Following my post on Ps of MBA, here is my post on the Cs of MBA life and especially true for IIM Calcutta!
1. Crashers - These are basically sessions for information dissemination about anything and everything. They are generally conducted by placement team for giving out requisite information, or by Student Council for knowledge ramp up for the incoming batch, or by the seniors for juniors for the summer placements regarding CV making, subject knowledge, interview prep et al and finally by the subject experts before the exams so that whole batch is able to scrap through the upcoming rough waters..!!!
2. Competitions - For people who want to showcase their talent in any field, there is no dearth for platform to do so. All the major B-Schools in the country have their cultural and business festivals annually, which is a huge opportunity to participate in various facets in functional events like marketing, HR, finance etc and also in talent events like dance and music etc. Adding to that, there are sports meet which happen with XL, IIM-B and IIFT-Kolkata, so sport enthusiasts also have opportunities to showcase their competencies.
3. Curriculum - The backbone of any B-School! Curriculum in the first year is pretty much fixed but a lot of options are available in the second year to choose from. Also, the first year subjects keep undergoing changes according to the new knowledge generated in the outside world.
4. Case studies form an integral part of pedagogy. Though, it is not 100% case-based in C, most of the subjects cover a decent number of cases for practical understanding. On a personal note, more than anything else, these case studies add to one's general knowledge a lot! If one fails to analyse the case, the key take-away can be the GK enhancement. Also, case studies are used as a tool during examination times by some of the faculty. Exams sometimes just consist of the case and questions are related to them. Also, case can be distributed a night before or during the exam.
5. Campus life is possible because of the residential nature of the program. The sense of time table is clearly broken when staying in a campus. With deadlines sometimes being 3 in the morning to 7 am, the sleep cycle goes for a toss. Also, staying in the campus 24*7 makes it possible to have things running throughout the day and night too! One never feels lonely once inside, as always there is atleast other person who is awake at any time of the day.
6. Culture of any B-School is imbibed in every soul who has been a part of the institute. It may be the inter-hostel competitions or the intra-hostel ones to exam taking strategies or treating a sister institute ;) or dealing with a particular prof! But my personal take away has been never-say-die attitude of so many people around which made me believe nothing is really impossible.
7. CV - No discussion about MBA is complete without mentioning about placements. And, nothing holds more value than one's CV, as this is the first impression a company receives about an individual. Trust me, sometimes it is not easy to pen down your life of about 23-25 years in one page highlighting the peaks of one's journey on this planet. But, the effort put on CV is a major determinant for the things to follow...
Showing posts with label MBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MBA. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
4 Ps of MBA
Anyone who is remotely interested in MBA must have heard about 4Ps of marketing and no MBA discussion is complete with this Philip Kotler framework. But here I will list the 4Ps of MBA itself. And anyone who has gone this course will (hopefully!) agree to these ones.
1. Presentations – Power point presentations become the order of the day for an MBA student. Everyone seems to use it at the drop of hat. Most of the books have their chapters in ppt format now, all (almost all) professors use them for teaching, companies use them big time for luring students to join their organisation, some subject require us to make ppts for a particular class and some profs are just too smart when they ask everyone to make it and pick up anyone randomly to present his/her presentation! At the end of the day, we become just too ‘good’ in making presentations and attending them. In the first few weeks of MBA, making a presentation eats up like few hours but by the end of it, it does not take more than 15 minutes ;) with number of slides not being a criteria. And ya, even the quality improves. At the end of 2 years, making a presentation is a piece of cake but cannot say the same for the attending part :P Just another thing here – subjects like statistics and courses in finance which are supposed to be ‘quant’ oriented also taught through this medium.
2. Projects and Peer group – Now, there should be a reason also to make a presentation...right?! Projects are those reasons in a B-School. All courses have their own evaluation criteria and more often than not, projects are a part of it, supplementing exams (mid-term or end-term or both) or case write-ups etc. Very rarely, projects are done individually and hence we work in groups of size of typically 3 to sometimes 10 also! When we work in a group, that is when the diversity part of a batch kicks in and we are able to appreciate each other’s viewpoint and experience. When working in a group, I personally realised my own strengths and weaknesses. The infinite brain storming sessions, conflict management times, crisis handling etc are all learnt in a project. From deciding on a topic to contents to be covered to work allocation to its final closure – each is a mission in itself. Working in different groups allows one to interact with some amazing individuals who are pretty sharp, peaked in whatever they have undertaken and yet so humble. I believe, it is true to say that learning is there in the classroom, no doubt about that but in a B-School peer group takes the learning to another level all-together. Adding to this, working on projects also enhances the learning. Over the course of 2 years, everyone does at least 20 projects on various functions of marketing or finance or strategy. This contributes to the knowledge gained beyond books, as it is said.
3. Placements – Let’s face it, 99.99% students come to a B-School for placements. So it is not surprising that placements, rather the allied activities, do take up a lot of time. It all starts when we enter the B-School as summer placements are the first BIG thing to happen on campus. CV making is the first step towards placements. I never realised that writing about me in an A4 sheet would turn out to be such a difficult task. Mentoring from seniors, help from our batchmates and sometimes alums from companies really helps one to create THE CV, albeit after typically 20 to 25 iterations. Coupled with that there are company presentations to attend, ‘gyaan’ sessions on sectors for internships, preparation sessions, mock interviews and what not. Of course, the placement process days are an experience in themselves. It is a test of confidence, resilience and one’s toughness (mental, physical, and psychological). The same process happens for the finals and the laterals (people with prior work experience) although it is comparatively less stressful and less grilling. This is due to the fact that some people get PPOs (pre-placement offers) or some don’t take participate for higher studies or entrepreneurship or going back to original organisations. The excitement and thrill witnessed during those days is just phenomenal and is really an experience of a lifetime.
