Celebrating Diversity and Bollywood at Kellogg

– By Isha Antani

MOSAIC week – a celebration of the amazing global diversity both within Kellogg and spanning today’s business culture – culminated in the form of a spectacular song and dance journey to South Asia. Through Bollywood Bash, an annual event put on by the India Business Club, Kellogg was immersed within spices that make South Asians tick.

Bollywood Bash 2013 was a special one. Its theme was that of celebration – fêting 100 year of Hindi Cinema. Resplendent with iconic movie posters to dances heralding the best of Bollywood Stars (Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Rekha), this year’s Bollywood Bash added an extra oomph and pomp to an already widely successful Kellogg Event.

Spotlight on some Choreographers:

The planning for Bollywood Bash 2013 began as early as Fall Quarter. As soon as Spring Quarter started – 10-hour rehearsal weeks, prop and costume procurement, and event planning began in full swing. The snowball of enthusiasm kept amassing as the date approached and in the days leading up to the event – the atmosphere both at Jacobs and at McManus (the unofficial practicing ground) was infused with vibrant colors, swirling skirts, rhythmic sticks, and reverberating laughter as cross-culture friendships and bonds tightened. Kellogg had come to life – and the spirit of global bonding fueled it further.

Bollywood Bash opened with a rendition of Hindi classic song by Professor Sergio Rebelo and a welcoming speech by Dean Donald Jacobs. Through Bollywood tunes sung by Chinese classmates, dances spanning different regions of South East Asia and videos covering Kellogg-wide cultures, including dance-off among all the diversity-oriented clubs, the school came to life. The claps reverberated as the dancers and hosts spread cheer and confetti. One of the best highlights was a video by beloved Kellogg professors. Indeed, you had Professor Tim Calkins dancing to Hindi beats, Professor Mohanbir Sawhney dancing the bhangra, and Professor Julie Hennessey swaying to Bollywood tunes. The pre-show dinner with delicious Indian curries and the DJ’s collection of loud, thumping danceable music morphed the cultural show into a fervent party. The amalgamation of Kellogg cultures that came under one roof to celebrate diversity, music, and dance added as a perfect backdrop to the night.

Dean Donald Jacobs’ Welcoming Statement

It was a heady feeling – spinning around in the heart of the Atrium – and realizing the fusion of cultures that were being celebrated in that one room – that night, that whole week.

Bollywood Bash by Numbers:

Number of dancers/ participants: 167 dancers + 5 band members (unique) + 10 MCs + video performers. Overall, more than 190. Number of attendees: 650 Number of videos: 14 Number of dances: 13

Bollywood Bash 2013 was a beautifully choreographed event – and embedded within it the true spirit of Kellogg.  Kudos to the IBC Team of 2013 for an excellent show.

Of Steel and Success – A Conversation with B. Muthuraman, Tata Steel

Authored by Isha Antani ’13 and Joel Joseph ’13

India at Kellogg had a very special opportunity to spend a few enlightening moments talking with B. Muthuraman – vice chairman of Tata Steel and chairman of Tata International about Tata Steel, Leadership, and Innovation.

 

B Muthuraman is a Tata Veteran. He began his career at Tata Steel in 1966 and has held various positions at the company including vice president of marketing and sales and vice president of cold rolling mill projects. He was appointed executive director in 2000, managing director in 2001 and non-executive vice chairman in 2009. 

 

Tata Steel is growing – and it’s growing fast. The strategy now focuses on consolidation and takes a step back from intense M&A activity. Looking at some qualitative highlights from its past year, the capacity in its Jamshedpur office reached 10 million tons. Jameshedpur is now one of the biggest single-site steel plant globally – in the same ranks as the plants located in Moscow and China. Besides the Jameshedpur plant, Tata Steel has also laid the groundwork for an entirely new plant in Orissa – which is expected to be 6 million tons in capacity. Tata Steel also currently has the largest market share in the domestic automotive sector.

 

Analyzing things from a slightly global perspective, Mr. Muthuraman does admit that the European operations for Tata Steel were affected by the regional downturn. However, there is optimism in the air as the focus in Europe for the past year has shifted to significantly improve the internal operations within the plants – rendering these plants in a good position to bounce back up again.

 

We then asked Mr. Muthuraman to comment on the changing economic landscape within India itself and how he foresees domestic changes affecting Tata Steel. The national growth has been slowing down while inflation has been on the rise. The GDP over the immediate past few years has been wavering around 5-6% where previously it was averaging about 8-9%. Mr. Muthuraman highlights two significant trends – 1) Traditionally, India has imported steel at a rate of the 5-7 million tons/year. That import demand rate is falling; 2) There is an increasing push towards cheaper prices. Tata Steel is very well positioned to counter both these trends. In terms of decline in import demand, Tata’s domestic steel availability makes it the optimal solution. Adding to that is that Tata Steel is priced cheaper than the majority of its competitors.

 

So the question becomes, how has Tata Steel (and to a greater extent, Tata Sons), managed to stay so competitively relevant and innovative in such a changing market? It is because the company fosters a culture where innovation lies at its core – encouraging experimentation and curiosity. It holds an annual Tata Innovista award ceremony to celebrate innovative ideas within the company.

 

In this culture of innovation also lies the topic of recruiting top talent that continues to drive towards a successful company. In a widening sea of hundreds of freshly minted college graduates, it is becoming harder to extra quality from the degree-boom that emerging India has experienced. “Institutes need to set aside time for people to reflect – knowledge-based inputs are not enough,” according to Mr. Muthuraman. Too often, it seems, the recruits are brimming with academic knowledge but they lack a distinct hunger – to perform, to motivate others, to jump hoops and drive towards true leadership. This change is needed in order for the younger generation to take control and create a future that is driven by both personal and societal success.

 

For a distinguished leader like Mr. Muthuraman, the historic changes that he has seen India undergo – especially in the last 20 years – make him confident that not only is Tata Steel well-poised to continue its successful journey but also that India contains within in the spirit to truly embrace development and continue on its growth trajectory.

