September 2022 - Page 4 of 9 - BOLLYWOOD SURKHIYAN

The Amish People & Tradition

The Amish are a throwback to the “olden days.” They live simply and without most technology in the midst of the technology-laden world of the 21st century. They arrived in the US almost 300 years ago, intent on starting new lives free of religious persecution. Primarily, they settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Today, there are almost 200,000 members of what are called “Old Order” Amish communities. These communities are concentrated in Lagrange, Indiana, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and Holmes County, Ohio. Amish culture remains iconic in America, with its plain dress and horse-drawn carriages; it is also known for its exquisitely handcrafted furniture and quilting.

The Amish are known for their simple dress. The men wear black pants and jackets, while the women wear long, dark, longsleeved dresses with white aprons and capes. Their customs set them apart from mainstream American citizens in many ways. For one thing, they have literally interpreted the Bible, which means that they adopt specific dress codes and behavior standards, even as they reject most modern technology. Photographs, too, are not allowed because these are considered “graven images” as discussed in the 10 Commandments. They believe that their faith in God is best represented by words and actions, so they strive to follow the examples given by the Bible and to accept God’s will in everything. Because of this, they are conscientious objectors when it comes to military service and turn the other cheek when they are personally attacked.

Strength of community and family are key in the Amish community. Humility and submission are highly valued, as set forth by Christ’s example in the Bible. Similarly, ambition and pride are rejected. Thus, there is no competitiveness, materialism, or individualism. For example, in the Amish community, one is not allowed to own an automobile because the Amish believe that this would cause division in the committee, separating “rich” from “poor” and bring about boastful pride.

However, the Amish do accept rides in automobiles if business or emergencies require that one go a great distance or need utmost speed. By the same principle, homes do not have telephones or electricity. However, dairy barns are powered from alternative energy sources. Frequently, too, there are small buildings that have communal telephones to place outgoing calls. Self-reliance and individualism are not accepted, but the community itself is independent of outside electricity sources.

Amish values continue to set them apart from mainstream American culture. Community members are expected to marry and have families. Their courtship tradition is unique, in that they can only marry other Amish, although those they marry may come from different Amish settlements than they do. Men and women follow traditional gender roles and often have large families. Divorce is forbidden. They also share a common language. English is taught in the schools, but Pennsylvania Dutch, an obscure German dialect, is spoken at home.

In addition to dress, Amish men have a unique style of facial hair. Once a man is married, he is expected to grow a beard. However, there is no mustache along with the beard. This is because they reject anything vain or military. In their home countries, the military leaders responsible for the persecution of the Amish had very stylish mustaches.

They have no system of government that’s formal or organized, but nominated preachers, bishops and deacons lead them. Shunning, which has been a much-debated practice, is a discipline measure based upon New Testament Bible passages. It’s used when a baptized member of the community “trespasses” against the community. What this means is that no other community members, even spouses, are allowed contact with the offender while he or she is being shunned. However, once the person who committed the offense asks for forgiveness, forgiveness is freely offered and the shunned welcomed back into the community.

In 1972, a landmark legal decision decreed that the Amish have the right to continue their way of life without government interference in terms of Social Security taxes and benefits, child labor laws, and compulsory schooling. In the Amish community, children attend school through the eighth grade in one-room schoolhouses. They are taught by single young women in small multi-grade classes. Consistently, Amish children have done better than their rural non-Amish peers on standardized tests. In the Amish community, the belief is that after the last formal bit of schooling, the next stage of maturing is best done within families, by learning a stronger religious faith and practical skills.

Once young people complete their schooling, the girls learn housekeeping and child-rearing skills alongside their mothers and other women, while the boys learn farming and carpentry skills alongside their fathers and other men. At 16, young people are allowed to experience freedom and are even encouraged to live among the “English” or non-Amish population, to see whether or not they wish to remain in the Amish community. A small number of young people do decide to continue to live with the “English,” but most choose to return to the Amish life, be baptized, and commit their lives to the community and fellowship.

The Amish are exempted from Social Security taxes, but must still pay other types of taxes, including property and sales tax. They do not carry insurance, but support each other as a community during emergencies. They don’t enroll in government care for the elderly, but care for their elderly at home.

Each Amish settlement lives independent of the other settlements. They share the same core doctrine but differ on issues of degree. Some differences may include how simple clothing is, or whether or not compromise is allowed in the use of modern technology, and to what degree. When disagreements happen, members may sometimes go to another community that better matches their own view of the faith.

Originally farmers when they immigrated from Switzerland and Germany, today, the Amish still use farming as their main source of income. They live separate from the world around them, but have shrewd business skills and have cultivated friendships and business relationships with the “English” in the surrounding communities. Many “English” help the Amish out free of charge, so that the Amish may preserve their way of life. The Amish raise crops such as barley, soybeans, tobacco, wheat, and corn, as well as other vegetables. They raise these crops both for personal use and for market. In addition, they are excellent carpenters and dairy farmers. They have also recently begun to develop cottage industries that include selling jellies, furniture, quilts and other handmade goods. “English” consumers have greatly praised these goods because they are of such high quality. The Amish first and foremost strive to give glory to God, and because of this, and workmanship is well above average and is an unspoken and lasting testament to faith.

