E-magazine Of The Department Of Mhrm, Iiswbm, May 2009

If a butterfly can flap its wings a thousand times a minute to reach its destination, imagine what you can do!

Yes… such is the capability that we own. And our minds… well they travel miles and miles... stretching far and wide, beyond horizons. And all this by activating just 10% of the power of our brain??? Have you ever wondered… what we could have accomplished by utilizing 100% efficiency of the brain?? We are much more capable of imagining and thinking than we usually feel we are. E-mag!ne is our initiative to not just enlighten those dark corners of our mind, but also to ignite the fire of imagination and knowledge. On this fiery note, we present to you the May issue of E-mag!ne. Apologies for being a little late this month but read on.. And you would surely agree that it’s been worth the wait. This month, the E-mag!ne inventory brings to you interesting reads on some of the prevalent stories of our times. You guessed it right…IPL, Politics and much more that you can “e-mag!ne” Needless to mention, the regular columns of Ace the Case, “Q –quotient” etc.

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Did you like the previous issues of E-mag!ne?? Did you hate them? Do you have any suggestions, any feedback? Or incase you just want to interact with us, Please write to us at [email protected]. We would be more than happy to share your views. Hope you like the current issue and find it an interesting read. Warm Regards Team E-mag!ne Srimoyee Ray & Bikram Sarkar MHRM 2008-10

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# From Faculty Desk………………...…....5 # From Alumni Desk……………………..13 # Friends From Yonder………………….15 # The Red Stigma………………………...20 # The Cricket Store……………………...24 # The dance of Democracy……….....…26 # Q-Quotient……………………….…….29 # Ace the Case …………………..………31 # Campus Bytes……………….…………35 # Voice Box……………………………...37

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Dr. Kumkum Mukherjee Professor, IISWBM Kolkata

Nurture With Care The entire account of sp reading the business of a leading multinational software giant in US, to Kolkata, India and the setting up the operation here, could be the study of a miracle that takes place when you treat people with respect and show the fullest confidence in them and when there is a high level of personal stake. In fact, it all started when two young computer professionals originally hailing from the city took up the challenge of setting up the new office of the US based software company in Kolkata. If we are to make sense of the ‘miracle’, we have to try to understand the organization and the psyche of the chief protagonists a little deeply. LSI (short for Large Scale Integration system) Logic Corporation started operating in 1981 in Milpitas, California and has developed products that

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they claim have changed the way people around the globe create, store and consume digital information. LSI, which pioneered system*on*a*chip integration, is the only company that can provide a complete offering of silicon*to*systems solutions for the storage and consumer markets. LSI Products With over $1B in storage market revenue annually, LSI Logic is uniquely positioned to deliver technologies, products and software to its chosen global markets. The company is first*to*market with 4G Fibre Channel solutions, has a commanding Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) market share, provides robust RAID solutions and is recognized globally as a Storage market powerhouse. LSI also provides entry*level market solutions such as single*drive DVRs (digital video recorder), as well as complex, integrated consumer solutions*hybrid analog and digital personal DVR, set*top boxes (STBs) and hard disk drive/DVD recorder combination products that involve high levels of software complexity. To date, m ore than 350 million consumer electronic devices with LSI silicon have been shipped to market. LSI leverages its in*depth system*level expertise, innovative technologies, understanding of customer requirements and a philosophy of providing best*of*breed silicon, systems and software to meet the specific needs of their partners and customers. With a long history in developing and driving industry standards for silicon, systems and software solutions, LSI is creating the technologies that drive the evolution of industry ecosystems. Industry Leader Many laurels and awards have been won by the company as recognition of its success. In 2006, they became the third largest fabless (a company that does not manufacture its own silicon wafe rs and concentrates instead on the design and development of Semiconductor Chips) semiconductor company in the world. In addition, the company provides chips and boards for network computing and supplies storage network solutions for the enterprise.

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LSI is the leader in the DVD recorder market. At the end of 2005, the company’s DoMiNo® products were in 45 percent of the 14 million DVD recorders on the growing market. The DoMiNo architecture has earned several top industry awards: Leading Product, EDN China (2005); Hot 100 Products of 2005, ED N; Hot 100 Products of 2004, EDN; and Product of the Month, eeProductCenter (2004). Apart from all these, LSI has earned two prestigious Emmy Awards for the innovations in graphics chips, and in 2005, Electronic Business named LSI as one of the ten m ost significant companies for having the greatest impact on the size, shape and character of today’s electronics industry. Overseas Operations LSI, with its strong presence in the industry, was naturally eager to open operations across the globe and India was a natural destination for the expansion programme. To handle the offshore programme in India Robert Nobrega, Senior Software Engineer Manager, RAID Application Software Development, RAID Storage Adapter Division, was chosen, not only because of his superb technical knowledge and expertise but also because of his previous exposure to this part of globe. And a lot of what happened afterwards, depended on Nobrega and his personal philosophy and style of management. We will now try to have a closer look at Nobrega. Robert Nobrega, or Bob, because that is what he is known and referred by every one around, is a computer engineer by training. He was a brilliant student from the very childhood and always had a commitment to whatever he did, as he believed in a rather simple philosophy of life: you have to excel

in whatever you do. He was devoted to his profession and worked in renowned companies in US including IBM, Hewlett and Packard, Compaq and other big shots in the field in the past fifteen years before he joined LSI Logic in 2005 as the computer hardware engineer. In spite of his dazzling academic and technical brilliance, Bob himself does not seem to think too much of his own technological prowess. He was found

