Eternalmonotony

The Magic of Being Your Natural Self

2010-01-23T13:16:00.006+05:30

This is a rant of an idealist, set in a very specific B-School Context in India.

With the placements season going on in business schools, the general atmosphere in the batch is pretty tense. You have to be at a B-School to experience and understand it. People go around like zombies, from one process to the other, getting rejects. It’s more of a relief, than exhilaration when people get through. The best of people begin to doubt their own credentials and confidence. Even those who aren’t involved in the process feel extremely tense for the ones that are.

And it is a fashion to blast the HR practices of companies and find faults with them Find biases, find inexplicable processes, selection and rejection bloopers and lambast them. After being together for 2 years, you pretty much have an idea who fits where. But then, do they see things that you dont understand? Anyhow, the point is, you feel a sense of uneasiness gripping you seeing a lot of the artificiality around. A feeling of being constrained, the walls closing in. Prepared answers, manipulated personalities, canned sales pitches and what not. Admittedly, a lot of that is required to get through the processes that are designed that way. Especially when some processes end with unexpected selections or no selections for hilarious quoted reasons. You may just get mad and reach a point where you begin to question the basics...on where this is headed? Is everything artificial? Is there no semblance of sanity? Having said that, to be fair,in general,mostly it happens that deserving people get though, if not the best. Yes, it is a "Selection" not a "Elimination". Be noteworthy or show a spark or a thoroughness or a fit to get selected.

Q : So does the treasure called capability always require dressing up? An artificial packaging to get it to sell?

That is when some things happen which come as a breath of fresh air. It reaffirms your belief in the goodness of the world and the intrinsic happiness in life, in its purest form. It was exhilaration and joy that had to be seen to be believed, when a colleague got through a company, after thorough five-six rounds of tests and interviews. But the most notable was when I heard the narration of the interview experiences. It was the most hilarious I have ever heard, and probably will ever hear. But it was remarkable in its absence of any artificiality or pretence. Just a simple case of personal characteristics,raw skills, and strengths and weaknesses coming through in the open in the most natural way possible, almost crudely. The success hinging on the most basic of things, raw potential, primal capability and suitability of personality. Nobody dare classify it as mere providence. Me being me, I analysed of course. And analysis clearly showed what went right, logically, behind the scenes. It restores a semblance of sanity after seeing many seemingly crazy (maybe crazy because we dont see the logic) HR processes. Whats more, it is a kind of foolproofing system which greatly enhances the probability that you are really going into your area of interest, and will do what you like in life. You'll enjoy it, and be good at it.

It surely reaffirms the belief that the world isn’t too bad after all. And it brings a huge smile.

A: No, the treasure of capability can sell on its own in some cases, and be a winner.

Cheers, and here’s wishing all the best to all the fellow B-Schoolers going through this torture right now. It usually works out when we believe in ourselves!

Learnings of Titu the Frog

2010-01-15T04:03:00.006+05:30

Titu the frog went to Barabara School in the Amazon rain forests. Titu had a large transient group of friends but his best friends during the time of the incident were Nunu the tortoise, Ratty the squirrel and Tomco the cat. The four friends used to study in the same class. Mostly they also sat on the same bench and ate together. They also went swimming together.

Titu was good at outdoor sports in general. Being a frog, he was a master high jumper, a good basketball player and a fair long jumper. Nunu, ratty and Tomco were the indoors type and passionate about snooker. They played indoors on most evenings. Titu did not have much interest in it but he would go along with the flow and play snooker with them. They enjoyed and had a good time together. Months went by and Titu kept trying his hand at snooker, occasionally winning a game or two.

One day there was an outdoor sports clinic organised at their school. But Titu had a self concept that he was cool and needed no training. It was shameful to attend such useless clinics, which only very serious animals attended. He firmly believed other animals would make fun of him if they saw him go for such clinics. He would much rather have a beer party with the snooker group . An interesting thing happened when Nunu and Ratty went to the neighbouring forest to participate in a regional snooker competition. A three member team was required, so Titu tagged along. And for it, he missed his athletics team selection at Barabara. More such instances happened. Most interesting was when succumbing to the strength of the flow, Tutu even attended a snooker clinic on the recommendation of his friends, despite his strong self concept. Snooker clinics are typically much longer than Athletics clinics. Of course he lost interest after a few days, but he spent a lot of time attending a large part of it. Athletics training suffered on account of it. Also, Titu had a healthy physique. But he often shirked going to the gym and keeping fit.

Then came the Olympics year, the moment of reckoning. Titu was selected to represent Barabara School for high jump at the World Animal Olympics. After the team was announced, Titu became nervous. He had lost his touch and could not even touch 80% of his personal record. It was then that he found his calling. He took a decision to ace the competition. He wanted it badly. He would still hang around with his friends and have a lot of fun but also began persistent and focused practice. He would get up early in the morning, run ten rounds of the school playground and do strenuous exercises in the gym. He specifically went to a neighbouring forest to attend a high jump clinic. He would spend his evenings bettering his own high jump records. His snooker friends would egg him on at times. The ability was always there, slowly the confidence also came back. His concentration skills, honed by hours spent at the snooker table also helped.

To cut a long fairytale ending short, Titu won the gold medal at the World Animal Olympics and set a new world record anyone is yet to break.

This story came to mind when I was discussing career choices with an Industry person today. After fifteen minutes of nonstop advice, where I could barely get in a word he said “But, please don’t listen to anyone..Err..Listen to everyone but do what your heart feels like. What you intrinsically feel happy about. Irrespective of how popular or sought after or not it is.”

Pretty clichéd but that reinforces a strong learning over the past two years. The most important is to understand yourself as a person, and do what suits you best. As they say, if you do what you like, you’ll never have to work a single day. He signed off saying, some people like structure and stability while some like a fast paced environment. Some might thrive in making a baby in nine minutes while some would put their foot down and say it will take nine months.

Titu's Learnings

Leverage your intrinsic competence
Hone your skills, Practice and Prepare, there’s no substitute for it
Make your own life decisions, irrespective of the herd or the flow
Taking a stand doesn't compromise your social relationships, have the best of both the worlds
The probabilty of success is mainly limited by how badly you want it
Confidence is a magic pill

Crossroads

2010-01-09T12:52:00.006+05:30

Protagonist(s): The typical young Indian woman in her early 20s, well educated, free, with a broad perspective of the world.

Disclaimer: The views are just opinions derived from observations and analysis of a biased male eye across a broad spectrum of females. And of course exaggerations at places to make the point. Each individual is unique and hasty generalisations might be grossly invalid. But food for thought nevertheless.

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend I had come to admire. The discussion moved onto “purpose in life” and i was literally shocked and dumbstuck when she said the purpose was to “have two kids and enjoy on husband’s money”. Not for a moment am I suggesting that it is a bad purpose in life to have. But while it might have been said in jest, the undertones cannot be ignored. Especially when it came from one of the people who talk a lot of independence and freedom of choice. There are a lot of things for which you respect people and certain instances which erode that respect a lot. So how do we resolve this paradox?

For all the talk of progress and women’s liberation and choices for women, it is sometimes sad to note that choices and independence and individuality and freedom is defined very narrowly. As the freedom and choice to select your husband. And that becomes almost the only decision that matters in life. Talking of a decision making process, I was told “I won’t think that much even before my marriage”. The ultimate decision. And then two kids and happily ever after. Then the freedom to wear certain kinds of clothes, or drink or smoke or many small things.. But then is it freedom without responsibility? Like a little tween who rebels to have all the freedom to party and play with an assured supply of pocket money and the assurance that the parent would bail him out if ever he faces a crisis? How often have we accused the “chauvinistic Indian male” of constricting his wife and not allowing her career to blossom? Of course there is also the "clever" male who wants a wife who works but is “homely”. Nobody minds a double income.

Looking at the other extreme of the spectrum, one friend says marriage is the last thing on her mind and she would do it if ever she felt like it. Independence and independence through career is most important. She can’t even imagine how some girl could decide to marry and sacrifice her life. I was shocked again. Is marriage akin to sacrificing her life?. Now isn’t that tough to digest too? Irrespective of her career progress, would’nt she end up feeling “empty” ten years down the line? Does “progress” mean abandoning a family life and going for a mad rush? We know how the western societies have “evolved” in this context. But can “evolution” here be equated to “progress” or “for the better”?

Just to briefly touch on a whole can of worms, add to this the explicit reservations and the not documented but oh-so-explicit “affirmative action” and “equal opportunity” practices followed. Why then make such a big deal of the liberation and freedom?

So, for all the talk of liberation and “progress”, any typical young Indian woman finds herself at the crossroads today. Career decisions on one hand and the family pressure for “marrying and getting settled” on the other. The crisis multiplies manifold if she has a huge set of gosipping and matchmaking relatives on the one hand and a set of ambitious peers on the other. The differences in response of each woman, the priorities and the behaviour she exhibits and the satisfaction derived from each aspect of her life may be shaped by the sociocultural context of her upbringing. Since India is a vast country of a zillion different languages, dozens of religions and beliefs, swanky metros, upcoming small towns, sleepy. villages. And of course, most importantly, the huge difference in personal characteristics of being a romantic, being dreamy, being ambitious, need for affiliation, need for achievement and so on.

I hope she finds her way and reconciles the discordance. All the best!

