Monday, November 7, 2011

21st Week @ XIMB

21st Week - 30th October to 5th November

30th October: The Mid-term exam is over and the whole day has passed in watching movies and roaming around. I read a good quote today from C K Prahalad that states: Executives are constrained not by resources, but by their imagination.

All Aboard The Slave Ship: An open letter to Young India, callous and comfy in its cocoon.

31st October: Winters and studies post mid-term have started. I have been allotted Meghalaya for RLLE (Rural living and learning experience) and hoping to see the true picture of BHARAT vis a vis India.

My CV was also not shortlisted for a summer internship at TERI, hence, I was quite disappointed today. Hoping for a new start. Gaurish, Partha, and AP give much moral support to overcome this grief.


1st November: Apple's Think Different advertising campaign. 1997-2002 re-consolidated my conclusion that thinking differently and independently is the ultimate path of growth.


There was mention of noble laureates Elinor Ostrom and Paul Krugman in marketing class. Elinor Ostrom's speech and Paul Krugman's speech at the Nobel Prize ceremony are linked to the common good . As a budding rural manager, one should know a little about the works of Elinor Ostrom.

She was awarded the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, which she shared with Oliver E. Williamson, for "her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons." Ostrom is considered one of the leading scholars in the study of common pool resources (CPR). In particular, Ostrom's work emphasizes how humans interact with ecosystems to maintain long-term sustainable resource yields.

As per the advice of faculty teaching ADM course, two types of abilities are needed to get a premium over others. One is our ability to relate and learn, other is our ability to forecast the future.

2nd November: I missed MEARS lecture for SRM assignment.

Our Human Behavior can be predicted by laws of Mathematics. It was a revelation for me despite having an engineering background. Heard about Sheikh Maktoum and Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry (Phantom of Bombay House) in ITM class for the first time.

3rd November: Learned much from below two study materials and one short video.

McKinsey & Company - The 'bird of gold': The rise of India's consumer market: If India continues on its current high growth path, incomes will almost triple over the next two decades, and the country will climb from its position as the 12th-largest consumer market today to become the world's 5th-largest consumer market by 2025.

McKinsey & Company - India's urban awakening: Building inclusive cities, sustaining economic growth : India has a young and rapidly growing population—a potential demographic dividend. But India needs thriving cities if that dividend is to pay out. New MGI research estimates that cities could generate 70 percent of net new jobs created by 2030, produce around 70 percent of Indian GDP, and drive a nearly fourfold increase in per capita incomes across the nation.

Food and You:
This animated story journeys through the broken food system and then looks at the transformation that is already underway to bring about change. It brings it back to you, the individual at the root level, and invites you to be part of the movement to grow a better future.


To learn more about Oxfam International Youth Partnerships, visit the website here: http://oiyp.oxfam.org.au/

4th November: Today, the Programme coordinator of PGDRM proposed to send students next year to understand farmers' crisis in different places (In 16 years, farm suicides crossed a quarter million). He also encourages all students to understand local issues in great detail, irrespective of the given location. This step is inspired by IIM students to study ‘crop holiday’ villages. (The much discussed ‘crop holiday,’ declared by the farmers in East and West Godavari districts has drawn the attention of IIM Ahmadabad agri-business management students.)

Milton Friedman on Libertarianism and Humility: Human freedom is inextricably bound with tolerance. As Milton Friedman argued (see the video), the foundation of libertarianism is tolerance. (Fantastic 43 minutes long talk especially for the critics of Ayn Rand).


5th November: It was a day that lasted with 5 lectures. The most happening discussion was done in ITM class on Snacko India Limited: Leveraging Trade. Promotions for Competitive Advantage by Sajjan Raj Singhvi, Rajat Gera.

There was also a brief discussion on the case study of SEWA Union: Organising Bidi-workers. Book Download Link. Ela Ramesh Bhatt is the founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA).