INTERESTING JARGONS

One interesting aspect of an MBA curriculum is giving complicated names and jargons to the common stuff and making these concepts look important. And as these seemingly simple concepts get new names they tend to develop very precise connotation that makes the phrase or the jargon very powerful. Recently, I have been regulary coming across a few such jargons, which I feel should find a mention in this post.

(1) Agency problem

(2) Adverse selection

(3) Moral hazard

(4) Assortative matching

(5) Information asymmetric

(6) Limited liability

(7) Social capital

These are some of the jargons, which I have started to admire and appreciate as they possess great power in explaining a varied range of complex issues. These phrases can be traced in numerous MBA courses, microfinance in particular.

TWENTY SIX YEARS OF THE JOURNEY OVER

One more birthday over.....one more year of life passed away....without a notice.....
Some great moments.....some great experiences.....and certainly great learnings.....

Good bye Year Number 26....You will always be missed for the simple reason that you were lucky to spend more than half of your tenure in this great place called ISB.

COOPERATION IN COMPETITION

The latest buzz words in the campus are DB and GS...YES...two of the hottest brands that the ISB finance whiz kids are targeting at. CV preparation....interview preparation....attending the PPTs....reading stuff much beyond the definition of the formal syllabus....networking....some people have really worked hard and I hope they make it into these coveted names

The formal placement is still more than three months to go...Just some international placements are scheduled this term....Yet the change in the atmosphere is so perceivable.... Focus groups are busy with their respective ambitions. Aspirations have given way to ambitions...and...close ties have taken the shape of competition....This game is so much a part of life.Even the best of friends have to be competitors some day...and the MBA education lays the formal path for this.

I do have a feeling that the next 4 terms in ISB is going to be very different as compared to the first four terms. Competition will not be limited to the CGPA. In spite of all this, people are ready to help each other with CV preparations, mock interviews and all such things...Perhaps this is the best part of the system...."cooperation in competition".

EVAPORATION OF CONFUSIONS

Life, at times, proceeds through confusions, irrespective of how concrete you are as regards to your future careers and options. As the bidding time draws towards an end, I can feel all the confusions that evolved out of nothing, are slowly beginning to evaporate.

In the beginning of the last term, I was planning to specialize in Finance and Operations. (ISB allows the option of dual specializations). Confusions started with the introduction of a new and appealing area called “Leadership and Strategy”. “Strategy” is a powerful and glamorous sounding word and such was the temptation to specialize in this area that I decided to drop Operations. So mostly the courses I chose shall have a strong affinity to Finance and Strategy…and hopefully this decision will help me move in the direction I have always wanted to.

As for Term-5, I have decided to make my life slightly more hectic, so that I can enjoy better times towards the close of the ISB tenure. Four finance courses, one strategy course and one special lecture on Indian Macro finance….that’s the subjects I will be dealing with, this term.

The four finance courses are Advanced Corporate Finance, Financial Econometrics, Real Estate Property Finance and Microfinance. The strategy course is based on “alliances” and deals with the wonderful or rather powerful concepts driving the creation of successful alliances. The special course on Indian macro finance is lectured by none other than the master himself…..Dr. C. Rangarajan.

INSIDE THE DARKNESS OF THE OCEAN

Inside the shallow waters of the Kea channel, she is sleeping a peaceful sleep today. She was supposed to be more glamorous than her elder sibling; however destiny had something else stored for her. She had lost her elder sister when she was not even ready to face the severity of the oceans. And her well wishers had decided to make her stronger and safer. She was all set to be the most glamorous thing to have touched the human eye. But the world war followed and the young lady decided to wear the look of a nurse; instead of following the the young, bubbling senorita-look of her sister. Same shape, same figure, same raw beauty...she looked so much like her elder sister…yet she was so different. No Picasso paintings…no rich architectural splendors within…no rich tourists….no magnificent dining halls…..no ball rooms… only nurses and patients and the very basic amenities for her safe survival. But fate decided to play the same unfortunate game with her. She did not survive long enough. Her enemies accused her of transporting military supplies and torpedoed her on her sixth voyage, while she was on route to Mudros, on the Greek island of Lemnos to pick up the allied casualties. The majority of those who died were killed when their lifeboats were sucked under by the still-turning propeller as the stern started to rise out of the sea.
That’s the story of the unsung younger sister of the ill-fated transatlantic super liner TITANIC of the White Star Line…..and her name was BRITANNIC. Not many people know that both TITANIC and BRITANNIC had an elder sister named OLYMPIC who lived a full life of almost 25 long years with eventful roles during the first world war.

FROM THE VOICE OF AYN RAND

(1) The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.

(2) So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked what is the root of all money?

(3) It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings.

(4) Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master.

(5) Evil requires the sanction of the victim.

