BizTrek Meet

The incoming batch of the PGPX programme met at IIMA during the third week of Jan. The meet provided a platform to know our batch mates as well as to interact with the pioneering batch & faculty. The meet was extremely successful in achieving it's objectives. Thanks to the Internet, a significant number of PGPX II participants contributed thoughts / ideas in the run up to the meet. The initiative a voluntary effort by PGPX II batch, was a result of good coordination and high level of (virtual) interaction. The faculty & PGPX I responded to all the questions we had and also shared with us IIMA's core beliefs and philosophies. The interface, in addition to providing a context to developing an understanding on many aspects of our learning & stay has also provided an opportunity to get to know a lot of people and forge new bonds.

A lot of pre-work in addition to of course studying the pre-term course material has been identified as an outcome of the visit. This should hopefully give us a head start in the programme. My maiden trip to Ahmedabad was laced with some wonderful climate. Is January the right time to visit this part of the country? ....may be. In the 24 hours I had spent on the IIMA campus, I would have barely slept for 4 hours. Couple of us from our batch decided to hang around the cafe in new campus and yap after the interaction with profs got over. We closed around 2 pm before we hit the beds. .... if that is any indication of the times to come, the difference being the purpose for keeping awake !!!

I am personally grateful to Girish, Narayana, Krishnan, Viral, Mayank, Prashant and other panel members for spending time despite their tight schedules and patiently taking our enthu loaded questions. But we promise to enrich this package and pass on the legacy of PGPX to the next batch.

Memories of Calcutta

As I enter the last few weeks of our stay in the City of Joy, I reminisce of all my fond memories of this place, professionally and personally.

On the work front, I have stepped up gears in terms of developing an understanding of mechanics of Corporatedom. I have morphed from a nuts & bolts engineer who has worked in different factories into a Business manager, I dare say. Because capital investments need understanding of business drivers and an appreciation of other functional aspects of running a business. And that has precisely been the key backbone of my work life in last two years over here.

On the personal front, this is the first time we have ever lived in a city of this size. And to adjust to living life in fast lane didn't actually take so much time as we thought ! Because Calcutta is a wonderful city, the people are warm, and the city just rocks ! Be it the City center or the Park street or the Rabindra Sadan one can find a wide array of interests from fine arts to discos. My favourite hangouts are Roxy & Marrakesh. If you want to enjoy music & shake your leg a bit nothing can beat Some Place Else. No discussion on Calcutta is complete with out mentioning the restaurants here. The eateries are fabulous (http://www.kolkata-india.com/food/restaurants.html) I being a veggie, never knew Bong cuisine has some fine vegetarian delicacies till I checked out Kewpees, one of the finest desi restaurants I have ever been to. And no other city in India can boast of such heritage, not to forget the innumerable legends such as Mother Teresa, Tagore, Amartya Sen et al who are in some way or other connected to this city.

I wish I can write an Ode to this great City, but I am not a poet. So I just pick my camera and shoot this pic from the window of my office as a memoir of our stay.

Evolution of a Being

I have been reflecting on my past and was attempting to identify the moments and contexts which shaped my evolution. Diversity of people(culture/habits) & of thoughts (thinking process/ideation etc), that I was exposed had a big impact on me. Further, Human Process labs I attended in the past, opened newer windows of receiving the world around us and of self introspection.

As a student when I joined REC Warangal on 21st September 1992, I was a typical 'gult', a next door Telugu/Andhraite. With no offense meant to my origins and to other strong cultural communities in India, I suffered the frog in the well syndrome. For instance, the thought that delicious food can also mean Aloo ke paranthe was like asking someone about civilisations, cities and cars on Mars. From being a student who knew just the mother tongue and maybe one more language, I had grown in to a student who was proficient in three languages and managed one more. I became confident about myself and got arguably the best jobs in my final year at Campus on 24th November 1995. I owe my evolution to all the people around me, from awe to jealousy to admiration- I had a potpourri of feelings watching and learning from them. Thus my respect and admiration for the engineering school I had been, has grown multi fold many years after I passed out. This institution didn't just morphed me into a young man, but more importantly it taught me the importance of being in the RIGHT company. Thank you my Alma mater. I joined the organisation I am working for now and am continuing to work for it fundamentally because I love working with the people around me. I am lucky that I work with some of the most amazing minds in this country. I have no doubts about this. I am not going to put a list of all these illustrious people here but would stop by saying some of them have created a niche for themselves in life. One underlying thread whether at REC or at my work place is People Diversity, diversity of cultures, thoughts and ideas. It's amazing to see what diversity can do to our thinking and evolution, leave alone quality of work and job performance.

