6 months of learning in PGDM,Universal Business School

1. My LearningsTakeaways at UBS(6 months
of PGDM) Term 1 – By – M.D.Karthik
• Managerial Economics – I got to know about what is inflation,deflation,monetary
policies,demand and supply relationship, types of demand,goods,cost and revenue theory
along with the bell curve. This has given me a basic understanding of economics involved in
business and how companies make financial decisions in a global setting.
• Business Statistics – I am not particularly interested in numbers. In this subject,I learnt about
quantifying business data and how forecasting is done to predict the success or failure of a
business model.Mean,Median,mode,standard deviation, Probability theory,sampling
distribution,Poisson,normal,exponential distribution,skewness and kurtosis.As a HR, these
techniques may be helpful in quantifying data and managing human capital in a company.
• E – Commerce and Digital Marketing – Our B-school gives special importance to EDM.Through
this I realized the importance of social media for a person’s overall growth. We were given 80
GB of video material and softwares necessary for a B-school graduate.In these
materials,LinkdIn,cloud computing,google + functionalities,movies for MBA graduates,blog
writing(I am an amateur blogger) were covered.The EDM market is huge in the world and
leaving your digital print is a very crucial thing for a successful career in today’s world.

2. Term 1 learnings contd.
• Marketing Management – I got to learn about the basic concepts of marketing,gained a
grasp on topics like market segmentation,buyer behavior,elements of marketing and
marketing strategy,PLC (Product lifecycle),BCG Matrix,4 P’s of marketing,SWOT
Analysis,Marketing in Indian Econmy,Brand Positioning(STP Model),Online marketing,Rural
Marketing,Advertising and sales promotion,Customer decision process.I was able to know how
a product survives the competition in the market,physchological elements involved in selling a
product and the diversity involved in Indian markets and how important it is to treat the
CUSTOMER AS KING!
• Financial Accounting – this analytical subject taught me what credit and debit is, the
importance of reading a balance sheet for a company and its share holders. Financial
Accounting is the language of Business I must say.The need to be knowing the inflow and
outflow of money in any company is very crucial. Through this subject,I learnt how the CEO’s
use financial and cost data to make major decisions in business.
• Organizational Behaviour(OB) – this subject would be my field of expertise in the near future.I
learnt about attitude,behavior,responsibilities,the changing environment of
organizations,foundations of individual behavior, motivation in organizations,motivating
employee performance through work, managing stress and work life balance,decision making
and problem solving,Interpersonal and group behavior,importance of teams in
organizations,Understanding leaderships,power,politics and organizational justice,conflict and
negotiation in organization,organizational structure,design and development.

3. Term 1 learnings contd.
• OB has taught me how diiferent people have different attitudes towards their work and the role
of leadership in shaping an organization and it’s employees. I have a knack in handling
people and OB has laid a foundation for this in me.My mentor Dr.Buhril who has 17 years
experience in the Corporate world and joined the New India Assurance Company as a Direct
Recruit Officer in 1989 and is a Fellow of XLRI(Jamshedpur).He gave us practical examples of
OB and made the subject interesting to us. One more reason for me choosing HR as my
specialization.
• Management of Self(MoS) – this involved basic self disciplining and planning materials like time
management,ms-office skill sets,negotiation skills learnt by watching US based superhit business
competition reality show “Apprentice – You are Fired” and Harvard articles on Self
management and improvement.
• Foreign Language – I learnt the basics of Spanish language from our teacher Alejandro from
Spain and made me realize the importance of multi-cultural aspects required in any global
organization.

4. Other events during Term 1
 Won 1st prize in quiz and treasure hunt competition and second prize in Case study(komatsu)
competition as part of the induction programme of PGDM in UBS.
 Contested for the post of placement representative of PGDM batch and was selected as the
placement committee member and since then have been appreciated by my fellow people
for the good work which I am doing in the placement team.
 Looked after the logistics and guest requirements as part of the “2nd HR Symposium” at
UBS.Got the opportunity to interact with great businessmen like Mr.Arun
Nanda,MD,CEO,Mahindra Resorts and top notch CEO’s alike who had graced the occasion
to discuss the latest trends in HR field.
 All through the first term, I have given lot of presentations on all the subjects mentioned and on
Case studies from Harvard Business School.
 There have been guest lectures and workshops from eminent businessmen and women across
various industries.

