APPLICATION OF 6 σ IN THE MANAGEMENT OF INDIAN

HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Six Sigma (6 σ) means a systematic innovative activity to statistically measure and analyze the causes of the defects that happen in all parts of management and then remove those causes. It can be applied to all service industries. To achieve 6 σ means, a process must not produce more that 3.4 defects per million opportunities. The fundamental objective of the six sigma methodology is the implementation of a measurement strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction through the application of 6 σ improvement projects. This is accomplished through the use of DMAIC (pronounced as De-May-Ick) process. DMAIC is an acronym of five interconnected phases:

Define: What problem need to be solved?

Measure: What is the capability of the process?

Analyses: When and where do defects occur?

Improve: How can process capability be improved by 6 σ? What are the vital factors?

Control: What control needs to be put in place to sustain the gain?

The DMAIC process of 6 σ is advantages to measure problems, stay focused on students i.e., the customers, verifying the cause with fact, in breaking old system, undertaking risks, measuring the results and sustaining the change in an educational institution.

Defining a problem requires listening to the students problems, because ultimately the effectiveness of a system in an educational institution depends on satisfying them. Implementing 6 σ requires positive attitude, and recognizing the opportunity to accept change in the organization. In the 1980’s, Motorola came up with this idea to combat threat from its Japanese counterparts. 6 σ is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola who had reported US$17 billon in savings from its implementation as on 2006. Bank of America, Caterpillar, Honeywell International, General electric, Ford, 3 M are some of the organization that have adopted 6 σ for business transformation and have succeeded. To name a few Indian companies who have adopted this techniques are Wipro, Maruti Udyog, Godrej, Bajaj Auto, and Hero Honda. Identifying the critical areas such as programmes offered; effectiveness of the academic delivery system; identifying defects and habitual process; integrating the information system and focusing on large scale cost reduction; analyzing and suggesting change for the business transformation and strategic improvement are the key factors. The 6 σ philosophy which has worked wonders in an industrial environment, needs to be introduced in the Indian Higher Education Sector, in the wake of disturbing reports about the quality of graduates says Mr. Shankar a HRD consultant. He laments that in most of the higher education institution principals and deans are bogged down to administrative work giving little time to pay attention to academic excellence (The Hindu, 2006).The researcher in this paper has attempted to analyze the possibilities of implementing six sigma techniques to meet the global competition by the Indian higher educational system.

Objectives of using 6 σ:

The objectives for using 6 σ in various leading organization were as follows:

• 6 σ is one of the strategy and tool which leading organization have started using to achieve accuracy and speed and at the same time reduce cost and increase customer satisfaction and profits.
• 6 σ’s target is to achieve less than 3.4 defects or errors per million opportunities.
• 6 σ’s is deployed strategically to change the culture of the organization by inculcating process control discipline.  

The issue is no longer whether 6 σ’s should be considered or not, but the question is when or how, since an organization cannot do today’s job with yesterday’s methods and be in business tomorrow. 6 σ simply means a measure of quality that strives for perfection. It is disciplined as a data driven approach and methodology of eliminating defect in any process. It is an organizational philosophy in establishing the belief in “doing things right, first time and every time”. The formula for 6 σ is equal to Quality (Q) multiplied by Acceptance (A) = Effectiveness (E). 6 σ represents standard deviation (a measure of variation) of a population in statistics. The underlying principle of 6 σ is that if one has 6 standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit then there will be practically no items that fail to meet the specification.

