As close to reality as it can be!

The posting captures my experience of the mock interview with an external interviewer in a real life simulation.

It is 10:00 am as I walk into the room. The camera starts whizzing. Everything I say and do will be recorded. This is my mock interview but I could see hardly anything superficial about it.

Careers services at Cranfield organizes mock interviews for volunteer students each year. The setting is formal and a student is required to send in the CV and covering letter together with the details of job that one has applied for. This gives the context of the interview to the panel.

As I walk into the room, I introduce myself to Mr Simon Lugg (external) and Peter Fennah (Careers). Once I have taken the hot seat, the interview begins with all possible questions I could have imagined .....and a few more that I didn't think about. I could gauge from the questions from Simon that he had studied my documents quite well and was asking subtle questions too. Some were focusing on personality, few others on competencies.

40 minutes went by and when I was asked to put forward any questions that I may have, I knew it was coming to an end. I was then given a 15 minutes break during which I was to answer a questionnaire on how I think I did in the interview on a host of areas, etc. During this time, Simon and Peter too worked on recording their assessment about how I fared.

I rejoined them back for the feedback session. First I had to share my views about my own assessment. Then the panelists shared their views on what I did right and what I could have done better. I was also to receive copies of their assessment sheets later on.

The interview was nothing less than what I would experience in reality. It helped me understand the areas I could focus on to leverage my strengths as well as those points which I need to work upon and do better. On their part, both Simon and Peter were absolutely professional in their role and very constructive in their approach. I am sure this exercise will hold me and other students in good stead.

The passion of Strategy

Today we thoroughly enjoyed the lecture in Managing Strategy & Strategic change. I share a brief narration of what went in this session.
The case study revolved around what and how of an acquisition of Rowntree by Nestle. So far, we hadn't had three sessions in a row in either of the first two terms and I was a bit worried on whether I would be able to sustain my concentration in the subject. Believe me - I was in for a sweet surprise.
Having done our share of reading the night before, most of us were engaging in the class discussion. And when the fast moving Dr Richard Schoenberg takes the session, your eyes will continue to roll around the class - catching him speaking as well as the slideshow on screen.
I guess there is something about the subject of Strategy - everyone gets hooked onto it. Partly because it is a much touted word around in every corporate but more because it brings together ones understanding of all functions and aspects about business. And as the course title suggested, it was an extension of the strategy that we had studied in term 2. Here we were focusing on strategy and the change involved around strategic implementation.
All through the session that lasted well over three hours, with two quick stretch breaks, it was as if a movie was rolling in front of my eyes. I could feel that I see the board members of Nestle talking about how to negotiate with Rowntree, the predator player who was also gunning for the target and the heated yet controlled discussion over the table, the officials walking away to another room for internal consultation ……..
Then we were informed about how the real incident happened and the subsequent developments for all players involved. It was truly an engrossing session. The end of the session was an anti climax. Out came bag from under the table of Dr Schoenberg and he said, "Well, how can a session where one talks of Nestle and Rowntree be complete without Kitkat!" And there were dozens of Kitkat chocolates for all of us. The applause for Dr Schoenberg was thunderous and we kept on clapping while nibbling at those chocolates. What a session it was!!

Why do organizations fail?

Two days of Supply chain management course leave us wide eyed with simple, insightful reasons why organizations are missing the picture about requirements for their future success.
Prof Martin Christopher, a name to reckon with in Supply chain management, is the Director of the Cranfield Centre for Logistics and SCM. The course was kicked off by him two sessions till lunch time on day 1. From the evolution of the supply chain concept to how it impacts shareholder value and further to what is an agile supply chain and why it is crucial - loads of stuff to absorb.
As a professional who worked for over 8 years in this function in the industry, I was in for many surprises on what all things some of my previous organizations wer doing wrong. In their focus to achieve efficiency, they were sacrificing agility. So while they did succeed in "reducing costs", the business they lost out on was rarely measured.
In the second half of day 1, we had Dr Richard Wilding with a very engaging and entertaining presentation on Time compression in logistics and we would remember his demonstration of "I" and "T" shaped people. The last session had Melvyn Peters taking us through the Global supply chains and the experience about Marks & Spencer.
We had Prof Christopher back with us for the first two sessions on Day 2 with the focus on connecting supply chain with the markets and understanding the case on Unichema. The day wound up with Mike Bernon presenting another very engaging topic on the interface between manufacturing and supply chain. There was a very interesting point about how organizations create complexity because of variety. Come to think of it - does a consumer really care whether the toilet paper is pink or peach in colour? The message gets conveyed easily, I guess.
It was a fabulous experience being taught by the best of faculty on this course. Cranfield is famous for its SCM capabilities and it reflected in the quality of teaching and sessions. Well, now I have to sit down and write by individual assignment......so see you soon.

