GliMPse - October 2010

8/8/2019 GliMPse - October 2010

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Volume 1, Issue 2 XLRI GMP Newsletter

G liM P s e

Editorial

Leave a legacy 2

Beyond the classroom... 3

Bura jo khelan main chala... 4

KAIRA 5

Ego vs. Alter Ego 1 5

Tech Talk 6

Whats hot? 6

Know your batch, mate! 7

Indian hockey 7

Pros words? 8

Testing grey cells 8

Inside this issue:

Loyola University in Chicago &IESEG in Lille.

ness and work dynamics in thehost cultures. The participatingcolleges for this year includeAsian Institute of Managementin Manila, Freeman School of business in Tulane, Fu JenCatholic university in Taiwan,Graduate School of Business

This October, GMPians of batch of 2011 will be making abeeline for the 5 colleges inFrance, Philippines, Taiwan andthe United States of Americafor the international immersionmodule, intending to get a bet-ter understanding of the busi-

XLers Xploring the world

just a few of the many thingswed remember about the firstterm, and these are sure tocontinue in the second termtoo.

Something else too happenedin first term GliMPse be-came a part of our lives. Sowithout much ado, we presentto you the 2nd edition of GliMPse. Weve added a lot of new features this timearound, and we sincerely hopeyou like them. Whether youdo or you dont, make sure

you let us know!

Looking back, we realize thatthe 1st term of GMP was in-deed a very enjoyable one.The long nights of group stud-

ies where more bakwaas hap-pened than did studies, theunending debates over coffeeat the night canteen, the groupassignments which everybodywanted to work on but no-body did until the last dayarrived, our propensity tohave fun even when the swordwas hanging over our heads,the lectures that sounded likelullabies and the ones we nev-er missed because they were

just too much fun. These are

We were not yet out of theshock (!!!) of end term exams.We were not yet back to real-ity after our trips to ourhomeland (and vacation spotsfor some). And just a day ortwo into the course, therewere emails floating aroundfor group formation for as-signments on various newcourses. Term 2 was just get-ting started

And the ghosts of the firstterm were still haunting us. Agoofed up exam, a mini pro-

ject, pending assignments andreports from the courses thatwe least paid attention to. Itdid take some time to get ridof those backlogs, didnt it?Phew.

Generations tocome will scarcebelieve that such aperson in flesh andblood ever walkedon this planet.


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It is tough to be a CXO in todays inter-connected world. You have to be ultracareful in each decision you take and thatmakes the job much more difficult. Thesolution is to define your core values andbe true to them whatever you do. Thiswas only one of the personal insightsshared by Ms Rekha Menon, COO of Ac-centure India and an XLRI alumnus, whileshe was talking to the current students of General Management Program (GMP) atXLRI, Jamshedpur.

Ms Rekha Menon, the gold medalist from1981 batch of XLRI, graduated at the timewhen women were seldom seen outsidetheir homes after 6 pm and the top re-cruiters of those times refused to hirewomen for business management func-tions. How she got successful by fightingsuch a discriminating system and still man-aging to retain her core values was aninsightful learning for the current students,especially the numerous female studentsof XLRI.

The audience was particularly enriched byMs Menons ideas on leadership qualitiesneeded for a top leader in todays corpo-rate environment. She said Since theindustry is changing at a phenomenal pace,ambidexterity and adaptive capacity of aleader is absolutely essential today. Shealso cited ability to learn from the cruci-ble and challenging events in ones life asone of the differentiating factors betweengreat leaders and the rest. However themost fundamental and defining quality of all is ones integrity and a set of othercore values which one neednt wear onthe sleeve but withhold supremely in allones actions.

This last quality is especially relevant intodays context when in addition to im-parting quality management education; it isincreasingly becoming important forBschools to teach about the value sys-tems. And thats exactly what got rein-

forced by Ms Menon today. Look at themirror hard, Think what you will beremembered for were some of the ex-pressions which threw the budding manag-

ers in introspection.

