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Volume 1 Issue 10 Business & Management Ezine February 2010

Techno India, EM-4/1, Sector-V, Salt Lake, Kolkata - 700091 Table of Contents

Sl. No. Topic Page No.

[1] First Byte [ Editorial ] Ed/1 [2] Cover Story : Merger & Acquisition Ca/1-12 vs Kraft (Monojit Banerjee) [3] Cover Story : Marketing Pr/1-7 Cadbury’s Promotions (Anis Chattopadhyay) [4] BIZarre Sc/1-4 Let’s Have Scotch! (Debraj Datta) [5] Soft Skills In/1-7 Dodging The Bullets: Guidelines For Facing Specific Interview Questions [Part-5] (Virag Bhushan Dwivedi)

Disclaimer: Any views expressed by author(s) are their own. Bizzy Bytes is in no way responsible for the personal opinions of the author(s). We try to keep all information accurate, but that is subject to reliability of the sources.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Cr/2 February 2010 The Bizzy Bytes Team:

Editorial Team: Content Writers:

[1] Monojit Banerjee [1] Anis Chattopadhyay [2] Anis Chattopadhyay [2] Debraj Datta [3] Bijan Chakraborty [3] Virag Bhushan Dwivedi [4] Arjan Biswas [4] Monojit Banerjee [5] Vijay Kumar Singh

Graphics Design Team: Marketing Team: [1] Monojit Banerjee [1] Monojit Banerjee [2] Archita Pal Choudhury [2] Anis Chattopadhyay [3] Bijan Chakraborty [4] Amit Kundu [5] Archita Pal Choudhury [6] Shamima Haque [7] Arjan Biswas [8] Vijay Kumar Singh [9] Debraj Datta [10] Jayeeta Debnath Munshi

Our Advisors: [1] Debraj Datta

Bizzy Bytes is available at: Contact details: www.tisoms.co.nr (Download all issues today) Techno India School of Management studies You can also provide us your EM-4/1, Sector-V, Salt Lake, email ids and we will mail you Kolkata – 700091 every issue as and when it is published. Monojit Banerjee M: +(91)9231342749 Never miss an issue !!! E: [email protected]

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Bizzy Bytes Page : Cr/3 February 2010 Editorial

First Byte Monojit Banerjee Editor Bizzy Bytes Email: [email protected]

Bizzy Bytes, the business and management ezine of Techno India School of Management Studies [TISOMS], has been in existence for 10 months now and we are delighted to present our readers with the February 2010 issue. On behalf of Bizzy Bytes, let me once again take this opportunity to thank all those people who have made this possible.

We have, for our readers, the following regular columns: BIZarre, a column by Debraj Dutta, (faculty, Department of Management Studies, Meghnad Saha Institute of Technology) featuring some curious and extremely interesting facts and stories from the business world. Soft Skills, a column by Virag Bhushan Dwivedi, an alumnus of our college.

Also in this issue:

Cover Story: Cadbury – Those of us who have grown up with Cadbury’s should be very sad and nostalgic on this day. Cadbury is no more!! While I chose to do a post mortem study of the blow-by-blow account of the acquisition of Cadbury by Kraft, supported by biographical sketches of both organizations, Anis focuses on memorable marketing campaigns of Cadbury throughout its eventful lifetime.

Hope you enjoy all this. Keep sending us your views.

Thanks & regards,

Monojit Banerjee

Bizzy Bytes Ed/1 February 2010

Cover Story : Merger & Acquisition

Cadbury vs Kraft

-- Monojit Banerjee

Introduction:

Newsflash (Tuesday, January 19th, 2010): Cadbury Agrees to Kraft takeover offer:

The Cadbury board has accepted a new offer by US food company Kraft to acquire the company for 840 pence per share, valuing the company at £11.5bn ($18.9bn)., with shareholders to also get a 10 pence special dividend, bringing it to a total of 850 pence. It has advised Cadbury shareholders to accept the deal by 2nd February.

Kraft and US confectioner Hershey were competing to acquire Cadbury but this new increased offer by Kraft has apparently forced Hershey out of the race. Cadbury shareholders are expected to agree to the takeover. Even Italian manufacturer Ferrero was interested in buying Cadbury to create a European powerhouse. It was speculated that it might team up with Hershey. But nothing ultimately materialized.

The key shareholder of Kraft is Warren Buffet.

Impact:

Kraft said the deal would create a "global leader". There are renewed fears over possible job cuts at Cadbury's UK operations as a result of the agreed takeover. The offer will consist of 500 pence in cash, with the rest made of Kraft shares. Kraft will borrow £7bn ($11.5bn) to finance the deal. The increase in Kraft's debt to pay for Cadbury is a cause for concern for its employees. The need for Kraft to cut costs could mean staff cuts in the longer-term. Kraft also said it expected "meaningful cost savings" as a result of the merger. When a large entity like this has to make cost savings of the magnitude they will need to make, industry watchers are tempted to ask how those cost savings will be made. Kraft already has a track record of cutting production and moving production abroad. There is concern that they may not keep production in the UK in the long run. The company has given no specific assurances over the future of 4,500 UK jobs, though it says it wants to invest in the Bournville site and maintain production at Somerdale, near Bristol, also known as Keynsham.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/1 February 2010 It has not ruled out cuts, and staff numbers at Cadbury's head office in Uxbridge are expected to be reduced.