Travelling on a Train

2009-12-07T23:35:00.008+05:30

Warning : This is not another story about the idiosyncrasies of Indian railways, or about the typically funny things and funny people on trains. You may not end up in fits of laughter or end up cursing the ineptitude of the railways Still it may be funny in a way.

I had to reach college in time for a 11 am class on Monday,7 Dec 2009. The last term of the “Great IIM MBA” was kicking off. I reached the station on Sunday night to catch the late night train from Cochin to Kozhikode.(Both in Kerala) The train arrived on time. It surprisingly happens invariably in these parts of the country. I quickly found the compartment and climbed on.

Indian trains have something called a 3-Tier sleeper coach where people convert the seats to berths at night and sleep at three levels(Lower,Middle,Upper).There I find an elderly gentleman sleeping on my lower berth(Which clever me had deliberately selected for ease of late night ingress and early morning egress).Slightly irritated, I had no choice but to wake him up. Why don’t people sleep on their own berths! He seemed dazed and confused and woke up his son on the upper berth. The son confessed dad couldn’t climb up and hence had slept on my berth. Intelligent me had already thought of that , since it is a normal practise in Indian trains to swap berths with ladies and elderly people who prefer lower berths. However, there was no other empty berth in sight and hence I had discounted the scenario. It transpired that the middle berth was assigned to the elderly gentleman. The son requested me if i could sleep on the middle berth, and I agreed with a “you-must-say-thank-you-for-my-big-favour” expression. But the middle berth was occupied too. The ticketless culprit was woken up, and sent away with a condescending expression from my side. He obliged easily. I set up my bag and was about to sleep. That’s when he returned with a puzzled TTE. I handed over my ticket with a smug expression of “get done with the ritual quickly and let me sleep”. He called me aside. What the hell? Why won’t they let people sleep peacefully! He asked me what date was the ticket. The horrific thought of having booked ticket for a wrong date crossed my mind. But I soon checked and cleared that in my mind and authoritatively said “6 Dec”. He asked “What date did the train reach your station at 1.30 am?”

Well I am a meticulous and an intelligent guy who plans his activities well you know!

Realisation dawned. The ticketless travel fine amount was duly calculated and communicated.

The next sequence of events generally unfolds like this. Be it a traffic cop or a ticket examiner or millions of other such offices:

“So ab kya karna hai?” (So what do we do now?)

“Aap batao?” (You suggest..)

“Nahi..aap khud hi batao..kaise karein..dekh lo” (Well..no.. you only tell me..how do we proceed..look at the situation)

“Fine dena padega.. itna ” (You'll have to pay so and so fine) (Stresses the hugeness of the amount and the foolhardiness of paying it with his expressions)

This goes on for a while and ends discreetly with a negotiated settlement, a quick exchange of a fifty or a hundred note. And done. The most recent example being when a shrewd lady ticket examiner happened to catch us for an inadvertent ticket offence on the "famed" Mumbai locals, and tried her best to close the deal making some money for herself. Its a different matter we did not oblige.

Something different happened here. For one, I am thankful to him for taking me away discreetly before serving me the punchline of the story instead of letting it unfold there in front of 6 pairs of irritated peering eyes woken up by a haughty traveller who boarded in the dead of the night and was staking a claim on their seat. Now, the guy looked at his reservation list and was more concerned about where I can be accommodated. This compartment did not have any empty seats and I was sent to another TTE. I quickly apprised him of the situation and he started evaluating alternatives to accommodate me. Took me around the train, found a seat and promised to give a berth as soon as it is available. And promptly took out the receipt book and wrote out the receipt for the fine. Looked like standard procedure. There seemed to be no other way. No questions asked.

Was quite refreshing and the much maligned Indian Railways have an impressed and satisfied customer now. And maybe they have a point when they talk of high literacy rates and high Human development Index scores for the state.

This was not what I had in mind

2009-12-01T00:32:00.002+05:30

Disclaimer : A little bit of personal ranting, may not be of much interest to readers. Except those who might be feeling the same way. And the sad thing is, I know there are many.

In the April of 2008, everything seemed to be closing up and I seemed to have reached a dead end. Those B-School admission results were pouring in and none of them favourable. It was not as if I was disgruntled with my job or frustrated or that I hated my life then. Just that I had made up my mind that I had to move on, chase “higher dreams”, and follow “higher aspirations”. And I did not have the stomach to attempt CAT once more. And in a bout of self righteous ethics, I hadn’t bothered to keep my plans private from my superiors. So no admission meant – “screwed”.

Hence it came as a pleasant surprise, more a relief when I got the news of admission to IIM-K. For, the interview was not the best and realistically my chances were miniscule. I remember I got the news when I was on the shop floor, supervising the pilot production of a new model.

If anybody had asked me then, I could not have detailed out those aspirations. Was a pretty sketchy idea. But in my mind I was sure that it would be good. How could it not be?

All the excitement and euphoria about a new thing followed, especially when it was to be a so called “IIM”. Where I’ll get to meet the best people in the country. And where everyone else is dying to get into. The first term was fun. The novelty and the new people and the challenge of something that was said to be “challenging”. The second term was fun too, infact it was great in more than one way. But it was mostly downhill thereafter. Yes, I met a lot of great people. Yes, got to learn a lot of things, academically and non academically. Yes, I have discovered more of myself. Have broadened my perspective about a lot of things, and life in general. And I have learnt a lot about working with people. Made good friends. Worked in some absolutely great teams. But undeniably the enthusiasm levels kept coming down as the terms progressed. A little bit of rough weather here and there did not help either. So much so that it has set me thinking now, at the end of term 5, with one term to go.

This was not what I had in mind when I started off in June 2008. Look at a single point metric..I' m not sure I'm "happier" now than I was then. Has to be listed down as a failure on my part because clarity of thought is one of the few things I pride myself upon.

Now the thing is I’m not used to it. I’ve never have had to think too much in life. Never have had to be bothered about many things. Or in short, never been really disgruntled or disillusioned. It’s always been a smooth straight road, with an odd speedbreaker at the max. And there have been no crossroads! The closest was when I’d failed to get into an IIT, but that was very short lived, and did not result in too much thought.

I’m hoping it’s just a teeny weeny something-induced transient phase and I get back to my non-thinking-nothing-matters-happy best soon. And I hope the next couple of months bring something good for all of us. And I get to write a great happy-teary farewell blog..the way it is supposed to be!

Embedding a Wave Test

2009-11-25T18:18:00.009+05:30

Term break and 2 weeks means lots of time to experiment with things.So I try to embed a Wave into my blog and check realtime edits on the wave from all participants reflect on the Blog

Just meant to test..and play around.And don't mind the viralmarketing effect it creates..they deserve it!

New application to play around with.
Debatable whether it is too complex or if it will get into the mainstream usage.
But this thing sure has the potential to change the way people communicate.
And with it, huge business implications, to reach the customer, catch eyeballs and do business.
It is pretty daunting to think of the opportunities and how to capture them!
Off topic: Been thinking how FB quizzes that people keep taking can be tapped for MR and psychographic profiling

One thing is for sure, watching the Google Wave Demo Launch video given by the Product Managers sure brought back memories of my old dream of becoming a software engineer!
At a closer level.. made me wonder if it was the right decision in jumping onto to the business bandwagon..from a product development stream at an automobile major.

P.S : I just figured out the wave itself (embedded below) can only be seen and edited from the blog by people on Google Wave and added onto that wave. Others would just see a blank.(Or a google sign in page).

A Perspective on Diwali Celebrations

2009-10-19T12:55:00.004+05:30

A few interesting snippets from Diwali on a B-School campus.

Hostel Decoration Competition

This time on Diwali, an Inter-Hostel decoration competition was held. And you bet a lot of hostels were really decked up..Painstakingly made rangolis, innovations in lighting, bribing judges with sweets (:P), breathtaking designs. Very nice and lots of feel good factor. But all this, when it doesn’t happen usually. One friend raised a very pertinent point. And I agree. So does everything have to hinge on “competition”? Is that the primary motivation to do things? And can it spur a certain segment of people to do anything? Yes, there is the joy in celebrations and the joy in decorating together. But why doesn’t it happen every year? Yes, some hostels do decorate each year, but the motivation again primarily is to show off an attitude “We’re the best decorated hostel”. One poor soul who prides himself on raising conflicting opinions and championing different causes raised his voice.. Why should we spend insanely on ostentatious decorations? (About Rs. 10,000) Why not donate it for charity instead? Very right. The suggestion was quickly shot down. “Good views..But after all it is a competition this year and it is necessary to try and win?” No questions asked.

(Inhaling deeply) “Aah the pollution reminds me of Delhi!..mazza aa gaya! (it's so much fun)"

I overheard that at one place where crackers were being burst. It took me back to thoughts of how the smell of freshly brewed coffee brings back nostalgic memories of childhood. Of course memories and nostalgia are encoded with multi-sensory data. The smoke, light and the sound of crackers did remind me also of the Diwali at Delhi. Let me not get into a clichéd discussion about the pros and cons of the cracker-bursting exercise.

