PTI Nooyi stays top in female CEOs' pay hike
New Delhi: Chief executive officers heading America's 500 largest firms have taken a beating on their paychecks for the first time in five years, but the 13 female members of this elite club, headed by India-born chief of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi, have a reason to smile with a trend-defying hike.
More India business stories | Get the latest Sensex update
According to the data compiled by US business magazine Forbes, CEOs of the 500 largest companies in US saw their compensation dwindle by an average 15 per cent in 2007, but the 13 female CEOs saw their pay jump by an average 27 per cent.
But despite the hike, the average salary of female CEOs is still just about half of the overall average.
"The average take, including salary and bonuses, for all 500 CEOs was $12.8 million, double the female average of $6.5 million," Forbes said.
The fall in the total CEO compensation for these firms is the first since 2002 and comes after a 'juicy 38 per cent collective pay increase in 2006,' Forbes said.
Forbes has named PepsiCo chief Nooyi as the top-paid female CEO in the United States with a $12.7 million pay packet.
Nooyi, who has been named as the fifth most powerful woman in the world, is ranked 139th in terms of CEO pay for the 500 top companies in the US, as per Forbes.
Forbes said Nooyi's total compensation was just one-fourteenth that of the highest-paid man on the list, Oracle's Larry Ellison, who took home a modest $1 million in salary, but realised $182 million from the exercise of vested stock options last year.
While noting that a wide gap still remains between the salaries of male and female CEOs, Forbes said compensation experts suggest that the ranks of women CEOs would "continue to expand as more large companies look to boost diversity among senior-level management."
Catalyst, an organisation promoting women in business, said last week that the number of women officers tend to grow higher in firms having larger number of female directors.
In an earlier study, Catalyst had found that Fortune 500 companies with the largest representation of women directors and corporate officers achieve higher financial performance.
According to Catalyst president Ilene H Lang, "Women leaders are role models to early and mid- career women and, simply by being there at the top, encourage pipeline women to aspire to senior positions." The report found that increasing the number of women on corporate boards is important for both financial performance and gender diversity in the corporate officer ranks. Catalyst said the number of women in leadership roles in Fortune 500 firms have grown considerably in about past 10 years, but the progress has stalled in past two years.
Nooyi is followed by Avon Products' Andrea Jung in the Forbes list of top-paid female CEOs with a total compensation of $12 million. Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy is third with $11 million, followed by Reynolds American's Susan Ivey ($7.2 million) and Western Union's Christina Gold ($5.7 million).
More India business stories | Get the latest Sensex update
Others in this 13-member club include TJX Cos' Carol M Meyrowitz ($5.7 million), Sara Lee's Brenda C Barnes ($5.1 million), Phoenix Companies' Dona D Young ($4.7 million), Kraft Foods' Irene B Rosenfeld ($4.4 million), WellPoint's Angela F Braly ($4.1 million), Archer Daniels' Patricia A Woertz ($4.1 million), Safeco's Paula Rosput Reynolds ($4 million), Rite Aid's Mary F Sammons ($3.1 million).
More Headlines Most Viewed ‘Tata Motors electric Indica will be at affordable price’ Is direct investment better than index funds? 'High interest rates will not last more than 6-9 months' Strike an investment bond! FMCGs: Price hikes, forward purchases save the day //////////////////////////,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,………’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ K K Birla, noted industrialist and former Rajya Sabha member died on August 30, 2008 at his residence - Birla Park - after a brief illness...... Doyen who left his own stamp Companies such as Texmaco, Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals and Zuari More Specials Industries were set up by KK Birla himself • Tata's Nano plant in 'big' trouble ...... A titan of Indian industry • Dr Ratan Tata Legendary industrialist Krishna Kumar • Indra Nooyi Birla was a man of many facets, with an equal passion for not just expanding his • Axe the tax well-known and much respected ...... • iPhone mania: Part II K.K. Birla's will Most of Birla's business empire was • Bill Gates logs out... distributed among his three daughters - • Exclusive: Inside Hyundai Nandini Nopany, Shobhana Bhartia and Jyoti Poddar ...... K K Babu inherited a legacy Krishna Kumar Birla, popularly known as K K Babu, was a builder of modern institutions ......
Tatas shut down Singur plant, preparing plan for Nano relocation
Tuesday, 02 September , 2008, 20:55 Last Updated: Tuesday, 02 September , 2008, 21:53 Kolkata: With no hopes of the stalemate ending in Singur, Tatas on Tuesday said it was considering shifting the low- cost Nano car project from West Bengal to some other State, on which a decision may be taken any time.
The decision on a possible shift of site was taken at a meeting of the Tata Motors management committee on Tuesday, a day after Ratan Tata arrived from Singapore and took stock of the situation arising out of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's siege of the Singur facility, sources said.
