Global Institute for Corporate Education

By Dr. Manu N Kulkarni (manukulkarni@yahoo.com),
Professor Global Institute for Corporate Education, Bangalore

Teaching Human Relations to students of Management and making them to practice what has been taught in their professional careers is becoming more Challenging for both the teacher and the taught. The traditional areas of HR like transactional analysis propounded by Psychologists like Dr Eric Berne , mother-daughter invented Myers-Briggs Type Indicators of people and personalities, promoting interpersonal relations through JOHARI window analysis for analyzing temperament of staff of the enterprise –all intended to inspire the employees towards higher efficiency and effectiveness is turning out more and more outdated and out of tune with the rapid explosion of innovative technologies. With rapid globalization, human relationships are increasingly getting blurred and with paradigm shift in the management of global enterprises the practice of HR is increasingly dependent not on the psycho analytical tools like MBTI but on the staff perception of the leadership qualities of the CEO and the Team leaders. The nature of business is getting global and local at the same time and with fast changing digital technologies the nature of HR is also changing. It is unfortunate that the contents designed by the Visweharaiha Technological University at Belgaum which prescribe the Curriculum of the BBA and MBA streams in many of the Management Institutes in the State are found to be not in sync with the changing HR practices that are emerging around the world.

HR practices are just not concerned with recruitment, retention and morale building but also linked with leadership practices and empowerment .It is not just about OD and OB and how the staffs cope with the good and the bad OB practices. It is also not about theory X and Theory Y propounded by McGregor or Maslow’s need hierarchy and so on
Today Giant enterprises like Enron failed not because of technologies or money but because of bad leadership .Ideally all the best of HR practices should culminate in the best of leadership outcomes and HR is just not about “feel good” in the job but also “feel great” so that the enterprise as a whole “feels great”. We have benchmarks on financial management, quality control of processes and products, supply chain management and so on but there are no benchmarks for assessing good leadership practices or HR practices. When can we say that X Company has the best leadership practices on board?

Can we say when the bottom lines are great the leadership of that X company is also great? Can we also say that when the profits and Stock prices are soaring the enterprise has made it despite the fact that it has a bad record of environmental stewardship?

The traditional HR curriculum designed by VTU and other autonomous Institutes for the MBA students does not include, what are called SEER issues (Social, Environmental and Ethical Risks issues) an enlightened Employee has to be good in managing SEER.

A model based on a Fortune Management today have most admired 500 US and 250 UK companies showed a direct correlation between reputation and financial outcomes – a share price and credit rating ! A US Study published in February 2004 indicated damaged reputation could take up to 4 years to be restored.

Another shortcoming of the traditional HR curriculum is in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the triple bottom line – profits, people and the planet. CSR has to be weaved into the HR curriculum and not left to the whims and fancies of the Faculty in Marketing or the Financial and Capital Management Faculty Associates. All HR practitioners when they get into the real world of business have to have not just a conceptual framework of OD and OB but also a “feel” for the fast changing CSR and global challenges cutting across all borders and cultures.

It is here where the practice of Adaptive leadership as propounded by Prof Ronald Heifetz and Prof Marty Linksy of the Harvard University John F Kennedy School of Government becomes relevant and needs to be weaved into all HR curriculum of the MBA programme so that when students get out of the learning situation and get into the practicing world they could practice what has been taught to them. Today in the words of Heifetz and Linsky, “To lead is to live dangerously whether you are in business or politics or in a society. Why? Because real leadership –the kind that surfaces conflict, challenges, and long held beliefs demands new ways of doing things – causes pain .And when people feel threatened they take aim at the person pushing for change. As a result leaders often get hurt both personally and professionally” (See Leadership on the Line –Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky Harvard Business School Press, Boston,Mass USA 2002)

Without learning new ways – changing attitudes, values and behaviors – people cannot make the adaptive leap necessary to thrive in the new environment. To sustain a change depends on having the staff/employees with the problems internalize the change itself. These skills cannot be taught in the classroom but has to be developed on the job itself.

