Gender diversity stays out of Indian boardrooms
The Hindu Business Line
Gender diversity at the top remains low on the agenda of Indian companies, The Hindu Business Line reports. Women on Board 2012, an online study by MyHiringClub.com and NriJobPortal.com, placed India 30th among 44 nations surveyed in terms of the number of women on company boards. Only a third of Indian companies had women directors, the study found. It covered a total of 36,542 listed companies worldwide and 1,459 in India. Among the publicly listed Indian companies, the percentage of women was 6.69, up 1.43 percent from the previous year. While more than 30 percent of employees in the Indian companies were women, only 15 percent of the female workforce occupied senior executive positions. Norway had the highest percentage of women on company boards, 37.01 percent, followed by Sweden with 26.32 percent. Saudi Arabia was ranked the lowest.

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Govt mulls fresh look at proposal on CFOs
Economic Times
The government may be having second thoughts on treating chief financial officers (CFOs) as key managerial personnel (KMP) of a corporate entity in the new Companies Bill, Economic Times reports. KMP includes those who will be held responsible for a company’s actions. The final version of the bill provides for including CFOs among the key personnel. The government may revise its stand after receiving negative feedback from companies. Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily said at an event that he had invited suggestions from industry on the inclusion of CFO in the definition of KMP. The corporate sector is opposed to the proposal, contending that CFOs do not usually participate in decisions made by boards of directors. The parliamentary standing committee on finance is expected to give its report on the bill soon.

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Panel recommends extended maternity leave
The Hindu
A committee on social security has suggested that maternity leave for women employees be extended from the present 12 weeks to 24 weeks, The Hindu reports. The committee was set up at the Indian Labour Conference (ILC) that concluded its 44th session on Wednesday. A committee on minimum wages also suggested a higher wage ceiling from the present Rs 6,500 a month to Rs 10,000 or Rs 15,000 for applying the Employees Provident Fund Act. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier in the conference stressed the need to appreciate the constraints women staff faced in trying to strike a balance between their family and work life. Ironically, a foreign bank in Chennai recently asked an employee to quit at an advanced stage of her pregnancy and rejoin a few months after child birth, just to avoid giving her leave with maternity benefits.

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GMAT scorers make a beeline for Indian B-schools
Hindustan Times
More students are using their Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) scores to apply to B-schools in India, Hindustan Times reports. The Geographic Trends Survey Report 2012 for GMAT said B-schools in India received 17,638 scores from GMAT examinees across the world last year, compared to 11,484 scores in 2007. The scores are used as admission criteria for 1,500 B-schools across the world. However, the number of Indian candidates appearing for GMAT declined from 26,937 in 2010 to 25,394 in 2011. There was a drop in the number of scores sent to business schools as well, from 1,19,181 for 2010 to 1,12,725 for 2011 because of an increase in educational expenses. Some students use the exam as an alternative to the Common Admission Test required for the Indian Institutes of Management. Testing in India rose to a high in 2009 but has since declined.

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Study: Meetings make biggest call on CEO time
Mint
A study by the London School of Economics and Harvard Business School found that CEOs spend about a third of their time in meetings, according to a Wall Street Journal report in Mint. The study examined day-to-day schedules of more than 500 CEOs from around the world to ascertain how they organise their time. In one sample covering 65 executives, 18 hours of a 55-hour week were spent in meetings, more than three hours on calls and five hours in business meals. The remainder of the time was spent travelling, exercising, or in lunches with spouses. Working alone averaged just six hours weekly. The time spent in meetings increased with the increase in the number of direct reports to the CEO.
A busy meeting schedule, often conducted virtually, can indicate that executives are engaged with their companies and close to their managers and clients, the study noted. CEOs, on their part, said they wanted more time alone to think and strategise.

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Amazon to hire 5,000 for Hyderabad centre
Financial Chronicle
Amazon.com is seeking to hire at least 5,000 people at its Hyderabad facility to strengthen its presence in the country, Financial Chronicle reports. The online retailer currently has a 4,000-strong employee base in its R&D and tech support division in the city. The company is also looking at establishing its logistics centre in Hyderabad, a location it has opted for over Bangalore. Amazon first established its presence in the city in 2005. The company is looking for leased space for expansion in the next two years. It may also consider using the land allotted to it to build its facility, instead of leasing property. The Seattle-based firm, said to be the world’s largest online retailer, has 56,000 employees globally.

