Ask Columbus

You dream of a place, we make you wake up there

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Ask Columbus Organogram

Arijit (MD)

Tarun (LC/VP-ADMIN)

Raghvendra (CFO)

Anup (COO)

Avantika VP-HR

Tridip (CMO)

Rajat (CIO)

Sudipto Liaison Manager

Harish PRO

Durga Hospitality Manager Acknowledgements We at Ask Columbus Limited are grateful to Prof. Anjani Koomar for having given us an opportunity to dream, and to operationalize a dream, which each one of us had nurtured for a long time. This dream project of ours that today has taken some shape wouldnt have been possible without the able guidance and support of our respected professor. . Promoters, Ask Columbus Limited

Executive Summary Ask Columbus Limited is an end to end tourism consultancy company. It is a pioneer in the field of tourism solutions in India. The company believes in providing the clients with an enriching and wholesome travel experience. The companys vision is to be the Global leader by entering into the business of hospitality. Our Value proposition believes in an open door communication and a system based on continuous feedback. We are a service technology based organization with low formalization, low specialization, a strong culture and welldefined goals. A broad competitive scope with differentiation based on value added services is our basic strategy. Ask Columbus is inclined towards an Open System model, a Functional Matrix Structure and we thrive in a task environment. An Organic structure, a Reciprocal type of workflow interdependence and horizontal communication is imperative for the attainment of our organizations objectives. We would also be getting into e- commerce by managing online operations through our website www.askcolumbus.com Our Roll out Plan: We would follow a two-phase process. Phase I would start on 1st Jan 2006. We would start with one office in Delhi. Phase II starts from 1st Jan 2007 in which our main focus would be developing more packages and consolidating into the tourism industry. At this point we would be recruiting and expanding. Our main focus would be consolidation of existing businesses and foraying into the hospitality business. Further expansion in employee strength, would be done in this phase. Overall we aim to become a Multinational Service Company. We will put all processes in place and apply for ISO 9001 & ISO 9004 and CMM level 4 by the end of Phase II. The viability of Ask Columbus is based on a detailed financial analysis, which has been done. The total investment required for the company to commence operations is projected to be Rs. 8,200,000. The investment is mainly required in 4 major areas. The purchase of computers, related softwares and databases, air conditioners, printers, furnishing of the office, initial advertising and promotion activities, company formation charges, telephone and internet deposits, printing, stationery and insurance charges would be our major areas for expense. We foresee revenue of about Rs. 53,700,000 at the end of first year. At Ask Columbus the emphasis, of the human resource department is the optimization of resources through a process of recruitment, induction & placement, training, empowerment of roles,

compensation, performance appraisal, team building and due recognition to individuals and groups. Market demand variations and piracy are the major risks to the survival and progress of Ask Columbus. The teams dreams are represented in this document have a vision to become the Global Leader in tourism, but in case we encounter a failure, we have a contingency of consolidating our position in the Indian market..

Table of Contents Introduction.............................................................8

Business Proposition........................................................................................................8 Product Offering..............................................................................................................8 Registration of the Company...........................................................................................9 Identity Kit.....................................................................................................................10

Organizational Structure........................................15
Phase I ...........................................................................................................................15

Our Organizational Hierarchy..................................15 .........................................................................20

Phase II...........................................................................................................................23 Phase III.........................................................................................................................23

..........................................................................24 Design of our Organization.....................................24

External Environment....................................................................................................25 Environmental Uncertainty............................................................................................31 Structural dimensions of our organization.....................................................................32 Porters Competitive Strategy:.......................................................................................34 Miles and Snows Strategy Typology............................................................................36 Inter organizational relationships...................................................................................38 OPERATIONS PLAN...................................................................................................43

Technology and Process.........................................39 Financial Plan .......................................................44 Marketing Plan ......................................................48 HR Plan..................................................................50
HR Aim The People Strategy.....................................................................................50 HR Functions.................................................................................................................53 Performance Appraisal...............................................................................................53 Compensation............................................................................................................53 Recruiting policy........................................................................................................54 Empowerment............................................................................................................55 Team Building...........................................................................................................55 Ethics and Innovation ...................................................................................................56 Strategy and Future Planning.........................................................................................59

SWOT Analysis.......................................................63
Strengths........................................................................................................................63 Weaknesses....................................................................................................................63 Opportunities..................................................................................................................63 Threats............................................................................................................................63

Appendix A..........................................................64 Appendix B............................................................65 Appendix C..........................................................74

1. Focus Group Methodology........................................................................................74 6

1.2 Research Tools.........................................................................................................74 Sample Selection ...........................................................................................................74 1.4 Moderators...............................................................................................................74 1.4 The Process..............................................................................................................74

Appendix D Final Appraisal..................................76

Introduction
Business Proposition Basic Aim of Ask Columbus Limited is to provide end to end customized solutions to clients regarding their travel requirements. In a nut shell the company proposes to devise a business plan wherein a client approaches the company with a certain amount of money and time, having a wish to travel (destination might be decided or undecided) would be provided with all kinds of probable and interesting locations and cost effects on the client. In case the client is satisfied the company would provide with full travel itinerary, all sorts of facilities stay and total satisfied tour. Product Offering The packages being offered by our company would be multifarious. Broadly the packages will have some of the indicative themes. 1) Mysterious India: For adventure loving people. Off beat places like Jatinga in Assam, tribal deeps in various parts of India having unique traditions 2) History and You: Journey to places of historical and academic importance like sarnath,dwarka(submerged city) etc. educational tours ( niche) 3) Health is Wealth: Kerala spas, Change over places like sea beaches and hill stations (typical recovery places) 4) You and Nature: Sunderbans, Jim Corbett park, Gir forest, Chilka lake etc. 5) Journey to Eternity: Holy places in India, like Varanasi, Kailash, Ajmer shariff etc.

Registration of the Company Companies enjoy freedom in the choice of location of their projects. So the infrastructure and incentives offered by states, in addition to market considerations, play a vital role in their decision making. States are, therefore, competing with each other to offer an attractive policy environment. When a company is started, Memorandum of Association (MoA) and Articles Of Association (AoA) are signed. These documents are required for registering a company with the Registrar of companies (RoC). The MoA typical consists of the objects of the company i.e. what a company will do (functions - advisory, manufacturing, trade....; the domains IT, biotech, automobiles). The MoA enlists the primary work the company will do and a few other ancillary things. MoA also contains the authorized capital raised and the shareholdings. Minimum authorized capital is Rs. 1 lac. This can be further raised. The AoA talks about how a company would function, the directors of the company, the powers of the board, transfer of share guidelines, the board meetings guidelines, dividend guidelines, accounts, secrecy, indemnity etc. Ask Columbus Limited would complete the following regulatory obligations for registration before commencement of our services. Stamped and signed copies of Memorandum and Articles Of Association as per Table B, Schedule I, Indian Companies Act,1956 FORM NO. 1, 18 & 32 as per Companies Act, 1956. All other agreements referred to in Memorandum and Articles Of Association Certified True copy of Letter from Registrar of Companies Intimating Availability of Name Power of Attorney in favor of any person for making corrections in Registration documents

Identity Kit Our Mission Ask Columbus will strive to provide best quality experience at competitive price to our customers by continuous improvements of performance and strive for customer delight. Our team of highly motivated managers and staff are dedicated to providing the best services available in the industry. Our strength is generated from our commitment and responsibility to our clients, our industry, our environment and ourselves. Our Clients Ask Columbus is committed to providing its clients high quality traveling experience while creating an enjoyable and productive working environment. We are sensitive and responsive to our clients needs and devoted to their satisfaction. We strive to be fair, honest, courteous and professional in all our dealings. We endeavor to build our client base through positive recommendations from our existing clients. In fact, our satisfied clients would be our best marketers. Our Employees Ask Columbus is committed to hiring, developing and retaining the best managers and staff in our industry. We are dedicated to providing a working environment which allows each and every employee to have job satisfaction, at the same time meeting the desires of the company to produce the best quality products available on a profitable basis while maintaining a high moral and ethical conduct. We wish to develop employees known for their integrity, character, commitment, and confidence, and we recognize the importance of each individual in the success of the entire company. Performance would be recognized and rewarded at all levels in the organization. Ask Columbus maintains an open-door policy at all times; encouraging the flow of communication, the exchange of ideas, creativity and self-esteem in the work place. We are committed to the overall development of the person in personal and professional life. Our Industry Ask Columbus is committed to leading the tourism industry through its integrity, innovation, client satisfaction, and financial strength. We are dedicated to raising the overall standards within the industry and are devoted to maintaining an active profile within industry organizations and associations. We are further committed to the development of 10

strong ties with related industries, distributors as well as the government, who greatly contribute to our success. Our Communities Ask Columbus acknowledges its responsibility to the communities where it is located. By our leadership and active participation in community affairs, as well as our economic vitality and quality of our products and services, we can greatly contribute to enhancing the communities in which we are a part. We are committed to keep our environment free from pollution including hazardous e-waste. We acknowledge the contribution of our communities to our success and endeavor to contribute positively to its development in return. Ask Columbus is committed to excellence in every way, in our work ethic, in the products and services we provide, and in our relationships with our clients, employees, industries and communities. Mission Statement for Ask Columbus Sales Department The Ask Columbus sales and marketing department is committed to enhancing the financial condition of the company by the aggressive, informed and profitable selling of its quality products and services. The Ask Columbus sales and marketing department is committed to educating its employees regarding the creative and manufacturing processes of the company, specific product and service specifications, as well as assessing product description and differentiation. The sales and marketing department is also committed to meeting or exceeding sales and marketing targets set and maintaining cordial and warm relationships with our collaborators across the globe. The sales and marketing department will take a lead or supporting role in the following areas: Service identification Target market Cost estimation and pricing Order planning (sales and marketing forecasting and capacity planning). Order generation Order, receipt and entry Post-sales and marketing service Ask Columbus sales and marketing department is committed to open communication with its clients so as to determine their needs and desires and to, in turn, communicate to the development department and other departments who can help address client concerns. We are committed to quality service, which means a willingness to listen to 11

persons with concerns or complaints, a willingness to immediately act upon same, as well as to effectuate any modifications to company procedures to help better develop customer relations. Ask Columbus sales and marketing department is committed to customer follow-up and education.