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to be the most unassuming and polite person who is least officious in his attitude and genuinely concerned about the people he is to work with, which happens to cover half the globe. While dealing with the technocrats all the time, Bob sensed a serious lack of managerial and people skills in these people almost as a rule, m ost possibly because of their technical preoccupation and job orientation. Bob firmly believed that not only will he have to initiate these people to some amount of managerial skills and insights regarding how to get along with othe rs effectively, he will also have to craft leaders out of these people in order to make LSI Logic succeed in its business. But, as Bob found it, even if there is no dearth of leadership theories, one has to recognize the impact of culture before zeroing in on any particular theory to ad opt and apply. One has to care fully discern a culturally implicit leader character that would be readily accepted by the followers before trying to train the people to develop those. The culturally implicit leadership theory (House & Aditya, 1997) points this out and warns us before choosing any leadership style as that has to be accepted by the majority of people in that country whe re you want to practice that specific style for achieving any desired result. Kolkata Chapter of LSI Logic When LSI Logic decided to increase its India operation and planned to open another office in Kolkata after the Bangalore office which had already started to operate , they were looking for people who can be entrusted with the charge. At that time, two young Bengali professionals, originally from Kolkata and working with LSI for a fairly long time, came up and offered themselves to take up the challenge. Anirban Bhattacharya, the senior of them, started his offshore career almost a decade back in American Megadesigns Incorporated (AMI) in US, a software company and continued to work there till its product design division was taken ove r by the software giant LSI Logic. After becoming an employee of LSI Logic, a huge multinational software company with a workforce of around seven thousand odd people, Anirban was now free

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from his multi faceted responsibilities at AMI and instead was free to devote his full energy into the product development single*mindedly. Being part of a big organization he now had a lot of support and facilities. And he certainly enjoyed the opportunity and got immersed in doing what he liked doing most, that is, devoting all his energy in developing products, mostly in the area of data storage systems. Around this time, another bright young man with a hard*core technical background in computer science joined Anirban. Sumanesh was also from Kolkata, the city Anirban hails from. Sumanesh is simple and straight in his manner and what makes him so endearing to others is his curiosity and enthusiasm resembling of a young kid. They worked happily at LSI as the opportunity for intellectual stimulation and learning were very high there. The duo thus made a fine team and enjoyed working together under Robert Nobrega. However, after a stint of more than six years abroad, Sumanesh now wanted to come back home as he was having some family commitments. His parents were ageing and were requiring him back to the city. Sumanesh had to decide to go back and was toying with the idea of leaving the j ob at LSI to return home. He, howeve r, was not exactly happy in taking the decision of leaving LSI, as had enjoyed working with the company. So, when he heard about the possibility of having an opening in India with the same company, he certainly became keenly interested. Like Sumanesh, Anirban also wanted to come back to India. And they p resented themselves and showed their willingness to take the challenge of starting the Kolkata office for the company. They certainly had quite a positive point. Both were brilliant in terms of their knowledge and skills and had proven track records in the company for a considerable time. In addition, they both were from Kolkata, the city where the company wanted to start its operation.

LSI Logic Success Story at Kolkata As noted above, both Anirban and Sumanesh had their personal reasons to come back home and when the company decided to send them back, they were very happy. They took the enormous challenge. They came back to

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India, started operating from a small rented place with only two lap tops, and started hunting for local talents from unive rsities and institutes. Within less than a year, the India operation became a force to reckon with, shifting to a huge state*of*the art office located in the heart of the city’s IT district with a highly sophisticated computer laboratory and a team of young and talented engineers. Not only just that. Instead of running the India operations on the basis of only implementing the software already developed in USA, the newly established India operation started designing

and developing various unique software programmes here after successfully attracting the best talents in the area. And eventually, they happen to develop a unique software package which generated a huge demand from the customers all ove r the world and continues to be in great demand till now. This helped to earn huge revenue for the company and became a showpiece to impress the customers all over the world. But this fairy tale did not happen by sheer magic. It took a lot of determination and hard work on the part of the new team in India. The main credit, however, most p robably goes to Bob. The success of Kolkata operation certainly did happen because of the talents in India, but it was also because of the policies of the firm that changed a great deal with Bob’s initiatives. And Bob’s personal values and philosophy, which were always reflected in his behaviour and dealings with others, were certainly the force behind the success story. As mentioned earlier, Bob, the Senior Software Engineer Manager in charge of RAID Application Software Development, was managing four teams in US along with the Kolkata office of the company. However, one of the main reasons for his being entrusted with the Kolkata operation along with the US based teams was his first hand experience in interacting with people in this subcontinent. He had worked before with India and happens to know the people and culture of the land rather intimately. He could correctly understand the psyche and culture of Kolkata and tapped the brilliance and talent of the people here by empowe ring them and treating them with genuine respect. This actually points out his ability to assess the people he is expected to lead and change his style of functioning & leading accordingly