The challenges of HR practice lie in the wide ranging areas of psychology, sociology, economics, technology and what have you. Most importantly HR is all about people, processes and passion for change.

Jansi shares her experience regarding the interactive session MBA students had with Mr. Sabu Joseph. Mr. Sabu Joseph, is the only Indian Consultant with JMJ Associates, a global consulting firm specializing in enterprise transformation. He is a specialist on leadership development & organizational transformation. He consults for giant MNCs like Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron. Mr. Joseph has facilitated corporate social responsibility conversation with corporates & groups. He has co- founded and is part of a NGO, ‘DREAM SCHOOL FOUNDATION’ which strives to make a happy childhood for under privileged children through education.

When I came to know that, we will be having an interactive session with Sabu Sir, I thought it will be a monotonous lecture. But, when our session started, I instantly knew that this is something different. He taught as about organizational transformation. He started the session by telling us the three different ways of participation i.e. like a “prisoner” or “tourist” or “partner”. He told us the difference between ‘BEING & DOING’. Being is related to our heart that is making relationship with our dreams whereas doing is the way we do our things according to our brain.

JFK’s declaration of independence, explains how relationships lead to possibility and that creates opportunity that will lead to action and will ultimately take us to accomplishment. If you are ready to change it gives you improvement. We should realize that we are a part of a bigger game plan and not a nut or bolt of a machine; therefore we should have a bigger context. It is only then, the content will follow.

The process of transformational thinking goes as follows:

It starts from BEING, to DOING & finally HAVING. This is also called as wishful thinking and it creates a lot of possibilities of growth.

Sabu Sir also told us that it is a tendency of people to get Defensive instead of converse, wherein the case should be just the exact opposite. We should continuously adopt something called as “Already, always listening” which is a kind of open listening.

Tunnel vision is a defensive way of behaving and is not result – oriented. As a result we miss the big picture. Hence, our perception is not always real. Perception leads to actions and it will show results.
It has given me great pleasure in writing this article about Mr. Sabu Joseph and I’m glad I was a part of this interactive session wherein I learnt many new as well as important concepts that are a necessity in the corporate world today.

About the Author
Jansi A is a Second Year MBA Professional (Batch 2010-2012)

Ramesh Kumar Gupta shares his interaction experience with Dr. Rajesh Nair, Professor& Head of the Department of MBA at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Bangalore during the orientation programme session for first year MBA students of GICE.

Before switching over to academics, Dr. Rajesh Nair served as the Business Development Manager of HOTLINE Computer, AJMAN, UAE. He also worked as a Business Consultant of Index Group of Companies, UAE.

The first thing which comes to my mind when i think of him is that he is a true professional. I remember the time, when he came to our class. His session started with a discussion on the various managerial skills such as Technical, Interpersonal and Conceptual skills. And then he started discussing about perceptual process, behaviour and value system. He told everyone that if anybody wants to be a successful manager, five things are very important. The five things are men, money, machine, material, and methods. He told that freedom is a psychological feeling.

The session was very interactive. Everyone in the room was excited to ask him questions. During the classes, he always had a personal anecdote to share this helped us to understand the topic better. And he talked about team building, and he told that team work always put one in a winning position. He told that too many expectations lead to misery. So give personal space to everybody and create a win – win situation. He said that one should never expect instant miracles. Always give people around you a chance to perform. He also added that gossiping leads to isolation. He showed a video clipping to prove the point. Rajesh Sir stayed back in the class along with us and he enquired about our background and what each one of us studied in his or her graduation. He made us to believe that what one believes, may not always be correct. He said that arrogance is not confidence. There would always be temptations and one needs to work on them.

About the Author
Ramesh Kumar Gupta is a First Year MBA Professional (Batch 2011-2013)

Saumil Majumdar the founder director of Sport Village, he is personally engaged with over 100,000 children’s, 50,000 parents and over 200 schools in the sports context over the last decade. He is an alumnus of IIT Mumbai and Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

He played a key role in linking partnership between sports consults and the world’s leading marketers and media networks. With his deep skill set, the company has built strong relationship with sponsors, media, the government, federations, sports associations and athletes, and has a strong presence across the country.

