Quarter 3 - Week 9

The penultimate week of classes for this quarter, it's really nice to see how fast the classes passed by! I get a familiar cold feeling, when I remember the exam is in two weeks. How nice it feels to know that we will have three exams on a Saturday, the first time when we're going to be this swamped. Now's when I'm definitely feeling the heat that our group should start on our Marketing and ManAcc projects..! Quit stalling, start doing! Good thing all our groups are still in the confused mode of which direction to turn in! :D

Law - We had a lot more to discuss on IPRs, and we began talking about the difference between Patenting, Trade Secrets, Non Disclosure Agreements, Copyrights etc. Apparently, we are even going to have someone come over next week and give us a talk on Open Source... that sounds like it's going to be very interesting! It's almost funny to note how many people had questions regarding patents and other company policy related doubts. At the end, while talking about arbitration, the prof cheekily gave us an example of how we would ask for difficult questions for the exam, while the prof wanted to give easy questions, so we would use the PGSEM chairperson as an arbiter, where he'd suggest that we have 40 marks in multiple choice and 20 in short answer type questions. Or something like that. And with that, we ended our tryst with him, marking the occasion with the now-standard thunderclap of appreciation. If we see him again next week, I wonder if we'll thunderclap again?

Marketing - This week we studied how a person goes about making a sale, and about how low cost amplification can help with bringing about great impact. We were also given a basic case on negotiations, and when we came back the next day, we split into our groups of four to fight two_mano-i-two_mano, and we had the occasions to needle, threaten, plead and ultimately come to a victorious middle ground between the two teams. Naah, we didnt do that... we chose to continue haggling since we aren't awesome negotiators yet. All in good time. The second day's class was more to do with how we should go about giving the other party something, taking something ourselves, and staying out of a "we-attack, you-defend" spiral. A couple of anecdotes that the prof told us about, wherein one person could act like he owned the marketplace, but on further investigation, we found that the traders felt he was one of the few people who really cared for them. The more I listen in this prof's class, the more I get to hear that being a nice person, taking care of those around you, not trying to cheat someone lie at the heart of being a good marketeer. But then again, what is it not at the heart of?

ManAcc - The class seemed a little more sombre than usual during our prof's classes. We've gone beyond Activity Based Costing now. We're now in Performance Evaluations, and the class just seems waiting to be done with this. But there is a more marked attention span that our class now has during her sessions, we might have just made a breakthrough with the sleep_for_10_minutes-pay_attention_for_20_minutes routine. I'm proud of us.

One more week of this madness, and then it'll be time to go really mad. God help us all.

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 6

Annnnd we're back. Time really doesnt stop for anyone. Weekends pass by really quickly, especially if you enjoy lolling around.

This week everyone looked sufficiently sprightly after last week's break. Classes were a little more interactive, and groans were extra groany, whines extra whiney, whenever we were prodded into action by the teachers. Yes, it's fun to be a student.

Law - Surprise Surprise! We now have two classes a week in Law. Since classes of QuantMeth2 get over this week, we're going to have two classes each of Law, Marketing and ManAcc. This week in Law, we studied the fundas of Contracts and what could happen if you breach one. Sometimes, if you have an agreement between two people that violates a party's Fundamental Rights, or if one of the parties does not in any way benefit from the agreement, apparently the contract is not really a valid one.... very interesting if you ask me. A lot of fine possibilities emerge, if one would want to take the risk!

Marketing - We studied a little more about Brands and how you could make the place of a Brand in one's mind, thereby creating that unique identity of one in many products within that category. We also studied what constitutes good service, and how you should look to provide the end user with an experience which makes him bond with you.... till you do something stupid. Sometimes I think that marketing is essentially about using common sense, but isnt that what business is all about in the first place?

QuantMeth2 - The last two classes happened this week. Our prof comfortably finished all the portions in session 1. Session 2 was only meant for clearing doubts, along with a small couple of points remaining from session 1 on Goal Programming. As he said, he wanted to make the fundas clear to us... let's hope we recognize these concepts when they come back to haunt us in the not-so-distant future! At the end of the last class, as is the way students acknowledge someone who impart a part of them to us, the prof quietly accepted our applause. There's always respect and gratitude in the minds of people, when they recognize someone's effort to help them, and make a difference. Hopefully, that's atleast one way our profs realize that we appreciate what they do for us... irrespective of how rambunctious we may be. Even if we are closer to 40 than we are to 5.

ManAcc - Our prof spoke to us more about costing and went about the funda explanation by way of problem solving. Taking one example after another, she pointed out to us what we need to do to determine costs and benefits. We then received ample warning to prepare for the coming exam next week. Covering all that we've done till now in Managerial Accounting.

Well, hol's over. Time to hit the books again!

Quarter 3 - Week 5.5

Weekend of Sankranti, PGP and I think PGPPM exams.

No classes, no assignments, no exams, no case studies.... it's like a weekend after your final exams in 12th grade.... sigh... :)

Quarter 3 - Week 5

Time to give ourselves two and a half pats on the back... we just crossed the halfway mark this quarter. That means we have officially finished 2.5 quarters out of 10. THAT means we've completed a quarter of the course. one down, three to go!

