Creating a Creative Impact

Our second trimester started with a lot of new and exciting subjects, where three days have been set aside for general management courses and three days for our varsity classes. Every one of us was really looking forward to our varsity classes to start. One of the most exciting classes that we were eagerly awaiting was the class on Creativity & Cross Cultural Skills, taken by Ms Mrinali, an ex TCSer and an MBA graduate from INSEAD Singapore and presently running a firm known as “Paperclip”.

The intent of ‘Coaching for Creativity’ module was to help us build confidence about our own creative skills and to inspire people around us with creativity. It was to reinforce that each one of us are creative in our own way. The course started off by the introduction of the ‘Six Thinking Hats’ which really made us think! A small example of something as trivial as going for a picnic requires a great deal of planning. Each one of us eventually planned the picnic- around the principles of the thinking hats.

Another tool that we used was called ‘Po’. This tool taught us to drop what you take for granted for a particular thing, like for example a classroom will have teacher, which is taken for granted. We were told to drop the idea of a classroom having the teacher and then think of new innovative ways of teaching students. Concept of using ‘Random Word’ for helping in decision making, use of alternatives for a particular object were also very captivating. Another new concept introduced was, ‘Mindmap’, making a tree structure describing a person which was all so exciting and really made our creative cells tick.

The Coaching for ‘Cross –cultural Skills’ was another module intended to help us become global managers. This program was essentially a ‘change of mindset’ programme helping us understand the different cultures of the world. The knowledge of different cultures will help us take up assignments in any part of the world and get along with other cultures.

These classes were really very enjoyable and made us think that creativity can be helpful in every small thing that we do, in every stage of our life.

Contributed by Neha Sharan- HR Varsity (V Batch 2010-11)

CBS Goes Global

There was a time when working professionals learnt things the hard way in International environments. They learnt communications, culture and business negotiations on the job. The training wasn’t formal, there were no strict rules and they were only educated with “don’t”s. However, since ignorance was indigenous, people invariably found a variety of ways of goofing up. It’s amazing how the B-Schools instantaneously pick up cues and start working on filling the gaps. International exposure is one solution to cover the pitfalls in such areas. However, the exposure must be imparted in Management courses themselves, so that management graduates can leverage their skills more effectively.

Last week, Chennai Business School and Curtin Business School from Australia (incidentally, also called CBS) signed a “Student Articulation Principal Agreement”. The agreement would facilitate transferring students to Curtin Business School for one semester, either at the end of the course or, during the last trimester, thereby making them eligible for a Masters of Management degree from Curtin Business School. We were thrilled at the prospects! No standing in queues at “Study in Australia” exhibitions, no apprehensions about the choice of B-School, no fear of being left alone and no home-sickness. A Post-Graduation programme in Management in one semester is indeed a great opportunity. It was a great feeling when we learnt that Curtin was recognizing our hard-work that we already put in their first semester subjects and declared that they were waiving it off for us. What’s more, they were also recognizing our alumnus. So they too can benefit from the relationship between both the CBS-es.

We had Professor Tony Travaglione – Head of Management studies from Curtin to break the good news to us. Infact, we observed that Curtin like our own Chennai Business School relied on industry professionals and organizations for imparting knowledge to Management students. They have tied up with renowned companies like Qantas, Bankwest, Clayton and Local Chambers for internships and Consulting. The semblance of Curtin with our own CBS was a very comforting feeling and somehow, the Masters Programme in Curtin seems to be an alluring thought – if a student could get that much-sought-after international exposure in the same degree with a little more of time, effort and cost, it’s a wonderful outcome of synergies between two quality institutions.

So, being local is no longer an issue, as long as you think Global!!

Contributed by Narmada. K- BFS Varsity (V Batch 2010-11)

Out-bound training

One bright and early Tuesday morning, all of us- the students of CBS, dressed in casuals, shoes and sunglasses sat in a big yellow bus, slightly bewildered and extremely excited about the 2 day out-bound training programme that we were going to attend. Out-bound training programme- that is all was said to us. We were not allowed to probe further to retain the element of surprise. But we were promised that we would have fun. And boy, did we have fun!

We went to the Green Coconut Resort in ECR and were welcomed by the Seiger Training Consultants. After a good breakfast, we had the welcoming session with interesting games. We were told that each activity we do, both indoor and outdoor, will teach us some management lesson. We were intrigued and anxious to get started!

We underwent two days of rigorous activities as a means to improve our organizational skills. Activities, both indoor and outdoor, were aimed at enhancing skills like team work, endurance, strategy formation, trust etc. We enjoyed performing these activities, some of which included falling from a height trusting your team members to catch you, obstacle courses, making the longest human chain, balancing etc. We also played interesting indoor games like treasure hunt which taught us strategy, trust and team work. The highlight of the programme was when all of us took turns to walk on flaming fire and came out not only unscathed but also with great confidence that we can achieve anything.

