LATEST

Last week was busy ....in terms of assignments. With an average of three assignments per day, this week reminded of the dreaded Term-2. Not that this term is tough…just that most of the assignments were compressed during this time.

With mercury level rising, weather is getting worse with each passing day. The dis-orientation week will start soon followed by all the exit formalities. With India out of the World cup, we have to find different avenues to make this period memorable.

The PGP forum was concluded recently. This is done to provide feedback to the ISB administration on where things can work better and which practices should be discontinued etc. Every year the practical feedbacks are introduced for the incoming batch. No system is perfect and there is always plenty of scope to climb the positive slope. Feedbacks of last years batch were introduced in our batch and certain things went great. The experience of our batch should definitely help the next batch and this trend will continue.

FREAKONOMICS

Finally… I completed “Freakonomics” over the weekend. Interesting book, but I would have appreciated it more had I read it before my MBA application process. Most of the things covered in the book reflect simple and powerful concepts of incentives, cause-effect relationship and the concept of conventional wisdom. What give a distinct touch to the book are the unique comparisons, which are used to explain the concepts.

Steven Levitt so aptly brings out the three forms of incentives – economic, social as well as moral. Sometimes these incentives are used to get a desirable positive result and at other times used to deter crimes and negative effects. At other times the existence of natural incentives can tempt people to follow a particular path (can be positive or negative).

The power of possessing the information is amazingly described. “Information is a beacon, a cudgel, an olive branch, a deterrent depending on who wields it and how. Information is so powerful that the assumption of information, even if the information doesn’t actually exist, can have a sobering effect”. What follow after this, is an explicit picture of “information asymmetry” and the role of internet in information dissemination.

The cause-effect issue is well presented. We often mistake the real cause of an effect with something else, something which is quite striking and visible. It may not be always so. The real cause can be much more subtle in nature and much less obvious and decipherable.

The issue of applicability of the conventional wisdom in the dynamic world is neatly challenged through numerous examples.

Quite an interesting reading….exploring the hidden side of everything.

ROLE OF INDIVIDUALISM

In a B-school, it is important to be aware of a lot of things. In spite of heavy stress on group activities and team spirit, the role of individualism can never be underestimated. One should either remain away from these things or learn how to deal with such things. Some of these things are as follows.

1. Undue hype: There will always be hype with any three letter abbreviation starting with I. (IIT/IIM/ISB). I still keep on wondering what all this hype is about, in spite of being a part of two such institutes. But one thing for sure – this hype originated from the activities of the coaching centers and press...and for their own selfish interests.

2. Indian Press: No one benefits more than the press in creating the crazy b-school placement stories.

3. Unsolicited advices: There will be so many people ready to give you advices. If you start following all the advices you will be so confused in life that you will find yourself in a mental asylum. You are defined by your individualism...and no one understands yourself better than your own individualism.

4. Illogical rumors: At times, rumors seem so real that they become facts and people keep on believing these rumors until the real stuff come out. Anything that sounds illogical is likely to be a rumor, as per my experience.

5. Impractical aspirations: All the above issues (undue hype, Indian Press, unsolicited advices and illogical rumors) can create an environment which is the breeding ground for impractical aspirations. These impractical aspirations create a group of people, who turn out to be amongst the funniest people, I have ever come across. Such people get frustrated in life easily and bring out their frustration in front of the world in a rather disgusting manner. God help such people and let other people live in peace.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Always look things from a wider viewpoint...use your OWN beliefs and sense of practicality. Remain away from frustrated people, unsolicited advices, illogical rumors, undue hype and impractical aspirations.

COUPLES

Lot of secret love stories unearthed. The number of couples in ISB must be the highest till date. Some of these were huge surprises to the whole campus.

Quite a number of married couples (married before they came to ISB as well as those married during ISB) are planning to enjoy their pre job vacation in some exotic foreign location. There seem to be a rush for the package trips to Europe and East Asia.

Many would-be couples are busy trying to test the compatibility factor.

Quite a number of marriages are scheduled in April and some more in May.

It’s undoubtedly the busiest time for couples.

Co2008 COLLABORATIVE BLOG

Co2008 seem to have a great passion for recording their memories before joining ISB. The adjacent blog is the collaborative blog for the Co2008. This also has the links to the individual blogs of the Co2008 as well. One interesting aspect of ISB is that the incoming batch outdo the outgoing batch in almost every aspect of performance - let it be acads or GMAT score or richness of work experience or be it something as trivial as blogging. For those who love to follow the ISB blogs here is the link to this collaborative blog (http://www.isbclassof2008.blogspot.com/).

EVOLUTION OF B-SCHOOL CULTURE

It is quite interesting to see how B-Schools orient themselves. Let me present two examples which presents the evolution of the B-School culture. Before the Enron debacle, not many B-Schools had an explicit stress on ethics as a subject. Soon after the Enron debacle and other corporate frauds that followed, ethics became one of the most important features of any good B-school culture. Ethics became a part of day to day life and things like plagiarism, copyright violations etc. are now treated with severity. Special courses (in ISB we have courses like Business Ethics, Government Society and Business, and Business Law) were introduced into the curriculum, which can enlighten students on the repercussions of unethical business.

Let me both inform and warn the class of 2008, about the Honor Code Committee, which holds the ultimate power to arbitrate when it is perceived that something unethical has happened and the honor code has been violated. Things like plagiarism, copying the assignments, or any exam related unsolicited conduct can be disastrous. Honor Code is for the betterment of the institute. Respect it and remain away from any activity which can lead to breaching of the Honor Code.

Also various social issues are high on the agenda of the leading B-Schools. Business Plans related to social ventures are treated with high respect. Devising strategies to bring the benefits of the industrial resurgence to rural settings (especially in a country like India) are quite important areas of interest. Clubs like Net impact club has been closely linked with such issues and a lot of students are aligned towards a career in nonprofit organizations.

Things keep on evolving and the business school culture is no different. Maximizing profit….maximizing profit in ethical manner….social obligations….things are evolving.

CAREER CHANGE - A CLOSER LOOK

Before I move ahead into other posts, I thought I should return back to the issue of career change/switches once again. I will like to follow the question-answer way to illustrate on what a career change really is.

What necessarily is a career switch/change?
These kind of switches are normally a switch over to a completely different kind of work profile such that your previous work experience can be of very negligible utility in your new job profile. For instance, moving from hard core manufacturing to the finance part of investment banking. The general skills which a person gained in manufacturing might not be of any utility in the new profile. Under such a situation, it might be difficult to get a lateral profile.

Is switching industries necessarily a career change?
Not necessarily, as many roles in different industries carry the same fundamentals. For instance a shipping person, good in supply chain and operations can easily join the supply chain and operations of an IT or other hi-tech companies. Under such a situation, the skills of the past job are easily transferable to the new role and there exists a lot of respect for the past work experience. A merchant navy captain who joined the operations of the leading hi-tech company in a senior role is an example of such changes. Or a person from iron and steel industry who did the supply chain analysis, joining an IT firm as domain consultant forms yet another example. Such changes should not come under the category of career changes. Other examples are

1. Automobile sector to other manufacturing
2. Supply chain to retail
3. Architect to real estate consultancy
4. Shipping to domain consultant (IT)
5. Mathematics/economics to investment banking
6. CA to investment banking/other aspects of corporate finance
7. Corporate finance to banking and vice versa
8. IT supply chain to manufacturing/retail

9. Hotel to real estate consultancy

10. Media to marketing

11. Shipping to oil/energy/power

This list can be really long.

