Panchatantra

Marketing

Panchatantra in Sanskrit is a famous treatise on adult education through simple stories conveying the arts of management. There, Pandit Vishnu Sarama teaches the 3 sons of a king on the arts of state craft that have stood the test of times for a long long time till to day .

This is an attempt to rewrite those in to days context........

THE CONTEMPORARY DAYS..

MARKETING

The students assembled around Vishnu Sarma in the evening and posed their queiry of the day....

Sir! we hear many times that all the present day wonders were invented by our ancestors long long ago! Is it true? If so why we are still underdeveloped to day?

Well , let us not go that deep into our past. Let us look at some of the stories published about 50 years back in our popular magazines and analyze.

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There was a famous merchant known for his ethics and riches. He had a son helping him in his business and a grand son. Suddenly the son meets his end and the old man is in a dilemma - whether to burden his young grandson with business or carry on with the business himself for some more time allowing the young boy to enjoy his child hood till he has grown out of it. He decides on the later course , but as fate would have it ,suddenly took ill and is in the last stage of his life. He calls his grand son and tells him

" I don't have the time to train you. Let me give our success formula in short for you..........buy for more ......and sell for less........."

So saying , he breathes his last.

The boy truly takes the advice to heart and implements it to find him-self running into losses very soon. He can't believe it or understand . So he decides to consult an old friend of his grandpa . The old man smiled on hearing the story and told the boy

" you combined the 2 split sentences and ran into losses. Split them....buy good quality goods paying a little more than your competitors...thereby , you will have committed suppliers ,quality and availability......same way.....sell good quality goods at a price little less than your competitors .....there by you will have an assured market and profit too due to higher TURNOVER....THAT IS THE KEY...TURNOVER!

The boy understood and prospered earning as good a reputation as his ancestors

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So now let us get back to your question, Vishnu Sarma continued...this very principle is being successfully deployed by the big chain of stores like the wallmarts, costcos etc. to day. But we don't see it here still ? Why? Is it that we don't have the knowledge? or is it a failure in implementation? Now you can think about the answer to your question!!!

It was getting dark and the students got up to go to their homes pondering over the moral.

COMMUNICATION

The students assembled around Vishnu Sarma in the evening and posed their queiry of the day....

Sir! We pondered over the matter, but still can't understand - when the 'buy for more...sell for less' principle is so good why is it not implemented more in practice and more importantly why there is a resistance even now to implement it by opening out retail sector to large companies?

Well , this is not one question. It has several dimensions. But for to day let us dwell upon one dimension of it...that is how to communicate a thing for acceptance. Even here we restrict ourselves to one way of doing it...that is to get acceptance from a higher authority...again drawing from the stories in our old classics.

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There was a king who got an idea that if he plants cash yielding trees like tamarind trees

along the high-ways in his kingdom , it would fetch a lot of revenue. Being the ruler ,as is the practice with many of our present day rulers, he summoned his ministers to implement it immediately. The minister for health , a doctor by profession, was shocked on hearing this, but could not dare to oppose it openly as it was the king's idea and had overwhelming support from all other yes men, including the powerful finance minister. He struck upon an idea and looking at the king exclaimed ' Sir! There is a more pressing problem of immense importance to all of us in this kingdom! You look like taking ill very soon...within a few days'. The king could not believe his ears , but since the matter concerned him and he had some faith in the doctor, asked him ' how do you say that ,I feel perfectly alright'. The doctor replied ' That is the problem sir! I can't put my finger on it ,but I am fairly certain about it. But, I can give a suggestion. You may kindly consult the renowned expert in the neighboring state capital. Since it will take about 2 weeks for you to go there, I would suggest that you may take the following steps in the mean time to reduce the incidence of the sickness.'

While on the journey ,please try to go along routes lined with tamarind trees, take rest under the same trees , use firewood from the tamarind trees,use the tamarind sticks to brush your teeth and use tamarind liberally in the food.

The king accepted the advice and set upon the journey, foreclosing the meeting without any final directive.

The king in a few days of the journey, started feeling the symptoms of sickness and was really amazed at the correctness of the forecast of his doctor when he fell really sick by the time he met the expert.

The king informed the expert of his doctor's forecast , advice and handed over the letter given by the doctor to the expert on the case. The expert read the letter ,smiled and told the king 'Yes. He was right. But you need not worry. I shall cure you and it is a simple remedy. Just relax and go back to your place. You should be healthy by the time you reach home. While on return just follow these steps.

During the journey