During 1998, I took part in a process lab. Here, I discovered an environment where people are forced to shed there baggage & defences and explore each other with open minds. It is an intense session, often sapping people mentally & emotionally. The skill of the moderator is very critical to ensure he/she helps the participants to deal with the aftermath of such labs. Recently I have attended one more such lab during September 2005 organised by Sumedhas (http://www.sumedhas.org/). Very similar experience that lasted for 5 days, 15 hours a day ! The key take away is the how differently we can interact with the world around us and the new discoveries one makes about himself. Both these labs have helped me construct my value system over the years. Nothing short of transformational experience !


So, people around us and the pattern of engagement with them could enable us to discover newer 'I's and offer yet another way of looking at the world. IIMA had & has OD wizards such as Indira Parekh, who I had the privilege of listening to once in the past. To learn from teachers of such calibre on human relationships and personalities would be a dream come true. There is a possibility of she taking some electives : ) I am told.

I am looking forward to more Diversity and deep engagement with a group of well read and mature individuals this year, eager to welcome possibilities ...

Inside a Recruiter's Mind

This week has almost come to an end. Phew ! It has been a tiring week at work with some productive and with some not so productive jobs. The latter part reminds me of the recruitment assignment I was part of, during the week. Much Ado about nothing, actually.

Well, we wanted to pick up some grads for positions in Manufacturing operations. We have already completed our recruitment at the select IITs & NITs. However, we were looking for some lateral profiles in our operations. We shortlisted some II rung B schools for lateral student profiles (around 5 years workex). So, this is all about being in the recruiter's shoes this time. The experience gave some wonderful insights about the interface of lateral students with prospective employers, although I must confess that it ended up in a dis appointing note for us we did not come back with the finds we wanted. Yes we left empty handed.

On the cusp of becoming a student from being a recruiter, I gathered some take ways.

1. What you have done in the past, in terms of WE, especially if you are aspiring for a lateral job has a huge bearing on your future job(s). I am referring to non career switch cases.
2. Having sharp career goals matters. When these goals are backed with some of the decisions you have taken, it reinforces faith in you & your actions.
3. Industry knowledge & awareness of the recruiter's company helps ! Gives an impression that the student is clued up, if not that he belongs to the industry.
4. As a recruiter, if my job is to select a student for a lateral position, my risks are higher. Hence recruitments to positions from middle to senior levels involve multiple level of discussions in some organisations like mine. This may mean senior people being on the campus for recruitment or students travelling to HQs for final rounds of discussions. Clearly, recruiters are looking for more data points.

Thus, for a student aspiring for lateral job, there are some advices-

1. Zero-on your target industry(s) and get going in terms of developing a thorough understanding right from the word go. Yes definitely, from day 1 in a one year programme.
2. Identify your core competencies and develop core & allied competencies to suit market conditions.
3. Give yourself time and space for interaction with your target industry and companies. It could be a seminar / lecture / a project, networking really helps. Work towards getting noticed first and then deploy your skills and competencies to deliver the goods.
4. Be prepared for marathon selection sessions. After all you are not getting back to you first job !

All the best to all the aspiring ones during this recruitment season ! Aah, I forgot to add, these take aways are perhaps part of the more productive side to the week that has gone by.

