55th Week@XIMB

55th Week@XIMB - 24th June to 30th June, 2012

24th June - Sunday was spent with some business analysis news and listening to Mr. Prabhat Patnaik on the topic "The Perverse Transformation"..

Reebok is revamping the branding strategy with an inspiration from the Dominno's Pizza. After all, what was the market for home-delivered pizzas before Domino's began operations? Zero. The most efficient, most productive, more useful aspect of branding is creating a new category. Start something totally new. Hence, the learnings were clear: "Ask not what percentage of an existing market your brand can achieve. Ask how large a market your brand can create by putting resources behind creating a category."

Aditya Birla Nuvo to invest Rs 1,600 crore in Kishore Biyani's Pantaloon Retail. That is a big story to be watched in the coming years. Launched in 1997, the Pantaloon format is spread in 35 cities with 65 stores and 21 factory outlets covering total retail space of over 2 million square feet. As per my assumption, this move has been done to bring a consolidated position in multi brand retail market where the government may soon notify 100 percent foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail. (Source) Rapid expansion of the retail chain with high cost of real estate became unfeasible to finance. The interest rates were higher, hence there was failure of big brands in retail sector.

22nd Rajan Memorial Lecture - by Prabhat Patnaik @ IRMA



The 22nd T S Rajan Memorial Lecture was delivered by Mr. Prabhat Patnaik on the topic "The Perverse Transformation". The memorial lecture seeks to bring renowned development practitioners in the rural sector to address the participants and interact with them.

25th June - Theory building is mostly qualitative work and require a lot of triangulation of the data. QRM lectures are getting more boring with each passing day.

26th June - Conclave on MDGs is being organized tomorrow which will be attended by prominent speakers. There was talk of N C Saxena, Dr. John Oommen and Professor Peppin delivered in Odisha MDG Forum presentations.

HRM (Human Resource Management)classes are boring but revised Delphi method.

27th June - While reading about Cooperative Model in India, the role of registrar comes under scrutiny.

28th June - There was use of term Markov Analysis in HRM class. In QRM class, there was a long monologue of Professor on Philosophy of research and Reality. That reminded me back again to the folk story of Blind men and an elephant, Rashomon effect and Stereotyping. Humans have habit of hasty generalization that define their belief structures. Interpretation of reality must address the manifold nature of truth.

“We have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.” -Werner Heisenberg

29th June - There was discussion on The Myth of Kalahandi in ESM lecture. 19th Century travelogues mentioned Kalahandi Granary of east and this place supplied food at Bengal famine. Kalahandi became a classic case of environmental degradation leading to poverty and deprivation. Why have things changed? Rain never failed Kalahandi. Mismanagement did. In 1946, traditional structures irrigated 38,684 ha, 1970 to 8,007 has 80% drop with declining forest cover 67% (1900) to 13%.

Johl Committee Report, 1986, recommended diversification within farming away from wheat-paddy rotation to the extent of 20 per cent in favour of fruit and vegetable, fodder and oilseeds crops. Here is an clip of his interview where talks about the importance of the policy environment for the conservation of water in India, and effective techniques.

SS Johl Interview at Columbia Water Center, New York


30th June - Individual Photo session for placement brochure. Closing the week with a quote of Martin Luther King - Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Over the bleached bones of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: Too late.

54th Week@XIMB

54th Week@XIMB - 17th June to 23rd June, 2012

17th June - I started traveling for Bhubaneswar from home. Traveling in the various compartments of the train makes our interaction different class emerging and present in India. A 8 hour journey in jam pack general compartment of the train makes one tough and bares grim reality of poor infrastructure of this developing country. Yet if we can choose, we can live in the world of comforting illusion.

18th June - The train was late in the arrival just by 2 hours. Rain and storm welcomed me back to the educational institute of east India. There was new batch roaming around in XIMB. A new group of budding rural managers were going to start their journey.

In my opinion nearly all students who enter this prgramme with a certain amount of idealism and desire to serve the public, but after two years of competition and loan.
And slowly everybody care for nothing but the right job with the right company where we all can get in top level management in coming years and earn big bucks. May be this is required for our own sustainability.

