KACHARAGADLA

It’s time that beliefs and theories about business catch up with the way great companies operate and how they see their role in the world today. Traditionally, economists and financiers have argued that the sole purpose of business is to make money—the more the better. That conveniently narrow image, deeply embedded in the American capitalist system, molds the actions of most corporations, constraining them to focus on maximizing short-term profits and delivering returns to shareholders. Their decisions are expressed in financial terms.  I say convenient because this lopsided logic forces companies to blank out the fact that they command enormous resources that influence the world for better or worse and that their strategies shape the lives of the employees, partners, and consumers on whom they depend. Above all, the traditional view of business doesn’t capture the way great companies think their way to success. Those firms believe that business is an intrinsic part of socie

Sharp pick-up in refinery products and electricity generation led to the fifth straight increase in April Growth in the eight core sectors jumped to 8.5 per cent in April, due to a sharp pick-up in refinery products and a commensurate rise in electricity generation. The index had grown by 6.4 per cent in March. According to data released by the ministry of commerce and industry on Tuesday, growth in the eight sectors— coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity — comprising nearly 38 per cent of India's total industrial production, had fallen a marginal 0.2 per cent in the same period of the previous year. Refinery products, which have steadily grown since December 2015, had output rising 17.9 per cent in April, after 10.8 per cent in March. Electricity generation rose for a fifth straight month, up 14.7 per cent, after 11.3 per cent in March. Four sectors in March showed double-digit growth; it was two in April. G

For FY17, the deficit target is 3.5 per cent of GDP The country’s fiscal deficit for 2015-16 was Rs 5.32 lakh crore, about 99.5 per cent of the government’s revised target of Rs 5.35 lakh crore, compared with 99.6 per cent for the same period a year before, official data showed on Tuesday. As a percentage of gross domestic product at current prices, also issued on Tuesday, the deficit was 3.9 per cent, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said it would be in February. For FY17, the deficit target is 3.5 per cent of GDP. For the year ended March 2016, the provisional figure of combined revenue was Rs 1.24 lakh crore or 99.2 per cent of the revised target of Rs 1.25 lakh crore, compared with 98.7 per cent of the full-year target a year before. Total expenditure was Rs 1.77 lakh crore or 99.3 per cent of the revised target, compared with 99 per cent for the same period last year.  Total expenditure was Rs 1.61 lakh crore, or 8.2 per cent of the full-year estimate, com

India probably gathered momentum to hold its ranking as the world's fastest growing large economy in the quarter through March, giving Prime Minister Narendra Modi more to celebrate after completing two years in office last week. Modi swept to power promising to revitalise Asia's third-largest economy and, despite a dearth of private investment and shrinking exports, his policies are having some success as cooling inflation and lower interest rates have boosted consumer demand. A Reuters survey of economists expected data out on Tuesday will show India's gross domestic product grew 7.5 percent year-on-year between January and March, faster than the previous quarter's 7.3 percent. "This 7.5 percent growth, in a global slowdown environment, has a potential to pick up even more," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said last week in general comments about the trends. India's upbeat outlook contrasts with neighbouring China, where growth slipped to 6.7 i

PM says govt's black money initiatives tracked Rs 10,500 cr stashed abroad Prime Minister  Narendra Modi  on Friday said the  economy  had performed better on all parameters, including inflation and foreign investment in the past 17 months and laid stressed on effecting inclusive  reforms  to improve people’s lives, rather than only grabbing headlines. He also said the government’s efforts to bring back black money stashed abroad had detected as much as Rs 10,500 crore. “India today is doing better than it was when we took office 17 months ago. GDP (gross domestic product) growth is up and inflation is down, foreign investment is up and CAD (current account deficit) is down, revenues are up... the fiscal deficit is down and the rupee is stable. Obviously, this did not happen by accident... This success is a result of a series of well-thought policies,” he said. Terming reforms to transform India as “a marathon and not a sprint”, Modi said such measures should

You might disagree with Milton Friedman’s famous claim that the sole social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. But you can’t deny that it sounds simple and straightforward. Here’s the full Friedman, as originally expressed in his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom , then exposed to a larger audience in a 1970 New York Times Magazine article : There is one and only one social responsibility of business — to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud. Elegant, no? Same goes for the theories of corporate governance that it inspired. Any other theory of how business ought to behave is going to sound muddled and inconsistent in comparison. Even if it’s closer to being right. That thought kept coming back to me as I read John Taft’s new book Stewardship: Lessons Learned from the Lost Cult