Author: rohit dhir

Management Education…The Brand Dilution & the way forward

Lately there is been lot of confusion in aspiring students related to management education. The privatization of education in our country and the popularity of management education with media creating hype about the kind of salaries being offered to the IIM graduates have led to a deformation to the image of an MBA course. Over then, not only the students even the parents who were very much into medical & engineering as the option for their child’s career got attracted to management education.Why not? It promises good grooming, practical exposure, it fetches you a placement as early as in 2 years which is otherwise unlikely in the medical & engineering education. The invasion was expected as the starters were making good money and the economic conditions were even encouraging. From there aroused a great confusion in the middle class who always aspire to provide the best education possible. The expensiveness of management education was known as the pioneers in management education had already established it as a premium education that ends with a good paying job. The sudden need of management education opened the idea of having a B-school for many. This need led to 100s and then 1000s and still increasing number of B-schools which ultimately caused lot of dilution in the quality standards of education & its facilitation formats. More & more universities added a management program which was very much on the lines of their master programs. This was a major drawback & differentiation to what we call management education & B-school education. The results started coming and the placements dipped in such programs which had almost negligible industry exposure for the students. The quality of the faculty/facilitators dipped as they were all the more replaced by the college tutors or those who were themselves not exposed to the B-school education. The differences were clearly visible but the common man was so much so bombarded with options and so much unaware that he suffered. As a result a bad name for management education because what media spoke about packages was not for all. Even today, I get several doubtful calls from friends & family, colleagues & references asking me to choose from the list of B-schools they have got the letters from, it’s difficult. I am glad we got into the decent ones without having anyone to guide at that time. Nevertheless, the following could be checked at least: Do’s: Their affiliations & accredit-ions. Program Design & Module. The curriculum can be checked. Whether it’s a PGDBM or an MBA degree. Remember, MBA qualifies post graduation; the former is more like a diploma course. The modus operandi & course structure. Faculty & Value Added Services like soft skills training, language classes etc. Talking to previous batches is also recommended. Don’ts: Avoid going by the advertisements & lavish infrastructure. A check on the curriculum, some universities do a mere repetition of your BBA. Don’t go by the foreign affiliations at once. Check that. Hyped up packages & salary. Prefer checking the average salary instead. *Image source:http://www.sssieducare.org

Teaching/Trainings – A thin line, a lot impact!

Teaching is a classroom affair. Training doesn’t necessarily be conducted in the classroom. Teaching enhances knowledge. Training is about knowledge & skills. Teaching is imparting. Training is sharing & exploring. Teaching is facilitated with books. Training is an art of explanation. Teacher prepares a chapter. Trainer prepares content & himself. Teaching requires subject preparation. Training requires skill refinement. Teacher emphasize on listening. Trainer emphasizes learning. Teacher explains theory. Trainers deliver concepts.

Indian Retail Scenario & Formats!

Retailing is booming. Really! The Attrition rate in retail is comparatively high in retail than as compared to the other employment options in the industry. What is the entire concept like? What is the manufacturer’s perspective in retail? Why is special about Walmart’s Retail mix? What are private labels? How does value addition happens in a retail? What do we mean by retail management? What are store layouts? These were certain questions, the answers to which I had prepared for my very first session at IIM Shillong. A batch with a mix of Assam Rifle officers who were on the verge to putting an end to their service with Indian army, then there were corporate executives and few business people from the North east region. Yes, I was prepared but at the same time nervous too. Most of my listeners were almost my dad’s age or even older. And I was dressed as per a Saturday in corporate world and they were all in absolute formals. Anyways, we commenced.Briefly on Retailing as a service, the value proposition and the value add strategy in retail with the Indian perspective of retail industry was discussed in the first phase. Decision Variables in Retailing, The Wal-Mart’s retail mix was also a major area of interest. I also tried to cover the basic kind of services in retail: Self service, assorted service & Full Service. A detailed discussion phase was on the Retail Formats, largely: Food Oriented Retailers: Ø Convenience stores Ø Conventional supermarkets Ø Food based super stores Ø Combination stores Ø Box stores Ø Warehouse store Ø Hypermarkets General Merchandise retailers Ø Mom-n-Pop Stores Ø Specialty Stores Ø Full line discount store Ø Variety store Ø Off Price Chain / Factory outlets Ø Membership Club Ø Category Killers Ø Department Stores Ø Boutique From here we went on discussing Private Labels & Mall Management in details….you can read about that in the next post.

