1

A

Summer Project

Report

On

“Understanding the reading habit of financial readers”

Submitted to:

Business Standard Limited

&

Vivekananda Education Society’s Institute of Management Studies & Research

Post graduate diploma in management (PGDM)

Programmed

(Batch-2011-13)

Project Guided By:-

Dr. Sanchita Chandra

Submitted By: Parmeshwar.m.upadhyay

Roll no – 38

2

DECLARATION

Myself PARMESHWAR MAKARDHWAJ UPADHYAY student of PGDM from

VIVEKANAND EDUCATION SOCIETY’S INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

& RESEARCH

Hereby declare that the project work on Business Standard Ltd presented in this report is my

own work and has been carried out under the supervision of Dr. Sanchita Chandra.

My report is submitted as part of study curriculum and as a partial fulfillment of the degree of

PGDM. I am also declaring that I am submitting this report on the training at Business Standard

Ltd regarding project study on the various activity of the market and studying the criteria of

selection of financial daily.

I guarantee that this project report has not been submitted for the awards to any other university

for degree, diploma or any other such prizes.

Date

Place

Parmeshwar.m.upadhyay

Signature

3

PREFACE

. “Understanding the reading habit of financial readers” is referred as which part of

financial news paper is most like by financial readers. Many readers they have some specific

page or part in which they are very keen interested. Such as in ECONOMIC TIMES readers like

to read the part such as CORPORATE, CAREER OF BUSSINESS LIFE,

MARKET+FINANCE, COMMODITIES, STOCKS, ETC. it depends on the person or

personality of reader. If he is investor he will most prefer to read STOCKS OR

MARKET+FINANCE part. As in BUSSINESS STANDARD NEWS PAPER readers get each

and every knowledge about MARKET, FINANCE & BUSSINESS also. So it is the best

financial paper for readers such as INVESTORS, SHAREHOLDERS, BUSSINESS

PERSONALITY, ETC.

In this modern era of business, Financial Newspaper plays an important role. It

provides various information to the consumer regarding banks, share market, bonds, political

issues, economic policies & other financial news. This information is used by the consumer in

making certain decision. Thus, to provide the news according to the need of the consumer, to

know the consumer’s behavior is very important activity for the marketers. The following report

is the study of consumer behavior who is reading financial newspapers.

The research takes us stepwise from the present and finding for the future. The

recommendation rest on the basis of research work done and conclusion derived there off.

To add to this, various graphs, frequency table, etc. have been added. Further, this analyses tray

to bring to fore how the face of newspaper market is changing in India and how the customer is

finally getting current information and service form market respondent. Thought this report, we

summarize that we have strived to perfect ourselves in the best possible manner to report our

research systematically and ethically.

4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I student of VIVEKANAND EDUCATION SOCIETY’S INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

STUDIES & RESEARCH is very sincerely thankful to Madhav sir who gave his valuable

guidance to carry my project in a best way and giving me the much needed support and full

cooperation for my report.

I would like to thank my project guide Dr. Sanchita Chandra who helped me in the project and

also I like to thank other staff member of Business Standard who has shown their cooperation.

I would like to extend my gratitude to VIVEKANAND EDUCATION SOCIETY’S

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH for giving me the opportunity

to increase my practical knowledge in the field of Consumer Behavior. I also thank all the

professors and staff of the Institute for their valuable guidance and help throughout the project.

Last but not least, I am also thankful to all the people who helped me directly or indirectly in

making this project report successfully.

5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

. “Understanding the reading habit of financial readers” is referred as which part of

financial news paper is most like by financial readers. Many readers they have some specific

page or part in which they are very keen interested. Such as in ECONOMIC TIMES readers like

to read the part such as CORPORATE, CAREER OF BUSSINESS LIFE,

MARKET+FINANCE, COMMODITIES, STOCKS, ETC. it depends on the person or

personality of reader. If he is investor he will most prefer to read STOCKS OR

MARKET+FINANCE part. As in BUSSINESS STANDARD NEWS PAPER readers get each

and every knowledge about MARKET, FINANCE & BUSSINESS also. So it is the best

financial paper for readers such as INVESTORS, SHAREHOLDERS, BUSSINESS

PERSONALITY, ETC.

The research takes us stepwise from the present and finding for the future. The

recommendation rest on the basis of research work done and conclusion derived there off.

To add to this, various graphs, frequency table, etc. have been added. Further, this analyses tray

to bring to fore how the face of newspaper market is changing in India and how the customer is

finally getting current information and service form market respondent. Thought this report, we

summarize that we have strived to perfect ourselves in the best possible manner to report our

research systematically and ethically.

6

Index

Chapte

r No

PARTICULAR PAGE

NO.

Sec-1 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

History Of Print Media 8

Newspapers: A Brief History 11

Competitors 15

Organisation profile 16

Vision And Mission 17

Organizational Hierarchy 18

Product Portfolio 20

Sec-2 DEPARTMENT DETAILS 27

Circulation Department

Space Marketing Department

Editorial Department

Scheduling Department

System Department

Production Department

Dispatch Department

Financial Department

Human Resource Department

SWOT Analysis 32

7s Formwork 33

ABC (Audit Bureau Circulation) 35

7

Sales And Distribution 37

Sec-3 RESEARCH WORK

A RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 39

Research Objectives

Limitation

Target Audience

Sampling Method & Size

Data Collection

Questionnaire Form

Questionnaire Survey

B DATA ANALYSIS AND DATA INTERPRETATION 43

C FINDINGS AND RECOMMANDATIONS 48

D SUGGESTION

LEARNING’S FROM THE SUMMER TRAINING 52

BIBLIOGRAPHY 53

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CHAPTER 1

Organizational Overview

HISTORY OF PRINT MEDIA

History of print media and written communication follows the progress of civilization

which, in turn, moves in response to changing cultural technologies. The transfer of complex

information, ideas and concepts from one individual to another, or to a group, underwent

extreme evolution since prehistoric times. It has been 30,000 years later since the first recorded

evidence of written communication and it is still dramatically changing. Nowadays perhaps

faster than ever before due to amazing advances in technology in recent years. Technical

breakthroughs alter the way we perceive the universe and manner in which we communicate

with one another.

