Going GB less….!!

GB is such an important term in our lives. To enjoy features on Android phone or to do any useful activity on your laptop you need memory and that is where GB’s add so much value to your lives technologically. Recently, I came to know about another GB which is inside our body (Don’t get too excited! You cannot extend your GB after reading this article because the GB I am talking about is not your memory :P). - it is the Gall Bladder.  We cannot use computer or phone if GB i.e. memory is removed. But can we live if we remove our Gall Bladder? I removed mine two months ago.

It was not until I joined Siemens Ltd., I realized that I had a faulty gall bladder even though I had a history of unparalleled lower chest pain. My Company doctor advised me to get it removed as early as I can. Since travelling was going be one of the perennial aspects of my job, Doctor warned me that I get it done before I get another gall bladder attack while travelling on business trips. So I decided I will do it as early as I can. On the day of the operation, I entered the operation theater and some 8-10 (Maybe I didn’t count that well that time, L) doctors surrounded me and made me lie down. They started examining my stomach. One of the doctors came with a marker and a drawing sheet! Some three four doctors then started making drawings and then came to my stomach again. Then the doctors started to draw on my stomach with their fingers. I heard the doctors say, “We will cut here 5 cm, here 10 cm”, “No I think we might have to go here 12 cm instead. …because ….#some absurd medical term# “. Another jumped in, “5 cm idhar or idhar….two places and another two holes of 12cm here and 8-9 cm here”, and I understood what they meant from those four holes that they were about to cut. So there I was among one of the ironies of life - Doctors practicing geometry on an engineer’s body! :D  

Then he said, “We will now operate you….just relax….we will put a needle in you and all the injections will be given through that needle only ….so you will only feel pain one time when the needle goes in. We will give you a sleep medicine and you will start dreaming of pari’s and apsara’s”. Before he could take me to the apsara’s, I asked ,”When can I join office”. The doctor sighed,”See as I told you yours looks like a complicated case. Your Gall Bladder is completely damaged. We might have to open your stomach completely and then it might take you 2 weeks to 1 month to recover.” I interrupted him and asked, “ Can I give CAT on 13^th Nov??” The Doctor retracted his hands from me and said, “This Saturday!! Today is Monday….b…but…you should have given your CAT before the operation. I don’t think taking such an important exam after a serious operation is advisable.” I understood doctor’s concern and said, “No…..I need to on a business trip which has got delayed already, I can’t afford interruptions later on…..and today afternoon I have my NMAT which I on’t think I will able to give, and so I cannot let the CAT go away….I will give CAT, please carry on”. The doctor winked and said, “ Just relax and forget about everything you do at work or study. We are giving you an injection, you will go to sleep for 8 hours”

Two minutes after the pain of the first needle, I woke up under ventilation systems tied to me all around and there I was GB-less. After two leg fractures, chin surgery, this was the most serious surgery I had to undergo. Just hope this was the last one!!

Corporate Lessons!

A good lesson to learn before stepping into the corporate world……..

A CEO, a Manager and an Assistant Manager of a MNC were having lunch together in there office and suddenly a Magic Jinn appeared at their table and presented them with three wishes – one for each.

The Assistant Manager jumped in joy and said he wanted his wish to get fulfilled first. The manager wanted him to be second and the CEO did not have any complains for being third. Others agreed and the Asst. Manager commanded the Jinn, “Make me a rich man and take me to a beautiful island where I could enjoy my whole life and won’t have to work anymore. Give me adequate cash, cars, and all other things man could wish”. Jinn smiled and chanted a logion and the Asst. manager got vanished.

Now it was Manager’s turn and he commanded, “Take me to a different Island but give me more things than you are going to give the Asst. Manager”. Jinn obliged and sent him to his desired life and the Manager vanished.

Now it was the CEO’s turn to fulfill his wish. The CEO finished his lunch and calmly said, “It is 1.25 p.m. on my watch. I want both my Manger and the Asst. Manager in my cabin by 1.30 p.m. Bring them in my cabin quick”

Moral of the Story: Your Boss is always smarter than you are and you can never escape him.

Mu Sigma Ranked World No. 1 across most parameters in Datamonitor's KPO Rankings 2011!

Sources : Mu Sigma, CHICAGO, IL
                                     Marketwire

Mu Sigma, a leading provider of decision sciences and analytics services, has been ranked the No. 1 Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) organization worldwide in Datamonitor's annual Black Book of Outsourcing (BBO) 2011 KPO Rankings, placing it ahead of industry players such as IBM, Genpact, Accenture, Capgemini, Evalueserve and Infosys.

Mu Sigma's first place ranking places it at the forefront of the KPO industry, across a range of parameters including Financial benefits, Shared goals, Risk mitigation, Partnership approach, Corporate reputation, Future orientation, Skills and resources, Requirement awareness and Problem resolutions.

