Wednesday 23 December 2009
Tuesday 22 December 2009
Going with the wind...
I have always been fascinated with the way businesses are held these days and the impact they create in the society. Business people all over the world are discovering extraordinary opportunities generated by protecting the nature and more so trying to meet the triple bottom line. Remember the world-wide concern about climate change that resulted in the agreements of Rio de Janeiro (1992), Kyoto (1997), Marrakech (2001), and more recently the Copenhagen deal (2009) aiming to decrease the global greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy is at the forefront of most countries and considered as a long-term alternative to fossil fuel resources, contributing to the security of energy supply. Since the last decades, the interest and political support for electricity generation from renewable sources has much increased.
Source: Vestas.com
Wind power is, together with biomass, the fastest growing renewable energy technology today. Wind is competitive, and companies have reduced the cost of wind power significantly, making it financially sound to increase their modern energy’s share of the world’s energy mix. Wind has jumped ahead of other green energy sources because of innovations in turbine technology. Another reason wind surged to the forefront is because many states passed standards that require that a percentage of the state’s electricity to be made from renewable energy sources. Most countries have defined a goal of putting wind power at the top of the global energy agenda. Electricity from modern energy by 2020 is becoming a reality, and the UN 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen will further consolidate strong growth outlook.
Wind energy technology is developing fast; turbines are becoming cheaper and more powerful, bringing the cost of renewably-generated electricity down. Improvements in wind energy technology mean that the trends which have led to the dramatic fall in the cost of wind energy are set to continue. My vision is that everyone will have a small turbine on the roof of their house the way we had TV antennas in the past. Meeting the triple bottom line in these businesses is both an opportunity and a way of living in a green world. What matters in this industry today is the way production is carried out in a cost-efficient manner and with the use of the modern technology.
You can also follow the post in http://consultingnetwork.co.in/going-with-the-wind/1799/
Tuesday 17 November 2009
350 !!
I hope things are great at the other end of the screen. Recently, I had been dirtying my hands with all the numbers and operations of our business venture, which I hope to blog in the coming days. Going back in time, earlier in August, I opted to apply for this Net Impact project for 350.org, fostering the climate crisis control movement. Nine of IE Business School MBA candidates, together with nine of Kaos-Pilot process design school, defined effective and creative strategy to run the 350 campaign for Madrid on 24th Oct ‘09, so that the voice of Madrid could be heard in Copenhagen 2009. To start with, 350.org is an international campaign dedicated to build a movement to unite the world solutions to the climate crisis. The focus is on the number 350--as in parts per million, the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. But 350 is more than a number--it's a symbol of where we need to head as a planet.
In this economic downturn, when every action of the crisis affects every individual and their businesses, people start looking for a great economy and are willing to pay any price to get closer to it. What matters in such situations are the right strategy, success and moreover the right attitude to excel for the betterment of the business and the society at large. It is this thought provoking fact that motivated me to apply for this socially impacting project. This 3-day workshop not only provided me the basic set of skills and tools to overcome my concerns and opinions over the current situation and gain meaningful insights over the way decisions are considered while making business, but also provided me opportunities to share knowledge, and organize presentations on topics related to Marketing and Entrepreneurship to the students. The 3-day friendship, marked with creative and innovative process tools by the Kaos-Pilot team, made me realize the importance of knowledge sharing and networks one can gain. Finally, the day came when a huge group marched towards the Retiro park, and as campaign leaders, organized and mapped the plan to put the image of 350 in the lake nearby. Hop, everyone went, and after 40 minutes of struggle finally managed to form a 3, a 5 and a 0. What was more important in the process was that people within and outside the university, enjoyed thoroughly the activity. Overall, I felt great sense of satisfaction and gave my best to convey the message by putting forth my point of view, giving lectures to students, and learning from them. We played our part from Madrid. Is Copenhagen Listening ??
Monday 28 September 2009
Industry understands of customer requirements in the emerging cloud computing market
As the underlying concept of Cloud Computing technology relies mainly on user collaboration, it has become even more important for organizations to understand the needs of their clients and the medium to reach their customers and consumers. Below are some comments quoted by industry experts...
“2008 will be remembered as the coming-out year for cloud-computing services. I’m beginning to think that 2009 will be best remembered for cloud-computing understanding. I encourage you to get involved.” - James Urquhart
"Cloud computing is emerging as a fundamental change in how IT is managed and delivered," said Dr. Willy Chiu, vice president of IBM High Performance on Demand Solutions. "It is a powerful tool for efficient operations, especially in growth economies."
Source: IBM.com
"Businesses requiring hyper-scale computing environments – where infrastructure deployments are measured by up to millions of servers, storage and networking equipment – are changing the way they approach IT to drive revenue growth and decrease operational expenses,” said Brad Anderson, senior vice president, Dell Product Group.
Source: Dell.com
The following videos in youtube, will give a notion of what cloud computing is, and the general trends by some of the industry experts...
The world of Internet is exploding tremendously. For example ―daily (Google users have created 20 Petabytes of data) or using eBay services (1 Terabyte of logs is created by embay users in 2000 application servers per day.
Cloud Computing has a major role to play in tying up this complicated layout and manage the explosion of data and users. These videos eventually shows how Cloud Computing has evolved from the traditional Application Service provision and support since the last decade.
Monday 17 August 2009
Time to go cloud...
As I wander through the streets of Spain, I am ensuring that I am making use of my blackberry to the fullest extent - Chatting with people, Google mapping, Skype calls at the cheapest rate possible, booking tickets, booking my restaurants, storing information etc. – Amazing what it can do for me to move from one city to the other. Innovation is the key driver in Science and Technology, and it never stops at a particular point. Things which were not accessible ten years ago are just few minutes away from access. The Encyclopedia has given way to the Wikipedia. Yes, we are in the Flat World. Flat World is a concept coined by Thomas Friedman, who mentions about access to free information from anywhere in the world and at anytime. This concept has eventually given way to the next big wave in the IT sector - Cloud Computing.