9

As long ago as 25,000-30,000 years B.C. first humans’ painted descriptive pictures on cave

walls. The narrative compositions left on the walls of Lascaux represented their own way of

communicating with the spiritual world and another. The well-preserved drawing depicted their

deep religious beliefs, fears, and everyday life. The pictorial type found in caves of Southern

France and Spain is the beginning of written communication for the human kind.

In early 19th century the industrial revolution brought major innovations in printing technology.

In 1810, Friedrich Koenig applied steam power to printing press. Rotary steam presses replaced

hand operated machines, doing the same job in a small fraction of the time. Typesetting was

transformed by the introduction of line-casting machines; first Ottmar Mergenthaler’s Linotype

(1889), and then the Monotype machine. Line casting allowed type be chosen, used, and then re

circulated back into the machine automatically.

The age of industrial revolution made transfer and interchange of written information between cities as

well as continents readily available. In 1831 Joseph Henry invented the first electric telegraph, four years

later in 1835 Samuel Morse

Formulated Morse code, and then in 1843 he also produced the first long distance electric telegraph line.

At the same time, Alexander Bain patented the first fax machine. In 1867 Thomas Edison patented his

mimeograph, which was the first office-copying machine, which might inspire Chester Carlson, almost a

century later; to invent the photocopier machine.

Business life was irreversibly changed with in the introduction to the market of Remington typewriter

(1874). Journalism also became more accessible when in 1914 Howard Krum introduced Teletype.

Knowledge of Morse code was no longer needed to distribute information.

Nowadays, the print industry goes through a dry spell. Printing becomes increasingly more expansive. To

combat with this problem the industry increased use of digital printers that can efficiently produce high

quality paper books on demand. CAP Ventures predicted that within five years, 80% of all print will be

ordered via www. This created new model of publishing- so called e-publishing (on demand). The printed

book is currently under attack by e-book. Present e-books are handheld devices in which books can be

downloaded in a file form and read on a backlit screen using buttons to maneuver through text. There

have been also experiments with on-line book distribution by Stephan King, David Saperstein, Mary

Higgins and others authors.

The Indian entertainment and media industry is expected to grow at 18% compound annual

growth rate (CAGR) and reach a projected size of Rs 1,00,000 crore by 2011 from its present

10

size of Rs 43,700 crore (for CY06), according to the 2007 edition of FICCI Price water house

Cooper’s (PWC) annual report on the Indian entertainment and media Industry.

The report states that the industry grew at 20% over the 2005 figure which was Rs 36,400 crore.

For 2004, the figure was Rs 31,100 crore.

The key reasons behind the growth are technological advances, positive government initiatives in

terms of policy and foreign investment, and energized initiatives by private media companies

coupled with rising income levels and India’s robust economic growth-led consumerism.

Information and broadcasting Minister PR Dasmunshi will release the report at the opening of

the FICCI-FRAMES event on March 26 in Mumbai.

Sectorally, the Internet advertising industry is set to post the highest CAGR of 43%, rising from

its current size of Rs 160 crores to Rs 950 crores in 2010.

The Television industry is projected to grow 22% CAGR from Rs 19,100 crore to Rs 51,900

crore by 2011. The move towards CAS/DTH is considered the major driver for this growth with

subscription revenues set to take the segment to the projected heights. “The buoyancy of the

Indian economy will drive the homes, both in rural and urban (second TV set homes) areas to

buy televisions and subscribe for the pay services,” the report said.

The film and entertainment sector is expected to grow by 16% CAGR from Rs 8,500 crore to Rs

17,500 crore. The major reason for this high growth rate is that the industry is increasingly

getting more corporative, highlighted by public issues of several film production, distribution

and exhibition companies, long term contracts between film production companies and directors/

actors and the fact that more than half of 2006’s releases were by corporate rather than individual

banners.

The print media is expected to grow by 13% CAGR from Rs 12,800 crore to Rs 23,200 crore by

2011. “Current estimates reveal that print media’s reach in India has increased to 22 crore

people. Print media is also the favorite segment for global investors with maximum foreign

investment in this segment. The print media industry has much potential as 36.9 crore literate

people in India are still not tapped by any publication,” the report said.

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NEWSPAPERS: A BRIEF HISTORY

The newspaper as we know it today is a product born of necessity, invention, the middle class,

democracy, free enterprise, and professional standards.

Pre-history "newspapers" were one-to-one in nature. The earliest variation on a newspaper was a

daily sheet published in 59 BC in Rome called Acta Diurna (Daily Events), which Julius Caesar

ordered posted throughout the city. The earliest known printed newspaper was in Beijing in 748.

In 1451, Johannes Gütenberg uses a press to print an old German poem, and two years later

prints a 42-line Bible -- the significance being the mass production of print products, ushering in

an era of newspapers, magazines, and books. By 1500, the genesis of a postal system can be seen

in France, while book publishing becomes popular throughout Europe and the first paper mill

can be found (England).

