A Glimpse of Who I am, What I am & How I am !

A Glimpse of Who I am, What I am & How I am !

Name : Ankit Gupta

PGDIM-20

Roll no : 29

Contact no: 07738570717

Email: ankit.gupta.nitie@gmail.com

Global Pharmaceutical Industry Trends & A New way to look at Entrepreneurship - By Mr. Rajesh Pednekar

Let me introduce you to one of the most prominent Alum of NITIE, Mr Rajesh Pednekar, who is currently Head-Distribution for Pfizer, is IM-1 passout and has more than 16 years of experience in logistics & supply chain divisions with leading multinational and domestic companies. The session on -"Global Pharmaceutical Industry Trends: Supply Chain Challenges & Opportunities"on 13th July 2013 by Rajesh sir gave a perfect start to the new MBA season in our lives. Being the son of a medical stockist and having ran the business myself, I was looking forward to the session. He opened the session by showing a video casting India’s size, image as an emerging leader in all aspects. This was followed by mention of the size, forecasts and opportunities underlining the Pharmaceutical industry across the globe. BRICMT, being the emerging markets in this sector, the sector has the potential to grow to the level of 1.5 Trillion US$ by 2020 but government regulation in pricing (eg. Drug Price Control Order by Indian Government), patents, drug discovery cost and fast changing sales & marketing trends present stiff challenge to this industry. We were illuminated by the knowledge regarding Temperature based Supply Chain classification and Primary & Secondary Transportation.


                                                     
                                                        Mr Rajesh Pednekar


The major focus was then given on supply chain challenges in this sector in India:

• Logistics cost account for 13% of India’s GDP which is worse as compared to other countries (US-9%, Europe-10%)
• Existing CST based Tax regime of India hostile to warehousing
• Poor cold chain infrastructure
• Power and regulatory challenges
• Insurance Challenges
• Extreme weather conditions

“India is 4th largest pharmaceuticals market by volume but 14th by value!! But, future seems bright as India is expected to reach the 4th position in value terms by 2020”

The advantages that India has in store in itself are:

• Huge knowledge base, manpower
• Clinical trials
• Process R&D, manufacturing
• Manufacture of off-patent drugs
• Contract Manufacturing
• Active Ingredients, packaging

The examples of Nicholas Piramal, Mankind Pharma and Eric Life Sciences were given as innovators in the industry.

The second half of the session was based on motivating the students to think and take a leap forward towards entrepreneurship. The way sir explained the advantages of entrepreneurship left most of us mesmerized. He gave us a completely different perspective about starting a new business. The differences between doing a job for someone else and doing our own business, as told by sir, has fascinated a lot of us to take up entrepreneurship at some point in our lives.

With a note of thanks to Mr. Pednekar for bestowing upon us his magnificent insights into Pharmaceutical Industry and Entrepreneurship, I just wish I could know more about how Rajesh sir achieved so much savings in an otherwise very large and complex pharmaceutical supply chain.

Learning Management from 3-Idiots: The Practical way !

I have seen and done many case studies in almost all my management subjects, but no other case study has left me with as much practical learning as the “3-idiots crossing the valley” case by our beloved Dr. Mandi. This exercise as illustrated below, focuses on TEAMWORK and roles each one of us plays in a team. Lets talk about teamwork first:

Everybody knows that teamwork is one of the major foundations to success. There is a limit to where one can reach on his own. The beauty of teamwork is that a goal can be reached faster, more efficiently, and the skill sets of each team member can be fully utilized. Let me illustrate this by a story :

The Goose Story !

When you see geese flying along in “V” formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in “V” formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone — and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those people who are headed the same way we are.

When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs, whether with people or with geese flying south. Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

What messages do we give when we honk from behind? Finally — and this is important — when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshot, and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group.

So, learning from the story, a team member must do the following:

· Participate
· Keep the common goal in mind
· Be open-minded
· Be clear about his/her role
· Help your teammates and your leader
· Don't be the dominating one
· Support your leader
· Don't forget to have fun!

