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ContentsABOUT US

OUR TEAM

BRAND ANALYSIS

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

EVENT REPORT

CONCEPT OF THE MONTH

CASE ANALYSIS

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OUR PRESENCE

ABOUT US

VISION

The SIMCON - SIMSREE consulting club is an initiative started in 2012 for those students in pursuit of excellence in management consulting and strategic management. Aimed at creating awareness among the students about consultancy as a discipline, the club strives to maintain strong relations with top consultancy firms and provide platform to craft highly skilled & competent consultants from SIMSREE. The club is a resource for information about consulting and a place for students to obtain real-world consulting experience.

SIMCON provides an avenue of interaction among faculty, students and alumni through competitions, live projects, guest lectures, and conclaves. For this purpose the club has also been publishing its monthly newsletter – BEACON (BE A CONSULTANT) and maintains a FACEBOOK PAGE where latest news and development in the consulting industry are posted.

MISSIONTo create awareness amongst the students about consulting industry & its latest trends.

To maintain strong relations with top consultancy firms.

To provide platform to craft highly skilled & competent consultants from SIMSREE.

To provide exposure to students via competitions, live projects, guest lectures & conclaves.

Contributions invited:To make this feature a successful effort, we seek continued involvement and contribution from our readers, that is YOU. We invite articles, research papers, and trivia on themes related to consulting. Be it industry news, consulting trends, a joke, a cartoon or feedback, we are eager to hear from you. So go ahead, do your research, pen down your thoughts and mail your entries to simcon.simsree@gmail.com.

Best Regards,SIMCON - SIMSREE CONSULTING CLUB

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OUR TEAM

ARPIT agrawal

ASHAY DHURI

HUZEFA BODABHAIWALA

KARAN CHOPRA

NAMAN CHANDAK

praCHI KORE

SARANG KULKARNI

YOGESH MOHATA

OUR TEAM

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OUR TEAM

ADITYA SINGAL

JASPRIT TANEJA

APURVA GHUTUKADE

MANGESH LAVTE

NIRANJAN SATAM

PRIYANKA HEGDE

SWAPNESH SAWANT

VIDHI THAKKER

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INSURANCEINDUSTRY ANALYSIS

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OverviewThe insurance industry in India consists of 52 companies in all

• Life Insurance (24)

• General (Non-Life) Insurance (28)

On 6th January 2000, the President of India gave his assent to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Bill, which enabled opening up of the insurance sector to private players.

Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015 has provisioned for increasing the Foreign Investment Cap in an Indian Insurance Company from 26% to 49% with the safeguard of Indian Ownership and Control.

History

Segments of the industry

Distribution Channels and other intermediaries

• Intermediaries involved in distribution of insurance products are agents, brokers, web aggregators, Common Service Centers.

• Intermediaries like surveyors and loss assessors are involved in claim assessment of general insurance.

• Specialized intermediaries for health services called Third Party Administrators (TPAs) operate in Health insurance for issuance of policy cards,

for organizing cash less treatment facility through network of hospitals, handling and settlement of claims.

• Insurance Repositories are intermediaries introduced recently to electronically maintain data of insurance policies for ease in storage, retrieval and servicing of insurance policies

Insurance Ombudsman

• Grievance redressal mechanism is provided for in the insurance sector through the institution of Insurance Ombudsman set up under the Redressal of Public Grievance Rules, 1998.

• Complaints that can be taken are partial or complete repudiation of claims and delay in settlement, non-issuance of policy, dispute relating to premium and interpretation of clauses in relation to claim.

• If not satisfied, the policyholder may ignore the award and go to the court, consumer forum etc., and if the customer consents, the insurer has to implement the award unless it chooses to approach Court.

Market SizeThe life insurance sector in India grew from $ 10.5 billion in FY-02 to $ 61.78 billion in FY-15. In this period, the premium collected in life insurance expanded at a CAGR of 14.7%.

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The general insurance market grew from $ 2.6 billion in FY-02 to $ 13.9 billion in FY-15. In this period, the premium collected in non-life insurance expanded at a CAGR of 13.8%. The number of policies issued grew from 43.6 million in FY-03 to 126 million in FY-15, at a CAGR of 9.2%

Insurance density in India grew from 3.57 in FY-05 to 11.23 in FY-15 at a CAGR of 12.1%. Insurance penetration was 3.3% in FY15.

