I was with Ram Merchandiser yesterday. He works for the stockist and takes care of the displays to be displayed (d-uh!) at the various retail outlets. He took me around to all the shops I had to visit, which saved me a lot of time hunting around for these shops. But he only walks...the only transport he uses is the local train to transport himself from one suburb to another.....otherwise, its only walking....

And i walked with him....walked and walked...and covered the two shops at mahim...

Then we moved on to Bandra...i ask him,

"Ek Auto le lein?" (shall we catch a rickshaw?)
"Nahin Sir, paas hain"...(No need sir, the shop is nearby)

and we walk and walk....and we reach the "nearby" shop after walking for nearly half hour....
(Half hour sounds less....but considering it was a blistering hot outside and the fact that i was walking all the way before that....)

After that, we hardly walked....cleverly combining the use of the auto and the bus, i get through the rest of the route with relative ease....(Hey, i'm getting 200 bucks for transportation per day...resources must be used optimally ;-) )

Though if it werent for Ram Merchandiser, I know i wouldnt have completed the route yesterday...Thanx Dude...

Epilogue:
Was late into the evening, i was chilling in my room, when i felt a pain in my left leg...the walking took its toll...I had a tough time going to sleep...the pain was well, painful .. ;-)

Just a Thought :

Was walking through a narrow lane, filled with potholes and dirty water all around....had do quite a bit of dodging around. So i was mostly looking down...i knew where i had to go...the destination was there. But what i couldnt do was look around much, couldnt see what was around me...i could have possibly missed out on some alternative routes, that i could have to taken to reach my destination.....

I was thinking about any business going through tough times(possibly due to external or internal fators)....what should it do? The above para tells me, that it should look at short term, look for immediate escape routes, even if it maybe costly in the long-term.....

I wonder if there's been business in trouble, that has done otherwise....if so, what's happened to that business...did it survive? if it has, has it emerged stronger ?...

Been a week into the job......excruciating is too *nice* a word to describe what i was going through all of last week. But there's this AWESOME sense of fulfillment at the end of the day. That's coz, I'm actually out there DOING something....even if it means travelling in jam packed trains, getting headaches walking in the hot sun(not mention having to put on sunscreen..yuck!), being shouted at or worse, being totally ignore by retailers, as if i were some form of low life...

In a week's travelling, i've learnt more about Mumbai than i have in the last 9 months of actually living in this city. Since i get my lunch reimbursed everyday (with a cap upto Rs.200!!) i get to eat what i want, wherever i want to....so its been McD, Subway going on alternate days :))

....All this is of course, is apart from the amazing learning experience, of actually talking to retailers, stockists and customers and getting their point of view....Its great to see things as they happen out there, which isnt even half as close as the text book scenarios we learn in the classroom.


Mintzberg recently took a swipe at MBA students and the learning they go through at "B-Schools". Being an MBA student myself, I wouldn't entirely do away with what's taught at a B-school. Its textbook stuff and not practical stuff...many would say. True, but what written in texts are actually Experiences of many people spread over a long periods of time, which have been crystallised into a few paragraphs.

Unlike say physics, where certain principles are fundamental and apply to all situations (like gravity), in Management, every situation is unique and so what we learn in school can never be applied as it is. This i feel is the mistake many students make....they feel they've learnt all about they need to know abt business at a b-school..and feel they can apply what they have learnt as it is..which is simply untrue...

Then as Mintzberg said (Mahesh Murthy mentioned this in his BunsinessWorld column), there's the need to use a tool called "Gut-feel"...many successful leaders/managers are successful because they have used exactly this tool.

This tool cannot be learnt instantly(develops with experience, many say...i personally feel genetics have a major role). Its highly risky to use it. And the results are often unpredictable....which is why its easier to hide behind statistics, numbers and the like ....

And yet, there will always come a time in any managers professional life when he/she has to use "gut-feel"....In fact ,many important decisions have been taken on "gut feel"...logic usually takes the back seat....
Hard to digest for most MBA students...Logic just HAS to be there....if there's no logic behind a decision....then there's no decision....A common refrain among younger managers....no harm thinking that way...but its NOT the ONLY way....that's what we have to accept...

just added a comment script...this is to test that

Tomorrow is when the grind begins...

Had a taste of the job on friday, walking all day in the sun, looking around for the 8 shops i was supposed to visit that day...the heat,dust, pollution, and the hustle-bustle that's typical of a day in Mumbai...really gets to you. Needless to say, the experience was humbling...Talking to retailers, you realise that not everything is hunky-dory on the frontlines as in made out in the corporate office....

MBAs in general dream of sitting in air-conditioned corporate offices, glassy buildings with plush interiors, a laptop and few good looking colleagues for company...

Absolutely nothing wrong with that...everyone wants to live the good life...but I personally feel, that there's this growth path one should follow.....going through some hardships initially, before settling in comfortably....Most companies (especially fmcg's) i know, follow this path for its new recruits...


I know what i've written, sounds pretty old...even cliched maybe.....but's its good to be reminded once in a while......it keeps you going through some tough times....like what i'll be going through over the next 5 weeks....

back after a long hiatus...

dont wish to write down that's happened in my life since my last blog. Not that much has happened anyway.
BUT..yes, my 3rd module exams did get over...that's some serious relief. No more exams till september this year.... :))

As of now,doing my summer internship with colgate-palmolive. Involved in market research. Will get to travel all around Mumbai...hoping to know the city like the back of my hand at the end of two months. More importantly, will get to to meet tons of stockists, retailers and of course, consumers....
Col-pal's probably got the best sales setup in India...getting to understand and actually seeing it in action is in itself an awesome experience....

Looking forward to an exciting summer at col-pal...and of course, after that, a 25 day stay(hopefully) at home in June....:)


btw, most of my friends dont agree on this one....but I FEEL, Vanilla Coke's great....