A Cloud is nothing but a reference to the Internet. And the definition of Cloud Computing origins from the fact that technology is used to the fullest extent to manage the business and resources for computing purposes. The cloud is where that data and information are stored and the desktops and notebooks can gain access to these data and information, at any point in time and from any place in this world.
Global competition and business strategies have seen innovative models in this flat world. To be globally connected with your consumers or assume the target segments for your business, it becomes equally important for companies to maintain a transparent business and with huge data centre. Cloud Computing perfectly utilizes the Technology, People and Strategy model, and helps the consumers and customers access the data and information readily and at ease. From an organizational point of view, Cloud Computing will help the customers to control the costs, by improving the performance of the organizations business.
Large corporations and companies use Cloud Computing technologies to communicate with customers and business partners and to encourage collaboration within the company. A number of companies and businesses are looking to understand the working of Cloud Computing and the effects in their business. The costs or the ROI are much higher than the costs of purchasing, developing and maintaining traditional client-server application. According to IBM, cloud computing, or network-delivered services and software, can save customers up to 80% on floor space and 60% on power and cooling costs, and deliver triple asset utilization. Currently, all the big companies are pushing to introduce the concepts of Cloud Computing into the market. Gartner.com and McKinsey Quarterly reports have already stated that Cloud Computing would be the key driver of the business within next five to ten years.
One can find various lists of pros and cons of the concept, but the fact is Cloud Computing is shaping the way users work and interact with information on the Web by shifting focus to the information users. The rising popularity of online ―user-driven services like MySpace, Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube has brought the Cloud Computing technology into picture. The underlying concept of this technology relies mainly on user collaboration – web services, p2p networking, blogging, podcast, online social networking sites etc. In the long-term, Cloud Computing will be the strategic delivery model for most of the firms and the one’s to benefit the most are the big corporations. Is your business ready for one?
p.s: This article can also be read at http://consultingnetwork.co.in/time-for-businesses-to-go-cloud/1166/
Tuesday 11 August 2009
Building your mind map - the first step to your career inroads
Having lived in Europe for a little over three years, it has been fascinating while at the same time appalling to see the rise of the financial meltdown and more recently the road to its damage control. Fascinating because of the way the entire meltdown proceeded and partly because of the role that bankers from the top schools and firms played in this crisis situation, and appalling because of the effect it had on the various industries, banks and firms – read the pink slips.
While consulting companies in most countries recently were trying to settle down, projects had dried up and people either put on bench, if the firm were able to sustain on their resource investments, or worse shown the pink slip. Despite this, the number of MBA hires is growing strongly, with all size and types of consultancy targeting MBA graduates.
According to the European association of management consultancy in Europe (FEACO.org) there are over 65000 Management Consultancy firms in Europe employing over 350,000 consultants. Despite the downturn, many sectors are still recruiting even though the internships for graduates for this summer were hard to get by. Cost reduction and innovation has made IT Consulting, Operations Management, Marketing and Communications even more challenging and demanding profession. At this juncture it is necessary that the consultants or the MBA graduates understand the different inroads one can make while thinking of a dream career move.
In the first place, is consulting your game? Well it may be if you like long work hours with frequent time-critical decisions, highly competitive environment, moving from one deadline to the other and more importantly traveling. For the few lucky one’s bluffing through the interview to get that high salaried job will only end up lowering your performance and confidence if you are not sure of what you are expecting or anticipating next. Early exposure as an analyst and/or consulting only helps you develop and enhance your functional, technical and soft skills for your long term professional growth. Having involved with clients from a rookie level IT consultant to Project & Team Management roles, I did manage to polish my skills and find the right fit for the projects before embarking on the assignments. After having worked on few start-up business plans, and played my part in few consulting projects, I did realize the importance of understanding the business or the company in advance before picking up any project or assignments. If you already been doing that the you are ready for the next move – research the company that you would like to work with, understand the different sector options and functional roles they have to offer and lastly what you can offer from your experience. While the best experiences are gained through small boutique firms, the best clients to work with come from the Big 4 consulting firms.
You might need to understand what fits you well. Every stage of the company’s application process becomes as equally important as every minute on the football game between Real Madrid and Barcelona. CV’s, CL, Case Studies, Initial interviews, Fit interviews, HR interviews, Partner interviews – all start looking like those challenges you always wanted to jump on just as the athletes would do in the hurdle trainings. CV is the first thing that will land you an interview and one of the biggest challenges that most candidates face – writing the resume. Every CV needs to be tailored to the needs of the company and role and the best bet is to explore the sample CV options that these companies provide, else we always have the option of ‘Google’ing in this flat world. I personally am a huge fan of case studies. While there are no definite solutions to it but it just tickles your brain to define the most suitable solution in a short span of time backed with numbers and analysis. Listening skills, body language, question asking abilities, character – gives you a pint of the gallon of projects that are in store. The basic golden rule like for any game or challenge is to PRACTICE and to PREPARE in advance.
