Awesome... Sujata !

This one is going to be a certain IIMA memoir for most of us. The prof who taught us Financial Markets, not only helped in developing an intuitive understanding of debt, equity and derivative markets but also connected with us so well, that most reckon her to be more a friend than a teacher. For us, Sujata has re-defined teaching in B Schools. She was simply superb !

As we all gathered this evening, to say thanks to this great teacher, I was awestruck with the amount of love and affection she had won from the class in 6 weeks flat. As she stood listening to people sharing their experiences with her and was receiving souvenirs and good wishes, a simple truth dawned on me. To win the respect and love of people like students and sub-ordinates (who owe no obligation to return favours/say good words) you not only have to be good in what you do (she was amazing in fin fundas - BS(MIT), MBA(IIMA) and great pedagogy), but also have to be a good human being(she was extremely helping, caring and approachable).

Personally, it has been wonderful and gratifying experience with you, Sujata. Your advice has been extremely useful and I hope to find my goal on the path I am choosing.

Till we meet again..... Adieu.

PGPX Selectivity among the top international programs

Yeah, that's right. Sample this information. First graduating class with 60 students out of 730 applicants, a selectivity of 8.22%. The current class with 72 out of 849 applicants has a selectivity of 8.48%. Looking at Business Week information on US Ivy league schools and European top schools tells us these numbers are actually pretty good, for starters. What IIMA has got right in it's formula is from among the Indian pool of applicants (located around the world) who are more than 27 years old, they are perhaps getting the best. This is also validated by the fact that many in the current class chose PGPX over other admits they had. And yes, the yield (no of people accepting offers to total offers made) is around 85% only next to schools like HBS. We learnt about Segmentation, Target market & Positioning (STP) tools in Marketing classes and PGPX programme itself is a good example for this.

Given IIMA's obsession with low selectivity rates this statistic doesn't come as a surprise. On the diversity factor, US schools have international participants upto 35% in general, hence they are by & large American dominated. However, in European schools (like IMD) no single nationality really dominates. In years to come, as IIMA gets into the global league we would have made some big strides along those lines.

Do catch up on Prof Arvind Sahay's (PGPX Chairman) interview on PagalGuy.

PGPX III - FAQs

Edit log:
1. 6th July
2.19th July (point 7 onwards)
3.11th September (point 10 onwards)

A future aspirant of PGPX came over today and we talked about where (&how) this programme will fit / not fit her requirements. I realised some things are common for all aspirants yet many are personal questions. I would be happy to help any future aspirants in this regard. I may not be able to guarantee immediate responses, but will try to do my best.

I would like to discuss some frequently asked questions and MY responses. I shall update this post with my responses from time to time, as I gather more questions.

Disclaimer: As, I am not connected to Adcom in any way, the opinions expressed here are purely personal. There could be significant differences between mine and adcom's views on certain questions. Please visit the IIMA website for official information.

Q1.What is a safe GMAT score?
Raju: Like all other schools proclaim, I would be tempted to say there is no such thing as safe score. The lowest score in our class has been 640. Having said that, I would imagine IIMA might have a preference for higher GMAT scores. If your profile is normal, a 700 would get you past the initial screening, but may not guarantee admission. Remember the applicant numbers are only going up and hence more is the competition. However, a less than 700 with other good application components will also get you past the initial screening, IMO.

Q2.What is your take on the programme?
Raju: When I have made a choice on pursuing a one year MBA, I was mentally ready for a grueling one year. At IIMA, it gets more intense than you can imagine. Hence term 1 was a rude shock for many of us, but many of us got comfortable with the pace and intensity as we moved on. Hence, I would say, this programme is good for those who can really soak in this sort of academic milieu and are ready to take the best out of it. PGPX perhaps has the most number of contact hours for a one year MBA programme.

Most of the faculty and the peer group are awesome, so learning environment is incredible. I am not discussing placements because that has been great from the very first batch itself.

The target applicant is typically more than 27 years old, has substantial work ex (the last two classes' average work ex has been 9-10 years) with a substantial international work exposure. Comparisons seem to be inevitable with other one year programs (such as with ISB) but I would imagine, there isn't any other programme catering to this segment of applicants in this part of the world. IMD and LBS (Sloan) would perhaps be the competing programmes. The programme has made giant strides already in it's second year, thanks to the preparatory efforts of the insti. It will get more international and diverse in future, IMO.