India is the biggest life insurance sector in the world with close to 360 million policies. India’s insurance market is expected to grow 4 times in terms of premium collected in the next decade. During this time, life insurance market is deemed to cross $160 billion. India's Insurance industry intends to reach penetration level of 5% by 2020.

India currently accounts for less than 1.5% of the world’s total insurance premiums and about 2% of the world’s life insurance premiums in spite of being the second most populous country. It is the 15th largest insurance market across the globe with respect to premium volume.

Drivers for the Insurance IndustryImproving Consumer interest in insurance & healthcare

Healthcare facilities have improved with the cutting-edge technology but so have the costs. It seems a sensible choice to be insured to account for any such future expenses. With a huge percentage of working

age population with disposable income, it also acts as a tax-saving financial instrument.

“Premium collected by Indian insurers is 3.30% of GDP in FY 2014-15”

- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority

Insurance & Manufacturing sectors on the way up

The ‘Make in India’ initiative will boost the manufacturing sector for all the industries. Consequently, this will make the stakeholders insure their cargo and properties. The infrastructure includes the construction of various amenities and facilities like dams, highways and the likes. Despite a gloomy global outlook, India has managed to maintain a good market sentiment in the infrastructure sector.

Travel Industry Upbeat

The tourism industry has benefited a lot with a weakened Dollar and other currencies. More people than ever are considering foreign destination for vacations. This complements the insurance sector since every leg of travel and stay is insured including the flights and other means of transportation. The passenger traffic is surging in the upward path thus improving the prospects of the insurance industry.

Auto Industry Insurance Surge

Insurance covers for all vehicles is not a new factor contributing however it is worth noting that recent flooding events in Chennai caused a spike in the insurance claims. However, it also made automobile owners run for insurance cover to account for natural calamities.

Additionally, the insurance industry caters to an ever increasing market of automobiles in India.

FDI up from 26% to 49%

Effective May 2015, the government liberalized FDI

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in the insurance sector from the then existing 26% to 49%. This substantial increase in the capital foreign investors can pump into the Indian market will definitely benefit this sector given how capital-intensive it gets.

“According to IRDAI, the total FDI in insurance sector as on March 31, 2015, was about Rs.8,031 crore.”

- ASSOCHAM

Major Players in the Insurance IndustryLife Insurance Corporation of India has a lion’s share in the pie. A 69% market despite numerous players The comprehensive list of life and non-life insurers

can be accessed at below link:

2014

)Crore(

2015

)Crore(

2016

)Crore(

LIC 1656 1823 2518

ICICI Prudential 1566 1634 1650

Bajaj Allianz 1024 876 878

SBI Life Insurance 740 820 861

HDFC Life Insurance 725 785 818

United India Insurance 527 300 200

Birla Sun Life 370 285 140

Reliance Nippon LifeInsurance 358 135 197

Max Life Insurance 435 414 439

List of Life & Non-Life InsurersPAT for major players (Source: respective annual reports)

*As per section 28 of LIC Act, 1956, 95% of the profits are returned to policy holders through bonuses effectively meaningthe profits on the P&L statement are 5% of the actual

has been strongly based on its brand and credibility as a representative of the government.

The non-life insurers’ market is an altogether different story with private players dominating up to a very

large extent.

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News & DevelopmentsFDI limit hiked up to 49% from existing 26%

Paving way for FIIs to invest in India, the government has taken another step towards progress. With a substantial capital inflow, the insurance sector can definitely attract more takers with innovative schemes and improved services ensuring the incumbent leaders do not slack up.

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana

As an initiative to improve insurance penetration, Government of India introduced the above scheme wherein for a nominal premium of Rs.12 per annum, an individual is insured for maximum sum of Rs.2 lakh.

Health Insurance Probability

Though not a latest update, this policy update has remarkable implications with the consumer benefited in terms of service provided by insurers. All insurers must allow credit gained by the customer for existing conditions (sum assured, premiums, waiting period, etc.) if consumer decides to switch the insurance company or the plan.