In the ensuing question and answer ses-sion, the students also sought Ms Menonsinsights increasingly relevant areas of cor-porate governance, corporate social re-sponsibility, scarcity of successful entre-preneurial ventures in India and the threatto Indian IT industry from China and LatinAmerican countries.

Ms Rekha Menon is an XLRI alumnus, andthe gold medalist from 1981 batch. Startingher career on the shopfloor of EicherGoodearth, and then moving to Ashok Ley

land, she has also served as the General Man-ager (Human Resources) with Aditi Technolo

gies. She co-founded of India's first CRM company, Talisma, in 2000, before joining Accenture in 2004. During her tenure, AccentureIndia has shown a multi-fold growth from 3000-people company to now more than57,000-strong company (and the largest Ac-centure operation globally).

Leave a legacy, says Rekha Menon

Volume 1, Issue 2 Page 2

Experiences shape you and de-fine where and how you reach

Nikunj Verma


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GliMPsePage 3

Beyond the classroom...Venu Sir: Generally in the coffee lounge werelax and share jokes.

GliMPse: What is your all-time favouritecomedy movie?Venu Sir: Srivariki premalekha (A Telugumovie)

GliMPse: What song always makes you hap-py when you hear it?Venu Sir: Shankara bharanam, Annamayya

GliMPse: What favourite food puts you in agreat mood?Venu Sir: Pessarattu

GliMPse: Cricket/football??Venu Sir: Basketball! :)

GliMPse: What was the best vacation youever had?Venu Sir: This summer we spent 7 days in ahill station - just trekking, walking andchilling out. No email, mobiles, TV, etc. Itwas in Australia - a place called Grampians,there were lots of animals like kangaroosetc. around.

GliMPse: what is the secret of 8 PM, yourmost favourite phrase in class?Venu Sir: No, no it is not about 8 PMIts actually 8 AM drink.

We had immensely enjoyed his insightfulreal life examples and subtle jokes in stoicmonotones in the marketing managementclasses in term 1. Beyond the classroom,Prof. Pingali Venugopal is an extremelysimple, down-to-earth person. We atGliMPse realized it after an informal inter-view with the professor, excerpts of whichfollow:

GliMPse: Are you a morning or night per-son?Venu Sir: Early morning, early means be-fore 6.

GliMPse: Do you believe in life on otherplanets?Venu Sir: I believe in life at heaven (if youcan call heaven that), but not on planets/aliens.

GliMPse: Your favourite celebrity??Venu Sir: Dhoni :-), It was Azhar and nowit is Dhoni. The only reason I follow Chen-nai Super Kings.

GliMPse: If you could have any superpow-er, what would it be?Venu Sir: Never imagined

GliMPse: If you could visit/live anywhere inthe world, where would you live?Venu Sir: Australia, my children are there.

GliMPse: What is the one thing that noone knows about you?Venu Sir: Myself, what i am... :)

GliMPse: Best brand / Advertisement?Venu Sir: Sleep Well (car one and ladytaking a kid)

GliMPse: If not a professor then what youwould be?Venu Sir: Marketing profession.

GliMPse: What is your favourite thing todo on a Saturday night?Venu Sir: Any night it is sleep that I loveto do... Zzzzz...

GliMPse: What were you doing the lasttime you really had a good laugh?

GliMPse: Ok Please tell us the secret of

8 AM then?Venu Sir: Every day at 8 AM I have myown special cocktail outside Jubileepark. A mixed juice of karela, neem, tulsi,amla, etc.

GliMPse: Do you have a nickname?Venu Sir: I never had a nickname duringmy childhood/college/professional days.But in XLRI I got a nickname Do youguys know about the 2x2 matrix systemfor classifying nicknames

My known name is Pingu, now you de-cide where it falls in the matrix Actuallywhen another professor R Venugopal

joined XLRI, he was nicknamed Ringu :-)

GliMPse: What made u think to come toXLRI after corporate life?Venu Sir: There were many reasons:1. Generally when you are working and alot of things are happening you tend tomiss out on many things. When I went toinstitute (IIM-A) for an MDP program Ifound that there were a lot of things that Imissed.2. There is a lot of freedom in academicsto do what you want to do. Or even if youwant to do anything or not! I can decidewhat to do here.