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Zeitung (newspaper) is a news report published in Germany in 1502, while Trewe Encountre

becomes the earliest known English-language news sheet in 1513. Germany's Avisa Relation

oder Zeitung, in 1609, is the first regularly published newspaper in Europe. Forty-four years after

the first newspaper in England, the Oxford Gazette is published, utilizing double columns for the

first time; the Oxford/London Gazette are considered the first true newspaper. The first North

American newspaper, Public Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestic, was published in 1690 in

Boston.

The 1700s was a century in which market elements were created that encouraged the

development of daily newspapers: rising literacy, the formation of nation-states, a developing

postal system, and the proliferation of urban centers, a rising literary and philosophical tradition

emphasizing democratic involvement in government, and technologies that supported newspaper

production. In short, it was a great news century. The first daily newspaper was The Daily

Courant in London, 1702. In 1754, The Daily Advertiser in London uses the first four-column

format. France's first daily newspaper appears in 1777, Journal de Paris, while the first United

States daily was the Pennsylvania Packet in 1784.

The rise of the middle class transformed newspapers in the 1800s. A penny (US$0.01) buys a

New York newspaper in 1833, opening up the first mass market for newspapers. In 1847, the

telegraph is used as a business tool, transforming far-away stories. In 1873, an illustrated daily

newspaper can be seen in New York. In 1878 the first full-page newspaper advertisements

appear, and in 1880 the first photographs are seen in newspapers, using halftones.

With the basic technical groundwork for the modern newspaper in place by the late 19th century,

the story of newspapers in the 20th century was about professional development and adaptation

to changing consumer and media markets. The story also involved an evolving business model

that rode an ever-growing wave of mass-market advertising. Increased profitability and higher

revenues attracted publicly owned corporations interested in buying newspapers from

descendants of company founders, while simultaneously exposing newspapers to the whims of

cash- and profit-hungry stock markets.

By 2000, newspapers were juggling priorities: fragmentation of news consumption,

fragmentation of advertising investments, the advantages and disadvantages of being a mass

13

medium, balancing the wants of the marketplace with the company's duty to provide the needs of

the marketplace, a journalistic backlash against industry changes, the sheer physicality of ink-on-

paper production and distribution versus digital distribution, increasing profit pressure

surrounding the core print product, and extension of the company's core brand into other profit

centers.

ALL INDIA MEDIA PENETRATION AS OF 2012

Here we can say that in the present scenario media has been spread widely. The share of

Media is as below :-

o Print Media 20%,

o TV Media 41%

o Cable and Satellite 16%

o Radio 17%

o Film 5%

o Internet 1%

PORTER’S FIVE FORCE MODEL ANALYSIS

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Porter's 5 forces analysis is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy

development developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. It uses

concepts developed in Industrial Organization (IO) economics to derive 5 forces that determine

the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market.

1. The threat of substitute products:

T.V. Media

Magazines

Internet

Seminars and lectures of experts

What can the factor of substitute product?

1. buyer propensity to substitute

2. relative price performance of substitutes

3. Perceived level of product differentiation

2. The threat of the entry of new competitors

Profitable markets that yield high returns will draw firms. The results are many new entrants,

which will effectively decrease profitability. Unless the entry of new firms can be blocked by

incumbents, the profit rate will fall towards a competitive level (perfect competition).

economies of product differences

brand equity

capital requirements

access to distribution

learning curve advantages

expected retaliation by incumbents

government policies

15

3.The intensity of competitive rivalry

Total NO. Of competitors of BUSINESS STANDARD are

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

BUSINESS LINE

FINANCIAL EXPRESS

MINT

FINANCIAL CHRONICLES

number of competitors

rate of industry growth

exit barriers

diversity of competitors

informational complexity and asymmetry

level of advertising expense

COMPETITORS

Competitor is something which any company cannot avoid. Staying in a democratic country and

ruling as monopoly is not possible. What the only way is to face a deal with competition.

Competition can be severe and can be mild. The intensity will depend on your own firms’

position and your competitors’ position. The following are the competitors of Business Standard.

The Economic Times

The financial Express

Business Line

Mint

Financial Chronicles

16

BUSINESS STANDARD is the country's most respected business daily, being the first choice of

serious business readers. It is published in colour from 12 centers in India - Mumbai (formerly

Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), Bangalore, Chennai (formerly Madras),

Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kochi and Bhubaneswar and Pune. The

newspaper believes in free, fair and independent journalism and strives to inculcate these values

in its editorial staff. The journalism practiced by BUSINESS STANDARD lays equal stress on

quality, credibility and accuracy.

BUSINESS STANDARD has the country's best economic journalists and columnists working

for it. It is edited by T.N. Ninan, perhaps India’s best-known business journalist, who had earlier

undertaken a complete and highly successful revamp of The Economic Times and was

responsible for its phenomenal growth.

Apart from a business newspaper, BSL publishes several periodicals, including BS Motoring,

Indian Management, Asian Management Review, a quarterly publication, and two regional

language business newspapers – BUSINESS STANDARD in Hindi and BUSINESS

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STANDARD in Gujarati. The Hindi newspaper is published simultaneously from seven centers

– Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhopal, Patna and Kolkata. Mumbai, Ahmedabad and

Rajkot.

