General Blog

This shall too pass…till then let’s try Meraki!

This shall too pass…till then let’s try Meraki!

Alumni, General Blog, Guest Blog

I know those frowning faces with irksome stretched online classes or work from home, as they say it’s the new normal or ordinaire. What’s normal or what’s not, I am not here to infer that. Neither am I here to draw conclusions about who played the bad-boy and ignited our 2020 with full of remorseful endeavours. Neither shall I salt the wound of families who have been affected by the pandemic. We all know about it. And we all are waiting to surface our sorrows and joys above it; float above the virus massacre of 2020.

Then what must our dialogue entail…time to ponder!

Have you guys ever thought about why all of a sudden, it’s us? Us in the brink of an utmost apathy by our creators–the nature, the water, the air, the sky and above all the earth? Maybe yes some of us have, through fathomless research, readings; and maybe not! But my implication is not soul-searching but rather to pull our lives back exactly to the years gone by and re-think to relive it differently. Now how’s that possible? As we all are judicious beings, we believe in tangibility mostly. Money is time’s new definition and more the time, let’s pour some more money…isn’t it? Don’t worry, we all have our minds clocked and locked on our wellbeing… we create and think to create more often. In the midst of only creation of means to wellbeing, we lose most of it by the time we realize it.

Hence, let’s come back to my fundamental ask—Can we re-think or re-live our lives backwards? Scientifically we can’t as time is a factor that is linear…even if somebody builds or secretively has a time machine- we can’t redo our lives—as physicists might argue about paradoxes! On possessing a very unscientific, illogical mind, I’ll offer you my consolation of not being able to solve that paradox. But my dear smarties, we can certainly re-live our lives- in moments of our passions that we enjoy the most while executing- Meraki.

Meraki will guide you and your work (be it studies/profession/job/hobbies) in a time where everyone is busy tabulating the viral count across the globe. Somebody asked me if Meraki is a replicated version of Tiktok or yet another type of a PS4, I smiled back to them stating, ‘It’s my bad!’ So, if you guys are unsure of Meraki, I have already smirked at you all too. Since, I believe that I have induced in the right vocab in your dictionary now.

Now let’s see how this Meraki can help you evolve from this situation that is going to persist for some more months.

  • Whenever you wake up- put Meraki into thankfulness for still being alive! Hurrah!
  • While preparing morning tea/breakfast/helping your house-mate-involve meraki
  • While relaxing, add observational task as your meraki
  • While petting your bird or dog, look at them and pet them enough to utter meraki
  • While cleaning your house-meraki can do a better job than most trained house helps
  • While taking up your online courses, meraki might help you achieve an A plus
  • While reading a book, it can turn you into an online book reviewer
  • Just wondering if while reading this article, your meraki can make you like it 😉

There are too many mundane yet necessary tasks/activities that we do undesirably with great complaints. However, using the miracles of meraki, we can change our lives, we can relive ourselves in small yet ordinary tasks… what used to be a complaining, boring and uncool and unproductive hours of our lives yesterday could be our elated freedom in times of today.

Meraki is the spice we need to blend in our activities of today so as to relive those mundane moments. As the crisis has proven to us that life and its associated echoes are not old-fashioned—what’s uncool is the regular whines, the complaints and ultimately no life at all!

My focus is more on your well-being, your pustimarga and Meraki is the way forward.

Reach out to thank me! 😉

Note: Meraki is a Greek terminology that believes in putting your heart & soul into whatever task/work you do. I hope that helps! ☺

Nidra Naik
Novelist & Poet
Accenture
PGDM Batch 2004-06, IILM Lodhi Road

Email: nidranaik@gmail.com
www.nidranaik.com

Role of AI in Financial Services

Role of AI in Financial Services

Career Development (Placement), Faculty, General Blog, IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM University, , ,

The emergence of automation has shifted the nature of jobs across sectors. So does the financial services. Financial services are also not immune to this development and are impacted by automation and artificial intelligence. Today, financial services are not limited to brick and mortar structure only. Traditionally, financial services used to be the job of a geeky person with a calculator. The financial industry used to be a paper-intensive industry.

But now, things have changed and the nature of the job has changed from bookkeeping to critical financial analysis. Even the Banking sector is technology-driven and gone the digital way. How one usually thinks about jobs in the financial services domain has already changed or in the process. Do you aspire to join financial services in the near future? What are the future job profiles for you? To answer these questions, one needs to understand how the increasing role of Artificial Intelligence will affect the future of financial services and how you can strive to stay relevant.

