WORLD MARKETS - DARWIN DID PROVE HIS POINT

In a world where a harsh, unforgiving environment creates scarce resources and fierce competition between its inhabitants, minute changes can mean the difference between dominance and death. Amidst the chaos, former behemoths find themselves hurtling toward extinction, while scrappy underdogs get the opportunity to reach new heights. Thus we can say that the notion of "survival of the fittest" as given by Darwin is not only something attributable to the development of species, but, in a more contemporary sense, to world markets as well. In the world market, which is faced with fierce competition, it’s a fight for survival. The capitalist structure of economies world wide leave no space for inefficiency. The markets are widely consumer driven and the aware and demanding consumer today has no qualms in switching loyalties if his demands are not being met with. As a result, over the years we have seen various new players establish their footing in the world markets, owing to their competence, while a lot of big players have had to crash out of the markets simply because in this race for survival, they weren’t left fit enough to run. If we observe the market behavior in general, we find striking facts that hold the Darwinian Theory right in the light of the world markets. We can draw amazing similarities between the theories propagated by Darwin and the functioning of the markets. The former propagates that mutations and recombinations provide a variety in the population of organisms in which the lesser are ruthlessly culled by the process of natural selection and only those that are fit to survive are rewarded by Mother Nature. The latter follows the same rule where individuals come up with a variety of ideas and implement them in the markets where only those which are fit to survive are retained and rewarded while the others are punished ruthlessly.
This rat race in the markets is all the more conspicuous now as we are in the midst of the financial mayhem tormenting the world’s economies. Now, the cycle of natural selection is more prominent than ever. Those who weren’t at the top of things are gone or going. In the past, governmental regulations in various countries created barriers that protected regional and national firms from the more efficient and competitive adversaries that operate in more capital efficient and less regulated environments, where capital is allocated to the most productive parts of the economy. This is increasingly changing today. Today, the concept of altruism or protection of the weaker does not find a place in the markets, or more appropriately “cannot” find a place in the markets because in a poor economy, only the strong survive.
If we objectively make an overview of the performances in various industries over the world, we will find that the story has been the same everywhere. The downslide in economy world wide has led to a slump in the performance of various sectors. From manufacturing to retail and everywhere in between, the economy is taking a toll on businesses. But as they say “there are always two ways to handle change. You can rail and fight against it, or you can embrace it and use it to position yourself ahead of the competition”. If we observe the performances objectively, giving attention to the individual players as well, we will find that in majority of the sectors there have been players which have outplayed the others and emerged as profit making entities even when the world around them was crumbling. These players have been the ones that are proactive about incorporating new technology, new equipment and new processes into their operations and have thus risen above their competition .To illustrate the point, let us have a look at the performance of the automobile industry in India. While the performance of the industry as a whole has been dismal, with a huge loss of 20% sales, one player by the name of HONDA actually managed to register a growth of 15% in sales. Confounding, aint it..?? Well we’d like to call it competence. Honda consistently worked upon their core competence, technology, and have efficiently converted technology into deliverable value and become among the top auto sellers of the world in even the dismal market conditions. Today when even burgers are costlier than last year, Honda has not only managed to increase its sales, it has also emerged as the frontrunner in the race for survival in these lowly market conditions.
As we mull over the success of certain key players in the market, we cannot ignore the major players that have crashed out of this race for survival. Major organizations like Lehman brothers have filed for bankrupts while the others like Woolworths have had to pack their bags and close trade, leaving behind legacy of many years. So why wasn’t the legacy and expertise of almost a century behind them, not able to bail them out of the crisis? The answer is simple. It is the Darwinian theory of natural selection at work. It is said that nothing is permanent except change. This is definitely holding true in case of the corporate world. The market dynamics are fast changing and the newer and efficient firms are taking over the older and not so efficient firms.
Critics often find it hubristic to presume that Darwinism is even remotely related to the way markets function. They insist that today’s markets and economy are like the breed “Maltese terrier” ruling the world. These lapdogs have retained the cunning features and apparent innocence that actually make us dependent on their whims while they themselves just pose as fashion accessories in the hands of their masters. They insist that just like in this case, the evolutionary process in the corporate world too has been selective of the cunning and seemingly unfit people. They believe that the new law of evolution in the corporate world has been “survival of the unfittest”. The fact that massive bailouts were provided by the American government to some of the firms on the verge of bankruptcy while leaving behind the others to bite the dust , in a way served to reinstate the idea in the minds of these critics.
But, what these critics do forget is that, neither evolution nor Darwin ever promised anything like perfection. Evolution is not about creating perfect or optimal creatures, which would require forethought, but only about the fact that the genes of creatures with modest advantages ("fittest" among those that happen currently to be alive) tend to spread throughout the population. This seemingly subtle difference between "fittest among the choices that happen to be lying around" and "fittest imaginable” makes all the difference in the world. In the same way elections are not won by the best of the candidates but by those who are able to win them, the markets too reward not those who make the best and the cheapest products but those who are best at making money and giving value to the customer. You can have the best technology available with you; it is of no use if you cannot use it to give the customer what he wants. Just like in evolution, business processes too are context driven. In evolution, the question is not weather, say, scales are better than wings, but what is better for the organism. If a sparrow was born with scales instead of wings they would have been redundant for it. Similarly in businesses, the decisions that are made are purely context driven as to what process will suit in the business in the given set of conditions. And when it comes to survival of the most cunning we can only say that in capitalist economies and fiercely competitive markets around the world, altruism does not find a place. In the markets that are facing almost a perfect competition, businesses have to compete fiercely for a limited market space; it is inevitable that cunningness and tact should creep in strategy making. That it is ethical or not is a different question altogether but the fact is that in a market where all players are cunning, the theory of natural selection will rule again and the one who applies his cunning in the best manner will be the fittest to rule. It’s just like they say “Natural selection, as it has operated in human history, favors not only the clever but the murderous.”
Summing it all up, one can only say that no other theory fits more aptly in the model of function the world markets have adopted. In the long run only those businesses sustain themselves which provide value, efficiency and satisfaction to the customer. As we have seen over the years, it is not about the big players or smaller ones, it is always about the better ones, just like the old saying goes “The most successful people don't necessarily have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything that comes along their way.”

