Development Dialogues and Leadership Series Lectures
(See archived page)
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Dr. Anil K. Sahai - University of California, Santa Cruz - 20 Oct,15.00-16.00hrs
Dr. Anil Sahai is an adjunct faculty in the department of Technology and Information Management at University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching taught courses in the areas new product development, services business management and IT strategy. He has a PhD. in Computer Science University of California, M.S. in Computer Science from University of Pittsburgh, M.S.in Mathematics/OR from Ohio University, and B.A. (Honors) in Mathematics from St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, India.
Dr. Anil Sahai’s interaction with the students focused on Innovative Designs in Products and how to create a product to meet the consumer’s needs.
The major challenge in developing a successful product is to figure out the customer needs. Most often there is a mismatch between what the customer defines as his need and what the development team understands it to be. The challenge lies in bridging this information gap. He also said that a company should design the product but don’t think a miracle will happen in order to capture the market. It needs to be followed by strong marketing strategy to achieve the desired effect.
Dr. Sahai touched upon the stages in developing a product from Idea Generation, Screening, Concept Development, Business Analysis, Budgeting, Product Testing, Technical Implementation and finally Commercialization.
According to Dr. Sahai three features needed for a product are Pain, Cost and Solution, where every product or service is the result of a Pain endured by the customer and the cost of mitigating that Pain determines the pricing strategy for the product
Towards the end of the session he briefly dwelled upon the reasons for projects tend to fail. The main reason is lack of adequate budget followed by inefficient team, failure in development and product launch plan. He also mentioned about the reasons for the failure of a new product including product design issues, cost of product development, competitive actions and over estimation of the market size.
"Understanding the customer, market and competition is important to develop a product with superior value".
Contributed by Shruthi Jayalal
Edited by Lekshmi Menon
Has India become innovative since 1991?
Dr. Sunil Mani - Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum - 14 Oct,15.00-17.00hrs
“Innovation is not essentially building new ideas, but serving the existing ideas in a better manner” - Dr. Sunil Mani, was speaking about his research on whether India is progressing since 1991. The idea of innovation is mainly to introduce new products across different markets on a cheap basis.
In 2009, India ranks 58th in the Global Innovation Index that grades the level of innovation in a country. Innovation is measured mainly from manufacturing sectors. The reason behind this is that while there might be a high growth rate for capital and labour in manufacturing sectors, it is pretty low for technology.
Indian companies are moving abroad for acquisitions to acquire new technology which might otherwise take a lot of time and capital to develop indigenously. The reason behind foreign acquisitions therefore, is not solely to gain a foothold in the foreign markets.
Any firm can acquire technology from two sources – through its own Research and Development (R&D) department and or by acquiring technology from other companies, mainly abroad. Of late, Indian companies are increasingly purchasing technology through consultants. This is because if the company is not affiliated, the multi national companies might not be willing to transfer their knowledge of technology. The Average Propensity measure shows that the rate of innovation is increasing and therefore the companies are being independent of technology or they are moving to consultants for acquiring them.
Before 1991 there were only about 14,000 companies that were formed every year. For the period 1991-2008 around 23,000 companies were formed every year, therefore the Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship has increased. From the Space Competitiveness Index that covers three components Government, Human Capital and Industry, India shows a high degree of competitiveness.
Dr. Mani used two indicators to measure innovation - Input and Output Indicators.
Input indicator is the amount of money spent as expenditure on R&D. This helps in creating innovation. India spends only 0.78% of its GDP on R&D against the target of 2% of GDP. Pharmaceuticals industries have strong R&D against other sectors, as R&D is located within the company as opposed to other sectors where R&D happens not in synch with its progress and requirements.
Output indicator is the number of U.S patents being granted to the Indian scientists. This also indicates that even though large numbers of patents are being awarded, the actual money that arrives in this form to India is little. Thus innovation is yet to reach the target growth rate.
