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(L-R: Gautam Krishnan and Venkatraghavan (IIM Bangalore) and Angad Keith and Saurabh Sharma (IIM Kozhikode), all Acumen South Zone debate participants)

The old debate 'B-Schools make managers, not entrepreneurs' was raked up again and with fresh perspectives at the Business Today Acumen National B-school Challenge - South Zone Regionals held in the Indian Institute of Management
(IIM), Bangalore campus on Friday.

Of the debate preliminary rounds taking place in two different rooms, the first room yielded quarter finalists in Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore, IIM-Kozhikode, Bharathidasan Institute Of Management, Bangalore and IIM-Bangalore.

In the second room, Christ College, Bangalore, Institute for Technology and Management, Bangalore, ICFAI, Bangalore and TAPMI, Manipal eliminated the rest of the teams to reach the second batch of quarter-finalists.

Quarter-finals shall witness the teams debate on 'Surrogate advertising needs official censorship'.

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(A participant makes a point at the Acumen debate)

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(Judges at the Acumen debate)

Teams from IIM Bangalore, ICFAI Bangalore, Xavier Institute of Management Entrepreneurship - Bangalore and Deparment of Management Studies, IIT Madras shall field googlies from quizmaster Harsha Bhogle on Saturday at the Business Today Acumen Quiz South Zone Finals being held at IIM-B.

The Acumen debate for South Indian B-schools would see through the semi-finals round at the same time. The first group of semifinalists would have IIM-B speak for and Christ College, Bangalore speak against the topic 'Indian women managers have broken the glass ceiling'.

In the second group, TAPMI - Manipal will speak in support of the topic 'FDI is imperative for the growth of Indian retail industry' while IIM-K will oppose the motion.

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Much to everybody's surprise, the TAPMI team has beaten the IIM Kozhikode team to face home turf team IIM Bangalore in the Acumen South Zone debate finals! The finalists shall now debate 'Big companies are not agile and adaptable'. Keep watching for updates!

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Two exciting days of India's best b-school students pitted against each other yielded IIM Bangalore as the winner in both the Debate as well as Quiz events of Business Today Acumen 2006 South Zone.

Venkatraghavan and Gautham Krishnan, both IIM Bangalore students took away the South Zone Debate title by speaking for the motion 'Big companies are not agile and adaptable'. Runners up TAPMI, who had reached the finals after defeating IIM Kozhikode put up a formidable show speaking against the motion. The IIM-B team shall face IIFT-Delhi and two other teams at the Acumen national finals in Mumbai, come November.

Venkataraghavan, a PGP-II student at IIM-B, did his BE in Computer Science from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, following which he worked at Motorola, Singapore for 2.5 years. A debater since school days, he won the national debating championships in Singapore, following which he represented his University in the international debating circuit. "This was quite an enriching experience for me because I got to closely interact with other university students from all over Asia and the Australian continents," he says. He was part of the team that was ranked ninth among 70 teams in the Australasian Inter-varsity Debating Championships at the University of Melbourne and the All Asian Debating Championships at Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. "I had been cut off from debating ever since I left NTU, but Acumen has brought back all those fond memories," he says.

"Besides keeping in touch with news, I did nothing specific to prepare for Acumen," he added.

His teammate Gautham Krishnan is a first year student at IIM Bangalore. He completed his schooling from Bangalore, then graduated in Production Engineering from NIT Trichy in 2005 to work with Maruti Udyog Ltd for an year in the Product Planning and Development department.

He is no beginner to debating, and has organized and won a number of literary events as a member of 'Balls by Picasso', the English Literary society of NIT, Trichy. He hasn't really debated much before, he says. "This was my first major debate, so to speak," he adds. Like Venkat, Gauthan too prepared for the Acumen debate by 'just keeping track of the happenings in the world of business'. Gautham enjoys quizzing, watching Formula One, reading PG Wodehouse and Indian epical novels.

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Meanwhile, Prasad Shetty, who has been part of winning teams at Acumen since the last two years refused to let his magic die at the Acumen 2006 South Zone Alumni Quiz. His teammate in the victorious act was Vishwajit, an alumni of KIMS-Dharwad.

A big hand to all the Acumen 2006 South Zone winners!

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Change 1: The paper will now be a two and a half hour paper.
Change 2: The cut- offs for the paper have already been announced.

The paper will now be a 150 minutes test

I am sure we all know that there was a student who maxed the English section in CAT 2005. Is this something the IIMs feel happy about? Have you ever wondered why the CAT paper is either difficult with a few questions or if it is easy then the number of questions is substantially high? Why haven't we heard any student getting 150 out of 150 or 185 out of 185? Are the paper setters mean and sadistic? No, definitely not. Their point of view is logical. If a student gets say, 44 in English, then I know that the level of the student was 44 marks. But if a student gets 50 out of 50 then I will never know the level of that student. In a way the paper was not sufficient for us to zero in on the student's exact talent. To explain this further, let's say two students get 50 on 50 in English, now how will we know who is better student, can I assume that both are equally good? Is the case of two students with a 50 the same as two students with a 44? No, again. If I give a 100 mark paper in English to both students will they both get 100 each? Unlikely, right? So we do realize that a student maxing a section or the paper is not exactly good news.

