Words of wisdom from Mr. George Zacharias

A career path is said to be a long, winding road that often gets turbulent on occasions and blocked by innumerous hurdles. Energy, education and experience- although are the key ingredients for any manager or a successful career, “there’s still so much more,” said Mr. George Zacharias, the former MD of Yahoo India, and our guest lecturer for the day.

Beginning with recollection of his student days at XLRI and the deft exposition on ‘reality’ by Father McGrath, Mr. George very tactfully sensitized us to the ‘real’ side of management. Illustrating from his career experiences and through three beautiful poems he expounded the different managerial skills and leadership qualities one should possess. Throughout the lecture he accentuated on the different virtues such as to remain humble, dare to dream but be realistic in every approach, the importance of perseverance and above all the power of self confidence. Rise above the rest and experience your own true path. He emphasized the importance of ‘knowledge power’, which was required to sieve us from the rest and challenged us to think ‘laterally’.

The lecture not only fired the spark of the knowledge quest but also helped us understand how to apply knowledge gained tactfully. He reminded each of us of our potential and also encouraged us to enjoy the joys of life at every opportunity.

“If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise……..

….Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son! – Rudyard Kipling

These words of wisdom will surely ring in our ears long after.

Contributed by Vikram Mohan, HR Varsity, CBS Batch 4 (2009-10)

A rendezvous with the former NASSCOM chief!

A blend of factual comparisons coupled with witty one liners was the recipe for the day, as Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, ex-NASSCOM Chairman and current CEO, Zensar Technologies Ltd. took us through the advent of Information Technology trends in the past decade and the business models to be sought for the future. The session started with statistical information on the software sector in India- the US $60 billion industry with 23 lakh direct, 85 lakh support and 45% incremental employment year on year in the past decade. Heavily hit by the ongoing economic meltdown, Dr. Ganesh underlined the need for innovative technical and business skills to cope with the current market conditions. The phenomenal growth in the proportion of women in the IT workforce was also highlighted.

One of the critical factors discussed was that of the average working age of the population, which inarguably is a double edged sword. “India is reaping benefits out of a failed family planning policy”, he remarked. Though the numbers favor India, the challenge of employable resources remains a point of contention. Comparisons were drawn with US and Japan, the former with a major retiree population and the latter with falling average working age. On the contrary, the offshore IT base in India alone stands at 16 lakhs.

Possible erosion of core service lines viz. technology and business services were highlighted. With increase in automation of basic services such as testing and data entry by techniques such as optical character reading, such trends in the industry were imminent. The Information and Communication technologies (ICT) sector was touted to be a ray of hope that could transform the country by harnessing technological advancements to ensure inclusive growth. Areas including Healthcare, Financial services, Education and Public services could be potentially worked on for better results. In specific, the presentation illustrated that technology can provide primary health care at half its cost, enable access for 80% of unbanked Indian households, address 3-fold teacher shortage through remote solutions and also help overcome 40%-50% leakage in public food distribution, by ensuring transparency.

From a futuristic viewpoint, importance of new business models was emphasized. There would be significant opportunity outside today’s core markets with varying kinds and needs of customers. The 2020 demand in terms of customers would be attuned with factors like global delivery in place of the current offshore/onshore style and shift toward public sector companies against the predominantly private owned ones at present. A deployable talent pool, global people supply chain with globalized recruitment and talent practices would help the industry to move forward and gain competitive advantage.

The lighter moments on “Applied electricity by Ancestors” and “Indo-US political leader’s bridge story” along with all the enlightening statistics were an ideal dose of food for thought. Ms. Prameela Kalive, Global Head HR, Zensar Technologies Ltd. who was also present on the occasion offered practical advice on career choices. Recalling from her career growth, she added that it was better to be a ‘big fish in a small pond’ rather than being a ‘small fish in a big pond’.

Thanks to the management, students and Dr. Ganesh for all the time spent in sharing and learning together!

Contributed by Balaji MS, HR Varsity, Batch 4, CBS

Adieu... Bonne Chance – CBS third convocation ceremony

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On the evening of the 1st of August 2009, the whole of CBS family gathered at Anugraha Hall to award and bid farewell to the CBS 3rd batch students (2008-2009). For most of them, it would have been a time of mixed feelings of joy at having finally completed a tough and demanding one-year course, relief at having successfully reached the next significant threshold in their lives and perhaps some trepidation about what the future holds for them. Seated on the left of the aisle, they exuded a quiet yet infectious sense of anticipation and excitement, causing us all to look forward to the proceedings.

