MY DIGITAL CV..........................

Digital CV

GRAMEEN BANK--MOHAMMED YUNUS

Micro-credit revolutionized rural economic development. While micro-credit institutions such as the Grameen Bank were heavily subsidized in the past, the current view among policy makers is that self-sustainability is needed to add to the impact of these institutions. However, some of Grameen Bank’s goals, such as fighting poverty and increasing the standard of living of the poorest people in Bangladesh, run against profit maximization principles that would lead to self-sustainability. This article will argue that to alleviate poverty and increase standards of living, it is necessary to strike a balance between subsidization and the quest for profit.

Mohammad Yunus behind Grameen Bank

                                      

The micro finance model was a reaction to the failure of both governments and international institutions to implement economic development programs efficiently. Micro finance institutions instead provided small loans to poor people who would not otherwise have access to loans from traditional banks. Traditional commercial banks require that certain pre-conditions be met in order for borrowers to receive loans. In addition, micro-lending addressed a major shortcoming of the state and institutional planning approach by channeling money directly to those who needed it most, while avoiding corrupt intermediaries. Because it became possible for the poor to become entrepreneurs, the micro-enterprises that were at the root of their economic subsistence improved.

The Bank’s Model

Acción International launched the first micro-credit organization in Recife, Brazil, although several others followed, such as Bank Rakyat in Indonesia and BancoSolin Bolivia. The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh is only one of these initiatives. It’s founder Mohammed Yunus, an Economics professor at Chittagong University in 1976, started lending money out of his own pocket to nearby villagers in order to support their crafts’ businesses. He later supported the craftsmen to get a traditional bank loan by acting as their guarantor (1). Yunus realized that his experiment resulted in substantially higher standards of living for borrowers, and that the majority of villagers repaid their loans. To expand his lending system, Yunus created the “Grameen Bank Project” in 1976 and turned it into a financial institution in 1983.

The Bank’s lending system, based on the functioning of market-based credit institutions, was adapted to break down barriers that had previously prevented access to credit by the poorest people. The Bank provided small amounts of credit at low interest rates without the need for paperwork or the provision of collateral. Instead, the Bank required group-lending with joint liability. Five people had to associate in order to receive a loan. Each person in the group would be responsible for the repayment of each others’ loans. If one person in the group did not pay, the other four would not be able to receive further loans (2). The delivery system for the loans and payments also differed from that of regular financial institutions. Instead of having to travel to a branch to do business, eight groups of five people met with a bank officer every week for a village “centre meeting,” where payments were processed and loans handed out.

Contributions of the Bank

The Bank addressed some structural determinants of poverty that were major impediments to rural economic development. For example, the Bank allowed rural entrepreneurs to successfully create new opportunities for themselves through self-employment, thereby dismantling the fallacious “entrepreneurial gap.” It was thought that rural areas lacked the entrepreneurial spirit necessary to raise the standard of living of villagers in developing countries (3). The Bank showed that when the focus was placed on developing the right environment, poor villagers could put their ideas to work and contribute to the development of their communities.

The Bank also addressed the lack of investment by financial institutions in rural areas as well as the restricted access to financial services by poor people which hampered development in these areas. A unique methodology was used where loan officers visited villages instead of forcing borrowers to travel to the closest branch to work out the conditions of a loan. Having bank officers travel directly to the villages not only improved access to financial services, but it also minimized the risk of dealing with corrupt intermediaries.

Women also benefited from the establishment of microfinance in Bangladesh. The Bank targeted female lenders, and therefore improved their economic and social status. More than 96% of Yunus’ borrowers are women. With this, Yunus not only contributed to the economic development of rural areas, but also to the increased economic contribution of women to their communities, to women’s improved sense of self-worth, higher community respect and increased financial independence.

The Bank chose to work in sectors where females were the decision-makers, such as craft-making and processing. Women, who are more vulnerable than men due to a lack of alternative business options, as well as a comparatively higher shame of non-compliance, were found to be more likely to pay back their loans (4). In addition, by targeting women Yunus substantially corrected the overrepresentation of women amongst the poorest villagers. An unexpected added benefit was that money obtained by women was more likely to be spent on the needs of the family. Therefore, not only did the standard of living of the villagers improve from the borrower’s investment return per se, but also from the subsequent use of the money made by them.

This is from my side how the Grameen bank revolutionized the Micro sector lending.Keep reading my blog.

CUBE -- FULL OF COLORS....................

