448th Publication on the IUP Journal of Soft Skills

My 448th publication is a case study on soft skills, published in the prestigious IUP Journal of Soft Skills and also carried out by the global publisher SSRN.

Kindly find the snapshot of the article appended below taken from http://www.iupindia.org/1209/IJSS_Importance_Assertiveness_12.html

Abstract

Organizations across the globe are finding it difficult to sustain their competitive advantages, thanks to the stiff competition, turmoil in the global economy and other allied problems. It's imperative for the organizational decision makers to assure to the stakeholders so that viability is sustained against all odds which, in turn, calls for having an assertive approach in one's life rather than being aggressive. There are instances when people tend to use the words, assertive and aggressive behavior interchangeably without even realizing the yawning gap existing between the two. Assertive behavior within and outside the organization not only helps an individual employee grow but also provides a roadmap to the company to move higher up the ladder. The paper portrays the importance of assertiveness at the individual level and at the organizational level with a blended approach of theory and case study. The hypothetical case on a company Finnie Inc., brings forth the importance of assertive behavior at different levels of an organization. The importance of presenting assertive behavior by the management of an organization and subsequently percolating the same at the lowest ebb is what the case reflects upon as success of any global body.


Description

Organizations of all shapes and sizes from all sectors around the globe are witnessing fast changes within their rank and file. There are various reasons which make it imperative for employees as well as the management to take note of these changes in their surroundings, primarily because of the vital impact they have on their organization, thanks to technology and globalization. In such cases the workplace dynamics undergoes a metamorphosis which has a serious bearing on all the stakeholders. The cut throat competition has contributed to these changes as organizations are vying for the customer's wallet, resulting in embracing newer approaches in their overall scheme of things. Aggressiveness was hitherto the most favored word in the lexicon of all professionals as dog-eat-dog situation called for a fire in the belly approach in employees in order to even out the competition. Aggressiveness, however, was not liked by a host of stakeholders, i.e., customers, employees, shareholders to name a few. Aggressiveness at the workplace, within the office, or outside the precincts of the office is often construed as something which is wrong. It has now been substituted for assertiveness. There are instances where assertive behavior has paid an individual in a very big way.

Assertive behavior is quite often misconstrued either as aggressive behavior or as passive behavior. The organizations which are successful globally for years together have understood the relevance of assertive behavior in all their endeavors and therefore encourage their stakeholders to embrace the same. In the final analysis it becomes a winning proposition for all concerned whether it's the company, the employees, the shareholders, distributors or even the society at large. Sam Walton of the Walmart fame had two golden rules—Rule 1 said that customer is always the king, and Rule 2 said that if the customer is wrong, refer to rule number 1. This showed that the success story of the retailing giant was on the basis of serving the customer through assertive behavior.

Keywords

Soft Skills Journal, Global Economy, Global Body, Assertive Behavior, Global Organizations, Information Technology, IT, Corporate Citizens, Symbiotic Growth, Decision Making, Global Operations, Organizational Fabric, Organizational Culture, Organizational Level, Global Operations.

447th Publication

My 447th publication on career management is an article published in the leading English Daily of Central India, The Hitavada, dated 29th December 2009.The article provides a snapshot on career management, and I am sure it's going to serve some or the other purpose for all career aspirants cutting across domains, levels and industries.

Read and Comment.

Articles from www.knowledgeoman.com

It is almost a year now that yours truly joined the novel cause of knowledge generation and dissemination through state-of-the-art knowledge sharing portal of the Sultanate of Oman, www.knowledgeoman.com. Being a community based activity where one isn't paid a copper in cash or kind, contribution and participation is purely interest oriented and knowledge driven.Along with yours truly's new assignment in the Sultanate of Oman, he joined this community and continued with his favourite concept of symbiotic learning and growth,the backbone for his blog as well.After joining as KO Columnist, yours truly was promoted by the authorities of www.knowledgeoman.com to be the KO Column Coordinator which was gleefully accepted by him.Now, when the portal www.knowledgeoman.com is gaining prominence and momentum, not only in the Sultanate but all across the globe, as evident from the awards received, the accolades flowing in from all corners, not to forget the ever increasing memberships in this virtual learning get-together, it becomes the responsibility for yours truly to present all the contributions contributed to the esteemed portal in the last one year.

