OB redemption?

All right, I know Organizational behavior is part of the core curricula of every B-school worth its salt. But c'mon, I found "Leading People & Groups" (euphism for OB-I) to add little or no value in what was otherwise a terrific set of of core courses in P1.

Apart from the fact that most of what was said was obvious, the course lacked basic structure and direction. In all, a disappointment. Fast-forward to P2 and with "Leading Organizations" representing OB-II, I reckon most of us had already formed our opinions about the course's value. While the first few classes did not make a terribly great impression, I have to say the classes have become more interesting per session. And yesterday's class, where we talked about Cross-cultural differences, was one of the best sessions of all in P2. From the starting well-known piece...

"Heaven is where the police are British, the lovers Italian, the mechanics German, the chefs French, and it is all organized by the Swiss."

"Hell is where the police are German, the lovers Swiss, the mechanics French, the chefs British, and it is all organized by the Italians."

...to students sharing slides about the Myths and Truths about their countries, the session was one of the rare occasions when I felt the 90 minutes fly by.

Particularly interesting, was the presentation by the lone Chinese student in our batch. A slightly reserved individual, he provided a piece full of humour AND information! Sample these...

- All Chinese people do not eat dogs!
- Never tell a Chinaman that you KNOW China.
- Address your Chinese colleagues by their full names.
- Finally, you are a foreigner. Always remember that because the Chinese will.

Great job, Youye!

Of results, incompetence and nostalgia...

Well, here I am back from a self-imposed hiatus. Not sure why I did this, but there is a LOT that has happened in the last week.

First, we got our results from P1. I did pretty much as I had expected, which implies that I am satisfied. Passed all subjects comfortably. No danger of failing anything and equally, no danger of being in the Dean's list. Now, grading in INSEAD is relative to how everyone else in class performs and the scores are distributed over a Z-curve. I.e., the grades are spread out over a normal distribution. This necessitates a clear and equitable differentiation amongst the student body's grasp of concepts and overall performance. May explain why so many of the tests were so darned hard. Most of the people I have spoken to are either happy or philosophical about their results. Oh, there was this controversy about the relative weightage of case write-ups and final exam being changed last minute in one of the courses. I have my opinion about this, but more on it later.

Next comes the finalization of our CVs for the official handbook. Now, I must admit I had heard the Career placement office was not the most effective one going around. But their level of utter incompetence in organizing basic meetings is astounding! CV group meetings have been arranged with subsequent individual follow-ups. But with a class size of 150 students, all of whom are successful, confident and demanding professionals, you gotta figure quality time with each candidate is a must. Or at least basic reserach to guage demand. Hastily arranged 15-minute sessions, in all catering to about 20% of the class is NOT the way to go about changing apparently justified perceptions; perceptions that lend credence to the cliche that perception equals reality.

As for P2, half the classes for Finance-II are over. HALF THE CLASSES! Wow! Seems like we were applauding our P1 profs post-last-class just yesterday. Still, the cases come and go...burying us all ever deeper in the avalanche of information that refuses to abate. I'm enjoying Finance, enjoying Operations to an extent and not much else. I wonder whether I've peaked midway through P2?

The P5s have 2 weeks of classes left and we see a cloud of forlornness descending ever-increasingly upon the confines of the Lily garden everyday. Many are ready to move on, many already have, but a few face a very uncertain future...indeed, an uncertain life. My sense of sympathy is tempered by the realisation that I face precisely the same fate in the not-so-distant future now...

Case studies galore...

When I used to think of a typical B-school curricula prior to arriving @ INSEAD, the "Case Study" approach is one that came to mind instantly. The erudite around me claimed that case studies are used extensively as a tools of illustrating important and fundamental concepts.

Well, P1 was the very antithesis of this. Most of the P1 courses were quantitative in nature and there was a truckload of theory being shoved down our throats as well. Be it Marginal analysis & Oligopolistic traits in Microeconomics or Portfolio theory & WACC in Finance, the focus was on understanding concepts the old-fashioned way. All this, hopefully by design, left little time for case studies, although we did work on about half a dozen cases.