Hence what is our analysis? If we have the same number of questions or even if we have 112.5 questions (90*5/4) the likelihood of somebody maxing the paper is high. So it makes sense for the number of questions to increase. It may go back to 150 questions or perhaps more than 150 questions. Before we wrap this up completely, I want to submit another rationale on why the number of questions will increase.

One of the attributes which the CAT tests and which is important for any good manager is selection. With less number of questions selection is of no relevance. The previous CAT was very knowledge intensive which is great as a one-off test. But as a pattern, if the CAT becomes knowledge intensive then it would no longer be an aptitude test. And selection implies more questions.

The cut-offs for sections at 25 pc and over all cut-offs at 33.33 pc (for IIM Ahmedabad)

Obviously, all students who get even GD-PI calls from IIM-A would have to fulfill these cut-off criteria. So at least 700 students (approximate number of IIM-A interview calls) should clear these cut-offs. If we look at the cut-offs last year as a percentage then for DI and Quant they came to around 20 pc. Also we know quite a few students who got calls with scores less than 50 (1/3 of aggregate). Considering that the time for the test has increased, the scores would improve. But for a sizeable number to definitely clear the cut-off, it will require an easier paper.

Consider another aspect of last year's paper: anybody who got 2 to 3 two markers right in Math or DI will be well on his or her way to clear the cut-off, whereas a student who is unlucky and makes some silly mistakes on the same questions will face quite a problem. Basically chance can play a role if the cut-off is 10 marks, but to clear cut-offs of 20 marks it will require more than chance. All this points to the fact that the difficulty level will either decrease for this year's CAT or the paper will be a mix of easy and difficult questions.

Another aspect that deserves some analysis is the sections.

A three course meal?

Historically the CAT has rarely experimented with the number of sections. A four section test was once changed into a three section test. To explain the change let's look at the four section test. The four section test had 100 marks for English and 85 marks for Math and DI. As finance and software became large recruiters from the IIMs the focus shifted from communication and presentation skills to analytical and quantitative skills and this was reflected in the CAT paper by giving equal weightages to English, Reasoning and Quantitative. Of course equal marks to each section need not imply equal weightages. Cryptic? Let's see.

Till 2003, students extremely proficient with linguistics could potentially score anything between 38-43. On the other hand a similarly good student in Math or DI would score 28-35 in the respective sections. This meant that students who were good at English had an advantage towards scoring higher total scores. Hence in some sense English still had a higher weightage.

The solution to this occurred in 2004, in that year highest in English was the same as that of Math. Even the distribution of the top percentile was similar. Of course the DI marks distribution was still significantly different from the other two sections. In 2005, all the three sections had the same kind of difficulty level. I think this year too, the difficulty level of the sections would be the same. Also it is unlikely that the number of sections will change.

Conclusion

Guys, please focus on your selection, it will play an important role come November. Remember that whatever happens, the exam is still a relative exam and everyone is facing the same kind of music. Of course the students who do well think the music is some beautiful symphony and the students who get scared think it is some cacophony.

Best of Luck and Private Message me for doubts!

Munira Lokhandwala is an alumna from IIM Calcutta, batch of 1999. She has been associated with CAT coaching since 2001. In 2005, she started Catalyst Group tuitions for CAT. (www.catalyst4cat.com) she is a regular CAT taker herself. These are her scores:
Year - Overall percentile
2005 - 100 %ile
2004 - 99.99 %ile
2003 - 99.98 %ile



Discuss this article in the Forum!
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Mr. Piramal's a brilliant talk provided a keen insight into the corporate world by not just throwing light on his flagship organization, Nicholas- Piramal but also by sharing the lessons he learnt in his professional life, through personal experiences. Revealing a sharp and clearly focused mind, Mr. Piramal spoke on a variety of subjects from the importance of India in the global business scenario to being proud about the rich and diverse cultural heritage of our nation. He spoke about the need in individuals to be inspired by some great purpose that we need to find on our own and breaking boundaries and transcending limitations to achieve set goals. He spoke about the importance of a strong will and courage to stand by our ideals and convictions and having faith in god.

He spoke about the many challenges that he had to face personally and professionally and how he was able to overcome them. He shared an example of his own life on having lost his father when he was 29 and subsequently his brother to cancer, which made him shoulder the responsibility of the family business at a young age. He spoke about the deep driving desire of his entire team and the risk and rewards that were involved in moving into pharmaceuticals from the diametrically opposite field of textile. From owning what was then an almost defunct textile company, Mr. Piramal today is the chairman of the Rs 4,000-crore (Rs 40 billion) group, comprising Nicholas Piramal, the fourth-largest pharmaceutical company in India. He also spoke with immense pride about his company's Crossroads, India's first shopping mall that opened in Tardeo, Mumbai in 1999, about how three factory buildings of the pharmaceutical company were converted into the hugely successful retail space.

He said that strategy making is a commodity and that the most challenging aspect that today's managers need to not just focus on the strategy but more importantly the efficiency in execution. He spoke about leadership and the level five leader, combining the paradoxical qualities of personal humility and professional will. He also said that leadership without the decision of execution is incompetent and ineffective in the face of intense competition. He also said that there has to be a perfect alignment between the thought process and action for ensuring success. He spoke about leaders of the modern India like the president, Dr. Abdul Kalam 'who creates superb results and yet demonstrates compelling modesty.

