Free coffee and other incentives to attend class

I was wondering if I would have attended more classes in college if there was some free beverage on offer ?

After doing a one year full time course in the UK, I have emerged wiser, and of course almost bankrupt. The course (I did an MBA from Cranfield School of Management), was very nicely designed and I was very comfortable in setting a good pace against it. Exams were not a major headache and obtaining grades were just a formality.

 

And now I know why I hated studying while I was doing my bachelors degree in engineering in India. Yes, laziness played a major part in it. But there were many reasons for us (at least a lot in my cohort) to hate studies at college.  I am no way implying I had a bad 4 years at NIT Nagpur, oh no . In fact the time was awesome, spent mostly on non - academic stuff. Now, coming to why I hated studying  - reasons were plenty, and here are few of them - outdated syllabus, and outdated mode of teaching, lack of good content, lack of connection between profs and students, exam (grade) centered culture and so on.

And these were the same reasons I loved studying in the UK. In fact, just after being in the university for a few weeks, I knew why I hated going to classes back in India.

And there is one more reason - free tea/coffee at the Cranfield SOM. While it might not matter that much, but it was much of an incentive to at least turn up to the college building, hangout with fellow students, profs etc and also attend classes for a change. I remember waking up during my undergrad days, and rushing straight to the mess/canteen to find some tea or grab something to eat, before rushing off to attend the 11am lecture (classes used to start at 9). Having a vending machine to serve tea near the classroom would have definitely helped ;) Now, don't ask me the practicality/operational-plan of such an idea.

Now, one might argue that college is not for fun, relaxation and comfort, but a place for hard work in spite of challenges and to get the max out of it. Well, I agree, but I am also a lazy person, a Bengali by heart , and I love to live a slow paced life with as little hiccups as possible. So a degree on a sliver platter served with minimal effort from my side, while I was sleeping (and occasionally playing cards) in my dorm was exactly what I was looking for !

HBR Article: Common Language Doesn't Equal Common Culture

Common language does not mean common culture, and it is so true. A nicely written HBR article explaining exactly that, in the context of the US and the UK.

I have observed the same, especially when it comes to being 'enthusiastic' at workplace and also how certain typical responses differ when you talk to colleagues.

A typical response to 'How are you doing?' in the UK would be 'not bad' as opposed to the 'Great !' (note the exclamation mark) in the US.

In the UK (as the article rightly suggests, not all Britishers are typical Brits), people do behave conservatively and it spills over to how they behave in workplace, their mannerisms and conversations.

However when it comes to partying, or binge drinking, the pubs are overcrowded and noisy. Well, I would blame the weather for that, mostly !

 

Credits: Andy Molinsky, HBR blogger

 

Bribes, Kickbacks, Lobbying and more...

"India threatened Wednesday to cancel a deal to purchase 12 helicopters from the Italian firm Finmeccanica if an official inquiry proved the contract worth nearly $750 million was secured through kickbacks."

Source: AFP. (link)

India’s Cabinet approved a retired judge to probe claims that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) broke rules as it lobbied to enter the country’s retail market.

Source : Boolmberg (link)

In the Italian chopper case (or scandal as we love to call it), the Italian government has even termed it 'OK' to bribe or provide kickbacks of some kind for getting such deals ! Well, there is nothing to be surprised at, is it ? Not for them, but it is for us. As we somehow regard this way of acquiring business 'unethical' and'illegal'. I know there is a thin line between bribe and lobbying, but who draws that and who decides whats right ? Especially difficult when there are different cultural beliefs in play of the way business is done.

Read this news published in Firstpost.com - '... about 20 US-based companies and industry bodies spent more than $200 million (over Rs 1,000 crore) during 2012 on lobbying in India ... .'

We will be probing a lot of these 20 companies in the future for sure, especially if there is a big deal down the line, which will be given that there are big players involved.

Lobbying is certainly an alien concept in India. We do not like to spend time and money partying/networking, throwing out for lavish dinners for the sake of clinching deals. We believe in merit, and a fair tender process. However flawed this concept may be, it is how we like to operate (well, most of the times). This so called 'western' concept of 'Sifarish' (Reference) or of putting a good word for somebody to get something done favorably is difficult to digest. No wonder we are agitated when something of this sort happens.

Could this explain our inertia of reaching out to others when it comes to networking and (extend  this to Lobbying) finding new opportunities ? To me it certainly does.