AlumniNM Blog - New posts

Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Invitation to Alumni Meets – January 2009

Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Remembering late Prof. Pratap Sirur

Turnaround Babus

One day when I returned home, I found a piece of paper fixed on my door. I was ready for surprises. But it turned out to be a notice from a post man that he had brought a speed-post and as the door was locked, now I had to collect it from the designated post office within five days. I thanked the postman for his concern; otherwise he could have just returned it back.

When I went to collect the post at my nearby post office, I was asked to collect it from another PO at some distance from the place, and that too before 10 AM.

Two days after, I went there, and found to my surprise that there was a queue of around 7 people waiting to receive their registered/speed posts. The recipient needed to show our picture ID cards in order to receive. The lady at the counter was as expected slow. And then, another woman complained that the postman never made a second round to deliver; he just left the notice when he found the door locked. There I realized the problem: As the government departments are fighting hard to improve profitability, or to become profitable at all, should they do that at the sake of poorer service to the public?

Imagine how many times we shall need to make rounds of post offices just because our main door was closed for the few hours in which the postman came? Or about the person in whose name the letter has come is out of town for some time? Should government departments be making profits? Yes. But should they adopt quick-fixes in order to make profits? Think about the courier guy who will call you up if he doesn't find your house. On the other hand, the post offices don't offer any comparable service. This is true for all government departments trying to turn around. Shouldn't they focus on improving efficiency and making some real changes in their work process and culture? Think about the railways which, in order to become profitable, fixes an extra side berth, reserves large quota for RAC and tatkal, or increases cancellation charges. Why should the railway tickets booked via the internet be costing more than those booked at their counters? I am using my computer, paying via my card, taking print of my ticket on my own printer, and thus saving the railways time, manpower and money. But in return, I am charged more than the guys who make queues at the reservation counters, fill up requisition slips, argue with the booking clerks and fight at their mundane fancies. As one of our professors says: by automating the wrong processes, you will end up doing the wrong things more efficiently!

Customers don’t forgive

I was late and in a hurry. I had to create recovery CDs for my laptop, which I had been procrastinating for a long time. I stepped in the neighbour general store and asked for a blank DVD. “How much is it?” I heard “90”! I asked him to say again. Now he says “only 20”. I took two pieces and went out. But then I came to realise that the first time he had said “19”, but seeing that I couldn’t hear him, he had asked the round figure of 20 the next time. I made a mental note that I would avoid this shop in the future.

One of the ways the market has developed has resulted in un-forgiving customers. Taking a short term approach can be fatal to businesses. The opportunity cost of losing a customer is very much higher than acquiring a new customer from competition. But even then some shoppers do that mistake. And the worst thing is that they are not reading our blogs to realise this :). They will learn it a hard way...

Every man is a story

One of our professors shared his life story with us in bits and pieces. Connecting them gives us a glimpse of ups and downs on the way to a success story called India.

Born in a small town, he went to a school where the medium of instruction was the regional language. Every morning, he walked up to the school carrying two things inviting curiosity of his classmates: his half-pants which had a distinctive flared cuffs/ends and a bag in which he used to carry notebooks in the morning and household items / vegetables on the way back to home…

And then one day he found himself admitted to an English medium school in a city. Life was challenging, as he couldn’t even speak either of Hindi and English! When he had to borrow a pen from a colleague, he used to utter, “Tumhara pen, mujhe pen” :) Finding an interesting ‘item’ in their classroom, the students made him a popular punch bag. Ridicules were naïve; but then they used to call him by a name that was insulting. And he didn’t even understand its meaning! One day when he asked what the word meant, they replied, “You are such a ‘good boy’, so we call you that with love”. The teasing got more innovative day by day. Until one day, when he called it quits: in his own way.

As he was having his lunch, some boys threw dust into it and he couldn’t take it any more… He being physically much stronger beat the blues out of the ‘bad boys’. From that day onwards, whenever someone created troubles for him, he would wait for him outside the campus and make sure to send him off on shoulders rather than on legs. This way, he survived his school days…

Seasons changed, birds reached home, and time flew like clouds. He passed his engineering and joined an automobile company. Then he did his post graduate degree in management and rejoined the industry. By this time he had got to understand a market gap and started his own business by procuring parts and selling them at higher margins. Very quick by any standards, he had all that his parents would wish him to possess. But his punishing work hours and passion for ‘more’ resulted in him having some undesired ailments and one day he vomited blood. Having survived and now convinced by parents to stick to a ‘comfortable’ job, he came to teaching as a profession. At the same time he offered his consulting services to the industry. Today, he also owns a medium scale industry with turnover in crores. And then the next: he has adopted a village near his native place and has set a target to build a school; a hospital and the entire infrastructure that is needed there to make their life comfortable and safe…

Until there is mutual trust, respect and love between elders and the younger generations, our India will remain our India.