The Philippine Call Center Phenomenon

A curious sight has started appearing in the business districts of the Philippines: yuppies-coffee cup in one hand and a cigarette in another-hanging around the entrance of a building late at night or very early in the morning. The nocturnal office workers are call center employees, and seeing them taking coffee breaks during ungodly hours are bound to be more common.

Over the past few years, the emergence of numerous foreign- and locally-owned call centers in the country has made the contact center industry one of the most important segments of the Philippine economy. Aside from creating thousands of well-paying jobs for Filipinos, the call center industry also contributed 10% of the country’s gross domestic product.

But what is truly phenomenal is the speed by which the industry has grown.

In 2000, there were just four call centers in the country. By 2005, it has grown to include 105 inbound and outbound contact centers. Along with India and China, the Philippines is now considered as one of the world’s key players in offshore call center outsourcing.

The Philippine Board of Investors also reports that the industry has grown at a steady rate of 100% every year since 2001. Insiders attribute the extraordinary growth of call centers in the country to many factors.

First and foremost to the fact that many companies (particularly in the U.S.), choosing to streamline and focus on their core-competencies, have started outsourcing to countries like the Philippines where the cost of labor is considerably lower.

Conditions in the country are also very conducive to the growth of the call center industry. The Philippines has a large number of competent, English-speaking workforce (about 3 million Filipinos graduate from college each year) that can easily fulfill the needs of the contact center industry.

Another reason for the rapid growth of the call center industry in the Philippines is the fact that for many companies who outsource, Filipinos provide better service, especially when it comes to customer support, than their Indian or Chinese counterparts. So while labor costs in the Philippines are higher than in India, many companies still choose to outsource to the country because of the high-quality output and service Filipinos provide.

The 50 years the Philippines spent as a US colony and its penchant for Hollywood and most things American also contribute to the boom of the Philippine call center industry. Filipinos, the industry insider explains, are very familiar with what’s happening in the US, their culture and slang. This makes us better-equipped to understand their cultural nuances than Indian or Chinese call center agents.

The fact that the country has stable and reliable infrastructure in place is another reason why foreign companies are outsourcing some of their services to the Philippines.

CONTINUOUS GROWTH

Experts note that the Philippine BPO industry’s growth is bound to continue as many firms in the country are already expanding by offering more high-value services. Expressing their confidence, key players are targeting to take 5% of the $180 billion the global call center industry is expected to generate in 2010, and sustain the industry’s rise. Visit this site for more information on call centers and their services.

Sound is a Sound Reason for Business Success! How to Get Rich in Any Business?

It sounds good:

I know you do some relaxation exercise or reading some magazines in your drawing room leisurely. You hear a number of sounds that come from the street outside. Some are attractive while some distract attention! You like it or not, you need to hear all these noises.

Nutty business:

Now also you here a bell-ring sounds differently, with a unique musical rapidity.

You know, it is a special sound coming from a hot selling item on the street: It is the peanuts! Some call it groundnuts too!

This ringing noise is coming from the street and that too you know it is from a peanut seller pushing his handcart. The steel spatula generates the sound by hitting on the rims of an iron Chinese woke.

Sound Attraction:

He has a small stove burning, which heats the sand filled Chinese woke for hot dry frying the peanuts. He pushes the cart, shouts loudly with his special voice and makes the sound just by hitting the rims of the iron woke.

Interesting Musical Note:

By this, a peanut seller informs that he passes on the road; he sells hot fried tasty groundnuts; this shows that he is closer to you on the street; further alerted by the sound that may leave at any time.

Desire with Flavor:

Now the spatula makes a different sound by turning and frying the nuts. It is also unique and your nose is sharper to inhale the flavor of the hot frying of the nuts in the sand bath. Aha, you want to taste it instantly.

Act Fast to Taste the Nuts:

You are just calling your maidservant to go and get it immediately as the peanut merchant may leave at any time. She bought it; you got it! You simply admire at the taste of round bold hot peanuts.

Now, on the business side, let us find what has happened and perceived in this groundnut selling process.

Small Mobile Shop:

The pushcart is a small shop of 6 feet by 3 feet by size drawn on the road. On one side, it is true that the cart is a small retail shop. On the other side, one can expand the business to the size of the world, as much as one can draw the cart.

That is to say, the cart moves to the nook and corner of the city or the village. The business can be expandable with the capacity of the drawing retailer. Naturally, he will get more business with more area and more people.

Further, the process shows the following steps in selling process.

