Buildings cannot be turned into hotel
Buildings cannot be turned into hotel
By Samir Salama, Bureau Chief GULF NEWS Published: October 07, 2007, 00:05
Abu Dhabi: Landlords cannot evict tenants to change their business from residential buildings to hotel apartments, according to a senior official.
“Changing the business from residential building into hotel apartments is not a legal ground to evict tenants,” said Mohammad Rashid Al Hameli, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Rental Disputes Resolution Committee.
Al Hameli said under the law, landlords cannot ask tenants to vacate unless in specific cases, including approved demolishing, for personal use, tenant’s failure to pay the rent, subletting the property without the approval of the landlord or violating public norms.
He added in the case of demolishing the building, tenants must be given a grace period of not less than six months to vacate. “If the landlord failed to live in the property he vacated for personal use for three months or re-rented it to another party, the tenant can complain to the committee.”
Many residents complained that unscrupulous landlords attempted to evict them after obtaining permits from the civic body to refurbish the buildings and then rent out flats to new tenants not bound by the rent cap.
Al Hameli said tenants should not obey any eviction order issued by landlords or any authority unless the order is approved by the Rental Disputes Resolution Committee.
On how to deal with eviction notices, Al Hameli advised tenants to receive any such notice “but sign clearly that the notice was received but the eviction order was rejected. Then at the end of the tenancy contract, the tenants can submit a complaint to the committee and deposit the rent or any installment of it as per the contract’s terms in cash, so that the contract can be renewed.”
Mohammad A.R., a long time resident teacher, asked the Rental Dispute Resolution Committee to issue clear guidelines for tenants to understand their rights especially circumstances in which they can be evicted from the building.
Compensation
Mohammad said that many buildings were given to hotel operators by the landlords on yearly lump sum rental basis in order to convert the building into hotel apartments.
He asked whether this is part of re-renting the property and whether the tenants can raise their complaints in this case.
He warned landlords that the committee is monitoring eviction rules granted under what is seemingly legal grounds and later proved to be fake. “If a tenant is evicted on any reason and later finds that the landlord has re-rented the property and violated the rent cap rule, he or she can file a complaint and the committee will return the tenant to the property and or order the landlord to compensate him or her.”
Why executives need to converse, through blogs
Why executives need to converse, through blogs
Ajay Jain
Biz Blogging — WORKS. It is of — MONUMENTAL IMPORTANCE.”
— Tom Peters, author of ‘In Search of Excellence’
How does a CEO engage with over 1,200 employees across 10 countries every working day? By writing to them daily. And the one person who has done this remarkably well is Rudy Karsan, chairman and CEO of Kenexa, a leading provider of employee hiring and retention solutions. And his mediums of communication are internal and external newsletters, and blogs.
And why does Mr Karsan write on his blog? “CEO stands for the only job with three bosses: Customers, Employees and Owners. One thus needs to develop a communications protocol for all three; and the larger a company becomes, the more efficient this process needs to get. When Kenexa started off 15-20 years back, I could talk to the small team anytime, anywhere. But as we grew and globalised, the number of locations and employees went up. And we realised the best way to touch them was through writing. I started a thought of the day, which could be the words of a famous person, or about what the company is doing, or my personal experiences besides other things. And these would wait on everyone’s desktops as if to say, Hello, how are you this morning?” he says.
Not just employees, CEOs and other executives may need to blog to engage with the other stakeholders in their business. These include shareholders, customers, vendors, analysts, media and regulatory authorities besides others. And this can no longer be about passive one-way communication — executives failing to be proactive risk losing out in the fiercely competitive marketplace. And this is where blogs come in. Just some examples of how blogs can be useful are:
~ Customers: Build a relationship of faith. Feedback, even if from a few customers, can serve as an early warning system.
~ Shareholders: Make them feel they are co-owners of the company. Let blogs be a direct channel of communication with the board. Benefits include saving stock prices from undergoing wild swings due to rumours or misinformation.
~ Human Resources: The most valued asset of a company, companies have to make that extra effort to attract and retain quality employees. A blog by senior management enables prospective employees understand what the company’s values and philosophy are — this message is often lost down the line of managers who may not always succeed in portraying the correct picture or with the same sincerity and passion.
~ Media: Help journalists with the latest news and insights. Blogs can also be a direct channel to stakeholders where media coverage is inadequate or incorrect. Companies like General Motors have benefited by blogs countering wrong media reports about a particular car being a flop.
~ Brand Promotion: The ‘Sunsilk Gang of Girls’ being a highly successful case, blogs have proven themselves to be a channel of creating excitement around brands.
“In today’s global economy, companies have to provide value to stakeholders around the mantra of ‘faster, cheaper, better’. As organisations strive to achieve this, they often lose sight of the smaller picture, ie, communicating with and keeping their employee base informed.
However, effective communication is a vital business tool for speeding up change and improving the quality and performance of any organisation. Handled correctly, it is a critical way of aligning, motivating and engaging employees. “I walk into any of our offices, and employees think they know me and connect with me even without ever having met me before. The writings are a reflection of the kind of organisation we are; it’s a way of showing our values. We are seen as a company with integrity and highly service focused with a culture of fun,” adds Karsan.
Some rules for successful blogging
Just creating a blog and writing on it may not be enough — one needs to adopt certain practices to make them really effective and not being seen as just a PR exercise. These include:
~ Industry leaders should not hesitate to present their views.
~ Be open, transparent and speak with passion and authority — your stakeholders will respect you for it and bond closer.
~ Allow stakeholders to comment; be open to negative comments. All comments are invaluable.
~ Counter negative comments with facts presented in a credible manner — don’t shirk away.
~ Have honest conversations; these lead to change and growth.
~ Write with discipline and consistency; stick to a schedule and don’t let the rhythm break.
All said and done
Besides the above, there are some more compelling reasons why executives need to blog. These include:
~ There is a communications revolution underway: From a controlled one-way model to an interactive one. Blogs are ideally suited to this.
~ Blogging helps build trust and relationships with stakeholders.
~ It is the cheapest communication channel available enabling companies to reach out to millions for a relatively small cost compared to other channels.
~ Blogs are easily findable on the net.
~ Relevant information spreads faster through blogs than a news service.
~ Blogs do not replace company websites!
In a time when many businesses have no exclusive patents or technical developments to offer, they need other differentiators to stay competitive. Interactive and effective communication can be the one to help companies survive.
“Blogs are enabling markets to converse again as people tell one another the truth about products and companies and their own desires” — from The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual, a bestseller authored by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls and David Weinberger.
This may well make the case of an executive blog.
Collaborate, not just compete
WHAT THEY DON`T TEACH YOU AT B-SCHOOL
B K Chaturvedi / New Delhi BUSINESS STANDARD October 2, 2007
While B-school education helped me realise some of my strengths as I stepped into the corporate world, I also felt somewhat inadequate.
It took some soul-searching to become aware of the areas where I was lacking. These areas had little to do with knowledge and more to do with skills and attitude.
This was many years ago, but I see B-school graduates still face such issues. It makes me feel that certain things are still not taught sufficiently at B-schools. Whether they can be taught or not is, of course, debatable. Let me share four gap areas:
Collaboration versus competition: Typically, management students are fiercely competitive and self-focused. But business organisations require a high degree of interdependence among workers.
Working in an organisation requires the willingness to help others to succeed, even without any tangible gain to oneself. However, the question “What is in it for me?” comes to most people’s minds. It took me time to get over this attitude.
Accepting uncertainties: Real life situations operate under higher uncertainty than what classroom discussions or cases can generate.
In times of uncertainty, I would look for perfect data to eliminate the uncertainty, but while I would be still searching, the situation would change, requiring new data. Such situations can be frustrating.
Often blame went to my superior for not giving me the complete picture. It was only later that I realised that business decision situations will always have uncertainties and there will be more variables around it than one can imagine, and that I need to accept them and do my best, rather than constantly fight them.
Living with ambiguities and organisational politics: Organisational politics and game-playing may sound unethical, but they are unavoidable. An “informational” organisation is always a part of a formal organisation.
Understanding informational organisation is important to influence the system. It is not sufficient to be right to get things done, it is also important to get to agreement on it, even if, at times, it means sub-optimisation. Consensus-building skills are not given much attention in B-schools.
B K Chaturvedi graduated from IIM, Ahmedabad, in 1971
If you don`t innovate, someone else will
`If you don`t innovate, someone else will`
Q&A/ Robert Tucker, President, The Innovation Resource
Govindkrishna Seshan / BUSINESS STANDARD Mumbai October 2, 2007
India is the 11th country on his agenda this year — and the diary’s still open. But Robert Tucker doesn’t find the constant travel exhausting. Instead, the corporate innovation guru uses the opportunity to study how innovation is being practised in different markets and then offers the examples as case studies.