The class started with cross introduction of each student, which was crucial for understanding everyone and developing fondness among one another. It was an informal class and the topic was shifted to team building, the students were divided into three groups, resembling various departments of an organization, like Human resource management (HRM), Marketing department and Sales department. Through this group exercise we mainly came to know each other well and come to understand how to perform in the group. Group work is essential in an organization, and if yes then how to work in a group and perform better. His classes were based on developing individuals enthusiasm and to bring out the creativity among each student. Each group was given a particular situation and they have to find solutions to that. We had our good time learning about how to interact in a group and how to face uncertain situations. We also had a rapid fire questioning round relating to the task that has been completed by us.

All the groups performed good in respect to their confidence and presentation on stage. I personally feel that through this class I gained a lot of self confidence, and his class were enthusiastic till the end.

And in the end he said that “Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you’re generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make. The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning – to create a product or service to make the world a better place.

To conclude I would say that the time spent with Saumil Majumdar were priceless and his suggestions were appreciated by all of us. Throughout his class we got to learn about team work, building personality and developed interpersonal skill. I strongly feel that we as human being are living in a society and are dependent on each other thus we should know about team work and how to live in a group, because it doesn’t matter where we work but the thing that matters is how we work individually and in a group with others.

About the Author
Aadil khan is a Second Year MBA Professional (Batch 2010-2012)

TAMESHWAR KUMAR gladly shares his experience of the Toyota Industrial Visit.

This is my first industrial visit. Before this, I haven’t gone for any industrial visits. First time when I heard about Toyota Company, the first thing which came to my mind was it would be difficult for me to visit such a big automobile giant. But I was pleasantly surprised when GICE announced that we would be visiting TKM. Full credit to GICE because GICE gave me to this opportunity to go this Toyota Company.

On 12th of November, 2011 we, the students of Global Institute for Corporate Education had an industrial visit to the Bangalore location of Toyota Kirloskar Company where Toyota automobiles are manufactured.

The company was established by the founder automobile company Toyoda automatic loom works, in the year 1937, under Kiichiro Toyoda. In India, Toyota started off as a joint venture between KIRLOSKAR GROUP and TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION, better known as TOYOTA KIRLOSKAR MOTAR PRIVATE LIMITED (TKM). It mainly focused on development of the automotive industry and the creation of employment opportunities, not only through its dealer network, but also through component manufacturing industries. The company includes 522 subsidiaries.

Toyota initially kicked off as an ambitious venture of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, under the ownership of Kiichiro Toyoda, in the year 1933. Initially, A1 (passenger car) and G1 were the cars to come out under its flagship. However, Toyota emerged as an independent company in the year 1937 and that year stamped the beginning of its glorious history. Originally, Toyota was conceived as an ambitious enterprise of automobile company, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. It was only the result of the initiation launched by Kiichiro Toyoda that Toyota got to see the light of the day.
In 1982, Toyota Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales merged to become Toyota Motor Corporation. Later, it entered into a joint enterprise with GM called NUMMI, the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc, operating an automobile-manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. After that, Toyota came out with its first luxury class of Lexus, in the year 1989. The nineties saw the company go big with the production of larger and more luxurious vehicles, including a full-sized pickup, the T100 or the Tundra; several lines of SUVs; a sport version of the Camry called the Camry Solara; and the Scion brand, a group of several affordable, yet sporty, automobiles targeted mainly at young adults.

Toyota came up with the world’s best selling hybrid car – the Prius – in the year 1997. In 2002, it collaborated with Formula One works team and established joint ventures with French motoring companies Citroën and Peugeot. Toyota ranked eighth on Forbes 2000 list of the world’s leading companies for the year 2005. The company also grabbed the numero uno slot in global automobile sales for the first quarter of 2008. Toyota has found recent fame with its smaller models, Corolla and Yaris. Today, cars like Fortuner, Camry, Land Cruiser sums up as its biggest feat.

