India-Pakistan Cricket Match seen by 1 Billion TV audience

Today’s India-Pakistan cricket match (March 30, 2011) was seen by an estimated TV audience of 1 Billion people. Life came to a standstill in both countries where “cricket” is almost a religion. For my part, I decided to postpone calling friends in India about research I am doing being pretty sure that no calls would be taken!

[Note: This post from March 30, 2011 is updated for formatting issues on May 22, 2021]

Facebook relationship status, DOMA and B2B Relationships

With the latest “Facebook relationship status” categories(February 2011) and the Government decision today that it will no longer defend the Marriage Act or DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) B2B marketing thought is truly at a cross-roads. Because ever since Dwyer,Schurr and Oh’s 1987 article on relationship marketing, the customer funnel has been seen as B2B partners proceeding through the following relationship phases viz. 1) Awareness 2) Exploration 3) Expansion 4) Commitment. The parallel logic is based on the sociology of the traditional marriage starting with exploring possible mates,dating, engagement and marriage.CRM systems speak to this kind of linear view and to some extent SRM systems also take such a perspective.

[Note: This post from February 23, 2011 was updated for formatting issues on May 22, 2021]

Libya- is it time for private initiative to help Build,Operate,Transfer (BOT) democracy ?

One was aghast at seeing Libyan diplomats defect the Gaddafi Government. Diplomats are usually  very circumspect folks and this brings up the idea of private initiatives to Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) democracies in entire parts of he world. Seems like an unusual business idea but by the time official folks in the UN andContinue reading “Libya- is it time for private initiative to help Build,Operate,Transfer (BOT) democracy ?”

India lights up on Diwali to welcome President Obama

Tomorrow is Diwali in the US when President Obama sets out with Michelle Obama and 200 US CEO’s to India as India literally lights up for Diwali ! Ahead of the visit President Obama has sent greetings to India and the visit dates alone  are right out of the culture “textbook.” The Obama team willContinue reading “India lights up on Diwali to welcome President Obama”

Chilean miners rescue unifies the world

Where is Chile – exactly? I knew that Chile is a Spanish speaking country in South America known for Chilean wine and well regarded for football (soccer in the US) but the non-stop media coverage of the miners’ rescue on TV in US,Europe and Asia convinced me that we all need to know a little bit more about Chile. The interesting part is that Chile is that long western strip in South America you would recall from Geography class- home of the Andes mountain range.

[ Note: This post from October 13, 2010 is updated on June 4, 2021 for formatting and a flashback video from NBC]

“Outsourced” at NBC is so yesterday

It seems that the new “Outsourced” series on NBC is a TV version of the movie Outsourced (2006). At such a difficult economic time in the US  – hackneyed stereotypes of Americans and Indians do not foster global understanding and are certainly not funny if the US viewer is unemployed. Just see the comments onContinue reading ““Outsourced” at NBC is so yesterday”

Eat,Pray and Love author’s book “Committed” and Buyer-Seller Relationships

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-857684-6']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The movie Eat,Pray and Love opens tomorrow. The author Elizabeth Gilbert has another book out calledContinue reading “Eat,Pray and Love author’s book “Committed” and Buyer-Seller Relationships”

The Facebook Webshift: WikiLeaks and Shirely Sherrod

This is what we call the “Facebook  Webshift.” (This post from July 2010). Just look at Bradley Manning the alleged WikiLeaks person and he could be just any “invincible” college undergrad- anywhere in the world with an average of 300+ Facebook friends- many whom he has not actually met or dealt with. Everyone trusts everyoneContinue reading “The Facebook Webshift: WikiLeaks and Shirely Sherrod”

100 years of Mark Twain- 4000 words a day with an ink pen while at Hartford !

Today, April 21, 2010 is 100 years of Mark Twain one of the most interesting denizens of Hartford,Connecticut. If you ever pass through Hartford do check out the Mark Twain House on Farmington Avenue. Here Twain spent many of his most productive years as a writer.

Edward E. Whitacre Jr. : “Give people more responsibility and authority deeper in the organization…”

var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-857684-6"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {} Edward E. Whitacre Jr. the new CEO and Chairman of GM says: "Give people more responsibility and authority deeper in the organization, and then hold them accountable." GeneralContinue reading “Edward E. Whitacre Jr. : “Give people more responsibility and authority deeper in the organization…””