The Terry Fox Run at IIT Madras, Chennai

Charity Begins at Home: thus goes the first lesson in Moral Science.

At a time when everyone seems to be joining the bandwagon of the Ice Bucket Challenge, IIT Madras takes the road less taken.  While most challenge each other over dumping buckets of the liquid, better known as ‘Life’, to promote awareness about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), otherwise less known in the Indian subcontinent, IIT Madras has a more meek and underhyped method of doing its bit. When seven lakh Indians die of Cancer every year, while over 10 lakh are newly diagnosed with some form of the disease, we have a better reason to be worried about. Hence we ‘supported’ the ‘TERRY FOX RUN’, organized by the Rotary Club of Madras East and played the role of a proud host to the same.

With one leg having been amputated, Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981), a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and Cancer research activist, embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness about cancer research in 1980. Albeit the spread of his Cancer eventually compelled him to end his pursuit merely after 143 days, covering 5,373 kilometres, and ultimately cost him his life, his endeavour resulted in a lingering, worldwide legacy. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants spanning over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research.

Came Sunday, August 24, 2014, and we all ran the errand to deliver our motto and message:

Working together to outrun cancer! Run, walk cycle or skate & DONATE to create a cancer free tomorrow.

In a country where Cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths, where nearly three million patients are suffering from the deadly disease, and where experts say the incidence of the disease is expected to rise five-fold by 2025, it’s time we woke up and ran for the noble cause. 

Eight O’ clock, Sunday morning: not too early either, was it? ;)

PS: Watch the Terry Fox Story at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPcXMg3E9KQ

Courtesy:

The DoMS Interface Team.

Evolution of Indian Insurance Industry

While historians sell what happened yesterday, Insurance companies sell what might happen tomorrow. Some of them even go to an extent to say that insurance companies sell fear! Intrigued by this we decided to get some more in-depth insights on the Insurance industry and decide for ourselves what it is all about. Hence we invited Mr Mohan Babu  , Associate Vice President and Global Head of Insurance Practice  Infosys Technologies ltd .He was very excited to grace this occasion and started the session  by discussing about the evolution of Indian Insurance Industry wherein he said the first law to regulate the life Insurance business was enacted in 1912 which continued for a while, these were small Insurance companies and they were not able to maintain solvency, which resulted in a curtailed settlement of claims, hence only around 50% of the claims were getting settled. Therefore around 245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident societies were taken over by the Central Government and were nationalized to form the Life Insurance Corporation. From 1972-1998 the government expected to increase the penetration and density of the insurance industry, but the insurance companies were not able to cover it effectively & efficiently and a slackness creeped in over a period of time. To break this, the Insurance Industry was opened up with limited liberalization of upto 26% FII. There was a lack of regulatory activism or supervision till 2000, when the IRDA bill was passed in this year to regulate better.

He then discussed the key regulations and the impact that was seen over a period of 14 years right from 1999 and 2013.Mr Babu believed, this was a Golden period for the Indian Insurance Industry where it started moving in the direction of maturity. Right from the clearance of the IRDA bill which initiated the liberalization of the sector to the increase in FDI in Insurance industry to 49%, which led to greater under-writing capability in the Insurance markets , each of these regulations have helped the industry in one way or the other.

We were then introduced to the different sub-segments under the broader business segments of Life insurance and General Insurance was then discussed. Mr Mohan Babu took the pains to explain in detail the Life-Insurance Industry Market sizes in terms of the density and penetration, comparing the figures for the emerging markets and the advanced markets covering many countries. India with an Insurance density of 59 USD and penetration of 4.10% stood 15th in the world in the year 2001. The total life insurance premium stands at $53.6 billion in 2011-2012, registering a negative growth of 1.57% from the previous financial years with a total of 24 Life Insurance Companies as of September 2012, with LIC being the sole public sector representative among the lot. Whereas in terms of Non-Life Insurance companies ,  there are 27 of them as of September 2012, including 4 standalone health insurance companies with the Gross Direct Premium stood at $9.79 billion in 2011-2012, registering a growth of 24.19%, as compared to a global premium growth of 1.9% in 2011.

We then tried to brainstorm on the differences in the approach between the emerging markets and the advanced markets in the Non life Insurance industry, with many students pitching their own points on how developed nations like the United States use the pay per use method to calculate the premium which is enabled because of the technology and product innovations , effective distribution channels ,better regulations and minimized frauds.With loads of data , be it the official figures which he discussed in detail or the immense experience that he has by working in this sector for so long, Mr Mohan Babu then began discussing the SWOT analysis of the Indian Insurance market, which gave a clear understanding on where the Industry stands today and what needs to be done in the future to have a sustained growth. One more interesting point that he made was the key trends that were seen in the Indian Insurance Industry such as the Emergence of New Distribution channels, Launch of Innovative products and mounting focus on embedded value over profitability.