Contributed by Annada
Edited by Lekshmi Menon
Face to Face with Mr. Jayakumar C. of Thanal
08 Oct ,15.10-17.00hrs
Mr. Jayakumar C, trustee of Thanal, is also a member of the Steering Committee of Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), International POPs Elimination network, Co-chair of Pesticide Task Force of PANAP and a leader of the "Waste Not Asia" coalition.
He started his session by saying that he has no PowerPoint presentation but has some ‘points’ which he would like to express with some ‘power’!
Giving the example of Gwalior Rayons (plup) that was started in Kerala in 1957, he said that many a time the perceived profits/benefits of an enterprise is miniscule when compared to the loss/harm it brings. In a period of 30 years, Government had provided bamboo to Gwalior Rayons at a subsidized rate, bearing a loss of Rs.28,000Cr. Even after giving so much of subsidy the company was running at a loss. In summary, we lost as well as our forest reserve.
Same is the story of the pesticides. During World War II, chlorine was used as a chemical weapon but after the war, the sector faced a threat of closure. But then they came up with the idea of using it as a pesticide. Research shows pesticides have no effect on the productivity in agriculture, still it is widely used and extensive subsidies are given to encourage their use. Mr. Jayakumar also talked about the use of Endosulfan in agriculture and it resulting in endocrine diseases, including damage to the nervous system. Endosulfan, if transferred to the unborn baby during pregnancy could adversely affect the physical and mental growth in the baby.
Speaking about waste management system and its flaws, he said that the present waste management system can make only 15% of waste useful in terms of compost. The remaining 85% still remains as waste. The best solution to this problem would be to reduce the amount of waste created and manage it as manage much as possible at the source.
Mankind benefits form the ecosystem around them. Their mere presence creates value for human beings. Quantifying the services/benefits of ecosystem is known as the ecosystem services. As responsible human beings it’s important to maintain the ecosystem service levels. Mr. Jayakumar concluded the session on the note that we should ask questions and never take anything at face value.
Written by Johncy Mathew,Batch 5
Edited by Mercy Mathew
KUDUMBASHREE
Mrs.Sharada Muralidharan IAS, 07 Oct, 14.00-16.20hrs
A session was conducted by Mrs. Sharada Muralidharan I.A.S the executive director of Kudumbashree. She spoke about Kudumbashree, it’s origin, initiatives and the various challenges faced by the organisation.
Kudumbashree, the State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM) was launched by Govt. of Kerala in 1998 with the active support of Govt. of India and NABARD. Kudumbashree’s mission is to eradicate absolute poverty in ten years through concerned community action under the leadership of Local Govt., by facilitating available service and resources to tackle the multiple dimensions and manifestation of poverty, holistically.
Its strategies are formation of micro enterprises, organizing the poor to a three tier Community Based Organization (CBO) and empowering women threw CBO.
Key Initiatives of Kudumbashree
1) Economic Development
2) Empowering Community
In all these activities, they face oppositions and challenges. It ranges from household’s resistance to woman’s participation in public sphere, to finding a market for their products. Economies of scale would result in better profitability but it would involve standardizing the products at the cost of losing the uniqueness of a locally made product. Lack of business and marketing skills among the participants also hamper their ability to explore potential markets.
But the stakeholders are enthusiastic. The changes that Kudaumbashree brings about in the lives of women engaged with this organisation have lead to enrollments in greater numbers. Moreover, many organisations – educational, NGOs, and businesses, are coming forward to help these self help groups become viable. Integrating all these efforts, Kudaumbashree sets for itself newer targets to transform lives, the community and thus the society.
Written by Thomas KK, Batch 5
Edited by Mercy Mathew
What it takes to be a good Solution Provider?
Dr. K. Kesavasamy,
Global Head – Academic Interface Program, TCS,01 October,2009 14.00-16.00hrs
India and China have not had to face the grueling consequences of recession. But the fact remains that we are currently living in a not-so-best economic condition. The economic downturn has affected everyone in this world, small and big businesses, non-profit organizations and even the growth of the Indian IT industry has come down from 40% to 20%. The positive is, even during these turbulent times there is at least 20% growth coupled with India’s annual growth rate of around 6%. The hard part though is, fresh recruitment will be 30% of the last year figures.
