Disappearing crores - I wonder why the media wakes up only when it is too late. People lose their hard earned money when they read favorable reviews in the media and invest in the company. Another case of PR releases doubling as news?
Archive for the ‘PR agency’ Category
The next scam?
Monday, February 2nd, 2009Scams and Indian companies
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009With the Satyam scam unfolding, I would not be surprised if 2009 is the year of scams for India Inc.
Having worked for a BSE30 company, with many customers also BSE 30 companies, I got a very good idea of how Indian companies work, their decision taking process and how well they are run.
From a distance, they may have an attractive image (thanks to their PR agencies ) , but when you work closely with them, nothing remains hidden. Till 6 months ago, no one cared much for the PSUs, but some of them are very efficiently run.
It is many of family run companies which cause alarm. When the owners spend millions on expensive business jets, cars or gifts to their wives /girlfriends it is a cause for alarm.I remember reading somewhere that if you see the management of a company in too many page 3 type or society photos, it is a sure sign that the company is going downhill.
Most of our media only glorify these excesses when they should raise the alarm bell. Time to look for alternatives if you are a customer, vendor, or investor. Now Facebook makes it easier. If you are making a lot of money from your business, invest it back, don’t waste it on luxuries.
Newspapers as PR agencies
Sunday, February 17th, 2008It only happens in India - newspapers start PR agencies
A few years ago, I spent a lot of time analysing the accuracy of news stories and was surprised how easily it was manipulated. At times I wonder why they cannot be neutral.
Another BPO employee murdered
Sunday, November 4th, 2007BPO employee murdered . Another BPO employee murdered and the statement of the Wipro BPO president is typical big company speak. At the end of the day , when you do a ”naukri” , you remain at the mercy of your employer , who usually is not bothered about your personal safety despite whatever their PR agencies/media put out.
When I had a 9-5 job, I once had to go to meeting in a North Indian city to finalise things urgently, it was supposed to end late . When I asked the manager to arrange for accomodation, I was told , ” Go to Karol Bagh, and check into any hotel”. I told the admin department directly to book me the last flight to Mumbai. I have stayed in Mumbai for long and have managed to reach home even after midnight when flights are delayed, as it has a fairly efficient public transport system, but in a new city (especially in North India) it is an unnecessary risk.
A few months later, a junior colleague came to me and said the manager was asking her to go to some project site / customer’s place in North India alone. Many of the sites are in remote locations, for example LPG cylinder refilling projects were about 25 km away from the nearest town/city as an explosion there can cause loss of life. She had refused citing personal safety, the manager told her ” look at N (myself) , she travels to many project sites alone. “ I should have made more noise.
I have personally not faced any problem since I am very conservative, but I have heard enough stories while travelling. To be fair, at some regional offices in smaller cities, people have gone out of their way to check with me if everything is OK, but finally one incident like this puts you off.