There is a saying that 'Education is the best provision for old age'. This may be true when thought from the point of view of an individual. Education teaches a person to deal with old age.
However, when we look at the saying from the point of view of a parent, I think the saying falls apart. Let me explain:
All parents expect a child to be better than them and be with them in their old age. But this education has prevented the younger generation from letting this happen. In India, most children from all states aspire to be in top institutes in the country and then get excellent jobs. For this purpose, they leave their home and parents and join the prestigious colleges in some other part of the country away from their hometown. Later after taking up jobs in some of the best companies of the country, they start living in a city, away from their home. Children learn to live without parents and later on marry a girl and settle in cities away from their home. Children expect parents to leave their hometown and join them in the cities which isn't acceptable to most. (And thats quite valid. I mean why should they leave a place wherein they are well settled and enter an unknown city). So, most of the bright young students leave away from their parents.
If thats the case, how will a child be a 'parents' budhape ka Sahara'. The parent is left with no choice but to be dependent on their relatives staying nearby or neighbours. The child especially the boy from whom it is expected that he'll take care of his parents lives in a place far away from his parent when the parent most requires him. Especially when it comes to health problems and other things, the child reaches his parents' place at the last moment when almost everything is taken care of by neighbours.
The problem of getting leaves from workplace and other committments make the matter worse and the boy/girl tends to be away from his parents for most of the time.
I believe that this has become a trend in India (In Maharashtra, where I leave, trend is working in Pune, Mumbai or going to the US). While the child benefits from getting better prospects, it is the parents who lose by having to lead a lonely life away from their child.
I am one of such persons who stays away from parents and wish to really go back. However, now I feel that now I am caught up in this viscous cycle - B-School then a job in a city, then marriage and settlement in Mumbai or Pune. I feel I will never be living with them at their place (Sangli).
Thus, it is this education that has rendered me useless when it comes to be a provision for my parents' old age.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Best Practices followed
All the while in MBA we learn about the best practices followed by world-class companies to acheive greater customer satisfaction and as a result more profits. Be it SCM where Walmart and Toyotta have shown to the world the importance of techniques like cross docking and JIT or be it Dell where the 'Pull' system is followed in a market filled with 'Push' based players.
I learnt more about the Best world class practices when I read the summary of the book - "Future at the bottom of the Pyramid" and learnt more when I had the previlige of attending a seminar with Mr. C.K Prahalad, the books author - (Thanks to my college and Aditya Birla Group for allowing 20 students to attend the session. It was held at Trident, my first visit- excellent food too). So, in the session, I learnt that there is an eye hospital named "Aravind Eye Clinic" in south India where the largest number of eye surgeries are carried out at low rates.
Last couple of days were quite painful for me for I had a severe tooth ace and my face was swollen due to some puss accumulated near my check area on account of tooth infection. Because of this dental problem, I visited a dental clinic in Chinchwad, Pune. On seeing the name marathi clinic, I thought it would be a typical small dental clinic where a veteran would be treating patients. But to my surprise, I found the clinic to be very modern. It has great infrastructure - i mean the reception of the clinic looked almost like the reception of a multi-national or an IT company.
The interiors and decoration stuff was accurate but what was more astonishing was that the hospital had 4 surgical beds - or tables (whatever it may be called) and had 2 or 3 doctors. So what actually happened was that while a doctor was treating a patient on one surgical bed, the spare bed was being cleaned and sanitized by the nurses and as soon as the doctor was done with the work, he/she moved to other table where another patient was already present. So, in result, no time of the doctor was lost. A very good experience I thought. It was just like the Aravind Eye clinic I read about.
However, mind you it is also quite costly. Only the consultation fees anount to Rs. 100, simple abscess drainage Rs 500 (only prick at a place in the mouth) and root canal treatment for 3 teets amount to approx Rs 30000. But thats the cost you pay for a better service using best pracices some people may say.
Thinking deeply, I now feel that while Aravind eye clinic uses this best practice to treat more number of poor people at affordable rates, this clinic uses the practice to maximize its profits (lutofy people).
I learnt more about the Best world class practices when I read the summary of the book - "Future at the bottom of the Pyramid" and learnt more when I had the previlige of attending a seminar with Mr. C.K Prahalad, the books author - (Thanks to my college and Aditya Birla Group for allowing 20 students to attend the session. It was held at Trident, my first visit- excellent food too). So, in the session, I learnt that there is an eye hospital named "Aravind Eye Clinic" in south India where the largest number of eye surgeries are carried out at low rates.
