HOD’S MESSAGE
Dear Readers, Greetings from Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay! The first decade of the 21st century was a time of unprecedented change for India.When the world was overwhelmed by economic gloom, India Prof. Karuna Jain stood firm as a buoyant economy.This can be attributed to our ability to quickly adapt to changing time and envision the future.There is no denying the fact that leadership is inseparable to mankind. A world without leaders is like a world without any hopes. Given the dynamic nature of global business environment, Leaders are required in every organization. The Code of Conduct for the School has been derived from ASPIRE, which is Accountability, Sincerity, Passion, Integrity, Respect and Ethics. The objective behind establishing a Management School within IIT Bombay was to transform professionals with technological background to ‘renaissance leaders’ of tomorrow.These leaders will carry forward the vision of their respective organizations and make the School proud. With this in mind the School has its quarterly magazine called L!VE which aims to provide an interface between the school and the industry.The magazine invites articles from industry experts, students and budding entrepreneurs to share their views on contemporary issues. It gives me great pleasure to bring forth the latest edition of L!VE with its theme based on ‘Leadership’. The current edition shares interesting thoughts on leadership with examples from diverse fields.The next edition of L!VE will be ‘Entrepreneurship’. We thank all of you who contributed towards this issue.We hope to receive articles and insights on management issues from industry and academia in future to take L!VE to greater heights. With best wishes, Prof. Karuna Jain Head, Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management IIT Bombay
FROM EDITOR’s DESK
Dear Readers,
L!VE APRIL 2012 ISSUE TEAM L!VE ABHINAV KUMAR ABHISHEK MISHRA ADITYA KAUL AKANSHA GUPTA ANIKET PATANKAR ANKIT AGARWAL ATUL RANJAN DEBASHREE BHATTACHARYA GOWTHAM M . MANISH KUMAR SANJU M GEORGE SUJATA MURMU TANYA KANODIA
Cover Page Designer
DEEPANKAR BORO
www.som.iitb.ac.in/live Email: live@sjmsom.in
Leadership has been traditionally assumed to be associated with power but true leadership comes from influence, congruence and integrity. It is a process that is ultimately concerned with fostering change. Development occurs when valorous, skilful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. Our country has produced a plethora of good leaders but given our large population, is the number good enough? The current edition of L!VE is based on the theme of Leadership with the cover story ascribing the lack of quality leadership responsible for the global malaise.The story stresses on the importance of having good credible leaders for a country and the connection between leadership and evolution.We also bring you an exclusive interview with Mr. Pawan Agrawal, CEO, Mumbai Dabbawala associations who shares his thoughts on leadership and the role it can play in the global competitive environment which constantly requires positive changes. In the Alumni speak section, you can get an insight into the challenges and joys in a marketing job. Our Start-up story section features ThinkVidya, which is India’s leading online portal for academic and non-academic learning. It was cofounded by an alumnus of SJMSOM, IIT Bombay and the story of its inception is worth a read. An interesting article awaits you in the section creative bend where you will find the growth story of one of the greatest cricketer of our country explained in terms of the economic growth of our country. We hope that the current edition inspires you enough to realise the hidden potential of being a leader within you. Any feedbacks will be most welcome. Happy reading! TEAM L!VE
CONTENTS STARTUP STORY 19|ThinkVidya.com BIZ-WITS 22|Quetzal
COVER STORY 05|Global malaise- apathy or leadership vacuum
BOOK REVIEW 24|Thinking, fast and slow
RESEARCH LABS
08| How does a leader affect team climate FACE TO FACE
CREATIVE BEND 25|Sachinomics 27| I am not always right but i am never wrong
10|DR. Pawan Agrawal IIT B HAPPENINGS EXPERTS SPEAK 12|Changing Role of Information Systems ALUMNI SPEAK 14|A sales job does teach you a lot and the grind is worth it STUDENTS SPEAK 15|IPOs in social media space: Is the hype justified 17|Demystifying globally responsible leadership
28|Banker to the poor in IIT Campus
SOMthing SPECIAL 30|Consulting Continuum 31|HR Continuum 32|Management of IPR and strategy -international conference 33|Bloomberg UTV prebudget session SOM ACHIEVERS 34|Major Achievements
PROF. NATESAN RAMESH, Visiting Faculty ,SJMSOM,IIT BOMBAY
COVER STORY
Global malaise- apathy or leadership vacuum? The news the world over is not one that is cheery. Day in and day out we are seeing the despair
and the frustrations of the young being vented around the globe, either protesting the dire economic straits that seems to have enveloped the Western developed world or the right to air their views and remove suppression in their
es available. During those hundred years we have also seen the liberation of women and their right to vote, the abolishment of slavery and the liberation of whole slew of countries from colonial or imperialistic rule. Advancement of science and technology, the rapid industrialization and with it the rise in living standards are also the legacy we have from the prior century. Yet despite such impressive gains in terms of political expression and economic progress, the world and India as well, seems to be in a quagmire at this juncture. Why that is so? What is it that is lacking?
What is the reason for such malaise and why isn’t the world a happier place than it was in the last millennium? These seem like logical questions that would almost immediately surface to an inquisitive mind. The advent of 24/7 ubiquitous media, the bouquet of channels ranging from Hollywood & Bollywood to adventure thrills to soap operas, have certainly been a factor in making the world not just lat, but painfully close that you can almost touch it if
Certainly if it is a question of resources, that is not the case. Be it capital or labor, the interconnected and integrated global economy is certainly able to allocate the resources
“The 20th Century will go down in history as one of the most violent centuries”.
The 20th Century will go down in history as one of the most violent centuries.Two World Wars and a number of other regional skirmishes that could have mushroomed, the dropping of a nuclear device on a city killing and maiming for life hundreds of thousands, the gulags of oppression, the cultural revolution displacing millions have not suppressed the basic human desires – a shelter that own can truly call home, the right to a good education and decent healthcare, and the right to pursue one’s dreams and the opportuniti-
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you have a 3D TV at home. We are active participants in the global arena through TV, Internet and Social Networks so what happens elsewhere is no longer “ over there” but in our living rooms or bedrooms. We have witnessed the surge in violence and terrorism as an expression of anger and frustration on the part of groups who have been disenfranchised or feel there have been selectively targeted. Othe rs are resentful of the widening chasm between the haves and have nots; the fury of nature-earthquakes, tsunamis,typhoons/ hurricanes floods etc cotinue unabated;andthrough it all are the rising crescendo of voices that are yearning for freedoms that is taken for granted in the democratic societies.
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( material, labor or other inputs) quite efficiently and effectively. Nations are working closer together – larger economies meet regularly and often – and the issues of global concern are being tabled frequently and discussed. While not all issues are quickly addressed or easily resolved, there are now bi-lateral or multi-lateral mechanisms that seem to be functional. The awareness of the world at large being much greater, has forced the political class everywhere to tackle issues that are both local and global. Therefore resources ( lack of for that matter) are not holding back the world from moving ahead and making things better for all. Is it resoluteness and determination on the part of the populations? That too does not seem to be the case. The world has witnessed unprecedented level of economic activity and entrepreneurship, which is spurring demand and creating jobs to fulfill the needs of both the consumers and the population at large. Therefore it does not appear that the people are not willing to apply themselves to work hard and in a deliberate manner to ensure that there is forward progress.
Leadership in this century seems to be lacking not only in terms of the ability to create a sustainable vision and generate the enthusiasm within the population to follow but also the leaders are not exhibiting traits and characteristics that engender confidence. Across the globe, in survey after survey, we are finding that the population at large is not only weary of the political class but downright frustrated and angry with its inability to deliver the promises it makes. The United States, Europe, Japan and other leading OECD countries seem to be in a political morass with clearly no statesman among their leaders, those that look beyond the current economic doldrums and shape/create a future that addresses the concerns of its citizens. The emergence of the various movements – Tea Party in the US, the inability of multi-party systems to gain majority without coalition and the extremists in various various parts of the globe-point to a rising chorus of disenfranchised who are taking not just to the streets but in many cases resorting to voilence as a way to attract attention and be heard.
While India boasts about being the world’s largest democracy, the fact that this vast nation of 1.2 billion Is unable to generate good credible leaders is a reason for concern. With the full fledged embrace of free market capitalism, the entire middle class is focused on raising the standards of living for themselves without regard for the progress of the disadvantaged sections of our society. For this, while our current leadership tends to blame the disinterest of the middle class in politics as the reason, surveys indicate that the intransigence and unwillingness on the part of the aging leadership to make room for younger and dynamic leaders to come to the forefront as the main reason why Indian politics is suffering from a lack of rejuvenation.
COVER STORY
Is it the Leadership that is questionable? On this front, there seems to be significant anecdotal and circumstantial evidence in many countries.
