Voices Within. Linking Knowledge Management to your Life

Hercules MTB Himachal Experience

2010-10-31T05:34:00.000-07:00

கல்லும், முள்ளும் காலுக்கு மெத்தை - அன்று சொன்னோம் கடவுளை தேடி
சேரும் , சகதியும் சைக்கிளுக்கு மெத்தை- இமயத்தில் இன்று சொன்னோம் கடவுளாய் மாறி
இயற்கை என்று ஒரு காதலன் , சைக்கிள் என்று ஒரு காதலி படைத்ததோ ஒரு சரித்திரம்
டீஐ என்று ஒரு படைப்பாளி, ஹஸ்பா என்று ஒரு உழைப்பாளி நாங்கள் கண்டோம் வெள்ளி விழா
கண்ட இயற்கை கனவாக மறைந்தாலும் அந்த நட்பு மலர்கள் மணம் இன்னும் வீசுதடா
முருகப்பா உன்னை வர்ணிக்க வார்த்தை இல்லை ....
உன் குழந்தை டீஐ வாழிய வாழியவே
அன்புடன்
சுபாஷ் தியாகராஜன்

நகரம் செல்வோம்

2010-10-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

நகரம் செல்வோம் -------பயண சிந்தனைகள்

நகரம் செல்வோம் என்று சொல்லி வீரமாக கிளம்பினர் மூவர்
நகரத்தில் நடக்கும் சம்பவங்கள் ....

என் வீட்டிற்கு நான் தான் சிங்கம் என்று மனைவியை உதைத்தான் ஒரு அசிங்கம்
மருமகளும் ஒரு மகள் தானே ? ஏன் தேல் போல் சொட்களால் கொட்டுகிறீர்கள்?
வந்துவிட்டான் இவளுக்கு என முதலை கண்ணீர் வடிக்க....

இதை கண்ட மூவர் மனதில் பல கேழ்வீ கள்? இது நகரமா ? நரகமா?
நமக்கு தான் ஐந்து அறிவு...ஆறு அறிவு கொண்ட மனிதர்கள் எங்கே?
வருத்தத்துடன் அந்த பெண் விடுதலைக்கு வேண்டும் ....சிங்கம், தேல், முதலை.

ரயில் பயணம்

2010-09-05T07:15:00.001-07:00

ரயில் பயணம்
சிக்கு புக்கு ரயில் பெட்டி எங்கள் நாட்டிற்கு நீ நகை பெட்டி
உன் தண்டவாளங்களில் தான் எத்தனை கதைகள்
சில கதைகள் மலரா விதைகள்
உன் வருகையின் சத்தம் கூட
அவனுக்கு என காத்திருக்கும் காதுகளுக்கும் சங்கீதம்
குகைகளை குடைந்து நீ செல்ல... பகைகளும் பறந்து மறந்து செல்லும்
உன் பாதையில் பல பாலங்கள், என் பாதையில் பல வண்ணங்கள்...
நம் பாதையில் பல சந்திப்புகள்
தடம் புரண்ட வாழ்க்கைக்கு நீ சொல்வதுதான் என்ன?
பயணங்கள் முடிவதில்லை..........................

யார் இவள் ?

2010-08-31T06:49:00.001-07:00

யார் இவள் ?
கரு கரு விழிகள் துரு துரு இயற்கை
விறு விறு பேச்சு பர பர வாழ்கை
மழை துளி போல் என் வாழ்வில் வந்தாள்
முள்ளும் ரசிக்கும் ரோஜாவை போல் என் இதயத்தை தைத்தாள்
அந்த மண் வாசனை தாக்கியதா தெரியவில்லை ... அவள் வாசம் தாக்கியது
யார் இவள் ? எங்கே வந்தாள் ? எதற்கு வந்தாள் ? ஏன் வந்தாள் ?
சந்தித்தது என்னவோ சிலநேரம் தான்...ஆனால் அவளை பற்றி பல சிந்தனைகள்
இது ஏன் கனவாக இருக்ககூடாது ? என்று என்னா
நிஜம் என்னை பார்த்து கை கொட்டி சிரித்தது
காதலில் விழுந்து விட்டேநோ ? தெரியவில்லை ....
மோகமுள்ளும் குத்தவில்லை
யார் இவள் ?