Today I am going to tell you about a cube full of colors.Many of you have seen the RUBRIK cube but this cube is different .It was a NAVARANG cube very different in logic. It had 9-colored blocks which could be dismantled and logic was to arrange the cubes such that all 9 colors are present on each face of cube.

Now the task in front of us was to dismantle the cube into 27 small cubes and assemble them, such that, all 9 colors appear on each face of a cube. Some volunteers tried to do the task in stipulated time but as they started working on it randomly, they couldn't make it. Some of them even claimed that it is impossible to make such a cube.

Now Prof. Mandi showed us the technique to solve the problem which appeared very difficult.

Method to solve: 

1) Group similar colored blocks, each group having 3 blocks of same color.

Group 1,2,3,...9 = Same colored blocks

Fig Group 1

2) Take cubes of 3 colors, that is, Group 1,2 & 3 and assembled them as a rod by using law of permutation,

Rod 1= 1, 2, 3 

Rod 2= 2, 3, 1

Rod 3= 3, 1, 2

3) Now by clubbing these 3 rods, one layer of a cube is formed.

Fig Layer 1

Similarly other 2 layers with remaining colors are formed by using above method. Then these 

layers are combined together to form Navrang Cube.

So you see how simple a NAVRANG cube making is.But to leave this exercise here will defeat the purpose itself. Let's gather our thoughts.This cube can be compared to an organisation with mutifarious departments working in  coordination.Every face has nine different colors which represent nine facets of any organization.The cohesive force acting between every pair of cubes can be analogized as a bonding between different departments because everyone works in tandem.

This a perfect example how an organisation can work with each layer represents its own significance.Now time has come to put an end to my blog. 

Keep reading my blogs ....................:)

Organisational Structure

What is organizational structure?

By structure, we mean the framework around which the group is organized, the underpinnings which keep the coalition functioning. It's the operating manual that tells members how the organization is put together and how it works. More specifically, structure describes how members are accepted, how leadership is chosen, and how decisions are made.

Why should you develop a structure for your organization?

• Structure gives members clear guidelines for how to proceed. A clearly-established structure gives the group a means to maintain order and resolve disagreements.
• Structure binds members together. It gives meaning and identity to the people who join the group, as well as to the group itself.
• Structure in any organization is inevitable -- an organization, by definition, implies a structure. Your group is going to have some structure whether it chooses to or not. It might as well be the structure which best matches up with what kind of organization you have, what kind of people are in it, and what you see yourself doing.

When should you develop a structure for your organization?

It is important to deal with structure early in the organization's development. Structural development can occur in proportion to other work the organization is doing, so that it does not crowd out that work. And it can occur in parallel with, at the same time as, your organization's growing accomplishments, so they take place in tandem, side by side. This means that you should think about structure from the beginning of your organization's life. As your group grows and changes, so should your thinking on the group's structure.

Elements of Structure

While the need for structure is clear, the best structure for a particular coalition is harder to determine. The best structure for any organization will depend upon who its members are, what the setting is, and how far the organization has come in its development.

Regardless of what type of structure your organization decides upon, three elements will always be there. They are inherent in the very idea of an organizational structure.

They are:

1. Some kind of governance
2. Rules by which the organization operates
3. A distribution of work

Governance

The first element of structure is governance - some person or group has to make the decisions within the organization. 

Rules by which the organization operates

Another important part of structure is having rules by which the organization operates. Many of these rules may be explicitly stated, while others may be implicit and unstated, though not necessarily any less powerful.

Distribution of work

Inherent in any organizational structure also is a distribution of work. The distribution can be formal or informal, temporary or enduring, but every organization will have some type of division of labor.

There are four tasks that are key to any group:

• Envisioning desired changes. The group needs someone who looks at the world in a slightly different way and believes he or she can make others look at things from the same point of view.
• Transforming the community. The group needs people who will go out and do the work that has been envisioned.
• Planning for integration. Someone needs to take the vision and figure out how to accomplish it by breaking it up into strategies and goals.

• Supporting the efforts of those working to promote change. The group needs support from the community to raise money for the organization, champion the initiative in the state legislature, and ensure that they continue working towards their vision.

Common Roles

Every group is different, and so each will have slightly different terms for the roles individuals play in their organization, but below are some common terms, along with definitions and their typical functions.

1. An initial steering committee is the group of people who get things started. Often, this group will create plans for funding, and organizational and board development. It may also generate by-laws, and then dissolve. If they continue to meet after approximately the first six months, we might say they have metamorphosed into a coordinating council.

2. A coordinating council (also referred to as a coordinating committee, executive committee, and executive council), modifies broad, organization-wide objectives and strategies in response to input from individuals or committees.

