2010 - How is it going to be?

I am going to keep the excuses to a minimum - it's been a super busy semester at school and it kept me from blogging. On the other hand I have an account on Twitter now (@maheshkonduru) and tweet regularly.

So a lot has been going on in this world since the last time I wrote something in this space. You all know all about that. What I am saying is that I am feeling too lazy to write a summary of the last 5 months.

Instead let me Wish you all a Happy 2010! Hope things turn out the way you want.

One final update before I sign off. I (with a team of 4) am off to Brazil and Argentina for 4 weeks starting on Jan 2. We will be on a consulting project as part of a course at school. The first 3 weeks will be at our client's site in Sao Paolo and the last week will be spent in Rio and Buenos Aires. I am hoping to be able to blog regularly once in Brazil.

Until then Enjoy your New Year's Eve!

later

Thin line between Visionary and Crooks?

so i just noticed that i've not written anything in this space in more than 2 months. That is quite a while huh. The summer has been busy - internship left no time to come home and collect my thoughts to write anything meaningful. Not that everything I write is meaningful. I did not want to come home and write after a day of work.

anyway, I just finished reading a book "The Smartest Guys in the Room" - the Enron story. It is a HUGE book, 470 pages but very densely packed words. Took me 4h of reading everyday for 7 days to finish it. Recommend reading it. Very well researched and written - for someone who went through a semester of accounting, economics, and finance courses recently it was easy to follow.

Here is my take on the guys who ran Enron: Visionaries who got greedy. Let me explain.

Why Visionaries?
Let me tell you why. Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling envisioned quite a few scenarios atleast 5-10 years ahead of time. Lay envisioned (PhD in Econ) de-regulation in the natural gas and electricity (power) sector way ahead of his time. Of course he lobbied hard to get them through but there is something to be said for envisioning it. There might be hard arguments against free market capitalism, esp with what went on in the last 2 years, but in a society where there is enough supply, de-regulation makes a lot of sense.

Jeff Skilling to his credit envisioned that consumer like you and me would order movies at home via their broadband line and be able to play, stop, and rewind etc. Pay per view at home basically. This was in 1999. Voila you are doing it now - albeit it is via the cable line. Same difference.

Both strongly believed in free market capitalism (if the book is to be believed).

Why were they crooks?
Let me tell you. I am not sure I need to say more than what has already been written. They got carried away. Skilling wanted to be able to trade and hedge everything: broadband capacity, water, metals, weather whatever he could. That's just being megalomaniacal. There are limits to everything - key is to realize when.

Biggest problem of it all: Lay and Skilling were slaves to Stock Prices. Nothing wrong with it on surface. You would hope that your CEO/COO is keen on seeing the Stock Price being high - as long as they are making sure your business units are generating REAL revenues and REAL profits. Pushing your units to perform at their best efficiency is good. Unfortunately, Skilling and his CFO Fastow decided to generating ACCOUNTING revenues and ACCOUNTING profits. And they were obsessed with the meeting Wall Street expectations - so much so they took whatever path to reach those numbers.

The biggest surprise to me was:
How many people were involved and got carried away in the wave despite there being signs all along that something was fishy. The people who duped investors and their employers ranged from premier investment banks (Citi, JP Morgan, Chase Manhattan, Merrill Lynch), analysts at premier investment firms (Goldman, CreditSuisse, Prudential), of course accouting firms (Arthure Anderson shut down - 60 yrs of illustrious history down the drain), and tens of top level executives.

You know who were the first ones to have the courage to ask the tough questions: two guys who ran Hedge Funds. Of course these funds were always short and that is their main goal - to spot fishy firms. But there is something to be said for Short Sellers able to spot bad firms.

One final tidbit: Enron had a great Project Finance division. They were to me some of the pioneers in this space.

I recommend reading the book if you have lotsa time to spare.

I am now onto "Blue Ocean Strategy". Promised myself to read 2 books before school starts.

More later.

hope summer was great for all of you.

Why oh why, Manny?

DISCLAIMER: My intention in writing this post is not to point fingers at anyone or defend Manny Ramirez. This is simply an amateur exercise in understanding some numbers in baseball. All raw numbers were obtained from ESPN.com, which in turn got the data from the Elias Sports Bureau. The average and stdev number calculations and time periods chosen are mine.

So here are some numbers, try to digest them for a few minutes.

Oh yeah, OBP = On Base % + Slugging %. For those who don’t know what On Base % is, it is the number of times a batter is on base via a hit or walk (as a % of the number of attempts of course). And Slugging % is the total number of bases a batter gets every time he gets on base.

So OBP is a good indicator of power and batting average.

I only considered years in which the player played for more than 120 games in a season.

