Rahul Writes

When we are pushed to the wall, all of us behave in different manners. How we would behave depends on many factors. But collectively, I think it is the sum total of all our efforts before that point of time. I had had one such situation and even now I reflect on it sometimes on how it unfolded.  

I was not great in finance. Though I loved maths since childhood and a thumb rule says guys who like maths should take up finance in MBA, the rule didn’t apply to me. A great contribution also came from one of our very popular professors who taught cost accounting, the first finance subject for us, in such a pathetic way that many of us got serious disillusion from finance, for our life. The episode which I am recollecting happened in the second trimester and the subject was financial accounting.  

The professor was an accountant. His classes fell at 8.15 in the morning. Often I would be among one of the first students to check in. By the time class got over and it was time for attendance, almost whole of the class would be present. He was a gentleman and only smiled at such acts of smartness. I didn’t like the subject much, but I loved the way he delivered his lectures. Also, I loved the practical significance of whole of the finance he was teaching. Now trimester was about to end and it was exam time. I was confident of doing badly in the written exams, so I was staking high on the internals. For internal assessment, his proposal was unique – it would be eloquence on random subject related topic that he would throw at us. Some of us were scared and some happy. I was happy, thinking that it would be easier to speak about a topic than to do complex financial calculations for him.  

Some guys spoke very well while many spoke inadequately short. Some very good students were found to be not good orators, while some who didn’t understand the subject but had memorized things, performed well. When someone was confused, we helped him/her with hints and hand gestures from the audiences. The session was going on well.  

I got a topic to speak on, which was related to corporate credit valuation. There were five elements that he had taught us. I was confident and started writing the five elements one by one. But when I reached the third point, my mind became blank. I had forgotten the third point. I stopped and tried to recollect it for a moment. I couldn’t get it. I turned back and looked at the class. I expected someone to help me. Even a murmur would have helped, or they could have written the word on their notebook and raised it for me to take a peek :) But every face was blank. I was shocked. Some inconvenient moments passed. I was hurt that my class didn’t help me. Perhaps they were in a state of inertia. But the feelings of hurt suddenly made me remember the point in a flash. I wrote the missing point on the board, and resumed my speech. And then I went on and on.  

I spoke for about 40 minutes, perhaps the highest in the class. While speaking, my mind just recollected the way our professor used to stand and speak every morning, in front of a largely vacant class room. My speech was a huge success and everyone appreciated it. But later on, I understood everything differently. Since I had goofed up in the beginning and then I was shaken by my friends, I took a kind of revenge on the world by putting more efforts in my speech. I could have settled to stop my speech short, but I was kind of making up for the loss. And my speech helped me immensely. As I had guessed, I didn’t do well in the written exams. But since I had got high marks in the internal assessment, I could clear the paper comfortably.  

The episode gave me a glimpse of how we perform better in difficult situations. When we are pushed to the walls and have no one to support us, the best within us comes out to help us survive. The survival instinct propels every fabric of our efforts to put up a brave face to the opposition. Also, a feeling of hurt can do miracle in adverse situations. This is how a lot of heroes make stunning ‘come back’, be it in movies or in real life.  

I think in such situations, right attitude is very important. We should accept the adverse and hostile situation as a challenge and then raise our limits to give it a tough fight. I am sure all of us can do it.  

- Rahul

I felt it in some of my colleagues during my MBA. Narcissism can be defined as an exceptional interest and admiration for oneself. A study presented at the Academy of Management in Montreal approves that it is present in MBA students more than in others.   

http://alturl.com/erz4i (Redirects to Business Week website) 

The researchers measured the narcissistic tendencies among the students by using a metric named Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) score. And they found that business students had the score much above the other graduates!  

Should we say, Watch out, MBAs! 

- Rahul

Recently I read someone saying that he preferred a particular piece of software over the other because the former was more ‘robust’. That made me think for a moment about ‘robustness’ of software. Robustness of a tangible thing is easy to comprehend, but how do we understand robustness of software? And more importantly, how do we measure it, or compare robustness of two pieces of software?  

Robustness of software is a very important concept. Robustness can be defined as the property because of which a piece of software runs and functions correctly even with unexpected or invalid inputs or in stressful environments. So every time your laptop’s Windows stops working (is hung), or a program crashes and stops working until you restart it or reboot, you witness poor robustness of the software or a program!  

