The Art of Conversation

My Blog No. 16

The Art of CONVERSATION

Conversation implies verbal interaction between two individuals; quite often not known to each other earlier. There may be no purpose of conversation or it may be for pleasure or may be for whiling away time or even for taking it as an opportunity for furthering personal or business interests.

Conversation takes place mostly while travelling or waiting. During travel by air or by road it may take place between co-passengers and while waiting, may be at airport or hotel or conference venue, or for an appointment with a doctor, consultant or senior government official etc.

The art of conversation can be cultivated, first, by observing the behaviour i.e. approach, style and content, of good conversationalists and later through practice.

It is a prerequisite to be enthusiastic if one wants to learn the art of conversation. It requires study of human behaviour, patient listening and knowing when to start and when to stop during the conversation.

Before initiating or opening a dialogue one should observe the gestures, postures, behaviour and what exactly the other person is doing. The other person may be reading a newspaper or a magazine or watching television or may be busy on telephone all the time or may be this individual is also looking around for some one to talk with. The period of observation could be keeping in mind the time which both the individuals are likely to spend at the same place. For example during air travel the likely time to be spent as co-passenger may vary from one to four hours and some times more in international flights, in train travel it may be more than four hours and in waiting room of a clinic it may be fifteen minutes to an hour.

Having observed one or more such persons around, decide with whom and how to open the conversation. This will depend obviously on the personality of the person observed, one’s  observations, physical distance between two individuals at that point of time (for example in airplane one can not converse with a person seated five rows behind) and the expected, based on one’s assessment, response from the other person.

Most difficult and testing part of a conversation is its opening. Easiest topics for opening the dialogue could be current affairs.  But that may not be always necessary. Current affairs could be relating to politics or sports or any other flash news. One should look at the age and gender of the other person before deciding on the topic. For example it is easiest to talk about the  latest mobile apps for smart phones to a teenager or a youngster, latest games on mobile phone to kids, helping out a lady or an old man in handling their electronic gadget like I pad or smart phone. In air travel, say by business class, one could initiate the talk on economy or some thing from National Geographic or Time magazine etc. The opening of a dialogue could be with a query, which is most common. Quite often one tests the water by asking questions relating to destination, if travelling or enquiring about the locality in which the other person stays etc. The response to such questions helps to decide the speed and style of further communication. With a lady, easier course could be to open the dialogue by guarded admiration of may be her dress, the make up or personal accessories like watch or purse or jewelry. One has to be careful in terms of the age difference between the two parties getting into conversation. Conversation can begin with introducing one self and offering a business card if the situation so demands. This is more likely with seasoned conversationalists.

It is rare but one should be ready for a rebuff from the other side.

The beauty of the conversation lies in taking the conversation to higher levels, consistently, possibly resulting into friendship or new relationships. This requires probing and grasping the interest of the other person and keeping the conversation on track to sustain the interest of the other person in the interaction. Interruptions of any kind provide opportunity for changing the topic. One should also learn to change the topic quickly where one does not have interest or knowledge.  Boasting of self will bring the conversation to a quick close.

Proof of good conversation is that it ends only when the parting time comes. Conversation should normally end with niceties like exchange of visiting cards or shaking hands or saying bye. It is at this point of time that both the parties decide to continue or not to continue the relationship in future. These days it may simply end up by on - the - spot exchange of friend request on Face Book etc. Professionals may catch up with and get connected on linkedin, blogger and twitter etc.

Conversation can be developed as an art for personal pleasure and advancement by being enthusiastic, by being a careful observer and through practice.

It can bring about unexpected windfalls at times.

Happy Conversing!!!!

My Blog No. 15

Doing MBA: Choice of a Business School

Having decided to do an MBA programme one needs to decide; from where. The choice of a B-School depends on the educational background, inclination and preferences and resources of the person and prevalent market conditions.

In case one is clear that one wants to be truly a global executive (meaning acceptability and employability anywhere in the world) or desires to settle abroad then one should obtain MBA degree from USA. Reason for suggesting USA is that in the foreseeable future their economy is unlikely to go down. Hence, better scope of employability. Further, MBA degree of USA is acceptable worldwide whereas degrees of other countries are less likely to be accepted in the USA. Europe does have very good business schools but Indians loose out in terms of getting visa or work permit for working in Europe. MBA from Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila and other good B-Schools from Asia and even Europe makes the person land up in good companies, quite often MNCs, in Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand etc. If one intends to do MBA as an academic pursuit, to be followed by a doctoral degree, then this does not hold good. One can go to study in any institution known for its area of excellence.