IRDA (Issuance of Capital by General Insurance Companies) regulation, 2012

This amendment provides for an insurance company operating for more than 10 years to raise capital through IPOs subject to fulfilling other prerequisites.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Existing Competitive Rivalry

With 52 players in the arena, the competition has heated up with the consumer having multiple choices to choose from. Though LIC of India has the majority

of the market share and despite any unlikely changes in the incumbent’s outreach, the private players are coming up with innovative schemes to attract the customers.

Threat of Substitutes

Though there exist a limited number of competitors, the threat of substitution is substantial since the insurance products are evenly matched in almost all aspects. It becomes easy for the consumer to switch insurers if he does not continue to see value for his investments. This threat is compounded by the fact that the regulator facilitates such a move called “porting”

Bargaining Power of Customers

The customer is indeed the king here since he has tremendous bargaining power in terms of the customizations he needs and the options he has. Insurers today have agents servicing individual customer requirements. This has made insurance easily accessible to anyone.

Bargaining Power of Supliers

Suppliers here are the insurance distributors/agents. They tend to have a lower bargaining power than the customers partly because volume of policies is an important target. Competitors only make it more difficult for them to hold any kind of advantage with the insurance companies since policies can be

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substituted easily. With the advent of E-Commerce, insurance can be obtained without any interaction with agents. This is another roadblock the suppliers face reducing their weightage since insurance companies utilize these alternative modes of communications which are easier and cheaper.

Threat of New Competitors

Licensing and regulations are strictly enforced by IRDA making it a not-so-easily-accessible market for private players to enter. An organization with enough financial backing and a brand name can establish itself but despite liberalization since 1991, very little has changed in this industry with LIC of India being the most trusted and go-to brand.

Investments in Insurance Sector• Aegon has increased its investment in Aegon

Religare Life Insurance Company Ltd. from 26% to 49%

• Japan’s Nippon Life Insurance increased its stake in Reliance Life from 26% to 49% in a deal worth Rs.2265 crore with total stake valued at Rs.8630 crore.

• Bupa group raised its stake in Max India Life Insurance from 26% to 49% in a deal worth Rs.207 crore.

• France’s AXA invested Rs.1290 cr in Bharti AXA Insurance increasing its stake by 23% to 49%

ConclusionThe insurance industry as we have today is dominated by LIC of India. It would definitely be a Herculean task to displace it off the pedestal as its firmly placed due to the legacy it carries and the people outreach it has. Private players will find it difficult to sustain in such choppy waters. The only approach as of now they can adopt is to fend off the competition before even considering to take on the industry leader.

From consumer perspective, the options have increased and improved with customizations available to suit individual requirements. This coupled with an

augmenting penetration of insurance for has ensured this sector progresses with time. It’s a bright outlook to this industry despite the trying times for the world economy with a sluggish growth.

ReferencesIRDAI Annual Report 2014-2015, Insurance Sector in India - IBEF, Indian Insurance Market, Insurance Trends - policybazaar.com, Insurance Industry – Challenges, reforms and realignment (E&Y), CRISIL – ASSOCHAM Insurance Report

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BATABRAND ANALYSIS

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Introduction

Bata brand known for well-made and well-priced footwear, clothing and accessories, was founded in 1894 in Zlín,  Moravia by Tomáš Bata, his brother Antonín and his sister Anna. Its headquarters is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.  Bata succeeded in becoming one of Europe’s leading shoe manufacturers in just a few decades, due to smart entrepreneurship and competitive pricing. In the early 1930s, the company was present in Switzerland, Germany, England, France, Yugoslavia, Poland, India and the Netherlands. By 1960, Bata employed about 42,000 employees owned thousands of companies and factories in almost every continent. It was one of the few manufacturers to sell its products all over the world. In 1970, Bata Industrials was founded to meet a specific demand for footwear for professionals. Since then, Bata Industrials has evolved to become a designer, producer, and marketer of safety footwear and socks, targeting the professional end user markets. At present, Bata Industrials is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of this type of footwear. It operates four business units worldwide- Bata Europe, Bata Emerging Markets, Bata Branded Business and Bata North America.

Bata World-Wide

Bata has recorded its presence in more than 70 countries with over 5000 stores. The 28 production units are spread across 18 countries. Bata serves more than 1 million customers every day.

