LAKESGREAT

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, CHENNAI Aswath DamodaranSudha Murty Deepak Chopra

May 2006Issue 2,

GThe Great Lakes MagazineRAVITY

India Balanced Scorecard. A Reality Check.

Our sincere thanks to

Dr. Bala V Balachandran

Prof. S Sriram

Dr. R Narasimhan

Dr. Venkat R Krishnan

Mr. V Sankaran

Ms. Malathi R

Ms. Pratima Lakshmanan

Ms. Rowena Scurville

Mr. Venkit

Chandrashekar S

Deepak Paidipatti

Lakshmikant P B

Manu Anand Kumar

Mrudula Damisetti

Ramesh Chandramouli

Ramya Ramani

Siddharth Asokan

Sudhanshu Bhargav

Vasanth Sandilya

And fellow GreatLakers

THE

SPIR

IT O

F GR

AVIT

Y

Gravity is ubiquitous and has been in existence for ever.

However, it took a Newton's ingenuity 'to ask why' resulting in

the discovery of gravity. At hindsight, the discovery looks very

simple and 'common sensical', yet for so many centuries in the

past, no one had looked at it the way Newton did.

The managers from Great Lakes emulate this 'Newtonian'

attitude. Great Lakers are a bunch of individuals who have

learnt to look at things differently, to ask why and to innovate,

continuously!

A manifestation of this Great Lakes culture is 'Gravity'.

The Spirit of

Gravity

Acknowledgements

From the Editor’s Desk…

Chief Editor

Sathish Anand Seshadri

Editors

Gopal V. Kavalireddi

Neha Sukhija

Nikunj Agarwal

Sai Sudha C

Dear Reader,

Last time we made two promises to you. First that Gravity will be a

biannual edition and second, beyond the business fraternity, Gravity's

stakeholders would include the society at large. Fulfilling our commitment,

here we are with the second edition of Gravity! It gives us great pleasure in

reaching out to you, yet again. After having discussed in depth about the

biggest challenge for corporations, through Corporate DNA Mutation, we

wanted to step back and take a look at the larger picture of our society.

Today, India has the world's attention by being the fastest growing

democracy. The consistent 7% GDP growth and the all time high stock

markets showcase the investor confidence, both within and overseas. The

mindshare that we received in the World Economic Forum and the

landmark nuclear deal during the recent visit of the United States President

George Bush come to reiterate our growing importance in the international

community.

While we feel euphoric about this Indian growth story, there are some

questions that need to be asked. Is this growth translating itself into

development? Development, both economically and socially. Is the

average citizen well-off than she was in the past? Are people genuinely

happier now than what they were? Or, is the economic boom leaving the

bulk of the nation behind?

“We have realized that growth must translate to prosperity for all”.

- Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India

This edition, India balanced scorecard, a reality check has been built on

these thoughts. The discussions encompassed do not attempt to suggest the

panacea of all social problems in India. But we sincerely hope that it would

ignite the spark of holistic societal development in the minds of several

leaders of today and tomorrow.

Like last time, we have also rounded up on the various happenings at Great oLakes. L'Attitude 13 05, our maiden B-school fest was a resounding

success and it showcased the mindshare that Great Lakes has created in the

B-school community. The world famous spiritual guru Dr. Deepak Chopra

launched the fund raising activity for Great Lakes with his brilliant lecture.

We also had several globally renowned professors and phenomenal

corporate leaders talking to us on wide range of contemporary business

issues.

While the current batch of students prepares to embark on to their corporate

journey, we eagerly look forward to an inspiring interaction with Mr. Ratan

Tata immediately the day after our graduation. We would like to welcome

the next batch of students, the Crusaders, as we pass the baton to them to

continue the Great Lakes legacy and take Gravity and Great Lakes to

greater heights. As usual, we look forward to your candid comments and

feedback at gravity@glakes.org

Happy reading!

Sathish Anand Seshadri

EDIT

OR

'S D

ESK

MES

SAG

E

We are at a key juncture in the evolution of India, where history is being

written everyday, not only in the corporate boardrooms but also in a

social, political and cultural sense. Having set the ball rolling, the onus is

now to ensure that the momentum gathered thus far is sustained over

large periods of time. This rests on the shoulders of Young India. While

there is an unprecedented demand for talented managers to fuel the

growth of the Indian economy, management institutes like the Great

Lakes Institute of Management aim at bridging this gap. The “Global

Mindset, Indian Roots” approach that Great Lakes imbibes in its

students is worth emulating. The need of the hour is managers who think

globally. India has already been put on the world map but the presence

needs to keep growing stronger. Great Lakes was born as a result of

Dr. Bala’s vision to create knowledge and disseminate it in a most

effective and beneficial manner. The innovative one year model at a

modest price along with faculty from the best institutions across the

globe, will make Great Lakes one among the finest in management

education. The school also has a strong industry interface leading to

research and consulting.

While I was at the convocation of the pioneer batch at Great Lakes last

year, I had the pleasure of interacting with the students. It was a

memorable experience and very encouraging to see a group of students

who were clearly ready to move into the corporate world and take the

challenges head on.

I am pleased to be associated with this college. My best wishes to

Dr. Bala and I am certain that in the years to come, the students of Great

Lakes will be a driving force for not only the corporate India but also,

India as a whole.

 

Mr. Jamshyd Godrej 

Chairman, Godrej & Boyce , India

Business Advisory Council, Great Lakes Institute of Management

Note from

Mr. Jamshyd Godrej 

I am delighted to write this note for ‘Gravity’- the Great Lakes Magazine

I have always believed that a change in the style of governance and

mindset of the people of India is essential to improve the quality of

education and research systems with a view to making the nation

competitive in the international arena. Padmasri Dr. Bala Balachandran

has aimed to do just that as the Honorary Dean of Great Lakes Institute of

Management.  

With globalization taking centre-stage and India becoming a vital part of

the global village there is a growing need for business ready managers.

The one-year program at Great Lakes with a focus on customer

centricity has come a long way in bridging this gap. The stress on

imbibing leadership and entrepreneurial skills in students is worth

noting.

More and more multinational business houses have set up their bases in

India while Indian companies have made inroads into the developed

countries through acquisitions. The future belongs to those with wealth

of knowledge as the world is getting interconnected at a fast pace.

Knowledge management, research & development and quality human

resources will prove to separate the great companies from the average

ones. Great Lakes Institute of Management, with research tie-ups with

Yale University, has impressively equipped students with the right mix

of knowledge, skill and attitude. It has all the ingredients to make it one

of the best business schools in the country.

Dr. Abid Hussain 

Former Indian Ambassador to the United States of America

Business Advisory Council, Great Lakes Institute of Management

Dr. Abid Hussain Note from

MES

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CONT

ENTS

Founder’s Message

Cover Story

The Growth Miracle

- Dr. V.S. Arunachalam

India: Straight from its heart

- Ms. Sudha Murty

Looking beyond the veil

- Mr. Subroto Bagchi

Scorecarding India

- Mr. Mohan Nair

A balanced scorecard on management

education in India

- Dr. Sudhakar Balachandran

Ideas from the country side

- Ritesh Krishnamurthy

Levers to happiness

- Prashant Nichani

Successful Women In Management

How can we be heard?

- Dr. Kiran Bedi

The mind of a strategist

- Dr. Suj Krishnaswamy

Indian Growth Story:

Is the future ours or are we the future?

- Deepak Paidipati and Chandrashekar S.

Mr. Francisco D'souza

- The New age Entrepreneur

COO Speak

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3

5

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Contents

Across the Great Wall

- Mr. A. Natarajan 23

The Chinese Connection

CONT

ENTS

oL'Attitude 13 05

- Management fest @ Great Lakes

Management and spirituality

- Dr. Deepak Chopra

Organizing human capital

- Dr. Hayagreeva Rao

Guest Lectures

Many a slip between the cup and the lip…

- Dr. Aswath Damodaran

Behavior of Organizations: the challenge and

Excitement of leading change in organizations

- Dr. Jitendra V. Singh

Supply chain management - Prof. Sunil Chopra

Marketing - Dr. Lakshman Krishnamurthi

Entrepreneurship - Prof. Lloyd Shefsky

Talking stocks - Mr. Vijay Kamani

Mr. S. Ramadorai during the launch of thesecond batch of Executive MBA

Memories of the past year, a pictorial retreat!

- Gopal Kavalireddi And Natasha Lobo

Master of business readiness a need of the hour?

- B Ramakrishnan

Eureka! More Fortune!

- Krishnan R.

Finger prints of great business leaders

- Dr. Bala V. Balachandran and Kavi Priya A.

Leadership Excellence

Moments of truth

- Class of 2006

Hall of fame - winners of student

awards at acclaimed business schools

The thought, The form, The mark…

- Team Gravity

Events @Great Lakes

Executive Education

The Year That Was

Perspectives

From The Four Walls Of Great Lakes

Making of the Gravity

25

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1

Welcome to Grea t Lakes Ins t i tu te of

Management that is Powered by Knowledge

and Steered by Ethical Values with a

'Global Mindset and Indian Roots'. It is with

extreme delight that I introduce the second issue of

Gravity, the Great Lakes magazine. The theme for

this issue is India Balanced Scorecard, a Reality

Check.

How do customers see us?

At Great Lakes, excellent start to the placement

season, 80 offers trickling in the first two days of

placement cycle itself, has set the pace for another

eventful year; the admissions for next batch are in

full swing.

On a wider perspective, India continues on a dream

run of 7-8% growth. It has never been a one

dimensional nation and continues to challenge its

interpreters. State heads from developed nations

are making rounds unaffected by Third World

myopia.

But not without an effort, India has been a front-

runner in forging relations. Even in the tentative

moments of freedom, when secularism and

socialism defined the nationalist ideal, leaders like

Nehru had the prescience to foresee the possibilities

of liberalization in the post-Stalin Soviet Union and

who with Tito and Nasser was one of the chief

architects of the nonaligned movement. Russian

alliance got a further boost with Mr. Gorbachev

transforming the former Soviet Union to the current

group of Russian nations. Global relations seem to

have come full circle and India's intent in the past

one decade seem to have borne fruits with President

Bush approving the nuclear deal, helping meet one

Founder and Honorary

Dean's Message

of the key infrastructure challenges of an energy

starved nation. The successful transformation of

the US-INDIA relationship will have a decisive and

positive influence on the future International

System, such that India will benefit by leaps and

bounds.

If India is to become the THIRD largest Economic

Power, it is not going to be attained either by

Politicians or by the Government and Bureaucracy

but by Business Entrepreneurs and Leaders of

tomorrow who are groomed by Great Lakes and

other schools of higher quality and values.

What must we excel at?

Increased acceptance globally also entails

responsibility. Indian businesses are now leading

the transnational mergers and acquisitions BUT

still managers with global perspective are a

scarcity. It's definitely by design that at Great lakes

a global perspective and constant innovation surge

in curriculum is sustained through multifaceted

initiatives.

One such initiative; Dr. Deepak Chopra's lecture at

Great Lakes delved into hitherto unchartered

territory on the Indian management scene. In

addition Dr. Chopra and I have designed a new

management development course titled 'Soul

Leadership' on the lines of a similar course

conducted at the Kellogg. Essentially, efforts

should be made to contain the social costs related to

stupendous growth witnessed in India. Young

managers achieve levels of prosperity in a couple

of years what took their parents couple of decades,

So they look for larger meaning of life and courses

like these will help round out business ready

managers for longer hauls.

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2

Thus Democracy, Development and Decency can

concurrently co-exist with confidence and

compassion in India and grow.

Can we continue to improve and create value?

Reducing cost is vital, but creating value is critical.

A key roadblock to any nation's growth and its

unfolding prosperity is the paucity of high grade

management talent. Of course, for a country which

saw its first university, Nalanda, much earlier than

the 5th century A.D, with scholars including ones

from China, Japan, Korea and which was frequented

by Lord Buddha preaching Dharma, such foresight

is expected. Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs)

were setup some 50 years ago. Over the years, many

other business schools have come up with an

amazing array of 6000 business schools now dotting

the Indian landscape, but Rule of 3 may prevail here

as well with a few quality Business Schools with

World Class Excellence fully differentiated. So,

India's long term model for growth is sustainable but

will depend on the availability of resources and

suitably trained managers to transform them into

output. With Business Programs like Great Lakes,

emphasizing a Business Model of "Business

Readiness" with “Money Value of Time” and

"World Class Quality at an Affordable Cost as a

Value proposition”, and “Ethically sound Execution

of strategy with a clear Radar Screen that depicts the

Value Migration”, achieving exponential growth in

a sustainable way becomes feasible.

How do we look to shareholders?

I have always said that at Great Lakes, students are

the primary share-holders. The amazing pace of

placements for second batch validated the effort of

entire student placement committee, the results of an

effort spanning one full year. I am confident that this

year we'll comfortably surpass the first batch

average salary/CTC of 6.5 lakhs to over 7.5 lakhs.

In his lecture at Great Lakes on valuation,

Prof. Aswath Damodran talked about the slip

between cup and the lip when valuations become too

complex and contrived. 1992 July, was watershed

for Indian equity market, with the successful

Demise of "Controller of Capital Goods", the

valuation process evolved beyond the bureaucratic

wrangling. Aswath Damodaran and other players of

the capital Market endorsed and determined the

valuation for modern Indian corporations, We are

now in sync and in step with the world Capital

Market and Booming.

How do we innovate and learn?

While best job offers came from Indian IT industry,

microcosm of global Indian businesses and an

exemplar for an industry defying the typical inside

out MNC growth, the real challenge now is to offset

the continuous wage inflation with increased

innovation.

So, when students get a chance to meet another key

shareholder in Great Lakes; Mr. Ratan Tata,

Chairman Great Lakes Business Advisory Council,

later in April, one question on their minds will be

how are organizations pushing innovation,

encouraging voice of internal customer. Something

similar to ideation day a month, mentioned by

Mr. Pashupathy, Director International Programs

Google, during his lecture at Great Lakes. Let us also

understand why, family empires like Tata & Sons

seek and recognize more value adding professionals

outside of the Family to ensure the Stakeholder

Values. To me such town-hall meetings with global

corporate legends, of which we had no dearth at

Great Lakes, in addition to world renowned faculty,

help invigorate the much needed entrepreneurial

talent.

Future

Admissions for 2007 batch seem to be the perfect

harbinger of future at Great Lakes. The application

pool has expectedly surged both in quality and

quantity. It is indeed a Herculean task to process

zillion enquiries translating to more than 5000

applicants, diligently and rigorously filtered to

160 quality admits. My sincere and grateful congrats

to the entire team of faculty, students, interviewers,

volunteers, group discussants and mostly to the

admission committee for a fantastic job they did to

create the CRUSADERS, the incoming batch

of 2007.

My message to my beloved JUNIOR PIONEERS,

the second batch, on Apr'27, the day they get their

wings will be: Daring ideas are like chessmen

moved forward; they may be beaten but they may

start a winning Game. It is the Finish Line that

Counts. The World is out there for you to conquer

and succeed.

Excellence Inspires and is Infectious. Excel in

Everything with Energy, Enthusiasm and

Excellence. Go get them, TIGERS, and the "World Is

Not Flat", So Climb to the Peak. Yes, You Learn to

Earn, But you Earn not to Live but to Give. Give your

heart, soul and mind to your company, colleagues

and the country.

Jai Hind, Jai Great Lakes; God Bless You.

Padmasri Dr. Bala V Balachandran

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Or are we the Future?

Indian Growth Story

Is the Future ours?

'India Everywhere' - One of the themes at

the World Economic Forum 2006, was a big

move to pitch India as the most sought after

investment destination. And surely, why

not? India's success story can be derived

from just one parameter i.e. consecutive

growth rate of 7% over the last three years.

The renewed buoyancy of the stock

markets, backed by strong corporate

earnings and speedy economic reforms

form the spine of this fairy tale. But the

single-most significant question that needs

to be answered is whether an average Indian

is receiving his share of this bounty. Well,

the answer is an emphatic “No” and in this

article we make an attempt to substantiate

this view.

Let us begin by asking the question a little

differently. Does economic growth always

result in economic development? Well, not

really. Despite economic growth being

essential for national development, it is not

the only constituent. So the question is

whether India, riding on high rates of

economic growth, is on the path to ensure

the well being of all its people. Economic

growth would result in comprehensive

development only if it is equitable. In India's

context, we need to examine growth from

two distinct perspectives Across cross

sections of society, both urban and rural as

well as the sectoral composition.

India is a country with 600 million of its

population in the rural areas. Alarmingly,

the Indian success story is happening on the

minority “urban” side creating a huge

divide. Interest ingly, this divide

has increased post liberalization.

Liberalization is definitely not a cause but if

the policies were implemented with an

expected objective of reducing the divide,

then why is the reality flipped. For instance,

amongst the states, Bihar has a per capita

income of $80 while Maharashtra leads at

$379. If one looks at the facts, Bihar is one

of the richest states in natural resources but

one of the poorest in terms of development.

