Sunday 13 March 2016

Books by T. V. Rao

Books of Talam Venkateswara Rao 
(includes authored, edited, singly, jointly, and different editions)
  1. HRD, OD and Institution Building: Essays in Memory of Udai Pareek. New Delhi: Sage Response Books, 2016 Edited jointly with Dr. Anil K Khandelwal. (http://www.amazon.in/Hrd-Od-Institution-Building-Essays/dp/9351509915/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457928376&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=HRD+OD+and+Institution+Building+T+V+Rao+and+Anil+Khandelwa)
  2. Effective People: New Delhi: Random House, 2015 (http://www.amazon.in/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=effective+people+t+v+rao&sprefix=Effective+people%2Caps%2C543) 
  3. Performance Management: Towards Organizational Excellence: New Delhi: Sage Response Books, 2016,  (http://www.amazon.in/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Performance+management+T+V+Rao)
  4. HRD Audit: Evaluating the Human resources Function for Business Improvements, 2nd edition, New Delhi: Sage -Response Books, 2014 (http://www.amazon.in/HRD-Audit-Evaluating-Resource-Improvement/dp/8132119673/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457929558&sr=1-1&keywords=hrd+audit+t+v+rao)
  5. Organization Development: Accelerating Learning and Transformation: New Delhi: Sage: Response Books, 2011 (S. Ramnarayan & T V Rao) (http://www.amazon.in/Organization-Development-Accelerating-Learning-Transformation/dp/813210739X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457929629&sr=1-1&keywords=Organization+Development+S+Ramnarayan)
  6. The Power of 360 Degree Feedback: Developing Leadership the India Way: 2nd edition, jointly with Dr. Raju Rao, New Delhi: Sage- Response Books, 2014 (http://www.amazon.in/Power-360-Degree-Feedback-Effectiveness/dp/813211969X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457929853&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Power+of+360+Degree+Feedback) 
  7. 100 Managers in Action: New Delhi: Tata McGraw-hill, 2012 (with Charu Sharma)
  8. Entrepreneurship: A South Asian Perspective by D. F. Kuratko and T. V. Rao: New Delhi: Cengage Learning, 2012
  9. Nurturing Excellence: Indian Institute of Management, New Delhi: Macmillan, (Co-authored with Vijaya Sherry Chand, 2011)
  10. Managers who Make a Difference: New Delhi: IIMA Book Series, 2010 Random House. (Second edition 2016 with added chapters)
  11. Life after 360 Degree Feedback and Assessment and Development Centres; Editors T. V. Rao, Nandini Chawla and S. Ramnarayan): New Delhi: Excel Books, 2010 
  12. HR Best Practices; New Delhi: Steel Authority of India (jointly with Nisha Nair, Neharika Vohra, and Atul Srivastava), 2009.
  13. HRD Score Card 2500; New Delhi: Sage, Response Books, 2008
  14. Hurconomics; New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 2008 Republished by Pearson Education: New Delhi, 2011..
  15. The Power of 360 Degree Feedback; (Jointly with Mr. Raju Rao), New Delhi: Response Books, Sage, 2005. (Won Two awards as best Management book of the Year: DMA and ISTD)
  16. The Future of HRD; New Delhi: Macmillan India, 2003
  17. HRD in Asia: First Asian Research Conference on HRD; (jointly with Ramnarayan, Udai Pareek, AAhad Usman Gani) Academy of HRD, New Delhi: Oxford and IBH, 2003.
  18. HRD Audit; New Delhi, Response Books, Sage Publications, 1999
  19. Institutionalization of Innovations in Education; Ahmedabad: Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation & TVRLS, 1999  (With Jaya Indiresan and M G Jomon)
  20. Changing Teacher Behaviour through Feedback; Hyderabad: ICFAI, 2006, (With Udai Pareek)
  21. Training for Education Managers; New Delhi: Macmillan, 2005 (With Udai Pareek)
  22. 360 Degree Feedback and Assessment & Development Centers; (edited by T V Rao and Nandini Chawla) New Delhi: Excel Publications, 2005
  23. Performance Planning and Review Manuals; Ahmedabad: TVRLS, 2005
  24. HR @ Heart of Business; (edited by TV Rao, A Gangopadhyay, RSS Mani), New Delhi: Excel Publications, 2002.
  25. Performance Management and Appraisal Systems; New Delhi: Response Books, 2004
  26. 360 Degree Feedback and Performance Management Systems; (Editors T V Rao, Gopal Mahapatra, Raju Rao and Nandini Chawla) Volume 2, Excel Publications: New Delhi 2002.
  27. 360 degree Feedback and Performance Management systems Volume 1; (Editors: T V Rao and Raju Rao), Excel Publications: New Delhi, 2000.
  28. Organizational Renewal in NGOs: Experiences and Cases; (Co-author with Uma Jain), Hyderabad: Academy of HRD, 1996
  29. Organization Development: Interventions and Strategies; (Co edited with S Ramnaryan and Kuldeep Singh), New Delhi: 1998, New Delhi: Response Books
  30. Pioneering Human Resources Development: The L&T System; Ahmedabad, Academy of HRD, 1998 (Co-author)
  31. Redesigning Performance Appraisal System; 1996, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi
  32. Human Resources Development: Experiences, Interventions Strategies; 1996, Sage Publications, New Delhi
  33. Performance Appraisal and Review: Trainers Manual, Operating Manual and Skills Workbook; Learning Systems, New Delhi, 1978
  34. Designing and Managing Human Resources Systems; Oxford & IBH Publications, New Delhi, 1981, 1991, 2003 (Co-author) (This book has won ESCORTS award as best management book in 1982)
  35. Performance Appraisal: Theory and Practice; AIMA-Vikas Management Series, New Delhi, 1984 (Also translated into Bhasha Indonesia by PPM, Jakarta).
  36. Recent Experiences in Human Resources Development; Oxford and IBH, New Delhi (edited by T.V. Rao and D.F. Pereira)
  37. Alternative Approaches and Strategies of HRD; (edited by T.V. Rao, K.K. Verma, E. Abraham and A. Khandelwal), Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 1987
  38. Excellence Through Human Resource Development; (editors M.R.R. Nair and T.V. Rao), New Delhi, Tata McGraw Hill, 1990
  39. Designing Entrepreneurial Skills Development Programmes; London, Commonwealth Secretariat, 1990 (co-author)
  40. The HRD Missionary; New Delhi, Oxford and IBH, 1990 (Second edition: 2009 TVRLS)
  41. Readings in HRD; New Delhi, Oxford and IBH, 1991
  42. Career Planning and Promotion Policies;  Ahmedabad, Academy of HRD, 1982 (co-author)
  43. Appraising & Developing Managerial Performance; AHRD Publication, 1996, reprinted at New Delhi: Excel Books, 1999
  44. Institution Building in Education and Research: From Stagnation to Self-Renewal; (Eds. R.J. Matthai, Udai Pareek and T.V. Rao), All Indian Management Association, New Delhi, 1977.
  45. Adult Education for Social Change; Manohar Publications, New Delhi, 1980 (co-author)
  46. Handbook for Trainers in Educational Management with special reference to Asia and Pacific; UNESCO, Bangkok (Co-author) 1981
  47. Management Processes in Universities; New Delhi: Oxford & IBH (PSG Monograph 1, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad 1978, co-author with R.J. Matthai and Udai Pareek)
  48. Behavioural Sciences Research in Family Planning; Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi, 1974 (co-author)
  49. Doctors in Making; Sahitya Mudranalaya, Ahmedabad, 1976
  50. Managing Family Planning Clinics; Asian and Pacific Development Administration Centre, Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia, 1977 (co-author)
  51. Change Agents in Family Welfare: An Action Research in Organized Industry; Academic Book Centre, Ahmedabad, 1978 (co-author with Pramod Verma)
  52. Developing Entrepreneurship: A Handbook for Policy Makers, Entrepreneurs, Trainers and Development Personnel; Learning Systems, New Delhi, 1978 (co-author)
  53. Identification and selection of Entrepreneurs; (Eds. T.V. Rao and T.K. Moulik), Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, 1979
  54. Developing Motivation Through Experiencing; Oxford and IBH Publications, 1982 (co-author with Udai Pareek)
  55. Entrepreneurial Skill Development Programmes in Fifteen Commonwealth Countries: An Overview; Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 1991
  56. Handbook of Psychological and Instruments; Samasthi Publications, Baroda, 1974 (co-author)
  57. Stewart Maturity Scale: Indian Adaptation; Manasayan, New Delhi, 1976
  58. Sales Styles Diagnosis Exercises; Learning Systems, New Delhi, 1976
  59. Behaviour Processes in Organizations; Oxford and IBH Publications, New Delhi, 1981 (Co-author with Udai Pareek and D M Pestonjee)
  60. Measuring and Managing Organizational Climate; Ahmadabad: Academy of HRD, 1996 (With Dalpat Sarupriya and Dr. Sethumadhavan)
  61. Selected Readings in HRD; New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill, 1998 ( with Singh, Kuldeep & Nair, Baburaj)
  62. HRD Philosophies and Concepts: The Indian Perspective; Ahmedabad: Academy of HRD, 1994 (with  Abraham, E & Nair, Baburaj V. Eds.)
  63. HRD in the New economic Environment; New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill, 1994 (co-edited with Silveira, D. M., Srivastava, C. M. and Vidyasagar, Rajesh)
  64. Competency Mapping Education Kit (4 Volumes), Ahmedabad: TVRLS, 2005.



