The world is getting more complex and it would appear, even crueler.

Managers of tomorrow will need to have a higher level of spiritual quotient. The focus needs to change from a capitalist mindset, “what’s in it for me?”, to a socialist mindset, “how can I add value to society?”

The only ones who will win will be those who create a win-win situation for everyone. Managers need to realize that you cannot win for long by cheating others. It is back to basics- speak up when you find something wrong or someone doing wrong; and think solutions.

For example, look at the malnutrition figures in India. On the one hand we have the deploring situation of under-nourished kids, and on the other we have Complan & Horlicks fighting a legal battle regarding each other’s advertisements – isn’t that spending precious resources in mindless battles? If the managers at these organizations re-focused their efforts on the issue of malnutrition in our society, and picked up the cause of the under-nourished, wouldn’t that generate a positive feel about the brands?

Managers will have to realize that Social responsibility isn’t just paying lip-service to causes, but actually making a positive difference, which will be economically profitable for their organizations as well. Some brands have already had a tremendous impact on their bottom-line through proactive social initiatives.

 Thus, managers will need to ask the question: “Am I adding value to my job, my team members, my society?” and if that honest answer is ‘no, then those managers are guaranteed to lose.

Young India has tremendous potential, and we as educators need to provide them the right impetus to become agents of change in society, rather than following the cookie-cutter method of creating robotic clones, who don’t think, only follow instructions.

Our contribution would be nurturing this rich resource pool, the MBA graduates, and getting them to ask the right questions, and then build businesses that will create a win-win solutions for all the stakeholders.

Hanif Kanjer, Dean

Dental exhibition held at Bombay exhibition centre in Goregoan (east) was an exhilarating experience for all of us visiting the exhibition. This exhibition is popularly known as “IDEM” which stands for International Dental Exhibition and Meeting. IDEM held for the first time had dentists, dental technicians, importers & manufacturers of dental tools and other requirements and dealers from South-Asian regions participating in it.

The exhibition had four spacious halls covering, 40,000 sq. meters of centrally air conditioned space. It also had open air cafeterias and business communication center. All these gave us a great feeling and deeper insight of dentistry world.

It displayed an entire spectrum of innovative products and process which were known and used on a day to day basis in dentistry world. Along with the exhibition, there were workshops which highlighted the scientific development in the area of dentistry and dental technology. We were completely astounded and wondered as to how huge the little tooth kingdom actually was, when we saw a wide range of dental tools exhibited by many different companies from all over the globe. That made me think as to how many things are actually put in to have the bright sparkling smile.

 Brackets, hooks, curettes, pluggers, chisels, drills and bars, pliers and other general supplies were displayed by many suppliers and manufacturers. The funniest part was that there were options of putting or decorating teeth by fixing jewels or a smiley, I never ever had wondered of fixing a smiley ma teeth but I don’t think it’s a bad idea either, what do you say? And will soon go and fix one on my canine teeth. Along with this there was a stall which sold toys connected to dental tools like a soft toy of a tooth, key chains of dentures and crowns etc, I have bought a few for myself.

We are thankful to Hanif Sir and Rahul Sir was exposed us to a professional world which made us realize the importance of professional behavior. Hope to visit some more exciting exhibitions in near future.

Regards,

Ami Gandani

Mamata Negi

Shwetambari Salvi

Since it was my first visit, I had a lot of energy buzzing inside me showing me different insights of how it will be. The morning of 5^th August, 09, I eagerly looked for ‘the day’. On reaching the radio mirchi office at Parel, we were welcomed warmly. The office was buzzing with sound; the colorful ambience cheered all of us. The environment on the office floor was apt for creativity to blossom.

 RJ Prackriti welcomed us in the conference room. At the 1^st instance, she came across as a very confident and a well informed person. She had the flare and spontaneity to keep us engrossed in the Q & A session. The session needed us to ask questions and RJ Prackriti did a wonderful job of answering all of them patiently. We were even shown the programming studio. We were mesmerized to know how it functions. Being in the media is not an easy job. Hardwork and patience are the keys for it, we learnt that.

