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From the Editors Desk .................................................................................................................... ........ 3

The A la Carte of PhotographsGlimpse of Life- The XLRI- GMP Photography Compe-

on..4

680 hours later....................................................................................................................................... .. 6

GMP Sports Mania!................................................................................................................................... 7

Spreading the warmth .............................................................................................................. ...... ........9

Meet the Guru: Prof. (Dr.) Gourav Vallabh....11

Three things a Leader can't aord to ignore .......................................................................................... 15

Poets Corner .......................................................................................................................................... 17

17..............................................................................................................

Perched ............................................................................................................................................... 17

Walk the talk with Leaders ................................................................................................................. 18

Mr. Navin Gulia ............................................................................................................................... 18

Mr. Praveen Sinha ........................................................................................................................ .... 21

Holi Hai....................................................................................................................................................24

Mind Benders Result...............................................................................................................................25

In this edition

http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721835#_Toc350721835http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721835#_Toc350721835http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721835#_Toc350721835http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721835#_Toc350721835http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721836#_Toc350721836http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721836#_Toc350721836http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721837#_Toc350721837http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721837#_Toc350721837http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721837#_Toc350721837http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721837#_Toc350721837http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721838#_Toc350721838http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721838#_Toc350721838http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721838#_Toc350721838http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721838#_Toc350721838http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721839#_Toc350721839http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721839#_Toc350721839http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721839#_Toc350721839http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721839#_Toc350721839http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721840#_Toc350721840http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721840#_Toc350721840http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721840#_Toc350721840http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721841#_Toc350721841http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721841#_Toc350721841http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721841#_Toc350721841http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721841#_Toc350721841http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721842#_Toc350721842http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721842#_Toc350721842http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721842#_Toc350721842http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721842#_Toc350721842http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721842#_Toc350721842http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721842#_Toc350721842http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721842#_Toc350721842http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721842#_Toc350721842http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721843#_Toc350721843http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721843#_Toc350721843http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%20data/Articles-Entries/glimpse%202.0.docx#_Toc350721843#_Toc350721843http://c/Users/SUMAN%20BARANWAL/Desktop/2nd%20Edition%20-%20Master%2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From the Editors Desk

GMP 2012-13 has entered into its last leg and we are more than half-way through our fourth

and nal term. We are happy to come out with the next issue of our magazine.

The avor of the mood is reecve, which will very soon turn nostalgic. In less than a months

me from now, we would be saying goodbye to this beauful campus and again there would

be a transitory phase in our life . But this me for sure, we would be more condent to face

that phase, armed with our learnings at this momentous instuon .

Decisions change the trajectory of our life. One such decision we took about a year back was

to leave the comforts of our workplace and become students again. It wasnt easy but then

we were ambious and wanted to refuel ourselves. We decided to join XLRI to change our-selves and to a certain extent we all have changed. Each one of us in the batch contributed

towards making this sojourn at XLRI enriching, lively and memorable.

In its endeavor to explore hidden talents of the student community and provide a plaorm to

showcase these talents, the GliMPse Team had organized a photography contest and invited

entries from all B-schools in India. We were delighted to receive an overwhelming response

from B-Schools all over India. There were some extra-ordinary clicks. We approached Profes-

sor Soumyakan Chakraborty to undertake the challenge of evaluang these entries and he

kindly obliged despite his busy schedule . We sincerely thank Professor Soumyakan for his

me, enthusiasm and meculous eorts. It wasnt easy to judge the best two entries out ofsome mind-blowing pictures.

We thank Professor Gourav Vallabh for agreeing to our request for an interview with the

GliMPse Team. His thoughts and insights will denitely be inspiring and enriching for readers.

We would also like to thank the XLRI GMP CEO Commiee for giving us the opportunity to

meet various business leaders and dignitaries, who visited XLRI for the leadership series ses-

sions and facilitang an interacon with them. Last but not the least, special thanks to our

batch-mates who submied arcles, poems and photographs for this edion.

A hot summer day is an ideal occasion to take me o from a hecc schedule and recharge

your baeries. We are sure that this edion of GliMPse will serve as a refresher to smulate

your creave minds.

Happy Reading!! Do share your thoughts with us at g1213glimpse@astra.xlri.ac.in

~GliMPse (2012-13)

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The A la Carte of PhotographsGlimpse of Life- The XLRI- GMP Photography

Taking pictures is savouring life intensely, every hundredth of a second. ~Marc Riboud

Photographs capture the moment most elegantly, themoment which is lost amidst the woods called me.

In the endeavour to capture the very moment, XLRI-

GMP organized a photography compeon among B-

School students, tled Glimpse of Life. The compe-

on received overwhelming response from B

schools students. Parcipants sprang in from various

instutes to showcase their creave brilliance to the

world. The entries displayed not only the photogra-

phers innate talent to unravel the moment but alsotheir ability to perceive those unnoced moments,

which could have been so easily framed. The photo-

graphs were a mirror of the secret of the secrets

every me you saw them, a new vision and reality

seemed to emerge forth.

Judging these entries without missing out on their

beauty and mystery was a herculean task. We ap-proached Professor Soumyakan Chakraborty, him-

self an avid photographer, to shoulder this massive

task. His relentless eorts to de-codify the beauty in

the entries and put across a set of parameters to help

choose the best amongst the best were truly com-

mendable. The inexorable pernacity of the entries to

be at the zenith made judging and evaluang them a

huge challenge. There were quite a few parameters

on which each entry was evaluated, the parameterswere classied under the headings technical, con-

tent, viewers response, general and visual and aes-

thec angle. Each such classicaon had quite a few

parameters to help the best entry emerge on top.

