IIMA GD/PI

Whats the analogy between PV Narshima Rao and Pawan Verma ? No marks for stating that both are humans or both are Indians ! One late prime minister of nation and other a student at one of the many institutes of the nation. Okie, no more mind boggling … i am in habit of delaying the things to the last minute. Man, this post is due since my A interview i.e. on 18th Feb and today is 1st of March. I read somewhere that Mr. Rao also has this proclivity of delay.

As mentioned in my previous post, i stayed at IIMA itself and one of the few lucky chaps to get benefited by the last minute tips of IIM students, but don’t know if i would be able to materialize that or not ? Fingers are crossed !

GD

It was business case. A swiss company, well established in India, is going to launch an expensive watch in India. There are two ways to go to the market, either to go by franchise option or to open its own stores. The case was  single page, with lot of no.s and facts. The two marketing strategies were described in detail, around a para each with details like profit margin, initial investments etc etc.

Here comes the twist. In the last part of the case,its given that company operation in charge of the above  product is skeptic about the product and is not sure if it’ll click. So now the problem statement is what he should so ? Whether he should go to the management to scrap the product or go against his intuition and with the market research that product will attract customers. (Man, the whole page was about marketing strategies and in the end, the problem statement was absolutely different? What the heck IIMs want us to discuss !!)

Anyways, as soon one of the profs asked us to start, the guy sitting right to me, started in a high pitch, summed up the case and when it seems to me that he is going to say something new, his pitch goes down and he was interrupted. Don’t think that it was great start.

Hey, i forgot to tell you about my GD group. It was 8, a guy from Lehmann Brothers (IIMA top recruiting company) , another with 5 year of work ex in power sector, one from 2 and half yr work-ex from Infy, two guys from IITB(don’t know about their work-ex), one from DAIICT(i guess), one from NIT (don’t recall which one?) and poor me !

So, GD got a kick, and there was a chaos for being second speaker. I also thought to be one, but when saw all fighting for place, keep my mum. The one problem that i noticed in the GD is that everyone was speaking about the marketing strategies, as all the facts and data was given about them. Guys were not interested in the problem statement, which i thought was more crucial. Anyways,i pitched in, after 4th speaker i guess and tried to convince people that we can discuss both the marketing strategies, if we come to the conclusion that manager should go with the product else there is no sense. But noone was interested, and i hold back. Again, i pitched in after a min, discussion was going about the franchise option and i put something like breakeven analysis, time taken to reach profit and thus franchise option is more beneficial. However, i didn’t continue the point. I was not appreciating the way GD was heading and thus a but reluctant. No new points and guys were streching uselessly. Suddenly, ‘human factor’ came to my mind, and i spoke, guys lets look at the human side of the case, but seems that everyone is too professional. Again, i didn’t get much chance to complete my full point. The GD continued, people were tiring and repetition started. I spoke in the end again, giving something like midway path and the complete business plan for the same to the top management, although the point is already in the air for sometime.

So in short, one can notice that i chipped in 3-4 times. Not satisfied. I think i could have done better. Initially, i should have taken a lead and speak firmly about discussing problem  statement first. Anyways, not contented.

PI

I was 6th in panel, so a long wait is due to me. I indulged in talks with the guys there. A perfect mix of guys, Eco grads, CA work ex, toppers, entrepreneurs etc. The general feedback is that panels are cool and are asking about the basic acads and general awareness. Also checking your thought process some time. As usual in typical IIMA style, toffees were there.

I was called for PI. Was a bit nervous and trying to convince myself that i am one of the best suited candidate for IIMA. But as soon as i entered the room, all those emotions evaporate, it was casual, amiable.

Panel consists of three members, one smart prof with sparkling eyes and mustaches(SE), other one shrewed faced, clean shaved (SF) and third looks most intelligent, but also frustrated soul (FS). Don’t know how interviewees before me have behaved ? And i am their bakra (Moi/M)

M: May i come in sir ?

SE: Yes Pawan, come in. Good morning to you.

M: Good morning to u too sirs (tried to share that good morning cookie among all three)

SE: Have a seat.

M: Thank you sir  (and i tried to sit …. but again what the heck … the chair looked like rolling chair but when i tried to slide it slightly, it didn’t get as it was fixed. Was IIM checking us at this too ? Nyways, i managed to sit without any scene or noise..if i am being examined, i think i should score some 8/10 :D)

SE: Can we have a look at your certificates ?

M: Sure sir and handed over the file.

In the meantime, SF was going through my form and FS was staring at me, as if he is doing some psychometric test over me ? I looked at him, gave a feeble smile but he was not a kid or a girl obviously, so he didn’t returned my smile.

Now slaughter starts …..

SF: So, you are doing PG.

M: I am into 5 yr Integrated Post Graduate Course.

SF: But you have mentioned in form first three years in BTech category and rest two in PG …(what the heck, its being instructed to do so for 5 yr course students)

M: Sir, we have been instructed to do so.

