Quarter 6 - Week 6

A couple of weeks back, our ENVC prof was flailing his hands that "you students didn't prepare as much as I did for the case, I should probably give myself all the marks and make you redo this subject!". Well, not really, but he did give us a piece of his mind. We had the B2B quiz, so we just wring our hands helplessly, as we claim that work and study takes away all our time, leaving nothing for case analysis. This time the B2B prof got it. He got bitten by the ENVC midterm! It's a different matter that nobody had the courage to tell him that "We didnt prepare for the very important case, because of our very important score that was riding on your quiz AND the other midterm". Anyway, we heard one more of the "You guys missed out on a very important case, now hang onto the coat tails, and try to atleast catch the gist of what I'm discussing with your more diligent friends here", while he was adoringly looking at those one/two people who had feebly raised their hands when he asked who had read the case. Must have been their most difficult class, considering the learning of 75 people and their future depended on the questions and points these two raised. The sheer heaviness of the responsibility is overwhelming! Or must have been for them.

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation

First session of the week was about how a couple of guys who were in HBS, wanted to start an enterprise in the dry-cleaning sector, and as to how they were exploring their options. These two smart guys went about doing the relevant analysis, and even took up jobs in dry cleaning establishments to gain some experience. These guys didn't mention that they were Harvard grads on their resumes, this shows the extent of resume checks that the US drycleaning companies do. Anyway, at the end of it, they were trying to figure out which of two drycleaning stores to purchase. Now, our job was to find out what they should do. Here's where our experience kicks in. Apparently, all the analysing teams said that dry cleaning was not a viable business to get into, and a couple of them reluctantly still chose one of the stores to buy. It seems, our batch (the PGSEM) were the only ones who really thought about the viability of the business. The other batches the prof handles didnt question this at all, and just went after the choice. So, all the PGSEM students, irrespective of whether they did the case or not, patted themselves on the back for the one feather they seemed to have in their caps, called experience. Turns out that the industry is a place where the labour was a huge chunk, taking up to 30-35% of the revenue, and the profits were only 10%. Immigrants therefore get into this, because not only do they make the 10% profit, they also are the labour! So they walk away with 40-45% profit, which is a fairly decent means of livelihood. Of course, there was a lot more takeaway on why the two should not have done the entire Mahabharat of exploration when easier methods of learning about the industry were available, but you cant help admiring the fact that these two chose to try such different stuff, when the rest of their class was probably getting into more profitable lines of business.

The next session was our midterm, and it was a case based exam. We were supposed to analyse the actions of a particular team and suggest alternative approaches. A lot of soaking in the day before, and then spot analysis the day after. Irrespective of the kind of marks you get, you just feel so cool and proud that you've made some decisions for somebody who is somewhere else. Consultants must be feeling good all the time, I think.

Social Entrepreneurship

We're still on reforms here, and the advantage of having the Right To Information. The first session was about how one of the persons known to the professor, once came across some information in the newspaper about how the Delhi Jal Board in association with the World Bank was trying to reform the water supply in the city. This person using the rights accorded to citizens, went to get more details on this. What he found pretty much got him all wired and upset. Turns out that the World Bank was trying to help us get more efficient water supply, and that we were capable of it, but didnt have suitable infrastructure. So they were outsourcing it to contractors, and the method of selection was apparently dubious. So this person goes up in arms, and gets a lot of people's support to avoid unnecessary expenditure. Their main argument was that the government spends much more on the water supply each year, and it would be unnecessary to take a loan from the World Bank for the purpose and give away the contract to an international firm, however experienced they may be. Additionally, the results in the other countries where this was done have not been good, and it would be careless to just go ahead and repeat this mistake. And so, a query was started, and relevant actions taken to find out what we could do on our own. And hence the story of one citizen's watch, on his government's action.

The second session was headed by a guest lecturer, who spoke to us about his experiences with tribal villages in Karnataka. We had been previously instructed to look him up on the internet, to see what he'd done, I should have understood why. He comes into class, and says he will have an interactive session, where we'd ask questions and then he'd give answers and take the class further along his experiences. Suffice to say that there were enough questions to keep him occupied, and for us to learn. But his experiences and outlook were quite different from the other lectures we've seen. You see, he was a lot more understanding of the government. His view was that, many times the government itself is not aware of many issues. They take an action without fully understanding the implications of it, and so one of our efforts should be towards educating the representatives of the constituencies about the problems faced. They have no way of knowing otherwise! They're sufficiently caught up with other things. He spoke about how he got started in the social field, and his experiences so far. What was most interesting was that he also spoke about how he worked with the traditions and beliefs of the tribals. Apparently, they would give some booze and food to their spirits and the spirits would tell them what to do. For e.g., one time they were about to start agriculture in the lands allotted. Just as he was about to start, the tribals told him that we should first take the opinion of the spirits. A lot of song and dance later, they told him that the spirits forbade them from planting seeds saying that it would only rain for three days, and after that nothing for the rest of the season. So dont waste money.

This man got quite pissed. Here he's fighting for the people, against the government, for the lands and then some spirit tells them not to plant. Still he went along with what they said, and it turns out that it did rain for three days, and they didnt plant while all other regions and farmers planted, and then there was no more rain! So now he doesn't know what to say. These are his experiences! Yet, they do follow a Value Belief Study, where they try to understand the roots of the traditions. Maybe there was some inherent value to it, which was being blindly copied over the years. Doing it this way, they are able to find out which are the good traditions that yield positive results for the people, and the bad ones. They then focus on stopping the bad ones, and encourage the good traditions. It's a very interesting take on how to bring about change in tribal culture by keeping the good, and moving with the times. Apparently, they also now school all the children there and they have a 100% pass record. These children are also instrumental with challenging the beliefs. It was more a matter of "Why are we doing it?" rather than "We should not do this!". The basic outlook and attitude is very instrumental in bringing about change.

B2B Market Management

The two cases for this week had a lot to do with customer satisfaction, and knowing what to do further. The first case was about how Infy and one of their customers were preparing for Infy to move up the value chain. So we focussed on the kind of changes that were required for this to happen. While we mainly focussed on cross-cultural issues, there was also some discussion on how this also affects the work culture and environment in the host company. There's a steadily growing insecurity about the work security there, if all the work comes down to India! Hence, we looked into how this could be addressed, by also focussing on local hiring within the host country, and discussing how to make the sale of why Infy should be given the contract as against the other competitors. The main takeaway from this seemed to be that India is now looking for greater value delivery, and it is no longer the best thing to compete on the cost arbitrage ("Our company in India, cheap resource!") because it will remind the hosts about the possible loss of jobs at their end. Instead, we must focus on how moving this work to India actually reduces the Total Cost of Ownership, and hence it increases revenues for the company and benefits it more, thereby providing more benefit to both Infy and the host. Hence, it is a win-win, and not a win-lose situation. Yet, there is still a lot of worry on how things might turn out in future.

The second session, I wish I could tell you what I learnt. But I hadn't read the case, and neither had the remaining 95% of the class. So while the remaining 5% paid attention, the rest of us tried to keep up valiantly (or slept), trying to focus on what was happening. It's not difficult to sleep when someone's discussing something you dont understand, I can tell you that much. And therefore, I implore you, when you do a case study discussion, you better be prepared with the case, or you are going to waste a LOT of time. And you wont get the ever-so-important "Ahaah!" feeling when enlightenment is supposed to dawn at the end. You have been warned.

International Business Negotiation Skills

I like this prof, but this week was really dull. It started off well, as he gave us some pointers based on our performance in the negotiations. I dont think I've mentioned this, but we had recorded a negotiation exercise for each team, and the professor was going to analyse it. We were also supposed to get some hands-on out of it. It was quite interesting to see, and his points were well taken, but this part only lasted for about a half hour. It was all downhill from there. Of course, a few nuggets here and there, but for the most part, it felt unnecessary. After we had seen clips of everyone's videos (which frankly can get very boring after you see the first two/three), there was a video on body language, but it was not as good and effective as it could have been.

The second half, we had a guest speaker who spoke to us about how Yoga can help us with emotional control. The prof had told him that we were trying to understand it from the perspective of Negotiation Skills, but I dont think this guy really got what the prof meant. So we sat through 1.5 hours of a yoga educational speech. It was new to some of us, no doubt, but I dont know... I'd rather have gotten some info on Negotiations here. If I wanted a yoga speech, I'd attend some other time, some other place which was meant purely for that. Still, not too many complaints, I did understand how it's very important for your body and mind to be in sync, so that you're always at the peak of your energy and you're in charge of your energy. Fascinating topic, guess I just expected different.

The next week has the usual spate of assignments. We also have a take-home midterm (a first for me! It's like a license to copy, just that it's a dare from the prof about let's see what I can copy). The paper is based on our observations in class, and our understanding of the study material. So it's going to be an interesting experience. Also, we're planning to make a trip to watch a social enterprise in action, this is relevant for our project, so I'm really looking forward to this. Sometimes I cant help wonder, if I put a quarter of this energy in my engineering studies, maybe I'd be far more capable. There's something very different and compulsive about the teaching and environment at the IIMB, the pressure's a lot, but you look forward to class every day.