Impact of AI on jobs

Artificial intelligence AI will be the cause of great disruption for stable career choices of the financial services sector. According to one estimate, across the globe, about 1.3 million bank workers will lose their jobs. Traditional banking jobs like cashier, clerk, etc. are likely to be reduced by automation. All routine jobs are likely to go away with the increased interference of artificial intelligence/automation.

Artificial intelligence with a combination of Big Data is now even affecting jobs involving critical analysis. The combination of Big Data and AI enables us to make decision-based on humongous data and predict the future. This will thus affect the job of a financial planner, tax personnel, and others. One needs to consider this automation as a wakeup call and as an indication of the need to continuously enhance our skills to remain relevant in this fast-evolving dynamic world.

Emerging Profiles in the Financial Services Domain

On one hand, AI will cut routine repetitive jobs; and on the other hand, it will also create several jobs. It is estimated that in India, more than 50 lakh new jobs in the financial services sector will be created in the next ten years. Fintech is the new buzz word today. It is a combination of Finance with Technology. This Fintech sector will provide new job opportunities to aspirants in the future. ‘Finance Engineer’ and ‘Sustainable Wealth Manager’ are some job titles in the future.

Roles for personalized financial guidance will emerge in the future. Financial advisors who have analytical skills and the ability to translate data into relevant and meaningful stories will be in demand. Jobs in the field of blockchain, mobile wallet, and Robo advisors will flourish. Blockchain and apps developers, financial analysts, product managers, compliance experts, cybersecurity analysts, quantitative analysts, business development managers, and data specialists are few profiles that will be in demand.

Skills for Future Financial Services

The need for highly skilled and tech-savvy financial professionals is rising. In-depth and holistic financial knowledge will be the key to career success in this sector. Data analytics and sustainability are other important skills to sustain and thrive in the future market. ‘Superforecasting’ is an ability that is imperative in the domain of ‘Cryptocurrency’. Superforecasting means objective analysis of all present and past events and breaking down complex problems to smaller pieces.  Key requisite skills are business planning, data analytics, along with knowledge of C#, Java language, Murex language, Python, and other programming languages.

Contribution of IILM in your journey

The teaching pedagogy at IILM fosters a learning environment to enhance creativity, originality, critical thinking, and leadership skills in students. It also inculcates and equips students with future scoped skills.  The focus is two-pronged – traditional teaching to develop basics along with new-age electives like Fintech, Data Analytics, Python, R, etc. to give a perfect blend of modern and futuristic courses. IILM thus provides a complete package to students and makes them ready for financial sector jobs and thrive for career success.

Personality Traits in Mahabharata and the Ocean Model

Campus Life, Center for Emotional Intelligence, Faculty, General Blog, IILM University, , , , , , ,

Introduction:

While going about our usual day we interact with people, judge their personality as to how they are different from us and at times compromise  with the changing facets of their personalities without even thinking. We unknowingly almost like an automatic response form opinion about people depending on their overt behavioural responses.

Why we do this? Because we humans are wired for curiosity to know more about our environment aWhy we do this? Because we humans are wired for curiosity to know more about our environment and the people we live with. Like when we notice someone at a party surrounded by a large group of people, obviously the centre of attention, chatting and laughing; we may conclude that person is an extrovert.

So, how do we understand personality?

While studying personality we assume that personality characteristics are relatively stable over time and that traits show stability across situations. For example, someone who is described as an extrovert may be very outgoing and chatty at a party but less so in a conference. In both situations, they are likely to be more sociable than an introvert person. We also assume that personality traits influence behaviour. The person is outgoing and chatty because they are an extrovert.

At IILM, we offer courses in personality to undergraduate courses to help them discover themselves as well as understand our basic individual differences.

Personality and its spectrum

Cattell (1965) defined personality as being the characteristics of the individual that allows prediction of how they will behave in a given situation. Psychologists increasingly agree that five super traits may adequately describe the structure of personality.

Costa and McCrae (1992), who measured personality with their OCEAN model represents a continuum along which individuals can be explained in terms of their traits.  For a better understanding of these traits, the following is my explanation of how characters and their personalities were depicted from Mahabharat.

Characters from Mahabharat to explain OCEAN Model:

At IILM the curriculum is an interesting blend of science and mythology. I will explain how we teach traits to our Psychology students with the help of characters from Mahabharat.

OPENNESS – This factor refers to the individual having an openness to new experiences and an active imagination.

Karna was seen to be high on this scale as throughout the epic he justified his never-say-die attitude and courageously confronted all the odds of his destiny. His character in Mahabharata has everlasting fame because he teaches how can one present himself better than the destiny and accomplish everything with shatterproof determination. Bhima was seen low on this scale as he was conventionally oriented towards a particular goal that is of being the mightiest warrior.