Friday 25 September 2015

“Innovation in HR Education: Reasons to Revamp.”


Theme: “Innovation in HR Education: Reasons to Revamp.”Agenda for Indian Institutions to align to Global curricula: Some thoughts
Prof. T. V. Rao


(Summary of the Points made at SHRM Conference “Velocity: Accelerating HR”SHRM India Annual Conference and Exposition on September 25th, 2015, New Delhi by T. V. Rao)


HR in India:

HR Function in India when it evolved in  mid seventies included:  (i) HRD, (ii) Worker Affairs (Employee Relations and Industrial Relations called as Worker Affairs), and, Personnel Management or HR Administration (PM or HRA). See designing and Managing HR systems by Pareek and Rao, 1982. HRD as it originated in India meant: (i)  Competency Building + (ii) Commitment Building + (iii) Culture Building unlike in the west where it meant essentially Training and Development. Today in India with technology & other developments HRA getting Outsourceable while HRD and IR & ER are not. HR in India has its own unique context which needs to be understood. Indian mind is different in some aspects from the western mind and this needs to be appreciated in the application of any HR Education based on competency models evolved in the west.

What is HR Education?

We define HR education as all the knowledge, attitudes, skills, values, motivations, traits and qualities required to enhance competence, commitment and sustainable culture that enables people to: (i)  to spot, utilize, and develop talent (self or others), (ii) to enjoy work and make productive contributions, and (iii)  achieve the respective organizational, community, group or goals at the same time meeting personal aspirations.  

Who Needs HR Education?

All People Managers need HR education. These include: (i) HR Professionals or HR Facilitators, (ii) Line Managers & Supervisors, (iii) Employee Unions & Association Representatives, including workmen, filed level staff and grassroots level workers in the case of Government and NGOs (iv) CEOs. The targets of HR education  need to be extended to (i) corporate sector, (ii) Government, and (iii) NGOs and those working for charitable organizations and movements. These can be represented in a matrix from:



Focal Groups needing HR Education
Sectors
Corporate
Government and Public services
NGOs and Voluntary action Groups
CEOs/ HODs/ Top Management
CEOs, MDs, Heads of Functions
Civil servants state & central level, IAS, IFS, IRS, etc. Secretaries, MDs of Public services
Presidents, Trustees, Office bearers, Founders, Secretaries treasurers
Line Managers & Supervisory staff
Junior, middle and senior managers in executive or managerial capacities 2nd and third line executives
Heads of Functions
Project staff execution staff, Dy. Secretaries, Section officers, State, district and Taluka level functionaries
All supervisory staff
Workmen, Field level workers, Their Unions and Associations
Workmen, Operators, Pilots, teachers
Teachers, Health workers, filed level staff in villages, at  Blocks and d districts their employee organizations
Filed workers, volunteers
HR Facilitators or Professionals  
CHROs, HR Managers, L&OD Managers, Talent Managers, OD managers and all other forms of HR facilitators
All HR Managers in Universities, Public utilities, community services etc. All  professionals with different titles and names
All R professionals with different titles and names
These can be further classified in terms of levels like entry level, juniors, middle level and seniors and Top levels

As the table reveals the focal points or the targets groups of HR education is vast.