A former professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and now the president of California-based consulting firm The Innovation Resource, Tucker is the author of several bestselling books on the subject, including Winning the Innovation Game, Managing the Future and Driving Growth Through Innovation.
Recently in India to conduct a seminar on corporate innovation, Tucker spoke with Govindkrishna Seshan on how Indian companies need to stay ahead in the global innovation race. Excerpts:
How would you define innovation?
To me, innovation is the process of coming up with ideas and bringing them to life. Any time you come up with an idea and implement it, you have essentially innovated. Not all ideas are commercially viable but, nevertheless, they are innovations.
In business, the commercial viability of an innovation is of supreme importance. Companies don’t just need ideas, they need ideas that can make people see value. The idea you implement must make the consumer want to open his wallet and spend his money on your product.
Hence, in a corporate scenario, innovation to me is essentially of three types. Product innovations, like the i-Pod or Post-It notes. Process innovation, when you come up with a new process that reduces time or cost or makes you reach from point A to point B faster: Toyota and Tata are continuously making process innovations.
Then there’s strategy innovation, when you find a better way of serving your customer — Air Deccan, for instance. A couple of years ago it looked at low-cost airlines across the world, picked some of the best practices, and then made itself. Now, that’s an excellent example of strategy innovation.
Remember what I said about commercial viability? A couple of months ago, people in the US queued up outside stores to buy the i-Phone. Now, that’s innovation.
Does innovation have a greater role to play now?
Innovation today is ranked among the top three priorities on every CEO and manager’s list. Today, you see people working with laptops and cellphones, which, in five years, will be obsolete.
Around the world innovation is happening and it is happening fast. I was in Tel Aviv recently, where managers can operate store cameras and keep a check on their employees through their cellphones.
Similarly, a refrigeration truck can call its driver when the temperature inside starts rising. Now, these technologies can be used anywhere; there’s a global innovation race on. So innovation needs to be taken a lot more seriously.
The good news, however, is that several Indian companies are responding well to this challenge. And this has helped India achieve greater prominence on the global economic stage. Companies like Mahindra & Mahindra, the Tata group and Ranbaxy, in particular, have done well. When I last visited India, in 2003, the Tata group was valued at $12 billion, I read today that its net worth now is $63 billion.
What are these companies doing differently? How important is innovation in India?
India is a very young country. Youngsters are open to trying new products and are ready to spend. They demand new and improved products that enhance their lifestyles. Hence, companies here need to be innovative to survive.
What Indian companies have done right is… First, these companies are thinking globally: they don’t want to be the best in the market or best in the country; they want to be the best globally.
Second, they are speaking to their consumers in a more organised fashion. And last, the leadership in these organisations is very serious about building a culture of innovation. How does an organisation build a culture of innovation?
A company is the result of its ideas. When the leadership shows serious intent for innovation, it percolates to all levels and you build a culture of innovation. Behaviour that gets rewarded gets repeated.
So your managers need to reward people who are taking risks, people who are experimenting with ideas, people who are being creative and are attempting to do things better. When you reward such behaviour you are sure to create a culture of innovation.
People by nature are creative, but you as an organisation need to be able to tap it. Employees are either being creative at their work place or are going home to their sports, passions, interests and spending their creativity there.
Companies need to ask people to be creative, and praise employees who try things differently, irrespective of the outcome. I spend most of my day asking managers to stroke their chin and ask their teams politely if there is a better way to do what they are doing. Most managers never ask this question, or they ask it in a very confrontational manner.
Innovation seems to be restricted to technology and IT companies. Do consumer goods companies also need to innovate?
FMCG, too, has seen its innovation but large companies here are fighting for shares rather than creating markets. Also, many companies are facing strategic convergence, making their strategies similar and, hence, difficult for consumers to differentiate.
But that does not stop innovation: if you don’t innovate, somebody else will. Take Coca-Cola and Pepsi. While these companies fought on marketshare, somebody else went ahead and launched Red Bull and Gatorade. Both were extremely innovative products that quickly made huge markets for themselves.
What is the lifecycle of an innovation? Does it cease to be innovative once others copy it?
The microwave and the computer are still relevant innovations. But yes, the day it is copied, a company loses the competitive edge an innovation provides. So the time between your implementing an idea and it being copied by competitors is the real life span of an innovation.
But companies cannot sit idle after completing an innovation because then they will let others catch up. The idea is to keep moving and keep innovating so that by the time others copy plan A you have already moved to plan B.
If there are “good” innovations, there must be bad ones as well…
Ideas can be implemented badly or they may be not be commercially viable, but there is nothing called “bad” innovation. Many times, an idea may be just ahead of its time.