Attention:

The sound is the key factor that initiates the business. If the cart moves on the street with out making any sound, then it would have gone with out the notice of the potential customers residing in the houses. The vocal sound of the street vendor with the noises generated from the hit tings on the Chinese woke is the prime factor that introduces the shopkeeper on the street.

Interest:

The unique noise that emanated from the spatula while frying creates further more interest for the insider.

Desire:

The unique smell of the frying groundnuts brings in desire to the potential buyer.

Action:

Then it is over as the potential buyer moves out, goes near the seller and makes the buying process. The retailer finds the requirements of the purchaser and completes the process of delivering and collecting the sale proceeds.

The students of business management science are learning about the salesperson’s success techniques. The above said example of selling of peanuts is a very simple and true selling process. Of course, the peanut seller knows or not, this has built in scientific sales process!

We call it “AIDA principle”, comprising of the following.

1. Attention is drawing customer’s awareness.

2. Interest is increasing curiosity for the customer.

3. Desire is creating crave by exhibiting more characters and creative visualization.

4. Action is pressing for customers’ accomplishment for completing the sale.

Sound is a Key to Business:

Besides, we learnt that sound is a key factor in bringing business here. You hear the bell ring sound from churches and temples and sacred voice from the mosques. They draw the attention of the people and invite them for the prayer.

The bakeries and roadside fast food counters use radios and speakers to pull the crowd. The street circus player makes sound with drums. Different kind of ring tones are used for different commodities like ice creams soft cotton candies etc. With a threadbare analysis of this sound subject, we can understand that it has unique role in very many ideal businesses.

Hence, sound is a sound business idea to bring more customers into our business.

AIDA is more scientific method of selling anything on earth!

Similarly, there is more number of customer pulling tools.

We shall see them next.

Architecture or Interior Design Which Is Better?

Interior and Architecture: Space under the stairs is often neglected by people. As a fact of the matter, it is an important area neglected by many of us in spite of its many uses of it. We can benefit of them in various ways such as storage of winter clothing, books, children toys, things that are rarely used.

Architectural design projects are the life and soul of architecture school. As a student, you are always working on one, and somehow it becomes what your life is revolving around. You would give it every possible effort and believe you have done your best, but on jury day, when you see everyone else’s project you could lose a bit of your confidence, not because your project is any less, but because your presentation is lacking. The presentation might not be the core of the project, but it surely influences the viewer. It can also be considered as an indicator of your artistic skills and sense as a designer.

While you shouldn’t be completely dependable on positive results from a merely eye-catching presentation, you still need to give an adequate amount of time to properly plan it in a way that communicates your idea best. Your architecture professor might credit you for a creative design regardless the presentation, but your future client might only see the presentation, so make it a habit, to involve your design skills in all the aspects of your project, starting now. Here, we will give you some basic tips on how to create a Stunning Architecture Project Presentation.

• Size and Orientation

• Layout

• Background

• Colors

• Visual Hierarchy

Interior designers in north delhi. Minimize text on your presentation board. Write a short and concise concept statement and add a very brief explanation, if needed. Don’t waste your time on composing elongated descriptive text because no one will read it.

Replace words, whenever possible, with simple illustrative sketches and figures. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. You may use colors and keys to further clarify your illustrations.

Opt for the magic of white. It never fails. Whites always cast a wondrous, calming spell. Try a white raw silk bedspread and match it with curtains in sheer organza worked over with delicate beads. While on the subject of whites, let me recommend the magic of patchwork, quilting and embroidery, especially on cushions.

Soft and Sophisticated

In a townhouse master suite, designers Shikha and Varsha Geol created a look that’s elegant and refined and more than a little bit romantic. “We used a palette of gray and cream to keep the bedroom feeling airy and serene,” say the designers. “Coral accents add warmth and contrast.” A simple drapery with a Greek key trim creates privacy and light control, and also brings another soft layer into the room. An upholstered headboard from, customized with extra height for added drama and paired with beautiful warm walnut bedside tables with hidden storage to create a bit of edginess to the room’s otherwise tranquil and inviting color scheme.

Upcoming Home Furnishing Sourcing Fairs in Asia

A comprehensive list of Asian home furnishing fairs this spring, with insider details.

February

India Carpet Expo (Feb 12 – 15)

Almost 200 carpet manufacturers and exporters will attend this fair in New Delhi.

Ambiente Frankfurt (Feb 13-17)

The passage sections of Ambiente feature suppliers and manufacturers from around the world. A great show for home décor and housewares.

Indian handicrafts and Gifts Fair (Feb 25 – 28)

The biggest furniture and home accent fair in India. Fantastic products and great values for people looking to source in India with over 1000 suppliers.

March

India Houseware & Gift Fair (Mar 1 – 3)

-Smaller than IHGF, there are still more than 500 suppliers in handicrafts, housewares, and textiles.

MIFF Malaysia (Mar 3 – 7)

-More than 500 Malaysian furniture manufacturers and exporters.