He spoke about the importance of managers to have an open mind to absorb and listen to make decisions and execute them successfully. He also spoke about India's greatest challenge in creating a competent and excellent workforce by providing adequate training- 'finding the right people and the right quality'. He spoke about the future of NPIL, a vision of creating world-class research centers and introducing basic drugs into the market that is 1/10th of it's cost in the western world. He spoke about its core strengths of the 2700-strong field force; successful brand building and state-of-the-art manufacturing plants. He said that NPIL's major investments in Research &Development;, which focuses on formulations development; new chemical entity research and clinical research will continue to meet India's growing need for high-quality and low cost drugs.

He also shared with the students a story: Footprints on the sands of time about a boy, who dreamt that he was walking along the beach with his grandfather and each time, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to him and the other to his grandfather. But when he looked back at the footprints, he noticed only one set of footprints at the lowest and saddest times of his life. Disappointed, he asked his grandfather as to why he left him when he needed him the most. To which his grandfather said that when the boy had seen only one set of footprints, it was then that he carried his grandchild.

Signing off with this story he emphasized on the need for spirituality and conviction to achieve your dreams as the catalyst for success.

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Mr.Rengarajan started his session with the basic definition of Credit and went on to explain Credit Risk- a possibility that a counter party fails to meet obligations, a risk that is inherent in every Commercial Bank's operations. He said that while lending money, a bank should know the party, to whom it is lending – through analysis, proper enquiries, studying of the Balance Sheets.

He mentioned various guidelines to Credit Risk Management like Policy Guidelines, Lending Guidelines, Credit Assessment and Risk Grading, Approval Authority, Segregation of Duties, Internal Audit. Mr.Rengarajan then went on to explain the various Lending Guidelines mentioning that they should reflect changes in the economic outlook and evolution of the bank's portfolio. The Principles of Lending should include safety/security, liquidity, desirability, profitability etc.

Mr.Rengarajan also explained how risk is transmitted from the environment to the industry to the business and finally to the lenders. The Spectrum of Risks includes both Financial and Non-Financial risks. A fine balance is required between these types of risks to avoid a Reputation Risk. He further said that there are various Safety (or Comfort) Zones to the funds loaned which include apart from the amount owed to the bank plus interest, the customer's expected profit, customer's resources, personal guarantees, pledges.

The various things that should be looked into by the banks while lending money include Promoter's Profile (constitution of borrower, vintage, length of association with the bank, net worth of the concern, tax payments, market enquiry report), Business Risk Profile (sales turnover, borrower's status), Finance Risk Profile (leverage, profitability, current ratio, sales to current assets), Security Risk Profile (cash collateral, immovable property mortgaged).

All in all, a very informative session for all the students in general and students planning to take up finance, in particular.

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The event was attended by over 150 current professionals who passed out of the institute since its inception. Ex-MICAns from various programmes that the institute has offered over the years such as the flagship two-year Post Graduate Programme in Communications Management and other career development courses such as Creative Communications, Retail Communications Management, Broadcast Management, Public Relations & Event Management and Design Communications Management attended the meet in full gusto.

The Meet was kicked off with an audio-visual presentation by the Alumni Committee that talked about how the institute has evolved over the years. This was received with tremendous applause by the nostalgic crowd. Thereafter the Director, Professor Atul Tandon declared the meet open for the assembled alumni. This was followed by a speech by the Registrar, Mr KGK Pillai wherein he talked about the achievements of prominent MICAns and the high regard in which they are held in the corporate world. Dinner and a dance party topped off the proceedings that went on till late in the night.

Further regional Alumni Meets are scheduled in Delhi, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. The first ever international chapter of the Alumni Meet was held in Dubai earlier this year and plans are on to hold another one in South East Asia where many MICAns have excelled professionally.
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The transformation of marketing from just a science to an art form replete with innovation, creativity and intuition is what makes a successful marketer, he said. He also touched upon the golden age into which the BRIC economies are heading, and the challenge marketing faces due to the plethora of products and services available.

Mr. Vieira, known as the Kotler of India, emphasized the importance of a good HR System for success of any marketing strategies. With the concepts of loyalty, roles and responsibilities rapidly changing in this dynamic environment, he advised the budding managers to prioritize their loyalties and to show one virtue that ensures your place in an organization – productivity.

Through thought – provoking & some extremely witty examples ranging from Big Bazaar to Reliance Retail, Mr. Walter explained the innovations these Indian companies have done in Product Design, Pricing, Promotion, Distribution and Public Relations. Interjected by peals of laughter, this talk gave immense insights into the changing world of marketing, and left the students satisfied and ready to “Keep Running”.

Some of the Interesting Lines:

Marketing art involves creativity, innovation, spontaneity and intuition.

Marketing Artist: Why something has to be done?

Marketing Techie: How something has to be done?

When customer has overtaken your salesman in case of knowledge, the battle is lost.

Keep yourself three steps ahead of your most informed customer. Else pack up and go.

