Saturday, September 29, 2012

68th Week@XIMB

68th Week@XIMB - 23rd September to 29th September, 2012

23rd September - There was an alumnus visiting the campus who was working with Dow Agro Sciences (Dow Chemicals). I decided first not to attend his lecture because he may be endorsing and promoting Dow Chemicals. Its not the fault of individual but one has to take ethical stand on the corporate misdeeds. The viewpoint of my college differ from me but that is a sort of independence and freedom of speech one is looking for in the college. Then, I reconsidered my decision and attended the lecture to understand his point of view. It is difficult to resist the winds of change and lucrative job offers; nevertheless conviction is all that one needs to withstand the same.

Industry Talk of Mr. Amiya Kumar Bartia, National Market Development Leader, Dow Agro Sciences (Dow Chemicals)

Career Planning : There is strong need for 4-5 years of investment in field to understand the ground level working of industry. There are five stages of a student in the market : commodity, product, brand, super-brand and cult. New recruit is a commodity and M S Banga is a cult like Harley Davidson. Learning agility will set one part from fellow colleague and competitor.

1- A dichotomous question offers just two answer choices, typically in a yes/no format. A double-barreled question raises several separate issues but provides only one
set of responses.

2- There is a shift in fertilizer policy where there is now more focus on giving incentive's at farmer level. Hence, there is shift from commodity to trading system i.e. a competitive environment. In risk gain matrix, fertilizers come in low-low segment while seeds come in high-high segment. Defect is an area of improvement. Dow Agri Science focus on cotton and is new entrant in paddy. 450 rs is a labour charge in peak season for plucking of cotton.

3- Sales of Financial service and agro chemicals require a techno commercial skill while consumer goods require only commercial skills. Market development is done by field staff in agri input companies. They must have sound knowledge of product and also be more knowledgeable than farmers. A valuable lesson in rural marketing is economical does not always mean cheaper. The cash flows of consumer must be studies for designing of the product.

24th September - SCM class. US logistics costs were over 12 percent of GDP in the early 80's steadily decreasing until 2003 to 9 percent of GDP. That was achieved by focusing on reducing the their costs as well as of their supply chain partners. Currently, that can also be done in India and only 1% reduction with save $18.5 Billion US dollars at current prices - 2011.

I was selected in BASF live project. BASF is a leading Chemical Company in the world.

Objective of the Project:
• To explore the local residents’ purchase and consumption and identify the need gaps and assess perceived needs of products/services amongst the community.
• Proposal for new products/ delivery mechanisms to address the needs of the BoP customer base.
• To study the current practices and trends for rural households in following three segments : Rural Housing, Performance products for Water Treatment & Products for increasing efficiency in Storage (Increase in shelf life of stored produce,energy efficiency of warehouses).
• Identify the potential for BASF products/services in the three segments.

25th September - In the third STM lecture, we learned through various example Porter five forces.

26th September - SCM : Information sharing is required for integration of the whole supply chain. Customer relationship management (CRM),Integrated Supply Chain Management (ISCM) and Supplier relationship management (SRM) together focuses on increasing the size of pie rather than fighting over share of pie.

27th September - In 4th STM lecture, there was discussion on competitive positioning. Our faculty gave example of delayed service of Air India and Indian Airlines that affected schedule of eminent personality like Louis Kahn and I G Patel

In CBRM class, we learned about Perceptual mapping, social conformity and attitudes.

The behavior of buckling under group pressure due to the risk of social rejection is lot more common in society on the controversial issues. There can be wisdom in crowds but not always. People do this to avoid the discomfort that accompanies disagreement with the social conformity. Let us see this in given video.
Asch's Conformity


There was a prep talk by Mr. Deepak Sachude from Natueco farming science. The whole talk revolved around spiritual values and farming. I had an interaction with Shanu Prasad and Prabin Nath post prep talk. Got an insight of marketing side of Tafe and operation side of Fino. I need to learn about online auction and tender process.

28th September - There was discussion n tacit and explicit knowledge with a discussion on case study : “If Only HP Knew What HP Knows . . .”. Knowledge is created, captured and stored through bottom up approach while it is used, updated and reused in top down approach in any organization.

29th September -  I participated in CEAT Campus Compass project. This was about radial tyre industry. A good reading material was enough for us.

Industry Talk of Mr. Debaraj Behra from BRLPS.

