Advising Indra Nooyi

How do you describe meeting the CEO of the multi billion conglomerate, PEPSICO.?
Let me try.
Left for NY on 15th by Jet Airways..landed in Newark airport and found a limo waiting to take me to the hotel. The hotel was on Steamboat road and as the name suggests there was a stream next to the hotel with boats in it... the view was awesome...
Spent the night restlessly wondering what the morning would bring..will I be able to do a good job presenting the analysis to the PepsiCo board? I could manage only a few hours...
Had breakfast with the VP (HR) of PepsiCo India... he was going to accompany us to the HQ at Purchase.... maybe he felt I needed a little bit of protection ;)
Reached the office and found the view breathtaking... the office is actually a huge park which is open to public.. saw people with baskets of food, children and dogs having picnic on the park... The park also has great sculpture by artists with background varying from an industrial worker to an aeronautical engineer...the park is actually a national heritage site.. http://www.hudsonrivervalley.com/index.cfm?section_id=6&page_id=169
Got the system working in quick time..and did a dry run of the presentation when a huge, friendly guy walked in... he introduced himself as the President of the Asian region..
He is a lovely person..very alive and very friendly...
Then the VP (HR) of the PepsiCo Worldwide walked in.... another warm personality... and before I could take all this into my stride, Ms. Indra Nooyi stepped into the boardroom... She looked so imposing and had an aura of a rockstar... She asked for lunch and all of us sat down to have food in the boardroom..I could hardly gulp down a couple of spoon fulls...
Post lunch was when I presented the analysis of the case http://pepsicotastethesuccess.com/
It went of smoothly and a few questions were asked.. they were fielded with elan..
All the board members were very happy... there was a lot of clapping and patting of the backs... Then Ms. Nooyi asked us if we wanted to see her office...
so we accompanied her to her office... it was as imposing as her... there photos with Ms Nooyi and Mr Saad were clicked... Guess these are the photos that I will frame and hang forever on my walls....
We then had a tour of the PepsiCo office premises... bought some memorabilia.. was gifted a watch by Ms Nooyi.... and left for the second hotel... had around a day before I flew back to home...
The new hotel was right on Times Square...look out of the window and I could see the Square... a sight that I cannot forget...wanted to catch "The Lion King" (from where I take my nickname on PG) on Broadway, but all the tickets were sold out..went to the Empire State Building the next day...took a cruise that went all around the island... saw the Statue of Liberty, the Wall Street, the George Washington Bridge etc...
Took a NYC cab and went to JFK... and then flew back home.....

Was an unforgettable experience.... dunno what can be bigger than this... Hopefully I did MDI proud and left a small impression on the people there....

Am I cynical?

Alright, dont think that the title is complete. I should have added that if the answer is yes, then is being cynical bad? Not that it would have much difference. If you are already on page, then the chances are that you know me, and will either close your browser or go on to read this musing just to find out if my cynicism has reduced?
I worked in a large IT firm for around 3 years. The only months (days?) that I enjoyed were when my training was on during the initial 2 months. I have hated every second after that. To me my manager conveyed what the company stood for. He was never ready to listen, take a feedback or respect the other person. It was not a symbiotic relationship, but a one way discourse. No questions were entertained, individualism was not given credit and a different approach that was not a part of the "process" was looked down upon. Every morning it was impossible for me to motivate myself to go to office for the sole reason that I did not want to see my manger's face. But then we have been taught never to quit and I also had my aim towards further studies. So my manager was just a stop gap arrangement that I had to ignore till the time I escaped from his clutches.
Well MBA did happen and I found myself among the people selected in a reputed B School in India. Like the first few weeks into my job, I was full of enthusiasm and had a lot of dreams. These weeks were as good as they could have been. But then as time passes you begin to notice flaws. Familiarity breeds contempt they say. I am too new to this place to judge what character it is made of. So it would not be fair to pass a comment on the institution. But yes, the interactions as an individual and in groups with the seniors has given birth to those nightmares that I thought I had buried in the past. I see in them my manager present in varying degrees. Though they have not reached that stage, but their larger number surely makes the matter graver. There is total lack of empathy in meetings, juniors are not given a chance to speak their mind, individualism is curbed and feedbacks are stifled. Is this the kind of manager that I would like to become? The answer is an unequivocal NO. But then I said I was cynical, so if you did not like any of the things I have written, please ignore it as a folly due to my bitter nature, and ya please don't fine me...........

