The theme of “Financing India's Growth Story” is apt with India Inc. companies' global ambitions. Matching and even setting new global standards has become a norm in this quest for global scale. Strong growth story of India coupled with the ever improving business environment makes for a strong organic growth of the Indian companies. On top of this, these companies are looking at the inorganic route more than ever before. The acquisition of foreign companies started off in the IT and related services sector and it has taken off now in other sectors too. The year 2007 has already seen two major foreign acquisitions by Indian companies. The Tata – Corus deal is the largest Indian takeover of a foreign company. Tata Steel will now become the fifth largest manufacturer of steel in India. The Birlas soon followed with another billion dollar deal to acquire Novelis Inc, the largest flat-rolled aluminum maker in the world.
So, an important question to ask is “where will the money for these huge investments come from?” The role of banks, money markets, financial institutions, investment banks, venture capitalists and private equity firms becomes very critical at such a juncture.
It is in this context, that the Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay brings forth “Finance Continuum” on the theme “Financing India's Growth Story”.
The keynote speech will be delivered by Dr. Shailesh J. Mehta, President, Granite Hill Capital Ventures LLC.
The panel discussion will feature:-
· Mr. Saurabh Singhal, Head Global Markets, Deutsche Bank
· Mr. Sughosh Moharikar, Executive Director and Head of M&A;, Kotak Investment Bank
· Mr. Rajesh M Sharma, Director, Head- Securities Services Sales, Standard Chartered Bank
· Mr. Jayanta Dasgupta, Associate Director, Institutional Sales, HSBC
· Mr. Ramesh Bhat, Professor IIM Ahmedabad
There will be two speeches by:-
· Mr. Vikas Goel, Executive Director, Head of Treasury & Money Markets, Calyon Bank
· Mr. Sanjay Bhandarkar, Managing Director, N M Rothschild & Sons (India)
After mulling over the theme through the panel discussion and speeches, the event will feature Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, an ace investor. He is one investor whose name evokes ambitions, dreams and hopes of making it big in the equity markets through diligence, method, patience and foresight.
The equity markets reflect the economy's as well as the corporate health. A few years back Mr. Jhunjhunwala had a predicted a target of 12000-15000 for the SENSEX when it was below 6000. Everybody mocked and laughed. But today, we are already there. Now, Morgan Stanley believes SENSEX will touch 50,000 by 2020. Laugh or mock at it at your own peril.
With the equity markets presenting a great opportunity to participate in this growth story with diligent, methodical and visionary investing, here is an opportunity to hear it from the man himself, Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. He will be speaking on his investment methods and philosophy.
Surely, FINANCE CONTINUUM 2007 at SJMSOM-IIT Bombay is big both in terms of its content and context.
Representatives from 30 partner organizations like UNDP, National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) graced the occasion. The faculty, students of XIMB and guests turned up in large numbers to make the event a huge success. The felicitation started with awarding the toppers of all the four batches with a citation and cash prize. Thereafter Ms. Jyotsna Soke, representative from NACO presented the two awards for overall excellence. The whole passing out batch was presented with their certificates by the Chief Guest Ms. Maxine Olson, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative.
The faculty members were also applauded for their commitment and sincerity. They were felicitated by the students. The enthusiasm among the participants of LAMP was evident as a participant spread the message of optimism and said, “Ae dost zindagi ki asli udaan abhi baki hai; Poora Hindustan abhi baki hai; Ab to apne haatho mein patvaar sambhali jaaye; Shayad ye doobti hui naav bachaa li jaaye.”
The Chief Guest Ms. Maxine Olson highlighted the palpable sentiment by appreciating the courage the HIV positive participants and also XIMB for daring to be different and take up such a critical and relevant cause.
Speaking on the occasion, XIMB Director E. Abraham expressed hope that with the training that the participants had received would stand them in good stead in all that they do in life.
Samiksha is an earnest attempt is to attune the students to become more responsive and better prepared to face the ever-changing nature of business and industry. The discussion is aimed at providing a platform for student-corporate interaction and knowledge sharing.
In the past, issues like Insurance Sector: Opportunities and Challenges, EAI : Integrating ERP, Role of HR in Post Merger Scenarios, Knowledge Management: A new Mantra, Six Sigma: Myths and Realities, Management Consultancy: A new Mantra, SCM: Survival in Competitive Markets have been explored on this platform. This time too a very pertinent topic is lined up for discussion: 'Banking in a Developing Economy: Challenges & Opportunities'. In an economy that is still evolving, the rules of the game change every day. Since the banking sector mirrors these changes most effectively, it is instructive to study the trends in this particular sector. How banking generates opportunities for further growth of the economy and how it caters to the needs of its customers in spite of the challenges present in a developing economy presents itself to some enticing discussion.
To delve deeper into the issue, the following industry representatives have kindly assented:
· Rajeev Varma, Senior Director, Merrill Lynch Banking Research & Economy, DSP Merrill Lynch
· Mr. Vikram Subrahmanyam, Director Operations & Technology, Citigroup
· Mr. P R Ravimohan, General Manager, RBI
· Mr. Devasish Ghosh, Head - Organisation & Systems, BNP Paribas
The discussion is likely to focus on the following issues under the broader head :
· How stock markets value banking stocks and bank valuations
· Regulation of Banks
· Effective Operations Risk Management in BASEL-II environment
Considering the issues addressed and the collective brilliance of the panel, this discussion is an opportunity that no aspiring manager would want to miss.
Event Details
Date: 04th Aug 2007
Time: 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Venue: NITIE Auditorium, NITIE, Near Hotel Renaissance, Vihar Lake Road, Mumbai.
