Feedback

Last week I had the Wharton feedback session. It was a good session. I was a bit surprised by some of the weak points that she point out. So, overall it was a useful meeting.

As already pointed by some of the other bloggers, the receptionist/administrative assistant who routes the calls can certainly use some training in people skills. But I don't think that is a reflection on the schools. I know that Wharton is a great school. I guess, it was a case of a insensitive person at that specific office.

On a different note, after months of hardwork, finally my project is going live this weekend. I am keeping my fingers crosses. It is a high visibility project. I hope it goes as planned.

Final decision (for the year at least)... and life goes on

I am off the waitlist now. I received the final ding letter from Stern. So, no more waits. I am done for the year.

Now that I don't have a single admit, I thought at least I will reorganize my blog. So, I removed the links for the schools. I am still thinking whether I should give the MBA thing another shot. I am still thinking .... but leaning towards a "nay" verdict.

Going forward, my blog is going to contain more of my thought on areas of my interest, e.g., events and trends in finance, market and business. It is not that I am an expert in any of these areas. But I like these areas.

C.K.Prahalad's article on outsourcing (in WSJ) was an interesting read today. I was expecting a little more from Prahalad. But he took the usual efficiency-productivity-global market route. Though he did take a potshot at Lou Dobbs, he carefully dodged Lou's prime concern - the issue of US job loss. Everyone, including Prahalad, talks about the obvious gains to business and economy by lower cost, higher productivity, global competitiveness etc. But no one talks about the social implication of loss of white collar job in US.

I am a proponent of outsourcing and focus on core competency. But I am still looking for some ideas to mitigate the social implication of job loss. The only voice I have heard on this issue so far is that of Greenspan. He says that historically US has managed to innovate into newer areas and hence create new job opportunities that compensate the loss of job due to globalization. That's the key strength of US economy. Though it is not a clear response, at least it is plausible. I am still looking for an alternate theory. Either I am stupid or it is a complex issue.

Back to work, play and blogging

I am back after a 4 week hiatus from blogging world (and for that matter I was absent from entire cyberworld). I am warming up the idea of "working" after a month long eventful vacation - marriage, honeymoon and everything in between. Today I am busy explaining the details of my trip to everyone. So, work takes a back seat.

I am alive

Yes, it's a fact. I am still alive. But in a different world. Next few weeks I will be offline. First marriage and then honeymoon in France and Italy. Yoohuuu.... Europe here I come. Probably I won't blog for a month.....

Waitlisted at Stern

Checked the Stern website today and there - the waitlist letter was waiting for me.

Four schools refused to look at my application and the fifth one is not ready to let it go :-)

Jack Welch's new book - "Winning"

It had been a hectic last few days - both on personal and professional front. Phew. However, I managed to take some out to start reading Jack Welch's new book - "Winning". Only 100 more pages to go.

Though most of the stuff in the book are old-wine-in-old-cask, it has some good points. I think while reading the book it is better to keep in mind that the book is more of an validation of existing concepts rather than a collection of new concepts in management. So far, I found 3 sections interesting - budgeting, strategy and performance management.

1. Budgeting: It is the most interesting part of the book. I am impressed by the approach suggested by Jack. It is not easy to institutionalize such an radical approach to budgeting. Typically it will take years to implement the new approach. But if a CEO is convinced that it is right thing to do then certainly it can be done, however painful may be the process of convincing others. It will be good to find out if any firm (other than GE) is using such an approach to budgeting.

2. Strategy: The message is clear - "Keep it simple". But, I feel, the whole section about strategy is colored by his experience in GE. The examples and suggestions are more tilted towards firms that look similar to GE [organizations in a well established industry]. The overall message of keeping the strategy simple and focus more on execution is consistent with thinking of other real world leaders such as Lou Gerstner. Now I think all my MBA-consultant friends are going to root for my blood :-)

3. Performance Management: I have been looking for an effective performance management approach for almost 4 years now. My problem is that I can point out all the problems in the approaches used by various firms but I don't have any solution. Jack's 20-70-10 approach to performance management has some merit. I guess it will work well for senior executives. But at operational level and junior management level, I still don't have an answer.

This book is a definite improvement over his earlier book - Straight from the Gut.

No luck with Columbia

Got the rejection email from Columbia. Man, I am getting used to dings. Based on my success ratio (which is "0" so far), only thing I can conclude is that my expectations were way out of line from reality.

Damn. It sucks.