On examining the ground realities, Indian

growth story is concentrated only in a few

states. Indian FDI policy is definitely

fueling an increase in divide - 49% of the

FDI in the country is invested in Delhi and

Maharashtra only. Contrary to common

belief, India is as economically disparate as

China if not more and cannot be regarded as

a unified market.

Now let us shift our focus to the sectoral

composition of Indian growth. As per the

COVE

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TORY

Each one of us should

take the responsibility of

changing the system and

spend less time lamenting

the system for what it is.

4

findings of the study conducted by

Ravallion and Dutt (2001), growth in the

agricultural and services sector contributes

more towards reduction in poverty and

development, than industrial growth. So

where does India stand? Unfortunately, the

agricultural reforms have been lackluster

and this is reflected in the dismal

performance of the agricultural sector over

the last decade. One extremely positive

event has been the high growth rate of the

services sector resulting in enhancement of

job opportunities. Is this enough to

alleviate poverty? Definitely not, because

the poor have not been participating in

growth of the Indian economy, with dismal

agricultural growth rates of -1% and 2.3%

for 2004 and 2005 respectively. It is

important to examine our history to see

where we are heading. At the time of

independence, India had over 74% people

employed in agriculture, contributing

lion's share to the GDP. However, as per

latest statistics, though services sector is

hogging the limelight with 54%

contribution to GDP, India still has 60% of

the population employed in agriculture.

Though one side of the story is positive, the

more latent and negative facet is that

agriculture contributes only 21% to the

GDP. This phenomenon sounds quite

similar to the 80-20 rule, but this is

alarming and unless the migration happens

quickly the income disparity would grow

beyond control.

" The test of our progress is not whether

we add more to the abundance to those

who have much; but whether we provide

enough for whose who have too little"

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

After examining the above two areas of

societal distribution and sectoral

composition of our growth, it is imperative

to understand the reasons which have

fueled this divide. If one looks at developed

economies, countries are rich because of

their history, quality of institutions and

governance. It was found that with the same

level of resources, one country could

become rich and the other poor because of

governance quality and institutional

strengths. Institutions hold the power and

ability to reduce inequality. Has India been

able to create strong institutions or is it

anywhere near? Post independence, in

what is popularly called 'Nehruvian'

socialism, public sector institutions were

created and protected for a long time not

allowing competition from the private

sector or the foreign players. Fifty years

hence, we can see the fallout. Efficiency

has suffered and the public sector

institutions, instead of being a source of

reinvestable surplus, were suffering losses.

Government had to divert funds to cover

the losses of these institutions rather than

concentrate on larger development

initiatives. Provision and access to

public goods is critical to a country's

development . Educat ion , hea l th ,

infrastructure and housing are prerequisites

to development. Has our government

succeeded in providing access of these

critical public goods to the average Indian?

Till date, hardly 500 million people in India

live without electricity. Health care

facilities in rural India are abysmal to say

the least. Infrastructure is being touted as

India's biggest challenge in attracting

investment. Government is attempting to

make education available for all, but it still

has a long way to go. India still has to cover

substantial ground in coming up with world

class institutions, which would then reduce

the wide spread inequality in our country.

Future course

Despite the existing malfunctions in the

governing systems and policies and

economic development happening in

patches, in certain geographical and

economical cross sections, undeniably the

service sector is at its best. The need of the

hour is to use service sector earnings as a

tool for equitable economic development.

We should also consciously look to extract

maximum growth in the agricultural sector

where majority of our people live. The

government should strive to provide access

to basic public goods to all sections of the

society. This has been an impediment to

growth in our rural areas till date.

Providing the basic facilities should

definitely fuel growth in these areas. The

latest initiatives of rural employment

guarantee and “Bharat Nirman” are the

steps in the right direction. But are they

enough? Definitely not. As our honorable

prime minister and finance minister rightly

say, government cannot do everything

alone. Corporates should play an active

role in building the country's infrastructure

and institutions. And more importantly, the

corporate should invest aggressively in the

rural sector where our 600 million people

live. It might not make total business sense,

but that's where the government has to step

in as the facilitator to support them.

We sincerely believe in the message of the

movie “Rang De Basanti” as individuals

each one of us should take the

responsibility of changing the system and

spend less time lamenting the system for

what it is. With changing demographics,

and bulk of India's population in youth,

clearly the future is in our hands.

“Ask not what the country can do for

you; ask what you can do for the

country?” - Abraham Lincoln

It is this selfless attitude as young corporate

leaders that will help India scale great

heights. Jai Hind.

– Deepak Paidipati & Chandrashekar S

PGPM Class of 2006

COVE

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TORY

Acronyms ('a-kr&-"nim) have become so numerous and

pervasive that they, more than their expanded forms, are

better known and used: radar, laser, lbw and so on. The one

that has become popular and making its rounds in the country

today is GNP, the Gross National Product. For many decades,

GNP was only for the economists and finance ministers

delivering budget speeches. Perhaps the ignorance of GNP

was deliberate. People were not enamoured of the number

that followed the acronym, about 3 to 5 percent per year that

made them and the country look small. The numbers were so

modest that it would have taken India many decades, perhaps

a century or so to reach a semblance of prosperity. There were

also doomsayers who predicted that anything higher than this

rate - they nicknamed the numbers as the Hindu rate of

growth - would throw the country into an irrecoverable spiral

of inflation. They are proved wrong. The country is posting a

growth rate over 7 percent for the past few years. And if - not a

doubtful if - this growth continues uninterrupted even for a

decade or two, India will be able to realise at least a part of its

dreams of economic prosperity and human development

within a decade! In democracies, with a healthy growth of

economy, it is possible to be concerned about the well-being

of people and building of caring societies.

What has made this miracle? Will it last or would it vanish

away throwing the country back into the drudgery of low

growth rates?

There are many explanations for the growth, and all of them

are true in some measure or another. The economic reforms of

the government in the Nineties when it loosened its grip on

licence-permit-quota Raj has a lot to do with this. After many

decades, private industries and initiatives were not

discouraged and the obsessive indulgence towards public

sector industries vanished. There was also a new technology

knocking at the doors: Information and Communications

Technology with the acronym IT has become instantly

popular. This technology was totally new. It did not depend

The Growth Miracle

Dr. V. S. Arunachalam

India needs social scientists,

teachers, agricultural and

rural experts and workers to

address the rural challenges.

Only then, will India's growth

be sustainable and worthy of

adulation.

COVE

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5

on the past experience or leadership in any area of

manufacturing, nor on the equipment and facilities

built over years. In other words, it provided a level

playing field for all, newcomers and old timers alike.

Indian industries grabbed at it. The field and the

market were gradually unfolding and the industries

grew along with them. For the first time, many new

corporations, that were neither publicly owned nor

family held began their business; first in simple

coding jobs and later into complex programming

challenges. The fears about the Millennium Bug

also helped to grow the market.

Realizing these opportunities wouldn't have been

possible without the availability of a large and well

educated human resource. It is here the

contributions of the government and private

benefactors in building and sustaining a large

number of colleges and universities made the

difference. Other competitor nations are still to

match India's number of young graduates, their

proficiency in English and other skills that are

essential to programming. This has been followed

by other areas of commercial opportunity; some,

merely pedestrian and others, demanding superior

skills. The computer has come to stay in people's

lives and the opportunities it creates in all areas of

human activity appear huge and almost limitless:

relieving humans from repetitive and boring

calculations to identifying nascent tumour in x ray

radiographs that is invisible to human eyes, and to

guiding airplanes to land in safety. Economists are

accustomed to talk of growth slowing up with time,

but in IT they see increasing returns - growth

increasing with time - that is appropriate for a

technology that is knowledge-based. Its full

prowess is yet to be realised.

IT is not the only area of Indian exports; it is not even

the largest. Textiles and garments, and probably

gems and jewellery earn more. The remittances of

Indian workers to their homeland are also large. But

what is unique about IT is that it is not bound by

permits and quotas, nor is it commoditized. There is

still room for innovations and the market for its

products and services is nascent.

There is yet another feature of this industry that has

not been recognised fully: the emphasis on youth.

By creating opportunities for large scale

employment, probably more than what the steel

plants of yesteryears offered, India is creating a

workforce that is young, competent and earns more

in the global marketplace. The effect of this on the

psychology of people, politicians and on other

countries is noticeable. For the first time, India's

growing population is seen not as a burden, but as an

asset. India is now a nation of youth. A success as

large as this will have consequences. India is now

confidently embarking on other areas of opportunity.

Global corporations see the country as a test bed for

creativity and are establishing laboratories in Indian

cities. The industry is also entering into the world of

large scale manufacturing with the building of

automobiles. Biotechnology that holds the promise

for freeing humans from the ravages of disease and

providing them with opportunities for growing

more food and materials for energy generation is

already the new IT and is drawing the attention of

the world. This area is demanding a far more

qualified and trained human resource than even IT.

What should India do to nurture and sustain these

new found opportunities that have the potential to

transform the country? There are so many initiatives

that the government should take and temptations it

must resist, and all are important. The government

should focus on eradicating illiteracy, spreading

school education and improving its quality. India

cannot afford to remain as a country of largest

number of illiterates. The infrastructure is

overstretched and unable to accommodate the

demands the new industries make. Only with a better

infrastructure, it is possible to spread the growth to

small cities and towns. The government has done

well by allowing the industries to grow unhindered.

It must continue to do so with the appropriate

initiatives it has at its disposal.

There is yet another concern. The recent

developments are all urban-centric, and many parts

of the country, especially the rural areas and people

living there are left behind. There are also demands

on their land, water and other resources they depend

on for their livelihood, for the new industries power

stations, roads, and urban centres. The government

and industrial leaders must address this problem on a

mission mode. What opportunities should be created

for those displaced, and how to ensure that the

compensations provided to them are appropriate and

reach the targeted without dilution? In the past, India

had failed in all these. Without working to improve

the quality of life of rural citizens and improving

their prosperity, India will remain as two countries,

one developed and very hi-tech, and the other

backward with poor human development. If India

needs scientists, engineers and workers to stoke its

growth engines, it also needs social scientists,

teachers, agricultural and rural experts and workers

to address the rural challenges. Only then, will

India's growth be sustainable and worthy of

adulation.

Dr V.S. Arunachalam, Center for Study of Science,

Technology and Policy, Bangalore. He is a also the

Distinguished Professor of Material Science,

Carnegie Mellon University and Former Scientific

Advisor to the Prime Minister and Defence Minister.

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An exclusive interview with Mrs. Sudha Murty, a

well-known writer, teacher and social worker. She

is currently the Chairperson of Infosys Foundation

From your extensive work with rural India,

what would you suggest to be the most

important needs of the rural India to fuel their

economic and overall development?

Education is the most important need. In India, only

a small percentage of the rural population is highly

educated and about 33% do not even have good

education. We are unable to give good education to

all. Lack of education results in poor awareness,

improper hygiene and poor family planning.

Hence, by focusing on education, we can improve

quality of life and ensure overall development.

What can we do to change their mindset and

promote education?

Empowerment and responsibility are the keys to

the success of education. Often, government school

teachers drawing salary from the government are

complacent about their jobs. By empowering the

stakeholders (parents, gram or zilla panchayat) for

the compensation, teachers will be accountable and

more responsible. This model has been successful

and must be encouraged. Total free education

sometimes makes the parents careless. By making

the parents pay small amount as school fees, even

one rupee, they will feel bound to take more interest

in their children's education.

Do you think the wings of technology have

touched the rural India duly? Why and what

could be done to change/improve the situation?

The impact of technology differs from state to state.

States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala are well

developed and technology has affected a

considerable amount of the rural population

whereas, states like Bihar and Orissa are still

lagging behind in this aspect. As mentioned earlier,

education and awareness are the important factors

to improve this situation in any state.

What is the status of the gender disparity in the

rural areas? What do you think NGOs like

yours can do to alleviate such a state and help

such women take part in the economic

development of their families and the society?

Gender disparity is a big problem and prevalent in

states like BIMARU (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,

Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh) than others. There is a

direct correlation between the level of education

and gender disparity. Therefore, we see that urban

areas face lesser gender disparity than rural India.

As NGOs, we do our best, but we cannot do

everything alone. The mindsets of the people have

to change. Only education, job opportunities and

economic independence will empower the women

to bring about this change that will help us reduce

the gender disparity.

There are many NGOs working for India,

which is truly heartening. However, have you

ever felt that there are certain changes that you

wish to see but would take more than the efforts

from NGOs, something like a systemic change?

When I started working, I was young and it was

only later that I realized that changes do take place

in every society but, it is the rate of change that

differs, depending upon many factors. In my

experience of 13-14 years, I have seen the dire

poverty in villages reduce considerably in

Karnataka. In addition, people are aware of the

Straight India -

Heartfrom its I will not see poverty disappear in my lifetime, yet there are

certain changes that I would like to see and try to do whatever

I can for them. I am working for my country and society in my

limited capacity.

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outside news, due to various reasons, hence there

will be a change but, it will take a long time. Owing

to the education, exposure etc., there has already

been a change, but the rate of change is not uniform

in all the states. The middle and lower middle class

families are very keen on English education. I have

seen that many girl children have the aspirations of

being independent and want to take up a job.

You mentioned that now the people are more

aware and their aspirations have changed. Has

this happened due to the exposure to urban

India?

Rural India has been exposed to urban India

because of the television. The internet has

impacted the lives of the lower middle class more

than rural India because of the vernacular gap.

Internet is being provided in English which most

rural people do not understand. If internet was

offered in their vernacular, things would have been

different. However, the tremendous change that we

have seen in the current scenario should largely be

attributed to rural India's exposure to television.

You mentioned that if internet was in

vernacular or the people had known English

then things would have been different. Is it

really so, or do the people consider technology

intimidating? Are they open to use computers?

From my experience, the people are very keen to

learn computers as they feel that learning English

and being able to work on computers and internet

will enable them to come to the cities to take up a

job. They are not intimidated and the youngsters

especially, consider it as an empowerment and

think it will enable them to earn more money and

improve their standard of living

Looking at your career spanning more than

three decades, right from writing a letter

directly to J R D Tata during the beginning of

your career to being able to take the bold

decision of stepping aside from being on the

mainstream activities of Infosys after having

founded it, you come across as a person with a

lot of courage and conviction. Do you see

yourself, at any point of time entering into

public life in order to be able to bring in some

systemic changes?

I do not want to enter politics. As a technocrat and

during my Infosys days, life was very different, but

only after getting into the Foundation I saw the real

India. I then, understood my country well and for

me only my goals matter. My goal is the

Foundation. Our beneficiaries are all the poor

people, people with different languages, mindset,

lives, the unemployed people, and people with too

many children, who are helpless, intelligent yet

cunning at times. I study them to find out in what

way can I and my Foundation, make a difference to

these people who are our beneficiaries. I am

realistic and know that I will not see poverty

disappear in my lifetime, yet there are certain

changes that I would like to see and try to do

whatever I can for them. I am working for my

country and society in my limited capacity. I

believe that you should be truthful to yourself and

know what you know and what you don't.

Admitting what you do not know is being

courageous rather than saying that I know

everything. I enjoy doing the Foundation work and

I still teach at the university if I get time to, because

I enjoy doing it.

Do you see youngsters showing interest in

working towards social development? How

would you suggest, organizations should

motivate increasing participation from the

youth and in what ways can their services be

used better?

The youngsters of today are definitely more

interested in social development and are more

sensitive to help these people grow. I have seen the

people of our own company contribute money and

time which brings in me great hope about the

youngsters. They have tremendous energy, but are

too idealistic sometimes and hence, short tempered.

They are smarter because of the information boom

and are also impatient because of their age.

Therefore, it is the duty of elderly people to

channelise their energy to the right direction which

will help the nation.

Your message for the youngsters…

Be sincere in all your work. The worst thing that can

happen to any individual is corruption, not only in

terms of money, but corruption of the intellect.

Intelligent people should not rationalize their

failure; that is the biggest mistake. As human

beings, we are all bound to make mistakes and fail.

However, you have to be honest intellectually and

accept it. I cannot assure that this will bring

success, but it will surely bring you peace of mind.

Honesty of the intellect should never be

compromised. This is the most important thing the

youngsters should keep in mind.

– As told to Sai Sudha and Neha Sukhija

(over phone), PGPM Class of 2006

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9

India's record GDP growth has come to the

limelight across the globe, with 8% growth and

record stock market levels. In your opinion, has

the average standard of living actually improved

in India as much as these parameters have?

In some ways, it has. In many ways in has not. The

state of rural health and primary education has not

kept pace with the so-called GDP growth and urban

development. Remember that the GDP growth

comes off a low base, considering that we are a

nation of a billion people. Our infrastructure is way

behind what it should be and it can be. Our women

continue to languish. Beyond the veil of GDP, we

have a lot more real developmental issues to deal

with.

Is there some truth in the statement that we are

creating too much of a hype about the IT / ITES

boom in India and neglecting some of the other

sectors like manufacturing and agriculture?