On the whole Mr Mohan Babu believes that this industry is still untapped and there are a lot of opportunities. Rapid development in Tier II and Tier III cities and growth in new bankable households have led to the emergence of a large insurable class with an appetite for sophisticated life insurance products. Increasing life expectancy, favorable savings, and greater employment in the private sector and the opening of the pension market with the passing of the PFRDA Bill 2011 has enabled opportunities in the Low-income Urban class including the Pension and Annuity Markets. He also gave us some idea on the future areas of investment such as Mobile Solutions, especially for claims management, multichannel integration capabilities alternative delivery models, including business process outsourcing (BPO) ,business process utility(BPU) and software as a service(SaaS)

Then the floor was open to questions where the students did try to question Mr Babu on the various happenings and the topics discussed by him. In the process of answering all these questions Mr Babu elucidated on the various roles available in the industry for budding managers, the Techniques, skills, and abilities required to excel in this chosen area of profession. We hope to make use of this session as well to the maximum extent by equipping ourselves with these necessary skills over a period of time.

Courtesy 

MILS Team

Class of 2015

Predatory Pricing and the German Cartel

In a time long long ago, the world supply of bromine was controlled by Bromkonvention, a German cartel backed by the German government composed of 30 separate entities. This powerful monopoly sold bromine at a fixed price of 49 cents per pound throughout the world.
In 1889 Dow received his first patent after inventing
a more cost-effective and streamlined process for bromine extraction. His associates were impressed with his work and in 1890 helped him to found the Midland Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan. Dow continued his work extracting bromine and by early 1891 he had invented the Dow process, a method of bromine extraction using electrolysis to oxidize bromide to bromine which was more efficient than the existing processes of the world. With his new company and new technology, Dow was able to produce bromine very cheaply, and began selling it in the United States for 36 cents per pound. The German cartel had made it clear that they would flood the American market with cheap bromine if Dow attempted to sell the element abroad. In 1904, Dow defied the cartel by beginning to export his bromine at its cheaper price to England. A few months later, an angry Bromkonvention representative visited Dow in his office and reminded him to cease exporting his bromine.

Predatory pricing-: 
In business and economics, predatory pricing is the practice of selling a product or service at a very low price, intending to drive competitors out of the market, or create barriers to entry for potential new competitors. If competitors or potential competitors cannot sustain equal or lower prices without losing money, they go out of business or choose not to enter the business. The predatory merchant then has
fewer competitors or is even a de facto monopoly.

Why is it relevant?
One of the most popular views is that the government needs to protect us from predatory price-cutting. Large corporations, according to this argument, have big advantages in the marketplace. They can cut prices, drive out their competitors, then raise prices later and gouge consumers. Antitrust laws are needed, so the argument continues, to protect small businesses and consumers from those corporations with large market shares in their industries.
The story of Herbert Dow, founder of Dow Chemical Company, is an excellent case study for those who think predatory price-cutting is a real threat to society. Dow, a small producer of bromine in the early 1900s, fought a price-cutting cartel from Germany. He not only lived to tell about it; he also prospered from it. Like David fighting Goliath, he actually believed he could throw stones at the large German chemical monopolies and topple them from world dominance.

The Battle
Dow started the battle in 1904, selling bromine in England and undercutting the cartel at the same price he was selling it in the US.
In early 1905, Bromkonvention followed through on its threat, cutting the price of potassium bromide in half in the US from 30 cents/lb, to 15 cents/lb, while holding the price at 40 cents/lb in Europe. Other bromide prices were also halved.
Another visit was paid by Jacobsohn (the representative of Bromkonvention), who threatened a price war to run Dow out of business if he did not desist. The cartel was backed by the German government and had ample financial resources to win, he argued. Herbert Dow would have none of it, and dismissed the astonished Jacobsohn, who said: "You don't know what you are doing."

The Master Plan
The imaginative Dow worked out a daring strategy. He had his agent in New York discreetly buy hundreds of thousands of pounds of German bromine at the cartel’s 15 cent price. Then Dow repackaged the German product and sold it in Europe—including Germany!—at 27 cents a pound, again, lower than the cartel's rates at Germany. "When this 15-cent price was made over here," Dow said, "instead of meeting it, we pulled out of the American market altogether and used all our production to supply the foreign demand. This, as we afterward learned, was not what they anticipated we would do."