Contact Details
For further details about the event, kindly check the event-website at: -
http://www.lakshya-nitie.com/samiksha/
The founder's day celebrations have the following as the key elements:
1. A Book Fair
2. Indian Society for Training and Development (ISTD) session.
3. Students Interaction with Infosys Chief Mentor
4. Presentation of Awards
5. Founder's Day memorial Lecture
1. Book Fair
As part of our Founder's Day celebrations, a book fair is being organized on 10th of August 2007 at hall number 10, 11 and 12 in the ground floor, Manickavasagam Building, Thiagarajar School of Management. The fair would be open from 9.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m.
The following publishers shall be participating:
1. Tata McGraw Hill
2. ICFAI Publisher
3. Vikas Publisher
4. Prentice Hall of India Publisher
5. Pearson Education
6. The Hindu
7. Taxmann Publisher
8. Shroff Publishers & Distributors Pvt. Ltd
This is the second year TSM is organizing a book fair. The fair would have on display and for sale the latest books, CD's, Audiocassettes & Case Studies in Management & Information Technology.
2. ISTD Session
ISTD is a national-level society, which deals with Training & Development disciplines. TSM is the official Madurai Chapter of ISTD. Several prominent figures from the Human Resources discipline have lectured on our campus. On behalf of the Founder's day event, this year Mr. V Paul Rajaiah, GM – HR & Administration, St. Johns Freights Systems, Tuticorin will deliver a lecture, between 10 am and 11.30 am.
3. Students Interaction with Infosys Chief Mentor – Mr. Narayana Murthy.
The event is an exclusive Interaction session with Infosys Chief Mentor, by the students of Thiagarajar School of Management. It will be conducted for one hour from 2.00pm to 3.00pm on August 10, 2007. It will be an interactive session, coordinated by Shri. M.R.G. Apparao.
4. Presentation of Awards
This year, three special invitees will be honoured with Karumuttu Thiagarajar Awards for Excellence
Ø Award for Outstanding Entrepreneur
o Mr. K. Subburaj, Chairman, Chethar Vessels (P) Ltd.
Ø Award for Distinguished Community Service
o Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Hospital.
Ø Award for Excellence in Management Teaching
o Dr. S. Thamilselvan, HOD-MBA, MEPCO SCHLENK Engineering College.
5. Founder's Day Memorial Lecture
Every year, it has been a tradition in TSM to invite an outstanding personality from the world of business to deliver the Founder's day lecture. The previous Invitees include Shri. Sheshasayee, MD, Ashok Leyland and Mr. Bimal Jalan, Former RBI Governor.
This year, the lecture will be delivered by Shri. Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies. Mr. Narayana Murthy was named by TIME/CNN as one of the 25 most influential global executives in the year 2001. He was the first recipient of the Indo-French Forum Medal (2003) and was voted the World Entrepreneur of the Year - 2003 by Ernst and Young. The Economist ranked him eighth on the list of the 15 most admired global leaders (2005) and he also topped the Economic Times Corporate Dossier list of India's most powerful CEOs for two consecutive years - 2004 and 2005.
Aparna then started from scratch as to how an Information System (such as SAP) is put in place. She talked about team players such as the SAP–HR steering committee, SAP – HR implementation partners and SAP –HR core implementation team who are involved from the concept to the commissioning of the system. Once the team is in place, the planning for the different stages is done. These can be put as Project Preparation, Business Blueprint, Realization, Final Preparation and Go live and Support. She then discussed the various objectives of SAP-HR such as reflecting the strategic role of HR in the emerging business; integrating HR related information to people related processes; use SAP as an enabler in the decision making process and share and communicate accurate common data across organization.
Nowadays, the ERP systems have blended within the organizations in such a manner that not only the individual employee but also the HR department, line mangers and the corporate management are the various stakeholders to the system. From Personal Development to Performance Appraisals, HRMS products now have a wide range of features which are aligned and customized as per the needs and best practices of the organizations. Thus through its features, HRIS has actually transformed the role of HR in the organizations. It has automated processes through workflows thereby reducing paperwork and time. It has reduced the routine work and has increased the response time. It has connected HR to business and helps HR to maintain superior quality of work in retaining talent, maintaining headcount, competency building, succession planning and enhancing performance culture.
To sum up as Aparna rightly put it, HRIS and SAP in particular is not about transfer of data from a legacy system to yet another system but it is a process of change of relooking at the way we organize HR.
Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani completed his MBA from IIM-A in 1986 after graduating in Economics from St. Stephen's Delhi. Sanjeev is the man behind India's first job search portal naukri.com, internet matrimonial portal jeevansaathi.com and 99acres.com, India's property bazaar, and in-house placement consultancy, "quadrangle". InfoEdge is the first Indian internet based company that went IPO recently.
The agenda of the session was driven by the students, who were interested in his entrepreneur streak, the hardships he faced, his foray into diverse segments and others. The answers could as well be the content for a book that could be titled “Bible for entrepreneurs by Sanjeev- the story of InfoEdge”.
A sharp person right from the beginning Sanjeev always wanted to start up his own company. His stint at Glaxosmithkline (then called HMM) helped him in the inception of idea about starting a job portal. He realized that there is a need for job information as people are interested in knowing about it. Sanjeev's acumen in noticing the opportunity was evident while answering the question on how the idea took its birth: “even if one was not looking for a job, one was looking at a job (advertisement).” The idea was culminated into a proper business with the arrival of internet. The site started reaping profits from the second year.
“If people are already spending money in an activity, and if you think you can make a difference and give better services, then you will have a reasonable chance of doing well.” InfoEdge was enabling handshakes, between employee and employer, bride and groom, buyer and seller or buyer and broker. Three steps of building a brand according to Sanjeev were: to build a product, build customer experience and then advertise.
The blockbuster finale that Sanjeev put up will be the most memorable for the students, “…for all the aspiring entrepreneurs, chose opportunities carefully, plan well, mitigate risks and stay committed. It is not about making money, it is about doing things your way, it is about making a difference, and it is about a mission. Wish you all the best.”
