Winter School 2020: Day 4 — “ Heuristics in the Wild” by Prof. Kavitha Ranganathan, Associate Professor (Finance and Strategy) at TAPMI, Prof. Konstantinos Katsikopoulos, Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, Prof. T T Niranjan, Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay) and Prof. Madhu Veeraraghavan, Director – TAPMI

On January 16, 2020, Prof. Kavitha Ranganathan, Associate Professor (Finance and Strategy) at TAPMI, commenced day four of the fourth annual edition of Winter School with a lecture on “Heuristics for financial-decision making”.

Prof. Kavitha began with an overview of the various contributors to the concept of bounded rationality and elaborated on the views of late American economist and political scientist Herbert Simon. She then delved into the evolution of heuristics and its associated methodological principles. Two specific heuristics — satisficing and anchoring — were discussed in detail. Prof. Kavitha then demonstrated that satisficing and anchoring heuristics play a key role in the behaviour of actors in the Indian stock market. She argued that the 52-week high price serves as a good anchoring heuristic for small-cap companies in the stock market.

During the next session, Prof. Konstantinos Katsikopoulos, Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, delivered a lecture on “The Art and Science of Transparent Decision-Making”. He explained that an environment of uncertainty is also highly unstable — a phenomenon he termed as ‘wild’ — and how trade-offs occur between accuracy and transparency.

The two main arguments he presented in the session were “Simple rules do well in the wild” and “Transparency is a key value”. Dr. Katsikopoulos cited various examples in support of these two arguments, from which three important ideas emerged. First, it is difficult to be transparent with complicated models and, hence, simple rules should be used. Second, whether (big) data can lead to an ‘a‑theoretical’ space as machine learning has been criticized for being ‘a‑theoretical’. Third, transparency and accuracy need not have a trade-off — it was possible to be both transparent and being accurate.

Prof. T T Niranjan, Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), delivered a lecture titled “Crying Wolf and a Knowing Wink: Deliberate bilateral information distortion in supply chains” for the third session.

Prof. Niranjan addressed the cohort on how the Nash Equilibrium arises out of information asymmetry in supply chains. Here, one party is strategic, and the other party knows that it has been receiving distorted information. He said the phenomenon was called the “bullwhip effect” and explained it through Supply Line Underweighting (SLU) which occurs at an aggregate level. However, explanation at an aggregate level could be misleading as there could be a drastic divergence at individual levels, Prof. Niranjan explained.

The discussion then moved on to bilateral information discounting, which explained the phenomenon at an individual level. Prof. Niranjan further spoke about related propositions that were converted to hypotheses and were tested in controlled lab environments.

The day was concluded by Prof. Madhu Veeraraghavan, Director – TAPMI, who conducted an academic writing workshop on “How to get published in a peer-reviewed journal”. Participants received “pitching sheets” with subheads such as a working title, a basic research question, and contributions, which they were required to fill with details.  These sheets were then used for conducting the workshop.  Prof. Veeraraghavan demonstrated the importance of having catchy titles and highlighting the contributions and key motivations behind research projects. He elaborated on the strategies on how to get research projects successfully published in good quality journals. According to him, the abstract should be short and concise, the core study of the paper should emerge early on, and most importantly, the contribution of the research work should be clearly defined as it’s one of the primary criteria which decides the publication of the paper in a top-tier journal.

OPS DIARIES 2019 – PHASE 2 – GUEST LECTURE BY MR. ARUN BHAT

On 9^th November 2019, the TAPMI Operations Forum conducted the second phase of Ops Diaries – its Alumni Series. Mr Arun Bhat, a 2016 pass out of TAPMI, who is currently an Assistant Project Manager at Coffee Day Beverages, addressed the students of TAPMI in a session on Supply Chain.

Mr. Bhat, who takes care of 21 branches of Coffee Day Beverages, is an expert at Supply Chain Management and Analytics. He enlightened the students on the full cycle of the supply chain and also briefly covered key words like indent, procurement, main store, branch store, defective returns, scrap and rework that are commonly used in the field of operations. He also spoke of the importance of stock keeping units and safety stock in any industry.

Mr. Bhat then talked about how he believes that the future of supply chain lies in digitisation, which is most widely being used in the aerospace sector currently. He explained how SQL is the most frequently used tool in the domain of operations and that some others that are commonly used are “R” for indenting and Tableau for visualization.

He then concluded by giving the students insights pertaining to supply chain processes and challenges in the present along with future possibilities that can be more easily solved through digitisation. To give an example of such a challenge, he cited the scaling issues in machines in places like Himachal Pradesh due to the hardness of the water in that area. Such issues, in his opinion, can be better examined through analytics.

