Sampath at London

Leader

2009-06-17T19:29:00.001+01:00

I heard this today..

= There are 1000s of people who can explain meticulously why a particular project cannot be done. These are followers. It takes a leader to show how it can be done.
= If we have to reach Milwaukee from Chicago, you need to stay on I-94/I-294 for an hour.
However if we take every exit and diversion along the way, then the same distance can take more than 24 hours. Same way, you need focus and determination to reach the end goal, and not get distracted on your way.

Leadership

2009-02-24T17:13:00.002Z

There are things that a young person does in their early years that will signal they indeed will become successful as they grow older. There is a simple test to see this: Do they have passion or drive, do they have talent, and finally do they have luck?

If they have all three, they will prosper beyond all possible imagination.

According to Brennan, six qualities separate the leaders from the followers:

1. Integrity: This is a deal breaker if you don't have it completely. When it comes to governance, Brennan said, he "never did anything or asked anyone to do anything he couldn't go home and explain to his kids."

2. A deep understanding of the business: "You can't fake it. People will know." While you don't need to know every detail, you do have to have a good grasp of the business.

3. Consistency: While keeping things fresh is important, leaders cannot change direction frequently. They will lose people's confidence.

4. Willingness to admit a mistake: Everyone makes mistakes. If you're not making any, you're not doing your job right. But Brennan emphasized the importance of admitting your missteps -- otherwise people will not respect you.

5. The ability to listen: Good leaders must be willing to handle opinions contrary to their own and absorb as much as they can.

6. Decisiveness: While you should listen to others' opinions, the final decision is yours to make. Brennan said when CEOs fail, very often it's because they are not decisive. Average tenure for a CEO has fallen from more than a decade to three years because people lose confidence in leaders whose indecision results in failure.

A quote I heard today

2008-12-18T12:38:00.000Z

In any sales presentation, you win in the first 5 minutes. After that, its all about whether the client will engage more, or disconnect more. You have to give him the nouget and confidence in that first 5 minutes.

Few snaps of our London home

2008-08-09T09:06:00.002+01:00

Home entrance - verandah

Hall / Living room

Kitchen

Bed room - outside view

Bedroom - inside view

Schengen visa

2008-06-10T12:20:00.005+01:00

I went for a schengen visa interview yesterday and thought I will post some useful info here. Obviously, this info is just for guidance and if you need more details, its best to visit the consultates.

Who is it for?
Among many other reasons – for anyone without EU/UK passport (like me – Indian), who wish to tour EU.

What are Schengen countries?
There are quite a few EU countries that you can visit with this one visa. The 15 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. All these countries except Norway and Iceland are European Union members.

Where do you apply?
Any of the embassies of Schengen countries. I am in London and I visited the French consultate.

How do you make an appointment?
While the usual process takes a few weeks, the consultate refreshes the cancelled slots every Thursday 4pm. So go to this link (http://www.consulfrance-londres.org/spip.php?article320), and keep pressing refresh.You will see slots for the next week. Book them and attend within a week.

How does the process work?
You book your tour or flight/hotel and get travel insurance. Then, you make an appointment with the embassy. Then, download the application form, fill it, take it to the embassy – it takes around 4 hours in total on the appointment day. They give you the stamped passport back the same day.
More details here: http://www.consulfrance-londres.org/spip.php?article324

What documents?
More details here: http://www.visafrance.co.uk/reqTourist.php

For me - I am here in HSMP Work permit:
• Application form
• Passport and work permit documents
• Employee reference letter (certifies employement, salary, address and grade)
• Pay slips – 3 months
• Bank statements – 3 months
• Tour itinerary, or flight ticket and hotel booking in france
• Proof of insurance (you can get it quick from many providers – I did it here www.insureandgo.com)
• Embassy insurance declaration form (http://www.visafrance.co.uk/schenFrInsAssur.pdf)
• 1 photocopy of all documents listed above -- very important
• 1 passport size photo

For my wife – she is a dependent:
• Application form
• Passport
• Sponsor passport (my passport) and work permit documents
• Tour itinerary, or flight ticket and hotel booking in france
• Proof of insurance
• Marriage certificate in English
• Embassy insurance declaration form (http://www.visafrance.co.uk/schenFrInsAssur.pdf)
• 1 photocopy of all documents listed above -- very important
• 1 passport size photo

How was the day?
The people all over in the embassy are quite nice and helpful. My wifes appointment was at 8:30am and mine was at 10am.We were allowed to go together without any fuss.
Four stages – security, cashier, passport check and visa officer meeting. First 3 stages are real fast and takes 30 minutes. Then we were put to wait for 1.5 hours for the 4th stage. Take some good books to read.
The visa officer asked some Qs and indicated that she will give the visa for 6months. After 30 minutes the passport with the stamp was ready for collection.
There are a few good museums around. If you have time, plan to get to those – we were so hungry we didn’t.

Books on Balanced Scorecard

2008-06-09T23:18:00.002+01:00

I was planning to read and refresh my memory on Balanced scorecard for a while now. This weekend, while looking at many books, I was quite confused which one to buy. Here are a few helpful hints I picked from Amazon.

Kaplan and Norton co-authored an article which was published in the Harvard Business Review (January/February 1992). In it they introduce an exciting new concept: the balanced scorecard. They have since published four books:
(1). The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action (1996)
(2). The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment (2000).
(3). Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes (2004)
(4). Alignment: How to Apply the Balanced Scorecard to Corporate Strategy (2006)

In The Balanced Scorecard, as Kaplan and Norton explain in their Preface, "the Balanced Scorecard evolved from an improved measurement system to an improved management system." The distinction is critically important to understanding this book. Senior executives in various companies have used the Balanced Scorecard as the central organizing framework for important managerial processes such as individual and team goal setting, compensation, resource allocation, budgeting and planning, and strategic feedback and learning. When writing this book, it was the authors' hope that the observations they share would help more executives to launch and implement Balanced Scorecard programs in their organizations.

Then in The Strategy-Focused Organization, Kaplan and Norton observed five common principles of a Strategy-Focused Organization:
1. Translate the strategy to operational terms
2. Align the organization to the strategy
3. Make strategy everyone's job
4. Make strategy a continual process
5. Mobilize change through executive leadership

The first four principles focus on the the Balanced Scorecard tool, framework, and supporting resources; the importance of the fifth principle is self-evident. "With a Balanced Scorecard that tells the story of the strategy, we now have a reliable foundation for the design of a management system to create Strategy-Focused Organizations."

What we have in Strategy Maps are two separate but related components: Further development and refinement of core concepts introduced in the earlier two books, and, a rigorous examination of new ideas and new applications by which to convert intangible assets into tangible outcomes. In the Introduction, Kaplan and Norton explain that their direct involvement with more than 300 organizations provided them with an extensive database of strategies, strategy maps, and balanced scorecards. This abundance of material has revealed a number of strategies and tactics by which literally any organization (regardless of size or nature) can create and then increase value. The strategies and tactics are embraced within three targeted approaches for aligning intangible assets to strategy:
1. Strategic job families that align human capital to the strategic themes
2. The strategic IT portfolio that aligns information capital to the strategic themes
3. An organization change agenda that integrates and aligns organizational capital for continued learning and improvement in the strategic themes."

What we have in this Alignment is a brilliant analysis of how to use the Balanced Scorecard to create corporate synergies. As they observe in the Preface, they have identified five key principles "for aligning an organization's management and measurement systems to strategy":
1. Mobilize change through executive leadership.
2. Translate strategy into operational terms.
3. Align the organization to the strategy.
4. Motivate to make strategy everyone's job.
5. Govern to make strategy a continual process.

Further reads?
f you're interested in Balanced Scorecard, you could read a very capable book by the Swedes Olve et al (2003) - "Making Scorecards Actionable: Balancing Strategy and Control" - that even includes some thinking on why balanced scorecards go wrong - and what to do about it. Paul Niven (2005) does the same in his "Balanced scorecard diagnostics".

If you have any reviews or recommendations, do drop a comment.

Carl Icahn - the shrewdest investor

2008-05-20T12:05:00.005+01:00

I was reading about Microsoft reviving its race for Yahoo - now a takeover of Yahoo's search engine business and came across the news item on Carl Icahn and his proxy war. That lead me to read more about him and how he destroyed an another company, TWA. Below is the detailed history of TWA, once a famous Airlines, which explains how Carl Icahn made his money with TWA's gradual demise.

Such folks are called Corporate raiders. A corporate raid is a business term for buying a large interest in a corporation and then using voting rights to enact measures directed at realizing a profit. The measures might include replacing top executives, downsizing operations, or liquidating the company.

CNN's article cites him as the shrewdest investor and details further on the Icahn effect.

TWA - Death Of A Legend
by Elaine X. Grant

TWA was the Marilyn Monroe of the airlines: an American icon done in by powerful men who wanted a piece of its magic. Glamorous, tragic, gone before its time.

And even though TWA’s demise didn’t involve pills or rumors of mob involvement, it was every bit as controversial as Marilyn’s suicide.

Ask any ex-staffer what went wrong with the airline, and you’ll get one answer: Carl Icahn, the corporate raider who took over TWA in 1985 and systematically stripped it of its assets.

It’s easy to pin the blame on Icahn. But as glorious as TWA’s image was, its history was rife with missteps, misfortunes and miscreants.

TWA was born in 1930 when Transcontinental Air Transport merged with Western Air Express. In 1939, legendary Leonardo DiCaprio vessel Howard Hughes gained control of the airline. Already a famed aviator, tycoon and playboy, Hughes was asked to invest in TWA by its president, Jack Frye, a universally respected pilot who had run the airline since 1934.

Hughes would own TWA for the next 27 years—without ever holding an official position. At first, TWA was thrilled to have him at the helm. He brought to the table glittering celebrities, a true aviator’s love of flying, and money, money, money. But he also brought the eccentric behavior that foreshadowed his descent into an obsessive- compulsive prison years later.

Fiercely secretive and famously indecisive, Hughes was the millstone that kept TWA from staying at the front of the high-stakes jet race
Advertisement
. He loved jets and wanted TWA to be one of the first airlines to have them—but, as with everything else, it had to be done on his terms. In the mid-1950s, when United, American and Pan Am placed large orders for the latest jets, Hughes wouldn’t allow TWA to follow suit. He eventually ordered eight short-range Boeing 707s through his Hughes Tool Co. but cagily told TWA that the airline would have no rights to them. (Indeed, he had been known to keep a TWA plane on hand for his personal use for months at a time despite his top executives’ entreaties for its return to service.) “Eight domestic Boeings, while better than none, were not sufficient to preserve TWA’s markets against the forthcoming onslaught by American and United,” wrote longtime TWA executive Robert Rummel in Howard Hughes and TWA.

Finally Hughes ordered 18 international Boeings and 30 Convair 880s, and it seemed that TWA might be back in the game. But with the Convair order Hughes found himself nearing the end of his financial resources.

He began playing games with the manufacturer—refusing delivery of planes, sending his own inspectors to place them under armed guard, preventing TWA inspectors and Convair workers from boarding, even blocking test flights—in a bid to delay payment.

TWA was in desperate need of money, but no bank would give the airline a cent as long as Hughes was still in the picture. “We were subject to very stiff interest penalties as a result of Hughes’ involvement,” says Jerry Cosley, who held several executive and staff positions with TWA from 1960 to 1985. “He was a genius in many aspects of aviation, but he maintained a very spotty record of financial achievement.”

In 1960, with TWA facing bankruptcy, Hughes finally gave up control of the airline. Six years later, he would sell his TWA stock. (TWA eventually filed two lawsuits against Hughes. After more than 25 years of litigation, the airline won one and lost the other, pocketing damages of almost $50 million.)

TWA began to gain ground, but more trouble was on the way. “TWA after Howard Hughes was really run by a group of people who never believed in the airline industry,” says Don Casey, who joined TWA’s marketing department in 1968. “What did they do with any money they got? They went out and bought Hilton International [in 1967] and Century 21 [in 1978]. They wanted TWA out of the airline business.”

“American and United survived because they had iron-willed CEOs dedicated to being the number-one carrier. Ours were distracted,” says John Gratz, who flew for TWA from 1955 to 1991. “We were always known for coming up with little gimmicks like inflight movies, coffee and [frozen] meals, but the big corporate decisions were lacking.”

Still, TWA’s future was brightening. “As the U.S. economy improved in the late 1960s, TWA’s fortunes started to improve along with the entire industry, even though we were still dragging the weight of a debt burden the other carriers didn’t have,” says Cosley. “The news stories always started with ‘Financially troubled airline TWA.’”

That financial trouble was only exacerbated in 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act, turning what had been an orderly system of cost and profit into a flurry of desperate competition.

