My Last Post

Here's wishing everyone 'A Very Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year 2009' !
This is going to be my last post in this blog. I had started this blog to provide my readers an insight of life in a fast paced MBA program. I am not sure how successful I have been in my attempt. I do admit that given the time constraint I have not been able to share a lot during the one year at XLRI.
I have a regret. I wished to share details about the placement process et al but due to certain obligations I had to abandon that idea.
After graduating from XLRI I had continued this blog so that I am able to provide my readers an idea of life post-MBA. However, I realize that I have not been regular in providing information about my work life. In fact, lately I have been wavering from the central theme of this blog. I realize that there may be many future MBAs who may stumble upon my blog with the hope of getting an insight into the life of an MBA but my recent posts may confuse them with irrelevant information.
Hence, I am calling it a day. For anyone who would still occasionally like to hear from me I will start posting in my personal blog. You can access it over here!
Asta La Vista !

Current IT Scenerio

Worldwide spending on information technology will slow significantly in 2009 as a direct result of the global financial crisis that began in September 2008.
However, I feel that IT is in a better position than ever to resist the downward pull of a slowing economy. Technology is already deeply embedded in many mission-critical operations and remains critical to achieving further efficiency and productivity gains. As a result, worldwide IT spending will continue to grow in 2009, albeit at a slower pace.
Although the revised forecast and the downside scenario both reflect a grim outlook for global economic growth over the next several years, IT spending actually fares well when compared to the previous downturn after the events of September 11, 2001.
Companies currently don't have the asset and spending 'overhang' that enabled them to put off purchases after Y2K and the dot-com bubble. As a result, there will be greater pressure for them to continue making IT investments in order to stay competitive.

Pune Trip

I was in Pune last week to attend a business meeting. The trip brought back some old memories. Last time I visited Pune was around 7 years earlier while I was still a fresher. I had come down once to attend a GD & PI at Symbiosis and later to deposit my first trimester fees. Its another story that I didn't pursue my MBA over here and jumped into the software bandwagon.
This time around I was able to catch up with a few close friends. Its always nice to get in touch with people who are close to your heart. The Cognizant campus at Pune is awesome. I remember having lunch at a place called 'Lemon Tree'. The city though has changed since my last visit here.

My baby

I am a dad now ! My son was born on 3rd Nov. I cannot express the high I experienced when I saw him for the first time.
I find myself gazing at my son and seeing my own reflection in him. I think I have found my life's mission - Ensuring that all his dreams are fulfilled..

My new address - An aerial view

I have bought a swanky new apartment recently. We plan to move in sometime early next year. Although it cost me a fortune, I am kinda convinced that the investment decision is justified. With the addition of new members in the family its necessary to have a lot of space for everyone. Here's what my new address looks like when viewed from above :-)

Business Consulting

Quite a few of you have mailed me / called me and enquired about my work and about business consulting. So let me give some gyan about business consulting.
Let us ponder a little on the recent history of consulting. During the earlier 1990s, consulting engagements could be won w/o a lot of effort. Clients used to tolerate mediocre, even poor performance from the consultants. However, post the dotcom bubble bust, there has been a sea change in client behaviour. There are so many clients who harbour bitter memories of the time & money they spent on a succession of management initiatives - from business process re-engineering and ERP, through e-business to CRM - which yielded little quantifiable benefits.
This has led to the need for the current crop of consultants to bridge the credibility gap. The consulting industry's challenge is to be more pragmatic and to focus more on delivering tangible and sustainable benefits. Demand for general strategy consulting seems almost dead. My personal experience is that today, clients continue to be very demanding. Clients make substantial investments in the work that we do and have increasingly high expectations in terms of the relevance of the work we undertake and the quality of the service that we deliver. Consulting is a serious business which addresses serious things.
BTW, I believe I still haven't answered the primary question 'What is business consulting?'. Well, business consultants are supposed to improve businesses: they are not hired to maintain the status quo but to change it. This might be changing a company's strategy or taking over a process in order to transform it but it does not include managing an existing process in order to deliver the same levels of service at a lower cost.

