My journey towards an MBA degree

Cisco CIO talk on "CISCO and Globalization"

2009-09-20T12:55:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, I was a part of a talk by the Cisco India CIO Mr. Gopalaratnam. Other than the points that he was talking about CISCO and what is it doing with respect to CISCO's vision for the future keeping in mind the globalization trend, the points that I noted from the talk were:
(a) Mobility as a platform will be the key to the future. CISCO has acknowledged this.
(b) He used the word "green" once in the meet, to forget it off in the rest of the presentation :) (just a formality?)
(c) Globalization as a trend - leading to the major business acquisitions and business trends. Towards this aspect one of the key trends that CISCO is focusing on was Communication and Collaboration.
(d) Repackaging the company products as services.
Virtualization key to future - 3 levels of virtualization (including cloud computing). Interestingly, he said that pricing is still a challenge and they are working on getting the pricing model right.
(e) CISCO v/s Microsoft - CISCO thinks that the future is in networks, MS thinks that the future is in desktop.
(f) Recession time - time to improve operational excellence or time to innovate? Might be a better time to innovate to be better prepared to ride the upturn market.
(g) CISCO org structure that was changed radically recently.
(h) With CISCO entering new markets, its former partners are becoming competitors. They are ready to face it.

Overall a good talk. Nothing radically new talked about. It had the main keywords that one would expect to hear from such a talk :)

So long till the next time.
Sidvish

Induction @ PGSEM, Pehel and Mid Terms

2009-07-28T19:08:00.001+05:30

It has been more than a month in PGSEM and during this time:

1. A 2 day grueling induction program is completed. I called it baptism by fire J

2. The first college fest, Pehel organized by just the PGSEMers is done. Though there were a few goof ups of different magnitude (right from starting of the Drama 5 times because of faulty sound system to calling a person to receive a certificate of appreciation without the certificate), as they say, all is well that ends well.

The induction program was a really bad one, in the sense that it jolted me off my comfort zone. It started on a Friday and went on till Sunday evening. The class was divided into multiple groups and there was a cup of some sort to be won at the end of it all. In between, there were induction programs, a murder mystery to be solved, a case study in strategy to be discussed (had to prepare till 2 in the night L)and general fun events that were tied to the cup.

Irrespective of who won the cup (this does not mean that I am saying this since I did not win it J), the main aim of the induction was solved. It painted a grim picture of what was to come and it had done the initial bonding across the folks which would not have been possible otherwise.

Pehel was another story all together. Since this was the first college fest, everyone (or at least most of us) were enthusiastic about planning and working for it. I was a reluctant participant till a day before the program, but got sucked into the whirlpool of enthusiasm that the group brought to the event. My contribution to the fest was a small part in the drama event in the fest. This was an eye opener in the sense that I now realize how badly I suck in dramatics. I think I should stop commenting about the wooden acting that people in Bollywood do J

So all these are over, and to add to a good measure, the mid terms are also over. Now starts the scramble to complete the assignments and prepare for the biggie – the end terms.

Sidvish

Hello!

2009-07-28T18:35:00.001+05:30

I am a blog!!! See me getting posted…

Note: I added the label to the post after editing the original post. I wonder if there is any way to indicate the labels for the blog too in an email?

PGSEM Interview

2009-04-20T14:27:00.002+05:30

The interview was on the 03-Apr-2009.
There were 2 people: one was a young flashy guy and the other was a measured lady.
Though the questions are very hazy now, I'll try to put in whatever is possible:

1. About the company name - why, who, how? (damn! it was a flashback to the Alumni Interview again...what's up with name anyways? In case you are wondering all about this, dig this - the company name is j235 Software India Pvt Ltd.) This went for some time till they enjoyed it till the last bit.
2. Questions on the work experiences in the company - they went into the details. To give you a gist, I work for a services company which deals with Higher Ed projects in the US. The flashy guy (FG from now on) asked whether I know about moodle (This is what they use in IIMB.)...I said that it might be too small a piece to be implemented by any of our client colleges :D
3. Went into economics questions - why do you think India is getting effected by the economic downturn in the US...the conversation (or was it an argument? :)) went on for some time...meandering along the basic reason for the burst till Indian stock market and percentage of IT contributing to Indian GDP and FDIs in Indian Stock market. This, in my mind was the highlight of the interview - the make or break question.

