Wednesday, December 22, 2010

IIMB-GMITE-2010

I am one of those guys who grew up with the notion that good pieces of literature / write ups are rare and it takes a full moon with streaks of light, free flow of liquor, few acres of green well manicured lawns and finally the winds playing the notes of Mozart. With this notion I have been whiling away time without writing about my one year well spent at IIMB. Publishing few decent shots of IIMB has been delayed a lot due to this laziness well masked behind such conjured notions.

A few years back I applied for this executive management program from IIMB called GMITE - General Management Program for IT Executives with full knowledge that I wasn’t passing the experience criteria. I was just wishfully praying that the selection committee get temporary blindness while going over the experience column on my application, but nothing like that happened and my application was rejected. This program is almost similar to an eMBA or executive MBA. The next year again I threw in the application form sitting at a customer location in Godalming, UK and nothing did materialize. The third year not due to any particular interest but more of a habit I dusted & modified my Statement of Purpose and my Job Profile and filled the application form and sent it across. I remember it was Christmas season and I was in Chennai, the year was 2009. I was checking my mails on the mobile browser and voila I had made it through the selection list. Shock & Surprise were the initial reactions followed by joy, happiness and then finally followed by checking my bank balance for the fee aspect. I was sure I was going to be one of the youngest members of the class at around 4+ years of total experience. Told the happy news to my better half, family & friends and was waiting for the first class to begin in January. Went to IIMB to pay the first term fees and was amazed to see the HUGE (make no mistake H U G E) campus, green (really green), beautiful architecture and bang on the ever crowded Bannerghatta Road. First day was orientation, group photograph, and an awesome session on psychology, human mind & the brain, the session was taken by a qualified doctor from UK. Moral of the session other than lots of amazing facts and informative anecdotes was the fact that the brain can take what ever is thrown to it and hence please learn all the subjects that were to follow in the two semesters. A polite and informative way of getting the point across.

The class was a mix of people with varied experience, starting from 3++ to 20+ years of experience. There was representation from about 40+ companies in our batch.

Following were the major subjects that were part of the program:

Course Map (courtesy Sharath)

GMITE_2010_CourseMap

Most of the subjects were core for business, management & career growth. We struggled to understand few aspects of core subjects from the Finance & Economics domain and had to put in quite a bit of effort.

Companies (courtesy Sharath)

GMITE_2010_Companies

Now just looking at this map of companies, you can visualize what kind of perspective, knowledge and experience the group brings to the table during discussions, informal chats and table topics. Mind blowing array of unique work cultures, best practices etc.

Every Friday my day started at around 6 early morning to wake up, get ready, check the time table and pack my bag and get to college. Breakfast was at college combined with discussions with friends on the week that went by and the class ahead. We also caught up on several interesting discussions on the entrepreneurial aspirations of many and yes, about the assignments as well. Classes began at 8.00 am and the professors would start their wonderful delivery of the subject. The beauty of such top notch colleges stem from none other than the professors and the students. The professors were unbelievably awesome and yes we students were decent too (hope so :P). It was tough during the initial few weeks to get used to sitting long hours at one place and listening to lectures, it was like we were revisiting school after gaining some experience. We also used to have some eventful discussions moderated by the Profs. Then slowly the assignments started, few assignments used to take up weekends and threw my travel schedules out of the window. After class we used to be treated to some soulful food, it was some kind of penance from the college for the day long sessions. After that I used to leave to office.It was quite strange to reach office at 3.00 pm as it was the time people generally leave on Fridays. I used to walk into office amidst a few weird glares from people.

Eventually May came and my birthday went without a big bang as it was also exam time, nights became short, coffee became stronger and my eyes widened. I somehow managed to do decently well in all my papers. A week or two was our holiday break a.k.a summer vacation. We were back to campus and the same schedule started and before we realized we had hit upon the electives. I chose Strategic Marketing and Business Intelligence and had fun. The Final week was hellish and had few friends compare it to the Army Hell Week. We had classes in the morning and exams in the late evening. I travelled around 400 kms in one week, my day used to start at 5:30, used to get ready and reach college and we used to have class from 8 -5 and then exams from 5:30 - 7:30 -- 8:30 and by the time I reached home it used to be 10 and then study for a few hours for the next exam and sleep. Whoa it was fanatical but I really loved and lived up to the challenge.

Last few weeks, a bunch of like minded photographers got together and walked around campus clicking, shooting, and capturing anything that moved & stood still - almost everything. We couldn’t do too much justice to the great campus of IIMB. Anyways I am sharing the pictures below; please do share your comments and critique.

I call this set the
‘Battle between Light & Darkness’
‘The Dance of Light & Shadow’





All the pictures and the video have been shot with a 5 year old P&S Canon S3 IS camera. Thanks for reading.

Cheers,
Monish

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Places around Bangalore

What to do in Bangalore?

What places to visit near Bangalore?

Day trips near Bangalore?

Driving short trips near and around Bangalore?

Several friends usually ask for details relating to outings, day trips, driving short hauls etc, and I had got this attachment as a forward and decided this might be helpful to all.


Enjoy the beautiful places, be a clean and responsible traveler, leave the place as you found it.

Source: Internet Forward

m.m

Monday, November 08, 2010

What is your identity?

What is your identity?

This was a real incident narrated by the HOD of TTS -TamilNadu Theological Seminary - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamilnadu_Theological_Seminary during a sermon at Memorial Church, Whitefield. I found it quite thought provoking and decide to narrate it as a first person account (as if narrated by him).


