Do we really need an MLA for our Constituency

Out of curiosity, two self-puzzling questions often arise to many:
1) Do we really need an MLA for socio-economic development of our Constituency?
2) How relevant is ‘who is the MLA for the Constituency’ to You & I in our day-to-day lives and during the entire 5-yr duration of an MLA’s tenure?

General people tend to mix up personal emotions and relationship with the purpose to VOTE in the assembly election!!! If one votes without asking to self – ‘Why I vote?’ and ‘Whom I vote for which specific reasons?’, then it only shows ‘HOW STUPID & WHAT AN IDIOT I AM?’

The post of MLA is just intended as a Professional VOLUNTEERED post for the number of people in the constituency. His/her main responsibility and purpose of existence is to check, to reason, to suggest input to the administrative system of the Govt functionary so that people’s emotions are taken into consideration. So, technically, he/she is just like a ‘RECEPTIONIST’ for receiving people’s feedbacks; nothing more n nothing less.

A strong and effective administrative services system (comprising of IAS, IPS, directors, Commissioners, etc) is the key to bringing overall social development and NOT just via the presence of MLAs. Again, even if there is no MLAs, society can still EXIST with prosperity as long as each individual knows what’s own social responsibility.

Technical deliveries of projects (such as dam construction, school supervision, road development, electricity supply, etc) are the mandated duties of officials working in the administrative section of the GOVT. Again, PEOPLE as individuals need to own up activities in all means of livelihood by working in respective industry sector; because govt administrative officials are just like ACCOUNTANTS and SUPERVISOR who are there to note down what’s completed and what’s next to execute in the overall development plan of the society. Interestingly, those development plans are not just created by these IAS officers out of nowhere, but most contents in those plans are from strategists and thinkers from industry and academic policy researchers.

So, if the presence or absence of MLA does not impact YOU & I, then ‘WHY SHOULD You & I EVER BOTHER WHO IS ELECTED AS MLA?’ Moreover, if something is not working in the society, You & I can just go to the concerned department and sort out directly!!!! The only reason to give little extra emphasis for MLA (to VOTE or not VOTE) is ‘MLA has the legal right to steer the wheels of these IAS n other officials in govt administrative services to the emotion of people’. So, choice of MLA ought to focus on BIGGER PICTURE if he/she can listen to public and question those administrative officials about what’s best for people (though actual task execution ought to be left to the concerned govt officials).

Then, how do YOU & I decide whom to vote? Is there any simple logical tool help me exercising my legal right to vote?

Let’s have a table with columns and rows. Let’s write down the key points for comparison and analysis in the first column from 1st row to the last row. Lets’ also write the candidate names competing for MLA post in the constituency on the columns of the first row. Let’s use a scoring approach [from 1 (low value) to 10 (high value)] for each of the key points of comparison to the boxes of respective MLA candidates. The one which scores highest may be your choice to give your VALUABLE VOTE.

Thus, for example:

Point of Comparison (i.e. Core values) >> Use a number to score between 1 and 10	Candidate-1	Candidate-2
SELF INTEGRITY
EMPOWERING OTHERS
VISION FOR LOCAL PEOPLE
PEOPLE FIRST & PARTY LAST
HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE of Govt administration
SOCIAL TOUCH & LISTENS to poor as well as rich
LEADERSHIP & IN-COMMAND among Peers
NO RECORD OF PAST CORRUPTION
SOMEONE YOU FEEL PROUD TO TELL ‘It’s our MLA’ GLOBALLY even to foreign nations
WHO CAN BRING IN NEW JOBS, MONEY, PROJECTS 4PEOPLE
Total Score	???	???

Again, one way to check HOW CORRUPT the local MLA is
1) CHECK THE FINANCIAL SELF DECLARATION FILED BY EACH CANDIDATE DURING MLA NOMINATION
[Explore documents from the website of Election Commission of India]
2) THEN, COMPARE THAT FIGURE TO ACTUAL EARNING HE/SHE COULD HAVE MADE REALISTICALLY

By the way, an MLA has the following PAY and PERKS for the MLA position they occupy.
1) An allocated funds in the amount around INR 50 Lacs – 1crore for the constituency to be used in the 5yr term. — BY DEFAULT
2) Annual salary of around INR 12 Lacs with add-on perk of say INR 1000 per day during assembly session, free petrol [allocated litres], free travel [some number of air/trains including foreign travel], free telephone calls [including ISD], secretaryship allowance, pensions, driver allowance, medical allowance, family allowance, house/rent allowance, constituency visit allowance, postal allowance, etc. So altogether approx around 30 lacs per annum — BY DEFAULT