GliMPse: Anything to the batch / alumni?Venu Sir: Interaction between alumni andwith the institute should be regular.

Decent Indecent(!!!)

Known toFaculty

Unknown toFaculty

BhuvanSwati Ghaisas


4/9

This is my tale of plight that I had the other day. Please read the following with a bit of compassion for me all through!!!!

I had a time of my life yesterday in a TTclub here. There is this dangerous guy,who is known in the city due to his sheerTT playing abilities. He's the captain-cum-coach of the district team that we haveand often represents the state in someevents. Hes as dangerous to look at as ishis game (80-90 kg of meat stacked some-how in a skeleton frame). You didnt needto stretch your imagination too far toconceptualize how Mahishasur would havelooked. You only need to look at him andhere you are, standing in front of Mahi-shasur in blood and flesh.

You know those friends of mine, they asthey are threw a challenge on him that Iplay good TT and that Ill beat him (in thegame of TT, that is. Make no confusions).

So you know pehla game toh 21 -2 sehaar gayein (was not getting any clue of hisserves, even all my smashes flew all across,

but for the table, and on my serves hewould smash [read smack] so hard thatfive red spots would appear on my thighsand arms instantly in each round of myserves).

Then in the second game I carried on thefight up to 21-4 (the ball seemed to danceto his racquet's tune and I was left a help-less spectator to those spinning smashesand serves). That demon would grin at mewith each smash or serve of his. Believe

me, had it not been for his giant built up,he would have been a dead man by now.His biceps (which incidentally were asthick as my thigh muscles) restrained mefrom such ideas.

Anyways game three, 21-8. But by now Ihad started noticing that he was very tem-peramental and would yell at himself foreach wrong shot he played...

Well... this was my chance. It was now ornever for me. Do or die (read lie),Prashant!

I told (beguiled, lied to) him that his styleof smash delivery was totally erroneousand that he should improve upon it. Ishadow smashed few shots to demon-strate it to him. I even told him that hisbasics were totally wrong. I followed it upwith few other tips too, knowing fully wellthat he was getting irritated with each of my suggestions (how can a menial crea-ture like me teach him the basics of TT,the game in which he represents thecity??).

Well, the iron was hot, it only needed meto give it a gentle strike and I, to yourfullest of assurances, very efficiently, did itand without any mercy.

Game 4 13 -7. With the demon to

serve. The stage was all set for him toroute me with another show of his superi-ority. But hey, what are friends for?

With each smash and point that the beastrobbed of me, he was greeted with anticheers (cheers for me) and all the otherdiscouraging compliments for him like, afriend of mine yelled at him, iss se ghatiashot aaj tak nahi dekha maine? and anoth-er one adding that he only plays spin and is

a very limited player.

Perhaps this irked him and it was followedby a series of too many unforced errorsfrom him (accompanied with ear deafeningyells which threatened to crack open theglass windows of the club).

And here I was, 16-19. I was to serve. Asthe last nail to his coffin, I gestured to himto play straight which in any case he wasdoing. That soared his temperature to106oF. With hands trembling with anger,each of my four serves were greeted withmach 3 returns, but, outside the playing

area, with my friends cheering me like acraze. This took him totally off theground.

Finally I was leading, could you believeit?!!? (I couldnt). Without showing him mydisbelief of the situation, I served it to himand stood like a helpless lamb waiting forthe Martian to smack it at any place hewished it to. But God gracious, the Devilnetted the ball with all force that he had.Poor net, it met with its untimely demise

due to the ferocity of the last shot...

Could you believe it, I HAD WON... I hadwon against this beefy creature.

He could not believe it either. He stoodhis ground in sheer disbelief.

He was tasting his own medicine and me,the sweet lime soda.

Bura jo khelan main chala... Prashant Sahay

Pr ashant was the winner o f

the GMP T T mens sin g les

tour nament held on S ep 15

2010 which saw 2 4 contest -

ants fi g htin g for the champi -

onship. He says, Im the

J ack o f all tr ades, and Mas -ter o f (N )one!