Buying Cadbury raises a lot of questions around how the integration of both companies will proceed: In the United States, Cadbury's chocolate presence is negligible with Hershey owning the rights to the (and the recipe); experts speculate that Kraft will have to cancel this deal and compensate Hershey Co. financially. For candy and gum, Mars- Wrigley is slightly stronger than Cadbury in the US, which means Kraft might need to retain the Cadbury team for a while (which was mostly the Adams team before Cadbury bought Adams) as not to fall prey to competition since Mars-Wrigley is a stable entity by now. For the rest of North America (Canada and Mexico), Cadbury has very strong presence again led by the gum and candy portfolios which were originally part of Adams. Canada is a balanced market with a decent gum, candy, chocolate and cough drops portfolio for Cadbury (Hershey does not own the rights to Cadbury Dairy Milk in Canada). Mexico is primarily a candy and gum market, led mainly by gum. Cadbury's direct distribution network in Mexico is very strong which could be a good entry point for other confectionery owned by Kraft. In the Europe, things are different, the Cadbury team in the UK is quite large and it is expected that a lot of jobs could be lost. In the Eastern Europe, anti-trust laws might force Kraft to divest part of the confectionary business by selling whole or parts of companies owned by Cadbury such as Wedel in Poland and Kandia in Romania. Cadbury's state of the art gum factory in Poland is definitely a fort that Kraft needs to keep especially that Wrigley produces a large portion of its gum products in Poland and is supplying the rest of Europe from it. In Russia, Kraft has stronger presence than Cadbury. Cadbury's presence is in Russia is only recent with the previous acquisition of Nordic gum manufacturer, Dirol which is strong in Russia. In the Middle East, Cadbury is by far more successful than Kraft. Cadbury dominated the region by acquiring Adams in 2003. Adams's 3 strongholds, Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon combined with Cadbury's strong presence in Egypt gave Cadbury domination of the Moroccan, Egyptian, Syrian and Lebanese markets in gum and domination of Egypt's chocolate market. In 2009, Cadbury consolidated its business in Middle East and North Africa by setting regional headquarters in Cairo and focusing its efforts behind a few main such as Dairy Milk, and Clorets and discontinuing smaller brands to achieve more regional focus. The move has led to financial and communication synergies which allowed Cadbury to gain more share during the year. Kraft on the other hand, has been struggling in North Africa with low end products (cakes, cookies and condiments) which it has inherited from a local Egyptian company they have previously acquired to enter the Egyptian market. However, and Kraft's cheese brands have shown a strong presence in the GCC region primarily in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Kraft's recent acquisition of Danonne Buscuits adds more complexity as the Middle East team is not fully integrated and the brands inherited from Dannone have failed to make a break through in the market. By buying Cadbury, Kraft gains a major foothold into developing markets, particularly India, South Africa and the Middle East where Cadbury is dominating the confectionary market and has strong distribution networks. In India in particular, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate is the winning horse in the market with strong brand equity led by years of celebrity endorsements. In the Middle East, Cadbury has strong presence with chocolate in Saudi Arabia and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate in Egypt. For gum, Cadbury's Clorets brand (which was part of Adams) is the largest gum brand across North Africa and the Middle

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/2 February 2010 East in total. However, Mars-Wrigley's "Extra" gum is the leader in UAE. For Candy, Halls which was also part of Adams is a strong brand particularly in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

"We believe the offer represents good value for Cadbury shareholders... and will now work with the ' management to ensure the continued success and growth of the business,"

Irene Rosenfeld, the chairman and -- Cadbury's Chairman Roger Carr. chief executive of Kraft Foods, said the deal was good news for shareholders and staff.

"We have great respect for Cadbury's brands, heritage and people," she said. "We believe they will thrive as part of Kraft Foods."

Now, let’s have some background information.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/3 February 2010 Cadbury : The organization

Cadbury plc is a British confectionery and beverage company with its headquarters in Uxbridge, England and is the world's second largest confectionery manufacturer after Mars/Wrigley.

Birth of Cadbury

1824 John Cadbury began vending tea, coffee, and drinking chocolate at Bull Street in Birmingham, England in the UK which he produced himself. He later moved into the production of a variety of Cocoas and Drinking Chocolates being manufactured from a factory in Bridge Street, supplying mainly to the wealthy due to the high cost of manufacture at this time. During this time a partnership was struck between John Cadbury and his brother Benjamin. At this time the company was known as 'Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham'.

1854 The two brothers opened an office in . Received the Royal Warrant as manufacturers of chocolate and cocoa to Queen Victoria. 1850s The industry received a much needed with the reduction in high import taxes on cocoa This allowed chocolate to become more affordable to everyone. 1873 Popularity of a new expanded product line, including the very popular Cadbury's Cocoa Essence. The company's success led to the decision to cease the trading of tea. Around this time, master confectioner Frederic Kinchelman was appointed to share his recipe and production secrets with Cadbury's, which led to an assortment of various chocolate covered items. 1878 John Cadbury's sons Richard and George (who had taken over the company after John Cadbury's retirement in 1861), acquired the Bournbrook estate, comprising fourteen and a half acres of countryside five miles south of the outskirts of Birmingham. They renamed the Bournbrook estate to Bournville 1879 They opened the Bournville factory. 1893 George Cadbury bought 120 acres (49 ha) of land close to the works and planned, at his own expense, a model village which would 'alleviate the evils of modern more cramped living conditions'. By 1900 the estate included 313 cottages and houses set on 330 acres (130 ha) of land. As the Cadbury family were Quakers there were no pubs in the estate; in fact, it was their Quaker beliefs that first led them to sell tea, coffee and cocoa as alternatives to alcohol.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/4 February 2010 1900 to 1950s

1915 Cadbury's was first produced 1914 - Throughout the First World War, more than 2,000 of Cadbury's male 1918 employees joined the Armed Forces. To support the war effort, Cadbury's provided clothing, books and chocolate to soldiers. 1918 After World War I, the Bournville factory was redeveloped mass production began in earnest. Cadbury's opened their first overseas factory in Hobart, Tasmania 1919 undertook a merger with J. S. Fry & Sons, another chocolate manufacturer which saw the integration of well known brands such as Fry's Chocolate Cream and Fry's Turkish Delight. 1939-1945 During World War II, parts of the Bournville factory were turned over to war work, producing milling machines and pilot seats. Workers ploughed football fields in which to plant crops. As chocolate was regarded as an essential food it was placed under government supervision for the entire war. 1949 The wartime rationing of chocolate ended and normal production resumed. Cadbury's subsequently built new factories and had an increasing demand for their products.

Merger with Schweppes

The Cadbury Schweppes logo used until the demerger in 2008.

1969 Cadbury merged with drinks company Schweppes to form Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury Schweppes went on to acquire Sunkist, Canada Dry, Typhoo Tea and more. In the US, Schweppes Beverages was created and the manufacture of Cadbury confectionery brands were licensed to Hershey's. Snapple, Mistic and Stewart's (formerly Cable Car Beverage) were sold by Triarc to Cadbury Schweppes in 2000 for $1.45 billion. In October of that same year, Cadbury Schweppes purchased Royal Crown from Triarc.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/5 February 2010 Demerger

March It was revealed that Cadbury Schweppes was planning to split its business into two 2007 separate entities: one focusing on its main chocolate and confectionery market; the other on its US drinks business. The demerger took effect on 2 May 2008, with the drinks business becoming Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. Cadbury is selling its Australian beverage unit to Asahi Breweries. October Cadbury announced the closure of the Keynsham chocolate factory, formerly part 2007 of Fry's. Between 500 and 700 jobs were affected by this change. Production transferred to other plants in England and Poland. 2008 Monkhill Confectionery, the Own Label trading division of Cadbury Trebor Bassett was sold to Tangerine Confectionery for £58million cash. This sale included factories at Pontefract, Cleckheaton and York and a distribution centre near Chesterfield, and the transfer of around 800 employees.

Recent developments – Cadbury’s downfall mid-2009 Cadbury replaced some of the cocoa butter in their non-UK chocolate products with palm oil. Despite claiming this was a response to consumer demand to improve taste and texture, there was no "new improved recipe" claim placed on labels.

