Quarter 6 - Week 1

I love the first weeks of the quarters. The profs summarize what they're going to teach through the courses during these sessions. So essentially, it's like sitting through a talk about a topic that you find fascinating. It's only when you're halfway through the courses and you grapple with some individual demons within the course, that you begin to tire of the load. But the first week is always the most scintillating. It is typically in this week, that you get to know if you're going to pay attention to the course or the professor, and whether this is going to be a much rougher ride.

This quarter I am studying under some of the most celebrated profs at college. Make no mistake, while some of these professors come with experience in the field, some others have the distinct power of roaming in the hallowed upper corridors of organizations at critical junctures. Therefore, what they bring to the class is the mindset through which the decisions are made in the upper echelons. Every time when they talk of one of their experiences with head honchos, their distinct art of almost bringing you into that room (like the pensieve in Harry Potter??) gives you a peek into what goes through the minds of those above. And of course, distilled learning. Almost makes the heads look... human, vulnerable, not invincible. Like even I could one day reach there.

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation

The class opens with a simple "How many of you want to be entrepreneurs?". In the true-blue comsi-comsa style(That's french, look it up), very few hands rise up. So the prof immediately attacks the rest of the class "Why are you here?". Standard responses, well thought responses all pour onto the whiteboard. Then the prof goes ahead and tells us that our batch is normal(phew!) since every other batch tells him this. And then he goes on to tell us that even if we don't want to start new ventures, the spirit of entrepreneurship is now rising in organizations. Call it intrapreneurship, innovation, whatever. There is a rising need for diving into the unknown in orgs too, and so this will help us understand better about HOW to dive in.

We had a case already in the first week, a simple one where we talk about a particular person and his company. Apparently it started off well, but now he's facing some crises, so how should we tackle it. Through this we got to understand some fundamentals about entrepreneurship. About what drives a person into it, about what the road is typically paved like, and how to increase value of the company. A good appetizer for what's coming.

Social Entrepreneurship

What??! TWO entrepreneurship courses, you say!? Well, yeah. Some effects are beyond our causes. What can I do? I'm interested, I'll take! In any case, the prof is in very high standing in the IIMB community, and there must be some reason for that. We caught a glimpse of it this week. There appears to be an obvious lack of complete belief in the government and its actions towards society, and yet that does seem tempered by some afterthought... like the prof believes that they're doing SOMETHING. While a lot is wrong, he believes some is right.

And with his position and authority on the subject, he tells us straight away that we're not going to get into an idealogical debate. I've come here to tell you what I know about the state of society today, and how the government alone can not perform miracles. You need to get into the trenches, see the environment for yourself. WE need to do something, so let's get started. So, no idealogical debates about "What is poor?", "God/Religion", "System should change".. I'll have none of that. You can't convince me to change my point of view, I wont change your inherent strong beliefs. It's upto you to see what you want to accept and imbibe, and what to leave. Agreed? The class just nods.

And immediately he dives right into some basic statistics about society. Information on literacy, monthly earnings, mortality rates, gender ratios, and those numbers hit you pretty strongly. It's in black and white (and a little colour) right there. When you see that the AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD gets Rs. 500 a month to survive on, and you think about the meal you had last night for the same amount per person, you just go a little slow. And you try to analyse what it's like there. Then the prof brings you back to class talking about female to male ratios of 900 to 1000, again average. And then you wonder, oh, so that's why most guys are not able to find girlfriends (Ok, that was unwarranted). And you see that some of the most well-off states are the ones that have such imbalance! And you wonder if saneness comes with capital, why does this happen. And then you go on to literacy levels, oh I can go on... trust me, you might not be shell-shocked, but you definitely will pause, and think.