4. Perpetual fight between I-bankers and consults – This is something which really left me amused in the complete stay in IIM Calcutta. Investment banking and consulting firms really vouch for talent in the B-School and the way it is done is really hilarious. The references made to other professions in a presentation or the way ‘take-aways’ are pitched vis-a-vis competing industries is a treat to watch.
Well, there are many facets of life in a B-School which would be covered in my next post – 7Cs of MBA!
1. Presentations – Power point presentations become the order of the day for an MBA student. Everyone seems to use it at the drop of hat. Most of the books have their chapters in ppt format now, all (almost all) professors use them for teaching, companies use them big time for luring students to join their organisation, some subject require us to make ppts for a particular class and some profs are just too smart when they ask everyone to make it and pick up anyone randomly to present his/her presentation! At the end of the day, we become just too ‘good’ in making presentations and attending them. In the first few weeks of MBA, making a presentation eats up like few hours but by the end of it, it does not take more than 15 minutes ;) with number of slides not being a criteria. And ya, even the quality improves. At the end of 2 years, making a presentation is a piece of cake but cannot say the same for the attending part :P Just another thing here – subjects like statistics and courses in finance which are supposed to be ‘quant’ oriented also taught through this medium.
2. Projects and Peer group – Now, there should be a reason also to make a presentation...right?! Projects are those reasons in a B-School. All courses have their own evaluation criteria and more often than not, projects are a part of it, supplementing exams (mid-term or end-term or both) or case write-ups etc. Very rarely, projects are done individually and hence we work in groups of size of typically 3 to sometimes 10 also! When we work in a group, that is when the diversity part of a batch kicks in and we are able to appreciate each other’s viewpoint and experience. When working in a group, I personally realised my own strengths and weaknesses. The infinite brain storming sessions, conflict management times, crisis handling etc are all learnt in a project. From deciding on a topic to contents to be covered to work allocation to its final closure – each is a mission in itself. Working in different groups allows one to interact with some amazing individuals who are pretty sharp, peaked in whatever they have undertaken and yet so humble. I believe, it is true to say that learning is there in the classroom, no doubt about that but in a B-School peer group takes the learning to another level all-together. Adding to this, working on projects also enhances the learning. Over the course of 2 years, everyone does at least 20 projects on various functions of marketing or finance or strategy. This contributes to the knowledge gained beyond books, as it is said.
3. Placements – Let’s face it, 99.99% students come to a B-School for placements. So it is not surprising that placements, rather the allied activities, do take up a lot of time. It all starts when we enter the B-School as summer placements are the first BIG thing to happen on campus. CV making is the first step towards placements. I never realised that writing about me in an A4 sheet would turn out to be such a difficult task. Mentoring from seniors, help from our batchmates and sometimes alums from companies really helps one to create THE CV, albeit after typically 20 to 25 iterations. Coupled with that there are company presentations to attend, ‘gyaan’ sessions on sectors for internships, preparation sessions, mock interviews and what not. Of course, the placement process days are an experience in themselves. It is a test of confidence, resilience and one’s toughness (mental, physical, and psychological). The same process happens for the finals and the laterals (people with prior work experience) although it is comparatively less stressful and less grilling. This is due to the fact that some people get PPOs (pre-placement offers) or some don’t take participate for higher studies or entrepreneurship or going back to original organisations. The excitement and thrill witnessed during those days is just phenomenal and is really an experience of a lifetime.
4. Perpetual fight between I-bankers and consults – This is something which really left me amused in the complete stay in IIM Calcutta. Investment banking and consulting firms really vouch for talent in the B-School and the way it is done is really hilarious. The references made to other professions in a presentation or the way ‘take-aways’ are pitched vis-a-vis competing industries is a treat to watch.
Well, there are many facets of life in a B-School which would be covered in my next post – 7Cs of MBA!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Why this rule??!!
In a B-School, many competitions are floated - some by other B-Schools and some by corporates. As with any competition, there are some rules and guidelines which are laid down by the organisers. The participants are told about expectations, team size, deadlines, deliverables and prize money.
But one thing which just beats my imagination is this rule - "All team members must be from the same B-School." This is understandable for companies which generally float competitions in select campuses (from where they generally recruit) and making intra-campus team will increase work load for them. Also, they generally follow a format of campus winner and then a National winner.
But why this rule in a B-School fest??? I find no logic in having such a limitation. When a competition is open for MBA students of n number of colleges, there is no reason why there should be such a restriction. I am quite there are very limited competitions which allow only one entry per B-School and there it makes sense, but otherwise, this rule has no relevance.
Or maybe I am missing something!
But one thing which just beats my imagination is this rule - "All team members must be from the same B-School." This is understandable for companies which generally float competitions in select campuses (from where they generally recruit) and making intra-campus team will increase work load for them. Also, they generally follow a format of campus winner and then a National winner.
But why this rule in a B-School fest??? I find no logic in having such a limitation. When a competition is open for MBA students of n number of colleges, there is no reason why there should be such a restriction. I am quite there are very limited competitions which allow only one entry per B-School and there it makes sense, but otherwise, this rule has no relevance.