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Employee Mission Statement It is my responsibility as an employee of Ask Columbus to keep myself healthy, both in mind, body and spirit, so that I may bring as much energy and intelligence possible to my job every day. I am dedicated to remaining educated regarding the products and services of Ask Columbus, as well as our industry as a whole. I will be punctual and focused while at work. I will keep personal interference with my job functions to a minimum. I will constantly seek to improve the company and myself. I will set goals and follow them as closely as possible. I will communicate openly with my superiors and co-workers. I will work with the utmost integrity and respect, follow and implement the mission and ethics statements of the company and my department.

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Our Core Values

Everything we do is centered on mutual trust between employees, between employees and management, between other companies in our industry and between us and the society at large. In a knowledgebased industry such as ours, survival is impossible without the virtue of constant learning. And in todays global civilization with technology, which transcends geographical barriers, adaptability and a multicultural orientation could make all the difference. We have a commitment to our customers to provide innovative products, which promise them a enriching experience.

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Organizational Structure
The organization structure for the proposed business to start of with will be fairly simplistic. It being a startup venture, initially there will be a lot of cross-functionality in the work done by each of the team members. In spite of this we believe that it is very important that responsibilities are clearly spelled out. We therefore present our organization structure in three stages Phase I For Phase I the work involved would be setting up the company, exploring and building customer base and complete establishment of the first office.

Our Organizational Hierarchy

Our organization is a tourism consultancy company. The organizational structure is designed in such a way that it combines both functional as well as divisional structure of organizational setup. The core function of the company is development of new software and thus divisional structure caters to the specific needs from the customers. The functional structure backs the organization with the backbone having the departments like Marketing, Human Resource and Finance.

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Job Description (MD)

The functions of the MD include coordinating the activities of the entire team, performance evaluation of the management team, planning the future expansion of the business in phase II and phase III and Human Resource Management. In the Phase I, the MD would double up as the VP- Legal mainly because the team is a fairly small one and it was felt that a capable manager could control both functions.
The MD would have to ensure that the creative talents of the group are utilized to the fullest and that the company lives up to the expectations of all the stakeholders. Job Description (VP-HR) Has primary responsibility for implementing HR programs and addressing the human resources needs of the company. Responsible for managing employee relations issues. Facilitating the staffing process. Addressing compensation and benefit issues. Ensures that the training and development needs of the company are met. Acts as a consultant to business unit management on organizational change and succession management issues. May manage/participate in cross-functional teams that address the development and implementation of new HR programs. Manages overall objectives, priorities and resource allocation for the company HR function. Responsible for staff management; and budget/expense management.

Job Description (Chief Marketing Officer) Prepare and implement marketing budgets Identify and implement marketing partnerships Handle corporate branding, positioning and advertising (in multiple languages). Manage large, multi-language translation and localization projects including analysis, project scheduling and strategic

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negotiations with vendors Manage public relations Seek opportunities for growth through increasing size and scope of marketing programs as well finding new revenue opportunities Pre/post sales support to vendor

Job description (Chief Finance Officer) As Chief Finance Officer, I will be responsible for maintaining the company accounts on a day-to-day basis. I would be looking into the options for extra funding from the various available sources. I would be entrusted with the task of maintaining healthy and truthful financial statements for only good financial performance would guarantee future venture capitalist funding or long-term debt from financial institutions. I would be responsible for guiding the top managements financial strategies. I would also be responsible for controlling costs across various departments. I would do budgetary allocations for the departments on a yearly basis with quarterly reviews. I would also provide scheduled financial reviews of the company accounts every month and on special request. I would be responsible for maintaining compliance with Indian GAAP and tax requirements. I would be solely responsible for maintaining high ethical and moral standards in all financial aspects related to the organization and solely liable if I fail in this. I would also recommend the levels of pay increments, bonus and stock options to employees, which the company can afford. Keeping in view the dynamic, ever-changing nature of our business, I would be responsible for evaluating various expansion and new product options and make financially sound recommendations. My immediate task however, is to learn the various software tools available for accounting purposes so that I can devote more time to strategic issues faced. As we expand our operations to phase 2, I expect to delegate the accounting tasks to my junior(s) and take up mentorship role. I would then move full time into corporate financial strategy. Job description (VP-Admin)
VP Administration

Exploration Cell

Customer Relationship 17 Management

Training & Development

VP Admin is going to function as multi responsibility role. He/she will be performing the following tasks. VP Admin will be serving a multiple responsibilities. One who takes care of R&D (exploration cell), training and development, CRM. Secondly VP Admin is the Learning Co-coordinator for our organisation. VP- Admin will be the central point of contact in the organisation. Thirdly as we are adopting the Horizontal Linkage model he will serve as an Integrator between various departments. Hence we decided for the title for the post. However if not suited it can be changed. Training & Development should not be confused with the HR training as it encompasses the training of guides and travel partners such as travel agents with whom organisation has entered into alliance. 1. 2. 3. 4. Managing Exploration Cell Customer Relationship Management Insuring Learning & Development Integrator between various departments

1. The Exploration Cell is responsible for spotting undeveloped locations which have the potential to attract tourists. They will gain first hand knowledge of such opportunities by regularly traveling to different parts of the country. Upon spotting any such location they will collect assess the opportunity by collecting first hand information on the connectivity of the location, availability of tourism infrastructure like hotels, cultural and ethnic background etc. One new arena for our future new offerings is Educational Tourism: This is a new idea which is untapped as of now as none of our competitors are providing this offering. With some of the brightest Indian universities like IIT s and IIM s India has now have made a mark of respect in the Education arena. There are lot of foreigners who are interested in Indias rich cultural heritage. For example in Calcutta every year Arts students from all parts of world come to learn music. Apart from this Architecture students view India as a very knowledgeable base of some of the finest buildings like Khajuraho temples, Rajasthan Forts and Orissa's Renaissance Era temples(Sun temple, Konark). The full expansion strategy of this idea has not been decided as yet. 2. VP Admin will be responsible for maintaining and building customer relations. It will be mandatory in the case of Corporate as customers where big companies maintain tie

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ups with their travel partner. Another function will be ensemble regularly customer feedback, gauge the requirements and apply the improvements in the organization. 3. Training and development cell deals with queries regarding knowledge processes. It will conduct training programs for employees, guides and travel agents based on customer feedback and external environment movement. The idea is to keep company abreast of the latest information and facilitate change. 4. Continuous innovation is of critical importance for Ask Columbus because we aim to develop and offer niche tourism segments. For smooth flow of pertinent and required information Integrator between various departments is required. A typical scenario of the task of Integrator is - The Exploration Cell will work out the costs of developing the destinations on their radar, with the help of the Customer Tracking Cell. The Market Research Group will keep the Exploration Cell updated with the changes in customer needs and the growing customer and benefits segments. One scenario is shown below -

ENVIRONMENT

VP Administration

Chief Marketing Officer

ENVIRONMENT

Exploration Cell

Linkage

Customer Tracking Cell

New Locations

Market Research Group

Customer Needs

Job Description (PRO)

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Essential As Public Relations officer, the ability to communicate effectively is very important. Public relation Officers serve as advocates for their organization who build and maintain positive relations with the public. They serve as an intermediary between the organization and its customers and help them to adapt mutually to each other.

Various organizational functions such as media, community, consumer, industry, and governmental relations; political campaigns; interest-group representation; conflict mediation; or employee and investor relations. are taken care of by PRO.

Job Description (Liaison Manager) co-operation with organizations collaboration with organizations maintaining customer relationship dealings concerning franchises

Job Description (CIO) deployment of technology R&D, internal applications and infrastructure, customer support

Job Description of Chief Hospitality Creation of new services and segments develops strategic accounts continued delivery of innovation and excellence

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Top Management Role in Organization Direction, Design and Effectiveness

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External

Environment
Opportunities Threats Uncertainty Resource availability

Organizational Design Strategic Direction

Define Select mission, operational official goals, goals competitive strategies Structural formlearning vs. efficiency Information and control systems Production technology Human resource policies, incentives Organizational culture Interorganizational linkages

Effectivene ss Outcomes
Resources Efficiency Goal attainment Competing values

CEO, Top manage ment team Internal Situation

Strengths Weaknesses Distinctive competence Leader style Past performance

ASK COLUMBUS:
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT Opportunities: relatively nascent/ under-developed business arena Threats: Competition from established players like Thomas Cook

Uncertainty A consultancy tourism would undoubtedly have goodwill as one of its greatest assets which would take a fair bit of time to generate

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Resource availability In terms of human resources, we are a rich organization A consultancy business is not capital-intensive hence initial requirement of funds needed would not be unmanageable INTERNAL SITUATION Strengths large inter-organizational diversity (plus point in the tourism business)

Weaknesses organizational culture undefined Distinctive competence Functional expertise Leader style Directive, nurturing Past performance Not applicable

Phase II In this phase we plan to expand our workforce and go into developing more packages to decrease our reliance on a small offering of packages. We look to expand our reach in technology to mobile phones and the Internet and geographical reach inside India. The initial founding members would take on mentorship roles rather than being involved in executive roles. We look to have a core team with around 200 associates and additional office staff. But the essential structure of the organization would remain the same with additional managerial responsibilities of the seniors. In addition we would be expanding our HR, Finance and marketing teams. Phase III Phase III is the ultimate goal of the company where we look to move forward along the lines of our inspiration Global exposure. At this

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stage we are a well-established company with many packages to our credit and we have had resounding success. Now, we look to make a permanent mark with our own services and get into operations like cruises. We also start approaching venture capitalists to fund our vision of creating a Global tourism company. The organization structure reflects the various functions that would be performed by the employees. Since we would be looking at the global perspective the marketing team would be divided working on the basis of geographical segment.

