We the people!

I don't know how to make sense of this...we have more cell phones than the number of people having access to toilets!

http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/more-cell-phones-in-india-than-toilets-report-20036.php

Rajiv

New Ways of Professing/Teaching

Whetten's article was liberating in some ways. His ideas were also reinforced by some discussions I had with a few students and colleagues. And in any case, teaching/professing must change and take into account the fact that most of human knowledge is now available with a few keystrokes. Hence providing information may not be a good goal of teaching.

RK

Why do We Lag Behind?

I was just wondering...well-known--well, that's an understatement, as you will shortly see--brands such as IBM, Coca-Cola, and even Tata or Reliance back home, spend tons of money to promote the already-well-known brands. IIMs do not do that...why? Not to say that the "Brand IIM" has faded over the years...but as I write this, I am acutely aware of the kind of spending IIPM does. Again, I am not at all a supporter of such ads, to me they mostly look vulgar. But are we doing enough?

Why do we have this?

Why, despite having little support, the need theories of motivation continue in the textbooks?

Clever (or dumb?) Phrases

I often come across phrases that do not make sense to me. At times, the sense they make is ephemeral, and subsequently confusing. I am jotting down two of them:

1. on the margin

2. point of departure

I feel like accusing that some clever people started using them, just to look more profound or to confuse people.

Rajiv

Something Wonderful

I have been fascinated by Piet Hien ever since I read his line in a book by Karl Weick which talked about mankind stumbling over the lines they themselves draw...just now I chanced upon the following page:

http://chat.carleton.ca/~tcstewar/grooks/grooks.html

This contains some truly amazing work from Piet Hien...happy reading!

Suggestions for Indian Airlines Industry

This idea had come to Abhishek and me about 2-3 months ago, and we did not know then that this might become more useful in times to come. Anyway, here is what we had thought...

Many Indian carriers are in a drive to cut cost. How about involving customers in this? Some tasks that crew members perform are not very difficult to do for a passenger. For example, serving food, drinks and collecting used utensils...these can be done by some willing passengers. If airlines are willing to offer some fare discount to people, at least some passengers might be willing to offer these services.

That's all for now...

RK