Business Today is a fortnightly magazine, published by the famous India Today Group. Mr. Aroon Purie, a Chartered Accountant turned Journalist has been able to introduce sound business principles to make the magazines succeed by standing on their own feet. India Today is a weekly. It is also published in Hindi and Tamil, and both the editions have the same name ’India Today.’
Business Today is identified by a rider ’for managing tomorrow’. This says volumes about the importance of management in the future. As the saying goes, one can not manage tomorrow’s enterprises by yesterday’s knowledge.
I have before me the latest issue of Business Today of June 8 2003. The top right hand corner is flush cut with an yellow triangle saying ’ONLY’ ( in Black ) and ’Rs.10’ ( in Red ). On a Black Band are writen in reverse ’ Patni’s Big Push ’, ’ Consumer Confidence: Ebbing ’ and ’ 60 Minutes With Juniper’s Pradep Sindhu. These are to draw the attention of the buyer and the reader about the stories inside the magazine. The cover shows five extremely beautiful ladies in attractive sarees on which is superimposed the following ’’ FIRST WIVES OF INDIA INC.’’ Below this is written ’’ They are more than just the women behind famous CEOs. They are entrepreneurs, social workers, even hot-shot professionals. Meet the better half of corporate India.’’ The charming ladies are identified as Geetanjali Kirloskar, Sukanya Bharat Ram, Sudha Murthy, Nirja Birla and Tina Ambani. After these names the bracketed words are : more inside, meaning thereby, there are equally brilliant wives of INDIA INC.
The Editor-in-Chief is Aroon Purie, and the Group Editorial Director is Prabhu Chawla. THe Editor is Sanjoy Narayan. Deputy Editor is R. Sukumar and Senior Editor is R. Sridharan. There are three Associate Editors, two Assistant Editors and one Chief Copy Editor. There are Special Correspondents, Principal Correspondents and Correspondents. The Photo and Art Departments are there to help the Production Department. The Publisher is Ashok Bagga. There is an Impact Team of Regional Heads. The entire Group manages, edits, produces and sells Business Today.. Quitye complicated !
Editor Sanjoy Narayan, in his Editorial to the present issue, writes: ’’As a BUSINESS MAGAZINE, OUR PREOCCUPATION IS large corporations and their CEOs. That’s why this issue’s cover is an exception. For once, instead of dissecting the fickle fortunes of a corporate czar, we decided to take a look at his better half - 25 of them, to be exact.’’
The present issue of Business Today has Editorial, Trends, Features, Personal Finance, Managing, Jobs Today, Back of the Book, People and Columns, under which there are Success Secrets by Mark McCormack, Kiran’s Corner by Kiran Karnik, Notes from the Trough by Mahesh Murthy and Leadership Secrets by Pradep Kumar.
The 142-page Magazine is printed in high quality Art paper, and advertisements are carefully selected to decorate its overall getup.
Business Today has been promoting sale by attracting subscribers to go in for five-year and three-year subscriptions against fabulous Gifts. Once I got a custom made Brief Case, and on another occasion a Caller Id Telephone, all against 5-year subscriptions.
I could go on. But, let me conclude by saying that if you want to understand the complexities of Business, read Business Today. You will spend Forty Rupees in a month, and will never regret for having done so.