An alumnus of the prestigious IIT Roorkee with a Masters degree in Seismology, Mr. Vishvanathan has a luminous 24 year career in the IT Industry spanning across big companies like IBM and is currently heading the IT and Innovation Division at Bharti Airtel.
Mr. Vishvanathan spoke about the requirement of defining the project – how a project is planned, how it is reviewed and how well information is communicated within a team. In the interactive session which involved active participation from the audience, the speaker discussed the importance of the Project Charter and the uncanny knack that Project managers should possess to envision unforeseen risks and formulate solutions to tackle them with the available resources. Citing his personal examples in the IT Industry, Mr. Vishvanathan emphasized the need of planning and keeping provision for constant change while adapting to a specific model of project development.
The session enlightened the students with the importance of proper Project planning and management and how MBAs fit in the Project Management role in general and the Software Industry in particular. Overall it was a tremendous learning experience for the wannabe project managers and gave them “the insider perspective” about the IT Industry.
Mr. Banerjee, an alumnus of IIT-KGP and IIM-Calcutta worked with Berger Paints and Marico before joining Ceat in 2005.
Teeing off with a brief discussion of the key concepts of sales and distribution, Mr. Banerjee stressed on the fact that Customer Centricity is in fact the cornerstone of any S&D; model. The primary objective of professionals in this function is to facilitate sales and enable distribution. The need of the hour is however to generate innovative options in order to create a push-driven demand for a product.
Channel interface is the essence of the role played by a distribution team. Mr.Banerjee brought huge value to the discussion by painting a pen-picture of the channel landscape, as it exists presently in India. Speaking of the various responsibilities assumed by manufacturers towards the channel partners, he drove home the importance of “Channel Engagement” and outlined the tools that companies developed for the same.
Mr. Banerjee went on to discuss the nuances of the S&D; function in the FMCG sector and gave interesting insights in to innovation and trends in this arena. Completing the learning loop, he then discussed the Sales and Distribution practices for commercial tyres and wound up by highlighting the differences between the two, thus reinforcing earlier concepts amidst a flurry of questions which brought to the fore the immense wealth of his experience.
In association with a network of academics, thought leaders and stakeholders, would submit a whitepaper on the proposed institute by this year-end. This would include proposals on the institute's organisational structure, governance, curriculum among others.
According to a government release, the institute would require Rs 211.00 crore of investment. The government has allocated Rs 47 crore during the current financial year. The broad objectives include capacity building/training for the Indian Company Law Service (ICLS) and subordinate cadres, provision of value-added services with the implementation of MCA21 egovernance project and service delivery in areas like investor education & corporate governance.
The institute is also envisaged to serve as a think-tank for the ministry to provide a dynamic response to the changing business environment and support it in taking up initiatives that are responsive to the expectations of the stakeholders and the corporate sector. Mr S Sriram, executive director, Great Lakes, said IICA would seek to fill the gap in training and research, not being covered by the present B-schools and industry bodies. Sriram said Great Lakes in association with the North American Society for Marketing Education in India will hold an international conference in Chennai on December 21 and 22, 2007. The theme will be creating, communicating and delivering value in growing markets. Kotler-Srinivasan centre of research in marketing of Great Lakes is sponsoring the event.
Throughout the course of his session he stressed on the fact that the HR function has to assume the role of a business partner and to achieve that goal it has to be in a position to measure its deliverables quantitatively. The audience was enlightened on the various perspectives to measure HR success i.e. the financial, customer, internal processes and the people processes perspectives.
He explained the HCM model for Today and Tomorrow for the HR function wherein HR has to be innovative, be in a position to measure its value proposition, has to take the organization through various maturity levels, has to build a brand for the organization and be accountable for the internal and external stakeholders of the organization.
He discussed the evolution and connotations of the word Human Resource from labor to organization source. Dr. Shetty raised extremely pertinent issues regarding the HR issues in the near future. Some of the issues were related to the global face of HR, movement of HR from simply Human Resource to Organization Resource, HR value proposition, the competitive edge to be gained by an organization through HR, the 21st century revolutionary role of HR, the shift from Best Practices to Next Practices and HR's role in innovation for achieving organizational excellence. Insights were gained into the various competencies required to become successful HR professionals like entrepreneurship abilities, strategic thinking and implementation, innovative thinking and application, customer orientation, timely decision making, leadership, team management, change management and developing a global mindset.