Little did I realize at that point, I had made through with my side of the argument. :)

Cheers,
Sidvish

Interview Preparation chart

2009-04-14T07:34:00.002+05:30

A document that I prepared as a part of the PGSEM that held me in good stead. Hope this helps someone. Note that the figures are till 2008 types - might have to be revised in a couple of years.

The numbers and the information is predominantly from wikipedia itself.
-------------------------------------------
The format is as follows:
1. Indian Demographics
2. Indian Economy
3. Abbreviations
4. Karnataka, Maharashtra and Indian government.
5. Current Affairs
a) Sub prime loan crisis.
b) Indian GDP
c) Terrorism etc.

Sidvish

Indian Demographics
1. Total population: 1.16 billion
a. Population Growth Rage: 1.6%
i. Rural Pop: 71%
ii. Urban Pop: 29%
b. Life expectancy: 70 years
2. Age Distribution:
a. 0-14: 31%
b. 15-60: 64%
c. > 60%: 5%
3. Literacy Rate: 80%
4. Religion:
a. Hindus: 80%
b. Muslims: 13.5%
5. Languages:
a. Hindi: 41%
b. Bengali: 8%
c. Telegu/Marathi: 7%
6. % under poverty line: 28%
7. Unemployment Rate: 8%

Indian Economy
1. 12th largest by market rate/4th largest by PPP
2. GDP: 3.3 trillion (PPP)
3. growth: 7.3% (2008)
4. Export: 175 Bln – 1.2% of the world trade.
5. Export Partners:
a. USA: 15%
b. China: 8.5%
6. Employment Breakup
a. Agriculture: 60%
b. Services: 28%
c. Industrial Sector: 12%
7. Output
a. Agriculture: 17% of GDP
b. Services: 28% of GDP
i. Business services 1/3rd
c. Industry: 54% of GDP
8. Economic Inequality:
a. GINI coefficient: 0.4 – 0.44
b. 80% population below 2$/day (PPP)
9. Economic liberalization in 1991
a. license raj before that.
10. Indian industries: 5% of the world’s CO2 emissions
11. FDI: 2% of GDP – 19.5 bln$
12. India: 120 in Ease of doing Business
13. 11th 5 year plan going on since 2007
Abbreviations
1. PPP: Purchasing Power Parity
2. FDI: Foreign Direct Investment
a. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a measure of foreign ownership of productive assets, such as factories, mines and land. Increasing foreign investment can be used as one measure of growing economic globalization.
3. FII:
4. RTI: Right to Information Act
5.
Karnataka Government
2004 state election
The last elections in Karnataka held in 2004 led to extremely unusual results. For one, no party had enough seats to form a government on its own. Out of a total of 224 seats, the BJP won 79, the Congres 65 and the JD (Secular) 58. The only possibility was a coalition government and the two largest parties were politically not inclined to form a coalition. JD(S) President and former prime minister Deve Gowda decided to partner with the Congress to form a government just to keep the BJP out of the government. The coalition headed by chief minister N Dharam Singh (Congress) and Deputy chief minister Siddharamiah (of JDS) lasted till 2006. Deve Gowda's son HD Kumaraswamy, also of the JDS, brought in a new twist when he garnered support of 46 other ministers and withdrew support from the Congress. Kumaraswamy struck a deal with the opposition party, the right wing BJP, to form an alternate government. The new coalition had HD Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister and B. S. Yeddyurappa of the BJP as deputy chief minister. Before forming the government, the two parties had entered into an informal power sharing agreement. They would enjoy chief ministership for a period of 20 months each (which would cover the time left for the next elections). This has created a unique situation where a government has been headed by three different political parties with no elections between them.
2008 state election
In 2007, a sudden dispute occurred between HD Kumaraswamy and Yeddyurappa over the abdication of powers which threw the state into emergency and hence under direct Presidential rule. During the elections on 10, 16 and 22 May, the BJP defeated both the local party as well as the Congress making Yeddyurappa the undisputed chief minister of the state. The BJP nearly achieved a majority, and will be leading a state government by itself for the first time in South Indian political history.[1] Analysts claim that the main reason for the defeat of the Congress was that its promises of development have been severely foiled under the current Indian crises like inflation which has jacked up food prices hence severely affecting drought hit regions of the state.[citation needed] Besides, the Congress also had internal rivalries leading to uncertainty of a particular Congress chief minister, in contrary to BJP's Yeddyurappa who has once been an extremely efficient finance minister.[citation needed]
Indian Government