For instance, DuPont invented Kevlar, which is 10 times stronger than steel, many, many years ago. At the time tyre manufacturers, who were approached with the product, were not very keen. The product was not used for many years, until the company found new uses for it.
Today, Kevlar is used by people who work with glass, oyster-opening gloves are made of Kevlar, armies and police personnel around the world use Kevlar vests, embassies of many nations have Kevlar curtains draped on their walls… So Kevlar was not a bad innovation. It was just not used correctly.
’10×10′ vision of 10 IIM grads
’10×10′ vision of 10 IIM grads
Pallavi Bisaria / New Delhi/ Lucknow BUSINESS STANDARD October 4, 2007
With a vision of “10 x 10”, a group of 10 Indian Institute of Management (IIM) alumni have come together with a view of making over 10, 000 Indians employable by 2010.
Conceptualised by Nishant Saxena, an IIM-Lucknow pass out, the group launched their first institute “Elements Akademia” in Lucknow today. ” The institute aims to groom the youths to make them employable.
“Despite being one of the fastest growing economies with over 8 per cent GDP growth, unemployment has still hovered around 7- 8 per cent for the last decade. Companies do want to hire and there is enough graduate talent, but sadly there is a mismatch between the requirement of the industry and the skills imparted by the education system. Our program aims to bridge this gap and make our youth employable,” Nishant Saxena, chief executive officer, Elements Akademia, told Business Standard.
Saxena, who is from Allahabad, said they had deliberately selected their homeland as their “karma bhumi” as they want to contribute to the state’s development.
“With a population of about 5 million youth in the state, about 800,000 graduates pass out every year. However, only 4 per cent of them are employed in organised sector. The state can become a service hub, provided we give the students specialised training. We aim to teach finer elements required to succeed,” added Saxena.
The flagship programme offered by the institute is aimed at graduates in the smaller cities. It is a six-month comprehensive part-time course encompassing business communication, managerial effectiveness, basic computer skills and other specialised domain knowledge in areas like insurance, inventory, management and accounting.
“Our lead corporate partner is Genpact, one of the top third-party BPO company in India. Our unique tie-up with them ensures reimbursement of the students’ course fee after a year of service. Moreover, if you don’t get selected, provide re-training and arrange for re-interviews (also with other partners),” Saxena said.
Genpact has assisted in the course design and delivery, and screening criteria.
“We conducted a survey among students from 25 colleges and multiple companies to understand what they are actually looking for in a candidate,” he said.
The Lucknow-city launch entails an investment of Rs 1 crore, and the firm plans to have 15 more such institutes across India in next few years.
The next institute is planned for Kanpur, to be operational in 3- 4 months’ time. Other cities identified in the state are Agra, Allahabad and Meerut.
On successful completion of the course, the students will receive certificates endorsed by KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, the academic partner for the venture.
Reliance Innovation Leadership Centre opened in Pune
Reliance Innovation Leadership Centre opened in Pune
5 Oct, 2007, 2240 hrs IST, PTI
MUMBAI: Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday inaugurated an innovation centre in Pune which would drive the company’s “innovation agenda”.
Reliance Innovation Leadership Centre, inaugurated by RIL’s Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, would be guided by an innovation council chaired by RIL board member R A Mashelkar.
The council would have global thinkers in the field of sicence, technology and innovation practioners as its members, RIL said in a statement.
The company also plans to set up a corporate research and technology centre in Navi Mumbai that would act as a hub for research centres operating at various manufacturing locations, it said.
Photo Speaks – City Image Monitoring
Abu Dhabi Municipality gives a lot of emphasise on keeping the city clean. As part of their new initiatives they have introduced several teams to monitor the environment. Here is one such unit in motion on the roads of Abu Dhabi.Keep a watch, spitting or throwing garbage on the road – a good amount of fine will be your call.
Act in haste, repent at leisure
Act in haste, repent at leisure
1 Oct, 2007, 0339 hrs IST,K VIJAYARAGHAVAN, TNN
The story of ‘Kuttathy sisters’ was often recounted by late Seetha Venkatachary, a very good narrator of didactic tales of ancient India. This story illustrates the axiom that one should think twice before acting harshly and that hasty actions would be followed by agonising repentance, which would be of no avail.
Taken from Kerala folklore, this story involves Valia (the elder) Kuttathy and the Kochu (the younger) Kuttathy, who were birds of a particular species, living in happy companionship. One day, Valia Kuttathy obtained from outside, some green gram. She entrusted the job of frying these to Kochu Kuttathy, as she went out.
