Re: [silk] Ethics in big Indian companies
On 07/08/07, Suresh Ramasubramanian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 8/7/2007 2:06 PM, Binand Sethumadhavan wrote: > > > The government has been largely ineffective in controlling monopolies > > in India - probably because in most industries, the biggest players > > are government-owned at the moment (Telecom - BSNL, Banking - SBI, > > Insurance - LIC etc.). The "watchdog" organisations setup by the > > These are known for poor customer service but certainly not for shafting > the customer (well, not to all that much of an extent) > > Private players like ICICI on the other hand .. Those were examples of state-controlled monopolies and the reason I feel watchdog organisations are ineffective in India. Though there are no end of anecdotal evidence of them shafting customers (especially SBI, and more so their credit cards division). Like the time I went to SBI, Besant Nagar branch and tried to open a PPF account on my son's name... I was told that "minors cannot hold PPF accounts" (though they apparently can if the guardian/parent opens a FD with SBI). Binand
Re: [silk] Ethics in big Indian companies
On 8/7/2007 2:06 PM, Binand Sethumadhavan wrote: > The government has been largely ineffective in controlling monopolies > in India - probably because in most industries, the biggest players > are government-owned at the moment (Telecom - BSNL, Banking - SBI, > Insurance - LIC etc.). The "watchdog" organisations setup by the These are known for poor customer service but certainly not for shafting the customer (well, not to all that much of an extent) Private players like ICICI on the other hand ..
Re: [silk] Ethics in big Indian companies
On 06/08/07, Deepa Mohan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 2) Lack of competition (of good service providers) Or in other words, monopolies. The government has been largely ineffective in controlling monopolies in India - probably because in most industries, the biggest players are government-owned at the moment (Telecom - BSNL, Banking - SBI, Insurance - LIC etc.). The "watchdog" organisations setup by the government to protect the consumers' interests are largely ineffectual probably because of this conflict of interest - hence even smaller players tend to treat the consumer as an unavoidable nuisance. Binand
Re: [silk] Ethics in big Indian companies
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 Deepa Mohan wrote: [interesting exercise I must admit] > Why things are so bad even in "Big" companies: > > 1) Popular feeling among both the elite and common man > that we can't change things as they are. > (imagine if Mahatma Gandhi had felt the same way) Well in this case given the fact that in most of the cases it resembles the transition from frying pan to flame there is not much choice for the consumer to seek relief by boycotting services from Provider1 in lieu of services from Provider2 (the point below) > 2) Lack of competition (of good service providers) > 3) Public not giving incentives (e.g. tips- this is > not bribe- don't we tip the waiter in 5 star hotels) > to good service providers like e.g BSNL staff. This bit is kind of a new one. The incentive for pushing quality of service upwards for a Provider would be ensuring that the consumer base does not reduce. Providing incentives for providing service that's already part of an SLA reads like an expensive proposition > 4) Active consumer forums (a person I know- now in his > seventies and severely ill) still runs an active > consumer forum in Chennai. He does not have much > support. There's not an organized consumer movement based on forums and guidance. > 5) Lack of cooperation from Mass media dependent on > advertising (but internet offers a e-solution via > blogs, I think some of us can start one) The power of a blog is directly proportional to the number of aggregators it hits or some such. > 6) Tendency of big companies (at mid levels) to > discriminate from Big and important clients who follow > up and common man clients- who do nothave the time, energy, or money > to keep up the protest. Airtel, ICICI and Dell (usage of the corporate and individual accounts provide an unique experience) :Sankarshan - -- You see things; and you say 'Why?'; But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Fedora - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFGtuq6XQZpNTcrCzMRAvJiAJ9wSvAWfgpShE/lSR+U6Ng/t82gRgCfQNx/ 2pkd6E1Q6474uj0td/Zw4Cw= =UEN/ -END PGP SIGNATURE-
[silk] Ethics in big Indian companies
On an egroup that I moderate, we have been having discussions about the business ethics,Ior lack thereof, in large Indian companies. t started with our rating of various Internet Service Providers and went on to mobile phone companies. Several names were, of course mentioned, but I am not bringing them in herebut I thought I would like to share this analysis and the solutions suggested by this friend of mine from Riyadh: Why things are so bad even in "Big" companies: 1) Popular feeling among both the elite and common man that we can't change things as they are. (imagine if Mahatma Gandhi had felt the same way) 2) Lack of competition (of good service providers) 3) Public not giving incentives (e.g. tips- this is not bribe- don't we tip the waiter in 5 star hotels) to good service providers like e.g BSNL staff. 4) Active consumer forums (a person I know- now in his seventies and severely ill) still runs an active consumer forum in Chennai. He does not have much support. 5) Lack of cooperation from Mass media dependent on advertising (but internet offers a e-solution via blogs, I think some of us can start one) 6) Tendency of big companies (at mid levels) to discriminate from Big and important clients who follow up and common man clients- who do nothave the time, energy, or money to keep up the protest. Solutions: 1) Support neutral (and paid for by subscription) Product and service Rating agencies (not just credit but also quality- service etc) 2) Express more often such complaints in public as you have all just done. My wife( in chennai )every week complains to me about one or other equipment or service, as even after paying for it she never gets a satisfactory level of quality or service. (This is still the big difference between such mundane matters of day to day living abroad and in India) 3) Ask companies to have double tier service- a) premium service and b) standard service where in premium they would actually "hear and attend" to complaints. 4) Ask several technical people to "comment" on common problems. E.g. my wife had great difficulty to install & connect a wifi connetion to laptop (after it has been installed- it typically cuts of after 40 seconds as Raj Nair's daughter experienced). She tried several technicians including from BSNL and then obscure technician from one of the suburbs fixed it in 2 minutes. 5) Publicize good performers and help them grow. 6) Suggest a course curricula which can be included in IIMs and all graduate degrees on "Quality- why it matters to you and me". May be one of the several hundred educational institutions may even adopt it. Let us not forget that IIMA is better because it stuck to such "quality considerations". P.B.Varadharajan from Riyadh What do you think...especially about his suggestion on "incentives"? Deepa.
