The first exchange student on campus is here. Her name is Julie Westbrooks - the ambassador from Melbourne Business School.
Some of us met Julie yesterday. Section F, the section with some gaps, will entertain Julie for the next two months. While chatting with her, we also learnt that she was going to do the IN-STEP program conducted by Infosys for global MBA's.
Each student who is on exchange has an exchange buddy from the current ISB class. I am the buddy for three Paki people from Lahore university of management studies. I just sent them an email yesterday with a small teaser and a welcome note. I hope they get their visa to get here.
Nothing much on campus. A good bunch of people have gone to Ramoji Film City today. We had our first meeting for ELP today. The pace has been set and there is an ocean out there to explore. If we hit the whale at the right spot with the harpoon, then we make a kill, lest the ship will just capsize. Its time to take proper control in rough waters.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Speaker Series on Wednesday
The first day of the term break and I was again crunched for time. The morning started off quite peacefully the Net Impact Club meeting for the CSR conclave that we are planning to conduct in november.
By the time we finished discussions on what needs to be done, it was time to attend a speaker series organized by the Healthcare Club. The CFO of Novartis Pharma was on campus. Yes, it was the CFO of Novartis Pharma worldwide. From his first words, I could guess that he was British. After introducing us to the company and its working, Mr.Peacock went on to answer a number of questions that were very critical to the company's operations in India and other developing countries.
The next speaker for the day was the Chief Competitive Officer from Microsoft - Radhesh Balakrishnan. A excellent speaker, he made sure that we were involved in his talk and prompted us to ask a lot of questions. The primary focus was on how marketing works in microsoft, the different roles played by various people and the competition in the current Indian market and the microsoft has given to the Indian economy. junta asked lot of questions about google, piracy and pricing - all these questions were handled with a lot of depth into the strategy that microsoft was adopting.
By the time we finished discussions on what needs to be done, it was time to attend a speaker series organized by the Healthcare Club. The CFO of Novartis Pharma was on campus. Yes, it was the CFO of Novartis Pharma worldwide. From his first words, I could guess that he was British. After introducing us to the company and its working, Mr.Peacock went on to answer a number of questions that were very critical to the company's operations in India and other developing countries.
The next speaker for the day was the Chief Competitive Officer from Microsoft - Radhesh Balakrishnan. A excellent speaker, he made sure that we were involved in his talk and prompted us to ask a lot of questions. The primary focus was on how marketing works in microsoft, the different roles played by various people and the competition in the current Indian market and the microsoft has given to the Indian economy. junta asked lot of questions about google, piracy and pricing - all these questions were handled with a lot of depth into the strategy that microsoft was adopting.
Third Term Break
its the third term break now. cant believe, we've completed 12 courses in like zap!! this term was much more painful than the last one. the last two weeks have been a killer. in fact, all the assignments that we turned in every week had deadlines on the same day. so, we did management accounting, corporate finance and operations - all at the same time. there have been times when i completed the assignment with my group through the whole night, took the print, dropped the same in the drop box, went for break-fast and then came back to sleep for a while before having to get up for the next class. and you know how, not sleeping is such a bad thing for the whole day. it just spoils everything. the whole system gets screwed up.
now all that is over. this term is comparitively peaceful. but we have PAEV and ELP. both are definitely going to make my life miserable. in the ELP, we are doing a market strategy for a software firm and in the PAEV, we are writing a business plan for stem cell research and cord blood banking. sounds very fundoo and very different for a b-school grad, and thats the reason why i decided to take this, when a batchmate came up with this idea. just wanted to explore a new area.
im ending this post here. just to keep all posts under a word limit. generally, people tend to lose interest when they see a big post. so, i'll split my post and save something for tomorrow.
now all that is over. this term is comparitively peaceful. but we have PAEV and ELP. both are definitely going to make my life miserable. in the ELP, we are doing a market strategy for a software firm and in the PAEV, we are writing a business plan for stem cell research and cord blood banking. sounds very fundoo and very different for a b-school grad, and thats the reason why i decided to take this, when a batchmate came up with this idea. just wanted to explore a new area.
im ending this post here. just to keep all posts under a word limit. generally, people tend to lose interest when they see a big post. so, i'll split my post and save something for tomorrow.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Corporate Finance
One more day and two more exams to go and thats the end of Term-3. While everyone's busy trying to get even with corporate finance lessons, I decided to quickly blog Prof.Bhagwan Chowdhry's words of wisdom to Section-C on the last day of the course.
I've uploaded the video just a while back. So, it might take sometime before it loads from the website. If you cant see it today, then please come back a few days later. The Audio is not that good- blame nokia for that.
I've uploaded the video just a while back. So, it might take sometime before it loads from the website. If you cant see it today, then please come back a few days later. The Audio is not that good- blame nokia for that.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Understand OpMan Better
A big thanks to Rohit Saksena of Section C for having timed this. I cannot imagine how he managed to click this photograph.
For all those people who are not clear of certain operations concepts, this illustration gives you a good understanding.