The main reason for software crash is that it comes across situations where the programmer’s or designer’s assumptions have been violated. Every piece of software has a number of errors. It is virtually impossible to debug and clean it from all errors. There are errors which occur in unusual circumstances which are beyond a human mind to be predicted. So now the question which comes to mind is: How can we ensure robustness in our software? 

Unix philosophy says that robustness results from ‘transparency’ and ‘simplicity’. If a programmer can examine the source code and comprehend easily how it works, there are more chances that the errors would be fixed in advance. Another obvious way is to write codes accommodating a wide range of situations. Having small, modular programs which are connected to others is also a good way. Another very path breaking method makes use of ‘redundancy’ to ensure robustness.  

Errorfree programs and hustle free operations are not only good but also very critical in many situations. Do you know that Ariane 5 spacecraft exploded 36 seconds after its start because its software contained an error which changed its direction and the spacecraft broke down due to aerodynamic forces? Therefore, the best thing to do is to let the software undergo a proper robustness test. Or should I say a ‘robust’ robustness test?  

- Rahul

MBA

No more fun please

These are times of boundary less world. These are also times of our obsession with the 'less'. On one hand, we are trying to fill the gap by addressing sensitive issues in course curriculum, and on the other hand, we keep loosing it because of changes happening where we least expect. The changing profile and attitude of teaching faculty is one such thing. No longer has it remained the profession of the noble, as it is seen as just another profession, and some times a comfortable one. It has also become a feather in the cap of today's manager. And hence, a very diverse set of people are entering the teaching line, with diverse interests and backgrounds. It is good to a large extent, but bad when we start expecting them of certain kind of nobleness as teachers were always expected to.

As I entered the class late, the teacher allowed me to come in. But he made the class give me a big applause (clap, clap, professors do that to bore the late comers :). I came in and said "thank you". He seemed to feel that I was a bit intimidated, so he held my arm while asking me to come in and said, "Don't worry dear, I am not touching you the wrong way :)" Good sense of humour? Let us see

Two minutes later, he makes a point to one guy, saying, "Suppose you get married" (class laughs) "And suppose you have a child too" (laughter), "And even suppose it is your own child!" (more laughter) He watches people laughing, stands tall, and says, "Yes, Can you know who the father of a child is? Never! Even DNA tests won't tell. ONLY the mother knows the father of the child!" He feels himself superior and moves around, while people let the joke passed amidst laughter. Why this example? He was trying to explain the real decision makers in the buying process, and something about consumers and customers. 1.5 hours and 1.5 dozen double meaning jokes Did we deserve more? :)

Today a friend in another class says his teacher of CRM asked a guy, "Do you think having one-night-stands every day would make you have a better relationship with your girlfriend?" (many worse examples are not shared here) What the hell! The class laughed while some people felt bad. He was explaining how customer relationship management is as complex as real life personal relationships…

Normally we all avoid minding or objecting to such comments because they are occasional ones and in pure humour. But many a times, they are derogatory to a particular sex, caste or religion. Most common is to see women as an object. And they take it that the class will enjoy such jokes! From my personal experience, this phenomenon is seen mainly in the visiting faculty from the industry, who would make their day (evening) by breaking such funny but double meaning jokes at every opportunity. The students just laugh and let it go. In one subject, we tolerated one retired HR manager for 3 months, who kept telling corrupt stories in the name of sharing practical cases. And one professor, who described lewd details in the name of explaining cultural diversities. We rated them low in the feedback forms, but I am not sure if anyone mentioned what they said in the class rooms. All such incidents still make me sure of one thing ' no matter how much the new generation has changed, we still respect our elders. And we discount their bad habits to a generous extent.

I had read somewhere that while in public, we should never tell such jokes because public memory keeps that particular impression of ours for a long time. If I meet my teacher after 20 years, it may happen that I will recall him by the double-meaning jokes he told in the class. It is high time the teachers behave themselves. As such I am decided now that if that teacher continues his way, I would politely let him know of my opinion, ok, gyaan :) Complaint is a big decision and something I would avoid. But we never know :)

Everything can be laughed off, but there is always a limit.

***

Note: This article doesn't generalise the phenomenon or behaviour of teachers in general. Views expressed are personal. Nothing is against any particular teacher or university. For the record, incidents mentioned may be fictitious. And it should not be quoted for any action against anyone.

Books

Churchill on Leadership

Winston Churchill gave this world the “V” sign for victory. Prime Minister of United Kingdom during the World War II, Churchill was a self made man who made the history the way we read and repeat today. This book tries to point out leadership traits from this great political leader, as applicable to the business world. Although fighting a world war and competing in the business world are very different, both require brilliant leadership for success.”