HR Education for HR facilitators:

When HR Function was evolved in L&T in 1974 - HR Department was designed to be a facilitator of the 3 Cs (Competence commitment and culture building) and Line Managers were the implementers or users and beneficiaries of HR. In fact line managers were trained to plan their performance, review, coach, motivate their juniors learn to identify development needs, plan development and careers. In mid seventies itself the line managers trained as HR facilitators informally called themselves L&T University. The success of HR was envisaged to be on the day when the HRD department makes itself redundant by making every one a HR d Managers for self and the team. Over a period of time HR focused more on themselves and has not fully developed others to be taking care of their own HR. Hence the need for HR education of targets groups other than HR facilitators had become more crucial now than before.  
As far the HR education for HR facilitators in s concerned the issue is where do we focus? Competency building for HRA (Outsourceable HR) Or HRD (Intellectual capital Building HR)? Unfortunately HR education hitherto focused on HR Administration or outsourceable HR even for HR professionals. Good HR professionals see more opportunities as consultants and see less opportunities for implementing good HR in their corporation’s s they have reduced themselves over a period of time to HR administrations rather than builders of the 3 Cs.  

Competency Models

There are competency models for HR Professionals globally and in India. These include those by
(i)                            SHRM ( Nine competencies globally tested)
(ii)                          Dave Ulrich (six global competencies)
(iii)                        NHRDN –HRSCAPE in process (Eight plus four), and
(iv)                        TVRLS (ten competencies)
All these models are for HR professionals and models like the one by SHRM define the competency levels for each competency with indicators in some details. Competencies are contextual and all models have serious limitations in causing success in different settings. At best they can be good preparatory for success and lay foundation but they have to be contextualized to enable everyone to perform and achieve results. Thus as I have argued elsewhere competency models can be misleading unless we interpret them properly, treat them with respect and give them the importance they deserve and nothing more. No amount of details in competency models can substitute individual idiosyncrasies. For example competency models required for short term target oriented fast changing organizations like Google, Flipcart, Amazon, face book, long term investment and gestation period and high investment based manufacturing organizations in power sector, oils sector, renewable energies, steel, automobiles and the like. HR managers in these organizations need different types of competencies suitable to them and have to stay longer to implement any HR interventions. Similarly HR facilitators in MSMEs (Micro Medium and Small Enterprises) need  different competencies depending on the stage of evolution of the MSME. Competency models use one fit for all solutions. Hence they have limitations and need to be adapted. However the competency models do offer basic education required being successful in any setting and the contextualization is the job of respective sectors or organizations. Professional bodies,  educational institutions and consulting organizations have to work closely with the respective entities to contextualize the competencies.     

There are no Models yet for other categories in the matrix above: There is body of Knowledge in the form of  Organizational Behavior, OD, Self management, Personal and  Interpersonal competencies, Team management etc. taught in management schools without any systematic and integrated models and they have served some good purpose.

It was HR’s role to develop such models and make itself dispensable which it has not been able to do so far. As a result our M B A Programs remained lopsided. For example in most B-schools HR & OB courses don’t exceed 10% - 15% of content and time while all alumni of B-schools acknowledge the importance of people & Talent Management. Srikant Datar in his Harvard Business school study of top hiring companies in the US has indicated that what industry expects from MBA education is I filled with gaps in many areas. In fact the areas he outlined like leadership, change management, creativity and innovations, entrepreneurship, global understanding etc. are all filled with soft skills. The same has been found in another IIMA study by a group of faculty.
 HR has not done its job of Making “Line Managers” “People Managers”- failed in the 3 Cs. HR’s focus has been on those that give them “Direct Power” and not those that give them “Expert Power” or build Intellectual capital

Even within HR, Competency models are not culture and context sensitive

Lifting up HR Function: 7 Challenges of HR

If we follow the process of development of a competency model we will have interesting insights. A competency model is built on listing of critical competencies required to perform most roles in a function successfully. It starts with the purpose of the function, lists tasks and significant activities, lists knowledge attitudes and skills etc. required to perform them and then group them into levels depending on the level (junior, senior Manager, AGM, DGM, VP, and CEO Etc.) of the person performing the same as indicators. The most critical part of the competency mapping process is the activity or task list. Unfortunately once the competency framework is prepared by experts the task list id forgotten and thus the competency g frameworks deny the contextualisation to the user. For example we have defined at TVRLS while lifting up the HR function, the following new tasks to be the future as additional and critical tasks of all CHROs and HR managers:
1. Thinking ahead of their CEOs
2. Influencing the thinking of CEO or Business Heads
3. Restructuring their role or structuring it appropriately
4. Developing Leaders and Leadership Pipeline
5. Continuous learning and learning from juniors (Gen Y)
6. Making the corporation innovative and promoting innovations
7. Developing Intellectual capital through Culture and Values

Unfortunately these don’t figure out in many of the competency models.
This is to make a point that competency models need to be reviewed and updated continuously and contextualized continuously.

HRSCAPE: NHRDN

HRSCAPE consists of eight functional competencies (as shown in the outer periphery) and four behavioural competencies (shown in the inner circle).
Each also has sub-competencies. For instance, strategic HRM has four sub-competencies: understanding the business context, HR strategy, aligning HR architecture, and contribution in business strategy.
The competency framework provides for assessment at four levels: basic, competent, advanced, and expert.

TVRLS Competency List

1.     Business Knowledge
2.     Functional excellence
3.     Leadership and Change Management
4.     Strategic Thinking
5.     Personal credibility
6.     Technology Savvy
7.     Personnel Management and Admin skills
8.     Vision of the Function & Entrepreneurship
9.     Learning attitude and self management
10.                        Execution Skills

SHRM Competencies
  1. Human Resource Technical Expertise and Practice
  2. Relationship Management
  3. Consultation
  4. Organizational Leadership and Navigation
  5. Communication
  6. Global and Cultural Effectiveness
  7. Ethical Practice
  8. Critical Evaluation
  9. Business Acumen

Ulrich Global Competencies

  1. Strategic petitioners who understand evolving business contexts,
  2. Credible activists who build relationships of trust.
  3. Capability builders who define, audit and create organization capabilities
  4. Change champions who initiate and sustain change 
  5. HR innovators and integrators who look for new ways to do HR practices 
  6. Technology proponents who use technology for efficiency to connect employees 

Which Model does Indian Institutions Follow?

Most institutions follow no model but their own curricula evolved on the basis of faculty and institutional competencies evolved over a period of time. Some of them who use practitioners as visiting faculty bring competencies that industry needs but this is done in an ad hoc way as practitioner faculty available. It is only in recent times thanks to SHRM institutions like the We school, NMIMS and professional bodies like the NIPM have in principle started using the SHRM competency models. XLRI started offering on line education programs.

