Reports: The Value - Page Agreement ( Draft)

THE VALUE - PAGE AGREEMENT (DRAFT)

Submitted By
CODE Services
A-604, Lok Darshan, Military Road, Marol, Bombay 400 059
April 24, 1998

📑 INDEX

COVERING LETTER
PARTIES
RECITAL / OBJECTIVES
CONFIDENTIALITY
EXCLUSIVITY
UNDERTAKING / OBLIGATIONS
DURATION / TERMINATION / EXTENSION
MOBILIZATION - PERIOD / COMMITMENT CHARGE
TENTATIVE TIME FRAME OF ACTIVITIES
FEES AND PAYMENT SCHEDULE
PROCEDURE / METHODOLOGY
DEFINITIONS
STATISTICAL DATA THAT COULD BE GIVE TO IE
ANNEXURES

📬 COVERING LETTER

3P CONSULTANTS
(People → Productivity → Profitability)

April 23, 1998

Mr. Santosh Goenka
Executive Publisher
Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
Business Publications Division
D-2, Mathuradas Mill Compound,
Ideal Ind Estate, Senapati Bapat Marg,
Lower Parel, Mumbai – 400 013

Dear Mr. Goenka,

Value Added Page

Value Added Service

Many thanks for visiting our office on Monday, April 20, along with your colleague Mr. Rajiv Tewari.

I hope you liked our website and would give it appropriate coverage in your various publications. I enclose a tabulation showing how our site is “ranked” by various Search-engines.

We also talked about some kind of strategic Alliance between our two firms which would be mutually beneficial. In this connection, I enclose a concept of Indian Express Group of publications creating & marketing (as a product) a “Value Added Page” of Recruitment advertisements. After you have had an opportunity to study this, I would be happy to come over to your office for a personal discussion.

With kind regards,

(Signature)

H.C. Parekh
Principal Consultant

Address:
B-1, Lok Bharati Complex, Marol Maroshi Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai – 400 059, India
Phone: (91-22) 850 5800 / 5748, 850 6268 / 2269 / 2270
Fax: (91-22) 850 6663

This agreement is entered into between the following parties:

Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd., who are the owners and publishers of newspapers & magazines such as:
Indian Express, Express Computers, Web Vision, etc. etc.

and have their head-office at:
D-2, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Ideal Ind Estate, Senapati Bapat Marg,
Lower Parel, Mumbai – 400 013.

(hereinafter referred to as IE)

CODE Services, having their office at:
A-604, Lok Darshan, Military Road, Marol, Andheri (E), Mumbai – 400 059.

(hereinafter referred to as CODE)

On behalf of Times of India (handwritten / circled note)

Signature: ______________________________
Name: Mr. Santosh Goenka

On behalf of CODE Services

Signature: ______________________________
Name: Mr. Nirmit Parekh

Date: __________

📄 RECITAL / OBJECTIVES

IE are in the business of publication and marketing of newspapers / magazines and enjoy a prominent position amongst the newspapers published in India.
Advertisements, including recruitment advertisements (whether “classified” or “appointment”), constitute a major source of income to IE.
IE would like to enhance client satisfaction and advertisement income by offering a “value-added-service” to the recruitment advertisers. This value-added-service will be as follows:

on behalf of the advertiser, receiving all applications directly.
entering salient information of each candidate (applicant) into computer and creating databases against each advertisement.
offering these databases to the respective advertiser-client, in a structured format (hard copy and a floppy) along with the original applications.

To economise on its own resources, IE would like to give-out the work of computer-entry and database creation to an outside vendor.
CODE are a data-entry services firm engaged in computerisation of document-data for their client companies.
IE, having examined the facilities of CODE and having held extensive discussions on the matter, have approached CODE to create databases as mentioned above.
In light of the foregoing IE and CODE are entering into this agreement, upon terms and conditions set-out in this agreement.

📄 CONFIDENTIALITY

Neither IE nor CODE will reveal, directly or indirectly, to any third party the nature of this agreement.
CODE undertake not to reveal to any applicant / candidate the source of the database.