The various automobile that TOYOTA KIRLOSKAR MOTOR manufactured are-

1. Toyota Innova
2. Toyota Etios
3. Toyota Fortuner
4. Toyota Corolla

The visit helped us to understand, admire and appreciate the work culture, world class manufacturing and quality assurance systems and the values Toyota and Kirloskar Group uphold. But the only regret was that since maintenance work was going on we were not able to visit the assembly line area and we hope that we can see that during our next visit.

It has been rightly said that experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. We, the students of GICE had a very good learning experience by participating in Diakrisi 2011.

Diakrisi is a 2-day, management cum cultural fest organized by the students of Mount Carmel Institute of Management, Bangalore. It is a National level Management meet for Post-Graduate level management students from various B-schools across India. It holds various events which cover wide range of subjects, from Human Resources, Marketing, Finance, Business Quiz and Best Manager to Advertising, Information Technology, Retail, Entrepreneurship and Team Building. All the students of GICE, first years as well as second years, participated in this fest with enthusiasm. It provided us a platform to compete with students from B-schools all over the state and exhibit our Management skills.

Every event that we participated had a good number of almost 35-40 other competitors. So to say, we really did face tough competition from others. It gave us an opportunity to judge where we stand vis-a -vis others who are in the course of management studies. We also got the opportunity to showcase our talent in the cultural round of the event wherein it was a combined effort of all the students to put up a great show.

During the course of the event we also realized to never let the competition define you. Instead, you have to define yourself based on a point of view you care deeply about. There is one quality that one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it. And GICEans are proud to have Yogesh Kumar and Heslington Khyriem as winners for the Human Resources event, who put in their best, qualified till the finals and was tough competitors themselves to the rest of the colleges.

Article shared by Anushree Shanbhag

On 8th of October, 2011 we, the students of Global Institute for Corporate Education had an industrial visit to the Bangalore location of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd. (KSDL), where Mysore sandal products are manufactured.
The Government Sandalwood oil factory was established by the Maharaja of Mysore his Highness Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar and Diwan Sir M. Visvesvaraya, during 1916 at Mysore to extract sandalwood oil from sandalwood. The foresight and enthusiasm of Maharaja of Mysore was to keep Mysore state in the global map by introducing the world’s best natural sandalwood oil and to make it as a fragrance ambassador of India. Karnataka Soaps & Detergents Limited has got manufacturing locations at Bangalore, Mysore & Shimoga.

Sandalwood oil – Ayurvedic uses

The woody, sweet rosaceous, fixative nature of Sandalwood oil is well-known in Ayurvedic treatments. The oil is used for emotional and spiritual calming, enhancing mental clarity, increasing devotion and transfer energy for practicing, celebrities and also as a psychotropic drug. The natural Sandalwood oil produced in this part of India is still the best because of its unique significant aroma and is an enduring fragrance ingredient for fine perfumes, deodorants and top-class perfumery. The Sandalwood oil produced by KS&DL is known around the world as the East Indian Sandalwood Oil, because of its unique Aroma.

KSDL is into the Manufacturing and Sales of the world renowned products like Toilet Soaps, Detergents, Agarbathies, Cosmetics, Sandalwood & Sandalwood Oil. The most sought out product with a strong brand loyalty is “Mysore Sandal Soap”.

During 1916, Sri S.G. Sastry had developed the Sandal perfume, which was considered as a landmark in the field of soap perfuming in those days. The first Mysore Sandal Soap was produced by utilizing the natural Sandalwood oil as the main ingredient of perfume and was introduced in the market during November 1918. The Sandalwood oil factory at Shimoga was established in 1944. The Government Soap Factory was converted into a State owned Public Sector Undertaking under the name & style of KARNATAKA SOAPS AND DETERGENTS LTD during the year 1980. The KARNATAKA SOAPS & DETERGENTS LTD., (KS&DL) is the true inheritor of India’s Golden Sandalwood Legacy. KS&DL is one of the largest extractors of Mysore Sandalwood Oil and manufacturers of Mysore Sandal Soap in the world.