Mrs. Vasumati Kumar, Executive Director, United India Insurance delivered an enlightening talk on the evolution of the insurance sector in India. Having worked with LIC for the past 27 years, Mrs. Vasumati spoke eloquently about the past history of the insurance sector and the role of LIC in reaching out to the masses. Through interesting anecdotes from her past experience, Mrs. Vasumati lucidly explained the paradigm shift that occurred when private players entered the insurance sector. She concluded the talk by listing the challenges that lie ahead and outlining future areas of growth in the insurance sector.
“Competing strongly with Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, Mumbai stands a fair chance to be the next financial hub of Asia” said Dr S. Chattopadhyay - General Manager, Bankers Training College, RBI. Speaking about India's prospects in the export of financial services, she elaborated on how human capital and geographical advantage can help India compete with China in the Asian scenario. Dr. Chattopadhyay urged the students to “Think global, go global and project the nation globally” to transform India into a global financial hub.
As part of the event, ERudite, an Equity Research game was launched where students from the IIMs and other top B-Schools will compete over the next month for prize money worth Rs.75000. Oil Raiders – an Oil based derivatives game, a Case Study competition and a Panel Discussion on “Infrastructure: Transforming bottlenecks into milestones” were also conducted as part of the seminar.
Arthanomics 2007 was sponsored by Sundaram BNP Paribas. Business Standard was the print media partner and IndiaInfoline was the online media partner for the event. The event was conducted by Financially Yours, the Finance Interest Group of IIMK.
For more information, please visit http://www.iimk-fy.com/
The seminar was attended by over 200 students of the Post Graduate Programme in Communications Management (PGPCM), Crafting Creative Communications (CCC) and Retail Communications Management (RCM). Dr. Schultz is currently the Professor Emeritus of Service at Northwestern University's Medill School, USA. He was accompanied by his wife and co-author, Heidi Schultz.
Also present at the seminar were Professor Atul Tandan, director of MICA, Professor Naval Bhargav, head of International Relations, MICA as well as other eminent MICA faculty members.
Dr. Schultz, who has just conducted a workshop at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, one of the foremost advocators of Integrated Marketing Communications.
The lecture series at MICA talked at length about the changing market scenario and its implications for marketing services. The power is today in the hands of the consumer, who can make informed choices and treats the traditional means of communications as clutter. Prof Schultz demonstrated how this new reality is to be managed and the financial implication of the same.
“The goal is to generate both short-term financial returns and build long-term brand and shareholder value”, explains Dr. Schultz.
On the first day, Dr. Schultz spoke about the birth of marketing communication in a rapidly changing American landscape and its subsequent acceptance among the South-Asian countries. He addressed the importance of being customer centric, pragmatic and gave lucid examples of firms he was associated with – notably IBM. He explained the five stages of the marketing communication process to get maximum returns.
On Day two, Dr. Schultz spoke about aligning 'push and pull' marketing communications and potential solutions for marketers competing in such a scenario. He talked on the development of new communication methodologies and systems and the shift of power in the marketplace to the customer. He ended his address by giving his views on how the firm should prepare itself for this new marketplace and gave a few insights from his latest book, Brand Babble. Professor Tandan signed off the event by giving the vote of thanks.
Dr. Schultz is now heading to Mumbai, where, in another MICA organized event, he would be addressing senior managers from all over India in a private session on the 21st of August 2007 at the ITC Maratha Mumbai (formerly Grand Maratha). The topic of the seminar is 'Customers Seize Control: New Paradigm for managing brands'.
In fact, there is still a general notion in the world of MBA wannabes that there are two kinds of MBA aspirants. Those who are poor at quant and those who are very poor at quant. People who are good at quant and DI stay on Mars. However, I dare to make a tall claim that this notion is a misconception and an over-hyped phobia. Mastering quantitative aptitude is just another task, which can be fulfilled with focused strategy in preparation and sustained hard work.
Since I have made this loud declaration that quant may be wild but is definitely tamable I ought to substantiate it. For this, I need you to look at the quant section (CAT 2006 notwithstanding) of B-school admission tests as divided into the following two functional categories:
- Quant that appears in CAT or XAT
- Quant that appears in other exams (SNAP, IRMA, MAT, NMIMS, etc)
However, the so called 'syllabus' for both types of tests remains the same, and roughly comprises of the following:
- Questions on properties of numbers, divisibility, LCM, HCF, remainder theorem and their applications.
- Basic arithmetic and its applications like calculating simple and compound interest, ratio and proportion, profit, loss and discount, mixtures and work-time or time-speed based problems, essentially commercial mathematics.
- Basic algebra and its applications like simple and quadratic equations, series, exponents, polynomials, functions.
- Geometry and mensuration. Comprising of primarily two dimensional figures, and application of basic theorems.
- Modern maths: Set theory, Venn diagrams, permutation, combination and probability.
Although the syllabus and breadth of areas remain the same in both types of exams, there is a huge difference in types of questions that are asked and hence the approach to prepare and attempt questions also varies.
Let us look at quant in non-CAT exams. The quant in these exams (SNAP, IRMA, etc) is what could be primarily called a Speed and Accuracy Test. The number of questions is large, but most of the questions are either direct formula-based questions or direct application of a basic concept. The premium is on speed. Those who can solve questions quickly rule the roost. Consider few sample questions:
A trader bought two watches for Rs 2,000 each. One he sold at 5 per cent profit and the second at 7 per cent loss. Calculate net profit/loss.
This is a simple question of calculating a percentage (2 per cent) on Rs 2,000, which is 40.
Consider another question. If today a father is four times as old as his son and five years ago he was five times as old as his son, find their present ages. This again is a simple application of algebra, or substituting the given options.