The Aftermath
Antitrust laws are needed to protect small businesses and consumers from those corporations with large market shares in their industries.
Indeed, the Germans were befuddled. They expected to run Dow out of business; and this they thought they were doing. But the U. S. demand for bromine kept growing higher and higher! And where was this flow of cheap bromine into Europe coming from? Was one of the Bromkonvention members cheating and selling bromine in Europe below the fixed price? Powerful tensions surfaced from within the Bromkonvention. According to Dow, "The German producers got into trouble among themselves as to who was to supply the goods for the American market . . . ." The confused Germans kept cutting U. S. prices—first to 12 cents and then to 10.5 cents a pound. Dow meanwhile kept buying the stuff and reselling it in Europe for 27 cents. Even when the Bromkonvention finally
caught on to what Dow was doing, it wasn’t sure how to respond. As Dow said, We are absolute dictators of the situation." He also wrote, "One result of this fight has been to give us a standing all over the world . . . . We are in a much stronger position than we ever were . . . ."
The bromine war lasted four years (1904–08), when finally the Bromkonvention invited Dow to come to Germany and work out an agreement. Since they couldn’t crush Dow, they decided to at least work out some deal so they could make money again. The terms were as follows: the Germans agreed to quit selling bromine in the United States; Dow agreed to quit selling in Germany; and the rest of the world was open to free competition. The bromine war was over, but low-priced bromine was now a fact of life.

Courtesy
Arnab Saha
Class of 2015

For more interesting articles read DoMS' own magazine "Dhithi" Click Here

Samanvay 2013

Some experiences in life have an everlasting impression in our mind. This year’s Samanvay was one such experience which will be cherished by all of us for the years to come. Managing VUCA was the theme for the 7th edition of Samanvay where VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. DoMS was the most vibrant place in IIT Madras this October with the convergence of some of the top minds in B-school and the Industry taking on the challenges of the new VUCA world. The nerves were running high leading up to the event and the challenges equally big, but the hard work and dedication of all the co-ordinators with the support of the faculty took Samanvay to a whole different level this year.

Cyclothon and the Flash Mob

The event started on an exciting note with a barrage of enthusiastic students from all over the Institute taking part in the cyclothon on the evening of 17th October. Prof. T. T. Narendran flagged off the event which announced the commencement of the 7th edition of Samanvay. Refreshments awaited the participants at the finishing point and Certificates were given to the first 100. At around 8’o clock on the same day, the student fraternity of the Institute was in for a special surprise when a sudden flash mob appeared in front of the Himalaya mess. The flash mob was a perfect signal of the excitement and the pleasant surprise that were to be witnessed in the next three days of Samanvay.

Inauguration
On 18th October the moment that we were all eagerly waiting for and working towards arrived. Everyone gathered in the IC&SR auditorium of the Institute for the official inauguration of Samanvay. Mr Awdhesh Krishna, MD, Global HR head, Nomura Services India Ltd. Was the Chief Guest of the Inaugural function. The ceremony began with a prayer song followed by an opening address by our HOD Prof. G. Srinivasan about the department and his expectations from this edition of Samanvay. Mr Awdhesh Krishna delivered an inspiring speech on the theme of Samanvay, ‘Managing VUCA’. Though the concept of VUCA gives a negative feeling he urged the students to approach the VUCA world with a positive mind-set which would help them find the right opportunities out there. ‘Learning Agility’is the mantra that will take us to success in a VUCA world. He discussed the megatrends in the industry like changing face of technology and sustainability. He concluded the speech with his own quote that says, ‘What matters is not competence but Character, not success but Significance.

The Conclave
Individualism can only go so far. Real Excellence is beyond its reach, far beyond the horizon that only togetherness can unravel. On October 19, 2013, the students, alumni and faculty of DoMS, along with the corporate leaders, gathered together in a ‘Management Conclave’ to aggregate their distinctiveness, to exploit the pull of ideological differences and to experience the sheer brilliance of collective coherence. The Management conclave was a panel discussion on India’s Demographic Dividend – A boon or bane’ The panel members of the conclave included many of the industry stalwarts. We had Mr.CharathNarasimhan, CEO Indian Terrain, and also an IIT-M alumnus. Mr.P Suresh, Chief Operating Officer of Bhartiya International was another panel member. We also had Ms, VidyaMuralidhar, HR Manager at Ashok Leyland andProfessor V.R Muralidharan, Professor of Economic at the Department of Humanities and Sciences, IIT Madras. The Guest of Honour for the conclave was Mr. T.V Karthikeyan, CFO L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Limited. He also heads the F&A at L&T Ltd., ECC Division. The panel discussion was moderated by Mr.ArunSubramony, a Ph.D student at Department of Management Studies, an entrepreneur, and an MBA graduate from the Kellog School of Business. The panel discussion shed light on various aspects of the Indian economy that needs to be looked upon, if we are to take advantage of the current demographic dividend and make it count for the future. The speakers stressed on the importance of bringing about a good coverage of quality education across the country, to address the needs of employability and improved economy. They also spoke about the importance of setting up necessary infrastructure that would address the growing needs of our country. They also spoke about reforming the labour laws to favour the growth of business and address the employability and unemployment issues. The speakers also responded to the questions posed by the audience at the end of the discussion. The event concluded with a wonderful speech by Mr. T.V.Karthiekyan, the guest of honour for the day. Mr. T.V Karthikeyan, being a CFO of an infrastructure organisation, delved more into the need for sophisticated and world-class roads, bridges and transportation structure that would enable easy flow of trade, favouring the economy of the country.

