The case study method of teaching ..

Over the past two years I have taken more of a case study based approach in Management teaching that I carry out at Alliance School of Business Bangalore. More than enjoying it to the hilt, it remains the top student teaching tool (from a survey done among them) and gives me great satisfaction to see find that I am getting exposed to multiple perspectives regarding the case each time I discuss it in the class. It is great to see how perspectives of people get formed and differ.

Case studies are (real or made up) stories that are used as a teaching tool to show the application of a theory or concept to real situations. Dependent on the goal they are meant to fulfill the objectives of the course, cases can be fact-driven and deductive where there is a correct answer, or they can be context driven where multiple solutions are possible. www.vanderbilt.edu

Click here for a detailed article by Prof. Nitin Nohria in HBR of Dec 21.

Prof Nitin points to seven main reasons why the case based teaching is superior to other types of teaching in management education,

1. Preparation

2. Discernment

3. Bias recognition

4. Judgement

5. Collaboration

6. Curiosity and

7. Self-confidence

According to my experience in case based teaching and after student interaction, post classroom discussions among the students is what adds maximum value to students. Case discussions for sure do increase one's confidence in handling real life situations as with cases one is exposed to many real world instances of learning and experiencing management decision making.

One of the most interesting and beneficial cases of learning I found was when i discussed the case on cyber security in my MBA class. I prepared a fictitious case after reading the different aspects of cyber security from literature and own experiences at Goa Engineering College. After going through the case discussion in the class, I could sense for myself the added self-confidence the case gave to a non-science or non-engineering student as he / she got exposed to new concepts on hacking, cracking and information security. 

Besides giving students the new information and perspectives, I have found students to be very inquisitive and intuitive on observing and learning new concepts, being curious and better aware of of business aspects.

Another observation is when the student realises for himself the bias he had earlier and how it has changed with the interesting multi-faceted case discussions in the class. 

Most of the time it is difficult or not practical to collect all information regarding any situation and managers have to take decisions based on available incomplete information. The case discussion helps the students to differentiate the more important information from the less important one to aid in decision making.

Even though some of my students are very appreciative of the importance of doing role plays in the class to give more self confidence to students and forms the highest level in the Bloom's taxonomy, for a behavioural field like Management, most of the researchers feel the case based teaching is the best method of teaching students multiple concepts, helping understand multiple perspectives and biases.

My conclusion is that online mode of management education cannot give these additional physical interactions and thus do not help students attain high levels of learning and practice.

George.

Sonam Wangchuk's solar buildings

https://youtu.be/n-kAMX6Gz6A

Reliance Jio Platforms, the next great offering from India ?

It was in September 2016 that Jio, the mobile platform from the Indian conglomerate Reliance led by the elder brother  Mukesh Ambani offered its free Internet and free calling to customers around the country on VOLTE (Voice Over Long Term Evolution) networks. What started from one customer in 2016 in five years by 2021, has 426.2 million subscribers, the largest communications network in India and the third largest in the world.  

What makes this achievement very much interesting is the fact that all investments  into Jio Platforms and Jio Retail that got Reliance indebted for almost $21 billion has been taken up by global IT industry giants like FB, Google, Microsoft etc pumping billions of dollars, making the company totally debt free. 

By insisting on advanced VOLTE 4G technology over 2G and 3G technology, Dhirbhai Ambani made the right move by avoiding low tech investments which would not bring revenue.

Prof. Vijay Govindarajan, Anup Srivastava and Mani Venkatesh writing in the HBR of Dec 21 How working with competitors made Jio a telecom giant, (click here) speaks of the strategy adopted by Jio Platforms in emerging successful in the long run. The four major strategies mentioned in the article are given here

     1, providing innovative value to telecom ecosystem

     2, leveraging partner ecosystem

     3, engaging in co-opetition (cooperation + competition) and 

     4, providing unique digital experience through intermediation

Providing a highly affordable and efficient digital communications network in the country when all cellular players were taking the customers for a ride, was the turning point and the reason why Indians took to Jio platform like duck to water. Economical, affordable and value for money.

In just 26 months Jio platforms has changed the Indian communications, data and entertainment ecosystem, besides retail.

The whole nation looks forward to find what is next ?

George.

Visit to Toyota Engine Industries ..

 

 

Toyota as a company is known for its world class manufacturing and high quality products offering for the world market. We at Alliance School of Business also had a chance to visit another Toyota establishment, the Toyota Engine industries in Jigani Bommasandra area last week. We had met Mr. Santhosh Rao, the Associate VP of Toyota at the Alliance University industry get-together that helped us to arrange this visit on the 8th of December 2021. 

Toyota basically is from the Toyoda group who were till the 1940s manufacturing textile looms. The father Sakichi Toyoda was interested in textile looms manufacturing, incorporating some of the lean principles and Jidoka, while the son Kichiro Toyoda shifted his focus from textile looms to automobiles.  

