EVERYBODY’S BABY
iPod, product of world economy
Assembly, Components Globally Outsourced

From NYT NEWS SERVICE

New York: Who makes the Apple iPod? Here’s a hint: It is not Apple. The company outsources the entire manufacture of the device to a number of Asian enterprises, among them Asustek, Inventec Appliances and Foxconn.

But this list of companies isn’t a satisfactory answer either: They only do final assembly. What about the 451 parts that go into the iPod? Where are they made and by whom? Three researchers at the University of California, Irvine—Greg Linden, Kenneth L Kraemer and Jason Dedrick—applied some investigative cost accounting to this question, using a report from Portelligent Inc that examined all the parts that went into the iPod.

Their study, sponsored by the Sloan Foundation, offers a fascinating illustration of the complexity of the global economy, and how difficult it is to understand that complexity by using only conventional trade statistics. The retail value of the 30-gigabyte video iPod that the authors examined was $299. The most expensive component in it was the hard drive, which was manufactured by Toshiba and costs about $73.

The next most costly components were the display module (about $20), the video/multimedia processor chip ($8) and the controller chip ($5). They estimated that the final assembly, done in China, cost only about $4 a unit.

One approach to tracing supply chain geography might be to attribute the cost of each component to the country of origin of its maker. So $73 of the cost of the iPod would be attributed to Japan since Toshiba is a Japanese company, and the $13 cost of the two chips would be attributed to the US, since the suppliers, Broadcom and PortalPlayer, are American companies, and so on.

Toshiba may be a Japanese company, but it makes most of its hard drives in the Philippines and China. So perhaps we should also allocate part of the cost of that hard drive to one of those countries.The same problem arises regarding the Broadcom chips, with most of them made in Taiwan. So how can one distribute the costs of the iPod components across the countries where they are manufactured in a meaningful way?

To answer this question, let us look at the production process as a sequence of steps, each possibly performed by a different company operating in a different country. At each step, inputs like computer chips and a bare circuit Assembly, Most Components Globally Outsourced board are converted into outputs like an assembled circuit board.

The difference between the cost of the inputs and the value of the outputs is the “value added” at that step, which can then be attributed to the country where that value was added. The profit margin on generic parts like nuts and bolts is very low, since these items are produced in intensely competitive industries and can be manufactured anywhere.
Hence, they add little to the final value of the iPod. More specialized parts, like the hard drives and controller chips, have much higher value added.
In this way, the researchers examined the major components of the iPod and tried to calculate the value added at different stages of the production process and then assigned that value added to the country where the value was created.
Ultimately, there is no simple answer to who makes the iPod or where it is made. The iPod, like many other products, is made in several countries by dozens of companies, with each stage of production contributing a different amount to the final value.
Those clever folks at Apple figured out how to combine 451 generic parts into a valuable product. They may not make iPods, but they created it. In the end, that’s what really matters.

An open letter to Mr Tata

In my previous organization, there was a colleague with whom I had a lot of discussion during lunch and coffee breaks. There were topics on which we were in agreement and then there were issues on which we often debated.

Today, he sends me an email saying that his article has been featured at rediff.com, a leading website in India.The Tatas plan to launch a Rs 1 lakh car in India. If this is successful, there will suddenly be too many cars on the Indian roads. There are mixed opinions about this.

Here is his perspective:
http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jun/26tata.htm
Do check it out.Some interesting points!

Initial Days: Observe not Intervene

During the on campus recruitment season, there were several companies that gave us some smart presentations and talked to us about the work,people and culture at their firm.There was a presentation by a leading Canadian bank where one of the person from the senior management addressed us. At the wine and cheese session later that evening, I got an opportunity to talk to him. This person is a part of the team that picks the selected few MBA students (who once they join the organization are exposed to some excellent learning grounds).He has been doing this for several years now and of course has a strong preference for Queen's MBA students ( The grads have a strong reputation in this firm.)