"In view of the current situation, the company is evaluating alternate options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities and a detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to alternate site is under preparation," the company said in a statement.
"To minimise the impact it may have on the recently recruited and trained people from West Bengal, the company is exploring the possibility of absorbing them at its other plant locations," it said.
Special: Singur siege | Full coverage: Farmers vs SEZ | Column: One flew over the Singur nest
Tatas' threat comes at a time when a number of states including Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand are wooing them to set up the facility.
Tata Motors had evacuated its entire workforce from the Singur facility on Thursday last week in the face of numerous instances of intimidation from protesters at the site.
Moving out of Singur could hit West Bengal hard in terms of future investment at a time when the CPI(M)-led government is vigorously pursuing foreign and domestic investors and taking on Trinamool Congress in a bid to retain Tatas.
India Inc, led by Mukesh Ambani, had categorically warned that withdrawal of Tatas due to political obstacles would hit hard the country's industrialisation and investment inflows.
Mukesh Ambani backs Tatas on Nano project | West Bengal refuses to back down on Nano project
"Tata Motors has been constrained to suspend the construction and commissioning work at the Nano plant in Singur in view of continued confrontation and agitation at the site," the company said.
A total investment of Rs 1,500 crore has been envisaged for the project that stipulated rolling out Rs 1 lakh car by October. It, however, has been mired into controversy right from its inception with Mamata Banerjee demanding return of 400 acres out of a total 1000 acres land leased out to Tatas by the state government.
Ratan Tata had last month warned that the project would be shifted out of the state in case violence persisted at the Singur plant.
The decision to look for alternate options was taken at a management committee comprising company Managing Director Ravi Kant, CFO C Ramakrishnan and Nano project head Girish Wagh, besides group Chairman Ratan Tata, sources added.
The company said the decision has been taken to ensure the safety of its employees and contract labour who have continued to violently obstructed from reporting to work.
The project's auto ancillary partners were also constrained to suspend the work in line with Tata Motors' decision, it added. Lack of adequate package crux of Singur problem: G.K. Pillai Thursday, 04 September , 2008, 08:57
Kolkata: Lack of adequate compensation package for farmers is the main cause of the ongoing Singur turmoil in West Bengal, Union Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai said here late Wednesday.
"It is the lack of adequate package that is the main problem. One should give a compensation package which is attractive enough to people whose land is compulsorily acquired," Pillai said at a press conference.
Glimmer of hope for Tatas' Nano
Global automobile major Tata Motors took 997.11 acres of land in Singur, 40 km from Kolkata, to build the factory of world's cheapest car Nano. But from the very onset of the project, it has been facing resistance from various political parties over the issue of "illegal" acquisition of farmland.
Talks on Friday to resolve Singur stalemate
The recent was the ongoing siege at the factory site by the state's main opposition party Trinamool Congress from Aug 24, demanding return of 400 acres from the total project area to the unwilling farmers.
Locals block Singur road, want protests to stop
The 400 acres of land was meant to build ancilliary industries adjacent to the main plant.
More India business stories
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\7777777777777777777777 7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777 US slowdown won't trouble IT: Narayana Murthy Saturday, 06 September , 2008, 15:54
Mumbai: India's multi-billion IT sector would continue to fare well despite a slowdown in the US economy, Infosys Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy said today.
"So far, we have achieved (results) as per our projections. Certainly, we will see growth in the next quarter," he told reporters here.
The US, the world's largest economy, is the most important market for India's infotech companies. HCL in fray? Bidding war to begin for Axon
On the Singur controversy involving Tata Motors, Murthy said, "it is very important that politicians, corporate leaders and bureaucrats--all of them sit together and sort out issues based on logic, ideas and in a conducive environment. I am sure we can find a solution for every problem." He said the investor confidence could be adversely affected by the row over the Tatas' small-car project.
IT majors see red at the bottom
"It is very likely that such a situation will create some doubt and uncertainty, but if the West Bengal Government and Tatas were to come to some agreement, I am sure uncertainty and doubt will go away. But it will take a bit of time." These are all temporary issues, he said, adding "I am sure they will come to a good conclusion and all our concerns would be a thing of the past. Investor confidence will be restored after the West Bengal Government and Tatas come to some conclusion." Murthy was Chief Guest at a function at the IIT here.
More India business stories
He also released 'Monastery, Sanctuary, Laboratory-50 years of IIT Bombay', a book on the institution's five decades of existence. IIT Bombay is celebrating the golden jubilee of its foundation this year.
More Headline 'Indian firms Asia's best performers' Sunday, 07 September , 2008, 12:26
New Delhi: Two domestic firms -- Siemens India and Unitech -- have made it to the top of a list of Asia's 50 best performing companies, compiled by international financial magazine BusinessWeek, which includes a total of 10 Indian companies such as DLF, TCS, Tech Mahindra and ITC.