Work Update

I'm back again to update you guys about what's been happening at my end. I will try to post at least once a month since anything beyond that will probably be a bit ambitious.
I joined Cognizant on 20th May. Its been a good 2 months here and I can safely say that the transition from the academic world to the professional world has been smooth.
As I have probably mentioned earlier that I have joined the Life Sciences vertical at Kolkata. Now, the LS vertical was earlier based out of Chennai & Pune (also B'lore). So, everything is practically very new. Its an extremely small community here at Kolkata. One apsect is that everything is still quite fluid at the moment. However, on the positive side there is a very bright scope to establish this competency over here and of course, a lot of initiatives are in the pipeline. We have ambitious delivery targets over the next few months and coupled with that an aggressive ramp up plan.
As far as I am concerned, I am trying to acquire the LS domain knowledge necessary for consulting assignments. Apart from that I'm getting a taste of responding to RFPs. That's all from my end as of now. Take care. Ciao.

Convocation Pics!

Hey guys, I'm finally back after a long hiatus...before you jump to any conclusion let me tell you that my absence from blogging was due to 2 reasons. Firstly, my laptop had conked & secondly I was out of town for a while. This is precisely the reason why I haven't replied to my mails. Apologise for the same.
I had been to XLRI during 9-10th May to attend the convocation. It felt really nice to meet everyone one last time before we embark upon our respective journeys. Today I have uploaded a few convocation pics.

GMP Placements - Part 2

As promised earlier, I will talk about my interview experiences over here. The placements were conducted in Mumbai during 9-16th February at Renaissance (Powai). While my batchmates (except placecom & logistics team) were travelling via train from JSR to Mumbai I decided to catch a flight on 7th morning.
Our accommodation was arranged at Hotel Lake Side which was around 10 minutes walk from the placement venue. Internet facility was not available so a lot of guys availed the Tata Indicom data card facility. At hindsight it was a wise decision. I relaxed during the next couple of days since I knew that there was a tough week ahead of me. The rest of the guys reached on 8th morning.
I had heard a lot about NITTIE and could not resist exploring the campus since it was just 5 min walk from our place. Every night we had dinner at the NITTIE canteen (pure vegetarian). The IT companies that were scheduled for Day 1 were CTS, Accenture, IBM S&C and Satyam. Among these 4 companies I had shortlists from all but Accenture. So, "Day One" was gonna be a hectic day for me...to be continued in the next part.

Finally, done with my MBA!

The 1st thing I did today morning was submit the PJM Mid-term & Term-papers. After that I rushed to get the signatures on the Clearance Form, from the various depts...wasn't too surprised to find nobody in office even though the clock was showing 11 AM. Basically, had no time time to even glance at the B2B book. The duration of today's B2B end-term paper was 2 hrs but I submitted my paper in less than an hr. After that I quickly grabbed lunch & again rushed to get the signatures. Once this job was complete, I rushed back to my room, completed the SDM project & mailed across the same to the faculty. Luckily I also remembered to take a printout of my train ticket - I'm leaving for home tomorrow :-)
Now, finally I have got some time to publish this post. BTW, I just remembered that I have to pack my bags now since there's a party at 10:45 PM which I cannot miss - probably the last bash at XLRI. So, I gotta go now but you guys keep watching this space since I will be posting daily from home regarding placements et al. Ciao!

One more to go!