What are the transferable traits, apart from the typical job related ones?
A lot of companies look for traits other than the normal functional traits and based on these traits allocate fairly senior roles. For instance, an army major who joined a leading consultancy based on his leadership skills, or an energy sector person who joined another consultancy because of his contacts in the industry. Such traits like “leadership” and “seniority ” to get contacts are always in demand. Such traits are always associated with lateral roles even though the skills in the past job may not be directly transferable to the new roles. Normally these are the skills highly respected in the senior management.

RELATIVE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF ISB

I think I am in a situation where I can sit down and look back at what I liked the most in ISB and what I disliked.

STRENGTHS

The most striking feature of ISB is the quality of faculty. It all started in April last year when we entered our first term. In the very first term we were exposed to the likes of Prof. Finn, Bob, Richard and Rakesh Vohra. Teaching is not about reiterating the theories, it is about inspiration, passion and enthusiasm…and this is what I appreciate the most about such Professors. Soon terms proceeded and each Professor was unique in his/her own respect. I can still hear the trade mark lines which distinguish one master from the another. It is definitely a rare opportunity to learn from the long list of such distinguished academicians… Profs. Krishna Kumar, Asim Ansari, A.K. Shivakumar, Suren Mansinghka, Venkatraman, Ramavelamuri, Jagmohan Raju, Kenwyn Smith, Tom Noel, Jay Russo, Jay Anand, Cathy, Damien, Sridharan, Rajiv Banker….the list is really long. As I am about to leave ISB, those prized classroom moments where I spent attending these lectures will always occupy a very important space in the memory lane. Apart from these, the guest lectures ensured that we had the opportunity to listen to some of the most respected figures of world business.

The next thing which comes to mind in ISB is definitely the peer group. The inspirational major from the Indian Army, the ever smiling and caring civil service officer, the doctors from the Indian Navy and the Airforce, the friendly IT people, sincere chartered accountants, master mariners and sailors, real estate experts, economists, engineers, architects, media people, marketers…the diversity of the batch was simply awesome. It was a great experience to know so many people within the short span of one year. I also realized that IITians and the CAs are NOT the only smart people in the campus.

And what an amazing campus is this. Anyone who visits the campus falls in love with the beauty of the campus. Every morning when I wake up, my eyes cannot help gazing out of the windows. Very few places can be as beautiful as this place. And to add to the beauty of the campus, the professionalism and the efficiency of the ISB staff ensures that we need not worry about anything related to the "non-MBA part" of our lives. No wonder the ISB student who leaves for exchange studies keeps on reminding us what we will miss when we leave this place. The efficiency of the housekeeping people, operations team, IT department, LRC, recreation center, Sarovar…always deserve a very special thanks from us.

And to end, the placements of ISB were as rocking as ever.

WEAKNESSES

It can be really hard to find something which you will genuinely dislike at the ISB. There were tough days when too much stress on grades, placements etc. made life horrible. But that’s a part of life in an Indian B-School. Another thing which we should work on is to develop traits like punctuality. There are times when some people walk into the class well over time. Things are getting better but a lot depends on the subsequent batches on how they develop these traits. Discipline, punctuality etc, are the basic prerequisites we need to imbibe within ourself before we start ourselves benchmarking against the global big names. Even if a few people walk into the class late, it will affect the image of the entire batch. Most of the professors and visitors are global and a lot of reputation depends on the image which these people carry.

Although international applicants have been increasing, it will take some time before ISB really picks up on the international front. Although the campus is always full of global participants, exchange students etc., yet the number of full time international students is not good enough. But I am sure, it is just a matter of time, before ISB picks up on this regard too.

MY VIEWS ON ONE YEAR MBA

A few years back, the very idea of one year MBA was non existent in the Indian B-school education. Within a span of five years, things are so different. The concept of one year MBA was pioneered by INSEAD decades ago. The success of INSEAD alumni across the globe is a clear indicator of the fact that the one year MBA is not inferior to the traditional two year MBA. But when this concept was applied in the Indian scenario, critics (by their very nature) were pessimistic. But that is their job.

The one year model has simply revolutionized the complete concept in India. It could successfully tap the huge market that so easily was dominated by the schools of US and UK. Today ISB can safely be coined a “huge success” and I am sure the PGPX programs of the IIMs will also do great.

The one year MBA has its own advantages and disadvantages… the advantages being remaining away from work for only a year, which is a huge positive for people with years of work experience. Disadvantage is that the program is fast track and not all the age old theories can be covered in this period. Also certain things are taken to be granted considering the prior work experience of the students. Thus a young MBA who completed his MBA just after his graduation is likely to have mastered the theories to greater details as compared to someone who pursued a one year MBA. Also the former has more time to look into the details of his preferred topics. But for a person with years of experience, the advantages of returning back to work a year earlier far outweigh the advantages of learning some extra theory, which he might never use in his career.

Again, by its very nature, a one year MBA is more tuned towards career progression, while its traditional cousin is more favorable for career beginners or career switchers. A person with 5 years work experience in the energy sector, who wants to move into investment banking to re orient his career can be better served by a two year MBA. If he wants to move up the ladder in the energy or associated manufacturing sectors... nothing like a one year MBA. As far as consultancy is considered, I guess, one year MBA is good enough.

As far as work pressure is considered, the one year stuff is naturally much more demanding. It is even more in India, as the placements are also included within this period. But, the satisfaction is that the grill will end in one year.

To conclude, I will say that if you want to go for career progression, nothing suits you better than the one year MBA. You complete your MBA in year, save a year, earn the extra money as well as one extra year of your career. If you are frustrated with your present career, a two year MBA will be easier to get a career change. At the same time, there are number of cases where students in a one year MBA, with substantial efforts manage a career change while those in two years, without sufficient efforts are not successful in getting the switch. So it finally boils down to the concept of how much effort you are willing to put to get the shift.

But here is one question I would like to ask to career switchers: Think deeply and get an answer to why you want to go for a substantial switch? What is the reason you were frustrated with your past job? In case you are planning to switch to a new career, are you sufficiently aware of the aspects of the new career. Are you planning a switch just because it sounds glamorous in a b-school or is it because u genuinely like it?

If you are frustrated with your present career, just switching to a new field is not the end of the problem. You have to discover why you did not like your past career and what is there in a new career that you will like. Imagine the worst case scenario – you go for a switch ….u did not leverage your past experience…u restart your new career from scrap…u report to a person three years junior to you…only to realize that you hate it even more than your earlier job. In contrast, a career progression might erode the root cause of some of the problems and might look attractive. So what I want to conclude is that…think sufficiently before you plan career switch. Money is there in every industry, so it should not be the issue.

At the end of the day…all these things look so trivial. There are so many people in various organizations who are doing great without MBA. It all boils down to your interests, aspirations and a genuine search into yourself.

WHAT NEXT?

As less than a month remains, before I pack my bags, I was wondering what to post these days. Enough of posts on parties and final celebrations. Now that I am about to complete a year in ISB, I think it will be a good idea to give my views on certain topics. I have collected a list of such topics and will try to cover them in the subsequent mails.

1. My views on one-year MBA
2. Relative strengths and weaknesses of ISB
3. What to expect and what not to expect in ISB
4. How to deal with the placements
5. Everlasting assets from ISB

Will be back with the 1st topic soon.