The links below would provide the same-
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8168
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=181 (parent page)
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8166
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5159
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5183
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5302
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5346
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5379
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5411
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5461
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5521
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5241
http://knowledgeoman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6689
All the forthcoming articles and write-ups would also be included in this post.

Happy Reading followed by commenting for symbiotic learning and growth!!!

First Mover Advantage for Employees

First mover advantage is known to be a strategic advantage for the marketers so as corner market shares from their rivals. The same holds true for individual employees working in an organization, since inception or since the initial few years.The personal experience of yours truly, along with the experiences observed in some of the colleagues in other organizations revealed so.The employees joining during the formative years of the company gets into the corporate nerve and understand all the processes and systems to an extend that they become indispensible for the higher ups.In such cases two of the following consequences were noted by yours truly-One the top notch performers elevated to the top rung to manage the show once the enterprise expands and two some of the other peers, sans the leadership skills are given more prestige, honour and value especially by the new staff as the latter thinks the former would be instrumental in the career progression of the new staff, owing to his/her alleigiance to the top bosses, mainly due to his/her seniority in the company.In such cases if the company does not have a good working culture, the seniority and issues related to their experience in that company goes into their head and they start to show off their hegemonistic attitude and designs, thereby throwing tantrums to the new joiners. These so called old pros are retaining their seat mainly because they are now the proverbial jacks, with an all around ability to work across functions in the organization.However, when it comes to grooming the new joiners on the same lines, they generally show a lackasidiacal approach fearing lossoing their grip in the organization.They will generally avoid or dislike any newcomers moving up the learning curve fast and therefore try all methods possible to bring them down, culminating in maintaining their status-quo and firm grip on the decision makers.

Managing indisciplined peers

Peer management had always been a topic of debate.This play a vital role not only in ensuring that the organizational harmony, but also because, a healthy spirit and competition is maintained in the overall interests of the individual employees and also the organization as a whole. It always becomes a catch 22 situation for employees when they are to walk a tight rope especially if their peer's personality, behaviour and attitude are as different as chalk and cheese.Although this may be a normal thing, taking into consideration the personality traits which every individual presents, however, the contrast is also visible even when homogeneous groups on the basis of common likings, seating plan, department functioning,peer learning in a group is observed.Yours truly is privy to one such happenings off-late whereby the group of a four after coming together as an informal group, based on individual requirements and to an extent organizational need often are at loggerheads either mentally or physically.The mental discomfort is more than the physical unease, primaraly because, the individual concerned have smaller sub-groups even within that single group based on their values, faiths, seniority etc.This classification further fuels intragroup conflict as there are disaggreements amongst the opinion on personal and professional issues.Moreover, the diversity in the personality traits of all the members within the group catalyzes these unrest even more.An introvert within the group has to encounter an extrovert and vice-versa.In such a situation individuals concerned often ask themselves, do they need to alter their persona, especially their major characteristics while in the group or they need to maintain the status-quo thinking that it is only a momentary phase.Joking and making fun of the other members at the cost of ones sentiments and emotions often rattle members which may lead to a slow unrest within the subgroups, the group and then gradually spreading into the organization.How to arrest the pollution of the working environment in such a scenario is a million dollar question?

Read and Comment.

The safest professions during recessions and slowdowns

Almost all the professions are prone to slowdown, recession or even a depression.However, there are certain professions which are either remaining unscathed completely or are partially impacted by these economic and market turbulence. There are a section of professionals just out of the recently concluded recession, or yet to conclude slowdown, since the great depression, who thinks about the so called protected professions during the time of slowdown, recession or depression.This sense of belief has led many a professional turn to these selected band of professions either by switching their career graph or by acquiring a new set of educational degrees or diplomas. Grapevine knowledge would point out to professions like teaching, healthcare, utility services to be those dreamt ones which may remain unmoved even by the mightiest economic turbulence.This is more of a wishful thinking as professionals representing these industries are getting affected intangibly(in a networked economy) as their respective employers are finding novel ways to reduce their expenses, which at times indirectly lead to forced or voluntary resignation en-masse.The ones who leave behind their lucrative professions for these selected band so as to make themselves immune against the market forces realizes that they were involved in a hara-kiri or one which is shortlived. These chopping and changing also allow the employers to segregate the genuine ones from the opportunist and thereby reward those who had weathered the storms even when the going was tough.It is therefore fool hardy to think that some professions are immune to recession/slowdown/depression.The actual happening is market driven, irrespective of the sector one is in.Its time for the common sense to sink in.