Today I had the Project Management end-term. Although the duration was 2.5 hrs I doubt whether anyone was able to finish the paper. Any exam which exceeds 1.5 hours is quite tiring & so I'm of the opinion that no exams should exceed 1.5 hours. This makes sense especially when the weightage is usually only 30-35% of the entire marks.
To think of it during the 3rd term, on a couple of occasions I had taken up 3 end-term exams in a single day - 1st Day: Organizational Change & Development, Product & Brand Management & E-Business and 2nd Day: Strategies of Cooperation, Marketing Strategy & International Financial Management.
Thankfully, tomorrow I have B2B Marketing. I do not intend touch my book before the exam primarily because of 2 reasons - 1> The exam is an open-book (MCQ format) 2> More importantly tomorrow I have to submit my PJM mid-term assignment, PJM term-paper & SADMAN project and so I have absolutely no time.
I remember the 1st time when I entered the hallowed portals of Fr. Prabhu Hall (exam hall of XLRI) - it was for the QT exam. I was quite nervous at the time :-) but slowly during the course of the exam all my fears subsided. At the time I was trying to do a fast-forward in time & wondering what will it be like when I enter the Fr. Prabhu Hall for the very last time. Well, the moment has come now & I will be entering the same place for the last time tomorrow in my academic life @ XLRI. Guess, I should be feeling very happy but somehow I'm feeling a tinge of sadness - dunno why..

A long awaited break :-)

Today thankfully I do not have any endterm paper. I've been taking up exams right from 19th. We also have endless assignments & submissions. I' m currently working on 3 project submissions simultaneously - IT Strategy Whitepaper, B2B Project (IBM - From Product to Solution Selling), SDM (Sales & DIstribution strategy of AMUL).
Tomorrow I have the Retail Mgmt paper. Friday is the BIG one - IT Strategy. After that another break on saturday followed by the PJM & B2B endterms on sunday & monday respectively.
I have already booked my tickets for Kolkata. I'm planning to leave on 29th morning. Will return on 9th May to attend the Convocation.

Last Class @ XLRI

Today we will attend our last class at XLRI and a 1 year long journey will come to an end.
I vividly remember my first day...the Prof. started discussing abstract concepts like linearity of a circle while explaining the case methodology & also stressing the importance of putting our thoughts in spatio temporal coordinates and explicitly stating the implicit assumptions. At the time, I used to wonder what the hell is going on :-)
The 1 year journey has been an overwhelming experience for all of us. For me it was filled with fun, laughter & jokes all the way. I would take this opportunity to acknowledge that its been a privilege sharing the same space with a group of diverse & brilliant set of individuals like the current batch of GMPians. The GMP spirit will continue to remain forever in our hearts...

GMP Placments - Part 1

Many of you have requested me to share my personal experience of the GMP placements. I will share my interview experiences with you so that it may give the future candidates some insights regarding the actual process.
However, it will be possible for me to do this only next week since I'm currently busy with my end-term exams.
For starters though, let me share with you that I had received 4 job offers -> Cognizant Business Consulting (CBC), TCS Global Consulting Practice (GCP), HP and MindTree Consulting. I will take you through each of the interview experiences so that you can get a feel of it.
I gotta go now since tomorrow morning I have the INM end-term & B2B presentations. Catch ya soon!

End Term Exams!

End Term exams commence from tomorrow...
My schedule is as follows:

Date & Subject
19-04-08 - CAPEX & Contemporary Business Practice

20-04-08 - Services Marketing

21-04-08 - Sales & Distribution Management

22-04-08 - International Management

24-04-08 - Retail Management

25-04-08 - IT Strategy

27-04-08 - Project Management

28-04-08 - B2B Marketing

I can hardly wait for 28th to arrive :-)

Nice Pics

CTS - Joining Details

Got my #1 choice of vertical and location – Life Sciences in Kolkata! Few people have been so lucky to get exactly what they wished for. I had specified Pune as my preferred location since Life Sciences was not there in Kolkata. However, CTS is now setting up this vertical in Kolkata & I'll be a part of the process. Its always nice to be associated with a competency from its inception stage - provides a very good learning platform.
It reminds of my IBM days - at the time I joined IBM the DW&BI competency was in its nascent stage & I witnessed its explosive growth to where it is today :-) The opportunity provided me a lot of visibility & career growth.
My doj is 20th May. It suits me fine since the convocation is on 10th May. Two of my batchmates will also be joining CTS. My wife may come down to JSR to attend the convocation ceremony. I wanted to get my parents as well but they may be out of town during the time so lets see what happens.