Quarter 6 - Week 3

While almost every Sunday goes off in some project, or exams for the coming week, this one was one of those annual occurrences that you just have to watch out for. Because of Gandhi Jayanthi next week, since we'd have had a holiday on Saturday (Oct 2nd), our beloved institution figured that we should instead have classes on a Sunday as compensation. In the words of one of our professors, that great man would have been mortified if he got to know that most of the country was planning to chill out on the basis that it was his birthday, and that he probably would have rather wanted us to work on it! All good intentions of our profs aside, and also leaving aside the messups that such holidays can have with our sturdy college annual timetable, let's do some simple math.

In my case, right now, I have taken four subjects. Each subject has two sessions in a regular week - therefore 4 X 2 = 8 sessions. When you move another half-week's sessions (Friday's still on btw!) to a previous Sunday, we then have an additional 4 sessions in the previous week. Therefore, that makes a total of 12 (Yes, I know mathematics). Here's the kicker.. the full time students typically have 6 subjects in each quarter. That makes 12 sessions for them in a general week. THEREFORE, I just had to do the schedule of a full-time student this week, even though I spent a major portion of my time working. I'm happy to report that I'm alive, and that only the left half of my brain has stopped working, while the right half is contemplating different methods to fall asleep, unchecked by its neighbouring twin.

Let me help you out with this loooong post here. I like the experience from the Social Entrepreneurship and B2B class best. So I'd recommend that you check these out for certain!

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation

This week we delved a little more into HOW a person goes about starting a venture. This covered the basic attributes of an entrepreneur and his style of execution, the kind of people he mixes with to start something, and how he reacts to situations as and when they come into play. And finally, how he prepares a business plan if he was to convince someone to put some moolah into his venture (here's four litres of my sweat, "show me the money!", Jerry Maguire-ishtyle).

The first session was about how a person got involved in a venture, with two other people, all because he hit it off well with them and liked their attitude. They got into a field where none of them had any expertise, yet they did have the relevant expertise in their actual tasks. That means, I don't know jack about call centres, but I have been in marketing in my previous company, therefore I can market my good. etc. etc. So we analysed how he should choose to get into the next business, and what kind of thought processes run through his head. The next session was all about effectual entrepreneurship. This is typically a characteristic of serial/expert entrepreneurs. As it turns out, these guys just depend on who they are, what they know and who they know. So they just catch people along saying "Hey, you want to do something together? Cool.. get on board this ship", and then before you know it, they've got a Viking ship hurtling through a storm, with someone manning the sails, someone steering, someone cooking, someone rowing etc. Now this sounds counter-intuitive, I mean, do we really think one tender idea can be sufficiently grown in between multiple interests? Turns out that that the idea is constantly evolving due to the multiple partners... only the ones with interesting twists are being brought on board to lend a better shape to the idea, even if it is pulling the idea towards a different direction. Apparently, this has a better chance of success, and most serial entrepreneurs do stuff this way. I can see how it's successful... when multiple people are committed towards making an idea well, and the people are inherently good and proactive, there's a good chance of success. And that's what a VC banks on. He's not banking on the project, or the idea, he's banking on the team that's behind it... since he's sure they'll take his money someplace safe. And bring it back multiplied.

The third session was to do with the all-so-important business plan. Apparently, VCs have seen enough of the "We can change the world" business plans. Everyone seems to think their ideas are the best-est and they don't stop crowing about it. While pushing all the good points to the front, they quietly keep all the scary parts at the back. Why? Well, someone's gotta give them money, sure can't get money if you scare them away. The VCs must have learnt this trick early on, because they no longer buy sweet smelling poop. The VCs actually look to see if the team is good, again lending credence to the last idea of effectual entrepreneurship, as they know that no forecasts or planning can really be certain, because if it was, this world would have been a better place and all businesses would succeed. Sure, they are interested to know about your business and about where you plan to take it to, but they HATE it when someone puts all the nice stuff in front leaving out the bad. We need to remember that they care about the fact that their money should be put behind something good, and it's not their job to investigate our ideas. Instead, when we bring them the entire research, through their experience they know whether they should be backing this, or they give tips on which areas to watch out for. There was a whole lot more, but I can't cover that now. Only two things to remember - VCs look to see if the team can execute well, and one way they check it is by knowing if the team has sufficient experience in the arena they're pursuing. The second thing, VCs don't want to grow old and die with you and your company, so they're looking for an exit option (preferably within three-five years). Give them that option.

Social Entrepreneurship

After hearing enough criticism of microfinance over the last two weeks (well, the prof kind of feels that while some parts maybe good, for the most parts it's affecting more than helping. Remember that this comes out of experience of watching this on the field, and is not armchair theory) it was a little surprise to see someone come to talk to us about microfinance. Turns out that this person has been watching microfinance very closely, and a professor at another of India's best management institutions, so he comes with high credibility. One thing for sure, when we get guest lecturers here, they come armed with research and live field experience, nothing can be better than that. So he comes and talks to us about how microfinance works, explains the cogs and cracks, and then goes onto describe how the microfinance model has been evolving. In fact, while most people trumpet about the Grameen model and are implementing it everywhere, apparently Grameen itself has stopped using that model, and have moved on to Grameen 2. This seems to suggest that the optimal method has not yet arrived, and that the microfinance industry is slowly evolving. To the allegations that microfinance seems to be causing more pain in some areas, and that it's being exploited in yet other areas, the prof says that you can't help it when some people take control of a really good funda and use it for the bad. Yet, not to worry, a string of legislations and other legal clauses are on their way to set some of the things right in the microfinance arenas.

The last session for the week covered co-operatives, and how they've come to be in today's state. The shining example that was spoken about was Amul, one of the few successes (and might I add, what a scale!) and how it came to be. While the prof seemed to suggest that most of the co-operatives today are toothless sheep masquerading as tigers, there are quite a few that are having the intended results. Now why would he say that most of the co-operatives are pawns? Turns out that these are controlled by govermental bodies, and that the legislations that are currently in effect seem to actually hamper the true growth and acceptance rates of such movements. When the whole objective of co-operatives is to empower the society, and its constituents by bringing forth solidarity, when you take away the control from the people and leave it with a governing body that is far from facing a similar lifestyle (however well meaning, under claims of "They're illiterate, and don't know how to manage, we need to help them.." etc), you invariably dumb down the essential funda of societal empowerment. People are more likely to take something forward in a motivated manner, when they're in control. They don't know something? Teach them, and then let them be... trust them enough to be in charge of their fate. The prof however agrees that you can't suddenly tell people to wake up and start a co-operative. More often than not, an external impetus (maybe in monetary terms) is required to get things moving. But taking that off after a while, and avoiding steering the whole way is important.

An anecdote that was mentioned comes to mind. Apparently, one of our earliest Prime Ministers once wanted to visit Anand (the area from where AMUL began), and Dr. Verghese Kurien (the Father of the White revolution in India) urged him to spend a night in one of the villages nearby, before dropping in to meet him. Since this was the time when we didn't have reporters falling out of helicopters to cover every damn thing, not many people were really aware that the PM was coming down. All that the host in the village was told is that a foreign guest is coming to town, so keep your house clean, but don't have to do much else. But sooner or later, the village got to know the PM's in town, and so instead of sleeping, the PM actually spent the night talking to the people to know what's up.

Now I wasn't there when this happened, I dont think my mom was born yet, so this is not a direct quote, but try to get the gist. The next morning, when he went to meet Dr. Kurien, he asks him.. "Dr., I was very curious to know why the co-operative in Gujarat seems to be doing so well, while it's struggling in other states. I first thought it had to do with the land, or weather, or people here. But there are other states with far better tillable land, with more amenable weather. Last night, I find that the villagers are also very similar. So I dont get it, how?". Dr. Kurien replies "In Gujarat, the villagers are in charge of the co-operative. That's why it works here." Again, long before B-schools, this visionary man seems to have understood the power and connection between giving the responsibility to the people and its resulting motivation. He spent a long time fighting the powers that be, to get this in place. 60 years he's been there. AMUL is now recognized as the most successful example of co-operatives across the world. India, from a milk-deficit country at the time, is now the world's leading exporter in milk. Now, that's social entrepreneurship.

Business 2 Business Market Management

The last two weeks, all I've been hearing is Value, Value and more Value. This kind of value, that kind of value. So much so in fact, that I've been dreaming value. For real! My alarm's ringing, and I'm thinking "What is the value that I get out of an extra half hour of sleep? What is the value I get by reading the rest of the case that I have left in that half hour? Which one is more?". I actually woke up frightened because I realized that this was one of those instances when the "engineer" was slowly being transformed into the "businessman". Anyway, not like you care much about my fears... your time is more valuable than this. SEE??! I did it again!