SPJIMR Round 2 - GI Experience

TIME : 2:45 PM

Date : 23/03

Place : SPJIMR, Mumbai

Not much to say about the second round... Mosta the people had the same profiles, equivalent performances in the GIs...and same CAT percentiles...I was asked questions on my work ex, general awareness and some leadership examples from my life... In the first round atleast one could make out that some people would not making it to the next stage.. but this second round did not have any thing that differentiated people, esp, with everyone having more or less the same background... I am clueless how the candidates are going to be shortlisted/rejected.... And that's a scary thought!The good thing was that I met a school friend of mine at SPJ..Was quite pleased to know that he has bagged one of the best offers at SPJ this year.

NITIE Mumbai - GD/PI Experience

TIME: 0800 hrs onwards.

Date: 15/03

Place: Nitie, Mumbai

The GD/PI process got over before I realized! Was a fun stay at Nitie, met so many pagals there... Would have loved it if the Profs had asked me a few more questions though and had I answered some of them....

Group Discussion: Group of 10, topic "Management is an Art or Science"...Was an okayish GD, spoke lesser compared to my usual standards...

I was talking to a Nitie student outside panel 2 when a Prof walked in....

Prof: So are we running late?

Student: Yes Sir, we have around 20-25 candidates left...

Prof: Should we speed it up? Aren't the candidates enjoying it?

Moi: Sir, if 5 Profs grill 1 candidate, how will he enjoy it?

Prof: Hmmm, why aren't they being asked tech stuff?

Moi: No, Sir, general discussion mostly....

Prof: So should we make it tech?

Moi: Yes, Sir, why not...but after me.....

I was just having a light banter with him, had got bored to death waiting for the interview to happen... After this is was called to Panel 3,and while I was waiting outside, I see the same Prof. walking in... When he saw me he gave a BIG grin.... I was like oh, ho!!!! tu to gaya beta!!!

Personal Interview: 5 Profs, and poor old moi...

Prof: What's a PIN Diode?

Moi: Sir, I know what a diode is, can't recall PIN diode...

Prof: What's the application of a Zener Diode?

Moi: Duh!!

Prof: Can a Geosynchronous satellite be used for interactive purposes? What's the time taken for a signal to come back? What height is it at?

Moi: It is used for education, long distance communication...so yes, it can be used for interactive purposes... time taken should be very less, and approximately at 6400 Km....

Prof: (With a look of utter hopelessness and pity) It cant be used for interactive purposes, it takes 0.5s and it is at 20000 Km...

Prof: Ok, thank you...

Moi: Thank You sir...

Time spent in Mumbai : 2 days...

Time spent in PI : 3 mins....

Questions answered : very close to zero....

MDI Gurgaon- GD/PI Experience

Time : 1400 hrs
Date : 12/03
Place : IIM-B

I reached quite early around 12:30, walked around the IIMB campus and had a coffee at Coffee Day. Even the mundane coffee tasted special in the beautiful campus. I was complaining to God why B didn't give me a call, even though I met all their "criteria"... Anyway, this is about MDI..