Last couple of days were quite painful for me for I had a severe tooth ace and my face was swollen due to some puss accumulated near my check area on account of tooth infection. Because of this dental problem, I visited a dental clinic in Chinchwad, Pune. On seeing the name marathi clinic, I thought it would be a typical small dental clinic where a veteran would be treating patients. But to my surprise, I found the clinic to be very modern. It has great infrastructure - i mean the reception of the clinic looked almost like the reception of a multi-national or an IT company.
The interiors and decoration stuff was accurate but what was more astonishing was that the hospital had 4 surgical beds - or tables (whatever it may be called) and had 2 or 3 doctors. So what actually happened was that while a doctor was treating a patient on one surgical bed, the spare bed was being cleaned and sanitized by the nurses and as soon as the doctor was done with the work, he/she moved to other table where another patient was already present. So, in result, no time of the doctor was lost. A very good experience I thought. It was just like the Aravind Eye clinic I read about.
However, mind you it is also quite costly. Only the consultation fees anount to Rs. 100, simple abscess drainage Rs 500 (only prick at a place in the mouth) and root canal treatment for 3 teets amount to approx Rs 30000. But thats the cost you pay for a better service using best pracices some people may say.
Thinking deeply, I now feel that while Aravind eye clinic uses this best practice to treat more number of poor people at affordable rates, this clinic uses the practice to maximize its profits (lutofy people).
Friday, February 26, 2010
Yaadein
Its been around 8 months I left my job at SI Group India Limited (previously Herdillia) and the time has gone around really fast. I haven't been in constant touch with anyone from the factory. I am to be blamed for this. It takes just 5 mins to write an email or sms but my inertia has prevented me from doing so.
Since the past few days, I have been wondering about my life before joining SCMHRD and I feel that the two years spent at Herdillia will remain special and memorable throughout my entire life. In fact, I feel that these two years were the most well-spent days of my life till now. Even though after MBA I will be getting a so called "better" job which will pay me more and give me higher designations, I feel that the job at Herdillia was the best. I mean there was so much there which I don't think I'll be getting at most of the other organizations.
Some special things of Herdillia I recall (which I may not get at any other job) are:
1. The respect I obtained from one and all in the organization: I entered the organization only as a management trainee but still I was treated with a lot of respect by everyone around. People entrusted me with some of the important jobs.
Many senior managers and even the plant officials treated me with a lot of respect and always asked for my suggestions (which I obviously couldn't give) before making decisions. Whenever, I went to the factory, people actually told me the problems facing the plant with the expectation that I will solve the problems. (something which people talk to with long serving employees only). Eve the contract labour personnel and the maintenance staff helped me and talked to me with respect.
2. My boss: A PhD from UDCT, Dr. Animesh Chakrabarti, was my boss at my first job. He is a boss I feel everyone should have in the first job. He never imposed any big work on me and always exposed me to the problems faced by the plant and asked me for suggestions. He always asked whether I was confident enough for designing anything.
He believed in me when I said I was confident and that was the reason a fresh engineer coming straight out from college could design a pump in the first month (which he approved without much cross checking) and then a heat exchanger based on my hand calculations. (It was only after his approval that some others cross checked my calculations in a software). Although I did some boring work like preparing for ppt's for monthly reviews, I now understand their value and would really like to thank him for letting me do so. He was also the fastest growing person in the organization. He became the GM of the technical department when I joined and in 1.5 years he was made the VP of the entire factory. His name now has started appearing on the annual reports of the company. He was also very accomodating and always left me to my house when we had to wait after office hours. He always granted me leaves when I needed them (thodi mach mach hoti thi but finally he gave). He always any good work done by me - be it changes in the documentation or working after factory hours - in private which I really liked.
Senior Manager - S.T.Patil - He is the best mentor anyone can have. A very intelligent, logical and a perfect plant manager, Mr S.T. Patil is the person who is involved in almost all the decision - small and large taking place at the company. He is a person who always took me to the plant when required to let me see new happenings in the plant. He was a very frank person and always told me where I went wrong. Also, he was good at catching me when I lied (which I did sometimes). I learnt the actual art of managing a lot of stressful activities from him. He is also one of the most respectable people of the organization and his word is never questioned in the organization. He is not an engineer but he knows a lot about engineering and guided me about the use of formulaes. He is also very good at grasping new things- be it Six Sigma or Finance.
I guess this post will never end. Some of the things I miss are listed. Will write more about them later:
The morning breakfast
The bus service at Herdillia
The collegues
Mr. Solanki
Mr. Borwankar
Mr. Vichare
Plant
Freedom
Food
etc
etc
Can't stop writing about life at Herdillia . Truly unforgettable.
Hope the company does well in all affairs.