Anyway, this week didn't really have too much. I'm serious. I've got the funda now. While the word "Value" is being twisted into different phrases for different meanings, and we've moved from chapter 2 to chapter 3, the funda still remains the same. When you're trying to sell something different, and want to know the price, see how much benefit is accrued to the customer because he uses your product. Then, based on that extra moolah he makes, you get to take a partial share in the name of "But, I've given you much more value!". This week started out no different. New product, this much savings, that much extra work, everyone happy, my share -> ka-ching!

The last session seemed to be no different. This was a cool guest lecturer, who had a different style of teaching. His energy seemed to be constantly high. Anyway, some yada-yada about how one company found an ingenious way to save some time and money for its customers by modifying the build structure of a tool being used. They then do a couple of field trials, and they can't believe their eyes when they see the amount that it saves their customer. Apparently, the previous tool weathered out quite soon, and had to replaced 40 times during a particular job, but with the new and improved tool, this came down to 1 replacement or so. And so, we get into how much money do they save, how much time do they save (changing the tool each time it wears out, and the increased effectiveness of the new tool), and then we find that for a piece that used to cost around 2$, our new costs are 25$. Bummer we say. But hey, look at the revenues for a second. We just got the client an extra 950$! OMG! Therefore, the benefits I'm giving is 950, the cost increase is 23, can you see the value? So, the final question turned out to be, "How much do you charge the customer now?". Here's the awesome part. The part for which I'm paying through my nose. (Why am I giving it out for free?)

The world is divided into different kinds of people. One kind says "Charge them 900$". Yes, let's take all the money and leave them the extra 50$ in tips. The second kind says "No, charge them 500$", some for me, some for you. The third kind says "Naah.. we don't need so much, charge them 200$", we're business guys who're anyway going to make shitloads of money here... serve the deal to the customer! And the last set says "Charge them 30$, we need to protect ourselves from new entrants!". The 'let's-be-caution' gang, that sees that market penetration is more important than charging premium. So which would you go for? And here's where the prof says, "If you guys are going to charge 30$, or 200$ or something low, then what the hell do we need B2B marketing for? Your job, as marketers, is to educate the customer about the value that he's making by using your good, and to take a reasonable share of it, because you had a part to play in it. Do not underestimate the power of marketing. Marketing is all about knowing if (1) Do you have a value proposition? (2) Can this be explained by you to a non-PhD? and (3) Having understood this thing, can this be converted into the required sale?"

Because, if you're giving away the value for cheap, then you're avoiding the whole issue of value just because you're trying to play safe. Don't be afraid to charge your price for the value that you bring to the customer, that's what you're there for. It won't be too soon before you're fired, because you're giving away valuable expertise and technology for peanuts, while drawing a big fat salary. You're in B2B Marketing, don't undervalue the advantage you bring to your customer.

I like this guy.

International Business Negotiation Skills

This week was more to do with negotiations, or atleast that's what it seemed to be like. Like I've said before, the prof's in "moral of the story" mode, at a 40000 feet level. Yet, he did come down to our level a couple of times. For one thing, he explained how the process works out. Negotiations start even before you sit at the table, there's a lot at play. We then spoke about the people part. About the fact that companies don't negotiate, people do. It's extremely important to be hard on the problem at hand, and soft on the people. While the typical memory of negotiations seems to be "I win, you lose, sucker!" right out of high-profile English movies, the reality couldn't be further. Turns out, we're evolving to a point where creative solutions which turn out to be a win-win are coming to be far more present. To which the following addendum is highly important. While persuasion is key to a great negotiation experience, effective persuaders can be themselves persuaded. To be able to bend another's mind, it's supremely important that one's own mind should be capable of bending. As such, it provides the signal to the other party that this person is capable of accepting my points and is not all out to be aggressive. And effective negotiators dont plan the sequence of what happens at what stage. Only the stage is set for the game, and relevant chapters identified. But checkpoints are not maintained, because doing so would mean you've already planned out what is to happen, and by direct derivation, there is no room to negotiate.

In any case, he doesnt say that aggression is not present in negotiations. When you have powerful parties at the table, maybe one party gets away with just being dominant. But the true flavour seems to come about with well-matched parties. That's when aggression by itself does not work, or flexibility might end up being disastrous. And hence, the next important point and one I remember strongly, you need to perfect your strongest negotiation influence style, and just maintain a moderate level in all the other styles. You can not afford to neglect any of those weaknesses under the shadow of your strength. Because you never know when you need to switch from one to the other. If you're unable to play a moderate game in one of your weak areas, how in the world would you then be able to steer the style towards your strong area.

Quarter 6 - Week 1

I love the first weeks of the quarters. The profs summarize what they're going to teach through the courses during these sessions. So essentially, it's like sitting through a talk about a topic that you find fascinating. It's only when you're halfway through the courses and you grapple with some individual demons within the course, that you begin to tire of the load. But the first week is always the most scintillating. It is typically in this week, that you get to know if you're going to pay attention to the course or the professor, and whether this is going to be a much rougher ride.

This quarter I am studying under some of the most celebrated profs at college. Make no mistake, while some of these professors come with experience in the field, some others have the distinct power of roaming in the hallowed upper corridors of organizations at critical junctures. Therefore, what they bring to the class is the mindset through which the decisions are made in the upper echelons. Every time when they talk of one of their experiences with head honchos, their distinct art of almost bringing you into that room (like the pensieve in Harry Potter??) gives you a peek into what goes through the minds of those above. And of course, distilled learning. Almost makes the heads look... human, vulnerable, not invincible. Like even I could one day reach there.

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation

The class opens with a simple "How many of you want to be entrepreneurs?". In the true-blue comsi-comsa style(That's french, look it up), very few hands rise up. So the prof immediately attacks the rest of the class "Why are you here?". Standard responses, well thought responses all pour onto the whiteboard. Then the prof goes ahead and tells us that our batch is normal(phew!) since every other batch tells him this. And then he goes on to tell us that even if we don't want to start new ventures, the spirit of entrepreneurship is now rising in organizations. Call it intrapreneurship, innovation, whatever. There is a rising need for diving into the unknown in orgs too, and so this will help us understand better about HOW to dive in.

We had a case already in the first week, a simple one where we talk about a particular person and his company. Apparently it started off well, but now he's facing some crises, so how should we tackle it. Through this we got to understand some fundamentals about entrepreneurship. About what drives a person into it, about what the road is typically paved like, and how to increase value of the company. A good appetizer for what's coming.

Social Entrepreneurship

What??! TWO entrepreneurship courses, you say!? Well, yeah. Some effects are beyond our causes. What can I do? I'm interested, I'll take! In any case, the prof is in very high standing in the IIMB community, and there must be some reason for that. We caught a glimpse of it this week. There appears to be an obvious lack of complete belief in the government and its actions towards society, and yet that does seem tempered by some afterthought... like the prof believes that they're doing SOMETHING. While a lot is wrong, he believes some is right.

And with his position and authority on the subject, he tells us straight away that we're not going to get into an idealogical debate. I've come here to tell you what I know about the state of society today, and how the government alone can not perform miracles. You need to get into the trenches, see the environment for yourself. WE need to do something, so let's get started. So, no idealogical debates about "What is poor?", "God/Religion", "System should change".. I'll have none of that. You can't convince me to change my point of view, I wont change your inherent strong beliefs. It's upto you to see what you want to accept and imbibe, and what to leave. Agreed? The class just nods.

And immediately he dives right into some basic statistics about society. Information on literacy, monthly earnings, mortality rates, gender ratios, and those numbers hit you pretty strongly. It's in black and white (and a little colour) right there. When you see that the AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD gets Rs. 500 a month to survive on, and you think about the meal you had last night for the same amount per person, you just go a little slow. And you try to analyse what it's like there. Then the prof brings you back to class talking about female to male ratios of 900 to 1000, again average. And then you wonder, oh, so that's why most guys are not able to find girlfriends (Ok, that was unwarranted). And you see that some of the most well-off states are the ones that have such imbalance! And you wonder if saneness comes with capital, why does this happen. And then you go on to literacy levels, oh I can go on... trust me, you might not be shell-shocked, but you definitely will pause, and think.

And then the prof talks about how he'll not be talking about the movements like "Save the tiger" with a comment that "God bless them..", but that he'll talk about the social entrepreneurs who're making a difference for society, and that when he says "poor" he means "abject poverty", and he proceeds to widen the difference between poverty and "abject poverty" in our eyes. We also have a few exchange students in class (first time for PGSEM students), so they have clear objective questions... I wonder if they even understand the glimpse of stark reality that the professor is trying to convey. I'm sure they're trying hard to get it, though. Let's face it... quite a few foreigners have spent more time travelling through our villages than some of our urbanites, myself included. A lot to think about, and a definite understanding.. this course is not going to be like the ones before. We've already been told that for our projects, we're going to have to step into the trenches, not just read about poverty, but see it for real. This course is going to be like seeing over the shoulders of the professor, and the entrepreneurs he brings, the change agents... and then dabbling very mildly in those waters, for an instant.