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS– This factor describes our degree of self-discipline and control. Yudhishthira was high on this scale; was hard-working, organized, goal-driven whereas Shakuni was seen to be low on this scale as he is the person who poisoned the mind of his explosive nephew Duryodhana and fuelled-up the destructive war of Mahabharata, thus becoming the cause of the destruction of the Kauravas.

EXTRAVERSION – This factor is a measure of the individual’s sociability, energetic, optimistic, friendly and assertive.

Krishna was high on this scale as he attempted to navigate negotiations between the Pandavas and Kurus before the Kurukshetra war even happened. He convinced Balarama to not partake in the war itself. He even tried to get Karna to fight for the Pandavas as well. Sahadeva was shown to be low on extroversion, even though as the wisest of all the Pandava brothers he mostly kept to himself reading Vedas, spoke less and followed mostly what his elder brothers decided upon him.

AGREEABLENESS – This factor relates to the characteristics of social interaction. Individuals with high scores are trusting, helpful, soft-hearted and sympathetic.

Bhishma was high on this scale as his peerless statesmanship to be the mediator between the Kauravas and Pandavas and other impeccable characteristics still inspire his ardent followers across the world. Dronacharya was low on this scale as he discriminated against Karna and Eklavya on the basis of their caste. He did not voice out any objection in the court during Draupadi’s assault.

NEUROTICISM – This factor measures an individual’s emotional stability and personal adjustment. Duryodhana is seen to be high on this scale as he is motivated by greed, jealously, and a desire for retribution. Yudhishthira was low on this scale as he is calm, even-tempered, secure and happy.

Is there a situational difference when we portray our personality?

Psychologists explain this by segregating personality into a private and public persona. Private being the ‘real’ inner person, while public is the way that the individual presents themselves to the outside world. We may be confident and outgoing in some situations and less sure of ourselves and more retiring in other situations. A case where a shy reserved person joins an organisation but eventually becomes an arrogant and stubborn boss. This fits the explanation of how our personalities differ situationally.

Conclusion:

As much as individuals behave differently in different situations, our behavioural reactions can be clubbed into traits as similar reactions across age and cultures. To conclude, we can say that each one us is uniquely different yet distinctively similar as well.

 

“Personality is a mask we believe in”

Dr White

 

Myths about Green Economy: Busted

Alumni, Campus Life, Career Development (Placement), General Blog, IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University, , , , , , , ,

Greenery calms down our eyes and mind. It symbolizes life, freshness, nature, harmony, energy, and fertility. The world is facing serious challenges in environmental front. To motivate people to stop contaminating the environment, Environmentalist, and environmental enthusiasts are using “Green” concepts everywhere. At IILM with a blend of management and engineering, we create Eco friendly surroundings. Same concept is used for green economy.

“An economy is the production and consumption of goods and services and flow of money. Then what is Green Economy? Is Green economy all about planting trees in the world? Let us make it short and simple by explaining Green Economy. Green Economy stands for accelerating economic activities and infrastructure that are helpful in low carbon emission, increase energy conservation, and efficient use of resources.

There are certain myths about green economy, which you will also relay on-

  • Every business around is polluting environment. Agricultural waste makes Delhi’s atmosphere  suffocating every year, chemical fertilizers contaminating underground water. Agriculture a major sector in green economy is polluting our country. Therefore, green economy is just a concept for books.
  • Everything around is driven by fossil fuel. Electricity for metro trains generated from the thermal power plants using coal. In actual we are not conserving the environment. Environmental protection, social benefits and profit making cannot go together. Again, green economy is a myth.
  • Green economy cannot grow like fossil fuel based economy. This economic model will not get acceptability of citizens. So it is a myth.
  • Shifting economy from fossil fuel to other energy sources may result in job loss. Governments won’t be able to afford this, so it’s a myth.

Let us burst the Myths about Green Economy

#Myth-1 Industry transformation in Green Economy

Businesses will get transformed into green economy. Present MSME like renewable energy, sustainable transportation, waste management, green residential areas, water management, land management, fisheries, agriculture, forestry, etc. will work on large scale. There are certain areas in the business that yet to be explored. Organic farming can make agriculture non polluting, healthy and profitable.

#Myth-2 Environmental protection, Social benefits, and profit making cannot go together

  1. J. Kurian of Amul, Shri Mahila Grh Udyog and several other Indian examples has proven that social benefit and profit making can go together. Both of them uplifted the people financially. Government of Gujarat has introduced a project of installing solar panels on 19000 Km long network of canals of Narmada River. Hence, above myth has been proven wrong

#Myth-3 Growth of Green Economy is perceive slow

Renewable energy and recycling can be the key drivers to foster green economy. Availability of energy and raw material economically is the need of industry. Renewable energy is an economic and sustainable source of energy and recycling can provide cheaper raw material. India’s 55% of energy requirement will be covered by renewable energy sources by 2030, if this sector will grow at the same pace.