Since the past few days, I have been wondering about my life before joining SCMHRD and I feel that the two years spent at Herdillia will remain special and memorable throughout my entire life. In fact, I feel that these two years were the most well-spent days of my life till now. Even though after MBA I will be getting a so called "better" job which will pay me more and give me higher designations, I feel that the job at Herdillia was the best. I mean there was so much there which I don't think I'll be getting at most of the other organizations.
Some special things of Herdillia I recall (which I may not get at any other job) are:
1. The respect I obtained from one and all in the organization: I entered the organization only as a management trainee but still I was treated with a lot of respect by everyone around. People entrusted me with some of the important jobs.
Many senior managers and even the plant officials treated me with a lot of respect and always asked for my suggestions (which I obviously couldn't give) before making decisions. Whenever, I went to the factory, people actually told me the problems facing the plant with the expectation that I will solve the problems. (something which people talk to with long serving employees only). Eve the contract labour personnel and the maintenance staff helped me and talked to me with respect.
2. My boss: A PhD from UDCT, Dr. Animesh Chakrabarti, was my boss at my first job. He is a boss I feel everyone should have in the first job. He never imposed any big work on me and always exposed me to the problems faced by the plant and asked me for suggestions. He always asked whether I was confident enough for designing anything.
He believed in me when I said I was confident and that was the reason a fresh engineer coming straight out from college could design a pump in the first month (which he approved without much cross checking) and then a heat exchanger based on my hand calculations. (It was only after his approval that some others cross checked my calculations in a software). Although I did some boring work like preparing for ppt's for monthly reviews, I now understand their value and would really like to thank him for letting me do so. He was also the fastest growing person in the organization. He became the GM of the technical department when I joined and in 1.5 years he was made the VP of the entire factory. His name now has started appearing on the annual reports of the company. He was also very accomodating and always left me to my house when we had to wait after office hours. He always granted me leaves when I needed them (thodi mach mach hoti thi but finally he gave). He always any good work done by me - be it changes in the documentation or working after factory hours - in private which I really liked.
Senior Manager - S.T.Patil - He is the best mentor anyone can have. A very intelligent, logical and a perfect plant manager, Mr S.T. Patil is the person who is involved in almost all the decision - small and large taking place at the company. He is a person who always took me to the plant when required to let me see new happenings in the plant. He was a very frank person and always told me where I went wrong. Also, he was good at catching me when I lied (which I did sometimes). I learnt the actual art of managing a lot of stressful activities from him. He is also one of the most respectable people of the organization and his word is never questioned in the organization. He is not an engineer but he knows a lot about engineering and guided me about the use of formulaes. He is also very good at grasping new things- be it Six Sigma or Finance.
I guess this post will never end. Some of the things I miss are listed. Will write more about them later:
The morning breakfast
The bus service at Herdillia
The collegues
Mr. Solanki
Mr. Borwankar
Mr. Vichare
Plant
Freedom
Food
etc
etc
Can't stop writing about life at Herdillia . Truly unforgettable.
Hope the company does well in all affairs.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Aantakshari
While travelling in a bus or a SUV during long journey, it is a common practice to play aantakshari to pass the travelling time. I think that is quite a good option and travelling is made more fun that way.
I have myself been to many trips and have played aantakshri at most of the road trips. I had been with many different groups - Family, Sangli friends, UDCT friends and now SCMHRD friends. While each group was distinctly different (except me being common element), I observed that in almost all trips, the same set of songs were repeated more or less. I observed that the same old songs were sung by all. Not many new songs were tried by people. Everytime when Tha came everyone sang 'Thande Thande pani se'.. and when na came 'na na kaarte pyar ..', etc came to everyone's minds including me. Most of the songs sung were of the 1990's or at max the early 2000's. In my last trip, no other song of a movie released after Lagaan was sung.
What are the reasons for this? Have we all hard the old songs more than the number of times we've heard the new ones. Definitely no in this era of radios where we get to listen to the latest songs almost 5-7 times a day.
I believe that most of us have watched aantakshari played by elders who sung these old songs and so these have remained firmly ingrained in our minds.
Also the fact that the old songs had easy flowing lyrics which makes it easy to remember old songs. The new ones have slightly tough lyrics to remember or their pace is fast.
The most important reason i believe for not remembering the new songs are the fact the the new songs have their peak not at the beginning but somewhere inbetween. For eg- Say in the Iktara song from wake up sid... We all remember the words gunja sa hai iktara .. and so these words remain in our minds. The start of teh track (oh re maanwa...) isn't repeated a lot of times and so it doesn't remain in our minds. And the fact that in aantakshari we've to start from the beginning of the song, we end up not singing the new songs. Thats why the differing amounts of stress on different parts makes it difficult to retain the new songs.
