Strategic tools for the practising manager

KIT

This week: Home furnishings market in India

The urban home furnishings retail market in India is estimated to be Rs 9,300 crore ($2.3 billion).

The market is expected to reach Rs 20,000 crore by 2012.

The institutional home furnishings market in India is estimated to be Rs 530 crore and is expected to reach Rs 1,000 crore by 2012.

Bed and bath contribute to two-thirds of the market (Rs 6,600 crore).

The curtain and upholstery market is currently estimated to be Rs 2,000 crore.

Only 6 per cent of the home furnishings market is currently organised. Most of the organised players focus on bed and bath.

Selections from management journals
NUGGETS

Tune into The Apprentice, and you get an all-too-common view of business. Every week, the contestants try to impress Donald Trump by preening, cajoling and conniving.

In this world, toughness is the measure of every CEO, and the boss glories in firing people and squeezing every penny out of suppliers.

Yet according to John Zhang and Jagmohan Raju, both Wharton marketing professors, and Tony Haitao Cui from the University of Minnesota, many people aren't purely mercenary in their business dealings. They care about fairness "" and they should, the researchers say, because doing so can maximise their profits.

In the game of business, playing fair can actually lead to greater profits
Knowledge@Wharton
March 13, 2008
Read this article at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/

The term "emerging markets" is now more than 25 years old and has come to define wide swathes of the world undergoing rapid economic change. Dozens of countries fall under the label even though they are evolving at their own pace and with their own twists on economic development.

Now, as many emerging markets show signs of a strong and growing middle-class population, observers wonder whether the term has lost some of its meaning. What qualifies a country as "emerging"? While some say measures based on income or other statistics are critical factors, others place an increasing emphasis on the way business is conducted, with rules that are transparent and apply equally to all participants.

When are emerging markets no longer 'emerging'?
Knowledge@Wharton,
March 05, 2008
Read this article at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/

In recent years, the CFO's role has become increasingly complex, with new responsibilities, such as direct accountability for corporate performance.

To help new CFOs better understand how to balance the multiple (and often competing) demands of their challenging role, McKinsey surveyed and interviewed current CFOs of many different tenures. While no consensus emerged on what every new CFO should do, these executives shared valuable lessons that shed light on what it takes to succeed in the role""and identified activities that ought to make the short list of nearly all new CFOs.

Starting up as CFO
McKinsey Quarterly,
March 2008
Read this article at www.mckinseyquarterly.com