 

FDI in India: Impact on the local stores (Interview with Prof. Chopra – Part 1)

IBM Professor of Operations Management and Information Systems, Kellogg School of Management.

Following our previous post on FDI in India, we are happy to post an interview with Prof. Chopra who is the IBM Professor of Operations and Information Systems at the Kellogg School of Management. This interview will be published in two parts, touching various aspects like impact on the local ‘kirana’ stores and the evolution of the indian shopper’s mindset.

India @ Kellogg: Prof. Chopra, thank you for agreeing to do this interview for the India Business Club’s magazine India@Kellogg.

Prof. Chopra: My Pleasure.

 

India @ Kellogg: We would like to begin with an overview of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Could you tell us about the history of FDI in India and its significance?

Prof. Chopra: FDI in retailing has been allowed for a fair amount of time now. I do not remember the exact year when it was first allowed, but it has been allowed for at least 10+ years for single brand retailers. For example, if Zara wanted to open a retail store in India, they could have opened a retail store, but what was not allowed was Multi Brand Retailing. I think the logic used was that a lot of Indian retailers, depending on how you count the number could range from 10 to 50 million businesses, were very small. So I think the feeling was that we should give an opportunity for Indian brand retailers to establish themselves (before opening up the country to foreign multi-brand retailers).

Initially, multi-brand retail was allowed as cash and carry. The idea there was that the individual retailers might benefit from them. I think that was allowed almost at the same time as FDI was allowed in single-brand retailing. In 2011, the government of India approved Multi Brand Retailing and backed-off, and last year again it was introduced and approved by the Upper House as well. In the past 10 years, many large Indian companies have invested in Multi Brand Retailing with varying degrees of success. This includes Futures Group, a big player, Reliance, Mahindra, and several others.

 

India @ Kellogg: Why now? What makes India positioned to have Multi Brand Retailing in India at this time? Are Reliance and Big Bazar ready to compete against Wal-Mart for example?

Prof. Chopra: I think there is a more fundamental question (at play here): To what extent will Multi Brand Retailing succeed in India and what form will it take? After all, we are actually seeing the decline of big-box and Multi Brand Retailing in the US. Borders is bankrupt and liquidated, Best Buy, arguably in the next 3 years could be bankrupt and liquidated. These were the posted children of Multi Brand Retailing of the traditional sort. Let’s see in the US who is surviving. Costco is doing very well, Wal-Mart is doing very well, Ikea is doing very well, as is Amazon. In India, industry’s investment in Multi Brand Retailing has met with limited success. Some of them have deep enough pockets and they have hung in there but I will give you an example. My family home is in Jaipur where I saw that five grocery stores (supermarket) run by various Indian houses were opened. Over a few years, only one, Reliance, survived. Meanwhile, the small grocery shop near my father’s house has tripled in size. It used to be very disorganized, but now it is very organized and it has got fresh coat of paint! So I’d say the question to ask is what is the form of retailing that is likely to succeed and in particular, what is the role that FDI can play? I think there are certain companies and certain areas where foreign retailers can do very well. Just to give you an example, I think Ikea is one of them. Why? I think it brings products that people are not looking to buy on a weekly basis. It also is going to bring a price point that is going to be significantly lower than the prices currently available in India for that type of product. That sector in India is not very organized yet so I see a store like Ikea being very successful in doing that. On the other hand, when I look at Futures Group, I think some of the challenges they have faced is very high cost of real estate and great difficulty of transportation (for customers). This doesn’t mean people don’t go but the challenges with regard to transportation make it somewhat less likely that people would be travelling long distances for products that they need frequently.

I know the question you asked is why FDI now? I’d say that the experiments have been tried and at this point I am not that concerned about the Indian houses. If they don’t have their acts together they shouldn’t survive. But it seems that the existing small retailers can not only survive but also thrive. I gave you the example of the retailer across the street from my father’s house, and he has started to develop.

 

India @ Kellogg: You mentioned the example of Ikea, I can see them benefiting and being profitable in India but does that lead to a decrease in the creativity that is brought by the local furniture-wallah?

Prof. Chopra: I think not. If you start looking at what Ikea brings to the table, it does not produce furniture that any of us is hoping to pass off to our grand children. Ikea really produces furniture, which is inexpensive and for people in transition. Whereas, there are many talented local furniture makers in different parts of India who produce a very different type of furniture. They produce furniture with a lot of artistry and it is meant to last a long time. What is missing in India, if you ask me, is the options. Who you call the furniture-wallah, cannot compete with Ikea on this side. Similarly, Ikea will find it hard to compete on the other side. Part of my thesis is that when you think of retailing, you have got to think of mass products and specialized products. And they need to be handled differently. And this is one example where I think a foreign retailer like Ikea can handle the mass products better than anything existing in India. But I can also think of other examples where the local kirana (grocery) store can do much better than the organized grocery store to handle the most frequently used items. I’d say the major reason why it works is because that’s not a purchase we do every week. I may be willing to drive outside Delhi, if that’s where Ikea locates, to get the lower price point. On the other hand, to buy my daily groceries such as rice or vegetables, I am not going to drive 4 miles.

You have to look at some parallels here: India bypassed certain aspects of telecom infrastructure. I think in retailing, we should be thinking the same way. We should look at what worked and what did not work. So today, how do we watch movies? Well, three ways – of course there is that Netflix type model which might have me getting the DVD at home or streaming, but there is also Redbox, where I just go to a local vending machine. What is the characteristic of the local vending machine, it is very low cost and it is very close to me. So I want to watch something inexpensively and quickly. What are the types of movies they keep? They really rent you hits, it is the fast moving stuff, the titles that everybody wants. Now, local Indian kirana store is a version of a vending machine. It just happens to have a human instead of a machine, but it does the same thing. If you look at the scale, they are the same. So if you look at here what eliminated blockbuster, it was not just Netflix, it was Netflix and Redbox. So I would ask the question when we think in India in terms of retailing, can a combination of our small local retailers for a lot of very common producers plus something like a Flipkart, a version of Amazon or several versions of Amazon owing to its sheer. But with that combination in place, would you need the best buys of the world? Would you really have to worry about some for foreign player coming in and setting up a big box store, which arguably in my opinion, will always see limited success in India? Of course, for certain product categories (e.g. Ikea) the situation will be different.