(6) I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

(7) God... a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive.

(8) Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.

(9) A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.

(10) The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.

BACK AT HOME

It is so nice to be back at home after 6 months….Nice to wake up half-asleep and browse the net in the same drowsy manner which I used to do before I joined ISB….Nice, to begin with the orkut instead of the campus mail…..Nice to begin the day with some funny orkut scraps instead of some mail which reminded that the deadlines of the three assignments are on the same day.

“The city of Temples” looks slightly different. With huge foreign investments all set to enter the state of Orissa, Bhubaneswar is beginning to develop that new look. It was so difficult to imagine a pub when I used to do my schooling and +2 here (of course, it was not a great idea to imagine about pubs at that age), but with so many software companies and star hotels around, the glamour factor in the city has received a boost. Most likely in another couple of years, scores of multinationals will have their offices here.

Time is flying and in a couple of days I got to travel back to ISB. Oops….the Term-4 reflections has not progressed in the way, I expected, but I promise to cover them all once I get back to ISB.

TERM - 4 REFLECTIONS - A RESOLUTION

The campus which was unusually busy until yesterday is very silent now….The long term break (9 days instead of the traditional 5) has tempted many students (including me) to take a long vacation. The more studious ones and the people who are tempted to participate in business school competitions are busy with their business plans and case study preparations.

As for the Term- 4 reflections, let me share a personal mission which I set during this term. ISB is one of those Indian B-Schools that stresses heavily on developing softer aspects of management. Leadership development programs and numerous workshops are quite regular within the campus. Consultants from organizations like Mckinsey are kind enough to spare some of their time to counsel the batch.

I don’t know the best way to learn soft skills…most probably it is likely to vary from person to person. One way, which I feel can be useful is “learning by observing”. One can learn from the professors who teach at ISB, the professionals who counsel during the leadership development sessions and even most of the students. A resolution which I made during this term is to pick up a single impressing trait from each of these people and try to develop and master with time. If someone stays within the ISB campus for one long year and still don’t manage to better his soft skills, I must say that he/she has missed one of the most important aspects of learning that this place offers.

TERM - 4 REFLECTIONS - ACADEMICS

One more term over…..The usual reflection time once again.

Not a bad idea to start with the academics….. Term 4 turned out to be very different from the traditional terms. The stress was on concepts like ethics and the softer aspects of management.

Government, Society and Business was covered by Prof. Mudit Kapoor and Prof A.K.Shivakumar. There couldnot have been better people to teach this topic. Consider any top international social organization, and you can trace Dr. Shiva Kumar’s name…UNICEF…UN…..Policy making bodies of various countries including India…..Harvard….Kennedy School of Government….there is no end to his credentials. Not many people have the ability to mesmerize the listeners with topics like poverty, unemployment and human development. It was a great experience to understand the views of someone, who has first hand experience of the social and economic impacts, happening throughout the world. Prof Mudit was responsible for infusing the initial interest into an otherwise drab topic. An awesome orator….I must admit.

Now coming to IT Strategy, Prof Rajiv Banker was phenomenal while covering the strategies followed in the leading IT companies. Professor Sandra Slaughter who continued the second half of IT has a lovely way of delivering her lectures. The softness with which she deals with people often hides the fact that her name can be traced in Guiness Book of records for long distance cycling…and this is just the beginning of her extracurriculars which includes professional SCUBA diving and climbing mountain peaks.

Management of Organisations was extremely theoretical…course documents were shared by Prof Mary Watson and Prof. Dishan Kamdar…The course was quite unique, stressing on the nature of organizations, negotiations, decision errors and similar stuff. In the hindsight, I feel I should have given some more efforts to understand this topic better.

Now coming to the only numerical course....Investment analysis….Prof Tom Noel and Prof Ramana sonti shared the syllabus. Prof Noel reminded me of the phenomenal Prof Finn, who took Financial Accounting in Term-1. Prof Ramana Sonti is one of those professors who combines elegance into simplicity…very simple way of teaching and yet so powerful.

Thus, in terms of academics, Term 4 turned out to be quite different, yet quite enriching.

Time to close this post now…will be back soon.

WAITING FOR NEXT WEEK TO GET OVER

Quite a few days since I last dropped a post....Well, its end term time.... and the good thing is that I will be taking my first break off ISB, after the exams. It has been four terms already...half of ISB is almost done with...yet I have not taken a holiday from the ISB schedule. One reason is that I was so much used to the "6 month work and 21 day" vacation schedule of my earlier job life that I didnot miss home. But now that the cycle effect has already set in, I am just restless for the next week to get over.