Hope next time I play aantakshari, I keep in mind these things and try to sing new songs.
I have myself been to many trips and have played aantakshri at most of the road trips. I had been with many different groups - Family, Sangli friends, UDCT friends and now SCMHRD friends. While each group was distinctly different (except me being common element), I observed that in almost all trips, the same set of songs were repeated more or less. I observed that the same old songs were sung by all. Not many new songs were tried by people. Everytime when Tha came everyone sang 'Thande Thande pani se'.. and when na came 'na na kaarte pyar ..', etc came to everyone's minds including me. Most of the songs sung were of the 1990's or at max the early 2000's. In my last trip, no other song of a movie released after Lagaan was sung.
What are the reasons for this? Have we all hard the old songs more than the number of times we've heard the new ones. Definitely no in this era of radios where we get to listen to the latest songs almost 5-7 times a day.
I believe that most of us have watched aantakshari played by elders who sung these old songs and so these have remained firmly ingrained in our minds.
Also the fact that the old songs had easy flowing lyrics which makes it easy to remember old songs. The new ones have slightly tough lyrics to remember or their pace is fast.
The most important reason i believe for not remembering the new songs are the fact the the new songs have their peak not at the beginning but somewhere inbetween. For eg- Say in the Iktara song from wake up sid... We all remember the words gunja sa hai iktara .. and so these words remain in our minds. The start of teh track (oh re maanwa...) isn't repeated a lot of times and so it doesn't remain in our minds. And the fact that in aantakshari we've to start from the beginning of the song, we end up not singing the new songs. Thats why the differing amounts of stress on different parts makes it difficult to retain the new songs.
Hope next time I play aantakshari, I keep in mind these things and try to sing new songs.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
My New Years
Today is the last day of 2009 and I've been thinking of how I spent most of my New Year evenings.
In the 1990's second half, TV had become the most important part of our daily lives. The new years evenings were spent by watching the performances of stars together with my family. I loved doing it at that time. Don't know how come I don't enjoy such things now. (This was in school till 10th)
Then after S.S.C, I started going around with my newly formed friends and in eleventh and twelfth I went out for dinner parties as a part of new year celebration. One of the most interesting new years was that spent at my home, wherein everyone had gathered on the terrace of my new house. Had a great time making Bhel and stuff on the terrace.
Then after joining my graduate college at Mumbai, I started spending the evening out near the seas. I spent 3 of the new years at either the Marine Drive or Bandra sea face. On one ocassion I spent my new years evening at my relative's place (when everyone from the batch had been to Gorai beach. Don't remember why i hadn't gone with everyone).
Finally when I was at Vashi, I spent the new years with my room mates. We had been to hotels and the streets of Vashi to celebrate the night.
Now am at Pune and am again going to spent the night peacefully at my home (hopefully if I reach home at the right time) else will be in the bus at 0000 hrs of 2010. Lets hope that the bus service doesn't let me down and I reach home before 0000 hrs to celebrate my new years with my family members.
In the 1990's second half, TV had become the most important part of our daily lives. The new years evenings were spent by watching the performances of stars together with my family. I loved doing it at that time. Don't know how come I don't enjoy such things now. (This was in school till 10th)
Then after S.S.C, I started going around with my newly formed friends and in eleventh and twelfth I went out for dinner parties as a part of new year celebration. One of the most interesting new years was that spent at my home, wherein everyone had gathered on the terrace of my new house. Had a great time making Bhel and stuff on the terrace.
Then after joining my graduate college at Mumbai, I started spending the evening out near the seas. I spent 3 of the new years at either the Marine Drive or Bandra sea face. On one ocassion I spent my new years evening at my relative's place (when everyone from the batch had been to Gorai beach. Don't remember why i hadn't gone with everyone).
Finally when I was at Vashi, I spent the new years with my room mates. We had been to hotels and the streets of Vashi to celebrate the night.
Now am at Pune and am again going to spent the night peacefully at my home (hopefully if I reach home at the right time) else will be in the bus at 0000 hrs of 2010. Lets hope that the bus service doesn't let me down and I reach home before 0000 hrs to celebrate my new years with my family members.
Monday, December 28, 2009
3 Idiots - An illusion
Last evening, I had the previlige to watch the much awaited and the highly hyped movie 3 - idiots and am truly amazed by the way the director who has come up with an issue after issue in his films with novel solutions. First Munnabhai MBBS where he states that patients should be treated humanely and offers some solutions as in how hospitals should function (forms and stuff). In Lage Raho Munnabhai, the director recreates the Gandhian technique and the way it can be used in in the modern world.