The company sees content creation, content processing and content management as its core

competence. It offers complete outsourcing solutions for organizations which want to bring out

in-house or private publications but lack the people and/or resources to do it cost-effectively. The

web properties of BSL, including the online edition of Business Standard, include

businessstandard.com, bsmotoring.com, bshindi.com and bsgujarati.com.

At business-standard.com, you have access to one of the best repositories of Indian and global

business news. Apart from the flagship publication, the website also features content from The

Smart Investor (weekly), The Strategist (Weekly) and BS Motoring (monthly).

Vision

To stand at respectful position in this marathon and also keep up with the pace of the

changing needs of their value readers.

To win more and more readers to their cause.

In addition of being backed up by a strong product, company needs to deliver 1005 of it.

Mission

The mission is to expand the market share of BUSINESS STANDARD by creating a new

market and by taking bites from competitor’s market share.

BUSINESS ETHICS

BUSINESS STANDARD is neutral and most credible financial newspaper.

18

Business Standard is a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting

information regarding current events, trends, issues and people.

A look at History

BUSINESS STANDARD …. A standard paper for business class.” When you’re sure” is what is

always attached with Business Standard. Print media has bought considerable changes in the life

of people around the globe. Even our freedom fighters considered it a powerful weapon. And it

still continues to show its important presence in this changing world scenario. Business Standard

Ltd. was incorporated on 15th December, 1975 under the name of “Desh Publication Pvt. Ltd.”

This was changed to “Business standard Limited” on 23rd November, 1995 the head office of the

company is located at Delhi. The company is managed, under the leadership and guidance of the

board of directors. The company has completed its 30 years in the year 2005.The company

believes in ethical conduct through professional management and has forward looking outlook.

Organizational Hierarchy

Business Standard has the country’s best economic journalists and columnist working for it. It is

edited by T. N. Ninan, perhaps India’s best known business journalist, who had earlier

undertaken a complete and highly successful revamp of The Economics Times and was

responsible for its phenomenal growth.

Among the other senior journalists in the team are A. K.Bhattacharya, former editor of The

Pioneer and associate editor of The Economic Times, and Shyamal Majumdar, former resident

editor of The Financial Express.

Important figures

2.4.1 Readership of Business Standard:

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Business Standard is India’s second largest and fastest growing newspaper having growth rate of

300% in past four years. It has a readership over a quarter million.Its readership profile

encompasses the brightest and the best from India’s business and finance communities, Readers

come from varied occupations in the field of business, finance, government, policy makers and

academics, stock brokers, decision makers, researchers and students and observers of the Indian

Economy.

Dept: The main departments of the Business Standard are Market Development Department an

also known as Circulation Department, Scheduling Department, Space Marketing Department,

Editorial Department, System Department, Production Department an Dispatch Department.

Attraction: Rich with lovely supplements and vibrant sections on personal finance, banking,

careers and technology, travel, books and review of arts and cultures are the major attractive

sections.

Economics of publication house:

A newspaper cost is Rs. 18-20 to the publication house at Business Standard. The cost is covered

from the advertisements that they receive, which is the work of the space marketing department

i.e. collecting advertisements for the dailies. Companies will give ads, in only those newspapers

in which their audience lies and it also depends on the circulation a readership figure. Therefore

to attract cash rich advertisers, publication house has to first create that class of audience, then

only, they will be able to attract advertisers, which is the main source of the revenue for Business

Standard.

Positioning Statement of BUSINESS STANDARD –

“When you’re sure”:

20

To succeed in a futurist environment, one requires a strategy. This is true for an organization

profit and non-profit in as much as it is for individual. The art of action planning, to achieve a

specific goal is called strategizing and the action plan is called strategy.

To manage the distribution channel properly is not the only that the market development

department has to perform. The department has to take care for the necessary steps required to

tape the opportunities prevailing in the market.

Achievements:-

Business Standard is one of the newspaper in India to have sought Foreign Direct

Investment

Business Standard also has an annual series of awards to felicitate outstanding leadership

in the corporate world.

Content tie up NDTV

ABC approved

Product Portfolio

About BUSINESS STANDARD Newspaper (Bombay Publication)

A newspaper which is published from MON to SAT (Sunday edition published

only at Delhi and Bombay)

The size of the newspaper is 50, or 51 or 52 cms. in length and 32.9 cms. Width.

Supplements with newspaper:

Monday: The Smart Investor

Tuesday: The Strategist

Saturday: Weekend

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8 pages on Stock Market.

Six full pages on stock details both in Graphical and alphabetical method

BS 200, which top 200, companies share details on calculating 22 key

parameters.

Formulae specifications.

Mutual Fund details on full page coverage.

Insurance schemes on half pages

Guidelines before the details of stocks to let the people know how to read

stock pages and the abbreviations.

Individual industry news on individual full page coverage.

Collaboration with the international newspaper “FINANCIAL TIMES” London

Provides 3 magazines free annually.

The Banking Annual

BS 1000

Fund Manager

Editions from Monday to Friday have a main edition of about 12 pages. The following

areas are focused:

National and International news

Economy and Policy news

Infrastructure news

Companies news

Editorial pages

22

Crossword, Sudoku

Education News

Business law

Section II is the MONEY AND MARKETS

Stock market news

Money and currencies

Metal an intermediates news

Commodity news

BS 200

Share prices in a alphabetical order

Mutual fund and insurance

ABOUT SUPPLEMENTS

TUESDAY: THE STRATEGIST

Theories and practices of business managements.