Churchill’s leadership style was essentially about taking responsibility, facing bad news squarely, staying open to changing your mind in presence of new information and keeping fully informed. "Responsibility must be combined with authority" and "decisiveness depends on the person at the top" are two of his philosophies.

Though I found the book more useful for those who already have good insights into the war time history and British political system, it does describe some basics for the beginners like the difference between political and business leadership w.r.t risks. Also, we get to know and understand why Churchill’s style of leadership worked at that time. And why it can still work in many forms. More information on the Book at [Rediff Books]

Books

Ten deadly marketing sins

Philip Kotler, Professor of International marketing at Northwester University’s Kellogg School of management and author of 30 books is a God in marketing. In this comparatively new book, he describes the reason why 75% of new products, services and businesses fail. That is, he discusses the 10 deadly marketing sins:

1.               Your company is not sufficiently market focused and customer driven

2.               Your company doesn’t fully understand its target customers

3.               Your company needs to better define and monitor its competitors

4.               Your company has not properly managed its relationships with its stakeholders

5.               Your company is not good at finding new opportunities

6.               Your company’s marketing planning process is deficient

7.               Your company’s product and service policies need tightening.

8.               Your company’s brand building and communication skills are weak.

9.               Your company is not well organized to carry on effective and efficient marketing.

10.           Your company has not made maximum use of technology.

The language and approach by the author is very interesting and we get many good insights on the theme. A necessity for anyone in marketing   More information on the Book at [Rediff Books]

Guest lectures

CK Prahalad on campus

On Saturday, 19^th of July, CK Prahalad was on our campus. The visionary professor of University of Michigan and author of 'Fortune at the bottom of Pyramid' was here in Mumbai to interact with the students of our university on the theme India@75.

I couldn't attend this session due to some reasons (ok, my decisions) but I caught up with friends later on. They had found the session a bit boring as the speaker had not been able to connect with the audience on the core of the theme. When the best of the authors and speakers try to reach out to the audiences beyond a limit, there is always a risk of being self-infatuated and missing the 'magic'. And today, when one of our professors gave an assignment to a group on the topic "CK Prahalad's contribution to the management practices in India", the junta laughed :) This was neither because Indians are over-critical of other successful Indians, nor because Prof. Prahalad had not contributed enough. It was just a sample of the interesting phenomenon when many a times, sound principles become reduced to management jargons

Guest lectures

SCM Head, Cadbury

Today, Mr. Saurabh Tiwari, Supply Chain Head, Cadbury India was on campus to deliver a guest lecture on the topic "Exploring the beautiful world of business ' from lens of Supply Chain". He started from setting the context in the changing times in India, and then went ahead giving the snapshots of supply chain challenges in Cadbury, the framework approach, sales and operations planning (S&OP), and the skill sets and careers in the field.

Apart from all technical insights, Mr. Tiwari's presentation skills and his connection with the young audience were commendable. The simplicity in delivery and the easiness with which he described the models were exceptional. The loads of chocolates that he brought for the students were just a sample of enthusiasm that he showed in delivering this lecture. The audience, which was dominated by freshly joined first year students, got really enlightened and were tremendously motivated by the speaker. After the lecture, the crowd waited to touch and feel him :), and I hoped he would have returned back with the feeling of a job well done

***

PS: I seriously believe, the Government should bribe the terrorists not to strike so frequently. To solve the problem, they should make use of their strengths and core competencies, unashamed.

MBA

CEO Series Lecture

As part of our CEO Series lectures, last evening we had Mr. Keki Mistry, MD, HDFC on our campus. He spoke for about one and half hours on the requested topic "Roles of a CFO".

He began with the traditional role of a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in an Indian company, and then followed it with the changing business environment after the economic reforms of 1990s. The roles of the CFO have changed with the changing nature of industrial environment and global competition.

What I liked about his speech was perfectly balanced oratory, and that he didn't use any fillers in his speech e.g. like, actually, I mean, what I want to say is that: I personally don't like such fillers while speaking in public but have seen many of even the senior people take help of fillers like these. Also, almost everywhere, he went on explaining point wise, as if he had everything well prepared from before, when actually he was not. To top it all, the day was marked with the news about HDFC taking over Centurial Bank of Punjab, and when asked about it, he said: "We have neither denied not accepted the news. You will come to know about it tomorrow." This made the audience chuckle.