B2B Market Management

Right, so if you dont know what B2B is, you're reading the wrong blog. Google it, and come back. The legend goes that no one should exit the PGSEM journey without undergoing this course. The prof has been hailed as one of the most influential ones in the minds of the PGSEM Student community. We heard him once before at our orientation, we've heard about him through our seniors, and now we're in his presence. Time to see if he's worth all that yakking.

And he starts off simply, and when he asks the expectations from this class... and hears all the above, he then tells us how it started off with just 6 students, and how he's happy to hear that students now consider this a rite of passage. And then, swoop! Dives right into the course. An immediate introduction to B2B and then we have a simple discussion about what is the difference between B2B and B2C. Then a message that we're going to see the VP(Non-linear growth) of Wipro the next day, and that we should read the case. When I go home and see that the cases are almost 50 pages... not to mention another 10 for the first course, and another 40 pages of reading for the second course, my heart just fell two notches. Anyway, I did what any self-respecting student would do... cram the case that was so important and sleep. Tomorrow's another day, let's face some risk then. And so we come for the second session, and we see the VP there, and we have a brief discussion about the aspects of the case. Apparently, this is our project.

You know, when you see the Wipro VP standing in front of you, like I said, they seem human. You actually know that hey, they're right here... they're people like you and me. There's a sense of confidence that just sweeps through you... God knows, Indians need it. But anyway, more about the case. After a little more discussion on why we need to start looking into the non-linear growth of companies, the time's up... and you come out thinking about the case. Very interesting that the professor is dabbling in a new method for the project. Making us all work on a live case does two things - 1, it gives us a chance to play with real data, and 2, it stakes our reputation as intelligent students and tomorrow's "leaders" (Ahem!! Cough, Cough!) on the line. Our profs like to take risks, I gather..

International Business Negotiation Skills

We've seen this prof before, he's our marketing prof! The one who some have found either MOST inspiring or MOST hateful. A little older, a little frailer than before, he went ahead and even broke an arm (flashbacks of me talking about him croaking come to mind, touch wood..) and then he just starts off with his usual mode of delivery. Constantly skimming at a very high level, he gives out these really vague statements, something that most people would consider common sense, but what most in this class write down. Especially when he says "Reflect on it". He's one of those profs who's not really shy about name-dropping, and he constantly talks about how this guy said this to him and how that guy said that to him. When I say guy here.. think the stalwarts in Indian business today. By telling us the circles he moves in, the prof indirectly also tells us the thought process that they have and how decisions are made.

But at times, I start getting a headache. His penchant for giving those heavy proverbial lines, and asking us to reflect on it takes a lot out of us. Because you KNOW that he's talking out of experience, and that he's skimming at the bird's eye level... and that it's upto you to see as far below as you can. And when you do too much of that, your head spins. Anyway, he does the standard "What do you want out of this course?" and proceeds to set his expectations.

He first says that even though there are no exams here, nothing for us to whine about, the load is still heavy. There's a personal learning diary he wants us to maintain, since we're going to learn from ourselves. It's seeing this that I joined this course. If someone could talk in high circles, and get a mix of spirituality, idealogy and fundas.. this prof is in that group. And when we talk about abstract things like "Learn from yourself", I cant think of a more formidable guide. Profs in economics and statistics are far more microscopic for this kind of stuff (Have I made my first enemies here??! :P). I also joined because I thought this was going to be light, but looks like I'm going to stay even otherwise.

God help my soul this quarter. 4 courses, all of which have heavy binders of readings and reflection and introspection, sigh. My mind is going to get so !@%#-ed.

Quarter 5 - Week 9

The penultimate week of classes, and even after having two guest lectures, an entrepreneurship fest on the side, the soft-closing of one of the three subjects, there is a nagging feeling that all of it was oh-so-ordinary.

MSP - We had a couple of guys (actually one guy and one gal) come over from Thoughtworks and explain the Mingle tool to us. Either the prof must have thought that we (being the lazy bums that we are) wouldn't be exploring the tool, or he thought spread the word about tools like Mingle. In any case, it was a pretty good thing to do... they took the class with aplomb! Sometimes, I wonder what's going through their mind. The fact that they're talking at IIMB to a bunch of apparently "high-value" students (information asymmetry at its best), must definitely want to make them ask for a promotion or hike at office. Or maybe they have loftier achievements in life, and are hopefully not truly living out the delusions that I have.

The next session was about Software Testing. The prof took us on a recap of the readings of the day, and before we knew it, the class was over. But throughout, I couldnt help thinking that he was pulling a Trojan Horse on us. He was still quite hung up on metrics, and how that should define how we run our projects. I wouldn't be surprised if we one day saw a paper that explains the exact way to estimate project, complete with the dels and the phis.

LOC - The first day was a pure discussion on how to handle the difficult parts of running a company - the restructuring effort, and how you would communicate the message to the others in the company. We pulled out all the plugs on compassion and ethics, etc. in this one.

The next session, surprisingly, skips my mind. I briefly recollect something about how the company should handle the transition after delivering bad news like job losses and continuing by tracking the changes implemented in the system.

Anyway, after the class - feedback forms were distributed. Now, this is a little out of the standard protocol. We all remember that just before / after the last class, survey forms are brought in to give feedback on the subject and the prof. This is typically added with applause. Those who like the guy will give a standing ovation, those who dont think the same will politely acknowledge his hard work.

In any case, our prof was pretty good - and when giving the standing ovation by the majority, a simple smile came on his face, and he reciprocated by acknowledging it lightly. It feels good when you make someone else happy, his smile was worth it.

PM - We spoke about brand management. I really dont remember any ahaah moments from this. But in session 2, we had the former director in a large apparel brand come and talk to us about the role of a brand manager. While everything went fine, sometimes you still feel like sometihng's missing. That's what it felt like. Oh well... quarter's almost done.

And even after all the classes, all the students could be seen scurrying towards the EB lounge to put the starting touches on their assignments. Too bad that we had the Eximius fest running at the same time. The only slot we could attend was the Panel Discussion on Going Green. A few interesting personalities, and you enjoy listening to what they have to say. Kind of reminds you that talking from a position of power, isn't that easy to imagine. You really have to see it, to understand it.

I'm way too sleepy too. I think I remember four rambles in this post. And the eternal question rises again: What did I drag myself into?

Quarter 5 - Week 8

The excitement that surrounded this week pretty much drowned out the thunder of impending doom. The juniors (I keep thinking of kids concentrating on their gold-digging activities, wonder why) brought out the first fest of the year - 'Pehel'. Heralded as the first fest of the PGSEM calender year organized by the first year students, it's name pretty much suggests how original we are. Or rather how original our seniors were. The elections for the SAC are in progress, so there are some very interesting things that the nominees are doing to get votes. All of a sudden, a whole bunch of people have come forth, articulating how they'd like to change the way things are run. Good thing for us that there is enough to be improved. Maybe next year, our juniors will have some work left... in fact, I'm sure our batch will somehow manage to double whatever work we can hand over to them next year. In any case, all of this seems to have allowed everyone a chance to conveniently forget that this quarter will be done in 3 weeks, including exams. So if you haven't realized it, then you should atleast wake up now.

MSP - Estimation. The art of convincing your boss as to why a task that looks like it can be done by a one-handed monkey (who's on a unicylce) in 2 days actually requires 12 monkeys a whole week to do. With free bananas. Naah, we're studying consensus building. That means the TEAM together decides how long they'll need to complete the task. So basically if the schedule slips, everyone's chill because you cant put the blame on any one person. Either that, or the entire team gets fired. Moral of the story: Leave a couple of bananas for your boss as well.

Jokes apart, what we actually did was learn more about Poker planning and how arriving at a team-based consensus can help figure out any issues unknown to individuals. Power of group thinking and all that. This was even tied in to historic data, so we knew on average how much time a particular project might take, given the number of employees and lines of code. This is pure empirical data, so you can't really argue too much. This also helps you figure out (to an extent!) if your team's trying to pull a fast one on you. The next session, we actually did a hands-on, wherein our teams sat together with poker cards and estimated the projects we were going to be working on. A little slow at first, but once people got the hang of it, the project actually came to life. We got to know what others thought the project would look like (the nitty gritties), so now everyone SEEMS to have very similar pictures in their head.

LOC - The first session involved a study of Goldman Sachs. These guys have a pretty good leadership development strategy. First, they make sure they get awesome people. Next, they dump them in the world of finance, in the care of an older person and call the newbie "The Apprentice". Newbie better learn well, and imbibe culture of the company, because these oldies are an experienced lot in the world of finance. Keep up or stay out of the race! But looks like they've been doing quite well, so no complaints. The problems that Goldman Sachs seem to have faced is that they started growing really quickly, which means too many apprentices and too few gurus. So they were wondering if there's a way that leadership could be propagated through the organization (because that's today's mantra!). A council was tasked with trying to figure out what to do, and they studied other organizations known for their leadership training, brought in some quant so that they could actually measure any tangible effect of this training, etc. So the case discussion was about how Goldman Sachs should propose such a plan to senior management, so that leadership is nurtured and training sustained in the organization.