BEFORE...
WORK IN PROGRESS
AFTER...
STOCK OUT
For all those people who are not clear of certain operations concepts, this illustration gives you a good understanding.
BEFORE...
WORK IN PROGRESS
AFTER...
STOCK OUT
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
I am famous or ...
I was just checking the ISB Website and its got my photo!!!
On Independence Day, we had a case discussion with the co-founder of Virtusa. We were only a select few and we had a great time getting to know more about execution.
More details here
http://www.isb.edu/campussbuzz1/BusinessTechnologyClub_Workshop.html
On Independence Day, we had a case discussion with the co-founder of Virtusa. We were only a select few and we had a great time getting to know more about execution.
More details here
http://www.isb.edu/campussbuzz1/BusinessTechnologyClub_Workshop.html
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Oh-somehow Bin Laid-en
Look what I found about Osama Bin Laden.
OSAMA bin Laden is obsessed with having sex with singer Whitney Houston — according to a woman who claims the terror warlord repeatedly raped her.
And he even thought of killing Whitney's husband Bobby Brown and MARRYING her, poet and novelist Kola Boof says.
Sudanese Boof, 37, says: He told me Whitney was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
He said he had a paramount desire for Whitney, although he claimed music was evil.
Boof, who lives in Los Angeles, claims bin Laden, 49, held her as a sex slave for four months in a hotel in Morocco in 1996.
She says he thought Whitney, 43, was truly Islamic but was brainwashed by US culture.
And she adds: He explained that to possess Whitney he'd make her one of his wives.
Boof makes the claims in her autobiography Diary of a Lost Girl.
OSAMA bin Laden is obsessed with having sex with singer Whitney Houston — according to a woman who claims the terror warlord repeatedly raped her.
And he even thought of killing Whitney's husband Bobby Brown and MARRYING her, poet and novelist Kola Boof says.
Sudanese Boof, 37, says: He told me Whitney was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
He said he had a paramount desire for Whitney, although he claimed music was evil.
Boof, who lives in Los Angeles, claims bin Laden, 49, held her as a sex slave for four months in a hotel in Morocco in 1996.
She says he thought Whitney, 43, was truly Islamic but was brainwashed by US culture.
And she adds: He explained that to possess Whitney he'd make her one of his wives.
Boof makes the claims in her autobiography Diary of a Lost Girl.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Campus Happenings
While I am wasting time at home watching TV and talking to relatives, I found some time to catch up on campus emails and what do I see?
Section C is throwing a party for the section at the Recreation Centre.
Two big assignments and one individual assignment to go. And thats throwing a lot things out of sync.
The Monsoon Fiesta is yet another party that's supposed to happen tomorrow. I usually dont keep track of these party emails. When I was reading one of those Monsoon emails today, I read that its been extended to our Aikya Family as well.
A few batchmates have decided to start the 30+ club. Thats the latest club and perhaps the exciting new club that was ever formed in the history of any business school. The 30+ club will concentrate on career concerns and other issues for ISB Students who are 30+, lets see what happens.
The CEO of Naukri.com was here for a lecture as part of our Entrepreneurial Venture Elective. He spoke to us for about 2 hrs on his experience. Bottomline: If you have the ego and the right network, you can just make it big!!
As projects for the Experiential Learning Program has started coming by, people have started looking for a 5th person in the group and things like that. Everyday, we get atleast three or four emails.
Mr.Mahesh Murthy, the Founder and CEO of Pinstorm is on campus for a talk. Courtesy - EVC Club.
Section C is throwing a party for the section at the Recreation Centre.
Two big assignments and one individual assignment to go. And thats throwing a lot things out of sync.
The Monsoon Fiesta is yet another party that's supposed to happen tomorrow. I usually dont keep track of these party emails. When I was reading one of those Monsoon emails today, I read that its been extended to our Aikya Family as well.
A few batchmates have decided to start the 30+ club. Thats the latest club and perhaps the exciting new club that was ever formed in the history of any business school. The 30+ club will concentrate on career concerns and other issues for ISB Students who are 30+, lets see what happens.
The CEO of Naukri.com was here for a lecture as part of our Entrepreneurial Venture Elective. He spoke to us for about 2 hrs on his experience. Bottomline: If you have the ego and the right network, you can just make it big!!
As projects for the Experiential Learning Program has started coming by, people have started looking for a 5th person in the group and things like that. Everyday, we get atleast three or four emails.
Mr.Mahesh Murthy, the Founder and CEO of Pinstorm is on campus for a talk. Courtesy - EVC Club.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Stock Betas and Throughput
After a long time, a lazy weekend. Yesterday evening, we went to Ohri's. Dont even know where it is. Somewhere in Banjara Hills. Good Ambience, but okay food. Came bac quite late and spent a few sometime with friends in the masquerade party that was happening in the Rec Centre. Today has been yet another jobless day.
But, there is something we can talk about today. A point that my friend Venkat had raised in the isb-pgp yahoogroups. We get a number of emails asking us opinions about the profile of candidates and as the dates are getting close the number of such emails is exponentially rising.