Eventually, Karn Mehta from IIM, Indore was ad-

judged the winner while the second prize went to

First Prize Karn Mehta, IIM Indore Second Prize Arijit Basak XLRI, GMP

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/580637.Marc_Riboudhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/580637.Marc_Riboudhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/580637.Marc_Riboud

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Arijit Basak, XLRI GMP. The Glimpse team decided to

publish the top ten entries in the Facebook page, as a

token of recognion for the creave talent of the pho-

tographers. The other top entries- not menoning

which would be unjust to the enre compeon were

Kanika SinghSRM University, Abhinav Srivastav &

Chiranjib Bhaacharjee - XLRI Jamshedpur, Manuja

GoenkaSymbiosis Instute of Management Studies

Pune, Sameer Phalke - SIBM Pune, Ashutosh Mahajan -

Welingkar Instute Of Management & Research,

Mumbai and Prasad SavantIIM Raipur.

GliMPses of Life

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We all have spent around 680 hours in classrooms [I

have discounted the ongoing fourth and last term andthose who sleep a bit more :) ] and have technically

completed three-fourth of our MBA.

680 hours spent amidst variety of insighul subjects,

amazing faculty and a fair amount of class parcipa-

on (Yes, somemes it is too much to handle but that

is supposed to be the process of learning! ). A

daunng task at the outset but looks like an achieve-

ment in hindsight. Daunng because we all have been

working for at least ve years before coming here and

an achievement because at an incredible speed, we

again became academic and transioned ourselves to

acvate the inquisive student inside us who was lying

dormant.

With those 680 hours in classrooms, we have spent

around nine months at XLRI Jamshedpur campus. Nine

months is not a long me but with one thing coming

aer another at such a fast pace and resulng in col-lecon of so many memorable moments, it feels as if

we have been living here for so long.

Many things have changed in last nine months. The

scorching heat of Jamshedpur gave way to bier cold

and again we are moving towards those hot days

when masala cold drinks would be avor of the sea-

son. Daadu would be selling more nimbu-paani than

chai. The sweat-shirt would be replaced by sweat and

T-shirts would again be back in vogue. The class sizes

got smaller and smaller as people got distributed into

dierent elecves they took.

The XLRI campus too changed its color in last nine

months. It was in full bloom in Term 3 with beauful

owers ourishing and aunng in gardens all around

but now the leaves are bidding farewell to theirbranches. If you happen to walk early in the morning

in campus [though unlikely as most of us have become

night owls aer coming here :) ], you will see owers

creang a bed around the trees they have parted with.

It is oen advisable in life to take brief breaks from the

connuum of roune and traverse dierently to

explore dierent avenues or just rejuvenate oneself.

The hiatus at XLRI from the monotony of professional

life is helping us do so. It has given us the me to in-

trospect and to understand ourselves beer. We start-

ed out as strangers but then quickly got together to

form a cohesive unit. We formed dierent teams to

manage various commiees and carry out various ac-

vies throughout the year. Forming those teams was

an experience in itself. We havent got much me to

reect on what has happened to us in these last nine

months but if we try to introspect we would realize

our thought process has changed to some extent aer

coming here.

Although there is sll some me le before our pro-

gram will get over, we can sni the nostalgia in the air

and the mood in last term would take more swings

than ever before.

Over to last 180 hours!

~Gaurav Mial (GMP, Class of 2012-13)

680 hours later

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GMP Sports Mania

One of the upsides of returning back to campus life as a student is the ability to revive the sportsman in

oneself, something that most of us GMPians had lost touch with as part of our corporate lives.

Table Tennis is a popular sport among GMPians, along with Badminton, Football, Tennis and Basketball.

Students also regularly use the gym facilies and parcipate enthusiascally in various college and city

The TT nals an event to savor!

events such as the Jamshedpur Marathon or the Crickblitz tournament. The GMP Sports Commiee ac-

vely espouses the cause of sports amidst the hecc schedules of quizzes, lectures and assignments.

The commiee recently organized the King of Pong Table Tennis tournament which saw enthusiasc

parcipaon by 36 GMPians. There were a total of 72 intense matches conducted aer which the singles

and doubles winners were crowned. Rajeev Ranjan bagged the honors in the singles while Siddarth Shah

and Bala Varun were crowned doubles champions.

Football is also very popular amongst the batch with GMPians trading-o much-needed sleep to taking

the eld on most Sunday mornings. During the second term, the sports commiee organized the Clash of

the Titans event where secons A and B of GMP locked horns on the soccer ground. The three matches

spread over a month were intensely competed but played in the spirit of the game. In the end it was sec-

on A which won the event with a narrow margin.

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Clash of the tans ght on!!

Compeve Advantage on the TT eld Prof. Munish Thakur!

Students engage in smulang contests with Professors not just inside the classroom, but also on the

football eld or the badminton court. It is really inspiring to see our Professors compete with the ar-

dent zeal and desire to win a point or score a goal and we end up adoring them even more.

GMP students also parcipated in the IIMC-XLRI sports meet scheduled in January and won the TT

singles and the Futsal games. With the grueling core courses behind us, one can only expect the

sports fever to reach a new pitch and throw up many more excing contests. These contests really

enrich the MBA experience over and above the classroom duels and academic compeons.

