Funding for education can be a daunting task, specially if someone is from a developing country like India and going for MBA, shelling out some 45 lacks Indian Rupees. I am still in the process of funding, and once I am done with the funding I will update with an extensive coverage on Funding from India. I hope if it can help solve some of the problems for future MBA admits.
But the goods news is that I have got INSEAD Diversity scholarship, which is a great help. Specially it has enabled me to be more flexible with my future career aspirations.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Some Random Statistics
Some Random Statistics
1) I used to get in hand around 400USD per month, in my first job.
2) I am required to spend around 350USD per day for a period of 1 year for my MBA.
3) Student loan interest rate in France ~ 2.5%, USA ~ 7%, India ~ 12.5%.
4) 80% of MBA students are undecided about their future aspirations.
5) I have flown 160,000 miles so far.
6) I stayed in hotel for 90% of time last year.
7) On average I don't stay in a radius of 500Km for more than 3 weeks.
8) On highways I always speed atleast by 5 mph and at max by 25mph, provided there are no traffic jams.
9) In a week I eat atleast 4 different country cuisines, if I am in US
10) Outside India 95% of the times I eat non-veg food, in India 95% of the times I eat veg food.
1) I used to get in hand around 400USD per month, in my first job.
2) I am required to spend around 350USD per day for a period of 1 year for my MBA.
3) Student loan interest rate in France ~ 2.5%, USA ~ 7%, India ~ 12.5%.
4) 80% of MBA students are undecided about their future aspirations.
5) I have flown 160,000 miles so far.
6) I stayed in hotel for 90% of time last year.
7) On average I don't stay in a radius of 500Km for more than 3 weeks.
8) On highways I always speed atleast by 5 mph and at max by 25mph, provided there are no traffic jams.
9) In a week I eat atleast 4 different country cuisines, if I am in US
10) Outside India 95% of the times I eat non-veg food, in India 95% of the times I eat veg food.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
INSEAD vs Harvard
INSEAD is a one year course and Harvard is two year course. Average salaries after placements from both the school are pretty much the same. I have not taken joining bonus and other bonus into consideration which might be significant.
So here are the pros and cons of INSEAD and Harvard MBA
Pros of INSEAD MBA
1) At Harvard a person shells out 227200 USD more than what he would at INSEAD.
2) An INSEAD MBA grad gains additional one year experience in comparison to Harvard MBA grad. Typically from both the schools company hires for the same position.
3) Much diverse and bigger network at INSEAD than at Harvard.
4) Global placements at INSEAD compared to Harvard. Person has much more flexibility in terms of the place he wants to work at.
Cons of INSEAD MBA
1) Much more hectic schedule at INSEAD as compared to Harvard.
2) Career switch difficult at INSEAD, when the economy is not doing well.
Statistics above shows average costs and can vary depending to job and function. Specially the opportunity cost will vary widely between people working in different countries.
So here are the pros and cons of INSEAD and Harvard MBA
Pros of INSEAD MBA
1) At Harvard a person shells out 227200 USD more than what he would at INSEAD.
2) An INSEAD MBA grad gains additional one year experience in comparison to Harvard MBA grad. Typically from both the schools company hires for the same position.
3) Much diverse and bigger network at INSEAD than at Harvard.
4) Global placements at INSEAD compared to Harvard. Person has much more flexibility in terms of the place he wants to work at.
Cons of INSEAD MBA
1) Much more hectic schedule at INSEAD as compared to Harvard.
2) Career switch difficult at INSEAD, when the economy is not doing well.
Statistics above shows average costs and can vary depending to job and function. Specially the opportunity cost will vary widely between people working in different countries.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Story from Japan
Japan is always an enriching experience for me, the culture and people here are so varied that it looks like a world in itself. Yesterday I got to hear an interesting story from my translator (in Japan you cant work without a translator, clients don't speak English).
So the story is about the translator. He is an guy who has traveled more than 50 countries and one of his enriching experience was in India. He was traveling from Patna (Bihar) to somewhere in North when his bus stopped and it was announced that they cannot go further because of the BANDIT fear. In the middle of night he was stranded with no hotels or motels to stay in the village nor there were any restaurants. Being a foreigner he was all the more scared, but then villagers start gathering and village sarpanch offered him to stay along with him and was treated with great food.