Bata Enters India

Product Portfolio

Bata’s vision is “To make great shoes accessible to everyone!” It offers footwear for all age groups. It has over 2500 styles of footwear & accessories. Bata’s portfolio includes Boots, Formal Shoes, Casual Shoes, Sandals, Bags, Belts and Wallets for men; Closed Shoes, Sandals, Head Over Heels, Clutches, Scarves, Handbags for women & school shoes for kids.

Competitors

The footwear market in India is highly unorganized with many local brands still dominating the market. Paragon & Relaxo are the brands with lower product

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prices & targeting the masses. Brands like Nike, Adidas and Reebok are the most famous in the metro cities and urban India. In the formal shoe market, Red Tape & Lee Cooper are leading brands. Puma is the fastest growing shoe brand in India.

Advertising Vintage BATA AdsIn 1929, Bata ads were simple and straight forward. It contained little more than two shoes with their price mentioned along with the name of the company. By 1935, not much was changed with the ads being simple

of Marie Claire and Power Athletics ads appealing to aerobics fans of the era.

For a few years, Bata did not come up with any effective promotional campaigns. They did not advertise for a long time. Considering the rising competition and behaviour of customers it was necessary for Bata to get into advertising. Advertising was needed to create top of the mind awareness not only to attract new customers, but also to retain their old customers. For example, a Bata customer might want to buy Relaxo slipper because of the advertisements or the models used to display it. Bata had to put in more

on repeated exposure and take advantage of various mediums to do the same.

Marketing Campaigns “Where Life Meets Style”- Spring-Summer 2014 Marketing CampaignBata India launched its new marketing campaign “Where Life Meets Style” in March 2014 for its entire range of footwear, bags, glasses and accessories. The campaign featured a 360-degree multimedia integration of TV commercials, cinema, print, radio, and innovative outdoor, promotions, events and digital platforms. The T.V commercial aired across channels had been shot to capture a slice-of-life situation in the lives of people through the focus on footwear. It used a unique technique of depicting real life moments by showing the actions only from the knee down. It included a group of students eagerly

and direct connecting with the consumers. Some changes were made which were socially acceptable like the depiction of more personal moments, such as a woman in her bedroom sleeping on a comfortable pair of Bata slippers. These ads appeared in ladies magazines at times. After the Second World War, advertising undergone major changes and Bata kept up with it. In 1948, Bata came up with a Swiss ad featuring a kitten popping out of the top of a boot. In 1960, Bata exploded the global market, adding many sales outlets and factories all over the world. In the 1960s the ad industry shifted its focus to more youthful markets. Bata incorporated photography into its ads to attract the younger generations.

During 1970s, Bata was at the forefront of fashion both in terms of product styles and presentation of its ads of chunky, platform shoes and psychedelic colours. In 1980s, Bata’s focus was to promote lifestyle branded products and came up with a series of campaigns like the almost futuristic, high-tech look

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looking at their exam results, colleagues watching a cricket match and young girls enjoying their ‘day out’. The film showcases the leading brands in their latest styles. The new campaign emphasizes fashion and comfort of Bata shoes. It is a remarkable milestone in Bata’s journey.

“Have we met”- Campaign for shoe-loversBata tied up with Digital agency Section to launch a digital campaign ‘Have we met’ around the theme of nostalgia. It includes a microsite to extend online dedicated engagement and reach to reconnect with younger customers. It also has a short film that enacts the reunion of two lost friends through a pair of shoes. Section developed a digital platform for users

Repositioning

Bata had initially positioned itself as a family store for all footwear and related products. Bata became a need brand as it positioned itself as providing products catering to the needs of the middle class sections of the society. Bata was loved by everyone in the family. The brand had something for every member of the household.

It came up with new brands like Marie Claire, Hush Puppies and North Star. Bata was known as a manufacturing company which produced footwear and sold them. It wanted to change its image from a manufacturing company to a marketing company.

It wanted to be placed in the market as a fashion conscious and lifestyle brand. It decided to become more visible in shopping malls and create a shop-in-shop experience in multi-branded stores. The company also introduced international brands like Scholl, Marie Claire, Bubble gummers, POWER, and North Star.