The audience was able to get a better perspective of their role as future HR professionals when Dr Shetty framed HR's role as a strategic partner in the organization; an advisor in the same vein; taking up the responsibilities as a line functionary; a friend, philosopher and coach in the organization; a culture builder; taking care of the employees in the organization and as a spokesperson. This, he said, would enable HR people become a business partner and make the HR function an inseparable part of an organization.
In the end Dr. Shetty answered all queries very patiently. Thus the session was a truly worthwhile experience and certainly gave quite a few points to ponder upon.
Mr Talekar, the wordsmith Dabbawala that he is, gave an overview of his organization and how it is what it is today. “Hum chota mota kaam karte hain, bas apni roti kamaate hain(We do small work to earn our bread and butter). Started in 1890, our success story is all about being disciplined, ensuring participation from both the genders.Values, ethics, commitment are more important than anything else. Dabbawalas come and go, but our principles sustain the ravages of time.”
Talking more about how the workforce maintains world class Six Sigma standards, Mr Talekar pointed out that “we have no technological backup, average literacy rate is almost eight grade schooling, they are trained for a period of six months with a monthly stipend. Only if the efficiency is good that we make them permanent members”
Commenting on the meeting he had with Prince Charles he spoke about the seamless harmony in the communication he had with him and how the Prince, husband of the Late Diana, Princess of Wales, was so impressed that he even kept in touch with them after he went back. It is to be noted here that the Dabbawalas were subsequently invited to the wedding of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles.
More than glamour, to the students it was the range and depth of learning for the to be MBA's that was worth their while. “That they have done it without an MBA degree is marvelous. They give 100 percent customer satisfaction and performance through zero percent fuel and technology as they use bicycle”, says Shakun Singh, a final year student at the campus.
“The Dabbawalas provide food and job, the basic requisites for the people in Mumabai. They have one of the most effective distribution models” pointed out Ravi Gadgil, Professor of Sales and Distribution, IMT Nagpur. The Association which has been featured in the Guiness Book of World Records, has a total coverage areas of 60-70 Kms, taking a time of 3 hours with 2,00,000 boxes delivered on time everyday. With “Shakti, Bhakti and Yukti”(Power, Prayer and Ideas) on their minds, the dabbawalas set their mark on the minds and hearts of all those present at the lecture.
Also the Vice President of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Mr. Bindra spoke extensively on the need of traditional advertisers to focus on the digital media; giving examples of projects that Microsoft themselves had been involved with around the world.
As part of a campaign across institutes and organizations all over the country aimed at bringing awareness to tomorrow's decision makers, Mr. Bindra stressed that the online media will gain much more importance in the coming years, forcing media planners to look at it more seriously.
He spoke about the fact that online advertising is the fastest growing component of the $529 billion dollar global advertising industry. While media and channels like IPTV, newer mobile technologies, Xbox LIVE and Second Life evolve, the basics like relevance and ROI will not change, he emphasized. While acknowledging the problems that India faces, such as poor broadband facilities, limited reach, etc, he expressed hope and confidence that the country would soon catch up and follow the same trajectory as the rest of the world.
Mr. Valecha is currently the Country Head of Alcatel-TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd., a Chinese Telecommunication Company and brought onto the dais with himself invaluable experience from his stints as COO of Haier Telecom, Group Head of LG Mobile and also a healthy work experience in product launch earlier at Samsung, HCL and Philips. He spoke about the various forms of work environment and ethics at companies which are often influenced by the socio-cultural phenomena and practices in their parent countries like Korea (LG and Samsung) and Europe (Philips and Nokia).
The dynamic CEO introduced the students to the competitive landscape in the Telecom sector and spoke about brand building through detailed innovation and diversification as a growth strategy in what is turning out to be the most dynamic Indian industry segment – the Mobile Phone market. As Alcatel is coming out with its range of mobile phones in the market, Mr. Valecha spoke in detail about the strategy with which they plan to roll out their range of handsets in given the fact that the booming Indian telecom market is already flooded with all the top brands. The Speaker further shared with the students the skeleton of the new mobile phones launching strategy of Alcatel and how they plan to take on the already existing leaders like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG and others in the mobile handset market.