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Visa issues, uncertainty may dog IT this year
The Hindu Business Line
N Chandrasekaran, managing director and CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), counts visa issues and the macroeconomic situation among challenges for the Indian IT industry this year, The Hindu Business Line reports. Deal making is on track and TCS is witnessing a healthy deal pipeline. The year is, in fact, not very different from any normal year, Chandrasekaran said. Budgets were being finalised and there were signs of a slow ramp-up. Mobility was top on every company’s agenda, he pointed out. However, though $200 million mobility deals were unlikely, a large number of small project deals could be expected. TCS had no plan to decrease its business from the U.S. even as it built its business in other markets, Chandrasekaran added.

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Salary issues push pilots to overseas carriers
The Hindu Business Line
Hit by salary troubles, Indian pilots are looking for opportunities with foreign carriers, The Hindu Business Line reports. Leading airlines in the country have seen an exodus of pilots. Nearly 40 pilots of Air India have quit in the recent past, while about 60 have quit Jet Airways, sources say. Kingfisher Airlines has lost about 50 pilots. Pilots say they have no option but to leave as salaries are getting delayed for months on end. Air India delayed salaries of pilots for more than a year and around 18,000 employees of Jet and Kingfisher Airlines got no salary for two months. Going on strike has not really helped their cause, pilots say. Most pilots are eyeing foreign carriers such as Emirates and Silk Air. Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific is also looking to hire pilots in India.

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Adding cheer to the appraisal process
Financial Express
Organisations are making innovative changes in the way they conduct appraisals, Financial Express reports. IT firm Persistent Systems, for instance, has infused a bit of fun into its annual appraisal process. It has developed a platform “eMee” to cover 7,000 employees across the globe. Social networking, gaming, virtual communities and enterprise intranet have been combined to create a new way of employee engagement. Nitin Kulkarni, executive director and COO, says the approach is being used to take the worry out of the appraisal process. With some 70 percent employees aged 27 to 28 years, the yearly appraisal process is “painful and lengthy”, he says. The eMee platform allows them to see where they stand vis-a-vis peers, as if in a car race. Another IT firm Fiserv India has also introduced innovative business practices for engaging with the career growth of its employees.

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People Moves & Recruitments

HSBC names India CEO
Mint
Stuart Milne, CEO of HSBC Japan, will be replacing Stuart Davis as CEO of HSBC India, Mint reports. Davis is moving out in March after a three-year tenure to take charge of the bank’s Asia headquarters in Hong Kong as part of a global reshuffle.

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Max India names Deputy MD
Financial Express
Max India has promoted corporate development director Mohit Talwar as deputy managing director, Financial Express reports. It also named him additional director on its board.

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BBC picks South Asia VP for BBC Advertising
exchange4media
BBC Worldwide has named Rohit Gopakumar as vice president, South Asia, for BBC Advertising, exchange4media reports. He will be responsible for generating local and international sales revenues for BBC’s TV and online products. Gopakumar has worked with Times of India, Star TV, NDTV Media and most recently Aidem Ventures, an independent media sales aggregation company.

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Vserv names Technology Adviser
VC Circle
Mumbai-based mobile advertising network Vserv has appointed TS Ramakrishnan as technology adviser, VC Circle reports. He will provide expert advice and insights on the new media industry. Ramakrishnan has previously worked with Facebook, Skype, Yahoo, AdMob and Oracle.

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Mindshare Fulcrum names Leader, Team Unilever
Economic Times
Media agency Mindshare Fulcrum has announced Anupriya Acharya as leader - Team Unilever, South Asia, Economic Times reports. She will lead Team Unilever for India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The position was earlier held by Ravi Rao who was elevated to the role of leader, South Asia, Mindshare. Acharya was previously CEO, Aegis Media Singapore.

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