Consumer backlash was significant from environmentalists and chocolate lovers. August 2009 The company announced that it was reverting to the use of cocoa butter in New Zealand. In addition, they would source cocoa beans through Fair Trade channels.

Kraft buyout

7 September Kraft Foods made a £10.2 billion ($16.2 billion American) indicative takeover 2009 bid for Cadbury. The offer was rejected, with Cadbury stating that it undervalued the company. 9 November Kraft launched a formal, hostile bid for Cadbury valuing the firm at £9.8 2009 billion. Business Secretary Peter Mandelson warned Kraft not to try to "make a quick buck" from the acquisition of Cadbury. 19 January It was announced that Cadbury and Kraft Foods had reached a deal and that 2010 Kraft would purchase Cadbury for 840 pence per share, valuing Cadbury at £11.5bn (US$18.9bn). Kraft, which issued a statement claiming that the deal will create a "global confectionery leader", has had to borrow £7 billion (US$11.5bn) in order to finance the takeover.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/6 February 2010 It was reported that Hershey Co., the Pennsylvania chocolate company, shares Cadbury's "ethos" and that buying Cadbury would broaden its access to faster-growing international markets. But despite Hershey's interest in Cadbury, analysts stated that it is unlikely to outbid Kraft's final offer. Hershey's M&A advisor is Byron Trott, a former Goldman banker. Hershey already manufactures and distributes Cadbury-branded chocolate (but not its other confectionery) in the United States.

The prospect of a merger or acquisition of Cadbury has faced significant opposition from British groups and organizations including trade union Unite because Cadbury is an integral part of the British economy and potential job losses are feared to be up to 6,000 in the UK (30,000 in total). Bankers are expected to be the "big winners" in this acquisition contest, but UK shareholders are protesting the advisory fees charged by banks. Cadbury's M&A advisors are UBS, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods, Inc. is the largest candy, food, and beverage company headquartered in the United States and the second-largest in the world (after Nestlé SA). It markets many brands in more than 155 countries.

The company is headquartered in Northfield, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Its European headquarters are just outside Zürich, Switzerland.

Birth of Kraft

1903 Canadian-born and of German origin, James L. Kraft started a wholesale door-to-door cheese business in Chicago. Its first year of operations was "dismal", losing US$3,000 and a horse. 1909 However, the business took hold and Kraft was joined by his four brothers to form J.L. Kraft and Bros. Company. 1911 circulars and advertisements were used by the company from a very stage 1912 the company established its New York City, New York, headquarters to prepare for its international expansion. By 1914 thirty-one varieties of cheeses were being sold around the U.S. because of heavy product development, expansion by marketing, and opening a wholly owned cheese factory in Illinois. 1915 the company had invented pasteurized processed cheese that did not need refrigeratio n, thus giving a longer shelf life than conventional cheese. 1916 The process was patented and about six million pounds of the product were sold to the U.S. Army for military rations during World War I.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/7 February 2010

1916 The company began national advertising and had made its first acquisition — a Canadian cheese company. 1924 The company changed its name to Kraft Cheese Company and became a public company. 1927 It established its London, , and Hamburg, Germany, sales offices — its first forays outside North America. 1928 It acquired Phenix Cheese Company, the maker of a cream cheese branded as Philadelphia cream cheese, and the company changed its name to Kraft-Phenix Cheese Company. By 1930 It had captured forty percent of the cheese market in the U.S. and the company also began operating in Australia following a merger with Fred Walker & Co. National Dairy Products Corporation —- makers of the Breyers brand of ice cream and the Breakstone's brand of cottage cheese and sour cream — acquired Kraft-Phenix. Kraft's product lines were diversified from cheese to salad dressings, caramel candies, macaroni and cheese dinners and margarines. 1933 The company began marketing by radio sponsorship. 1935 The Sealtest brand of ice cream was launched. 1939-1945 During World War II, the company sent four million pounds of cheese to Britain weekly. 1945 Kraft changed its name to Kraft Foods Company because its product lines had diversified. 1950s Product development and advertising helped the company to grow during the postwar years, launching sliced process cheese and Cheez Whiz, a brand of process cheese sauce. During these years, Thomas McInnerney, National Dairy's owner, and James L. Kraft, Kraft's founder, died, and at the end of the decade, the divisions became less autonomous 1956 The business diversified to the glass-packaging business with the acquisition of Metro Glass. 1947 The company tested the marketing power of the emerging medium of television by producing an hour-long drama/anthology series, the Kraft Television Theatre. The product advertised on the program, McLaren’s Imperial Cheese, was selected because "... [it had] not only had no advertising appropriation whatsoever, but had not even been distributed for several years." As described by internal documents of J. Walter Thompson — the advertising firm which conceived of the marketing test — the result was "although there was no other advertising support for it whatsoever, still grocery stores could not keep up with the demand." 1960s product development became intense, launching fruit jellies, fruit preserves, marshmallows, barbecue sauces and Kraft Singles, a brand of individually wrapped cheese slices. the company also expanded in many markets worldwide.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/8 February 2010 1969 National Dairy became Kraftco Corporation 1972 transferred to Glenview, Illinois 1976 its name changed to Kraft, Inc. to emphasize the trademark the company had been known for. Reorganization also occurred after the name change. 1980 Kraft merged with Dart Industries - makers of the Duracell brand of batteries, Tupperware brand of plastic containers, West Bend brand of home appliances, Wilsonart brand of plastics and Thatcher glass - to form Dart & Kraft. 1980s Dart & Kraft offered mixed results to its shareholders, as new acquisitions in the food business - such as Churny premium cheeses, Lender's Bagels, Frusen Gladje ice cream and Celestial Seasonings tea - slightly offset the lagging nonfood business - Tupperware's decrease in sales and KitchenAid's (acquired soon after the merger) slide in market share - leading Dart & Kraft to spin off its nonfood business (except Duracell batteries) into a new entity (Premark International, Inc.) while changing its name back to Kraft, Inc. 1999 Premark was bought by Illinois Tool Works 1988 Kraft sold Duracell to private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, who then put into an initial public offering in 1989. Philip Morris Companies purchased Kraft for $12.9 billion by the end of 1988. 1989 Kraft merged with Philip Morris's General Foods unit - makers of Oscar Mayer meats, Maxwell House coffee, Jell-O gelatin, Budget Gourmet frozen dinners, Entenmann's baked goods, Kool-Aid, Crystal Light and Tang powdered beverage mixes, Post Cereals, Shake 'n Bake flavored coatings and numerous other packaged foods - as Kraft General Foods. Aggressive product development was reversed after the merger, as it became slow in addressing issues on its product lines due to its size, and also company politics. 1990 the company acquired Suchard (a European coffee and confectionery giant) and (a Scandinavian confectionery maker) to expand overseas as its business was heavily dependent on the U.S. 1993 it acquired RJR 's cold cereal business (mainly Shredded Wheat and Shreddies cereals) while selling its Breyers ice-cream division to Unilever and its Birds Eye unit to Dean Foods. 1994 it sold its frozen dinners unit to H.J. Heinz 1995 it sold its foodservice unit. it changed its name to the present name, Kraft Foods. it sold its bakery division (except Lender's Bagels, which was sold in 1996 to CPC International), its candy division and its tablespreads division. Log Cabin syrup was sold in 1997. 1996 Gillette bought Duracell 2005 Gillette was acquired by Procter and Gamble