Now coming back to the Valley crossing exercise. It is an 8 step process where 3 people cross a valley with the support of a straight pole. And as a manager we had to come up with a plan to make it possible. Let us understand the essence of this exercise first by looking at this picture: 

3-Idiots Crossing the Valley

Some of my friends volunteered for this exercise. We saw that all of them were able to cross the valley without much trouble. At each point of time when one of the team member was in trouble (crossing the valley), the other 2 team members supported the one at risk. As a manager, the following planning needs to be done while carrying out the exercise:

- Technical arrangements needed - Strength of the pole, creating the markings on the pole to help the persons to know where to catch the pole

- Tasks and roles - Three people take variety of roles as they cross the valley. They change their roles in tandem with given accuracy.

- People Competencies that are needed - Skill and competencies than the will and way to do.

- Training inputs that are needed - Physical drill, Cooperation and coordination, Motivating the people with right kind of slogans

Prof Mandi explaining how the exercise needs to be done

The management principles which I learnt doing this exercise are:

a) ) Synchronization & Standardization: The feet movements of each person must be synchronized and standardized. That is how industries work. All the efforts of the team members must be in perfect sync for the achievement of the common goal.

b)Load Distribution: This activity involves sharing of the load among the 3 members. This is the same scenario we face in the corporate world where load needs to be shared among the team members working towards a common goal. The roles and responsibilities have to be divided among the members by the manager. Hence the task of the manager is very critical because that will drive the final output, the project and indirectly the organization as a whole.

Performing the task

                       
c) Simplicity in Design: The design of this example is very elementary but of profound significance as we are seeing via discussion of these principles. This is how the design should be done in industry also - keep the design as simple as possible and work towards its implementation.

d) Efficiency: Usage of minimum resources: Minimum amount of resources with minimal wastage forms the core of management. In the market, scarcity of resources is always there and one should always try to minimize the resources. Then only management is actually successful and drive itself towards excellence.

e) Watch out for the weakest link: As we observed, the role of each person in this exercise is interdependent on the other person roles. So, a team is as strong as its weakest link and hence the manager must always watch it carefully. 

In the end to sum it all up, it was a real learning session for all of us. I’m a firm believer that practical learning (i.e. the ability to do something) is just as important as academic learning (i.e. knowledge about something) and this exercise does just that.

"Explore the possibilities, make a choice, and work actively towards your goal, Practical learning will enrich your life in ways you never imagined"

3 Monks: "Teen Tigada; Kaam Bigada"

Since our childhood we have learned many stories and tales that have taught us something. One such movie took me back on the learning spree. The movie I am talking about is 3 monks film.This animated feature film produced by a Chinese animation Film Studio in the 80s highlights few managerial teachings in overall, a different way.

Let’s first have a look at the amazing film:

                                                                 The 3-Monks Film

Crew:

• Directed by - A. Da
• Written by - Pao Lei
• Release Year - 1980

Awards Received:

• Outstanding film award at the China's Ministry of Culture
• Best animated film award at the Golden Rooster Award
• Silver Bear award for short film

The film is based on the ancient Chinese proverb "One monk will shoulder two buckets of water; two monks will share the load, but add a third and no one will want to fetch water." This animation does an excellent job of getting its point across without any spoken words, the audience who does not speak any Chinese can easily understand it just as good as Chinese.

Story-line:

A young monk(red) lives a simple and peaceful life in a temple on the top of a hill. He has one daily task that irks him: he has to haul two buckets of water up the hill. He tries to share the job with another monk(blue) who comes to the temple later, but the carrying pole the monks use is only long enough for one bucket. The arrival of a third monk(yellow) prompts everyone to expect that someone else will take on the chore. Consequently, no one fetches water though everybody is thirsty. At night, a rat comes to scrounge and then knocks the candle holder, leading to a devastating fire in the temple. The three monks finally unite together and make a concerted effort to put out the fire. Since then they understand the old saying "unity is strength" and begin to live a harmonious life. The temple never lacks water again.

