The Role of Discipline in Personal & Private Victories

“Life is a series of problems. Discipline is the basic set of tools to solve life’s problems. With some discipline you can solve some problems and with absolute discipline you can solve all problems.”These lines from the book “The Road Less Travelled” by M.Scott Peck are more relevant today than ever.

In a world which is pacing fast towards nothingness, most people are living lives without any purpose. The need of the hour is to find ones center, have a goal and a vision and stick by ones commitments and promises.

Everyone respects a Man of his word. Honesty is still greatly valued. Authenticity is critical in creating lasting relationships.

Discipline involves Commitment, Rituals and Time Management.

1. Commitment

If you keep promises, you are bound to garner respect for yourself. People will start by trusting you with small things and soon they will start trusting you with bigger things. To keep ones word is a mark of a true gentleman or lady.

When you honor your word you are creating a Trustworthy Brand for yourself. People will approach you more and your reputation will soar sky high.

2. Rituals

Rituals are the basis of a disciplined and goal oriented life. Right from your morning exercise, yoga and meditation to having your lunch on time and networking 1 hour daily, if you have a well-defined daily routine, you will not waste time and will be able to make the most of each day.

3. Time Management

Time is Money. Time is everything. You have to realize that you have limited time on your hands and that is why you should concentrate on tasks which are Urgent and Important. The way you spend your time today will determine your destiny tomorrow.

Divide you day into 3 parts. Take breathers and Breaks. Make the most of the now. Prioritize.  Schedule. Keep Timelines. Be Punctual, in fact be before time. This will help you live a more fuller, more successful and a richer life.

With Commitment, Rituals and Time Management, you will be able to excel at your workplace and live a richer and more meaningful life.

By:

Siddharth Anand

Faculty, INLEAD

Success Mantra: Take Initiative & Be Proactive

Today good enough is not good enough. You have to be an expert- the best in your area of expertise and subject. To gain a competitive edge, you need to put in that extra effort.

There are certain traits Companies are looking in their candidates today:

1. Perseverance

It is a difficult world out there. In order to survive this world, you need to take initiative and seize the opportunities that come your way. You need to be tough and go through the struggles effortlessly. As the famous poet Rumi put it, “If you resist every rub, how will you get polished”. You will need to look at problems as challenges and give your best shot at constantly inventing solutions. 

2. Proactivity

Normal is passé. Taking Initiative is the new thing. Companies are looking for candidates who can go that extra mile, make that extra effort and deliver instantly and successfully. In this technology rich superfast business world, you are not only competing with humans, but  also competing with machines and computers so you need to be super quick and come up with progressive problem solving and creative solutions to complex problems.

3. Go-Getter Approach

Life is a race and you have to be in it to win it. Corporates are looking for candidates with passion, devotion and loyalty towards their workplace. In these dynamic times, opportunities are plenty but to seize and realize them one needs to be driven from within. One needs to keep ones spirits high and be an eternal optimist and always remember that behind every calamity lies tremendous opportunity.

4. Creativity

Today, knowledge is available at the click of a button. We are literally carrying the world in our pockets so the need of the hour demands that we think different, invent unique, improvise and customize. Creativity is a greatly valued skill and creative people are always in demand. Being creative involves original improvisation and intuitive imagination. Be creative and you will get the edge that is needed to shine in this world. 

5. Team Player

Companies are looking for team players and team assets. The need of the hour is to align personal values, vision and mission with that of the teams and to align the teams with the companies. Working in teams is a part of every profile and good team players are always in demand. 

By:

Siddharth Anand

Faculty, INLEAD

My Experience At INLEAD

Hi, I am Chandan. I hail from Andhra Pradesh’s port city, Visakhapatnam, where I completed my Bachelor’s in Hotel Management. Moving further I was in search for an opportunity which would be helpful for my personal as well as my professional growth. I was informed by my college about INLEAD in Gurugram. I got to know that INLEAD provides hoteliers with Global Management Development Program which is a short term course which offers international placement opportunities in hospitality sector. Earlier, I thought going abroad would be little tough as it requires some work experience and that would take much time and money as well. Later, with a positive approach I kept my efforts and faith towards having a better career by joining INLEAD.