Valedictory Function

As all good things must come to an end, the beautiful and pleasant evening of October 20, 2013, saw the curtains being drawn down on Samanvay 2013. The valedictory ceremony of the seventh edition of Samanvay was attended by the faculty, alumni and students of the Department of Management Studies. Mr Ambarish Das Gupta, Head of KPMG operations India, Mr Raman, KPMG India, Professor R. Nagarajan, Dean of International & Alumni Relations graced the occasion with their presence. Mr Ambarish Das Gupta delivered the keynote address. He spoke about the consulting industry and the qualities that are needed for a consultant and outlined the importance and contribution of the consulting industry in growing economies. Mr Ambarish Das Gupta captured the attention of the audience with his wit and humour. He also took questions from the audience. Finally the Vote of thanks delivered by Samanvay Core Coordinator Shine Nagpal brought us to the end of Samanvay 2013 with the hope of returning bigger and better next year.

Courtesy
DoMS Interface Committee
Class of 2015

Growing Up with Big Data

It was yet another full house at the IC&SR auditorium, where Mr. Anand Rajaram had arrived  to talk about Big Data. A renowned IIT alumni and Senior Vice President, Global E-commerce, Walmart, besides donning many other high profile roles, Mr. Anand Rajaram took the stage with ease and familiarity of an old student. Mr. Anand Rajaram, a recent recipient of the distinguished alumnus award from IIT-Madras, an alumnus of Stanford University, is also the founding partner of Cambrian Ventures. He has worked with Amazon as its Director Of Technology, previously. His talk was pitched on the four generations in the evolution of data driven applications. The first one as he explained was all about collecting, storing and processing private data like payrolls, employee records of an organisation etc. This, he said, was followed by the second generation where businesses tapped into public data that could be collected online. Formulation of Wikipedia and other related websites were products of the second generation of data driven applications. With further advancements, “semi-public” data came into existence in the third generation. Social Networks cropped up in this generation. He stated an example, as to how useful these social networks are in finding product-consumption data across geographies from websites like twitter, facebook etc. This information was used to stock up retail stores accordingly and hence very helpful in market basket analysis. He drove the point better when he quoted Eric Schmidt; “Every two days mankind were creating as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003”.  Just like how combining oil and oxygen could fuel a rocket launch, combining private, public and semi-public data , he claims, is set to launch a new generation of endless possibilities. This along with the penetration of smart phones and mobile applications, data is set to provide fodder for many more ideas and concepts. He calls this fourth generation, one of Social Sciences Revolutions. And in this generation we are set to meet “The Big Data”. As data becomes big and bigger at a rapid pace, he advises that data modelling should adopt a “data-rich, model-light” approach, wherein one uses simpler algorithms that can accept frequent changes in volume and nature of data. He concluded on a note that claimed us all to be on the cusp of social sciences revolution, where business possibilities are limited only by one’s imagination.

Courtesy
Padma Priya
Class of 2015

Navigating the Current Macro Economic Landscape

A real charmer of the audience, Mr Kamlesh Jain kept around 120 students of IIT Madras quite captivated and enthralled by his presentation, here at DoMs. The students though mostly from the management department, also included a good number of B Techs and M Techs as well. As it happened to be so, Mr. Jain was an Ex-employee of Lehman Brothers and thus had the first-hand experience of the 2008 Economic crisis which had hit the world. He explained, along with funny titbits, how the world evolved and gave a bird’s eye view of the World’s Economic environment, thus justifying the topic he presented to the fullest using his excellent oratory skills.

