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IMT Ghaziabad PGDM-ExreflEXionsJANUARY 2013 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5Women In BusinessIt doesn't matter who you are,where you come from. The abilityto triumph begins with you.-Oprah WinfreyDear ReadersGreetings from Reflexions!A woman is a mother, a daughter anda wife but in recent times, we are witnessingher as a strong global businesspower. When the world is impinged inthe issues of women empowermentand equal rights, past few decadeshave shown us an ascent of thewomen leaders as global business tycoons.These women have weatheredall odds and climbed up their way tothe top.her emergence as a vital agent ofchange, We honor today’s women inbusiness by dedicating this month’snewsletter in her esteem.We hope that our readers will find thecontent knowledgeable and intellectuallyengaging. We would appreciatefeedback for improvement.Happy Reading.Yours sincerely,Reflexions TeamAdmiring her courage and strength andInside this issue:Article—’A glimpse of life’ by Dr. Reema Khurana 2Article—’Why should we take care of our Women?’ by MonideepGupta3Interview: Entrepreneur Ms. Geetica Kweera 5News—Market Buzz 6Facts—Women at Top! 8A collage of Life @ IMT Ghaziabad 10

REFLEXIONSPage 2A glimpse of life..........“There is need to breakthe glass ceiling........thisis the glimpse of life Iwanted you tosee..........through theeyes of this young girl. “Dr. Reema Khuranaget the girl married.It has been a very eventfuljourney for a younggirl whose only dreamwas to have a ‘visitingcard’. The school culminatedinto college andtraditional middle classparents were worried toMarriage sounded interesting as it was anopportunity to step out of the domain of thefamily and experience more. The concept ofinsecurity vis-a-vis new family, what kind ofpeople would they be and the responsibility ofrunning a household never registered in themind of this young girl. But life is not a linearjourney, middle class parents soon realizedthat there were no suitable match to be foundfor a young girl and she was asked to pursuefurther studies. The girl in her impressionablemind had still not forgotten her original dreamof possessing a visiting card, withdrew fromthe marriage which could have happened andconcentrated on clearing the entrance examsfor a professional course in post graduation.She succeeded and continued to study thebusiness administration course, subsequentlyfound placement in a multinational companyand started earning a substantial salary. Middleclass parents now happened to find amatch for their girl now who also had a visitingcard to her credit. So she got married andhad a life partner.The young girl was thinking that she lookedthe same and had the same family as twoyears back and all that had changed was thestatus regarding the visiting card and the salary,were these the triggers for marriage?In the married life she proceeded on with thedual responsibility of home and office. Husbandbeing the male member was always consideredto be the prime bread winner thoughthe salary credited to their accounts were thesame. The girl now matured with age and experienceinto a lady, had the responsibility ofrunning the complete show at home and tocarry on the job and the husband would comeback and relax. The middle class traditionalupbringing aided her in taking good care ofthe family and in some years the girl rose tothe position of Senior Manager in her organizationand the next promotion was of VicePresident. In the organization that she workedin she had always been a contributor and withher keen sense of justice and time managementshe was a wonderful candidate for theVice President position... however there wererumors in office that though she definitelywas a deserving candidate for the position butit will be given to her male colleague.The lady felt that there is glass ceiling forwomen in business and on domestic front aswell. There is need to break the glass ceiling........thisis the glimpse of life I wanted youto see..........through the eyes of this younggirl.The author of this article is a Professor in the areaof Information Systems in Institute of ManagementTechnology, Ghaziabad. She can be contacted atrkhurana@imt.edu

