Dr. Kaushik Sahu's Profile @XIMB [Period: 1992-2005]

=================================================================

Kaushik Sahu
Professor; Operations Management & Decision Sciences Area;
Xavier Institute of Management,
Bhubaneswar - 751 013 (Orissa) I N D I A
[Phone: 2300231 (res); Email: kaushik@ximb.ac.in]

Education:
Ph.D.(Univ of Massachusetts, Amherst), 1991;
M.Tech [Industry Oriented] (REC, Rourkela), 1986;
B.Sc(Engg) (UCE, Burla), 1984

==================================================================

Dr Kaushik Sahu has been working at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, India since 1992. He started his career as a faculty in the College of Engineering and Technology, OUAT, Bhubaneswar in 1986 and has since then put in several years of teaching and research experience. Dr. Sahu went abroad in 1988 to take up doctoral studies with a major in Mechanical Engineering Design and a minor in Manufacturing.

He has published papers in International Journals and Proceedings and has also co-authored a chapter in a book on Advances in Feature Based Manufacturing. He was awarded the best paper award in the area of AI, Expert Systems and Knowledge-Based Systems at the 1990 International Computers in Engineering Conference organized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) at Boston, USA. He is currently working in the area of Design for Supply Chains which is an extension of his earlier interests in the areas of Computer Aided Engineering, Knowledge-Based Systems in Design and Manufacturing, Design Automation, Manufacturing Automation Management and Total Quality Management. [Click here for Dr Sahu's Area of Interest]

Dr. Sahu offers courses to the PGP, ExPGP and MDP participants. He teaches ‘Production and Operations Management’, ‘Total Quality Management’, ‘Supply Chain Management’, and ‘Computer Integrated Manufacturing’. He is also guiding projects in ‘Modern Manufacturing Management Systems’ and ‘Business Process Reengineering’. He prefers offering web-enhanced courses.

He is the Chief Coordinator of the COMPUTER AIDED PRODUCT AND PROCESS DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY meant for fostering concurrent product and process development initiatives. He is also working along with his associates in establishing a CUSTOMER SYNCHRONIZED MANUFACTURING RESOURCE PLANNING CELL for providing an action-based training platform to the various small and medium enterprises belonging to this region. His long-term interests are in establishing a Manufacturing Management Center at XIM. [Click here to see some of his activities since 1996].
kaushik@ximb.ac.in, last updated 6th August 2002

POSCO & The Poor Little Rich State

POSCO & The Poor Little Rich State
[MRD to HRD - Which Option?]

The ongoing tussle regarding POSCO needs to be settled properly by developing a robust MoU through proper stakeholder participation. Otherwise,
Mineral Resource Discrimination will lead to Human Resource Discrimination.

However, with a robust MoU in place,
Mineral Resource Development can lead to Human Resource Development.

There are evidences where the state has not been able to protect the stakeholder interest after the investors have moved in. Mainly because the MoUs (if not well formulated) are open to interpretation and the investors try their level best to push their own hidden agenda.
===========================================================
[Note: The idea of a "poor little rich state" came from this article (Indian State Digs In Over Iron (11 May 2005): ) published by The Wall Street Journal on 11 May 2005]. Excerpts from the article are also available at "Surprises of Outsourcing by William Krehm"

Root Rot

Last Saturday [i.e., 25 June 2005], I saw one partially uprooted tree next to our block in XIMB. Even though it was a big tree, it had not been able to withstand the slight wind load the previous night. I suggested the gardener to use props to ensure that the tree gets rooted once more. He refused saying that it is because of "root rot" and that nothing can be done about it. The tree had to go - "mercilessly axed out of existence".

The next day, I saw one article in the Indian Express (26 June 2005) - The banyan tree that "lifted itself". This happened in the Mupkal village of Andhra Pradesh. I was quite heartened to see this article. But I had a sad feeling about the tree next to my flat.

This also reminded me about my article titled "Our Roots" that I had posted few years back. XIMB can still be that banyan tree.

A Survey Based On Distorted Perceptions

INDIA TODAY B-SCHOOL SURVEY

A SURVEY BASED ON DISTORTED PERCEPTIONS

This survey provides "CUSTOMER DRIVEN RATINGS" (as claimed by the Magazine)

THE METHODOLOGY:


MY COMMENTS:


NOTE:

PERCEPTIONS ARE FORMED BY THE INFORMATION WE RECEIVE

THE SURVEY ADMITS THAT MOST B-SCHOOLS DO NOT PROVIDE CREDIBLE INFORMATION AND FIELD VISITS ONLY BRING THEM CLOSER TO STRETCHED TRUTHS (But, in my opinion, that does not justify publicizing surveys based on half truths.)