It was a great learning experience. My hope weren’t let down. The visit was an unforgettable one. It truly lived up to my expectation, I’ll say more than that… Radio mirchi sizzles!!!!!!!!

Steffi Gomes

RBS, PG-10

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Challenges faced by Pepsi in the distribution process @ Roha plant.

4th Nov, 2009

Our field visit to the PepsiCo India Holdings Plant @ Roha was a great learning experience. The entire operation process we came across was something that we had never seen before. This large company is spread across almost 64 acres of land and houses around 250 employees. The large inventories, huge machineries, quality check labs and their production made me wonder of how staggering their distribution network will be.

Roha situated in the Konkan area is a remote village where Pepsi Co has its base for manufacturing beverages. Their main mfg plant is at Channo in

. The PepsiCo plant starts by receiving used bottles i.e. reverse logistics, they are cleaned, steriled, sorted out, refilled and finally shipped out of the factory. They roll out beverages like Pepsi, 7up, Mirinda, Mountain Dew and Aquafina from this plant.

The 1^st process begins by collection of empty bottles via reverse logistics and they sorted out according to their brand and sent for cleaning. There are around 10 employees to do this. Reverse logistics is time consuming and also there are huge costs involved like the transportation, handling charges etc.

The 2^nd process that follows is the cleaning of these bottles. The bottles are sent on a separate line for cleaning and sterilisation. If they find the bottle unfit for re-using, they dispose them off immediately. There are chances of wastages and shrinkage over here. The bottles are washed at the temperature of 45-55 degree Celsius.

The 3^rd process that follows is the filtering of these bottles again and only then they are sent for refilling. The refilling takes place on a huge line and the bottles and cans were seen moving on a conveyor belt. In a day 240,000 bottles and cans are filled.

The 4^th process is the labelling process. Mfg date and time are stamped on it and they are sent for packaging. They are packed in Shrink wrappers, more than 1500 cases are packed daily.

There is a possibility of PepsiCo plant meeting challenges in different forms. The plant had only 2 of its lines running. 1 was for Pepsi and the other was for Aquafina. There were 2 other lines that were not being used due to some technical problem. This hits the production capacity.

High levels of quality check is mandatory, which implies more cost and leads to slow down in the production, if there is a slight variation in the quality than the product is rejected. It is not always possible to meet the demands in the market. They can run out of stock and in some instances they can have over stocking. This happens if there is poor forecasting of the market demands.

Due to its location, they incur high transportation costs because this plant supplies its produce to all over Maharashtra. There is also another possibility of power breakdown which keeps the production on hold which affects the inventory cost and also wastages.

The tinned cans that are used to fill beverages are imported from

@ Rs. 5/- per tin. Diet Pepsi cans are made at Pune. Importing these cans increases the variable cost which in turn has its effect on the profit margin and finally the cost is thrusted on the consumer.

By

Steffi Gomes (PG2010)

The International Study Tour was one of our most significant learning experiences since it was our first international tour. From the grandeur of the Singapore International Airport, to the electronic toll-ticketing on their express ways, to their fabulous rail-transport system, and the large-scale malls, all of it left us in awe.

For me personally though, the show Creatures of the Night, at the Night Safari was the most exciting. The shows are conducted at dusk to show us the night life and behaviour of animals. What was most intriguing was how the animals responded to trainer instructions, and the emphasis on saving the environment and looking after animals. An open amphi-theatre created a natural environment, with the audience feeling the pulse of the show with the live demonstrations of the abilities of nocturnal animals.  It left many of wondering why we couldn’t have similar shows in India, where we have such abundance of talent and resources.

From this show, we proceeded on to the night safari, and we actually felt that rather than the animals on display, it was the humans on display since we are restricted in our trams, albet open trams, whilst the animals were left in their natural surroundings. The trams were operated silently so as not to disturb the animals. A live commentator in the trams drew our attention to the various animals in their natural surroundings.  They, also, have designed walking trails for people to experience the wild on foot.