 

India @ Kellogg: We were puzzled who Wal-Mart might target – if they stay too close to city, they would have high real estate costs which may offset their profits. But if they go too far out of the city, people may not be willing to travel very frequently.

Prof. Chopra: You know where I see this functioning is parts of urban India. India, if you think about it, is not a tall country, that is from a real estate perspective. So things tend to be more spread out but now there are certain parts of India where things are going vertical. If you ask yourself which are the areas where Big Bazars succeed, I could say that in setting like that I can see a Wal-Mart, or some version of that, being successful because you have a large enough density. Landscape has changed – so you actually don’t have to travel a long distance from where you are – part of Gurgaon looks like that. My guess is that parts of Mumbai may look like that. But this is only a fraction of India but in large parts of India I just don’t see it being very effective. This does not mean that a store like that has not role. Going back to my parent’s home in Jaipur, one of the big boxes has survived, but there was a time when there were four of them. It is a combination one of these plus a whole bunch of smaller retailers that survived.

 

India @ Kellogg: This is very interesting, if what eventually may pan out is that these big box retailers only have a limited presence, what about the Indian government’s hopes of increasing growth and development through FDI? We are reading in the news growth has slowed down, inflation is high and FDI is expected to help?

Prof. Chopra: So in my opinion, which is not the most informed opinion or a deeply researched conclusion, FDI and Wal-Marts of the world can help, you have to think about the fundamental issues and the two parties that would matter in India – one is the small farmer and other is the small retailer. The fundamental problem is that the intermediaries control the supply chain. So for example, if you look at a farmer, he comes and sells to mandis (large open markets) and there are many parts of India where it is a requirement that if you are a retailer, you can only go and buy from the mandi. There’s a logic behind that and it made sense post-independence. There are lots of small farmers and how are they going to figure out what is the best price? So the idea was that if we create a market where buyers and sellers are coming together, price discovery should occur. This worked for some time but it has changed a lot because these mandis are controlled by the intermediaries and cartels have formed of a few intermediaries. So there is no price discovery happening because the intermediaries know everybody has to come to the mandi, so we will buy from the farmer and sell it to the retailer. If there are a few of them then essentially the role play disappears. So big chunks of the profits are kept by the intermediaries. The real issue is to break that down. Large players like Wal-Mart may help in that process. Initiatives like e-chaupal have the potential to offer a better price discovery to the farmer. Plus there is a second part, which I think is not as well developed in India. It is how can we then deliver this efficiently to the small retailer in India. I think arguably it should help the small farmer to the extent that there is direct purchasing.

 

India @ Kellogg: There is the other issue of sovereignty. India is built on self-reliance. How might that change with FDI?

Prof. Chopra: There are pros and cons to being self-sufficient. I’d say Japan is a good example to look at. As a child, I remember growing up reading about how the Japanese stopped consuming some products just because all of it had to be imported. I think there are some clear benefits to self-sufficiency, but there are huge benefits to competition as well. For example, I would be completely honest, may be I am in the minority, but I personally see absolutely no problem if China is willing to produce something much cheaper and ship it to India. However, coming to FDI, with the way the transportation costs are rising, nine out of ten times foreign retailers will be better off sourcing from India. It’s a no-brainer, because you have cheaper labor and there is less to transport. So I am not particularly worried that if Wal-Mart goes to India, there are going to get detergent from the US and sell it in India. There are terrific detergent manufactures in India. So I don’t particularly see it as hurting from a products perspective. I see it as benefiting because these retailers will bring deep knowledge about how to manage supply chain, how to move products efficiently, they bring deep knowledge in that regard, so I see that as benefiting India.

 

India @ Kellogg: We agree, but where we were getting hung up is the whole thing about killing domestic manufacturing.

Prof. Chopra: Let’s look at manufacturing. Let’s take Ikea for an example. Let’s look at where Ikea sources its products from and if it were to come to India, is it possible that it could manufacture those type of products in India. In India, price is always going to matter. I cannot see how simply by importing the product from somewhere else and selling it in India, Ikea is going to be better off then actually sourcing from India as long as that ability exists in India. It could be an in fact an opportunity for Indian manufacturers in a variety of sectors to develop the products that these retailers will need. Can India product low cost good quality products? I am confident that such capability exists. I think buyers (retailers) of that magnitude didn’t exist earlier to make it an attractive business to get into. So I understand your concerns. Personally, however, I am less concerned about manufacturers, I am more concerned about the small retailer. I actually view it an opportunity for the manufacturer. Look at India’s exports; they have grown and India’s manufacturing sector has done quite well. The last five-eight years have actually been good for Indian manufacturing. I am also not concerned about the farmers. I don’t think they will be hurt, how much they benefit remains to be seen. It is the small retailer I am little bit concerned about. If I were the government, what infrastructure need to be put into place, so that they are able to reach their full potential in terms of what they are able to provide? That’s what I would worry about a little bit more.

 

To be continued…

The mission to drive FDI in India

The first Walmart store opened in North India in 2009. The arrival of the retail behemoth signaled how India has started to play increasingly with foreign entities and slowly but surely, opening up its guarded doors of yesteryears to the world.

1.2 billion people make for a very lucrative and appealing market. However, historically, this market had been closed to non-Indian MNCs. It was only starting in the early 90s that India finally started to open up its doors to let foreign goods come into the hands of the local Indian. This groundbreaking initiative was heralded by one man – Manmohan Singh.

Singh now sits as the leader of Emerging India – and is the core architect of another immense initiative. That to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India. The locks on the various sectors are opening up one-by-one to let in foreign companies to establish shops within Indian grounds. One of the latest sectors to open up is the retail brand sector – which is the cause for entities like Walmart to place their foot in India.