P2 though, is a different story. Several courses such as Strategy, Operations, et al are purely case-study based. This is good in that the quantity of raw study required is less, but the load of case studies is starting to build up. While credible cases from HBS, INSEAD, etc are being used, I have found most of the case discussions in class to be rather mediocre. Perhaps I'm jumping ahead of myself here, it is, after all, only the second week. Still, we seem to be covering precious little new ground hand the whole feeling is one of being quick-sanded.

There are, of course exceptions and I say this as I've just finished reading a case study on RyanAir, the low-cost Irish airline, lead today by the colourful, if not controversial, Michael O'Leary. If my statement sounds rather lame, consider one of his recent quotes...

"The European Commission are "morons", BAA "overcharging rapists", Britain's air traffic conrol is "poxy", British Airways as "expensive bastards" and travel agents are "fuckers who should be taken out and shot".

Now, when was the last time the CEO of a successful growth company dared to be so...well...obtuse? It was a moribund trait, one that Mr. O'Leary has re-kindled. Coming to the serious stuff though, RyanAir's achievement in converting itself from virtually a flying club 20 years ago to a company that today has a market capitalization higher than that of British Airways, is admirable and certainly worth studying. An oasis in the desert for now though...

Growth and Greenspan’s “irrational exuberance”…

I managed to get my hands on an Indian business newspaper this morning. In spite of having been away from India for a mere 2 months, I found the content pretty surprising in that it was virtually unanimous in content and tone.

The celebration of India’s continuing rise as an economic power: IT has been good for years now, pharma has followed up the IT success story, telecommunications is flourishing and manufacturing is starting to find its feet too. Retail looks all set to explode, even if the government hasn’t yet given the go-ahead for foreign direct investment. Still, local players look set to kick-start this, albeit probably in a duopoly mode. The financial markets are generally perceived as sound and viable, although reforms in the banking sector are overdue.

Great stuff, all of this! It certainly made me feel proud, but alas, a trifle curious as well. Curious about how sustainable this growth is; curious about the “economic value” being added; curious about the effects of this on all strata of society. Well, that last point we know: a majority of Indians have not benefited from this growth, but let’s be realistic for now. These things take time and in all probability, this prosperity will start to trickle downward soon. Granted.

Tucked away in the corner of the daily lay a transcript of a brief interview with the Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank, Ifzal Ali. Overall, the man echoed the same sentiments I was reading elsewhere, but he seemed seriously concerned about the sustainability of this growth, given our creaking public infrastructure. Its not the conditions of our roads, electricity, water, etc that concerns him as much as the fact that there is a lack of political will to solve these huge issues. And given the capital-intensive nature of these investments, it is only the government who can make a difference here. I suppose coalition politics and our infamous “anti-incumbencey” factor, an unwritten rule (at least at the state level) that the 2 leading parties always swap positions at each election, put pay to real progress in this direction.

If his fears seem implausible, consider this: in my first 2 months at INSEAD, no less than half a dozen fellow students from around the world have approached me with a single-pointed question: Will India’s infrastructure improve in the immediate future? Not to judge anything by what people say, but as the COO of my previous company always used to say: perception is reality.

So what thereof? Its hard to see a Ford-like endeavour occurring wherein private entities go out and clean things up themselves. Shareholder concerns are paramount nowadays unlike in the 1930’s, and any chairman looking to make such a move would be voted off the board before he could say “Crikey”.

Which brings us to the point of whether we are in a state of “irrational exuberance”? I’m not sure. I reckon that’s being a tad too cynical. Still, given our collective penchance for over-estimation, I think the press ought to probe these issues further. We’re all aware of this, but awareness is not the point here. The Indian media, particularly in recent years, has acted as a catalyst for social and political reform. I believe it is one of our democracy’s functional entities. Pressure builds more pressure and pressure for change begets change. Turn the screws and we might yet quell Mr. Ali’s and my fears!