Wednesday 5 August 2009
Nostalgia: Navy Nagar & Sea Cadet Corps
Mumbai during the 1990's, ah! it was Bombay back then. The period when our teachers blessed us with endless list of homework; the time when we would course around the lanes playing Cricket, Football, Kabaddi and whatever kept us on our feet; when every Sunday I would go trekking with my friends accompanied by our parents - those were the times when the days' were filled with such excitement and adventure. Nostalgia crept in, when after a little more than a decade, I got re-connected with a friend from the school days (Must thank the social media boom here)
As we sipped the afternoon coffee, in some 30 degree Celsius Madrid heat, reminiscing of the times spent in the sailing school, in the 35 degree Celsius Bombay weather, flashed through. Both of us were associated with the Sea Cadet Corps (also referred to as the "SCC"). Yes, the Sea Cadet Corps - the wonder years of sea adventures. For the newbie’s and for the new born digital nerds, Sea Cadet Corps is a non-government voluntary youth organisation with honorary officers imparting nautical and allied training to the boys and girls in the age group of 10 to 18 years. In conjunction with the Naval Sailing Club, adjacent to Training Ship Jawahar at Navy Nagar in Colaba, Mumbai, the Sea Cadet Corps was actively involved in conducting the 1982 Asian Games Sailing Event, 1987 Commonwealth Regatta, the International Enterprise World Championship in 1991 and the Asian Sailing Regatta in 2004. To experience these adventures, one had to undergo the rigors of disciplinary courses and training's. In a nut shell, it was all about "D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E", the fitting 10-letter word I could think of from my worthwhile experiences with the Sea Cadet Corps. The thoughts of a 5th grader dreaming of the big submarines flashed by when the life of Navy Officers lured me to those dreadful waters and sea monsters. Time dedicated to the likes of watching discovery channel and grazing through the encyclopedias from the nearest library trying to grasp what this adventure all meant was all worthily invested (let me remind you, back then the Internet had not boomed to the scale it has today). Submarines and sea creatures were my next research. My family has some kind of history associated with serving the country, and perhaps that influenced my decision to join this adventurous training camp. Top Gun, Men of Honor, Under-siege, and Down Periscope were some of the “must watch" movies that would pump in the adrenaline to venture out in the sea. I still remember (though loosely) my very first interview back in 1993, with Commodore Rabi Ahuja on the Training Ship Jawahar. The Commodore almost got me, a little shy Cadet back then, weeping for not talking out loud while addressing to one of the reporting Officers. Since then the training acquired through this institution has helped me with not only instilling confidence but has also brought discipline into my life. Officers and Cadets had to scream their lungs out - AYE AYE SIR! Or let me put it this way, they were known to be super active and vocal, when in action and particularly in marching parades. Waking up at 0400hrs every Sunday morning, travelling an hour through Bombay’s lifeline i.e. the local trains and the B.E.S.T bus services to reach the ship's quarterdeck for an early breakfast before the Cadet parade at 0730hrs. Phew!!! Catching the B.E.S.T from Mumbai's Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus Station (we called it Victoria Terminus aka V.T. Station back then), moving through the silent streets of Fort and bakery lane on a Sunday morning with several other fellow Cadets, who as well looked more than half-sleepy, was not an easy task as I had first thought it to be. The initial weeks were tough to adjust to this routine, as I had never experienced this before, but as time flew by I got bonded with the wonders of the early morning alarms, tying the 8's Knot, the Sailing and Rowing lessons, the alpha-beta-delta of flag signals, the swimming in the ocean – yes, would you believe, I did dive into the Arabian Sea as part of the weekend course between the Training Ship Jawahar and the Lighthouse :) (well, not that Mumbai boasts of good sea water, but I did befriend with the crabs, and developed a good palate for sea salt), the blue Cadet uniform and the white Cadet cap, and the dream of making a four year run for that Officers white uniform and the peak cap.
As we sipped the afternoon coffee, in some 30 degree Celsius Madrid heat, reminiscing of the times spent in the sailing school, in the 35 degree Celsius Bombay weather, flashed through. Both of us were associated with the Sea Cadet Corps (also referred to as the "SCC"). Yes, the Sea Cadet Corps - the wonder years of sea adventures. For the newbie’s and for the new born digital nerds, Sea Cadet Corps is a non-government voluntary youth organisation with honorary officers imparting nautical and allied training to the boys and girls in the age group of 10 to 18 years. In conjunction with the Naval Sailing Club, adjacent to Training Ship Jawahar at Navy Nagar in Colaba, Mumbai, the Sea Cadet Corps was actively involved in conducting the 1982 Asian Games Sailing Event, 1987 Commonwealth Regatta, the International Enterprise World Championship in 1991 and the Asian Sailing Regatta in 2004. To experience these adventures, one had to undergo the rigors of disciplinary courses and training's. In a nut shell, it was all about "D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E", the fitting 10-letter word I could think of from my worthwhile experiences with the Sea Cadet Corps. The thoughts of a 5th grader dreaming of the big submarines flashed by when the life of Navy Officers lured me to those dreadful waters and sea monsters. Time dedicated to the likes of watching discovery channel and grazing through the encyclopedias from the nearest library trying to grasp what this adventure all meant was all worthily invested (let me remind you, back then the Internet had not boomed to the scale it has today). Submarines and sea creatures were my next research. My family has some kind of history associated with serving the country, and perhaps that influenced my decision to join this adventurous training camp. Top Gun, Men of Honor, Under-siege, and Down Periscope were some of the “must watch" movies that would pump in the adrenaline to venture out in the sea. I still remember (though loosely) my very first interview back in 1993, with Commodore Rabi Ahuja on the Training Ship Jawahar. The Commodore almost got me, a little shy Cadet back then, weeping for not talking out loud while addressing to one of the reporting Officers. Since then the training acquired through this institution has helped me with not only instilling confidence but has also brought discipline into my life. Officers and Cadets had to scream their lungs out - AYE AYE SIR! Or let me put it this way, they were known to be super active and vocal, when in action and particularly in marching parades. Waking up at 0400hrs every Sunday morning, travelling an hour through Bombay’s lifeline i.e. the local trains and the B.E.S.T bus services to reach the ship's quarterdeck for an early breakfast before the Cadet parade at 0730hrs. Phew!!! Catching the B.E.S.T from Mumbai's Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus Station (we called it Victoria Terminus aka V.T. Station back then), moving through the silent streets of Fort and bakery lane on a Sunday morning with several other fellow Cadets, who as well looked more than half-sleepy, was not an easy task as I had first thought it to be. The initial weeks were tough to adjust to this routine, as I had never experienced this before, but as time flew by I got bonded with the wonders of the early morning alarms, tying the 8's Knot, the Sailing and Rowing lessons, the alpha-beta-delta of flag signals, the swimming in the ocean – yes, would you believe, I did dive into the Arabian Sea as part of the weekend course between the Training Ship Jawahar and the Lighthouse :) (well, not that Mumbai boasts of good sea water, but I did befriend with the crabs, and developed a good palate for sea salt), the blue Cadet uniform and the white Cadet cap, and the dream of making a four year run for that Officers white uniform and the peak cap.