The India Story

Telecom,Civil aviation and Information technology sectors are babies of great years when economic liberalisation begun. PV Narasimha Rao, the then Indian prime minister, along with our current PM Manmohan Singh started making un-conventional moves towards shaping the economic destiny of India. This provided cheer and excitement and often resulted in debates on lunch tables, coffee shops and college addas. 16 years passed since and honestly no body would have guessed we would have reached thus far. Yet, the irony is there is so much more to do and achieve.... only goes to prove the opportunity for growth that lies in this land of gold. As many experts and eminent personalities have noted, we are doing well on the economic growth front but need to focus on sustaining this growth and make it inclusive. Infrastructure (to sustain and support the growth) and realigning priorities (to achieve equitable distribution of development and wealth) will put India firmly on growth track as envisioned by President Kalam.

Legend has it that, until 16th century India has been land of riches. Successive invaders have thrived on India's natural bounty for over five centuries. India endured it all and has worked her way into modern era, building strengths such as strong democratic set up, robust and transparent financial infra structure and of course a burgeoning intellectual capital. Future probably will make boundaries irrelevant. Common currencies, free trade regimes, fewer visa restrictions, multi cultural and multi racial work places & neighbourhoods may be there than ever before. Technology and Economics will shape the contours of our future and it is for this reason India stands at a terrific advantage. Politically, India has been a peace loving nation(she has never invaded any country ever) and demography wise it will be one of the youngest countries in the world in the future. These factors position India in a situation to leverage the advantages ushered by Technology and Economics.

India might also rank top on the list of paradoxes. With illiteracy, corruption & poverty being key concerns one might wonder why every one wants to go there for business. As India's Union government has rightly identified, unless equitable distribution of growth happens, development and any other form of growth would not help the larger part of India. 70% of the country depends on the agriculture and it hardly contributes to GDP growth. The agrarian practices, access to resources and associated political issues plague the already languishing agricultural sector. The result is often mass exodus to urban centers. Innovative solutions suiting Indian context and sentiments need to be developed to rev up the growth in this sector. Contract farming could be one such solution.

I wonder what does it take to actively push contract farming in India. The model can involve large companies who can afford capital & technology, warehouses/cold-chains, logistical infrastructure and have easy access to markets, to partner with farming community. Farmers lease the land and become key stake holders in the business and may or may not play an active role in day to day operations. Issues such as communication barriers, motivated political interests etc will be challenges to over come. I believe business can be a force that can improve society, people and their lives for ever, if it based on certain values and ethos. Contract farming, if facilitated by suitable policy changes by government, amply supported by collective political will and trusted by farming community could be yet another opportunity for some business houses to enable wealth creation that is owned by large number of stake holders. ITC, Reliance, Tata & Godrej are few companies I reckon who would some day get into this space.

Urban infrastructure such as roads, mass transport system, public works, airports etc needs to go a long way before it can lay claims to be supporting India's economy growth. Bangalore often reminds me of a city which has become a victim of its own growth. Whether it is the time required to reach from one place to another or just the amount of pollution, the city sucks ! On the other hand, projects such as Delhi Metro just prove that well conceived, planned and executed urban development projects(UDP) can change people lives for good. In Delhi, Metro has crashed the travel time of people thereby increasing people productivity, substantially dropped the pollution levels and minimised traffic congestion. I am sure there would be fewer road accidents as well. Public private partnerships could be one approach to creating more and more UDPs such as Delhi Metro.

In the recent past, I have visited Hungary & Poland and was pleasantly surprised by the infra structure in an eastern block country. For the un-initiated, Hungary along with other eastern European countries such as Poland are witnessing a steep economy growth, thanks to its talented demography and low relative wages. Hungary's infrastructure though better than India's, was not ready to support the country's growth, a few years ago. My guide clarified that the country has opened infrastructure to foreign companies for FDI and many projects mushroomed on BOT model over a long term 15-20 years. I saw French & other European infrastructure companies building Stadiums, flyovers, roads etc in Budapest. Believe me its over five years now and both the parties are very happy with the way its is going. I think in the current phase that India is in, this model could be very useful. With massive requirements of investments in infrastructure needed(over $200 billion over next five years, I am told), this could be a synergistic opportunity for both participating companies as well as for India. The tricky part is in getting the right policies and approvals, environment management (no body wants another Singur) and keeping it transparent for general public on matters related to money, time and quality of infrastructure.

