Jam & Jazz @ Chicago

me: Good Morning Mam.
She(receptionist): Good morning. How may I help you?
me: I am hear for an interview with XLRI business school of India. Could you... (cut short)
she: Catch the elevator on your right, go to third floor and you'll find the place.
me: Oh thanks!
she: And yes, All the Best to you!
me: Thanks mam.


It was 12:30hrs on Saturday, 21st March at Loyola Business School, Chicago when I sat down for a tea and informal chat with my interviewers. My interview for XLRI was scheduled at 13:20hrs. I had reached there early and, with great hospitality, called in for a tea and general chat (an ‘Adda’ in bong terms) with my interviewers themselves. At 13:20 I was in the interview room for my 17 min interview with the same people. Well what a relief, I had already broken the ice during the chat. Interview was a breeze. My gut feeling said I had 80-90% chance.

Gaurav was patiently waiting outside when I came out. He had a smiling face. I wished him the best (it did work) and rushed to the Subway for my brunch. It was the first time in Chicago and my friend from Univ of Notre Dame was waiting in a coffee shop a couple of streets across to take me around. We chilled around for sometime in downtown, drove down to a fish shop to buy some Bangladeshi frozen fish, walked in the bone-shivering winds on the banks of Lake Michigan, had a bird’s eye-view of Chicago from the 94th floor of the Hancock Observatory, debated on spending the night at a Jazz club (Chicago is also known for its Jazz music) but time concerns didn’t allow and then drove again to Notre Dame Univ. over the night. Yes, Mendoza School of Business in Notre Dame was on my applications list initially, but at last I did not apply for various reasons. Its one of the most beautiful campuses I’ve seen till now, but am sure XLRI’s would be more stimulating.

Given below is a chart showing the number of students in the GMP 2010 batch as of data collected till May 29, 2009. We have 10 from USA and it’s not the final count. Come to think of it, XLRI conducted a face to face interview at an international location to pull in around 14% of the batch. The school’s mgmt insisted on a personal interview instead of a telephonic one, which goes a long way to show its seriousness for the GMP programme. Moreover personal interviews I believe help avoid mistakes during a selection process for both parties at the interview table, unlike telephonic calls.
In my mind only IIM A & C conduct personal interviews in international locations. Said that, Mendoza is off my mind now….. XLRI is in!

XLRI Campus Pics - Courtesy Sairam Iyer (Class of 2009)

My Bumpy ride to XLRI.

“You have some good ideas of strategy & planning in Healthcare”, said the faculty member. Now it was the turn of the hyper-charged, fresh-bred ALUMNUS. He was a bundle of androgens (contrary to adrenaline) desperate to prove to everyone that he too was a bull.
“Your story doesn’t hold well with our scheme of things”, he said.
“Story? what story? I’m not here to recite bed-time stories to you, ask your mom to do that”.
He: “You don’t seem to have a plan to do MBA; I mean, the sequence of events in your STORY do not fit in perfectly.”
Me (still thinking): “I thought that this would be about my confidence, the ability to make judgements & decisions & not about proving that I am here for MBA.”
He: “Do you drink or smoke?”
Me: ”No”.
He: “How are you going to gel with the young crowd on the campus?”
Me: “I am sure that the other 599 candidates would be better than me & it would be a good opportunity for me to learn from them.” But in my mind I am thanking my stars that I haven’t been asked for my HIV status (which is negative by the way) like they do at White mischief holidays & at Osho’s den.
I knew that my hopes of getting through had been cut-short by a hyper-charged nuvo-manager with little control on his hormones.
The one before this was even better in many ways: There was this senior faculty member who kept cutting me short whenever I initiated a sentence.” That’s a façade”, a friend told me. “So, am I supposed to continue to blurt whatever I started with or should I first give him a counter-argument or should I just keep shut like a school boy having been cut-short by his teacher? ” I don’t know the answer till date.
Here too there was an ALUMNUS who was a pain in the wrong place. “You’ll end up with surgery on day one doctor, it’s not easy”, he said. “Who’s afraid of surgery on day one or a task on day one, if you meant that”, I thought again. (By now you can see, how thoughtful I am). He would have known if he was on my operating table. After all, it is only a matter of which side of the table you’re on, isn’t it?
Number 3 has always been lucky for me.There are no airs about the place. No receptionist to receive you or test your English early in the morning. The faculty arrives well after I do. They smile & greet me on their way in. I am still thinking & waiting for the dreaded BULL, even though the experiences shared on the net told me that there are no alumni in this one.
“What is Capital account convertibility?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know.”
I told them everything about the things that I knew & nothing about the things that I didn’t. I would be joining the Institute shortly, happy that I am among people that I am used to—senior & “drenched in knowledge” faculty members as in Medical colleges, who chose you for what you know & not on what you're not expected to at that stage.
I hope that at the end of it all they don’t have to justify their decision to select me, to the rest of the Institute.
Do we have BULLS amongst us?
Pallav.