The blood of an entrepreneur

The week will see a core course start and finish - Business Start Up (BSU).
Cranfield MBA has generated entrepreneurs and this course is the first step in that direction. It provides one with an opportunity to produce an outline of a business plan for a new venture. It is a highly experiential series of sessions. The output is an interim presentation of the business plan and the completion of a written business plan in another four weeks.
The BSU course simulates as realistically as possible what it is like to start a business. But rather than text book theory being dished out in the sessions, it involves "live experience" talking. So far we have had speakers like Ms Lara Morgan - the gladiaterix of Pacific Direct, Paddy Radcliffe (Cranfield MBA 2004) and his "snowbone" , Naz Chaudhary (Cranfield MBA 2001) and his Real Burger World. Tomorrow we meet Rod Younger (Cranfield MBA 1995) with his MBA-Direct and Harry Clarke (Cranfield MBA 1992) with his Cobalt Telephone Technologies.
Our team picked up the venture of setting a New world wine store in London. Though no one in our team intends pursuing the entrepreneurial path, the learning has been more than just understanding how to make a business plan. And specially for me. Despite being an entrepreneur's son and having entrepreneur friends', I never ventured in this line. The course is telling me many things - what motivates an entrepreneur and yet what s/he should need to do or look at. Cash flow, for example, can be more important than profits. Not surprisingly, the survival rate in entrepreneurial world is not too appealing.
But I realize that the blood of an entrepreneur is different - it survives and thrives on enthusiasm, drive and motivation. It is amply evident in our batch too. While some teams are going through the motions of this course, a few are dead-serious. Be it an innovative product such as concrete shelter for refugees or a plain concept of fast-food chain in China. The passion to do it is conspicuous.
The next year MBA course has been changed to take this "compulsory" bit away and instead it has been put into the Entrepreneurial themed track, which is a good move.
The coming Friday shall see all the teams present their ventures to the faculty and I need to go back to do my bit of the work.

Till we meet again……….

As we bid goodbye to Sally, Carl and Murthy, we realize that we have made our first friends outside of Cranfield.
Time had flown by and our departure from Brynmawr was close. On the breakfast table, we could see a tired Carl - he had been up most time studying and working. Our curious minds were still at work and we asked him - "What is Wales famous for?" Prompt came the reply - Rugby and churches. No introduction is needed for Rugby - the national game of Wales. The second part of his answer was an interesting one. Historically, Wales had the a very high density of churches as compared to its population.
A few other famous things about Wales are the red dragon on its flag, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Catherine-Zeta Jones, Jackie Collins and Shirley Bassey. But the most revealing point is that Sir George Everest - the famous traveller and explorer was Welsh. If the name rings a bell, it is because the world's highest peak is named after him.
It was time to catch our coach back and we bid goodbye to Carl, Sally and Murthy. In a matter of two nights and a day, we felt very close to Carl and Sally. We never realized when our apprehensions of staying with a stranger family had converted into a feeling of bonding. We took a promise from Carl and Sally that whenever time permits, they would visit our home at Cranfield.
For most part of the day, Divya and I continued talking about our stay at our HOST. It is an experience we will cherish during our lifetime. We look forward to meeting such a nice couple again, soon.

Our day in Wales!