#Myth-4 Career and Job Opportunities are limited

Whenever technology shifts, it affects the job market, and existing jobs transform. India’s top business schools are carving our future managers and technocrats to work in present environment and cope up with future challenges. Research will play a key role for every student.

At IILM College of Engineering, Department of Biotechnology trains students in hydroponic technology, vermin compost, bio compost etc. Our Alumnus and existing students are working with reputed brands at renewable energy sector. Civil engineers at IILM are developing methods of using non-degradable plastic in construction. This will change the future construction techniques and minimize pollution.

Coming to the end of discussion, I would like to support  Green Economy as- industries can easily shift to renewable energy sources, Green economy will grow at the same pace like fossil fuel based on our  economy there will be no dearth of career opportunities. Green economy will contribute in better health of citizens. Citizens can start practicing basic  fundamentals of green economy by using solar power, compost in kitchen gardens which are  very beneficial in  conserving energy.

For more information on green economy related readings follow my blogs on IILM Blog site https://blog.iilm.edu or write to me at ashutosh.singh@iilmgsm.ac.in

Psychology and Your Future in India

Career Development (Placement), General Blog, IILM University, , , ,

Introduction

Today’s disruptive changes have made Psychology one of the most sought-after careers. The demand and supply chain in Psychology will help overcome obstacles in personal and professional lives in the future. Our fast-paced lives, demanding jobs and complicated family dynamics are making mental health a prime issue of survival in the 21st century.

Countries across the globe are looking at making mental health equally imperative and vital as physical health. Therefore, the role of psychologists in future will become as crucial as our medical workers. Simply put, we may take medicine for any physiological ailment, but what about societal, global pressures coupled with tragedies? There is no known medicine to handle all that, hence Psychology becomes crucial as a subject to be pursued.

Psychology as a subject and its specializations

Psychology has been an undercurrent in any field offering a myriad of opportunities. IILM University, which is considered one of the best colleges in Delhi/NCR for Psychology provides components of the following in the course as fusion in undergraduate as well as specialization in masters.

Clinical Psychology: Anyone who has been a student of Psychology has been amazed by abnormal psychology and at least once aspired to become a clinical Psychologist. Facets such as diagnosis, understanding and management of disorders while working in hospitals, rehabilitation centres come under this. Given the emotional pressures people go through, the demand for good clinical psychologists is expected to rise. We hear and see many celebrities openly discussing their mental health and concerns. This trend has increased awareness and acceptance towards disorders and with time the need for experts in clinical psychology is only expected to grow.

Counselling Psychology: Counselling is like a second skin to any Psychologist as it deals with facing day-to-day scenarios and its management. Counselling being a broader term branch into career guidance, marital and academic. Counselling Psychologists are seen working in private set-ups, career centres, schools, NGOs and organizations. Today, it is required across all walks of life, and the need for it will only continue to grow. At IILM, we invite guest lectures as well as electives in CBT/REBT for Psychology students.

Organizational/Industrial Psychology: Psychologists in this field focus on workplace issues at the individual, group and organizational levels to enhance the productivity of the employees and ultimately the organization. As more and more MNC’s are paying attention to the mental health of their employees, Psychologists with I/OB specialization are working in HR as consultants/managers and are assessing emotional, social intelligence and performance in the employees.

Developmental/Child Psychology: This field works with lifetime development of human beings focusing on psychomotor, cognitive, as well as emotional development from early years. Popularly known as Child Psychologists they work mainly with children in therapy centres, schools, paediatric setups, NGO’s with close association with special educators and psychiatrists.

Sports Psychology: This is a fairly new branch that works with athletes’ physical and cognitive performance along with coaches, nutritionists as well as physiotherapists. Sports Psychologists endeavours to help sports teams to increase performance and motivation of sportsmen. India being a sports passionate country, this field has a lot of scope as a career.

Forensic Psychology: This branch deals with legal and judicial systems and is closely related to criminology. At IILM we help B.A students, enhance their understanding of laws in India while offering Law as an elective course.

Military Psychology: This is yet another contemporary branch of specialization dealing with military personnel and their families. Concerns such as depression, anxiety, grief as well as stress-related issues are taken care of by evaluations and treatment of mental and emotional disorders along with counselling. Psychologists are routinely hired in forces and are doing extensive research and policy-related work.

How to pursue Psychology as a budding career?