The coffee mug is now almost
empty and we were taking our last sip. The unforgettable experiences of
swimming in the sea water and those of rowing near the Training Ship Jawahar
always reminds of some good crazy times I experienced. I think the foundation of my personality was established with the
Sea Cadet Corps - no doubt about that. After all, it was for the love of
anchoring in the sea and in the manmade mean machines. Since then the wonders of the never-ending digital world and that of some heavy metal has kept me attached to my present-day
passion. Until next time - Aye Aye Captain!!
Wednesday 29 July 2009
The Chiefs, the Soccer and the never say quits attitude !
The Chiefs: A team of diverse individuals, each with a varying football skill and age level, but with one passion – football.
The Team:
G. Davey (C) (Striker/ Midfield - South African/ Oz),
D. McGarry (Defence LB - Irish),
D. Winckles (Defence LB - British),
M. Bekker (GK) (South African),
R. Porrua (Midfield - Spanish),
N. Saa (Midfield - Italian),
A. Rao (Defence RB - Indian),
Tanguy De Bock (Striker CF - Belgian),
Narcisse (Midfield – Ivory Coast),
R. Sharma (Left Midfield - Indian),
Tamara Odeh (Defence LB),
S. Studer (Right Midfield - Swiss),
S. Loeschner (Defence CB - German),
Al Faisal (Striker - Kuwait)
The Chiefs were a team formed during the IE Football League 2008-2009 and consisted of MBA students from IE Business School (mostly from class of 2009). The Chiefs were never the favourites in the first place, but their craving for fitness and playing football marked them a rank higher, despite losing most of the matches in season 1, although season 2 was no different. While if season 1 was all about forming and gelling as a unit, season 2 was finding the right form and putting in strategy. Ever heard of the “I quit” syndrome? Well the “I/We quit” virus never hit The Chiefs. This team always learnt their lessons from what they did, but unfortunately ended up in the drudges in some of the matches mainly due to fitness. The truth is losing builds character. Only then getting out of the bed requires courage and persistence. Then you call them that these people are born winners. However, The Chiefs never gave up, and each player would turn out to the field every weekend, with full enthusiasm, trying to win those 40 minutes, peak their fitness amidst heavy academic and internship workloads. This has only helped the team to train towards positive thoughts and deeds as the captain Gareth Davey would put it every weekend. If I could rightly put it on behalf of the team, this league was an unending journey of friendship, people, challenges, beers and hurdles, but most importantly of fruitful completion. The Chiefs knew who they were and celebrated for what they were, a team with an ability and passion to think, act, live and most importantly enjoy each game. Kudos to the chiefs...
“When you become a “chief”, you learn the hard way. No glory, no prestige, no victories, no loyal supporters, some deserters in search of better prospects…To those of you who courageously run yourselves into the ground every weekend and wear our colours with pride, here is my appreciation and admiration - “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”” – Rene Porrua
“A diverse group of chaotic-minded people who pretend to know all about soccer magic and Gijon's soccer tactics while performing theatre-like pedantic shows every Sunday for the benefit of their weak bodies and opponents. They perform well under adverse conditions, especially snow blizzard, and love to punctuate a season with cherry-like cartoon inspired Peléistic stunning goals. In brief, they are the indispensable free-running electron of a system that is in need of dreams. Chiefs, make the dream happen!” – Tanguy De Bock
“I see the individuals coming back every weekend, trying to play, trying to win, trying to run and trying to score. Looking back we would be proud that we never quit and kept trying. That’s Chief!!” – Anand Rao
“P.S. in London this weekend (again)” – Tamara Odeh :)
Friday 3 July 2009
Telecom in Spain (2009)
As of 2008, the Spanish Telecom market accounted for around 11.7% of the overall telecom service revenues amongst the ten largest countries in Western Europe. Currently the Mobile penetration and the Cable internet services have triggered the market for triple play, Video-on-Demand, and other IP-delivered offers, and despite being under recession until the first half of 2010, Spain will see boom of the telecom market over the next five to seven years, when its GDP is expected to double. According to data reports on GDP and Telecom sector trends, it seems that the GDP and Telecom growth complement each other. According to Spain’s telecom regulator, Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (CMT), Spanish households will move away from traditional fixed line services to other high speed - low cost services by 2023. Where the fixed line services are decreasing in line activations on one hand, with only Telefónica as a leading player, the MVNO’s are leading the mobile VoIP in Spain. As a service provider, the best strategy in this downturn would be to focus on Customer with prime focus on quality while simultaneously moving into trends of introducing innovative features or products, with a low cost strategy. Companies are also making inroads for low cost network and IT service vendors, in order to cut costs, especially in the test, support, and design of the billing, order management, CRM applications etc. It might also be interesting to see how companies can target independent content providers for data provisioning services.
The summary is based on the various news and trends seen in this sector. Image courtesy: Telecom.es
Monday 25 May 2009
Entrepreneurship in cross-cultural environment
The positive aspects of working in cross-cultural environment are always astonishing. The ideas and the thought process that people bring on the table is mesmerizing - be it case-studies or idea suggestions. The entire of March and April 2009 was occupied with Wharton GCP and Nipponica a Venture lab initiative. Nipponica was a seed plan, part of the entrepreneurship class curriculum, whose business model focused on providing technology consulting services to entrepreneurs/ companies in Japan helping them with their start-ups. After all this is what was required in this uncertain economy and period of unemployment i.e. to create job opportunities. Nipponica offered a reliable, high-quality alternative to in-house resources for business development, market development, and channel development. Working with 3 financials experts coming from Italy, France and Japan, with a marketing expert from Venezuela, with 15+ years experienced Indo-US IT combo was a tremendous learning experience. Language barriers and working methodology, despite the cultural differences and working styles, at times took its toll on the team, but none that could possibly stop the team from delivering high-quality plan backed by sound secondary research work. The overall quality of learning, documentation and presentation were excellent (or atleast that is what was told to us). Kudos to team Nipponica (2009)!! After Nipponica, I have now moved on to two different venture projects in the venture lab, looking to collaborate with my Latin American friends in the field of MVNO'S and CSR's. Hoping for an entrepreneurial and eventful 2009 :)
Wharton GCP 2009...six months of hardwork paid-off !!