~Sameer Gupta (GMP, Class of 2012-13)

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December 2012 turned out to be a milestone of sorts

for all of us here at XLRI GMP. The month started ona hecc note with the end-term exams for term II,

which were immediately followed by the elecve

season of term III, and the feeling of having success-

fully journeyed half-way through the GMP odyssey

took a while to sink in. During the laer half of the

month, the weather seemed to really test our desire

to get out of bed each morning and traverse the path

to the Learning Centre. Winter seemed to have taken

over the steel city in a cold embrace and the gloves,socks, sweaters and jackets were out on campus in

aplomb.

The best part of being in a b-school like XLRI amongst

a cohort of highly talented yet equally humane anddown-to-earth people is the ability to think beyond

the self and contribute towards the greater good.

The ecosystem enables one to put thoughts into ac-

on and go out and make a dierence. While we

struggled to stay warm and enjoy the fesve season,

a unique thought was born Why dont we pause and

reect on our blessings and take noce of the society

around us? Can we do something in our own small

way to help those for whom daily existence itself is achallenge? And if the weather seems so unkind to us,

what about those who cannot even think of warm

Spreading the warmth

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clothes?

Inspired by this thought, an excel sheet was oated

out to the batch in the evening and by dinner me, we

had over 10 volunteers, all excited and raring to go.Many batch-mates contributed generously for the

cause and within a day, we collected around 4000 ru-

pees. Several others chipped in by providing their vehi-

cles and devong me to purchase blankets, head

caps and sweets. A team of 21 volunteers, including

spouses of some of the batch-mates, set out for the

railway staon area to personally distribute the New

Year gis to the needy. The me we spent in the

streets of Jamshedpur on that cold January night wascushioned by the warmth in our hearts and we experi-

enced the greatest sasfacon on seeing the joy and

gratude in the eyes of those we had the opportunity

of serving. I was reminded of a line from one of the

prayers during my school days For it is in giving that

we receive, and today we had received peace, joy and

sasfacon in giving!

Social entrepreneurship was the buzz-word we had been hearing on campus and had got a rst-hand expo-

sure to some facets of it during the village trips at the start of the MBA program. But this self-iniated ex-

ercise on New Years Eve was a praccal lesson not just in leadership, iniave and management skills, but

more importantly, in humility, compassion and care. We had spent the rst day of the New Year 2013,

touching the lives of 25 strangers by lending a helping hand and bringing a smile to their faces. We re-

turned back to campus feeling immensely moved, humbled and enriched by the experience, which I am

sure, will be an inseparable part of our memories of life at XLRI GMP!

~ Onkar Sabnis (GMP, Class of 2012-13)

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Meet the Guru: Prof. (Dr.) Gourav Vallabh

If it is Mathemacs in schools, then it is

Finance in B-schools that inslls fear in

students. But not when you are fortunate to

have a teacher like Prof. (Dr.) Gourav

Vallabh, who makes nance look so easy and

interesng. His explanaon of nance with

real life analogies such as working capital is

the money in your last pocket is simple yet

insighul. Time just ies away during his

lectures and his wiy comments make you

smile if not laugh at least once.

Prof. (Dr.) Gourav Vallabh joined XLRI in the

year 2003. Before deciding to become a

teacher, he had worked for Naonal Instute

of Bank Management (NIBM), Pune. He took

a break from XLRI to serve asDirector of The

Instute of Chartered Accountants of India

(ICAI) from 2009 to 2011. He joined back XLRI

in September, 2011 .

Prof. (Dr.) Gourav Vallabh is a Cered

Financial Risk Manager (GARP,

USA),Chartered Accountant (ICAI), Company

Secretary (ICSI), Ph.D. (University of Raja-

sthan), LL.B., M.Com. (Gold Medalist). He has

been a member of the Accounng Standards

Board (ASB) and Auding and Assurance

Standards Board (AASB).

If a teacher is able to movate a student to go back and

refer to books and references on his own and work

more beyond what is taught in lectures, then a teacher

has served his purpose. You might have noced that I

did not give any assignments when I was taking Ad-

vanced Corporate Finance for GMP because I aim to

generate enough curiosity in students so that they read

and work more on their own out of their own mova-

on. If a student comes up with quesons based on last

session, then you feel happy about it. Similarly, I believe

that a good teacher should be able to aract students

to his classes and when you see a full house of curious

students, it feels very sasfying.

GliMPse: How do you dene good teaching?

Prof. Vallabh: To me,good teaching means mak-

ing things interesng for students and I always

strive for that by giving real life examples, analo-

gies and case studies.

GliMPse team had the opportunity to have a candid

chat with Prof Gourav Vallabh.

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GliMPse: What made you shi to academics as your

career?

Prof. Vallabh: When I was working with Naonal Ins-

tute of Bank Management (NIBM), Pune - an instute

set up by Reserve Bank of India, I was into organizing

and conducng training programs for senior execuves

of banking industry. I was 25 and I had the opportunity

to teach general managers of public sector banks who

were having as much as 25 years of work experience in

banking and I was teaching them about banking. My

parcipants used to appreciate my sessions. That gave

me condence that I am eligible to enter into hard core

academics and so I enrolled myself for PhD. And aer

that the transion from quasi-academic jobs to a pro-

fessor at XLRI took place.

