Management

To Be Number One, Get the Right Number Two

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Picking a number two is among the most important decisions any leader makes. Getting it right shapes a leader’s direction, effectiveness, and legacy.

The business world has no rules requiring that every leader have a backup, or that every corporate chief executive has a chief operating officer. Indeed, some leaders prefer to consolidate power rather than name a second-in-command. In some big companies, the CEO takes on all the top titles — chairman, president, and CEO — and scatters authority over an array of divisional and functional heads or appoints a trio of vice chairmen.

Still most leaders benefit from a running-the-company mate. A good number two can back them up, reinforce their message, and handle major responsibilities with the same broad view as the top person.

Click Here for the full article from HBR

Courtesy : Tinaz Billimoria

Motivations

12 Tasks That Killer Employees Always Finish Before Noon

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A recent study published in an American Psychological Association journal, Emotion, suggests that early birds are generally happier than night owls.

More than 700 respondents, ranging from ages 17 to 79, were surveyed and asked about their emotional state, health, and preferred time of day.

Self-professed “morning people” reported feeling happier and healthier than night owls. Researchers hypothesize that one of the reasons could be because society caters to a morning person’s schedule.

Click Here for the 12 Tasks

Innovation, News

EyeRing finger-mounted connected cam

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EyeRing finger-mounted connected cam captures signs and dollar bills, identifies them with OCR (hands-on)

TheMIT Media Lab’s EyeRing project was designed with an assistive focus in mind, helping visually disabled persons read signs or identify currency, for example, while also serving to assist children during the tedious process of learning to read. Instead of hunting for a grownup to translate text into speech, a young student could direct EyeRing at words on a page, hit the shutter release, and receive a verbal response from a Bluetooth-connected device, such as a smartphone or tablet. EyeRing could be useful for other individuals as well, serving as an ever-ready imaging device that enables you to capture pictures or documents with ease, transmitting them automatically to a smartphone, then on to a media sharing site or a server.

Click Here for the full details

 

Innovation, News, Uncategorized

The ŠKODA Prize for Indian Contemporary Art

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FIRST PRIZE –  Rs. 10,00,000

RUNNER’S UP (2 PRIZES) – A 4-week residency in Switzerland, courtesy Pro Helvetia, The Swiss Arts Council

The ŠKODA Prize for Indian Contemporary Art was designed and developed as our deliberate attempt to create one of the world’s great art prizes.

The justification for producing a world class, contemporary art prize was simple. The ŠKODA Prize exists to showcase all of India’s exhibiting artists on a single platform – as a single snapshot in time. It exists to uproot and publicize new talent, and to create new heroes of Indian art. It exists to provide a single, annual focal point for Indian and International collectors, galleries, museums, dealers and institutions to follow and chart the story of Indian contemporary art. Finally, and in my mind at least, it is a window for the outside world to see in to a modern India that is carrying the weight of its history into a challenging 21st Century.

Click Here for the details and the entry forms

LAST DATE FOR SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES IS 31 AUGUST 2012

Marketing

8 Unexpected Ways to Promote Your Business

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Starting a business is hard enough. Getting people to notice is even more difficult. It takes a lot of money, time, and thought to promote your business in a way that attracts attention and drives business, but sometimes all you need is a little creativity to get the ball rolling. Whether you’re a business owner or a future entrepreneur, hopefully you’ll have some success using one of these eight unexpected ways to promote your business.

Click Here for the full story

Networking, News, Resources

Indo US Entrepreneurship Summit, September 12-21, 2012 – Women Entrepreneurs

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Please alert your membership and other friends both in the USA and India to this 9-day Summit (see attached brochure) to be held on the UI Campus. This first Indo-US Summit will give emphasis and highlight the work of women entrepreneurs.

 The Summit, interactively will explore, engage, and enhance the capabilities of participating entrepreneurs. 

