Off to canada for II

>less than 24 hours remaining.. and we all will be flying to Canada for the international immersion program at McGill university (http://www.mcgill.ca/desautels/academic/). going by the experience shared by our previous batch, this should be a unique experience full of fun. and yes, not to forget that we are going to complete two credit courses on managing innovations and international finance while we are there in Montreal.

if i look back now over the last three months which we have spent in the campus, a mix bag of feelings is waiting to be opened.. we all joined this course with hopes n dreams in our eyes, trying to sideline that ever compelling feeling of anxiety because of the bad state of the global economy and its impact on Indian b-schools and their placements..

a glance at the class of 2010 and we can proudly say that we have people from diverse backgrounds like army, merchant navy, bureaucrats, public sectors, merchandising and... and how can we forget the most common species found in the b-schools all over the world.. IIM(Indian IT Male)

we finished two gruelling terms.. got a solid dose of 4P's to betas, motivational theories to euro dollars, hypothesis tests to npv, capacity plannings to spanish n french... gosh never ever before in my life have i been bombarded with so many drastically diverse things at one go.. and guess what. we already wrote two term exams in three months after digesting all the above fundas...

we had opportunity to hear some of the industry leaders in the leadership talk series.. list includes the likes of Mr. Mukesh Aghi(ceo of steria), Mr Shubhinder Singh(md of reebok), Dr. Praneet Kumar(md of fortis), Mr. S. Udupa(hr head of pwc), Mr. S. Maitra(ed of maruti). we have several other leadership talks lined up once we are back from Canada...

Moments

>The boat was named the maid of the mist..
People were gushing to latch on to the side of the boat.In fact it was a bright sunny day.
Cud hear the thud of the water at a distance.The people on the boat were probably from all part of the world .
As the boat moved on ,there was a sense of joy in me.like that of child opening the gift he got.Yeah something in us never grows-up...
The water was turbulent and as the boat moved closer the air was getting increasingly misty.Cud see why it was the maid of the mist .
Standing at the bow end,I cud see it slowing unfolding ...
The great ...The beautiful..the magnificient.... Niagara falls

The boat went straight into her heart.
There i felt that the time stopped ...
Only the whitish,greenish,bluish,creamish water flowed...
I cud see the rainbow appearing and greeting our world...
It was a microcosm...
the life was so beautiful...

as they say...
Life is not about the amount of breaths you take...its about the moments that take your breath away!...

One of the greatest moments in our otherwise gruelling international module.

End of Term 3

>Term 3 has ended and after a long pause, I’m back again… this term (like the previous ones!!) went past in a jiffy.. besides learning about Beta (β), options, futures, comparative advantages leading to global trade etc and having deliberated at length on whether Starbucks is selling ‘experience or coffee’ during our strategic management sessions, this term really brought us face to face with the nuances of top leadership.

We had lively discussions with some of the leading figures in the Indian industry including Mr. Jayant Bhuyan, CEO of India Brand Equity Foundation, Ms. Purva Misra, HR Head (APAC) Hewitt Associates, Mr. Rajeev Karwal, Founder & CEO Milagrow, Mr. Mohan Krishnan, SVP IMRB Intl and Mr. Vivek Sharma – India Head ST Microelectronics.

We also had interesting session with visiting students from Georgetown University, Washington (http://www.mbauniverse.com/archivedArticle.php?id=ne&pageId=1347 )

In all this, we managed to squeeze in a table-tennis tournament (in which your’s only came out runners-up in both the singles and doubles version :-) )

The next term at McGill University in Montreal promises to be even better…I am eagerly awaiting to listen to Prof. Henry Mintzberg who seems to have some interesting views on inexperienced MBAs!!

Dash of gold..

>Something very ordinary,
not at all special,
monotonous .. normal.. conventional and dull,
Sitting besides the weaver I watched,
An art of weaving of cloth.
Time moved with noise of the loom,
and moved along the strings.
Different threads of different shades,
dark, bright, placid and fades.
One after another moved here and there,
which the weaver moved skillfully, with care.
Then a moment came for breaking the routine,
Playing the trump .. bringing in the queen.
Weaver picks up the string of gold,
And from one end of the loom it rolled.
Sparkling it held all the strings,
Beauty of life.. joy of spring.
As it moved along it left a mark,
Beautiful, deep, glittering and dark.
Every moment had so much to hold,
Background of colors and a dash of gold.

Crossing the Rubicon...