 

Due to Covid restrictions we could not visit the shopfloor, but Santosh Rao was kind enough to spend an hour with us and explain the subtle difference between Toyota Motors and Toyota engine industries. Toyota engine industries now supplies engines to Camry, Corola. 

 

Besides, during the visit we also explored the possibility of having a couple of internships for the students and project opportunities. The supplier or vendor management of this facility is equally great as TKM and our students wil mostly take up opportunities in the vendor management area.

 

 

This plant supplies the diesel engines to the Corolla class of vehicles, particularly Crysta. Since some Japanese engineers were carrying out some assembly line studies and restructuring exercises we could not visit the shopfloor, but we look forward to visiting the assembly line very soon.

George.

Visit to Wipro 3D, Peenya, Bangalore

 

3D Printing is a very interesting aspect of Industry 4.0 and we the operations faculty at Alliance School of Buisiness got the opportunity to visit WIPRO 3D setup at Peenya on Tuesday 14 December 2021 from 9 am to 1 pm.

 

The college bus left the campus at 7.30 AM, because of the classes Amit could not join, Rojalin was not feeling well and could not join. 

 

 By 9 am we were in the Peenya Wipro establishment and by 9.30 finishing all the arrangements we were received by Arpit Agarwal, the manager at the facility and his two colleagues, engineers. We were inside the facility. We were stunned by the metallic 3D printed components that were on display, mainly parts for the aircraft industry like HAL and ISRO. They were mentioning how through 3D printing WIPRO could help ISRO with a 4 nozzle setup printed as a single component, avoiding any joints, welds, nuts, bolts etc.

 

We went to the top floor where  we were treated to a very high quality presentation on what the Wipro 3D facility is upto, it also covered some basics of 3D printing. Wipro 3D mainly is into metallic parts which is much more complicated and tough than 3D printed plastic components.

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) is used by 3D FDM or FFF printers and comes in the form of a long filament wound around a spool. Operating the 3D printer is fairly simple: the ABS strand is guided into an extrusion head or extruder that heats the ABS plastic to its melting point in order to liquefy it.  sculpteo.com

ABS remains a very popular material for 3D printing professionals due to its resistance to impact and high temperature (between -20°C and 80°C). It is opaque, offers smooth and shiny surfaces and can be welded by chemical processes using acetone. www.3dnatives.com

The fairly deep interaction between the 3 engineers and 4 faculty members from ASB helped us get an idea of what 3D printing is, the challenges we face on getting the raw materials, costs of the machine and the process, the challenges in terms of post finishing etc. Due to the poor awareness of the industry regarding the process, the process is yet to gain massive public approval. The industry is very much gripped with subtractive manufacturing proceses and have no idea of what additive process are and what are the benefits. 

After the discussions we were taken to the shopfloor where the complex EOS machines for 3D printing upto 200 mm cube were shown, The post processing is another interesting aspect where the burrs on the  surfaces of the manufactured component are treated to chemical processes for finish. 

The Naval establishment in India has a whole list of products waiting to be 3D printed and will soon be a big customer for Wipro 3D.

Dr U Chandrashekhar, the Director of the centre, spoke to us for one hour. He was looking more at collaborationn and starting courses at the college for the student community, mainly from a techno commercial angle with bit of engg and management in the course. By 1.20 PM we were out of the facility and by 2.30 we were in ecity. 

As a whole the trip was very well organised by Wipro, all our doubts regarding 3D printing were cleared, we got to see some of the most advanced 3D printing systems for metal part building, demonstrated to us.

AU has signed an MOU and is starting a 2 year MBA programme for students interested in 3 D printing from this year onwards. 

We are very thankful to Wipro for making the high quality visit possible. Also to Prof. Reeba from ACED who put us in contact with Dr. UC of Wipro.

george

Bringing Rockefeller habits to the work area ..

Rockefeller Habits were widely adopted by John D. Rockefeller that helped his organisation grow and become a global leader in the oil exploration industry. Even after a hundred years, these principles are very much valid and are helping industry develop and grow. The three main points it tries to work on are the priorities, data collection and the regularity in actions. It tries to reinforce these three important points, focus on the priorities, working with a rhythm and take decisions based on data by a regular habit to be inculcated in the employees.

Can the Rockefeller habits be applied to a service firm, is a question many people ask me. According to my experience, Rockefeller habits get maximum benefit when applied to service firms. Besides my industrial experience that related to manufacturing, I was also heading an educational Institute, where Rockefeller habits were very useful. Daily we used to have the 11 AM huddle, where Area chairs or HODs from different departments used to assemble standing and share their problems with the Principal and other colleagues. More often than not, quick suggestions used to come from other colleagues and the problem was half solved.

