A glance at - Roles in GD, Traits and Remedies

Group discussion is not new to us. That`s how we interact with other or many people. But, when it comes to professional life, GD is also a tool to examine a candidate on various terms such as clarity of thoughts, structure, presentation, ability to handle situations, calmness in case of GD is turning into fish market, and many.

In short - Subject knowledge, Oral communication skills, Leadership skills and Team management

Now, members in group discussion (GD) assume various roles as they participate in GD. Let us discuss the possible roles that GD members assume as they engage in GD.

Roles in a Structured GD:

1.    Initiator: The one who initiates the discussion, briefing about the topic and giving a structure to the GD so that a group can follow it and have a fruitful discussion. You will notice that in the group, there will be some member who likes to initiate. One who is confident enough to start the discussion and set the tone right at the very first beginning is called the initiator. This position is a bit risky. If you are the one who is starting the discussion you have to be extra conscious.

 

2.   Clear Facts: Few members of the group will be data driven. They provide precise data and facts and support their statement with statistics. They provide all the data in a logical manner and make their point stronger with facts. But it is also true that with only data you cannot win a discussion, its interpretation is very important. All your facts should be clear and truthful.

 

3.   Controller: Some members in the group like to control the discussion. They think whatever they are saying should be approved by others as well which may or may not be the case. Others in the group can very well disagree to the point you are putting forth.

4.  Moderator: This category of the people acts as a coordinator. They ensure that each member gets sufficient time and chance to speak. When an argument gets heated up, they try to keep them calm and bring to a normal discussion by helping others putting across their words. This person is generally a good listener but might not be taken very favourably by others lest he should take all the leadership.

 

5.  Born Leaders: They are born to lead. They do not have to put in much effort to lead a team. Their voice, their calm head, their gestures say it all. They do not fall in the trap of arguing rather support their points by strong logic, facts, and adequate examples. They have the ability to manage the flow of discussion and give it a right direction. Towards the end, a leader summarizes the entire discussion and squeeze out the conclusion.

 

6.  Provocative: This person considers himself All in All. They give orders to others in the group and want everyone to act according to them. Sometimes they are annoying and provoke others with a high pitch or irritating voice. They eat up time of others by saying something which is not so relevant to the topic. They are poor listener and cannot comprehend what other’s points are.

 

7.  Fault Finder: There are some group members who intentionally find fault in everything that the other person is saying. They have objection on anything and everything about other’s pint of view. They criticize almost every other point.

 

8.  Followers: This is just contrary to the above-mentioned category – fault finder or criticizer. This category of people generally agrees and supports other’s point. They show their agreement by nodding their head or with some other gesture which normally means that they cannot agree more to the point. This kind of people generally do not score well as they do not show their own significant points and logics and merely depend on other’s views

 

9.    Question Mark: This kind of people, always question others. He/she sometimes irritate other group members by questioning even for a simple understood fact. Rather than putting their own opinions, they tend to interrogate and raise a question in other’s points.

 

10. Stopwatch: These kinds of people are quite interesting to observe. During the discussion, they just do not get swayed by the flow of topic, rather keep a check on every other aspect, such as how much time has passed, how much time is still left, who all have had the chance to give their opinions and who have not, etc. They are keen to maintain the order and dignity. But it is better for these category people to come up with their own impactful views.

 

11. Aggressive: These members easily get annoyed and get antagonistic at times. They care less about other’s points, sentiments, feelings, and values. They attack verbally in their counterparts and harsh in their tone.

 

12. Audience/Viewer: They do not have their own substantial views and opinions. They hardly speak up and hardly make any difference. They just see and listen what others are speaking and never put their own views forward.

 

13. Indecisive: This category of people are unlikely to get selected as they are very much indecisive and having a fickle mind. They sometimes contradict their own words and statements. They are unable to express their ideas in an organized manner. They also get too emotional during the conversation and unnecessarily divert the topic from the main point. They agree or disagree with anyone and everyone.

