MBA GYAAN @ the speed of BLOG

Running through Chennai

2012-01-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

Running was something i discovered during my stint at SP Jain; we had formed an SP runners group and one of the bigger achievements was when we were featured in TOI for our charity run at SCMM-2009. Though lately have gone totally off-track(pun intended) and as resolved to get back to the lifestyle for this year.

After running for 15 Kms last week; I was looking for a running group to ensure i stick around the goal of 600-1000 km for this year. Luckily DailyMile site offered a chance to hook up with folks with common interests and even an invitation to join them. The plan was to catch up at 5.00 AM at Elliot's beach opp. Planet Yumm with the Dream Runners gang (Don't ask me why they named themselves so - my guess is whenever they don't wake up so early they simply run in their dreams).

The alarm went buzzing at pre-dawn 4.30 Am - the next 5 mins were spent in pure terror - as my brain simply froze; first at the shock that i actually managed to get up so early (instead of simply throwing the mobile below the pillow) and later had to do a CPR to figure what next. Luckily i had planned the previous night - reached out to my running shorts & tees; and after freshening up went to the kitchen to make something that i do best : Boil water, drank 2 glassful with Honey and then made a dash for the beach.

I suppose i missed them by a whisker (3-5 mins) but then luckily i had managed to remember their running Map - Thanks to Shahul's post; but didn't want to risk going all the 10 Km and modified the route for a shorter 8 Km run(Gmap). The wind was really blowing from the Elliot's beach and as i made inroads into the residential area, enthusiastic kids were drumming over mini-fires (My initial assessment was a funeral ceremony till it stuck me that today was Bhogi*). The roads were almost serene with a few exceptions of milk-men and paper-boys.

Today was going to be a slow jog focusing on distance rather speed. Post the first km; i started getting the usual pain on the front side of the legs (Anterior shin splits) this usually lasts for 5 mins after which i get back into my rhythm. The Gandhinagar area was waking up when i was cruising through and really one of the better running routes in the city. It was pure exhilaration when i reach the beginning of the Canal bank road passing through Vidya Mandir - I had covered 4 Kms without a burn-out.

The rest of the journey was covered in a mix of run & walks; especially when i encountered street dogs - I still have reminiscence of my childhood incidents with them. But one of the best views of the day was undoubtedly the Siddhi Vinayag Temple which was literally glistening with beauty and for some moments I simply forgot all about my run and stood admiring the pongal decoration glory which was heightened due to the significance of Marghazi ending and the birth of the Thai month. My throat had gone totally dry; and even my usual coconut vendor was celebrating his pongal holidays. Increased my pace a bit towards the end to ensure fully stretching my legs (the heel should touch the rear) and finished the entire 8.48 kms within 1 hr.

Managed to clock a decent 24 Km run for this week with the longest run for this year, so far. Do share your feedback and encouragements at my DailyMile profile

*Bogi festival or Bhogi is the first day of Pongal(South Indian festival for dawn of a new year) and is celebrated in honor of Lord Indra, "the God of Clouds and Rains" by burning all old items.

An Update : It seems that the Dream Runners had started at 5.15 and i was just being a little over-enthusiastic to have started much early all alone.

Time for a Hair-Cut / Time for a Change

2012-01-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

I must say that Ogden Nash got it all wrong; there is no more a vicious circle than a saloon appointment. One can easily freeze in pure terror as the barber snicks the lips of his scissors uprooting all the near & dear ones with disdain.

Specifically in my case; since i come from a genetically challenged family of high-foreheads - Both my grand-dads were mirror images of Agassi by the age of 35; get-together would have my darling aunties warning "Get married before you lose your asset"; the week-end pastime of nephews is to count the remaining strands on their dad receding plates and Dr.Batras is actually our family doctor.

Even if you continue hoping without hope; you still cannot avoid the inevitable journey that happens every periodic interval to perform last rites at the Spa nearby.

But the real irony is the fact that though everyone of us spend so many $$ and effort taking good care of our Hair we actually do not do the same for our own self !!!

Just like Hair; many of us have Habits or practices which have grown well beyond their limits and in fact cover us entirely to the effect that our identities have become defined by these Habits or have made us slaves to the daily routine.

It's time to wake up and start planning for that Hair -Cut or metaphorically speaking for that Change of Habit. More about the same in the next blog...

Track your Resolution - Is there an APP for it ?

