Richard Bush is director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies (CEAP) at Brookings Institution and is a senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center. For five years before that he was the chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, the mechanism through which the United States government conducts substantive relations with Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic relations.

“Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.” Epictetus

When naval aviator James Bond Stockdale became a ‘guest’ in the Hanoi Hilton, his vital leadership helped his men to survive. His son James Stockdale Jr. recalls his father’s sterling character. Then Taylor Kiland  author of ‘Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton,’ distills the lessons in this exclusive, unique interview to Victor Fic, Biztech’s special correspondent for business and politics.

 

First of all please tell us how important branding is in the marketing strategy of any product.

Companies need to engage in marketing through differentiating their product in price, retailing, and promotion. These days, however, the technology gap between companies is narrowing, which makes it difficult for companies to make their product significant and different. Quality-wise products are almost the same. Almost everyone is doing great in price, retailing, and, advertisement. Big companies and SMEs all are good at marketing. Thus, it is difficult to differentiate their products through marketing alone. Inevitably, companies seek brand management to stand out. Marketing is about how to sell, but branding is about how to define products. When companies engage in marketing, they think about how to make marketing outstanding. This is brand marketing. Marketing raises real value, while branding raises perceived value. Despite the high quality of the product, if the perceived valueis low, the product cannot be appreciated properly. As differentiated marketing is required, businesses are seeking brand management, which puts emphasis on brand. Therefore, branding is becoming a trend.

Shashi Maudgal is Senior Vice President and President of Novelis Asia. In these roles, he pro­vides leadership for Novelis as the company grows in Asia. Prior to joining Novelis in 2012, Mr. Maudgal was Chief Marketing Officer for Hindalco Industries Limited, an Aditya Birla Group company.
He built and led the company’s marketing depart­ment, led the European due diligence process dur­ing Hindalco’s acquisition of Novelis in 2007, and served as a member of the executive leader­ship team in setting strategic direction. In addition, he is a member of the Aditya Birla Group’s Business Review Councils for Grasim Vis­cose Fiber and Ultratech’s Birla White Cement.
Mr. Maudgal holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in chemi­cal engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and a Master’s degree in Busi­ness Administration from the Indian Institute of Manage­ment, Calcutta. Recently he sat down with Dr. Lakhvin­der Singh, Managing Editor of Asia-Pacific Business and Technology Report. Here are excerpts of the interview.

Novelis is one of the biggest aluminum producing companies in the world. What makes the company so successful? What are the vision and values of the company?
Novelis is the global leader in rolled alu­minum products and the largest recycler of aluminum in the world. While there are a number of factors driving our success, what really sets Novelis apart in the market is the combination of our global footprint, ad­vanced technology and superior expertise.
Novelis is the only industry player with the capability to produce premium rolled aluminum products on all four major indus­trialized continents – Asia, Europe, North and South America. We are well positioned to support our global customers with high-quality products and service wherever they do business and pursue future growth. The advanced material science and engineering technology behind our products is our key competitive advantage, fueling the design and development of innovative products. Our highly-focused business model that le­verages our manufacturing excellence and expertise delivers higher value in premium product markets.
Novelis is also a growing company. Sever­al expansion plans are underway to increase our rolling capacity globally in response to the growing demand for our products. We are also investing in recycling expansions globally to increase the recycled content across all our products. It is noteworthy that our growth strategy has a strong foun­dation based on sustainability. Our vision is to remain as the market leader in high-end products and in sustainability

Professor Woo Jo Kim is head of the depart­ment of Indian Studies in Hankuk University in Seoul, Korea. She has a Ph.D. in Hindi lit­erature from Visva Bharati University in West Bengal, India. Considered to be one of the most versatile scholars of Indian studies in Ko­rea, Professor Woo is the author of many books, with some of her most famous works including ‘Korean Hindi Dictionary’ (2008), ‘Communalism in India’ (2006) and ‘Indian Women: Myth and Reality’ (2004).
With a career spanning more than 30 years Prof. Woo commands respect and au­thority matched by very few among Korean scholars on Indian studies. In an exclusive interview with Dr. Lakhvinder Singh she gives her view on a wide range of issues facing India-Korea relations. Here are some excerpts of the interview.

Thank you for your time. First of all, we’d like to know about your association with the university. When did you start here? How long is your experience and how do you feel about your job?