Many are citing the fact that it is the lack of leadership that has resulted in such an evolution. The pessimism about government and its inability to solve problems is attributable to the lack of quality in the leadership as well as the personality of the leaders themselves.
“While India boasts about being the world’s largest democracy, the fact that this vast nation of 1.2 billion Is unable to generate good credible leaders is a reason for concern.” Across the globe through the past 50 years, the older the leadership in a country, the more stagnant it is in terms of its evolution. Rising standards of living, rising expectations and need to deliver a minimal level of services call for energetic and enthusiastic new blood that can relate to the population better, is able to cover all segments of a society and deliver on its promises. Yes politics is a 24/7 job, and therefore it requires energy and vitality to occupy that position.
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Taking India as an example, we are suffering from a severe void among the 25-45 year olds, in terms of participation in the political process. No doubt unbridled corruption and almost daily unearthing of scams by the media, are not exactly motivational to this segment to enter and participate in the governance of the country but they are downright skeptical as to their ability to influence the outcomes. So much so, we are now essentially ensuring the continuity of a class of senior citizens who are in their 70’s and 80’s as our leaders. It is said that a country’s leadership is reflective of its future. Looking at the current crop of leaders, it is notreassuring as to whether the country’s future is secure.
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COVER STORY
Leaders must lead and that seems to be the issue for India Not only are our leaders out of sync with the general population, many of them are not yet in the electronic age nor are they familiar with their constituents-a significant number of the population being at least 1 if not 2 generations
abounds the globe, Indian politicians seem to have given a free market capitalistic twist to its practice. The emergence of Anti-Corruption movement and the general ire of the voting population, seems to indicate that
“Countries like China and India can hope to progress only with a leadership that is in tune with the electorate and the aspirations of its youth and young population.” younger than the leaders.Sycophantic behavior (a necessary conditio in many political systems) in India is very pronounced and therefore centers on a personality or trait and stifles the potential for new talent to emerge. Countries like China and India can hope to progress only with a leadership that is in tune with the electorate and the aspirations of its youth and young population. In this instance, India can take a page out of China’s leadership development and patterns. China has realized that its leaders need to be younger and more agile if they are if they are to address a complex nation with vast differences in terms of economic prosperity within its borders. In the past 20 years the Chinese Communist Party has systematically undergone a process by which those in their 70’s and 80’s have been asked to step down and their places filled with those in their 50’s and 60’s. Additionally the background of the key leaders has also undergone a sea change in terms of education, organizing capability, managerial competence etc.
Indian politics is indeed ripe for a complete makeover and the renewal of its leadership. The need of the hour is the proactive participation of the youth of our country in the politics. Therefore, it is incumbent on the rising middle class as well as the youth of this country to take the mantle of leadership from the incumbents by being proactive in the governance of the country.
“While corruption abounds the globe, Indian politicians seem to have given a free market capitalistic twist to its practice.” There is now a continuing process of leadership renewal in China and one that is worthy of taking note.
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While Asia in general reveres age and is deferential to the wisdom of its elders, the process in the political arena in India has been skewed to ensure continuity rather than one of renewal.Additionally with almost a daily scandal, there are serious questions as to the credibility of a politician and his veracity while remitting his office. While corruption
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About the author: Prof. Natesan Ramesh holds an MBA degree from Standford Business School and a degree in strategic Marketing Management from Harvard Business School. He has over 36 years of global experience and has held senior management positions and CEO of various multinational companies in USA, Europe and Asia Pacific.
HARSH PRADHAN , PHD, SJMSOM & SRIJAN AGARWAL, B.TECH, IIT BOMBAY
HOW DOES A LEADER AFFECT TEAM CLIMATE ‘Teams’ and ‘team performance’ are now being increasingly considered as more important than individuals and individual performance at workplace. Many research studies in this field have been done in the past. Teams have a central role to play within organizations as they serve to provide subunits of multiple skills within an organization, which is especially important as the size of the organization Increases along with the need to meet objectives .Teams are also seen to be more reliable than individuals, as the impact of an individual leaving the organization is likely to be reduced when they leave a multi skilled team than if they are an individual working on their own.
In order to answer the research question we did a pilot exploratory research and pondered upon two aspects of the question (a) Leader and (b) team climate. Though intuitively we can say he does affect team climate. But we aimed at finding what aspect of a leader’s personality affects team climate and how this Interaction takes place. We started with this research question. So we took two prominent scales (a) leadership well-being and (b) team climate inventory measurement. To dive deep into leadership character we also took into consideration Rokeach Value Audit to understand link between values and leadership well-being, though this was our secondary research question.
RESEARCH LABS
Introduction
Field Work We did a survey containing three parts: assessment of leaders’ self-perceived well being, leaders’ value system, and team work satisfaction of their respective team members. Antecedent variable was leaders’ self-evaluation of his satisfaction with his leadership ability. We asked team leaders to rate 15 items for leader on the scale of 5 indiacting their satisfaction.They answered the question “To what extent are you satisfied with?” .The 15 Items for leader satisfaction has been combined into three factors of 5 items each. These comprised first part of our survey. The factors are:
b. Intellectual ability of leader: Sample Items in this section were ability to concentrate, ability to understand new concepts and so on. c. Relational ability of leader: Items in this section were like amount of caring your relationships, degree to which one feel understood by others and so on. Page
How does a leader Affect Team climate: The Research Question The notion of team climate has received considerable attention from applied psychologists and organizational sociologists over the last three decades. Despite this growth in interest research, climate research has been affected by two intractable and related difficulties: declining the notion of climate and measuring climate accurately at different levels of analysis. Moreover, psychologists are developing an increased understanding of the impact of personality in the workplace. Little research has been carried out investigating the pos sible impact that a team leader’s personality has.
a. Emotional ability of leader: Items in this section were like feelings of optimism about the future, ability to express feelings in a constructive way and so on.
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RESEARCH LABS
Outcome variables were satisfaction of team members working in the team .Team members were asked to rate all 25 Items in this scale using key of 1 to 5 (5 if you completely agree with the statement, 1 if you strongly disagree). The responses of all team members in a particular team have been averaged to get the single team satisfaction rating for a particular leader. These items could be divided into four categories ( this constituted the Part of survey) a. Participative safety: How much trust participating team members feel there is within the group when explaining their opinions and ideas. b. Support for innovation: Support provided by the team for innovative ideas. c. Team Vision: How clearly the team defines goals. d. Task orientation: How much effort the team puts into achieving excellence in what it does. Further, to get more understanding of leadership we did a value audit. Eighteen instrumental and same amount of terminal values were included from Rokeach Value Survey. Terminal values are preferences for certain end states (Iike happiness. accomplishment, wisdom dc.), while instrumental values deal with modes of conduct (like friendliness, ambition etc). The leaders themselves had to rank these values in to generate their value system. The rating was done in order of importance of value to leaders as guiding principle in their lives. One being most preferred and eighteen being tile least preferred. This formed second part of the survey.
Sample Description We got responses from 16 teams all of which were student committees. Out of 16 teams, 9 teams were from an MBA School and the rest were different cultural societies headed by students in an Engineering college.We limited our scope to students to control many other variables which affects leader-member relation at workplace, like compensation, personal life etc. This would distort the responses, particularly the part 1 and part 2, related to the survey. To analyze the data we used regression Analysis, Factor Analysis, and Multi-dimensional Scaling primarily from SPSS package.
Results and Future Work As mentioned, leadership ability could be categorized Into three factors (emotional, intellectual and relational) .Following are the main findings pertaining to these: a. The team climate was most affected by emotional ability followed by relational and then intellectual. b. Leader’s feeling of optimism about the future seems to be affecting team climate the most. These findings substantiate the work of Goleman(1998) who writes that emotional intelligence plays an increasingly important role at the highest levels of the company , where differences in technical skills are of negligible importance .In other words the higher the rank of a person considered being a star performer, the more emotional intelligence capabilities showed up as the reson for his or her effectiveness. It would be a future work to find similar inferences for intellectual and relational ability. Future corroboration or synthesis of these four factors with the identified factors needs to be checked. After this we need to understand which among the three factors of leadership will be affecting the four factors of team climate.Now, we discuss about value systems of leaders and its impact on satisfaction leadership of team members. Following are the main findings about leader’s value system and its impact on team climate. a. We got interesting findings from the difference of terminal value by both top and bottom five values. Bottom five leaders prefer ambitious, intellectual, and self control more than top five leaders.On the other hand, emotional factor-related qualities like being helpful, honest, forgiving, and loving have been preferred more by top five leaders as compared to bottom five leaders. b.We were not able to find much difference in value of both types of leaders except the value of world peace. c.Both bottom five and lop five leaders have agreed that they should be less obedient and highly broad minded . These findings are based on relatively smaller samples of 17 teams of Students in IIT Bombay campus. Anyway, It is interesting enough to take forward this research on a larger sample size which we are currently pursuing.