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GliMPsePage 5

Ego vs. Alter Ego1

KAIRA Investments

not mess up my overall CQPI, in turn my

chances at the interview et al..

Alter-Ego: If you are assured of success inlife even before you try, will you dieyoung?

Ego: [Silence]

Alter- Ego : Why dont you pick this

course on Structured Finance?

Ego: I don't know what Structured Financeis.

Alter-Ego: But, isn't that the reason whyyou should pick this one?Ego: I might score a poor grade!

Alter-Ego: Yes, but if the prof assures thatyou will certainly pass, will you give it a

try?

Ego: I would like a better grade. I am notsure whether I would get that if I pick this.The topic already appears vague. What if itturns out to be tough?

Alter-Ego: So you want to be assured thatyou will pass and get a better grade, evenbefore you want to learn?

Ego: Well, no. But a better grade would

At the moment, the club functions as a setof Investors and Researchers, both being

coordinated by a Fund Manager.

With weekly meetings, and status updatesto be rolled out, the aim is to maintain ahigh level of transparency in the operations.

With a view to making profits, ethicallywe hasten to add, the GMP InvestmentClub Kaira Investments was launched,with much fanfare, for the first time, inGMPs history.

Kaira stands for: K(nowledge) A(nalysis) I(ntellect) R(esearch) A(lert) KAIRA.

A Greek word which means right or oppor-tune moment, which aligns with our goal of finding the right opportunity to invest in themarket and of generating profits for our inves-tors.

Kaira Investments was formed by leverag-ing the wide diversity available in the GMPbatch. The diversity is apparent in that theclub has experience in various sectors likeBanking, Pharmaceuticals, Telecom, IT andTechnology within a team of just elevenmembers. Deep knowledge of variousindustries should help the club in goodstead in diversifying its portfolio of stock investments.

With an eager bunch of students, anxiousto put Professor Senguptas and ProfessorMohantys teachings to practice, the batchcan rest assured that their moneys goinginto safe hands.

Avinash Sekar

For further details, and to invest, pleasecontact any of the members:

Ankit Arora

Aravindan J

Manoj K. Chaturvedi

Pawan Kumar

Piyush Pati

Prasad Deshpande

Ramanan Kannan

Rohit VM

Saurabh Agarwal

Shantanu Jindal

Vipin Chand

Rohit VM


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The cut throat competition among the

telecom service operators has led to se-

vere price wars bringing down the Aver-age Revenue Per User(ARPU). These have

led to operators looking for alternate

sources of revenue. Mobile value added

services (MVAS) have one been of the

primary sources among these alternatives,

contributing around 10% of their reve-

nues. The rural Indian customer segment

has not been left untouched by these

mobile VAS.

In India, many farmers have their agricul-

tural lands very far from their homes. In a

country with erratic supply, many go to

their fields and find that electricity is not

there, when they try to switch on the

motor pumps. But now with an mobile

value added service application developed

by a Pune-based company, Ossian Agro,

the farmer can dial a code from his mobile

phone to a wireless device attached to the

pump, they can remotely monitor the

electricity supply and can also switch the

motor on and off remotely. Technology is

known as Nano Ganesh, being test mar-

keted in a few villages in India with the

help of Tata Teleservices.

A mobile modem along with a mobile

phone is attached to the controls the

starter of the pump set. How it works is,once the system is deployed, a code is

given to the farmer to switch on/off the

pump set. To power on the pump set, the

farmer has to dial the number of the mo-

bile phone attached to the panel. The

availability of power is confirmed by a long

beep sound. If the availability is confirmed,

the farmer has to type in the pre-set code

to switch on the pump set and cut the call.

To power off the pump set, the farmer

has to go through the same process but

with a different pre-set code typed in.

Tata Indicom has partnered with Ossian

Agro and has been the first telecom ser-

vice provider to offer this service. Both

the mobile phones are bundled with the

offer. Calls to the mobile attached to the

pump are free and other calls are billed

according the prevailing Tata Indicom

rates.

