Ripples on the brain

Vivek Pahwa of my batch (Co2006) at the ISB, who also was my study group mate during the core terms, features in Businessweek’s list of Asia’s top 20 entrepreneurs. It’s amazing to know the quality of people I interacted with during my stay at the ISB.

List of Entrepreneurs: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/10/1008_asia_young_entrepreneurs/22.htm
About Vivek: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/10/1008_asia_young_entrepreneurs/18.htm

Courtesy: Manu

A good video showing my undergrad institution. Wonderful memories. I don’t know how I missed the alumni meet this year. There seems to be some construction activity on in the campus. Hope to be there sometime this year.

There has been a lot of attention to the announcements about the creation of new IIT’s and IIM’s. As the Centre tries to get maximum mileage out of it, there has also been apprehensions about the “dilution of the brand” of these elite institutes. It is sad that details such as location, names of these institutes get more prominence while other important details relating to the quality of faculty, research, facilities in the institutes are not debated at all.

I wonder why it is really important to set up new institutions that have to be named IIT’s. Why can’t existing institutes / universities be beefed up through government aids so that their quality can be enhanced to the level of IIT’s or more? For example, instead of having another IIT in Tamil Nadu, why not take up a defunct university here and make a grand research and technical institute out of the same? The advantage these universities have is the existing space, infrastructure and set up. The name of the institute is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition to make it a great one.

When I was in Singapore recently, I had this great fortune to visit the campus of Nanyang Technological University. I was amazed by the infrastructure of the University. We only visited the Electrical and Electronics Department and I can say, the department itself is bigger than most institutes in India (even the IIT’s and the IISc and definitely all the engineering colleges). The class rooms, lab facilities etc. can never be matched by any institute here. I felt blessed just to be in the campus and visit its facilities.

That visit made me and my father wonder about the engineering institutes in India and the direction we are taking. While doing my graduation, I had a chance to visit some of the engineering college campuses in Tamil Nadu during inter-college events. It was appalling, to put it mildly, to see their infrastucture. Many of them had six or so departments in a single building. Including classrooms, seminar halls, labs, staff rooms etc. And mind you these were some of the more famous private engineering colleges. Most the even government engineering colleges have zilch research activity happening in their campuses. I wonder if it is this lack of academic activity that frees up the college adminstrators time and effort and makes them concentrate on other aspects like discipline and decorum .

As the Anandakrishnan Committee recently pointed out, even a premier university like the Anna University has been relegated to a governing and exam administering body. Universities end up this way because there is almost no other constant source of funds for them. The lesser said about the engineering colleges and deemed universities, the better. When I graduated, many of my classmates ended up as lecturers in one of the self financing colleges in TN. One friend even told me, just 6 months after we graduated, that if only he had a Masters degree, he would have been the Head of the Department; all the other colleagues were less experienced than him!

I wonder how regulating bodies like the AICTE allow such institutes to function when even lay persons like me can spot so many gross violations in these colleges. Instead of cracking whip on the technical institutes, AICTE seems to be hell bent on bringing some better-run non-technical institutes under its fold.

While it is common knowledge that under-graduate level education is so poor in India (apart from very few elite institutes), little is being done to remedy the situation.

Financial Times has rated ISB among the top 20 MBA schools in the world. FT’s list of top 100 Global MBA schools can be found here. Predictably this piece of news has sparked off celebrations in my alma mater. The school is probably the youngest one, at 6 years, to enter the top 100 in FT’s list.

The key to the rankings calculation is provided here. ISB’s ranking in other parameters can be viewed here.

ISB has scored very well in “Weighted Salary” and “Salary increase” factors which has helped it get into the top 20, as these factors have the maximum weights. Other notable parameters and the corresponding ranks for ISB in those alone are:
- FT research rank, where ISB is 88th among the schools in the list
- International experience rank, where ISB ranks 73rd
- Value for money rank; ISB ranks 68th here
- Aims achieved rank; ISB is 68th
- Alumni recommend rank; ISB is 85th

However it is viewed, this is definitely a great accomplishment for an MBA school in India taking into consideration the fact that this school has almost zilch recognition or support from any academic body of the government (like UGC or AICTE). This success is attributable to a great extent to the founding fathers, most notable among them being Rajat Gupta. Based on the other parameters mentioned above, ISB definitely has a long way to go before it catches up with its elite company. However, the right start has been made…

A few weeks ago, Ashok Desai of Business World, commented on the recent credit tightening efforts of RBI to fight inflation. Even in the previous weeks, he had argued that current inflation had little to do with demand and hence monetary tightening would do little to curb it (this even when RBI defended the tightening sighting that credit growth had neared 30% and bad credit had increased considerably).

In this particular column, he comes down hard on Dr.C.Rangarajan’s policies earlier as RBI’s Governor and now as the advisor to the Prime Minister. He’s especially severe on CR’s monetary tightening measures undertaken a decade ago which led to the destruction of many businesses and banking institutions and eventually, loss of growth for years together.