COLORFUL TIME AT SV-3 MIRROR POOL

The festival of colors being celebrated at the sv-3 mirror pool

MAJORS NOTE

Before I upload the Holi snaps, let me copy the post which Major sent to students07 before leaving to Duke for his exchange. Major is amongst the senior and the most respected people of our batch. People from the defense services are so different from others…so matured and inspirational. They have seen the thin line of demarcation between life and death so closely. Perhaps this is the reason which makes them treat life in a different manner. Here is the post.

Hi Folks,

Happy Holi to all of you!!

Its now my turn to bid adieu…I am going to Duke on exchange. I left the campus last week, since the placements were still in full swing I could not get an opportunity to meet all of you and choose to write after the storm had settled.

Last eleven months have been truly exceptional for me, in some sense I rediscovered the world. What stands out specially has been the interaction with all of you. I must confess the love and respect which I got is something one would miss most. Through the run-up to placement interviews, it was endearing and immensely touching to see so many of you wishing me luck and probably that’s the key reason for me getting my dream job.

I believe most of us have got jobs that we had set out for, while some are still exploring. I can’t resist the temptation but to take the liberty of giving some gyan here….I am sure we all realize that campus recruitment is just one route and as per precedence first six months should see most of us getting there. These are times when one can live his dreams—must not settle for anything less!

Additionally, I gauged there was some anxiety around the positions and money being offered-- here my gray strains would stand by me--life is not a 100m sprint but a 40km run you may have not got the perfect start but there will be opportunities at galore to make up and take a lead; sincerity, hard work and perseverance are still the most valued virtues. So hold steadfast and enjoy the ride, we will read about the true winners in tabloids in 8-10 yrs from now!!

Finally as you step out, let the world know the best of the very best is here. There is no other institute which can boast of such pedigree. We live in exciting time when business are being redefined in India let us spear head this phenomenon.

I will be based out of Amsterdam; will miss the opportunity to meet you all that often. Let’s keep in touch my email ID xxxxx@xxxx.com please send me your private email ID.

Wishing you a lifetime of Joy and Success--God Bless!!

Cheers!

LIFE CANNOT BE BETTER

Life cannot be better than this. Evenings are busy celebrating our closing days in ISB…exploring the unexplored. I donot think I can meet my resolution of going to bed early and getting up early within ISB. Last evening we (F-6) spent a lovely evening in this place called Serengeti in Ories. Damn good place…great ambience…great food…great drinks…all at a reasonable rate. For the first time V remained in his senses even after consuming a pitcher of beer. Normally one small can of beer is good enough to make him reach the craziest levels.

A new member joined F-6 and very soon this serious looking person adjusted himself into the carefree F-6 culture. I am sure the strength of this group will increase within months of leaving ISB and make it even livelier.

Holi is just a few hours away and I wish all the readers of this blog a very colorful HOLI. The placements done with…Holi within ISB promises to be a great event.

NEGOTIATION SKILLS

A good negotiator is a great asset for any organization. As the world becomes smaller, where things are no longer restricted to one particular country, the role of negotiators is even more pronounced. A good negotiator not only gets great deals for his own party but also ensures that the other party gets out of the deal satisfied.

So how do such people think and behave? How do they develop their skills? Can good negotiation skills be learnt? I personally believe that such skills can be learnt with time and experience. Negotiation is in itself a huge area of research in the academic world. One way to learn the basic skills is to keep reading books dealing with such issues. Reflecting on past experience, trying to realize the mistakes, and assimilating the learnings from the mistakes are important. Developing cultural sensitivity and tolerance towards others are basic prerequisites of any good negotiator. A great negotiator, like a psychologist can successfully decipher out what the priorities of the other party are.

As we move ahead in life a big chunk of our success will depend on how good negotiators we are. Every day presents us practical lessons on negotiations. Learning from these small day to day experiences can be of great impact as we apply our learnings to more important issues.

(A suggestion to those who will be joining ISB – Negotiation Analysis is offered in ISB twice…in 7th term and in 8th term. Make sure you take one of these courses…will definitely be effective in learning some very useful tips in negotiations)

8TH TERM VISITED

Before I move ahead on placements, let me write something on the 8th term. This term is already a week old, yet it shows no impact on anyone. So it is going to be parties, celebration and preparations to close the final chapter of students07. The placement fever has completely evaporated. The Holi celebrations are just around the corner.

This term I have taken 4 courses – Behavioral finance, Business Law, Negotiation Analysis and Marketing Strategy… it is really difficult to open the course packs now. My immediate priority is to get my biological clock right. I have been used to sleep at 3 am and wake at 9 am since the span of last six months…trying hard to sleep by 12 and wake up at 6 am now. Need to leave ISB with normal living habits.

Graduation day details are already planned out to the minutest details. 7th April is the convocation. I will stay in ISB till 8th morning 6 am. We are supposed to hand over the keys to the ISB housekeeping by 8th afternoon. So that gives a week for the housekeeping to do the cosmetics works before the new batch arrives on 14th. Our school is just getting ready to say us good bye and welcome the class of 2008.

FIVE QUESTIONS

Here are some questions which will be there in the minds of the people who are about to join ISB. So let me try my part to provide my answers.

1. How important are grades in getting a job?
Well, this depends on what your aspirations are. If you are targeting the top 3 consultancies then you better come up with good grades. Other than that grades donot seem to matter much. Lateral roles in industry and finance are heavily dependent on your past work experience. However this doesnot mean that you should not study at all. What I can suggest is... live a good, normal, well balanced life. Concentrate on the learnings and do not kill yourself for grades. Invest the time for using the facilities of ISB.

2. What is the correlation between good grades and a high pay pack?
My answer should be zero. Baring a few selected consultancies no one looks for grade and the highest paymasters are not the consultancies. A good pay is rather a function of your work experience, your focus, extra efforts, negotiation skills etc.

3. Are low paying jobs inferior?
No way. Some of the hottest and biggest industry brands are not amongst the greatest pay masters, to begin with. However, once you stay a couple of years in such places, you tend to multiple your salary at a very fast rate. So donot just focus on the initial package, but also look into details like what the pay can be after a couple of years down the line.

4. How important are independent studies to crack great jobs?
If you are longing to crack a job in a particular field, I will strongly recommend to do some independent study in that area. It will become an excellent selling point during the interviews.

5. Is the process of “short listing” of CVs during placements a stochastic process?
Well, from the prospective of the students…yes. But from the prospective of recruiters…no. Let me give a particular example of a leading oil and energy company which visited the campus. The job was a dream role for people with oil and energy experience. However the people who were short-listed were people with IT and entrepreneurial experience. Thus from the viewpoint of students this turned out to be stochastic. But from the viewpoint of recruiter….why should they hire someone from oil background from an Indian campus…they can better hire from their own country. They should better hire people with IT background from India…that’s where India is strong at. So the complete hiring process is dependent on the “requirements” of a company and not what it is specialized in.

F-6 AFTER THE PLACEMENTS

Before I move ahead with other placement related stuff, let me congratulate all the members of the F-6. Just to remind, F-6 is my core term study group.

H will be moving to NY to begin with and will then move to Asia Pacific. She will be the brand manager of one of the hottest FMCG brands. Cheers… for the Network Queen

K, the senior IT guy cracked a big job in one of the leading IT consultancy firms. He will move to Pune and soon Mrs. K and Junior K will join him there. Awesome K...you got exactly the kind of life you desired.

S tried hard for all possible finance jobs, but finally landed up in one of the hottest marketing consultancies. I guess he is also moving to Pune. Great job S, wish you all the best.

A finally managed his career shift to finance and will return to Mumbai. Career shift into finance is very much possible and congratulations to A…the success should be sweeter especially after all the hard work.