Managing Director

Team Admin

Team Operations

Team HR

Team Finance

Team Marketing

Design of our Organization

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External Environment

(i) Sociocultu ral Sector (h) Government Sector

(j) International Sector

(a) Industry Sector (b) Raw Materials Sector (c) Human Resourc es Sector (d) Financial Resources Sector

DOMAIN

Ask Columbus

(g) Economic Conditions Sector

(f) Technolo gy Sector

(e) Market Sector

(a) Competitors, industry size and competitiveness, related issues After setbacks of more than a decade India is again picking up as the hot tourism destination world-wide. It has got prominent location on the world map of tourism. Along with, International tourism, domestic tourism is also growing. Tourism is the world's largest industry, with annual revenue of almost $500 billion. And it is growing fast, with airline arrivals expected to double by 2010. There are two distinct part of Tourism industry. One is international tourism and other one is domestic tourism. Total number of tourists arrivals world-wide was 760 million in year 2004. This figure was up by 10% from the previous years figure. No of international tourists those visited India in last two years are 2384000 and 2786000. As of now Indias international tourism expenditure is 2.3 bn USD. We see that total market share of India

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in terms of number of tourists in just around .5%. So there is huge potential for growth. As per one report on international tourism following markets have been considered as the emerging market. China (ExclHong Kong and Macao) Russian Federation Middle East

Domestic tourist market is also showing sign of good progress. In last 7 years (1997 to 2004) market has grown up almost by 100%. Total number of domestic tourists visits in India was 159 millions in year 1997. This figure rose to close to 300 millions in year ending 2004. In number of tourists visits, domestic tourism is 67 times the foreign tourism but in terms of revenues it is just 3.65 time of the same.

(b) Suppliers, manufacturers, real estate, services There are two major industries those have high effect on tourism industries. Airlines Industry - The opening up of the aviation industry in India bring exciting opportunities for tourism, as they rely on airlines to transport 80 per cent of international arrivals. Increased airline activity has stimulated demand and has helped to improve India's troubled infrastructure. Increased competition will lead to the development of new and improved services in tourism. On the international front, the capacity and availability of destinations serving India continues to grow. For example, recently, Malaysia Airlines announced its plans to add 18 new routes in India within the next five years. Jet Airways and Air Sahara, two privately owned airlines, have launched services to other South Asian destinations. Increasing competition in the domestic airline industry will continue to drive the growth of Indias domestic market. It is expected that the tumbling cost of travel will continue, given the growing number of seats available.

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 Hotel Industry Growth of these two industries, Hotel and Tourism, is very much linked together. Recent times have seen growth in both of these industries. In anticipation of further growth, hotel companies are keen to increase total occupancy capacities. Other industries those are linked with tourism are Car rental, Local Handicrafts, Railways and road transport.

(c) Labor market, employment agencies, universities, training schools, employees in other companies, unionization This is one domain which does not affect tourism industry very much directly. Yet tourism education is gaining popularity in country. This trend will definitely help in growth of tourism industry. Presently, tourism education is faced with issues of integrated curricula and it could be a long time before a consensus is achieved. Considering that tourism should serve academic as well as professional purposes, researchers have attempted to develop broad frames of reference for tourism curriculum. Also, a lot of students are going for course in Hotel Management. In the global context, about 11 per cent of the global work force are employed in tourism and transport. In India, it is in the range of 5 per cent. If the Government adopts the proposed policy, we expect that in the next five years about 25 million new jobs will become available in tourism. There are several upstream and downstream activities, which contribute to tourism. Two main sources of employment in tourism are the hospitality and the transport sectors.

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(d) Stock markets, banks, savings and loans, private investors In India, there have been no IPOs in this sector and they are carried only through private investing. We have initial funding through private equity and bank loan. For our long term plans we plan to raise capital through IPOs funding from India and abroad. (e) Customers, clients, potential users of products and services Emergence of strong high middle class income group augurs well for the growth of tourism industry in India. This class has largest disposable income and they are ready to spend it on tourism, which is relatively considered as luxury spending in India. One estimate shows that currently Indians spend about 12.6 per annum on travel and tourism which is only 4.5 per cent of their personal expenditure. With the economic growth, this will touch 5.77 per cent by 2011 and eventually to the world average of 10 per cent. The multiplier effect of the growth will also benefit several other sectors of the economy. India is gradually gathering popularity as a health tourist destination. It attracted approximately 150,000 patients to the country in 2003. It has the potential to attract one million health tourists every year and this will contribute up to $5 billion to the economy. The country needs to exploit the cost advantage it can offer to a health tourist, a CII study has said. A heart surgery in the US costs $30,000 as compared to $6,000 in India. Similarly, a bone marrow transplant in the US costs $250,000 and $26,000 in India. "With yoga, meditation, ayurveda, allopathy, and other systems of medicine, India offers a unique basket of services to an individual that is difficult to match by other countries," the CII study said. Clinical outcomes in India are at par with the world's best centres, besides having internationally qualified and experienced specialists. 28

(f) Techniques of production, science, computers, information technology In order to make effective use of the resources for overseas publicity, the application of information technology needs to be promoted in the sector. It may be advantageous to close the Government of India Tourist Offices overseas and promote publicity through the Internet and television. The Ministry of Tourism launched a web-site in January 1999. The tourist offices abroad are likely to become redundant with the improvement of the website. To become a successful tourism company we need to keep ourselves updated with the latest changes in the market. Some of these like offering more and more services online, Phone booking etc. (g) Recession, unemployment rate, inflation rate, rate of investment, economics, growth Growth of this sector is directly linked with the growth of the GDP of the country as this growth increases personal disposable income of consumers. (h) City, state, federal laws and regulations, taxes, services, court system, political processes A multiplicity of taxes exists in the tourism sector. The quantum of taxes also varies from place to place. This creates hurdle in packaging of the tourism product and is also irksome to the tourist; it makes the product expensive as well. The taxes in the sector, therefore, need to be rationalized and reduced for endcustomer to make the destination competitive. Further, some uniformity in taxes on tourist transport should be adopted to facilitate free flow of tourist traffic across the State borders. The tourism product in India is mostly controlled by state governments. This covers all aspects of tourism such as local infrastructure, transport systems, municipal taxation, sanitation, hygiene, leisure and recreation, law and order, the 29

preservation of local monuments, and the general well-being of tourists. Recognizing that these crucial issues fall within the domain of the states, WTTC has determined that, when promoting tourism, it is as important to interact actively with state authorities as it is to interact with the Indian government, in order to create much closer co-operation between the public and private sectors.

(i)

Age,

values,

beliefs,

education,

religion,

work

ethic,

consumer and green movements As mentioned earlier growth of young upper middle class population is a good sign for the growth of tourism industry in India. (j) Competition from and acquisition by foreign firms, entry into overseas markets, foreign customs, regulations, exchange rates Some of our main competitors are as follows State Tourism Boards SOTC Thomas Cook Cox & Kings UVI Holidays Limited Local Travel Agencies

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Environmental Uncertainty In order to understand our environmental uncertainty we analyze the various components of our task environment on the basis of three factors viz. change, complexity and need for resources Since we will be interacting with a relatively large number of diverse external elements we are in a complex environment. In the market sector we need to target various income groups with different needs and requirements. The hospitality sector and Air travel sector is also showing rapid growth. Hence maximum diversity shall be seen in the market and technology sectors. Changes in socio-cultural environment and international markets will also have a significant impact on us. Industry, Human Resource, financial resources and economic conditions will not be simple. Government sector and the raw materials market should hardly be a problem The changes in consumer tastes and choices can be abrupt. More importantly this industry is highly influenced with political situation of the company. Issues like terrorism, riots , instability have high negative impact on the tourism, particularly on international tourism. Constant promotion tourist destination through advertisements, Seminars and Fairs is necessary. This sector is also influenced with the international political scene. For example instability anywhere in South Asia will create some negative effect on the number of tourists arrivals in India. Hence it can be seen that we are part of an unstable environment

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Need for resources, on the other hand, is not very critical. Apart from the investment in initial phase, we will not need the kind of resources in the form of raw material, labor etc that a manufacturing organization needs because our service offering primarily based on the knowledge capital and networking. As managers we need to understand that even though the organization has few external elements those elements are hard to predict, and their reaction to organizational initiatives cannot be expected or estimated.

Structural dimensions of our organization

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A low level of formalization as indicated by very few written rules is the hall mark of our organization where the requirement for formalization is low because of the need to be able to continuously and proactively respond to the environment around. Low Specialization in our organization is conducive to providing customized services to our clients keeping in mind the need for interdepartmental communication and interaction. Ask Columbus follows a flat hierarchy. This helps us give people the freedom to make their decisions according to the demand of the situation but the vertical element, though not tall, is significant for the purpose of proper coordination and for maintaining a sense of responsibility. Our organization is completely service based and all our packages make us a technology centric organization. The environment is relatively unstable because our customer base and the extent of the spread of our services would be very highly influenced with all changes in the market conditions. Ask Columbus is the hall mark of aspirations, dreams and capabilities of ten intellectually stimulated individuals and is based on a common vision, culture, values and belief sets. We are based on a strong culture where a common belief, value and most importantly vision are shared by all the people associated with the organization. Here it is important to notice that the job requires a high level of professionalism but the lack of training that stands out for a few of us can be compensated by a strong interest in the field and the will to learn. And we are not also completely handicapped because we have all had a decent exposure to the field. Ask Columbus has a well defined goal. It has a well charted path for the future. We have clearly defined our organizational structure and also our expansion plan as we progress and grow. Ours is a modern organization where we are committed to constant improvement and growth. We believe in involving our clients in the process of developing product services for them, most suited to their needs. Being small in size gives us the advantage of being nimble enough to respond to the changes of a knowledge based industry like ours. This focus on knowledge and learning also requires us to be biological in our mindset to achieve our dreams.

