Cognizants Board Room competition – (the first version was launched in 2007) proposes to management students across B-schools to get creative, come up with new business avenues for Cognizant and draw up a comprehensive business plan on what Cognizants next move should be. Cognizant will seriously consider incubating the winning idea within the organization by setting up a core team. The winning team will have the option of being a part of this initiative and get a chance to be mentored by Cognizant Business Consulting Managers during the process apart from getting opportunities to network with the senior leadership of Cognizant.

The contest comprises three phases to help teams develop their plans in collaborative as well as competitive environments. These phases are as follows:

Phase I Registration and Executive Summary: To compete in the Smart Business Plan Contest, the teams will need to register and submit a short Executive Summary of their business proposal for Cognizant

Phase II Semifinals: The Top 12 teams in Phase I will advance to the contest’s semifinals. Each team will be mentored by a Cognizant Business Consulting Manager and will submit an updated Executive Summary of the business plan for evaluation by the judges. The teams will also get to present their plan to the Cognizant judges in the respective locations (either face-to-face or through videoconferencing).

Phase III Finals: The top 3 teams short-listed at the end of Phase II will advance to the contest finals, where they will present their idea to the Senior Leadership of Cognizant and get an opportunity to win the big prize.

Acceptable Business Plans

Board Room 2009 encourages the participants to get creative; propose new business avenues for Cognizant, and draw up a Comprehensive Business Plan on what Cognizants next move should be. Students are free to identify any growth opportunities for Cognizant, with both conventional and unconventional plans being eligible. This may include:

New geography footprint

New service offering

New industry to be serviced

Merger or Acquisition, including leveraged buyouts, which will lead to a turnaround, roll-up, or any other significant change that adds value to the current business

Joint venture, alliance or network-based business (for instance, create new entity from current enterprises)

Deadlines

Key activities and target completion dates will be as follows. Kindly note that Cognizant reserves the right to change these dates as per its discretion and convenience without any liability.

At every stage, the packages must be mailed by midnight IST on the said date to [email protected] Late entries will not be accepted

Timeline:

Phase I Registration and Executive Summary Submission October 11, 2009 (Sunday)

Phase I Declaration of Semi-Finalists October 23, 2009 (Friday)

Phase II Semifinal Submission Deadline November 6, 2009 (Friday)

Phase II Declaration of finalists November 13, 2009 (Friday)

Business Plan Contest Finals November 20 , 2009 (Friday)

Prizes

First Prize: INR 250000

Second Prize: INR 150000

Cash Prizes indicated above are pre-tax amounts and will be subjected to applicable and appropriate tax deductions before payout. The decision of the judges will be final and binding.

Team Requirements

Each team participating in this contest should consist of:

Final year MBA students only

Not less than 2 members and not more than 3 members

IBS Hyderabad announces Admissions to MBA, Executive MBA, PhD & Executive MBA (Week End format)

Hyderabad based IBS announced admissions to the MBA, Executive MBA, Ph D, MBA-PhD and Executive MBA Program (weekend) in week end format at IBS Campus, Dontanpally, Hyderabad.

The Program prepares students with the skills, knowledge and strategic perspectives essential to the leadership of business around the world, said Prof. D S Rao, Director, IBS, Hyderabad on the launch of the programs.

Prof. D.S.Rao further said that the MBA program comprises of foundation courses, functional courses, capstone and elective courses, a summer internship program, a management research project and two soft skills labs. These courses are spread over four semesters and students can pursue elective courses in Marketing, Finance, HR, Operations and Information Technology and Systems.

The Full time Executive MBA program is of One year duration and is for experienced executives. The Business school also offers PhD program in Management (four year duration) and an integrated MBAPhD program (five year duration).

Students with Bachelors degree from any discipline, with over 50 percent marks are eligible to apply for the MBA program where as for PhD program students need a minimum of 60 percent marks in their post graduation program. All applicants have to appear for IBSAT 09. IBSAT is an Aptitude test and is of two hours duration and will be held on December 27 in 123 Test Centers all over India.

The preparatory classes will commence from May 15, 2010 and regular classes from June 01, 2010.

The Weekend Executive MBA Program is divided into eight terms, spread over 24 months. Three courses are covered in each term according to Prof KV Iyer, Coordinator, Executive MBA Program. The admission to this program is based on personal interview. The next batch starts from 5th December 2009.

Details of the programs are available at ibshyderabad.org

MDIs Energy Management School launches a new course on Smart Grids

The MDI School of Energy Management has launched a new course on Smart Grids which has been developed in close collaboration with companies like Infosys, Areva Group, Crompton Greaves and BHEL.

The course on Smart Grids will cover recent power distribution concepts such as information technology, SCADA and network management solutions, bulk generation, high voltage transmission, bulk renewable generation, sub transmission, distribution systems, rural electrification, critical loads, market management, project financing. The pedagogy of the course is based on case studies on smart utilities.

Dr Atmanand has been deputed by the Ministry of Power to set up the Centre for Excellence in Smart grid, which will act as a nodal agency between Government and industries and conduct the program and research in the areas of grid management.

Cleanliness drive launched by students of SIOM, Nashik

Students of Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (SIOM), Nashik launched an intensive cleanliness drive in Nashik under the banner of Joyfest on September 28, 2009. Students of the institute carried out the cleanliness drive around the Ram-kund area, the main pilgrimage site in Nashik. The drive was undertaken with an aim to spread the message of keeping Nashik clean and to inspire the people to be more responsible towards the society and the environment.

Joyfest is a part of the Joy of Giving Week which is a national movement started with an idea of giving. It offers students a chance to use the power of collective individual action to make a difference to the society. SIOM has volunteered to become a member participant college in this movement. The institute plans to extend its hand to the society by way of launching various initiatives like tree plantation, blood donation, working for the lesser privileged sections and much more in the near future.