Mass Bunk

By some weird quirk of scheduling, classes were scheduled from 7pm-11pm on Diwali night. The resentment among the students needn’t be overemphasised. “Mass bunk” used to be a favourite exercise during undergraduate days. A teacher fails to turn up for ten minutes, and that was it. The students would disappear. So here, some kind of a mob mentality ensued, coupled with the resentment of classes on Diwali. And cries of “Mass bunk” were raised. It is a different matter that it was never going to be pulled off..And nobody thought of the repercussions either. But the strength of the mob ensured people atleast put up a show of walking out for a while.

"Come Let’s Play Poker"

Some enterprising individuals took up a “social initiative” of teaching Poker to people on campus and having a “Poker Night” on Diwali. Of course more the players, more the stakes. All the more better if a majority of the players are novices.

My Diwali

My second Diwali on campus. I had some fond memories of the first one and did not know what to expect on this one. It proved to be an interesting day, and a thoughtful night. There was an undeniable feel good factor associated with all the celebratory mood around. People decked up in nice clothes, buildings decked up in nice lights and a symbolic Puja. Some of it recreated the magic of the Diwali I’m used to, the Diwali at Delhi. More importantly, I went through the night observing interesting things, realising a few things , taking a few decisions and generating some food for thought. Interesting time overall.

Here’s wishing everyone a Happy Diwali and a great year full of smiles!

Horizons 2009 : IIM Kozhikode

2009-10-13T21:55:00.015+05:30

Horizons 2009
Annual Management Conclave

IIM Kozhikode
9th-11th October 2009

Courtesy: Media cell, IIM Kozhikode

Horizons – The Annual Management Conclave of the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode was held at its scenic campus from 9th to 11th of October 2009. The seminar was organized by the Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Kozhikode. Horizons 2009 revolved around the theme - “Refuelling growth - Gearing up for a new Economic Landscape”

Day 1 of the event started with an analysis of the current global scenario from multiple perspectives and set a platform of learning and a framework to be carried forward and built upon. The second day looked at the present scenario, focussing on the marketing and operations aspects, and built a holistic view for participants to precipitate understanding and spark critical thinking. Day 3 looked into diverse sectors from construction to healthcare, with a view on the future, thus taking the economic debate to the next level. It envisaged the new economic order for India in 2020 and raised questions about how to grow sustainably. It acted as a platform for brainstorming and idea generation by the best brains in the industry and academia. The panel discussions threw up heated debates among panelists and active participation from the audience. The students, faculty, delegates and the industry leaders also interacted over a corporate lunch. Horizons 2009 witnessed active participation from several B-School students attending the conclave, highlighting the pivotal role of industry interaction in management education.

Horizons 2009 kicked off with the dignitaries lighting the traditional lamp marking the beginning of the event. Delivering the welcome address, Director Debashish Chatterjee, expressed the need for redefining fundamentals of business to make business growth ommnidirectional. He said that an overtly profit motive diminishes the capability of organizations to make it. He further said that businesses of the future will be certified by the community and not in financial markets. He stressed on the need for a platform such as Horizons, where industry leaders and practitioners can share and enlighten future managers on the challenges and opportunities that business leaders face today. He concluded by saying that making profits is less important than making people who produce these profits.

The first speaker on day 1 – ‘Retrospection’ was Mr Govind Shankarnarayanan, CFO, Tata Capital. The topic of the speech was “Financial regulations – Lessons that the West can learn from India”. He pointed out that low interest rates and easy credit are part of a social contract in US. This public choice has led to many things including financial innovation, increase in inflation and market influence on regulator. Indian regulators, in comparison, have a more holistic view of the economy. He stressed on the need to look out for warning signs, have stricter trading practices, cap on executive compensation and exchange for asset trading.

The second speaker on day 1 was Mr Pulapre Balakrishnan, Independent Economist. The speech began with a discussion on origin of globalisation and the the financial crisis and their corelation. He pointed out the asymmetry in treatement of capital and labour. He said that labour mobility should be a part of globalization discourse. He said that over-pledging the needs of finance is counter-productive, expressing his opinion through the following words - “I would rather see finance less proud and economy more content”. He stated that irresponsible banking practices, and not globalization, are responsible for the financial crisis. US regulatory complex failed to detect lowering in credit standards. The crisis proved that risk can be disintermediated but not eliminated. The infallibility of finance and financial markets is questionable. He suggested the alternative Maximin economic strategy for inclusive growth. He envisaged the transfer of labour force from low growth to high growth sectors. He stressed on the need of dependance on education, health and infrastructure sectors, instead of dependence on financial markets. He said that the deficit in India’s economic policy is that public goods which increase economic efficiency are not in radar. More reforms are needed and the government is still inactive in areas where it was previously inactive.

The second session was followed by a Panel Discussion on the topic – “India and the Global crisis – Opportunities and threats”. The elite panel included Mr. Govind Shankarnarayanan, CFO, Tata Capital, and Mr. Pulapre Balakrishnan, Independent Economist. Prof. K.K. Ladha moderated the discussion. Several issues were discussed including RBI independence, development of organizational capital and managerial intelligence and the generation of political will. The speakers argued that the failure of the western model does not mean that our model is correct. Importance of reaching a political consensus and social cohesion was emphasized. The general consensus was to invest in education and infrastructure sectors and ensure equitable distribution.

The next session on day 1 was conducted by Mr Utpal Seth, Rare Enterprises. The topic of the session was “Investment Management – New challenges in a volatile market”. The speech dealt with various dimensions of volatility and its effect on finanacial markets. The talk was interspersed with interesting quotes including – “It doesn’t matter whether you are right or wrong, what matters is how much you lose when you are wrong and how much you win when you are right”. He also said that “Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent”. Mr Seth shared some tips on efficient investment management and various styles of investing. He taught students to identify megatrends, variant perception and inevitables. He also quoted Archimedes saying - “Give me the right fulcrum and I will lift the world on my shoulders”. He declared that an investor should embrace volatility and change.

Mr. Pradeep Kumar, Scientist, ISRO, shared details on the Chandrayaan mission and the challenges faced during the launch. The session focussed on decision making and confidence in one’s product. The Chandrayaan mission, dubbed as the success of India in her very first attempt at reaching the moon, was fraught with problems on launch day with the threat of rain and lightning. Also there was a slight leakage of fuel from the tank which instigated the use of an extra 500kg of fuel, in spite of apprehensions that the PSLV might not be able to carry it. A malfunctioning transmitter added to their woes and as a remedy an external transmitter was fitted without removing the existing one, which was an entirely novel solution. In spite of all these glitches, Chandrayaan was a huge success due to the diligence of the scientists involved, culminating in the discovery of water on the moon’s surface.

The second day – ‘Action’ – opened by Dr P Rameshan, Director in-charge of IIM Kozhikode during April-May 2009 and a Professor in the area of Strategic Management, saw the dignitaries speaking on the current scenario and how they have adapted to the change in conditions. The first session saw Mr. B. Ramakrishna, COO, Idea Cellular (Kerala), speak on the subject - “Redefining Business Transactions: Increasing Speed and Reducing Costs”. The telecom industry has largely remained recession proof, recording a growth of about 40-50% in the last 3 years, with India being the fastest growing telecom market, with a size second only to China. The core competence that Idea is looking at is the ability to track micro transactions. Some of the challenges facing the operators are high competition, decreasing voice revenues, regulations and customer controlled pricing. The revenue of the future is expected to be dominated by data access, with internet penetration poised to be 16% by 2015. With networking constituting a bulk 55% of the costs, a possible solution could be infrastructure sharing which would reduce capital expenditure by 40%.

Mr.Srinivas Acharya, Dy MD Sundaram finance discussed the role of NBFC’s in the country and how they operate quite differently from the banks to tap the bottom of the pyramid. He called upon banking institutions to look at NBFC’s as complementaries rather than adversaries or competitors.

Mr. Ramesh Nair, COO, Sterlite Industries India Ltd., conducted the next session dealing with mining opportunities. Analysing the present industry challenges, he spoke of the harsh conditions faced by miners and the political conditions that make mining in a few African countries difficult. Other challenges faced are commodity price movement, efficiency of operations, environmental, health and community needs. India offers tremendous opportunities for mining with the fourth largest recoverable coal resources, seventh largest recoverable bauxite resources and government plans to spend $514 bn on infrastructure and $117bn on power by 2012. However the industry, he said, is still waiting far a direct boost.

The final speaker on day 2, Mr. Pratik Pota, Executive Director, South, PepsiCo India, dwelt upon “Kick-starting growth in Unfriendly Environments”. The subcontinent was seen as an unfriendly environment for Liquid Refreshment Beverages (LRB) with annual per capita consumption as low as 16 bottles in India and 81 in Pakistan compared to 149 bottles in China and 600 in the USA. PepsiCo’s growth story was scripted by competitive measures like stable pricing, investments in chilled spaces, relevant innovations, insight based marketing programs, increase in access points and a focus on PET packs, resulting in 25% market growth in 2009. Some priceless given by the speaker included listening to your customer and cutting costs instead of investments under adverse circumstances.

Prof. Abhilash Nair, Professor at IIMK started the event proceedings on day 3 – ‘Ascension’ saying that government regulation may gain acceptance but not all regulation is desirable. Prof. Nair discussed the issue of sluggish growth in agricultural lending due to the perception of risk-reward mismatch caused by a tab on the interest-rates for farmers.