GliMPse: In the 10 years of teaching here at XLRI, what

all has changed?

Prof. Vallabh: When I joined XLRI in 2003, things were

at relavely small scale. For example there was only one

batch of PMIR, two batches of BM & 30 GMP students.

In last 10 years I have seen XLRI growing and it has

evolved as an organizaon. Infrastructure has im-

proved, number of students in almost all programs has

grown and faculty members have increased too. The

environment has become a bit more formal but sll

there is a fair amount of informality and freedom.

GliMPse: What do you like most about XLRI?

Prof. Vallabh: TheInformal culture here at XLRI is some-

thing which I love. The environment here is quite infor-mal and as a person I prefer that. If I have to meet my

director I need not change my are and wear a formal

shirt to go and meet him. There are pros and cons of

having an informal culture in an organizaon but I am

enjoying the pros more.

GliMPse: Anything you would like to change about

XLRI?

Prof. Vallabh: I wish XLRI was in Delhi.

GliMPse: There are plans for a XLRI campus in Delhi

Prof. Vallabh: (Smiles) Yes, but I would like to change

XLRI-Jamshedpur to XLRI-Delhi right now.

GliMPse: Are you aware that you have a fan club on

Facebook? What do you feel about it?

Prof. Vallabh: I was not aware of this and I also dont

have an account on Facebook. However, I appreciate

the gesture. (Laughs) In fact I would tell you an inter-

esng thing.

My email passwords are there with my family members.

So when you sent these quesons to me over email, my

wife read them and as I was not in Jamshedpur, she

called me and said, Behind every successful man, there

is always a surprised wife and I am really surprised what

is great about you and why people are wasng their

me and resources by making fan club for you.

GliMPse: Sir, we know that you were involved with

Congress during 2009 Lok Sabha elecons in formu-

langstrategies for it. How was the experience and any

insights you would like to share?

Prof. Vallabh: Actually I was involved in two acvies in

the last Lok Sabha elecons. The rst was an opinion

poll for the state of Jharkhand for Prabhat Khabar news-

paper which proved to be 100% correct. We predicted

that Congress would win only 1 seat in Jharkhand and

ulmately it turned out to be so.

For that we collected data from 5000 people from

dierent parts of Jharkhand. Two BM students were

also involved with me in this project. The opinion poll

appeared on the rst page of Prabhat Khabar for seven

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days and was news of the state at that me. It was an

enjoyable experience.

Based on this news of opinion poll, I was approached

by senior leaders in the Congress party to help them

out in formulang strategies for them. So working for

Congress party turned out be my second acvity. We

segregated the enre country constuencies into three

categories, A, B and C similar to ABC categorizaon of

inventories. A category included those constuencies

where Congress could easily win and doesnt require an

acve poll campaign. In B category, we put constu-

encies where results could be changed with acve poll

campaign program and these were most crucial. The

C category included those constuencies where even

acve poll campaign would not change the results.

Based on this program, Congress focused on B category

constuencies and ended up winning 73 constuencies

out of 125. In C category, there were around 116 con-

stuencies and Congress won only 3. Basically the pro-

gram helped in allocang funds, resources and me of

their senior leaders for campaigning.

GliMPse: What role can MBAs play in polics of the

country?

Prof. Vallabh: In my personal opinion, Indian demo-

crac structure is sll immature. The current polical

system requires three things. 1. Money 2. Muscle pow-

er 3. Caste background. If you have all or any of these

three things, you are eligible to join polics and this is

the unfortunate reality of our present polical system.

We need good people in polics from all professions

including MBAs but presently any polical party would

require any of those three things I just menoned. And

if you have any of these three things and have interests

in polics, then you should enter into it. When our de-

mocracy will reach a mature state, then anyone could

aspire to enter into polics and become a leader. It is

good to spend me in public life as it increases your

condence and helps you in developing good relaon-

ships.

GliMPse: Were you acve in polics as a student?

Prof. Vallabh: Yes I was. I was President of Commerce

Faculty of my College. I belong to a polical family. My

father was a very acve student leader of his me and

was in the core team of the Gandhi family in that era.

But then he joined a full-me job and le polics. My

upbringing was in a polical environment and every

day I would hear polical stories about leaders such as

Ms. Indira Gandhi at home. I developed an inclinaon

towards polics and wanted to be into full-edged poli-

cs but then as I menoned, you need to have any of

those three things and I did not have any of those three

traits required for polics in India so I did not go into it.

(Smiles) The desire to be acve in polics is sll there

and if and whenever our democracy matures, I will join

it and I believe I can do very well in polics.

GliMPse: Financial services sector is going through a

tough me in India and even we are not seeing many

nance companies oering hard core nance proles.

When do you see it will be back on track?

Prof. Vallabh: Financial sector being a service sector

depends on core sectors such as manufacturing and

agriculture. So to nd the root cause of nancial service

sector not doing good, one has to look at the sectors it

depends on. And if we see IIP data, we would nd that

the growth is negave in majority of the core sectors.

So to bring back nancial service sector on track, the

problems associated with core sectors need to be ad-

dressed. Only aer xing the problems in core sectors

we can see a sustained growth in the nancial sector.

Now if we look at manufacturing sector, we would nd

that we have a very good domesc demand but we are

not as cost ecient as compared to China. This is hap-

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pening primarily because the infrastructure available to

Chinese companies is far more superior and cheaper as

compared to Indian counterparts. And by infrastruc-

ture I mean power, skilled manpower, transportaon

and land. So if we x problems in core sectors, we

would see nancial sector back on track.