19th June - There was first lecture of CM (Cooperative Management)in which history of the cooperative movement were discussed. The modern cooperative movement can be said to have started in 1844, with the creation of the Rochdale Principles.

Cooperative Credit Societies Act, 1904 was the first Incorporation that later lead to the development of Cooperative Societies Act, 1912. Post Independence, the Committee on Cooperative Law under the chairmanship of Shri S.T.Raja in 1956 recommended a Model Bill for consideration of State Governments. In 1990, an Expert Committee, under the chairmanship of Choudhary Brahm Perkash, was appointed by the Planning Commission to make a rapid review of the broad status of the cooperative movement, suggest future directions and finalize a Model Cooperatives Act. The Committee submitted its report in 1991. Report of the High Powered Committee on Cooperatives can be studies in much details.

20th June - I came to know about Mousetrap Fallacy theory that is held in high esteem in marketing. The additional sophistication may increase measuring ability and effectiveness yet may be unusable at such cost. This was taught interestingly in the 2nd lecture of QRM.

The video aims at explaining the foundation of sustainable development planning, i.e., each policy and investment decision must take into equal consideration its economic, social and environmental impacts.

The Future We Want


21st June - I didn't attend the first lecture of ESM (Ecosystem and Sustainability Management) where there was screening of the movie 'The call of Bhagirathi' that was winner of the national award as the best investigative film in 1992. It revolves around the big costs of big dams, a film by Anwar Jamal.

A trailer -The call of Bhagirathi



There was kick off start of the official interaction (viva) session with the PGPRM 2012-2014 batch since has arrived in the campus.

22nd June - RM Knowledge depository was restored on the XSYS-server. Thanks to seniors and XSYS team for this feat.

CM - ICA provided the information about co-operatives worldwide that is the apex organization. UN proclaims 2012 International Year of Co-operatives: "Co-operative enterprises build a better world"

There were five acts necessary for managers working in India. They are - Indian Trust Act, Indian Societies Registration Act, Trade Unions Act, The Companies Act and The Co- Operative Societies Act.

FAQ - A Non Profit Organisation can be registered in India as a Society, under the Registrar of Societies or as a Trust, by making a Trust deed. A third option is registration as a section-25 Company under the Companies Act, 1956.
Whether a trust, society or section-25 company, the Income Tax Act, 1961 gives all categories equal treatment, in terms of exempting their income and granting 80G certificates, whereby donors to non-profit organisations may claim a rebate against donations made.

23rd June - Placement Batchmeet was held for the placement season coming soon this year. In this depressing economy, there is challenge

A mail was floated for the suggestions by Team Placecom. There was a bottom line in the mail that inspired me. That ended week on the high note. "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success".

53rd Week@XIMB

53rd Week@XIMB - 10th June to 16th June, 2012

Arbeit macht frei is a German phrase, literally "labour makes (you) free" . The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. These last 52 weeks were not tedious labour yet occupied me with several assignments.

This was full vacation week away at home from anything related to academics. I visited to Varanasi for a retrospective tour. I celebrated one year of satisfied student life.

13th June 2011 was the last working day and I was out of the front gate of CSC. Within two minutes of final settlement, the mental pain of incompetency in the software arena sublimed. Bye bye team meetings, bye bye security pass, bye bye management. I posted an awesome resignation email to all my team mates.

The sun has never shone so bright, the air has never tasted so sweet, I have never felt lighter, than that moment. I was free. I was free. I was so ecstatically free I could smell the trip to new adventure!

Yes, I was neck deep involved in packaging for XIMB. Work Experience taught me other than discipline and career planning familiarity with the words such as competency, change management, paradigm, bell curve, KRA etc. I strongly suggest a newbie wanna be joining MBA program to mandatory serve a stint in operations to get hang of the business.

Any positive or negative employment experience help in our learning curve. With all sort of the questions, comments, concerns, appraise, complaints, feedback, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, allegations, accusations and inputs has mad me tough and more open to new challenges.

