Informal writings by Pravin Chandra HKU MBA

my drift...

2010-10-26T02:23:00.000-07:00

“Often in this crowd, there is loneliness to see,
Often this loneliness crowds around me.
These memories are so strange, curious and forlorn,
They are all mine and come to me when I am alone...”

Networking, attending events, meeting people - does it really work ??

2010-05-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

Meeting new group of people and attending a lot of networking events does help in developing a brand new perspective every other day plus the good food you get helps you keep battle ready for the jym.

Have been attending a number of networking events by Brit Chamber, American Chamber, Economist recently in Hong kong. Meeting with a number of diversified group of professionals is really fun and helps in building the network. Much of this has been intended for new business development, however there seems to be a cultural issue where very few of the lot are really inclined to take you to the finish line - connect to the right people, open to listening to ideas, open to engaging with new group of consultants but it has been fun experience. Have been able to connect dots and figure out what works with a set of people or culture does not necessarily work with other group and all this comes with real experience. Networking should be carried out tirelessly over an extended period of time to be able to reap benefits professionally and personally, there is no short-cut formula.

HK OR Singapore - Debate lingers on ??

2009-07-15T05:14:00.000-07:00

During a conversation on whether HK is better than Singapore ??

HK popped up as an efficient, fast, pacey --but small ??
HK's night life, islands around - aplenty-- but small ??
Before the looong day kicks in early morning ending up at happy hours - And the weekend breezes by - when you escape to one of the islands -- OR else HK is monotone ??

Dare I say - If HK could be Monotone - what could Singapore be ??

Trading HKU High table dinner for IIFA

2009-06-12T00:42:00.000-07:00

So i decided to join this dinner as they say:

No HKU experience is complete without the traditional high table dinner! The HKU Economics and Finance Postgraduates High Table Dinner 2009 will be held on Saturday 13 June at the historical Loke Yew Hall in the HKU Main Building, where scenes of the famous film "Love, Lust色戒" is set. An evening of authentic HKU tradition!

GAN BEI - key to success in China

2009-06-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

is the first word you should speak to be successful in China. Means "Bottoms up" for the literate ones.

Since a number of international students are choosing Hong Kong as their study destination, I thought of focusing on intangibles, I gained out of my prev 4 years in Hong Kong.

If I were to take a step back, China's economic rise has captured the world's imagination. At the forefront has been Pearl River Delta. Hong Kong has been serving as the Gateway to the huge FDI to PRC. PRC consists of Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong province. What led to the growth of PRD? To understand these questions and to witness one of the modern day's marvel an easier route is to study/work in Hong Kong. University of Hong Kong has been at the forefront of imparting management education for many decades now. Skills gained through the program is enormous. Often, students have a myopic vision when choosing an MBA program.

While I had my apprehensions before coming to Hong Kong, last four years of experience has been professionally most rewarding where I have been able to travel and work in Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, PRC, Macau, India & Hong Kong.

To list briefly some of the intangibles people forget to add while describing their HK exp are

London/Columbia exp. & connections

Hong Kong exp. - Breathtaking hikes, mountains, sea - one of my MBA colleague rightly commented on HK - as the richest mountain in the world

Networking skills lead to Survival skills (HK is one of the easiest places to learn & practice this art)

Lifelong friends within industry and outside - HK is tiny - you bump in people almost regularly

Connexions in the region - HK is the Asia's world city

Cultural diversity - People of all nationalities converge here

Learning Chinese/Cantonese sets you up for long haul

Night life & party scene - as good as anywhere else

I have seen Non - finance folks learning more bit of finance outside classroom than by studying books

Do not forget the Cultural Immersion rule - let yourself exp. the local culture, make local friends, get out of your comfort zone and rest would take care of itself.

HKU, Chinese U and HKUST: Best in Asia

2009-05-12T01:10:00.000-07:00

Appearing on top of rankings is a good PR achievement. And Hong Kong seems to pay a lot of attention to it. And why not, it has a lot to brag about. It's students consistently rank well in mathematics and science. It's home to top restaurants in the world and financially speaking, it has the freest economy in the world. Now, let's add up its array of universities in the list of achievements. University of Hong Kong (it's initials indicate its name is Hong Kong University), Chinese University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology are now ranked top tertiary institutions in Asia, according to The Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings. (An older ranking appears here.)It seems that Hong Kong (3), Japan (3) and Korea (2), are home to the among the 10 best universities in the region, along with Singapore (1) and China (1).