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The aim of the seminar is to educate students about the various aspects of starting up a new venture and to introduce them to the resources in the entrepreneurial arena with the following sessions:

Session I:
Idea Generation: Creating Value and Enabling Growth
Speaker: Mr. Dan Sandhu, CEO Vertex (India)

A startup session on the creation of business value through a strong understanding of the success drivers for India Inc and challenges that need to be overcome. This shall cover the Economic and Social Framework, the investment conclusions that are drawn in the current landscape, support requirements that Indian businesses need from investors, mentoring role of angel investors, value of being on the ground and not a "remote" investor, the reality of operational and infrastructure challenges, etc

Session II:
Financials and Funding Strategy
Speaker: Mr. Pankaj Sehgal, Director, Sun Group (India)

There are two important things an entrepreneur needs to look at when he decides to start up. One is the evaluation of the financial feasibility of the idea and the other is assessing the capital requirement and then raising funds for the venture. The financial feasibility analysis covers aspects like company valuation, revenue models, etc which are paramount to the success of the plan. Subsequently, the entrepreneur has to choose among various sources of capital-private funds and venture capital funds and procedures involved in raising funds.

Session III:
Legal Procedures
Speaker: Mr. Rajkumar Dubey, Dubey & Partners (Advocates)

Legal implications are crucial to every industry and business. Judicial set up in the concerned country with respect to start-ups and the various proceedings involved with the same, form an indispensable aspect of starting-up. Budding Entrepreneurs must also be aware about the importance and implications of the intellectual property rights (IPR) and patents in India. Furthermore, licensing and permit requirements and adherence to taxation laws is also essential.

Session I Extended:
Idea Generation
Speaker: Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani, CEO, Naukri.com

A sound idea leads to a sound business plan. A good idea forms the foundation on which the business model can be set. Some may appreciate the creativity and innovativeness, but the ruthless market does not respect ideas without their implementation. Hence every workable idea needs a lot of nurturing, which includes assessment of the appropriate opportunity at the right time. Other things, which are crucial, are the details with respect to the business plan development and the importance of networking in the success of the business model.

{pagebreak}

Panel Discussion:
"Is there a funding gap or a leadership gap ailing the start-ups in India?"

The Silicon Valley is the hub of the entrepreneurial activity, and a recent study by a team of professors from San Jose University shows that about 7.1 % of the total entrepreneurs there are of Indian origin. This fact is encouraging on one hand and disturbing on the other. It encourages us all to see fellow Indians doing well in an alien land. But it is quite disturbing to see that a similar kind of activity is not happening in India. This raises the big question on which we look forward to have a discussion, to understand whether it is the lack of right attitude or the lack of resources and support that hinders Indians from doing well in India as entrepreneurs.

Open to select Post-Graduate and Under-Graduate Colleges
Participation strictly on basis of prior registration and invitation
Registration ends 1500 hrs, Sunday, August 27,2006
Registration fee per college fixed at Rs. 1000 (Maximum participants is 10) or Rs. 150 per Participant
For Registration: Send in a mail to [email protected] or Contact Jayant Sharma, President, Entrepreneurship Cell, FMS Delhi at 9850856006, 9891686893
The event details are as follows:
Time: 9:45 am onwards
Date: Saturday, 2nd September 2006
Venue: Conference Centre, Delhi University, Opp. Faculty of Law, North Campus
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The session was inaugurated by the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the distinguished panelists, including Prof.Sushil (The Founder-President of the GIFT society and Professor at DMS-IITD), Prof. K.M.Mittal (Ex-General manager, EIL, currently Professor at IILM), and Mr. Manoj Sharma (B-Tech, M-tech, MBA, served Govt. of India, and currently on board of directors of public ltd. co. working in area of cyber security). Prof. Sushil then addressed the house, citing an analogy with 'Alice in Wonderland'. He spoke on the importance of moving with at least twice the speed of the environment to be able to leave the competition behind in this dynamic business scenario.

The event was an intensely competitive affair, with participation from premier management institutes in the country. Entries poured in from all corners and some of the prominent b-schools represented were, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, MDI Gurgaon, FMS, XLRI, NMIMS and DMS-IITD.

The audience was spell bound by the variety and quality of presentations made and the house was enlightened by some insightful inputs from the dignitaries. FMS was ably represented by Samit Khanna and Mitesh Karia , whose work on Commodity financing at Citibank, was appreciated unanimously by all the judges ,and deservingly awarded the first prize and a cash reward of Rs.15000.

The team from DMS comprising Vikram Kumar and Pravin Vemuri, illustrated their work on the IBM global delivery model and shared the second spot with Anuradha Jairam and Deepti of FMS , who had researched the options available for Standard Chartered In Small and medium enterprises.the two teams also shared the trophy as well as the cash reward of Rs 10000.

The success of the event was attributed to the efforts of the GIFT Student Forum, at DMS IIT Delhi, and the sponsors namely PNB, SBI, NTPC and EIL. Prof Sushil concluded the session with a call to all the prominent B-schools to join the GIFT society and facilitate its evolution into a national forum. He also announced the release of WAVE – a journal aimed at documenting such significant papers from students and practitioners.
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The objective of conducting this conference is to discuss the current scenario of logistics (like rail, road, shipping and ports and air cargo) and issues pertaining to its optimization. The conference would also promote discussion on the best practices related to logistics of various industries, technology initiatives like GPS & RFID.

Mr Douglas Baillie, CEO, Hindustan Lever Limited and Group Vice President of Unilever companies, South Asia would be the Chief Guest of the event and Mr V Thulasidas, CMD, Air India would be the Guest of Honour.