We must recognize sectors like agriculture and

manufacturing. These have significant potential.

We must also encourage other services sectors that

have huge potential, like travel and health services.

We must also give the folks working in the

infrastructure sector their true dues.

But the bigger issue is that the national mindset

must change towards manual work. The gap

between an MBA and a carpenter or a driver is

absurd. Only in our country, we have such a wide

gap. We do not realize how exploitative is the

middle-class mindset that thinks only of rewarding

itself. The living standards of the nation cannot

improve unless the auto-rickshaw driver and the

farm hand and the construction worker are

substantially better paid. Only in India, such people

can not afford a personal toilet at home. In

Singapore, US, Germany, France and Tokyo - they

can. To me, that is the test.

Your famous speech, 'Go kiss the world', has

been a source of great inspiration to a lot of us.

The simplicity and the background are quite

dumbfounding. Given the poverty levels and the

below par standard of living in rural areas, how

do you think IT be leveraged upon to improve

this situation, or is it a tall order?

IT is a tool. It cannot by itself, change character.

Character flows from within. The below-par

standard of living in the rural or for that matter,

urban areas, is a function of vision and determined

action over a sustained period of time. In addition,

one generation will have to say, "we will give, we

will not take". Come whatever may. It will change

everything. Without character, IT will merely put

lipstick on a pig.

MindTree's vision statement talks about

contributing a significant portion of the

company's PAT to support enhancement of

primary education. When MindTree goes

public, how do you plan to convince your

investors in contributing a significant portion of

the PAT to the society?

Looking Beyond the Veil!

Interview with Mr. Subroto Bagchi, COO, MindTree Consulting

The bigger issue is that the national mindset must

change towards manual work. The gap between an

MBA and a carpenter or a driver is absurd.

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I am sure the Vision itself will not be controversial.

What constitutes "significant" will have to be

socialized with investors from time to time.

Increasing stress at work and working at

different time zones has led to a youth

population that is more stressed and under

higher risks of diseases today. Work-life balance

is becoming a serious concern. MindTree being

known so much for its HR best practices, what

measures does the company take to help the

employees manage such a demanding nature of

work?

We address the issue in many ways. We think that the

work place can be high on challenge but not on

stress. When the quality of work is good, there is

recognition for work done, the climate is non-

political and there is continuous communication,

people are not stressed. Then of course, you have the

usual thing that everyone provides - a gym, flexible

work times, cafeteria, a nice workplace, yoga, fun at

work and all that stuff. These by themselves, do not

de-stress. Nothing stresses people more than, lack of

conviction in what they are doing.

The incidence of stress in IT is also overrated. A

traffic cop inhales carbon monoxide 12 hours a day.

A surgeon stands on his feet for 4-5 hours every day

without taking eyes off a 6" by 6" opening under a

flood light, a train driver routinely spends sleepless

nights. These people have a lot more stress than

someone being bussed up and down, sitting in an air-

conditioned office, dealing with mostly non-

controversial things, being well paid and having

multiple job options. Go and go talk to a young

bureaucrat in a government office you will know

what stress is.

Given the massive recruitment in IT/ITES sector

and the corresponding rising costs, do you think

IT players could promote quality education in

smaller towns which would help the non-metro

population as well as act as a sustainable source

of human talent at an affordable cost?

The current compensation in IT sector does not

show a gap between metro and non-metro locations.

Irrespective of the cost issues, IT and ITES

companies are going to tier-II cities. Towns are a

little further away and pose other infrastructure

challenges.

We have just decided to go to Bhubaneswar as our

third location. It is a city of 1.5 million people. We

will involve ourselves with local educational

institutes.

The recent KPMG report on "India Fraud

Survey 2006" has brought forth the increasing

occurrence of frauds and its many forms within

the ITES and the financial services world. Given

the high visibility of the Indian IT/ITES sector,

how do you think companies can overcome this

threat? Is this because of a fundamental flaw in

our educational system?

It is because of a fundamental flaw in the national

character. IT companies cannot be islands of good

behavior. We are a nation in denial on this issue.

The development activity in any country is fueled

by the amount of entrepreneurship observed in

the country. We are already seeing the benefits of

entrepreneurship, especially in the IT Industry.

Do you think the governmental policies are

conducive to nurture entrepreneurship in India?

What kind of changes would you suggest in

improving this state?

We must celebrate small entrepreneurs a lot more.

Though people say that entrepreneurs are born and

not taught, we must introduce entrepreneurship as a

subject of study. We must make infrastructure a

fundamental right of citizenship and remove

corruption for one generation of Indians. If these are

done, we will cease to over focus on so-called

"policies".

We see a lot of buzz around Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR). Do you think companies

really are bothered about CSR or are there a lot of

them who consider this as a way of capturing

goodwill in the eyes of the shareholders?

Many companies are genuinely concerned about

CSR and do it as an integral part of who they are. But

I believe that CSR begins with paying one's taxes

right. As long we all pay our taxes right, whether or

not we are doing CSR can wait as a subject of

conversation.

We have read that MindTree minds rebuilt a

school in a village called Somennahalli. There are

so many issues from Bangalore infrastructural

development to rural education and healthcare.

What role do you think, the corporate world

should play in order to forging an effective

pr iva te -pub l i c par tnersh ip in soc ia l

development?

Companies must focus on running a profitable,

competitive business and pay their taxes right. They

must have high standards of governance. Public-

Private partnership begins there. Then comes the

issue of other forms of participation. There is greater

need of citizenry getting involved in the "I pay taxes

right - I vote - I get involved" cycle than just

companies sponsoring roads and parks.

– As told to Vikram Ananthakrishnan and

Umesh Mariappan, PGPM Class of 2006

(via e-mail)

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The world is keeping score lately. Governments are trying to

define themselves in order to differentiate their national identity

from others.

India has long been a growth engine, redefining herself moving

from a relatively underdeveloped nation to an economic

juggernaut. At first, this rapid shift is fueled by the attraction of

lower cost outsourcing of talent, but is reinforced with

outsourcing to true partnership between nations.

Consider balance scorecard as one tool to provide a glimpse into

the strategic inflections available to India. A brief glimpse to

BSC would reflect 4 perspectives to strategic balance.

l Customer - what do customers want?

l Internal - what internal processes need to be improved?

l Financial - what financial objectives must be set?

l Learning & Growth - what investments in people enable each

perspective?

The foundation to driving a scorecard is found in using these

levers, and identifying cause-and-effect.

Key considerations to feed the scorecard are:

l India can move only as fast as its middle class in economic

potential. Hence, India's middle class must save and spend

wisely.

l Today, India's middle class can go the way of the tactical

consumer, buying for buying sake, moving the needle of

excessive expense rather than guided by the deep spirit it has

in its DNA.

l India has done very well investing in education infrastructure.

Citizens believe that gaining an education is key to success as

well. These learning and growth elements have fueled and fed

growth.

IndiaMohan Nair

What is challenging is the secret formula that outlines how each

element of the scorecard works in concert to produce the best

recipe for success.

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Scorecarding

l India is a vast nation of diversity. Economic gains

may create disparity among citizens. This

dispar i ty can fuel regional disputes ,

overpopulation and environmental issues unless

subdued by strategic action.

Looking forward, India must progress or be under

competitive. India has based its powerful growth

fueled by a knowledge economy rather than a

manufacturing economy like China. Yet, all

economies that compete must differentiate.

Consider in this great economy, the following

balanced scorecard elements:

Customer

l India has extended her reach from knowledge

engineers to direct marketing and call-center

professionals changing the customer-focus.

l Who becomes the new customer? Today, India's

customers seem to be multi-nationals.

Tomorrow, they may be end-consumers all over

the world.

Financial

l Cost per employee will increase as the middle-

class needs and desires increase.

l Issues of health, health insurance and benefits can

become a factor in retention as organizations

compete for talent. What is the risk mitigator to

increased costs?

l The middle class' economic growth has the

opportunity to impact poverty. How?

l Knowledge engineers must now move from

development to creating and marketing

ideas/concepts and driving these concepts to

companies. Hence, the front-end skills of

marketing, sales, and product creation become

keys.

Internal

l Building the new infrastructure beyond

IT/Engineering support to address marketing/

sales and concept creation.

l Enabling entrepreneurship as a formalism and a

learned skill along with venture-investment

infrastructure.

Learning & Growth

l India has captured the imagination of the world

with its strong technology/software capacity.

There is no question that India can challenge the

world with software/hardware engineering and

other sciences. India must increase her capacity

to produce marketers who can define markets and

serve them.

The na t ion ' s appe t i t e fo r g rowth and

entrepreneurship can be scorecarded. What is

challenging is the secret formula that outlines how

each element of the scorecard works in concert to

produce the best recipe for success.

Mohan Nair is an author, educator and a software

entrepreneur. Currently, he is the Executive Vice

President, Chief Marketing Executive at The

Regence Group and a adjunct professor of business

with the Kellogg School of Management. He has

authored two books titled “An Executive's Guide to

Activity-based Management Systems” and

“Essentials of Balanced Scorecard”.

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By many measures, Management Education in

India is enjoying stupendous success. Recent news

reports of outstanding placement at many

management schools is just one such measure. The

Great Lakes Institute of Management is no

exception to this success. Over the past two years,

the school has managed to develop a unique

curriculum to integrate students with an

international faculty, develop a fully operational

post graduate and executive programs in

management, and enjoy an excellent placement

record, all in a remarkably short span of time.

These are the results of the hard work and vision of

the entire Great Lakes community, including the

students, the faculty, the board, the recruiting

companies and the administration. Management

educators all over India should certainly take a

moment to relish the progress we have made.

Simultaneously, we must also keep a balanced

scorecard on ourselves and be mindful of the

challenges ahead.

In reflecting on the challenges for management

education, I often find myself thinking “Nothing

Fails Like Success,” the favorite phrase of the Late

Professor Lawrence (Gene) Lavengood of the

Kellogg School of Management, in Evanston,

Illinois. Professor Lavengood was a much loved,

incredibly insightful and award winning professor

of Management Policy at the Kellogg School

during my MBA years, and many years thereafter.

“Nothing Fails Like Success” was his favorite

lesson to teach.

In his Management Policy course, Prof. Lavengood

gave us numerous insightful examples of

organizations (ranging form the Tennessee Valley

Authority to Nestle S.A.) whose meteoric success

was only matched by their sometimes stunning

failures. Digging into these examples, he showed

us distinct patterns of behaviors, and more

importantly attitudes, which were likely to be

central to the downfalls observed. Specifically,

Prof. Lavengood linked the failures of formerly

successful organizations to several factors

including the emergence of hubris, a focus on form

over substance, and an increasing sense of

entitlement. He pointed out that as organizations

become successful, these threats also emerge

which, if left unchecked, create a “Nothing Fails

Like Success” scenario. One needs only to pick up

recent editions of Indian business periodicals, or

speak with members of the Management Education

community to get the sense that hubris, form over

substance and entitlement are significant potential

threats to Management Education in India.

Hubris: The business world is riddled with stories

of organizations whose celebrated success led to

their failures. In the 1970's, the leader in the United

States rental car business, Hertz, proudly

advertised itself as “Number One,” only to find

itself losing share to competitor Avis, which

conceded the number one position and counter

attacked with the slogan “We Try Harder.” In the

late 1980's, business books such as Tom Peter's

Passion for Excellence celebrated the successes of

several companies, but by the late 1990's many of

those same companies faced financial difficulties.

At the end of this century, the business press

By

Sudhakar Balachandran

Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Business

Columbia University, New York, NY

A Balanced Scorecard on

Management Education in India

And the challenges ahead at Great Lakes Institute of Management

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celebrated the successes of several new business

models, and featured cover stories on companies

such as Enron and WorldCom, only to find

financial shenanigans in a haze of smoke and

mirrors. If we seek to be excellent in management

education, we must understand from history that

the success of Management Education in India

hinges on our ability to keep hubris in check.

Form over substance: As management education

develops in India, many in the field are focusing on

appearance over substance. Today we find schools

engaging in substantial self promotion. While

marketing is not in and of itself inherently wrong, it

is useful to be mindful of marketing approaches

that cross the ethical borderline. On a recent Jet

Airways flight I read an article that said many

positive things about one business school. The

tone of the article, in fact, was so positive that I

began to doubt whether the reporter was being fair

and impartial. Upon closer inspection I noticed the

abbreviation “Advt” in small letters at the very end

of the article, and understood that this article was

placed as a purchased advertisement and NOT

written by an independent journalist, as I had

initially presumed. Other business schools have

selectively advertised rankings only from years in

which they fared well, and not from other years.

These types of behaviors focus on form over

substance and over time are likely to harm, not help

the reputation to the individual schools as well as

management education as a whole.

Unfortunately business school students sometimes

become confused by this focus on form over

substance, and falsely get the impression that they

need to “pad” their vitas in order to impress

recruiters. A recent article in The Hindu, quoted

recruiters pointing out that they are now seeing

more CV's claiming students to be champion

athletes or accomplished musicians, but further

questioning in interviews reveals these claims to be

gross exaggerations. Success as a school of

management requires credibility, substance and

“truth in advertising” at all levels. It is critical at all

levels that the focus of management education is

returned to the substance of the education and the

substantive quality of what the students actually

accomplish, and not on the form of the package.

Entitlement: As generations of Management

graduates work hard and earn results, it becomes

tempting for future generations to expect the same

results without necessarily engaging in the work

needed to accomplish the results. This temptation

only increases when the economy is growing as it is

today and our graduates are more in demand than

ever. In discussions with many of my colleagues at

institutions all over the country, I hear stories of

students whose primary goal in coming to a

management school is to get a job. Although

getting a job is not the primary goal of the majority

of students, it is becoming a priority for a growing

minority. In this context, it is important for

students, faculty, recruiting companies and the

entire management education community to keep

in mind that the primary purpose of a management

school is to educate our future leaders. Placement,

and other extra-curricular activities are not the

central aspect of the curriculum, they are as their

name suggests, “extras”.

Conclusion: Being mindful that hubris, form over

substance, and entitlement can arise in the presence

of success is the greatest challenge in the path of

management schools all over India and it is our

greatest challenge here at Great Lakes. At Great

Lakes, our future success is strongly linked to the

extent we can stick to our core philosophy “Global

Mindset, Indian Roots”. In our world today, it is

increasingly easy to keep a “Global Mindset,” since

technology makes the world increasingly more

integrated. However, it is more difficult to keep the

focus on our “Indian Roots.” Where our success

might tempt us to “hubris,” our Indian roots teach

us humility. Where the focus is on “form over

substance,” our Indian roots teach us the value of

action with integrity. Where success leads to “a

sense of entitlement,” our Indian roots tell us to do

our duty without concern for rewards.

In our future we face several operational

challenges, the need to develop a new campus,

grow our faculty, and build of our brand name and

reputation. None of these challenges however are

as critical for our success as the challenges of

attitude which we face. Simply put Great Lakes'

ability to sustain and build its success is directly

related to our ability to balance our Global Mindset

with our Indian Roots.

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In addition to better lifestyles and

opportunities, India's growth is also causing

migration to cities, leading to infrastructure

woes in those cities. Bangalore is often on

the news due to the state of its

infrastructure. However, there are people

who live in places other than these growing

cities in towns and villages as well, and

rarely do we think about infrastructure in

those places.

Like in cities, electricity is an essential

requirement in villages. Official data states

that almost all the villages in south India are

electrified. But, there are various reports,

which state that the electricity in villages is

either not available all day, or is not of the

rated strength, or other problems like

distribution losses that limit access to

electricity. Rather than wonder about which

of the two are right, the only option is, to

evaluate after a reality check.

I visited six villages in Mulbagal taluk of

Kolar district in the state of Karnataka,

whose population varied from 200 to 2000,

and spoke with a local Panchayat member

about their livelihood and the state of

electricity there. While the sample size is

small and unreliable to draw any

conclusions, certain interesting patterns are

visible.

Their household expenses varied from as

low as a couple of hundreds, to about three

thousand rupees per month, while income

was primarily from agriculture. A few of

them had cows as well. Crops grown in the

area include vegetables like tomatoes,

potatoes and grains like rice, ragi and corn.

A couple of villages also produced

sugarcane. Agricultural produce was taken

and sold at the mandis at regular intervals.

The villagers who could afford accessing

cold storages used it to store the agricultural

produce prior to taking it to the mandis. The

closest cold storage was about 20 kms away,

and only a handful of such storages existed.

The villagers realize the value of cold

storages and know that they could garner

more realistic prices for their efforts. They

seemed eager and willing to pay for such

services.

Usage of electricity in homes was limited to

lighting and fans. Some of them had a TV as

well. They expressed interest in the need for

lights at night that would enable their

children better education. Electrical

appliances at homes (like lights, fans &

other appliances) run on single-phase 220

volts, while borewell pumps require three-

phase 440 volts. I gathered that electricity is

provided for only a few hours everyday, and

it is not consistent. Often their pumps do not

get the minimum 440 volts of electricity for

the guaranteed hours, and the farmers are

unable to access water for their lands.