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Oman.....A Tourist Destination Par Excellance

This blog is one on management training and consultancy and therefore all the posts have some or the other, direct or indirect linkage with the main theme, i.e. management, either for trainers,for consultants or for both.This post is a little different though.This one throws light on yours truly analyzing destination Oman as a spot for travel and tourism.Although, I am not an expert on analyzing the industry in detail, my analysis, partly as a customer(read tourist), partly as a consultant would definitely throw some light on few of the major attractions the Sultanate has to offer to all tourists, visiting from within the country,coming from the GCC region or from other parts of the world. In the last one year, I have travelled to places like Sur, Muscat city, Salalah, Nizwa Fort to name few. All these places are unique in their own way, for example, Muscat(view http://picasaweb.google.com/maniisonline/SultanateOfOman), the capital of the Sultanate is the perfect blend of modernity with a strong affiliation with the rich Omani culture.Nizwa fort(view http://picasaweb.google.com/maniisonline/NizwaFortSultanateOfOman) presents the ancient details to a nicety.One is compelled to recall and activate his/her grey cells so as to remember the history lessons learnt during the school days, which are depicted in such a unique manner, in the interiors of the fort. Sur, showcases the age old boating industry where Sultanate once reigned supreme.The boat museum presenting ancient boats is worth going down the memory lane.One simply cannot resist admiring the expertise of the Omanis in making the best boats in the world during those ancient days, when technology was totally absent.Add to it the natural landscape where mountains and sea converge and one can get a delight which a connoisseur can only dream in his wild imagination.Off late, in fact yesterday, I arrived from Salalah(view http://picasaweb.google.com/maniisonline/SalalahTrip), the destination of its kind in the whole of the Middle East.Its awesome to visit that place even during the off season and yours truly was wondering what would have been the case during the season, i.e. when the Khareef festival sets in, and everything in a desert is having a greenish tinge and touch!The mountains kissing the sea, caves surrounded by natural springs,the clouds touching your face in the mountain top, the caravan of camels, the puff of sheesha, zero gravity point where your vehicle moves on its own even when in neutral and brought to complete halt(view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX_7jp-jgF8),Al Baleed archaeological park(one of the few sites in the prestigious United Nations Heritage list) the warm hospitality of Omanis to mention are some of the highlights that makes this blessed nation memorable to one and all. The broad roads, connectivity by land and air,strong law and order enforcing authorities, coupled with a wide offering for the travel and tourism freaks, makes it a real Ecstasy for all the stakeholders involved in this industry.

Hats off to His Majesty, The Sultan and his vision that transformed this country within a short span of 39 years!!!

I would be happy to help you out in any form whatsoever, so as to discover this excellent country.

My 444th publication-A Case Study on MJFIL

The 444th publication happened to be a case study on Mohanlal Jangid Financial Investments Limited(MJFIL),a Nagpur, Maharashtra,and India based investment consultancy firm.At a time when people all across the globe are sceptical about investments in the stock market,especially after burning their fingers in the year old recession caused by investment bankers like Lehman Brothers to name one, MJFIL have shown many a novel business practices where profits are blended with ethics in such a manner that the end-user or rather all the stakeholders are relieved from all the unnecessary tensions attached to the world of investments.On the top of it, the customer service practices initiated by MJFIL should be a benchmark for all companies, private or public, Indian or Multi-national, while trying to bring in the confidence of the retail investors. It is because of the amount of the integrity, diligence and care shown by the company, that it proves beyond doubt the fact that for MJFIL, customer is always at the epicenter in all their endeavours.That, MJFIL happens to be the investment consultant for yours truly coupled with a time tested relationship being shared with the top boss of the company, Mr. Mohanlal Jangid acts an added incentive. Therefore, one can safely say that the information are coming out from the top brass of the company, happens to be from the horses mouth,without any questions of their validity and authenticity whatsoever.It was my first hand experience and detailed observations of all the staff including the top management, their business processes and practices, the solidness attached to the business model itself which provoked me to write this case study as many of these can quite easily be customized and leveraged by other organizations from same or different sectors, benefitting a bigger audience globally.
This case study is published in the reputed Marketing Management Magazine,Marketing Mastermind,December 2009 issue, published by Icfai University Press, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India,

Source

http://www.iupindia.org/marketing_mastermind.asp.