I was not knowing whether my decision to XIMB was right or wrong. We can only analyze the forces shaping the future, but not the way it will turn out. I read a great line that gave me solace : ‎"I don't believe in taking right decisions. I take decisions and then make them right" - Ratan Tata.>

52nd Week@XIMB

52nd Week@XIMB - 3rd June to 9nd June, 2012

03rd June - I reached to Bhopal early in the morning. In the whole journey, I was thinking about Bhind district from socio-cultural perspective. Growing up in the cities like Varanasi, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Kanpur is a completely different than Bhind. The people here are more simple yet rigid in their world view. The religious and caste bias runs deep down than one city boy can imagine. Politics at grass-root level is caste dominated, bullet-ridden and blood soaked. The more unjust and arbitrary a system is, the greater the impression that one has to fight for one's own survival. Hence, one can think of bullying of upper caste with violence. A society without a caste system does not and cannot exist – especially when it is free, heterogeneous, and complex. When a highly respected institution like caste and religion that’s a powerful player in cultural life rewards a representative for intolerance, there’s reason for concern.

04th June - A day of the rest after a long travel. I traveled in non AC compartments in the last few weeks. I met and talked with people. We talked about importance of Entrepreneurship spirit even of pan shop vendor to Education qualification of the children of the political leader. There was growing concern that income inequality had grew rapidly in the last decade, but consumption of public goods inequality did not. Whatever economic philosophy, the public deserves an accurate presentation of the reasons for the change in income distribution. And people are asking for it.

05 June - My stint with the MP government is nearly finished. Only few administrative and financial formalities have to be finalized. The disconnect between official rhetoric and lived realities is vast.

Working with the government was altogether different. Hope for this nation lies in the fact that tomorrow it may be run by individuals who know what they will do and they have a clear idea of what they want to say and whom they are addressing it.

06th June - Allama Muhmmad Iqbal - Words, without power, is mere philosophy. The threat of consultant to extend our internship without backing of MP govt backfired with our dissents. I was applauded for searching by consultant for District level Health Facility GIS Maps and Indices. I also came to knwoe through Nafees about Madhya Pradesh Education portal In end, everything was sorted with the cool head.

07th June - I submitted a copy of the Disaster management plan to the Technical consultants. I started journey back to Lucknow that night. With the end of these two months it was reconfirmed that to err is human, to blame it on somebody else shows management potential.

08th June - I mailed one more edited version of the final report. That was the end of my attachment to the district Bhind who is named after the mythological Hindu saint Vibhandak Rishi. There was a long talk with my father about development and government. We agreed at few but mostly disagreed. I kept silent to control the outburst of emotions.

09th June - I downloaded episodes of Business Sutra. Here is first episode for preview.

Business Sutra EP#1 Seg 1(Is there an Indian way of doing)



Business Sutra EP#1 Seg 2(Purpose of a Corporation)



Business Sutra EP#1 Seg 3(Short Term Vs Long Term)

51st Week@XIMB

51st Week@XIMB - 27th May to 2nd June, 2012

27th May - I find one more good articles on MPWPCL in Business Standard :- MP women`s poultry co-op to up production.

One more website was explored : BELL Teaching Case Studies - BELL teaching cases explore sustainability related business challenges and capture business decisions that identify environmental challenges as business development opportunities. They are now freely available via the catalog below.

Navjyoti is a community based-paced-managed-owned enterprise system in Padmapur Block, Rayagada district. XIMB is one of the patron of this enterprise. Navajyoti as a Community Enterprise System is a Producer’s Company that is being assisted by NABARD-XIMB-Sustainability Trust.

Fasal is an easy to use yet sophisticated SMS based platform which gives actionable information on price, potential buyer info, weather to the farmers make more money.

28th May - NGOBOX and SAMS Jobsonline are good website for recruiter of the Development sector. That I discovered in one more sleepy day at Bhopal.

29th May - The mid term review came quite late. I was applauded for having good understanding about the subject(disaster management), still the report needs focus on the missing data. I like the part of conceptual clarity mentioned in the mail.

30th May - And as they say ‘politics knows no logic'. There was good news for XIMB regarding media front. The survey puts the B-Schools in 14 hierarchical categories and XIMB was placed in Business Standard's top B-school bracket of SUPER LEAGUE 1. Many elite colleges have not participated in this ranking and it is based on analysis of data collected through a questionnaire.