Mr. Mohan Menon, member of the Governing Council, gave an introductory speech, in which he mentioned the recession and its effect on the employment market. He said that even the economists could not predict the downturn. The Queen of England who lost a bundle in the meltdown asked her advisors as to why no one saw it coming. Their answer "..it was a result of the combined failure of brilliant minds". However, he concluded that things were gradually turning around, economy is limping up and companies have started hiring, therefore, the students should see the brighter side of the current situation.

Then, Mr. Ram Shahaney, Chairman of Ashok-Leyland and Chairman, Board of Advisors of CBS gave a short speech advising all of us to have a burning desire to achieve our goals, yet not to let go of our core values.

Mr. C.R. Swaminathan,( Chairman- CII Southern Region and Chief Executive, PSG Institutions) the chief guest of the evening, gave an stirring speech saying that today’s professionals should effectively focus on the well-informed customers. It is essential for the managers to have a wide knowledge of the global market which has a significant impact on the national one. He ended his speech with a moving and stimulating short story about balancing work, family and relationships. Then came the most awaited moment, the distribution of degree certificates.

This was followed by an inspiring speech by the guest of honour, Mr. B. Santhanam, Managing Director, Saint Gobain Glasses India Pvt. Ltd. He stressed on the importance of emotional intelligence, a fundamental skill that all managers should develop, since that is a great differentiating factor. While being competitive, today’s world requires collaboration too, often between competitors. Therefore, he suggested the students to learn to be able to work as competitors as well as collaborators. According to Mr.Santhanam, social networking is another expertise that we must acquire, investing time in it, and training ourselves to make accurate insights, which would help us in the long run. Finally, he concluded by saying that in-depth domain knowledge is indispensable for a bright career.

Mr. Santhanam then gave away the special awards to the outstanding students and also released the maiden issue of “CBS Business Review”. The brilliant ceremony concluded with the national anthem.

As we made our way up to the food bar for the high-tea, I wondered, what we would feel at this time next year. So much of it would depend on our own all-round growth as professionals and of course on the economic situation then. Nevertheless we would, like them, be ready to face the new challenges awaiting us in the real world outside. So, from the part of CBS Batch 4, we wish them... Adieu... Bonne Chance!

By Ishita Deshmukh, Marketing & Communications Varsity, CBS Batch-4 (2009-10)

Introduced to a New World

The final day in Pondicherry was an incessant flurry of activity for me. The packing and unpacking, the last-minute shopping, the good-byes over continuous telephone calls with relatives and close family friends... All occupied my time and mind, without leaving room for further thought. Not once did I worry about the one-year course I had taken up in Chennai Business School (CBS) without actually doing any detailed background study of the institution or calling up the alumni for further information. Therefore, on the first day, the 8^th of July, I went there with an open mind, ready to understand, accept and work to my best advantage, whatever it offered.

The induction program was two weeks long, introducing the various subjects we had to cover in this course, interspersed with guest lecturers from different industry. There were several aspects of the induction which impressed me, one of them being the gradual acclimatising to the long hours that we had to spend in CBS campus and also studying at home. There were a few assignments given to us in the first week itself with short deadlines of a day or two. So, working in groups, we learnt more about our classmates, while getting back into the academic mode of doing homework. The Governing Council members and the faculty warned us several times that we would not have a second to even blink an eyelid as the year progressed to an end. This was a great challenge and with the fear of being submerged under piles of books and notebooks, came the stubborn desire to find a way up to breath in the fresh air and enjoy the whole course.

The faculty at CBS was another surprise. They were all very well versed in their subjects as well as the current affairs. But the thing that really caught my attention, was their approachability, which was something I had experienced during my schooling and graduation. We felt very reassured that in case of any doubt or difficulty, we could just walk up to them and address the problem. I believe that this is one of the biggest plus points of the institution: the faculty being constantly so inspiring and motivating.

A third aspect of CBS’s system of education which attracted me, was the continuous appraisal through class participation, assignments, debates and quizzes. Again another similarity with my alma mater, and therefore something I was already used to. The major difference being that here we have to take exams and there, there weren’t any. The constant evaluation keeps us on our toes, wanting to do our best at all times. Thus it fairly avoids the age-old trap of studying just before the exams, which leads to mugging up loads of useless information and vomiting it out on the examination table. So, either we know a subject (through regular reading) or we do not, and that is absolutely left to the individual and his reasons for being in CBS.