Cebu International Furniture and Furnishings Exhibition (Mar 5 – 8)

-A smaller show with all the top local Cebu manufacturers and designers.

Manila Now (Mar 5 – 8)

-More than 100 furniture and home décor suppliers.

IFFS Singapore (Mar 9 – 12)

-One of the leading furniture fairs in Asia for good design.

IFFINA Indonesia (Mar 11 – 15)

-The largest furniture fair in Indonesia, this is also the best furniture show of the year for finding Indonesian suppliers.

VIFA Vietnam (Mar 11 – 14)

-A smaller furniture fair with around 100 suppliers. This fair has mostly furniture companies, but not as many suppliers as the fall HCMC Expo.

TIFF Thailand (Mar 11 – 15)

-200 Thai home furnishings suppliers

Dongguan Famous Furniture Fair (Mar 16-20)

-A huge furniture fair near the heart of furniture city in Houjie. Also, there is a home accent and lighting section.

CIFF Guangzhou, China (Mar 18 – 21)

The biggest and best furniture fair in China in the Spring. Also running concurrently are sections for home accents and housewares.

SIFE Shenzhen (Mar 19 – 22)

Another huge furniture fair, not as large as the other two shows running at the same time, but still very big and lots of manufacturers at this show.

SFIFC Metal Furniture Fair – Bazhou City, Hebei, China (Mar 23 – 25)

-Primarily dealing with glass and metal furniture including residential furniture, office furniture, business furniture, and outdoor furniture. Over 1000 enterprises will present in the fair,

Premier Vision China (Mar 30 – 31)

-One of the best high end fabric shows in China

April

Hong Kong International Lighting -Spring (Apr 13 – 16)

-The premier fall Asian lighting fair is now twice a year. Manufacturers and suppliers are from around the world, but a majority are Chinese and HK companies. There are not nearly as many companies at the spring event and only occupies one tenth of the floor space.

Manila F.A.M.E (Apr 15 – 18)

-The largest home furnishings fair in the Philippines

The Canton Fair (Apr 15 -19, Apr 24 – 28, May 3 – 7)

-One of the oldest, and by far the biggest home furnishing fair in the world (if you include the surrounding fairs). Phase 2 (Apr 24 – 28) of the Canton Fair is when most of home furnishings suppliers show there. Phase 1 includes lighting, and Phase 3 has home textiles, carpets and rugs. Overall, there are over a million square meters of exhibition space and over 50,000 suppliers. Please note, that while there are more furniture manufacturers now attending the canton fair, it is still not as good as the CIFF for furniture, but it is much better for home accents. Four fairs are within walking distance. To read more about these fairs Click Here.

Hong Kong Housewares (Apr 20 – 23)

-One of the best houseware fairs in the world, there are thousands of manufacturers from China, India, Asia, and other parts of the world. Products are housewares, textiles, handicrafts, and a level of Pet Supplies.

China Sourcing Fair: Home Products + India Sourcing Fair: Home Products (Apr 20 – 23)

-Both fairs are at one location in Hong Kong (the Expo Center, near the airport). This is an unassociated extension of the Hong Kong Houseware fair. Expect to find thousands more suppliers. But, since the HK Housewares is the premium event, suppliers at this event typically are waiting to get a space at the HK Convention Center in the coming years. Shuttles and the train make it easy to travel back and forth between events.

Hong Kong Gifts and Premiums (Apr 27 – 30)

-A huge event, but not as appealing for home furnishing buyers. These are often less expensive products, but some product categories of interest, include picture frames, ceramics, and clocks. Also running at the same time, is the China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Premiums (Apr 28 – May 1), at the Asia World Expo in Hong Kong.

Tally Piracy: A Never Ending Struggle for Tally

India has a list of successful companies to boast of in the software services space. Despite being the global leader in the IT space, we are nowhere near the global giants in the products segment. Many reasons can be cited including the lack of motivation to substitute R&D activities. However, there are few organizations that walked the road less travelled and also tasted success. Tally Solutions is certainly one of them. The organization is one of those that changed the perception that software systems are meant to be expensive and complex. It made them accessible as well as affordable to all. Tally has nearly become synonymous to accounting. However, the list of praises stops there. With all the promise it exemplified, the company, more than two decade old hasn’t moved much beyond its territories. As per a Tally insider, piracy has hit the company in a big way.

Over the years, what we have seen is a huge loss of value. There are about 40 lakh businesses in India. So far, IT hardware and software vendors have addressed only 50% of it. Tally has about 7 lakh registered users but the fact also looms that most of them use pirated versions. As per a third party research done over few years ago, about 90% of Tally’s usage is through pirated copies. The good news is that it has now come down to close to 70%. Piracy is one of the primary issues that have been bothering everyone. At times it does seem impossible. On the other hand the businesses in mature markets such as the USA that started at the same time as Tally software have now become big buck organizations. This is because the rate of piracy in such countries is at about 25%.