The Wharton Global Consulting Practicum (GCP) is a cross functional course given within the curriculum of the Wharton M.B.A. and its associate partner school program (IE Business School in my case). Established in 1978, this unique program pairs teams of Wharton M.B.A. students and faculty with teams from partner universities (in Chile, China, Colombia, India, Israel, Peru, Spain, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates with pilot projects in Africa) to consult with a client company (either profit making or non-profit social impact) interested in entering or expanding its position in the U.S. market, or somehow leveraging a relationship with North America. The goal of the program is two-fold: to provide exceptional learning value to the students and innovative, operational plans which add value to real-time clients. (Reference: http://mktgweb.wharton.upenn.edu/gcpcourse/index.html)
As an IE Business School IMBA 2009 candidate, I was privileged to have gotten this opportunity to address the client concerns and open up opportunities by debating and discussing with 9 other team members, each coming from a different background, culturally and professionally, for over six months. Our professional network included MBA's and teaching faculties coming from different industries, business types and geographies. The part-time strategic consulting program assisted me immensely in developing strong networks while also building onto the lessons from the different classes we undertook during our first two term, coupled with the business experience that each of the team members brought on to the table. After six months of hard work the Spaniards finally gave their shot at Wharton Business School in May 2009 (and my first visit to the states), showcasing their findings and studies to the client, thus building onto their reputation with strong bring alive and networking events. It was a journey well travelled in the past 6 months - smart work, time-management, Lots of research and entrepreneurial spirit. In the end that's what was needed!! If you are a future GCP candidate, who just happened to read this page, well this real-time consulting project is all about smart working leadership, team work, time-management and understanding your objective from this project.
To sign off, the 30th GCP gala started off with the Keynote speaker Jill Beraud WG '86, GCP Alumnus and Worldwide Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo. All GCP Friends, Alumni, Clients, Spouses and Partners from different countries participated in this event helping GCP celebrate its rich history. I finally had an opportunity to meet Mr. Len Lodish, a well known and renowned marketing professor at Wharton B-School and chairman of GCP program. It was an eventful evening with my strategy professors Mr. Rafa Ruiz and my mentor Mrs. Carolina Tejuca. Attached is the snapshot of our team that seen the ups and downs of consulting program (Cheryl, Shreyans, Anubha, D’laila, Jody are missing).
Sunday 12 April 2009
IESE Spring Fling 2009
The IESE Spring Fling 2009 tournament, where business meets sports, was a chance or rather an excuse for the IE Cricket team to regroup, network and enjoy the beautiful city of Barcelona after weeks of tight classes and deliverables. The IE Cricket Team prior to the tournament practiced with the Madrid Cricket Club (MCC), affiliated to International Cricket Council, and held a practice match which consisted of players from different parts of the world. Come 28th of March and we were in rainy Barcelona. IE Cricket team went along with two teams, and it was a tournament with 6 teams. 2 from IESE Business School, 2 from IE Business School, 1 from INSEAD Business School, and 1 from ESADE Business School. It was drizzling throughout as we started preparing for our opening game and this discouraged our team to an extent. The fact that Cricket and rain don’t gel with each other as does in Rugby/ Football put us in two minds whether to go ahead with the play. It was a wonderful atmosphere and despite the bad weather all the teams agreed to play and enjoy. There was a slight delay and the weather looked dull. With slight drizzle around the park the umpires decided to start the play. We started off our opening game with ESADE. Some superb team work and collective batting and fielding helped us chase the scores, but in vain. The team lost marginally with just 5-6 runs to win in the end in a high scoring match. Later we went onto play against IESE – a do or die game, and yet again we managed to hardly disturb their batting line up. Regardless, the team held their heads high and went along to party with other members after the tournament. Barbeque, drinks, people. A wonderful networking event for most of us and the one each one of us was eagerly looking forward for. And that’s when we thought - Match on!! For IE Cricket Team –It’s all about people...
Jaago Re !!
Jaago Re! One Billion Votes campaign has made voter registration really simple. A powerful campaign with powerful tools and messages. Jaagore is about creating awareness amongst the Youth, people who have never excercised voting and also a way to educate voters at all levels. I believe Jaagore is n
ot about voters registration. To me its a matter of making people realize on how they act to improvise the system. How many of us really know that the number of youth legally entitled to vote (18-30 years) is around 30%. For the matter of fact until I received my first voters card years ago, even I was not aware. The campaign for the first time in India is making use of the online registration form and helps register your name within 5 mins. It helps understand the different constituency and updates with the latest happenings around. After all education, health, slums, rains, draughts, food, riots, poverty, modernization, youth power...everything needs a change or rather improvement. Our votes can't bring a drastic change, but atleast can act as a stepping stone in making some change happen. Each vote is crucial. That doesn't mean to wake up and just go and vote. Gain the knowledge of all the candidancy within your constituency who will be standing for elections. Now-a-days the general elections also publish the records of each of these candidates. So all information is infront of us. It's upto each individual to make use of it. It's our right to decide whom we vote and how we can help improve the system. Understanding the ideology of the parties and the individuals representing the party is one way and the best way to do it.
Chart your journey and excercise your right to vote.
No Vote - No Say !! - Vote today, don't curse tomorrow...