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/9 February 2010 Financial Expansion

2000 Philip Morris (renamed Altria in 2003) acquired Nabisco Holdings for $18.9 billion merged the company with Kraft Foods the same year 2001 Philip Morris sold 280 million Kraft shares via the third-largest IPO of all time, retaining an 88.1% stake in the company. 2004 it sold its confectionery division to Wrigley, while doing minor divestitures - including its hot cereals division in 2007, its pet division in 2006, juice drinks and functional water in 2007 and some grocery brands in 2006. January 31, Altria announced that it would spin off all the remaining Kraft Foods shares 2007 to Altria's shareholders; each will be given approximately 0.7 share of Kraft for every Altria share they own. Investor Nelson Peltz bought a three-percent stake at Kraft Foods and is talking with the executives on revitalizing the business, with options such as buying Wendy's fast food chain or selling off Post cereals and Maxwell House coffee. After months of speculation, the company announced that its 88.1% stake would be spun off to Altria shareholders at the end of March 2007. Kraft is now an independent publicly held company. July 2007 The company bought Groupe Danone's biscuit (cookie) and cereal division for $7.2 billion, including iconic French biscuit brand Lefèvre-Utile. While two years earlier firestorms of protest had arisen over plans for American PepsiCo's hostile takeover of the French company, Kraft's announcement was not met with the same protests, in part because Kraft agreed not to close French factories and keep the new merged divisions headquarters near Paris for at least three years. November Kraft agreed to sell its cereal unit to Ralcorp Holdings, a major private-label 2007 food maker, for $2.6 billion in a form of a spin-off merger. This would add 50% to Ralcorp's sales, to $3.3 billion, and will be used for Kraft's debt payment, which is at $13.4 billion, in danger of a downgrade by Standard and Poor's. February Berkshire Hathaway Inc. run by billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett 2008 announced that it had acquired an 8% stake in Kraft worth over $4 billion. Buffett's business partner Charles Munger had also invested over $300 million in Kraft. September 22, the company replaced the troubled insurance company, American 2008 International Group in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/10 February 2010 Purchase of Cadbury

September 7, Kraft made a £10.2 billion takeover offer for the long-established British 2009 confectionery group Cadbury, makers of Dairy Milk and Bournville chocolate. November 9, Kraft's £9.8bn takeover bid was rejected by Cadbury's. 2009 Cadbury's stated that the takeover bid was a "derisory" offer. December 4, Kraft renewed the offer under the same terms. 2009 The offer generated significant political and public opposition in the United Kingdom and abroad, even leading to calls for the government to invoke a policy of economic protectionism in cases of takeovers of large companies. January 6, Kraft agreed to sell its North American frozen pizza business to Nestle for 2010 $3.7 billion. The sale, which is subject to regulatory clearance, includes DiGiorno, Tombstone and Jack's brands in the United States, the Delissio brand in Canada and the California Pizza Kitchen trademark license. It also includes two Wisconsin manufacturing facilities in Medford and Little Chute. The business generated 2009 net revenues of $1.6 billion, with 3,400 employees. January 19, Cadbury finally approved a revised offer from Kraft, valuing the 2010 confectionery business at £11.5 billion ($19.5 billion US). The Funding is partially from RBS, the British bank that was bailed out by British taxpayers.

References:

[1] www.cadbury.com [2] http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com [3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8467007.stm [4] Businessworld, [issue dated 1 February 2010] [5] http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business [6] http://www.thegrocer.co.uk [7] http://popsop.com [8] http://www.guardian.co.uk/business [9] http://money.uk.msn.com/news [10] http://images.mirror.co.uk [11] http:// news.sky.com [12] http:// dailymail.co.uk [13] http:// moblog.whmsoft.net [14] http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money [15] www.wikipedia.org

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/11 February 2010 Author profile:

Monojit Banerjee

The author is an MBA from the Institute of Business Management (Affiliated to Jadavpur University, Kolkata). He is currently Lecturer, School of Management Studies, Techno India [TISOMS]. He can be reached at: [email protected]

Disclaimer:

Any views expressed by the author are his own. Bizzy Bytes is in no way responsible for the personal opinions of the author.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Ca/12 February 2010 Cover Story : Marketing

Cadbury’s Promotions

-- Anis Chattopadhyay

Today the share of promotions in the marketing budget of a typical consumer products company is continually on the rise. They may be preferred because good promotional exercises provide the facility to carry out controlled activity on a focused target group and unlike mass media advertising, it directly addresses and involves the consumer.

There are other reasons that abet their popularity, they are: -

¾ Consumer promotions produce results ¾ The results occur quickly ¾ The results are measurable

Though there is a considerable change in the presentation and approach. Companies are throwing just about anything to boost their branding and sales. From tangible to intangible, everything is being effectively exploited. The next most effective and result oriented strategy is Give-away. Considering the influence of the housewife in the day-to-day buying decisions, this strategy is yielding outstanding results. Besides, considering the rising influence of children in the buying decisions this strategy surely yields results. Creativity and innovation is the key to this form of promotions. Specialized Give-aways make excellent premiums.

Cadbury's Consumer Promotion

Defining the taste of chocolate in India, Cadbury began its Indian operations as a trading concern in 1948. For over 58 years chocolates in India are synonymous with Cadbury.

A 1900 people strong company, they have 5 factories and 4 sales branches across India. Their distribution reach spans 14,00,000 outlets across India.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Pr/1 February 2010 Cadbury’s Dairy Milk is the most loved chocolate brand in India. Cadbury is one of India's best managed companies (2002 Business Today & AT Kearney). Cadbury is one of India's Top 25 Great Places to Work (Business World & Grow Talent)

With brands like Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Gems, , Perk, Éclairs, , Halls or newer offerings like Celebrations and Bytes, there is a Cadbury to suit all occasions and moods... hence we say “Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye!“

Cadbury had embarked on a strategy which involves increased consumption of its products through enhanced reach, affordability and visibility, which it feels, can be attained by creating new markets, widening the depth of its distribution network and working towards a comprehensive portfolio with brands across all price segments.