SF: So, you are already doing MBA from ABV-IIITM Gwalior? Why another MBA ?

M: (aha…. the interview started with classical question …y another MBA .. kewl man ! I have mugged up the answer by heart… need was just to pour it out confidently)  Sir, I am into 5 yr IPG course and moreover my insti is perceived as IT institute. The kind of exposure and values i was expecting from my current MBA program was not imparted to me and at the same time, i have studied Management in bits and pieces and developed interest and thus thought of going to complete two year program from IIMs. Also i have discussed this issue with my friends and seniors and they also advised me to do so. (I forgot to mention my point of IIM praise like rigorous nature of course and case study pedagogy but in any case, the profs were getting restless)

SF: So in management, what are your subjects u studied ?

M: (fuck man …) I said, Financial Risk management (the most sought after course in MBAs), kept a mum and in a second realize that they wish to me speak more .. said, Marketing Management (have average command), again no reaction …. do i need to speak more … i recalled God and said … Operations Management, Statistics, Economics  ( ise kehte hai apne pairo par kulhaadi maarna)

SF: Risk… interesting ! So, define Risk ?

M: Risk is the possibility of negative impact on some process or event in future. It is also referred to as probability of loss and is generally measured in term of beta.

SF: How is risk calculated? Explain to a layman !

M: When we calculate risk, we keep in mind two things, first the frequency of loss and second the amount which is at loss (don’t know, if he was expecting the same thing or not but he didn’t interrupt and listened attentively). So depending upon how frequently are losses occurring and whats the amount of money lost in each los, we calculate the risk. Risk is more or less calculated on the past data.

SF: You mentioned something about beta ? Whats that ?

M: Its the a measure to know the relative movement between a particular security and stock market. Like if we say that a stock moves up in the same degree as sensex moves up then it has beta of one, and if always moves in opposite direction, then its -1. For no correlation between them, it’s 0.

(Man, i was gambling! Trying to throw some words in btw which i think i know though carefully … know that chances of getting butchered are very high but stakes are high too .. IIMA !)

SF: Okie, then what is Sensex and how’s is calculated ?

M: Sensex is the sensitive index of Bombay Stock Exchange. It consists of three companies stocks. the criteria for choosing these 30 companies consists of couple of factors like market capitalization,  above a particular trading limit daily in last 150 days and past healthy track record.The sensex is calculated on the basis of weighted market average of the 30 stocks and then its comparison with the base area which is 2003-04.

(seems that i didn’t articulated the answer well, missed couple of points like oldest index etc but yaa i was confidently speaking and giving the impression that i know the answer)

SF: How do you calculate beta ?

M: Beta is covariance of a security with the index divided by variance of the index.

SF: What is covariance ?

M: It is the product of std deviation of  x and std deviation of y and the correlation between them.

SF: What is correlation ?

M: It’s a measure to know the relative movement between two securities. It always goes from -1 to 1.

SF: But that you said is beta ?

M: No sir, beta is the movement of a particular security with reference to index. Where index consists of a no. of securities.

SF: I guess beta serves the same purpose as correlation. Why is this covariance come into picture?

M:(Man, this is mathematical framework, what should i say?)  Sir, correlation tells us the movement between two securities. Thats it, like if i take the example of steel and aluminum bond, then it might be possible in market the prices of one are highly correlated with the other. But when we have to compare it with the index, we need covariance.

SF: then what is covariance ?

M: (Yaar, abhi to bataya tha ….)  Its the product of std devaiation of x and std dev. of y and correlation btw them.

SF: No maths …

M: (Fuck man …. i m not able to colelct exact words to define) Sir, we need covariance to calculate the diversification effect in the risk.

SF: No diversification effect. U  take aluminum and steel example, take the same again!

M: But sir, in this case there will be correlation.

SF: No covariance ?

M: There will be (i revised the formula in my mind and logic says that its there)

SF: Then ?

M: Sir, if we know that correlation, we can find the covariance.

SF: Its easy to find correlation or covariance ?

M: (fuck man … this guy is so good … know everything … damn me) Sir, its relatively easier to find covariance as we can directly find it through past data sets. From that, we can find correlation.

SF: Okie, yaa … so again, what is correlation ?? Think think …..

I was pretending to think then just after 3-4 seconds, SE took the charge (till now only SF was interviewing me and i noted that FS and SE both went through my form in the covariance-correlation saga !!! )

SE: So, Pawan you are thinking ?

M: Yeah sir !

SE: Can we talk (in pretty cordial voice)?? (All three laughed …)

M: (What the hell, i m giving, you are taking…do as u wish)  Yeah sir … sure !

SE: So, you are from Gwalior, tell me about it !

M:Yeah, i have been there since last 4 and half years. Gwalior is city with rich heritage, basically famous because of Schindia regime.

SE: Tell me some of the family members of Schindia tree ?

M: Present or old ?

SE: As u wish

M: Okie … named … Jiyaji Rao Schindia, Jiwaji Rao, Madhav Rao and Jyotiradiya Schindia…

SE: Who is most famous of all ?