This brings me to another unusual aspect of the induction program, the 40-page Rule Book, which was something I had never seen or heard of in any other institution. Of course there are other strict institutions, but I wonder if they ever issued the rule books to the students... And immediately our gamut of excuses crashes to the ground!!!

On a more serious note, the most significant asset for any student is the Lesson Plan, which I consider as the best gift we received during the induction program. It is a clear concise route map and a great asset to the time-management skills we have to develop for the course. During a friendly session with the Alumni, they told us, make the best of the time you’ve got here, it’s very short, and not enough to do all that you want to do. So keeping their advice in mind, and still wanting to accommodate my whims and desires, I realised that if we make the right use of the Lesson Plan, we can achieve at least 80-90% of them (including the freaking out!).

In the end, the take-aways from the two-week long induction program are numerous. Most of my friends had laughed and said, “Wow! Two weeks of induction! You guys must be just having a ball of a time!” We did, but more importantly we got an idea of where we wanted to be at the end of the year and how best to get there. It’s the “CBS Way of Learning”, and we are here to make it our own. Good Luck to all of us!

By Ishita Deshmukh, Marketing & Communications Varsity, CBS Batch-4 (2009-10)

CBS Induction 2009

A fine day in July, half past five, a typical Chennai dawn woke me up without my usual outlook invites, morning reports or any arbitration saga. In spite, there was a sense of urgency; an adrenaline rush which did demand attention though not comprehended by the partly awake brain. The momentary dyslexia settled, and finally the calendar spoke a language which triggered my stimuli. 8^th July 2009, first reporting day at the Chennai Business School!

The two weeks of Induction was an ideal preparation for the year’s program. It all started with address by the governing council. Mr. PK Mohapatra’s talk on “Parable of Sadhu” in specific caught the attention of listeners, enunciating the moral aspect of business. Faculty team introduced themselves, and it was a pleasant surprise to hear Prof. Palanivelu sharing his experience on time spent in Bharat Electronics Limited with late Sujatha (Rangarajan), the famous Tamil novelist . The afternoon witnessed students’ introduction along with ice breaker sessions. With neat schedule for subsequent weeks shared, learning for the real world kicked off in full throttle

The phobic accounting basics were touched upon with a feel good factor by Prof. Vijaya. IT for managers was diligently handled by the Dean with his vintage wit. Concepts of MS office basics were covered highlighting the effectiveness of its related tools in official reports generation. The IT session was indeed an eye opener in terms of its application scope. The fact that this indeed would have reduced multiple reporting at my earlier workplace was in itself a big take away for me. In addition, the Dean helped relate all this to resource forecasting, estimations and capacity planning, not to forget the figures generation on a single parent spreadsheet indicating over burn/under burn statistics. I felt myself sitting over a goldmine being greedy of carrying maximum pounds of all that was available.

The guest lectures at such an early stage of the academic year got us an idea on how CBS operates and bridges the gap between academics and industry requisites. We had renowned giants walking in from manufacturing, software and advertising arena, sharing their vast experiences with the students. A brief on the current recruitment scenarios and improving trends in economy, and the emphasis on focusing in academics rather than end results viz placements helped us refocus on curriculum in store. After all, the need of the hour is to make oneself employable by getting the basics right, leaving aside speculations on external market conditions

The group activities pre-conditioned us to take on the business world filled with numbers and dynamic changes. Along with introduction to analyze cases, we also had healthy discussions and debates on pros and cons with purview of the information shared. Assumptions were put to rest and factual justifications were encouraged, inculcating a language of Boolean and statistics based on concrete sources. Application of concepts being the motto, approach to learning was completely pragmatic and thought provoking

And we discovered our “Taj” too; well I meant the coffee shop just opposite to the CBS campus. 10:30 am caffeine along with the optional green chili “bajji’s” have recharacterized our appetite, bringing back all those long lost memories from our under graduation days. The unfinished business of putting things on cellulose resumes as we look forward confidently into the future let alone tuning oneself to changing “constants”.

By M.S.Balaji, HR Varsity, CBS Batch-4 (2009-10)