Small Wonder!

I wonder what the teacher says,
I wonder what does he explain,
I wonder when to calculate...
And when at all o hibernate,
I wonder what had made me take,
Subjects which leave me contemplate...
I wonder what would have happened to me,
if I were an illiterate..
Loads of fun and chocolate cake,
I wonder so but I guess its too late!!!

Blank Thoughts

Picked up a blank sheet today. Thought of writing something. But hey, where are my thoughts? I used to think that it's very easy to pen down something, What's the big deal in that!! Wait, let my imagination put something in order, i need some time. Now, i understand the toughness of mind of the famous writers, they don't write anything just like that. Thinking is an art and putting it on paper in black n white is a challenge. Had always wondered what's so great about writing a book or anything like a blog, etc, how is it so feasible for them to give a tangible form to their wild imagination? Its definitely not that easy. I'm still thinking what to write, so many words come to me, stay for a while, initiate a war and fly away!

I'm baffled, where to start from, a dictionary or may be a course book! I guess this is too vague an idea, I wold better come up with something sensible next time. I can understand if you got frustrated after reading all this but the purpose behind this write up was to bring to light the dilemma faced by well known writers or rather any writer. They fight so much to make sense to the world reading it. Value their efforts, appreciation is the best gift you can give them.

See you next time in another little attempt to write something...:)

Visual Merchandizing

Visual Merchandizing is one of the oldest philosophies relevant to the marketing arena. It refers to the unique practice of displaying the products in a store in order to maximize the appeal generated by the brand. Display of a product bears an effect on the final purchase of product by the consumers. The retail industry has a lot to look into this area. Allowance of FDI in retail poses many responsibilities for the existing retail stores. Big retail chains like Marks n Spencer, Pantaloons, Westside, Mores, Levis, etc. face a tough competition from pricing to distribution. Out of the four weapons present with a marketer, these retail chains can’t cherish on pricing, distribution or product aspects. So, the only zone of comfort present for exploitation among the 4 P’s is Promotion.

Visual Merchandizing is an inherent part of the promotional strategies of any firm and complements the positioning of a product. The store display in the retail market influences the buying behavior of end users and buyers in a significant way. From the exteriors to the interior setting of a shop, everything is important to convey uniqueness in the product being promoted. It has a strong message though not overt to communicate the image of the store and the brands stocked in the store.

Human psychology can be molded in favor of a brand if placed strategically in a store, which makes the product pleasant to the eyes of the visitors to the store. It is believed that an exquisite display not only affects the purchase decisions of existing customers but also adds in new fans to the club. It is a major effecter to catalyze impulsive buying behavior wherein the visitors to the stores get tempted to buy things they would not have thought of or which were never on their priority list ever. Things with an approach in their display pattern or a strategic position in the store can witness a sudden increase in demand. We study the eye movements of customers, in research, while purchasing goods, this pattern observed can actually be utilized to decipher the most prominent and lucrative place for the product.

The exteriors in a store include the window displays and store design. The use of signage has increased these days owing to the prominence of visual displays on the human psyche. The recall and registry level is high for the passersby and visitors due to the use of advanced technology like signage, etc. People may not notice a board on the same path but a signage in motion is more likely to evoke a feeling of attachment and curiosity to explore the store further. The customers might decide to enter a store only on the basis of its appearance as from outside. The items displayed or put up for sale in the windows also play heavily on the final call for purchase. The frequent promotional offers like sale up to X % or discounts or Buy 1 Get 1 Free, need proper representation in the outer windows of the store to attract the highest level of interest which would finally evoke a desire to enter the store and inquire about the product. Its only when one enters the store, the interior ambience of the store comes into picture.

The interiors to be taken into count include the quantity to be stacked, the brands to be sheltered, the positioning of the products, the fixtures and fittings used, the off-shelf displays, the store layout, use of point of sale materials. Any customer tends to inquire about the product before making the final buying decision. If the product is a high involvement product, the display would act as a complementary cover apart from the service being provided in the store. The position of fixtures and arrangement of products in the available shelf and floor space is a matter of art. The approach taken to maximize the visibility of products to an extent possible limit depends on the space available with the store. Use of tables to display promotional products separately can be one such measure where the attention can be drawn to the displayed product exclusively. It is believed that consumers tend to see those products first which are in level with their eyes and they generally start from left to right to diagnose the displays.

Product positioning in a store is as important as the branding or the positioning exercise in marketing of a product. A certain image in the minds of the customer can be elaborated by a corresponding image being depicted in a store. The hanging fixtures can for example be used to display eatables, packaged food items or even accessories. It becomes important to change the configuration of the stores as per the nature of the goods being displayed. For an accessory, like in jewellery shops security and safety are important components to be considered when planning the display.