Oh yeah, the numbers

Mark McGwire:
1987-92, Avg HR=36, Stdev HR=9, Avg OBP = 861
1995-99, Avg HR=57, Stdev HR=11, Avg OBP = 1116

Barry Bonds:
1987-95, Avg HR = 31, Stdev HR=8, Avg OBP = 961
1996-2004, Avg HR = 46, Stdev HR = 11, Avg OBP = 1194

Sammy Sosa
1990-95, Avg HR = 24, Stdev HR = 11, Avg OBP = 757
1996-2003, Avg HR = 51, Stdev HR = 12, Avg OBP = 976

A Rod
1996-2000, Avg HR = 37, Stdev HR = 8, Avg OBP = 956
2001-07, Avg HR = 47, Stdev HR = 9, Avg OBP = 990.3

Manny Ramirez
1995-00, Avg HR = 36, Stdev = 8, Avg OBP = 1022
2001-07, Avg HR = 36, Stdev = 8, Avg OBP = 1008

The two periods that I chose are specific to each player.
-For McGwire, the first period was his first 5 years in the league whereas the next period is when the supposed ‘steriods’ era began.
-Same as above for Bonds
-Same as above for Sosa
-For A-Rod the first period were his years in Seattle while the next period includes his stay in TX and NYY
-For Manny, the first period is the time in CLE followed by BOS

So what do you peeps think? Keep in mind that historically the prime years for a baseball player, for both power and average are supposed to be from age 26-32. Beyond that age, power numbers have declined for almost everyone all the way back from the 1900s (even for the Babe).

I can write and speculate about every player here but I will not. Let me write a couple of lines about each player that I used numbers for:

McGwire:
He came into the league with a lot of power. And his HR average jumped up 21 per year between the two periods while his OBP increased by almost 200 points (this is a HUGE increase by the way). Now that is a HUGE leap in both numbers. What was responsible for it, who knows.

Bonds:
His increases are not as dramatic as Big Mac’s but they did increase. For all the drama around him, BB hit more than 50 HR only ONCE in his career. Of course, managers probably did not want to pitch to him in the 2000 years, which probably affected his numbers. But keep in mind BB was 34 yrs old in 1998. That’s quite a significant increase in power after that age.

Sosa:
His numbers show the most dramatic increase in the two periods that I calculated. Keep in mind; Sammy’s official age in 1996 was 30. It is quite possible that he finally figured it out at age 30 how to be an elite baseball player. But he kept at that pace until age 37. Draw your own conclusions.

A Rod:
For all the scorn that he has been subject to, his numbers do not change as dramatically as the above peeps in this list. He has admitted to taking steroids when he got to TX (2001-03) when his HR average jumped to 52 ish something. That’s a 15 per year jump from his Seattle years. His OPS increased but not my much if you take into account his Yankee years.

And finally Manny:
I was surprised by the no change in averages – atleast for the years that I picked here. During his CLE years his HR numbers went from 22, 26 in 1994, and 1995 to 45 in 1996. Two caveats here, he played only in 91 games in 1994 and 137 in 1995. And he was officially 23 years old in 1995. Think about that, 23! His highest HR years were 45 (1998), 44 (1999), 43 (2004), and 45 (2005). He was 33 yrs old in 2005. His OBP numbers are remarkably consistent through out his career.

So WTF is going on then? Who knows? My speculation: in 2007 Manny had 20 HR with a OBP of 887 – both the lowest numbers since 1994 when he was a rookie. He was officially 35 that year. This was his last contract year in BOS and they were hesitating to give him a new contract (justifiably). Then his HR numbers came back to 37 in 2008 (split between BOS and LAD) and OPS back to his career average.

After 2008 LA dragged his contract talks for a long time. Is it perceivable that he took something after 2007 and/or in 2008? Or is it that he was always on something right from the beginning in 1994? Who knows.

What seems more plausible to me is that he probably panicked at the end of 2007 and/or when get got traded to LAD and took something the first time. And with his new contract in 2008 he went back on the substance. I find that more believable.

Of course that does not justify anything. I am not sure why athletes try to defy nature and ingest these things. Ok I know why ($$$$ and vanity) but why do they have to risk so much. Well, do these substances improve your abilities as a baseball player is another discussion altogether.

What I know is this, I loved Manny Ramirez hit a baseball from 1995-2008. I would religiously watch his at bats whenever I could in that period. It was pure joy knowing that this dude would do something remarkable every time he came to bat. I loved watching him in Cleveland and I have to admit I switched my baseball allegiance to Boston when they signed him. And last year, I would take peeks at the scoreboard whenever the Dodgers played if only to check his stats. I rooted for him.