“Deregulation set fire to the industry,” says Cosley. “Every carrier had the same problem then as now, and nobody in the industry has yet solved the riddle: How do you compete while effectively managing your costs? The fixed-cost burden—labor, leases, fuel, all variables that management cannot control—ate us alive.”

In 1984, TWA’s parent company, which owned Hilton and Century 21, cut the airline loose, a broken-winged bird helpless before the pounce of the ultimate corporate predator: Carl Icahn.

In retrospect, TWA should have known better. In 1985, Icahn launched a sneak attack, buying up more than 20 percent of the airline’s stock. TWA fought back, and another suitor entered the picture: Frank Lorenzo, president of Texas Air.

If anyone could make Icahn look good, it was Lorenzo. Infamous for breaking the unions at Continental, he was the last person on earth TWA’s union workers wanted for a boss.

“Most all of us thought Carl Icahn would be better,” says Gratz. “Everyone was so upset by the way Lorenzo handled the unions. He was more obviously ruthless than Icahn. You couldn’t see any redeeming quality about him.”

Icahn, though he already had a fairly dark reputation for buying and breaking up companies, told TWA what it wanted to hear: He wanted to make it profitable.

Profit was his goal, all right, but not TWA’s. “He told employees TWA needed to grow to be competitive,” says Jeff Darnall, who flew for the airline from 1989 until he was furloughed in 2003. “We took him at his word. It was an opportunity to be with an airline that was poised for growth.”

Icahn did help the airline grow, most notably by acquiring Ozark Airlines in 1986, an act that cemented TWA’s dominance at its St. Louis hub.

But soon enough, the party was over. “It became more and more apparent that Carl was not interested in growing the airline but in using TWA as a financial vehicle to acquire wealth for himself,” Darnall says.

In 1988, Icahn took what many consider the first step toward the airline’s demise: He took TWA private. Icahn received $469 million in the deal, and TWA got something a little less attractive: $540 million in debt.

That was just one manifestation of Icahn’s short-term–gain thinking. “Icahn wanted it to be a low-cost, low-fare airline,” says Casey. “He loved one ad that we ran—‘The World is a Bargain When You Know Where to Shop.’ I said, ‘You know, Carl, TWA can be a bargain if TWA stands for something, but if the only thing TWA stands for is a bargain, it’s not a bargain. He said, ‘I believe you, but when I run the ad, the phones ring.’”

In 1989, Icahn made another revealing move. According to Darnall, employees were anticipating an order for 100 or more airplanes to replenish TWA’s aging fleet. When the order was announced, it was for 12. “That was an indication to me that we had been hoodwinked,” Darnall says.

In 1991, Icahn did something that still causes twinges of pain for those who were there when it happened. He sold TWA’s prized London routes to American Airlines for $445 million.

“Selling the London routes was a killer,” says Gratz. “They were valuable as hell. The other things he did—trying to implement draconian procedures for everything, having people watch people—it’s all a hill of beans compared to losing those routes.”

In 1992, TWA filed for bankruptcy, emerging in 1993 with its creditors owning 55 percent of the company. One of those creditors, to the tune of $190 million, was Icahn. He resigned as chairman in 1993, and by 1995 he was growing impatient to be repaid. TWA executives, desperate to bring the tragic Icahn chapter to a close, gave away the farm, the cows and the farmer’s wife. They came up with a deal called the Karabu ticket agreement, an eight-year arrangement that allowed Icahn to buy any ticket that connected through St. Louis (but not those that originated or ended here, so St. Louisans never had access to the cheap tickets) for 55 cents on the dollar and resell them at a discount.

Karabu blocked Icahn from selling the tickets through travel agents, but it didn’t even mention the embryonic Internet, where he immediately set up Lowestfare.com and commenced to bleed TWA dry, one ticket at a time. “He put downward pressure on the amount TWA could sell tickets for because we were essentially competing with ourselves,” Gratz says.

American Airlines later estimated that Karabu cost TWA $100 million a year, but as bad as Karabu turned out to be for TWA, and as fervently as its constructors may have later wished they had closed the Internet loophole, TWA didn’t have many options at the time.

“There was no $190 million. There was nowhere to get $190 million. TWA had two choices: accept the agreement or shut down,” says Mark Abels, who was vice president of corporate communications from 1996 to 2001.

“They said, ‘OK, you mangy pirate, we’ll do the deal.’ If the airline didn’t do the Karabu deal, it would have gone out of existence in 1995 rather than 2001.”

TWA didn’t go out of business in 1995, but it did go into bankruptcy—again.

It emerged a couple months later, beaten down and limping behind the other major carriers but starting to perhaps not see but at least imagine clear skies ahead.

“We called it the 70-year-old startup,” says Dave Pelter, who was TWA’s director of revenue analysis at the time. “The carrier had just turned in a profitable quarter; things were looking up. There was an immense amount of potential.”

On July 17, 1996, a Paris-bound TWA plane exploded off Long Island, killing all 230 passengers.

TWA was shattered by the tragedy of Flight 800, but it picked itself up and tried, once again, to turn things around.

Long one of the worst performers in on-time arrivals, TWA surged to the front of the pack. It ordered hundreds of new planes, touting its renewed fleet with an ad campaign that boasted “a new plane every 10 days.”

“If we could outlast Carl Icahn, I really felt that we would have been in good shape from then on,” says Jeffrey Struyk, a pilot with TWA from 1998 until his furlough in 2002. “We’d done a lot to improve our operations. There was a real sense of optimism.”

Given that optimism, it’s not surprising that some of the unionized employees decided that it was time to recoup the money they had lost. A series of givebacks had started in the 1980s, all concessions the airline had insisted it must have to survive. TWA had survived; now it was time to pony up.

“TWA ended up with a contract for the pilots which was more than we had hoped for,” says Jack Stelzer, who was with the airline from the late ’60s to the mid-’70s and rejoined the carrier in 1997 as vice president of planning. “The mechanics, unfortunately, continued to live in a hypothetical universe where TWA was the largest airline in the world. They thought it was necessary for TWA to increase operations in JFK and to have large maintenance bases in Kansas City and JFK. Both of those things were very problematic.” Problematic or not, the mechanics, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, got what they wanted by threatening a work stoppage.

“We might have caved too quickly,” concedes Stelzer. “We were concerned that if we held out, the final settlement would have ended up raising our costs significantly more than we originally planned. We had the fear that every airline has: When you have a strike, you have no revenue, and TWA at the time was not in a position to be able to fly through that.”

“To threaten a strike, I thought that was pretty inappropriate,” says Struyk. “They seemed to be asking for a lot, and a strike would have shut us down. I wasn’t too happy that they were playing hardball at a time like that.”

The IAM contract would come back to haunt TWA. Those maintenance facil-ities in Kansas City and JFK, where the planes underwent “heavy checks” every five to six years, were siphoning money from TWA’s bottom line, and there was nothing the airline could do about it.

“The unions were insistent that they remain open,” says Abels. “Down the line, the Kansas City operation was more than big enough to serve the whole fleet. Even that might have been extraneous, because in order to be profitable, you farm out your heavy checks. Southwest, for example, has never done a heavy check. Maintenance at those facilities was pretty much stopped, but we couldn’t close them.”

Another problem was TWA’s international operations. Stripped of its lucrative London slots, TWA had become a weak presence in Europe, but it had a payroll of European workers that predated deregulation. Before the advent of computerized reservation systems, airlines required a lot of manpower to process each flight. “And once you hire somebody in Europe, they’re hired for life,” says Stelzer. “It’s a cradle-to-grave employment situation. We had more employees in Milan than in places where we had 10 to 12 flights a day. We had to either pay them forever or try to buy them out, which meant wages and salaries for the next 25 years. That made it extremely difficult to be competitive with the Continentals and Deltas and Americans that were coming in, outsourcing labor.”

All of this added up to a sorrowful reality: TWA was not going to make it.

“We had cleaned up a lot of the historical challenges and were on a path toward renewal,” says Pelter. “It just wasn’t enough.”

In January 2001, time ran out. CEO Bill Compton held a press conference to announce TWA’s third and final bankruptcy and a purchase offer from American Airlines.

Depending on whom you ask, the American purchase was either inevitable or borderline criminal. Compton, the pilot-turned-executive who orchestrated the sale and claimed it was TWA’s only option, is described variously as a good-hearted savior, a bumbling naïf and a turncoat who sold out the employees for personal profit.

“We were actually making progress, good progress,” says Darnall. “Our costs were among the lowest in the industry. The only thing that was keeping us from showing profit was Carl Icahn’s ticket agreement, and that was scheduled to expire in September 2003. We were very close to getting out from under that burden. We all knew that the winter of 2000 was going to be a difficult time. Winters were difficult times for all airlines. Our cash position was not flush, but we were convinced that TWA was going to make it without too much difficulty.”

“I was pretty surprised by the bankruptcy announcement,” says Struyk. “When the press release came out, it made it sound a lot more bleak than I thought it was.”

Given that reaction, it’s a pretty safe bet that Compton isn’t spending his days hanging out with his old TWA flying buddies, who sum up their feeling about his role in the sale with one word: betrayal.

One pilot speculates that Compton’s motives in setting up the sale were more personal than professional, “a defensive move so that he was not replaced as CEO.”

“I think nothing could be further from the truth,” Pelter says. “You don’t take a job like that because of a golden parachute. I think Bill, at the bottom of his heart, thought he was making the best decision he could to save jobs.”

“Bill Compton did every-thing he possibly could,” agrees airline analyst Michael Boyd. “Despite his union background, he was one of the most competent CEOs in the business. It had just gone too far.”

Or maybe he just didn’t know what he was doing. “If he did have TWA’s best interests at heart, he’d have to be naïve in the extreme to turn over a company like TWA to the likes of American Airlines, a company that has a reputation for being bloodthirsty when it comes to acquisitions,” says Darnall.

“As a guy who was on the scene,” counters Casey, “I can tell you that Bill Compton was not naïve. This was a guy who was used to doing a little horse trading as the head of the pilots’ union.”

The employees have their suspicions, but analysts and former executives say that Compton’s representation of the situation was sad but true. “TWA was dead meat,” says Ray Neidl, an analyst with Calyon Securities. “They didn’t have the market size, they didn’t have the fleet, they didn’t have the cost structure. Mainly they just didn’t have market mass. They were becoming a nonentity in a market that was dominated by low-cost carriers and giants. TWA was out of options.”

“By March of 2000, the tech stocks and dot-com market had started to implode,” says Stelzer. “Trillions of dollars were taken out of the stock market. Also, interest rates had started to go up, and fuel prices started to edge up a little bit. Demand was declining because the people who had been flying in the late ’90s weren’t flying anymore. It got worse and worse into 2001.”

“Painful as it was and is, the sale at least saved the core of the operation,” says Cosley. “It was the only option. The other airlines had their own problems; they didn’t want to buy into TWA’s.”

In fact, in February 2001 Compton testified before the Senate Commerce Committee, saying that he had approached every major airline in the United States. “No one was interested in TWA as a going concern,” he said. “Most recognized that they would benefit from TWA’s demise and decided they would sit back and let it happen.”

And it would have happened—soon. “The cash position was such that had American not stepped up to the deal on the day that they did, on the next day we would have shut down the airline,” says Abels.

As American was preparing to take over TWA, another potential buyer emerged: Carl Icahn. That was all it took. As had happened 16 years earlier, when the fear of Frank Lorenzo drove TWA’s employees into the arms of an arguably deadlier foe, the specter of Icahn, who made a $1.1-billion offer and said he would keep the airline independent while demanding labor concessions and making job cuts, made the American offer seem aglow with promise.

The bankruptcy judge dismissed Icahn’s offer as a joke, but even if it had been seriously considered, he had earned such a bitter reputation with TWA’s rank and file that they would have willingly marched off the American Airlines plank anyway.

Under American, everything sounded good—at first. The workforces were integrated in a way that put TWA employees at a disadvantage, but at least they were working. American promised to keep St. Louis as a hub and even expand its operations here.

“It looked like American had seen some value in the company,” says Struyk, “and it looked like we had something to contribute.”

Then came 9/11, and the promise of the American purchase lay in ruins along with the innocence of a nation.

“On 9/11, I knew it was over,” says Struyk.

In October 2001, American began making job cuts. Some employees were laid off; some were furloughed (removed from active status indefinitely).

The next casualty was the St. Louis hub. In November 2003, American resized the hub “to reflect size of St. Louis marketplace,” says American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan. American eliminated about 200 flights and restructured the remaining ones so that about 70 percent of travelers were originating in St. Louis, with 30 percent connecting, mostly from short- range destinations.

It wasn’t a popular decision, but it was a logical one. “Connecting flights don’t make you much money,” says Abels. “We had about a 70-30 mix of connecting to local traffic. You need 50-50 to make a hub operation work.”