Read and Comment.

Managing Hidden and Well Disguised Animosity

People often complaint about hidden undercurrents and animosity which are often invisible to a rank outsider and one who is unwilling to involve and immerse self in the nuances of the human relations.This is bound to happen in the personal and professional sphere and therfore such happenings at the workplace are no exceptions, rather they are routine. It depends upon the individual as to how he/she can manage these challenges without vitiating the environment and more importantly going unscathed.The first important thing to keep in mind during these trying situations is to shed even the slighest amount of ego one may have and then allow one to imbibe maximum learning from every encounters, so that he is richer with experiences.Keeping a neutral stance and open attitude not only helps maintaining the relationships, but also contributes in a very big way towards the developmental curve of the individual concerned, not to mention the positive impact on the working environment.It is however, easier said than done as many people during these trying situations takes up fights, clashes or simply surrenders meekly by giving way to the undercurrents.For such individual, either it is the sense of false ego or the absence of managing relationships which act as a dampner.
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Barack Obama and his Nobel Peace Prize

Barack Obama has finally received the coveted award after lot of hue and cry all across the globe, some favouring the decision of the committee, some against it. My personal perspective is that the yardstick to zero into the most suitable candidate for the prestigious award has undergone a subtle change.If one compares the past receiver with Obama, one can safely say that they were awarded after they proved themselves, whereas Obama is being awarded surrounding his much hyped selection as the US president along with the accompanied hoopla around his peace efforts all across the world. If one tries to dissect the alterations made by Obama in his global strategies since his name was disclosed for this award, one would not find strong evidences of peace.The Middle East peace process is still in a turmoil, Iran and Korea are being handled in a piece-meal fashion, Af-Pak policies are finalized without keeping in mind the sufferings and after-affects on the common citizens there, who are being massacared, right, left and center, Indo-Pak peace efforts are not being fuelled by stimulating both the parties to part ways with their hitherto violent policies, Taiwan-China dialogue is in a limbo, where the former is at the mercy of the later and so forth.The progress report indicates that even after the prize being awarded on the basis of a new model of future expectations, rather than past efforts, there is no perceptible changes in the US policy so as to make this earth a peaceful one. In such a sceanrio one should debate the basis of the men in Oslo, who were responsible for naming the US president. Moreover, Obama after receiving the award while comparing with his heroes, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, made a statement which may not have made his heroes happier either.To quote him "We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth,We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations — acting individually or in concert — will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified." (Source- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/War-has-a-role-in-peace-Obama/articleshow/5324682.cms) only shows that his peace efforts would not be a purely peace based ones like his predecessors,rather they would be blended with a reciepe of war and peace.Will this approach bring in real peace or the peace achieved would be momentary is a question to pondered upon. The onus lies on the American president and his whole-sale changes in his efforts in reaching out for a long lasting global peace which effectively means changing the US stance altogether in certain issues, for which in turn he may have to face the wrath in his home turf. Does he have the willingness, does he have the guts to go that extra mile, does he want to be one at par with Gandhi and King, only time will tell!

Meanwhile, read and comment.

Why Oman Model would be more successful

The developmental model of the Sultanate of Oman if compared to that of Dubai or even the Emirates as a whole have more solidity. The recent Dubai crisis, nothwithstanding, the growth model adopted by the Sultanate under the wise leadership of His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, have understood the local needs and have precisely devised a model whereby the local Omani populace move up the hierarchial graph quite faster than many of its Middle Eastern peers. The results are there to be seen. While Omanisation have been successful in increasing the reliability of the country on the local manpower, emiratization is still in its infancy. It definitely has to do a lot with the vision of the respective leaders, the confidence of which in turn has percolated to the common citizens in both the countries. Emirate is still dependent on expatriates in most of the sectors, whereas Oman is gradually trying to shift the emphasis from expats to local talents, in a phase-wise planned manner.The other thing which need to be appreciated is the response of the Omani's to the call of His Majesty in contributing whole-heartedly towards the development of their country.Add to it its rich culture, tradition and heritage and one can safely say that the Omani model has more credence and this is precisely the reason why the economy in the Sultanate was comparatively immune to the global recession and even the impact from the Dubai world crisis was minimal or negligible.