clash of the titans..at the australian open..

When I set down to watch the finals of the men’s single between Nadal and Federer at the Australian open , I expected it to be a cracker of a match… and that is exactly what it turned out to be..With aces and winners streaming out of both the rackets..the aus open final was indeed a delight to watch..

Federer..I have to admit..is the one of my main reasons to follow tennis..the elegence and the panache with which he plays his shots is a sight to watch. and that is exactly what was on display that night. His agility and charisma exuded from the shots he played..but..sadly that wasn’t going to be enough..becuase he was dealin with an indestructible force by the name of Rafael Nadal…

What an incredible player nadal is..I mean..here was a man who was supposed to be tired after the 5 hr marathon in his semifinal. and yet he was all over the court in the 4 hr final..what a bundle of limitless energy..a true champion in all sense

While I completely admire nadal..I staunchly support federer… and my heart goes out for him..for missin his 14th grand slam..yet again..a feat tht has been eluding him for quite some time now..I guess he lost his plot in the final set of the match..which I thought was quite anti climactic as he had won the previous set quite emphatically by 6-3..I feel his annihilation at Rolland garros and deafeat at wimbledeon by the hands of the same opponent is playin on his psyche and till the time he finds a cure for tht..a win against Nadal might be a difficult feat for him. But that is not to take anything away fom the 22 year old Spaniard..who is emerging as a one of the greats of the game..I think it would be an honour for federer that someone of the caliber of nadal should step into his shoes..and carry the legacy of the game forward..just like federer became the torchbearer of the game after the era of Sampras..

life itself cant give you joy,
unless you really will it,
life just gives you time and space,
its up to you to fill it..

It is a common human tendency to blame. Blame others for all the wrong has transpired in your life, blaming your teachers if you flunk any exam, blaming the system if you don’t get you work done, and most of all..blaming destiny if you don’t get what you feel you deserved..and I say this with conviction because I too keep doing this..and why just me..everyone likes to think that all his failures came about as a consequence of his victimization at the hands of his destiny..

But reading the above lines , Iam forced to introspect and realize…....that the approach I follow is erroneous...these lines strike a cord so instantly as they make me realize the surreal truth..that we spend so much of our time trying to hold our destiny responsible..that we fail to realize that it is up to us to make champions out of ourselves..I speak for myself….and I confess that I attribute my failures to my destiny most of the time..but I fail to realize that it was me who erred..I got an opportunity…but I screwed up..how many time do we admit that.??.hardly ever.!!.and that is what leaves us at where we started from..at the point zero... because we have erred but learned nothing from it..not because there was nothing to be learned but because we failed to admit that we made a mistake..we were too busy blaming others for our failures to realize that the fault is within us..

As humans ..we are the favorite children of god..because he has provided us the perfect tools for enriching our lives..our brain, our hands and our will power..but how many times do we put these into proper use..how many times do we exercise our will to its maximum level..or even try to....the answer is same..hardly ever..!! So why to blame Him for opportunities that we could never cash in..or mistakes that we never learned from...I understand ..it is all too preachy and apparently obvious …but the fact is that it is this obvious fact that we fail to take into account and keep treading the same path of making mistakes and never learning from them….and eventually are led to believe that we are not just “ destined to be successful”..