Or maybe I am missing something!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The MBA effect
When one has completed 1/3 of MBA, some of the concepts learned are bound to have an effect in decision-making and analysis.
My term 2 ended on 12th Dec and term 3 was scheduled to begin on the 15th itself. I was supposed to go to Delhi for 13-14th weekend for a competition in MDI, Gurgaon and next weekend (19-21) again in FMS, Delhi, again for a competition. I planned to leave on the 12th evening, come back on the 15th morning and then leave again on the 18th evening; thus minimising my number of classes being missed.
When I told this to one of my classmates, he advised me to stay in Delhi for a week, which was not such a bad idea given 4 days in Delhi would be a fun-filled stay. Well, I told him that I would miss one-week classes and its a matter of 5,000 bucks for a trip. Now, this is where cost management concept creep in :D
I told him that our term fees is 60k for a 10 week course and hence 1 week classes cost me approx 6k, so missing them does not really make sense. But he said, our fees is a sunk cost, so it should not really be considered for decision making. Then we discussed at length about how can we find if spending extra 5k is worth or not. We concluded that if somehow are able to 'quantify' the value added and it turns out be more than 5k, then missing classes wont matter!
We laughed in the end that this is what MBA does - complexifying (if that word exists) such a simple thing :) Well, in the end I did went to Delhi twice in a gap of 5 days and not because of 'value added' but because of attendance issues!
My Delhi trip, experiences in competitions in MDI and FMS will be posted soon.
My term 2 ended on 12th Dec and term 3 was scheduled to begin on the 15th itself. I was supposed to go to Delhi for 13-14th weekend for a competition in MDI, Gurgaon and next weekend (19-21) again in FMS, Delhi, again for a competition. I planned to leave on the 12th evening, come back on the 15th morning and then leave again on the 18th evening; thus minimising my number of classes being missed.
When I told this to one of my classmates, he advised me to stay in Delhi for a week, which was not such a bad idea given 4 days in Delhi would be a fun-filled stay. Well, I told him that I would miss one-week classes and its a matter of 5,000 bucks for a trip. Now, this is where cost management concept creep in :D
I told him that our term fees is 60k for a 10 week course and hence 1 week classes cost me approx 6k, so missing them does not really make sense. But he said, our fees is a sunk cost, so it should not really be considered for decision making. Then we discussed at length about how can we find if spending extra 5k is worth or not. We concluded that if somehow are able to 'quantify' the value added and it turns out be more than 5k, then missing classes wont matter!
We laughed in the end that this is what MBA does - complexifying (if that word exists) such a simple thing :) Well, in the end I did went to Delhi twice in a gap of 5 days and not because of 'value added' but because of attendance issues!
My Delhi trip, experiences in competitions in MDI and FMS will be posted soon.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Life on ultra fast track
Well, well….never thought I will be so occupied in life! I thought that end of term I would bring some relief, maybe just for 24 hours, but now I am sure that thinking of getting a break is like “hoping against hope”.
With so many things to talk about, it is little difficult to figure out from where to start. Let me start from my exams. There are some things which are just too good here. Firstly, every exam has a random seating arrangement in a new room for everyone. This virtually eliminates the possibility of forming a cartel to one’s advantage. Even if one tries to use unfair means in an exam (even for a quiz for that matter), an expulsion from the institute is a possibility. Secondly, the papers are so meticulously prepared and conceptual, that without sound basic concepts in place, one just cannot perform here. Be it any subject – economics, accounts, stats or behavioural science (organisational behaviour). One lesson which I learnt, and the hard way, that last minute preparation is not gonna work here. It is hoped that I will put in little more extra in the next term.
Something which has never happened to me, ever, happened here in the accounts exam. The paper was expected to be tough. Knowing this, I had put in effort before the examination week. Even on the last day, I burnt the midnight lamp to see it through. I am sure I had not put in more effort in anything else in my 25 years, than what I had put in for this exam. But when I got the question paper in my hand, I was just shocked. I kept turning pages to figure out from where to start!!! I did not know a single question and yes, I had NOT prepared the wrong syllabus. First 15 minutes were lost to evaluate how and where to start from. 15 minutes count a lot for a 90 minute paper. Somehow, someway, I did whatever I could and left the examination hall 10 minutes before the scheduled time. My mind had stopped working and given all hopes to clear this paper. But soon I realised that everyone (ya..apart from select few ;) ) was screwed left, right and centre. Waiting to see at least some grade in front of my name in this paper. GOD, save me, please!!!
After our end-terms we had some literary events on campus organised by one of our clubs. Wanted to take part in Hindi debate but paucity of time (lame excuse, I know) was a bottleneck. But there were some on the spot events like Hindi and English JAM. It was fun to take part in them after so many years but sadly lost in the prelims. Last event of the day was antakshri, organised as a part of Hindi Diwas on the campus. The day ended on a high with our team finishing 2nd :P :P
Term 2 began and with a bang. Some of the faculty is really strict and we had a surprise quiz in the second class itself!!! According to me, my performance was pretty decent but nothing be said for sure. The number of assignments has increased exponentially and while I am writing this, I have like 2 more group presentations to work on apart from class readings and case analysis submissions and what not! Although I have just 15 hours of classroom teaching in a week term , but the subjects are intense and faculty is pretty demanding.
I have joined a new club on campus called “Sunrisers”. Herein, we are a group of people who believe in early rising but somehow are not able to do it. This is how it works. A leader wakes up 3 people. In turn, those 3 wake up 3 more and the chain continues. So, I have slept at like 4 in the morning but still woken up at 6. Getting up early again gives me an opportunity to play badminton, take a long walk of the campus and enjoy the scenic view amidst pure air :) Rest of the sleep is compensated in the evening. But my average sleep has come down to 5 hours.
