The best of Prof. Ravichandran at Great Lakes

Here’s one Prof. who is worth a million…the sharpest and wittiest person you can ever come across...gives you memories of a lifetime...a standing example of how terrifying a Prof. could also be…a one professor who makes you think at least a hundred times before you try to speak-up…lest you get cold called…

Had the previledge of taking his Optimization models (Term III) and Simulation modeling (Term VI) @ Great Lakes, Chennai…

Here below is a small collection of his master pieces at Great Lakes and a few i've just gone ahead and picked from blogs of a couple of my IIMA friends…Thought I could have it here-in my blog to have a look at 'em during my tough and boring times, just to remind that i've handled even tougher ones...

Here you go...

- You people have a nice way of avoiding me whenever I ask a question...you start looking in your books, as if you are very busy…looking away like newly married brides…

- I am stunned by your intellectual inferiority…

- This is not your contention but confusion and at best you can have confusion coz its your birth right…

- The one in which he explained cycle time: "Cycle time does not mean that you take three women and expect to have a child in three months, it will still take nine months"

- On self: "I am a sadistic monkey and u know that"
" when my son was 3 years old... yes he actually once was even though he thinks he was born at 15" and I've have taken the responsibility of getting 2 sons into this world…not that it takes much of an effort...with some people it might be a problem...but with me…it didn’t take much effort...its not very difficult…provided u get the chance…

- On the projector being out of focus…"This is unfocussed...just like the PGP program"

- RaviC: So what should blitz do to correct its schedule? Student: Sir, it should improve its scheduling policy RaviC: You know, now that’s like going to a doctor and telling him "I'm not well" and asking him what should I do and the joker says "Get well"

- RaviC- what are personal loans Student - Sir, the loans which do not require any collateral RC- Sasural hain kya?? After some arguments... Student - Sir by that logic "every loan is personal to someone" RaviC- You are stupid and on top of that you are arrogant.

- When a student took his analogy too seriuosly, Ravi C fires, "If I compare a woman's face with the moon, it doesn't mean that there would be mountains and valleys on her face!"

- Talking bout branding, he says, "If IIMA, on the strength of its brand, tries to run a circus, it won't work. Even if it tries to convey the fact that the PGP and the circus are one and the same!"

- Student : But why wud high end customers come to Schwab? RaviC: Why not..if u offer peanuts u will get monkey and if u offer sugercane u will get Elephant.

- Student: Sir building on his (another student's) point RaviC: offcourse u can build on it but its a very shaky foundation Student:Sir there is a concept called DoDo marketing RaviC: u actually want me to believe that??

- An organisation's biggest bottleneck is its CEO..its growth is directly proportional to his vision..broader his vision wider the growth..

- Ice fili case..Student: Sir the consumption peaks in 6th and 7th month RaviC: U r not talking abt pregenancy right??

- Part of a case discussion: After some arguments..Student: Sir, ultimately what u r telling is weighted average. Prof : Ultimately rocket science is just arithmetic, so what u r trying to prove.

- the Prof switches over to Hindi in the class and asks, "is everyone okay with Hindi?"One student promptly raises his hand and says " Sir, I dont know Hindi". The Prof looks at him and the entire class for a moment and looks at him and says, " Actually you are supposed to say- I dont know... Hindi ALSO!" with a stress on also...and the class incl me erupts in laughter

- Student (40+ years old) : The key difference here is.. Prof : Look, at the way he talks... refined, like how lotsa big people talk... 10 or 15 mins of talk, with just an iota of data, like interest rates will increase by 0.5% Student : A habit of over 20 years... Prof : Oh yeah ? Bull Shitting has become a habit and my class erupts...

- Talking about comprehensive/evolved mathematical models.. Prof : Yeah, its like this... Human beings are evolved form of monkeys, some are still trying to evolve, and some successfully evolve!