Datamonitor's survey is specifically designed to capture customer satisfaction ratings from users of outsourced services across the globe. The BBO Rankings are strictly based on responses from surveys of 2,751 global clients of outsourcing suppliers. Vendors can neither influence nor opt out of the balloting process. Developed in 2004, the study is widely recognized as the only independent industry standard for measuring customer satisfaction in the global services industry. Clients use the Black Book of Outsourcing to determine strengths and weaknesses of individual vendors, establish industry benchmarks to determine desired satisfaction ratings, negotiate contract terms to ensure desired outcomes are achieved, and better understand trends in outsourcing satisfaction by service, industry and geography.

Eamonn Kennedy, Black Book of Outsourcing research director at Datamonitor, said, "Placing first in the ranking is an esteemed accomplishment that places Mu Sigma at the forefront of the KPO sector. Companies that acquire such status do so because of their unparalleled dedication to their customers. It has been clear from our survey evaluations that Mu Sigma has repeatedly been identified as a valued provider for client organizations to partner with."

"It is an honor for us to be ranked No. 1 among KPO service providers, and I want to thank our clients first and foremost for partnering with us and being such strong advocates," said Dhiraj Rajaram, Founder & CEO, Mu Sigma. "Companies today have vast amounts of data that they have collected over the last few decades. To understand all this data, Decision Sciences is going to play a much bigger role in the coming years. We at Mu Sigma are very excited to be a part of this revolution and we believe that we are not just building a company, but building an industry."

tHe good, bAd, & woRse of my nitD TIMES - Camouflaging Introduction!

Life at engineering colleges has always been fascinating for the people who haven’t gone through it! It was equally fascinating for me when I was about to join NIT. The ‘NIT’ tag was a thing but hostel life was something to cherish for. My friends said I was lucky as I was going to have a great experience of my life in a hostel. But what happened after I joined? How do I feel after going through it? I don’t know. I am confused as to whether it was a good experience or a bad experience.   

But one thing that troubled me as a neophyte was ragging. I hated ragging when I was in first year but after gaining maturity I feel it is every where in some form or the other but people try to be numb about it. My first year took me to my seniors in a way that made me feel it was a part of the curriculum. Every act was well organized and I felt planning was very good. The first part of ragging is camouflaged in your introduction to your seniors. It gives you an opportunity to create a trap for you. I remember my first introduction to my seniors at the famous ‘JHOOPS’ of my Institute. It Camouflaged many things!.

I was called at the ‘JHOOPS’ with other batch mates and the pain & pleasure bandy started…….One of the incidents that I remember was the funniest in college life. The senior was ‘N’ (don’t ask for the full name, I hate to pronounce it..J) and here we go….

“Hey mother ###kers! What are you here for?” cruised in ‘N’, “Huh? What is the assembly all about?”

‘N’ was having a look at all the juniors and he was trying to read their minds. His eyes got fixed on me who was fearfully standing with head down in full formal attire. ‘N’ felt he could dominate me and came near to me and commanded,

‘ Idhar aa be ##uti###, saale Intro de tera’

 “G..good afternoon Sir, My Name ……...”

 ‘N’ was very pleased with the introduction but he tried to feign a look of terror in his face. He tried to play smart with me to prove his own intelligence. At a distance of 10 meters at another ‘jhoops’, there was a group of guys and girls near a snack shop and there he got an idea.

“Hey Abhinandan, kabhi kisi ladki ko line maara hain?” asked N.

“No sir”

“What the hell? Ok don’t worry, try it today. Agar nahi pati toh sandal kha lena aur pat gayi toh hamare liye chod dena, Hahaha” 

And there was huge laughter all around.

“Hey Abhinandan, Can you see that girl over there, the girl with a blue T- Shirt?”  

“Yes sir, I can see her near the mobile shop” I replied politely.

“Abe yaar not her, the girl you are looking at is with her final year boyfriend. Saale tujhe bataya toh tha he is our final year senior.  Do you want us to get beaten? For God’s sake, don’t look at her?”

I knew this would be the reply, :-).

“Are yaar, that girl near the guy who is wearing white T- shirt”

“Yes Sir, I can see the dark guy in white Shirt”

“Saale ###ti## bana raha hain. Fool, I am not asking you to see the rickshawalla, but the guy there….see, see! She is now paying the snack bill at the counter, That is the girl I am talking about, go to her and say to her ‘I love you and want to kiss you’, go for it!”

I had no options left and so kept silent.

“What happened? She is standing alone now, are you still finding it difficult to figure her out?”

“Yes sir, actually I have -5.5D power in my eyes but today I am wearing my old specs of – 3.5D, so I am not able to distinguish between a girl and boy from here”

“Oh you asshole, She just left, I don’t know how stupid fellas like you enter NITD? Time waste for us”

But it was N’s day and before he could complete his sentences a beautiful girl passed by and all of us got attracted to her. There was task no. 2 for me and this time even an old man could see the girl who was dressed in most revealing dress they had ever seen. It was obvious I could not escape this one.

“Hey Abhinandan, Go to that sexy girl and ask her for some fresh milk”

I felt sick and was dumbstruck at my seniors command.