Apart from this, Mr. Valecha also encouraged the MBA (Management of Services) students to make the most of the growing opportunities in the Telecom sector, which now entails management tasks like product management & marketing, media planning & building brand loyalty in the market. The lecture was a rewarding experience for the students as many expressed their keen desire to join the Telecom sector. The closing remarks of the Speaker- “For success you have to change your thought process; have new approach to learn new things and differentiate yourself from others”- fired the students. This was another of the inspiring lectures in the series of Boardroom Guest Lecture Series organized by FMS MBA (MS) students.
Christened Rajiv Gandhi IIM - Shillong, the institute published its notification announcing admission to the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) in Management in the national media on Sunday.
'Candidates appearing for CAT 2007 will be automatically considered for admission to RGIIM Shillong', reads the notification.
Prominent institutes accepting the SNAP score for their postgraduate programmes include Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), SymbiosisCentre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB) and many more.
The registration is on at www.snaptest.org. The two-hour test will be held at 2 pm on December 16.
SNAP is an objective exam with total marks 180 and differentially marked questions. The pattern of the test has a few modifications this year. There are 150 questions in the paper as opposed to 165 in 2006. Consequently, there is a change in the distribution of problems across sections. Verbal, DI and GK would each have 40 questions and reasoning would have 30 questions.
The number of sections continue to be four. In three sections each question carries 1 mark and in one section each question carries 2 marks. There is 25 percent negative marking for each wrong answer.
What makes TAPMI different from other Indian B-schools?
TAPMI's management programme is known for its academic credentials, rigor and high student involvement. The delivery of the programme is considered to be regular and systematic. One can see this through the good number of full time faculty members (25) TAPMI has, of whom 70 percent are PhDs and the rest having a solid industry background. The intensity of the full time faculty is one of its differentiator. Besides that the programme emphasizes on the core and extra curricular activities.
The student involvement and collaboration with faculty in writing cases and to work on research papers is also another factor, which separates it from others. These activities are a regular part of the programme.
We constantly try to bring improvements in the programme and the curriculum. The curriculum is revised and there are theme-based innovations such as Management-in-Practice, student's faculty collaborative research, BrandScan and documenting Market Research experiences, NGO stint, outbound experience and others. In brief, quality, innovation, relevance and rigor are the ingredients that go into the programme and the institutional culture.
What is the reason behind accepting GMAT scores during admissions? Has that helped getting in more international students on board?
This is only a recent addition. The process started when an applicant wanted to be a part of TAPMI but he could not take CAT and so was going to miss out on the opportunity to study at TAPMI. That was the time we considered the idea of accepting GMAT scores. We still don't add many students through GMAT. We decided to have the GMAT scores to provide opportunities for those who could not appear for CAT for one reason or the other.
Further, it helps in spreading the word around about the institute. Possibly in the next few years, we will be able to get more number of students through GMAT. Such numbers could also include students from the Middle East, South Asia and Pacific. We have not made any serious attempts to admit international students in a big way, but we are keen on such admissions in the coming 2-3 years.
Can you elaborate on the selection process followed by TAPMI?
TAPMI's selection process is rather elaborate and frankly, relatively time consuming. The complete selection process takes about nine months, between July and March. It commences with the release of an advertisement to receiving the CAT scores and conducting Group Discussions and Personal Interviews.
The specific details of Group Discussions and the Selection process are as follows - the entire process of selection takes about 10 to 12 days depending on the number of candidates short-listed for the process; usually about 1,500 students are called and there are about 20 percent absentees. We normally interview about 1,200 students for 120 seats out of the total 8000 to 10,000 applications we receive.
On an average, we do conduct interviews for about 100 students in at least 8 to 9 panels simultaneously followed by the Director's panel. The interview with the Director's panel lasts for an average of 5 minutes. The GD itself is elaborate, the process of group discussion and its summary writing are considered for selection along with an extempore, panel interview, Director's panel interview plus rating of the application. All the weightages are taken into account in drawing upon the short-listing of candidates for admissions.
What is the reason behind not having varied centers across India for GD-PI sessions and instead calling students to Manipal?
We think that Manipal being a small town and not a metropolitan city must be seen by all the candidates before they decide to join us, subject to their selection. It has its own benefits. However in the process, we might lose a few hundred students. But considering the cost-benefit and pros and cons, inviting students to Manipal, we consider it as a more suitable option. This decision is also based upon our many years of experience. We tried going to other centres in 2005 but the results were not very different from what we are doing of inviting people to Manipal.