It was interesting to read some criticism of Dr.C.Rangarajan, after having been taught by him at the ISB. During the course, he had taught us in detail about the monetary policy instruments with the RBI and its advantages over the fiscal policy instruments.

With the sort of cycles that the economy goes through every few years, an observer gets an impression that growth invariably leads to inflation and over-heating and credit tightening by RBI which brings down growth. The only difference between now and a decade ago is probably that RBI is not tinkering with the exchange rate presently. But while RBI maintained the exchange rate when rupee was going down a decade ago, thereby hurting exporters, until a couple of weeks ago, rupee kept climbing and reaching new highs against the dollar. Any intervention by RBI in this instance would have anulled the effects of its tightening measures.

While RBI is probably justified in taking some measures to curb inflation, I’m not sure if there’s a scientific way to arrive a “cut off” for inflation. In India, “less than 5%” seems to good and “above 5.5%” seems to make people uncomfortable, though nobody clearly explains how these cut offs are arrived at. I read somewhere that the inflation numbers we track do not reflect the actual inflation experienced by an average household. In fact, inflation started reaching uncomfortable levels since last September or so, but it was not reflected in inflation numbers we track till a few months ago.

I think this is an excellent initiative from IIMA. All other business schools must follow this example if they really want to encourage budding entrepreneurs in every batch.

“The institute will introduce, for the first time, sops like placement holidays for students who want to give entrepreneurship a try. This means, students can try their hand at their own ventures, and if they feel the need, they can sit for placements next year or the year after that,” says IIM placement co-ordinator PK Sinha.

At ISB, batch after batch, we find that interests and compulsions become two different things during the course of the year and just before placements. From term 1 to term 6, students pursue their interests, work on business plans for their dream ventures, either for competitions or for courses like the PAEV (Planning An Entrepreneurial Venture) and express interest in working for non-conventional streams like NGO’s. As the placement week approaches, everything else is relegated to the bottom and the need for a good job with an above ISB-average pay packet becomes paramount. The in-campus competition, the seven-figure education loan (and the associated five-figure monthly cash outflow) and the media glare puts students in such pressure that most of them cannot withstand even a week after Day Zero without a job.

In this context and in a society that still doesn’t appreciate that urge to be an entrepreneur, it is great if your institution doesn’t pay a lip service alone to encouraging entrepreneurship, but really stands behind you. I am sure for a person graduating from IIMA, getting back to employment is not a problem at any point of time in his career. It is, thus, the symbolism of this gesture, encouragement exactly at the point he needs, that is appreciable.

This reminds me of my interactions with a school batchmate. Back in 2001, when I graduated from my engineering college and landed on what then seemed like a plum job ( “campus placement” ), I met him during our school’s annual alumni meet. “CEO of a start up”, his business card informed me. While wishing him all the best, I was secretly smug: “What a loser, couldn’t get himself placed in an MNC like I did!”. Fast forward to 2006, I met him again on the same occasion. His firm was doing very well. This time, though, I had so much respect for him. I enquired about his business, funding and what keeps him going and all that. Not because he was successful, but because my MBA had made me realize what an effort it takes to pursue your dreams. Add to it the fact that he had done it when he was just two decades old.

To me, a visit to the ISB couldn’t have come at a better time. Though many of my friends were living close to each other, we couldn’t meet as much as we would have wanted. In that scenario, it was great that most of us could make it to the annual alumni reunion. In fact, more that 100 guys (approx. 30%) from the 2006 batch could make it to the event. Personally, I had a gala time on both the days with the parties and the games. I relived our 8th term glory days during this trip.

The current batch of students seems to be experiencing the same set of doubts, disappointments and emotions that we had experienced at this time last year. With placements round the corner, many are re-evaluating their career options (after doing it for the first time during their application to ISB and during the pre-terms before the academic rigour took its toll and they forgot all about it). As one of the guys pointed out, the options seemed to increase initially after joining ISB and just when placements stare at them, they seem to be very restricted now. “Career switch” candidates are busy charting their course. Resumes are out for multiple reviews and suggestions.

I had a chance to talk with a lot of IT guys and set their expectations right. We had talked to them even during orientation, early this academic year, when we had a candid discussion on IT opportunities and salaries post-ISB and so, I guess, the discussions now weren’t as much shock to them as it was to us last Solstice. But, we assured them that the brand of ISB was obviously there and it will help them in career, even if (for a minority), it doesn’t help them in their first jobs. The message from my side was that the salary is not a pointer to the nature of work they will do. Many guys perceived to have had offers on campus with “low” salaries last year had terrific fitments to their role and had an opportunity to work on interesting assignments onsite very early into their jobs. The IT industry, save for a few leading companies, haven’t come to terms with giving the right opportunities to its MBAs, though the industry as such is convinced about the value these resources can bring. So, most of the guys will face the initial trouble before getting the role of their choice. For those that don’t fit the job well, the opportunities outside continue to be immense.

