XLRI GMP Class of 2010 Collaborative Blog

XLRI GMP 2010 Batch's Placment Summary as covered in Media

2010-07-21T09:10:00.000+05:30

Here's XLRI GMP 2010 Batch's Placment Summary as covered in Media

Yahoo News

Financial Express

CoolAvenues

Innovation at Work

2010-07-17T14:19:00.000+05:30

It’s about time that most of us would have joined work. We would have got used to the processes at work and probably even started getting frustrated seeing some of them. We might have even cursed ourselves that how we are a tiny fry in a big organization.

We have also heard the tales of how some organization are innovative and entrepreneurial in nature while others have none of these qualities. People would go all lengths to be part of these organizations. So is innovation restricted to only the likes of Google or 3M. We can delay it into eternity by thinking that our time for making the changes will come when we reach the place of CXO’s.

Alternately we can do something which is being advocated by Robin Sharma in his latest book” Leader without Title” and try to make small but incremental changes in our work place irrespective of our position. Well appears easy but is it difficult to implement?

I found a live example of some one trying innovation from unexpected corner. Every day while going back from office to home, I would face a traffic jam at the Hope farm circle. It is not due to heavy traffic but a specific reason.

All along the square are four lane roads except for the one going to Chanshankara, which is two-lane road. There are no free left turns at the square. Just on the beginning of the road is the assumed bus stop for passengers who wish to board the bus going towards Chanshankara. Since this road remains narrow throughout and has heavy traffic there is no space for making an alternate bus stop ahead of this one. As a result when the buses going towards Chanshankara stop, to take the passengers, traffic behind them going towards Chanshankara comes to an absolute halt, most of the times on the very square itself. So even when the light turns green for the other sides of the square the vehicles cannot move due to blocked square. Many fellow commuters and I have seen this scene, honked in agony and many a times curse the people who travel by bus, as if they had a bus stop choice. The traffic policeman standing there would turn a blind eye to this episode which plays itself many times over in the day.

It is here that I saw an example of ingenuity and leadership at grass root levels. Some of the policeman tried a novel idea. Since shifting the bus stop was not in their power they devised a solution keeping it a “hard constraint”. They started halting the traffic coming from Chanshankara much before the traffic signals equivalent of two buses length from the signal. Under this arrangement the bus would stop at the bus stop at the beginning of the road. However other vehicles would move from the side of the bus, traveling in the opposite lane for a while before they would cross the bus and reach ahead of the bus and follow the normal lane. Incidentally, keeping the traffic light of their side green for an additional 10 seconds compensated the traffic, which was halted much short of traffic signal. Though the solution defies the traffic laws (of moving in your lane), it offers the best solution under the given set of constraints. I was really amused with this simple solution, which was put forward and implemented by just two things – Common sense and a willingness to make a difference.

Lessons for driving car in Bangalore

2010-06-07T22:15:00.000+05:30

With GMP over, we could probably make this blog a part of "cached pages" or make it a melting pot of our experiences in life after GMP.With this in mind:

It is not that I have not experienced the traffic of Bangalore before.But experiencing it while being in the driving seat is a different feeling.Some observations/lessons for driving car in Bangalore based on my learnings from driving my car from Airport road to ITPL-

1. If you thought only small creatures were nimble(And you have not seen the Elephant ad of Accenture),you need to see the Bangalore city buses in action.The drivers will cut your path with such precision,you will bite your nails.

2. While driving in Bangalore on a 4 lane road-2 lane for each side of traffic, drive as indicated in the picture.At many a places where there is a U turn facility available, the vehicles get stuck for a long time as they are unable to turn due to high speed traffic coming from other side.In case you are driving at the outer edge of the road,you will get stuck behind this traffic awaiting U turn.The bus drivers of Bangalore would keep changing lane to at the bus stops,in that case too you will have the best chance to speed up in the gap.

3. Consult for one ways lest you will find yourself running around in circles.There is no scope for consulting while on the move as there is no place where you can get your vehicle to a side and ask for directions.

4. If you are going to some destination in town,find the location of the nearest mall where you can park your car and with that as base use the auto for commuting.There are just no parking slots in Bangalore.

5. Dont feel happy ,if you jumped a traffic light and are not apprehended by the cops.He would have noted your number and will either send the notice home or pass information on the walkie-talkie to the cop at next square.

6. And for each car journey you think of taking,evaluate whether you can avoid that by a combination of daily or monthly bus pass as with the air conditioned volvo..u can avoid driving atleast for office.

Catchy title for XLRI GMP 2010 Graduation Ceremony

2010-05-17T18:07:00.002+05:30

The title says 7 doctors turn managers. We had 6 not 7 doctors in the batch. Anyways here is the link.

INext

XLRI GMP Class of 2010 - The final shot

2010-05-17T17:36:00.002+05:30

Our Graduation ceremony has been covered by Press.

Here are links

Telegraph

tatanagar.com

Jamshedpur, May 12: For a crop of 131 professionals from the corporate world, it was like revisiting their graduation day in college today.

The occasion was XLRI’s graduation ceremony for students of one-year general management programme (GMP) as well as those of executive diploma in human resource management (HRM), which was taught in India and Dubai.

A total of 96 GMP students and 35 HRM students (19 from India and 16 from Dubai) were handed over certificates by Father E. Abraham, the director of XLRI, and chief guest H.M. Nerurkar, the managing director of Tata Steel. Kailash Nandalal Jialdasani bagged the director’s medal this year.

“Those who graduated today are not freshers. They have considerable experience in the corporate sector and had come back to pursue courses here for enhancing their knowledge. I hope these students will step out and add value to their services. The students who are present here are lucky to be in this part of the world as the south east is flourishing with business opportunities,” said Nerurkar.

The GMP programme is meant for middle-level managers. They are primarily from engineering background but their profile is nonetheless diverse — from IT to fashion technology to academics.

Almost all of them had seven years of executive experience when they joined this programme.

This year, the students were sent to four different universities across the world for more exposure.

“Coming back to books was a unique experience, thanks to our families for supporting us. College was good with so many courses, assignments and great professors, who have moulded us to be sharpened managers. We will cherish our stay here forever,” said Anshuman Jaiswal, one of the graduating GMP students.

XLRI officials said the 2010 batch had set a new benchmark with their initiative, resilience and a rare commitment to pursue their dreams.

International Exposure Module for GMP (09-10)

2010-04-16T13:39:00.003+05:30

Here is the summary of International Immersion for GMP 2009-2010 post on XLRI website

http://www.xlri.ac.in/scripts/internationalexpo.php

International immersion was an exciting & enriching experience of XLRI's one year General Management Program (GMP) (2009-10), five groups of students travelled to 5 different geographical locations across the globe – to Chicago and New Orleans in USA, Munster in Germany, Lille in France and Manila in Philippines, showing the emphasis XLRI puts on diverse international experience that its students would bring to the class.

The 3 week long program focused on familiarizing the students with business climate and industrial scenario of their host countries, as well as giving them a chance to execute a project for different organizations there. For example, the group that went to AIM, Manila visited world Head quarters of Asian Development Bank and participated in round table conference on State Owned Enterprises. The group also worked on consulting projects for companies like Cognizant, Jollibee Foods Corporation, Lafarge etc. and helped them in strategy development & developing forecast model.

The team Germany was accompanied by the Dean of GMP program, Dr. Pranabesh Ray. Germany is the home of world's most respected companies like SAP, BMW, addidas, SIEMENS, Deutsche Bank etc. Applying class room teachings, the group developed insight into German manufacturing industry through value chain analysis and studied the corporate strategies of big and medium size companies in Germany.

The Chicago group got an unique opportunity of attending CII Conference headed by Mr. Sam Pitroda (advisor to Prime Minister of India), also present were business leaders from Chicago & India and professional turned academician, Raghuram Rajan (IMF Chief Economist, 2003-2006). Further, the group made a visit to Chicago Board of Trade. The group also made a presentation on "Destination India" day, highlighting the exciting business opportunities & quality of human resources present in India.

The programme for the New Orleans group was hosted by Tulane University. Besides Company projects, students also participated in a strategy simulation game (CAPSIM) where they created and managed virtual companies that competed against each other for 8 simulated years. Students acting as top management of the company took decisions in various management areas of marketing, operations, finance and HR. The group not only completed the simulations successfully but also made it to the global top 10 rankings amongst world's foremost B schools and Corporations who they were playing the game with.

The France team went to IESEG at Lille and did marketing & strategy projects for the world's 4th biggest Home-Improvement Retail company, and visited EU Parliament at Brussels and Paris to interact with local businesses.

According to the Dean, "the international immersion programme not only helps executive GMP students understand the nuances of new economic order but also showcases Indian talent to the world".

Signing off on a winning note

2010-04-15T19:53:00.002+05:30

The Faculty led by Prof Sengupta threw a challenge to GMP batch for a football match.The timing for GMPians could not have been better.With fourth term coming to a fag end, there was little excitement in the routine.GMPians took the challenge.What followed was a break from the late nights and some "Forced" practice sessions in the morning.Sourav Samtani led from the front,even if it meant giving morning wake up calls to the team members.Eventually colleagues used to avoid meeting him at dinner time fearing that he will coax them into a morning session next day.

To pull the rest of the batch to the field,Suraj fired his salvo by his mail...which served both as an invitation and a warning.

Extract reproduced below.

"They were not educated like the learned Romans; Only thing they could read were the ferocious eyes of their opponents. They did not belong to the noble blood, but they tasted blood to entertain the nobility,
When elite Roman studied astronomy and geometry, they learned the language of swords, arrows, dust and blood.
They were the Gladiators ……the entertainers of the elite.
2000 years have passed…………………………but the legend continues,

So as the elite GMPians will busy themselves with books, Some would be fighting for the pride of GMP on the football ground.
They don’t enjoy Grades, they don’t cherish Ranks,
What they enjoy is bruised knees and bleeding elbows.
Coming to cheer them is not the matter of Choice; It is the matter of Guts."

The mail did the trick. With GMPians coming out in big numbers, the stage was set for the big show.

As the Sun dropped a few degrees to welcome a hot evening, the XLRI football field heated up with an excellent football .The standard of play was expectedly high. Faculty team produced a performance in the first half that saw them levelled at 0-0 despite the GMP capturing the ball for 80% of the time. This first half included intense attacks by the GMPians, strong defence and some excellent airborne goalkeeper enabled saves by the faculty team.

Half Time- GMP- 0………………Faculty- 0

On the risk of a little digression, it should be pointed out that the referee was also feeling the intense competitive heat, but made his all time best efforts to keep up with the fast paced game. There were a few controversies regarding referee deciding against giving offside on two occasions but the high voltage drama continued with the right sportsman spirit. It was a fun filled game with spectators from all age groups. Adults, children, extra players and refreshment serving staff all cheered for their favourite side. The huge number of onlookers ensured enormous vocal output. Photographers with their variously sized cameras clicked every detail of the match.

The second half saw the introduction of young blood from the faculty team. These kids were campus residents and threatened complete demolition of the tiring GMPians. It was this half that saw increasing attacks from the faculty team. However GMPians led by their captain drew the first blood and scored two goals in quick successions. GMPians produced their best display in the past few weeks and proved too strong for faculty team, progressing to the final whistle with a couple of goals more. Thus the lead stretched to 4-0 and XLRI GMP team won the match with a BIG-BANG.

End of the match- GMP- 4…………………Faculty- 0

The agility of our professors and staff members showed their fitness and commitment level. The camaraderie amongst players was evident throughout the game and the post match handshakes and appreciation of each others’ game added to the healthy playing atmosphere. XLRI, we would miss so many things related to you and this match would certainly be one amongst them.

Photograph courtesy- Durgesh,Omkar,Hemant and Venkat

Article composed by Pracheesh and Ankit

Branding - The GMP style

2010-04-06T20:27:00.000+05:30

Since the very day, GMPians stepped into XL, they were enthusiastic about strengthening the brand - GMP. The creativity reached its peak when the mail trails started with various slogans to be printed on their T-shirts..... My mail box would have over 200 mails with multiple ideas and suggestions on what should be the design on our 'planned' T-shirts.... We got many many suggestions and some of them are listed below.
"often emulated seldom matched","XLence is everything, rest is IIMaterial or ISBullshit" , "XLence is everything,rest is all IIMaterial", "...neither S nor M, nor it is L... live life in XL...", "it's here... passion n knowledge gel......n together we XL...", "...the confleuence of knowledge brings XLence...", "Live Life XL size", "XLence Rules"
Arguments and counter arguments in favour or against these slogans kept on pouring in our mail boxes. This was just the beginning of a year full of brainstorming sessions for many more things to follow...We started contacting vendors in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata etc but none of them was ready to print 100 odd pieces as it was too less a quantity for a whole seller. I personally contacted over 20 vendors and asked for samples. Few of them responded positively and most of them simply agreed to send samples but never reverted.
We tried to get in some vendors locally but the quality of the fabric was the issue. Finally we got hold of a vendor in Delhi who was ready to deliver us our most awaited sweat shirts with customized design..
But problems didn't shy away from us even now. The extreme fog in northern India kept on delaying the consignment which could reach us only till the end of January. Rest is just history... For remaining days of winter...the favourite color of GMPians was Black and the most number of times I read XLRI - GMP in a fortnight was on the back of GMPians walking around.
Here is the design we finalized....

And the efforts are on to get t-shirts now!!

Cheers,
Hemant

Environmental Markets – The next big thing!

2010-03-29T16:32:00.003+05:30

Business opportunities in the Environmental Markets – This was the theme of talk delivered at XLRI by Dr. Ram Babu, CEO - General Carbon. He has over 35 years of professional experience in the Environmental sector and has worked with institutions like National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, PricewaterhouseCoopers and CantorCO2e.

Dr. Ram’s work in the private sector includes environment impact assessments, environment & energy audits, quality & environment management systems and corporate governance benchmarking. From 1999, Dr. Ram focused on developing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. Ram has participated in setting up many of the systems and processes of the Clean Development Mechanism, which includes development of methodologies, registration of over 50 projects and issuance of over 25 million CERs. Dr.Ram has led some of the early transactions in the compliance and voluntary markets and has been instrumental in developing a variety of carbon finance structures.

Dr. Ram Babu’s visit to XLRI, one of the country’s top notch Business Schools, is part of XLRI’s initiative to impart effectual corporate leadership amongst its students through frequent and periodic interactions with industry experts as part of the CEO Forum. The event was attended by students of General Management Programme(GMP), Business Management and Personnel Management students and faculty.

With consensus finally taking shape around Copenhagen, green technologies and environmental markets offer immense business opportunities in the near future. Dr. Ram Babu in his opening remarks highlighted that in a path breaking paper by the leading economists of the world, the value of services provided by the biosphere have been valued at 1.8 times of Global GNP. With increased focus on climate change and higher commitments of nations under Copenhagen, he opined that the share of Climate balance management Systems/Service in the global GDP would reach a level of 5% by 2020 surpassing the share of IT sector.

He briefly outlined the opportunities in the environmental markets viz., Incentive and market based mechanisms, Open trading under regulations, Self Organized Private deals and Certification and eco labeling of products and services. The market in carbon credits alone is estimated at around 50 billion dollars. Impressed by the keen interest shown by the students of XLRI in becoming partners in tapping this huge opportunity, he offered help in incubating ideas in this domain. Some of the ideas which found favor were investments in improving efficiency in various domains like energy utilities, cold storages, automobile and manufacturing sector etc to generate carbon credits.

The event was very interactive and Dr. Ram Babu answered many questions of students. The questions ranged from the mechanisms under CDM, project financing for carbon credit projects, types of technologies and industries which offer opportunities under carbon credits, etc.