Anyone can make use of Right to Information Act [RTI] to find the details of following info from local District collector or Magistrate and other relevant state govt departments.
1) How much money has been spent out of the allocated MLA fund (INR 50 Lacs – 1Crore) into what projects? And what is the IMPACT (i.e. visible benefits or feedbacks) from the project implementation?
2) Whenever a project funded by govt is to be sanctioned in a constituency, the MLA has a big say in terms of finance and project deliverables since the project is likely to impact local people of that constituency.
So, how much money has been spent on each of development project taken up in the constituency and what’s the visible IMPACT?

Thus, a voter ought to be able to check HOW CORRUPT the local MLA is. ‘MORE THE MONEY A CANDIDATE SPEND OUT TO WIN DURING ELECTION CAMPAIGN, HE/SHE WILL BE MORE CORRUPT AS AN MLA IN ORDER TO RECOVER THE SPENT ELECTION EXPENSES’; then, ‘What kind of development activities, that MLA can do then for the constituency?’

Thus, if one votes without asking to self – ‘Why I vote?’ and ‘Whom I vote for which specific reasons?’, then it only shows ‘HOW STUPID & WHAT AN IDIOT I AM?’

Call for a 6-weeks Market Research Project (business and social enterprises in Manipur)

Market Research on needs for management support to business and social enterprises in Manipur

Project Overview

An up-to-date report is necessary on the working profile of the numerous non-profit organizations and companies operating in Manipur. This will enable understanding the bottlenecks hampering their growth and impact of their presence to the socio-economic conditions of Manipur.

Project Objective

(1)    To create a database of non-profit organizations and business enterprises operating in Manipur

(2)    To identify key management related issues hampering the growth of enterprises in Manipur

(3)    To evaluate enterprise support resources and systems across industries available in Manipur

Project Methodology and Analysis Approach

• Surveys (online and paper-based) and interviews (one-to-one and group)
• Literature review on management journals and research papers
• Review on available enterprise support resources from Govt/public sources and private firms

Project Deliverables

(1)    A database of business and social enterprises operating in Manipur

(2)    A report on feedbacks/interests from enterprises in Manipur for management support services

(3)    A SWOT report on each enterprise support system available in Manipur

Project Duration

6-weeks; Feb 20^th – April 1^st 2012

Info for Researcher to conduct the Consultancy Project

• Stipend Offered: INR 6000 (INR 4000 for research consultancy; INR 2000 for travel expenses)
• Essential Skill : Data collection and report presentation, researching journals/papers/online
• Desired Skill: Travel and face-to-face interview of officials in govt, companies and organisations
• Desired Qualification: Research Degree / PhD / MBA / Graduate with relevant experience
• Feasibility to adapt the project as internship project for students [conditions apply]

Selection Process

• An application letter (along with CV) to be submitted by email to shanjoym (at) gmail (dot) com explaining how to conduct the project citing earlier experiences and skills
• Online interview (via Skype or gmail or yahoo) for only invited candidates; and also possibly a face-to-face interview at Imphal
• Project to be offered on first come first basis and capability only, though last date for application is 12^th Feb 2012

Project Sponsor: Shanjoy Mairembam [Shan Mai Consulting Ltd, UK]

shanjoym (at) gmail (dot) com;  http://www.linkedin.com/in/shanjoymairembam

Also info available at: http://www.slideshare.net/shanjoym/market-research-for-msben-project-advert

“Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2011: a Non-Resident Overseas Manipuri (NROM)’s experience”

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2011, conducted at Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi on 7-9 Jan, has indeed became a national event of global importance with an astonishing participation from 2000+ delegates of Non-Resident Indians (NRI) and People of Indian Origin (PIO) across the globe. This year’s event was organised by Dept of North East Regions (DoNER) and Confederation of Indian industries (CII) with a focus on socio-economic development of North-East Indian states (via involvement of NRIs/PIOs from these regions in policy making and service delivery of the local governments).