Sacche ko chune - acche ko chune - Aamir Khan's election awareness campaign commercial
References (All about general elections 2009) : http://pib.nic.in/elections2009/default.asp
Campaign against Criminals in Politics (Contains list of some MP's with criminal background) : http://www.nocriminals.org/
Learn more about the main parties: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f9240158-251f-11de-8a66-00144feabdc0.html
ot about voters registration. To me its a matter of making people realize on how they act to improvise the system. How many of us really know that the number of youth legally entitled to vote (18-30 years) is around 30%. For the matter of fact until I received my first voters card years ago, even I was not aware. The campaign for the first time in India is making use of the online registration form and helps register your name within 5 mins. It helps understand the different constituency and updates with the latest happenings around. After all education, health, slums, rains, draughts, food, riots, poverty, modernization, youth power...everything needs a change or rather improvement. Our votes can't bring a drastic change, but atleast can act as a stepping stone in making some change happen. Each vote is crucial. That doesn't mean to wake up and just go and vote. Gain the knowledge of all the candidancy within your constituency who will be standing for elections. Now-a-days the general elections also publish the records of each of these candidates. So all information is infront of us. It's upto each individual to make use of it. It's our right to decide whom we vote and how we can help improve the system. Understanding the ideology of the parties and the individuals representing the party is one way and the best way to do it.Chart your journey and excercise your right to vote.
No Vote - No Say !! - Vote today, don't curse tomorrow...
Sacche ko chune - acche ko chune - Aamir Khan's election awareness campaign commercial
References (All about general elections 2009) : http://pib.nic.in/elections2009/default.asp
Campaign against Criminals in Politics (Contains list of some MP's with criminal background) : http://www.nocriminals.org/
Learn more about the main parties: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f9240158-251f-11de-8a66-00144feabdc0.html
Thursday 5 February 2009
...IT Outsourcing & Trends - The Closure
As it just got interesting, I decided to finish this blog with some research comments and give my opinion to the HECian Strategic Consultant I met. We had debates and arguements, all moving in the positive direction, talking about how the future trends could be shaped up. Taking these information into account as well as the market research work from various sources, I recommended and stressed on the following points as the key trends in the near future for IT Outsourcing to my HEC network.
One thing is for sure...information technology is everywhere and the outsourcing trend is here to stay. You cannot just ignore it. The important point is that how you embrace the technology and based on the business model, use it to make your business much more profitable and reachable to the different consumers. With IT, it's a matter of winning in this Flat Flat World. After all it brings in the global competitiveness. It is a major force that can help you change your business as well as to adapt your business globally. IT outsourcing trend will continue to increase due to business conditions (e.g. cost, quality, skills, access to market). Some companies will move fast in the value chain and occupy a key advantage in IT industry. Companies that prepare to do business globally will succeed when others may fail - in the long term. Continuous education & training are the keys to succeed in the fast changing Outsourcing world.
I hope the experience of this conversation was informative to some extent, atleast it helped me reach my audience at HEC academic management, as I went on to meet the director of Fortis to discuss on more current issues and global concerns. I also remember having similar conversation with a Economics professor of the Said Business School, until I met the representatives of IE :)
- IT Outsourcing could reach USD $ 200 Billion by 2010.
- Of 25 Global “Breakout” companies identified by Fortune Magazine in 2005, 22 are in IT and Bio-Tech.
- The list of 10 richest people in the world in 2006, 6 came from IT or invested in IT and bio-tech area.
- Information Technology can create more jobs than other fields. One job in IT can facilitate more than 25 jobs growth in other areas.
- IT workers in China & India are pushing their regional economic levels to new highs.
- Asia’s IT outsourcing business continues to grow > 20% annually
- Russia’s outsourcing business predicted to grow a little over 30% in 2007 and could compete with leading IT giants in India & China within next few years
One thing is for sure...information technology is everywhere and the outsourcing trend is here to stay. You cannot just ignore it. The important point is that how you embrace the technology and based on the business model, use it to make your business much more profitable and reachable to the different consumers. With IT, it's a matter of winning in this Flat Flat World. After all it brings in the global competitiveness. It is a major force that can help you change your business as well as to adapt your business globally. IT outsourcing trend will continue to increase due to business conditions (e.g. cost, quality, skills, access to market). Some companies will move fast in the value chain and occupy a key advantage in IT industry. Companies that prepare to do business globally will succeed when others may fail - in the long term. Continuous education & training are the keys to succeed in the fast changing Outsourcing world.
I hope the experience of this conversation was informative to some extent, atleast it helped me reach my audience at HEC academic management, as I went on to meet the director of Fortis to discuss on more current issues and global concerns. I also remember having similar conversation with a Economics professor of the Said Business School, until I met the representatives of IE :)
...IT Outsourcing & Trends in Asia Pacific and Europe
I think I just couldn't wait any more, so decided to do immediate research on this topic. I started pondering on how things started working for each of the countries in Asia Pacific, Western and Eastern Europe. So I came up with the following SWOT analysis (Source of research from Carnegie Mellon University Benchmarking Study):
What does the Asia Pacific Region offer in Outsourcing?
What does the Asia Pacific Region offer in Outsourcing?
- Some of the fastest growing software industry in the world are located in Asia
- Growth rate > 35% annually over the past 5 years
- Highly educated & motivated workforce (India, China, Japan ...)
- Strong engineering & manufacturing focus (Japan, S. Korea, China)
- Well-established infrastructures (Japan, S.Korea, China)
- Strong government support (S.Korea, China, Singapore)
- Many countries have adopted “India’s IT Model” as the growing vehicle for economic prosperity
- Highly entrepreneurial & innovative
- Some countries are well adapted to global business but many are still experiencing language and cultural issues
- Some geo-political risks
- Software industry is steady at > 8 % growth rate annually
- Highly educated in some areas (Ireland, UK, Scandinavia)
- Strong engineering & telecommunication focus
- Very protective of legacy systems & applications
- Governments are still the largest consumption of software
- Very high overhead cost due to bureaucracy & liberal laws
- Outsource “near-shore” to Eastern Europe
- Culturally diverse (languages, legal, business practices etc.)
