Fortune Cookies_Volume 7_Edition 5

Volume 7, Edition 5, May 16-31, 2011 April 1-15, 2011

Editor’s Note

Faculty Spotlight Where brevity is the soul of wit and verbose literature fails Whoever said Finance Professors talk only numbers and count only money! For all those who believed that Finance and hotbloodedness went hand-inhand, here’s news! At FIIB, Prof Hemant K. Kaushik talks about seeking and serving God

FIIB’s got tweetitude!

One might argue but its not true that the faculty eagerly look forward to working in the campus without the usual student pandemonium that they get attuned to, for nearly ten months of the year! Except a few visits by small student gangs, the campus has continued to remain an unusual hub of peace and quiet.

In the meantime, some members of the FIIB faculty stepped out and made some good noise. Prof Vivek Kumar conducted an MDP for executives of a company and Dr Sunita Chugh was at Hyderabad to attend an experiential program on Appreciative Inquiry.

Prof Hemant K. Kaushik, Assistant Professor, Finance

Keeping pace with the changing times, Fortune Cookies is now hosted on http://blog.fiib.edu.in/?cat=9. Yes, its connected to our blog through our website. Also, the FIIB twitter page http://twitter.com/fiibindia is hyperactive.

Join the buzz.

- Sindhu Kaushik

and counts his blessings through little but significant deeds of charity. His staunch faith in God and passion towards his work are hand in glove. And most importantly, his concerted efforts directed towards achieving inner peace and harmony are steadfast and sincere. His soul-searching paths lead to charitable activities and spiritual engagements. Discover the unknown facet of FIIBs Finance Professor, through his tête-à-tête with Sindhu Kaushik.

Prof S

SK: What are your interests besides Finance?

HKK: The interest is very spiritual. I am constantly tuning myself to seek and serve God in as many ways as possible, through as many activities as possible, that lead me to attaining this goal.

SK: If not Finance, would you have chosen another stream for your specialisation?

HKK: I think it would have been a related field or perhaps something to do with computers. I would have pursued my Masters in Computer Applications.

SK: Where do you spend most of your time, when not at work?

HKK: I enjoy reading. I pick up anything that interests me – ranging from philosophy and spirituality to academic books based on my field of expertise. I also like spending time in charitable activities.

SK: How has your experience at FIIB been so far?

HKK: FIIB has been a very nice experience so far. Earlier, the faculty members were seated in individual rooms on different floors and therefore, there was very little interaction amongst us. But now, we have all shifted to the third floor and share the hall. It has helped us in co-ordinating with one another more effectively. I would particularly say this of the finance faculty – our interaction is much smoother for us now.

SK: What would you say is the most exciting part of FIIB? HKK: The most challenging or interesting part at FIIB is that there are great opportunities to perform to the best of one’s abilities. I want to give it my best here and at the same time retain my calmness. In addition, I think the campus and infrastructure is very appealing.

FIIB’s twitteratti

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The way necessity and materialism are the parents of invention, curiosity is the mother of research!

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Sindhu Kaushik: You seem to be a very quiet person. When can we catch you off guard?

Prof Hemant K. Kaushik: According to me, being quiet is good. It is the antidote of stress and worry. As far as possible, I try to live in harmony within myself. Earlier, I used to get angry very often and lose my temper many a time but now, if someone speaks to me in a hurtful manner, I choose to remain quiet. Silence, I think is sometimes the best answer to most issues. You may catch me off guard at home.

Follow us on the FIIB twitter page on www.twitter.com/fiibindia and get into the holy act of tweeting today! Tantalizing top tweets on the page will be featured in this space! So, are you tweeteractive?

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Volume 7, Edition 5, May 16-31, 2011

FIIB Outside Campus Dr Sunita Chugh, Senior Professor, HR at Hyderabad for an Experiential Program

Dr Sunita Chugh At MDI, Gurgaon Dr Sunita Chugh, Senior Professor, HR, conducted a session at the Training Programme on ‘Gender Issues in Human Resources Development for Women Scientists/ Technologists’ on May 12, 2011, organised by Management Development Institute, Gurgaon.

Dr Sunita Chugh, Senior Professor, HR, FIIB, attended a two-day experiential program titled ‘Experiencing and Learning Appreciative Inquiry’ on May 9-10, 2011 in Hyderabad. This two day program was aimed at providing a personal, deeply meaningful experience of ‘Appreciative Inquiry.’ The basic approach of AI is to leverage strength and accentuate the individual potential; it helps build organizations around what works, rather than focus on ‘what’s broken’.

AI has been extensively used in recent decades to foster change at individual, interpersonal and organizational level. It has been used across the world by several leaders and organizations making this methodology the fulcrum of renewal & growth.

Dr Sunita Chugh

Participants aimed to develop knowledge about AI; understand its practice/ application through experience and explore several case studies from the field. They were also exposed to the tools & techniques developed for using AI for individual and the organizational transformation. Besides understanding the theoretical underpinnings and the emerging neurological and emotional understanding, the participants developed a natural propensity to move away from ‘need to improve’ reactive mindset to building proactive and ‘strength based’ approach; their discovery about themselves helped them replace the gap-finding or weakness/limitation based approach to a more strength based approach and appreciation and building on strengths. Speaking about the programme, Dr Chugh says, “AI to me simply means to suspend all assumptions and inquire into an issue appreciatively, recognizing and acknowledging the person within the issue. I have been practicing the knowledge of AI as a tool embedded in positive psychology.