Firstly, he shared his experience at Lehman brothers which had been a AAA rated company by various rating agencies. He shared how, on the day the company fell, he was still interviewing candidates from the IITs and how nobody, not even the managerial employees of the companies saw the downfall coming. This, as indicated by him, was the trigger of sorts for him to start viewing the world economy as a whole and observe the changes on a much higher level than before. He narrated how in 2001, the Global Bubble started, when the then US President George Bush Sr. and Mr. Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, both mitigated this bubble using all that was within their grasp. But as was inevitable, the bubble burst around mid-2007. Global financial crisis, Sub Prime Losses and a stiff credit crunch was faced. The price of each share of the Lehman Brothers crashed from a whopping $157 to $2.  The 2008 events were encapsulated in the documentary: “Too Big to Fail”. Here, we saw Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae fall in the area of Mortgage Guarantee, as Sis AIG in Investment Exposure and finally we have the famous penny stock by Citibank. And Surprise, Surprise! America the world’s most ardent capitalist country whose economy is completely dependent on the fate of its markets, turned tail and transformed into a socialist frontrunner when the US government started its Bailouts. Ironically it was the Public sector saving the private sector in this capitalist economy.

In 2009, the Bailout bubble started, which was also the year of Obama’s famous change reign; as also the time when Bernanke fired his Bazooka and reduced federal interest rates down to 0% which over shadowed Greenspan bringing it down to 1% and Global Stimulus Package was launched. As a temporary solution the US did what it could do to save itself but in 2011, Europe was in trouble. The PIIGS were in a soup as they say and high inflation hit all who had been scoring through high debt.

 Here, now Mr. Jain took the opportunity to influence our young minds towards future technologies and potential future global GDP contributors. With the help of well-established pie charts and graphs he depicted how the BRIC nations had an important role to play and the economic roadmap of the future. Japan who had developed the first metro almost a hundred years ago now was predicted to have a stagnated growth in the future by most experts. The OECD alone today contributes 65% of the Global GDP. Thus in 2030, India is predicted to contribute 7%, china 28%, US 18%, EU 12% and Japan 4% of global GDP. The key players would be the BRIC nations and the Frontier Nations. The Sri Lankan and Pakistani Stock Markets have had 111% and 45% returns over the last 2 decades. Statistical proof of growth was given as: Dow 46%, Nikkei 3%, Hangseng 120%, Shanghai 42%, and Nifty 461%. Thus, in 2060, Global GDP contributors would be: India 18%, China 28%, US 17%, EU 9% and Japan 3%. It is the growth potential that drives the Indices and at $15Trillion the US has a debt hangover that could last a decade. Today and in the future, there is ‘More money and Less Value’ for all commodities like Dollar, Euro, Oil and Gold.

Mr. Jain predicts a structural change which is already in motion. Financial markets are at “The New Normal” and Investment bankers’ pay checks have slimmed down whereas recruitment pay checks have fattened he jests. The few ‘Game Changers’ are estimated to be Energy efficiencies, Technology Disruptors, Wars and even the Frontier Nations. New growth Drivers of Innovation, Positive demographics, Favourable climate changes, productive uses of oil resources, efficiently managed public finances; all of which seems a myth today shall be the key areas of turnaround successes in the future, he envisions.

He concluded by saying that the current on-going wait for that one change to occur, a change that would trigger the bigger change to improvements, should be over soon. It could be anything - EU triple Dip recession, A fight for Water..

Or the most effective one,         

                                          ‘The wait for the Dollar to fall’

Courtesy
Hakimuddin Rassiwala
Class of 2014

Photo Courtesy:
Arun Tilak

Class of 2014     

Governance of Distributed Manufacturing and Service Networks

After a hectic schedule of assignment and case studies, it was time for a refreshing MILS session in operations domain by N Viswanadham. He is a Professor and Executive Director for the Centre for Global Logistics and Manufacturing Strategies (GLAMS) at the Indian School of Business (ISB). He has held several prestigious positions before joining the ISB such as Deputy Executive Director of The Logistics Institute-Asia Pacific and also Professor in Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering at the National University of Singapore; GE Research Fellow during 1989-90 and Tata Chemicals Chair Professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

 He started the session by covering the history of manufacturing and explained the evolution of manufacturing industry. Firstly, he explained mass and lean production, as part of mass production he mentioned about the invention of the assembly line by Henry ford along with his division and specialization of work force. He demonstrated how vertical integration provides cost advantage and better control. During the 1950’s “Customised production was the need of the hour”, during which Toyota came up with Lean Manufacturing. Secondly, He talked about automated machines and systems along with integrated information systems (for example: ERP, APS, WMS). He also explained integrated manufacturing-service networks and it’s constituents, viz. the supplier, the service and the demand networks. Next he gave an overview on product and process modularity and outsourcing during which he made it obvious that modular products and standardized production processes leads to outsourcing. He also gave an overview on the Global supply chain network, along with the importance of suppliers, Assembly (Manufacturing hub), Distributors (Inventory hub) and retailers in the supply chain system along with Inbound and outbound logistics with respect to the manufacturing firm.