 

14. Capturer: This kind of people record every point what others are saying. They take down notes and facts, details, etc. They can be referred later on when someone in the group has forgotten any point.

 

15. The Settler: They can be referred as Harmonizer and can find a mid-way of any problem. They avoid extremes and contribute in releasing tension within the group when an argument heats up.

 

16. Gist Maker: This defines the position as someone who summarized the entire discussion and draws some valid conclusion through the topic of group discussion.

 

17. Blockhead: This kind of group members does not take any initiative to present their views. They are lacing innovative or rather any ideas, opinions and logical views. They do not contribute any positively to the group.

Expectations of the Panel:

You should have the following qualities:

• Team player
• Reasoning
• Leadership
• Flexible
• Assertiveness
• Initiative
• Creativity (out of the box thinking)
• Inspiring ability
• Listening
• Awareness

Based on this, we can identify three negative roles members assume as follows:

1] Controller
2] Provocative
3] Fault Finder

Now, even if there are other traits which can be considered as not well suited for the companies, but above 3 roles are more of negative roles as they can make GD go imbalanced, wasting time and energy of people and but is also unfair to other members.

Reasons why such negative roles emerge:

There are many reasons -

• The environment of upbringing, peers, personal experiences, habits, lack of exposure to the broad views of life, lack of communication with different kinds of people.
• When GD is a part of evaluation process, the competitive attitude, the urge to make a point, fear of failure and situational pressure.

 Some remedies to overcome such ineffective roles:

1] Controller: They should accept the fact that in a group everyone has the freedom to speak and hence should allow others to put their point. Also, there are always multiple ways to do anything and so, there are multiple views from different people. Hence, they must control themselves from being constraint to a group and open up.

2] Provocative – These candidates need to understand that putting their view is good, but they should keep calm. High pitch for long can irritate the whole group who then can go against such candidates as their way of communication is not good.

3] Fault Finder – At times it is ok to point out the flaws if any, but consistently criticizing each and everyone, is going to make group have negative feeling about them. Every team wants to have a positive environment to work productively. So, unless these candidates work on their perspective, it is going to be a negative trait for them as well.

From above, we understand that there are many reasons, some controllable and some uncontrollable, but, ultimately, one need to introspect and make the necessary changes to be a favorable candidate and stand out in GD. Practice makes man perfect.

Visume - Experiment With New Digital Requirement

VISUME

With the emergence of YouTube, inexpensive webcams and widespread broadband Internet access, innovative forms of e-recruitment have become a norm. Unlike the “.docx” version, Video Resumes—or Visume—allow you to demonstrate interpersonal, creative and technical skills to your employer, while showcasing your personality in a matter of minutes.
 
There are many people who are very much accustomed with Resume and might have mastered the art of interviews. But, with drastic changes in technology, high level of competition and emergence of Digital Media like nothing else, companies are looking for not only the strong academics but also the creative side of the candidates. This is going to be crucial as, with the advent of Automation, Cloud, AI and complex problem solving requirements, nature of job is changing. It is getting more and more dependent on collaboration and EQ.
What about the traditional ways and the existential crisis that might bother the current and previous generation is altogether a different issue to look into, but to make sure we sail successfully through these unprecedented times, ACCEPTING CHANGE and IMPLEMENTING THE CHANGES is very very important.
 
Through the class of Business Communication, this was my first attempt of Visume. There have been lot of learning through it –
What to do?
How to do?
…and even more importantly…..What not to do?
 

1] Have ABC                       - Have Alertness, Basic etiquettes and Clarity of thought.

2] Relevant Background    - Any non distracting and suitable to the profession you are choosing

3] Clear Audio and Video  - Good quality sound and clear visuals are must to complement hard work.

It`s not about your liking of the camera, it`s more about what you know and how you present. I believe if we understand and learn the dynamics of good presentation, ‘Camera or No Camera’, is not going to make any difference.