For this type of quantitative aptitude (non-CAT), the following preparation strategy is suggested:
- Leave no area unprepared, as coverage is more important than depth. Even dreaded topics like probability and permutation and combinations should not be left.
- Cram and make yourself familiar with all basic formulae (for mensuration, algebra, logarithms and modern maths) and theorems (for geometry) as a starting point. Practise them well to the extent that you become well-versed with their application in basic questions.
- Each functional area in quant has five to 10 standard sub-areas associated with it and each such sub-area has two to three basic concepts involving standard questions related with it. For example in work-time and time-speed questions, the sub-areas are relative speed, pipes and cisterns, boats, circular motion, clocks and work efficiency. You should familiarise yourself with each sub-area and standard questions. Again, practise well so as to solve any similar question quickly, efficiently and correctly. Remember, this will potentially comprise 80 per cent of quantitative aptitude section. You have to ensure 100 percent accuracy in them.
- Many questions require nothing but faster calculation; hence it is sine qua non that you have complete mastery over the multiplication tables of first 30 natural numbers and the squares, cubes and square roots of the first 20 numbers. Memorising reciprocals of the first 30 numbers is also helpful in dividing faster. You will find it extremely useful in arithmetic problems like computing compound interest.
- While attempting questions, divide your attempts into multiple rounds (at least two). In round one, attempt only those questions, of which you are 100 percent sure, and solving them is just a matter of time. The prime test of this 'doability' is that you should not have one iota of doubt that you can solve the question. If there are certain questions that you have solved earlier and hence know are doable but time-consuming, put a circle over them and return to them if time permits in the second round. Similarly, questions where nothing strikes your mind in first 10 to 15 seconds are best left. Put a different symbol — say a sign of interrogation — over all such questions and you can return to them in your third round. For questions about which you have no clue in first five seconds, put a cross in front of them and leave. They are a potential round four questions, subject to availability of time.
The big challenge
Now let's move to the big league, the CAT and XAT exams. The syllabus of quantitative aptitude sections of these exams as mentioned earlier is same as for other exams. The difference lies in nature of questions. Here not merely the width but the depth and clarity of basic concepts, along with complete mastery over first principles, is an absolute necessity.
Although the questions derive from basic concepts, application is of a high degree. For example, although in geometry the basic theorems involved are the same (around a dozen), a single question may involve application of multiple theorems or a single theorem will only become applicable when some further construction is done in the question. Mere familiarity with the topic and basic formulae is not going to help you score well here. Nevertheless, there are always a few sitters, and most of the suggestions given for other exams also hold water for CAT and XAT. However, one needs to go that proverbial 'extra mile' to tame the quantitative ability section of CAT and XAT.
Let's see what extra must be done. Following guidelines will be helpful:
- You need to identify your 'areas of strength'. Areas of strength are those areas where your grip over the first principles is very clear, you are psychologically at ease even with the difficult questions and can easily comprehend and solve newer type questions. Typically this will be the area where you were ahead of your friends, either from day one, or were able to grasp fundamentals swiftly. You probably invest maximum time in solving problems in this area, and also enjoy it. Statistically, your accuracy is also highest for such topics. Your mock test scores will also indicate that. Everyone has few of these areas. It could be number system or geometry or algebra. You really need to introspect and cogitate to discover your areas of strength and further groom them to become your 'milch cows'.
- The larger trick lies in picking the sitters from other areas, and scoring heavily in areas of strength. Invest more time in solving difficult questions from these areas of strength. Go through previous CAT papers to find out how many questions are coming from that area. If the number is consistently 10 to 15, then you are on the right track. If it is lesser then you need to identify another such area of strength. The logic is simple, and can be explained using an analogy drawn from cricket. Every batsman has few pet shots, using which he scores most of his runs, say a pull, flick and cut. He is only average with other shots, but the mastery over these few shots is such that he rarely leaves an opportunity to score using them. You also need to identify, develop and hone your areas of strength in the same way.
- People who are really good at quantitative aptitude are those who have got a larger number of areas of strength and keep on adding more to their repertoire. To further bolster your areas of strength, start modifying and altering questions from them after solving them. Better still, try to frame your own questions in areas of strength. The exercise of framing one's own questions is very helpful in further mastery.
- Now again, while attempting the actual paper or mock tests, the operating logic is simple. The surface-level questions, if any, should be done in round one. Then one should invest time in questions from one's areas of strength. However there is a caveat: no matter how good you are in one particular sphere, there still could be questions, which you cannot solve, so the criterion of reasonable time investment per question has to be kept in mind. As per this criterion, if you are clueless about a question after investing two minutes even in your area of strength, the chances are that it is beyond you at that point. Leave it; there are other battles to be fought.
In the end, at the cost of sounding clichéd, I may add that mastering quantitative aptitude is not a fixed rigid goal but a process, which can be refined to no end. Applying patience and perseverance can help you in achieving this task. Moreover, you never know, maybe the quant of CAT 2007 also turns out to be like CAT 2006! Amen.
ENROLL NOW for the best CAT preparation material with Career Launcher!
The author, Harpreet Dhody is Senior Manager - Academics at Career Launcher. Career Launcher (CL) is Asia's leading education service provider catering to the needs of more than 50,000 students annually in its 100+ study centers located across India and the Middle-East. It currently offers test-prep programs for careers in Engineering, Law, Services sector (Hospitality, IT) and Management.
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So, the best rule to follow is 'throw all the rules out' for none is holy enough to hold universally. Let me justify how all this makes sense. Consider the following:
- CAT in 2003 was what I would call a plain-vanilla CAT with English, DI (data interpretation) and Quantitative aptitude (QA), with 50 questions in each section and two hours' duration. To crack it, you needed to be great in one section and above average in other two, ideally giving 40 minutes to each section as a rule of the thumb. Questions were predictable in the sense that they were of the three standard types, viz. easy, medium and difficult and your task was simple to solve the easy ones and skip the difficult ones. Speed was a critical competency both in the sections of DI and English. Since, many questions were easy, so the faster you could read, the faster you could solve was the winning mantra.