Flashback: When I applied, I didnt even know that such a yahoogroups existed!!! In fact, even after getting admissions, I didnt know. Only a month after coming here, did I know that students and prospects had a yahoogroups running for quite a long time.
So, in effect, I applied to ISB without consulting anyone in ISB. Did not attend an admissions session or talk to people applying with me. I just looked at the website, the course structure, people and decided why not!!! Ok, a lot of people from my college had studied in ISB and were applying evey year. That could be counted as a main reason.
But, I dont understand why people are bothered so much about the opinion they will get from an existing student, about their profile.
If I told you that your profile sucks, will you just stop applying?
Each applicant must be confident about him/herself, the skills each has and what they can contribute to the ISB community. Just by saying "your profile is good and whatever shit that comes along with that" - how does it help. Ultimately, its someone else who screens your application. What if he thinks your application isnt worth it. Would you say "An existing ISB student told me that my profile is excellent".
In fact, for a while, I responded to a number of such emails. But then, this has never stopped.
Its an individual's choice to come to ISB. If someone else influenced your decision to apply for a MBA, there goes your future for a big toss.
And whats stock beta and throughput got to do with all this - well, beta was part of the corporate finance exam I wrote on Saturday. Throughput was in Operations Management. As the journey in ISB goes through the usual winding and testing fast lanes, I decided that such subject lines will help me remember those golden words that any MBA grad can generously use to throw his weight.
But, there is something we can talk about today. A point that my friend Venkat had raised in the isb-pgp yahoogroups. We get a number of emails asking us opinions about the profile of candidates and as the dates are getting close the number of such emails is exponentially rising.
Flashback: When I applied, I didnt even know that such a yahoogroups existed!!! In fact, even after getting admissions, I didnt know. Only a month after coming here, did I know that students and prospects had a yahoogroups running for quite a long time.
So, in effect, I applied to ISB without consulting anyone in ISB. Did not attend an admissions session or talk to people applying with me. I just looked at the website, the course structure, people and decided why not!!! Ok, a lot of people from my college had studied in ISB and were applying evey year. That could be counted as a main reason.
But, I dont understand why people are bothered so much about the opinion they will get from an existing student, about their profile.
If I told you that your profile sucks, will you just stop applying?
Each applicant must be confident about him/herself, the skills each has and what they can contribute to the ISB community. Just by saying "your profile is good and whatever shit that comes along with that" - how does it help. Ultimately, its someone else who screens your application. What if he thinks your application isnt worth it. Would you say "An existing ISB student told me that my profile is excellent".
In fact, for a while, I responded to a number of such emails. But then, this has never stopped.
Its an individual's choice to come to ISB. If someone else influenced your decision to apply for a MBA, there goes your future for a big toss.
And whats stock beta and throughput got to do with all this - well, beta was part of the corporate finance exam I wrote on Saturday. Throughput was in Operations Management. As the journey in ISB goes through the usual winding and testing fast lanes, I decided that such subject lines will help me remember those golden words that any MBA grad can generously use to throw his weight.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Lessons from an Entrepreneur
Sometime back, we had the CEO of TeamLease visiting us to give a lecture on entrepreneurship and his experiences in creating TeamLease.
The talk went on for about 1.45 hrs and no one got up for a break!!! The talk was just great and inspiring.
If you want to read more about the talk, then CLICK HERE.
Our B-School Relations Representative, who is also a great writer, speaker, poet and most importantly, in Section-C, has provided the best possible account of the talk.
The talk went on for about 1.45 hrs and no one got up for a break!!! The talk was just great and inspiring.
If you want to read more about the talk, then CLICK HERE.
Our B-School Relations Representative, who is also a great writer, speaker, poet and most importantly, in Section-C, has provided the best possible account of the talk.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
The Mystery of the Missing Clothes!!!
I have observed this from Day One at ISB. Anything that had to be done, immediately one person creates an Excel Sheet in the common drive and asks the rest of the gang to fill the data. People have been such microsoft fanatics that ever since we've registered on campus, there are 275 excel sheets on the new disk with 45 MegaBytes of Data.
And today, we have a new excel sheet. Guess what is that for - Missing Clothes. Offlate, a lot of people have been missing t-shirts, shirts etc. some say even UG's. Can you believe that!!!
And all this while people were patient. They did not bother about the clothes. They just thought someone wanted to keep their clothes as a souvenior.
But then, the mystery of the missing clothes continued. Being unable to resist this any longer, the student body has created a new excel sheet where people would mention what they lost and what they got in return (sometimes people got other's clothes too).
While going through the list, I found that someone has stolen a section t-shirt belonging to a person from my section. now thats interesting. from a management angle, this can have two strategies - either someone was so frustrated with his/her section t-shirt that he/she decided to steal this person's t-shirt. oh, thats absolute bullshit, ain't it!! Why would someone steal a section t-shirt. Well, in that case, could it be because of the person who was wearing the t-shirt.
