Unemployment, a perennial problem of the Indian economy, has become sharply accentuated in the recent years. This is especially true of rural unemployment. It is a reflection of the seriousness of the unemployment problem that the Employment Guarantee Act (2005) seeks to provide for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage paid public employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Specifically, the Act seeks the ‘creation of durable assets and strengthening the livelihood resource base of the rural poor’. While the EGA itself builds upon a long history of wage employment programmes in India it is different in that it is a guarantee, not reversible with any changes of government; provides scope for implementation by local groups and agencies; devolves considerable powers to local panchayats; mandates a high quality of conditions of work through provisions for medical aid, drinking water, shade, creche, on the worksite; and encourages the use of the Right to Information and Social Audit to ensure transparent and effective implementation.In the first phase, the Act was to be implemented in 200 districts across the country, or around 80,000 panchayats. It was formally launched by Dr. Manmohan Singh and by the UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi at Bandlapalle Village in Ananthpur District of Andhra Pradesh on February 2,2006. 130 districts were further covered under the scheme from April, 2007. Presently GOI has enforced the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in all the backward Districts of the country.We have taken up a research study with respect to MNREG in order to: <list list-type="bullet"><list-item>evaluate its implementation at the ground level</list-item><list-item>review its progress and</list-item><list-item>suggest how best this scheme can be managed to</list-item></list>ensure that it is beneficial in strengthening the livelihood resource base of the rural poor through employment generation and asset creation.This study is based on both primary and secondary data collected from the field and government sources. The states would be so selected so as to get a picture of the implementation of the EGA in different parts of the country. The study would be carried out in five states namely Andhara Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The selection of block and villages for survey would be done in consultation with local partner agencies. The districts would be selected from the list of 200 districts identified for the initial implementation of the EGA. Available information on these areas from census surveys and other sources would be compiled to present a background to the field studies, district profiles showing the population, income, and main sources of livelihood and employment, etc. Primary data would be collected through a survey conducted in selected NREGS districts in the selected states. To catch the whole set of relevant primary sources of data from the field, four-five sets of questionnaires/schedules would be administered.Apart from canvassing with the help of structured questionnaires, relevant field level data-information would be collected through focused group discussion with the common villagers, womenfolk, youths and workers. Consultations will be held with the prominent persons in the locality like representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, Gram Sabha members, Non Governmental Organisations, grass-roots social and political workers.Discussions with the District Magistrates (DMs), Deputy Development Commissioners (DDCs), District Programme Coordinators (DPCs), DRDA directors and other district and block level officials would also be relevant to know their views and perceptions, administrative capacity, implementing hurdles and their overall interest in the schemes.Secondary sources of data/information would be collected from the government offices at Block, District and State level.The data collection from these areas would be done in collaboration with <list list-type="bullet"><list-item>Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow.</list-item><list-item>Center for Economic and Social Studies, Andhara Pradesh</list-item><list-item>Madhya Pradesh Institute of Social Science and Research, Madhya Pradesh</list-item><list-item>Center for Development Alternatives, Ahmedabad, Gujarat</list-item><list-item>Lal Bahadur Shastri Research Centre for Public Policy and Social Change, Delhi</list-item></list></sec></body><sub-article><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">LBSJMR</journal-id><journal-title>LBS Journal of Management & Research</journal-title><issn pub-type="ppub">0972-8031</issn><publisher><publisher-name>Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management Delhi</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="other">lbsjmr-5-1and2-006</article-id><title-group><article-title>Patent valuation: A case study</article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Sethi</surname><given-names>Rajat</given-names><prefix>Prof.</prefix></name></contrib></contrib-group><aff>LBSIM, Divyansh Johar, Ernst and Young</aff><pub-date pub-type="ppub"><month>6–12</month><year>2007</year></pub-date><volume>5</volume><issue>1and2</issue><fpage>70</fpage><lpage>70</lpage><counts><page-count count="1" /></counts></article-meta></front><body><sec id="sec002"><title />Given the current competitive context, patents have presented a new dimension of competitiveness and provide the companies with an opportunity of capturing value in the market. Value-creation driven by patents is possible through sale, purchase, in-licensing, or out-licensing. This depends on whether the company has a possession of the patents or not. The case study aims to delve deep into one such value-creation context and expose the audience to the fundamentals of patent valuation. The case study shall primarily focus on the following aspects:<sec id="sec003"><title>1. Context

LBSJMR

LBS Journal of Management & Research

0972-8031

Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management Delhi

lbsjmr-5-1and2-006

CASE STUDY

Research in progress at LBSIM: 2007

Management of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS): Issues and Challenges - A research study sponsored by AICTE (MHRD, GOI)