Several eminent speakers from different sections of the industry like Mr Arif Siddiqui, Logistics and SCM Advisor, Coign Consulting, Capt Yogesh Kundra, VP (Transport) Reliance Logistics Ltd., Mr K Prasad, MD, Hua Dao Shipping, Dubai, Mr Ashutosh Dixit, Regional Head (Eastern), DHL Danzas Lemuir Ltd., Mr Santosh Kumar, Country Head (Logistics), GATI Ltd will be addressing the current trends in Logistics and the necessary impetus towards innovation through technology.

Some of the salient issues that would be addressed at the conference are:

- Factors driving the Logistics Industry in India.

- Role of Infrastructure in Logistics Effectiveness.

- Emerging trends in Logistics & the key strategies adopted by Logistics players.

- How Logistics is responding to the changing/emerging Business scenarios

- Framework for Asset creation & financing investments in Logistics.

- Factors likely to determine success in Logistics industry.

- Technology & knowledge initiatives in Logistics.

A good turnout of participants, particularly from the Shipping, FMCG, Manufacturing, Transport and the Mining sectors is expected, adding to the entire experience of the conference.

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MarketRx is a leading provider of specialized Sales and Marketing Effectiveness solutions to global Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies. Its customers include over 50 top-tier pharmaceutical companies in all therapeutic areas and across geographies. Recently, it was ranked 195th in 24th Annual Inc. 500 list of "Fastest Growing Private Businesses" in the U.S A. It has been seeing a year on year growth of about 50% for the last few years and holds great potential to people wanting to start out in the consulting domain.

The lecture traced the trajectory of consulting sector as a whole over the past years; Starting from the 50's where consultants were typically bright young graduates who were focused more on ideas than actions. Many a times, these ideas were not weighed against the practical difficulties in implementing them, and hence, organizations ended up with huge reports that could be put to little use. In the 90s, there was a radical shift in the approach towards consulting with greater stress is being laid on the actionables rather than just strategies. He discussed the fact that in a typical problem solving approach, the stress lies not just on the strategy part of consulting, but also on breaking down these strategies into clearly measurable tactics. He quoted a few examples from MarketRx case histories, where the company left their clients with clear tactical tools to support their implementations even after the consulting project was completed.

Mr. Challu also put forth the proposition that the years coming ahead belong to that of the Specialist and not that of the generalists. The students at DMS, IIT Delhi, had a very riveting discussion with him on this issue and got out the finer nuances of the differences in the Consulting domain between the generalist and the specialist-based firms. He also enumerated on careers in consulting in the strategy domain and their implications vis-à-vis a specialist-consulting career.

The interaction fostered a very riveting discussion between the students and the industry on taking up consulting as a career and put the consulting domain in the right perspective in the minds of the students.

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The event was split into two sessions. The first session was a moderated tête-à-tête between Mr Rohit Chandavarkar, Chief of Bureau, CNBC, Mr P Sreevalsan Menon, Chief of Bureau, The Week and Mr Shishir Joshi, Chief of Bureau, Aaj Tak.
The moderator of the discussion was Mr Mohan Savanna, Editor, Reader's Digest.

Mr Sivanand started the proceedings by asking Mr Chandavarkar to define sensationalization. Mr Chandavarkar responded by saying that sensationalization was a subjective term, since the perspective of one medium may be different from that of another. Speaking as a TV journalist, he emphasized that each channel had styled itself along certain lines, that is – it might be a purely entertainment, lifestyle channel or a hard-hitting news channel. Any content that was considered important would be presented in a fashion that tied in with the image of the channel.
“Sometimes, it might be necessary to put a Mallika Sherawat on the cover to increase our sales. After all, serious reporting also needs revenue and as an editor I have to keep my magazine's circulation's buoyant,” added Mr Menon, Chief of Bureau, The Week.

Mr Joshi, Bureau Chief, Aaj Tak, explained that all TV channels watched their competition's TRP ratings. It gave them indication of the kind of content viewers fancied. And then each channel fashioned content accordingly to increase its viewer ship. Thus if sensational news drew more eyeballs, it is expected that any channel would present its content in ways that lured more viewers to its channel. He suggested that sensationalization was essentially a feedback loop with the viewers being the source and the various media at the receiving end.

In the light of sensational accident reporting, the discussion went on to ponder over the reportage and intervention by media at the site of the mishap. Citing the example of the self-immolation of a man protesting the lack of increase in his wages, the panel spoke of the split-second decisions that reporters and camerapersons had to take.
“One moment the story is in front of him, the next it is over. The reporter needs to decide if he wants to save the man-on-fire, or come under fire himself if he doesn't capture the news,” said Mr Joshi. Also as, Mr Menon and Mr Chandavarkar pointed out; it might compromise the channel or paper's objectivity while covering such issues if there was personal involvement.

In the subsequent session, the audience put forth a range of questions varying from the role of media as the fourth pillar, freedom of expression and perception and lastly media's sustenance drawn from sensational reporting.

As Krishna, a second year management student said, “The session was a great value-add for us because it gave us insight into the management of information from the providers themselves.”

