75th Week@XIMB

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 wealth fail, they at least fail with style and grace, and their gut soon recognizes that failure is only a resting place, not a place in which to spend a lifetime. Their places will never be with those nameless souls who know neither victory nor defeat, who receive weekly paychecks regard­less of their week's performance, who are hired hands in the labor in someone else's garden. These doers are producers and no matter what their lot is at any given moment, they 'II never take a place beside the takers, for theirs is a unique place, alone, under the sun. They are entrepreneurs! - Joseph R. Mancuso

11th November -

13th November - Happy Diwali. I will produce talk on entrepreneurship by Inir Pinheiro.

Whenever you endeavor, the structures are not there. You have to make your own path. Need conducive environment in the college for people to venture differently. It matters from which community one comes from. Lack of opportunity creates violence. That shows clearly in the relationship of a B-School batch around placement week where everyone wants to go for glorified desk-job. There are two types of journey: The journey without and The journey within. Then, he asked us to watch a TED talk by Dan Pink

Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation



Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think.

14th November - There were several complaints about the speed of the internet connectivity off late. The speed has been affected because college is upgrading its internet connection. Initially, we had 70Mbps Airtel + 20 Mbps Ortel and we are currently upgrading the airtel connection to 110Mbps.

Funny things B-school students say and what they actually mean



15th November - There was a case discussion on : Diffusion of Innovative Teaching Method: Case of The Heritage School (A) and (B)

Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is propagated through certain channels over time among the units of a system. Innovation: From the point of view of a customer, a solution is considered innovation when it is new or perceived as new by the individual or the unit of adoption.

16th November - There was an evaluation and feedback session for the volunteers for NSORM today. Our work was well applauded by Kajri Madam.

Batch-meet was organized by RM Placement committee tonight and the future job scenario was looking bleak. It again reconfirmed my predictions that XIMB RM had not have market sense in the expansion of batch size from 50 to 100 for 2011-2013 batch without backing up for job opportunities in bad times. This institute had indeed dimmed diamonds in a sense of peer learning.

Deep and meaningful professional development comes from setting high expectations, from challenging oneself, and from supporting them. With hard times coming, I must demonstrate greater wisdom and confidence. If one is not enjoying what he/she is doing, then probably one will neither be doing justice to yourself nor your dependents.Hence, one should choose job carefully.

Gore Vidal once made a very fine statement: At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation, and prejudice. This was shown after the completion of the batch meet when rumors and gossips were running high.

17th November -There were first three classes of Product and Brand Management for Agri-input Products (PBMAP) by Prof. P. Venugopal of XLRI. We learnt about Market Structure - Conduct -Performance in Agri-inputs, Farmer Buying Behaviour and Store loyalty v/s brand loyalty.

74th Week@XIMB

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 process of self-reflection. One can only progress by taking a leap of faith, not in God necessarily, but in oneself.

I was reading basic facts about Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011. Also, I got a census 2001 data of SC and ST population in each state of India. The data was necessary to frame and study caste based reservations.

5th November - We have a first wave of pro business reforms rather than pro market ones. Due to this, the excessive power of the few big players impose a larger cost on everyone else. There is huge need of investment in the infrastructure through eight core sector industries : coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity. The need of the hour is to re-evaluate the distorted political economy of the financial sector, do away with these price distortions and allow competition in these sectors. And mostly nobody want to open Pandora Box that can reveal the scandalous matters our corporates and government are involved into. The allegation of RIL forcing Jaipal Reddy from oil ministry can't be entirely false.

The state retains control of key resources — currency, credit, energy, water, land, minerals, and the airwaves. But the true wealth of any nation is in fertile soil, abundant water, clean air, safe food and its people educated for independent action and free to practice it. Education is a better economic driver than a country’s natural resources. And our government is even failing to reach targets of average spending for education expenditure at 6% of GDP and health at 2% of GDP. And for God's sake, we don't have to compare India with China otherwise will get into the dilemma: Are Effective States compatible with Active Citizens ?

Bad policy is the result of bad lobbying. And there is mediocrity and compromise in public discourse, and mismanagement and cronyism in public policy—go hand in hand. I am no communist but believe in what Frankfurt says: "With respect to the distribution of economic assets, what is important from the point of view of morality is not that everyone should have the same but that each should have enough."

6th November - Two XIMBian Digvijay Singh and Zeeshan Arfi (Rural Management batch 2009) have kicked off on the social entrepreneurship path. Their intervention is enabling and empowering the life's of rural youth at Mahagaon in Mandla a tribal district in MP. Meaningful Livelihood for Rural Youth is the core theme behind there project.

