ABCs of costing at SPJIMR

B-School Beat

The session with him exposed students to the technicalities of activity-based costing (ABC) "" an improvement over the traditional methods of "overhead-allocation" costing.

Cokins explained how ABC data enhances the total cost of ownership (TCO) measure by revealing hidden costs and allowing them to be assigned to each vendor; ABC then re-assigns those costs into the purchased items, combining them with the purchased price "" hence the TCO.

ABC also gives management useful hints in reducing activity costs and also answers an important question "" "How am I doing on what is important" "" for employees.

The balance scorecard tells employees how effectively their time is being spent on activities which are identified as strategic with respect to the profit drivers.

Throughout the session, Cokins' modesty stood as strongly as his understanding of his subject. "There are no experts anymore, I am merely proficient at what I do," he said.

Food for marketing thought

Pune's Symbiosis Institute of Business Management has organised a two-day workshop of marketing and advertising as a tribute to the grand old man of Indian marketing, Shunu Sen.

Sen, who died some months ago, was the brains behind some of the most successful marketing campaigns in India, including Lalitaji of Surf and the Bikini Girl of Liril.

"Learning the Ropes" will be held in Mumbai on September 3 and 4, 2003. The meet will focus on brand strategies, marketing mantras, current trends and consumer insights. Some of the best known names of Indian marketing and advertising will be on hand to participate in and lead the discussions.

The list includes Alyque Padamsee (former creative director at Lowe), Suhel Seth (CEO, Equus Red Cell), Tarun Rai (senior vice president and general manager, J Walter Thompson), Vikram Kaushik (country marketing head, Colgate-Palmolive India), Rahul Malhotra (country marketing head, Procter & Gamble) and Tarun Katial (senior vice-president, programming, Star TV).

Over two days, six brand modules will be presented. "The Panchatantra of Shunu" is a behind-the-scenes look at some of Sen's work. "Branding: the trinity, the creation, the preservation and the destruction" is about the branding strategies of some of the leaders of Indian industry. "Consumer: our core competence" will look at ways to tap into some key consumer insights.

"Breakthrough branding" is an indepth analysis of brand identity and equity. "Integrated marketing: the industry's knight in shining armour?" will look at the latest buzz in the advertising world and how creative business ideas can be applied as solutions to marketing problems. "Battle of the percentages" will be a panel discussion.

TISS is talking business

The department of personnel management and industrial relations (PM & IR) at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai is organising its annual business seminar, Manthan on September 5 and 6, 2003.

The seminar is aimed at providing a pulpit for present day practicing people managers to share their ideas, work experiences, expertise, and thoughts for progress in business and for understanding the ethos and ethics that a manager deals with.

With the theme of "Charting a cosmos out of chaos "" Exploring alternatives to unleash business potential", Manthan 2003, proposes to explore alternatives adopted by organisations in their quest for business excellence.

A number of sessions will be addressed on: Reaping the business dividend through employee diversity, by Sunil Durrani, head, HR, Procter & Gamble, Indonesia, ASEAN, Australia; E-enabling human capital optimisation by Shovon Mukherjee, business consulting services, IBM Global Services; linking compensation to value creation "" the EVA way by Anil Divedi, VP, Stern Stewart & Co; driving organisational effectiveness through the human factor by Matangi Gowrishanker, VP, organisation effectiveness, CUMMINS Engines Company India Ltd and Six Sigma in HR by Anil Nanduru, Asst. VP, GE Capital Information Services.

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