This Research is progressing under the guidance of Dr. Ashish Pandey , asst. Prof. at SJMSOM , IIT Bombay
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REFERENCE : How does a leader affect team climate, CSI COMMUNICATIONS, FEB 2012
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DR. PAWAN AGRAWAL Dr. Pawan Girdharilal Agrawal is the CEO of renowned Mumbai Dabbawalas association. students, he is both a teacher as well as a leader brimming with energy and enthusiasm. What are your thoughts on leadership? I will tell you from the perspective of Dabbawalas. A Leader is someone who leads his entire group. Well, the literal meaning might appear simple but it is actually very demanding to execute this role effectively.He is someone who should be willing to sacrifice for his group members , willing to go to that extra mile as compared to them. He has to consider all the people together as a unit, work more than them and give them the first priority even it is at the cost of money or something else. He should be able to show maturity in his thoughts ,motivate others and thus show the signs of leadership. The feeling to work for the benefits of other should come naturally to him.
What is the one single factor which you would attribute towards the success of dabbawala? Commitment. If you are committed towards your goal, you can do wonders and success is bound to follow. Passion and devotion are the other important attributes behind the success of dabbalwala. My employees are more interested in error free delivery than they are in their salaries. If money is not your only concern, chances of doing well are automatically higher.
What is your take on next generation of employees for dabbawalas, keeping in mind the educated gennext? Don’t you think it will be difficult for you to hire your next set of employees?
What is the reason for Dabbawalas having a zero% attrition rate? Passion is the foremost reason. All the dabbawalas feel passioante about their job. Next is the fact that I treat my employees as my family. It is the culture at our organization which makes my employees feel special. Today’s generation,if unsatisfied, can easily leave their parents, let alone a company. We have been able to have a check on this factor of unsatisfaction among our employees. You actually require a special element of love to bind all your people together.
You cater to different segments, higher as well as lower classes. Still, you do not follow price differentiation? We don’t believe in discriminating among our customers. For us, all our customers are equally important and I don’t think they would welcome such a move. Additionally, the customers value our services and are willing to help us in all kind of ways , so why follow discrimination.I can give you an example when one of my customers voluntarily helped my grandson to get an admit in a school. It has been more than 70 years and we are serving them eqaully. The
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You are right. But, I would like to say that the problem of unemployment is still very large in our country. The fact that someone is working doesn’t assures that he is feeling
or not enjoying it, there are high chances that he would look out for organizations like ours and we would be always open to such passionate people. At Dabbawala, people love their job in the same way as a sportsperson or musician does. Having said that, there is a certain limit on our requirements. The number of employees has to be in proportion with the number of dabbas which we deliver.We can’t recruit everybody. Of course, we want only the right people to join us.
FACE TO FACE
Being a proficient professional with fascination towards enlighenting and encouraging
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FACE TO FACE
culture at dabbawala is to treat all the customers alike! Is there any scope for further improvements in your operational efficiency, despite being a six sigma organisation? Right now, it is very difficult to improve further on this front. We have never been late or wrong in delivering the tiffins to our customers beacause of our unique distribution system. However, if we can get some compartments reserved for our employees in the local trains especially during the morning hours , they can relax a bit and it would certainly be of help to us. Do you think that the use of sophisticated technologies can bring some operational efficiency? I don’t think so. In the coming future , I definitely see a scope for the use of mobile equipments eg. SMSs, emails for placing the orders. It can be possible to track the order locations using GPS and we can surely check while sitting in our office that how far is a dabbawala from his destination. But we expect some contribution from technological people and people like you . Dabaawala has become more popular in particular in the last few years though it has been in operations since so many years. What has caused this sudden increase in popularity among the media people? I can’t say the exact reason but may be because of the fact that I completed my PHD and I am now being invited to take sessions in different events. People are now able to connect themselves with the dabbawalas and understand our feelings better. We are being given respect.
It took me nine years to understand this field. I was doing my PHD but when I started working with my employees, I fell in love with them. That is why it took me so long.
The biggest barrier will be the fact that all my employees are their owners and corporate doesn’t allow each one to be the owner. Regarding the buyout question, I can only say that it is not at all possible. My employees sell their services, they can’t sell themselves and their feelings. They can’t do anything just for the sake of money. Work is worship for them. I have met some drivers who told that their soul lies in their cars which they drive. Same holds true for my employees also. You have been promoting social causes like AIDS awareness programmes through the delivery of tiffins .Are you planning to do something similar for commercial purposes? Yes. We have started doing that now. Let us say if a college wants to promote its event, we will distribute the pamphlets along with the tiffins and charge for that. It is proving to be a good source of revenue for us. A little bit of commercialization along with promotion of social causes can be helpful to us. Do you conduct workshops, trainings? Yes. We do conduct workshops, trainings though I really find it difficult to campaign for such activities. Commercial activities are something I don’t like too much. What is your advice for the budding managers? My advice is for all the good students and managers, be it the IITians or other. When you become successful in your life, please do not forget the fact in your success a lot of people have contributed. Whether they are your family members, friends or teachers or even an outsider , you owe a lot to them. A candle lights A good manager should be socially responsible as well and should try to manage the affairs of poor people also. Thank you sir for such a detailed interview.
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Since how many year you have been researching in this area?
What do you think should be the barrier for a new competitor entering into this area? Do you see the prospects of a buy out?
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Rajendra M. Sonar is the associate professor of Information Systems/Technology at Shailesh J Mehta School of Management , IIT Bombay. He is also the Founder and Director of iKen Solutions Pvt Ltd.,an IIT Bombay incubated company developing customized Business intelligence solutions. His areas of interests include Knowledge-based Systems, Hybrid Intelligent Systems and their applications to Management, Computer Based Information Systems.
EXPERTS SPEAK
Changing Role of Information Systems
“Information systems (ISs) have become pervasive nowadays. It is difficult to find an organization not using any IS.” With changes in underlying ICT (information and communication technologies), the Internet, multiple players in ecosystems, new business and computing models, emergence of computing devices such as mobiles and delivery channels, ISs are also evolving and undergoing tremendous change. They have moved from closed, proprietary, function based and enterprise systems to more open, widely accessible, collaborative and social systems. ISs have been extended and have become inclusive not confined to the organization that implement and use them. . For example, enterprise systems like core banking solutions not only provide enterprise view but also offer multiple access points to the customers and other stakeholders.Instead of the customer coming to the bank, the bank functionality has been
extended to him or her that too 24x7 days virtually from anywhere in the world. Some banks are offering collaborative and social networking kind of features within their solutions while others are extending access to banking services (may be as app e.g. ‘your bank account’) through social networking websites. Organizations are realising the importance of social networking websites like Facebook. People regularly visit and stay tuned to these websites. It makes sense to extend access to the services through such websites. It can be compared the way we find and access websites through Google search web page, for many it may be set as a de-facto entry point. One can be on Facebook and till access banking services. After inclusion, the ISs made others to participate, to share and help organizations to co-create.
“Conventionally, ISs were limited to internal use and were facilitating automation at operational level, in addition to providing reporting and decision support at middle and top level.” Page
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EXPERTS SPEAK
These systems mostly deal with data and information. However, with the emergence of other types of systems such knowledge management (KM) systems and contemporary terms like business intelligence and analytics, the scope of ISs has also been broadened to include these. Thus they can be into three broader groups based on activities they support: a) operational, b) decision making and c) knowledge management.
“Today very few CIOs can think of developing ISs in-house from scratch.�
Technology is moving from highly distributed computing to cloud based; from proprietary and monolithic (e.g. mainframe based) to completely open standard and service based (e.g. web services). This is changing the way ISs are managed. Roles of the CIO (chief information officer) are also undergoing radical changes. From managing in-house IT systems, infrastructure and resources to managing and assuring outsourced services through SLAs (service level agreements). Today very few CIOs can think of developing ISs in-house from scratch. It is not only build v/s buy, there are various options available: opt for open source, outsource, subscribe, integrate and build etc. Thanks to cloud era, now infrastructure, platforms and software are available as services. Organizations do not need to own any systems and infrastructure. The client firms can explore or event test what platforms and software are provided by the cloud vendors, their capabilities (functional as well as technical), customization options and features, what processes
Even though ISs have become more inclusive, collaborative and social, not all organizations are ready for that or would like to move in that direction. There are many factors that make organizations adopt ISs some are internal while some external (based on ecosystem). Internal factors may include size of the organization, how flexible the organization is, push from top management, culture, age profile of employees, competitive necessity etc. External factors include bargaining power of players, industry standards such as EDI (electronic data interchange), compliance like KYC (know your customer), competitive necessity, complexity of operations and so on. Making business cases and justifying ROI (return on investment) on ISs is not always easy. The factors that make it difficult to have better ROI: a) ISs using/exploring new technologies, b) cost of doing business e.g. ISs that take care of compliance or mandated by other players, c) intangibles such as customer loyalty are difficult to quantify.
