Mu Sigma

Services: Marketing analytics, Supply Chain Analytics, Risk Analytics

Mission: To enable businesses to institutionalize data-driven decision
making
No. of current employees (2014): 3,000 +
Working at Mu Sigma:
Pros:
Lots of exposure
Learning environment for freshers
Great opportunities for self-growth
Supporting peers
Flat hierarchy, approachable superiors
Cons:
Long working hours
Strict dress code
Poor work life balance
Low pay compared to market standards
Appraisal system at Mu Sigma:
The recruits at Mu Sigma are offered a fixed 3-year package, and it doesnt
depend on the appraisal meetings. If the sole purpose of a meeting with the
manager is financial incentive, the growth of the employee is not really
discussed. A fixed package ensures that the monthly or quarterly meetings
stress on the growth of the employee in terms of skillsets and other
parameters which will help an employee to grow fast.

Mu-Sigma Philosophy:

The Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva clans in Mu Sigma (much like the holy trinity)

work in tandem to create the synergistic ecosystem of Mu Sigma.
The three diverse personifications of cosmic forces namely Brahma, Vishnu
and Shiva synergize to complete the universal cycle of creation,
preservation and eventually, productive destruction or transformation. This
concept of Trimurti is reflected in Mu Sigma's ecosystem where:

The Brahma clan: Creating the future

The Vishnu clan: Preserving or managing the present
The Shiva clan: Destroying or selectively abandoning the past

High Attrition:
Very few leave their job due to excess workload. Most of those who left, did
due to:

search of better salaries

they were homesick
they got through to premier educational institutions of the world

Some shortcomings of working at Mu Sigma:

he is always fatigued

he goes to every extreme (innumerable night outs, sacrifice of Friday

nights, less sleep, one too many cigarettes a day, pure social
disconnect, etc.) to make his project a success
he is kicked around in the company without much regard of his
opinion (Depending on his performance in the team or due to resource
crunch in some other team or possibly even due to excess resources in
his team, he might be kicked out into some other team without giving
him a say; much like a football)
when he raises his concerns to his manager, all he gets is a politically
correct answer, which doesn't address his concerns in any way

But for everything that he goes through, there are advantages which
go a long way:
Once out of Mu Sigma,

he/she understands the possible extremes and isn't hesitant if his

work requires him/her to stretch once in a while
he is a person in demand by various corporations because the
responsibilites, exposure and the level of accountability that he
enjoyed (or suffered?) in Mu Sigma shaped him into an efficient,
effective and a thoughtful person
he understands how his actions affect his subordinates and thus think
thoroughly before taking any decision which is a necessary trait of a
successful Manager
he understands how to deal with different variety of people

Investments:

In 2008, Mu Sigma raised its first institutional investment round of

$30 million from FTVentures (now FTV Capital).
In April 2011, the company raised an additional $25 million from
Sequoia Capital.
In December 2011, the company announced a $108 million round of
financing from Sequoia and private equity investor General Atlantic.
In February 2013, Mu Sigma received an investment of $45 million
from MasterCard, which placed the company over the $1 billion (Rs.
5,400 crore) milestone.

Recognition:

In 2012 Mu Sigma received a Bronze Stevie Award for Company of the

Year in the Diversified Services category.

The company was ranked #907 on the 2012 Inc. 5000 list of America's
fastest-growing private companies. In 2011 the company ranked
#386, and in 2010, it ranked #204.
Dhiraj Rajaram, the company's founder, chairman and CEO, was
ranked 37 on the Fortune Magazine 40 under 40 list in 2013. Rajaram
won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year India Award 2012 in
the services category, and a gold Stevie Award for Executive of the
Year in 2012.
Dhiraj won the Young Turk of the year award at the 9th India Business
Leaders Awards. Dhiraj was chosen for creating a differentiated
billion dollar enterprise with scale and global reach.