I asked him what he felt was the biggest mistake these freshly minted MBA grads made. He had a smile on his face and then said that the young MBA grads joining the work space are bubbling with energy. During the MBA program, they are exposed to some of the best learning models and think that once they join an organization, within a few days, they can bring a miracle at the organization.

In the first few days, these new grads can spot inefficiencies, figure out what is wrong,and have some good ideas on making units productive. But often, they make their points at the firm without understanding the work environment and the culture. There are times when they might be right but as they have made the point a bit early,there aren't enough people supporting them. Sometimes, the senior management is first looking at these fresh grads to meet the expectations before their views can be incorporated. Isn't this interesting?

I blogged about this because I read this article in Business Week which talks about something on the same lines. The article states that "At first glance, certain elements of your employer's business may make no sense to you at all. But after close inspection and some careful questioning and listening, you may find out that some of them hinge on old ideas that made sense at the time or may have been shaped by office politics. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be improved, it means you have to proceed carefully."

There are some useful tips given to folks joining a new firm. Here are a few

1. Go into consultant mode ( Observe not Intervene until asked)
2. Get the history of the company
3. Remember the snowflake rule
4. Make sure there's a problem before suggesting a fix
5. Take a supporting role
6. Find a mentor
7. Balance "brilliant solution" with supporting the team
8. As you formulate suggestions, test them out
9. Prioritize your fix-it list
10. Ask for feedback

Do check out this article and this one. Hope this helps !

Queen's Introduces Canada's First Masters of Global Management Program

Program answers corporate Canada's call for deeper international
perspective

KINGSTON, ON, June 26 /CNW/ - Queen's School of Business today introduced
Canada's first-ever Masters of Global Management (MGM) program, further
strengthening the School's mission to prepare future business leaders for
success on an international scale.
"In our ongoing dialogue with leaders of national and multinational
corporations in Canada and abroad, Queen's School of Business identified the
need for managers with first-hand knowledge of cross-cultural business
practices," said Dean David Saunders of the program.
The curriculum and structure of the 12-month MGM were designed based on
input from recruiters and students. To apply, students are required to have an
undergraduate degree in business. This puts Queen's a stride ahead of most
European and international MGM programs, which typically spend one year on
business fundamentals followed by one year on cross-cultural components. With
its first class starting in September 2007, Queen's MGM students begin and end
the program with four months at Queen's campus in Kingston, Ontario. In
between, they spend a four month long placement at one of ten partner
institutions around the world. All partners are top-tier business schools in
their own countries, including Mannheim, Maastricht, Peking University, and
Helsinki School of Economics.
The need for global business knowledge was so pressing that Procter &
Gamble, the leading consumer products company in Canada, funded the start of
the program with a grant of $150,000. "Today more than ever, successful
managers require a first-hand, international perspective," says Tim Penner,
President, Procter & Gamble Canada. "The Queen's MGM program will help instill
this in current and prospective business leaders, which is why we were
instrumental in its founding."
"The MGM is gaining traction around the world, particularly in Europe,
and with the introduction of this new program at Queen's, we're aiming to put
Queen's - and Canada - on the MGM map," said Dean Saunders, who also sits on
the board of the International Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of
Business (AACSB) and the European Foundation for Management Development
(EFMD).
For more information on the Master of Global Management at Queen's School
of Business, visit business.queensu.ca/grad_studies/mgm/index.php.

What more after an MBA

The rigorous schedules and demands of the a program tires you out. The whole experience is challenging and working all through the year, one does feel exhausted.
A lot of folks bid good bye to the academic world after the completion of the program and concentrate on their career (working in areas of interest). A few,if they have the determination ( and energy), decide to do some advanced studies.

So, if you are interested in doing a Phd or DBA (in Business), here is some information.

