China and Bihar

History is made, and not written. Any low position is an opportunity to aim high. And anyone down with a great past is a sleeping giant.

The sleeping giants

We have listened enough of the Chindia (China+India) debates, now here is something fresh. What is common between China and Bihar? … Both are underdogs, and both are down.
China has been renowned for justifying the negative connotation attached with the word 'cheap'. It can manufacture anything that can be manufactured and at a price which is below others’ raw material costs. However, the product quality will always be broke. The recent scandal in baby milk, which made over 54000 Chinese children sick and many dead, is just the ‘most recent’ visible example. The tainted milk products were contaminated with a toxic chemical melamine, to disguise the protein levels of adulterated milk. Many countries including India have banned such products from China. From farm products to automobile components, Chinese quality is under serious doubt. China is down.

However, Japan was in a very similar situation at the beginning of 70s when its product qualities were not better than junk. It started from there and within years, Japan became synonym with best-in-class quality. A number of Japanese companies like Sony took it personally and in order to remove the poor quality tag from "Made in Japan", they created a history. China has the opportunity to do the same. It is down and the whole world is watching her. It can manufacture a change.

Bihar on the other hand is also in one such situation. Despite having a past that is more glorious than any other part, it lost all its shine in the after years of independence. The land where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment, where Lord Mahaveer and Guru Gobind Singh were born, and the place where great men like Chandragupta, and Ashoka ruled, lost its touch with the happenings later on. Out of government apathy and lack of opportunities, people moved out of the state to other parts of India and the unwelcomed migrating populations were targeted in many places. Of late, there has been a general skepticism that nothing can happen in the state. Then, the most devastating flood in the history of modern India happened. For state which had lost its major sources of revenues by creation of a separate Jharkhand, and where corruption eats through any public spending, it could not have gone worse. Millions have been without homes for months and thousands were washed away by the mad water. There cannot be a tougher time. Bihar is down.

However, never before in its recent past the state has been able to generate the genuine interest and pure empathy towards its condition that has happened this time. Even the skeptics who ridiculed the state have been touched at nature's fury at the innocent population. This is the real turning point. Never before in the last many decades, the collective India has seen Bihar with this much empathy. Already the new leadership in the state is doing well and trying hard to turn it around. The state is down and the whole India is watching her. The state can take it from here.

Management lessons from Mahabharata

Coaching or Mentoring is a great tool in management for talent development. This small piece tells how the Mahabharata teaches us the key points:

Trust in coaching: Krishna and Arjuna

In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas are shown to have fought with the Kauravas on a matter of principle.

Arjuna was the person on whose shoulders the morale of the Pandavas rested. His well-being heralded victory and he stood for all that was supreme Pandava valour and glory. He had two biological older brothers, so he was not solely responsible for looking after the family. However, Arjuna was a little vain and sensitive, and felt he had nobody to look up to. Krishna filled this void. Krishna’s style of mentoring relied on certain building blocks.

Krishna proclaimed his love for Arjuna publicly and attached the highest importance to his friendship with Arjuna. They spent much time together and Krishna took every opportunity to demonstrate his love for Arjuna. On one occasion, they fought a battle which pleased Lord Indra. Lord Indra offered Krishna a boon. Guess what he asked for? He asked that his friendship with Arjuna continue forever! This built great trust in the relationship. Trust is the first building block in the mentoring.

The second feature was that Krishna was always supportive of Arjuna but never interfered with his life. At no point did Krishna take the decisions or the actions required, he merely offered his advice to Arjuna. At any rate, Arjuna had a fragile personality, the kind that would not accept interference by someone else. Krishna ensured that after proffering his advice, he gave Arjuna his own space so that the protégé felt no sense of dependence on the mentor.

The third feature was that the relationship was one of cheer and warmth. Arjuna took his tasks very seriously and had frequent outbursts of temper. Krishna showed himself to be a friends and comrade despite the moodiness of his protégé, so that Arjuna felt free to open his heart to him.

The fourth feature of Krishna’s mentorship was that when required, he criticized Arjuna’s decisions openly but never insulted or denigrated him personally. Krishna’s focus was on the issue, not on the person. Thus he was always non-judgemental.