I am sure it will be a matter of time before solutions such as above would take shape and get deployed. They are already due, for India desperately needs more equitable wealth distribution and infrastructure that can be billed truly world class tailored to meet India's needs. If great leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and others have freed India from foreign rule, the current generation has an opportunity to free India from ills of poverty, illiteracy & corruption, for good. I can see the action very clearly and here is where I want to belong and lead.

Jai Hind.

Media chases...

Recently a colleague of mine had been to WIMWI for a week to attend an MDP. Out of sheer curiosity I requested him to click some pics for me and he obliged ; )

On another note, media seems to have gone berserk with PGPX. Well, the anxiety and excitement are understandable. However, it seems to turn all the stake holders into nervous wrecks ! Is media management part of the game at IIMA? Well, it seems so.

BS has done another story today. Interestingly the article cites, PGPX chair person saying...
“The batch of 2007-08 is made of participants with vast experience and are as dynamic and eager to lap up new challenges as much as its predecessor batch if not more. The quality of students selected in this batch would easily rate among the best in the world, “ said G Raghuram, chairperson, PGPX.

http://www.business-standard.com/strategist/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=270303&subLeft=8&leftnm=6

On a closing note, I feel quality or success of a programme cannot be measured by one parameter called Placements alone. Unfortunately, it seems in our country (can't comment on others as I have not lived abroad) we are paranoid with fat salaries and foreign jobs. Whether it is placements at IIMs/ISB, junta's single point of interest is how much money is on offer. And media is playing ball. It seems from cricket to B school jobs, our approaches are very similar. Rejoice and hype on first sign of good news ; condemn and write off when the sine wave goes down the trough.

Lets grow up soon!

Random ramblings

Till a couple of weeks back, I was actively researching and probing on various schools as I really wanted to do find the best fit. The leads I opened still keep tricking in information, some times a repeat, sometimes reinforcing a point,but rarely new insights. So I am kinda saturated now with all of this stuff. Nor am I actually enthu to pursue it. Yes in last one month, it has been majorly about PGPX. My sources have been Profs at IIMA, Students- PGPX & PGP, MNC recruiters at IIMA, Competition (ISB, INSEAD, IMD alums) et al. I have realised in the end, I got to decide based on fitment of core aspects and move on. As I always do at work, I summarise-

1. I am keen on working in India in future
2. Not looking for a career switch, infact wanting to leverage my WE bank balance
3. Keen on competency building.
4. Networking

While most of us incl I have decided on going to IIM-A, I suspect few may choose to drop.

We are planning to take a month break between work & academia, to manage the transition. Break reminds me, of the recent short one I had over the long week end around new years. We (I, my wifee and kiddo) had gone to amusement parks, shopped, watched movies and ate out. It was complete fun. In hindsight I realised, it was a small get away but we deprived ourselves of it for a long while now. Feel really good about doing it at last. Will need kilo amperes of such recharges to load myself with full energy for the year ahead !

For the movie buffs: although I may have seen it late, Dhoom 2(a recent Bollywood movie) was perfect eye candy stuff . With Hrithik, Ash & Bipasa flaunting and their toned bodies, the movie was full of glamour and gloss than anything else. Turned out to be the right milieu for some one like me, who was wanting to chillax.

New Year

I would like to wish a happy new year to all my blog readers. May 2007 get you closer to your vision, make your dreams a reality and more importantly endow you with good health.

As for me, 2007 is going to be a defining year in my life. An year when I would perhaps step up gears, professionally. From functional to business, from ignorance to knowledge, from being an engineer to becoming a leader, and from current to future !

All my formal education in life was over, before I was 22, and hence this is the first time I am seeking education by own will and choice, you know what I mean ; )

Learning at IIM-A was an un-imagined proposition and I am eager to interact & learn from the class of 2008. This is to wish each of the other 79 class mates of mine a glorious year ahead. Amen.