India's Online Booksellers Try to Write a New Chapter For several years, online bookstores in India struggled to survive. Some didn't. Today, a new breed is writing a different story, attempting to bring e-commerce for books into the mainstream. But it is not going to be easy: Delivery and marketing challenges abound, and observers say many Indian customers are leery about using their credit cards to buy books on the Internet. Still others lack credit cards entirely, or speak and read in a language other than English, leaving them unable to access the majority of online bookstores' inventory.
HDFC Bank's Aditya Puri on India's 'Best Opportunity' in Financial Services After having escaped the wrath of the global economic downturn, Indian banking is upbeat, according to Aditya Puri, CEO and managing director of HDFC Bank. Opportunities abound for Indian banks as the country is poised to achieve double-digit GDP growth in two years, he says in an interview with India Knowledge@Wharton.
Innovating Around India's Health Care Challenges Delivering affordable health care to India's billion-plus people presents enormous challenges and opportunities for service providers. Innovative technologies, processes and partnerships have begun bridging the health care gap, according to a panel discussion at the recent Wharton India Economic Forum in Philadelphia.
Making Management Pay: Reining in Excessive Risk at India's Banks Public outrage over Wall Street bonuses has had a ripple effect on India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which now wants to discourage "excessive risk" by curbing "perverse incentives" in senior management compensation at Indian banks. According to some experts, compensation caps could drive away innovation and talent. But the RBI must be doing something right, others argue, even if it is overly conservative, as India has thus far avoided compensation scandals similar to those in the U.S.
Tata Consultancy Services' Girija Pande: China and India Are on Different Roads to a Common Destiny Girija Pande, chairman of Tata Consultancy Services for the Asia Pacific region, knows both India and China well. In a conversation with Wharton management professor Jitendra Singh, he shares his thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of both countries, and the challenges facing their businesses and governments. China has perfected timely project execution while India scores in fostering innovation, but both face a shortage of skilled, global managers, he says.
India's Next IT Upgrade: To Better Align Employee Performance with Rewards During the high-growth phase of the Indian information technology (IT) industry, human resources management was all about hiring in large numbers and lowering attrition. The recent slowdown, however, has made organizations more demanding of their employees. The focus has shifted to building competencies and increasing productivity, and employees are now being evaluated more stringently on the value they bring to the table. But experts warn that with the economic recovery gathering pace, the lessons of the downturn could soon be forgotten.
Knowledge@Wharton
Why Gita Wirjawan Wants to Open Indonesia to International Investors
'Talking the Talk': Jeff Schwartz on Building Talent During a Downturn
Mid-life Crisis? Venture Capital Acts Its Age
'Turning Social Capital into Economic Capital': Straight Talk about Word-of-mouth Marketing
ABC's IPO Underscores the ABCs of Banking in China
Surviving Silly Bandz: Prolonging the Shelf Life of Fads
Shooting the Messenger: Quarterly Earnings and Short-term Pressure to Perform
China Knowledge@Wharton
Turning Shanghai into a Global Financial Hub: So Much to Do, So Little Time
In the Age of Mobile Networks, E-Commerce Gets Personal
China's Renminbi Revaluation: Small Step, Big Impact?
Will Hopes for European Austerity Be Deflated?
Marketing Crash Course: It's Not All Bad News When Consumers Collide with Wrong Information
From CEO to Senate: Why Some Executives Make Better Politicians Than Others