Rockefeller's three guiding principles are priorities, data, and rhythm. According to the book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish, Rockefeller determined that leadership needs to set priorities, learn from data, and create a rhythm within the organization. 

What are the 10 Rockefeller Habits ?   (www.growthinstitute.com)

1. The executive team is healthy and aligned

2. Everyone is aligned with the #1 thing that needs to be accomplished this quarter to move the 

   company forward

3. Communication rhythm is established and information moves through the organization quickly

4. Every facet of the organization has a person assigned with accountability for ensuring goals 

   are met

5. Ongoing employee input is collected to identify obstacles and opportunities

6. Reporting and analysis of customer feedback data is as frequent and accurate as financial data

7. Core values and purpose are “alive” in the organization

8. Employees can articulate the key components of the company’s strategy accurately

9. All employees can answer quantitatively whether they had a good day or week

10. The company's plans and performance are visible to everyone.

Visit to Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre

We had a memorable visit to Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre, BBC,  in Electronic city phase I yesterday, 10 Dec 2021. Our EPGDM colleague Prof Manjunath from IIMA who runs the startup Nanobubbles took us there.

BBC is the brainchild of the govt of Karnataka set up in 2016 to foster innovation among biotechnology professionals and entrepreneurs. It has finaincial help from the central government too. The centre offers superior lab testing and culture facilities in the facility for budding entrepreneurs. There are 41 startups working there presently almost 5 outcomes from BBC are already commercialized. 

Biotechnology is classified as green- agriculture, blue marine, grey - industry and red - medical. The developments in this area are happening so fast and finding great commercial realization and acceptance that we at ASB decided to give more attention to the field of biotechnology. 

Non availability of funds, long periods of incubation, non availability of manpower, high quality calibrated  labs and equipments are some of the problems faced by most biotech startups. BBC tries to solve them to an extent. 

Prof Manjunath deserves a big thanks for providing us with this opportunity to visit BBC. His own startup Nano bubbles in BBC helps using existing technology to clean sewage water more efficiently occupying less space and practically zero rotating equipment and power. Click here to find more on nano bubbles.

China's crumbling high speed rail infrastructure ..

China's investment in High Speed Rail infrastructure running for 37,900 kms at end 2020, 19,000 kms in 2015, has been the highest in the world over the past decade. Since 2015, they have invested almost double of what has been done by the rest of the world in 50 years. It has run into losses of $8 billion last year or about $24 million per day. 

 Is this heavy investment, running to the tune of $900 billion (by the central govt) and another $900 billion by the respective local governments a liability or giving proper returns to the Chinese GDP ? Is it a drain on the Chinese economy ?

Data points to the fact that it is causing Chinese economy to bleed. This article is trying to point to some  interesting and important data relating to HSR network in China and the world and how it is helping decongest the supply chain networks in China and other parts of the world. Thanks to the video from Chinese insights. (click here)

The 37000 kms of HSR built in China over the past ten years has been double of what has been built around the world for the past fifty years.  

The Tokaido Shikansen HSR built in Japan in 1964, stated generating profits in 3 years, extens for 500 km connecting 8 important cities in Japan and covering 55% of the population of Japan. It has had a passenger travel intensity metric value of 90 million passenger-km per km where the threshold for profits is at 36 million passenger km per km as per a Japanese academic. 

The average value of the same metric passenger intensity in China is 17 million passenger-km per km. The maximum has been between Beijing and Shanghai at 47 million passenger km per km while the minimum has been at 2.3 million passenger km per km. Thus we find Chinese HSR has been bleeding for a long time.

The average cost of HSR infrastructure is about 2.3 times higher than ordinary railway while the fare is about 3x. The low occupancy rate of HSR at 30% is one of the main reasons that the Chinese HSR is bleeding.

HSR rail essentially to run at profit has to travel through high population density areas. While Chinese ports account for 40% of global container transportation volume, the sea rail intermodal transportation within China is just 2.5% while the sea rail intermodal transportation rates for US and Europe is at 40% and 38% respectively.  China controls about 49% of the world port container freight.

We find that infrastructure cost wise, HSR infrastructure cost is 3 times ordinary rail costs. The weight of a HSR train axle is about 70T that of an ordinary train is just 23T. 

For every doubling of speed we find the fare increases 4 times. ie. to save 8 hours on an average for a ride, one has to spend about $32, which does not work well for the Chinese public.

The growth in GDP occurs when for every $100 billion invested in ordinary rail road infrastructure gives a return of more than $100 billion in the long run. But this has not been happening for HSR. The poor occupancy has slowed down the returns that proves that Chinese HSR is bleeding.

It is high time Chinese communist dictators take a relook at their bleeding HSR network.

The Indian political leaders should look at the Chinese failed experiment and instead of going for HSR within the country should go for ordinary rail network running at app 200 kmph speeds.

George.

Should we start investing in crypto currencies ?