வண்ணங்கள்

2010-08-31T06:48:00.000-07:00

வண்ணங்கள்
வெள்ளை மனதுடன் நம் வாழ்கை துவங்க
நீல அலைகள் போல் மேலும் கீழும் நம் பயணம் செல்ல
ஊதா உன் காதலுக்கு தூதாக போக
மஞ்சளுடன் மங்கை உன் வாழ்வுக்கு வழி கொடுக்க
செந்நிற குங்குமம் அவள் அழகுக்கு அழகு சேர்க்க
கருப்பும் அழகு தான் என்று பொறுப்புடன் பேச
பச்சை பசுமையாய் எனக்கு எண்ணங்கள் தோன்ற
வண்ணங்கள் உன் கன்னங்கள்... தேன் கிண்ணங்கள்

வானம்

2010-08-31T06:47:00.001-07:00

வானம்
என்றும் எங்களை அன்புடன் வரவேற்கிறாய்
பல வண்ணங்களுடன் பட்டாம்பூச்சியையும் புலம்ப செய்கிறாய்
நீ கருக்க, அந்த உழவன் சிரிக்க...வயதையும் மறந்து உன்னை ரசிக்க
இடி இடிக்க, மழை பெருக்க, ஒரு யுகம் போதுமா உன்னை வர்ணிக்க??

சுதந்திரம்

2010-08-31T06:46:00.000-07:00

சுதந்திரம்
யுத்தம், ரத்தம், சத்தம், முத்தம்.
யுத்த சத்தத்தை நிறுத்தி ரத்த வெறியை ஒழித்து
மழலைகளின் முத்த சதத்தால் பாரதத்தை உருவாக்குவோம்
சுதந்திர நல் வாழ்த்துக்கள்

Knowledge Management in Indian Advertisements. Case 1: Airtel Vs Vodafone

2008-10-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

Nonaka et al in their work " The Knowledge Creating Company " say

"In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the one sure source of sustainable competitive advantage is knowledge. Yet, few managers understand the true nature of the knowledge-creating company and how to manage it."

The theory of Nonaka's work at 1995 is very much applicable even now and is practical... something’s in life doesn't need a change because they are created in an extremely perfect way (Edison's design of the bulb which hasn't gone for a major design change )

In this post I try to compare the advertisements of two major Voice and Data service providers namely airtel and Vodafone and analyze how KM has helped them brand their products

Airtel: Bharti Airtel, formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) is India's largest cellular service provider with more than 75 million subscribers as of August 2008.^[1] It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. Airtel is known to invest a lot in branding and some of their advertisements brought people like

King Khan from Bollywood, No matter what he does in the AD the product becomes a huge success. Airtel knew what it customers want to see.

Just when everyone thought airtel was not doing right in the music part of their ad they roped in

Not only did they rope the musical genius they also roped in the sporting legend Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. In a country like India Music and cricket are 2 religions look at how airtel capitalized on this well known knowledge.

They didn’t stop there. Something like this was always there for all classes of people

A sage expressing himself

It’s 2008 and time to bring in the chemistry’s and Physics of Indian film industry do the talking and hence they made

Madhavan and Vidhya Balan’s the new brand ambassadors for airtel came with series of ads for airtel which showed not only the good chemistry between the couple but also used the fluids to heat up airtels value added services.

In short I conclude the airtel story saying they always knew what their customers want. They had the strong knowledge base of their clients, vendors and partners. They also had big banks which had money (These days credit card checks gets bounced not because I don’t have money but my bank doesn’t) to sponsor their high budget advertisements. The moment they had the knowledge they managed it very well to grow their business in all parts of India.

Having seen some chapters from airtels story its time to listen to what Vodofone is saying

Vodofone (erstwhile HUTCH): Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 16 telecom circles in India [1]. Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros.

Hutch strategy was simple and brilliant when their neighbors were roping all possible film starts and sports personalities they brought

A Kid with his cute pug dog which always follows him no matter where he goes. Their music score for this ad was excellent with beautiful cinematography in an awesome location. Hutch’s message was very simple yet very powerful

“Wherever you go our Network follows”

Their series of ads became so popular despite the same message a new powerful brand ambassador emerged

It was even reported that after this ad the sale of pug dogs in India multiplied triple fold and it was considered as a prestige among dog lovers. This became a USP for Hutch who not only saved their money in ads but also made huge revenues from their non demanding brand ambassador. Hutch team had the knowledge that people in India love dogs and that was enough for them to make history

When Vodofone took over from hutch there were huge questions raised in the mindsets of people who have always enjoyed Hutch ads. But finally

Vodofone used the most powerful feature of KM called Re-use. Why to think hard for the ad when the pug has already done it all.