As soon as the invitation to attend the PBD 2011 from the Manipur State Government was received by European Manipuri Association (EMA) and North American Manipuri Association (NAMA), Manipuris in Europe and USA saw the golden opportunity to interact with distinguished NRIs/PIOs from other Indian states to build partnerships for business relationships and social responsible projects in North East India. In fact, it was also the right moment to convince central govt ministers/officials, Manipur State Govt and DoNER ministry that ‘Engaging Non-Resident Overseas Manipuris (NROM), right now, can hasten the socio-economic-political development of Manipur exponentially and also reduce the number of complex problems faced within Manipur currently (including insurgency, unemployment, myopic closed-thinking, etc).’

On Day-1, seminars on Education and Healthcare were conducted with huge participation by NRI/PIO experts (e.g. companies, universities, academicians, govt planners, students, ministers, etc) from across the globe. These seminars are eye-openers to everyone for possible investment and involvement with projects impacting the entire country (rural and urban) e.g. what new business model is needed for meeting the demand for education (at university as well as school levels), Public Private Partnership (PPP) models for establishing universities and student studies/career support firms, how cost effective healthcare services can be delivered to rural patients, how govt can provide support to firms opening up new hospitals/clinics/medical colleges in North-East Indian states, etc.

In addition, a seminar on ‘Learning experiences from few successful NRIs/PIOs from North-East India’ was conducted wherein students and people of North-East Indian states got the opportunity to engage directly with one another (via question and answers sessions). NROMs strongly believe that such activities would surely help in building confidence on youths and people of North-East Indians to aim big dreams and achieve big realities.

In the evening (after official sessions were over), Lakshmikanta Laikangbam (IT professional from Boston, USA), Bishwajeet Okram (Financial Controller from Ireland) and Myself (Business Consultant from London, UK) had the opportunity to interact with two honourable ministers of Manipur Govt at the Manipur Bhawan , namely L. Jaiyantakumar Singh (Education Minister) and Bijoy Koijam (Deputy Chairman, State Planning Board). We shared our thoughts for socio-economic development of Manipur and discussed the benefits of engaging with NROMs proactively for the improvement of public service delivery.

On Day-2, NRIs/PIOs (for the first time on a global platform) were able to engage directly with the Chief Ministers (CMs) of North-East Indian states on investment opportunities and involving in delivery of public sector services. NROMs saw the genuine effort from CMs / Deputy CMs of some North-East States (i.e. Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura) engaging with the global audience to attract investments and get involvement from NRIs/PIOs in various business and social development areas in their home states. Also, these CMs / Deputy CMs tried confidently to ward off stereotyping of their respective states by media as insurgency affected regions which were not supportive to investment activities. But, there was none to represent Manipur as ‘a vibrant and investment friendly state’ during that session. So, NROMs were very disappointed at the fact that honourable Chief Minister of Manipur could not attend the PBD 2011.

In another session, NROMs were able to ask queries to the Cabinet Ministers of Indian Govt (especially to Kamal Nath, Minister of Transport & Highways, wherein the entire global media and audience were present) – (1) how serious is Central govt to develop National Highway 53, since National Highway 39 is continuously subjected to illegal blockades affecting entire population of Manipur frequently? (2) How is Indian govt planning genuinely to develop roads and state highways in Manipur (and North East Indian states) to connect India to the South-East Asian countries under the ‘Look East Policy of India’?

In another session with B.K. Handique, Minister of DoNER, Lakshmikanta Laikangbam (on behalf of NAMA) submitted a memorandum for socio-economic development of Manipur (especially the upgrading of National Highway 53 urgently) and Bishwajeet Okram (a member of EMA) submitted a proposal of interest in the wind-turbine power generation by engaging European companies in renewable sector.

At another evening session, NRIs/PIOs from North-East India had a conference with Sam Pitroda (Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovations); wherein NROMs learnt that Govt of India had declared 2010-2020 as the ‘Decade of Innovation’ and invested hugely (above 5000 crores) to enable India become a global superpower (socially, politically and economically) via IT infrastructure & innovation councils. Govt of India genuinely also urged NRIs/PIOs (from North-East Indian state) to exhort their influences to respective state governments to form State level Innovation Council via support/guidance from National Innovation Council and Sectoral Innovation Councils for spearheading innovative thinking and development activities.