This is a question that has been bothering most of us for the past three years, ever since Bitcoin came on the scene and made waves in the financial world. People were vacillating whether to invest or not, will they invite government sanctions or not .. Will their investments be confiscated and whether they would have to face the wrath of the law. But some people in spite of this confusion and unclear policy guidelines did invest and hold fortune in bitcoin, the most famous of the crypto currencies. 

People keep asking me, is it the right time to invest in creptos ? We are losing time, there are thousands of crypto currencies already in the market. Which one would be a safe bet and which would give us attractive returns in the long run ?

Frankly speaking, it is a big question. 

To find more about this I did a search and came across this HBR fictional case study. (click here) in the publication of Nov 2021, where a CEO of an educational startup wants to decide on collecting fees and paying the vendors using bitcoin. After much deliberations and consultations, the startup decides to go for bitcoins, knowing fully well that an appreciation in the value could bring great gains for the company and a fall in value could even wipe it out of the market. Even the US government does not recommend its wid spread usage and users are doing it at their own risk.

A country like China has declared all crypto currency transactions to be illegal from September '21. (click here for a BBC report).

George..

Signing MOU with Toyota

 

It was a great occasion to rejoice on 13 November 2021 at Alliance University. After lot of communication and visits, Alliance University was signing a momentous MOU with Toyota Kirloskar Motors in Bidadi, near Bangalore. The Deputy General manager from Toyota Kirloskar Motors, Mr. Roshan R. (Roshan san) and the Pro Chancellor of Alliance University, Bangalore Mr. Abhay Chebbi put their signatures on the accord that will see many an Alliance student and faculty get trained in world class Toyota Production system and the Toyota culture. In the 25 year history of Alliance University, this is the most notable and proud achievement. Never have we had an MOU before with a Fortune 10 company of the world. Great leadership from Abhay Chebbi. A very big thanks for Surekha Shetty for making all this possible.

The MOU is mainly to help the students and faculty from Alliance University schools of Business and Engineering to learn the Toyota Production System, their working culture and superior manufacturing processes. 

 

A photo opportunity with Roshan san

Toyota may not be a market leader in India, but is undoubtedly the best in the world. What distinguishes Toyota from the competition are the following interesting points

• high quality
• high reliability
• low cost to own and maintain
• the way they treat employees
• safety 
• trustworthy

Denis Chambers in his book, How Toyota changed the world, writes of 7 points that has helped Toyota make a big difference in this world.

• humility 
• investing in the future
• immerse everyone in the corporate culture
• removing waste
• promoting cleanliness
• concentrate on flow of parts / assembly
• no complacency with success

Humility was writ well on the face of the Toyota senior officials. Toyota is ranked at position 9 in the Fortune list of global companies just ahead of Volkswagen at no. 10 and behind Walmart and Amazon at no 1 and no 3 respectively. (click here). 

 

The charismatic Roshan san

Toyota was established in 1939 in Japan after transitioning from the Toyoda textile loom company established in the beginning of 1912, before the first world war.  The second world war did a lot of damage to Japan and Toyota's factories were used to manufacture war planes for the Axis forces. Toyota products then were synonymous for poor quality. After the second world war and active support from US, the visit of Prof. Deming and Juran, there was no looking back for Japan and especially Toyota in the area of quality of manufacturing. The early 80s saw Toyota consolidating in Japan and also establishing itself as a small car manufacturer of the world, delivering quality vehicles for a global audience. 

 

The signing of the MOU with Toyota is a significant step in improving the academic environment in Alliance University, enabling delivery of high quality learning and training sessions both at Toyota premises and University premises for the students and faculty of Alliance University. 

 

The leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way - John C. Maxwell

 

Toyota is truly the leader we all look upto ..

Roshan san gelled well with students

We are more than committed to follow the leader and are much delighted about it. Immediately after the MOU ceremony, the first engagement we had was for about 50 students with Roshan San. Roshan San had a session on the Toyota Lean Practices. This session was so simple and full of practical cases and examples, the students really loved the session. On 19 th November, already a batch of 30 students had been to the Toyota plant for the first one day plant visit and training. Because of the heavy rains lashing Bangalore the previous night, the roads were all soggy, resulting in slow traffic, but for a shaky start, the training session of about 7.5 hours,, with a working lunch in the ISO 21000 certified canteen, was very much valuable for the students. It gave them an idea of what corporate training is all about. And they received it not from any ordinary trainer, across the road, but from the world's top automobile manufacturer, Toyota.  

From the time Alliance University was interested in signing the MOU with the active help provided by senior management and our visit to the Toyota campus, everything has happened for the good. The University and students are very thankful to Toyota for giving this great opportunity to them to know more about the Toyota way of life and culture.

 

We are sure this is an alliance which Toyota will never regret having entered into. It is going to be a synergising and mutually beneficial one.  Sudhakar san who accompanied Roshan san was a great support for all of us and we hope will be into the future too.