V also cracked a great profile in IT business development and will be based in Delhi and US.

IN SHORT...F-6 ROCKED

INCENTIVE BASED COMPENSATION

In my last post, I mentioned about this system of compensation which the MBA people so lovingly call “Incentive Based Compensation” system. Not that this system was not prevalent earlier, but the respect for this system has increased since the last three or four years. And, as this system is picking up more and more respect, the pay packages of the MBA grads are soaring skies. A package of 10 L p.a. is considered peanuts today in the top MBA campuses of the country. The salary occasionally crossed the 10L margin just a few years back.

So what has changed over the last couple of years? One reason is that Indian economy is booming, but this cannot account for the whole picture. Over the last few years, Indian industry has undergone substantial changes in their management structures to keep in trend with the latest global practices. One of these changes was the implementation of the “Incentive Based Compensation” system. An important topic during our case studies and strategic performance management lectures, this concept rules the management pay structure today. Some of the basic features under such an compensation scheme are-

1. The compensation is divided in two parts – fixed and variable. The ratio of fixed and variable can change from company to company and from role to role. For instance it can be as large as 10 where most of your compensation is fixed, or it can be as small as 1/5 where you receive only a fifth of your stated package as fixed.

2. The variable part suggests the maximum package you can get depending on how much value you add to the organization, which is measured by your performance. In other words, this acts as an incentive to you to compete and excel to get the best out of you.

3. Now the question comes is how the variable part is treated. Again it varies from one company to other. In some companies your variable pay is directly proportional to your performance. For example, if you can manage the best possible results you get the maximum possible variable pay. If you manage to get half of the best possible results your receive half of that. And if don’t manage to do anything special you lose your variable pay. Some other companies follow a yes/no policy. If you manage to cross the target you get the variable pay else you don’t.

Now let me explain the above concepts using a pay pack of 20 L which is not very uncommon these days. Let’s say the fixed component is 12 L and the variable component is 8 L. This means the person will receive the 12L part as his regular pack. The rest 8 L depends on how good the individual is. Thus, such a system makes the compensations rise like anything, at the same time it provides incentives to the MBAs to get the best. This also acts well to discover the leaders within an organization. Thus next time you hear of those sky rocketing packages, the first question you got to ask is what the variable component is. It will give you an idea of how hard you need to work within the organization and how much of your compensation you will really carry home.

DOUBLE HUNDRED

When I started posting in this blog, I had never thought that the count of posts will touch the double hundred mark. Feeling great to post this as the 200th post of keystoimaginations. So many things have changed in the meantime. The roller coaster drive has already slowed down. The placement week is over. Anyone who wanted jobs was flooded with jobs. However, there are a handful of people who have very specialized requirements and are working with CAS to find the best fitment.

Pay packs in MBA schools look really huge....but how huge they really are. Is it wise to divide your per annum package by 12 and say that this number is your monthly package? What is incentive based package structure and why is this new system so prevalent today? And what role does this incentive based package structure play in making these packages really great? Look out in my next post for all such facts.

MY UNDERSTANDING OF IB IN ISB

Time and again, people have wanted to know how the scene of investment banking is in ISB. Well…to be frank I am not even remotely connected to investment banking…neither by profession nor by aspiration. However, I have been in close contact with people from investment banking aspirations. So let me write my understanding of investment banking in ISB.

The heavy pay checks of investment banking jobs make sure that a reasonable chunk of the population aspires for these roles. CAs, economics or mathematics graduates and engineers are mostly the people who crack these jobs, though there can be exceptions.

I can divide the investment banks into two kinds – “the most sought after ones” (mostly based in London, NY etc) and “the sought after ones” (located in Mumbai, Chennai etc.) The most sought after ones are the huge global brands while the second variety constitutes of regional or Indian companies. Some people have great work experience in finance (including investment banking, mergers acquisitions etc,) before joining ISB and these are the people who are likely to crack the “most sought after ones”. Others with finance background and engineers who want to go for career changes settle with the “sought after ones”.

Now if you are the kind who have already collected great experience in finance before coming to ISB, you are the right candidate for the most sought after investment banks in lateral roles.

If you don’t have the required finance experience, but have still fallen in love with the investment banking jobs, you need to give your best in learning the concepts of finance in great details to the level that you can crack the finance questions which the “sought after ones” ask in their interviews or other selection processes. Also you may do some kind of self study or independent study to learn the topic better.

THE THREE TREES

Let me cut copy a small story which SV sent to students07, during the beginning days of the placement week. Quite an inspiring story and I though it should have a place in my blog.

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."
Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."
Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."
After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.
At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.
When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one", and he cut it down.
When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.
Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time. Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.
Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

MY DAY

Finally I was offered a role which is relatively close to what I wanted to do. A mix of operation, finance and mid-management level strategy, this job is titled “Manager, Planning (International Division)”. Package is more than last year’s average… (I guess this year’s average might be too high to beat). Considering the fact that, this role was offered to me by a leading Indian conglomerate in diversified business, I guess it should be a pretty challenging …from hiring and forming my team… to completion and delivery of projects to international clients.

Now that, I am relatively free, I should try to put down my experience of placements in the next few mails…of course don’t expect the numbers….the placement cell of ISB has done all the hard work, so none other than ISB should come up with the official numbers.

I will try to picture out some of the salient features of my …and just my….experience. And the first and the most important tip to the students entering next batch is

“DONOT ACCEPT ANY JOB JUST TO GET OUT OF THE PRESSURE (remember the phrase “tolerance for ambiguity”)…TAKE YOUR TIME…SEARCH FOR THE RIGHT JOB…..DONOT COMPROMISE WITH THE VALUE YOU THINK YOU ARE WORTH.

ROLE OF SPOUSES

The role of spouses can never be underestimated in ISB. In the earlier days of ISB, every festival and family social activities were more or less handled by the spouses. During the placement time, the role of spouses in the decision making process of their husbands is even more evident. Career of spouses and the location of jobs are as critical a choice as the salary structure. Especially families where both the spouses are from IT can easily integrate their personal and professional life by their choice of companies.

BATTLING THE MIND

It is so easy to go attend an interview and get an offer. Companies are offering left, right and center. It is so difficult to battle the mind reminding the fact that it is not wise to go and accept any offer.

It is so easy to pack the bags and leave for home once you get an offer. It is so difficult to stand at the window and see people moving out with their luggage.

It is so easy to come back after accepting an offer and keep on cribbing that “this is not the offer which I wanted”. It is so difficult not to compromise on the desires of heart.

It is so easy to make a dull face even after getting an offer. It is so difficult to have a charming smile even without an offer.

...But the road to real success it not easy...it has to be difficult. And in the process of walking this difficult path, one learns some of the most valuable lessons in life.

THE DAY OF NM AND SC

NM and SC made it through their dream roles. SC got an offer from an investment bank and NM from a leading conglomerate. (For those who are not yet aware of NM and SC are, just to reiterate that they are my quad mates). Congratulations NM and SC…you deserve your bit of success.

SC never compromised with his dream of crafting a career in investment banking and finally his dreams came true. NM also got the role for which he is the best fit. And the good thing is that they are moving to Mumbai.

Placements are moving at the rocking best…..

DAY ONE OF PLACEMENTS

Day one and Day zero offers, mostly from the consultancies, investment banking and some leading FMCGs have started flowing in…The pending international offers are also being declared today. Some people are just gearing up for the champagne, while others are trying to get their rhythm back to face the rest of the week. The campus is a vibrant and emotional mix of success and hope.