OPS Diaries : Guest Lecture: “Bizops In Online Aggregation Industry” By Mr. Kausik R, Business Operations Head – (Swiggy)

On 09 November, 2019, Mr. Kausik R, Business Operations Head – Swiggy addressed the batch of TAPMI students about ‘Bizops in online aggregation industry’ as a part of OpsDiaries 2019 organized by the Operations Forum

He tested our awareness of operations in our real life through a quiz. He highlighted the basic problem that most of the companies in the online aggregation industry are attempting to solve which is the movement of living and non-living things from one place to another.

He explained the common factors in the ecosystems of these companies and the triggers that would influence the purchase decision of a consumer in a chaotic marketplace.

He illustrated the components in this three-way marketplace model: seller, customer, logistic partner which is the platform involved. He explained the order journey and the equilibrium stages in this marketplace and also the main challenges faced.

Further he explained the various techniques used by Swiggy to overcome these challenges. He spoke about the importance of Business operations and product operations as the backbones for expansion of any online aggregation company.

He concluded the session with insights to the student community for a better understanding of the industry and operations as a career choice.

OPS DIARIES 2019: Presentation 1

On 16th October 2019, the TAPMI Operations Forum conducted Ops Diaries 2019 – a presentation competition in which students present to the TAPMI cohort their past work or internship experience in the field of operations along with current industry practices. Each speaker was given 25 minutes to present, which was followed by a Q&A session.
The first presenter was Mr. Arijit Sinha who worked as a lean manufacturing engineer in a company that processes wood, glass and stone. He started with a video on the completely automated processing of a wooden block. He spoke of his role with emphasis on PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) for both new and existing products. Mr. Sinha also gave a macro-level view of the production process and how it can be optimized, highlighting GEMBA as one of the processes used.
The next speaker was Mr. Somil Gupta, who was previously a condition monitoring engineer at the Gujarat Cement Works unit of Ultra Tech Cement. He began with a diagrammatic process flow chart depicting the manufacture of cement. His presentation featured various unique processes such as vibration-analysis, thermography and oil-centrifugation. Mr. Gupta brought to focus the safety initiatives in the organization, of which Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) was an important review technique.
The Operations Forum then engaged the audience in a fun Kahoot quiz on some concepts of operations such as takt-time, Six Sigma, integer programming and also various operations and logistics-based companies. This was followed by the next speaker, Mr. Monojit Deb, who was a senior-engineer at Polycab, a wire and cable manufacturing company. He spoke of the concerned industry in India and gave insights into the types of cables, their construction and the manufacturing process. He threw light on 5S and Time and Motion studies as part of process improvement and manpower optimization respectively.
The last presenter was Mr. Srikandan Srinath, who talked about his MIP experience in an ecommerce-based start-up called Daily Fish. He briefed the audience about the “seven-stage cold-chain process” and mentioned the company’s patented impingement technology used for freezing. He also spoke of the constraints and how he solved various problems such as issues in achieving 100% traceability for products. He also explained the concept of Genji Genbutsu and its application. He concluded the session with some tips for the students of PGP-1 regarding their internships.

OPS DIARIES 2019:Part 2

On 16^th October 2019, The Operations Forum of TAPMI began with Ops Diaries 2019 to encourage the TAPMI cohort to share their real-life experiences across Supply Chain, Logistics and Operations and spread awareness about the current industry practices.

The event started with an engaging presentation by Mr. Yasasway Wupadrasta who enlightened the students about the relevant processes in the bio-pharmaceutical industry and how he managed to remove the bottleneck in the process of manufacture of the drugs with the medium preparation time reduced to three hours saving substantial costs for the company.

This was followed by another presentation by Mr. Aniket Kulkarni who walked the students through the process flow of obtaining orders followed by a check-in of the assignment, delivery of the consignment and invoice generation at AMW Motors in Pune. This was by an interesting discussion around the implementation of blockchain in the process of shipping and if the same can be implemented.

The final presentation was carried out by Mr. Advaith Aji who presented about how the thirty five-year-old ice cream manufacturer Kamath Our times Ice Creams Pvt Ltd was planning to expand to new locations which required them to optimize their current processes following which walked the audience through the process flow of ice-creams made with milk, fruits, and dry fruits. He further talked about how he was able to contribute by making suggestions with regard to the value-added time, Non-Value added time and relocating the sorting area which, if implemented could result in saving a total of nine hours for thirteen machines. The event concluded with an interesting quiz testing the participants’ knowledge in the Operations domain.

DISHA 2019: Interview with Dr. Aditya Verma, VP, Procurement, Emami Ltd

Dr. Aditya Verma, the author of the book ‘Supplier Matters’ visited TAPMI during DISHA 2019.  Here is a summary of the interview.

Dr. Verma spoke about the reasons that prompted him to write his book; an attempt to give back to the academia that contributed to his learning and a desire to share the deep insight into his life experiences and learning.

The book challenges the common belief that supply chain plays a key role in any business process. It states that it is the ‘supplier’ who matters.  The discussion revolved around how ‘supplier selection’ can be a key differentiator for any organization.