Page 3 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5Why should we take care of our Women?Monideep GuptaRecent incidents in Indiahave shown that women inIndia are not safe whetherbe it in the metros, smalltowns’ semi rural and ruralareas. The patriarchic structurewhich has been prevalentin India since the startof time seems to have taken its toll.In earlier days in India women were moreviewed as a commodity. They were somethingto be possessed and taken care of: not becauseof their self entity but more because ofthe sense of ownership that men had aboutwomen. They tried to protect them, again notas human beings but as commodity. This commodityview, demeaning and abject as thoughit might sound is the reality of the perceptionof women in the Indian society. We immediatelyneed to change this point of view withimmediate effect.Decoding Gods designGod created man and woman with some purpose.He gifted each of them with unique setof mental attributes and faculties. Some of theattributes are contrasting in nature. For examplea man is supposed to be strong physically.A woman on the other hand is supposed to becaring and loving. For all the violence thatman causes, it should be adequately balancedby love and compassion spread through thefemale race. The emotions like empathy, benevolence,care is less prominent in malesrather than females. Also they have distinctways of expressing their emotions. Men areusually too verbose and like to make a publicdisplay of their emotions, whereas a womanmight more often than not resort to non verbalcues. Sometimes the silence in them says athousand words and conveys a million expressions.The Gender EquilibriumWe keep on studying the demand and supplyequilibrium in the field of economics and tryto derive meaningful insights into the equilibriumstate whereby we can determine theprice of commodities. But then nobody said aword about the gender equilibrium whichmust be brought into place to establish anideal world. That equilibrium till date has notbeen reached. Again, when we talk about theforces that predominantly control and shapethe society we can classify them primarily intotwo broad categories – the masculine forcesof physical strength and power and the feminineforces of compassion, benevolence andempathy. These forces have never attainedequilibrium till date. The masculine forceshave predominated throughout the humanhistory and that is the reason that human historyis so full of wars and violence and destruction.If we were to let the feminine forces play anequal role in shaping the history of humans,then the future that lies ahead of us couldsave a lot of lives, eliminate poverty and destructionand also possibly save the environmentand the earth from premature demise.So for the sake of our future generations andthe sustenance of the earth itself we shouldvote for the equilibrium.“This commodity view,demeaning and abject asthough it might sound is thereality of the perception ofwomen in the Indiansociety.”

eflEXionsPage 4“Sometimes this womenviewpoint is very critical andnecessary to solve problemsof complex nature.”The Equal Opportunity movementWomen do stress the fact that they shall seekand strive for equal opportunities where theycan walk parallel with men and achieve whatmen did till date. So should we buy the argument?If we keep the issue of women empowermentaside and look for logic do we findany?It would not be a big surprise that there islogic to what they say and demand. It not onlyserves their cause but sometimes it is the onlyway to solve a problem. As I have mentionedearlier men and women have different mentalabilities – and try however hard, a man cannotthink like a woman. Sometimes this womenviewpoint is very critical and necessary tosolve problems of complex nature. A largenumber of multinational corporations haverealized this and so they have endorsed thisequal opportunity movement and haveproudly announced themselves as equal opportunityemployers. They have been makingcontinuous initiatives to bring greater balancein the male to female employee ratio in theirorganizations.mistake that we can do to harm ourselves is toconsider the exception as being the rule! Thishelps to defeat the purpose of women empowerment,and harms the collective mankind(or should that be womankind).Change starts with usCan we help? Yes we can be the forces thatwill bring about this constructive change inour society. Some people will not like thischange, but then this is what should be. Wecan do our bit to make every women feel specialabout herself. Rather than projecting us asthe saviors of women we should walk the pathwith them taking and giving help when required.When every individual sees reason inthis argument we will get a truly developedsociety where both women and men live harmoniouslyand play to the designs of the almighty!The author of this article is a student in PGDM-Ex2012-13 batch in Institute of Management Technology,Ghaziabad.Statutory Warning: Don’t highlight the exceptionsas being the rule!When I talk about this particular topic ofwomen empowerment there might appearseveral examples of women in prominenceand in our daily lives that quite do not fit thebill as being epitomes of love, compassion andbenevolence and other attributes so fondlyfemale. But then there are exceptions andthey again reinforce the rule. The greatest