N eyed me fierce fully and commanded, “What the hell? She is moving fast go catch her”

I politely replied, “But how should I say to her, Sir”

“Oh! You idiot. Just go and say ‘I like your milk and give me some’, just run or else she will take a turn at ‘Gandhi More’ soon”

There I got an idea! Gandhi More, The turn! I realized that the girl was nearer to the turn than to me and her brisk speed made her closer to the turn every second. Once the girl takes the left turn it will be impossible for my seniors to see the girl or what I did to that girl.

I started walking towards the girl.

“Run! Run! Go fast you idiot, she will take the turn.” shouted N.

“Abey Bhaag, Bhaag” kept on shouting other seniors.

I tried to feign a serious attempt but I was not successful or was I? The girl took the turn and I in the act of following her took the turn.

After 15 minutes, I returned fully drenched in sweat.

“Kya kiya? Did you ask her for milk?” commanded N.

“No Sir. She took a rickshaw and went ahead” I said and tried to feign a crying look.

“ Abe tune AIEEE main paisa khilaya hain kya? Rank kaise milla tujhe dumb.”  Said N

I am sure N felt he was lucky as he was not as dumb as me.

“ tere se kuch nahi hoga. But ek answer tujhe dena padegaa nahi toh tujhe nahi chodungaa. Bata! How many languages do you know?”

Languages! Thank God! I thought now I would cruise through the session as my senior was getting interested in some academic stuff and it was time to be a good boy.

I proudly replied, “English, marathi, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati”

N smiled and said, “ Chal, Now tell me all the synonyms of ‘Penis’ & ‘Vagina’ in all these languages’.

  

THE END!!!

‘Desh Sewa’ – Please ban this Crap Logion

West Bengal polls are around the corner and they have impacted me in the worst way ever. The election dates will cohabit with the mid April days and ergo my final semester exams have been postponed. Though an eavesdropping audience in all the election debates across every nook and corner of Bengal, I am also interested in what this poll brings to Bengal. The results of Bengal polls will be celebrated and adduced at an All India level. The ruling party in Bengal has been ruling since three decades and people of Bengal really want a change. Actually I think the people of Bengal are confused as to who should be their leader but they are really bored to see the same party every year. Change is what they want!...No questions asked. The change initiator or the future purveyor of Bengal, Ms. Mamta Banerjee looks impressive but every time I travel by train in Bengal, I start to hate her. It is interesting to see the ailing conditions of Railways in Bengal even though she has left no stone unturned to use & develop  railways in her quest for leadership in Bengal.

Time has to be a decider! But whoever wins I think there is serious lacuna in Indian Political system. Recently I was watching election campaigns and I found whatever be the agenda of the party or the minister, every political idea in India boils down to one thing and i.e. ‘Desh Sewa’. Every politician in India says vote for him because he is interested in ‘Desh Sewa’. Compare this with the political agendas in the U.S., EU, etc and you will understand why ‘Baseball’ is different from ‘Cricket’. The political people in the U.S. promise a better administration and a wealthy nation. They have solid agendas and plans that they promise to implement and as a result we have leaders like Obama and a power like America. But in India every politician says he/she is dedicated to serve his people and other similar crap. ‘Desh Sewa’ is a very noble thing but it is good thought gone bad and worse.

You may feel I am trying to act as a wet blanket or trying some dog whistle politics here but I feel ‘Desh Sewa’ is as dangerous as a disease like the Alzheimer’s to Indian Politics. The term ‘Desh Sewa’ has given entry to many pell mells in politics who neither have the experience nor the capability required to share the grave issues of the country. Ministers try to satisfy the egoistic needs of the gentry and that’s where they find the ‘Desh Sewa’ logion so effective. I still look at the political agendas and wonder what is Desh Sewa?? What do these ministers mean? Are they vying for an NGO?  Why don’t these people come up with solid ideas or plans that vows for their vision for a better country? In fact, serving people should be the prime motto but in Indian Politics it has only meant to serve the people who will/ or vote for you. I have seen ministers make great job offers to the families that voted for them and ignore others with pismire consideration. In India, this qualifies as a great work by a ruling party and ‘Desh Sewa’ gets its definition from here.

So I sincerely believe we ban these politicians who believe ‘Desh Sewa’ is only what they ought to do.  We are in this 21^st century and give us what we deserve. I know it is difficult to come out of the dhoti or the white sari but ideas need to change. Give us the people who know how to run administrations. Give us a vision and not a promise or far fetch harangues. That’s why I feel corporate intervention in Indian Politics becomes so important. I think our ministers must learn from our corporate honchos many things that make India a better country. Globalization is everywhere and we need to capture it with a new perception. Indian Politics, the backbone of India in home, needs to change.

‘Desh Sewa’ – Screw It. Ban the people infected with ‘Desh Sewa’ bug. Select the right People with apt perception and ideas.  And as far as the Bengal polls are concerned, I feel pity for the people who will vote coz I think they don’t have the right options to choose from. ‘Head’ or ‘Tail’, ‘His’ or ‘Her’, I doubt the ‘Desh Sewa’ promises viability in Bengal.