A proper plan is chalked out to maximize the reach of the promotional measures undertaken by store on individual levels. Product assortments stocked, number of product to be displayed, etc can help increase the turnover of favorite brands. The slow moving items can be tracked to increase their recall and thus sales. The strategies of attractive displays can in a way generate unexpected responses from the customers and enlighten the latent demand in the favor of an earlier unnoticed product.

This kind of a behavior observed can be attributed to the cognitive learning model called Promotional Model :

Attention	Notice the product
Interest	Inquire about the Product
Desire	Develop an opinion
Action	Buy the Product

The model says that a consumer gets attracted to the product on exposure, he then tries to evaluate the product and the claims made by the brand, an opinion takes shape upon conformance and finally he demands the product. This decision is not solely due to need and values, but is a cumulative effect of several environmental factors at play when making a purchase in the store.

Multiple display formats are available to encourage sales and increasing competition calls for a greater attention on such small things ignored for long. Retailers would have a high interest in generating better sales by such meager changes in their display format.

Application Of Design Thinking To The Non-profit World

Design Thinking is the method of investigating ill-defined problems, acquiring information, analysing knowledge, and providing solutions in the design and planning fields. It is the ability to combine empathy, creativity and rationality for the context involved. Thus the individuals and businesses will be better able to connect with and invigorate their ideation processes and innovate. Itgives a competitive edge over others and understands that customer choice or insight is important to be successful in the present scenario. This is what Palo Alto and Calif have accepted as an applicable approach and thus planned to enter the non-profit world through IDEO, a design firm.

IDEO has people-oriented outlook which pushes them to first understand, learn and probe the user’s lifestyle, behaviour and respond in accordance with the findings. Instead of bluntly generating a hypothetical list of preferences for the consumer, they design what is asked for and serves the purpose sought by buyers.

Boosting Talent:

A fellowship program is run by IDEO.org to promote the idea of designing in non-profits. It is basically to nurture the yet unexplored talent in the workplace that needs a little polishing. The concept is that for a period of 11 months, the fellows: 5 from the non-profit world and 3 from IDEO would work together on several projects in areas of agriculture, finance, health and sanitation,etc. under the aegis of IDEO.org to achieve certain set goals in a synchronized way. The design thinking professionals would work in alignment with the pre-designed structural plan with an intention of promoting inclusive growth. Once the venture is undertaken the non-profitscan take back the learned skills with them to their own charitable world and apply to the benefit of all. They can now relate better the experiences in this exposure with the real-time problems and solve them using the strategies learned during the period.The IDEO fellows at the other hand learn some new skills and understanding from this collaboration which they can use later in their life.

Looking for the best talented, creative minds and then putting them at work together with an intention to serve the society is an explicit way to explore non-profits and integrate the social sector and design thinking in a grand way. Challenging the sleeping/lost talents and channelizing their interest helps achieve the motto of serving societal interest.

Earning more of Dignity:

An initiative of IDEO in London in association with Unilever and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor, aimed at developing a business to provide new sanitation products and services to the city people of Ghana, was launched recently. They triedfinding answers to several questions in interviews with different segments of people: old, women, labourers, teachers, physically challenged, and family heads during their way to Ghana. This was basically to understand the composition of the population they wanted to supply with better facilities and thus health. The answers sought were to be analysed and the product designed in a way that it meets the expectations and satisfies the basic demands of the people targeted.

Multitude of incredible questions were asked ranging from personal to occupational like the earnings of the household, their work culture, size of the family, what sanitation products they use currently and what are the expenses on them, do they have a toilet or not. This was to fetch a deeper understanding of their current position and expectations. One woman they talked to questioned the interviewer: Why have you come all the way from your country to ask about my toilet?

Most non-profit organizations would have said, “A toilet is good for your health, and we want to help you.” Whereas here the consultants told the woman that they were with Unilever, and they wanted to create sanitation productswhich people would be happy to buy and would also improve their health. This strategic reply provides a lot more dignity than a typical [non-profit] approach to communicate the cause of a service/activity.

Testing Ideas:

On getting the pulse of the people, IDEO would develop prototypes to be tested in real life scenario and lay out the options to be exploited.

“It doesn’t have to be a solution that’s ready to go to the market,” “Instead it’s something that acts like or looks like the experience that they’re trying to create. Theysee what works; they see what doesn’t. And they build on that.”

After ample attempts, IDEO developed a portable toilet for the Ghanaproject. Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor now runs a 6-month test for a service that rents the toilets and charges a weekly fee for waste removal. The trial started with 20 customers, who got the first month free service. Two months into the trial and all 20 customers agreed to pay for the service, and the non-profit group is still adding more customers. This pilot project provides valuable financial information to develop a business plan for the service, which IDEO dreams to deliver.

