How important is a job?

A question that has been bothering me for a long time. How important is one's job for him/her? How does one evaluate that importance? What priority in one's

life does a job holds? Is a job meant to be only a job or something more.

Have been thinking about these questions and talked to many to seek their opinions. My first question used to be "what is that you look for in a job". Got varying replies. Some saw profile. Some industry. Some package. Some brand value. Some boss. Some proximity to house.

Then asked the same question to myself. In my post qualification career of two and a half year, I have changed one job. First being CRISIL Limited. When I was selected for CRISIL, I had no reason for not accepting their offer for employment except that it was in Mumbai. And I wanted something in Delhi, being the place where my parents stay and I wanted to be with them for all reasons attributable to me. Through lot of brainstorming and discussions and fights with myself, I finally opted to join India's numero uno rating company. I remember surfing crisil's website and its career section while doing CA. It was actually a dream come true for me to be selected for CRISIL. My CA campus, which was held after my selection in Crisil, was a turn-off for me. Only a few financial companies, including banks. Was further disappointed when not selected by Goldman Sachs on the grounds that they select only those candidates that have cleared CA exams in max. two attempts.

Anyhow, on April 2 2007, CRISIL was a company that became my first introduction to job experience and financial markets, Mumbai being the hub. Job was fairly good. But getting back to Delhi for the above mentioned reason was something that kept hovering in my mind. But how? Unfortunately, the credit crisis in US started building up at that time. Confidence is something, I have noticed, which is very easily lost and when it is about one's money, then it is even more fragile. I was among many who felt how it feels when you are not tired of contacting people for a favor but they seemed to have no time. Fair enough. Cold calling is something that I learned at that time. Internal transfer to Delhi office of Crisil was a possibility which was kicked-off by the HR dept. Again fair enough since this policy was not only for me. But I suddenly realised that job was not very important for me, in fact it was losing importance everyday.

Finally I got two offers I selected the one which had a better brand name (IDFC) and better package (30% hike). Not bad at all. The company was new but in infrastructure sector. Hot one. As with all, I was exponentially excited about my job. Nothing else on my mind as I had promised myself that once I get to Delhi, I will think about nothing else but WORK. Financially modelling was what I did first thing here. Interesting stuff. But since this is an infrastructure development company, which I failed to understand completely, there were hell lot of activities other than financial stuff. You have architects, engineers, consultants, sector experts like transport planners. Major part of project is actually its technical planning and execution. Financing is an important but a small part of the entire cycle. Numbers, though how less I understand them, have always been my interest. This is what became the problem. I was trying hard in each and every department to find numbers. But it is like finding needle in grass, that too on an island where no human species has visited earlier, so no chance of exploring any needle at all. Passion for numbers is something that is increasing day by day. Warren Buffet is taking over as an idol. Movie Wall Street, seen 12 time now, is becoming the favourite time pass and dialogues of the movie, especially of Gordon Gekko, are hovering in the mind day in and day out. Reading has become oxygen. Persuading people for some leads has become destiny. The market crisis over as per UPA, has not ended, at least, in those companies where I am looking for a career.

But I also have been choosy. I have never even thought of working in audit, taxation, accounts - said to be a typical CA's provinces. Financial markets is what I want to be into. Profit side of the company is my preferred seat. Private Equity, Investment Banking, Equity Research is what I have been looking for since ages now.

So coming back to the question of the blog. What do I look for in a job? First, I see the profile. Then, I look for the profile. Finally, I scan the profile. By profile, I mean what I will be doing, what I will be required to read there. What people I will meet with? So many things, not justified for a job seeker.

Reasons for looking for the profile only. Package gets stale after two salary slips. Brands got trashed in this market.

I wish that my coming years bring more work that I am passionate to do.

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Corporate Lessons from Bollywood Movies

It may sound a bit weird but our Bollywood movies have actually provided us with some of the best corporate lessons. Yes for that matter we have to come out of the decades-old story structure of Hero, Heroine and Villain. I was able to accumulate ten such lessons which are as follows: -

Lesson – “Innovation is indispensable for survival and tools for brand-building”Movie – Do Aankhen Baarah Haath
The actor-director V Shantaram depicts how animal-like hard-core prisoners can be transformed into humans. This was the first ever movie to bring a concept like this where we found socialism for prisoners which was patronized by Kiran Bedi. Yes this required perseverant efforts, unbeatable spirit and team-work to make the thought become a movie. I am not sure whether the movie was a hit or loss but I believe that it long ago paved way for sensible and bold cinema which is required to mature the audience.