What top five qualities do you look for in prospective students?
The five qualities we look for while selecting students include clarity of purpose and its expression both in writing and speaking. The other thing would be a broader understanding of the world and his or her perspective on the same. We also look at the academic records, which ought to be reasonably good. In terms of personality we expect our students to have a point of view at the same time an ability to communicate well. Moreover, a pleasant approach and a positive body language make a difference to one's chances for shortlisting.
What kind of jobs are being offered to TAPMI students? What has the placement trend been over the last two years in terms of sector and specializations?
To start with there has been an increase in the number of well-known companies visiting the campus. Around 20 percent average rise in the salaries for students. Also the shortest possible time of completion of placement last year, it took only 33 hours by 39 companies, 189 offers for 128 students. Four companies did not draw even a single student. Also each student had at least two job options to choose from.
The specializations in the order of importance (during placements) were marketing, including marketing of services like banking and insurance and IT products and services, finance and rating agencies, equity research and consulting, IT and systems, becoming a blended specialization with the above. The hardcore IT specialization is rather less preferred.
Even though the numbers were less for HR, they are showing a continuous increase over the years and the placement records have tremendously improved. I would also give credit to the IT, ITES and other service cectors for the improvement in our placement figures.
Placements at TAPMI are dominated by finance-related jobs. What does TAPMI offer to students who opt for other specializations like Marketing, Human resources?
It is no longer true. It was so in the mid 90s. TAPMI is known for its good faculty in the Finance area. Right now marketing dominates with more number of students opting for it along with best of faculty to guide them.
As I mentioned, HR is also catching up. As the demand increases, some of our talented students who want to make a difference in their careers are opting for this specialization. We will see more of such students in the coming years.
Could you tell us about TAPMI's new campus? What are the latest facilities offered to students?
We have already started the construction of our new campus. It is fairly large in size covering approximately 42 acres and is fully residential for faculty, staff and students. It also has wi-fi and other necessary facilities. The new campus has aesthetically designed buildings, a student-friendly environment including a student centre with all the provisions including few shops, a gym, yoga and meditation centre and indoor games. There are provisions for outdoor games such as football, volleyball courts and cricket. There would also be a tennis court. More importantly, the location of the campus is an attractive proposition – on a hilltop, overlooking a green and beautiful valley.
What are the challenges TAPMI has been facing? Is being situated in Manipal pose as a hurdle for TAPMI's growth as compared to its contemporaries?
At the moment faculty shortage in certain areas and the turnovers pose a challenge for us. However, we hope it to be just a temporary phenomenon as we are building a new campus and over the years our reputation has improved as well.
Being away from the main city and industry could be a constraint as logistics pose problems. In that way Mumbai has an advantage over us along with the learning, practice and industry interaction they get which also draws upon a number of experienced people from the industry. But we try to compensate to some extent by more number of full time faculty and innovative methodologies of interacting with the industry for both students and faculty.
It is said that TAPMI has expelled several students in the past few years. Could you share with us the reason behind the same?
It is totally baseless and bears no evidence on facts. I can tell you in the last fifteen years, people who are asked to leave or withdraw in the program were not even ten. Out of which in 2003, we had asked five students to discontinue from the program for wont of minimum grade point, that is 2.5 in the first year. Last year, we had one such student who scored 2.03 and we have asked him to repeat the first year and he joined back. The five students who were asked to withdraw were because that year the academic council of the institute decided not to allow students for repeating as they tend to be less motivated. Nonetheless after some review, it was decided to allow students to repeat the program but by case-by-case approach.
This initiative is the brainchild of Dr. Bala. V. Balachandran, Founder Director and Honorary Dean of Great Lakes who in his life was deeply influenced by three important women – his birth Mother, Mother Teresa and Mata Amritanandamayi. He started SWIM last year to pay homage to womanhood and give a forum to accomplished women from various walk of life to inspire and motivate future managers of the country, especially women. And in its second year SWIM is beginning to realize the vision of Dr. Bala as this year itself, it had 41 teams coming from various parts of the country to participate in the event.
The event comprised of power talks from eminent personalities like Dr. Kiran Bedi, Director General – Bureau of Police Research and Development, Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, Director – TAFE, India, Ms. Jayashree Ravi, Proprietor – Sri Paalam Silk Sarees, Chennai and daughter of the Silk King of India, Mr. Nalli Kuppusamy Chetty and Ms. Indra Subramanyam, Managing Director of Ehlrich Laboratories, Chennai.