Incidentally that night coincided with some festival and the Japanese guy had an unique experience of experiencing traditional festival in its purest form. After 20 years he still remembers the minute details and the least expected help, in the form of life or probably night saver.
And this has been one of the unique experience the guy had, I guess primarily because of a unique Indian tradition.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
McKinsey shopping
Just a comparison of where McKinsey goes for shopping amongst the top business schools (year 2007)
INSEAD : 75 (out of 881) = 8.51%
Wharton : 53 (out of 710) = 7.46%
MIT Sloan : 27 (out of 375) = 7.2%
Columbia : 31 (out of 726) = 4.27%
London Business School : 9 (out of 321) = 2.81%
Harvard / Stanford : No data available.
INSEAD statistics looks impressive. Definitely this statistic does not give a complete picture but it tells where does McKinsey shop and that might also to an extent reflect which school is good for consulting jobs.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Theory of Life
I believe in two possible theories of life, I don't know which one holds true
1) Matrix theory
Everything is pre-destined. What makes me believe in this theory is that at times I encounter least expected things and at times I don't encounter most expected things. This theory very similar to what is shown in the movie MATRIX
2) Action Theory
Every action has a reaction and life is nothing but reaction of all possible actions. What makes me believe in this theory is that at times I encounter things counter to my expectations and that leads me to think that I haven't considered all possible outcomes. Since no one can virtually consider all possible outcome, therefore things that don't happen according to expectations can be termed as LUCK, which is actually not luck but a reaction of some actions not considered.
One way or the other life goes on.
1) Matrix theory
Everything is pre-destined. What makes me believe in this theory is that at times I encounter least expected things and at times I don't encounter most expected things. This theory very similar to what is shown in the movie MATRIX
2) Action Theory
Every action has a reaction and life is nothing but reaction of all possible actions. What makes me believe in this theory is that at times I encounter things counter to my expectations and that leads me to think that I haven't considered all possible outcomes. Since no one can virtually consider all possible outcome, therefore things that don't happen according to expectations can be termed as LUCK, which is actually not luck but a reaction of some actions not considered.
One way or the other life goes on.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Career
Career is like a stock market.
Most of the people do things which everyone does. When the stock market has crashed no one invests although decades of history shows that stock market follows a cyclical pattern. Similarly most of the people choose career path that everyone chooses, like at one point of time software was popular, at other times corporate finance, investment banking is hot now, venture capitalism/private equity is coming strong and but success comes to those who get into the race early and quit before the race becomes too crowded. A classic example might be of venture capitalists who hunt for the right idea invest in it and quit just before it is ripe, maximizing the profits. Somewhat similar to what Warren Buffet would do, invest in a stock when stock market is low and no one buys and sell it when everyone is buying or the stock market is hot.
Most of us would say how would they know when is the bottom and when is the peak. Or in terms of Career, what will be hot next ? Well it boils down to how much prepared are you, do you know the GAME that you are playing. The more you understand the better decision it would be. Understanding the pattern and that would be what is termed as vision. Or else breaking away from the pattern creating your own pattern.
As with stock market, Career would also have its own risk. Again no gain without pain. Risk is the name of the game. And for me least risker would be to start your own company. Company that does that no one else or even if someone does create market that the other does not have. Its like cars, in America in the 50's there were all big cars, and then comes the Volkswagen which created a market a market that no one has catered to before. It does not have to be big, it can be anything, as small as cap of a bottle but it has to be unique and it should have value.
When I think myself of what can be unique and of value. The first thing comes to my mind is washing dryer. There are some washing dryer in the market but probably it is not marketed well or too expensive or not reachable. A washing machine price in India ranges from 5000 Rs to may be 1 lakh rupee. A washing dryer is much simpler than a washing machine. You don't have to spin dry, you don't have to tumble wash, you don't have to add detergent, you don't have to fill and drain water. Nothing but to blow a hot air and rotate the drum. So if a washing machine can cost 5000Rs a washing dryer would cost no more than 3000Rs, at it strip down version. And the market, all of India. No one wants to take the pain to hand dry clothes on a rainy day, wait for a day before you can use it. It would be a revolution in Indian market. Market would be huge but they key would be to enter early and leave early.
Again everyone knows this and everyone (most) wants to start a company. In last two weeks I talked to two of the directors (incidentally both were marketing directors) in my company and I asked them what would they want to do if given a chance (they can do anything that they like). Both of them answered that they would like to start their own company. We all know that starting a company would be "THE CAREER", everyone loves his brainchild, cares for it more than anyone else does and enjoys being with it, so why not start a company.