The following management lessons can be inferred from the story:

• Concept of Taylorism or Scientific Management must be used appropriately to assign the work and increase productivity 
• Teamwork boosts the productivity while working for a common goal. 
• Whenever there is more than one person involved, Disputes are bound to occur. 
• Solution to a problem will evolve over time depending on the available resources
• Work must be divided on the basis of talent so that all of them bring synergy to the system. ( 1 + 1 = 11 ) 
• Attitude of everyone in the team is important and it ultimately determines the fate of the organisation 
• Team work and coordination is the key to success

My past experience with NTPC has taught me the importance of team work, coordination and synergy in a team in many situations. One such situation is as depicted: There were 3 of us working for a project which required anyone of us to be present 24 hours, 6 days a week and the project required a lot of documentation work. Rather than fighting on who will come for the night shift and who will look after documentation, my manager identified our strengths and liking for night shifts by a team member. He allotted the night shifts to the interested person and documentation work to the one who was good at it. The project successfully completed on time and all of us were appreciated by the site heads.

So the common learning that came out, both from this movie and my personal experience is: 

Teamwork

"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships"

3-D printing: The Force that will bring Second Industrial Revolution

Need a jug? A toothbrush? A chess piece? A chocolate or A pair of shoes? It’s as easy as pressing the print button on your computer keyboard.

Yes, Science is at the forefront of what may be the next manufacturing revolution. “3-D printing", the popular name for additive manufacturing, has been identified as one of the technologies which can start the second industrial revolution. Using the 3-D printing techniques, regular people can now make goods traditionally produced in huge volumes in factories.

How it Works?

3-D printing builds objects by piling up successive layers of material, sometimes only microns thick—in three dimensions. Designers start by designing the product on a computer screen with drafting software. That design then goes through a program that cuts it up in slices, translating it into a stack of two-dimensional layers with very little thickness. The printer constructs the object by depositing the first layer of material, such as molten plastic that hardens, and then another and another, gradually creating the desired shape. As the printer head moves back and forth, the 3-D design becomes a reality.

3-D Printing: How it Works? 

                                   
Visualizing what exactly 3-D printers will deliver in future is difficult. In some respects it is like trying to picture back in the 1970's the role computers would play in our lives today. If you had asked anyone then what was so extraordinary about computers, you would possibly hear about how fast they are with the mathematical calculations. Their universal role today, not just in huge calculations but in banking, manufacturing, communication, entertainment and more would have been hard for most to foresee. Same is the case with 3-D Printing.

A Vision Realised 

                          
The negative side of 3-D printing

Someone in our class mentioned about its negative effects too. So yes when the technology becomes full proof, it will become very easy to make weapons, reproduce keys and do other such things with the help of 3-D printing. Such type of advances could make life easier for illicit drug manufacturers, terrorists or others with evil intent. But as the famous William G.T. Shedd once said - "A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for". So lets first develop this still underdeveloped technology to the fullest to reap its true benefits, then we will also handle the evils associated with the technology.

Have a look at the video for understanding the true potential of the 3-D printing technology:

                               

Being seen and worked on a Rapid Prototyping Machine during my graduation days at BITS-Pilani, I see the 3-D Printing technology a future changing and very fascinating one to work on. Prof Mandi, during one of the discussions in the class, not only reopened my eyes again to this upcoming technology but also inspired me to read and write about it.

The S.M.A.R.T. method to reach greater heights !