We returned after a final round of music and dancing, bringing back with us memories, achievements, new skills and plenty of new learning!

Contributed by Chandni M- HR Varsity (V Batch 2010-11)

AN AFTERNOON WITH Mr.TT.SRINATH

It was a guest lecture with a difference. It was an absolutely absorbing session from the beginning to the end- none of us wanted to miss even a second! We had an interesting, eminent, multifaceted person address us. It was none other than Mr.TT.Srinath, a theatre person, an entrepreneur and a psychologist. Mr. Srinath is an expert in psychodrama, a technique used by psychologists to make their clients complete their actions using role-plays.

Again in contrast to the usual gyaan given on management topics , Mr.Srinath spoke on a light topic like “how to make life happier by falling in love with oneself” and “how to accept ourselves wholly and unconditionally”. He added that by doing this, one is at ease and therefore lives a life that brings the best out of him or her. He said “For one to accept and love others, he or she has to accept and love oneself”.

He also imparted various theatrical techniques to help put ourselves in the shoes of others, which brings in us the feeling of Empathy, an important requisite of a leader. He said “one who is empathetic always makes a good leader”. He also quoted several stories and experiences from his own life reinforcing the same.

On the whole, the afternoon hour after the lunch was exceptionally energizing, enriching and an exhilarating experience. It was like all wisdom transferred under one roof. We students are looking forward to meeting him again.

Contributed by Dwarakesh Srivatsan, HR Varsity (V Batch 2010-11)

‘Employability’ Quotient

A few days ago, we had the great opportunity of listening to Mr. Sundar Raman, VP-HR of Sutherland Global Services, during a Guest Lecture session. Mr. Sundar Raman is a pleasant professional who, in spite of his demanding night-shifts, was kind enough to pull out time for speaking to us. We found it hard to believe that he hadn’t slept the previous night and yet, was fresh and energetic at 8:00 am in the morning! That was the first inspiring thing about this wonderful person, who was down-to-earth when he spoke about employability in today’s world.

As he started talking about what bosses look for in prospective recruits, we understood that we had a lot of work right from drafting our goals to our own sentiments at work. Being a VP in the HR function isn’t easy and it was evident from the way he shared a few of his experiences with us. First, he urged us to state our goals in a SMART fashion (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound). Then, he made us realize that companies recruit someone when they believe that the person can add value to them. And, though not many of us knew it, he enlightened us on the risks that people pose in terms of hostile attitudes and discriminatory behavior. It really got us thinking in new lines – if India Inc wanted businesses from abroad, it isn’t going to be easy without adopting some global practices – even more difficult when it comes to implementing it, when not all people might adhere to professional and ethical values. This was one area where he wanted us to be consciously vigilant, as multinationals can’t survive without global people practices in today’s world.

There were two distinctive questions that are generally unwelcome in the Outsourcing industry, and yet, Mr. Sundar Raman answered them for us.

1. Parity issues – When a new recruit joins the company in an equivalent role/designation of another employee who is in-grown, (and who is performing similar kind of duties), there is invariably a parity issue in-terms of salary where the new joinee always ends up earning more than the in-grown employee.

When asked why this was the case, Mr. Sundar Raman asked us not to get carried away with the short-term gains of the new joinee, as the company offered him a higher pay because they had to attract talent from the market and had to go by the market prices.” However, that doesn’t mean that the in-grown employee isn’t rewarded”, he said,” What should be observed here, is their growth-chart. The in-grown employee will always have an edge over the recruit, when it comes to growth prospects”.

2. When a dissatisfied employee left a company for a better offer, why didn’t companies try retaining the employee with the package that he was offered else-where?

To this question, Mr. Sundar Raman replied that it wasn’t a good practice to retain someone that way, as it paved way for the others to try and hold the company to ransom. The whole industry is effectively, in a state of equilibrium, as employees keep changing companies and the net result is nearly the same for all companies in the industry. He however, voiced out the million dollar question in the outsourcing industry because of this trend – High Training and development costs.

Overall, we had a quick-paced, essenceful session when he even suggested that we over-look the unconventional businesses that are in reality, some really great opportunities that are waiting to be explored – like the vanity business, for instance. What started as a session on employability ended in all of us wondering about the off-track business opportunities that we could start. Who knows, a few of us may even set a trend with one such business venture and come back to CBS as a guest lecturer!

Contributed by Narmada K- BFS Varsity (V Batch 2010-11)