2 down, 6 more to go!

Today I attended the last lectures of 2 electives - IT Strategy & International Management. This week & the next are predictably the most hectic phases of this term. I have 3 lectures tomorrow (sunday). Currently I'm working on the SDM midterm quiz (take-home).
While at face value it seems that take-home exams are a safe bet the reality is that they are a lot more time consuming & difficult in terms of complexity. I guess that's the faculty's way of ensuring that he / she normalizes any benefit that you derive from a take-home quiz.
I'm still not feeling nostalgic about the fact that these are my last few days @ XLRI. Maybe, next week I'll be in a more contemplative mood. One thing is for sure, for experienced folks like us a 1 year MBA is always a very safe bet. The reason is that by the time you reach the 9th/10th month the novelty starts wearing down. This is however not the case with freshers in the 2 year MBA. For them its fun, laughter & joy (with a sprinkling of studies as well) and the halo effect tends to stay for quite a while. This is my perception & anyone else has a right to disagree.

GMP 2008 Placement Report

Number of students in the batch - 60
Number of students who sat for placements - 53
Highest Domestic Offer - 33.82 Lakhs INR
Highest International Offer - 130000 USD
Average of individual offers - 17.81 Lakhs INR
Total Number of Offers - 105


"With just two years of organized placement support from the Institute, the one year General Management Programme of XLRI has firmly established itself as a source of quality talent for recruiters. There were a number of recruiters who personally expressed their extreme satisfaction with the quality of the participants. These positive comments reinforce our belief that we are doing things right as far as our one year programme goes." quoted Prof. Uday Damodaran, Chairperson of the Placements at XLRI.

Beautiful Thought

True glory is to be found not in the golden prizes or ego gratification, but in the silent conquest of oneself.

Busy days are here again!

In my last post I mentioned that I've relaxing for quite sometime. Well, that is about to change now. I have 2 quizzes on friday - 1> SMRM and 2> CAPEX (MCQ). This time around we do not have any midterm for CAPEX. Instead we will have to submit 2 case (take home). I wish if this were the norm instead of the exception (at least in the 4th term).
Anyways, this term my resolution is to put only the minimum effort required and relax. I've never been too grade conscious so this attitude suits me fine ;-) I'm amazed to see the energy level of some of my batchmates. They have been consistent in their efforts throughtout these 10 months and are still slogging away to glory even at the fag end of the course. Anyways, priorities differ and they surely have their own reasons which I'm definitely not questioning.
Just an observation -> The people who crammed the most are not the ones who performed the best during placements - in fact its just the reverse. This may come as a surprise for some of you but the important thing to consider is the individual's focus. Those of who were focussed towards grades have very high CGPA but not necessarily the best jobs in campus while those who were focussed towards their goals (read placements) were all extremely successful in their endeavours. Hardwork always pays!

Relaxed Mood

Today I had only one session - Sales & Distribution Management. So I slept like a log of dead wood throughout the day. Thesedays, I'm either attending classes or sleeping. We've reached almost the midpoint of the 4th term & till now its been quite relaxed so I'm just wondering whether life could continue in a similar fashion for the next 3 weeks also. Tomorrow we have a quiz in IT Strategy. We have to analyse a case - 'Otis Elevator: Accelerating Business Transformation with IT'.
Every term becomes pretty hectic during the end phase due to assignments, submissions & presentations (not to forget the quizzes) etc. So this time around I have decided to proactively complete at least all the individual assignments etc so that the course doesn't become end heavy (pun unintended).