Etching a name out

TTS - HOD: We were staying in Switzerland. We didn't have the midnight service during new year, hence we used to gather in Germany to celebrate, party and welcome the new year. We were a large set of Indians and we were united and felt proud to be identified as Indians - the people belonging to a rising power nation. We used to have a air among us and used to walk with our collars almost out. We used to have fun during these parties and we really bonded well among ourselves. We also unanimously identified ourselves as Indians and felt good about it. Our identity was solely Indian.

However an incident was to happen to change our identity.

A major set of us were to return back to India and we started packing, shopping etc and getting ready to get back home. We all arrived at Frankfurt Airport and we had a Frankfurt - Chennai flight to catch. This is where I noticed a strange pattern emerging out. Everyone in the line started sticking to a particular set of people and slowly sub groups started getting formed. Each sub group was of a particular language, people speaking Hindi stood together, people speaking Tamil stood together, people speaking Malayalam stood together, people speaking Telugu stood together, people speaking Kannada stood together and many more sub groups. This was surprising as in the years before we didn't even know what was the language spoken by others. Slowly every one started taking a new identity - an identity of region, an identity of language.

Throughout the flight it was the same story, the sub groups stuck to each other within the group. We arrived at Chennai and a new pattern started emerging - example the Tamil group was into two groups the Chennai Group and the Group traveling to Madurai, the Kannada group was into two groups the Bangalore Group and the Group traveling to Mangalore. Slowly every one started taking a new identity - an identity of Cities, an identity of Towns.

Eventually we cleared security and had to depart to our respective destinations and ahoy I can identify a new pattern emerging - example the Bangalore group was into two - three groups the Whitefield Group and the Frazer Town Group and the South Bangalore Group. Slowly but surely and definitely every one was taking a new identity - an identity of Areas, an identity of Locations.

Thus this identity that we all identify ourselves are often self imposed, self proclaimed and are always changeable to our convenience. Hence don't be rigid on your identity and have an open identity based out of an open mind.

m.m

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Make My Trip - Services Management - An IIMB Casestudy

A case study prepared by us for a module under the guidance of IIMB Professor Mr. Ashok D. The subject was services marketing.

MMT_CaseStudy

MakeMyTrip-IIMBCasestudy

Would love your comments and views.


m.m

Monday, October 11, 2010

Blog Action Day – 2010 : Fight for H2O is on!

October 15 is the day, participate and be part of the change…

http://blogactionday.change.org/register is the link to register your blog and participation.


Couldn't get my creative juices in full speed hence decided to participate by at least posting some water pictures to understand the importance of water.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Agumbe Rainforest Expedition

Recently went on a photographic expedition to Agumbe Rainforest with Amogavarsha. The entire article and the entire set of pictures and videos can be accessed in the below link.

Comment and critique most welcome.


The frog - Tigrina

The link for the article + pictures + videos - Agumbe Rainforest.

m.m


Thursday, August 12, 2010

A Bug Called Shutterbug - 2

Here is the second attempt at making a book, but this time it is a flip book.

Do visit the below link to view the latest book and please provide your comments, critique and feedback.

A Bug Called Shutterbug – 2
Author – Monish Matthias
Type – FlipBook
Pages - 20
Category – Abstract, People, Wildlife, Nature
Date – 10 August 2010

Link to view (best viewed in firefox) the entire book - A Bug Called Shutterbug - 2

If you are using IE - use this link.

The Book download as a PDF can be found here.

ABCS2.JPG



PS: The first book link is here.


m.m

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Java in 16 days

Learn Java, Basics of J2EE, Open Source Frameworks etc in under 16 days. A free tutorial with links to good content from Sun Java and with to do exercise.

We (Nagarajan and me) prepared a curriculum for interns fresh from college, freshers and people taking up JAVA as a new programming language.

It is a 16 day learning exercise broken down into smaller chunks of contents to read and understand and a small to do exercise at the end of each learning content.








The link to access the document is here - Java learning Curriculum.

It is similar to a Java tutorial for freshers.

m.m

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Coorg / Madikeri Trip

Have published the pictures and journal of my 3 day trip.

Here is the complete run down and album -
http://www.wow-wonderworks.blogspot.com/2010/07/coorg-madikeri.html

Would love comment and critique.

A small sample of the entire album (3 out of 30+)

Stamp of authority

Wonders of the insect kingdom

Life is beautiful


m.m

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Java File Loading in Web Application

Different applications, different technologies, different designs, different packaging, different servers, different developers... Everything is different in web applications the loading of files becomes really difficult.

So how does one load files (with relative path / with absolute path) in the project structure in their java code within web applications.



1) Get the real path of the file from ServletContext or HttpServletRequest
ServletContext sc = (ServletContext)context;
sc.getRealPath("temp.txt");

or

HttpServletRequest hsrTemp = (HttpServletRequest)context;
hsrTemp.getRealPath("temp.txt");

2) Try with context path
HttpServletRequest hsrTemp = (HttpServletRequest)context;
File fileTemp = new File(hsrTemp.getContextPath()+"/resources/temp.txt");

3) Input stream - file in classes folder
InputStream inpStrTemp = this.getClass().getResourceAsStream("temp.txt");

4) resource url - file in classes folder
URL urlTemp = this.getClass().getResource("temp.txt");

5) Try this one.....................the magic one :) (all four above failed for me, this worked and yes I wrote it on my own ...)