He recalled the global trade collapse in vivid detail and its impact on supply chains. Globalization and highly connected supply chains amplified and transmitted the market collapse across the globe; Resources became expensive; High concentration clusters became vulnerable. “Shortage of talent to deal with new realities” was the need of the hour all over the world owing to the collapse. He described the shift in resource landscape during the last century and how the prices of natural resources, energy, food and water and material all fell but the past decade seems to have wiped out all the price declines that occurred over the past century. Today, demand is soaring, new resources are scarce and extraction is expensive. And the horror story of how shortage of one resource is rapidly impacting others.

He illustrated the Ecosystem model consisting of the Supply chain ecosystem at the centre and having four links: Resources, Institutions, Delivery service infrastructure and Supply chain networks (SCN’s). Resources comprise of equipment manufacturers, infrastructure, roads, ports, airports, banks, skill training, education, innovation, vehicles etc. Institutions referred to Legal and regulatory systems, quality control and environment laws, industry associations and labour unions, government investment in innovation, SEZ’s, trade laws and tax systems. Service delivery technologies and mechanism comprises of logistics, transformation and trade facilities, delivery planning, distributed networks, supply chain dash boards.

He also describe that governance has three major parts: Partner selection, coordination and control. Partner selection can be based on structural features (asset specificity, capabilities) and relational link (with government, social organizations, cluster management etc). Coordination is determining who does what and when and communication the same to everyone in the system. Execution is to monitor order status so that processes works as per plan and control exceptional events. He also mentioned about three types of network governance: Highly centralized external brokers (Li & fung, Olam international), Participant shared governance by elected board (Health care, Dairies, cooperatives) and Participant shared governance with a lead player by producer driven (Cisco, Nike) or buyer driven (Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Levi).He gave example of Li & Fung while explaining Orchestration model by stating that it has developed deep knowledge and internal system to identify quality suppliers in emerging markets, help them design and manufacture for western customers and make on time delivery despite of poor infrastructure.

He concluded by stating that Manufacturing has undergone structural changes from human intensive to fully automated;  vertically integrated to globally dispersed; fully owned to orchestrated owning ; strong ties with trusted suppliers to order configured SCN’s; Managing immediate suppliers to managing entire networks and Reactive to proactive multi-tier risk management. Development needs integration of social networks, inter organizational theory, machine learning, optimization, game theory with SCN’s.

Courtesy
Ravinder Reddy
Class of 2014

Photo Courtesy:
Arun Tilak

Class of 2014     

Capabilities needed to be successful in Global Organizations

 Mr. John Wyatt , the president of Wyatt consulting , a firm that specializes in providing consulting services to senior management on leadership, organization design and change management,  was here at DoMS to interact with the students and enlighten us on some of the essential skills we should possess to attain leadership roles in MNC’s.  During the past 13 years, John’s consulting practice has been focused on working with CEO’s and other senior executives in Fortune 200 organizations to design and lead major organization changes. John’s recent CEO or business unit head clients include: HP, Motorola, Fannie Mae, Lyondell Chemical, ITT, Kimberly Clark and Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

According to him, for a person to reach leadership role in any MNC, behavioural skills are more important than technical skills. Here he quotes six behaviour skills/ capabilities or the essential building blocks. They are: Self-awareness and self-management, reaching out to collaborate, Confident but not arrogant, Able to deal with ambiguity, to be culturally sensitive and able to sell ideas.

‘Self-awareness and self- management’ means that one should be able to do self-monitoring and possess a social radar. ‘Reaching out to collaborate’ means that one should foresee how one’s actions would impact others, and should take the initiative to communicate. ‘Confident but not arrogant’ entails that one should present themselves as positive and assertive but at the same time should avoid acting arrogant and should avoid looking at others condescendingly. ‘Can deal with ambiguity’ means that in corporate world, often we are faced with decisions involving right vs. bright. It means certain solutions are right but other solutions which might not be right may seem bright or attractive. We should be able to deal with decisions of right vs bright, accept responsibility without full authority and constructively work through conflict. ‘To be culturally sensitive’ means that we should be sensitive to values and behaviour of other people’s culture. We should be able to adjust our own behaviour accordingly. ‘Can sell ideas’ means that we should understand the stake holder’s needs and implement ideas so that their needs are met.

These skills need to be possessed to develop new capabilities in any organization. Mr. Wyatt also emphasized that we as students should start developing these skills right from now. Also, he mentioned that certain undesirable behaviour like Challenging but not listening, not being a team player, being not able to manage emotions and ‘me first’ orientation should be avoided.

He gave us insights regarding subtle cultural differences present among different nations and that which should to be taken care of while working in that country. With around 25 years of experience in consulting, Mr. Wyatt recollected examples from his own experiences and motivated students to develop essential skills required to reach leadership roles in MNC’s.  

