• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

D. Murali

TOC is not table of contents, time of call, or tactical operations centre. For `guru' Goldratt it's `theory of constraints'. Before you sneer at one more management concept, he packs his ideas in a fast-paced novel called The Goal, published by Productivity & Quality Publishing P Ltd (www.productivityquality.co.in).

For this 20th anniversary edition, Eliyahu M. Goldratt has written a special preface addressed to the Indian audience: "Companies, even the relatively small ones, are incredibly complex. When facing complex systems, it is so easy to fall into the trap of looking for complicated solutions." The problem is that such solutions don't work. Instead of falling into a rut, look for the `inherent simplicity' in every complex system, exhorts Goldratt.

Here's a snatch from the story: "`Inventory? I thought inventory was products, and parts and so on,' says Bob. `You know, the stuff we're going to sell.' Lou smiles. `Bob, the whole plant is an investment which can be sold — for the right price and under the right circumstances.' And maybe sooner than we'd like, I think. Stacey says, `So investment is the same thing as inventory.' `It's operational expense,' I tell him. `We're not going to sell that oil to a customer.'... `Any money we've lost is operational expense; any investment that we can sell is inventory.'" Secure The Goal.

Manage the event

K. G. Mujawdiya, a practising company secretary, delves into an unusual subject: Business Opportunities in Events Management. The booklet from Xcess Informatics & Services P Ltd (www.xcessinfo.com) is bullish about this new line of activity because of various factors such as: shortage of time with organisers, desire to make the event memorable, globalisation, increase in the number of international events taking place in the country, need to retain customers and reach for new ones, and competition.

There are at least 10 essentials of event management: The event manager has to discuss the nature of the event in detail; finalise the duration of various activities in the event; plan the programme according to gender, age and other categories of audience; finalise the space requirement based on the number of invitees; book the venue; look at the need for any special arrangements; select suppliers and service providers; work out cost estimates; sign the contract; and prepare an event manual and hand over a copy to the client to avoid any future disputes. A subject that arouses interest, so Mujawdiya may think of a detailed treatment too.

`Golden era' for India

I'M SURE Mahendra Sharma would've brought out something recent, but what I have on hand is his 2004 World & Financial Prophecies, from www.mahendraprophecy.com covering "internal and external affairs of 65 countries." Let me turn to India where the prediction is of a `golden era' starting from September 2004. "India will enter into a great 26 year and 7 month achievement circle." Sharma foresees gains for Congress in Northern India, "because the chart shows strength in the northern side after the last 17 years." He sees peace getting restored in Kashmir "because Saturn will play a unique role," but the thorny issue with Pakistan may not get resolved "for another five years." There will no major natural disasters, he writes, but that disappoints me in view of what happened in the last week of 2004. Again, for Indonesia, Sharma predicted that land and property prices "will suddenly start rising" in the major cities, but one doubts if that would be true after tsunami. Writing about China there's something fearsome to happen if the US and the UK try to fight North Korea: "They will face humiliation of defeat. China will support North Korea clearly and openly." Keep your fingers tightly crossed.

Where the cent pinches

TO KNOW how `immigration, politics, and greed are destroying the American workforce,' I read Dan Geoffrey's Up 2 cents a share down 8 million jobs, from iUniverse (www.iuniverse.com). "Ostensibly, H-1B non-immigrant visas were created to fill positions left vacant by shortages of skilled labour in the US," writes Geoffrey in the intro. Examples of positions that couldn't be filled using local manpower are: Fishing boat deck hand, head women's basketball coach, motel manager, accountant, art director, teacher, web designer, sales manager, gymnastics instructor, and manager food service.

In a chapter on outsourcing, the author talks of `a dangerous myth' — that only computer jobs can be outsourced. "The unemployment lines are full of people who were in accounting, customer service, help desk support, tax preparation, payroll, manufacturing, construction, engineering, and a host of other positions, who believed that myth right up until their jobs got sent overseas." A book you can't ignore.

To perk up the salaried

R. N. LAKHOTIA needs no introduction to taxpayers. His book How to save tax on Your Salary & Perquisities, now in its 12th edition, is a handy A-Z guide with more than a hundred `practical tax-saving options'. For example, the author discusses under the entry `Depreciation on car': "An employee is not eligible for any depreciation on any car maintained by him whether for purposes of employment or otherwise. Thus, no deduction is allowed to him in respect of depreciation on such a car while computing the taxable income under the head `salary'." How depressing, but see if you can read a clue in what follows: "Where an employee owns a car which is leased by him and in respect of which the employee derives some rental income, or hiring income from letting out and hiring of the car, such income is liable to tax under the head `income from other sources' and not under the head `salary'. In such a case, under the provisions of Section 57, depreciation on the car would be allowed to the employee." Do I see you moonlighting as a taxi-driver after office hours?

Tailpiece

"They're video conferencing with the court, so the accused need not be taken out of the jail."

"Don't tell me they'll video-connect to the mess too, to show him the food!"

ReadingRoom@TheHindu.co.in

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Tailor a lease on stated terms

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line