Buying a bicycle has been one of the better decisions. It allows me to save a lot of travelling time and results in bit of exercising too ;) ;)
Amidst this life-going-on-a-rocket-like-speed, I am still able to watch Prison Break season 4 episodes on Tuesdays itself, without fail. With more TV series scheduled to start pretty soon and my schedule expected to get more hectic, it will be difficult if not impossible, to watch the episodes so regularly.
Sports are also underway big time now. I gave my name for TT and badminton, but could not make it on time for badminton match due to other commitments and hence, my opponent got a bye. My TT match was pretty interesting. I lost the first set 21-19, won the second set on deuce. Third set started badly for me. I started with my serve and score line read 1-4. My opponent extended the lead to 8-2 with his serve. I worsened the situation by making it 4-11. But it was over yet. I broke this serve and made it 11-9 :) :) Here the battle got really fierce and getting one point was contested hard. I finally lost the set 21-16 and, of course, the match too. Maybe, lack of practice before the match did me in.
Oh yeah! Forgot to mention. A marketing game has been organised by a club inside the campus. Prelims was an online quiz and our team has made it to the finals, even after missing 2 sitters in the quiz :D :D The finals will start sometime soon and hope to crack that too! After all, some good moolah awaits us ;) ;)
Durga Puja break is coming in like 2 weeks and can't wait to go home...
Amidst all this – I just wonder one thing. Why are there only 24 hours in a day!!!!
With so many things to talk about, it is little difficult to figure out from where to start. Let me start from my exams. There are some things which are just too good here. Firstly, every exam has a random seating arrangement in a new room for everyone. This virtually eliminates the possibility of forming a cartel to one’s advantage. Even if one tries to use unfair means in an exam (even for a quiz for that matter), an expulsion from the institute is a possibility. Secondly, the papers are so meticulously prepared and conceptual, that without sound basic concepts in place, one just cannot perform here. Be it any subject – economics, accounts, stats or behavioural science (organisational behaviour). One lesson which I learnt, and the hard way, that last minute preparation is not gonna work here. It is hoped that I will put in little more extra in the next term.
Something which has never happened to me, ever, happened here in the accounts exam. The paper was expected to be tough. Knowing this, I had put in effort before the examination week. Even on the last day, I burnt the midnight lamp to see it through. I am sure I had not put in more effort in anything else in my 25 years, than what I had put in for this exam. But when I got the question paper in my hand, I was just shocked. I kept turning pages to figure out from where to start!!! I did not know a single question and yes, I had NOT prepared the wrong syllabus. First 15 minutes were lost to evaluate how and where to start from. 15 minutes count a lot for a 90 minute paper. Somehow, someway, I did whatever I could and left the examination hall 10 minutes before the scheduled time. My mind had stopped working and given all hopes to clear this paper. But soon I realised that everyone (ya..apart from select few ;) ) was screwed left, right and centre. Waiting to see at least some grade in front of my name in this paper. GOD, save me, please!!!
After our end-terms we had some literary events on campus organised by one of our clubs. Wanted to take part in Hindi debate but paucity of time (lame excuse, I know) was a bottleneck. But there were some on the spot events like Hindi and English JAM. It was fun to take part in them after so many years but sadly lost in the prelims. Last event of the day was antakshri, organised as a part of Hindi Diwas on the campus. The day ended on a high with our team finishing 2nd :P :P
Term 2 began and with a bang. Some of the faculty is really strict and we had a surprise quiz in the second class itself!!! According to me, my performance was pretty decent but nothing be said for sure. The number of assignments has increased exponentially and while I am writing this, I have like 2 more group presentations to work on apart from class readings and case analysis submissions and what not! Although I have just 15 hours of classroom teaching in a week term , but the subjects are intense and faculty is pretty demanding.
I have joined a new club on campus called “Sunrisers”. Herein, we are a group of people who believe in early rising but somehow are not able to do it. This is how it works. A leader wakes up 3 people. In turn, those 3 wake up 3 more and the chain continues. So, I have slept at like 4 in the morning but still woken up at 6. Getting up early again gives me an opportunity to play badminton, take a long walk of the campus and enjoy the scenic view amidst pure air :) Rest of the sleep is compensated in the evening. But my average sleep has come down to 5 hours.
Buying a bicycle has been one of the better decisions. It allows me to save a lot of travelling time and results in bit of exercising too ;) ;)
Amidst this life-going-on-a-rocket-like-speed, I am still able to watch Prison Break season 4 episodes on Tuesdays itself, without fail. With more TV series scheduled to start pretty soon and my schedule expected to get more hectic, it will be difficult if not impossible, to watch the episodes so regularly.
Sports are also underway big time now. I gave my name for TT and badminton, but could not make it on time for badminton match due to other commitments and hence, my opponent got a bye. My TT match was pretty interesting. I lost the first set 21-19, won the second set on deuce. Third set started badly for me. I started with my serve and score line read 1-4. My opponent extended the lead to 8-2 with his serve. I worsened the situation by making it 4-11. But it was over yet. I broke this serve and made it 11-9 :) :) Here the battle got really fierce and getting one point was contested hard. I finally lost the set 21-16 and, of course, the match too. Maybe, lack of practice before the match did me in.