American Gangster

After a long time I had a day entirely to myself. I didn't touch any books and instead watched a movie - American Gangster. It is based on a true story.
Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), the quiet driver for one of the inner city's leading black crime bosses. However, when his boss suddenly dies, Frank exploits the opening in the power structure to build his own empire and create his own version of the American Dream. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade and floods the streets with a purer product at a better price. Lucas outplays all of the leading crime syndicates and becomes not only one of the city's mainline corrupters, but part of its circle of legit civic superstars. Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is an outcast cop close enough to the streets to feel a shift of control in the drug underworld. Roberts believes someone is climbing the rungs above the known Mafia families and starts to suspect that a black power player has come from nowhere to dominate the scene. Both Lucas and Roberts share a rigorous ethical code that sets them apart from their own colleagues, which makes them lone figures on opposite sides of the law. The destinies of these two men will become intertwined as they approach a confrontation in which only one of them can come out on top.

ROI of an MBA - The Tangibles

If you guys remember in one of my recent posts I was discussing about the intangible benefits of an MBA program. I have put together an ROI calculator to provide a clear assessment of the feasibility of an MBA program in course of my career.
ROI is an essential criterion to judge the effectiveness of any program. This calculator does not take into account non-tangibles like value addition. The tool takes into account aspects like tuition fees, annualized personal/incidental expenses of the person, opportunity costs, and expected hike in salary after a job from MBA. Here, I have not accounted for Time Value of Money (assumption is that rate of growth of future salary will be higher post-mba).
I am attaching the screenshot for a sample calculation. Just click on the picture to view the enlarged image. If you need the ROI calculator just drop your e-mail id & I will send across the tool.

Lost in thought

Finally, the CTS offer letter has arrived (albeit a softcopy) today. It contains the terms of the offer & compensation breakdown. The details regarding the date of joining and location will be communicated later.
A very close friend of mine is doing his MBA from ISB. His convocation is on 5th April and he will be joining the new job anytime around mid-April. I cannot help but envy him at this point of time. Although the experience at XLRI has been awesome I can hardly wait for my own convocation date to arrive.
I have interacted with a lot of guys from the incoming batch and they seem to be a highly energetic & spirited set of individuals. It sometimes puts me in a reflective mood as I tread one year back in my memories. It seems like y'day when I first came down to XLRI and its about time that we must vacate the campus. The show must go on..

The End is Near !

Got a mail today - 28th April will be the date for last end-term Exam.
We have to take no-dues clearance( libraray, a/cs etc) before the Convocation.
The Convocation will be on 10th May (saturday).
We are expected to be present at 10 AM for rehearsals & other formalities
The actual Function will be held in evening followed by a dinner.
Another 29 days before classes are over...lot of work before I reach that point.

ROI of an MBA - The Intangibles

One of the most popular topics among prospective MBA students is the return on their investment. After all, when you calculate the lost wages, promotions, bonuses, and the money spent on tuition & incidentals it really starts to add up.
Of course, an MBA degree will provide you with deep business knowledge, expand your ability to think critically about strategic issues facing large, mid-sized and smaller corporations, and, perhaps most valuable of all, will provide you with a lifelong network of professional resources.
So should we view the MBA simply as a way to "rediscover ourselves", this would indicate that the ROI is not the key measure, but rather the answer to the question, "Is my life better today than it was before I started?"
If anyone were to ask me why I decided to join XLRI, it was certainly not for the financial return. I did well before I came back to study, and by some measure I am not really light years ahead on the other side. I actually wanted a change in my life...a change of role/function...and most importantly a change of scenery. The MBA was my vehicle to the life I imagined rather than the ticket to a financial windfall. I believe that many people share this view, and if you do I believe that you will not be disappointed with your MBA from any institution.
P.S. In my next post I will discuss how to calculate the ROI of an MBA - The tangibles.