In fact, the move made so much sense that it caused some to wonder whether a downsizing at St. Louis had been the plan all along.

“They blamed most of what they did on September 11. It was a convenient excuse for a lot of things that had nothing to with September 11,” says Gwendolyn Miller, a furloughed flight attendant who was with TWA for 25 years. (Paranoia? Perhaps, but American CEO Don Carty lent credence to the idea when he resigned in 2003, after approving bonuses for senior officials while simultaneously downsizing the St. Louis hub and urging employees to help the airline stave off bankruptcy with huge concessions.)

St. Louis had always been a problem for TWA. “In St. Louis we had a hub that was simply not viable from a profitability standpoint,” says Abels. “I say that as a native St. Louisan who loves St. Louis, who has chosen to live out my life and die in St. Louis. But St. Louis is not big enough to maintain a hub like Chicago or Dallas. It doesn’t have nearly enough traffic.”

“Under the original plan, it would have been a great secondary connecting point for American,” says Boyd. “American would have been the strongest carrier in the U.S. But I’ve read some of the old St. Louis materials saying, ‘You’ll always be a hub.’ No, you won’t. American is slowly eliminating it as a hub. It has maybe a couple years left.”

Given TWA’s strange history, the what-if game is too tempting to avoid, especially the biggest hypothetical of all: If TWA had not been purchased by American, would it have survived 9/11?

“If it weren’t for American, we would still be flying the TWA colors,” maintains Darnall.

“I don’t think there were three people in the world who would have given TWA a chance after Flight 800,” says Casey. “Four years later, we were a better airline in every way in terms of our aircraft, service and financial position. If we made it for those four years when no one gave us a chance, maybe we could have made it after 9/11.”

After all, says Abels, “TWA should have failed in the Hughes era; in the ’60s, when it became a conglomerate and spun off the airline into a cash-poor nothing; in the Icahn era ... It was the airline that wouldn’t die.”

But then there are the realists. “If TWA had managed to stay in business through the summer of 2001—it would have been difficult, but it could have—it would not have had enough cash to make it through September 11,” says Stelzer.

So what killed TWA? It wasn’t one thing but a collection of problems, some shared by the rest of the industry, some part of the outlandish panoply that was TWA: Hughes’ meddling, Icahn’s greed, the hellish actions of a cadre of terrorists. A militant union, the collapse of the economy, the price of fuel, tardy attention to the necessity of alliances.

Given the chance to go back and rectify the mistakes, each TWA loyalist has a different plan.

“American challenged the Karabu deal in court and won,” Pelter says. “TWA could have tried to get it invalidated. There were some penalties; to challenge it was really rolling the dice, but that’s what I would do.”

“Somebody suggested to me that, at the very beginning, the airline industry should have made the pilots part of management instead of organized labor that could stop the airline from flying,” says Casey. “It would have been a very different industry and a very different airline.”

Stelzer rattles off his own detailed plan: “We could have gone into bankruptcy, cut operations at St. Louis in half, shut down JFK transatlantic, let go of over half the workforce, taken the capacity that had been flying in St. Louis and moved it to other cities, created focus cities like San Juan throughout the U.S. and effectively had small hubs through which we could flow some percentage of our airplanes. If we had done all that, we would still be flying today.”

Gratz isn’t sure. “TWA was really handicapped and had to be creative in many, many ways,” he says. “I really didn’t think they’d last as long as they did.”

Stephen Covey's Seven Habits

2008-03-11T08:16:00.001Z

Stephen Covey's Seven Habits are a simple set of rules for life - inter-related and synergistic. Each one worthy of following in its own right. For many people, reading Covey's work, or listening to him speak, literally changes their lives.

This is just a brief overview of the Seven Habits - the full work is fascinating, comprehensive, and thoroughly uplifting. I recommend you read the book, or listen to the full tape series if you can get hold of it.

HABIT 1 - BE PROACTIVE®
This is the ability to control one's environment, rather than have it control you, as is so often the case. You can either be proactive or reactive when it comes to how you act about certain things. Being "proactive" means taking responsibility for everything in life. When you're reactive, you blame other people and circumstances for obstacles or problems.

HABIT 2 - BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND®
Covey calls this the habit of personal leadership - leading oneself that is, towards what you consider your aims. By developing the habit of concentrating on relevant activities you will build a platform to avoid distractions and become more productive and successful.

HABIT 3 - PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST®
Prioritizing work aimed at long-term goals, at the expense of tasks that appear to be urgent, but are in fact less important. Successful delegation, according to Covey, focuses on results and benchmarks that are to be agreed in advance, rather than on prescribing detailed work plans.

HABIT 4 - THINK WIN-WIN®
The habit of interpersonal leadership. Necessary because achievements are largely dependent on co-operative efforts with others. He says that win-win is based on the assumption that there is plenty for everyone, and that success follows a co-operative approach more naturally than the confrontation of win-or-lose.

HABIT 5 - SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND AND THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD®
Habit of communication, and it's extremely powerful. Covey helps to explain this in his simple analogy 'diagnose before you prescribe'. Simple and effective, and essential for developing and maintaining positive relationships in all aspects of life. Giving out advice before having empathetically understood a person and their situation will likely result in that advice being rejected. Thoroughly listening to another person's concerns will increase the chance of establishing a working communication.

HABIT 6 - SYNERGIZE®
The habit of creative co-operation - the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, which implicitly lays down the challenge to see the good and potential in the other person's contribution. Apply effective problem solving. Apply collaborative decision making. Value differences. Build on divergent strengths. Leverage creative collaboration. Embrace and leverage innovation.

HABIT 7 - SHARPEN THE SAW®
The habit of self renewal, it necessarily surrounds all the other habits, enabling and encouraging them to happen and grow. Learn from previous experiences and encourage others to do the same. Covey interprets the self into four parts: the spiritual, mental, physical and the social/emotional, which all need feeding and developing.

Its your choice

2008-01-20T22:19:00.000Z

I used to work as an account manager for a Harvard CIO and he kept me on toes most times. Often, I was put on spot with a bad feedback, discount in pricing, or with a request for a free consulting. When I hear these first, I often leave out a good smile without agreeing or disagreeing the charge. Once a client director was surprised how I manage to smile when so many of them were cornering me. Well, there is a Zen story I had heard long time ago... and had a chance to read it again this week.

A young Zen priest had entered that Ashram newly. He was well educated than the others who had spent a long time there, even more than the master. He continued to act with head weight and arrogance. He ended up criticizing and questioning the other priests.

One fine day, the young priest questioned a specific act of the master and started scolding and charging the master. The young guy expected the master to charge back at him; instead, the master kept smiling. Confused, the young priest left the hall. The other disciples were puzzled and inquired the master, “Why did you not get back at him?”

The master explained. “Look the couple at the end of the street. The husband is trying to present a gift to the wife and she is not accepting. Whom does the gift belong to, until now?” “To the husband”.

“Exactly, our young guy tried to provoke me and pass on his anger. I didn’t accept it or want to be a part of it. At the end, he got it back and left confused.”

“You will only get into trouble, if you want to. It all depends on what things and how much you want to involve yourself in whats going around you. Its your choice.”

Some songs I love

2007-12-14T09:12:00.000Z

John Lennon > Imagine

Awesome lyrics... very relevant to the Indian mindset.

Elvis Presley › A Little Less Conversation

Elvis Rules.. peppy song that you can play to your girl friend any day :D

Yanni > Reflections of Passion

Yanni, the best at Keyboard, a very romantic song.

Now, on the electives..

2007-10-29T09:54:00.000Z

Here comes the third one in this series on the courses and electives themselves. Again, please read the disclaimer section from the previous post and remember that these are personal one-man opinions and may be totally different for each person. You should consider this among lot other factors (new syllabus, if any, courses that suit your career, etc.) before choosing the electives. But, make no doubt, choosing the electives is the most challenging and important part of the MBA.

Michaelmas term:

You would have all core courses in this term. These are the courses that will help you all through the rest of the course - the Profs in Hilary and Trinity will keep referring to these subjects and will assume that you know all these courses and remember the frameworks. These will also be important from job search point of view; for example, consulting cases will require you to follow Strategy and Economics courses closely; a friend of mine who joined an asset management company had to check the health of a company and value it in 2 hours, the same exercise that Tomo Suzuki will conduct in the class in this term. So overall short message, take extra care to understand these subjects; don’t read them for the sake of exams.

James Taylor teaches Regression among other important topics in Decision Science (aka, statistics). A very good course that should be learnt closely since you will end up using this in some of Trinity electives and sometimes in job (finance jobs - stock analyst, etc).

The only course that might seemed a bit cheesy to me was DEM (Developing effective managers), the first of the organization behavior (OB) courses. Try and attend this course (!?) as much and score in the assignments – an easy one to score distinction. Indeed, it will teach you the psychology behind companies and let you get a new perspective. The Robbins book might be too broad for this course and the course notes might make your life pretty easy.

Hilary Term:

Marketing, a core course, is the top course that will again be very useful in consulting case studies. David Arnold will run the course exceptionally well. The cases and the guest speaker are the best portion of this course. Prepare well for the cases before the class and you would be the best to benefit.

Finance management was the other core subject for us. Eric taught the first 4 classes involving numbers mostly, 5th was a mock exam and Neils Dechow took the rest on some theoirical concepts. The course has some fine concepts like Activity based costing (ABC), Balanced Score card (BSC), etc, but was very badly organized for us. Apparently, the previous class had faired very well in this course, the profs indicated that the exam will be tough. Rather than making it just tough, they made it too lengthy that only 2 CAs managed to complete the whole paper. The whole class went berserk and the administrators had to redo the evaluation (they multiplied all the marks by some factor. The few CAs ended up getting 98s and 95s J. A funny story indeed.

The elective Finance II, taught by Han and one more, is one course that I regret not taking. I was adamant not to pursue a career in Finance for various reasons and decided to skip FII, which seemed like a deep finance course. It indeed is, but is mandatory, in my opinion, for an MBA. This nicely builds on F1 and lays the base for the rest of the finance courses. My sincere advice is to take this elective as one of the two that you will select, irrespective of what career path you plan to pursue post MBA.

Macro Economics, taught by Oren Sussman, is another elective that I regret not taking; but I did go through the whole course material on my own during the Hilary break. This is an important course and gives a good overall perspective to see business on a bigger picture. Oren indeed complicates the course in his own way, but will help well before exams.

Technology and Innovation Strategy (TIS) is a technical elective taught by Victor Seidal, and Marc Ventrasca. A prof from another department teaches just the IP portion (class 6, I suppose). They indeed load the course with tons of frameworks, lecture notes and reading materials. I would suggest to avoid this course, as you will see imminent repetition in ETV and MI (see Trinity). But, this is a better option than DEO, but should be the last but
One.

Developing effective organizations (DEO) is the second in the OB series taught by Tim Morris. Tim comes from LBS and has a knack of running classes. He introduced the concept of teams being evaluated by their presentation and Q&A session, which I appreciated. But I do not see you missing anything big, should you decide to skip this course.

This section is running so long, I’ll have to make another blog for the Trinity electives. Its (very) late Sunday night and I have a long day tomorrow. So Caio, good luck and bye for now.

The profs.. the good, bad and ugly

2007-10-26T12:05:00.000+01:00

Here comes the details on Profs. The best teachers that I saw all came from Michaelmas term. I dunno why. If any of the teachers are reading this, please accept my sincere apologies for breaking many hearts. I just mean to give a honest picture the new ones…and hey, read my disclaimers from the previous post.

Mich term:

The best ones:
Thomas Powell, who teaches Strategy, is the first great teacher I will mention anywhere. Many of us recorded his teaching; I took notes on anything he said. He is great strategist and draws from his personal experiences. I liked the way he started his classed with some Question or something and then kept it under control. James Taylor is a great teacher. As much as Statistics was complicated. He made it very easy and fun to learn. His funny quotes and stats at the footer of presentations were most enjoyed. We made fun o him in class, when he rhymes dome (well there is a case on Dome’s probability on having oil) like a British. Some of us took photos with flash and he never objected. Sweet chap. Tomo Suzuki teaches Financial reporting. For some of us, Accounting is like eating medicine... the inevitable. He makes it very simple with his lemonade store example. He even brings lemon to the class. Great guy, who made our money worth. Alex Guembal is not a basic financial guy, economics I suppose. But he teaches the simple finance clearly. Good teacher for finance dumbos like me.