Oh yeah! Forgot to mention. A marketing game has been organised by a club inside the campus. Prelims was an online quiz and our team has made it to the finals, even after missing 2 sitters in the quiz :D :D The finals will start sometime soon and hope to crack that too! After all, some good moolah awaits us ;) ;)
Durga Puja break is coming in like 2 weeks and can't wait to go home...
Amidst all this – I just wonder one thing. Why are there only 24 hours in a day!!!!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Management Game
IIM Calcutta has done a lot of changes in its curriculum this year. A number of new courses have been added; some courses have been done away with; some courses have a new syllabus and one of the major changes is in the introduction of Management Game in the first year.
The concept – Management game involves running a company by a group of individuals in changing scenarios and conditions. This game was always played in the 6th term till now but with the new curriculum in place, it will be played in both 1st and the 6th term. The underlying logic being to check if 2 years of MBA has added value :D
The Game – We 300 of us were divided into 5 sections of 60 students each. Each section had to compete within them. Now these 60 students were divided into 8 teams of 7-8 people. Every section had 4 regions and in each region only 2 firms operated initially.
Every team had to appoint a CEO first. In my team, owing to my age ;) ;) I was offered this position but I quietly declined the same and took up the COO role instead. Other posts were CTO, CFO et al.
Initially, the game rules were simple. We were operating in one region and it was a controlled regime, i.e., a lot of Government control existed. We were given the balance sheet of the company and all the relevant details. Oh, forgot to mention, it was an oil firm which everyone was working on.
We were operating in quarter 1 and had to strategise to increase bottom line, market share, build capacity for future use, control inventory etc. Since all of us were quite raw, we applied very basic instincts and worked on a very limited knowledge.
Moving ahead in every quarter, the ground rules kept changing. The control regime was removed, we could enter other regions, other firms could enter our region, we could raise equity, build new plants or warehouses etc etc.
We were supposed to strategise for every quarter and rules kept changing in the next quarter. So, basically we had to plan knowing the known and anticipating the unknown.
In the end, we finished third in our section of eight. Pretty decent performance, we thought :)
It was really good to work with people whom I had not got a chance to interact as we were put in a group by the college and was not a self selected group. Putting in opinions, defending them, changing strategies mid-way, arguing out one’s thought really gave a feel of the management working!
Really looking forward to play a similar game after like one-and-a-half-years when everyone will have the concepts in the place; it will be a war to watch out for :)
The concept – Management game involves running a company by a group of individuals in changing scenarios and conditions. This game was always played in the 6th term till now but with the new curriculum in place, it will be played in both 1st and the 6th term. The underlying logic being to check if 2 years of MBA has added value :D
The Game – We 300 of us were divided into 5 sections of 60 students each. Each section had to compete within them. Now these 60 students were divided into 8 teams of 7-8 people. Every section had 4 regions and in each region only 2 firms operated initially.
Every team had to appoint a CEO first. In my team, owing to my age ;) ;) I was offered this position but I quietly declined the same and took up the COO role instead. Other posts were CTO, CFO et al.
Initially, the game rules were simple. We were operating in one region and it was a controlled regime, i.e., a lot of Government control existed. We were given the balance sheet of the company and all the relevant details. Oh, forgot to mention, it was an oil firm which everyone was working on.
We were operating in quarter 1 and had to strategise to increase bottom line, market share, build capacity for future use, control inventory etc. Since all of us were quite raw, we applied very basic instincts and worked on a very limited knowledge.
Moving ahead in every quarter, the ground rules kept changing. The control regime was removed, we could enter other regions, other firms could enter our region, we could raise equity, build new plants or warehouses etc etc.
We were supposed to strategise for every quarter and rules kept changing in the next quarter. So, basically we had to plan knowing the known and anticipating the unknown.
In the end, we finished third in our section of eight. Pretty decent performance, we thought :)
It was really good to work with people whom I had not got a chance to interact as we were put in a group by the college and was not a self selected group. Putting in opinions, defending them, changing strategies mid-way, arguing out one’s thought really gave a feel of the management working!
Really looking forward to play a similar game after like one-and-a-half-years when everyone will have the concepts in the place; it will be a war to watch out for :)
Saturday, August 2, 2008
1/12 MBA
Time just flies by! 6 weeks have just gone by and I am already 1/12 MBA. These have been fun-filled and just terrific days for me. Here are the things I really want to talk about.
1. Exams – Just had my mid-sems. The quality of paper being set is just too good. Basic, very basic concepts are tested and no amount of mugging can help. One needs to remember all the basics at the same time. And preparing at the last time is a sure-shot suicide. Some faculty is way too fast in giving out result. The exam held on Monday had its result finalised by Tuesday, which is less than 24 hours. But they were put up after our last exam today!!!
P.S. – No query about my performance will be entertained ;)
2. Food – Everyone seems to ask this question :D So, here’s the answer. It’s pretty good in my hostel which is known as New Hostel (actually was built in 1993), popularly known as NH in IIM-C.
3. Tests/quizzes/assignments – Surprise and announced quizzes are the in-things in IIM-C. This is just to have continuous evaluation and to ensure that not too much weightage gets on to one particular exam. One thing I would like to mention here is that IIM-C has ZERO TOLERANCE policy regarding plagiarism. If one is caught, it is very very very severly dealt with.
4. Time Management – Something which comes automatically to an individual in a B-School. With so many things to do together – classes, quiz, exams, assignments, group assignments, sport, gym, swimming, clubs...one can’t help but prioritize and reprioritize the events in life. So much so, that my walking time from hostel to the classroom has reached 7 minutes from initial 10 minutes. I am sure, it will touch 4 minutes by the time I leave the campus.
