25% MBA complete

End terms are over :-)
I haven't done too badly but there are a few areas for improvement...the most important being time management. If you ask me what is the single most important skill that you need to master in order to survive in a B-school then I'd say it's time management - more so in a 1-year MBA.
It's been 2.5 months and it seems like y'day...time really flies in a B-school with all the assignments / quizzes(announced & surprised) / mid-terms / end-terms / projects (individual & group) et al.
2nd term is gonna be more hectic so I'll recharge my batteries & be back on the 5th of next month.

P.S. Loads of stuff to share with you guys so don't go anywhere...I'll be blogging daily during the term breaks to compensate for not blogging enough during the 1st term

End terms are here !

End terms exams have started. Today we had the BECC paper. Tomorrow we have 2 exams - Mktg & Mgr Comm. followed by Mgr Eco on tuesday, QT on wednesday and finally MANAC & OB on thursday. I will be leaving for Kolkata on thursday night. All exams other than MGE & OB will be open notes. Looking fwd to another 4 sleepless nights :-(

Two Xlers in News

Sharat Dhall (93BMD) joins Expedia as India Head
Sharath Dhall (93BMD) has been appointed online travel portal Expedia.com as its head of India operations.
...Prior to joining Times Internet Ltd (TIL) as its Director (e-Commerce) about a year-and-a-half ago, Dhall was working for HLL (now, HUL) as business head of its rural venture, Project Shakti. He has 14 years of experience and has also worked with Asian Paints.
Expedia created buzz in October 2006 when it said it was looking for a person to head its imminent operations in India. The company now has an office in Gurgaon, but has not announced any other plans. Expedia offers the ‘Expedia Best Price Guarantee’ which guarantees customers the best rates for all types of travel -- it offers vacation packages, flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises and in-destination activities. Since Expedia is very strong globally on hotel bookings, the company is expected to follow the same route when it officially launches in India.



Madhukar Kamath (76BMD) is AAAI President
The Hindu (July 31): Mr Madhukar Kamath (76BMD), Managing Director & CEO of the Mudra Group, has been unanimously elected as the new President of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for the year 2007-2008.
The AAAI is the apex body of advertising agencies in the country and comprises 84 members who account for approximately 80 per cent of all the advertising business in the country.
Commenting on his appointment as the President of AAAI, Mr Kamath said, “The Indian advertising industry is undergoing tremendous change. I believe marketing communications play a valuable role in the economy. The task at hand is to improve the image of the industry and to promote the interests of the advertising agencies so that they continue to make an essential and ever-increasing contribution to the nation.”

The Goal

As part of our OB (MHB) course we have to complete a book review. I just finished the book assigned to me which is "The Goal" written by Eliyahu Goldratt. Plainly speaking The Goal is a book on Theory of Constraints. However along with the message, another important side to this book is the method the author has adopted to deliver the message.
Alex Rogo is a harried plant manager who is continually fighting to meet the output requirements of his business. There are ongoing conflicts between marketing, accounting and production in the organization. His factory is rapidly heading for disaster. So is his marriage. He has ninety days to save his plant - or it will be closed by corporate HQ, with hundreds of job losses. It takes a chance meeting with a colleague from student days - Jonah - to help him break out of conventional ways of thinking to see what needs to be done. Through some suggestions from Jonah, Rogo learns to identify and manage the problem areas in the operation. Specifically, Rogo identifies production bottlenecks that are the critical points determining the rate of production of the operation. Then he develops strategies for overcoming or living with the bottlenecks.
Eliyahu Goldratt uses the approach of Socratic inductive reasoning to teach his Theory of Constraints. He does this by presenting ideas in the form of a fascinating novel about people dealing with the problems managers face at home and at work every day. Goldratt's ideas are surprisingly applicable in manufacturing and service environments. By studying and applying these ideas, one could improve the organizational effectiveness and productivity, free up capital tied up in excess inventory, reduce customer frustration and reduce organizational anxiety. The Goal should be on the "must read" list for most managers.

XL - Pics

XLRI Learning Centre



Campus at Night



Way to Class



MDP Residence



MDP Dining Hall

M&A: Human Capital Challenge

Last month SAPPHIRE invited Mr Sunit Sinha to talk about M&A: Human Capital Challenge. Mr Sinha is a M&A Consulting Business Leader at Mercer Human Resource Consulting, India. Incidentally, he happens to be an XLRI alumni.
M&A transactions continue to boom, driven by increasing globalisation, healthy financial results and an increase in available financing. Yet many deals fail to meet the strategic, operational and financial objectives underlying the deal rationale. Why?
The most common reason for this failure is lack of attention paid to the human capital aspects of due diligence and integration.