I, The Absolute

• As we know by this time, when we have large data, the data follows normal distribution, a.k.a., bell curve. But how do you explain a class average of 98% marks in a take-home assignment?

• Is communication after all not that important? Today, we had a guest speech by Mr. Thierry Moulonguet, the ex-CFO of Nissan. He, along with the CEO of Nissan, had made a turn around in the financials of the company. The key to their success was execution, which is where most of the firms, as do individuals, fail. He is basically French. He did not come out as a great communication, in English. Perhaps, because he was not talking in his native language. Perhaps, did communication never matter as it was all about getting there and “doing” it?

• You get something ‘free’ when you buy some large/costly item. You go to a gold shop, you get an aerated drink free. Buy a TV, get some clock free. What is free for us ISB students? Speaker Series. We have excellent speakers come down to ISB to share their experiences. In one month, we have had two CFOs of globally renowned companies coming down here. Many more would come in the months to come. Some of the speakers in past were Michael Dell, Vassela of Novartis.

• Clubs are an important part of a b-school. At b-schools having long history, the list of such schools can be very long. At ISB, we have a few of them. Most of the clubs will be based on popular functions/electives, such as, marketing, finance, consulting, etc. After having been postponed many times, finally, the launch of the finance club happened with an internal speaker series. This is where the students who have had experience in finance give ‘gyan’ to other students. Good and easy way to learn about other functions. Got some insights into IB, Hedge-funds, equity research, etc. I spoke about corporate banking, which is where I came from.

• Another 10 days, we have final exams. I have been studying quite late into the night. The results have not been very encouraging though. Trust by the exam time, I will catch up and hope to get the targeted marks. As the exams are in-class ones, don’t expect students to be scoring in the region of 98 %, cheat sheet notwithstanding. The bell curve should see its day when the final exams results come out.