George.

What is all this fuss about COP26 ?

What is climate change ?

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas), which produces heat-trapping gases - UN '20.

Climate change describes a change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region over a long period of time.

 

What are the 5 effects of climate change?

1. More frequent and intense drought, 

2. storms, 

3. heat waves, 

4. rising sea levels, melting glaciers 

5. warming oceans can directly harm animals, destroy the places they live, and wreak havoc on people's livelihoods and communities.

 

What are the 3 main effects of climate change?

Effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves.

10 Climate Change Impacts That Will Affect Us All

• Damage to your home. ...
• More expensive home insurance. ...
• Outdoor work could become unbearable. ...
• Higher electric bills and more blackouts. ...
• Rising taxes. ...
• More allergies and other health risks. ...
• Food will be more expensive and variety may suffer. ...
• Water quality could suffer. 
• Outdoor exercise and recreational sports will become more difficult
•  Disruptions in travel

UNFCCC Rio Earth Summit, 1992 (UN Framework Convention of Climate Change)

What is the COP?
The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements. (click here for more)

COP1 Berlin 1995 (Conference of the Parties)

COP21 Paris Climate Summit 2015

COP26 Glasgow, England

One of the most famous COP summits have been the one in Paris  in 2015, COP21. Lot of countries came to a conclusion, US and China joined hands. The world took a decision to control the global temperature rise to within 1.5 deg C. Even at COP 26, the countries have all been saying about controlling the global temperature rise.

COP26 climate summit - The basics

• Climate change is one of the world's most pressing problems. Governments must promise more ambitious cuts in warming gases if we are to prevent greater global temperature rises.
  
  
  
  
  
• The summit in Glasgow is where change could happen. You need to watch for the promises made by the world's biggest polluters, like the US and China, and whether poorer countries are getting the support they need.
• All our lives will change. Decisions made here could impact our jobs, how we heat our homes, what we eat and how we travel.

In the role play we had in the class, the class of 10 was divided into 3 blocs, China - the largest polluter in the world, US - the highest per capita annual polluter of 27 T and second largest global polluter and India - world's third largest polluter, with each country trying to speak about their commitment to contain the temp change due to global climate change to within 1.5 deg C by 2050. 

 

The role play also ended by enacting the COP26 failure as India and China were not ready to restrict usage of coal as primary energy source and the shifting of near-zero country Carbon commitment of China to 2060 AD and of India to 2070 AD, while US stuck to its promise of 2050 AD for net zero Carbon commitment.  

 

The focus on extreme global weather events was missing in COP26.

 

Lot of learning, it made all students understand about the dangers of climate change and form an informed opinion of their stand on the global climate crisis.

George 

 

 

Learning should be part of our daily routine ..

The generation of today will be the people set to lead the industry of tomorrow. It is essential that the present younger generations get to understand  what are the major changes going to happen into the future and how to cope with them.

active learning thru doing

This classroom activity came out of reading the HBR document of Nov 2021 titled, Make learning part of your daily routine (click here) as part of a creative classroom engagement.

I divided the class into pairs of 4 groups and asked them the propelling questions, part of the HBR article, which got them to think more into how their learning, unlearning and relearning activities into the future needs to get conditioned.

Click here for my presentation on propelling questions. 

I asked the 4 groups these propelling questions in order, one after the other and wanted them firstly hold pair wise discussion  in their group and then discuss their finding and points with the class.

1. Imagine it’s 2030. What three significant changes have happened in your industry?

2. How might you divide your role between you and a robot?

3. Which of your strengths would be most useful if your organization doubled in size?

4. How could you transfer your talents if your industry disappeared overnight?

5. If you were rebuilding this business tomorrow, what would you do differently?

When these 5 questions were asked to the students in the particular order, there were perceptible apprehensions in the class as to how humans needed to learn, unlearn and relearn aspects and features of work in the future world, which will still be relevant in 2030.

Asking propelling questions is a tool in the unlearning stage, which helps the participants to understand how their work skills and areas will get overrun by modern technologies or events, to identify the specific areas and skills that will remain untouched by the impact of exponential technologies.

The outcome of the class activity was interesting. The students were of the unique opinion that all work mundane, repetitive and daily decision making will get automated and done by robots, but 

• infrequent decision making, 
• motivation, 
• leadership, 
• conflict resolution, 
• new product development, 
• research and development areas where emotional quotient will have a major role to play, will be untouched by robots or autonomous machines.

The relearning aspect on the above noted skills needs to focus on these aspects of our work to better adjust to the changes of the future.

George..

iD Fresh Business model

 

It is great to see iD fresh, the company that made the best South Indian breakfast and snack dishes of Vada, idlis, parathas and dosas better at affordable rates, has come a long way. They have set up a INR 50 crore plant in Anekal with generous help from Azim Premji ventures.