What institutes need to do?
  1. Review and develop “People Management Competency Models” (PMCMs) for other categories presented in the matrix earlier.
  2. Develop curricula & Focus on Executive Education
  3. Use professional bodies: SHRM, NIPM, ISTD, NHRDN, CII, FICCI, LMAs etc.
  4. Collaborate first among themselves to learn from each other use each other resources to lift up the education jointly and then compete
  5. Develop Faculty (FDPs with Professional bodies)
  6. Use practitioners
  7. Start Doctoral Level research Programs

How do we Adapt global competencies into the curriculum?
  1. Cntextualise competencies and curricula to country and sector and target group requirements using the matrix presented above
  2. Focus on Employee Categories: HR, Line, CEOs, Supervisors, Union leaders, filed workers, etc
  3. Develop models after some research and research for Startups, MSMEs, Mid size corporate of the long gestation period and short gestation period entities
  4. Separate models used for Large corporate: Public, private, MNVCs, Multi-locational etc.
  5. Offer education packages according to contextualized competency requirements
  6. Start Executive Development programs for all categories
  7. Offer them level wise and category-wise
  8. Use Technology and on line learning
  9. Modify packages available at SHRM or Institutions like XLRI, Xavier University, TISS, NMIMS, We school, SCMHRD, Gitam University, Amity Business School, IIMs, IITs and all those how offer relevant education in HR

What does the HR Community need to do to make this change?
     
  1. Recognize that HR is for all and not merely for HR professionals
  2. Revisit the basics of HR
  3. Redefine the role of HR
  4. Redefine and reorient CEOs
  5. There is enough of Body of Knowledge in current offerings of Institutes, professionals bodies and consulting organizations
  6. Appreciate the Diversity & Complexity of the country and use existing resources



I thank SHRM for giving me this opportunity and Professor Dr. Wayne F. Cascio, (Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado, and Robert H. Reynolds Chair in Global Leadership, Academic Chair, CU Executive MBA Program of the Business School, University of Colorado Denver) for his talk on the global scenario and SHRM curricula.

I reproduce belwo comments by Dr. Wayne Cascio on this post: 29-09-2015

 Your post covers a number of topics, but I wish to focus only on two of them. Regarding competency models, you note with respect to SHRM's competency model, that none of the competencies have been "globally tested." What do you mean by that? More than 32,000 HR professionals from 33 countries (including India) helped to develop the SHRM Competency model.  There is much content-oriented validity evidence to support the model. So I don't understand what you mean by the word "tested".
(This was due to an typo error in the first edition of the blog where the author typed none in place of nine and the error got corrected. Thanks to Wayne's reply.) 

Second, I do not agree, particularly with respect in the context of certification, that the lack of contextual cues diminishes the usefulness of any assessment of global competencies. I agree that context is highly important in any selection context,  but SHRM's competency model is intended to be used in the context of certification. This is quite different. Consider the CPA exam, for example. It is a certification test, but does not test contextual accounting knowledge in, for example, oil and gas accounting, or currency-hedging accounting. That is the responsibility of the hiring organization. It can provide context based on a host of variables, such as industry, stage of evolution of the firm, size of the firm, or span of operations.

That said, I believe that it has been demonstrated clearly in the research literature that situational judgment items designed to assess behavioral competencies predict subsequent success in a variety of settings. Video-based, international situational judgment items that demonstrate culture fairness have been developed, as indicated in the following study: "Putting Judging Situations Into Situational Judgment Tests: Evidence From Intercultural Multimedia SJTs," by Thomas Rockstuhl, Soon Ang, and Kok-Yee Ng (Nanyang Technological University); Filip Lievens (Ghent University), and  Linn Van Dyne (Michigan State University). Citation: Journal of Applied Psychology, 2015, Vol. 100, No. 2, 464–480.

I believe that this is an important development, and that global HR competencies can be assessed in a culture-fair manner. In my view, they clearly have a place in HR certification.

It was a pleasure to meet you and to present with you at the SHRM-India conference last week.

Best wishes,
Wayne

Wayne F. Cascio, Ph.D.
Sept.-Dec. 2015: Distinguished Visiting Scholar
Foster School of Business
University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado, and
Robert H. Reynolds Chair in Global Leadership
Academic Chair, CU Executive MBA Program
The Business School,  University of Colorado Denver
Email: Wayne.Cascio@ucdenver.edu

Reply from Dr. Rao 29-09-2015
Dear Wayne:
Many thanks for your comments. It is so nice of you to have taken time to read and comment on my blog.  
I fully agree with your comments. I am aware of the work done by SHRM. In the blog there is a typo. The sentence SHRM (nine globally tested competencies) was typed as (None tested competencies) what a difference it makes if an "i" is replaced by an "o" in a word. Sorry that I should have read it more carefully before I posted. 

The second set of observations on assessment- In indian context a lot of facking is possible on situational tests measuring attitudes and personality. We have consistently maintained that for  promotion and recruitment purposes such tests should be cautiously used. We have enough evidence to say that what people say they will do they may not do. Actual behaviours are better indicators of the competence as the McClelland's school of thought implies. In fact the entire competency movement came from the finding that competencies are to be inferred from what people have done. Having said that I am not against testing for certification at all. We use a lot of them for development centers. 

Enjoyed reading your comments and may I have your permission to reproduce then in the blog as your comments? Warm regards
TV  
Further Comments by Dr. Wayne 29-09-2015
Thanks for your  insightful comments TV. I agree that actual behaviors are the ultimate indicator of what a person actually will do with respect to any given competency. In selection contexts, hiring managers typically focus on background checks or work-sample tests (e.g., making a sales call in an interview for a sales position) or assessment centers. With respect to situational judgment tests,  a recent meta-analysis, based on 134 validity coefficients and 28,494 individuals, found the following average  levels of validity for various types of skills: teamwork (0.38), leadership (0.28), interpersonal skills (0.25), and job knowledge and skills (0.19). In each of these skill domains, video-based SJTs had stronger relationships with job performance than paper-and-pencil SJTs. Source: Christian, Edwards, & Bradley (2010). Situational judgment tests: Constructs assessed and meta-analysis of their criterion-related validities. Personnel Psychology, 63, pp. 83-117.

 Perhaps more important, SJTs have been shown to make the prediction of job performance more accurate above and beyond job knowledge, cognitive ability, job experience, and conscientiousness, while showing less adverse impact based on ethnicity as compared with general cognitive ability tests. Source: McDaniel & Nguyen (2001). Situational judgment tests: A review of practice and constructs assessed.International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, pp. 103-113. 

In short, the validity of situational judgment tests is fairly well established. They DO predict subsequent behavior in a variety of contexts, albeit far from perfectly. I don't think we disagree overall, but people need to be aware of the research literature regarding the validity of these measures of competencies.