Based on this survey, two business

opportunities that would help villages are

cold storages and devices to make better use

of the prevalent electricity supply situation.

The cold storages for fruits and vegetables

are different from those for frozen foods,

from the IdeasCountryside

since the least temperatures are above 0ºC;

they are however constrained by the limited

access to power. The need for cold storages

by Indian farmers is far from a recent

phenomenon, and the idea here is to portray

is the potential opportunity available. The

other need is innovative electrical devices

that can collect the available single-phase

power and output electricity at higher

phase, perhaps for shorter durations. While

this need might sound preposterous

initially, such constraints often propel

innovation. Businesses that recognize these

needs and serve them will not only benefit

but also will enable farmers to both produce

and earn better.

I went in with an attitude to study the state of

electricity, and came back with potential

business opportunities. And all this, by

simply going with an open mind and

listening to what the people had to say.

Businesses offer value to customers and in

the process make money. In the current

market scenario, it is essential to identify

what is valuable to each customer prior to

quantifying the potential gains. One of the

ways to address the value proposition is to

interact with the customers and understand

their needs, wants and desires. In

conclusion, opportunities also exist in

serving seemingly well-served customers

let alone the un-served, as long as we are

willing to listen.

– Ritesh Krishnamurthy,

PGPM Class of 2006

COVE

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'Crouching tiger, hidden dragon', is an apt

name to describe the “healthy” competition

between the two legendary Asian giants,

now surging ahead to who knows perhaps a

greater share in the crest of the waves of

history, smashing into the sands of time.

India, with eyebrow raising, steady 8.1

percent growth has upped itself to the

“favored” quadrant amongst the world's

“haves”. But, at what price? Is it sufficient

to eulogize the paradigm of “Let the

numbers do the talking”?

Moving to a higher plane, is it just the

numbers? Or does it need a re-look, where

we concentrate on others' “white spaces” as

well. To put it simply, how balanced is our

balancing act in getting those numbers on

the board? Of course, everything comes at

a price, but are we happy with the bargains

that we are getting? In my opinion,

happiness is something relative. Some may

be happy working 24 x 7 and making more

money than what their fathers did at fifty,

while the other may not be willing to

compromise on family life and may want to

shift to a lower gear in their careers. So, as

the classical MBA answer goes, “it

depends” on the levers of happiness that we

have unconsciously built into ourselves.

India is coming to terms with a new age of

materialism, where they suddenly realize

that the “denial” factor of most things

materialistic is now suddenly wiped away.

With the healthy growth in the Information

Technology and related sectors, there is a

significant increase in the disposable

income. This coupled with a liberal trading

policy, friendly banking norms, and a

healthy supply of goods has resulted in the

equation of: EARN MORE = BUY MORE

= HAPPY!

Sadly, this equation hoodwinks one from

seeing the big picture. It has resulted in a

creation of a skewed scorecard, where we

have individuals with sufficient reserves of

wealth, but who are still emotionally poor.

Also, the darling of the economy, for

instance the IT sector has created a visible

rift with the ROI (Rest of India). India

today is increasingly witnessing a chasm

between the “common man” and the folks

who have “made it”.

Does this mean we should work hard and

strive for the aforementioned equation?

For it does help take care of Maslow's basic

treatise. But does it help in moving you to

the final step of self actualization? To put it

simply are you doing what you really want

to do? Or is the economic prosperity

dangled alongside it, motivating you to do

what you are doing?

I truthfully cannot answer that question.

This question perhaps is polymorphic and

needs to be addressed by the “object” in

question. In this case “you”. So as a reader,

I guess you will have to look within and list

out your levers of happiness. Only then will

you realize that what you are doing is truly

going to make you happy. For no amount of

economic well being and other external

factors can make you happy. Perhaps, if

luck is in your favor, you may be happy for

an insignificant amount of time. But you

can never be happy, if you are going to link

it to economic well being.

I perhaps subscribe to the more moderate

school of thought and quote the Buddha

when he says that “Everything in

moderation including moderation” is the

way out. The reason being, the governing

laws of nature, which when violated, ensure

you are paid back in equal measure. Often,

people who adopt the equation (EARN

MORE = BUY MORE = HAPPY!) end up

sacrificing health, family and true desires

on the altar of what? Guess what folks!

Being happy! Or is it really so?

So, look within, find your true levers, and

hit the nitro to happiness.

– Prashant Nichani,

PGPM Class of 2005

to Happiness

COVE

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16

Levers

“How can we be heard”?Dr. Kiran Bedi is currently the Director General, Homeguards and Director, Civil Defence

This fortnight I

was at a National

Confe rence o f

W o m e n

Professionals. The

a u d i e n c e

c o m p r i s e d o f

w o m e n i n

governance and

management. Most of them were in the

middle level leadership positions. I was

invited for an interactive session.

The first question I was asked was: “How

can we (women) be heard”?

My answer was direct and straight!

'With your competence!' I said.

“You will be heard not by your decibels but

by your reputation and professional

capability. Others will want to hear you

more when you remain silent. Often times

your silence will speak louder. Your

colleagues will probe you. They will even

provoke you-- to read your mind.

You are of value”!

“Remember to contribute only if you have

something useful to add. Being a learner

and a good listener is equally respected and

noticed. Do not speak for the sake of

speaking or to mark your presence. Speak

only to add value, not presence”.

“Remember never raise your pitch. Speak

softly with measured words. Hear your own

self while speaking. Never be critical of the

views expressed by the past speakers.

Thank them for their perspectives and then

offer your own. If you are known for your

competence, people will instinctively wait

to hear your views. In fact they might ask

you to say something. If you are known

only to speak for the sake of speaking, then

people will wait for you to shut up and even

interrupt your speaking. The bottom line is

you will be heard only for your competence

and capability. If you have it, then your

contribution will always be awaited and

valued: To be heard raise your worth, not

your voice”.

Naturally, next question was: “How do

we raise our worth”?

“By respecting your own work

Through regular and daily preparation: Do

not put your work on hold at every home or

personal pressure: (As some women do)

Work has to be kept on a parallel priority to

run alongside all others. And it must have its

time and space. Women as mothers, wives,

daughters-in-laws or relatives, tend to

lower work priorities more often

(comparatively) by all 'other's' needs. (Even

when there is no urgency) This makes you

(women) taken for granted. Please

vo lun tee r fo r advanced t ra in ing

opportunities. Keep yourselves up to date

on the latest at work. Do not postpone

learning. It must run parallel if you wish to

remain center stage!

The next question came not as a surprise:

“What do we do if we are sidelined”?

'Make the sidelines the center of your

commitment'.

“Whatever you get, make that work the

center of your attention. Give it all your

best. Find ways and reasons to like it. Make

it grow as much as you can. Think and be

creative in it. Do not sulk. Take it or leave it.

Exercise that choice. If you do not leave,

because you do not have a choice, or you

want to stay, despite the situation, then

adopt it. Mother it! Do not orphan it.

Nurture it. Reward it. By your ignoring and

sulking, you punish yourself and your work.

Never punish your work for it hurts your

employees even more. They look up to you

for leadership, guidance, care, growth and

recognition--.all that you want from your

own senior. Learn the art of self reward.

Dependence on external recognition creates

dependence. Train to be independent of it.

Or else it will be a weakness others could

exploit. It will become as favors done in the

expectation of returns of all kinds which

may compromise you professionally or

personally. Let rewards happen naturally.

Make 'sidelines' (if you think they are) your

center. Let others wonder what is so special

in your work that keeps you contented and

happy. Remember no one has time for

complaints. State your mind when there is

an opportunity to do so. You are the best

judge. Meanwhile learn to be centered

yourself.

I then asked if I could ask a question from

the women in the audience.

I queried where is your next generation?

They said, “very few are interested in

networking”.

The audience mostly comprised of middle

age professionals and very few in 30-35s.

Remember, I said, “we need to co-opt, and

prepare to pass on batons. Also deepen the

expectation of making the difference! We

need to build on our positive perspectives

which people still have of women in

leadership and decision making positions.

(We have exceptions of course)”.

In the end I wondered if these issues were

not equally of the other gender. Yes indeed

– But certainly more for women in

management! Primary reason being women

in professional leadership are the first

generation. Work culture they are working

in, is not their creation. It is inherited.

Change is taking its time along with, its toll.

Women must not pass on the hurt. This is if

this cycle of being sidelined or 'not being

heard' is to decrease!

[Note : The National Conference of Women

Professionals that is referred here was held on 11th

Feb, 2006 organized by Forum of Women in Public

Sector at New Delhi. ]

– As told to Sai Sudha,

PGPM Class of 2006

SWIM

17

I n d i a i s f a s t

l o s i n g i t s

c o m p e t i t i v e

advantage as a

low cost producer

o f goods and

services. What

are the key issues

India Inc. needs

to address to make a successful transition

to high value services?

Transitioning to high value services is

going to require not only creating the brand

promise in that market space but also

delivering on that promise. Delivering on

that promise will in turn require cultivating

the value-oriented mindset at all levels

within Indian companies. So helping

initiate, navigate and sustain this kind of a

systemic mindset change will be extremely

important for the leadership teams in these

organizations. Organizations can start with

reassessing their strategies in their

enterprise level accounts, or key accounts.

As Phil Kotler and Neil Rackham, my

mentors and co-authors, point out, the

mindset of a high value services provider

has to be very different from that of a

transactional services provider. High value

service providers are expected to co-create

value for the client’s enterprise at all levels.

This therefore implies that all levels of

contact with the client’s organization are

designed and coordinated to move towards

the overarching strategy. It also implies it is

no longer sufficient to be involved only at

the level of multiple renewable short-term

projects.  

What do you think are the learnings for

the West from the outsourcing led growth

of Indian economy?

First, India has set a great example in

showing what commitment to great

education and family values can do for a

nation. Second, the phenomenal growth of

the Indian economy from outsourcing has

helped the West truly understand the

implications of a “flat world” (to borrow

Tom Friedman’s term).

Why do you think Marketing and Sales

teams work in “silos”?

The “silos” are more prevalent in traditional

companies and reflect the historical

relationship, when sales started running the

show and marketing was a sub-function. As

companies grow and evolve they realize

that aggressive growth cannot happen

unless marketing and sales are in sync. In

fact they realize the phenomenal reduction

in sales cycle times and sales costs as sales

and marketing are integrated. As you know,

this is the focus of my research with Phil

Kotler and Neil Rackham and is the topic of

our Harvard Business Review paper, in case

you want more details. We are now

extending this work to India in

collaboration with Dr. Bala.

What are your suggestions to integrate

Sales and Marketing strategies and how

does Strategic Insights, Inc. work with

companies to achieve this?

The first thing we look at is the

organization’s growth agenda. Where does

it want to go and what does it need to get

there? This is ascertained through sessions

with the CEO and his or her team. This

process involves answering three broad sets

of questions:

What value does the organization choose to

provide that gives it competitive advantage

overall and in its various lines of business?

What does it need to do to create that value?

How can it communicate that value

consistently in the marketplace?  

Strategic Insights uses the Kotler and

Rackham framework to help companies

integrate sales and marketing strategies to

success fu l ly choose , c rea te and

communicate the right value in the market.

What suggestions would you give to a

consultant who is creating a marketing

strategy for a firm?

A major suggestion would be to look at how

marketing and sales are structured. Then

look at the overall growth agenda of the

company and work backwards and ask:

What needs to happen, and how can

marketing and sales be integrated to achieve

the needed growth?

The next big thing in the management world is the  co-creation of

value, meaning: the creation of value in collaboration with the

customer. It is an all-encompassing term.

The Mind of a StrategistDr. Suj Krishnaswamy, Principal, Strategic Insights Inc., Chicago, IL.

SWIM

18

How has marketing research evolved

over the years and how are companies

leveraging it as a strategic weapon to

fend off competition?

Definitely there have been significant

advances in terms of the sophistication of

the techniques being developed. We cannot

just be generating data charts without

extracting implications. And that’s where

market research and market strategy truly

interface. As Phil Kotler says, there are

three steps: “What So?” is the description of

the current state that market research

initially answers; we then consider the

implications of all we’ve learned and

answer the question “So What?” and then

finally we should get to the prescriptive

question “What Next?”

On the question of how companies use

research data to fend off competition, one

company might take the numbers, analyze

the implications and use them productively

to tackle the next wave of competition,

while another might just say, “Hmm,

interesting learning,” and continue to

operate as they always have. The way you

fend off competition is by acting on

research and using it as a sensing and

tracking mechanism. If you look at it as a

fad or the flavor of the month you are not

going to able to use it as a strategic weapon.

Research is an ongoing component that

grounds successful organizational strategy.

Last 50 years have seen buzz words like

total quality, competitive advantage,

reengineering, core competencies etc.

What do you think is going to be the

“next big thing” in management?

It is already here in the management world.

It is co-creation of value, meaning: the

creation of value in collaboration with the

customer. It is an all-encompassing term. It

addresses the key question: “How are we

going to involve all stakeholders like client

organizations as well as our eco-system to

co-create value?”

On the flip side, how do you think such

fads have actually affected companies?

Fads will always be there. The problem is

when companies adopt a “flavor of the

month” growth strategy. This is different

from truly understanding how the

marketplace is evolving and making the

necessary adaptation. If leaders in

organizations do not have an idea or

roadmap as to where the company is

headed, there will be dissonance in the

organization. There will be a tendency to

adopt one strategy and put processes in

place and then before that strategy begins to

pay off hop onto another strategy,

eventually leading to unsatisfactory results

overall.

 What are your 3 key take-aways from

interacting with great   minds like Philip

Kotler and Neil Rackam?

1. To be open and committed to lifelong

learning. Phil and Neil never say they

are the gurus or let others perceive that

they have all the answers.

2. To be discerning about ideas.  This is

about being open to ideas from all

spheres but very discerning about what

is accepted.

3.  Having an eclectic perspective: Being

open to sharing knowledge and working

w i t h p e o p l e f r o m d i f f e r e n t

backgrounds, cultures, industries and

spheres of life. Phil Kotler has written

books on marketing and positioning in

almost every major field from

performing arts to marketing of

countries. Neil Rackham was raised in

Asia, did his higher studies in the UK

and has conducted most of his

breakthrough sales turnaround work in

the US and around the world.

The number of women at the helm of

companies is very low. Great Lakes

through the SWIM (Successful Women

in Management) initiative look to

empower women in business. What are

your suggestions to make this a success?

I have to congratulate Great Lakes on

launching this initiative. Hats off to

Dr Bala for kicking this off!  You have a

great team and I am delighted to be a part

of it. Along with opportunities being

available, it is also important to help

women overcome hurdles that hold them

back from pursuing challenging senior

leadership positions.  Hence, one of the key

areas for SWIM initiatives to focus on

would be helping professional women  tear

down the barriers that prevent them from

realizing their potential-these barriers could

be work related, family related or

psychological.  

Dr. Suj Krishnaswamy is a principal at

Strategic Insights Inc, a global business

strategy and management consulting firm

(www.stinsights.com), headquartered in

Chicago. She is currently working on a

major project with Prof. Philip Kotler

and Prof. Neil Rackham on sales

marketing integration and its implications

for growth.  She can be reached at

sujk@stinsights.com.

– As told to B Vasanth Sandilya and

Ramesh Chandramouli ,

PGPM Class of 2006

SWIM

19

Being the fastest IT

services company

to touch $1 billion

revenue run rate,

there seems to be

something magical

about Cognizant's

strategies. What

would be your

response to this statement?

Cognizant reached the $1 billion revenue

run rate in 12 years primarily because of

focus on making our customers' business

stronger. Every decision in the company is

taken by asking the primary question: “Is

this in the best interest of our customers, and

our customers' customers?”

Each of our strategic decisions having the

bulk of our executive management and

practice leaders in the markets that we

service, aligning ourselves along industry

segments of specialization as early as 1998,

managing our operating margins at a

threshold and re-investing the excess back

into the business, having an integrated

solutions approach by embedding our

consulting, applications outsourcing and

BPO practices within industry segments has

been driven by one single goal of doing

what's in the best interest of our customers.

The second important reason for our

success has been our focus and discipline.

Our focus on business applications for

enterprise customers and the discipline to

measure our performance against two key

parameters customer satisfaction and

employee satisfaction have helped us grow

faster. We believe that if we take care of

these two parameters, revenue growth and

other operating financial metrics naturally

follow.

Cognizant's stock was recognized as one

of the best 5-year performers by WSJ

and has been added to the prestigious

NASDAQ 100 Index. How has the

company ensured such a consistent

strong financial performance?

We feel good that we have been recognized

among the best 5-year stock performers by

WSJ. It's a significant achievement and the

credit goes to our customers for reposing

faith in us and to all Cognizant associates

for consistently exceeding customer

expectations.

We are pleased that we have been added to

the prestigious NASDAQ 100 Index,

joining marquee names such as eBay, Intuit,

Yahoo, Microsoft, Dell and Starbucks,

companies that have defined new business

paradigms.