In the present day world, there is better awareness of what is good quality in foods to consume. The Food processing industry is getting all the more important with each passing day with better health awareness of the population and processed food industry is bound to have excellent growth in the coming decades.

Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industrial methods used to make convenience foods. Wikipedia

Click here  for a Harvard uty doc on why processing of foods is done, the different types of processed foods, advantages and disadvantages etc .

Idfresh idli dosa vada batter does not have any added preservatives and has to be used within 3-4 days and is to be stored in controlled refrigerated environments. Storage and transportation is a problem which prevents the massive growth of this business model. 

 

Processed food is any food that’s altered during preparation to make it more convenient, shelf-stable or flavorful. Some foods are much more processed than others. 

 

There are lots of discussions on what foods are better - minimally processed ones or the maximally processed. Without any extra reasoning, it can be concluded, if you read the following passage.  

Minimally processed food vs heavily processed food

A bagged salad or pre-cut green beans technically count as processed, but it’s only minimally processed because its natural state hasn’t changed. 

In other words, it looks pretty much the same as you’d find it in nature. Bottled water is minimally processed.

A box of macaroni and cheese or a microwavable dinner or biriyani on the other hand, are considered heavily processed (also called ultra processed) because they’ve been chemically altered with artificial flavors, additives and other ingredients. A bottle of coke or Pepsi on the other hand is heavily processed - ihsfna.org

George 

A $12 trillion business opportunity in next 15 years ..

To address the realities of climate change and the ways in which we are increasingly overrunning planetary boundaries, we must shift our mindsets, technologies, and business models away from incremental thinking. 

 

We urgently need to find real breakthroughs — the kinds of things that will have 100x impact on a billion or more people. Doing so means shifting our mindsets from linear thinking to exponential thinking; chasing technologies that will help us overcome resource constraints and create a world of abundance; and finding business models that are more social, lean, integrated, and circular. 

 

According to UN estimates, if we can meet key stretch goals in just four areas — food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials, and health and wellbeing — we could open up market opportunities worth up to $12 trillion a year in less than 15 years.

UN says saving the planet is a $12 trillion opportunity for next 15 years. That is a terrible amount of investment brewing up .. Click here for the HBR paper ..

It makes great sense for the entrepreneurs of tomorrow to concentrate on the field of saving the planet from an ecological disaster.

UN Global Compact - what and how ?

The UN Global Compact is a call to companies to align their strategies and operations with ten universal principles related to 

1. human rights

2. labour

3. environment and 

4. anti-corruption and take actions that advance societal goals and the implementation of the SDGs

The ten principles of UN Global Compact

Human Rights

Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and

Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour

Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and

Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment

Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Anti-Corruption

Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------

12,000+ signatories in over 160 countries, both developed and developing, representing nearly every sector and size.  Participants in the UN Global Compact include over 12,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories, making it “the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative.” Participants commit to Ten Principles covering human rights, labor, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. www.unglobalcompact.org

By incorporating the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact into strategies, policies and procedures, and establishing a culture of integrity, companies are not only upholding their basic responsibilities to people and planet, but also setting the stage for long-term success. These points which comprise the UN Global Compact are non-legally binding.

The fees for joining the different action platforms ranges from $20,000 (for companies with revenues more than $5 billion) to $1250 (for companies with revenues less than $25 million).

The basic purpose of the UN Global Compact is to ensure that all governments and corporates of the world voluntarily collaborate and partyicipate to adhere to the 17 SDGs and finally restrict the global rise in temperature to less than 1.5 deg C.

George.

The power of democracy and Mullaperiyar waters ..

The people of Kerala have been living in fear for the past one month basically because the rains

This is the great power of democracy. The leader of the opposition in Kerala Legislative assembly Shri V D Satheesan of the Indian National Congress party has written to the democratically elected Chief Minister of the sister state of Kerala of Tamil Nadu Shri. M. K. Stalin asking his help and intervention in resolving the Mullaperiyar dam issue bordering Kerala and Tamilnadu in Idukki district in Kerala.

The 70 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) water from the 125 year old Mullaperiyar dam besides irrigating 4 districts in Tamil Nadu and generating 140 MW of power in Tamilnadu, is feeding the 780 MW Idukki hydel power project of Kerala. The present height of water at 136 ft poses a threat to the dam. TN wants the height to be raised to 142 ft so that it has enough potential energy to generate 140 MW power by the time it enters the hydel power project in TN. Kerala wants the height to be reduced to

The fear is that the collective discharge from all the damaged downstream dams of Periyar could endanger the lives of almost 35 lakh people of 5 districts of Idukki, Kottayam, Alleppey, Ernakulam and Trissur in Kerala living in the downstream areas of the dam.

