Human Resources

As some of my batch mates went from IITs to MITs and other US Universities around the world, the number of publications in their resumes started to increase at an exponential speed. To me this phenomenon really did not make a lot of sense as how can a student or his research change within a couple of months to take their number of publications from non-existent (in IIT years) to innumerable (in US Universities). The simple answer I got from my friends was funding and resources available. Ofcourse IITs being one of the best institutes in the world in terms of students still lack the resources for producing world class research. continue

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) are a brand known all over the world in technology, and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) have also made their mark in the world in terms of management. The premier institutes of India are known for selecting the best of the best, or the cream of the country as some people call it and make this cream even better. Well I really don’t think I need to write more about IITs and IIMs, as the identity is well established. But the question right now in front of us is the dilemma of Central Government opening 7 more IITs and 7 more IIMs. I will try and present some points around the topic and hope for a nice discussion in the comments. continue

Transaction Costs, Incentive Structures, Free Markets and the Nature of Investment Banking

Disclaimer: This is not a post about life in an investment bank (The books, Monkey Business and Liar’s Poker have done a great job describing that). It is also not about investment banking bonuses about which lot has been written (My personal take is that much of the criticism is absolutely justified), though some inferences about the culture surrounding bonuses could be derived from it. And finally, it is not about those parts of investment banks that sold worthless, toxic assets to the poor, (well, not really …) unsuspecting buyers and almost ruined the world. This is about the mythical, much glorified advisory business of investment banks. continue

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a broad term (in its current form). It includes issues such as businesses maintaining high ethical standards, strictly adhering to laws of the state, doing their bit for the society etc. The ethics and the laws part seem completely prudent, though I would like to delve further into the ‘giving back to society’ aspect. continue

In the author’s previous post titled “Systematic Evolution of Bureaucracy”, a sequential theory on how bureaucracy might evolve in a large organization was presented. And a solution was hinted at. Let’s look at it now, making an attempt to mercilessly weigh the cons as much as weigh the short-term pros. continue

“Any plan of administration which contemplates a concentrating of responsibility is open to the dangers which follow the creation of a bureaucracy. “
- Arthur Capper

The following article presents a very common phenomenon in large/ growing organizations. It strives to explain the rational flow of how having rigid specific systems leads to bureaucracy. A thought flow presented to highlight a common issue. continue

We welcome our latest strater, Amit S Holey, an alumnus of the SP Jain PGDSM – MIT course. Amit also blogs here.

Leadership is one of the most coveted yet one of the toughest roles in any industry. The jazz and awe that accompanies any leadership position also carries with it the burden of tough decisions . As Spiderman teaches us- ” With great power comes great responsibility“. One of such compelling tasks is the ability to get detached and move on. continue

(About the author: Meghbartma Gautam is a 10 month old newbie in the corporate world as an SDE with Microsoft India. This is his second post on strat.in . Read his first post here. )

There have been many inquiries and some equally curious glances towards my job description. In this post I will aim to cross categorize job roles and what it is exactly that they are in the business of. Most often and it is not without reason that we have 3 portfolios – Dev/Test/PM. Lets take a closer look at these profiles: continue

During the past one week the employee union of London Underground caused a strike, stopping the London mass transport system London Underground better known as Tube. The inconvenience caused was unbelievable! Workers in the city were not able to reach office leading to GDP loss, physical and mental aggravation to all the travelers, Problems for tourists amongst many other issues. The strike also got me thinking about the various strikes which keep happening and how can one make a strike more successful. continue

Chandrima is the newest member of Strat.in. She graduated in Computer science and engineering from NIT Durgapur and went on to become a part of the 45th Batch at IIM Calcutta. Chandrima is an Aditya Birla scholar,  heads the Consulting Club and is the co-founder of IIM C’s e-journal http://www.jokatimes.com. continue