When the nation failed a martyr


30th August happens to be the 6th death anniversary of one of my high school alumni -Late Captain Suneel Yadav.

Sadly his sacrifice has still not been suitably rewarded and recognised. Some of his friends and his family have been trying, through various sources, to get Suneel's case re-opened. The idea is to give as much visiblity as possible to this case.

The rediff.com has been kind enough to accept an article on Suneel which will go a long way in generating a favourable public opinion. We are also planning to send petitions to all those who matter, down from the President.

The rediff link is here.
The article has been written by Salil Kader, who was our school captain (1993).

http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/29spec1.htm

Please spread the word.

A Great Weekend !


Public Speaking is something that I have always enjoyed.I have been a Toastmaster for more than 5 years now and have won some contests at the club levels.An Indian wing of an American Bank is setting up a Toastmaster club here in Hyderabad.

An experienced Toastmasters team from Bangalore is helping them by conducting a "Speech Craft" session ( Basic communication workshop).I, along with a colleague of mine (whoz also a Toastmaster) have been chosen as the assistant co-ordinator for the program.
We have been assigned the task to mentor a few participants.We would work with the participants to identify their public speaking strengths and areas where they would have to improve.Organizing a speech, body language, voice modulation,using visual aids in a speech - We would be mentoring the folks on such stuff.A good learning experience for me.

Also,the first Alumni meet of our high school would take place this Dec 24,2005.We have folks coming in from all parts of the world. This is going to be a big event for us.A few of the alums - celebrities in the Biz and Entertainment field would be gracing the occasion.As a part of the CORE team that is working for the alum meet,this sunday was spent planning the activities.Excellent team work has been displayed by alums of various batches.We have started a collaborative blog too to keep the momentum going.!With the dedication the folks have been showing, I am sure the event will turn out to be a big success.

I am all charged up for the week ahead !

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. - Sir Francis Bacon

The latest issue of Business World India(29th August, 2005) has a special supplement that contains the 2005 All India Directory of Placement Consultants in India. The book is useful for those who find it difficult to keep track of what jobs are available in the market and what is the best fit for them.The career placement consultants will be of help to such folks.

Theory and practise come together in safe environment


This is something really good.!!!
Eighteen business students at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., will soon have $3-million to spend -- and it's not Monopoly money.


Queen's University School of Business is offering an investment management course that is the first of its kind in Canada. Students will invest in startup companies with real money, drawn from the new $3-million TriColour Venture Fund.


-Students will work in teams to research and recommend investments of $50,000 to $150,000, and an investment committee of seasoned professionals will provide sober second thought. Parteq Innovations, the technology-transfer arm of Queen's, will manage the fund on a day-to-day basis

-The course is open to up to 18 students in the MBA for Science and Technology and Bachelor of Commerce programs starting next fall.(2005)

-"From the student's perspective, it's the ultimate in theory-meets-practise," says Elspeth Murray, associate professor and head of the Queen's Centre for Business Venturing. "What you learn in the classroom you actually get to apply, in a safe environment."

-The program was inspired by the University of Michigan's successful Wolverine investment fund, created in 1998. Dr. Tom Kinnear, a professor involved with that program since its conception, met with Ms. Murray and Queen's business school in 2001 to discuss whether the project would work in Canada. A former Queen's graduate himself, Dr. Kinnear provided the seed grant for the TriColour fund -- which has grown to $1-million with donations from alumni and friends of the university.

-Profits from student investments are to be reinvested, building their portfolio of offerings in new venture management. Ms. Murray hopes to create pools of capital to help start new companies and fund student internships.

-An average venture capital portfolio of 10 companies would produce two winners, Ms. Murray says, with several companies in the middle, and two clear losers. The best ones, however, would have five or six stellar performers, two in the middle and two losers.

The article in the newspaper can be found here.

A nice poster that caught my attention today. Makes sense !

Queen's @ MBA World Fair
Queen's B school will be participating in the MBA World Fair.
Given below are the dates for the India visit.
The exhaustive list can be found here.

Mediocre But Arrogant.





That is the definition of MBA as understood by Abbey,a character in Abhijit Lahiri's book.The novel (Mediocre But Arrogant),recently released in India, is being referred to as India's answer to Peter Robinson's cult book-Snapshots from Hell.