URL currentClassFolder = TestClass.class.getResource(""); //this gives you the package reference of the test class
String pathFromUrl = currentClassFolder.getPath(); //this gives the actual path
String finalPath = pathFromUrl.substring(0,pathFromUrl.indexOf("WEB-INF/classes/com/test/web/")); //navigate to where ever you want to
finalPath = finalPath.replaceAll("% 20", " "); //command prompt doesn't like % 20'

Hope it helps, if it does - do leave a comment!

m.m

Monday, July 12, 2010

Netgear Wifi + Nortel VPN Issues?

I was troubled by the long list of issues that I was facing when I used to connect via VPN through wifi, the connection used to be refused and the office help desk would ask me to seek help from the ISP and vice versa.

Finally one day (a week back), I sat down tried to break my head over it and solved it under 2 hours. Quite pleased with the effort.


Issue: Nortel VPN not connecting via wifi router (netgear in my case) but connects via LAN (directly to the modem)

What I did:

You can access your Modem's application as follows
Link - http://192.168.1.1/
Username / password - admin / password (usually but if it doesn't work search in the net for the right one)

Wifi Router
Netgear router
Link -
http://www.routerlogin.net
or
http://10.0.0.1/
Username / password - admin / password (usually but if it doesn't work search in the net for the right one) [for the virgin media provided wifi router it is virgin/password]

For the VPN to work

Add port triggering for the following ports 50, 80, 500, 4500, 1701, 1723 under both the Wifi and modem's application.
And then Navigate to the wan setup under the wifi router's application and
check the Disable SPI Firewall.

Restart the modem and your system and connect to VPN and voila you connect and if it works drop a comment :)

m.m

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Hassled by Traffic & Their Guardians!

Every commuter yes the same citizen of India (Consumer is king???) has a daily dose of hassle commuting from East Bangalore - the silicon hub of Bangalore a.k.a Whitefield side to South Bangalore. Adding to the irritation is the honking noise, the dust pollution from the construction debris. If it is the English / British tradition to never let a conversation end without referring to the weather, we @ Bangalore never end a day without quoting the great trouble that we face in the form of traffic jams.

Trapped like a bee
Snack


Last two day's the traffic jam's have behaved decently but not their guardians, the nice trendy guys with their blackberries and ever itching fingers to print out a ticket for some violation or the other. These guardians wear the color of peace - white neat uniforms but are hellbent upon creating violence by booking each one they meet under some section or the other. Yes the world is competitive and they have their monthly targets as well!!

Case 1 - Friday
Every commuter knows Bellandur, Agara, SILKBOARD (minimum 15 - 30 minutes) have regular bottlenecks so what does one do?? drive at a decent speed where ever the road is free and where one can drive freely, basically this is common sense. I followed the same logic and was driving at a decent speed on the outer ring road near the More - Mega store, EMC2 office, suddenly I was flagged off the road by an army of traffic cops say about 6 - 8 cops, I went for about 300 metres (though I was so far away didn't have the smallest temptation of running away due to the respect for cops), stopped, parked my bike and got of. A nice young junior cop came and spoke to me in crisp English and asked me why I was cruising at a place where the speed limit was 50 KMs. I asked out of sheer surprise 50 KMs / hr in a 6 lane road with two service roads which makes it almost an 8 lane road. He said yes sir this is a BBMP blah blah blah, I went to the senior person and asked him boss this is unfair etc. etc.. but I am sensible enough to understand a 'stupid' rule has been broken and I cough up RS 300 and get the receipt.

Pros
1) Not once was corruption evident with the young police force.
2) Professional equipment to print the ticket and receipt system.

Cons + questions from few fellow commuters
1) Another commuter who was held up asked the cop "What are you doing in such vacant roads when we really need your clearly over sized team in places where we suffer everyday from traffic jams" - He got no reply - sad!
2) Another commuter asked - "What is your target for today, and what is your monthly target?" - The answer was a blank and fallen face - very sad!
3) My question is - "When you fine us for over speeding, CAN WE FINE YOU & YOUR DEPT FOR under-speeding caused every day in many long stretches? Our average speed would be a mere 0 - 10 kms/hr.
4) Need to have some limits.. one guy was 5 KM over the limit and was fined, anyone heard of something called common sense??


Case 2 - Saturday
Was happily house hunting in Whitefield. Near the hope farm circle (while coming from ITPL), wanted to take the 'U' turn. Apparently there is a board there says no 'U' turn allowed. I turned my indicator to turn and stood there, there were many cops there again beaming their blackberries proudly. [Lets remember that if I wanted to break a rule, I wouldn't dare to do it in front of cops, thats common sense] This junior cop, a slightly aged gentleman from the other side calls me to come, I was wondering why? At this point I was only standing in the intersection and had not violated any rule in the rule book, he calls me so I gently move to the other side and he says you have violated the U turn rule. I completely lost my cool and now lost all my respect for these cops. If he was genuine he would have told me there is no U turn - (i.e) when I was standing at the intersection wondering where I need to go. He called me to the other side, made me violate a rule and fined me. I got off my vehicle went to the senior cop and explained that I am from South Bangalore and not familiar with the routes in this part of town and that the other cop made me violate the rule by calling rather ordering me to cross the road. I spoke in what ever Kannada I knew and filled the gaps with Tamil, Hindi and English. I explained my issue, he was hellbent upon typing in his new blackberry, I started losing my cool, people around the place noticed how these guys were cheating me. I told them in a clear loud voice that they were cheating me and committing something very wrong. But I guess it was equivalent to the effect of rain falling on a fat buffalo. He printed a slip, I paid the fine, threw the sheet down in disgust and walked away clearly ashamed of the apathy that these guys exhibit. As I start my vehicle I can hear him speaking in the local language saying "The next time you meet policemen, talk less" YES RIGHT, next time I will fold my hands, greet you with a namastey, serve some snacks and juice and then stay bowed and speak to you, cause you have the so called "powers". The cop's name is "Rajanna" near Hope Farm Circle. If you haven't guessed I was fuming at the end of all this and made it very clear to the senior guy that I wasn't amused or happy by the whole experience.