Here`s my first resume and it needs lot of improvement, but daring to share it as it would help you as well in understanding the Do`s and Dont`s.

My Visume, as I said, indeed needs lot of improvement and through all these learning, I promise that next time, I am going to make the best one.  I am working on improving my presentation skills.
And I am thankful for the opportunity and the important insight into real time requirement.

#Visume #DigitalWorld #LoudAndClear #BusinessCommunication

Power of Shanti Mantra

ॐ सह नाववतु।

​सह नौ भुनक्तु।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु

मा विद्विषावहै।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

​Oṁ Saha nāvavatu

saha nau bhunaktu

Saha vīryam karavāvahai

Tejasvi nāvadhītamastu

Mā vidviṣāvaha

Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ !

Om, May we all be protected

May we all be nourished

May we work together with great energy

May our intellect be sharpened (may our study be effective)

Let there be no animosity amongst us

Om, peace, peace, peace

This mantra is used not only in yoga circles. It is commonly chanted in many schools and educational programs of India as a way to honor the student and teacher relationship to create a genuine learning and developmental collaboration. For the smooth flow of information, knowledge, and experience, the teacher must earn the trust of the students, the students must be receptive to receive the teacher's knowledge, and both must be passionate and focused on the subject matter, which can also be influenced by a passionate enough teacher who has the ability to awaken passion in others.

A Shanti Myntra is a prayer or chant for peace, often recited before and after Hindu religious rituals or ceremonies. The word 'Shanti' comes from Sanskrit which means peace and the word 'mantra' means prayer or song of praise, often recited repeatedly. There are various 'Shanti Mantras' mentioned in Hindu holy books known as 'Upanishads'. Shanti mantra is chanted to calm the mind of the reciter and the nature around him. Traditionally, a Shanti mantra ends with three recitations of "Shanti", which is believed to remove obstacles and calm the three reals: Physical, Divine, and Internal.

Power of the Shanti Mantra

• Very powerful and are said to be miraculous

• Not exclusively to bring peace to your home and heart, yet additionally break the obstacles and allow issues to calm down.

Benefits of Shanti Mantra

• Streamlines and improves all the real capacities
• Empowers the diverse interior organs to work up to their ideal limits
• The Shanti Mantra can soothingly affect the psyche and lead to profound unwinding.

#ShantiMantra #Serenity #Mindfulness

Marketing Concept - PRICING STRATEGIES

Pricing a product is one of the most important aspects of your marketing strategy. Generally, pricing strategies include the following five strategies.

• Cost-plus pricing     :     Simply calculating your costs and adding a mark-up
  
• Competitive pricing:     Setting a price based on what the competition charges
  
• Value-based pricing:     Setting a price based on customer`s belief on your products` worth
  
• Price skimming       :     Setting a high price and lowering it as the market evolves
  
• Penetration pricing :     Setting a low price to enter a competitive market and raising it later

Here are the factors to consider for creating a higher profit margin.

What factors to consider? 

 1. Identify your Product Pricing Goals

The first step is to be clear about what you want to achieve with your product pricing strategy.  Is it maximizing profits? Or maximizing market share with your products?

2. Know your Costs

After you learn everything about the costs of running your business, you can come to product pricing. The first thing that we need to do is to cover your costs and then consider the profit.

To be more precise; let’s split costs under two headings:

Fixed costs: Regardless of how much you sell, it is the cost that you always need to factor in. For instance: rent, labor costs (salaries), materials and so on.

Variable costs: This type of cost mainly covers extra things such as additional materials, labor or transport, etc. Therefore, they can fluctuate over time. The only way to make profit, and ensure cash flow is to calculate the cost of producing your product and service, and then set a higher price than the variable costs.

3. Know your Customers

Another important aspect to consider when setting the product pricing strategy is the customers. It is vital to investigate what the customers want from your product or service. Are they driven by the cheapest version available?  Or they consider that expensive is equal to quality? What role does the price play in their purchasing decision?