5. Flash Gordon – This is a tournament which is held in NH. It is the footer-volley championship held between the different wings of this hostel. Just to add, our wing won it this time :) :)
Well, this is enough for now. Many things are in store for the coming weeks – management game, a trekking trip which I might go to, World War and many more.
Keep watching this space!
1. Exams – Just had my mid-sems. The quality of paper being set is just too good. Basic, very basic concepts are tested and no amount of mugging can help. One needs to remember all the basics at the same time. And preparing at the last time is a sure-shot suicide. Some faculty is way too fast in giving out result. The exam held on Monday had its result finalised by Tuesday, which is less than 24 hours. But they were put up after our last exam today!!!
P.S. – No query about my performance will be entertained ;)
2. Food – Everyone seems to ask this question :D So, here’s the answer. It’s pretty good in my hostel which is known as New Hostel (actually was built in 1993), popularly known as NH in IIM-C.
3. Tests/quizzes/assignments – Surprise and announced quizzes are the in-things in IIM-C. This is just to have continuous evaluation and to ensure that not too much weightage gets on to one particular exam. One thing I would like to mention here is that IIM-C has ZERO TOLERANCE policy regarding plagiarism. If one is caught, it is very very very severly dealt with.
4. Time Management – Something which comes automatically to an individual in a B-School. With so many things to do together – classes, quiz, exams, assignments, group assignments, sport, gym, swimming, clubs...one can’t help but prioritize and reprioritize the events in life. So much so, that my walking time from hostel to the classroom has reached 7 minutes from initial 10 minutes. I am sure, it will touch 4 minutes by the time I leave the campus.
5. Flash Gordon – This is a tournament which is held in NH. It is the footer-volley championship held between the different wings of this hostel. Just to add, our wing won it this time :) :)
Well, this is enough for now. Many things are in store for the coming weeks – management game, a trekking trip which I might go to, World War and many more.
Keep watching this space!
Monday, May 19, 2008
A Journey called CAT
IIM – The acronym every B-Schooler aspires for in
Umm…from where to start…let me go back to April of the year 2000. It was the time when my sister made it to the well…Joka land, i.e. IIM Calcutta. It was the time when I was preparing for my engineering and already made my mind to make it to an IIM.
First two and a half years of engineering went fine but it’s generally in the third year when one starts thinking about what next! Then I joined Career Launcher in
CAT No. 1: Year 2002 in November
It was a normal 3 section paper in which I had no pressure to perform. The paper went fine and it was the first time wherein the percentiles were to be revealed. Moving to the results, QA was 99.5 % with an 86 odd in DI and some 65 in verbal. This clearly told me where I had to work on – as if I didn’t know it before.
Jan 2003 – Oct 2003 – The time when all of my friends, classmates and everyone and anyone was a CAT aspirant. It was good to be in excellent company and I think that competition forced me to prepare for the exam which eventually I think I did.
CAT No. 2: Year 2003 in November
Was I nervous??!! I WAS. This was the day, the time, the 2 hours which are going to decide the future for me. I still remember how the exam went. The sound of opening the sheet, the answer sheet being filled, the sweat, the tension – everything is still like a movie in my mind. Anyhow, in the end I was quite happy with my performance in DI and QA Also, I knew that I had did well in Verbal because 2 RCs which I attempted in the exam were luckily from some of the test mock papers of the institutes.
But then disaster stuck as soon as I crossed the gates of the school of my center – my mother telling me, “Amit, CAT is cancelled. The paper got LEAKED last night.”
I was like noooooooooooooo, it’s difficult to give your best again. Well, with no option left in life, I started preparing for my semester exams.
Forgot to mention this, 3 weeks before CAT, I had a disc collapse in my back which forced me to take bed rest for 2 weeks which meant no studies, nothing but I think that did not have any adverse effects on my CAT preparation.
Year 2004 has come I had already done the greatest mistake of my life by filling just 3 forms – CAT, XAT and MDI. The XAT exam was next and so much verbal focus, I knew it was difficult to clear it. But then trying was important, which I did and eventually failed also. But since CAT was still there, I thought to myself that I still have a chance to make it to my dream school.
CAT No. 3: Year 2004 in February
After been there already, I was not as nervous but yeah, pressure to perform kills you. The exam was little on the tougher side but it went fine. In this internet age, the solutions were out by the evening but I had decided not to check till the next day.
Next day, I started checking my paper. As always, I started here also with Quant. The performance was sufficient enough to clear the cut-off. I don’t know what prompted me to check verbal next. I did and was amazed to see my score and was already jumping in my room…but hang on…story is not over yet.
I checked DI then and my world came crashing down. I attempted 4 case lets and got 2 of them ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!! I scored a single digit in DI; it was something I was not prepared for...why why why!!! After not able to make it in IIT-JEE because of Maths then, again DI did me in.
Crying made me no better and I knew that it was bye bye IIMs and MDI.
The results came out as expected and I was prepared for it. Some of my close friends had all six calls or single calls or some calls at least. Most of them made it and then we parted on our different paths in life.
I joined HCL Technologies in
CAT No. 4: Year 2004 in November
The exam time came. CAT, XAT, IIFT and FMS. Results: calls from IIM-L, MDI, IIFT and NITIE. I was confident of converting one call at least this time. CAT percentile overall was 98.94%. Also, this was the time when PaGaLGuY shot to fame with that result link getting exposed and all ;) This was the first CAT in which differential marking was introduced.
