Ooish, finally I have compensated for my lack of sleep!! Term breaks are here again and yesterday I managed a record 17 hours of sleep in the 24 hours :-).. What a far-cry from the sleep-deprived days of the terms.. Though to be honest, most days @ ISB I have managed 5-7 hours of sleep (including some time in class :))
So I have managed thru Terms 1 and 2 (term 2 is not yet official, but @ISB one can never fail, unless you are caught in the dreaded Honour Code) and must say time management is the key here.. The assignments are endless and so are the meetings.. Its most important to refrain from being the do-all HERO and split work in teams!! There is just no substitute for good ol' fashioned delegation :)
Term 1 was a little boring with subjects like Stats (I hate it), Financial Accounting (Maan that was so clerical) and MicroEconomics(the subject sucked but Bruce Allen was amazing).. Term 2 was more fun but the load was relentless, the time-consuming MarkStrat, the never-ending and painful DMOP and finally the sheer number of pre-reads!! At these times I admit I did wonder, why oh why did I leave my job, life in Boston, fiancee in US and head back to get my butt kicked :P
Term 3 is the supposedly deadliest of all the terms, but then it gets better!! And the best part is the club activities will really kick in soon!! After that all the extra-curr stuff starts..
So all in all - when anyone asks me to define ISB - the word is "AWESOME".. And no this is not typical MBA faf or jargon or BS, but really this setup is simply awesome!! And I can compare it very positively with Duke!!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Cultural differences
This blog references a topic opened by a fellw-MBA student from my alma-mater Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Her name is Gretchen and her blog can be found on http://fuqua-abroad2009-india.blogspot.com/. This post is my perspective on her posts related to Teamwork and random-ramblings.
First of all, thank Gretchen, this is a great topic you opened up. Also weaknesses are weaknesses and this post done try to condone any weaknesses in ISB or the Indian setup.
But honestly, I feel a little let down that an MBA from Duke cannot realize that different parts of the world have different traits and the idea is not to hide / criticize them but to master these differences. For E.g. as a generalization, Indias are not punctual and are last-sec heroes, Brits are snobbish and not open to change, Germans take life too seriously, Italians & French too easily while imagine the environmental disaster if the entire world were filled with the mighty Americans in their gaz-guzzling SUVs... Guess you get the point.. We all differ..
She mentions about team-members not pulling their weight, but that happened to me in Duke too. Its not Indian / American per se, but simply a function of time crunched schedules of MBA students. And more so at ISB where students pack in 33- 36 courses in 11.5 months. Thats a lot of studies and very little time. Off course there will be those who think they have done a great job by being at ISB / Fuqua / any top MBA school and will simply refuse to work too hard, but again this is a reflection of realities of the business world. Again as a budding manager, we must learn how to deal with it. Why do many MBAs simply expect things to happen? Isnt an MBA just a toolkit, it is not a magic password to every door in the world but simply something that enables us to work hard and open the door. So why does she expect a perfect world? Maybe because US B-schools for all their undoubted intellectual horsepower and brand values, give a very well-defined and definite simulation of the real world, and maybe the exceptional processes simply make their students less adept at handling change. Maybe I am wrong, but this appears perfectly logical to me..
She also talks about those irritating differences such as delaying assignments, not having set team assignment meetings or talking on the cellphone. Again not trying to gloss over the so-called Indian traits, but these are the norm for every culture. When I first went to Duke, I hated how students would arrive late in class, leave early, basically would not give a damn about sensitivities of other students.. Now I realize that these are simply American traits, their emphasis on freedom.. Gretchen face it, cultures vary, so one has to be more tolerant of differences.. And as a potential future CEO, you or me, need to learn ways of adapting ourselves to these differences.
First of all, thank Gretchen, this is a great topic you opened up. Also weaknesses are weaknesses and this post done try to condone any weaknesses in ISB or the Indian setup.
But honestly, I feel a little let down that an MBA from Duke cannot realize that different parts of the world have different traits and the idea is not to hide / criticize them but to master these differences. For E.g. as a generalization, Indias are not punctual and are last-sec heroes, Brits are snobbish and not open to change, Germans take life too seriously, Italians & French too easily while imagine the environmental disaster if the entire world were filled with the mighty Americans in their gaz-guzzling SUVs... Guess you get the point.. We all differ..
