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BUSINESS
Google Inc on Monday announced plans to acquire Nest Labs Inc, a maker of smart thermostats and smoke alarms, for USD 3.2 billion, signaling the Internet company's intention to expand into a broader array of devices and bringing valuable hardware design expertise in-house. Nest, which was co-founded by one of the creators of Apple Inc's iconic iPod music player, will continue to operate as its own distinct brand after the all-cash deal closes, Google said.
The deal is the second-largest in Google's history, after the USD 12.5 billion acquisition of mobile phone maker Motorola. "Nest Labs appears to be focused on thermostats and smoke alarms, but it's not far-fetched to see Google expanding this technology into other devices over time," said Shyam Patil, an analyst at Wedbush. "Home automation is one of the bigger opportunities when you talk about the Internet of everything and connecting everything. This acquisition furthers their strategy around that," he said. Shares of Google were up 0.5 percent at USD 1,128.49 in extended trading on Monday. Nest will continue to operate under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Tony Fadell - a former Apple executive who is referred to as the "godfather" of the iPod - with its own distinct brand identity, Google said Nest, which counts Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Google Ventures and Shasta Ventures among its investors, employs a large number of designers and engineers from Silicon Valley firms like Apple and Google.
INDIA BUSINESS
For widening its distributor base in India, Dell has entered into a partnership with Ingram Micro. This partnership is only for reselling Dell’s desktops and laptops for businesses in India.
“Large portions of Indian businesses are still untapped and we see an opportunity in tier II and III cities for these devices,” said Ajay Kaul, Director and GM at Dell India.
Ingram Micro is an NYSE-listed company that distributes technology devices and is a subsidiary of its parent with presence in 40 locations in India.
"This tie up opens up a new opportunity for our partners and at the same time brings a large nationwide partner base to Dell to promote its products in the commercial segment. This relationship is important for Ingram Micro as it completes the commercial PC portfolio in the growing SMB market,” said Jaishankar Krishnan, MD, Ingram Micro India.
INDIA MANAGEMENT
BlackBerry has announced the growing adoption of BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES10) by Indian enterprises across a range of sectors.
BlackBerry has a strong market position in India where the Company has seen more than 1,000 Indian enterprises adopting or testing BES10 since its launch in January 2013.
The rising number of organizations embracing BES10 in India as part of their mobile strategy showcases the enterprise commitment to the BlackBerry solution, which is recognized as the gold standard in security for Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM). “The enterprise market continues to grow in India and holds immense untapped potential for BlackBerry, especially in sectors like retail, insurance, banking, healthcare, construction and professional services. BES10 offers a single, unified management console to manage iOS, Android and BlackBerry smartphones,” said Sunil Lalvani, Managing Director for India at BlackBerry.
LOGISTICS
DRB-Hicom Bhd wants to focus on the logistics sector following the acquisition of 61.61 per cent stake in Konsortium Logistic Bhd from Ekuiti Nasional Bhd in December last year for RM241 million, says Group Managing Director Tan Sri Mohd Khamil Jamil.
He said the group has to see what Konsortium Logistic has so that whatever the company puts in would not hamper the growth of the company and vice-versa.
"Whatever plan that we put in will create the synergy. Our aim is to turn Konsortium Logistic into a No. 1 logistics provider. Currently, it is in the second spot nationwide.
"However, it holds the pole position in the southern region," he told a media briefing at the three-day "DRB-HICOM Ke Bawah Bayu" (Under The Wind)programme.
Themed "Jom Sabah", the trip is aimed at cultivating strategic bonding and enhancing good working relationship between the media and DRB-Hicom management.
Mohd Khamil said as the owner of the national carmaker, Proton Holdings Bhd, and the distributor for other models like Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi and Honda, DRB-Hicome could also cut cost by using its own logistics services to transport the vehicles.
He said the company has a five-year plan for Konsortium Logistic and its other unit, Pos Malaysia Bhd, which could also benefit from the logistics services.
DRB-Hicom expects the national logistics segment to contribute RM174.8 billion this year from RM146.5 billion in 2013, entailing services like warehousing, inventory management, land, air and sea transportation, he said.
Mohd Khamil said the group would also leverage on the second biggest contributor to its revenue -- services segment.
DHL today announced that it will support Cirque du Soleil, a leading live entertainment company, as Official Logistics Partner. DHL will be integrated into Cirque du Soleil’s supply chain activities, with its DHL Global Trade Fairs & Events team, a subsidiary of DHL Global Forwarding, Freight, supporting the event logistics of Cirque du Soleil Big Top and Arena tours worldwide. DHL will also provide global logistics support for the corporate headquarters of Cirque du Soleil in Montreal, Canada. The partnership will see the two global leaders in their respective industries engage in joint branding and marketing activities for their worldwide customer bases, partners and employees.
