XLRI Garden of Business & Human Resources

Happy New Year (XLRI GMP Class of 2011)

Elephant in the room

Article by Anurag Behar (92 BMD, XLRI Jamshedpur), Co-CEO, Ajim Premji Foundation

The policy of having a school near every habitation has built in a difficult challenge for our schools and teachers

I am writing this from Shorapur, a 10-hour drive from Bangalore, and I am admiring India’s achievement in the past couple of decades of having schools at accessible distances from habitations. In this truly remote block, every village that I have visited has a government school with a decent building.

This is not surprising, because by 2006, 98% of habitations in India had a primary (up to Class V) school within 1km, and 86% had an upper primary (up to Class VII) school within 3km. The numbers have grown since, with a clear focus on “being near every habitation”.

This means a staggering increase in the number of schools. At the time of independence, India had about 130,000 schools. Today we have about 1.4 million. About 7 million people work in our school education system. This is by far the largest education system in the world.

Factor in the cultural, linguistic, socio-economic and developmental diversity, and you also face the most complex education system in the world. This system has about 210 million students.

This massive expansion has not resulted in actual learning in those schools. We have lots of schools now, but precious little real education. The causes and challenges are many, this column is about a specific one.

The design of this expansion has inadvertently “in built” a difficult challenge for our schools and teachers. This is one of the hurdles in the path towards real learning and improvement in quality of education. As a result of this strategy of “being near every habitation”, the number of students in our schools (especially rural ones) is small. Each school has just about as many as can come from the nearby habitation. Within that small number, the students span all age groups. A school may have 115 children, but the children will span an age range across 6 to 13.

Now, even if this school were to have three teachers, which is more or less at the current national average of one teacher per 39 students, the teachers would need to handle multiple age groups simultaneously. This is called “multi-grade” teaching—in this case seven “classes” would have to be handled by three teachers.

If you talk to practitioners, they say this is much more difficult then handling a class of same age children. It requires special training, different methods and different skills.

And we have built this challenge of “multi grade teaching” into almost all village schools by the way we have handled the expansion. One of the most complex teaching challenges has become a part of the everyday job of most village teachers, who by general admission are inadequately equipped and ill supported to deal with academic challenges.

It’s not as though we did not have a choice of another model of expansion. China in comparison has about 700,000 schools, including vocational training ones, and spanning about 250 million children.

The Chinese system has about half the schools, and about 20% more students, compared with India. Roughly, the average student number per school in China is 2.25 times that in India. China has followed a route of consolidation; we have followed one of dispersion. The former leads to an exponential drop in the “multi-grade” load of teachers, as is the case in China.

Two factors played a dominant role in the choice we made.

The first was our policymakers’ single-minded focus on “literacy”, and keeping learning outcomes and quality of education on the backburner. The second was the pragmatic assessment that getting children to travel away from their habitations, with our kind of infrastructure, was not possible. There seems to have been an almost implicit assumption that “let’s do literacy first, and then we will see about quality”. The whole expansion got designed for that. I would speculate that things like “multi grade teaching” and its challenges were practically overlooked.

Those choices were made under certain circumstances. Sure, these could have been better, but they could also have been a lot worse. What matters is that there is now no way to unwind or reconfigure the system.

We can and must still deal with it. That requires significant teacher capacity development, improved classroom practices and appropriate curriculum. It’s these fundamentals that need to be worked on and invested in

In fact with a capable, well-trained teacher and appropriate curriculum, multi grade teaching can be a learning enhancer. In Machagondal Camp, 10km from Shorapur, I met Uma who, in her early twenties, is a government teacher in the local school. She has handled class 1 toV for the past two years, all on her own, and the children have learnt. She was the only teacher in this one room school till a couple of months ago.

I have seen this happen in other government schools in this block, alive with enthusiastic well-trained teachers, using the “nali kali” curriculum.

There is hope, but to truly address the problem, we have to first notice and acknowledge the elephant in the room, inadvertently let in by having schools in every habitation.

Anurag Behar is co-CEO of AzimPremji Foundation and also leadssustainability initiatives for Wipro Ltd. He writes every fortnight on issues of ecology and education. Comments are welcome at othersphere@livemint.com

To read Anurag Behar’s previouscolumns, go to www.livemint.com/othersphere

(source: http://www.livemint.com/)

Article by Anurag Behar (92BMD, Xlri Jamshedpur ), co-CEO, Ajim Premji Foundation

3rd National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship @ XLRI (Jan 28-30, 2011)

Time: Friday, January 28, 2011 at 11:00am - Sunday, January 30, 2011 at 2:00pm

Location:
XLRI Jamshedpur

CH Area (East)

Jamshedpur, India

This conference on the theme - Youth, Development & Social Entrepreneurship - aims to create a platform for the youth (young professionals and students) to explore social entrepreneurship, and to help them to understand the nuances, challenges and opportunities in this field. The conference design will allow the participants to interact wit social entrepreneurs, development professionals and those engaged in the various sub-sectors of social space, around the following themes:

* Youth, Volunteerism and Social Entrepreneurship
* Challenges of Being a Young Social Entrepreneur
* Creating Markets for Marginal Producers
* Promoting Livelihoods and Employment
* Leveraging Technology for Social Development
* Sustainable Models for Underserved Markets
* Options for Funding and Investments
* Supporting Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurs
More information at:
http://3rd-se-conference-at-xlri.blogspot.com/

XLRI '85 batch Homecoming

Christmas@XLRI

Fr E. Abraham S.J., Director, XLRI Jamshedpur conferred Lifetime Achievement Award by NHRDN

Father E. Abraham S.J., Director, XLRI Jamshedpur was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National HRD Network (NHRDN) during the second day of its national conference in Gurgaon on 2nd December 2010.The award to Father Abraham is in recognition of his excellence in HRD and his several contributions to the subject of HR management.

At the award ceremony Fr. Abraham thanked his mentors as well as his students for this achievement at the NHRDN conference. “I wish to thank all my colleagues for their support and the mentors who helped me in doing my research work. XLRI has been the home of HRD research. I also wish to thank all the students of XLRI who are implementing the lessons learnt at XLRI in their respective organizations.”

Fr. Abraham is the Director of the same B-school from where he did his PGD in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations. Prior to pursuing his PGD at XLRI he studied Sociology at Hindu College, University of Delhi. He also did his BA in Philosophy & Theology from Jnanadeep Vidyapeeth, Pune. He did his Ph .D Psychology (HRD) from Gujarat University.

This is not the first time that Fr. Abraham is leading XLRI. He was also the director from 1989-94. He later joined XIMB, where he served as the Director from 2000 to 2007. Since 2008 Fr. Abraham is the Director of XLRI, his alma mater.

Fr. Abraham has authored several research papers, some of which are: ‘HRD Practices in Indian Industries’; ‘HRD Climate in Indian Organisations’; ‘HRD Climate in Banks’.

The Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony was one of the major highlights of the NHRDN conference, which was attended by over 1200 HR professionals and management educators.

National HRD Network, an association of professionals in HRD sector, was set up in 1985 and has completed 25 years of service to HR community. Presently the Network has 30 chapters across the country with total membership of over 8500. Recently the association took a series of forward looking steps to further improve its governance, engagement with HR community and strengthen its network.

more at

http://www.mbauniverse.com/article/id/3989/XLRI-Director-conferred-NHRDN-award

XLRI Ensemble 2010

XLRI GMP 2011 Profile

XLRI GMP Profile at http://www.xlri.ac.in/downloads/gmpflash/index.html

XLRI Alumni Homecoming 2010

The word homecoming world-over signifies a tradition of welcoming back the alumni to their Alma matter to celebrate the spirit of conviviality and to connect with batch-mates, juniors, seniors as well as on-campus students. At XLRI the event - typically a two day affair organised by the alumni body of XLRI in association with the Jamshedpur chapter of the country wide alumni committee - is a concoction of sports and games, speeches, musical performances, and formal dinners.

XLRI homecoming holds special significance owing partly to the long tradition of hosting batches after batches, on campus, since 1960 and partly to the overwhelming participation from world over. The prominent attendees from last year itself include Mr. B. Muthuraman, MD, Tata Steel, Mr. Kalyan Ganguly, MD, United Breweries Ltd., Mr. Bushen Raina, Chairman, JUSCO and Mr. Rana Sinha, MD, Telcon all from the Business Management program.

Scheduled this year between the 20^th and 21^st of November, the homecoming is expected to play host to close to two hundred alumni. The event will kick off with an inauguration ceremony involving a presentation by Fr E. Abraham Director, XLRI and an address by the National President of alumni association Mr. Bushen Raina welcoming the Alumni back on campus.

The two days that follow are packed with activities to keep the alumni engaged. These include the prestigious JRD Oath taking, the alumni award ceremony, formal dinners and community lunches. In addition to these more traditional events there are several activities aimed at increasing the level of interaction and association the alumni will want to feel on coming back to campus. The Nukkad-Natak – a street play performed by a contingent from the seniors and juniors batches - reflecting the XLRI value system and an evening of rock and country folk music by the Shiva band – being brought in especially from Kolkata - is sure to touch a chord and make the event an unforgettable one.

Diwali @ XL

There are just some of those occasions when no matter where you are you miss your family. Diwali, the beautiful festival of lights and hope, is definitely one of these. The very thought of being away from home on this day would bring feelings of despair. But ask an XLer and you will surely be hit with a different viewpoint.

The B school rigor doesn’t permit you to be home for Diwali but the beautiful XL culture ensures you make it a grand day in your calendar. So let’s begin with how it all started. The day started with people waking up early in their hostels (and this does include boys hostel :P) and gearing up for the celebrations. People put in hours to make their own little efforts which included internal room decorations, beautiful rangoli designs, lightning. The hostels transcended from mere buildings, they shimmered and glittered in the spirit of the festival.