Pros
1) NONE what so ever

Cons + questions from few fellow commuters
1) Stupidity
2) Lack of common sense
3) Misuse of power
4) Cheating
5) Can't speak or understand English
6) Not to help or educate the common man / citizen

Anyways at the end I do agree there are tons of awesome cops who make our life simply great, hats off to you guys and a big thank you.

m.m

Friday, June 18, 2010

Is there a correlation?

Don't know if this is the effect of reading "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything". It is a 2005 non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner.

Scene out of the world

Case 1 - I have noticed this general scenario in India which includes me as well - Save more, Spend less - Save more for a happy future even if it means being Frugal now. The quote 'Save for a Rainy Day' is so commonly used in most of the households.

Case 2 - I have noticed many friends & other people (am guilty as well) - while eating a good meal we keep our favorite dish say fried chicken or a sweet dish for eating it at the end of the meal, we finish all the relatively ordinary dishes and then leisurely eat the relatively superior or tastier or favored dish.

Are case 1 & case 2 related? Do they have any vague correlation?

If I were to become the rogue economist and get into the shoes of Levitt or Dubner, I would say the following.

Analysis of Case 1 - yes the mindset in few countries are heavily biased over saving and not spending, it means you forgo certain pleasures of life at the peak of your health & early age and keep saving up for the future when you might not be able to utilize it to the maximum possible fun & happiness.

Analysis of Case 2 - yes the mindset in few countries are heavily biased over saving your best assets and not wasting / spending / using it rashly (or fast) [almost works on a principle of conservative rationing], it means you forgo tasting the best dish when you were really hungry (& could eat more) and keeping it for later times thinking you can enjoy it leisurely but the reality is by then your stomach is quite full and you end up just stuffing yourself and not relishing it.

Now do you get the correlation? There is a strong invisible mindset within most of us which influences most of our actions. Conclusion: The two cases have been proved to have a link.


"I always feel sorry for people who think more about a rainy day ahead than sunshine today." - Rae Foley

m.m

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Attrition Management - An IIMB Casestudy


Attrition Management & Analysis


A case study prepared by us for a module under the guidance of IIMB Professor Mr. Narendra Agarwal. It also contains details of a live survey collected among a diverse audience across the IT sector.

Exciting Contents Inside the PPT
Abstract
Basic Definitions
Pictorial Definition
Case Study Definition
Introduction
Organization Chart
Scenario
Scenario Analysis
Summary of the ‘Live Industry Survey’
Snapshot of ‘Live Industry Survey’
Decipher data from the ‘Live Industry Survey’
Comments from the Participants of the Survey
Charts and Diagrams
Survey Result Analysis
Closing Note


m.m

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

My learning's on KM

My learning's from the Assignment Creating An Organizational Culture for Knowledge Management at IIMB are as follows,

1) Learn't from the article on how to create a culture and environment conducive for Knowledge Sharing.
2) Also learn't the importance & power of Knowledge Management where available knowledge is sieved and reused.
3) Understood the role of Knowledge Management in increasing productivity and the power of harnessing the implicit and explicit knowledge within the organization.
4) Before the assignment I didn't see Knowledge Management in a bigger picture, I was seeing it in bits and pieces and as mere applications.
5) After the assignment I am able to appreciate that the various modules / applications of Knowledge Management co exist and works harmoniously as the spokes of a wheel and that each are needed for smooth running of the Knowledge Management Initiative.
6) Apart from the 90, 270, 360, 720 feedback systems, the real need is to have open loop feedback systems and not closed loop feedback systems.
7) Also learnt that the Knowledge Management must evolve as fast as technology advances like having e-learning systems, wiki, discussion threads etc.
8) Also learnt good usable content management systems need to be in place for people to use them effectively.
9) Also learnt the difference between Proactive learning and Adaptive learning.
10) Understood Knowledge Management is the collection of processes that promotes the creation, dissemination, and utilization of knowledge. Learnt this from the article by Brian (Bo)Newman.


11) Understood creating a KM culture or environment means - creation of supportive organizational structures, facilitation of organizational members, putting IT-instruments with emphasis on teamwork and diffusion of knowledge (as e.g. groupware) into place. Learnt this from the article by Thomas Bertels.
12) Knowledge has started been treated as a resource by itself.
13) Learnt about the following sub modules Knowledge Analysis (KA), Knowledge Planning (KP), Knowledge Technology (KT), Computer Supported Work Systems (CSWS).
14) Knowledge management complements and enhances other organizational initiatives such as total quality management (TQM), business process re-engineering (BPR) and organizational learning, providing a new and urgent focus to sustain competitive position.
15) KM is used to serve customers well and to remain in business companies must: reduce their cycle times, operate with minimum fixed assets and overhead (people, inventory and facilities), shorten product development time, improve customer service, empower employees, innovate and deliver high quality products, enhance flexibility and adaption, capture information, create knowledge, share and learn. KM proves as a framework promoting all these initiatives.
16) KM implementation should not be blind, it should be - Develop and monitor the value proposition, Secure top management commitment, sponsorship, and leadership, Create business unit knowledge sharing performance measures, Develop an implementation and migration strategy, Define knowledge sharing processes, Define knowledge sharing roles and responsibilities, Define requirements for involvement, Create and implement a communication plan,Develop and deliver a training program, Address incentive issues, Develop proper user support, Model system design on work processes, Investigate traditional methods as well as emerging technologies, Establish a standardised knowledge management architecture, Define operations standards.
17) Knowledge Communities or COP - Communities of practice are very useful.
18) The barriers of KM are Mindset, Concepts breathing life, Operational issues, Incentive based issues.

m.m

Saturday, May 01, 2010

Rock Agama - Part 2

My interest in this species started off a few months back when I was walking near a empty plot in JP Nagar 7th Phase, I spotted the colorful male and a few days later spotted the beautiful black and white female. This pair remained elusive for a couple of weeks and finally I could spot them and photograph them.