Government has to play an important role in making

infrastructure available. Presently core ministries such

as transportaon, coal, power etc. are not working e-

ciently in a synergec manner. They need to be clearer

in their objecves towards growth. It might take 4-5

years to x these problems provided our government

machinery works in that direcon.

GliMPse: How do you unwind yourself in your free

me?

Prof Vallabh: I like to talk to people to what is happen-

ing in their lives and around them. I belong to western

Rajasthan and have a rural background and my nave

place is Piparin Jodhpur district. So to unwind myself, I

call my relaves and friends there to know what is hap-pening in Jodhpur or in Rajasthan. I always want that

online informaon. I talk so much over phone that my

phone bill might be the highest in XLRI. It is almost 8 to

9 thousand per month which not many people would

believe but I can show you the bills.

I like to discuss polics with people. I can interact with

any person in India based on his level. I can talk to a

mazdoorin India about polical leaders. Similarly I candiscuss about polical party structure with senior lead-

ers or with an organizaonal behavior expert and I en-

joy doing it.

I like to read as many newspapers as I can. I am also

fond of regional TV channels and so I spend me

watching ETV Rajasthan and ETV Jharkhand to know

what is happening locally.

GliMPse: How was the experience of teaching GMP

students and any advice you would like to give them?

Prof Vallabh: I always like to teach GMP students and

there are reasons for that. I feel disturbed if there is

any indiscipline in classes but since GMPians come with

a lot of work experience behind them, this problem of

indiscipline never arises. Also, since they pay their fee

out of their pocket, they know the value of money and

are more sincere and mature. The interest level of stu-

dents is very good and this interest level remains sus-

tained even in the last minutes of lectures. I have ob-

served that while other programs students would want

to conclude their class ve minutes early, GMP stu-

dents would want ve minutes more. They have this

urge to gain maximum out of this program. Another

reason is that I give lot of real life corporate examples

and problems during my courses and GMPians being

experienced relate very well to them. I really admire all

these qualies. The experience of teaching GMP this

me was also great and I was quite happy with GMPstudents. I hope students also share the similar feel-

ings.

My message to any B-School student would be to focus

on learning. B-Schools are kind of becoming placement

agencies which is not good. If you will focus on learn-

ing, then for sure there would be value addion and a

good job and good career opportunies would invaria-

bly ow in.

GliMPse: Thanks you Sir for your valuable me and

candid answers.

Prof Vallabh: Thank You!

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Moving on to family -- The home has always been the

nest that we all go back to aer a hard days work.

Our family is the place where we experience life giv-

ing relaonships. In the pre-internet era, the leader

was protected from the pressures of the job aer

work hours by the spaal boundaries of the home

and theoce. The advance of the internet and mo-

bile technologies has seen this wall collapse. Black-

berry tong, highlyavailable and working from home

is how the new leader comes across.

These trappings of the corporate world have put the

leader at tremendous risk and it is the leaders family

that suers the most. With eyes rivetedto the stock

market index, many leaders lose sight of the emo-

Three things a Leader can't afford to ignore

Over the decades, as more and more people havemigratedfrom the country side to cies and found jobs in

industrial establishments and corporate oces, the pace of human life has increasedmanifold. Cardiac arrests,

failing

marriages and mid-

career

burnouts

are causing leaders from all walks of life to pause and reect. Giventhe circumstances we suggest that the three things that a leader should not ignore at any cost, namely,

alhealth, family and the ability to see ones pursuits in the larger context.

Lets consider personal health rst. Tradionally, and to

an extent rightly so, good leadership has carried with

itself the noons of hard work, sacrice, and servant-

hood. But unfortunately, leadership has been under-

stood by many as self-denial and has been lived out with

self-neglect. Some get by, but in many cases the results

are tragic. Many young leaders give up early in their ca-

reers not because they . ack ideas or ambion but simp-

ly because their bodies would not follow where their

spirits lead them. Taking care of ones physical health is

of paramount importance and more so for a leader. Re-

member that even the human heart rst supplies itself

before pumping blood to the enre body.

Courtesy of stockimages/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Courtesy of photostock/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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onal gauges of their immediate family.

The results are oen tragic. Oen marriages falls apart and where it survives the children suer from the aer-

eects of growing up in a dysfunconal family. One may have to forgo short term rewards to invesng me in

the family but the results are enduring.

Courtesy of domdeen/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A leader is bestowed with trust and power. He can make and break people and organizaons. Hence, it is vital that

the leader pays aenon to his health, his family and his perspecve about his role. A healthy leader means a

healthy organizaon.

~ Vivek Alexander (GMP, Class of 2012-13)

Lets be honest. No job oers constant opportunies for

innovaon. Many of our tasks at work are bound to be rou-

ne. Some become cynical when they discover this, while

others soldier on. It is important for each one of us to un-

derstand that though our tasks many not mean much in iso-

laon, together they may be serving a lager purpose. The

chief of a plant in steel manufacturing rm in a small townmay be indirectly parcipang in naon-building by being

part of the steel industry which is vital for infrastructure

creaon. It is important that leaders understand their roles

in the larger context. Knowing the greater context facilitates

organizaonal alignment, removes barriers to change and

nurtures the organizaonal culture.

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, , , ,

! !! !!! , , , ? !!! , , ,

,

, ,

! !!!