M: Sir, all are pretty famous, yet i guess its Jiwaji Rao Schindia as the fort and museum is being  made by him and there is university named after him.

SE: Who are the present young Schindia family member ?

M: Jyotiraditya Schindia …  He is congress MP from Guna distt.

SE: Not from Gwalior? Y not from Gwalior?

M: (I thought to answer, uska mann …. ) Sir, its mainly because that they have their good base in Guna district which is just adjacent area.

SE: Who else is there from Schindia family ?

M: Sir, its Vasundhra Raje Schindia. She is CM of Rajasthan.

SE: Which party ?

M: BJP

SE: (He started laughing … don’t know why) Don’t u see any paradoxes involved ? One famil, two parties .. they are controlling risk … (now i do understood )

M: Yes sir, definitely. Its a kind of risk hedging they are following. (i begin to laugh too)

SE: Okie. There is some controversy recently on pension issu. Know that ?

M: Yes sir, there is the controversy that govt wish to invest the pension fund of employees in the stock market for better growth, but owing to its risky nature unions were opposing it and asking to raise the interest rate.

SE:  Do you think that Indian politics should be youth oriented or experience heavy. (and from there on, he goes on talking like …. there are leaders who can’t walk properly, gave me my institute name example ABV-IIITM, is it okie)

M: (A sparkle came to my eye i was going to answer that it should be a mixed form  but even before i can start .. tht man himself added )

SE: or is it a mixed form ?

M: I recommend mixed form as many a times, youth might be immature so experience there helps and when old becomes stereotype then youth can come with new/innovative ideas.

SE: SO there should be some retirement age for politicians. (from there on, he spoke himself with other profs, why there should be)

M: Yes there can be. But  in case of politics, it’s difficult as to reach the top, it takes a no. of years. We can’t deny any politician any seat just because he goes 61. Bureaucracy is different thing.

(have a perception that he might not have liked the idea)

SE: What’s the retirement age of officers ?

M: 60 years

SE: 60 or 65 ?

M: 60 sir.

SE: What’s the speed of aeroplane?

M: (aghast ! Did i hear rightly ??) Pardon me sir?

SE: What’s the speed of aeroplane?  Okie, don’t tell me direct, find it out for me.

M: (Man, now what’s this ?) Sir, the jet planes travel at the speed of sound and i.e. 330 m/s. Jet planes are considered faster. So aero-planes must be a bit slow. Also It takes around 2 hrs from Bangalore to Delhi which is around 2000 Kms. So from second data, the speed of plane comes around 1000 kms/ hrs and from first also around the same.

(Don’t know, y i took the jet example, i should have gone only the distance way, but it strike me after i begin to approach the probem … deep shit !)

SE: Okie, so have u thought about covariance?

M: (Screw this covariance …i was in jovial mood after talking a lot about this nonacad thing) Sir, its the mathematical measure that we use to know the risk of any process.

(SF seems not convinced … don’t know)

FS was staring continuously me. He didn’t ask any question as of now.

SF: So u have done a project on Financial Risk thats why u r talking about all this beta and all ?

M: Yes sir, i have done my summer training at iflexsolutions, Bangalore.

SF: Tell me other risks except Financial risk

M: IT risk

SF: U r BTech IT .. leave IT risk …. what else ?

M: Enterprise risk … (wish me to speak more …)  Macro risk …also known as political risk where due to political instability the economy might be in risky state. Many agencies give sovereign rating to countries.

SF: What else ….

M: (man ….. what do they want ? Nything specific !)  Sir, if we talk this way than we can say anything and add risk to it. There is risk in everything. To walk on road, everything.

(Jyada ho gaya tha .. shayad … don’t know)

SF: What are the risks you are facing sitting in this room ?

M: Sir, one leg of chair might get broken and (he completed the sentence …u mite fall down)  nd sir … this fan may fall over me and also Gujarat has a very bad history of earthquakes so it mite be that there can be an earthquake and whole room may get collapsed (seems they got frightened at the earthquake idea !)

Looked at FS. He didn’t do nything except staring at me.

FS: Draw the graph of (3-|x|)^2

I didn’t hear correctly, asked once again and drew in less than 10 seconds.

SE: Thank you. You may leave now. Take some toffees.

M: Thank you sir. It was nice meeting you all.

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It was nice, i guess. Especially after my not that good GD performance,i feel okie with PI. It was feel good sorta interview, where i answered almost all the questions asked, atleast put a fight and might be wrong answers  in some covariance-correlation case. I have an intuition that if i’ll get rejected then it will be only because there is nothing sparkling in my interview. They didn’t ask me about my reading habits or extra activities which are definitely setting me apart. Don’t know, fingers are crossed. But yaa it was definitely an experience to talk to these guys …. might be out of some whim, i have written something wrong /bitter about the guys … but no pun intended … they were simply the fellows who rightly know that who are the guys that deserve a place at the most prestigious institute of Asia.