I usually commute to office via Kannakapura road and then through the Thurahalli range. Once while returning back home, I decided to take a deviation away from my usual route to do a bit of birding. In this route suddenly I saw a couple of lizards and rock agama’s basking in the sun.


For more read here - http://www.wow-wonderworks.blogspot.com/2010/05/rock-agama-part-2.html


A snapshot of pictures, the complete 2 - 3 weeks of tracking is in the above link.

An unusual Pair


Lying in wait


Hunched look


m.m

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

React or Respond ?

I don't know if this is a reaction or a response to the forwarded email that I got today.

The email content screamed - "An intelligent person responds; a fool reacts." Now it was my turn to check if I was a fool, if I react or respond.

English Meaning
React: Show a response or a reaction to something;Act against or in opposition to
Respond: Show a response or a reaction to something;React verbally;Respond favorably or as hoped

When the meaning is so very similar in fact they are synonyms what is the main difference, the key lies right above in their meanings.

Do take note of the key words against & favorably - this is the key differentiator between the two words.

React means you are against something and you are giving out something not favorable to the other party. Well when I think of myself I can relate to myself reacting many a times and responding many a times. I react when I get offended, when I am upset, when I am hurt. I respond when I am normal, when I am happy, when things are going smooth. I would say it is human nature to align oneself towards this behavior. Can't term one as a fool or intelligent. But having said that am sure a more stable and mature individual will have a very high percentage of response rates rather than react back rates.

Anyways here is the forwarded mail, decent read, read and learn. [Click to look at the bigger, clear image]


I guess I choose to respond and not react.

Cheers,

m.m

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Types of Innovation & Org Structures

Some pointers from The Ambidextrous Organization by Charles A & Michael L T – HBR

Some examples discussed – Kodak, Boeing, USAToday.com, Ciba Vision.

Types of Innovation

1) Incremental Innovations – Small improvements in existing Products and Operations.

2) Architectural Innovations – Technological or Process advances to fundamentally change a component of element of the business.

3) Discontinuous Innovations – Radical advances / breakthroughs that my change / alter the basis for competition in an industry.

Team / Org Structures

1) Functional Designs – Integrate project teams into the existing org and mgt structure. Ex – mfg, sales and R&D reports to a GM.

2) Cross functional teams – Operate within the established org but outside the existing mgt structure. Ex – mfg, sales and R&D reports to a GM, but a separate unit called emerging business cuts across mfg and r&d report to the respective unit.

3) Unsupported teams – are setup outside the established org and mgt structure. Ex – mfg, sales and R&D reports to a GM, but a separate unit called emerging business also reports to the GM.

4) Ambidextrous Organizations – Establish project teams that are structurally independent units each having its own processes, structures, cultures but are integrated into the existing mgt structure. Ex – mfg, sales and R&D reports to a GM under the division existing business, but a separate unit called emerging business which also has mfg, sales and R&D reports to the GM.

The difference in many are the path that they choose,

1) Exploitative Business

2) Exploratory Business

Their difference would lie in the factors – Strategic intent, Critical tasks, Competencies, Structure, Controls, Rewards, Culture, Leadership roles.


m.m

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Types of degree feedback

I have till date only heard of the 360 degree feedback.

The types of feedback are

1) 90 Degree Feedback – Collect data only from the leadership team of the division.

2) 360 Degree Feedback - Collect data not only from the leadership team of the division but also from multiple groups and multiple levels.

3) 720 Degree Feedback - Collect data not only from the leadership team of the division but also from multiple groups and multiple levels and the difference being data is collected from the external agency, customers etc.

m.m

Capitalizing On Capabilities - pointers

Capitalizing On Capabilities by Dave Ulrich & Norm Smallwood from the HBR spotlight.

The article speaks of the most admired companies like GE, Starbucks, Microsoft etc but a layman doesn’t know what transpires behind the screen, the number of leaders, their structure to success etc…

I will try listing some key points

* All specific organizational capabilities are called key intangible assets. They are difficult to measure. [That is why there is a clear difference in evaluation of startups in the same space, some might be generating more revenue but valued lower as the other has some great leaders and potential – Ex – Delta vs. JetBlue]

* In a unit these 4 are the main factors, Individuals Competence, Individuals Leadership, Organizations core competencies and Organizations capabilities (includes DNA, culture and personality).

The main 11 traits that are looked for are

1) Talent – Competent employees have the skills for today's and tomorrows business. The functions here are buy – acquire new talent, build – develop existing talent, borrow – get talent through networks and leaders, bounce – remove poor performers and bind – retain the best talent. The must is that good employees must get the best.

2) Speed – How fast can the company adapt to new opportunities and existing changes in the environment, ROTI – return on time invested index must be maintained and used.

