Shershaah - Beyond the Movie

"Yeh dil maange more" ये दिल मांगे more!

"Dushman ek chalaye to aap do chalao" दुश्मन एक चलाए तो आप दो चलाओ.

"Waapas to zaroor aaonga, tiranga le kar ya phir tirange mein lipta hua" वापस तो ज़रूर आऊँगा, तिरंगा ले कर या फिर तिरंगे में लिपटा हुआ 

These words of Capt Vikram Batra, Param Vir Chakra, kept echoing in our mind much after seeing the movie Shershaah. The movie is based on the life of a brave son of India who made the supreme sacrifice in the Kargil war.

Ghumakkad conducted a video case study based on the movie Shershaah in his PGDM class. The students were asked to watch the movie before the class. The posters in the picture below are courtesy the film producers.

Old movies like Lagaan, Patton, Twister, The Bridge On The River Kwai etc have been used for management lessons in many B-schools earlier. But we wanted to use a recently released movie and derive lessons for MBA students. It adds to the excitement in the class both for the students as well as the teacher. The teacher has to prepare in advance. Which scenes to discuss, what questions to ask and which concepts or lessons will it bring out? Needless to add that the effort was worth it. Video cases are a powerful pedagogical aid, specially for management education. It also helps the institutions to keep their syllabus current.

The video case discussions were based on the movie. We did not discuss whether the movie portrayed Capt Batra's life or the Army operations accurately or not. That is left to innumerable film critics. Our case discussions were focussed on learning from real life and thus brought out the following lessons from Shershaah the movie:

1. Leadership
2. Motivation
3. Goal setting and goal clarity
4. Team work
5. Inter-personal relations
6. Courage and fearlessness
7. Decision making
8. Building trust
9. Group Dynamics
10. Leading from the front
11. Dealing with uncertainty
12. Determination and Perseverance
13. Ethics and Values
14. Nation first
15. Task Orientation
16. Training and Development
17. Competency Mapping
18. Managing failures
19. Staffing Decisions
20. Humility

Any teacher or student who wants to know which scene in the movie to correlate with the above concepts or topics can mail me at hbindia@gmail.com . It would be my pleasure to help. I firmly believe that knowledge multiplies with sharing.

Two years ago, we had conducted another video case study based on the movie URI- The Surgical Strike. It also generated lively discussions in the class. You may browse our story linked below which has been read by more than 3000 management professionals/teachers/students:

Uri The Movie with Many Lessons in Management

Do give your feedback if you have also conducted any of the above case studies based on these two movies.

In the Google-dominated world, the students love being 'current'. We conducted the case study within a fortnight of the movie being released. It added to the thrill factor of learning. Had the classes not been on-line, the level of excitement would have been a notch higher. But Covid dictated otherwise. Let Covid not bog you down! Class of 2022 at VVISM Hyderabad- you guys did a great job!

Just one more thing. We have neither been retained nor paid for promoting this movie. It is purely for purposes of learning and sharing. It should not send a wrong message otherwise.

Thanks for browsing. Stay connected.

   - Harsh-the-teacher-Ghumakkad/27th Aug 2021

#mba #pedagogy #casemethod #videocases #learning #reallife #Managementlessons #shershaah #googledominatedworld #beingcurrent #learningwithfun #learningtogether #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #teaching #teacheraslearner #beyondgoogle #thrilloflearning #beatingthecovid

Real Life to 'Real-Time' Cases

Is it a typo? 'Real-Time' Cases?

Haven't heard it before!

If you felt the same way, then you need to read further.

Real-life cases always generate more discussion in an MBA class. But many times such cases get outdated very fast. Subsequent corporate events which unfold after the case was written and it gets discussed in the class, make it less relevant and impactful.

What can the faculty do in such situations?

The key is to move from real-life to real-time. Yes, real-time as in the case of military combat systems. Tracking a target in real time, engaging with your weapons in real time and assessing the impact- all in real time! Sounds cool?

But, how can this concept of ‘real-time’ be introduced in case-based teaching?

Can real-time cases be used across all management subjects?

How to design such real time cases?

What is the lead time to prepare such cases?

From where can we source such real-time cases?

Has this methodology been tried out somewhere?

What is the impact of such real-time case methodology on learning by management students?

Ghumakkad a.k.a. Harsh Bhargava will answer these and many more queries in a Workshop-cum-Master Class this week. It will introduce the faculties to ‘real-time cases’ through some ‘real-time’ cases in a recursive way!

Take your call because today's generation is media-driven, tech-savvy and hates reading long notes, handouts or cases.

Happy learning.

Reach me for further details

     

   -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/23rd April 2019/ hbindia@gmail.com 

#learning #experientiallearning #mba #casemethod #pedagogy #reallifecases #realtimecases #learningforlife

Uri The Movie with Many Lessons in Management

"How is the josh?" "High Sir!"
"हिंदुस्तान घुसेगा भी और मारेगा भी"
"There is no silver medal in war"
"वक़्त आ गया है ख़ून का बदला ख़ून से लेने का"
And many such dialogues reverberate after one sees the recent Hindi movie 'Uri The Surgical Strike'. Apart from topping the box office collections, the movie has many lessons in Business Management.