When his suspension news was first released, I was at a competition, helping judge it when one of the judges (a Yankee fan) announced it gleefully to the world. I was in denial for 2 weeks and to this day I have not read any articles on him since the suspension was announced. I know a lot of mainstream are not objective about him (especially here in Boston) so who cares what they think. I’ve accepted the fact that he cheated. I only hope what he did in 1995-2007 was legit. Not sure how I would feel if that turned out otherwise.

Until, I am going to be positive about this. Manny, hope you learnt your lesson. Don’t freakin’ cheat nature, please!

Taking Stock of this MBA Thingy - End of Year 1 Review

I know, I know, there are numerous topics to write a post about today but I am conveniently avoiding all that. Instead I am writing a summary, if you will, after the completion of the first year of my MBA program.

To make it simple I decided to list Pros Vs Cons of the MBA program – mind you this is after Year 1 of the 2-year program. And I am leaving out personal stuff (obviously).

Mind you this is not a judgment of the program I am currently at or of my decision, just a reflection piece. Not endorsing or criticizing anything.

To borrow a phrase from the latest edition of The Economist, What is there is to say after weeks of scoffing food and swilling booze?

So without further ado, here we go:

CONS
- $76,569 in debt – for tuition and living expenses (thank you CitiAssist and Fed Loans)

- Opportunity $ cost of not being at work (I computed the $ amount before school but will leave that out here)

- One year of not being at work and learning new skills, making new connections, and career growth in the old path. (my old employer has survived rather well in this atmosphere – only 1 person has been laid off if the past 9 months. This is a big deal considering that they are a tier II supplier to the automotive industry)

- Some loss of financial stability (you know saving up to buy a place, more savings etc)

- Lost opportunity to keep abreast of latest technology in the chemicals and automotive industry (I strongly believe that the upcoming decades are going to be shaped by advances in transportation and material technology)

- Lost chances to be part of multiple US patents. Just as I was leaving my firm decided to reverse its policy and file for multiple patents on a host of work that has been done in the past decade. I would have been part of that if I stayed.

- A good balance between professional and social life. School is reasonably good but when you are working you mostly (in my case) left work at work. After 6 pm it was my own time.

- Terrible eating, exercising, and drinking habits. I’ve gained a disgusting amount of weight since starting school (yuck!).

- Loss of sleep. While this is not too serious it still takes a toll on the body if not taken care of.

- Spending habits worsen. With reasonably good income I was very mindful of what I spent my $ on when I was working (at least the last 3-4 years!). At school with exactly zero income I’ve had an irritating habit of splurging: cabs, booze, eating out, without thinking about it twice. (why this is I have no reasonable explanation. Maybe subconsciously I am thinking this degree will get me rich!! Yeah right)

- Wish we had more of the good classroom teachers. Learning could be much more exciting and quick.

- And finally I have done a terrible job of keeping in touch/socializing with family and close friends outside school. This is bothersome. I promise to work on this more this upcoming year.

PROS
- A risk free opp to try something that I really like. I am fascinated by Finance and technology is in my pedigree (educational). A chance to marry both and see if a career in that is exciting has been presented to me - and guess what it is risk free! Try it in the summer and see how I feel. What more can you ask?

- Ability to develop “the big picture”. So this is tough to explain. I feel like I’ve become much better at understanding business enterprises at a macro level in the past year. Some of it is from academics, some from discussions with classmates, and some from personal reading/watching habits.

- Valuable fundamental understanding of how things work in the investment banking, asset management, sales and trading, private equity, venture capital, corporate finance, and consulting professions. Some may get this without b school but for me this was critical in choosing what to pursue. Again, a combination of academics and conversations with faculty and classmates greatly helped.

- Invaluable opportunity to learn how to manage people in a relatively risk-free environment. I was part of organizational teams for numerous conferences and learnt tremendously on how to manage egos, coax and cajole, and generally get things done. This can also be achieved outside B school but probably at a higher cost.

- Ability to think quickly and act faster than ever before (I am still learning). You should see the way I work my email Inbox now. For someone like me who would postpone replying to emails unless it was absolutely crucial this is great. Now, I am constantly in real time. This, to my pleasant surprise (duh!) increases productivity. There is no choice in B school but be in real time – there is so much happening and you don’t have to lag or be left behind.

- Chance to listen to thought leaders in person and debate with them. I am not going to list people’s names here but suffice to say it has been a great opportunity to be face to face and learn. I wish I did more this past year; one of my goals is to do that more in the upcoming year.

