Entrepreneurship and Innovation

 Made in JIS is a competition that enables students in teams to propose innovative ideas that can be turned into commercial products, after planning and mentoring through an incubator. We had a competitive evaluation through our faculty, Debmitra Ghosh, who coordinated the event, and a distinguished panel of judges. Ms. Jaspreet Kaur, Director, JIS group is the chief supporter and patron of this event.

We were at the inauguration of the finale, termed the Celeb edition, recently. Some pics- 

Jury members, VC, and Ms. Jaspreet Kaur, along with us Pro VCs. Above.

One of the jury members, being felicitated. Above.

What I Learnt From IIMs

I mean as a teacher/faculty. And what IIMs can do better..

Classes are overcrowded (MBA) - 70 plus in a section, not conducive to learning. Why can't they have smaller classes, larger faculty size? The norm in the US university I was at, was around 40 in a PG class. UG was larger.

More faculty would also help get more original research and accreditations if that is a goal. More cases too, perhaps with contributions from Professors of Practice. 

Not enough Ph.D. candidates. Each faculty could potentially have 3-4, or one new candidate each year. We would help create manpower. Make efforts to get more quality candidates by spreading the word. 

I had an academic associate (in Indore) who helped with grading. A must for every faculty, to give her/him time for value-added work.

Not enough guest faculty from industry. At IMT and some other institutions, we had a better number of industry folks within the courses, coming to guest lecture.

Projects (live in the course directed by faculty) are going down. Seminar courses are rare, except in Ph.D. classes.

Flipped classrooms are almost nil, in most IIMs I was in.. shouldn't top institutes be doing more of innovation?

 

Reflections From Academia

 Just as corporates have their learnings from the company they keep (or the company that keeps them), academics have our own.

When can one call an academic successful? When he publishes a huge amount of papers? When he earns a lot? 

Practically, I would say, in order of ranks 1 to many, these could measure his success-

1. Touching lives of students in some way- inspiring them or showing them the path to self-discovery.

2. Treating the students with respect- lots of teachers fail on this count.

3. Blending practice with theory or concepts in the same course, in a trimester or a semester.

4. Doing contemporary projects with or without industry cooperation. Case writing could be one kind.

5. Bringing his/her experiences into the class. Therefore, getting those experiences too..

6. Using innovative learning methods, experimenting with many.

Research Shows- 6

 My research shows that-

the level of innovation in Indian academic institutions -particularly the management institutions- is low.

We imitate, rather than innovate. We still buy Harvard cases after 60 years, and send faculty to get trained on how to teach cases!!

We are still not doing enough original work, relative to the number of faculty we have in top-ranking institutions. Related to this, doctoral programs are not supported adequately.

Leaders in some of these institutions are not even aware of the lag, or have wrong priorities.

Not all the fault lies with the leaders, as faculty have a lot of autonomy.

2022- A Year Ends

 This year threw many surprises. Which is not surprising. Had it not, that would have surprised me. I found a new job and moved (so what's new, you might ask, and I would understand). So new colleagues, along with a few who are a short distance away (the other end of town, where I lived between 2013 and 2020).

This time, towards what could be the last innings of my full time career, there are enough challenges to keep me occupied, along with my team here. Adding both faculty and students at a furious pace is never easy. Even one of these can be challenging. But both? Yes, it will take some doing. We are a new university in Indore, and the city is coming into reckoning, apart from its no.1 rank in Cleanliness. 

It is at the cusp of professionalisation, somewhat like Bangalore before Infosys. And we saw what happened there. I actually was a student in 1982-84 at Bangalore's hallowed IIMB. There are many initiatives like the Super-corridor for I.T. firms (TCS, Infosys are already here) and educational institutions - both of which can be a potent force for change in a few years. 

The Metro is taking shape, pretty fast. Might change the pace a bit, when it starts. The airport is probably the best connected in M.P., similar to Nagpur as far as Central India goes. All these are possible indicators of something happening. Let's hope we can contribute to this becoming a happening place!

Thought Leaders

 Who is a thought leader? Anyone who takes it beyond the ordinary level, in whatever sphere or domain he is thinking about. It could be science, art, leadership, management, architecture,... what have you.

