Term Break on Campus

As I promised, I am back with the details of the term break where in I didn’t even touch the books.. :) It’s different when you wake up at the time you want and go laze in the dining hall doing a late breakfast, suddenly get up thinking you had some assignment to catch up on and then again realizing that this is a term break... :)

Movies Movies Movies... Watched GolMaal.. The security guy at the theatre suggested us this movie and I was looking around for him after I got out of the hall.. wanted to strangle him as he not only made us waste some precious money but also made us go through a torture for two and a half hours.. Looks like he pulled up a fast one on us, just like the characters in the movie.. Then came Superman Returns.. he did return but from where why how?.. no one knows.. neither do I... It was a tough ask to sit in an AC theatre for two and half hours at a stretch.. :) Now its going to be the desi superman's turn tonight.. yeah its KKrish.. :) lets see how this one goes.. :)

So this term break has been full of outings to the city.. have come to know more about Hyderabad roads.. :) Soon all this would come to an end with the term starting day after tomorrow.. most people would have even started doing pre reads for the first day of the term and here I am sitting and writing this blog.. time to catch up on some readings myself..:)

The GOAL!!

Operations... hmm... what is this all about? Wondering why am I talking about operations when I am doing an MBA??.. :) No I am still sane enough... this is related to the operations of a manufacturing firm that was being discussed in the book GOAL by Goldratt.. A nice book. Written like any other fiction novel but has a lot in it we could learn. Let me transfer a bit of this knowledge to you all.. ;) It mainly talks about 3 things: Increasing throughput, decreasing inventory and decreasing operating expense. Let me relate all this to me doing an MBA at ISB..

Increasing throughput: Hmmm.. whats the output of doing an MBA? I would say a fat pay packet with a satisfactory job.. ;) How am I supposed to increase throughput in those terms then? I will just try and apply to those jobs meeting the above criteria... that solves my problem...

Next is decreasing inventory:Oh come on!! I already have quite less when it comes to inventory. My brain's shelf space is almost zero.. it might have been that way since quite some time as it doesnt have the capacity to imbibe anymore. :) Inventory is already reduced to the minimum possible.. :) This goes out of the window!!

Now comes decreasing operating expense:All expense that was supposed to come by has already gone by.. already paid my tution fees.. :( the only expense I can decrease now is my diet expense... I hope I dont have to decrease that.. Come on.. i dont think I will able to achieve my GOAL, if I decrease that operating expense.. ;)

So all in all, looks like the learnings dont apply to me at this moment.. :) Jokes apart, the book was really interesting with all the mix needed to keep you engrossed till the last page. A good buy for me!!

The fun never ends..

Today is the day we, ISBians of Co2007, would be called 25% MBAs. Yes we have achieved it... we have crossed hurdles involving the optimization of our lives, economies of our fellow men sitting across the ocean. Looks like I was the one who set up the operations for all the big firms all over the world and I was the one who strategized each and every move for them. Even the biggest of all researchers would not have chalked out successful plans for so many companies in one and half hours which I did sitting in the examination hall.. :) Last but not the least... customers are GOD... marketing is a religion.. but I dont know if I should be worshiping it.. :) Can someone please enlighten me??.. :)

All said and done... it was another wonderful episode (2nd out of 8) coming to an end... as the story unfolds, I am getting more curious as to whats more in store... Also this would be my first term break spent on campus.. It would be a completely different experience to stay on campus and you have the option of not studying anything... am raring to experience that feeling... must be awesome... :) Come back in another couple of days and you will definitely find another post with details on how I felt.. ;) Ciao!!.. :)

Tennis at 2AM...

... Come US Open, we have at least 2 ISB folks ready to take on the stalwarts.. :) Off late we realized that just studying all the time everyday and indulging in so-called intellectually stimulated discussions wears us out mentally. So there is Srikant and me, who have taken this initiative (for ourselves) of being physically fit, which will helps us not to go brain dead whilst we are at ISB.. :) Now now.. don’t start thinking that we have started this just because we are not going anywhere with our studies. ;) Just kidding...

I love playing tennis and that’s the reason for this post. Fortunately we have folks around who are equally interested, no matter what the situation is with respect to the term. Srikant is just one of those and we played tennis at an unearthly hour of 2am... and boy.. did we enjoy it?... yes we did... sweating out on a tennis court from 2 - 4am in the morning was one of the weirdest thing I thought I would do here at ISB.. :) Moreover I don’t think I would have done this if I was not at ISB. Also with just 3 days to go for the end term exams, it added to the thrill of the game... :)

Having said that I am able to venture out on more of such opportunities to make my life more entertaining here at ISB than it already is with all the exciting courses we have.. next post will have one of the most sought after course mentioned with some details on it.. :) The wait is worth it..

Markstrat D-Day

Today was the day when the historical results of the Markstrat game was declared to the public..:)

Ok.. just so that you don’t feel out of place, let me explain as to what this game entails. Markstrat is a marketing game where in you are put up against different firms in the same industry targeting the same set of customers. Just like in real life scenario, you would find all sorts of market forces acting on your firm. You have to take decisions such that you have a competitive advantage over others and earn maximum profit. You have funds at the start and you have to allocate it judiciously towards advertising, employment of sales force, R & D, launching a new product etc. Your funds for the second decision would depend on the profit you make after the first decision… You are able to monitor your own progress and also your competitors’ progress based on the market study you do. We had 7 decisions to cater to over this last 4 weeks and every bit of it was FUN!!!

It was a nice thought to have the whole batch sit in the auditorium and have a look at their own performance at the end of the game.. with some groups rejoicing when they have done well and some trying to avoid giving answers to their neighbours for obvious reasons.. ;)

After such an experience, I wish we have more games to play during this course.. rather than crack some theoretical fundaes for some fundamentals that I don’t know when I will use.. ;) just kidding..:) Come on .. get back to work! There’s loads to study with end terms starting next Monday.. Ciao…

TiE-ISB Connect

The TiE-ISB Connect is a joint initiative of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Hyderabad Chapter and the Centre for Entrepreneurship at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. It is a forum that brings together early stage venture capitalists, start up and growth stage entrepreneurs and academicians, on a common platform to interact and help build successful enterprises. The first TiE-ISB Connect held in July last year was a resounding success with over 300 delegates attending the full-day event. Over 100 business ideas were presented of which about 15 are in different stages of development/ discussion with investors.

The TiE – ISB Connect 06 is scheduled at the ISB during September 20-22, 2006. This year we have significantly up-scaled the scope and magnitude of the event, with discussion tracks on diverse sectors including Internet & IT Services, Bio-Pharma, Media and entertainment, Infrastructure/ Real Estate, Telecom/ Wireless, Semiconductor, and Retail. Each track will have a keynote address by a successful entrepreneur, a review of global trends in the sector by an analyst, and a panel discussion by venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs on sector opportunities. Entrepreneurs seeking opportunities in these sectors may attend the event as delegates.

The entrepreneur community can also benefit from three specific opportunities: Investor Pitch (Presenting plans to potential investors); Venture Showcase (Exhibiting product/ service) ; Jumpstart your venture (Workshop preparing the aspiring entrepreneur for an exciting journey)
For further details, please visit www.tie-isbconnect.com