Indians wanting to settle down in India for social, personal or economy reasons should obtain MBA degree from a B-School in India. Indian employers always prefer an MBA from India because of relevance of course content to Indian conditions. They may accept very few from across the best B-Schools in the world for a number of reasons including cost to the company.

Should one settle for nothing but the Best? It is interesting to note that the kind of job offers made to, say, top 5% of the students in B-School ranking of 20 to 30 in USA are similar to the bottom 50% of the students in, say, top 7-8 ranking B-Schools in USA. In India too, the story is not very different. It may not be a bad idea to get into a slightly lower ranking B-School, especially if cost benefit analysis works, rather than waiting longer to get into the best.

Ideally the choice of B-School should depend on expected ‘value add’ and return on investment.

‘Value add’ means the transformation of a person, i.e. improvement in knowledge, skills and attitude, during the period of doing MBA. This is a function of reputation, rigour and ambience of the institute, the quality of faculty, infrastructure and peer group. It also depends in a large measure on the attitude, aptitude, likings and preferences of the student himself.

Return on investment may be seen differently in USA and India. In USA MBA programmes will generally cost USD 150 K to USD 300K and on completion compensation packages are also in the region of USD 100 K to 200 K. Thus, taking a loan is almost a necessity. In India, the fee structure varies drastically even within different kinds of Universities and autonomous institutions like IIMs and IITs. While deciding a B-School this needs to be seen and evaluated closely. It may make much more sense to go to a slightly lower ranked B-School if the fee difference is large.

Another factor to be considered is to go to a B-School known for a particular discipline for example Wharton is known for Finance and XLRI is known for HR.

Timing of doing MBA also matters. Those who join at boom times do not very often get the packages they expected as in two years the economy may have taken a down turn. The vice-versa is also true. If one can anticipate market conditions one can get in for higher education at a time when economy is going through a lean phase.

Unless programme is fully residential and run by old and established institution one should prefer to choose a location in metro and bigger towns for better interaction with industry and business people and even with government.functionaries and other social groups.

Students not having engineering and science background may find it difficult to study in institutions emphasising qants orientation. Engineering students generally have better choice in this matter.

To sum up, choice of a B-School should be made keeping in mind ones own likings, preferences, qualifications, and location and reputation of the institute and careful evaluation of value add and return on investment.

Doing MBA: Is it necessary

Doing MBA: Is it necessary

Intelligent and serious minded students, researchers and working professionals, especially from science, engineering, medicine and other professional background, often wonder what value does an MBA degree add and why should one do it. Is it necessary?

Very often MBA programme is considered to be a superfluous course involving soft skills in general and presentation skills in particular. Teachers and researchers from other disciplines also do not take management students and teachers seriously. But, more often, they are in the awe of such students and even teachers.

Management is one of the newest disciplines. Outside of USA it has started only after 1950. After 1980, the world over, growth has been almost sporadic. Management involves decision making. It has planning, organising, coordinating, training, motivating and control as important functions. Marketing, finance, human resources and operations are important departments in an organisation to support management functions in meeting mission and vision of the organisation. Whether it is an office of a political party, research organisation, religious body or the office of the Prime Minister, management is required. Management skills or leadership can be inborn, no doubt, but these can be learnt too. Of all the functionaries, the higher the person is placed more of managerial and leadership qualities are needed.

A question quite often asked is - were things not managed when MBA course or management discipline had not evolved. How were family and other businesses managed? So what an MBA is ? nothing. It is "Common sense jargonised and smartness personified".

The fact remains management can be viewed in one of the two ways. One, it is a science or discipline which needs to be developed and formalised through serious research just like any other discipline. This is the job of teachers who need to contribute through their research work and publications formulation of theories, concepts and principles. Two, management is a profession. As an art it is to be practised. It requires very close interaction and collaboration with business and industry, even government and society. This again needs to be developed by teachers through management development programmes, executive development programmes, faculty industry executive exchanges and through development of case studies. For an MBA programme both these perspectives are important. Teachers tend to take the first perspective whereas students wish to be practice oriented

Management is interdisciplinary. It is integrative. It evolves.

Why should one do MBA?