We understood the true essence of management education since whilst for most visitors this would be a fun-activity, for the park rangers, animals, their trainers, and the authorities this is a business model which yield their fabulous returns. Our understanding of business operations, profitability, and challenges improved through this activity.

By Meraj Anwar, PG 2009

Did you know that a ship weighs 5,000 tonnes and that it takes almost two years to build a ship?

Did you know the toughest challenge ship builders face is not of putting it together, but getting the ship into the waters after it is built?

Our two-hour visit to the Bharati Ship Building Yard in Goa was our real-world operations management exercise to understand the concept of job-work, and the challenges in operations management. We had earlier visited the Godrej & Boyce factory to look at batch production, and the Mahindra & Mahindra Tractor plant to understand line production.  This trilogy of industrial visits comprised our operations management learning experience.

We were welcomed by the engineers from the ship building yard who patiently led us through the entire ship building process from metal working to fabrication to painting, and assembly.  The ship being built was around 500 meters long.  We understood the raw materials management process, and we learnt that job outsourcing for different components was integral to the ship building process; with the total cost of construction being in the range of Rs. 250 crores; and that more than 80% of their labor force was from UP and MP.

This two-hour visit was interesting and fun.  We believe our learning in the field has been exponential, and it beats any amount of classroom theory learning about operations management.

By - Sonali Shah, PG 2009

Rustomjee Business School is known not only for doing different things but, also, for doing the same things differently. We Rustomites are always in search for something new. Venturing into the island country of Singapore was a dream come true experience for all of us as this was our first international tour for all aspiring managers. We were in the country for 6 days and our main focus was to study the working of a retail mall and hear the CEO’s speak. `All work and no play makes managers dull, so to have a local taste of the country we were taken to the major tourist attractions like the Merlion Bay, the Singapore Eye, the underwater world, the night safari and of course the Jurong Bird Park which was a major tourist attraction, ’The Jurong Bird Park’. Jurong Bird Park is an open-concept bird park where there were all the elite birds flying from all corners above and around us. The park had around 9,000 birds from 600 species which is among the largest in the world. The Park majorly has a unique composition of birds from Southeast Asian countries.

The birds and buddies show had an array of birds like Amigo, the Amazon who could speak and count numbers in various languages; I myself did not know as many languages as the Amazon knew. We were all enamoured watching Cockatoos, Toucans, Hornbills, pelicans, roosters, vultures, penguins, woodpeckers, and the macaws. We, also, watched the Birds of Prey show, which displayed the hunting skills of vultures, a penguin expedition, and the most exciting Lory Loft. The Lory loft is the World’s Largest Lory Flight Aviary. The aviary had a large number of Lories. These Lories were found in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

The most interesting part here was that one can actually feed the Lorries with their own hands. Where you came across face to face encounters with the breathtaking display of suspended bridges, rich red, yellow, green and blue feathered Lories. You must not get messy with these Lorries as they will bite you. I had a bad experience here when one of the angry lory actually bit me hard. But this did not stop me from going near them and feeding them again as those vibrant colours gradually fascinated them to me and wanted me to play with them again and again.

At the end of the tour, we visited the shop ‘feathers’ where there were different memories that we could take back home. My friends actually bought the different stuffed toys home for the ever-lasting memories. It was a once in a lifetime experience and an enchanting experience.

By - Priyanka Kodial, PG 2009

This saying is constantly on my mind “We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams”.

Every experience brings with it learning for the future.  This is what we personally experienced when we interacted with successful professionals at the 'IIT everywhere-Asia 2020' conference held at Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore on 22^nd November 2008.  We were invited to this event by Mr. Supriyo Sircar, CEO-Asia Pacific at Polaris and the President of the IIT alumni forum in Singapore.

 As this was our first International Conference, we were excited about meeting with successful professionals and anxious about making a good first impression.  Our nervousness was observed by our dean, Mr. Hanif Kanjer, who quickly came to our rescue, and introduced us to the nuances of networking. Taking the lead, he introduced us to a few directors and CEOs, and then would quietly move out. We quickly learnt the tricks of the trade, and learnt about all the exciting experiences of the professionals in Singapore, and the impact of the current financial crisis on various businesses. 