2012-01-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Post my earlier Blog; I am currently in search of Apps/Tools that would help me keep track of my resolutions on a day to day basis(& thus increase my daily stress)

The requirements are pretty simple :-

I should be able to enter the details of my resolution; my contact details (email/mobile/facebook profile) so that it can send me reminders in case of indolence
I should be able to store details of my close friends who would be notified of my achievements and also be able to encourage me whenever possible
It should allow me to numerically track my progress on a daily/weekly basis vis-a-vis a measurable target

The last point actually the tricky part; but we should be able to work-around with using Effort Hrs (or) Null values whenever applicable. Ex: If you are learning a new art/sport then you can use the time spent on the activity as a measurement since the outcome may otherwise not be quantifiable; and for addicts they can celebrate every "ZERO" day.

In terms of revenue potential of these Apps; I can definitely bear some non-intrusive advertisements but even more is the interesting is the ability for delivering contextual products right at my doorstep. A runner can get specific promotions by Nike depending on the number of Kms he has tagged and if your resolution is to read "N" number of books - Amazon can readily support your demand.

But more than any of these features the key ingredient lies in the graphical display of the Tracking; the more intuitive it depicts the progress across every resolution more would the end-user be tempted to continue. Taking this a step-further having virtual points for the achievements seems to be a great idea (of course; this might involve some sort of monitoring)

In fact i can definitely visualize the app as a true social-gaming phenomenon - tagline "Track your real-life activities in the Virtual life"; Everyday as you login to your facebook account (which I must say happens multiple times/day) it would ask on your activities pertaining to the resolutions and immediately once you achieve the threshold notifications would be sent to your friends to tell them "How cool you are" and your friends shall respond with a "Like" or "Check my achievements" sort of comments. Overall; you are building an entire community based upon what you have set to achieve for this year.

Do you think that such as game would become popular ?

Let me know what are the relevant features you would want on such an APP (or) Social Gaming phenomenon ?

Or better; let me know if something like already exists :)

Welcome 2012 - Quick Guide to make your resolutions WORK

2011-12-31T03:32:00.000-08:00

It is that time of the year - when Santa takes his much required break(after a mammoth logistical operation); the Indian teams get thrashed by the Australians(OK! that happens everyday) and the doomsayers would be slinking within their bunkers.

Yes – It is the eve of New year; and as a traditional practice many of us as true optimists (or due to memory loss) believe that regardless of the previous year's bunglings there is always a scope to achieve beyond the ordinary for the coming year despite what FATE truly decides. Over the clinking of glasses and loud cheers as we realize that a new era is going to dawn come up with a set of resolutions

With that note; allow me to present 5 pointers to ensure that all your New-year resolutions do not get washed along with your party hangover (esp. if it was to remain sober for the YR 2012)

1) Wants or Needs : The first need is to rationalize your resolutions and filter only the Absolutes Vs Wish-lists. A chain-smoker's need is to quit smoke; A Sales-person's need is to meet his targets(pragmatic targets); An athlete's need to keep winning medals and an IT professional's need to meet deadlines.
But then the next question that pops into your mind is "How do i identify which are my needs"; after all my DIL mange More...
You can always perform a sanity check on your resolutions by ensuring that they play on your unique strengths and validate with your close ones if they would actually support you on this initiative.
Of course; if your goal does not meets this rule; you have a ready-made tweet #kimKmarriage lasted longer than

2) Are they A & M : Is your resolution both Actionable and Measurable. I am sure you can come up with better resolutions than "I shall become kick-ass on 2012"; spare some thoughts to unravel what is the awesomeness that you really want to achieve for the year 2012 - Is it to learn kick-boxing; travel across a country for 14 days or buy your own Harley Davidson ?
Actionable means to make your resolution very specific; and Measurable would enable you to track your progress on a daily/weekly/monthly basis
When I wanted to buy my own house; i first made sure I was decided on the budget and the location details; then scoured the entire market for almost 6-8 months with friends/relatives to zero in on the property and waited another 5 months to get a go-ahead from my wife & family to purchase it.
Remember when you miss to plan you are simply planning for missing your resolution.

3) Are they Square : As a pun for having everything well-rounded; my suggestion is to have goals pertaining to each of these 4 corners :
a. Physical : Travelling to an exotic location; learning a new sport; finish the marathon
b. Mental : Learn new skills to exercise your grey cells
c. Professional : Yearly Goals need to be set with your managers
d. Social : Plan on giving something back to the society which gave your everything else.

4) Prepare for Failures : One of the recurring themes with addicts; is that though they successfully abstain for a few days the moment they succumb they find themselves flushed down the spiral into harming themselves even more.
Learn to celebrate & share with others each steps you take towards achieving your resolution; and set a threshold which would help you ensure that you feel satiated by the accomplishments that you have made even if you do miss to reach your over-arching goal.
After all; even Tiger Woods couldn't manage to remain #1 throughout year 2011

5) Write them Down : Though the last, this is the most definite part of ensuring the success of your resolution. Research has proved beyond doubt that writing things down provides a positive enforcement to help people achieve their goals. Also remember that though it might be your individual resolutions only through support from others around can you truly achieve them.