On the distribution front, the company increased the number of its distribution outlets from the 4 lakh to 14 lakh by the year 2009. To attain the objectives of affordability, over the past two years, Cadbury has been changing its product portfolio from pure chocolate items to confectionery, which includes caramel, nuts, raisins and wafers.

The aim is to bring down the price line and enter markets other than the purely urban ones. In line with this, it launched Googly in early 1997, and followed it up with products like Mocka and English Toffee. The strategy of the company has been to launch one major product and follow it up with smaller products, for instance, the launch of was followed by Cadbury Gold and a couple of sugar confectionery launches.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Pr/2 February 2010 Intense competition from Nestle is one of the reasons Cadbury has re-worked its product range and made efforts to enter the mass product segment. In 1998, the company moved into smaller sized versions of Dairy Milk and Perk and found to its delight that the introduction of economy priced models led to more people eating chocolate. In the same year, small packs increased chocolate volumes of Cadbury by 19 per cent and market. Nestle, with a 20 per cent share in the chocolates market responded with Munch, a chocolate brand came to counter Picnic.

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate was first introduced in the early 1900s, it made an immediate impact quickly becoming the market leader. The success story has continued. It is still the top selling chocolate brand in the country and the Cadbury Mega Brand's broad family of products today has an international retail value approaching US$ 1 billion. As an international brand, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk carries the same distinctive image all over the world. Wherever you buy a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, the pack design will be exactly the same, only the language will be different.

The first two additions to the Cadbury Megabrand family were Fruit & Nut in 1928 followed by WholeNut in 1933. The family has since been extended and there are now 10 varieties of Cadbury Dairy Milk bars in the range. In India Cadbury dairy milk is the most loveable one for kids as well as grown ups available in various sizes and prices.

Advertising highly influences consumers due to its brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, jingles and also concentrates on emotional advertisements. Nestlé's liquid paste format Chocostick, priced at Rs 2 a unit, has been a runaway success and Cadbury countered Nestlé's Chocostick with a similar offering - Chocki.

The mass market is categorized by Rs 5-10 price points, and according to industry data, this segment accounts for 70 per cent of overall chocolate sales in the domestic market. Urban penetration of chocolates among adults is just about 15 per cent in India, according to industry estimates.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Pr/3 February 2010 Cadbury was launched in September 1999 meant for everyone, (“Tiny little bits of fun for everyone to share”). A mix of Cadbury bars packed in a tub format that is ideal for informal everyday sharing. Consumers love to rummage and scrimmage in the tub to find their favourites. Includes Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury Dairy Milk with Caramel, Cadbury Dairy Milk Whole Nut, , , , , , Picnic, Nuts About Caramel. Consumers love the brand - it's perceived as more fun, up-to-date and great for younger people.

It was launched in September 1999 in UK with the "People Magnet" campaign that features famous heroes being attracted to the tub. In 2002, a new campaign was introduced which showed adults in everyday situations sharing Heroes and having a "Tiny little bit of fun”.

The brand also features as part of Cadbury's sponsorship of Coronation Street, where people play jokes on each other, whilst they share the tub of Heroes.

Cadbury Picnic - crispy and chewy caramel covered in whole raisins, peanuts and Cadbury milk chocolate. It was launched in 1958 under Fry's name and re-launched in 1999. 'On the go' chocolate .

Probably one of the most memorable campaigns for the brand was one, which featured a camel called Calvin, which was singing a song about the 'chew' of the bar. The 1994 campaign, was a spoof of a washing powder ad and showed lots of the ingredients being poured over a housewife, saying that there were so many ingredients in the bar that it wasn't possible to fit them all into one ad.

The Australian advertising campaign positions Picnic as 'deliciously ugly!' In India, it launched with great anticipations from the part of consumers but it was a failure as they didn't accept it like any other product from the house of Cadbury.

Cadbury Creme Egg was introduced by Cadbury brothers in the early 1920's positioning. There have been 5 major campaigns – e.g., "Shopkeeper" campaign of the 70's in which a boy asks for 6000 Cadbury Creme Eggs, "Irresistibly" campaign showing characters prepared to do something unusual for a Cadbury Crème Egg, etc.

The first TV Advertising campaign to feature the "How Do You Eat Yours?" theme was achieved through the zodiac signs.

The Flake bar was originally launched in 1920 after in 1930 Flake 99 ice cream accompaniment was launched and in 2001 Snowflake (a crumbly Flake centre covered in milk chocolate).

A variety of different sizes of multi-packs, Flake cakes and Ice cream cornets are now also widely available. The company claims that the chocolate’s indulgence, its crumbly texture means that it forces people to stop what they are doing and devote their full attention to eating it. The

Bizzy Bytes Page : Pr/4 February 2010 advertising always features a woman who is choosing to enjoy her Flake moment in a unique, and dramatically indulgent way.

It is the most popular personal gift assortment in the market. It is love with a lighter touch, a spontaneous token of affection. It has been supported by arguably the most famous advertising character in British TV history, the Milk Tray Man, who was featured on TV from 1967 to 2000. It re-launched this in 2003 to bring it up-to-date as the light-hearted token of affection for the 21st Century. For the first time, the Special Edition will contain a mix of milk, white and dark chocolates in one delicious selection. The new tag line for Milk Tray is "Now with extra mmm and ahh!"

Contests of various kinds constitutes widely used sales promotion tool. Consumer contests take a variety of forms like family contest, quiz contest, beauty contest, suggesting a logo, etc. To get vast masses of consumers interested in the brand and induce them to buy, it is the central idea in all consumer contests.

Cadbury announced fabulous prizes - around the world economy class air tickets for two adults and two children plus Rs 1 lakh in prize money. There were other prizes too, Ambassador cars, TV, Videos, Refrigerators, Cameras. The participants had to submit a minimum number of Cadbury's wrappers and coin a jingle to participate in the contest. The campaign not only helped to increase the sales of Cadbury's, it also helped them to counter the competition from Amul, who introduced new flavours and improved packaging.

Promotion on the Internet is emerging as the new trend. Manufacturers like Cadbury run promotions on specific sites that attract audience who are interested in promotions and contests. Sites like Contest2win.com and Hungama.com are examples were they run online contests offering exiting prizes.

To conclude it can be stated that Cadbury is the number one chocolate brand in India with their presence for more than 50 years. The main reasons of their success can be of:

[1] Extensive distribution network: Cadbury’s brands are available in over a 14 lakh outlets across the country. The distribution network directly covers almost the entire urban population. The company has invested significantly in building such an extensive network. The company uses Information Technology to improve its logistics and distribution competitiveness. Cadbury has improved the distribution quality of its products with the installation of refrigerators at several outlets. This helps in maintaining product quality in summer, when sales usually dip due to the fact that the heat affects product quality and thereby consumption.

