Organisation Intelligence:The data to Information to Pattern shift...

In the business environment today, the difference between survival and extinction often rests on a thin edge of higher efficiency in reacting to complex business situations and providing the basis for improved business decisions. This all is dependent on how we collect, assimilate and interpret credible data and it is here that Data mining and Data warehousing comes into picture. It helps us in improving the quality and effectiveness of assimilating data and interpreting it for future business decision-making process. Proper implementation of Data mining can help an organization achieve high return on investment decisions by exploiting one of the enterprise’s most valuable and often overlooked assets—DATA!

The basic function of Organisation Intelligence is:

Collecting Data -> Formatting it -> Converting it into useful information -> Trying to capture a pattern. This pattern helps the organisation to take a decision in devising a new strategy.

Through the diagram below, I have tried to capture the essence of this above statement:

Do we break the barriers ?


June 2008, the Jammu strike entered into its 2nd week and the blockage on national highway wasn’t removed. Tons of export quality apples were rotting in the barn of Kashmiri farmer’s, because there is no other way apart from the highway, to send them out for selling or export. The help is available, just few kilometers away, the Pakistani town on the other side of the border. But alas! They cannot trade, because it is an international border, which is sealed to stop infiltration of terrorists.

On the other hand, we witness free bartering system of agricultural and related products, amongst the bordering villages and towns of Nepal and India. This open trade across the border, seems to be boon for people on both sides of the border, but gives rise to nefarious activities like smuggling, drug pedaling, flesh trade and infiltration of terrorists (Maoists).

The big question is - what needs to be done? Should we keep the borders open, so that bordering villages and towns trade freely, or shall we seal the borders?

The only thing that stops us from saying an emphatic ‘yes’, is the security threat. As seen in the case of Nepal, though the free trade has been a positive gain for the bordering residents, but it has turned out to be a haven for antisocial elements.

So, is free trade the main culprit? No, it is the lack of proper manned security checks, like we have between Mexico and USA. Now that’s not an easy task, what we can do instead is, encourage free trade between the border villages / towns and handover an incentive to the villagers for taking care of the security concerns. In a way this would mean a social obligation for the villagers, failing which the borders would get sealed again and they would loose in the longer run. This would encourage the villagers to handle the security more stringently.

According to Assocham study, presently, Indian origin goods are traded through Dubai and Singapore to Pakistan, which is more than 25 percent of total Pakistani imports. This leads to higher cost of the product resulting in lesser demand. Also, there are lots of products like leather and sports goods, which we can procure from Pakistan at a much cheaper price than the prices that we pay now. At present annual (official) trade between the two countries is around $200 million and unofficial trade or smuggling via third countries is estimated at $1 billion. In other words, the volume of trade is much below the potential. Hence, facilitating free trade across the borders, would be beneficial to both sides, and the trade level would jump dramatically

Also, both the countries presently, invest heavily in maintaining the security of their mutual borders and have incur heavy expenditure in arming themselves up to the teeth, against each other.

Details of disparity between expenditures on defense and Education & Health care, of both the countries:
Country Total Expenditure layout for 2008-09 Defense Expenditure (%ge of total expenditure) Expenditure on Health, education etc.(%ge of total expenditure)
India (in INR Rs.) 617996 114600(18.5%) 28126(4.6%)
Pakistan (in Pakistani Rs. 2087027 311303(15%) 35712(1.7%)

As per budget layout of 2008-09.
http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2009-10/bag/bag3.htm
http://www.finance.gov.pk/admin/images/budget/Budget%20in%20Brief%202009-10.pdf


As the trade grows between the border villages/ towns, the power of the common citizens on either side would grow, employment would increase, lot of questions would get answered, conflicts would get resolved and who knows we might very well end up as being supportive and friendly neighbors. This in turn would decrease the defense budgets for each country and hope fully a huge chunk of it would be diverted towards building up of nations infrastructure, primary education and basic health care facilities.

As a whole, allowing free trade with no barriers and with a little incentive to the people on either side of the border for taking the onus of security, both the nations would be better off in the longer run.

Isn’t that what we are looking forward to?


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Through the above essay I have tried to analyse the following principles of economics:
1. Free trade, without barriers, can make everyone better off
2. People respond to incentives.

References:
http://www.assocham.org