So; going with the flow my resolutions for the year 2011 :-

Clock 600-1000 Km in Running (remember the threshold)
Take up Chess (1-3 hrs/wk) & Blogs (4-6 hrs/wk) seriously
My professional goals would be discussed with my managers and also with my peers
Provide scholarship to 1 student (10-12 std) and ensure 20-40 hrs of Social service

To all those who managed to read till the end; wishing you a great New Year and considering this blog as my new-year gift do let me know what your New year Resolutions are ?

And in eventuality of an Armageddon; my due apologies to all those believers - may you truly inherit what is roasted behind.

The Accident Circa 16th June'11

2011-07-11T04:16:00.000-07:00

It is perhaps the Boon of the software engineering profession; that everyday stretches beyond the proverbial mid-night. Post discussions with those who live on the other sweep of the Dial(U.S/U.K). But with the end of everyday as you wipe your sweaty brow with the feeling of somehow surpassing another day at work the feeling slowly masquerades when you approach your bike for the journey back home into your alter-ego a.k.a the Knight Rider - adequately armed with ears throbbing with music from the Ipod, Face masked with a la-zorro type bandana and the feet kicking the first gear as the wheels spin in resonance with the growl.

Or maybe perhaps it was my Bane as I discovered on 16th June 2011; when my tyre spilled the gravel on the OMR road at 11.30 pm. Statistically speaking almost 90% of Chennai would have hit the bunk - including (as i discovered later)my own Guardian Angel.

I have been doing this routine for more than a year; and as they say with practice your enhanced senses can negotiate every pot-hole even with eyes closed(a pre-requisite due to the in-adequate lighting in most of the route). But there are certain in-built safety rules programmed into my bike - never speed more than 60 kmph; and i stick to the right-side of the road (since the left is mostly abut with pedestrians walking and also it is effective in avoiding Traffic constables ;0)

On the day as i had eased into auto-drive; and my thoughts were zig-zagging on the activities for the next day.... BAAMMMM !!!

A sudden adrenalin rush pumped and everything around me went across in a slow-mo matrix format(I recount this feeling repeated twice in my life; the first on my Tallest Bungee Dive in NewZealand and next when I had proposed to my wife)- the wheels skidded, the bike careened uncontrollably on the left, I hit my left-shoulder on the ground and the impact caused the handle-bar to slam on my right shoulder, almost for the next 10-20 mts I was given a 180 degree perspective with the bike dragging me and sparks eminating from the friction with my helmet - This was indeed one of the longest minute in my life.

Somehow i managed to crawl out of the mangled mess which was earlier my bike and stood up. I kid-not; my first feelign was of relief - WHOW!! I can still stand and then slowly i turned luckily the road was bereft of any vehicular traffice. But just as i took a deep breath pain enough to paralyze me hit both my shoulders. Luckily a few road-side workers gathered and accosted me to the pavement provided water, a seat and the anecdote behind the accident.

Apparently some drunkard; had just jumped over the median on the right-side of the road and slam-dunked directly on my bike - He escaped with minor fractures; while i was left back with the mangled remains of my bike, a skin-less left leg, left-collar bone fractured and my right shoulder screaming with injury.

Today marks 3-weeks since the incident; and it has been quite a roller-coaster ride. First it was performing the cermonies for my sister's marriage in a sling and later undergo a painful Surgery for my collar-bone fracture where a 10-cm rod was inserted to join the bones along with the splinters.There is still 6 more months of healing left and loads of pain to endure.

A heart-felt thanks to all my close friends and relatives without whose assistance I would never have been able to pass-this terrible phase in life.

Love you all.

Radio - The Tipping point of Success

2009-05-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

Adapted from “The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell “
What can make Radio rise above other media?
What are the chief factors that can provide Radio (BIG 92.7 FM) the winning edge?
I just now finished reading this wonderful management book which outlines the entire philosphy of how "little things can make a BIG difference".
Malcolm in this book explores how social epidemics caused by a few simple factors acting in unison by actively looking into various phenomena such as the drastic reduction in crime rate in New-York during the 1980s or the rapid increase in sales for Hush Puppies.