~ (GMP, Class of 2012-13)

PerchedHe is sing cowered,

The rain pouring.

Does not dare y,

Though the sky, looks alluring.

A chill is seng in,

Does not wish to perish.

But it is the cold, prevenng,

From slipping into the abyss.

At some point, he now remembers,

When the egg had hatched & the Sun hit.

Though it was blinding at rst,

But everything was lit.

So he opens his wings again,

Wishing had a bigger span.

So as to soar higher,

Higher than the clan.

And mustering all the courage,

He wants to be a bird.

He is Me

I am the Bird!

Poet Corner

~ Abhinav Srivastav (GMP, Class of 2012-13)

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As part of the Leadership Series organized by GMP batch of 2012-13, XLRI, Mr. Navin Gulia, was invited to in-

teract with students and faculty at XLRI. He delivered an inspiraonal talk on Posive and Posive : The Key toSuccess.

Mr. Navin Gulia is an adventurer, a writer, a social worketr and an movaonal speaker. He is an epitome of

grit & courage who deed all the odds in his ght against an injury which paralyzed his whole body and

stopped him in his tracks from a promising Army career. He was conned to a wheelchair but it could not stop

him from pursuing academics, motoring through mountains or rehabilitang underprivileged kids. He is recipi-

ent of number of presgious awards such as Indian People of the Year Award, Global Indian of the Year, Kavin-

Care Ability Mastery Award, Naonal Role Model Award and Haryana Gourav Award.

GliMPse team had a chance to interact with Mr. Gulia and relive moments of his inspiraonal journey.

Walk the talk with leaders

GliMPse: Welcome to XLRI sir and thanks for

taking me out to speak to us.

Navin Gulia: My pleasure.

GliMPse: You are a 'naonal role model'. You

have shown the world how not to stop and not

to lose faith, whatever may come in your way.

This is a true leadership spirit. As a leader, what

kind of atude towards life would you adviseus, the budding leaders?

Navin Gulia: Make your own way and have your

own thoughts. Be genuine. If a person is not

genuine, he cannot be a leader. Choose the right

way for you. Some people think that engaging

themselves in a controversy or markeng them-

selves heavily can take bring them success. That

is a wrong concept. You put eorts and make

yourself worthy. Then you will become capable

and genuine. Why did people support Anna Haz-

are? There were many people who wore a cap

saying main bhi Anna, but were they the cho-

sen leader? No. Anna developed his genuine-

ness over 35 long years. That is the reason peo-

ple accepted him as a leader. And secondly, give

right direcon to the mass and not merely what

they want

Mr. Navin Gulia

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GliMPse: You had a dream of serving the country be-

fore the accident. Even aer the accident, you are

serving the naon in a great way through the NGO

ADAA (Apni Duniya Apna Ashiana). How and when

the idea of forming ADAA came to you? Please tell us

something about ADAA.

Navin Gulia: I always wanted to do it. Generally we

tend to postpone such decision for next year thinking

that currently we do not have resources. But then on

one cold night, I saw a lile girl in a very bad condi-

on. She had no winter-clothes and had no shelter.

That day I said to myself, whether I have resources or

not, I will start. That was the beginning.

Now why ADAA is for children? The reason is that,

you can enlighten the mind of children. Their minds

are much more recepve and movated. Grown up

people cannot be changed. Through molding the

minds of children we can achieve a greater good for

the society.

Two things I stress on in ADAA. One is that whenever

a child in need comes to me, I should be able to help,

irrespecve of whether he or she is physically or men-

tally challenged or an orphan. Even a child whose fa-

ther is alcoholic and who is going through exploitaon

and through all miseries of poverty needs a helping

hand Secondly, I ensure that the operang costs are

minimal. This way most of the collected money can

reach to the children. We try to accommodate as

many children as possible. Most of them stay with

their families only. We provide them livelihood and

bear their educaon expense, because that is what

they need.

GliMPse: You have interacted many a mes with

dierent sports teams and most recently you interact-

ed with Indian Hockey team to movate them. Please

tell us how sports correlate with life.

Navin Gulia: Both in sports and in life, the main rea-

son of failure is the fear of failure. You will fail once,

twice or thrice but if you learn from your mistakes,

one day you will succeed. If you keep moving, there is

no failure. And set your targets high. Dont sele for

the available easy soluon. When I completed the

masters in computer management, it was a boom

me for the IT industry. I could have ended up with a

job easily aer doing even a cercaon in computer

management. My classmates got placed in good com-

panies worldwide. I said I will not take a job. They

asked me why I joined the program in that case. I said

I wanted to learn and get back to my life. Till then Istruggled a lot to cross the bar I set for myself. Today

my friends accept that my way was right.

GliMPse: You have adventurous heart of iron. You

drove through Khardung La and Marsimik La and

drove for 55 connuous hours. You went for hand

gliding and Microlite ying. What always drives you to

adventures? Can you share some experiences of that

unique 55 hour drive? How did you feel?

Navin Gulia: When you see the extreme of fear, the

extreme of dicules, you enhance the vision of life,

your outlook changes. Life is like a 500 rupee note. If

you keep it safe in your pocket it is only a piece of

paper, it has no value. It is only valuable when you

use it. At the end of life, you should be saying yes I

have done something with my life. I have seen peo-

ple repenng saying that I have played safe all my

life, I have compromised. I do not have such repent-

ance. Whenever I got opportunity to do something

that I felt worthwhile, I went for it.