Brand related news

Notes by management thinkers

Book worm

Quiz column

23

SATURDAY: WEEKEND

Life and fashion

Living

Entertainment

Motoring

ABOUT MAGAZINES

24

A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles, generally financed by

advertising and/or purchase by readers. They are often printed in color on coated paper, and are

bound with a soft cover.

1) THE BANKING ANNUAL

Banking Annual, the one spot information providers regarding everything related to banks.

Banks are not only gives you security but many more things. To get an all round view of

banks functioning and their future action, banking annual provides with all.

Banks valuation

Banker of the year

Innovation bought and which would be coming in the near future

Data’s related to banks.

2) BS 1000

BS 1000 is a detailed guide to India’s top 1000 companies. The issues of BS 1000 mention

those depressing times, providing data on the impact of the slowdown on corporate, the

deterioration in their financials, how they coped with crisis. Not just bad phases but also the

success stories are mentioned. It also peeks into the future, where

which industries booming, with what phase, with what

strategies, etc are discussed. Below are the main features:

25

BS awards.

1000 best companies

ranking and performance of the leaders of the country

1000 companies growth, gross profit, net profit, etc

3) FUND MANAGER

Fund Manager, as the name suggests that it gives a full insight to the fund’s investment. It

focuses on facts and figures on mutual funds. The fund manager seeks to rank mutual funds

26

schemes and also rate the best fund manager of the year. Below given are the few additional

features of the Fund Manager:

Risk return rating over 600 funds

Futures of new fund offerings

Best fund pick

THE STRATEGISTS

The strategist is the combined edition of the entire strategist supplement which published

weekly with the newspaper. The strategist contains the pick of the articles over the previous

year and a half. The objective of the annual recollected magazine is to gibe ‘the best’ to the

BS reader. The main motto of the magazine being to take out the strategies out of book, to

understand the classic pitfalls of the big brands, to understand many other things with

practical case studies.

THE WORLD OF B-SCHOOLS

It focuses on the best B-schools of India with the articles like the B-school Roadmap, what

matters the most courses, faculty of infrastructure, when you go for B-school hunting, etc

provide the all kind of answers to the mind of a b-school seeker. Hence it gives what students

want “An Answer”

ABOUT OTHER STAND MAGAZINES

MOTORING

27

Motoring is a stand monthly magazine. It gives all the information related to cars and bikes.

It gives information about upcoming models, features and specialties of them. The entire

edition has something special in them. Certain expert’s interview related to the automobile

industry.

INDIAN MANAGEMENT

It is also a stand monthly magazine. It is made especially for

the management students. The students get all the

information they need through the magazine. It is a one point

access to cutting edge ideas in management. It gives:

Superior management coverage

Delivers latest management theories

Opinions from thought leaders

Global trends and innovations

Insights from carefully analyzed case studies

Book reviews.

Chapter 2

Functional Areas of the company

A brief department detail to give an idea of where the things are placed in BUSINESS

STANDARD is as follows:

28

MARKET DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT / CIRCULATION

DEPARTMENT

This department is responsible for the circulation of the newspaper in the whole region. This

department also looks after the daily back room operations which include giving print orders

29

for the regular supply of subscription, complementary copies and sponsored copies are also

being distributed by this department. They also check the dispatch and payment received for

the month. To expand the market of the newspaper by adding more customers to its list. They

are the people who not only think about selling the newspaper but also how to promote it.

SPACE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

It is the major source of revenue generation for any media industry. Because the actual cost

of the newspaper goes up to 18/- to 20/- Rs. And sold at Rs. 3/-.So the advertisements are the

medium to compensate for the cost generated. I was taught about the marketing department

contact different corporate for advertisement and the channel through which the

advertisement comes and are prepared and how the space is allotted depending upon the

space given by the editorial department. There is an agent in between the client and the

publisher, which helps in making the arrangements of ads.

How this media get advertisement from clients?

Actually this media have their agents who collect contract from the clients and

then this agent decide that, what is the expectation of client. So on that bases agent selects

any media. Advertisement is generally designed by agent but only circulated by media. So

sometime media also design some advertisement, but they get client from only agents.

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Editorial is considered as the backbone of the print media because without any good matter

to publish and which is not edited nicely it is just a crap for the readers. Readers want to have

30

the columns with good matter, so without having an effective and efficient editorial team no

newspaper can grow.

This department collects the news mainly from the News Agencies and they have their own

network to publish the articles too. The news can be by telephone, fax or through internet or

other communication medium. This news is edited and then sends to the Mumbai and Delhi

for the adjustment. The group Managing Director of the Business Standard is MR. A. K.

Bhattacharya

SCHEDULING DEPARTMENT

This department deals with the scheduling of the edited matter and the advertisements. It is

the work of this department to adjust and frame the edited matter with the advertisement, by

allotting the empty space to the advertise, which matter and advertisement should be in

which page is the looked out by scheduling people. For this scheduling the department forms

a dummy A-4 size, adjusting the editorials and the ads in that paper to know the place of the

same in the original size paper.

SYSTEM DEPARTMENT

System department is responsible for the communication network as well as all the technical

related problems in the company. All the branches of Business Standard are linked with

V_SAT and with the dedicated leased line along with the Head Office.

The most important work of the system department is to connect all the telephone line with

EPBX system and connect all the branches to the head office with Hot Lines, which helps to

reduce STD cost of the company.

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

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After receiving the facsimile copy on the butter paper from the system department the work

of production department starts. This butter copy is framed on the aluminum plate. This plate

is then fixed in the printing machine and then as per the printing orders the printing starts.