Lesson – “Do what your passion is, to reap best returns”Movie – Tare Zameen Par
One more actor-director, Aamir Khan, shows his magic. The movie was about spreading the message that each child is special and has a distinct skill / art. But I felt that this new-age bollywood movie is telling that do what you want to do and know that you can do in the very best way. The young artist Dharsheel, Ishaan Awasthi, is has a bent for painting but fears from Maths, English and other subjects. However, this did not stop him to defeat his fellow student and teachers including his art teacher (Aamir Khan). Moreover it does not matter what we are doing is already being done by many others, until we have a fire to be No. 1. The result : He turned out to be a winner.

Lesson – “Criticism should not break but build confidence and give that spark to perform”Movie – “Laskshay”
The story is about a college guy who is perplexed with the career choice he should choose. Accidentally he gets fixed in the Indian Army’s Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun. He finds himself unfit for the discipline in the Academy and returns home where he is looked down upon by the family and fiancé. He is scolded, disrespected and deserted. But this works in his favour. He gets the little spark that he required to realize his goals. Not only does he shocks all by becoming an officer in the Indian Army but also achieves the honorable title to become one of the best in his Regiment by showing outstanding bravery and courage in a war.

Lesson – “A mentor can make us realize our capabilities and abilities”Movie – “Tare Zameen Par”
Again it is the Aamir Khan, actor-director of the masterpiece, who believes that one of his students, Dharsheel (Ishaan Awasthi), has what is required to be an ace painter. This belief is also respected by the pupil, who makes diligent efforts to move in the direction which is shown by his mentor. The once-conceived-as-mentally-retarded child is turned around by Mr Khan into a star painter.

Lesson – “If you can’t fight them, join them”Movie – “Naya Daur”
The movie showed the war between Men & Machine. Dilip Kumar, a horse-kart owner, challenges Jeevan, owner of passenger bus, for a race between his kart and bus. Idea of Dilip saab is to construct a short cut to the destination. But in the way of short cut, there is a piece of land which is under ownership of a person with whom Dilip saab’s village was enemy. Since, Dilip saab was out of options, he had nothing else to do but to shake hand with the enemy.

Lesson – “Focus on long-term growth, not short-term gains”Movie – “Saudagar” (Old)
Mr Amitabh Bachan plays role of a farmer (Moti) who extracts sugar from trees which is processed into jaggery by Nutanji, a widow and a quality jaggery producer. AB has a crush on another woman, Padma Khanna, with whom he wants to marry but faces huge dowry demand. To accumulate that money, AB marries Nutanji, thinking that he would save on the processing charges he used to pay to Nutanji. As the dowry amount gets collected he divorces Nutanji and marries padma khanna. Here he finds it difficult to survive as the new wife of AB is not keen on the processing sugar into jaggery. This makes AB’s life a hell as he had huge debt taken for trees.

Lesson – “It require intention and not determination to build a team”Movie – “Chak De India”
A SRK movie which depicts his efforts to make Indian Women Hockey Team out of state-centric players. He states that according to him a player should first play for its country, then for fellow players and then for himself. Taken in business context, it is that each employee should first work for the company, then for team and then himself. If this feeling of contribution is injected in an organization’s workforce, then it won’t be a challenge to realize objectives of organization effectively and efficiently.

Lesson – “Fast and dependable will win the race”Movie – “Guru”
Mani Ratnam directed and Abhishek Bachan starrer, this movie shows struggle of a man from dust to diamond. The only thing he had with him was his confidence to be number one, but in least possible time. This was because he knew that he in a world where there are billions of heads carrying the aim to be on the top. This is actually the time when we changed that ear-old idiom of slow and steady wins the race. Because in that race there were only two participants but here we have countless competitors.