The mystery continues.....
And today, we have a new excel sheet. Guess what is that for - Missing Clothes. Offlate, a lot of people have been missing t-shirts, shirts etc. some say even UG's. Can you believe that!!!
And all this while people were patient. They did not bother about the clothes. They just thought someone wanted to keep their clothes as a souvenior.
But then, the mystery of the missing clothes continued. Being unable to resist this any longer, the student body has created a new excel sheet where people would mention what they lost and what they got in return (sometimes people got other's clothes too).
While going through the list, I found that someone has stolen a section t-shirt belonging to a person from my section. now thats interesting. from a management angle, this can have two strategies - either someone was so frustrated with his/her section t-shirt that he/she decided to steal this person's t-shirt. oh, thats absolute bullshit, ain't it!! Why would someone steal a section t-shirt. Well, in that case, could it be because of the person who was wearing the t-shirt.
The mystery continues.....
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Activities on Campus
A lot of activities on campus. The goddamm rain spoilt my weekend. It rained for 36 hrs non stop!!! Bloody hell. whats wrong with this place. And then murphy's law worked on target. I bought the umbrella and you know what happened.
We had the PGP open forum, where a number of student related issues were discussed. One main issue was the behavior of students during the guest lectures. There was a time when people used to ask stupid questions and verbally attack the speaker. This was very unprofessional. In this forum, a code of conduct was put in place. I hope, some of those idiots who behaved that way change soon.
A number of people are putting hazaar enthu and are sending out daily emails to the respective clubs with news items from the market. Media Club and Business Technology Club is doing this everyday. I dont know about other clubs. In Biz Tech, people have segregated into verticals and we also get emails about finance, telecom, IT Process etc.
Consulting Club is doing work big time, perhaps the best of the lot. I think I need to allocate a separate post for them.
Music Club is busy setting up the music room in the recreation centre. Next thing on the roster would be to buy instruments.
Project descriptions for the Experiential Learning Program has come. The first deadline to submit applications was today. We got about 25 projects in the first round. We've got some big names in the industry giving projects. Really big names, I can say.
We had the PGP open forum, where a number of student related issues were discussed. One main issue was the behavior of students during the guest lectures. There was a time when people used to ask stupid questions and verbally attack the speaker. This was very unprofessional. In this forum, a code of conduct was put in place. I hope, some of those idiots who behaved that way change soon.
A number of people are putting hazaar enthu and are sending out daily emails to the respective clubs with news items from the market. Media Club and Business Technology Club is doing this everyday. I dont know about other clubs. In Biz Tech, people have segregated into verticals and we also get emails about finance, telecom, IT Process etc.
Consulting Club is doing work big time, perhaps the best of the lot. I think I need to allocate a separate post for them.
Music Club is busy setting up the music room in the recreation centre. Next thing on the roster would be to buy instruments.
Project descriptions for the Experiential Learning Program has come. The first deadline to submit applications was today. We got about 25 projects in the first round. We've got some big names in the industry giving projects. Really big names, I can say.
Toyota Professor at ISB
Professor Sridhar Seshadri was our Operations Management Prof for the first 5 lectures in Term 3. I don't really remember when the course started, but today, the new Prof has taken charge for the next 5 lectures. Prof.Sridhar has bid farewell to all of us.
Prof.Sridhar introduced us to processes, flow time, flow rate and capacity. During the last five lectures we solved the cookie problem for Kristen, the computer rentals problem for Richard Sarkis, the PCB problem for Ed Plummer and things like that.
A proper mix of qualitative and quantitative aspects was followed. Now, whats going to follow this weekend is the mid-term, which will quantitatively determine our understanding of the last 5 lectures.
Prof.Sridhar introduced us to processes, flow time, flow rate and capacity. During the last five lectures we solved the cookie problem for Kristen, the computer rentals problem for Richard Sarkis, the PCB problem for Ed Plummer and things like that.
A proper mix of qualitative and quantitative aspects was followed. Now, whats going to follow this weekend is the mid-term, which will quantitatively determine our understanding of the last 5 lectures.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Friendship Day
I believe its Friendship Day today and my good friend, Sakar, in Section-C sent this amazing poem to all of us.
==========
Gone are the days..
WhenThe school reopened in June,And we settled in our new desks and benches!
When we queued up in book depot,And got our new books and notes!
When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays,Yet, managed to line up daily for the morning prayers. We learnt writing with slates and pencils, andProgressed To fountain pens and ball pens and then Micro tips!
When we began drawing with crayons and evolved toColor pencils and finally sketch pens!
When we started calculatingfirst with tables and then withClarke's tables and advanced toCalculators and computers!
When we chased one another in thecorridors in Intervals, and returned to the classroomsDrenched in sweat!
When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,Playgrounds,under the trees and even in cycle sheds!
When all the colors in the world,Decorated the campus on the Second Saturdays!
When a single P.T. period in the week's Time Table,Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons!
When cricket was played with writing pads as bats,And Neckties and socks rolled into balls!
