Management Story

 One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "none".

The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.

The director asked, " Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.

The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.*

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: " Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'

The Director asked, " please tell me your feelings."

The youth said, Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today. Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, " This is what I am looking for to be my manager.
I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.

Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.

brain teaser1

 1. What large India retail chain proudly describes itself as 'The Family Store' in its advertisements?

2.Everyone has heard of the catchphrase "Intel Inside".

                                                         But who authored a book entitled "Inside Intel"?

3. What brand of 'cold cream', also available in India, derives its name from a Latin word meaning 'snow white'?

4. Uncle Pai is associated with which once roaringly successful publishers of children’s literature?

5. With what cigarette brand (now gone up in smoke, I'm afraid), would you associate the once ubiquitous slogan "For Men of Action-- Satisfaction"?

6. What do you call the style of selling where the bid price goes down progressively until the deal is closed?

7. With which Management Guru of Indian Origin would you most associate the phrase "Core Competence"?

8. What is the popular (though not available in India) low calorie soft drink produced by Coca Cola, having a three letter name?

9. What expensive and legendary brand of cars is supposedly named after the founder of Dertroit - the car manufacturing capital of the world?

10. Which company started by Jim Clark has its headquarters at 'Mountain View'?

 

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Answers:

Ans1.: Pantaloons
Ans.2: Tim Jackson
Ans.3: Nivea
Ans 4: Amar Chitra Katha
Ans.5: Scissors
Ans.6: Dutch Auction

Ans.7: C. K. Prahalad

Ans.8: Tab
Ans.9: Cadillac

Ans.10: Netscape

 

Get your brain cells ticking....

Some questions to test your GK....


1) This company was called Lutsuko and later changed its name to something that literally means 'to lose money'. Which one?
a) L' Oreal
b) Sony
c) Matsushita
d) Honda

2) Which car in Spanish means 'Charming'?

a) Matiz
b) Santro
c) Ikon
d) Corsa

3) Which international brand had an ad campaign - 'Tomorrow is mine' and had signed Rahul Dravid for the campaign?

a) Reebok
b) Nike
c) Pepsi
d) Puma

4) This organisation has 1356 members and has the ad-line "the world put stock on us". Which organisation?

a) NASDAQ
b) LSE
c) NYSE
d) BSE

5) Of whom did Shahrukh Khan once say that 'our figures are similar'?

a) Pierce Brosnan
b) Roger Moore
c) Sean Connery
d) Cindy Crawford

 Happy Thinking......
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Answer key:
1) (B) Sony, it's name was a tongue twister to many and had to be ultimately changed.
2) (A) Matiz
3)(A) Reebok
4)(C) NYSE
5)(D) Cindy Crawford, in fact, both Pierce Brosnan and Cindy Crawford model for Omega watches.

IB - Prospects

International Business has tremendous opportunities...

The beverages you drink might be produced in India, but with the collaboration of a USA company. The tea you drink may have been prepared from the tea powder produced in Sri Lanka. The perfume you apply might have been produced in France. The television you watch might have been produced with the Japanese technology. The shoe you wear might have been produced in Taiwan, but re marketed by an Italian company.

Most of us have the experience of browsing Internet and visiting different web sites, knowing the products and services offered by various companies across the globe. Some of us might have the experience of 'even ordering and buying the products through Internet. This process gives us the opportunity of transacting in the international business arena without visiting or knowing the various countries and companies across the globe.

Thus, international business is the process of focusing on the resources of the globe and objectives of the organizations on global business opportunities and threats.

The multinational companies which were producing the products in their home countries and marketing them in various foreign countries before 1980s, started locating their plants and other manufacturing facilities in foreign/host countries. Later, they started producing in one foreign country and marketing in other foreign countries.

For example, Uni Lever established its subsidiary company in India, i.e., Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL). HLL produces its products in India and markets them in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal etc. Thus, the scope of the international trade is expanded into international marketing and international marketing is expanded into international business.

Some  of you have been asking me questions as to how to link HR with IB,given that you have opted for dual specialization.