I am Mu Sigma!! (My first interview experience)

 One of the best things happened in my NITD life was when Mu Sigma visited NIT Durgapur. It might sound quotidian but was catastrophic in case of NITD. The placement figures and stats here shout and salute NTPC, IOCL, Tata Motors, etc and with no signs of diversification. NIT D is a place where people think it’s only PSU’s where engineers can work to their full potential with an anathema for companies with finance, IT, analytics background.

But our numbers changed when Mu Sigma entered campus, an analytics company with dominance across major industry verticals. I was happy as hell and was excited for the next things to come. Selection was an issue with almost the entire college vying for it but the most interesting part in the selection was the PI round which was great and I share some experiences of those here.  

The panel consisted of a group of 5 elite Mu Sigmans with IIT, IIM degrees and accouter with a distinct flair and great experience which made me nervous but the HR head gave us frequent visits between the whole process and his company did relieve us from the pressure. I had waited almost for 8 hrs after the GD for the interview. The interview process had started @ 10 – 11 am and I got my turn @ 6 pm. Phew! It was a long wait with no food and scorching sun heat of Durgapur August.

I will refer to the panelists as A1, A2, A3, A4, A5 and myself as I. (Note: A1 was the India Head of Mu Sigma) I entered the room and tried to wish them good evening in a straight poster which was not liked by A2 and he accosted me.

A2: Were you in NCC or Army before coming here??

I: N...No sir!!.....Why sir??... (Completely perplexed)

A2: You look like one, otherwise no one greets us this way….(laughs all around…and me too)

A1: So Mr. Abhinandan, I think you are smart. What do you think??

I: Yes sir….I agree with you…..I am smart.

A1: How is that??

I: (Fundas unlimited, :-P)

A1: Do you have a girlfriend??

I: No sir! Actually I had but not now.

A1: Why? What was the problem??

I: Fundas…..now made others interested too

A3: Does the girl talk to you now?

I: Yes sir, we are friends.

A2: Oh wow! You are friends (all joined in a laughter)

A3: How do you differentiate that you are now friends, I mean do you understand a girl and boy are girlfriends/ boyfriends?

I: (I tried to think of possible answers and my thoughts made me blush and I said some stupid things like) Sir, when they look like a pair, they are with each other when they shouldn’t be…..etc etc…

(laughs all around)

A2: What do you mean?

A3: (interrupts) He means when a boy and a girl share an ice cream they are couples, this is modern love, u see? Well have you ever shared an ice cream with someone.

I: No sir!! I don’t have a girlfriend now but the ice cream sharing idea sounds good and now I feel fascinated to try that sometime.:D.

(Louder laughter all around)

A1: What are your goals in life?

I: (tremendous Gyan about short term and long term goals which made A1 wink at me and looked confused)

A1: very, very confusing, make it straight for me.

I: (gave a 1 line answer which made him smile)

A2: Wow! Yaar! Acha answer hain. Kaha se chappa? Google kiya kya?

I: No Sir! This is what I feel and understand.

A3: Are you innovative and creative?

I: yea sir.

A3: Explain?

I: (gave them quotidian examples and other special cases which vowed for creativity)

After a grueling session on my creativity and innovative ideas, they went on to a new topic.

A2: Tell us something about Power of Ideas, the one in which your business idea qualified to the second phase.

I: ( gave them my basic business proposal, answered their queries and other info regarding the same)

( the panelists were smiling all around and looked satisfied with appreciating my Business Idea, but suddenly,

A1: Enough of your bakwaas……lets get to something serious…..I will now test your intelligence, should I?

I: Sure, sir.

A1: see here I got six coins, three heads and three tails, flip two coins at a time and in the most minimum no. of flips come to a point where you have all tails or all heads. Go to the next room and try it. A4 will keep a watch on you and do it quickly because we are already late and need to go to Bangalore today itself.

(After completing the puzzle, I waited outside the interview room as other candidate’s interview was going on.)

I: Sir, may I come in?

A2: aah!! You took so long, what exactly were you trying with the puzzle?

I: Sir, I was just waiting outside to get the other interview over.

A3: Oh! So what do you think?

I: (Explained the puzzle’s solution to them, I went into a great detail which enervated them but looked impressed)

I completed my explanation and there were ‘very goods’ all around.

As I walked out of the interview room, the HR head came to me and started some friendly talk,

A4: So what do you think, are you selected?

I: I don’t know sir, pretty difficult to decode the expressions.

A4: (laughs) Yeah! But why do you worry Mu sigma must be a back up option for you as you may definitely land up with a better paying job in campus.

I: No sir…those are tech jobs and I am not at all interested even if they pay higher. If I don’t get Mu Sigma, I’ll try for other jobs like Mu Sigma offers or ultimately go for an MBA.

A4: (smiles) ok! Acha don’t go anywhere…..stay here around for some more time!!

I understood I cleared the last step. The final results were out and was handed over with Mu Sigma watch and offer letter.

First campus interviews are always interesting but the ones like Mu Sigma will always be a cherished memory for me. Glad to go to Mu Sigma from NITD,  and as we were told after selection- we are not parts of Mu Sigma, but…. ..   ‘I am Mu Sigma’…

(***A1, who wanted me to solve the puzzle quickly as he had to fly to bangalore just after my interview was asking me some references for Chicken Biryani in Calcutta...being a Biryani fan myself I did help him with some exotic locations in Calcutta.....:P***)

Brand Tiger!! The Corporate Roar of India!!