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Porters Competitive Strategy: While deciding on the competitive strategy to be adopted by Ask Columbus, we have evaluated both the internal resources and capabilities, and its strengths and weaknesses with regards to the existing industry players and conditions. The decision on whether the firm should be organized in such a way as to respond to changes quickly and effectively or whether it has the ability to lead change from within was determined by taking into consideration the current strength of our human and intellectual capital and whether we will be able to create and sustain competitive advantage. Strategy, Organizational Design and Effectiveness Porters Competitive Strategy

Competitive Scope Competitive Emphasis

Broad Uniqueness

Strategy
Differentiation

Following Porters Competitive Strategy framework, the analysis was done based on the following two factors: Competitive emphasis: Ask Columbus, having a huge advantage in technical know-how and a highly talented management team, will focus on providing a unique service to the customer, with the creation of compelling new packages and exploiting the opportunities available in new developments in the tourism industry. To this end, Ask Columbus, will place a high premium on field research and market study, and will advertise its new services extensively to build brand awareness. Due to its unique positioning, Ask Columbus will be able to develop a set of loyal customers, who can also collaborate in improving the services through market researches which will help in identifying the most important value criteria to be incorporated in the companys products. The employees will be encouraged to seek new avenues for improvement and to bring forth innovative approaches. It will be expected that the work force spends a substantial amount of their time in exploring new concepts and testing their viability. This will help the company sustain its competitive advantage in the market. Competitive Scope: Ask Columbus will be looking at a niche competitive scope. The main target segment will be people in the age group 18-70. However, the

34

company does not mean to confine itself to just this group of potential customers.

35

Miles and Snows Strategy Typology

The Miles and Snows strategy typology speaks about four strategies: 1) The Prospector, 2) The Defender, 3) The Analyzer & 4) The Reactor
The Prospector: This strategy is suitable in a dynamic and growing environment where creativity is very important. It involves innovation, risk taking and seeking opportunities for growth. For a startup organization like Ask Columbus operating in a dynamic and growing environment of tourism consultancy this type of strategy can prove to be very useful and accordingly the offerings and product mix of Ask Columbus has been designed. We at Ask Columbus plan to offer consultancy in innovative products like VILLAGE, WILDLIFE, TRIBAL, ECOTOURISM, HIMALAYAS, CRUISES, HERITAGE, EDUCATIONALFAIRS & FESTIVALS, UNDISCOVERED, MYSTERIOUS locations. Such a wide range of innovative products come along the ensuing risk .However Ask Columbus is a new entrant in the market and hence have to take such risks for creating opportunities and hence growth of the organization. The Defender: It is quite opposite to that of the prospector strategy in the sense that instead of creating new opportunities it concentrates on stability and internal efficiency. The primary objective is to hold on to the existing customers/business. This strategy is not applicable for a startup organization like Ask Columbus as it has no market share/business/customers. So virtually nothing to defend as of now. The Analyzer: This model suggest an in between strategy between the above two strategies. It advocates of innovating in the periphery while adopting a stable /defensive policy in the core business/ products. This model can be applicable to Ask Columbus if we want to play safe and concentrate on the products that provide traditionally high returns so that we can have some security. Apart from that innovative product can be tried in the unconventional products as above. This should be the best strategy as it would ensure some financial security. Simultaneously it would ensure enough funds though conventional products through economies of scale and this will help the company in providing the best of the innovative products. However the USP of the company would be to come up as one of the best providers of the innovative products and carve a name for itself in this area. As the growth potential is high and competition is lower compared to the conventional products where the market is too much crowded. The Reactor: The organizations following this strategy just respond to the environmental threats and opportunity as and when they appear there no planning behind it. This cant be a strategy to be followed by any organization and certainly not for a start up organization like ours.

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So, overall it seems the choice is between going for either Prospector or Analyzer strategy (if we plan to play it safe initially). Else if the company is looking for high growth and is prepared to take along the associated risk in that scenario the prospector strategy appear to be the best one.

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Inter organizational relationships Today in this constantly changing environment where organizations have a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty there is a significant change in the way organizations interact with one another. Earlier the emphasis was resource dependence most organizations used to try to be as self sufficient as it can. But now forming a collaborative network is an emerging alternative. The earlier adversarial relationships are now being replaced by mutual trust cooperation and faith. Ask Columbus being a start up organization also plans to follow the collaborative model to maximize its growth potential and also gain from the expertise of the organization operating in the same area of our organization and also with those operating in other areas. Ask Columbus would try to enter into a collaborative network with various organization and try to be of value to each other in the form of idea generation, coordination, sharing information. All these will help all organizations in the collaborative network to optimize their business potential. Ask Columbus would extend its assistance beyond the existing contract to the organizations in its collaborative network. This will build

38

on the mutual trust and faith which will help in better cooperation and coordination. The already existing companies would also benefit from collaborating with startup organizations like Ask Columbus in the sense that large companies generally find it difficult to adjust to the continuously environment. Hence they need to adjust by the variation, selection and retention process. But many cant do that on their own and hence they collaborate with new organizations who fill the niche left by the established companies. More and more organizations are fast realizing that hence Ask Columbus can hope to get into collaborative partnership with established companies including those operating in the similar business areas. These inter-organizational relationships will give the Ask Columbus and its products some recognition in the market which would be very helpful to start with. This will help Ask Columbus withstand the mimetic, coercive and normative forces and help it evolve culturally ,legally and morally in the eyes of the people.

An inter organizational relationships framework is illustrated under

ORGANIZATION TYPE

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Dissimilar
Competitive

Similar

Resource dependence

Population Ecology

Cooperative

Collaborative network

Institutionalism

The two colored quadrants in the diagram above signify the two areas in which our company can utilize opportunities to utilize inter organizational synergies to its advantage. The characteristics, processes, strategies and potential benefits to be accrued through each of these two are analyzed as under Population ecology Characteristic Target firms Process Collaborative network

Strategy

Competition for similar Uncertain environment, customers and resources risk sharing and common advantages. Organizations competing Large travel with rival tourist management companies packages Variation-SelectionWielding collective Retention processes synergy for stable growth within the population of and challenge organizations entrenched competitors. Identify and target a Develop partnerships, 40

niche area of business. Potential benefits First mover advantage in a new segment Achieving visibility and a loyal customer base with high quality offerings. Untested market area, may not offer returns at par with tested tourism market areas.

Potential pitfalls

sharing benefits and risks of sales in an untested and volatile market. Lower advertisement costs, utilization of established sales network, faster customer feedback and lower obsolescence risks Investment of time and energy to develop an efficient network. Dilution of profits.

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42

OPERATIONS PLAN The operations of Ask Columbus will branch out from the customer value chain. The primary activities will be: 1. Consultancy 2. Ticketing 3. Hotel booking 4. Visa and custom We plan to implement the full breadth and depth of our services in 3 phases. PHASE 1: We will operationalise the following 6 activities: 1. Network Setup 2. Office Setup 3. Consultancy 5. Crisis management 6. Hotel booking Our prime value proposition is to offer niche tourist segments. Thus, we have decided to activate 22 tourist destinations in the Undiscovered and North Eastern themes in the 1st quarter. We have built up a comprehensive list of tourist spots which we have segmented into themes according to the type of tourism offered by the locations. The locations are:
TOURIST DESTINATIONS PHASE 1 Agartala Warangal Bodhgaya Kufri Cherrapunji Jhalwar Chitrakoot Chanderi Deogarh Kufri Hampi Gangtok Kinnaur Bodhgaya Ratnagiri Gunupur Sunderbans Balighai Beach Corbyn's Cove Murud Janjira

5. Car rental 6. Crisis management 7. Rotary Exchange visits

4. Ticketing

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We have decided to set up offices in 3 cities: Mumbai, Delhi and Banaglore. The selection has been done on the basis of the tourist arrivals data collected from India Stat database. Delhi and Mumbai attract the highest number of tourist inflows among the 4 metros. We will set up the offices in prime commercial location in the 3 cities to position ourshelves as an upmarket consultancy. Easy accessibility is another reason for the choice. Network Setup: We will place visit the 22 tourist locations to recruit our nodal representatives. The nodal representatives will also act as the guides in Phase 1. We will equip all our representatives with mobile phones to facilitate fast information flow. Manpower Estimate:
Resource Travel Consultants Receptionists Administrative staff Guides TOTAL Estimated Requirement 3 3 3 22 31

We will launch our advertisement campaign upon the completion of the office setup activity. We have set a target of 450 customers for Phase 1. We have estimated the number based upon the tourist inflows data for the 3 cities and the estimated effect of the advertisement campaign. We have employed the Advertisements expense to sales proportion for leading travel management companies like India Travel House and Thomas Cook to validate the figure.