As the sun dawned the actual efforts being made since morning started taking shape. Lighting illuminated the entire campus - trees, bushes , buildings. There were diyas and candles on every road, every path. The regional association in charge of the arrangements (COWBAXI) did a fabulous job, the members ran the entire day to make sure everything was in place. Evening saw everyone volunteering and lighting innumerable candles and diyas across the entire campus :). Then the celebrations began; everyone gathered for the traditional puja and recited the prayers. After the puja ceremony we all moved to the lawns where special arrangements were made by the faculty members. On our way to the lawn we could see the splendid amount of effort put in to ensure every nook and corner of the campus was brightly lit up. We met our excellent faculty at the lawns and were overwhelmed by their hospitality. There were stalls for everything right from snacks to main course to desserts and everything was a pure delicacy. It was a blend of cultures in the most delicious manner; there were idlis, dhoklas, cholle puri, jalebi, rabri and other mouth watering items. There was a crackers bursting session which saw participation from several students and faculty members. The entire XL family was in one place filling the ambience with extreme warmth and togetherness.

This was followed by a small cultural night put together by the students in our favourite JLT arena. The setting was exquisitely traditional – khatiya, badam milk and an excellent show. There were numerous games and stunning performances by the students. There was a stupendous display of fireworks; the sky was brightly lit in red, blue, green, golden and other wonderful shades.

The day made us fall in love with XL all over again, with the spirit of XL culture, the invaluable bonding and togetherness. It was an experience that goes into the diary of each one of us amongst the most cherished times and like all such experiences you just have to be there to feel it.

"Strategic Brand Management for B2B Markets" - by Prof Sharad Sarin (XLRI Jamshedpur)

Strategic Brand Management for B2B Markets

by Prof Sharad Sarin (XLRI Jamshedpur)

Sage Publications (Response Books)
ISBN: 9788132105220

This book aims to uncover the hidden and unexploited power of leveraging from the concept of brand and brand building for B2B marketers. It focuses on the need of B2B marketing from the point of view of Indian markets and economic conditions at home.

With extensive discussions on the three most respected corporate brands in India—Tata, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys—the author demonstrates how these companies have created value through brands and how their branding initiatives are benchmarks in their journey to success. With three decades of experience as an academician and consultant in B2B Marketing, the author argues that a brand-driven business can accelerate the transformation of all the big and small B2B marketers to gain competitive advantages. He advocates the need is for a holistic brand management approach and illustrates his point through six case studies of leading brands

Prof Sharad Sarin (B.E. (Jodhpur), PGDBA (IIMA), Ph.D. (Pune)) has been with XLRI since 1976. Before joining XLRI, he worked in industry for four years. He is currently on the Boards of XLRI Jamshedpur, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad and Tata Refractories Limited. Over the last 30+ years, he has been a corporate consultant to several large and well-known Indian companies. He has conducted more than 100 programmes and workshops on Strategic Marketing, Industrial Marketing, Relationship Marketing, Strategic Management and Customer Satisfaction, both in India and abroad. He has been Visiting Faculty to IIM-Ahmedabad, University of Colorado at Boulder and Rhode Island in the USA. His areas of interests are: General Marketing, Industrial Marketing, Competition and Globalization, Relationship Marketing and Marketing’s Role in Development.

Prof Trishit Bandyopadhyay's book: A Regional Energy-Economy Model - A Case Study Of Karnataka

A Regional Energy-Economy Model - A Case Study Of Karnataka: Incorporating penetration of new and renewable energy technologies in a multisectoral intertemporal optimizing framework

by Prof Trishit Bandyopadhyay, XLRI Jamshedpur

Publisher: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing (14 Oct 2010)
ISBN-10: 384335992X
ISBN-13: 978-3843359924


It is widely being acknowledged that renewable energies will become important in future and we are already getting a glimpse of that now.In order to study the impact of penetration of new and renewable energy technologies in a regional economy,under a planning and policy analysis context,-it is often desirable to have a unified framework which integrates all forms of energies,both conventional and renewable,that have reasonable potential of being harnessed.This integration has been achieved here by developing a multisectoral intertemporal optimizing model which allows the study of interactions between the energy sector and the regional economy and thus would be a valuable tool for energy planning and policy analysis.Equity related goals could also be introduced into the model,as shown in the book while assessing the impact of gap reduction in per capita household energy consumption as heat between rural and urban areas.The working of the model has been demonstrated by energising it with data from the state of Karnataka,India.The energy policy analysts,the regional planners,and students including practitioners interested in applications of optimizing models should find this book useful.

Prof. Trishit Bandyopadhyay, B.Tech(IIT Kharagpur), Fellow(IIM Bangalore] teaches Strategic Management of Technology, Innovation and Operations at XLRI Jamshedpur. He has earlier worked in public and private sector organisatons in areas such as Electronic Switching R&D, Project Implementation and Production Management.