It boils down to WHATs, IFs and BUTs, what if the company does not start, what if I dont get the finance, what is the market size etc etc, at times some of the data can be gathered easily at other times help would be needed and best approach is to look for people, people with different experience, experience in finance, experience in starting a company, experience in marketing, experience in market research etc etc etc and then draw upon their experience. But how to find so many people with different traits :) I would say MBA
Do an MBA and it would provide a market, you need to find the right product, the right person, who can help you. .......I guess MBA is something that everyone would need to do after every 10 years or may be 5 years. Because you will need newer set of people newer set of experience.
Most of the people do things which everyone does. When the stock market has crashed no one invests although decades of history shows that stock market follows a cyclical pattern. Similarly most of the people choose career path that everyone chooses, like at one point of time software was popular, at other times corporate finance, investment banking is hot now, venture capitalism/private equity is coming strong and but success comes to those who get into the race early and quit before the race becomes too crowded. A classic example might be of venture capitalists who hunt for the right idea invest in it and quit just before it is ripe, maximizing the profits. Somewhat similar to what Warren Buffet would do, invest in a stock when stock market is low and no one buys and sell it when everyone is buying or the stock market is hot.
Most of us would say how would they know when is the bottom and when is the peak. Or in terms of Career, what will be hot next ? Well it boils down to how much prepared are you, do you know the GAME that you are playing. The more you understand the better decision it would be. Understanding the pattern and that would be what is termed as vision. Or else breaking away from the pattern creating your own pattern.
As with stock market, Career would also have its own risk. Again no gain without pain. Risk is the name of the game. And for me least risker would be to start your own company. Company that does that no one else or even if someone does create market that the other does not have. Its like cars, in America in the 50's there were all big cars, and then comes the Volkswagen which created a market a market that no one has catered to before. It does not have to be big, it can be anything, as small as cap of a bottle but it has to be unique and it should have value.
When I think myself of what can be unique and of value. The first thing comes to my mind is washing dryer. There are some washing dryer in the market but probably it is not marketed well or too expensive or not reachable. A washing machine price in India ranges from 5000 Rs to may be 1 lakh rupee. A washing dryer is much simpler than a washing machine. You don't have to spin dry, you don't have to tumble wash, you don't have to add detergent, you don't have to fill and drain water. Nothing but to blow a hot air and rotate the drum. So if a washing machine can cost 5000Rs a washing dryer would cost no more than 3000Rs, at it strip down version. And the market, all of India. No one wants to take the pain to hand dry clothes on a rainy day, wait for a day before you can use it. It would be a revolution in Indian market. Market would be huge but they key would be to enter early and leave early.
Again everyone knows this and everyone (most) wants to start a company. In last two weeks I talked to two of the directors (incidentally both were marketing directors) in my company and I asked them what would they want to do if given a chance (they can do anything that they like). Both of them answered that they would like to start their own company. We all know that starting a company would be "THE CAREER", everyone loves his brainchild, cares for it more than anyone else does and enjoys being with it, so why not start a company.
It boils down to WHATs, IFs and BUTs, what if the company does not start, what if I dont get the finance, what is the market size etc etc, at times some of the data can be gathered easily at other times help would be needed and best approach is to look for people, people with different experience, experience in finance, experience in starting a company, experience in marketing, experience in market research etc etc etc and then draw upon their experience. But how to find so many people with different traits :) I would say MBA
Do an MBA and it would provide a market, you need to find the right product, the right person, who can help you. .......I guess MBA is something that everyone would need to do after every 10 years or may be 5 years. Because you will need newer set of people newer set of experience.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Best Known Method (BKM)
I used to make tea everyday, Indian tea- with ingredients as milk, sugar, tea leaves and water. But everyday it used to taste different, sometimes I used to like it and at other times not. Probably I used to add more or less of one of the ingredients or probably used to heat treat inconsistently. Whatever, but the phenomena of the good and the bad tea went on for eons, with me making no efforts to pleasure my taste buds. But now if I think, a simple BKM (Best Known Method) would have been nothing but best.
So what is BKM, it is simple, to make tea with gauge-d recipe and keep changing until I get the right one. Make a note of the recipe and everyday use the same recipe. Probably use some special utensils to standardize as gauge and thats it. Its so simple !!!