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Phase 2 will begin once we achieve our target of 450 customers, which we hope to reach by the end of the first quarter. Ticketing & Hotel Booking: We will offer ticket and hotel bookings as an optional service for our customers. We interacted with officials from UP Tours & Travels Pvt. Ltd. to gain insight into the process. We will collaborate with the leading airlines for air tickets. We will secure the approval of Indian Railways to act as travel agents. The usual 5 % commission on ticket bookings will act as a source of Other Income for us. We plan to collaborate with State Tourism Boards in Phase 1 for hotel bookings. State Tourism Boards have an extensive chain of infrastructure across the breadth of the country. We will add hotels as our partners as we start gaining customers. This strategy will allow help us in avoiding large up front investments in the 1st phase. Car rentals: The car rental industry in India is largely fragmented, though organized private players like Hertz and Avis have entered the market recently. Upon interacting with Avis officials (through email), we found that neither of the 2 players have a presence in the 22 tourist nodes that we are targeting in the 1st phase. Thus, we will collaborate with the respective State Tourism Boards for car rentals. We rejected the option of hiring private taxis in the different cities as there are doubts upon the insurance status and the quality of the cars. We plan to tie-up with Avis and Hertz in Phase 2. CRISIS MANAGEMENT

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Efficient handling of crises will be of paramount importance. We will set up an Incident Command System. This system will be activated in case of events of the following nature: 1. Accident involving any of our customers. 2. If any customer falls seriously ill. 3. Criminal assault, kidnapping of our customer. 4. If any customer group loses its way while exploring an offbeat location. The Chief Operating Officer will act as the Incident Commander. All our employees in tourist locations will be equipped with mobiles. We also plan to build a collaborative network with a courier service to enable the flow of messages from remotely located nodes. The usual lines of command will be loosened until the crisis is resolved. CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Nodal representative of troubled node Nodal representatives of neighboring nodes

Public Relations Officer Human Resources

Incident Command System FAILURE MODE EFFECTS ANALYSIS STAGE # POTENTIAL POTENTIAL POTENTIAL RECOMMENDED FAILURE SEVERITY RESPONSIBILITY CAUSES EFFECTS ACTION MODE

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Tourist group meets with accident

Accident prone hilly roads

Negative publicity

1. Guide informs Incident Commander 2. Guide takes complete care of group 3. Guides from other nodes reach the node 4. Cash sent to the node 5. Insurance company notified
1. Guide informs Incident Commander 2. Guide takes Customer to nearest hospital 3. Incident commander informs family 1. Guide informs Incident Commander 2. Guide reports to the police 3. Top Management lobbies with government for fast action 4. Customer's family informed 1. Guide informs Incident Commander 2. Guides of other nodes help the guide trace the C 3. Guide informs police 4. Incident Commander informs family

Incident Commander Guide

Customer falls seriously ill

None

Bad experience for customer

Incident Commander Guide

Criminal Assault /kidnapping

Bad security in nodal region

Negative publicity

Top Management Incident Commander Guide

Customer Group loses its way

None

Negative publicity

Incident Commander Consultant

PHASE 2: We plan to implement the following additional activities in the 2nd phase.

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1. Rotary Exchange Visits: Rotary Club has an exciting, though, underutilized cross cultural exchange program, in which Rotarians from different countries stay at the houses of Rotarians in the visited country. We interacted with the Rotary Club to explore the possibility of partnership with Ask Columbus for marketing the program on a wider stage. The Rotary Club of Lucknow liked the idea and expresses their interest for tieing up with us. 2. Visa & Custom: We plan to extend Visa services for our foreign customers. Visa clearance is a cumbersome process and tourists from abroad normally hire the services of an agency to handle it. By providing them the facility to leave the job with us, we will move colder to our aim of delighting the customer. We have compiled a database of more than 250 tourist spots in India. We plan to progressively set up our offices at the spots, taking cue from the customer traffic. E-commerce: We plan to set up a website to augment our sales and also as a measure of legitimacy. We are trying to contact software vendors like Aditi to explore the cost of developing a travel management application for us.

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49

SERVICE BLUEPRINT
Customer specifies preferences to consultant

Customer contacts for appointment

Customer arrives in reception

C approves plan

C waits

C gets documents

C arrives at D Node

Reception Cell Greets Customer

Does C like destination ?

Guide receives Customer

Yes
C taken to hotel

No

Schedules appointment Reception cell feeds information

Gather more info & get back to C

Prepare cost estimate & itinerary

Informs destination node

Does C want any change in schedule

Yes
Change

No
Informs C Tracking Cell D. Node books hotel & cars Guide leads C to spots

Customer Tracking Cell Books Tickets

C gifted a souvenir
Guide sees off Customer

Informs Ticketing Cell Is visa required ?

Gets Visa & Clearance Are 38 all deliverables ready?

Yes

Informs Visa Cell

STAGE 1

Yes

LINE OF VISIBILITY

C Tracking Cell contacts C for feedback STAGE

Technology and Process

Core technology of our organization is going to be service technology. Main features are 1. Intangible output, there is no way to measure customer delight 2. Production and consumption simultaneously 3. Knowledge intensive, we must be absolutely aware of the current trends and the latest places to visit and the charges. 4. High amount of customer interaction 5. Human element is very important, its seen that even if the service is moderate quality but the human beings i.e. employees are showing empathy to customer the customer delight will happen. 6. Quality is perceived not measured, there is no way to measure if we are on quality path or not. DEPARTMENT DESIGN Formalization: Routine tasks are determined by standardization and division of labor into small tasks governed by formal rules and procedures. We are in a business where most of the tasks are non routine. Since we are mainly in tourism consulting business we are not going to have routine tasks, thus the level of formalization is going to be low. Decentralization In non routine tasks most of the decisions are taken by people handling the task and not by the top management. We follow a relaxed hierarchy in which each person will take his decision. This is due to the nature of problem we are going to face; most of them will not have any precedence and no time to solve.

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Worker skill level This is going to be high, most of the task are going to be non routine as well as challenging. A huge amount of resources are going to be spending on training. For a normal travel company which arranges tours the worker tasks are congruent and repetitive, thats not the case with us. Thus high skill levels. Span of control We plan to have moderate to narrow span. Due the application of IT the number of employees required has reduced drastically. Since the tasks are non routine despite employee training we need high level of interaction with the superiors. Thus this system of span control. Communication and coordination Our organization is going to be a hybrid one with mainly horizontal communications. Challenging problem require a huge number of people from diverse background coming and contributing to solving it. Thus a huge and reciprocal communication is going to happen in the organization. WORKFLOW INTERDEPENDENCE AMONGST DEPARTMENTS We have chosen it to be of Reciprocal form because of the type of consulting job we are doing

DEPARTMENT I

DEPARTMENT II

DEPARTMENT III

CUSTOMER

Horizontal Communication: Very High Coordination type: Mutual adjustment, cross departmental meeting, teamwork

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IT infrastructure of ASK COLUMBUS: In the initial phase since the scale is small the customer support will be provided by employees only; if we scale up we will open up a 24*7 call center. Currently IT application will be focused in the following areas: 1. Customer support: 2. Employee database Details For Customer support we plan to deliver following facilities a) Online search of location to travel, itinerary, our charges, facilities provided by us and total expenditure in lump sum. b) If the customer is not willing to go by a standard option we can have a questionnaire in which he can fill up his budget, preferences, locations traveled, family size, purpose etc. Our Consultants will reach to him in 24 Hrs with options. c) Booking of tickets and tracking will be online. d) We will have an extensive database of all locations and the highlights of the location. e) We will also make the travel more memorable by providing space on our website in which they can store videos and pictures. These people will also have a scrap book in which they can put in some memorable stuff about the tour. We shall have a distributed database for our site so that backup is available 24*7. For servers we will have a backup. For Employee database we plan the following a) IT will help HR and employees to make the appraisal system more interactive. b) Employee will be able to manage their competencies and apply for internal job postings. c) It will be easy to trace the employee efficiency; number of customers dealt and effectiveness; how happy the customers are. Since all this will be recorded. d) The employees will access Intranet and thus will know various items like leaves, salary, online directory, email, search, customer tracking etc.

Thus our IT architecture will look like

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Sales

Financial accounting

Human Resources

CENTRAL DATABASE

Purchases and payment made to airlines, hotels etc

Data about traveling and tourism

Distribution

After application of IT the whole process flow will change Traditional Organization Very slow movement of information Usage of mail, telephone for contacting people Process of ordering i.e. paper work take a lot of time. ASK Columbus Very fast movement of information Usage of e mail, internet for contacting people Process of ordering is done on the basis of requirements which are updated on a realtime basis i.e. no paper work saving a lot of time. Limited communication Maximum communication Information mainly given Information mainly given by pamphlets, advertising in by website. newspapers For a customer all he has to Its difficult to suggest him do is search the site and he about all the options as the will get a huge number of process will take a lot of options for his travel. time Practically no department is A huge department for needed for providing providing information to the information to the customer customer However we will have a very few number of people

Partners(Hotels, airlines)

Customer

42

whose main task will be to respond to specific mails and requests from the customer

43

Financial Plan
Financial Analysis These calculations are based on the following assumptions: 1. In the first quarter well be able to attract 350 tourist groups. This amounts to around .5% of current tourism market 2. On average one tourist group will be willing to spend Rs. 35,000. Out of this 30,000 will be operational expenses. Our margin will be Rs. 5000. 3. One tourist group will consist of 4 members 4. For the first year our customer base will grow at the rate of 5% per quarter. Looking at our aggressive advertising this growth rate is quite achievable.