1. One gets exposed to a variety of disciplines of engineering, science, humanities and social sciences. It helps students to understand people, process and profit as concepts. Being interdisciplinary and integrative it helps decision making, particularly at higher levels. Strategic Management and Management Information System, two courses, may be quoted as example.

2. There is a lot of learning from peer group. Students come from varied backgrounds in terms of educational qualification, industry experience, geographical locations and demographic factors- age, gender, culture etc. MBA student learns more from peer group than from teachers. Management teacher is only a facilitator.

3. There are economic reasons; good placement; return on investment in terms of money and time.

4. If one of the two engineers or for that matter officers belonging to junior or middle management level needs to be promoted, the one with management qualification will have an edge.

5.  In today's Knowledge Economy era postgraduation is going to be a minimum must  for all and a course like MBA  will help improve the perspective, broaden the horizon  and enable learning practical knowledge and skills required for real life.

Doing MBA : Choice of Programme

Doing MBA: Choice of Programme 

After having taken the decision of doing MBA the next step is to decide as to what kind of an MBA one should do.

The choice of the programme will depend on the age, experience, purpose, perspective and resources of the person who has to take this call.

Talking of various kinds of choices available, one may consider two year full time regular residential or non- residential MBA, i.e. a proper post graduate degree programme, or post graduate diploma known by various names like PGDM or PGDBM etc. or executive MBA programme or part time  MBA or week end MBA programme or MBA through distance learning.

The right thing and the best thing to do is to do Two Year Full Time Residential MBA ( in case of IIMS and MDI, their PGDM programmes have been declared under UGC Act as equivalent to MBA)  programme as any good MBA entails a lot of learning through rigour and from the peer group. Ambience of the campus, library and other facilities and availability of faculty members in the campus compound facilitates 24*7 learning.  Next natural choice is full time PGDM programme. These programmes have the advantage of autonomy in syllabus as these are not governed by universities and generally better acceptability in job market particularly non government corporate sector in view of updated syllabus and good quality faculty. The disadvantage is that they are not considered to be equivalent to post graduate degree,therefore, quite often ineligible for registration in Ph.D. Programme and also do not enjoy the marks of PG qualification while applying for migration to other countries and not considered  eligible for government jobs.  A person who has to live and work in India in corporate sector may prefer to go for a better quality PGDM than to poorly branded MBA.

Executive programmes have started flooding Indian market more recently. Executive MBAs are generally designed for senior managers who had either missed the bus earlier or want to update and upgrade their knowledge or want to make their profile more impressive by adding the name of better know b schools. Time required is normally one year, whether full time or weekend and fees is high. Generally people with less than ten to fifteen years of work experience should not be doing Executive MBA.

Part time MBA in metro cities is a very good idea for middle level managers and officers who can not afford to do two years full time MBA programme. Very often classes, particularly for electives, are common with regular students in the evening hours.

MBA through distance learning is some thing which is better than doing nothing. It is generally cheap and being modular convenient to do. Otherwise management discipline, as a profession, requires lot of interaction with peer group and rigour as mentioned earlier. This is more suitable for lower level supervisor or junior managers working in remote areas who can not afford full time MBA.

Next, should one do a general MBA with one or two specialisations or should one do specific MBA like MBA in Banking or MBA in Insurance or MBA in Retail. Should one do sector specific MBA like Healthcare or Infrastructure.

Functional specialisations like marketing, operations, finance and HR have been available historically. Added to these more recently are strategy, consulting, IT, infrastructure, banking and finance, general management and many others. Some institutions offer dual specialisation without calling them major and minor and some have given them different names including major and minor. Many other institutions give completely open choice to the students from an array of electives to choose from.

As per the normal MBA programme structure, choice of electives or specialisation  is  to be made after completion of first year MBA programme, where basic common subjects are covered. If that be the case student should find out the basic inclination and interest in the first year and then take the call. Historically the CEOs in business world come from marketing and finance functions as they are perceived to be contributing to and affecting the top line and bottom line of the business. Hence if it is a single specialisation one may, unless there are reasons otherwise, opt for either marketing or finance. In case of two specialisations are permitted one may opt atleast for one of these two. This is more so in the case of younger,aspirants, fresh or with less experience. These are core functions of business and campus placement employability is enhanced. Operations, particularly supply chain area has emerged very strong in recent years. For engineers, particularly those not enthused by marketing or finance, operations in general and supply chain in particular makes good sense. HR is not taken very seriously as there are few examples of people having made their mark in the corporate world. Female students with non engineering, non quant background prefer HR.