Aspiring entrepreneurs like us need to learn from the people who have achieved the pinnacles of success in their respective field and we are obliged that you took the time.  Our school has always taken the initiative to grab opportunities.  Our program is truly unique since it encourages us to participate in activities as varied as book reviews, river rafting, rock climbing, salsa dancing, and playing musical instruments (flute).  This is in addition to all our industrial visits, PowerPoint presentations, and academic learning.

By - Flora Antoine, PG 2009

The highlight of our trip to Singapore for me was the Songs of the Sea show, a dazzling and mersmerising laser show carried out in the middle of the Sea.

Rather than a simple light and sound show, this was a dramatic musical that captured a mystical tale of love, talent and goodness. No words or pictures would do justice to the magical show that left us captivated and enthralled.  The dramatic effects of pyrotechnics, water jets, brilliant lasers, special computerized imaging, captivating music, fire crackers and stunning flame bursts showcased the true potential of human imagination. What you can imagine, you can create was our learning from this show.

According to me this show can be named as the heart of Sentosa. This live performance show has attracted over millions of viewers worldwide since its first showing. At the end of the tour we were taken to the shop where there were different memories that we could take back home. It was a once in a lifetime experience and a highly enjoyable one. This was a kind of an entertainment show which was worth a watch.    

By - Kunal Shah, PG 2009

Winning the Business Plan competition at the inter-business school event, Exuberance 2008, organised by the St. Francis Institute of Management & Research, Borivali (West), was one of our most significant achievements. The win was sweeter because we competed with some of the best business schools in Mumbai and emerged winners. 

I would attribute this success to the following parameters: an innovative idea that appealed to the emotional needs of all pet owners, the fabulous team from Rustomjee Business School, and the development of our strategic thinking abilities and our analytical skills through our rigorous academic learning at Rustomjee Business School.

Our project, ‘Space for Paws’ was a truly different and an interesting business plan. It was not just about earning profit but an honest endeavour giving love to our pets. We proposed a Pet Salon, Pet-nursery, and Pet accessories that would make the pet owner proud. Making demand forecasts, estimating costs, and determining profitability of the venture were some of the evaluation parameters that led to our win.

The winning team members were: Sonali Shah, Priyanka Kodial, Flora Antione, and I, Neha Talesara.

By Neha Talesara, PG 2009

On 4^th November, 2009 we had an industrial visit to PEPSICO. This company is located in Roha, and it is spread over in the area of 64 acres, plant has a 250 permanent employee and 50 workers are temporary, who are called when there is a need for them. This plant is consisting of filling of bottles, including Pepsi, 7up, Mountain dew, Mirinda, & Aquafina.

In the procedure of inbound logistics the plant receives the used bottles from the market, if the received bottles are less then the company purchases some new glass bottles. Company procures the tins from the Korea and the cost of each tin is approx Rs.5 and is made of aluminum, they wanted to reduce the cost per tins because the transportation costs were making it difficult for them to procure at such a less price. The tins are expensive because they have to be transported from Korea to the Indian ports and from the ports again to the factory.  A new plant will been set up in Pune for manufacturing of this tins from steel, and it will reduce the cost to Rs.4 to 4.20 per tins. This will actually improves the distribution channels and even give them a higher margins, transportation cost will also go down, but the drawback of using the

The process the bottling will be in the following pattern:

Inbound(Empty bottles)-Checking(damaged bottles)-Cleaning and sterilizing(clean by water)-Loading and packaging-Ready to go in the market.

They have also told us that the production is increasing everyday from the past 2 months. This increase also had its side effects as they cannot suddenly increase the production as the capacity of the plant is limited.

The transportation of these bottles has to be done with care because the glass bottles have to be handled with care.

These are the learning’s from my visit to Pepsi.

Regards,

Vishal Shah

Shwetambari Salvi