On Day-3, NROMs were amazed at the excellent speeches of CMs from other Indian states such as Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Goa, Haryana and Bihar in a session of ‘Inclusive Growth’. We realised a huge difference in attitude and confidence level (on political leadership for socio-economic development) between the CMs of North-East Indian states and those of developed Indian states. Each CM confidently showcased how they undertook various development projects and enacted new policies / programs for improvement of public service delivery in their respective states with supporting facts and figures.

In an evening interaction session, NROMs and NRIs from other North-East States were also able to engage one-to-one with officials of each state govt. I (an executive member of EMA) was able to hold one-to-one meeting with minister of DoNER to implement a business proposal on how to engage NROMs (i.e. high quality human resources residing in global locations) for transforming Manipur into a developed state in a few years (5-10 years) time frame from 2011 onwards. Also, I recommended a 3-points suggestion to T.N. Haokip (Honourable Minister of PHE, IPR & Tourism of Manipur Govt) during one of the Interaction sessions – (1) To send a strong instruction from state govt to all overseas Indian Consulates not to discourage foreign tourists visiting Manipur by stereotyping Manipur as disturbed and unlawful area and instead should provide proactive support for their visit to Manipur, (2) To develop a customer friendly and professionally designed website for the tourism department to provide easy-to-access tourist info (since tourists in other countries will often get to know about Manipur first via web only), (3) To organise annual event for NROMs (similar to PBD in national level) to invite Manipuris residing at other countries proactively, which in turn will fuel the inflow of international friends and colleagues of NROMs (since it will be too much of an imagination to hope that foreign tourists will visit Manipur when NROMs are even not ready to visit Manipur currently).

Apart of engagement sessions and seminars on various topics, North East Indian states were able to show the culture, dance, foods, and hospitality of the North East Indian people through various programs throughout the 3-day event to the 2000+ strong global audience. Stalls are erected for sales of handicraft items of Manipur (and of other North-East Indian states) in selected exhibition centres within the venue. Interestingly, it may be the first time that 2000+ global delegates (who are free from messy Indian political mindset) are able to know that unexplored beauty of North-East Indian states do exist within India and, thus it may open up enormous possibilities of investment/friendship with people of North-East India.

In fact, India is changing in its approach toward national integration and development strategy. India has already been undergoing transformation at a faster rate towards a wonderland of opportunities. Because, youths of India at present know only about development and they care less about petty ethnicity issues. Interestingly, the current proportion of population under 25 years in India is 51% and the proportion under 35 is about 66%. In the past decades, majority of elderly Indian/Manipuri/North-East Indian citizens rather had a misperception of ‘what India was as a country’ (or what Manipur was as a state, or what North-East India was as group of states inhabited by mongoloid looks) because of their closed mindset. Let’s broaden our thinking mindset from the centuries old myopic protectionism towards a global outlook. Thus, it is the right time for youths and people of North-East Indian states to take the lead initiative of change in India by engaging with other Indians/non-Indians in a broad-minded attitude. North-East Indian states can indeed become the powerhouse of India in the coming decade just not only on cultural aspects but also on developmental leadership aspects.

MU 30th Oct 2010 – New Business Start-up and Commercial Business Planning

MU 30th oct 2010 – New Business Start-up and Commercial Business Planning

View more presentations from shanjoym

MU 29th Oct 2010 – Business Case Study Analysis Approach

MU 29th oct 2010 – Business case study analysis approach

View more presentations from shanjoym

Focusing on Positive energies around self

The power of belief is so strong that the task in front looks almost half done if one believes on self towards his/her approach to the success of the goal. Understanding the potentials of self is critical to analyse where one is weak and one is strong. Every individual comes across various positive and negative feelings/emotions daily around self. People often get annoyed by disturbances around self and wish to be free from anything that he/she does not like to be around. In such circumstances, focusing on positive energies around self is the key to happiness and prosperity in life.

There is no replacement for hard-working effort, yet believing self that one can do the task is very critical for the final outcome of the task. Visualizing the end in mind and approaching the task in front provides the individual to prepare well in advance. Unexpected outcome of a task beyond anyone’s prediction is something not to be worried about, because the task executed may not be actually meant for the individual. Instead, the individual should refocus all the energies within self towards a new task and explore his/her inner strengths towards success in life till he/she finds own destiny.

