MPE blog has a new address

Greetings,

What's up, everyone? Our blog now has a new address. Visit http://mpe.rajeshrathod.com and stay connected.

Cheers,

Rajesh

March 27 - Feeling Great

NMIMS MPE 2007-09 Last Day (Part IV)

NMIMS MPE 2007-09 Last Day (Part III)

NMIMS MPE 2007-09 Last Day (Part II)

NMIMS MPE 2007-09 Last Day (Part I)

My MPE Convocation

MPE is over. Hopefully the education is not. While I really don't know where I will be at the time of MPE convocation, yesterday I thought I had my convocation. It was when I watched Steve Jobs's 2005 Stanford Commencement Address (CEO of Apple). I had read his speech earlier, but hearing him in this video was quite inspiring. It's just fifteen minutes message, but worth remembering for next fifty years of my life.

If you have fifteen minutes now, don't miss this...

MPE Farewell: Anand's feeling

It's exam time of MPE final semester. It's been a memorable period of life for all of us, but for Anand it's been double delight, extra special, golden experience of life. So, it's quite understandable how he feels about farewell from MPE. Read on...

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Yeh Degree bhi lelo, Yeh Naukri bhi lelo,

Bhale chheen lo mujhse US ka Visa,

Magar mujhko lauta do college ka canteen,

Woh thanda saaa paani ,Woh TeeKha Samosaa, 

Woh College ki sabse - purani nishaanee,

Woh chai vaalaa jisko - sab kehte the... jaani,

Woh jaani ke hathon - ki 'cutting' chai meethi,

Woh chupke-se journal - mein jo bheji thi chitthi,

Woh padhte hi chitthi - tha uska bhadakna,

Woh chehre ki laali, woh hothon ki gaali ... 

Kadi dhoop mein - apney room se nikalnaa,

Woh project ki Khatir - tha dar dar bhataknaa ,

Woh lecture mein doston - ki proxy lagaanaa,

Woh ma'm ko chidana, aeroplane udaanaa,

Woh submission ki raton - ko jagna jagaanaa,

Woh viva ! ke kisse, woh pracs ki kahani.... 

Woh dena Bimaari - ka har time bahana,

Woh doosron ke assignment - ko apnaa banana,

Woh seminar ke din - pairon ka cchat-patanaa,

Woh workshop mein din bhar - pasiinaa bahanaa,

Woh slogans banana - woh poster chipkana,

Phir Exam ke dinon - yaad aati thi naani,

.... 

College ki thi - woh lambi si raatein,

Woh doston ke tapre mein - fokat ki Baatein;

Woh gathering ke din - pyari mulakatein;

Woh kudiyon ka yuhin - hamesha akadnaa;

Woh ladkon ke aagey jo unka matakna;

Bhulaaye nahin bhool sakta hai koi -------

Woh college, ki yaadein jo ab hai kahani...

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NMIMS MPE Class of 2009

It was last day at NMIMS for study and we really had a blast! All lectures for MPE are over and it was time to say 'kabhi alvida na kahena' to our class of 2009. It was a moment to cherish. Here are few pictures that we had taken on my camera...



More picture and video coming soon...

Seedhi Baat, No Bakwaas! Sab Clear Hain! Congratulations!

Semester III results are out... All members of our group are "all clear":-)

Lets say that cool line of Sprite one more time (remember our presentation in Brand Management subject during Semester III?)...

"SEEDHI BAAT, NO BAKWAAS! CLEAR HAIN?!"

Yes, boss! Saab Clear Hain:-)

Congratulations to all my dear friends (Anand, Anshu, Namita, Nitin, Prachi and Lakshmi)!

My take on electives for specialization - Part 1 (Finance)

Semester III is over, capstone project has been submitted, semester IV looks very interesting... While the final semester of the MPE course is picking up pace, it's decision time (at least for few folks). Should we do specialization? If yes, in Finance or in Marketing (The only two offerings of NMIMS for MPE students)?

While I am still undecided, I took a first swipe at reviewing course content of electives offered in Finance specialization. For me, criteria for selection are:

• Prior Knowledge (What do I already know about the subject? Don't want to repeat the same stuff)
• Quality of content / how interesting it is?
• Relevance of the content (based on aspired job profile

Here is how the 16 electives offered by the institute fare in my rough analysis.

This gives me my top 6 electives:

1. Financial Risk Management
2. Portfolio & Capital markets
3. Fixed Income Securities
4. Treasury & Operational Risk Management
5. Investments Decisions in Banking
6. Retail Banking & Priority Sector Advances OR Financial Institutions & Markets

I would love to get your views on this...

Time Value of Money: 10 Calculations to Know

Howdy! If first couple of lectures for various subjects are anything to go by, I think we are going to have a great learning experience in this semester. It's an impressive set of subjects that we have in curriculum.