1 year MBA comparisons

2010-03-25T10:53:00.002+05:30

here is link for 1 year MBA Comparisons

Post Admission FAQs

2010-03-23T13:25:00.001+05:30

1. for unmarried students, does XLRI provide a single room or is it on a twin sharing basis?
For unmarried students, the accommodation is a single room with attached bathroom, table, chair, bookshelf, AC, telephone, internet and lightings. The rooms are cleaned daily and there is dedicated housekeeping staff employed by XLRI. You can be assured of a comfortable stay while at XLRI’s GMP residence
2. Do we need to carry an n/w cord with us for the laptop, or is it wireless access to the network?
An n/w cord is always useful. The college is Wi-Fi enabled and each room has a LAN point. Each student is provided with a LAN cord within the first couple of days. To remain connected with the first minute you enter your room, you may carry an n/w with yourself.
3. Are there any shops within or near to the campus to purchase household items?
Jamshedpur is a small city and major shopping centers – Sakchi and Bistupur are about 10 minutes on bike. Within the campus, there a small shop but I don’t think it can handle your grocery requirements. There are a couple of shops just outside the campus gate which should be able to satisfy all your purchase needs including groceries and others.
4. What expenses do we have to budget additionally during our stay?
I understand that food is not included in the fees. Can’t think of any major expenses other than the phone and daily misc spend. You should factor about 50K-1L for the international immersion.
5. Do we need to buy any additional books during the course or are the notes provided by Profs enough?
No additional books need to be bought. They are supplied by the institute. You can choose to carry a few notebooks or you can buy them here.
6. Is there any constraint on the dress code during regular course work?
I hope casuals are okay. During the first term, a professor insists formalwear for managerial communication classes. Otherwise, its casual wear. Formal suites are required for formal gatherings and interviews
7. I understand that hectic would be a small word to describe your schedule, but how often do we get time to interact with student societies? Is there an opportunity to suggest an idea and start your own club?
Students are free to form their own clubs and information exchange committees with GMP peers. GMP has Finance committee, Canteen Committee, Admin committee, Online Group, Toastmasters club and Sports committee. XLRI also has well established clubs encompassing all programs of XLRI, concentration on diverse areas where GMP students are welcome to join. Some examples are: CRESENT (consulting club), Finax (finance association), Maxi(marketing association), Fire@x (Industrial relations & Labour law), SIGMA( social initiative for Managerial assistance) and many more. Information about other clubs is available on XLRI website. Usually, students participate in the events organized by various societies.
8. How often do we have alumni meets or sessions with head honchos? I am asking purely from an n/wing perspective. Such sessions keep happening around the year.
On an average, you can expect to see at least two guest lecturers/CEO forums per quarter. Alumni meets are more planned and happen 1-2 times during the year. There are guest lectures even during regular classes with people from the industry contributing to current topics.
9. Please shed some light on the waitlist conversion ratio . Please convey some inputs on the chances of waiting list candidates and till what number can a waiting list candidate expect for conversion to a final call along with the time frame for the same.
In my batch, I think the waitlist number upto 15 was admitted.
Timelines
you will have to be patient at least till the time admitted guys pay their first installment. Waitlist processing starts only after this date.
11. Do you suggest one should get their own vehicle during their stay in the campus ?
It is highly advisable to get your own vehicle to campus. Jamshedpur is a small city and it increases your mobility within the city and campus. A lot of my batch mates (including me) have their vehicles (car and bike) here on campus. There is ample covered parking area available with the residence blocks. It takes at most 10 mins to walk down to your class from the GMP residence, so even not having a vehicle is not a big deal.
12. Do we have to pay the mess charges in the beginning itself or do we have the option of making monthly payments towards it ?
Mess charges are usually paid along with the installment. We paid 40,000 for annual mess charge. There’s a new cafeteria near the GMP blocks which should also present some decent options!
13. Any suggestions on the preparatory ground work I should do before the course starts ?
The one year at XL is going be quite hectic. You can choose to rest before all the fun (on the run!) begins. If you are keen to start early, you can brush up your skills in Probability, Basic accounting, a little bit of micro and macroeconomics. I suggest you to start following the economic trends and getting used to the terms.

XLRI GMP Placements in Business Standard

2010-03-08T14:11:00.003+05:30

XLRI GMP Placements is covered in Business Standard. Here is the link
Business Standard

XLRI Jamshedpur will conduct its final placement for the one year full time General Management Programme (GMP) at Mumbai from March 3 to 6, 2010 at St Xavier’s College. Companies like Apollo, SAP, TCS, Mahindra Satyam, Tech Mahindra, Biocon, Wipro Infotech, Daimler and few Tata group companies have already visited the campus. Over 25 students have already been made offers that range between Rs 11 lakh and Rs 28 lakh per annum. Soumya Ranjan Mahakul, secretary of the placement committee, says: “The average experience of the batch of 100 students is around 7 years with half of the batch having average international experience of 3 years. The diversity caters various sectors in the market.”

The institute is optimistic of placements this year and expects increased recruitment in all the sectors. Rajiv Misra, chairman placements at XLRI said, “The response from companies is definitely looking better. With economy slowly regaining its steam, companies are looking forward to these MBAs with substantial industry experience to become their growth drivers. This is evident from the upward trend in the number of companies registering for the placements and also salaries offered. For example, the leading Super Specialty hospital chain in the country has made 5 offers to the doctors in the batch.

XLRI GMP Mumbai Placements in Economic Times

2010-02-26T22:49:00.003+05:30

XLRI GMP Mumbai Placements in Economic Times

Reproducing text here

After a gap of a year, Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) will be visiting Mumbai to hold a campus placement week for the students of
its one-year general management programme for working professionals.

Jamshedpur-based XLRI is organising its last leg of placements in Mumbai at St Xavier’s College from March 3 to 6, 2010, and is hopeful that all the students will get placed in four days.

Last year, the institute, known for its programme on personal management, was forced to drop its Mumbai visit due to a lukewarm response from India Inc, which was suffering the effects of the economic slowdown. However, it’s a different story this year. “With the economy changing gears and heightened interest among corporates for hiring, we are visiting Mumbai for final placements,” says associate dean Pranabesh Ray.

Of the batch size of 96 students, 25 students have been placed so far. The placements began in the second week of January. The average salary offered till date is around Rs 15 lakh compared to Rs 13.5 lakh per annum in 2009.

Responses from core sector and information technology companies have picked up this year. Companies in the financial sector too are showing interest. About 15 companies have visited the campus so far. Among them are Apollo, SAP, TCS, Mahindra Satyam, Tech Mahindra, Biocon, Wipro Infotech, Daimler and a few Tata Group companies.

“There is more demand for domain consultants and business development roles in IT companies this year,” says professor Rajiv Misra, chairman, placements. The roles offered are at senior levels like practice lead, assistant VP, directors, general manager, among others. The average experience of the batch is around seven years, and half the batch has an average international work experience of three years.

Tata Steel XLRI Peace Run

2010-02-24T00:03:00.000+05:30

People of Jamshedpur came out in large number to participate in the Tata Steel XLRI Peace run on 21 Feb morning at 0700 Hrs. The atmosphere was electrifying and one could see people of all ages and sections of society coming out to show their solidarity and support the cause of Peace. The event was organized by CIIYi of XLRI.
The race had three categories for participation-

Tata Steel XLRI Peace Run Short Route (1 km in distance)

Tata Steel XLRI Peace Run Long Route (5 km in distance)
Among the 5 prizes, three were bagged by GMPians-
1. 1st Men - Shreerang Joshi
2. 1st Women - Deepti Chand

Tata Steel XLRI Peace Run Long Route Group (5 km in distance)
1st Group – Ankit Chordia, Bahvin Dalal, Suraj Kumar Singh

However, we managed to win among the XL group. The real winners were children from Tata Sports Academy who beat even the prize winners in our group comprehensively. Kudos to their spirit! With the faculties, families and students coming out in large numbers, the event was a great beginning to the Sunday.

But in GMP, we not only work hard but party even harder. So the same evening, the winners threw up the party for the batch. The party gave a breather to students reeling under the pressure of placements and studies.

XLRI GMP Brochure

2010-02-16T19:23:00.001+05:30

Xlri Gmp Brochure2010

View more documents from XLRI, Jamshedur.

A Setu for budding Enterpreneurs

2010-02-16T18:42:00.001+05:30

Mr. Vijay Shukla delivered a guest lecture to GMP class of 2010 on Entrepreneurship. He is alumnus of IT, BHU and XLRI Jamshedpur.
He started off his career with GSK then moved to E&Y before setting up his first venture, VALUE FIRST.
He later on founded second company by the name of EDUVISOR. Both these companies are running successfully.
His latest venture is very interesting concept "SETU VENTURES", in which he helps entrepreneurs set up businesses.

Defence deals:Can MNCs get the deal by making the deals B2C?

2010-02-11T01:01:00.000+05:30

The purchase of a high involvement product is fairly different from the purchase of a low involvement product. Marketing strategies talk about post purchase dissonance for individual customers but rarely about the dissonance when the customer is a Nation. Incidentally, no government would display any post purchase dissonance due to the fear of facing the nation’s wrath. So a big ticket deal by a developing country does not end up being the dream script of movie writers.

In India, defense deals become a topic of mass consumption only when there are stories of kickbacks associated with them. For the billion plus of Indian population, the wedding at a politician’s residence is a more popular read than a multi billion deal concerning the security of the nation. Many defense equipment manufacturers have been lobbying along with their respective governments to persuade Indian government to buy their products.

In a product as sophisticated as a defense equipment and a deal so complex, is it actually possible to influence the decision makers? Well, I cannot comment on other nations but it is possible in India. A media campaign can create enough fury and flurry of responses to ensure that a Jessica Lal murder case is reopened. A Tata Nano can make the nation feel proud and sell without advertisements. The catch lies in connecting with the ordinary citizens of the Indian Democracy-they react, comment,decide and deliver. Well, India does not take a referendum on defense issues, but once a topic connects emotionally to Indians and comes in media glare, it becomes very difficult for the decision makers to take a decision favoring some Company or nation. Surprising but true, appealing to the emotions of the Indian citizens is the key to strike the defense deals in India.

This brings us to one of the biggest defense deals in the world .The sale of Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft(MMRCA) to India in a deal which can go up to US $ 10.5 billion. The decision makers in this MMRCA deal are the bureaucrats, Indian Air Force and finally the government of India. So is it possible to influence them by marketing? I believe if the Aircraft manufactures want a fair chance, they need to re think their strategies. India defies conventional wisdom when it comes to many a things.So who is the aircraft manufacturer that should be actually worried? The manufactures like Saab from Sweden who is pitched against the likes of Lockheed Martin, backed by the US government.

I will take the case od Saab Company to develop my strategy.The timing could have never been better for Saab. As the deal gets into the ‘Slog overs’ it is the ideal time to fire the final salvo. But guess what, the likes of Saab have to take the battle to the living rooms of India, something unheard of with defense deals. For an average Indian, a MMRCA is like a commodity, he wouldn’t know much about a twin engine or single engine aircraft. But if this uninterested Indian can be influenced, Saab will definitely have a fair chance in the game.

Let me discuss how Saab can plan its marketing and business strategy for clinching the MMRCA deal. Among all the competitors, Saab is a small fry which is facing financial difficulties. Among the six types of aircraft in consideration, only a deal with one of the two-Gripen and F-16 IN can leave India with a consumer surplus against the sanctioned budget of US $10.5 Billion. Amongst all countries in the race, Sweden is the least aggressive ones in selling its case. Indian government may be sensitized into diversifying its risk given that Boeing is now being awarded the contract of C-130 aircrafts. No other defense equipment excites Indians the way a fighter aircraft does. Fighter aircrafts stir emotions in the rich and masses alike in India. I recommend the following objectives of the marketing strategy for Saab-

a) The campaign should portray the legacy of European companies which produces the world’s most coveted automobiles even though they may not be the biggest automobile makers in the world. It should depict Saab as a class apart and how it produces legendary brands which have no correlation with its balance sheet size.

b) Saab should focus on the fact that it wants to offer its best to India and how a relationship with Saab is for a lifetime(Unlike that with US which is susceptible to future sanctions and arm twisting)

c) The campaigns should focus on Saab being portrayed as an underdog amongst the bigger names.

The stepwise plan to implement these objectives -

Displayed at a bus stop in Delhi

2. Online presence: A new website should be opened up, which should talk about the highlights of Saab’s offer for the deal without going into great deal of technicalities and financials. The website should talk about Saab’s strong lineage and how the present training of pilots in India prepares them for single engine aircrafts. Without mentioning it explicitly, the website should bring out that unlike deals with the US, which can be easily be manipulated by the US and can get into a limbo as a result of US sanctions, Saab offers a partnership for a lifetime. It should also draw attention to the fact that Saab has agreed to transfer of technology with India unlike other players. A contest can be launched, open to students in India. Winners of the contest will be given free ticket to come to Delhi and special passes for the Gripen exhibition.

3. Exhibition: Saab should arrange for a month long display of an actual Gripen aircraft in New Delhi in a prominent exhibition ground, starting 15 days before the actual trial and lasting for a total of one month. In case Saab does not get permission to land and display an actual aircraft, it should attempt to transport a real/full size model to India, even if it involves re assembly of an actual aircraft in India. An event management company should be hired. The Gripen should be made available for display to selected public which include all government officers, bureaucrats, media houses and Defense personnel. They should be given exclusive visitor rights during first 7 days and special slot of 2 hours for the following 3 weeks.

In the remaining 3 weeks, students of premier colleges and schools should be allowed to come for the exhibition after selection through a lucky draw. The journey of Saab and its facilities should be displayed by screening of movie/picture corridor. The visitors should be educated about the world class stature of Saab and Saab’s proposal for the deal. All visitors to the exhibition should be given free gifts like posters/key chains. Needless to say, the exhibition should be covered explicitly by tie up with media and most of the publicity should be generated through public relations and not advertisements. All the clippings of the exhibition should be displayed on Saab’s website and actively advertised on internet on facebook , You tube etc.

4. Public Relations: Ex defence officers of Indian Air Force should be hired to give opinion on the deal on major news channel. These programs are normally automatically aired on the News channel as the day of the deal allocation comes closer. National and regional magazines and Newspapers should be selected to ensure that Saab’s case is published in them.

5. Bollywood magic: Another way of achieving high degree of media publicity is to associate the leading Hindi movie actors of India with Saab’s Gripen. These actors have a cult like following in India. Any news reports which talk about both these association will generate lot of public relations automatically.

6. Competition: There is a strong possibility of the other Aircraft Companies to come up with similar marketing campaigns. Saab should plan the campaign discreetly so that it can have a free run of as many days as possible before other Companies come up with their campaigns. Saab should adequately plan for any negative advertisement campaigns which might come up. Equally important is to ensure that the planned marketing strategy till the exhibition should be successfully implemented lest the government of India comes up with a directive prohibiting advertisements by parties to the defense deals.

All this will entail an expenditure of US $ 25-50 million which can be justified. The Sweden government cannot match the political might of America in lobbying for Saab. The only way Saab can try to clinch this deal is to establish a rapport with the Indian public especially in New Delhi. The campaign will definitely affect the decision makers of the deal but more importantly, it will provide an equal chance to Gripen to get selected.

It is said that When in Rome do what Romans do.Customers be it individuals or Nations need to be influenced into buying a product.Be it for consumables or defence purchases,Branding and effective marketing can make the difference.

XLRI - GMP 2009-10: Profile Interviews: Ankit Chordia

2010-01-23T16:46:00.000+05:30

XLRI-GMP 2009-10: Profile Interviews:Sossamma George

2010-01-23T16:42:00.002+05:30

Communications are critical in good, bad and new times

2010-01-22T15:05:00.001+05:30

Communications are critical in good, bad and new times – This was the theme of talk delivered at XLRI by Mr. Harsh Shrivastava, VP (CSR and Corporate Communications, Reliance Capital. He works with both the HR and marketing departments of Reliance Capital to improve their communications strategies.
XLRI, being one of the country’s top notch Business Schools, has imparted effectual corporate leadership amongst its students through its frequent and periodic interactions with industry experts as part of CEO Forums and Mr. Shrivastava’s visit has once again exemplified this culture.
With the countries around the world getting glimpses of economic recovery, with market bulls slowly getting out of their long hibernation and with business and consumer confidence.
improving day by day, Managing and Handling communications have become ever more crucial.
The event was well received and faculty graced the occasion with their presence. Prof. Pingali Venugopal introduced Mr. Srivastava to the audience. The event was attended by many faculty members including Prof. Munish Thakur, Prof. Sanjay Patro, Prof. Pradhan and Prof. Pani.
He stressed that in changing environment managers need to be proactive and responsible to multitude of stakeholders. He detailed communication strategies for various target audiences. He gave examples of how companies are using various tools of communication – such as PR agencies, seminars, online networking (face book, LinkedIn).

He gave many examples of Monsanto, GM India and Delhi Metro to drive home a point that it is important to have clearly defined communication plan in good times but more importantly, they are required for bad times.

While speaking on Placements, Professors and Patrons, He said, “IIMA is no better than IIMC or XLRI but it continues to be in limelight because IIMA’s well structured communication with the outside world. He shared his own example of how Feedback ventures was invited for Day One placement despite being a very small company in comparison to others. He gave example of Reliance Insurance’s All is Well campaign to energize the work force. While giving example of Infosys, He said corporate image should be such that it passes MIL (Mother – in law Test) i.e. when companies are held high in eyes of masses.
The event was very interactive and Mr. Shrivastava answered many questions of students and faculty.

The event, organized by the one year MBA, General Management Programme of XLRI, staged an intellectual feast with lively interaction among Mr. Shrivastava, faculty and the students. He provided invaluable insights by citing real business scenarios for each of the questions.
The event concluded with memento presentation by Prof. Venugopal.
He concluded by making us aware of importance of effective communications and urging us to guide and help organizations shape sharp, well articulated communication strategies.

Resume Improvment workshop by Ma Foi CEO

2010-01-10T19:46:00.003+05:30

We had unique opportunity of participating in Resume workshop conducted by Mr. E Balaji. He has conducted similar workshop at ISB, Hyderabad. It was an interesting, enriching and rewarding exercise.