Courtesy
Praveena
Class of 2014

Photo Courtesy:
Arun Tilak

Class of 2014                            

The Business of Drama

The charisma of Mr Sunil Vishnu K kept the audience captivated as he narrated each anecdote and hit the bull’s eye again and again. A native of Bhopal, Sunil is a graduate from Mudra institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA). Mr Vishnu is the co-founder of Evam Entertainment Co. which has been entertaining its audiences for the last 10 years.

He started his talk with a simple thought: ‘Education and learning are not the same. Learning is anywhere and everywhere.’ Here, he very subtly sent the message of knowing each other and working with people.

“Neither a borrower, nor a lender be” –Shakespeare

He emphasised the need to be a man of your own respect and the importance of taking matters into one’s own hands.

He connected with his audience at DoMS 101 by explaining the dichotomy of society between which his world lies. His maternal side being the one which had little faith in his career so far while paternal one having an image a tad far-fetched. His initial education years were typical: merit lists, PCM average worries etc. While his interests clearly lay elsewhere like singing, working with people and acting, he settled with a B.Com degree rather than graduating as an engineer, doctor or CA. It was during his time at his CA classes he realised that he was stuck in a place he didn't like. This was when he decided to drop a year.

After researching about and applying to various colleges, he zeroed in on MICA. It was here that he got a feeling of belongingness. Although he faced a cultural shock, it was here that he met Karthik Kumar with whom he planned and executed first play. The subsequent ones followed suit. They got their first sponsor: Eveready from Kolkata for a play in Ahmedabad with Rs 5ooo as seed capital. And so followed four plays in Natrani, the local play theatre.

While learning about brands, marketing, theatre, as part of the course thesis topics that were popularly taken up by the students were the usual ones such as: ‘Will the Internet be the next media storm’ or  ‘Will Salwar-Kameez ever have a brand’. But Sunil wanted to do a thesis on the viability of theatre as a business. The response he got was: ‘You can’t make money in a theatre company’. But Sunil was not ready to give up yet. He wanted to try it. Aged 26 he saw no harm in failing and Karthik and Sunil decided to do a thesis on the viability of a company in theatre. After working for 2 years and saving about Rs 1 lakh each, he packed his bags and shifted to Chennai. Thus started his 10 year long journey, of entrepreneurship in arts in India.

He went on to explain his analysis of the current situation and issues faced by the performing arts in India- the alternatives, information available and perception of performers as well as organisers and finally the challenges for an entrepreneur who wanted to make a mark in the forgotten medium of theatre. He explained how venues proved to be the biggest cost of all and how each segment of the market was catered to. Often this industry is plagued with low funds and high competition which again showed greater need of better management expertise required for a venture which handled mostly amateur talent and where business models are non-existent.

The session settled into deeper insights of theatre such as relationship between different theatre players, international versus Indian plays and how Evam planned to tackle such issues. He takes pride in the fact that currently Evam works on 100% earned income. It comprises of only 7 employees and 2 art directors only. The decision to work for profit versus not-for-profit in situations demanding their presence led to him reveal the 30(breakeven shows)-70 (pre-sold shows) model of business being followed by Evam. He disclosed the number of projects as 30 on which an additional 23 people worked as a second layer. This layer had mostly youngsters who worked for less pay when they could easily get higher paying jobs elsewhere, but they were working for different reasons with Evam as Sunil explained. They were doing what they wanted to pursue and where they saw a future for themselves. Evam mostly recruits first year college students who evolve from ‘try- me-outs’ to full timers. They feel a sense of ownership and believe in leaving a mark.

Sunil’s plan to evolutionize India’s theatre is already in action as he explained. Evam has organised various tours, shows and fests such as the MetroPlus Theatre festival and many more. He has also plans to start an art school which he believes will bring a paradigm shift in perception in the minds of the audiences. ‘A Play is screened only for 1 weekend; a movie for 4 weeks. Which is more exclusive?’ argues Sunil. Some future theatre experiences to look out for are Improv(Second life in play) and 3D versus 4D.

Words of wisdom for the young class of MBA students gathered there were: ‘Be comfortable with the choices you make’ and ‘Be the change’. He encouraged the need to make more interesting life choices. He implored the budding entrepreneurs to involve themselves in the activity of business not for the money or risk, but for the love of doing it. They should keep asking themselves “Am I still in love?”

To sum it up, business as he perceived is about standing there and saying:

"I love doing this!"