When I say tiger which product comes to your mind? You may limn nothing but an enticing image of this majestic creature. But you may soon find alteration in your mental association replacing your tiger with brands that you love or have been mad about. That’s the new brand for Corporate India – The Tiger.

Recently, the number 1411 was a less significant number for an average Indian apart from being the year when Ahmedabad was founded.  The nemesis of tigers since a few decades has egregiously reduced their phratry to a minuscule 1411,but corporate India has rose up belligerently to recuperate this moribund situation to a rewarding one. Since then a posse of ads and public awareness programs promoted by some of the biggest brands started streaming through all the channels. Compare this to the publicity that Project Tiger, a government-sponsored scheme running for almost four decades, has received. In a decade known for growing experimentation with public private partnerships, it is not surprising that the private sector has stepped in to up the ante. We may call it Brand promotion or a routine CSR initiative, but the wildlife in India has certainly found its new vanguards in form of corporate honchos.

To talk about tigers and corporates, Save The Tiger Fund (STF) is a prominent partnership program between the Exxon Mobil Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) established in 1995 focused on the conservation of wild tigers. But the Tigers in India have its own heroes. Leading the race to save the tigers is the communication of many hearts – Aircel which has launched the ‘Save Our Tigers’ campaign aimed at creating mass awareness about the diminishing tiger population and engaging the youth to spread the message, especially in the digital space. It also came from a deep felt understanding that today’s youth in India give far more weightage to a brand which wasn’t just transactional but has a deeper connection to society. Shivanand ‘Doc’ Mohanty, national creative director of Dentsu Communications, and the brain behind the Aircel ‘Save Our Tigers’ campaign, strived to create a brand that would bring about mixed feelings of fear to pathos to excitement.

But the obvious question remains as how these products get promoted even if no mention of it’s attributes are done throughout the campaign. You might cogitate but corporate India doesn’t deign to think twice on this. With the brand power of the tiger being harnessed by products ranging from biscuits to tea, it has become a generic brand because of the power and majesty that it denotes.

But the larger question is that will such promotion lead us to successfully build the brand equity of Indian wildlife and in promoting India as a wildlife destination? I think corporate India is Gung Ho about saving Wild Life in India and is going to execute it with expertise and legendary Savoir Faire. Not only Aircel but conglomerates like Tata Chemicals, which along with the Wildlife Trust of India and the State Forest department started a project in 2003 to improve the chances of survival of the whale shark and create awareness among coastal communities. Adi Godrej, chairman of the Godrej group claims that their association with wildlife and environment is not recent but goes back a few decades. As part of their protection programme, they have preserved over 250 hectares of their 3,500 acre land in Vikhroli, Mumbai as a mangrove forests (crucial wetlands) where a lot of wildlife find viable habitats, including a number of carnivores. Addressing the conflict between humans and elephants, for example, has been the main thrust of Nokia’s project in the South Western Ghats, in addition to conserving the Nilgiri Tahr, a species only found in that region.

A century ago, of the total 100,000 tigers estimated world over, 3,642 tigers were in India. The 1989, tiger census enumerated 4,334 tigers. This dropped to 3,750 in 1993. According to the 2008 census, there are only 1,411 tigers left Tigers now exist in 5% of their actual range that they roamed over centuries ago. Ergo Corporate India has figured out the need to preserve one of the most valuable species of India and is contributing significantly to the cause.

Tigers can be protected only if the people around them find them interesting. We need to stop people from looking at tigers as a problem animal. Corporate India might change the perception of Indian youth about tigers and might also instigate in them a vigor and responsibility towards this majestic colossus. But be it the brand or the CSR or the Tiger only, we need more communication efforts for creating a brand for Indian flora and fauna making India a destination of avifauna diversity and beauty. So let’s join the cahoots with Corporate Tycoons to save and replenish the rare 1411 majestically Royal Tigers of India

My Experiences @ TYCOONS 2009!!!

“Our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would tear it apart into pieces” – they used to say….

An important day in my life made me believe that what they said was an eternal truth. Here I am sharing one such important event of my life that changed my perception, attitude for the good.

8th March, 2009-the day when I was about to fight for the regional finals of Tycoons 2009. Tycoons, a National level Leadership hunt was organized by Career Launcher, Zee Business associated by Phillips, Swatch, etc. I started off for the event from my college along with one of my seniors. It was a pleasant sojourn until I reached the venue for the event in Kolkata. Many sub rounds had preceded the Finals and I had done fairly well to cruise through the rounds and reach the finals. In the rounds that I qualified to reach the finals were fairly competitive with peers from the same background like engineering, medical, etc and most of the pell-mell from Pre-Final and final year.  So I had limned a caricature of the final event according to my experiences. But my imagination and expectation was greeted with a lagniappe of ‘coup de grace’ as soon as I entered the auditorium intended for the event. I was introduced to the participants and judges one by one and the more I met the more asinine and dumbfounded I became…..Abhirup, IIM Bangalore….Kaushik, XLRI……etc.. Judges – Regional Director, P&G, Channel Director, Zee Business, etc Gordon Bennett!!!...Am I going to compete with MBA grads from IIM’s, XLRI, etc? No way!!! I was just a neophyte in 2nd Year BTech and how can I?? Was the only question that circumfused around me at that time? I had almost made up my mind to walk back. But then suddenly I realized that rather lose than drop out. What was I to lose?? Nothing…..and even if I lost …I’ll lose from the elite. It’s still a privilege!!!...I decided that I would stand up and get counted. The event proceeded…