- Ravi sir was in a counter argument mode when another student said " yes sir, i go with you" RaviC: immediately asked him" So what do you want to convey?" the student said" I support your argument sir"....Came the reply from the Prof. in a flash-- " Giving support is when you get emotional and agreeing is when you are rational"...astonishing!

- Student: Sir what's the difference between process time and cycle time? Ravi C (with trademark smile): If a pregnant woman gives birth to twins then 9 month is process time while cycle time is zero!

- RaviC asks a guy to explain the first case of the course...He starts: If we do SWOT analysis....RaviC: What is SWOT? Student: ^%%? RaviC: Strength is your wife, Weakness if neighbor's wife, opportunity is when you neighbor is away, threat is when you are away!

- Case: BarillA SpaTopic in discussion was their inventory. Someone said: Sir, on an average, the inventory looks to be quite fine. RaviC: If u look at averages, the average Indian woman gives birth to 2.4 children. That would mean the average Indian woman is always pregnant.

- RaviC: What is capacity? (Silence- he looks arnd and points to a student) What is the capacity of this room? Student: (hoping to make an impression) Depends upon what kind of capacity u r talking abt- sitting, standing ... RaviC: Ah! (Has that glitter in the eye now) Let us say I decide to pack people into this room - then what do u say is the capacity? Student: (gives a number) but then again the capacity depends upon the ideal distance we want between 2 people. RC: You talking about distances now? Very smart! Did u assume then that I was going to pack them skin-to-skin top to bottom?! (pause) Have u heard of negative distances? Class silent. RC: Anyone married here? (Class still silent n no one gives eye contact) No one! That explains... (His famous smile now!)

- Ravi C's response to a guy who was referring to the Case Mat while Ravi C put down the solution on the blackboard -You are like the idiot who wants to watch a blue movie on his wedding night

- Shakespeare can easily be made... Just have a child and name him Shakespeare!

- On Adding Value!! "I don't know if I added any value to you all through this course but I definitely know that I didn't destroy any value...because it didn't exist previously"

- RaviC - "Your name is manoranjan?? manoranjan means entertainment.. so you entertain or are you a result of entertainment??"

- "If you make a Monkey sit with a typewritter , there is a finite probability that he will reproduce Shakespears work, given enough time"

- RaviC asks a question...our friend with all honesty says.."sir, i don't know".. RaviC - i remember, i had asked you a question in the 3rd sem, and you had said you didn't know...at least now you are predictable.

- On being distracted by a student chewing on his gold chain:"You are the bottleneck of my attention.....You take my attention away from the class....I should really do something about this"
The nervous student dropping things from his/her desk and not daring to move a muscle to avoid attracting attention: “That’s why housekeeping is important in JIT. If your workspace is organized and things are running smoothly you don’t attract any attention..”

- On feeding a bottleneck:
“like a pregnant woman constantly craving for something to eat before having a baby??”

- Student : “The function gradually approaches 0…”RaviC: “that’s like saying that asymptotically we all die…” “Isko koi samjhao bhai”

- On a student missing in class: RaviC: “…What WIP gone missing” “So what should we do now??.. Let’s organise a party with band-baaja and go find him…That’s ok, I’ll lead the party since I have nothing better to do. So who’s coming with me??

- On scheduling conflicts: Student: “It arises because of shared resources.” RaviC: “You mean like Princess Diana or Draupadi?”

- RaviC: "Which is your favorite LP problem?" Student : "Adani Wilmar" RaviC: "Adani Wilmar?! Was it an LP problem or a transportation problem??" Student: "sir there we had to find the optimal route from the ports to the factories by an LP formulation" RaviC: "it's like I ask you for your favorite bird and u say mosquito....it has wings and it can fly...so it's technically correct!!!”

- ”Vishwamitra had zero WIP...he had compressed cycle time a long time back”

- a long discussion in class over a point ... same point gets repeated 20 mins later as if the guy is making a fresh point ... Ravi C says "I thought we had already covered this point some 20 mins earlier... Does sound travel so slowly here? I thought it travelled this distance in a lot less than 20 mins? "

- With increasing globalisation, the Indian students are also becoming world class..."