The day was exciting and outdoors as Sally and Murthy took us around the place. It was a day full of learning about Wales, its history, the coal mines and Christianity.
After a wonderful, sound sleep we were ready in the morning hours at the breakfast table. Starting with thanks giving, which we experienced for the first time in U.K., we had cereals and breads. Sally and Carl had decided our plan for the day and off we went. The day started with a trip to the Pwll Mawr: Amgueddfa Lofaol Genedlaethol Cmyru. No, this in no garbled script. It is an interesting fact to know, specially for the international readers, that Wales has its own Welsh language and a completely different script. Translated it means "Big Pit - the national mining museum of Wales".
One may wonder - "of all the places, we went to a mining museum??" Yes, we did. And trust me - it was a delightful experience. Not that we came out all black with charcoal dust or anything. But we did come out with a realization of how difficult those days must have been. Our discovery of the time when coal was king was done by descending 300 feet (90 metres) into the underground workings of Big Pit where we experienced the hidden world of the Welsh miner. We saw their locker rooms (see pic img_311.jpg), their tools, saw mill, mortar mill, the blacksmith shop. One of the caretakers got us talking and he took great pains to show us around with detailed and vivid explanations of every thing. As if hit by nostalgia, he even showed the picture of a protesting parade in yesteryears in which his great-grandfather had participated. We saw and read about the many mines that were closed during 1980's. It was an odd feeling too, to see the vast land outside full of coal but withering away while there is scarcity of such resources in some other countries. That is an irony of our world, I guess.
The last bit of our trip to the museum was amazing. It started with a video movie of the life of a miner and we were navigated into tunnels through cameras to see the development of a miner's world. With simple technology used fabulously, we experienced the sound of dynamite blasts, heavy machinery movement and thundering noise - just the way a miner would have experienced daily.
Our second stop after the museum was Tretower court & castle. These monuments of inspirational heritage date back to the 13th century. The castle was built to control a strategic route through the Black Mountains. By the 15th century it was abandoned in favour of a new building to the east. The Court is a handsome stone manor house, which must have served as a very desirable domestic residence in its times. The galleried courtyard is entered through a stone gatehouse, something which would remind one of the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge.
During lunch we chatted like excited children, asking questions after questions to Sally and Murthy. They answered with such patience that for a few moments I was wondering if they are doctors or historians. They knew so much without being Welsh - Sally comes from Midlands and Murthy from India. After lunch, Sally took us on a long drive across the mountains into the Welsh city where we visited the Church. There again, Divya and I explored the history of Catholics and Protestants, the beliefs and ideologies, etc.
We also went around town to the two biggest water reservoirs we would have ever seen. With lush green environs around, budding flowers and quite, serene surroundings, I felt completely fresh. So easily I had forgotten about the intensive days at Cranfield. There was no sign of tiredness or anxiety about a project. It was a rejuvenating experience. And of course, we had our share of adventure when Sally had to speed across to the other end of town because Divya had forgotten her purse at the restaurant where we had lunch. It was 4:50 and the restaurant was to close at 5:00. We reached at 5:01, just in time before the staff was about to pull down their shutters.
Back home, we shared our day with Carl, who unfortunately was confined to his books due to an approaching exam. I was thrilled to realize that it is complete a sane thing to study at our age. Here was Carl - working on his assignments while doing a full time job too. Divya and I are far too lucky that way.
The evening got stretched close to mid night as Sally showed us her family albums and pictures - including her childhood and medical school days, her wedding and then their trip to India. We had to force ourselves to retire to bed, knowing that tomorrow it would be time to bid goodbye.

How green is my valley!!!

This Friday, Divya and I embarked on our maiden visit to a British family through the HOST programme. I share the experience we had over three days (and diary postings) - our last weekend of vacations, before Term 3 begins.

HOST is a voluntary organization that is a platform for international students to taste a sample of life for a British citizen. Students are free to send in a request to stay in the region of their preference and the volunteers from HOST make their best efforts to match the students' requirements with the families who have volunteered to invite or host such students. For more details, you are invited to check out the website at www.hostuk.org.uk

Just after noon time this day, we took our coach for Birmingham where we stop over and change the coach for our onward journey to a small town called Brynmawr in Gwent, Glamorgan. Through the HOST programme, our request had been accepted and we were invited to stay over with a Doctor-couple family - Drs. Carl and Sally Venn.

While the journey to Birmingham was confined to the motorway, our real journey began when we took the Birmingham-Brynmawr sector on the second coach. After all, we were entering Wales - an area that was once an independent country before it merged into U.K.

With undulating terrain, we soon knew what "paradise" meant. Daffodils blooming all over and cattle grazing across vast lands; we asked each other - "how would it be when summer is here!!!!" During this journey, I also realized that the colour "green" is an incomplete word without appropriate prefixes. So it has to be bright green, dull green, brown green, greyish green, light green, dark green .......(phew) I feel at a loss of words to capture the subtle shades of greenery that we saw.

As the coach glided along the road, we couldn't help but smile and savour the joy of natural beauty. As we continue to see more of the country, we keep saying to ourselves - how beautiful is this country!!! If only people could stop talking about the weather, they would see much more than they do. They will realize how green is their valley!

We arrived at the coach station in Brynmawr in the evening and were received by Carl. It is a small town and we walked over to their magnificent house nearby. We were in for a pleasant surprise soon enough. Carl and Sally had also invited a very close Indian family friend Dr Murthy to stay over with them. Drs. Carl, Sally and Murthy turned out to be such nice people that all our apprehensions about going to a "stranger family" were washed away. They were such a considerate couple that a vegetarian meal had been prepared for us.