When few played "kabadi" and "Kho-Kho" in scorching sun, While others simply played"book cricket" in the Confines of classroom! Of fights but no conspiracies, Of Competitions but seldom jealousy!
When we used to watch Live Cricket telecast, In the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks!
When few rushed at 3:45 to"Conquer" window seats in our School bus!While few others had "Big Fun", "peppermint","kulfi", " milk ice !" and "sharbat !" at 4o Clock!
Gone are the daysOf Sports Day,and the annual School Day ,And the one-month long preparations for them.
Gone are the daysOf the stressful Quarterly,Half Yearly and Annual Exams, And the most enjoyed holidays after them!
Gone are the daysof tenth and twelfth standards, whenWe Spent almost the whole year writing revision tests!We learnt,We enjoyed,We played,We won,We lost,We laughed,We cried,We fought,We thought.With so much fun in them, so many friends,So much experience, all this and more!
Gone are the days When we usedto talk for hours with our friends!Now we don't have time to say a 'Hi'!
Gone are the daysWhen we played games on the road!Now weCode on the road with laptop!
Gone are the daysWhen we saw starsShining at Night!Now we see stars when our code doesn'tWork!
Gone are the dayswhen we even troubledthe girls on the street!now we do have girls around us butstill dont find time to talk to him
Gone are the daysWhen we sat to chat with Friends on grounds!Now we chat in chat rooms.....!
Gone are the daysWhere we studied just to pass!Now we study to save our job!
Gone are the daysWhere we had no money in our pockets and still fun filled on our hearts!!Now we have the atm as well as credit card but with an empty heart!!
Gone are the daysWhere we shouted on the road!Now we don't shout even at home
Gone are the daysWhere we got lectures from all!Now we give lectures to all... like the one I'm doing now....!!
Gone are the daysBut not the memories, which will beLingering in our hearts for ever and ever and Ever and ever and ever .....Gone are the Days.... But still there are lot more Days to come in our Life!!
NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE ,DONT FORGET TOLIVE THE LIFE THAT STILL EXISTS....HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY !!
==========
==========
Gone are the days..
WhenThe school reopened in June,And we settled in our new desks and benches!
When we queued up in book depot,And got our new books and notes!
When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays,Yet, managed to line up daily for the morning prayers. We learnt writing with slates and pencils, andProgressed To fountain pens and ball pens and then Micro tips!
When we began drawing with crayons and evolved toColor pencils and finally sketch pens!
When we started calculatingfirst with tables and then withClarke's tables and advanced toCalculators and computers!
When we chased one another in thecorridors in Intervals, and returned to the classroomsDrenched in sweat!
When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,Playgrounds,under the trees and even in cycle sheds!
When all the colors in the world,Decorated the campus on the Second Saturdays!
When a single P.T. period in the week's Time Table,Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons!
When cricket was played with writing pads as bats,And Neckties and socks rolled into balls!
When few played "kabadi" and "Kho-Kho" in scorching sun, While others simply played"book cricket" in the Confines of classroom! Of fights but no conspiracies, Of Competitions but seldom jealousy!
When we used to watch Live Cricket telecast, In the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks!
When few rushed at 3:45 to"Conquer" window seats in our School bus!While few others had "Big Fun", "peppermint","kulfi", " milk ice !" and "sharbat !" at 4o Clock!
Gone are the daysOf Sports Day,and the annual School Day ,And the one-month long preparations for them.
Gone are the daysOf the stressful Quarterly,Half Yearly and Annual Exams, And the most enjoyed holidays after them!
Gone are the daysof tenth and twelfth standards, whenWe Spent almost the whole year writing revision tests!We learnt,We enjoyed,We played,We won,We lost,We laughed,We cried,We fought,We thought.With so much fun in them, so many friends,So much experience, all this and more!
Gone are the days When we usedto talk for hours with our friends!Now we don't have time to say a 'Hi'!
Gone are the daysWhen we played games on the road!Now weCode on the road with laptop!
Gone are the daysWhen we saw starsShining at Night!Now we see stars when our code doesn'tWork!
Gone are the dayswhen we even troubledthe girls on the street!now we do have girls around us butstill dont find time to talk to him
Gone are the daysWhen we sat to chat with Friends on grounds!Now we chat in chat rooms.....!
Gone are the daysWhere we studied just to pass!Now we study to save our job!
Gone are the daysWhere we had no money in our pockets and still fun filled on our hearts!!Now we have the atm as well as credit card but with an empty heart!!
Gone are the daysWhere we shouted on the road!Now we don't shout even at home
Gone are the daysWhere we got lectures from all!Now we give lectures to all... like the one I'm doing now....!!
Gone are the daysBut not the memories, which will beLingering in our hearts for ever and ever and Ever and ever and ever .....Gone are the Days.... But still there are lot more Days to come in our Life!!
NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE ,DONT FORGET TOLIVE THE LIFE THAT STILL EXISTS....HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY !!