You certainly have my permission to publish my comments on your blog. 

Best wishes,
Wayne


Thursday 17 September 2015

P V R Murthy as an Institution Builder

People behind NHRDN: P V R  Murthy

(This is first in the series and will form a part of my forthcoming book on "The Autobiography of Two Institutions: NHRDN and AHRD" and is expected to feature a number of  individuals who made a difference to both these institutions)


“Institution building is an act of faith”- Ravi J Matthai.

Whose faith? Certainly of “some people”. No institution gets built by a single individual. It is the faith of several though one or two or a few may be the champions. 

PVR is one who has shown such faith in primarily in two institutions with which he was associated: NHRDN and ISABS.  He rarely held any office and even if he was an office bearer what mattered to him is the building of the body and not the office he held. His commitment to these institutions was total and lifelong.
 He was a participant in the National seminar of “recent Experiences of HRD” held at Sea Rock hotel Mumbai on February 27- March 2nd 1985. I came in touch with him first in this seminar. He was working with Sundaram Clayton as DGM HR. When we decided to start the NHRDN he along with Chandrasekhar of L&T volunteered to steer it in Chennai. Since then there was no looking back. He continued to support NHRDN with his time and spirit. His contributions are both in terms of intellectual capital and continuous rejuvenation whenever the Chennai network was inactive and in trouble. He played the same role with ISABS.

I still remember the several journeys we used to have driving down from Bangalore to Hosur when he invited me to work with Sundaram Clayton to introduce the PMS. We used to meet and the only issue we used to discuss was NHRDN and its foundations and shaping its future. It was in these conversations we designed a distance education program and also the HRD Facilitators program which we implemented along with ISABS in Jaipur. It is the funds from these programs that helped us to start the Academy of HRD. When he told me the story of how he narrowly missed getting his Fellow title from IIMC, I felt bad and repeatedly persuaded him not to give up. He used to narrate proudly how he met Mrs. Indira Gandhi when she was PM, for his dissertation work. He wrote a thesis but to the extent I recollect it did not get the approval of someone in IIMC and he had to join back his company and could not pursue the same. He registered for his Ph. D. with me with Gujarat University as an external candidate from IIMA. I felt he was very competent and certainly deserved a Doctorate. His thesis was on how Indian Managers learn from various sources. I tried to get him to write a paper on his thesis as a tribute to Udai Pareek but could not persuade me beyond a point due to his health a few weeks ago. I did not even know that he was going through serious health issues till the other day. He also made his contributions silently to Academy of HRD. He participated in some of the major projects of AHRD with the General Insurance Company and with the Rubber Board and so on in which Udai Pareek, Fr. E. Abraham, Dr. Sethumadhavan and Keith D’Souza were also involved. He was a great team worker.

His association with NHRDN and ISABS are over thirty years. He had been a silent worker. In what both Udai Pareek and could not succeed in starting a Journal of the NHRDN PVR succeeded and made the journal a jewel of NHRDN. For those who are not aware, Dr. Udai Pareek was to start the NHRDN Journal in earl y nineties.  M R R Nair was president and people like Ishwar Dayal, Suresh Krishna, KKK Nohria  were on the Board of the Journal. After six months of struggle with articles Udai managed to get over thirty articles and found not more than a couple of them as of quality. For want of quality articles, it was abandoned. With this experience in background, when PVR mooted the idea of the journal once again I was not very positive. However PVR not only made it a reality but got wider participation, and published almost about 30 issues of the Journal. After establishing this journal he quietly laid down office and found a good successor Pallabh Bandopadhyay to continue the good work.

Each issue that was brought out is like a book and has short, simple to read and quality articles with people from all over the world contributing.  This is a silent and extraordinary contribution of PVR.  These journal issues can each be offered as course in any PG program on Humanities, Social Sciences, HR, OB, OD and Institution Building. These offer both concepts, experiences and views from the west and the east. These journals will remind us forever of the silent and great contributions or f people like PVR to the profession.  He has also been a great facilitator of ISABS and would keep pushing old and new members to meet frequently and also mentor as well as create mentoring opportunities for others. PVR is undoubtedly a silent Institution Builder who took rarely any credit for whatever he has contributed.  


Undoubtedly Institution Building is an act of faith and not of one person but of many silent contributors like PVR who exhibit immense faith in the institutions they are associated. 

Saturday 20 September 2014

Planning Celebrations Silver, Golden and Platinum Jubilees

Planning and Managing Silver, Golden, Platinum and Diamond Jubilees
T. V. Rao
Many Associations, Organizations and others celebrate various jubilees. Normally they start with a Silver Jubilee at the end of 25 years, then Golden Jubilee at 50 years, Diamond and Platinum or Centennial Celebrations at 60, 75 and 100 years. L&T, Bank of Baroda, IIMA, IIMC, IITs, NHRDN are some of the organizations that celebrated various Jubilees in the last few years.
A well planned celebration is half the work done. A plan lays the foundation for good work. The celebration has to be yearlong and should have multiple objectives. Such celebrations pave the way for review, renewal, rededication, rebuilding, rebranding, reenergising or recharging the members and also help re-charting the path for the future. The jubilee celebrations should be a yearlong during the 25th or 50th or 60th or 75th or 100th year. They should contain a variety of activities as illustrated below.
I am writing below my thoughts on the same out of an experience of my association with IIMA’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations four years ago. I was asked to chair the Planning Committee for the IIMA Golden Jubilee celebrations four years ago in 2010. I thank IIMA for giving me the opportunity. Perhaps one of the reasons for the choice was my long association with IIMA and I am one of the very few living faculty who worked with all the Full time Directors of IIMA. I didn’t have the good fortune of even meeting Dr. Sarabhai (Founder and first honorary Director) but has the fortune of working closely with Ravi Matthai first full time Director. I worked very closely with Ravi Matthai and learnt a lot from him on IIMA. He stepped aside as Director when I joined to work with him.
I tried to put all 35 years of my association with IIMA and took my job seriously and came up with a good plan with the help of the team we had.  Along with three other faculty members we planned the Golden Jubilee year. In planning itself we involved other faculty, students, alumni and other stake holders and collected their views. The extracts from the power point below give some ideas about how to go about the same. I give below some of the lessons learnt from this.
1.       These celebrations are normally start and end as celebrations but very few people see them as serving multiple purposes. If the celebration ahs to be successful it has to be planned. All strategic individuals of the past, present and future need to be involved. In my view the most important purpose the celebrations serve is to review, renew and re-pledge the vision, values and mission of the body and also used to evaluate and rework the course of action for future besides celebrating the accomplishments.
2.       There should be a team to plan. The team should involve other stake holders and evolve a plan and then seek budget for the same and mobilise the budget if necessary.
3.       In planning the purpose is the most important thing. Normally many purposes get served by such celebrations. These include:
a.       Review, renewal and re-pledging the commitment to the vision, mission and goals of the organization
b.      Charting out new direction course of action etc. on the basis of the review and renewal
c.       Celebration of accomplishments and honouring those who contributed (living  and dead) by memorials, books and such other tributes
d.      Recognising all those who built the organization or association and documenting the same.
4.       The celebration should be yearlong and not just end with one event. The yearlong celebrations may start with a grand start and culminate in a grand finale
5.       The celebration