As a person with a slightly different set of ambitions, I was a silent spectator to the day one happenings. Felt nice to congratulate the people who got through. Felt slightly awkward to meet those people who worked hard from the very beginning of the year but couldn’t make it through the day one interviews. I am sure these people are made for bigger things.

A few other consultancies, IT jobs and other industry jobs will begin to flow in from tomorrow. The excitement is only likely to increase with time. It is also the time where one learns the practical ability to take risks in life. Does a person have the ability to say no to a company and wait for the role which he aspired for…or will be accept any offer to get out of the pressure?

LOOKING BACK...

Before I move ahead, into the most important week of ISB, let me take a u-turn and look back at the courses which I studied during the 6th and 7th term. By 7th term, I have already completed my specialization in Finance and Strategy, thanks to my 5th term when I managed to complete 4 finance courses.

In the 6th term, I had Investing in Private Equity, Strategic Performance Management, Strategy implementation and Managerial Decision Making. A strong recommendation from my side to those who will be ISB next year – don’t miss the course Managerial Decision Making. If you are in the ISB, and you have not taken this course, you got to miss something really serious. Mostly dealing with the concepts of process, meta knowledge and framing, this course is likely to redefine the way you think.

In the 7th term I had International Finance, Group Dynamics and Organizational Politics and Change Management. Professor Kenwyn Smith who was the instructor of the Group Dynamics is one of the most influential persons I have ever met. Most of the professors always start the lectures by giving their interpretation of what “value” is. After Kenwyn completed his series of lectures, I feel I can convince myself and get a closer answer to this elusive concept of “value creation”.

8th term will start from 27th of February, but before that is this long gap. For some people, it is amongst the most frustrating moments of life, for others it is the period of self discovery, for some it is the time for peer discovery, and for others this period is just a collection of ten simple days which are in no way distinct from other days.

THE LUCKY BOULDERS

Once you enter the ISB campus, there are many things that are likely to catch your attention. However certain things that possess a distinctive charm are the boulders and the huge rocks that are present inside the campus. For a tourist, who visits ISB, these boulders serve as a scene of momentary beauty. But for someone who has stayed in the campus as a student for a year, these are more than just boulders.

Each boulder is marked by its own dignified and mystic appearance, relaxing majestically as though it has life. Some of these boulders are even attached with a symbol of good luck. Here is a snap of one such boulder.

TOLERANCE FOR AMBIGUITY

“Tolerance for ambiguity”….We were used to hear this term quite often during the classes of entrepreneurship during the third term.The phrase basically suggests that a person who can live under highly unpredictable and ambiguous situation comfortably is an ideal candidate for entrepreneurship. Later lessons made me believe that “tolerance for ambiguity” is equally important in practically every aspect of management.

But listening and appreciating such phrases is just one side of the coin….experiencing this is another. When the campus talks nothing but placements, it is real easy to succumb to the peer pressure. The average level of “tolerance for ambiguity” for the complete batch is at an all time low. It might not be easy for somebody to self discover and wait for the right job. But then….the interesting thing is that one side of the management education teaches us such wonderful phrases and at the same time they create the ambience where people who undergo management education tend to lose the ability to use these skills during real life periods of ambiguity.

Sometimes, I do feel that there exists a kind of negative correlation between formal education and risk taking abilities. We tend to speak the jargons quite well…can formulate a structured approach to any problem in the world….can work much harder than what we thought we could….but perhaps it is this structured way of leading life that makes us compromise on our levels of “tolerance for ambiguity”.

WARREN BUFFET SPEAKS

There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.

You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong.

In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.

Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.

It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.

The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.

I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.

Price is what you pay, value is what you get.

I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE CORPORATE WARRIORS

In the complicated world of corporate dynamics, “Finance” is the language which the corporate warriors use to win over enemies and protect themselves from stronger adversaries. Finance is also the language which often dictates the strategy of an organization and hence its direction. “Finance” is abundant of such weapons which are used extensively in both defending and attacking. It is sometimes surprising to realize how such weapons can be strategically used to define the future of an organization. Books have been written on this issue and movies have been screened.
Just think of phrases like friendly takeovers, hostile takeovers, reverse takeovers, shark repellent, white knight, black knight, gray knight, leveraged recapitalization, white square, poison pill, golden parachute, golden handshake, winner’s curse etc…..and we can get an idea of the strategic games that follows the rule of finance.
Each of these phrases is a method employed by an organization either to attack another organization or to defend itself from another organization.

RECOURCE, CAPABILITY, ENERGY AND FOCUS

“Resource” and “capability” are two words which are used very closely in the MBA lingo. Mostly these are used in the broader context of an organization, group or a firm. But I feel there is no harm if these two words can be extended to the individual level as well. Every individual has access to his share of resources and at the same time he has to rely on his capabilities to convert his access to resources into something valuable.

To understand this process of conversion we need to look into two more complementary words that are again treated with high respect…. these words being “energy” and “focus”. If we try to instill these two characteristics in an individual then we can identify four different categories.

1. High energy and high focus – amazing individuals.....will succeed in whatever they do.
2. High energy and low focus – these people will spend a lot of efforts and energy trying to put their hands into every basket…..will achieve something or other at the end….though the clarity factor will be missing
3. Low energy and high focus – these people have a decent idea of their meta knowledge and with the high focus they tend to like what they do even though their progress can be restricted due to the lack of energy.
4. Low energy and low focus – God bless this category

In a place like ISB, especially when the atmosphere is so hot…I can divide the group of individuals mostly into Group 2 ……followed by Group 1….and then by Group 3. Good that I am yet to meet an individual in ISB who falls in the fourth group.

INVISIBLE DYNAMICS

Some movies are complex and some scenes in such movies are even more complex….it is so difficult to understand the underlying unfathomable depth of emotions and every time such scenes walk in the memory lane, it makes me think hard. Though these are just movies…I am sure they are the reflections of the real life and this adds to the invisible turmoil.

What would Guido have in his mind when he winked at his son and paraded away, knowing well enough that his son would not see him again?
(From the closing moments of the movie “Life is Beautiful”)

What kind of mental turmoil did Scarlet’O’ Hara face everytime she met Rhet Butler?
(From the movie “Gone with the wind”)

What would have been in the mind of Rose when Jack was capturing her in the brush….what role the “heart of the ocean” would have played in defining her thoughts?
(From the movie “Titanic”)

What could have inspired Benjamin Martin to attack a complete troop with the help of his two little kids and how would he have felt after destroying the enemy?
(From the movie “The Patriot”)

What could have led Pelagia to slowly enter into the life of Captain Corelli?
(From the movie “Captain’s Corelli’s Mandolin”)

......Too complex to have an answer

ONE YEAR OLD

Its 31st Jan today....so that completes the first year of "keystoimaginations" . Many many happy returns of the day...my dear blog...you are indeed an important part of my life in ISB.

Tata finally won over the Corus bid and thats is just one of the indications that Indian firms will have a leading role to play in the global business. And thats good news for our bschools also.
Job postings are maintaining a healthy positive slope. Some of the visible trends, from the early ppts and postings are

1. Each Company (on an average) is offering a wide range of roles. That sugests that number of candidates each company is likely to choose can turn out to be a decent number.

2. The gap between the salary structures of consultancy firms and non-consultancy firms (industry) has narrowed down, and at times the difference is negative, with industry offering very lucrative roles.