Answering these questions will give you a better insight into who your audience is and what should be your selling price.

4. Market Positioning

Understanding your customers is also important when it comes to deciding what should be your market position. You need to make a decision.

Do you want to be the most expensive?
Or The most luxurious or high-end brand in your industry?
Or maybe you want to be the cheapest one?
Of course, you can always choose to be somewhere in the middle. Those are all different price points.

Why it is so important to decide in which direction you’ll go?

A brand perception in the eyes of your potential customer is created by the price that you set for your product or service. For example, you can position yourself as a low-cost leader, where customers will know that low price is your strongest weapon.

5. Product Value

There are many factors that should be taken into consideration when deciding on a product pricing strategy.  Therefore, it would be useful to run a few pricing calculations in order to come up with the best solution. There are a few of them that you can use as a starting point:

• Cost-plus pricing
• Fair pricing
• Price based on the value

6. Do your Market Research

Market research is necessary in order to decide how much you are going to charge for your product or service. For products and services already available, market research can tell you if you’re on a good path.

Conclusion

With above discussion, we can conclude some of the most important things to focus on –

• Listen to your customers
• To keep track of your competitors
• Have a budget action plan in place

 In order to maximize profitability, one must achieve balance meaning finding an optimal price.

Business Model - Direct Selling

What Is Direct Selling?

With direct selling, distributors avoid intermediaries in the supply chain and sell products directly to consumers. In traditional retail settings, products are sold online or at a physical store, but direct selling relies heavily on salespeople getting in front of customers in non traditional settings.

How Direct Selling Works?

Direct selling eliminates several intermediaries involved in product distribution, such as the regional distribution center and wholesaler. Instead, products go from the manufacturer to the direct sales company, then to the distributor or rep, and finally to the consumer. The products sold through direct sales are usually not found in typical retail locations, which means finding a distributor or rep is the only method to buy the products or services.

It is usually associated with party-plan and network marketing companies. Although these companies use direct sales, they aren't the only ones; many businesses that sell B2B use direct selling to target and sell to their end customers. For instance, many companies that sell advertising or office supplies will send their reps directly into the stores that can use their services.

Direct marketing is different than Direct selling though. Direct selling takes place when individual salespeople directly reach out to consumers, whereas direct marketing involves a company marketing directly to the consumer. 

Types of Direct Selling

There are a variety of ways business owners can utilize direct selling, including:

1. Single-level direct sales are typically performed one-on-one through door-to-door or in-person presentations, online meetings, or catalogs. Generally, income is earned on sales commissions, with possible bonuses for reaching target goals.

2. Host or party-plan sales are made in a group setting, usually involving the distributor or rep doing a presentation in their home or a potential customer's home.

In some cases, a company might sell to individuals in a business. For example, a real estate software sales rep might do a group sales presentation to a group of Realtors. Income can come from commissions from sales, and sometimes through the recruitment of other reps.

3. Multi-level marketing (MLM) sales are made in various ways, including those associated with single-level and party-plan sales. Income earned through MLM is commission on sales, as well as the sales made by other business partners the distributor recruits into the company.

Remember this clearly!

Direct sales may be mistakenly referred to as MLM or network marketing, but these terms are not interchangeable. While MLM and network marketing are a form of direct sales, not all direct sales systems involve MLM. For instance, in single-level marketing, the sales representative is only paid commission on the sales they personally make; there is no recruitment of other sales team members or commissions earned from their sales.

Direct Selling vs. Pyramid Schemes

Unfortunately, it can often be hard to distinguish between a legitimate MLM business opportunity and a pyramid scheme because they share many of the same characteristics. Both MLM and pyramid schemes require participants (called "distributors") to recruit other people, and both tie an individual's compensation directly to their recruiting results. The main difference between the two is that pyramid schemes are designed to keep distributors' money flowing into the company.