Mr. Behra took an interactive session on the Livelihood projects undertaken by BRLPS. Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) is an independent society set up by the Government of Bihar and supported by the World Bank. Key Learning Points are mentioned below -:

1- Creation of choice in credit is one of the major development tasks required for poor.
2- BRLPS work without any subsidy hence chances of corruption is far less.
3- Affinity based SHG is formed by them. There is a Para professional chosen from the community who keeps books for the community.
4-134 signs were required for a loan of 12,000 by 3 women. This shows the bureaucratic hurdles in the financial inclusion.
5- A person can assess the credit needs, value chain, supply and demand gap by working at the ground level only.
6- Never compromise on health, integrity and dreams.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

67th Week@XIMB

67th Week@XIMB - 16th September to 22nd September, 2012

16th September - A nice and warm Sunday.

Key Learning - आचार्यात् पादमादते पादं शिष्यः स्वमेधया । पादं सब्रह्मचारिभ्यः पादं कालक्रमेण च ॥ (A student learns a quarter from teacher, a quarter from own intelligence, a quarter from fellow students, and the rest in course of time.)

17th September - SCM : Demolishing of fiscal barriers with WTO protocol helped in integrating and increasing efficiency of supply chain in the globalized world. We were suggested to read 'Quality Is Free' by Philip Crosby. My argument about core competence was demolished by Professor. Prof argued back that core competency can be acquired but it depends of economies of scale.

18th September - Get introduced to the name of Akio Morita in the first lecture of STM. We discussed in the details for the reason of ITC to venture in hotel industry from tobacco business.

CBRM- In the first CBRM Lecture, the whole introduction was based on key words like : Mind of market, Network, Preference Groups, Demographic variables, Rationality and Identity, Optimization.  There was a valid reason for choosing this elective as an insight gained from consumer behaviour will lead to the development of an effective marketing strategy that secures the loyalty of today’s discerning customer. We were suggested to watch TED talks of Rory Sutherland who stands at the center of an advertising revolution in brand identities, designing cutting-edge, interactive campaigns that blur the line between ad and entertainment. There are websites like ideas42 and thefuntheory examining human behaviour in detail.

Talk by Vinay Jaju, Founder, ONergy.

“We didn’t want to be another ‘marketer’ of solar products, but a solutions firm that meets household energy requirements" — Piyush Jaju & Vinay Jaju, Founders, ONergy

ONergy sells customised solar power solutions to rural homes in East India. Jaju brothers have been featured in recent edition of Outlook as social entrepreneurs. They have been told earlier by a leading social entrepreneur :"You will only sell if the product is sexy in the eyes of end consumer."

As per Vinay, affordable product does not mean cheap. Onergy is currently in business of decentralized distributed energy solution. Currently, an average use of family on kerosene in 7 liters a month costing 210 Rs. Hence, poor is ready to spent money on energy solution.

Key Learning : Giving consumer choice is a mark of respect. Good service lead to the endorsement of product by the customer itself. Concept of subsidy is good, the problem lies in structural design and management.

19th September - Holiday on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. Read a great quote today : “Once people said: Give me liberty or give me death. Now they say: Make me a slave, just pay me enough.” ― Todd Garlington

20th September - In the 2nd STM lecture, I learned that Japanese market had more belief in product and American market in the marketing. Suzuki guys discarded market research report prepared by Indians because of their belief in their products. We were also told anecdote of La Quinta hotels and traveling salesman. Got introduced to the concept of working capital cycle.

In CBRM, there was discussion about sensory perception and synesthesia. There is one BBC documentary : Is Seeing Believing? and two TED profiles to watch for in coming days. First is of Julian Treasure studies sound and advises businesses on how best to use it. And second is of neurologist V.S. Ramachandran looks deep into the brain’s most basic mechanisms. By working with those who have very specific mental disabilities caused by brain injury or stroke, he can map functions of the mind to physical structures of the brain.

Rob Legato: The art of creating awe


The SPICMACAY Chapter of XIMB is organizing a Rajasthani folk music (Langa) performance by Gazi Khan Mangeniar and Group.

21st September - In the first lecture of KMSDS, there was a professor who was teaching us case analysis in a solid way.

  • Objective Given, Summary of Case and Perspective View of Yours.
  • Industry ( Macro and Micro Economic View); Porter's Five Forces.
  • Organization (VMG) and (Core Competence and Organization Life Cycle).
  • Issues (Man, Machine, Money and Time Available) ( Problems and Challenges).
  • Best Fit Solutions.
  • Conclusion - Quantitative (ROI and NPV) and Qualitative (Employee, Society at Large and Policy Environment).
  • Find out Stakeholders and their objectives. (Ensure Win Win situation for everybody)We were suggested to read industry reports undertaken by consulting firms.