5. Term 2 learnings at UBS
 Human Resource Management(HRM) – this is my area of interest.I got to learn about the changing
work environment and how it affects the overall performance of a company and its importance in
achieving competitive advantage and corporate excellence.The relationship between
vision,mission and strategic policies. We got to learn about the role of HR in whichever field of
management an individual goes. These concepts were covered which has given me deep interest
towards HR –
 Program Module -
 Module – I: Overview of Human Resources Management
HRM – The Management Perspective
Evolution and importance of HRM
 Module – II: Performance Management
- Balance Scorecard
Competency Mapping
 Module – III: Compensation and Reward Management
- Essence of Compensation
Reward and People motivation to be productive
 Module – IV: Manpower Planning
- Empowerment
- Productivity and Human Resource Management

6. Term 2 learnings at UBS contd.
 Module – V:Human Resource Accounting
- Understanding Accounting
Understanding Finance
 Module – VI: Training and Development
- Internal Training
- External Training
 Module – VII: Emerging areas of Human Resource Management
- 21st Century and its challenges
- Ethical and Moral standards
 Module – VIII: HRD Strategies for Long Term Planning and Growth
- HRD that works
- Customers and learning experience
 Module – IX: Knowledge Management
- Character, Competencies and Contributions
- Talents, Skills and Potential utilization

7. Term 2 learnings at UBS contd.
 Financial Management (FM)– the main aim of this subject was to provide a strong conceptual
foundation for corporate finance and an overview of the global and Indian context.I learnt
Objectives of FM,Capital Budgeting, Risk and Return, Leverage, Time value of Money,Price
Managing Criteria(PMC),Cost of Capital and sources of Finance.If at all I take up Compensation
and Benefit management in HR as my responsibilities in a company,the awareness of FM may
come handy.Also learnt about Financial formulas and analyzing them in MS-Excel.
 Operations Management- the concepts of productions and operations management systems and
to appraise customer expectations of quality and relationships and to update technologies to
meet global standards. To understand the functions of interrelated departments and decisions
involved therein for effective operations management.ROLO,LOLO,RORO,Transportation
advancements,Quality Management,Maintaenance management,Planning,Material
Management,Manufacturing Technology.Saw various videos on Logistics and Operations
management on the latest processes involved in OM.
 Innovation and Entrepreneurship(IAE) – As part of the project for IAE,we were made to make a
documentaryvideo on the life of various world famous entrepreneurs and I made a documentary
on Mr.Narayana Murthy using Cyberlink Power Director 10 video maker.We understood the different
dimensions of entrepreneurship and our Dean Mr.Bibhas took sessions for IAE and made it even
more interesting for us by giving his own experiences as an entrepreneur in Telecommunication
industry.We were inculcated with the spirit of Entrepreneurship through the various Harvard Review
articles elaboration and their implementation in our Annual Business School Fest called
Rush4Rush(R4R).110 GB of study material – small business secrets,Men who built America etc,Suntzu
art of warfare etc,.

8. Term 2 learnings at UBS contd.
 Strategic Marketing – This was an extension of the Marketing Management subject which we had in
1st term. The main aim of this subject was to integrate the functional areas of management and to
understand business from a strategy formulation and implementation perspective.We made various
presentations and one presentation on movie PK and how it was relevant to the marketing
strategies followed in present times.Concepts covered – Concept of strategy,Environment Analysis
and Diagnosis,Strategy Formulation & choice of alternatives,Strategy implementation,strategy and
structure,strategy evalution,Contemporary issues.
 Business Law – I understood the various business legislations in the global environment and thr rights
an individual gains by entering a business and also about the compliance of legal requirements of
business transactions.Topics covered – Central Excise,Different types of law,Sales Goods
Act,Contract Act and Agreement,Indian Companies act 1956 and the ammendments made in
companies Act 2013.This gave me an idea about the legalities involved in starting a business
venture in India and also as a citizen of India.
 Marketing Research – As part of our project in MR,I went to the live market along with 6 other group
members and conducted interview of people(questionnaire written) to know the chocolate eating
habits of their children and if they would prefer healthy nutritious chocolates as an alternative for
normal snacks.We got to know about our research skills in investigating a research problem with a
view at objective findings,interpretation of data and conclusions of their investigation in the form of
systematic reports.We also learnt about the basics of SPSS statistical tool.

9. Other events during Term 2
 This term gave a lot of importance for bringing out our 3rd edition of Annual B-School fest
Rush4Rush(R4R) 2015.I was involved in this heavily and wrote blogs like Karjat and Bollywood
and also developed content for the brand ambassadors of the event RedQ and Mayuri
Archer.I was also in the hospitality section of the fest and looked after the smooth happening
of the 3 day fest. Got in touch with many celebrities through this event.Marketted the eventr
thoroughly.
 The 3rd HR Symposium(“Make in India – policies required”) took place in the second term and I
was involved in this as a placement co-ordinator.It was a learning experience to see the whos
who of the industry share their knowledge on the above topic.
 I will be selecting the electives and major subjects after the internship.The third term is yet to
start from 16th February 2015.
 HR will be my major specialization and Marketing is my minor specialization.
 The elective selection is yet to be decided in our PGDM course.
 I am also planning to do my last term in a foreign country or I will opt for a summer
schoolexchange programme if possible.

10. THANK YOU