[2] Creation of strong brands: Cadbury owes its success to strong brand equity and resultant consumer preference that it enjoys in India. The company has built strong brand equity through consistently high product quality, relevant, insightful and entertaining communication. Cadbury has developed new channels for

Bizzy Bytes Page : Pr/5 February 2010 marketing its brands such as Gifting and Snacking. The company places great emphasis in ensuring display dominance at the point of purchase.

[3] Customisation of products for India: Cadbury India has spent time in understanding the Indian consumers. Leveraging its 55 years of experience in India, the company has customized its products to the Indian markets. It also offers products at affordable price points so as to increase its market penetration.

[4] Leveraging the India Advantages: Though, India contributes to less than 5 per cent of the global revenues today, India is critical to the global strategy of the company

[5] Managerial Talent: Cadbury has begun recruiting management graduates in India to serve its global operations.

[6] Huge market potential: India offers huge market potential and is a priority market for Cadbury. The company also leverages India as a manufacturing base for producing products for the overseas market. Cadbury India has 4 company owned factories and as many third party manufacturing contractors. It also has a wide Sales & Distribution infrastructure consisting of 33 depots managed by 4 regional sales branches across India.

Reference:

[1] omgkolkata.blogspot.com [2] www.thetransportpolitic.com [3] www.skyscrapercity.com [4] www.reed.edu [5] www.thehindubusinessline.com [6] http://audreyandthane.wordpress.com [7] www.wikipedia.org

Bizzy Bytes Page : Pr/6 February 2010 Author profile:

Anis Chattopadhyay

The author is B.Sc. (H), PGDMSM, PGDBM (IISWBM), Former faculty of IISWBM, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose College. He is presently associated with Techno India. He can be reached at: [email protected]

Disclaimer:

Any views expressed by the author are his own. Bizzy Bytes is in no way responsible for the personal opinions of the author.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Pr/7 February 2010 BIZarre

Let’s Have Scotch!

--Debraj Datta

No friend, what probably you are thinking, it’s not so!! New Year bacchanalia is way past and I’m a strict teetotaller. Moreover, this column is not meant to entice innocent (?) people like you to get dragged into being pixilated and zonked. So let me unravel the beautiful story of another Scotch, not a type of drink, but the brand of adhesive tape from 3M (even the name of this company, founded by Henry S. Bryan, Herman W. Cable, John Dwan, William A. McGonagle, and Dr. J. Danley Budd on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Two Harbors, Minnesota in 1902, is very interesting; originally known as Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company, it officially changed its name to 3M on the eve of its 100th anniversary in 2002!).

Richard Gurley Drew

In 1923, banjo playing engineer Richard Gurley Drew (1886- 1956) joined the 3M company located in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the time, 3M used to make sandpaper only. Drew was testing 3M's Wetordry brand sandpaper at a local auto bodyshop, when he noticed that auto painters were having a hard time making clean dividing lines on two-colour paint jobs. Richard Drew was inspired to invent the world's first masking tape in 1925, as a solution to the auto painters' dilemma. It was a two-inch-wide tan paper tape with a pressure sensitive adhesive backing.

The brand name Scotch came about while Richard Drew was testing his first masking tape to determine how much adhesive he needed to add. The first tape had adhesive along its edges but not in the middle. In its first trial run, it fell off the car and the bodyshop painter became frustrated with the excessively economical amount of adhesive in the back of sample masking tape and exclaimed, "Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!" (No wonder, since Scots were known for being Scrooge!) The name was soon applied to the entire line of 3M tapes.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Sc/1 February 2010 In 1930 he came up with the world's first transparent cellophane adhesive tape (called sellotape in the UK and Scotch tape in the United States). Made with a nearly invisible adhesive, the waterproof transparent tape was made from: oils, resins, and rubber; and had a coated backing. It was the first waterproof, see-through, pressure-sensitive tape, thus supplying an attractive, moisture-proof way to seal food wrap for bakers, grocers, and meat packers. “Tape beyond strong” (Punch line)

Drew sent a trial shipment of the new Scotch cellulose tape to a Chicago firm specializing in package printing for bakery products. The response put this product on the market! Shortly after, heat sealing reduced the original use of the new tape. However, Americans in a depressed economy discovered they could use the tape to mend a wide variety of things like torn pages of books and documents, broken toys, ripped window shades, even dilapidated currency.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Sc/2 February 2010

John A Borden, another 3M engineer invented the first tape dispenser with a built-in cutter blade in 1932.

Scotch™ tape has since become a permanent fixture of daily living. By 1957, 3M’s tape department had sold its 2 billionth roll of tape.

Scotch Brand Magic Transparent Tape ® was invented in 1961, an almost invisible tape that never discolored and could be written on. Cellophane tape was replaced in 1972 with a stronger, more flexible polyester material that looks as clear and shiny, the old red-plaid packaging was retained and the public hardly noticed. By 1976 there were more than 600 varieties of "Scotch" brand tapes on the market - all direct descendants of masking tape and cellophane tape.

Another Scotch story in the next issue.

References:

[1] http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.invent.org/hall %5Fof%5Ffame/160.html [2] http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/Scotch_Tape.htm [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3M [4] http://inventors.about.com/lr/scotch_tape/335550/1/ [5] http://inventors.about.com/lr/richard_drew/335550/2/

Bizzy Bytes Page : Sc/3 February 2010 [6] http://inventors.about.com/lr/3m/335550/5/ [7] http://www.3m.com/about3M/history/product%5Fevolv.jhtml [8] http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bloffice.htm [9] http://erclk.about.com/?zi=12/oOT [10] http://ergonomics.about.com/od/christmas/ss/giftwaptools_2.htm [11] http://ergonomics.about.com/od/giftwrapping/fr/popuptape.htm [12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Gurley_Drew [13] http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/indexa.shtml [14] http://www.edu.pe.ca/kish/grassroots/meet/schrumaj.htm [15] http://www.minnesotainventors.org/inductees/richard-g-drew.html [16] http://www.scotchtapedispenser.net/ [17] http://www.rankopedia.com [18] http://pal2pal.com/BLOGEE [19] http://www.istockphoto.com [20] http://greenerloudoun.files.wordpress.com [21] http://adoholik.com [22] http://blog.makezine.com

Author’s Profile:

Debraj Datta

The author is a gold-medallist engineer from Jadavpur University and holder of Masters in Business Management degree from University of Calcutta. He worked in Infosys, IDC and ABPPL as software and management professional. He was a faculty of Marketing and Statistics in ICFAI Meritum College and later on Academic Co-ordinator of ICFAI National College, Dumdum. Presently he is the Lecturer and Teacher In-Charge of Department of Management Studies, Meghnad Saha Institute of Technology - a Techno Group institute affiliated to West Bengal University of Technology.