Cognizant's consistently strong financial

performance can be attributed to our

strategic decision to maintain our operating

margin at 20 per cent and reinvest anything

above that back into the business. That

positions us better for long-term sustained

revenue growth, and we are sure this begets

goodwill and credit from our investors.

By delivering consistent results, our

investors know that we understand the

underlying drivers in our business and

deliver on our promises.

The India based IT players have been

attempting to move up the value chain

into consulting. Some players are

offering it as an integrated service, while

others operate it as an independent

subsidiary. What would be Cognizant's

strategy in this space?

We view consulting as a critical ingredient

to provide clients with technology solutions

Chief Operating Officer, Cognizant

Interview with

Mr. Francisco D'Souza,

Find your passion and

just do it, but without

forgetting the basics --

attention to customers,

brand and people.

COO

SPE

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20

to business problems. We believe that

business transformations can only be

accomplished with a strong consulting

capability, which is tightly integrated with

the industry and technology capability

delivery organizations. Cognizant's

consulting capability is incorporated in two

places within the organization.

First, in our Business Technology

Consulting (BTC) Practice, which is

composed of an elite group of IT,

management and strategy consultants, who

provide a wide range of service offerings

including IT strategic planning, IT portfolio

analysis and technology rationalization,

offshore abil i ty analysis, change

management and IT effectiveness

assessment. This practice is headed by

Kaushik Bhaumik, who was with

McKinsey and was instrumental in setting

up their business technology office before

joining us.

In addition, the consulting capability is also

incorporated in the “industry domain

consulting” teams that are embedded in

each of our industry groups. These teams,

which include several MBA graduates hired

from premier institutions and groomed over

the years, are focused on providing domain-

specific IT consulting services to our

clients.

It is interesting to note that Cognizant's ratio

of consultants with an MBA background to

those with a technology background is

among the highest in the industry reflecting

Cognizant's singular focus on business

applications and on providing technology

solutions to some of the most pressing

business problems that our clients face.

What would be Cognizant's response to

competition from the IBMs and

Accentures of the world that are moving

down the value chain and aggressively

ramping up their Indian operations?

Having a small number of traditional multi-

nationals enter the market has actually had

an unexpected benefit. It has served, in the

customer's eyes, to further validate the

global delivery model and has made clients

even more comfortable with using the

global delivery model for higher value

activities (such as complex development,

systems integration, etc.). This trend has

actually expanded the overall market and

greatly benefitted Cognizant.

When you compare us with the traditional

multi-nationals, they have been longer in

business and tend to have longer standing

customer relationships. However, we feel

that we are ahead in terms of our ability to

deliver complex services using a global

delivery model, which we've been doing for

much longer.

When you compare us with the top-tier

Indian peers, we are seen by customers and

analysts as better in customer relationship,

responsiveness and domain capability. This

is because we have a strong onshore

presence and have invested heavily in client

partnerships and domain excellence.

China is fast becoming a strong force to

reckon with in the IT services space as

well. China cannot be ignored anymore.

Even at Great Lakes, Mandarin is being

taught to all the students. Cognizant too

has opened its Chinese operations in mid

of 2004. How would you describe

Cognizant's China strategy?

China provides an important long-term

opportunity to a large talented group of IT

professionals outside of India. Cognizant

believes that supplemental development

capability in China will provide significant

advantages. However, there are some

challenges that we need to overcome

including IP concerns, language issues and

client perception that China is less

expensive than India (which is not the case).

Cognizant has established its presence in

Shanghai, China, for two key reasons - we

believe that China represents an interesting,

long-term capability, and we want to create

a global footprint and serve our

multinational customers in the Asia-Pacific

region, including China and Japan. This is

in tune with our international strategy of

having a global footprint with multi-

cultural workforce to serve global

customers.

The increasing multi-vendor contracts

opens up new challenges in terms of

working along with the competition. Do

you think this trend might increase,

going forward? How do you think

companies would handle this challenge?

In the last couple of years, customers'

reliance on a single vendor to provide end-

to-end services has been diminishing.

Consequently, they are unbundling their

requirements and partnering with multiple

players in specific areas of their strengths -

such as application services, embedded

systems, remote network management, data

center management, voice-based call

centers, etc. We believe that this

development is good for Cognizant as it

plays well into our core competence of

staying focused in providing business

application services for enterprise

customers.

What do you think IT offshoring

companies need to equip themselves

with, if they were to be considered as

more of strategic partners, who would

provide complete IT solutions which are

COO

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21

aligned to the customer's business

strategy?

In short, they need to “invest” in their

business to proactively provide solutions to

clients' business problems leveraging

technology, rather than merely provide

technology capability. This means they

need to invest in understanding the client's

industry deeply, invest in a broader range of

services and build strong capability in each

of those segments, and invest in client

relationships.

I believe Cognizant has done this well,

which is reflected in our SG&A spend as a

percentage of revenue being significantly

higher than most other offshore players.

Cognizant has been able to “over-invest” in

its business, particularly in the areas of

d o m a i n e x p e r t i s e , r e l a t i o n s h i p

management and business analytic

capabilities and therefore, to differentiate

itself. This has translated into above-

industry revenue growth rates due to strong

client acquisition, and more importantly,

great success in growing relationships once

the client is acquired.

With increasing competition and

commoditization in the application

management space, do you think

customer intimacy as a strategy will still

be able to drive the next level of growth or

do you see a need to shift towards an

operational efficiency focus?

In a Forrester note, Stephanie Moore stated,

“In customer loyalty, no one beats

Cognizant.” We strongly believe in

working with a limited number of

customers and providing increasing value

as we grow those relationships. Once we

establish tighter customer loyalty, our

ability to cross-sell and up-sell higher

value-added activities gets better, while

continuing to provide business-as-usual

application management services. In fact,

for Cognizant, since mid 2003, the growth

of our revenues from application

development, integration and higher value-

added services has consistently outpaced

the growth in revenue from application

management services.

We believe that we are able to provide such

higher value largely because of our

investment in client relationships, domain

expertise, and technology excellence,

which, in turn, results in client loyalty.

Forrester had reported that Cognizant's

“Secret Sauce” is the presence of MBAs

who understand client's businesses

better. Being a technology company,

what kind of opportunities is the

company able to provide these MBAs in

order to attract them?

At Cognizant, MBAs undertake a number

of domain-led, business development-

related and client-facing roles. The roles

that B-schools graduates normally take up

are business requirement analysis, business

development, opportunity assessment,

client relationship management, corporate

development, mergers and acquisition

assessment, change management and

business integration.

Cognizant has a separate career path for B-

school graduates and they progress up the

ladder to take on practice leadership roles,

large client management roles and

corporate roles.

Cognizant, being a US listed company,

has a strong Indian presence and Indian

leadership which makes it unique among

the IT outsourcing players. Great Lakes

also believes in this 'best of both worlds'

model, providing American business

education combined with Indian ethos

with faculty from top U.S universities

teaching the students. How do you think

such a global and multi cultural exposure

help India make a mark in the global

business arena?

Wi t h b u s i n e s s e s g o i n g g l o b a l ,

organizations need to have a global

mindset, multi-cultural workforce and

global footprint. As you rightly pointed out,

enjoying the best of many worlds brings

together an eclectic mix of best practices,

which helps an individual and an

organization to thrive better. The IT

industry is perhaps the most visible

example of an Indian industry that started

global and continues to remain global,

thereby making an indelible impression on

the global landscape.

Yo u w e r e a w a r d e d t h e E T

entrepreneurship award along with Mr.

Lakshmi Narayanan recently and were

a l so the 2004 Ernst & Young

Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. What

would be your advice to those MBAs who

aspire to take up the entrepreneurial

route?

The Indian economy is expanding at an

unprecedented pace. This has created and

will continue to create tremendous

opportunities for the entrepreneur. My

advice: Find your passion and just do it, but

without forgetting the basics -- attention to

customers, brand and people. I think that if

there is one lesson to be learnt from the

dizzying transformation that is taking place,

it is that there are no experts but only people

with varying degrees of knowledge. It is

only such a mindset that can help defy

conven t iona l wisdom, th ink the

unthinkable and, as a result, create a great

new business!

- As told to Sathish Anand Seshadri &

Manu Venugopal

PGPM Class of 2006 (via email)

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As Indian manufacturers foray across the Great

Wall in their efforts to expand businesses, the

economies of scope and scale from operating in

China continue to yield rich dividends. The Chinese

economy carries on its success story. But, is there

anything behind this perceived growth, is there that

quintessential ‘balance’? We find it out from

Mr. A. Natarajan, Vice President, Sundaram

Fasteners (Zheijang) Limited, as he speaks to

Abhinav Mittal and Nikunj Agarwal (students,

PGPM Class of 2006) from Great Lakes.  

Sundaram Fasteners is known to be a cost

efficient and operationally excellent company.

Given that, what was your main objective of

setting up a base in China?  

Our decision was purely based on market

opportunities, not costs. We could foresee the might

of India and China four years back. Most

automobile manufacturers, American or European,

began moving to China and this threw up a huge

market potential. There is a huge domestic market

as well and the future of automobile and related

industries appears bright. Sundaram Fasteners

decided to move there to be a part of the booming

economy.

Also, there is nothing like ‘being in the market

place’, the experience is unique and it eliminated

lots of myths based out of India with regard to doing

business in China.

What were the assumptions and beliefs with

which you entered China? To what extent did

they hold true?

This is a very easy question but very difficult to answer. Before taking such a step, we considered business numbers on potential buyers. But coming

to running a business, one can’t really anticipate or plan till one embarks on it. We were sure that the market can be captured, but the problem was that we thought it to be easy. But there we found that we have to build relationships, they have to visit you, understand you, and it is a long process. (Abhinav says “Guan Xi?”) . Guan Xi is doing, first step is you have to understand. They will not believe you initially. We did not anticipate that it will take us so long. It was mainly with regard to the timeline that our assumptions got deviated. So, we had to change our marketing strategy to the extent of concentrating points with regard to time.  

Do you think there is disproportionate support and encouragement given by the Chinese Government to different types of industries, or is it evenly spread across?  

When the Chinese started their reforms, they were not specific about any industry. However, there has been some classification subsequently. They have preferential categories I, II and III, ranging from ‘most welcome’ to ‘not welcome’. Whatever relates to technology and results in its infusion is given most preference under Category I. Also, there are certain industries where the Chinese resist divesting their control.

Does there seem to be any discrimination in the approach of the Chinese authorities with regard to the origin of investors or industrialists?  

No, they do not differentiate as such among foreign investors. As long as what one brings in benefits China, they are most willing to extend their support and coordination.

Would you say that there are large scale diversities and deficiencies in skill sets of the labour force in China?

Across the

Great Wall

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Management, per se, is a new phenomenon in China.

There is a dearth of high quality managerial skills,

and coupled with the need for ability to

communicate in English, this problem intensifies.

Getting a good manager with adequate knowledge is

tough. This gives immense opportunities to

management institutions like Great Lakes to try and

leverage upon their strengths. The Chinese focus

more on physical activity than mental activity. That

is a difference between the West and China.

Second largest economy in the world in terms of

GDP on Purchasing Power Parity, and 85th on

the Human Development Index (HDI). Does this

indicate that China is growing or surging ahead

in true sense?  

There are definite differences in quality of life

across regions. Cities like Shanghai are amazing in

every sense, yet the central and western regions lack

similar development. Then, even in developed

cities, there is high air pollution and water pollution.

So, there are areas of concern and the Chinese are

conscious of it.

Another aspect of questions on balanced growth

in China relates to personal freedom. People are

not allowed to have a second child. Is such a curb

the right path to growth?

Yes, there are punitive implications of having more

than one child, they make people pay more taxes,

could deny them housing loans or even break their

houses. This does appear extreme in its own sense.

But now this has also created some amount of

aversion among the Chinese towards a second child.

It is not necessarily out of fear of punishment, but

out of own will, the resultant financial burdens and

the likes. The one child norm also in some way

adversely affects the attitude of the next generation

as they do not get to know much about sharing and

responsibilities. But another potential problem this

rule could lead to in few decades is a paucity of

enough people in the working age group.  

Moreover, there are other forms of curbs too, like

freedom of speech, right or access to information,

freedom of press, etc. which are not signs of a

developed society.

Is Chinese growth just east-costal growth? How

would you view the imbalance across regions?

See you can understand what China is today is all

from twenty five years of growth. In such time they

can’t have growth all over, given the mammoth size

of their country, which is almost thrice that of India.

You need to start somewhere. So they concentrated

on the three deltas - Pearl River, Yangtze River and

Yellow River. But now, the Government is

encouraging development in other regions by means

incentives and benefits. They are conscious about

the imbalances but it will not be an easy going.

Upcoming Beijing Olympics is creating a lot of

fanfare. How much of its benefits do you think

will spiral down to an average Chinese?

To a great extent! Olympic Games are creating

substantial infrastructure. This leads to high demand

and employment in industries like steel and cement,

among others. And they, in turn, mostly employ

people from the low income groups. Moreover, lot of

labour migration too is happening as there is vast

demand in and around Beijing. Further, Olympics

brings in loads of tourists, which again benefits the

class of people working in hospitality,

transportation, entertainment, tourist services, etc.

Effectively, Chinese Government is spending huge

sums for the Olympics, and its benefits will accrue

down to the people ultimately.  

Lastly, what are the key lessons that India learn

from China to have a balanced growth?

Clarity - Be clear with what we want to achieve.

Today we talk about everything. But India needs to

understand the key areas they need to concentrate

and have a growth map instead of doing things in bits

and pieces in every sphere.

Walk the Talk – I feel we talk a lot and do a little. That

may be because of accountability is not spelt out,

measures of performance are not clearly defined.  

Speed – Decision-making in China is very fast,

possible because of the structure of their polity and

also the willingness. But India is very slow on acting,

and mostly a lot of time is wasted in pointless debates

to satisfy the petty interests.

Focus – They Chinese are much focused. If there is

anything they want to do, they will do and would not

allow stumbling blocks to stand in their way. This

kind of a focus is a desperate need of the hour for

India specially.  

India needs to learn to have a clear cut target, break it

down into deliverables and attach the deliverables to

accountability. Only then it can be ensured that

things happen and reach the desired ends given the

‘system’ that we have as a bottleneck.

Mr. Natarajan led the initiative of Sundaram

Fasteners in China when they started operations in

2004. He has been with the company since 1982. A

B.Tech graduate from IIT-Madras, Mr. Natarajan

pursued his MBA from OUBS, UK and has served as

the Chairman of CII, Pondicherry Chapter.

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It came, we saw, it conquered! That was

L'Attitude 13°05, the maiden inter

business-school fest of Great Lakes

Institute of Management, Chennai. An

inspiring endeavor of students from the

second batch of this young institute,

L'Attitude 13°05 was unique and

captivating in every sense of the word.

The name L'Attitude 13°05 was derived

from 13-05' N, the latitudinal location of

Chennai, and sought to exude the one-word

secret for success, 'attitude' in it. The

message was indicative of convergence of

attitudes at the north equatorial location of

Chennai, for an intense and exciting

management fest.

This edition of L'Attitude 13°05 had its

theme as 'Womb to Tomb Striving for

Endurance'. The theme was an underlining

premise on which survival in today's

competitive world rests. It was chosen to

signify the eternal need for determination

and competence in every walk of life, which

characterizes the ones who have tasted

success and also those on way to succeed.

Extending over two days, L'Attitude 13°05

comprised speaker sessions in the first half

of each day, and competitive events in the

remaining half. The speaker sessions,

termed Great Lakes Conclave, featured

addresses by renowned members from the

industry and the academic spectrum. This

was an intentional effort to carry forth the

spirit of academic and industrial

partnership which has been a hallmark of

Great Lakes. The knowledge and

experience of the speakers made them no

less than authoritative in their areas of

specialization. This gave a golden

opportunity to the audience of students and

corporate guests to listen to and interact

with the much cherished names.

The Great Lakes Conclave

The Conclave was supposed to kick start

our maiden festival L'Attitude 13º05 and as

it turned out, it did much more than that. It

was in the true sense, a Conclave, where

great minds and splendid executors shared

their thoughts, vision and strategies with an

eager audience, setting the tone for the next

two days and setting a high bar for the

events to come.

The Conclave was split into four parts, with

two sessions on each of the two days. The

first day began with luminaries such as

Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

Dr. N Chandrababu Naidu as the Chief

Guest, Honorable Member of Parliament,

Rajya Sabha, Mr. Jairam Ramesh as the

Guest of Honor and Distinguished

Professor of Material Science, Carnegie

Mellon University, Dr. V.S. Arunachalam

as the President along with our Honorary

Dean Dr. Bala .V. Balachandran .

Mr. A. Mahendran, MD, Godrej Sara Lee

was t he keyno te speake r wh i l e

Mr. A. Vellayan, MD & Member of the

Board of Murugappa Group gave the

special address. Dr. Balachandran started

off the session with the kind of energy that

only he can exhibit introducing the

dignitaries on the dais filled with anecdotes.