EXCLUSIVITY

It is clearly understood and agreed upon by and between the parties that this is an exclusive agreement, implying that, during the pendency of this agreement:

IE will not enter into a similar agreement with any other party.
CODE will not enter into a similar agreement with any other newspaper / publication / media etc., except in South India and East India, where IE do not have a strong presence.

Both the parties further declare that on the date of signing of this agreement, they have not entered into similar agreement with any other party nor made a commitment to enter into such an agreement.

📄 UNDERTAKING / OBLIGATIONS

Under this agreement IE undertake:

To promote / market this value-added-service to its advertisers of recruitment advertisements in the “classified” as well as “appointment columns”, in the following publications:

Indian Express (All editions)
IT People
Web Vision

To widely publicize this service and bear all publicity / promotional expenses connected with the same.
Full responsibility for all interfacing / interaction with their advertisers and not require CODE to undertake any client-servicing as far as this value-added-service is concerned.
All liabilities to its advertiser-clients as far as this value-added-service is concerned and absolve CODE from any litigation arising thereof.

Under this agreement CODE undertake:

To carefully, diligently, meticulously and accurately process all applications / biodatas received from IE for creation of desired databases.
To create separate and distinct databases (to the extent of availability of such data in applications) of all applications received against each advertisement appearing under the value-added-service and for which it has received applications / biodatas from IE.
To print-out (hard-copy) in agreed-upon structured format, each database, client-wise, advertisement-wise and advertised position-wise, as also create on a floppy, a print file of the same.
To handover to IE at the end of predetermined period, the print-out, the floppy and the original applications against each advertisement, for onward despatch to the client.
To retain separately and client-wise, advertisement & position-wise, each such database on a hard-disk for delivery to a client against his specific written request to IE, within 6 months of the advertisement.
Not to utilize any part or whole of any so created databases for its own business-purpose for a period of 6 months from the date of the relevant advertisement.
Not to part with these databases or permit access to the same to any third party, within the aforementioned “lock-in” period of 6 months, for any purpose whatsoever.
To ensure protection of databases from viruses and to deliver virus-free floppies to IE.
To sympathetically consider any request received from IE for modifications in database structure, hard copy or floppy which will enhance the value-added-service to their clients.

DURATION

This agreement is valid for a period of 15 months from the date of commencement. The date of commencement will be the date of signing of this agreement.

TERMINATION

Subject to the following proviso, either party will have the right to terminate the agreement, by giving to the other party a notice to this effect in writing as follows:

Period	From commencement	Notice Period
I	up to 90 days	cannot be terminated
II	91st to 180th day	7 days
III	181st day onward	30 days

PROVISO

In case IE terminates the agreement, it shall first pay to CODE, the FIXED COMMITMENT CHARGE of Rs. 40,000 per month (as outlined in MOBILIZATION PERIOD / COMMITMENT CHARGES) for the entire 15-month period of the agreement less such charge already paid to CODE up to the date of the notice.

MOBILIZATION

The first period (up to 90th day from the date of commencement) will be termed as MOBILIZATION PERIOD, during which the agreement cannot be terminated by either party. The purpose of this period is explained under clause (Mobilization – Period).

EXTENSION

If both parties are satisfied with each other’s performance, they agree to extend the agreement for such period and on such terms as are mutually agreed upon.

MOBILIZATION – PERIOD / COMMITMENT CHARGE

IE envisages that the number of applications / biodatas that will be required to be processed by CODE under this agreement could be as follows:

Period	Month	Expected Volume
Mobilization Period	1	-
	2	-
	3	-
Execution Period	4	3,000
	5	5,000
	6	7,000
	7	10,000
	8	12,000
	9	15,000
	10	20,000
	11	22,000
	12	25,000
	13	27,000
	14	30,000
	15	35,000

Although above-mentioned figures are not to be taken as a guaranteed or assured work-load, the same are estimated by IE based on:

the current volume (numbers) of recruitment advertisements appearing in both, the classified and the appointment pages.