More India business stories
India has the maximum representation in the list, followed by China's eight and six from Hong Kong.
Siemens India, the domestic unit of German conglomerate Siemens AG, and real estate major Unitech have been ranked at the first and the second positions and are followed by China's Alibaba.Com, China Molybdenum and Japan's Inpex Holdings in the top five.
A total of seven Indian companies have made to the top 20 positions -- drugmaker Cipla (sixth), ABB India (12th), Tech Mahindra (13th), Hindustan Zinc (17th) and DLF (18th). Other Indian companies on the list include BHEL (27th), ITC (45th) and TCS (50th).
The rankings, compiled by Standard & Poor's Compustat, are based on average return on capital and sales growth over the past three years, BusinessWeek said.
The magazine said that this year's ranking of Asia's best-performing companies attests to the continuing dynamism of India and Greater China. Among sectors, infrastructure and high tech made the strongest showings, it noted.
More India business stories
There are eight companies from China, six from Hong Kong, five each from Indonesia, Taiwan and Pakistan, four from Singapore, three from Korea and two each from Japan and Malaysia. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Apex court bats for SEZs, IT parks Rakesh Bhatnagar/ DNA MONEY | Saturday, 06 September , 2008, 14:38
Tata Motors may be thinking of relocating its Nano plant out of Singur because of continuous protests but a Supreme Court ruling on Friday may give it some hope.
In an unrelated case, the apex court has backed ongoing and proposed government projects to set up special economic zones (SEZs) or industrial and IT parks on land acquired from farmers if such projects bring in foreign exchange, generate employment opportunities, and "secure economic benefits to the State and the public at large".
More India business stories
Disposing of a petition against the acquisition of land for an integrated infrastructure project in Andhra Pradesh, the Supreme Court stressed for taking a holistic view on such projects that also involve public-private partnership.
A bench of Justices CK Thakker and DK Jain held that the joint venture (JV) mechanism for implementing government policy, executing a project and achieving larger public good "would neither destroy the object nor vitiate the exercise of power of public purpose for development of infrastructure".
"The concept of joint venture to tap resources of private sector for infrastructural development for fulfilment of public purpose has been recognised in foreign countries as also in India in several decisions of this court," the bench observed.
The apex court upheld the Andhra Pradesh government's order to acquire land for setting up a joint venture with Emaar group to develop an IT park, an Indian School of Business, an Indian Institute of Information Technology, a hitech city, a national games village, sports stadia, an integrated international convention centre, a golf course, a financial district among other things.
Emaar is a Dubai-based public joint stock company and is among the world's top real estate firms.
While work on some of these infrastructure schemes is on, others have been completed and the state government told the court that it has so far spent Rs550 crore on the project.
A group of farmers, whose land had been acquired for the project after paying compensation, challenged the acquisition claiming that it was aimed at benefiting an individual foreign investor.
Emaar, being a party to the lawsuit, filed an affidavit supporting the Andhra Pradesh government. It said the state government wanted to turn Hyderabad into a world-class business destination and a leader in the knowledge sector. The project would be in the larger interest of public, Emaar told the apex court. The state government also pleaded that it had acquired the land for public purpose.
More India business stories
Upholding the high court's judgment, the apex court said: "We are of the view that the action of the State in initiating acquisition proceedings for establishing and developing infrastructure project cannot be held contrary to law or objectionable."
Under license from www.3dsyndication.com
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111117777777777
Lenovo launches ThinkPad for SMBs Saturday, 06 September , 2008, 15:52
Mumbai: Lenovo, a leading computer manufacturer, today launched ThinkPad SL Series, a complete computing solution for Small and Medium Business (SMBs) in India.
ThinkPad SL Series includes a combination of three new notebook PCs--ThinkPad SL 300, ThinkPad SL 400 and Think Pad 500, along with unique software tools and new levels of service and support.
Lenovo launches netbooks
"The SMB segment is one of the fastest growing segments in India and we want to cash in on the opportunity with the ThinkPad SL series. The launch of ThinkPad is an integral part of Lenovo's overall stragey of getting closer to customers in India," Lenevo India's Managing Director Amar Babu told reporters here.
Lenovo launches online auction of Olympic theme PCs A study reveals that Indian SMBs spent USD 6.6 billion on IT in 2007-08, wich is around 30 per cent of the total IT spend in India. The SMB PC market is worth 3-million units.
More India business stories
Babu said Indian SMBs were growing at a blistering pace and aspiring for a bigger and better slice of their respective verticals.
The Think brand had always been considered the pinnacle of enterprises computing with its no- nonsense approach and unbeatble features.