- Come 2004, and CAT went for differential marking and the total number of questions were reduced to 123. Now the simple strategy of 40 minutes to each section held no longer. Further, the sitter questions were presented in a disguised manner, hidden in a maze of 2-mark questions, while many of the one-mark questions were literal brainteasers. Hence, selection of right questions and rejection of difficult questions was becoming a critical competency to succeed in CAT. Speed was still at a premium.
- CAT further reduced its size to a mere 90 questions in 2005, thereby highlighting the significance of the 'art of filtering' further. However, with only 90 questions in all, and a time limit of 2 hours, speed was quickly losing its premium value, more so since the simple calculation-based DI questions were metamorphosising into LRDI (Logical reasoning based data interpretation) puzzles, coupled with English becoming increasingly inferential in nature, with passages turning into cryptic crosswords. For example, consider an excerpt from a passage that appeared in CAT 2005.
| In response to logocentrism, deconstruction posits the idea that the mechanism by which this process of marginalization and the ordering of truth occurs is through establishing systems of binary opposition. Oppositional linguistic dualisms, such as rational/irrational, culture/nature and good/bad are not, however, construed as equal partners as they are in, say, the semiological structuralism of Saussure. Rather, they exist, for Derrida, in a series of hierarchical relationships with the first term normally occupying a superior position. Derrida defines the relationship between such oppositional terms using the neologism différance. This refers to the realization that in any statement, oppositional terms differ from each other (for instance, the difference between rationality and irrationality is constructed through oppositional usage), and at the same time, a hierarchical relationship is maintained by the deference of one term to the other (in the positing of rationality over irrationality, for instance). It is this latter point, which is perhaps the key to understanding Derrida's approach to deconstruction. |
Further, there was no section, which could be called easy. Instead of speed, comprehension was at a premium. Ironically, while it is much easier to increase reading speed, increasing comprehension is an altogether different ballgame, so 'faster you read better you are' was irrelevant. However, the ability to eliminate wrong answer choices was becoming an important skill, as it was easier to strike out wrong options than to figure out the correct one.
It was in 2006 that CAT went global and moved into an era of five option choices on the lines of GMAT. Further, the English section also became more GMAT-like, and hence nightmarishly difficult. It had even tougher reading comprehension passages and a whole gamut of critical reasoning questions, and an easier QA section. The similarities betwee CAT and GMAT did not end here. The number of questions further shrank to a mere 75, while the overall time limit was raised to 2.5 hours. This sounded the death knell to the once reverred strategy of speed coupled with the ability to filter out sitter questions. Now sitter questions had become extinct save in the Quant section. The ability to comprehend, infer and logically extrapolate was of prime importance now, irrespective of the section.
Further, the strategy of eliminating options which till CAT 2005 was extremely useful, became a less important tool because with five option choices, it was an arduous task to eliminate four wrong answers instead of the earlier three, which was not an easy task. Lastly, differential marking also ended.
From a student's perspective, the clear moral of the story is, 'stop wasting time and energy' to predict the future CAT patterns. It is futile to do that, for essentially it is a hidden adversary, which will reveal itself only on the D-day (November 18, in 2007). The CAT 2007 could be a 60-mark, six-option exam, or a 200-questions, four-section paper or a 100-question sectionless paper, or a paper with differential negative marking or an essay-type paper at its weirdest most. The bottomline is that you can't know, so stop trying to predict the colour of a chameleon.
The million-dollar question that you as a student should ask is, if I cannot predict CAT 2007, and if there is no sure strategy to tame it, then what should I do, other than visiting a temple daily and praying?
Ironically, the answer is very simple yet again! If you can't know your adversary, then know yourself well! My advice is a very simple strategy of the following two golden rules:
a) Know thyself. That is, know your strengths and weaknesses in a thorough and comprehensive manner. What are you really good at? LRDI, critical reasoning, geometry or algebra or whatever. You need to identify your strengths by grinding your nose in your subject theory books and sharpening your mental acumen to the level that irrespective of the nature of question thrown at you in those areas, objective or subjective or five options or differential marking. The format, marking scheme or overall time should not bother you. Play as per your strengths and not as per any anticipated weaknesses of CAT.
b) Second is the rule, a very popular one in contemporary management practices: situational leadership. It implies that the tactic (and not strategy) which will work best in any particular CAT has to be decided by you there and then while sitting in the examination hall, depending on how the paper looks and and what your strengths are. This decision has to be taken right there in the first five to seven minutes of the exam. The ownership, risks and rewards for this decision will be completely yours. This may prove to be the most critical decision separating you from the IIMs.
The silver lining is that you can use several mock CATs to hone your tactics and test your mettle.
ENROLL NOW for the best CAT preparation material with Career Launcher!
The author, Harpreet Dhody is Senior Manager - Academics at Career Launcher. Career Launcher (CL) is Asia's leading education service provider catering to the needs of more than 50,000 students annually in its 100+ study centers located across India and the Middle-East. It currently offers test-prep programs for careers in Engineering, Law, Services sector (Hospitality, IT) and Management.
Mr. Kaka talked about the very competitive nature of admissions to JBIMS which serves as an excellent filtering mechanism and ensures a very high quality level of students that make it to the institute. Mere interaction between different members of the batch is an opportunity for learning and knowledge sharing.
The batch was introduced to the universal concept of a structured approach towards problem solving. Mr. Kaka emphasized the importance of developing a definite framework for collecting data and facts, and an analysis which involves testing of a hypotheses leading to a crisp recommendation towards a solution.