Life is very short if number of days, months, and years are counted for every one of us. Now year 2009 has completed and a new year 2010 has already set in. Thus, each one of us has so far passed through many setbacks as well as wonderful moments in the past years. Some may feel totally exhausted and even not having the will to carry on in life. Yet, what we should be remembering is that, in spite of all the hurdles in the past, we still have come alive so far by overcoming everything and, now we still have the opportunity to smile or still make a new life filled with enlightened vision. It’s the choice that each one of us has to make for self in the New Year where one should go ahead for future.

Nothing has ever happened automatically without an individual’s thought about the task. Good or bad outcome to anyone will never have happened unless the individual has ever dreamt of at least for a moment in life. Yes, things do sometimes happen like miracles from nowhere. But, negative thoughts bring about negative outcomes and positive thoughts create new opportunities in life. As the mind thinks, we are attracted to the thinking whether we like it or not. So, we should practice to think positively in life. When the entire strengths in the body is utilised to achieve the dream/thought, the individual get the expected result of the action on the thought. It’s that moment when we say ‘Destiny’ and ‘Effort’ collide.

So, earlier the better to self-analyse one’s potentials and build on the strong characteristics one possesses by updating knowledge around self. Every individual has got weak characters on self and it’s true that one should look after improving those weak points. But, life is too short to improve on everything one lacks and hence, one should optimise the available time on life by balancing the weak points on self and focusing on the strong inner-strengths on self.  There is always a way out in life and one should look for innovation & change to bring prosperity in life. Remember – Positive energies around self bring about smile on face and a reason to live on.

Wishing a Happy New Year 2010 to everyone!

Explaining ‘what Business Model is’ to upcoming businessmen

In simple words, ‘a Business Model’ refers to the pictorial representation of how the entire business of the firm works via diagrams and flow charts. The business model itself is not exactly the business of the firm but rather it provides the crucial ‘bigger picture’ on how the business of the firm should function at every instant in every employee’s mind. In short, it provides clarity on the vision/strategy, the operations, financial flow, value chain flow, etc of the organisation in the market in a simplified way.

How critical is to understand the ‘Business Model’ of your firm?

If an organisation is unable to draw and explain its business model, something is not right with that firm. The firm may be profitable today but it will run into serious trouble in times such as the current global financial crisis or any unexpected external market turbulence. Uneven market dynamics and changes in the ways of doing business is a never ending phenomenon in the business world. Not only the management of the firm but also every employee of the firm needs to realize what the company does, how the company makes money, which direction the company is going forward, and so on; yet all such info in a crisp and simplified block diagram presentation. Making frequent changes to the already tested business model which has been found working well till date is not a logical approach for any firm for future growth. Yet, the company management has to be ready when and how to make the adaptation to the business model if the company has to perform better in the coming decade amidst the competitive market scenario.

What to consider while making ‘Business Model Generation’?

To create neither an over-simplified nor a complex business model is the suggested norm. Yet, the business model should depict most critical aspects of the business operations in the firm, such as finance, manpower, resources, route to the market, etc. One of the suggested ideas (and book) on ‘Business Model Generation’ worth reading is ‘Business Model Generation – By Alexander Osterwalder’ which is recently being launched into the European market around October 2009. Further links about the book/ideas can be availed from

http://www.businessmodelalchemist.com/ & http://bmdesigner.com/.

The 9 Building Blocks of a Business Model (from the book)

An example of how this reference model has been used is provided via the link http://www.slideshare.net/shanjoym/hospital-rtls-emergency-alertpersonnel-locater

Which next step to be considered after designing the ‘Business Model’ of your firm?

Once the business model has been created, the next step is to transform the model into a business plan having detail info about how the business is going to be operated. The business plan will enable the management to focus every aspect of business operations with clarity and purpose.

Market Sensing – Growth Possibilities for Products/Services in Elderly People Care

Census of Population in most countries across the globe estimates the higher percentage of older people (60-65yrs+) compared to young people. This trend is likely to progress further in years ahead, which may have been due to modern healthcare and technological advances we have today. In healthcare industry, this trend is likely to create huge impact in the current business models and business segments due to the change in consumer profile and needs of healthcare purposes. More focus on products and services targeted to elderly people will see high growth potentials in the coming decade. Some of the following links may provide some statistical info about ageing population in UK and world:

Office of National Statistics, UK – “Population Estimates of UK”:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=6

AGE Concern’s report – “Older People in the United Kingdom: Key Facts and Statistics 2008”:

http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/Documents/Keyfacts2008.pdf