Balaji E is the Whole Time Director & Chief Executive Officer of Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd, part of Randstad – the 2nd largest HR service provider in the world. In his current role he leads Ma Foi - Randstad’s Staffing Solutions business which comprises of Permanent Staffing, Flexi Staffing, Career Skills Training, Vendor Management Services and Assessment services. He also spearheaded the Franchising foray of Ma Foi where the organization has established 60 business partners across the county in an 18 months time period.
Balaji's functional expertise includes Temp staffing, Executive-Perm Staffing and Assessment services. He has been instrumental in designing several large turnkey assignments and executing them successfully. His division recruits on an average of 6000 people in a month for various clients.
Balaji has over 15 years of experience which began at Ma Foi in 1994. Over these years he has gathered expertise in handling the operations of different branches. He manages a team of about 1150 professionals spread across 60 locations in the country.
Balaji has written a number of articles on Staffing trends in various business journals and is frequently quoted in business Magazines and dailies on HR trends.
Balaji is a Bachelor degree holder in Physics and is a Postgraduate in Business Administration in Marketing.He is a certified Lead Auditor (IRCA, UK) for ISO 9001: 2000 and a Six Sigma Green Belt. A voracious reader, he has a keen interest in management literature, history and politics.

VP, Reliance Capital visits XLRI

2010-01-08T01:06:00.002+05:30

Harsh Shrivastava, 36, is a marketing, communications, and public policy
expert. After his MBA from IIM-A in 1995, Harsh has been a journalist;
wrote India’s first book on Corporate Social Responsibility; the first
webmaster of the BJP’s website; an officer on the personal staff of Prime
Minister Vajpayee, and his deputy speechwriter; a senior staffer at the
Confederation of Indian Industry; and the head of marketing for India’s
leading infrastructure services company, Feedback Ventures. He is
currently at Reliance Capital in Mumbai, where he works with both the HR
and marketing departments to improve their communications strategies.
Harsh has taught a course on Strategic Public Communications in 2007 to
the first batch of Public Management and Policy at IIM-A. He’s also written
articles for ET and the Indian Express.

THE CLASH OF TITANS

2010-01-05T21:52:00.003+05:30

His arms were exhausted, his legs tired. It was difficult for him to focus, but he knew he had to deliver with the next ball. Bare footed, he ran down to the popping crease and delivered an absolute cracker, the batsmen tossed the ball back to him .......off balanced in his follow through, SAURAV dived to his right and plucked the ball out of the thin air. He came crashing on the ground but felt no pain... the only feeling was the feeling of ecstasy. For he became the first GMPian to take a hattrick and he knew this wicket was the last nail in coffin of BM/PMIR team. The wicket gave GMPians their victory what was left now was mere formality. But during last two hours game had swung both ways.

It all started with the toss.GMP captain SANJEEV won the toss and took a bold decision to bat first. The decision soon came under scrutiny with GMP losing wicket in very first over. ANURAG became victim of a misunderstanding and was run out. NEERAJ started well but didn't last long and with both the openers back to pavilion GMP was already under pressure. But then MOHIT came in. In difficult times he always stood tall and this day was no different. He started the counterattack scoring runs all around the wicket. The scoreboard got new life and started moving at aggressive pace. His straight batted shots were treat to watch. But at the other end......wickets kept on falling, while SOUMYA was unfortunate to be run out, SURAJ and RANJAY fell cheaply.

Then PREMANGSHU came in. The architect by profession designed a solid structure, playing cautiously, pushing the ball artistically in the gaps. PARTH took over after MOHIT fell. And he decorated the solid structure with some lusty blows. The ball started disappearing in the park more frequently. The score soon reached a 100 mark. But it was not over as yet and there was another twist in the tail with GMP losing wickets in a hurry towards the end. SANJEEV slipped while stealing a quick single, he was injured in the process and was run out. SAURAV and SUVDEEP fought the remaining battle and GMP reached 108/9 in 15 overs.

Seeing the reputation of the BM/PMIR batsmen 109 was gettable total.GMP took the fields without captain SANJEEV with SRIDHAR substituting for him. Acting captain SAURAV and SUVDEEP opened the balling attack.BM started aggressively and at one point of time it looked like they will live up to their reputation.
But SAURAV gave them the first blow, the ball was lofted in the deep and ANURAG took an amazing catch with a single hand. Saurav uprooted the wickets in the very next ball.
With two quick wickets GMP was back in the game. Mohit came as the first change and while balling he emulated his batting performance. Balling a very tight line he dried the BM scoring and went on to take three wickets. Parth continued his good form with the ball and took two wickets, and ranjay chipped in with one wicket.
But pick of all ballers was Saurav who after taking two consecutive wicket came back in second spell and in the very first ball took a diving catch in his follow through to take the first hattrick. He went on to take four wickets. Overall GMPians were good on field except for one or two rare miss fields they fielded well. With Sridhar doing fabulous job in the slip cordon and Neeraj taking three catches behind the wicket it was good team effort.
The team was whole heartedly supported by Hemant, Gautam, Romil and sweet little Ria (Romil's Daughter). In the end it was well deserved victory for the GMP, but they missed Dr. Pracheesh on the ground.

New Year wishes from XLRI GMP

2010-01-01T19:58:00.002+05:30

XLRI GMP 2009-10 batch

wishes

all Students, Alumni & Faculty

loads of happiness, success, love and good health

in the new year 2010

THE VISIT OF THE MAGI

2009-12-25T12:27:00.003+05:30

On a silent night in Bethlehem, inside an old stable full of animals, a child was born. There was no bed for the baby, so his mother wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. The ignorant world was oblivious of the fact that the delicate child sleeping in a manger was the son of god.
...........
Then three wise men from east (also called The Magi) came to Bethlehem to see the holy child. They carried with them three offerings, namely, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The gold was symbol of prosperity, frankincense stood for godliness and myrrh meant mortality. They enlightened the world about birth of Jesus. The visit of Magi brought new hope and confidence in people of Bethlehem, as they realised that their saviour was born..........
...........

But why am I telling you this story? Well ... With Christmas bells ringing all around us and Santa’s sleigh zooming in the sky I could not help joining the chorus of Christmas carols.
............
But wait a minute, it’s not just that. For I wonder was it a mere coincidence that in the month of December three of our Alumni of ‘07 batch visited us? While we were lost in our own world, clueless and paranoid about our future Sujoy, Abhishek and Sunil came to the campus........ Came to boost our morale and provide the much needed impetus to our placement activities. They gave us hope, they gave us confidence and they gave us the winning mantras. The two days of togetherness acted as an elixir to our monotonous life marred by hectic study schedules.
........
Their visit was ‘The Visit of Magi’ for the GMPians, they came to give us the message of hope and prosperous future. It was great to know that there are people out there watching us, reading our blogs, praying for our success. It was great to know that we are not alone; we have a family, a family of successful GMPians. And each one of us is proud to be a part of the family.

Ma Foi CEO shares his experiences

2009-12-23T20:29:00.005+05:30

We were fortunate to listen to Mr. K Pandia Rajan, Founder and CEO, Ma Foi. He was here in XLRI for silver jubilee reunion of 84 batch . It was interesting to listen to peppered talk and his reminiscences of years gone by. He shared his cherished memories of XLRI and his entrepreneurial venture, Ma foi which has grown to size of 700 crore turnover company.
With placement season in the air, He guided us on approaches for placements, industry expectations from GMP batch which has got average work experience of 7.2 years and growing opportunities in entrepreneurship.
It was a great privilege for us to interact and learn from him.

XLRI GMP and Directi

2009-12-23T18:28:00.003+05:30

Found this article on Directi site and it says evrything. I need not elaborate. Just posting it here for preserving one more thing that we have done at XLRI.

Blue Ocean Vs Used Apple

2009-12-09T14:08:00.002+05:30

Often class-discussions bring very interesting and unnoticed events or happenings.

As 'Beer and Diaper' phenomena (discussed in MIS class), there was another striking story came in class (this time it was Strategic Marketing class):

Mohans had to run its plant 4-shifts to meet demand of Kelloggs Cornflakes Indian market

An example of 'Second Mover Advantage' from marketing class:

How:

1. Kelloggs (termed Pioneer in Marketing concepts) created market of Cornflakes in India.

2. It took years of Kelloggs marketing efforts to change (even little) Indian breakfast preference over Paratha, Idly and VadaPav to Cereals.

3. It must be a time to reap the first mover advantage for Kellogg in Indian Market.

4. Mohans (termed 'Early Follower' in Marketing concepts) introduced a cheaper version of cereals to reap the new market.

5. Indian Customers asked for cornflakes in shops but not Kelloggs but Mohans (price-sensitivity).

6. To meet higher demand of Mohans cereals: Mohans had to run its cereal plant 4-shifts in a day.

So which strategy do you vouch for: a) Blue Ocean (Kelloggs') or b) Used Apple (Mohans')

Walk the Talk: Interview Series is on XLRI GMP Channel on YouTube

2009-12-04T23:42:00.002+05:30

Walk the Talk: Interview Series is on XLRI GMP Channel on YouTube

XLRI GMP Students visit Embassy of India, Philippines

2009-12-01T08:56:00.008+05:30

The much anticipated visit to Indian Embassy in Manila concluded with greater insight into bilateral relations between India and Philippines, Historical perspective and contemporary issues facing both nations.

AIM Manila arranged meeting with Mr. Amrit Lugun, Councilor, Embassy of India, Philippines. We were delayed by 15-20 minutes because of heavy traffic and security checking. Nevertheless, we reached and had interesting and engaging discussions with Mr. Lugun. He gave historical perspective on development of Philippines, Indian community’s contribution in Philippines and queried us on our backgrounds, future plans and experiences in Philippines.

Some of insights were:
• Philippines is heavily dependent on rice imports and agriculture needs lot of attention.
• He shared that there is huge potential in tourism industry.
• English Language and strong customer orientation are key to success of Filipino BPO industry.
• Trade between India and Philippines is doubled but balance of trade is in favor of India. There is huge scope of Filipino exports to India.
• Philippines is strategically located with proximity to Japan, China, Korea and ASEAN countries but because of greater distance from India, Indian businesses have been restricted to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand etc.
• There is strong Sindhi community who has excelled in alien land as they have in their home country.
• There are many companies from India including Infosys, Wipro and Sutherland having operations in India. Embassy of India facilitates Indian companies who want to start operations in India
• Philippines executive and judicial setup is heavily influenced by American System. Hence, a re-haul in bureaucratic setup is expected after next year’s presidential elections.

Some links
http://www.embindia.org.ph/
http://www.rpindia.info/news/

We normally visit embassies of other countries Indian for getting visa but this was the first time for many of us to visit Indian Embassy in other country.

Overall, it was another Manila experience that we would cherish forever.

Trade Off

2009-11-26T22:11:00.002+05:30

He was standing at the centre ....... gloomy eyes, tousled hairs, exhausted body and dejected countenance. His voice choked with grief when he spoke. His whole personality was maimed by ruthless twist of fate. I still remember Vidya of happy days --------energetic and smiling .Vidya and his interesting T-Shirts were talk of the town.But after 75 days of mad pursuit of his lost brother, and after being exposed to wimps and fancies of politicians and policemen, he has become stone faced....and perhaps stoned hearted too. While Vidya was busy running pillar to post looking for some clue or traceof his lost brother, I --- his so called friend was sitting in a class room trying to become a good manager.The first lesson I learned in class was that everything comes with a trade-off.And now I wonder did I trade off good human being to become good manager? In class I learned how to value Bonds, Stocks, Assets etc, but in return I forgot few things,I forgot how to value tears of a 60 year old women whose son is missing for last 75 days.I forgot how to value pain of an old father, who is suffering at the hands of both oesophageal cancer and cancerous invasion of the external world in his peaceful family life.I forgot how to value unflinching hope of a wife, who even after 75 days of futile search for her husband still feels whether she would celebrate next ‘Karwachouth’ with him or not.I forgot how to value the loss of a four month old baby, who is on the verge of losing her father even before learning to pronounce "papa".But how does that matter to me anyways, what is important is that I learned to value bonds, stocks and options. So what if the world outside does not know the value of a human life.I learned to minimize objective function of cost, so what if I forgot how to minimize mental and emotional agony of a friend.I learned how to motivate people at my workplace, so what if my own friend stands drained of all motivations.Two days from now I will be flying out of the country, and will drown myself in euphoria of a paid vacation. But Vidya..........well, he will go back tohis battle ground running madly after weakest of clues he gets about his brother. There will be moments when Vidya will feel like crying but he will not shed a single drop of tears. How can he when he has younger brother and sister to console? How can he when his mother is already drenched in tears?How can he when his father is fighting a deadly disease in the hospital? But I did not worry about Vidya. I left Him immersed in his trials and tribulations of life. And me? Well, it had been HAPPY INTERNATIONAL IMMERSION for me................

POSTED BY SURAJ

Destination India Seminar

2009-11-24T00:44:00.000+05:30

Results of 2009 Directi Case Study Competition are out

2009-11-23T17:40:00.002+05:30

Results of 2009 Directi Case Study Competition are out.

Below email came as pleasant surprise to our team,Blogboosters from GMP,XLRI,Jamshedpur. Although we could not make into top five teams, We stood first among teams from XLRI,Jamshedpur.

"Your enthusiasm surpassed our wildest expectations, with over 480 teams and 1400 students participating. Choosing the best case studies was extremely difficult, there were so many great ideas and wonderful entries.
When our judging panel was done arguing, we were left with the top five teams from across the top B-Schools in India. These teams will be flown to Mumbai in December to present their case in front of the judging panel.

The top 3 teams selected from the above list will win prizes of Rs. 1,50,000, Rs. 1,00,000, and Rs. 50,000 respectively.

Directi has also identified the top case-studies from each institute. Each member in these teams will receive a free domain name, web and email hosting package and website builders as prizes! Universities with more then ten submissions have three winners, while those with less then ten submissions have one winner.

Without further ado, the top submissions from each university are ... drumroll please: "
University - XLRI

Number of Submissions - 20

1st Blogboosters

Ankit Chordia
Anshuman Jaiswal
Omkar Mazzumdar
Pranit Prakash

2nd AA-AB-RP

Abhinav Berdia
Amit Agarwal
Ruchir Pandey

3rd Fabfour

Saikat Das
Sourav Samtani
Vinay Joseph
Chintan Talati

Congratulations to everyone who participated and stay tuned for details on the finals.

CHICAGO—THE WINDY CITY

2009-11-23T11:23:00.002+05:30

After a lot of confusion, postponements and cancellations the GMPians finally embarked on their “IMMERSION”.
The first, off the block, were team Tulane and Team Chicago. Our members were to be seen all over NSCB airport, Kolkata and then IGI airport, New Delhi. We had a break at Frankfurt and Air India gave us a first-hand feel of the forthcoming attraction “Jail” in the enclosure there. On our flight from Frankfurt to Chicago, aboard Air India, the food suddenly changed language to what appeared like German. I couldn’t make one sachet out from the other and for the first time in my life, I missed being in the company of the “Xerox guy” (he knows German, the way I know bengali).
At the O’Hare airport, Chicago we were greeted by our local student coordinator, Pooja. Despite the long and tiring journey, her appearance had infused new life into members of the Chicago team. The accommodation was arranged at nothing less than “Marriott- the Marriott” and people settled happily until food was served. All of us were sharing rooms (and beds and blankets) with our colleagues. The first feel of Chicago and Michigan Avenue was very pleasant and one only had to step out of the secure confines of the hotel to realize why Chicago (and this article) is called the windy city. The rooms had a fantastic view of Lake Michigan and the royal feel of downtown (the most posh address in Chicago. No Oprah doesn’t live here).

Dinner brought together the vegetarians to form the cooking club. And, were they well prepared! What else do you expect with an air-force officer at the helm of affairs? Their ration was large enough to feed an army and constituted everything from cereals, legumes, spices and condiments to the all terrain favourite “Maggi”. Breakfast continued to be the same day-break after day-break and even the most enthusiastic of the non-vegetarians lost hope after day four. When one of us declared that “he could eat anything that moves”, people started being more sombre in his company. That guy literally devoured everything that came his way (sometimes even without trying to identify the object of his affection). We were grateful that he did not ask for sea-food during our visit to the aquarium.

Our single point of contact (SPOC) was a powerhouse and had flown in, from Egypt, the same day as us. She took control from the very beginning and assigned the best faculty members to teach each lecture. In the very first session the Dean was mighty impressed with the stature of questions asked by the team members (I too was taken aback until I realized that there was limited and rational participation by section ’B’). They showed us around the library first so that our literary germs, lying dormant somewhere, would feel the urge to surface. Most of us didn’t bite the bait and kept our germs under control. The ‘educated ’one amongst us hit the library and gym with equal gusto (probably using the books as weights).

Pooja took very good care of all of us and guided us through Michigan Avenue, etc. despite her busy schedule. Our team members returned the favor by teaching her finance (taking turns to do so), until she had completely mis-understood the subject.

Michigan Avenue was like fashion-street. The best were dressed in the best and the strong wind didn’t seem to deter them from making new style statements everyday. Everyone was amazed at the gusts of wind that were like nothing we had ever seen before. One day when the vegetarian club cooked ‘chana’ my roomy made it even windier at night.
Visit to the “Chicago board of trade” was an eye-opener. Things like that are strictly out of bounds in India. To actually see trading on the floor (the call-out style) was just too good. For the first time in five months I had seen something louder and more chaotic than section ‘B’. The team leader had to spend considerable time in deciding on the gift for our educator at CBOT. My suggestion, to enclose a disclaimer saying that the sculpture wasn’t a yoga pose to be imitated, met with much disdain. (The sculpture was an idol of “Nataraj”).