And remember, adventure is not about taking a risk, it

is about eliminang risk. When you do adventure, you

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must do it in a fully safe way. By following proper pro-

cesses,sky diving can be made safer than car driving.

The challenge lies in eliminang the risk.

GliMPse: Many people in our country tend to commitsuicide for pey reasons. You, on the other hand

snatched life from the hands of death. What advice

would you give to them?

Navin Gulia: In our life we learn to be proud of our

country, state, caste, instuons, organizaons, family

and many other things. But the most necessary for you

is to be proud of yourself, to value yourself. Losing self-

condence and self-esteem is even worse than being

an egoist. Value your life, value yourself. People keeptelling me you were in the army; you could have made

a great career there. I tell them that army career is

something I wanted to pursue, but it is not larger than

my life. Nothing can make me feel that my life holds no

meaning because I am proud of myself. People are

afraid of losing money, losing name and fame. They

keep more importance to it than life at large. But I

have no such fear. This world did not spare even Christ

or Gandhi. Why would I expect it would spare me?

GliMPse: What do you like to do the most in your free

me?

Navin Gulia: Introspect. I do not think about what oth-

ers are thinking about me. I like to keep myself mental-

ly relaxed, thinking calmly about myself.

GliMPse: What is your plan for the next adventure?

Navin Gulia: I wish to drive through whole of India.

GliMPse: Thank you sir for talking to us. It was a pleas-

ure interacng with you.

Navin Gulia: Thank you.

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Mr. Praveen Sinha

As part of the Leadership Series 2012-13, XLRI GMP had invited

Mr. Praveen Sinha, Co-founder and Managing Director

- Jabong.com. Mr Sinha gave a lecture on Entrepreneurship,

E-commerce and its Challenges.

Mr. Praveen Sinha is an IIM Kolkata (2008) and Delhi College of

Engineering (2001) alumnus. Before founding Jabong he has

worked with Maru, Microso and McKinsey. As Co- Founder

and Managing Director of Jabong.com, his role encompasses

looking aer the enre operaons capability along with supply

chain management, sales, nance, human resources and ad-

ministraon since the company launch in October 2011.

GliMPse team had the privilege to interact with Mr. Praveen

Sinha about his experiences with founding a company and his

thoughts on some of the challenges for e-tailers.

GliMPse: Welcome to XLRI sir and thanks for taking

me out topeak to us.

Praveen Sinha: Thank you.

GliMPse: With so many e-commerce players in the

market, most of the e-tailers are forced to oer heavy

discounts, somemes even below the cost of the items

sold. The operang margin is very low an even nega-

ve. Moreover, Jabong is into just two categories - ap-

parel and jewelry. How do you think Jabong will be

able to dierenate itself and survive?

Praveen Sinha: Fair queson. There are few crucial

points to consider. Firstly, there is consolidaon hap-pening. Earlier there were hundreds of e-commerce

plaorms. But now the number has reduced drascal-

ly. The main reason is that aer starng the e-

commerce plaorm, sustaining or holding the inera is

very tough. Having said that, it does not kill the compe-

on. This is actually a good indicator, since it shows

that there is sll room for more players. Secondly, the

dierenaon at higher level will not be much. Dier-

enaon will come from dierent parameters. For ex-

ample, customer experience. There are thousands of

acvies to be done in parallel, in sync and consistent-ly - which is a dierenator in itself. In addion, it is

also important what we dene the key dierenators

are. One would be smartness. If you go to any website,

there may be 20000 to 30000 opons. We oer 50000

opons.

GliMPse: This reects on senment analysis on Twier

as well. Jabong goes the highest.

Praveen Sinha: Right, and we are not even proacvelyengaging customers on those forums which is denite-

ly important, compared to other players in the market.

So to me, as I've shared this thought at other forums, if

you see and reect upon rivals in the industry - earlier

there were 100 names. In 3-4 years, e-commerce will

have 3-4 big players and others will be in more niche

segments or get diluted.

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GliMPse: With this high operang leverage industry in

which you are playing now, customers have low

switching cost. In a moment customers are buying

from Jabong, at the same me they may be buying

from Flipkart. Is Jabong planning to go with the popu-

lar Low Cost drive or the Customer Experience and

sasfacon?Praveen Sinha: I'm clear that you have done your re-

search, which is good (giggles). You are right. It is not

low, but No Switching cost for the customers com-

pared to a physical mall which has a cost of travelling

distance and so on. However, you are right. People

are price sensive. But there are mulple variables.

One is price. But more important is do I've the prod-

uct that the customer wants. So you can be a discount

seeker who always looks for discounted products. So

you go to the most discounted website. But discount

comes with a cost. Dierent customers have dierent

tastes and opinions. There are certain customers who

think - Why is it on discount? So you have dierent e-

commerce plaorms for dierent sets of customers.

For us, it is always value for money. So if we know

there are customers who need stock of a parcular

brand , we'll get a fresh stock. Price, we cannot pro-

vide that. I will not create another deal site. There are

mulple deal sites. So its an oine store which has

been converted online. You get the product at the

right price. At the end of season, whenever there is

stock which has to be liquidated, we provide dis-

count. So price is a factor, but Value for money is

more important and so is customer experience. Forinstance, if I can give consistent experience and oth-

ers can't, then I've an advantage. If everyone gives,

then its not. So you see, we have our own delivery

system, which will not be very easy for others to fol-

low.. I will cite another example. In cies where we

oer home delivery, the customer can open the box-

es before you pay. But in case of other companies,

you have to rst pay. This is important for customer.