Machine which is used for the production is known as Film Processor which costs

approximately Rs. 2.5 lakh. The machine is divided into four different units i.e. Developer

Unit, Fixed Unit, Wash Unit, and Dryer Unit.

Production Department is used mainly four colors for the hard copy, which are Black,

Yellow, Cyan and magenta. Some colors are used at the time of the final printing of the

newspaper at press. Raw material for this department is paper and aluminum plate. Print

comes in the form of reel. The cost of reel is Rs. 10000.

DISPATCH DEPARTMENT

Dispatch department is responsible for the regular dispatch of the total number of copies at

various destinations at the right time. It is also responsible for how many copies should be

reach at each center i.e. local or upcountry. Even the commission has to be taken off. The

function of function department is to generate rush mail and put it on the parcel. Rush mail

shows the number of the copies in the parcel and its destination address. With this a route

control statement is also there for each taxi driver, which shows the number of parcels for

each and every destination, comes under his route.

There are also two other department without the company cannot be run. Those department

without which any firm is incomplete.

FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT

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This department is responsible for all the financial matters. Matters are related to salary,

operational expenses and other expenses. It is also responsible for the cutting the cost of the

publication.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

This is the department responsible for the HR supply in the company. For Business Standard

this department is in Mumbai. It means that the Business Standard has a centrally located HR

department who takes care of the supply in any of the branch.

All these departments identify the need of the customer i.e. the quality and pricing demanded

by the customers. In this industry this strategy is very important as the selling price of the

newspaper is always less than its cost of production. The main reason for this type of pricing

is to create awareness and generate reading behavior amongst the audience of the newspaper.

Hence all these departments are interlinked and proper cooperation and coordination is a

must in the newspaper industry. This helped me in getting a better understanding of

teamwork, and the importance of every second, because newspapers are published daily and

a delay of single second or a minute mistake can lead to a blunder.

SWOT analysis of Business Standard

33

STRENGTH WEAKNESS OPPORTUNITY THREAT

Systematic approach

covering all sectors.

Not creative Can give an extra page

On general local news.

Continuous

monotonous approach.

Nominal price

.

Monotonous approach

of Headlines

Can introduce a new

segment on Sunday

Low Pricing Strategy

Separate Money &

Market section with 8

pages

No own publication

house

Potential Market

Availability

Toughest

Competition From

The Economic Times

Segregation of news

In supplements

Display of ads

sometimes creates a

fuss.

Can have tie-ups with

renowned brands for

ads.

Over view of the whole

week is given in

weekend

News is sometimes

very lengthy.

Provide general

awareness in terms of

investment.

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7‘S’ Framework

35

SYSTEM

A group of interacting, interrelated or interdependent elements forming a complex whole is a

system. System of interaction is very free in Business Standard. People love to eat together at

lunch time, stay there with each other in all times be it good or bad. Legally they follow a

hierarchy. The system is well defined and well managed.

STRATAGY

The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as

possible during peace or war is strategy. Strategies vary from time to time but what remains are

the truthfulness and the attitude. For the Business Standard what matters is its firm value and so

all the strategies are planned accordingly.

STYLE

The way in which the work is to be done or expressed is Style. Business standard is trying to do

everything openly but with a blast; a blast to make the others move from their chairs. They

believe in slow but steady reach to top so that readership is strong.

STAFF

Staff comprises of the people working in the Business standard. People working together

specialized in their own areas of concern. But one thing is made sure that everyone’s work at

Business standard is challenging. Everyone is appreciated for their work and they all work as a

group.

SHARED VALUE

Shared Values are what engender trust and link in an organization. Shared values are also the

identity by which an organization is known throughout its business areas. These values must be

stated as both corporate objective and individual values. And at Business Standard people have

joined the individual and corporate goals; if necessary people are also ready to devote hours even

after their service hour.

36

SKILLS

Proficiency, facility or dexterity is acquires or developed through training or experience is skills.

Skills are at times found inbuilt and most of the times is expected to learn on job. This helps

them to understand the stupid mistakes that they might do in a recent job oriented.

ABC –AUDIT BUREAU CIRCULATION

The ABC is a non-profit, self discipline, voluntary organization consisting of publishers,

advertisers and advertising agencies. It has done pioneering work in developing systems to verify

the circulation data published by those newspaper and periodicals, which have earned the right to

display its emblem. Facts and figures which are checked and certified by an independent body

are a very important tool in the hands of the advertising business community.

What information does an Audit Report provide?

o A total average of distribution is provided.

o Market coverage

o Public access

o Distribution by issue

o Geographic distribution

o One day distribution

o Other details: The explanatory paragraph provides supplemental information and

disclosures and includes an explanation of audit methodology.

37

An advertiser would like to know the fact and figures before investing his money in advertising.

An advertiser ought to know how many people buy a publication and in which area. The ABC

gives all these vital facts every six months i.e. January to June and July to December. The ABC

figures are not the outcome of opinions or guesswork but they are the result of rigid, in-depth and

impartial audits of paid circulation of member publications by independent and leading firms of

Chartered Accountants working in accordance with the rules procedures prescribed by the

bureau.

Few important issues to take care as per ABC certification:

Trade terms to agents on subscription copies should not exceed

In case of dailies-40% of the subscription price

In case of weeklies-45% of the subscription price

Publishers have to maintain the full record of subscribers with their address, name and

signature.