Their Sandalwood Oil Division at Mysore is the largest extractor of Sandalwood Oil in India. It is exported to Europe, U.S.A. U.A.E. Russia and Germany, and used by leading perfume houses of the world. Sandalwood oil is known as FRAGRANCE AMBASSADOR OF INDIA and also known LIQUID GOLD. Mysore Sandal Soap was born from this golden legacy, enriched with the PURE NATURAL SANDALWOOD OIL and it is KS&DL’s gift to the Nation. MYSORE SANDAL SOAP is the favourite of millions of people all over the world.

The various products that KS&DL manufactures are:
1. Mysore sandal soap
2. Herbal care soaps
3. Mysore Detergent cake
4. Liquid detergents
5. Mysore sandal talcum powder
6. Hand wash liquids
7. Mysore sandal agarbathies
8. Sandalwood oil and powder

KS&DL is also exporting different varieties of Soaps to different countries i.e. Middle East, European countries, Asian countries, American countries, Australia, African countries. KS&DL also markets Agarbathies, Talcum Powder, Baby Powder, Hand wash, Sandal Wood & Sandalwood Oil.

KS&DL is accredited with ISO 9001-2000 & ISO-14001:2004 certifications for its Quality Management System and Environmental Management Systems.

Jatin Purohit shares his experience regarding the guest lecture by Dr. Janak Shelat, a well known trainer.

Professionals aren’t satisfied with simple completion of the task–they desire to deliver the highest quality possible. This is what describes our interaction with Dr. Janak Shelat, who was a Guest Speaker in the orientation program. Janak Sir talked about Strategic Management Engineering.

Dr. Janak Shelat is a highly regarded Academician, Consultant and Entrepreneur who leaves his imprint on whatever he does.

Dr. Janak Shelat started the session by saying that companies today, are operating in an age of discontinuing change, an age of creative destruction. There is a vast concept change from liberalization to privatization and from globalization to regionalization. There is a major change of balance of power shift to consumers.

This is where Strategic Management Engineering becomes one of the most challenging issues of today. Management engineering is a branch of engineering that focuses on optimizing complex processes or systems. It is concerned with the development, improvement, implementation and evaluation of integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy, materials and/or processes. Management engineers strive to improve upon existing processes, products or systems.

Dr. Janak shared with us some of the important Decision Making Models.

1. Classical model: Based on the assumption that managers should make logical decisions that will be in the organization’s best economic interest
2. Administrative model: This states how managers decide, characterized by non-programmed situations resulting in ambiguity.
3. Political model: This is useful for decision making in conditions that are non-productive.

The modeling process is therefore, as follows:

Management situations to decision making to implementation and finally the payoff i.e. consequences of the decision made.

He also shared with us the ethical and environmental foundations of management. There are 4 important social institutions affecting value systems of management. They are:

1. Family
2. Church
3. Educational System
4. Government

This shows that profit maximization is socially desirable and that there should be no long-run conflict between the corporate and the social responsibility that they undertake.

On the whole, it was a very knowledgeable session with Dr. Janak Shelat and I would like to say that Janak Sir is a very simple and down-to-earth person and we are glad to have him as our faculty in this institution.

About the Author
Jatin Purohit is a Second Year MBA Professional (Batch 2010-2012)

Hardik Patel shares his experience of the orientation program conducted by Prof. G Purandaran who is currently working as a freelancer, teaching management subjects in various colleges of Bangalore like Symbiosis, M.S.Ramaiah, IMAC, etc. He has his work experience in the companies like Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, ETA General Group, and ICFAI Group in Magnus School of Business.

When we were informed that Mr. Purandaran was going to take our classes, I thought that he would be just like other professors who would come, explain and go, but I was proved wrong. The moment he started teaching, the difference was felt. It reflected very clearly that he knew how to handle any situation and how to handle students, as he was meeting us for the first time. He kept us at ease and I felt that I have met him somewhere before and he knows everything about us. My bonding with him became stronger during the classes. I am always eagerly waiting to attend his classes as he makes class interactive; he makes each and every student participate.

During the classes he always has a personal experience to relate with each & every topic, this helps us to understand the subject better. He also tells “Accepting challenges should be the foundation of life and something you should do it with confidence”. He always tells “It is important to dream and even more important to chase those dreams”.

