Bangalore is awesome!! I have fallen in love with the city. I was last there in 1998 when a tap of beer cost 50 bucks and today it costs 60. 10 years and an increase of just 10 bucks. Wow! So much for inflation! And the weather is amazing. I could go on and on but I would run out of adjectives so I go on flashback mode.
When we were filling the BT Acumen form, I had not even thought that I would be writing in the blog for any other reason than the visit to IIM – B. But there was reason to cheer. Shelton and I were semi-finalists in the B-school debate where we faced ISB, Hyderabad.
The trip didn't quite begin on a pleasant note. First of all, our train was delayed by 2 hours and we had no idea so we just kept whiling away our time waiting. And when we enter our compartment, and it's full of water. Anyway, after overcoming the initial pitfalls, our only worry was whether we would be able to reach IIM –B on time for registration.
Ravi and Arjun could take the liberty of sleeping but Shelton and I were feverishly preparing for the morning's preliminary debate round. But ultimately our sleep deprived eyes finally gave way and it was curtains for us around 3 am.
Next I get up and we are nearing Bangalore, there is a slight chill in the air. Of course the awesome weather of Bangalore has its effect on the surrounding areas as well. We reach Bangalore station and then we embark on numerous haggling sessions with autowallahs, taxi drivers and others and in the end we get one guy who seems to be reasonable totake us to IIM – B. Thank God for keeping the IT companies closed on
weekends. We get there in time to catch some grub and then register.
Shelton and I get to our preliminary debate round and wish all the luck to our quiz champs, Ravi and Arjun. Once again God was o our side because we got the very same topic for which we had prepared the maximum which said "You can't create great brands without Advertising".
The prelims over, we trudged along to meet the quizzers and then headed of to catch some more grub. Meanwhile, we got to meet our host for the rest of the day, DK. History of DK… naah…some other time. Results were to be out at 2 pm so we coerced DK into waiting a little longer. Well the IIM – B mess food is not all that bad. But our North Indian mess is better.
After lunch we are off to see the results and guess what? Debate Semi-finalists LIBA vs ISB and IIM – B vs IIM – K. This was the most pleasant surprise of our lives and I can safely speak on behalf of Shelton as well. This calls for a celebration so immediately we head to LOR and quench our thirst with four pitchers of draught beer.
Now its time we eat something, so we drive around with DK and get some Chicken Shawarma Rolls and 3 huge grilled chickens which u won't believe me, were being cut with a pair of scissors!! I was seeing scissors used for this purpose for the first time.
Then I thought we were going to a mall because it certainly looked like that. But no, it was just the Bangalore equivalent of our friendly neighbourhood TASMAC. Yeah! Can you believe it that I mistook it for a mall? Well that's what happens when you are subjected to the TASMAC phenomenon for too long.
Arjun and Shelton were so eager to get into the shop that they forgot to close the windows and doors of the car though. Of course this we noticed only once we got back. We rushed to see if our laptops and food was intact and guess what…it was. Then Shelton proclaims, "This is Bangalore".
We then head to buy some other stuff and then we see a man, driving an Indigo Marina wearing a helmet. There was something weird about the guy. First he was talking to himself. Second, he suddenly started playing traffic policeman and was signaling us to reverse the car. And to top it all he was wearing a helmet inside the car!!!!
The rest of the story I think has been narrated time and again by me and Shelton. Brand ISB was stronger than Brand LIBA and they got through to the finals where they lost to IIM – B. However, all was not lost. Shelton and I got a cool 1 year subscription to Harvard Business Review and some cool vouchers from Allen Solly. I can't mention the amounts for the fear of getting mugged.
Truly a wonderful experience and I hope LIBA is the South Zone champion in Acumen 2008.
By Soubir Ignatius Ghose
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, November 05, 2007
Insight ’07 - HR in a Transformational Era
The HR function has constantly been evolving since its inception and has gained significant prominence over the years. It was therefore fitting that Insight’07, the National Management Symposium held on 25th and 26th October at the Hotel Trident Hilton, Chennai had the theme “HR in a Transformational Era”. In his Inaugural address Mr. Sreeram Iyer, CEO of Scope International remarked that the HR function had to develop themselves and move along with technology to meet the challenges ahead while not forgetting the quintessential and traditional HR approach.
With the increasing number of Mergers and Acquisitions that have taken the global corporate scenario by storm, the role of HR in cultural integration was an issue addressed by almost all speakers throughout the course of the symposium. Change in organizational structures and having an international outlook were some of the suggested areas that the HR professional should develop and implement so that their respective organizations meet the various challenges they are faced with.
The symposium addressed several pressing and relevant themes such as HR Outsourcing, Cross Cultural Competencies, Leadership and Change Management. In the transformational era, migration of products and services, talent, capital and business processes are the four pillars of changing time, pointed out Mr. K. Pandia Rajan, Managing Director and CEO of Ma Foi Management Consultants. The sessions also saw interesting aspects such as whether HR should cater to the commercial aspects of the organization alone or can it actually look after the spiritual well-being of the workforce.