I was one of the first students who start­ed studying the Hindi language in South Korea. It was back in 1972. Our Hindi de­partment was established at Hankuk Uni­versity of Foreign Studies in 1971. I studied a four year BA program there and then went to India, where I studied for two years at a central institute for Hindi, followed by two years at Jawaharlal Nehru University and then five or six years in Visva Bharati Uni­versity. My Ph.D. dissertation was on Chhay­avaad Hindi romanticism, and during my research work, I started teaching Hindi and Indian literature and Indian culture in this university from 1981 onward. So it’s been more than 30 years.

Mr. Park Young Sun is the mayor of Guri City in Gyeonggi province, South Korea. After graduating from Kongju National Teachers College, he joined the Korean diplomatic service and served the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in various capacities.

Dr Latham, CEO at the Institute for Contemporary Studies and speaker at many conferences, has had extensive experience as consultant to governments and organizations on different issues. She gives BT her view on Corporate Social Responsibility.

 

Q: In our contemporary world people are expecting much of corporations and corporations do understand that. CSR is one of the ways in which corporations are reacting to the new obligations expected of them in the context in which they operate. How do you see this phenomenon?

A: I think it is a very interesting phenomenon which is a result of an increased level of awareness of our collective responsibility as human beings coupled with the fact that the world has become a global village. Fundamentally contributing to this is of course modern technology. The IT Revolution has made the world more connected than ever before, making information available at the click of a mouse or fingertip. We now not only can hear about situations, we can also see situations on our TVs and mobile phones all day long; anyone can produce information and send images the world round, and as the saying goes, “One image is thousand times stronger than words”. Secondly, the continuous development of social media as a consequence of the IT revolution has brought with it exposure of everyone to everyone. Though in itself a positive development, it has its downsides: one is no longer master over one’s situation. Not only individuals but also corporations have become vulnerable in this sense. Many countries are therefore putting privacy laws in place. As a result of being able to see and hear everything in the world and to connect, to speak out, via social media and participating on Youtube and Facebook, etc., the level of consciousness of what is happening around the globe has taken a leap forward and thus also one’s conscience; the call to be responsible and accountable for one’s action as a corporation cannot be denied and corporations do understand that. So they are responding, some even pro-actively to this “revolution of exposure”.

David Roodman is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. Roodman has been the architect and manager of the Commitment to Development Index since the project’s inception in 2002. The Index ranks the world’s richest countries based on their dedication to policies that benefit the 5 billion people living in poorer nations; it is widely recognized as the most compre hensive measure of richcountry policies to wards the developing world.

Roodman’s widely praised book Due Diligence confronts questions about the impacts of microfinance and how it should be supported. he wrote the book through a pathbreaking Microfinance Open Book Blog, where he shared questions, discover ies, and draft chapters.

Roodman previously worked at the Worldwatch Institute, where he wrote three monographs on environmental is sues, and one on debt, titled ‘Still Waiting for the Jubilee: Pragmatic Solutions for the Third World Debt Crisis’. he authored the book ‘The Natural Wealth of Nations: har nessing the Market for the Environment’, and he graduated magna cum laude from harvard College with a degree in theoreti cal mathematics.

Can you please introduce us to the center for Global Development? what is the main mandate of the center? Please tell us about the recent main projects undertaken by the center.

The Center for Global Development (CGD) works to reduce global poverty and inequality through rigorous research and active engagement with the policy commu nity to make the world a more prosperous, just, and safe place for us all. CGD conducts independent, highquality research and analysis on a wide range of topics related to how rich country policies impact people in the developing world. These include: aid effectiveness, education, globalization, health, migration, and trade.

Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan was sworn in as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh on November 29, 2005. He essayed the role of star campaigner for Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in the elections to 13th Vidhan Sabh On December 12, 2008 Shri Chouhan took the oath o the office of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister for the second time in Bhopal. Shivraj Singh Chouhan is a gold medalist in M.A. (Philosophy) from the Barkatullah University, Bhopa A humanitarian by nature, he has been organizing religious and cultural activities and seminars for many years. Mr. Chouhan is a low profile leader who has always remained a grass root politician even after occupyin the top post in the state. He himself assiduously cultivated his image as the common man’s chief minister, describing himself as one among them, a farmer’s son.

Below are excerpts of the interview Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan had with Dr. Lakhvinder Singh, managing editor of Asia-Pacific Business and Technology Report, during his recent visit to Korea to promote Invest Madayah Pradesh 2012.