FDI within retail has its supporters and its opposers. The pro side cites issues such as supply chain improvement as a strong basis to let big box retailers enter India. Currently, the Indian system is a mixture of local small-owner stores and peppered with some supermarkets. The way current system is laid out makes for a very confusing, messy system with many tangled wires. However, this system provides basis for some of the anti-arguments. The opposers are worried that with the arrival of entities such as Walmart, small-shop owners will be driven away due to pure price-based competition because of the the ability of Walmart to secure financially lucrative partnerships with its suppliers. To an Indian consumer, sensitive about price, this makes for a huge case to shift from his known local grocer to a much cheaper and reliable (in terms of quality of goods) Walmart.

The way the story FDI in India will unfold is still somewhat unknown. One can look at trends from other countries that have undergone similar transformations. However, since India is itself an interesting market – certain challenges will mark the course for how the country embraces FDI. For example, all has not been smooth sailing for Walmart India as it tries to understand the bribery system within the country. It has, at the time of the publication of this article, suspended its employees in India as it investigates accusations of bribery within its Indian (and some other countries’) operations.

However, all in all, this does not discount the fact that India is ranked among the top 3 countries to invest in according to different surveys. Over the course of the last decade itself, India attracted a cumulative amount of FDI equity inflows of US$ 186.79 billion. It will be intriguing to see the evolution of FDI as the country evolves its core business methods through partnerships with foreign MNCs.

Sources:

• http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/locations/india
• http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-09-29/news/34163839_1_wal-mart-india-s-fdi-retail-sector
• http://fdiindia.in/
• http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/24/business/global/wal-marts-india-venture-suspends-executives-as-part-of-bribery-inquiry.html?_r=0

Taking Indian Education to the next level

Shantanu Prakash, Chairman and Managing Director, Educomp Solutions Limited

Shantanu Prakash has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad 1988 and is a 2012 Advanced Leadership fellow of Harvard University. He founded Educomp Solutions Limited in 1994, a few years after acquiring an MBA degree. His vision has been to transform the teaching-learning process through the use of technology and best practices. The company employs over 14,000 people across 27 offices worldwide. Educomp is the leader in education content, professional development, online learning and the first company to set up high quality schools across the country Under Shantanu’s leadership, many awards and accolades have come Educomp’s way. Educomp was ranked number one in Education & Training in the study, “India’s Best Companies to Work for-2009”. Educomp is a publicly traded company on National Stock Exchange (NSE) in India.
Mr. Prakash is also the founder and Managing Trustee of the Learning Leadership Foundation (LLF), an organization dedicated to bringing best practices in education to under-resourced schools. He is also on the board trustees of over 30 educational institutions including, Modern School Delhi, Sri Sri University and the Great Lakes Institute of Management. He is on the international advisory board of Fundacao Dom Cabral, Brazil. As an investor, Mr. Prakash has made several investments in innovative early stage and mid-stage companies focusing on the internet, education, media, gaming, finance and infrastructure. He is a charter member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) an organization that connects entrepreneurs. He is a frequent speaker in education and business conferences worldwide.

Reflecting on your decision on plunging into entrepreneurship right after business school, what exactly was your thought process?

Well, actually the decision was pretty easy. I had already made up my mind even before I got into IIMA that I wanted to be an entrepreneur! When I graduated in 1994, India was at this very unique standpoint in its history of economic liberalization. The environment all around me was undergoing major changes. There were large opportunities to be tapped. And that’s when I thought of taking advantage of the opportunity at hand.

I grew up in a middle class family and did not have deep pockets backing me. I was therefore interested in starting something that involved a lot of intellectual capital rather than financial capital. Looking back, I did not compare entrepreneurship with job options in MNCs, banks and consulting firms since I never saw myself in those roles. There was therefore no comparison from that quarter. And that’s when I took the plunge! So far it has been a very interesting and satisfying journey. And given the dynamics in the education space in India, I feel like the more you go into it, the more problems you solve around! Education is always an unfinished agenda in India!

What made you choose the education space?

For me it was a blank slate – I did not have any family business or any professional to define my industry! I could have chosen to do virtually anything under the sun! However, education was an industry in which I had the first hand experience of the challenges involved as well as some ideas on how to address them. I started, like most entrepreneurs do, with a vision but not a large expectation of the financial returns. So there was a little bit of both the opportunities that arose as well as some level of intelligence that led to my decision of entering the education space.
We started our journey – the very first business by setting up computer labs in business schools. That’s when we realized that the opportunity was somewhere else. We observed that the parents had very high expectations of their kids schooling while the schools just did not have the ability to fulfill these expectations and the existence of private tutors was a testimony of that observation. We then took to creating content for school education. Initially, while the content was under development we faced several challenges but after 3-4 years when it was fully ready, it caught the eye of everyone in the industry and that’s when we became an industry wide success. We then diversified into teacher and vocational training and today we are present in pretty much every aspect of the education value chain!

What are the key trends or themes you observe, particularly when it comes to the use of technology in education?

India is a grossly underserved market when it comes to education. Our gross enrollment figures are the lowest in the ASEAN region. The numbers have to move to a more respectable state for it to sustain the growing economy and general economic development. There has to be a lot more primary education along with the training of teachers and the first step has to be to create high quality delivery mechanisms to achieve these. I see technology as the game changer that can allow India to accomplish these objectives. However, in addition to technology, the key is for all the players to come together- the government, the private sector as well as the non-profit sector to work together towards these goals.

What are the new opportunities that the Indian education industry provides today?

There are several opportunities today for entrepreneurs to tap into – including teacher training for the over half a million teachers as well as the whole area of vocational training in which 400,000 skilled people need to be trained to work. Then there are areas such as career counseling, teacher and student interaction as well as tuition (E.g. WizIQ) etc.

What would be your advice for students and alumni here at Kellogg who are thinking of returning back to India?

You have gone and had the best education in the world, now you should come back to utilize it in one of the best markets in the world today – India!

Keeping Perspective in the Post-MBA Career Path

India@Kellogg had a conversation with Rashmi Bansal, shortly before the 2012 India Business Conference, to hear her candid thoughts on how students can shape their career after completing their MBA.

Rashmi Bansal is a best-selling author – her 3 books on the subject of entrepreneurship in India – ’Stay Hungry Stay Foolish’, ‘Connect the Dots’ and ‘I Have a Dream’ have sold over half a million copies. ‘I Have a Dream’ was the #1 non-fiction title in India in the year 2011 as per A C Nielsen Bookscan. Her fourth book on the spirit of enterprise in Dharavi slums releases in May 2012. Ms. Bansal is also co-founder and editor of JAM, a youth magazine she set up at the age of 24 and successfully ran for 15 years. In addition, Ms. Bansal is a motivational speaker and mentor to students and young entrepreneurs. She writes the popular blog Youthcurry on issues around entrepreneurship and education. She is an economics graduate of Sophia College, Mumbai and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.

For several business school students, the post-MBA career choice is one of the hardest decisions to make. From your personal experience and interactions with others, how would you encourage us to think about it?

Take the decision not just with your head, but your heart. What ‘makes sense in the short term, from a return on investment point of view, may not be the path that unlocks your true potential.

Does the world need another hedge fund manager? Probably not.
Is a BMW really going to make you happy? Only for a while.
Search deep within for where your true passion lies and create a career in that direction – no matter how offbeat it may seem. Your decision will pay off, in the long run.

Being an entrepreneur and building a business seems like an attractive option to several business school students. But is it for everyone? What are some of the realistic questions one should ask before deciding to pursue this path?

Potential entrepreneurs need to ask themselves:
• How badly do I want this, and how long am I willing to hold out?
• Can I see it, feel it and believe it – even if nobody else in the world does?
• Am I okay with the idea of failure?

A business plan is just a piece of paper – it is the conviction and can-do spirit of the entrepreneur that makes it a reality.

In your journey towards becoming a bestselling author, what have been some of your most challenging experiences and how did you navigate through them?

To listen to critics and yet not succumb to them, because you just can’t please all the people all the time. To keep pushing my own boundaries and to learn something new from every person I meet. To stay grounded and humble, no matter how many books sell!

In your opinion, how can we use the business school experience effectively to prepare us for entrepreneurial ventures later in life?

I think if you know you want to be an entrepreneur as you come into the program, you can certainly use the two years to prepare and fine-tune your business plan and even launch your company while still a student. That would give you a head start and also resources, which are otherwise hard to access e.g. mentorship of professors.

If you are not that clear about starting right away, you can still use your business school experience effectively by taking a wider range of courses and developing personal rapport with as many professors and batch mates as possible. Relationships are the assets you carry with you when you
graduate and are especially important for a young entrepreneur, when looking for a break.

In your interactions with several of India’s most successful entrepreneurs, what do you think are their most common attributes responsible for their success?

A deep sense of purpose, passion and perseverance is what makes entrepreneurs successful. There are no short cuts to success.

We are tremendously excited to hear about your next book “Poor Little Rich Slum”! Could you briefly tell us what the book is about and what your motivation for writing it was?

My 4th book ‘Poor Little Rich Slum’ co-authored with Deepak Gandhi is on the spirit of enterprise in Dharavi. The people of Dharavi are a shining example of how human beings can make the best of their circumstances, no matter how difficult they are. Despite lack of infrastructure and even basic amenities, Dharavi has created a vibrant economy powered by hundreds of micro entrepreneurs.

The book took us nine months to research and write and was a very enriching and moving experience. At the end of it I can only say that there is much that we – who have everything and more – can learn from these ‘little Indians’.

CRTI Social Innovation Fellowship Program

CRTI Social Innovation Fellowship Program

Six Kellogg students spend experience the Indian Summer working with NGOs and Social Enterprises in India.

 

Kellogg’s Center for Research in Technology and Innovation (CRTI) offers a unique opportunity for MBA students to bring not only their academic expertise but also their sense of social responsibility to India’s underserved sectors. CRTI awards $150,000 in funding for innovation fellowships that help students engage with start-ups and socially-minded organizations in developing nations and that have a positive social impact. In 2011, for example, six Kellogg fellows spent ten weeks in India working with non-governmental organizations and social enterprises that use technology in creative and innovative ways to improve education, health, and livelihood.  Prior to 2011, in the midst of the economic downturn, CRTI provided $250,000 in funding to 35 Kellogg MBA students for innovation internships. The Center was founded in 2001 by Professor Mohan Sawhney, McCormick Tribune Professor of Technology at the Kellogg School of Management.

 

At the heart of CRTI’s mission and goals lie three pillars that define the Center’s work – advance the knowledge in technology and innovation through independent research, collaborate with corporations, and engage in productive dialogue with subject-matter experts, share the knowledge through global innovation and technology networks and partnerships with innovation-driven organizations, and transform the knowledge into intellectual capital and business value for all through books, articles, and case studies. The CRTI fellowships in social innovation are one vehicle through which CRTI seeks to fulfill this mission. These fellowships build individual competencies for Kellogg students that wish to take on the challenge of working in a largely unknown, diverse and global setting.

 

CRTI’s implementation partner for the Social Innovation Fellowships in India is SevaYatra, a social business with a US-India presence that focuses on developing custom “voluntourism” and volunteerism programs for universities and companies.  “The CRTI Social Innovation Fellowships offer a unique opportunity to MBA students to gain experience by working in a global setting, interacting with culturally and economically diverse population, while utilizing their business skills in a productive manner that benefits the social enterprises they work with,” says Sejal Desai, Founder and CEO of SevaYatra. “This 10-week experience is not only a once in a life time opportunity for many but also prepares them well for what is today a very different and very global work environment.”

 

The fellowship program focuses on the application of technology to catalyze change rather the development of the technology itself. The fellowship comprises both an academic as well as an experiential component. The academic component is marked by seminars with leaders in the technology and development sectors in India while the experiential part comprises internships with NGOs and other social institutions that work to improve governance (increasing citizen interaction with government), health care (telemedicine and access to treatment via mobile phones) and promote education (such as distance learning) for vast numbers of India’s marginalized citizenry. Kellogg Fellows are based in New Delhi and address the defined needs of the host organizations. This year, eight students will travel to India as CRTI fellows and attempt to bring new ideas and solutions to various organizations that serve to make a difference for people at the bottom of the social spectrum.

 

A unique feature of the program is the opportunity for Kellogg fellows to partner and interact with students from a local business school, the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) in Ghaziabad, situated a few miles from New Delhi. IMT selects an equal number of its students to serve as “buddies” that are matched with Kellogg fellows and largely serve as field guides while playing a valuable supporting role in providing local and cultural context for Kellogg fellows.

For the 2012 summer program, the fellowship seeks to better involve Kellogg alumni by using them as mentors for the fellows. Fellows will have opportunities for interactions with the Kellogg alumni network through formal and informal networking events. Alumni will serve not only as unofficial advisors but also as valuable connectors to industry experts, academics, and stalwarts in technology and innovation.

 

CRTI has established academic requirements for fellowship recipients. Fellows must prepare a comprehensive case study or write a white paper detailing the project they worked on, its objectives, the steps they took to accomplish the objectives, the impact of their work on the company and lessons learned during their summer experience. Last year, each of the 2011 fellows presented their papers at a retreat in the Kellogg School of Management in September.

 

India’s growing numbers of social enterprises often seek top-tier scholars who can inject fresh ideas and bring new solutions and perspectives on the work these enterprises do. In the past, Kellogg fellows have worked with organizations such as Drishtee, I-Farms, America India Foundation, and D-Light to name a few. These organizations articulate a specific project that the fellow can apply his unique set of skills to and assign a supervisor to guide the fellow during his or her ten-week tenure. In addition to seminars and discussions with corporate and government leaders, the project typically involves various field trips to rural areas for research-related work.

 

Many Kellogg students agree that they come to Kellogg with high expectations of a career-changing, if not life-changing, MBA experience. CRTI’s India fellowship offers such an experience for students interested in gaining a first-hand understanding and real world experience of the issues and challenges that plague India’s development. The opportunity for Kellogg fellows is to bring their business acumen to solving some of the business problems faced by their host organizations and offering innovative solutions that allow them to leave at the end of their tenure with a positive social impact. Fellows will come away with a clearer understanding of how organizations are using new business models to effect change and improve lives, and thus making a difference in the realms of economic development and poverty elevation.

Global Health Initiative – India 2012

Authored by Faculty Advisor: Kara Palamountain 

For the first time, the GIM Global Health Initiative (GHI) class traveled to India in March. For those of you who don’t know, GHI’s mission is to develop and commercialize diagnostic devices for bottom-of-the-pyramid populations living in resource-limited settings. By partnering with industry, academia, and nonprofit organizations, GHI has been able to develop an early infant diagnostic for HIV as well as a molecular diagnostic for HIV and Tuberculosis (TB). In this context, the class has traditionally focused on African countries. However, India has the world’s second largest population suffering from HIV/AIDS and the largest TB burden in the world, so our class of 30 (plus a 9-month old adorable baby girl) headed to the land of biryani and cricket.

The main purpose of our trip was to identify the key steps and organizations involved in launching a diagnostic device in India. We also wanted to get feedback on the two products from the end-users. Where would it make most sense to place these products in the complex network of healthcare facilities? What could be changed to make these devices more successful in India? Ultimately, the answers to these questions would help us formulate a strategy for GHI involvement in India in the future.

We started the trip in New Delhi, spent the weekend in Kerala, traveled to Hyderabad for four days, and ended up back in New Delhi before heading back to E-town and Chicago.

New Delhi

Organizations We Met With: Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, NACO (National AIDS Control Organization), RNTCP (Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme), Apollo Hospitals, Becton Dickinson

Highlights: Bike riding through Old Delhi, Conjoint Analysis session with RNTCP, lots of pashmina scarf shopping at Dilli Haat, breakfast at the Shangri-La with Lucky the Bread Man at your service, visiting some of the largest TB clinics and hospitals in the country, Ben S. dislocating his shoulder on the dance floor after the Kellogg Alumni Mixer and really delicious dinners at the ITC Maurya and Park Balluchi.

Crazy Story: The first night in Delhi, a local merchant forcibly applied henna to Jesse’s right hand by India Gate (allegedly). Jesse is now very aware that henna is mostly for women, especially after trying to hide his hand in meetings all week.

Kerala

Organizations We Met With: None – this was our weekend off!

Highlights: Cooling off in the amazing resort pool with giant water-spewing elephants, houseboat tour of Kerala, Lindsey F’s morning yoga sessions in paradise, the most relaxing spa treatments ever and Whit’s “Dawson’s Creek” theme party efforts in the middle of the backwaters

Crazy Story: Rebecca R. and Louise A. are terrified by an intruder in their bungalow. After alerting all the hotel staff, it’s actually probably just a bird. They both still don’t sleep all night.

Hyderabad

Organizations We Met With: TB Alert India, APSACS (Andra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society), the State TB Controller’s office, Vimta Labs, PHMI (Public Health Management Institute), a DAPCU (District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit) in Hyderabad

Highlights: Charminar and the Spice markets, lakefront dinners, rural clinic visits and state-government meetings, home-cooked Hyderabadi meal, seeing/understanding/utilizing the ubiquitous head-nod motion that we’d heard so much about

Crazy Story: Hitting up Bottles and Chimney’s (not Chutes and Ladders) and depleting their entire beer supply in amazing beer towers.

Agra and the Taj Mahal

Highlights: Seeing the Taj Mahal and taking multiple jumping pictures, eating a delicious lunch at a 5 star resort and enjoying refreshments on the 6 hour bus ride back to Delhi. It may have been the longest day of all of our lives, but it was also one of the best.

In summary, GIM GHI had a really productive class and trip. We worked hard, we played hard and we came back with some really valuable insights we are looking forward to sharing with academia, industry, and the rest of the GHI team this May.

