79th Week@XIMB - 9th December to 15th December, 2012
9th December - There was an interesting collaboration that XIMB has had with the University of Minnesota this trimester. We had (almost) simultaneous courses running on "Social entrepreneurship" (XIMB) and UMN-Acara's "Design for Sustainable Development" (syllabus ). Nine students of SE paired with four teams of UMN and after initial facilitation from both sides the students have been working on joint problems with regular discussions over skype. The teams had their live presentations on Dec 7th which was conducted on an open platform with students here able to add and listen to their counterparts.
This low (no) cost experiment has happened with good learning on both sides. While positioning some of the advantages of XIMB, the noteworthy was the ability of RM students to be more awake when Americans are! The manner in which successive batches of RM students have participated and created a conducive environment for the nine students who opted to work with the UMN students is praiseworthy. The RMAX coordinator(s) and all the participants of last years contests have been good brand ambassadors and we need to thank them for that. XIMB students have not fought shy of constant engagement and hard work that this collaboration has entailed.
In an era of T20 B plan contests I feel happy to see XIMB students showing the ability to have the patience and persistence for Test match kind of engagements. I sincerely hope that the Indian cricket team learns a bit from them at Nagpur!
9th December - CBRM & SCM presentation.
10th December - Mckinsey Newsletter had a amazing article - From oxcart to Wal-Mart: Four keys to reaching emerging-market consumer.
11th December - People belonging to Hindi heartland must read Munshi Premchand to have basic understanding of the rural India. It may be idealistic version but must read
12th December - BASF live project final presentation was over today. Finding the need to innovate is difficult rather than already existing products. This was key learning. I heard first time about Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) in the presentation.
BoP is like a holy grail chased by every company these days in the name of sustainable business. Economy, Ecology, Society defines Sustainable Business. Since BASF is a company working in B2B, it is difficult to have B2C transition. Transitions that happen by default, clearly lack the foresight and hence the planning. Trade Fairs is a better way of B2B Marketing as you know your customer. Lower period of pyramid need different modes of selling. Hence we need to solve the both puzzles of product innovation and business model.
Distance from highway is a good criteria to select villages and people. But we need more information on income group and spending/ borrowing habits of the people.
Co-relation National Highway, Block and Village with Average Income will be interesting thing to note for BoP market. There is already need of reliable and Valid data in both Qualitative and Quantitative analysis.
13th December - Management@Grassroots programme is another academic initiative of XIMB which aims at providing community relevant course contents and pedagogy with active participation from the target audience of these courses. Kudos XIMB !!!
14th December - CBRM and SCM end term.
15th December - No exams, hence a day of rest.