Link 1
Economic Times Article
Phd or DBA?
A Phd Aspirant's Blog
HBS Site

Some random notes from the last few discussions at the MBA program

Career Challenges
* Getting a job
* Managing Transitions
* Understanding yourself, needs
* Understanding your jobs and context
* Understanding your boss
* Saying NO - selectively in involvement
* Leaving
* Losing a mentor
* Work Life Issues

Self Monitoring refers to a person's willingness and ability to be attentive to social and interpersonal situational cues - Synder and Gangestad

Everyone must learn this lesson somewhere - that it costs something to be what you are - Shirly Abbot

Key lessons for personal leadership
- It is critical to understand our values, beliefs and assumptions
- Your strength can become weakness in new and changing situations
- Know your limits
- Ask for help
- Listen to ourselves and others
- Learn to be observant, learn to "See"

Managing Up
- Bosses
- Mentors

Relationships at Work
- Corrosiveness and Incivility
- Trust

Managing Down- Performance Management
- Motivation
- Feedback
-Inspiration

How to Write a Book

In the last few days of the MBA program, I often wondered that it would be great if somebody wrote a book on the experiences of an Indian in an International MBA program. There are surprises, challenges, hurdles and there are mixed experiences. The book could start from how one calculates the risk, uncertainties involved in going abroad and then dares to follow his or her dream.

I don't have the time now, but some day I will take a few months off and if there is some publisher who interested,I will write a book (this post is perhaps to remind myself of that!).

Of course, if there can be books about life at IIT, IIM, there can be a book about this subject too. Life in an international school is a different experience and am sure, folks would want to read the stuff that runs through our mind.

For now, I don't have the time, but I found an interesting link that I felt I could save for future reference. It is titled "How to write a Book in 60 Days"

The High Performance Entrepreneur by Subroto Bagchi
Golden roles for success in today's world.





I have always admired the writing style of Mr Bagchi and was looking forward to reading the book written by him.I grabbed this book at the Bangalroe and gave it a read. As expected, Mr Bagchi has written the book in simple style that is easy to follow. The book is quite impressive. It has also been given great reviews by CK Prahalad and Vijay Govindrajan.

But there were instances when the book failed to impress me. I felt that in the book, there is too much of reference to MindTree. At times, I felt that the book was more of a sales pitch rather than trying to make a point.Perhaps, it may be that I had a different set of expectations.

But what I liked about the book was the way it has been written. The author ( Mr Bagchi) has beautifully captured the essence of being an Entrepreneur in 18 different chapters. This is more of a "How to" book and I don't think there are books in the Indian Market which so clearly explain starting something of your own so easily. The different chapters are:

1. When does an Entrepreneur know he is ready
2. Profile of a Entrepreneur
3. Sensing the right opportunity
4. Choosing the team
5. DNA, Mission, Vision and Values
6. How are you different
7. Writing the business plan
8. Choosing the right investor
9. Getting good people and knowing them
10. Building the process focused organization
11. A company is known by the customer it keeps
12. Managing your company
13. Building your brand
14. Emergence of the willingness to change
15. Managing adversity
16. From Idea to IPO
17. Reasons start up fail
18. Lessons in Entrepreneurship from the Indian IT industry

Some excellent points in the book:

* High Performance Entrepreneurship is not an accident-it has to be planned that way
* When you build a team, you do not start by looking at compatibility and sameness. You look for complementary skills and diversity
* Long distance runners learn to bear segmented pain. In different legs of the journey, you will experience different kinds of pain
* When choosing the set of goals, it is not unusual to consider a financial goal, an admiration goal and a goal towards social sensitivity
* Differentiation is a six horse chariot. Six equally strong horses They need to pull in the same direction, at the same time, with the same energy. Those six horses are domain, tools, methodology, quality, innovation and branding.
* Great companies of the world are beginning to focus on the customer's customer. If one can make a huge difference to a customer's customer,it helps build the stickiest relationship- the one with the most loyalty.
* Whenever you make a choice, you also choose the consequences.
* The number one job of an Entrepreneur is to sell his ware. To start a company , you must love two things: selling your company and its products and the very concept of making money.

The good point about the book is that as you read the various chapters, you keep nodding your head and agree to the many things Bagchi talks about (I actually felt that I was revising the concepts learnt in the New Ventures Course of my MBA program).There are various tips shared by Bagchi which I felt are very relevant. Things like writing a business plan ( and revising it), under estimating revenues and over estimating costs ,the importance of selecting the right team members, not getting your friends and relatives involved, handling adversity, maintaining diversity, communication within the teams are some excellent tips.

Starting a new venture needs passion. If there is somebody out there who has a burning desire to start something of his own, this book will serve two purposes. First, it serves as a reality check . There are a series of questions and one can determine if he or she has it in them ( both in terms of determination and attitude) to start something of his own. Second, if the person needs to get a complete view of the entire process (from an idea to a launch, to pitching the plan in front of VCs, to IPO ) the book gives a complete picture of how things can happen in the next few years for an entrepreneur.

Priced at Rs 395, the book is a good investment if your short or long term goal is to start something of your own.

Back from the Bust


Source: Business Week


With the Dotcom bust, the Telecom Industry had gone to a depression. But this article in BusinessWeek says the $900 billion Telecom Industry has roared back to life. It is up and running.

What has happened since the bust in 2000?
* A steady rise in usage of broad band internet connection and that is thanks to sites that use video clps(Eg:You Tube),digital files and the internet phones (Eg:Skype).Statistics show that this year broadband adoption among U.S. adults is expected to cross the important 50% threshold.

*About half of the Internet's transmission capacity was going unused in 2002. Today that pipeline has almost doubled in size, and yet the unused portion is down to about 30%. As a result, the price that companies pay for bandwidth in some parts of the U.S. is on the rise after six years of declines.


An interesting point to note is: A 2001 paper in the American Economic Review, written by Lars-Hendrik Röller of Berlin's Social Science Research Center and Leonard Waverman of the London Business School, concluded that the spread of land-based telecommunications networks in 21 developed nations accounted for one-third of the increase in economic output between 1970 and 1990.


Here are the most popular applications fueling the Telecom revival:

Video: A typical video consumes 1,000 times as much bandwidth as a sound file. So, if one wants to watch a video ( Eg: YouTube,Blip TV etc), one opts for broad band. The telecom companies are happy coz the consumers opt for broad band. It is expected that the next revolution that will give a boost to telecom will be the HDTV usage. If this gets into mass adoption, the usage will be higer as this consumes 10 tmes the bandwidth of regular video.

Web Browsing: The web has changed since then and with social networking kicking off, this has given a big boost to the telecom rebound.

Audio:There was a time when folks used to buy CDs. Now they hear it on the internet. Sites like Pandora.com are going to act as catalyst.

Newsgroups: Knowledge is power. Information shared is information gained. Newsgroups and Online discussion groups have increased the

Internet Phone: :There were reservations that the quality would be bad if it is cheap. but internet phone calling is one of most exciting new applications. It is also one of the fastest-growing programs. Worldwide cable telephony subscribers (who use the Web to make calls) increased to over 22 million in 2006, up sharply from 15.8 million in 2005, according to researcher In-Stat.

Online Games: Playing games online is one of the new engines powering bandwidth usage. Games like Habbo Hotel and World of Warcraft — which has signed up 8 million paying subscribers in a little more than two years — continue to attract growing numbers of enthusiasts.

Managing Up

I was reading an article on Managing Up in a magazine called Indian Management ( A journal of the All India Management Association)

Here are four links that were referenced in the article. Nice ones

Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4

Eye-Tracking Device Lets Billboards Know When You Look at Them

A Queen’s University Computing professor’s invention – to be unveiled today at Google’s corporate headquarters in California – provides a unique, affordable way for advertisers to track the effectiveness of their messages by measuring how many people are looking at their billboards and screens.

Billboards that know when you're looking at them will soon be a reality, if new eye-tracking gear from a Canadian startup makes good on its maker's claims.

The eyebox2 from xuuk is a palm-size video camera surrounded by infrared light-emitting diodes. It can record eye contact with 15-degree accuracy at a distance of up to 33 feet. A simple glance from a passerby scores an impression, providing a tally that enables new Google-like measurement metrics that real-world advertisers could only dream about until recently.