Driving Growth in the Indian Banking Sector – Thoughts from the CEO of Axis Bank

Shikha Sharma, MD CEO Axis Bank

Shikha Sharma is the Managing Director & CEO of Axis Bank since 2009. Axis Bank is amongst the three major private sector banks which commenced business in 1994 as a consequence of the liberalization and reform of the financial sector. Previously, she was the Managing Director & founder CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company. She has done her B.A. (Hons.) in Economics, and completed her Masters of Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in 1980. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Software Technology, from the National Centre for Software Technology, Mumbai.

India@Kellogg spoke to Ms.Sharma about her views on the Indian banking sector and the strategic priorities for Axis bank.

Q. Ms. Sharma, thank you so much for agreeing to speak to us. Since you took over as CEO, what have been your key priorities?

In the three years I have been here, I have found Axis Bank to be a strong and vibrant organisation with some great strengths, particularly in retail liabilities and corporate banking. The Bank also has a culture which fosters and encourages dignity and respect for all individuals and is very welcoming of outsiders. The key priorities for me have been to build and diversify the Bank’s product portfolio, enhance the capabilities in risk management and HR and overall build an institutional, scalable platform commensurate with the scale that the Bank has gained in the recent years.

Q. Looking ahead, which business lines do you see aggressive growth in the banking sector in?

We are really excited about the India story, notwithstanding all the headwinds and challenges we are reading about these days. We remain positive on the structural growth story of India in the medium-to-long term, and hence all aspects of banking will continue to see growth. Given the evolution of banking, clearly mortgages, auto finance and consumer loans, which are underpenetrated will see rapid growth. We also believe that mobile banking will enable India to leapfrog the typical evolution of payments infrastructure from cash to cheques to cards. This arena is conducive to some innovative, path-breaking banking models going forward. On the other hand, corporate India will continue to seek opportunities for growth both in India and overseas, be it in infrastructure or other sectors.

Q. Increasing urbanization and rising spending power continue to drive intense competition in the retail banking space. How do you see Axis Bank successfully competing and differentiating itself in this arena?

The Bank has a sweet spot in the mass/mass affluent segment and is known for high levels of customer engagement and loyalty in its branches. We believe that this is a sustainable differentiator for us going forward. Of course, we will have to ensure that we have competitive products, innovative delivery models, responsive turnaround times, etc.

Q. How do you view the role of technology and innovation in banking? Are there any specific investments that Axis Bank is making in this direction?

Technology has typically been in the background as far as banking is concerned, but that is fast-changing. Today’s consumer is embracing technology very quickly, with significant repercussions on customer segmentation, product design and delivery and indeed the analytical backbone on which banks can design their offerings. We believe that a lot of innovation will happen around these areas. We are investing in building our analytical capabilities and of course in continuing to scale up our technology architecture so as to make it more robust and flexible at the same time.

Q. Could you share a bit about the opportunity and challenges you see in Rural Banking?

The rural opportunity needs a nuanced understanding – today agriculture accounts for less than half of the rural GDP. The rural ecosystem is therefore a lot about services and small industries in addition to the agricultural ecosystem. The current opportunity is centred around consumption and micro-credit, which has not been the domain of traditional banking models. We are in the process of designing and running some pilots to test the waters in this space and will be guided by the results of these pilots before we take the next steps.

Q. In the past couple of years, there have been a number of new banks and NBFC’s. Could you share your thoughts on the room for more banks in India and their challenges?

At the end of the day, banking is a business of trust and unless new entrants already enjoy the confidence of customers in their existing businesses, they will need to build the trust over several years. This is likely to be their greatest challenge. Having said that, some of the players who may be present in other lines of business (e.g. NBFCs), could certainly bring their own business models to the banking space, and to that extent, they will challenge existing players, and the customer will benefit from this.

Q. Finally, what is your vision for where you want to take Axis Bank in the years to come?

A couple of years ago, the entire senior management team developed a vision for the Bank which essentially says that over the next 3-5 years, we would like to deliver consistent, profitable growth at a premium to the industry, with a diversified business model. We would like to ensure maximum share of wallet of our customers, but want this to be driven by customer insight and consistently superior customer service.

From a Consultant to a News Anchor – Navigating Diverse Career Choices

Mr. Mihir Mankad is an established television anchor for reputed Indian TV channels such as NDTV, Zee and the national broadcaster Doordarshan (DD). The unique aspect of his television career is that he has been a top anchor in both the business and sports genres, hosting some of the most viewed events in the country such as the Olympics and Cricket World Cup. Prior to television, Mihir’s career spanned both the private and nonprofit sectors, as a well-renowned strategy consultant (McKinsey India, Bain US) and as a leader in the development and nonprofit space (Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative for children in India, and The Janet Pomeroy Center for the Disabled in San Francisco). His diverse career is mirrored by the diversity of his interests, which include sport, travel, media, and Latin and Ballroom dance.

Please tell us about your early career and experience in the US.

Following in my family’s footsteps (where 3 generations had represented the country in sports), and inspired by my own mother (the first Indian woman at Wimbledon), I was driven by a desire to make a mark in the tennis world during the first phase of my life. An early dream was fulfilled when I received a scholarship to attend Stanford University, and made the legendary tennis team. Winning the NCAA team Championships my freshman year was a highlight, but being part of the top ranked team, with the nation’s top juniors hand selected by the coach, meant that my playing time and starting position would be limited as a walk-on.  Soon I came to the tough realization that professional tennis may not work out, also due to finances (it actually takes a fortune to transition into a top 200 ranking, where life becomes sustainable). So I decided to focus on a more traditional career upon graduation from college.

Getting into management consulting and living in California (both in LA and San Francisco) was a good transition into the “real” world. My Kellogg experience was significant, rejuvenating, and enabling, and was marked by intellectual growth across disciplines (especially nonprofit management), and extracurricular highlights of leading the Consulting and Ballroom Dance Clubs (called “Movers and Shakers” then). Kellogg also enabled my top job choices, with offers from the San Francisco offices of BCG and Bain.  Post a couple of years at Bain, I did some soul-searching and decided to look for an opportunity in either a social cause or media and entertainment (including sports) – two distinct but consistent passions of mine.