Dr. Naidu shared his vision for Andhra

Pradesh and also talked about the various

programmes that he undertook as Chief

Minister. His foresight and drive was

clearly uncommon for politicians as we

know them. Mr. Jairam Ramesh was

infectious with his wit and left the audience

spell bound with an extempore that urged

the citizens of the nation, especially the lot

privileged with education, to shed their

apathy towards 'The system' and join the

democratic process. Dr. Arunachalam

shared his thoughts on 'The Winners Curse',

the other side being the innovator while

Mr. Mahendran shared the Good Knight

success story as part of the theme 'Womb to

Tomb Striving for Endurance'. Mr. Vellayan

concluded the session by sharing his

strategic view on Murugappa Group and a

roadmap that would allow them to forge

ahead as one of the largest conglomerates in

the country

In the second session of Day 1 at the

Conclave we had with us Mr. Suhas

Gopinath, CEO, Globals Inc. - the youngest

entrepreneur at the age of 19. He endeared

the audience with his success story as he

went to explain how uncomfortable it was at

times for him to address a gathering of

MBA graduates all of whom were most

definitely older than him. By the end of his

L'Attitude13º05

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talk, there were a lot of bright eyed and

moon struck MBA students dreaming about

their entrepreneurial ventures. He spoke

about the starting problems that he faced as

minor setting up a business in India and how

he overcame it by incorporating the

company in the US. Mr. K.S. Ramesh,

CEO, CavinKare Personal Care Division

spoke about CavinKare's claim to fame. He

traced the success of CavinKare which

went on to challenge the giant of the FMCG

industry in India. His passion for his job

came through when he detailed the strategy

that CavinKare adopted to compete with the

biggies in the industry. With placements

around the corner, his passionate talk

captivated the students and made them look

at FMCG with a greater awareness.

On the second day, the first session

saw industry heavy weights such as

Mr. Subu D. Subramaniam, Director and

SVP, Satyam Computer Services Ltd. and

Mr. A Sarvanan, President, Allsec

Technologies. Each one of them being

leaders in their own right showed the

direction in which the fast growing IT &

ITES sectors would head. Mr. Badri

Govindrajan, VP, Brakes India, brought in

the different perspective while he spoke

about the phases that the manufacturing

sector has gone through. Mr. Harish Bijoor,

CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., ushered

in a breeze of humor while talking about the

future of retailing in India. His anecdotes on

customer experiences in various countries

and businesses had the audiences in splits.

But the highlight of the session

undoubtedly was the presence of the

renowned Mr. Sam Pitroda, CEO, Worldtel,

also known as the 'father of the telecom

revolution' in the country through a video

conference. He shared the experiences in

his life which he presented in the form of '10

lessons from life'. These were just the

inspiration that the management graduates

present in the audience were looking for as

they head out of academics. The surprise

package of the session came all the way

from the Kellogg School of Business, from

the 'Guru of Marketing', the one and only

Dr. Philip Kotler. He had a recorded

message for the students of Great Lakes in

conversation with Dr. Balachandran.

Receiving support from someone of his

stature has compounded the energy of the

students.

The final session was meant to end the

Conclave with a bang and the discussion on

'Rural Marketing' did just that. Chaired by

Dr. Rakesh Singh from Great Lakes, the

panel comprised Mr. P. G. Ponappa, CEO,

n-Logue Communications, Mr. R.V. Rajan ,

Chairman and MD, Augrah Madison

A d v e r t i s i n g C o m p a n y L t d , a n d

Mr. Rangaswamy Elango, Panchayat

President, Kuthambakkam. The discussion

beautifully surfaced the needs of the rural

folk with a passionate extempore from

Mr. Elango. Mr. Ponappa highlighted the

innovative programs that his company has

undertaken in taking technology deep into

rural areas and the impact it has made on the

lives of people living there. Mr. Rajan

s h o w c a s e d i n s t a n c e s o f r u r a l

communication that have been successful

which underlined the differences in mass

marketing communications between urban

and rural areas. Finally, Dr. Rakesh Singh

brought the pieces together to paint a

holistic picture of needs, gaps, viability and

strengths of rural marketing. The Conclave

could claim to have been one of the few

forums for rural marketing amongst

B-schools.

The Conclave at L'Attitude 13°05 enabled a healthy interaction of thoughts and ideas and provided a much needed forum for corporate-academic interface. It created an intellectually stimulating environment, with the promise that the Great Lakes Conclave at L'Attitude 13°05 in 2006 would be bigger, better and more enthralling!

L'Attitude 13°05 Events

The stage was set. The battle lines were drawn. The writing was on the wall!! Following the Conclaves, the cynosure at L'Attitude 13°05 shifted to Buena Vista Beach Resorts, the official venue for competitive events at L'Attitude 13°05. A picturesque venue by the sea, just off the East Coast Road, Buena Vista was all set to witness a clash of the titans who had traveled from all across the country to reign supreme. Home to all visiting participants during the span of L'Attitude 13°05, Buena Vista turned into an epicenter of energy and frolic as it played host to the events.

The events put to test the two most important quotients: intelligence & emotional and as the participants were soaking up the pressure, the audience was settling down to have their share of fun and knowledge. Largely, the events were based on functional areas of expertise, which are detailed in brief hereunder.

Madison Avenue - Where street smartness counts… Madison Avenue was an

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advertisement event where street smartness mattered. It sought to bring out the advertisement acumen needed in an arena with increasing competition and the need to quickly react with tactical advertisements which is critical to retain/protect the brand's market share against popular rival campaigns.

The preliminary round tested the

advertising knowledge and creativity, while

four best teams made it to the finals. In the

final round, the teams were shown a TV

Commercial that was very popular - to

which the team were to assume the position

of the competitors' Ad-agency and come up

with a suitable responsive commercial. The

event was judged by active professionals

from the advertising world. The team from

NITIE, Mumbai emerged on top while the

runners up were the contenders from SIBM,

Pune. Lifestyle Pvt Ltd was the sponsor for

the event.

Vitamin F - Growth par excellence! All it takes to be a financial expert is that crucial dose of Vitamin F, as the participants discovered much to their delight at this novel event. The topic for the event was “Vision 2015: 3 Indian banks in the Fortune 500”. Its preliminary round was based on a paper presentation and top three teams were invited to make a presentation on the topic to a panel of renowned finance professionals who served as judges. In the second round, each of the finalists was pitted against each other as they presented solutions to a case study. This was followed by an invigorating round of questions from the judges . Af t e r some in t ense brainstorming, SCMHRD, Pune achieved the 'Best Team' award.

The judges then selected three of the best speakers who moved ahead to contend for the coveted title of 'Finance Wizard'. This subsequent round of Vitamin F was a blockbuster where the judges could ask the participants any question in the area of finance. It was the tensest fifteen minutes for the participants as they fielded questions from banking to capital markets to portfolio management to investment banking to governance. After a lot of deliberation and thought by the judges, Puneet Goyal of MDI, Gurgaon emerged as the 'Finance Wizard'. CI Technologies was the official sponsor for Vitamin F.

Marksman - It is a vanilla world! But we can

always add flavor to it, can't we?

Marksman, the showcase event for

marketing at L'Attitude 13°05, was a unique

opportunity to flavor the 'vanilla world' with

creativity and imagination. It was an

exciting battleground for marketing

warlords in their quest for supremacy.

Comprising rounds that tested the

participants on marketing acumen, brand

knowledge and advertising creativity,

Marksman extracted an absorbing mix of all

tantras and mantras.

The event was divided into an eliminatory

quiz, non-verbal ad-making and marketing

case study. Spread over two days, it

witnessed exciting competition that saw the

winning laurels going to ICFAI Hyderabad

followed by IIM-Kozhikode. The event was

sponsored exclusively by Godrej

Industries.

Case Studies - This absorbing part of

L'Attitude 13°05 threw a gauntlet at the

contestants to research their repository of

knowledge and aptitude to provide real life

solutions to some real life cases. There were

two separate cases in this section. The first

was the 'Indian Terrain Case Study', which

primarily focused on the 'what next'

question in the space of retail apparels

industry with a pointed reference to product

portfolio expansion and multi-segment

pricing and presence.

The second case was a business challenge

on rural market management, authored by

our faculty Dr. Rakesh Singh. It looked at

rural retail formats and clearly brought out

the intricacies of doing business in rural

India. This event was sponsored by CI

technologies.

Based upon detailed analyses submitted in

advance, top qualifiers for the two cases

were invited to present before a panel of

judges in the battle for supremacy. The

winners for Indian Terrain case were MICA

and LIBA, while the Rural Business Plan

contest was won by IIM-Ahmedabad.

Flanges - Arguably the most critical of the

3Ms, management of Manpower, or

commonly known as human resource, is an

intriguing and beckoning topic of today. It is

one subject that has gained prominence

world over, in every sphere of business, and

so it was at L'Attitude 13°05. 'Flanges', as

the event was called, was a call to the

budding HR professionals to test and

exhibit their skills upon the challenges

posed by the 'head-hunting' culture of today.

'Flanges' made the participants ponder over

the growing trend of youngsters joining

'just any job' that provides a decent pay

package. The concern for learning and

value addition to themselves seems to be

compromised for lucrative salaries. Will

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this just create a pool of 'modern-day'

clerks? Will it rock the boat of professional

careers in later ages of today's youth? Is this

short term vision sustainable and desirable?

These were the concerns presented in the

form of a case, which saw the top teams

from prelims qualifying for final

presentations. The hard-fought event ended

with IIM-Kozhikode claiming the top

merits.

Black Deeds & White Collars - A white

world of horrors, crimes & mistakes

committed by corporates is what provides a

locale to businesses today. Enron, Arthur

Anderson, UTI .... This list is endless with

crisis striking companies. With the odds

mounting, each of the situations turns

trickier, more treacherous. Silence could

spell disaster. However, there is a small sign

of hope, something that may be able to

dispel the clouds of doom. It's called, 'Black

Deeds & White Collars'.

Subsequent to an elimination round that

short listed participants from a case

analysis, this event was eloquently won by

NMIMS (Mumbai) followed by SP Jain

(Mumbai). The 'battle royale' comprised of

creating a campaign for a hospital in

distress keeping in mind the finer nuances

of communication techniques in the

healthcare industry. This was probably one

of the finest and most acclaimed events of

all: an event that will carry on the spark that

ignited and will continue giving light to

L'Attitude 13'05.

Brains, Bizness & Megabucks - 'Save the

best for the last', is often said and heard, but

Brains, Bizness and Megabucks was a

living example justifying this saying. The

event had a perfect launch pad as a nice cool

breeze blowing from Bay of Bengal and

showers that had ceased to a pleasant

drizzle, set the tone for this mega outdoor

event - two days of hard work and fun

culminating in one of the most intriguing

and fiercely contested quiz competition. It

was exclusively sponsored by Allsec

Technologies.

With close to 40 teams taking part in the prelims, we had people coming from far and near just to take part in the quiz. Well, that was the combined magic of L'Attitude 13°05 and the Pied Piper of quizzing, Giri 'Pickbrain' Balasubramaniam, who hosted the show. The finals saw top 6 teams from prelims squared off against each other on the centre stage. The finalists were up for some “rewarding” time, in terms of both moolah and knowledge. So much for all those who believed in paying to learn! For about an hour and half, the finalists literally baked their brains to earn the dough. ICFAI, Chennai emerged triumphant at the end with ISB as runners up. Brains, Bizness and Megabucks signaled the curtains on a high, for what turned out to be the two hottest days in the month of December, courtesy L'Attitude 13'05.

And …did you miss something?

Let the games begin! After a long hard

round of events on Day 1, the participants

were enthralled with a late night theatre

show by Freddy Koikaran and his group

form Stagefright Productions. If anyone

heard of 'playing to the audience', this

performance was to be seen to be believed.

The two short plays were a stellar combo of

wit and humor. This was rounded up by a

heart rendering dance performance by some

in house talents from Great Lakes. Ashok

Leyland was the 'Entertainment Sponsor'

for L'Attitude 13°05.

If Day 1 saw entertainment on stage, Day 2

had the night to unwind. The 'work hard and

play harder' culture was truly reflected as

some pulsating DJ-music set the dance floor

on fire. It was a thrilling time of some

hardcore grooving, in truly 'high' spirits. As

the morning rays of the sun pierced through

the quite dawn of the following day,

L'Attitude 13°05, 2005, saw its closing

moments. Moments, that will be there to

stay for long for all those who witnessed it,

and for those who did not, there is always

next time!

Sponsors

The success of L'Attitude 13°05 rested on

the tripod of students, management and

encouraging sponsors. An event of this

scale needed extensive support from the

corporate arena, and so it received. Godrej

Industries was the exclusive Title Sponsor

for L'Attitude 13°05, the only one in the

category of Platinum sponsors. Strong

support came in from IBM, Celebrity

Fashions and Cognizant Technology

Solutions who constituted the category of

Gold sponsors. The Silver sponsors

included CI Technologies, CavinKare,

Hyundai Electronics, Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd.

and Murugappa Group. The other sponsors

were Aryan Technologies, Henkel-Spic and

Red Bull. Indian Bank was the Banking

Partner while Pagalguy.com was the

official online partner.

– Nikunj Agarwal, Aditya Suresh and

Vinay Mony - PGPM Class of 2006

With inputs from Anirudh G., Kartik Mody,

Akil A., and P.B. Lakshmikant

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In the world of business, relationships are the key to

success, says the new age guru Deepak Chopra.

People at every level have a deep need for

relationships, and catering to that need might

ultimately determine the success of an

organization. Dr. Chopra, speaking at a fund-raiser

organized by the Great Lakes Institute of

Management said that fortunately some businesses

have started measuring their success not in terms of

maximizing shareholder wealth, but in terms of

maximizing employee potential and contribution to

society.

There is a link between employee loyalty and

shareholder value. Nurturing emotional bond

among employees leads to loyalty, loyal employees

attract loyal customers, and loyal customers

enhance shareholder value, he said. “You need to

run the business like a family and nurture emotional

bonding,” he said. Story telling can be used as an

effective tool to nurture relationships at all levels.

“Businesses are built on stories, It is all about who

has a better story,” he said.

Dr. Chopra says that “Often, it is not the change

itself that we fear, but the fear that we will have to

adapt our rigid sense of self to a new set of

circumstances. We lock into an identity that defines

us - married, single; rich, poor; old, young - and any

change that threatens that identity is viewed with

suspicion. Change can also make us feel out of

control, helpless, and at the mercy of chaos.

Although we cannot stop the cycles of change from

turning, we can learn to see change as a friend rather

than a foe. One way of doing that is what I call

"seeing the possibilities" - something I refer to in

The Book of Secrets. For me, this approach is

crucial for shifting my attitude towards change. It

involves seeing the possibilities in whatever

happens, even if the situation seems dire. It means a

willingness to take a deep look into whatever arises,

even a sense of disappointment or loss. As the Sufi

poet Rumi described in one of his poems, "Every

need brings in what's needed/pain bears its cure like

a child." If you do not get what you expected, look

at what you got. Where is the gift in what you

received? Is there a way you can transform it into an

opportunity to learn? In this approach, change is

accepted, not denied. A sense of spaciousness

enters in. On a profound level, every event in life

has two possible causes. Either what happens is

positive, or it is bringing up something you need to

learn in order to create something positive. It is the

same with the body. What happens inside a cell is

either healthy activity or a sign that a correction is

needed. Although life can seem random, in fact

everything is pointing to a greater good. Evolution

is not a win-lose crapshoot, but a win-win journey

to transformation. Even when we succumb to the

idea that life is unfairly arbitrary, the underlying

principles of consciousness hold true. Change can

be seen as the self-correcting mechanism that

aligns us with our purpose in life. If we can bring

ourselves in a leap of courage to embrace change as

our true teacher, our life hugely expands. We do not

try so hard to hold on to what we have, but learn

daily to let go of the subtle attachments that creep

into our minds. We find our own rhythm in the

cycle of change: the expansion and the contraction,

the light and the dark. Accepting change is the

antidote to suffering. In order to find peace, we

need to allow things to be in a constant state of

flux”.

Five Principles of Consciousness

l It adjusts to your desires.

l It keeps everything in balance.

l It attunes your individual life with the life of the

cosmos.

l It makes you aware of your behavior.

l It shows you the karmic effect of your actions.

Finally, he says that knowing your body type is

essential to understanding yourself. When you find

out what is actually going on inside, you will no

longer be bound by society's notions of what you

should be doing, saying, thinking, and feeling.

Deepak Chopra Fund Raising Event

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Dr. Hayagreeva Rao

Organizing

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Dr. Hayagreeva Rao is a Professor of

Organizational Behavior and Director of Human

Resource Executive Program at Stanford Graduate

School of Business. This guest lecture was handled

by way of a case study approach, which in a way

was very different from the ones in the past. The

gist of the lecture is as follows:

The professor discussed about a few aspects of

human behavior, as a series of commonly believed

fallacies.