[Reference: Business Information systems: the changing landscape, CSI Communications, February 2012, 30-34]
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they automate, integration efforts, support systems etc. before subscribing them.Web 2.0 and semantic web has made web collaborative, shared and standard. Many websites provide APIs (application programming interface) or RSS (really simple syndication) feeds to connect to and access their information and services by others. APIs can share data (e.g. product information through Amazon, Apple), business logic (e.g. PayPal for payment system) or presentation (e.g. Google maps). The job of software IS developers is to integrate all these systems and build new applications.
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JATIN SANGHADIA, CLASS OF 2009, SJMSOM
3 years have just flown by - It has been quite a journey, frustrating at times...but enriching nonetheless. As stressful at times it may be, a Sales job teaches you to be on the prowl always - Newer markets, enhancing existing brand potentials, launching new products, planning disproportionate growth etc etc. There always seems to be some lever to bank on and the marketplace is such a beautiful example of sheer absorption and openness.
ent doesnt seem too much, BUT, holding onto your lion share in itself is a notable achievement and testimony to the fact that you know how to play the game, and will take jibes from competition and still thrive. While operational banalities tend to make it mundane and individual brilliance will never be one to go unnoticed, its a team sport truly speaking.You set out on a journey with
ALUMNI SPEAK
A SALES JOB Does Teach You a lot... And the Grind Is Worth It!
“Target achievements is actually a point of no-discussion, no-compromise, its more about how you go about doing it . Sometimes you fail, most times you succeed.” To be able to understand the marketplace and people’s preferences is a journey in itself and I sit here alarmed at how much it has to offer me - there are patterns emerging, preferences changing, environments we operate in also change, however, the marketplace takes it all in and surprises you-All the time.As mundane an activity as it may seem to be, a small piece of insight lightens up your day. Target achievements is actually a point of no-discussion,no-compromise, its more about how you go about doing it . Sometimes you fail, most times you succeed.Yes, I say, most of the times you succeed because the team is so selfdriven at times, that they come up with stupendous performances that shock you, surprise you , but, gives a sense of accomplishment which is unmatchable.
In sales, coherently, disproportionately or intuitively - however may you chose to go about a task on hand, the biggest challenge remains leading people and managing expectations. When dealing with people, the dichotomy of short term vs long term needs/expectations is always a challenge for the leader. The external environment is not always conducive, nor is sometimes the internal support and for all you know, there will always be some amount of disorientation to handle within as well as outside the team.Your strategies may not bring you desired results or the path you set out on may need re-evaluation, to the point of abandoning it completely. Come to think of it now, the grind is completely worth it!! Whoever said it was going to be easy - for that matter, whoever wanted it to be easy at all !!!
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You become part of projects which are strategically path breaking - A live example is the way Marico shifted focus from volume growths to value growth amidst serious fluctuations in raw material pricing that it faced about six months back. Marico reacted like market leaders do and increased MRPs which meant taking a short term hit on volumes, however, in the medium term and long term, they are now reaping the benefits of the same and 25-30% value growth is now a norm. As much as being part of it was wonderful, it also was an opportunity to show understand market leaders “defend” their position, be it Marico in the Coconut Oil category or Dabur in the Amla cat egory - You dont always need to attack , sometimes defense strategies bring a lot of success, albeit, on the face of it the movem-
the goal in mind and the will to succeed, sometimes with no idea how to go about it and you stand there at the end of your sojourn overwhelmed, surprised and in complete awe of your own achievement. The celebration time is the most cherishable as a leader - to watch your boys bask in the glory - a glory which is as much their own as an individual as is of the entire team. You swell with pride, not for your own achievement, but, that as a cohesive unit, the team moved in the direction which led to this success. Who doesn’t want to succeed and win things - To me unless you win/succeed at something, you wouldn’t know what is needed to succeed!!! The accolades pile on, the celebrations go on for a while, BUT, there is business to handle and we get back to wanting to do it - All over again.
14
April
2012
RITESH KUMAR, IIM INDORE
STUDENTS SPEAK
IPOs in Social Media Space: Is the Hype Justified?
The stock exchange has seen a flood of Internet companies offering shares for the first time and many of the prominent ones of them are in social media space.The companies hope to become the next Amazon.com or Google but investors are circumspect about buying stocks in the IPO. We will discuss in this article about the various aspects of the most talked about IPOs this year, i.e. of the social media companies.
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As hype continues to build around these IPOs, investors have started to wonder whether these stocks are worth the price. Let us take the example of Facebook. After a long period of eight years of existence, Mark Zuckerberg has finally decided to take his company public. The world’s biggest social network is expected to raise initial fund-raising target of $5 billion, which can easily stretch to $10 billion, and is seeking a $75 billion to $100 billion valuation of Facebook. It is the most anticipated stock offering from Silicon Valley since Google Inc went public in 2004. This could make FB one of the most valuable internet companies of modern time. Facebook has priced its IPO above the average price of most companies. This has created doubts in the minds of many analysts about the benefits they might reap.
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2012
Facebook has an established user base and a stable business model which can’t fail overnight. It is tough to build an effective competition in the years ahead given that Facebook has already captured 800 million subscribers; infusing Facebook into their lives with more and more innovative features. Most companies explore going public when they generate about $100 million in annual revenue. Facebook is on track to amass over $4 billion in revenue in 2011. Social game company Zynga closed up nearly 17 percent on Thursday in the first trading session after Facebook revealed it made 12 percent of its revenue last year from the video game publisher. Given these facts and the company’s expected valuation, the size of Facebook’s IPO may not be surprising to many people in the stock market. Comparing the proposed valuation of Facebook to its peers in the online social networking space on valuation variables such as price-to-sales ratio and price-over-adjusted EBITDA ratio, we can try to find if the premium price of Facebook IPO is justified or not. The following data in
The story of Orkut is an excellent example of this. Another rising issue is with the questions regarding user privacy and data protection that is being raised every passing day. The companies are trying to keep the trust of users while attempting to appease the advertisers. It is worth noting that the revenues of Social Media Corporations come mostly of the advertisements which have probably come to saturation
Investors who wanted a piece of the social networking action and who bought at the IPO price have been sorely disappointed and Some have begun to wonder whether the social networking phenomenon will end up generating as few successful and long-lived public businesses as the first wave of Internet IPOs back in the late 1990s. That dot.com boom ended in a dot.com bust, with a handful of survivors such as eBay and Amazon generating, over the time ,significant profits for a handful of investors but resulting in large losses for many more speculators betting on the trend rather than the company. While it may be justified that Facebook trades at a premium valuation compared to its peers, based clearly on its potential and the lack of formidable competition as of now, and its higher projected growth, it is however questionable if after an IPO at such a premium valuation, the retail investor
STUDENTS SPEAK
As illustrated, Facebook with a $90 billion market-cap, would be trading at the top range based on PSR, and in the top one-third based on adjusted EBITDA. These data, no doubt, look promising for Facebook. However, critics argue that both Apple and Google have business plans that have high “barriers to entry”, the same does not hold true for Facebook. Social media companies, as they derive most to all of their revenue from advertising, have low barriers to entry. Also, social media is akin to fashion and retail clothing–very subject to consumers’ fickle whims.
“Investors who wanted a piece of the social networking action and who bought at the IPO price have been sorely disappointed.” buying near or above the offering price in the opening days will have much value to capture. Because of the selfevident nature of the potential of these social networking IPOs, much of the value may already have been captured by private investors that would be cashing into the IPO. Some experts suggest that investors looking into exposure to the social media category may want to wait and possibly buy Facebook at lower prices, or consider exposure to it by investing in a self-created basket of such stocks trading at more reasonable valuations. Still, many investors want to hedge their bet by buying the IPO stocks as they do not want to lose out on what may possible turn out to be, the next big thing.
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point already. In this case, 85% of Facebook’s revenues come from advertisements. Also, the investors must also keep in mind that social Media Stocks work purely on the basis of projections, without any actual projections for returns and growth. Shedding our conservative approach, even if we agree that Facebook is not going to die down soon, which seems a rational expectation, the proper question in our context should be how dominant and successful Facebook is. Instead, the appropriate question is- will the IPO valuationleave any value to be captured by the retail investor? This is especially an important question given how poorly most social media IPOs have fared recently. The chart above shows the extent to which companies like LinkedIn, Groupon and Pandora have struggled in the wake of their IPOs.
16
April
2012
ASHA ALPHONSA CHERIAN,WELINGKAR , MUMBAI
STUDENTS SPEAK
Demystifying Globally Responsible Leadership !! “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead, where there is no path and leave a trail”. What Emerson proposes to instill within oneself is the ardent desire to know what you know not and to go where no one has yet dared to go; a trait that has lead to a multitude of inventions and discoveies; a trait that defines the very existence of a Leader. Understanding the role of a leader in a group is the first step towards being one. Leadership is often mistaken as a tag of honor to be proudly trumpeted about.