- Economic polarization – some fare better than others
- IT Polarization: Scandinavia and Ireland are very active where France and Italy are more conservative
- IT education in many countries is slow to catch up with fast technological changes
- High unemployment among the younger generation
- Software industry is growing fast but still immature
- Highly educated & large untapped talent pool
- Strong mathematical focus, limited practical experience
- Lack IT infrastructure & support environment for global business
- Governments are the largest consumption of software
- Low labor cost but not well managed
- Receive outsourcing works from Western Europe > USD $ 500 Million
- Culturally diverse (languages, legal, business practices etc.)
- Economic uncertainty due to growing pains – change is difficult
- Political uncertainty - Several social models and directions resulting in high risks business environments
- High unemployment among IT labor force - Most skilled workers left for Western Europe – significant “Brain Drain”
- Limited project management & relationship management skills
Wednesday 4 February 2009
IT Outsourcing & Trends
I was very impressed with the way the Information System classes concluded at IE Business School for the first term (Nov '08 - Feb '09). Working as an IT/Telecom /Travel Services Consultant for the past five years, I had to constantly deal with the concept and the modelling of the offshore-onsite model, also known as Outsourcing/Offshoring. So before the economic downturn officially came into picture I was researching on the different trends in outsourcing, and how it is being perceived especially in the western and eastern europe, taking into account the different unions and regulations these countries have. Before I joined IE Business School, I had met with one of the Strategic Consultant from HEC Paris somewhere in 2007 and he sort of interviewed me on why people go for MBA and as well opened upto what he intended to do after the life as a consultant. He was seeking opinions on outsourcing some part of his business, and this is were I thought I was good at. Taking in numbers through my experience.
We all know, earlier it was the pre-historic man who took charge of the world by looking for food and shelter. Somewhere between 5,000 BC and the 18th Century (I would like to call it as the "Agricultural" period), it was the Kings, land owners, emperors seeking to conquer land and crops and build onto their assets. Between the 18th Century and the 20th century began the industrial period. Factories adn equipments came into picture. OIL, Steel, Finance were teh key jargons then. And then finally the technological age, skills, knowledge, talent, people and process. Software Entrepreneurs and Technologists were on a roll. (Lets learn and forget the .com bubble burst here :)) This is were Outsourcing, along with various other technology and concepts, kicked in.
So I thought, what can I offer him for his business. I started noting key requirements and started making some suggestions on the regions he can start picking up on. So the IT Outsourcing market increased 80% from USD $19 Billion in 1999 to more than USD $100 Billion in 2006 according to the sources from IDC http://cdn.idc.com/. The IT outsourcing market was lead by India with 45% of the outsourcing market share, 18% to Canada & Europe, 18% to China, 8% to Russia & E. Europe, 6% to South America, and 5% to Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines) (Say the sources of University of Michigan Business School)
More on the research in the next blog...
We all know, earlier it was the pre-historic man who took charge of the world by looking for food and shelter. Somewhere between 5,000 BC and the 18th Century (I would like to call it as the "Agricultural" period), it was the Kings, land owners, emperors seeking to conquer land and crops and build onto their assets. Between the 18th Century and the 20th century began the industrial period. Factories adn equipments came into picture. OIL, Steel, Finance were teh key jargons then. And then finally the technological age, skills, knowledge, talent, people and process. Software Entrepreneurs and Technologists were on a roll. (Lets learn and forget the .com bubble burst here :)) This is were Outsourcing, along with various other technology and concepts, kicked in.
So I thought, what can I offer him for his business. I started noting key requirements and started making some suggestions on the regions he can start picking up on. So the IT Outsourcing market increased 80% from USD $19 Billion in 1999 to more than USD $100 Billion in 2006 according to the sources from IDC http://cdn.idc.com/. The IT outsourcing market was lead by India with 45% of the outsourcing market share, 18% to Canada & Europe, 18% to China, 8% to Russia & E. Europe, 6% to South America, and 5% to Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines) (Say the sources of University of Michigan Business School)
More on the research in the next blog...
Tuesday 20 January 2009
The Perfect Role Model
As the Satyam debacles unfold, people are looking upto their role models within the industry for their expert opinions. Hope no more surprises out from the closet, no more role models going down. We are all shaped by our environment. Most of us are deeply influenced by our teachers, parents, friends and close social circles. For me, these influences brought out the best in me. As an aspiring entrepreneur, no other role-model in this field came as close as Mr. NR Narayana Murthy did; now the caretaker of Infosys Technologies Ltd and Infosys Consulting. “NRN” as most Infoscion’s address him, embodies the qualities most business leaders, aspire for. A man is admired when you feel alive and active in his presence. Hailing from a middle class family, NRN has always made it a point to lead by example. Blending old-fashioned values with visionary thinking, NRN had come to define the standards of personal integrity and corporate governance for India Inc.
This is where the likes of Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, Dhirubhai Ambani, Vijay Mallya and NRN built the fame of India Shining and put India on the global map for others to follow. This is how the legends are made of. For the past two decades, NRN has led the IT charge for India as co-founder and CEO of Infosys. After handing over the operational reins of Infosys, Mr. Murthy now spends most of his time traversing the globe serving on the boards of organizations and premier business schools such as Wharton and the Tuck School of Business in New York, and hobnobbing with heads of state on world affairs. NRN is an optimistic, a fighter and one who can stand up against all odds, and this notion I acquired during one of his speech in Infosys, Pune. I had my share of interaction with him, and it was nothing more than a victory to me, than to be asking questions to my childhood hero and one of India’s leading industrialist. The rookie me asked, "Sir, what is your success mantra?", and NRN replied "Again, please do not address me as Sir. the answer is Passion". He mentioned again, because the audience constantly addressed him as Sir, and rightly so, and he remained humble enough to be known with his name, and for the uncomfortable one's, he suggested adding an extra title such as Mr. With a squeaky clean image and impeccable credentials, NRN is to me, and to billion others, a PERFECT ROLE MODEL, not only within the business community, but outside it as well. His entrepreneurial thinking, perseverance and simplicity are the qualities I hope to emulate.