Having worked at the McKinsey office in London for a year, Mr. Kaka also briefed the batch about the experience of serving on overseas assignments as well. Drawing on his experiences in sectors as diverse as ITES, Oil & Gas, Banking and Aviation he helped the batch gain a holistic perspective of various businesses and functions.
The session entailed invaluable advice for some of the brightest young minds in the country at the very start of their management program. It served as a great source of inspiration to the batch of 2009.
With 27 companies making a beeline to SPJIMR's campus on day 1 for a batch of 63 candidates, it wasn't much of a surprise when a total of 104 challenging profiles across varied domains were offered. The recruiters competed against each other, luring the participants with challenging projects in the areas of Marketing Strategy, Process Consulting, SCM Consulting, IT Strategy, Business Research, Pre-sales and International Marketing. It was indeed a dilemma of sorts for those with multiple offers!
The high points of the autumn internships were Siemens Information Systems Ltd making pre-placement offers and few participants getting foreign assignments. The list of companies included some of the giants in the industry such as SAP India, IBM Global Services, GE, Capgemini, TCS, Wipro, Cognizant Technology Solutions, HP, HCL, RPG, Aditya Birla Group, Honeywell, Frost & Sullivan, Alcatel Lucent, Aricent, ICICI, Siemens, M&M;, NCDEX and Nihilent to name a few, with GE making the maximum number of offers.
The companies found that the course PGDSM MIT fosters superior expertise in terms of functional, domain and business knowledge along with values through the pedagogic practices at SPJIMR.
Prof. Abbasali Gabula, Chairperson, External Relations remarked that the industry had positive feedback and were looking forward to come back to campus for final placements.
Prof. Sunil Rai, Joint Director, SPJIMR said that “The enthusiasm and involvement of each and every participant, both in the junior and senior batches was commendable. And of course, the results speak for themselves.”
All in all, the staggering success of the autumn internship process has left impressions in the minds of one and all that promise to last forever, setting a precedent for the final placements.
The power drivers of HR fraternity made their presence felt in a strong way through engaging discussions. The topics were diverse and relevant to the modern HR practices not only in the Indian industry but also in the global scenario. One of the main focuses was on aligning HR practices to the structure of the organizational processes. As Dr. Santrupt Misra, Director-HR, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Ltd framed that for an HR function to succeed, it would be imperative to understand the ongoing line processes and their impact on the personnel functions. He also put emphasis on the role of HR being a strategic partner in the decisions taken by the top management officials.
Another point of discussion was verbalized by Mr. Debashish Roy, VP-HR, Colgate Palmolive India wherein he stressed on values, integrity and accountability of the HR processes followed in his company. The human behaviors have come of an age wherein the interpersonal skills of the HR professionals are being touted as the crux of the success stories in the organization. This was identified by Mr. Adil Malia, President-HR, Essar Group who chalked out certain quotients in HR namely intellectual, emotional, spiritual, etc which can work as a framework to support the workings of HR. Mr. P. Vijayan. VP-HR, Mahindra Gesco went a step ahead and spoke about the right attitude that the personnel officers have to inculcate to understand the significance of people and their issues. This will allow us to understand the business, customers, and other dynamics beyond the obvious frontiers.
The discussions and deliberations were extremely insightful and helped the budding HR professionals in us to develop a varied insight towards various aspects of Human Resources. The various enriching experiences that were recited were emblazoned in our minds and it enabled us to keep abreast of marketplace and workforce trends. It left us with an unquenchable thirst to be committed to perfection and quality. We have been shown the way by the trend setters who have paved the way to start a fresh journey on people skills. In the end it can be said that “This is not the end. This is not the beginning. This is not the beginning of the end. This is at best the end of the beginning”
The industry stalwarts discussed the topic - 'Financing India's growth story.' The event was flagged-off with the keynote speech by Dr. Shailesh J Mehta - President, Granite Hill Capital Ventures. In his insightful speech Dr. Mehta highlighted the economic opportunities presented to us and how we Indians should cash in on the aura we have created as a global community; everything Indian, from Bollywood to Venture Capitalists, weddings to bindis, is in vogue today. On the other hand he cautioned us, alluding to problems like infrastructure crunch, growing divide between the haves and the have-nots, red-tapism in our procedures and other such factors he felt could act as impediments to India's growth. As a remedial measure he stressed the need for India to gradually shift from a rule-based economy to a principle-based economy and providing a fair playing ground for SMEs.
This was followed by a panel discussion which saw stalwarts from the industry such as Mr.Saurabh Singhal - Head Global Markets, Deutsche Bank; Mr. Gaurav Gupta - Vice President M&A;, Kotak Investment Bank; Mr.Jayant Dasgupta - Associate director, Institutional Sales, HSBC; Mr Vikas Goel - Executive Director, Head of Treasury & Money Markets, Calyon Bank CIB. The discussion started on the burning topic of sub-prime debt in the US market and its effects on the global markets. The panellists also discussed issues related to the underdeveloped debt markets and their comparison with our booming equity market, and issues related to funding India's growth story. The discussion went into the depths of finance and the greatly enlightened the minds of all those present.
The panel discussion was followed by talks, the first one by Mr. Anup Kapadia - director N M Rothschild & Sons (India), who gave a stimulating insight into how the mega acquisitions of our times are being funded. To illustrate India's recent success story he presented the case studies of Tata Corus and Bharti Telecom, elucidating his hypothesis with a finance background. It was followed by a talk from Mr. Ajay Prakash - Head, Economic Research, SMERA , who gave an intriguing account of the status of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India and how rating them parameterises the risks associated with them.
The closing event was a workshop by ace investor, Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala - Investor and Partner, Rare Enterprises. He enthralled the audience with a comprehensive account of his investment philosophy, touching upon everything from his initial struggle to his big breakthroughs. He described his strategy of value investing and its ethical treatment. He also threw light on the development of Indian equity markets and on India's growth story. In his signature style he moved effortlessly from market fundamentals to humorous quips, enchanting the audience along the way.