Governance too. If we had more thought leaders as politicos, it would do us a world of good. Simple ideas can help the common man live better. Job generation could be one such thought process (this includes entrepreneurship, the generator of jobs).

Delicensing was one such, that India did in 1991. Before that, to set up a factory producing nuts and bolts (or anything), one needed a license, and multiple permissions. Naturally, that led to corruption and zero competition. The consumer, or the common man, came last. In the USA, one of many reasons that the consumer gets a good deal is minimal government interference in the process of starting a new business. I have a friend who got his license to operate in the mail, without having to visit any office personally! Why can't this happen elsewhere?

Public transport that is cheap and efficient can solve half the commuting problems that common people face. The local trains of Mumbai solved this, and remain the cheapest and most efficient mode of transport, barring some Metro trains in other cities. One reason why Mumbai grew much faster.

Miniaturisation of electronics by the Japanese was a similar thought process, that led to pocket radios and much more. Digital innovations have led to a communication revolution, and made it possible for you, dear reader, to be able to read what I am writing, even if these are not world-changing thoughts.

Digital marketing- In class Exercises

While teaching Digital Marketing at IIM Indore, for both executives and regular MBA students, I tried many new things. I was also teaching the course for the first time, so I had kept it to 10 sessions, half the usual.

I like to experiment with assignments rather than just use cases- so I tried an assignment on blogging about Digital Marketing topics, a Bidding game that simulated Keyword-based bidding that happens in real life for each platform, and writing of emails addressed to a specific target segment or Persona (to me, sometimes) as some exercises, besides a website design exercise  only the broad structure) in my digital marketing course. Live exercises and projects are good for learning, in my experience. Particularly when accompanied by presentations with Q and A. I can literally "see" the learning in many cases.

When blogs were given as an exercise, the students were also required to promote the blog on their social media pages. A free blogging platform was to be used, such as Blogger or Wordpress. Quite a few interesting presentations resulted, including viewership statistics at the end of 5-6 weeks.

Youtube ads also were simulated through making a small video to advertise a given product or service, as a classroom exercise or assignment.

Of course, we discussed a couple of cases too, but the hands-on exercises were far more useful as learning tools. 

Innovations in Flying and Elsewhere

This was a Business Class like no other I have been in. Individual seats that can go horizontal. Was on this flight where I got upgraded, and looks like it was the right one to get upgraded on! Comfortable, so that even the half-hour delay circling over Mumbai did not seem like much (on a one and half- hour flight). Why don't they make all seats in an aircraft like these? Isn't that what innovation is supposed to do?

Anyway, let's leave that to high-flying innovators and concentrate on our job. What have we innovated lately?

Federal Bank Selfie Account Opening

This is a real innovation. Federal Bank sent a mail saying to open an account with them, you can -

1. Download their App
2. Take a selfie
3. Scan your Aadhar card and PAN Card

and send them these.

Your account is open.

Why can't Passport offices do the same, instead of employing countless useless people and procedures to obstruct you from getting one? Or the RTOs for a Driver's License renewal?

That's what Digital India means to me.

Abdul Kalam-An Important Indian

He was unique. The highest office in the land did not change him. Lesser mortals change with much less, usually for worse. He seemed unconcerned about what the world was heaping on him- work, accolades, miseries (early in life), whatever..

His life was devoted to his work for many years, in the development of indigenous rocket/missile technology. But he was at his best talking to youngsters-children even, exhorting them to dream for themselves and India. Very inspiring.

As a teacher, his ability to simplify things was his greatest virtue, in my view. Maybe not just as a teacher. Just watched an old interview of his from 2008 by Mrinal Pande of Doordarshan TV. She asked him a wide range of questions, and he had an answer for every one of them. No evasion, straight answers, sometimes explaining new concepts such as a new index of how well a country is doing (in addition to GDP, how many people are pulled up from poverty each year plus how many people live in joint families-according to him, a positive support system) very easily, and very knowledgeable about his country and various initiatives-institutional and private. He also explained how we need technology in agriculture because he expected a drop in arable land, water and manpower in the food-growing sector. Open, innovative and positive.