IIMA Golden Jubilee Celebrations: 2010-2011
The following presents in some detail the plan Submitted by IIMA Golden Jubilee Activities Planning Committee consisting of Professors. Atanu Ghosh; Abraham Koshy, G Raghuram , and T. V. Rao (as Convener).
They used the following methodology:
       Met a few times; Collected information from other institutions and organizations; Sent out a communication inviting suggestions from Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and students and analyzed and used their responses.
       The final plan was suggested with some detail of the recommended processes and time lines. The following are some details.
Objectives
       To showcase IIMA’s accomplishments and contributions and celebrate the same.
       To showcase the output, accomplishments, and contributions of the Institute to various sectors like the Government, Industry, NGOs, and International Communities in terms of research, education and training, and  management practice across the last 50 years.
       To recognize the contributors (Individuals and Institutions) to the growth and development of the Institute.
       To initiate and launch new activities that are befitting the excellence of the Institute and that lead to increased participation of the Alumni and other constituents.
       Making the yearlong celebration a memorable one for IIMA community in particular and society at large in general ….. . Making a durable impact.
       To contribute to the fund mobilization effort being undertaken by various constituents of the Institute and enhance the Institute’s corpus.
Process of Golden Jubilee Celebrations as Planned by the Committee
       To be done on a grand scale with excellence and meticulous execution. Hence needs involvement of a large number of committed Faculty, Alumni, Staff, Students, Board, Society, Key Industry and supporters.
       Golden Jubilee Apex Committee: Three to 4 Faculty, Director & Dean (Ex-officio), 3 to 4 Alumni, 1-2 Staff, Students reps, 1 or 2 Board/Society members: Role:  Finalizing plan and implementation schedule, Overall coordination, Fund mobilization and usage (or ensuring the activities to be self financing to the extent possible), Execution.
       Driving must-do events by identifying appropriate coordinators, champions.
       Encourage, accept, guide, and disseminate information about independent proposals that come  in line with the objectivities and activities outlined here.
       There could be lot of other committees (country based, city based, interest group based, etc.)
       Put a process in place (criteria) for guiding all activities  (example: criteria for recognizing those who contributed to the development of the Institute or content and coverage of the film or the book) and ensure that the process is followed.
Key Events Planned
       Design and standardization of Golden Jubilee Logo, Portal, and IIMA Branding
       Grand Inaugural Program
       Release of IIMA Golden Jubilee Commemorative Stamp and Coffee Table Book
       International conferences on select themes
       Film on IIMA   
       Book on “50 Golden Years of IIMA”
       Institution Building: The IIMA Experience  
       Launching of  faculty development program for IIMA Alumni interested in teaching at IIMA as visiting faculty
       Launching of Archiving System : Documentation,  etc.
       Starting a Golden Jubilee Fund
       Golden Jubilee lectures series – by eminent personalities from various walks of life.
       Society Conference highlighting the contributions of IIMA faculty
       Faculty Thought Leaders series
       Case Studies of top 50 Distinguished Alumni, 50 IIMA Alumni CEOs, 50 organizations where IIMA had made difference, 50 NGOs Influenced by IIMA, 50 Innovations in Government, Top 50 management practices, Top 50 cases, 50 electives, etc.
       Honoring Contributors
       Alumni reunion for all groups and Alumni Chapter celebrations
       Launching of 50 Golden Years of IIMA: Exhibition: Inaugural Day
Plan Outline
       Inauguration and Kick off
       Portals and web sites
       Branding and Event Management
       Academic Events
       Showcase accomplishments
       Review, reflection, and renewal
       Future plans
       Conferences and seminars
       Student events
       Alumni events
       Faculty and area based events
       Honoring people and celebrations
       Books, publications
       Media management
       Fund raising
       Alumni activities and events
       Staff based events
        Board and Society based events
Preamble: Where and How Has IIMA Contributed and Made a Difference?
       Research (highlight outstanding researches from the beginning of the Institute)
       Institution Building : Highlight Institutions built or supported: NIBM, IIFM, IIHMR, AHRD, NHRDN, ISABS, Doon School, IPP, SEBI, IRMA, etc.
       Institution Building by supplying Directors for other IIMs
       Management Practice – Highlight outstanding consultancy projects and contributions
       CEOs – Publish and hold a conference of all CEOs and entrepreneurs produced by IIMA
       Hold a conference of all outstanding management practice carried out by managers or alumni of IIMA
       Hold a conference of all the NGOs and other not-for-profit bodies set by IIMA alumni
       Government : showcase the work done with Mussourie Academy etc. (Involve all the ex-faculty of IIMA like V R Gaikwad, V L  Mote, Samuel Paul and create a virtual office and newsroom; also provide physical space and facilities)
       Faculty Contributions
       Fellow Contributions
Inauguration,  Kick off and Branding
       To be started by the PM in December 2010 (Take help of Dr. Rangarajan and V S Vyas in PM’s Advisory Council)
       Obama’s visit to be explored and Harvard to be involved (useful for Branding) Either to Ahmedabad or in Washington (Alumni to assist)
       Other International groups to be involved – Exhibitions, Comments, Sponsorships, Documentation highlighting contributions (example: what were IIMA contributions to Commonwealth, FAO, World Bank, etc.)
       Commonwealth Secretariat (Mohan Kaul)
       World Bank (V S Vyas, J K Satia, S. Paul, PNK, Ashok Subramanian, others)
       UNDP
       FAO and other intergovernmental agencies
       Other countries to be involved
       Role of international universities to be explored
       A permanent exhibition of IIMA Contributions to be organized. It could be made a mobile exhibition or e-exhibition.
Portals and web sites
       Special Portal to be prepared showcasing all accomplishments, books, publications, etc. of IIMA and with facility for e-payments
       Web sites to be put up or portal to be linked to various alumni chapters
       Alumni chapters to be encouraged to undertake various activities
       Portal to be designed and managed professionally
       Portal to be maintained for at least three to five years and preferably for life.
       Coffee Table Book and such other books to be on the portal with e-book and e-payment facility
Branding and event Management
       Event Management to be done by professional event management teams
       Alumni contributions to be explored for this purpose
       Branding to be done
       Campus to be cleaned up : Branding to be introduced in all publications and displays
       Web site to be recast on the basis of the feedback so far
Academic Events
       Showcase accomplishments
