Superwoman of Group Buying

Flaming enthusiasm, backed by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success. Mrs. Anisha Singh, founder and CEO, Mydala.com, knew this well when she started the enterprise in December 2009. Her concept to start a group e-shopping by launching Mydala.com is today one of the leading web portals that offer immense opportunity to its customers to shop with ease while saving the big buck. With a Masters degree in political communication and an MBA in information systems from American University, Washington DC., Mrs. Singh, at just 21, joined the Clinton administration at the National Women’s Business Association. Here she helped women entrepreneurs raise funds for innovative women-led businesses. She then worked at Centra Software in Boston before returning to India and establishing Kinis (Software) Solutions, a provider of customised e-learning solutions to clients across US and India. “I was travelling back and forth for my first business, but after a period of time, my presence was not required 24x7 as things started to settle down and were taken care of by a management team. It was then that I started to think about what else I can do,” says Mrs. Singh, who feels that Indians have entrepreneurship inherent in them as is proved by the large number of hotels and motels being run by Indians throughout the world. Then Mydala.com happened.

She says, “I was working for 18 hours every day while setting up Mydala. In fact, I was in office till 10 pm before going to the hospital at 2 am to deliver my baby and attended my first business call after only four hours. I was back in office just 10 days after becoming a mother.” The hard work was worth it. Mydala.com is today one of the leading names in the realm of group buying. It currently has associations with 2000 plus merchants across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad and has created savings for users to the tune of over INR 2 crore till date, she says. It offers deals from restaurants, saloons and spas and a host of other services at discounts ranging from 40 to 90 per cent. Just within two years of its launch from Delhi, it has a remarkable subscriber base of around one million. Click here to read more...

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What needs to be done?

Two types of solutions to the problem of groupthink have been suggested.

1. Solutions that seek to insert particular processes into meetings with the aim to ensuring effective debate and discussion. Organisations should set up several independent groups, working on the same problem. The board should invite outside experts into meetings to discuss key issues. Each member should discuss the group’s ideas with trusted people outside the group (That is, a coach or mentor). First, and not surprisingly, simply having a debate helps, as can extending the time available for discussion. Likewise, assigning at least one group member the role of devil’s advocate can affect decision-making positively.

2. Insight solutions that focus more on helping teams understand how they make decisions and the politics and biases involved.

Harvard Business School’s Professor Emeritus Chris Argyris says, simply creating debate is of uncertain use when the issues involved are potentially threatening or embarrassing to the participants. His method involves engaging executive groups collectively and individually as a coach/facilitator, giving them feedback, challenging their thinking and using focused exercises to help them reflect on how they operate. Click here to read more..

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Rajeev Narang (Vice President - HR, Tech Mahindra ltd.) explains why The Employee Graduate Scholarship Programme was his Best Decision

The success of the programme can also be measured with the significant drop in the attrition rate. It has come down to more than one-fourth for the BPO as compared to the overall attrition. Participation in pursuing the work integrated learning activities is greatly encouraged. These programmes are conducted in a collaborative environment with various premier national and international educational institutions. There are several objectives behind these activities; some are stated below: 1. Stable resourcing for existing business needs over four years. 2. Higher profile resourcing for future business needs in large numbers. 3. Value addition to fresh and experienced graduates. 4. Concurrency of learning opportunity and work experience. 5. Acquisition of post graduate degree in engineering. While there are various opportunities involving financial demands, some are fully funded by Tech Mahindra, some are partially funded, and others are conditionally funded. Currently employees can pursue these programmes from: BITS, Pilani; British Telecom – University College, London; IIT, Mumbai; and, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Click here to continue....

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A Carrot a Day !!

The dil in most cases is insatiable; like a whimsical child, it keeps asking for more. If the chant ‘give me more’ is for self-growth, work, or self-actualisation, there is nothing like it. But if it is for incentives, perks, and increments, then the individual may gulp, belch and burp, till he or she falls sick, yet the desire for more may not reach its saturation. The only paramount motivation is to ask, pray, and wait for more. Applying this to an organisational setting, an individual would climb the ladder one rung at a time, and hold on to a rung till he or she gets a KITA (Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory stated KITA as an acronym for ‘Kick In The Ass’; giving rewards or punishment for someone to do something), then move up to the next rung and hold on there; this exercise would continue indefinitely. Yeh Dil Maange More is very much a part of corporate culture, and is adversely affecting intrinsic motivation, positive work culture, productivity, and retention of employees. We try to look into this malady, and how organisations can motivate employees to give their best and gain their loyalty without resorting to the carrot-and-stick policy.

Motivation is an intriguing topic; one of the most commonly confused words and equally haphazard are the procedures for developing it. Most confuse ‘movement’ with ‘motivation’. Motivation is: consistently putting effort, energy, and commitment into desired results; the imperative words being ‘consistently’ and ‘desired’. Movement is short-term and usually stops once the force is removed, so it is not consistent and it may not be desired. It is what Herzberg graphically summed up as KITA, which can be positive or negative – carrots or sticks – but they have the same effect, an outside force that generates movement.Read More..

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