XLRI GMP '09 Profile

This is the Profile of Class of 2009. Watch this space for class of 2010, after the program starts  - 12th June.

XLRI GMP '09 Profile

View more OpenOffice presentations from ranjeet_xlri.

Election 09 Results analysis by a group of GMPians.

Yogesh : Disappointing results for BJP in M.P., U.P., Rajasthan, Maharashtra. But its good that RJD, Left have not got enough seats to decide the future of government. How come public is still ready to elect Congress even after so many terrorist attacks?

Only good thing is there will not be a hung parliament.

Dr Milind : I am of the same opinion as yours, Yogesh. This result is not the one we expected but public is at fault-only 45-50% voter turnout. Shamelessly they availed the holiday to have a long weekend vacation.

Of course fortune is still with us and so a single party with majority has avoided a big chunk of horse trading thereafter. Congress may not be the right choice for the country at the moment but positively the markets are going to rise or further collapse is avoided. Imagine a unstable situation would have done such a lot of harm to economy.

 Hope for the best. Terrorism may get curbed automatically owing to the present aggression of pakistan on the talibans.

Soumya : I think this election result is a very good one.

1. There will be no horse trade. I mean very less.

2. Congress doesn't have to do anything with terrorist attack. I think it's intelligence failure and security lapse

3.Among all parties congress has more young leaders and more knowledgeable candidates. Wouldn't like to see communal violence again. BJP made a serious mistake by inducting Modi as alternate PM. Chandan Mitra admitted this.

I would love to see Rahul Gandhi as PM soon. I have to get my voter id card done soon so that I can cast my vote next time for the first time. See the reaction of market on monday. I think some one like Manmohan singh would be ideal choice for current economic situation.I am sure foreign countries will welcome this.

I dont support congress in my state because they didn't do anything but support congress govt at center.Atleast  a nationalist party came to power not some one line Mayawati..Uff nightmare...

Ranjay : Although i am supporter of BJP, but i am happy wid result outcome

 1) This time Junta voted for development, look at Bihar, AP, Delhi, Chhatisgarh development speaking its own language and its being paid off to ruling party

2) This time more than 75 % seats are with national party, so ppl kept national intrest up over regional interest.

3) Left is no where in picture - This thing will definitely give a good boost to economy and market. I think they got gud treatment fr there opportunistic behaviour. 

4) Changes in UP, WB and Kerla were unprecedented, but its gud. God knws who like to rule by ppl like Mayawati and Mulayam.

Parth : AWESOME RESULTS !!

I am apolitical most of the time and hardly take sides Cong/BJP, but stability wise, i guess this is the best result, either BJP sweep or Cong sweep was the need of the hour as during recessionary times, a political stability was very much needed for india's growth engine to continue.

Also not let third/fourth front dominate the horse trade was also the need of the hour.

Markets will react extremely positively on this and the kind of euphoria in the stocks will continue for some time.

All the projections of india/china kick starting the growth demand during the recessionary period, will it seem, are on track, as india had a question mark of supplementing growth with political stability, but it seems we have a good one year ahead of us.