• International Micro and Macro Economics


• Corporate Finance


• Operations Management


• Strategic Marketing Management


• Brand Management


• Business Sustainability

I was amazed to see the level of class participation in Corporate Finance lecture this Saturday. A pof the reason behind it was the topic of discussion - Time Value of Money. Dr. Vrinda Kamat related it to Personal Financing decisions so very well. On the very same topic, I came across a good resource on Net.

Outlook Money recently published a very good piece on "10 Calculation To Know" for money management. It explains following concepts very briefly, but in such a simple language.

1. Compound Interest


2. Compound Annualised Growth Rate


3. Internal Rate of Return


4. XIRR


5. Post-Tax Return


6. Pre-Tax Yield


7. Inflation


8. Purchasing Power


9. Real Rate of Return


10. Doubling, Tripling of Money (Rule -72, Rule -69)

The author has made a very good attempt to highlight that "The value of investments is only as much as their returns. So, it is critical to know how much your money is worth to plan your financial goals!"

Your thoughts?

Hope we are doing good... How is mobile industry doing?

Hello everyone,

MPE-II exams are half way through and it tempts me to reiterate those famous lines of Shweta - "I hope we are doing very good so far in the exams [she said, in presentation!]":-). As expected, the Business Strategy exam yesterday was interesting one - some wrote about dhobi ghaats (radically different thinking, you know!), some predicted future of PCs, some gave out-of-the-box strategies for innovations. It also made me read a lot in past few days about PCs, PDAs, Mobiles and Digital Divide.

1) A couple of days back D Shivakumar, MD, Nokia India, wrote an excellent piece on "Mobile phone: the ultimate personal product" in The Economic Times.

"A mobile phone has become the ultimate personal product in India. It is the huge personality statement and competes with other ‘notice me’ products like a watch, a pen, shoes, hand bags, sunglasses. A mobile phone is with you 24 x 7. Not even a wrist watch is with you 24 x 7.

It’s estimated India will have more than 500 million mobile subscribers by 2010. Of the 500 million phones in people’s palms, 250 million will have Internet connectivity, 250 million will have imaging (camera) capability, 200 million will have radio capability and 200 million will have music capability and a 100 million could have video capability. This is the India PC. A traditional PC will find it difficult to compete with a mobile phone in India."

[And today's ToI has a big ad on the first page - iPhones are coming to India very soon and Vodafone has started registration as well.]

2) We studied about Intel's strategy of "Intel Outside" and how they phased out the business in 2001. Latest news is that the Intel has just launched their new processor "Intel Atom Inside" for MIDs and Smartphones.

Read more at http://www.intel.com/technology/atom/index.htm

The mobile industry has huge growth potential and spotlight is well and truly on emerging markets including India.

MPE Journey so far....

Exactly one year back on May 27th, 2007, I left US to enroll for MPE at NMIMS in India. The GD & PI went well and I headed for a much-needed 1 month vacation. It's been quite a journey since then.

1st semester was fun. New environment, new place, new friends... My project team was excellent. Well, let me first introduce them.

1. Anand: I still don't understand what he is doing in a Telecom company. He is a entrepreneur material - I just can't wait see him make it big in the business world.
2. Anshu: Balanced personality - very mature, thinker, well-read as well as someone who enjoys every moment in life.
3. Lakshmi: If you want to see a truly honest person, you must meet Lakshmi. I admire the way she conducts herself in every situation. Very accommodating and hard-working too.
4. Namita: Extrovert, Fun, Party, "Can do" attitude! Without Nami, our group would be incomplete. She truly makes it fun working as a team. Also, a very good manager, I must admit.
5. Prachi: Before meeting Prachi, I always thought it would be impossible for a working mother to manage study in a B-school. It says a lot about her passion and hard work. Also, a style icon!

In B schools, you learn from your peers as much as you do from faculties. I have learned a great deal from my peers and I must thank all of them.

We worked on various projects and assignments together.

• Marketing to Kids (Marketing Management)
• Personality and Development (Organizational Behaviour)
• Knowledge Management using IT (Information Management)
• Study of General Insurance Industry in India (Managerial Economics)
• Project Financing (Financial Analysis & Management)
• Various Case Studies (Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc.)

Of course, there was enough doze of parties, entertainment, movies, games as well.

Comparatively, the second semester has given less opportunities to work in groups. We just completed a couple of projects.

• Sales Management in IT Industry (Sales Management)
• Latest trends and challenges in Performance Appraisal (Human Resource Management)

At the same time, we did more case studies in this semester . Hilton, Intel, US Army, Apple, etc.

It's been quite a learning experience so far. So, what's next? We have few parties, one presentation and final exam lined up in next few months!!!