Organization structure of educational institution applying 6 σ:

The 6 σ hierarchy adopts martial arts terminology to describe its structure. Executive Leadership at the top sets up the vision and empowers others with the freedom and resources to explore new ideas for breakthrough improvements. Champions are the key management sponsoring the entire team to stay aligned with the institution vision and mission; providing resources at appropriate time and negotiating conflicts. The Head of the institution/Principal – Master Black Belt -- is a coach and mentor ensuring that the Black Belts are in their right track, providing advice, sustaining the change, reducing cost and providing student delight. Master Black belt are expert in-house coachers ensuring deployment of 6 σ across departments and functions. The Head of the department – Black Belt- is a full time committed person capable of tackling critical change opportunities inspiring the team by building confidence. Their primary focus is on 6 σ project execution. The Associate professors/Lectures with green belt are the team members who incorporate new methods into the day to day activities of the institution. These green belt employees operate under the guidance of Black belts to achieve results. The yellow belts are well trained in the 6 σ. The non teaching staff adorning yellow belt are the facilitators providing free flow of information and other resources for the smooth functioning of an educational institution.

Figure showing the structure of educational institutions based on 6 σ  

Problems identified in educational institutions:

ü  Lack of quality faculty members. Teaching is considered as the last resort of occupation due to the less remuneration offered by educational institution – particularly those that are privately owned.

ü  Suppression of knowledge by senior faculty, groupism and imbibing politics inside academic institution among faculty members and students.

ü  Lack of proper infrastructure facilities.

ü  Delay in obtaining financial resources.

ü  Lack of basic and standard safety measures in laboratories and the campus of the educational institutions.

ü  Delay in delivery of transcripts, scholarships and other students’ requirement due to inadequate non teaching staff or lack of necessary information.

ü  Insufficient library books or updated journals.

ü  Failure to adhere to syllabus or relevance of syllabus and lack of scope to exhibit originality through research.

ü  Communication problems within the institution between the institution office and the various departments.

ü  Lack of opportunities for enhancement of academic knowledge for faculty members.

ü  Improper maintenance procedure.

ü  Lack of follow up.

ü  Lack of industry connectivity.

Measurement of faculty:

Faculty members are very sensitive to their performance evaluation measures. They bribe the students’ to give the best feed back or the feedback is obtained from favorite students. They also have “who are students to assess us” attitude. Implementing qualitative and quantitative measurements are not possible in assessing the subject knowledge abilities of teachers. Jack Welsh model of “differentiation” illustrated in his book “Winning” may be implemented. The top 10 may be rewarded by giving them important designation in the academic institution. The mediocre 70 may be provided avenues for improvement and the lower 10 may be shown the exit. The educational institution creates knowledge and intellectual capital where there can be no place for the under performers. An educational institution after identifying the problems and measuring it must strictly implement the improvement measures to become world class institution.

Important Components for implementation:

The educational institution needs to have the following inbuilt important components:

• The educational institution should be driven by enterprising top management and dynamic leadership as the head of institution.
• Focusing on the students’ satisfaction to achieve world class competition by providing efficient coordination, communication, cooperation and commitment.
• Six sigma uses variety of work techniques like TQM, statistical process control, and business process engineering. The academic / administration members should be clearly explained about the cause and effect relationship in this process. High caliber commitment is required for improved performance. Providing for structured and standard problems solving tools and methods for obtaining results that is expected. In short, new ways of thinking, communication and operating should be prevalent in the entire organization
• An educational institution is data driven; students’ data, faculty data, resources data and knowledge data.

Institution must be process based in a way to build competitive advantage in delivering value to students. 6 σ helps in positioning the process in designing the curriculum, measuring performance, improving efficiency and customer satisfaction or even running the institution. To effect creative change, 6 σ provides tools that are dynamic, responsive and proactive. Launching new ideas and methods are risky but 6 σ helps to manage setbacks. Faculty members are constant learners, training them and involving them in the process of 6 σ is not very difficult. The training may be imparted in phased manner over a period of three months so that the human resources engaged in implementation can understand, implement and improvise. This system implementation allows collecting and recording data accurately and consistently. Implementation of 6 σ provides invaluable experience for career development for the teaching and non teaching staff. Working on

6 σ improves the ability of the person and makes a difference in the delivery of services. It enlightens the people involved in the process to focus on problems and addressing the problems. The management can apply VOC (Voice of Customer i.e., student and other stakeholders) method to collect view points on various process and problems through structured questionnaire, assess and prioritize the same for rectification.