The novel is a funny story of how an unambitious undergrad from Delhi University lands up in the highly competitive Management Institute of Jamshedpur.The 2 years at the B school change him and his relationships.

The author is an alumni of XLRI,Jamsedhpur, that offers one of the best Personnel Management and Industrial MBA program in the world.Here is a news article about the book release . And herez the Book Blog

The book is priced at Rs 195 and has been receiving good reviews.Itz time to check if a book store here in Hyderabad has a copy.

Outsourcing Fundas !




Prof Natalia Levina,Assitant Prof ,Stern School of Business,NYU is in India for a conference at the Indian School of Business.
Since she has published numerous papers on IT Outsourcing and Knowledge Management,our organization had invited her to deliver a talk on 'Vendor's value proposition for large clients'.The response at the office was quite good.
The folks who attended the talk ranged from Techies to very senior project managers.
Prof Levina too made good use of this opportunity and spoke to IT consultants in our office to get the "vendors perspective" in outsourcing.

The talk was a good one and addressed the following:
- Why do companies outsource?
- why do companies outsource in IT services
- Two case studies of IT sourcing.
- When and why would outsourcing benefit a firm over a long term
- Why are client's not succesful in replicating the outsourcing model.


Her publications can be found here.

Essays !

Queen's has done away with the 5 question format and has only 3 essay questions in this year's application..The questions need to be answered in 500 words.The case study question last year( see below) has also been dropped.
If you are a Queen's MBA applicant, make sure that you give in ur best while answering the essays.In my case, the interviews revolved around the essays that I had answered.Also,please note that the core element of the program is the emphasis on Team Work.Make sure you narrate your best team work experiences.

All the best!


2006 Application

ESSAY QUESTION 1
Please explain why you are applying to a team-based MBA, what you expect to bring to this program, and what you expect the challenges and rewards of this learning model might be. (500 words)

ESSAY QUESTION 2
Please explain your greatest achievement, and why you view it as such. (500 words)

ESSAY QUESTION 3
Please describe your short-term and long-term career objectives, and how you expect our program to contribute to them. (500 words)






2005 Application

Essay Question 1:
Please explain why you are applying to Queen’s MBA, what you hope you will contribute to the program, and what you hope to gain from the program. (500 words)


Essay Question 2:
Describe a situation when you were part of a team that was successful in meeting an objective; explain what you learned from the experience, and how you contributed to the process and outcome. (500 words)


ESSAY QUESTION 3
Please describe your greatest achievement and why you view it as such. (500 words)



Essay Question 4:
You are a team leader with responsibility for mentoring workers and confidentially reporting on their performance. One of your team members, Robin, is not meeting expectations. You have spoken to her, but there is no improvement. You would like to maintain the positive relationships you currently have with your team: do you (a) tell your supervisor and jeopardize Robin’s career, or (b) attempt to resolve the problem yourself? Please explain your viewpoint. (500 words)


Essay Question 5:
What are your post-MBA career objectives? Please indicate your short-term and long-term career goals. (500 words)

Queen's MBA students get personal trainers

(You can also read the article here)

Wallace Immen
Wednesday, August 10, 2005




Queen's University is promoting fitness as a way to help business students prepare for the rigours of leadership and a way to attract students to its MBA programs. Starting this fall, as part of their studies, students will get full physical fitness assessments and certified personal trainers will be available to oversee training regimes they can take throughout their programs at no extra charge.

The concept -- a first for a business school in Canada -- addresses leaders' stress as well as concern for balance between work and personal life, according to William Blake, associate dean of MBA Programs at Queen's

Know the team


Herez the Program Management Team at Queen's MBA for Science and Technology
If one plans to apply to the school, one wil interact with these set of people.
They are extremely friendly.So feel free to address all your queries to them.
They give honest answers and will tell you if the school is the best fit for you. ( Queen's focuses a lot on Team work)

When I was in the US and had applied to the school,I had a lot of questions and all of them were answered.Ruth Sherboneau,Administrative Assistant made sure that I got all the documents before I left the States for India.BTW,there is no application fee for any Queen's MBA program this time !!(It was $100 last year).Also, you can take any one of the exams TOEFL, IELTS, or MELAB to prove your English competence.