Q3. Please share some unique profiles from the current class.
Raju: The youngest in the class is 27 and the oldest is 49 (well she says, she is a lot younger mentally!). There a couple of entrepreneurs who I find most interesting (they say they are here to recruit talent for their companies), bankers, Accountants, Civil Servants (IAS, IRS, various others), Defense officers, a scientist and the others. The others have a wide range of experience- a director of an MNC, a VP from a leading BPO and so on (some of the senior profiles), while functionally people have manufacturing, sales & marketing, finance & accounting backgrounds from diverse industries. Almost all the participants have great academic pedigree (& a stellar record) or a successful career or both. Please refer to IIMA website for more details.

Hence, it is obvious that individual objectives and take aways from the programme would be very unique.

Q4. What is the focus of the programme / are there any specializations / electives offered?
Raju: The programme is designed to nurture general managers and hence does not offer specializations. However, there are a wide variety of electives on offer which are really batch specific (supply of faculty that year v/s demand of electives from the class). I also realize some courses like mergers and acquisitions which are electives in other programmes elsewhere, are core courses here, in line with the programme objectives.

Q5. Any dope on placements... how do you go about them?
Raju: All PGPX participants come with unique profiles by virtue of substantial work-ex and so are their aspirations. Hence, placements are customized to meet individual needs and the process is designed to meet this requirement; yet, PGPX pioneering batch could achieve100% placements and individual participant needs were met.

Q6. What are the programme USPs? Why should I choose PGPX over others, assuming it meets my needs?
Raju: The following aspects are compelling to a prospective aspirant.

1. Tough selection standards: IIMA continues to choose the best available from the international pool of applicants. I would encourage future applicants to come over to IIMA for a closer interaction with the class, to get a first hand touch & feel. For details, please contact Manager, PGPX.
   
2. Small class size: This helps in knowing all the class mates and form lasting bonds. Also very good from a networking perspective.
3. Great faculty: Most of the faculty at IIMA is awesome and that IMO has been key contributor in IIMA's success, although not so well recognized. Getting into IIMA as a faculty is tougher than getting in as a student. Surviving here as faculty is even more tougher. The feedback and continuous improvement process (to faculty) is very transparent and an effective process.
4. IIMA alumni Network: Being part of the alumni network of Asia's top B school gets you un-paralleled access to many things you may want in your professional life.
   

Added on 19th July 2007
Q7. My GMAT score is not all that high, but I think my overall work-ex is good. Should I apply?
Raju: A lot of people send me mails / leave comments on the blog with this question. Unfortunately, there is no right answer to this question. But in general, if you think you have a profile that you can show case and think you can bring something unique to class discussions and learning, you should go ahead and apply. However, I doubt if GMAT scores less than 640-650 get a dekho, no matter how good the profile is.

Q7. Lot is said and talked about entrepreneurship these days. What is the climate at IIMA for fostering this?
Raju: Super! There are good support systems such as the incubation center, some profs who are happy to help, you have access to funding bodies and more importantly various clubs and informal associations. We have an entrepreneurship club that not only helps budding entrepreneurs but also actively promotes intrapreneurship.

Q8. Is there any industry interface in addition to academics?
Raju: Pretty much. Business leaders from different industries come and interact with us. Jerry Rao (Founder,Mphasis), Basab Pradhan(Founder Grid stone) Rahul Bhasin (MD, Barings Equity), Pulak Prasad (Ex- MD Warburg Pincus), R Subramaniam (Founder Subhiksha chain), Sanjiv Bhikchandani (Founder Naukri.com) are among few luminaries who have interacted with us this year, so far. It has been a great learning experience listening to them and learning.

Q9. What is the International Immersion Programme (IIP) all about? How is this different from a student exchange programme?
Raju: IIP gives a PGPX participant an opportunity to spend a week at a chosen foreign business school and do a project with an organization in an environment different from the participant's home country. Please visit IIMA website for more details. Whilst the participant gains business insights and develops an understanding of host country's context (cultural and economic). The sponsoring company gains fresh perspectives from experienced and bright B School grads. Moreover the time spent (over a month) would give an opportunity to know the prospective hires and a choice of offering a pre-placement offer (PPO). Thus IMO, IIP is really a hybrid between a student exchange programme and a typical summer internship.

Added on 11th September 2007

Q10. Can you talk about the combination (and %) of teaching modes employed by the PGPX (case study/lecture/group projects)? Would be great if you can also mention the opportunities to interact with the industry (live projects/cases etc.)
Raju: Mostly case method driven. However some courses like Macro Economics were dealt in the lecture mode. In some soft courses role plays, seminar formats are also used.

Q11. Are students expected to be familiar with general management topics or are the subjects covered ground up?
Raju: All subjects are covered ground up. During January, PGPX office will send some prep material to all those admitted for some courses in term 1.