Placement fever is slowly picking up in ISB....An early indication of the list of international companies likely to visit looks more impressive than last years batch...The interesting trend is that these companies are hugely diversified....ranging from oil majors to chemical majors...from investment banking firms to IT....from steel majors to shipping majors....and even the locations are quite diversified....from Italy to Malaysia....from the traditional UK and US to Hongkong. The story is getting more and more interesting with each passing day.....will be back with more stories soon.

The traditional sections are all set to dissolve in another two days.....new sections will be formed as soon as we enter the 5th term...the term that introduces us to the electives.

F-6...A GROUP TO CHERISH FOREVER

“Dil dhoondta hai”…yes…this was the title that K gave to the video he compiled out of some of the most memorable snaps that we had collected over the period of last six months…..I don’t remember how many times I have watched the video in the last couple of days….but each time I watched the video, it gave me the feeling that I am going to miss some of the finest moments of my life which I had been used to since the last six months…

We did not even know each other, 6 months and a day ago…..But now as it is time to part…I wonder what made all the people to be in that mood that evening……I never thought that the meeting will enter deep into the night in such a manner…I could literally see tears in the eyes of H and A….. K was so different from his usual self…although in his typical silent and dignified self…..I don’t know why S kept on moving out again and again…just smoking cannot be the reason…and V….V has always been the kid of the group…he is even more innocent than a kid…..I cannot forget the way he kept his hand on H trying to console her….

We are so different from each other. But somehow the frequency matched real well. It is real complicated stuff….. You never know why you like somebody…why you tend to miss certain people more than others…I have always believed in the “Law of negatives” and most likely this was the reason….Each of us was different…..extra-ordinarily different…both emotionally and professionally …but one thing that was common to all of us was the sense of mutual respect. No friendship….no relationship…can thrive without mutual respect. So was our case.

When I entered ISB, they said that business education is not likely to give you great friends…..Today, I really doubt the authenticity of the statement….Here are my greatest assets that I will carry out of ISB…five people, on whom I can trust more that myself…..throughout my life.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN?

Mckinseys.....BCGs.....AT Kearneys.....the info sessions are in full sway. This is what one of the alums of the class of 2006, who is presently working at AT Kearney had to share. From the words of AW

"Around this time…last year…when I was in your position…I read this somewhere…and wish to share the same with you…

What do you believe in
Every single day of your life
Every morning that you wake up
Before you rub your eyes
Before you sip that coffee
Before you live the day
Before you retire after it
What do you believe in…

The more I get to know your batch the more I am impressed…with the experience…the talent...and the enthusiasm. And for me, the distance between your present and the future that YOU shall carve for yourselves will be determined by “what do you believe in…”. Go figure…and get started right now."

TIE-ISB CONNECT 2006

The much awited TIE-ISB Connect is now well on its way after its inauguration by Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy. All the budding entrepreneurs....dont forget to follow the happenings of India's largest entrepreneurial networking event. More details can be traced in the following link.

http://www.isb.edu/TiE-ISB_Connect_2006/

As usual, the ISB campus boasts of the top delegates including the top CXOs of the some of the leading organisations and many leading venture capitalists of the country. Entrepreneurship has always been high on the agenda of ISB and the mega event is just a glimpse of the spirit.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE HIGH SEAS

Information Technology, with all the associated strategies, has been my favorite course for this term. Some of the most intricate strategies, that are normally not so visible, look quite appreciable. “Moore’s Law…. applications of “Two sided Network Externalities”… “the strategies which took Intel to the top”…… “the mistakes which IBM made to give away its leadership position”….."the strategies followed by Google" are among the numerous interesting aspects of the course.

Information Technology finds its effect in the shipping industry as never before. Gone are those days when the mariner used to trust the pole star and his binoculars to guide the ship on her way. Today, sophisticated RADAR systems, auto-pilot systems, DGPS systems, electronic charts, scores of application software involved in the daily operations of the ship, powerful LAN networks, global anti-piracy systems, VSAT networks that can power internet to the high seas and numerous other innovations define the level of dependence that the ship has developed on IT. Even anti-pollution measures are closely knitted to the innovations of IT. Every minor incident happening on the ship can be monitored thousands of mile away.

Under such a situation, the modern day mariner or a naval architect has no choice but to keep himself enlightened about the environment created by IT. Undoubtedly, IT has converted the rough and tough world of shipping into a suave and technology-savvy industry.

SO DIFFICULT....YET SO IMPORTANT

Like to the Pontic sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on
To the Propontic and the Hellespont,
Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace,
Shall ne'er look back.
(Othello, 3. 3)
Sometimes the vision gets so blurred for a moment....control over self is lost....a momentary fit of rage destroys everything....

Am I trying to be philosophical....nope.....just trying to learn the importance of not letting oneself fall into the trap of that momentary rage which is the source of potential destruction. It may not be possible to remain away from anger...its just not possible to be a human being and not succumb to rage.....But it is this moment which dictates the most defining aspect of ones personality....