MBA

HBS Vs my B-School

The title may be a bit provocative, but if you believe what the students of Harvard Business School say, we are not that different from them. Here, some comments of HBS students are presented on their academics and life (taken from PaGalGuy's Buzz book). Also, there is a brave attempt to compare those with our life @ the B-School where I am.

You will find many an eye opener here:

"First year, all students take the same classes in a section of 90 people. Each section spends the entire year in one classroom with professors coming to them. It may sound a little bit like elementary school, but it creates an amazing experience."

Yes, we understand what is meant by amazing; we are going through the same.

"You'll probably only hang with HBS students, a majority of whom will be from your section (90 people). Events, dating, social everything seems to revolve around HBS Sounds a bit cultish but, by the end of the year, you'll be fully brainwashed and happy."

OK, so we should stop complaining about our divisional divides!

"Each section of 90 students creates familial bonds, and each section takes on a personality of its own."

We too are witnessing it here.

"Typically, study groups form in the first week or two of first year consisting of three or four students, optimally from different sections."

We don't have any study groups from different sections. Therefore, we are almost isolated from what is happening in other sections.

"The three cases a night are divvied up so that each member just has to "crack" only one case and prepare one executive summary for the study group members; this prepares each of them for the "cold-call" where the professor comes into the classroom and randomly calls on a student to present his/her analysis."

From second trimester onwards, many of us have adopted this method. Nice to see that HBS guys also do this.

"Second year gets much easier."

Yes, brothers; same here.

"On average, in the first year, three out of five professors in each semester are excellent, and two out of five are more junior, and therefore more variable."

We understand your condition dudes.

"As an international student, I had some reservations about class participation but it went really well. HBS is not competitive in classes! Shark comments are appropriately chastised (!) right away to make sure they won't happen again."

Many a times, even we tried to silent the shark comments! And that too by clapping!

"All classes are taught using the case method. It's hard to understand until you've experienced it, but it's a fantastic way to learn."

OK. We are a bit more inclusive to adopt best of the all worlds J

"The accessibility of faculty at HBS is also fantastic. Most faculty host lunches to get to know everyone outside of the classroom."

OK, hope some faculty reads this. We all love free lunches J

"Grade nondisclosure is great. If you receive honors, you can put that on your résumé, but other than that, you can't disclose grades. The grading system is the following: top [10 to 20] percent receive a one, middle 80 percent receive a two, and the bottom 10 percent receive a three."

Nice idea! Let us have it here also!

"About two-thirds of students live on campus in dorms or apartments. I enjoy the residential aspect of the campus. It does sometimes create a little bit of a bubble from the real world, but the interaction between students is great."

So they also have some resident and some day scholars; though % may vary.

"Dorm rooms can be painfully small and outdated but on-campus apartments are a good (if pricey) alternative."

OK, you too!

"HBS is run as a business and students are informed that the MBA program is a loss-leader for the separately run executive management programs."

I think HBS learnt this from here!

"Shad, the HBS gym, is like a country club facility. It's only $60 per semester for a student and is well worth the price of admission."

HBS gym is cheaper than ours!

"On average, every week there is one CEO from a Fortune 500 who speaks on campus."

We are following up, just remove the F500 criteria.

PS: I shared this with my colleagues and some of them liked it very much. You may not identify with the things here, but some of you would find this interesting.

MBA

Mass-customization: the Ice-cream wallah way

There is a small but big word in marketing: "Mass-customization". This means that the products being offered are customised for the masses, not only for some selected few customers. Examples? The Dell laptops; you can visit the Dell website; configure your laptop as per your requirements and then order. You will be able to decide on the price based on exactly what you want. Some level of mass customization are also offered by the automobile firms where you can chose what colour, accessories, and components to get your car with. But for me, the biggest business doing the mass customization is my neighbourhood Mewad Ice-cream wallah.

You want a cone for Rs 5, or 6, or 10? You want fruit salad or faluda of Rs 5, 10, or 15? Do you love a particular flavour? The boy won't ask any question, he will give you exactly what you want and for how much. This is unlike the ice creams from big firms and dairies where you get fixed stuff and pay fix amount

Inspired by my operations professor who always give indigenous examples instead of straight-from-the-books stuff

MBA

Lecture by CEO, Mindshare

Event:             "Enter the world of media planning"

CEO Series lecture by Mr. Gowthaman Ragothaman, CEO & India Head -  MindShare, India

Date:               2 Nov 07, Friday (4.45 pm ' 6.15 pm)

Venue:            Room # 21

The CEO was around only 35, and again brought us to the realities of the world, far from the glamorous roles that we dream of and imagine. His presentation was about the overview of the media industry in India, the innovative trends and the future path and insights. And that was followed by a Q&A session.