Observation

Last night I had gone out with a few friends to a dhaba. It was supposed to be a relaxing evening but ultimately it ended on a different note. What started as a seemingly funny discussion over a few drinks blew out of proportion and spoilt the mood of everyone.
I have observed two things in people. Firstly, most individuals have great difficulty in accepting/acknowledging that another individual maybe significantly different than himself/herself in terms of characteristics, goals, aspirations etc. E.g. An academically inclined person who literally scavenges for every mark expects that folks around him also have similar objectives - or else they must be lying. Now, that's something I find unacceptable.
Secondly, whenever people are involved in a passionate discussion they rarely view a situation objectively. They tend to extrapolate arguments into entirely non-related areas and consequently fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. Again, some people are very good at passing 'experts' comments regarding situations where they are not stakeholders and/or do not have any idea of what's going on. E.g. George W. Bush advising P. Chidambaram regarding the Union Budget OR While watching Sachin Tendulkar batting in a one-day match, Maninder Singh (of all people) comments in Aaj-Tak about how the former should go about with his shot selection.

Satyajit Sen OR Amartya Sen

Today an unforgettable incident happened during the IFM class. The faculty was discussing about the contributions of eminent personalities in the field of Finance. He went on to quote the examples of Modigliani-Miller, M. J. Gordon, Scholes, Fischer, Shapiro etc.
Now he decided to cite an Indian example. After some deliberation he could only recall 'Sen' & 'Nobel Laureate'. Even after repeated attempts he was unable to recall the first name. Finally, the poor fellow concluded that the guy is 'Satyajit Sen'. Amidst peels of laughter in the class someone sitting on the front row explained that the correct name is 'Amartya Sen'.
One friend just now mentioned that we should thank our lucky stars that he didn't say 'Aparna Sen' :-)

Mishraisms

Today, I'd like to share a few gems by Musa - Mishraisms (similar to Siddhuisms). This were uttered by him during various class presentations/discussions/responses to Prof's queries etc.
Here you go..
1> The economy is growing like HELL...
2> Whenever you refresh the webpage the DARNED THING just comes up...
3> Only a FOOL can be FOOLED...
4> I was involved in Production Support & other STUPID STUFF like that...
5> HeHe...This concept is nothing...Its SO BLOODY SIMPLE...

Will keep posting more in future :-)

1-Year MBA Recruitment vs 2-Year MBA Recruitment

Some of you have been lately asking me regarding the difference(s) in the nature of 1-year recruitments & the traditional 2-year recruitments.
Job placement for experienced folks like us is a whole lot about specific roles and fit - A lot of emphasis is on specific profiles and positions. So, this makes fit extremely important. There is very little of "We'll come in a bus, pick a bunch of grads, and then put them anywhere in the organization" which happens in case of freshers in the traditional 2 year MBA. This is a critical difference between the recruitment style for experienced hires vs. recruitment style for freshers.
The other question was how important are grades in terms of getting placed in one's dream organization. For freshers one can quite easily infer that "Good marks equal good money". Grades are probably the only way by which recruiters can hope to separate the wheat from the chaff in a homogeneous bunch of youngsters who walk, talk & breath alike. One observation about the freshers campus placements here at XLRI is that the whole ritual borders on mass hysteria. With students unwilling to walk on anything but the beaten path, choices get determined by a systematic caste system of grades and placement-day rankings that show scant regard for individual choices.
For us, understandably, there is absolutely no correlation between the academic performance and the quality of job placement. Placements are more a function of the incoming profile, target industry and the level of (interview) preparedness.

Cognizant MBAs

MBAs join CTS in the areas of consulting, analytics, business development, opportunity assessment, relationship management, corporate development and domain excellence. CTS does not retrofit B-Schools graduates into technical roles.
Cognizant is increasingly hiring more MBAs. Today, it has one MBA/Domain expert for every 30 software professionals. Four years back, this ratio was one for every 40 to 45 software professionals. In 2007 alone, Cognizant hired more than 700 MBAs from premier campuses as well as from the lateral market.
There are 3 broad reasons why MBAs are more important to an IT company than ever before.
Firstly, clients are looking to their partners like Cognizant to pro-actively provide solutions to their business pressure points, leveraging a deep understanding of their industry trends and competitive landscape, rather than mere technology capability.
Secondly, clients are moving to a broader range of complex solutions, system integration and consulting solutions offshore which need a higher proportion of industry knowledge, domain depth, business analytic capabilities, and business-to-technology requirements translation.
Finally, with business going global and markets getting globalised, clients want domain professionals who have an intricate understanding of the business dynamics in every location and the technology alignment required.
As such, CTS sees its investment in MBAs as a critical differentiator. Their domain depth has helped the organization marry industry knowledge with technological excellence and farm out solutions to business pressure points of customers, rather than mere technology solutions. They have also played a dominant role in winning new customers and in client-facing roles, especially as client partners or relationship managers.