During the last few years, Bata has focused on the modernisation of factories & manufacturing processes. Bata stores are being renovated to provide world class store ambience & delightful shopping experience. Bata plans to open 30 new retail stores, 30 new franchise stores & 5 destination stores with kid’s playing area, food court etc. every year. To

to share a personal message to a friend and select a pair of their preferred Bata shoe. It helps individuals relive memories and reconnect with one another.

Bata Club

Bata Club is a loyalty program which offers great rewards and privileges. Customers need to register their names & phone numbers to become a member. With every purchase at Bata stores, points equal to bill amount get added to the account which you can redeem at next purchase with Bata. Few other benefits include new registration bonus, Birthday bonus, Member’s sale day & Special products in store at exclusive prices for members. The Bata club has approx. 6.7 million members & is growing rapidly.

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leverage the exponential growth of e-commerce Bata started with e-commerce division. Along with online business, e-commerce division focuses on tie-ups with reputed companies & banks like HDFC, Samsung, Spice Jet, State Bank of India etc. to increase the brand awareness & customer database. The launch of new Bata mobile application has strengthened its e-commerce business. Bata blog is a style inspiration for the young audience & a channel for online surveys & feedbacks.

Online Presence

Apart from its vast offline presence, Bata is present online through its website bata.in and has its own delivery channel ‘Bata Home’. It has various categories ranging from women’s section to men’s, section for kids and different brands such as Angry Birds, Hush Puppies, marie claire, Sunshine and many more. The company has tie-ups with e-commerce sites such as Snapdeal, Jabong, Junglee and Rediff. In 2014-2015, its multi-channel business has performed very well and is expected to continue the same with its products and service. To facilitate the shopping ease, M-wallet service has been launched. The company website www.bata.in has been re-launched where customers can now their favourite products on social media. The company also came with ‘Click and

Collect’ where customers can shop online and get their products delivered to the local Bata shops, this would also help bring more customers to their shops.

Social Initiatives

Bata launched ‘Bata Children’s Program’ (BCP) in 2010 to help disabled children in the communities where Bata is present. It has adopted schools in their areas of operations as a part of this initiative. It has carried more than 100 initiatives in 22 countries. Computer labs are set up at BCP schools in Bataganj and Gurgaon and were able to reach out to 150 girls. It also came up with Each One Teach One campaign where volunteers dedicate four to six hours every month to teach both curricular extra-curricular activities to underprivileged children. BCP came up with Each One Feed One campaign with The Akshaypatra Foundation, where the employees were requested to donate Rs 750 and with this, they provided meals to 200 underprivileged children. Other initiatives include Book Wall Campaign, Donation of fans in schools, Health check- ups, Infrastructure improvement in BCP schools.

STP AnalysisSegmentationSegmentation involves finding out what kinds of consumers with different needs exist.

Based on Demographics

The demographic factors are age, Income, gender & occupation. Bata offers products mainly to men & woman above the age of 14, with limited products for school kids.

Based on psychographic factors

Personal Activities like hobbies, social events (marathon), sports, shopping and Personal interests like fashion, styles are considered in psychographic factors. Bata being the mother brand covers all these segments in their portfolio.

TargetTarget customer of Bata includes Price conscious

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India with its relentless efforts continues to be the market leader.

References

Bata, Bata India Ltd. Annual report 2015-16, Bata- Global, Marketing Interactive

middle-class families, youth looking for affordable & trendy products. It targets all the age groups & has something for every member of the family, i.e. men, women & kids.

PositionPositioning is done in order to locate the brand in the minds of the customers. The positioning is done with respect to the brand and product portfolio. Bata positions itself as a brand that offers comfortable footwear & stylish accessories for the entire family at an affordable price.

SWOT Analysis

The government of India has now allowed 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the footwear manufacturing industry, the proposed reduction in excise duty on rubber sheets for soles & heels from 12.5& to 6%. Such steps by the government are beneficial for sector growth. Rapid change in lifestyle creates huge potential for footwear industry & Bata

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OLACASE STUDY

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Introduction to case

Ola is India’s first and largest aggregator of cabs,it is the result of brainstorming idea of 2 IITians Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati. They set up the firm in January 2011 with its operation limited to Mumbai only. Now it is the largest cab-booking service provider in India and provides service in around 100 cities .