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He had enough insight into the human nature to sense their natural inclinations and deal with them effectively. As conceived by Hersey & Blanchard (1974) in their situational leadership model, the effective leader is the one who can modify his own style of behaviour according to the level of maturity of the followers, which may vary from

unable & unwilling (lowest level of maturity) to a group who are both able and unwilling (the highest possible level of maturity). The leader should adopt the telling style with the least matured group of followers, but with the people with highest level of maturity he should act more as a facilitator and delegate the responsibility to the capable and willing group of people instead. The success story of Kolkata could take place because of Bob’s fine understanding of human nature, especially in this part of the country. He knew the psyche of Kolkata pe ople rather well. He knew that they are often found to possess the finest talent but when are subject to too much instruction and close supervision, they tend to lose all the interest and stop using their talent any more. For them to work, either you have to sell your concept well to them so that they are motivated to commit themselves fully or just give them all the authority in the world to execute the task and stop interfering altogether. And he just did that. He gave all the authority and freedom to the due and gave them an absolutely free hand. They decided every thing in the Kolkata office, from recruitment, selecting the talent, developing them and establishing a fine team spirit among them, training and orientating them and encouraging them to be creative and proactive all the time. In fact, Anirban and Sumanesh used to put a lot of importance on developing and sustaining team spirit, as they strongly believed that the software firms can thrive only in a team effort. Moreover, they could successfully establish an organizational culture which was trusting, open and team oriented. This was possible because of the fact that they had worked in the parent company for a considerable period of time to soak in the corp orate culture and could successfully create that he re. But, Bob was certainly instrumental in tapping their originality and creativity by treating them with utmost trust and respect. His inherent confidence in their capability, treating them as

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truly capable and willing and therefore delegating the power, instead of trying to control them, actually worked the wonder.

Reference Hersey, P . Blanchard, K.H. (1974). So you want to know your leadership style? Training & Development Journal, February issue, p. 1*15 House, R. J. and Aditya, R. N. (1997). The Social Scien tific Study of leadership. Quo Vadis? Journal of Management, 23(3), p.445 Mukherjee, K (2007). Set Them Free and Transform! A Case Study. Organizational Strategies and Processes: Meeting Challenges of Growth. Viva Books

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Vivek Kumar Varma, MHRM 2004-06 10 fundamental priorities A guide to managing in a downturn 1* Take a closer look The goal posts are moving; understand the true picture not what you’d like to believe. Get to the bottom of what’s driving your business; what you do best and why. Understand how the business is being impacted by the downturn 2* Manage your cost base Focus on enhancing operational performance; go for targeted rather than across the board cuts; extract better value; reduce unnecessary complexity; look at whether your business model needs to change 3* Plan for different scenarios Winners demonstrate agility and flexibility; model a range of financial, operational and workforce scenarios that reflect the impact of the downturn on your business; adapt quickly; explore your strategic options

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4* Act decisively With increased uncertainty and volatility it is important to take tough decisions early. Focus relentlessly on the key drivers of value and the key risks across the business. Don’t sit back and wait; the winners will be those who position themselves to take advantage of the upturn 5* Recognize the value of your people Regular and clear communication with employees is key to their engagement. Identify key talent and develop appropriate incentives for them – retaining and motivating the best people is critical to your future 6* Remember “cash is king” Ensure your finances and working capitals are in good order; protect your liquidity; re*examine your treasury, financing, funding and pension exposures. Monitor your performance against financial and non*financial covenants. Adopt a hands*on approach to cash management 7* Take your stakeholders with you Evaluate the likely impact of the downturn on your stakeholders; make sure you understand their agendas. Perception is often reality so maintaining regular and open dialogue is essential 8* Focus on what really matters Evaluate which products, customers and channels create or destroy value. Revisit your existing investment programmes – what initiatives could you stop or defer? 9* Reliable management information is key Now more than ever you need the right management information; clearly defined KPIs are essential. Decision making needs to be based upon facts; speed of decision making needs to improve 10* 10* Take advantage of the opportunities Don’t stop innovating or investing in those areas of growth you will need for the future; don’t forget your brand. Have an eye for the future; think beyond the next quarter