In India, we can pursue Psychology from graduation level (Psychology as a subject in Class XI & XII is preferred) and then pursue a B.A. / B.Sc. programme in Psychology. Master’s programme in Psychology is mandatory for seeking a career as a Counsellor as well as to apply for a job. M.Phil. is important to practice as a clinical psychologist and may accompany it with diploma courses in any therapeutic work (cognitive behaviour, rational emotive, career guidance, etc.) IILM University offers BA (Hons) as well as MA Psychology with specialization in counselling and organization behaviour.

Conclusion

Psychology as science finds applications in all walks of life. Psychology presents immense career options in the present times and will hold promising opportunities in the future as well.

“The best way to predict your future is to create it”

Abraham Lincoln

Virtual Teaching

How to Make your Virtual Teaching Interesting for Learners

Campus Life, Faculty, General Blog, IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, , , ,

Change always creates anxiety and when this change is rapid then it creates panic too. Recent changes in an environment completely upset the traditional classroom teaching-learning process. It left no other choice but to move on a new platform for learning that is virtual classrooms.  This transition from traditional face to face teaching to virtual teaching was highly unexpected and too quick to absorb hence given a very strong blow on the teaching-learning process. Moreover, neither the teachers nor the students were trained for such a virtual environment. When I thought about learning through virtual teaching, I encounter two questions. Does any scientific method exist to enrich the learning process? Can learner also enhance their learning?

On the lines ‘the show must go on’, one needs to adapt to the virtual teaching-learning model and should make this interesting for learners. Learners are sitting at the comfort of their homes with too many distractions all around. Learning will only happen when they find interest in lectures and feel engaged.

To increase the productivity of the class teachers might consider the following tricks:

Lay down fundamental rules

At the beginning of the class, the teacher should inform the students about few basic etiquettes to be followed in class. Ask the students to mute their microphones to avoid any disturbance. Students will unmute themselves only if they have any questions to ask or if they are asked to do so. If possible, ask the students to switch on their camera which will increase the engagement.

Engage students

On online platform, students have a shorter time span for concentration. By asking questions to random students in every 5-6 minutes will keep them engaged and hence increase the productivity of the class. At every 5-6 minutes keep asking simple questions and for answers ask students to type in the chatbox. Answers could be just ‘yes/no’ type.

Give control to the students

Generally, in classes teachers speak a lot, and students felt left out and learning stops. It is better to give control to students at times and ask them to interact in the form of discussing with each other in class.

Share content in advance

Possibly, share the content to be discussed in class with all the students in advance so that they are prepared well in advance.

Use easily available, copyright-free online resources

Share content with the students which are copyright free and easily available. Although, too many contents are available freely for all but do not expect that students will search on their own. It is better to mention the URL for the resource material as click and use the material for them.

Avoid information overload

Plan your sessions well in advance such that students will not be overloaded and they have time to practice problems on the topic discussed.

Make use of Multimedia

To avoid boredom in the classroom, use multimedia tools to make the classroom interesting enough so that students’ engagement increases and so productivity.

Record live sessions and share

Don’t forget to record your sessions for the benefit of those students who live in the area with bandwidth issues and not able to attend live sessions. Share these videos with all the students so all can revisit in case of doubts.

There are certain basic rules for students also to make learning effective and efficient. First and foremost, students need to have a reliable and stable internet connection to attend the classes in virtual mode. They must find a quiet corner at their respective places to avoid any disturbance during sessions. If possible, they can use headphones instead of earphones to reduce the noise level. Prepare for your class well in advance. Go through with all the resources shared by teachers. Be interactive during sessions but do not disturb the flow of the class. Either raise a hand or use a chat box in case of any query.

The productivity of the teaching-learning process in the management program will surely be enhanced if both the stakeholders follow the aforementioned tricks. Faculty and students of IILM will surely make teaching-learning much more interesting and productive on a virtual platform.

Dancing Market: Optimism or Insanity?

Alumni, Campus Blog Category, Campus Life, Career Development (Placement), Conferences, Faculty, General Blog, Global Study, Guest Blog, IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University, , , , , , ,

In the era of COVID-19 when WHO has declared it as a pandemic. India is under the lockdown for more than sixty days like all other nations in the world. All the economic activities were shuttered down till lockdown 3.0. The future outlook for the Indian economy is not pleasant. Analysts are expecting negative growth for Financial Year 2021. Almost all medium and small-scale businesses are in crisis. Most of them have shut their shops and laid off their employees. Big business houses have announced a salary cut for their employees. For April, the Auto industry first time have observed zero production output. The unemployment rate is at an all-time high. Scores of migrant laborers have moved back to their native places.

In this gloomy scenario across the nation stock market is dancing like anything. Though, it is not at the record height as it was during February but it is not that bad either. Eventually, soon after the announcement of the lockdown market slumped to almost half but this state did not last long. At present, the market is hovering around the level of 2017 which under the present circumstances is quite amazing.

