Friendship changing over time

I am now almost 34 and have seen relationships changing over a period of time, especially with with friends. I have been thinking for the last few years and a few observations.

I grew up in a small town and had to go out for studies from 11th class as there was no facility in my town. i maintained close relationships with my school friends for the next 3 -4 years. however, once i got into IIT and into IIT culture, i could not relate to them much. i realised my thinking process was very different from their's. e.g. like a typical north indian, they will boast of their achievement out of proportion while IIT culture supresses this boastment (as there is always somebody better than you in IIT in something).

I was very close to many of my IIT friends. Most of them went to jobs in diferent cities and different countries. So distance restricted the relationships. Many of them went to ivy league business schools and started believing that some of them are superior. So, this feeling of a better mba degree put strains in the relationship. Today some of them earn more than me and they think they are better off . again this brought differences in relationship.

Then comes the MBA. I had thought that people also make friends in mba. these are actually acquitances and no more than that. many reasons for that. Post mba, once settled in profession, people get married and start families. so focus shifts to family. many times, people dont value relationships e.g. not turning up for functions despite repeated invitations. many you provide professional help / introduce to opportunities, but they never appreciate the help.. and so on.

heart to heart, i think friends remain friends, some way or other. and the friendship remains.

why certain organisations succeed

I have been working for asset management companies for the last 7 years and I saw many small companies becoming big while others languishing. why is that the case?

Do AMCs know what business they are in. Are they in the business of managing people's savings? Are they in the business of channel management? Are they in the business of manufacturing investment products? etc etc.

On top of this, there is a confusion on who the customer is? is it the investor who cuts a cheque, allows the investment manager to charge a fee or is it the distributor who gets them the cheque?

Looking from outside, it is very clear that the asset management companies are in the business of manufacturing investment products, sold through a distributor, to the end investor. So, they manufacture a investment product wherein an individual can put his savings.

i think many companies dont understand this. they believe that an inferior investment product can be sold through a good distribution product. i frankly dont think so. i am yet to see an AMC making big, which has not delivered on performance. The reverse may not hold where a good performance means large business. so, in my view, good performance is a necessary condition but not sufficient.

coming to the second question, who is the customer. i firmly believe it is the end investor who is the customer as he cuts the cheque, pays the fee and takes risk on savings that the fund manager will deliver. Distributor is just an enabler to get through to the end customer.

Is getting fired bad...

The company I work for has gone through two downsizing in the last 1.5 years. First one was done in Dec 08 and other one in Dec 09. Each person who got fired got 3 months of salary, leave encashment, 15 days for every year worked etc. On an overall basis, an individual got 6 months - 1 year salary for getting fired... some even got their stock options encashed..

is this a bad deal... i dont think so at all..

i believe it is a fantastic deal. one individual in my team who got fired got 9 months of salary and found a job within a week with 30% hike...

looking otherway, he got 9 month salary equivalent bonus (i get lesser than 3 month) with a pay hike of 30%. I am ignoring the mental trauma that one goes through getting fired..

I had volunteered to be part of the list in Dec 09, but the company refused to accept.. they believed that I add value and should remain... so i have to live with a compensation that is lower than what i would have got, if i got fired...

Every time i hear that there could be new restructuring list, my eyes open up and i wish i get fired with the same deal...

may be i have to wait for long before this happens...