He can be reached at: [email protected]

Disclaimer:

Any views expressed by the author are his own. Bizzy Bytes is in no way responsible for the personal opinions of the author.

Bizzy Bytes Page : Sc/4 February 2010 Soft Skills

Dodging The Bullets: Guidelines for Facing Specific Interview Questions [Part-5]

Virag Bhushan Dwivedi

Be Alert!! The interview board is firing questions at you! How do you survive?

Question 31 : What changes would you make if you came on board? TRAPS: Watch out! This question can derail your candidacy faster than a bomb on the tracks – and just as you are about to be hired. Reason: No matter how bright you are, you cannot know the right actions to take in a position before you settle in and get to know the operation’s strengths, weaknesses, key people, financial condition, methods of operation, etc. If you lunge at this temptingly baited question, you will probably be seen as someone who shoots from the hip. Moreover, no matter how comfortable you may feel with your interviewer, you are still an outsider. No one, including your interviewer, likes to think that a know-it-all outsider is going to come in, turn the place upside down and with sweeping, grand gestures, promptly demonstrate what jerks everybody’s been for years. BEST ANSWER: You, of course, will want to take a good hard look at everything the company is doing before making any recommendations. Example: “Well, I wouldn’t be a very good doctor if I gave my diagnosis before the examination. Should you hire me, as I hope you will, I’d want to take a good hard look at everything you’re doing and understand why it’s being done that way. I’d like to have in-depth meetings with you and the other key people to get a deeper grasp of what you feel you’re doing right and what could be improved. “From what you’ve told me so far, the areas of greatest concern to you are…” (name them. Then do two things. First, ask if these are in fact his major concerns. If so then reaffirm how your experience in meeting similar needs elsewhere might prove very helpful).

Question 32 : I’m concerned that you don’t have as much experience as we’d like in… TRAPS: This could be a make-or-break question. The interviewer mostly likes what he sees, but has doubts over one key area. If you can assure him on this point, the job may be yours. BEST ANSWER: This question is related to “The Fatal Flaw” (Question 18), but here the concern

Bizzy Bytes Page: In/1 February 2010 is not that you are totally missing some qualifications, such as CA certification, but rather that your experience is light in one area. Before going into any interview, try to identify the weakest aspects of your candidacy from this company’s point of view. Then prepare the best answer you possibly can to shore up your defenses. To get past this question with flying colors, you are going to rely on your master strategy of uncovering the employer’s greatest wants and needs and then matching them with your strengths. Since you already know how to do this from Question 1, you are in a much stronger position. More specifically, when the interviewer poses an objection like this, you should… 1. Agree on the importance of this qualification. 2. Explain that your strength may indeed be greater than your resume indicates because… 3. When this strength is added to your other strengths, it’s really your combination of qualifications that’s most important.

Then review the areas of your greatest strengths that match up most favorably with the company’s most urgently-felt wants and needs. This is powerful way to handle this question for two reasons. First, you’re giving your interviewer more ammunition in the area of his concern. But more importantly, you’re shifting his focus away from this one, isolated area and putting it on the unique combination of strengths you offer, strengths which tie in perfectly with his greatest wants.

Question 33 : How do you feel about working nights and weekends? TRAPS: Blurt out “no way, Boss” and you can kiss the job offer goodbye. But what if you have a family and want to work a reasonably normal schedule? Is there a way to get both the job and the schedule you want? BEST ANSWER: First, if you’re a confirmed workaholic, this question is a softball lob. Whack it out of the park on the first swing by saying this kind of schedule is just your style. Add that your family understands it. Indeed, they’re happy for you, as they know you get your greatest satisfaction from your work. If however, you prefer a more balanced lifestyle, answer this question with another: “What’s the norm for your best people here?” If the hours still sound unrealistic for you, ask, “Do you have any top people who perform exceptionally for you, but who also have families and like to get home in time to see them at night?” Chances are this company does, and this associates you with this other “top-performers-who-leave- not-later-than-six” group. Depending on the answer, be honest about how you would fit into the picture. If all those extra hours make you uncomfortable, say so, but phrase your response positively. Example: “I love my work and do it exceptionally well. I think the results speak for themselves, especially in …(mention your two or three qualifications of greater interest to the employer. Remember, this is what he wants most, not a workaholic with weak credentials). Not only would I

Bizzy Bytes Page: In/2 February 2010 bring these qualities, but I’ve built my whole career on working not just hard, but smart. I think you’ll find me one of the most productive people here. I do have a family who like to see me after work and on weekends. They add balance and richness to my life, which in turn helps me be happy and productive at work. If I could handle some of the extra work at home in the evenings or on weekends, that would be ideal. You’d be getting a person of exceptional productivity who meets your needs with strong credentials. And I’d be able to handle some of the heavy workload at home where I can be under the same roof as my family. Everybody would win.”

Question 34 : Are you willing to relocate or travel? TRAPS: Answer with a flat “no” and you may slam the door shut on this opportunity. But what if you’d really prefer not to relocate or travel, yet wouldn’t want to lose the job offer over it? BEST ANSWER: First find out where you may have to relocate and how much travel may be involved. Then respond to the question. If there’s no problem, say so enthusiastically. If you do have a reservation, there are two schools of thought on how to handle it. One advises you to keep your options open and your reservations to yourself in the early going, by saying, “no problem”. You strategy here is to get the best offer you can, then make a judgment whether it’s worth it to you to relocate or travel. Also, by the time the offer comes through, you may have other offers and can make a more informed decision. Why kill of this opportunity before it has chance to blossom into something really special? And if you’re a little more desperate three months from now, you might wish you hadn’t slammed the door on relocating or traveling. The second way to handle this question is to voice a reservation, but assert that you’d be open to relocating (or traveling) for the right opportunity. The answering strategy you choose depends on how eager you are for the job. If you want to take no chances, choose the first approach. If you want to play a little harder-to-get in hopes of generating a more enticing offer, choose the second.

Question 35 : Do you have the stomach to fire people? Have you had experience firing many people? TRAPS: This “innocent” question could be a trap door which sends you down a chute and lands you in a heap of dust outside the front door. Why? Because its real intent is not just to see if you’ve got the stomach to fire, but also to uncover poor judgment in hiring which has caused you to fire so many. Also, if you fire so often, you could be a tyrant. So don’t rise to the bait by boasting how many you’ve fired, unless you’ve prepared to explain why it was beyond your control, and not the result of your poor hiring procedures or foul temperament.