This is where the likes of Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, Dhirubhai Ambani, Vijay Mallya and NRN built the fame of India Shining and put India on the global map for others to follow. This is how the legends are made of. For the past two decades, NRN has led the IT charge for India as co-founder and CEO of Infosys. After handing over the operational reins of Infosys, Mr. Murthy now spends most of his time traversing the globe serving on the boards of organizations and premier business schools such as Wharton and the Tuck School of Business in New York, and hobnobbing with heads of state on world affairs. NRN is an optimistic, a fighter and one who can stand up against all odds, and this notion I acquired during one of his speech in Infosys, Pune. I had my share of interaction with him, and it was nothing more than a victory to me, than to be asking questions to my childhood hero and one of India’s leading industrialist. The rookie me asked, "Sir, what is your success mantra?", and NRN replied "Again, please do not address me as Sir. the answer is Passion". He mentioned again, because the audience constantly addressed him as Sir, and rightly so, and he remained humble enough to be known with his name, and for the uncomfortable one's, he suggested adding an extra title such as Mr. With a squeaky clean image and impeccable credentials, NRN is to me, and to billion others, a PERFECT ROLE MODEL, not only within the business community, but outside it as well. His entrepreneurial thinking, perseverance and simplicity are the qualities I hope to emulate.
More about Mr. Murthy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._R._Narayana_Murthy
Saturday 17 January 2009
Satyam Shivam Sundaram...
Satyam Shivam Sundaram, which means a beautiful truth in the form of God, was an below average 1978 bollywood movie which faced critiques and initial hiccups to get through the censor board. But this was not the case for a company "Satyam". Start of 2009 saw the chairman and chief executive of one of India’s biggest outsourcing groups, Satyam Computer Services, confess to fixing the company’s books in a $1bn fraud described as the country’s “Enron”. This had taken the entire India Inc by surprise and comes as a shock to many. Once a role model and hero for many in the end turned out to be a fraud. The shareholders, clients and more importantly the earnings of 50,000+ employees were at stake. As the satyam fraud started unfolding, more and more people started coming into the picture. PwC the auditor of the firm, were immediately taken out and KPMG and Deloitte where assigned the necessary roles. How can one man create such a huge mess and get unnoticed? I am sure the story goes beyond that !!
Thursday 15 January 2009
Leading by example...
First and foremost - Wish you a prosperous new years !!
While I worked and still work in large teams, and that I debated with some of my colleagues on the pros and cons of leadership, I decided to take this topic for the new year. Enjoy :)
As Mr. N.R. Murthy the founder and now the caretaker of Infosys, said, Leadership about leading by an example. as a leader of a large group of diverse people I tried to work within the framework of this adage. I believe that leading by example is about being first. For instance, if you want trust, be trusted first, if you want pro-activity, be proactive first, if you want timelines, be on-time first, and this I learnt during my stint when at times due to hectic work timings I was at times not able to be with the team on time for an early morning breakfast or coffee. For me, Leadership is about showcasing part of who I am. My parents have always put a strong emphasis on education and ethics. Throughout my personal and professional life, I had always maintained a very strong belief in doing what was ‘right’ and tried to operate within a personal framework that was honorable to this.
In the middle of my first project with with a travel & tourism company, I went through a significant failure that stretched the process of analysis and unnecessarily delayed the schedule of the software delivery. In laying down the conceptual framework, I was at times tempted to teach the team shortcuts to meet the deadline. In any project, process adherence will take a beating if you do not have adequate duration available. But as a group, the team worked together well – we debated, we confronted, we learned, but we never compromised on Process.
My ex-employer (from 2003-2008) has always followed the highest standards of corporate governance. Today every action of the company is the focus of public attention. My challenge was to continue maintain that standard as the company competed globally, and even after my departure, I still practice to do so. The experience today has been rich, which has helped me quickly organize the tasks and resources the team required. After all implementing the values and maintaining enthusiasm among team members are the two most important goals that a team leader has to set.
While I worked and still work in large teams, and that I debated with some of my colleagues on the pros and cons of leadership, I decided to take this topic for the new year. Enjoy :)
As Mr. N.R. Murthy the founder and now the caretaker of Infosys, said, Leadership about leading by an example. as a leader of a large group of diverse people I tried to work within the framework of this adage. I believe that leading by example is about being first. For instance, if you want trust, be trusted first, if you want pro-activity, be proactive first, if you want timelines, be on-time first, and this I learnt during my stint when at times due to hectic work timings I was at times not able to be with the team on time for an early morning breakfast or coffee. For me, Leadership is about showcasing part of who I am. My parents have always put a strong emphasis on education and ethics. Throughout my personal and professional life, I had always maintained a very strong belief in doing what was ‘right’ and tried to operate within a personal framework that was honorable to this.
In the middle of my first project with with a travel & tourism company, I went through a significant failure that stretched the process of analysis and unnecessarily delayed the schedule of the software delivery. In laying down the conceptual framework, I was at times tempted to teach the team shortcuts to meet the deadline. In any project, process adherence will take a beating if you do not have adequate duration available. But as a group, the team worked together well – we debated, we confronted, we learned, but we never compromised on Process.
My ex-employer (from 2003-2008) has always followed the highest standards of corporate governance. Today every action of the company is the focus of public attention. My challenge was to continue maintain that standard as the company competed globally, and even after my departure, I still practice to do so. The experience today has been rich, which has helped me quickly organize the tasks and resources the team required. After all implementing the values and maintaining enthusiasm among team members are the two most important goals that a team leader has to set.
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