The number of advertisers who could be expected to switch over to the VALUE-PAGE (value-added-service) as a result of initial promotional campaign.
Expected receipt of approximately 200 applications per position / post advertised (average of the responses for classified & appointment pages).
Increased overall market-share by luring away (to VALUE PAGE mode), clients who are currently advertising in other newspapers / magazines / media.

These estimates are being furnished to CODE to mobilize its resources during the mobilization-period. These resources will comprise of (but not limited to):

Acquisition of computers / printers etc.
Developing of special software
Recruitment of database administrators, clerks, supervisors, managers etc. to work during the second and third shifts

CODE considers above-mentioned mobilization absolutely essential, in order to execute this assignment flawlessly, accurately and on time, realizing too well that any failure on its part to deliver a high quality and timely performance could affect the image of IE and the resultant loss of clientele / revenue, something which IE cannot afford under any circumstances.

On the other hand, for CODE, the mobilization of above mentioned resources is not only a time-consuming task but it also involves firm commitment of funds under a situation of considerable “risk”, in case the volume of workload falls far short of the estimates made above, or fluctuates very widely from month-to-month. This could lead to alternating situations of “overload” and “underload”, which, besides affecting its performance, could also bring severe financial loss to CODE.

MOBILIZATION – PERIOD (JUNE – JULY – AUG. 1998)

TENTATIVE TIME FRAME OF ACTIVITIES

Event to be accomplished by CODE	Target Event Date (TED)	Event to be accomplished by IE
Submit to TOI draft agreement	April 24, 1998
Sign Agreement	May 15, 1998	Sign Agreement
Advertise for Manpower	June 1, 1998	- Pay Fixed Commitment charges for June 1998 - Internal circulation of scheme highlights
Invite HW quotes
Interviews for staff	June 15, 1998	Finalize promotion campaign & keep ready brochure / mailer / target client list / scheme operational details
Negotiate for HW
Release appointment letters to staff	June 27, 1998	- Release mailers - Follow up & get feedback - Internal coordination conference with staff from other cities
Place orders for HW
Start SW design
Complete SW design & handover to IE along with demo copies	July 20, 1998	- O & M department to release Operating Procedure Manual with flowcharts & responsibility statements - Nominate coordinator
Receive HW & Test
Manpower joins – Orientation	Aug. 1, 1998	Product launch conference for select clients with live demo of search/query software
Staff Training	Aug. 10–20, 1998	Staff Training
Ready for processing	Sept. 1, 1998	“Value-Page” appears

FEES & PAYMENT SCHEDULE

For creation of databases and supplying the same to IE on computer print-out and floppy, IE shall pay to CODE, a

“VARIABLE SERVICE FEE”
as shown in Annex: G

The Variable Service Fee will be based on the total volume (number) of applications “processed” by CODE during a given month.

The total volume (number) processed will be arrived at by adding up the numbers (processed) mentioned on each individual invoice raised by CODE during the given month.

e.g.
Say during the month of May 1999, CODE have raised 8 invoices totaling 26845 applications processed. Then the Variable Service Fee will be computed as follows:

Computation Table

Volume Slab (No. of Applications/month)	Service Fee Rate (Rs./Application)	No. of Applications in this slab	Total Variable Service Fee (Rs.)
0 – 5000	15	5000	75,000
5001 – 10000	14	5000	70,000
10001 – 15000	13	5000	65,000
15001 – 20000	12	5000	60,000
20001 – 25000	11	5000	55,000
25001 – 30000	10	1845	18,450
GRAND TOTAL		26,845	3,43,450

Payment Schedule:

The variable service fee amounts will be payable within 7 days of each individual invoice date.

Each individual invoice, to the extent possible, will cover the service fee for ONE advertisement only and will be prepared at the “Service Fee Rate” for the lowest volume slab i.e. @ Rs. 15/- per application processed.

If an advertisement has many positions with a large response received from different editions, CODE may prepare and submit individual invoice for each POSITION.