    

The first phase started with the GD. We were divided into groups of 15 for the GD and I was grouped with two IIM Grads, one XLRI, 3 IITians, and 4 NITians (excluding me), etc. The GD started and the venerable IIMB fellow started the GD with a flair that can ingrain a bunch of nubiles. I was scared. Scared to utter a word but somehow I managed to speak. I completed my sentence and suddenly IIMB appreciated on my point and started to elaborate on my point. It was a city moment of success. The entire dimension of the GD centered over my point and I started giving various dimensions to the GD and was in full control of my words and actions. Thankkkksss to IIMB-A great GD. Results of GD were declared and I appreciated the largesse of the Almighty as I stood first in the GD ahead of IIMB, IIMB, XLRI, IITK(in the descending order in which they were ranked, with only five of us selected) Well! Ahead of an IIM guy in life’s first GD itself. This I believe is one of my cherished victories in my life though I have bigger certificates and trophies. (Coz I also believe in the dogma that IIM’s the best)….I entered the next round and now was gung ho to settle the scores. The next round was an entertainment round, in which I performed with the karaoke of my favorite song ‘Colorblind’ by Darius. Fanatical!! They said. I cleared that round and was now up for the last nail in the coffin.  A debate with a question answer session began and my excitation escalated with each word I spoke. Finally the results were declared and I was selected as the Regional Champion Tycoons 2009. That day with the Tycoons Trophy in hand I realized that, ‘Fear is the Lengthened shadow of ignorance’.  I realized my perception of the better world is a disillusion, its infact a better me of the world. We ignore our strengths and get famished in our virtual threnody. It was a wonderful experience that changed my way of tackling challenges and understanding me. ….blimey!! What an experience I had???  ...B-)... 

My porter's Analysis!

Hi!! Recently we were a given an assignment on Porter's Five Forces Analysis of Coca Cola as an assignment at my institute National Institute of Technology, Durgapur. An unprecedented incident in a tech institute. But we Nitians can get helluva assignment for anything in this world. Bet your bottom Dollar on that,Trust Me!! 

As the legacy goes, I started my incessant search on the net for The porter Analysis but every thing i was given a lagniappe of Frustration and enervation. I was unable to get any ready made resource on it and so I started off on my own and here's aa analysis on Porter's Five forces analysis made by me and my friends in the group. I give a vignette of Porter's five forces analysis below and follow the link o view the original document. 

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The five-forces model, as developed by Micheal E. Porter, illustrates the biggest factors that may enter into the strategic decision-making process. These are, on a vertical level, suppliers andcustomers, on a horizontal level, competition fromproducts, new entrants (can also be vertical), and rivals. 

To explain the horizontal/vertical, often when you talk of  horizontal, you mean companies and products that are on the same level as you, competing for the attention of the same customers (and suppliers). Vertical relationships are those which a company depends on, either their relationship with suppliers or their relationship with customers. Each of these also operates on their own horizontal axis. The more powerful players on that level become, the more they can affect players on the other levels. 

There are different levels of importance per force, depending on the context and type of the firm. When a company is more powerful horizontally, a market-leader, even a monopolist, it does not have to worry about suppliers as much, and is perhaps able, financially, to integrate vertically, taking over some of its suppliers and/or some of the middle-men that stand between the company and its customers. Vertical integration can be important when you want to control the supply chain for some reason, e.g. to increase the level of quality of your products. It can also become important if competition on your horizontal axis is threatening or may become so in the future.  
3 examples
You can see this play out in a number of retail-situations. Apple, which is strictly focussed on design and marketing, outsources the manufacturing of most of its products, but is fairly vertically orientated towards the customer-side, doing most of its business in its retail-locations and online stores. Because of this concentration of power in the middle and proximity to the customer, it also has more power over its suppliers, able to make strong demands, and it's also better equipped to compete with horizontal players like HP or Sony, who are not as vertically integrated towards the consumer. The added benefit of a close customer-presence is also that you can use this as an opportunity to create customer-focussed products, something a lot of non-verticallly integrated players are not so good at. 

Another fascinating company is  Amazon, who spotted an opportunity to surpass brick & mortar stores, by becoming a distributor with a web-based store-front. Traditionally, the book-industry was organised as follows. A book gets printed, it then gets distributed, it then lands in a store, and then the customer buys it. Amazon integrated three of these functions: distribution, store, and customers (four, if you include ebooks into the formula). The end-result was that the customer became empowered: he could review books, even sell books second-hand. Which disempowered other stores where this was not possible, and publishers, who were before able to simply push out best-sellers downstream. Publishers are still powerful of course, essentially acting as a gatekeeper to writers, but this will change as soon as online publishing can be consumed comfortably. 

