The Great Universe And The Big Bang

Kim Woo Choong, father of Daewoo (Korean for ‘Great Universe’), founded the company in 1967. Before building the global empire, Kim Woo Choong worked in a shipyard. Daewoo got a shot in the arm after the rigid Korean government became liberal and decided to grant cheap loans against potential exports. Subsequently, Daewoo attained global scale with the help of numerous JVs. The company became one of the quintessential Korean chaebols with product offerings ranging from consumer electronics to automobiles to telecommunications to construction and much more. Ironically, it was Daewoo’s very appetite for faster growth that proved to be its undoing. It underwent major expansions, due to which its debt crossed $16 billion in 1999. Its strategy of entering immature and risky markets like Vietnam didn’t pay off . To add to this, it started selling products at very low prices to gain market share. The South Asian crisis of 1997-98 further disturbed Daewoo’s health. Daewoo also got into trouble in the Indian auto sector. The killer, though, was financial mismanagement and corrupt corporate governance. In 2000, Daewoo’s assets were put on sale. After two years of negotiations, GM finally acquired Daewoo Motors. However, neither Choong who took only two days off in a span of three decades nor anyone else had expected this early end to Daewoo.

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Source IIPM-Editorial,2006

Apple iPod departs from US!

After failed attempts to curb Steve Jobs’s iconic iPods from selling like hot cakes in the US market, Singapore-based Creative Technology – another digital music player manufacturer – has decided to play it like the sly-guy. Apple’s rival has now gone to the US judiciary over a patent issue which according to it, has been infringed upon by Apple. According to the complaint lodged, Apple’s iPod has infringed on a patent pertaining to the MP3 player menu.

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IIPM Research and Publication

There are hundreds of thousands of other Mohapatras who are discontented, with the manner in which their claims are scrapped, notwithstanding the huge sums spent on insurance policies and premiums. A Consumer VOICE nation-wide study of 12 life, and 11 general insurance companies, unearths the fact that none of the companies can actually pride themselves over a satisfied customer base.

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Source IIPM-Editorial,2006

'Exit Poll'

Soon after, the brand ‘exit poll’ lost its credibility with the consumer. Failure to gauge the mood of the nation stretches further back than the last general elections; in fact, the last four exit polls were all miserable failures, the last being the worst example. While one of the alibis to this remarkable oversight is that advertisers are no longer interested, the real reason may be that despite the likely turnout in states like West Bengal and Kerala, most news channels are wary of antagonising the powers-that-be at the Centre by rocking the boat.

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Source IIPM-Editorial,2006