Then we had team-mates who didn’t like the US of A because there was no-one to carry booze and grocery from the stores to the hotel. People who’ve never carried essential commodities for their biological kids carried heavy doses of booze over more than a mile or two. People’s dedication was commendable.

It wasn’t all hard work for team Chicago. Over the weekend we visited famous buildings, aquarium, museum and a boat-ride to appreciate the architectural marvel that’s Chicago. Every building had a past and every one of them appeared equally important. Some people tried the Indian restaurant down the street and some ate a lot of ‘khichdi’ because the president of the vegetarian club was away for the weekend. The other members of the club didn’t risk cooking anything else apart from ‘Maggi’.

And then the inevitable happened. One of us, who has a dubious “team-mates rights record” disappeared over the weekend not to appear on Monday much to the agony of one of us. While the agonized guy created a scene over the former’s disappearance, the former returned later on Monday night to say, ”Dude, I had a blast”. Well sir, so did we (though of a different kind). The agony uncle took an entire night to recover from the trauma thus caused.

People hit the internet like their lifeline. Face book helped exchange daily reports and experiences across time zones. The team from Manila was most eloquent and at one point I “unfriended” (the new word of 2009- recognized by Oxford dictionary) their communicator for spamming my face book too often. Surprisingly, the most silent were the guys in Germany. We are yet to hear from them. They are in our prayers. They were supposed to stay somewhere near a concentration camp and were accompanied by the Chairperson, GMP. The team at Tulane were participating in a lot of adventurous activities and one of them even appeared like an alien in a picture forwarded to us. A lady kept sending pictures of all the automobiles she had befriended and our mess-in-charge ate alligators (and liked them too). We are in for a surprise change in the menu when we get back.

Across geographies, the other thing that kept people binding and fretting was “Capstone”. People spent hours on their laptops trying to figure out how to get their team to the last but one position from the last position. Every time they logged-in, their strategy had been changed by another team member who could not be hit hard because he was in another continent. So, people kept brushing their vocabulary of Hindi curses and abuses lest they forgot the same in a foreign land. Most of have maintained our touch with Parliamentary language.
My trip came to an abrupt end due to an emergency back home. The mood of this article can tell that things are going well. Thanks to cooperation from all team-mates, our coordinator, their coordinator and our SPOC.

POSTED BY DR PALLAV

Seminar on US-India Trade & Investment

2009-11-22T10:00:00.008+05:30

A high level seminar was organized by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on “US-India Trade and Investment". The seminar was in conjunction with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington D.C., the first official state visit for President Barack Obama, which will be held in the coming week.
The seminar was attended by U.S. business executives and an India business delegation, led by CII’s Director General. As part of the International immersion program, Loyola College Chicago arranged for 15 GMP students from XLRI, India to attend the seminar as participants. The delegation of CII comprised of 15-20 senior business executives from major firms in India. The executives had traveled to meet with U.S. businesses and explore opportunities of trade investment and collaboration. Some of the major Indian executives were-

Chandrajit Banerjee
Director General
Confederation of Indian Industry

Arvind Mehra
Senior Vice President –Strategy
Mahindra & Mahindra

Ashutosh Shukla
Vice President, US Office
Mindtree Ltd

Atul Kunwar
President – Global Operations
Mahindra Satyam

Mahendra Agarwal
Managing Director
GATI Ltd

VS Parthasarthy
Executive Vice President-Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate IT
Mahindra & Mahindra

The keynote addresses were delivered by Dr. Sam Pitroda on “A Vision for Innovation” and Dr. Raghuram Rajan on “An outlook on the Global Economy”
The program also included three panel discussions with U.S. and Indian business executives which explored-

• Opportunities for Business Partnerships
• Manufacturing Collaboration
• Green Energy Collaboration

The GMP group got a chance to interact with Dr. Sam Pitroda wherein they discussed the challenges to the Indian education sector.

In his address, Dr. Pitroda talked about his reminiscences of Chicago. He talked about the implications of having a billion connected people in India. The Indian government is implementing the recommendations of knowledge commission which was set up under Dr. Pitroda. He highlighted the fact that in the west, markets drive innovation whereas in the developing countries needs drive innovation. He justified developing a new model of innovation for India as the US model had high cost structures and lacked the mindset to solve needs of people. Dr. Pitroda highlighted how US can partner India in developing and implementing the new model whose features are-
1. Focus on durability and not disposability
2. Nurturing nature and not fighting nature
3. Low cost yet scalable

The keynote address was followed by panel discussions wherein the students got an idea about apprehensions of US industrialists who want to operate in India. The discussion also gave insights into the mantra of successful partnerships between Indian and US firms.

The culmination of the seminar was by the insightful speech of Dr. Raghuram Rajan. He minced no words as he talked about his outlook of the global economy. The impartial and pertinent speech was a clear indication to students as to why he had been especially chosen as the chairman of the committee which is proposing financial sector reforms in India to the Indian Planning Commission.
The key points brought out by his speech were-

1. The initial decline in world GDP was higher as people had feared that the recession will convert into deep depression of 1930s.
2. 2011 will be a crucial year as by then the effect of stimulus package would be over and further growth will depend on corporations and users fuelling the growth.
3. Since unemployment remains high and prices of houses show little recovery, the future is not that rosy.
4. The central banks will face the challenge of controlling inflation while the growth driver
In developing economies will be domestic demand.
5. Many Asian countries might follow China’s move of pegging their currency against the dollar.
6. The manufacturers in emerging markets can empathize with the needs of people of their countries and are thus in better position to solve them vis a vis people from developed countries as was seen in the case of Tata Nano.

The XLRI group was highly impressed with the eloquent speaker who explained the financial condition of the global economy lucidly without even using any difficult jargon of finance. Listening the views of the two prolific thinkers provided a great learning opportunity to the students. The seminar also provided the students an opportunity to interact and learn from the business leaders of India and the United states.

VISIT TO CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE

2009-11-19T05:55:00.006+05:30

We have seen it on television, frantic traders shouting at the top of their voices, biggest brokerage houses calling the shots, agents handling 4 computer screens at one time….it can’t get bigger than this. And we saw all this LIVE. The 15 students group of General Management Program, XLRI at Loyola University, Chicago was taken for a tour of Chicago Board of (CBOT) which is part of the CME group. Incidentally, highest volume in commodity trade in the world happens at CBOT.

The tour started by a 40 minute video elucidating future contracts and emphasizing their importance. True to Chicago’s style the video was as very lively and entertaining. The tour brought out how future trade helps in price discovery and transfer of risk. The tour categorized traders as the following- Hedgers who try to smooth out the prices and thus try to manage risk. While others are Speculators who are interested in swinging the price to their favor. Both work on sound technical principles of statistics.

The tour was coordinated by Professor Schwartz, a Senior Professor at Loyola College along with Pooja and Michelle, and both MBA students at Loyola. At CBOT it was Mr. Curt Zuckert, Associate Director at CME group who explained the working of the Globex model of CBOT.
For those of who are wondering why is there any floor trading in the electronic age, well we had the same feelings. But as MR Zuckert explained – the floor trading has been popular for ages, much before the electronic trading started. Many people who trade on the floor are the ones who are most comfortable with this system of trading for quite some time now. Also there is opportunity to make money out of arbitrage opportunities between prices in the pit and on the Globex. Some of the brokers derive both the pleasure of trading in a pit and the convenience of electronic trading by having their terminals in the pit itself. The value of time in trading goes down to nano seconds as some brokers have located their offices right next to CBOT in order to save on transaction time.
The CME group employs about 2200 people and out of them 1200 are technical guys maintaining their exchanges.

After a detailed tour of CBOT trading pits the group experienced simulated trading in S&P futures. That was an experience of its own kind to see the index gyrating back and forth and giving enough opportunities to make and lose money. Mr Zuckert , through these simulations brought to light the subtle principles of trading e.g. The more you trade the less money you make, importance of algorithms in high speed trading, etc. Another subtle difference in trading electronically and trading on the floor is that in the former the top ten bids (both buy and sell side) are displayed while in the latter only the top bid on each side is displayed. So the buyer and seller have limited idea on what is the underlying sentiment of the market. Also the electronic trading gives you option of analyzing various other news information happening worldwide while you are trading.

In the pit there are people varying different colored jackets. The clerks, brokers etc wear different color jackets. The broker’s agents communicate using hand signals with other people from their brokerage house who are sitting on the sidelines away from the pit. Due to the noise in the pit, it is difficult to communicate on the phone. So here we saw trades worth millions of dollars happening using mere hand signals.
The tour gave rare insight into real time floor trading and working of the largest commodity exchange in the world. The group learnt how such massive volumes were handled professionally highlighting the best practices of the exchange.

From State Owned firms to world class competitors

2009-11-15T17:07:00.002+05:30

Follow the link for my assessment of recently concluded Round table conference at Asian Institute of Management, Manila.

http://anshuman-jaiswal.blogspot.com/2009/11/from-state-owned-firms-to-world-class.html

Insighful Forum on SOE

2009-11-11T14:23:00.003+05:30

Attended an insighful Forum on State-Owned Enterprises to World-Class Competitors: Creating Innovative and Entrepreneurial State-Owned Firms organized by The Asian Institute of Management (AIM), in cooperation with the AIM Policy Center and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation,
More details @ http://www.aim.edu.ph/events.aspx?id=349

Trip to Tata Motors

2009-11-07T10:09:00.004+05:30

It was great experience to see Test facility and World Truck assembly lin followed by a presentation that gave us a wonderful overview of Tata Group, Tata Motors and Jamshedpur unit. Tata Motors's focus on safety, quality and service to communities was is truly exemplary.

LECTURE VERSUS FILMS

2009-10-28T16:42:00.000+05:30

Yesterday when one of the GMPian wrote on how to view lectures as films, the subject-chapter as story line and the teacher as the Actor; my memory drifted back to one of the lectures by one of our esteemed professors. The lecture was on ‘Group Dynamics & Team Building’ where the related side topic was ‘5 – Stage Group Development Model’.

To make the students better understand the importance of the various stages of the above mentioned topic the professor related the topic with one of the 2007 blockbuster movie ‘Chak De’. The stages of the Group Development Model were described as follows:

Forming group: In the movie, the 16 womenhockey players who come from all sections of India come together to represent India in Hockey World Cup. And in this manner the group is formed.
Storming (Members resist the control by the leader): Kabir Khan, the coach of the team appoints makes Vidya Sharma as the team captain. In response contender of the said post and the most experienced player, Bindia Naik repeatedly attempts to encourage the players to revolt against Khan. Bindia finally succeeds in creating a storm within the team.
Norming (Members develop camaraderie and norms of conduct in the group): During a fight with some of the local guys who pass comments and try to make pass at one of the team members, all the team members develop a camaraderie and eventually request Khan to withdraw his resignation.
Performing (work towards achieving goals): The newly formed coherence in the group helps them in overcoming through a series of additional challenges, like a challenge match against the men’s team to prove their competence. Even though they lose this match, their overwhelming performance leaves a mark on the officials who are finally forced to change their mind and send the team to The World Championship.
Adjourning (group disbands either because the job is done or because the members leave): The team is sent to Australia where they face a number of low keys and struggle to remain in the league of the contenders. Finally everyone unites as a team and eventually declare themselves ‘The World Champions’ of the Hockey World Cup. And to end the story all the glorious 16 winners and their honoured coach part and move on in their respective lives.

So here is the lecture that could virtually be related to a movie.

This blog is not only to remind everyone of the excellent learning experience we all have had but also to support the GMPian who requested all to view lectures as films and enjoy the lectures, which would ultimately help us in absorbing more and exploring more.

GMP organizes Dow Jones MD visit @ XLRI

2009-10-26T20:06:00.003+05:30

Mitya New is Managing Director Dow Jones India. In this role he is responsible for both the B2B Enterprise Media Group and the B2C Consumer Media Group side of the business. He has been with Dow Jones since August 2008 and was recruited specifically to lead Dow Jones aggressive investment into building a business and editorial operation in India. This investment is one of a series of new investments launched by Dow Jones following the company’s acquisition by News Corporation.
Previous to Dow Jones, Mitya New spent 20 years with Reuters in a number of senior management roles around the world. He was Managing Director South Asia, based in Mumbai 2000-04, Chief Operating Officer & Managing Director Japan 2004-05 and Managing Director Nordics & Baltics 2005-08.
Mitya New was born in Indonesia and spent his childhood in Hong Kong. He speaks German, Italian and Mandarin Chinese.

ABOUT DOW JONES
Dow Jones & Company (www.dowjones.com) is a News Corporation company (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV; www.newscorp.com). Dow Jones is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Dow Jones Factiva, Dow Jones Client Solutions, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. Its Local Media Group operates community-based information franchises. Dow Jones owns 50% of SmartMoney and 33% of Stoxx Ltd. and provides news content to radio stations in the U.S

XLRI GMP on facebook

2009-10-22T21:20:00.001+05:30

Join XLRI GMP on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=80748519714

Another holiday.. another match .. and another win

2009-10-18T14:41:00.004+05:30

october 17, 2009 (Diwali), Match against PGPMI guys... GMPians winning the match by 7 wickets, seems winning is already a habit of team GMP.
Posting the match details as captured and narrated Shuvdeep-- the average guy :)

"The evening before the match our captain Dubeyji confirmed that we are going to play against a team whose right name of the batch no one knew exactly.On this news a few players started living in the field from that moment.The guy who was on the field was not a great player but he kept dreaming about big things for the next match.Lets call this guy Average.Average even overheard a small discussion which our opponents were having at Daduu's.Average is a loyal guy and he immediately told his captain what he overheard at daddoo's.
The Team:
Architect-Our player,umpire,scorer and the best teammate.He is our lucky charm.He is making us win.Dubbeyjee (captain),rest all are equal so no special mention with their names.

The night before:
Chotee Diwali,lights all around, all our blocks garlanded with necklaces of yellow pearls.The nearest wine shop yesternight saw a sharp increase in sales at 1945hrs and the at 2130hrs.I hope u will figure it out yourself why I gave these two times and whats the relation with the wine shop.Out of playing 11,4 drank heavily on that night and one was even gambling his luck till 400 hrs.Let's call him Mines.

The morning before:
Out of these 4 one was Average he drank like a fish.With two different sets of his friends,enjoyed both of them heavily and again forgot to call his wife.Anyway that was nothing new for Average.We had a huge breakfast with sewai kheer being served as a what we dont know.Average's head was aching pretty badly.By 830 hrs the team reached the ground.Everyone started warming up,Average was reluctant to even catch the ball.Dubbeyjee was active as usual counting the number of balls and max overs and deciding on other regulations for the game.Others saw a tall guy wearing cap with Magenta colored shorts bowling to one of our players(as a practice ball).He was great and damn accurate.He bowled another ball and the bails were dislodged.Everyone behaved as though they have not seen it.He bowled very well.
The pitch:
The pitch was damp,the outfield was damp and Average's spirits were also damp because of last night's spirit consumption.

The Toss:
Dubbeyjee went for the toss and he won it.Dubbeyjee said initially batting first but later he changed it to bowling first.Dunno,who made him the captain even he cannot call the toss properly.Average heard straight from the captains mouth that we have to bowl first.He was shocked,bowling with the hangover and with our batsmen not very good in chasing.He even profoundly claimed that it was a bad decision.Well,now nothing can be undone.

