Competition & Globalization

August, 2008

“Good Morning everyone! We are group 11, here to present our COG project on the Aluminium and Copper Industry, with special emphasis on India and China.” After giving the industry overview, naming key players and doing a Porter’s analysis on the Copper industry in India, we all knew what the next slide would be – uses of copper. In comes Mr. Mayur Bhutani. After a lot of blah-blah-blah-blah, he finally says what we had thought our first six of the innings would be. “So we see that the uses of copper vary from Copper-T to Liberty!” (Please see below the actual slide used)

After his brief presentation (1 slide to be exact), he steps back and I return to carry the show further. Then, when we come to the slide titled “Sterlite Industries”, I pause and say, “Now Srinivas will take over.” Srini has absolutely no idea that he has to present. With an expression on his face saying “What the hell Gullu!” he comes over and starts speaking. Second six of the innings. By this time, our dear Prof. Sarin has already realized that the triple-sundae MayB-Gullu-Srini is far deadlier than the usual MayB-Gullu combo. After ‘strategically summarizing Sterlite’s competitive advantage’, we come to the slide titled “On the lighter side”. Now here is where we get an opportunity to compare India and China.

 

We then open the floor to questions. Obviously, people are laughing their hearts out and are least bothered about asking questions. So, Dr. Sarin takes the onus upon him and asks, “Why are your per capita figures of copper consumption in India so different from those of the other group?” We obviously don’t know the answer (may be the group copied the numbers from some other source). Time for the third six. In a very composed manner, I say, “Sir, the population of India changes very fast! And hence, there is a difference in the per capita consumption figures.” Everyone, including Dr. Sarin, starts laughing and our group bows before exiting the stage. Funny thing, none of us got an A in that subject, even though we were quite sure that we would be the best as far as peer-evaluation component was concerned. But who cares, I thoroughly enjoyed the session and the course. I took all the electives floated by Sarin sir, and have had great fun in every one of them.

XL Dream Run

I guess it was the night of November 12, 2008 when Mayur and I were sitting in his room, working on a B-school competition on marketing. It was titled “Concept-2-Creative” and we were searching our brains and Google for some insights on an ‘Ethanol powered car’. The submission was due next morning 4:00 a.m. At around 7:30 in the evening, we decide to take a break. Mayur tells me about the Delhi Marathon ad on YouTube. We watch it. Then, out of nowhere, both of us get an idea. “MayB and Gullu @ Work” J We decide to make a curtain raiser video for the upcoming XL-Dream Run on November 16, 2008. Organizing the Dream Run was a joint effort of CII, Sportscom (Sports Committee of XLRI) and XLANC (XLRI Adventure & Nature Club). The cause – XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust, which was established (and was legally registered in July, 2008) to encourage and support “entrepreneurship with a social cause” among the XLRI students, alumni and community; and to provide a channel to XLRI alumni and others who have means and motivation to support social development in a sustainable manner.

So we start…we decided that we will keep the Delhi Marathon ad as our base, and will adapt to people and places here at XLRI. We searched our laptops for the relevant photos, and made a script. We recorded our project and showed it to some of our friends for initial critique. After making some changes here and there, we forwarded the video to the concerned student and faculty members. They really liked it! We put it up over the internet, and within minutes, we were witnessing large number of viewers.

On the day of the run, I was given the responsibility to record and take snaps, while pillion-riding the TSAF crew who were our guide for the day. (For those who might not know, TSAF stands for Tata Steel Adventure Foundation. It organizes a host of outdoor adventure activities for institutes and corporations all over the country.) The run was successful, with over 200 people participating – including students, faculty and staff. We all had a great time, and our effort was well-appreciated by all.

Don’t forget to see the video. Visit www.xldreamrun.com for more details.