No other person in high office in recent times has earned so much love and respect from such a wide range of people. Hats off to a great Indian. May we see more like him.

First Rain?

It's probably the first rain of the 'official' monsoons of 2014. I was kind of surprised at the regularity of the first rain in Nagpur while I lived there. It arrived unfailingly on the 10th or 11th June. So it was in Indore yesterday. There was a strong cool breeze around 5.30 pm, an indication of things to come.  It took a while for the rain to arrive, but it did at about 7.30.

Mood changes probably closely follow the weather, so I am expecting an uplifting month. As the senior MBA (PGDM) students come back on campus, the activity level and the energy levels are up. Classes will be on in full swing. Faculty will have a somewhat tight schedule, compared to the two months gone by which were somewhat relaxed. We will need to put on our thinking caps and device new means of torture- assignments, exams, quizzes, I mean. All good-natured torture, you understand, designed to enhance learning.

We kicked off the academic year with a workshop on new teaching methods, with a few simulation-based package vendors showcasing their wares. A good, innovative start.

Joining IIM Indore

I will soon move back into a teaching role at IIM Indore. It has exciting possibilities, to shape young minds in the classroom, rather than young faculty members outside it, that I was (mostly) doing in my administrative roles at IMT.

It has been an eventful four years at IMT. First at Nagpur, where I was at a lovely integrated campus with some great students, and wonderful colleagues- both faculty and staff (non-teaching and support). The years I spent there saw the Nagpur campus mature into a more confident one, and the chip on the shoulders of students about comparisons with Ghaziabad (the older mother campus) slowly disappeared. Rankings improved, and an overwhelming number of faculty applied for jobs, and we had to say no to many. Faculty screening was almost as stringent as the students' admission screening. The placement process improved, and we put in place a team for corporate relations across India, supported by students.

Students responded well to freedom that they got to organise themselves. Marketing and Finance clubs took off with annual seminars, and others like Literati and Ovia did their own thing to enliven literary and cultural activity. Abhinav Kamal made a feature film called "On the Other Side," and went on to set up a company that produces films in Bangalore after graduation. Pradyumna Mohanty took some fantastic pictures, a tradition continued by Bhagyashree aka Bugzy, who has also turned entrepreneur with that skill. We managed to set up a golf green where some faculty and all students were inducted into the basics- some visitors too. Student entrepreneurs ran the Coop Stores brilliantly, and also set up F n' F and a couple of other small ventures on campus.

Thanks to Smita, a colleague at Nagpur, I launched my autobiography in Crossword at Nagpur and Pune in 2012. This was published earlier by Pothi.com, a company started by Jaya Jha, an alum of IIM Lucknow. I was able to write two cases (one called Golftripz, another called Forms, with colleagues), and update my Services marketing book during this time. I also taught a course, Seminar on Thought Leadership to one batch of students (2011?) where we discussed innovation in different spheres of life, art, science, architecture, philosophy and business. We conducted alumni meets over 5 cities each summer, and they were a roaring success, bonding alums with the alma mater, and we continued to do this at Ghaziabad too, with its larger base of alumni, when I moved there.

A fantastic achievement of ours at IMT Nagpur was to bring in close to 300 guest faculty from industry over 3 years, thanks to the faculty who invited them into their regular classes. This, coupled with using simulation and now, Bloomberg and Analytics software in the classroom, among other things, has helped Nagpur 'bloom' academically. Some of my old students from Kirloskar Institute also took guest sessions. So did IMT alums, and some of my IIMB batchmates. We conducted four editions of an innovative case writing conference, where faculty presented cases they had written, and received feedback. A new case journal was also launched, to enable publication of Indian cases. Research associates played a major role in organising conferences, running the journal, and organising faculty development programs.