       Review, reflection and renewal, and future plans
       One event from each stakeholder group on activities and roles for the future
       Faculty reflection and planning for the next 25 to 50 years, revisiting the mission, vision, etc.
       Future Plans from CFD
       Conferences and Seminars: International and National to be organized
       One on Management education
       Student events: Chaos, etc. to be done on grand scale for Golden Jubilee Year
       Alumni Events: Lectures, seminars by outstanding Alumni
       Faculty,  area and center or group based events to be considered
       Honoring/Recognizing  people and celebrations
       Honoring the Founders and Early Supporters: Society members; Board members; Faculty; Research Staff; Staff ( all categories); Architects; Donors.
       Honoring those who did us Proud
       Alumni managers from PGP (all one and two year programs from early years); Alumni CEOs; Alumni Managers from MEP, 3-TP, and other long duration Programs; Managers who implemented innovative or professional management practice
       Honoring Institution Builders and fellows who made outstanding contributions:  Ex-Directors and Chairmen
       Cultural Programs along with honoring day (December 2010 round one and December  2011 round 2)
       Institutions influenced by IIMA or Influenced IIMA (IIMB, TAPMI, IRMA, IIFM, NIBM, Harvard, Adani, AHRD, NHRDN, AMA, AIMA,  etc.)
       Organizations that Implemented and used IIMA – Influenced by IIMA (L&T, SBI, Railways, SCI, MHRD, NIEPA,  etc.)
       Government Agencies and Public  Policy:  Railways, MHRD, Health Ministry, 
       NGOs and Others: Shristhi, Innovations Foundation
       Padma Award Winners: Dr. Rangarajan, Vyas, IG Paul, Banga, CK Prahalad, Bakul, Anil Gupta, Mallika,  Others to be found out
Books, publications, and exhibitions
       50 Golden Years of IIMA
       Film on IIMA
       Research at IIMA: A Book highlighting all the significant research contributions across the years
       IIMA and Management Practice: Area based and center based book highlighting how Management Practice has been improved by consulting work, etc.
       Coffee Table Book: (Compilation to be kept as a part of the exhibition including all that has been collected by the team)
       Publication highlighting international collaborations and exchange programs: Duke, Commonwealth, Exchange programs, Glasgow, Egypt, African countries, Sri Lanka, Kenya,
       Special issues on Vikalpa: HBR type books to be released; Explore tie up with HBR or Wharton for better dissemination and branding
       PGP, Consulting, MDPs, Exchange, Research
       Book on IIMA. (Suggested titles: 50 Golden years of IIMA; IIMA, Multiplier effect of IIMA, Professionalizing management; IIMA etc.) The book should contain IIMA contributions in various fields and in various ways. It could include brief cases of 50 CEOs produced by IIMA, 50 Entrepreneurs, 50 outstanding cases, 50 organizations where IIMA has made an impact; 50 Academic Institutions where IIMA made an impact, 50 innovations or academic contributions by IIMA faculty, 50 Alumni who made a significant impact etc. This book may run into several volumes and has to be work by a group of people as no one may be able to do. This should document all details and contributions of IIIMA in the last 50 years.
       Film on IIMA: Coverage to include: All Ex-Directors; Ex-Chairpersons; Key Alumni – CEOs, Government, NGOs, Academics India, International academic (example Wharton, Penn, Harvard, Stanford, Insead) , Education, Health and other social sectors, Heading Institutions, World bank, Commonwealth, FAO); Faculty across ages (young, old, current, retired), Padma award winners etc.; Institutions set up by IIMA; Staff; Library, computer center, centers and areas, activities - all to be represented ; How the Institute had evolved; PGP, various PGPs, MEP, FPM, 3TP, FDP; Social Inclusion: CMA, cooperatives, student  involvement in education, Pedagogy, case method, group work, contemporary courses; average shelf life of new courses is five years
Media management
       Film on IIMA: Take help of HRD Ministry to make it a films division release; Telecast on Media; Plan Interviews on accomplishments; Tie up with: NDTV, Eco Times, Hindu, Financial Express, etc. Get film industry and other industries involved
       CDs and DVDs to be developed highlighting the contributions of IIMA; Alumni activities and Events
Other Activities
       Have an Alumni reunion of all batches; Chapters to plan one mega event each for fund raising
       Mobile exhibition of IIMA
       Exchange students to be highlighted over the years
       Have a one-day seminar on the campus, of IIMA graduates who are CEOs.
       Organize celebration of alumni chapters across the world, with main celebration at Ahmedabad.  Messages from the Director and Chairman can be shown live through video conference.
       Highlight things which IIMA and the alumni network have done for the society at large and the tangible results achieved through them.
       Organize lectures / talk shows by the best of alumni / faculty to share real life experience in simple language.
       In the activities to be covered, include the activities of IMPACT, a charitable organization promoted by the IIMA alumni in 2003 for providing primary education and literacy to the girl child from disadvantaged sections of the society.  Currently there are 10000 girls studying in about 345 learning centers spread across 5 States.
       Highlight the contribution of alumni as NGOs in the social, healthcare, and primary education sectors, public distribution system, etc.
       Compiling a quantitative study of the IIMA alumni working in the social sector, with profiles of a few prominent people would be a great way to create role models and inspire others to start giving back to the society.
       Create an annual, endowed ‘Memorial Lectures’ on Frontiers of Management Theory and Practice to be delivered every January in different locations in collaboration with the IIMA Alumni Association.-…faculty like RJM, MN Vora, Pulin, Udai, Labdhi, SKB, Kamla, BG Shah,  CK Prahalad, etc. …
       IIMA has a bad reputation as far as its relationship with its alumni is concerned.  Even initiatives from alumni themselves fail to elicit a positive response from the Institute.  There is an urgent need for the Institute to do whatever it takes to improve its relationship with the alumni, including those who were here Others
       Start a Alumni FDP for promoting teachers among Alumni
       Staff Based events  and Society Based and other events
       Take up a social initiative project where the need and social impact are high. (Jawaja to be revived)
       Have a poet like Javed Akhtar write a poem on 50 years of IIMA to be sung by eminent music personalities at the final event.
       Organize an annual essay competition on professional management, career development, ethics, CSR, along with other professional bodies like AIMA, ICAI, ICSI, etc. 
       Development of a code of conduct for managers and corporate (cf: Cadbury Committee in UK)
       Look at adopting one village every year (through NGO or any other model) and make it 100% literate.
       Introduce a Golden Jubilee Award for other universities /institutes / management students within the country for best research in the management field.  This will help create a communication channel through which they can learn the best practices at IIMA