3. Indian companies are offering extremely demanding and lucrative roles.

4. Salary paypacks are normally sufficiently higher that last years average (with occassional outliers).

5. Indian companies are offering global roles.

6. Media, real estate and pharma sectors appear pretty hot with quite a number of companies and high paypacks.

THE INTERNAL SPHERE AND THE EXTERNAL SPHERE

Changing jobs frequently has been the present day trend amongst the young professionals. But is it just a fashion activity or is there any real career aspiration to regularly switching jobs…or is it done just to satisfy personal egos…..I really donot know. But I have always carried a negative image of this “regular job switching” activity.

I believe that every organization can be visualized as two concentric spheres. There are two kind of persons who work for any organization….one group lies within the internal sphere (internal region) and the other group lies between the interior sphere and the external sphere (external region). People who have stayed with an organization for some time find themselves within the internal region. This region is fairly stable and doesn’t see many changes. However, the exterior region changes frequently. People enter and move out of this region frequently. For an average organization, the external region is larger than the internal region.

Now, it is nothing but natural that most of the important activities happening within the organization will be decided by the people inside the internal region. The reason being the people in this region have spent sufficient time understanding the organization better. People in the external region can gain entry into this internal region only after gaining the trust and the loyalty of those who are present in the internal region.

In contrast, people who are in the exterior region of one organization can move into another organization. But they can only move into the external region of another company, from where it follows the similar route to enter the internal region.

However, it doesn’t mean that one should not look for changes. Positive changes always add a lot of value to the ones career and if the change can take directly to the internal sphere….then its worth all the efforts.

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY

"Wish a very happy Republic Day to the readers of this blog".


Not many people are lucky to live in a republic and let me congratulate all Indians for being a part of this great Republic.

ON LIGHTER VEINS...

It is such a great feeling to sit down and keep chatting about some of the funniest incidents that happened over the period of last one year or so. This is exactly what we (me and my quadmates) have been doing over the last few hours. It is such a rare occassion to have all the four people together at the same time in the quad...

We talked about so many things. It began with the excitement of joining the professional life once again. But soon, the complete discussion shifted to complete lighter veins where each one of us were trying to recollect some of the funniest incidents that have occured over the last one year.

SC recollected how he entered a girls quad at 3:00 clock in the morning (ofcourse to do assignments), with the subsequent happenings (which has to maintained within wraps)....NA informed us a top class secret when he revealed a secret which he had not disclosed to anyone yet. It so happens that NA is amongst the most studious persons in the campus and utilizes most of the time in the LRC. One night he studied so hard that he forgot his quad and entered the ladies quad which is exactly opposite to our quad....at around 2 in the night . Only when he opened the fridge, he realised that we never keep juices, ice cream...and all such sweet things in our fridge. Suddenly he noticed the change in orientation of the quad and only then it struck to him that he was in the wrong quad.... I am sure NA didnot sleep the whole night.

NA also reminded how pissed off I was with him, when he so gracefully allowed the wrong person to enter our quad at the wrong time (let me not disclose anything about the wrong person and the wrong time)

NM has still not learned how to hold the cigarette.....after all, who is the teacher?

We laughed and laughed and laughed....didnot feel like going back to sleep.

DIFFERENT PATHS

One distinctive advantage of being at a bschool is to understand the different routes that define different aspirations of the people. For instance let me put down the myriad ranges of choices that people who are about to complete a b-school might be considering.

Choice 1 : Join industry...be a part of the organisation....stay within the company.....build the trust.... internal as well as external reputation.... and grow within the company to senior roles.

Choice 2 : Join consultancy...learn about various industries....after a few years either shift to the industry in fairly senior roles after discovering the best fit or move into senior consultancy roles.

Choice 3 : Join a start up or start something new....give your best and make sure the venture meets the desired success....after a few years either sell off your company and move for another venture or to industry in big roles or stay within your start-up which is no more a start-up

Choice 4 : Join investment banking....kill yourself during the first decade of your career....make enough money to enjoy a vacation the rest of your life.... quit investment banking to join the industry

Choice 5 : Join a sick company....make a turn around....attract attention....either be a turn around specialist or make sure the company never return to its sick ways by leading the company.

Choice 6 : Move ahead in academics....get your Phd. done....join as a professor in a leading US university....work hard and get your reputation built....get industry touch in the research and become a consultant to various companies, apart from enjoying the luxuries of a prof.

7TH TERM - THE PERIOD OF PPTS AND SPAMS

On an average, 4 PPTs a day and 20 spam mails per hour....this has been the trademark of the 7th term. And the spam mails are "requests" for ppt swaps. Considering the fact that, there are multiple ppts at the same time, certain students are assigned to attend the ppts, apart from those who are interested in a particular ppt and hence the reason for the swaps

2007 looks simply awesome....economy is booming in literally every aspect of the industry and hence placements in all B-Schools all over the country is likely to break all records and ISB looks no exception. Another one month....and things will look so different within the campus.

Indian companies are growing at an amazing pace and by all expectations this is likely to be reflected during the placements. New sectors like retail holds a lot of promise....and traditional sectors like healthcare, IT, consultancy and diversified industries are performing better than ever before.

The success of management institutes in a country is so closely tied with the success of the local industries and this is so much evident in the Indian context as well.

CONSULTANCY AND ACADEMICS

The age old phenomenon repeated once again when the consultant shortlists were declared. Mostly the people short listed in the consultancy are the deans-listers and the non deans-listers who are selected have some terrific spikes.

There have been often debates on why these consultancies normally prefer people with great academic background. According to me, the people with good academic backgrounds fit naturally into the kind of the work expected to be done in the consultancies. The process of building a good CGPA demands patience and diligent efforts, and the nature of consultant job is very similar to this process. Moreover, consultancy is the only place where all the theories learned at a b-school will find ready use. So there is every reason why the consultancies will prefer a person who has worked hard, given enough time to learn the theoretical stuff of the b-school curriculum.

However having said this, I must stress that consultancy is not everyone’s cup of tea. One of the first decisions that one has to make in a b-school is to discover the difference between industry and consultancy. Industry and consultancy are two completely different directions and this is more evident for people who are in the early phases of management career.

THE WORLD INSIDE AND THE WORLD OUTSIDE

At times I feel that I am staying in two completely different worlds - the world inside ISB and the world outside ISB. The world inside ISB is marked by a mirage of ambitions, aspirations, success and at times dejection. The world outside is the reality....so many things are happening in the outside world.....certain things adding to the beauty of the world and others exposing the darkest fears that human mind can ever think of. And the world inside is so different from the world outside. While "reality" is something that guides the outside world...an obsession towards "pay package" guides the inside world.

Initially, I expected the average maturity level within ISB to be more than that of the outside world...but I really wonder if it is, in reality. I have seen people getting dejected on something as trivial as not getting a shortlist in a company. They feel as if they have lost something seriously important in their lives. This myopic philosophy towards life can really hamper the process towards the objective that management education is likely to provide. People identify their prime aspiration with recovering back the 15 lakhs and if they are not able to secure a package of more than 15 lakhs, then their objective of spending a year doing MBA is not fulfilled. An average person in ISB is no doubt exceptionally talented and brilliant as far as academics is considered...and it would have been great if the maturity level were on par with the academic brilliance. IQ is important....but even more important is EQ. Pay package is important...and that is one reason all of us are here...but it is not the only reason...And if the obsession of an individual towards the pay package is at the cost of more important takeaways...I can only pity the individual....