In this movie 3-idiots, he focusses on the education system of our country. He has ably shown the plight the students of elite colleges face yet he fails, in this case, to offer solutions to improve our education system.
In the movie there are only talks that the grading system shouldn't be displayed, and the current system doesn't encourage 'original thinking' ( it is similar to Howard Roark in Ayn Rand's 'Fountain Head' who is said to be first hander) and focusses on mugging up. While this may be true, The movie also states that students should always do what they feel they are good at doing. Agreed that these are the problems that the current education system has been facing since long and the condition is getting worse due to increasing competition. Still I wonder how many original thinkers actually are present amongst us. In my life till now, I've come across only about 15-20 such people (Wish to meet a lot of such people). Others even though encouraged to think take ideas from others and build on them (sort of copy paste and mug it up). Also when I have come across a lot of students who actually do not know what he/she wants to do or what he/she is good at. Due their ignorance, they take up doing what the best in the society take up - engineering, MBA, medicine, etc. (sort of peer pressure).
The movie chiefly works because the movie shows what an original thinker can do which most of us (I mean the non-original thinkers) aspire to do but can't do. It works because people relate to the plight faced by them (or their children) in colleges/workplaces where they have to obey the rules (work compulsorily) of the organizations they are in. Now, isn't it human tendency to not do something they are forced to do?
For me the movie was good and watchable - the fun part was very well executed. The most important thing that worked for me in the movie is the Cinematography. Beautiful locations of Laddakh, Shimla, Delhi have been well shot and projected. This is probably the fourth movie where I've really fallen for the cinematography. (Lakshya, Kal Ho na ho, Swades being the 1st three randomly).
Thus, the movie is a sort of mirage which shows the people what they aspire and what they want to be yet doesn't offer proper solutions. Thus, 3-idiots is an illusion.
In this movie 3-idiots, he focusses on the education system of our country. He has ably shown the plight the students of elite colleges face yet he fails, in this case, to offer solutions to improve our education system.
In the movie there are only talks that the grading system shouldn't be displayed, and the current system doesn't encourage 'original thinking' ( it is similar to Howard Roark in Ayn Rand's 'Fountain Head' who is said to be first hander) and focusses on mugging up. While this may be true, The movie also states that students should always do what they feel they are good at doing. Agreed that these are the problems that the current education system has been facing since long and the condition is getting worse due to increasing competition. Still I wonder how many original thinkers actually are present amongst us. In my life till now, I've come across only about 15-20 such people (Wish to meet a lot of such people). Others even though encouraged to think take ideas from others and build on them (sort of copy paste and mug it up). Also when I have come across a lot of students who actually do not know what he/she wants to do or what he/she is good at. Due their ignorance, they take up doing what the best in the society take up - engineering, MBA, medicine, etc. (sort of peer pressure).
The movie chiefly works because the movie shows what an original thinker can do which most of us (I mean the non-original thinkers) aspire to do but can't do. It works because people relate to the plight faced by them (or their children) in colleges/workplaces where they have to obey the rules (work compulsorily) of the organizations they are in. Now, isn't it human tendency to not do something they are forced to do?
For me the movie was good and watchable - the fun part was very well executed. The most important thing that worked for me in the movie is the Cinematography. Beautiful locations of Laddakh, Shimla, Delhi have been well shot and projected. This is probably the fourth movie where I've really fallen for the cinematography. (Lakshya, Kal Ho na ho, Swades being the 1st three randomly).
Thus, the movie is a sort of mirage which shows the people what they aspire and what they want to be yet doesn't offer proper solutions. Thus, 3-idiots is an illusion.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Job of a plant production manager- A tough job mentally as well as physically
I had the previlige to work at Herdilla Chemicals (now SI Group India Limited), one of Mumbai's oldest chemical factories to have survived over years, for around two years and I've been closely associated with the senior manager of one plant there.
He is no MBA or an engineer. He is a science graduate who had joined Herdillia as a plant operator, yet his work, enthusiasm and abilities far exceeded that of an average engineer or an MBA graduate.He was a perfect time manager, people manager, operations manager, contingency manager and a host of other activities.
He worked in a chemical plant which handled chemicals like Benzene, Phenol, etc which are some of the industry's most hazardous bulk chemicals. So, all decisions which he made had to be studied w.r.t safety and a host of other environmental factors.
Let me describe a day in his life.
His day starts at around 0600 hrs when he gets a call from the factory to appraise him of the plant condition. He then gies structions if any are needed and then calls up the VP operations to keep him updated with the plant production level and other details.
