Moving the average on right hand
side:
When we enrolled IIM Lucknow
Noida campus in post graduate management course for working executives (approx.
two year duration), most of us had one thing in mind. We expected to get a post-graduation
degree from one of the premium institutes in India which would help us to get a
good package white collar job. The two years we spent at IIML was really a
testing period for all of us. Most of us were working with the MNC’s which were
not ready to compromise on the job front & on other hand there was institute
like IIML which was determined with the quality of the students passing out.
Between these two ends, we students were shuttling from office to institute almost
three to four days every week & were at the receiving end of both, trying
to maintain the balance on both sides. Those who were married had to maintain
this equilibrium at third front also i.e. with their wife & children. After
completing the office hours at 5 PM, we all used to rush to the institute to
attend the classes which was scheduled at 6.15 PM. I was working with a company
that was in Gurgaon (approx. 45 Km from Institute). I had approx. 1 hour 15 min
to cover this distance & was every day a challenge to reach the institute
in time during the rush hours of Delhi/NCR. Though most of the professors used
to tolerate 5-10 minutes delay, few were very strict in timings. Some of them
allow sitting without attendance, few close the doors of class at 6.15 PM. This
was not the end of our miseries as after the classes we used to get a lot of
case studies, assignment & projects for next class.
These two years were really a
testing period for all of us & today after passing out personally I can say
that I enjoyed so called torture at all three fronts for two years & miss
it now. I got what I expected from this course & had a wonderful
experience. All the faculties from IIML were good, but I would like to mention
few who left an everlasting impression on us. Prof. Rajeev Kumra was our Marketing
/ Sales & Distribution faculty. He started his career in sales & was very
successful sales manager. Later on he
switched his career in teaching profession & joined IIM as Sales &
Marketing professor. His approach was more practical rather than theoretical
& he used to tell complex things in a very simple way with real life
examples from his own experiences. It was a pleasure to sit in his class &
learn.
One of my specializations elective
subjects was Business Sustainability & Carbon Market. Again the thinking
behind taking this subject was to learn the tricks of carbon trading & make
money in future. Mr. Susheel Kumar was our professor for this elective. Susheel
sir is an ex civil servant who left the coveted Government of India job to
pursue his academic interest & went to Canada for higher studies. After
returning to India, he started teaching management & subsequently joined
IIML as professor. During the first lecture itself he left a profound impact on
the students as an honest & dedicated person. In that lecture itself, our
hope of getting 20 sessions training on understanding carbon trading tricks was
dashed. He took a more holistic approach towards sustainable development &
harmony between nature & environment. He started the lecture with corporate
ethics, business ethics, personal ethics & sustainability. We argued the relevance
of ethics under present social, political & business environment in India. At
that point Professor drew one normal curve on the board & and asked us that
if ethics/honesty is parameter of interest then at present whether the curve is
left skewed or right skewed. The overwhelming response was that the curve is left
skewed. Then he replied that during the upcoming 20 sessions, his effort would
be to move this average in the right side by influencing the behaviour of the 30
students present in the class. Today I feel that he was correct when I see few
people trying to change the complete political system by raising slogan against
corruption. If we see the Indian society at large & if each one of us asks
one question to self that am I honest? I am sure that we will find that the
average will be tilted heavily on right hand side. The idea of incremental movement
of average in the right hand side people like our professor & each of us would
be a viable solution rather than a first approach.