Mr Gautam Khanna, Vice-President, HealthCare, 3M India, delivering a talk on “India – The next healthcare services destination”, said that “Being Healthy is financially good for the nation.” He described India as a ‘Country in Transition’ with a major segment of the population having no insurance. He discussed the plight of Indian health-care sector by highlighting the deficiency in public health-care systems. On being asked about the strategies to make quality health-care accessible to the masses, Mr. Khanna said that that is one of the biggest challenges for the sector and various low-cost models are being studied to address this issue. He also cited lack of talent in health-care sector as a cause of the stunted growth. He also spoke at length about the scope of health tourism in India. He cited cost-differential as a major-driver for Health-Tourism in the country. Mr. Khanna stated that accreditation bodies such as the Joint Commission Institute (JCI) and National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH) are helping Indian hospitals gain credibility in the international arena. With ayurveda and Kerala’s therapeutic centers getting popular owing to tourism, India is positioned to rise as a leader in health tourism. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models are also being explored in this sector and private companies are putting the best-step forward by taking over loss-making hospitals. Mr. Khanna also discussed outsourcing in health-care and the scope of services in diagnostics, health reports. billing and disease-coding processes.

Mr. S. C. Dixit, Director, Operations, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd, described a typical phase of downturn, by giving various diagnostics such as reduced inflation and stringent government regulation, which may or may not be dull. Mr. Dixit compared the spending on infrastructure with spending on other emerging markets and developed countries. He also identified land acquisition as one of the biggest hurdle in the development of infrastructure. Mr. Dixit analyzed different limbs of infrastructure: Ports, Roads, Construction, Urban and Rural housing and stated that inspite of being a successful concept, Public-Private Partnership implementation of should be more aggressive to accelerate growth.

A panel discussion on the topic – “India in the new century – where do we go from here” was conducted in the second half of the session. The elite panel included Mr. Gautam Khanna, VP, health-care, 3M India, Mr. S. C. Dixit, Director, Operations, Shapoorji Palloonji & Co. Ltd and Mr. Abhay Sinha, Head, Support Systems, Cable & Wireless, Europe, Asia & USA. Prof. Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya, Asst. Professor at IIM K moderated the discussion. Mr. Sinha compared the growth stories of India and China under various heads and evaluated the factors responsible for their growth. He also said that fiscal deficit, bad infrastructure, governance issues and global tensions are potential showstoppers for India. Mr. Sinha said that leaders represent people in both corporate and civilian landscapes. He declared that human capital will be the driver of future growth. He said that firms are generally faced with a trade off between profit maximization and social consideration. Mr. Gautam Khanna expressed concern over India’s position on the Human Development Index and suggested that food, health, shelter and dignity of life need to be given importance. Mr. Khanna said that corporations will have to adopt environmentally sustainable business practices. He announced that multi-nationals follow a strict code of conduct and have zero tolerance for corruption.

Mr. Abhay Sinha, Head, Support Systems, Cable & Wireless, Europe, Asia & USA, speaking on the topic – “Offshoring and India - New challenges and opportunities from emerging markets”, discussed the history of outsourcing in India from an IT/ ITeS standpoint. He outlined the challenges in outsourcing as India moved up the value-chain and provided recommendations to help the nation maintain its position as an IT services leader in Asia.

In a nutshell, Horizons 2009 witnessed three days of power packed discussions among a gathering of the best industry leaders, academicians, policymakers and management students in the country. Showcasing enriching panel discussions and hotly contested debates threw up infinite new ideas for everyone, and culminated in providing a definitive direction for bright young business managers to think about and work towards. A B-School wide white paper competition has been launched to commemorate ten years of Horizons and reflect on the discussions that occurred during Horizons 2009.

Horizons is an attempt to gaze into the future and look beyond the obvious. A regular feature since the year 2000, it has been a great success in the past with overwhelming participation from industry, academia, media and leaders from all walks of life.This annual event has helped the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode move towards its stated vision of being one of the leading centres for management learning in the Asia-Pacific region.

For more information, visit http://www.horizons.iimklive.com/ or contact Hari Krishnan at +91 9946501342 or Namratha Ramesh at +91-9946501360.

Media Cell,

IIM Kozhikode

Fun with Predictions

2009-09-18T19:23:00.003+05:30

Lets try a post that might’nt make much sense. The first of its kind.

The joy of living is in the uncertainties and the surprises thrown up each instant. But certainties can be fun too.

For example, lets say I was closely observing the behaviour patterns of certain individuals over a long time period, and based on recurring patterns and themes, made a hypothesis of expected future behaviour

It was almost like a mathematical regression. Finding out the general trend and the cyclicity. And developing a rough formula based on cycles and environmental inputs. And the formula was shared. Then plugging in values of certain environmental condition variables at any point in time to get an output of expected response and behaviour.

In simple terms, predicting what they would do next.

And bingo! The actual behaviour followed in copybook fashion. All the indicative parameters confirm it. I don’t know whether to feel vindicated or amazed. Either way, it gives quite a kick.

Try it some time. The thrill of concurrence and certainty can be heady.

P.S: Once upon a time I used to be a master at saying minimum in maximum number of words. A pro at pedantic and longwinded form of writing that gave me a high. Until the corporate world and subsequently MBA with their penchant for precise writing ruined me. This is an attempt at a quick trip into those good-old-days.

The B-School “Fin-Guy”

2009-09-06T23:59:00.008+05:30

Just felt like getting inside the head of a “Fin-Guy”. The post stems from my observation of behaviour exhibited by three batches over one year at a B-School. Use of the word “Guy” is not intended in a sexist way. It seemed the best word to use.

There are certain words which trigger huge reactions in a B-School. “Placement” is one of them. But this post is to talk about another one - “Finance”

I will classify the typical “Fin-Guy”. The classification is mainly on the basis of the reasons that made them take it. We aren’t talking of how good or bad they are at it. Refer the adjoining Pyramid, obviously narrowing at the top.

Fin Lovers : People who intrinsically like it, and have full appreciation of how it is integral to their career. The Fin gods form a small subset of this set, the ones who like it and are really good at it.

Generalists : Though they don’t like it particularly, they realise it is a necessary evil that is required in some of their future plans and hence unavoidable. It also includes people with other core specializations, wanting to know some aspects of finance.

Sequential Processors: Most likely number lovers, these people believe their mind and thought process is suited for it but are still unsure if they like it. They would typically say all MBA is fuzzy logic and X input can give infinite outputs. Finance, to them is the only area in MBA where X input will give Y output.

Herd Members: They think it will be something good for them and hence go with the flow in the hope that it will bear fruit. Everyone’s doing it let me too.

Unfortunately an overwhelming majority forms part of the fourth group.

The evidence is in overflowing classrooms and crazy number of subscriptions to Finance interest groups right after stepping into college. A Pre-set mindset without exploring any options. There is also a mad scramble for finance certifications Most people don’t know what they are but they know it is “desirable if you want to get into finance”. Getting into finance is the central theme. Sometimes the love is absurd. While selecting a topic for a Strategy or a Marketing project, without having an idea of what the topic is, people invariably pick the topic if the magic word “Finance” or any of its derivatives “Financial” etc appear in the title. Then there is the mad scramble for finance companies. Maybe even some demand supply economics act on the psyche.

This brings us to the next factor about motivation. Whatever the reason might be out of the above four, the fact is it is motivating enough to make people,say,attend Finance workshops,for example. The same people who crib at attending any other kind of session would wake up early morning and readily go and attend a long Finance workshop. Even prepare for the session beforehand. Which is good.

The takeaway, though very generic, is that give people what they think they want, or atleast associate your offering in some way to hit that sweet spot, and they would come in droves. Conversely, coercion to push unwanted offerings rarely works.

The fortunate part is that such devotion tends to shift people up the Pyramid (or the reason chain).

Everyone might not end up at the top of the pyramid but atleast they move up. Which is good for them and good for the society. Also, the love and devotion generates huge motivation which makes many people persistent to overcome difficulties,for example while learning tough concepts.

Here’s wishing more people progress up the pyramid, and may it ideally become an inverted pyramid.

Art of Living – Art of Marketing

2009-08-25T17:43:00.003+05:30

Disclaimer: The intention isn’t to hurt any ideologies. The views of the author may stem from pure ignorance. So kindly forgive. I have deliberately not done a Google search to learn more about the topic before writing as the purpose of the post was to capture the extreme customer evangelism and Word-of-mouth as I observed it.(As part of a course on consumer behaviour)

It was 2005. I had a friend. Pretty normal girl who used to talk of normal things. College and fights with boyfriend and art and literature. Then she attended an Art of Living session. I heard the name and thought.”Queer Art to teach”. Well, clever naming, intended at the target segment perhaps. Anyways, after the session, my conversations with her went in only one direction.”Why don’t you do an AOL course? Its so enlightening, the best thing ever to have happened. I practice the various techniques they teach and my life has taken a U-Turn.” Fair enough the product might be really great. But is it only the product? Couple of months down the line she told me how she braved huge crowds and was blessed to have met Sri Sri himself.

I would skip a couple of more instances of this kind.