Given the diversity and spread of our client base, it’s physically not possible to trace and stop piracy at the end user side. Unfortunately, business is not growing at the pace it needs to grow and its only growing incrementally. It has the potential to grow at a great extent and can achieve at least 3 times the growth if not more. This isn’t the case with Tally software alone but the entire IT industry. Tally with its entire latest version Tally ERP 9 marks its presence across 54 cities through more than 9,700 partners. The organization has more than 1000 employees operating in 14 cities. With business spreading around the globe the accounting master is expecting that it counters the threat of piracy which looms over it and provides more sophisticated versions in the near future.

Corporate Governance

Institute of Company Secretaries of India –

“Corporate Governance is the application of Best Management Practices, Compliance of Laws in true letter and spirit and adherence to ethical standards for effective management and distribution of wealth and discharge of social responsibility for sustainable development of all stakeholders.”

Standard and Poor – “Corporate Governance is the way a company is organized and managed to ensure that all financial stakeholders receive a fair share of the company’s earnings and assets.”

Objectives of Corporate Governance: –

Corporate Governance is aimed at creating an organization which maximizes the wealth of shareholders. It envisages an organization in which emphasis is laid on fulfilling the social responsibilities towards the stakeholders in addition to the earning of profits. The objectives of Corporate Governance is to ensure the following:

1. Properly constituted Board capable of taking independent and objective decisions.

2. Board is independent in terms of Non-Executive and Independent Directors.

3. Board adopts transparent procedures and practices.

4. Board has an effective machinery to serve the concerns of the Stakeholders.

5. Board to monitor the functioning of the Management Team.

6. Properly constituted Board capable of taking independent and objective decisions.

7. Board is independent in terms of Non-Executive and Independent Directors.

8. Board adopts transparent procedures and practices.

9. Board has an effective machinery to serve the concerns of the Stakeholders.

10. Board to monitor the functioning of the Management Team.

11. Board remains in effective control of the affairs of the Company.

Elements of Good Corporate Governance:-

1. Role and Powers of the Board.

2. Legislation

3. Management Environment

4. Board Skills

5. Board Appointments

6. Board Induction and Training

7. Board Independence

8. Board Meetings

9. Board Resources

10. Code of Conduct

11. Strategy setting

12. Financial and Operational Reporting

13. Monitoring the Board Performance

14. Audit Committee

15. Risk Management

Secretarial Standards:-

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India has issued the following Standards in order to maintain the uniformity of procedure with regard to the Board Meetings, General Meetings, Payment of Dividend, Maintenance of Registers and Records, Recording of Minutes and Transfer and Transmission of Shares.

A brief detail of these standards is given as under: –

SS1 – Meetings of Board of Directors: –

The Secretarial Standard -1 deals with the meetings of the Board of Directors. It deals with the various aspects of the conducting the Board Meetings, the frequency of such meetings in a year, Quorum required for the meeting, powers of the Chairman in such meetings, and recording of minutes of such meetings.

SS2 – General Meetings: –

The Secretarial Standard -2 deals with the General Meetings. It explains the procedure of conducting the General Meetings, the frequency of meetings in a year, Quorum required for the conduct of the meeting, powers of the Chairman in such meetings, recording of minutes of such meetings, a procedure of voting, etc.

SS3 – Dividend: –

This Secretarial Standard pertains to Dividend. It illustrates the calculation of amount payable as a dividend, declaration of dividend, Treatment of Unpaid Dividend, and Transfer of Dividend to Investor Education and Protection Fund(IEPF).

SS4 – Registers and Records

This Secretarial Standard enumerates the various Registers required to be maintained as per statutory requirements. It requires the following registers to be maintained:

Register of members and Debenture holders.

Register for Contracts u/s 301.

Register of Directors u/s 303.

Register for Transfer of Shares.

SS5 – Minutes

This Secretarial Standard deals with the recording and signing of Minutes of the Meetings.

Minutes should contain:

(a) The appointment of the Chairman of the meeting.

(b) The presence of Quorum.

(c) The fact that certain registers and documents were available for inspection.

(d) The number of members present in person including representatives.

(e) The number of proxies and the number of shares represented by them.

(f) The presence of the Chairman of the Audit Committee at the Annual General Meeting.

(g) The presence if any, of the Auditors, the Practising Company Secretary who issued the Compliance Certificate, the Court appointed observers or scrutineers.

(h) Reading of the notice of the meeting.

(i) Reading the report of the auditors.

(j) Summary of the opening remarks of the Chairman.

(k) Summary of the clarifications provided.

(l) In respect of each resolution, the type of the resolution, the names of the persons who proposed and seconded and the majority with which such resolution was passed. Resolutions should be written in the present tense.