Dr. Verma also mentioned that to succeed in today’s dynamic business environment where change is the only constant, it is important to not only have in-depth knowledge of one’s own field but a comprehensive organizational view. Agility is the key competency companies look for during the selection of candidates to have flexibility in deploying talent when job roles change, he said.

The book bridges the gap between academia and the corporate world by giving students of management, cognizance into the real-life nuances of marketing and operations, opening an avenue of new perspectives.

Dr. Verma said that to keep himself updated in his field, he did multiple certifications, not for the credentials but for his never ending quest for knowledge.  He left with the note that management students should be curious with a never ending pursuit for learning.

DISHA 2019: Day 6: Guest Lecture: Beyond the Boundaries by Mr. Ritwik Barman, Chief Operating Officer, DTDC Express Ltd.

On 4th August 2019, Mr. Ritwik Barman addressed the students of TAPMI in an enriching session on the operating process of DTDC Express Ltd. He acquainted the students with the features of the system, competitors, models used and innovative strategies used by the organization to maintain its position in the industry.

Mr. Barman provided the students with his insights on the Indian Express Industry landscape, with respect to the domestic as well as the international services. He spoke about the four giant players in this segment and as to how this industry has become the driver of economic growth of the country. Mr. Barman explained in detail the processes involved in the Express Division of DTDC, namely the first mile, the automated and efficient middle mile and the digitized last mile solutions. He also discussed the fulfilment centres of DTDC express that provide end-to-end B2C solutions. It also takes care of inventory management, order management and warehousing among other value-adding services.

The session concluded with Mr. Barman describing the OGSM business model which DTDC is in the process of implementing. It draws the spotlight to questions like “What should we do?” and “What value are we providing to our customers?”, rather than “How do we do it?”. This innovation-based model is being taken up in order for DTDC to stay relevant in the current marketing scenario.

DISHA 2019: Day 5: Guest Lecture: “Beyond the Boundaries” by Mr. Vijay Sati, Head of Procurement, Nokia India

On 03rd August 2019, Mr. Vijay Sati, Head of Procurement for Nokia India addressed the students of TAPMI in a riveting guest lecture on how organizations must go beyond their structures and boundaries to maintain their place in this dynamic world.

Mr. Sati commenced his session by stressing on the relevance of supply chain management in a customer-oriented organization. He took the students through the concepts of Sales and Operations Planning to help them stay up to speed and understand the real-life applications of multi-functional cooperation among departments. He underlined the importance of cross-functional collaboration between various teams and functions of the organization in order to deliver value to the customer. Mr. Sati also discussed the structures, framework and functionality of the Telecommunication industry. He spoke in length of the key challenges faced by the procurement division of the same.

Towards the latter part of the discussion, Mr. Sati shared his views and opinions on some of the key generic skills that he believes an MBA grad of today must possess. In this regard, he highlighted the importance of having good analytical and problem-solving skills in corporates. Furthermore, he discussed the relevance of 6 sigma concepts in non-manufacturing industries, contrary to the popular belief that it is applicable only in the production sector.

DISHA 2019: Day 4: Guest Lecture: Necessity of innovation in corporate functions: Jayshankar A V, COO, TVS Supply Chain Solutions Ltd.

On 2nd August 2019, Mr. Jayshankar A V, COO – Telecom and Technology Logistics, TVS Supply Chain Solutions Ltd. addressed the TAPMI cohort about the constant need of innovation in corporate functions as a part of Disha 2019. He laid stress on the competitiveness of the world and the ways of tackling it by effective implementation of innovative ideas.

During the discussion, Mr. Jayshankar laid stress on the fact that any new innovation that comes into picture must address the needs of the customers. He also discussed the McKenzie model of innovation that consists of multiple aspects in ideation and execution of effective innovation. He shared a real-life experience where his firm revolutionized the maintenance of biomedical equipment in hospitals and PHCs through IoT. This helped students in apprising the practical applications of advanced technology.

While summing it up, Mr. Jayshankar stressed upon the importance of cross-functional collaboration at the workplace so that the significance of any new innovation stays intact. After all, it is the constant innovation that keeps a business going.

DISHA 2019: Day 4: Guest Lecture: At what stage of business is it safe to go beyond the boundaries of functions? – Hemant Naik, VP Supply Chain and Strategy, Naturals Ice cream

On 2^nd August 2019, Mr. Hemant Naik, VP Supply Chain and Strategy, Naturals Ice cream indulged in an interesting discussion with the TAPMI cohort on the topic- ‘At what stage of business is it safe to go beyond the boundaries of functions?’. The discussion was spread across 4 phases each of which focused on the life cycle of any business.

During the discussion, Mr. Naik laid stress on the commonalities and differences between a profit and not-for-profit businesses. He explained the life cycle of any business by means of a diffusion curve. He also added that for each type of business, there are different functional departments which need to be interconnected.

As a parting note, Mr. Naik told the students about four main points of competing value framework- Create, Collaborate, Control and Compete. It is a healthy balance of all that makes the business prevail for a long time.