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GARIMA DOSHI & NIKHIL PRAKASH IFIM B-SCHOOL, BANGALORE The term “virtual reality” came into the language in 1989 to denote an artificial environment in which sensory stimuli are supplied by a computer. That usage soon broadened to designate as virtual any computer*mediated version of a real thing, a simulacrum. In the now common parlance, then, virtual teams are those in which the usual interactions that constitute teamwork are mediated by computers or other electronic means, such as telephone or video. A virtual team * also known as a Geographically Dispersed Team (GDT) * is a group of individuals who work across time, space, and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technology. They have complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose, have interdependent performance, goals and share an approach to work for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Geographically dispersed teams allow organizations to hire and retain

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the best people regardless of location. A decade ago, Virtual Teams were almost unheard of, but in today’s internet age and globalized market, Virtual Teams have become an integral part of many companies/organizations around the globe. Many companies from America, Europe, Australia, etc., have started to entrench their Virtual Teams in India since India has one of the largest skilled and tech*savvy workforces in the globe. These companies are setting up their Virtual Teams in India not only for availability of abundant workforce, but also for the reason of comparatively lower cost of maintaining a Virtual Team in India. Virtual Team allows organizations to hire and retain the best talents without the constraint of location. There is no limit to the size of a virtual team. Many global companies are seriously looking into Virtual Teams to expand and grow in an unprecedented manner. A group of individuals stationed in different locations joining together as a team with complementary skills, commitment to work for a common purpose, have interdependent performance goals, and who share an approach to work for which they hold themselves mutually accountable is termed as Virtual Team. Virtual team in today's organizations consist of employees both working at home and small groups in the office, but in different geographic locations. Virtual team is the future of IT service delivery, gone are the old days where we can expect a whole team to sit in the same place and time. Virtual teams like other teams develop over time meaning that performance and efficiency for virtual teams would be likely to increase over time. Thus the first hypothesis to test is: H1: Performance of virtual teams develops positively ove r time. Teams that do more than one task will get in to this cycle more than once. With this argument teams would perform better in the end of on*line

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course than in the beginning or middle. The second hypothesis to test is thus: Howeve r, teams that do m ore than one task will get in to this cycle more than once. With this argument teams would perform better in the end of an on*line course than in the beginning or middle. The second hypothesis to test is thus: H2: Performance of virtual teams develops over time and by the number of tasks. As the virtual team develops aspects of what factors effect their development becomes of interest. Earlier studies on virtual teams point out a number of factors influencing the development of the team and how they work. This process is both dependent on socio*emotional processes on relationship building, cohesion and trust as well as task processes related to communication, coordination and the fit between task, technology in use and team structure. The team development process is also a development of communities of practice (CoP). With a constructivist view virtual teams are able to learn by sharing experience, collaborating and solving unstructured problems. Development of CoPs, or team communities, would thus be essential for knowledge creation and understanding of new subjects. This leads to the third hypothesis: H3: There are common factors for virtual teams’ development of team community. Benefits of virtual teams: •

Some members of virtual teams do not need to come in to the workplace, therefore the company will not need to offe r those workers office or parking space.

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Reduces traveling expenses for employees.

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It allows more people to be included in the labor pool. It decreases both air pollution and congestion because there is

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less commuting. •

It allows workers in Organizations to be more flexible.

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•

By working in virtual teams, physical handicaps are not a

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concern. Allows companies to procure the best talent without geographical restrictions.

Problems with virtual teams: teams: •

Difficulty in managing the performance of the team.

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Misunderstanding in communications because of working with teams across cultural borders

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Working on a project over the virtual workspace causes lack of project visibility.

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Difficulty contacting other members. (i.e. email, instant messaging, etc.)

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Differences in time zones.

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It can be difficult for team members to fully comprehend the meaning of text*based messages.

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Building trust may be challenging because mechanisms different from those used in face*to*face teams are required to build trust .

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Members fail to take 'ownership' of project

Basic types of virtual teams •

Networked Teams consist of individuals who collaborate to achieve

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a common goal or purpose Parallel Teams work in the short te rm to develop recommendations for an improvement in a process or system

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Project or Product* Product*Development Teams conduct projects for users or customers for a defined period of time. Tasks are usually

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nonroutine, and the results are specific and measurable Work or or Production Teams perform regular and ongoing work usually in one function; the team has clearly defined membership.

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•

Service Teams support customers or the internal organization in

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typically a service/technical support role around the clock. Management Teams work collaboratively on a daily basis within a functional division of a corporation.

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Action Teams offer immediate responses activated in (typically) emergency situations.

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Offshore ISD Outsourcing Teams Setup in which a company subcontracts p ortions of work to an offshore independent service provider to be worked in conjunction with an onshore team. Offshore ISD is commonly used for Software development as well as international R&D projects.

Virtual teams are fast becoming more the rule than the exception in organizations. It's time to stop thinking of them as a special case and start developing strategies for dealing with the new challenges they create. Virtual teams need the same things all teams need * a clear mission, an explicit statement of roles and responsibilities, communications options which serve its diffe rent needs, opportunities to learn and change direction. The job of the manager of a virtual team is to help the team learn how to be a virtual team and, most of all, to create ways to make the working of the virtual team visible to itself. But the most important thing to remember is that managing a virtual team is basically about managing a team.