Challenges while implementation:

The biggest challenge that can be envisaged is “strong resistance”, presuming more work, shifting priorities, demanding time to organize meeting, failure to work in a team and reluctance to constant change. 6 σ disrupts and confuses in its initial stages of implementation thus hampering its implementation and killing the initiative of the organization. It is very important to highlight benefits to the leaders, setting clear goals patiently resolving conflicts, emphasizing the benefits and encouraging open dynamic participation from everyone. The management must be prepared to take risk, exercise judgment, make tough calls, coordinate the activities, tracking progress, avoiding / minimizing the impact on ongoing operation, setting meaningful and manageable goals and exert influence. It requires “total involvement” of every member of the educational institution to contribute to the overall success.

Power of 6 σ in educational institutions:

The objective is to provide utmost satisfaction to the student in their learning process. This can be applied to avoid wastage of intellectual, physical and financial resources, by providing better process by the happier and productive academic and administrative staff. The 6 σ in educational institution ensures:

Ø  Higher satisfaction to the student in terms of acquiring knowledge, opportunity to innovate, explore, experiment and experience the joy of their creations.

Ø  Improved admission and transaction facilities like obtaining diplomas, scholarships, bonafides, notification of selection of course, travel concessions forms by reducing the processing time.

Ø  Efficient emergency mechanism in the laboratories and the campus.

Ø  Better planning of available financial resources

Ø  Optimizing material and consumable management in labs.

Ø  Recruiting and retaining quality faculty and trained office staff who can deliver professional service.

Finally, the 6 σ methodologies can change the face of modern educational institution and their academic /administrative delivery system.

Conclusion:

The 6 sigma is well tested tool of quality in renowned industries in India and abroad. Its success lies in providing an environment encouraging problem solving, excellence and continuous improvement. It requires restructuring of the organization based on a culture of positive thinking. Sufficient resources, enough time and reviewing the progress are the key to the success. Training all the participants and offering rewards and incentives helps to achieve benchmarked targets. Finally its success lies in developing free flow of communication. Its implementation is a tough task but if applied with caution will turnaround the “ailing” higher education system in India.

                                                   ************************

References

1. Laxma Reddy Gaddam, Sreedhar Amancha, (2005),”Six sigma and distance  Education”, Paper presented in ICDE International conference, November 19-23

2. PetPande, Larry Holpp, (2006), “What is six sigma”, Tata McGraw, New Dellhi
3. The Hindu, March 5^th 2006.
4. www.wikipaedia.com

(c) Padma Shankar, Review of Professional Management”, Volume 7, Issue 2, July –December, 2009. (ISS -1972-8686), 

RBI Guidelines

Because of writing on Indian currency notes, Indian Government loses           Rs 2,638 cr each year, so please don't write anything on currency note as they can't be used for STD transactions e.g. We can't find written Notes in ATM.

When will we learn to value & respect our own currency?

Have you seen a dollar bill or a Pound with anything written on it?

RBI RULE FROM 1st JANUARY 2014 ANY BANK WILL NOT ACCEPT ANYTHING WRITTEN ON NOTE YOU CAN NOT DEPOSIT THAT NOTE IN BANK.

BY ORDER
R...B....I..

SPREAD THIS NEWS ITS IMPORTANT NEWS.  

Visit the following link: http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_ViewCurrencyNotification.aspx?Id=8308

Dynamics of Banking in India

India has seen historic progress and growth in the past decade. Banking services are in the nature of a public good and it is essential to make banking services available to the entire population without discrimination. It is well understood there is a huge demand among poor for banking services; it is considered more viable and profitable. Expansion of bank branches, especially in rural areas, resulting in multifold increase in branch network from around 8000 in 1969 to 89000 today, spread across the length and breadth of the country. Despite all these efforts it is estimated that about 40 percent of Indians lack access even to the simplest kind of formal financial services.