- Brand association. Everyone tells you how being a good school really helps when you get admitted. Guess what, IT IS TRUE. People think that just because I am at Sloan I am automatically smart. This never gets old. I ran into a Private Equity type the other day at my internship and he goes “MIT huh? Can you teach me this? I am sure you can explain it in your sleep.” This is obviously not just for vanity but opens up doors and careers that otherwise may not have been possible.

- Learning every day (or every day other day, whatever, you get the idea). Be it in class, or at school-organized competitions, while swilling PBR with classmates, at networking events, at forums you name it. There is so much to learn.

- Getting access to people you would only dream about. CEOs of real great firms, Govt people, highly placed executives, and famous thought leaders. While this may not be a tangible personal benefit it still helps to talk and gain insights from some of them. The way I look at it, if I can pick up one thing from each person that is pretty good.

- Relationship building. You are probably noticing that most of the pros (or all of them) and intangible and non-numbers types. What can I say? I now firmly believe that intangibles, which include relationship building, is one of the most important pillars to career building. Be it alumni or classmates or teachers this is a nice time period to let them know who you are, how you think, and whether you are dependable in class groups, projects, and club positions. 5 to 10 years down the line, if you need help or advice they are there – no question.

That is all I could think of right now. It is interesting that I list $$ amounts in the CONS and then go on to NOT list any $$ amounts in the PROS. Why you ask? Well, it is too early to gauge how this will improve my $$ potential. Ask me in 25 years!

Tokyo, Thailand, and a Wedding!

So, to celebrate the end of the first year of my MBA program, I decided to spend 10 days in Thailand. I am writing this post from Bangkok (1:30 am here). Why Thailand? Well, let me tell you why Thailand. One of our classmates is getting married in Bangkok (the wedding was tonite) so a bunch of my classmates planned to combine that with some pleasure.

We got here 2 days ago - via a brutal 14h flight from Boston to DC to Tokyo to Bangkok. Spent a few hours in Tokyo and loved it. Am going to go back there at some point.

anyway, I will write more about this when I get back to Boston. It's been an interesting trip so far. Going to a kick boxing match tomm nite, then off to a beach in South Thailand (Ko Phi Phi) for 3 days. Ahh, vacation! Much needed.

hope y'all are having fun.

later

hmmmm....a lot to write about...BUT

There is quite a bit to write about: my Man Manny's suspension, NBA playoffs, GM and Chrysler, End of first year at Sloan, and much more. But, as is the case, I dont have for it now. So, I will leave y'all with a video that was shot at school. I make my YouTube debut for a Sloan award nomination (all in jest of course). My classmate who made the video did a great job and made us all look cool:

YouTube link

I will be back with my regular post shortly.

later

Size 28 jeans, Busch beer, Saturn Cars, and much more!

Do you get this feeling sometimes when you see someone operate and you are convinced that he/she can do nothing wrong? Check that, why use the double negative: he/she does everything the way it is supposed to be done? I am sure all of us have come across someone in our lives. Maybe the feeling is momentary/fleeting but you know when someone is in a 'zone' as the sports types like to say. Well, that is how I feel about our Branding professor at school.

Branding for the uninitiated (this was me 8 weeks ago) is a track in Marketing. I stumbled upon the course and boy am I glad or am I glad I did! I was on the waitlist but somehow managed to get in the course. Not knowing what to expect I went to the first class expecting the usual B school BS but oh noh siree, this dude was one of a kind. We imported this Prof from Australia where he currently teaches (he has taught at Wharton and LBS prior to that and has a PhD in Brand Management).
- He knows how to run a case
- He teaches concepts in a easy to understand and practical way
- He knows when to shut those annoying classmates who say something just to hear themselves speak
-He swears like a sailor (and it never seems vulgar)
-He has the comedic timing of a stand up
-He is never overbearing
-He is British

(ok I'll stop with my man-crush comments here!)

The result is that I am always excited to read the case for the next class. I even take notes - which is a rarity for me in B school. I always feel like I am learning something new. I now dont think people in marketing are a lower life form. I can now reasonably estimate how much accessories from Hermes, Luis Vitton, Coach, Gucci, and BV cost. And I am enjoying learning about how to build, sustain, re-build, brands. Some hightlights of the things that I learnt in class:

- Killer Brands: Sometimes firms start what are known as Killer Brands to kill competition. How do they do it? Create a new brand that the common public that does associate with the parent brand, make it cheaper, and release it into the markets. Most successful killer brand of all time: Busch Beer. Created by Anheuser Busch in the 1950s to kill several cheaper alternatives to Budweiser, it was so successful that not only did it kill all competition it outlasted several parent brands. Worst Killer Brand ever: Saturn cars. GM launched Saturn to kill the Japanese and German small cars in 1984. It worked for the first 2 years but then somewhere along the line management lost track of why it was started and went on build more than 10 sub-brands in different categories. This not only confused customers but also cannibalized GM brands. The result, well you know: GM is phasing out Saturn unless someone shows up to buy.