Kailash : Good results for us as the most important thing required for economic recovery is political stability.Either a congress or a BJP sweep was best for us  and we have got one.It is best that the Left and Mayawati are left behind.I hope even Mulayam is also kept out of the government.

Let us hope it augurs well for us as far as the economy goes. With a great representation from the youth, we expect to have better governance. About the BJP, it will have to rehink some of its agendas if it needs to hit back and prove a good opposition and more importantly seek a second generation of leaders.

Anshuman : Historic results!! Good omen for crucial year ahead!!

Dr Pallav: If one analyses the micro aspects of this election,there's even more to cheer about--people from the most backward areas of U.P & Bihar were seen saying that their vote goes to the party who develops industry & infrastructure in their region.If this section of population is rising above caste politics & voting for development & prosperity,it's a good sign of things to come.

It is also heartening to see that people have rewarded a sincere person like Rahul Gandhi,who did make an honest attempt at knowing the people at the grassroot level.probably,an indicator that honest politics has a place in the long term.

Thirdly, performers have been rewarded, be it Nitish Kumar,Naveen Patnaik, Shivraj Singh Chauhan,Sheila Dixit or Manmohan Singh. According to stats available all 106 districts where NREGA was implemented have voted congress candidates to the parliament. This would, hopefully be a signal to the other CMs to perform if they want to retain power in their respective elections.

(on a lighter note) What is ridiculous is,however,that this government is coming up with certain drastic reforms:

1) No jokes allowed on surds.

2) The clock will never strike 12-- after 11 there'll be 1.

3) Changing the national anthem to "singh is king".

Kuntal : So at last Manmohan is taking decision on his own :) :) :)

Punit : I think that these elections have delivered a very positive result i.e. emergence of National Level Parties in the Parliament. Further it has also wiped off one big myth that poor people in Bihar and UP do not intelligent enough to cast their votes effectively. Inspite of very low electorate voting (as low as 30% in some areas) opportunist spoiler politicians viz. Mayawati, Ram Vilas Paswan, etc have been shown the door.

Lets all wish that with a safe numbers in the Paliament UPA will go full blast to energise our economy and our standing in the World.

Pranit : Barring the politicians and parties, I see it as a mandate for Economic Reforms. With communists shrinking to a dismal number, there is a lot in cards for new government. 

Some of the major areas where we can see the changes, 

1) Disinvestment in the large govt-owned oil-companies, 2) Banking Sector opening up for Foreign Banks 3) More Foreign Colleges setting up new campus in Education-sector and 4) More activities in telecom with 3Gs and other reforms planned. 

The clear mandate is an opportunity for Manmohan Singh to realize all the dreams that he had shown to Corporate India as the first reformist Finance Minister. 

It should be now or never for him. 

Apart from that it will be nice to see other experts getting inducted in cabinet. Shashi Tharoor, Montek Singh, Chidambram are few of the names that can be at the helm of the things in new formation.

So things should be falling in place and hope to see a stronger Indian Economy next year the time when we leave XL-campus. 

Durgesh : My take on election results 

Its a vote for stability. 

None of the exit polls / surveys expected such a clear majority for UPA. In my opinion, Congress has really worked hard in these elections (not necessarily during their term) and it is reflecting in the number of seats. They went alone in Bihar and UP. Bihar was a gamble and it paid off. congress couldn't win seats but going alone was destructive enough for Lalu/Paswan and Nithish had a clean sweep. UP was a totally different story. I  think it was a combination of some great campaigning done by the Gandhi family and few blunders by SP. Going with Kalyan Singh, The whole Aazam khan episode were few reasons why they lost their traditional vote-bank (muslims) to congress. Going alone in these states wasn't an emotional aggression just because the allies (Lalu/paswan in Binar and Mulayam in UP) were offering an embarrassing  number of seats to congress. Look what happened in West Bengal. Mamta didn't give lot of seats to Congress, but Congress took it. I think they knew that Mamta is going to have a blast in WB. Coming to Trinmul Congress, I'm not very happy for their win. People in WB were not happy with Left and its age old policies and they jumped on the next available option. But after what Trinmul has done in Singur and Nandigram, I think the fate of state will be "aasman se gira, khajoor mien atka" 