And when this whole country was waiting to witness a sporting fiesta called the IPL 20-20 Vodafone made this

Replaced the boy with a girl come up with a new song and market their services with an even powerful message

“Happy to Help”.

People in this country have never witnessed such a creative ad and everyone loved it. Till date this is one of the most downloaded videos in youtube. Vodofone had all the knowledge and information but launching it during the IPL period when peoples eyes are glued to the television is the where the effective management part lies. A knowledge well managed by Vodofone.

Vodofone after this ad not only strengthened their position in city but also pitched well in villages and town panchayats.

I conclude here by returning to the starting point where nonaka says “In order to sustain in this economy where the only certainty is uncertainty the one sure source of sustainable competitive advantage is knowledge” and airtel and Vodafone had that knowledge used and reused them to become leaders in their business.

Masala dosa, Motor bike and Knowledge Management

2008-08-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

The ubiquitous Indian dish masala dosa has its origins in Udupi. A masala dosa is made by stuffing a dosa with a lightly cooked filling of potatoes, fried onions and spices. It wraps the dosa around a onion and potato curry.

Masala dosa, Motor bike and Knowledge Management

Case 1:
Wondering whats this southindian dish has to do with knowledge management ?? Read my theory . 2 assumptions to be made in this theory

Assumption 1:
Lets assume a system where everyone knows how to prepare a masala dosa in a perfect way.
Assumption 2:
Lets assume in the same system, people know how to write very good english .

Question 1?
Now can someone in this system write a detailed manual on how to write a masala dosa
Answer : YES
Question 2?
Now can someone read this manual and straightway start preparing a masala dosa
Answer: YES

Result in terms of KM: Tacit knowledge in preparing a masala dosa can be converted to explicit knowledge by writing a manual.

Case 2:
A system involving motorbike and people

Assumption 1:
Lets assume that in this system everyone knows how to drive a motorbike.
Assumption 2:
Lets assume in the same system, people know how to write very good english .

Question 1?
Now can someone in this system write a detailed manual on how to drive a motorbike
Answer : YES / NO ( one can atleast write a manual on the various systems of a motorbike which will be used for driving a motor bike)
Question 2?
Now can someone read this manual and straightway start driving a motorbike?
Answer: NO NO and only NO

" why is that in the second case tacit knowledge cant be converted to explicit knowledge??? "

Modified case 2:

Assumption 3:Lets assume someone who knows how to drive a motorbike comes to your help and he sits behind you as a pillion and he starts teaching you how to drive a motorbike .

Question 3 ?
Will you now be able to drive a motorbike now??
Answer: YES

" Why is that now someone can share his tacit knowledge in a better way"

What happens in modified case 2 is called social networking wherein tacit knowledge is converted into tacit knowledge to provide an effective solution. Now can social networking can always be used when tacit knowledge cant be made explicit? well I dont know... all that I can say is despite the fact that in KM every thing starts in the mind it cannot be always put into paper.

Voice

2008-03-13T06:39:00.000-07:00

After giving finishing touch to this universe,

"God wondered and cried,"

Oh, where am I to goto embed love in this soil?

"May I help you?" He heard a voice.

God was flabbergastedwith the source of Love,

then with a big lightning

Mother landed on the Earth

Mutual Funds are subjected to .........

2008-03-13T01:55:00.000-07:00

" Mutual Funds are subjected to market risk please read the offer document carefully before invesing" (Told in all adv which deals with mutual funds)

Question : why is this statement always said in a very fast pace?
It always makes me wonder if the person rendering it is going to catch the next available rocket to mars.
Answer: Airtime is expensive, Knowledge for people on the riskfactor involved in mutual funds is not a healthy sign for people offering mutual funds.
Whats this got to do with Knowledge Management: Despite the fact that the knowledge of risk involved in mutual funds should be imparted to people without choice, The beauty lies in the way in which its managed. A simple effort is made to say the statement in a pace where there is a win win situation for the everyone. The ones who are keen and sharp gets to know the risk no matter the person rendering it is going to catch the rocket or a bullet train. Amazing right KM is all aroud you.