-Brand Positioning: Have you ever wondered why Diesel never makes jeans beyond size 28 or 30? Well, that's because they dont want "my fat ass" in their jeans (his words exactly). No firm will ever admit it publicly but this is done for a purpose. Certain items are made for a certain segment of population otherwise the Brand will lost its lustre (and in the end ability to make money). By catering to a certain segment of population the firm can charge a premium.

-Anglo-Saxons and Latin cultures are diametric opposites when it comes to looking at history. According to the prof, it is natural for peeps from Latin cultures to build things by learning from their past. This apparently is absolutely necessary in Brand Management. Did you know that "Snapple" was started by three hippies from the Lower East Side in NYC as an organic beverage? Quaker bought Snapple and tried to impose its own culture. The result: it lost nearly $800 million after buying and selling it eventually (numbers are probably off by a bit). Things were brought back to order when a thoughtful brand manager went back to the "roots" and re-organized the brands.

-We learnt about Burberry. Luxury branding is a totally different animal. Burberry was started in the last 19th century (1870s I think) by a tailor in England as a raincoat made with Gaberdine, a breathable material that was water proof. It gradually evolved into an aristocratic brand. But then lost its footing in the mid 1900s. In came Rose Marie from Saks Fifth Avenue (she was made the CEO in 1997) and transformed Burberry. She placed Burberry between Coach and Gucci and exploited that gap. By the way, did anyone know that a accessory handbag from Hermes costs $7000 (ouch!).

-Coke's worth is 66% from Brand Equity. The rest are the tangible assets.

I could go on and on. Have to stop and get some HW done. If anyone is thinking about learing about Brand Management for their business or as a consultant, I highly recommend looking up this professor at Sloan.

later

Entrepreneurship - WTF is it?

One of things that I've wanted to look at since being at business school was to understand what entrepreneurship actually means. Who is an entrepreneur? Is it the person who has that great idea? Or is it the team that takes an idea and implements it? Luckily, some of the answers to these questions were answered in a few months.

If you are curious as to what those answers are, here it goes: Merriam-Webster defines an entrepreneur as "one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise." Pay attention to the word "risk". That to me is the core around which entrepreneurship is. So you dont necessarily have to come up with an idea to be an entrepreneur. If you can take an idea and build an enterprise around it, you are automatically taking all the above mentioned risks.

Once those questions were answered I asked myself "So it it is just a matter of taking risk, why do we need to go to business school to become an entrepreneur?" To answer that question I recruited a classmate of mine and off we went talking to entrepreneurs from Sloan. The result is an article published at Xconomy. Here is the link to it:

Can business schools teach entrepreneurship?

hope you have fun reading it?

later

Happennings - Summer internship, CEOs, Private equity etc

So let me get this out of the way first:

-Summer internship! After months of networking like nobody's business I received two offers for summer internships in the last 10 days. It was an interesting feeling at first - I had to deal with the stress of taking one and saying no to another. Saying no to a VC is by the way something to be handled delicately (they are not used to hearing NO remember!) Anyway, I am psyched to be working at a Energy only VC fund for the summer! In Boston. I am not going to post the name for the obvious reasons but safe to say it is one of the biggest Energy only funds in the US and well known. 10 weeks from June to August. Excited to be learning from some of the veterns in the industry.

Moving on to other things:

-I noticed that Bloomberg online had an interesting article about Harvard Business School. Professors at HBS are going to prepare a case-study on the reputation hit that it has taken because of the CEOs involved in the financial mess. Apparently the brand has taken a bit hit and they are going to analyze it. Well, I would be interested in seeing what the case analysis brings out.

-I attended the MIT Private Equity symposium this weekend in Cambridge. I sat in on the energy panel and enjoyed what the panelists had to say. I ended up having lunch with them at the same table and got to hear what they are thinking of in terms of oppurtunity, affect of the stimulus package, and policy on investments in the energy space. (by the way I started using 'space' a lot in my writing these days, not cool!)

-We are going to have an Indian cultural function at MIT at the end of the April. yaay! Going to be exciting. Every ethnic group at MIT Sloan hosts a cultural event once a year and the Indian one usually coincides with Admit weekend II. Lots of dancing, indian beer, hopefully some skits etc. I am running logistics for the show and it should be a lot of work. There are supposed to be 400-500 people at the event and luckily one of my friends in the Boston area who owns an Indian restaurant will be catering the food. Should be a good time. If in the Boston area, you are welcome to join in.