The Tata Finance episode

The American financial sector is in the turmoil. From Bear Sterns to developments with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the crisis unfolded and took companies like AIG and Lehman Brothers in the grip. Coveted institutions which took generations to reach the enviable positions were down in some months. It is all in the newspapers these days. Somewhere somehow someone made mistakes which reached the US to these conditions.

Do you think Tatas did a mistake by deciding to set up the Nano plant in West Bengal? Do you hold the CEO of the bankrupt US finance major Lehman Brothers guilty? Did George W. Bush do a mistake by invading Iraq? Any question, that can be answered in ‘yes’ or ‘no’ need not be asked. Bad decisions and mistakes happen; so do frauds. One person’s gain may be the whole system’s loss.

Every event has far reaching repercussions, both positive and negative. The only thing that matters is – how you deal with them and how you let the event affect you. This small case is a very important one, because such cases set examples for years to come.

Frauds happen – deal with them

What does a corporate house do when the managing director of one of its companies commits a fraud? Does it try to put a lid on the affairs or does it make an all out effort to ensure that the stakeholders suffer no losses? When Tata Finance was engulfed in a financial mess, the Tata Group took the latter approach. Before the fraud could be detected by the regulators, it was the Tata Group’s self disclosure that opened the matter up.

Rather than sweep the issue under the carpet, Tatas decided on a two-pronged course of action. First, the interests of the small depositors who had placed their trust in the Tata name had to be protected. Second, an open and objective enquiry would be conducted to bring the culprits to book.

Tata Sons and Tata Industries made available to Tata Finance cash and corporate guarantees amounting to Rs 615 crores. Not many industries would have put hundreds of crores into a company that was sinking and that too without being sure that any of it could be recovered.

Despite the promptness with which the Tatas moved, the public perception of the Group and the Tata brand was affected initially. But it was the right thing to do, and the Tatas did what was required to be done.

Ref.: Tata Review

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.

Good parenting

This is not about MBA, but something greater than that. The most difficult art or science - is being a good parent. Read on. I saw this message and thought to share it here. I agree with all points, except that I think brother-sister fights in the childhood are a way of learning and growing up too. In such situations, the only thing the parents have to take care about is to be just in their decisions/settlements of fights irrespective of the gender.

***

Don't let your son grow up to be a male chauvinist. Teach him to respect women as equals, so he grows up into a fine young man who will do you proud.

1. Teach your son that he should never, ever strike a girl, no matter what the provocation. If he has a sister who he constantly fights with and they regularly exchange blows, he may not easily grasp the concept that boys don't hit girls. However, as your children grow, they will outgrow the phase of fistfights, so it is important that you inculcate this value in him.

2. Teach your son to question sexism by teaching him to respect his sister as his equal. By doing this, you will be teaching him to respect all women as equals.

3. Make sure your son contributes equally in the household chores. If your daughter lays the table, your son can clear it after the meal. Chores should be rotated, so no child feels that they've got the raw end of the deal.

4. Don't expect your daughter to serve your son, or your son will expect the same of his wife. And if she does not meet his expectations, there will be marital discord. Similarly, teach your daughter to respect herself and her gender by not asking her to iron your son's clothes, or to prepare lunch for him when you or your cook are not available. They can order food from out, or the two off them can scramble some eggs together.

5. Teach your son cooking. Most chefs are men, and many of the world's best cooks are men. You will be doing him a service, not a disservice, by teaching him how to cook. If he's got a sweet tooth, start off by teaching him how to bake a cake… and take it from there. There's nothing effeminate about entering the kitchen. Some of the most macho men I know love to cook, so break out of this old school of thought. You could start off by asking him to watch you bake a cake, and to help you out by whipping the eggs, passing you the sugar, etc. Get him involved, and his interest will rise.

6. Teach your son chess, teach him how to use a computer or teach him a subject at school. Don't expect only your husband to teach him things that require him to use his brains. If you teach him how to, say, use a computer, his respect for you, and consequently, his respect for women, will increase tremendously. The fact that you may be a stay-at-home mother has nothing to do with it. If your son sees you as intelligent, you've done very well! But if he thinks that 'only papa is intelligent' or 'boys are much cleverer than girls', you've got some serious catching up to do.

7. Be a good role model for your child as a father. Respect your wife, and respect her opinions. Avoid cracking sexist jokes with your son, and if you do, make sure that your son knows that they are just jokes. Seek your wife's opinion. As a mother, strengthen your child's opinion of you by not nagging your husband constantly in front of your child, by not losing control of yourself or your emotions in front of the children, and by appearing strong and balanced in their eyes.