About the speaker:

o       Former head of MindShare-Fulcrum, the dedicated Communication Channel Management unit for Unilever in India. Fulcrum is handling the media business of Unilever in India for the past 10 years.

o       Worked with various blue-chip clients across different categories like HPC, Foods, Cigarettes, Paints, Camera & Rolls, Financial Instruments, Adhesives, Chocolates, Bicycles, Two-wheelers & Pens.

o       Played an active role in the last two pitches that retained the Media business for MindShare-Fulcrum and in his recent role as a General Manager has secured this business till 2007.

About Mindshare

o       Global team of 6000 people across 67 countries

o       Illustrious parent companies like GroupM and WPP

o       Created in 1997 as the first global media-service company

o       Delivers national, regional and worldwide solutions to clients across all media, in all categories and to all target audiences.

o       Works with 13 of the world’s top 20 advertisers

o       Clients include Unilever (Dove, Rexona Deo), Wrigley, Kotex, Sprint, Pepsi India (’Oye Bubly’ campaign), Motorola, HSBC, BP

Some snapshots from his talk:

o       There is no better time to be in the media industry. The industry is expected to grow @ 15% for the next three years.

o       India will have 500 TV channels by 2008.

o       Television is a 15,400 crore industry, but out of that 7,500 crore goes towards subscription, which is a grey market, almost like a black market.

o       We can think of four different Indias; the 'global India' contains 6 million Indians, and they are like any other developed country in terms of their thinking, attitude and lifestyle.

o       Total internet users in India are more than that of UK or Germany

I asked him a question: what is the way in which TV advertisers can prevent the growing trend of viewers being 'put off' by the large number of advertisements in between programs and how we can learn from the developed markets in this regard. He answered that the main difference between the India and the developed markets is that here the alternate channels are not fully developed. In the west, customers have already moved out of TV. And for India, the greatest problem is that companies don't invest enough in 'market research'.

He also talked about some innovative initiatives by Indian advertisers, like Sunsilk's gangofgirls.com and Wheel's Smart Srimati campaign. Last week, we had CEO of Perspectrum visiting our campus, and these sessions are the best forum to get the 'views from the top'.

MBA

There is great news. Today was the Day-1 of Summers Placement, 2008, and I return home with a placement with one of giants among Indian conglomerates. So summers of 08 is now fixed.

Hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. Maslow’s theory contended that as humans meet ‘basic needs’, they seek to satisfy successively ‘higher needs’ that occupy a set hierarchy. Maslow’s theory was regarded as an improvement over previous theories of personality and motivation.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the four lower levels are grouped together as deficiency needs associated with physiological needs, while the top level is termed growth needs associated with psychological needs.

Deficiency needs must be met first. Once these are met seeking to satisfy growth needs drives personal growth. The higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus once all the lower needs in the pyramid are satisfied. Once an individual has moved past a level, those needs will no longer be prioritized. However, if a lower set of needs is no longer being met, the individual will temporarily re-prioritize those needs - dropping down to that level until the lower needs are reasonably satisfied again

The five levels are self explanatory and are explained in the attached picture also, therfore I am not describing them.

It is very interesting to understand the needs of humans, structured in this manner. Though someone can debate on the hierarchy, the fact remains that this model explains why a child cries, why a boy in your locality behaves in that manner, and why the subordinate of Hari Sadhu is frustrated….

Toothpaste Market in India

Synopsis (part) of our research on toothpaste market in India.

o Toothpaste market in India is worth Rs 2200 Crore (2006).

o In India, per capita toothpaste consumption stood at 74g in 2005, which is amongst the lowest in the world, compared to 350g and 300g in Malaysia and Vietnam respectively.

o Toothpaste enjoys a country wide penetration level of 50%.

o Rural: 39%

o Urban: 75%

o Oral hygiene continues to be under aggressive competition, with sales increasing by a modest 3% in current value terms in 2006 to Rs. 2,400 crs. Toothpaste accounted for a whopping 83% of value sales.

o HLL's market share in the dental care market has grown from a mere five per cent in 1979 to an impressive 36 per cent today, whereas Colgate-Palmolive has been seen its market share decline from a dominating 75 per cent to a struggling 56 per cent.