- Student: Sir, this inventory is stocked in the head office whereas the recommendation is to stock it at the regional offices. Ravi C: " If there are four members in your family and one of them goes abroad, then how many members are there in your family? It doesn't matter where the inventory is stored bhai as long as it is stuck in the system"

- On the idea of debating options for transporting goods from factory to markets: to illustrate the idea of buying low value-add items locally the prof said :"If you are going to transport cowdung, will you transport it by airplane?"

- Student: Whenever I go to the ATM, I expect it to have cash. RaviC: Just because you get admitted into the ICU, doesnt mean, you will come out alive.

- Student: There is something wrong in this model (simulation modelling). RaviC: Just because you are ugly, don't blame the mirror...

- "I am here for a purpose and I pretty well know what it is. And I shall fulfill my duty towards it and anything that comes in my way shall be OBLITERATED."

Supply-Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) Model

Formed in collaboration with 69 members consisting of manufacturers, logistics / distribution service providers and software solutions suppliers, Supply Chain Council introduced Supply Chain Operations Reference-model (SCOR). Numbers of companies have pooled their real-world supply chain experiences to build a flexible framework and a common language that can help companies improve their supply chain internally and externally. The model defines common supply chain management process, matches them against “best practices”. It provides companies with powerful tool in improving supply chain operations. It allows manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and retailers with a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of their supply chain operations and to target and measure specific process operations.

The SCOR model was designed to enable companies to communicate, compare and learn from competitors and companies both within and outside of their industry. It not only measures supply chain performance but also effectiveness of supply chain reengineering. Further it has the ability to test and plan future process improvements. The SCOR is a process reference model. At the core of this model is a “pyramid of four levels” that represents the path a company takes on the road to supply-chain improvement:
Level 1: Provides definition of the Plan, Source, Make, and Deliver process types. This is the point where a company establishes its supply-chain competitive objectives
The basic structure of the reference-model focuses on the four key supply-chain processes: Plan, Source, Make, Deliver.

Plan: Under this process the company should assess supply resources, aggregate and prioritize demand requirements, plan inventory, distribution requirements, production, material and rough-cut capacity of all products and all channels. Make/buy decisions are evaluated under this heading. Decision related to long term capacity and resource planning, product phase in / phase out are undertaken in this phase.

Source: Under this process sourcing infrastructure is managed. Various activities like vendor certification and feedback, sourcing quality monitoring, vendor contracts are conducted. Also activities involved with receiving of material like: obtain, receive, inspect, hold and issue material are under taken here.

Make: This process is concerned with production, execution and managing “make” infrastructure. Specifically under production execution activities like manufacturing, testing, packaging, holding and releasing of product are undertaken here. Under managing “ make” infrastructure, engineering changes, facilities and equipment management, production status, production quality, shop scheduling/sequencing and short-term capacity are planned and managed.

Deliver: This process consists of order management, warehouse management and transportation management. Under order management activities like maintaining and entering orders, generating quotations, configuring product are undertaken. Further create and maintain customer database, maintain product and price database, managing receivables and credit management also fall under this domain.

Warehouse management: Activities like pick up, package, creating customer specific packaging/labeling and shipment of products fall under the gamut of warehouse management.

Transportation and delivery infrastructure management: Under transportation management, activities like traffic management, freight management are undertaken. Delivery infrastructure encompasses of channel management rules, order management rules and managing delivery inventories and managing delivery quality.

Level 2: Level 2 defines 26 core process categories that are possible components of a supply chain. Organizations can configure their ideal or actual operations using these processes.

Level 3: Level 3 provides the information required for successfully planning and setting goals for supply-chain improvements. This includes defining process element, setting target benchmarks, defining best practices, and system software capabilities to enable best practices.