Mr. Purandaran is passionate about teaching. He believes that spreading humour in class and giving live instances can make a difference in teaching. He justifies this by telling continuous learning and interacting with young minds and transforming them is a most enjoyable career.

I would like to end this article by thanking my college GICE for bringing people like him who himself is a creative thinker and also motivates us to think creative; whenever his class ends I always think of “When will his next class come again”.

About the Author
Hardik Patel is a Second Year MBA Professional (Batch 2010-2012)

Anil Keshri shares his experience of the Orientation Program session conducted by Prof. Nagarajan Seetharaman, with a bundle of technical qualifications in his bucket.

The first thing which comes to my mind when I think of Sir is that he is a person who has a remedy for any kind of problem existing in this world.

I remember the time when I first got an opportunity to meet him during our orientation program where he spoke on management challenges in today’s world.

The session started with a question. “What Corporates are looking for in candidates’? In order to get collective ideas, he asked us to give our inputs for the same. Some students volunteered to answer the question. Team player, adopt change, conflict management were some of the answers. However no one in the class was able to mention the main ingredient which a corporate is looking for and that quality is the ability to solve problems in today’s world.

The first half of the program is revolved around the corporate requirements. Meanwhile during the session I was thinking if I have all the qualities mentioned by him, especially “problem solving “ability. In a sense I can say that he had struck a chord in my mind to think whether I am headed towards the right direction or not, and if not what I need to change in me.

The session was getting excited with each and every thought shared by him. His real example amazed me a lot and was mesmerized by these instances. In between I heard some of our friends require a break to refresh themselves, however I was thinking who wants a break, as I was already rejuvenated by the interesting session. Some of us stayed back in the class in order to interact more with him.

Nagarajan Sir also stayed back in the class along with us and he enquired about our background and what one did in his or her graduation. I told him that my name is “Anil Keshri” and I graduated from Calcutta University. He asked me how I find Bangalore and I stammered and told him that Bangalore life is better as compared to Kolkata. Seetharaman Sir added that there is nothing like that and told that every city provides equal opportunity; it is just how one perceives and grabs it. This statement of “Sir” has totally changed my perception to view things. Before I used to view every situation as a problem, and now I see solutions to every problem.

The session resumed after the break and I was eagerly waiting to find what more he had to offer. In the second part of the session he talked more about interpersonal relationships and communication as a major tool to become successful in the corporate world. At that time I thought “I am not very good in these aspects”, however, at the same moment I decided to overcome this hurdles by using his mantras.

In the last half an hour of the session we have Q&A round, where we asked questions to him covering all the aspects which one need to create wonder in the corporate. After the session I told Sir, that the session is wonderful and will look forward to have him again.

After a week, I came to know that he would take our Information Technology class, and I was pretty excited about that. I thought now this is my chance to change my current situation and learn all the possible qualities, which will lead to a successful life.

It was 1st August, the day of Nagarajan Sir’s first class and I was curiously waiting for that moment. The class started at 10 o’clock. Our subject is BPR (Business Process Re-engineering). He began with the introduction of BPR and I was thinking in my mind aahhh… I have studied this in my last trimester MIS (Management Information System) paper and kind a confident that I know all aspects of this thing. I was such a fool to think life that as I found different side of the same thing which is unknown by me before.

From this incident I had decided to collect all the information about a topic. With every passing minute in the class I had been discovering new aspects of all the topics which I think I know before. These discoveries of mine came to an end at 11AM and then we headed for Q&A session in which we were allowed to ask questions ranging from GK to FDI, IT to corruption.

Sir’s style of teaching is very new to me and I am enjoying every bit of it as it is a combination of syllabus with current happenings in and around the globe. With every new day I am eagerly waiting for his classes to get thrilled and explore new ways of viewing the problems.

At last, I am glad to have him as our Professor and I wish that I acquire at least 20% of his qualities in my life. Thank you Sir, for coming in my life as a savior

About the Author
Anil Keshri is a Second Year MBA Professional (Batch 2010-2012)