Happy Rakhi

Someone sent me this message: "I am Rakhee how you you?" (her name changed :). I thought there was some grammatical error! Now I know there was none! And I am loving it, when I say: "I have 7 Rakhees, how are you?" :)

From the childhood, the more number of Rakhees we had, the luckier we were. And those who didn't have sisters were really unlucky ones :) I have seen aunts with only two sons, longing so much for a daughter. Rakhee has been the day, when friends show off: I have 7 Rakhees, how many have you got? I too want to show off, so I repeat this again and again: I have 7 Rakhees today, how are you? :) It was also Rakhee, which always kept sisters richer than us. But Goddess of wealth is a lady anyhow, so we never complained.

And today, I hear a new story about my sister's kiddo: At 2+ of age, he has got a girlfriend in his class! (play school) One day, sister asked: Did Vrinda come to class today? He said: "Lekin bahut door baithi thee" (But she sat very far away ") And some days back when they celebrated Rakhee in school, he took chocolate for her and she came in a new dress to tie a Rakhee to him :)

***

I saw this message yesterday. I think it was meant to be shared today only! I agree with all points, except the brother-sister fights. I think brother-sister fights in the childhood are a way of learning and growing up too. In such situations, the only thing the parents have to take care about is to be just in their decisions/settlements of fights irrespective of the gender. How do you like this? :

***

Don’t let your son grow up to be a male chauvinist. Teach him to respect women as equals, so he grows up into a fine young man who will do you proud.

1. Teach your son that he should never, ever strike a girl, no matter what the provocation. If he has a sister who he constantly fights with and they regularly exchange blows, he may not easily grasp the concept that boys don’t hit girls. However, as your children grow, they will outgrow the phase of fistfights, so it is important that you inculcate this value in him.

2. Teach your son to question sexism by teaching him to respect his sister as his equal. By doing this, you will be teaching him to respect all women as equals.

3. Make sure your son contributes equally in the household chores. If your daughter lays the table, your son can clear it after the meal. Chores should be rotated, so no child feels that they’ve got the raw end of the deal.

4. Don’t expect your daughter to serve your son, or your son will expect the same of his wife. And if she does not meet his expectations, there will be marital discord. Similarly, teach your daughter to respect herself and her gender by not asking her to iron your son’s clothes, or to prepare lunch for him when you or your cook are not available. They can order food from out, or the two off them can scramble some eggs together.

5. Teach your son cooking. Most chefs are men, and many of the world’s best cooks are men. You will be doing him a service, not a disservice, by teaching him how to cook. If he’s got a sweet tooth, start off by teaching him how to bake a cake and take it from there. There’s nothing effeminate about entering the kitchen. Some of the most macho men I know love to cook, so break out of this old school of thought. You could start off by asking him to watch you bake a cake, and to help you out by whipping the eggs, passing you the sugar, etc. Get him involved, and his interest will rise.

6. Teach your son chess, teach him how to use a computer or teach him a subject at school. Don’t expect only your husband to teach him things that require him to use his brains. If you teach him how to, say, use a computer, his respect for you, and consequently, his respect for women, will increase tremendously. The fact that you may be a stay-at-home mother has nothing to do with it. If your son sees you as intelligent, you’ve done very well! But if he thinks that ‘only papa is intelligent’ or ‘boys are much cleverer than girls’, you’ve got some serious catching up to do.

7. Be a good role model for your child as a father. Respect your wife, and respect her opinions. Avoid cracking sexist jokes with your son, and if you do, make sure that your son knows that they are just jokes. Seek your wife’s opinion. As a mother, strengthen your child’s opinion of you by not nagging your husband constantly in front of your child, by not losing control of yourself or your emotions in front of the children, and by appearing strong and balanced in their eyes.

Happy Rakhee to all of you!

© Rahul

No more fun please…

These are times of boundary less world. These are also times of our obsession with the ‘less’. On one hand, we are trying to fill the gap by addressing sensitive issues in course curriculum, and on the other hand, we keep loosing it because of changes happening where we least expect. The changing profile and attitude of teaching faculty is one such thing. No longer has it remained the profession of the noble, as it is seen as just another profession, and some times a comfortable one. It has also become a feather in the cap of today’s manager. And hence, a very diverse set of people are entering the teaching line, with diverse interests and backgrounds. It is good to a large extent, but bad when we start expecting them of certain kind of nobleness as teachers were always expected to.