Level 4: Level 4 focuses on implementation, i.e. putting specific supply-chain improvements into action. These are not defined within industry standard model, as implementation can be unique to each company
Please refer to http://www.supply-chain.org/for more information on this model. For overview of SCOR go to the section called "Resources" on the left-hand menu to click on link called "SCOR overview".

Process Reference Model: Process reference model integrate the concepts of business process reengineering, benchmarking, and process measurement into a cross-functional framework. A Process Reference Model helps organizations capture the "as-is" state of a process with the objective to achieve the desired "to-be" future state. Further it allows organization to quantify the operational performance, establish internal targets based on "best-in-class" results in similar companies. It describes standard management processes, exploring relationship among different processes. It defines standard metrics to measure process performance and management practices that produce the best-in-class performance. Finally it characterize the management practices and software solutions that result in "best-in-class" performance
Process reference helps complex management process be captured in standard process reference model. This in turn help organization communicate unambiguously and measure, manage, tune and re-tune specific process

Swear by “The Hindu”

Waking up early in the morning in Chennai is so different from any other city. At home, is an altogether different experience. Just not able to come to terms that my entire house is ready and running full steam as early as 6AM. Inherent laziness is what sets me apart from my folks at home. Have always failed to catch up with the pace of activities. Nevertheless, home is heaven on earth.

A couple of days back, one of friend made an interesting comment on the Chennai climate. He said “It just gets hot, hotter and the hottest by around the end of march”. Hardly a noticeable change in the Chennai climate throughout the year and enough has been said about it. Just that the nights in December and January are a shade better and pleasant.

In these pleasant months of December and January it’s a beautiful sight to watch the first flower of Parijat bloom with their fragrant flowers fallen all over the ground below. A sight worth a million. Mother nature has given us more than we could have asked. It’s an absolute experience to witness things like the faint orange across the horizon in the mornings, the fresh bloom of the flowers, chirping of birds, overnight dew, clean smell of the air and the slow and steady sunrise over the bay of bengal. Not to forget the early morning puja and prayers which people offer at home and in the temples.

Unlike other cities Chennai is devoid of good walking parks. Thanks to the beaches, which make up for it. And now to the topic that I originally wanted to write. Mornings in every city is different and none comparable to Chennai. I can bet on my life to stand by the combination of filter coffee and “The Hindu” newspaper early up in the day. As a matter of fact, that’s the only thing that I seem to miss here in Mumbai. Coffee and that too filter coffee here. Oh! Forget it! And on the top of it I am put off reading the DNA’s and Times of India’s early in the morning. Somebody got to teach them that entertainment is yet another needed in life, however entertainment is not life.

I still am to come to terms, how people donot understand the simple fact of "Substance always prevailing over form in the long run". The Hindu for certain scores head and tail over the rest. The clarity of reporting and authenticity of information is something I’ve witnessed from my childhood. To top it up the headlines and the topic is never ever misleading. Thankfully “The Hindu” has come up with their e-paper, which has bought new life into a couple of Southies out here in Mumbai and around the world. Just trying to wonder, how long can people bull shit or is life all about bull shitting…

Mumbai Marathon...Here I come...

"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon" - Emil Zatopek (Czech athlete and Olympic gold medalist in long distance running)

Running a marathon is as serious a stuff, as much as it can be a fun-filled activity. Running is a lot like life. Only 10 percent of it is exciting. 90 percent of it is slog and drudge.

I've made up my mind for 'em all...There to push myself to the limits in my half marathon......Am there running for myself and, here's a chance for all you guyz too, to be a part of history...

Rush in your entries for the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon schedule on the 21st of Jan, 2007...More info on http://www.scmm.indiatimes.com

Forecasting - An art or science

Forecasting is the process of estimation in unknown situations. Prediction sounds quite similar, but is more a generic term, and usually refers to estimation of time series, cross-sectional or longitudinal data. Forecasting is commonly used in discussion of time-series data. Predicting current and future market trends using existing data and facts. In the broader sense, analysts rely on technical and fundamental statistics to predict the directions of the economy, stock market and individual securities.