Initial Funding Required Assumptions : Number of Tourist Groups in 1st Quarter Average number of Tourists in one Group Average Spending per group Booking Charges Consultancy Fee Initial Funding required Salaries & Wages (3 Months) Operational Expenses (1 months) Hotel Bookings, Tickets, Car rental etc Office Cost (3 months) Computer Cost Network Setup Cost Sales and Marketing Expenses (3 months) 2,100,000 350 4 35,000 30,000 5,000

3500000 855000 260000 154,000 1817500 8,686,500

Office Cost (One Month)

OFFICE COST RENT & FURNITURE PHONE BILLS OTHER EXPENSES (For 3 Offices) COMPUTER PURCHASE 65000 20000 10000 95000 285000 260000

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545000

Salaries & Wages (per month)

SALARIES & WAGES 3 Main Offices Consultant Receptionist Administration Staff (For 3 offices) NODAL OFFICES(22) Guide 500(per day) 350 tourist groups 20,000x10 350000 30,000 (per month) 10,000 (per month) 10,000 (per month) 50,000 150,000

CORE MANAGEMENT GROUP

200000 700,000

Initial Network Set Up Cost

NETWORK SETUP COST Recruitment of Guides (22 Locations) Mobile Connection to guides ( Rs. 5000 per guide) 44,000 110000 154,000

Sales and Marketing Expenses

SALES & MARKETING EXPENSES Advertisement Expenses Internet Ads (Rate Rs 15 per Click, Conversion rate 1%) * Radio TV Commercials(2 months) Print Media**

400000 33750 1350000 33750 1817500

* Sites identified for internet advertising are Rediff.com, NDtv, Google, Indiatimes and Yahoo!! ** Print media will include advertisement in India Today, Outlook Travels, Tours and travels magazines and Airline magazines.

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Profit and Loss account, Ask Columbus, for quarter ending 31st March, 2006

ASK COLUMBUS Profit & Loss Statement for the quarter ending 30th March 2006 INCOME Consultancy Fee Tickets, Hotel Bookings & Other arrangements Other Income Commission from Bookings (2%) 1750000 10500000

210000 12460000

EXPENDITURE OFFICE COST RENT & FURNITURE PHONE BILLS OTHER EXPENSES (For 3 Offices) COMPUTER PURCHASE

195000 60000 30000 285000 855000 260000 1115000 2,100,000 10500000 154,000 2300000 16169000

SALARIES & WAGES OPEARATIONAL EXPENSES NETWORK SETUP COST SALES & MARKETING EXPENSES

Profit Before Interest and Taxes

(3709000)

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Projected Profit and Loss Account for first Years of Operations

ASK COLUMBUS Projected Profit & Loss Statement for first year of operations Projection for Total year Consultancy Fee Tickets, Hotel Bookings & Other arrangements 7542718.75 45256312.5 905126.25 EXPENDITURE OFFICE COST RENT & FURNITURE PHONE BILLS OTHER EXPENSES (For 3 Offices) COMPUTER PURCHASE 53704157.5

INCOME

Other Income

780000 240000 120000 1140000 3420000 260000 3680000 8400000 42000000 154,000 9200000 59754000

SALARIES & WAGES OPEARATIONAL EXPENSES NETWORK SETUP COST SALES & MARKETING EXPENSES

Profit Before Interest and Taxes

(6049842.5)

Procurement of Initial Funding From SBIs site

Professionals and Self-employed Persons include medical practitioners, chartered accountants, lawyers, management consultants, and anybody trained in any other art or craft with a degree or diploma or who in the opinion of the Bank are technically qualified or possess skills in their respective fields. The Bank extends financial assistance up to Rs 5 lakh for which working capital is limited to Rs 1 lakh

47

This will help us in raising a capital of 50 Lakhs (for 10 MBAs). Rest of the amount can be procured on loan from other similar schemes of other banks.

Marketing Plan Marketing Objective We Aim to Become the Most Sought After Luxury Holiday Company in India Target Markets Our target segment is people who didn't want to organize all of their holidays, but who disliked the regimentation of package tours. Our holidays have a comprehensive range of accommodation but more importantly we have some excellent offers in up-market and luxury hotel chains in many tourist destinations all over India. Therefore for those who prefer these properties we would definitely recommend an Ask Columbus Holiday. Ask Columbus also has the advantage of having on offer a number of concept getaways Adventure Holidays, Driving Holidays, White Water Rafting Options, Caving Holidays, Safari Park Holidays, Theme Park vacations and special Honeymoon Packages. Positioning Ask Columbus is positioned as a wholesale tourism consultant catering to the upper end of the holiday market. Marketing Strategy Ask Columbus marketing strategy will seek to create customer awareness regarding the service that we offer, develop the customer base, and work toward building customer loyalty and referrals. India is a very big market and the sheer diversity across the length and breadth of the country gives any organization tremendous scope to grow its business. The immediate plan is to establish offices in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. The next logical step would be to open some more nodal offices to service the rest of the country. We are also looking

48

at technology to play a very important part in our future plans and hope to have our interactive online product being available to all registered travel agents. Distribution Strategy We will be distributing Ask Columbus through the retail network of travel agents, tour operators and business travel companies. The next few months will see travel trade road shows conducted in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. We plan to reach out to more cities across the country and inform agents on the product. We already have a trade campaign on that is creating awareness of the convenience of booking an Ask Columbus. At the same time our consumer advertisement campaign has already begun. Apart form the above we also will be very aggressive in promoting Ask Columbus online and use a mix of direct mailers to reach out to our target audience. Promotional strategy: To create customer awareness regarding Ask Columbus, well place advertisements in regional and national newspapers with teaser ads before the launch of the company and continue thereafter. The advertisements will be placed mostly in the section catering to the business news. The advertisements shall also be placed in Travel and tourism magazines. This will attracts a populace which is more inclined to travel and hence can result in becoming our future customers. Advertising will also be placed in selected print and electronic media to influence the identified domestic target markets. This advertising will aim to generate year round brand awareness and interest. To develop the customer base and increase customer loyalty and referrals, we will invest in prospective customers by giving them gift vouchers and discount coupons

49

***The following two Ansoffs matrix diagrams needs to be incorporated as a part of appendix and not in the final report as it is for internal report generation only.***
Ansoffs Product-Market Grid Existing Products New products

Existing Market

1. Market-penetration strategy

3. Product-development strategy

New Market

2. Market-development strategy

4. Diversification strategy

Figure.1

HR Plan
HR Aim The People Strategy 1. To be an employer of choice What this means: aspire to work for by: We will aim to be an organisation that people

50

Creating flexible employment, development and reward packages that employees highly value Creating a challenging and exciting working environment Being a good employer and looking after our people

2. To be a developer of people What this means: We will develop the organisation through its people by: Developing strong leaders Promoting and assisting career development through coaching, mentoring, shadowing and secondment schemes Developing a culture of learning through practice Developing structured professional qualification strategies and personal development opportunities based on our Development Charter and organisational objectives Ensuring that employees take responsibility for their own continuous development and lifelong learning 3. Making Connections What this means: We will enable all the elements of this strategy to be delivered by embracing new information and communication technologies. People practices in the organisation will become more effective and more efficient by: Making access to personnel services much easier for all our customers and partners Communicating with people within and outside the organisation more effectively through a variety of communication and technology portals Providing effective and timely management information on people related issues 4. Influencing organisational change What this means: We will continuously influence the success of organisational change by: Involving and empowering employees to contribute to innovation and change within their services Developing a performance culture Recognising the importance of engaging employees in organisational change at the earliest opportunity to ensure effective culture change

51

Developing more effective partnerships with our trade unions and employees Developing flexible employment packages that reflect the new paradigm of work

5. Value Diversity What this means: We will value and embrace the creativity and uniqueness of all employees by: Harnessing the diversity of our employees to improve service delivery Enhancing Ask Columbuss reputation inside and outside the organisation by our actions not just our words Ensuring the fair and consistent treatment of all our employees Monitoring personnel practice and workforce profiles and taking positive action to redress nay imbalances found

52

HR Functions At Ask Columbus Limited, the Human Resources Department shall perform the following functions. Performance Appraisal Ask Columbus shall follow the system of conducting half yearly performance appraisal for all its employees. The parameters for appraisal will broadly fall under the following heads: 1. Technical Skills 2. Communication Skills 3. Interpersonal Skills. The sub-factors that shall be considered under each of these heads will be decided by the employees immediate supervisor and will form part of the template used for assessment. The weight age for the three groups of parameters will differ based on the job band of the employee. Development staff will have a break-up of 70% weightage for technical skills, 20% for interpersonal skills and 10% for communication skills. Middle level management will have a break up of 30% technical skills, 40% interpersonal skills and 30% communication skills. Both the employee and the reviewer will independently rate the performance of the employee on the given parameters and then conduct an interactive session to resolve any disparities in ranking. Once both the employee and the reviewer have accepted and agreed upon the ranking, the employee will be grouped into the following four categories in his/her job band: A. B. C. D. Exceeds All Expectations Exceeds Some Expectations Meets All Expectations Meets Some Expectation

The yearly compensation review of the employee will take both the performance band and the job band into consideration and shall depend on the incentive policies identified during that year. Compensation Salary Incentive Program Net salary= Fixed Pay + Variable Pay (performance of the company) 53

+ Group Pay (Performance of group) + Individual Pay (Individual performance) Fixed Pay This payment is less than the market salary. But with addition of other compensations it easily surpasses the market salary. Variable Pay This payment is dependent on the performance of the company. If the company makes profit, a part of it will be distributed to the employee. The exact amount of the compensation will be decided by the management. Group Pay This part of the payment will depend on the performance of the group, i.e. suppose a group is doing consultancy for a certain customer, then performance of the group will be measured by the effectiveness of their advice and the feedback of the customer. Individual Pay The individual payment will depend on the performance appraisal Recruiting policy Since our development team will be our most important resource it is important that we hire the people who suit the culture of our organization and possess the qualities that will be required for application design and development. We need to hire people who have the requisite experience in the field of tourism. During this period we will also start hiring fresh graduates from various backgrounds based on certain testing procedures. These will involve tests to measure the spatial and visualization abilities, lateral thinking, creativity along with other aspects like team spirit, honesty, positive and fun loving attitude, learning ability, and adaptability. The focus will be on identifying the right people and grooming them for a long term career in the organization. The tests will have selected questions from various IQ and EQ tests. We will subcontract the test preparation to professional organizations conducting such tests. After the tests there will be rounds of personal interviews conducted by VP HR (to test the personality fit) and by the associates from the management team (to test the intrinsic qualities). We will not be discriminating against graduates from any background nor will there be any emphasis on academic excellence. It is our prerogative to search for the best people among the vast and diverse population of India and to choose the best that fit our requirements.