Courtesy
Hakimuddin Rassiwala
Class of 2014

Photo Courtesy:
Vinod Ellamaraju
Class of 2014

On a Fast lane

The second quarter of MBA brought with it its fair share of surprises, a quiz in the very first week and tons of case studies. A pleasant break from all the academics came in the form of the third MILS lecture of the series. It was a pleasure listening to Mr. Mohit Dubey talk about his entrepreneurial journey. Mr. Mohit Dubey, an alumnus of Sainik School Rewa and a management graduate from Goa University, interacted with us,the students of DoMS IITM, on how to start a start-up. Mohit is a successful entrepreneur who co-founded and is currently working as the CEO of Carwale.com, the leading online auto destination. Taking examples from his own life experiences he walked us through the different emotions and high and lows involved in building a company from scratch. Mohit, ‘an entrepreneur by accident’ started off in the domain of telemedicine. Initially he tried his hands at many things, and his first partnership lasted half a day. After that he worked with a software company, during which he was introduced to a leading used car dealership in Mumbai, again, quite by accident. The dealer wanted to get a used-car inventory management software. Mohit convinced them to give him the opportunity. While developing the software, Mohit tried to understand the used cars business inside out and he,along with his team, developed a customized application which later became a standard pr
oduct and was named ‘Trading Cars’. This experience gave him insights into used cars business and he realized that the process of buying used cars was not a smooth and satisfying experience for consumers. This sparked the beginning of Carwale.com. Carwale.com is an inspiring example of how ordinary people, with their combined efforts achieve success. Mohit preached that all that is needed to create a successful venture is a purpose. Everything else just fits if you are willing to go that extra mile or two. He also told that one of the biggest challenges in startups is that of funding. He, from his own experiences, said that getting funding is the most time consuming and difficult task and time invested in raising money is time spent away from real business. Another problem that he faced was that of attracting and retaining the right talent. He advised us to value commitment over competence and always hire people who fit into the culture of the firm. The audience was clinging on to every word of advice he delivered. In all, it was really inspiring to listen to him and I am positive that after this many of us would want to follow his footsteps and start our own startup.

Courtesy
Vaibhav Kapur
Class of 2014

Photo Courtesy:
Vinod Ellamaraju
Class of 2014

IITians on the ALERT!!!

Have you ever felt a sense of helplessness during some medical crisis around you, perhaps a road accident
that you happened to witness or a near and dear one suffering some medical emergency? If the answer to
that was yes, then you would agree with me about the necessity of being equipped with the basic knowledge
of emergency care. And if your answer was no, then it becomes all the more important to learn these
medical emergency skills, so that you never have to undergo such a state of helplessness.

IIT Madras boasts of having a one-of-its-kind Disaster Management Committee (DMC) whose mission is to
ensure that our campus is comprehensively disaster resilient and to imbue safety consciousness among
its residents. DoMS plays a very important role within the DMC, as, not only, its student head, Chirag Jain,
belongs to the MBA batch of 2011-13, but also, 4 of the 10 members in the committee are DoMScions.

DMC, IIT Madras, in association with Amenity Lifeline Emergency Response Team, better known as ALERT,
organized the Emergency Medical Care workshop to empower the people associated with IIT Madras
towards handling any medical emergency. ALERT is a NGO that helps aid this cause - to reach out to the
society, by identifying and addressing the issues concerning physical and emotional welfare.

The EMC workshop was hosted in DoMS on 6th October. It witnessed a large participation from students,
faculty and staff alike. The volunteers of ALERT are people from different walks of life, who are doing their
bit to create awareness amongst the people. Most of them have a full time job elsewhere and contribute
towards ALERT's activities in their spare time. Their motto is "Compassion without awareness is merely
a good intention whereas, compassion with awareness leads to action". This was the main idea that they
tried to instill among the participants of this workshop. The emphasis was on the importance of having
compassion and the intention to help those in a medical emergency, and not just the skills to provide medical
care. We were taken through the initial steps to be followed in the wake of any medical emergency, how to
assess the seriousness of the crisis and the medical techniques that need to be applied in each situation.
We were also provided a demo and hands-on training in CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and Heimlich
maneuver, which are two very vital techniques useful in resuscitating the victims. The volunteers also gave
the general information on how to treat the victims for fractures, bleeding, choking, etc as well.

Even though people may have an intention to help, one major reason for the lack of responsiveness among
public towards accident victims is due to the legal implications of the same. Many a times, those who help
the victims are interrogated and asked to be witness by the police. Fearing such complications, people do
not come forward to help victims. The ALERT volunteers also educated the attendees about how to tackle
such issues which might occur during such emergencies. Overall, the workshop was highly motivating and I
am sure, the next time when one of us is faced with such dire medical crisis, we would not hesitate to help,
at least to best of our abilities.

The EMC workshop was a real eye opener to the importance of medical aid in those first few minutes which
can mark the difference between life and death.

Courtesy:

Roshni Anna John

Class of 2014