The okay ones:
Laura taught us Organization behaviour (DEM) – 1 – okay types; I cut most of her classes and never regretted :)

Hilary:

The best ones:
The top name that comes to mind is David Arnold who teaches Marketing... great guy, he taught in Harvard and has now become a consultant... Very good method of case handling. I always thought marketing was the cheesy and softy stuff. He made me rethink; marketing is as much creativity and number crunching as finance or strategy. Go prepared with calculations for his class, otherwise you will not benefit. The Operations Management teachers (2 or 3 of them) were all very good. They were innovative in adding new curriculum on the go (they added some on online advertising logistics, which was very informative for me). They also added a few games which got the point very clearly... I loved those games and the lessons learnt.

The normal ones:
TIS teachers (Victor Siedal and Marc Ventresca) are okay types – not bad, but nothing worth noting. They try to add as much material, text in the presentations and sometimes lack correlation between topics. IBGG teachers – there were three teachers who teach international Business and Eric Thun is the best in the lot; he also will teach Business in China in Trinity. So his examples are very lively. The other profs, Dana Brown and Mari Sako – I have never attended their sessions. I was in Dana’s class and slept the first class. Though this will not work and started attending Eric’s class from the second lecture. The Financial management course teachers (Chris Chapman and Niels Dechow) are alright. Chris teaches the first 4 and Neils the last 3 sessions. 5th was a mock exam to get people hands on the problems – a major waste of time. Both were alright, but nothing was revealing or very interesting. I missed studying macro economics from Oren Sussman, but have heard he is a great teacher. The other elective, Marketing and Culture, was taken by Linda Scott. I didn’t attend her class, but she had invited quite a few practical marketing people from the industry to give a talk. I don’t have other first hand info on her.

Trinity term:

The best:
There were tons of electives and hence profs. I will just talk abt those who come to the top of my mind. Tim Jenkinson taught PE and was applauded by everyone for the way he presented the topic. I attended the restructuring and implementation by Oren Sussman and Duncan Angwin. Oren is a bit complicated and too deep to understand, but is the best in the lot. He simplifies the M&A concepts to simple object game (he loves naming them, A, B C), but it will take a while to like him and appreciate him. Strategic decision making was taken by Brad Killaly, from the US UCI University. Great guy, but he was constrained by quite a lot of Oxford rules. His games and explanations were good. He even spent around an hour and helped me lay my personal career on a Sat. Marketing innovation is taken by Laura cousins from LBS. She is a great teacher and makes learning enjoyable. She included marks for presentation, which I liked very much (and we got the top marks too!).

Now follows the subjects that I didn’t take, but heard from friends. Corporate evaluation was taught by some McKinsey visiting profs and it was very well appreciated all over. Celin rochon took a couple of financial subjects (Risk Mgt and one more). My friends who took the subject, she would basically read fro the presentation and is best skipped. By Trinity you would have your hands full that you need extra time anyways. Entrepreneurial finance was taught by the MBA director (Stephan chambers) and Stephen Duckett – My friends said good things abut these profs too.

The Okay ones:
Doug Holt teaches branding. He is one of those Profs who is great subject matter expert, but cannot run teach proficiently. He calls his course as Branding, but actually it is cultural branding – a weird concept which is his own finding. This is an advanced branding concept and great technique for companies that have money to spend. But, I was looking to learn basic Branding techniques and was greatly disappointed in his class. Most companies appreciate him and laud him; some student did too. I and my friends could not. Enterprenuerial and technology ventures (ETV) was taken by Victor siedal and the comments above (in Hilary) would apply. Eamonn Molloy took the Portfolio subject for us. A nice guy, but is not a great teacher. Well, he is not a teacher at all; he is more into organizing other speakers, games and stuff. But he makes it easy for the students to score marks, which may not be great thing in the long term.

until the next one on the actual electives to take, miss and audit... Ciao.

How to select electives? for future SBS MBA students and probably others too.

2007-10-26T09:54:00.000+01:00

Well, I have been meaning to write this blog for a while on the MBA electives. Mates from the new class indicated that the SBS elective presentation pitch happened earlier this week. I hope this blog will benefit some or all of these folks.

A few disclaimer to start with: I am an Indian, had a IT background, did Business development and management for around 5 years, before going into MBA. So, my mind tends to think about technology and company strategy all along while choosing these electives. Moreover, my friends call me geek, although I don’t agree (well, no geek or psycho agrees he is one), so scoring marks was one of the main criteria that made me choose what I choose. I realized this was a wrong strategy well into the end of the MBA. Last but not the least, see, everything is perception. All of these are my hones thoughts. Some of the courses that I didn’t like might just be my perception. It might have been a great course, great teacher, but not for me..

A few pointers towards selecting electives?

Don’t select something that you already know. Say, if you are marketer, don’t grind the wheel with marketing subjects over and over again.
On the other hand, choose subjects based on what you want to become. A friend of mine is from legal background and wanted to pursue a career in marketing – she choose many marketing courses.
Don’t choose for the sake of scoring marks. Marks are alright, important; distinctions are worthy, but learning a new subject altogether is very very important. You will not get another chance to learn a PE or an M&A subject again, that too to this extent. So choose those subjects that you don’t know, not those that are easy to score. Take this scoring marks criteria out the equation. Unless you are really crazy and lousy, you wont fail. Oxford SBS and many other B Schools has a normal distribution methodology, where they place 5% students above 70, and 5% below 50; of the rest, 60% of people will be placed in the 58-65 bucket. So most often, you will get a mark in this bucket and you should be okay. If you are exceptionally well knowledged or well read, or had some cool funda in your final exam/assignment, this will take you to the distinction.
Consider how well the Profs teach, not their reputation, while choosing the course. I wonder if James Tylor is as famous as Doug Holt, but I place James Tylors teaching way above Doug Holt. So is Tomo Suzuki – great and simple teacher. See profs section for detailed review on the profs.
Finance subjects are not scary. I used to run away from Finance subjects from most part of the course and take tech related courses. If you don’t know ABCs of finance, this is a good time to take. Many of these are not entirely number crunching, but involves heavy strategy component – example, Finance II in Hilary, Private Equity, restructuring and implementation (M&A) are should-never-miss kinda courses.
Don’t take repeating themes. For example, technology and innocation strategy in Hilary and Enterprenuelria and Technology ventures in Trinity are 60% reptetitive. So are derivatives and risk management (I think, I didn’t take both tehse, but my friends say so); so are Strategic decision making and negotiation skills. If you take two of these, you just wasted tons of precious money and time.

Hey, I gotta go… I willcontinue this topic with details on the individual profs and courses as another post.. probably after hours Mon. Cheers and good luck choosing electives.

MBA and Job Update

2007-10-16T09:15:00.001+01:00

Well, well, well… I cannot blv it has been a few months since I wrote a blog. The first term in MBA was quite okay (and I thought that was the toughest).. it only got worse. We had to manage classes, projects, assignments – all at once. The days ran into 18 hours and that is when you cut down your chats and blogs.

Quite a few of my friends pinged me and asked for update.. here it goes. The course was completed successfully :D on Sep 15, 2007. As a part of the program, a team of four, we did a 2-month consulting project in Intel at Portland, US. It was a great experience going back to US and analyzing strategy for a company that big. And I returned to India for a 2-week break. From Oct 1, I have joined the Cognizant London office, report to the VP/Country manager, and look after business strategy.

Well, the first two weeks have been quite busy, and I suppose this will continue.. But I ill try to write more… until then stay warm. Its getting colder here in London.

Advertising at the best

2007-07-05T08:57:00.001+01:00

Why do good companies go bad?

2007-06-19T10:14:00.000+01:00

Recently, the Charles H Kellstadt professor of marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, Jagdish Sheth has written a book "The Self-Destructive Habits of Good Companies'. He talks about why good companies fail? after having all the good initial momentum. Here is his interview excert from http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jun/12inter.htm

"I would put arrogance at the top of the list. Success, especially extraordinary or unexpected success, tends to boost the egos of companies, just as it does of individuals. These companies tend to be highly feted and their reputations exaggerated by the media, and that's bad news. There are enough write-ups on the rise of arrogance at Enron and Worldcomm, for instance.

Next would be complacency. When companies owe their success to monopoly situations, they stand in danger of taking their success for granted - like Hindustan Lever [Get Quote], until recently, for instance.

This is also true of monopolies of distribution - as in DeBeers - monopolies of regulation - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd - or when the government owns the business - Air India. When you become complacent, you allow competitors to identify niche areas where they can establish themselves, and from there, take on the whole market. In such cases, your success breeds failure.

The third common bad habit is turf wars. As companies grow bigger, there is an increasing danger of internal battles. Whether it is dissension between divisions, as in General Electric, or family feuds as seen in so many Indian companies, the result must inevitably be suboptimal.

Number four on my list is volume obsession. This is a common problem with successful companies - they compromise on margins for the sake of further growth. Typically, value addition by a company accounts for about 30 per cent of the cost - 10 per cent each as the cost of management, labour and capital. The remaining 70 per cent is procurement costs.

So, when you increase volumes at the cost of your margins, you are actually helping your input providers (your suppliers) grow: they are making money at your expense. For instance, in the PC business, the value addition is only 11 per cent; 89 per cent is all procurement, of which 79 per cent goes to Intel and Microsoft who are making fat profits while the PC assemblers, including IBM, HP and Dell, struggle."

These topics and failures have been analyzed and written manytimes in business literature, but still companies and executives fail to capture the learning! A mystery indeed.

Godfather in M&A

2007-06-15T23:28:00.001+01:00

From investopedia.. funny, isn't it?

Godfather Offer: An irrefutable takeover offer made to a target company by an acquiring company. Typically, the acquisition price's premium is extemely generous compared to the prevailing market price. Therefore, if the target company's management refuses the offer,
shareholders may initiate lawsuits or other forms of revolt against the target company for not performing their fidiciary duty of looking out for the best interests of the shareholders.

Similar to the famous Godfather in the trilogy of movies, the bidding company is essentially making an offer the target company cannot afford to refuse.

Stay hungry, stay foolish

2007-06-03T09:47:00.000+01:00

I happened to hear a wonderful speech recently. The commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered at Stanford Univ. For those of you who do not know -

Together with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Jobs helped popularize the personal computer in the late '70s. In the early '80s, still at Apple, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of the mouse-driven GUI. After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs was fired from Apple Computer and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher education and business markets. NeXT's subsequent 1997 buyout by Apple brought Jobs back to the company he co-founded. He staged a great comeback and was promoted to the CEO position. He has served as its chief executive officer since his return. Now that is a fairy tale story.

One of my friend suggested the book - iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business - try it out.

Do I Challenge myself?

2007-04-15T13:39:00.000+01:00

An imaginative story that I read somewhere - A businessman once had so much failure in his business, he went to a beach in the evening. He sat there lamenting his errors and how rich he used to be all night. All along, he was throwing the small stones that were spread near him. Just when the sun rose, he had the last stone in his hand. Much to his surprise, he realized it was a diamond stone. He had been throwing diamond stones that were left behind by some theives. Imaginative story alright, but most of our lives are like this.

Instead of thinking about what needs to be done, we care much about how good we were and how we could replicate those again. In this ever-changing world, is this sustainable? We often lack the will to learn and adapt changes that happen around us.

Talk about learning, Tom Peters talks about "forgetting organizations". He writes, "Peter Senge's brilliant insight 10 years ago was that companies need to be learning organizations. My campaign: Companies need to be forgetting organizations to be innovative." Peters' idea presents a challenge to many business leaders - particularly those seasoned ones who've been around some - who are usually completely "wedded" to what they know - what they've done before that got them great results. He also indicates that this phenomenon is most found in many newly graduated MBAs. Would we have the guts to forget? and not be "wedded" to our knowledge?

Certainly, this does not mean that we forget our core competencies (now, Hamel and Prahalad won't be happy). But, being attached to what we know and how we've done things in the past can be a huge barrier to staying flexible, spontaneous and agile in this dynamic world.

VJ is a renowned Strategy prof at Tuck. He talks about three boxes (See video below) with respect to strategy - Thinking of past, Concerned of present and plannig for future; he suggests only planning for future relates to strategy. I beleive the same can be applied to professionals as well.

I have seen this phenomenon in many of my friends (myself included) - both before MBA and in my MBA class. We often tend to dwelve in our warm area - where we know how things are done, where we know how to excel, and where we are praised. Rather, we should challenge ourselves by raising the bar. Now, if you hear someone say that you are the best in what you do, think again, it may be time to "challenge yourselves".

Done with 'Hell'ary

2007-04-14T13:55:00.000+01:00

Well, the second term is at last over. In Oxford, they have a name for the terms and for the second term, it’s Hillary or.. 'Hell'ary, as my friend puts it. It seemed so long and so tough, it felt like a year. Yeah, yeah, this is what we signed up for, so I shouldn't complain.