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Empowerment The work orientation of our organization would emphasize on the empowerment of individual roles. This outlook of the organization would help foster a culture which is receptive to not only new ideas and innovations but also the needs of its employees. The stratagem of empowerment would help give each employee a say in how he can best perform his individual role and improve things around him, shaping a whole new outlook on the part of the workforce. Employees would no longer be a passive part of the system but rather play an active part in being the indispensable cogs of the wheels that keep the organization ticking. In a creative organization like ours, discipline, loyalty and work ethics are gained not with drudgery of defined rules but the freedom that comes with delegated responsibility. Team Building Effort of a team is greater than sum of individual effort of people in that team is a feature of a group that is working well together - but there are some groups whose collective performance falls short of what you might expect given the quality of individuals. The Apollo Syndrome is a good example of this - where a team composed of highly intelligent people often performs worse than teams made of up 'less-able' members. A team is a group of people working towards a common goal. Team building is a process of enabling the team to achieve that goal. The stages involved in team building including (i) Clarifying the goal (ii) Identifying the inhibitors (iii) Removing them. As part of a group aiming to achieve one goal we need to concentrate on the four Cs. Communication: Effective group communication is vital so that every individual knows their role and can operate to maximum efficiency. Co-operation: Co-operation aids in group efficiency and completion of undertaken tasks.

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Consideration: Consideration for your fellow group members, their strengths maximized and weaknesses minimized; also, consideration for the tasks undertaken. Confidence: Develop individual and group confidence, which in turn develops efficiency, communication and co-operation. Team building process can be learned from various team sports. But due to time constraint adventurous outdoor activities cant be done regular basis. So our requirement for team building was straight forward enough - we wanted a workshop that maximizes team effort. It was important that such a workshop could: be run in a day, for minimal impact on existing workloads be aimed at existing or newly formed teams be run on request 'off the shelf' - i.e.: that it was repeatable.

The prime outcome of the workshop would be to develop teams where: they had a common focus on team objectives - i.e. everyone was pulling in the same direction each team member appreciated how, in a practical way, they could help each other to achieve their goals.

We also wanted the team to gain an appreciation of each others' strengths and weaknesses. For this team technologys model workshop will be adopted. Ethics and Innovation The organization is looking for employees who not only have a good behavior but also good character. Good behavior is important for the organization to be successful and at the same time character is also important for the organization in the favor of the organizations principals. All the departments in the organization will be headed by a chief ethics officer who will make sure that the organization and its people doesnt deviate from ethics. Chief ethical 56

Officer will be elected unanimously by all the executive officers. His main duty will be to prevent any unethical practices in the organization. He should also evaluate all the employees including all the executive officers. In our organization, the employees will be evaluated on the basics of ethics.

GOOD CHARACTER BAD BEHAVIOR BAD CHARACTER BAD BEHAVIOR

GOOD CHARACTER GOOD BEHAVIOR BAD CHARACTER GOOD BEHAVIOR

There will be a regular check of the employees on the basis of the above given table. They will be evaluated on the basis of their behavior with customers and other colleagues. Any illegal and unethical practice in the organization will be dealt seriously. Any person even the executive official will have to pay a great compensation for any unethical or illegal practice. Organization is ready to lose in any competition as long as it is a fair competition. The organizations one of the main priorities will be to compete on the basis of its principles. The organization will not do any compromise with its principles. The organization is planning to conduct art of training course for half an hour everyday to the employees which will be helpful for them to feel better in the busy work schedule and also will be helpful for the organizations success. The ASK COLUMBUS will be a learning organization which encourages change and adoption to new cultures. The organization will have smooth internal integration and at the same time it will encourage adaptation to the external environment.

57

The organization will hold rites and ceremonies to provide examples of its values. The four types of rites that will be present in our organization are rites of organization, rites of enhancement, rites of renewal and rites of integration. Rite of organization will facilitate the transition of employees into new social roles, rites of enhancement will create stronger social identities and increase the social status of employees, rites of renewal will reflect training and development and rites of integration will create common bonds and good feelings among employees and commitment to the organization. As a part of rites of integration, organization will have a common dress code for the employees and will have a common canteen for all the employees. There will be a common lunch for all the employees on every Thursday. When Ask Columbus will go into global environment it will have offices in each country wherever it is present so that people dont misunderstand the values of others. Our organization will work on the following quotation: Karmanye Vadhikarate Ma Phaleshu Kadhachana

Our organization will be always ready to make fast changes to keep up with the changes occurring around them. Our organization will have self directed teams and hybrid structure to respond to global competition. The company will become involved in consortia and joint ventures whenever it goes global. The changes required to adapt to the environment will be evaluated on the basis of the extent to which changes are incremental or radical for the organization.

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Being a service industry the company will focus on administrative changes as and when required. The company will undergo in any change after taking its employees into confidence. To take employees into confidence organization will follow the following sequence: Preparation Acceptance Commitment Institutionalization For implementing the required changes company will follow the following strategy: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. Establish a sense of urgency for change Establish a coalition to guide the change Create a vision and strategy for change Find an idea that fits the need Develop plans to overcome resistance to change Create change teams Foster idea champions

Strategy and Future Planning Economies of Scope- ASK COLUMBUS will try to gain economy of scope by offering varieties of services in different regions. Since the company will be consisting mainly of knowledge workers, who will help the company in understanding broad knowledge of the cultural, economic, social and other factors that will be affecting our customers in varied locations and we will be able to provide specialized products and services to meet those needs. Initially the company will be focusing its goals for gaining economies of scope within the country but eventually we will be focusing to expand our services internationally. Ask Columbus is in its domestic stage and we are presently focusing on customers who want to visit different places in India. The companys management is aware of the global environment. Due to globalization and vast potential of the tourism industry, both domestic and internationally, management in future may want to consider foreign

59

involvement to expand our presence in the international arena. The company may involve in consortia by joining hands with different companies abroad.

Ask Columbus is small company and is presently in entrepreneurial stage which is having flat structure and an organic free flowing management style. Since the company is small, every employee of the company personally identifies himself with the companys mission. The personal involvement of the employees encourages motivation commitment.. The companys environment is informal and non bueaurocratic. and

AS the company will grow in its size, the increasing complexities involved with the growth in size of the company will be taken care off by adopting divisional structure or using front/back approach

The company will make full use of the Internet and other information technologies to expand its market and control of the company as it grows in size.. Stratigies for successive stages As the company will be reaching the collective stage the, departments will be established along with hierarchy of authority, job will be assigned to different persons and there will be division of labor. The need for delegation will be taken care of by the management by adopting necessary policies as per the requirement In formalization stage the management will be hiring more human resource specialists and more knowledge workers who will be expert in their field . To improve coordination among the various departments various decentralized units will be formed. The company aims to continue growing by establishing better linkage mechanisms between the top management and field units. Elaboration Stage- The management aims to split the company into multiple divisions to maintain small-company philosophy Companys Control Strategy

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Since Ask Columbus is a learning organization and the company policy is to fully use the Internet and other information technologies , company will use clan control mechanism rather than relying fully on rules and regulations. The company will try to induce a change such that individual employees own internal values and work preferences are brought in line with the companys value and goals Organization Design for Innovation Continuous innovation is of critical importance for Ask Columbus because we aim to develop and offer niche tourism segments. Our operational plan to materialize regular innovations is based on 3 principal components: 1. Departmental Specialization: The key departments for new offerings developments are: A. Exploration Cell B. Market Research Group C. Customer Tracking Cell The Exploration Cell is responsible for spotting undeveloped locations which have the potential to attract tourists. They will gain first hand knowledge of such opportunities by regularly traveling to different parts of the country. Upon spotting any such location they will collect assess the opportunity by collecting first hand information on the connectivity of the location, availability of tourism infrastructure like hotels, cultural and ethnic background etc. It will report to the VP Administration. The Market Research Cell is responsible for assessing customer needs, keeping a tab on changes in preferences over time, structural changes in the population in different cities, competitiveness of our offerings with respect to those of our competitors etc. It will report to the Chief Marketing Officer. Customer tracking Cell is responsible primarily for tour operations. They will provide critical feedback on costs of proposed tourist nodes, customer satisfaction and feedback, reports on changes in the attractiveness of existing tourist nodes etc. It will report to the Chief Operations Officer. The 3 departments will be linked to each other. The VP Administration will act as the integrator for the 3 groups. 2. Boundary Spanning: All the 3 departments involved in new offerings development will develop excellent linkages with the relevant sectors in the external environment so that Ask Columbus can respond fast to the changing needs of the customer and evolve our offerings in tune with the changes in the environment.

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3. Horizontal Linkages: This component implies that the Exploration Cell, Market Research Group and the Customer tracking group will share ideas and information. The Exploration Cell will work out the costs of operationalising the destinations on their radar, with the help of the Customer Tracking Cell. The Market Research Group will keep the Exploration Cell updated with the changes in customer needs and the growing customer and benefits segments. The VP Administration will act as the integrator for the 3 departments so that the flow of communication is smooth and fast.

ENVIRONMENT

VP Administration

Chief Marketing Officer

ENVIRONMENT

New Locations

Exploration Cell

Linkage

Customer Tracking Cell

Customer Needs

Market Research Group

Horizontal Linkage Model for New Offerings Development

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SWOT Analysis
Strengths Strong fundamentals based on trust and competence Employee talent pool from the best talent in India Low cost of development Low initial investment and virtual independence Good technical specialization of the management in both fields technical and management Weaknesses Niche category high risk associated with it High marketing costs due to market entrant policy Initially, restricted and high priced package orientation. Hence, success is critical for survival.