The next session was a guest lecture by a senior head at Cosco India. He spoke about the leadership development practices there, and tried to help us understand what goes into the grooming of a leader. Very intelligently articulated, it was a very thoughtprovoking talk for us all. His reliance on a bunch of models actually made it seem a little too educative, but in the end, his frameworks might end up being something we'll all be needing.

PM - I was actually quite disappointed with PM this week. I really expected a guest lecture from a head at TVS. Yet, the class dealt more with the practical problems faced by a company which was in TVS' position. We had a case study, and people discussed the pros and cons about the relevant exercise. The standard issues about expansion, product placement, branding etc. The prof brought in a very specific instance to the classroom. He spoke about how he had been part of the organization and had gone about a product launch. You remember the Conjoint Analysis from last week? well, this time it was implemented for real. So they do a whole bunch of things and then release the product.

Say what you want about this prof, but from what I've seen so far he's probably more interested in the broader level picture than explaining the intricacies of the numbers to us. He actually tells us that you can't just run a Porter's analysis as and when somebody asks you to come up with a strategy. He says use your tools as and when you need them. Most of them have a specific purpose, use them wisely. He's more like that entrepreneurial guest lecturer, who comes in, talks a lot about some very focussed thing and then tells you that keep theory aside, and THINK. There's no doubt in my mind as to why our class finds it so easy... he just makes it so. I'm just hoping that all the unspoken words that he has is atleast finding some place in my head (somewhere far behind), because it's obvious that he knows quite a bit. What's not obvious is... are we getting it?

Three weeks left.

Quarter 5 - Week 7

It's getting closer and closer to the end of the quarter, and you begin to think "Now's the time I'm going to get started with preparing for my end terms! I'm going to do much better this time!". Slowly you realize that all your project submissions, assignments and quizzes happen to fall over like dominoes for each coming week. And then you realize that the "preparation" you want to do won't happen this quarter. And then you decide "I'll do better next quarter". Considering we're almost half-assed managers right now, I'd think we should be able to plan our schedules better. Wonder whether we'll feel like complete asses by the time we're done with this course! That'd be a total transformation. From complete techie to complete ass.

MSP - Negotiations. That full stop tells us how important this is going to be for us in our coming future. Looks like we're going to be negotiating for better deals on all aspects of life, and so our prof thought it vital to be a part of our course. And what a way to handle it. The first session was the general gyaan about what are the different aspects to negotiations, what a BATNA(Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement) is and what are the different types of negotiations. The second session was a fully blown practical, hands-on approach. Our batch was split into three teams, and we were made to act out a negotiation with each other. So we had around 10-15 minutes to decide (within our sub-teams of course) about what we were willing to consider negotiating on, what we were unwilling to budge on, and what we could let go. Thanks to some information asymmetry, it was made a lot more fun, and sure as hell was an action-packed session! If this is something I'd have to do every once in a while, hell, management sure sounds like a lot of fun! Who said geeks don't know how to have fun? (For the record, PGSEM students are cool, in fact, they're the epitome of cool.)

LOC - This week, the first session was related to the formation of tribal groups (Me Manager, You secretary! Them all chimps! Grunt!). We're told that there are five different stages to this group-isms. The first is when people think that "Life sucks!". So they find each other, get together and tend to do whatever they can to get out of the pitiful existence they have, if need be, even resorting to anarchy. The second is when people think that "MY life sucks!". So they feel that some people in the org are getting to be successful, while they're not. Typically, these guys will find out more like them and wallow in self-pity. However, there is a nagging thought in their mind that "Things CAN change". So they're not really in as bad a situation as Stage 1. However, it's extremely simple for people to slip into that. The third stage is "I'm awesome, you all suck!". Here's where everyone's doing pretty decently, and the person tends to think that he's an irreplacable wheel in the organization, and that if he leaves, the whole company collapses. Standard ego traits that you might see or even have within you or your company. The fourth stage is "My team's awesome, the other teams suck!". Muccchhh better. More like what we all think. Here's a stage when people are not really insecure, and there is scope for betterment of life, and almost everyone seems to be satisfied, for the most part. There's a team based approach here because of which you tend to identify with your team as part of your identity. The fifth stage is "My company's awesome". This one's very interesting, because apparently, you can't stay in this stage for long. This is the stage you'd reach if the entire company's working together on a project that means a LOT to them, maybe it opens up a new market, maybe the company's last chance to avoid total breakdown. But ultimately, the people come together from various teams to ensure that the dream is converted to reality. And maybe due to the inherent nature of the transformation/co-ordination required, the teams just gel together. After the project is due, it's very much possible that the company goes back to stage 4. Pretty interesting session.

The next session, we had a speaker come from Deloitte, and talk to us about the issues of ethics and conformance that organizations face. He chose to take the recent sub-prime crisis as an example, where questionable decisions were made. He and a co-author (nice guy, at the start he kept mentioning My co-author and I together thought of this... My co-author and I together worked on this.. etc. Rare to see such people) came up with some sort of model that tried to penetrate beyond the layer that dealt with ethics. They were trying to see if there was something deeper to the entire issue of what led to such debacles in the industry. They had a triangle that covered three essential features that need to be handled together for decisions to take place effectively. I'd tell it to you, but it's hush-hush managementy stuff, which we paid a lot of money to hear. Naah, I'm just messing with you. I just dont remember it right now, and I'm too lazy to take ten steps to pull out my notes from my bag.

PM - This week was all about conjoint analysis. Before you go "Woaahhh!! Awesome management jargon!", let me clean this up for you. Even though we had done this in the Principles of Marketing course (Refer Quarter 3), either I was sleepy or something, because I didn't really get it when the guest lecturer taught us. But today, for some reason, I was wide awake (OMG! Surprise!) and I got a good understanding of the funda. So please, allow me to explain something that I seem to understand.

A conjoint analysis is typically used to find out how consumers respond to different attributes in a product. Take for example, a toothpaste. Now, you'd think "What's in a toothpaste? I dont really think too much when I take it.", and I'd say "Ahaah! You're wrong!". You might THINK that, but subconsciously, your mind's pretty much thinking it all through. Let's pick a few attributes - Brand, Quantity, Taste and Color. Brands - Colgate and Pepsodent. Quantity - 100g, 200g. Taste - Minty, Salty, Tasteless. Color - Red, Blue. Trust me on the math, there are 24 possible combinations here, like (Colgate 100g minty red paste, Pepsodent 200g salty blue paste), get it? Now, what we do is, we get a person to sit patiently (maybe by offering him a free movie ticket, or some free food etc.) and ask him to order them all up based on his preferences. Now he might not just be quantitatively figuring "this has x value, that has y value, add, subtract etc.", he might be making some qualitative judgements here as well. Which is what we want! So after doing this with quite a few people, you analyse the data to find out which attribute seems to mean more to people when compared to the others, and what could be the apparent sensitivity that a particular attribute brings to the table. Conjoint analysis tends to bring some sort of method to the madness by trying to quantify the perceptions, likes and dislikes of the consumer. So then you'll also know that if you were to knock 10g off your product, or change the flavour, what's the possible outcome. Maybe you'll find that "Brand" is a highly sensitive thing, and that changing it can majorly affect the uptake of your product.

I'm a little pleased with my intake this week. Maybe I'll prepare for the exams early after all! :)

Quarter 5 - Week 6

I miss the constant buzz of familiar voices that I was used to in the last year. Now most of the time, the classes are reduced to a very low hum. The faces I see are new, and there's a glazed look as people think about which classes they need to attend next, which assignments they need to work on, while they attempt to understand what the prof is saying. Maybe it was just one of those weeks, or maybe it's just Bangalore's weather, but it almost feels impolite to not drift away in class nowadays.

MSP - We had a guest speaker from Thoughtworks over with us. Since we're beginning with studying Agile (What?! Weren't you supposed to have been doing this all along??), we had someone represent one of the first (if not the first!) companies to implement Agile in their organization. The people who proudly strut around telling anyone who's willing to lend them a ear that they're 'doing Agile' will probably keep their mouths shut for a while now. The speaker today was way ahead of us. They seem to have modified their work environments to facilitate easy movement of furniture. It's almost like they've got small cells of 5-6 computers put together as Agile teams. The whole place is adorned with Post-its, and there's even talk of setting up one full wall as a video screen - which would in a way act like a visual portal into the client's site. Why? So we can spy on each other under the pretext of doing Agile. Ha. Ha. Kidding! (Ahem!) I couldn't help wondering that to save time and costs, we're willing to waste Post-its and keep a wall-sized screen powered on all the time. Nature's always the loser in the corner. Anyway, our speaker spoke to us about how they implement Agile, how it came to be, and described some of their advanced practices. It was an eye-opening talk. I'm no longer telling people I do Agile... why? Because I know what Agile is now.