SS6 – Transfer and Transmission of Shares

This Secretarial Standard deals with the procedure of Transfer and Transmission of shares held singly and jointly. The register and records pertaining to transmission should be preserved permanently and kept in the custody of the secretary of the company or any other person authorized by the Board for the purpose.

Factors Influencing the quality of Corporate Governance:-

1. Integrity of the Management

2. Ability of the Board

3. Adequacy of the Process

4. Quality of Corporate Reporting

5. Participation of Stakeholders

6. Quality of Corporate Reporting

Committee Reports on Corporate Governance:-

Narayana Murthy Report on Corporate Governance: –

Corporate Governance is beyond the realm of Law. It stems from the culture and mindset of management and cannot be regulated by legislation alone. Corporate Governance is all about openness, integrity, and accountability.

It is a key element in improving the economic efficiency of the firm. Credibility offered by Corporate Governance also helps in improving the confidence of the investors – both domestic and foreign. It involves a set of relationships between a company’s management, its Board, shareholders, and Stakeholders.

Kumarmangalam Birla Committee on Corporate Governance: –

All companies are required to submit a quarterly Compliance Report to the Stock Exchanges within 15 days from the end of financial reporting quarter.

The Report has to be submitted by Compliance Officer or by the Chief Executive Officer after obtaining due approvals, on the following clauses:-

Board of Directors

Audit Committee

Shareholders/ Investors Grievance Committee

Remuneration of Directors

Board Procedures

Management

Shareholders

Report on Corporate Governance

CII – Desirable Corporate Governance: –

Corporate Governance helps in maximizing the long-term shareholder value. It is more a way of business life than a mere legal compulsion. Four ideas, which should be the guiding force of company’s philosophy on Corporate Governance are:-

– Transparency

– Accountability

– Disclosure

– Value Creation.

The Code of Business Conduct and Ethics helps to ensure compliance with legal requirements and other standards of Business Conduct. All company Employees and Trainees are expected to read and understand this code of ethics, comply with all applicable policies and procedures, and ensure that all agents and contractors are aware of, understand and adhere to these standards.

The Company expects all employees, agents, and contractors to exercise good judgment to ensure all employees, agents, and contractors and to maintain competitive, efficient, positive harmonious and productive Work Environment and business organization.

Insider Trading:-

Insider trading is the trading of a corporation’s stock or other securities (e.g. bonds or stock options) by corporate insiders such as officers, key employees, directors, or holders of more than ten percent of the firm’s shares. Insider trading may be perfectly legal, but the term is frequently used to refer to a practice, illegal in many jurisdictions, in which an insider or a related party trades based on material non-public information obtained during the performance of the insider’s duties at the corporation, or otherwise misappropriated.

Prohibition on dealing communication or counseling on matters relating to inside trading: –

3. No insider shall –

(i) either on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person, deal in securities of a company listed on any stock exchange when in possession of any unpublished price sensitive information; or

(ii) communicate, counsel or procure, directly or indirectly, any unpublished price sensitive information to any person who while in possession of such unpublished price sensitive information shall not deal in securities.

(iii) Provided that nothing contained above shall be applicable to any communication required in the ordinary course of business or under any law.

3A. No company shall deal with the securities of another company or associate of that other company while in possession of any unpublished price sensitive information.

How Can Businesses Benefit From a Graphic Designer?

Some people think that since their business is not creative in nature, they do not need a graphic designer. However, they may not realize the benefits their business can get from hiring a professional and might be surprised with the reasons why they need one.

What does graphic design mean, and why is it necessary to hire a professional?

Graphic design is the form of art that communicates messages through visual content. These designers make use of images and text to solve visual problems. They visually communicate ideas to sell products or send out a brand message.

A professional can efficiently get the required graphic design work done. They have enough skills and years of experience to make a project come alive. They are also equipped with the right tools to ensure that the project is professionally done and meet the industry standard.

It will let the business save money in the long run. Though a business owner can try to do the project by himself, it will never be as fast and efficient as a professional designer.

What is the job of a graphic designer?

He/she can produce anything that tells a visual story or communicates a visual message. The description is quite vague since the field of graphic design is very diverse.

This type of professional can address numerous problems, ranging from small tasks to huge projects, including letting a website become more readable or modifying a logo to use on social media. Adding a creative mind to the team will enable business owners to see things in another light and even improve the way to do business.

The work of graphic designers can include the following but is not limited to:

Logo

He/she can come up with a unique business logo. A logo is one way for people to remember a business as well as to stand out from the rest. Though companies can try to design their own logo, they do not realize the impact given by a professionally designed logo. A trained professional knows how to create a design that appeals to a company’s target audience and which can be used in different forms of media such as business cards and clothing, among others.

Branding

Graphic designers can create a brand that will bring a company to life. This brand includes a company logo and so much more.

Business cards

A business card is one way to give a good first impression, which is critical in the busy market nowadays. A graphic designer is the best person to create the business card that complements the branding so that this would let the business leave a lasting impression.