eflEXionsPage 5Interview: Entrepreneur Ms. Geetica KweeraMs. Geetica Kweera -C.M.D. ,Sheen India Pvt. Ltd.,“if you are on a terra firmadue to your command overthe situation and thesubject, no one can take theMickey out of you.”It always pays to do what youlove. Geetica, a young entrepreneur,realized her flair forfashion early in life andchased it to ultimately build asuccessful empire of herdreams—Sheen India Pvt.Ltd., a Government recognizedexport house. Sharingher experience of the journeyto success, We present hereexcerpts of an interview withher.1. What was your first entrepreneurialventure?I started my first ventureKIDSSTUFF with an arrangedcapital of two hundred thousandrupees. With this capitalI created a set of clothing linesamples and sent for approvalto a customer in Spain.I knew I was playing a gamblebut with certain algorithm inmind that this stake will payoff. I am fortunate to havethat this worked to my favor.For almost one year, I operatedfrom home before Iopened my first office afterachieving a turnover of 10mand net margin of five hundredthousand rupees. It tookme five years to move from10 m to 100m and anotherfive years to reach 600mmark.2. What is the current businessthat you are running?My company designs clothingfor western market. We havea design studio which developsnew designs for eachseason and sends theses designsto our customers inEurope, USA, Continent, MiddleEast and Fareast nationsfor their approval and securingbulk orders. We handlemore than thirty clients. Currently,our turnover is INR600m and expected to cross1000m in next FY.3. What inspired you to becomean entrepreneur?Aiming to be a medico in myinitial years, I soon realizedthat I could be better offbeautifying human body contoursrather than humananatomy. Having a naturalflair for fashion, I was absorbedby fashion industrywithout having prequalificationsin apparel designing.While serving at variousdesign and exporthouses, I graduated to be afashion designer. In the year2001, I ventured into my ownproduction and export business.Today, my flagship companySHEEN INDIA PVT. LTD.is a Government recognizedexport house. SHEEN operatesfrom three factories inNoida and one in Bangladesh.4. What challenges did youface as a woman in a fieldtraditionally dominated bymen ?None. I believe that if you arewell informed and aptlyskilled in your pursuit, youcan winningly take on anychallenge. We are an evolvedand matured society and genderbias never comes intoplay as a handicap. At leastnot to my experience. Sparingly,there may be instanceswhere male dominance maytry to take the advantage ofthe situation in negotiatingthe terms but if you are on aterra firma due to your commandover the situation andthe subject, no one can takethe Mickey out of you.5. What future challengesare you looking forward to inyour journey?In near future, opportunitiesand competition will outweigheach other. BusinessIntelligence will be the key tosuccess and sustenance. Infrastructuresector needs tobe given special thrust toentice more investment inthe manufacturing sector.6. What changes have youwitnessed in the environmentfor entrepreneurs overthe span of your career ?

eflEXionsPage 6Ever since in 2000, there hasbeen paradigm shift in theopportunities abound for all.Entrepreneurship culture is7. What message would youlike to give the budding en-“While the end goal in anygame is important, it’s thejourney (e.g. practice,coaching, planning andstrategy) that makes thegoal achievable. “approach the way peopleperceived you as a womanentrepreneur, the way governmentpolicies framed andexecuted, the way bankersappraised your proposal, HRpolicies and the workers trustlevel. In the last decade, thecountry has moved fast fromIron Age to Silicon Era withdeveloping fast and newband of youth is willing totake the plunge with an educatedinformed awareness. Anew breed of strategic investorsother than traditionalbanking is playing a pivotalrole in creating new opportunitiesfor it generation.trepreneurs among us ?If you don’t know where youare heading for, you mightnot reach there. Set your goalearly and stay focused. Whilethe end goal in any game isimportant, it’s the journey(e.g. practice, coaching, planningand strategy) that makesthe goal achievable.MARKET BUZZMoody's Warns on IndiaCurrent-Account GapIndia's expanding currentaccountdeficit and externaldebt will make the countrymore vulnerable to internationalfinancial volatility andhave negative implicationsfor its sovereign credit profile,Moody's Investors ServiceStatement said. The gaphas been bridged chiefly byexternal debt, and India'sexternal debt has doubledsince 2006 to $365 billion atthe end of December 2012.Source- Economic TimesSanofi-Aventis gets taxreprieve from high courtThe Andhra Pradesh HighCourt decision said Frenchpharma major Sanofi-Aventisneed not pay tax for the acquisitionof city-based ShanthaBiotechnics in 2009, ashad been demanded by theincome tax (I-T) department.TheI-T department haddemanded a capital gains taxof Rs 700 crore from Sanofi —outstanding of Rs 1,058 crore— claiming that the Frenchcompany gained new marketsand platforms for its productsthrough the acquisition ofShantha.Chopper Scam: DefenceMinistry moves to scrapAgusta’s VVIP helicopterscontractDays ahead of British PrimeMinister David Cameron'sstate visit, the governmenthas moved to cancel the Rs3,760-crore contract for VVIPhelicopters awarded in February2010 to AgustaWestland.The Indian ministry of defensehas issued a showcasenotice to the company seekingcancellation of the contract,an official statementsaid.Source- ET BureauSource- Business Standard