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Jyotishman Sharma, MHRM 2008-10 the exams were finally over on the 5th of May, it was somewhat hard to believe that an explosion has actually occurred. The burden on top of my torso had finally evap orated into the atmosphere. But it was not the usual post exam break for me. I was actually deprived of an entire night’s sleep. I had a train to catch at 6 a.m. the next morning. I slept at 12 midnight and miracle of all miracles! I had actually woken up at 4:15 a.m. the next morning. Carrying a really heavy suitcase, I finally boarded the Jan Shatabdi Express to Barbil. And then when the train chugged out of the cramped spaces of Calcutta into the bovine country side of Bengal, new colours opened up. There was green, there was blue and then finally, there was red, only red. That was the colour mother earth had converted herself into, so scorching was the sun. As we neared Barbil, we came to know that the place was p rimarily a place amidst forests and on top of ridiculously large hills of iron*ore. I said to myself*“Welcome to the iron country…”. The exit from the comforted

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confines of the air*conditioned compartment was a burning shock. Me, Pritha (my class mate) and her parents were then facing a sea of vehicles, almost all of them Boleros and certainly all of them air* conditioned. Amidst all of them was a vehicle waiting for us too (yippee!), a yellow coloured school bus (oh no!). Nevertheless, a twenty*five kilometer roller*coaster of a ride later, we reached our destination, our home for two months. Our welcome was a bit hectic, food, rest (well!!!) and then meet Mr. Guha, the A.V.P * H.R of the Company. And then, the best part of the day, I watched TV after five months (yeah!). Let me not begin my story with the usual, run*of*the*mill routine progression of the first week of my intern*ship. Instead, let me begin it with a dead tree. How can a dead tree be of any significance to a summer intern*ship, you must be thinking? Well, let me mention that I am doing a project on ‘Contract Labour Negotiations’ and this is the iron*ore belt of the country. Here there is more iron than water. I had actually visited a colony of what the contractors mention as PRW’s*Piece Rated Workers. I was wondering how the people who were tall would in fact stand inside their houses. Or maybe, there were no tall PRW’s in this mine. Returning to the dead tree, it had actually become a hazard to some of the colony’s people. And for the time that we were there, we were their Messiahs. Such an important event of their lives was dependent on us. They needed a crane to safely bring it down, and only we could provide it. That was the third time I had seen such high hopes. By now, I guess you must have realized that my story is going in a backtrack mode. My entire article would basically sp otlight on three happenings, and their peripheral events. One of them has already been talked about. And as I talk about the other two, I must elucidate a thing. On this scorching red soil, amidst the dust that flies day and night, I guess two months will make me take a different path Pg-21

altogether, forever. Since I am writing this article for a forum that is open to many people, I believe it is my obligation to provide facts in which other people would be interested. Let me talk about the mining activities and the manner in which they undertake it. This particular mine basically extracts Iron*ore from open cast pits. You must have seen those big, deep pits into which winding, circular roads go down. These are called open*cast mines. The iron ore that is found here is of a very superior 60*grade and above. In othe r words, the ore that is sold from here has an iron content of ove r 60% per ton. This very superior quality of the iron deposit that he has, has given the owner the owne r of this desert (who is a very fam ous man, believe me) a cool profit of Rs. 1400 crores last FY. Please remember, this is a recession period. Sadly, most of it these deposits are getting over now, and within a few years, he will have to explore new areas for iron. Profits, or rather the margin of it brings me to the second event or rathe r, a conversation. A conversation that occurred on top of a hill that had been created by dumping iron*ore waste since the last thirty years, inside a small room, between me and a supervisor of a contractor. He was wearing a pair of clothes which was permanently reddened by the years of dust, his face burnt. I was wearing a crisp white shirt. In a few minutes, he was crying. No, not in tears, but in words, in words of apathy. In a few minutes more, a strange, disconcerting realization occurred. In this country, in this land, whoever provides hope to the poor, he is reverend. But let me give an account of what that hope was. It was a promise, and of something which overflows in our homes, which we take for granted, which we waste; water. They have not a drop to drink, and we grimace in apathy. They have not a shelter to rest, and they break stones, and on those stones the company stands. That was the second time I faced such high hopes.