She mentions about team-members not pulling their weight, but that happened to me in Duke too. Its not Indian / American per se, but simply a function of time crunched schedules of MBA students. And more so at ISB where students pack in 33- 36 courses in 11.5 months. Thats a lot of studies and very little time. Off course there will be those who think they have done a great job by being at ISB / Fuqua / any top MBA school and will simply refuse to work too hard, but again this is a reflection of realities of the business world. Again as a budding manager, we must learn how to deal with it. Why do many MBAs simply expect things to happen? Isnt an MBA just a toolkit, it is not a magic password to every door in the world but simply something that enables us to work hard and open the door. So why does she expect a perfect world? Maybe because US B-schools for all their undoubted intellectual horsepower and brand values, give a very well-defined and definite simulation of the real world, and maybe the exceptional processes simply make their students less adept at handling change. Maybe I am wrong, but this appears perfectly logical to me..
She also talks about those irritating differences such as delaying assignments, not having set team assignment meetings or talking on the cellphone. Again not trying to gloss over the so-called Indian traits, but these are the norm for every culture. When I first went to Duke, I hated how students would arrive late in class, leave early, basically would not give a damn about sensitivities of other students.. Now I realize that these are simply American traits, their emphasis on freedom.. Gretchen face it, cultures vary, so one has to be more tolerant of differences.. And as a potential future CEO, you or me, need to learn ways of adapting ourselves to these differences.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Alternative MBA jobs
So as the ISB Clsss of 2009, the fincancial markets went bust around them!! This was followed by a crash in auto and then retail!! Things just got worse and worse!!
So as a member of Class of 2010, I got into thinking about the Alternative MBA careers out there. Now couple of hitches, I have 2 years 8 mnth experience (in tech and consulting), with a Bachelor in Computers (Unique for an Indian, hah ;-)) and a prior Masters from Duke University. As i searched the net I found many options available to me post-ISB. Of course the straight forward private sector large firms like Mck, BCG, other consulting firms (I wish :)) to the banks (ICICI, DB etc.) and of course FMCG and Real estate firms. But what beyond them?
Well there are a whole load of start-ups doing some incredibly good work in India, the problem is how to find them. Finding startups is hard enough in the US, but in India its worse given the lower internet culture!! Dont believe this? just Google "FMCG India".. But this year startups came to the IIMs and ISBs of India and actually recruited there. Admittedly the salaries were low, supposedly an IIM MBA was offered position of CEO of a 100-crore ($20 m) firm!! Well appareantly he got a low salary but still CEO!! Wow impressive!!
Another wave that seems to be sweeping B-schools this year is micro-finance firms. A lot of them recruited from IIMs and personally, I am really interested in these firms. I feel the concep is such an amazing resource and may be the key to reducing poverty in India just as it has in Bangladesh.
Then there are the genuinely different careers - such as careers in Hospital and Healthcare management, Energy management and finally my pet, Non-profit management. I am really interested in these 3 and feel there is a great scope for personal growth not only career-wise but as personality-improvements.
Healthcare Management :- Despite India's phenomenal growth, India lags behind countries like Congo in Human development indices, indices that measure the availablity of healthcare to a countries citizens and its quality. India has a very high infant and maternal mortality, plus a large number of children never reach adoloscence. Its really amazing that we have huge corporations in metros and a few miles away, mothers dont have hospitals to deliver in!! However things are changing, the private sector is getting more involved and there is a huge growth-opportunity in this field in India.
Energy Management :_ My dad's fav topic. He is energy-mad, switch bulbs of, do not accelerate too much, reduce throttle inputs, he simply loves to conserve energy. I am fascinated by this field but cannot see how I would be able to land a job given my tech background.
Non-profit management:- I would love to work in any non-proft. Period. Any non-profit employee / volunteer / donor that sees this blog, please please please, mail me with information about your organization.. I am interested in fund-raising / Logistics and strategy jobs, but lets see if my dreams are fulfilled on this front!