I was convinced by the advanced infrastructure and quality maintained at the campus of INLEAD. In such a short duration, I was able to brush up my technical knowledge in Food & Beverage Operations as well as in Rooms Division Management. The entire program went on so well including other important modules required in the present market consisting of Retail Management, International Marketing and Global Culture & Ethnicity. The standard maintained by faculty to educate students is also much appreciated. They are the people who supported me throughout the course. They helped me to build up my personal strengths through attending workshops and assigning presentations frequently.

The placement opportunities were with famous brands offering attractive packages in different locations. The Training & Placement team continuously works together to facilitate every student with good job profiles across various sectors. I have got placed in Qatar with Al-Shaya Group which is one of the leading companies in the world. I was very much pleased and happy to get placed even before the completion of my course at INLEAD. I was completely satisfied with the entire program; the way it commenced, the modules covered and also the placements that took place.

I feel proud to say I am a student of INLEAD. I would like to thank entire INLEAD team for providing me with such a great platform to start my career. And, for candidates who are looking for an opportunity to work abroad, I suggest INLEAD will be the best place to go ahead with. The overall experience of mine at INLEAD was very amazing and I am always thankful to everyone behind me for what I am today.

By:

Chandan,

Student, INLEAD

INLEADers @25th CONVERGENCE INDIA 2017

Launched in 1992, the Convergence India series of expo is credited as South Asia’s largest ICT expo. The year saw the expo celebrating its 25th anniversary. The event was organized for 3 days in February 2017, covering a wide spectrum of topics from Make in India to Digital India, e-commerce and cyber security. INLEAD’s International Business Management students got an opportunity to attend the expo across all 3 days, visit stalls, sit in conferences and interact with other members of the audience. 

The expo was organised in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, where 635 companies  showcased ground–breaking technologies and services with new product launches. It was organised by the Exhibitions India Group, the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Broadcasting and the Digital India campaign. 

Under the theme of Digital India, the event gathered an influential audience, including governments, key ICT industry players, international organizations, pioneering thinkers, consultants, academia, media and emergent players. The key players were responsible for enabling digital transformation and bringing to life smart technologies, products, services and the latest Internet of Things innovations.

Convergence India expo, and the co-located IoT India expo, were spread over 18,000 sqm of area, bringing together the IoT ecosystem including hardware, services, software and governing bodies, covering development areas and the future of IoT in India including smart cities, wearable technologies, design applications, enablers, industrial IoT and data analytics. Further add-ons at the expo were the Start-up planet, the Techknow conference and the mobile devices and Accessories. Event was sponsored by various partners like skyline, TAIWAN EXCELLENCE, CORNING, CISCO, Aeris, GOSPELL, Mulifi, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

On the first day of “Convergence India”, conferences were featured in various halls having sections “Ganga, Krishna, Godavari”. For the convenience of delegates ‘SHOWDAILY2017’ time tables and respective conference topics were displayed all over Pragati Maidan, Conferences covered various smart topics like ‘Digital india, 5G-next big step in mobile communication technologies and how it will revolutionise the customer experience, Digitization challenges in India, new business models and revenue generating streams, policy requirement for IoT startup growth.’ Conferences, seminars were attended by founder and CEO of reputed international organization, ICT players, business consultant, and government bodies. Information and experience gathered on first day was exciting, refreshing, adding value to all over personality.

Ahead of second day, Mr. Narendra Bansal (Chairman and MD Intex, India) and other influential panelist showcased Mobile phone industry- as torch bearer of Make in India and Digital India initiative.

Digi wallets :A new trend for developing India was effectively delivered by Mr. Sunil Kulkarni (Deputy MD, Oxigen Services India Pvt.Ltd). Excitement was palpable till the last day as it covered “e-commerce in India, Impact of IoT on Lifestyle to take it forward and make smart home for everyone, cyber security, its challenges and solutions.’

One of the sessions talked extensively about Cyber security being a big issue for Indians as we have to pay a lot more attention on development of cyber security. The 3 Pillars of cyber security include PROCESS, PEOPLE and TECHNOLOGY. 