Segments:

Popular Segment Colgate Dental Cream, Pepsodent Declining

Low Price Packs Cibaca, Babool Growing

Niche Products Ayurvedic and Sensitive toothpastes Stagnant

Freshness Segment Colgate MaxFresh,Close Up,Anchor Gel Growing

Price-based Segments:

Regular Segment: 100 gm: Rs 25-30

Low Price Segment: 100 gm: Rs 14-20

o The Lower Price Point segment accounts for around 25% of total category volumes. Small and regional brands from the low priced segment are expected to perform well because they are often close to the market, respond faster to changes and are willing to learn from mistakes.

Colgate

o Colgate has been present in the domestic oral care market (of India) for the last 70 years.

o A dominant position in the toothpaste segment with a 48% market share in the domestic market.

o 1.5 times the second largest player.

o Cibaca was acquired by Colgate in 1994 from Ciba Geigy.

o The company today has two main brands in the toothpaste segment ' Colgate and Colgate Cibaca.

o Colgate Cibaca has risen to become the 4th largest paste brand in the country in volume terms after Colgate Dental Cream, Pepsodent and Close-Up

Pepsondent

o Brand of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL, erstwhile HLL)

o In a declining toothpaste market, HLL has managed to grow its brands and this has been attributed to Pepsodent’s value proposition being redefined.

o Pepsodent’s share has been climbing steadily from 15.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2002 to 16.3 per cent in the quarter ending June 2006.

o HLL's Dental insurance scheme, being launched through a partnership with the New India Assurance, offered a dental insurance of Rs 1,000 on purchase of any pack of Pepsodent.

Anchor

o Anchor belongs to Anchor Health and Beauty Care (AHBC), a part of the Anchor Group (makers of Anchor Electrical switches).

o Anchor White Toothpaste was positioned as India’s first British Dental Health Society certified 100 per cent vegetarian toothpaste, in 1997.

o Anchor and Ajanta price their offerings at more than 40% discount, giving the market leaders a run for their money. These low priced competitors accounted for more than 80 per cent of the growing 'discount segment'.

Top 5 Brands - Market Share (2006)

1. Colgate Dental Cream 34%

2. Close-Up 14%

3. Pepsodent Complete 10 11%

4. Colgate Cibaca Top 5.7%

5. Colgate Fresh Energy Gel 3%

6. Other Brands 32.3%

a. Anchor, Babool, Ajanta, etc

Company Market Share (Value), 2006

1. Colgate Palmolive Ltd: 47.3%

2. HLL: 30%

3. Dabur: 7.2%

Source (Market share): AC Nielsen Market Information Digest India, 2006

Executive Program in Business Management from IIM Calcutta

Dear Roshan,

I believe the program is very good.

Course content: The course content would be good and in such programs, there is always some possibility to mold the programs according to the participants’ needs. When you go to attend the classroom programs, you have the opportunity to ask the faculty to clear your particular doubts.

Admission difficulty: I have no idea, but it should not be difficult if you satisfy the minimum % required (50%). You have good chance because of your work-experience…

Difference: I think this is somewhat similar to other programs being conducted by some other IIMs and some programs being offered through NIIT Imperia. Classroom contact feature makes it good enough.

Recognition: Don’t expect the course alone to fetch you a great change. But I have seen such qualifications on the CVs of many CEOs. Even the new CEO of ACC is a PGPX holder (1 yr) from IIM-A, apart from being an engineer. In the long term it will definitely matter.

I think you can go for it, if the logistics part is OK for you. The fees for all such courses are high, and it reflects the demand for such quality courses.

Regards,

Kumar Rahul

 

- Hide quoted text '

On 8/16/07, Roshan Agarwal < > wrote:

Customers don't forgive

Kumar Rahul Tiwary

I was late and in a hurry. I had to create recovery CDs for my laptop, which I had been procrastinating for a long time. I stepped in the neighbour general store and asked for a blank DVD. "How much is it?" I asked. I heard "90"! I asked him to say again. Now he says "only 20". I took two pieces and went out. But then I came to realise that the first time he had said "19", but seeing that I couldn't hear him, he had asked the round figure of 20 the next time. I made a mental note that I would avoid this shop in the future.

One of the ways the market has developed has resulted in un-forgiving customers. Taking a short term approach can be fatal to businesses. The opportunity cost of losing a customer is very much higher than acquiring a new customer from competition. But even then some shoppers do that mistake. And the worst thing is that they are not reading my blog to realise this. They will learn it a hard way!