Of course all this is a real task for me to land as I have no experience with alternate stuff. But fingers crossed and bless my interview skills, I will get my foot into the door. Lets see.. In the meantime, if anyone has any thoughts drop a comment..
So as a member of Class of 2010, I got into thinking about the Alternative MBA careers out there. Now couple of hitches, I have 2 years 8 mnth experience (in tech and consulting), with a Bachelor in Computers (Unique for an Indian, hah ;-)) and a prior Masters from Duke University. As i searched the net I found many options available to me post-ISB. Of course the straight forward private sector large firms like Mck, BCG, other consulting firms (I wish :)) to the banks (ICICI, DB etc.) and of course FMCG and Real estate firms. But what beyond them?
Well there are a whole load of start-ups doing some incredibly good work in India, the problem is how to find them. Finding startups is hard enough in the US, but in India its worse given the lower internet culture!! Dont believe this? just Google "FMCG India".. But this year startups came to the IIMs and ISBs of India and actually recruited there. Admittedly the salaries were low, supposedly an IIM MBA was offered position of CEO of a 100-crore ($20 m) firm!! Well appareantly he got a low salary but still CEO!! Wow impressive!!
Another wave that seems to be sweeping B-schools this year is micro-finance firms. A lot of them recruited from IIMs and personally, I am really interested in these firms. I feel the concep is such an amazing resource and may be the key to reducing poverty in India just as it has in Bangladesh.
Then there are the genuinely different careers - such as careers in Hospital and Healthcare management, Energy management and finally my pet, Non-profit management. I am really interested in these 3 and feel there is a great scope for personal growth not only career-wise but as personality-improvements.
Healthcare Management :- Despite India's phenomenal growth, India lags behind countries like Congo in Human development indices, indices that measure the availablity of healthcare to a countries citizens and its quality. India has a very high infant and maternal mortality, plus a large number of children never reach adoloscence. Its really amazing that we have huge corporations in metros and a few miles away, mothers dont have hospitals to deliver in!! However things are changing, the private sector is getting more involved and there is a huge growth-opportunity in this field in India.
Energy Management :_ My dad's fav topic. He is energy-mad, switch bulbs of, do not accelerate too much, reduce throttle inputs, he simply loves to conserve energy. I am fascinated by this field but cannot see how I would be able to land a job given my tech background.
Non-profit management:- I would love to work in any non-proft. Period. Any non-profit employee / volunteer / donor that sees this blog, please please please, mail me with information about your organization.. I am interested in fund-raising / Logistics and strategy jobs, but lets see if my dreams are fulfilled on this front!
Of course all this is a real task for me to land as I have no experience with alternate stuff. But fingers crossed and bless my interview skills, I will get my foot into the door. Lets see.. In the meantime, if anyone has any thoughts drop a comment..
Sunday, March 15, 2009
ISB
Back from a long hiatus!!! Was really caught up on some stuff at work and my MBA application. I loved my job at Deloitte, met some incredible people, learnt some neat skills. However, with the lottery called the H1, a bad bad economy and a realization that I loved marketing much more than Technology drove me to get my MBA.. Having done that, I decided US was out. I was unhappy with the H1 situation that was the sole cause of many companies rejecting me. Europe is in the midst of a severe recession and is super-expensive (way beyond my means), so I decided it would be back to India for me. Indian School of Business stood out with its partnership with Wharton / Kellog, excellent faculty and a great peer group.
Having graduated a few months earlier with my MS, I gave a trial application to ISB, and got an interview call. This was a totally refreshing interview, where the interviewers seemed genuineky interested in discovering my story.. I felt, I gave a very good interview and got the admit!!
So now, the next chapter in my life is ISB.. I hope to make some smashing friends, colleagues and mentors.
Having graduated a few months earlier with my MS, I gave a trial application to ISB, and got an interview call. This was a totally refreshing interview, where the interviewers seemed genuineky interested in discovering my story.. I felt, I gave a very good interview and got the admit!!
So now, the next chapter in my life is ISB.. I hope to make some smashing friends, colleagues and mentors.
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