There are two types of panels for auditing:

Auditors Panel

Publishers Panel

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SALES AND DISTRIBUTION

A sale is a transaction, dealing, trade or what? Sale can have different meanings but what is the

most important thing in it, is to understand the importance of it. Without sale no revenue can be

generated but just earning revenue is not to sale, it is the right type selling to the right customer

with the right attitude. Customer relationship is most important, maintaining the brand image is

also important. Delivering on the brand promises becomes a moment of truth in any customer

relationship. This moment of truth can be either positive or with negative impact on the

customer’s perception about your brand. There might be great marketing communication and a

highly superior product, but the buying experience always stands between the seller and the

customer. If the customer has a negative impact about the product then it is a direct deterioration

of the brand equity. Hence, sales and distribution is a vital activity. Sales hence comprises of the

outcome of what all which was done to manufacture that product. Success of selling department

is the success of the company.

Business Standard is the product where the maximum demand would be in the early morning. It

is highly perishable product. The product should reach the customer in due time otherwise the

importance is lost. Hence time management is something very vital for the sales and distribution

people. Hence I can mainly divide the supply of the newspaper in two main categories:

Pre press activity

Post press activity

Pre press activity involves all the editorial departments work where they have to collect the news

and it has to be given to the production department in a prescribed limit. This time limit is said as

the cut off time or releasing time.

39

Post press activity is the distribution.

Business Standard gets involved in many kinds of sale activity. They are:

o Subscription Sale :

A one year or two year by subscription by paying fixed amount is sale by subscription

o Cash Sales:

Customers when paying the amount to purchase a newspaper directly to the book stall in

cash then the sale is said to be a cash sales.

o Line Sales

Line sale is the in which it is post paid billing. When the customer gets the Business

Standard copy through the vendor and pays in the end of month, it is line sale

o Institutional Sales

Few corporate, hotels and colleges take copy in bulk, which is said to be as institutional

sale. Business Standard has the responsibility till the delivery at their doorstep and further

distribution is on the company or the institution concerned

o Corporate Sales

In corporate sales, executives have to do cold calling or they have to take appointment

from the concerned person and then after meet, executive must convince the client. If it is

big corporate and staff are such that, they read financial daily at their home, then for bulk

subscription they have to try.

DISTRIBUTION

Distribution is exactly for maintaining the brand equity in the market. The promises which

were made to the customers can be fulfilled by the proper channel and the right time delivery

of the newspaper.

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CHAPTER-3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In the internship program I had to do research on the criteria used by the consumer in selecting

the brand of financial newspaper, and along with that I had to do sales. So on daily basis I made

survey of 10-15 people and knew their views regarding financial daily they read. In this survey

the main goal is to market development and product development. Market development means

how to penetrate the market and how come to know about views of reader who read financial

daily.

So I made a questionnaire, through which we can come to know that what business standard

should do to penetrate and product development.

Research Objectives

To penetrate the market, or can say MARKET DEVELOPMENT.

If company wants to develop their product than which criteria should be considered.

So PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT.

To understand the consumer Behavior.

Research methodology states how the research study is under taken. It includes specification of

research design source of data, method of primary data collection, sampling design and analysis

procedure adopted. Research methodology states what procedures were employed to carry out

the research study.

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Limitation

The main shortcoming of the project was that the generalizations have been made

based on a restricted sample of 200 respondents.

Because of a small sample size consisting of Mumbai consumers only it might

happen that introducing new strategy for BS cannot be completely applicable

throughout the country.

Area of the project is limited to Mumbai city only so the conclusion may be biased.

The collection of primary data is comparatively difficult and sometimes the question

of non-response arises because the people may not like to disclose the information.

Respondents to whom we questioned about the product did not take the survey

seriously and answered the questions just for the sake of answering

42

Research Design

Data Source Primary data source- Questionnaire

Secondary data source- Company website

Sampling area Bombay and Suburbs

Sample size 200

Sampling method Quota sampling

Research instrument Questionnaire

Method of contact Personal

TARGET AUDIENCE

The financial newspapers generally cater to the following target audience:

Corporate executives

Investors and Stock brokers

Businessmen

Bankers

Management students and professors

Chartered Accountants & other Professionals

Students

SAMPLE SIZE

43

The numbers of readers of business newspaper were decided on the basis of different types of

occupation and their designation. Sample size of 200 was taken for the research. There was

also some limitation to take such small sample size. Lack of time is the main limitation to tale

such small sample size.

DATA COLLECTION

Since, data collection signifies a very crucial place in a pilot survey; I have collected primary

data by personal interview through structured questionnaires. I had used only this method

because of time constraints. There is also very less scope in my topic to get information from

secondary source. Because to know the behavior of reader I must take their interview.

QUESTIONNAIRE FORM

The questionnaire for the purpose of this study was carefully drafted and very well developed.

Proper care has been taken in asking the questions, in wording them and in maintaining the

sequence of the question.

The questions asked were in open-ended and close-ended form, open-ended question were to get

customer’s own views and in close-ended questions, multiple-choice questions and dichotomies

questions were included.

QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

This part of the data collection method can be termed as “quantitative survey” and the questions

were very specific. The data has been analyzed based on the statistical factors and been described

through a graphical analysis in the further pages.

CHAPTER-3

44

DATA ANALYSIS & DATA INTERPRETATION

Project title – READER CHOICE OF FINANCIAL NEWS PAPER READERS.

Questionnaire

Name :

Age :

Address/Place :

Gender :

Contact No. :

E-mail Id :

Occupation :

1) Which business newspapers do you read (read in the last one week)?

2) How frequently do you read a business newspaper?