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Let me now talk from the p oint of view of the Maslow’s need hierarchy. He says that the basest of human needs are the physiological needs. And the truth can no better be understood than here. I had visited another colony that had been provided by the company for its PRW’s. And that brings me to the first event. The homes in the colony were in such a condition that one good kick, and there would be a big gaping hole in their walls. So how can they think about anything other than a house, food and safety? We had actually visited that colony because grievances had come that houses needed repair. And they did need repair. Roofs had holes in them, walls were nearly broken and the doors could not be called doors. Once again, we were the messiahs here, as people with bloodshot eyes we re clamouring for our attention. All of them wanted their homes to be seen first. And we could not re fuse them, we could not be egoistic. The people were justified. Everyone has the right to a home. And these people, who break stones, clean machines, and repair train lines throughout the day are volatile. One slightest spark could cost us our lives. Their eyes were bloodshot due to alcohol, and they drink, they drink to forget their fates. That was the first ever occasion in my life that I had seen such high hopes. Friends, we have all been hearing that whatever quantity of theory we learn in classrooms, it is in the field that we ultimately learn what management is. It has happened to me, and it will happen to even more in the ensuing seven weeks. The thing of highest prominence for me in these few days has been moist eyes and a heart torn apart. All those who read this article, please consider yourself to be extremely lucky. Can you imagine breaking stones in the open sun at a scorching 45 degree plus temperature and then getting to drink water which is not even purified? And then being paid a meager amount of Rs. 150 per day for all that body*breaking work? Yes, we are lucky, and we must all have the will to use our good luck to uplift the deprived. I would conclude my journey with a belief. Perhaps my road is different; perhaps I love the colour of the soil, the colour of the dust, the people of the soil. Perhaps, I would live here fore ver.

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Sohini Bhattacharya, MHRM 2008-10 Cricket in India is generally associated with lots of money. Infact in recent times, Indian cricketers get paid a lot more than cricketers in some other countries or players involved with other sports within the country itself. With the huge popularity that it has among the masses, it attracts loads of sponsorships as well. Further, commercialization of the sport has taken place in a big way with the advent of celebrity advertisement. Starting from sport goods to mobile connections to even food items – everything today is endorsed by the Indian cricketers as they are the youth icons. Experts comment that there has been a significant shift in concentration from the game itself on their part to earning money from such other sources. But all said and done, nothing can beat the latest development in this area… the

Indian Premier League. With the introduction of this new format of the game, commercialization of the sport has reached its heights. The orthodox and traditional cricket lovers, looking at this are bound to say…“next is what!!! ”. If we take a look

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at the history of the game, it was developed purely as a gentlemen’s game to be played at a very slow pace. When Kerry Packer, Australia's richest man and the owner of Channel Nine Network came up with the idea of One*Day International cricket for the first time, it came to be known as pajama cricket by the purists. What would they then call the current format of the game? The 20*20 format was initially started in the English County cricket as a high intensity game to be played within a small duration of time, to counter the popularity of other fast*paced sports. It then found acceptance throughout the world and is the most happening thing these days… Cricket has thus had its ultimate transformation with the emergence of its IPL avtaar. The Indian Premier League is a unique auction setup where cricketers across the world are bought and sold for crores…and that too by influential and rich people – businessmen and film stars who are not remotely connected with the game. For the owners it is merely an investment in a business. Year 2009 saw the beginning of the second season of the IPL where we even saw these owners making decisions and strategies on behalf of their teams! They might be successful in creating magic in their respective fields but cricket is a different ball game after all … The biggest question lies else where…whom are the playe rs playing for? Before this, they belonged to a team which represented a nation. The IPL on the contrary is m ore like club cricket where the players play for the owner who pays the highest for them. Some of them even swapped teams in the second season. Players are getting paid more for bowling for just four overs per IPL match than bowling for forty overs on an average per domestic cricket match and that too in front of empty stands. This explains why most of these players are reluctant to play for domestic cricket at all. Not only that, the IPL teams have come up with big budget promotional music videos and cheerleading teams to pull in the crowds. All in all it is more of a money game than a cricket game. Are we not losing out the true spirit of the game in this process? But who cares!!! At the end of the day, the IPL is a smash hit am ong the youth with its glamour quotient, celebrity owners, cheer leaders and music videos in today’s fast life of ready made fast food, e*mails and the shortest version of the game…

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Rumy Ghosh, MHRM 2008-10 We are a country beaming with a population of 1.4 Billion, having just witnessed the carnival called “general elections”. What is really interesting here is the diverse aspirations which are drawn from people of different schools of thoughts and ideas, leave alone caste and creed. Since Independence it’s the 15th time our nation headed for polls and we were as enthusiastic as always, and with ever increasing inputs from MEDIA, it couldn’t have been better than this. In the past two months we have witnessed day long rallies and campaigns. Each of these although different in their presentation and ideology, had the same objective of increasing their party’s vote bank. The more eloquent the speaker is, more is the strength of these rallies, and this actually projects how well the parties have managed to create an impact during their tenure. What adds color to the flavours is the presence of glittering film stars and recently the cricketers (Who all are generally regarded as the icons in our country), so bigger the name of the celebrity more is the crowd generated at these rallies. The icons in Pg- 26