The entire PGDM class of 2020 of VVISM Hyderabad was taken to a multiplex for watching the movie. The students came back all charged up. It was then that Ghumakkad decided to run a Case Study based on the movie. It was very satisfying when the students brought out the following concepts through various events/scenes in the movie.

1. Team work at multiple levels
2. Goal setting
3. Alignment of individual goals with org goals 
4. Role clarity of every team member
5. Dealing with Uncertainty
6. Leadership
7. Planning and execution
8. Motivation
9. Communication
10. Selection of Team 
11. Emotional Quotient and its power
12. Coordination
13. Role of technology in achieving goals
14. Physical and moral courage
15. Service before self
16. Humility
17. Tag-line and impact on marketing
18. The Power of Networking (Serial Nos. 18 to 22 courtesy Tarun Patro)
19. Distraction Tactics
20. Cost of a small mistake
21. Paying attention to detail
22. Back Up Plan or Plan B

We found the movie to be a great learning aid for management students. There are many movies which I have used earlier for teaching. Some of these are listed below:

Patton

The Bridge On The River Kwai

Wake Up Sid

Dangal

Lagaan

Bajrangi Bhaijaan

MS Dhoni: The Untold Story

The challenge is to trigger the discussion with right questions. 

Fellow teachers may reach me for further details on my mail ID. 

Once again, thank you the Class of 2020 for an enriching session and VVISM for creating the right learning environment.

Jai Hind!

Thanks for browsing

     -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 6th Feb 2019 

      hbindia@gmail.com 

#casestudy #learning #experientiallearning #mba #pgdm #vvism1 #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

'Make in India' and Military Systems

'Make in India' -- have we gone beyond the slogan coined by none other than the PM of India?
Were we not 'making in India' before the slogan came?
Can Indian defence forces claim 'make in India'?

Ghumakkad attempted to answer these and similar questions pertaining to Military Systems in a customised workshop for serving Army officers at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore. These officers belonged to the combat arms of Indian Army. The workshop was based on real-life experience of Ghumakkad while he served the Navy for 30 years. Eight different caselets spanning the spectrum of challenges faced during design, development, integration, financial approvals, life-cycle support and denial of technology by countries like USA were discussed. Case discussions generated lively debate and insightful analysis. However, the insights are not meant for open domain. Interested reader may contact Ghumakkad.

One aspect which came out loud and clear is the need for greater synergy between the defence services, research organisations and production agencies both in public and private sector.

Few pictures are here but not of the participants. It shows the campus both during the day and night.

Readers may browse an earlier story on 'Military Systems Management' here.

Ghumakkad also met few MBA students at IIM Indore who were alumni of BITS Pilani. It was such a pleasure meeting them. Though separated by 43 years, yet the bonding was instantaneous. Special thanks are due to GP- Gnanapriya Gnaprakasam of  IIM graduating class of 2017- and an alumnus of BITS Goa campus. These alumni graduated from Pilani and Goa campuses. 
A snapshot of the post on FB group 'BITSians for Each Other' follows:

Thanks are due to IIM Indore for such a wonderful opportunity and to all the participants from Indian Army for their active participation in case-based workshop.

Coming back to the question Is 'Make in India' a reality for defence forces? For the Indian Navy- certainly yes! And the credit for this achievement goes to the men in uniform of 1960s who had the vision and foresight to embark on the challenging path of 'Make in India'.

Thanks for browsing. Your comments and insights are most welcome.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 3rd November 2017

Military Systems Management

Your Ghumakkad was back to work last week when I conducted a workshop on Military Systems Management at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore. 

The workshop involved real life cases on managing the Military Systems in Indian context. Based on 30 years of experience in weapons and electronics systems design, development, integration, maintenance, and complete life-cycle support, these cases were custom-developed for military audience.
The workshop helped in experiential learning by army officers serving in various roles to provide support to combat formations. The workshop was part of a customised Management Development Program (MDP) conducted by IIM Indore. Few pictures.

Prof Rohot Kapoor of IIM Indore introduced me to the MDP participants.

Excerpts of topics covered in the workshop.

Outsourcing of non-core functions has become the norm in the industry. How far can this concept be applied in the Armed Forces? 

What is the way ahead? Specially in the light of recent "Make in India" thrust given by the Govt of India?

Importance of providing complete life-cycle support-- also known as 'womb-to-tomb' concept-- is aptly summed up in a quotation by Napoleon who said:

The beauty of having served in the Army/Navy/Air Force is instant bonding which happens when you meet fellow officers even though from another Service. See the group shot below.

It was a welcome change for me from MBA classes and B-school environment to be back where I belonged. Felt privileged and delighted to have been invited and to have conducted the session at a leading B-school in India. Thank you IIM Indore for giving this wonderful opportunity.

While at IIM Indore, I also met few BITSians (alumni of BITS Pilani my alma-mater from where I graduated 43 years ago) doing their MBA. More on bonding of a different kind later.

Thanks for browsing.

    -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 24th Nov 2016