Dr. Kesavasamy was of the opinion that IT companies would still be recruiting this year to match the 20% growth rate and the reduced attrition rate, but the offerings would be few and only for the best. Competition is going to be tough and candidates will have to get smarter to achieve success. In such a scenario, Problem solving skills is the most essential skill. A good problem solver will always find a job.
A good problem solver needs to have certain skills or key attributes. These are discussed below.
Ø Application of Knowledge: Whatever is learnt in school or through textbooks, can be applied to provide solutions to real life problems. One needs to keep thinking and reinforcing concepts to be able to apply then as and when required. People who lose learning curiosity will never be able to become a good problem solver.
Ø Abstraction: It is the skill of removing the attributes/characteristics to determine the absolute/ essential characteristics of an object. This skill would help one see similarity in seemingly unrelated situations/ideas, thus making a single solution good for different situations. To explain the concept of abstraction Dr. Kesavasamy used the example of Arjuna & Abhimanyu and Alibaba & Qasim. Both the legends were separated by a huge amount of time and space but at an abstract level the stories had striking similarities - both Abhimanyu and Qasim knew how to get inside in the particular scenario, but neither knew how to get out of it!
Ø Holistic Thinking: A holistic solution would take into account the whole system/situation and not just a part. For any given problem/situation, there will be constraints, which might differ with time and space. Moreover there will be many stakeholders. A good problem solver should be able to provide a solution which is not only appropriate to solve the problem at hand but also be relevant when the constrains change.
Ø Process Mindset: This skill helps to see a complex job as a series of task, which is identifiable, measurable and rectifiable.
Ø Communication: Communication is probably one of the most important requirements for a good problem solver and miscommunication, the biggest enemy. Miscommunication or no-communication can have dire consequences. We have to keep in mind that communication includes oral, written and listening, which are all equally important and support each other.
Ø Working in Teams: Working in teams, creating questioning desire & ability and cultivating reading habits also form an integral part of skills required for a good problem solver. Dr. Kesavasamy cited the example of the Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo. When asked why he hasn’t been scoring a lot recently, Ronaldo replied he is not reluctant to give his teammate the chance to score if his teammate has a better chance of scoring than him. This just shows that the team’s goal comes above one’s personal goal. Collective learning and learning from each other will also help a lot while functioning in a team.
Dr. Kesavasamy reiterated the fundamental objective is learning and not getting a job! Job is the end result of learning. As the concluding note, Dr. Kesavasamy advised everyone to keep learning well and be dedicated towards this, as learning does not stop after college, but goes on everyday till the end of our lives.
Prepared by Arvind Balachandran,Batch 5
Edited by Mercy Mathew
International HRM
Raja Ramanathan,Head, Compensation and HR Operations at Bayer.On August 27 ,15.00-16.00hrs
Raja Ramanathan has over 25 years of experience in the Human
Resources Management in different industries and countries. Armed with a gold medal in Economics from the Madras University and a management education from IIM Ahmedabad, he worked in India, till 1984. He moved to the Middle East working with the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait and the Arab Insurance Group setting
up and managing their International HR functions. He currently manages the international HR function for Bayer Canada. In addition to his job at Bayer, Raja teaches Human Resources Management at the Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Ontario. He has also co-authored a book, "The Itinerant Indian".
The web seminar conducted by Mr. Raja Ramanathan started off on an interesting and relevant note. Mr. Ramanathan mentioned that it was 5:30 a.m. in Toronto whereas it was 3:30 p.m. in India, and he was speaking to us from a place which was around 20,000 kilometres away - a classic example of how international teams are managed in a corporate organization.
The reasons given for firms going international were cost considerations, better technology and work practices, thereby exercising greater freedom to hire the best and incorporate new technologies. When a firm goes international, the main point it has to consider is how they would understand the culture of the place. This is very important since a wrong move or assumption on the part of the company could have a negative impact on the company.