Currently India has 27 public sector banks, 22 private sector banks, 31 foreign banks, 89 regional rural banks and 2123 cooperative banks of various kinds. Today India has about 89000 bank branches of commercial banks and 55000 Automated Teller Machines and one half a million Point of Sale Terminals of merchant establishments and 850 million mobile phones. India is the 10th largest economy but one half of India’s population does not have access to banking services primarily because branches are located predominantly in the urban region. Banks are not convinced about prospects in the rural areas though economists agree that development in the rural sector is the key driver for the future. The collapse of Lehman Brothers did not impact the Indian banks. The Indian banks stood strong, remained profitable, well capitalized and had no worry of the asset quality. Though the Indian banks are progressing there is still scope in development by redesigning the features of saving’s bank account, permitting more foreign banks and private players in to this sector. The so called new generation private banks have not been able to spread banking across the country as their focus has all along been on urban India.

Internet banking/Mobile banking:

A recent McKinsey report reveals that the usage of internet banking has risen by 28 percent while mobile banking has shot up by 83 percent across the Asia –Pacific region. The convenience of anywhere banking is the biggest draw for customers. About 50 banks have been permitted to offer mobile banking services till now of these 38 have just started operating. The services available on the mobile are: (a) bank account: funds transfer, bill payment, balance enquiry, cheque book request, last 5 transaction stop cheque request; (b) Credit Card: balance details, last payments details and payments due date; (c) Demand holding enquiry transaction status; bill enquiry, ISIN enquiry; (d) Loan: provisional income tax certificate; final income tax certificate reset letter; rescheduled letter; loan agreement copy

The 10.4 lakh mobile banking transaction value is Rs. 84.6 crore.

Mobile banking will be the second largest channel for banking after ATM in 2020. Almost 22 percent of the banking transaction will be through the mobile. Online banking will also grow while cash and cheque transaction will come down from 49 percent to around 15 percent.

The scope of internet banking is increasing and the raises questions such as: the additional facility to be included; the speed of processing a transaction: errors in processing; difficulties encountered in the urban and rural set up; the cost of transaction; the hidden costs; and the extend to which this system is user friendly to the customers or is it cumbersome, and the security aspects.

Credit Card Fraud:

According to Norton Cyber Crime Report 2011 Indians figure high on the list of credit card fraud, 80 percent of adult Net users are targeted; 60 percent of crimes were due to viruses and malware, 20 percent were online scams; 19 percent used for social tactics such as phishing and 17 percent were through mobile phones. The value of lost and stolen fraud is Rs 5 crore and counterfeit card fraud is Rs. 8.2 crore. The loss may be made  zero by following steps such as : registering transaction alerts via SMS and email; bank to be updated of change in mobile number; reduce credit limit if the card is used sparingly; use virtual cards/ virtual key boards for online shopping; type bank web address instead of using email links; scratch the 3 digit CVV after memorizing; do not leave photo copies of credit card; when you loose your phone deactivate your bank account and switch off the router when not in use. The awareness of these steps among the credit card holders needs to research. The reasons of becoming a victim of fraud; the rights and liabilities of a banker and customer under such situations; when fraud is notified the actions taken and the speed at which it is taken, security measures undertaken by the bank to minimize fraud are also some of the topics that needs an empirical study

Financial Inclusion:

In India, the term financial inclusion was first featured in 2005. According to Boston consultancy report the banking scenario is changing 2003 is 30 percent financial inclusion; 2010 is 45 percent is the financial inclusion and in 2020 will be 65 percent as the financial inclusion. It is a process of ensuring access to appropriate financial products and services by the vulnerable groups, such as weaker sections and lower income groups are at an affordable cost in a fair and transparent manner. It is one of the most critical aspects in the control of inclusive growth and development.