The fifth feature was that Krishna never left Arjuna to fend for himself just because he had chosen a path which Krishna was not supportive of. When Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu was killed in battle by Jayadratha, Arjuna vowed that by evening he would either kill Jayadratha or commit suicide. Krishna did not think this was a good idea, but he stood with his protégé to help him complete his difficult task. Lastly, when Arjuna faced a personal crisis on the battlefield, Krishna came to his rescue by propounding the Gita; it was not a mere sermon but a way of looking at the issues he was facing and helping Arjuna to resolve his dilemmas himself.

(Taken from the book “The Case of the Bonsai Manager”, by R. Gopalakrishnan)

Management lessons from Mahabharata

Coaching or Mentoring is a great tool in management for talent development. This small piece tells how the Mahabharata teaches us the key points:

Trust in coaching: Krishna and Arjuna

In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas are shown to have fought with the Kauravas on a matter of principle.

Arjuna was the person on whose shoulders the morale of the Pandavas rested. His well-being heralded victory and he stood for all that was supreme Pandava valour and glory. He had two biological older brothers, so he was not solely responsible for looking after the family. However, Arjuna was a little vain and sensitive, and felt he had nobody to look up to. Krishna filled this void. Krishna’s style of mentoring relied on certain building blocks.

Krishna proclaimed his love for Arjuna publicly and attached the highest importance to his friendship with Arjuna. They spent much time together and Krishna took every opportunity to demonstrate his love for Arjuna. On one occasion, they fought a battle which pleased Lord Indra. Lord Indra offered Krishna a boon. Guess what he asked for? He asked that his friendship with Arjuna continue forever! This built great trust in the relationship. Trust is the first building block in the mentoring.

The second feature was that Krishna was always supportive of Arjuna but never interfered with his life. At no point did Krishna take the decisions or the actions required, he merely offered his advice to Arjuna. At any rate, Arjuna had a fragile personality, the kind that would not accept interference by someone else. Krishna ensured that after proffering his advice, he gave Arjuna his own space so that the protégé felt no sense of dependence on the mentor.

The third feature was that the relationship was one of cheer and warmth. Arjuna took his tasks very seriously and had frequent outbursts of temper. Krishna showed himself to be a friends and comrade despite the moodiness of his protégé, so that Arjuna felt free to open his heart to him.

The fourth feature of Krishna’s mentorship was that when required, he criticized Arjuna’s decisions openly but never insulted or denigrated him personally. Krishna’s focus was on the issue, not on the person. Thus he was always non-judgemental.

The fifth feature was that Krishna never left Arjuna to fend for himself just because he had chosen a path which Krishna was not supportive of. When Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu was killed in battle by Jayadratha, Arjuna vowed that by evening he would either kill Jayadratha or commit suicide. Krishna did not think this was a good idea, but he stood with his protégé to help him complete his difficult task. Lastly, when Arjuna faced a personal crisis on the battlefield, Krishna came to his rescue by propounding the Gita; it was not a mere sermon but a way of looking at the issues he was facing and helping Arjuna to resolve his dilemmas himself.

(Taken from the book “The Case of the Bonsai Manager”, by R. Gopalakrishnan)

Should we go for APICS certification now?

Someone from the junior batch asked if we should go for APICS certifications at this stage. Here is my opinion:

Anyone working in the supply chain function would like to have this certification. The advantages are like from any certification: it tells that you have the basic competencies since you have cleared the exam, it differentiates you from the competition since many of them won't have that, and it gives an impression that you are very serious about this field so companies may consider you more seriously.

On the other hand, I think MBA in Operations Management as majors is one degree which itself is something that speaks all. I know many professionals working in the supply chain functions in organizations are not MBAs and they can't even go for MBA at later stage. Many of them do a Diploma or PG Diploma in SCM and they would definitely look for this APICS certification.

Many of our seniors from 2k8 batch had gone for this and had cleared the exam. But to say that they got advantage in the placements won't be direct, since it depends on the profile with which the company would be coming in.

I have not enrolled for this, but I can go for this once I am into a company and I would get sponsored by the company itself. It is not all about money, but also about self-learning. Once we enter the industry, the learning process has to be planned and there, doing the course wold benefit more. For someone who has limited idea right now about SCM, doing this would just seem like passing one more exam. (This is not a course but just an exam which you have to clear)

As such it is a personal call: you can take it up if you have time and want to, it will of course add value to your profile.