Developing managers with international exposure and adaptability is also important because business approaches in two countries are generally very different. Firms should also consider how competent they are to start operating on a foreign soil. Compensation and employment laws in countries would also be different. Since compensation and cost considerations are two strong reasons why a firm might go international, the management should work out a way in which the employees would not bear the brunt of different compensation and employment systems.
International transfers are also seen frequently in corporate organizations. The main reasons for international transfers are: when the headquarters of a firm wants to exercise a greater degree of control by transferring someone of their choice, and when transfers are facilitated purely on the basis of technological reasons and needs.
The webinar gave a new perspective on international human resources management. For a firm to function smoothly on a foreign soil, it would require to unlearn and re-learn a few things. "In order to make a playfield level, you need to un-level the playfield first", was what Mr. Ramanathan said as the signing-off remark.
Prepared by Arvind Balachandran,Batch 5
Edited by Lekshmi Menon
Establishing a New Business School
Dr.Ravi Thomas ,CFO of University Associates LLC a partnership of University of California, August 22, 10.25-11.25hrs
Dr. Ravi Thomas is the CFO of University Associates LLC a partnership of University of California, California Community Colleges, Carnegie Mellon University and Santa Clara University. He is an Adjunct Professor of Economics at UCSC and an advisor to UC Santa Cruz on its Silicon Valley Initiatives and to various clean-tech and software companies.
He has held senior level executive positions at several startups. Prior to joining his first startup Dr Thomas was an Assistant Professor at the Fox School of Business at Temple University where he taught courses in economics and public finance. He has also taught at Swarthmore College and was a Visiting Fellow at the International Monetary Fund.
The session by Dr Ravi Thomas focussed on management and management schools. The aim of a good management school, according to him, is not just to teach the students the basics of accounting, marketing etc, but to give them guidance in learning how to bring together the right people and to work in an efficient way.
Dr. Ravi spent time elaborating from his experience about establishing a new business school. For this laying a strong foundation is very important. The school should focus on grooming managers with both soft skills and hard skills, which are very important to be competitive in today’s marketplace. The emphasis should be on providing students with the best educational experience possible, since the quality of students greatly influences the future of a business school.
While discussing the establishment of management school, the question of financing is sure to arise. The school should have the capability to convince the investors that it is worthwhile investing in them.
He also spoke about the process of outsourcing in companies and the role that Indians in global outsourcing industry. When outsourcing, it is essential to know how to deal with different kinds of people. That is when the new techniques of study in management schools come in to use.
Prepared by Karthika Venugopal
Edited by Lekshmi Menon
Face to Face with Mr. Arun Balakrishnan, Chairman & MD, HPCL
Mr. Arun Balakrishnan, Chairman & Managing Director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, and a team of senior executives from HPCL visited ASB on August 5, 2009.
The first face-to-face session of the current academic year was an insightful interaction with Mr. Arun Balakrishnan on the transformation of the HR function at HPCL and the various aspects of the petroleum sales and distribution business. The strategic decision to leverage on IT for mundane HR tasks (1) eliminated human biases and made processes transparent, (2) it became easy to track performance and promote meritocracy (3) freed the HR personnel for valued adding roles like implementing Balanced Scorecard, competency mapping and training and development. For the Rs. 116,000 Cr public sector entity, it was an experience of making the elephant to dance. It took several cross-functional teams sent on a holiday to brainstorm on the change to be brought about, numerous interactions with customers to know their perception about the company, and finally a national level conclave to discuss and choose the course of action. Decisions were passed without delay and the resultant actions have resulted in a public sector company of which the employees pride, which in turn is a pride for the nation. Recently when all the oil companies in India went on strike, HPCL employees refrained from joining it and the company supplied 60% of nation’s demand for those days and kept the economy in motion. If it wasn’t for the discipline and solidarity of the employees such a feet was unthinkable. The company too recognized the efforts, loyalty and dedication of its human assets and rewarded them to keep them encouraged.
Answering to students queries, Mr Balakrishnan said that prices of the petroleum is high because of the high taxes imposed on them. Nearly 50% of state budget is financed by oil taxes hence state governments are reluctant to reduce the rate of tax being imposed on petroleum products. Moreover, the collection charges are low because it is collected from few oil companies, making it convenient for the governments. Mr Balakrishnan also enlightened the students on the alternate fuel initiative of HPCL, its retail business, and other issues pertaining to the oil industry.
Prepared by Ms.Mercy Mathew.
Technology Marketing: The case of Asian Paints
Dr. Joy Mukhopadhyay MSc (IIT – Kgp), PhD (IISc),
Management and Education Consultant
What is technology? It’s the application of science. Then what is science? A discipline governed by theories which have been validated. Starting on such a note, Dr. Joy took the students of ASB for a journey exploring the science and technology behind colors through the case study of Asian Paints.
Way back in 1970, though Asian Paints was one among the top players in the Indian paint industry, it still faced two major issues (1) Dealing with fungus which could produce an ugly patches on the wall (2) Standardizing the process so as to produce the same color shade in all the batches produced. The first problem was resolved as a result of the experiments in the Microbiology lab set within the Asian paints factory. A color Control Laboratory was set up to deal with the second problem. The problem was, How to standardize color? To understand the question, it is essential to understand the science of colors. Dr. Joy went on to explain the physics, mathematics and psychology of measuring colors, elaborating the fact that once anything is measurable, it is controllable. That meant that Asian Paints would be able to produce exact shades, batch after batch. Asian Paint made a considerable investment in purchasing the technology and were pioneers in India. The strategy paid well as the company surpassed all the competitors to emerge a clear market leader. But that was not all. Asian Paints saw the potential in marketing and selling this technology as their uses were many – right from textiles to food and consumables, leather to cosmetics, and so on. As consumers if we find a slight variation in the color of products we intend to buy, we perceive it to be an old stock or spoilt. This risk arising from competitors adopting the same technology was far small compared to the opportunity in marketing the technology and hence became the agents for the Asia Pacific region.
Prepared by Ms.Mercy Mathew.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR MANAGEMENT DECISION MAKING
Mr. Krishna Janardhanan,March 27,2009.
Jack Janardhan has held various responsible posts with firms like TISCO, IBM etc. His responsibilities have taken him to places like Nigeria, Dubai, and Bangladesh. In fact he was responsible for introducing the Computer Services Division in Tata Steel and headed it till 1980.
Mr. Jack Janardhan started the presentation by asking the students about what they understood by Information, System & Management as it is essential to know about these 3 terms to understand about Information systems for management. He defined information as anything which has an element of surprise in it and which requires some kind of response. A System is a set of interrelated components, which consists of hardware and software applications that work towards a common objective. Management is a set of interconnected functions. It consists of people, procedure and rules. Like Systems, it also works towards common objective.
Mr. Janandhan’s next question was “Why does management need information?” He explained it thus: information is needed to maintain operational control, to make necessary corrections, to keep the objective under focus all the time, to help for maintaining progress, to do a good job worth recognition. But he said the most important reason for need for information is gain to an initiative for tomorrow.
The major decisions to be taken regarding this are- the kind of information needed, the areas to be covered, the extent of coverage, how much is to be spent and to choose a slow & steady approach.
He explained how to decide on the decision factors by citing some examples:
We may be spending too much in service when we are not a service company- a wrong priority, obviously. Another example he gave was, when two figures on the same item presented by two departments do not tally- it shows a clear lack of common understanding and too much of compartmentalization.
What could be done to avoid such problems? The answer lies in Automation of Information Sector for better management control. Automate Book keeping, Automation of the back office, Batch processing are some of the first steps to be taken in this direction. The next step would consists of a) Replacing the manual forms with computer outputs, b)Essential front office systems and c)Keeping accounts and payrolls.Then it should be followed by Design ERP systems and Complete automation.
This cannot be achieved without a Good management commitment, taking timely actions, using well-known project management techniques and constant review of the work. The critical success factors are commitment and building reasonable redundancies. Through this session we learnt the importance and usefulness of the Information Systems for Management decision making.