Sports are now more than just games. It is

a huge industry that is still growing and

shows no sign of slowing down. In fact it isset to grow faster than ever before over

the next few years. Meanwhile, companies

that are not associated with some sport as

a strategic part of trade or marketing are

increasingly rare. From an economic per-

spective, the sports business moves a lot

of money and involves a large number of

sectors - from sports teams to communi-

cation and leisure agents - as well as oper-

ations related to sporting events.

Companies who invest in this sector all

seek to associate themselves with the

positive values that sporting activities

evoke. Nevertheless, the sports sector is

far from risk-free, and canny and compe-

tent managers are key factors for manag-

ing ever-increasing investments in the in-

dustry.

The ease of access via retransmissions not

only on television but also on mobile

phones or podcasts, means that sports

sponsorship will play an increasingly im-

portant role in corporate strategies, ac-

counting for a far greater share of the

marketing mix than traditional publicity.

Fast evolving global events, thriving new

infrastructure and large fan following fordiverse sports are making India a major

sports destination. Career opportunities

are extensive and varied in this rapidly-

expanding field, but there is a huge short-

age of trained professionals. Next few

years will be defining for this fast growing

industry.

Tech Talk... Pranjal ChoudhuryVolume 1, Issue 2 Page 6

Whats hot?


7/9

GliMPsePage 7

Indian hockey

Know your batch, mate!

Aint it sad

Hockey is our national gameBut look what we have doneWe have messed it up right to the core

For the naysayerIndian hockey has no hopeBut I say miracles do happenThere is always some scope!

Our hockey players must wonder

We play for the countrys honour too Then why this difference?The cricketers get croresWhile we are treated like eye sores

In the sixties we were champsBut look nowWe are treated like dirty trampsNobody seems to care

Kids say cricket is what they like

Dhoni is their hero

Dhanraj and Prabhjot?Dude who are they? And what do they play?

When India plays cricketEach ball is watched with gleeHockey is no matchPeople dont care a hoot For which player is around or who getsthe boot

Srihari: After my graduation from engineer-ing, my folks asked me "you didnt get goodgrades, you didnt get a girl, you didnt dodrugs, what the heck did you do?"

GliMPse: What is the one thing you likeabout being an adult?

Srihari: Not having to grow up?

GliMPse: What is the one thing you missabout being a kid?

Srihari: Being a kid...

GliMPse: What is the one thing you wouldchange about yourself?

You might have seen him strolling aroundalone lost in thoughts or with the group of his friends (which is probably the onlytime you might have witnessed him smile,btw).

So we at GliMPse embarked on a missionto find whether theres more to this per-son than we know. By virtue of the seri-ous mood that he has managed to main-tain about himself, not many people knowthat serious Srihari has another side of the personality that he seldom reveals.What follows is the outcome of our mis-sion:

GliMPse: Do you prefer sweet or saltyfoods?

Srihari: Sixteen years of hostel / messfood...do I care?

GliMPse: If you had a million dollars, whatwould you spend it on?

Srihari: Put it in different interest bearingannuities with multiple compounding andkeep wondering about effective annualinterest...

GliMPse: What is the one regret youhave?

Pawan Kaul

Narendran Santhanam

Srihari: Why tinker with perfection...whew.

GliMPse: What is the best band of alltime?

Srihari: My wedding band...

GliMPse: What is your favorite thing to doon a Saturday night?

Srihari: Answer questionnaires like thisone...

GliMPse: What is your first thought when

you wake up?

Srihari: Did I do something wrong??

GliMPse: What was your favorite child-hood television program?

Srihari: Giant robot...Saturday afternoonsat 1630 hrs... or was it 1700 hrs?

GliMPse: Who's the funniest person youknow?

Srihari: Sowmya... my wife... she thinks Iam funny...