“The business of media is an industry in itself. For students like us, whose focus is trained to limited sectors, this offbeat event has triggered new perspectives,” said Vivek Srinivasan, a first year management student.


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Some of the finest thespians of the Indian theatre helped the students, not just to find newer perspectives to their classroom problems, but also to also go beyond the realms of modern day management and explore the rhythms of human interactions as a whole.

Says IIMC student Saunak Basu, “The Nandikar workshop gave us insight into management from an entirely different perspective; we got to identify with every man as an individual – what makes him tick, how he responds in different situations – and to realize how important and effective trust, empathy, body language and emotions are for us to actually understand and communicate with each other.”

The workshop explored various facets of human interactions, by means of specially designed exercises on trust, teambuilding, group development and role-playing; exercises which demonstrated the use of music and dance as threads to bind people together; and exercises on communication, which taught how to hold the entire audience rapt with attention during monologues and soliloquies.

Rohan Moitra, a student in the first year, says that “The most amazing part is that these professionals – teachers, actors, performers, musicians and intellectuals all rolled into one – showed us human behavior from a standpoint very different from a routine management chore.

“Not only are we richer now as theatricians, but as people too, and we had great fun doing it” – is the unilateral response of the participants of the workshop.

The Nandikar Theatre Group, headquartered in Kolkata, is one of India's foremost theatre groups. Under the guidance of Mr. Rudrapasad Sengpta, they have played a proactive role in spreading and developing theatrical activities throughout India for over close to half a century.

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The evening began with a welcome address from the Alumni Coordinator of Class of 2007, Mr. Vineet Shukla. This was followed by a speech by Prof. N.L. Sarda, HOD, and SJMSOM. He stressed the importance of synergies between alumni, faculty & students that could be leveraged to benefit the school. The school celebrates its 11th year since its inception in 1995 and he shared his views on how the school can move from strength to strength.

Alumni from Class of 1998 were felicitated by Prof. Sarda as year 2006 marks their 10 years of association with SJMSOM and then the gathering was updated about the latest developments and happenings in their alma mater.

The 'Alumni Speak' followed this. The nostalgic alumni took the stage and spoke about their cherished memories of SJMSOM. They shared their views on SOM and on how they visualized the growth of the school in times to come.

The formal part of the meet culminated in a speech by Prof. Atanu Ghosh wherein he responded to the comments made by the alumni and also stressed the potential in integrating SJMSOM alumni with IIT Bombay alumni in a mutual way.

The lighter part of the event started with interactive fun games and moved onto the dance floor, thus setting the mood for informal interaction and exchange of views between the alumni and the present batches. The evening, in all was both successful and enjoyable.

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International Entrepreneurship Challenge (IEC), 2006 that was launched on the occasion, is one of the largest B-Plan competitions in South Asia. It spans across the globe. It is open to entries from corporates, post-graduate and graduate students. There is prize money to the tune of $10,000. Not only do the winners receive venture capital funding for their business plans but also stalwarts of industry and academia shall be participating in their capacities as mentors for the teams. An eminent panel will constitute the Board of Directors for IEC.

The Seminar on “How to Start a New Venture” witnessed participation from

„X Mr. Sanjeev Bhikchandani, CEO, Naukri.com.
„X Mr. Dan Sandhu, Chairman, Vertex (India);
„X Mr. Pankaj Sehgal, Director, Sun Group;
„X Mr. Rajkumar Dubey, Dubey and Partners;

Professor C.D. Bhattacharya, Dean, FMS delivered the welcome address. Professor
Bhattacharya said that the union of guts and glory characterized the world. He also emphasized on how entrepreneurs must set them selves apart by their “passion to perform”. Highlighting the entrepreneurial success of FMSites, he said, “Our mission is to be job-creators and not just job-seekers.”

Mr. Dan Sandhu, Chairman, Vertex (India) highlighted the immense entrepreneurial opportunities available within the Indian landscape and discussed several parameters affecting the same. He said, “India currently is the favorite destination in the world for an entrepreneur. The strong fundamentals of the Indian economy are the crucial drivers for innovation and growth momentum considering that India will be the third largest economy by 2050.”

Mr. Rajkumar Dubey, Dubey and Partners enlightened the audience on the legal intricacies involved in setting up a new enterprise as well as important tenets concerning Intellectual property rights, arbitration, litigation et al in the Indian context.

Mr. Pankaj Sehgal, Director, Sun Group elucidated the financial nuances of new ventures such as obtaining funding, debt and equity financing, angel investment, seed funding et al. He stressed on the need for greater synergy between academia and venture capitalists in India. He said that the m ain concern for any investor is to ensure “Clarity of Purpose” in relation to the proposition. This should be backed by sound valuation, assessment of market size, competition, product evaluation, business models, etc.

Mr. Sanjeev Bhikchandani, CEO, Naukri.com, enthralled the audience with stories about how Naukri.com came to be founded. He said, “The best ideas are often in front of us. We only need to recognize them. Be different, be bold, be brave; but at all times be relevant.” H e offered his reflections on how great ideas are scalable and no task is too daunting to be achieved by the ambitious youth of India in today's day and age.