Chhabra

Sangeeta

Prof.Chief Coordinator

6–122007

51and26970

Unemployment, a perennial problem of the Indian economy, has become sharply accentuated in the recent years. This is especially true of rural unemployment. It is a reflection of the seriousness of the unemployment problem that the Employment Guarantee Act (2005) seeks to provide for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage paid public employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Specifically, the Act seeks the ‘creation of durable assets and strengthening the livelihood resource base of the rural poor’. While the EGA itself builds upon a long history of wage employment programmes in India it is different in that it is a guarantee, not reversible with any changes of government; provides scope for implementation by local groups and agencies; devolves considerable powers to local panchayats; mandates a high quality of conditions of work through provisions for medical aid, drinking water, shade, creche, on the worksite; and encourages the use of the Right to Information and Social Audit to ensure transparent and effective implementation.In the first phase, the Act was to be implemented in 200 districts across the country, or around 80,000 panchayats. It was formally launched by Dr. Manmohan Singh and by the UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi at Bandlapalle Village in Ananthpur District of Andhra Pradesh on February 2,2006. 130 districts were further covered under the scheme from April, 2007. Presently GOI has enforced the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in all the backward Districts of the country.We have taken up a research study with respect to MNREG in order to: <list list-type="bullet"><list-item>evaluate its implementation at the ground level</list-item><list-item>review its progress and</list-item><list-item>suggest how best this scheme can be managed to</list-item></list>ensure that it is beneficial in strengthening the livelihood resource base of the rural poor through employment generation and asset creation.This study is based on both primary and secondary data collected from the field and government sources. The states would be so selected so as to get a picture of the implementation of the EGA in different parts of the country. The study would be carried out in five states namely Andhara Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The selection of block and villages for survey would be done in consultation with local partner agencies. The districts would be selected from the list of 200 districts identified for the initial implementation of the EGA. Available information on these areas from census surveys and other sources would be compiled to present a background to the field studies, district profiles showing the population, income, and main sources of livelihood and employment, etc. Primary data would be collected through a survey conducted in selected NREGS districts in the selected states. To catch the whole set of relevant primary sources of data from the field, four-five sets of questionnaires/schedules would be administered.Apart from canvassing with the help of structured questionnaires, relevant field level data-information would be collected through focused group discussion with the common villagers, womenfolk, youths and workers. Consultations will be held with the prominent persons in the locality like representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, Gram Sabha members, Non Governmental Organisations, grass-roots social and political workers.Discussions with the District Magistrates (DMs), Deputy Development Commissioners (DDCs), District Programme Coordinators (DPCs), DRDA directors and other district and block level officials would also be relevant to know their views and perceptions, administrative capacity, implementing hurdles and their overall interest in the schemes.Secondary sources of data/information would be collected from the government offices at Block, District and State level.The data collection from these areas would be done in collaboration with <list list-type="bullet"><list-item>Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow.</list-item><list-item>Center for Economic and Social Studies, Andhara Pradesh</list-item><list-item>Madhya Pradesh Institute of Social Science and Research, Madhya Pradesh</list-item><list-item>Center for Development Alternatives, Ahmedabad, Gujarat</list-item><list-item>Lal Bahadur Shastri Research Centre for Public Policy and Social Change, Delhi</list-item></list></sec></body><sub-article><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">LBSJMR</journal-id><journal-title>LBS Journal of Management & Research</journal-title><issn pub-type="ppub">0972-8031</issn><publisher><publisher-name>Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management Delhi</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="other">lbsjmr-5-1and2-006</article-id><title-group><article-title>Patent valuation: A case study</article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Sethi</surname><given-names>Rajat</given-names><prefix>Prof.</prefix></name></contrib></contrib-group><aff>LBSIM, Divyansh Johar, Ernst and Young</aff><pub-date pub-type="ppub"><month>6–12</month><year>2007</year></pub-date><volume>5</volume><issue>1and2</issue><fpage>70</fpage><lpage>70</lpage><counts><page-count count="1" /></counts></article-meta></front><body><sec id="sec002"><title />Given the current competitive context, patents have presented a new dimension of competitiveness and provide the companies with an opportunity of capturing value in the market. Value-creation driven by patents is possible through sale, purchase, in-licensing, or out-licensing. This depends on whether the company has a possession of the patents or not. The case study aims to delve deep into one such value-creation context and expose the audience to the fundamentals of patent valuation. The case study shall primarily focus on the following aspects:<sec id="sec003"><title>1. Context

The context shall focus on a decision-making problem at an organization. The decision making should be primarily linked to the valuation of patent(s). For example, the management of the company has to select a patent/patents to which it shall direct its subsequent efforts. The end objective of the managements may be at least one of sale, purchase, and licensing of patents. Hence, the key exercise would be the estimation of the value of patent. It is desirable that products exist in the market that map on to the patents under study.

2. Technical Analysis

The process begins by a technical analysis of the patents under study. The technical analysis aims to identify the strength of the patents. The audience will be in a position to select a patent based on the technical analysis presented in the case study. The technical analysis will cover the technology landscape for an identification of any competing technologies, products features, and area of coverage based on the claims of the patents.

3. Market Analysis

Next, a market analysis is necessary for the patents under study. The primary objective is the forecasting of revenues that are attributable to the patents. The forecasting is based on is based on the current market size, ability of the products to penetrate the market, the market growth rate, manufacturing and marketing expenses involved, economic life of the patent, geographical scope of protection, etc. Appropriate assumption need to be made for performing market analysis on all the parameters that are listed above.

4. Valuation

The exercise culminates by developing patent valuation models. The valuation model may be at least one of Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method; Monte Carlo Simulation based patent valuation; and Real Options Pricing Theory. Use of multiple valuation models will not only show the use of conventional valuation techniques but, would also allow comparison of the value of the patents. The important aspects include discount rate, royalty rate, and tax rate.