3. Often, one person will take the place of the coordinating council, or may serve as its head. Such a person may be known as the Executive Director, Project Coordinator, Program Director, or President. He or she sometimes has a paid position, and may coordinate, manage, inspire, supervise, and support the work of other members of the organization.

4. Task forces are made up of members who work together around broad objectives. Task forces integrate the ideas set forward with the community work being done.

5. Action committees bring about specific changes in programs, policies, and practices in the sectors in which they work.

6. Support committees are groups that help ensure that action committees or other individuals will have the resources and opportunities necessary to realize their vision. Financial and media committees are examples of committees formed to help support or facilitate your work.

7. Community trustees, also known as the board of trustees or as the board of directors, provide overall support, advice, and resources to members of the action groups. They are often either people who are directly affected by the issue or have stature in the community. That way, they are able to make contacts, network with other community leaders, and generally remove or weaken barriers to meeting organizational objectives.

Choosing Your Organization's Structure

What type of structure should you choose?

First, decide upon the formality your organization will have. The following table, adapted from The Spirit of Coalition Building (see the Resources section below) can help you make this first decision.

Conditions favoring more or less formality in organizational structures
Condition	A looser, less formal, less rule bound structure would be favored when...	A tighter, more formal, more rule-bound structure would be favored when...
Stage of organization development	The organization is just starting	The organization is in later stages of development
Prior relationships among members	Many such relationships already exist	Few such relationships already exist
Prior member experience in working together	Many such experiences have occurred	Few such experiences have occurred
Member motivation to be part of the organization	Motivation is high	Motivation is low
Number of organization tasks or issues (broadness of purpose)	There is a single task or issue	There are multiple tasks or issues
Organization size	The organization is small	The organization is large
Organization leadership	The leadership is experienced	The leadership is inexperienced
Urgency for action	There is no particular urgency to take action now	There is strong urgency to take action now

Thanks and keep reading my blogs..................................:)

CROSS THE VALLEY......................

You all must be waiting for a management dose.So here it is.Today, we performed a very interesting exercise called as VALLEY CROSSING.The valley crossing exercise was performed in order to demonstrate the importance of team work. Team work involves many facets not limited to communication, coordination, interdependency, trust, support, contribution from members and cohesion among them.

The activity involved 3 persons crossing a valley with the support of the rod. The distance between two ends of the cliff was more than 1 step but less than 2 steps. The activity was to be performed in such a way, that at any instance of time during the crossing of valley, not more than 1 member was at risk, i.e. if one person was at risk during the act of valley crossing, the other two members would take up that person’s weight. In this way the interdependency between the members was tightly coupled which is one of the most important facets of team work.

It is also to be noted that when one of the persons is at risk, that person has to trust the other two persons to ensure that the objective is achieved. In this way, during the entire exercise, all the persons are at equal risk and need confidence and trust between the members to achieve the objective. 

Crossing the Danger Zone


Three wise men Crossing the valley  - Detailed task process

Persons	First Person	Second Person	Third person
Steps
1	Safe	Safe	Safe
2	Half Risky
3	Full Risky
4	Half Risky	Half Risky
5		Full Risky
6		Half Risky	Half Risky
7			Full Risky
8			Half Risky
9	Safe	Safe	Safe

A. Safe - Both the legs of the person have full support
B. Half Risky – One leg in the air and the other leg has support
C. Full risky - Both the legs are in the air without any support
D. Half risky – One leg is in the air and the other leg has support
E. Safe - Both the legs have full support

The above table can also be depicted as:

                                                       

                            LESSONS LEARNT

                                                       1. Responsibility

When a team is assigned a work or has to achieve an objective, each member of the team should be responsible enough to complete their portion of the task. If even one member of the team is not responsible to complete their portion, then the entire objective is at a risk and can lead to harsh consequences.

 2. Communication

During the process of performing a task, there needs to be effective communication between the group members for two main reasons.

The first reason can be to know the status of the work performed so that the percentage task completion of the task can be gauged. The second reason can be related to the clarity of the task between the members. If even one member interprets the task incorrectly, the whole group's success will be at stake.

                                                      3. Confidence and Trust

The organization cannot be successful if there is no element of trust in it. As in the case of valley exercise, persons can take the risk to cross the valley only since they trust the other two. Similarly for the organization to be successful, managers and workers have to follow the Theory X which tells the people or managers have trust on the other people or employees for the job to be completed effectively.

4. Innovation

When the team members have gelled , then innovation is something that comes on its own. A good team always has a good number of people who come up with innovative ideas all the time.