CTS it is for me!

I have decided to accept the offer from CTS. Today was the last day for acceptance of offers. Over the last couple of months I have had lengthy discussions with my friends here from CTS. I also spoke with several alums in CTS and Raja Banerjee from ISB. I am convinced that this is the best choice for me. There is a strong probability of getting placed overseas within the first six months.
I have communicated my location and vertical preference. I have given Pune, Bangalore & Chennai (in that order) as the top choices and Life Sciences as the vertical of choice.
In case you guys are wondering why Kolkata does not figure in my list, the reason is that Life Sciences practice is not in Kolkata. I could always get CSP (Customer Solutions Practice) but it doesn't excite me. Initially I was in a dilemma regarding whether to go for my preferred location or for my preferred vertical and in the end head won over heart. Furthermore, my wife could easily shift to any of the above mentioned 3 locations since IBM has a strong presence.
If you guys remember that I had mentioned in one of my very first posts that I wish to get into a business development role. Over the course of this one year there has been a change in my thought process. My understanding is that pure business development is a sales function and is typically the territory of people with strong sales background.
Personally I feel that I am more suited for a consulting role - hence the decision. The designation is Consultant (equivalent to Assistant Manager Business Development).
The typical responsibilities would involve leading pre-sales and post-sales support, driving solution identification & development, business analysis & requirements gathering for complex projects, lead or contribute as a key member in Consulting assignments etc.
CBC (Cognizant Business Consulting) is an elite group @ Cognizant (comprising of 1700+ MBAs). The typical profile is Engineer-MBA with IT experience / Experience in Industry domains. The roles are also diverse - Consulting / Business Development / Business Analysis / Competency Building etc.

Strategic Alignment

I recently came across an interesting article about IT Strategy. Let me share it with you guys.
IT has evolved from its traditional back-office role towards a more strategic role. However there is a lack of any fundamental framework which can be used to understand the potential of IT. The inability to realize value from IT investments is partly due to the lack of alignment between the business and IT strategies of organizations.
The authors have come up with the ‘Strategic Alignment Model’ which is defined in terms of 4 fundamental domains of strategic choice: Business Strategy, IT Strategy, Organizational infrastructure & processes and IT infrastructure & processes.
The concept of strategic alignment is based on 2 building blocks – strategic fit & functional integration.
Strategic fit recognizes the need for any strategy to address both external and internal domains. There are 3 external components of IT strategy – IT scope, Systemic competencies & IT governance. Also, there are 3 internal components of IT strategy – IS architecture, IS processes & IS skills. Traditionally managers think of IT strategy in terms of the latter 3 components that reflect an internal orientation. As IT emerges as a critical enabler of business transformation it is imperative that firms also pay attention to the 3 external components of IT strategy.
Functional Integration considers the need to integrate IT strategy & business strategy. 2 types of integration – Strategic Integration & Operational Integration.
Strategic integration – Deals with the capability of IT to both shape & support business strategy.
Operational integration – Deals with the Organizational infrastructure & processes and IT infrastructure & processes.

Am in Kolkata!