By 5th of each month, CODE will prepare a consolidated statement of all the individual invoices raised during the preceding month and based on the total volume processed during the month, prepare and send to IE, a

MONTHLY CREDIT NOTE

(see Annex H)

PROCEDURE / METHODOLOGY

To each advertisement appearing on the VALUE - PAGE (Value-added-service), IE will allot an “Advertisement serial no.” and a “Post box no.” and ask candidates to superscribe these on the application as well as on the envelope, in addition to mentioning the “post / position” for which he is applying.

IE shall also explicitly mention, on each advertisement (or on top of the VALUE - PAGE in bold letters), that no applications received after the expiry of 15 days period (from the date of publication) will be considered.

IE will encourage applicants to send in their applications through a COURIER-SERVICE or through SPEED-POST or drop box at their offices / collection centres.

Upon receipt of the applications, IE will arrange to open the same, and on each application put a rubber-stamp as shown below and fill in the same.

IE VALUE - PAGE (Rubber Stamp Format)

Date of Publication :
Edition :
Client :
Post / Position : (To be filled-in by IE)
Advt. Serial No. :
Post Box No. :
Date Received :
Application Serial No. :
Database Created Date : (To be filled-in by CODE)

Having filled-in the rubber-stamped data as shown above, IE will file all such applications in box-files:

Advertisement-wise
Position-wise
Application Serial No.-wise

PROCEDURE / METHODOLOGY (Continued)

• Once the stipulated 15 days period gets over, IE will arrange to send the relevant box-files to CODE under a covering letter as per specimen shown in Annex-A. CODE will sign a duplicate copy of this covering letter and return to IE by way of acknowledgement of receipt.

• CODE will enter into a computer database, position-wise and advertisement-wise, salient data for each application/bio-data received, to the extent such data is furnished by an applicant. The salient-data to be so entered is shown in:

Annex - B

• In the rubber-stamp, CODE will enter the “date” on which the salient data has been entered in computer.

Once the data has been entered, a sample audit-check will be carried-out by the supervisor to verify the accuracy of the data entered.

After the audit-check, the data will be processed to create a print-image file and transferred from hard-disk to a floppy. The floppy will also contain “software” which will enable the advertiser-client to “search/query/add” to the database. What a client can “search/query/add” is shown in:

Annex - C

• After creation of “print-image file” on a floppy, the database will be printed out on continuous computer stationary (supplied by IE) in a structured format. This format is shown in:

Annex - D

• The floppy, the hard-copy (structured print-out) and the box files containing original applications will be returned to IE, with a covering letter shown in:

Annex - E

• IE will sign and return to CODE the duplicate copy of the covering letter by way of acknowledgement of receipt.

Simultaneously, CODE will also send to IE its invoice for “Variable Service - Fees” pertaining to the creation of database against a specific advertisement. The specimen invoice is shown in:

Annex - F

• Advertiser - Client
Person / firm who opts to release his recruitment advertisement on the VALUE - PAGE of IE under IE’s “Value-added Service” scheme.

• Value - Added - Service
This is a service under which, IE will provide to an advertiser-client, a database of the responses/applications received against the advertisement, on a floppy and a hardcopy. The floppy will also contain special software as mentioned in Annex - C.

• Data-base
This will comprise of data outlined in Annex - B and arranged on a print-out according to Annex - D, [to the extent given by a candidate in his application/bio-data.]

• Publications

Indian Express (all editions)
IT People
Web Vision

• Date of commencement
The date of signing of this agreement.

STATISTICAL DATA THAT COULD BE GIVEN TO IE

• No. of Applications Received

per month (for each month)
cumulative
average/month
advertisement-wise (position-wise)
average/advertisement
average/positions advertised

• No. of Advertisements

per month
average/month
cumulative
client-wise
average revenue/advt.

• Cost / Benefit Analysis for Client

• Designation-wise Analysis

How many times advertised:

V.P.
G.M.
… etc.

• Number of Applications Received Level-wise

(i.e. V.P. / G.M.)