Cyber security research and development in the country, is critical both in public and private sector. Google only caters to 0.04% of 100% of the entire world. Demonetization for all its frailties, helped the Digital Network penetration and take on the challenging task of digitising financial India. Digital economy have to take focus on rural area and also urban area by providing lot of data. To keep the demonetization train from derailing, the standard of technology being used is vital.

A new trend of developing Digital India mainly focuses on 3’D combination. 

• Demographic

• Demand

• Democracy

The Exhibition focused on adaptation of Digital accommodation such that it works across mobile, internet and digital payment through success of mobile wallets. Its main focus will be on Inclusion, Innovation and Efficiency. Focus needs to move towards the villages or the small towns to make a digital wallet a success. Biggest challenges remains to make people aware of digital wallet .

The learning across the 3 days was huge for the students, who returned home every day with goody bags from some stall or the other. 

By:

Aniket Patil and Vishal Choubey

Students, INLEAD

Google turns 18!

Why India is important for Google...

By 2020 India is expected to have 650 million internet users from the current 350 million. We are already the second largest purchaser of smartphones in the world, with about 220 million users till 2015. Over 20 mobile brands are now assembling their products in India with the hope that infrastructure will improve with better internet connectivity and superior performance of 3G and 4G networks pan India.

The data above seems very exciting for companies that are trying their best to capture a larger share of the internet savvy Indian. Google is one such player with multiple products and services in the form of Chrome for mobile phones, Google Assistant in Hindi, YouTube Go for faster browsing on 2G connections and Google station  to provide Wi-Fi access in large public spaces. These are just some of Google birthday announcements for that nation which shows maximum promise for the years to come.

Google was set up in 1997, and was the product of a new found friendship between Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University, USA. The domain google.com was registered on September 15^th 1997. The name “Google” is a derivative from the word Googol, a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 and followed by 100 zeros. This reflected the founders’ vision to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web.

In February 1999, Google moved out from its founders’ garage to its new office in Palo Alto, California.

The year 2000, when Google launched its most successful revenue generating service, AdWords, Google starts to grow by leaps and bounds. By 2001 when Google launched it Google images with a cache of 250 million images, it soon became a household name. There was no stopping this company when soon after it opened its first international office in Tokyo, Japan.

2004 was when Google introduced the world to social network via its platform called Orkut and in 2005 it set up the eponymous Google Maps, which by 2009’s addition of navigation has rendered us helpless and without which many of us cannot move around the city. With a slew of new products and services constantly coming out of its innovative labs Google became a powerhouse in the online hemisphere. They set up wonderful offices across the globe and came up with innovative HR policies, and by 2007 Google became the best company to work for in the entire world.

2013 was when Google pledged for a total clean energy commitment, and soon after launched their Google Loon, its balloon project for rural connectivity. Google hasn’t stopped even for a minute ever in its efforts to provide better and valuable services to its customers. The company is iconic and the functionality of its products is indefatigable.

So here’s to a rocking birthday with wishes for many more. We truly cannot imagine our lives without this brand, now especially when the brand is increasingly used as a verb! Let’s Google it, shall we?

Happy Birthday Google!!

- Ms. Monica Mor, Sr. Faculty, INLEAD

Six Sigma Workshop Sept’16

Mr. Mukesh Nauhar, Black Belt Champion from Indian Statistical institute, undertook a White Belt Six Sigma Workshop for INLEADers recently. During the workshop, he explained in great details the importance of 6 Sigma and shared examples of companies that have been using this quality tool for successful execution of their multiple projects. 

The session was very critical for students, especially since a lot of them have already been introduced to TQM and the various tools used. An introduction to 6 sigma opens their eyes to quality management.

The session commenced with Mr. Nauhar introducing students to the concept of total quality management. He then took them through various quality tools that are used in the industry like Lean Management, Just In Time & of course, Six Sigma.