8/9

Pros words? Across

1. Where statues also read nowadays (7)4. Everybody wants to give these but no-body wants them (8)7. He steals your watch and tells you thetime (10)9. She clued madly to give a time table (8)11. Sad cutesy method of teaching? (4,5)13. ? (5,2,3,4)19. Expensive, especially stocks (10)21. Something in a Baghdad user is a tea

joint (5)23. Eve spoke the first of languages withgreat anger to express a measure of risk (8)24. It's not an amateur pipe, it may betechnical or marketing (7)

Down2. Our way of having fun is by losingmemory (7)3. Can I tent at Ivey School of Business?Not sure (9)5. Do you have trust in the recess?6. Cipla Cements might sound weird, butit's what we're all working hard for (10)8. Though the name stings somehow, wewill have to complete it when the faculty

gives it to us (10)10. Writing on your desk to compareyourself with the best out there? (12)12. The only software a consultant needsto know (10)14. A deal item somehow indicates thetotal production period (4,4)15. India is better than most countries inthis aspect, a rather comic one! (8)16. I use my own paper somehow to havea strong sleep (5,3)17. Not head again is a channel to sellgoods (6)18. Confuse and bring to make a majoraspect of marketing (8)20. The one who helped define this termcould also be the one carrying your bags(7)22. A toilet might actually be the mostreadily available food in our mess (4)

How well versed are you with the terms you use in your everyday life atGMP? Answer that question by attempting this crossword. Good luck (Yeah,youll need it!).

Send your entries to:[email protected]

Narendran Santhanam

1 2

3

4 5

6

7 8

9

10

11 12

13 14

15

16

17

18

19 20

21

22 23

24

Testing grey cells...The grey cells of the GMPians were tested in a different environment on 15th Septem-ber, 2010. The occasion was the first GMP quiz. Hosted by Srihari & Anupam, the quizsaw a tight contest between the teams. Ultimately, the team of Rohit and Praveen managed to beat their close competitors and eventual runners up, Prashant and Vikash. Itwas a double treat for Prashant, as he had won the TT tournament earlier in the day!



9/9

backgrounds. They could relate the in-class learnings to the practical operationsin the plant.

Congrats

to Tarun Pandey and Anupam Alokewho made GMP proud by getting selectedto the final round of Systematics andDeloitte Case study competition hostedby SJMSOM, IIT Bombay. Finals will beheld on the Deloitte, Mumbai premises, in-front of a panel from Deloitte consulting.Winners get a PPI with Deloitte Consult-ing and cash prizes worth 25000 INR. Wewish Team GMP all the very best!!!

Industrial visit

As part of their Productions and Opera-tions Management course, the GMP team

visited industries in and around Jamshed-pur such as Tata Steel, Tata Power andTata Motors. It was a good learning expe-rience for the batch, which largely com-prises people from non-manufacturing

Whats up at GMP?

Send your suggestions to:[email protected]

[email protected]@astra.xlri.ac.in

XLRI GMP is a One year full timeMBA Program for executives with aminimum of 5 years of experience.

The batch strength is 120. Candidateshave varied backgrounds and excelledin their respective fields. Admission isthrough GMAT/XAT scores, Essays &Interviews.

G liM P se is XLRI G MPs newslet t er br in g in g you t he lat - est happenin g s at t he GMPcour se. T he cont ent in t his newslet t er r epr esent s t he t hou g ht s,int ent ions,plans or st r at e g ies of st udent s of XLRI GMP 2011 andmakes no r epr esent at ions as t o t he accur ac y, complet eness, suit abilit y or validit y of an yinf or mat ion on t his newslet t er , and will not be liable f or an yer r or s, omissions or dela ys in t his inf or - mat ion or an y losses, in jur ies or dama g es ar isin g f r om it s dis- pla y or use. T he opinions expr essed her e ar e of t he XLRI- GMP st udent s alone anddo not r ef lect t heopinions of t he inst it ut e or an y emplo yee t her eof .XLRIis not r esponsible f or t he accur ac y of an yof t heinf or mat ion supplied b y t he

st udent s.

Photo of the month By Vipin Chand

Doodled by Prashant Sahay
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1343387http://twitter.com/XLRIonlinehttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=80748519714

Documents

GliMPse - October 2010