Adios and keep in touch

Met a few folk from the MKTR class who're through with their placements. Congratulations, again.

There're also folk going entrepreneurial. My renewed congrats and good luck wishes to them.

Kindly keep in touch. Should any interesting business problem arise that has a data+modeling angle to it, kindly feel extremely free to sound me out. Am not saying I can solve it or otherwise help a great deal, but just that it wouldn't hurt to explore possibilities to mutual benefit.

There're also folks who are still in the job mkt. I've been there, done that. Can be a trying time. Don't lose heart, ever. Easier said than done, I know. Its no secret that entry level openings are always going to be much more abundant than experienced/lateral level ones. And a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

Overall, I'd be extremely glad if anything you might have picked up in MKTR actually helps you out in the field. I'd very much like to hear from you if it does - would fill this great need for real-life Indian cases where MKTR was applied and worked. In any case, MKTR was also more about a way of thinking/reasoning than about some set of specialized analysis techniques. IMHO, of course.

As Alums, should you return to campus and I am around, would be nice if you could drop by just to say Hello and how you're doing and what all you've been upto since leaving campus.

Chalo, post's gotten too long already. HEck, I don;t even know if anybody visits this blog anymore. For sure, I myself ought to visit and post more often.

-Sudhir

Good luck for the placements push

A tad late in posting this.

But we fac have had to clear out of our office the past two weekends and again the coming weekend to accomodate the rush of employers matchmaking with ISB grads.

A Hajaar goodluck and bon voyage for the future. Hope you get the jobs you've always liked and wanted.

Am hearing good things about the placement this year. Esp compared to the dismal 2009 season.

Met a couple of MKTR students who have job offers in hand. Good show, folks.

Chalo, signing off for now. Good luck.

New Year Greetings

A HaJaAr HaPpY & PrOsPeRoUs NeW YeAr.

Good luck on placements and for success in the wider world beyond campus.

Jai Ho.

Sudhir

India's Shining Decade

Surjit Bhalla, among my faorite economic columnists hits the ball out of the ballpark with this wonderful piece here in the Biz Std. link

Aaj ka must-read. Some select excerpts:

Two key conclusions emerge about Indian GDP growth. First, that this growth is now at a plateau level of 8-9 per cent. Second, that very soon, analysts and punters will have to change their Word documents to “India is the fastest growing economy in the world” rather than, “excepting China, India is the fastest growing economy”.

There are three separate reasons for this, all of which have been outlined numerous times before in these columns (and a detailed assessment was provided in Bhalla-2007*). The reasons refer to the broad determinants of economic growth — capital, labour and productivity. On the first, India is investing at the same rate as China (approximately 40 per cent of GDP), on the second, India’s labour force growth is about 1.8 per cent per year faster than China, and on the third, China has outpaced India by about 2 per cent per annum (for the last five years). Most of this outpacing has had to do with the deep and deeper currency undervaluation practised by the Chinese authorities which led to two unsatisfactory outcomes: the great financial crisis of 2008, and now the largest and fastest growing polluter of the world.

There's more:

I realise I am going out on a limb, because no one has even dared to project India to grow at even the same rate as China — and I am saying that India exceeds the China growth rate as early as 2010 (as it happens, this is the exact year forecast in Bhalla-2007). But I have good fortune on my side — my forecast of 8 per cent plus for Indian GDP growth for 2009-10 (made on April 18, 2009, “V–shape of things to come”, Business Standard) got an “endorsement” from India’s Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee when he claimed a few days ago that India’s growth could top 8 per cent this fiscal year.

What Indian policy-makers have not realised, and their counterparts around the world, especially China, do recognise, is that what international organisations say affects perceptions of the world, and affects our own negotiating positions. Take for example the assessment of poverty in India. We keep coming out with poverty lines and expert committee reports whose only terms of reference is to increase the rate or poverty to somewhere around 80-90 per cent (why they don’t reach 99 per cent poor is a mystery). China, on the other hand, refuses to let the Asian Development Bank even mention the word China in its poverty assessment report for all of Asia (presumably, China is situated in Europe). China does not ask for money for climate control, and Jairam Ramesh gets berated for sacrificing India’s interests by not begging for more aid.

Read it all.

FMCG 'dream choice' for fresh MBA graduates

I know, sounds a tad surprising but that's what this AC NIelsen survey seems to be saying.Link to biz std article is here.

The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector has emerged as the industry of choice for this year’s management graduates.

According to Nielsen Campus Track B-school Survey, 44 per cent of students graduating in 2010 voted FMCG sector as their most preferred industry. Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Procter & Gamble (P&G) emerged the ‘dream companies’ for students.

FMCG also tops the ‘industry of future’ list. Other industries preferred are management consulting, foreign banks, entertainment and media, and Software, IT Consultancy/ IT Services.

Aha. But are these grads from the top institutes? How representative is the sample of the top B schools in the country?

The average salary expectation of students from their dream company has notched up a few decimals to Rs 14.6 lakh this year against Rs 14 lakh last year. Student’s perception of players in the FMCG industry has changed over the years inching closer and closer to the traditional leaders, Consultancy. While certain key Consultant companies still dominate campus recruitments, as an industry, most FMCG players have gained in perception over last year. The other industry that has shown a significant movement in preference is media industry.