our country when done in their respective fields start their second innings in politics, just to retain the name and fame achieved by them. One never wants to leave the worldly pleasures and that’s the human nature we all know about. In recent times, with advancement of MEDIA in all spheres, we get to know the nitty gritties in a transparent way. It is for us though, to decide what we are viewing is for real or a made up story the channel has presented to us .The channels in particular are funded by the political properties to p ropagate their ideas and vie ws so that they remain forever loyal to them. However the initiative taken by the channels cannot always be viewed in a negative way, as it takes immense courage to p resent the scenario in front of millions of viewe rs, as it is a known fact that we Indians are fanatic in the true sense. We see and understand what we perceive and always act with our “hearts ruling our heads”. In these circumstances it becomes very easy for the politicians to lure the people towards themselves. There are innumerable situations whe re the political leaders are present, be it a last ritual ceremony, or the death of an army personnel, or consoling a grieved mother, they are everywhere. We are the largest democracy in the world, and it is expected that the power we have is properly utilized. It is a system which is well appreciated across all the nations and though we feel proud of it; it should be taken care of that the entire process takes place in a fair manner. The JAAGORE campaign, speaks volumes about the initiative taken by TATA TEA to make people aware of their responsibilities. In the last decade we have witnessed a coalition form of government. As the days were progressing we saw a greater number of speculations and assumptions on the political front and were becoming aware of the fact that that this time also a similar form of government would be formed, more or less. There were calculations going with and around the parties and witnessing this was actually a delight for all of us (not hurting the sentiments of anyone). The prom otional videos this time were really a good step taken to convince the people.

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The day arrived with a bang, and all eyes were glued to the national news channels. What we witnessed was unbelievable according to some of the political analysts. It was a complete white wash and it was revealed that we

were

in

terrible

need

of

a

stabilized

government

in

these trying times. It was loud and clear that this time the youth played a credible role in this outcome, be it the electorates or the candidates. Our next Prime Minister is all set to take the oath on 20th of May, and assumptions are still on as to what will be the magic figure which the winning party will like to have at the Lok Sabha and who all elected MP’s will form the cabinet. As far as we are concerned our duty has been fulfilled by exercising our voting rights, and what we expect is the fruitful tenure of the government. The 7 RACE COURSE ROAD has much to offer in this coming period and we as a nation or more precisely “A NATION OF THE YOUTH”, as said, are looking up to you with great expectations, MR PRIME MINISTER, hope you keep up the faith!!!

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1. In terms of Net capital assets who was the second richest man after Bill Gates on the Forbes list of 1999. 2. The 'Krona' is the currency of which nation? 3. The parent company of Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken is __________. 4. The first general purpose credit card was issued by _________. 5. The telecom giant NOKIA belongs to which nation? 6. Here’s a sitter. Expand NASDAQ. 7. Which marketing expert said that, "Marketing takes a day to learn, but unfortunately it takes a lifetime to master”? 8. Synergy Communications is the HRD Company run by which famous quizmaster? 9. "We are number 2. Why go with us? Because we try harder". Which brand was this No.2? 10. Richard Pascale, Tom Peters, Robert Waterman and Anthony Athos have evolved a core management theory which has been accepted in all the G*8 nations. Which one?

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Answers Warren Buffett Sweden Pepsico International Diners Club Finland National Association of Securities' Dealers Automated Quotations Philip Kotler

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Introduction Siemens is a leading technology business and one of the largest electrical and electronics engineering companies in the world. The company designs and manufactures p roducts and services for both industrial customers and consumers To keep its world*leading position and grow in a competitive environment, Siemens aims to deliver quality products and services. To do this, it needs people with first class levels of skill, knowledge and capability in engineering, IT and business. The size and varied nature of its business means that Siemens requires many different types of people to fill a wide range of roles across the company. These include skilled factory workers, trade apprenticeships, designers and managers. This case study explores how Siemens manages its ongoing need for skills through training and development. Identifying training needs For a business to be competitive, it is important that it has the right number of people with the right skills in the right jobs. Workforce planning enables Siemens to audit its current staff numbers and the skills it has in place as well as identify where it has skills gaps needed to meet its business objectives Siemens needs new skills for many reasons: • maintain competitive advantage, in ensuring Siemens has people with the right skills to develop new technologies and innovations • ensure Siemens has a pipeline of talent and minimal knowledge gaps, for example, due to retirement • fill a gap following the promotion of existing employees.

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Training Training involves teaching new skills or extending the skills employees already have.

Development The costs of recruiting staff are high. It is far more cost effective to keep good staff. Siemens need well*trained employees with good key skills and capabilities, especially communication and team working skills. This gives Siemens a competitive advantage as employees will be more flexible, adaptable to change and be more creative and innovative. They do their jobs better and are able to develop into other roles in the future. Siemens implemented the Siemens Graduate Development Programme in 2005, as a means of developing graduates with the essential skills set they need in their everyday role and to equip them for a long*term career at Siemens. Every graduate that joins Siemens, regardless of role or location joins the 2 year programme. This consists of 9 modules including team working, customer focus, project management, communication skills, and business writing. The training is hosted at a number of Siemens sites, so graduates get exposure to different parts of Siemens, learn about the business, and network amongst the graduate population. Chris Mason has worked for Siemens for 10 years and is a metering technician for Siemens Energy Services. He has benefited from Siemens training and enjoys working with new equipment and technology. He says, “You never know what to expect,