Take away? Well, marketing was a revelation. It was more strategic than I thought it would be. In that enthusiasm, I have taken two more related electives for the third term - 'Branding and communication' and 'Marketing communication'. Marketing is now an integral part of everything you do as a business man, and I believe it makes a smart business man; so I don’t fret I too 3 marketing subjects out of the 18. You just don’t see where strategy ends and marketing starts; they are so inter-related.

Technology Strategy elective was alright, but the cases were very good. One case study that will stay in my memory for long is the Nintendo case, where the Japan management plays with other actors in the market to attain a superior position out of nowhere (Game theory).

Operations elective was very good for the way it was taught. The prof taught us more of underlying concepts and cultural differences between US, EU and Asian countries that made up what these countries today are.

We had tons of cases/readings, loads of assignments, and on top, entrepreneurial project work. I am happy it’s all over now. The third term, Trinity as they call here, should be alright, since I have only one exam – in ‘Restructuring and implementation’ elective. This elective sounds like M&A, but for some reason they have changed the topic. I will get to know when I attend.

A computer without mouse and keyboard

2007-02-03T12:39:00.000Z

Talk about disruptive technology, you should take a look at the innovation from Jeff Han. Mind bogling.

I cannot stop watching the third one - particularly the one where his friend reads Wikipedia. The computer hardware companies will have a very hard time adjusting their operations to this innovation. Software companies will have refine their UI and usability principles. As Jeff says, this technology is not new, but just their application and interface is new.

And so a new generation of computer engineers will be born. We will one day say to our kids, "In our times, there used to be small accesories called mouse and keyboard.". "Mouse? Why would you name such an electronic device as mouse? More than that, why would you need to seperate that control from the screen where the objects are shown?" "Why in the hell would you need a physical keyboard? Would it get stuck and wear?" Hmm... I cannot find a reply to these questions from my future kids.

Martil Sorrell, CEO of WPP

2007-01-24T00:59:00.000Z

There is a guy called Sir Martin Sorrell. And why am I telling you about him? Well, he was here at Oxford yesterday to give a speech, and a good speech it was.

Who is Sir Martin Sorrell?
He is Chief executive of WPP, one of the world's largest communications services groups. More on him below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Sorrell
http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/2005/time100/builders/100sorrell.html
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2005/12/08/stories/2005120800200100.htm
And why is he special?
Starting as wire basket (?!) company, the company is now one the largest communications (?!)group... the man is all about all M&A... Just see the list of companies here, and you should have you mouth open..
From Time - "Advertising legend David Ogilvy didn't mince words, so when Martin Sorrell's WPP, a London-based former manufacturer of wire baskets, launched a hostile takeover of Ogilvy & Mather in 1989, Ogilvy denounced CEO Sorrell as an "odious little jerk."

How was the speech?
http://www.science-enterprise.ox.ac.uk/html/activities_event_details.asp?eventid=221
Well, the topic was "Why making money is about a lot more than making money?".. Now why wouldn't I attend this lecture? The room was overflowing; somehow everyone does the same research that I do...hmmm. The speech was fast and breezy; the room was at pin-drop silence all along.
He talked about everything, from Media wars in China to Indian IT companies to growing markets in India/China. He also covered the nowadays-most-famous topic - Corporate Social Responsibility. Not surprisingly, the MBA folks had tons of questions; if not for the facilitator's intervention, he would have gone for long. A great guy to listen to anyday.

I learnt somewhere that he paid quite a lot of money (nearly $54m) for his divorced wife as alimony. Hmm, I hope my would-be wife is so rich.. ;) not that I will divorce for money ;))

How is Oxford SBS?

2007-01-24T00:37:00.000Z

Well, someone anonymously left a comment requesting for more info on Oxford SBS..

"Sam How is placement so far from the last SBS batch?I am very interested in knowing how indians faired so far?What is your opinion of classes so far? Style/content/etc.Mind posting a response?"

I wish they had introduced themselves... anyways, here goes.

Placement for SBS: the last year SBS batch results aren't out yet... mostly to accomodate people who took the 15-month (they finished in Dec, 2006/Jan 2007).. From what I know personally the placement has been very good. Still SBS is focussed on Finance and Entrepreneurship as its focus.. Consultancy and High tech follows in placement counts... every year, we hear of someone starting their new company (I met someone in india who started an energy conversion company).. many folks here are sponsored by their company too, so they go back to their respective companies.. Overall: Trend is good.

Classes: Diversity and intellectual discussions are plus points. There are a few world class lecturers.. Moreover the admin is trying relentlessly to learn and excel; I read somewhere the dean saying that SBS will try to compete with HBS... good to aim high, huh? The number of Indians this year was a tad high; nevertheless, it was diff countries (like US citizens, UK citizens, singapore indians, etc.).. with 1B+ population, Indians and chinese are everywhere anyways ;)

Style/Content: I would say 60% of classes are taught in case basis.. the exam model is still the medieval Oxford way (with Sub fusc and double corrections)... we are now in the second term and we have to read atleast 2 cases and 2 reading material a day before going to the class... its a lot of work, but you've to do it, otherwise you will be the only one blinking in the class. Notable mention is the number of electives - 30+ electives to choose from (we have to choose 6).. ranges from private equity to real estate to networked media.. By networked media, I mean the blogs, wikis and facebooks - how cool is that to read abt a trend that has just emerged.. however I did not elect to that topic since I had strategy preferences...

Well, I hope that clarifies. I hope it was a MBA prospoect who was willing to learn more - All the best!

A few software terms

2007-01-16T19:16:00.000Z

As a Engagement manager, I have used the below terms quite frequently, but not being a core techie, I had not known the clear text book definition ;). Here they are (thanks to wikipedia):

Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) integrate (or attempt to integrate) all data and processes of an organization into a unified system. A typical ERP system will use multiple components of computer software and hardware to achieve the integration. A key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a unified database to store data for the various system modules.

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) [pronounced "sō-uh" or "es-ō-ā"] expresses a perspective of software architecture that defines the use of loosely coupled software services to support the requirements of the business processes and software users. Resources on a network [1] in an SOA environment are made available as independent services that can be accessed without knowledge of their underlying platform implementation.[1]

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is defined as the uses of software and computer systems architectural principles to integrate a set of enterprise computer applications.

Three-tier is a client-server architecture in which the user interface, functional process logic ("business rules"), data storage and data access are developed and maintained as independent modules, most often on separate platforms.

Distributed computing is a method of computer processing in which different parts of a program run simultaneously on two or more computers that are communicating with each other over a network. Distributed computing is a type of parallel processing. But the latter term is most commonly used to refer to processing in which different parts of a program run simultaneously on two or more processors that are part of the same computer.

Web service[1] is a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. Web services are frequently just application programming interfaces (API) that can be accessed over a network, such as the Internet, and executed on a remote system hosting the requested services.

Impressionism and Pointillism

2007-01-07T11:03:00.000Z

I am sure that title would have had you puzzled. Well, these are painting techniques.

I used to be a small-time painter during my school days. There was a next door girl (6 years older J) who used to my Guru. Mostly I imitated her and other’s paintings. I had to fight with my parents to buy different types of brushes; I saw oil paint only when she gifted to me her set when they left town. I remember some drawings still – some rajastani traditional women, goddess Lakshmi with a tilted head ;) et al. But given the nomads we were (my dad worked in Tamil Nadu government), we lost all the 20 some drawings in transfer between homes. Then came the 10th standard which dropped a full stop to all my creative activities.

Why do I suddenly remember this?
Hmmm… I was off to London last week to visit the Cognizant London office and the Country manager. I had a quick presentation/discussion with him for an hour in the morning, after which I had the day to spend in London before I returned to Oxford. I was roaming around and stumbled upon the National art gallery near Leicester Square, Central London.

I was very happy I visited this place. It had hundreds of art works (I mean, real art works, not miniatures/replicas) arranged in sections 1500-1600, 1600-1700, etc. I had known and appreciated modern artists (1900+). When I visited this section it was a real learning experience, you could really appreciate these artists, their thought process and their painting techniques only when you see the picture so near.

Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists. In impressionism, short, thick strokes of paint are used to quickly capture the essence of the subject, rather than its details. Rather than drawing it all, it gives an “impression” to the viewer.

You could see the difference in the pictures below. The first one (Art name: WishtleJacket) is a conventional painting and the second (Artist: Edgar) is painted using impressionist technique.

A few famous arts I explored are from world-famous artists including Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Pointillism
Pointillism is a style of painting in which small distinct points of primary colors create the impression of a wide selection of secondary colors. For example, instead of using green paint, they would drop two dots of yellow and blue together - and you get the "impression". The result is sometimes described as brighter or purer since the eye does the mixing and not the brush. (Brilliant, isn't it?)

You could see the difference in the picture below (artist: Seurat). This one is painted using Pointillism technique.

The gallery also had a long sequence of Vincent van Gogh pictures. Well, it was a great experience and I spent an unplanned 4 hours there before my stomach pushed me to go home. I would say, even if you do not know much, go to such exhibitions and galleries; you would slowly be able to appreciate their techniques.

Wines - White or red?

2007-01-05T11:12:00.001Z

Well, here goes the next puzzle..

You have two urns. One is filled with red wine and the other is filled with white wine. You take a cup, fill it from the red wine urn, and tip it into the white wine urn. You allow the wines in the white wine urn to mix completely so they are fully diffused in the urn. You then take a cup of this mixture from the white wine urn and transfer it to the red wine urn. Is there now more red wine in the white wine urn or white wine in the red wine urn?

Exams and doors

2006-12-02T09:57:00.000Z

Well, the first term is almost over (I mean, lectures are over).. the exam is on Dec 11.. and I am already scared...

last post for this season... a brain teaser discussed by James Taylor (a prof at Ox, see below post for who he is)... seems like this is also a TV game in UK.... and most asked question in interviews!

There are three doors - one of them contains and if you call correctly you get it all. Other door contains nothing and you fail if you call it wrong...
Step 1: You can call a door as the door containing gold.
Step 2: The conductor gives a clue on the other two doors ("Door X does not contain gold") and he has to speak the truth.
Step 3: You can revise your call.

Big question: after knowing the clue, will you STICK to your door or SWITCH the doors?

lemme give an example...
Step 1: you call door 1
Step 2: Conductor says "Door 2 does not contain gold"
Step: will you STICK to your first door or SWITCH to the third door?

Answer is only one (not the "it depends" type)... and the reason can be given either in real life format or in theoritical (clue - probability)....

Any takers?

Bears, bulls and forests

2006-11-23T19:42:00.000Z

Here is a quick definition of bull and bear market. I haev heard these terms so often, but hardly had the time to check!!

In the investment arena, financial markets are commonly believed to have market trends that can be classified as primary trends, secondary trends (short-term), and secular trends (long-term).

Primary trend: A bull market is a prolonged period of time when prices are rising in a financial market faster than their historical average, in contrast to a bear market which is a prolonged period of time when prices are falling. Investors can be described as having bullish (bull = buy) or bearish (bear = sell) sentiments. Upward market trends are witnessed when bulls (buyers) outnumber bears (sellers) - downward for vice versa.

Secondary trend: A secondary trend is a temporary change in price within a primary trend. These usually last a few weeks to a few months. A temporary decrease during a bull market is called a correction; a temporary increase during a bear market is called a bear market rally.

A secular market trend is a long-term trend that lasts 5 to 20 years, and consists of sequential primary trends. In a secular bull market the bear markets are smaller than the bull markets. Typically, each bear market does not wipe out the gains of the previous bull market, and the next bull market makes up the losses of the bear market. Vice versa for secular bear market.

Finance industry in a nutshell

2006-11-14T21:05:00.000Z

Well, I was not that great in following finance markets. Now that we are in Ox hearing about and attending all these finance lectures - here are a few short definitions (courtesy: wikipedia.com). These are in no way comprehensive, but a good start..

Private equity is a broad term that refers to any type of equity investment in an asset in which the equity is not freely tradable on a public stock market. Passive institutional investors may invest in private equity funds, which are in turn used by private equity firms for investment in target companies. Categories of private equity investment include leveraged buyout, venture capital, growth capital, angel investing, mezzanine capital and others. Private equity funds typically control management of the companies in which they invest, and often bring in new management teams that focus on making the company more valuable.

Venture capital is capital typically provided by outside investors for financing of new, growing or struggling businesses. Venture capital investments generally are high risk investments but offer the potential for above average returns. A venture capitalist (VC) is a person who makes such investments.

Investment banks help companies and governments and their agencies to raise in raising funds in the capital markets (both equity and debt)

The capital market (securities markets) is the market for securities, where companies and the government can raise long-term funds. The capital market includes the stock market and the bond market.