Some of the topics covered would include:

• Meeting and sharing ideas with women entrepreneurs and leaders

• Visiting and observing practices of small businesses

• Visiting selected major business enterprises in the area

• Participating in several entrepreneurship classes

• One-on-one and group interactions with Tippie College of Business faculty and students

• Attending an all-day Innovators Expo

(with an estimated 500 participants)

• Visiting successful incubators/enterprises at the UI’s Oakdale Campus

• Exploring new technologies of the future

• Attending Friday Speaker Series (depending on schedule)

• Visiting a local family farm enterprise

• Attending cultural programs and events

• Engaging with the Iowa City Indian community

• Experiencing Iowa City’s farmer’s market and shopping

• Socials, mixers, banquets and recognition ceremonies

• Developing a summary of lessons learned

• Developing an agenda for the next Indo-US Summit

 

We plan to register only a limited number of qualified registrants (maximum of 30), majority of them from India. The 9-day program fees for the Summit is estimated to be $3,000. Two-thirds of the estimated program fees will be underwritten by UI scholarships, and the remainder of $1,000 will be borne by participants. In addition, IUES participants will be responsible for direct expenses of travel, lodging and some of the meals. If you know anyone who might be interested, please request them to contact me ASAP, so that I can arrange to get an invitation sent to them. Of course, you are welcome to register and join us at the Summit as well. The Summit will give participants a marvelous opportunity to connect with Indian entrepreneurs. 

 Note: Prakasam Tata has already recruited two individuals, one from Chicago and another from Vijayanagaram, India to participate in this conference.

If you have any questions on IUES related matters, please do not hesitate to write or call on me.

Best wishes and regards,

R. Rajagopal, Ph. D. (r-rajagopal@uiowa.edu)

Professor, Convener, IUES

The University of Iowa

319-594-9442 (Cell)

 Courtesy :  Porus Dadabhoy, Program Chair, IDCA
Click Here for the brochure
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News, Social Entrepreneurship

India’s Global Waste-Recycling and Resource-Recovery Company

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Hanjer Biotech Energies is a India based group with a proven track record of Solid Waste Processing using Multi-Product Recycling and Waste Minimisation (MPRWM). Hanjer’s decade long experience in multiple locations with varied climatic and weather conditions across India has perfected the process and technology that can be implemented and work successfully anywhere in the world. The principle of the process is to extract usable, commercially viable end-products out of the MSW and create a processed remnant of less than 20% of the input volume, for the landfills. Hanjer has 16 operating plants in India with total installed annual processing capacity of 2.95 million tonnes. 9 more projects with an additional 1.05 million ton processing capacity are in implementation stage.

  • Proven track record over 7 years
  • Capability to handle Mixed and Residual Solid Waste
  • A complete recycling solution with Green Technology
  • Recycling to Green Products
  • Process and operation adaptable to customer needs and comfort
  • Serving 25 Indian cities with an annual processing capacity of 4 million tons benefitting 30 million people
  • Aligned to global objectives

Click Here for their website

Social Entrepreneurship

Shop for Change – Fair Trade

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Fair trade is a market led solution to poverty which aims to use trade, not aid, to improve livelihoods for disadvantaged farmers and artisans and promote sustainability.

Shop for Change works to empower farmers, businesses and consumers to change the way India does business and make shopping fairer and greener for a more sustainable future:

Consumers: Shop for Change Fair Trade empowers consumers to make informed choices and bring about positive change, while still enjoying affordable, quality products.

Farmers and artisans: Farmers and artisans can join together and develop their farms and skills through education and training programmes, so they can work their way out of poverty, support their families and plan for a better future.

Businesses: Shop for Change Mark helps businesses make their products stand out as socially responsible and environmentally friendly.

Click Here for the website

Motivations, Social Entrepreneurship

How an ‘Accidental Entrepreneur’ Grew Business, Helped Cancer Victims

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Lee Rhodes was just 32 when she was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer, a nightmare for anyone but a particularly grim diagnosis for a mother of three small children. After a long, hard battle and many rounds of grueling chemotherapy, Rhodes not only beat cancer but came up with a dream of helping other cancer patients.

The dream began from Rhodes’ sick bed, moved to the garage of her Seattle home and has since evolved into a successful business called glassybaby.

A truly unique and inspiring enterprise, glassybaby not only employs scores of artisans in Seattle — over 50 glassblowers at last count — but also gives a big portion of its revenue to cancer-related charities, over $850,000 and counting.

Click Here for this inspiring story

Resources, Startups

Starting an SME business in India ?

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It is not so complicated if you follow the step by step guidelines given on these various sites :