Ola translates to ‘Hello’ in Spanish. Probably to indicate that their services are as easy and friendly as that, just like saying a ‘hello’.

Ola integrates car transportation within the city onto a technology platform, ensuring convenient, transparent and quick service fulfillment for the customers and driver partners. Customers can access Ola on the web, through the mobile app or through the customer service centre.

But Journey of Ola cabs was never so easy as there were many challenges thrown by Uber. This is because Uber is a San Francisco based taxi aggregator valued at $40 bn as compared Ola valuation of $2.5 bn. Uber has a war chest of $1.5 billion for international expansion and has committed $400million to grow and expand its services in India.

Challenges faced by Ola

Failed Ad Campaign

Creating brand awareness is crucial during initial phase of any product. Ola’s initial offline “ChaloNiklo” brand campaign did not get desired results. It did not utilize social media to target right audience.

Surge Pricing

The reason given by aggregators for surge pricing is more demand. However It was believed the drivers may be playing the system. Drivers concentrate in one location, switch off their app, and create artificial scarcity. They use the second phones to keep track on the rising prices. Once the surge begins, they log back again.

Customer Complaints

Drivers are the face of the company and hence their misbehavior directly affects the brand image. Hence training them and teaching them to use technology was a major challenge.Further safety and quality of service was important. Following was the tweet made by one of ola’s customer expressing inconvenience caused due to  Ola Cab’s personnels service.

Recovery strategyHashtag Campaigns

Ola Cabs’ topical and continuous use of the hashtag has enabled it to become one of the most well known radio cab brands on social media according to a

report by Simplify360. Along with catchy hashtag campaigns, their association with popular events is also another reason for their high popularity among social media users. For example, Ola ran the #AccesstoArmin campaign during Armin van Buuren’s performance at this year’s A State of Trance.

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Mobile App Awareness

• Facebook has designed a customized mobile

specific methodology by the name ‘App Analytics’, that enables apps to track and measure performance. It enabled Ola to track its performance and make informed decisions about reaching their customers.

• Olacabs is run by Mumbai-based ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd. Of the total, around four-fifths of the bookings come from mobile.

• The meteoric growth of Ola cabs is due to intensive use of high technology, namely use of Google maps, fully automated operations, New security features in Apps ,Use of data analytics software, ease of payment (using OlaMoney), tie-ups with clubs, sponsoring events.

Customer Centric Approach

For any company to perform well it’s Customer satisfaction Index should always be on higher side. Ola followed below mentioned principles for the same-

• Immediate acknowledgment of the mistake gives relief to the frustrated client.

• A genuine apology from the company

increases an opportunity of getting a second chance from the dissatisfied client.

• For winning the trust of a dissatisfied client, understanding of the damage caused is important.

• Creativity hitting the direct cause help in converting frustrated client into Brand Advocate.

• Customer’s tweet :-

Ola’s response:-

The other differentiators of Ola

• Convenience - “Book within seconds and get instant confirmations. Easy online payments or cash on delivery. Booking car rentals will never be a headache again!”

• Quality - “Our cars are audited for cleanliness, safety and comfort. Our drivers are well trained and reliable. Sit back and enjoy the Ola experience!”

• Control- “ We have clear and transparent pricing listed online. Never haggle with drivers again on payments and be confident and assured of what you are being charged for!”

• Further Taxi for Sure was acquired by Ola for $200 million i.e., Rs 1200 crore in March 2015 (Business Standard Reporter, 2015).

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Number Crunch

• Ola's revenue is growing at an average of 30% month on month (fastest in its league) and at least 2000 cars get added on the platform every month pan-India.

• Over 70% of the bookings come through the mobile app! The rest significantly comes through the call centre and a small number via the website.

• Ola has raised ~$70mn through venture capital funds and has prestigious investors like Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, Steadview Capital and Sequoia Capital on board.

Global Examples and Success Stories

• Lyft is a privately held, San Francisco-based American transportation network company. The company's mobile-phone application facilitates peer-to-peer ride sharing by enabling passengers who need a ride to request one from available "community drivers".

• BlaBlaCar is a French startup building a community marketplace that connects drivers with empty seats to passengers looking for a ride. Car owners and ride-seekers sign up as members of BlaBlaCar much like a social network.