Even an article in the reputed Economic Times (Source Link- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5315230.cms) cites that of all the gulf countries, Oman had the least job losses at 6 percent vis-a-vis that of UAE at 16 percent,in the present scenario, which is fearsome for all employees, notably the expatriates.

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Climate Change Summit at Copenhagen

Copenhagen climate change summit has been built up with much fanfare as if there is no tommorrow.Accepted the fact that, the climate is witnessing a free fall in light of the frequent catastrophes like Tsunami, earthquakes,floods, heavy downpour, landslides, melting of glaciers etc. I am unable to understand the fact where was this concern some 10, 20 or even 30 years back when the so called industrialized nations had been on a rampage under the garb of industrialization?Now, when the alarming bells have started ringing, they have only the emerging nations to blame, that too for those economic steps forward which are directly related to the welfare of their citizens, i.e. a chunk of the world's population. It is time when countries like India and China should avoid taking an unilateral stance as that would enable the so called developed economies to continue with their hegemonistic design in all global affairs. The world is watching with a bated breath what is going to emanatevfrom the Copenhagen summit and believe me yours truly knows very well at the end its going to be a deadlock.WTO met the same fate time and again, and unless the discriminatory policies of the west are amended, its going to be a difficult proposition for the world at large to come on a single page.India and China have made their stands on emission cuts in the next decade or so, however, the moot question still remains-Is it going to be a dampener in their developmental curve?Is it another way by the west to block the rising clout of emerging nations, notably the ones from Asia?Many questions directly and indirectly still remains unanswered, only time will tell, what are the hidden motives behind such policies.
Meanwhile read and add your comments for symbiotic learning and growth.

When your ex-boss suddenly becomes your subordinate

There are instances in different fields owing to different situation which may lead him/her to a tight spot.The person whom you always considered to be your boss and you were growing under his/her tutelage is suddenly working as your own subordinate.It may be because of various reasons-demotion, went on long leave and therefore his/her role was handed over to the new person, study leave sponsored by the organization to name a few.In such a situation it is problematic not only for the new manager but also for the new subordinate as the personal chemistry undergoes a change apart from the different influencers too changing their respective stances with the varying situation.It is therefore ideal for the duo to understand that inspite of the hierarchial shake-up they are human beings first.This would enable them to open up and re-do the doubts which may have crept up in their mind. It is also important to manage the squabbles which would be at the mental level and remove the cob-webs which may be leading to the friction.If the newcomer, i.e. the erstwhile finds it difficult to submit to the present situation it would be apt for his ex-subordinate and current boss to show him/her the right place in an assertive fashion.This,however should not blow out of proportion as this would have a fall over on the overall organizational culture.

Slowdown and the aviation sector

The recent slowdown witnessed by the global economies(recession to be fair)including the Indian economy had its perilious impact on all the industries. Aviation sector was the one which was badly affected globally. Many filed for bankruptcy, while a most of them had been negatively impacted which resulted in drastic cost cutting measures.Being a frequent flier on the India-Gulf Cooperation Council route apart from within the Indian skies, I observed that most of the renowned Indian airlines, including those which were the darling of the stakeholders not a few months back, were suddenly trying to reduce their operational cost to such an extent that a frequent flier having a loyalty status with those airlines started to feel the heat.Things became obvious and it was visible to my eyes that the airlines were trying to move into the black through all means. What was painful though was the fact that these airlines weren't understanding the fact that the targeted heads to reduce the cost won't fetch them a big return and instead would threaten their brand image in the long run.The sense of complacency was even felt in their services quality, as the routine on-board and ground services were different from that of the normal situations.May be cost cutting right, left and center had a rubbing effect on the staff as they themselves started to feel the heat, and therefore moved away from the routine courteous way of serving the passengers.On the contrary airlines like Oman Air aggressively expanded their routes in the European sector by acquiring state-of-the-art aircraft, by enhancing their level of services.The major difference between these two claases of airlines were-One thought recession is permanent and the other thought it was momentary and so shouldn't tinker with the basic business fundamentals.