“Cirque du Soleil and DHL are a perfect fit,” said Ken Allen, CEO, DHL Express. “We have both grown from entrepreneurial beginnings into global brands through a commitment to conquering new frontiers and amazing and delighting our customer bases. As we pool our respective strengths through this partnership, both brands’ proven ability to innovate and deliver excellence will contribute to even more exciting customer experiences in the future. We look forward to replicating the breathtaking performances under the Cirque du Soleil Big Top in our own operations behind the scenes.”
MARKETING
Mobile marketing company Sparq announced on its site today that it has been acquired by Yahoo. The company did not disclose the purchase price.
Yahoo declined to illustrate the deal’s financial details. Sparq’s team will be joining Yahoo’s Sunnyvale campus.
Before it was acquired, Sparq raised a total of $1.7 million over several small rounds, most recently picking up more than $650,000 last year.
According to a Yahoo spokesperson, the company’s technology helped users “jump from app to app to discover, consume and engage with content.” Or, put more simply, it helped users take in more total mobile content.
When Google introduced tabs in its web-based email client last year, it automatically sorted emails into Primary, Social, and Promotions categories. Email marketers worried that dumping all their messages into a Promotions bucket might kill off their campaigns.
Email has always been a mainstay for digital marketers. "The money's in the list" is a common refrain. One of its attractions, when done well, is the fact that you can count on people getting it. But with the Promotions tab, is that still the case?
Social media offers its audience a high-volume, quickly moving stream of messages, meaning that yours may be lost in the frothy waters and go unread. Email, on the other hand, is where most people live, checking their email at least once a day. As long as they followed some common sense rules and avoid spamming people, email marketers could be reasonably sure that their messages would reach the recipient.
Following Google's tabbing initiative, messages that it deems 'promotional' are filed away in their own tab, which users have to click on to see. But what if users do not do so?
It is a worry, according to some online marketing experts. Successful San Diego Internet marketer Pat Flynn, prides himself on a high 'open rate' (the percentage of his marketing emails that are opened by the recipients).
According to Flynn, his open rate fell from a highly respectable 50% to a still-healthy 37-8% thanks to Gmail's tab function. He reacted by training his audience; he occasionally asks them to manually set emails from his address to drop into the Primary section of his inbox instead of the Promotions tab. Experiences vary, though, and open rates vary wildly even between industry sectors. Others with more aggregated data see less of a slump in open rates. John Foreman, chief data scientist at MailChimp, which provides campaign management tools for email marketers, crunched the numbers in December. He found that Gmail open rates dropped by around 1.5% across all of MailChimp's campaigns after the tabs were introduced.
ODISHA BUSINESS
The Odisha government has decided to extend the lapsedmemorandum of understanding (MoU) with 10 independentpower producers (IPPs).
“Based on the progress made on their projects, we have decided to sign fresh MoUs with 10 IPPs. The new pacts will be signed by the end of this month,” said a senior government official.
The IPPs whose MoUs are to be extended are GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd, Lanco Babandh Power, Monnet Energy, Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd (JITPL), Ind-Barath Energy Utkal Ltd, CESC Ltd, Visakha Power, Mahanadi Aban Power Ltd, BGR Energy Systems and Maa Durga Power Company Ltd.
As per the proposed new MoU, the IPPs have to retain at least 51 per cent stake in their power projects for a minimum of three years from the date of commissioning of their plants.
Also, any stake sale beyond this lock-in period will need prior permission of the state government. Besides, the IPPs have to comply with the mandatory clause to promote employment among locals. The clause stipulates that industries setting up their projects in the state have to reserve 90 per cent jobs for locals in the unskilled and semi-skilled category, up to 60 per cent in skilled category and 30 per cent for the supervisory and managerial cadre while giving them the option to fill up the post of senior executives from the open market.
Indo Nissin Foods Ltd, a subsidiary of Japan based Nissin Foods Holdings, today commissioned its third factory in the country with an investment of about Rs 100 crore.
The new production facility, located at Idco Food ProcessingPark at Khurda Industrial Estate, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. It has an annual production capacity of 20,000 tonne per annum.
It is the company’s first manufacturing unit in the eastern part of the country while the other two are located at Haryana and Karnataka with a production capacity of 10,000 tonne per annum each.
“We are aiming to run the new plant in Odisha in full capacity in next two years,” said Yuji Tabeta, managing director, Indo Nissin Foods limited. Officials said, the company will now operate at 25 percent capacity. In a first of its kind in the country, the company plans to manufacture the short noodles ‘NISSIN Scoopies’ at the new facility to explore the demand in instant noodles market.
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Source of Information for this issue : Google alert accessed on 20th and 24th Jan 2014
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Compilation
Sabita Sahu
Junior Librarian
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Chief Librarian
Information and Documentation Division, Chanakya Central Library
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