Read the article here and here

Making Internet Products just for India




Picture Courtesy: BusinessWorld

Some Points from the article



Why are companies focusing so much on the Indian market ?
A couple of key reasons.

1. India is a big market.
India is a "valuable" market for Internet companies as there is a lot of potential for the next five to ten years.
There are products and services being made especially for India now. Yahoo has launched Yahoo Cities http://in.ourcity.yahoo.com/
and Google has a Hindi Blogger and news service.

2.Overcoming the technology barrier: India is a tough market because of is "regional and linguistic" diversity. There are challenges from a technology standpoint. If companies can break the barrier here in India they can accelerate the Internet usage in other countries where Internet is yet to take off. "If that route to Internet access is exploited well, it could become a model for regions such as Africa."


What are the challenges ahead?
1. Indian Languages are phonetic:
.To create products in different languages means converting text in various Indian languages.But Indian languages are phonetic.The text is unlike Roman script, which is the basis for most European languages. Indian languages also do not have established transliteration rules, like Japanese or Chinese. That is, one Hindi name can be spelled differerntly in English — Mansi, Manasi, Maanasi, and so on

2.No proper database:
If the products have to be made to suit local needs, there is a need for accurate mapping. The problem with India is that there is no reliable geographical data available. In most countries, such data comes from sources such as a government database. Companies have to resort to satellite images which is tough to get access to.

3.Probably, India is a market where there is a large scale mobile adoption than Internet adoption. Ggiven the large scale adoption of mobile telephony in the country, firms are devoting significant resources towards making Internet access available across platforms. “The Internet is becoming device-agnostic,” says Jaspreet Bindra, country manager, MSN India in Mumbai. MSN is looking at the mobile platform as the key to cracking India’s market.
While R&D for the Indian market has begun, it is still only a small portion of the work that the Indian centers do. About 80 per cent of the product development is still for foreign markets. But this will gradually decrease over the next few years.


So, what is happening?
Yahoo! recently made its Bangalore centre the R&D hub for emerging markets. That includes India, Latin America and other Asian markets like Vietnam and Indonesia. Last year, Yahoo! doubled its R&D workforce to 1,000.Google is hiring more engineers in India to create products specific for the Indian market.


BTW,if you use IE as your browser, you should check out this site: http://www.guruji.com/hi/
I thought it was cool !

Visit India. Experience India. Vote for Taj

Some two interesting articles here and here
Taj still top draw for foreign tourists:


Why would a foreigner visit India?
A Gallup Survey noted 67% travelers mentioned Taj as the most popular attraction of India.Other choices are Goa and Jaipur.The prime attraction in visiting India is sightseeing, followed by cultural events and shopping.

And what do people say about India?
The survey claims that for recent travellers, the India experience has indeed been "incredible". About 97% of them mentioned that their experience met or exceeded expectations and highlights were warm and friendly people (50%), cultural diversity (46%) and plenty to see and do (45%)

What kind of foreigners visit India?
India seems to be attracting visitors who are at the top end of the socio-economic pyramid. More than half of the recent travellers interviewed spent over $3,000 during their stay, including the cost of accommodation and air tickets.Worldwide interest is around 7%. Other Asian countries that have world wide interest are Thailand (37%), Mainland China (31%) and Japan (31%).


What are the obstacles?
The awareness about India is pimarily through word-of-mouth.About 1% of travellers come through the tourism ministry's website. For those who are not keen on traveling to India,the main reasons were safety and hygiene issues or disinterest in what India had to offer.

You can vote for the Taj Mahal to be a wonder of the world here.

"One Absolut In a Relative World"



A nice article in Business World that talks about how the sales of Absolut Vodka might increase in the Indian Market once the import duties ( which are about 400% now) are reduced.

