| India is one of the biggest retail markets with a current market size of $258 billion. It is projected to reach $415 billion by 2010 and cross $600 billion by 2015. |
| India's private consumption share of GDP is 64 per cent, which is higher than that of Europe (58 per cent), Japan (55 per cent) and China (42 per cent). |
| The rural market accounts for about 60 per cent of the total retail market. |
| The retail market in India is also highly concentrated in the top 20-25 cities. Roughly 70 per cent of the country's high income households are located in these cities. |
| The top 24 cities (AAA, AA and A), with about 32 per cent of the urban population, contribute to about half of the total urban market, and the top 119 (AAA, AA, A and B) cities, with about 51 per cent of the population, contribute to about 72 per cent. |
| The food and grocery (F&G) market in India is estimated at $168 billion, thereby constituting 65 per cent of the total retail market. |
| The organised F&G segment stands at $1 billion, making up 13 per cent of the total organised retail market. However, organised F&G retail accounts for a mere 0.6 per cent of the total F&G segment in the country. |
| The overall F&G market is expected to grow at 8 per cent over the next few years. |
| Selections from management journals NUGGETS |
| Many manufacturers already have established product development activities in different countries around the world. As a rule, the current approach includes colocation of cross-functional teams to foster close collaboration among engineering, marketing, manufacturing and supply-chain functions. The results to date "" better product designs, faster time to market and lower-cost production "" have been satisfactory. |
| However, growth and innovation can now be much more effective if manufacturers tie their decentralised development organisations into a cohesive, unified global product development (GPD) operation. |
| In this article, the authors introduce new empirical frameworks to guide managers toward such practices. Citing exemplars such as Hewlett-Packard, Eastman Kodak, Hyundai Motors, Haier and so on, the authors explain why GPD has come of age and demonstrate a three-stage approach that puts product development in the context of a company's relationships with outside partners. The article draws from extensive interviews with engineering managers at more than 100 companies in 15 countries. |
| Subscribe to this article at http://sloanreview.mit.edu/ |
| The new practice of global product development By Steven D Eppinger and Anil R Chitkara MIT Sloan Management Review Summer 2006, Vol. 47, No. 4 |
| If your salespeople aren't sure who their boss is "" the district manager, the regional manager or the customer "" it could be a sign that your company's sales force controls are working at cross-purposes and that your sales function is in trouble. |
| Sales force controls are the policies and practices that govern the way you train, supervise, motivate, and evaluate your sales staff. When sales force controls aren't aligned, individuals become discouraged and unproductive, and they eventually leave the company. |
| The authors' research suggests there are significant differences between the control systems of companies that encourage salespeople to put the customer first "" outcome control (OC) systems "" and those that encourage reps to put their managers first "" behaviour control (BC) systems. |
| In this article, the authors list the characteristics of OC and BC systems, describe the potential fallout from conflicts within these systems, and explain how you can tell which control system is appropriate for your organisation. |
| Subscribe to this article at www.hbr.com |
| How right should the customer be? By Erin Anderson and Vincent Onyemah Harvard Business Review July 2006 Issue |
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