Soon, we had become very comfortable with them and had opened up with our barrage of questions. We were surprised to know that Sally and Carl had actually spent over a year in a remote village in India in 1990's - involving themselves with work on development alongwith an NGO. The attachment with India reflected in their house too - with beautiful hand made paintings adorning the walls.

Little did we realize that it was close to midnight - we had been chatting with a couple who were strangers just a few hours ago and had become good friends instantly. Sally had also planned out the options for the next day - what we could see or do.

I knew then - the valley remains green because of good and friendly human beings such as Drs Venn.

Diversity with a difference

Divya, Varinder and I joined the Walker's Club members to visit Cumbria - the Lake District area this weekend for a fun filled trip to one of the most beautiful parts of the country.
Cumbria is a county in the North West of England, boasting some of the most beautiful scenery in the United Kingdom. It contains the Lake District National Park and is also home to England's longest lake, Windermere (17 kilometres in length). The region was popularized in the early 19th Century by the 'Lake Poets' (Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey).

The trip was organized by the Walker's club as part of training for the upcoming 5 peak challenge. We joined in partly because of the interest in walking but more because of the opportunity to see the often praised scenic beauty of Lake district. Though it was not the best of times to visit Lake District, the weather forecast was giving us much reason to cheer. So we packed our bags and started on our trip in the school's mini-bus on Friday afternoon. We were twelve of us and what an interesting bunch it was - 3 of us - the MBA students, Oleg (MSc Logistics), Partha (PhD student- School of management) and his wife Sanyukta, Charles and Lee (MSc students - School of Engineering), Hannah and Charlie (PhD students - School of industrial and manufacturing sciences), Robert (MSc student - School of industrial and manufacturing sciences) and Martin (Post doctoral researcher - School of Engineering). Robert is one of the challengers in the 5 peak challenge where he will have to scale five different peaks in the UK within 72 hours.

Lee was the organizer and his forces background came to the fore when he drove the minibus to reach Ambleside in less than 4 hours. A slight drizzle welcomed us as we walked into the backpackers hostel to settle in. Over a cup of steaming tea, Lee briefed us like a typical commander leading a troupe - the map on the table, 12 heads surrounding the table, peering over the map and tracing the finger of Lee on the walk they intended to do. The area was calling us and soon enough we all went out for a quiet walk into the town - window shopping, buying fish and chips and settled inside a pub for a couple of drinks. Unfortunately for few of us, we did not have the proper walking gear and were advised not to take the difficult walk that Lee and team were planning for. So we took alternate directions about possible walks.

Next morning post breakfast at 8, it was time to move. So while the troupe of Lee and five others went on their plan of the 12 mile walk, we chose to take up a low-level walk and soon enough were hit the road. With the map in hand, we navigated our way to a bevy of places - Wordworth's house, Grasmere lake. Our journey took us through metalled roads, grass paths and rough terrain. True to its reputation, we found Lake district to be a fabulous place of pristine beauty. We savoured the mesmerizing view all through our walk and realized that natural beauty can never be captured in camera.

We were back in the rooms by evening time and little did we realize then that we had walked almost 7 miles. But there was not a trace of tiredness. It was time to cook dinner for our group. Varinder had volunteered to play the role of chief chef to cook chicken and rice for all and we had carried all the ingredients with us from Cranfield. As always, the aroma of the curry and rice had soon filled up the kitchen and we could see twinkling eyes of other guests in the hostel eyeing our curry dish. Lee and team had also arrived back. The dinner was truly a feast.

Next morning, while a few of us decided to stay back at the hostel to recover from their tiredness, we chose to go down to Windermere and Bowness bay. After a walk around the city centre, we settled in at the bay dock where cruises on the lake start. Instead of taking a cruise, we loved the idea of just sitting next to the lake watching the ducks and swans move in close, eager to be fed. With those white swans around you and wind blowing in your face, it was as if the clock had stopped ticking. There couldn't have been a better way to rejuvenate your energies for upcoming term 3.

The best part of the trip was the opportunity to meet so many students from other schools in the Cranfield University. Whether it was a long chat about MBA students in general, or about proving that all MBA students are not the same or even sharing the learning's from Personal and Communication skills (PCS) - one could find a topic of discussion so easily. It also gave me a much wanted opportunity to understand a little bit about the other courses in the university and appreciate the diversity on campus. The diversity of not just the kind of people, but also about how rich Cranfield university is in terms of the courses and also of the astounding reputation is has in other fields such as aviation, etc.

So my message to all readers - if you arrive at Cranfield, ensure that you break any self imposed barriers and cross over to meet people from other schools - only then you will understand the meaning of diversity with a difference.