Fallacy of redundancy - The belief that two is

always better than one. Redundancy is good in

technical systems but it actually acts as a deterrent

to effectiveness in social systems. This concept

was wonderfully explained with the example of

cops on patrol, where one cop has been found to be

more effective than two were.

Fallacy of Centrality - If you have the central

node, info is being fed to the central node. How this

information is being used is a totally different

question. The centrality was one of the critical

issues of the problem of the US Air force in the case

discussed. Though everyone updates information

to the central node, there is no way to knowing if

those information are being used effectively or not.

Practical drifts - you may have rules but there is

drift. It is not hard to formulate rules in a system.

The key challenge is making the rules effective. In a

lot of cases, the presence of rules gives a false

assurance to people, which is practically not the

case.

Whenever any one joins an organization newly, one

of the key things to be done is to check and

understand the cognitive hygiene of any

organization. The next step should be working

towards a cognitive repair. In organizations, people

should be able to ask the right questions.

The Professor highlighted the cognitive hygiene

using examples from Starbucks and Tesco. Either

the cognitive repair could be top down or bottom

up, as in the case of Xerox, where they innovatively

solved the problem of improving customer service,

cost effectively.

In effect, organizations should focus on

investments in improving the collective mind and

not on improving individuals. They should focus on

increasing the diversity of people, inject doubt and

questioning in the organization.

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Between the Cup and the Lip…

Many a Slip

Prof Aswath Damodaran is the Professor of

Finance at the Stern School of Business, New York

University.

Prof Damodaran is recognized worldwide as the

leading mind and expert in the area of Valuation.

His website has enabled many students and

corporates to learn the concept concisely.

The audience was spell bound and engaged on the

intricacies of valuation. Prof Damodaran shared

with us his three fundamental rules of valuation a)

Remember when you are bidding against someone

and when u are not; b) Words like synergy, growth

potential have no value & c) Without Cash flows,

no valuation is possible. He advised us not to follow

the herd mentality like the way of the lemmings and

to stop and think and re-look the fundamentals and

value drivers. According to him, valuation gives us

a life vest i.e. it justifies perceptions.

He demystified the myth that valuation is a search

for true value by stating that valuation was biased

and it was only a question of how much and in

which direction. He also stated that the bias and the

magnitude to valuation are directly proportional to

the amount paid to the person doing the valuation.

Another secret he shared with the students when

doing a valuation was not to come back with a nice

round figure but to always end the final figure in

decimals as it has the potential to create an amazing

illusion.

He also lamented the sad state today of price being

paid arrived at first and then a valuation done to

justify the same. He stressed the importance of

liquidity and control by using the example of Mittal

Steel's bid on Arcelor. The real value of control is

because L.N. Mittal feels he can run Arcelor better

than the current top management. He also stated

that hostile acquisitions are no longer done on

financial terms but to quench one's emotions. He

also cited the case of Time Warner's acquisition of

AOL as among the worst in the history of M&A in

corporate America.

The second myth that he demystified was that a

good valuation provides a precise estimate of value

but in reality, there are no precise valuations. He

also stated that the payoff to valuation is greatest

when valuation is least precise. The third myth he

demystified was the notion that the more

quantitative the model, the better the valuation. The

fascination for a quantitative model by most

investment banks has led them to create complex

models but has later resulted in what he calls 'input

fatigue'. He provided examples of how simpler

valuation models do much better than complex

ones. He used the three methods of a) Discounted

cash flow model b) Relative valuation c)

Contingent claim valuation to value two Indian

companies Wipro and Tata Chemicals, to highlight

its practical use.

Prof. Aswath Damodaran

Dr. Jitendra V Singh, Saul P Steinberg Professor of

Management, Wharton Business School,

University of Pennsylvania.

It was transformational beginning to 2006 for the

students of Great Lakes. Dr. Singh donned the role

of the chief protagonist. It was by far the longest

and most stimulating lecture on the behavior of

organizations, the challenge and excitement of

leading change in organizations. In the first

session, he covered the theoretical aspects of

organizational change and in the second session, he

used many case studies to explain the challenges

faced during change and how leadership enabled

transformation.

In the first session, he covered a wide area of topics

ranging from organizational change, adaptation

and its decline, organizations, markets &

information, capitalism and state centered

socialism, organizational change and societal

change. He cited examples on organizational

change ranging from living systems to

governments to religious institutions and

corporate. Change is today constant. Change is

forced when there is a gap from where we currently

are to where we ought to be.

He cited the examples of India adapting to change

in 1991 when it was forced to open its economy due

to circumstances ranging from the collapse of the

Soviet Union and its allies to disruption of oil

supplies. He also cited the example of the pressures

faced by the U.S. catholic churches to change their

stand on abortion as the values of the society had

changed. He also used the examples of enormous

change undergone by tobacco companies in the

U.S. as their survival was under threat.

On the topic of capitalism and state centered

socialism, he impressed upon us the advantages

and disadvantages of both economic systems.

However, on an aggregate level, he stated that

economies that followed free market economics

were able to create more wealth. The role of the

Government in free markets was to help address the

issues of wealth redistribution. Government, he felt

should restrict itself to improving basic amenities

like health, education, infrastructure and defense.

Dr. Singh explained the practical challenges,

difficulties of organizational transformation by

using case studies of a) Chrysler under the times of

Lee Iacocca and its merger with Daimler Benz, b)

the dramatic turnaround of Nissan Motor Co under

the leadership of Carlos Ghosn, c) the revitalization

of IBM under the leadership of Louis Gertsner, d)

the transformation of British Airways as a world

class airline company under the leadership of Sir

Colin Marshall and Lord John King, e) the rise of

Nokia as the No. 1 player in the mobile phone

industry under the leadership of Jorma Ollila, f) the

continuing problems of General Motors under

Roger Smith and Rick Wagoner.

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The Challenge and Excitement of Behavior of Organizations,

Dr. Jitendra V. Singh

Leading Change in Organizations

Speaker: Prof. Sunil Chopra, Kellogg School of

Management

Dr. Chopra's talk focused on the "surplus capacity"

of a supply chain. Surplus capacity refers to any

additional capacity left, after the current demand

has been met. The potential of the surplus capacity

was elucidated by the example of Li & Fung, an

organization that liaisons between OEMs and

manufacturers. Say Nike wants to sell more shoes

of a particular style, whose sales have exceeded the

initial forecast. Nike contacts Li & Fung, who

identify manufacturers that can make the additional

quantity of shoes by using their additional capacity.

This model is beneficial to all the four stakeholders

- Nike, since it has more shoes to sell; the new

manufacturer, who can utilize his surplus capacity;

Li & Fung, who earn a commission; and Nike's

primary manufacturer, since they do not have to

make a small lot of shoes. An Indian example of

using the "Surplus capacity" is the production of

Lijjat Pappad, where rural womenfolk use their

spare time to prepare the dough, which they send to

a common location, where the pappad is prepared.

Dr. Lakshman Krishnamurthi, a Montgomery

Ward Distinguished Professor of Marketing,

Kellogg School, Northwestern University.

Dr. Krishnamurthi spoke about segmented pricing

and implemented segment pricing. He said that

segmented pricing is charging different prices for

the same product from different customers.

Customer values a product based on perceived

value derived from it. Higher valuation customers

would be charged higher than the lower valuation

customers would. A barrier to migration of high

valuation customers to buying products meant for

low valuation customers is essential for this to

succeed. A first step in setting segmentation is by

reducing price sensitivity. Reducing price

sensitivity increases the ability to charge a higher

price. Products with unique benefit, lower number

of substitutes, values that are difficult to compare,

lower cost, low product cost with respect to total

expenditure or as sunk costs; have lower price

sensitivity.

Speaker: Mr. Vijay Kamani, Founder, Radar

Securities, Commentator Economic Times,

TV 18

If ever there was customization of knowledge

dissemination to an audience, this guest lecture was

it. Mr. Kamani invited students to throw up

questions in the finance and financial markets. He

then led the students into the journey of financial

wisdom as he explained the various intricacies of

the operations of a market with ease. He explained

the various strategies of market participants and the

charm of the financial markets to induce people to

invest increasing the depth of the markets. He also

cautioned students not to base their investment

strategies on financial numbers and to go beyond

the numbers by looking at the strategies adopted by

the company and the forces that affect the players in

an industry.

He also explained the growing role of FII's in the

growth of the stock market. He strongly advocated

the need for a large and strong domestic MF

Industry to counter the FII's. He particularly

emphasized the recent upsurge in the purchasing of

MF units by the younger generation with

disposable income. He had a strong word of caution

in the pricing of IPO's even though the recent IPO's

have been very successful. He also advised young

people to stay away from commodities markets and

stick to the equities market as investor protection

laws was more in sync with global standards.

Speaker: Prof. Lloyd Shefsky, Clinical

Professor of Entrepreneurship and Co-Director,

Center for Family Enterprises, Kellogg School

of Management

Prof. Shefsky explained why entrepreneurship is

important for Employment. More jobs are created

entrepreneurially than the Fortune 500 companies.

Every year more jobs are lost in Fortune 500

companies and more jobs are created in self-owned

businesses. Innovation. A vast majority of new

entrepreneurial ideas are copied. It's not necessary

for an entrepreneur to innovate. Global

Differentiation is required for personal growth: in

terms of wealth creation, it is a self-created reason

to become an entrepreneur and sense of

achievement if you can do something that you are

pass ionate about . Mul t i d isc ipl inary

entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly

important. Make a combination of various

technologies, services (IT, Retail, etc...).

33

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Following the resounding success of the first batch

of Executive MBA which was launched in the

presence of the Strategy Guru, Dr. C.K. Prahalad in

December 2004, the second batch was started in

December 2005. The inauguration of the second

batch of the Executive MBA program of Great

Lakes was held on the 18th of December 2005 at the

Tata Consultancy Services Auditorium,

Sholinganallur, Chennai.

The occasion was graced by the presence of Mr. S.

Ramadorai, Chief Executive Officer, Tata

Consultancy Services and Mr. Ashok G Vadgama,

President, CAM I, United States.

In his address, Mr Ramadorai emphasized the need

for a large entrepreneurial class that will bring

innovation into business if India were to become a

super power by 2020. “Innovators need not exist

only in Information Technology, they could be

looking for new line of businesses, creating patents,

owning them and leveraging them. We are an

entrepreneurship-based organization. People with

entrepreneurship are given challenges and allowed

to take up independent projects” he told the students

of the institute. He also urged the students to chase

Ideas rather than chasing money. "If you set out to

make money, you might fail. But if you are utterly

convinced about an idea that can change lives and

the society, then you will be successful as a budding

entrepreneur," he said.

The Key note address was delivered by Mr. Ashok

G Vadgama, President, CAM I, a leading

management consultancy in the United States. “I

always tell our clients: `I don't want your money, I

want your participation. The money will come. The

whole world is about connectivity and

collaboration” is what he said, reiterating the point

made by Mr. Ramadorai.

In his inaugural address, Dr Bala V Balachandran,

Hon Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management

said that the Indian economy has gained a

tremendous momentum which is going to place the

country among the top three leading economies of

the world.

Dr Paul Prabhaker, Associate Dean of Stuart

School of Business, Illinois Institute of

Technology, with which Great Lakes has an

academic tie up, welcomed the students to pursue

higher education at their institute but also added

that with the unlimited opportunities that India is

offering, the students might not want to go

anywhere.

Rakesh Singh, director of the Executive MBA

programme, thanked the speakers for their

participation at the inauguration ceremony that

began with a video address to students by

management guru Philip Kotler.

– K Vijayakrishna, PGPM Class of 2006

Launch of Second Batch of

Executive MBA

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The Year that was...

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36

- Gopal Kavalireddi and Natasha Lobo, PGPM Class of 2006

PERS

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A poet once said “A rose is a rose is a rose”. So does

experience show that a manager is a manager is a

manager ? Not really !

Another poet said “A rose by any other name would

smell just as sweet”. A manager by any other name

is still a manager ? If you answered “Of course”,

you already know what I am talking about, if not,

buckle down for an interesting time !

A rose has a form with a color, but is recognized by

its fragrance. Similarly an MBA has an Institute

with a pedigree but is remembered for the results

produced ! Just like roses with no fragrance are used

for ornamental use, companies too have a collection

of ornamental managers who we will call

Administrators.

Companies that recruit MBAs are essentially

looking for results, but end up picking candidates

based on institute and pedigree with the added

qualification of marks and ability to talk.

Essentially, they hire the degree plus the ability to

talk smoothly. Therefore, in the effort to get them a

Butterfly, they get themselves a Pupa.

Most managers are formally created from ordinary

mortals by putting them through a course called

“Masters of Business Administration”(MBA). The

mindset that produces MBAs essentially believes

that business is an ongoing function and that the job

of an administrator/manager is to keep the business

rolling on at a steady clip. This mindset will teach

you the nuts and bolts of a business to ensure you

can keep the engine of the business going. If you

think through this paradigm, you will see that an

administrator is focused on the business and the

primary aim is to keep it running. This running of

the business on an even keel is “results” for most

companies!

A few bright sparks in these administrators get to

ask themselves the question “What purpose does

this business serve ?”. If they come to the answer

“To meet customer needs” they trigger a

metamorphosis! Suddenly, the butterfly that is the

manager is triggered in the pupa called the

administrator! Let me take you to the classic case of

IBM - the quintessential well run company, running

itself to business oblivion! It had stars, great

products, great processes, everything that was

needed to stay at the top forever! It was a well

administrated company as exemplified by the

words “well run”. It was well on its way to

becoming an “also ran”! It was Louis Gertsner who

asked the golden question and the rest is History!

MBAs are the ornamental roses and Pupae. The

roses and butterflies are what we refer to as Masters

of Business Readiness (MBR). Readiness to do

Business is the willingness to engage with the

Customer!

Why an MBA is referred to as a Pupa is because the

MBA is focused on the Business (internal) and

builds a mental cocoon against customers and

change. An MBA by definition has to consider

himself separate from the business to “maintain

perspective”. A MBR on the other hand is like a

butterfly that goes to the customer, gets the honey

and meets the Customer Need for pollination!

Masters of Business Readiness are people who

consider themselves as a part of the business not

above it, who put customers first and are ready to

change themselves and their organization to meet

customer needs and expectations better than

anybody else. MBRs will focus on the Values of the

organization as it is key to the sense of belonging

that is so essential to an MBR. Since he is not above

the Business, he remains humble, since he allows

the customer to teach him, he never becomes

arrogant, since he feels every bump on the road, he

is innovative, since he feels the pain of the

organization, he remains fair and develops a

concern for his fellow humans.

Great Lakes is an Institute that seeks to build

Business Ready Managers through a set of inputs

and concepts painstakingly put together by

Dr. Bala V Balachandran. He is called Uncle Bala

by all of us. Does this tell you something ?

– B Ramakrishnan, PGPM Class of 2006

A Need of the Hour?

Masters of Business Readiness

37

PERS

PECT

IVES

On first thoughts, I wanted to start this piece of

writing with 'What if I claim that there is more

fortune at the bottom of the pyramid than what

Dr. C. K. Prahlad (CKP) had identified, but quickly

realized that it would be too dangerous a statement

to make, so I decided to start it modestly with 'On

first thoughts…' . Well, the driving force behind

what follows, is my experience as a student

observer in a few admissions interviews for the

forthcoming batch of PGPM.

The panel was interviewing the 15th and last

candidate for the day, a 24 year old dark and

handsome young man from Rajapalayam, a small

town in T.N., who had done his entire schooling and

college in his native place. A quick glance at his

essays showed reasonably good written

communication skills for a person of his

background, but what impressed us most was his

consistent brilliant academic record. As he

carefully dealt with one question after another, we

unearthed more and more evidence of his passion to

make it big in life as well as his desire to expand his

dad's goldsmith/jewellery business beyond the

boundaries of his town. His purpose for pursuing a

Management degree was clear in very little time.

Nevertheless, post-interview, none of the panel

members were in a position to positively

recommend admission to the candidate. The reason

- his below par communication (English speaking)

skills. A quick discussion followed amongst us and

questions were raised about the education system in

rural/semi-urban India, and how some of those

folks, despite their best efforts with available

resources, were still not fully equipped to pursue

top quality management education. Of course, we

argued out that the specific candidates on that day

were more suitable to be techies than managers, but

that was a mere consolation. The hard truth was that

certain candidates could not clear the interview

process for absolutely no fault of theirs, for not

being born urban!

That raises a bigger question? 'Is there more fortune

at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) than what

people already claim there is?' The fortune that I am

referring to is not, as in their case material, but

rather 'intellectual'. And if yes, then do we have the

right channels to utilize/access that fortune? Can

this intellectual fortune be harnessed effectively

and be converted to well-educated, capable youth

whom we often call the future of India? We learn in

Operations that the quality of raw materials greatly

determines the quality of the finished product, but

here at the BOP, lies some top quality raw material

forever waiting for good conversion, while higher

up the pyramid, there are truckloads of below par

material going through some of the best

preliminary education processes the world can

offer. And the world expects 'six-sigma' human

beings!

