Quarter 4 - Week 3

Now that we have completed three quarters, and three weeks.... we've basically done 3.3 / 10 quarters. THAT means, we only have two-thirds left to go! Now all we need to do, is figure out what we did in the past, and repeat it twice more. That looks like it'll work. I think.

Nothing special happened this week, except for the quizzes (about time they started too, I was beginning to think I was important, this brought me back down to earth). One quiz in OperMan, and another in CorpFin. On the same day. Yes, our professors have synchronized internal clocks.

OperMan - This week was all about Queues and how to setup operations in consideration to this and the service industry. By and large, this was a case-study centred week, both days had us discussing a couple of cases. I hadn't prepared properly, so it came as an utter shock to me when everyone else was rattling numbers and throwing jargon, while I was sitting and hunting for the numbers here and there. (Study, study, study!). The test came and went, and took any semblance of dignity I had. But, never fear, next week's coming near, I'll have some dignity and hold onto it for dear. (Hey, I'm a poet).

CorpFin - More discussion on bonds and their valuation. I think we progressed a little beyond that, I only remember this since it was part of the test. I draw a blank after that. Will update next week, after I study.

MPPO - All the touchy-feely parts of management come together in one orchestra called MPPO. Quite a few of our classmates get easily bored in this class. The prof actually said something like "the young ones don't fully understand what goes on in an organization and the human aspect to it, whereas you experienced ones (he meant old. us old ones, really?) are a little more mellow. You know what the pulse of the organization is, so you are able to absorb the teachings from this course better". A couple of my neighbours were doodling on a pad, so I'm guessing they were thoughtfully considering what he said. Anyway, this week we were discussing ego states (Parent, Adult and Child) and inter-personal strokes and judgements. Essentially about how the way we communicate to people should match how they're perceiving it. If there's a disconnect, communication tends to give way to the friction, and pretty much stops. Strokes was all about how people are thirsting for feedback, and will go for any kind of stroke (positive or negative i.e. compliment or otherwise, in comparison to no feedback at all). The course is definitely something to ponder over, when we consider that most of us are only concentrating on results and data, when "people" by themselves are such a vast, unknown subject by themselves. Hmm.

But whatever said, 1/3 is done. It's a big step for us guys, I'm sure we can make two more! Cheers to us.

Quarter 4 - Week 2

Did I happen to mention that our class room is now changed? I like this one better since the class now gently curves around like an arc with the centre being the dias where the prof lectures from. The previous classroom was more "angular" so to say with the guys at the corners looking at the board from literally 150 degrees to the normal. Of the board. Of course, this classroom has it's problems too... we dont have enough seats for all of us, so i think three or four guys actually sit in the back on separate chairs with those "swivelable" writing desks.

OperMan - More talk about process, and we even delved a little into the more "holistic" picture where we discussed how different aspects of an organization constitute its success. Things like machinery, resource augmentation and processes can be duplicated easily, with the latter being a little more complicated. Therefore, if we're trying to differentiate against our competitors, these points aren't really as important as the organization culture, which is far harder to duplicate. We've been discussing a couple of cases, Kristen's Cookie Company and the Shouldice Hospital. So we're finding how all the different aspects work together and help us get more efficient. We're even questioning as to whether the companies are following the best strategy as of now, so it's all good..

CorpFin - A sense of dread quickly takes over, as I realize that this isn't one of those math subjects which you can just pick up in an hour. It's a big thing, Corporate Finance doesn't sound like a joke. I've been complaining about this aspect all along, if I dont read up before the class, I'm going to get screwed! If most of us in our class are doing the same thing, we're all going to get screwed! It's not good!! Why am I using so many exclamation marks??!!!! Seriously. The prof happened to ask today, "Why the silence? Do you agree, dont you... say something. Do I assume you're understanding what I'm saying?". I cant even look the guy in the eye, I've really got to buck up here! In terms of syllabus, we've completed cash flows (I think), and apparently in the second session today we did Valuation of Bonds. This basically entailed a decent description of what bonds are, what's their maturity etc. To my consternation, when I was copying the notes from the board (as were most of us), the prof casually remarked "Why are you copying all this? It's right in the textbook! I wouldnt be doing it if it werent in it!". Yes, I'd agree this is a bright red warning light. To him and us.

