Last 9 months!

It's been a long time since I wrote anything on the blog. Let me summarize what all has happened since then. Competitions One very exciting aspect of B-school life is competitions. You get the opportunity to apply all that theory and design a practical solution and more importantly, pit your wits against the best. Not only that, you also get good CV points and some serious money! Keeping all these things in mind, I started participating in some of the toughest competitions. It all started with Hindustan Unilever's Lessons in Marketing Excellence 3. The case was on Citi Privileges Credit Cards. We worked really hard and finally made it to the top 2 on campus, out of around 30 teams. The Campus round was televised on TV but alas, we were not able to win it. While the winners got a cool 50000 cash prize, we only got iPods and some HUL shampoos :P. Similarly I participated in some other events like P&G Ambi Pur case competition, Reckitt Benckiser Veet case study, GSK Stratedge. These were the results: 1. P&G: Campus Winner, National Finalist(loser in other words) 2. RB: Campus Winner 3. GSK: Nothing :P All in all, I was able to gather some decent points and also win some cash. Other benefits included staying at a 5 Star for free and a trip to Mumbai(my home). Summer Placements 2011-12 I was the Infra Head for the Summer Placement process. Trust me, I have not worked harder in my life. Work begins 2 months before the actual process(4-5 day process at IIMC). And during the process, you can hardly go back to your rooms. The following are some of the things we had to do during the process: 1. Since the building was new, the power supply was not very reliable. Ensuring that no power issues crop up. 2. Ensuring that all the needs of visiting companies are fulfilled. These range from the conventional pens/paper to the more exotic like "blue socks" and "Which banks have come for the process?" 3. Ensuring that the facchas are provided with all comforts and things needed for good performance. Thankfully, the process was concluded successfully and the placements were a huge hit! Bhutan trip I alongwith 3 other wingies to the Land of GNH(Gross National Happiness)! Beautiful mountains and rivers. Majestic Dzongs and friendly people. I absolutely recommend Bhutan to all! Final Placements The last important part of IIMC. Since I am a fresher, I was not eligible for the Lateral placements which started in January. The final placements began on 20th February. I had not applied to any 'Day 0' firms. In the evening, the GDs for all the major mktg firms began. I had shortlists from all of them. I cleared the first round of 2 of these firms. But was not able to clear the final interviews in the morning(thankfully). Finally ended up with Asian Paints and I am more than satisfied with what I got. We had our convocation on 2nd April and since then, I have been doing nothing. :P Teaching at IMS on weekends and reading 3-4 books simultaneously is all that I have been doing since then. More later.

Is Market Research a Science?

I am sharing this because it struck me just now. We often wonder how accurate is market research. We have all done some or the other surveys. We often wonder whether the info gained is truly representative of the ground reality. Sometimes we try and moderate down some extreme finding because it feels so contrary to our intuition. This is just the context.
I was going through some survey conducted by CNNIBN on voter sentiment. Then I remembered that all the news channels make electoral predictions based on "extensive, scientific" market survey and then when the results are out, often the predictions are way off the mark.
Key point: Elections seem to be the only scenario where the survey results and actual ground reality can be compared to see the effectiveness of the survey. Could this not be used to zero in on to the best practices in questionnaire making, survey conduction etc? In fact, we ultimately may find out that Market research too, like the rest of the marketing is more of an art, and not science.
P.S. Please mention, if possible, other scenarios where survey result and actual ground reality can be objectively compared. Generally, one never gets to know the ground reality though one might often get close to it(indicated by success of some strategy based on survey findings

B-school rankings: An Insider's Perspective

After an year of B-school life, I am pretty confident about my views on various B-schools and their relative standings. Hence the I have compiled a table. Post comments if you have any queries.
The rankings have been classified as per streams and I have considered the following parameters for each stream:
1. Placements
2. Faculty
3. Infrastructure(not valid for all streams)
4.Peer Group

Summer internship!!

Probably the best day of my life. 2^nd April, 2011. India won the world cup!

Early morning, next day, I was to embark on a journey spanning 2 months and 2 countries. I was to leave for my internship! I flew from Bombay to Delhi in the morning. Landed at the beautiful Terminal 3 of Delhi Airport; took a prepaid taxi to Preet Vihar (Dabur guesthouse). Immediately after reaching the guest house, I went to a nearby electronics store(Vijay Sales). After a lot of debate, I chose the BlackBerry 9300 over an HTC Wildfire touch phone. I am in love with my BlackBerry!

Next day morning, I went to the Dabur India Corporate Office in Ghaziabad and was taken through the orientation program. We were 11 interns from IIMC, IIML, FMS, MDI, etc. We all had lunch together and the others were given their respective project guides and project briefs! One was sent on a market visit immediately! :O

I returned back to the guest house and had some famous Delhi kebabs in the evening. Next day evening was my flight to Dubai. I reached Dubai late in the night and was driven to the guest house.

Dubai-one word; Fantastic! Beautiful city.  Went to the office in Jebel Ali next day. Met my project guide and the CEO and CMO. The setup is much bigger than I thought and the business is growing faster than any other competitor in the region! I was assigned my work space and my project.

The project is extremely exciting and current.  Hope I am able to make a mark.

Went around a bit. Dubai mall, Burj Khalifa, Jumeirah beach are some of the places I have visited till now and I must say that this is one happening city!!

P.S. Buying anything is difficult as I tend to convert dirham into rupee(1 dh=12rs) and it makes my head spin :P

All the way for you...

Seems to matter what I do, so I'm saving this for U
Cos it seems to be the last piece there is
And you haven't had a chance yet to taste this
Fragments of a life you shouldn't miss

Seems to matter what I say, so I'll hold my tongue at bay
And rather use my mouth to kiss your frown away
So your doubts no longer darken your day
So you can hold your head up high come what may

So please remember that I'm gonna follow through all the way

Cos it seems to matter where I go, I will always let you know
That the place where I am is never far
You know, you're not alone, don't be alarmed
I'll find you no matter where you are

So please remember that I'm gonna follow through all the way

Oh my love, if it's all I can do, I'll take the fall for U
Cos I will soar when I lay down with you and give my all for U

Song by "Poets of the fall".....

:-)

Have a lot to write. Lot to say. But don't know how to....
Adios.

Management

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She reduced altitude and spotted a man below. She descended a bit more and shouted,
"Excuse me Sir, can you help me? I promised a friend, I would meet him an hour ago but I don't know where I am."
The man below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."
''You must be an engineer," said the lady balloonist.
"I am", replied the man. 'How did you know?'
''Well", answered the lady in the balloon, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost.
Frankly, you've not been much help to me at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip even more."
The engineer below responded, "You must be in Top Management."
''I am", replied the lady balloonist, "but, how did you know?''
"Well," said the Engineer,
"You don't know where you are, or where you're going. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you, to solve your problems."