B School Rankings in India

Kumar Rahul Tiwary

Anyone who aspires to be an MBA, must have searched the net for B-School rankings. Even those who have no direct interest in B Schools, browse through the newspaper and magazines reports and special features for rankings and placement figures. And the media helps by creating a hype, by projecting the placement figures which are always scaling up. One fine morning, the headline is: ISB graduate gets 1 Crore as starting salary! The nation wonders, and boys can see something in the eyes of their fathers. Expectations rise.

B School rankings have not always been controversial. The controversies started when the B Schools starting pushing their brands and marketed themselves in all possible ways. They consistently objected in the rankings where they were ranked lower than their immediate competitors. There has been some undercurrents, that some rankings are fixed.

MBA coaching institutes play a major role in shaping public opinion. Lately, the coaching institutes have gone quality conscious, they won't put any one up or down because that affects their credibility. TIME [Link] is one such institute offering preparatory classes for CAT and other management entrance exams. TIME had come out with a new concept: they won't rank the institutes, but they will categorize them. Here is the ranking according to TIME: [Link]

India’s Best B-Schools

The Top 90 management institutes in the country have been divided into five broad categories. A numerical ranking often does not have a sound scientific basis. The parameters and, more importantly, the weightages given to these tend to be extremely subjective.

A qualitative analysis of a B-school on pre-determined parameters can however give you a more comprehensive picture. These parameters include placements track records, quality of faculty members, quality of students, quality of infrastructure, image of the institute, etc. However being based on perspective, the resultant rankings too, are thus subject to many fierce debates. T.I.M.E. has used its extensive student database and years' of experience in the field to categorise the top 90 institutes.

Given below is the categorisation of the Top B-Schools. Please note that within each category, the B-Schools are listed in alphabetical order ' there is no ranking or grading WITHIN each category.

For each institute included in our list, it is the flagship course of that institute that has been considered for the purpose of the categorization. For example, while the IIMs have different programmes, it is the PGP programme that has been considered for including the IIMs in the top 10.

As a part of the selection criteria, a number of management institutes also include a minimum percentage of marks to be scored by the students in their graduation for the students to be eligible to apply to such institutes.

Broadly, these categories are meant to aid the students in applying to institutes. Within a category, the institutes are of approximately the same quality. Of course, the categorisation is only indicative and students should make independent inquiries before taking a final decision about which institutes to apply to.

The Top 10 are the so-called ‘Ivy-League’ institutes that every student dreams of getting an admission into. Many of these institutes are comparable with the best in the world. Indeed, some of them regularly feature in the lists released by international business magazines. These institutes invariably have a 100% placement record. Even the not-so-good students at these institutes manage to get very good jobs on account of the rub-off effect of the institute.

The “A+” & “A” categories of institutes are those that fall into the Top 35. They offer a high quality of education in terms of faculty quality and infrastructure facilities. These institutes usually have a 100% placement record. Only the poor performers at these institutes may have some difficulties regarding placements. Some of the top students at these institutes should be able to secure placements that are comparable to those offered at the Top 10 institutes. Most students should be more than happy to join these institutes if they are able to get admission.

The “B+” category of institutes offers a consistent quality of education in terms of faculty quality and infrastructure facilities even though these may not be comparable to those of the top institutes. These institutes are successful in providing placements to their top students, especially those with good communication skills, but do not have a 100% placement record. A student at one of these institutes would have to work extra-hard to secure a good rank and high marks so as to enhance his placement chances.

The “B” category of institutes are those that are well regarded at a local level. These institutes may not provide too many national level placement opportunities but are generally successful in providing placements to many of their students with prominent local companies.

“TOP TEN” Category (in alphabetical order) - India’s Best Management Institutes

1.   Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi
2.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad
3.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore
4.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta
5.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore
6.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode
7.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow
8.   Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad (one-year course)
9.   Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Mumbai
10. Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur

“A+” Category (in alphabetical order)

1.   Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi
2.   Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi
3.   Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon
4.   Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad (MICA) (for Marketing/Advertising)
5.   Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai
6.   National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai
7.   S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai
8.   SJM School of Management, IIT, Bombay
9.   Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune
10. Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai


“A” Category (in alphabetical order)

1.   Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM), Trichy
2.   Fore School of Management, New Delhi
3.   Goa Institute of Management (GIM), Goa
4.   Indian Institute of Science (IISc.), Bangalore
5.   Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur
6.   Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras
7.   Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad
8.   Institute of Rural Management , Anand (IRMA) (for Rural Management)
9.   International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi
10.  K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai
11. Sydenham Institute of Management Studies and Research and
      Entrepreneurship Education, Mumbai
12. Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resources Development (SCMHRD), Pune
13. T. A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal
14. University Business School (UBS), Chandigarh
15. Xavier Institute of Management (XIM), Bhubaneswar

