Roger Frederer The Greatetest Tennis Player

15 Grand Slam Titles is a new world record . By winning the Wimbledon Crown he Roger Frederer has made history ,VIVA Roger . You are the greatest .

Mr CEO - Re Engineer Or Perish

I visited many organizations in South India since the FINAMI struck in early Ocober of 2008 .Spoke to many CEOs who are running huge businesses . All I could hear and see was they are all busy having several rounds of meetings on a new found subject called COST Cutting . One of them has organized this cost cutting meeting in a nearby five star hotel !!! I saw from News papers and TV that many are in serious problems and hence cost cutting ..

One very reputed firm have gone to the extent of asking Sharukh Khan to give us confidence .
This time the King Khan himself did not appear very convincing and it appeared that things are really much worse than what is .

My immediate response was to minimize my risk by using all the cash and getting ready for the end of the world irrespective of the fact whether Mr Khan is going to get an OSCAR for this great act of "courage " that he risks his own reputation .( he get paid a Kings Ransom anyway for all this deceit ) Kal Ho Na Ho . Well other Stars have a good opportunity now to have some CBM for the Aam Admi ( confidence building measures )

One CEO in the automobile component sector called me up to say that he wants my help immediately to rework on cost cutting and has admitted that his business which was growing at 25 % per annum has already lost 60 to 70 % of business as the Truck Manufactureres have cut back on production and he is very worried .He wants to tell all those who are going to loose their jobs that he would have never done any of these retrenchment on hos own ,but the consultant has convinced the investor to do so and hence he is helpless now . All except his favorite boys and 'men for all seasons' please look for other jobs with out any further delay .!!

Another CEO of one of the first ten Indian corporates has already removed all powers from all others and decided to approve for himself all bills and stopped water supply .

Yet another decided to cut severly the payouts to contractors and decided to delay the payments till such time he gets paid by his creditors .

Yet another decided to send back as many employees ,especially the ones which are yet to be confirmed ,in additon to the not so useful ones .

Another one went on to try reducing the salary payable to all employees by 50%

All CEOs were not so lucky to sack employees as employees could get the blessing of one of Modern India's most progressive and upcoming political leader from Mumbai - I am shifting my loyalty to him as he is so powerful and perhaps can save my job as well - who made just one telephone call and the CEO reversed his decision immediately and came up with the classic lie which managments have been specialising " employees are our most valuable assests" .

Instead the CEO has opted to sack many of his expat staff and made a huge saving and unfortunately there was no plitical party working for the rights of employees from other countries . May be International Labour Organization should come up with soem solutions esp we have millions of Indians working abroad and if the CEOs out there does the same thing nothing can be doen about it .

Well another CEO thought that it is better to sack the junior most employee and save the firm from disaster.

Many organizations in Garment Exports, Software , BPO , and anyone having business incomes arising from USA has lost out the maximum . Shiping companies have decided to put vessels on anchor and lay off the crew as the freight rates have fallen so badly .

Some of the richest guys . ( a rich guy is is defined as " very poor guy with lots of money" **!!) whose name appears in the Forbes richy rich boys have lost the maximum as their share prices saw a south eastern dive .And the guys made good by buying out their own shares at much lower prices with the expectaions of a future rise .

Steel prices have fallen. Cement prices have fallen , Crude prices have fallen . Wow the Finance minister must indeed be given a nobel prize for bringing inflation down by one percantage point to the benefit of the Aam Admi .

But when I went to buy vegetables in the market I was shocked to see the prices of many items have seen growth like never before .

May be I get back to my village and start growing vegetables in the fields than working in a metro where I got to buy all things .

I have heard the Sub prime crisis has made investments in housing a foolish activity . Yet my efforts to find a house with an affordable rent is not making any headway as no one is reducing the rent in line with the market realities .In fact it is going up . I think it is time to search for the nearst railway station to have a roof over my head .