Q12. Given that the PGPX is a recent program, are there opportunities to interact with PGP Alumni body?
Raju: Interactions happen when the alumni visit the campus. It will improve as the programme matures.

Q13. How well (or not) is the program suited to career switchers? In other words, what % of the class typically switches careers?
Raju: By design, I think the programme is not meant for career switchers. People would like to capitalize on what they have done for 10 years. However, switches may happen for younger lot
(<30 style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Q14: The program doesnt require choosing a concentration and emphasizes on general management instead. Does this impact the number and availability of electives?
Raju: Please refer to Q4 on this. There are about 40-50 electives that are/will be offered this year between terms 3 &5, which covers all relevant aspects of a particular area. For example. Fixed income, Advanced Financial Markets etc for people looking Finance focus.

Q15: Can you provide a glimpse of social and professional networking opportunities (clubs, activities etc) available to PGPX students?
Raju:Although all the PGP clubs are open to all Xians, few find time to participate. Networking happens during events like T-nite, Chaos, Insight etc at IIMA. PGPX runs unique clubs like Entrepreneurship, Strategy which have specific needs of experienced participants. Focus of these clubs is to update on industry current affairs, special talks etc.

Q16. Finally, what do you like most about the program, and what do you like least?
Raju: This blog is full of things I like about the programme :)
Awesome faculty, amazing peer group and finally a great culture of IIMA. Things I don't like are a) It's still sarkaari in some areas. Unless the govt. gives a free hand these may not change.

Macro Economic Imperatives for India

When India got it's independence in 1947, lot of things were in dis-array. For instance the low literacy rate (less than 25%), low life expectancy (22 years ! yes that's right) and many other disappointing socio-economic factors. While the population growth during the first 50 years of 20th century has been between 0.5-1%, it has been around 3% in the subsequent 50 years, leaving independent India to manage newer challenges than what British have left us with. 400 years of slavery under disguised merchants (The East India Co.) has made us extremely skeptical about business and capitalism. And of course the soft corner for Russia and the socialist overtunes of independent India's new leadership led to choosing a closed & controlled (by government) economy. It is relevant to mention that the gap between haves and have nots was vast during 1947. Market led economy would NOT have been appropriate for this context, as social resources were not distributed equitably. However, we continued with this model of economy for 45 years before liberalization. The conditioning was so strong that even talking business or investment made us feel guilty and shy. The Hindu rate of growth at 3.5%(GDP growth) was not surprising.

In the backdrop of this context, the progress India made cannot be dismissed as sub-optimal, for sure. Although, we could have done better without the Indian crab syndrome (pulling each other down) and politically motivated unproductive energies in issues like reservations. The vision of our forefathers was legendary, when we are reminded of creations such as Bhakra Nangal dam(Punjab continues to be the most the productive agricultural state), the IITs, IIMs and IISc. Thus, the wealth created in silicon valley owes some of it's allegiance to founding father's of Indian Economy ;) Many other investments in public infrastructure turned out to be world class, although we often discuss the failed stories.

1981 is a year of significant departures for Indian economy. The blueprints for change in policy has taken its zenith. In the subsequent 25 years, India has achieved more than what it had achieved in the previous 40 years, on any parameter such as GDP growth, literacy rate, infant mortality, female empowerment etc.

The imperatives for now, as pronounced by the Economic survey 2006-07, are sustained & inclusive growth and controlled inflation. I have mentioned (in one of my posts on this blog) about contract farming and PPP in infra structure. In the infra structure area, in addition to ports, airports, mass transport systems there is an urgent need to address issues in Energy sector. The Energy Act, 2003 has been a dis-appointment in failing to make an impact in 4 years of it's existence. I have a feeling that the center has been too lax in letting the states get away with delays in framing the rules. Why does even a progressive state like Gujarat move slow in coming up with rules to pave way for wind mill projects in a state having the longest coast line in the country? While Nuclear energy pact with US hangs in suspense, the biggest issues remain- of leakages and of line losses that need to be addressed on priority. Perhaps, dis-investing Transco companies and giving out management control to reputed private sector companies is a good way forward. These bold decisions need political will and unfortunately, the existence of a coalition government and its politics does help our cause.

As, we struggle to put a cap on inflation even as the rupee gains and IT industry sulks, action in novel approaches like large scale contract farming, PPP in infrastructure, Privatizing transcos is the need of the hour. There seems to be a trend or should we still call it a coincidence that the Finance minister, Prime minister and President are all professionals / respected personalities first and politicians next. Directionally we cannot go wrong as long as this continues even as the pace continues to be sluggish.

