and Killer. It accounts for 35 per cent by value and 25 per cent by volume, and is growing at 30 per cent a year.

The economy segment is by far the largest: 53 per cent by value and 71 per cent by volume. It is also the fastest growing, and includes brands like Newport and Ruf N Tuf.

Selections from management journals
NUGGETS

Companies that understand the value of talented people in generating brands, reputations and other intangibles often spend considerable time recruiting such workers but drop the ball in providing them with opportunities to develop and grow.

In large, hierarchical and silo-based organisations, managers have difficulty finding talented people for new roles and employees face barriers trying to find new development opportunities. This problem weakens efforts to build knowledge and assets across a broad swath of a company.

Some progressive companies have set up talent markets where talented people can negotiate job transfers, obtain development opportunities more easily, build networks, and develop intangible assets. Talent markets have special characteristics for pricing, protocols, and disclosures. These must be established if the market is to function effectively.

Read this article at http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com

Death came swiftly to Kepler's Books & Magazines in Menlo Park, California "" so swiftly that the word of its closing down, sent the entire community into shock.

When customers showed up on a morning in August 2005, they found a brief note from the owner taped to the glass, "The decision to close our doors has been one of the most difficult in my life. As much as we love what we do and would like to continue another 50 years, we simply cannot. The economic downturn since 2001 has proven to be more than we can rebound from."

A customer for eight years, Rick Opaterny was depressed at the thought of never stopping by Kepler's again. Hoping to find other people who were sad about Kepler's demise, he decided to start a website. The following day, he went by the store and put up a sign announcing the site.

Two days later, The New York Times ran an article about the closing and noted the stirrings of a movement to revive Kepler's, complete with a website: www.savekeplers.com.

In the first week, the site received more than 20,000 hits. Opaterny began getting as many as 150 e-mails a day, and not only from around the Bay Area.

He heard from people in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, even India "" people who knew the history of the store, or who had gone to school in the area, or who had worked in Silicon Valley at some point. They all wanted to help save Kepler's. Within days, the store was getting ready for a reopening.

Read the complete article at http://www.inc.com/magazine