A classic : My friend told me

2006-05-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

In your life, I liken you to the bumblebee. In physics, the bumblebee is an enigma because its wings are too small for its body and it is not supposed to be able to fly. They say that the bumblebee never studied physics and it didn't know that it couldn't fly, so it flew. "So it is with you and the many challenges you have overcome. You have done so many things that couldn't be done, because you too, didn't know that they couldn't be done. And you did them over and over, and better and better. The bumblebee keeps flying and you keep growing."

Brighter side of pursuing MBA in APAC region

2006-05-17T01:40:00.001-07:00

Alright, we have discussed the point of placements and career services, but here comes the cracker of the reasons for choosing APAC B schools. Cultural experience is unique which you may not get elsewhere as MBA classes are almost full of students from more than fifteen nationalities (China,Taiwan,Korea,US,Canada,Singapore,India,Germany to name a few). Exposure to China and Hong Kong has its unique features as it gives an overview of developed and developing economy back to back. Like every developed market job opportunities are less but they do exist and people have been getting jobs in the past although with much more efforts. Visiting professors are a cool bunch and they allow you to think on multidimensional scale of management and business as a whole. Some of them are heads of BCG, Mc. Kinsey, DHL so you know the exposure and gyaan. People have gone out to carve their own niche from these B schools and make great careers. Its definitely for the people looking for International exposure, cultural diversity, good quality of education and a great opportunity to network and learn survival skills.
Believe me, the skills learnt here are worth the pain.

"HERO" in the organization

2006-05-02T23:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been attending a course on Strategy,Operations and Information during my MBA by Prof. Tom Haut, who is BCG head for APAC region and his wriiten several articles for HBR and taught at Harvard Business School. He says "If you want to be the hero in organization" you need to start asking right questions, you need to goto different departments and start building relationships, do networking and make friends with the powerful people there. You need to do things right as there would always be people with comments "I know this thing and how it can be done but then they never implement it" You need to understand the Operating system of the organization and may be draw a flow chart of processes and divide it into critical components and see where is the problem.
This is so easy to speak but so difficult to implement like the blind village story. "In a village of blind, there comes an elephant and head of the village asks everyone to draw how the new creature looks like? some one caught the trunk, someone caught the legs, someone jumped over its back and were trying to fix the problem" so the idea is its not easy to draw the big picture always but thats how a Hero is different. Innovation, fast cycle time, adaptation and doing the right things first time and being nible is just the beginning today. Continuous improvement in practice and a great knack for implementation is the key. Intercompany partnerships is the success factor for coming age. Collaboration ,Cooperation and Coordination is the funda for being successful.
So, who is the Hero ? one who fixes the problems and fixes the largest number of problems, one who finds the right solutions to complex problems most no of times and one whose art and craft is being followed by others in an organization.

Does an MBA teach entrepreneurship?

2005-12-10T23:27:00.000-08:00

Getting inclined towards the entrepreneurial qulaities of a person is not uncommon. I am talking about the entrepreneurial course being taught by great professionals at HKU MBA; and one among them is the founder of DHL.

They talk about personal operating system and the qualities that one should bring on table for creating a successful business. MBA definitely helps in connecting the bits and pieces for building a new business model from scratch. We also study about Innovation which is nothing but Identifying the best practices/processes and then combining them logically. In fact they recommend to read or gain as much experience so that you can pick the best stuff for your startup. You should be doing everything to be the winner and never let skepticism creep in. I would post some V. interesting articles from the class.

Banaras : My second love

2005-11-19T01:41:00.000-08:00

I love Banaras, the land of Budha,Tulsi and Kabir.