The Seminar was followed by a Panel Discussion comprising the above speakers in which the panelists pondered upon "Is there a Funding gap or a Leadership gap ailing the start-ups in India?” In addition to the speakers for the Seminar, Professor Vivek Suneja of FMS and Rahul Gupta, an FMS student, and Mr. Abhishek Sharman of Sun Group also joined the discussion. Professor Suneja, an expert in the field of Corporate Strategy and Business Policy brought in an academic's perspective to the discussion. Rahul Gupta, currently a FMS student is an engineering graduate from IIT Delhi and has already started his own entrepreneurial venture. He offered his reflections on his own startup and the challenges he encountered.Mr. Jayant Sharma, President, Entrepreneurship Cell, FMS proposed the vote of thanks on behalf of the student community of FMS to all those present on the occasion.

The event witnessed enthusiastic participation from several business schools and all in all was a great learning experience. It has set the ideal tone for International Entrepreneurship Challenge, 2006.

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Why do some doctors leave the scalpel for corporate boardrooms? PaGaLGuY.com tries to figure out by chatting up with a few.


What do Dr Kapil Raina, a product manager at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), former Armyman Dr Biju Mohandas, an MBA student at the Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad, Dr Girish Bakhru, currently studying at Faculty of Management Study (FMS), University of Delhi and Dr Ashima, alumna of Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgoan and currently working with ICICI One source, have in common?


They are all qualified doctors who later shifted gears to study an MBA.


Until a few years ago, Medicine and MBA in India were complete strangers. In recent times, however, a business management degree has become a popular option for doctors. The trend is still in the nascent stage, but with changing times it may soon become a popular career choice for doctors.


Attraction towards the MBA


After years of either studying or practicing medicine, some doctors feel they need to obtain an advanced business degree such as a MBA.


The reasons seem to be mainly to gain self-sufficiency, job satisfaction, and a better position for themselves in the managed Healthcare sector. Better monetary rewards and new business prospects are an added draw.


According to Dr Girish Bakhru, a MBBS and now pursuing a full time MBA at FMS says, During my course I realized that I didnt want to continue with medicine. I wanted to do something more exciting and challenging, which would also give me satisfaction. Even though I have taken up management, I still intend to use my medical expertise.


Medicine is a very specialized field. Whereas a business degree provides you a larger canvas to explore and helps you broaden your horizons. I wanted an adventurous career path. But at the same time my medicine degree has helped me understand people better and interact with them efficiently, says Dr Javed Sipahi a student of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB).


Dr Ashima has her own reasons for taking up a MBA. I was not very keen on medicine but coming from a family of doctors it was an inevitable choice. While studying I realized that I didnt want to look at clinical medicine as a long term option, and therefore went on to take up management. Earlier I wasn't fascinated by it but after being apart of the management course my perception changed, she says.


"Since I plan to start my own business at a later stage in the future, I would like to get some corporate exposure, she supplements.


Change in perspective



While B-schools provide substantial expertise and skills, many doctors feel that B-schools have also given them a change in perspective.


Doctors are usually strong headed human beings. They have logic for everything, but at the same time they totally understand that every logical train of thought doesnt need to have a conclusion. Thus they dont get easily affected or influenced by others. I have learnt a lot from my MBA batchmates. Earlier I had a tubular vision, but the new atmosphere altered it. Management helps you remove your mental blocks and gives you wider perspective, making you receptive to change, divulges Dr Kapil Raina, a K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research alumnus and currently working with GSK as a Product Manager.


Management certainly gives you a newer and wider perspective. One not only starts thinking from a clinical aspect but also from the administrative aspect. The students are from diverse backgrounds thus we learn a lot from each other. The exposure is enormous not only in the healthcare field but also in other sectors, states Dr Biju Mohandas, MBA student at ISB.


Change in environment



Medicine is altruistic in nature whereas business tends to be more competitive and ruthless in character. With both fields being so different temperamentally, one really wonders how doctor-managers cope and adapt to the change in environment.


Like businessmen doctors too want to earn money. Most of the times doctors are interacting with patients. They have little social life. The hospital atmosphere is filled with depression and agony where they spend most of their time. On the other hand a business atmosphere is lively and dynamic. One is constantly interacting with large number of individuals and with every communication one is learning new things. says Dr Bakhru.


According to Dr Kapil Raina, Medicine has lost its altruistic nature to an extent. Everything has become commercialized, after all doctors are also human and have the urge to earn money. In fact formally pursuing a business degree has helped me use my medical knowledge and business expertise by working in the relevant field and earning a handsome amount of money rather than being vindictive.


Also another aspect in terms of change in environment is with respect to the curriculum and the traditional perception about doctors.


"Being a doctor the first impression my batch mates had about me was of being studious and a complete bookworm. Initially the curriculum was difficult to cope with, especially the math and numbers. But it is definitely easier than doing a post graduation in medicine, Dr Javed Sipahi of XIMB opines.


There is a drastic change for them but they learn a lot during this two year process. Some of them have a problem in mathematics but at the end of their course they pass with good results. We teach them a wide range of subjects like healthcare laws, dealing with organizational changes, marketing of healthcare as well as other products. says Dr Kavita Singh, Professor at FMS, Delhi.


Future opportunities



Business education may be rigorous, but the hard work and expense can actually yield more opportunities. The doctor-managers declare in chorus that they would prefer making use of their medical knowledge along with business skills.