Dr. Kiran Bedi, mentioned the need for synergy between men and women. She came out with 3M's and 3H's theory which is about innate strengths of Men and Women. Addressing future women managers of Great Lakes she said “In a man's world, you have to acquire money, muscle power and mobility if you want to succeed like men. At the age of 12, I acquired mobility with my tennis racket as I travelled all over India to take part in competitions. I had short hair and used to wear slacks, so that I could pass off for a boy''. She came out with strengths of women which men need to posses and described them as 3H's. Humanity, Healing touch and Heart. Dressed in a chic, peach-coloured churidar, she says, ''We must never lose our feminity or our humaneness. I find it highly humorous that men in the corporate world attend classes and spend lots of money on courses to acquire the required 'soft skills' or humaneness, instead of imitating the womenfolk in their homes, who are born with that quality.''
Another point of importance brought forward during her power talk was in knowing what you want to do. She stated that being passionate about something is a pre-requisite for success. This passion when combined with the right direction will know no limits.
Ms. Mallika Srinivasan also reaffirmed these assertions and further added that sometimes your goal or path may not necessarily be making you happy or fulfilling your desires. At times like these it is critical to assess and evaluate the situation and make the changes required. In her words “Stretch yourself but be aware that too much stretching can lead to a tear”.
All the speakers gave importance to support of their families who stood by them in all trials and tribulations. Ms. Jayashree Ravi, attributed most of her success to her father, who stood by her every decision be it that of completing college or setting up her own business. Ms. Indra Subramanyam again shared the problems and challenges which she faced after the untimely demise of her husband and how she been able to create a success story after that.
Each of the women present had faced their share of problems, both personal and professional. The important lesson which all of these speakers imparted was that, no matter what the problem or its intensity, you have the strength to rise above it. Move on, stay determined and you will succeed. A common theme found running through their talks was the need for women to combine their abilities with their male counterparts and stand together instead of apart or against. This way the entire society will be empowered and its development will take place.
The event was also marked by the launch of annual SWIM magazine by Dr Kiran Bedi. Articles were contributed by Kiran Mazumder Shaw, Chanda Kochhar, Neeta Revanker, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Ambika Kameshwar, Purnima Toolsidass, Shubha Sandeep, Lalitha Maheshwaran and Prerna Gupta
Following the power talks and was a Panel Discussion. The panelists were
Ms. Sathya Shankar – Senior Manager ,Life Sciences Vertical, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Chennai.
Ms. Sri Vidhya – Managing Director, D Group Securities, Chennai.
Ms. Sushmitha Dasgupta – Assistant Vice President, Asipac, Bangalore.
Ms. Asha Mathen – Regional Head & Vice President – South and East, Deutsche Bank.
Mr. Kiruba Shankar, an avid blogger, moderated the panel.
The theme for the discussion was Women in India- How free? How equal?
All the women spoke about what they felt was the status of women in the Indian Society today. While they all agreed that progress has been made in the development of women and things have improved considerably from the past, there is still a long way to go. The concept of free and equal also differs amongst women from different backgrounds and sectors of the society. While for some freedom might be the choice to go out of the country, for others freedom might mean having the power not to get married at the age of sixteen. The panel discussion provided great food for thought.
The last event scheduled was the Quiz. The quiz was completely women centric and teased participants with smart questions.
All in all the purpose behind the event was to set the platform for successful women to share their experiences, victories and hurdles. It was also to leverage on their expertise to facilitate and inspire the new age woman. The event served both these purposes and motivated one and all to go ahead and realize their dreams. In years to come SWIM will indeed be a focal point to discuss, debate and encourage new age women to reach pinnacles of success and Great Lakes Institute of Management would stand out due to its unique contribution to Women empowerment.
The meet commenced by the address of the Director of the institute, Prof. Ranjan Ghosh, who emphasized the stress on quality of education that GIM has been maintaining, and gave the alumni a perspective on the recent developments in the institute.
An alumni faculty interaction of different streams viz. Marketing, Finance, Operations, HR was organized which saw many suggestions regarding courses coming in, most which were on the lines of the changes happening in the Industry.
Such an alumni interaction was also organized with the students which helped the current batch in gaining an insight into how the industry functions , what are the different job profiles , what job profiles are the most attractive , what should one be reading , what Industries should one target etc. The students made the best of this opportunity as many doubts, apprehensions and myths were cleared.