Get some gyan on Banaras here.
Banaras Blog Spot :http://www.mysticalbanaras.blogspot.com/
Film on Banaras: http://www.banarasthefilm.com/

How To Quit A Job Gracefully

2005-08-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

There are two things in our working life that we need to write well. One is a good resume and the other is a resignation letter. While one (the CV) indicates a start, the other (resignation letter) indicates an end. The common factor here is both need proper forethought and planning. Once you have made the decision to quit, it becomes imperative that you do it gracefully and professionally. The primary reason for this is obvious; you are a professional in everything you do and quitting your job is no different than anything else. You want to do it right. You will also need references in the future, and quitting with style and grace will help you immeasurably when the time comes for a positive review of your past work. So before you take that final leap, here are a few things that can help you bid farewell to your old job in a pleasant fashion. But first of all, are you ready to quit? Before you rush in to write your resignation letter, be absolutely POSITIVE that you want to quit, and make sure you've done your homework. You should be confident that the next job you have is better than your present one and if you aren't, then it makes sense to hang around until you?re certain. Writing a Resignation LetterYour resignation should be handled in person. Ask your direct supervisor if you can speak with him or her privately in their office. When you announce your intention to resign, you should also hand your supervisor a letter that states your last date of employment with the company. Remember to keep your resignation letter short, simple and to the point. There's no need to go into details about your new job, or what led to your decision to leave. Let them Know speaking to your boss face to face might be the most difficult part. However, make sure your boss knows that your reason for leaving is that you've outgrown your position and are looking for a more challenging job. Don't blame your boss or your colleagues for anything. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything bad either. Remember, you may be in need of a reference from your current boss in order to get your next job, so do everything you can to make the process as smooth as possible. In addition, you never know who you might end up working with (or for) down the road. The boss you dislike today could well be the one that accepts a job as your supervisor at your new organization!
Give Notice Many jobs require a month's notice before quitting. This is standard in the corporate world, and even if your employer doesn't ask for any notice, you should at least give him a week or two to tie up loose ends and find someone to replace you. If yours is a job that no one else at the company knows how to do, you may be asked to train your successor, and unless it is impossible, you should do so. Praise Your CompanyLet your supervisor know that you appreciate all that the company's done for you and that you'll do everything in your power to make your departure as smooth and painless as possible. Be ResponsibleFinally, ask if there's anything that you can do during the transition period (until you leave), such as help train your successor, tie up loose ends, or delegate tasks. Make sure that you provide a copy of your resignation letter for your company's personnel file. This way, the circumstances surrounding your resignation will be well documented for future reference. In all likelihood, the human resource department will want to meet with you to process your departure papers, or cover any questions you may have, like the transfer of your superannuation. Keep in TouchKeep writing an e-mail to your boss every now and then to let him or her know how your new job is going. If possible, ask for advice on your career, as you never know when you might need his or her help in the future.
Finally, be certain that you're making the right career move. If your job is monotonous but will likely get more and more challenging in the coming months, you probably should stick it out in expectation of the coming rewards. If your job has brought you to a complete dead-end, however, don?t hang in there. So, even if you accept a pay cut to move to a more challenging job, your career will benefit from the added experience and you will likely be rewarded in the future.

MBA Journey

2005-07-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

No Half Measures this time, its full 42 Kms of Marathon now. Yes,soon I would publish about the way to go for MBA abroad.The facts and things to be kept in mind before delving deep into it.The blog is going to be boring and long however this may act as a good guide for someone just beginning to prepare for MBA Journey.Views expressed in this article is based on my experience.