Well, the avg sal fig certainly suggests a top level B school popn, doesn't it?

“The security that FMCG sector provides forms a major attraction for the graduating batch. However, the affects of economic downturn can still be seen as three out of every four students feels that recession is going to affect their final placements,” said Shaveta Bhardwaj, Associate Director Client Solutions, The Nielsen Company.

Among factors cited for driving their decision to choose a company, good job prospects topped the list with 69 per cent votes. Other factors that are critical for students in their selection of a company are high degree of independence, good market standing and good salary package, job content, and a good take-home salary.

Whence dreams of World City??

Have been more enthu and optimistic than most about the possibilities and prospects for India and Indians in the emerging brave new economic world.

However, events compel me to curb my enthusiasm. I must now add a rider to my optimism. The possibilities arise only if we are able to manage our social divisions well. Else, like was sometimes said of Brazil till a few yrs ago:

"Ours may forever remain a country with potential"

OK, so what's sparking this latest round of doubt and gloom? Sample this:

Hyderabad's Image takes a beating

The continuing political uncertainty and agitations across the State following the UPA Government's announcement on the issue of statehood for Telangana has even cast its shadow on an Indo-US scientific meet in Hyderabad.

Four top US scientists working in the area of genomics and nearly 50 Indian researchers from outside the State pulled out of the three-day, Indo-US workshop that began here today, due mainly to the fallout of the Telangana issue.

With the IT, hospitality, realty and travel sectors increasingly feeling the impact with each passing day, the issue threatens to dent Hyderabad's image as a favoured destination for meetings and academic activity, feel industry insiders.

Using the classic hyderabadi expression for exasperation....

kya-hai-ki!!

Course Feedback Happened

Came in from the ASA.

Colleagues and friends had warned me some of it could be nasty. And true to form, some of it was.

Sobering? Yes. Bruising? Not quite. Best to quote Nietsche here:

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

And the the experience of teaching a 4-section ISB course did make me 'stronger' in many ways. Have a slightly thicker skin now, a slightly colder heart, a less excitable (more numb?) demeanor. And importantly, a significantly better ability to distinguish signal from noise. I now realize I took a lot of noise far too seriously during the course. Won't happen again, tauba tauba. Like I said, "The first time is always special". Doesn't mean it has to be 100% nice to be memorable.

Some of the feedback I got was constructive and instructive. Thanks to those who took the trouble. The following I have already decided to incorporate:

1. Quite a few folks said "Cut down on course breadth and increase course depth." I totally agree. Specifically, will drop Conjoint and MDS from the syllabus. Will upgrade Model-building and regression analysis to full-lectures each.

2. Others wanted "More applied and less theory".
I agree with qualifications. Specifically, will make use of ready-made datasets - the ice-=cream questionnaire cum dataset, the beer dataset for secondary analysis and now, the car dataset + questionnaire as well. Applied and hands-on will be taken care of.

3. Then, folks have said "Project needs to be shorter in scope and longer in duration."
Fair enough. Will happen. Phase I starts in week 1 itself. Phase II in week 2-3. Will attempt to provide structured, step-by-step guidance in every phase. That way, scope is streamlined, efforts are more focused and in general, everything is peachy. Also, peer eval will be built in from the beginning. The project next year will be on "understanding metro consumer attitudes and shopping habits regarding modern/organized retail".

4. Shall remove the quizzes. Replaced with individual, take-home assignments based on the datasets.

5. "Resolve software issues before the course". Sure. Will dump SPSS, give up on R, and go with MEXL (and Excel throughout).

6. "Use less of email."
Yes. Sorry about this time, I guess. Will make the blog 'compulsory' as opposed to 'optional', this time. All the lectures and datasets are now ready more or less. So, less need for last emailing.

Sudhir

P.S.
Last but not least, might as well address some of the thornier criticism that arose (and was still within the realm of civility):

Some grandly wrote "None" when asked for "value/learning from the course". Thanks but no thanks. People had the option of opting out, 'twas an elective after all. Should have exercised the option then, IMHO.

A couple of others asked, (rhetorically perhaps?), of why students should be asked to taking a chance with new instructors. Good question. My answer is for the same reason customers of companies in industry will take a chance with newly minted MBAs -i.e. you - managing firm resources. Bottomline, Everyone starts somewhere. Also, tying in with the earlier question, there's a reason why rookie instructors are given electives - with a built in prior syllabus, sampling, and opt-out option - to first learn, apply and prove themselves with and only the more experienced and senior instructors handle 'core' courses.

A few others complained that "he never takes a stand about ANYTHING". Well, welcome to the real world, I'd say. Better to know how to handle nuance and complexity. The age of knowns and certitudes is passing. Little if anything can be taken for granted anymore. What would you rather have - the complex truth or a simple certitude that doesn't correspond to reality? Reminds me of Morpheus asking Neo -

"You can take the Red pill. Or you can take the Blue pill. The choice is yours, Neo."

Well, by self-selecting into one of the most demanding MBA programs in this part of the world, seems to me, you had already made that choice - the red pill. And IMHO, you knew what you were getting into - preparation for the real world. And that is a courageous thing to do - to choose reality as it is over make-believe. Let me quote Jack Welch here:

"Take control of your destiny.
Or someone else will."

You are all red pill choosers. The kind who believe in action. Karmayogis.
ATB for the future.