An angel investor is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for ownership equity. Unlike venture capitalists, angels typically do not manage the pooled money of others in a professionally-managed fund. However, angel investors often organize themselves into angel networks or angel groups to share research and pool their own investment capital

Generally, a hedge fund is a lightly regulated private investment fund often characterized by unconventional investment strategies and often making use of legal structures (sometimes offshore) to mitigate the effects of local regulation and tax regimes. In contrast to regular investment funds, which are usually limited to only being able to "go long" (buy) instruments such as bonds, equities or money markets, hedge funds also have the ability to "short" (sell) instruments which they believe will fall in price. In this way, hedge funds are able to create more complex investment structures which can, for example, profit in times of market volatility, or even in a falling market. In finance, a hedge is an investment that is taken out specifically to reduce or cancel out the risk in another investment.

The phrase mergers and acquisitions or M&A refers to the aspect of corporate finance strategy and management dealing with the merging and acquiring of different companies. Historically, Investment Banks (intermediaries which assist companies in selling ownership of themselves as stock or borrowing money directly from investors in the form of bonds) have been closely associated with merger and acquisition activity since a M&A is a sales opportunity for the Investment Bank. If the company wants to merge with another, it must attain a fair market value for its shares to be swapped which would involve an investment bank. If it wants to buy the other company with borrowed money, it would most likely borrow directly from investors in the form of bonds through a private placement, engineered by the investment bank. Thus, Investment Banks position themselves to act as advisors on mergers and acquisitions.

How much am I worth?

2006-11-13T01:10:00.002Z

Well... I am used to staying long in the Oxford library (they close at 11:00 PM and I am the last one to leave, er.. be pushed out).

One of my friend, who saw me leave late everyday quipped, "Hey man, you are like furniture in our library. Probably we should depreciate you over the next few months". Now that is what I call - 'Going crazy with studies'. :))

Class photo

2006-11-07T08:05:00.000Z

Well , thanks to Tiwari and Saitosan, here are our pics from photo shoot..

And this our common roon (canteen)... looks so nice, isn't it? Well, hot water costs 20 pence here.

And this is how our classes look... did I tell you? each class is 3.5 hours long!!! (god mercied on us with a 20 min break in-between)

FTSE and JW linked

2006-11-05T23:52:00.000Z

Here is the funniest academic story you would have ever heard. The MBA Decision science class is tutored by Prof. James Taylor. He is one of the funniest, yet clever and knowledgeable, professors I have ever seen.

This past week he taught about multiple regression (don’t worry about the term) and he wet to explain his work in trying to define a relation between FTSE and JW. FTSE is the financial share index. The equation was something like FTSE100t = 7039.60 – 210.89JWt + et

He seemed to be so proud of his statistical analysis and derivation. We went onto to validate the analysis (there are some set parameters like t-stat, r square, etc). Everything seemed to be just great and the whole class was kind of appreciating his efforts.

He slowly turned back and asked the class, “Why didn’t anyone ask me what is JW? Let me how you what JW is made of. He then switched on the other display which showed both his kids on the sofa. JW is apparently Jake’s Weight – they have been weighing his son’s weight every month and he was trying to correlate Jake’s Weight and FTSE index.

We laughed at being fooled so easily. The moral of he story: Be careful when you try to correlate two “trendy” variables. He sure is genius, isn’t he?

Bhagavat gita in Management

2006-11-03T01:04:00.000Z

Karma Capitalism from Business Week

Wonderful article. The article was so close to me, since I was an ardent follower of Bhagavat Gita, have heard greatly abt half the Management gurus listed in this article... and can relate to these US companies and India n culture. Question to ponder: Is old returning back?

CEO fo Amgen, Founder of Apple, and Managing Director at McKinsey

2006-10-31T09:42:00.000Z

How would you feel if you met all these folks, shook hands with them and asked them podernign questions on future?

Well, this is what Oxford can do. Prepare the 27-year (alas, I turned 28 last week!) old non-so-popoular figures and make them meet with industry figures you cannot even imagine.

CEO of Amgen:
http://www.amgen.com/about/leadership_team.html
Mr. Kevin Sharer, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Amgen, Inc. visited Said Business School on for the introduction speech. Amidst the crowd of 300, I stood up and asked, "Do you really use any MBA tools and techniques in your day-to-day life? What is your advise on how we treat this academia?". He laughed, looked at the new Dean, smiled again and said, "The best thing that your MBA does to you is to shape YOU. You guys really do not know how important it is to get an MBA from Oxford. You sure are gifted. If you walk upto my company's door and introduce yourself as an Oxford graduate, we are gonna hear you just for that".

Founder of Apple:
http://www.woz.org/
Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple (Yeah, the same apple from Forest Gump) visited Oxford a couple of weeks back to promote his new book. He seemed too technical (Steve Jobs apparently was the business mind behind Apple?), a born-genius kind. The speech was very motivational and informative. Apparently, he is very proud of his accomplishments.

Managing Director and McKinsey
http://www.mckinsey.com/ideas/wef2005/biographies/dominiccasserley.asp
Dominic Casserley, head of McKinsey in the UK, Ireland and the Middle East, talked on "What will the Global Company look like in 2020". The corwd was a selected (yeah, me included!) 40 folks. 20 of them (Yeah, yeah, me included) were selected again to go further for a formal dinner with him. To be honest, I did not realize his power (greatness?) until I came back to home that night and looked up the internet! hmmm.. I need to keep on top of events - so some research before the event. Why leave an oppurtunity for question - I asked him his opinion on India and China becoming the newer markets in 2020. He mentioned the developing countries are posing a threat, but will nto replace US/EU. "What is your opinion on consolidation? WOuld we be left with 4 big companies in each sector by 2020?". He answered, "No. As companies merge and acquire, there will be more players entering the market."

Obviously these answers were not exact to the word. My understanding and language are mixed in the above text.

Go Oxford!!!

The best motivational speech ever

2006-10-31T01:24:00.001Z

Al Pacino's Inch By Inch speech from "Any Given Sunday "

Are you a lecturer of organizational behaviour at any business school and need to show video at your class (like they do in SBS!)? Are you a corporate manager needing to bring in motivation team? Well, I present to you the great Al Pacino

Here is the transcript of the greatest motivational speech ever:

"I don't know what to say really. Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives all comes down to today. Either we heal as a team or we are going to crumble. Inch by inch. Play by play, till we're finished.We are in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me and we can stay here and get the shit kicked out of us or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb out of hell. One inch, at a time.

Now I can't do it for you. I'm too old. I look around and I see these young faces and I think I mean I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make. I uh.... I pissed away all my money. Believe it or not. I chased off anyone who has ever loved me. And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know when you get old in life things get taken from you. That's, that's part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football. Because in either game life or football the margin for error is so small. I mean one half step too late or to early you don't quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in ever break of the game every minute, every second.

On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch. Cause we know when we add up all those inches that's going to make the fucking difference; between WINNING and LOSING; between LIVING and DYING. I'll tell you this in any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch. And I know if I am going to have any life anymore it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch because that is what LIVING is. The six inches in front of your face.

Now I can't make you do it. You gotta look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes. Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows when it comes down to it, you are gonna do the same thing for him. That's a team, gentlemen and either we heal now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That's football guys. That's all it is. Now, whattaya gonna do? "

Dont tell me you dont love him even now. Al Pacino is THE actor.

Oxford Matriculation

2006-10-14T23:29:00.000+01:00

We had our matriculation today at Sheldonian theatre. The theatre was awesome old building with huge paintings, chandeliers, and church like setting.

We wore Suit, Sub fusc (kind of gown) and Mortar board (a funky graduation cap).

It kind of felt funky with this whole matriculation thing. I personally felt it was a total waste of time (day?). The University chancelor (or someone important!) read out a few words in Latin which officially enrolled us as an Oxonian!!

We will be wearing this sub fusc to the exams (Yes, all exams! I cannot believe!!). And a similar ceremony will occur when we graduate - in Sep 2007. Well, I hope to get there successfully!

Reached Oxford..

2006-10-04T07:20:00.000+01:00

I have reached Oxford!

The journey from India to Oxford was comfortable - though British Airways tried its ways to make a petty cash from my extra luggage, by deciding to call of the 'two hand luggage' scheme, unannounced, in the last minute to comply with 'strict guidelines' that help them monitor terrorist activity. I dunno how reducing a luggage would help them in this process, but hey, I got along!

Reached Oxford and kinda felt at home. Its a mix of Chennai and LA. Chennai - in all the practices and customs (left hand drive); LA in the cleanliness and etiquette (greener pavenments than LA).

I am currently staying in Wellington Square. It is a cheap University accomodation that is in the center of the town. Business School is a just 3 minutes ride away.

I settled in quickly and managed to buy a bike from a local private guy who was noce enough to throw in his lock as well. A new bike costs around 120 pounds and my used bike cost me 49 pounds.

Well this week (Oct 2) is all about induction - sitting thru some boring (or would this be useful later?) lectures and tons of introductions - Computer center, Library, Career services, reception included!! :)

Well, ciao, we have got to a long to-do list to go through..

Reservation policy in India

2006-04-28T16:56:00.000+01:00

There is quite a few protests in India against the reservation policy.
http://us.rediff.com/news/quota06.html

I don't blindly support or oppose this reservation based on caste. Rather I would call for people to use it judiciously; Or the reservation could be revised to be based on family financial situation.

The reservation policy was aimed at the upbringing of backward people who did not have the means to venture out colleges and studies that were only known and accessible to higher caste (I am talking probably 1960s). Since then the backward people have considerably utilized this reservation policy and improved their status. The guys are now probably higher government officials, doctors or lawyers. I only oppose the kids of these guys to (mis)use this reservation policy. They should honestly not specify themselves as backward or tribe in the forms - because they are not. On the other hand, for a guy from mountain village - Obviously Yes.

Let me give an example. I knew a school mate who was the richest kid, nephew of the local MP, comes to school in car, and belonged to MBC category. Then there was also this lady who was a cleaner in our school, whose son was also sponsored to study with us, and belonged to OC. Ideally, the latter should be able to use the reservation policy and not the former.

But, hey, there is no such positive thinking in the impulsive Politics. There is an election to be won, pride to be maintained and money to be made; politicians will do any gimmicks to get the vote - allow reservation, give television, free rice, chips and DVDs, free clothes, money -- rice will even come to home, one says. Actually, they don't really want you to work. Their ideal Utopian world does not include an Indian making international business; it envisions an Indian wearing the free dhoti, eating free rice, that came free to his home and watching the free tv, in his freely build home - he just has to manage enough money for the almost free liquor.

De Niro vs Al Pacino

2006-04-06T04:42:00.000+01:00

What kind of films do I like? Comedy; more than Comedy I like underworld/thugs kind of movies. The list goes - God father 1 & 3, The untouchables, Scarface, Good fellas, Casino, Donnie Brasco, Heat, Taxi Driver, etc. Seems I feel great

Did you notice the commonality? Knowingly or unknowingly I have followed movies of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Whom would I rate more - Al Pacino or De Niro? Quite a dilemma.

Al Pacino was great for his God father role. He was a cold hearted silent killer. And who could forget Scarface - his black and white pictures sold like crazy. And in Donnie Brasco, he underplayed well. He played the best blind man in Scent of a Woman. Oflate, I saw his latest movie 'Simone'. That is when he went down ten to 4 in my acting scale. I felt he was overacting and too loud; I was not convinced Simone is an apt movie he should even choose to act.

[Here is a clip from Any given sunday - an inspirational speech http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWoPEU3RwPw)

On the other hand, De Niro, was a great actor right from taxi Driver. The top angle scene in Untouchables, where he hits a spy with base ball bat. It will stay in memory for a few years. Casino and Good Fellas only made him the best conman ever. Taxi Driver and Raging bull adds the much lacked variety. He was kinda average all along. But when I saw Analyze this and Anlayze that - two movies where he played gangster with a touch of comedy - he went upp rising in the chart. De Niro is my only star.

Verdict: If I had to pick one great actor, it would be De Niro.

Oxford.. My life saver

2006-04-06T04:36:00.000+01:00

At last.... I got into Oxford Said Business School for the 2006- 2007 Class MBA - ranked 9th in the world.

There has been a pinch of self doubt in the last few days. Am I wasting my time with this MBA thing runing parallel to my heavy work load? Could you only excel in one? Should I pick work and stay on ground like the hundred others.

I had applied to CMU (ding!), ISB (WL), Oxford (Got thru) and was planning to apply to UCLA PT (now I wont).

Atlast God said, I have other plans. "You are better suited for MBA and go for it". Thanks god, I even doubted you.. :)

Whats in a name?

2006-04-06T04:29:00.000+01:00

Thinking back, I wanted to enroll into gmatclub.com and I felt it more interesting to make people guess who I am. and not expose my original name (which is kinda hard to pronounce by non-indians, anyway).
It is not like I hate my name, anyways. I love it and I even explain the sankrit meaning of my name to the american clients I meet daily. Sampath basically means "Wealth" - wealth in health, money, knowledge, maturity... you name it. Isn't that cool my parents kept a thoughtful name?