Estimating or predicting future events or conditions is never going to be easy. Forecasts may be long-term or short-term. The techniques used may be quantitative (often making use of computers) or qualitative. Quantitative forecasting models may be classified into (a) causal models in which independent variables are used to forecast dependent variables, and (b) time series models, which produce forecasts by extrapolating the historical values of the variables of interest by, eg, moving averages.

Time series methods: Time series methods use historical data as the basis for estimating future outcomes.

• Moving average
• Exponential smoothing
• Extrapolation
• Linear prediction
• Trend estimation
• Growth curve

Causal / econometric methods: Some forecasting methods use the assumption that it is possible to identify the underlying factors that might influence the variable that is being forecasted. For example, sales of umbrellas might be associated with weather conditions. If the causes are understood, projections of the influencing variables can be made and used in the forecast.

• Regression analysis using linear regression or non-linear regression
• Autoregressive moving average (ARMA)
• Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA)
  e.g. Box-Jenkins
• Econometrics

Judgemental methods: Judgemental forecasting methods incorporate intuitive judgements, opinions and probability estimates.

• Composite forecasts
• Surveys
• Delphi method
• Scenario building
• Technology forecasting
• Forecast by analogy

Other methods:

• Simulation
• Prediction market
• Probabilistic forecasting and Ensemble forecasting

Forecasting accuracy: The forecast error is the difference betweent the forecast value and the actual value for the corresponding period.

Measures of aggregate error:

• Mean Absolute Error (MAE)
• Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE)
• Mean squared error (MSE)
• Root Mean squared error (RMSE)

Application of forecasting: Forecasting has application in many situations. A few of them are as follows:

• Weather forecasting and Metereology
• Transport planning and Transportation forecasting
• Economic forecasting
• Technology forecasting
• Earthquake prediction
• Land use forecasting
• Product forecasting
  
  

HBR Case Studies that I analyzed today

Vandelay Industries, Inc.

Description:

An ICS consultant considers issues at the start of a full-scale implementation of SAP software for a large client. The enterprise resource planning (ERP) software will integrate previously fragmented business processes and so must be supported by the entire client organization.

Learning Objective:

Discusses ERP basics, pros and cons of process reengineering and standardization, and change management issues.

Subjects Covered:

Change management, Consulting, Data processing, Enterprise systems, ERP, Information systems, Manufacturing strategy, Reengineering, Software.

Setting:

United States; Industrial goods, machinery & equipment industries; Software industry; $8 billion revenues; 30,000 employees; 1996

Sport Obermeyer Ltd.

(The best i've come across)

Description:

The case describes operations at a skiwear design and merchandising company and its supply partner. Introduces production planning for short-life-cycle products with uncertain demand and allows students to analyze a reduced version of the company's production planning problem. In addition, it provides details about information and material flows that allow students to make recommendations for operational improvements, including comparisons between sourcing products in Hong Kong and China.

Learning Objective:

Teaches students how to match supply with demand for products with high demand uncertainty and a globally dispersed supply chain.

Subjects Covered:

Apparel, Demand analysis, Forecasting, International operations, Production planning, Sourcing, Supply chain.

Setting:

United States; Hong Kong; China; Apparel industry; Ski; $32.8 million revenues; 100 employees; 1992

Tektronix, Inc.: Global ERP Implementation

Description:

Reviews Tektronix's implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution in all three of its global business divisions. This case tells the story of three implementations, each with its own character and requirements. Tektronix managers needed to synchronize the requirements of each division with the company's overall need to standardize business practices and its desire to adhere to a common business model across the enterprise. Details the difficulty of major business change in a mature business and technical environment.

Subjects Covered:

Electronics, Enterprise systems, ERP, Implementation, Information technology, Reengineering.

Setting:

Northwestern United States; Electronics industry; $2 billion revenues; 1993-1998

Blooper...