Mr. Madan Padaki CEO of MeritTrac Services Pvt. Ltd questioned whether it is the bandwidth or the intelligence. He emphasized that HR professionals should seek to create more bandwidth for people within the organization, to do things that they are supposed to do much better and to derive intelligence out of the work that is happening around them.
During the sessions that spanned across the two day event the podium was graced by the likes of Mr. V Ramachandran Director, Human Resources, Motorola, Asia-Pacific, Mr. Nishant Kolgaonkar, Head International HR, CA (India) Technologies Pvt Ltd, Mr. Jays Chandy, Head People Function, Mindtree Consulting, Mr. N.S. Iyer, Head HR, Asian Paints, Dr S.S. Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya, who all stressed on the fact that HR professionals need to develop global business acumen – understand socio-political developments, acquire geographical, functional, corporate competencies so that they benefit the organization in the long run.
The final session was indeed the most engaging one as it was a panel discussion on the topic of “Emerging Roles of HR: Paradigm Shift to Strategic Business Partnering but at What Cost?”. The session bore witness to a lively and engaging debate on a variety of key issues on the future of HR such as whether HR professionals could be CEOs or whether strategy and HR were congruent with many contradicting views being deliberated actively by both the panel and the participants over the direction the function would take in coming years.
The event was brought to a close with an endearing and interactive valedictory address by Mr N. Murali, Managing Director of The Hindu Group of Publications, who said that students who aspire to be a successful HR professional must acquire multiple skills. While he stressed that HR has a long way to go to earn a place in the board room of a company in the country he also admitted that in India, albeit slowly, HR is dawning now. He stated that though business paradigms are changing very fast, for all these changes to bear fruit, the education system needs to be appropriately changed so that it would suit the needs of the industries and organizations in general. Apt indeed were his remarks as were the invaluable insights of the host of industry stalwarts that made for another successful edition of the Insight series of Management Symposia.
With the increasing number of Mergers and Acquisitions that have taken the global corporate scenario by storm, the role of HR in cultural integration was an issue addressed by almost all speakers throughout the course of the symposium. Change in organizational structures and having an international outlook were some of the suggested areas that the HR professional should develop and implement so that their respective organizations meet the various challenges they are faced with.
The symposium addressed several pressing and relevant themes such as HR Outsourcing, Cross Cultural Competencies, Leadership and Change Management. In the transformational era, migration of products and services, talent, capital and business processes are the four pillars of changing time, pointed out Mr. K. Pandia Rajan, Managing Director and CEO of Ma Foi Management Consultants. The sessions also saw interesting aspects such as whether HR should cater to the commercial aspects of the organization alone or can it actually look after the spiritual well-being of the workforce.
Mr. Madan Padaki CEO of MeritTrac Services Pvt. Ltd questioned whether it is the bandwidth or the intelligence. He emphasized that HR professionals should seek to create more bandwidth for people within the organization, to do things that they are supposed to do much better and to derive intelligence out of the work that is happening around them.
During the sessions that spanned across the two day event the podium was graced by the likes of Mr. V Ramachandran Director, Human Resources, Motorola, Asia-Pacific, Mr. Nishant Kolgaonkar, Head International HR, CA (India) Technologies Pvt Ltd, Mr. Jays Chandy, Head People Function, Mindtree Consulting, Mr. N.S. Iyer, Head HR, Asian Paints, Dr S.S. Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya, who all stressed on the fact that HR professionals need to develop global business acumen – understand socio-political developments, acquire geographical, functional, corporate competencies so that they benefit the organization in the long run.
The final session was indeed the most engaging one as it was a panel discussion on the topic of “Emerging Roles of HR: Paradigm Shift to Strategic Business Partnering but at What Cost?”. The session bore witness to a lively and engaging debate on a variety of key issues on the future of HR such as whether HR professionals could be CEOs or whether strategy and HR were congruent with many contradicting views being deliberated actively by both the panel and the participants over the direction the function would take in coming years.
The event was brought to a close with an endearing and interactive valedictory address by Mr N. Murali, Managing Director of The Hindu Group of Publications, who said that students who aspire to be a successful HR professional must acquire multiple skills. While he stressed that HR has a long way to go to earn a place in the board room of a company in the country he also admitted that in India, albeit slowly, HR is dawning now. He stated that though business paradigms are changing very fast, for all these changes to bear fruit, the education system needs to be appropriately changed so that it would suit the needs of the industries and organizations in general. Apt indeed were his remarks as were the invaluable insights of the host of industry stalwarts that made for another successful edition of the Insight series of Management Symposia.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Mindworks Quiz
It was the first quiz of the new academic year and there was a peculiar buzz about it. Mindworks the Quiz Club had a good start to its season as almost all the quizzing enthusiast from the seniors turned up and few from the first years also made an appearance. The quiz was hosted by Ravi and it had all elements of a typical “Ravi Quiz”. Around 12 teams consisting of 3 in a team battled it out in the prelims and 6 teams qualified for the finals. After some fun and interesting rounds of quizzing, it looked like a 3 way battle, but the team of Soubir, RIddhi and John after a brilliant start fizzled out and it looked like the wild card team of Divya, Praveen and DJ could pull out an upset win (tradition of LIBA Quizzes) but a few crucial missed chances saw the more experienced team of Arjun, Kenny and Pama win the quiz by answering the last question. Never the less a very close quiz and the winning team sort of retained the crown which they won last year (Yours truly was joined by Arjun and Kenny that time around). Madhav one of the founders of Mindworks made a special appearance much to the surprise of the participants. It was good start to the club and the events in college and a special thanks to Penny, Dinesh, Ruchir, Debhasish, Mayank and Tudu for helping out with the quiz.