==========
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Leadership Lessons from Shakespeare
Arts and Creativity club started off with a big bang today. The club's speaker series was the blockbuster event for the weekend.
Today's speaker was Rajeshwar Upadhyaya. Rajeshwar is our instructor (I cannot just say instructor, he is a good friend, philosopher and guide) for the Leadership Development Programme at ISB. I have been through a good number of programs like this, but this one has been the best. To simply say, its been fantastic
Here is a summary:
The topic for today was Leadership Lessons from Shakespeare. The talk began with the story of Odysseus and the most beautiful woman the world has ever seen. Thats Helen - The face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Illium. (The story is in the first few paras of the link, if that gives you any incentive to read). The ultimate goal here was to drive concepts of lateral thinking that went into creating the Trojan Horse.
The world itself has gone through a number of paradigm shifts since the rennaissance, industrial revolution and world war. There were various stages like the early agrarian, industrial (newton) and post industrial(einstien). The current day scenario is that you can control your actions and predict things. This takes us somewhere closer to the falsifiability of laws.
Edward Gibbons strongly believes that the Roman Civilization collapsed because of the rise of Christianity.
Then we have the curse on Oedipus
Shakespeare's plays have portrayed characters that are very holistic in nature. They are psychologically astute and have evolved over the course of the play.
Einstien once said "One hour depends on which side of the bathroom door you are", which clearly shows that Time is an experience.
Hamlet - such a well known character, is still very puzzling to many people. Ophelia is driven to insanity, which kind of brings out the fact that suicides are probably accidental, or maybe the character really wanted it.
For a fact, all shakespearean plays show that all male characters alienate the woman in their lives at some point in the play.
Tempest brings out the colonial and post colonial psyche. Prospero is kicked out of the country. In some way, this is similar to India being rules by an MNC called East India Company for 90 yrs. The magic wand in the play is technology. Ariel is India and Caliban is Bharat. MJ Akbar, sometime in the past has written about this dual perspective.
Anthony and Cleopatra talks about the expat behavior in a native country.
Macbeth - mostly european and american is aggressive stance, self fulfilling prophecy. Macbeth has this famous quote - "Fear not, Macbeth; no man that’s born of woman shall ever have power over thee". And when the witches tell him this, at the bottom of his heart, he gets a desire and this state of mind is explained by the state of the forests in the play. This is actually compared to misinterpretation of vital data when Macbeth meets Macduff. Ultimately, we see that overambitious, arrogant people, with hubris and self love fail miserably.
Caesar was a true example of arrogance, self love and narcissism. "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" is a very famous quote. Actually, in Caesar, there was no idealogical reason to murder him. The reason was petty, which finally led to a tragey for Brutus. This is alo remotely connected to the castration complex explained by Freud.
Then we come across different kinds of leaders who are categorised in different levels from 1 to 5. The level 5 leader is full of will and humility. He is nthe people first guy and is very introverted. Level 5 is a post 1995 phenomenon and has been widely talked about in "Good to Great". Another book called the "Clash of Civilizations" talks about alternate views on sustainable leadership.
Also, there are various stages in leadership - Peripeteia, Angulimaal Point (talk to me about this, its very interesting), Anagnorisis (something like the last attempt), then finally death. Now, all this is controlled by the emotional and spiritual quotient. Some key mentions here are Darwin Smith and Patanjali's AshtaangaYoga.
With this and a few questions about the leadership levels, the talk ended.
Today's speaker was Rajeshwar Upadhyaya. Rajeshwar is our instructor (I cannot just say instructor, he is a good friend, philosopher and guide) for the Leadership Development Programme at ISB. I have been through a good number of programs like this, but this one has been the best. To simply say, its been fantastic
Here is a summary:
The topic for today was Leadership Lessons from Shakespeare. The talk began with the story of Odysseus and the most beautiful woman the world has ever seen. Thats Helen - The face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Illium. (The story is in the first few paras of the link, if that gives you any incentive to read). The ultimate goal here was to drive concepts of lateral thinking that went into creating the Trojan Horse.
The world itself has gone through a number of paradigm shifts since the rennaissance, industrial revolution and world war. There were various stages like the early agrarian, industrial (newton) and post industrial(einstien). The current day scenario is that you can control your actions and predict things. This takes us somewhere closer to the falsifiability of laws.
Edward Gibbons strongly believes that the Roman Civilization collapsed because of the rise of Christianity.
Then we have the curse on Oedipus
Shakespeare's plays have portrayed characters that are very holistic in nature. They are psychologically astute and have evolved over the course of the play.
Einstien once said "One hour depends on which side of the bathroom door you are", which clearly shows that Time is an experience.
Hamlet - such a well known character, is still very puzzling to many people. Ophelia is driven to insanity, which kind of brings out the fact that suicides are probably accidental, or maybe the character really wanted it.
For a fact, all shakespearean plays show that all male characters alienate the woman in their lives at some point in the play.