Reading his theories, prompted me to explore how these same factors could help RADIO become the next tipping point of success.
The rule of epidemics as explored in the book (in context of RADIO):-
1)The Law of the Few : The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts.
In the context of radio these people would be :-
• Connectors : These are people who "link us with the world" .
a.k.a the AD AGENCY which links sales with the end-client (product/marketing
managers).
• Mavens : "Information Specialists". These would be industry experts; whose opinion
might change the course of how the general public understand the effects of radio.
For ex: A.C. Neilsen who’s RAM reports are used industry-wide to showcase the
success measure of Radio.
• Salesmen : "Persuaders". This category of people who are indeed passionate and
involved about their product. In the context of radio I would include Programming,
scheduling, Traffic and creative teams along with the Sales/Marketing folks.
2) The Stickiness Factor : the specific content of a message that renders its impact memorable.
Radio being a sublime medium (or as Andy mentions "Theater of the mind") we can easily project the stickiness factors either in terms of CPT (Cost per thousand), low-ad avoidance ratios, and even more as a medium of direct marketing.

3) The Power of Context: the environment which influences human behaviour.
Currently, the cheif environmental factors/requirements would be :-
• Recession : Radio can be pitched as a low-cost medium.
• Improving Product Awareness; which would otherwise not be possible in Print (due to blind-spots) and in Video (Clutter)
• Amplification of Product launches : Radio as a medium of mass-consumption (listenership ratings) can be effective amplification medium
• Rural Markets : How can we tap into the BOTTOM of the Pyramid phenomenon

The CONVO

2009-04-26T02:59:00.001-07:00

Drum-rolls ....
2 years after i got the letter of admit; here is the invitation of the convocation ceremony

Pappu ban gaya MBA

The importance of being a Brand Name..

2009-04-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

Would you in your sanest mind
a) Set up R&D worth at least 1 Bn
b) Create a product and spend around 50 Lakhs/year in marketing
and yet name your product literally "UNWANTED" ??

Well, that was my first thought when i came across this :-
But a few moments later it didn't seem such a bad idea for an emergency contraceptive pill; it conveys in a single word what the medicine is all about; and does not hide behind almost obtrusive first-cousin medical names... (Though i would still go with I-pill as a cooler name)

So, what is the importance of having a brand-name ?? well lets talk about the xerox, nike, google and FedEx of the world how their naming has risen beyond just a brand to signify an emotion... in the case of Google it signifies single source compendium; FedEx stands for delivery at the right place and right time; Nike stands for everything cool while Xerox has almost become a key-word with which any copier machine is called irrespective of the brand.

In my observations I have come across the following types of Brand Names :-
1) Patriachal "Egotist" Brand Names :- These are products who get their names are derived upon the names of their designers/financiers. Baskin & Robbins is a very good example; and so are the hundred odd Colleges which adorn the skyline of any Indian city (SPJIMR also being named after late Shriyans Prasad) or be it those now burgeoning Vasanth & Co.
These typical brand names have been the staple diet of the germans.. in fact SAP is the only non-confirmist to this rule.
The characteristics of these products would be that they would have essentially blossmed from a small-scale catering to a niche audience to a multi-million $ business.

2) Direct-to-the-point :- Similar to the "Unwanted Example"; you can include my favorite Reader's Digest or Blogspot as prominent examples.
These products would essentially be monopolistic in nature (or would evolve to become monopolistic) and would essentially be the plain vanilla versions.

3) Zany Creative Masterpieces :- Sony, Macintosh, Twitter, Yahoo are just examples of products which have accentunated their value just because of their cool sounding brand-names.
These products have essentially their own Hatke-effect which has not been even thought off... and hence essentially require Cool Names to showcase themselves to the external audience.

4) Misguided Orphans :- In the quest of becoming Option (3) there have evolved at least 100s of these brands who have gone out of the customer radar simply because of their rather un-emotive (or) un-related names. Chief examples would be the ZUNE, Vivaty or car names such as Tiguan (Volkswagen).
Mostly it would be issues with the product that would have caused the down-fall rather than the brand-name. Then it becomes a case of product re-launches ;)

Further reading Seth Godin's DUMB BRANDING STRATEGY

The movie bible for Salesmen

2009-04-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

The title of the movie sounds like some autobiography - "Glengarry Glen Ross"
but what it is ... is definitely a delight and more-so a grim reminder of the ways of any salesmen
The Story ( source : Wiki); occurs within a span of 2 days (in fact 1 day and 1 night) and explores almost all possibilities of deception, ferocity, anger and in fact vulnerability across any sales reps life.
Though the movie is jam-packed with powerful performers; including Alec Baldwin who steals the thunder within under 5 mins of screen presence; I really fell in love with the character of Jack Lemon.