The Match:
Dubbeyjee opened the bowling with a great ball and suddenly all the players were again the 18 years old.Even average started getting back to life.The next over was bowled by Average and by 3rd ball he has forgotten his hangover,wife,tests and was concentrating to get an early wicket.Dubeyjee took the first wicket and completed by a great catch by Sun(another TT table finalist from B section) Then for the 5th over dubbeyjee introduced our first change bowlers PSS and MG (who are actually better than the opening bowler-Average).TataSteel took great catches while talking on his phone.Dubbeyjee made a sudden change and offered Placecom(our another player) bowling.Two batsmen were getting settled there.Placecom came and took a brilliant wicket and broke the partnership.The batsmen were cornered to the core and they were neither scoring runs nor were able to keep wickets.PSS and MG bowled very well.It was a delight to see their bowls hitting the right areas on the pitch.PSS took a lightening quick catch which coming right on his face.The last over was bowled by Average and he gave a 4.I dont remember exact figures butI think on an average everyone shared 2 wickets,except Average who didnt get a wicket.Our fielding was exceptionally well with everyone taking catches and stopping the runs.Average dived for a catch and missed it.Captain even got a bit angry with him.Well,he deserved that.The scientist from DRDO was calm,silent and very energetic throughout the session.Before I wind up our bowling I would like to say that Placecom and Mines executed a brilliant run-out.I'm sorry, it cannot be described,it can just be seen and enjoyed.
BRILLIANT!!!!!
We were supposed to chase 59 in 15 overs.Our openers,Mines and Headstrong,decent pair, both of them great players and very fit too.Has a bad reputation of getting themselves run-out.The Magenta colored short wearing lambuu opened the bowling for their team.I suddenly felt after seeing his first bowl,that lambuu has peaked ,he will not be able to bowl well.Our batsmen started well,trying their best not to get other run-out.Then we lost Headstrong,He was so frustrated(about I dunno what),he chased a leg-side wide and gave a catch to the wicket-keeper.Headstrong was substituted on the pitch by Sun.The technically best in the team,generally a low scorer because techniques and score are as different as profit and cash.But very reliable and very good in analysing the balls.Today,he removed the tag of low scorer and scored handsome amount of runs and delighted us by his perfectly timed shots.Then Sun decided to set and he got out.His catch was very well taken by the player from the opposite side.Then ,entered the batting arena -the Doctor.Doctor has a peculiar requirement.U know he can Bowl,field,bat ,be a TT champion but he cannot run.While Headstrong at leg-umpire position was very contented that he and Mines didnt get each other run-out,he was again called for being runner with the partner as Mines.The irony was Mines again got run-out and the partner was Headstrong.Though this time Headstrong had no contribution in this wicket.Doctor kept on batting very well with his legs and then even batted very well with his bat later on.He finished the match with a brilliant cover-drive which drove the bowl to the boundary.It was 13th over running.
Everyone batted very well with special performances by Mines,Sun and Doctor.PSS,MG,Placecom,Tatasteel(though he played a few deliveries),Dubbeyjee,Average(not much sure about batting talent).Dubbeyjee was delighted.Average was also happy.He was pondering that who should be man of the match.He felt Dubbeyjee,with his brilliant decisions and captaincy.Bowling first,bringing in Placecom and then performing well too. Well Thats,it from myside.Sanjeev Reddy the IIML champ was our special scorer,the Architect was the umpire for our innings and he was very good and strong in his decisions.Occasional visitors were there.Samtel stayed till last bowl.He is also one of the semi-finalists from section A.I would also congratulate Misha and his team for being able to complete the TT tournament.His patience,perseverance and voice kept the fire alive for the TT tournament.
Cheers Happy Diwali This is Average signing off! "

GMPians Vs Defense......cricket camaraderie wins

2009-10-11T13:32:00.003+05:30

Females no longer fancy men with huge chests, bulging biceps and rugged machismo. They have started drooling over fitter and leaner men. The extra protein supplements and 10 egg whites are outdated. Perfect height and weight ratio is what makes a person look healthy and fit……cut….
When you begin to understand the mind-body connection, you can really begin your inner journey. What you think absolutely affects you and the world you live in. Your intellectual fitness has to do with your mindset, your attitude, and what you believe……cut…
AND THIS POST IS ABOUT TODAY’S CRICKET MATCH. (11th OCT 2009)
GMPians grouped for a cricket match against Defense batch (Ds from now onwards). As we, the XLRI GMPians approached the playground we saw some lean, fit and cheerful guys practicing and discussing cricket….;;;”we definitely are in for good competition from an athletic and determined lot” , the thought reverberated through all GMPians(Gs from now onwards). With the mind-body connection the Gs had, a tough challenge was lined up for the sculpted Ds.
The match started with Gs opting to bat after winning the toss. Odd patches of green and rough undulations on the pitch limited the array of strokes Gs usually demonstrate. Good bowling line and accurate length, complimented by good fielding led to early success for Ds and soon Gs were struggling. Some good late hitting by Ranjay propelled Gs score to 64 for 9 in the allotted 15 overs.
BREAK FOR 15 MINUTES.
Taking into account the difficult batting conditions the field was set for a thrilling contest. Ds batted steadily for the first few overs with occasional hiccups. It was the introduction of Parth that turned the tide and swept away the heroics of Ds. Parth bowled a fine line and Mohit from the other end maintained a steady pressure on the batting side. With a 5 wicket grab Parth destroyed the opposite camp and Ds were bundled for a mediocre 36 runs.
Catching was exceptional and a brilliant run out reflected the overall good fielding status of Gs. Ample crowd support and unbiased standard umpiring from Sanjeev Reddy added to the enthusiasm and the competitive spirit.
Finally, the entire Gs team was heard encouraging each other by taking PRACHEESH’s name throughout the contest. It was later explained to amused Ds that chanting Pracheesh’s name was the success mantra and hence was repeated as often as possible.
We were clicked by waiting and pleading photographers towards the end and the match proceedings ended with cold drinks at the canteen sponsored by the winning team’s captain.

My Memorable Badminton Match in IIML

2009-10-07T22:27:00.005+05:30

This post is about my experiences in the badminton match against IIML in their campus in Lucknow.

About the Tournament:-

It was in a typical Davis Cup Style where both the teams XLRI and IIML competed for 5 games 3 singles and 2 doubles. Both teams had their own strategy of mixing and ordering their players.

Setting the Stage:-
IIML was leading by 2-1 , as XLRI lost their two matches 1 singles and 1 Doubles. The moral was down both because we thought we had the best badminton team and also one of our best player lost in the singles match.

About the Crowd(boisterous, Bhaiyya crowd, XL ki kudiyan):-

The shady badminton court in the grassland of IIML was eye sore in the IIML campus, but it was jampacked, which I think might be due to following reasons:-

(1) It was the probably the 2nd event happening in the Men category.

(2) IIML crowd was there because there Sportscomm secretary was part of the badminton team and he was indeed a popular guy.

(3) XL crowd was there because XL had the good badminton team and XL had chances of winning the tournament.

My Opponent Naveen:- He was definately the favourite among the crowd . I saw him practicing before the match and his confidence exuded that he is all game to play with anyone. You can easily identify a good player by the way they practice.

My Game Plan for Single:-

(1) Make the person move through out the court , by dropping in front and then slicing it to back.

(2) Restrain on smashes.

(3) Reduce Unforced errors, which i tend to do lot.

THE Match :-

There were around 300 + people as IIML was thinking to square it off and XL was trying save its pride by losing easily.

First set (0-1)

The first set was disaster for me, as i was literally shaking when i was about to serve. The good thing was I was aware of it that "stage fear" has been part of me since childhood and I just need to play a little to get the rythm. I did several unforced errors in the game, did not serve the shuttle up in the air and my opponent took advantage of each of it and won the first set convincingly as 21-14. Though I lost , I knew it was not because he played better.

Sledging:-

It was there between each and every point and the vocabulary seems to be never ending for UP bhaiyya or from our XL guys and gals. There were literally scuffle among both the XLErs and IIML crowd and game was atleast stopped 7-8 times. I think I was competent enough to understand the worst abusive language ,but I was wrong and I quit to the crowd. This blog would be rated A or infact not even published if the details are entered.

Second Set(0-2):- I managed to get a 6-1 lead in this set in the start due to other players unforced errors . But eventually he squared it off in 21-19.

Third Set(1-2):- I was under pressure so as to not loose in straight sets as I was 2-0 down in the 5 setter , However, I knew I had almost won the last set. The XL team was a source of enthusiams and motivation for me and they supported my whole heartedly.

I again managed to get the lead of 5-2 and I just needed to sustain it. By this time I was playing my usual self , going for a rally and then culminating it with a smash. The game was on

as both of us went in for rally and there were less errors. After every point a look in opponent eyes told me that he was defeatable. I sustained the lead and managed to won my 1st game

with a good margin of 21-13. Finally , some cheers in XL camp.

4th Set(2-2):- I didnt knew how much glucose i consume that day. By this time, I was totally in oblivion to surrounding. I was enjoying each and every point earned and cheer from the XL crowd. The IIML bhaiyya crowd got active and started personalised sledging against my name. I was just enjoying it and I didnt even thought with a pinch of salt.This set was the longest and the game stopped several times , mainly due to opponent claiming that I was carrying the shuttle, which was ridiculous as carrying in badminton is a rare event.

I again managed to get the lead and i knew i just have to make him play. I was at my best , My service got improved with each serve as high it could be in the back court and for for every return of the the serve , I was smashing it. My aspiration changed from giving a good fight to make it a 5th setter game of which i always admired Federer ,although in a different game of Tennis. I won this set 21-18. And Now the attention shifted from me to Naveen and he was surrounded by all IIML guys , who were giving him motivational doses.

5th Set(3-2):- In between the set break, I wondered whether there are training session for 5 setters. The game is entirely transformed from hitting smashes to endurance and fitness. All drenched in sweat , the only inspiration for me was seeing my opponent who was also in such a sweaty state and the XL support. I was gulping huge doses of glucose and water to keep my self hydrated.

I changed my strategy a little bit this time:-

(1) I thought of playing power game to win as early as possible and avoid tie-braker.

However, this change costed me as i hit many a times in net and eventually i gave him the lead and he was leading by 4-1.

I went back to basics and again went for rally and quickly equalise it. One thing which i realise is it gives you tremendous confidence when you win a rally . I stick with this game plan and took the lead with points 8-5.His team asked him to took the break as he was drifting away from the basics.

He came back strongly and equalise at 10-10. I puzzled him with some power smashes and then it became very easy for me.He did lot of unforced errors and I eventually won the game 21-17.

And then it was followed with huge cheer from XL group and i enjoyed every bit of it.

Learning from this game:-

(1) Stay there , Be there , whatever it takes to:- When you start playing , there are lot of clutter in your mind like team pressure, personal motives, audience pressure etc. Every thing vanished after a while and all it matters is to play a good game.

GMP Power for the Married

2009-10-04T21:04:00.007+05:30

It was my dream to do MBA. Getting into XLRI was more than I had dreamt. While I was rejoicing the start of a new life, I realized that XLRI GMP would be a challenge with respect to time management. Armed with faith, committed husband and supportive parents, I decided to join the XLRI family.
Family accommodation is better than I expected. Apartment has a spacious bedroom, living room, kitchenette and storage area. Bed, cabinets, desk, chair and book stand were provided. The common area of the building is cleaned and maintained regularly. Canteen has great food and friendly staff. There are doctors who visit the campus twice a day. I have the fortune of having 5 great doctors as my batch-mates including pediatricians. I could not have asked for more.
There is a beautiful park right in front of the building for the children to play. My daughter who is now 10 months old waits to go down every evening and watch other kids play. Well, that is a GMP baby club :)
The second term has started. You are wondering what happened to my fear of time management problem? Well, the fear has transformed into a new found confidence. In the first term, there was no time to breathe and I lived in this constant fear of ‘how will I manage everything’. Married people struggled between family and studies while most singles struggled between movies and studies :) [Secret - You get access to lots of movies here]. Back to my fear story - I learnt to sleep less and make the most of my time by focusing well on the task on hand whether it is spending time with family or studying. I am also an active member of four extracurricular groups.
First term has passed and I have realized that I can do a lot more than I thought I could. GMP has shown me how I could exceed my own expectations. I know that whatever happens, I will find a way out to succeed. GMP has made me strong and efficient. Wondering what happened to effectiveness. I was always effective - that is why I joined XLRI :)

GMPians travel not to go anywhere, but to go!

2009-09-28T19:36:00.008+05:30

Sometimes GMPians prefer to take the path less travelled. For they know that in every walk with nature they would receive far more than what they seek. They drop their suits for sneakers and wander around with their backpacks. Backpacking, they discover en route is more the art of knowing what not to take but they trudge along nevertheless knowing fully well that joy lies in the journey and not the destination.

FG Manufacturing: Celebrating the diversity of GMP!!

2009-09-28T15:31:00.002+05:30

Aluminium, Automobile, Oil & gas, Nuclear, Steel... you name it, we have it in the focus group of XL GMP 09-10, FG Manufacturing. The objective of the group is to tap into the knowledge pool of the diverse members of this group so that all can benefit from it. It is a meeting place of professionals from diverse backgrounds and this FG serves as an excellent opportunity to gain an insight into each industry. Prof. Rajiv Misra had said that it is very important to have knowledge about 4 to 5 core sectors to develop a holistic perspective. FG Manufacturing aims to do so!!

Walk the Talk

2009-09-21T14:34:00.003+05:30

We, GMPians had preivlege to listen to Mr Malli Mastan Babu's brave and inspring stories. Sachin Rawat has already exqusitely covered the talk in previous post http://xlrigmp2010.blogspot.com/2009/09/led-by-free-will.html Thanks to Prof. Munish Thakur for inviting him to address us.

One Night @ XLRI

2009-09-21T09:49:00.005+05:30

our GMP Hostels. Pics courtesy: Anindya Sengupta

Its 100 not out @XL!!!

2009-09-20T23:43:00.003+05:30

Ohhh... It almost slipped through my mind.... today is the hundredth day at XLRI for GMP 2009-10 batch..so congratulations to all of us (including me) for making to the hundred mark!!

Since its a ritual to look back on all these kind of occasion..let us do the same...let us give a hard look at those 100 days.. are we better off or worse off?.. Are those pre-XL days (read days@our work place, our ex-colleagues, babes and bosses) still very much alive in our minds?

Well, everyone has his or her own opinion... but I am sure one thing everybody of us will agree... that each of us here has made ninety five new friends!!!.. Now, isn't it a wonderful thing? If you are still not convinced, I will request you to do a with and without GMP@XL analysis :-)

Lastly I want to share with you one great thing I learnt about XL on my hundredth day. That learning goes like this:

Generally in the outside world if you bump into a girl (unintentionally or otherwise) what do you expect to get? Yes.. you guessed it right.... a tight slap on your cheek. Today I had the misfortune to bump into a lady while I was coming down the stairs from gymm. in the morning... it was absolutely unintentional... Nevertheless I expected a hard look at me from her if not a slap (as far as my prior experiences go!!)...But to my utter surprise the lady smiled at me, said sorry to me and stepped aside to give me space to pass!!!! But in my utter state of confusion, I forgot to return her courtesy :-(

At XL over everything else we learn to be courteous to others..and that makes this institute so great a place of learning!!

Led by Free Will

2009-09-15T23:14:00.001+05:30

[An account of a talk delivered by Guiness record making mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu]

Malli Mastan Babu’s eyes exude energy and passion as he talks to students of the General Management Programme in XLRI, Jamshedpur, about how, often against all odds, he scaled peak after peak, in the process becoming not only the first Indian but also the fastest person in the world to scale the highest peak in each of the seven continents. He did it because he had chosen to do it, because he wanted to do it and believed that nothing should come in the way of his own free will.

All GMPians had experienced during our outbound programmes with the Tata Adventure Sports Foundation, the heat of challenge, teamwork and leadership challenge that adventure sports generate, and Malli’s tryst with serious adventure sports kicked off with the same foundation when he was a student of engineering in RIT (now NIT), Jamshedpur. Malli however had the drive to literally scale the highest mountains all over the globe. Being an engineer and a management graduate from the prestigious IIM,Calcutta, he relates his learnings to students of management the decision making and motivational trials that we all must face whatever be our walk of life.

Just like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, this scholar became the object of much ridicule and peer pressure when he took the daring decision not to participate in the placement activities in IIMC and set his sights on scaling Mt.Everest instead. Malli says “People will call you as insane or label you as irresponsible. Overnight ,you could feel like the outcast in your own neighbourhood. The psychological hurdle is the first and perhaps the biggest one. But I had attained escape velocity, escaped beyond the restrictions placed by conformity. You too must escape the restrictions of your need to conform, only then can you be free to achieve what you really want”. To opt out of a lucrative career , taking huge financial liabilities, without any experience in serious mountaineering would baffle anyone trying to assess the risks and benefits, even if the risk of mortality and the value of human life were ignored (but then, what is life without will?). Just the financial costs were staggering. Mastaan however valued above all the freedom to chase his dream. Not that he was rash- he realistically assessed his strengths and weaknesses and meticulously planned to acquire the skills he would need; what tipped the scales however was his desire to explore and stretch the limits, which was much greater than the limitations.

To say it was ‘difficult’ is obviouisly, a gross understatement. Financial assistance was not forthcoming and Mastaan had to use all his enterprise in raising funds, even taking large loans which another person of his modest means might see as a crushing burden or in other words, a non-option. Just as he had made his plans, the Indian Army too announced its expedition to the seven peaks. Rather than be daunted by the appearance of a new rival who had vast resources and institutional support, Malli saw that his competitive advantage lay in his flexibility of decision making. He believed that the Army would take time to make arrangements for its large team, that the progress of the team would depend on its weakest link and above all, he refused to accept that the motivation of every member in that (or any other) team could be more than his personal drive. Myself being a whitewater rafting enthusiast I can recall the formidable reputations that teams of the Indian Army enjoy, still It is difficult to fully comprehend the confidence, willpower and insight into team dynamics which enabled Malli to see his strength in factors that someone else might have viewed as a hopeless disadvantage. In fact Malli says that going solo is immensely satisfying because you can really test your limits and because no one else makes your choices; you really are free of most external influences. It reminds me of Ayn Rand’s philosophy that he who does not want to make decisions, who lets others decide, is in truth living a second hand life.He says it also gives him more agility and determination than large groups. Once, when he could only get a visa to Argentina for a short duration , he scaled the Cerro Aconcagua (at 22,834 ft Argentina's highest mountain), he climbed it in only 8 days and climbed down in just one day (other expeditions took more than 20 days). By his grit, flexibility and unconventional thinking, he created alternatives and new options where none seemed to exist.

“There is always an option.” Says Malli, “ It may be a difficult choice, but you must choose what you really want” He exudes an aura of confidence ,of sheer raw and free spirit as he adds “If you do not exercise your choice, you are not free”. Whether we play the role of a sportsperson, manager or a citizen, we are faced with decisions, often risky. What we choose embodies our desires,our will and our values. What we choose makes us what we are.