       Think of projecting IIMA’s direct and indirect contribution in promoting (through processes / ideas) sustainable development in agriculture and other sectors.
Fund raising
       Golden Jubilee Fund to be raised; Estimate of expenditure to be drawn up;  Recommend an allocation of Rs. ….. to begin with by the Board; Set up an Alumni Fund for meeting operating expenses of the Institute and encourage alumni to contribute 1% of their annual salary to the Fund; Re-do the alumni website and seek funding from the alumni. Some of the alumni who are young entrepreneurs can be used to reach out and connect with alumni and seek funding from them.  The networking that this affords will encourage them to engage themselves to keep connecting with people
General
       Have mementoes like watches, coffee mugs, ties, T-shirts, etc. to be given to felicitate those who have made substantial contribution to the Institute.
       Make some good commemorative merchandise available.
       A face book  account can help market the merchandise and generally create a meeting point online.  You Tube can be used to upload the videos of the panel discussions, conferences. A twitter account can be set up to send 1 tweet per day for the entire year.  The 365 tweets can be pre-planned to create a relevant brand image.
       Compliment the staff for being so much better than those in many private companies.
       It will be nice if IIMA could come up with 50 suggestions to make India grow at 15% for the next 10 years.
       IIMA students and alumni could engage themselves in adventure activities like mountaineering expedition, cycling / motor cycling expedition, hot air ballooning, hang gliding, desert safari in the Thar or a long hike in the Himalayas which could contribute to national integration and also help them understand local / regional conditions and lifestyles.
       Get special postage stamp and first day cover released to commemorate the occasion.
       Organize an iima trek to the base camp of Everest as part of the celebrations.  (amit chowdhary’s – afp 06-07 company in nepal, “hmb adventures”, will handle all arrangements.)
       bring out a book around the theme, ‘celebrating case method: a journey so far’ where authors of cases could be asked to select one of their cases and describe various nuances the case might have generated.
       organize an “exhibition on 50th anniversary” in Dubai and other centers with some theme seminars / competition for high school and college students there which would be great to celebrate and market brand iima there. alumni there would be happy to volunteer help.
       the new website of the institute has many flaws.  there is need to redesign the site.
       the institute may think of starting a quarterly issue of articles by iima faculty or previews from Vikalpa research papers modeled on the lines of knowledge@wharton or Mckinsey quarterly which could go as a mailer to all those who register.
       the celebrations should also highlight the involvement and contribution of staff.
       have an online initiative to make the programme available more broadly to a wider audience globally and create deeper engagement with stakeholders through a new iima golden jubilee website that not only highlights celebratory content, but allows alumni to post their memories and interact with each other.
       PLAN FOR FIRST DAY COVER and POSTAL STAMP.
       LIGHT AND SOUND SHOW BY PROFESSIONAL MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT COMPANIES DEPICTING THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND GLORIES.
       GOLDEN JUBILEE SOUVENIRS/ T- SHIRTS/BLAZERS
       FIRE AND CRACKERS WORK
       ESTABLISHMENT OF GOLDEN JUBILEE COMMITTEE AND INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR CONTACT NUMBERS SO THAT WE CAN EXTEND REQUISITE HELP.
       ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ALUMINI REGARDING THEIR ATTENDANCE AND PLACE OF STAY.
       ESTABLISHMENT OF LIASIONING CELL AT AIRPORT AND RAILWAY STATION FOR HELPING OUTSTATION VISITORS.
       ESTABLISHMENT OF GOLDEN JUBILEE WEB SITE AND ITS BLOG.
       ADVERTISEMENT IN NATIONAL DAILY/ TV/MEDIA REGARDING ITS CELEBRATION
       FELICITATION AWARDS TO DISTINGUISHED VISITORS
       VETERAN MATCHES
       GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUNTARILY CONTRIBUTION CELL TO BE FORMED AT AN EARLIEST TO DESPATCH THE STATUS TO ALL ALUMINIS
Calendar of events
       1. Kick-off Function:                        December 11, 2010
       2. Strategic Mgt.Forum Conf. :   December 15-17, 2010
       3. Alumni Reunion:                          December 25-26, 2010
       4. Board Meeting:                            December 27, 2010
       5. Marketing Conference:            January 5-7, 2011
       6. Conference on Data Analysis January 8-9, 2011
       7. Doctoral Colloquium:                                 January 2011 
       8. Chaos:                                              January 2011
       9. Sanghursh Sports Meet:          January 2011
       10. Society Meeting                        March 2011
       11. Convocation                                March 2011        
       12. Insight                                           October 2011
       13. Confluence                                  November 2011
       14. Research Seminar                     Date to be decided
Honouring the Founders:
If Dr. Vikaram Sarabhai or Ravi Matthai was to be alive and IIMA invites them for their Golden Jubilee Celebrations how will they invite and what role will they give them?
Options:
1.       Call them to light the lamp and inaugurate the celebrations or to be there on the grand finale to close the event
2.       Invite them to share their vision, mission, values and idea behind and give message for the future generations. (Helps to understand how the present activities integrate into the original mission, vision and values and also helps to chart out new directions and activities to achieve the vision, mission and values. Helps members to renew and re-energise and re-engage themselves)
3.       Involve them to share their experiences on Institution building and draw lessons for the future (This helps current members and future institution builders and strengthens the culture and values envisaged from the beginning. Helps renew and re-pledge to values and hard work and what the Institution stands for)
4.       Invite them to comment on the current situation and give their view and critical assessment of the Direction in which the Institution is going (I know for sure what Ravi would say. He will praise all that is going on, highlighting some of the activities close to the mission and vision, and find reasons if any for any deviation and justify them and give some new directions with full support to what is going on and insert some significant directions for future: philosophy is support and help build and give subtle messages)
5.       Invite them to give a big award and confer a new title on them befitting their stature. (They will be least interested in such things as they have had enough in their life)
Any other thoughts you have?

Now that they are no more what is the best way of honouring them? I assume in honouring them you are honouring your won Institution as they don’t need any honors any more.