The Corporate and students from various other b-schools who attended, greatly lauded the efforts put in by SJMSOM students in organizing Finance Continuum 2007. They all commended the opportunity to interact with the eminent speakers and the great learning experience that they had had.
“Hamara Dhandha”, the brainchild of Dr.T Prasad, aims at brining out the best entrepreneurial fortes in the students. This program acts as a frontier so as to bring out the best business solutions that today's burgeoning India needs.
Rhythm Consultancy & Solutions, an endeavor by 4 strategic thinkers of NITIE (National Institute of Industrial Engineering), Mumbai is ready to bring the rhythm back into the country. The company which saw its opening on the dawn of the Independence Day is all set to change the course of history. RC&S; is a leading provider of collaborative enterprise application software for tool management & interactive database for Operations. The solution is targeted towards Automobile, Consumer & Industrial goods and Pharmaceutical companies by providing consultancy solutions in order to empower the manufacturers in highly variable, asset intensive environments. The founders Rahul Gugaliya, Amol Sangewar, Sameer Saigaonkar and Kartik Harugoli are exulting in pleasure and glory as their hard work has shown its colors on the eve of Independence Day. The founders, all belonging to NITIE, were heard commenting “We are jubilant not only because it is the day when our dreams have materialized into reality. The real cause of our celebration is that we are about to change the future of our country as we are the new generation entrepreneurs.” Beaming a broad smile, the 4 partners of the consulting firm owe this venture to their eminent faculty members of NITIE.
For more information on RC&S;, log on to www.rcas.co.in
Here's wishing that more such skillful and apt entrepreneurs are born everyday and take India to the threshold of excellence and supremacy.
Speaking on the occasion, M Rammohan Rao, Dean, ISB said, “The ISB lays great emphasis on Thought Leadership, which is the key to effective leadership. To become a thought leader, one must be able to first master the inner thought process. I believe that Inner Management can refine the thought processes of our students and make them effective in managing themselves and the people they work with. Transforming the way they think will not only change the way business is conducted but also the way society will evolve in the future.”
Management education today is absorbing new trends from different cultures and B-Schools across the world are imbibing best practices in their curriculum. In keeping with this, the ISB has initiated this special session on Inner Management. Managing the self and becoming a successful individual is the first step towards aspiring to become a successful business leader.
“The fundamental goal of all activity on the planet is human well-being. There is only one business on the planet that is human well-being. And that is my business, too”, said Sadhguru. “Fundamentally, life is management. The quality of your life depends on how well you manage your body, your mind, your emotions, your situations, your life in general and the world. So if this kind of management has to happen, that just in managing a business, you and the people around you rise to their peak, then you have to spend a certain amount of time in focusing on your inner management.”
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's scientific methods for self-transformation are both direct and powerful, marking a clear departure from mere customs and rituals. Belonging to no particular tradition, he incorporates and presents what is most valid for the contemporary life from the yogic sciences and bridges the gap between the known and the unknown, enabling all to explore and experience the deepest dimensions of life.
Sadhguru has been participating at many global forums such as the World Economic Forum, the Tallberg Forum in Sweden, and the Australian Leadership Retreat and speaks on issues ranging from diplomacy and economic development, to education and the environment. He has also served as delegate to the United Nations Millennium Peace Summit and the World Peace Congress.
The memorandum includes an exchange not only of students, but also of faculty. Faculty of both schools would go to the other campus and teach various courses. Also in the pipeline is an arrangement whereby AB Freeman faculty will conduct courses as per XLRI's Management Development Program for working executives. They would also come together to conduct joint Management Development Programs at XLRI's centers at Dubai and Singapore. XLRI will also contribute to and gain experience from the Faculty Development Program at the AB Freeman School. As part of the student exchange program, students from XLRI would spend a semester at the AB Freeman School of Business and vice versa. Students of XLRI's General Management Program are expected to visit Tulane this year as part of the international exposure component in their program, for which the expenses will be borne by the institute. Keeping in mind AB Freeman faculty's expertise in the field of finance, the two institutes have also planned to conduct joint Master's programs in finance and strategy.
Tulane University has been imparting education in business for almost a century, and the school of business was one of the first 15 business schools to be recognized in the US. Rechristened the AB Freeman School of Business in 1984, it offers a wide variety of programs from the undergraduate to the doctoral level. With a strong focus on finance and entrepreneurship, its specialized programs like the Faculty Development Program are also acclaimed and in high demand. As part of a vibrant exchange program, the AB Freeman School has ties with universities in Latin America and Asia, and receives almost 100 international students annually.
Citing examples of operational innovation, Prof. Williams elaborated how Toyota and Wal-Mart had sustained the lead in competition through operational innovation. Taking cue from this example Narayanan Srinivasan, Head- Wholesale Banking Operations, Standard Chartered said, “Applying this operational innovation- Toyota can produce any model of car within 20 minutes, despite the complexities associated with manufacturing a car.”
The speakers agreed to the fact that operational innovation is essential for sustenance and for gaining competitive edge. But it is not easy to apply as the simpler one like Just-In-Time (JIT) concept took several years to come into practice. All speakers pointed out that with increasing competition and fast changing technology, operational innovation has taken a centre-stage as it can change the rules of the game.
Participating in the discussion, Sree Kumar Krishnan, Head, F&A; Horizontal, Congnizant said, “Though operational innovation is extremely important as it is going to provide lead to the organization but it is pretty hard to pull off. There are many things, which have remained undefined in the case of operational innovation.” Elaborating on the objective of operational innovation he said, “The objective should be based on IRACIS- improve revenue, avoid cost and improve service.”