The Dean Prof C.M Ramesh, held an interactive session with the alumni in his famous and unique way, Some important issues were raised & addressed, and long term goals of the Institute along with methodologies to achieve them were shared. Prof Mirchandani, another admired faculty member at GIM, had in fact a small case discussion which was an instant hit with the alumni, who couldn't believe their luck that they could ever discuss a case in his class again.
In the later part of the day, a cultural program full of music, dance and fun was organized with even the faculty singing when requested to by the students. The alumni also joined in the excitement with many of them performing dance sequences. A poem rendition about life@GIM had the alumni on the brink of tears. The icing on the cake was the new GIM song composed by some talented students from the current batch, which had the alumni on their feet.
The next morning saw current students, faculty and alumni coming together for a cricket match, which was cheered all along by the current students.
The alumni, some of which belonged to the very first batch, relived their memories by exploring the campus and meeting the teachers who taught them years back. They reminisced, how different GIM was in those days when all they had as learning tools were Black Boards and OHP; whereas now the campus has air-conditioned classrooms and boasts of having state of the art technology at its disposal.
Like all good things, the reunion had to end too, the alumni were all praise for the Alumni Committee for bringing them all together again, and renewed their promise to GIM.
The meet starts with a discussion forum that aims to provide a platform for the alumni to share their ideas with the faculty and current students at 5:00 p.m. in the campus itself. Following this is an informal get-together and dinner party at Saffron Spice, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai
from 7:00 p.m. onwards.
The meet would bring together around 80 alumni from class of 1997 till class of 2007, the faculty members and current students at the school. The evening promises to be high on fun and nostalgia bringing back the memories of their stay at the school.
The meet is being organized in association with 'Lodha group' – One of the India's premier real estate developers, with 'Seagram India' as beverage partners.
MarkSoc - the Marketing society at FMS, Delhi took the first step in this series by organizing a session in association with Coca Cola on August 31, 2007. Mr Ravi Prakash, Director (Commercial Finance) and an FMS alumnus, assisted by Mr Jai Kumar, Finance Analyst, took an interactive session on 'Value Chains – Basics of Beverage Industry' .
The focus of the session was to illustrate to the students how the principles of Financial and Management Accounting and Corporate Finance are applied to real life situations in the beverages industry and how economic models are built around various products and packages. Mr. Ravi Prakash also dealt with new product economics and illustrated the kind of financial analysis that organizations perform before making investment decisions around new products.
In course of the discussion, he elaborated on the cost structure of a Coke bottle and the distribution of profits made by different players in the value chain. Thereafter, he dealt with launching of a new product by explaining the key factors like Initiative Risk, Success Ratios, Future Costs, Monte-Carlo Simulation, etc. The entire discussion was based on a case study approach. The valuable take away and enthusiastic response of the students made the session a great success.
The test will be held between 10 am and 12:30 pm. Registration has begun at www.xlri.edu. Besides, the prospectus is available at 112 branches of the State Bank of India.
Click here for the detailed form notification
Registering for XAT, however does not automatically make you apply to XLRI - Jamshedpur or other XAT affiliated institutes. One has to buy the forms of and apply to individual B-schools. The XLRI form has been released separately.
Important links to help you crack XAT
How is XAT different from other management entrance exams and how to prepare differently for it?
Ask general queries about XAT 2008
Ask your questions about XIM - Bhubhaneswar here
Read MBA experiences of XIM - Bhubhaneswar students
Karen began acknowledging that though leadership management and technical skills are necessary in any turn of life, it's the Relational Leadership (RL) deficit which is plaguing organizations and groups alike. RL is all about how an individual is attuned to and abreast with the intra and inter personal relationship, what perception people have of each other and what is the impact of such an association. Peppering her recite with numerous quotes, experiences and imagery, this one was worth it:
“We are measured not by what we are but by the perception of what we seem to be…
Not by what we say but what we are heard….
Not by what we do but how we appear to do it.”
Karen said that perception is more of assumptions and generalizations that people develop over the years. Whenever two people meet there are actually six people involved in the whole process. The individuals as they feel about themselves. The individual as the other perceives them to be and finally the individuals who they really are. She emphasized the importance of a good feedback which is pertinent for self awareness and hence development. She spoke about the best practices which CCL follows and consults organizations.