Jan 2005 – MDI interview, my first B-School GD/PI experience. Somehow managed the GD and went in the interview. Interview was okie-dokie. With next 3 interviews in March, I had loads of time to prepare for them.
Feb 28, 2004 – MDI results are out. Not selected…not even in the waitlist..am I that bad. Maybe yes. With around 10 days to go, I left no stone unturned to prepare for the GD/PI. Next interview was NITIE in Mumbai on 8th March, 2004 (which was my birthday too J).
March 7, 2004 – Disaster will be an understatement with what happened. I slept with a little back pain but just could not life myself up from the bed. The pain in my lower back was killing me and even lying straight was not helping me. We rushed to the hospital and I was diagnosed with slip disc. 3 weeks bed rest, no movement nothing. My NITIE was next day, IIFT in 3 days and IIML in 10 days. No way was I going to miss them.
I had to get admitted in the hospital and doctor did not allow me to move at all. This meant, all pleadings for attending interviews for NITIE were waste. IIFT also went by and I sat there who could not do anything about it – just cry a bit…ok..not a bit but a little more.
I had my mind, come what may – I will attend my IIM interview. When doctor heard the word “IIM”, he also became a little soft and said that try to get it postponed as much as possible. We tried our best but date was still within my bed rest period. With a little change in is heart, he allowed me to take the interview.
The GD was bad for me as the pain was still there and it was bad. I had to wait for nearly 3 hours for my interview and this aggravated the pain. Somehow, I braved it and faced the interview panel.
It was an above average PI but performance in GD was still enough to ensure that I don’t get in.
The results came and I was waitlisted at 107. This is when I joined PaGaLGuY and my first post was on the IIM L thread. After months of praying and tracking the WL day and night, it closed at 102!!!
I applied for a transfer to Mumbai to stay with my parents and take care of my back. Eventually the company did transfer me and here I landed in Mumbai. I joined the TIME test series and was doing pretty fine but the office culture here was really bad. For the first six months from July to December, there was not a single day when I did not contemplate resigning.
CAT No. 5: Year 2005 in November
I added one more exam in my list – JMET. Exams came and went and somehow I screwed ALL of them. CAT 97 %ile, XAT 99 %ile, JMET – 500+ Rank and similarly all. All but one – FMS. Had calls from both the courses and went to
One interesting thing about XAT. Had a 99.9+ in both DI and QA but 86.80 or something in Verbal. Basically I missed the verbal cutoff by .01% L
With 2 years work experience already in my kitty and entering my third year, GMAT option was also available. (just hang on for a bit, the other IIM is coming now J ) In April, I registered for a June date for my GMAT and also joined TIME classes for CAT preparation. I knew it was NOW or NEVER. PaGaLGuY was a really big help for GMAT and after 3 months of study, I scored a 710. This is where I found the other IIM which stands for Indian IT Male. Most of the applicants from
Had plans to apply to 3 schools only – ISB, CMU Tepper and Goizueta Emory. The application process in these is a pain but in the end, it is quite insightful. One comes to know so much about oneself. Coupled with this, I was attending classes in TIME and going to my job also. Somehow, I stuck the right chord in Mocks and was posting on PG big time. Also, I disclosed my MBA plans in my office as I needed the recos of my superiors. Surprisingly, they were really cooperative and appreciated my efforts and plans. Also, this was the time when I made two of my greatest friends in the office. I still owe my success to both of them (incidentally both are females :D ) as they listened to my agony, failures and were happy on my success. I really miss them as they are still in Mumbai with me roaming all around. But thanks to internet, its not that difficult to keep track and be in touch.
Oct, Nov 2005 – Had interview calls from all 3 schools – ISB, Tepper and Goizueta. CAT day was also coming. I was done with my ISB interview (which was very very arbit) and Tepper interview over the phone before CAT. The last interview was scheduled in Mumbai in December as a part of the World MBA Tour. Both the US B-School interviews were pretty straight-forward – Why MBA, strengths, weakness etcetera etc.
CAT No. 6: Year 2006 in November
The 5 options paper for CAT…man I had seen it all Started with Quant and killed it. Moved to the most arbit verbal paper ever and then did DI. When the solutions came in the evening, verbal had left me hanging…well almost. Btw, SP Jain was out of the hit list.
Dec 2006 – Jan 2007 –> Worst time of my life. Rejects from ISB, Tepper and Goizueta. CAT result out. 100%ile in QA, 95 in DI and 82 in verbal. It was over for me. With just 5 days to go for XAT, I had no option but to give it my best. It was verbal and verbal and just more verbal.
7th Jan, 2007 – In the XAT paper itself, I knew that finally verbal is cracked. Meanwhile, JMET had given me a rank of 39 and calls from IIT B, D and KGP were on. MDI also found me suitable for college, even NITIE thought the same
20th Jan, 2007 – The evening before the FMS paper. Just went online for something and saw the XL result link. With all my confidence, I punched in my roll number and saw the line “Sorry….” WTF !!!! how how how….then clicked on the scorecard link. QA 99 something, Verbal 95.42..scorecard is not over yet..DI 77 %ile This is just not possible…gave up all hope of MBA.