My First Step to Corporate Trainings

My first post on trainings was this one….on my marketing blog so I thought this shall be at the first place on my Trainings blog as well. More updates will follow soon…. Trainings – A First Hand Experience Last week I got an opportunity through Yajnaa, to design and deliver a workshop at Ambuja Cements. The day was World No Tobacco Day i.e. the 31st of May. The topic was Alcohol & Tobacco – How to Quit? I had a week to plan and prepare. Homework was backed through a research project which I had done some 2 years back. The basic knowledge of the subject was there with me as the research was done thoroughly and in detail. The qualitative depth interviews done with the youth and with those rehabilitating at Divyasri, a Bangalore based Rehabilitation Centre made wonderful case studies and I added four of them.The base was there but I was required to work hard on it. For the reason it was the first opportunity and I wanted to give my best shot. Also the unrest for being resting from a month was another reason. The expectations and faith that was showed, the pressure to live up to them was another. But yes, also there was the refreshing excitement to try and successfully finish the exciting project at hand. The Preparation –Reading: I believe that whatever task we take in hand we should be able to argue (politely) on that. The most important pre-requisite is to have detailed knowledge on the same. The ideas and understanding both should be there in ample, to argue and advocate. Presentation: The way you present the data, facts and figures is important but the key to presentation is how interesting you make it. I made extra effort towards breaking the monotony in the presentation. For that after every 3 to 4 heavy slides there was an activity, a intriguing slide or an AV. Being a first timer, I was thinking from my own perspective, the experience of being a listener in heavy HR sessions or a workshop at workplace.My continuous effort was not to let my audience look at their watches after every while.Writing: This is the back up exercise. The last minute nervousness should not result in skipping the points. That was a major concern. So I made my copy of handout a notes copy for myself. That served as a quick revision for me during the breaks. And I was saved from missing some very critical points. Discussion: Last in my preparation in discussions. I did discuss the entire concept and action plan with 2 people that always help. These discussions not only provide the second opinion on the entire effort but also trigger some more ideas which almost always result in bettering the entire preparation. The Response-Whatever hard work we put in any project the best result we attain is in the form of response. I started getting the response from the first slide because the presentation demnded the audience to participate. I made them interact more and more. At time I was only the trigger to make them think and respond to the slides. By the lunch time, the workshop was in full swing, my audience which comprised of learned and few unprivileged was responding to me. That was my result, happy responding faces, wanting to discuss things, share experiences and stories.Their response to the activities was another reward.

The Little Angel

Do you believe in angels? Have you ever seen an angel? I never believed till the time I didn’t meet a Little Angel. I was very young when I started learning to ride bicycle. I was quick to learn and just after a couple of practice sessions I was able to ride on my own. I was quite confident that now I can ride fast. As they say confidence is good but overconfidence always sinks the ship and I learnt this hard way while riding. I was driving fast when I saw a scooter taking a sharp turn and moving in my direction. I panicked and I applied the brakes. I lost control of the bicycle and I fell down on the road. A couple of bystanders rushed to help me. They picked me from the road and I was bleeding from my nose. They took me to a nearby hospital for the first aid. Doctor checked my injuries and asked if any of my family members was around. I gave him my father contact number and he was there at the hospital in next few minutes. Doctor told my father that there are no internal injuries but to stop bleeding I needed a couple of stitches, to which my father agreed. Doctor asked the nurse to give me an injection and then he will stitch the wounds. I was very scared of injections and I started crying due to tyrpanophobia. The moment nurse started filling the injection my screams got louder and louder. I was crying so loudly that my screams were audible to everyone present in the hospital. My father and everyone around tried their level best to make me agree for the injection but I was determined not to take injection. While they were trying to give me an injection forcefully, a 7-8 years old kid came to my bed and touched my head with his small hands. I could not stop myself looking at him as he said, “ਵੀਰੇ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਟੀਕੇ ਤੋਂ ਡਰਦੇ ਕਿਉਂ ਹੋ? ਮੈਂ ਤਾਂ ਨਹੀਂ ਡਰਦਾ l ਟੀਕੇ ਦਾ ਦਰਦ ਚਾਰ ਸਾਹਿਬਜ਼ਾਦਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਸ਼ਰੀਰਾਂ ਤੇ ਚੱਲੀਆਂ ਕਟਾਰਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਕਿਤੇ ਘੱਟ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ.”- (“Dear Brother, why are you scared of an injection? I not scared of anything. Pain of this injection is not even a fraction of the pain four sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji would have suffered when they were hit by swords fighting evil”). His words just mesmerized me I stopped crying and got the injection. While doctor was stitching my wounds I was thinking about the sacrifices of four sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Their sacrifice was for others and they had no personal interests while injection and stitches were for my early recovery. Surprisingly I felt no pain at all during the small surgery. I promised myself that I’ll never be scared again from such petty things like injections or stitches. I recovered in a couple of weeks and soon afterwards I started riding my bicycle again. I don’t know who he was? Where did he come from? Why did he inspire me to take the injection? I never saw him again and to this day I believe him to be “the little angel’, who was sent by God. He is amongst my biggest sources of inspiration. Whenever I see people scared from troubles of their lives; I share the story of ‘The Little Angel’ and tell them the importance of pains which leads us to better life.

Sapna

          Haan! Eh Sach Hai Ki Main Bharat Nu Murr ‘Soney Di Chirri’ Baneya Dekhna Nahin Chahunda. Kyuki Main Nahin Chahunda Ki Koi Vi Afghan Ya Firangi Aave, Te Sone Di Is Chirri De Khamb Noche Ke Aapne Pinjrey ‘ch Qaid Ker Lavey. Main Ta Bharat Nu ‘Kalghidhar Patshah’ De Baaz Di Tarah Faulad Da Baneya Dekhna Chahunda Haan, Ta Jo Eh Nidarr Te Nirbhey Ho Ke Ambera ‘ch Nit Naviya Uchaiya Nu Chhuhey.