Enigma Solution

Intel as everyone knows has been and continues to be a world leader in manufacture of computer chips. It has been the largest chip manufacturer in the world since 1992. In May 2009, Craig Barrett stepped down as Intel's  Chairman after serving the organization for 35 years. He also served as Intel's CEO from 1998 to 2005. The charismatic Mr. Barrett almost always couched his hard hitting messages with humour. At his farewell meeting with employees he cautioned them that it is easy to become complacent when you are a leader. He said if you go to the universities in the USA, three fourths of the graduates in engineering were foreign nationals. A vast majority of them were now returning to their home countries because they were increasingly finding better better opportunities there. This meant that talented students were strengthening their home economies and not the USA as was the tradition till recently. Mr. Barrett was particularly concerned about ...

The recent Arab Spring where so much changed reminded me of a life changing experience of a friend Sanmeet and his dear friend and business associate Rashid. Sanmeet exports from India quality engineering goods and automotive components all over the world. Africa was and remains a good market. He used to export to Mr. Rashid in Khartoum( Sudan) for over 30 years. The manner in which he developed his business and built relationships makes for educative reading. Coming in as refugees from Burma in 1964 where the family were successful importers of auto parts from all over the world, Sanmeet's family decided to export automotive components. Relatively neglected and not so demanding in terms of performance Africa was considered a good entry market. Yemen and Sudan provided good opportunities. In 1971 Sanmeet landed in Khartoum and looked around and learnt of a very small trader called Rashid. Moving around on a bicycle Rashid had a ramshackle shop. Logicall...