During the workshop students got to know that, Six Sigma states that there cannot be more than 3.6 defects in a million opportunities. This implies that teams that want to incorporate this tool in their project execution strategy need to ensure that their team members are properly trained in statistics and have undertaken certain exams. This concept then brought Mr. Nauhar to talk about the various belts that a 6 sigma certified professional needs to have. The first being Green belt, followed by Black and then Master black.

He even showed many videos that highlighted the importance of 6 sigma and delved into greater details on the importance of the same.

The session wound up with a test that was taken by the students, and clearance of the same provides students with a White belt certification. 

Gurugram to #Gurujam – A tale of epic ironies

Two years ago, I decided to move to Gurgaon in search of career growth. I would hear stories, and be fascinated about the life in this ‘millennium city’ and looked forward to living here. Never did I imagine that within a span of 2 years, all my fascination will turn into nightmares.

Thursday, 28th July 2016 was any normal day until it started pouring heavily in the city. Within minutes, some major roads turned into rivers with knee-deep water clogging routes across the entire city. #Gurujam as it came to be called on social-media; the traffic jam lasted over 24 hours, causing the entire city to come to a stand-still and making commuting to and from the city impossible. While the city choked, the entire world watched.

Few Indian cities have witnessed growth the way Gurgaon has. More than 250 (over half) of the global Fortune 500 companies, which include biggies like Walmart, Shell, Microsoft, Samsung, GM, GE, PepsiCo, Coca Cola, Google, Toyota and Facebook, to name a few, either have their India headquarters or important offices in Gurgaon. The outsourcing industry, of which India is one of the biggest backroom offices of the world, hires around a half a million people in Gurgaon, directly and indirectly, and more than 200,000 workers are employed at factories, including Honda’s and Maruti’s, in and around the city. Gurgaon today is a sprawl of glass, steel and concrete high-rise offices, condominiums and malls, which are the workplaces, homes and shopping destinations for its population of two million and growing. The Millennium City (a nickname that now reeks of black humor) is on the verge of spiraling into a deep and precipitous fall from where it may never recover. The reason for it is clear - Gurgaon’s streets are unplanned, unnamed and, in many instances, unnavigable; electricity for most hours of the day has to be generated by residents, offices and malls (there are 35 of those in the city) using their own captive generator sets that burn diesel for fuel; there is no public transport system worth mentioning that functions within the city; air pollution levels rival neighboring Delhi’s (which is the worst in the world) in a city that has just a tenth of the population; and, as residents and commuters realize every year during monsoon, the city’s drainage and sewage systems are a hopeless failure.

#Gurujam however uncovered this grim reality, bringing it to the notice of the authorities who were responsible for its plight in the first place. The extensive media coverage forced the authorities to wake up from their slumber and initiate the much awaited repair work. By the following Monday, the city was back to its normal life and it hasn’t rained since. All we can pray is that we never experience the nightmarish traffic jam of 28th July.

- Mr. Sumit Chakravarty, Faculty, INLEAD

Marketing Hackathon by ClickMyDay

The current startup culture in India needs a lot of support from Angel investors, Digital agencies and the media to be able to create a mark. Funding is very limited but opportunities are galore. In light of this, a startup ClickMyDay organized a Marketing Hackathon to share information and tactics with wannabe startups.

The event began with a session taken by Adobe’s Marketing Cloud Division Head, who spoke at length about the importance of Digital Analytics. He explained the various technical terms like impressions, bounce rate, clicks, etc and the importance of each of those to understand success of Apps &/or websites.

This was followed by an Angel Investor who focused on the importance of capital adequacy and financials of any business model. This was the first step towards getting funding.

Soon after OLA’s Marketing Manager spoke about the tactics that helped OLA to be the largest cab service provider in India and the huge number of downloads of their apps across different smartphone devices.

The session winded up with an ideation session where the various entrepreneurs came together to ideate and plan around their business models.

What made this event an even more special outing for INLEAD and INLEADers was that, Ms. Janvee Garg, one of the co-founders of ClickMyDay, is a former INLEADer, and seeing her achieve such massive success in the entrepreneurial world was a real inspiration for all the current INLEADers.

