Something Statistically Technical!!

How long shall I be writing something only non-technical? MBA Grads are supposed to talk in business terms and hence this blog will be dedicated to satiate those requests/desires.

Anyone who had undergone higher Statistics course would have heard the term “Multiple regression Equations”. Simple put these equations are used to determine the weighted effect of a set of variables on our end desired variable. (Pardon me if I am wrong!!!). While the course talks about many real world examples where these regression equations are used, what came as surprise to me was that these equations are extensively used to determine the pricing strategies.

The recent issue of Harvard Business Review talks about the extensive usage of regression equation in by Motorola to determine the optimum price of MotoRAZR2. Motorola was under severe pressure to regain its lost market shares in the mobile market and set right its shrinking margins. It was a long time a Motorola phone became a big hit like Nokia’s or Samsung’s. The pressure intensified after the release of Apple’s super hit I-Phone.

Remember you cannot charge any price just like that for your new phone for it would affect your profitability. So what did Motorola do? The company plotted a regression equation between the various benefits perceived by the customers (a categorical variable) and the price charged (a quantitative variable). The regression equation thus plotted yields many interesting learning, including the strategies of competitors like Nokia, LG and Samsung. Nokia for example minimized its risk by spreading itself over the entire spectrum, while Samsung is present only in selective spectrums where competition is less.

A simple (???) example that illustrates how two courses at two different ends of the MBA spectrum come together to work wonders for the business-A very good example for “Integrative thinking” we are taught at Rotman!!

(My sincere apologies to all those who felt that this is a typical MBA boasting post :-), and the feeling if felt is definitely unintentional )

The week that was..Dodgeball and CSR Competition

Two events different from the regular studies and case analysis happened last week:

Rotman - United way week:

The Rotman - United way fund raising week kicked off with events such as Dodgeball and Silent Auctions. The proceedings from this games and auctions would go to United Way, a well known NGO helping the poor and needy children. Both Dodgeball and Auctions are worth mentioning for two reasons:

• It is a departure from the regular MBA routine and makes you feel that MBA is not only about studies. It is also about enjoyment of life.
  
• Where else would your Assistant dean and Vice Dean get to form strategies for winning a childish game?

For those of you who do not know what a Dodgeball game is? The game is for max 10 mins and comprises of two teams. Each team gets to hit the other team with a sponge ball below the waist. If you hit the opponent, you are out of the game. If the opponent catches the ball, you are out of the game. No head butts. No holding the ball for more than 10 secs. Thats dodgeball for you!!

First the game was held between the students and the winning team got a chance to play against the faculty. This year also the faculty won the Championship beating the students. Every year these profs come up with a new strategy. That is why they are profs and we are students.

The past week also kicked off the Silent Auction with items such as books autographed by our dean Roger Martin, Warren Buffet and Richard Florida, dinner with profs, game tickets etc. You name anything from cakes to students as personal assistants-u have that for auction. The highest bid was for the book autographed by our dean!!

Net Impact-CSR Competition:


5 people. 4 all nighters. A deep thought process on the role of pharma companies and patient groups. 1 solution. Win or lose. That was the CSR competition that we participated on Saturday in a jist.The judges were from RPO consulting, Ministry of Finance and Pfizer.

We lost by a narrow margin and we could not move to the next round. But the best part is that it has molded your thought process, making you aware of another industry that you might get associated in the future. I think this would help me in the case competition I am participating in NUS. It is about devising the market strategy for Brewerkz, a brewery company. I think with my past experience with the industry and having dealt with them for 4 years I am ready for this game and this is going to be interesting.

The pretty white world!!!

Imagine it was a sunny day yesterday and it was raining today and you hear a weather prediction that there would be snow tomorrow. Having experience only with the Indian weather forecast before, I was very sure that it would be a “Bright and Sunny Day”.

You go to bed at 3:30AM early morning. Things are fine and the streets look clean and tidy. Morning you wake up @ 8:30AM and the entire world looks white. Will not it be a shock for you? This was a double whammy for me for this was the first real experience with snow. Uffffff. I had a really tough time in commuting to college today. It was windy and it was snowing. You could feel the snow pricking your body.

Your winter jackets become wet, your hand gloves, your shoes are of no use, you shiver in your Jeans, ur bag become wet and you slip thru (not walk thru!!) the road. Welcome to the winter in Toronto. I am told that this is mild (@ minus 5 degC) and would go upto minus 30 degC. Compare this with the Chennai minimum climate of PLUS 20degC-my lowest temperature experience before coming here.

Two things have topped my agenda now after today’s experience:
1. To get a snow Jacket
2. To get a snow shoe

Looking forward to this Sunday for the completion of these purchases to get myself out of some big soups in future!!