The G–20 countries Innovation Financial Inclusion Experts have highlighted principles to serve as a guide for policy and regulatory approaches with the objective of fostering safe and sound adoption of innovation, adequate, low cost financial delivery models, helping provide conditions for fair competitive and a framework of incentives for various banking, insurance and non banking entities involvement and delivery of the full range of affordable and quality financial services. The major barriers to serve the poor apart from socio economic factors such as regular income, poverty, illiteracy, etc are the lack of reach, higher cost of transaction and time taken in providing those services. Products designed by the banks are to be tailored for scalability, convenience, reliability, flexibility and continuity. The RBI have been undertaking financial inclusion initiatives such as no frill accounts; relaxation of Know your customer norms; engaging business correspondents; offering General purpose credit card facility up to Rs 25000/-  at rural or semi – urban branches and freedom to open branches in tier II and tier III regions. To become a global player these inclusive measures are sources’ of empowerment. The efficiency and effectiveness of these initiatives by the RBI needs to be researched.

Micro Finance:

In early July 2011 Union Government introduced draft legislation to govern microfinance based on Y H Malegam recommendation. India has about 900 micro finance institution majorities of them functioning as Non Governmental Organization trust or as cooperatives societies. Out of these 350 MFI’s are listed with industry associations. Indian PSB’s have lent 24,178 crore to small borrowers though Micro finance institutions and self help groups as on July 2011. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) SBI and ICICI are he major players in this sector. The MFI are intending to merge so s to consolidate and justify economies of scale. The profitable areas of diversification of revenue, the reasons leading to mergers or consolidation, the role of PSB and private Banks, the optimum risk – return model the regulatory gaps are all to be studied in dept to understand the growth and vulnerability of micro finance.

Non Operative Holding Companies: (NOHCs)

The Reserve Bank of India has also recently issued draft guidelines for giving new banking licenses to private players New banks can be set up only through wholly – owned non-operative holding companies or NOHCs. The RBI will seek views on the draft until October 31, 2011. Industrial houses such as Aditya Birla Group, Tata Capital, Reliance ADAG, Bajaj Group, SKS Microfinance, and Shriram Finance are eyeing these banking licenses to increase competition and fostering bettering the quality. Groups which have successfully run business for at least 10 years and with not more than 10 percent of their revenues or assets in the real estate and broking business in the last three years are eligible for licenses. To ensure high corporate governance at least 50 percent of their boards is a made up of independent directors. These banks to follow the same priority sector lending targets existing for domestic banks to be followed; list themselves on stock exchanges within two ears of obtaining their licenses and more. This is expected to serve the purpose of financial inclusion. RBI plans to” incentivize” foreign banks and treat them almost on a part with local banks if they agree to go for local banks incorporation and become subsidiaries of foreign parents. The market share of foreign banks in India has remained unchanged for decades at around 7.5 percent. Currently there are 36 foreign banks in India and collective they have about 315 branches. The impact of NOHC’S needs considerable deliberations amongst different groups.

HR Reforms

The banks have performed well reducing the non-performing assets (NPA) and strengthening balance sheet.  But the public sector banks are seriously handicapped in human capital.  Barring some of adhoc measures in promotion methodologies and training systems the core HR lacked long term orientation.  It is inadequate in the area of talent management, performance management and leadership development. The old PSBs compete with new generation banks which has product innovations are customers centric and practices top class HR practices.  A McKinsey Company and Booz Company study report in 2010 states the PSBs will lose half their employees in the next decade as retirement, i.e. 80% of General Managers, 50% of middle managers and 30% of other employees will retire over the next 5-6 years. It also emphasized that there is a leadership gap of 12000 to 15000 people in branches, regions and in other functionary areas.  The Kandelwal Committee Report of 2010 emphasized on the following observations with regard to HR in the Indian Banking sector:

ü  HR was neglected in all banking reforms

ü  HR has no place in the strategic matrix of public sector banks

ü  The HR is not professional, filled with unionism, absence of reward and serious gaps in succession planning.