3) Shared mindset and coherent brand identity – Get a consensus from your employees and customers on what they want to remember you as. Example – ask them what are the top three things they want to remember the company as? Good companies are in the range of 80 – 90 %

4) Accountability – Performance accountability needs to be firm and in place. Instead of giving an average of 3 – 4 % across the board ensure you give 0 – 12 % depending on the performance and the work done.

5) Collaboration – A organization needs to collaborate across projects, divisions, units etc.It also promotes huge savings.

6) Learning – Benchmarking, experimentation, competence acquisition, and continuous improvement are key factors. Also letting go of old practices and adopting new ones are important.

7) Leadership – The pride for a organization must come from the number of leaders / CEO’s they create and the number of back up leaders that they have. Example: Ex McKinsey employees take pride from the no of CEO’s they create from their alumni.19 former GE stars added a collective 24.5 $ billion to their organizations after joining.

8) Customer Connectivity – As usually one would like to have 20% of customer account for 80 % of profits, the ability to connect with the customer is valued very much.

9) Strategic unity – The three levels are Intellectual, Behavioral and Procedural.

10) Innovation – It excites employees, delights customers and gives confidence to investors.

11) Efficiency – It is the easiest capability to track.

Capabilities Audit – can be done by running through the 11 pointers in each unit, or the business as a whole. The PDF link provides detailed information on how to complete the audit.

Maximizing your capabilities

3 * 2 = 6

For the complete article go through the following link.

http://info.psu.edu.sa/psu/fnm/asalleh/Capabilities.pdf


m.m

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Startup Saturday March 13 2010

Attended the startup Saturday in IIMB on March 13th 2010. Got to see a demo from Just Books and Ookull.

Also got to attend a presentation on "5 things that a seed / angel investor is looking for in your venture" by Indus from themorpheus.

The five points are

1) Team
2) Market size
3) Product and POC
4) Secret sauce (the wow factor)
5) Growth path and exit (from a VC / angel investor perspective)

http://www.slideshare.net/indus/5-things-a-seed-stage-investor-is-looking-for-in-your-venture

The applications are open for this year till March 25th 2010.

m.m

My first photography journal - Rock Agama

From my photography website journal
http://www.wow-wonderworks.blogspot.com/2010/03/rock-agama.html

The climb



An agama is any one of the various small, long-tailed, insect-eating lizards of the genus Agama. Agamas originally lived in forest and bush across Africa, but have since adapted to live in villages and compounds where their habitat has been cleared. They live inside the thatch of huts and other small spaces, emerging only to feed. If caught out in the open, agamas are able to run quickly on their hind legs to reach shelter. Most agamas are polygamous. Males may hold six or more females in their territory for breeding. During courtship, the male bobs his head to impress the female. Occasionally, females initiate courtship by offering their hindquarters to the male and then running until he is able to catch up. The breeding season is typically March-May with eggs being laid in June-September during the season after the rains. Eggs are laid in clutches of up to twelve.

Courtesy & more info

The most interesting fact is many people keep these as pets as well (am sure not in India).

Males of the African species reach over a foot (30 cm) long and sport bright orange, blue and brown colors. Sexual success determines the intensity of colors. For the prize of a harem of females, males fight one another sideways blows of their tails. The winners are always startlingly bright but the defeated males turn out a dull grey, similar to the females. Many of the actions of males fighting are also seen during male mating behavior. When a female first approaches a male will bob his head and show his bright throat, as he does when first challenged by a male. If the female is receptive the pair move closer together and mate. Females lay between 3 and 10 eggs. Changes in color also occur if the male is stressed or threatened. A color usually not visible might be flashed by some species, such as the African agama which turns to face an intruder and opens its mouth to expose the brilliant orange inside. More info

Basking occurs mainly in the morning between ten and noon (a good time for photography I shot it at 1:30), agama is a sit and wait predator. The agama that I spotted was about two compounds away from my house in South Bangalore, I spotted the bright and flashy male and also the almost black, white and brown female. I ran back home to get the camera and I shot a few pictures of the male but before I could get a few shots of the female, she disappeared. The informal names are Peninsular Rock Agama and South Indian Rock Agama, the real name is Psammophilus dorsalis. I have also heard that the Blanford's Rock Agama Psammophilus blanfordanus is found in India (Bihar, Orissa, Central Provinces, Eastern Ghats, Travancore south to Trivandrum) - Hope I can get a good glimpse of the female as well.

Also this is my first journal entry. Thanks to Kalyan Varma for helping me to identify this species.

Time for some pictures.

The pushups

The wary look

Reading habits

http://www.flickr.com/photos/minmaxmim/4437012417/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/minmaxmim/4436997545/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/minmaxmim/4437772508/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/minmaxmim/4436995615/


m.m

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Compost your kitchen wastes at home and produce free manure

The title could have been “be a miser and make your own manure”.

I am one of those vague self proclaimed naturalists, green activist asking people at home and outside to switch lights and fans off when they are not needed even if it’s for a mini macro nano second. I ensure CFL’s are used instead of bulbs and tube lights, even at the cost of reading in dim light (kidding there are real bright cfl’s). I ensure I give the dirty stare to drivers of polluting vehicles at the cost of them looking back at me with the same look that they would give to a stray dog. That’s the risk of belonging to the rare pedigree of these self proclaimed saintly beings. Before I forget I also relocate many earthworms that get their gps bearings wrong and enter the concrete jungle called human civilization, I will soon try to break the no of centuries that Sachin has hit in his international career.