End of Term 1

It has been over 9 weeks since coming over here. Late night case discussions in syndicate, dozing off in classes and exams loomed large on my term 1 impressions. As the term is nearing its conclusion, we had a dinner organised thanks to Tejbir.

We've got 2 more end terms tomorrow and one take home exam for the weekend. But today's exam has been a disaster for many. I will not go into the details of how some of us screwed up, but suffice to say- it's been a great leveler of sorts.

Term 1 mostly dealt with basic management courses called, Building Blocks in PGPX parlance. Some of the BB courses deal with balance sheets, P&Ls, consolidations, relevant costs, variance analysis, performance analysis, OB, Strategic HRM, Brands, OM, Stats, LP, Micro Eco and others. Mind you the courses themselves are not called by these names. The emphasis has been on group based learning with at least 30-40% credits to group based work in general.


BB continues in term2, which is commencing from the 11th June. I am looking ahead to this weekend, to catch up on sleep and may be watch a movie.

Failure se Failure Tak

"A system designed to succeed, succeeds if it succeeds.

A system designed to fail, fails if it fails to fail."

If you thought I am mad quoting this, you are probably right. However, part of the credit or dis-credit goes to the professor who made me and scores of other PGPX participants go bonkers today.

Well, I must confess that the realms of learning I am experiencing right now in this course(Design of Operations to Meet Demand, if you thot it was about OM, there are surprises!!) is perhaps the best I have ever come across in my life. Nothing short of transformational. Because, the impact is not just in acquiring some knowledge or abilities. Because the impact is not just in training your mind (as many profs at WIMWI insist). It is because, it (the experience) hit us at a level, which could transform our lives, in terms of our thinking, our values and decisions.

The discussion is about failures and what we can make out of them. The context is a case on Toyota Motors in US. The long and short of the story, Toyota has two fundamental choices. a)Allow failures to precipitate and surface, because there is a seed of success that may eventually germinate and grow b) Allow successes as they apparently serve our purposes.

TPS or the Toyota production System deploys JIT and JIT as a system is designed to fail ! A complete contrast to how we have been designing classical systems- design to succeed. But JIT, also has another important element which is the learning organisation. As each failure is allowed to happen, the learning organisation aggressively attacks to solve. The same failures do not repeat. The beauty is in recognising that failures are part of nature. They are all around. So, JIT builds its systems to acknowledge failures and ensures they are systematically overcome.

Classical sytems = designed to succeed; garbage in, garbage out. Fail safe system.

JIT = designed to fail; garbage in, nothing out (meaning the output is stopped, till the failure is remedied). Safe fail system (failure in a controlled environment).

Thus, JIT transcends to the level of being a religion, not just a philosophy.

It is impossible to document my learning in words. But my selfish motive in doing it, is also that when I look back, I can instantly re-collect the class experience.

Awesome !

PGPX, a Disruptive Technology

Joseph Bower & Clayton Christensen's HBR article talks about disruptive technologies.
Consider the evolution of CSP technology in Steel industry to produce thin sheet steel pioneered by Nucor Steel. Also look at the general mushrooming of mini mills producing the low cost steel rods & pipes that have preyed on the large giants and have taken over the segmental market share in a short period of time. In India, we have film stars advertising for the construction grade steel rods (called sariya) of late, which was an unknown phenomenon few years back. Look at Digital photography replacing the film based photography. USB pen drives replacing floppies and may be even CDs.... the list goes on. Every day we watch so many newer technologies taking on giants who thought these small new technologies would never go the full mile.

What is so characteristic about these new 'disruptive technologies'? All of them almost make a modest beginning ie., when they start, they offer less for less. Not so much storage capacity at similar prices in the case of smaller storage devices replacing the bigger ones(5 1/4" v/s 3 1/2"), and hence it does not look very attractive in the beginning. The analogy prof Mukherjee uses to describe them is of a donkey.

New technology = Donkey

So the question is, would you as an organisation bet your money on a donkey taking part in a race along with horses? Would the donkey become horse or better still a cheetah and win the race? If you have the business knack of identifying these prized donkeys, you can add more sting to your portfolio. Bower and Christensen talk about how large sized companies ignore and dismiss the newer technologies that later on prey on them. Call it short sightedness or lack of judgement?

So, as time goes on, donkey-->Horse/cheetah
and then
As we ended the class, normally Prof Mukherjee has the last word. But today, it had to be different, Chibber bhai as usual is thinking either about PGPX or application of hsi learnings from the class room. And bingo ! He wonders if PGPX is a disruptive technology in Global market. Well, the donkey comparison is not so bad, if you have the foresight of what is going to unfold. Prof Mukherjee is sure about where he wants to bet his money on.

We, the Grateful Fools!