All students enter rural management program with a certain amount of idealism and desire to serve the poor, but after two years of competition and having an opportunity for easy money, we care for nothing but the right jobs with the right companies where we can quantum jump each year to earn big bucks. Hence, there spirit of entrepreneurship with focusing on capacity building of poor must be applauded with greater cheer. This country need to have more role models come out and take entrepreneurship as a career path.

There are lot of people who don't give XAT/CAT score and may have lacked proper knowledge of English language and quantitative skills. But they have more guts to open there own business. A pawn shop owner even earning 1/10th of a MNC employee is working hard with his/her own identity and independence. Starting a business isn't fast or seamless. If anyone want to start a business and want it to be meaningful, be prepared for it to be something of a slow process. That seems a tough proposition in the age of immediate gratification. I feel like an immature Student of a premature Institute whose only concern is to get a high packaged job in any MNC. What a waste of money and time on my education !

7th November -

8th November - The 1st National Symposium on Rural Management, titled “Building Professionals for Inclusive Growth” will be held at XIMB from November 9-10, 2012. This symposium will reflect on the issues and develop strategies and designs for expansion, institutionalization and better domain engagement of the Rural Management Programme. Eminent speakers from the field of Rural Management have been invited to speak on their innovative ideas.

9th November -The Inauguration Function was held at the Auditorium with Dr. Mihir Shah, Member, Planning Commission, Govt. of India has kindly consented to deliver the Inaugural and Keynote Address. Some one pointed out a beautiful line in the prolong and tedious sessions : Integrity. It’s a bit like virginity. Either you have it…or you don’t!

I had a chance of an informal session with Dr. M S Sriram. He told us about social and business enterprises. Profit or Purpose: The Dilemma of Social Enterprises ; If the business fails then its accounting case study and if business succeeds then it is marketing case study. Such is the safe life of academician. But for a social entrepreneur, the path  becomes hell when he deviates from original mission and vision. As those mission statements will make a perception in the minds of the customers and stakeholders early. Hence, they have to manage with extra caution any evolution in mission either to keep venture floating or scaling up with private equity as this might affect brand positioning. He gave classic case of Vikram Akula who will look like saint in comparison to Vijay Mallya today.

He told us about Limited liability clause where the clause faces a limit on the amount that can be claimed for a breach of contract, regardless of the actual loss. That comes handy for crony capitalist of India. India is strange country with failed enterprise and successful entrepreneurs.

He told us about three types of corruption : Nazrana, Shukrana and Jabrana. I searched more on this matter and found this in a column of Sunday Guardian:- The first is Nazrana, or the traditional tribute to be paid to the person in power by ordinary people. The second form of corruption is Jabrana, or extortion. Anyone who wants anything done in government has to pay the "extortioner" his fee, or jabrana. The third form is Shukrana, or money paid by way of gratitude by a person whose work has been done without his having to pay a bribe.

10th November -Small changes can produce big results—but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious. That was a brilliant line of thinking along re-positioning of Rural Management brand and curriculum makeover. The funny aspect of the whole conference was sometimes it look like a get together party for IRMAns.

There were people with missionary zeal, personal agenda, varied experiences and history of diverse skill sets in NSORM. They pointed that availability of a loan is not a good enough reason for a very high fees and EMI should not dictate choice of job. The dilemma of'How to earn money with soiling their hands' was better discussed among all the stakeholders. One of them also suggested that Indians have the dirty mindset that does want to pay. Indians only study so we could avoid hard work. Minimum wages of the field staff while earning too much for themselves is common phenomenon here.

73rd Week@XIMB

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 before and after the peak promotion season of previous 3-5 years. That will help in fair impact assessment of promotion offers.

01st November - We studied in the case study how Honda entered and gained dominance of the USA motorcycle industry in STM class.

MART has initiated the knowledge series as part of its commitment to disseminate knowledge among larger stakeholders since 2009. The list of knowledge series documents given by MART is here.

02nd November - Xpressions is the annual B-School fest organised by the student community of XIMB, in their endeavor to foster interactions with the corporate world and other B-Schools.

Vinayak Veerakesavan and Binayak Acharya managed to get a special mention award in the Sitaramrao Case Study Competition this year. Narrowly missed the top three. They were working on Manglajodi Eco Tourism. Great Work guys !!!

I applied in IFMR and mine CV was selected for first round. Knowledge of econometrics and qualitative tool was must for this profile. I studied a little about Randomized Controlled Trials (Research Paper)and Impact Assessment (148 Page PDF).