At this point, I can only imagine the flight of emotions the students will go through during the rest of their ISB life. The self-doubts and tension will increase exponentially into the placement week. The placement week will itself put them into such a severe stress that they would have hitherto experienced. Almost all the guys will emerge highly relieved from the placement week to enjoy their last terms thoroughly.

All the best to the Class of 2007!

Secunderabad station - Hyderbadi Hindi - the auto ride to Gachibowli - Mehdipatnam - ISB security gate - student villages - hot shower - the path from SV1 to academic building - Sarovar breakfast (esp. the omlettes and double-egg-double-fries) - foosball - volleyball (volleyball, volleyball, volleyball….:D) - ISB parties - LRC (naps) - Exec housing - literature - late nights - red eyes - recreation centre - placement season ( and gyaans ) - friends (friends, friends, friends …).

I know it’s cliched, but life’s wonderful.

Kendriya Vidyalaya IITM’s alumni meet happened today. I look forward to this event every year since I get to meet a lot of very eminent and interesting people - the old students, and obviously my teachers. My mom is still a teacher there, so I get to visit the school frequently anyway. None of my batch mates in school ever turn up for this event every year, so it has never been a “reunion” for me with my friends during such meets.

KV IITM is a school that had such a glorious past with so many students excelling in academics, sports and culturals. The school has definitely lost its sheen over the last many years due to several reasons, but the good thing is that I think everybody realizes that and each one of us is trying to bring the school back on track. Personally, I feel, the kind of student intake in the school has changed over the years and hence based on the nature of students that are there in the school currently, the metrics used to track the school should also change. For example, instead of tracking how many students make the broad jump into IIT, the school should now be tracked on its pass percentage and so on.

To me the greatest part of this year’s event was when we paid rich tributes to one of our own, Lt. N. Parthiban, who laid his life while serving the country. The announcer, who himself had been in the army, mentioned how Parthiban bravely chose the infantry (that is directly involved in the ground battles) division over the other divisions when he passed out of the Officers Training Academy. Explaining the events on his final day, the announcer mentioned how Lt. Parthiban was responsible for preventing infiltration in the Dras sector, how infiltrators are tracked using the special night vision devices, how Lt.Parthiban identified a gang of millitants and moved along with 4 of his colleagues to create an ambush, how these ambushes are dangerous where you expose yourself to the gang of millitants after which it becomes a free-for-all with automated rifles firing in all directions, how Lt. Parthiban, who had himself killed 3 millitants only days ago, killed 2 more that night, before exposing himself to a wounded terrorist, whom he thought was dead. Little did I realize then that I was sitting next to Lt.Parthiban’s family, his father, mother, sisters and other relatives. As the announcer was giving the details, the family was totally in tears, each one of them crying as if they were hearing it for the first time. The father wiped his tears before presenting a framed photo of his son to the school. For the mother, the flow of tears simply refused to stop. I was moved on watching this from close quarters. “We are proud of Lt. Parthiban, for he has achieved what every soldier yearns for: laying one’s life in service of the nation”, the announcer said. It made me think for a moment, “This boy, 4 years younger to me, has laid his life to protect people like me. Do we deserve it?”

When we were witness to US President George Bush’s visit to ISB last year, many alumni wished that they were students then. As ISB kick started the year-long celebrations of the fifth anniversary of its foundation and hosted the Prime Minister of the country, I wish I were a student now. Of course, I will be there for Solstice ’06, the annual reunion that happens on Dec 23-24 weekend.

PM’s visit links: Rediff | Photos from the visit | PM’s speech

As Mr. Ramalinga Raju, CEO, Satyam said, ISB’s rise is perhaps a case study in entrepreneurship. Today’s ISB is a success story born out of the vision and the exquisite planning of its founders.

As a startup, ISB got several things right, namely
•The partnership with Kellogg, Wharton and London Business School which help ISB in designing its curriculum, with the visiting faculty and in its exchange programmes, among other things.
•The partnership with the AP state government which lasts even after the change in leadership in the state (Chandrababu Naidu was the CM when ISB was founded).
•The association with the industry, with many CEO’s in ISB’s Executive board.
•The association with eminent professors who visit the institute year after year.

Among the important things that help sustain this wonderful institute is definitely the alumni network and the current students. Most of the alumni stay in continuous touch with the institute and help the current students and both the alumni and the students guide the applicants year after year to ensure that the quality of the intake is maintained.

As with any institution in the world, there’s no denying that ISB has its pitfalls and threats. As the PM mentioned in his speech, there have been way too many cases in India where the founders have been unable to sustain the early momentum. ISB has a long way to go to fulfill the vision of its founders but if its performance in the last five years is any indication, we are very sure it will be one of the best management institutes in the world.