ANNEXURE INDEX

Annex - A ................................. Covering letter from IE
Annex - B ................................. Salient Data to be captured
Annex - C ................................. Special Software Features
Annex - D ................................. Computer Printout Specimen
Annex - E ................................. Covering letter from CODE
Annex - F ................................. Invoice
Annex - G ................................. Service Fee Rates
Annex - H ................................. Credit Note
Annex - I ................................. Apprehensions

Annex - A

CODE Services
Bombay 400 059

Dear Sir,

With this letter, I am sending for database creation, files as per following details:

Table Format

Publication / Editions / Client Name	Post-Position or Code	No. of Files	No. of Applications	Advertisement Details (Sr. No. & Date)	Cost of Advt.








Total

Please acknowledge receipt on duplicate of this letter and arrange to process the data at your earliest.

Manager
Value - Page – Project
Indian Express

ANNEXURES (Continued)

Annex - B

Salient Data from each application to be entered into computer for creation of database:

Name of Executive
Unique applicant No.
Residential Address & Phone No.

First preference will always be residential address of a candidate.
Second preference will be “communication/correspondence/permanent” address

Birth-date / Age

In respect of an applicant, the age will be computed from birth-date given in his bio-data, as completed number of years on the date of application.

Educational Qualifications (graduate / upwards)
Name of current employer & current designation
No. of years with current employer
Current salary
Past Employers (Names)
No. of years worked with each of past employers

Annex - C

Using the special software embedded in the floppy, an advertiser-client can process the database in the following manner:

Search / Query

List all applicants:

in descending order of “age” (already prearranged)
by specific age-group (say > 30 yrs but < 40 yrs)
by city location
by specific Educational Qualification
by name of a specified current employer
by a given salary range
who meet:

“Age” criteria
“Age + Experience” criteria
“Age + Experience + Educational Qualification” criteria

Print

Print-out results of any of the above-mentioned search/query
Print-out labels of residential addresses of those candidates selected for interview
Print-out “standardized” interview-call letters by inserting names and addresses of short-listed candidates (mail-merge) [to be designed by Advertiser]

Annex - C (Continued)

Print-out “standardized” appointment-letters to selected candidates [to be designed by Advertiser]

Own Additional Database (Value-Added Layer)

Create a “Value-Added” database by subsequently adding in the floppy, the following information about one/more candidates:

Candidate Application Rating [A/B/C/R]
Candidate Interview Rating [A/B/C/R]
Number of candidates under each “rating” at “application” and “interview” stages
Evaluation / Assessment remarks of the interview-panel (structured or unstructured)
Medical examination result
Negotiated details:

salary
perks
designation
grade

Agreed date of joining

Verification of Documents

Birth date
Educational Qualification
Salary Slip, etc.

Additional HR Details

Antecedent check (reports sent in by previous employers)
Department / Division / Group / Region / City of joining
Reporting manager (person to whom candidate reports)
Pay sheet No.

Rating Legend

A = Excellent
B = Good
C = Acceptable
R = Reject

Annex - D

Computer Print-out Specimen

Client :
Advt. No. :
Post :

Data Fields Layout

Appl. Sr. No.
Unique Applicant Code

Personal Details

Name
Birth Date
Educational Qualification

Contact Details

Residential Address
Phone No.

Employment History

Current Employer / Years of Experience / Designation
Past Employer / Years of Experience / Designation
… (multiple entries as required)

Annex - E

Indian Express
Mumbai - 400 013

Dear Sir,

Having created the databases, I return herewith the following:

Table Format

Advt. Serial No.	Post / Position	No. of Files (Recd./Returned)	No. of (Floppies / Printout)	Invoice Details (Invoice No. / Amount Rs.)
Date
Client



TOTAL

The relevant invoices are enclosed. Please arrange to send your cheque within 7 days.

With regards,

Manager
CODE Services

Annex - F

INVOICE FOR VARIABLE SERVICE FEES

Mr. ____________________
Indian Express
Mumbai – 400 013

Date: ____________________

Invoice Details

Client	Invoice No.