HR is a field that is applicable across industries and geographies. So, all the issues of HR will be applicable even in the international business context. There may be a few additional areas such as issues of expats (coming in to India) and specific HR issues for those being sent as expats even though they fall under the regular HR issues. The environment within which international business is carried out is increasingly competitive.

• The technological environment is such that technology supremacy is fleeting and since it does not last long - cannot be considered a strong advantage of a company.
• The economic environment is effected by too many uncontrollable factors which means a stable economic situation is less certain. The economy can be effected negatively by things which large companies and federal governments have no control over.
• The political environment responds to the socio-cultural environment - which in many countries, is undergoing the stresses of large immigration movements and cultural and religious frictions. Very few regions of the world are free of conflict so no place has a distinctively advantageous political environment
• The geographic environment, long affected by rampant pollution, deforestation, greenhouses gases from autos and factories, etc has negatively affected business and agricultural productivity.

Global HR Challenges

·         Things that make it difficult for companies to manage Human Resources situations in other countries.

·              o Compensation varies
     o Labour Laws
     o Social-Cultural Environment-"Managing Diversity"

There is very bright future of MBA -International Business with HR specialization.

Most of the organizations that deal with overseas clients are suffering from multiple HR issues because employees are not used to working abroad, cultural differences, behavior guidance, family vs work life balance, and above all attrition. HR managers in such organizations are learning from mistakes but realizing the need for formal education in this sector.

Persons with IB & HR specialization can be engaged in Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Consultancy is one of the most sought after and remunerative career for international business professionals. An international business consultant is responsible for providing relevant and up - to - date information about various aspects of business development and market information for international companies.

The international business consultant conveys information about foreign business investments, opportunities, competitive companies and even information about business practices and legal implications of owning a business in another country. Risk analysis and business analysis based on research is also a part of responsibility to international business consultant.

I believe there is no need to draw up a detailed link of IB with Marketing and Finance specializations ( since it is quite obvious even from the course taught)

So happy Job Hunting :)

Interview Tips(contd)

Let us now break up the interview as follows from the interviewee's point of view.

1. Content of the job talk:
1. Keep it simple - try to present only the key points and make sure the audience is very clear on what those points are.
2. Be prepared for likely questions - have colleagues and mentors ask the hardest questions they can think of.
3. "Know your vulnerabilities." Make sure you know as much as possible but be ready to admit that you don't know about certain things.
4. "Plant" questions that you know you are prepared to answer.
5. Try to demonstrates that you have thought of, and think about, alternative arguments and know how to deal with them.
2. Format of the job talk:
1. Be prepared .
2. Practice enough so that you exude confidence about your opinion and at the same time that you do not appear defensive.
3. Never exceed your time limit, and try to come in under it. Nobody has ever been criticized for being too brief!
4. Use simple language, avoid jargon
3. Answering questions during the job talk:
1.  It is ok to take time to process the question
2. Make sure you are prepared for the hardest questions possible and practice being "under attack" to make sure you don't get flustered
3. Have some "prepared" responses to questions that you know you won't know how to answer.
4. Have some standard phrases  that allow you to respond positively to aggressive questioners, e.g., "That's a good question that I have been thinking about recently," etc , to help you buy time to think about the question.
5. Remember to give short answers that directly answer the question. Don't go on too long.
6. Don't interrupt or talk over people. Always make sure you leave plenty of space for others to talk.
7. Always answer the actual question asked, regardless of the context of the question.
8. If you become flustered during questioning, take a deep breath, or whatever you need to do to regain your composure fully but quickly.
4. Know the institution you are applying to, the criteria they will use in the hire, and the process they will use in making a choice.
5. Demonstrate that you would be a good colleague.
6. Demonstrate a sincere interest in the field you are applying for.
7. Do not give any person any reason to think poorly of you. Do not "badmouth" any of the people you meet to others.
8. Be well groomed.
9. Be before time for the interview.
10. Carry all the documents needed in a professional file/ folder, properly sorted ,so that you don't have to rummage through it.
11.  Thank the interviewer before leaving the room for spending his valuable time with you.