Do check out this YouTube Clip and also the movie if possible. Though it might be depressing; it is extremely honest in the portrayal.

Joke of the Day

2009-04-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

What are the top 5 emotions that hit you first when you see the below pic :-

That's exactly how i felt when i read the below news :-

http://www.afaqs.com/cgi-bin/re.html?u=http://www.afaqs.com/perl/news/index.html?sid=23822

DD is going to host it's own Reality "Fair & Lovely Chhoo Lo Aasman", promises to bring the best out of these participants by putting them under the spotlight on the national channel. The show is a 26 episode weekly reality series aired every Wednesday at 10 pm on DD National and debuted on March 25.
Forget the fact that the Endemol India a veteran in the reality show series already credited with BIG BOSS, Fear factor and also the great indian laughter challenge is at the helm... the DD factor really reminds me of our classic premier padmini competiting against the Mercs .

Tricks of the Trade - Fast food outlets

2009-04-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

Barring the recession it has been the MALL-story that has been hitting the headlines these days.As according to statistics there are over 575 Malls catering to over 10 Mn urbanites; with an average foot-fall of over 4000 people/day.
And it has been the restaurant business which has piggy-banked under the guise of food-courts across these Malls that have been hitting the cash-registers (or have all of them really been doing good ?). So here i am to talk about the story of the tortoise and the hare of the fast-food outlets :

To begin with; there are many similarities b/w both the fast-food chains & book publishing; just as you would not buy a book unless you believe the flashy (mostly mis-quoted) back-page reviews in the similar vein you would with a higher probability visit a food outlet already crammed with customers rather than try out something which is both obscure(far-eastern dishes) or un-touched.

This was what i observed when i went to a nearby Mall :-

If you can notice how the McDonalds is brimming with customers while other outlets would still be catering to the occasional bugs and ants.
This was an eureka moment for all the marketing junta patting themselves on their back for their 300 Cr of advertisement budget well spent....

But once again i did notice a nearby stall across the corner also brimming with salivating people across the counter; and ended up ordering a mini-thali from this Dosa-Plaza :

In fact only these two outlets (McD & DP) were actually doing business across the 30 odd food-stations; and i felt so compelled to start a david .vs. goliath story until i discovered their modus-operandi
The mini-thali that i ordered took almost 20 mins to be delivered and until that time i had to wait across the counter maintaining my gentlemanly poise; and most of the people waiting across the counter were those afflicted with similar delays.... and since there were so many of us waiting across the counter this in-fact brought in more customers to DP ???

So here is the learning for the day :-
Why spend your money on marketing when you can accomplish the same with lousy service ???

what really mattered...

2009-04-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

As the day winks to take it's 8 hour break; my 2 years of MBA at India's premier b-school comes to an end.
When the farewell ended i had almost accomplished what i had set out for in an MBA; well even danced and acted in a skit (god save the audience) but recounting it now after sending off all my close-pals to their homes makes me want to do a laundry list of things i would miss of my MBA (Why 12 ?? cause of this)

1) Foremost are the 164 junta of 07-09 ( or maybe 2 years is quite a long time to develop stockholm syndrome)
2) Early morning Jogs and swimming laps.
3) Free copies of Eco-times and Harvard Business Reviews
4) 1 TB of movies (LAN & P2P - the combo pack)
5) The lake , 10 min walk from hostel to college (almost everything about Bhavan's campus)
6) BISTRO
7) The free cultural movies & shows (courtesy Bhavan's cultural center)
8) The 12'0 clock idli & coffee cycle canter.
9) Endless gossip nights (filled with booze and all the discussions that arrive when you are in the inebriated stage)
10) Library
11) IP messenger
12) week-end treks

oh yes... case-studies, assignments, subjects do not matter much after MBA.
If there is one great thing that makes an MBA worthwhile then my vote would be for "linkedin" a.k.a networking.

The Religion of News Channels

2009-03-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

Pearls Broadcasting launches Hindi news channel
" MUMBAI: Pearls Broadcasting Corporation Ltd has launched a national Hindi news and entertainment channel christened P7.
The Noida-based Hindi news and entertainment channel promises to offer public news, information and entertainment dedicated to common people irrespective of colour, caste, creed and religion. Formally on air from 27 March, P7 has the tag line ‘Ek Umeed’ (A ray of Hope). "

Till now i always believed that News had only one religion - POLITICS
At least, across regional TVs each political party has a telivision channel and each channel airing propaganda messages for the particular party (Ex: Jaya News - AIDMK) .
The primary POD (Point of differenciations) across news channels have always been upon "Latest News", "Citizens News", "Juicy News(bollywood Gupshup) and stuff..
This categorization of creed,caste & color does leave me wondering about their content ?? would they censor out all the religion based skull-druggery news (Mass conversion, attacks against NUNs, etc) ... but that would be de-glamourising !!
Well... just keep on guessing.