Sometimes doing practical examples teaches us very valuable lessons. The students of section A felt the same way when we witnessed “The Tower building exercise” in the class by our beloved Prof Mandi. Students were asked to build a tower in the class room. For building the tower students were given the following instructions:

•        The tower is to be built with wooden cubes.
•          The tower is made with only one cube base
•          The person actually making the tower will be blindfolded. Other team members will assist him from a distance, just like the top management guide its workers in an organisation.
•          Whenever tower falls, the game is over

All of us were asked to make an estimate of the Goal set, Goal achieved, Goal history, Potential for the team performing the task. I, as an external consultant gave the team suggestions about checking the alignment of the floor and advised them about the surface of wooden cubes while constructing the tower, as the pair of opposite faces of the cubes had different finishing on the surface.

The Team Building the Tower

After hearing a lot of answers from the students, Prof Mandi told us about the importance of SMART goals.

What is S.M.A.R.T ?

Before the start of class, Most of us used to believe that the concept of goal setting is

Pre-conceived Notions of GOAL SETTING 

A : Goal Set
B : Potential
C : Performance (actual)
D : Performance (history)

I used to believe that the goal set will always be higher than the potential. But then after understanding the complete sense of goal setting, I realized that every human has an immense potential, so potential will always be on the top.

Notion after realizing the POTENTIAL 

A : Potential
B : Goal Set

C : Performance (actual)

D : Performance (history)

So, "A" has to be potential for all of us. The goals which we set should be always less than our potential, but there should always be efforts made to bridge the gap between our potential and goals setting, "B" is our goal set. The managers should target to raise the bar of goals to be set.

Thumps up for the Theory-Y managers !

An organisation is as good as its managers are. They are the ones who drive an organisation towards meeting its objectives. A manager’s job is to lead, direct and inspire the people under him. A positive manager can steer a group of subordinates towards excellence whereas a manager with negative perception even after having the same group of subordinates can create a havoc for the organisation.

Therefore to examine such behavior of individuals at work, Douglas McGregor developed a philosophical view of mankind with his Theory X and Theory Y in 1960. He classified the managers in two broad categories, the positive ones are called Theory Y managers and the negative ones are called Theory X managers.Here is a video demonstrating the theories:

Theory X is an authoritarian style and keeps tight control over individuals. It advocates the belief that management must counteract an inherent human tendency to work. On the other hand Theory Y is a participative management style which believes that people are self-motivated and take responsibility for their work.

 Fig: Douglas McGregor’s XY-Theory 

As there are theory X and Y managers, in the same way there are 2 kinds of workers – lazy and not lazy. That makes up 4 different kinds of scenarios possible in an organisation.

Fig: Different possible scenarios 

Case A: When the manager falls under Theory X and the worker is lazy :
Such kinds of situations are generally of the worst kind. People in these cases prefer to be directed, do not want responsibility, and have little or no ambition. The organisations with such a culture will neither grow nor survive in the business environment until it gets rid of such managers and such employees.

Case B: When the manager falls under Theory X and the worker is not lazy:
Such a situation can be bad for people who actually want to learn and see their good in the good of the organisation. Instead such workers are not given good responsibilities due to the negative environment persisting in the company and they end up getting demotivated. It is harder to retain a good employee in such a scenario.

Case C: When the manager falls under Theory Y and the worker is lazy:
In such a scenario, there is a chance of the manager having positive impact on the workers by trusting them with productive work according to their competencies. Motivations can sometimes work miracles for such an organisation. In such a situation workers eventually tend to learn and start accepting part of their responsibilities.

Case D: When the manager falls under Theory Y and the worker is not lazy:
These kinds of situations are generally a win-win situation for both the organisation and the worker. The environment is generally very constructive in such an organisation and healthy competition is promoted. Each and everyone who aspires to be a big name wants to work in such an organisation. And all the great organisations are generally a result of this positive scenario.

                   By referring to my past experience as Assistant Manager with NTPC, I would say that I was lucky that I had a manager who fell under Theory Y category. The employees too were motivated by good prospects they had in the organisation. The manager trusted all his subordinates at work and gave them a chance to learn and grow professionally, while simultaneously creating value for the organisation as well. And thus we as a part of the organisation management contributed our part by making NTPC one of the best employers in India and a goldmine in terms of profit for the Government of India.