Karen then went on to speak about the six keystones of Relational Leadership. Number one is to dominate with humility and delegating work which is worthy so that the people feel challenged. Second is to hire good people thus eliminating the chances of deadwood. Third is to build and maintain relationships. Fourth is good, solid and transparent communication. Fifth is conflict management and last but not the least and perhaps the most important of them all – manage change in others. She spoke that how different people perceive change differently and therefore one need to either show a Purpose or a Picture or a Plan or a Part (Stake) to make the change look “happening.”
The audience was a rich spread from campuses to corporate. The tempo was high throughout as Karen through her oratory skills charmed the assembly by mixing sense with simplicity and smiley. Open house followed soon after and Karen was equally forthcoming to stitch some niggling doubts and ambiguity. The forum thus had a rich takeaway – “Ways to understand manage and involve people better.”
Mr. Gopalan, a qualified Chartered Accountant holds an MBA from The Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, The Netherlands. Prior to joining the IT industry, he has worked with Procter and Gamble in Europe. At Cognizant, he heads the 200 strong Domain Consulting team in Retail and Hospitality and Manufacturing and Logistics verticals.
The IT sector is booming in India. India is being looked at not just as an off shoring destination but also as a source of high quality talent capable of delivering high end IT consulting services. Mr. Gopalan explained how MBAs can contribute towards business development and consulting services besides traditional IT practices of application development and maintenance. Further he went on to talk about the various other career opportunities that an MBA can look forward to in the IT sector. Some of the ones that he mentioned were Domain Consulting, Analyst relationship management and business development. He took examples of a few MBAs currently working Cognizant to illustrate the kinds of career paths that an MBA can look forward to.
The session began with Mr. Gopalan explaining the importance of soft skills that a B-school helps develop, to an MBA. He illustrated this using his personal experiences in the industry. The role of MBAs in the IT industry was exemplified by taking Cognizant as an example which targets a ratio of “1 MBA per 25 techies” across all of its verticals. With this he put to rest any misconceptions in the minds of the students, especially those with previous IT work experience, and made everyone realize that there is more to IT than meets the eye.
Having worked with P&G;, Mr. Gopalan drew parallels between the IT and FMCG industries. He explained how companies from both these industries aimed to go beyond merely providing solutions and commodities to their clients but instead, more value added services, products and brands.
This was followed by a stimulating Q&A; round where the. The session ended on a high note with Mr. Gopalan expressing his happiness over the great response and exhorting the students to consider career in IT as MBAs are the need of the hour in IT.
Two student teams participated in the discussion, of which, team 'Check and Mate' represented the RBI while the second team 'Spartacus' put forth the perspectives of the banks that are responsible for implementing Financial Inclusion (FI). The debate brought out concerns of the banks regarding the profitability with 'no frills' accounts and the simplified KYC (Know Your Customer) norms. They also expressed the inadequacy of infrastructure in the country to take significant measures in implementation of FI.
From the RBI's perspective, several creative yet low cost models were suggested to these banks. For example, banks could provide financial services like loans, accounts etc to Self Help Groups to minimize the risk of default. Partnering with Microfinance Institutions in order to offload risk is another model the banks can follow. Use of IT to reduce transaction costs and their increase profit margins was also suggested. However it was emphasized that banks need to see FI as an opportunity to expand their customer base and not as a liability. The discussion grew further interesting when doubts regarding the viability of these models were raised.
Jagan Mohan subsequently addressed the audience and extolled the importance of FI, “In a nation where economic growth had to be inclusive and with a human face, financial inclusion cannot be neglected”. He also informed the students about recent directives of the RBI to reduce the paperwork involved in KYC norms. He emphasized the need to make people aware of the benefits of FI and pointed out measures RBI has taken in this regard like daily live shows on FI being telecast on Doordarshan being one of them. He also urged the student community to help facilitate the spreading of awareness of FI.
The Check and Mate team were judged as winners of the debate. The evening concluded with Rao giving away prize to the winning team.
The function of the SPV in a Securitization transaction could stretch from being a pure conduit or intermediary vehicle, to a more active role in reinvesting or reshaping the cash flows arising from the assets transferred to it, which is something that would depend on the end objectives of the Securitization exercise.