LOC - This week was a little interesting, it had quite a bit to do with ethics. We had a guest speaker come over from TI. Apparently, Texas Instruments has been around for a very long time, and they've strictly adhered to a no-shifty-antics-and-stay-ethical strategy. They're so serious about it that if someone gifts something to them, they actually dont accept the gift personally! They'd probably stick it up on a wall proudly proclaiming that their customer gave them this. That way, it becomes a property of the company, and not one person anymore. And it sends across a good message to the guys in the company. The whole session was all about Ethics in organizations and how they ensure that this is nurtured and inculcated in every employee.

The next session was about the growth of managers in stages. There seemed to be five steps to becoming an effective manager. It went through the motions of how you observe and follow whatever you're being told, then you tend to follow the norms, then you tend to think for yourself and take some risk with management, then you think for both yourself and those around you, and finally you begin to think for the environment. This theory seems to be drawn from a general theory which can be applied to individuals in general. But the whole point of this was to explain to us that it's possible that your behaviour and mindset are different. That would mean that you might be in a role of a project lead(behaviour) but you're always thinking that you'll use these projects to climb higher(mindset). The behaviour is an indication of probably a stage 3 manager, but you end up acting like a stage 1 manager. Therefore, be careful of such people who seem to exude a different management stage than the stage they truly are in.

PM - This week was about how we involve the customer's wants into our product's requirements. By using the Kano model, we can check a lot of parameters against a lot of others. It was extremely comprehensive. On one dimension, we could see what features mattered most to the customers. On another, we could see how much certain technical features meant to the customer. It was also possible to see the correlation between various technical requirements. A couple of the groups were required to prepare their presentations for today, and they did a great job! There was also an element of Consumer Behaviour. One of our classmates who was presenting today has also taken the CB course, so his excitement was quite infectious. He was actually explaining the funda behind that section in the Kano model, and it was unfortunatethat he had to stop because there of the time constraint. The rest of the class went about on the theory of this topic, which could actually be boiled down to this paragraph.

Funny how we can avoid the hefty fees of the PGSEM by just sharing what's on the blog, it's just a pity that we cant claim the professors' wide and varied experience as our own. If it wasn't for our professor's experience, our class would have gotten over way earlier. Oh, what I'd do to get some of that cool experience!

Quarter 4 - Week 5

This week we had an interesting session by Professor Suryanarayana A of the NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning. He spoke to us about what makes an entrepreneur tick and about the incubation systems they have in place for the budding entrepreneurs amongst us. A little interesting tidbit - Contrary to popular expectation, entrepreneurs are amongst the most risk averse of people out there. It's just that they've managed to take care of their most important fear - that of failure, and the rest is history... or future, as we see it.

I think I have entrepreneurial qualities that way... I have no fear of failing my exams. But then again, do my personal idiosyncrasies really matter when you're here to know about this week's sessions? And so, here we go.

OperMan - We had a different professor filling in for our regular prof(whatever happened to letting the class free for once?!), and he took us on a trip through Toyota's processes for the manufacturing of cars. Together, we questioned if there might be some connection between the case we studied, and the recent news in which Toyota's name has come up and none too favorably at that. It was a nice long walk through the Just In Time process where we studied how it works, and in a way related it to the culture of the workers in Toyota. The next session we had our mid term examination, and hence there was more of attempting to write what we understand of OM and hope that our bottlenecks dont stop our flow. Or whatever, I didnt get enough sleep anyway.

CorpFin - I know there was a lot of talk of Risk and all that, I remember the Beta word being thrown around a lot, but I draw a blank after that. Considering how we have a midterm next week, I'll be well placed to explain what I learned (or the prof was attempting to teach me) once I brush through those chapters again. However, I did get to look through what I studied last week due to our well timed exam this week, and hence I can explain the fundas of Investment and even the complications that taxation brings, to a somewhat lucid extent. It basically goes like this. I think I explained Present Value last week. So if you subtract the cost you paid initially from this PV, you get the Net Present Value or NPV ( a cool short form). Which should be positive or else you're making a mistake in investing in it. So that's one way of doing it. What we learnt newly is, for some god forsaken reason, some people felt that NPV isnt necessarily the only way of determining the profitability of investments, and hence they came up with three or four more methods based on how lazy they were (atleast from what I read, some of these have been downright described as simplistic and lazy solutions by the author), except for one - the IRR. This essentially tries to calculate what is the expected rate of interest at which the original funds are expected to grow, to get an NPV of zero - or to ensure there is no loss. Hence, you can compare different investment options based on their respective IRRs.

Dont understand? Join PGSEM. Then we all wont understand. Just kidding, it makes sense, we just need a lot of time and attention and patience to really understand. Apparently, PGSEM students have this in plenty. So join us to develop these senses. If nothing else, your significant other might begin to think that you pay more attention once you finish the PGSEM. Scout's honour! Our alumni attest to this!!

MPPO - This week we discussed how the theories of motivation that we learnt last week can be applied in the real world. We also went through what happened in organizations that grow rapidly, and the unexpected/unintended consequences of this for the employees. We had a couple of cases where we saw how people began to feel better at their work when provided with some forms of job enrichment. This seems to point towards the fact that people, when given a sense of entirety regarding their roles, seem to find their jobs more fulfilling and hence are intrinsically motivated. While both caselets seemed to paint a rosy picture, I wish I had a glimpse into atleast a single case where such a solution did not work, so we could analyse what went wrong. For the rapid organization growth session, the role of the HR team was highlighted and the role that they play seems to have been given the lime light. This is more than I can say is given to the HR in our organization, or probably any other that I know of, atleast today. I do agree with the prof when he says that whatever the HR does seems to be hidden, and that probably somewhere the HR head is discussing with the country heads to identify areas of improvement, but maybe it's just me, but as long as I feel that someone is observing and studying me and not interested in directly communicating with me for whatever valid reasons that they have, I find it hard to trust and really open up regarding the problems that we face. For I dont believe they'll truly understand. They are incapacitated by their distance from us, and their analysis of us from a remote spreadsheet. It's like looking through the bars of a zoo cage to determine what makes the tiger walk up and down the edges and not sit still during the day. Maybe their consensus might be right, but would the tiger really feel that the ones that stare at it all day are helpful and not threatening, or would they stay defensive and never open up.

But then again, I dont have a solution on how a minute percentage of the firm that claims itself to be an HR team can "sync" with the thoughts of the greater majority of today's equivalent of blue collared workers. Maybe they have a solution. From that distance. Who knows?

Quarter 3 - Week 10

Last classes for the quarter - check.

Tension - check.

Strong black kaapi - check. check.

I have to study for the exams next week AND get back to my projects. See, our Marketing prof sprang a surprise on us by saying that we should submit our project by Wednesday. That kind of derails my entire plan of what to study and when. Now, my brain newly filled with management-fundas like prioritization tells me that writing this "popular blog" is not really going to get me grades, and that I am better served off doing the marketing project. Another part tells me that I should go on, and then compile all this in a book and make thousands of paise with it! While both sides of my brain argue about what route to take, I am going to go watch a movie at the newly opened BIG Cinemas!

Wait. The second part won, so I am now writing this... Sigh. No movies for me while I'm in this course, damn it! It's a good thing that what I have to share now has left a lasting impression on me.

Law - Like I mentioned last week, this week was going to be a special one since we were having a guest lecturer. Our prof very kindly granted us the first hour off so we could sleep for an extra hour. What he doesnt know is if we get an extra hour, we're going to TRY to study, and then fall asleep during that time. Or maybe he does know that, and if at the end of it all, if we are anyway going to sleep... is there a point to the conundrum? Who cares.

Anyway, so the second hour we had our guest lecturer come in and talk. It's intriguing to note that even when our first hour is cancelled, some of us still manage to come late to the class. Must be in our genes. Anyway, so this person speaks to us about open source software, totally opens our eyes to the fact that making your stuff open source doesnt mean you should give it off for free (it is encouraged, but it's your software, do what you want!), it's just that its for the betterment of communities and that people get to change the software that they buy. Charge for service if you want, why charge for the software? or why keep it so closed and protected from the world? So we understood the fundas of GPL, LGPL, BTL etc. Fun topics. He too has this funny way of making humorous comments while keeping a deadpan expression. Maybe both our prof and he went to the same college, I dont know.

After our guest finishes his session, he calmly locks up his laptop and walks out of class. Our entire class, that is typically at their noisiest and roguish best during the breaks, is quiet. Why? Because this person is none other than Dr. Kalyan C. K. He was a top ranker at NLSIU, a prestigious law college in Bangalore, and also at Franklin Pearce Law Center. He is a distinguished and eminent scholar, having written international publications on IP, and even co-authored a book.

He is also 90% visually impaired.