As I entered the class late, the teacher allowed me to come in. But he made the class give me a big applause (clap, clap, professors do that to bore the late comers :). I came in and said “thank you”. He seemed to feel that I was a bit intimidated, so he held my arm while asking me to come in and said, “Don’t worry dear, I am not touching you the wrong way :)” Good sense of humour? Let us see…

Two minutes later, he makes a point to one guy, saying, “Suppose you get married” (class laughs) “And suppose you have a child too” (laughter), “And even suppose it is your own child!” (more laughter)… He watches people laughing, stands tall, and says, “Yes, Can you know who the father of a child is? Never! Even DNA tests won’t tell. ONLY the mother knows the father of the child!” He feels himself superior and moves around, while people let the joke passed amidst laughter. Why this example? He was trying to explain the real decision makers in the buying process, and something about consumers and customers. 1.5 hours and 1.5 dozen double meaning jokes… Did we deserve more? :)

Today a friend in another class says his teacher of CRM asked a guy, “Do you think having one-night-stands every day would make you have a better relationship with your girlfriend?” (many worse examples are not shared here) What the hell! The class laughed while some people felt bad. He was explaining how customer relationship management is as complex as real life personal relationships...

Normally we all avoid minding or objecting to such comments because they are occasional ones and in pure humour. But many a times, they are derogatory to a particular sex, caste or religion. Most common is to see women as an object. And they take it that the class will enjoy such jokes! From my personal experience, this phenomenon is seen mainly in the visiting faculty from the industry, who would make their day (evening) by breaking such funny but double meaning jokes at every opportunity. The students just laugh and let it go. In one subject, we tolerated one retired HR manager for 3 months, who kept telling corrupt stories in the name of sharing practical cases. And one professor, who described lewd details in the name of explaining cultural diversities. We rated them low in the feedback forms, but I am not sure if anyone mentioned what they said in the class rooms. All such incidents still make me sure of one thing – no matter how much the new generation has changed, we still respect our elders. And we discount their bad habits to a generous extent.

I had read somewhere that while in public, we should never tell such jokes because public memory keeps that particular impression of ours for a long time. If I meet my teacher after 20 years, it may happen that I will recall him by the double-meaning jokes he told in the class. It is high time the teachers behave themselves. As such I am decided now that if that teacher continues his way, I would politely let him know of my opinion, ok, gyaan :) Complaint is a big decision and something I would avoid. But we never know :)

Everything can be laughed off, but there is always a limit.

***

Note: This article doesn’t generalise the phenomenon or behaviour of teachers in general. Views expressed are personal. Nothing is against any particular teacher or university. For the record, incidents mentioned may be fictitious. And it should not be quoted for any action against anyone.

Guest Lectures

CK Prahlad on campus On Saturday, 19th of July, CK Prahlad was on our campus. The visionary professor of University of Michigan and author of ‘Fortune at the bottom of Pyramid’ was here in Mumbai to interact with the students of our university on the theme India@75. I couldn’t attend this session due to some reasons (ok, my decisions) but I caught up with friends later on. They had found the session a bit boring as the speaker had not been able to connect with the audience on the core of the theme. When the best of the authors and speakers try to reach out to the audiences beyond a limit, there is always a risk of being self-infatuated and missing the ‘magic’. And today, when one of our professors gave an assignment to a group on the topic “CK Prahalad’s contribution to the management practices in India”, the junta laughed :) This was neither because Indians are over-critical of other successful Indians, nor because Prof. Prahalad had not contributed enough. It was just a sample of the interesting phenomenon when many a times, sound principles become reduced to management jargons… SCM Head, Cadbury On 26th of July, Mr. Saurabh Tiwari, Supply Chain Head, Cadbury India was on campus to deliver a guest lecture on the topic “Exploring the beautiful world of business – from lens of Supply Chain”. He started from setting the context in the changing times in India, and then went ahead giving the snapshots of supply chain challenges in Cadbury, the framework approach, sales and operations planning (S&OP), and the skill sets and careers in the field. Apart from all technical insights, Mr. Tiwari’s presentation skills and his connection with the young audience were commendable. The simplicity in delivery and the easiness with which he described the models were exceptional. The loads of chocolates that he brought for the students were just a sample of enthusiasm that he showed in delivering this lecture. The audience, which was dominated by freshly joined first year students, got really enlightened and were tremendously motivated by the speaker. After the lecture, the crowd waited to touch and feel him :), and I hoped he would have returned back with the feeling of a job well done… Other guest lectures: Mr. Pradeep Chechani, Supply Chain Head, RPG Spencers interacted with the students in a guest lecture on 23rd of July, under the theme of “The story of the Watermelon Seller”. This event was organised by Optumiz – the Operations Cell in coordination with IIPC. Mr. D Shivkumar - VP & MD Nokia India Limited was on campus on 31st of July for a Guest Lecture titled, "Where did the Leader learn Leadership?" Dr. Narayan Rangraj (co author of the book Logistics and Supply Chain Management – Concepts and Cases) was on campus along with Mr. Pulkit Jain, a student of M.Tech. on 7th of August. IIT Mumbai had designed a simulator for suburban section of Western railway. They demonstrated the logic, software and the constraints. This event was organised by Optumiz – the Operations Cell.