This is going to have the big-ticket consultants cringing. At a time when suits are almost willing to work for food, there's a new consultant in town who's not just getting business, but lots of it. The lucky one? The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-you read right-or to be more specific, its Total Quality Management (TQM) division. When it was launched in 1988, the division had just four counsellors and Rs 4 lakh in annual income. Today, it has 23 consultants and annual billings of Rs 8.75 crore.

So just why is CII's consulting business so hot? ''The consulting packages offered by us cost less than those of commercial consultants, and the quality is better,'' declares N. Srinivasan, Deputy Director, CII Institute of Quality. Besides consulting and training in the area quality, the division organises quality summits and workshops. Its annual Quality Summit is typically a blockbuster event. Even rivals are all praise for CII's expertise in quality. ''They are certainly good,'' admits Ravinder Singh, CEO, Institute of Quality Limited, ''but others aren't far behind either.''

Currently, the emphasis is on applied research and analysis, and the counsellors are busy writing booklets on thought leadership, based on their hands-on experience. ''The USP remains CII's brand image and long-term commitment,'' adds Sarita Nagpal, a Senior Counsellor. Fortunately for CII and other quality consultants, there's plenty of work for all in India Inc.'s Augean stables.

-Subhajit Banerjee

PITCH REPORT
Consumer Is King
For hard-pressed advertising agencies, the phrase is taking an entirely different, if sinister, meaning.

For ad agencies that thought the death of 15 per cent commission was the worst thing to happen this century, here's some more bad news. In days to come, the choice of agencies won't be made by brand managers, but by the consumer herself. Here's early proof.

Cigarette-maker Godfrey Philips India (GPI), and consumer-electronics major, Samsung India, made marketing history recently when they used consumer feedback not for the usual product launch or usage assessment, but to help zero in on the best advertising agency. Samsung did that for its new audio category, and GPI for the re-launch of its year-old packaged tea brand, Super Cup Duet. Says Viraag Agnihotri, General Manager (Delhi), of research company NFO-MBL: "It's pretty unusual and novel for marketers to put competing agency work up for consumer review."

What prompted Samsung to take the competing pitches from Mudra Communications and Triton to the brand's target consumers was, apparently, complete divergence in the two agencies' approach (but, both seemed workable). "We shifted the decision-making from the boardroom to the consumer mind space," explains M.B. Lee, Vice President (Marketing), Samsung India. Repeat after us, the consumer is...

-Shailesh Dobhal

WEEKENDER
Fixing Weekender
The contract manufacturer wants more local sales. First step: A brand new CEO.

Govind Mirchandani: Weekender is still a day job

If there's something that irks Jagdish Hinduja it's that 16 years after it first debuted in the Indian market, his casual wear brand Weekender is just worth Rs 40 crore in sales. But Hinduja, promoter of the Rs 400-crore Gokaldas Images Group, which owns the brand, knows exactly where the fault lies. ''Our focus all these years had been the export market,'' says the 56-year-old.

But now Hinduja is realising-belatedly-that there is great opportunity in the domestic market. And as a first step, he has poached Govind Mirchandani from Arvind Garments where he was President, as the new CEO and President of Personality, which markets Weekender. The provocation for a company, which manufactures for labels like Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, and Ralph Lauren, to focus on the domestic market is simple. Margins in the contract manufacturing business have halved to about 12 per cent in the last three years, and thanks to the World Trade Organisation, Indian manufacturers will have to face greater competition from other international suppliers. Says Mirchandani, ''We have to prepare for that eventuality.''

To begin with, Weekender Kids has licensed toon characters such as Tom and Jerry, and Bugs Bunny from Warner Bros. It has also licensed Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Goofy from Walt Disney. Mirchandani expects an additional Rs 10 crore from kids clothing. There are plans to introduce more international labels, and foray into formal wear. Time for Mirchandani to roll up his sleeves.

-Venkatesha Babu

TALKING MONEY
Getting Crunched
The cement industry's EVA is nothing to write home about, but there's a bright spot.

Even in good times, rivals would love to be in Narottam Sekhsaria's shoes. Now that the cement industry is down in the dumps, the Gujarat Ambuja head honcho is the envy of all. According to a study by Stern Stewart & Co, Sekhsaria's company is the only cement manufacturer to show positive economic value added (EVA) in an industry whose EVA has been negative and declining over 1992-2001. Gujarat Ambuja's better performance comes from better returns on sales and capital employed. For the others, higher borrowings have spelt doom, although since the last three years some companies such as Birla Corp, Dalmia and Grasim have started showing improvements in their EVA.

Contrast EVA with MVA (market value added)-or how much wealth has been created or destroyed, relative to the original equity-and you would find that MVA has positive for the industry. That means strong expectation of better performance in the future. A point that the analysis raises: will industry consolidators be able to earn sufficient returns over their incremental invested capital? If India Cements is any example, then the answer may be no.

-Roshni Jayakar

GRAPEVINE
Telecom Trauma
Is the beleaguered Escotel close to finding a new financial partner?

Rajan Nanda: Escotel may have been better off small

Sometimes, small is beautiful. Escorts group Chairman Rajan Nanda is learning that the hard way. His cellular services company Escotel, which had reasonably good operations in Kerala, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, bid (against partner First Pacific's advice) Rs 231 crore for four of the fourth cellular licences. Another Rs 539 crore is needed to roll them out. A year on, the licences are gathering dust, and CEO Manoj Kohli has quit. But Nanda is now saying he's found a partner for 45 per cent of the $55 million equity, and that the new circles will be operational by March 2003. ''We are close to concluding the deal,'' says Nanda. Small, we repeat, is beautiful.

-Suveen K. Sinha