Noneventful week this was, except for two tests - QuantMeth2 and Marketing. Tests have become a routine part at IIMB. Every week, there's something or the other the profs have to keep us active (or rather scared). Like we all know, grades don't matter to us. The only ones that did was that of quarter 1 - these grades determine our pecking order for the exchange programme. So whether we do good, bad, ugly... all's well.

Law - The guy's back! We started getting a peek into international law, and moved on to Fundamental Rights, the Constitution and Constitutional Rights. A little sprinkling of how the judiciary and the legislative have their squabbles, and how the legislative created a whole new section just so that the judiciary could not question their laws in THAT section. Apparently, recently the judiciary said "Ok, that's it... fun's over. You try that trick with us once again and we'll get you." I hear the legislative is trying to behave well now.

QuantMeth2 - He's getting a little more depressed Friday and Saturday after Friday and Saturday. We might just have one more session of his when we next have his classes, and we're all done. With him. For now. And forever, for his sake, I hope. Dont want to be the cause of a perfectly intelligent mathematician breaking down. Cant have that kind of statistics on my hands. We were studying stuff like Shortest Path Alg last week right, and the Transportation and Assignment problems...? This week, we did Non-linear programming. Or atleast the formulation of it. He says "You guys need to know (on reading an essay) WHAT the problem is? Solving it, you dont have to worry about(Meaning: You're too dumb to use awesome theories/algos). Excel and its Solver are there no?" So we are going through a course where the prof honestly believes that if we know how to formulate it, a reliable source will give us the right solution. Based on all the "Ask and you shall receive" and "Ask me the right question, and I'll give you the right answer" related fundas. Are we really getting that bad?

Marketing - Stuff about what "Customer Value" is all about, how you determine what means a lot to the customer, and then finally Diffusion of Innovation. Interesting stuff on how the customer is a "learning animal", you can not take him for a ride all the time. And more about how you should preferably stay farther from Entrepreneurs and more towards "more socially respected people". Apparently, the former dont listen to the market and feel its pulse, the latter is looked to because of their opposite nature.

Managerial Accounting - Solving problems based on all the fundas we've done before. That's it. Really. And i was paying attention this time! Math is really good, and the language of science. I listen when someone talks in my language! Most of the time, atleast.

Quarter 3 - Week 4

Nothing can beat the oh-so-wonderful-joy of being in class on the 1st of January. A brilliant way to bring in the New Year, especially after getting pretty drunk the previous night when we still remembered what fun was like.

Of course, if the teaching sounds more like clashing cymbals which you cant drown out and if you're sleepy enough with one bored eye out for any welcome distraction from a brave student asking questions who is himself valiantly trying to pay attention.... well, let's just say you weren't the only one feeling that way.

Managerial Accounting. I dont like this subject. Especially on New Year's Day. I think we did something on Break even analysis. It's basically how you decide what are the minimum number of units you have to produce to break even for that period.

The prof of QuantMeth2 hopefully was partying till the wee hours of Friday morn, or he was coming up with some optimized format for how multiple drunken drivers could weave their way back home without meeting another drunk on the main road head on, while all of them move in non-linear paths. Since he's young and probably is giving us generous marks, our money's on the former. So no class in period 1 of day 1! Yipeee! (Wait a min, we're paying quite a load for one class... we cant miss that! Yeah, right, shut up inner voice!). The second day, it unfortunately hit him that though the year was new, the students were the same, and they had fared dismally in the just concluded test last week. The disappointment on his face could have either been the fact that the New Year party had ended, or that he was still stuck with our fidgety-and-looking-at-the-table selves. Who'd have believed we were "professionals" with a life outside of college (work life that is), and didnt have to show report cards to our parents? Sure, some firing from him, return fire from us... and then we called a ceasefire in the interest of Advanced Optimization concepts (Shortest path, max-flow min-cut... yada yada). Good fun.

Our wise old Marketing prof knew that there was a very good chance that all his wonderful students were doing something that was not related to reading Kotler the night before, and so he wished us Happy New Year, spoke slowly about the topic for the day (Value Innovation) and did not give us a test. He then went on to tell us that we WOULD have a test the next day, it WOULD be on the marketing case, and it WOULD involve using the exhibits carefully. Brilliant New Year's gift for us, he's now officially my most favourite prof in IIMB. He even showed us a video regarding innovation during the class, for variety and to keep us awake. The next day, we discussed how to 'Differentiate' ourselves in the market and eyes of the consumer, and how important it was. He's got a great set of fundas, so it's worth paying every iota of attention to him.

Law as I mentioned stands cancelled till a couple of weeks later. I personally believe he's now on his way back from wherever he was partying and is judging between two people on a ship. His jury probably consists of the boat captain (who threatened to delay the landing by three days if he wasnt on the jury), the prof's wife (who was hinting at buying some really expensive clothes at the in-ship store) and two dolphins.