On her return, she inspected the fried pulses and observed that the quantity had reduced. On being accused that she had eaten a portion of these, Kochu Kuttathy pleaded her innocence. Enraged at what she presumed was her sister’s cheating and lie, Valia Kuttathy attacked her younger sister and killed her.
Another day when Valia Kuttathy herself fried some newly obtained green gram, she found, to her dismay, that the quantity had reduced. On enquiry with others, she came to know that such pulses generally reduce in size on being fried.
In painful remorse, Valia Kuttathy spent the rest of her life, crying out to her dear sister, “Kochu Kuttathy, urr.. urr.. Kochu Kuttathy, urr.. urr..” Malayalam folklore has it that, to this day, the same painful cries can be heard at certain times, from an untraceable bird — possibly a descendant of Valia Kuttathy.
The need to be vigilant against impetuous actions is also underlined by another well known story of a lady, who once went out to fetch water, leaving her infant child to the care of her pet, a mongoose. On return, she observed that the mongoose had blood stains all over its mouth. Presuming that it had devoured her child, she threw the pot on it, instantly killing the creature. Screaming, she thereafter went to her child’s cradle, expecting to find the mangled remains. Surprised, she saw the child peacefully asleep, while a dead snake lay nearby, obviously killed by the mongoose which had intercepted this killer, while it had slithered up the cradle.
Hasty and ill considered actions and also such words, bring in their wake sufferings all over. A well known Tamil proverb observes, Kaanpathum poi, ketpathum poi, theera vicharipathe mei (even what we see and what we hear could be misleading; what is ideal is proper inquiry and analysis). Indeed these are words of great wisdom!
Dirham needs 35pc surge against dollar: experts
Dirham needs 35pc surge against dollar: experts
By Isaac John (Deputy Business Editor)KHALEEJ TIMES 6 October 2007
DUBAI — Predicting a 30 per cent possibility for an imminent revaluation of the UAE dirham, monetary experts said the UAE currency needed a significant appreciation of 35 per cent against dollar to regain its intrinsic strength in relation to other currencies.
Gary Dugan, Chief Investment Officer, Global Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch, told Khaleej Times that the GCC currencies needed to appreciate by around 35 per cent to reduce excessive savings. “In the shorter term, we expect the UAE or Qatar will move to peg versus a basket of currencies this year.”
According to Pradeep Unni from Vision Commodities Services, the UAE currency has lost 55.09 per cent against euro since 2001 — from Dh3.34, the euro is now selling at Dh5.18. Against, the British pound, dirham has lost 38 per cent in the same period, with the exchange rate surging from Dh5.41 in 2001 to Dh7.48, while against the Indian rupee, dirham has lost 24 per cent since May 2002 — dropping from Rs13.32 to Rs10.73 per dirham at present.
Despite UAE Central Bank’s insistence that it would neither opt for a revaluation of dirham nor move away from the US dollar peg, currency experts and economists believe that the likelihood of an imminent revaluation of the UAE dirham is 30 per cent.
Currency strategists said a revaluation of the dirham, which is currently estimated to 30 to 35 per cent undervalued against the US currency, could also provide investors a nice bonus on a property purchased in the UAE compared to parking that investment in a US dollar deposit account.
While affirming that an upward adjustment of dirham to the US dollar will be increasingly likely unless inflation begins to slow more noticeably next year, economists are of the view that there is increasing pressure on the UAE monetary authorities to drop dollar peg and switch to a basket of currencies as Kuwait and Syria have done. “Such a move will ward off any further inflationary trends by strengthening the dirham against other currencies,” they contend.
However, experts warn that the UAE has to undertake a series of currency realignments to ensure the true value of its currency. “While most of the UAE’s exports (oil and gas) are priced in dollars, the country’s biggest share of imports comes from non-dollar zone. A steadily falling US dollar is thus aggravating inflation which last year hovered above 10 per cent due to higher cost of imported goods, a steep surge in rents and other living expenses.”
Dugan said the dollar looked set for further weakness. “We believe that dollar weakness comes from both cyclical and structural factors. Cyclically the US economy is set to be one of the weakest in 2008. Structurally the US economy is still facing the twin deficits of a current account and fiscal deficit. Also the weakness of the dollar has gained some momentum that may extend through the fourth quarter of 2007.”
Danger on the roads
Gulf News conveys readers thoughts and fears on Road Safety
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