I see the kitchen wastes going to the bin every day and my ‘sleeping inner do good’ component wakes up and says I will make sure I am going to reduce global warming. My rationale behind that statement was not that I will stop cows worldwide from belching or f**ting, but that these vegetable wastes would end up in a landfill, decompose and release CH4 (methane if CH4 isn’t methane please scream at the educational system: watch 3 idiots movie) and increase the temperature. I go searching for a container for making compost and end up buying a bucket with a lid (thanks goodness for the lid). I come and ask the head of the kitchen a.k.a my wife to keep a separate bag and fill it with the cooking, vegetable and edible waste regularly and in return I get this look which in plain English means “oh no not again, you and your crazy antics when will you ever stop doing all this and bothering others”. Then slowly my bucket starts getting filled up but also with that complaints start flowing from my neighbors that the smell is too good and needs to be relocated immediately (so that others can get lucky and experience the heavenly smell). Strangely the dogs in my neighborhood have been avoiding roaming anywhere close to the vicinity and even if they have the guts to get close they have this curious look not knowing what’s wrong (guys didn’t I surprise you for all the peeing that you do on the gate post/pillar). Time for the James Bond secret arsenal - the lid, close it with such ferocity that the buckets vibrates exactly two times - odour under control operation back on track. Now I wait and wait for more than 4-5 weeks see that the waste is very slowly disintegrating into unrecognizable forms which is good but is giving out too much water, time for the internet and google “how to make compost at home” and the search returns 3,210,000 pages enough to last a life time’s of good read.

There are two types of aeration that is needed, one open and one closed, you will need closed ones for home waste due to the smell that is generated. The excess water that is generated can be absorbed by shredding newspaper into small bits and throwing them into the bucket. You can also add some excess soil, mud of sand to aid in the entire process. And if you have access to saw dust it is very good for absorbing water.

Did all of this and finally attended a green stall and bought something called compost accelerator (http://www.dailydump.org/ ) which accelerates the entire process.
Now I wait patiently for the waste to turn into a sludgy compost and then start using it in my garden and get some nice tasty organic pesticide free veggies.

Till then it is Monish signing off and planning for my next green project. Any tips and advice is not welcomed but free manure …YES!

Some useful links
What? http://www.dailydump.org/composting
Why? http://www.dailydump.org/why
How? http://www.dailydump.org/how

m.m

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Static Code Analysis Tool – Find Bugs Tutorial

A quick two minute tutorial with sample code to get you started on Static Code Analysis Tool – Find Bugs.



What is it?

FindBugs is an open source program created by William Pugh which looks for bugs in Java code. It uses static analysis to identify hundreds of different potential types of errors in Java programs. FindBugs operates on Java bytecode,rather than source code. The software is distributed as a stand-alone GUI application. There are also plug-ins available for Eclipse, Netbeans, and IntelliJ IDEA


Official Website?

http://findbugs.sourceforge.net/



How to Install the Eclipse Plugin?

http://findbugs.cs.umd.edu/eclipse/




Demo & FAQ?

http://findbugs.sourceforge.net/demo.html / http://findbugs.sourceforge.net/FAQ.html


How does it work and how to use it?

a) After you install the eclipse plugin, restart eclipse.

b) Go to Window –> Show view –> other and select the find bug options available.



c) Open – perspective – Findbugs [Window –> open perspective–> findbugs]




c) Create a potential test class (with some obvious issues) like the following,




d) Initiate the find bugs by doing the following.




e) Now the errors get listed based on Project – Type – Package – Class – Priority – Category – Error – Location





f) Now you try to correct them :)



Final Verdict – I am able to find several small but nevertheless ISSUES in existing code, so I would say it is a must use tool and yes it is free WHY NOT?


m.m

Sunday, February 28, 2010

ITALY – Solo Traveler

Period: November – December 2008 (7 days)

Solo traveler traveled through Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice & Burano Islands.

Italy pictures are out...critique and comments would help...

www.wow-wonderworks.blogspot.com/

www.captivecaptures.blogspot.com/


Trio

m.m

Saturday, January 30, 2010

House boats in Gods Own Country


 

http://greatbackwaters.com/ The new Site by Kerala Tourism.

Print

Print

Print

Kerala is better known as gods own country.

The search for a house boat is tough, add to it the several 100's of google search results the equation just got tougher, add to it the several different branding that each company promotes their offering with the equation seems to be getting out of hand, add to it the facilities provided by different companies, add to it the various reviews on the net and you would had gifted yourself a big problem that most of the super computers would find hard to crack.

Coming to the search of house boats, I am going to add my experiences booking a house boat and am yet to experience the final outcome. Infact my study has ticked off a few travel agencies in kerala and my cubicle mate even went to the extent of saying that I could take this up as a PHd Study.



Usual timing
Pick up 12 in the morning and drop 9 on the next day

Routes
I was looking at the Alleppy, Kumarakom routes.

What I learnt
People say Kumarakom - Kumarakom route has wide lakes( breadth) so you would be in the middle of the lake just seeing vast shorelines lined with coconut trees.
Kumarakom - Alleppey - You would see the vast shorelines in the day time and the narrow shores and canals by the night or by the morning.
Hence I decided to do the Alleppey - Kumarakom - see the narrow canals and pass through villages by the morning and then land up in Kumarakom next day morning. Am sure the sunrise would be cool in the vast shorelines.

Rating of boats by the Government
1) Platinum or green
2) Gold
3) Silver

Rating of boats by Boat companies
1) Premium / Super Deluxe / AC 24 hrs
2) Deluxe / AC Night time
3) Normal / Non AC

If you are going with a family category 2 from each group would be good, if you are friends and don't mind slightly lower luxury go for 3).