Most pyramid schemes will keep the income stream going by charging fees and requiring distributors to regularly purchase a certain amount of products to sell—even if they don't need it. There may be products or services to sell, but most people's income largely depends on how well they can recruit because the company is more interested in having a steady flow of income from distributors. 

Here are some potential signs of a pyramid scheme:

• Lavish promises of getting rich quick
• Too much emphasis on recruiting other distributors
• You're required to initially "invest" a lot of money
• Promoters use emotional sales tactics to convince you to join
• Very little focus on the actual product or service

Are Direct Sales Companies Legal?

Direct sales—particularly MLM and network marketing—have suffered a bad reputation because many companies have been scrutinized for using marketing methods resembling pyramid schemes. Direct selling is perfectly legal, but pyramid schemes are scams and illegal. In the U.S., recruiting people into a pyramid scheme can be a felony, and the Federal Trade Commission is the primary agency responsible for stopping such cases.

WHAT ARE YOUR LOGISTIC SOLUTIONS ?

With pandemic leaving us caged at home for unimaginable times, we are grateful for all those who are on their toes to make sure, customers are getting their orders delivered at doorstep. As you wait for your delicious food, for the brand new phone or the fresh book that your friend suggested, there`s A LOT going on behind the scene.

As a MBA candidate, willing to work in a big companies or want to establish your own venture, let`s get into in depth of one of the important concept – LOGISTICS! Known as a massive chain network, logistics is a detailed organization responsible for carrying out various delivery and shipment related operations.

The rise of e-commerce has made a significant contribution in a world economy and so did these logistics. Without logistics, a concept of e-commerce could have never been possible to be implemented. This blog explains different types of logistics available like 1PL 2PL 3PL 4PL 5PL and how they are unique in their own way.

1PL: 1st Party Logistics

The 1st party logistics to referred to a firm or individual, that has their own cargo, freight and can transport goods and merchandise from one point to another point. They are the specifically the consignor of different goods and products and organizes the transport of products to their respective destinations. It mainly consists of two parties that get benefit from the transaction, the manufacturer or the supplier and the person buying it. There are no other middlemen involved in the whole process.

2PL: Second Party Logistics

A 2nd party logistics involves transport of goods from a particular transport area of the supply chain like rail, road, sea or air. They are the asset-based carriers and includes like transport using ships of own lease and airlines that they are contracted with.

Applications: International transportation of heavy, wholesale goods and for trading purpose

 3PL: 3rd Party Logistics

A 3rd party logistics is a supply chain that primarily concerns the transportation and delivery of different products but also includes various types of additional services as well. 

The functions of 3PL include warehousing, terminal operations, customs brokerage, supply chain management and many more. It also includes logistics IT software products and analysis services, for tracking and tracing the delivery status of different products. These 3rd party logistics delivers all the above-mentioned services and also manages various obstacles that come in the way.

Application: Domestic, offshore warehousing, other supply chain management systems.

4PL: 4th Party Logistics

Among the 1PL 2PL 3Pl 4PL and 5PL, the 4th party logistics is a new concept which is coming into the market, and it involves employing an overseer for managing an entire supply chain of a company. These logistics are often called Lead Logistics provider and they are often treated as a consulting company for many supply chains. They act as a head administrator and takes care of every aspect of these supply chain companies.

 They are frequently contracted with many 3rd party logistics and for maintaining neutral management and for providing feedback regarding various 3PL logistics services. With increased efficiency 4PL is becoming the next big thing in the logistics sector. They provide a single invoice solution and streamlines logistic work like no other.

5PL: 5th Party Logistics

A fifth party logistics provider is also known as a logistics aggregator. They will aggregate the demands of the 3PL and others into bulk volume for getting better rates with different types of airlines and shipping companies. This type of logistics is not asset based. It usually works seamlessly across all disciplines.

These are the basics of Logistic options and hope it helps.