Frankly Speaking

In my previous article, I mentioned or rather emphasized the use of change management and technology as part of large-scale transformation efforts. In this blog, I want to highlight the important domains of focus in transformation. Most transformation efforts start with a business case highlighting a need for change, supported by financial numbers, and how cost savings can be achieved. Planning, financials, business case are best practices to start a transformation effort. However, during an implementation stage, a transformation consultant has to be extremely focused on the following areas: Organization, Culture, Communication, Process, Technology, and Financials. All these six areas should tie with overall business strategy for transformation. Any slippage in these six domains will definitely screw the transformation effort - at best provide a marginal benefit to the business. 'Organization' - Creating the right organization structure for the future is one of the key obj...

‘Context’ Many years ago, when we first started setting up shared services in a major technology firm, we embarked on a journey that had many unknowns. Whether it was scope of work, projects, technology, or processes – nothing was clearly outlined. We had few excel sheets to guide us through the process of setting up shared service organization. It was no more than a simple ‘lifting’ of processes from each entity into a regional centre. The initial days were tough – It was about power, control, and other hidden aspects in organization. The lower end resources who managed the day-to-day operations struggled to meet the expectations from the internal clients. We had ‘all fingers pointing at one direction: shared services’, and always for the wrong reasons. ‘No defined parameters’ Now, when I look back to the unwieldy phase – it appears that there were number of interventions that could have been employed to mitigate the organizational resistance. In my experienc...

In ancient Chinese Philosophy, the concept ‘Yin-Yang’ describes how seemingly opposing forces work together to create wonders.   It takes a Sun and a Moon, a summer and winter, fire and water, Mars and a Venus to make life an enjoyable one.  Like the philosophy of ‘Yin-Yang’, the life at Oxford makes one to face seemingly different personalities, philosophies, doctrines, and yet all these differences are created with purpose…a purpose to serve humanity.   And it is because of this ultimate purpose that Oxford stands tall in all domains - whether it is academics, politics, business, or humanities. It’s a city like none other and its learning temple like none other. The Said Business School is an institution that embodies all the values of the City of Oxford. The Said Business School is a new business school when compared to most European and US business schools. Yet, it has reached a prestigious status and top rankings both in the academic world and business commun...

‘Unlimited Choices’ It is almost a month since I arrived at Oxford, the city of Dreaming Spires. By far, its one of the most beautiful places I have ever lived or visited – Its an architectural wonder. From the serenity of Port Meadows to the beauty of Brasenose, a day traveller will be spoilt for choices that Oxford offers. One of the striking features of this small city is its calmness in the midst of all the vibrancy. The port meadow, one of the last places yet to be invaded by modern life, offers the best of nature. The beauty of the hills and the streams that surround is a treat to the eyes. Guess what, I live only a mile away from the meadows – enticing isn’t it? A week of pub-crawls, several dinners, and meetings – we are all set to get the best out of Oxford life. The striking feature of the cohort is the diversity of the students from all parts of the world. There are 250+ students from 43 countries speaking multiple languages. In a few weeks, I had the opportunit...

Its been quite an interesting year so far - Lots of introspection and retrospection about personal life and career. The heavy-duty work has finally paid off, and I am all set to explore this beautiful world.  But before that, I wanted to share some of the knowledge that I gained over the last one year. I believe most of the readers are familiar with MBA program, so I will not dwell much on this topic. I would rather focus on the strategy for a successful MBA application.  'Selecting Schools' Personally, I believe selecting the school is the most important aspect of your MBA application strategy. The earlier you select, more the opportunity to network and build a solid relationship with the school.  Most students start with GMAT preparation and then select the schools. This strategy may work at times, but it may not give the student sufficient time to interact with the school. This is especially true when you are taking GMAT in October- December period.  ...

In exactly a month and a half, I will be heading to Oxford, UK, for my MBA studies. Another dream - checked off from my list. There is definitely a lot of excitement about the prospects, but how much I will miss Singapore - All the wonderful friends and great tangy food. I had a wonderful time in Singapore - tonnes of learning from my colleagues, exposure at regional level, and of course great night-out parties with friends. That said, I am hearing from our alumni that Oxford is a great place to be - especially for its BOPS (read parties), travelling, and networking. Hopefully, I won't miss the Singapore that I love so much - A perfect confluence of East and West. Parties & Meet-ups I had the opportunity to meet some of my future class-mates/alumni at the pre-course parties and meet-ups. To describe them in two words - 'Just overwhelmed'. The diversity is amazing - Students from Economics, Finance, Entrepreneurship, IT, and the list goes on. Never in my life...

What can I say...I am really excited after reading through the article on  Oracle/Salesforce Alliance . Its perhaps one of the master moves by a master class CEO - Larry J Ellison. In the game called Enterprise Technology, the Sun Tzu had made his master move - Make your best enemy your best friend. Clearly, the Cloud computing systems have had its effects on enterprise companies in the last couple of years. Mammoth firms are/were hunting for niche-players, either to improve their market share or to dissolve the competition. Oracle - a giant in enterprise technology - was no exception and it certainly did see the impact of cloud based SaaS applications. Purely from a financial point of view, Oracle missed the sales estimates on two consecutive quarters, an event that had never occurred in the last decade. These are signs of changing market structure, and Industry participants are sensing the change and making the moves. Oracle has the best-of-class technology stack for cloud c...