(The usage of the word "average" is important)

"FIRST TIMERS" IN PRIVATE EQUITY

One of the striking aspects of this years placement is the entry of numerous private equity firms for the first time. Normally private equity firms donot employ from Indian business schools, but this jinx is likely to be broken this year, with private equity firms getting aware of the Indian talent. Most of these firms are relatively young and by their very nature, are small, as far as head count is considered. But again, by their very nature, these firms are amongst the most dynamic ones....Quite a good oppurtunity for people from finance background to move into this elusive sector.

THE MAGIC OF SHORTLISTS

The number of companies has been rising with every passing day....shortlists are being announced quite frequently...Every shortlist leaves some people happy and some others confused.

Till now it is not clear which criteria companies choose in their shortlist procedures. But from what I feel companies value the past work experience and the fitment issue the most. At the same time it has been noted that companies at times choose people from a strikingly different background. For instance a real estate company choosing some one from shipping, or an IT company choosing some one from the iron and steel background... Reason is not clear for this. Looks like.... companies value diversity a lot during their selection process.

There are situations when people with great CGPA donot get shortlisted and sometimes it has been disturbing for these people. But I am sure that the consultancy biggies will not disappoint the high CG people.

The fact that ISB is modelled for people with atleast 2 ( may be 3) years of work-ex is getting more and more evident as quite a number of hot-shot recruiters are looking for people with a minimum number of work experience which normally varies between 2 to 5 years. But, there are some companies who offer only entry level roles as a matter of policy and this is a consolation for people with less that two years of work ex.

The interesting thing is that nothing can be predicted now. The seemingly most admired person in the campus may not even get a shortlist for sometime... while a seemingly very ordinary person can crack a fortune....

FROM THE VOICE OF AN EXCHANGE STUDENT

Here is an excerpt from a beautiful parting mail that MS (exchange student from IESE, Spain) wrote as he returns back to IESE)

"It is time for me to go back and continue building my nest but not without couple of "straws" taken from ISB that will be a part of my entire life. It has indeed been a wonderful time at ISB and I did not know that time would pass so fast. Had I known, perhaps, I would have utilised it with couple of more coffee sessions (or is that a luxury here, with all those assignments)

What is the take away from ISB: I learnt that I can work harder than I thought I could.
What will I miss in barcelona: ISB friends plus...the FOOD and the TV; YES suprising, I had time to watch TV too"

BREAK TIME

It’s the term break now….that separates the Term 6 from the Term 7. With numerous take home exams and projects, the official Term 6 is likely to extend deep into Term 7.

Let me take this day off from the MBA schedule and just relax. I cannot think of any particular topic, on which I can write today….so let my fingers decide the content of this post. Let me scribble down whatever I feel like.

ISB sounds very silent today…with the occasional bursts of laughter of the little kids who are playing in the lawns. Some of the babies who could hardly do anything except lying on their mothers’ arms are now having a great time…screaming and running all around.

Since the last couple of days, there have been a number of adieu mails from those ISB students who are leaving for their exchange studies. So, their tenure in ISB comes to an end….may be some of them will be back in the placement seasons. Good luck to all these people who are already on the other side of the globe.

It is also the time for the decision of the ISB torch bearers’ awards. These awards are given to those people who have invested effective efforts into enhancing the ISB brand. Some people have done simply great. New clubs (especially the media and the real estate clubs)…the net impact club….and all other professional club leaders ...the famous ISB Radio team….all those winners who had the time and energy to win inter b school competitions….the potential list is really long.

The ISB radio is a great success story in ISB. All the roles within the team are played by the students of the ISB…..including the RJs…..a real entertainer….and a relaxation pill.

What else…cannot recollect anything more now….will be back with more substantial posts soon.

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

Finally..my "Six- Point new year resolution list" is ready-

1) Enhance German and French language skills to reach the "working level".

2) Spend more time in gym....at the expense of orkutting.

3) Search all the core term study materials and try to revise them.

4) Try to be regular with blogging.

5) Expand industry related knowledge....in shipping...iron and steel....construction related industries.

6) Read atleast one book per month apart from regular study materials.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

"As we are all set to board “Year Number 2007”, I wish all the readers of this blog a beautiful, safe and successful voyage of 365 sweet days".

People have different styles of celebrating the new year.

For instance, one of my quadmates has been passing long kisses to his special someone on the phone for the last 15 minutes. God knows when he will stop.

Yet another quadie has slept long back only to be waken up for a minute to realise that it is already new years eve.

The third quadie is still missing....most likely in the library...the poor chap has an exam tomorrow...

Some people outside are shouting at the top of their voices and others are interested to let know the world what great singers they are....

MY TRIBUTE TO THE "JAY"S

Certain lessons in life are learnt not by solving numericals....not by doing assignments....but by listening to some extraordinary speakers who can pass on their thoughts to you in a manner that your complete thought process gets modified. After attending the lectures of Jay (Prof. Joseph Russo in Managerial Decision Making) and Jay (Prof. Jay Anand in Strategy implementation), I have started loving strategy more than ever.

Some students say strategy is "no substance", but I feel the lessons learnt in such courses, if properly imbibed are much more valuable for a successful manager than any other course. And when strategy topics are instructed by orators like the "JAY"s, you just cannot afford to miss it.

As Jay (Prof. Anand) puts it

"Undergraduate students are more concerned with grades. Post graduate MBA students with no work experience are more concerned about getting the job. Experienced people who attend the lectures after work ex are concerned about how to implement changes within organization and create a better environment."

A person who has spent a few years in the corporate world is much more likely to appreciate the subtlety of these strategy subjects than somebody who has not experienced substantial work experience.

My tribute to such great teachers...

AN EARLY DEPARTURE NOTE

I don’t like to read other people’s letters, but some how I could not raise my eyes from the beautiful lines that my neighbor in the strategy class was writing. It was a colorful departure note she was writing for one of her friends who will leaving to Haas for her exchange studies. Such exchange studies last for quite some time and by the time the students return to ISB, the regular batch must have left the campus long back.

I could feel a kind of mixed feeling….happy because I will back to work life again…and will out of the MBA grilling….but then a moment later…I could realize how much life will change after we get out of ISB….just two more terms….and we will be out to face the real life…dispersed in different places…away from all the familiar faces.

Sorry S… for reading what you wrote…

SOLSTICE

The solstice was concluded today...It was great to see alums of all batches till date. The alum reunion was not without advices. The seemingly wiser people did advice the class of 2007 with numerous placement related wisdom. Some people advised to take placements lightly...some others advised to go for the kill. And some others advised to value the real assets, one is likely to take out of ISB.

Two lovely parties were hosted by the alums...with typical ISB flavor. It is really nice to see the emotional attachment that our alums share with our institute.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION IN ISB

Time for the Christmas Carol








Santa with the ISB kids

The Christmas tree of SV-1

THREE UNIQUE B-PLANS

Entrepreneurship is always high in the radars of ISB and as a measure of the reflection, the business plan awards were recently given to three very unique business plans from the class of 2007.

1.The First Prize went to a product titled ‘Onbyx’, which enables users to receive and respond to email on their mobile phones in a more convenient way than what is currently available.

2.The second prize went to an idea called ‘Swacch Jaldhara’. The plan had conceptualised an efficient water purification method by using liquid chlorine. The team has further developed the technology to produce chlorine in a highly cost effective manner.

3.The third prize winning business model was “Media on Wheels’.This plan aims to tap into the Rs 2000 crore annual rural advertisement and promotion budget of product and service companies by using innovative content and the latest technology tailored to meet rural needs.

Kudos to all the entrepreneurs in making.