The notebook also features WiFi, ethernet and optional Bluetooth technologies, Speakers, microphones and an optional webcam which provide excellent support for internet voice and video conferencing.
"With the ThinkPad SL Series now available at an SMB price point in the country, this segment of users get a change to Think Big with a business minded notebook that not only takes care of their computing needs in a comprehensive manner but also acts as the equivalent of formal dressing in IT equipment," he said.
More India business stories
Lenovo has already launched the product in eight countries including Japan, USA, China. Lenova is present in 350 cities in India. Besides it has 300 stores and a manufacturing plant at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh.
][[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ 2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies June 3, 2008
A number of companies out there think that a good CSR program consists only of a soapbox and a bullhorn. Unfortunately for them, just being loud doesn’t equate with being ethical. Likewise, simply dropping a cool $100 million into clever marketing and public relations doesn’t make a company ethical, either. The World’s Most Ethical Companies are the ones that go above and beyond legal minimums, bring about innovative new ideas to expand the public well being, work on reducing their carbon footprint rather than contributing to green washing and won’t be found next to the words “Billion Dollar Fine” in newspaper headlines any time in the near future. These are the companies that stand out among the competition in their industry.
So if that’s what it takes to become one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, perhaps a good question to ask is, what does it take to be eliminated from consideration for the World’s Most Ethical? The obvious answers involve bribery, discrimination, fraud or any number of other illegal activities. The conditions of supplier factories must be taken into account too, as well as the company’s stance on the environment. Product liability is a factor as well.
Of course, no business is perfect. Every large corporation gets sued or experiences a crisis. The World’s Most Ethical Companies are the businesses that respond not with a PR campaign, but with real action, such as complete transparency for the public and significant effort given to fixing the core problem.
With the help of our methodology panelists, our researchers looked at company history as far back as five years. Products that clearly don’t benefit the public’s best interest pulled down a company’s ranking. Because most large corporations take on lawsuits in five years’ time, we looked at the nature and history of each case and the nature and history of the plaintiff, as well as the effect of the issue in question. We noted if a major case was brought about by a disgruntled ex-employee or generally lacked significant merit.
At the same time, we took note of issues and lawsuits that didn’t hit the largest media outlets. And, because of those little-heard cases, a few of the 2007 winners fell off the list this year. Some fell off because newcomers stood out this year, and others dropped because they got caught up in some unpleasant business since last year’s rankings. You can read more about our methodology below to get a breakdown of how we scored each company.
All of the 2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies are standouts in their industries. These companies up the ante for what it takes to be an ethical leader and force their competitors to follow suit or fall behind. The World’s Most Ethical Companies use ethical leadership as a purposeful method to drive profits. Finally, each of these companies embodies the true spirit of Ethisphere’s credo: Good. Smart. Business. Profit. We salute them and encourage you to do so as well.
Methodology
01 The Starting Line We began by bringing together a group of expert attorneys, professors, government officials and organization leaders concerned with ethical and honest business practices to create a methodology panel. The panel assisted us in creating the scoring methodology for the World’s Most Ethical Companies awards.
02 Candidate Selection Over the course of the year, Ethisphere contacted thousands of companies worldwide about the awards to gather information and create a pool of candidates.
03 Making Contact Semi-finalist companies were then notified and given an in-depth survey questionnaire to fill out regarding their ethics and compliance program, governance and corporate responsibility. To see a copy of the questionnaire, head over to www.ethisphere.com.
04 Crunching Numbers Ethisphere then conducted data analysis on hundreds of companies based on their responses to the survey, as well as documents and information researched and requested by Ethisphere to confirm survey responses. Every company was then given an EQ score (read more about Ethisphere’s Ethics Quotient on page 80, or see more about that at www.ethisphere.com/EQ) based on the results of the survey and measured against seven distinct categories.
These categories are Corporate Citizenship and responsibility; Corporate governance; Innovation that Contributes to the Public Well Being; Industry leadership; Executive leadership and Tone from the Top; legal, regulatory and reputation Track record; and Internal Systems and Ethics/Compliance Program. 05 The Final Stretch The highest EQ scores for each industry became finalists and were then notified and interviewed by Ethisphere analysts.
06 And the Winners Are… Finally, 2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies were announced on June 3rd, 2008 at the Forbes-Ethisphere Ethical Leadership Forum in New York City’s Rainbow Room.
You can find more in-depth information on the methodology for 2008’s World’s Most Ethical Companies at www.ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical-companies-methodology.
Ranking
Ethical leadership can and should be profitable. through recognizing companies that pursue an ethical leadership model, the Ethisphere Institute both rewards such behavior and motivates winners and other companies to strive for future recognition.
More Headlin