Invoice Date	Invoice Amount (Rs.)
	(Total No. of Applications × Rs. 15)

Nature of Service Rendered

Creation of Database

Details

Advertiser Name
Advt. Serial No.
Publication
Editions

Positions Advertised vs Applications Received

Positions Advertised	No. of Applications Received
1
2
3
Total

Manager
CODE Services

Monthly Volume	Rate (₹ / application)
0 – 5,000	15
5,001 – 10,000	14
10,001 – 15,000	13
15,001 – 20,000	12
20,001 – 25,000	11
25,001 – 30,000	10
30,001 – 35,000	9
> 35,000	8

Annex : H

Mr. Santosh Goenka
Indian Express
Mumbai - 400 013

June 1, 1999

Dear Mr. Goenka,

Credit Note

For Month of May, 1999

During the month of May, we have processed and returned to you databases for a total of 26845 applications.

However, based on the total volume processed during May 99, as shown above, we have recalculated total amount payable by you and enclose our Credit Note No. ______ for Rs. 59,225=00 as per calculations shown thereon.

With kind regards,

Manager
CODE Services

Annex H

CREDIT NOTE

Mr. __________
Indian Express
Mumbai - 400 013

Client : Indian Express

Credit Note No. : __________ +Amount (Rs.) : 59,225=00

This Credit Note covers following Invoices

Invoice Details

For Advt. Serial No.	For No. of Appli.	Invoice No.	Invoice Date	Amount (Rs.)
	26845		Total (A)	402,675

Credit Amount (Volume Rebate Calculations)

Slab	Applications falling in this slab	Rate Applicable (Rs.)	Fees to be charged (Rs.)
0–5000	5000	15	75,000
5001–10000	5000	14	70,000
10001–15000	5000	13	65,000
15001–20000	5000	12	60,000
20001–25000	5000	11	55,000
25001–30000	1845	10	18,450
30001–35000	–	9	–
>35000	–	8	–

Total Applications: 26845 Total (B): 3,43,450

Net (A – B): + 59,225.00

APPREHENSIONS

Annex : I

Q. Would this (value-added-service) be perceived by the leading Placement Agencies of the country as a "Threat/Competition", resulting in loss of the advt. revenue (for recruitment advts) which may get diverted to IE’s competitor’s such as TOI/HINDU etc.?

A. 1) By offering this Value-Added-Service, IE is NOT entering into the RECRUITMENT / PLACEMENT business!

It is quite clear that by offering this very useful (but limited-in-scope) service, IE is not going to perform/undertake the most crucial aspects of an executive search/selection activity viz:

a) Value judgment on the "quality" of the applicants and establishing their "prima-facie suitability" for the position advertised. IE is NOT going to "Rate" the applications, nor prepare a "short-list" of the candidates to be interviewed.

b) IE is NOT going to "Conduct the interviews" of the short-listed candidates, to assess their "suitability". From the view-point of the advertiser, this is a "Key-task" to be performed by the Placement Agency. This process of "elimination" (of unsuitable candidates) drastically prunes down the list [of the candidates whom the advertiser, himself, must meet for a final interview/salary negotiations], to not more than 2/3 candidates for a given position. It is for this enormous saving of "managerial-time" that a client "pays" the recruiting-agency their professional fees.

c) Quite often, a recruiting-agency joins the client for the final interview/salary negotiation.

d) Very often, a recruiting-agency conducts "Reference-checks" (antecedent checking) on the short-listed candidates.

Annex : I

e) A recruiting agency provides very useful "inputs" to the client in the matter of compensation - structuring.

2) IE would offer this "Value-Added-Service" to any Recruiting Agency also, if it so desires! Hence there is no discrimination amongst "Advertisers". Even the recruiting-agencies would stand to gain considerably by making use of this value-added-service, as it would speed-up their own work, thereby enabling them to offer a better/faster service to their clients. In turn, this would help them get more business. IE has a very large circulation, especially in West. Any advertiser (whether a public/private limited company or a Recruiting Agency) wanting to reach the "Executives" located in this region, has to select IE as the media for publication. Even other publications (e.g. Magazines) do advertise in IE, to increase their own circulation!