The speakers agreed that the size of an industry is irrelevant as several big and small organizations have adopted this at workshop successfully. This defy the popular saying in the corporate- 'Elephant can't dance'.
Talking about how to apply operational innovation, Mr Krishnan said, “There are four simple ways to apply- look for role model outside your industry, identify & defy constraint assumptions, make special case as norm and rethinking the critical dimension of work. There are four pitfalls of operational innovations namely- measuring innovation, research & development, linking rewards to innovation and top line focus of the company,” said Mr Krishnan. But he suggested that measuring the performance & innovation through matrix or balance scorecards methods used popularly by the human resource managers is not the correct approach because middle managers tend to game it.
The panel of discussion also included Vikram Mahidhar, Head – R&D; Deloitte India Operations, Venkata Reddy- VP-Supply Chain, PepsiCo & Pinaki Banerjee- Managing Director, Pilkington and an XIMB alumnus.
The evening also saw the release of the Ashwamedh journal. The journal primarily included 8 research papers, which were selected from a national paper writing competition that was a precursor to Ashwamedh 2007. The competition had received a huge response from across the country with about 130 entries coming in from business schools including IIMs, XLRI, ISB, FMS, SCMHRD, XIMB, et al. The journal would be circulated to both, the corporates and all the major business schools in India.
Explaining lucidly the difference in distribution between ULIP and insurance, he mentioned that how organizations and the agents are moving away from “morbid talk” regarding insurance with the clients and shifting to offer a “bundled package” that includes more contribution apart from the premium which would be invested. Sharing such perspectives with the batch of 2008 (HRM&LR;) was very useful as this gave students a broad understanding of the practices. He brought up the issues of testing times for the newer and smaller players in this market because of the kind of commission cuts that the influential agents of the big organizations mainly based out of the metros manage. This lecture was a part of the marketing management class and one of the many Guest Lectures arranged by the faculty and HRM&LR; forum at TISS which constantly strives to bridge academics with practice.
Akhilesh also spoke about something, which it is very close to his heart – the trails and tribulations of an entrepreneur. He narrated the “parable of the pipeline” which mentioned one person bringing buckets of water to a village every time and another building a pipeline to the same. As entrepreneurs he said, the main job is to build a pipeline and constantly see that it is sustainable and free of defects. He talked about this experience as a constant learning process which has helped him and his co-partners capture all facets of organizational building that often goes unnoticed while working as salaried professionals. He further added that the road for an entrepreneur is steep and fiscal discipline and postponed gratification is a must at early stages. A high performing entrepreneur is someone who produces great wealth not only for him but also for others and uses the power of wealth to create a legacy for society at large. Such an experience can be deeply rewarding and the accomplishment of having succeeded in one's effort, very satisfying.
Even after the lecture he carried on one-on-one with quite a few people. It was an extremely beneficial session for all both from a subject point of view as well as the learning that one derived from his experience and expertise.
Castalia '07 invited the top business personalities from the leading companies to examine the implications of the most relevant HR issue affecting industries, that is, “attrition”. It acted as the platform for people from all industry sectors to discuss the causes and possible solutions on “How to retain and engage talent” in their companies. Participants were enlightened in the presence of eminent personalities like Derrick Barton – CEO, Centre for Talent Retention, US; Mrs. Jo Verde – Senior Director, JeMM Consultants, Canada; Mr. E. Balaji – COO, Ma Foi Management Consultants; Mr. Anil Sachdev – CMD, Grow Talent Co. Ltd.; Mr. S.V Nathan, VP Region 10 HR, Deloitte India; Mr. K. Sreenath, Head HR, South Asia, Computer Associates; Mr. Vaishakh Kelkar, President, sales & marketing, Myadrenalin; Mr. Rajeev Kumar, HR Business partner manager, SAP and Ms. Lekha Sista, VP HR Sumtotal systems.
Mr. Derrick Barton began his speech by subscribing to Dr. Gopalkrishnan's views that employees leave their bosses and not their companies. He urged the managers to make a difference to their organization. He alluded to the fact that Jeff Immet ceased the practice of removing the bottom 10% of the employees, as that was not worth their time and resources. He deduced from this that even a great organization like GE is forced to change their practices of dealing with their employees for better management.
He involved the audience in different games and participatory sessions, the objective of which was to find out what made people stay at their jobs. The results once again proved that it was largely the work variables and some managerial activities that were critical.
He underscored several ideas during his speech which can be summed up in the following lines:
· General understanding of managers should be crystal clear. They have to know what they are doing.
· Managers have to play an active role and involve employees to engage and retain.
· If the employees do not get the right feedback, they do not get close to the organization.
· It makes a difference when managers think about each employee.
Ms. Jo Verde stressed on the importance of HR as a business function. According to her, “HR is not fluff, it is a critical business process involving three critical areas; job, leader, & organization.” She stressed on the importance of all the members of the team having similar values which would result in business engagement driven by passion saying, “Any system you put in place is as good as the people who use that system and are administering it.”
Mr. E. Balaji talked about approaches to employee management and on the menace of post offer drop-outs. Emphasized on the poll of 23,000 employees cited in Stephen Covey's -“The 8th Habit” where only 37 percent said they have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve.
Mr. Rajeev Kumar believes that “Retention is a day in and day out process”. Speaking on the role of HR software in retaining talent, he said “technology can be an aid to overall management.” He talked about how the effective working of a differentiated hr pattern and gave a 10-20-70 module – 10 percent on classroom training, 20 percent to mentorship and coaching and 70 percent on job program. Using these tools he emphasized that,” we must become as good at developing great people as we are at developing great software”.
According to Mrs. Lekha Sista , the goal of strategic talent management is to ensure “ that every individual takes a lead to move forward”.
The gist could be summed up in Mr. Derrick Burton's words to managers that it is extremely important to “Make work count for the individual” in order to retain talent in your organization.