S/he doesn't have to keep it for a day, call the cus-

tomer care the next day. The process is much beer

now.

GliMPse: How do you see the future of the e-

commerce industry? Will it connue growing at this

pace?

Praveen Sinha: It will be fairly healthy growth com-

pared to any other sector. And one of the reasons I

see is that the younger generaon which is entering

has buying power, are comfortable buying online. So

as years pass by, with more graduates and MBAs

coming in, the growth will connue. Even the elderlyare geng comfortable with buying online. It is taking

some me but they are nding it simpler. So you can

see growth of 900% for some companies. Its not a

long term trend, but the growth will connue and

there are many things yet to happen. Grocery has

become a new buzzword for e-commerce. If you are

not charging for logiscs, its not sustainable unless

you are a large distributor. The model will evolve. If

grocery is successful online, it will be very huge. It hasstarted in fruit chat. But the fundamentals can't be

compromised. Cost of products is increasing. Sustain-

ing the model will be tough.

GliMPse: In this case, Flipkart has 6 warehouses.

Jabong has only one in Manesar. So Flipkart must be

moving into expanding its horizon of number of prod-

uct oerings.

Praveen Sinha: The way to look at it is slightly dier-

ent. You can have mulple warehouses. But can you

make a demand and supply projecon? Can I stock all

products that will sell in that region? Or else I'll have

to pay the mirror image of all the warehouses. It is

very dicult. I don't think it is praccal. So its good

to have a master warehouse and a slave or distributor

warehouse, where you can have a predicon manage-

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ment in place. When I say distribuon warehouse, its a

distribuon center. For example, if I want to sell gro-

cery in Jamshedpur, I cannot send it from Gurgaon. So I

need to have collaboraon with someone in Jamshed-pur, or even in close neighborhood, so that whenever I

get an order I get a close linkage to the available per-

son and he delivers the product. The challenge is cus-

tomer experience. If you have 3000 vendors, it will be

very dicult to ensure that customer experience. You

can take an order, but say 150th vendor has not deliv-

ered. Then the customer experience has gone for a

toss. Scalability has those challenges.

GliMPse: Are you going for JIT processing?

Praveen Sinha: Yes and the vendor has to be equipped.

GliMPse: Do you have any advice for entrepreneurs in

GMP?

Praveen Sinha: My advice would be, start. If you keep

reecng that there will be a right me, you keep

waing and the days pass. My advice is start. If its not

in your context to take risk, start working with a mix.

What you could not achieve in one year, it may take 3-4

years. You work for 5 days. You have 2 days to fulll

your entrepreneurial desires. Your wife / girlfriend will

have to understand those things. If you have right fo-

cus, instead of 1 year, it will take you 3-4 years. At least

you would have started. Dont keep pushing.

GliMPse: What is your typical day like?

Praveen Sinha: On a typical day, my stress is under

control. You have many variables, most of which you

can control except 5-10%. One thing is you can write

down the problem to deviate the stress. So at least

from my mind, it goes away. But you'll not forget it.

The next day you can work on soluon to that problem.

Quality of problem will change. And you can deal with

the stress in a beer way.

GliMPse: Returning to e-

retail market, Jabong dieren-ates in having beer customer experience and also

having suppliers at the local level. How successful it has

been?

Praveen Sinha: On inventory side, it is good. But once I

ask him to deliver, the customer experience goes for a

toss. So the model will take some me to mature.

GliMPse: By stascs, what we were observing, the

CAGR for apparels is very high, about 70%.And also for

electronic industry. But Jabong is not into electronic

industry. Considering the rural market where people

are not geng electronic items, why is Jabong not

thinking of rural market where the prospect of internet

market is growing?

Praveen Sinha: In terms of market, no doubt its great.

It doesnt t on our porolio or model. Two, there are

many entrants. Three, electronic prices are very dy-

namic. Somemes, your selling price is lower than the

buying price. Fourth its commodized. The margin is

very less. All this makes it unt for my porolio.

GliMPse: Thank you sir for talking to us. It was a pleas-

ure interacng with you.

Praveen Sinha: Thank you.

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Holi Hallah @GMP

Fesvals are celebrated in XLRI GMP with full vigor and faculty members and families of GMPians are an inte-

gral part of the celebraons. Whether it is Diwali, New year or Eid, few voluntary organizers will come up and

make the event big. This me it was Holi and the celebraons were wild. The colors of joy, friendship and har-

mony were writ large on the faces of GMPians. The pictures below capture some magical moments.

Holi Hai !!

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Mind Benders Result

Following are the soluons to the Mind Benders quesons, posed in the Issue 1 of GliMPse:

1. The son will split the coins randomly into 2 groups - 1st with 40 coins and 2nd with 60 coins and will

turn all the coins in the 2nd group (60 coins) upside down.

2. Interchange the camels and race

3. The man had hiccups.

Congratulaons to Aditya Agarwal from XLRI GMP 2013, for sending the only entry with all-correct an-

swers! A special prize awaits you!!

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The GliMPse Team

Standing (L to R) : Mani, Gaurav, Onkar, Jay Prakash, Abhilasha

Sitting (L to R) : Titash, Amar, Viswa, Abhik, Darshan