Tempest brings out the colonial and post colonial psyche. Prospero is kicked out of the country. In some way, this is similar to India being rules by an MNC called East India Company for 90 yrs. The magic wand in the play is technology. Ariel is India and Caliban is Bharat. MJ Akbar, sometime in the past has written about this dual perspective.
Anthony and Cleopatra talks about the expat behavior in a native country.
Macbeth - mostly european and american is aggressive stance, self fulfilling prophecy. Macbeth has this famous quote - "Fear not, Macbeth; no man that’s born of woman shall ever have power over thee". And when the witches tell him this, at the bottom of his heart, he gets a desire and this state of mind is explained by the state of the forests in the play. This is actually compared to misinterpretation of vital data when Macbeth meets Macduff. Ultimately, we see that overambitious, arrogant people, with hubris and self love fail miserably.
Caesar was a true example of arrogance, self love and narcissism. "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" is a very famous quote. Actually, in Caesar, there was no idealogical reason to murder him. The reason was petty, which finally led to a tragey for Brutus. This is alo remotely connected to the castration complex explained by Freud.
Then we come across different kinds of leaders who are categorised in different levels from 1 to 5. The level 5 leader is full of will and humility. He is nthe people first guy and is very introverted. Level 5 is a post 1995 phenomenon and has been widely talked about in "Good to Great". Another book called the "Clash of Civilizations" talks about alternate views on sustainable leadership.
Also, there are various stages in leadership - Peripeteia, Angulimaal Point (talk to me about this, its very interesting), Anagnorisis (something like the last attempt), then finally death. Now, all this is controlled by the emotional and spiritual quotient. Some key mentions here are Darwin Smith and Patanjali's AshtaangaYoga.
With this and a few questions about the leadership levels, the talk ended.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
The last weekend and this week
When I come to think of what happened during the last weekend, well, so many things did happen. I just didnt have the time to write all that. On top of all what happened, there were assignments and I was a bit unwell.
Corporate Finance assignment was the best I would say. We were given the Marriott case and were supposed to calculate some beta stuff. I still havent figured out what that means because I was busy doing the Operations Management assignment that was due the same day. During the class, Prof.Chowdhry mentioned a particular method and asked us whether we did that. More than 95% of the class said Yes and raised our hands. Then he said "Engineers put their hands down" and 99% of the raised hands went down. And then he said, "you engineers always do this wrong, every year!!!". Again, finance seems like shooting in the dark.
During the last weekend, we had the Punjabi or Bhangra Party. My section i.e. Section-C hosted the party.
On Saturday, a person dubbed as the B2B Queen visited the ISB to share her thoughts on entrepreneurship. A very inspirational talk for all wannabe entrepreneurs. Btw, the queen's name is Vani Kola. You can google up details about her ventures. Now that google has become a verb, I am trying to use it as extensively as possible.
On Sunday, we had the ACE Quiz, a corporate quiz that was conducted by our own JK (ISB Alum). Delloitte went on to win the wonderful quiz. The even was managed by Net Impact Club at ISB and Asha - Hyderabad Chapter. ISB did not participate in the Quiz - who wants to pay 5000 bucks. Thats one month's food expense in that Sarovar Dining Hall. But still, we participated in the Prelims and two ISB Team topped the prelims (this prelims did not include the corporates). Later, we found out that one of our teams could have made the finals because our top score was well within the cut-off for the corporates. Anyway, we had our fun. I got to answer a question and got a gift voucher for 100 bucks.
On Saturday night, we also managed to screen Panchathanthiram for all the Tamil gang. Though, very few people turned up, we had an amazing time watching the movie inside a lecture theatre with awesome sound. This is what I dont like about any Tamil gang. This happened in BITS also. All the Gults and Choms are together, whatever and whenever. But Tamils - they think too much. And this was also mentioned in a tamil movie - the tamil crab story.
So, that was the re-cap.
Corporate Finance assignment was the best I would say. We were given the Marriott case and were supposed to calculate some beta stuff. I still havent figured out what that means because I was busy doing the Operations Management assignment that was due the same day. During the class, Prof.Chowdhry mentioned a particular method and asked us whether we did that. More than 95% of the class said Yes and raised our hands. Then he said "Engineers put their hands down" and 99% of the raised hands went down. And then he said, "you engineers always do this wrong, every year!!!". Again, finance seems like shooting in the dark.
During the last weekend, we had the Punjabi or Bhangra Party. My section i.e. Section-C hosted the party.
On Saturday, a person dubbed as the B2B Queen visited the ISB to share her thoughts on entrepreneurship. A very inspirational talk for all wannabe entrepreneurs. Btw, the queen's name is Vani Kola. You can google up details about her ventures. Now that google has become a verb, I am trying to use it as extensively as possible.
On Sunday, we had the ACE Quiz, a corporate quiz that was conducted by our own JK (ISB Alum). Delloitte went on to win the wonderful quiz. The even was managed by Net Impact Club at ISB and Asha - Hyderabad Chapter. ISB did not participate in the Quiz - who wants to pay 5000 bucks. Thats one month's food expense in that Sarovar Dining Hall. But still, we participated in the Prelims and two ISB Team topped the prelims (this prelims did not include the corporates). Later, we found out that one of our teams could have made the finals because our top score was well within the cut-off for the corporates. Anyway, we had our fun. I got to answer a question and got a gift voucher for 100 bucks.
