Gravity Magazine_Final - Great Lakes

FROM GREAT LAKES
41
Economics of Markets – Dr. Shyam
Sunder, James L. Frank Professor of
Accounting, Economics and Finance, Yale
University
Did you know that the fundamental value of
a company makes sense only for an
unlimited horizon in the stock market? Yes?
Then hear this: ‘In a limited horizon, the
stock market moves on perceptions and
beliefs. It depends on your belief in what
others believe of the future value’. In simple
words - the market moves according to the
beliefs of the majority, not individual
beliefs. Eventually, the belief of people that
the market is inefficient makes it more
efficient. Well, this was the highlight of the
class (along with those many rounds of
auction games). When something is good, it
leaves you gasping for more. I can say that
this was the case for most students in this
class. Truly world class!
– Deepak Paidipati, PGPM Class of 2006
Customer Preferences - Dr. Seenu V.
Srinivasan, Adams Distinguished Professor
of Management, Stanford Graduate School
of Business
The course focused on how organizations
can better understand what the customers
look for in their products. This was
achieved through quantitative tools such as
Conjoint Analysis, Factor and Cluster
Analysis. Prof. Srinivasan's vast experience
in the area of Marketing Research shone up
when he shared his experiences when faced
with various issues dealing with data in
such research.
His use of relevant examples from the
automobile industry in explaining
Moments of
Truth
Perception Maps was the highlight of the
course and made this course one of the most
memorable ones over the year.
– Vinay Mony, PGPM Class of 2006
Optimization Models / Simulation
Modeling – Prof. N. Ravichandran, IIM-
Ahmedabad
A blockbuster on our campus, Prof.
Ravichandran enabled us in understanding
the theory and practice of ‘Optimization’
and ‘Simulation’. The primary learning of
this course was formulation of linear
programming problem (LP), involving the
determination of decision variables,
framing of objective function and
constraints determination.
No credits are enough to Prof.
Ravichandran for the way he made his
absorbing subjects so immensely witty and
humorous. Surely, he is one faculty who you
would never want to miss!
– Hari Prashanth Ganapathy,
PGPM Class of 2006
Financial Statement Analysis - Prof. Ram
T.S. Ramakrishnan, Head and Ernst and
Young Professor of Accounting, University
of Illinois at Chicago
‘FSA’, as known popularly, was a fantastic
course that sought to elevate us to financial
smartness from mere financial awareness. It
began with an emphasis on basic learning
concepts in finance such as “accrual
income”, gradually leading us to the
nuances of understanding and romancing
financial statements.
The course culminated with the students
doing an in-depth tri-company analysis and
financial comparison of Takeda, Pfizer and
Roche, using the lessons from class.
– Anand Jayachandran,
PGPM Class of 2006
Cost Management and Managerial
Accounting / Strategic Profitability
Management - Dr. Bala V. Balachandran,
J.L. Kellogg Distinguished Professor of
Accounting and Information Systems and
Decision Science, Kellogg School of
Management.
The ability to see beyond the periphery is
the key to success in effective cost
management. The highlight of the course
was “Bala’s 4M’s– Measure, Monitor,
Manage, and Maximize” which could be
used in any facet of management or life.
With an objective of providing a holistic
understanding of businesses, ‘Strategic
Cost & Profitability Management’ served as
an integrating course for all other courses,
thereby having application fervor. The
students thoroughly enjoyed the myriad of
exposure and were on the right track of
being “Business Ready”.
– Pavan Kumar, PGPM Class of 2006
Marketing Management/Strategic
Marketing – Dr. Paul R. Prabhaker,
Associate Dean & Academic Director,
Stuart Graduate School of Business, Illinois
Institute of Technology
It’s a common belief that of all the functions
of management, marketing is the easiest to
perform. Anyone not good at any other
thing, can at least be a sales person? (Are
Marketing & Sales same?). Dr. Prabhaker
emphasized that Marketing is the only
function which is evolving everyday, and