-Sachin Rawat

sachinrawat1978@gmail.com

Teachers' day

2009-09-13T23:06:00.008+05:30

We love them, we disagree with them, we irritate them and we believe in them. We just can’t have enough of them. Such is the importance of teachers in our lives, we just can’t ignore them.
Indeed, the relationship with teachers is special .From time immemorial our culture has highlighted the importance of teacher. In Mahabharat, Eklavya believed that even his thumb, essential for using bow and arrows, is a small price for his archery training. Vivekananda spent his life promoting the message of his teacher Swami Rama Krishna Paramhans. And for those who believe that these relationships are story of yesteryears, this is what Google founders have to say for Mr Rajiv Motwani, their teacher and mentor, after his death-
''Today, whenever you use a piece of technology, there is a good chance a little bit of Rajeev Motwani is behind it.''
GMP batch incidentally did not take long to recognize the contribution of our professors. So the batch decided that it is an ideal opportunity to thank those who change the course of our lives. A small teachers’ day get together was organized on fifth September at GMP dining hall.
Everybody dressed up for the occasion and the eagerness to welcome our mentors was difficult to contain. Teachers, families, students, other guests were all a unit within no time. What followed could be termed only as bliss, a state of profound satisfaction and joy. Everybody was involved wholeheartedly in the various games and activities that followed. Individuality succumbed to the environment of commonality. It was the religion, of oneness, that each involuntarily converted to and the enjoyment thus grew many folds.
Time but was envious and it just flew by. A gradual depopulation engulfed our venue and the gathering withered. The party ended.
What remained, but, is here to stay. All of us are deeply indebted to our teachers for sharing their valuable time with us. This interaction has increased our respect and trust in our gurus. There are innumerable support systems for learning, but the student – teacher interface is by far the most valuable. This get together has strengthened this interface and we plan not to miss any opportunity to increment this strength.
Bill Gates said,” “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”

We love them
We love them
We love them . We just can’t have enough of them.

POSTED BY ANKIT AND PRACHEESH

CEX and FOREX

2009-09-05T16:27:00.000+05:30

The CIA had for a long time covered up its ‘black bag work’ - illegal jobs such as breaking into embassies , often employing exotic tools (miniature cameras, eavesdropping equipment etc) and weapons (poison gas pens, toxic paints, IEDs etc) – for fear that it might arouse public outrage and young people might stop considering it as an ethical career choice. However, when these techniques were eventually officially made public, the number of applicants aspiring for a job in the Agency skyrocketed. Why? Because for years, the public had been made to believe that James Bond Novels and movies were impossible fantasies, that the technologies depicted in them could not exist even in the next few decades and that the government would never authorize acts that Bond routinely did; now, suddenly, a person could legitimately aspire to live the life of a Bond.

In 2004 , John Perkins in his book “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” described his role as an ‘Economic Hitman’ -a consultant to several Governments and their Heads of State, an advisor whose real job was to economically exploit and debilitate his clients in the process of ‘developing’ and ‘aiding’ their economies. He was seduced into the job which held glamour and power, intrigue and beauty, untold wealth and generations of dependence. I do not know whether his ‘confessions’ (which are no less interesting than a spy story, replete with tales of Middle-Eastern palaces and doe-eyed beauties) tempted more budding economists into the profession or discouraged them. However, the book does show the impact a single economist can have on the development, the politics and the destinies of several nations.

Money is a unique commodity in that although it is intrinsically worthless, it is a store of value. It can attach tangible values to desires and powers. The desire to have, to give, the desire to do can be quantified in terms of money, as can be the powers to satisfy these desires. Hence it is the common denominator in most, if not all (this is debatable) human activity. Economics, then, is the common thread that runs through almost every discipline of study- not just management but also philosophy, ethics, governance and leadership. By determining what we are willing to sacrifice in order to get something, we can attach a value to it, and economics can guide us on how to maximize this value. Fundamental to this process is making the choice of what we really want most, or that which we would not give up at any cost or price- it is this choice or (set of choices) that defines our value system. In ‘The Prince’, Niccolo Machiavelli describes the dilemma that what appears best for an individual may not be best for the society and observes that the king must deal with this dilemma at every step while carrying. The question of determining at what point the ‘greater good’ should supersede the welfare of an individual is as fundamental as defining our ‘fundamental rights’ and really how fundamental they are. There are democratic methods in economics which are being used to answer such and related questions.

Is it more important to find a cure for cancer or for tuberculosis? Is democracy really better than autocracy? Should a person give up his life for the society? What really is his society? Should we bother about these questions or just make a lot of money? Economics offers the hope of answering diverse questions. At a macro level, it is applied by nations to maximize growth. At the micro level, it appears in the form of game theory which can be applied to a single transaction, even a simple bargain. Indeed, the theory can even be applied to politics to determine whether dissenting members of the party can rebel and form a breakaway faction; this knowledge can help the politician to determine the size and constitution of his ‘core’ group.

With a view to providing a common platform to those associated with XLRI interested in finding answers to such questions (and more such questions), a place where they can meet and exchange ideas, we, the students of the 2009-10 batch of the General Management Programme in XLRI envisaged the formation of ‘The Club for Economics at XLRI’, or CEX. However, led by the democratic spirit that is ingrained in many students of economics, we decided that it be better to build it not as an exclusive club but rather, as a society or a forum which will embrace and even reach out to all who share the passion for this quest , and thus was born the ‘Forum for Economics’- a forum for sharing ideas, asking questions, for observing the environment from an economics perspective, for studying policy, ethics, and for finding tangible solutions to problems .

In less than one term, it has become a vibrant forum of enthusiasts who regularly meet and discuss, make presentations, debate, bounce ideas and work on projects. We are pleasantly overwhelmed by the support and participation of students who are contributing to generate value in the Forum. Like in any other startup, at first one has to put in something and create value. The quality and number of ideas generated are indicative of the substantial amounts of creative faculties that the GMP students are investing in FOREX. On popular demand we have decided to intensify our activities by taking up larger projects and also to reach out to more people to generate more ideas and interest in economics. You can expect a periodic newsletter with updates of our activities and ideas soon. Those who would like to know more are welcome to contact us.

Negotiation Case

2009-09-02T07:39:00.003+05:30

Negotiation Case

It was evening time on 17^th August, 2009 when a SMS dropped on the mobiles of 8 shortlisted GMPians. We were carry out an exercise on negotiations with a group of 20 students undergoing Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) program from Saint Mary’s College of California. Prof. Shyam Kamath of the School of Economics and

Business Administration, St. Mary’s College of California, USA and Ms. Darcelle Lahr, Lecturer in Strategy at the College of Business and Economics at CSU, East Bay, USA had developed a case under Global Executive Negotiation Program (GENPRO). The case involved negotiation to be carried out between an Indian Public Sector Undertaking (namely India Semiconductor Corporation) which has planned to set up an in-house power plant and an American Firm (namely California Power Development Corporation) who were the shortlisted vendors for the plant. A group of 20 students of XLRI were divided into four teams with 5 members in each team to represent the Indian firm i.e. ISC. All the four teams had to strategize and conduct negotiations with the American teams. The Indian teams consisted of students with a diverse background with zero to thirteen years of work experience. The American team comprised of senior executives with an average work experience of 17.5 years.

Process of the Negotiation Program

The entire progam was divided into five phases. These are as under:

Phase I : Formation of groups and informal introduction over dinner one day before the date of actual negotiations.

Phase II : Formal introduction of the exercise by Prof. Shyam Kamath if St. Mary’s College, California and Prof. Jeetu Singh of XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Phase III : Teams carry out actual negotiations in separate rooms. Though efforts had to be made to close a successful deal but not sealing a deal would also succeed if the teams avoided a bad deal or concluded that more time is required.

Phase IV : The complete group re-assemble with the Professors and discuss their negotiation experience and learning.

Phase V : Further sharing of experiences in an informal way over lunch.

Objectives of the Negotiation Program

The GENPRO program was designed to achieve the following objectives:-

1) Enable mid-career executives and managers to learn about the fundamentals of negotiation in practical, applied context.

2) Enable participants to understand the cultural dimensions and barriers to negotiation and learn strategies to successfully conduct cross-cultural negotiations.

3) Deepen understanding of how to negotiate in a Win-Win mode rather than a Win-Lose mode and to successfully deal with a host of general and culture specific negotiation tactics.

4) To learn in depth regarding the cultural dimensions and negotiating styles of Americans and Indians from the other’s point of view.

5) To learn-by-doing and participate in a structured but open-ended negotiation exercise based on real-world case.

Experience of the Negotiation Program

The program provided a very enriching experience to all the participants at XLRI. After having a sumptuous meal with the guests at MDP residence the teams started brain storming to understand the case and come up with strategies to negotiate a good deal with the Americans. The discussions went on to 3.00 in the morning of 18^th August 2009. After catching up with some sleep we assembled in the hall at 8.30 AM. Professors carried out a brief introduction to the case after which we were again given time to plan our strategies for an hour. Then real negotiations commenced in separate groups of 10 with 5 students representing the American side and 5 representing the Indian side.

All participants thoroughly enjoyed in making all out efforts to negotiate the best deals for their organizations and came up with all kind of financial and operational innovations. The American and the Indian sides were given separate targets which they needed to realize through the negotiations. Some of these targets were competing in interests and generated a lot of deliberations and discussions. In all the two hours of negotiations exposed all participants to the various dimensions of cross cultural negotiations and the differences involved in negotiating with people belonging to diverse cultures and mindsets.

After the negotiations were over we all contributed through the experience gained in the entire exercise. It was evident to all there were marked differences in the way Americans and Indians thought and negotiated. While Indian side was found to be more directed towards cost the Americans were seen to reflect more on the total project dynamics. Indian team was able to keep many options under consideration while the Americans were more focused on step by step approach.

In all from the exercise both sides could well appreciate the role cultures played in the way we negotiate. Further elucidations by both Professors help us to gain knowledge regarding the skills required to ensure success in a negotiation involving members from various cultural and social backgrounds. The Americans had earlier done a similar exercise in Austria and could thus appreciate the ease of communication with Indians because of their similar democratic and open culture profile.

Truly, the exercise on negotiations was a rare opportunity which can only be accessed at premiere institute like XLRI. XLRI is known to give high emphasis on people management and such exercises go a long way in to reinforce this image.

The Term 1 that was!

2009-09-01T01:03:00.003+05:30

Term 1 of my GMP@XLRI has come to an end. What an eventful 3 months it has been. I have never been this much stretched and sleep deprived as I have been in last 3 months. Jumping from one assignment to the other, running for marketing project meeting to ELCC ,MANAC, Macro,Micro Economics group meeting, it has been a true roller coaster ride with surprise element built in every moment.

Classes/Studies: On an average we had 3-4 classes of 1.5 hours each. Sometimes it felt it is too much to do with case reading for marketing, Ethical leadership, management accounting practice and of course revision of dreaded classes of Quantitative techniques for Managerial Decisions to complete. Some subjects were taught by multiple professors, hence multiple midterm exams along with end term exams. With a day’s break, term 2 has begun and it seems it is going to be lot more hectic than the 1st term.

Exams: XLRI is very academic oriented Business school but focus remains on basics and applications. The biggest surprise element of XLRI is marquee list of Professors. Profs Make sure students read come prepared and perform at the highest level in various exams and quizzes. Lately, competitive spirit has taken front seat and everyone is talking about grades, marks etc. People say it is all only about leaning and not grades but culture of marks, grades, academic orientation builds in when Professors force you to study hard and remind you of exams in every class. Every exam is different; Standard of exam papers was very high in most of the courses in Term 1. Some exams were open book and some were closed book. Don’t ask for performance in open book. Open book doesn’t mean you will sail through instead you will struggle more than the other format. Only one professor, Prof. Sarosh Ghandy didn’t take any formal exam but he had his unique ways of asking us to submit answers to various questions on Ethics and Leadership on A4 sheets of paper.

Myth: B-school is all about partying, extra circulars: this myth was broken in first fifteen days when I started to realize that I don’t have time for any other activity other than studies. One needs to be incredibly good at time management to manage academic and non academic studies.

The CR factor

I have always been on the opinion that Bschools are perfect ground for networking, peer learning, managing conflict view points and learning prioritization. I have been fortunate that class reposed faith in me in selecting me as Class Representative. I am not sure how class evaluates me but I have tried to do justice to the job. Class Rep is a bridge between professors and students. There have been moment of high adrenaline, excitement, anxiety, frustration, dissatisfaction but overall it has been marvelous experience to manage 48 (strength of my section) of different opinions. Sometimes it becomes huge distraction, many a times you can’t concentrate on your individual priorities but it has made me realize why things move slowly in a democratic setup. Hats off to Indian growth despite Indian plurality and democracy.

CEO visits, guest lecture:I had opportunity to attend gyan sessions of CEO of Airtel, Bihar and Jharkhand, CEO of SELCO, Dr Harish Hande, CEO of Goonj, Anshu Gupta and TATA Tiscon Branding guest lecture by Mr. Sharan from TQMS. One of the professors even humorously pointed me that I skipped his class to attend these CEO visits. It has been inspiring to know the exemplary work done by Dr. Hande and his team in areas of solar powering of Rural Karnataka and Anshu Gupta’s team. I remember his chilling narration left the whole CII YI team, (which I am part of) in pin drop silence. His words were of utmost disbelief to us.

CII-YI: Four GMPians got chance and were selected in CII Young Indians society of XLRI. We have already organized Kshitij, a one day event for underprivileged school children. I am not very satisfied with my involvement till date as it has been limited because of academics and exam. I hope to compensate for the same in Term 2.Online group: I am part of the Online group which handles online branding –Blogging, Newsletters, marketing GMP in online space, connecting with prospective students etc. So far the groups’ performance has been satisfactory and but we need to speed up the activities.

Accommodation:The first welcome surprise was Accommodation. Hostel accommodations are very comfortable with AC, phones etc. The housekeeping staff is excellent. Although people have varying opinions about our mess food, but I have liked it very much and no complains at all. In fact, our GMP Mess committee members are doing a commendable job by keeping tab on quality, menu etc.
Parties

The academic pressure has not made us drab personalities, in fact we have had 2-3 parties, Thanks to our Party/Admin committee members.
Village Trip

XLRI’s focus on social entrepreneurship is commendable. A 3 day trip to villages is mandatory for all flagship programs. I along with my group happened to go to three tribal villages and was awestruck with grim realities of rural India. We had to walk for an hour to cross a mountain to reach the one of the villages. The village didn’t have electricity, road, school, primary health care centre but had lots of hope that things will improve for them one day.
Adventure Trip

The Adventure trip organized by Tata steel Adventure foundation was life time experience. Various Team building exercises such as Rock Climbing, Caving, self made rafting on Dimna Lake was truly amazing experience. These events not only helped us understand each other better but also helped us explore our limits.

Today is the first day of Term 2. Human resource management case writing projects need to be formed; I need to read about HUL’s Sangam initiative and solve a question in Optimization in Managerial decision making for tomorrow’s class. I hope term 2 to be as exciting and promising as term 1 and to get some time to scribble few lines on the blog…….

Joy of Giving Week @ XLRI

2009-08-28T19:47:00.002+05:30

XLRI held an unique event at the unveiling ceremony of the "Joy of Giving Week" (Sept 27-Oct 3, '09) . Along with many eminent personalities, the entire city of Jamshedpur was brought together for a common cause.
Catch some glimses of it on the other XLRI blog at http://tinyurl.com/lnqgf6.

My learnings....

2009-08-28T13:13:00.002+05:30

Since the 1st term is coming to an inglorious close its time to reflect on whether the learnings were worth the 3 lakh 71 thousands we paid for this term...

Well...After much head scratching, I could zero in on only 4 things that I learnt in the last two months and half.. Here they are..

First, yes.. you guessed it right :-)... the famous, now almost-a-zen... 'Profit and cash are different'..

Second... yes..again you are correct :-)... made popular by Durgesh... 'Marks and knowledge are as different as profit and cash'..

Third... it may well work in the US..but the power of positive thinking (as illustrated in the documentary 'The Secret') does not always work at XL... and certainly not with GMP students, specially in QTMD and MANAC exams :-(

Fourth.. its a realisation though... Getting a job and getting good marks in exams are as different as profit and cash, subject to Note No. 1

Note 1: Refer to clause 16 ('Qualifying Standards') of Student Manual

I wish the fourth realisation will become crystal clear in the coming terms :-)

Ciao...

Dinner table small talks

2009-08-15T22:38:00.004+05:30

Our dinning hall is one of the best places at XLRI.

Ofcourse I am not talking about the food ...

Dinning hall is a place where ideas are exchanged, views are presented and opinions are formed. And sometimes you get to hear some interesting narrations ;-)...

Today my luck favored me so that I could be at the right table at the right time...

The discussion was already on.. the topic that was being discussed immediately caught my attention.. It was on dreams and the interpretation of it... my table mates were sharing their experiences and it was quite fascinating.. I thanked myself that I chose the right table.. today it would not be another drab conversion and usual cribbing on assignments, and marks in mid-term exams..

But the best was yet to come..

One of my table mates was sharing his experience... it went like this (the conversation)

'One night even I also had a dream... it was like one night I came down to the ground floor to find out that my bike was missing'

'Oh no.. you must have felt very bad'

'Yea.. but then I realised in my dream that I was actually dreaming.. infact I realized that I even did not bring my bike at XL... But even though it was only a dream I was curious about the missing bike.. So I kept on dreaming'

'Ohh..really.. could you do that?? I mean, how one can dream when he knows he is dreaming?'