• Sidecar is a Transportation Network Company that connects people for shared rides with operations based in San Francisco.

Will Ola succeed or fail in the long run, only time would tell us. Till then, we say, “Ole, Ole, Ola!”

(PS - Ole: A Spanish word used as a shout of approval, triumph, or encouragement)

References

SDMIMD | Honoring a Commitment, Digital Marketing Training courses, Delhi School of Internet Marketing, Chandigarh Institute of International Marketing, Yourstory, Indian Advertising Media and Marketing News, Analytics India Magazine

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BUG BOUNTYCONCEPT OF THE MONTH

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Concept of the Month – Bug Bounty

A Bug Bounty program is a challenge offered by companies for reporting bugs and security lacunae with their website or software. The individuals who point out the vulnerabilities are recognised and awarded with monetary prizes. Such programs ensure that the company identifies and looks into the issues before it gets exposed publicly.Bug bounty programs have been implemented by giants like Apple, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Reddit etc.

Origination and History

The original ‘Bugs Bounty’ program was created by an employee of the Netscape Communications named Mr. Jarrett Ridlinghafer. Mr. Ridlinghafer recognized people who were interested in finding the bugs in different browsers and discovered that many of those were software engineers who were fixing the bugs and publishing them on the ‘Netscape U-FAQ’ website or on the news forums along with the workarounds of these bugs.Ridlinghafer thought that the company should leverage these valuable resources and drafted out a proposal for the 'Netscape Bugs Bounty Program'. The first official 'Bugs Bounty' program was launched in the year 1995 and turned out to be a huge success.

Bug Bounties

Some of the Notable Bug bounty programs in the recent years are as follows:

Facebook started paying researchers who reported

security bugs by issuing them custom branded ‘White Hat’ debit cards that can be loaded with funds every time the researchers discover new vulnerabilities.

In 2014, Facebook stopped issuing the debit cards.Since it launched in 2011, Facebook has awarded  around $4.3 million to a little more than 800 researchers. The Facebook bug bounty program determines the payout based on the level of a bug's risk than its complexity. In the year 2015, total amount of $936,000 was rewarded to 210 researchers with an average payout of $1,780. Recently, a 10 year student from Helsinki has become the youngest recipient of a $10,000 award under the program, after he found vulnerability into the photo sharing application – Instagram.

United Airlines announced a bug bounty program where the reward was given in the form of ‘free air miles’. The reward was based on the basis of the complexity of the bug. It did not include the flaws found on aircraft such as avionics or in-flight wifi. Also, the regulations stated that the researcher should not disclose the flaws to public or any third party.Google announced a major change to its ongoing Vulnerability Reward Program in the year 2013. Previously, it used to cover Google products in its program but the new program was expanded to include high-risk free software applications and libraries primarily designed for networking or low-level operating system functionality. Reward amounts for qualifying bugs range from $100 to $20000. Microsoft and Facebook partnered in 2013 for

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providing financial support to The Internet Bug Bounty - a program designed to offer rewards for reporting hacks and bugs for a wide range of softwares. The softwares covered by the program include Adobe Flash, Nginx, Ruby PHP, Ruby on Rails, OpenSSL, Python, Perl Apache HTTP Server, Django and Phabricator. This program assisted in harnessing the collective intelligence of the security researchers to help protect valuable customer data.In 2016, US Department of Defence announced its bug bounty program known as the ‘Hack the Pentagon’ program. The program targeted public facing websites and had paired up with HackerOne – a Silicon Valley based firm who advised, operated and executed the program. The program ran for duration of 25 days and saw 1410 hackers submitting 138 legitimate reports. HackerOne promptly paid $75,000 as rewards to the researchers.

Conclusion

While the use of ethical hackers to find bugs can be very effective and organizations have been benefited with such bug bounty programs, such programs

can also be controversial. Hackers can pose a threat of exposing the vulnerability to the world if the developer organization fails to respond promptly. Also, such a program cannot completely eliminate the need of research and inspection processes.To limit this potential risk, some organizations are offering closed bug bounty programs that require an invitation. For example, Apple has limited bug bounty participation to few researchers.Bug bounty sponsors have found a way to make all the searching and failing time cost free to the software companies. Though they are in essence an extension of security testing programs and are time saving and relatively cost effective, companies should ensure effective implementation of such programs.