The Magic of Fairness

2009-03-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Came across this brilliant report (both accurate and thought-provoking) while doing research upon fairness creams.
Black, White and various shades of Brown
What's accurate is the various sources that have been considered for understanding the Indian mentality including the likes of Matrimonial Sites, News articles and local behaviour and what's repelling/thought-provoking :-
" There are two popular brands selling fairness products in the local Indian market - they account for most of the market share. Of these two, one is actually a bleach, (we can stress this point in our ad campaign and run the company out of business) and the other is a cream similar to ours.(Annexure I contains copies of press advertisements of these products as well as statistics regarding their sales and market share)"

Well, coming to why would i be researching about fairness creams ??? shall update later ;)

AAROHAN - Panel discussion about MBA: Why, When & How

2009-02-02T22:23:00.001-08:00

A panel discussion on life before, during & after B school featuring top industry professionals, esteemed faculty, education experts, current & aspiring management students.
Is my career moving in the right direction? Should I start preparing for higher studies? Well, GRE sounds great and coherent with engineering, but at the same time CAT will also lead me to the Business School of my choice? May be I should take up a job. I’m confused; I think I should talk to somebody. But, there’s too much information around and I don’t know whom I should be talking to ?
If any of these questions are crushing you to death, please come to have an interaction with Aarohan. Aarohan, a non-profit initiative run by IIT/IIM alumni, will host a panel discussion to create awareness and inquire into various aspects of management education in India. It aims to address questions like - Why MBA? What is the right time to do an MBA? What happens during MBA? and What to expect after MBA? - through discussion, debate and Q&A between current & prospective students, MBA faculty, industry professionals, experts and top B-school alumni representing a broad cross-section of careers ranging from investment banking, strategy consulting, marketing, and media to entrepreneurship. This discussion will help you solve the initial conundrum of career planning, as most of the panel members have an engineering background. We will also discuss about the aspirations and expectations of students and the realities of B-school. The discussion will also touch upon the impact of the global economic recession on careers post MBA to ensure that you make an informed choice before taking the plunge.
Panel Profile:
The panel will mainly consist of IIT/IIM alumni working across different industry sectors like Strategy Consulting (Mckinsey, BCG), Investment Banking (Merill Lynch, UBS, Citibank, HSBC), Marketing and Media. To provide a unique perspective, we are inviting top management from HR Consultancy firms. There will also be representation from niche sectors like Private equity (NV Capital) and Entrepreneurship. Current students from top Business schools in Bombay like: SP Jain, SJSOM along with students pursing PhD post MBA will also join the discussion. Furthermore, efforts are on to get career counseling experts associated with various media house on the panel. The discussion will also have representation from the MBA faculty, as they are the ones who help transform students into leaders of the future.

Date : 1st Feb 2009, VJTI Mumbai
Timing : 3.00 PM

Request for Financial Support - Help Gaurav

2009-02-02T21:02:00.000-08:00

Mr. Gaurav Tandon, an alumnus of Batch of 1999-2001/ Marketing Specialisation at SPJIMR.
He is suffering from Leukemia (Blood Cancer/ AML type).
Gaurav was recently diagnosed with Leukemia (Blood Cancer/ AML type). He is currently admitted at Hinduja Hospital, Bombay; undergoing Round 2 of Chemotherapy. The doctors have advised Bone Marrow Transplant as the only possible solution to his current predicament.While the doctors are working on finding the matching bone marrow donor for the said operation, Gaurav and his family are working on raising the relevant finances.
The latest update on Gaurav’s health is that the sibling bone marrow test results came out last Wednesday. Unfortunately, these don’t match, i.e., Gaurav can’t receive the transplant from either of his two sisters. The only plausible solution now remaining is to find a neutral, un-related allogenic transplant donor. While there are a few, small bone-marrow banks in India , the serious and credible options reside in US, UK and Singapore .

Gaurav’s current doctor at Tata Hospital , Bombay will soon start the process of registering his request for a compatible donor at these overseas banks. The cost of retrieving the overseas bone-marrow and subsequently conducting the operation is c. INR 15-20Mn (c. USD 300,000-400, 000).
Please note that out of a target of Rs 1.5 crore for the operation only 31 lakhs have been collected by 25th Jan, 2009
The target date to collect the full amount is 15-Feb-2009
You can update yourself about Gaurav’s condition in http://www.helpgaurav.com/index.asp
Requesting people to either spread the message or to contact the relevent people for sending the donations throught the web-site.