'I know.. but my curiosity got better of me.. so I let my dream to continue.. I felt bad that I had to go to police station to lodge complain and all that.. God knows how the police here at Jsr would behave with me!!'

'Did you find your bike.. I mean in your dream'

'No man.. before I could even go to the police station I had to get up...it was already late in the morning.. God knows what happened to my bike!!!'

My friend signed off in a pensive mood and I kept wondering...

Life is so beautiful :-P

GMPians 2010-Batch on CoolAvenues

2009-08-10T01:41:00.006+05:30

GMPians can be contacted on CoolAvenues to answer admission-related queries:

http://www.coolavenues.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21334

Please direct GMP aspirants on CoolAvenues to the above link.

GMPians, 2010-Batch on Pagalguy

2009-08-10T01:34:00.004+05:30

GMPians can be contacted on PAGALGUY to answer prospective students related queries:

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/international-indian-mba-schools-accepting/42967-xlri-gmp-prospective-students-2010-a.html

Please direct GMP aspirants on Pagalguy to the above link.

XAT 2010 for XLRI GMP

2009-08-08T16:05:00.003+05:30

Prospective GMPians,
Gear up for the XAT 2010. It is expected to to held on 3rd Jan 2010. Follow the link for more details.
http://www.mbauniverse.com/aspirantinn.php?id=2256

Cat is out of the bag

2009-08-04T02:00:00.003+05:30

Finally the results of Placement committee elections are out. Some would classify them surprising and some will call them shocking (no names) but at the end of the day no body could have predicted all the names of winning team. The GMP batch voted using the conventional ballot paper (We draw more inspiration from US elections than the Indian election).There were no attempts to capture booth or of luring voters with enticements. In case if there would ever arise a need for re elections, the batch will get EVMs and ISO certification for the election process.
Few take away of this election-
1. People trusted the election committee and they did a fabulous job. If we had more volunteers and less people to just comment we can organise more batch events .So first cheers are for Aditya, Milind, Pranit, Sachin, Sandeep, Sunil and Swastayan

2. Despite rumors’ that the verdict will be fragmented, the winning team has received large no of votes which goes on to prove when it comes to fair selection we can vote across the barriers of class and sectors.

3. Batch has voted for people whom they found sincere, approachable and amicable (Not that the others who lost out did not have these qualities)

4. Finally what it boils down to be is that batch wants action and so those victorious can rejoice tonight but they better get down to the norming stage of group formation at the earliest.

5. All the nominees (including me) had assured to help and support the place com and we for once can try and take a lead on building up on ideas we gave.

P.S I have deliberately not mentioned the name of winners – you will have enough chance to hog the lime light.

The Balls and the Urn Theory

2009-07-31T20:36:00.004+05:30

7:30 PM, Wednesday, the 29th of July 2009, this was the time which will go down in the history of XL as the day when the GMP 2009-10 finished their first series of mid-term exams. It was history indeed as for most of us it was weird to be back in exam mode with our first exams in XLRI GMP. Most of us had forgotten that sinking feeling that we used to get just before you walk into the exam because you don’t know anything about the subject. I thought I’d left that feeling behind when I finished my engineering, but apparently, its a feeling you carry for life. It’s like learning a bicycle – You never forget it.

We had our first QT Quiz (Quantitative Techniques aka Maths) on the 17th. This was one of the two quizes that we had as part of the mid terms. Although QT is one of the most dreaded subjects we have, for this Quiz most of the junta was pretty confident. The reason was the syllabus for this quiz was being covered by one of the "supposably" lenient prof and where the students were hoping to cross the elusive "C Grade" barrier because the so called "probablity" of scoring in the other part of the syllabus was very low. Anyways, Most of the students who went confidently came out a bit shocked and directionless for all the pre-exam probabilities that they had worked out regarding the expected questions had went haywire. The dance of the C's, D's and F's had started.

In between passed the other exams such as Economics, Accounting, Marketing etc. Even abstract subjects such as "Ethical Leadership" had left students shaken and drained. Finally, came the D-day - the day of the second QT Quiz. The date was much hyped and dreaded...not only because of the subject but also because of the hoopla created before the exam. There were supposed to be special random seating arrangements, special questions and there was historical evidence (scores of the last batch) which weren't a great source of inspiration.

The exam was supposed to be an open book exam (something very common in XL) and it was told to us that the recommended text given in the class would be of no use. An open book exam generally make matters worse for students.We’re allowed to bring in any textbook/notes/reference material into the exam, but all of us know what that means – The answers are not going to be in any text book.

Even without a text book to do last-minute mugging from, the familiar exam-hall scene didn't disappoint. There were scores of people reading through some printouts and notes, trying desperately to grasp on to the subject – to get hold of something that sounds familiar, but no use. It’s like a drowning man in the middle of the sea, desperately splashing about trying to get hold of something to float on to, but finding nothing. And you all know what happens to the man next – He drowns into the vast ocean, which has euphemistically been called the ocean of knowledge. If you drown into an ocean, even if it is the one of knowledge, isn’t that a bad thing? ‘Cause you’re drowning for god’s sake! How can that be a good thing?

Anyway, we are made to enter the exam hall - odd roll nos. enter first and take their alloted seats; Even roll nos. enter later. The Question Paper and the answer sheet lay sealed in front of us. Once everybody settled down there was a few minutes of silence and people attacked their booklets gingerly as they heard the golden words “You may begin”.

‘Please let me understand the first question. Please let me at least know what the question means’ – I utter my silent prayer to myself. And then there it is – The first question. Just as I finish reading it, I feel the sudden juxtaposition of humor and a slight confidence. "Okay !! I think I can manage the first 10 marks, Lets take it step by step. Don't get excited !!". and then somehow I managed to to pass through the next 90 minutes. Somehow I had managed to put some formulas in place for every question and I didn't even want to crosscheck later whether the answers were right or not. Since I did’t leave the exam paper blank and had written some formulas with some figures, I hoped to get marks for my handwriting at least. Not because my handwriting was good, but because it was so bad that the prof won’t understand what’s written and give me the benefit of the doubt. That was one of my chances I was considering for calculating the probability of getting some marks.

At the end of the exam I saw a lot of happy and relieved faces as well as disappointed faces. I realized that the entire "thriller" show created around the quiz was what we can call the "Balls and the Urn Theory". Management students like us will always argue that Maths is one subject they may never need to use in their actual jobs post MBA and some even question its inclusion in the curriculum. However, At the end of the day, It was this "Ball and the Urn" theory that had made students study maths - for they were left with two choices before the exam - either study to save your "balls" or choose your "urn" before you get cremated in the exam.

New XLRI world TT doubles champion

2009-07-30T20:44:00.000+05:30

As all of us know, there is a TT doubles tournament being played in Charlie Common Room(C block GMP).Today the world doubles champions,Saiket and Xavier were pitched against two local players. These locals were given wild card entry to up the local viewership. Needless to say the locals Pracheesh and Swastayan were fully supported by the huge gathering.
Probably rusty in the first set the champs surrendered meekly to their underrated opponents.They staged a comeback by winning the second set but were shown the door after loosing a one sided battle in the third set.
As it stands today Swastayan and Pracheesh have conquered Saiket and Xavier.

{special effects in the above description are inspired from Cyrus Brocha's 'The week that wasn't' }

Evening Before QTMD-Mid Term

2009-07-28T16:00:00.002+05:30

Some lines just floated in my heart...

"Ishi waqt, kal ke Din
Katle-aam hoga, Sare-saam hoga...

Buland kar le apna jigar,
kyoki, ish par ya ush par
kahin-n-kahin humara bhi naam hoga..."

Mail me if you need translation....P2

Not the usual flock, folks!

2009-07-27T08:11:00.001+05:30

Talk about GMPians of '09-10: Where would find them? In libraries, in lectures halls, in group study rooms, slogging late at night, busy making presentations, case studies?

Well think again.....you'll be pleasantly surprised. Watch this video.

Synergies within GMP

2009-07-26T20:03:00.000+05:30

The notice reads—After the economics & quantitative technique classes group ‘A’ has to attend a seven course dinner with a senior faculty member—“PLEASE BE SUITABLY DRESSED FOR THE OCCASION”. The same night a doctor goes to room C-31 & asks a guy, an engineer 15 years younger to him, to help him out with maths & stats. After finishing here, he approaches an IT guy, with thirteen years IT experience behind him, to teach him how to work on excel-sheets. During the day this doctor had delivered a talk on how the healthcare insurance sectors in the US, the middle-east & here in India were different from each other.
Five years means five years. People with 59 months of experience are not considered. There are classes on corporate etiquettes & Ethical Leadership & Corporate Citizenship. Faculty members are accessible round the clock. Projects, assignments, classes, quizzes, speeches & presentations drive you to the limit of exhaustion. You are left wondering why you had to take the condensed version of the regular programme and slog this much after a hiatus from studies of at least five years. You wish that the day had more hours. The guy in C-37 goes to bed at 4am after waking up the person in C-38. The sun never sets here. Then comes another day & matters of common concern are sorted out in the dining hall, where all one hundred of them, along with their families, gather four times a day. This is the support system that keeps them going. It is a matter of relief that the professor of maths is taking extra classes for the entire batch before the mid-term tests. The faculty members encourage discussions in the classes & critical analysis of subjects is not frowned upon. WELCOME TO THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME (GMP) AT XLRI, JAMSHEDPUR, the oldest of its kind in the country.
The diversity of the batch is carefully structured at the time of selection of candidates. The current batch comprises of Architects, Army personnel, IT professional, Engineers, Doctors and Entrepreneurs. The Institute provides the best accommodation in the country, keeping in mind the experience of the students & in order to ensure a suitable ambience to enable students to handle the rigorous nature of the course.
The course is unique in that, among other things, it lays a lot of emphasis on leadership skills & excellence by organizing outdoor adventure programs & village exposure programs in order to allow the students to interact with social entrepreneurs & NGOs & to study the needs & aspirations of the “REAL INDIA”. This is interspersed with an International immersion programme to allow the students to interact with students & faculty abroad & to work on international assignments of common interest.

In the spirit of the game

2009-07-26T18:05:00.000+05:30

Today,Sunday-07/26/09, we had a cricket meeting. The venue was our
sports ground and everybody was invited to take practical lessons on
the field. Unlike the last meet enthusiasts from section A outnumbered
those from section B. Taking lessons from the last time players were
punctual and also had a warm up before the actual fun began. Everybody
realized that unless the game is competitive the entertainment
quotient would go down. In the true spirit of the game GMPians gave
their best to cricket. And as was expected the match turned out to be
a perfect thriller. It was only for the first time that GMPians
accepted to come under 'self proclaimed' captains, without ANY
discussions. Section A won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that
was damp with occasional patches of 'rain hit' roughs. Interestingly
this pitch was still better than the pitch used last time, which was
slippery to say the least. Sanjeev Reddy was the pick of the bowlers
from section B and Anurag scored quick runs for section A. With the
bowlers dominating the affairs section A was restricted to a modest
total of 61 runs in their quota of 14 overs.
QUOTA- the word disturbs-isn't it?
Nevertheless section A was determined to turn the tide this time
around. With revenge for the last game's loss, up there on the top
storey of everybody from section A, a spirited bowling performance
from A's captain Saurabh Dubey stole the show. Mohit, the craftsman,
led the batting display from B. Finaly it was a last bowl finish and
section A stamped victory by 2 runs.

Should the description end here, I would give only partial detail of
the sportsman that we are. Durgesh Shrivastava covered the entire
match taking photographs and video shoots. He dared the sun and the
incoming speeding cricket ball. We also had truly spirited batchmates,
Rashmi and Deepti who had walked out of AC comfort to cheer the
players. The midterm exams are not yet over and as was the need of the
moment, this meeting turned out to be a great sress buster. CHEERS
XLRI GMPians.

Adventure Camp

2009-07-23T00:07:00.000+05:30

ADVENTURE PROGRAMME

We are too old to do this! That was the first thought that came to the mind of most of us when we learnt that we will be going to a three day adventure programme organized by Tata steel adventure foundation. No one had imagined that not only will these words be forgotten but also that the camp will challenge our beliefs about our limits.
Now here was a group of GMP students who claim to been there, done that and who have been leading people in their teams to be led by the trainers of TSAF.The fact that the trainers had no airs about their individual achievements seemed quite confusing in the beginning. Here we were in the corporate world, doing a project and feeling bad that the pat did not come from none less than the CEO himself and there were these trainers who had conquered the mighty peaks of the world and were so introverted that they do not even mention it till we coaxed them. Than came the realization that they were being led by Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to climb the Mt Everest, and it is thus a small wonder that the TSAF as an organization was both humble and dedicated to the core.
On the first day we were issued with sleeping bags, plates and mess tin. So whatever doubts any body had about preferential treatment got buried. On reaching there we found that the camp site was cut off from the outside world with only two covered shed-one to serve as kitchen and one as shed for keeping valuables. We had to lay our own tents (with the support of instructors) and a hill was identified for the nature’s call. For some the set up was cultural shock..and the day had just begun.
Initially we had small games for team building. The game became difficult in each step, the skills required were to think as a team and to act like one. What made it worse were there was no nominated leader. For once the participation was genuine(unlike in the class where students question to get the class participation marks)These games set the tone for the camp. Then we were divided into teams of ten each. There were couple of competitions lined up in which the teams had to choose a separate leader and compete with other teams. The first was a warm up on the obstacle course. Some teams took it easy. But when they saw their performance and other teams making strategy ,it pumped them up. That evening we saw a movie about India’s Mt Everest mission and every one was spell bound by the efforts of the team who undertook the mission.That was also the last we saw of light. As we had to sleep in our tents. Now for GMPians who are used to staying awake it was difficult to sleep.So we found people interacting with each other.Little did we realize that this was in fact our first informal interaction with each other. Many did not know names of each other even though it had been three weeks in the course. So we talked, laughed, sang all this without any external stimulant(bOOOOOOOze).For the first night it was a rush to find a sleeping slot away from the gates of the tent for the fear of snakes. This started a laughing riot in the tents and by morning 4 a.m people had got up. Some because they could not sleep and some because they wanted their share of exclusivity of space on the hill that was meant for nature’s call.
The morning’s first event was the obstacle course.The strategies were in place.It was no longer only a fun things , the battle had begun.People pushed themselves to their limit,some who found that difficult got pushed by their team mates. People took roles as leader,follower,planner without any one identifying himself publically as one. And all this to beat another team by a matter of seconds.It was no longer about individual achievements but for the pride of the team.It was only morning nine and we thought we were done for the day,blissfully unaware of the scheme of things..
Watch this space for remaining action!

Can Accounting be fun

2009-07-19T17:18:00.000+05:30

I have always feared Accounting. Many of us feel that Accounting is the abstract form of mathematics. Maths is logical, but Accounting leaves much to subjectivity. You know all balances have to match but some invisible force ensures that either the Assets or liabilities have a upper hand over each other. Worse this fight between Assets and liabilities is thrilling to the last, you don’t know till the end who will win, even though you keep praying for a draw.
So when we started with our management Accounting class even the Aryabhatta’s of the classes were sweating. Our professor for the course is Professor Sengupta.In colleges the reputation of the professors is the topic of gossip. So we knew we will be dealing with a task master. Now that will be the icing on the cake.
So when we saw the professor we were in for a surprise. He would have passed you as a guy you met at the restaurant or a theatre and forgot. But here the difference stops. The day he started teaching, the bastions of Accounting in our minds began to fall. By the end of first session we were all through with break even without having to break our heads over it. He believes in drilling the basics, before he takes off. He is so articulate that you when you look back on the class you had, you will find that he did not let the class go astray even once. He will come up with his one liner when you require a breather and still ensure that his syllabus goes on as given in course outline. In fact he prides in that and the day he started he warned us that heavens will have to fall to get the test of Managerial accounting to shift. No wonder lots of students opt for finance as specialization.
But students are students. We solve a problem in the class and think we have mastered it.Thats what his teaching does! But when you don’t practice after the class , accounts is still an uphill task. Indeed accounting is fun till the time there are no exams.

XLRI quest for Rural India...

2009-07-18T08:33:00.000+05:30

Village Trip (A Tryst with Nature)

2009-07-05T10:07:00.012+05:30

Sir Albert Camus rightly quoted "You cannot acquire experience by making experiments. You cannot create experience. You must undergo it".

These words will echo in our soul for the rest of life।

XLRI in collaboration with NGO's arranged a village exposure trip for a better understanding of challenges faced by our country men for all the GMP'ians. There were 10 groups with 9-10 people in each group, with each group visiting different villages.

NGO:- SJVK (Samekit Jan Vikas Kendra)

Village :- Saidih( 105 km from Jamshedpur)

Team:- Sachin Gupta

Sachin Rawat

Sameer Nayak

Sanjeev Reddy

Santosh Kumar Sahoo

Sayantan Dey
ShriramSagar Singh

Siddharth Suresh Petkar

Soumya Ranjan Mahakul

Sridhar Thiagarajan

Day 1 (Friday 8:30) :- Our day began sharply at 8:30 am. Each one of us were all excited to set out to our venture to mainlands. We left XLRI at around 9:00 and reached Sunder Nagar , the place where we met Fr Halen Bodra, who brief us about the village tour and then we embarked towards the village. The weather was calm and clear, contrast to Jamshedpur's scorching heat. We could not resist our temptation to capture the nature at its best.