Lesson – “Smart work, not just hard work, is key to success”Movie – “Shree 420”
Raj kapoorji clutched the desire of every common man to be rich. In a world where millions of millions of people are struggling to survive, a universal strategy can’t be used. One can not depend only on hard-work and luck. There has to be a way that each one of us has to plough which is different from others. We need to have an edge, a different perspective and SMART-WORKING skills. The movie shows how RKji, who is an unemployed graduate, does his best to make a life in Mumbai in the most legitimate manner. But until he changes the way he looks at life and people, he consecutively fails. It’s the smart work, and not hard work which his fellow people have been doing for ages, which helps him make a mark in the world.
NB – It is not my intention in any way to encourage, advice or advocate anyone to do illegitimate tasks. My point is that a twist in our way of thinking, acting and analyzing is overdue. We need to harness abilities in ourselves to take risks, grab opportunities and even create opportunities if they don’t exist.

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I believe many more lessons are being taught by our bolly-movies but we need to find them.

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Public Private Partnerships in India

After becoming popular with Noida Toll Bridge, Public Private Partnerships are now one of the most crucial aspects of development in India. Whether it is infrastructure, education, healthcare, waste water / sewage facilities or water supply, PPP concept has become an indispensible means of making India a developed nation.

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The article aims to introduce readers with the concept of Public Private Partnership (PPP) and why is it important for infrastructure development in India.
The break-up of article is as follows:

1. Meaning of PPP
2. Problems of Public Sector
3. Strengths of Private Sector
4. Merging of both – public and private

Meaning of PPP –
As per Ministry of Finance, Department Of Economic Affairs, PPP project means “a project based on a contract or concession agreement, between a Government or statutory entity on the one side and a private sector company on the other side, for delivering an infrastructure service on payment of user charges.” While John Laing PLC (UK) defines PPPs as – “long term partnerships to deliver assets and services underpinning public services and community outcomes. Optimal structuring links private sector profitability to sustained performance over the long-term, yielding robust and attractive cash-flows for investors in return for delivering better value for money to the taxpayer”. Now, it is important to understand that PPPs are not government projects completed by private players but a project which has to be completed with private participation and government support. The skills and assets of each sector (public and private) are shared in delivering a service or facility for the use of the general public. In addition to the sharing of resources, each party shares in the risks and rewards potential in the delivery of the service and/or facility.
A PPP project should essentially have the following characteristics:
1. Involve a clearly defined project – in terms of cost, time, responsibilities, etc.
2. Involve the sharing of risks with the private sector.
3. Contractual relationship between parties – public and private

Problems of Public Sector
Traditionally, public services have been sole domain of governments and private sector participation has been limited to separate planning, design or construction contracts on a fee for service basis – based on the public agency’s specifications.
Some of the problems/shortcomings of public sector that nudged governments towards PPP are sited below:

1. Limited Capacity: The needs of infrastructure are now greater than ever, both in emerging and developing countries. And governments are already burdened with costs of civic amenities and social infrastructure like schools, hospitals, etc. Also loss-making PSUs and government agencies/departments have reduced their capacities to shell out huge chunks of money into the infrastructure pool.
2. Delays in projects: The timelines decided in the very beginning of the project and revised countless times during the life of project are seldom adhered to. This not only results in blockage of capital but also increases the cost of project several times.
3. Project cost savings: In order to have transparency in the system and get the best deal, bid procedures are a mandatory part of government Projects. However, still these projects cost exchequer a fortune because of lack of accountability and rare application of financial propriety. The result is wasteful expenditure and unviable projects which at the time of development stage were very much viable. (Many in the industry believe that the ratio of government budget on a project to what a private would spend is 5 i.e. if government cost is Rs 100 for a project, a private would do that project in approximately Rs 20 only.

Strengths of Private Sector
Private sector has more often than not demonstrated better results than public sector. Whether it is small service contracts or complete privatisation, private sector has always been able to bring profitability, growth and of course, better standards. How the private sector does this magic has several answers. Some of these are sited below:
1. Expedited completion compared to conventional project delivery methods;
2. Improved quality and system performance from the use of innovative materials and management techniques;
3. Access to new sources of private capital.
4. Innovative technologies used by private players not only yield better benefits/services but also unexampled designs.
5. Incentive for governments to use PPPs to move investments off budget, and to shift liabilities to the future.