On Saturday night, we also managed to screen Panchathanthiram for all the Tamil gang. Though, very few people turned up, we had an amazing time watching the movie inside a lecture theatre with awesome sound. This is what I dont like about any Tamil gang. This happened in BITS also. All the Gults and Choms are together, whatever and whenever. But Tamils - they think too much. And this was also mentioned in a tamil movie - the tamil crab story.
So, that was the re-cap.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Book Review : Direct from Dell
Direct from Dell - written by Catherine Friedman, is about Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Computer Corporation.
I decided to read this book after we had the Dell case in our competitive strategy course. The case literally talked about the success of Dell and nothing much. I became interested in knowing the details behind the success factors. Also, success cannot happen always, there should have been failures, perhaps big ones too, that we don’t know and this was my opportunity to find out all that. So here is my notes about the book.
The book is all about how Michael Dell decided to enter the PC Business by starting his company from a dorm room in the University of Texas with about $1000 and then went on to build an empire worth billions of dollars today.
The initial part of book talks about the history and enormous growth of Dell.
So what made Dell unique on its road to success? MD (let’s call Michael Dell that way for convenience) says that its truly based on taking delegation and making the right decisions – whether it was cutting the middleman or not going public to raised money. MD decided right from the beginning to concentrate on – liquidity, profitability and growth. This formed the basis for any corporate decision that Dell made going forward. Dell also adopted the appropriate “time to market” strategy and this was evident when they came out with the 12 MHz PC at Comdex. MD also hired a bunch of talented managers from various other firms in the industry. This strengthened his internal talent pool, which was just MD himself when he started the company. MD used to say – Inventory has the shelf life of lettuce – and this reflected in his supply chain management strategies. His idea of collaborating with the suppliers from end-to-end was perhaps a key contributor to the Dell Story.
The later part of the book talks about the management approach and how the company shifted focus on staying ahead of competition. So, MD started the Dell Website and allowed customers to order online. There was a two way agenda that focused on customers to – understand their problems and listen to their suggestions, and anticipate their future needs well before time to be ready with just the right product.
The customer focus was routed through 360 degree feedback to employees and stock options called ROIC (expanded as return on invested capital). Employees themselves were actively part of the organizational decisions and policies. This created a system of checks and balances at every level and accountability was perfect.
Towards the end of the book, MD also talks about studying customers more than competition, exploiting competitors’ weaknesses, and virtual integration of businesses.
The book also talks about certain phases in MD’s life when Dell was in the downs. In such instances, MD almost lost hope but then decided to hang on and make a difference.
Let me end this here. I hope I have inspired a few of you to read the book.
I decided to read this book after we had the Dell case in our competitive strategy course. The case literally talked about the success of Dell and nothing much. I became interested in knowing the details behind the success factors. Also, success cannot happen always, there should have been failures, perhaps big ones too, that we don’t know and this was my opportunity to find out all that. So here is my notes about the book.
The book is all about how Michael Dell decided to enter the PC Business by starting his company from a dorm room in the University of Texas with about $1000 and then went on to build an empire worth billions of dollars today.
The initial part of book talks about the history and enormous growth of Dell.
So what made Dell unique on its road to success? MD (let’s call Michael Dell that way for convenience) says that its truly based on taking delegation and making the right decisions – whether it was cutting the middleman or not going public to raised money. MD decided right from the beginning to concentrate on – liquidity, profitability and growth. This formed the basis for any corporate decision that Dell made going forward. Dell also adopted the appropriate “time to market” strategy and this was evident when they came out with the 12 MHz PC at Comdex. MD also hired a bunch of talented managers from various other firms in the industry. This strengthened his internal talent pool, which was just MD himself when he started the company. MD used to say – Inventory has the shelf life of lettuce – and this reflected in his supply chain management strategies. His idea of collaborating with the suppliers from end-to-end was perhaps a key contributor to the Dell Story.
The later part of the book talks about the management approach and how the company shifted focus on staying ahead of competition. So, MD started the Dell Website and allowed customers to order online. There was a two way agenda that focused on customers to – understand their problems and listen to their suggestions, and anticipate their future needs well before time to be ready with just the right product.
The customer focus was routed through 360 degree feedback to employees and stock options called ROIC (expanded as return on invested capital). Employees themselves were actively part of the organizational decisions and policies. This created a system of checks and balances at every level and accountability was perfect.
Towards the end of the book, MD also talks about studying customers more than competition, exploiting competitors’ weaknesses, and virtual integration of businesses.
The book also talks about certain phases in MD’s life when Dell was in the downs. In such instances, MD almost lost hope but then decided to hang on and make a difference.
Let me end this here. I hope I have inspired a few of you to read the book.
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