“B+” Category (in alphabetical order)

1.   Amrita Institute of Management (AIM), Coimbatore
2.   Birla Institute of Management Technology, NOIDA
3.   Chetna’s R. K. Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai
4.   Department of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Pune, Pune (PUMBA)
5.   Department of Financial Studies, University of Delhi South Campus, Delhi
6.   Great Lakes Institute of Management , Chennai (One year Course)
7.   Hyderabad Central University (HCU), Hyderabad
8.   ICFAIN Business School, Gurgaon
9.   ICFAIN Business School, Hyderabad
10. ICFAIN Business School, Navi Mumbai
11. Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Kolkata Campus
12. Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), Kolkata
13. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur
14. Institute for Financial Management and Research, (IFMR) Chennai
15. Institute of Management Development and Research (IMDR), Pune
16. Institute of Technology & Management (ITM), Mumbai
17. Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies (KIAMS), Harihar, Karnataka
18. Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi
19. Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), Chennai
20. National Institute of Technology (NIT), Trichy
21. Nirma University Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
22. S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Dubai Campus
23. SDM Institute for Management Development, Mysore
24. Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB), Pune
25. Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai

“B” Category (in alphabetical order)

1.   Alliance Business Academy, Bangalore
2.   Amity Business School, New Delhi
3.   Bharatiya Vidyapeeth, Pune
4.   Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi
5.   B. K. School of Business Management, Ahmedabad
6.   Christ College, Bangalore
7.   Delhi School of Economics, Delhi
8.   Faculty of Management Studies, BHU, Varanasi
9.   ICFAIN Business School, Bangalore
10. Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal
11. Indian Institute of Planning & Management, Delhi
12. Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad
13. Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE), Hyderabad
14. Institute of Technology & Management (ITM), Bangalore
15. Institute of Technology & Management (ITM), Chennai
16. MBE Program of the Delhi University
17. Osmania University College of Business Management
18. Pondicherry Central University (PCU)
19. PSG Institute of Management, Coimbatore
20. R A Podar Institute of Management, Jaipur
21. School of Communication & Management Studies (SCMS), Cochin
22. SIES College of Management Studies, Mumbai
23. Siva Sivani Institute of Management (SSIM), Hyderabad
24. Sri Ram College of Commerce, MBA-GPO, Delhi
25. St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore
26. Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), Pune
27. Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management (SITM), Pune
28. Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME), Bangalore
29. Xavier Institute of Social Sciences (XISS), Ranchi
30. Xavier Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management (XVJIM), Hyderabad

But there are some who would love number game. Many institutes, magazines and newspapers come out with numbered rankings.

With the popularization of internet, a new medium has come up: internet based preparation aids. These websites make use of all the features of the internet. UrPercentile [Link] is a very good site. It is based on the power of Yahoo Groups [Link]. Here, members get daily practice assignments, which they have to solve and send the answers to the group. Next day, the solutions will come. In case of any doubts, the moderators and other members of the yahoo group will help the person. It is a strong network. It is promoted by the MBAs from IIMs and other top institutes.

Let us see the B School rankings provided by UrPercentile. [Link]

1.                  Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad

2.                  Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore

3.                  Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta

4.                  Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow

5.                  Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur

6.                  Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi

7.                  Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad (one-year course)

8.                  S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai

9.                  Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore

10.              Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi

11.              Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai

12.              Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon

13.              Institute of Rural Management , Anand (IRMA) (for Rural Management)

14.              National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai

15.              Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow

16.              Xavier Institute of Management (XIM), Bhubaneswar

17.              VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur

18.              IIT Delhi

19.              SJMSOM, IIT Mumbai

20.              IIT Kanpur

21.              IIT Roorkee

22.              IIT Madras

23.              Fore School of management, Delhi

24.              Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

The complete ranking list up to All India Rank 101 is available at their site at the link mentioned [Link].

There are several rankings available and many of them are not fair. If you personally ask me, I would recommend these two, because I know both of these personally. I believe both rankings are fair. The differences between these two rankings, if any, are because they are prepared by two different sets of junta. TIME ranking is based on the experience of the institute's faculty and feedback of the students selected from the past from the institute. And the Ur Percentile ranking has been prepared by the moderators, who are MBAs themselves, and know the inner world, something beyond the hype.

[Mumbai, 11 July 2007]