At Ghaziabad, the thrust has been on improvement in academic content and process, accreditation from global bodies like AACSB, and faculty recruitment and development. Many of these functions are critical in how a Business school retains its quality. Ghaziabad also has a great international exchange program both for students (about 100 of them go out and equal number come in for a term), and for faculty. We did an international FDP exclusively for IMT faculty, and a few other development programs. We  recruited a large number of young faculty in all areas, to meet the growing number of students. A new classroom block has been added, and a new hostel block too. IMT Centre for Distance Learning recently adopted my Brand Management book (2013) co-authored with Bhagyalakshmi Venkatesh. All in all, an exciting four years at IMT.

Oh, and lest I forget, I acquired about 1500 new friends on Facebook. Makes life very, very interesting.

Warm and Fuzzy- New Batch Comes to Town

A warm and fuzzy feeling envelops those that see a new batch of youngsters come in to an academic institute every new year -in academics this happens around June. So it did this week, with a new batch of IMTians entering Nagpur, and seniors returning after summer projects. Mr. Warendra Sinha, MD of GIC Housing Finance, inaugurated the new batch, sharing his views about management education.

This year IDBI Federal gave us a lot of internships, and many students did well in them too. Keeping the tightening job market in view, IMT Nagpur has entered into some new areas such as analytics (where we have tied up with IBM) and some more, like creating new courses or new methods of doing them. One such is built around the Bloomberg terminal which we have installed. Students will get assignments where they use live trading and financial data (global), and that should land them some good jobs as specialists trained in the use of the terminal.

We are also embarking on AACSB accreditation for IMT Nagpur, and this will give us global credibility in a few years.

Apart from an academic orientation in the first week, there are outbound activities that sudents undergo, and a session on Golf at our own IMT Golf Link. Fun way to start on an MBA, I guess. And, this year, there are a few IMT Nagpur alums-turned entrepreneurs who are meeting the new batch with their own stories of starting up.

Innovations To Kill Boredom

Here are some neat ideas (95 on a 100 point neatness index) for innovations that can kill boredom in common situations we face.

1. A nodding puppet which nods metronomically, to sit in front of an old relative repeating his/her tales of the past for the nth time, so you can slink away, do your own thing and come back in a while.

2. A smoke-generating toy which can be used to scare people and make a long line disappear in a crowded place - can be used in a bank, amusement park, or in a booking counter for IPL. Just for long enough to give you enough time to get to the front of the line.

3. A joke-telling device- the J-app, which you switch on in the most morose situations- like an airline journey, the most humourless of all. Will tell a joke at the click of a button, but only when electronic devices are allowed to be switched on, by the morose air host. Will make passengers jealous if you laugh too much, though. Use carefully.

4. An animated dancer that performs a dance of your choice on screen while you wait for your page to load on the computer on a slow day in cyberspace. This can also be adapted for your mobile if you have a bad connection.

5. A dialogue programmer where you can program the dialogue you want to hear and play it along with the TV, automatically muting the IPL commentators, or the talkative Arnab Goswami, or the garishly made-up ma-in-laws/daughter-in-laws of the various serials, or the tiresome judges of reality shows on TV. This gives you immense scope to test your creativity, and you may end up writing some masterpieces like 'Kitney Aadmi They'  or ' Phir Bhi Waapas Aaye? Khaali Haath?' from Sholay, one day.

It's here!

My autobiography is finally out. Titled My Experiments with Half-truths, it's available from http://pothi.com/pothi/book/
rajendra-nargundkar-my-experiments-half-truths which is an online POD publisher, who makes it easy to publish your own book. I found out about it a month ago, and my book is already for sale online. I recommend it for motivated budding authors who are not looking to become a best-selling author (though you may still end up being one), but mainly write for a small audience of your own friends, or relatives, batchmates etc. No hassles of chasing a publisher, fighting duels with editors, and no mandatory order of 300 or 500 copies! Just format your own stuff, design a cover page, submit it, and voila! You have a book. It's called Print-on-demand or POD, so it's printed and delivered against an order. I really think it's a great concept. I wrote the book for fun, and to consolidate my experiences of student life and life as a prof. Hope there are some people out there who will read it.

An update (Aug 2012): The book is now also available through Flipkart, India's most successful online retailer of books and various other things. So that's two new technologies that have helped me, an unknown author of this type of non-fiction).