Coming to BJP.  Utterly confused in this election, they had no idea where/why they are going. Varun Gandhi strategy (if at all it was a strategy) was a big setback. Although Varun won, but Pilibhit was a BJP stronghold anyway. They didn't had to resort to such means. All it did was to take away some votes from urban middle/upper class votes in other parts of the country, specially Metros. And Above all What can i say for Mr L K Advani. The poor guy is still confused. What is the meaning of "sanyas" at this stage. Sir, if you think you are too old for "Leader of opposition", what were you thinking while projecting yourself as "PM in waiting". As BJP had no real issues this time, they came up with the "good old" Hindutva and few personal attacks on Manmoham and Congress. 

Having said that, I'm a BJP supporter and I think they need to go back, do a lot of introspection, create a solid second line of leaders and Please stop chanting "ram ka naam" 

Soumya : First time in my sense I heard market trading halted because it touched the upper circuit. Trading was halted in past because of heavy selling but halted because of heavy buying, I saw for the first time. Good reason to cheer

Kailash: I think one of the major reasons why the congress did well was its ability to enthuse the young voters to vote for it.Rahul Gandhi was projected as a honest leader and a youth Icon not too intrested in a cabinet berth.Whether it is true or it is a strategy; either way it worked for them.Also the fact that for the first time Congress was projected as the victim( of personal attacks, of Left policies, of being cornered by the fourth front, NCP in Maharashtra). THis also led to the Congress for the frst time sweeping the urban middle class; the supposed bastion of the BJP.

I wish they are able to further build upon on this positive mandate and carry out good reforms in the economic as well as other fronts. Their ability to do so will determine the future of Indian politics and India as a whole.

As for in Maharashtra it was not a win for the Congress but a divison in the so called Marathi votes, a large chunk of them  went to the MNS leading to the loss of the BJP-SS. It has to be seen how the political equations change for the Assembly elections of Maharashtra which are round the corner in September 2009.Talks of NCP-SS combine as well as BJP MNS combine are already doing the rounds.

About the market reaction , it has been wonderful. Trading has been stopped at the upper circuit due to great hopes of reforms in the industry as well as the PSUs. Good news for us.

Sunil: Congress won, because of bad marketing  by BJP ( to use management parlance- its Brand communication and USP were not well engraved in the mind of consumer)

BJP could not shed its communal clothes courtesy Varun Gandhi, it could not project its governance agenda ( do u know it a vibrant well considered ideology) as all ads portrayed Advani as saviour- they did not communicate their strategy- the robust intellectual team he has.

they did not communicate the mis governance( shivraj patil & paswan ) and

most importantly loss of opportunity with a UPA government ( we could have solved Kashmir issue now- Pakistan is on its knees )

thankfully with left parties out of ruling coalition- actual governance agenda of Congress will be visible for us.

how much intellectually stimulating and long term it is , lets us see-- but manmohan, chidambaram and montek singh should show there colours now.

A stable government without CPI/SP would be a big plus.........focus on governance now.

congress as such is pro rural (employment guarantee/ loan waiver schemes) and less urban focussed.

but a mandate is a mandatee :)

we deserve the government we vote for :D

and fortunately for us the economic recovery in India would be faster now

Punit : With the elections behind us and market witnessing two circuit breakers inspite of negative cues from the global market I think people of India have now started seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

With this mandate I sincerely hope that leaders of UPA would take economic reforms to the next platform and make our tiger more powerful than the dragon.

Since I was in UP at the time of elections it was great witnessing people casting their vote cutting across religious and caste considerations. UP also saw decimation of muscle politicians. It would have been great if Varun Gandhi had lost this elections as it was very unpalatable for a young and educated youth of the country to make such utterances which could have fueled relgious sentiments and destabilized the country.

One more push is required to get this country rid of corrupt politicians and then we can expect India to be the Golden Bird once again.