Then after spending some time with the family, he goes to the factory at 0800 hrs and reaches the factory at around 0815 am. At 0815, he first has a small cup of tea over which he meets the managers of different departments to know what is going on in their departments. He then goes to check the stocks and other details to check the production quantity of the previous day. He then goes to the Technical Department where he has to report to the GM of the plant. But before going to the GM, he comes to the deputy managers of the Technical department to see to what extent are the various plant modifications are and provides them (people like me who have newly joined) with necessary plant input for their work to be done fast. (Mind you he is no technical person yet he knows the calculations of equipment designs better than most of the people in the technical department). He then reports to the GM of the technical department where discussions related to the requirements of the plant are made. Different schemes prepared by people like me are finalized and we are given specific instructions as in what to do with regards to different projects going on in the factory.
From there, he goes logs on to the ERP system to check the raw material availability and other details related to stocks. Based on production targets, he decided the amount of raw material trucks which are needed in the next 3-4 days and instructs the purchase department to order the raw materials. (Mind you a lot of complex decisions have to be made here. e.g- propylene can be procured from 3 places each having a different purity level and having a different lead time. Depending on the stock and their purity he has to order propylene from one of the source to adequately blend with the existing propylene). After this, he heads towards the plant where he takes a round of the plant which takes around 15 miutes, notes the problems he notices (He carries a diary to keep a track of all his work. No Outlook or blackberry), and then instructs the plant shift managers about the work to be done in the plant. (The plant being very old always required some or the other maintenance activities).
At around 1015 there is a meeting between the VP, GM and all plant senior managers. Here, issues faced in the plant, the status of activities and other things related to the production are discussed. Day to day working decisions are taken in the meeting which goes on till around 1115 hrs. Then, he heads towards his office where he checks mails and does paper work related to granting ERP permissions, granting leave of absences, deciding on the shift schedules of plant people, etc. Now the Technical department people (ppl like me) are quire inexperienced and have not much idea about how the process designs need to be changed according to the existing conditions and how data related to the data need to be taken to calculate yields of the plant, etc. He therefore checks the work done by all of us, gives his feedback.
Now the VP of the plant is a R&D guy and hence he has no much idea about details. He only instructed GMs as in what to do who in turn pass on the work to the senior manager who has to actually do the work. Hence, he is involved in making presentations to the MD, the directors, etc. Of course, he takes help from youngsters likie me but still the data is rpovided by him. (We do only the designing work).
After all this, he goes for lunch at around 1300 hrs. Then has meetings with managers of offsites, marketing managers to convince them regarding the requirements of his plant and the urgency involved in the purchase of the materials. Later on, he has to supervise the maintenance activity in the plant (a real strenouus job in the afternoon sun). Later on, he has some free time wherein he prepares documents related to compliance related activities with regards to pollution, noise, ETP, etc. Then has an meeting with HR w.r.t issues faced by the workers. He plays a major role in deciding whom to promote and whom not to. So, he has to take sort to a lot of politics within the organization so as not to disappoint the union as well as get good poeple in the plant.
He has a meeting with the VP at around 1730 hrs to appraise him w.r.t the works completed during the day and the work to be undertaken at night. He then goes on to prepare instructions to be given to plant shift managers. (Very detailed instructions as in what temperatures to be kept, what pressures, what production levels, etc are to be given - a tough job). Then if possible, he leaves home at around 1930 hrs.
This is a normal day. In case of any emergency in the plant, he acts as the control officer who co-ordinates the activity of people during emergencies. He also plays a major role in the reports to be prepared to the directors of the company since he knows the plant in and out muchh better then the GM or the VP. Almost all new decisions made in the plant are taken through his consultation. He at times instructs finance managers with regards to cost sheet since ther are a lot of assumptions required by finance accountants.
He undergoes all the major training like Six sigma, HAZOP analysis, etc.
To sum up, I feel that he does a hell lot of job which is both physical as well as mental at the age of 55. In spite of all this work load, he is always cheerful and he talks to everybody with humility. He also has very good relationships at home too.
In my mind he is a perfect manager of things with no major MBA degree. I guess all MBAs should take a lesson from him to learn how to take decisions based on common sense and objectivity.
(The post is quite boring I know but I thoroughly respect this manager and want highlight that there is so much to learn from common people around us who shoulder major responsibilities and yet are not given any credit).
He is no MBA or an engineer. He is a science graduate who had joined Herdillia as a plant operator, yet his work, enthusiasm and abilities far exceeded that of an average engineer or an MBA graduate.He was a perfect time manager, people manager, operations manager, contingency manager and a host of other activities.