After completing a 10-week strategic planning assignment for the Recreation Center for the Handicapped (RCH) in San Francisco, the board liked the work and created a new position for me. I signed on to a full time leadership position to implement my plan, at a fraction of my previous salary. After 2 exhilarating and challenging years, marked my marketing learned at Kellogg to raise funds, and strategic planning learned in consulting to create real change across functional areas at a 50 year-old nonprofit that had never seen PowerPoint before, my visa status in the US ran out. Given I had to live out of the country for a year to gain another 6 years of work status, I decided to move back to India, where the economy was seeing unprecedented growth and change.

My one-year plan turned into 8, with some tremendous experiences spanning both media and development.

It is very unconventional to see a B-School student in media and entertainment. How did you get into media? Is that something that you were thinking about doing?

It was always at the back of my mind. In that sense, I was quite an untraditional MBA. Moreover, I felt that moving to India would allow me flexibility to explore, as I would not be tied to a visa status from a conventional employer. After working or consulting on the business side of media at McKinsey, Saregama (India’s largest music label) and Rajshri Media (a video content aggregation startup), I received my first break as a sports anchor with Zee Sports, anchoring the daily show Sports Planet (similar to ESPN’s SportsCenter).

It actually took 3 years of waiting and knocking on doors to finally get that first break, after which things took off nicely. My family’s and my own sports background helped, but it was mainly a consistent persistence, including “elevator pitching” that eventually led to this unconventional career change.

Can you share your TV anchoring experience with I@K?

After my initial experience with sports news, I was selected to live anchor for the official broadcast of three of the most viewed television events in Indian history – the 2008 Olympics, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the 2011 Cricket World Cup, with daily viewership crossing 40 million. Out of these, the 2008 Olympics experience was particularly significant to me.  Just 5 days before the start of this event, I lost my father. But I knew that he would have been proud to see me host this event. Keeping the sadness inside while facing the nation each day for 6-8 hours with a smile, I immersed myself in the 30 sports, 300 events, and 11,000 athletes, and the news, records, facts and trivia around them. This hard work also paid off, as I subsequently got invited to host virtually every major multisport live broadcast since, and also got a job from the CNN of India – NDTV.

Can you share your experience as a Business anchor?

At NDTV, I was actually asked to serve as a prime time business news anchor, and ended up hosting over 300 bulletins and shows. Interestingly, the 10 pm Nasdaq Live show involved interviewing a live guest in New York on US markets each night, typically a renowned CEO, market expert, or economist, and I found myself having to keep updated on both the Indian and US economies. My Kellogg MBA and especially Finance courses came to good use, and I extensively researched and analyzed financial markets, corporate strategies and macroeconomic policies to prepare for my shows. Outside of news, I particularly enjoyed features, including anchoring the well received Boss’ Day Out show, for which I spent a day with some of the nation’s leading CEO’s.

What is your accomplishment on the nonprofit side?

My television career was coming along well when one day I suddenly received a call from a former Bain colleague who had just moved to India and saw me on TV.  He eventually convinced me to change paths again for an incredibly impactful and time-bound opportunity to lead The Clinton Foundation’s Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in India, with a focus on children with HIV/AIDS, during the critical last two years of the program’s funding in India. With the world’s third largest infected population in our country, I was fortunate to become a part of a brilliant global machinery that was literally saving or prolonging the lives of thousands of children, many orphans, via life-saving ART medication and innovative nutrition and psychosocial support programs. The experience was also an outstanding leadership opportunity, as it involved managing a staff of 60, fostering relationships with 200 partner NGOs, and gaining credibility with key government officials. I travelled throughout the country, meeting partners and beneficiaries (children, caretakers, “high-risk groups”) to keenly understand issues and new solutions first-hand. Outside of our specific mandate, I was also able to contribute significantly to the new IEC (Information, Education & Communication) policy of our latest National AIDS Control Plan (NACP-IV), with specific media interventions for increasing awareness and lowering stigma. Given the global financial crises, our overseas funders eventually ended their support for India after the agreed 5-year term, and after successfully transitioning most of our interventions to the government, I returned back to TV anchoring.

What are the current projects you are working on?

I have just received a Presidential scholarship to attend the mid-career Mason Fellows program in Public Administration at Harvard University’s (Kennedy School), and will be leaving shortly for this enabling, one-year program, which starts in the summer.

Over the past few months, in addition to anchoring, I have also served as a guest lecturer at four major universities in Delhi, on an innovative and interactive “practical life skills” module that touches on business essentials, public speaking and elevator pitching, and have found this experience very rewarding.

How did Kellogg help you in the thinking process throughout your career? Is there anything you would have done differently if you got a chance to go back to your Kellogg experience?

Kellogg to me was more about the people experiences than the theory (much of which can be learned on the job).  It instilled a confidence in dealing with diversity. I also felt that it was a “fair” institution, with rewards matching effort. A subtle thing that I may change if I could go back is to find the same hunger and humility in my second year as I had in my first. When things worked out well in my first year, I felt I may have developed a bit of overconfidence, and taken my foot off the pedal at times. I would also recommend more OB/MORS classes, given the people oriented nature of most jobs today and the occasional politics that all of us inevitably run into.

What is your advice for readers reading this article?

That it’s okay to be more of a journeyman than a destination person. New and unconventional opportunities are constantly being created, and are there for the taking. Let your MBA give you options, not limit you. Of course there is value in focus, and our typical Type A personalities will lean this way. But my life has also worked out just fine.

Also, a significant pay cut is often a deal breaker for many MBA’s interested in exploring. But take it, at least once or twice, and see where it leads you.  Yes, things may have been easier for me being single and globally mobile, and managing a family may be more complex and challenging. But find a way. As a friend nicely put it, “If you’re not having fun, it’s probably not worth doing anyways…”