Mullaperiyar details :
Total capacity 433.2 million cu m
Active capacity 299.13 million cu.m.
Maximum water depth 43.281 m (142 ft

Imagine about 300 million cubic meters of water or 300 million tonnes of destructive power gushing along the central parts of Kerala emptying finally into the Arabian sea.

Added to this are the waters of Idukki dam (1460 million cu.m, ie. 5x Mullaperiyar capacity) and ten other dams that will be breached. The combined water discharge can be anyway above 2500 million tonnes of water powering it's way thru central Kerala into the Bay of Bengal along the Periyar river. 

The whole ciy of Kochi, the industries, Refineries, Port Trust, Naval establishment everything could get washed off and Kerala would get divided into North and South Kerala. The people living in the central parts of Kerala are living in fear fearing an imminent collapse of the dam resulting in massive loss of human, animal and plant life besides damage to cash crops and private public property.

The potential energy from Mullaperiyaar situated 880m above Mean Sea Level could be so devastating by the time it reaches the Arabian sea 156 kms away, it could be equivalent to 180 times the destructive power of the atom bomb dropped at Hiroshima (equivalent power of 15,000 T of TNT). The complete destructive power of the atom bombs of Hiroshima and Nagazaki was 40 KT of TNT.

We can expect something similar to happen in central Kerala in the coming days or years if the new Mullaperiyar dam is not constructed across the Periyar. Around 600 years back, around 1341 AD, the Periyar river got breached that led to to the silting and the complete destruction of the ancient Muziris port. This time the damage will be still bigger and more painful. 

It is great to see democracy at work but the most important question is, will the very popular Tamil Nadu CM heed to the Kerala leaders request and help in building the second Mullaperiyar dam downstream and avoid a human catastrophe. We hope MK Stalin would listen to reason this time.

George

15 futuristic exponential technologies we need to look out for ..

What are the 15 futuristic technologies that we need to look out for. These are got from a survey I did with my friends in teaching, Management and Engineering sector.

They are

1. Internet of Things

2. Artificial Intelligence

3. Cyber Security

4. Genomics

5. Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality

6. Blockchain technology

7. 3D Printing

8. Drone technology

9. Nano technology

10. Vertical farming / hydroponics

11. Renewable energy

12. E-learning

13. Robotics

14. sharing economy

15. Big Data

What dores this men for the future world ?

George..

Risks associated with AI systems implementation

We look upto Machine Learning AI systems to give the best decisions in whatever situation hey are put in. But actually do things happen this way ? This dilemma of the different risks associated with a machine learning AI system has been presented quite well by Boris Babic et al in his HBR article of Jan-Feb 2021 issue titled When Machine Learning goes off the rails. (click here)

What are the different risks associated with a machine learning AI system.

Machine Learning systems are complex, they simply rely on probabilistic models

Concept Drift - inputs collected during typical data collection periods may not be applicable during other peiods

Covariate shift -  Coviariate shift happens when the data fed into the algorithm under use differs from the data fed while training it.

Agency risk - risk that stems from usage in situations that are not under the control of the user

Moral risk - being unable to solve moral dilemmas, of racial discrimination, gender discrimination etc

One of the tough questions that decision makes often encounter with AI systems is how long to allow the systems to learn and when to lock it out. Because with each learning we find the system taking different decisions from the previous ones.

What should organisations do to make the system risk free ?

1. We need to look at AI systems as human systems and not machine systems

2. Get the AI systems certified before using it

3. Monitor the system continuously to avoid any incorrect or biased decisions that can affect humans 

4. Asking the right questions can help unravel the inherent bias in the system

Mitigating the risks associated with AI adoption may be more critical than adopting the technology itself.

Since in the future we can expect most of the systems to be AI dependent, it is highly necessary that we need to understand and manage the risks of AI adoption that managing the implementation of th technology itself. We can then avoid some really embarrasing situations. 

George

The future of the car - HBR podcast Oct '21

Will the Internal Combustion engine car (ICE) of the past 120 years have a silent death in the coming decade ? This is an interesting point I was discussing with my friends and colleagues over the past two months. They have all been unanimous that the IC Engine car is on the death bed, it is on the way out. The ICE car business model is dead. It is not worth spending money on a new ICE car.

While listening to the HBR podcast on the Future of the car (click here) with Ford's Hau Thai Tang, Oct '21, what surprised me was the fact that the automobile is moving from the Internal Combustion Engine to a high tech item. More than being mobility vehicles, they are instruments of mobility providing solutions to many of our daily problems.

Modern day cars are going to be

• electrically powered, 
• increasingly autonomous and driverless
• connected over the air for software updates, 
• able to collect data on driving distances, and driving style
• able to predict future component failure and plan preventive maintenance schedules
• not owned by driver, shared mobility
• high-tech needing higher computing intensity 
• have more processor chips to automate many decisions 

In a US study it was found that the 2.5 tonne modern day cars, 80% are used barely for less than 14 miles daily with 20% less than 2 miles daily and only 5-10 % are used more than 100 miles a day. The cars in our homes are used for barely 2 hours daily, less than 10% of the time with the other 90% of the time, the car sitting idle. Spending about INR 10-15 lakhs for such a dead investment, does it make financial sense ?