I started with a hardworker, just because I was aware I was not a smart man, but I work more hard to compensate for my 'unsmartness' - but 'hardworker' was registered and seemed like "hardworker_indian" was the way to go. It is kinda long to type, but I dont type t often. MS Win XP stores it in its memory anyway..

I am not good (actualy very bad) at memory - thats the reason I end up carry a mini notepad all the time in my pouch. Most of my little success can only be attributed to that 'extra' hardwork I do.

Thats the story how I got hardworker_indian. Not many of my friends know I actually write this column, except for a few close ones...

How to meditate

2005-12-18T21:19:00.000Z

Introduction to Meditation: How to Meditate
By Gabriel Zappia
Extracted from www.experiencefestival.com

There are many ways to meditate. They all seem to lead to the same place, so find one that suits you. Here I describe a classic meditation that is simple and easy.

Mantras:
A mantra is a sound, word, or phrase that is repeated to yourself. It could be spoken aloud as a chant, or silently, as in meditation. Many people think that the best mantras are sounds which have no clear meaning, and are used as a way of displacing your usual thoughts and moving your awareness inward. There are many mantras ranging from words taken from Hindu Sanskrit to Christian scripture (as when "saying the rosary," where the repetition of the prayer is meditative). If you do not already know of a good mantra to use I suggest you use "hamsa." This is a natural mantra, being the sound that one makes when breathing, with "ham" (h-ah-m) on inhalation and "sa" (s-ah) on exhalation.

Directions for the hamsa meditation:
¥ Sit comfortably. A quiet place is preferred, but not required.
¥ Close your eyes. Breathe naturally. Sit for about one minute before you begin thinking the mantra to allow your heart and breathing to slow.
¥ Gently bring your attention to your breath and begin to think the mantra, gently and easily. Just let it come, don't force it. Think "ham" on the inhale and "sa" on the exhale. Allow yourself to be absorbed in it.
¥ Allow your thoughts and feelings to come and go with detachment. Don't try to control them in any way. Just note them, and when you realize that you are not repeating the mantra, gently return to the mantra. Do not try to force yourself to think the mantra to the exclusion of all other thoughts. You may experience a deep state of relaxation but it is OK if you don't.

Meditate in this way for 20 minutes (children for less time). When done, take about a minute to slowly return to normal awareness. Be gentle with yourself when opening your eyes or coming to stand after a meditation. It isn't good for your heart to get up quickly after the state of deep rest that is often a result of meditation.

Note: It is OK to glance at a clock to time the meditation. **Don't use an alarm timer.**

I have found the following techniques deepen my experience. You will certainly find your own as well. These techniques are secondary and may be omitted entirely or added later:
- Keep your spine straight, head balanced on your cervical column.
- Many people like to pray or do visualization after meditating, while still in an altered state. Some teachers of meditation are opposed to this practice while others advocate it. I suggest to do it if it feels right to you. I do.
- As a "pre-meditation" preparation, bring your attention to the physical act of breathing. Breathe naturally and, with each cycle of the breath, bring your attention to a different part of your body, paying attention to the changes there as a result of the breathing: the rising and falling of the chest, the movement of your belly, the sensation of the air entering and leaving the nostrils. Can you feel any movement of your kidney area? How about your pelvis, do you feel your pelvis tilt at all when you breathe? What do you do between breaths? Is there a pause?
- If you don't feel these things it is OK, just consider them, one at a time, and move on. (This can also serve as a short "centering" meditation that can be done while waiting for a stoplight to change, or as a short work or study break.)

During meditation your business is simple awareness, nothing else. It is a time to connect to your inner Source and let go of the things and roles we get caught up in: work, parenting, worries and responsibilities. It may be that your meditation is peaceful, or it may be fretful and full of obsessive thought. Regardless, daily meditation will have a positive effect on your life.

Benefits of Meditation
The benefits are unique for each person, but both physiological and psychological balancing is common. Some of the benefits of meditation will be realized quickly, and others over many months, so don't be discouraged.

When to Meditate
I recommend that a person meditate twice a day. Before breakfast and before dinner are ideal. (The digestive system often shuts down during meditation, so a full stomach may result in indigestion.) Remember, whatever happens is OK. It's OK to fall asleep or to not become relaxed, OK to laugh or cry, OK to be or not to be in an altered state, OK if the mantra doesn't follow the breath as I have suggested, or even goes away altogether. What is important is that you have an *intention* to think the mantra during your meditation. In short, don't try to control it! For 20 minutes, twice a day, JUST BE!

Questions and comments on meditation
The most common question I get when I teach someone to meditate is "What do you mean by "think the mantra gently and easily?" My best answer is an analogy. When you read you take the effort to look at the page, to focus on the page and the words. And you *intend* to discern the meaning of the words. That is usually enough and the meaning comes without much effort, yet there is *some* effort involved. Thinking the mantra is similar in that you direct a similar level of effort (which is very little, yet it is there) toward thinking the mantra. You do *not* force yourself, brow furrowed, to think the mantra to the exclusion of all else. Just let it come, and if that is not enough, then encourage your mind to think it with a small effort.

If you are tired when you meditate you may fall asleep. Regardless, do not use meditation as a sleep aid. If you have insomnia, just meditate during the day and the insomnia will probably take care of itself.

Meditation

2005-12-18T20:55:00.000Z

Here are some of the facts/advises that I found w.r.to Meditation in the net. There are many things that we know are good, but are too lazy/blind to follow - Mediation is one of them.
I will try to meditate atleast for 20 mins everyday from today.

Meditation
According to Swami Vishnu Devananda, meditation is "….a continuous flow of perception or thought, just like the flow of water in a river." A practice wherein there is constant observation of the mind, meditation brings awareness, harmony and natural order into life. It helps you dig deep into your inner self to discover the wisdom and tranquility that lie within.

Principles of MeditationThe basic points to be kept in mind in practicing meditation are:
• Have a special place and specific time for meditation. Try doing it daily.
• Choose a time when your mind is not clouded with worries.
• Sit up straight with your back, neck and head in one line. Facing north or east.
• Condition your mind such so as to remain quiet for the duration of your meditation session.
• Regulate your breathing. Start with 5 minutes of deep breathing. Then gradually slow it down.
• Follow a rhythmic breathing pattern - inhale and exhale.
• Initially let your mind wander. It grows more restless if you force to concentrate.
• Then slowly bring it to rest on the focal point of your choice.
• Hold your object of concentration at this focal point throughout your session.
• Meditation happens when you reach a state of pure thought. Even while retaining an awareness of duel self.

Followed diligently you will soon be able to attain a super-conscious state.

Tips on Concentration• At the outset, it is hard to keep your attention to keep focussed on one object.
• So it is better to start off by limiting your field of concentration to a category of objects.
• Choose your objects with care e.g. any four flowers, fruits, trees...etc. You must feel at ease with what you choose.
• After concentrating on one, you can move on to the next, if & when your mind starts wandering.

This style of meditative exercise will help you control your mind down to a finer focus, teaching you the principle of single point concentration.

Indian type seating position
Different spiritual traditions, and different teachers within those traditions, prescribe or suggest different physical postures for meditation. Most famous are the several cross-legged postures, including the so-called Lotus Position. For example, the Dalai Lama recommends the Seven Points of Vairocana in which
• the legs are crossed in either the Lotus Positon (here called the vajra position) or the other way, "Indian" or "tailor" fashion (here called the bodhisattva position)
• the eyes are kept open (thus affirming the world)
• the back is kept straight (like "an arrow" or "a stack of coins")
• the shoulders are kept even and relaxed
• the gaze is kept at a medium level — too low and one becomes drowsy; too high and one becomes restless
• the mouth is kept slightly open
• the tongue touches the roof of the mouth
Many meditative traditions teach that the spine should be kept "straight" (i.e. that the meditator should not slouch). Often this is explained as a way of encouraging the circulation of what we might call "spiritual energy," the "vital breath", or the "life force" (Sanskrit pranha, Chinese qi, Latin spiritus).
In some traditions the meditator may sit on a Western chair, flat-footed (as in New Thought); sit on a stool (as in Orthodox Christianity); or walk in mindfulness (as in Theravada Buddhism).
Various hand-gestures or mudras may be prescribed. These generally carry theological meaning. For example, a common Buddhist hand-position is with the right hand resting atop the left (like the Buddha's begging bowl), with the thumbs touching.
Quiet is often held to be desirable, and some people use repetitive activities such as deep breathing, humming or chanting to help induce a meditative state. The Tibetan tradition described above is probably in the minority for recommending that the eyes remain open; many forms assume that the eyes will be closed.
Often such details are shared by more than one religion, even in cases where mutual influence seems unlikely. One example would be "navel-gazing," which is apparently attested within Eastern Orthodoxy as well as Chinese qigong practice. Another would be the practice of focusing on the breath, which is found in Orthodox Christianity, Sufism, and numerous Indic traditions.
Sitting cross-legged (or upon one's knees) for extended periods or when one is not sufficiently limber, can result in a range of ergonomic complaints called "meditator's knee".

There are a few recommended guidelines for meditation:

¥ It should be done every day, preferably at the same time
¥ It should preferably be done before a meal rather than after a meal
¥ A spot should be set aside for meditation, which should be a quiet place and used for nothing but meditation
¥ One should sit with the spine straight and vertical (a chair is ok to use)

What is the best time of day to meditate? While meditation is beneficial at any time, most people who meditate agree that early morning is the best time to meditate. Part of the reason is that it is said that in early morning the hustle-and-bustle of the world has not yet begun and so it is easier to establish a meditative atmosphere. Having an early morning meditation also lets us carry some of the energy and peace of the meditation into our daily activities.

How long should I meditate? When first learning meditation it is usually not possible to meditate for more than 10-15 minutes. After regular practice for awhile, one becomes able to meditate for longer periods of time. Many people meditate twice-daily for 20-30 minutes each time, but the right duration and frequency is for each individual to decide.

My Interview screwup...

2005-03-13T02:41:00.001Z

to be composed.

"I have a Dream"

2005-03-13T01:31:00.000Z

This is part of the famous speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
The whole speech can be found in: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm

I got to see is speech in PBC and man, he is the best...

"Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! "

Ayyanar Vratham

2005-03-03T18:57:00.000Z

Date: 03/03/2005
Place: India

I've always been amused by Ayyanar... Ayyanar is the Indian god for some selected group of villages in South India - he stands tall outside the village in an effort to protect te village. People usually beleive he is the strictest God and kindest, if you are true.

We do the following fasting ritual every year in March.
We stop eating non vegetarian, fried food, fermented anything from 03/08... then, mythically, Ayyanar goes to forest for hunting ("vettai") to the forest on 03/20... when he comes back on 03/25 he comes with good vettai (animals?)... ppl mimick that by walking thru forest w/ "kavadi"... Kavadi is a heavy weight teak-wooden structure decorated with peacock feathers, colorful clothes and flowers. The walk is the real test for patience and durability since it involves carrying this heavy weight kavadi for 14 miles walking in barefeet on scorching sun. Every year, one member, in round-robin selection, in the family takes the kavadi while others walk around him.

when the chosen guy takes kavadi, the family will make him sit alone in a madam (village common place) with water and snacks aside. He would fast the whole day... the family will leave to make other arrangements and to take a
sumptuous meal. In the afternoon, the family will come back to offer prayers and the chosen guy lifts the Kavadi and walk back to temple... 14 miles... w/ just a waist (yep, no shirt, no sandals:) his whole body will be covered in sandal paste..
The whole village ppl will fall on his legs, considering him a reprentative of God, to get blessings. Once the temple is reached, he's all tired, takes good food/sleep..
when he gets up - he will have all that missed for a month - morning starts w/ hot idli (rice cake) and 'kudal kichadi' (lamb intestine curry) :)""

By God's wish, I took the kavadi in Mar 2002...

Identity Theft (Lost?)

2005-01-27T18:20:00.000Z

Date: Jan 27, 2005
Place: Los Angeles

I belong to a religion called ‘Hindu’ in India. Compared to Christian and Muslim communities, Hindu religion may not have many followers, but is the primary religion in India.

Sincere Hindu followers conduct in-house prayers everyday morning after bath. Some even recite mantra and Sanskrit poems, while others use friendly language to speak to God. After prayer, they wear a sacred powder in their forehead signifying the presence of the God. This powder may be of different color based on the God you worship, the common one being the white powder (‘thiruneeru’). This is comparable to the ash that Christians wear during ash-Wednesday.

In India, on any fine day, if you are in a technology park or in a business development center, you would see at least 50% of the men and women wearing these traditional powders in their forehead.