"As we stand at the edge of Darkness,
Let our chant fill the void
so people will know

That in the land of the night(read business)
the chariot of sun(read strategy)
is drawn by the grateful dead (read fools)"

says this amazing prof in operations managements (& strategy) and the PGPX class echoes.

Most of us thought we are delving deep into the techniques of project management when we discussed the Boeing case. The famed 767 launch and how Boeing incorporated the changes in it's work in process. The previous case was on how Enercon India believed it has excellent project execution capabilities and the set of actions (or in-actions) that follow. The AON charts and the critical path method steam up class temperature. Just then, the great anti-climax... From OM techniques the class followed the prof in leap frogging into strategy. Or should I say, we started appreciating the seamless boundaries and layers of elements of business - ops, finance and strategy.

In the context of eroding customer confidence in the Wind energy industry post 1994 shakeout, Enercon adopted a strategy of pursuing customer delight. What it meant in reality was using Enercon's core competence (project management abilities) to travel the extra mile and taking decisions which seemed foolish ! well, on the face of it. When you dig in, you realise that, this company actually wanted to build a unique credibility in the Indian market, where the customer invests but does not even bother to visit the site ! Strange it may seem to all us and we call them fools for it defied simple arithmetic of cost-benefit analysis, factoring time value of money. But after the real reason was unravelled, we (better) gave them credit which was due, but did settle another account, acknowledging ourselves as fools, the grateful ones - for some of us had the humility to accept it.

In a spontaneous and resonating moment the class gave an ovation to this prof at the end of the class, as it came out of the trance. You are missing something if you are not here.

PGPX Spouses & Partners

While the husbands (well most of us are) are busy mugging (our lingo for studying.. .ahem!), the spouses group has been really hitting well of as group. The IIMA new campus is a typical site to watch these days. The sprawling lawns in front of CR11 and the shack (which is our hope at 3 am in the nite for a cuppa tea) made a perfect setting for the 20 odd women and their kiddos to have a get together at 11 pm ! While the crowd played antakshari and rejoiced outside, we morons mugged inside our syndicates and star gazed, mera time kab aayega? (longed for the good times).

Being here with my family perhaps has been the best decisions I have made. Contrary to many people telling me that family might be a hindrance to my studies, I found it works the other way round. My family being with me, has been huge source of support and strength. In fact the little time I get to spend with my son, is what I use for recreation. In 3.5 years since he was born, I never spent such quality time with him. That makes me realise, the one year also gives us time and space with family which was dearly missed in the work life rut. I am loving it.

A day in the life of a PGPXian

It has been just over a month and we have lost count of the tests that were administered so far, to check how much have we learned. Interestingly, most of us are asking ourselves- are we here for learning or for grades? This questions gets asked most frequently immediately after a test (or quiz in IIMA parlance) and no prizes for guessing the response! I have just hit my study, after a gruelling day, which also had two quizzes. And as I was pondering over, I thought I shall put down a typical day of a PGPXian (during term 1).

7.30 am Wake up and catch up on news on TV (more used as a radio here) as I get ready.

8.15 am Yap with class mates over breakfast. From business to cribs about food quality, breakfast discussions over a cuppa are amusing - for anything under the sun, PGPX mess is the place.

8.45am - 1.30 pm Three classes with 10-15 min break between each class. In most sessions, we would not realise, how time flew but in few other courses, well.........
Like in any other school, what we learn seems to be directly proportional to quality of Prof's pedagogical prowess.

1.30 pm Lunch and check out what's the agenda for next day. Agree with your study group on how will we structure the prep for next day's class and person specific responsibilities

2.30 pm Quiz (usually surprises). On days when quizzes are not there, study / prep begins

3.30 pm - 9. 30 pm - Self study for next day (with a half hour break in between for dinner). Self study comprises of reading 2-3 cases, each around 15 pages. In addition it would constitute reading concepts / fundas from text books and solving problems on courses like Eco, stats and other Ops. courses. Thus term is part of Building blocks and true to their names, the courses are bombarding me with heavy duty stuff.

9.30 pm onwards: Study group discussions. Depending on the quantum of work load, the end time gets decided. For instance, on days when there is a submission the next day, end time can be 4-.4.30 am !! Else, it would be around 1.30 am to 2 am.

2 am Personal Space. Come back home, check and respond to mails. Catch up on online notes / interesting articles.

2.30 am Try to sleep ;)


Guys, this schedule has been going on for 5 weeks now and on weekends, we are either playing catch up / sleeping.... stories of students repeated year after year, as IIMA script remains largely same. It's time now for me, see you guys here soon. Enjoy your weekend !