Dr Biju Mohandas of ISB reveals, There are various options for doctor-managers but finally it depends on what the individual wants to do. Some students want to leave medicine completely thus they take up options like investment banking. On the other hand there are few who want to work in the clinical as well as administrative field thus they have an option of working in hospitals, carrying out clinical research or being a part of medical tourism.


The industry can be divided into two divisions, services and products. In case of services doctor-managers can be involved in any functional aspect including finance, marketing or human resources. But on the other hand in products doctor-managers are mainly involved in only certain fields like marketing or supply chain, says Dr Ashima.


Even though I have taken up business management I always wanted to continue in the healthcare sector. The healthcare industry provides you with varied options. An individual with a medicine background can take up any specialization and yet be apart of the Healthcare industry. The various options are IT consulting, research and development for pharmaceutical companies or individuals can handle administrative functions within hospitals. One can also take up marketing for healthcare organizations. Personally I feel marketing and supply chain are complimentary in nature, thus I took it up and it has helped me a lot in what Im currently doing, elaborates Dr Kapil Raina of GSK.


What the industry says


With business management degree gaining popularity among medicine graduates the industry too is slowly waking up to these new management entrants.


Industry is slowly recognizing the entry of doctors into the business field. The industry has started working towards finding appropriate roles for them in the management team. The industry wants to make best possible use of them thus they are working to nurture and cultivate them, in order to fit them into managerial roles accordingly, explains Mr Kapil Raina of GSK.


Corporate hospital chains like Apollo, or pharma companies like Wockhardt require individuals with not only clinical but administrative knowledge. In other sectors too doctors are recruited largely in their healthcare division. For example a student was recruited by Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) in there the healthcare division, discloses Dr Kavita Singh.


Most of the doctors in the full time MBA batch have varied career options therefore can choose any they desire. Whereas in the specialized Healthcare MBA the students are trained for jobs only in the healthcare industry, she concludes.


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The last three years have seen an unprecedented renewed interest in the emerging markets, which have shown rising productivity and high growth due to forces of globalization and information technology. “EMERGING MARKETS STRIKE BACK” as our main theme seemed perfect for this setting.

On the first day, Mr. Rajinathkanth Patel, MD and CEO of BSE, set the ball rolling by speaking about how India lauded as an Emerging Market needs to be active to make it investor friendly. He laid emphasis on the grass root level changes. He was quoted saying “I believe India as a nation is at its turning point. We need to realize the power within us to catalyze the change for better.”

This was followed by a talk on “Macro Economic aspects of capital inflows from India perspective” by Prof. Pushpa Trivedi.
Dr. Ashok Nag, Senior VP, RiskRaft consulting Pvt Ltd emphasized the importance of Risk Management, esp. in the emerging markets. He briefed upon the Micro concerns and the Macro concerns and VaR. He gave a detailed explanation about the various risks in different domains and how to evaluate them.
Day one closed with a highly spirited, interactive panel discussion with Ms. Ritu Anand, Deputy MD & chief Economic Advisor, SBI, Mr.Nainesh Jaisingh, Head- Private Equity India, Standard Chartered, Mr.Saugata Bhattacharya, VP & Chief Economist, UTI Bank, and Ms. Susan Thomas, Assisant Professor, IGIDR on the topic “From money markets to Hedge funds: How do we address the changing needs of investors”.

Day two, on a Sunday morning, saw a lively audience assembled for a workshop on 'Stock picking' conducted by equitymaster.com. This session focused on how the nature of the sector matters before investing, what to look for before picking up a stock, and what influences a stock performance. Being an interactive session, many queries were answered, myths busted, tips exchanged, a case study about Hero Honda analyzed.

In all, Finance Continuum- 2006 turned out to be a successful event with huge participation from various B-schools across Mumbai as well as industry delegates.


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The purpose of the seminar is to commemorate 15 years of Indian economic reforms, and to celebrate 10 years of IIM Kozhikode's establishment. The event would assess the achievements and fallouts of fifteen years of liberalization and identify a roadmap for future development. The event would revolve around three sectors – Infrastructure, Manufacturing and ICE (IT, Communication and Entertainment). The seminar would also focus on Public-Private Partnership as a model for future growth and examine the role of managers as drivers of change.

A host of eminent personalities from the highest echelons of industry and government will share their experiences and vision for the high growth sectors of infrastructure, manufacturing and I.C.E. The speakers include:

· Shri Suresh Pachauri----------Hon'ble MInister of State for Personnel, Public
Grievances, Pensions and Parliamentary Affairs

· Shri Rajeeva Ratna Shah------Member Secretary, Planning Commission

· Mr Satnam Singh------Director, Power Finance Corporation

· Mr. B D Khurana--------President, Reliance Infocomm

· Mr. K Ananth Krishnan------CTO, TCS

· Mr. Salil Gupta--------Director, Tax and Regulatory Services, KPMG

· Mr. P. S. Banarjee-------Executive Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers India

· Dr. P Nandakumar-------------Professor & Economics Area Chair, IIM Kozhikode

Industry delegates, management students and alumni would attend the event.
Tata Consultancy Services is the Gold Sponsor and Hughes Net Global Education is the Silver Sponsor of the event. The Hindu Business Line is the print media partner and Rediff.com the online media partner for Crucible 2006.


For more information, please visit the event website http://www.konsult.in/crucible/