End of easy money batters India markets; Crowd fund record for Ubuntu; Literature for a well-rounded generation; HR has a PR problem

1 End of easy money batters India markets (Shefali Anand & Prabha Natarajan in The Wall Street Journal) Indian shares fell sharply Friday as investors questioned whether the now-fragile economy of the world's second most-populous country could withstand an end to global easy-money policies. The Bombay Stock Exchange's S&P BSE Sensex index lost nearly 4%, its largest one-day drop in almost two years, while the Indian currency, the rupee, hit an all-time low against the US dollar.

Underscoring the unease were concerns about India's slowing, import-reliant economy and a lack of faith that the government would succeed in reigniting growth. "India is not an investible economy right now," said Derrick Irwin, a portfolio manager at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, which has $230.8 billion under management. Investors are worried that moves by India's government and central bank "will choke off growth even further," he said.

India is especially vulnerable to shifts in market sentiment because it needs large amounts of foreign capital to finance a yawning current-account deficit—a reflection of the fact that the country imports considerably more than it exports. That is a situation similar to the one faced by some of the countries felled in the Asian financial crisis of 1997, when capital flight brought many economies in the region to a shuddering halt. And it has left policy makers in a tough spot, with measures aimed at bolstering the drooping currency and keeping capital in the country threatening to curb needed economic expansion.

Investors fear that upcoming federal elections, due before May 2014, will keep India from implementing any further overhauls because the government will be focused more on populist measures to win votes.Foreign institutional investors have withdrawn $2.6 billion from Indian stocks since June, according to data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. This compares with an inflow of $15.35 billion into Indian stocks in the first five months of the year.

Still, some investors say they like the long-term growth story of India and find its demographics attractive. Edwin Gutierrez, a portfolio manager at Aberdeen Asset Management LLC, who oversees $10 billion in emerging-market debt, said he isn't selling India. "It isn't a basket case. Once we get the uncertainty of the [upcoming federal] elections out of the way, we expect to see a pickup in investor confidence," Mr. Gutierrez said.

2 Crowd fund record for Ubuntu (Pia Gadkari) A crowdfunding campaign for the Ubuntu Edge smartphone has set a record for raising more money in pledges than any other such venture. The London-based developer, Canonical, has generated $10,288,472 (about £6.6m) in pledges, passing the record set by Pebble smartwatches last year. But with six days of its campaign left the company is far from reaching its funding goal of $32m. Canonical would have to return all the money if it does not reach the target.

The developer had said that if its campaign on the Indiegogo crowdfunding website was successful, it would aim to deliver 40,000 handsets to qualifying backers by next May. Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth said public interest in the Ubuntu Edge smartphone was high. Last week, Bloomberg said it had made an $80,000 contribution to the campaign, explaining that the open-source initiative could benefit its clients and influence the future of mobile computing.

3 Literature for a well-rounded generation (Khaleej Times) Our youth are being told to give up novels and history books, and focus on vocations. As the drive for a knowledge-based economy grows, degrees in history, humanities and literature are seen as superfluous — a waste of time compared to the more vocational fields of engineering, IT, and medicine.

But across the ocean, Harvard business graduates are getting a dose of literary medicine to go with their statistics and accounting lectures. A recent article in the Harvard Gazette highlights a course by Joseph L. Badaracco, the John Shad Professor of Business Ethics at Harvard Business School (HBS), who uses literature to teach leadership skills. So perhaps young ones — don’t put down those books just yet.  There is much to learn about the more nuanced side of humans, and about ethics — whether you want to manage them in a business, create change in your community, or lead a country.

Recent studies have also shown the younger generation is lacking in empathy — and a suggested reason given is a lack of reading, a process during which empathy is shown to be developed.  Combine this with a media saturated in violence, the disturbing, bloody pictures which flash across Flickr and Tumblr depicting the latest human victims in the name of revolution, and it begs the question just what our next generation of leaders will be numb to, how much tolerance and understanding they will have, and exactly what they will understand about the very people they are looking after.

Yes, we need bridges and we need doctors and we need computer systems that don’t crash. But none of this is much good without effective leadership at all points. Take a look at Syria or Egypt.  As the Harvard article says, “literature becomes relevant when leaders face the need to balance competing interests and priorities.” It opens us up to the complicated array of motivations, perspectives, beliefs and values different humans have, and helps us to quite simply, put ourselves in someone else’s shoes for a while. So what should be read? Well, in the interests of pluralism, a quality evidently needed more in this region, read widely, read deeply, read all you can.

4 HR has a PR problem (James Adonis in Sydney Morning Herald) At its core, HR has a PR problem. Critics don’t see the behind-the-scenes work that makes sure pays get paid, conditions remain fair, people receive training, communications are sent, staff stay happy and conflicts reach resolution. What many focus on is the gap between what they expect and what HR delivers. And sometimes that gap is significant.

In a study conducted a few years ago by McKinsey & Co, the global consulting firm, researchers found HR departments were having a “declining impact” with a noticeable “dearth of talented people wanting to work there”. Their solution, though, wasn’t for less HR; it was for more. The authors concluded that HR needs greater access to the CEO and more involvement in strategy.

One of the issues is that some HR operatives are similar to political operatives. There are few politicians as out-of-touch as those who’ve only known a career in politics. Likewise, there are few HR professionals as out-of-touch as those who’ve only known a career in HR. Without understanding the business intimately (via prior experience in sales, finance, call centres, wherever), it’s difficult to understand those you’re meant to serve.

Why does cynicism still prevail about HR? Sometimes HR initiatives are blocked by senior executives. At other times, stakeholders aren’t aware of HR’s accomplishments. And occasionally it's just that HR, quite simply, fails. Whatever the reason, it’s a department with a vital role to play but, if nothing changes, its acronym may someday stand for Hardly Relevant.