References

History of Bug Bounties - BugCrowd, Microsoft Security: Security Vulnerability, Hack the Pentagon Bug Bounty Cybersecurity Program: from idea to successful results – HackerOne, 10-year-old gets $10,000 bounty for finding Instagram vulnerability | Ars Technica

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MTVBRAND ANALYSIS

GUEST LECTUREEVENT REPORT

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Event Report - Guest Lecture

SIMCON organized a guest lecture by Devang Mehta, Head & Senior VP, Wealth Advisory, at BNP Paribas on 4th of September, 2016. He is the alumni of JBIMS from the 1996 batch with diploma in investment studies and has worked with top notch firms like Anand Rathi Securities and Angel Broking . The lecture revolved around the discussion on evolution of financial markets in the Indian economy. Mr. Mehta started the lecture by talking briefly about his career in finance. He then discussed about the Indian stock markets NSE and BSE, giving basic idea about the need for stock markets, how BSE started in 1855

wherein 5 stockbrokers would sit under a banyan tree in front of Town Hall in Mumbai which later shifted to Dalal Street in 1874 and became an official organization in 1875. BSE became the first stock exchange to be recognized by Indian government in 1956 under the Securities Contracts Regulation Act. In the year 1980 BSE moved to Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers at Dalal Street in Fort, Mumbai which has been home to the stock exchange till date.

Mr. Mehta then talked about the advent of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that worked as a regulator for securities market; he then talked in brief about the Demat (Dematerialized) accounts which are used to hold the shares electronically. Moving ahead, he talked about fundamental and technical analysis

of the stocks and securities listed on a stock exchange. The fundamental analysis also known as the top down approach helps relate the fundamental factors to the performance of the company, the industry or the economy and thus provides an analytical framework which helps in decision making.

On the other hand technical analysis is basically the study of the market carried out as a supplement to the fundamental analysis. It is basically the study of variation of stock price based on its demand and

supply in the market and provides a simple and inclusive picture of the price of security. Sir then discussed about the effects of stock markets on Indian economy, stating that if the stock markets do well then it creates a sense of confidence about the direction of the economy. Sir also talked about negative interests rates in ageing countries like Japan. The students found the lecture beneficial and an engaging one where they asked questions related to the topic and Mr. Mehta answered them all. We thank Mr. Devang Mehta for taking time out from his busy schedule and sharing valuable knowledge with the batch.

Key Takeaways

Fundamental and Technical analysis

The fundamental and technical analysis is carried out to predict the price of a security by studying the factors affecting the economy, industries and companies. The fundamental analysis studies the effect of economy, industry on a macro scale and

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microeconomic factors such as company’s financial condition and its management. The main objective is to determine the direction of national economy as it affects the corporate profit, investor attitudes and expectations, which thus helps in investing at right time in right security. Fundamental analysis is a three phase analysis, which includes analyzing economy, industry, and company. Economic analysis helps

assess economic situation of the nation, industry analysis is done to gain insight on prospects of a group of industries and lastly, company analysis is done to analyze financial and non-financial aspects of the company to determine whether to invest in that company or not. Fundamental analysis helps in making long term investments, spotting the right

company with valuable assets, a strong balance sheet, stable earnings, and staying power, and it also provides the good understanding of the business & also key value drivers within the company.

Technical analysis is directed towards predicting the price of a security. The price at which a buyer and seller settle a deal is considered to be the one precise figure which synthesis, weighs and finally expresses all factors, rational and irrational, quantifiable and non-quantifiable and is the only figure that counts. The most commonly used method for technical analysis is the Dow Theory. According to Charles Dow “The market is always considered as having three movements, all going at the same time. The first is the narrow movement from day to day. The second is the short swing, running from two weeks to a month or more and the third is the main movement, covering at least four years in its duration”. It states that the behavior of the stock is 90% psychological and 10% logical. The Dow Theory only determines the direction of market and not the actual stock prices or the future movements of the market.

One of the basic tools used in technical analysis is charting. It is believed that stocks follow a particular trend due to an inbuilt inertia until an opposite force created by the demand-supply changes acts upon it.