Prepared by Renu B PGP'08-10
Edited by Mythili Kesavaswamy
Holistic thinking – a consulting paradigm
R. Narayanan, January 30, 2009 16.20-17.20hrs
About the Speaker: Mr. R. Narayanan retired as Vice President (Learning & Development), Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, where he mentored the learning initiatives of TCS professionals in Technology, Domain, Management and Soft skills. Narayanan has over four decades of experience with IT and specially Software. Before joining TCS in 1995, he had an impressive stint of 26 years with the Indian Space Research Organization. He is a former Chairman of IEEE, Kerala Section and a former Chairman of CSI, Trivandrum chapter. He served as a member of the International Steering Committee on Software Engineering Education & Training (CSEET). Narayanan had earlier chaired NASSCOM’s task group on Workforce development for the IT sector.
Mr. Narayanan is currently assisting several small and medium size companies in achieving global business excellence levels.
Session: The focus of Mr. Narayanan’s talk was Holistic thinking and its role in the field of consulting. He began by describing what a complex problem is and one of the key attribute that defines a complex problem is the lack of ‘Holistic Thinking’. Holistic thinking is also called Systems Approach or Systems thinking.
In the world of business, people are always bothered about hard factors like estimation, planning schedules, tracking, costing, etc. But there are some soft factors like schedule pressure, experience, errors in estimation, political and social environment etc, which though are not easily quantifiable, influence the overall productivity and results. They cannot be ignored while analyzing a problem, especially in consulting assignments. In a consulting assignment, the complexity to the problem can arise because of the client, or the consultant’s failure in taking into account all the factors or both the parties could be equally responsible. That illustrates the need and importance of asking questions, accurate diagnosis of the problem, designing of the solution and an effective feedback process. Getting multiple perspectives of the problem by considering the needs & constraints of all stakeholders becomes the key in solving the problem.
He added that traditional approach to problem solving is a model which considers each factor independently. But systems approach is problem driven rather that factor driven. Hence, it takes into account the interdependent factors, the hard and soft factors, multiple perceptions and views. This view is strengthened by the fact that all problems have leverage points. If loops are not found in a problem, then the understanding of the problem is incomplete.
Holistic thinking follows the concept the ‘Whole is grater than the sum of Parts’. We can get a complete picture about a problem only through holistic thinking. Finally, the speaker highlighted what systems thinking offers. He concluded by saying that holistic thinking has an effect on both the top and bottom levels of an organization.
Prepared by Abraham John PGP'08-10
Edited by Mercy Mathew
Third Leadership Lecture Series: 'Kerala Economy: Challenges and Prospects'.
Dr Pulapre Balakrishnan, Economist & Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library
28 Jan, 2009 16.00-17.00hrs
Three essentials to unleashing Kerala on the path of economic progress are
1) Reviving the agriculture sector
2) Boosting Capital formations and technological innovation
3) Improving the quality of education
Delivering the third leadership lecture series on `Kerala Economy: Challenges and Prospects', Dr Pulapre Balakrishnan, noted economist and Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi said that the Kerala economy can learn a lot by studying similar economies and their growth trajectories. Historical evidences prove that economies which had a dynamic agriculture sector, gave importance to capital formation and quality education are the ones which have witnessed robust economic growth.
Agriculture: Despite reforms, agriculture productivity of the state has fallen below 49%, since 1973. One of the cause and also the result is migration. A hypothetical example is of a country A which does not produce any goods and is largely dependent on country B. The only way country A can finance its expenses is through migration of labour. The same has been the case of Kerala. Migration of labour has largely sustained the economy in Kerala. But the world economic recession is affecting and is bound to affect migration and the resultant foreign exchange remittance to Kerala in the future. Although trading of services, especially IT is seen as an alternative, Kerala has not been able to leverage as much as other states have achieved. This is in spite of the fact that Kerala had the first IT Park in India. How do we sustain the economy?
