The 20 Most Influential Business Books

Listed below are the 20 most Influential Books by Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/2002/09/30/0930booksintro_2.html


Unfortunately I have only read a few of them. May be I will complete the list this year. Well I might break my resolution too.

Playing with Words!

Ever since I was in a school, I dreaded the word ‘Examination’. Every time I confronted it, a cold shiver ran through my body. Nervousness, anxiety, mental trauma, sweat are the words that I always associated with Exams. In the first term, we had four exams - Strategic Marketing, Strategic Decision Sciences, The Economics of Organisation and Strategy and Accounting. What is an examination and why are we always ‘tested’ against each other and then compared? I had a quick look at the definition of examination and this is what I found out – ‘a set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge’. Therefore, a test and an exam is the same is not it.

If you carefully read between the lines, you will notice the word ‘strategy’ associated with every subject. Strategy is the most commonly misused word in the MBA arena. Strategy is derived from the Greek word, strategos meaning military commander or general à ‘Stratos’ meaning ‘army’ and ‘egos’ in ancient Greek ‘to lead’. According to dictionary.com strategy means ‘the science or art of combining and employing the means of war in planning and directing large military movements and operations’. For long I was contemplating, are the MBAs heading for a war? Why do they require to understand the word Strategy? It was then I found out the following definition about strategy “Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations.”

I then had a look at the Strategy Pyramid of Marketing. Remember we had a subject in the first term -- Strategic |Marketing. Strategy cannot be successful if there is no tactics. Now sane mortals like me will wonder, what is tactics? Tactics means the art or science of disposing military or naval forces for battle and manoeuvring them in battle. Is strategy the same as tactics? Does strategy has any association with a company’s mission. Oh now I completely forgot about vision. A company has a mission statement and a vision statement.

I am lost among all these translations. Do not be bewildered with someone learns at a B-school. They do not teach common sense and only a few in the world possess some. Many believe I love criticising the MBA, but very few will know that I am a critique and I do not believe in criticism - if you understand what I mean.

Inspirational !!

In an MBA you have to search for time but still I want to read the book 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!' I have been and will always be inspired by Richard Feynman.

A quote that says a lot about the man

" God was invented to explain mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand. Now, when you finally discover how something works, you get some laws which you're taking away from God; you don't need him anymore. But you need him for the other mysteries. So therefore you leave him to create the universe because we haven't figured that out yet; you need him for understanding those things which you don't believe the laws will explain, such as consciousness, or why you only live to a certain length of time--life and death -- stuff like that. God is always associated with those things that you do not understand. Therefore I don't think that the laws can be considered to be like God because they have been figured out."

Be Foolish to Learn but do not prove you’re a fool

Tesco, perhaps the only place I have visited most during my stay at Cranfield. Strangely enough, Tesco is also the most discussed organization in the marketing lecture class at Cranfield. The remarkable marketing strategy of Tesco has lured many to discern more about its phenomenal growth. Thus, we a bunch of MBAs diligently studied about Tesco, until Tesco knew everything about our purchasing DNA via their club cards. Once a loyal customer of Tesco, you will always be. Were else will you get to buy a manual Microwave oven for £22 and a vacuum cleaner for £14. According to James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, Tesco knows exactly what customers want, where they want it and when they want it. Settling at the Cranfield campus, visit Tesco.

Midsummer Place, Milton Keynes, Putti and I have made many visits to this place, to seek out our banking, our foreign exchange and of course just for the sake of it. Banking with HSBC, Milton Keynes is a joy. It just took a few minutes for Putti to open an account and the customer relationship personal did most of the paper work. Overseas students who have been offered a place at the Cranfield School of Management can take a professional education loan from HSBC, Milton Keynes. The application process is simple and easy.

I did not get plenty of opportunity to step out of the Cranfield campus, yet whenever possible I tried my best to venture into the unknown. The public transport in campus is scarce and very irregular and this can be a challenge for the off-campus part goers. Most of time was spent at the Socials Club, partying and getting to know my fellow MBA cohorts.

A one-year MBA is a fast-paced intensely packed program. To get the most of the course, you have to make sure that you have proper breaks at regular interval else, the stress levels in the body can be alarming. One of the best and perhaps the easiest way is to socialize. Go beyond the classroom your learning team. Get to know what other fellows are up to. Pick up the cricket bat, kick the football, have a few shots, play rugby badminton or any form of sports you like.

MBA is always filled with people who love to preach and not learn. They are always restless to pour in their thoughts whether relevant or irrelevant. I call it the game of show-offs. Strangely and it is alarming that very few people come here to learn. Few even willfully test the knowledge and skill set of the lectures, and this particularly annoys me. Quoting company annual results, shouting to prove a point or even giving examples of previous business achievements in no way helps understanding the chaotic laws of business. Why do people never talk about their failures? Does it make them demeaning?

Many people will believe that I am a critique of a MBA program. To be honest I am not. I am enjoying every minute in this world and I will continue doing so because I believe that I am the greatest fool that ever inhabited the world and the only way to wisdom is knowledge and continuous learning.

Advertising is simple

Some questions might always remain unanswered

During the last few days, many MBA aspirants have asked me about Cranfield School of Management. The questions were generally centred on curriculum, careers, life at Cranfield, education loan and few others. I will definitely try to answer most of these questions in my blogs. Today I would like to talk about curriculum since the first term is almost over and we are knocking on the doors of our first term exams.

One of the prime advantages of a one-year program is that you can enter the job market very soon, but on the other hand, a yearlong MBA program can be very tasking and demanding, and of course fast paced. A one-year program has all the ingredients of a two-year course, with less number of breaks and no internship. A person with a few years of experience will definitely find the curriculum of a one-year program interesting and enjoyable.

The first term at Cranfield, is all about Accounting, Economics, Statistics, Operation Management, Organisational Behaviour and Marketing. Prior to Cranfield, I had absolutely no knowledge about Operations Management and today I am enjoying the subject. This week I have to complete my individual ‘reflective’ report. The group OM report is also due by seventh of Dec. In third term we have electives, where you can choose the subject of your interest. In the fourth term you can either choose to pursue an individual project (will not use the word ‘internship’, might be close to it) or you may earn you credits by attending classes and exams.

The average age at Cranfield is 31 years. Therefore, you can, not only learn in the class but also in your own learning group. I have two folks in my own team who are Operations Experts. Whenever I needed some assistance, they were always ready to help me. Also one of our team member is a Phd in neural networks. He is quite a help when it comes to statistics. Each of the learning team comprises of a healthy mix of people in terms of work experience, diversity and age. You learn not only in class but also in your learning team.

I will talk more about term 2 at later stage. The Cranfield experience means different things to different individuals. It is very important to understand what you as an individual want from the MBA. What are your career aspirations and what do you plan to learn during the MBA program. The one year, at Cranfield, is filled with fun and studies. You have to strike the right balance between them or else you will be totally worn out at the end of the course.

Finally I would like to end this blog by saying that so far what I have written about Cranfield is my own personal perception of the course and the school. Many people have different opinion. I will continue writing about Cranfield as and when I get time but in the mean time if anyone needs any assistance or information about Cranfield, please contact me. Though some questions might always remain unanswered.