Send a thank you note after 2-3 days of your interview and just portray how professional and well behaved you are. This will definitely give a positive approach towards your character and behavior to the employer.

Follow some of the other tips in answering some common interview questions apart from these and come out with bright colors.

Interview FAQs

With our syllabus having been covered, I thought this is a right time to talk a bit about interviews.

Today I will just list some questions that are commonly asked during interviews.

SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

How would you describe yourself/tell me about yourself? 

/Tell us what do should know about you?

Why do you want to work for this company? Tell us what you know about our company?

Why do you think you qualify to work for us?

 /Why do you think you are important to the organization and Why should we hire you?

Where is your industry heading in the next five years?

Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

What are your main strengths and weaknesses?

 /What abilities do you possess that would make you a contributing member of this organization?

What was your most interesting/ least interesting assignment?

Have you established any long-range goals and objectives?

When and why did you establish these goals? How are you preparing yourself to

achieve them?

What additional subjects, apart from your area of specialization, would you feel 

competent to perform and at what level?

What are your plans for future improvement of professional skills?

Why did you choose the Management Profession of IB/HR/ Marketing/ Finance?

What factors are most important to you in a job?

Do you have a geographical preference? Why?

Describe your most positive/rewarding experience?

Describe your most negative/trying experience?

Why did you select to study at your particular institute?

In what way can you add value to the role?

What are your greatest concerns about your first year with our organization?

Do you have any direct sales experience?

What are your organizational capabilities? Tell us something about your interpersonal 
skills and presentation  abilities?

What do you seek for in a job?

How long you would stay with us?

What is the role of the Manager in an organization?

What principles can one use to motivate people?

What is the most exciting thing happening in the area of business today?

Describe the relationship that should exist between a manager and subordinates?

Tell me about your views on Performance Management? 

How would you resolve a conflict between subordinates, superiors, and yourself?

Describe a situation in which you encountered a problem and tell us how you dealt with it.

Describe a project on which you worked which had a very short deadline.

How did you meet that deadline?

Describe a situation which you considered stressful. What role did you play?

Describe how you dealt with the situation. 

What will you prefer a better work environment or better salary package?

How do you spend your time outside of work? What activities do you enjoy most and why?

Describe a situation where you have been in a position of leading a group in those activities.

What is the last book you read? What did you think of it?

What is your favorite sport? What aspect of it appeals to you?

 What have you done that you are proud of?

Who are your heroes? Why?

What do you do with your leisure or vacation time? What special interests do you have?

If you go through the questions carefully, you can see that  they can be broadly categorized

 into few categories like " tell me something about yourself"," why we should hire you", "what 

are your career goals"," how would you handle a challenging experience"," how you can handle 

pressure" ," what are your key strengths" etc.

In the next post I would try to address how to handle such questions.

How to Identify Export Target Market

First step of export marketing is to identify target market and market needs where your products/services have good market potential and demand. There are many countries in world and you should pick right one(s) for your product and services. If you know your target market and market needs, you could easily get export orders from those countries.

You can identify target market by conducting International Market research activity that will give you detailed knowledge of opportunities in International market. It can confirm that an opportunity actually exists in a particular market and can help you to understand the market's characteristics. It can give you insight into how a new market can be developed. Most important, it helps you to identify needs of your potential customers and factors influences their buying decisions.

Types of Market Research

There are two main types of market research: secondary and primary.

Secondary research
This can be done by using data and information gathered from periodicals, studies, market reports, books, surveys and statistical analysis available through various sources like chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, industry and trade associations, websites, libraries and government sources.

Primary research
This can be done by using data and information gathered by Interviews, Focus groups, Mystery shopping etc. Primary research almost always demands personal involvement through interviews and consultations. Your foreign or domestic contacts will be able to help you better if you state your company's objectives at the outset and present your questions clearly.
Though Market Research is a complex process but following three simple steps will help you to identify target with secondary research approach.