Stationery

If a company uses ordinary letterheads, note cards, envelopes and compliment slips, it is about time to make a switch. Stationery with the name of the company lets the business look more professional. The company should make sure, though, that when the brand leaves the office, it reflects what the business is all about.

Brochures and Booklets

These professionals can come up with the brochure/booklet required by the company in a professional way.

Posters and Flyers

Companies should invest in a professional to design their posters and flyers so that they can be sure to attract their target audience and catch their attention. It is plain to see that a poster that has been designed by an amateur does not relay the right message and its design is not retained in the memory of viewers – businesses should not allow this to happen.

The Importance of Asking Permission in Sales Calls

I talk a lot about establishing and maintaining control on sales calls – it’s important for us as sales professionals to steer the conversation in such a way that we obtain the information we need to determine if the prospect is a fit for our offering – and if so, how best to position it to them. In this post, I’ll be discussing one area in where a small and easily implemented adjustment can make a measurable difference in results: asking permission.

Why Bother Asking Permission?

On the surface, asking our prospects for permission seems like a weak play. We’re temporarily forfeiting control – handing the reigns of the conversation briefly to the prospect, and giving them an out if they’re really looking for one. So why do we do it? Before looking at the benefits, let’s take a look at the potential drawbacks to understand why they aren’t all that disastrous after all.

You’re giving control of the call to the prospect.

Are we? Asking permission most often takes the form of a close-ended (yes or no) question to which we are fairly certain the answer will be yes. We have given the prospect control of the call in the way a McDonald’s employee has given a patron control of the menu by asking if they’d “like fries with that?”

You’re giving the prospect an easy out!

Absolutely. This concept of ‘giving prospects a way out’ is dated, and worth getting away from entirely. Your call should strategically incorporate ways for the prospect to get off the hook if they’re not interested for two reasons:

It is a litmus test against the prospect’s interest – if they are looking for ways out, you haven’t done your job in piquing their interest.
The corollary is that if we are giving the prospect outs and they are not taking them, we know that they are interested – and we are subtly reinforcing that interest in our prospect’s minds by forcing them to repeatedly demonstrate it!

Having addressed the apparent disadvantages, let’s take a look at the benefits:

We reinforce our image as a polite professional.

Asking permission is the polite thing to do – and with the vast majority of prospects, being polite will go a long way in establishing trust and respect.

We give the prospect the ability to provide input while restricting their ability to misdirect the conversation.

No one wants to be on the receiving end of a one-sided conversation. Even if the prospect has shown that they’re okay with us leading the call, we still want them to feel included in that conversation. Open-ended questions have their role as well, but a simple ask for permission can go a long way in making the prospect feel involved while keeping our grip on the wheel.

We are getting the prospects to further engage in the conversation, and in our service offering by escalating the consent we seek.

This is the most important benefit – closing a deal is simply the last step in a chain of escalating consent. Ultimately, we need the prospect to say “yes” when we ask for the business – it therefore works to our benefit to “get them in the habit” of responding in the affirmative before we go for that close. Asking snaps the prospect’s attention back where you want it, and makes them feel more invested in the call. Subtly – subconsciously, even – they think to themselves “Well, if I weren’t interested I could have just said ‘no’, so I should pay attention.” Asking for the business should ideally always be framed in a context of prior consent. We start by asking their permission to pitch them – to show them our website, do a live demo, send them a proposal, call them back at a specific date, and ultimately – we ask for their permission to get working for them.

To illustrate these benefits, I’m going to run through a couple examples of situations where a salesperson might ask for permission, and highlight how it benefits them:

Opening The Call

Rep: Hi, John – my name is Bill with XYZ Company – I’m reaching out because I took a look at your website, and believe I can help improve its lead generation capabilities.

Prospect: Thanks, but I haven’t got time for this right now.

Rep: I certainly understand, John – would it be okay if I took two minutes to briefly explain what we can do for you? If it sounds interesting we can schedule a follow-up call, and otherwise I’ll leave you alone.

Prospect: Sure. Two minutes. Shoot.

It would have been easy here to just blow through the “I’m busy call me later” objection and just start pitching anyway. But then, you’re not being very polite, are you? You also have no idea whether the prospect is listening to you, or if they’re mentally checking out to return to whatever they were doing before you called. Finally, we’re missing out on the opportunity to begin establishing “yes momentum” – at the end of the day, if the prospect stands firm and doesn’t give you two minutes, you’ve lost nothing – you can still call them back later (maybe they were really busy), or cross them off your list. There’s virtually no down-side.

Segueing into Demo

Rep: John, are you in front of a computer?

John: I am.

Rep: What I’d like to do, John, is take you to a website we’ve worked on for a client of mine. He’s in your industry, and I think it will give you a more concrete idea of what exactly we can do for you. Does that sound fair?

John: Sure – what’s the site?