You would never guess it by the way he took the class. He had a laptop that he used effortlessly, he was on the right slides, and talking the right content. It didnt in any way look like he was having any trouble. There might have been an odd instance or two, when someone asked a question and he would look in another direction, even our profs do that all the time. The guys who came in late to class didn't get why he was looking in the wrong direction even when they were pointing the right person to him, and when they got to know, they were all dumbstruck! His presentation was impeccable, his confidence and sense of humour shining through, it was impossible to believe that he might be having any difficulties at all. But after packing his laptop without any help from anyone, he took out his stick and used it to navigate all the obstacles in his way, and walked out of class without any help from anyone. It was at that moment as he was walking out, that I felt so ashamed and humbled. So many of us have no such impediments, and we complain about how we struggle through life. I find it hard to continue writing this, as I still remember the way he walked out of class, independently. He came to talk to us about freedom of software, the Free Software Foundation. The talk didn't rub off on me as much as the way he was living his life. Not letting circumstances pull you down, but working against it to live independently. This the first time that truth has hit me this hard. For I've just witnessed true freedom.

Marketing - Our prof continues to talk to us about Marketing Communication. He did sprinkle in a lot more of worldly wisdom this time. He does have a deep well of knowledge, no matter how often he throws in his bucket, he always seems to get out something to nourish us with. Anecdotes mixed with marketing topics for some reason keeps us attentive. He too mentions the point that what we do should be backed by strong research, "Soch ke kaam karo" he might say. I'm hearing this from all the teachers, I think they're trying to tell us something. Maybe they're trying to tell us that what we do should be backed by strong research. Duh! What am I, four? But maybe no matter how often they tell us this, we aren't doing it. So we might deserve the repetition after all. Sigh. He also talked to us about the properties of good ads - it should raise a question in your mind, answer it and then make you remember it. Smart. The next day we studied the importance of tradition. A lot more worldly knowledge followed. I like to think that he was trying to convey to us experiences that meant so much to him, that he just had to share it. We even saw a couple of videos where he was talking, and oh my God, no matter how much I had prepared for me to see him in a younger version, that image on screen really knocked my socks and shoes off! He had hair on his head for God's sakes! It's just so different! But his diction, expressions and gestures were the same then as it was now. Maintain that, and add an air of content and peace, that's our prof for you. This might be his last year at IIMB, I selfishly hope not. He's just too good a prof for other batches to miss out on.

In addition to the customary thunderclap, we also stood up as a token of gratitude and more importantly as a mark of respect, as he walked out. It's the first time we've ever done that for any professor.

Managerial Accounting - The last class is supposed to always be the easiest. I paid attention and survived. It definitely was easier than the other classes. Problem solving, actual concentration on the topic, all in all a good day. We studied Standard Costing today and solved a problem and a HBR case. This subject is beginning to grow on me. Rest assured, I definitely dont want more classes though.

Now, a very enriching and fulfilling week in summary. Feels good to be done with the classes. Calm time's over, the storm's about to start. Time to hit the projects.

Quarter 3 - Week 8

It's already week 8, time does fly by. Who'd think that just seven months ago, we walked the hallowed halls of IIMB for the first time, hoping to outdo all the people who have walked these halls before. The solemn promises of coming out on top, knocking the socks off all the other students and teachers, the hopes of mixing with the brightest in our fields, the ones who made it through all those filtering. It's been a blur... from the energy-filled days of Quarter 1, to the bleary-eyed days of Quarter 2, to the... well, more on this later.

Law - We studied more of Company Law, Competition Law and the second session involved discussions on IPRs. Not much to really talk about, there are no particularly interesting anecdotes from this.

Marketing - This week we studied the ITC eChoupal initiative. We had a guest lecture by ITC - he spoke to us about the initiative, how it began, and how it changed one aspect of the farmer's hard life and made him a little more comfortable. I've never felt as proud of being an aspiring manager, especially from India, after I heard this person speak. Finally, you felt there was a point to being a manager, maybe they can do some good after all, techies aren't the only golden saplings of the future. To summarize things, let's just say that farmers initially had to endure what seems like a very unfair ordeal at the hands of the middlemen, and there was no way they could learn from current technologies. In fact, they were so scared and uninspired to try out anything new that they erred on the side of caution. They would rather apply age-old methods of agriculture, than try out the new, more efficient methods. There was no one to guide them, they were islands in a sea of crops, dirt and wild plants surrounded only by like-minded helpless farmers like themselves and loyal, dumb animals that helped them till their lands. Completely at the mercy of nature, they crave and struggle for the barest of necessities, and yet hold their head up high by very nature of their culture.

The case very neutrally mentions that ITC kickstarted this initiative after they realized that they were not being very profitable here, so one mark less for being money-minded. But the good that they did for the entire community of farmers appears to far outweigh their reason for doing this. They brought computers to the community, empowered the farmers by making one of their own a point of contact between the farmers and ITC. Self help is the best help and all that. Finally some good inspiring story of how technology has uplifted and made life all the more better for some of the people who struggle everyday and sometimes skip food even, just so the world can eat with content.

The next day, we studied about how retail channels go about their business, and how power is moving from the producer to the retailer due to technology. Now retailers have systems which tell them which goods are moving fast, and THEY hold power over the heads of the producers telling them what goods they want to stock, and what not. An example could be how Big Bazaar has stopped holding P&G's Kelloggs, and are now instead placing their own brand of corn flakes on their shelves.

ManAcc - More study of the ABCs in ManAcc. No, these aren't the basics, we're talking about Activity Based Costing. Apparently, people have long been putting together the costs of indirect material, indirect labour, and other small/universal factory expenses, and distributing this equally amongst all product costs as "factory overhead". Somebody woke up one day, and says, "Wait, that seems wrong... I am making simple pens for really cheap, which dont use much of the machinery around me, and some sooper-awesome-pens-that-write-in-anti-gravity that use almost all this machinery and even stuff from outside the factory. How is it that my records show that the awesome-pens are making more profit for me than the regular pens?" So then he sat down, and went through the ordeal of actually checking how much of the indirect effort REALLY went into each product. Imagine his "surprise" when he finds out that the awesome-pens are loss-making, while the normal pens are most profitable. Perfect fairytale! Anyway, the whole origin of Activity Based Costing comes from the fact that factories that previously used to manufacture only one item, have started to "differentiate" their offerings. And this has caused diversity in effort, and therefore people wanted to check how much each offering really costs.

It's good to know that I now know SOMETHING in ManAcc, that probably causes me to rant the below. It makes me cringe when I realize what I used to behave like before the test. Today, I happened to see our class in a new light. Since now I am interested and trying to pay attention in class, it really hurts when you see some people in class joking around and not even trying to pay attention, distracting other people, and acting like they are the only ones in class. I mean, I get the fact that the person doesnt follow what's happening in class, but there's some decorum expected here. I mean, come on, you're not in nursery here. You're studying in a premier institute for a post-graduation course. There's some class expected from you. If you cant follow what's going on, atleast shut up, sit still or even sleep for God's sakes. Just don't distract those around you.

Be responsible. For you and those around you. That's the basic thing we're all trying to learn here. Do it justice.

Quarter 3 - Week 7

Nothing makes you appreciate a subject more than an exam that is scheduled for it, and you have to prepare for, within the week. An event of togetherness, group therapy (yes, you heard right), shortkuts and finally enlightenment. More on this later. We also had the Vista fest going on this week at IIMB, and I must say it looked like a lot of fun (atleast to a spectator).

Law - This week included the finishing touches to Contracts, and we started off with Company Law. I dont know if it was because everyone was up studying the previous night for a scheduled test, but everyone looked ready to hit the pillows by the end of the second class. Still... interesting session... as far as I can remember... no doubt. Yawn.

Marketing - You know, I was so sure that I'd never fall asleep in this class. The first session we had a guest lecture by someone, who wasnt really introduced properly to us. He just came out of nowhere like the boss when you're playing Solitaire after seven hours of solid work (But I was working till now, honest!) and gave us a talk on Conjoint Analysis. He must have mouthed some three or four acronyms which for some reason he expected we understood (You're all MBA students right, I should probably talk to you in the bijiness-man-language even though you're still struggling with the spelling.) and we're all nodding like good ol' techie, marking down the acronyms we heard to reference and understand later, whenever we were awake.

[Disclaimer: Replace any 'we's with 'I's. Most of my classmates typically know the acronyms and were awake.]

The second session was held by our prof, who as usual was awesome. I don't want to keep saying this, it should be taken for granted right now that he is. He discussed how to go about product pricing, and then handed over a test (I just pray to God, choose my favourite option for the day, and randomly mark the test... while giving a little more visibility to my favoption) after which we began preparing for the impossible ManAcc test.