60

5

15

10 5 5

SalesEconomic TimesFinancial ExpressBusiness Standard HT Mint DNA MoneyOthers

45

75

10

35

2 5

Sales

DailyThrice a weekTwice a weekOnce a weekMonthlyOther

3) How much time do you spend reading a newspaper?

0-3 mins

30-60 mins

60-90 mins

More than 90 mins

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Column1Column2Column3

46

4) How do you get your business newspaper?

65

40

10

5

15

Sales

Delivered at homeDelivered at officeBought at News standReading Room librbaryE-Paperother

5) Which are the important sections of a business newspaper that you read?(Please give marks out of 10 to these sections which appear in your business newspaper)

Out of 100

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Stock Market newsEditorials National News International news Banking related news Politics Economics Regulatory policies/ Law SME Regional/City news Commodities Personal Finance Others

47

6) Please rate the following attributes of business newspapers: (Please give marks out of 10 to each of these attributes of the different business newspapers.)

Business Standard

Economic Times

HT Mint Financial Express

Business Line

Others1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

LanguageDetailed AnalysisUnbiased News CoverageWide News CoverageCredible InfoGood Info & Investment TipsEasy To ReadAppealing LayoutEditorials By ExpertSrock Market CoverageUseful SupplementsPromotional offersInternational newsLocal News

7) How did you decide upon which business newspaper to read?

25

15

20

10

25

5

Column1

Started reading the paper which was read by elders at homeAdvised by friendsAdvised by people from same profession as mineBought the most attractive look-ing newspaper which I came across on a news standRead many newspapers to decide upon the best oneOther reason

48

8) What are the criteria on which you select the brand of business newspaper?

20

25

15

25

15

Overall Content

Brand NameOverall ContentEditorial ContentPrice FactorAny References

49

FINDINGS AND RECOMMANDETIONS

Findings

I came to know about the preference of customers after doing the activity of market

tapping.

People have different needs and wants, so one should be able to understand their needs

and wants in order to sell the product.

Business standard is the second most preferred newspaper in the areas surveyed.

Most of the readers agree that the language used in BS is simple for them.

The supplements of BS are fairly popular amongst target audience which is good for the

brand.

News covered by the newspaper i.e. the coverage plays an important role. Readers feel

that the lack of news coverage may lead them to change the newspaper they read. Some

of vernacular readers have switched to English daily only because of their need to

improve their English but the percentage is negligible.

News channels and Internet media has affected the reading pattern of the readers up to a

considerable extent.

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The basic idea of reading a newspaper is to gain information and knowledge; hence the

news coverage is a dominating factor in newspaper purchase as well as reading.

Due to increase in the usage of Internet, people prefer to do surfing on the net and thereby

collect more information on the different aspects simultaneously.

Lack of airline industry news

Agriculture industry news is not provided.

Service problem is the main problem with BS, because in our survey I met so many

people who did not get news paper on daily basis.

There is also one finding that font size of stock market related news is very small so that

they are not happy with it.

Some clients said that whatever hidden news shown by ET those news are not covered by

BS

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Recommendations

From the study carried out and the analysis of the result obtain from the survey, the following

suggestion and recommendation can help the firm to improve upon the product.

1) Add the news on IT and Information in much more detail

2) Increase the number of centers from where the news paper is available

3) Increase the font size of stock detail

4) Give more job related advertisements

5) Improve print quality

6) Come up with new creative advertisements

7) Build proper positioning in the minds of the readers

8) Give certain small vouchers package at the time of any other festivals.

9) Service check calls at regular intervals.

10) Publishing their Club and giving membership to regular customers.

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Suggestions

Business standard should target upcoming rural district where education is growing, to

increase their circulation. It can also target the undergraduate student who are preparing for

entrance exams and wants to improve their language proficiency.

Target small firm for the sponsored copy,

Which help to create awareness about newspaper.

They should start individual subscription offers with some schemes like free gifts.

They should go for heavy campaign for advertisement in rural and urban areas.

They can organize some events like seminars to create the awareness about newspaper.

It should increase the quality of its font size.

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LEARNING’S OF FEW SOFT SKILLS

While undergoing summer training at Business Standard, with the above mentioned learning’s I

had learned certain soft skills. These soft skills are as follows:

Communicating with people:

Informing all the target customers about the subscription scheme to all the target

customers.

Communicating through:

Words

Brochures and flyers

Convincing them:

Convincing people to give an appointment and listen to the scheme

Convincing customers to buy the subscription

Language of Corporate World:

During my SIP I had learnt the language of corporate world. How they are

responding. How they are behaving. How they are talking, performing their

operations, their life style, and the way they are working etc.

Handling clashes with the superiors:

During the fulfillment of my summer training I had faced certain clashes with my

direct superior. These two month’s period taught me how to handle the situation.

Handling pressures:

While I was working at Business standard for subscription there was a constant

pressure of achieving the targets and also there was a pressure of behaving good with

the customers as we were representatives of Business standard there.

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Bibliography

The project report on Business Standard on the topic “Understanding the reading

habit of financial readers” could be successful with the co-operation of the project and

the faculty guide. But along with the training period I had taken the Help of

following books and links to know more about the subject

Book References

By Kotler Philip, Keller Kevin Lane, Koshy Abraham, Zha Mithileshwar , Marketing

Management (Twelfth Edition) ,Pearson Education Ltd.

By Cooper Donald P., Schindler Pamela S., Business Research Method (9th Edition),

Tata-McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd.

Web References

www.ficci.com

www.business-standard.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.geography.com

www.google.com

www.business-standard.com

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