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Instead it is a responsibility that requires the greatest humility so as to achieve the unanimous goals of an organization. Leadership perse is defined as ‘the action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this’. Leadership is an unwritten right of a person to take decisions for and on behalf of the group or organization keeping in mind the objectives to be achieved while also ensuring the good of the people. With freedom comes responsibility. Being a responsible leader is a responsibility in itself. Responsibility is interlaced in every action and reaction of a leader. It is important thus that a leader has a clear understanding of his role in an organization. “There’s plenty out there and enough to spare for everybody.”-Stephen R. Covey. A Globally Responsible Leader is one who directs his organization towards achieving its goals while also facilitating the growth of the immediate environment, the nation to which they belong and finally the world at large. He is not only accountable to himself and his organization, but also to the society he belongs to and the global environment as a whole. Sustainability is the key to unlocking this concern. Sustainability is the potential for durable retention of well being which is multi-dimensional, specifically in terms of environmental, economic, and social being. In the corporate environment, the importance given to sustainability has witnessed a radical rise in the recent past.
April
2012
But an inclusive understanding on an individual level is yet to be realized. As much as is beingdone on this front, it seems to be deficient in proportion to the intended effect. Emphasis needs to be given on sustainability at the ground level. The approach, in this case needs to be individualistic more than collective. Collective sustainability has been established to a great extent and is still continuing. But there is a colossal void in terms of individual sustainability that needs to be promptly looked into. Sustain and help others sustain. Be it at an associate level or managerial; let not the drive of success overpower the sense of humanity that is ingrained within us. It is human tendency to show compassion and to keep hope. The education through our childhood may have shaped us differently, but those untaught but firmly founded values within us need to be awakened at this hour of desperation when one is ready to kill another for the glory of success.While aiming to achieve the goals of an organization, a Globally Responsible Leader must strive for peaceful co-existence and creation of a sustainable eco system as the offshoot of this achievement.Remember, the race is not to be won by crushing your peers, but by running the length until the finishing point with integrity. Integrity is a way of life that initiates the quality of Leadership within oneself. Integrity may be seen as a juncture between various virtues like one’s personal value system, religious beliefs, social consciousness and the code of conduct of the organization one belongs to. In a world of diminishing values and scarcity of plain goodness, a question mark often hovers around the word ‘Integrity’. The aim of every business is explicitly to make profit. The golden rule in Business has since long been ‘No decision is right unless it is financially sound’. Time has come to alter it to ‘No decision is right unless it is ethically sound’. The Tatas, a leading conglomerate of Indian origin is today universally recognized, not so much for their yearly turnover as much as they are recognized for their sound value system that has been interlocked into their corporate
of the organisation
and to be able to attain that height of self actualization wherein my capabilities are put to best use to serve the interest of my organization and that of the world. There are instances in abundance that we can derive from our day to day lives as to how we can act and react as Globally Responsible Leaders. It need not be by making huge donations or charity. It lies in little deeds of kindness and more importantly, thoughtfulness. As a child, I thought of it as my responsibility to be a solace to the disheartened
STUDENTS SPEAK
culture over the years. This has led to them being one of the most preferred companies to be associated with, be it in terms of their products, service or employment. With the world becoming smaller by the day with increasing global accessibility and cross country business relations, it is of paramount importance that one adheres to his own integrity, the integrity of the organization, and that of his nation. Integrity being a way of life should reflect in our everyday activities; in the way we deal with our family, friends and colleagues, and in the way we do business beyond making profit. There is often a misconception that being unethical is about doing the wrong things. We need to realize that it is also about not doing the right things when we have
“The Captain of a ship knows where exactly his ship is headed to, even when he is nautical miles away from the destination. “ the opportunity and capacity to do so. In this sense, if every organization aims at being ethical, they are partaking in a universal revolution, thus proving to be Globally Responsible Leaders. A Vision and Sense of Direction are two most vital qualities that a Leader ought to posses. The Captain of a ship knows where exactly his ship is headed to, even when he is nautical miles away from the destination. He can locate an iceberg from a distance and divert his ship accordingly; so also must a leader have a vision that concurs with that of his organization and posses the sensibility to reroute the team whenever the need arises. As a Manager of tomorrow, what I wish to take back home from the GRL Initiative is this – a Sense of Direction. To be simply aware and better prepared for the challenges that lie ahead of me; to be clear on the path that I will tread through the course of my journey towards achieving my goals and that of my organization; to set
and helper to the needy. This in my opinion was my first step towards being a responsible leader. Over the years, this attitude grew within me to make me what I am today, taking responsibility for my deeds and those of others too. Every individual has a role to play in the eco system that he is a part of. Tiny drops of water make the mighty ocean. Effort, be it big orsmall never goes in vain. They may not seem to make a difference to the world at once, but in the long run, the world is largely affected by these tiny steps that we take towards rehabilitating this world into a better place to live in. Take the first step. Let us do our bit and be the change that the world wants to see!!
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my priorities right such that it is in line with the objectives
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April
2012
ThinkVidya.com START UP STORY
When Arjun, a school student in Mumbai, was looking for a coaching centre in her vicinity to help her study Statistics , she went online. “But it was strenuous, looking through link after link. A website with information on coaching centres would have been a help,” she says.Now, an online portal is available that is eyeing the requirements of people like Arjun!!
Aimed at the learning needs for children, youth, and adults, the portal aims to bring learning seekers closer to learning providers.It currently has more than 20,000 trainers, tutors, and institutes on about 600 subjects across 16 cities.Apart from the details of academic experts,the site also serves to the purpose of those who seek information about experts related to various hobbies. “It is extremely rare that two start ups join hands together at a very early stage but that was the case with Rakesh and me. We both had small startups in Education and learning space which we decided to merge together. The interesting fact is that we had not met each other before and the entire merger happened in matter of few weeks.” These were the exact words said by Mr. Santosh Kelvani,cofounder of Thinkvidya and an alumnus of School of management, IIT Bombay, when we contactd him for our start up section. ThinkVidya is an exciting merger story of two early stage Bangalore based startups-3pundits.com founded by Rakesh Kalra and Teacherji.in founded by Santosh Kevlani. It has been set up with a dream to help everyone find quality learning options in and around their locality with greater ease.
Started in 2010 with a vision to help parents and students by providing information service on both “in school” and “out of school” learning, 3pundit.com provided a simple and smart interface for finding schools and play schools from a network of 10,000 schools across 12 Indian cities. Before this venture came into existence, its founder, Rakesh Kalra had over 13 years of rich experience in web application architecture and technology leadership. A postgraduate from Boston University, Rakesh was working as Vice President at a Boston based startup before he
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The Flashback
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2012
moved to India. With 3pundit.com, parents could sign up for school admission alerts, read/write reviews , post comments, ask questions, follow a school and what not? It was a platform for introducing the “3 pundits” of education system in India-The Parent, The Teacher and The Student. The story about how Teacherji.in came into existence is equally exciting. Started with a vision to create india’s
The Merger Nothing can be as fortuitous as the way the two founders happened to meet with each other. In an extremely casual meet, Rakesh picked up the phone and called Santosh and the conversation revolved around the possibility of collaboration. An important point to note here is the fact that both the constituent companies had complementary skills. A need for stronger and passionate team to take the venture forward had been there in both the camps. Both the founders had some great ideas and the experiments that were tried and tested in individual ventures. Cost optimization was one of the important reasons that influenced Rakesh
and Santosh to think about the possibility of a merger. After evaluating the financial position and obligations, both the partners decided to immediately execute the plan. But life is no fairy tale and the proposed merger had its challenges as well. The toughest decision for each of the partners was to give away the existing brand name. The possibility of confusion among captive audience was also there. After the agreements were made on Management structure and capital, a roadmap was created for the next 6-8 months.
The story post merger Thinkvidya now has a network of over 10,000 schools, 12,000 tutors, trainers and institutes in over 600 categories across 16 Indian cities. The company provides learning options for the entire family kids, youngsters and adults. It has now become one of the largest online network, connecting learning seekers and learning providers in India.You visit the site and everything under the sun on learning & education space can be found here.The parents can find information about schools, preschools, summer programs and home tuitions for children whereas youngsters can get information about colleges, sports coaching, professional courses, competitive exam coaching and lot more. The adult audience on the other side can find information on anything and everything they might want to learn.This includes but not limited to performing arts, visual arts, computers, languages, cook
STARTUP STORY
largest platform for “Out of school” learning providers & seekers, it created a network of about 10,000+ individual trainers, tutors and small & medium training companies across 16 Indian cities. One could easily find provider’s details, contact information, trainer’s profiles, course schedule and fees by visiting the site. The online site provided a plethora of other features such as Posting or reading reviews, contacting the providers and reading relevant articles. The founder of Teacherji.in, Santosh Kelvani, an MBA graduate from Shailesh J Mehta, School of Management, IIT Bombay had over 10 years of experience in online businesses such as web analytics, online marketing, search, content publishing and e-commerce.