Q. Why cannot IE create the database on its own, by employing its own resources?

A. If IE is willing to employ/deploy the necessary resources, there is no "technical" hitch why IE cannot create the database on its own. However the questions that need to be answered beforehand are:

what resources will IE need to set aside to do this job "in-house"? Resources to be considered are:

Manpower
Office Space
Computer Hardware
Development of Special software
Working Capital

Annex : I

Managerial Supervision

If these resources are not available, TIME & COST OF ACQUISITION would also have to be considered in addition to the recurring operating costs.

If these resources are already available, then their "Opportunity-Cost" should be considered, keeping in mind the CORE-BUSINESS of the IE. Is this the best way of leveraging these resources? Could these be put to a more profitable use? And most importantly

Why should any organisation undertake to do something on its own (as an inhouse business process) which an outside "Speciality Vendor" can do better/faster/cheaper?

I enclose a write-up on "Strategic Alliance" which would make my point clear (Annex A)

Q. Why cannot IE create such database by sub-contracting to a data-entry firm, in preference to getting it done from 3P Consultants? Would that not be Cheaper?

A. Perhaps a mere data-entry company (such as an R&T agency doing share-transfer work) could do this "type" of work cheaper (as compared to 3P Consultants), if the job-content was of very low order and does not require use of "discriminatory faculty". Informations to be captured from a job application/bio-data do not appear in any given set manner or pattern (as in case of a share transfer application form). This will vary from biodata to biodata, and can be "spotted" after careful scrutiny of hundreds of words

APPREHENSIONS (Continued)

Annex : I

contained in each bio-data. Only an experienced manager can "Spot" it accurately and "high light" it to facilitate subsequent data entry.

And since these informations appear (in a given biodata) in any one of the thousands of RANDOM OCCURRENCE POSITIONS, even the data-entry operator has to be very very careful to ensure that it is entered in the RELEVANT & CORRECT FIELD. Any lapse in these business-processes (Data spotting / Data Capturing) can result into an output which is garbage!

Next there is the question of specialised SOFTWARE.

The special purpose software that we propose to develop for this application will allow us to capture the data, create a database & process the data to create a print-out (See Annex B) which, each advertiser will receive along with the box-file containing original applications/biodatas.

The print-out will enable the advertiser to mentally compare all applicants at a glance and quickly zero-in on 10%–15% of the applicants whose detailed bio-datas he need to scrutinize individually. This will mean an enormous saving of time.

But this is only a small part of the benefit to the advertiser.

Along with a hard-copy print-out, (one for each advertisement), we will send to you a floppy containing not only the database but also the Special Software.

Using the special software embedded in the floppy, an advertiser-client can process the database in following manner:

Annex : I

Search / Query

List all applicants

in descending order of "age" (already prearranged)
by specific age-group (say > 30 yr but < 40 yrs.)
by city location
by specific Edu. Qualification
by "name" of a specific "current-employer"
by a given "salary-range"
who meet,

"Age" criteria
"Age + Exp" criteria
"Age + Exp + Edu. Quali" - criteria

Print

Print-out results of any of the above-mentioned search/query
Print-out labels of residential addresses of those candidates selected for interview
Print-out "Standardized" interview-call letters by inserting names and addresses of short-listed candidates (mail-merge) [to be designed by Advertiser]
Print-out "Value-Added" database, by subsequently adding in the floppy, following information about one/more candidates:

Candidate Application Rating [A/B/C/R/]
Candidate Interview Rating [A/B/C/R/]
Number of candidates under each "rating at" "application" and "interview" stages

APPREHENSIONS (Continued)

Annex : I

Evaluation / Assessment remarks of the interview-panel [in structured or unstructured manner]
Medical examination result
What salary / perk / designation / grade has been negotiated with selected candidates
Agreed upon date of joining
Verification of documents pertaining to

Birth date
Edu. Qualification
Salary-Slip etc.