MPPO - This class is so much more like a novel. Full fundas, less science. Actually, more observational science than anything else, I'd presume. This is our first OB (Organizational Behaviour) course. I must say it's a little challenging (though very easy going on the inside) to try and apply this on the outside. We're talking mindsets of other people, not just ours. People aren't really under your control, what's the point of them having brains or an opinion for that matter. So even if I found that "This-and-this is what characterizes me", and that "This is what I can change in myself", getting other people to go through the same thing (especially my team) seems to be an entirely different matter. Sure, we have our problems now, but the lizard-brain in me thinks "What if this opens up a whole new set of problems, that we're not equipped to deal with?". When we deal with matters of emotion, we need to be more careful with it, since we're playing within a field who's limits we don't truly understand yet, and which is actually a very vulnerable and personal point for people in the team.

Having said that, the class is insightful at the least, and it's definitely a lot more relaxing after a hectic class of CorpFin. This week we studied the important of "Perception" and the "Jo-Hari window". Perception dealt with the aspect that people tend to project their umderstanding and experiences onto other people based on the life and behaviour that they have seen. They actually tend to associate a person with certain attributes (Openness, Social, Beauty, Leadership, Results, Optimism etc.) since the mind finds it easier to filter and optimally search through for a basic understanding of a person. As time passes, and we gain more knowledge, this level of perception might and probably should change to get a more accurate view. But it depends on how flexible the person is to change his/her perception. The second part "Jo-Hari window" is all about how giving and receiving feedback determines the kind of person we are. It is possible that in this kind of 2-vs-2 window, all four varieties seem to have their needs at certain times, but I felt that the expectation was to typically tilt more towards having a balanced form of "give" and "take" feedback. One tends to question if sometimes staying at the centre between two points is really the most effective, or if it is necessary to tilt towards either side depending on the circumstance.

I guess at the end of the day, it's knowing how to stay at the centre, when to move to the extremes and how to ensure you can always move between the extremes and the centre that's most important. Flexibility is gaining ground in today's world, and it seems obvious that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to all problems. Yes, I'll take my standing ovation now, thank you. :)

Quarter 4 - Week 1

Yes! Only three subjects this time!! Makes it seem like this quarter will be a breeze, or so we keep on wishing! While all this time, we've been studying basic stuff, this quarter meets us head-on! We have Corporate Finance (WOAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!), Operations Management (WOAAAAHHHHHH!!!!) and Managing People and Performance in Organizations (WOAAAHHHH!!!!). Three subject names that we take with awe! If someone asks me what I'm studying this quarter, I'm going to cock my head to a side and say "Oh, we're doing Corporate Fin.. (blah blah) ..nce in Organizations." and egoistically look at the other person's eyes open wide. Someone's getting cocky methinks..!

But you dont want to know how much of an ass I'm going to become, and you dont want me to waste a single line, leave alone a whole paragraph on it. So, why dont I just save my breath/keypresses and introduce you to the topics.

OperMan - Yes, I'm calling it OperMan even though the Operations prof asked us to say "OM". We had met this prof before, so we were quite comfortable around him. He brought in a balance of humour, discipline and candor. He started the first day saying we should read the required articles of the day, prepare a presentation and specifically mentioned that he didnt want a summary of the case in it, he wanted our insight. You'd think it was obvious, but considering how we'd like to think that "If you didnt say it, we ain't doing it", this put the writing in stone. He is also the first prof to bring in debate in our class. If someone makes a point, and someone else has a conflicting view, he gets them to talk to each other... right in class. Definitely interesting. The second session, we studied about processes and how we put them in place, what's the point of one etc. I'm not too big a fan of processes, let's see if he can convert my view like some of the other profs we've seen.