How to Run a Good Non-profit Hiring Process

In the current volatile market it’s very important to adopt an efficient hiring process

and engage  the best candidates for the senior roles that non-profits seek to fill up. The following points could be kept in mind when hiring personnel in a non-profit:

1.    Plan a search strategy, budget, and timeline:

How would you communicate the vacancy? Are you going to advertise in a newspaper, employment agency, online media or networking would do?To find the best candidates you need to be properly planned and equipped with the plan of action prior to the course of hiring. In case of internal recruitments, determine the time frame and the people who will be involved in the process, and then calculate the costs to engage them. The sooner you are ready with such a strategy the better it is for the health of future operations of the non-profit. In case there is a timeline, it can take about 90 days to find out the right candidate for a senior-level position at a non-profit. It could be 45 days minimum or maximum 6 months as per a study.

2.    Match your mission with the existing team and talent:

Many organizations hire for an expected need without any existence of actual need or analysis of strengths n weaknesses of their organization.The process of hiring a senior person is time-consuming and sometimes expensive, so using internal talent i.e. the existing members of your team you can clarify what your organization really needs. Failure of a proper assessment can lead to hiring of unwanted or repeated talent.

3.    Create a realistic compensation and benefits package:

Set an upper limit on the pay then look into non-monetary benefits thatyou can offer to attract the best candidates. Being extravagant in offering salary would not be appreciated.Try to be clear and precise and compete by not only monetary but also the other valued services like ability to work from home once or twice a week, daycare facility, extra-vacation time and education assistance, etc. A flexibility to earn additional income bydoing something apart from his or her job like allowing an employee to join a for-profit board or to do some consulting for which he could be paid, can be a success.Creatively deal with gaps in salary by offering something perceived of great value to one party andlow cost to the other.

4. Check feasibility by promoting or changing job descriptions:

The chance of blurring of the potential talent increases with the size of the organization and scope of promotion turns even tougher for a bigger and complex organization.Any good organization looks for ways to promote itself first before it looks to hire,it's good for morale and cost effective. The existing talent pool might be overlooked or the departmental heads would not be motivated enough to exhibit the best in them due to lack of incentives like promotion or recognition. So, you need to encourage them to direct the already present talent to trigger the organization’s success.

5.    Develop flexibility:

Planning and recruitment are human processes affected by many unpredictable factors. If the perfect candidate emerges early then it’s good for the non-profit and an easy sell. A long negotiation due to some trivial reason could prove to be badand expensive for the firm. A sense of balance and humour needs to be retained in such a situation as everything cannot be controlled. Instead a fair degree of flexibility maintains the focus on goal achievement and determination for success by reducing the frustration of long waiting hours.

6.    Announce the closure of the hunt professionally when done:

Extend thanks to the non-selected candidates and the ones who helped you in the selection process. There should be some space created and left for future relations, so part with a positive note of meeting again.

7.    Specify the expectations-“haves”:

An explanation as to what do you want?  A proper clarification on what is required as a must, what could be there and what is just nice to be possessed would be appreciated by the applicants and would be good for the non-profit also.Conduct an "acid test” and determine few, absolute must-have experiences or capabilities and specify thatno-compromise would be made here. Recruiters can use the qualities like degree, compensation package, etc. as absolute filters (after a careful thought)to eliminate the unfit applicants.If at all you make some mistake in segregating people into qualified and unqualified at this stage, you might lose some better talent otherwise available to the organization and thus question the quality of the search process.

8. A list of other “haves”:

­What other qualifications apart from the critical capabilities could make the candidate worth the job?Humane touch, patience, etc. are certain virtues which cannot be found from resume or qualifications. This list would help screen candidates further more logically and reach consensus on recruitments.

8.    Who would be the interviewer and what ends would he touch in the process:

Be clear about the process as to who is the person who would ask questions, what would be the areas touched, what would be the size of the panel. Do not overlap on each other’s sphere and maintain distance from other’s area of control or supervision.Three-four people asking the same question in a panel is an unstructured presentation of the non-profit’s image and might even end up selling a negative picture, frustrating the candidate or hiring the wrong person for the job. Follow a time-frame and adhere to it, decision-making power, communication, advice, negotiation is rested in whom, all on board should know Avoid redundancy in questions and number of members in the panel.

How To Reset The Funding Models In Human Service Non-profits

Owing to the financial problems everygovernment is facing,the non- profits mostly dependent on government for their funding need to revisit their funding model which is “a methodical and institutionalized approach to building a reliable revenue base to support an organization’s core programs and services."