Jaya Anand, INBM Apr’15 MBA: “The event gave us an opportunity to interact with many startup entrepreneurs who were participating in the event.”

Jeevan Thakur, INBM Apr’16 PGDM: “I learnt lot about digital analytics from the speaker from Adobe and the various marketing strategies followed by OLA .”

Block the Clock Season 2

In order to provide a glittering welcome to the new April ’16 batch and a breather from the daily routine to all the other currently functional batches, INLEAD recently organized LEAD Activity – Block the Clock. The activity promised a day full of unlimited fun and fevour.

The LEAD activity – Block the Clock was conducted as an Orientation activity for the New April ’16 batch, however, saw participation from students of all the programs of EMPR, HEAD, INHM,INBM  Jan. ’15, Apr. ’15, Jul. ’15, Oct. ’15 and Apr. ’16 Batches.

Inspired from the TV game show – “Minute to Win it”, the activity comprised 15 fun-filled and energetic games. The students enjoyed participating in the games like ‘Key to success’, ‘Nose Dive’, ‘Noodling Around’, ‘Blow ‘em away’ and ‘Popcorn Garland’ to name a few. The frolic and excitement with which the students participated in these games was worth a sight.

Though it was a competitive activity, the students showed great sense of sportsmanship.  The activity organizers worked tirelessly to make the event a success. There were 13 winners in total and they, along with the Organizers were awarded with prizes by Mr. Deepak Sharma - Dean, INLEAD, Ms. Bindu Menon – Sr. Faculty, INLEAD, Ms. Monica Mor – Sr. Faculty, INLEAD.

The event was drawn to culmination with the crowning of Mr. & Ms. Fresher April ’16 which went to Mr. Jeevan Lal Thakur (International Business Management) and Dr. Gowthami (Healthcare Administration) respectively.

Mr. Sumit Chakravarty, Faculty, INLEAD, described the event as a “high energy and action packed activity that focused on giving a pleasant break for the students from their regular routine and encourage them to participate in a competitive environment.”

Sous Vide - a new cooking technique in Hotels

The smooth functioning of a five star hotel is typically dependent on seven major departments namely, Housekeeping, Food and Beverage, Engineering, Accounting, Front office, Security and Human Resources etc. Among these, the Food and Beverage department is considered as one of the most important aspects of the Uniqueness of a hotel.

In order to maintain their uniqueness, every hotel tries to offer their customers with the best of options. They keep on innovating and trying out new techniques in order to keep alive the customers interest. One such new technique which has taken the hotel Industry by storm in the recent times is the Sous Vide cooking method.

It was couple of months back that I came across Sous Vide - a new approach to cooking methodology. Intrigued by the concept cooking technique, I decided to learn about this new entrant in the kitchens and here’s what I found out.

The term Sous Vide (pronounced as Soo – Veed) is actually a French term which means under vacuum. It’s a culinary technique in which vacuum – sealed food is immersed in a water bath and cooked at precise and consistent temperature. Here, the food is cooked for a longer period of time at a lower temperature. The precision in temperature is what gives the food its perfection and also eliminates the concerns of overcooking or the food being underdone. This cooking methodology also ensures that the juices and aroma is sealed which otherwise can get lost in normal cooking process.

How it began?

The technique was first developed by Chef George Pralus at the internationally renowned Michelin three star restaurant in Troisgros in Roanne, France in the mid 1970’s. It was originally practiced to minimize the shrinkage and optimally cooking delicate foie gras.

Sous Vide cooking method has been successful in creating a culinary wave of innovation and creativity in the last two decades. It has become a top secret of chefs at major restaurants around the world. Sous Vide Supreme is the appliance that is making this cooking technique now easily affordable and accessible to home cooks.

Why use it?

1.  Its new and the unique cooking methodology yields different and better results.
2. The texture and flavor cannot be replicated by any other cooking methodology.
3. It’s easy and fool proof.
4. Delivers gourmet taste.
5. Imparts added nutritional flavor to food

What are the steps involved?

1. Season and  seal
2.   Simmer: drop pouches in controlled water bath
3. Serve: most can be served directly, but some can be seared on grill or with a kitchen torch for beautiful color and caramelized flavor

The Science involved. 