12:30 pm:- We reached the village school , which was our stay for the next 3 days.We were given warm welcome by Fr Michael and the school children. The agenda for the day was all set, we had to take lunch , rest a while and then proceed to the water shed project started by one of our Alum.

About School:- It was a residential school for children up to 6 standards.There were 135 students in all.

Accomodation & Lunch:- Our Accommodation was arranged at a common room in the school। The room was to be shared by all of us.The initial reaction after seeing the room was "WOW". You cannot blame us for that reaction after being habitual to single AC rooms.

यह कहाँ आ गए हम ...........

The Lunch was Delicious, with Dal, Chawal(Desi Chawal), 2 sabji.

Fri 3:oo pm:

Our NGO companion of the village was right in time and we left to meet the village people and see the water shed project.We met several villagers on our way and one of them was kind enough to show us around the villages. The Guy was travelling bare-foot with lots of enthusiasm showing us the different fields which he own and showing other villagers. I asked him , why didn't he bother to buy a chappal ?

Pat came the reply जो माँ बाप का जच्क्स ऑफ़ , उसके लिए चप्पल की जरूरत नहीं"।

On asking he told us about the average income of a family is around Rs 1200 pm. In each and every answere there was of lot of self -respect, dignity and pride for his village and he was showing everything as if he owns the entire village.
He was kind enough to click a snap with us.

Jacks of Jack Fruit

Friday (Evening):-

Does this deserve a COLGATE SMILE of the year ?

The Evening was full of mysteries. This was our first trip where we get to know each other well.

During the night we had several discussions which improve the bonding between us. We had discussions on various topics such as personal crush to horror stories (since it was really dark).

It was around 1 am and some of us heard gunshots. It was really scary since this was a Maoist prone area. There were 3 of us who couldnt sleep .

Day 2:-
We got up at 5:00 am not because we planned it that way , but we had to because we slept in the prayer hall , where prayer starts at 5:30 am. It wasnt a good night sleep and most of us woke with bad back , however, it was the voice and beautiful smile of the children which made the day.

Then began our daily chores and some of us chose to take the natural route to finish it.

Eastern Style or Western Style or Natural Style

Then while some us were getting ready for our visit to neighbourhood villages, I couldnt resist capturing this video.

Introduction of Masak kali:-

Firstly, we visited an interior village where there was no electricity, limited food and water facilities.Most of the local could not even speak hindi and we had to use a interpretor to connect to them. We had discussion with villagers on general topics like what they want to improve on their villages, the daily routine etc. We discussed on micro finance schemes which was started by the NGO and how to involve more people from the villages into it. There were some of us like Sachin Rawat , who provided valuable insight to the villages on the problems which they face. In some cases the problems roots were as simple as letting the autorities know about the non functioning of electric poles which were lying in the villages. Personally , we donated around 2K from our pocket for the finance scheme.

In the evening we had nice time with children. We conducted an general knowledge quiz among the students and then we went ahead with cultural programmes such as dancing and singing.It was heartening to see that they were abreast of our film industry and they danced to the tunes of latest bollywood songs. We concluded the ceremony with prize distribution to all the children and gifted them a cricket bat and ball.

Acche Bacche (Unlike Me)

CLOSE UP :)

And thats how we ended our day.

Cheers

Sanjeev Reddy

GMP Class of 2010,XLRI,

Blog: http://xlrigmp2010.blogspot.com/

Cyrus within...??

2009-07-01T23:27:00.000+05:30

Most of us have a "Cyrus Engineer" within us, smaller or bigger.
Cyrus represents the dissatisfaction and dissolution within ourselves that keep us restless.
Desire to grow and prove oneself to others are some reasons of Cyrus getting larger in some of us.

So what's a solution to fight the Cyrus in us...we either ADAPT or SURRENDER or FIGHT..

Compromising with the handed decision of others, what most of the people around us do, will be ADAPT.
What Cyrus did…was SURRENDER…
and
What we are doing…that is joining GMP to upgrade..is FIGHT.

Those guys who scored HIGH(more than 120) in test designated to identify Cyrus, should be happy with the fact that..they have taken the third solution and that is to fight.

This is my analysis apart from all the great words given in one more interesting and intriguing class of Managing Human Behavior(MHB) by Prof Jittu Singh.

(Context: Case Study of Cyrus Engineer in MHB Class)

Connecting the dots........

2009-06-24T13:14:00.001+05:30

I opened my eyes and looked outside- It was dawn. I jumped out of my berth time was still 05:15 Am. The sky was a deep blue with hues of red and orange melting into yellow on the horizon. It was a magical feeling different than other morning i had felt. As the train sped toward the station, a dry cold wind was hissing past me, as if whispering welcome to Jamshedpur!

It is not easy to leave a well paying job in recessionary times, especially when you are doing very well .The Job market not looking too good, people questioned me? MBA is a separate charm, It was my cherished dream, I was willing to take risk; confident about myself.

As I first entered the XLRI campus, the greenery struck me, the silence and serenity of the place was a stark contrast to the noise of Mumbai. The hostel was neat & clean, I got a garden facing room. When I connected my laptop to the Lan- I was online 10 minutes into the hostel.

The Inauguration ceremony was simple, the views of the administration candid. No big show or festivity was kind of visible but the communication was crystal clear and effective- XLRI’s has 9 years experience of 1 year batch, you are mature and experienced guys, we have all the facilities, it is for us to extract the best of it. The preparatory course began, and I was in for some hell of ride 4 lectures each day 1.5 hrs each. I was scared, as the day was to end with a 3 hrs accounting class, but that........ was not to be.

The accounting class was the surprise package, we all now look forward to that lecture J faculty entertained us J with accounts, must acknowledge it is one of the best education experiences I had. Learning accounts will be fun with this Prof, he ended the preparatory course with the address of his home- simple statement “’do drop in!!!!!’’I realised each Prof stayed in the campus and was accessible. Another interesting Gentleman professor we have ( of all the things he teaches us managerial communications) is a elderly reverent father, who has clearly laid down strict rules to be followed in his class, a formal attire grooming us to be Gentleman- but in anger he address us as ‘”Jokers’’ hilarious at times - but then again he treated us with a 7 course dinner, a formal event at MDP residence- he went ahead to teach us table etiquettes, thus he is using all his tact to make us learn things we may not pay much attention to- Non verbal communications. Meticulous and dedicated is what I have made my opinion of profs at XLRI- I frankly did not expect it, as these guys are very humble straight forward and how they ‘’present’’ themselves is never an indication of what they are. This was way beyond our expectations- this place was too good.

I was not expecting this at XL, I remember in January, I filled a very simple admissions form. The Sudden request for online essay form by XLRI was not expected, but manageable. These essays tried measuring my motivations and probed me as a person. An interview followed, where the Profs respected my opinion not trying to prove that they knew better. They were probing me, checking my presence of mind, understanding tit bits of my industry commenting about Korean chaebols but not arguing with me, not aimed in outsmarting me. They had straight forward humble approach. I had not imagined that this approach was backed by some solid knowledge, understanding of the subject and the industry.

I can now connect the dots, it was this all along....XL was not founded by government intervention or some corporate bigwigs glamorising MBA- recruiting students to play the rankings game. It was formed by Jesuit priests. It is the part of a tradition what is called as “Convent Education” The staff is humble, dedicated and meticulous because their aim is to serve, glamorising or marketing the course isn’t their aim. The reputation of this place is not based of glamorous advertising or smart PR work.

This institute routed in history sticks to its values- excellence and integrity. All along from the application, essays, interview and now lectures at the institute. The GMP program is not about 26 year old guys outwitting each other in class- as if groomed packs of brats need masks of managers. This is about mature individuals with experience, exposure and talent. This place is not about excellent advertising and PR. It is not money spinning machine .XLRI is about its service to society, sticking to its values Excellence and integrity.

The very first Seven course meal of my life…..

2009-06-21T19:05:00.001+05:30

We were waiting for this day since the moment: we were handed over GMP-schedule. But we never expected it to be so lavish.
Kudos to XLRI traditions and values, GMPians were welcomed with a dinner party as part of MCN-lab in curriculum. The guys dressed in formals or better to say in Managerial Attires reached MDP-Residence on schedule time and the party began with drinks.
First, Second and Third round of drinking..…..and there most of the guys had to stop…thanks to the mentor presence. Guys were sober or rather they did not have an option. :-)
The tables were assigned and then grand dinner begin. Courtesy my naivety, it was the very first time that I was following the standards of Seven Course of Dining while the things were served one by one along with music in rhythm.
And special thanks to Ankit (a flying Lieutenant from Indian Army) who guided our table through with his knowledge with lying knives, spoons and eating etiquettes.
The dish were amazing but more amazing was the way in which those were brought and served.
Learnt that it’s not starters, main course and deserts only but the other courses of a serving are missed by us in any regular party.

Great experience and wish to go through it once again…..

The MCN Dinner

2009-06-21T10:44:00.000+05:30

The most awaited dinner... got over. From drinks to a seven course meal, from jokes and laughter to analysis of top IMDB movies, from chit-chat noises to soothing music - all in all it turned out to be a wonderful time after the week long slogging and jam packed class schedule.
Here are some pictures of the same.

This post cannot end without a thanking note to our Prof. Fr. Jesurajan who had organized this for us. Thank you Father.

First day, first show

2009-06-16T01:05:00.000+05:30

June 12, 2009:
The first day of GMP '09-'10 class set off.
Prof A, Prof B and Prof C all together to address us. The cool AC in the conf room after the heat outside in JSR already made a few of us sleepy. Apart from the refreshments during the break, all the Profs took good care that we stay awake!
Prof A tried to explain what we should do during our GMP program. He said, our hearts/souls had already reached a point high up and the body is longing to follow. Through this course we would undertake the journey so our body could reach our heart. True, we were all there to see our dreams reach fruition. He also gave details on the GMP facilities. Yes they are indeed good, perhaps we can post some pics later. Only issue I see are the pigeons on my AC. Their smelly droppings disturbs my dreams quite often and the preparatory classes also ensured that the max I could dream for was only 4-5hrs at night.

Prof B described how XLRI is perfect for academics. It's been there for 60 years and maintained its high standard throughout. He was very happy to state that we'll get one of the best environments for studies here. Coupled with XLRI campus , even JSR city's environment is good; it does not have any theatre :-o. I woke up! He corrected himself slightly, ie any good theatres are not available! I was still awake.

Prof C emphasized the uniqueness of XLRI. He said we could reach the profs anytime without any appointments, even at their residences. He also said he is the person who would sail along with us through all tides. Our questions and doubts were patiently handled by him.

The prep-classes started off, Permutation-Combination, Macroeconomic view, Accounting & Finance etc etc etc.....

Jam & Jazz @ Chicago

2009-05-30T18:26:00.000+05:30

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)

2009-05-25T08:50:00.000+05:30

My Bumpy ride to XLRI.

2009-05-23T10:09:00.000+05:30

“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

2009-05-23T07:53:00.001+05:30

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.

2009-05-19T10:01:00.000+05:30

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 :)

2009-05-18T23:10:00.000+05:30

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

2009-05-14T22:25:00.000+05:30

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

2009-05-11T20:44:00.000+05:30

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

2009-05-05T12:49:00.000+05:30

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

Pune GMP Meet with Rohit Arora

2009-04-29T11:17:00.000+05:30

Rohit is the current(2008-09) GMPian and as he travelled to Pune, we, prospective GMPians, got a chance to meet him here in city. To get to know more about Rohit, catch him in his blog:
http://targetoflife.wordpress.com/about/
We (I, Sidhartha, Chinmaya, Yogesh and Sandip) were reached CCD earlier while Devendra has joined us later. Rohit appeared before us with a smiling and energetic face. The very first line that he added,
'Someone mentioned in group mail that we GMPians are not proud of GMP. Why do you think so? As a GMPian, we are fully proud of being GMPian and I as others, are available to take any query regarding course through mail or through blogs.'

Nice way to start the discussion and then after a short introduction, we were submerged into a long string of discussion which continued for atleast an hour and half. I will just add the excerpts from the discussions that can be valuable:

On MBA: MBA is all about setting up the priorities correctly and time-management. Take it as a long term investment rather than seeing it as placement-venue. What matters are the classes from the renowned XL professors and case-studies taken. These case-studies in diverse batch will help in getting different insight of the issue or condition from multiple dimensions.
On GMP: A life-time opportunity and we as batch need to have realistic expectations from the course.
On placements: There is about 45-50% of guys having placed where 30% have got the job through institute facilitated methods. The placement activities in the institute are mostly handled by students and 1-year and 2-year MBA programs have the guys working separately. The placement season is extended for GMPians but now most of the students are relying on their networking and contacts. Job-market is tough and so we need to be prepared in advance.
On life in XLRI: Cool and unforgettable experience. He was nostalgic about leaving the batch and institute after about a year. Professors are easily accessible and stay in just opposite area of GMP-hostels. The married candidates spouse and kids had their groups and one can find them mingling to each-other in college campus.
On Infrastructure and facilities: For single accommodation, a GMPian will be getting a single BH apartment while a family quarter will be 2 BHK. (both of these types have wash-rooms attached) Single acco* will be furnished-one with paid-electricity, Wi-Fi and basic furnishing. In case of a family acco, basic furnishing like mattress, curtails et cetra will be required by the occupant. Confirm this more from group mails/other sources and plan for things that will be required. There will be no fridge or TV type of facilities from institute but a telephone connection will be given in room with nominal outgoing charges. Most of these amenities and day-to-day stuffs can be bought in campus. House-keeping is taken care for single accommodation while family-accommodations have to be on their own.
Though there are no washing machine placed but there is a guy who takes hundii* for monthly-cleaning in 350 bucks.
He gave us a contact-person who can be reached now and who can help in confirming and procuring things. Chinmay has noted down the contact details and I will separately mention the contact person details.
Room-allocation will be on random and there are enough numbers of family and single apartments for GMPian.
On having a Bike: One may require a bike in case they have a family. A few of guys in current-batch (including Rohit) had bikes there. It will be a good idea to have one. Few of them have cars as well.
On Mess: One can join the mess on and off or on requirement basis as well(in case you are staying with family). Food-quality was good though there could be usual complaints and cribbing which people tend to have after sometime. A cafeteria is coming-up though he did not mention the planned date of opening.
On life post-classes: There could be classes during weekends. Atleast there will enough reasons to keep one busy in weekends as well. Though it varies person to person but one can have time for available sports options as Basketball, TT, Gym, Tennis and other ideas.
On Classes: The first two terms are really going to be hectic. It will include a team-building out-of-institute camp, an industry trip and many other assignments. Electives can be decided in later terms and not mandatory. However, one can select one, two or more electives depending on his/her preference.
On formals and dress-code: In general, formals are not required for classes. However, some of the classes like Corporate Communication, there is a mandate of be in formals. Ties will also be required in this class. So carry a couple of formals and atleast one suit.
On Student Clubs: There are plenty of options available and most of them are operated by students. So it will be we who will be handling the activities, the clubs and their events. The outgoing batch is having a document ready as ‘Hand-over-take-over’ which can work as torch-bearer.
Reaching XLRI first time: One can get autos from the Tatanagar station to XL campus in about 70 bucks (depending on time though). Even if it is late in night, try reaching campus and you will have someone to attend you. Rooms were already allotted so just need to locate the room there. In case, there is no-one in GMP-block, one can find a person in MDP-hostel all the times.
So don’t stay and wait till morning on Station (especially for guys travelling from Azad Hind as train reaches JSR* about 1 midnight )
On prep before joining GMP: Just be ready for accounting, statistics and fundaas on company books. Nothing to worry as everything can be done while we are in GMP-flow.
The nicest thing that he mentioned, there was no-one who fails to pass or fails to cope-up. So hope that most of us, who are settling up with books after long, will not find any difficulty.
On International Immersion Program: For three-week: International Immersion program, there are four options available with institute in Oz having 40 seats and other college in France and two colleges in US having 20 seats each. Generally one gets his/her first option and choice can be made on basis of electives/specialization. Rohit mentioned about his project, classes and business-model that they designed during his 3-weeks time in US.
And finally, On dating: Plenty of options are available but think out of box. Here box refers to institute.

The words from Rohit that is still echoing in my mind, ‘MBA is all about setting up priorities and keep your expectations right.’
Thanks Rohit and It was nice talking to you. I guess that I missed an opportunity of having dinner with you that night!!

Disclaimer: The article is prepared on basis of discussions in meeting and presents opinion/knowledge of a particular person. There could be multiple other ways or opinions from other persons on same topic.

*Glossary:
JSR: Jamshedpur
Acco: accomodation
Hundii: Contract or a charge fixed for some specified period of time

Welcome!

2009-04-17T00:15:00.000+05:30

We are the students of XLRI's 1yr General Managment Program of 2009-2010. Our journey through India's one of the finest and oldest b-schools shall be captured in words here.

Please feel free to contribute and discuss.