-One of my roomates is a certified pilot with more than 400 hrs of flying. He is promising to take four of us on a flight from Boston to Cape Cod for Patriot's day weekend. Basically we will be flying out, eating lunch, and getting back! Sounds like an expensive lunch to me!

-My classmate and I just finished writing a new column for Xconomy about Business schools and Entrepreneurship. We interviewed several budding entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs and it was a good experience. Everyone had interesting things to say. Will post the link.

-Enough school stuff. What's new? Movies, I ended up watching quite a few movies during Spring Break. "Gomorah" (Italian mafia flick) was one which ended up being too slow and nothing worth remembering. Oh yeah, finally watched "Vicky Christina Barcelona" and it was a good movie. Let's see can't remember anything else.

-March madness! yaaaaay! How about them 'Nova wildcats? The last second shot to beat Pitt in the Elite 8 was fantastico. I am about to head out in a few minutes to watch the final four. Go 'Nova. On the flip side, I am 3rd from the last in my old colleagues' Pool! Whatever.

-Looks like Baseball season is upon us. I am amazed at how little I have followed baseball since I've been back in Boston. Ahhh, what b school does to you. I am hoping to go to a few games at Fenway this summer! Would be interesting to see how the Phillies defend, how the Spankees do with all that moollah that they've spent, and of course how Boston does with no Manny for the whole reason. And all you peeps who doubted Manny, get a life.

Allrite peeps, enjoy your weekend. Will be back with more later.

-

CEO + MBA = ?

Looks like I had some time to waste on Saturday morning, so I went ahead and looked into education backgrounds of CEOs of some of the prominent firms that have been in the news since this period of economic malaise began. Yeah, I know I need to get a life but I figured what the heck, at the very worst I can start making fun of some of the schools!

Anyway, I have them tabulated below. A few things about this table:

-CEOs only

-CEOs during the troubled period (2000-2008)

-I wiki’d the firms to get the CEOs backgrounds. So if whatever the wiki page said about their education (MBA only) I listed here. If anyone spots errors please point out. I will be glad to correct as I should be.

-Banks, Govt institutions, and Automobile manufacturers are included. Oh, and GE too (it needs a separate category)

-Some of the firms have not done well as you all already know and some have done ok.

I am not going to draw any conclusion from this table. Nor am I claiming any correlation between their degrees and firm performance.

Firm-CEO-MBA?-MBA School

Lehman Bros-Dick Fuld-Yes-NYU Stern

Bear Stearns-Jimmy Cayne-No
Bear Stearns-Alan Schwartz-No

Merrill Lynch-John Thain-Yes-HBS

Citi-Vikram Pandit-Yes-Columbia

Fannie Mae-Daniel Mudd-No

Freddie Mac-Richard Syron-No

Wachovia-Ken Thompson-Yes-Wake Forest

WaMu-Kerry Killinger-Yes-Univ of Iowa

AIG-Edward Libby-Yes-George Washington

GE-Jeff Immelt-Yes-HBS

GM-Rick Wagoner-Yes-HBS

Chrysler-Bob Nardelli-Yes-Univ of Louisville

Bank of America-Ken Lewis-Yes-Stanford (executive)

Wells Fargo-John Stumpf-Yes-Univ of Minnesota

JP Morgan Chase-Jamie Dimon-Yes-HBS

Morgan Stanley-John Mack-No

Goldman Sachs-Lloyd Blankfein-No

Ford-Alan Mulally-Yes-MIT Sloan

RIP MBA? really?

So I've had a chance to think about what this gentlemen wrote in his column about the death of the MBA (see previous post for link), here is what I think. I am going to argue two crucial points that he refers to-although to be fair he points to a few other things which in my opinion are not relavent.

Point #1
"Managers don't need to be trained; they need to be educated—in the sense of "civilized." Unfortunately, a business degree isn't just irrelevant to that purpose; it's positively detrimental."

I agree that classroom education is not the only relevant tool to being a good manager. I say it to my classmates all the time, what you can learn at work is invaluable and in most costs irreplaceable. Having said that, to state unequivocally that a business degree is not relevant to becoming a good manager is irresponsible.

I think it is fair to state that Management is not exactly a science that can be learnt via formulae or equations. Absolutely. Here is where being exposed to a pool of fellow students who bring diverse functional and industry experiences helps. Listening, debating, and learning from these experiences gives ammunition to professors in business schools to shape future managers. Combine this with industry relevant research that professors perform (operations and strategy in particular) and you have a fertile ground for brainstorming sticky managerial situations.

Look I am not one to say that there is a textbook solution to every specific managerial situation but having been exposed to different situations lets you expand your thinking and seek out new solutions.