This technique relies on ability of water to transfer heat to food. The water transfers heat through vacuum sealed food 10 times more efficiently than air does.

So, the next time you visit a five star hotel; don’t forget to get a taste of the Sous Vide cooking technique and do share your experience on the same.

 - Ms. Bindu Menon

   Senior Faculty, INLEAD 

Images Courtesy: Google Images

The Greek Economic Fallout

Everyone who keeps abreast with current affairs would know or at least would have heard about the great Greek crisis and wondered, how did Greece manage to land itself in such a serious economic soup? Well, this situation didn’t occur overnight. Here, we give you a quick rundown of events that have led to one of the most beautiful nations on this earth, land in one of the worst economic slump of the century.

A Brief History 


In January, 1999, a currency named Euro was created, which economically tied together 19 European nations watched over by the European Central Bank, with each country having its own budgetary and taxation policies. Countries were benefiting from the common bond for a long time, but slowly the Euro zone bubble started to burst. Greek crisis started 6 years ago with its own fiscal profligacy. The country comes under the category of PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) within the European Union; and all these countries have solvency issues.

Andreas Papandreao

How it all started? 

It all began when Greece joined the European Union in 1981. The country then had an acceptable debt to GDP ratio of about 28% and a budget deficit of about 3% of GDP. However, over the next 30 years the situation deteriorated. Issues started with Prime Ministership of Andreas Papandreao in 1984, when he started doling out lavishly unrequited welfare measures. His party, the PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) had won over the electorate with promises of liberal welfare measures that were populist in nature.

The condition worsens…

The PASOK party alternated in power with another party called the New Democracy. Both parties continued to bestow benefits on the citizens that were tough on the government exchequer and ended up creating a bloated and protectionist economy. A Greek man with 35 years of public-sector service could retire at a ripe old age of 58, and a Greek woman could retire with a pension at an age as early as 50 under certain circumstances. Perhaps, the most infamous example of undue generosity was the prevalence of 13th and 14th-month payments to Greek workers. Soon, as a result of rampant tax evasion, low productivity and eroding competitiveness, Greece’s economy started to falter and it had to resort to massive borrowings to bolster its economy.

In 2001, Greece joined the Eurozone and received support from other European nations once it adopted Euro as its currency. Soon after, the Greek economy boomed but, at the cost of rising deficits and a ballooning debt load. Moreover, the measures that had been taken by the Greek government had been exhausted well above the limit set by the EU’s Stability and growth pact. At the time, Greece’s debt to GDP ratio was 103%, way above the EU limit of 60%. Greece’s fiscal deficit was also 3.7%, higher than EU limit of 3%. By Jan, 2012, the Greek and German sovereign bonds widened by 3,300 points, which was a huge figure and eventually the debt to GDP ratio moved up to an astronomical 180%. The last straw was an announcement by the then PM of Greece that the fiscal deficit was actually 12.7% more than the originally announced figure.

This prompted the European Union to force the Greek government to announce austerity measures, which the current PM, Alexis Tsipras, put to a referendum. Austerity measure implies that citizens would have to reduce their expenditures for a long time to reduce the ballooning debt of the economy. These measures also include the official actions taken by a government during a period of adverse economic conditions, to reduce its budget deficit using a combination of spending cuts or taxes, or a mixture of both. At the referendum, 61% voted “No” & 38% “Yes”, for the austerity measures proposed by the government for the economic rejuvenation. There was the fear of Grexit, i.e Greece’s exit from European Union, and eventually the Government decided against the austerity measures as voted by its citizens.

The Current Scenario

The European Central Bank.
Courtesy- www.assets.bwbx.io/

Of late, there has been news that the European Central Bank has loaned 2 billion Euros for loan repayment and another 4.6 billion is on the way. The country now has a staggering loan amount of about 7 billion Euros that they have to repay to the International monetary Refund. Overtime, how the young Greek Prime Minister handles the solvency issue and infuses life into the economy, is a thing to watch out for.

-Ms Monika Mor,
 Senior Faculty, INLEAD