United Nations report – “World Population Ageing: 1950-2050”:

http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/worldageing19502050/

Not-for-profit organisations and local community groups are growing up in numbers to provide care and support services to elderly people worldwide. The Governments have started realizing the impending need to invest for elderly people care too such as hi-tech support products, community support financial aids, etc. Illness like Dementia, Alzheimer, etc and need for home monitoring of elderly people, tracking and reporting of vital signs, etc have created possible business growth potential for medical devices companies and other healthcare companies. Even the big non-health related firms like Microsoft, Google, etc have initiated programs to venture into this elderly people care segment. Tracking and monitoring of elderly people (such as emergency alert pendant, home monitoring system for elderly people, tracking system of elderly people on tour, Real Time Location system (RTLS), etc) is also an area wherein most hi-tech companies (such as mobile operators, security product companies, etc) have shown keen interest. Some prominent companies in this sector worth analysing are Sonitor, Radianse, Ekahau, etc and journals such as IDTechEx, RFID Journal, etc are also useful in the research activities.

Thus, business growth potentials are there for social organisations as well as private medical devices/healthcare firms in developing products and services for elderly people care. Such new innovations will also fuel competitions among the companies in future; and only those companies which can create a blended business model that combines social responsibility service (of voluntary social organisations) and healthcare technology product (of healthcare companies) will be the market leaders in this segment.

Product Comparison Analysis – A MUST critical step during any NPD project

Innovation and creative thinking of few technology specialists lead to the development of new products. Every product oriented companies has developed their own standard process and control frameworks for any new product development (NPD) with the experience of various products introduction into the market. Most inventors are found to be more focused on the technical aspects of the product and advancement of that technology. This attitude often compels the Product Development Team (PDT) to miss most of the crucial consumer behaviours and actual market requirements into the product features and specifications. This issue of less market oriented focus in product development is more visible in SMEs than big companies because of the absence of dedicated business analysts and resources to undertake thorough and continuous market analysis and sensing. The key wisdom worth reminding here is “Customers look for solutions to their problems not products”.

The baseline for deciding what to include in the product features and specifications depends on the understanding of customer needs and market sales feasibility. “New technology defines the demand of customer needs, or, Customer needs define the demand of new technology”. Arguments can be created on either side of the hypothesis. Yet, earlier the adoption of product comparison analysis in the phases of NPD cycle, better the success rate of product introduction into the market.

Product comparison analysis can refer not just only about the features comparison of the products in the market (such as specifications, price, qualities, looks, usage guidelines, etc) but also the entire 4Ps (i.e. Price, Product, Promotion, and Place). There can be two levels of war among the companies for similar product introduction into the market viz., product level, and business level. Successful product introduction demands the need for successful strategies at both the levels that can outbid the planning of competitors.

At the product level, PDT should research the market not only for any similar products already available to the consumers, but also any likely product introduction info from competitors in the near future. A comparison chart should be prepared that depicts the plus and minus of technical properties/features among the various products. This comparison chart should also include the value provided by each of the features to the customers, i.e. orienting to customer behaviours and market needs. This simple approach yet tedious analysis will provide enough clues to make proper decision what and how should be the new product.

At the business level, PDT should conduct detailed analysis of how competitors intend to introduce the product into the market, i.e. the understanding of business models and strategies used by the competitors are also crucial to successful product introduction into the market. One of the suggested approaches herein is “Blue Ocean Strategy”, so that the business approach of the company makes the competition with the other companies irrelevant. Customization of products (in terms of feature contents and applications, etc) can be done based on the business requirements and spontaneous market needs. Business level competition may involve scenarios such as fast supply chain management approach, low cost production approach, premiere customer experience approach, etc. PDT should have market sensing info about the product it is developing so as to provide timely feedbacks into the process for necessary actions.

Any NPD does involve high risk of financial investment and huge commitment of the PDT throughout the product life cycle. The war to successful product introduction into the market does not end right after the first product launch, but the company still has to come up with continuous improvement strategies to sustain competitive advantages over the likely new product introduction by the competitors in few months afterwards soon. Herein, the criticality of product comparison analysis remains strong throughout the product’s life cycle.

Why govt projects often get failed or stuck incomplete in Manipur?