He worked in a chemical plant which handled chemicals like Benzene, Phenol, etc which are some of the industry's most hazardous bulk chemicals. So, all decisions which he made had to be studied w.r.t safety and a host of other environmental factors.
Let me describe a day in his life.
His day starts at around 0600 hrs when he gets a call from the factory to appraise him of the plant condition. He then gies structions if any are needed and then calls up the VP operations to keep him updated with the plant production level and other details.
Then after spending some time with the family, he goes to the factory at 0800 hrs and reaches the factory at around 0815 am. At 0815, he first has a small cup of tea over which he meets the managers of different departments to know what is going on in their departments. He then goes to check the stocks and other details to check the production quantity of the previous day. He then goes to the Technical Department where he has to report to the GM of the plant. But before going to the GM, he comes to the deputy managers of the Technical department to see to what extent are the various plant modifications are and provides them (people like me who have newly joined) with necessary plant input for their work to be done fast. (Mind you he is no technical person yet he knows the calculations of equipment designs better than most of the people in the technical department). He then reports to the GM of the technical department where discussions related to the requirements of the plant are made. Different schemes prepared by people like me are finalized and we are given specific instructions as in what to do with regards to different projects going on in the factory.
From there, he goes logs on to the ERP system to check the raw material availability and other details related to stocks. Based on production targets, he decided the amount of raw material trucks which are needed in the next 3-4 days and instructs the purchase department to order the raw materials. (Mind you a lot of complex decisions have to be made here. e.g- propylene can be procured from 3 places each having a different purity level and having a different lead time. Depending on the stock and their purity he has to order propylene from one of the source to adequately blend with the existing propylene). After this, he heads towards the plant where he takes a round of the plant which takes around 15 miutes, notes the problems he notices (He carries a diary to keep a track of all his work. No Outlook or blackberry), and then instructs the plant shift managers about the work to be done in the plant. (The plant being very old always required some or the other maintenance activities).
At around 1015 there is a meeting between the VP, GM and all plant senior managers. Here, issues faced in the plant, the status of activities and other things related to the production are discussed. Day to day working decisions are taken in the meeting which goes on till around 1115 hrs. Then, he heads towards his office where he checks mails and does paper work related to granting ERP permissions, granting leave of absences, deciding on the shift schedules of plant people, etc. Now the Technical department people (ppl like me) are quire inexperienced and have not much idea about how the process designs need to be changed according to the existing conditions and how data related to the data need to be taken to calculate yields of the plant, etc. He therefore checks the work done by all of us, gives his feedback.
Now the VP of the plant is a R&D guy and hence he has no much idea about details. He only instructed GMs as in what to do who in turn pass on the work to the senior manager who has to actually do the work. Hence, he is involved in making presentations to the MD, the directors, etc. Of course, he takes help from youngsters likie me but still the data is rpovided by him. (We do only the designing work).
After all this, he goes for lunch at around 1300 hrs. Then has meetings with managers of offsites, marketing managers to convince them regarding the requirements of his plant and the urgency involved in the purchase of the materials. Later on, he has to supervise the maintenance activity in the plant (a real strenouus job in the afternoon sun). Later on, he has some free time wherein he prepares documents related to compliance related activities with regards to pollution, noise, ETP, etc. Then has an meeting with HR w.r.t issues faced by the workers. He plays a major role in deciding whom to promote and whom not to. So, he has to take sort to a lot of politics within the organization so as not to disappoint the union as well as get good poeple in the plant.
He has a meeting with the VP at around 1730 hrs to appraise him w.r.t the works completed during the day and the work to be undertaken at night. He then goes on to prepare instructions to be given to plant shift managers. (Very detailed instructions as in what temperatures to be kept, what pressures, what production levels, etc are to be given - a tough job). Then if possible, he leaves home at around 1930 hrs.
This is a normal day. In case of any emergency in the plant, he acts as the control officer who co-ordinates the activity of people during emergencies. He also plays a major role in the reports to be prepared to the directors of the company since he knows the plant in and out muchh better then the GM or the VP. Almost all new decisions made in the plant are taken through his consultation. He at times instructs finance managers with regards to cost sheet since ther are a lot of assumptions required by finance accountants.
He undergoes all the major training like Six sigma, HAZOP analysis, etc.
To sum up, I feel that he does a hell lot of job which is both physical as well as mental at the age of 55. In spite of all this work load, he is always cheerful and he talks to everybody with humility. He also has very good relationships at home too.
In my mind he is a perfect manager of things with no major MBA degree. I guess all MBAs should take a lesson from him to learn how to take decisions based on common sense and objectivity.
