Raghunath Thricovil

MBA Miles - The MAP Experience (1)

Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP) is an integral part of what draws students to Michigan. It dominated our essays and also the explanation of "Why Ross?" during our B-School interviews. Its the crowned jewel in Michigan's Action Based Learning.

I remember talking to a good friend at another top BSchool during the fall and she was excited about her doing an international immersion during the Winter semester. She said about 20% of the class gets to go. I was happy for her, dug deeper into what they do and finally said "Oh.. its like MAP, but only 20% get to do it"

So it was an exciting time when the MAP projects got released in December. About 120 projects from all over the world ranging from projects at the University of Michigan to ones in China, Sweden and Rwanda and spanning Marketing, Finance, Business Development, HR in  almost all concievable industries (including Non-Profit, Airlines, Start-ups... etc). I went through various iterations bringing down 120 projects down to 60, then to 30, 20 and finally the 10 that I applied for. Here's a peek into my choices:

1. Market research for an Israeli start-up trying to enter Europe with innovative health-care solution in UK, Germany & France
2. The same as above (there were 3 products and I chose 2)
3. A sales effectiveness study and incentive restructuring for the sales force for a top high-tech corporation in US, Singapore, India & UK
4. Market study, pricing and supply chain analysis for a clean-tech start up in up-state NY.
5. Analyzing a sustainable housing solution in Mexico and creating a framework for similar implementations in Africa & Asia for a joint venture by a non-profit organization and governments
6. Feasibility and Marketing plan for a new clean tech methodology for power generation for one of US' top energy providers
7. Analyze Customer Relationships for a top US e-commerce provider by identifying and tracking parameters of symbiosis
8. Social Media CRM for a company that manufactures stuff for casinos (this was a popular one as it included 5 weeks in Las Vegas)
9. Bottom of the pyramid strategies for a US Chocolate manufacturer in SE Asia
10. Marketing strategy and supply chain analysis for a top pharma company in Sweden.

The results are out.... And I will be headed to up-state NY to help a clean-tech firm do market entry which include market analysis, pricing and supply chain aspects of the business. I am meeting my team next week and I can tell its going to be a fun ride come March :)

My MBA Miles - MTrek

My first advice to anyone who is coming to Ross... "Do an MTrek!". Coming from India and seeing my savings in INR depleted by the exchange rate, I was oh so tempted to not do an MTrek (they are not free!). But it did not disappoint. Actually surpassed my wildest hopes and was a perfect introduction to Ross.

MTreks come in all shapes and sizes. From a partner trek (for couples) to Northern Michigan (which I thought was a bit lame compared to the others... Don't worry couples, this time my classmates are planning some awesome partner treks) to exotic locations like Egypt & Bali... from the cold mountains of Canada to the hot beaches of Panama, Costa Rica and Hawaii, there are treks to choose from to fit your appetite. But more important aspect of the MTrek is the group itself.

My 8 days in the wild country side of Montana & Wyoming with 13 MBA1s and 3 MBA2s have forged some strong friendships. We still meet often and help each other out. In fact I was invited to Thanksgiving to one of my MTrek's buddy's hometown, with his family.

We had a lot of fun, from trekking to whitewater rafting, from horse riding to fly-fishing, we did it all. We cooked our own food and stayed in houses in the woods. There was a lot of merriment and my official initiation into American culture (including drinking games).

On the other side, I saw this group as a mini-representation of the Ross community. Within the 13 MBA1s, we had:

• 2 Israelis, 2 Indians, 1 Chinese
• An army man who jumped out of airplanes in Iraq
• A girl who was among the top 150 squash players in the world
• A sprinter who tried out for All American
• An accountant, an accountant turned advertising manager, engineers who veered into marketing, army, intelligence and banking
• A guy who got a top-paid hedge fund job, though a Craigslist ad
• Passionate people from the non-profit background
• ...

We had several great conversations... From topics ranging from beer and Jägermeister to war, politics, religion, business and policy. It is true to say that the MTrek (though I was sad it ended), left me wanting to get to know more people than ever. If my MTrek group was any indication of my classmates; I was going to have a ball-of-a-time. And it did not disappoint.

The houses we lived in Jacksonhole,WY and Big Sky, MT

We cooked our own food.. It was fun! From mexican to chillies to corn-dogs

Rafting in the Snake River

Horseback-riding and fly-fishing

Some postcards from the MTrek

My Fall Term - The Journey

First of all.... Happy New Year everyone!

MBA keeps you on a tight leash and there is so much to do that blogging had to take a back-seat. Now that the fall term is over, I wanted to reflect on my last 5 months in Ann Arbor.

There's been so much that has happened in the past 5 months that it feels like a long time. I feel I have known my class mates forever and have enjoyed their company for a long time. I intend to talk about the highlights of my Fall term, both academic and others. Hope this would give you a much better picture about the school and the life here.

Just to list some of them:

• MTrek
• Fall A classes
• Football
• Fall B
• Parties

I walk into Espresso Royale the other day near Ross and see this at the counter... At the same time some PYTs came in with a twitter client open on their iPhone asking for their discount, which we had no clue about. Proves how much new model advertising is essential along with traditional forms of marketing...

The Largest Alumni Network Test

One of the things that is touted about Michigan is that it has the largest living Alumni Network of any university in the world. This explains why the wolverine passion runs high all over the world. This fall break, I decided to put this to test.

I was flying out to Seattle & San Francisco for my fall break and decided to shoot emails to alumni trying to connect with them to get to know companies. I did a location & school search on LinkedIn and more than 1000 alumni turned up in the bay area (and that is just for Ross, not counting the fact that the school was called University of Michigan Business School). I picked my companies and shot emails to about 10 alumni in Seattle and Bay Area and surprise surprise... All but one replied!

Though some of them were not able to meet me as they were traveling or had other conflicts, I had a wonderful time talking to them. There was a MBA '95 who was the director in a tech company, who still wears the Michigan badge tag to work everyday... It was fun talking about the Big House, how things have changed and their experiences at Michigan.

The Alumni network is truly extensive and very helpful...

MBA Miles - The raghunt begins

I am Raghu Thricovil (MBA 2011) - raghunt according to my UMich ID. A Ross Student Ambassador and an MBA Student from India. My MBA journey began when I chose my UMich ID.

I have always been miffed with the character-limits on usernames and passwords. But this time it really pushed me to think innovatively (I hope) to comeup with something…

My name: Raghunath Rao Thricovil

The fact that most places in the US only bother first and family names, it turns out to be : Raghunath Thricovil (Though I love the Rao surname). I needed to find a email id <= 8 characters for my UofM ID.

My first choice was my office id which I have really cherished for the last 4 yrs… rrao. But that incidentally was taken, and so was the id raghu. The other option was to go for rthricov but that would make me sound Russian :) . Another choice was raghunat but it seemed ike an insect or something you name an fighter plane. So after much thought and deliberation (and long hours googling if the name has any “other” connotations), i settled for:

raghunt

The name is fast growing on me… Sounds like a native red-indian guy in rags and a wolf-hide, leading a hunting party with a bow and arrow slung over his shoulder, a long spear in his hand and a Tomahawk hung on his hip; riding his white and brown mare Windspeed and egging his people on. The raghunt begins...