A final example is  Ikea, which is surprisingly similar to Amazon. It also started as a distributor, back in the day when a store-front was a newspaper-advert and phone-line. Ikea saved money, by working closely together with manufacturers in Poland, even building and buying machinery for them. The end-result were standardised designs, at low costs, and produced on a massive scale. It became close to the customer, by using its warehouses as store-fronts, and enabling customers to buy via catalogue and later via the web-site. Its competition was the traditional furniture store, conservative and producing designs that were both expensive and focussed on exclusivity (which translates to small-scale production). Because of this perceived strength, they were arrogant enough to not worry so much about prices on the vertical axis, both from their suppliers and for their customers. All of which could be exploited by some frugal and out-of-the-box thinking (a combo which fits surprisingly well together).

These are all three examples of durable goods. If you get into food however, even restaurants, the formula changes. But that is a story for another day.  
Be a thief
Isn't 5-forces fun? I think so. So what can we learn from this? For one, that it's important to consider strategy on multiple axes. How will a business deal with its suppliers, its customers, its competition? 

Also, it is actually a weakness to be too vertically or horizontally integrated, as that creates a certain arrogance and/or passivity towards how you deal with these parties. New entrants will eventually come, and probably on a different axis all-together. Being too integrated, means that the business has many dependancies, which will make it all that more slower to react to changes.  

What I think always pays off, is to be  close to customers. By constantly adjusting your strategy, so that the value proposition for customers is increased and personalised for them, you ensure a certain loyalty (which gives you time to change) and you can sense it sooner when their attention drifts towards other types of products. 

A final thought. Business is very much an art-form and in art there is one great saying: " Good artists copy, great artist steal." The copying refers to that everything has been done to a degree. People have sold computers, books, furniture, and those products are clearly fulfilling a demand, which, for now, continues to exist. Where people can innovate is in creating new combinations of things. In other words, if you copy a competitor's business-model, you gain only the part of the market that does not already get served by the existing business-model.

If instead you steal the good parts from other business models, and create your own combinations of these good things, you can create greater value-propositions for customers than already exist. This applies just as much to combinations of five forces, as it does for anything else"

View the Document : Click Here !!

     

The Fortune is now at the bottom of the Pyramid

“The Fortune is at the bottom of the Pyramid” a book by the Great C. K. Prahalad reminds me his words, the great ideas and the perception that this man possessed. His phenomenal concept of, ‘eradicating poverty through profits’ might seem quite simple, but a deeper insight into it might provide the occult managerial pulchritude of this venerable Guru.  But now the fortune is really at the pyramid!!. The world has celebrated the threnody of a great Fortune in the Dirge of Valediction for C.K.Pralahad. We lost the El Dorado of Management Ideas, C.K. Prahalad on 16 April 2010.

                                              

A professor at the University of Michigan, Prahalad was considered one of the top 10 management thinkers and was well known for his book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. It is this theory that many corporations are following in global emerging markets.

Born into a big family - he was one of the nine children of his parents - Prahalad joined Union Carbide after obtaining a degree in physics from the University of Madras. Later did a post graduation course at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and went to Harvard Business School for Doctor of Business Administration degree in 1975. After teaching in IIM-A he went back to the US and joined University of Michigan. He focused his research efforts on corporate strategy and consulted several global and Indian corporates.

An original thinker, Prahalad was not only able to come up with a new concept but was able to link the dots and justify his theory. Prahalad was the first recipient of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Award for contributions to management and public administration in 2000. He was also awarded the country's third highest civilian honor, the Padma Bhushan, in 2009.

Prahalad did try his hand in business and founded Praja Inc. However, he sold the company off soon after. In an interaction with IANS, Prahalad called himself as a serial entrepreneur with his reputation as his risk capital.

Prahalad authored several books like "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profit", "Competing for the Future" with Gary Hamel, "The Future of Competition" with Venkat Ramaswamy, "The New Age of Innovation" with M.S.Krishnan.

He also brought to the world's focus Madurai-based Aravind Eye Hospital's system of cataract operations.

In Prahalad's death we have lost more than we could ever appraise. We have lost one of our greatest thinkers and strategists of all time from an elite cohort.

Porn – Is Average Indian Obsessed???

Are Indians obsessed with pornography? I mean watching it and dawdling for it on the net. A debatable topic and am not being judgmental here and I neither want to degrade we Indians or pornography or people associated with it anyway. In this aspect many people confuse porn with too much sex or physical pleasure. But it is not. Sex is a divine human necessity and it has very few or no semblance in view with porn. It just cannot be juxtaposed with porn. Too much of porn may addict a person to a level of personal destruction whereas too much of sex will not, as proved by worldwide medical studies.