ü  Automation of HR is limited and non-core activities are not outsourced.

ü  Lack of employee engagement

ü  Lack of appraisal system and performance management systems even at the clerical level

ü  Adhoc creation of top and senior level management and it is not commensurate with business dynamics

ü  Inadequate manpower planning

ü  Under utilization of talent

ü  Lack of re-dressal to diversity situations

The competitive banking setting requires emphasis on developing new capabilities, visionary leadership and enhanced quality of manpower, improved workplace culture. How will the PSB’a meet this constraint is a big concern in this dynamic banking environment?

Finally the Indian banking sector has a long way to go. About 5,00,000 villages are yet to be provided with banking services. Adequate infrastructure, supplementing the brick and mortar structure is available at a reasonable radius of 2 to 3 km, digital and physical connectivity, uninterrupted power supply are matters to be improved. Mind set cultural and attitudinal changes at grass roots and cutting edge technology at levels of branches of banks are needed to impart organizational resilience and flexibility.  Bank should institute systems of reward and recognition for personal initiating, ideating, innovating and successfully executing new products and services in the rural areas.  Inclusive growth will act as a source of empowerment and allow people to participate more effectively in the economic and social process. Banking sector in India is expanding in exponential rate with dynamics of threat and opportunities in the internal and global market leaving ample scope for future research.

Reference:

1.   Tamal Bandyopadhyay, “The future rests on 3 Pillars”, The Mint Report, 22 September, 2011, p.1

2.   Chakrabarty, K C, (2011), “A Road India needs to travel”, The Mint Report, 22^nd September, p.6

3.   Anil K. Kandelwal, (2011), “The path for reforms in PSBs”, The Mint Report, 22^nd September, p.9

4.   Economic Times Wealth, September 26-2 October, 2011

5.   Business Today, October 2, 2011, p.17

© Padma Shankar, Editorial, “Maintaining Technological Dynamics in Indian Banking System”, Advances in Management, Volume 4, Number 12, December,2011,    

 http://www.managein.net/main_management.htm

BUSINESS IN GLOBAL ECONOMY

    “The world is a web of interconnected trends, organization, labor markets and professionals, not a division into one hundred and eighty autonomous and separate nations.” Peter Townsend
Global economy, of course existed for hundreds of years – colonization resulted from trade and cheap overseas sourcing. Procuring and purchasing from the cheapest markets is globalization. Individual countries are less powerful. Multinational Corporations and international agencies operating on a twenty – four hour basis dominate the global economy. “Mega – organizations are like countries but they are not accountable to anyone.”(Charles Handy, 1995). The United Nations 1997 Human Development Report states that the biggest winners have been the Multinational Corporations. There is a relative shift of power from governments to corporate bodies. Peter Drucker rightly says “no society has had so many centers of power as the society in which we live…..”
In the global economy, the growing dominance of business organization results in: lack of control over the future, lack of job security, constant development of new products and processes, before we understand the new information – it changes, great disparity in wealth, deteriorating discipline and values, acid rain, ozone layer depletion, global warming, finally quality and excellence revolution. Today everything from family life of working and shopping has changed. Corporations functions in a volatile and complicated environment. They have to deal with: global economy, technological revolution, information proliferation, huge growth in the size and scope of international business, increasing environment damage.
In this transparent world, organizations are under tremendous pressures to acknowledge their Global Social Responsibility. They need to work hand in hand with government to address fair distribution of wealth, fight corruption, oppression and human rights abuses and environmental issues. In the book “The living Company”     Arie de Geus pointed out that most companies die after 40-45 years, but there some that are over 200 years old. He contends that companies with long successful life have four characteristics:
• Sensitivity to the external environment, which allow the company to learn and adapt.
• Cohesion and identity, which allow the company to be a community and have a personality.
• Tolerance and decentralization, because the company understands its own ecology which enables it to build new relationships in and outside the company.
• Conservative financing which allow the company to govern its own growth and evolution.
In another research on long life companies, “Build to last” by James C Collins and Jerry I Porras said that “visionary companies make money than the more purely profit – driven comparison companies.” The study showed that “successful habits of visionary companies” are: they showed resilience struck to their core ideology; profit maximization was not the dominant driving force or primary objective. The Institute of Global Ethics in a survey to focus group around the world asking people to list the five values that they would like to see. The five values chosen on how a business can demonstrate that it is responsible:
1. Compassion: Sharing success with those less fortunate in society.
2. Honesty: Transparency and integrity in al business dealings.
3. Fairness: Providing employees work-life balance and opportunities for continuous learning and improvement.
4. Respect: Respecting individuals irrespective of gender, race, disability, age or sexual orientation.
5. Responsibility: Business needs to recognize sustainable development and take responsibility for the environmental impacts.
The bottom line is organization should – think interdependence, have clear principles, embrace change and complexity, compliance with social responsibility and be educative and knowledgeable.