Common Facilities
1) 2-3 Men (cook, pilot and one maybe for security)
2) Attached toilets
3) Lunch - Non veg
4) Evening tiffin and Tea
5) Dinner - Non veg
6) Breakfast

Types and capacity of boats
1) 1 Bed room smallest
2) 1-5 bedroom range

Usual modus operandi
They pick you up at say Alleppey at 12 then lunch shortly and then they set sail, you can ask them to stop at places of interest and then around 5 - 5: 30 they set anchor and start to park their boat close to the shore (the government of Kerala doesn't allow tourist activity in the waters after 6 so that the tourist activity doesn't affect the fishermen). You can go around and then get back. Dinner is served...time to sleep....wake up for a beautiful sunrise...breakfast....travel and get off at Kumarakom.

Best Rates to Expect - (for a 1 bedroom house boat)
1) Premium / Super Deluxe / AC 24 hrs - 8000 - 15000 INR
2) Deluxe / AC Night time - 5500 - 8000 INR
3) Normal / Non AC - 4000 - 5000 INR

Few companies (disclaimer am not promoting any of these companies, please choose at your own risk)
Reference site
http://www.karmakerala.com/kerala-hotels/kerala-houseboats/houseboat-companies.html

http://www.pulickattil.com/packages.html
8500/- per night for Alleppey- Alleppey. ( A/c will be switch on 7pm to 6am only)
For Kumarrakom - alleppey charging extra Rs.500/- on the above rate.

http://www.riverandcountry.com/
one bedroom Dlx Ac houseboat for Kumarakom - Alleppey overnight cruise during February will be Rs.8,000.00

http://www.welcomecruise.com

http://www.peacockholidays.com
AC Gold Star Houseboat (01 Bed Room) : Rs.7000 /Couple (they use http://www.cheravallyhouseboats.com)

http://www.kumarakomhouseboat.com
15000

http://www.rainbowcruises.in
Rate : A/C Deluxe – Alleppey - Alleppey: Rs. 8000 + 2.58 % service tax = 8206/- nett
A/C Premium: Rs. 9500 + 2.58 % service tax = 9745/- nett
Non A/C Deluxe: Rs. 6500 + 2.58 % service tax = 6668/- nett

http://somahouseboats.com

http://www.cghearth.com/spice_coast_cruises/index.htm#
The per day rate will be Rs. 21650/- per night

http://www.evergreen-kerala.com
Rs.7, 000/- Net. It is a golden category House Boat conforming to the specifications of Tourism Department. It is a Deluxe AC, Golden Category one.

http://www.guardianhouseboat.com/index.html
Type of booking; 01Bed A/C House Boat House Boat Cost ; 6000/

http://www.lakelandscruise.com - 1
Super luxury(Equivalent to GOLD) Rs.12500/-
Luxury Rs.10500/-
Deluxe Rs.8500/- (two months early booking got me this for a rate of 6.5)

http://www.lakeslagoons.com

http://www.chrisoncruise.com
6000

http://www.marvelcruise.com/

http://www.keralahouseboatvoyages.com/index.html

http://www.atdcalleppey.com/index.html
One is a/c deluxe Houseboat The rate will be Rs.9000 + 15 % tax we can offer a special rate Rs.6500/-
Another one is Premium Category Houseboat The rate will be Rs 13,000 + 15 % tax We can offer a special rate Rs.10,000/-

http://www.cheravallyhouseboats.com
7000

Nanni Houseboats
A/c silver category houseboat: 9500 ( A/c works only during the night )
A/C gold category houseboat : 11500 ( A/C works full time )

Desiretours
5800 ac deluxe boat

Green Palace
Net rate : Rs. 9000.00

INDRAPRASTHAM CRUISE
Our best Reta one bed room A/c house boat Rs 6000/-with all meals deluxe boat.

My recommendations (based on my interactions by email and their official correspondences and websites and reviews from the net) (again disclaimer - pls check for yourself, am not responsible for anything)
1) http://www.lakelandscruise.com
2) http://www.kumarakomhouseboat.com
3) http://www.peacockholidays.com


Kerala is a lovely place to visit, here are some Wayanad Pictures.

Green Blanket...


PS: All this research for my visit to Kottayam during Naveen's Wedding, happy wedding mate and cheers for a great married life ahead.

m.m


My Dream Campaigns

I have had a few revolutionary campaigns brewing up in my mind rather I could say in my heart.

"Campaigns are successful even if they can get a few people read the entire idea" - mm


RR Campaign - RETURN the RUBBISH

How many of us have seen people from buses, car's, auto's throw trash or rubbish outside and just move on. And when you overtake them and look inside you will see that they are stylish, educated (yet moronic) (if you strain your nostrils you can smell their cheap perfume / deo)

This campaign aims to return the rubbish back to them, out comes a cup from the window, pick it up and hand it over to them...trust me you would have just reformed a habitual offender.


VV Campaign - VOICE to the VIOLATOR

How many of us have seen vehicle owners show utter disregard to the traffic rules, they look around to spot if there are cops and then vroom speed away with little regard to the traffic lights and people either crossing or vehicles coming dutifully obeying the rules. Again here there is a healthy competition between the literate and illiterate.

This campaign aims to honk your horn or raise your voice when ever you see someone trying to violate the rules... this treatment takes a time to treat the offender, but be the catalyst to start this chain reaction.

And yes there is a saying "Be the change that you want to see in others"

Hope we from the blogosphere can get these campaigns see the light of the day and make life peaceful for fellow human beings.

Be the guiding light / guiding force!
Enlighten yourself



m.m