The basis of any such funding model suggests something that has been neglected over the years i.e. the fact that most non-profits have 2 customers— the beneficiaries who earn the support and the financers who pay for the work. Generally these are not the same parties. What is required is a proper planning of funding operations of the entity as religiously as the one that is done for creating an impact on the people i.e. promoting itself via various media. A secure and careful approach to future planning can help sustain the activities of the non-profits in a fruitful way. But, this is seldom undertaken by the non-profits because major part of their energy and attention goes into the program model and not the funding model.

The conventional wisdom is that non-profits need to diversify their funding across various sources of funds— foundations, high net worth donors, small donors, corporate philanthropy, government, etc. —to grow and sustain. In majority of large non-profits, especially that with budgets of $50mn and above, it is worth focussing rather than diversifying.Large non-profits normally secure their funding from 1 primary source – government or philanthropy or individual contributions. In case of mission-driven work, a funding agency is there to value a mission to test if it is strong enough to be financed.The competence that non-profits must develop to maximize the funding from their primary source is quite different from the ones needed to maximize a number of such sources simultaneously. In practical world, the non-profit which can leverage a single source to its maximum is better off than the ones who put in efforts to draw funds from several sources at a go.

This goes well with the fact that most human service non-profits todayrely mainly on government as the natural funding agency for their social work to foster youth, homeless families, impoverished seniors, educate masses, etc. they have gained the trust and expertise to handle such government grants and also succeed in winning, managing or renewal of the contracts over a period of time.

But now the governmentis reducing funds, lowering the prices and thus making life miserable for non-profit providerswho are the Ngo "partners." Here comes the importance of other funding sources but still government resources are incomparable to any other private, individual voluntary source of funding. Still there is no plethora of private funds waiting to finance the social projects on a regular basis, so the non-profits need to review the approach of seeking government funds and for this they need to be certain about their mission which is to be conveyed to the government by its operations. The 5 traditional aspects to be considered for securing government funding are:

Government is your customer: Government enjoys power over the non-profits which are dependent on it for funds. Though there is frustration, agony, resentment, in accepting that govt. controls the destiny of the non-profits, but still a responsive, customer-oriented ethical behaviour would be appreciated and invited. The non-profits ought to treat government as their customers in the same way as they do.

Non-profitsrely on service delivery contracts with government for their success, so they need to think differently. They are the sellers thus government as a buyer has the discretion to buy or not. Considering government’s presence as a problem and not an opportunity to exploit is like ignoring the agency decision-maker’s problems for which they have no solution. They need to approach properly and understand the needs of the government agencies they are dealing with in a way similar to the business world.

Execute, plan and review carefully:The process of formulating a funding model and evaluating its performance is a complex process. It requires similar exercise of data gathering and analysis, self-assessment, priority setting, detailed planning, and sustained implementation, optimizing, asa program model needs. A proper timely review can reap success for the social entity.

Sustainable growth prospects should be real: New approach in practice is: once the non-profits acquire a good source they can resource from it and sustain their operations and growth by such renewable sources of funds. This alongside philanthropy is a new version of the traditional strategic philanthropy that has gone into providing growth capital for scaling and replicating high-performing non-profits. The source is generally assumed to be public funding which is definitely not renewable and reliable. The situation that has been faced due to recession emphasizes the need to explore all such potential available which is reliable and available even in times of scarcity. Many of the non-profits that are expanding solely on the expectations from the govt. would be left with the same operating budget shortfalls as usual.

Sensibly supplement public funding: "If you rely completely on government for your future, you are done,” so you need to find potential options outside government. Some may succeed serving beneficiaries covered by private insurance also. The reimbursements can be at better ratesthan the government, but this sudden change in the funding module in favour of private payers might call for a verification as to what could be the implications faced by the non-profit in times of different treatment protocols, billing process, shorter stay time, etc.

If 80% of an agency’s funding comes from government but 80% of the CEO’s funding work is courting philanthropists, there is something wrong with the picture, so take precautionary measures i.e. non-profit leaders need to ensure that the time they invest cultivating funding sources is roughly proportionate to their budget contributions.

Diversification within the government: The non-profits which have survived on public funding can’t just continuously keep identifying and harnessing resources from various other sources. This defocusing may not be worth the effort. Still they should diversify their funding streams across different government agencies, programs, and contracts in order to reduce their exposure to the risks inherent in relying too much on any one source.You can take services being contracted for in one jurisdiction and secure contracts to deliver the same services in adjacent jurisdictions— i.e., serve the same population in the same way but at a different place. You can even offer an integrated care service — for ex: a youth serving agency that offers intensive residential services with therapeutic foster care and other community services. This gives you a competitive advantage vis-à-vis less integrated non-profits because of the ability to offer a range of solutions to government agencies depending on client needs. The purpose in both instances is for non-profits to avoid dependence on one contract or agency so that they do not collapse if the economy turns down.