On 22 May 2004, Manmohan Singh was appointed the Prime Minister of India following the victory of the INC & the left front in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. The UPA now rules India without the support of the left front. Previously, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had taken office in October 1999 after a general election in which a BJP-led coalition of 13 parties called the National Democratic Alliance emerged with a majority.

PGSEM results

2009-04-12T11:31:00.003+05:30

The results were out for the PGSEMs the last week.
I have got through!

Now is when I need to get all fundas from a couple of my collegues who have passed out from there in the last few years and prepare for no life for 2.5 years starting from this June.

But looking at the positives, I think this change will be (hopefully) be one of the best things to happen in life.

Only after getting through did I realize that it was somewhat competitive to get through - there seems to be just a batch of 75 that will be attending this session.

Will post in more details in the later blogs.

Cheers,
sidvish

PGSEM Alumni Interview

2009-04-06T16:40:00.004+05:30

This happened a couple of weeks back, so I might have missed a few questions here and there. Sorry about that. :)

There were two people - A and B.
A was somewhat old.
B was the younger of the two.

A: How are you? (or something to that effect)
SV: Fine, had a long bike trip - indicated that new house is kinda far off from the place. Had some related discussions abt the location and its proximity to the International Airport.
B: Company name- do you know y is it called j235? (I have thought abt it for quite some time, but no answers to it. I dont know if anyone has the answer to it but people keep asking the same question :))
SV: Indicated that I think it has got something to do with the registration number of the company though not very sure about it.

B: What kind of a company is this?
SV: Services, [here I bungled up a bit] Though registered, it has got a loose connectivity to the parent company in the sense that the contract indicates that the parent company (Exeter) will provide us with x thousand dollors worth work. [Should have just said that it a 100% owned subsidary company to Exeter Group Inc. which is what it really is. :(]
He was somewhat confused. Some more discussion happened and then we left it at that point.

A: Asked about the designation and workload
SV: Indicated that, told him that since it is a small company, the expectation is that you should be putting in 10 hours of work everyday [though now that I think about it, that's what is the expectation everywhere with the recession setting in]
That's when B went on with his questions on whether we get coffee breaks or whether we have time to have a good lunch break everyday.
I wanted to tell him that we are not prisoners in a jail or something but just smiled and said - yes we do. :)

A/B: Do you think you will be able to manage your workload with the course?
SV: [Here again I somewhat bungled up - I should have said that there are two people from my office who have already done the course, so I should also be able to do it but did not] Just said I will be able to do it.

Any questions?
SV: Asked about the alumni networking part.
A/B: Indicated that though not extensive, exists.
SV: Asked as to how do they think their work mode has improved after the course [I guess this could be one question that the faculty mite ask me :D, better get the expectations now itself.]
A/B: From a professional point of view, not very sure since have not gone through a job change but from client interactions point of view has helped immensely. Said a few more things, do not remember exactly.