Fast forward to 2009 August, Term Break after a wretched fourth term. An old friend from college pings.”Jai Gurudev!”. Had not been in touch for three years. So much so that I took a split second to recognise and place him. A hardsell followed which would put the best trained salesperson to shame.”There’s a DSN workshop taking place in Chennai, just happens once an year..a joy ride you CAN’T afford to miss. People are putting off going to the U.S and Dubai to attend this. I’m sure your profs aren’t that interesting, you can miss 3 days of classes from 3-5 Sept to transform your life.” My feeble attempts at convincing him that I cant find the motivation failed to impress him. “That motivation should be like the need to eat food or drink water when one is hungry or thirsty” Then knowing me, he tried a different approach to persuasion. “It’s a tough course, a challenge, it’s not for the feeble hearted”. Whew! Reminded me of AOL. Did a Google search on “DSN” and found just “Digital Signal Networks” at first. Later came to know DSN = “Divya Samaj ka Nirman”, a course open to people who have done Art of Living Course-I. Perfect excuse to get him off my back. I haven’t done AOL! “Oh really? You haven’t done ANY AOL course? I don’t know how I even know you!” “Jai Gurudev!”

The point is, the product might be really great but what causes people like you and me to be such strong referrers to the product? Anybody who has done an AOL course would vouch for it and be a fierce fan. Something resembling a religion conversion. Yes it has nothing to do with religion though. A movement run by professionals. And the most unreligious people become fans. The effect of this coercive word of mouth can be immense. Analogous to the typical medical model of culture change.(Which basically talks of the network effect whereby a new trend spreads fast like a contagious disease would spread, and the rate of spreading increases geometrically as the number infected increases). Another interesting point is about the international spread of the “movement” so to say. “Back to the roots” fad eh?

I might join the ranks once I undertake the course. And from a neutral standpoint, the courses seem to be really good and bring out the best in you and help you discover yourself. But the cynic that I am, such hardselling puts me off. I refuse to believe it’s just the quality of the product. Comments from those in the know are welcome to decode the mystery. But a very interesting and queer thing to study. Can be a powerful tool for marketers.

I know, any AOL fan would brush this off saying “Agyaani who hasn’t tasted the fruit”. Fair enough.

Culture in a Bus

2009-08-16T20:13:00.008+05:30

Situation 1

A guy boards a bus. Almost empty. Just three seats occupied, one of them a ladies seat, on which a single girl is sitting. He invariably goes up to her and sits with her. Delhi.

Same situation. He sits on the most convenient seat, not necessarily with her. Mumbai.

Situation 2

Reverse the situation. A girl boards a bus, almost empty. She makes a beeline for the ladies seat. Delhi.

Same situation. She goes up and sits on the most convenient seat, lots of times alongside a guy. The ladies seats remain vacant. Mumbai.

To cut a long story short, behaviour exhibited in situation 1 causes the behaviour exhibited in situation 2. Simple phenomenon. Culture. The females feel like human and “normal” in one city, while they’re constantly wary and feel “objectified” a lot of times in another.

Situation 3

An elderly person boards a bus. Almost full. Nobody cares. Forget the reserved seats, nobody cares to offer them a seat.

Corollary: At last, a guy gets up and offers his seat to the elderly person. A girl standing nearby gives him a look of admiration as if he’s made the biggest sacrifice she’s ever seen. Needless to say. Delhi.

I need’nt waste words to explain the counter situation in Mumbai.

Situation 4

This is very interesting. A guy boards a bus. Ten males are already standing. But there’s an empty seat. A seat on which a lady is sitting. Nobody dare go and sit next to her. Kerala.

I remember when I was 8 years old and travelling in a crowded bus during one of my Kerala trips in summer vacations. I was glad to have a seat. A lady turned up and asked me to get up. Thick skinned that I was, did not pay heed and looked away. Usually works. Endured the whole journey listening to taunts about how “uncivilised” a kid I was. Questions were raised about “Which school did I study in”? The best indicator of character probably.Of course I'd committed the cardinal sin of occupying a ladies seat. Compounded manifold by the impunity of not getting up when required.

Situation 5

Buses Crawl. Buses Speed. Rude conductors. Haggling for change.Smoking people. Defaced bus bodies and seats. Smelly interiors. Clouded windowpanes. Buses stop anywhere else other than on the prescribed stop.Delhi, of course.

Disciplined driving..Clean buses, not so pretty. Standard efficient service. Buses will stop right in front of you if you are on the stop. And you follow gate discipline. But all instructions in Marathi. Mumbai.

Buses drive Crazy fast. Faster mode of transport than cars a lot of times. Pretty and decked up. Innovative and colourful bus bodies. Clean windowpanes. (Or no windowpanes) Educated conductors who read newspapers. Plentiful change. Kerala.

The culture exhibited in a public transport system is a good indicator of the culture, as well as the dominant socioeconomic characteristics of the society as a whole. I don’t think its necessary to point out the specific inferences about culture that can be drawn from each of the above and make the post long.

I’ll end with my favourite story.

My first day of summers in Mumbai. Was taking a midnight walk on the Chowpatty beach. Was extremely glad to see some girls doing the same, feeling safe and normal at that hour, and dressed in pretty revealing partywear. No questions asked. Quite a novelty for someone brought up in Delhi. Felt nice about the culture. No gawkers, no teasers, no whistles. Suddenly a car stopped. And reversed. And the guys in the car started ogling. I looked back to spot the number plate of the car which said “DL 4C T9XXX”.

P.S: I love the public transport infrastructure in Delhi. Grew up travelling in DTC buses and Metros.

What's on your mind?

2009-08-08T00:16:00.006+05:30

Note : This is written with the IIM-K reader in mind, hence a lot of it might’nt make sense to other readers. Apologies. Still will convey the essence.

Chick-King? Where are you feminists?

TORpedoed, bOMmbed, MEessiled, clubBE, MAassacred, OBliterated, still I’m alive, hats off to me

SSS The terror of town – SADIST SADIS SADIST SSS | Non pluSSSed

JKL "K"icks ABC's "B"alls @ Sports 08

I took my mobile... selected the option to write a new sms... turned on the T9 dictionary... and wrote REJECTION. I was pleasantly surprised

When having a rough time with your girlfriend, an expansionary monetary policy won't work. Don't try to give her lots of gifts and money to buy her back. Instead try an expansionary fiscal policy, take more 'interest' in her and you will reach your true potential.

Sounds familiar? With Gtalk being ubiquitous, status messages have evolved as a form of self expression and communication. I will try to classify and talk about a few such cases. The post is slightly long, but I trust the readability is high since you can just skim through the portions that you find interesting.

1. Means of Self Expression

a. What’s on top of your mind?

Consciously or subconsciously, status messages reflect what is on top of someone’s mind. The moods and feelings occupying most mindspace at any given point of time.

First, last and only anniversary at the place I have come to love so much.

Nostalgia!! - Awesome Weekend at "K"ampus!!! - All Night Daaru Party-> Breakfast @Kadavu-> Kacha Paneer@NC->Evening at Sea Queen -> Heaven -> Feel like going back to Kampus!!

Love is the gross exaggeration of difference between one person and the rest of the world

2/8 of 16.67(4.16%) + 33.33%=37.5% of MBA over

Sometimes such messages act as a mood elevator for the writer. Positivity conveyed through status messages is intended to pep yourself up or inspire you. Quotes, poems and lyrics play an important role. Including Display Picture in the fold provides further avenues for self expression, limited only by your creativity. Selection of display pictures and the symbolism behind it is a separate topic in Itself.

"Hone hone de nasha, khone khone ko hai kya...ek saans mein pee jaa, zara zindagi chada...hai ye to ek jashn, tu thirakne de kadam....abhi saanson mein hai dum, abhi chalne de sitam....

If you can dream it you can do it.....test of patience

On a lighter note, that’s one of my favourite ways of making a fool of myself. Not recognising lyrics, taking it literally, and asking people to explain the rationale behind their status messages.

b. Thrill in showing your inner self to the outside world or a means of letting off steam

The perceived anonymity of the medium and the safety shell causes people to open up inadvertently. There might be conscious exhibitionist tendencies in doing so, or a subconscious comfort in “confiding in the world” without actually doing so. It’s like showing yourself to the whole world and expressing your identity while hiding comfortably from the eyes of your audience.*

It is not surprising that looking at a consolidated set of status messages she kept over time, one of my friends suddenly felt they were very personal, even though they were kept as status messages.

c. Attention Seeking Tool

If even one person pings back and asks you what happened in response to your “Pissed off, don’t ping” status message, it is a satisfying experience, even if you really don’t confide in her.

d. Advertising and utilitarian information dissemination

Status messages form a direct gateway to links/bogs that you want people to read and for MR surveys that you want people to take.

Please fill this short survey at http://xyz.org

“Thoughts and Opinions” @ http://arslanaziz.blogspot.com

My new Number 9999999999

Register for Mentorship Programme at http://metorship.iimklive.com

2. Proclamation and Euphoria

It acts as an effective medium to show off, proclaim victories, talk of events or in general make a statement about events taking place in your community (College/School/religious).

'H' thrashed ---> 'E'agles hunted ---> K2 to rock bottom ---> 'A' as always are the champs ---> Cricket Conquered

JKL defeats ABC in Sports 08..!!

Colours: Rs100, Tea shirt torn n used as a dodge ball: Rs250, Cost of balm after hostel watchman calling me Neela Bandar n beaten me with his danda: Rs 50... Holi Celebs @ IIMK : Priceless !!!

Its HOli people!!!Yippee!!!people remember

The Holi I played was so bad, my 120 gm Pears disappeared in 20 minutes flat...