Reference:
1. Charles Handy, (1995), “Gods of management”, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
2. Peter F. Drucker, (2004), “Concept of the Corporation”, Transactions Publisher, Rutgers.
3. Arie de Geus, (1997), “The Living Company”, Longview Publishing Limited, United States of America.
4. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?tp=&arnumber=820020&isnumber=17783

© Padma Shankar, “Business in Global Economy” Reader’s Shelf, Volume 6, Issue Number 7, April 2010,  pp. 19-20 

Save the rupee

Leaders

I give below the list of thought leaders:
I shall be updating this list, keep watching:

1. Anand Pillai: http://anandpillai.in/

2.Bell Leadership Institute: http://www.bellleadership.com/

3. Humour at Work: Michael  Kerr : http://www.mikekerr.com/

How can innovation be taught?

Garth Saloner, Philip H Knight replies:

Innovation can be taught , and we have learnt how to do that innovation requires 3 elements:
1. You have to recognize the problem and that needs analytically thinking , B Schools have been pretty good at that .
2. You have to come up with a solution, which is partly analytically and partly creative. I think business schools don't see themselves as teaching creativity . But we have developed process for creative and on how to teach creative thinking .
3. The third element is implementation  which is the biggest part of innovation, that is how you teach innovation, creativity and personal leadership.

Source: The Week, January 6 2013, p18

Never Loose Committed persons

A Panchatantra story -- Dog and Donkey – Never loose committed persons.

Story:

There was once a washer man who had a donkey and a dog. One night when the whole world was sleeping, a thief broke into the house, the washer man was fast asleep too but the donkey and the dog were awake. The dog decided not to bark since the master did not take good care of him and wanted to teach him a lesson.

The donkey got worried and said to the dog that if he doesn't bark, the donkey will have to do something himself. The dog did not change his mind and the donkey started braying loudly.

Hearing the donkey bray, the thief ran away, the master woke up and started beating the donkey for braying in the middle of the night for no reason.

Old moral “One must not engage in duties other than his own". The lesson: Mind your job.

Another thought to the same story which I came across while searching in the google:

The washer man was a well educated man from a premier management institute. He wanted to look at the bigger picture and think out of the box. He was convinced that there must be some reason for the donkey to bray in the night. He walked outside a little and did some fact finding, applied a bottom up approach, figured out from the ground realities that there was a thief who broke in and the donkey only wanted to alert him about it. Looking at the donkey's extra initiative and going beyond the call of the duty, he rewarded him with lot of hay and other perks and became his favorite pet.

The dog's life didn't change much, except that now the donkey was more motivated in doing the dog's duties as well. In the annual appraisal the dog managed "ME" (Met Expectations) .

Soon the dog realized that the donkey is taking care of his duties and he can enjoy his life sleeping and lazing around.

The donkey was rated as “star performer". The donkey had to live up to his already high performance standards.