Hope this helps for the next batch aspirants.

sidvish

PGSEM Apping process

2009-04-06T16:39:00.003+05:30

Basic steps are:
1. Register yourself to the PGSEM site. You would have to check out what was the important dates - application dates/cutoff dates etc before you will be able to start with the application process.
2. The application filling is simple - just the basic information is required to be filled in it. You will have to pay the application fee (there is an online option which is pretty convenient). Be careful on the Photo upload part. If you need to, get a digital photo clicked with the necessary resolutions that is expected.
3. Submit the application. No other documents need to be supplied at this point. Make sure that you submit the application before the cut-off dates etc.
------------End of Round 1------------------
4. In due course, your application may or may not be shortlisted. You will be intimated via an email either ways (I guess - I got an email about the shortlisting part, not very sure abt the rejection part).
5. Once that is done, the one main thing that you will have to start working on is to start working on the SOP part. Though there is no explicit deadline mentioned in the SOP part, I think it would be useful to get it sorted out of the way as soon as possible (though from the looks of it, it seems to be required only before the faculty interview). This is the hardest part and will take most of the time.
6. There is another form that you should be getting from your superior - get that done too earlier rather than later.
-----------------End of Round 2--------------
7. The alumni interview dates will be announced before the faculty ones. The alumni interview is somewhat informal (no tie or coat required or expected). The basic aim seems to be to see if you are good fit for the course. Moreover they are there to check if you have any questions about the course etc.
---------------End of Round 3----------------
8. The faculty interview dates will be intimated in due course.
9. Go to the interview with a tie (coat would be an overkill - especially during summers :)) and formals.
10. Make sure that you reach the interview before time (I got late - they did not seem very happy :))
11. You will need to have all the originals and a copy of all the marksheets/degrees/experience letters/GMAT/CAT score sheet etc. The copies need to be submitted and the originals will be used to validate the copies.
12. Take the interview.
13. Wait for the final call.
14. Hope for the best :). You should get an email again with the details in due time (either ways).

Note: This is for all the lazy bums (like me?) who do not want to go through all the information that is present in the website.
Refer to
http://pgsem.iimb.ernet.in/academiccalender.html
for more details.

sidvish

PGSEM - Myths and Reality

2009-04-06T16:21:00.004+05:30

For starters, why PGSEM? Before applying, I think that each one should have realistic expectation with respect to what you will achieve once you are done with this course.

A few expectations that might not be fulfilled at the end of the course are:
1. You will sprout wings and become superhuman and start flying without airline tickets - what that translates to is that domain shift is something that would be really difficult if not impossible to do once this is done.
2. You may or may not get super perks and roles/responsibilities based on your completion - my hope is that this is possible, but I'm still very low key about that.
3. You will not have a super duper network across all the hotshots in different organizations. This seems to be one of the drawbacks of the program since interactions would happen only twice a week max .
4. You will not be a part of the recruitment that would happen for the other MBA folks. You will still continue with your current job, though you can use the degree to search for more lucrative jobs elsewhere.

So, I have shot out 3 main reasons (#1, #3, #4) why people do MBA out of the window right away. So, did I hear someone whisper as to why do people do this course? I'll try to give you a few reasons that I had:
1. A degree is a degree - you will get the same degree as what a normal IIMB guy gets at the end of the course. Moreover the course content is the same as that of the PGP MGA program (including the electives). There are even times that you do your classes with the PGP folks (if that happens on a Friday or on a Saturday)
2. This course is a more flexible approach to getting a degree - in case there are any problems with you attending a trimester, then you have the option of skipping it (though I would definitely not suggest that, and neither do I plan to do that.)
3. The sheer exposure that you will get when you talk to your peers and your profys should be a great experience. IIMB has got a world class faculty (or so I've heard :))
4. Though networking would not happen much, chances are that you could get lucky. Case in point - there was a former collegue of mine who joined my company via another collegue of mine whom he met in the PGSEM course. So things like those are possible.
5. At the end of the years, you will get a better perspective on all the mundane things that you keep doing in and out (project planning maybe?)

Hopefully this blog helps someone understanding what could be expected off the course.

Cheers,
sidvish

Life, now and then...

2009-04-06T16:10:00.003+05:30

Continuing from where we left off 1.5 years back, the dynamics have completely changed with my apping:

1. I am a married man now.
2. I have a home loan to repay and hence I cannot afford to leave off everything to study full time.
3. I am reasonably happy with the direction to which my job profile is moving towards.

