Varun Kumar

I came across a beautiful series of temples at Itkhori, Jharkhand. This place is an awesome mingling of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist deities. All the idols here have come from excavation. Itkhori block is famous for the goddess Bhadrakali and Bhagwati. Goddess Kali is worshiped here as Jagdamba. People flock here to offer sacrifice and Mundan sanskar. It has a scenic beauty and is a very good picnic spot. The most astonishing spot for me is the following:- The water visible in this idol never vanishes. Even if we take out entire water from it, water reappears as soon as we put the stone back on it. I don’t know the scientific reason behind this phenomenon but people have very high religious faith associated with it.

Basic Concept ·        Threadless.com is an online t-shirt company using community-based innovation and product development. ·        Based on an ongoing competition, Threadless community members create and submit t-shirt designs, provide feedback, cast votes, and purchase t-shirts. It’s a community that ·          Builds the product ·          Markets the product ·          Buys the product Threadless also relies on community members to actively participate on the site by critiquing submitted designs, blogging about their daily lives, posting songs and videos inspired by the designs and most importantly purchasing t-shirts that have won the weekly design competitions. All printed designs typically sell out and are then retired from the active catalog to make room for new designs.

I would like to thank my team mates - Munaf Kapadia, Shilpa Jhamb, Mayank Singh, Madhu Kumar M, Sourav Mukherjee, Deepika Kaushal for their efforts to bring in possible strategy of Starbucks. Firstly, our team tried to map the experience associated with Starbucks coffee outlet. Thereafter, we conducted PESTEL analysis wrt India. Our survey gave us many insights like  78% respondents visit coffee shops for the experience, 75% visit to hang out with friends and so on. Thereafter, we conducted analysis based on Porter's model, SWOT analysis and Competitor's analysis. Based on these, we came out with a 3-pronged strategy which included partnership, alliance and acquisition. Possible STP: 16-38 yrs, quality coffee, superior experience Product: Customized menu but no customization in coffee offering. Price would be high but not the highest. The detail strategy includes place, promotion, supply chain, logistics, distribution and community building. To get the details, contact any...

A must read book for Supply Chain Enthusiasts which talks about networking the flow of material, information and cash.  It talks about five principles:- Velocity, Variability, Vocalize, Visualize and Value. Every manufacturing and service firm lives or dies within a networked context. Business success is now largely determined by conditions outside the four walls of any one company. The objective of the book is to assemble all the relevant techniques in the pursuit of defining a ‘supply chain architect’ role, bringing together various organizational functions on a project, rather than a line management, approach. This is essentially an innovative textbook to scan, with plenty of detailed tables and graphics. It also uses the technique initiated in The Goal, in this case interweaving various storylines through the book, to illustrate the theories and techniques. The takeaway is the 38-step blueprint or road map used in designing and operating supply chain networks.

I would like to thank Dr. Anshu Jalora (NMIMS, Mumbai) for his motivation and support, my team mates - Munaf Kapadia, Mridul Tyagi, Shubhangi Joshi and Akash Mittal for their efforts and, Furtados' officials for their valuable insights. Furtados’ first Retail Music store was established in1865. It is headquartered in Mumbai.  Online purchase :   http://www.furtadosonline.com/ Product From print music to digital equipment, having a complete spectrum of musical instruments in the Western and Indian categories, Furtados today retails every major brand of musical instrument (String (Guitar, Violin), Percussions (Drums), Keys (Keyboard, Piano), and Electric Instruments). It has evolved into a one-stop shop for any music-oriented person, be it the student, the tutor or the virtuoso. Instruments are imported from all across the globe including the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, France, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Ho...

This book is a sequel to “The Goal” which had introduced the concepts of Theory of Constraints (TOC) and shown its application in a manufacturing scenario. In this book, UniCo, a diversified conglomerate has decided to sell three loss making companies which are under its fold. Alex Rego, now the Executive Vice President of UniCO has been given the responsibility to turn around these companies to fetch an attractive return when they are sold. He applies TOC concepts and techniques to Sales, Marketing, Inventory Control and Business Strategy and comes out with flying colours in this challenging task.   The three entities for a company's existence are make money now as well as in the future, provide a secure and satisfying environment for employees now as well as in the future and provide satisfaction to the market now as well as in the future. No business strategy should violate any of the above entities. Never build a strategy based on market forecasts, since their accuracy is n...

The Goal is a management-oriented novel by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt. The plot of the book is Alex Rogo who is a troubled Manager of the Bearington Division of UniCo Corporation with the plant consistently performing badly for a considerable period of time. The parts ordered are not able to meet the deadlines of delivery & delays have run into periods of more than fifty days. At the same time huge piles of inventory lie on the factory floor and finished items too are occupying the storage sheds. Starting point is “Setting The Goal” i.e. making money. If the goal is to make money, then, an action that moves us toward making money is productive. And an action that takes us away from making money is non-productive. The problem is How to measure that organization is moving towards the “The Goal”. What would be the minimum number of measurements you would need in order to know if we are making money?”. The Goal is to make money by increasing net profit, while simultaneously increasing r...

Chopra & Meindl's book on Supply Chain Management is an excellent book to clear the basics of the subject. I would thank Prof. Khalid Sheikh (NMIMS, Mumbai) for recommending the same. The book brings together the strategic role of the supply chain, key strategic drivers of supply chain performance and techniques for supply chain analysis. The book has explained efficiency vs responsiveness nicely. It has given six supply chain drivers - facilities, inventory,  transportation, information, sourcing and pricing. The book goes on explaining various metrics for each of these drivers. It has also explained e-business and changing characteristics of supply chain because of it.Then, it covers the financial evaluation of supply chain decisions. I would recommend students of supply chain management to go through this book.