Point #2
"The only semblance of a theory behind modern business education is that it purportedly produces "experts" in shareholder-value maximization who are capable of forming an ideal, self-regulating market"

Not sure where this comes from. The theory behind shareholder-value maximization and free-market philosophy is rooted in Economics not business school education. Yes there is a lot of cross "polination" between economics and finance in schools these days but to say that this originates in business schools is not true. I am about to finish my first year in a business school and I have not had this come up in any course so far.

Now, I can't see what is wrong with maximizing shareholder-value 'philosophy'. The expectation is that this is also tied to other metrics that point to a healthy and self-sustaining corporation. Maximizing share-holder value combined with consistent return on investments, profitability, and productivity should be what every corporation aim to do. That a few idiots decided to achieve this by meddling with accounting rules rather than organically achieving growth is not the fault of business school education.

What you are, you are. Going to business school should not (hope not) alter that. If a person is un ethical he/she will be un ethical regardless of whether they attend a education institution or not. To claim that the environment at a business school festers this behavior is irresponsible.

Look, just 'cause someone goes to business school does not make him/her a genius manager. There are a lot of factors that go into a successful manager. For every crooked manager you can find you can find multiple great managers. Maybe some of them went to business schools. A correlation or causation?

Should I have gone into government service?

This dude on Slate.com posted an article on how overrated an MBA degree is. And he thinks students instead should have gone into public service. hmmm...interesting suggestion. I just read the article and have some instant retorts to some of his points but I will hold back until I can digest this more.

Meanwhile, if you have the time, do read it

RIP MBA - The Economic Crisis has exposed the myth of business school expertise.

I'll post more on this and other topics soon.


layyter

whoaa! AWOL big time!

That's right I have not posted in a LOOOONG time. Too much going on dudes. I thought things would slow down in the second semester but as Austin Powers would say "Au contraire". We are free this week and the next (Spring Break!). And I am not going any where, boooo! Staying in Cambridge for a variety of reasons. So what's the delio? well....

-I had to skip McKool's wedding on the left coast. I am embarrassed about it and dont feel good. Unfortunately I had no choice. There was a conference that we were having at MIT that I had to attend given my choice in venture capital for the summer. So I cancelled my tkts at the last second. Sorry McKool. I heard the wedding was great though. Best wishes to you kids.

-The second semester at school has been SUPER busy. I signed up for only 4 classes but on the side am doing 3 separate projects. Add to that my summer internship search. I have been networking like a mofo since February. I am hoping it will pay off.

-oh yeah, one of the new webblogs (xconomy.com) asked me to be a regular contributor starting in January. I will be writing about energy, b school, recruiting, entrepreneurship etc from a b school student point of view. So that has been taking up my time as well.

-I couldn't believe it that the next class at Sloan will be here soon. We hosted the admit weekend for those who were admitted in the 1st round in late February. I still remember me attending the same event last year. How time flies peeps! I was asked to sit in on a couple of panels to answer questions and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of questions the new admits asked.

-I am in a couple of interesting courses this semester: Macro-Econ (highly recommend this to anyone, especially at MIT) and New Enterprises (course on how to write a business plan for a new venture). I am also in Finance II which is a good learning experience. We are being taught on how to evaluate the health of firms based on financial statements. Not a bad learning experience.

-Speaking of macro-econ. We were given three topics to debate in class (carried 50% of the grade). The team that I was on was voted the best in both the topics that we competed for. Topic 1: Should China be a Democracy in 5 years? Topic 2: Would you vote Yes for the stimulus package? We had a ball preparing for the debates. And ended up doing really well on both. Learnt quite a bit about China and how things work there in the process. And let me tell you, a lot things will surprise you. By the way, we argued that China did not need to be a democracy in 5 years (or possibly for a long time). Economic and Social well being has very little do with what form of government you have, we discovered.

-Recruiting has been progressing. I decided to focus solely on Venture Capital gigs for the summer with a sharp focus on energy and materials. I have a couple of solid leads but no confirmed internship yet. My goal is to spend the summer at a top tier energy VC shop and I feel that if everything goes well I will land a gig at one of those places.

-I managed to convince the student affairs office at Sloan to give me money to start a Squash club. So officially started the Sloan Squash club in February. We had a lot of interest from classmates and glad to see people show up on the first Sunday to practice. I also managed to connect with our B school friends up the river (aka HBS) and we are planning on having a Sloan-HBS squash tournament soon. Should be fun.

-Enough about me. Seriously. Are you peeps following the happenings in the world? Jeeeez. Where to start?

-AIG and the bonus mess. Well, I need to find out more info before jumping up and down like those idiots on TV calling everyone and their grandma thieves. How were the bonuses structured? Are people who made the wrong choices rewarded or is this for the new talent? How is the bonus structure setup, for long term or short term? I have not had a chance to check this out but if anyone knows please comment.

