The verdant expanse of Aarey forests in suburban Mumbai turned into a battleground between environmentalists and authorities. Triggering this confrontation was the BMC-appointed Tree Authority’s clearance to cut almost 2,700 trees in the area to construct a car shed for the upcoming metro line.
Everyday we’re making choices in the digital and physical worlds between one brand and another. Sometimes we choose a brand because they provide us with great service, but sometimes it’s simply because they provide adequate service and there isn’t really a better option. Mostly the choice of the interaction isn’t about great service at all; it’s about convenience. Generally speaking it’s not because of their products or their so-called services. It might be the way in which they connect me to certain products or services, but it isn’t generally what they produce.
South Mumbai's Tardeo is India's most expensive luxury residential location in the primary (first sale by developer) residential real estate market. Luxury properties here come with an astronomic average price tag of INR 56,200 per sq. ft. Research by ANAROCK reveals that over the last seven years, this tony location in the financial capital recorded a new launch supply of over 1,100 units in the premium segment with average size of 1,690 sq. ft.
Since the emergence of online banking there has been a fundamental assertion from high-net-worth bankers that their clients aren’t digitally focused, they don’t use social media or mobile banking, and that they prefer to pick up the phone and engage their banker because the nature of their interactions is defined by their wealth – they want the highest-level of service that only comes from engagement through a personal banker.
We’ve been discussing at many organizations what it takes to get innovation done in large businesses with embedded behavior and practices. One side of the coin is obviously the impact of disruptive technology, but the other is purely the issue of innovation management or creating an organization that embraces or assists innovation.
The Indian festive season, ushered in by Ganesh Chaturthi, has begun and investment decisions are being made. For homebuyers, this period is both auspicious and opportune to buy homes because real estate developers inevitably roll out attractive incentives - either in the form of price reductions, money-saving opportunities like waived stamp duty and registration charges, or 'white goods' like furnishing and household electronics - to attract genuine buyers.
I was in India a few years ago speaking to the Reserve Bank and most of the primary Retail Banks about the impact of mobile and social media on the industry there. The former RBI Governor, Raghuram Rajan, had ruffled some feathers with his unconventional approach but he had his work cut out for him with a very traditional market, with very traditional views.