03rd November - I got rejected in IFMR after interview. There were rejection in past weeks in CEAT Campus Connect Contest and Social Entrepreneurship contest. In order to succeed, one must be given a chance to fail. I am going through that phase of failures. Short term success gives me that confirmation to keep doing the hard work and keep trying to move forward. Faith in oneself for cracking big shot is never enough. Recently, I have began to doubt on my capabilities and talent. Still, I respect the journey and accept failure. I am looking for a nice break away from hard luck. I am off for the rest.

72nd Week@XIMB

72nd Week@XIMB - 21st October to 27th October, 2012

21st October - “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” ― Peter F. Drucker

I never fully understood importance of leadership until landed here in XIMB. Any university that does not offer its student this freedom and opportunity will fail to develop promising leaders and managers. I am lucky to have ITBHU and XIMB as institute of higher education. I guess any student needs to do study about something he/she is truly passionate about – if he/she is sitting in classes merely for the sake of grades/ – he’s just missed the point! There are some courses that may be no practical use in desk job, field service or even research, there is most certainly value. If you want to be a leader, there has to be irrationality in your setting up of the dreams. As Nelson Mandela rightly said "There is no passion to be found playing small."

Any institute or organization don't just need firefighters, they need architects too; Leadership is not just about solving problems but exploring opportunities. Leadership at the organization often becomes confusing and uninspiring. Top talent leave an organization when they’re badly managed. And generally immediate supervisors are the prime reason. People are always ready to work hard in the conducive environment and can even compromise salaries for a stability. But when senior management don’t hear the voice of the employee below, the plot of disaster creeps in the team. “People leave managers not companies.” This is highly cited quote in corporate world and I agree with this statement. What are leadership traits ? There is no hardcore and strict signs but the motivation and innovation will come high in my list.

22nd October - Kolkata tour is on.

23rd October - Kolkata tour ends today.

24th October - Back to Bhubaneswar and sleeping with luxury.

25th October - I am down with fever, cold, headache and body pain. The winters have arrived in this part of the world.

26th October - There was discussion on Balance Scorecard, Bench Marking and Scenario Analysis in KMSDS class.

27th October - With experiencing so many upheavals, I am more mature now. You are obviously wiser at 27 than when you are 21-22. I have understood my abilities and weak points. Passion is still there [though] faded due to academic burden.

71st Week@XIMB

71st Week@XIMB - 14th October to 20th October, 2012

14th October - Binayak Acharya & Gaurish Manerkar won 1st Prize at B-plan competition in KIIT. That is a one more positive news for XIMB.

15th October - In SCM, we discussed about basics of network design in supply chain.

We were taught in CBRM lecture about attitude formation that is explained through tri component model of Cognition, Affective and Conative process. (Source; Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004). I was suggested to read about The Stanford Prison Experiment.We were told about tom sawyer effect where sometimes a very unattractive thing can also be made very attractive. There is a webpage for more study.

16th October - There was case study on Timex corporation in strategy class.

There was discussion on Daniel Kanheman in CBRM lecture and his Dual process theory where System 1 is Automatic & unconscious and System 2 is Slow and sequential thinking. I read a good article on discounts- Paying more in a sale? How to spot a real bargain from sneaky retail tricks.

The symbols are powerful instrument in touching the chords of the customer. When Gandhi broke the salt laws, he was expressing pent up emotions among Indians. The salt tax charged the Indian people for a basic human necessity and prevented them making their own salt. Hence, Indians were forced to look for the meaning of freedom in their daily life affected by British Rule.

17th October - There is an urgent need to learn linear programming model for going through basic of distribution network design.

We all learned something about Power Chemical companies through the case - Creating Fertile Ground for Knowledge at Monsanto. In power chemical sector, life of patent is 7 years while that is 16 -20 years for pharma sector. We were given insight about core competence through example of Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

18th October - In STM, there was focus on growth, stability and other strategies followed by companies. In this CBRM lecture, I learned about different type of heuristic : Anchoring, Availability, Naive Diversification, Affect, Social Proof and Effort.

19th October - The classes are closed leading to Puja Holiday.

20th October - I should interact with persons from different social strata to understand the aspirations, source of strength and fears of individual. TV, Social Media and Internet is not reality, go outside, travel, talk to different people and live. There are places where people have never seen a proper doctor. Mike Horn, the adventurer has aptly put importance of living life full of new experiences: "If you don't have any challenges, you don't have experience and if you don't have experience you haven't lived life."