 

In India, though there have been certain measures from the government to estrange the Indian population from adult material, but every time there has been an increase in pornographic content over the net. Recently it found out a lethal way to block Indian adult material aficionados on internet. The Indian government banned Savita Bhabhi! Well they could not kill or impute Savita Bhabhi, they were just able to remove the website www.savitabhabhi.com (please don’t follow the link!). Hearts Crashed, Nights destroyed!

But is that enough? Does it keep the average Indian population from watching porn or accessing adult Material? Does that mean I, you and everybody is also protected against unprecedented porn materials on net? Well the answer to this question can be justified in a better way if we consider the Google way of browsing net. Google may have done quite well in foreign countries but in India the story is a bit different. The Google way of browsing net is different in the google.com than google.co.in

Exhibit 1A: Suppose a five year School Kid is interested in Hot Wheels car and is gung ho to the extent that he starts a Google search in his Mom’s Work Laptop .Suggestions that he may get when he enters “hot” in google.com

Exhibit 1B: The Same type of School Kid in India will get Suggestions of “hot” in google.co.in

Exhibit 2A: A teenager with great interest in music and particularly for the ‘blue’ band may search songs for download. Suggestions for blue he may get in google.com

Exhibit 2B: The same teenager in India will get Suggestions of “blue” in google.co.in

Exhibit 3A: Thus, Suggestions when you enter “schoolgirl” in google.com

Exhibit 3B: Suggestions when you enter “schoolgirl” in google.co.in

It’s ridiculous to see the changes when one switches from google.com to google.co.in. Therefore as we can see it’s futile to ban websites like Savita Bhabhi, etc when the above egregious situation persists with search engines. As we can see a chunk of innocent and gullible surfers can be directed to websites intended for adult pleasure and pornography. I am not against Google but against the search options. Well the people who like porn will find there way to it whatever we do but it’s the responsibility of Google and other search engines to protect the innocent chunk. Well! From the suggestions, are we obsessed with porn to such an extent that the entire net has become saturated with porn?? Let’s keep this point of moot to ourselves and have our own perception on it.  

Aman ki Aasha – A PEACEFUL LOGOMACHY

Aman Ki Aasha, an initiative of The Times of India with the Jang Group of Pakistan is laid down with a hope to strengthen the relationship ties among the people of both the countries. Peace is the best solution to ensure safety of both countries. Though there hasn’t been any gusto gesture for an armistice from Pakistan, India should continue to bandy peace largesse’s for its own betterment. Lets try to vignette a set of pros and cons that can be circumfused with the debatable and significant point of moot-' Aman Ki Aasha'.

                        

Pros:

As India is in a better position than Pakistan; we will lose more if any unalarmed act of hostility and vengeance creeps up from our neighbors.

Establishing peace can be economically beneficial to both the countries. Both the countries spend around 40 billion dollars annually on defense. But when we talk about India, in a project like The GQ (GOLDEN QUADRILATERAL ROAD PROJECT)  which is 5000 kms long and can be used forever was built for just 10 billion dollars. This shows that promoting peace can do wonders to our economy.

Both the nations are nuclear and any internecine battle can lead to massive destruction.

So India is always in a better position and its just demanding peace which doesn’t make it weaker whereas it proves that India ought be one of the most responsible and intelligent nations of the world.

Cons:

Many people across both the countries might have had a wary night after the launch of ‘Aman Ki Aasha’. They were flummoxed not by the initiative but its promoters. It was promoted by the same TOI which had negative and obscurant gestures over a friendship cricket tournament between India and Pakistan in 2004. Thus this makes the real purpose of the initiative a little skeptic and is ergo sometimes maimed as another marketing gimmick.

Peace with Pakistan? Indians are the patients and sufferers of anemia as qua suggest the actions. We have forgotten about the 26/11 attack when Pakistan had initially repudiated its involvement in the attacks but later again accepted it. But to exceed all limits, it again denies its involvement again.

Are we demanding peace or are we pardoning Pakistan blindfolding ourselves. We are even forgetting the internecine wars with Pakistan over Kashmir issue and even disrespecting the sacrifices made by our brave and competent Jawans.

Peace campaigns may open up new relations between India and Pakistan and simultaneously the Inflow and outflow of people from both the countries and thus increasing pressure over the security forces in India. Ergo any mishaps that will occur will be blamed over the innocent, vigilant and hardworking Indian Security officials.

If India goes ahead and actively participates in the peace campaign, it may simply feel like a touch me and feel me free campaign.

Conclusion: Peace is always a pertinent option for both stronger and weaker nations. But India must be vigilant that such attempts as ‘AMAN KI AASHA’ to bandy peace and goodwill should aggrandize the global respect for India and prevent other nations from taking India as granted.

A Verbatim of an inspirational Speech.

Hi People!! Exams clicking around the corner, Hopeless condition! Everything’s in a mess, you, your academics, your savoir faire, your nascent love/ crush, etc...No Desire, No confidence to succeed in the current semester. It happens with all of us but if you need any words of encouragement. Here’s a speech I recently came across that resonates on what “balance” really means in life. Hope it does for you as well…best of luck….happy reading….:-)

(Anonymous Author) “Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same.

You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.

How?

Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.

Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as they would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.

By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.

Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us to each together.

Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find time. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going.

Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.

Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.

Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.”