Mr. Kothari further drew a link between the securitization process and US Sub-prime market crash. Then he talked about the implications of the same and involved students in a question answer session. According to the students who attended the session, the speaker touched upon various aspects that were not covered in most of the text books. Securitization is a burning topic and needs lot of understanding (As in the TATA-Corus Deal that was partly financed using this model and the sub-prime market crash that is related to this.) Overall, it was a good learning experience for the wannabe I-Bankers at FMS.
How has SIBM evolved over the years?
We have been around since 1978 and when we started we were affiliated to the Pune University. Everything was controlled by the University back then and we had to abide by the rules and regulations of the Government of Maharashtra. There was no freedom to design courses as you had to follow the University curriculum, no freedom to select students or faculty or decide upon student reservation. Generating fresh ideas was not possible. Later, around late eighties AICTE came into picture and brought in its own set of regulations.
Despite this, we could create solid branding for ourselves. We brought in innovations by introducing courses such as Masters in Personnel Management (MPM), which we ran without University accreditation so that we could have the freedom required. At that time the course was only next to XLRI-Jamshedpur and TISS-Mumbai's personnel management courses.
After 2002, we became a full-fledged deemed university and everything changed. Along with that, our ranking among business schools started rising and I attribute it to the freedom we suddenly had. We were now allowed to implement fresh ideas and bring about change. We brought in features like the Alumni Policy Note, wherein we decided to build long term relationships with our alumni. Last year, we were ranked 4th overall in India by the Business Today rankings.
The only obstacle we have faced is that we are not a residential campus and there are infrastructure limitations. But we're moving to our new residential campus in Lavale in March 2008 and even that obstacle would have been crossed.
SIBM is seen mentioning its Business Today ranking a lot. How do you advise an MBA-hopeful to use B-school rankings?
B-school rankings should only be used as a navigator or a sort of a guideline. But applicants should not follow rankings blindly and they should research a B-school before applying to it.
How is SIBM different from other Symbiosis management institutes? Do you see SCMHRD, the other well-known Symbiosis b-school as a competitor?
As far as I am concerned, we are only competing with IIM Calcutta, IIM Bangalore and XLRI-Jamshedpur. Within Symbiosis, of the 97,000 odd students that sat for SNAP 2006 nearly 87,000 gave preference for SIBM over 70,000 odd who gave preference for SCMHRD. That should tell you that we have already surpassed other Symbiosis institutes in terms of popularity.
In terms of how we are different, I would say that firstly, a lifelong relationship is assured at SIBM. For me students are consumers and I have to struggle a lot to get them the promised quality of education. It starts from struggling to get applicants to buy our prospectus, then getting them to apply for the SNAP exam, then ensuring that they select SIBM in their institutes of preference and if they're shortlisted for the Group Discussion, they actually attend it and if they get a final admit, they confirm it.
We organize events like Coffee with SIBM, where we meet each of our potential students in person in each city. After they are admitted to SIBM, we have a buddy system between first and second year students. So the lifelong relationship begins as soon as they register for SNAP on the Internet.
What was the SNAP cutoff for GD-PI calls at SIBM in 2006?
The cutoff was 83.25 marks.
Briefly, on what criteria do you evaluate candidates for final admission?
We mark them on a total score of 180. Of this 180, the SNAP score has 30 marks, The Academic Performance, Work Experience and Essays asked for in the application have 10 marks each. The Group Activity and Case Study each have 30 marks and finally the personal interview carries 60 marks. That's 180 marks in total. For the SNAP component, we convert the candidate's SNAP score out of 200 to that out of 30 and use that number.
How many experienced students do you take in a batch?
It was 55 percent in the batch that just came in. But frankly, I don't believe in the theory that advocates work experience for MBAs much. Several times, having experience goes against students during placements.
How many faculty members do you have and how do you plan to expand it?
We have 14 fulltime and 7 associate faculty members right now which we plan to increase to 30 fulltime and 20 associate in the near future.
Tell us about the new SIBM campus at Lavale.
The campus is on the outskirts of Pune and situated on a hill. It will be a world class campus with all the facilities, including hostels, health centre, recreation facilities and more. The Symbiosis International University will also have its office there.
Why are there 'Mobile phones not allowed' signs across the SIBM building?
Do I need to say why? Youngsters misuse the mobile phone facility a lot these days. Mobile phones disturb the academic environment of the institute and are therefore strictly not allowed on-campus.
Discuss this article in the Forum!