If you are a strong candidate for selection, you will paid to visit the school at Kingston for a personal interview.(I was offered $600 for a visit to the school last year).You can visit the school, attend classes and get a feel of how life would be if you decide to join the school.

Last year,all shortlisted candidates were interviewed by Shannon Goodspeed, Director .Shannon earned a civil engineering degree from Queen's before getting her MBA there in 1983.She then worked in Europe as an engineer and has since worked at Hewlett-Packard and as a professor of marketing and engineering at various universities in Canada.

Admission to Queen's MBA for Science and Technology




The application for admission in May for Queen's MBA for Science and Technology is available on-line.
Click here to to check the details.

Queen’s MBA for Science & Technology is designed for individuals with strong quantitative skills and academic performance, relevant work experience, and high leadership potential. A maximum of 78 students are admitted.

Happy Independence Day India -August 15th



In 1857,the East India Company introduced the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle. Its cartridges were covered by greased membrane that, apparently, had to be cut by the teeth before loading. There was a rumour that this membrane was greased by cow or pig fat, which was offensive to Hindu as well as Muslim soldiers.

The British tried reasoning with the sepoys, and even asked them to make their own grease from vegetable oils. The rumour, however, persisted. General George Anson, Commander in Chief in India, reacted by saying, 'I'll never give in to their beastly prejudices.' He refused to compromise.

Then, on March 29, 1857, at Barrackpore near Kolkata, Mangal Pandey started an open mutiny, inviting his comrades to join him. The Rising had begun.
India's first war of Independence.

This Independene day of India (Aug15), the entire nation will remember the man.
The 'Perfectionist' Aamir Khan starrer 'The Rising -Mangal Pandey' releases today.

Don't miss it !! I am struggling to get the tickets for the movie.
The best film theater here in Hyderabad has a film show scheduled for 08.45 am.!!
And even that show is Housefull for the next 5 days!

The NEW OG !

It IS out.The new edition of the Official Guide(OG) for GMAT,the 11th Edition, has been released.Read this news on Dave's blog.



If you want a copy, order it from the GMAC website.
Cost:$36.95. (Plus $10-15 for shipping)
The book is not available at Amazon.com

What the guide offers?
-Approximately 270 Analytical Writing Assessment topics
-800 retired GMAT® questions, with thorough explanations.
-NEW diagnostic section that helps you assess where to focus your test-prep efforts
-NEW organization of questions in order of difficulty to save you study time(This is good!)
-A comprehensive math review covering the topics tested on the GMAT® exam (arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and word problems)

2 more books have been released:
Official Guide for GMAT® Verbal Review


Official Guide for GMAT® Quantitative Review

Nah,the questions don't overlap.So you can buy all the 3 books.

Just Did it

It looks like Adidas is truly living up to its ad line "Impossible is Nothing"

I have always been an Adidas fan coz the sportswear and shoe company focuses a lot on Technology (Remember Adidas 1 shoe). Besides that, two of my favorite sports star Sachin Tendulkar and Steffi Graf also endorsed Adidas.

A few days back, I was amused when I read that Andre Agassi had signed a sponsorship deal with German sportswear giant Adidas, ending his 17-year tenure with Nike.
This news was an interesting one and I personally thought that this was an aggresive move by the German giant.It will be nice to Steffi Graff and Agassi in a Adidas commercial soon.( Agassi and Graf previously starred together in an ad for T-Mobile in 2003.)It is believed Agassi choose to endorse Adidas because the company has promised to support the tennis ace's charity endeavours, including his Las Vegas-based children's foundation.

And just yesterday, Adidas was in news coz it is likely to buy Reebok for $3.8 billion.This news let Reebok's shares go up $13.28 to $57.23.Nike is going to have some fierce competetion now.

Adidas is set to gain more visibility coz besides sponsoring the World Cup soccer it will also sponsor the Beijing Olympics.It also gets to add more ambassadors to its kitty.Reebok has Chinese basketball celebrity Yao Ming and rap artist Jay-Z as itz ambassador.It also provides clothing for the U.S. National Football League and National Basketball Association.

Let's wait for the next move from Adidas.
BTW, did you know that the name Adidas comes from itz founder 'Ad'olph 'Das'sler.
Also, it is believed that the famous three stripes of Adidas stand for the three sons of the founder.