Opportunities Huge market in India and abroad Segment in certain verticals totally untapped till now Chance for buzz marketing, where the client becomes the packages biggest marketer Increased amount of disposable income in the hands of people due to economic growth Threats Political and security issues Huge national and international players with loyal markets Threat from environmental social activists for preservation of natural habitats

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Appendix A
Business Idea Selection Framework
Satisfying Will it a marketmaintain Growth Extent ofCash need appeal(2- Complexity Possibilities Competition Flows Capital Uniqueness (2-12) 12) of product (2-12) (2-12) (2-12) Required of Product 3 2 1 1 2 1 3 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 7 9 5 4 171 8 5 6 5 9 9 4 2 7 6 222 4 8 6 5 4 4 3 9 2 3 168 2 7 5 2 3 2 2 4 2 3 76 9 9 8 2 8 3 2 8 1 4 134 4 4 9 3 8 3 2 9 7 3 130 5 2 2 6 5 2 5 1 3 8 55 8 5 2 6 5 6 5 6 8 3 69 9 3 5 6 9 8 5 7 2 2 63 4 2 7 6 3 9 1 4 5 7 64 2 3 4 3 1 3 2 1 8 9 48 5 3 9 7 3 9 9 5 3 1 71 8 8 5 2 8 2 2 9 3 5 132 1 4 7 7 4 2 5 1 1 2 98 6 8 2 5 3 6 1 6 8 6 142 9 2 5 1 4 6 4 2 6 8 61 6 4 2 6 5 9 8 9 2 5 73 8 6 2 6 4 8 4 6 7 7 68 8 3 9 1 9 3 9 7 2 6 231 8 2 3 2 8 7 1 7 4 3 165 2 6 5 3 5 5 3 1 9 1 171 5 5 8 5 6 1 6 2 5 5 126 2 1 9 2 7 4 3 7 9 5 130 7 5 7 7 3 1 8 2 4 7 114

OptionsWeightage Anup Arijit Avantika Sudipta Mondal Tarun Jain Dr. Harish Raghvendra S Kushwah Durga Prasad Tridip P. Rajat prakash

Car Assembly Unit

Total

916
Anup Arijit Avantika Sudipta Mondal Tarun Jain Dr. Harish Raghvendra S Kushwah Durga Prasad Tridip P. Rajat prakash

Ask columbus
Total

939
Anup Arijit Avantika Sudipta Mondal Tarun Jain Dr. Harish Raghvendra S Kushwah Durga Prasad Tridip P. Rajat prakash

NGO Accreditation
Total

927

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Appendix B
Form No.1 (declaration) No.of Company : New Company Nominal Capital : The Companies Act, 1956 Declaration of Compliance with the Requirements of the Companies Act, 1956, on application for Registration of a Company [Pursuant to section 33(2)] Name of Company : Presented By :

I, _______________ of ____________do solemnly and sincerely declare that I am a person named in the Articles as a Director of the _____________________________ And that all the requirements of the Companies Act, 1956, and the rules thereunder in respect of matters precedent to the registration of the said company and incidental thereto have been complied with. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true. Date : Place : Witness : Director

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Form x The Companies Act, 1956 Form No. 1A Application Form Availability of Names* To, The Registrar of Companies, ________________ Sir, Sub.: Availability of Names Information Furnishing Of. We, the following applicants, are desirous of forming a company to be registered under the Companies Act, 1956 in the State of Maharashtra. Name and full address of the person(s) applying for the availability of the name (In Block Capitals) Proposed name of the Company. State whether public or private. In case the proposed name mentioned in item(2) is not available, 3 names to be considered in the order of preference. Main object of the proposed company. Names and address of the prospective directors or promoters etc. Particulars of the names and situation of registered offices of other companies in the same group or under the same management.

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Proposed authorized capital. Please furnish particulars and results of any application moved to this or any other Registrar previously for availability of name. Particulars (Draft/IPO) Situation : Dated : of remittance of fee

--------------------------------------------Signature of the Applicant Filing Fees_______ Registration Nominal Capital Rs. No.

The Companies Act, 1956 Form No. 18

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Notice

of

Situation

Change

of

Situation

of

Registered

Office

[Pursuant to Section 146] Name of the Company Notice is hereby given that 1. 2. (a) The registered office of the Company is situated at : 3. With effects from (b) The situation of the registered office of the Company was changed : from to : With effects from 4. Situation of the registered office falls under the jurisdiction of :-

(Name of police station)* Signature_________________________ Name ____________________________ Designation_____________________ Dated this __ day of __ 20 *State address of the nearest polication with district and tehsil.

The Companies Act, 1956 Form No. 29

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Consent to act as Director of a Company and/or undertaking to take and pay for qualification shares [Pursuant to Section 264(2) / 266(1)(a) and 266(1)(b)(iii)] Name of Company Presented by To, The Registrar of Companies, ______________________ I, the undersigned, hereby testify my consent to act as Director of the _________________________ Pursuant to section 264(2) / 266(1)(a) of the Companies Act, 1956 and certify that I have not been disqualified to act as a director under sections 267 and/or 274 of the Companies Act, 1956. I, the undersigned, having consented to act as Director of the

______________________, Also hereby undertake to take from the said Company and pay for ____Shares of Rs. ____ each, being the number/value of the shares prescribed as the qualification shares for the office of the director of the said company. Name and Surname Address Occupation Date of birth Nationality Signature in full and fathers name 1 2 3 4 5 6

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Dated the __ day of __ 20 Notes:

Delete the portion note applicable If a Director sign through his agent authorised in writing, the authority must be produced before the Registrar. In case of undertaking to take and pay for qualification shares, the form should be accomopanied by the necessary stamp duty.

Filing Fees_______ Registration No. Nominal Capital THE COMPANIES ACT, 1956

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FORM NO. 32 Particulars of appointment of Directors and Manager and changes among them [Pursuant to Section 303(2)] Name of the Company Presented by NOTE :- If a company has no particulars to be included in one or two of the headings "A", "B" and "C", the parts containing those headings (in respect of which the company has no particulars to be included) need not be filed A. Appointment of and changes among Directors Name or Fathers/Husbands Usual names and surname in full name residential address Nationality Date or change of Brief of changes

appointment particulars

NOTES :

A note of changes should be made in Column 6, e.g., by inserting against the name of new director etc. the words "in place of ." And by indicating against the name of the former director, the cause for the change, e.g., by death, resignation, retirement, rotation, disqualification etc.

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In case of Managing Director, his designation should be stated with his name in Column (1)

B. Omitted C. Appointment of and changes in managership and secretaryship Name or Fathers/Husbands Usual names and surname in full name residential address Nationality Date or change of Brief of changes

appointment particulars

Signature_________________________ Designation ______________________ Dated this __ day of __ 20

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NOTES:

For the purposes of this form, particulars of a person appointed as Manager within the meaning of the Section 2(24) of the Companies Act, 1956, need be given. A note of change as also the cause of change e.g., by death, resignation, removal, disqualification etc. should be stated in Column (6).

The filing fees (which has been revised effective from May 01, 2000) required to be paid to ROC alongwith the each document are as follows:Authorized Share Capital Less than Rs 1 lac Rs. 1 Lac and above but less than Rs. 5 lacs Rs. 5 Lacs and above but less than Rs. 25 lacs Rs. 25 lacs and above Filing Fees (Rs.) 100 200 300

1. File the following documents with the Registrar of Companies with necessary Registration and filing for: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) Stamped and signed copy of Memorandum and Articles of Association. Form No. 1, 18, 32, and 29 in duplicate. Any other agreement referred to in the Memorandum and Articles. Any agreement proposed for appoint of Managing Director/whole time Director. Certified true copy of the Registrar of Companies letter intimating availability of name.
Power of attorney in favour of any person for making corrections on their behalf in the documents and papers filed for registration.

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Appendix C
1. Focus Group Methodology 1.1 Research Objectives To find out if a niche market exists in the tourism sector The sample for the survey was based on availability, accessibility and ease of data collection. There was not any criteria used based on user/non-user. From this sample we could find out what the perception about tourism industry is, in general and tourism consultants in particular. 1.2 Research Tools We decided to opt for a focus group discussion for the survey Sample Selection Homogeneous groups composed of decision-makers - or those who at least contribute to the purchasing decision (or will in the future) - in the same target market, with similar needs and interests, were chosen. Users and non-users were put in separate groups. Both the groups consisted of 7 participants. 1.4 Moderators One moderator to conduct the FGD and three others to take notes 1.4 The Process Participants were encouraged to talk freely without any fear of disapproval, but with the moderator maintaining control. The objective was to look for consistencies in, for example, behavior, and perceptions or purchase intent. So as not to lead group members, a non-structured approach was taken at the beginning of the session: e.g. "Tell me about the last time you went on a holiday? Later, to solicit their reactions, specific alternatives are presented in order to have individuals trade-off, for example, features versus benefits, versus value. The FGD sessions went on for about forty-five minutes As the FGD progressed the topics that we tried to examined were

behavior, usage awareness levels perceptions, attitudes needs & wants potential interest and acceptance likes and dislikes 74

purchase intent pricing sensitivity

1.5 FGD Analysis From the analysis of the notes that we took we found out that there is a segment of people who didn't want to organize all of their holidays, but at the same time disliked the regimentation of package tours. When asked whether they would go in for the services that our company, Ask Columbus, offers the reply in most of the cases were in affirmative. 1.6 Interpretation Our company can target this particular segment. It would be a niche market but with lots of potentials in terms of services that could be offered and the profits that could be reaped from it.

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Appendix D Final Appraisal

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