Diary of a Rural Manager!

77th Week@XIMB - 25th November to 1st December, 2012 25th November - I was busy in preparing CV for off campus. I attended last three lectures of CRM. 26th November - IRP meeting is going on. I need to acknowledge their past errors in order to avoid them in the future. I will be more regular in updating my seniors. I Couldn't attend a talk on PDS due to excessive drinking at night. This the lowest point of the college life. As they say, familiarity breeds contempt. There are amazing speakers who have worked and achieved fame across various sectors give talks every other day at XIMB. I could have attended if I wanted to. When it becomes a daily occurrence, one start to take it for granted. Don’t. If one want to be great, one has got to learn what’s made great people great. That was their sheer consistency to learn with limited opportunities. 27th November - KM quiz was over today. I loved and hate the feeling of being pushed to the wall. Without that one never apprecia...

76th Week@XIMB - 18th November to 24th November, 2012 18th November - Immersion course of Agri Branding was in full flow. We covered - 4. Steps in brand decision process 5. Types of decision processes 6. Modifying the brand decision process to create Brand "A product can be quickly outdated, but a successful brand is timeless." - Stephen King 19th November - Played Beer Game. I have successfully completed online course of Principles of E-Government issued by 'United Nations Public Administration Network ( UNPAN )'. E-Government Index of India is 0.383 in comparison to average score of 0.497. 20th November - Strategic quiz. 21st November - We learned about competitive advantage of nations over other. Mr.R.S.Sodhi, MD, GCMMF (AMUL) delivered a talk on Synchronizing Management Theories with Business Practices I visited to warehouse of CWC office for SCM presentation. 22nd November - The poor attendance in CEO talks in-spite of the multitude of...

75th Week@XIMB - 11th November to 17th November, 2012 11th November - I recalled a good session on role, commonalities and differences between Entrepreneur and Manager given by EDI Director Dinesh Awasthi. One is the creator of the organization while managers join the organization. Entrepreneur is looking for future plans and involved in creative destruction while Manager looks for past achievement and maintaining status quo. In the end, its the basic difference between puppet and puppeteer between them. It's not the critic who counts, nor the observer who watches from a safe distance. Wealth is created only by doers in the arena who are marred with dirt, dust, blood, and sweat. These are producers who strike out on their own, who know high highs and low lows, great devotions, an who overextend themselves for worthwhile causes. Without exception, they fail more than they succeed and appreciate this reality even before venturing out on their own. But when these producers of we...

74th Week@XIMB - 4th November to 10th November, 2012 4th November - Nothing great is ever accomplished without passion. But, I am feeling rusted or even surrender type of attitude is flowing in my vein. In-spite of such burnout feeling in recent days, I am trying to boom back. Only positive of this rustiness is that I am feeling more calm and less numb. The net value of a great idea unless invested at ground is zero. Possessing talent roots for a strong launch but about having the discipline to summon that talent whenever needed makes one among greats. That is the trick of discipline missed by me. There are always few boys/girls even more talented but, it is determination and eagerness to take up any challenge for a prolong period sets one apart. Hard work and talent are rewarded but they need guidance in this low moral points. Hoping to boost energy within through some movies and long phases of sleep. When a person fail to attain a dream, that is the beginning of a realistic pr...

73rd Week@XIMB - 28th October to 03rd November, 2012 28th October - See a heart moving documentary Dilli'. It is a multiple-award winning documentary that has played in over 80 international film festivals across North America, South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. 29th October - Mid term has been taking place in this span of time. Cracking the rural code and Rural consumption boom are two articles for an insight of rural markets. 30th October - SCM quiz was there. 31st October - There was case discussion on Barilla Spa . While learning about pasta in case study, I reached a conclusion that consumption pattern of essential commodities like wheat and rice can't change but only purchase pattern. I learnt that in long run, stability in sales figure can be offered without giving any short term promotions. Promotion and marketing is tow different activity as per prof in supply chain class. To see the effect of promotion, check the sales data of two quarters be...

25th Week - 27th November to 3rd December 27th November - I changed the old costly hotel to a cheap one. Lot of Condoms were previously used in the room when it was cleaned in front of me ! I learned that Cigarettes, Liquor and Tea have strong sales distribution network. It was an off day. 28th November - There is no photo taken in the field trip of poverty and hunger as I didn't want to glamourize the poverty. I am travelling between mountains and rice fields. Tobacco chewing is seen in both gender. There is unavailability of mobile network of airtel and vodafone . Only BSNL and Reliance has better outreach here. Accessibility of mobile network is there ;to block level and ;on highways only. There are no signals at GP (Gram Panchayat) level. Naxal affected block is identified for risk mitigation in the data collection through unofficial sources. 29th November - Government officials are cooperative but the pace of work is quite slow here. The brand name of XIMB wor...

24th Week - 20th November to 26th November 20th November - I woke up early for SKYPE meeting with a scientist at IPC. There were classes on Sunday. RMAX election. The election revealed one more basic fact about group behaviour. People don't like monopoly of a subgroup in a close community. The popularity meter affects the deserving candidate due to democratic nature of the elections. 21st November - Not selected in Summer Internship of another company after GD round. I need to improve my communication skills and a lot of introspection is needed in the career strategy. One job opportunity was told to us by our program coordinator : PMRDFs . The Ministry of Home Affairs has identified 60 districts of the country as Left Wing Extremism (LWE) districts. The Government of India has launched a special programme in these districts called Integrated Action Plan (IAP). PMRDFs (Prime Minister's Rural Development Fellows Scheme)will basically function as development facilitators,...

23rd Week - 13th November to 19th November 13th November : Sunday evening with Lucky Ali. A happening end of the leisure day. 14th November : "A person's a person, no matter how small" - Dr. Seuss, author . I learned this lesson today but don't remember where. 15th November : We presented CCD (CAFE COFFEE DAY) in marketing class and comes unscathed of any negative criticism. ADM lecture was good. Most stupid questions are those that are never asked. It was a really good quote from Gaurish Manerkar. 16th November : People don't know how to use mail. That can only I say now on public forum. Otherwise a regular day. 17th November : It was last class of ITM and PROJM. A happy end of trimester is coming soon. Learned about Brian Wasnik and Duncan J. Watts. Duncan J. Watts (born 1971) is a principal research scientist at Yahoo! Researcher and the author of the book Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age. I am producing here his famous article in ...

22nd Week - 6th November to 12th November 6th November - Sunday. SRM lecture is missed . There was good news that I am shortlisted for interview of MSME. There was election for core place-com committee in the evening. 5 hours of marathon and participatory process was over with 22 candidates (14 Voluntary and 8 at the moment). Politics inside the branch has started officially. 7th November - Interview for MSME was not much satisfactory. But I studied a lot about Clusters of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and livelihood generation through Cluster Development . M S Swaminathan Research Foundation is doing good work in the area of hunger and food security. As per there Vision : A society where everyone has access to food and nutrition security. And Mission : Ensuring food and nutrition security of vulnerable sections by empowering them, by promotion of focused interventions, by capacity building of various stakeholders, and by research and advocacy. The ‘ Rep...

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. An old Interview with students of PGDM-RM students (Future Rural Managers) 1st November: Apple's Think Different advertising campaign. 1997-2002 re-consolidated my conclusion that thinking differently a...