Antecedent check (reports sent-in by previous employers)
Department / Division / group / Region / city of joining

Person to whom he has to report
Pay sheet No.

A = Excellent B = Good C = Acceptable R = Reject

I do not think IE can get this "Value-Addition" from any company which is merely in the data-entry business. What we are offering is a "Value-Added-Service" to your advertiser-client and not mere 5000 KDPH (key-depression per hour)!

And to improve IE’s own marketing-intelligence, we would be in a position to periodically supply to you, following statistical data:

No of Application Received

per month (for each month)
cumulative
Average/month

Annex : I

Advertisement-wise (position-wise)
Average/advertisement
Average/positions advertised

No. of Advertisements

per month
average/month
cumulative
client wise
average revenue/advt.

Cost/Benefit Analysis for Client

= No. of Applications received against a given advt.
Cost of Advertisement (As shown in last column of Annex-A)

= No. of applications received No. of positions
----------------------------------- ----------------------
Position X Cost of Advt.

Designation-wise Analysis

How many times advertised

V. P.
G. M. ........ etc. etc.
Number of applications received levelwise (i.e. V.P./G.M.)

Annex : I

Q. What kind of threat will 3P database pose to IE’s recruitment advertisement revenue, say, after 5 years? Will advertisers stop releasing recruitment advertisements because they will find it faster & cheaper to source their manpower needs from 3P database?

A. Let us consider following scenario.

Some 1000 companies (advertiser clients) release recruitment advt. in IE each year.
Between them, they release say, 4000 advertisements each year
(10 advt./page x 400 pages/year).
On an average, an advt. has 2 positions advertised, making a total of 8000 advertised positions per year.

Important "Criteria" in each advt. are:

Edu. Qualifications (20 possibilities)
Age-group (20)
Exp. year groups (20)
Designation-levels (20)
Industry-background desired (100)
Function-background desired (30)

The above mentioned criteria could result into 48 million "unique combinations" that could possibly occur in these 8000 advertisements!
Even if we were to build up a database of 100,000 executives in 5 years, this would still mean that there is only one (1) chance in 4800, that we could find an "ideal" man for your client!

Annex : I

Bio-datas have a habit of becoming obsolete very fast. An executive’s age / experience / salary / designation etc. are changing continuously. As a result, we would be happy, if we succeed in keeping "up-to-date/alive", even 20,000 biodatas at any given point of time and succeed in placing 200 executives in a year.
Given your own advertised 8000 positions each year, our placement of 200 executives is "peanuts" and cannot pose any threat to you – now or in future.

Annex : I

ANNEX : A

HOW TO BUILD & SUSTAIN A COMPETITIVE ORGANISATION ?

Integrate operations with multiple Organisations to deliver the highest quality product or service.
i.e. Become a NETWORKED ORGANISATION.

Concentrate on

Core competencies
Core processes
Core skills
to be able to harness own management resources to continually improve what one does best.

Ask,

What is our core competency?
What is truly important?

Explore alternative ways of getting the work done, including outsourcing to outside enterprises,

What is "non-core" process for you
but
a "core-process" for that company.

Today 60% of "Value-added" comes from sourcing relationships.

More than 500 of the largest American companies have sourced at least one major business process since 1988.

Tactical Outsourcing vs Strategic Sourcing Alliance

Tactical Outsourcing

Customer – Vendor paradigm
Vendor selling "commodities"
Tactical Outsourcing
Adversarial Relationship
Rigid adherence to contract
Fragmented view of respective contributions
Price driven value perspective
Secretive
Narrow process or product

Strategic Sourcing Alliance

Integrated business partners
Partner producing "Customised products"
Both partners constantly searching for new ways to position each other for long-term gain
Shared risks and shared rewards
High level of flexibility inspired by cooperation & creativity
Larger perspective that encompasses entire processes
Time competitive advantage in which