Managerial Accounting - This week (read: the four hours in the night before the test) was dedicated to the ManAcc test. It sucks when you've been distracted easily in this class, and your classmates have far more interesting things to tell you than the prof does. So when the shit finally hit the ceiling, you had all of our batch furiously exchanging emails saying "read this ppts, concentrate on that topic, solve this problem". Everyone had conveniently forgotten about the Marketing test more out of a popular unheld vote, because this one appeared to weigh in more. 35 marks, or 1/3 the final count, is actually quite a bit. Anyway, luckily for us, the subject IS easy to pick up, with a few keywords and catchphrases. You need to practice like mad, but atleast you can pick up the topic. Kind of wierd to know that the prof took 7 sessions to explain what we read in 4 hours, power of fear strengthens us I guess.

It's interesting to note that one of our classmates felt strongly enough about our decreasing enthusiasm, that he wrote something about it here. I guess we all feel like that a little lightly, but it's good to know that some of the guys really want to do something about it.

On the whole, it was a fun week with a guest lecture, the hullabaloo of a fest, and the surprise understanding of a subject even when we have been subject to a whole day's work at office.

We are geniuses.

Quarter 3 - Week 3

We had classes on Christmas.

I mean, seriously! We're taking this 'passion, drive and motivation' a little too far! While all your friends, Christian or not, get to party the night away and drink to glory, we sit hunched under a lamp trying to prepare for a test on Saturday and a "possible surprise test" on Saturday! Wont all my team members be happy to see me now, gleefully tittering at my predicament while they gallivant somewhere. Should give them more work.

We didnt have Law this week since the prof's out till Jan 19th. A part of me thinks he's tripping on all the wining and dining somewhere in Goa arguing relentlessly about where the justice is in today's service oriented corporate structure and plans to do so till New Year and beyond, the saner part of me thinks he's got some urgent lawyering/judging to do.

Marketing was just about ok on day 1. We were discussing what Infosys was trying to do around 2004 with a Blue Sky team (?) to figure out how they can be more a part of the software pie offering. "Making their pie and eating it too" types. Everyone had made presentations and when the prof calls for volunteers to present their case, after quite a bit of fidgeting and studious concentration on an empty whiteboard by most of the class, one brave lady volunteered and dragged her team with her. They confidently gave their view on what Infy should have done and why. Not too exciting. The second session was awesome! We had Prof. Harish Bijoor (look him up), who gave us the deal on Rural India. Ex-HLL senior product manager, VP of Tata Coffee, and now has his own consulting firm. While I wouldnt say that he shone some brilliant gyaan on us, he definitely shattered some myths about the rural aadmi, and made us look at him with new found respect. 75% of India's population lives and breathes in rural India. That's a lot of people. So many little tidbits which we devoured hungrily, all put to us in a funny manner but with a great deal of serious information in it. Did you know that while 22% of urban women use lipstick (yes, only that much), 11% of rural women use it too. 11% less than 22%, so rural juntas suck? try seeing it this way, 11% of 75% of india's women is more than 22% of the rest. Especially when they use more lipstick than that 22% sophistikat. He came up with so much fundas JUST ON LIPSTICK. It was so cool! So you'd think the most popular brand is Lakme? Hell no, it's Raja lipstick! How rural women apply lipstick is apparently quite different from how urban women apply it... all this and much more, on the day after Christmas. A good gift, and a fitting way to end 2009! :)

Quant Meth 2 - Yes, its Operations Research but I seem to think QuantMeth is a nice think to call it now. Quite heady, u see a lot of stars, and when it's over you wake up with a splitting headache. Naah, its not so bad, our prof's trying to make sure we get the fundas right. So we continue to study Duality and then move into Integer Programming from Linear Programming.

And then we have Saturday's test.

Man, what's with us and not understanding that these profs arent teaching us nursery rhymes. All he gave us was simple funda-applicable problems requiring us to draw on common sense, and all we do is draw on our paper. We'll find out which of our folks were whining even after having done well, many of us anxiously await our marks to find the posers who think they're cool by acting like they've done bad like the majority. Wait for it, ur time will come!!

Managerial Accounting - Blearrggh! I dont like this subject. It's ok. We were learning how to decide costs of our offerings, what is a cost driver, job order costing, normal costing, actual costing.. blah blah blah. I'm sorry, but if you want to know more about this, get this book we're using "Managerial Accounting" by Hilton, Ramesh and Jayadev - TMH publication. The prof's trying hard to make sure we understand the goodness in the subject, but it's being so much of a pain in the bag, and seems to have an acquired test. Like beer. Yuck.

Still, Marketing saved the day with the cool insights into the rural market. A good way to end 2009. Ready to walk bleary-eyed into 2010!

Quarter 3 - Week 2

Aah, the anticipation of being "impressed" by newly acquainted professors mixes with the stench of dread from the promised pressure in this quarter, to provide a very heady mixture that helps you daydream in class about what you would do if you were fighting a case where due to a marketing research goof up based on some operations research data it was claimed that managerial accounting had completely disfigured the revenues reported and hence disrupted the forecast.

The far fetched thoughts always ended up with me, being the judge, being given a bonus and thrown in jail. Before I could retrospect, I would be back in the classroom in a jolt because the prof would have noticed me dreaming and walk towards me. I might be being paranoid, but feeling guilty does that to you.

In Law, (yes, I dont remember the name of the course anymore, and I'm too lazy to find out. Read my previous post.) we began to study the concepts of Civil Law and Criminal Law. Apparently in the former, once you draw up a complaint, you could withdraw it if you want, but if it is a case of the latter type, once you open a case, there's NO way you can close it! This is because in a civil case, the court's objective is to clear the matter quickly as it's not really worth too much time, and they'll more often than not try to move in for compensation as a trophy of well-deserved justice, rather than go the length to fix the problem. A case in example - you buy a plot of size 30*40, and when you go there to build you see the neighbour has encroached by 10 feet. Enraged as you are, you demand justice and cry belligerently at the doors of the court, which lazily opens an eye and prefers to get you the compensation from the other guy, instead of asking him to break down HIS building and give you back your ten feet. In a criminal scenario however, once you complain, that same sleepy peace-loving behemoth charges into action (or it atleast tries to in the Indian scenario). You dont even have to pay lawyer fees, apparently the government takes up the "victim"'s case on its own head, and does what is required to get the truth out and prove the accused as guilty. That's where things have changed, see, now that the government has taken up your case, you've just been pushed out of the action to sit back and ride. That obviously means you're no longer in control, ergo when you say "Stop!" the case does not stop. It's simple physics really.

In Marketing, we learnt quite a few more fundas about how to arrive at a delicate balance of performance, process and people. We got to know how it's important that you believe in your idea with a passion that doesnt crumble, and if it does, it only does so due to hard facts and evidence. If you have a real good idea, instead of doing armchair research (you, your mind and your chair. No one else.) you should get your lazy butt out on the field to really see whether your hunch and observations about what the market really wants still stands. Then you get your people to believe in that vision, because only then will they really work as effectively as ever. And then he proceeded to give us a surprise test which as usual I wasnt prepared for. Next time, sigh.

The second class we had a guest lecture by Prof. Shombit Sengupta. And he gave us some insight into how you bring a brand into a person's mindset.... was good stuff. Our prof tried to request him to share some details on his current works, some of which was not confidential and which was insightful he shared... but for most of the part, he politely declined only giving us vague hints about what we might expect. Nice chap, one thing I really liked was how he keeps his mind occupied with various activities like painting, playing the piano, EVEN ARCHITECTING HIS OWN HOUSE! Apparently, that's how you keep your mind fresh and full of creative thought. Hmm..

QM2 - OR was a little slower than last week. Either our prof thinks we're really dumb or he thinks that these fundas are so important as a basis that it deserves the detailed focus and concentration he's giving towards it. I'm hoping it came across like that because I'm too smart for this stuff. It's not often I get to feel that, so when I'm learning what A,B,C is, I enjoy it even though this is nothing. The second class was excruciatingly slow. At this point I began to get scared that there was something REALLY important about this section, even though we appeared to be doing the same thing that we'd done in the first 15 minutes. Good thing I paid attention. I now know A, B, C. Thank God he realized we're going too slow, he says he'll buck up the pace next time. We've heard some horror stories about him from the last batch, that he's way too fast at teaching and thinks way too fast... but he's making a real good effort to get through to us, so I trust him. A little green around the edges, but a sincere effort is worthy enough to command the student's attention I think.

Managerial Accounting - Ahaah! I wasn't sleeping. Ergo, it's not the subject that's boring!! We spoke about what comes under a period cost, and a [some other] cost. We even looked at some of Infy's digits (publicly declared, mind it!) and took up "the challenge" of understanding three lines out of it. There were quite a few questions on what comes under what, how do you decide whether an expense should come under product cost, or general & administration costs or selling & distribution costs. What is direct material, labour, manufacturing overheads... yea, not too inspiring to talk about. A whole bunch of overheads actually. Saw so many OHs on the board, it kept making me think that there was a song in the back of my mind which had that in it. Anyway, classes over, weekend shuru!

P.S. Somebody said something about a surprise test next week, so we're back into that mood again! :)