Barometer of Economy?

It is time to evaluate the phrase ‘SENSEX is the barometer of Indian Economy‘. Is it a barometer to gauge the economic activities anymore? The stock market is considered a leading indicator of the economy. It was believed that there is a high correlation exist between the stock market and economy but this correlation does persist?

Fool’s Paradise!

Though the stock market is not a true representative of the economy nowadays it seems like the market has divorced the economy especially to all whatever is happening around us; whatever is the reality of economic activities. The stock market is not showing any concern to the more than fifty-nine lacs corona positive cases around the world and more than forty-seven hundred deaths in India. Stock market and particularly investors are living in paradise.

Future Outlook

There are various explanations for this insane behavior of stock investors. First and foremost, the explanation is that stock prices are always based on the future outlook, not the present. Present stock prices are the discounted cash flows expected from stock in the future. So, the present stock prices reflect that investors believe that economy will have a speedy recovery shortly.

Expectations from Government

Investor’s expectation of a substantially large stimulus package from the government went in vain. Investors have a strong feeling that the government will be able to overcome all difficulties in the economic front. The historic decision of reducing the corporate tax rates and conceptualizing the idea of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is giving hope to the investors.

The central government, as well as Reserve Bank, has already taken measures in terms of various fiscal and monetary policies to infuse the liquidity in the system. The financial year which generally ends on March 31 has been extended till June 30 exhibits commitment of government toward economic measures. Investors are betting on such strong interventions of government to boost the profitability of corporate houses in the future. The first year of NDA 2.0 is rated positively by various analysts which is enough to boost the confidence of investors.

Investment Options

Even more, now investors have not left with more options to invest as the prevailing interest rate on government bonds and all small saving schemes have been reduced. If we adjust the returns from these schemes with inflation, we will get negative returns for almost all investment products. So, the stock market is the only option left for investors to park their excess money with.

Optimism for Vaccine

Stock investors are at present feeling more optimistic about the future than the doctors and scientists who are working on the development of a cure for the Corona virus. Investors are expecting that soon enough a vaccine for the same will be discovered on which the whole world is working.

Black-box Theory

Another theory argues that all investors are operating as a black-box process. No one knows about the future of investments or till when this pandemic end and the road to normality be back. It is just the mere expectations which are leading the market at present. Investors are also active because they fear being left behind. New investors are considering this time as an opportunity to enter into the market at this level which may not come around again.

Parallel with Lehman Crisis

If we draw a parallel between the current crisis with the financial crisis of 2009, we get a hint from there also about this euphoria in the market. In November 2009 when the future of economies was pathetic even then the stock market across the world was mostly up by more than 50 percent from the past year while the economies were only growing by 1 percent for that particular one-year period. People were investing based on their expectations not based on ground reality. So, again history is repeating itself in the market.

Advice for Novice Investors

It can be inferred that expectation of the majority is driving the market than reality. Investors are not acting insane rather they have optimist future outlook. For investors, market timing is really important. For a novice investor, it is time to get into the market with a long horizon. If you have missed the wagon in 2017 then prices are again around that level. ‘Buy with caution’ is the mantra for success.

At IILM, students are being prepared to analyse the economic situation and to identify the trend for investments to be successful. We conduct live trading sessions for better understanding of the same. For more information on stock market one can approach at kumar.saurabh@iilmgsm.ac.in.

A CACTUS IS REALLY JUST AN AGGRESSIVE CUCUMBER

Campus Life, Faculty, General Blog, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM University, , , ,

Introduction:

As a cool cucumber can turn into a savaged looking cactus, all of us can indeed turn our calm selves to something ferocious because of anger which at times triggers violent responses. Reactions ranging from rash driving to banging doors to actually getting into a physical altercation and verbal aggression are seen most commonly with people who are apparently aggressive.

Social Psychologists cleave the concept of aggression into emotional and instrumental aggression which is to say that former results from unhappy/negative emotions (carried out in the heat of the moment like slapping in a fit of rage) whereas the latter is intended, a well-planned move (to hurt someone purposely like a bully in school or at work).

Aggression is exhibited in physical aspects – hitting, kicking to non-physical aspects like verbal (yelling), social (bad-mouthing, excluding others), racial (micro aggression), sexual (misogyny, homophobic jokes) that are intended to harm others.

Following Liberal education at IILM University, we teach life skills in out everyday classes in the form of role plays or class discussion to help them accept, understand and manage negative emotions.

But why do we aggress? Is it like a life skill that we all need so that we don’t look meek?