I am currently in Kolkata for medical reasons. Over the last couple of months I observed a localised swelling (not painful) on my right arm. Now, the typical treatment for any cyst is surgical removal. However, due to the hectic academic schedule & the placements week I wasn't getting an opportunity. Immediately after the conclusion of the placement week I took time off to visit Goa with my wife. This time around I decided not to neglect the issue any further.
Yesterday, I went to Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals since I had heard about its quality healthcare facilities & global healthcare standards. Sure enough the consultant physician recommended surgery & I requested him to perform it on the same day. The procedure itself was painless & was over in 10 minutes flat.
At the end of the day, my conclusion about Apollo Gleneagles is that while patients can be totally assured of the best treatment it is certainly beyond the reach of the common man and also a lot needs to be done in terms of cordination between the various facilities e.g. O.T., Emergency & Outpatient Care. If a healthcare provider wishes to provide a comprehensive range of specialized healthcare services under one roof then it needs to invest not only on diagnostic and treatment facilities but also on ensuring coordination between all the departments/facilities.
I'll be returning to JSR tonight. I plan to meet the GMP candidates who have decided to attend the PI @ JSR.

Fitness Regime

I have decided to hit upon a new fitness new regime this term. I woke up early today and went for a run to Jubilee park which is just a 10 min walk from the XLRI campus. The 600 acre park is a gift from Tata Steel to the town of Jamshedpur. It has its own lake, a zoo, beautifully manicured lawns with fountains and flower beds.
I plan to continue this routine for the next 2 months (i.e. till April end). The food at MDP is quite spicy and oily (also tasty) which means that I have put on quite a few extra kgs. I need to get back to shape before getting back to the corporate world.

4th Term begins !

Today marked the commencement of the 4th term. Only 50% of the batch turned up..most of the guys are expected to reach JSR on Sunday. I think everyone is trying to recuperate from the stress / tiredness of the placement week.
I have decided to take it easy during this term which is the reason why I have not gone for any heavy duty elective. My electives in this term are as follows:

Capital Expenditure Planning and Control
Project Management
Services Marketing
IT Strategy
Contemporary Business Practices
International Management
Sales and Distribution Management
Business to Business Marketing

While I have not opted for M&A, I plan to attend Prof Sengupta's classes since he's one of the very best that I have ever come across during my academic tenure.

Back from Mumbai

Hello Everyone,

I am finally back !
Many of you must be wondering about the reason for taking such a long break from blogging.
To be honest it was a personal decision to lie low & try to focus only on the placements. To that extent, not only blogging but also studies, personal relationships etc everything took a backseat.
The placements have been quite satisfactory from a personal point of view. I have multiple offers in hand from some of the most reputed IT organizations. I must admit though that the scenerio of the job market is not very rosy at the moment.
In general, the batch placements have been excellent. However, my personal impression is that it could have been even better but for the apprehension of a US recession.
I will share some more details about the placements later.

Looking Back !

Another new year has ushered. However, this year is different than last year. Last year around this time I was in New Jersey. I had a well-paying job ! However, I was determined to get admission into ISB/XLRI since these were the only 2 schools to which I had applied. I subsequently messed up big time in the ISB (telephonic) interview. Nevertheless, I converted the XLRI interview into a final admit.
Prior to joining XLRI I was contemplating whether to give another shot @ ISB/IIM C or join XLRI GMP. I finally decided to join XLRI primarily for 2 reasons. Firstly, I wasn't getting younger with every passing day and the longer I postponed my MBA plans, the longer it would take my wife to settle down in her career. Incidentally, she also works with IBM. Secondly, I was due for a promotion and I knew that if I accepted the same then it would become increasingly difficult for me to get back to full-time studies at a later point. In other words, I'd get into a comfort zone and then it would be very challenging to come out of it.
Today when I look back at my decision, I feel that overall it's been a good decision. There have been a lot of learnings, not only in terms of academics but also in terms of peer learning and self-analysis & introspection. I've met some really bright & intelligent people and made a few friends for life.
At the beginning of this post I had said that this year is different from the last one. However, there's a big similarity as well. Last year I was at the crossroads of life contemplating about my shift from work to academics. This year again I'm at another crossroad, thinking about my life post-mba. Somehow it reminds me about my engineering days, sans the insecurities though. I'm not sure whether every mba student goes through a similar phase. I will continue topic this in my next post. Please stay tuned.