Given these changes, and not wasting my GMAT score by just not doing anything with them, the only option that I could think of was to apply for PGSEM course in IIMB this year. Other than the reasons mentioned above, I guess I thought that during these times, only a BE will get you only to that level. Though this might not be the same as a full fledged MBA degree, it is something as compared to nothing that I already had. :)

I'll categorize the next few blogs on the apping front etc just for continuity (retroactive documentation - I do that all the time in my projects :D). The current update is that I am already done with my faculty interview and waiting for my results (though not expecting much from it given the way my interview went - read more about it in one of my later blogs.)

So long,
sidvish

Back again

2007-08-11T06:22:00.001+05:30

Its been some time since the day i decided to create this blog. Guess, I'll have to start getting my lazy butt to work towards the goal.
The busy schedules and a few interesting trips did not help my cause.

World fair details on topmba.com. It is coming to Chicago at about the day when I should be leaving for India. Life sucks :(

Anyways, I should start jugging more information on the colleges and the list.

I'll come up with the post of the list of colleges to which i am going to app in a week's time (deadlines are the only way to work towards a goal - otherwise it keeps getting postponed - something which i am seeing at work too.)

see you in a week.

cheers
sidvish

Interesting blog

2007-07-16T01:21:00.001+05:30

I found this interesting blog about a guy (an Indian) from i-flex (my former company) who did his MBA from McCoumbs, Austin.

Pretty interesting, even the profile seems to match well.
Blog URL: http://metalrulz.blogspot.com/

Chow till the next time.

sidvish

Blog aim

2007-07-15T10:44:00.001+05:30

I will try to post something or the other in this blog as and when i do something on the apping front...I will, I should...i hope i do...:)

sidvish

Apping dilemma

2007-07-15T10:33:00.002+05:30

I get into the apping dilemma, where to apply, what all things to do, what all essays to write, where to get the recos from....me being lazy by nature is not helping me in any way.

Other than that, i was waiting for a friend of mine to take his exam and hoped to app together...but i just came to know that he got screwed...so my only reason to stall the apping thingy just went out of the window...

Let's analyze the entire situation in a practical manner...

The first few things that has come to my mind that will be the first step in the entire apping process are:

Where all to app?
What is that you want from an MBA degree? (I need to have a round of self realization because i can't say that i am bored with the work that im doing and need something different to do in life - the extra money is the carrot in front of the donkey too:))
Need to contact a few people who have already gone through the entire cycle...their take on the entire process.
Checking if there are any opportunities to check out the college and their program.

Once this is done, then would the second process start - creating the application (though i think that this can start with the first step so that not much time is lost in the entire process and you get late for deadlines)

Get recos.
Start writing essays.
Get it proof read from at least a couple of people - one who knows you and one who doesnt.
start sending it to the colleges.

The third step will be the time when you have your fingers crossed and have a lot of faith in god all of a sudden. (It helps to have god in your side in such times in your life. :))

Then a bulr of activities at the end of which I will hopefully be in a b-school....phew, and that's when all the fun will start all over again...

Looks easy, isnt it?

sidvish

The story till now...

2007-07-15T09:42:00.001+05:30

My life was going on aimlessly till the time i heard that my good friend got "inspired" to take the GMAT exam from another friend....It was time for me to get inspired too...So there it was, I planned on taking the exam (even though at that time, i was not all that enthusiastic about spending my life in the US). I thought, what the hell, Im just taking the exam...I need not worry about anything after that...first things first...take the exam.

Preparation went on at its own pace (I am not that hardworking a guy by nature)..Postponed it once because i was not ready the first time around.

The second time, i had taken a couple of weeks off for this (the wisest thing that i did till now in my life), went home and studied (i did sleep in equal proportion, but then let's leave that out of this post :))

Got a score of 700, pretty decent one (though later on i thought that i could have got a better score) and i was relieved that i did not have to take the exam again.

Once that was done, i was relieved and did not think about it much till now....the time for apping is coming closer...and I'm there in the US in Chicago...

sidvish