It generally acts as a tool to enhance group identity. I have noticed many news items pertaining to especially the IITs forming part of status message of IITians in campus Talking of IIM, it acts as a tool of “brand building” and furthering the “IIM Myth – the unreal aura of elitism” to the outside world. So, when people have status messages proclaiming in an exaggerated fashion how we have classes from morning to evening, or how tough the exams are, or how much fun the parties are, it is furthering the “elite and fun” perception.

I want a 28 hour day

Classes from 9am to 11pm..Welcome back to Kampus

Best Party Ever

3.As a means of discreet communication

SMs can be used as a very effective tool for one to one communication through the public space, and carrying out cold wars or personal battles on a public field. The messages are cryptic enough that only the person you intend to would understand the meaning and it looks innocuous to others. It might even be in local languages that only the intended people can understand.

“rozana jeeye....rozana mare..teri yaadon mein hum...rozana jale...rozana ghule..teri yaadon mein hum....rozana”

4. Legpulling, Culture Building,Fun and Games

There are these phases of prank playing when everybody gets after one poor soul to make fun of her through status messages. Almost everyone on the list might have status messages like:

“We all know Ravi Bansal is Weird, Neurotic and Unpredictable”

“Q: Who has “bolne ki machine? Ans:Namratha”

“Evolution of Dating in IIM-K…”

5.Wacky Status Messages

This is my favourite category. People come up with really intelligent and wacky status messages. The parody and wordplay is amazing at times. Probably as a way of showing off their wit, or just general feel good factor. It is also a means of conveying your general attitude and values. Sometimes they are borrowed from quotes, but the context makes them interesting.

You might have the Money, but I have the Time

Will the real slim lady please stand up?

Life itself is Marketing – Unnithan

I hope this subliminal thingy really works. Because I don't listen shit in finance classes

Being drunk doesn’t change who u are, just reveals it

In Class, Don’t wake me up

There once was an old man of Esser,Whose knowledge grew lesser and lesser,It at last grew so small,
He knew nothing at all,And now he's a college professor!

The best ones are on display during exam times:

FM marks reflect US Markets| FINished

Yu Hin Kat ta rahega | His last joke wasn’t funny| 0 return on investment

XYZ has just given her 40th exam here but is still in shock over how much CRAP she can write.

HRM Profs should not be so cruel

Completeness and Consequences are not friends." - Beat this

They make us earn the vacations!!

Tujhse Naraaz nahi PQR.. Hairaan Hoon Mein.. Tere Bakwas Sawaalo se.. Pareshan hoon Mein..

DDoS at the cosmic uplink! | Deadwood it is..

I am being taught FM in a typical capitalistic way -unregulated and aggressive speed. With fundamentals no longer looking strong, sentiments point towards a mental meltdown if a bailout is not provided ASAP !!!

Status messages can be used to gain an insight into people’s Moods, feelings, attitudes, values, group dynamics, and community culture and so on. The possibilities are endless.

So, when someone says “I have a habit of frequently looking at status messages”, you smile knowingly at her. Hey people at Google, are you listening? Devise a mechanism for archiving SMs

Acknowledgements :

1.Quoting Status messages of Archana, Arijit, Ankita, Arslan, Anoop, Burhan, Himanshu, Kaveesh, Kapil, Kshitij, Kumar Vivek, Mridul, Nilay, Ravi, Ricky,Sahil , Shashank, Shrinidhi,, Sushanta, Tanu, Udit, Varun, Vaibhav and others I might have missed

2. *Ankita, for her insights on the topic

3. Apologies for any inadvertent errors or politically incorrect comments, no harm intended.

The Power of Giving Up

2009-08-03T03:01:00.004+05:30

Everyone keeps talking of the power of persistence and courage and dogged determination. It forms the subject of thousands of sagas.

The power of giving up is much less talked about, but very powerful and relevant. Forget superhuman stories, but there are many practical situations where it is humanly impossible to get what you desire. You can clearly see the conditions are unfavourable and there is no way you can turn it around. There may be huge roadblocks, or even mental blocks that cannot be tided over. And are beyond your control.

However painful it might be, the best course of action lots of times is to give up. Yes, simply give up.

People might point out the “sagas” of yore. Which would never have happened if people had given. up What is pertinent here is, one in a million turn into sagas and in the rest million minus one cases, not giving up affects your life negatively. For example, you might be hung up over one career move that you missed, causing you to miss many more (even better) opportunities that come your way. Because your mind is elsewhere. So,what is missed is the billions of success stories that happen only because people gave up when they had to. Or the ones that never started off because adamant people held on.

So, giving up is not being weak. It is not defeat. It is victory in the sense that it energises you and enables you to see ahead. It brings peace. It brings power. Giving up releases you from the clutches of lingering doubt and regrets and grudges in some cases. And “lingering” of course is a very dangerous word and a treacherous state - one you can do without.

So, next time, don’t hesitate to give up if the situation so demands.

However intense the initial hurt might be.

"I know you, and what you did last decade"

2009-07-26T12:28:00.003+05:30

Scenario 1

You are going on a long awaited date. Everything seems to go as expected, until your date becomes too judgemental and starts talking of things from your past life that you thought were long forgotten. Whats more, she draws up distorted conclusions about your character based on that. Hardly the end to the date you envisaged.

Scenario 2

You interview for that dream job. You think you are the perfect fit.You handle the technical questions with a panache as only you can. The HR round also went pretty well, though you wondered why the interviewer had a preconceived notion about you not being a team player. You did not get the job.

Scenario 3

You start getting mailers selling your favourite products. Initially it was “delighting” for you, until it turned creepy and you feared invasion of personal space. How the heck are they getting to know?

Flashback : Your IIM Days

The reasons are not hard to find. It was during your IIM days that you had 24 hour net connectivity, and lots of time, sitting in classes, posting blogs and chatting on facebook, orkut, posting on auto forums, self help forums, and what not. You did not think twice about posting, cribbing about your romantic interludes and fights and make-up’s and emotional trauma and emotional highs. Even sexual escapades when you felt adventurous. The habit was carried forward into your first job, when you posted about the problems you had with your boss and your team. Of course, your posts and surfing habits included hard to get information about your innermost desires and preferred consumption patterns. Before someone meets you, they have already met your web personality, based on your web footprints that are strewn all around, mostly unknown to you,and are quite unmanageable.

It is a fact that companies would increasingly do web checks before hiring you. That’s where they see your real unadulterated self uncoached for interviews. With all the raw pitfalls, many times distorted and multiplied manifold. It’s a fact that online posts happen more often than not when you are low. Hence it is more likely to be negative than positive. And it sure is uncomfortable when any new person already has a distorted view of you before meeting you. Whether it is a positive thing or not is debatable. But being part of a generation that was not brought up with the internet, rather found it in adolescence, such scenarios seem scary to me.

Exploting the Phenomenon

As marketeers, the power of exploiting this phenomena need not be overemphasised. It really is the next big thing in marketing where you get a very powerful tool to get to know your customers. The power of google analytics and facebook crawlers etc. are well known. Also, spreading awareness about your product through the blogs and facebooks of this world is already happening, in newer and most innovative ways. This is going to be the primary mode of marketing in the West. In an Indian context, where the tech savy urban dwellers coexist with the vast rural markets, bot traditional media and the internet would coexist, especially since tapping the rural markets is the next big thing in India.

Although this is a bit of an extreme picture I have painted, be aware of the immense power and the undeniable immediacy of such a reality and manage your web brand and web footprints carefully.

Keep Smiling

2009-07-22T12:57:00.005+05:30

There have been loads said about how powerful a weapon a smile can be. Right from alleviating suffering to confessing love to soothing nerves to disarming someone to prepare for a calculated intellectual attack.

But this is about quite something else. About hedonic consumption of a smile. By people around the “smiler”.

Listed below are some of the mechanisms by which people “consume” others’ smiles to feel good themselves.

Aesthetic Value: This typically refers to the beautiful smiles on the pretty and handsome faces. For example, it just looks aesthetically pleasing; even to see a well practised and essentially planted smile on a model’s face. The varieties of smiles and faces are endless and some are striking. A Typical "cute smile" has pierced many hearts.

State of Mind: You often extrapolate a smile onto a person’s internal state of mind. The happiness exuded by an upbeat person is contagious, even if it is a stranger. If it is a friend or a relative who matters to you, it is especially pleasing to imagine that they are happy. The level of satisfaction is directly proportional to how much you care for the person. Conversely, it depresses you if signals cause the reverse inference. Also, more often than not you can immediately detect a fake smile, which doesn’t trigger those positive feelings.

Achievement and Pride: It is heady to see a sportsperson or another achiever you idolise smile, after overcoming odds to achieve something. The sense of pride achievement transfers to you and makes you feel good.

Charm and Love: It’s hard to describe the emotions a mother goes through when she sees her baby smiling for the first time, and ever thereafter. For onlookers, the pleasure might be nostalgic.

Gratification from Gifting a Smile: Bringing a smile on someone’s face is an exhilarating feeling. People might experience it to varying degrees but it does feel fulfilling to be able to make someone smile by your actions or words. End of the day it is a self-centred activity to feel good yourself.