We Ran, We Pledged and finally we conquered...

2009-01-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

Context :- Running the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon' 2009 for raising money for Teach for India's operations.

Action :-
(a) 57 students from SPJIMR joined together for this marathon escapade.
(b) Trained for around 2 months.
(c) Raised awareness and contacted corporates/family/friends for pledging in our favor towards Teach for India.

Achievement :-
(a) Pledges raised for the tune of 42,000 INR. from the SPJIMR family. This shall further be matched penny to penny by corporates from Bain Capital.
(b) Times of India Exclusive Coverage
(c) Pics of our Marathon achievement

A special thanks to everyone who contributed and helped us achieve this feat.

From Mumbai Marathon-2009

From SWITCH to WHICH

2009-01-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

How many of us knew that SATYAM was honored for their corporate Governance :-
1)UK Trade & Investment India (UKTI) Business Award for corporate social responsibility awarded by UKTI

2)Golden Peacock Global Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance awarded by World Council for Corporate Governance (WCFCG)

But as houses made of cards we have a 2.1 Bn $ company heading for 77% drop in the Market value. Though you must have already been bombarded with various facets of the news these days; here are a few questions that in my view remain unanswered especially considering the time-frames of the events...(Click on the pic for a better view)

A few pointers :-
Dec 15 : The prices fall due to large FIIs taking away their investments and then the SATYAM MAYTAS deal is released to newspapers. (Though logically, since Ramalinga Raju had only 5.3% share-holding and Institutional investors accounted for 61%; how could they go ahead with the deal without majority?)
Dec 22 : Satyam announces Buy-Back deal and thanks to the recommendations floating across various web-sites many ill-informed investors got the prices up.
Dec 23: World Bank bans satyam.
Dec 30 : 3 Independent directors resign (This is where things really go murky, since I haven't heard of any directors quitting due to wrong decisions.. my belief is that these directors got access to the insider information of incorrect valuations.. which would further doom Satyam later)
Jan 7th : Ramalinga Raju resigns and announces of the 5000 Cr deficit. (Suddenly Merrill lynch washes their hands and PWC is caught with their standard "No comments" remark)

Here arrives India's ENRON
But a few questions that shall go unanswered :-
1) Role of the Auditors (would we also expect a Arthur Anderson kinda backlash)
2) Hierarchical Flow of information (First the FIIs who pulled out in Dec 12, then the Directors resigning and then the world bank and only later on jan 7th almost a month later does the retail investor (Aam-Admi) who would have untill then lost his savings comes to realize his folly.
3) How would the valuations be for the take-over ?? Since after the fraud not only the investors, employees but also customers would run helter-skelter.

Well... as of now i shall let the questions plague my night and hopefully SEBI might use this as an oppurtunity to introduce any semblence of Sarbanes Oaxley into our indian system.

Breaking my break.... for the new years

2009-01-02T01:01:00.001-08:00

What's with new years and resolutions; or even better sayings about new-year resolutions ...

"May all your troubles last as long as your new year resolutions" - some wise guy

As an impartial writer i shall leave you to conjecture upon the same...

Now back to the topic... What would be my Top 5 resolutions for the FY 09-10 ? But before that a small recollection of my previous year achievements, Social Project and those innumerable treks (including the NZ trip) I just can't get over the euphoria of last year's experiences. But unfortunately I have always suffered from amnesia and still looking out for the next big thing.... after all I believe that "I am an just an ordinary person in extra-ordinary circumstances"
So a few things that i shall be looking forward in this year; is a drastic change in my professional (back to corporate life and end of academics) and personal (3 year long wait for the union) life.
My Top 5 resolutions for FY'09-10 :-
1) Publish an article in a national newspaper.
Apart from a few articles of mine getting published in a few magazines, I have really been procrastinating. So this shall be one of my first goal.
2) Review 20 out-of-the-world books :-
Reading books has always been a passion, but one-fine day i just thought what if i can read and review around 100 books through-out my lifetime ?? Here was the beginning of my attempt.
3) Travel to atleast 5 new places :-
Travel-for-work not included :) and priority for budget and team would always be retained.
4) Initiate and involve people in a social venture :-
Well, I can definitely be crossing this out of the list ... courtesy Marathon
5) Learn something new :-
A few top things on my mind are either squash or pencil-sketching or atleast salsa

So wish me good luck... cause i really do need them in loads and definitely all of the above would definitely keep the posts-count of this blog mounting .