Donot know which world I was in today afternoon...made one of the silliest mistakes...

While making a post today afternon...committed an absolute blunder of deleting this blog itself, when trying to posting an article...

Sat fretting and fuming, cursing myself for what I had done...

Notwithstanding...Stepped outta my desk...grabbed a cuppa coffee, sat silent looking at my comp and wondering what the heck i've done and what next am I supposed to do and whether i'll ever be able to get this page again...

Alright, here i am sitting idle...gathering my thoughts about what possibly could be done...tried logging back again into the blogger thingie...huh...the first sigh of relief...i atleast was able to log-in...

Next tried out my old name to see if it was available...keeping my fingers crossed...the second time lucky...it was indeed available...coudn't believe my eyes...reason being, just a couple of days back my yahoo ID was hacked...and had to forgo the same...

And now was the easier task of Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V of the backup for the previous articles that I had taken...

Such a good article to top-up my previous post, the one which talks about time and its importance...and to all those folks who are trying wonder, as to why all my previous posts are on the same date...

Good Quotes on the “Importance of Time”

• The future depends on what we do in the present - Mahatma Gandhi

• You can ask me for anything you like, except time - Napoleon

• You will never "find" time for anything. If you want time, you must make it - Charles Bruxton

• The Future is something that everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minute an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is - C. S. Lewis

• Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves - Lord Chesterfield

• To do two things at once is to do neither - Publius Syrus

• The laws of science do not distinguish between the past and the future - Steven W. Hawking

• Those that make the best use of their time have none to spare - Thomas Fuller

• Gaining time is gaining everything in love, trade and war - John Shebbeare

• Time is money - Benjamin Franklin

• What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110 percent all the time - Anonymous

• The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer – Anonymous

• Time only seems to matter when it's running out - Peter Strup

• We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch - John Fitzgerald Kennedy

• Time is a fixed income and, as with any income, the real problem facing most of us is how to live successfully within our daily allotment - Margaret B. Johnstone

• There is time for everything - Thomas Edison

• I wasted time, and now doth time waste me - William Shakespeare

• Minutes are worth more than money. Spend them wisely - Thomas P. Murphy

• Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician - Anonymous

• The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot - Michael Althsuler

• Time invested in improving ourselves cuts down on time wasted in disapproving of others - Anonymous

• To do great and important tasks, two things are necessary; a plan and not quite enough time - Anonymous

And finally for my take on what TIME is all about...

"Time like money is a tangible asset. It can be saved, spent, lost, found, invested and wasted. Hence, let not the advantage slip"

The rise and rise of Google

I could go on and on this all day and night and then into tomorrow and probably the day after to talk about the meteoric rise of Google. Frankly speaking, I haven't enjoyed a technology piece so much for so for many years. Google has been one interesting company to track. Coming-up with humongous amount of innovative and breakthrough technologies. This is one company which raises the bar and sets the expectation level racing.

Open source and Linux, looks a powerful combination to control destinies. Google may not be releasing an open-source operating system or a desktop suite, but the company is definitely promoting, supporting and using open-source software. Just can’t believe how they comfortably beat market expectations quarter-on-quarter. Certainly does reflect in its stock prices scaling to almost $460 from the time they floated it at $85 two years ago. These guys are certainly in for a kill.

Google to its credit has also been able to effectively manage its expansion beyond the search empire to create amazing ventures in the likes of Google Maps, Google Earth, Google News and its price comparison service Froogle. No to mention the recent buy-out of video sharing website YouTube. Interesting, Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer in his recent India visit went on record saying “it is actually something that people copied up from TV. YouTube is a copyright law problem waiting to happen.”

Looks like we got to wait and watch for what google and its future hold and have in store the entire community. As far as I can reckon, by far the biggest issue Google may have on hand is its rate of diversification and co-founder Sergey Brin admits that the firm needed to integrate its operations more effectively. "If we continue to develop so many individual products in separate silos, you'll have to search for the product you want before you can use it," he said. "You'll end up doing a search before you can search." Further, he has introduced a program called "features not products" to improve horizontal links between Google's offerings.