Given that an average Indian household spend more than 50% of their income on food, it becomes all the more necessary to revive the agriculture sector. The steep decline in paddy cultivation has resulted in ground water depletion. It is high time Kerala paid attention to agriculture sector. It is the only way to become self sufficient in the long run.
Capital formations and technological innovation: Technological progress is an organized way to increase productivity. But technological innovation and development requires investment. The two prominent sources of such investments are the public and the private sectors. The public sector expenditure in agriculture has been practically non-existent. The case in point taken was that of countries from Western European region, where increased public sector has unleashed economic growth and prosperity in these regions. Since the taxes are high, the government investment is also supposed to be high and it is observed that because of enhanced productivity, the revenues generated and in turn the return on investment for the government is also high.
It is important that improvements are made in the management of public finances, which can be either through increased productivity of the invested government funds or reduced wasteful expenditure.
On the private sectors investments, Kerala has been more obsessed with FDI and has failed to support local entrepreneurs. History shows that foreign capital flows into countries with dynamic economies. Hence there is greater need to encourage domestic investment, build infrastructure facilities, develop them to a sustainable level, so as to create a dynamic economic environment, which in turn would boost confidence and foreign investments into Kerala.
Education: The third area which needs attention is Education. The quality of education imparted especially at high school and college levels leaves much to be desired. The very reason why ITES sector has not been a success in Kerala is because of the lack of communication and other desired skill among the graduates from Kerala. Across the world, research and development activities undertaken at the universities, supported by public funds have lead to the development of the locals. That is yet to happen in Kerala. The research and publication outputs from India are least comparable to that from China.
It is the intellectual foundation of a society which propels it to reach greater heights. The education system has to be made comparable to the best Global standards. Educational institutes should stop worrying about pass percentage and concentrate more on enhancing the quality.
The event was moderated by Mr. G. Vijayaraghavan, Member- Secretary, Asian School of Business.
Prepared by Mercy Mathew
Unleashing Creativity
Dr. Achuthshankar Nair 23rd January 2009 16.20 hrs
Speaker: Dr.Achuthsankar S Nair is currently the Director of Centre for Bioinformatics, University of Kerala. He has taught in various engineering colleges in India and abroad. He was the Director of Centre for Development of Imaging Technology(C-DIT). In 2006 he was a visiting Professor in the University of Seoul, Korea. From 2007, he has been a member of Executive committee of Higher Education Council, Government of Kerala and also a syndicate member of Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT). He has authored 10 popular books on IT in Malayalam including one on the Internet in 1996 and one on Free Software in 2002. He has a modest number of research publications.
Can creativity be taught? Can it even be defined? Well! Nobody seems to know. Dr. Nair gave the students of ASB an opportunity to feel and experience it instead of attempting to explain it.
To unleash the creativity of the class, he asked them to list three uses for a ‘pen’. The list was then increased to five, ten and so on. Nobody would have otherwise thought of any creative use to such a mundane thing as pen. But still the thinking was restricted to the shape of the pen and the ways it is used. All were satisfied with creativity centered on a single pen, when somebody thought differently and wanted to use two pens as chopsticks. A single idea broadened the horizon of potentials to unfathomable limits. Dr. Nair had unleashed creativity in the class.
Dr. Nair explained that many a time, individuals restrict their thinking to conventional and tried out methods and processes as they are safe havens. The other reason could be the fact that creativity has often been ridiculed. Creative people are thought to be crazy people and often the words ‘crazy’ and ‘creativity’ are inextricably linked.
Creativity is not just a domain of artists but a power of expression for anybody and everybody. Irrespective of age and position, one can be creative in whatever is done, exploring novel ways of doing things. It could be as simple a task as to using the space at home and office or a complete redesigning of the building. It is a remedy for boredom and monotony. But above all, it brings to light the hidden thoughts, a sense of accomplishment for the creator and joy to the beholder.
When asked about the most creative thing he had done so far, he replied,” teaching”.
Rohan Mathew Thomas PGP'08-10
Edited by Ms.Mercy Mathew.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.