HR Openings for Lashkar-e-Tayiba

2008-12-23T20:21:00.000-08:00

I am sure that there was an MBA behind this one ....
"Art of Recruitment: How to become a complete jihadi" Talk about professionalism in Terrorism

here are a few addendum i could think of as the Terrorism Pvt Ltd. grows :-
1) Annihilation Outsourcing : 24x7 service
2) SB Head-Hunters : We hunt heads which shall roll .... (literally) p.s: SB - Suicide Bomber
3) BombStone M&A : We shall give you a deal which you can't refuse (Ex: LeT takes over smaller players)
4) Kasab Lynch : We deal with instruments apart from derivatives/bonds
5) JIC (Jihad Insurance corporation) : It ain't Blackmail only insurance

But a final question that pops into my mind is, what is pak still hiding behind "no hard-core proof" ... couldn't these clearly point out the role of LeT in terrorism ??

Staturday Startup - Startup's during the economic slowdown

2008-12-13T03:27:00.000-08:00

Schedule
* Date: December 13, 2008, Saturday
* Time: 3.00 - 6.00 pm
* Venue: DOME 1,S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, Munshi Nagar, Dadabhai Road, Andheri(W) Mumbai - 400058. Map, SMS address to phone

Agenda
* 3.00 - 3.30: Librarywala demo by the Co-founder Hiten Turakhia
* 3.30 - 4.00: AdoRoi demo by founder & CEO Mitesh Thakkar
* 4:00 - 5.00: Panel discussion on "What should a start up do in a slowdown"
o Mahesh Murthy, Seedfund
o Hemir Doshi, IDG Ventures
o Rohit Nalwade, Ex-CEO of Consumervision
o Gopal Krishnan, Hanin Global. Ex Founder & CEO Mobile2Win
o Moderator: Aditya Mishra, Co-founder & Director, Headstart

A key take-aways of the session :-

Librarywala.com : if you haven't checked it out do see this online library model which charges you around 139 Rs for 3 books/month.

A few pointers for the panel discussion :-
Starting up a start-up during a recession would prepare you to survive for the rest of the good times.
Start-ups would be a good time to start up; cause anyways now people would be joining for Jobs rather than for money.
Guy Kawasaki's Rules for boot-starts in the time of recession.
Recession for start-ups is infact a Boom time :)

After the Crisis - Parody of Logos

2008-12-11T20:27:00.000-08:00

Check this Link
for more of such newly arraigned companies

SPL - Spjain Premier League

2008-12-11T07:02:00.001-08:00

All Good things they say finally come to an end... and so did the Mega-Cricketing bonanza of SPL (SPJain Premier League) conceptualized and implemented by the students (our lalit modi - Lokesh Daga) with 6 teams battling out in awesome knock-out matches with the girls also throwing their punches in the games .... It was something to watch out for the past 14 days (early morning sessions)Finally it was the Chennai superkings who battled out the finals with the Kolkatta knight riders (Click on the pic below to view)

To note, it was not just the fact that MBAers could also bat & bowl, but also the enthusiasm shown by everyone on the field that was really fun and memorable through-out the tournament.
It was innovation through-out as the gals were also given overs to bowl and bat called super-overs. A few of the gals even ended up as match winners in a few cases :)

Pics : Courtesy Srikanth Kulkarni

The parkinson's Law for an MBA

2008-12-09T10:46:00.000-08:00

The Parkinson's law in IT states :

"Data expands to fill the space available for storage"

the corollary in the life of any Typical MBA would be stated as :

"Idleness expands until it fills all time available"

While most of the out-side world would have been fantasizing about an MBA doing multiple roles with his single hand; solving case studies, attending CEO guest lectures, working on strategic assignments (I love everytime i use the word strategy), preparing Business plans, growth road-map for companies which have long bitten the bankruptcy dust... here is a lil bit of truth from my a typical MBAer.

Unfortunately this is how it works for me :-

The Green Board - Uniquely SP

2008-12-08T08:03:00.000-08:00

In the midst of every renowned institute of education lies a symbol unique not only architecture but of a nature so hallowed that it represents the entire livelihood of the institute, it becomes the life-line and even could be argued during momentary status of inebriation to represent the entire institution.

Harvard for example have their Steps :
(Photo source : flickr )
And here at SPJIMR we have the Green-Board
The ubiquitous communication channel.....which updates itself as frequently as every hour
The Harbinger of all ........ Surprise Quizzes
The instant marketing Board... for all the events that happen at SPJIMR
The notice board...issuing threatening messages to those who err their ways (or score below 2.4).
The flat-screen monitor for everything that happens here at SPJIMR.