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2012
START UP STORY
ing, fitness and yoga, mind and spirituality topics, sports, corporate training and lot more. The information provided at the portal is authentic and learning providers are listed only after proper background checks and verifications. It is simply much more than a listing or classified site as one can find a detailed profile and contact details of the totors. The company does not take any commissions from tutors and students and encourages direct connection between two parties. Within the first 30 days of its launch, more than 2,000 traiers and tutors registered themselves with
up operations to get more registered tutors and users. Identifying a sustainable model is a big challenge for the company. Future plans include allowing portal visitors to register for courses from within the portal and increasing the number of trainers and tutors .Features are required to be upgraded for improved connection between the learning seekers and the learning providers for which the company needs to hire more staff and developers. Come what may be the difficulty, the team at ThinkVidya is optimistic to overcome it. In the opinion of Santosh, one of the cofounders, one should look out for long term benefits of
ThinkVidya introduced the first ever independent survey of international schools in Bangalore. One other important facility is the school admission alerts across the cities which a user receives at the time when admission starts. Although trainers and tutors are not required to pay to appear on the portal,in order to enjoy special previleges such as appearing at the top end of a search result on the portal, a tutor has to pay. The portal generates revenue from the advertisements and banners .
coming together and be open and transparent. Compatibility between partners is required for a successful merger and there should be agreement over common objective and ethical business practices.One should not be afraid of reaching out and talking to potential partners. “Apply your mind, but with openheart� is what Santosh believes in !!
The journey has started and the path is definitely not very easy.ThinkVidya has been the centre of news among the entrepreneurial sites and magazines. It has planned to scale
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The Road ahead
April
2012
NIKHIL MALLIKARJUN, SJMSOM , IIT BOMBAY
BIZ WITS- QUETZAL 1. This term originated from the Latin ‘for the ‘allowance to buy salt’. Name the term.
3. What does the letter ‘T’ stand for in the brand name ‘T -series’?
BIZ WITS
2. Which term coined by Nima Namchu and Nitin Berry of Leo Burnett in the lead up to a Reebok campaign in 1996-97 is now synonymous with Indian Cricket?
4. Sanjay Dutt launched a company called ‘SON’? What does SON stands for? 5. Akio Morita wrote “Made in Japan”; an amazing biography wherein he lists out his struggles at SONY to bring it to the current standards. Who wrote “Made in America” ? 6. Identify the connect below.
7. Connect the images below.
8. Identify the connect and asnwer the question.
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April
2012
BIZ WITS
9. Name the disinfectant whose chemical structure is shown below
10. Identify the Drink below.
11. Identify the company below. Minnesota Mining and ____________ 12. Identify the Person below
13. Connect the images below
14. Identify the company below.
Mail your answers to live@sjmsom.in. A winner will be selected on the basis of maximum correct entries . In case of tie, lucky draw will be used. Answers will be out in the next edition.
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15.Name the quasigovernment agency that insures the accounts of clients of all brokers of exchanges registered with SEC.
April
2012
THINKING, FAST AND SLOW REVIEWED BY PRIYADARSHI RANJAN, PHD STUDENT AT WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, REHOVOT
: : : :
Thinking, Fast and Slow Farrar, Straus and Giroux 10/25/2011 Non-Fiction
How often we predict human perceptions fitting particular trait to a person If anyone wears a Gandhi cap we guess he must be a politician, a thin uncouth person with dhoti and kurta as a farmer. But, we miss an important point of statistics. Have you ever thought how many people who are not politicians wear Gandhi cap and what about people who are not farmers who wear dhoti and kurta. It is our fast thinking we have made a mental construct and we try to fit models to it. There is another way of thinking which is slow and we are often reluctant to use it because it takes time and effort to use it. World renowned psychologist Dr. Daniel Kahneman takes into a deep journey to discover these two processes of thinking.
thinking how much less we are going to use. But our emotional intuitiveness blocks us from slow thinking and we have to pay heavy price for ephemeral luxury. The author explains beautifully how often our causes elude the statistics favoring an event. Our life is the result of the choices we make. Be it may be a game of cards we averse losses. If we have two options, where in one we have a chance of 10 to 90 of winning a million but if we lose have to pay fifty thousand and on the other hand there is option of 90 to 10 of winning a lakh and losing five thousands. Rarely we will take the risk and go for the first option. It is the loss which hurt us the most.We try to minimize our risk. That is why plan our work and set a reference goal based on the past results.
In this book Kahneman explains the two systems that drive the way we think.System 1 is agile, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities and also the faults and biases of fast thinking, and reveals the influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior.
You will find lot of companies offer life insurance cover. Benefit for this is that they pay a minimum interest on premium. People readily agree to conditions because they have vivid picture of rare accidents that might occur to them. Often a disaster occurs to a place and we try to keep away from the place though there is very less chance that the disaster will occur again to that place. Rare events are so compelling that we try to avoid them. Often, people take up policies which have minimum risk, though these may not be productive but these save them from the possible loses that may occur if they take the risk. Overall the author has summed up all his knowledge which arouses inquisitiveness to know more about social thinking and to find out frames and realities of life. Sometimes you may think how confined your thinking was. It is always good to decide slow, thinking about all the possible solutions and choosing the best solution. Human psychology is based on reference points. It is you who has to deliberate on your decisions to be happy ever-after.
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In the past our teachers have suggested many a times to write answers in the examination. Write your best answers in the beginning and make minimum mistakes in the beginning, this creates a halo effect in the mind of the examiner and you end up getting better marks. Often, you might have made right efforts but failed to obtain satisfactory result. This might be due to the fact in the end you were not able to present your work. In the book, the author has elaborated on how thinking, anchored to a particular anchor makes your decision biased.He has given the example about an experiment done in a supermarket where they gave discount to for a limited number of products one day whereas next day they gave discount on unlimited product. The number of products bought by customers decreased to half. We seldom spend a lot on luxurious items without
BOOK ESSENCE
Book Title Publisher Published on Classification
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April
2012
TIPPU S. ,SJMSOM,IIT BOMBAY
CREATIVE BEND
SACHINOMICS
Indian Growth Story The tables below shows the Indian GDP Growth Rate, from the period just before liberalization till date. A decent growth rate of 5.95% slowly deteriorated to 1.06% in 1991. Economists strongly argue that the Indian government went bankrupt and there was no other option than to liberalize.Bring in foreign investments to avoid bankruptcy
With high growth during the period 2003-07, mainly powered by the software industry, there was a paradigm shift in the way the world looked at India. 2008 brought recession along with it, fueled by the US sub-prime crisis, but the Indian growth story remained robust.
Year
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
GDP Growth Rate
5.95
5.53
1.06
5.48
4.77
6.65
7.57
7.56
4.05
6.19
7.39
Year
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
GDP Growth Rate
4.03
5.22
3.7
8.37
8.28
9.32
9.27
9.82
4.93
9.1
9.72
and fuel growth was the mantra that was followed. With the luckiest stars in place, the move worked wonders for the economy. From thereon, the Indian economy started to shape into a stable upward curve until the software services crisis happened in 2000. Growth was hit for a couple of years, but the economy recovered not only sooner, but a lot sturdier.
It did dip below 5%, but fared a lot better than many developed economies. A mighty recovery in 2009-10 and awaiting a double-dip in 2011, thanks to Eurozone crisis, has once again made the economists burn the midnight oil with their Excel sheets to find a way out.
Growth Story of Sachin 1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
Batting 35.8 Average
41.4
19.5
41.9
91.4
70.0
29.0
41.5
62.5
80.8
68.0
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YEAR
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Year
The year was 1991 when Sachin started to become a showstopper in the national fan-following arena. They watched him play, every ball of every test match and much to their dismay, he didn’t perform well. Indian fans were let down and devastated. They fell for the early show of brilliance and let their economy totter to grow at 1.06% that year. Economists said that the country went bankrupt and that is why they had to open the gates for privatization. But, huge expectations on Sachin and a paltry show by him with an average of 19.50 led to the economy debacle. Now you know how Sachin helped in liberalization of the Indian economy.
.
Cometh a new century, the fans went back on their words. Sachin delivered, yet the growth rate declined. The ups and downs disagreement continued for a while until 2003, when the fans lost interest in the game as Sachin’s average slumped to 17 for the year. Because of his under-performance, people stopped watching cricket and - would you believe it – Indian economy grew at 8.37%. For the first time, it had crossed 8% in the past 20 years. Sachin cherished this growth and he made his fans happy next year by scoring at 92 runs per innings, with almost three double hundreds. The tussle went on for a while until 2008, when recession happened.