Step 1: Collecting data

- Collect statistical information of related sector that show export data of your product or service to various countries. You can collect those data from various sources like periodicals, studies, market reports, books, surveys and statistical analyses published by chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, industry and trade associations, Export promotion councils.

- Many country's concern Govt. dept. publishes export-import statistic data on their websites also. For Example, in India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry's website- http://commerce.nic.in/ publishes export-import data categorized by HS code.

- Other online sources like Comtrade also publishes International trade statistic data.

Step 2: Screening

- From those collected data, select 5 to 10 countries where your product or service has maximum volume of export from your country. Check them over the past three or five years to know whether growth been consistent year-to-year? Did import growth occur even during periods of economic recession? If not, did growth resume with economic recovery?

- Also select some smaller emerging countries that may hold ground-floor opportunities for you. If the market is just beginning to open up, you may not have as many competitors as you would in an established market.

- Screen and target three to five of the most promising countries for further analysis.


Step 3: Analysis

- Analyse market trends and situation of those screened countries that could influence demand for your product or service. Calculate the overall consumption of your products or services category and identify the amount imported.
- Study the competition, both domestic and non-domestic. Look at each competitor's market share.
- Identify what affects the marketing and use of the product or service in each market, such as channels of distribution, economic situation, cultural differences and business practices.

- Identify any foreign barriers (tariff or non-tariff) for the product or service being imported into those country affecting exports to the country.

- Refer websites of WTO, Euro monitor, Country reports and screened country's specific business portals which will help you more to analyse current market trends and situation. There are many other sources on Internet, publishing useful information on current global market trends and situation.

After completing these three steps successfully, you will be able to identify your target market and restrict your marketing efforts to those countries only. New-to-exporting companies should concentrate on fewer than ten markets. One or two countries are usually enough to start with. You can then begin to develop your export marketing strategies and plan accordingly.

International market research activity needs expertise work so recommend you to get expert's advices on performing research activities because if you have identified your target market wrong, all your efforts for export marketing will go waste from the first step itself.

ref:

Azaz Motiwala is a marketing consultant and CMD of IKON Marketing Consultants India

Assignment

1. List out the top export and import houses in India
2. List out the major export items and their percentage share in export in India
3.List out the major import items and their percentage share in import in India
4.List out the top ten countries that India trades with.

India's Exports and Imports

Exports are the major focus of India's trade policy. The export sector is a core sector in the economic growth of the country and is important for addressing macro economic concerns. The incentives offered by the export promotion package is comparable to that of any other country. The focus remains on inducing the foreign investorscost. to set up export oriented units in India. India offers a production base for foreign markets around the world for sourcing components and products manufactured at a low

Opportunities

The Indian economy is one of the largest in the region and it has been projected to grow even further in the coming decade. It also has the potential to become a super-power within the region and stand as one of the most significant countries in the global IT industry.
India is also very rich in natural resources. Its varied geographical features give it a variety of natural products to profit from. Its fertile lands produce massive amounts of food grains and other food items. It is one of the largest exporters of items like rice and wheat, both being staples all over the world. It is also one of the largest exporters of minerals and metals like quartz and aluminum in the world.
Being a rapidly growing economy, India has a large appetite for imported goods. This is especially true in case of luxury food and non-food items. Imported electronics, both cheap and expensive ones are consumed in large quantities within the country. Apparel and accessories are also in high demand although India has a flourishing industry of its own in this regard.
Thus with the immense variety and opportunity that the Indian market presents to the world, it is understandable that the country is experiencing a lot of Foreign Direct Investments. Even though the global economic downturn has affected the situation, the Indian economy has hardly been hit by the crisis. That is mainly because the only direct connection that it shared with main recessive markets were the investments made by the companies that are part of those main markets. Hence, it has mostly escaped the massive losses suffered by other countries.
As an exporter, you have a lot of options when it comes to exporting items from India. India has items that range from natural to man made and a majority of it is in high demand overseas. The rest of the items are also in moderate demand outside, making export businesses of all levels quite lucrative in India. Things like Indian handcrafted items are especially high in demand because of their exclusivity and uniqueness.
India's voracious appetite for imported goods makes it a very profitable market for importers. Because of this, there is already a lot of competition in the market. If you want to start out as an importer, you might have to get in as a supporting member of an already established group. You have to be able to cut out a niche out of the market for yourself in order to survive in the long run.