And then the prof talks about how he'll not be talking about the movements like "Save the tiger" with a comment that "God bless them..", but that he'll talk about the social entrepreneurs who're making a difference for society, and that when he says "poor" he means "abject poverty", and he proceeds to widen the difference between poverty and "abject poverty" in our eyes. We also have a few exchange students in class (first time for PGSEM students), so they have clear objective questions... I wonder if they even understand the glimpse of stark reality that the professor is trying to convey. I'm sure they're trying hard to get it, though. Let's face it... quite a few foreigners have spent more time travelling through our villages than some of our urbanites, myself included. A lot to think about, and a definite understanding.. this course is not going to be like the ones before. We've already been told that for our projects, we're going to have to step into the trenches, not just read about poverty, but see it for real. This course is going to be like seeing over the shoulders of the professor, and the entrepreneurs he brings, the change agents... and then dabbling very mildly in those waters, for an instant.

B2B Market Management

Right, so if you dont know what B2B is, you're reading the wrong blog. Google it, and come back. The legend goes that no one should exit the PGSEM journey without undergoing this course. The prof has been hailed as one of the most influential ones in the minds of the PGSEM Student community. We heard him once before at our orientation, we've heard about him through our seniors, and now we're in his presence. Time to see if he's worth all that yakking.

And he starts off simply, and when he asks the expectations from this class... and hears all the above, he then tells us how it started off with just 6 students, and how he's happy to hear that students now consider this a rite of passage. And then, swoop! Dives right into the course. An immediate introduction to B2B and then we have a simple discussion about what is the difference between B2B and B2C. Then a message that we're going to see the VP(Non-linear growth) of Wipro the next day, and that we should read the case. When I go home and see that the cases are almost 50 pages... not to mention another 10 for the first course, and another 40 pages of reading for the second course, my heart just fell two notches. Anyway, I did what any self-respecting student would do... cram the case that was so important and sleep. Tomorrow's another day, let's face some risk then. And so we come for the second session, and we see the VP there, and we have a brief discussion about the aspects of the case. Apparently, this is our project.

You know, when you see the Wipro VP standing in front of you, like I said, they seem human. You actually know that hey, they're right here... they're people like you and me. There's a sense of confidence that just sweeps through you... God knows, Indians need it. But anyway, more about the case. After a little more discussion on why we need to start looking into the non-linear growth of companies, the time's up... and you come out thinking about the case. Very interesting that the professor is dabbling in a new method for the project. Making us all work on a live case does two things - 1, it gives us a chance to play with real data, and 2, it stakes our reputation as intelligent students and tomorrow's "leaders" (Ahem!! Cough, Cough!) on the line. Our profs like to take risks, I gather..

International Business Negotiation Skills

We've seen this prof before, he's our marketing prof! The one who some have found either MOST inspiring or MOST hateful. A little older, a little frailer than before, he went ahead and even broke an arm (flashbacks of me talking about him croaking come to mind, touch wood..) and then he just starts off with his usual mode of delivery. Constantly skimming at a very high level, he gives out these really vague statements, something that most people would consider common sense, but what most in this class write down. Especially when he says "Reflect on it". He's one of those profs who's not really shy about name-dropping, and he constantly talks about how this guy said this to him and how that guy said that to him. When I say guy here.. think the stalwarts in Indian business today. By telling us the circles he moves in, the prof indirectly also tells us the thought process that they have and how decisions are made.

But at times, I start getting a headache. His penchant for giving those heavy proverbial lines, and asking us to reflect on it takes a lot out of us. Because you KNOW that he's talking out of experience, and that he's skimming at the bird's eye level... and that it's upto you to see as far below as you can. And when you do too much of that, your head spins. Anyway, he does the standard "What do you want out of this course?" and proceeds to set his expectations.

He first says that even though there are no exams here, nothing for us to whine about, the load is still heavy. There's a personal learning diary he wants us to maintain, since we're going to learn from ourselves. It's seeing this that I joined this course. If someone could talk in high circles, and get a mix of spirituality, idealogy and fundas.. this prof is in that group. And when we talk about abstract things like "Learn from yourself", I cant think of a more formidable guide. Profs in economics and statistics are far more microscopic for this kind of stuff (Have I made my first enemies here??! :P). I also joined because I thought this was going to be light, but looks like I'm going to stay even otherwise.

God help my soul this quarter. 4 courses, all of which have heavy binders of readings and reflection and introspection, sigh. My mind is going to get so !@%#-ed.