What I discovered for myself is amazing: • Openness of mind and heart in any and every inquiry is possible.

• How to bring it into an organization without treating it like a OD technique, but more a philosophy and approach and thereafter a tool or a language.

• AI can be applied so much to home, parenting and in all relationships.”

Taking into consideration the ‘Component Plan’ of the Ninth Plan, which seeks to empower women as one of its main objectives, this training program was envisaged. The program was specifically designed to increase awareness about gender issues, provide tools for self-empowerment, etc. An integrated approach was designed to understand a gamut of gender issues in Human Resource Development.

The five day training program was envisaged to engaged participants through a series of activities, exercises, simulations and games. All the activities were aimed at deriving some learning and facilitating the understanding of Gender issues in Human Resource Development for women Scientists and Technologists.

Prof Vivek Kumar, Senior Professor, Quatitative Techniques and Operations Research conducted an MDP for Executives Prof Vivek Kumar, Chairperson, MDP, conducted an In-House MDP for the executives of M/s Wintech Engineers Private Limited, Naraina, New Delhi on May 7 & 8, 2011. A total of 16 participants were present and the programme was tailor-made to meet their needs. The program was very well appreciated by the team as well as the Managing Director of the Company.

Prof Vivek Kumar

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Volume 7, Edition 5, May 16-31,2011 2011 March

FDP at FIIB, An Account By Prof Swanand Deodhar Humans have always been captivated by the enigmatic ways of nature. To quench this curiosity, they have indulged in ways of science that represent an avenue to develop knowledge that can be claimed to be true with a certain guarantee. However, when a phenomenon involves actors that are not inert but have their own (and highly evolved) cognitive competencies, studies become that much more complicated.

Not only the researcher but the subjects themselves play a role in the entire research endeavor. Under such circumstances, one may need to look beyond the erstwhile dominant, objective stance assumed in study of nature. It was on these grounds that Prof. Rajen K. Gupta, one of the most celebrated management researchers in India, delivered a session on understanding different paradigms of management research and how they embrace the taboo of subjectivity. This session was held on 13th May, 2011 as a part of the on going Faculty Development Program (FDP) at Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB), New Delhi.

Prof. Gupta started his session with an evolutionary overview of emergence of such paradigms. As stated by Prof. Gupta, it was in biological sciences where the studies focused on living matter, a need was felt to look at any phenomenon/entity holistically.

Prof Rajen K. Gupta, an accomplished Researcher from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, delivered a session on ‘Understanding Different Paradigms of Management Research and How They Embrace the Taboo of Subjectivity’ as a part of the Faculty Development Program at FIIB The rationale behind this argument was that any entity as a whole is more than the sum of its parts. Thus, first paradigm shift happened when researchers moved from a reductionist, analytical stance (any phenomenon can be studied as a collection of variables) to a systems approach (any phenomenon is more than the sum of its parts and hence must be studied holistically).

The second paradigm shift, as stated by Prof. Gupta, happened when it was acknowledged that a researcher cannot ‘play God’ and his/her cognitive biases will have a bearing on the research. Once it was accepted, the research fraternities looked to identify ways to acknowledge researcher as a part of the phenomenon. Thus was born the actor’s approach (also known as interpretive approach) where a researcher is as important as the phenomenon itself.

System and interpretive approaches negate a notion of universal truth as the ultimate goal of any scholarly pursuit. Rather, any phenomenon can be understood in itself without an attempt to make generalization. As concluded by Prof. Gupta such shifts do not diminish the importance of existing paradigms. Instead, such shifts only further the methodological avenues for making a wider range of management phenomena, a bit less enigmatic.

- Prof Swanand Deodhar, IMS Prof Poornima Gupta

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Volume 7, Edition 5, May 16-31, 2011

Favourite Hide-out in FIIB: Fourth Floor Favourite FIIB moment: Samavesh ’11 Favourite Business Icon: Anil Ambani Best job in the world: Anything that is satisfactory!

Worst Sales Strategy: Selling black shirts to Govinda The bitter truth about this world: Corruption Management mantra: To believe in today All I dream of is… Being an entrepreneur MBA is all about… Managing one’s self Everything is fair when… You are good

Rajat Bharadwaj Demystified!

2010-’12

From the Students

Caught FIIB-ians dead in the act!

Siddharth Sinha, Piyush Gupta and Shiva Talwar at a play at FIIB. Fortune Cookies fished out some funky pics of FIIB-ians from Facebook to make this page, dedicated to students, all the more special!

What the Whack!

Einstein dies and goes to heaven only to be informed that his room is not yet ready. "I hope you will not mind waiting in a dormitory. We are very sorry, but it's the best we can do and you will have to share the room with others," he is told by the doorman.

Einstein says that this is no problem at all and that there is no need to make such a great fuss. So the doorman leads him to the dorm. They enter and Albert is introduced to all of the present inhabitants. "See, Here is your first room mate. He has an IQ of 180!"

"Why that's wonderful!" Says Albert. "We can discuss mathematics!"

"And here is your second room mate. His IQ is 150!"

"Why that's wonderful!" Says Albert. "We can discuss physics!"

"And here is your third room mate. His IQ is 100!"

"That Wonderful! We can discuss the latest plays at the theater!"

Just then another man moves out to capture Albert's hand and shake it. "I'm your last room mate and I'm sorry, but my IQ is only 80."

Albert smiles back at him and says, "So, where do you think interest rates are headed?"

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