who you’ll meet or what you will have to deal with”. By improving the development opportunities, employees feel the company values them. Gavin Leslie is a Contracts Supervisor for Siemens Traffic Controls. He says, “The most

enjoyable part of the job is solving problems, no two faults are the same. So you almost need to be able to regularly train yourself. It is very satisfying sharing with my colleagues the new things I learn”. The motivation theories of Herzberg and Maslow show that staff work better when valued. This delivers long*term commitment and ensures benefits to the company. Paul Smith is a lead engineer for Siemens Building Technologies. He plans work for himself and others to meet the needs of his customers. He says, My biggest challenge is making sure that my

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customers stay happy. Sometimes that’s just by arriving on time, but mostly it’s keeping clients informed and doing what we say we’ll do. Siemens has always looked after me and boosted my confidence in what I do.”

Evaluation of training and development Well*trained employees provide a number of benefits that contribute to a business’s competitive advantage. To measure the effectiveness of its training and development, Siemens uses an appraisal system, known as a Performance Management process. Employees and their line managers agree objectives at the beginning of a placement and progress is then monitored formally and informally throughout the placement. This helps to focus everyone on the developing needs of the business. Annually, the results form the basis of a staff dialogue where the employee’s manager reviews the progress towards the objectives that have been set. Feedback is discussed with the employee and any development needs are captured in order to decide appropriate training. Together, new objectives for the following year ahead are set. In some instances, appraisals are linked to pay reviews. In these cases, pay rises depend on employees meeting or exceeding their objectives. There are several benefits for Siemens in using appraisal. It can • ensure that all training is being used well and for the best interests of the company • keep all staff up*to*date in a fast changing business • make sure that staff are well motivated • get feedback from staff on changes • make sure staff are involved in changes. Conclusion Training and development helps the growth of a business. Siemens has a clear focus on having a well*motivated and trained workforce. The company needs to have motivated and confident staff who have up*to date skills in order to remain competitive. In addition, well*trained staff are an asset to the business and help to retain customers. Well*trained staff who remain with the business mean that customers enjoy continuity. This contributes to customer loyalty and leads to repeat business. business Staff who feel valued stay longer in a company. This

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means that Siemens’ costs of recruitment can be reduced, resulting in cost savings across the organisation.

Questions 1. Identify four benefits to Siemens of its in*depth training and development of workers. 2. Explain how an appraisal system can help to motivate employees. 3. Using your understanding of the work of Herzberg, which motivators can you see in action at Siemens? 4. Analyse how Siemens uses training and development to ensure growth in its business.

Bibliography Website**

http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/downloads/siemens/siemens_13_full.pdf

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These have been turbulent times for the students of our department. The exams that are so instrumental in determining the course of what the future holds in store for the students came with its own share of dilemma and delights. The students were delighted to be finally putting their knowledge on paper and dispatching it off to hail the dreams that they have nurtured ever since they took up the decision to be Human Resource Managers. The dilemma was that this process didn’t go as smoothly as the students had planned for in many cases. The common gripes doing the rounds regarding the examinations were* too many questions and too little time to attempt those, tougher questions than expected and so on. At the end of the day what mattered was that we all gave our best and we all hope that the results match up to our efforts and expectations. Exam days would see the students coming in all pepped up and bursting with excitement. They would all gather in groups and discuss questions amongst themselves to their hearts content. These discussions would sometimes be interrupted by calls from worried parents and the students would promptly whisper reassuring words on the phone and get back to the grind. Everyone would try and confirm, through these discussions, that they have indeed covered all that is important and relevant from the exam point of view. Any subject matter that the students would hear for the first time would be subject to immediate and panicky scrutiny in order to be prepared for questions related to that in the examination. As the exam hour Pg- 35

would draw closer a flurry of “best*of*lucks” would fly in all directions and students would finally brace themselves for four hours of relentless pen on paper battle! As the exams ended on the 5 th of March, the students prepared for their 60 day detours AKA summer internships. For some the time to revel in the post examination euphoria was too short, as they had to leave the very next morning for their summer internship destinations. Many had a train to catch and some a plane, but what they all had in common was a mixed feeling of excitement and trepida tion over what lay in store for them. Not only was the prospect of a new land and new people fascinating to them but also the idea of finally making the transition from ‘theoretical’ to ‘practical’ kept their nerves tingling with anticipation. The thought of missing regular college life, friends, camaraderie and all those cups of coffee over hours of gossip in the canteen did weigh down their heart a bit but the students were upbeat about finally becoming managers in the true sense of the term. This would be a period that would mark their transition from being management students to actually becoming managers. They would be at the helm of things and would get a first hand taste of what awaits them when they finally complete this course and enter the corporate world as a full fledged Human Resource Manager in about a year’s time.

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