Lighter moments

A day in the life of an MBA…

 Siddharth Vishwanath

Human Resources Management

December 08

A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries

No. This isn’t a book review for the James Ivory bestseller. Nor is it a claim that soldier’s daughters (more specifically, me) never cry. It is a line my father used on the occasions when I would hold on to his OG (Olive Green) clad leg for dear life and refuse to let him board his train. I have always wanted to write about my feelings for the spirit of the Indian soldier. Having experienced it so closely and drawn from it all my life.

 It is a fact that the Indian Army has a standing in our country that no other government institution can match or even come close to. Most people take this for granted, but very few know what goes into being a soldier.

 When I was young, my father being an Infantarian was posted in inaccessible (Families weren’t allowed.) field areas for almost 2 postings out of every 3. It was a rare treat to have him around on birthdays and Diwali because that meant that unreasonable and absurd demands would always be met with a benevolent smile, which otherwise would completely be ignored by my knowing and experienced (read strict and no nonsense) mother.

Since we were in Pune for the most and did not travel with the paltan (A unit within the Regiment is referred to as a Paltan.) there were times when I knew that my mom found it hard to cope without an adequate support system. Having dad come to school on annual days was something that was unheard of and it wasn’t rare that he forgot what class my brother and I were in.

 I have no doubt that my father like every single member of any defense service had his moments of weakness too. When pressure was high and the warmth of home and family must have seemed far away. But the only dad that we ever saw was the one smiling and whipping us into shape ever so often, when reports of wayward behavior reached him.

 I’ve had the good fortune of visiting a few army posts over the years. The respect that an officer commands from the troops is the basis on which The Indian Army functions. An officer’s authority, whether he is a Second Lieutenant straight out of IMA (Indian Military Academy) or a Lieutenant General with 30 years of experience behind him, is unquestioned by his men. If he commands them to stand in the line of fire, they do it. With a simple belief that he will watch their backs.

The pressure of watching your men injured, maimed and often killed on a day to day basis, while putting your own family on the back burner, is one that would make any board room seem almost laughable in comparison.

 Bravery and chivalry, these are the values that a soldier always stands for. And believe me when I say, these are not empty words. Only the lucky few who have experienced this life can truly understand its depth.

If I were to be born more than once, I would proudly choose to be a soldier’s daughter again. My father has demonstrated to me not just with words but with every action that there is no place for fear in a warrior’s heart.

Because for a soldier all the sacrifices are but a small price to pay for the glory and privilege of being of able to serve his country.

Sameera Yargop

Human Resources Management

December 08

Corporate Governance and Ethics – Is it only for the HRs of the organization?

The common perception among people is this subject is only for HR’s.  The irony is that most MBA’s like us also feel the same. I fail to understand why. Are only HR’s supposed to know about the ethics of the organization.  Heard a lot of people say “my specialization (left to the readers’ discretion to guess.) and ethics don’t go hand in hand and I really don’t need to study this.”   

Now coming to the question of why do we even need a course on governance and ethics ?  Every other day we hear about the Stamfords, the Madoffs, the Enrons and the Satyams of the world that there is an air of mistrust all around in the world.  Had there been a little amount of due diligence on the part of the stake holders of an organization, we wouldn’t have landed up in a soup like what we are in now. That’s where I realize the governance and ethics come in.

 Over to the main issue, is it only for the HR’s? I have a few questions to pose. Why is a CEO held responsible for fraud when unethical practices are reported in an organization if it is only for HR’s ?Who handles the whole organizational governance? The CEO or the HR manager?  Agreed HR managers are equally responsible in building the work culture but it is often built from top to bottom as the values at top percolate in to the bottom levels.  It’s essentially the top leadership which drives the governance and ethics in the organization. As I see it is totally up to individuals to discover the importance of ethics in their lives but people must realize that if they aspire to be top leaders, be it a CEO, CFO or a HR in an organization, they cannot afford to compromise on ethics

What a fantastic day

What would you choose to do on a bright Sunday? Go out, but of course! And that is what the students from the two batches, Dec-08 and Apr-09 did. We went out around town in Singapore. We started from the college at 9:00 am in four mega busses and were back by 4:00 pm. From the Marina Barrage to Merlion to the Botanical Gardens accompanied by a sumptuous lunch; who says students at SPJCM don’t know how to have fun?

Pavan Shinde

GHRM

April ’09

Fighting The HR War

I still remember vividly the day that I decided to select HRM as my specialization in SPJCM. There’s a huge difference in how I felt about HRM then and now. Am I still starry eyed about ‘motivation’ and ‘employee relations’? No. Does the reality of it scare me? Yes. Beyond measure.

Looking past the standard ‘People are an organization’s greatest asset’ hogwash that my friends and I have so often used in B-school interviews, as I sit in class day after day it dawns on me with greater and greater enormity how HR strategy is the enforcer of that thin line between organizational balance and chaos. What would an organization’s effectiveness be without a sound compensation strategy, or a good succession plan or a fair rewards system in place? Are these systems that anyone can implement? I think not. It’s perhaps easier to sell toothpaste. J

That’s why we go to business school. To learn. To learn how one chink in the chain can lead to you losing your best resource, or how a misalignment of organizational and individual goals can lead to enormous losses or how a simple employee legislation can be used to bring down a million dollar conglomerate.

And yet, here in B-school, every day I find myself countering archaic skepticism about the very need for existence of HR. Ignorance perhaps? Maybe. Or maybe a lack of foresight to look beyond the back office functions that are also such an integral part of Human resource management.

Personally, someday as an HR head, I’d like to be in the board room making just as touch decisions as any business development or marketing head. To ensure that HR strategy contributes equally to the top line. I believe that’s only a matter of time. It’s inevitable. I also believe that this largely depends on how willing top management is to embrace this. The day the reserve dissolves, is the day that HR will turn from a ‘support function’ to a strategic contributor.

Sameera Yargop

Global Human Resources Management

December 08