Evolutionary Scientists explain that we have an innate ability to protect as well as seek continual survival of our genes. Human beings need to be able to aggress in certain situations, and nature has provided us with this skill which means that under the right situation, almost all of us will aggress (Buss & Duntley, 2006).

Physiologists’ support evolutionary perspective as it is known to mankind that aggression is controlled by Amygdala i.e. limbic system inside the cortex controlling emotions. This further controls our autonomic nervous system which in stress activates flight-or-fight mechanism.  What science is trying to explain to us is that under stress, we will either fight the stressor or run away from it. Not only this, some imperative chemical substances in our body like serotonin which when found to be at low levels predict aggression (Kruesi, Hibbs, Zahn, & Keysor, 1992; Virkkunen, de Jong, Bartko, & Linnoila, 1989).

Behavioral scientists feel that what we see in our environment is how we condition ourselves to be; so if children see their parents act out aggression by hitting, to them it’s OK to do the same. It’s no rocket science to explain that aggression would harbor aggression and the more we see it, the easier it is for us to repeat it.

It is imperative to say that one’s social situation also makes it critical for a response like aggression. As it is commonly noticed that we may react violently in situations where we are uncomfortable/ fearful or provoked (with friends or subordinates) but may react more calmly in others (in front of an authority).

On hindsight, it is easy to recall that when we were aggressive, we were likely to be experiencing a negative emotion (example- unhappy thoughts, pain or discomfort) that’s why it became so easy to react aggressively. In general, it could be the feeling of being ill or undergoing emotional disturbance that makes one vulnerable to frustration which further provokes violent behaviour.

At IILM University which is considered one of the best private universities for Psychology around Delhi/NCR, we teach critical thinking and communication skills along with other courses where we discuss how anger does not become an issue till you keep ignoring it. Reaching to the core of an internal conflict and addressing concerns is half battle won without inflicting pain to self or others.

 

How to if not stop, control aggression?

The answer to this is Catharsis which is a process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotion. For reducing negative affect and its arousal, if we can actively distract ourselves from that emotion it can help break the cycle of being provoked to react in anger. Catharsis can be any form of meaningful engagement like talking it out, exercising, listening to music and is most useful when done alone.

At undergrad and master’s courses in Psychology at IILM University we teach positive and social psychology and most importantly emotional intelligence. We endeavour to help our students with a thorough understanding of psychology, its components and how aggression is a symptom of repressed issues which through therapy and counselling can be managed.

Conclusion:

Aggression is seen more an emotional than instrumental response needs to be managed by first checking on our feelings. We need to assess what caused this emotion and why? At times aggression is directed at something different than what actually provoked it. When we think carefully about our situation, rather than simply responding in an emotional way, we can carefully choose the most effective responses when we are angry (Berkowitz, 1993).

To conclude, aggression is not a disease we need to fight, lets comes to terms with how normal an aggressed response is; but accept that it cannot be typified into personality. We need to address cause before the management for a long-term goal.

 

Center for Emotional Intelligence

A Psychologist’s Guide to Coping in Uncertain Times

Campus Life, Career Development (Placement), Center for Emotional Intelligence, Faculty, General Blog, Guest Blog, IILM Graduate School of Management, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM Undergraduate Business School, IILM University, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Always Expect the Unexpected Because the Only Certainty Is Uncertainty”

Uncertainty in life has many forms. Changes at workplaces, change in priorities, change in rules and regulations. Even if things are safe right now you never know when they would change and you need to be ready to handle that change.

Change is usually not the problem; it’s the discomfort that often bothers us as we are so strongly attached to a particular outcome in life.

When certainty is questioned we usually have a fight or flight reaction and try to safeguard ourselves. Our brain prefers to find a sure shot outcome to the uncertainty we are experiencing. Research proves that anticipating pain soothes us to be calm than anticipating uncertainty only because we know that pain is certain. For example, uncertainty about getting a job is more stressful than actually losing a job.

Now, the question arises what should we do to tackle uncertainty in a way that it doesn’t impact our overall health and well-being.

This is very important for students aspiring to work with multinationals, professionals struggling with changing roles, people disheartened with their job.