A few interesting points:
- Currently, Absolut cannot compete with Smirnoff in India. That is because Absolut is made only at one place in the world at Ahus in Sweden, whereas Smirnoff is made locally in most major markets. There are import duties of about 400% on Absolut which is much higher than the duties for Smirnoff.

-Absolut needs to succeed in emerging markets such as India and China, as its sales growth in the US, which consumed half the 90 million litres exported from Sweden in 2006, has tapered down to mere 2 per cent. Rivals such as newer foreign vodka brands Grey Goose and Ketel One have taken over the novel and exclusive spirits category and are growing sales in double digits, the way Absolut did in the 1980s and the 1990s.

-"Absolut is the aspirational brand of the new generation of Indian professional"

-Absolut advertising has been among the top attention grabbers and has developed a cult following: Absolut print ads and merchandise are traded as collectors’ items. The magazine Advertising Age ranked Absolut’s 25-year running campaign featuring the Absolut bottle as the hero as the seventh greatest advertising campaign of the 20th century.

-Celebrities such as painter Andy Warhol, writer Salman Rushdie, musician Miles Davis, and designer Gianni Versace endorsed it. Absolut was the new thing in town and associating with a cerebral crowd gave it the aura of intelligent cool.The most engaging feature of the old Absolut ads, however, was merging the bottle with the landscape or object, which sometimes teased the viewers to search the form of the bottle in the picture. This enhanced viewers’ involvement with the ad.

Internet Market Space in India

The Business Today edition of June 03, 2007 has a special on the Internet Market in India. There is huge inflow of money as well as fierce competition
lined up in the next few years.

Here are some notes from the articles :

How does the internet market look like in India?
Currently, India has more than 50 million internet users, just a little over 2 million broadband connections and an online advertising market worth Rs 240 crores. The current market is not attractive but it is likely to become a big market in the future.

How can we say that the market would become attractive?
In 1997, in the US online ad spend was jus around $65 million. Today, it is more than $10 billion. In India, in 2006, 27 dotcoms were funded whereas in 2005 there were just two. The market in India is growing at close o 100 percent year on year, and over the next three years or so, the user base is expected to touch 100 million broadband connections. The bandwidth costs are falling by half every 18 months and those of storage costs, every 12 months. The government has plans of setting up 100,000 cyber cafes to bridge the digital divide. Today only 2% of the ad spend is online, but even if that goes to 4 %, there should be enough opportunity for folks. Around 12,800 people in India use eBay as their primary source of revenue and there is a growing number of such sellers specifically for the smaller towns

What are the trends of the internet market space in India?
•Companies have been using internet for some advertising and promotion. Advertisers want more bang for their buck. And eventually advertisement through online medium will provide them that. Remember, more information on the behavior, description, and forecast of the customer can be done through the web. Maruti has a micro site for its newly launched Sedan SX4. Procter and Gamble has also created an online interactive community for teen girls between 14 and 19 years of age, www.beinggirl.co.in
•Travel websites may struggle in the future for the sole reason that people gather information from their site and then book the tickets at the relevant airway’s website. As the Indian market is in its infancy as yet , it is believed that Indians don’t have any strong loyalty to any specific portal ( remember switching cost is zero in the internet space)
•The market in the future lies in regional language offerings. Localizing content to meet the needs of different states and various different Indian languages is going to be the key. For example , Blogger.com has a Hindi translation service
•Old media that earlier only provided contents online is now giving a fresh look at its online market. Bennett and Coleman & Co , which publishes Economic Times and the Times of India now has a new digital venture called Times Internet. A few portals that it owns are times jobs.com, magicbricks.com, simply marry.com. The Old Media will have to look ( or are looking at) at their online business as a “stand alone” business and not just as an extension of their print business
•There might be a tendency to follow social networking sites (such as Orkut, Facebook etc) to create markets with customized offerings there.

In short, “The next wave is about customization of content in terms of geography and language and there is going to be shift from universal search to local search. “


There was a dotcom craze in 2000-01 but why did that fail?
a)Low internet penetration resulting in small user base
b)Lack of differentiation, marketing resulting in low visibility.