And Final Comment from Yogesh : sensex is already up; 14 K+ crossed. good sign for us :)

On 9th of May, Anshuman and me went to XLRI campus to meet students of passing out batch. Anshuman has covered our visit very well in his post. I would like to add few more things which I felt should be shared with all.

Firstly, students in the passing out batch suggested an oversight committee to monitor the performance of place comm. and the oversight committee should act as first mover in suggesting any change that needs to be made in place comm. if necessary.

Secondly, students in the passing out batch suggested to take time to get to know each other before selecting place comm. members. They emphasized that the place comm. members should be dynamic, resourceful and ready to take extra responsibility over and above their academic workload.

Third point they mentioned was that we should have a forum where students from different industries can share their experience, opportunities and challenges they face, and make others informed on different aspects of their respective industries through presentation, speech etc. . I believe we need to take this up very seriously as it is this unique learning opportunity from peers that make MBA from good B-school a special one.

Chalo guys we will meet at XL on12th. Wish you all a smooth journey to XL.

Conference of International Association of Jesuits Business Schools

For the first time, XLRI, Jamshedpur is hosting conference of International Association of Jesuits Business Schools. 100 delegates from 80 Bschools are expected to participate in this conclave. Here is link from Telegraph. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090513/jsp/jharkhand/story_10954497.jsp

Meeting with XLRI GMP 08-09 on convocation day

Saikat Das and I visited Jamshedpur on 09th May, Saturday which coincided with Convocation ceremony of current batch. I was happily surprised with Sunil Bansal’s invite for attending convocation ceremony. We reached around 11:30 am to Fr. Prabhu Hall where convocation ceremony was going on. Chief guest for convocation ceremony was Mr. Shubhendu Amitabh, Head corporate affairs and development. http://www.adityabirla.com/the_group/corp_affrs_devl_cell.htm The ceremony was attended by graduates, their families, staff and faculty members.

Kunal, current student addressed on behalf of students regarding his experiences of GMP at XL. During the whole session photography and video recording was on full swing. Nobody wanted to miss any shot. The ceremony ended with National Anthem. Students congratulated each other and extended round of photo session began. While all this was going on, saikat and I went for a stroll around the campus recalling our interview that was held in Centre for small enterprises. We returned after a while to Learning Centre where we congratulated graduates and accompanied Sandeep Vadnere and Sairam Iyer to GMP Hostel. I began asking Sairam with his experiences of ET 1000 ideas and topic soon shifted to current placements.

Because of recession, XL admins have allowed current batch to stay for more time till 31st may to give shape to ongoing placements. 2-3 months back, Placement committee was reorganized with different faces to give impetus to placement process of remaining people. It’s a war like situation and students are not leaving any stone unturned. Lot of interviews has happened in last few weeks and many more are planned. Placements have been made very flexible. Interviews are happening over telephone, video conference and in person. Students are travelling to company premises for interviews.
While we were talking with Sandeep and Sairam, Ranjit who is part of place com joined us. Students were looking relaxed perhaps it was because of convocation effect. There was humor and joy in air. Soon, Sunil Bansal joined us and we proceeded to join student Ambassador Committee members over lunch. Our meeting with Siva, Sai meera and Sunil Bansal, all student ambassadors started at 1:30 pm and to our disbelief it lasted for 4 hours.
Canteen: This was second time I had food in GMP Dining hall and food has been very good on both occasions. I got to know from Siva that they one of the students was overseeing Canteen operations .He has done tremendous job in quality control, menu preparation and because of his negotiation skills, he managed to cut down the mess bill by Rs 10,000 per person and also got waiver of fees during 3 weeks of international immersion. Current batch has suggested for a similar approach where we can achieve the same results by having one or two folks in charge of canteen coordination.
Exams: They informed us that XL admins are considering to reduce contact hours. Classes start at 8:30am and end at 7:30 pm with lunch and other breaks in between. Because of stringent deadlines, it has been very challenging for students to involve in lot of activities, and thus prioritization, time management skills are very important for the group. Exam pattern tend to vary from one prof to the other. Overall, GMP students are considered to be one difficult group to be taught. Profs and schedule for our batch is currently geting worked on.