Love: It feels pleasant to see a couple in love(of all ages) flashing smiles at one another. The range of emotions signified by the smile could extend from excitement to naughtiness to warmth to assurance to contentment. The value of that smile for the significant other need not be emphasised. But for the onlookers, the pleasure might be due to accessing schemas in their mind which contain their own warm relationships, or due to aspirational value. This can be extrapolated to include familial relationships too.

Escapist Value and Aspirational Value: A person in suffering might get a momentary high by forgetting his suffering and participating in someone else’s smile. Similarly, aspirational value of being in a similar situation feels good.

So be cheerful and keep those smiles coming. We don’t mind even if the charm is effusive.It's not only for your personal happiness, but also for the consumption and satisfaction of the onlookers. Perhaps it can even result in a reverse feedback - knowing that your smiles make others happy could enhance your joy!

Keep Smiling!

Learning as Consumption

2009-07-22T01:38:00.008+05:30

An analytical look at one of the exchange processes that forms a huge part of our lives at this stage of our existence. A consumer behavior perspective on the Teaching-Learning process. This post intends to introduce the major actors, the supplier and the consumer, and some of their characteristics and classifications.

Service Provided : Teaching, all levels including schools and colleges
Supplier : The Instructor
Consumer : The Student

Consumer Needs

The primary needs of the consumer have been identified as follows. It is pertinent to note than some needs might be latent and she might be unaware of the same.

Content : Relevance and Usability of Content
Comprehensibility : If the concepts taught are understandable easily
Internalization : Internalization of the concepts as against superficial and temporary learning
Fun Element : Hedonic fulfillment in learning, and "chill" factor of the course
Enthusing : Sustainance and furthering of interest in the subject

Consumer Classification

Consumers have been classified on the basis of two parameters, their perceived ability and the amount of effort they expend. The size of the bubbles represent their achievement levels, larger bubbles signifying higher achievement

The Slogger : Low ability but High effort levels, moderately low achievement
The Loafer : Doesn't really care and achieves low on account of low ability and effort.
The tenacious : The quintessential persistent worker who makes up for average ability by her hardwork and achieves moderately
The Underachiever : The typical "chill" person who manages to achieve moderately due to her innate abilities,but has potential for mych more, if only she believed in hard-work.
The Genius : The typical "genius" who manages to achieve high with little effort due to her intrinsic abilities
The Brilliant : The perfect combination of ability and effort, hard to catch.

Supplier Classification

The suppliers have been classified on the basis of their knowledge of the subject, and teaching skill.

The Insipid Reader : The Typical Read-out-from-the-slides while-the-class-sleeps instructor
The Caricature : The one with interesting idiosyncrasies, Knowledge and Skill level variable
The Thought Provoker : The High knowledge individual who believes in an involved pedagogy which makes the consumers apply themselves
The Customiser : The one who understands the customer and delivers customized service according to the segment, often resulting in huge popularity
The Intellectual: The master in her field but lacking skills to connect to the target audience
The Sincere Slogger : Moderate and advancing knowledge levels and moderate teaching skill, but sincere to the core
Ideal : The perfect combination of mastery in her field and an innate ability to connect to the customer

Types of Consumption

The consumption characteristics have been classified into the following categories, which are not mutually exclusive.

Utilitarian : The Student who intrinsically believes the learning shall be useful and applicable in her life, result in returns and is indulging in a simple exchange
Hedonic : The ones that primarily enjoy the learning process, enjoyment could arise from challenges, or the fun element introduced by the instructor
Symbolic: Consumption for the sake of getting a tag,probably in the belief that it would be useful(Monetary/Marital?)
Consumed Consumers : Extreme Combination of Utilitarian and Symbolic Consumption, people for whom work becomes the centre of their life, at the cost of neglecting other facets
Forced Consumers : The service being forced upon these consumers without their explicit consent or interest

We have all seen examples of each of the above consumers and suppliers and consumption characteristics. Let the analysis flow.

Nostalgia and Love

2009-05-13T22:40:00.002+05:30

The clock showed 8 pm.Doing my summer internship during MBA; I was sitting at my cubicle, trying to rework some concepts. I had worked hard to come up with four innovative concepts, and waited two days to get an appointment with the Vice President to show my work. I had run the concepts through many other managers and all of them seemed impressed. However, the meeting with the VP in the morning hadn’t gone as expected. He seemed to be dissatisfied with, and disagreed with a lot of my work. We had some interesting discussions but I was told to rework a lot of stuff. Had been at at all day and felt extremely tired and fidgety now.

The phone rings. On normal days, it wouldn’t have elicited such a reaction but with the mood I was in, I daresay my heart skipped a beat when I looked at the number. A nice conversation would do a world of good to me now.

It was an ex calling.

A multitude of sweet memories came flooding into my mind. Some people say only the pain stays with you in the end. But I beg to differ. I cherish all the nice times together. There are some relationships where you really feel trusted and valued. This was one of those. In the end it was a pretty cordial breakup with both parties pretty okay with it. Okay, I agree, I was the one who walked away slightly better off. It was an experience which taught me a lot of things, gave me an all new perspective as different episodes in life tend to.

“Hello, Hari, busy to nahi hai?”

“No, No” (Who would’ve said he’s busy, It had always been nice being with you)

The voice sounded a little tense. Memories of dozens of tense days solving some real tough issues together flashed across my mind. Those days were fun. Much more fun were days spent unravelling mysteries and discovering new things. The novelty never seemed to wane. After all this time, I have to agree I feel nostalgic. I loved those days. I sometimes compare those days to the situation these days.

“Well, I’m in a bit of a tight situation. An unlikely situation. I need your help”

(trying to cheer up and sounding helpful)

“Hey come on..Yes..tell me. Nice to talk to you... I’ll do what I can”

“Umm... remember that monumental rendezvous we once had? And we ended up scribbling some words on that sheet of paper?

My project mentor comes in at the most inopportune moment to ask me about the progress. I disconnected abruptly and said I’ll call later and talked to my boss. I hope it isn’t misconstrued as rudeness.

So I call up again. “Hello, yes, now tell me..What about that paper?”

“I can’t seem to find it, and I want it…”

(I couldn’t start imagining why that paper was required now. How is it relevant now? Or wait, is it? Can it be relevant all over again?)

“Do you have any scanned copy of that stashed somewhere on your computer? I need those Minutes of Meeting urgently right now; we’re having a high level final review meeting of the project you were working on.”

My Ex-boss (at my previous organization) sometimes tends to misplace important documents, but I sometimes miss those days.

Untitled for now

2009-05-11T23:31:00.005+05:30

There was a girl in my college. Almost the “hottest” girl in the batch. Very good at studies, great at extra curriculars, really smart and soft spoken. The kind of girl half the batch is after.

After MBA, she joined XYZ company at a great position. The best offer on campus.Then I received her marriage invitation.. She married a lawyer, and is now settled In ABC Small town, as a housewife.

No, not that I was heartbroken .My mind was scrambled. None of us could believe it happened. How could Iit happen? Why did it happen? Why did she make that choice?

Yes,(looking puzzled) you’re right Its just so impossible to see :

“What was the value proposition she saw?”

(Laughter)

(Conversation overheard between two young MBA, Brand managers in the Marketing department of a Multinational Company)

1.That is the diversity of culture and perspectives that exists in the country we live in. Do you see any “value proposition”? Most probably she’s actually happy?
2.The typical representation of a conversation between two guys.
3.Any theories on the reasons for skewed sex ratios in top engineering and management institutes, the skewness remaining, but direction reversed in the bottom rung of institutes? And Medical and Arts colleges? A typically Indian Phenomenon?
4.An illustration of minds trained to think in a certain way, and use jargon to boot.
5.Should I have studied law? :)

P.S For the unitiated/Takeaway from this post: (Wikipedia+Investopedia)

A value proposition is a business or a marketing statement consists of the sum total of benefits which a vendor promises that a customer will receive in return for the customer's other value-transfer. This statement should convince a potential consumer that one particular product or service will add more value or better solve a problem than other similar offerings and he/she should prefer It over others.Companies use this statement to target customers who will benefit most from using the company's products, and this helps maintain an economic moat. The ideal value proposition is concise and appeals to the customer's strongest decision-making drivers. Companies pay a high price when customers lose sight of the company's value proposition.

Accordingly, a customer can evaluate a value-proposition on two broad dimensions with multiple subsets:

1. Relative performance: what the customer gets from the vendor relative to a competitor's offering;
2. Price: which consists of the payment the customer makes to acquire the product or service; plus the access cost

Apply the concept?

When Nobody Around You Seems to Measure up, Its time to change your yardstick

2009-03-10T15:03:00.007+05:30

So you’re pulling out your hair because your colleagues are so inefficient? Don’t seem to understand and do simple things right despite repeated coaching?

You’re exasperated because your girlfriend does’nt seem to understand your worries and seems to not care?

Wait before you shift all the blame to the world (and exhibit an external locus of control). It’s more likely you are the one at fault here. Each individual is unique and has her own set of characteristics. Note I did not say strengths and weaknesses because you are nobody to classify something as a strength or a weakness. They are just different characteristics, having different utilities at different times. The challenge is to be comfortable with the differences. In a given situation, identify people’s strengths and appreciate them. Support people to give their best the way they like it. And learn to derive utility from it. Also, be aware of the diversity in the world, and be tolerant in your measurement scale.