Let's begin..Why an MBA should be the question an individal should ask himself or herself before making a decision.It could be two ways,probably you have an answer or else you may not have. Well,if you fall in second category,Just wait stop thinking and probably stop fooling yourself.Let the right time come when u have an answer to this Q and then you are ready to move. In case you fall in category one, you might have an approximate answer to why you want an MBA and the reasons could be numerous like...Opportunity in terms of Career growth,Better remuneration,Change in domain,Better work assignments,Better place,Opportunity in various industries like Marketing,Sales,Finance,IT and manufacturing,Business Consulting,Business Development,Human Resources,Education and reserach bla bla....There are some people who I find have fixed answers to Why an MBA? Say an entrepreneur,be a manager in one year and super manager (CEO) in 5 years etc.Well,its as important to have answers to the big Q' Why ? as that of getting an MBA. Since it would directly be proportionate to one's learning.MBA is about acquiring a set of Business skills where you can match up your profile to the jobs in market.Let me elaborate this point by saying that unlike India you have a set of electives to choose from abroad B schools and one has to decide the best for him or her in order to shape the MBA education and learning process.
Shortlisting Schools :*Expenses include (Tution+Living)
Let me be precise US B school expenses vary between 60-150K USD, However if you decide to go to some state University Expenses comes down to 35-40 k USD say Arizona State and school has a good ranking and it falls in the same category.The cost of top B schools in Europe vary between 80-100 K USD, say the expense for London Business School runs as high as 150 k USD.(Well these figures exclude the possibility of scholarship and if you depend entirely on ure own funding).Another example could be the Cost of B schools in Canada which falls in loop of 70-100 K USD.Although US top 10 (Ivey League colleges) remains my favourite as same with everybody,I would rate the B schools in Singapore,Hong Kong,India and Philippines as equally good to their western counterparts providing expenses@ one third price.Well, You may debate with me about future ROI, etc wrt Western B Schools,its true that a US or Europe degree may provide you with better dividends in future however its not always easy to compete with 30 + yrs old Investment bankers from US or say Europe and obtaining a lucrative job with top of class IB's.(I presume the general MBA crop from India or Asia are younger MBA's and carry 3-5 yrs of experience on an average).While you sit and analyse your cost to return ratio , i would also suggest to keep the risk factor in mind as well.Since US and Europe might not lend you an easy Work Permit or what they say Green Card.Needless to say pursuing education from Asia Pacific countries provides an unlimited access to developing economies like China and India,already predicted as Economic superpowers in the coming century.
Taking GMAT and Applying to Universities:Application kit to any B school comprises of (GMAT+SOP+Recommendations+Essays+Resume+Experience letter+Application fees). GMAT is graduate management aptitude test required by almost all the universities across the world for getting admitted to an MBA program.Therefor its imperative to prepare well and score high on GMAT the first step for successful admit to different B schools.A very good GMAT score is a score of 700 however 650+ is considered a good score.Admissions to a particular institute depends on several factors including overallprofile, previous work experience, GMAT score , SOP, Essays, Recommendations, Interviews and International exposure.After the GMAT apply to your shortlisted colleges by their first cut off date to get maximum attention from admissions committee.(SOP)Statement of purpose should be very well written,Essays or questions which varies for B schools needs to be neatly written and analyzed over and over again. Since this would act as one of the most important source to prove your credentials before admissions committee deciding upon your candidature.Recommendations should come from a person who know you the best and this may be from your workplace and from university professor. It should portray you as an ideal fit for being a future manager.
Financial AID: According to my reserach top MBA schools have tie up with local banks and financial institutions some of these schools helps in getting a loan covering your entire tuition and living expenses.For example London Business Schoola has a tie up with banks in London and they help you in funding your education without depleting your resources.Rotterdam Business School from Netherland has Tie up with ING bank and your admit helps you getting entire loan without security or collateral unlike india.(FYI: In India you need to provide 100 % security cover for a loan above 4 lakhs or security in terms of immovable property like land or house which amounts to 150 % to that of loan amount ,thus it becomes very essential to chalk out the ways of funding your education.)
After Admissions: Well now starts the tough journey of MBA.

Student Visa,Air Tickets,Laptop,accomodation blues,packing your suitcase follows the suit after your admissions.To land up a job from a foreign B school one needs to be at least as efficient as that of locals if not more,have to be more proactive,smart and sharper than your peers looking for same openings.Survival to this is networking. Network, Network and Network.Work with placement cell and be clear in your objectives,goals and kind of job you are targetting from very beginning.Lastly I wish to say MBA is a very important decision in life ,like for me I have had very good counsellers in my life who also adviced that its an investment and one can reap its rewards through out one's life.It is quite possible that jobs and opportunities for one particular industry may become scant but then your MBA helps you in getting through another industry and domain.

All the best