Took the FMS exam and also prepared for the upcoming GDs and PIs. Then someone advised me about the MAT route to JBIMS and MHCET was also added on the exam taking list. MAT went awesome and 99.99%ile with a composite score of 800 ensured that JBIMS was there now. All the interviews came one by one and I attended all of the,. Some in Mumbai, some in
Finally comes the news I was waiting to hear all my life. 13th March, 2007 2230 hrs. A friend of mine called from FMS and here it was – WL 1 Yipeee!!!! FMS it was. MS was WL 7. Btw, I attended my MDI and IITB interviews after my FMS convert. Though, people advised me against it but they had taken a lot of my hard earned money ;) so I decided to take them.
Well, in the end, I had all converts – FMS (both), JBIMS, IITs (all 3), MDI and NITIE. It was
I resigned from my job and then decided to utilize my time by teaching in TIME. This is where ARKSS Sir (ARKS Srinivas, TIME Director, Mumbai) said to me, “Amit, CAT ek baar aur likh de.” I was like no, never sir. I was tired of writing it. We left it there.
July came and I was in here – FMS J Met some of the sharpest people in the country and some awesome faculty. After one month of grilling, I called up ARKSS and told him that FMS is not chill at all. And people, I am serious. During that phone call, again the CAT thing came up and he said “Mere liye likh de.” I told him I can’t do it now anymore, no time to study and all. He somehow convinced me to fill the form and I did it. I just filled the form and did no prep. No test series. There was no time in FMS. There was lotsa work there, then summers, then exams..everything was packed. And whatever time I had in life, I ensured that I sleep well.
CAT No. 7: Year 2007 in November
CAT was on the 18th and our first semester exams got over on the 15th evening. 15th and 16th were spent in chilling out in life and 17th was taken away by room cleaning. The only sane thing I did on 17th was sleeping at 2230 hrs ;) Next day, I went to the exam centre which was nearby to the hostel, thankfully. From there, I called ARKSS again and told him that I still don’t know why I am doing this. Finally, the paper started and it was exciting to do Maths after so many months. Did QA first followed by Verbal and finally DI. Came back to the room after the exam and slept. In the evening, got up and checked the score. QA and DI were fine but as always a 20 in verbal according to TIME keys. My score varied from 15 to 25 depending on institute keys. In either case, I was not clearing cut-off for verbal according to any of the institutes. So, it was over.
Life moved on, then came the day of the results. However bad one performs, there is always a desire to check the result (umm..fine...i have it ) The link given on the CATIIM site was not working from the hostel. Then I came to know about the result by SMS thing. I SMSed and received the following reply.
QA (%ile) 99.98 with a score of 70
DI (%ile) 99.97 with a score of 76
Verbal (%ile) 96.40 with a score of 30
Overall (%ile) 99.99 with a score of 176
YES YES YES I HAVE CRACKED IT !!! Calls started coming in and had all 6 calls. I was elated. But then, I had another problem. What will I say in the interview. FMS is awesome, why should one leave it. I had no clue what to do. The interview schedule came and the forms from the IIMs too. Took a lot of help from ARKSS sir for the same and prepared for the interview. I knew what to prepare – MBA acads and why chuck FMS for an IIM.
The first interview was IIML. A pretty decent GD and average PI. Next was IIMK. An average GD and bad PI.
The Big One was next – Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. And man, I was nervous. The essay was fine and PI was a dream one. They just could not believe that someone wants to leave FMS and come to IIMA. I think I did a pretty decent job there and rest of the questions varied from work experience to MBA Acads to general stuff in life. The in-depth knowledge of the profs is really mind-boggling. I don’t think there is anything which they don’t know about.
IIM Calcutta was next. A decent case study discussion followed by stress interview. Was asked Maths, Sub Prime, Telecom War, Quiz, FMS and everything.
With interviews over, summer internship was something which was coming up. But, Supreme court had other plans. I was also a part of the waiting pain but had no window to vent out the frustration coz it was a secret I wanted to keep. Btw, my FMS classmates came to know about my calls in January itself. I know who did it but have not done anything to that person J But I know what to do to him.
May 1 was about to dawn, I slept without much tension in life. Was woken at 7 a.m. by a friend’s call informing me about IIMB results being out last night only. I checked and as expected, did not get through. I had to go the office and was on my way. Meanwhile, another friend called me and told me to check the WL of IIMB. He checked for me and no; I was not there L as expected though.
I reached office and realized that Wi-Fi was not working on my laptop (Murphy’s Law at its best). I went to IT guys and they needed “some” time to fix it. Just then, another person called me to tell me about IIMC results being out. I sat on the IT guys head and wanted my laptop back up and running. After 20-25 minutes of patience, laptop was handed back to me.
First thing I did was, checking the IIMC result. Opened the link, entered my details and my heart was beating fast as never before. And there it was. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Just could not believe. Tears of joy tricked down my eyes :) :) I was IN...FINALLY IN!!!!
Got through L and K too but surprisingly A ditched me. But no issues…JOKA I AM COMING
I want to clarify 2 things here about which I was asked a lot once I made my result public. 1.Is FMS not good? - People, it is an awesome college; I just took CAT for the heck of it and my stay in FMS had nothing to do with it. So, please don’t get me wrong here. Go ahead and join FMS without battling an eyelid. 2. Justifying interview panel about leaving FMS and going to IIM – The answer was a very planned out one and was structured in a way so that no cross questioning was possible..thanks to ARKSS sir again.Some of the quotes which I had heard over so many years are really true 1.Patience pays 2. Efforts never go waste 3. Samay se pehle aur kismet se zyada kuch nahin milta.But my personal favourite is the one which my cousin said once she heard the result – “Finally, CAT ki aatma ko shanti mili”
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