-Stimulus Package mess? As I wrote earlier we debated this in class and I have an insiders perspective on this since our professor is a well known economist. According to him this is a panic reaction from the govt. I will not get into details about this but one of the main arguments was that instead of giving consumers money to spend the govt should have incentivized businesses (by lowering corporate taxes etc) to invest. Great topic to debate by the way.

-I will end this by quoting our Macro-econ professor's views on politics and politicians. "Politicians should not govern based on what party and what philosophy they believe in, they should govern based on what the situation at hand demands". Exactly by beliefs about politics in this country.

Until next time (which should be soon hopefully!).

Ego Feeding time!

From time to time I try to post links that have pictures of me or mention me in the media-you know a little vanity once in a while hurt no one right? Well, it's time for another one of these ego boosts!

So I co-organized a trek (no, not the ones that you go hiking on) to Energy related startups in Massachusetts in early January. A few of my classmates went on it and overall it was good trip. One of the web media sites asked me to write about it and voila I did! Here is the link to my article:

Mass Energy Trek - MIT Sloan

So? This is 2009 huh?

yeah I have been AWOL for a while now but with good reason (or is there one?). Semester got done in the 3rd week of December and wtf have I been upto you ask. Let me tell you what I have been upto. Quite a few things actually. But that's not important. What is important is that 2008 is done and here we are 3 weeks already into 2009. Not sure how I feel about that actually. It was definitely a good year in a lot of ways. Anyway, let's move on before I get mushy.

So what to expect in 2009. This is the time to make predictions so let me do it as well. Some of you may know of intrade (link). You can bet on Paris Hilton's "assets" to those of Bernie Madoff's at that website or something like that. In that spirit, I give you Kondum's list of TEN for 2009:

#1
President Obama having a Monica Lewinsky type sex scandal. Probability: 0.001%.

Why you ask? Have you seen how Michelle Obama looks? Hello?!

#2
US Economy stays in recession. Probability: umm is there a 110% (of course there is, coaches and politicians always use that number).

By the way, I read a real interesting column in the Economist recently that talked about the differences between a Recession and a Depression. Check it out if you get a chance (link).

#3
The Big Three in Detroit turning into the Big Two or even Big One. Probability: 65%

I dont see how each of them can survive on their own. As I write this I saw a headline flash on wsj.com "Fiat to partner with Chrysler". hmmm...sign of things to come.

#4
Citi/BOA/any other other big bank in the US will fail. Probability: 40%.

Citi is splitting up and BOA get a little stimulus thing from Uncle Sam recently so that should keep both going for a while. If the economy continues to stagger and people hold onto their cash rather than investing in financial products, that could do it for atleast one of the banks.

#5
Atleast one of the cabinet or high-level govt appointees by President Obama will withdraw during or prior to the confirmation process. Probability: 78%

You know it. Someone would have hired an illegal nanny when they were not so famous or had an obsession for humping goats. As old as the profession itself (politics that is). This does not include Bill Richardson by the way

#6
Slumdog Millionaire wins atleast 4 oscars. Probability: 40%

I have not seen the movie but they seem to have done well with the Golden Globes. And the Oscars love these kinda rags-to-riches movies. Is this movie any good? I have zero motivation to go watch it somehow.

#7
Vince Vaughn/John Mayer will go out with another Hollywood hottie. Probability: 99%

Dude, this guy Vince (I mean he’s average looking) has hit the jackpot when it comes to Hollywood hotties. What is it? The sense of humor or his ‘tallness’? Mayer, well you can sorta understand his mojo: I mean which girl will not dig a croony singer-songwriter type? I mean c’mon.

#8
The Pittsburgh Steelers win the Souper Bowl. Probability: 110%

I mean should there be any doubt about this. Best Defense there is. And a bunch real hardnosed players with no prima donnas. The thing is I like Kurt Warner but not that much. (Waving the Yellow Towel)


#9
Over/under on the number of days the ‘ceasefire in Gaza lasts’: hmm I would say take the under on 30 days

This stuff is not amusing. Really, both sides have to cave in a little bit. Notably Hamas. Negotiation 101 dudes: you have to be in a state of strength to be able to dictate terms. And stop listening to those guys neighboring Iraq will ya.

#10
There will be an electric car vehicle on the road (something along the lines of Chevy Volt that is primarily battery driven) in the US. Probability: 35%

GM is saying that they will have the Chevy Volt ready in 2009 but you know how that goes. Renault is working on something. And what the hell is going on with Tesla? C’mon guys get something on the road.

Enjoy the new year kids!