  1. Firstly, don’t panic, remain calm and level headed. Living in uncertain times can be discomforting but you can control how to respond to such situations.
  2. Avoid dwelling on things you can’t control. Try changing the habit of ruminating on negative events of life. Why only visualize worst case scenarios. If there is a fear of not getting a job think of ways to enhance your skills. Think positive and believe in yourself. Remember it’s your life and you have the potential to change it.
  3. Add Value to your skills. It’s important to align your skill set to what is currently the need of the industry. Make sure you have those skills that the current time is demanding. Act upon it. Visualize possibilities.
  4. Market Yourself. Do not think I am asking you to boast about yourself; but how would people know your calibre if you don’t tell them about yourself. Get the recognition you deserve. Go for it.
  5. Ensure your profile is updated. Have an eye-catching LinkedIn profile. Express your interest in companies that you aspire to work with. What you post on your profile should be interesting in content and original in nature to attract organizations towards you.
  6. Focus on Financial Well-Being. One tip for life is always having a financial saving of at least six months worth your livelihood. This will be your support during rainy days and you’ll always have time to choose the best opportunity and will never settle for something less in life. Savings are very essential.
  1. Engage in Self care. Healthy routines are magical. Eat well, exercise regularly, just like body needs stimulation so does our mind and thoughts. So feed your intellect with good literature. Practice mindfulness, it makes life a better place and opens doors that you thought were closed.
  1. Risk is real and Fear is optional. Risk assessed is risk management. Understand the uncertainty take calculated risks and overcome your fears to innovate the new you.
  2. Control what you can. We often run for things that are beyond our control. Try making a slight change by focusing on stuff that is within your control. It can be as basic as setting your clothes a night before a strenuous day. Try comforting your days.

If you see your Today. Job insecurity is the “New Reality,” why respond or perceive it as Negative. It might offer better opportunities for your growth and career enhancement.

Take that Extra Mile and prove your worth. Show the world your True Potential. Don’t Stress and rather Invest in this time to uplift your skills and embrace the new shift that the Industries are offering.

This is the only way you can see the New Positive and Let go the doubt and uncertainty around. Be prepared to change with the times instead of resisting to a change. Life’s most treasured moments come unannounced. Instead of being threatened by unexpected outcomes we should learn that they can be hidden seeds of opportunities.

For best professional practices and how to deal with professional challenges follow my blogs on IILM Blogs and LinkedIn or write to me at megha.kochhar@iilm.edu

We at IILM train students to handle complex situations and be proactive professionals in every situation by focusing on multiple skill development, developing emotional intelligence. There is a Center for Emotional Intelligence at IILM University where training programs help students build self awareness, emotional regulation that helps them deal with uncertainty in personal and professional life.

FUTURE OF WORK-FROM HOME

Campus Life, Faculty, General Blog, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM University, Uncategorized

Introduction

Most of my employed friends have seen this paradigm shift of working from home at the time when pandemic is hovering on our heads. With this cloud of constant worry and panic, I noticed a silver lining and that has been remote working. As much as thoughts about driving to work in traffic and chores to complete at home, seems like a lost memory; we all know it will take some time for us to go back to that mindless driving routine once the lockdown gets lifted.

Effective Diversion at the time of crisis

So, has this shift from “physically” being at work impacted performance for people? If it is to believed home-based jobs has been an effective diversion from anxious thoughts as well as keeping peace at home. Working from home has created a sense of purpose for the day along with balancing home and work commitments. This fine balance we all have evolved to is our future in 2020. IILM University which is excelling in blended modules for its students, aspires to teach innovatively while using latest web tools so that students keep pace with virtual learning while being at home.

Benefits to the Company

Companies post lockdown would be looking at securing future where cost savings leading to productivity gains and convenience of both employer and employees will be implemented. As expected, this year only we will see many of us having flexible workplace as we have learnt how to manage both aspects of life.

Ease for women to be at work while at home

WFH will encourage more women to join the workforce as the hassles of travelling daily would disappear. “In the US, about 25% of the workforce works out of home,” says Rohit Kapoor, vice-chairman & CEO of EXL Service. “In India, we will move to that kind of level over time. This option will also help women, especially mothers, a lot as it will make it easier for them to join the workforce.”

Is it just positive thinking or are we actually missing “going” to work?

Some say that the absence of meeting colleagues and dressing up for work would be missed and sometimes brainstorming sessions on calls may not work for everyone. People will or already are missing the human touch and at times, work from office becomes a form of diversion from personal problems back at home. No dedicated space at home can also be one major challenge and yes, not all professions can “fit in” this newest modal of working.

Mother Nature says yes to WFH

However to look at the bright side, WFH will help in reducing carbon emissions, will bring in flexible working hours, people will be able to manage time to do things they enjoy and pursue some for which they couldn’t find time and most importantly to be able to slow down the pace of life.

Conclusion

All of us given in the past with hectic routines have now become attentive to our environment, our relations and how much we miss the good times. WFH if taken in a positive way is a step closer to saving our environment, building economy, being creative at work, able to pursue vocational aspirations and most importantly being able to multi-task with ease; it’s that change which will be for the better.

“When you put yourself in an uncomfortable position; is when you grow the most”

Gary Swart CEO oDesk