Friday, March 09, 2007
TroubleOwners to TroubleShooters
Sometimes a burning issue becomes clearer once you place yourself in the midst of the same. This Friday evening turned out to be different from any other. Under the patronage of Dr. Chandrashekar Pandey and the efforts of Saugata (I year Full Time PGDBM), we had an open forum on the TATA-Singur land acquisition issue. The panel constituted Dr. Victor Louis Anthuvan and Prof. Jayaram K.
The talk was indeed an eye-opener as we saw the issue from various perspectives. It is not only a disturbing issue at the National level, but also has global implications. Some of the concerns included the setting of SEZs at the cost of humanity, the decline of agriculture, absence of debate or consensus before the implementation of such a development project. The key thing of the issue for future managers is the perspective of OWNING the problem and that too at the earliest. By doing so only will an individual be able to approach the problem and solve it.
Despite the time constraints, the debate was very constructive with lot of questions remaining unanswered. Nevertheless, it has triggered the thought process which is necessary before an opinion or solution can be reached. More debates are therefore inevitable.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Slow Down Culture
This article was send as a forward to me. I do not know the identity of the writer but this is a very good article which everyone should read…….
It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.
Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.
Said in another words: 1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil. 2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants. 3. Stockholm, has 500,000 people. 4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.
The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.
Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.
Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!".
This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.
It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.
In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.
Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".
Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this globalized world.
It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.
Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.
Said in another words: 1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil. 2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants. 3. Stockholm, has 500,000 people. 4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.
The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.
Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.
Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!".
This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.
It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.
In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.
Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".
Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this globalized world.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Whose BLOG is it anywayz?
"I do not know how to check a blog?”
"Whoa..I dunno how to post a comment !!"
"Blog..Whos done it...him...aw..chuck it..."
One phrase to sum up all that above
" A SPINELESS ATTITUDE "
People in LIBA generally love spend their energies doing assignments and clearing exams. C'mon, students of every BizInstitute does the same.
" Are we just another BIZ SKOOL ? "
A : Dude, did you see this new BLOG about XYZ ?
B : Wat is it about....Do I get marks or credits by going there ?
It’s a sad situation. Blogging unfortunately has been considered as an activity meant for PC geeks. Gimme a break ! It’s just like considering Sania Mirza is the best thing to happen to India. Well, Sania is still around. I wish her all da best and also all the other sportspersons in INDIA.
We Indians are considered to be excellent in the field of communication and yet 90% of all our problems stem from the very lack of it.
As I write this article, I get to know that China is one of the leading users of BLOGS and the number of people maintaining such run into millions. Whoa, don’t they just explode in everything they do ?
We love to take things for granted! Who cares! Who gives a Damn!
Wake Up LIBA....The Matrix is running away and we may soon fall into an abyss and never return. Rise, Go Forth and Conquer!!!!!
By Kenny "Maurice Chavez" Rogers
"Whoa..I dunno how to post a comment !!"
"Blog..Whos done it...him...aw..chuck it..."
One phrase to sum up all that above
" A SPINELESS ATTITUDE "
People in LIBA generally love spend their energies doing assignments and clearing exams. C'mon, students of every BizInstitute does the same.
" Are we just another BIZ SKOOL ? "
A : Dude, did you see this new BLOG about XYZ ?
B : Wat is it about....Do I get marks or credits by going there ?
It’s a sad situation. Blogging unfortunately has been considered as an activity meant for PC geeks. Gimme a break ! It’s just like considering Sania Mirza is the best thing to happen to India. Well, Sania is still around. I wish her all da best and also all the other sportspersons in INDIA.
We Indians are considered to be excellent in the field of communication and yet 90% of all our problems stem from the very lack of it.
As I write this article, I get to know that China is one of the leading users of BLOGS and the number of people maintaining such run into millions. Whoa, don’t they just explode in everything they do ?
We love to take things for granted! Who cares! Who gives a Damn!
Wake Up LIBA....The Matrix is running away and we may soon fall into an abyss and never return. Rise, Go Forth and Conquer!!!!!
By Kenny "Maurice Chavez" Rogers
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