Group Discussion: We were a group of 7 with one girl included. We were given a graph that compared the %age population in 15-60 years age group among the G6 and the BRIC nations. It was a forecast for the next 50 years. (Methinks it was taken from the Puroshottam female's BRIC report! )
The guy who started took the words out of my mouth. The graph was in black and white, and hence it was difficult to make out which was for which nation. I wanted to begin by getting this sorted, but was beaten to it by another guy. A bad start! Sign of things to come? Anyway, I hardly write anything on the sheet before starting of with the GD, and this has been quite helpful so far. Even today I made decent contributions by identifying the age group as the working age group, spoke about baby boomers in the US, the need to develop infrastructure such as medical tourism, and alternate sources of energy eg Suzlon,about China's population falling because of the 1 child norm etc. It was a decent GD, the lady professor even said good at the end (I hope she was not being sarcastic! ). I would rate mah-self 2-3 in the group.

Personal Interview: I was called in 5th, it was according to the seating order in the GD.
Male Professor : ML, Female Professor : FL, and moi.

MP : Tell us something about yourself.
Moi : told

FL : Why do you want to do an MBA?
Moi : told, think she was satisfied at the end.

FL : Having seen Tata Steel at close quarters who do you think has a bigger contribution, the shop floor workers or the managers?
Moi : Well, it would be unfair to say who has a bigger contribution as each is important in his scope of work.

ML : Since you have a telecom background, what do you see as India's future in telecom?
Moi : It is very optimistic. Gave example of Vodafone buying out Hutch, rate of growth of Indian market, lowest costs, yet very less penetration, thus larger opportunities. Also spoke about the article in the newspaper that spoke about talks between Vodafone and Essar for infrastructure sharing.

FL : What are your views on the budget?
Moi : non-contentious, politically affected, and a non-event in the growing, globalized world. Spoke about why cement excise wont bring down inflation. Goo things about the budget education, health care and women centric, also attempt to increase water table and scholarships. Things lacking in budget, spoke about the oil exploration being taxed, cement excise, no clear cut policy definitions on how the money will be raised, no public private partnership.

FL : What are your views on President delaying hanging of Mohammed Afzal?
Moi : Spoke about it sending down wrong signals to the nation, loss of patriotism and pride. He had committed a grave crime by attacking the Parliament.

FL : But the politicians are corrupt anyway, so what difference does it make?
Moi : Said that even then, they are our democratically elected leaders, also the people killed were ordinary policemen. Spoke about families returning medals.

FL : What do you say about President pardoning Naxalites in North East?
Moi : Said they also commit crime, but we need to address why it is happening and identifying the root cause.

FL : What do you say about Pakistan's attempts on curbing terrorism?
Moi : Spoke about Pak handing over Al-Qaeda but protecting the Taliban and the strategic location of Pakistan.

ML : Then Bush did the right thing attacking Iraq?
Moi : No, it was done unilaterally, without UN backing. Even his own people do not support it now.

FL : But at that time they did.
Moi : It was because of wrong information given to them, current situation is no different from a Mutually Assured Destruction of the nuclear days. Loss of innocent lives on both sides.

FL : So what does India stand to gain/lose with worsening US-Pak relations?
Moi: Spoke about the newspaper article that said about US thinking of severing ties with Pak. Advantage for India- US-Indo joint effort to tackle terrorism(missed about India getting funds from US). Disadvantage: We need to ensure that we don't lose our sovereignty and our foreign policy is not dictated by US.

FL : Which other calls?
Moi : IIM Indore

ML : So what will you join?
Moi : MDI, spoke about AMBA accreditation and 85 full time faculty, also deep bonds between students and the profs. (Forgot to mention location and student exchange).

FL : Students coming to IIMs and MDI are brilliant anyway, so what will you learn from the faculty?
Moi : Spoke about parents and teachers being the greatest influence and teachers being considered equivalent to God in India. Also spoke about not just academics, but soft skills, networking, communication and organizational behaviour also being taught.

These are more or less the questions that I was asked. There might be some I have missed. But was immensely satisfied with my performance, was very comfortable answering questions... made the profs acknowledge and smile at times... MDI faculty is not only
good on paper, I could feel the warmth just sitting across the table. I would count mah-self the unluckiest on earth if I dont get a final call from MDI....
The wait begins................