 
India's strategic location, between Middle East and South East Asia, presents itself as a country with immense business opportunities. Its neighbors include Pakistan, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The countries labor advantage adds to this. India has vast reserves of technical and scientific manpower, backed by engineering and management institutes of excellence. India's skilled labor is in great demand in the world's premier organizations. Both skilled and unskilled labor is easy to find and wage rates are highly competitive compared to international levels. Language is not a barrier as the professional work force is conversant in English and the main transactions

and procedures are done in the same language. The government also provides a number of incentives and facilities for exporters. India's rich resource and production base provides significant opportunities for investors to establish export units. 

India's Foreign Trade Policy

The Government of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced New Foreign Trade Policy on 27th August 2009 for the period 2009-2014, earlier this policy known as  Export Import (Exim) Policy. After five years foreign trade policy needs amendments in general, aims at developing export potential, improving export performance, encouraging foreign trade and creating favorable balance of payments position. 

LINK : http://www.infodriveindia.com/content/exim/dgft/exim-policy/2009-2014/exim-policy-2009-2014.pdf

- the UPA government has assumed office at a challenging time when the entire world is facing an unprecedented economic slow down.
- the year 2009 is witnessing one of the most severe global recessions in the post-war period.
- countries across the world have been affected in varying degrees & all major economic indicators of industrial production, trade, capital flows, unemployment, per capita investment & consumption have taken a hit.
- the WTO estimates project a grim forecast that global trade is likely to decline of over by 9% in volume terms & the IMF estimates project a decline of over 11%.
- the recessionary trend has huge social implications .
- the world bank estimate suggests that 53 million more people would go chronically hungry.
- though India has not been affected to the same extent as other economies of the world , yet exports have suffered a decline in the last 10 months due to a contraction in demand in the traditional markets of exports.
- the protectionist measures being adopted by some of these countries have aggravated the problem.
- after 4 clear quarters of recessions there is some sign of a turn around & the emergence of 'green shoots'.

Trade Record:
- the foreign trade policy announced in 2004 had set 2 objectives namely:
* to double the % of share of global merchandise trade
* use trade expansion as an effective instrument of economic growth & employment generation.
- industry & agriculture has shown remarkable resilience & dynamics in contributing to a healthy growth in exports.
- in the last 5 years our exports witnessed robust growth to reach a level of US$ 168 billion in 2008-09 from US$ 63 billion in 2003-04.
- india's share of global merchandise trade was 0.83% in 2003; it rose to 1.45% in 2008 as per WTO estimates.
- share of global commercial services export was 1.4% in 2003; it rose to 2.5% in 2008.
- on the employment front, nearly 14 million jobs were created directly / indirectly as a result of exports in the last 5 years.

Future Plan :
-the short term objective policy is to arrest & reverse the declining trend of exports & to provide additional support especially to those sectors which have been hit badly by recession in the developing world.
- ministry set a policy objective of achieving an annual export growth of 15% with an annual export target of US$ 200 billion by march 2011.
- in the remaining 3 years of this foreign trade policy upto 2014, the country should be able to come back on the high exports growth path of around 25% p.a.
- by 2014, they expect to double India's exports of goods & services.
- the long term policy objective for the government is to double India's share in global trade by 2020.
- in order to meet these objectives , the government would follow a mix of policy measures including fiscal incentives, institutional changes, procedural rationalizations & enhanced market access across the world & diversification of exports markets.
- improvements in infrastructure related to exports.
- bringing down transaction costs .
- be the 3 pillars, which will support us to achieve this target.
- endeavor will be made to see that the goods & services tax rebates all indirect taxes & levis an exports.