Soon he was over burdened with work and always under pressure and now is looking for a NEW JOB...

My observations is as follows:

1.      The dog did not bark because he felt that he was not treated properly. He wanted to teach the master a lesson. Dissatisfaction breeds inefficiency.

2.      The donkey went an extra mile and was proactive. The donkey had the sense of ownership and wanted to protect his master and his other property. Going that extra mile shows responsibility or “the ability to respond”

3.      Reaction does not help but demoralizes (the master beating the donkey). Therefore the donkey decided not to interfere and started thinking “mind your job”. This reaction resulted in breeding self-centered and self fish attitude.

4.      Later with new provoking thoughts of different schools of management the master with professional knowledge learnt that reaction is not good and started to ponder on the cause and tried to understand the fundamental reasons of the donkey braying. This is thinking otherwise, or looking withdifferent lens, or different perspective, thanks to education.

5.      Praising the donkey and offering the incentive is motivating but …..Only to some extent.

6.      The result of excessive motivation is:

·         Performer becomes “star performer”;

·         He/she is pushed to work beyond his or her physical and emotional capacity – leading to distress.

·         The dog is made more lazy and and useless resource. While one person overworks the other person walks away with an income without commitment.

·         Work and you are given more work; you are given more and more work till you decide to leave the present master – like the donkey in the story.

The result the master looses committed employee (the donkey) and will be left with lazy people like the dogs.

The master should have sent the disloyal dog in the first instant and searched for a new dog.

Commitment and Loyalty cannot be equated to money value.

Leadership Nuggets

LucyP Marcus on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of The Feminine Mystique writes about the Leadership Nuggets from Betty Freidman whose words are relevant even today and arouse violent emotions:

1. "There needs to be bolder thinking, on how to measure the quality of life of men and women in the work force. Currently, success is measured by material advancements. We need to readjust the definition of success to account for time outside of work and satisfaction of life, not just the dollars-and-cents bottom line."

2. “You can have it all, just not all at the same time.”

3. “A good woman is one who loves passionately, has guts, seriousness and passionate convictions, takes responsibility, and shapes society. ”

4. “The key to the trap is, of course, education. The feminine mystique has made higher education for women seem suspect, unnecessary and even dangerous. But I think that education, and only education, has saved, and can continue to save, American women from the greater dangers of the feminine mystique.”

5. “Aging is not 'lost youth' but a new stage of opportunity and strength.”

6. “It is easier to live through someone else than to complete yourself."

7. “It's a different stage of life, and if you are going to pretend its youth, you are going to miss it. You are going to miss the surprises, the possibilities, and the evolution that we are just beginning to know about because there are no role models and there are no guideposts and there are no signs.”

8. “In almost every professional field, in business and in the arts and sciences, women are still treated as second-class citizens. It would be a great service to tell girls who plan to work in society to expect this subtle, uncomfortable discrimination--tell them not to be quiet, and hope it will go away, but fight it. A girl should not expect special privileges because of her sex, but neither should she "adjust" to prejudice and discrimination”

9. “It is wrong to keep spelling out unnecessary choices that make women unconsciously resist either commitment or motherhood--and that hold back recognition of the needed social changes.”

10. “You can show more of the reality of yourself instead of hiding behind a mask for fear of revealing too much”

11. “The only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own.”

12. “Just as darkness is sometimes defined as the absence of light, so age is defined as the absence of youth.”

13. "The freedom to lead and plan your own life is frightening if you have never faced it before. It is frightening when a woman finally realizes that there is no answer to the question 'who am I' except the voice inside herself.”

14. “...bowling alleys and supermarkets have nursery facilities, while schools and colleges and scientific laboratories and government offices do not.”

15. “A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, 'Who am I, and what do I want out of life?' She mustn't feel selfish and neurotic if she wants goals of her own, outside of husband and children.”

Source:  
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130219060733-60894986-10-leadership-nuggets-from-betty-friedan