News on the loose...!!

Here is the list of News I have been following this week:

1. "Merill gets its new CEO"-John Thain has formally taken over as the CEO of Merill Lynch with an astonishing package of $43.8 million dollars (I cud feel u gasping!!!!). He replaces Stanley O Neal who was asked to leave the firm after Merill Lynch reported the ever first quarterly loss in its history. A financial advisory firm like Merill cannot afford to!! Thain has a tough job ahead of him. Like other big financial firms that have also announced massive write downs, Merrill is saddled with asset-backed securities linked to troubled subprime mortgages. Determining how much these securities are worth has proved problematic, and experts say more big Wall Street writedowns are likely. All the best John!!
2. "Come on Google"-First let me make a confession. I am a Google fanatic. And I strongly believe that only Google can do it. Be it anything in technology. And they never let me down. And here they come to rock the world. Again. The much rumored “gphone” is well on track with Google announcing $10mn cash prize for developers who would make their open source software “Andriod” better. Gphone is pinned to work on Android. Google is also rumored to be in talk with AT&T and is considering foray into telecom business. This could very well signal the death bell for many existing telecom companies. Come on Google. You again did it!!
3. "You, again: Are we getting closer to cloning humans??"- Earlier this week a team in the U.S. led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon National Primate Research Center, announced they had created the first cloned monkey embryo and extracted stem cells from it. Extending this to humans, if successful, the following scenario could happen- Your clone can attend the class and get you the participation marks, while you can sit back and do your assignments or even date with your girl friend!!
4. "World’s 4th fastest Super Computer"- Weather forecasting, detecting tsunami, seismic analysis or even advanced financial modeling for the stock markets can now be performed by an Indian company. Computational Research Laboratory (CRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons has built the fastest supercomputer in Asia (according to top 500.org, an industry body that ranks performance of supercomputers globally) in Pune. Christened EKA, derived from the word one in Sanskrit, the computer, which can also be used in the areas of Neural and molecular simulation and computational fluid dynamics, was built at a cost of $30 million. Another feather in the TATA group’s crown!!

Yes..I am Enjoying!!

To All my friends in India and rest of the world

Belated Diwali wishes!!. Hope you had fun, ate lots of sweets and enjoyed with crackers (including my share!!)

I celebrated the Diwali with a party organized by the Rotman-South Asian Business Association on Friday night. It was organized in a party hall in a condo and we had games, music, dance, drinks and what not!! It is always nice to get to mingle with "your" creed. We must be thankful to the Diwalis and Eid's for this.

My schedule so far since Friday has been this:

Friday-SABA party, organized the party and came home at 1:45AM, Slept at 3:15AM

Saturday: Got up at 9:45 AM in the morning, finished my Business Finance Assignment which included questions about google, gold, oil and the professor (you analyse the personal finance for the prof!!!) who teaches us the subject!! Started my "Stats" project, edited the data (uff..Next time when you see statisticians, please fall in their legs!!), Slept at 3:45AM

Sunday: Got up at 8:30AM, finished off 90% the stats project except the final predictions, then started analysing the future of Boeing for the next 5 years on how much dividends they would be paying. Slept at 3:45AM

Yesterday: Woke up at 8:30AM, had a meeting with my team mentor, did a SWOT analysis of my team's performance in Q1, attended a seminar, came home at 9PM, analysed a case for today's class, discussed with my roomies for the case assignment to be submitted, slept at 3:15AM

Today: Woke up at 9AM, did a case analysis of Walmart Inc, attended the scholar tutorial session and returned home at 8:30PM. Decided that it has been quiet a while since I updated my blog and decided to spend at least 10 mins on my blog. Still I have to prepare for my stats quiz on Thursday, for the individual case summary due on thursday and also for the make the ground work for Net Impact CSR competition.

So why did I write this.

To all my friends in India and rest of world who tell often me that "MBA load is nothing and I am always enjoying"

My answer is-
Yes. I am Enjoying!!! And read this post again from the start!!

From being God to being Human..

Imagine you are only 48 months into this world and you have to undergo a 40 hour surgery by 30 highly skilled doctors. This is what happened to Lakshmi who was born with 4arms and 4 legs fused with the spinal cord!! Thanks to the team of doctors at Sparsh hospital in Bangalore who successfully removed the child's extra limbs, salvaged her organs, and rebuilt her pelvis area,

'Lakshmi was born joined to a ''parasitic twin'' that stopped developing in the mother's womb. The surviving foetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.

The doctors worked through the night to remove the extra limbs and organs, surgery that doctors say will give her a good chance to live past adolescence. The procedure included separating the fused spines along with removing the extra limbs and the rest of the ''parasite,'' said Patil, the orthopedic surgeon leading the operation.