>Is life a journey or is it a set of events interspersed with pauses..?
As in any decision probably it depends..!It can be a journey if the past lingers with you,the present seems like a small period and the future is a big touch screen of possibilities..
I always loved those moments of sipping the black coffee while sitting in the armchair watching the monsoon rain through the window...
Through the journey of life moments come when you pause ..and think where am I headed..?
Pause.....i am now at IPMX....I came to know I have incurred 'sunk' costs..
In this journey of brute rigour came a pause...
I am listening to Rajiv Kerwal CEO Milagrow (Leadership Talk series )...few thoughts that seeped in..
An entrepreneur .... need to have only Plan A ..!
why ethics may be central to self..
why society needs you badly...

this thoughts have dropped a penny and created a few ripples in my mind..
is life a journey or a set of pauses..?
....I only know that i have crossed the rubicon...

India's Religious Tourism Market

A few of us took a weekend trip to Agra to unwind between the semesters. On the return trip from Agra to Delhi, at the insistence of some of the accompanying friends, we made a short stop visit to Mathura and Vrindavan - two amongst some of the most sacred sites of Hinduism. The main temples at both places were very well built, elaborately designed and decorated structures. The crowds consisted mostly of rural populace submerged in deep devotion and oblivious of the basic substandard tourist facilities around them. The crowds kept pouring and swelling non-stop. Looking around I wondered how much money this not-so well-off population was spending on this and similar religious trips. Was there a clear religious market segment and were the religious institutions knowingly positioning their product (the specific deity, the associated mythology, the religious structures and the overall experience) to target the appropriate customer. What was India’s religious market worth?

I am not sure yet if there is any scientifically planned and executed segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) strategy by the religious institutions. It however is very clear that clever planners in many of these institutions have indeed taken several steps (often ad-hoc) to make their product more appealing in general. They have built the aura and helped fan the mythological reverence of the presiding deity at many of these places.

As for the religious market and its size, I did some digging around. What I found was that according to the Indian ministry of tourism (MoT), the domestic tourist (72% religious) stats along with foreign tourist stats showed a phenomenal growth in 2007. On the domestic front, the figure in 2008 is expected to cross the 600-million mark, against 526 million in 2007 and 460 million in 2006. Interestingly, out of the 526 million domestic tourists, only 276 million were urban residents and the rest 250 million were rural residents. This, I feel, clearly shows the presence of the religious market segment and its market size. The trend also points to a boom in religious tourism and provides religious organizations, leading tour and travel companies the incentive to improve tourist facilities and adopt new strategies for marketing and execution.

Leadership Interaction Series

Posting from an article that appeared in pagalguy.com today on the interaction of IPMX participants with Dr Yashovardhan Verma, Director - HR, LG Electronics India
(http://www.pagalguy.com/index.php?categoryid=44&p2_articleid=1283)
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IPMX students at IIM-Ls Noida campus interact with HR Director - LG Electronics
By PaGaLGuY News ServicePublished: July 8, 2008

Leveraging the strategic location of NCR, Indian Institute of Management Lucknow - Noida campus initiated a ‘Leadership Interaction Series’ for the participants of International Programme in Management for Executives (IPMX). As part of series, the participants of the IPMX got an opportunity to interact with business leaders, discuss various strategic issues confronting global organizations at senior management level and learn from the thoughts & experiences of the distinguished speakers.

The participants of IPMX had an opportunity to interact with Dr Yashovardhan Verma, Director - HR, LG Electronics India. Dr Verma provided key insights and ring side view of the challenges and drivers of the senior management in a global organization. Dr Verma stressed upon the importance of innovation by pointing that, “Excellence of today is obsolesce of tomorrow”. He emphasized the significance of empowering the lower level employees in an organization that could result in ideas and solutions not thought of before. Introducing the concept of 360 degree leadership Dr Verma emphasized the importance of influencing without necessarily being in a position of formal authority.With reference to the increasing globalization of business, Dr Verma spoke about the challenges faced in integrating the different cultures and possible strategies to overcome the same. He also mentioned that while the skills & knowledge levels of most organizations are almost the same, the key differentiator of current business leaders is their agility & speed of execution.

About IPMX
IPMX is a full time, one-year residential executive management programme being conducted at IIM Lucknow - Noida campus and is designed for mid/senior level professionals, to prepare them for leadership roles. The programme aims to accelerate understanding of business at functional and strategic levels, and prepare students to manage enterprises engaged in global business. The class of IPMX 2008-09 includes 45 leads and middle level managers from diverse industries such as FMCGs, Financial Services, Government Services, Information Technology, Management Consultancy, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Projects/Construction, Shipping, Telecom, Automotive and Instrumentation. The class profile has an average GMAT of 701, age of 32 years and work experience of 9.5 years.
Website: http://www.iimlnc.ac.in/ipmx.php
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