22nd September - XIMB claims that it does not churn out only managers; instead it aids in the holistic development of the students into responsible and aware citizens who will take up the baton of social responsibility. I looked through Vision, Mission and Values of XIMB for the first time. Even, it has always leveraged everywhere on connecting business and society. I don't see this much different from another B School. There is always a difference between words and action due to economic constraints.

Our Vision - Inspired by the Jesuits spirit of 'Magis', XIMB strives to be a premier institute globally recognized for management education, training, research, and consulting that help build a just and humane society.

Our Mission - We shall continue to be an institute with a difference by developing competent, committed and compassionate leaders through management education, knowledge generation and dissemination, capacity building, technology enabled learning and organizational development.

Our Values - 1. Integrity and Honesty 2. Respect for Individuals 3. Transparency and Accountability 4. Commitment and Dedication 5. Concern for Quality 6. Passion for Innovation and Performance 7. Social, Ecological and Ethical Sensitivity

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Sparsh: Development in a Trimester of rural management - 4...

Sparsh: Development in a Trimester of rural management - 4...: An IRMA Prof. Arunathan always ask a very profound question on poor and rural managers : “Why we are here and why they are there? ” There ...

Saturday, September 15, 2012

66th Week@XIMB

66th Week@XIMB - 09th September to 15th September, 2012

09th September - Nothing of importance happened today in my life. Yet, I was sad. There was demise of a great figure among the community of rural managers. Father of White Revolution, Verghese Kurien was no more with us.

10th September - There is great article paying tribute to Dr Verghese Kurien - Inspiration to a Rural Manager. Dr. Kurien is being limited by media as a man who has created Amul, the Brand of India. His contribution is much more than forming brand Amul. He created a legacy in successfully running cooperative and never succumbing to political pressure. This becomes more outshining in the context of failure of cooperative movement in India.

I was reading QRM in detail for exam. There were great revelation because I had not taken interest in the elective course from start. I got few facts right from a research paper of Fekede Tuli -

1- The quantitative purists articulate assumptions that are consistent with what is commonly called positivist paradigm and believe that social observations should be treated as entities in much the same way that physical scientists treat physical phenomena. To the contrary, the qualitative purist also called interprativist or constructivist by rejecting the positivist assumption contended that reality is subjective, multiple and socially constructed by its participants (Krauss,2005; Bryman, 1984;  Lincoln & Guba 2000; Guba and Lincoln, 1994; Amare, 2004).

2- Positivism is based on the assumption that there are universal laws that govern social events, and uncovering these laws enables researchers to describe, predict, and control social phenomena. Interpretive research, in contrast, seeks to understand values, beliefs, and meanings of social phenomena, thereby obtaining a deep and sympathetic understanding of human cultural activities and experiences.

11th September - ESM and QRM paper were over today. I came to know about Sanjay Ghouse whose mission in his own words “To change the world and make a difference in the lives of the ordinary people”. He is a real inspiration for all of us rural managers.

12th September - CM exam was the last paper. I read about producer companies in detail : Resource Handbook For establishing a Producer Company.

13th September - This is the last day of 4th Trimester.

Let us start with a great line by Peter F Drucker in the "The Practice of Management" first published in 1955.

"No greater damage could be done to our economy or to our society than to attempt to professionalize management by licensing managers, for instance, or by limiting access to management to people with a special academic degree."

Following are his arguments in support of the view:

1. A degree in management does not by itself make an individual a professional manager any more than does a degree in philosophy make an individual philosopher. The essence of professional management is achievement, not knowledge; results not logic. By insisting on holding a degree, we are overemphasising knoledge and completely overlooking skill. This will eliminated those who individuals who, though highly skilled, do not have reqired degree.

2. People once certified as professionals on the basis of their academic degrees would always remain professionals, despite their knowledge becoming obsolete in later years.

14th September - New trimester and new promises. Yet day gone in completing backlog of assignments and submitting fees. There was no coordination between administration and finance. 13th Sept was the last date of fees submission and that coincided with the exam schedule.

15th September - AMDA, QRM and ESM assignments were completed today. There deadlines were within 3 hours.

The Story of Agriculture and the Green Economy

The future of our world depends on addressing global challenges now. We need to create sustainable livelihoods, feed a growing population and safeguard the environment. We need to make the global economy green.