Lakshmi is recovering at the hospital’s intensive care unit and will be under observation for a few days.

The journey from a remote village—where she was revered as a Goddess—near the Bihar-Nepal border to Bangalore was long and arduous but Lakshmi won in the challenge.

A team of paediatrics worked all night on Tuesday to separate organs from the twin body and before that neurosurgeons had separated the spinal chord. The complicated procedure involved separating the parasitic twin's tissues, giving Lakshmi one of the functional kidneys, shifting the genital system and bladder from the left side of the body to a more centred position, reconstructing the pelvic ring, plastic surgery to close her wounds and operations to correct her club feet.

Lakshmi’s parents are hopeful their daughter will be able to lead a normal life. “We are her parents and naturally get worried often. But we are praying and are hopeful,” says her father Shambhu.

It’s a medical complication seen in one among 50,000 cases and if this risky surgery is successful, it will not only be a first in India but will also be a landmark in the surgery of ischiophagus conjoined twins in India.

Planning for the surgery took a month and doctors say without it Lakshmi may not have survived beyond early adolescence.

Kudos Docs!! Where else can we see human Gods other than you people.!!

I promise I'll call you!!

Dear Best Friend in India who I haven't called since I got to Toronto,

You absolutely have no clue how much has been going on here at school. I know I havn't called you since I got here, but trust me, you are right up there on the list of people I keep thinking I should call "next sunday morning". Right after gf and before dad. It probably is more than a little annoying when I scrap you every now and then(yes, I scrap, I do NOT write on your wall) and each of those scraps has the word "busy" in it. But its all really true! And everyone says this is true about the first sem at each and every b-school. It hits you like a speeding train. I personally have been feeling like I have been hit by a tonne of bricks, heavy shapeless objectified laziness being my thing more than fast moving dynamism and all that.

To start with I am usually always clueless in the classroom. I mean, I did way cooler stuff with excel than create balance sheets, and 'security' to me brings up images of hunky rugged-but-clean-shaven beautiful men in beautiful dark blue uniforms. Something thats had nothing to do with finance. And then there's this whole thing with recruiting and learning to "tell your story" and all that. And then they bring on the midterms. AND they actually give out your results 2 days after each exam. I had just about successfully blocked out the experience and was kinda hoping I'd never have to know my grades. Like ever!

And like thats not enough I had my laptop breakdown on me 3 weeks ago. I had to spend about 2 months budget to get it repaired and walk around for 3 whole weeks wishing I could look something up now. You know how it is when someone cracks a joke about Meryll Lynch in class and you know that all the non-bankers are googling it up (the cool-dude finance types have this sick-feeling-in-the-bottom-of-my-gut look on their faces. and wait, the media/entertainment bunch is doing neither. they are snickering. those guys are really cool), and you wish you could too because in that one moment nothing is more precious to you than knowing what the hell is going on with Meryll Lynch? Or that one time when you see someone walk into class wearing red patent leather shoes and you want to find out where you could get the cheapest shiny red shoes? no? how about when you can't get the "umberella -ella -ella -ella" out of your head and want to download it, right now? That was tough.

Anyways, I have my laptop back now and I promise, promise, promise I will call you this sunday. I will try to make it at an easy time for you, but hey, I might just have that moment when I have to talk to you like right now and go for it, ok? Be prepared for a lot of ranting about the midterms gone by, and more about how its going to be even busier because recruitment has just about began full steam. Yep, the time is now!

(Adopted from the blog by Sudha "the primalbeing.blogspot.com)

Schedules!!

Only 2 days of the month have passed by and already my schedule for the month is filled up-almost some meeting or event daily. This apart from the regular classes, individual assignments and team meetings I have to attend.

1. I (and Kavitha, Manoj, Nishant, Deepika..ohh..no..not again!!) have decided to participate in the Net Impact-Corporate Social Responsibility Case competition. Apart from enabling us to propose new ideas for the case, the CSR event would also help us to interact with industry experts.

2. SABA-Diwali event is coming up on Nov 9th and I am part of the organizing committee. Expectations vs fulfilments..watch this space for updates.

3. I am part of the organizing committee of India Business Conference. The CEO of TCS-North America, Mr. Surya Kanth is delivering the key note address and there are other whole bunch of Industry heavy weights (from Scotia Bank, TD etc...). Gotta get hold of some good sponsors, arrange for logistics etc..With the event becoming bigger and bigger, so are the expectations from the event..again watch this space for expectations vs fulfilments.. :-)

Here is a snapshot of where I stand in terms of my schedule for the month as of now. I wanted to make this as “a typical day in the life as an MBA student”. But again the time factor comes into play. However, I am committing to upload the daily charter before I finish my MBA. :-)