An interesting perspective provided by Janakiraman of Bharat Matrrimony
“In a country of one billion, search for a job, especially a suitable one is an ongoing quest. The moment you have one, matrimony is a natural corollary, which in turn leads to purchase of real estates” Hence, you will find portals and websites catering to these needs in the Indian market.


Different methods of revenue generation by Google and MSN?
Google is using Adwords to generate revenue; MSN is using the “desktop TV” on its homepage. Here instead of selling the standard click per model, MSN sells airtime on these desktop TVs which run ads

Who are the big players in the Indian Internet Space?
Foreign Players Google, Yahoo, AOL and MSN
Home players: Rediff, Sify


What about mobile internet?
A hidden latent market of internet users involves about 100 million mobile users in India , as well as a market that is offline currently, due to connectivity issues and the lack of regional language applications.

Rajesh Jain of the blog http://emergic.org says
"The PC based wire line has 45 million users with a majority of the users using cybercafés. With only 07 million computers in Indian homes, this internet is still a long way from becoming a utility in people’s lives. The mobile centric wireless internet can reach potentially reach a significant portion of 170 million cell phone users in India. However, the reality is hat other than voice, there are only two services that touch a large fraction of this user base – SMS and ring back tones. To make mobile internet a reality in India, two chances have to be made. And they have to be made by the mobile operators since they are the “gatekeepers”. First, an open publishing platform is needed to allow anyone to create a mobile website that is accessible by everyone just like on the PC internet. Second, mobile operators need to change their billing philosophy for value added services."

Shaken Not Stirred

Sometime last year the civility group in Canada had conducted a etiquette session for us. Karen Mallett from the company spoke to us on how to create lasting impressions, gave input for details of dining, and briefed us on mannerful meals. She also had a small test for us called the “Social Quotient Test”. I am in India and was organizing the text and material that was provided at the school last year. Saw this SQ test. Give it a shot.(Answers below)

1. The difference between continental and American style dining is
2. When do you place your napkin on your lap?
3. You may butter your roll or bread while holding it flat in your hand ( True/False)
4. Your bread plate is the one of the left or the right
5. When you are the guest of honour and the toast is to you, you do not take a drink or make a toast to yourself (True/False)
6. Between bites or spoonfuls, where should utensils be placed?
7. Can I send an email as a thank you after a lunch meeting?
8. Should a man or a woman initiate a business handshake?
9. How long does a person have to return business phone calls?
10. If invited to a function where I will not know anyone except the guest of honour, whom am I allowed to bring?
11. At a business lunch, who should pay the bill?
12. When I am wearing a nametag it should be on my right lapel (True/False)
13. A good hand shake maintains hand contact until an introduction is complete (True/ False)
14. How would you introduce your boss to your at a work related event?
15. What do you do if you forgot someone's name when you are being introduced?
16. If a colleague approaches your table, stopping for a conversation, are you obligated to introduce them to everyone at the table?
17. During office hours, it is appropriate to address all coworkers, regardless of their rank, by the first name
18. When you voicemail coworkers located in the same building, it is not necessary to leave your name
19. Business casual means a man's shirt should have a collar
20. During office hours, it is appropriate to address all coworkers, regardless of their rank, by the first name



Answers
1. American style the knife is used only for cutting and held in the right hand for right hand people.
2. When your food arrives
3. False
4. Left
5. False. (Raising a toast means one need to make 3 statements)
6. The entire utensil should be placed on an under plate or service plate
7. The hand written note is always the best option
8. Whoever invited the guests should initiate handshakes
9. Each person needs to establish their returning calls policy
10. No one, unless the invitation explicitly states "and guest"
11. The person who did the inviting should pay the bill ( you could say "Bill is taken care of")
12. True
13. False
14. Mr/Ms Boss, I'd like you to meet my spouse
15. Apologize and ask them what their name is
16. No , you just need to say Hello and speak to them yourself
17. False
18. False
19. True
20. False