Here comes the disdain:
When these people travel to foreign countries, particularly to US, they either do not wear these marks or they rub off soon after the prayer is over (??). The common reason being ‘In US, the client folks are very particular about their religion and they would see this as invasion’. Te next famous one is ‘Oh, they would be surprised and often ask questions on how this works – I don’t want to be embarrassed.”

I wonder if these people believe and trust the Hindu religion, only when in India. Does God disappear when they are in America? If you believe in something, you should be confident enough to carry it over –irrespective of where you are – India or US, Client place or home.

Are American’s concerned about this? No. I wear my religion marks to office or wherever I go and people do not usually question that. Yes, they are surprised to see this for the first time. At times, if I have worked with someone long enough, they come and ask me, “Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, what is that orange mark in your forehead?” and I explain it to them.

I had a women colleague who used to wear such red marks in India and avoid the same in US. She would say “If you are acting as a dog, you are supposed to bark”. And I think that is the worst crap I have ever heard.

Are cats our enemies?

2004-12-22T21:09:00.000Z

Date: 12/22/2004
Place: Los Angeles
In India, I think there is a tad over belief and dependency on God, Stars and Superstition.

For example,
- If a cat or widow or a sneeze guy comes across, the job you are going for would most probably fail.
- One is not allowed to perform any important activity during certain time of the day (Rahukalam, etc.)

Thinking back, you would realize that no God would ask you to do follow these rules – unless he doesn’t have any control over the activities in the world. In my opinion, people who follow these superstitions are not believers of God.

If you see the big picture, it would have been some less self-confident guy, who might ave failed in his activities on all days when he saw a cat across. He would have spread his experience and people, in an effort to strike right and strike first, follow these and these beliefs have gone on to become rules.

This is exactly where a belief, rather than helping people, starts to occupy and command them.

I believe there will be a number of Indians, like me, who want to stop the black-journey of superstitions. But the rest should think twice or more, what they get from those silly rituals. It is enough to believe in God, and to be a moral and good person, and to love peace & prosperity of the mankind.

Recently, Maharashtra, an eastern state in India, is moving to introduce an anti-superstition law. The details can be found in: http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/04spec.htm

As the joke goes, “A friend of mine saw a cat walk across on one fine day and that whole the activities went very bad – for the cat. Is it in cat’s bible to stop activities if a man comes across?”

Some wonderful quotes on superstition here…
"It is bad luck to be superstitious." ~ Andrew W. Mathis
"Superstition is the religion of feeble minds." ~ Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
"The general root of superstition is that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss; and commit to memory the one, and pass over the other." ~ Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
“Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy; the mad daughter of a wise mother.“ ~ Voltaire
“Superstition is a senseless fear of God.” ~ Cicero

My GMAT experience

2004-10-12T18:43:00.000+01:00

Date: Oct 12, 2004
Place: Los Angeles

Ladies and Gentleman,
I wrote my first attempt GMAT on 10/11 and received the following score:
Quants: 50/60 (95 percentile)
Verbal: 31/60 (65 percentile)
Total: 680/800 (90 percentile)

Overall, I am satisfied with the total score and excited about the maths score (this is the highest of all my practice scores), but was a little disappointed at the out-of-balance verbal. I know the score is very typical of an IT Indian - good in Quants and bad in verbal. I am still contemplating my retake.

Please let me know your opinion in http://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=61967#61967

Phase 1 last year (Decision - last year):
I made my decision to write GMAT last Dec. But, I had been out of college for four years and was totally occupied in work, that I was looking for a good time to start preperation. During these days, I couldn't prepare but were collecting materials and documents all along. I had also been brushing up my quants on and off, but nothing serious.

Phase 2 Day 1-45(Preperation - Read):
This July, I moved to a new client place and expected the next three months to be comparitively less loaded with work. Hence, I booked a date for the GMAT in Oct. I had exactly 90 days for exam. I went through almost all the books taking notes for the first 45 days - mostly understanding the format, tricks and concepts (POE, back substitute, grammar, probability, perm comb, etc). During these days, I did not take any full test, except for the usual diagnostic PP-1 (640), but was participating in GMATClub full fledged. Please see below for the list of books that I used. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I explored new project prospects in the client that I work with. This was out of my (technical) work scope, but wanted to utilize the oppurtunity. I ended up preparing (sales) proposals and presentations, doubling up my work load, more than what it was last year. My usual routine was to come back from office at 7PM, sleep immediately, getup at 9 and read till 3:00 PM before sleeping for 4-5 hours and rushing to office in the morning.

Phase-3 Day 48-84(Preperation - Practice):
I had to take a break from studies to accompany my undergrad friends on a road trip after 45 days of preperation. When I came back, I started practicing with OG, Gmatclub, Kaplan800 and practice tests. I also realized my weakness for Verbal and started concentrating solely on SC/RC.

Phase-4 Day 85-90 (Preperation - Lastweek):
I took off from work all last week. The work was too hectic and meetings were filled all day, that had I not taken a week off, it would have been difficult even to practice one test. I took one full practice test almost all day last week. I even wrote the AWA essays, a couple of times.

Phase-5 (Test day):
A couple of days before exam, I got too stressed out afraid of a score of 540s and 560s. I also had too many notes to review with two days left. I ended up studying all night on Friday and almost completed reviewing all my notes. Saturday was less painful; I reviewed my notes again and read some philosophy books to stay away from being stressed out on the exam. As a result, I had 9 hours sleep on Sat night. Sunday, I drove to the nearby Malibu Hindu temple and spent four hours there. When I came back, mind was clear and cool, body and back was paining like hell that I fell asleep within minutes. Again had a 7 hour sleep. Went an hour earlier to the center only to find that they dont open up until 8:30 or open the restroom without special key There was a big queue to fill the forms and to get a good seat. I ended up getting a seat near the entrance. An another indian girl also wrote GMAT; She sat near me and finished the whole exam without any break. I looked like a fool using up all the break (took 9 mins break each time). Ate too much during the breaks that I felt heavy all day along.

AWA: I had a custom template. I was concerned about my verbal skills that wanted to do the best possible in AWA, as a backup (Now it helps ). I even had predetermined words and examples - like Bush Vs Kerry debate, Afghanistan war, Patriotism, etc that I wanted to push in AWA when I get a chance. Despite all claims that AWA is too easy, I would advise test takers to put in some effort (1 day atleast) to have your own template, words and how you want to go about, etc. Never forget to write atleast two mock AWA essays for issue and analysis each. AWA is the only exam where there is no correct answer :D

Quants: Got 1 pb, 1 perm, 1 high-fi SD in the first five. Guys, quants is another good area where there is a tanglible answer. I mean, unlike verbal, one cannot argue and change your answer. (Say for eg: we all used to select some answer for a CR, when some one would come and give a new view and choose a different answer). There is no such possibility in Quants. In the exam, surprisingly, I had enough time to do the problem, check the answer and again recheck the answer by back-substituting - for first 15 questions. Please check and make sure your answer is correct for all the first 15 questions. That said, do not do this for any question after 15, since you would have to catch up on time. Formualte a time standard and adhere to it even for the practice tests, so your eye goes towards that time standard paper after each problem. I finished with 1 minute left.

Junk Verbal: Don't ask me about that . Anyway, it started with SC, CR, SC, 50line-single para-women related-RC. The questions were also okay. I thought I answered them correct. I got a bold faced in the 15th question or so. One thing that we miss in GMATClub is long SCs. I once got looong SC that I thought it was a CR, strangely it was underlined most part. I thought ETS is testing me by underlinging instead of boldfacing the CR. Alas, it took me 2 mins to even read the SC and find the sublime changes in it. Got a 90line RC towards the end. I guess the culprit for my case would have been some SC/RC error in the first 15. I finished with 1 minute left. I still don't know where I can correct myself. My verbal score in practice tests has been around 34-37.

Resources:
OG - Got this from library sales for $1 - I completed 80% A MUST; try to finish atleast 80%, if not 100%. Also, do not do this in a hurry, make sure you read ALL the explanations in the answers scetion (not just for wrong answers). I used most of OG in the second phase. Best method would be to form a table with date, 10SC, 10RC, 10CR, 10DS, 10PS and hang it in your bedroom. Strike them each day as you do - gives you some sort of acheivement and satisfaction. I used to do OG whenever I feel bored with reading books. If I am bored with OG, I used to participate in GMATclub. Kaplan 2004, Kaplan 800, PR or Kaplan Verbal: These are also must books to start, particularly for non-natives.
Maths - www.ilovemaths.com -- basics; can use when you start.
Verbal - http://dictionary.cambridge.org, http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/, http://www.bartleby.com/64/, http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/index.html I used to listen to a grammar cassette in my car too - "The write way", a good one for basic GMAT grammar.

Full Tests:
Make sure to try both Power prep exams. 4 PR CD tests come nearby. Its a good idea to not keep Kaplan for the last 2 weeks, since that may destroy the confidence. Word of caution: I tried my hands at crack-gmat CD tests, an Indian product. But this was more out of context for GMAT. Most questions appeared to have been prepared for the Indian CAT exam. I was also not satisfied with an another Nova Press CD. It was too preliminary.

Practice Scores: 07/17 - Power Prep - 640 07/24 - Kaplan center - 680 8/7 - Kapaln CD1 - 580 8/14 - Kaplan CD2 - 600 9/12 - PR CD1 - 690 9/19 - PR CD2 - 660 10/5 - PR CD3 - 690 10/6 - CAmbridge - 690 10/7 - Nova Press - Cancelled exam after quants 10/7 - Crack GMAT - 630 10/9 - PP - 730

Stress - Howto:
1. If interested, read philosophy books for 30 mins or so, the day before.
2. http://health.indiatimes.com/articleshow/230637.cms

Some posters that I had in my room:
"I don't bound out of bed aspiring to mediocrity, I strive for perfection". "Fortune favors the brave" "hardwork+dedication+discipline=GMAT"

How does GMATClub contribute:
1) GMATclub may seem like a relaxation technique, but we end up learning more than what we do by reading books. I was so addicted that I would turn up laptop as soon as I got up from bed as soon as I reached home from office. 2) When you answer to a question, explain why you went for this answer. Also, when someone is in trouble, stretch yourself to help them as much as possible. IMO, knowledge multiplies when divided.

My Tips:
1. Sleep for 8 hours is very important - atleast for two days before the exam.
2. OG is like GOD for GMAT. If you haven't exhausted atleast 80%, you have not prepared yet.
3. Review, review, have a log of mistaked. It just takes 2 mores seconds.
4. Dont over practice or over read. Mix it up.
5. If you had to read some book that you find very tiresome, mix it up with something you like - for me Quants and Kaplan800 were relaxations.
6. Take a week or two days off before exam day.
7. Write AWA essays sincerely atleast twice.
8. Practice atleast two exams at the same time in the week before.
9. Reutrn back to old sleeping habits in the last week.
10. IMO, 3 months is an apt time for one to prepare for GMAT, unless you have written LSAT or GRE before.
11. If you acheive a score of your desire, make it a point to donate/help charity. 12. GMAT has a bit of luck involved in it, so pray to your God or believe in yourself that you are lucky

Comedy of errors

2004-08-03T17:47:00.000+01:00

Date: Aug 3, 2004
Place: Seattle, US

I wrote this in Aug 2002...

Yesterday... Our Acct. Manager "Mitra" and Sales Manager for this region"Eugene" (an American) has come to see us all and to take us to a lunch.I made a real mess with them right from the begnning to the end...The Joker inside me really played a part yesterday...

1. They took us to a Thai rest to eat and we ordered some NV stuff.Towards the end of lunch, Eugene was taking some rice (for himself) and wasasking me "is it good?"I, beggr, heard it as "some more food?"... I started acting.. "No No"... andkept the hands crossed on the plates andsaid "My Stomach is full!!!"... Everyone there understood this fellow isblabering.. and Eugene asked me again "Is the lunch good?"This time got it an said "Yeah! Its good"...Then he replied "That was the question. I was not trying to serve you!!!". .. this is what I call perfect embarrasment..

2. Then they all (Mitra, Eugene, Suman, Rekha and I was standing simply inthe corner) had a discussion in our bay.Then they started to leave. They bid "Good Bye" and "Take care" and allthat.Now Suman went out (for his cabin). They (Mitra & Eugene) both left out forcar.Rekha wanted to convey smthing to Mitra and she went with them.Seeing everyone leaving the cabin, I , beggar, thought "Ok!, We are goingfor send off" and I too followed them.Thats when Eugene turned back and said to Mitra "Will he follow us whereverwe go?" and to me "Take Care G'Man! GO to work!!!".. this is what I call perfect embarrasment..

Hmmm, Only God can save me out...