Micheal Champy will find new customers soon as RE-ENGINEERING is going to get fashionable again and LEAN manufacturing will be forced on firms who had the tendency to splurge in the cool breeze that graced them for over the past five years and fuelled growth . Any way I am going to take those books from the attic as some day soon I will be in demand trying to save the compnies in distress . This reminds me of the Movie TITANIC where the hero hands over the life boat to save the heroin after the ship is broken and passngers and crew are in the chill waters without sufficient life jackets or other ships to save them .. I am sure some of them will survive but many will perish and if I am able to save a few it must be a miracle .

I found a new definition for height of optimism as I heard someone saying that Barak Obama will change the world .

Jesus are you Listening ?

I may not escape this Financial Tsunami (FINAMI)

Over the past one month ( October 2008 )the entire world around me seems collapsing .

It was known to me over the past two years that the US housing sector was getting worse as one of the clients of mine at Chennai who was processing the loan applications was explaining about this and I thought how does it matter to me anyway .

The news papers kept reminding and friends and relatives out there was wary about speaking openly as they suspected that we might change our opinion of a prosperous infallible USA.

The news after Katrina and Rita which has struck the Florida coast has revealed to me the helplessness of the most power full nation on earth to respond to natural calamities and exposed the poverty there .

The relief efforts there were not any greater than the ones we experience around here , where the administrators claim all is well ,even when the minimum relief has not reached those who are badly affected and the media goes to trivia as usual to expose the next scam , rape , war and terrorism and we all conveniently forget what happened last month and look at the new one as the media sets the agenda for us and we are always ready to go by it and send to oblivion things which are important to us ,like our problems , financial , educational , health etc .

So when the financial system has gone totally out of gear and dollar becomes dear , what will happen to us as ordinary individuals who want to lead their lives and pay their taxes, repay the borrowings with interest , take care of the expenses ?

I am so scared now like never before whether I will succeed in meeting my financial obligations and commitments as regularly as I used to so far . I am not free of debts ,though I own no solid assets . When I read inthe newspapers that another farmer has committed suicide since he had taken a laon of a lakh of Rs and could not repay I keep wondering how many times I should have taken my life by now . WellI live on hope and hope alone . WhenI quit my Govt of IOndia job the onyl capital I had was courage . Oophs I suspect it is vanishing now !!!.

Mostly my liabilities are to major global financial institutions such as city bank, abn amro, GE, Stanchart ,HSBC Amex etc on personal loans which I had taken to pay for the kids education and other essentials as the organizations I work for do not pay on time or sometimes choose not to pay at all . So the burden goes up as all these loan givers are chargine me interest which will make Shylock noble by comparison and over and above penal interests in case of delays which is forced on me by the payment systems adopted by the Indian corporate houses.Besides, the taxes are so very high and successive governments have done nothing except making promises of helping those upcoming well meaning individuals and organizations ,but the bankers seems to be working in opposite directions .

After the recent Singur incident in West Bengal where Tatas ,which is one of the most respected industrial houses of India ,got land for the nano car project at rates which I will never get and interests which are either nil or at rates below the LIBOR rates and repayments at such cool options spanning over 100 years etc . I am of the opinion that all govts , whether they belong to left ,right or center are all helping only those who have the wherewithal and they have no clue to help the AAM ADMI or the common man . Other wise why should MR Ratan Tata and Ambani and Birla pay the same rates of tax tax which I am required to pay and they get things for free and I got to pay rates which are unsustainable . ??? I am convinced that No one will answer this question in my life time . If asked there may be a law to punish and prevent me from asking such questions as it does not sound too good to the policy makers .

I wanted the Finance Minister (FM)to remove tax on all employees . Will he ?
I want FM to remove tax on all small businesses which has a turn over less than Rs. one crore last year .Extend the tax holidays offered to all those in SEZ and IT Parks to all those upcoming Indian organizations in other sectors and especially in the maximum job and wealth creating service sectors too. Will NASSCOM take note ?Will any political leadership take note ?