In a recent visit by Ritesh and myself to 6 villages within 20km radius from Mulbagal town in Karnataka, amongst other things we found that although primary schools were found in each and every village, children had to travel 'on an average' 3-5 km for middle/high school education and more than 10 km for anything beyond 10th grade.

Coming back to the intellectual fortune - setting up schools and colleges in non-urban areas is a different thing, but how does one ensure the quality of education in these institutions? How do we ensure that students here be exposed to good English speaking and writing skills? It is an enormous task, especially considering the size of our country, the highly dispersed presence of semi-urban and rural areas, and the limitations in terms of quality teaching professionals that are willing to work in such areas.

On a conclusive note, rural marketing and strategies may help unearth the material fortune that CKP talks about, but on the same lines, is it sufficient to just market education, to stretch the arms of education long enough to touch the rural masses, or is there some other tool - much sharper and more penetrative and effective than all these to churn out this hidden fortune?

– Krishnan R, PGPM Class of 2006

More Fortune!Eureka!

38

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Uncle Bala is a field of infinite possibilities.

- Dr. Deepak Chopra, Spiritual Guru

Time Magazine heralded Deepak Chopra as one of the top

100 heroes and icons of the century, and credited him as “the

poet-prophet of alternative medicine”.

Bala is a rare person who can create empathy. He makes you

feel comfortable. I firmly believe that he is a great leader.

- N. R. Narayan Murthy,  

Chairman & Chief Mentor, INFOSYS

Bala shoots from the hip. I like that.

 - Azim Premji, CEO, WIPRO

He is Gandhi and Bill Gates in one soul.

- Dr. Bala about Narayanmurthy

He places institutional dharma over personal dharma.

 -Dr. Bala about Azim Premji

A remarkable leader who professes Execution and Discipline as the Booster Rockets for a

Leader to build Lasting Corporations.  He practices the same and built HP as a Force to

reckon with.

- Dr. Bala about Som Mittal

An authority on managing change with deeper insights and practical guidelines.  A true

Friend of mine who has come forward at times of stress and guides me to great deeds. 

I treasure you Jith.

- Dr. Bala about Jitendra Singh

The word “HIM describes him. H-Honesty, I-Integrity and Magnanimity” - this is Deepak

Chopra. With these three and the knowledge he acquired at various stages makes him a very

well respected healer of not only the body but also the mind.

- Dr. Bala about Deepak Chopra

DR. BALA’S COMMENTS ON OTHER LEADERS

- Dr. Bala V. Balachandran and Kavi Priya A.

of Great Business LeadersFinger Prints

39

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Bala can ignite passion and think out of the box.

- Som Mittal, CEO, Hewlett Packard

Successful corporations don't wait for leaders to be born or for walk-ins; rather they seek to

recruit people with leadership potential and expose them to develop, exhibit, exploit and leverage

that potential with challenges, uncertainties and volatility.

“Fingerprints of Business Leaders” is our book cum video journal that focuses on leadership with

a series of interviews on proven leaders, their deeds, achievements as well as difficulties and

builds a pictorial memoir of great leaders of Indian origin as well as other world leaders. 

Highlighted are the fundamental values they believe, great traits they leave, and episodes to

emulate and show what leaders do.  Leadership and good management are complementary system

of traits. Leadership complements good management but does not replace it or restructure it. 

While good management is coping with complexity and winning it with people, process and

technical knowledge, leadership is excelling with character, integrity & objectivity, and to create

value to all stakeholders even at the expense of personal loss.

Leaders do not:

Manage by time value of money but exploit money value of time

Believe in equality but believe and enforce equity

Seek popularity, but popularity seeks them and

Worry about job security, but great jobs secure them.

In this series of great leaders, we bring to the business world and B- schools lot of leadership

traits that are different. However, a clear set of fundamental principles, which are articulated

above and demonstrated with personal interviews, along with their learning from their lives and

the fingerprints that they have left behind, have been chronicled.   

Bala V. Balachandran and Kavi Priya A

He is not a person who is driven by the logic of outcomes. He is driven

by the logic of identity.

-  Jitendra Singh, Saul P Steinberg Professor of Management, Wharton

Business School, University of Pennsylvania

The key challenges of aspiring Indian managers are management of

relationships, emotional maturity, emotional security and emotional

intelligence. Leadership lies in those who have the vision to see the

inseparability of who we are and what the world is.

- Dr. Deepak Chopra’s message for the Great Lakers

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Economics of Markets – Dr. Shyam

Sunder, James L. Frank Professor of

Accounting, Economics and Finance, Yale

University

Did you know that the fundamental value of

a company makes sense only for an

unlimited horizon in the stock market? Yes?

Then hear this: ‘In a limited horizon, the

stock market moves on perceptions and

beliefs. It depends on your belief in what

others believe of the future value’. In simple

words - the market moves according to the

beliefs of the majority, not individual

beliefs. Eventually, the belief of people that

the market is inefficient makes it more

efficient. Well, this was the highlight of the

class (along with those many rounds of

auction games). When something is good, it

leaves you gasping for more. I can say that

this was the case for most students in this

class. Truly world class!

 – Deepak Paidipati, PGPM Class of 2006

Customer Preferences - Dr. Seenu V.

Srinivasan, Adams Distinguished Professor

of Management, Stanford Graduate School

of Business

The course focused on how organizations

can better understand what the customers

look for in their products. This was

achieved through quantitative tools such as

Conjoint Analysis, Factor and Cluster

Analysis. Prof. Srinivasan's vast experience

in the area of Marketing Research shone up

when he shared his experiences when faced

with various issues dealing with data in

such research.

His use of relevant examples from the

automobile industry in explaining

Perception Maps was the highlight of the

course and made this course one of the most

memorable ones over the year.  

– Vinay Mony, PGPM Class of 2006

Optimization Models / Simulation

Modeling – Prof. N. Ravichandran, IIM-

Ahmedabad

A blockbuster on our campus, Prof.

Ravichandran enabled us in understanding

the theory and practice of ‘Optimization’

and ‘Simulation’.  The primary learning of

this course was formulation of linear

programming problem (LP), involving the

determination of decision variables,

framing of objective function and

constraints determination.  

No credi t s a re enough to Prof .

Ravichandran for the way he made his

absorbing subjects so immensely witty and

humorous. Surely, he is one faculty who you

would never want to miss!

– Hari Prashanth Ganapathy,

PGPM Class of 2006

Financial Statement Analysis - Prof. Ram

T.S. Ramakrishnan, Head and Ernst and

Young Professor of Accounting, University

of Illinois at Chicago

‘FSA’, as known popularly, was a fantastic

course that sought to elevate us to financial

smartness from mere financial awareness. It

began with an emphasis on basic learning

concepts in finance such as “accrual

income”, gradually leading us to the

nuances of understanding and romancing

financial statements.

The course culminated with the students

doing an in-depth tri-company analysis and

financial comparison of Takeda, Pfizer and

Roche, using the lessons from class.

 – Anand Jayachandran,

PGPM Class of 2006

Cost Management and Managerial

Accounting / Strategic Profitability

Management - Dr. Bala V. Balachandran,

J.L. Kellogg Distinguished Professor of

Accounting and Information Systems and

Decision Science, Kellogg School of

Management.

The ability to see beyond the periphery is

the key to success in effective cost

management. The highlight of the course

was “Bala’s 4M’s– Measure, Monitor,

Manage, and Maximize” which could be

used in any facet of management or life.  

With an objective of providing a holistic

understanding of businesses, ‘Strategic

Cost & Profitability Management’ served as

an integrating course for all other courses,

thereby having application fervor. The

students thoroughly enjoyed the myriad of

exposure and were on the right track of

being “Business Ready”.  

 – Pavan Kumar, PGPM Class of 2006

Marketing Management/Strategic

Marketing – Dr. Paul R. Prabhaker,

Associate Dean & Academic Director,

Stuart Graduate School of Business, Illinois

Institute of Technology

It’s a common belief that of all the functions

of management, marketing is the easiest to

perform. Anyone not good at any other

thing, can at least be a sales person? (Are

Marketing & Sales same?). Dr. Prabhaker

emphasized that Marketing is the only

function which is evolving everyday, and

Moments of

Truth

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there is nothing called bad or good

marketing – either one knows it or one

doesn’t! Yes, there are Marketing myopias,

and there are Purple Cows too!

We learnt that selecting a commodity is not

as important as selecting right customers

(Targeting). More important is to select the

right strategy (Attacking vs. Defensive).

–Susmita Das Gupta, PGPM Class of  2006

Insurance & Risk Management –

Mr. D. Ravishankar, Managing Director

(Asia), Risk Management, Standard &

Poor, and former CFO, CRISIL

An eye opener of sorts, this was a class

where all students were put to ‘test’, in its

very literal meaning. It was an exciting

‘combo’ encompassing the entire financial

services and corporate governance, with a

focus on career in risk management.

The rich mix of theory and practice and the

many examples substantiated by his wealth

of experience marked this course. The

theory was made so simple and the

examples were so profound that we were

able to understand risk management

lucidly.

 –P.B. Lakshmikant, PGPM Class of 2006

International Entrepreneurship –

Mr. Ashok Vasudevan, CEO and co-

Founder, Preferred Brands International,

USA. (Tasty Bites), ex-VP-Exports and

head of India desk at Pepsi International.

If you ever thought of having a business

advantage, did you know if it is

‘comparative’ or ‘competitive’? Mr.

Vasudevan’s precision of thoughts sought

to classify accurately the nature of

advantages, and their sustainability in

today’s world. Talking of the world, ever

thought if it is a ‘glocalised’ or a ‘lobalised’

world?  

He emphasized the supremacy of enduring

logic over any right strategy. This course

was certainly bang in the middle of the

‘value creation zone’ by any standards, be it

the ‘three tests of consistency’ or the

‘opportunity matrix’ and few lucky ones did

get a chance to relish the real Tasty Bites

(another takeaway).

–Abhinav Rathee, PGPM Class of 2006

Lean Manufacturing – Mrs. Rama Shankar, CEO, DELTA Consulting Group, Illinois, USA

This course was by far the best operations course that the Class of 2006 has to attend. With an excellent mix of theory and practice within the scope of Lean Manufacturing, it started with a hands-on exercise for the students to get a feel of how inventories are built up, and lead times and inefficiencies increase in a system. Followed by techniques of line balancing, optimizing resource utilization, Kanban, Kaizen, TQM, Lean-Six sigma, etc… The course was perhaps the only one in Great Lakes where each class although officially scheduled for 2.5 hours, actually went on for anywhere between 4 to 5 hours and that too with voluntary participation of the students. With a factory visit to TVS-Delphi and a couple of useful assignments, the course ended quite emotionally with a few photographs with ma’am, and the faculty warmly embracing each student in the class.

Strategic Innovation – Mrs. Radhika Chadha, Principal, Paradigm Management Know-how Pvt Ltd., Chennai, India

This strategically innovated course exposed us to the most contemporary things happening on the consulting/innovation front of management. It was structured brilliantly in the sense that every topic covered was relevant and had the capacity of being readily incorporated in our projects.  

She had a penchant for doing a thorough

homework and on one occasion in response

to a query, she returned to class the next day

armed with research (direct and emails from

her friends in the US).   

–Mrudula Damisetti, PGPM Class of 2006

Business Analytics - Mr. R. Sekar, Senior

VP - Head Corporate Strategy and Business

Excellence, Polaris Software Lab Ltd.

To begin with, the course title is a

misnomer. One would tend to assume as

semantics suggest that the course entails

strategic analysis of business.  

The course content was instead based on the

systems thinking philosophy (ref "The Fifth

Discipline" by Peter Singe), albeit delivered

differently given the flavor added by the

instructor's own experience.  Besides

pedagogy and system thinking, other

highlights of the course were organizational

learning and conflict resolution models.

Definitely something to look forward to!  

– Rahul Mudgal, PGPM Class of 2006

Neuro Linguistic Programming –

Mr. Krish Srikanth, Productivity Coach,

Use Time India

His four-pronged technique based on

knowing one’s outcome, having sensory

acuity, having flexibility to change and

taking appropriate action made an indelible

mark in our memories. The biggest

takeaway was the importance of ridding

ourselves of disempowering belief systems

to achieve our true potential, a key to

endurance.   

The instructor was at his energetic best

reinvigorating a bunch of enervated

students at the fag end of the PGPM

program.  

 – Vasanth Sandilya, PGPM Class of 2006

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Students' Accolades

Vignesh .N.Y & Shivkumar .S, won the second prize in the event “Shastarth

Marketing Paper Presentation”, at INTAGLIO-2005-06, IIM, Calcutta

Pavan Kumar, Abhinav Rathee Aditya Suresh and Aditya Tulsyan won third

prize in the event “Tempest -2005” at Poseidon 2005, conducted by Indian

School of Business, Hyderabad.

Viswanath and Nischal Ram have won the prestigious ET in the Classroom

Quiz conducted by ET and Cognizant. This news was carried in the

newspaper as well.

Anirudh G and Suresh Kumar Vickram S won the third place in the

Classroom Quiz conducted by ET and Cognizant.

Nikunj Agarwal and Abhinav Rathee won the 1st place in 'Elbonian

Conundrum', a strategy/game theory based event at Transcend, the inter b-

school fest of Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune and also

won the 2nd place in 'Pehchan Kaun', a quiz based event conducted at

Prayaag 2006, the management fest of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of

Management Studies, Mumbai.

Anirudh.G and Vishwananth.S secured the third place in Tata Crucible Quiz

- Chennai Round Regional Finals.

Kavi Priya A, won the 'Talent award' at the personality competition held on

2nd, 3rd & 4th of December, organized by T.A. Pai Management Institute,

Manipal

Making of the

GravityGravity, as it stands today, is a glorified version of a

simple thought that it took off upon. The idea was to

communicate to the diverse set of stakeholders of

Great Lakes Institute of Management as conceived

by student members of the Branding & Public

Relations Committee. With adequate deliberations,

it led to the creation of an independent Editorial

Committee, which would collectively steer the idea

into its completion. From there on, it has been a

story par excellence.

The story began with the quest for a suitable name,

and none could have imagined that a fundamental

property of physics would translate so well into a

meaningful title. Well, that was the pull of

‘Gravity’. It sought to serve as an instrument

providing insight into the Great Lakes community.

The objective of representing the diverse

stakeholders was well manifest in the efforts that

went behind the making, and in what finally came

out as  the ‘made’.

MAK

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44

From left to right: Sathish, Sai Sudha,Gopal, Nikunj & Neha

There are always some interesting secrets behind

the scenes for any success story. In a journey of

three months that took to bring out the first edition,

there were many a moments of joy, humor, agony,

frustration, excitement and the like. But, the

journey was enriching in its own way, as it was

driven by learning and skills of group dynamics,

resource management, leadership and knowledge

creation.  

Something never to be missed was the chirpy and

humorous comments of our NASA-return Editor

(Gopal), who was an anytime stress buster. He is

the ‘devil’s advocate’ of the team, who helps the

team time and again, to strive for higher standards!

And if one ever heard of ‘good things come in small

packages’, this powerhouse Editor (Neha) was a

living example. She excelled at negotiating-to-win

and would surely pass out as a qualified expert at

vendor management (if only there was an

additional degree for it!)

Well, we often speak of heights, but this modest

Editor (Sathish), surely could not scale any greater

‘heights’. His dedication and concentration was so

deep that he could solve complex algorithms while

graciously shaking to the tune of ‘apadi podu

podu’!

If looks could kill, err… deceive, then this was it!!

This self-acclaimed beauty queen of Great Lakes

(Sai Sudha) can easily be mistaken with her

studious demeanor to be a nerd. Yet, she was

anything but that. Last heard was that impressed

with her ‘co-co’ordination skills, she was offered

an Ambassadorial role to China!

The art of sleeping could not get better. The core

competency for this ‘dream merchant’ Editor

(Nikunj) is to sleep anytime, anywhere, and to

come up with invigorating questions with his eyes

half shut. Not surprisingly, he terms this act as

‘visualization’. Indeed!

24, South Mada Street, Srinagar Colony, Saidapet, Chennai - 600 015. Ph: +91 44 4216 8228 Fax: +91 44 4204 9920

Feedback: gravity@glakes.orgE-mail: info@glakes.orgwebsite: www.glakes.org

Great Lakes is a not-for-profit organization.

Global Mindset. Indian Roots.

LAKESGREAT

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, CHENNAI

Printed & Published by Prof. S. Sriram on behalf of Great Lakes Institute of Management, 24, South Mada Street, Srinagar Colony, Saidapet, Chennai - 600 015.

Editor: Prof. S. Sriram, Great Lakes Institute of Management

For Private Circulation Only

A BALANCED SCORECARD OF GREAT LAKES

LEARNING & GROWTH