CorpFin - It's not my fault that this *somewhat* sounds like "coffin". This prof is a no-nonsense guy. Comes with simple black-and-white bulleted slides, says he isnt going to do a funny class since his sense of humour is almost dead, and says working too much with money can do that to you. Pretty much tells us that we better pay attention, this class needs a good amount of preparation and then with a deadpan expression, says something that was actually pretty darn funny. Reminds me of our Law prof. This prof talks a lot. In jargon. This was the first time I really understood where all these MBAs learn to talk in "keywords". (cool jargon) here, (cool jargon) there... if you lost track of what he was saying, you might as well give up and learn a foreign language. So everyone had their eyes on this guy (atleast the ones who werent sleeping) as he spoke to us about the role of a Financial Manager, what is the work involved, and then went on to something related to Net Present Values and Discounted Cash Flows. Yes, I know. My brain felt empty too.

MPPO - Not a very pretty name. But a pretty subject. Seemed to deal a lot more with "feelings" unlike the other subjects we've studied so far. The first session was an introduction to the subject, and some discussion on how people find it hard to make the turns from being an individual contributer to a manager, to a manager of managers etc. till an enterprise leader. Interesting sessions, with a few interesting stories. It seems that people actually find it hard to change from being an IC to a manager, purely because they dont understand that their job is not to DO, but to ENABLE. Takes time. The next day we discussed how people's personalities are shaped, and questions were raised (due to the topic of course) about why evidence points to the fact that people's personality traits seem inborn. The reading was about how twins raised apart, in very different environments, still exhibit similar likes and dislikes. The prof agreed that people CAN change, but that it requires a great deal of effort. We've even filled out some questionnaires that tell us what kind of people we are, and so on, so forth. Looks like it will be a discussion-oriented and practical-approach-based class.

All these subjects together have more books than any of the last quarters. Let's hope we're able to read everything up. In time. I, in any case,look forward to exploring another part of this "holistic" jungle. :)

Quarter 3 - Week of Exams

The week went by in such a fast blur, so fast that I am beginning to believe that time travel is possible. Sleeping everyday at 12 and waking up at 6 should make you think that time seems to stretch for much longer, well, basically because you were awake for that much longer! And yet... I wonder why...

I hope to God we never have to write three exams in a day once again... it's just way too painful! Our first exam was Marketing. Maybe the teachers knew that this was going to be a helluva lot of pressure and pain, so they kindly (or unkindly) decided not to give one more exam that day, and gave us THREE on the next. In hind sight, I think that was the best thing to do. Otherwise, we'd ALL have depressing marks for sure! The prof seems to have caught on to our eeni-meeni-myni-moe strategy, and gave us a case study to analyse. I think I saw a few people drop off to sleep in the middle of the case, let's just say it wasn't entertaining. It was something about a virtual network service provider and some big insurance company and how we were going to market to them. Wasn't fun, but wasn't too bad either.

The next day had QuantMeth2, Law and ManAcc. QuantMeth2 went back to conceptual questions, and everyone was struggling to string two and two together. I kept getting five, so I'd keep rechecking my answers. I am beginning to think anything is possible in QuantMeth2. It was a somewhat easy paper, except for three or four tough questions. Out of Seven.

Law was as expected, we just wrote some fundas scribbled with common sense and served it in. I hadnt had time to study for that, I for some reason figured that whatever I understood in class would be enough. That says how much I understood in class!

I studied for ManAcc though. Totally liked the paper! It seems to have been something I could write with certainty all day! I am telling you, this was definitely something we could just pick the book up and read. It's surprising how we polished off stuff in three hours that we took almost 8 hours to learn... wierd. I am telling you, we're all geniuses when it comes to ManAcc.

Now for two weeks of well deserved rest.... aaaahhhhhhhhhhh!

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 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.