Planning on various govt projects in Manipur state are conducted by dignified (IAS & MCS) officials on consultation with external professionals. Then, the curiosity arises ‘why govt projects often get failed or stuck incomplete in Manipur?’ A first glance on this issue leads to the key probable answers – ‘Poor Project Management’ and ‘Unskilled Operational Structure’. Some of the areas within project management worth giving more focus by planning officials are as follows:

Project Management (PM) Skills: PM skills are achieved after extensive hands-on work experience via continuous improvement and knowledge sharing with other experts in the similar fields of work. Planning officials need to update their PM skills for better project planning and execution with global outlook. Govt should consider providing training courses for few officials in top management institutes within the country and aboard. In addition, officials should have access to reputed online research databases (such as Harvard Business Review, Business Source Premier, EBSCO Electronic journals, etc) for better planning. New online/offline forums should be created for interaction with public/professionals on various govt projects to provide suggestions/inputs. E.g. students of MU (such as MBA graduates) can be employed to conduct analysis and consultancy services of govt projects at low cost via customize internship projects.

Project Management Team: The chain of commands/management from planning till implementation seems unclear and unspecific to everyone involved. The flow of concept and responsibilities are not imparted properly in the entire govt administration, thereby most officials do not know their crucial roles toward the bigger picture. The very critical aspect herein to be remembered by the entire team is ‘Believe self first to succeed before asking others to believe on the brilliant idea’. Wonderful business presentations mostly do not lead to successful end results due to practicality of implementation and execution issues. There needs to be something similar to a corporate strategy group in the administration which evaluates the entire picture and guides the various divisions toward the goal. Such step will help in eradicating the prevailing concept of “Never ending govt project’, and overcoming likely implementation issues.

Stakeholder Analysis & Project Scoping: These two key areas seem missing often in most govt project plans. These documents do show the general contents of a business plan such as the planning team, resources required, execution plans, industry/sector research report, budgeting, timeline, etc. Yet, stakeholder analysis is the most critical activity of any project and it needs to be conducted periodically (not just only at the start of the project initiation phase, since stakeholders may keep changing their views on the project thereby impacting the project completion). Project scoping also helps in defining the focus areas for the project team to achieve the goals and it closely relates to stakeholder analysis. E.g. Stakeholders can be local people, central govt funding authorities, nature/season, private contractors, etc. Yet, one of the key stakeholders in most projects found often missing in the analysis is the underground militant organisations and how to deal with this key stake holder. The project team can’t satisfy all the key stakeholders throughout, but it should still move towards the completion of the project goals in a balancing mode to the stakeholders.

Risks & Uncertainty Management: Officials are often found wanting in most govt projects on how to deal with possible risks already recognized and any uncertain situation in the future. Moreover, there seems to be no special focus area in the planning documents for risks and uncertainty management. The officials should also be trained more on conflict management/negotiation skills (to manage the govt ministers, local people, non-state agents, etc). E.g. What is the value of building a hydro electric power plant on that river this year if the river is going to dry up soon in 6-7yrs in future?, why do thermal power plant need to be build in that year if continuous fuel supply can’t be sustained in future and also if the per unit power cost produced can’t be achieved lesser than the likely market sales energy unit price?, etc.

Opportunity Costs: Various project plans are created by officials under the influence of some great minds or learning from the visits to developed cities, etc. But, officials are again found wanting to provide business justification – why they choose to take up those projects?, Have they really considered ‘the Opportunity Costs’?, Which project would have been the best suitable or best value for money invested?. There should be a discussion room before initiating on any development project by inviting several drafts of possible solutions. The govt should choose one among all the project draft solutions which justifies with higher value to the people and state. E.g. Wasn’t there any other alternatives than building a fly-over in the middle of small Imphal city (with the huge money already invested) to ease the traffic issues?, etc.

Project Closure/Exit Strategy: Officials seem more concerned to complete the plan created by higher authorities without providing valuable feedbacks and timely inputs to the planning team so that the projects can deliver more value even after the project completion or expiry. The timeline of the project has to be clearly defined and monitored. There must be an option or strategy to exit at certain points of the project phase if the planning team feels the project is not worth investing. E.g. What is the business justification of building an entire game village homes with crores of rupees if those homes can be used only for one time during the sports competition?, etc.

(Detailed analysis on Manipur Government’s planning activities can be done by accessing the link: http://www.planningmanipur.gov.in/.)

The latest Manipur State Development Draft Report can be accessed via the link: http://www.planningmanipur.gov.in/Draft_MSDR.htm