In case this choice is to be exercised,at the time of joining the MBA programme, for a person with experience, the decision is not difficult. If the person has clear perspective of ones career,  it is easy. If a person has only few months or one or two years of experience one may even change the line in terms of choice of function capitalising on this opportunity. If, however, person has no previous experience or understanding, the choice may depend on the person between marketing and finance based on ones aptitude, educational qualification and career perspective.

As far as possible one should, especially for persons with less or no experience, do general MBA. Persons with specific qualifications like in fashion or hotel industry or experience and inclination to work in a specific sector or industry may choose sector or area specific MBA like MBA in Healthcare or MBA- Services or MBA- Infrastructure.

To sum up choice of programme shall depend on age, qualification, experience, inclination, market conditions and availability of choices available to the person who has to take this decision. As a general rule full time regular MBA with marketing or finance makes better sense. 

Talk delivered in the Saharanpur Campus of IIT Roorkee on March 19, 2014

How to be Successful in a Corporate Career

A beginner’s guide

It is much easier to be successful in a corporate career than in one’s personal life. The reason is simple; the number of stakeholders in one’s organizational life is much smaller than the number of stakeholders in one’s personal life. The second reason is that the time available for being successful in one’s corporate life in relation to time available for one’s personal life is much more.

Four drivers of success in corporate career are knowledge, performance, street smartness and conduct.

Knowledge includes knowledge of owners of business, knowledge of business and knowledge of the environment in which the business operates.

A very large number of business executives do not even know the names of the five biggest shareholders of their company where they work. Information relating to business includes knowledge of the project, knowledge of products, the processes and the financials etc. Knowledge about business also includes knowledge of competitors, market share and global view of the industry.  Knowledge of business environment shall include government policies including taxation and incentives, the social aspects of business and role and importance of industry associations. Sources of obtaining the above mentioned knowledge include company website, corporate brochures and presentations meant for different stakeholders for various different purposes, corporate executives and employees themselves and most importantly the top management and the annual report/s of the company. Additional sources include newspapers, trade and industry magazines, business periodicals, industry reports and white papers.

No one can be successful in any organization without performance, delivery and results. Smartness, manipulations and sycophancy can bring about short term gains and advantages.

Once a boss asked his subordinate who had recently joined the organization “What do you understand your job is?” Newly joined business executive told his boss “My job is to make you successful”. Thus, to be successful you need to service your immediate boss and your team members. One has to be So Good, through commitment, dedication and hard work that the boss and his job become redundant. This may result in one of the two things. Either, the boss being really good gets promotion and the subordinate takes over his position. Alternately, the boss being redundant is thrown out of the job and subordinate takes over his position. Failing the above two, this hard working person gets noticed by many other seniors in the organization and is picked up by any one of them either within the organization in another division or department or by one of such senior persons leaving the organization and taking this person along on terms better than what this person is currently working on. To be a good performer one needs to regularly interact with the boss to know what exactly is expected of him by the boss. One must continuously remain connected with the boss particularly to get continuous informal feedback. A burning desire to improve coupled with sincerity, hard work and dedication will surely bring about desired result.

In today’s world apart from being good one needs to be smart or even street smart. This includes intelligent networking along with smart and intelligent socializing. One has to be present at the right place at right time to be seen in the company of right people. A young business executive must make entry into a social gathering within 15 to 30 minutes of its start and like wise exit within 15 to 30 minutes of the end of the gathering. One must learn to handle food, drinks and attire. The young executive should move about in the party and seen with different age groups, status groups cutting across functions and divisions. In the work place similarly one should have friends in different divisions, departments and locations at different levels of hierarchy. Even outside of one’s office one needs to have good networking in other organizations, may be through old friends and classmates. One should have smart links in the office of Chairman’s secretariat and in the office of the Company Secretary which are vital sources of important information.

One last but most important point about success is that, it is the easiest thing to achieve by observing some simple age old sayings. One is punctuality. In the current scenario when every one is almost always late one gets immediately noticed just by being on time. Two, being with a sense of immaculate   dressing where people are slowly forgetting to be appropriately attired, one gets easily identified and appreciated. Three, it pays to be modest, humble and courteous not only with bosses or ladies but with every one around. And last, never to forget, to avoid the company of rumour mongers and negative people.

Continuous learning, consistent performance, being smart and good conduct will ensure success in a corporate career.