What are the top 3 main challenges Asian companies have nowadays with the Internet (and Internet Business) and which they should use fully

This is one of the questions I asked a well known

international internet expert, based in India.

Today I will be publishing my interview with Dr. Nikhil Agarwal and you can read his interesting answers on my questions….

As you might know, internetbusinessinfo.net is part of IBB International, provider of

Internet Marketing Summit India 2009, 23-24 November, Mumbai India.

–>To introduce Dr. Nikhil Agarwal better: first of all he is one of the jury members of the Awards Ceremony for Internet Asia Summit. And he is currently serving as Director of Europe-Asia Business School, based out of Pune, India. Other then his full time responsibilities, he serves on various international & national committees on ICT & IG. He is first Asian to be elected as Co-Chair of Internet Society AC (ISOC) (www.isog.org).

Nikhil, welcome first of all. My first question will be about your activities as Editor in Chief at Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce. You have published more than 31 papers in international journals such as IEEE & many articles / research notes in various business magazines.

Which article which you wrote yourself is your most favourite or special one? And what will be an interesting article for our delegates at the Internet Asia Summit & Awards?

I would like to highlight 2 articles which would probably most relevant in current business situation. Last year we asked our authors & readers the question ‘Who is the next big customer’. The answer was Africa, it was very interesting to note, readers & authors said BRIC nations & other Asian countries may shown maturity of markets in the future. However, Africa can be considered as sleeping giant which has extensive potential for almost all products & services.

The other article we discussed at JIBC was 3F crisis of 2008 (Food, Finance and Fuel). The fuel & food crisis seems to be now rested-in-peace for the time being, however, the finance crisis has taken the shape of global pandemic.

Besides that activity, you have a more than 12 years of teaching experience, having taught in full-time and visiting capacities at various universities such as University of Cambridge (UK), University of Bradford (UK) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (US).

In the Europa-Asia Business School which you have founded last year (in Pune, India), you will hear and speak about a lot of best practices of Transformation and Innovation:

Which Asian (or multinational) company (or companies) in your opinion should definitely register for an Award of a specific category and why?

Asian companies have shown their capabilities for Innovation & new product creations over many years. Few companies who have shown significant growth in last few years are:

- Software Services: Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services;

- Telecom: China Mobile, ZTE Corporation, Bharati, Telekom Malaysia, Maxis Com, Sing Tel

- Hardware: Quanta Computers, Lenovo, HCL,

- Internet Services: Rediff, Indiatimes, Google Asia,

- Content Providers: Contest2Win (Indian & Chinese versions)

- Ecommerce / Services: EBay Asia, Shaadi, Monster

This list is not exhaustive nor the best reflection of most innovative websites in Asia. Every country in Asian region has fantastic websites who are influencing a large part of the country. I would encourage them to apply for the awards and take this great opportunity to showcase their best practises to the large audiences.

If we have a look on your website of Europe Asia Business School we see three different kind of programs.

Which program would fit into the profile of for example a Security Manager or Information Officer? Which criteria do you use for admission?

We are currently running three graduate program and one research program. The graduate programs we are offering are 1 year MBA program, 2 year weekend Executive MBA and 2 year MBA (hospitality). The program are meant for graduate students who have done their university education and acquired 1-5 years of industry experience in their own domain. We have students coming from various industry types like Retail, IT, manufacturing, health, banking & finance. We offer industry relevant specializations like Marketing, Finance, Information Technology for MBA streams and Hotel, Airlines, Services for Hospitality stream. We use four step process for the selection of the students. First student has to apply to us on the basis of application which consists of essay writing & personal information. Second, student has to appear in a selection test like GMAT. After the initial screening student is called for group discussions & personal interview with the selection committee. Once all the process is complete, the merit list is prepared on the basis of various parameters and admission is offered to the student.

EABS has academic association with Boston University, USA; Middlesex University, UK (Dubai Campus); University of Essex, UK; Educatis University, Swtizerland and ISUGA, France. The research programme ie Phd supervision is offered for the student who wish to do research in business management field.

Ok, that’s clear, thank you for your answer. And if we look about the (near) future:

What is in your opinion the main challenge Asian companies have nowadays with the Internet (and Internet Business) and which they should use fully?

The primary challenge Asian Internet companies are facing are penetration of Internet (Internet connectivity). The telecom revolution is virtually connecting every citizen, still the internet availability is not prominent. For instance, in terms of mobile connectivity China is a world leader with 650 million users followed by India 392 million and USA 279 million users. This is in contrast to Internet penetration is China is 20% and in India it is 8% compared to western countries like US where Internet penetration is 80% & UK it is 82%.

The second critical challenges faced in Asia are language & content. Majority of Asian consumer don’t understand English which is dominating Internet content. For instance, there is very less content available in regional languages like Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Korean.

The third critical challenge is cost of ownership for hardware & software for Asians. Majority of Asian countries are developing countries, the people in these countries cannot afford expensive hardware & internet charges to get connected.

Many internet based businesses in Asia are doing well. However, the policy makers need to take proactive interests in safeguarding the interests of internet businesses. Governments need create right environment & infrastructure to help these businesses to grow faster. For instance, in majority of the Asia countries Cyber Law is still absent or not at a mature level. At International level, UN organizations like Internet Governance Forum (IGF) have created platform for inclusive participation from all the nations across the world. In my opinion, in next few years we will see significant improvements in terms of infrastructure, laws and content.

The companies around the world need to find the cheaper, cost effective solutions to reach out the mass base. In fact, the internet charges & other costs have dramatically dropped in last one decade. I think with mobile revolution happening now, internet revolution is round the corner. The real internet revolution will happen when every single person in the world is connected ……. It is a long journey though, but it will eventually happen.

And my last question: You have received several awards yourself, like the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust Award, Cambridge Trust Award and you received grants from Malta-based Diplo Foundation.

Obviously if companies are applying for one of the Internet Asia Awards, they will need to write (although max. A4) about their best practice.

What would be your advice to the applicants? What and How should they write their motivations?

I would suggest applicants to think creatively. Don’t follow traditional methods of writing about your achievements. The jury would like to read about their innovative practises, their thought process in making their company truly world class and future plans. The applicants can highlight how their businesses is influencing lives of others (economically, socially etc).

Best of luck to all applicants.

Nikhil, thank you very much! And we will stay in touch.

visit www.ibbint.com/internet-marketing-india.html or mail for more info: mail@ibbint.com.

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