I want the interest rates on credit cards to be pegged on rates not more than twice that of Prime lending rates of Indian Commercial banks . Other wise I will never be able to finish the repayments as 45% interest is too much . Besides, is it not good for the country that I buy on credit cards and most of us buy on credit cards so that FM can monitor the spending . I also find the current systems of credit card purchases are not encouraged by the FM . When I buy anything on credit card the seller do not give the 2 to 5% discounts he other wise gives for cash purchases and also charges 2% extra if card is used . So I pay up 130% extra , provided I did not delay my payment other wise 12.36% Service tax is to be paid .So the policy helps only those who have black money and Greshams law applies here and the policy makers are not talking about it at all .

So instead ,if I was a holder of black money ,fake money , I would have been better off by now compared to being a law abiding citizen ,who sold his immovable property to ensure 100% tax compliance .

I do not think I can survive any longer . May be I guess , the economic melt down will reduce incomes further or increase expenses so much that I will be forced to fail and I may not escape from it this time and I guess this financial Tsunami (FINAMI )will wash me away amongst many who are like me .

I shared this with my wife and kids a couple of days ago and they are paranoid now .I think I made a mistake of telling them the fears i genuinely have . But I guess things are only going to get worse from now on and I have no clue on how we could respond this time.


Any advise from you ??? Not looking for sympathies but only viable solutions .

Jacob Cherian
25 October 2008

Jacobs' syndrome

Yes ,This is a terminal disease affecting organizations all over the world who are certified to ISO 9001 and other such standards .

It goes like this .
An organizations spend time and money in getting certified .
Thereafter they forget all the steps they are required to do to make their organization healthier.However ,once the surveillance audit is due from the certifying body (CB)after 6 to 12 months after the certification the organization makes up all the audits and MRMs overnight , and presents before the CB . Ah the major non conformity then becomes minor .Minor Non conformity becomes an observation or an opportunity for improvement , and observations are just told and not even recorded.
In the evening the Management Representative informs the MD that the audit went successfully and all go partying ,though many processes are terribly out of control .

So you hang a certificate on the wall and tell everyone and include in the annual report that all are ISO 9001 certified ,but do just nothing at all ,and audit has become a ritual which is to be performed at regular intervals .

Result is disastrous .

Are you affected by this Syndrome?

If yes, I know many cant say no to this , it is a terminal disease called "Jacobs' Syndrome"

The only cure for this is genuine commitment and Top Management will have to walk the talk .

Training on QEHS at Cumi Metz ,Hosur 6th Nov 2007

All the management personnel lead by the Unit Head Dr .Shyam Rao attended a full day appreciation program on ISO 9001-2000 ,ISO14001,-2004& OHSAS 18001-2007 .
The program was meant to initiate the above concepts in the new State of the Art Metalizing Ceramics Plant ,one of the five in the world.
Program was conducted at the beautiful training facility of Ashok Leyland Management Development Center at Hosur -near Bangalooru and was well received by all.

Since the plant commissioning is in progress and at advanced stages ,next intervention is not immediate and may take place in Feb /Mar 2008.

Joseph Mathew IES 1956 to 2007

Joseph Mathew IES passed away last night .He was a great friend of mine since 1970. We were Students of Class eleven at our native town,Changanacherry , in Kerala.India .He was my mentor for the initial seven years till I completed my Post Graduation . Most of my life's success happened because of this single individual and I consider him as a God send .

He was too young to die at 52 and he shared his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi .I did not wish him last as he was refusing to answer calls ,may be due to all the pains of Cancer he was suffering from for the past three four years . One more time I am convinced that life is too short and you can't wait for another day to come to live ......

I am praying for his wife ,sons and his old mother , brother and sisters and all those who loved him .

May his soul rest in peace

This is the first day of my blogging

I was waiting for someone to help me start this blogging activity. Then came the google toolbar mentioning about blog.And after a few clicks the blog is on . I now know that there is so much to do and share with others . And I am going to spend time on this .....