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Batting 63.8 Average
62.6
55.6
17.0
91.5
44.4
24.2
55.4
48.3
67.6
78.1
Sachin’s inconsistent performance in few years has left the fans upset and caused recession in the world. With back-toback stellar performances which motivated the fans, Sachin helped the Indian economy grow above 9% in 2009 and 2010. However, the gloom around his 100th century has caused huge uproar in Europe and America and talks of a double-dip have surfaced. For the betterment for the world economy, let alone Indian, the earlier the 100th century comes, better are the chances to escape the double-dip. Reports all around the world say that Indian economy will grow at unprecedented rate in the coming future. Their prediction could be right. Half of the Indian population will stop watching cricket and start working, once he retires.
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It was 1995 when Sachin got married. Fans respected his privacy and the economy grew at 7.57% irrespective of his menial average of 29. The next year, Sachin came back to action to score at 42 runs per innings and the economy steadily grew at the same rate as the previous year. 1997 became the second feared year for the Indian economy – Sachin averaged 62 runs per innings and all Indians were caught guilty, watching him live on TV. Indian growth rate tumbled to 4%. The God of Cricket saw what was happening and offered a deal to his fans. He delivered at staggering 81 runs per innings in 1998 and the fans responded by working hard to push the growth rate to 6.2%. 1999 was even better, the economy got better to grow at 7.4%.
CREATIVE BEND
The date was 15th November 1989. Indian GDP was struggling to grow at 5.95%, when Test cap no. 187 took field. He played just six innings that year with a modest average of 35.83 runs. The next year, he hit his first hundred against England and, to tell you the truth, the whole of India was watching/reading him play. Everyone was talking about this wonder-kid Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and since Indians were busy discussing cricket, our GDP growth rate slumped to 5.53%, the next year.In 1992, his performance got better with an average of 42 and so did India’s GDP it grew at 5.48%. 1993 became the first feared year for the Indian economy - Sachin showered his blessings on fans with an impeccable performance with the bat,scoring at scoring at 91.43 runs per innings. Indian fans were delighted. They stopped working plainly because they were happy and could only talk about Sachin. As expected, Indian GDP growth rate declined to 4.77%. The happy period continued to 1994, where the fans were, now, enjoying their work alongside Sachin’s scoring rate at 70 runs per innings. There were a few negative sentiments when he once got out at 96 against SL in Bangalore, but that was brushed aside. The new face of Indian cricket kept people happy and the economy grew at 6.65%.
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CREATIVE BEND
HARDIK CHAUHAN, SJMSOM , IIT BOMBAY
“I’m not always RIGHT but I am never WRONG” I tried to define life, When it all went awry. Looking for the nonexistent, mistake of an illusioned eye. The mistake didn’t reveal till the day I die. Something inside always said WHY? The tussle stayed all the way long . And now I know I am not always right but I was never wrong. Did I choose the place that I was born? Did I choose the path that I was shown? I thought I was the captain of the ship and everything else was frail. Till it occurred that it was the invisible wind that made it sail. The tussle stayed all the way long. And now I know I am not always right but I was never wrong. I knew all that glitters is never gold, But I decided all that glitters is what I want to hold. Chasing the brightness when the darkness was enough, Always trying to reach the peak when the peak was just a bluff. Something did say it’s not right, But how could a piece of straw flow against the river’s might. The tussle stayed all the way long. And now I know I am not always right but I was never wrong. April
2012
I was told that knowledge is the key to all, Word “learning” is every one’s darling doll. I did learn what I was taught, But it only intensified the battle that I fought. It did tell me how to walk the woods and reach the end, But it never let me know that there is no end. The knowledge did tell me what answer is correct, But I failed to reckon that the question itself is incorrect. Something tangible is what I looked for in the intangible life, Eyes were indeed open but dark was the sight, Now eyes are closed and I could see the light. The illusion of life indeed stayed strong, tussle stayed all the way long . And now I know I am not always right but I was never wrong.
TIPPU S. , SJMSOM , IIT BOMBAY
‘BANKER TO THE POOR’ IN IIT CAMPUS IITB HAPPENINGS
E-Cell of IIT Bombay in collaboration with Grameen Creative Lab organized an interactive session titled “Art Peace”. The “Art” was critically acclaimed director Shekhar Kapoor and “Peace” was Nobel Peace Laureate and Father of Microfinance Professor Muhd.Yunus. The session was moderated by Mr. Hans Reitz, Founder & Creative Director, Grameen Creative Labs and topic was “Idea of Social Business”.
Shekhar Kapur shared his thoughts as “We live in a world where, all we are concerned with is how to survive, live and exist happily by exploiting rather than doing good for the community. In this world, we are not becoming closer, but we are being compressed. We don’t have enough resources. What we have to do here is to stop compromising and shift our paradigms”. The compromising attitude in human beings gave way to the next topic of discussion – empowerment of women. Reitz felt that the role of women plays a very important part in developing a community, to which Prof. Yunus replied, “The loan sharks deny loans to every woman.They ask whether you have consulted your husband about this. Why don’t they ask a male, if he has consulted his wife about his loan plan? Why does the inequality exist? Why put doubts in the minds of women that they can’t handle money.
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Mr. Reitz opened the discussion with the statement “An idea can change the whole world”and asked Prof Yunus to elaborate upon his idea of social business. Prof. Yunus took over from there and enlightened the students on how he saw a business opportunity in every social problem. And he reaffirmed the fact that, a social problem can be solved only by a social business solution and definitely not by a business that runs after money. He argued that the business way is more sustainable for poverty eradication than the charity way. He clearly explained how social business was different from charity. In charity, people donate money, money is used, money runs out and the needy people are back to square one. But, in a social business, one creates sustainability. As Mr. Kapur rightly said in the latter half of the movie
that, “We give a mango sapling. People plant it, grow it and sell the mango and create a sustainable business. But, in charity, people are made to eat the mango sapling.” According to him, social business is like a non-dividend company solving problems which will benefit others.
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IITB HAPPENINGS
He quoted real-life examples of how Danone created delicious and nutritious yoghurt to eradicate malnutrition in Bangladesh. Danone called it the most powerful yoghurt in the world. Similar talks with the chemical giant BASF has also yielded benefits in converting the patents which are not being currently used into social businesses. Prof. Yunus approached Adidas and asked them to set their vision as “Every person in the world will wear shoes.” Adidas replied saying, “This is a big goal” and Prof. Yunus politely replied, “You are a big company!” Their project is underway and soon a pair of shoes will cost less than €1 and it won’t be charity shoes.Mr. Kapur speaking on the issue of water sustainability highlighted how important the resource is and how hastily we have been using it. It hasn’t dawned on us yet that water is a scarce resource. He said that within 10 years, River Ganga will be a seasonal one and in the next 25 years it would have dried up. He asked if we are ready to face that. If we aren’t ready to change it, no one will.
We have changed the equation. 97% of Grameen Bank customers are women and they own the bank. And what do the feminists have to say? They attack us, saying we have given women so much power that they are not handling the dayto-day activities of a family. My question is who is a feminist here. Because women are involved in the banking system, responsibility is to be taken in the development of children as well. And there we created a social business answering a social problem.”
The best was reserved for the climax with Prof. Yunus’s speech addressing the young, vibrant IITB-ites. “You guys should change the world. You young people are the most powerful generation that the entire mankind has seen. You shouldn’t inherit the world that we are in right now. But, you should create your own new world. A world where there should not be a single person unemployed. A world that doesn’t know what hunger is. If you guys don’t do it, the next generation which will be even more powerful than you are, will laugh at you. Envision a new world and change
Prof.Yunus then touched upon Grameen Shakti. “The solar energy arm was formed 15 years ago in a country (Bangladesh) where 70% of the population lived in centuries of darkness.With reducing solar panel prices, we are envisioning a day where every house will have a Solar Home System. We go a step ahead and train school drop-out girls in assembling the system through which they learn the maintenance aspect of the system as well.”
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To a question on how the young generation will make a turnaround with social media from Reitz, Shekhar Kapur answered, “We don’t need an editorial for social media. Everyone feels that social media is too chaotic. But, there is nothing more chaotic than our community and hence social media will balance it out. We can still run a country if we replace the Members of Parliament with a huge computer and guess what, we will work with improved efficiency.” Corporate dominance has been a thing of the present and Reitz asked Prof. Yunus on how to circumvent it. Prof. Yunus opined that one doesn’t need to circumvent it, rather go through it . April
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it, because you are powerful.” The audience replied with a thunderous and well deserved standing ovation. tThere are lots of trivial things that you can get anywhere in the world but for things that make life interesting, you got to be in IIT Bombay. “I believe that every problem has many solutions, and all that we had to do was to select the best possible alternative” – Prof. Md.Yunus in “Banker to the Poor”
Continuums@SJMSOM Consulting Continuum 2012
The panel, moderated by Prof. Shishir Jha, discussed about cultural barriers to open innovation and role of leadership in open innovation.Ms. Sangeeta highlighted the fact that Innovation in core business and then adoppting it in the business domain is the mantra for success. This discussion was followed by a speech from Mr. Praneet Gupta, India strategy leader at Cummins Ltd who talked about India’s growth and globalization and how it would affect us.