Merging of both – public and private
Despite the myriad benefits provided by private players, there are some fields where public sector plays a pivotal role:

1. Legal Authority: Do undertake any activity in any country, one has to abide by the law, follow procedures and take required permissions. Now these are tasks which can take almost double the time required for completing the project. Such procedures/permissions are best performed by public sector.
2. Protection of Public Policies: Though facilities/services are required but who will decide who gets what, in the sense that there has to be equity in distribution of resources. Given to private sectors, they will give a larger piece of cake to the one who gives them a bigger price i.e. Haves. Here, public sector takes the responsibility and provides services/facilities to the Have-nots.
3. Social Infrastructure: There are some sectors which the private sector refrains from like rural transport, sanitation, primary education, etc. These are actually sectors which have long gestation period and less or absolutely no return but are pertinent for nation’s growth.
   
   To overcome the weaknesses of the two sectors and make the best out of their pluses, concept of PPP has been developed. Among many, some of the benefits of PPPs are as follows:
   1. PPPs make projects affordable by pooling public and private monies
   2. PPPs maximise the use of private sector skills, technology and experience
   3. Risks are allocated to the party best able to manage or absorb each particular risk – for e.g. regulatory/governmental risk retained by public sector and financial risk transferred to private
   4. PPPs force the public sector to focus on outputs and benefits from the start as peoples’ money is at stake
   5. The quality of service has to be maintained for the life of the PPP

Key challenges in using PPP procurement:
1. Insufficient private sector expertise in handling PPP projects
2. Incapability of the public sector, in terms of skills and personnel, to handle the PPP mandates
3. Partial loss of management control by the public sector
4. PPP procurement can be lengthy and costly
5. The private sector has a higher cost of finance

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Indian Oil Bond Story

After reading everyday about the rising oil prices in our dailies, I thought of sharing an article, I read recently. This is a short story that actually uncovers the pretence of our finance ministry of being people-friendly and the burden suffered by our oil companies.The story starts with rising crude prices. Now the reason behind this spurt in oil prices is due to speculative forces or increasing demand from developing countries like India, China or Brazil or due to some other reason, but this increase is bothering the bottleline of Indian oil companies. India imports more than 70% of its crude requirements. And yes, we have a declining dollar and strengthening rupee which has reduced the affect of a more than US $100 per barrel crude in our kitty. But to tackle with a freely priced market in a government-controlled regime is a fight.The second part of this story is concern of government not to lose the confidence of its democratic public.

With general elections not so far, UPA is taking all possible steps to keep the voters happy. One of the most sought after way to do so is to keep oil prices under control. Although about 50% of the retail crude prices consist of taxes (excise and sales tax), but lowering of taxes would mean burdening the exchequer. Due to control of government, our oil companies are not able to increase the prices with increasing costs. This has led to a daily loss of around rupees 200 crores for them.

By stopping oil companies from increasing oil prices, government is supposed to actually compensate them. But instead of subsidizing oil companies, government is fooling them by issuing “oil bonds” which have a maturity of 10 to 20 years. These bonds are not so liquid which has worsened the problem of these oil companies. Though the government has apparently done its part by providing companies with bonds but the companies have to incur operating expenditures like salaries, interest, etc. And to keep the business going these companies require funds.

Also another affect of government suppressing oil companies is that these companies are becoming unattractive investment for investors. These investors are looking for more profitable investment avenues.Now if the government wants to provide funds to oil companies (for keeping oil prices fixed), then it will have to sacrifice with its fiscal budget statement which will increase its deficit figure.

But it is resorting to what our Ministry of Human Resources did few years back. Ministry officials took food required to be supplied in government schools and compensated Food Corporation of India (FCI) with bonds. By doing so, the Revenue got away with providing FCI with bonds and without taking these bonds on its books. The reason why governments are reluctant to take these bonds on their books is that they are under obligation created by Constitution (Financial Management…) to consistently reduce their fiscal deficits. So to keep their performance upbeat, governments are playing with companies and nation as a whole.

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Conclusively what government is ought to do is

1. Allow oil companies to increase prices, which are market-driven.

2. If the above solution does not fall in government’s comfort zone, then it should compensate companies by paying for its subsidizing.

3. If government wants to make the losses made by oil companies good by issuing oil bonds, then it should take the bonds amount on its books.

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