Again, it would be easy to just ask if they’re in front of a computer and, if they are, direct them to the site – but we would be missing a great opportunity to ask permission. We make ourselves look polite – we’re not forcing anything on the prospect – merely suggesting a course of action that will allow them to better-evaluate our service. Again, if the prospect turns down your request, it’s not because you didn’t bulldog them – it’s because you hadn’t done enough work building interest on the front-end of the call before you attempted your segue (or maybe they just have legitimate time constraints, in which case they should be willing and eager to arrange a follow-up call). Either way, you are getting them to lean in – to further engage, and admit to you (and to themselves) that yes, they are interested in seeing a live demo. Subtle, but powerful.

The Close

John: Well, this all looks great – what are the next steps?

Rep: Glad to hear it John – how about I run a few packages past you, and you can tell me which one makes the most sense – work for you?

John: Sure thing – shoot.

This is just one example of a way to work permission into our close. Here we can see our intrepid hero has opted for a multiple choice close (a form of closed-ended closing question in which we present the prospect with a series of options to choose from – none of which are “no thanks”, or “give me some time”.) It’s a powerful close by itself, but adding an ask for permission is the perfect complement. One of the problems with closed-ended closing tools is that we can make the prospect feel boxed in – they get cagey, and even though everything lines up, and they want to buy, they put up last-minute walls for that reason. In this case, we’ve side-stepped that concern by giving them an out. We’ve said, “Hey, Prospect – I’d like to multiple choice close you. Is that okay?” And they have acquiesced. BOOM! That’s power. We’re also slicing the close up into more digestible chunks that will be easier for the client to swallow – “Yes, it sounds good.” “Yes, I want to work with you.” “Yes, I’d like to hear your options and choose one.” By escalating the consent we ask for slowly, we warm the prospects up more and decrease the likelihood of scaring them off by asking for the business.

These are just a few examples, but there are many more ways in which asking permission can be worked into your sales calls. As with any tool, it should be sprinkled throughout the presentation so as not to sound forced or scripted, but it’s an effective litmus test of the prospect’s interest, and it helps bring us closer to the close with minimal risk of rejection. Do you ask for permission in your calls? What are some of the questions you like to ask, and why? Any comments or questions are welcome in the section below – and as always, if you’ve found this information useful, please share it with anyone else who might enjoy it as well!

5 Significant Cyber Security Risks Businesses Should Ponder

In the recent years, it has been observed that many businesses have been rapidly affected by various types of cyber attacks. Companies continue to be under great pressure and strive to keep their information safe and secure. Some of the common security risks businesses continue to face have been listed below:

1. Human factor and peoples’ reactive mindset: The employees working in the business could form the major base for cyber threats as they are more prone to open phishing emails or download links that could turn out to be malware. Moreover, the top level management or people at the C level will be less prone to become malicious insiders. Due to this a serious concern of privilege abuse by lower level employees is more common as they become malicious insiders and measures need to be taken to overcome this problem.

2. Password protection measures play vital role: Businesses should be extremely aware that they should maintain all important business accounts with a two factor password authentication such that it may not be easily hacked. This password needs to be changed and maintained effectively once in 30 or 45 days to keep it more safe and away from any security attacks.

3. Aging Infrastructure and drastic Patch Management necessary: In addition to the above security risks, hardware can also be a major issue as lifecycle of most of the devices is becoming increasingly shorter these days. Purchase only new hardware that can uphold updates such that aging factor can be taken care off. Recent attacks such as the WannaCry and Petya outbreaks have underlined the importance of regular software updates that needs to be taken up. Even for Eternal Blue, it allowed the malware to spread within corporate networks without any user interaction, making these outbreaks particularly virulent. The above incidents do show the importance of protecting vulnerable systems and patching is a key way to do it.

4. Difficulty with Data Integrations: It is interesting to note that the amount of data that flows through an organization could for reasons overwhelm anyone as it contains very critical information. This could be about employees, partners, stakeholders, service providers etc. But integrating various data sources is crucial to have a clear understanding of various risks involved within or outside the organization.

5. Lack of a Proper security recovery plan: Most businesses are still unaware of the impounding risks with cyber security and lack a proper plan to overcome such situations. They need to draft a plan that contains the actions that could be taken up when there is a cyber attack and thus can quickly and efficiently minimize the risk and save information or other economic losses.

How Can Businesses protect themselves?

Certain solutions like SecOps provide superior customer experience along with a robust cyber security. This security product has capabilities of secure operations while focusing on delivering a seamless customer experience. This specific Security and Experience go together approach finds the right balance between the ease of user experience and effectiveness of security protection. These solutions cover the entire software lifecycle, from secure design to security testing in development and QA, app self-protection and monitoring in product and patching. Security is an enabler of new business opportunities in addition to helping protect your company’s people, data, and systems. Cloud Security is achieved through following certain cloud adoption strategies with specific focus placed on security and privacy to improve all operations and make them secure.