Should we be looking at shared mobility solutions in the future, with lead taken by Ford itself to enable customers to rent out their cars to willing customers, that can reduce the number of cars on the road, leading to benefiting the environment, reducing pollution ?

Can multi-modal solutions help with customers being able to move over long distances over different modes like car, cycle, bus, train etc all networked with data sharing ?

Lets eagerly wait for a bright and better electrically powered future for mobility.

George

How can wastage be prevented at Huskur gate fruit market ?

 The other day we went with MBA sem 3 students to the Huskur gate fruit market, near Electronic city, in Bangalore, the second largest in India and the largest mango market in Asia. 

 

The most striking aspect of the market was the quantity of fruits that come to the market daily from different parts of South India. The two most important stakeholders in the fruit supply chain are the growers or farmers coming from different parts of the country bringing their produce, the middle men who buy from the farmers, mandi merchants and finally the customers or the buyers who buy from the traders or middle men at a profit. 

The middle men serves the purpose of acting as a buffer when the farmer does not find a customer straight away and has to leave the place entrusting his produce with a middle man, often selling to him at a fair price. Often we find the middle men control the market to their benefit.

The most striking aspect of the market when I asked the students was that it was not properly maintained, was very dirty, bad odour, wastes were being scattered with no proper treatment visible and the haphazard movement of fruits and vehicles in the compound. 

The market opens at 5 AM and is operational till 10 AM by when most of the deals are sealed. No sign of control or authority was visible at the site. It was a disorderly wayward setup.

 

We immediately got on the job, what and how can we rectify the situation ? In the class discussion we had this morning, we identified that the fruit market is a part of the distribution supply chain of fruits. The main stakeholders in it are the farmers who bring the produce for sale, the customers who buy the produce and the farmers who grow them. Both farmers and customers are geographically spaced.

 

We deliberated in the class how we could use the Ishikawa Cause and effect diagram to identify the main causes for the sad state of affairs at the market. Among the most important of the six factors of men. materials, machines, methods, measurements and mother nature, we observed it was methods that had the maximum impact on the poor state of affairs at the market. 

Not having a proper Standard Operating Procedure on how to handle and dispose wastes, the poor coordination between the BBMP officers and the farmers and traders, poor data collection on sales and wastes, the poor post-harvesting strategies adopted by the farmers to ensure long life of the produce, contributed to the mess facing the market.

The seasonal nature of the fruits arriving at the market, the perishable nature and hence different storage and processing strategies for the different fruits contributes to the complexity in the supply chain processes. As Peter Drucker says, if you cant measure it, you cannot improve it. So the first and most important step in identifying and reducing waste, is to measure the waste. It can be an arduous task to do so. But let it be a start. 

We wish to present this to the ASB management to possibly pursue with Toyota during the MOU signing process as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, to ensure better organised market and waste processing strategies ensuring better profits to farmers, middle men and customers in the long run. 

Data is something we find in very short supply and it is not captured anywhere, except in the daily trade and the tax records of the day. The data regarding the types of fruits, the wastes generated daily, the reasons for the wastes could throw great insight into how agri supply chains can be optimised to the future.

Reliance Fresh Koramangala gets a massive facelift

The almost 2400 sft Reliance Fresh outlet in  Koramangala 6th block has been my favourite shopping place for many years. After the Covid scare of 2020, after eighteen months I went to the same shop two days back. It was surprising how the store look has changed, though the customer footfall is very low. Provision, dairy, vegetables, fruits, toiletry, cold items, bakery goods are all very efficiently placed.

Lot of changes have come up in the store : 

1. Lots of illumination

2. broader aisles

3. shelves of shoulder height

4. narrow shelves

5. creative shelving 

6. focused illumination on the shelves

7. neat shelved material arrangements are quite good. 

 

In short, I can very proudly claim that the whole area is 5S enabled. A place for everything and everything in it's place.

 

I found that the variety of display products has improved, though the quantity of goods on shelves has reduced. One of the main concerns of a retail customer is to find where a particular material is stored. With proper SOP of replenishment of shelves, the store can be made highly efficient in the coming days. 

The arrival of e-commerce and sites like Jiomart. Big basket with Tata, Amazon pantry etc has very much reduced the customer footfall at these stores. Since e-commerce sites have come of age and are delivering good quality products,

A treat for the customer to find items. The billing counters now have more area and is customer friendly. They did jot have Google pay, only payTM. However they had to accept my Gpay transactions as I softly threatened to walk off. 

It's good to see retailing store layout get optimised and getting superior in allowing enough customer footfall. Wishing the store great days ahead..

George