Most important thing, if whole batch comes together on an issue, then things could be waived, altered, added or deleted from the program. Hence students play a very vital role in what they get.
Town Vists:Students were funded by XLRI to travel different cities in India to give presentations to companies and network with XL alumni with sole purpose to establishing GMP brand recognition among corporate and influencing them to recruit from GMP batch. Siva, Sai, Sunil strongly suggested continuing this initiative.
Initiatives: This batch was double the size of the previous one and started new initiatives and they have asked us to continue those to carry forward the legacy. They have suggested to form Clubs, groups within 1 month.
Newsletter: One newsletter was published but due to paucity of time and divided focus on other activities, this could not be continued on periodic basis. Batch has asked to publish achievements and activities in form of Newsletter on quarterly basis and share it through various channels to spread GMP happenings.
CEO Visit: Only one CEO visit could be organized. This was huge success. The CEO happened to come because of one of the current student’s initiative. They have asked to use XL contacts and our own contacts to continue this tradition and organize 3-4 CXO visits in coming year. This will help create awareness about batch which will ultimately help in placements.
Student Ambassador Club is writing a hand over document highlighting dos and don’ts, initiatives etc.
TV Room and Disc floor: There is a TV room which has become an IPL adda these days and part of Dining hall is converted into a Disc Floor from time to time.
Press and publicity: It’s very important to build linkage with Press (ET, Business Standard, Hindu Business line etc) for GMP brand creation. They have strongly asked to send feeds to press on a periodic basis. First one could start with “MBBS to MBA: New batch of GMP starts with five docs in batch.

Brochure team: there is a brochure team which decides content of placement brochure and get it published.
International Immersion: Those who have not been abroad should participate in it as it would be an enriching experience. 3 weeks program is devised by Host university. Projects and industry assignments are organized by host university. Overall it’s a nice break from hectic schedule.
2yr and 1yr Interaction
There have been fewer opportunities to interact with 2 yr program but some GMP students have participated in clubs such as MAXI, etc. There is an impression that XL has not tried to create platforms for students to interact on a formal basis. Both programs are separated on an extreme end of 180 degrees.

Bschool case competitions: Students could not participate because of academic schedule.
Outbound trip organized by Tata Adventure Foundation led by legendary Bechandri pal. Student did Water Rafting, Rock Climbing etc.
Not to miss in Jsr: A dozen of Tata factories and establishments are in JSR. One should not miss opportunity to visit them and experience the shop floor etc. This is especially true for students with IT background. Visits such as one to see Uranium mines should not be missed.
Generally students don’t take HR subjects and min 20 students are needed for a course to be conducted. Students believed subjects such as Strategic HRM is an excellent course.
Placement committee: Student s from placecom and student ambassador clubs have suggested to have dedicated and strong placement comm. GMP Dean suggests forming the placecom by Aug but this formation should be delayed till we get right mix of candidates to for placement com. Placement committee is majorly responsible for good or bad placements. It is a very intensive job and requires passion, dynaimism, good communication skills and selfless motivation and strong execution skills to achieve the desired for the whole group. Some of the mistakes such as approaching a company after it has finished recruitment, not targeting SME and startup etc needs to be avoided at all cost. Performance of Placements committee should be judged every 2 months and reelection of members can happen at time. Fresh faces can come into committee or performers can continue to be part of placecom. Placement database and other information will be handed over by outgoing place com to incoming placecom.
I would like to profusely thank Siva, Sunil Bansal, Sai Meera, Sandeep and Sairam for answering all the questions patiently and giving numerous suggestions. Special thanks to Siva for showing us the campus.

XLRI in collaboration with Darden

XLRI signs pact with Darden School of Business, Virginia Univ to promote joint faculty research, case-writing, exchange-programs and licensing of published material.

More details on:

From Univ of Virginia Web

From Financial Express

From Economic Times