(The post is quite boring I know but I thoroughly respect this manager and want highlight that there is so much to learn from common people around us who shoulder major responsibilities and yet are not given any credit).
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Some thoughts running through my mind
Now that I've started doing my MBA, I often wonder what will I be doing after MBA?
My long term objective is to become an entrepreneur.
I've taken up Operations as my major (Still not sure whether I've made the right decision coz I don't like the subject much) and Finance as my minor (I love this subject). The options which I have in front of me are the following:
1. To secure a job in supply chain, inventory management department in a good foreign FMCG company which will obviously pay me handsomely
2. To do a job in prijects department of manufacturing companies and have the thrill of handling day to day operations os a factory. (Which I loved at my stint at SI Group).
3. To start something on my own immediately.
I've always believed that very few Indians get a chance to study in the best engineering colleges in India and also do MBA in reputed B-Schools in India. I am lucky to be one of them. I feel that it is my duty to do some good for such a wonderful society and country. As such, working for foreign FMCG companies & consultancies will not do much to help for the cause.
Also, I feel that working in a large organization will limit me to a particular department and will not provide me the opportunity to look at businesses as whole. I want to get myself involved in all the departments of the organization I work for. (The same as Herdillia where I could interact and work with people of various deparments). So, I believe that working for large organizations wherein the tasks to be done are well-defined will not suit me.
So, I feel that the best job for me will be a small organization wherein I'll get to know about different business functions which will in turn help me when I start my own organization. However, in this case I will not be able to see the "Best Practices" followed in companies.
Similarly, when I think about the third option, I feel that I'm not well-prepared. I don't have a business plan, nor I'm sure which sector I want to start my firm in. Reading about entrepreneurs has made me understand that this path is going to be very tough and I'll have to take a lot of risks. When I think back in retrospection to the way I've handled things, I find that I don't take much risks. This makes me wonder whether I am really capable of starting something. In case I want to start something on my own, I know that this is the right time to think about this because in case I end up doing a job now, in 2-3 years, I'll be married and then I'll have to take up an apartment in a city (on loan)which will cause me working for some more years to repay the loan amount. After that I'll have to ensure adequate availability of money for children for education and a lot of endless expenses which will obviously need a good stable cash flow. So, that won't be the appropriate time.
So, the point is that I'll not be able to start something on my own for a long time in case I don't do it after my MBA. But the problem is I'm not prepared.
These are some of the thoughts which run through my mind as and when any company comes to my collge campus for summer placements.
My long term objective is to become an entrepreneur.
I've taken up Operations as my major (Still not sure whether I've made the right decision coz I don't like the subject much) and Finance as my minor (I love this subject). The options which I have in front of me are the following:
1. To secure a job in supply chain, inventory management department in a good foreign FMCG company which will obviously pay me handsomely
2. To do a job in prijects department of manufacturing companies and have the thrill of handling day to day operations os a factory. (Which I loved at my stint at SI Group).
3. To start something on my own immediately.
I've always believed that very few Indians get a chance to study in the best engineering colleges in India and also do MBA in reputed B-Schools in India. I am lucky to be one of them. I feel that it is my duty to do some good for such a wonderful society and country. As such, working for foreign FMCG companies & consultancies will not do much to help for the cause.
Also, I feel that working in a large organization will limit me to a particular department and will not provide me the opportunity to look at businesses as whole. I want to get myself involved in all the departments of the organization I work for. (The same as Herdillia where I could interact and work with people of various deparments). So, I believe that working for large organizations wherein the tasks to be done are well-defined will not suit me.
So, I feel that the best job for me will be a small organization wherein I'll get to know about different business functions which will in turn help me when I start my own organization. However, in this case I will not be able to see the "Best Practices" followed in companies.
Similarly, when I think about the third option, I feel that I'm not well-prepared. I don't have a business plan, nor I'm sure which sector I want to start my firm in. Reading about entrepreneurs has made me understand that this path is going to be very tough and I'll have to take a lot of risks. When I think back in retrospection to the way I've handled things, I find that I don't take much risks. This makes me wonder whether I am really capable of starting something. In case I want to start something on my own, I know that this is the right time to think about this because in case I end up doing a job now, in 2-3 years, I'll be married and then I'll have to take up an apartment in a city (on loan)which will cause me working for some more years to repay the loan amount. After that I'll have to ensure adequate availability of money for children for education and a lot of endless expenses which will obviously need a good stable cash flow. So, that won't be the appropriate time.
So, the point is that I'll not be able to start something on my own for a long time in case I don't do it after my MBA. But the problem is I'm not prepared.
These are some of the thoughts which run through my mind as and when any company comes to my collge campus for summer placements.
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