A DAY IN KARIMNAGAR

Often the MBA classroom lectures deal with the same common theme - the "process of value creation". Today was a day when I could feel a very different system of value creation...

N, R and myself had a trip to a place called Karim Nagar which is around 3 hours drive from Hyderabad.

We met some microfinance institutes and various self help groups, who seem to have benefited from the presence of these micro finance institutes. On the surface, the concepts of micro finance look so simple, yet they are such great discoveries....or shall I say inventions...the complete system of group lending and micro credit.

So many poor, uneducated people have benefited from this system…and yet there exists tremendous scope to create wealth in this process…thus adding value to all the stake holders involved. These so called poor and uneducated people even possess the wisdom to humble the so called more educated people.

One of my friends kept on questioning the methodology followed by the micro finance institutes in India…..and why our success rate is not as noticeable as that in Bangladesh….blah blah… and kept on pestering the fact that India should replicate exactly the same model as that followed in Bangladesh.
I was really amazed when one of the persons from these groups responded back in broken English “Saab…This India….Bangladesh different country…..not possible do same in India…their government different”. This person seems to have better outlook than MBA students from one of the most sought after schools of the country… Again... made me think the correlation that MBA education shares with the very basic common sense. Sometimes in the process of learning complex jargons and devising structural thinking, we just forget this common sense, which often is the most important ingredient towards developing a sensible solution.

I don’t have great passion for micro finance, yet I realize that there is something very powerful within this concept.

CLASS OF 2008 - R1

Exactly a year back, I had the same feeling, when the R1 results were out...seems like yesterday. It is so difficult to believe that one year has passed after that...and this one year has been like a dream...and the closer I come to the fact that we will be leaving ISB soon, the more I appreciate this fact. The R-1 results for the Class of 2008 are out and I wish all the admits a huge congrats. Having said that, I will suggest them to get the best out of life during this period as it will be difficult to expect such a period in life again.

For those who were slighly unlucky on a particular day....not to worry at all....keep the spirit on and soon you can realise that "whatever happens, happens for the good".

THE "M-FACTOR"

The perceived M-Factor in the campus has left the consulting wannabes drooling. The big M posted its job a day back. The new M (first timer in ISB) is even more interesting with lot of speculations. Lots of case study booklets, interview preparation guides, case consolidations have been floating in the mail box since the last couple of days.

The first round of shortlists of G and a few other companies were announced today and people are again back into company specific studies.

The appeal of consultancies in b-schools is simply awesome. Quite a bit a glamour is associated with consultancy based jobs, apart from the remuneration based reasons. Early trends suggest that consultancy based jobs will be real hot show this year too, with some new recruiters in the scene.

FRAME AND LUCK

Lately, in one of the classes I have been exposed to this concept called "Framing". In the layman's language, framing is nothing but the mental image given to a practical situation. Different frames provide different perspectives to the same situation. For instance, the frame which a operation person uses to view a problem is vastly different from that used by a marketing professional. This is the reason behind clashes in the two or more viewpoints and smart people know how to deal with such issues.

There is one particular issue, which has confused me. And the issue under debate is "Does luck plays an important role in the success of a person or a venture".

Well, I remember one of the professors of entrepreneurship was very much against the concept of luck. According to him, luck is a concept which is used at hindsight while tracing the career path of a successful person. But somehow, I couldnot agree with him. He looks things from his frame.

There are so many achievements, which are like jackpots. There are so many cases when equally talented people miss out what others so easily get. They follow the same trajectory, but somehow land up in different places. From my frame of understanding, luck does play a fairly important role in our life.

Two different frames...a complicated question...and a confused mind.

MORE STORIES

1. Our Honorable Prime Minister advised us "Think global, act local".

2. My worst ever performance in any form of exams (and that includes the complete span of my academic career) , as marks of one of the courses of the last term was revealed... was nothing but expected....that concludes how poor I am when it comes to work with numbers ...completely out of touch with numbers for ages now.

3. Dada scored one of the most important innings of his career and perhaps things will look brighter for Indian cricket. What a fighter...this guy is?

4. Term- 6 is almost half way through and it will get over on the New Years day. No midterms for me this time.

5. Placement PPTs are in the process of getting scheduled one after another.

6. Some exchange students have already left and some others are likely to join. Exchange students are so much a part of ISB these days.

EVENTS AFTER EVENTS

One event after another….the string of the sophisticated events is just mind boggling. It started with the ILS and the 5-Year Celebrations. ISB has completed 5 years and I doubt if any academic institute has ever achieved this kind of stature within the first five years of the inception. And the Dean says that the first five years were just the beginning….the real growth is likely to happen from now….when ISB enters the second phase. With Global Logistics Summit and Entrepreneurship summit lined up, things are set to be real hot in the campus. The Honorable Prime Minister of India will be in the campus early in the day tomorrow and will inaugurate the Global Logistics Summit. Many leading industrialists and educationists from all over the globe will be there in the campus for the next couple of days to share their expertise in their respective fields.

The campus looks entirely different. There are more security officers and police officials on the roads than students. Atrium is already closed and no one is allowed to enter except a very privileged few. Classes will be suspended tomorrow morning and the dining hall is temporarily shifted to the recreation center. Our very own ISB will no longer be ours for the next couple of days. Yet, it is such a great feeling to see all these great things happening.

RESUME WRITING - LEARNINGS

Often, in our group meetings, we face varied opinions. Five different people have five different ways to solve the same problem and yet none of them could be wrong. Each of these people sees the same problem from different frames, and thus unravels different aspects of the problem. After appreciating this whole concept in many of the projects which we did in groups, I feel the importance of framing, and understand the fact that, consulting different people from diversified background is more pronounced when it comes to resume reviews.

Every person who does a sincere review of your resume is likely to contribute to the betterment your resume. For instance, when my resume was reviewed by one of my batch mates from the iron and steel industry, I realized that I need to better my resume in certain aspects. Similarly, when another batch mate, this time from information technology reviewed my resume, I got to know of facts which I myself could never have thought of. Now that I have mentioned about resume, let me pen down my experience on resume making. I admit that I am at a very beginning stage of the learning curve, however no harm in putting down my understanding till date.

(1) The first thing which I learned recently is the fact that your resume is NOT the description of your job profile. It is rather based on what skills you learned during your job, and how you used those hard learned skills to differentiate yourself from others who share the same job profile. In simple MBA lingo, your resume should be able to reflect the value you added to your organization.

(2) Secondly, the fitment of the mentioned skills with the next stage of your aspiration should shine brightly from your resume.

(3) Always indicate measurable indications. Without measurable indications, things look incomplete. If you are an engineer, you should provide simple, understandable numbers so that the reviewer can estimate how good an engineer you are. The idea is that these numbers should describe how effectively you managed your team or how quickly you completed your project etc.

(4) Simplicity is again the key. As far as practicable, avoid complicated jargons. A person from a different industry should be able to understand and appreciate what is mentioned in your resume. In case you need to mention complicated research topics, which you think your resume cannot do without, then make sure to write a line which will help the reviewer to understand the importance.

(5) As far as practicable, stick to the principle of “one page” resume. Most organizations consider this sacrosanct.

(6) Some strong hobbies and personality traits like knowledge of international languages, or great social service etc. should always be mentioned. However, NEVER misrepresent anything.

(7) Know your resume inside out. Any question targeted to the resumes should be answered back in the most convincing manner.

(8) More the number of people who review your resume, the better it is.

That’s all what I can write now. More resume writing tips as I move ahead in the learning curve.