These are some of the lessons from that lecture. Keep reading......................:)

Three Monks , Metaphors and Management !!!

Have you ever confronted a situation where everyone is relying on each other to bring out the first step? If  you are having  a sense of deja vu , then the rest of the material is for you only. 

 “Three monks have no water to drink” is a profound Chinese Proverb that hits the nail on the head by depicting a typical human nature that while working in a team, due to the lack of “vital sense”, employees in a task force, usually, do not pay enough effort to contribute to the overall success of a project.

                                          

In context of this Chinese approach , there is a 1980 animated short film called "THREE MONKS , NO WATER". A. Da beautifully spun out a story which is in line with this proverb. My main aim , here , is not to show you just a clip but more than that. Right now , I do not want to put all of my cards on the table so that there is an ample time for readers to decipher this metaphorical movie.

Short Description

In the beginning, the first monk living in the temple alone high up on the mountain has to walk down the temple to carry his own water everyday. Later on, a second monk arrived and together, they walked down to carry their daily water consumption. At last, a third monk arrived and in the end, none of them would walk down the mountain to carry the water up. What is the result of this? Well, in the end, the three monks ended up having no water to drink.

Learnings

You must be thinking that why I have been stressing upon this movie right from the beginning. Actually, I want to show you that how a short film can teach a lot of management principles. But what is the metaphor behind this story? It depicts that when there is a team, members usually rely on others to do more of the work to share the same results. And at last they do nothing productive ( Yes , the Monks did a productive work at the end of film which is no exception). However , One liner is an injustice to the whole management lesson this clip is portraying. So let's do the analysis :

Analysis 

The movie throws light on some important concepts of management(already discussed in earlier posts). As usual I will try to analyse some of these concepts based on the video.

    WORK METHOD COMPARISON :

Effort,Output and Productivity estimation

After watching this clip , one wants to estimate the Efforts , Output and Productivity of the above mentioned cases . The numbers are arbitrary and as per the convenience of readers. Here, the crux is not on the numerical figures but their significance. One requires a few seconds to identify the most effective way to do the putative task. 

Now this analysis will be incomplete if it does not contain the teachings of our Professor. So here it is : 

FIRST LESSON :  " AVOID SOCIAL LOAFING "

This learning is being highlighted throughout this blog. Earlier it was just a passing reference ,but now I want to talk sense. Social Loafing phenomenon comes every time when people work in group.

"When people work in group there are good effects and there are bad effects , which can't be generalized"

Above statement can be mapped to this short film also. As the three monks , who in earlier scenario want a free ride, work in tandem showing a perfect way of deskilling a task. So there are good effects (more enthusiasm) as well as bad effects (less enthusiasm) of working in group.     

Less Enthusiasm

More Enthusiasm

Hmm......So what to do for reducing the severity of this bad effect. In order to reduce "social loafing", the group can deskill the whole task which infuses every individual with a sense of responsibility (see the figure on right side). Prof. Mandi also told us that the mentioned approach would be self-revelatory in terms of feedback and obviate the "Theory X" kind of management in an organization because every one is making his/her full effort and thereby taking his/her organisation to a "Theory Y" management. Meanwhile, one can also see that when the task is more difficult or challenging ,  individuals (in group) believe in their own special contribution, thereby reducing this phenomenon.

SECOND LESSON :  " GOOD Vs BAD PRODUCTION SYSTEM "

This film touches many themes of which one can also be the working of our production system which is indeed based on self-interest and precise measurement just as the working of the three monks prior to the crisis. When we add up the goods produced , they are often less effective. Same thing can be extended to traditional farm production as small traditional farms are more productive than big industrial farms.

Taking another example , one can also compare this situation to the attitude of different countries towards the carbon emission reduction which think that making an effort to reduce emission is worthless as their contribution is insignificant. The same line of thought was also carried by the three monks who didn't want to work in collaboration and had to face a crisis which at last opened their eyes.

THIRD LESSON :  " PARTICIPATIVE DECISION MAKING "

The earlier approach by three monks was not fully incorrect  as there are some incidents from which one can take cues regarding how to work in an organization involving every member of the organization. As in this film , while dividing the load of the bucket one monk did the scaling and the other did marking (even when this was done out of jealousy by the monks because no one wanted to bear more load). It involves both the parties in decision making and avoids any conflicts that may arise at some later point of time.

There are a lot of other learnings from this video and scope of improvement for this blog. But 

time has come to stop. Keep reading and remain up-to-date with management happenings :):)