S Anand

How would I compare LBS against IIM-B so far? Let’s see.

• Faculty: LBS probably wins marginally. More famous faculty, more industry experience, better communication. But like I said, marginal.
• IT infrastructure: IIM-B wins!
• IT management: LBS wins. They manage what they’ve got extremely well.
• Companies coming for placement: LBS wins.
• Placement process: Debatable. IIM-B definitely has a more student-friendly process.
• Library: Books-wise, IIM-B wins. Electronic resources-wise, LBS wins.
• Students: Comparable. Too early to tell the difference probably. The point is, however, that everyone in LBS has a lot of work-experience.
• Campus: IIM-B wins hands down. I mean, LBS faces Regent’s Park and all that, but it doesn’t really have a campus.
• Lecture rooms: LBS wins marginally. Slightly better rooms, better equipment.
• Hostel: IIM-B wins. LBS doesn’t have one.
• Location: LBS wins. Heart of London.
• Exchange programmes: LBS wins.

LBS is ahead, but not by far.

Today, I saw a train coming late for the first time. The British Rail comes to the Ilford station at minutes ending in 3 (11:03, 11:13, etc.) Today, the train was TWO MINUTES late. Two whole minutes. Probably because it was raining. I hear people complain about the punctuality of these trains.

Well, most of the day was spent at the computer center doing assignments. If you want a flavour of what I’m doing, check out my report on Koito, which is about Pickens trying to take over Koito.

We made some vatha kozhambu at home this morning. Now, you’ll have to take my word for it, because we ourselves weren’t very convinced. But it was hot. It was thick. And though it had too much tamarind, it tasted great (or so we say). After that heavy bruch, it was time for LBS.

I think I’m the slowest typist at LBS. The speed at which the keyboards chatter around me is incredible. So fast, in fact, that I lose my nerve and tend to make mistakes or type slowly. The guy to my right, for example, is glued to the monitor and is typing about 3 characters for every keystroke of mine. So far, he hasn’t pressed backspace. Luckily, the lady to my left is using the mouse more than the keyboard!

We had the second group meeting of our ‘Dynamics of Strategy’ group yesterday. The group has 2 Indians, 2 Germans and a Mexican. The first meeting of our ‘Mergers & MBOs’ course was today, and that group has 1 Indian, 1 German and 1 Japanese. Actually, the accent is the least of the problems. It’s getting to figure out a way of working that’s the real hurdle. But the good part is, everyone’s focused, willing to take initiative, and follow guidelines. No problems so far.

BCG gave their presentation today. Extremely impressive. About 3 managers, 2 partners and 5 consultants came for the presentation. 2 of them presented, and the presentation was entirely about the life of a consultant. Not the technical life — no. It was largely insights into the social life. They explained why they came to consulting, how they felt the thrill in consulting, how they balanced their family life, had to make compromises, etc. It seemed very balanced. The best part was a video which involved BCG’s clients, family members of BCG consultants, and ex-BCG employees, but no BCG employees at all. That proved an excellent way of telling us what it’s really about. I’ll hand it to BCG for doing things in style.

After a group meeting, we went to ‘The Biz’, a restaurant inside LBS. They served some kind of rice with curry containing lots of vegetables. I ate rather well and found it quite edible, until I heard the price. 3.50 pounds, or about Rs. 233. Roughly what my sandwich cost in Tokyo. Very nice.

I needed a suit for the Boston Consulting Group presentation tomorrow, so the afternoon was largely a shopping exercise. I took the tube to the Bond Street station, and walked along Oxford Street. It’s something like the Brigade Road of Bangalore, I guess. The first shop I walked into had been strongly recommended by my cousing (Vishnu) — Ciro Citterio. Luckily they had BIG brushed aluminium signs outside saying “Sale!”, and had 99 pounds written boldly, so I had the guts to walk in. (Of course, I didn’t convert. I don’t fancy buying suits for Rs. 6,650).

A salesman walked up and said, “Hey, my man! Can I get you a suit?”

“Uh, yes please. Actually, this is the first time I’m really shopping for a suit, and I’m a complete social moron, so why don’t you help me?”

He walks me up to some hep-looking suits and says, “You should be about 38, my man. So how about these?”

“Wonderful. Excellent. Are they 99 pounds?”

Stops on his tracks. Turns around. Says, “Oh!” and walks me down to another section. Points at a whole rack of suits, says “They’re all 99 pounds.”

“Why are they on sale?”

I must admire his sense of self-control. He probably mentally awarded me the ‘Naive Question of the Year’ award, and said, “Because, my man, no one bought them for a long time, and we’re clearing them out.” Suits me fine. So I try out a couple of suits, decide to try other shops, and then come back.

The next visit was to Marks & Spencer’s on Oxford Street. Nice place, but I don’t know what the fuss is all about. Looks pretty much like Stopper’s Shop to me, and considering that this is London, probably a whole lot cheaper. There were quite a few suits for 99 pounds too, but Ciro Citterio was offering a shirt and tie for free (upto 30 pounds) along with it.

From there, took the Underground to Notting Hill gate (yes, the same Notting Hill as the movie) and then to High Street Kensington. (If all the names sound familiar, you’ve been playing Monopoly.) There’s a shop called Amazon there which had a suit for 79 pounds. Yes, I said ‘a suit’, because they had one. But I didn’t like it. So it was the tube again, this time to Fulham Broadway. More shops, and none with what I wanted. Back to Bond Street station and Ciro Citterio. Now I’m the proud owner of an Oxford Street suit.

Well, apparantly LBS has just had its lecture theatres (LTs) newly made! Which is why they look so good, I hear. At least, the Professors keep commenting about how new the LTs are, and how they’re unused to it and all that.

This afternoon, Pallavi, another exchange student, an MBA 2001 student and myself, got together and ran a series of mock interviews. LBS’ consulting club has some very good material on case interviews.

Today we had a lecture on ‘World Economy: Problems and Prospects’. Professor Andrew Scott was awfully funny. We discussed the reason for the growth of the US Economy today. Well, we’re still not too sure why it grew, but IT may be part of the reason. Following the lecture, Nick Craft, a guest lecturer from the London School of Economics, came and gave an interesting talk on the same. Bit of a problem with his slides, though. Self-admittedly, he failed arts in school, and his combination of a bright green gradient against a purple background can leave no stomach unturned. Looks like this course is going to have guest lecturers in each class, and they all look like big shots.