Hopefully, some day I can learn the trick..... so difficult to learn.....yet so important to learn.

THE FIRST COUNTDOWN

So…the time to close one more chapter is around…just 15 more days for Term-4 to end, and along with it,the core terms. People don’t want to miss any of the activities of this countdown period. Term-4 is kind enough to provide time for late night weekend parties....and no one likes to miss these parties.

Even the lecture theatre moments are filled with a kind of excitement which keeps on reminding that the days in the respective sections are numbered. There is this concept of “X – Day” where X can cover any word that suits your imaginations. Last week Section F had this day called “Funky Day”. Let the snap in this post describe what Funky Day means. Even the exchange students are a part of all the fun. The memory of these days are sure to bring forth a smile in our face, years after we leave this place.

Birthday celebrations are no longer confined to the pool time story but extends deep into the night, with lots and lots of celebrations. The birthday dunking concept is such a sweet thing. This is one time which brings so many people together in the most informal manner.

The kind of bonding that has developed here over the period of last six months is beyond my imagination. Section F will be not exist after 15 days, but the memories will always stay for ever. Group F-6 will remain no longer on the paper, but the spirit of F-6 is going to stay forever. Never did I laugh as much in my life as I did during the group meetings....so much life…so much fun….that added the much needed charm to those continuous night outs.

REVELATIONS AFTER REVELATIONS

Since the last couple of days, I have been coming across revelations after revelations. For the first time, I decided to give some serious time to ORKUT networking and the outcome is beyond my expectations. Some very old contacts renewed and some great changes discovered….. Discovered that the person who was the source of inspiration for all of us during my school days is presently in Wharton doing his MBA…..Realized that one of my friends, who could never manage to get his love in India, finally managed to find his sweetheart in an alien land under extra ordinary circumstances….found that some of the little kids who used to run around in school playground are grown up enough to enroll into Phds.....and many such cases.

Life has changed for all these people….for some the change has been completely dramatic....for others it has been as expected....Getting reconnected to so many people is a great feeling.....looks like I am getting addicted to ORKUT.

THE BLOSSOMING FLOWER

Celebrating festivals is a part and parcel of ISB life. Most of the credit goes to the spouses, who take care of all the meticulous preparation that ensures the celebration of all festivals. Like every other festival, Onam was also celebrated in ISB with all its tradition.




It was indeed a treat to watch the Onam trademark blossom from scratch. The process involved so many things...from meticulous mathematical calculations to special artistic skills. Though I had seen the final version of the art on numerous occasions earlier, this is the first time, I got a chance to appreciate the complete process.

ON THE BREAKFAST TABLE

Today morning on the breakfast table, Major, Jammer, Gomez and myself had a discussion which made me rethink the topic again and again during the whole course of the day. So what is that helps in instilling an ideology….an culture into any concept?

Major was sound and clear. It is not possible to create a great learning environment just by making attendances compulsory…just by making the Honor Code all powerful…just by concentrating on grades. Unless a person himself realizes that he has to respect the Honor Code, not by compulsion but by choice, the culture cannot be created. Unless the student himself feels that he is missing something not by attending the lectures, it is no point synchronizing grades with attendance. I could see lot of point and depth in Major’s contention.

But then, when Jammer is around, things get real interesting. How is it possible to instill such culture into Indian students? Will it be a good idea if the Honor Code system is discontinued? Under such a situation will students have an incentive to invest the best of their abilities into the assignments? The Honor Code was never there when ISB started. But the situation forced the creation of such a committee. And if attendance is not made compulsory, then will classrooms wear the same look as it does now…..may be it will…..may be not.

While Major and Jammer kept the discussion on, Gomez kept on meandering, sometimes supporting Jammer and sometimes the Major. And I kept on wondering why is it so difficult to create a culture without forcing a person to do something. What does it really take to create that culture…the kind of culture that exists in the big names like Harvard and Wharton?

TERM-4 ARRIVES

After the dreamy hibernation of the term break, it is time to attend the lectures again. Term-4 looks so different from other terms. Apart from “Investment Analysis”, the courses look very much theoretical. The names of these courses also sound different from the typical ISB courses-

1.Government, Society & Business
2.Strategic Analysis of Information Technology
3.Management of Organizations
4.Investment Analysis (the only numeric course)

Looks like not much number crunching this term. The courses are more aligned towards understanding the sensitivity of various organizations and people. Some of the cases are linked with the concepts of Sociology and Psychology. After the exhausting sessions of Corporate Finance and Operation Management, it is time to understand the softer aspects of management.

Term-4 brings the real placement fever into action. People aspiring to work as investment bankers and in similar roles have plenty of reasons to smile…..and why not…with some of the biggest names lined up as early October to grab those finance whiz kids for their international recruitment.