31st May - I started for Bhind district for the last time. While heat waves were making the jorney tougher and Bharat Bhand was providing relief with less crowded buses and trains.

1st June - There was a imaginary pressure on me for planning a review meet on plan with District Magistrate. There was even visit of Prabhari Mantri on the same day. If one don't panic, one can think better. This is where experience helped me. With some talking tactics and a little bit of discourse, everything was done perfectly. I even reviewed the plan with the nodal officer. The day was hot and I even lost temper on a rude peon.

2nd June - I meet with Area commander Homegaurd who was mine nodal officer for first few days. Yet the gossip level of the place was a bit too much for mine temper. I started for Bhopal in the afternoon.Working days in the land of Bhindak Rishi was over. I only reached to the conclusion : Deference to elders and authority is so deeply ingrained in the administrative hierarchy that an outsider has a little chance of modifying the behaviour.

3rd Week @ XIMB

3rd Week --- 26th June to 2 July :

A hectic schedule of classes, assignments and projects.

Watched Manthan. A must watch movie for RM students on White Revolution and luckily was available on xsysserver. Movie is based on a story written jointly by Verghese Kurien (the Father of the White Revolution in India) and director Shyam Benegal.

Nandankanan Trip missed.
Election for Cultural Representative takes place.
Gaurish's decision to stay back was a moral boost for me.
Courier arrived finally with all stuffs.
I am liking XIMB now !!!

Thanks to Mriganka Mondal for this beautiful protest song.

2nd Week @ XIMB

2nd Week --- 19th June to 25th June :

This week was indulged in studying, meetings and alumni talks. Room no. 219 was named as General Headquarters Rawalpandi and Room no. 216 Incubation center for RM 2011-2013 batch !

Library Card was issued but no books taken by me!
Laptop was repaired but no further use in Education !
Courier of the Bags and accessories was delayed for 3 more days !

SRP ( Socially Relevant Projects): kicked off. A visit to the field changes the thinking pattern of people. Looking forward towards it.

Communication Class : What a class and a fantastic teacher. Loved the video recording session. The feedback was a learning experience of lifetime.

Rural Development and Administration Class : So much of pre-read material helping me this time.

Other subjects are quite interesting. But the high point is pedagogy of the teaching. Never have experience of such an open environment and teachers acting as facilitators. Pitched for fist time in an election but lost to a better competitor Gautam Bhut. Difference between vision and trend in XIMB - RM needs to be taken care of.

On critical issue, the batch still lacks a good intellectual background and diversity. The experience of ground work is there but an acute understanding of the developmental problem is somewhat missing in freshers. Sometimes, I have even doubt on the selection of few student in this course [Questions like improvement of "GDP of the village" worries me :P]. The people with good intentions but unwilling to learn the complex answers slightly irritates me. I hope that things will change for better in the future.

Quote of the Week : It's me who make the difference.

1st Week @ XIMB

1st Week --- 14th June to 18th June

14th June : In XIMB at Bhubaneswar. Hostel allotted at Fr. Bogaert Residence.

15th June : Purchasing accessories for room and interaction with new people.

16th June : Orientation program was like warning session of coming storms. Briefing of Library also given. Hostel Briefing looks like ethics preaching.

17th June : Missed Information Technology Briefing. Ice Breaking and Living in XIMB session rocked. I was in Group C : Catch us if you can. Elephant drawn by team looks like on steroid in one body part and malnourished in another. Truly X- elephant. Men's Hostel Dining Room No.2 started with good meal. First time girls come up in our hostel! Briefing of Conduct and discipline, course feedback and mentors were precise and seemed strict. Given an inspiration for pursuing constructive criticism.

18th June : Case discussion over "Questioning to Learn" was interesting. Watched four videos of XIMB alumni. One Video of Student's vision was presented :



Detail From Youtube : a short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University.

Lot of effort was given on "Be What You Are" and "Questioning status quo". Logic, Language and Ethics Triangle as the foundation of education impressed me. Placement talks were quite open and smart. Learned about Father Michael Van Den Bogaert on whose name our hostel is named. More detail about Fr. Bogaert can be obtained here.

Quote of the Week : There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people.

# Motivating Managers : A Talk by Fr. Bogaert at IRMA. [PDF Version]