PUBLICIZING PERCEPTIONS FORMED BY DISTORTED INFORMATION CAN ONLY LEAD TO "POPs" (The "POLITICS OF PERCEPTIONS")

LET US COUNTER "POPs" BY HAVING A CREDIBLE INFORMATION SYSTEM IN PLACE (meant for publicizing TRULY our several CORE BENEFIT PROPOSITIONS)

[GROUND REALITY IN XIMB:

MOST OF OUR OWN INDIVIDUAL PERCEPTIONS ON SOME OF THE ABOVE 8-PARAMETERS WILL CONTINUE TO REMAIN DISTORTED TILL WE SEE THE NEXT ANNUAL REPORT]

Comments/criticisms may be directed to kaushik@ximb.ac.in (please do correct me if I you find flaws in my interpretation of the survey.

Ensuring Transparency in the Private Sector

[Portions from my note to The Vice Chairman, Transparency International, India]

A series of events had led me to draw the following caricature (next page) of the state of affairs as related to the whistle blowers act. I had posted it in our community notice board on 22 Dec 2003. I was, therefore, surprised to find the monthly bulletin (Dec-2003) of the "Lok Sevak Sangh" in my mailbox last week. As you know, I have not yet applied for membership with the Transparency International (TI). This bulletin incorporates the monthly newsletter of Transparency International-India wherein the pertinent issue of the Whistle Blowers Act has been raised. What a coincidence! I will discuss the series of events that led to this caricature when time permits. My intention (in this caricature) is not to hurt the sentiments of entities that are sincerely working towards bringing in good governance. The idea is only to discourage entities from paying mere lip service to transparency by using various platforms.

As I had mentioned to you earlier, there is a more urgent need for these acts (Right to Information Act, Whistle Blowers Act) in the private sector than the Govt. sector. How do we go about making the Private sector more accountable? Since Orissa is undergoing reforms, entities like World Bank and DFID are setting their own terms and conditions while forwarding structural adjustment loans. Privatization initiatives are being taken up to satisfy some of these conditions. But do we have watchdog Institutions monitoring the NGOs and the private sector? The consumers will be better served if we have strong regulatory bodies (or mechanisms) efficiently and effectively regulating the private businesses (be it health, education or any other). We need effective mechanisms to support the voice of dissent in the private sector.

I am enclosing a note that I had written to DFID for your kind information (Click here). The same was also sent to the Chief Minister’s Office (Subj: Regulatory mechanism for the private sector). I have only received acknowledgement and thank you notes for my suggestions. But I am yet to know what developments have taken place to make these funding agencies and the NGOs more accountable to the public. It would be nice if TI-India looked into this aspect more closely. I also request the TI-headquarters to impress on World Bank and DFID to maintain transparency while disbursing loans through the private sector.

The Whistle Blowers Act

Click on the image to enlarge:

Corporate Governance

22 August 2003
To: The Delegates, AIMS Convention 2003
Dear Friends,
I request you to kindly see the following viewpoint. It was posted last week on the Prime Minister's Electronic Discussion Forum in response to a query on the subject of "Corporate Governance". I would be happy if my doubts are proved baseless.
Regards,
Kaushik Sahu
=======================================================================================
17 August 2003
In response to PMO's query:
Corporate governance is in the news these days. What steps and measures do Indian companies need to take in this direction?

Kaushik Sahu responds:
Dear Sir,
The theme of the AIMS National Convention 2003 (22-24 August 2003) is "Corporate Governance and Corporate Citizenship: Challenges for Business & Management Education." It will be held at the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar.
The best way of supporting Corporate Governance initiatives is by "walking the talk" rather than by "talking the talk". I doubt if this convention will be ever able to showcase good models of leadership by examples. Corporate Governance in India will get a fillip only when management schools start to sincerely adopt ethical business practices. To be able to showcase such models, Indian B-Schools have to learn a lot from people like Mr. Narayana Murthy. The corporate governance policies of Infosys, which has taken note of the recommendations made by the Kumar Mangalam Birla committee, can be adapted to a certain extent for effective Education Governance. The main idea is to learn some of these best practices and then develop and adopt even better models of Governance as a Management School involved in training future managers.
It is high time the Business surveys stopped measuring a B-School in terms of the number of MNCs turning up for placements. There is no point in glorifying MNCs having poor governance track record. The focus should be rather on the number of companies that adopt good Corporate Governance models while doing business in India. The focus should be on companies that insist on good governance models in Educational Institutes. All things that are necessary for a public sector organization to stand up to public scrutiny should be also applied to the private sector. The citizens’ right to information need not be limited only to the public sector. Efficient and effective IT-enabled regulatory mechanisms are needed both in the public and private sector to stimulate good governance.
Organizing and hosting conventions without following it up by actions may not give the boost to Corporate Governance in India.
Regards,
Kaushik Sahu, Ph.D. (Massachusetts),
Professor, Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar - 751 013, India
(http://home.ximb.ac.in/~kaushik/default.htm)
=======================================================================================