I guess we can have BKM for everything, every single step that we follow. ..... and probably these BKM can give rise to one of the greatest, yet simplest of product.
So what is BKM, it is simple, to make tea with gauge-d recipe and keep changing until I get the right one. Make a note of the recipe and everyday use the same recipe. Probably use some special utensils to standardize as gauge and thats it. Its so simple !!!
I guess we can have BKM for everything, every single step that we follow. ..... and probably these BKM can give rise to one of the greatest, yet simplest of product.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Fuji
Fuji was on the maps of formula 1 racing track this season. Its an amazing circuit, enabling teams to play with different strategies, allowing lot of overtaking opportunities and most importantly it is a beautiful place. Last time when I visited Japan, I could see the Fuji mountain from my office and the view was breathtaking. Anyhow, the race this Sunday was pretty eventful, as expected rains made the event very exciting. And more importantly it gave an insight to the teams on how to optimize their strategies and reduce other factors that play a part. Grossly Fuji track can be categorized into two sectors (Though there are more)
1) Straight Long sector : This is straight long sector and if a car has high speed then overtaking is easy. But for high speed a car need to have low down force.
2) Curvilinear Sector : This is how I define this sector. This sector has lot of curves and needs a high grip for a higher speed. A higher grip demands high down force. Thus, teams are left with two gross strategies , that is either to have low down force or a high down force. But since Fuji is known for rains, there is another factor that comes into the play.
On a typical rainy day, the cars on the long straight sector will have higher speeds and therefore will make a cloud of mist behind them, reducing the visibility of the driver behind them. This phenomena deters the driver from overtaking since he cannot see anything infront of him and he has not choice but to maintain certain distance from the driver infront, else he runs into a risk of collision. On the other hand, on curves specially steep curves, cars will have slower speeds and therefore will not generate watery mist. Making the visibility better and thus overtaking easier, provided the car has a high down force. To explains is in more detail I am posting a picture .... hope it explains. Ferrari's did adopt the strategy of high down force, they were able to compete for podium inspite of making some couple of additional stops as compared to other teams.
1) Straight Long sector : This is straight long sector and if a car has high speed then overtaking is easy. But for high speed a car need to have low down force.
2) Curvilinear Sector : This is how I define this sector. This sector has lot of curves and needs a high grip for a higher speed. A higher grip demands high down force. Thus, teams are left with two gross strategies , that is either to have low down force or a high down force. But since Fuji is known for rains, there is another factor that comes into the play.
On a typical rainy day, the cars on the long straight sector will have higher speeds and therefore will make a cloud of mist behind them, reducing the visibility of the driver behind them. This phenomena deters the driver from overtaking since he cannot see anything infront of him and he has not choice but to maintain certain distance from the driver infront, else he runs into a risk of collision. On the other hand, on curves specially steep curves, cars will have slower speeds and therefore will not generate watery mist. Making the visibility better and thus overtaking easier, provided the car has a high down force. To explains is in more detail I am posting a picture .... hope it explains. Ferrari's did adopt the strategy of high down force, they were able to compete for podium inspite of making some couple of additional stops as compared to other teams.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Habits
Habits are easier to form and difficult to break. Infact people form habits in big corporations and gradually those habits make the corporation. It is important therefore not only to check one's own habits but also of peers, subordinates etc. Normally it is not a big problem when you are working with the people within a region, because normally all the norms are agreed and accepted within the region. You see people around you drinking coffee throughout the day and you also start drinking coffee throughout the day :)
Problems might arise when people start increasingly interacting with people of different regions and nationality. It is hard to define who is following the right habit, because everyone thinks himself righteous. Therefore, in these kind of environment it is a good practice to develop standard methods or practices, best known methods and get them adopted everywhere. One has to have solid reasons when proposing a method and if accepted then it makes life easier for everyone. Also it developed the firm into a closer knitted firm where all the teams play at the level field and communication becomes much easier.
Anyhow, personally I tend to develop numerous habits, some I can list others I cannot :D And here goes the list
1) Drink lot of coffee
2) Give up on my regular exercise
3) Sleep for half an hour more after my alarm rings, although I might not be sleepy
4) Postpone my laundry, iron, haircut, gas fill, grocery
5) Work at home lying on bed, knowingly its not good for my eyes
6) Forget to brush before going to bed.
And lastly I formed this habit of not writing blogs and probably thats a reason why it took such a long time.
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