Bizzy Bytes Page: In/3 February 2010

BEST ANSWER: Describe the rational and sensible management process you follow in both hiring and firing. Example: “My whole management approach is to hire the best people I can find, train them thoroughly and well, get them excited and proud to be part of our team, and then work with them to achieve our goals together. If you do all of that right, especially hiring the right people, I’ve found you don’t have to fire very often. “So with me, firing is a last resort. But when it’s got to be done, it’s got to be done, and the faster and cleaner, the better. A poor employee can wreak terrible damage in undermining the morale of an entire team of good people. When there’s no other way, I’ve found it’s better for all concerned to act decisively in getting rid of offenders who won’t change their ways.”

Question 36 : Why have you had so many jobs? TRAPS: Your interviewer fears you may leave this position quickly, as you have others. He’s concerned you may be unstable, or a “problem person” who can’t get along with others. BEST ANSWER: First, before you even get to the interview stage, you should try to minimize your image as job hopper. If there are several entries on your resume of less than one year, consider eliminating the less important ones. Perhaps you can specify the time you spent at previous positions in rounded years not in months and years. Example: Instead of showing three positions this way:

6/1982 – 3/1983 Position A

4/1983 – 12/1983 Position B

1/1984 – 8/1987 Position C

…it would be better to show simply:

1982 – 1983 Position A

1984 – 1987 Position C

In other words, you would drop Position B altogether. Notice what a difference this makes in reducing your image as a job hopper. Once in front of the interviewer and this question comes up, you must try to reassure him. Describe each position as part of an overall pattern of growth and career destination. Be careful not to blame other people for your frequent changes. But you can and should attribute certain changes to conditions beyond your control.

Bizzy Bytes Page: In/4 February 2010

Example: Thanks to an upcoming merger, you wanted to avoid an ensuing bloodbath, so you made a good, upward career move before your department came under the axe of the new owners. If possible, also show that your job changes were more frequent in your younger days, while you were establishing yourself, rounding out your skills and looking for the right career path. At this stage in your career, you’re certainly much more interested in the best long-term opportunity. You might also cite the job(s) where you stayed the longest and describe that this type of situation is what you’re looking for now.

Question 37 : What do you see as the proper role/mission of… …a good (job title you’re seeking); …a good manager; …an executive in serving the community; …a leading company in our industry; etc. TRAPS: These and other “proper role” questions are designed to test your understanding of your place in the bigger picture of your department, company, community and profession….as well as the proper role each of these entities should play in its bigger picture. The question is most frequently asked by the most thoughtful individuals and companies…or by those concerned that you’re coming from a place with a radically different corporate culture (such as from a big government bureaucracy to an aggressive small company). The most frequent mistake executives make in answering is simply not being prepared (seeming as if they’ve never given any of this a thought.)…or in phrasing an answer best suited to their prior organization’s culture instead of the hiring company’s. BEST ANSWER: Think of the most essential ingredients of success for each category above – your job title, your role as manager, your firm’s role, etc. Identify at least three but no more than six qualities you feel are most important to success in each role. Then commit your response to memory. Here, again, the more information you’ve already drawn out about the greatest wants and needs of the interviewer, and the more homework you’ve done to identify the culture of the firm, the more on-target your answer will be.

Question 38 : ”What would you say to your boss if he’s crazy about an idea, but you think it stinks? TRAPS: This is another question that pits two values, in this case loyalty and honesty, against one another. BEST ANSWER: Remember the rule stated earlier: In any conflict between values, always choose integrity. Example: I believe that when evaluating anything, it’s important to emphasize the positive. “What do I like about this idea?” “Then, if I have reservations, I certainly want to point them out, as specifically, objectively and factually as I can.”

Bizzy Bytes Page: In/5 February 2010

“After all, the most important thing I owe my boss is honesty. If he can’t count on me for that, then everything else I may do or say could be questionable in his eyes.” “But I also want to express my thoughts in a constructive way. So my goal in this case would be to see if my boss and I could make his idea even stronger and more appealing, so that it effectively overcomes any initial reservation I or others may have about it.” “Of course, if he overrules me and says, ‘no, let’s do it my way,’ then I owe him my full and enthusiastic support to make it work as best it can.”

Question 39 : How could you have improved your career progress? TRAPS: This is another variation on the question, “If you could, how would you live your life over?” Remember, you’re not going to fall for any such invitations to rewrite personal history. You can’t win if you do. BEST ANSWER: You’re generally quite happy with your career progress. Maybe, if you had known something earlier in life (impossible to know at the time, such as the booming growth in a branch in your industry…or the corporate downsizing that would phase out your last job), you might have moved in a certain direction sooner. But all things considered, you take responsibility for where you are, how you’ve gotten there, where you are going…and you harbor no regrets.

Question 40 : What would you do if a fellow executive on your own corporate level wasn’t pulling his/her weight…and this was hurting your department? TRAPS: This question and other hypothetical ones test your sense of human relations and how you might handle office politics. BEST ANSWER: Try to gauge the political style of the firm and be guided accordingly. In general, fall back on universal principles of effective human relations – which in the end, embody the way you would like to be treated in a similar circumstance. Example: “Good human relations would call for me to go directly to the person and explain the situation, to try to enlist his help in a constructive, positive solution. If I sensed resistance, I would be as persuasive as I know how to explain the benefits we can all gain from working together, and the problems we, the company and our customers will experience if we don’t.” POSSIBLE FOLLOW-UP QUESTION: And what would you do if he still did not change his ways? ANSWER: “One thing I wouldn’t do is let the problem slide, because it would only get worse and overlooking it would set a bad precedent. I would try again and again and again, in whatever way I could, to solve the problem, involving wider and wider circles of people, both above and below the offending executive and including my own boss if necessary, so that everyone involved can see the rewards for teamwork and the drawbacks of non-cooperation.” “I might add that I’ve never yet come across a situation that couldn’t be resolved by harnessing others in a determined, constructive effort.”

Bizzy Bytes Page: In/6 February 2010

References:

[1] www.scribd.com [Plus many other job-related sites that are too numerous to mention.]

Author Profile:

Virag Bhushan Dwivedi

The author is an alumni of Techno India School of Management Studies [TISOMS]. He obtained his BBA(H) in 2008, and is pursuing PGDM from the Birla Institute of Management Technology, Noida. In his own preparations for interviews he has learnt certain interesting techniques which he wishes to share with us.

He can be reached at: [email protected]

Bizzy Bytes Page: In/7 February 2010

Inviting Authors:

Bizzy Bytes invites one and all to write for this magazine. This is a magazine for management students, faculty, professionals and the general public who have a passion for business management and writing. So, make it your own. If you have an opinion, why not make it count? Share your views, theories, gripes .. anything at all in this magazine.

If it is interesting we will publish it.

All entries must reach us by the third Sunday of each month to be included in the next month’s edition at the above-mentioned contact email id. Please send the following: [1] Soft copy of your articles, photographs, etc. [2] Digital Photograph of the author(s) [3] A short profile of the author.

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