Ex 1: Just because you yourself adhere to a certain regimen of planning ,or a certain pace of work doesn’t mean everyone else has to match up to it. If they don’t, it is not their fault. Otherwise the world would be full of “perceived perfect” clones, and there would be no fun. A last minute cancelled appointment is not such a big deal.

Ex 2: If a colleague is uncomfortable working in your team, and doesn’t even communicate that to you, it is your failure, not hers. Learn to step into others shoes and look at issues from their perspective.

Ex 3: You think your girlfriend has become too selfish of late and doesn’t care about you? Before judging, Wait! Are you misinterpreting the “independence” and “individuality” that attracted you in the first place as “selfishness”? Or are you missing an important event in her life which’s causing her to behave “differently”? You’re using a wrong yardstick, aren’t you?

Ex 4: You think a friend is too “cavalier” in her attitude towards life and needs to be more serious? Before delivering a sermon, take a moment off to think of the lessons she’s taught you about the pleasures of enjoying life. Is’nt it the same “cavalier”- this time paraphrased as “cheerful/easygoing”- attitude which you appreciated in the first place? I repeat, appreciate differences in people.

Some Clarifications – Saving my skin: I need to clarify this doesn’t at all mean compromising on anything. An oft touted line is “If you expect nothing but the best, you usually get it”. This is irrelevant in this context due to the use of the word “best”. Which is too fuzzy and too relative. The challenge is to get the “best” pleasantly. Furthermore, this is not to tell you to go diametrically opposite and blame yourself for everything.(have a complete internal locus of control).That would be disastrous. The agenda is to sensitise you to the other side of it.

Ultimately, the aim is to attain a high level of harmony with the world, live in a climate of trust and positivity, and successfully bring more smiles than frowns to your own face and the faces of the people around you. All this while you do not compromise on your personal and professional goals.

Sounds idealistic? Lets give it a try nevertheless..

The Theory of Gas: A B-School Perspective

2009-03-02T14:54:00.000+05:30

“HR is all gas”

“Lets study FM.MM and BL are gas anyway”

“Even Prof S doesnt bring anything into MIS, its still all Gas”

Students Definition of gas: Topics with no subtstance, no learning, and whose exams can be passed by “gassing” (verb) - Writing any crap that comes to mind.
Students definition of Solid: Topics of substance, and high learning, that require thorough understanding and preparation, in order to pass them.
Dictionary definition of gas : A state of matter, consisting of a collection of particles without a definite shape or volume that are in more or less random motion.
Dictionary definition of Solid: A state of matter characterized by resistance to deformation and changes of volume.The constituent elements are closely packed together and have fixed positions in space relative to each other,accounting for the solid's rigidity.

What if I say solids are easy to comprehend and swallow due to their rigidity? However, gases are extremely tough to comprehend and ingest, due to their randomness. It is a struggle to arrest the far flung gas molecules and make sense of them.

Solids spell out clear cut methods and formulae to arrive at the right “answer”.The pertinent point here is, search for an "answer" rather than a “solution”. It is a function of the trained engineering minds (which have unfortunately come to dominate all of our business schools). But gases demand much more effort to discover a method to the madness. In the absence of which, their importance is not appreciated. Furthermore, when you don’t believe in the utility and power of something, you automatically don’t pay attention to it. Hence all the Strategy Cases, the HR cases, the Marketing cases invariably go unread, and even in Finance related subjects, there is a huge emphasis on the “numerical” aspects of it and the so called “blah blah blah” gets glossed over. What results is a big loss of opportunity. Opportunity to develop higher thinking abilies. Despite all its vices, the beauty of MBA education lies in its ability to develop habits. It has the potential to develop a habit of a taking a “birds eye” view and indulging in rich perspective thinking, but only if the participants give it a chance and practice it.

The so called “gas” provides frameworks to put individual pieces of “concrete” knowledge in place, and bind them into a stunning cohesive whole - each piece making sense and beautifully feeding onto one another.In its absence, what results is a disjoint structure which serves limited purpose in the real world. I daresay it results in a myopic view-imagine staring at the leaves and branches of a tree, rather than getting a birds eye view of the forest and its various intricacies and interactions. Another facet of it is ,some very important and intuitive concepts which unfortunately have no numbers and formulae to glorify them. They nevertheless are extremely tough to comprehend and very powerful to use. An example would be the works of great Philosophers, and Psychologists, which would be conveniently dismissed as “Gas” by our paradigm.You would agree that is a hilarious mistake.

Maybe that is why they say MBA’s make good managers but not necessarily visionaries and leaders. The paradigm shifts in approaches and innovative ways of doing business come from visionaries who haven’t been meticulously trained to work through the details and by extension trained to deride the “gas”. The “gas” comes to them intuitively and makes all the difference. The other “trained minds” end up doing mechanical “managerial” work, albeit very complex no doubt.

This is not the only way to develop a rich and varied perspective – It comes naturally to some individuals, and most others can develop it by experience. But the academic “gas” courses provide a good opportunity to do so quick and early. Hence it's is advisable to have an open mind and make the best use of it. The purpose of an MBA programme is much more than to pass exams and earn grades.

Gyaan : Make a distinction between what really is “gas” and what you classify as Gas because you cannot understand the concept or appreciate its utility. But yes, “Gas” will remain useless if it isn’t given a chance.

Ranting : Perceptual Biases and People

2009-02-17T03:24:00.000+05:30

One of the major causes of friction and problems in both personal and professional relationships is perceptual differences. It just seemed like a commonsensical concept when it was taught in Organizational behaviour, but it is an all encompassing topic.

How this affects behaviour and decisions of people is to be seen to be believed. But the good thing is, all of you would believe me because you would have seen it in action in your personal life. What classically happens is, one party has something in mind and acts according to it. However, the other party has a different mental image of the same situation, and sees the actions of the former in that light. When the mental models are different to start with, and the differences get consistently reinforced, and accentuated by actions pulling in different directions, the bubble is bound to increase in volume at a frightening pace and eventually meet its inevitable end – the bursting.

Pardon me for indulging myself and using pedantic and convoluted language, quite a departure from what I have generally trained myself to use, from two years of corporate life and a course in business communication. Pardon me for a little bit of sarcasm too, it is my favourite tool.

Continuing from the paragraph before last, this manifests itself in a lot of forms. One of the forms is when your mental image and biases cause the other person to act or behave in a way you expect them to. It must be clear that he really isn’t actually behaving in that way. Does it happen with oneself too? I personally have seen people religiously read up Linda Goodmans sunsigns, causing themselves to watch and conclude their own self behave in a way that Ms.Goodman proclaims is the way their sunsign is supposed to behave in. Whatsmore, they tend to explain phenomenon on the basis of it. Perhaps a method of satisficing too. To confess, this happened to me too when I read that book for the first time. More about my take on astrology and such predictions later, perhaps in another post.

Talking of biases and sunsigns takes me to a technically unrelated, but similar concept of the nature of human beings. It is rewarding to observe people and predict their behaviour, and spot trends. Theoretically proven I am sure, but it gives me a kick when I manage to trace people’s behaviour to their social background, upbringing, and traits of immediate family. Its is amazing to note that certain group of characteristics, very sophisticated ones, which cannot be put into words go together as a group.A person who exhibits one is likely to exhibit another.

For example, some people are averse to talking straight. They would employ indirect methods and avoidance to convey their displeasure. Quite remarkably and intuitively, such people are also more likely to take gut-feel decisions without really weighing the pros and cons.Also likely to be moody, the moods fluctuating between extreme cheeriness which is effusive, or a deep gloom, a sine curve multiplied by a large positive real number. Pair that up with a person who’s hell bent on having things in black and white, and foolishly relying on logic always. Such persons have sine curves multiplied by a real number between zero and one. Pair them- And you have an explosive mix, a pair of banging heads. What is the solution? Perhaps each should realise the others perspective. But likely solution : Heads get tired banging and give up. Which is also a desirable solution because it conveys appreciation and respect for views that you don’t understand or subscribe to. Example: You let a friend go because he/she wishes to, even though your ideology doesn’t allow you to subscribe to such “irrational” actions.

Sometimes that is the optimal way to get around, if not to solve the perception problem.

The Love-Hate Matrix

2008-12-02T03:42:00.001+05:30

Click on the Picture to View Full Image

Five Months at a B-School.

Had nothing better to do, and electives selection and a lot of other things were on my mind. Hence cooked up a cocktail and drew up a Four-Quadrant matrix, in true MBA style.

The four Quadrants:

Bores:Why? : The ones that love me but I dont really see whats the point
Stars:Friends: Mutual Love
Enigmas:Unrequited Love: The ones that I love but don't reciprocate,wish I knew why
Spiders: Mutual Hate : No Problems here

The size of the bubbles represent the "Common perception" of people in general for them across "so called prestigious" Business Schools

More Importantly,its worth pondering if this is extendable to people around you. It really becomes a pain when they cluster up in the Top left and bottom right quadrants, especially the latter. Do people tend to aggregate in one quadrant of the above four? Do Some type of people cluster up in a certain quadrant? Is it usually to your liking? How do you live through it in the best possible manner? Do you try to change things? Where?

Awards:

Bombshell : The one everyone's after but I cant see whats the big deal - Finance
Most Underrated: Smallest bubble- HR of course
My favourite: Law,HR comes close

Will Jazz it up when I feel like it.