Considering the paucity and time and patience of people reading, am attaching a good article about the great orginization that it is...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/30/60minutes/main664063.shtml

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done By Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan

I just about finished reading this book and found it very practical and a must read for all MBA grads. Its impressed me so much, that I even made a summary of this book and sent it across to a couple of department heads in my office. Thought I could also post it in my blog as it serves the purpose twofolds. So guyz just sit back and enjoy your read...

Importance of Execution:

Execution is a discipline and a system. It has to be built into a company’s strategy, its goals, and its culture. More time and scholarship are given to strategic thinking and management techniques and it’s the leaders who take an idea and make it a reality. Execution is a specific set of behaviors and techniques that companies need to master in order to have and sustain competitive advantage.

Seven Essential Behaviors and Building blocks:

Organizations serious about execution and leadership, must exhibit these key behaviors:

• Know your people and your business and always rely on direct information
• Insist on realism as it’s the heart of execution· Set clear goals and priorities
• Follow through helps better execution
• Measure people performance and reward the doers
• Expand people capabilities by sharing experiences and wisdom
• Know yourself through four core qualities: authenticity, self-awareness, self-mastery and humility

Creating the Framework for Cultural Change:

The culture of an organization is the sum of its shared values, beliefs and norms of behavior. To deliver better results, start with examining whether your organization’s ingrained beliefs are helping the business perfect its execution. Following are a few good practices:

• A new way of thinking aimed at examining and delivering better results
• Change behavior by changing rewards
• Importance of dialogue and candid speak

Have the right people in the right place:

An organization’s workers are its most reliable resource for generating excellent results year after year. Organizations should have the right people for the right job. The way they can do it is identify the following at an early stage:

• Lack of knowledge
• Lack of courage
• The psychological comfort factor

The Three Core Processes of Execution:

Many organizations treat their people, strategy and operations processes as separate, independent entities, when in fact they are interrelated. They must be treated as such in order to ingrain the discipline of execution into the corporation. Let us now look at the three key processes of execution — people, strategy and operations — and show how all three are linked.

• The people process: Linking Strategy and Operations provides the framework for determining the organization’s talent needs over time and for planning actions that will meet those needs
• The strategy process: Making the link with People and Operations requires the utmost attention as it addresses the how part of executing a strategy
• The operations process: Making the link with Strategy and People defines where a business intends to go

Jack Welch’s hands-on management working philosophy:

To make a quantum increase in inventory turns in manufacturing operations and generate cash, Welch personally paid a visit along with his team to the leading practitioner of the methodology in the mid-1990’s, American Standard.

Welch normally involves himself deeply and personally with the subject. He would take deep interest to learn what it would take to execute such an initiative at GE, and would facilitate the necessary changes rolling quickly through his huge company. By the time of his retirement in 2001, Welch saw GE’s inventory turns double.

Why I blog…

One of those days during my early days of training was absolutely bored, decided that I needed to make use of the millions of bytes out there on the Internet to some use, further leave my footprint in the cyberspace too. Hence, got onto making this site and interestingly I forgot about this site for a month and a half. Until one fine day when I put in my name in Google and surprisingly it pulled up this site. How weird can it get? Google helps you find you!! Huh!! No wonder as the saying goes "You don’t believe me, then go check on Google"

Have you ever considered what or how it would be when you are 70 years old, assuming you live that long, and see your children and grand children (again assuming you get married and then manage to have kids, and they also manage to have kids blah, blah) live and take over what is your legacy. Hmm interestingly I cant even seem to think about it or imagine it, coz life has changed manyfolds than I can ever imagine in the my last 15 years, imagine how much it will change in the next 55 years. Huh I have no idea why I just said what I said, but you read it, and have come this far. By now you should know that all this babble was for just filling up this page. :-)