SOMthing SPECIAL
With sustainability being a hot topic of discussion in most of the national and international forums today, one could not have asked for a better theme than “Sustainability spawning new standards” for the Consulting continuum 2012 held at SJMSOM , IIT Bombay.The event was organized by Consig, the consulting club of SJMSOM. The consulting continuum started with an inauguration speech by Professor Shishir Jha of SJMSOM.
His introduction was followed by the speaker Mr. Gaurav Gupta, Partner and regional director for Asia at Dalberg global development advisors. He mentioned the fact that innovation and sustainability has to go hand on hand and stressed upon using CSR as one’s innovation engine. This was followed by Mr. Ritesh Chopra, Director and India lead at Capgemini consulting. He talked about the different ways at which social media can be put into use from the This was followed by a panel discussion on managing the business risks of open innovation. The members of this panel were Mr. Ranjan Banerjee, CEO of Renaissance strategic consultants, Mr. Sandip Biswas, Director, strategy and operations at Deloitte consulting and Ms. Sangeeta Sawant, Client partner at Bristlecone.
The event ended with Mr. Malay Shah, Senior principal of strategy at Infosys consulting. Sharing his views on building Indian infrastructure to sustain India’s growth and achieve social objectives.
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Continuums@SJMSOM
HR Continuum 2012
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HR and Innovation would have appeared to be an oxymoron few years back, but in the present business environment it would be blasphemy to consider HR practices anything other than a business partner. The transformation from labour management to HR in itself is an innovation. The theme of HR continuum 2012, conducted at SJMSOM revolved along the same lines which was “Business excellence through innovative HR practices�. HR continuum marked the beginning of the first phase of the continuum 2011, the rolling seminar series held every year at Shailesh J Mehta, School of Management, IIT Bombay. The event was organized by Humane, HR club of SJMSOM IIT Bombay in association with Mint and daretocompete. The continuum saw participation from eminent corporate leaders from various organizations, Faculty and students of IIT Bombay. The top leaders which graced the event included Mr. Mr. Prashanth Nair, President &Head HR at Thomas Cook, Mr. Manoj Sharma, VP Corporate HR at Aditya Birla group, Mr. Vijay Sinha, Head HR at JSW, Mr. Srinivasulu, VP-HR at Lupin ltd, Mr. Vijay Kanbur, VP & Head HR at Trimax IT infrastructure and services Ltd and Mr. Shankar Gupta, CEO at ACG-PAM. A panel discussion was also conducted on the changing role of HR in various industries. The members of this panel included Mr. Manoj Sharma, Ms. Kajari Mukherjee, an independent management advisor and Ms. Priya Vasudevan. It was moderated by Prof. Ashish Pandey, who is an HRM faculty at SJMSOM.
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The wisdom shared by the speakers enlightened the future managers of SJMSOM, IIT Bombay. The speakers shared their thoughts on various engaging topics such as Institutional building, OD intervention, HR analytics, pay for performance etc as well as shared experiences from their respective industries. Mr. Prashanth Nair highlighted the fact people are the the strength of any business organization and this core objective has still remained the same. Mr. Manoj Sharma demonstrated the importance of consciousness through the help of an interesting exercise. Overall, the sessions provided a great learning platform to the students.
MANAGEMENT OF IPR AND STRATEGY Ist INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management through the support of the Ministry of Human Resources Development IPR Chair Project, Government of India, organized 1st International Conference on Management of Intellectual Property Rights and Strategy (MIPS 2012) from February 2-5, 2012. The theme of the conference was: “IP for Development: The emerging Paradigm�. The core focus of this conference was to provide a suitable and conducive platform to discuss, debate and present contemporary research in the area of Intellectual Property Rights and its management.
Pre-conference workshops were organized for students, working professionals and IP enthusiasts. The workshops covered topics like Patinformatics based competitive intelligence,IP Management/Licensing at academic Institutions,Best Practices in IP Management and Strategy and Implications of the Trans- Pacific Partnership Agreement for Access to Medicines in India and the Asia-Pacific.
MIPS 2012 attracted eminent speakers from all over the world, be it academia or industry. Prof. Ove Granstrand (Professor in Industrial Management & Economics at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden), Prof. Dr. Heinz Goddar (European Patent and Trademark Attorney, partner of Boehmert & Boehmert, Munich,Germany) and Professor Liu (professor of law and technology management and the Founding Chairperson of the Graduate Institute of Technology Law).
SOMthing SPECIAL
IP for Development: The emerging Paradigm
IP strategists from industry (IBM, Frost & Sullivan) and academia (NUI Maynooth, Ireland, NTU Singapore, IIM Calcutta) presented their paper. There were three panel discussions with varied themes like : Standards, commoditasation of technologifes and distruptive innovations - Is therea role for IP? Open innovation and IP - how can it help in nation development? Role of IP in the digital domain The conference provided the ideal opportunity for emerging researchers in the IPR domain to interact with experts and practitioners through doctoral colloquium, themed tracks and keynote sessions. Page
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SOMthing SPECIAL
Bloomberg UTV pre-budget session One of the most talked about news across the country in the previous month was the union Budget 2012 and a B-school could be no exception to this. Budding managers at SJMSOM managed to get some time out of their busy schedule to conduct a pre-budget talk joined by the experts from industry and academia. Bloomberg UTV found it intriguing to cover this discussion and hosted it at IIT Bombay on February 27, 2012. When India is at the forefront of growth and change, we have a generation which is looking for the high quality jobs. Do we really have enough investments in a skilled work force? Are we really doing enough to ensure the jobs out for the next generation? Clearly, the centre of the discussion was the issues pertaining The session saw an overwhelming participation from the students of the youth in the country at this year’s budget. SJMSOM. The panelists included Dr. Vinish Kathuria, professor of Economics at SJMSOM, Ms. Devita Saraf, CEO of Vu Technologies, Ms. Amruda Nair, Head of corporate asset management at The Leela Group and Mr. Amitabh Mundhra, director at Simplex Infrastructure Ltd.
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The panel came out with some enlightening facts during the discussion such as the number of jobs created per unit of investment in travel, tourism and hospitality sector is greater than that created by investment in agriculture or manufacturing. It was also stressed to have a strong manufacturing policy in order to boost the manufacturing sector at home so that we can avoid the over dependency on exports.
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2012
NAME OF THE EVENT
COLLEGE/ COMPANY
TEAM MEMBERS POSITION THEME/ AREA
Hult Global Case Challenge
Hult Business School
General Management
All India Supply Chain Case Study CompetitionStratagem 2011 CFA Investment Research Competition Google Online Marketing Challenge 2011
Reckitt Benckiser
Satish Jha, N Basavaraj , Asia Finalists Dinesh Babu, Sampath C, Keerthi Kalyan Winner Saravanar B & Swethadri B Winner (West Zone)
Finance/Investment Banking
International Semifinalist
Marketing
Best B-School Project 2012 Dewang Mehta Award for Best Student in Management 2011 KPMG International Case Competition 2012 Metamorphosis
Business Standard
Saurabh Surana, Akhil Jolly, Ankit Bansal, Mayank Narula Dhanyal Gopi, Girish Joshi, Gaurav Kawale, Abhinav Agarwal, Anant Goenka Aditya Kaul
Third
General Management
Onward Foundation
Rakesh V
Winner
General Management
KPMG
National Finalist
General Management
Winner
Business Plan
Stock_Torreo
BSE
Tippu S, Kartik Dua, Rajat Sharma, Kashyap Rastogi Ankur Rustagi, Nisanpreet Bal, Sakshi Daral Tanuj Goyal, Sanchit Singhal , Abhishek Kumar, Abhinav Sharma Amit Kumar, Mehtab Masood, Sumit Kumar
Third
Finace/Trading
Winner
General Management
Tarun Gupta
Winner
General Management
Rakesh Jethani Nikhil Arora
Runners up Runners up
Finance Opearations
Hridyesh Bohra, Rajat Katiyar, Rajeev Ranjan Vishal Gohel, Hemangi Hanote
Winner
Consulting
Runners up
Marketing
CFA Institue, USA
ISB
All India B Plan Com- NITIE petition-Empressario 2011 DISHA MDI & National innovation foudation Lakshwiz - D Street NITIE Opniscient, Imperium MDI 2011 Food For Thought IIM Raipur MICA
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Invenire 2012
Impact of GST on Supply Chain
SOM ACHIEVERS
Major Achievements
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