eflEXionsPage 7U.S. alleges insider tradingahead of Heinz dealU.S. federal regulators havealleged that a brokerage accountin Switzerland wasused for illegal insider tradingahead of the H.J. Heinz acquisition.The Securities and ExchangeCommission obtaineda court order on 15th Februaryto freeze the account andprevent the assets from beingmoved.Source- APAmerican Airlines, USAirways face big hurdlesin mergerMelding the two airlines intoone behemoth is likely tolead to reservation glitches,union tension, higher faresand service cuts. "Mergingemployees from three differentlegacy airlines — US Airways,America West andAmerican — would be complicatedand very likely resultin higher labor costs," accordingto an analysis by ratingscompany Standard & Poor's.Source – LA TimesMauritius offers zerocustoms duty regime forIndian companies settingup shop in the islandnationMauritius has offered a zerocustoms duty regime for Indianfirms to gain easier accessto European Union andAfrica. Mauritian minister fortrade and industry SayyadAbd-Al-Cader Sayed Hossendiscussed the country's freeport policy with commerceand industry minister AnandSharma ahead of the India-Mauritius joint working groupmeeting later this year toreview the bilateral taxtreaty.Source- Economic TimesNokia rumored to joinApple in dumping Samsungas a supplierWith Apple known to beworking overtime in its effortsto reduce its dependenceon Samsung as a componentsupplier, word comesthat other companies, includingNokia, are also consideringplans to do the samething, for similar reasons.Souce – Appleinsider.com

Page 8 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5Women at Top!The frontrunner: Chanda Kochhar51, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank LimitedSecret to success: Staying calm in difficult times and focusing on the task at hand. "My passionlies in the pursuit of excellence. Can I do it very well, better than others," she says.Work life balance : Kochhar has balanced her family life and hectic work schedule for three decadesnow. "You often feel as if you are walking a tightrope," she admits.Penny wise: Chitra Ramakrishna46, Joint Managing Director, National Stock ExchangeBehind the scenes: She believes in hiding behind her success. Always media shy, action, shesays, speaks louder than words.Successful living: Honesty, she says, is the best policy. It works for her at both work and home.Revolutionary road: Kiran Bedi63, Social ActivistSuccessful living: "Convictions, beliefs, value for time and for personal growth and constant contributionfor others. These things drive and sustain me."Through the looking glass: "When I look back, the fondest memory of my career in the Indianpolice service was when I conducted a meditation programme for prisoners at Tihar Jail in 1994.That set in motion everything that was to come later in life," she says.

Page 9 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5Women at Top!The muse: Neha Kirpal31, Founder-director, India Art FairThrough the looking glass: Kirpal began in 2008 with a humble bank loan of Rs.60 lakh and a lotof criticism. "Nine out of ten people told me that an art fair in India would fail miserably. Thesuccess of the fair is validated by the fact that some of my biggest critics are now my most enthusiasticsupporters," she says.The strategist: Aruna Jayanthi49, CEO, Capgemini IndiaOn the radar: Jayanthi spends 25 per cent of her time in leadership initiatives. "The challengeinitially was to convince clients of the off-shore business model. Now it's about achieving scaleof operations without losing out on the fundamental DNA of the organisation, on the quality,"she adds.Family ties: "I try and spend as much time as possible with my ten-year-old daughter Tara."Indra Nooyi58, CEO, PepsiCoThrough the looking glass : Against her parents’ advice, she came to the United States in 1978at age 23 to earn her M.B.A. in Public and Private Management at Yale where she worked as adorm receptionist—opting for the graveyard shift because it paid an extra 50 cents per hour.She also played cricket in college and sang karaoke at corporate gatherings. Her parents thoughtshe should have stayed in India, gotten married and raised at a family. “I always had this urge,this desire, this passion,” she once explained, to “settle in the United States,” where she is nowthe married mother of two daughters.