Highlights :
- higher support for market & product diversification incentive schemes have been expanded by way of addition of new products & markets.
- 26 new markets have been added under focus market scheme (FMS).
- these include 16 new markets in Latin America & 10 in Asia-Oceania.
- the incentive available under focus market scheme has raised from 2.5% to 3%.
- the incentives available under focus product scheme (FPS) has been raised from 1.2%-2%
- market linked focus products scheme has been greatly expanded by inclusion of products.

Technological Upgradation :
- to aid technological up gradation of our export sector, EPCG scheme at zero duty has been introduced.
- Jaipur, Srinagar, anantnag have been recognized as 'towns of export excellence' for handicrafts.
- Kanpur, dewas, ambur have been recognized as 'towns of export excellence' for leather products.
- malihabad for horticultural products.

EPCG scheme relaxations:
- to increase the life of existing plant & machinery, export obligation on import of spares, mould etc., under EPCG scheme.
- it has been reduced to 50% of the normal specific export obligation.

Status holder :
- to accelerate exports & encourage technological up gradation , additional duty credit scrips shall be given to status holders 1% of the FOB value of past exports.
- the duty credit scrips can be used for procurement of capital goods with actual user condition.

Stability of he foreign trade policy :
- to impart stability to the policy regime , duty entitlement passbook scheme is extended beyond dec 12 2009 till dec 2010.
- interest subvention of 2% for preshipment credit for 7 specified sectors has been extended till 2010.
- income tax exemption to 100% EOUs & STPI units under section 10B & 10A of income tax act, has been extended for the financial year 2010-11.

Marine sector :
fisheries have been included in the sector which are exempted from maintenance of average EO under EPCG scheme.

Gems & Jewellary sector :
- to neutralize duty incidence on gold jewellery exports, it has now been decided to make India drawback on such exports.
- in an endeavor to make India a diamond international trading hub, it is planned to established "diamond bourse".
- to promote exports of gems & jewelery products, the value units limits of personal carriage have been increased from US$ 2 million to US$ 5 million inn case of participation in overseas exhibition.
- the limit in case of personal carriage, as samples , for export promotion tours, has also been increased from US$ 0.1 million to US$ 1 million.

Agriculture sector :
- to reduce transaction handling costs, a single window system to facilitate export of perishable agricultural produce has been introduced.
- the system will involve creation of multi-functional nodal agencies to be accredited by APEDA.

Tea :
minimum value addition under advance authorization scheme for export of tea has been reduced from the existing 100% to 50%.
- export of tea has been covered under VKVOUY scheme benefits.

EOUs :
- this have been allowed to sell products manufactured by them in DTA upto a limit of 90% instead of exisitng 75% without changing he criteria for DTA sale.
- EOUs wil now be allowed to procure finished goods for consolidation along with their manufactured goods, subjects to certain safeguards.
- EOU will now be allowed CENVAT credit facility for the component of SAD & education cess on DTA sale.

Flexibilty provided to exporters :
- payment of customs duty for export obligations shortfall under advance authorization.
- AA has been allowed by way of credit of duty credit scripts.
- earlier the payments was allowed in cash only.
- import of restricted items, as replenishment, shall now be allowed against transferred DFIAs, in line with the erstwhile DFRC scheme.
- time limit of 60 days for re-import of exported gems & jewelery items , for participation in exhibitions has been extended to 90 days in case of USA.
- transit loss claims received from private approved insurance companies in India will now be allowed for the purpose of EO fulfillment under export promotion schemes.

simplification of procedures:
- to facilitate duty free import os samples by exporters numbers of samples has been increased from the existing 15 to 50.
- to allow exemption for up to 2 staged from payment of excise duty in liew of refund, in case of supply to an advance authorization holder by the domestic intermediate manufactures.
- greater flexibility has been permitted to allow conversion of shipping bills from one export promotion scheme to other scheme.

reduction of transaction costs :
- no fee shall be charged for grant of incentives under the schemes of FTP.
- further, for all other authorization, maximum applicable fee is being reduced to rs.1,00,000 from the existing rs.1,50,000 (for manual applications) rs.50,000 from the existing rs.75,000 (for EDI applications).