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996
Mr Agarwala, set the keynote talk by emphasizing on business excellence and how to look at businesses from quality perspective. He laid stress on ERP implementation requirements on cost cutting and time efficiency. Time factor in this era of globalization is the critical asset for any organization as it minimizes the extent of chaos in disorganization within a business enterprise. He shared his experience on how Kenyan organizations using the 'solitaire game' increased their familiarity with computers. He shared practical tips on running an organization profitably as well.

“We feel privileged to have listened to an authority in the field of ERP and to have received an insight into the signification of ERP in the industry today,” said students of second year PGDM programme.
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Last year's B-Plan Contest saw participation from students of various B-schools like IIM-A, IIM-C, IIM-B, IIM-L, XLRI, ISB, FMS, IIT-B, MDI, SPJIMR, NMIMS, to name a few. Besides the B-Plan Contest, Empresario hosts many more events to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship. Mr. Tulsi Tanti, Mr. Harish Mittal, Mr. Rajat Sharma, Mr. Kumar Subramaniam, Mr. Kishore Biyani and Captain Gopinath were felicitated with the 'NITIE Empresario Entrepreneurship Awards' over the last 3 years.

Important Dates
Last Date for Submission of Entries (Executive Summaries): 4th August 2008
Last Date for Submission of B-Plans: 25th August 2008
Mentorship for Final 5 Teams Begins from: 8th September 2008
Final Presentation at NITIE: 17th October 2007 to 19th October 2008

Lakshya On-the-Job Achievers' Contest

NITIE invites participants from student community for the Lakshya On-the-Job Achievers' Contest to be held during October 17-19, 2008. The Lakshya On-the-Job Achievers' Contest provides a platform for the practicing managers to showcase their talent and competence by presenting new-fangled projects they have undertaken in their respective organizations before a jury from various organizations. Inspired with the over-whelming corporate interest in the On-the-Job Achievers' contest, the ninth edition shall see following sectors:
a Supply Chain Management,
a Operations Management,
a Systems & IT Management
a General & HR Management modules.
a Financial Management

The important dates for participation are:-
Last Date for Registration for Participation: 15th August 2008
(Register at http://lakshya.nitie.in)
Last Date for Submission of Entries: 25th August 2008
(E-mail your entries to l[email protected])

The previous edition of Lakshya was held from October 12-14, 2007 and saw projects from organizations like GE money, JnJ, BOSCH, ICICI Bank, M&M;, DuPont, Marico, L'Oreal, BASF, HPCL, BPCL, Deloitte, L&T;, 3i Infotech, Dr. Reddy's Labs, Patni Computers, Godrej Industries, shortlisted for presentation to a jury comprising of management of organizations like Lehman Brothers ,GE Money ,P&G;, KPMG, HLL, Castrol, SAP, Infosys, Intel Technologies, ITC Ltd., E&Y;, Accenture, Wipro, Dabur, GSK Pharma, Cognizant, Cypress ,ONGC , Bharti ,Kingfisher Airlines.

Another highlight of the 3-day event is the felicitation of business legends like Mr. Rahul Bajaj, Mr. R P Goenka, Mr. Ratan Tata, Mr. Azim Premji, Mr. Keshub Mahindra, Mr. Y. C. Deveshwar, Mr. Adi Godrej, Mr. Sunil Mittal, Mr. K. V. Kamath, Mr. Nandan Nilekani and many more the 'Lakshya Business Visionary Awardees' for their outstanding contribution in defining new pinnacles of success for India Inc.

For details & registration, visit the website at: -
http://empresario.nitie.in
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999
IIM Lucknow completed the third 24 weeks programme for Defence Officers, both of Short Service Commission and others, thereby facilitating them to start their second career after retirement. Like the past two years, this year also witnessed offers from corporate houses to all 58 defence officers belonging to Army, Navy and Air Force, including 9 Lady Officers.

The management training programme was interactive and participative in nature and was aimed at exposing the Army officers to the working level knowledge of management. With experience ranging from four to 30 years, across disciplines that include administration, research, and technology, the defence officers bring to the table more than just expertise.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Devi Singh, Director, IIM Lucknow. He focused on the need for creating a firm set of values and integrity which are essential in today's competitive and complex business environment.

The Valedictory Address was delivered by the Chief Guest, Brig. Y Parimu, President, Jaypee Cement Ltd. He was impressed with the management training programme organized by the Institute and shared his precious experiences with the audience. He included valuable tips for the passing defence officers such as understanding the virtues of integrity and honesty, art of being firm and polite, value of time, money and resources. He also distributed the Certificates and awards to the three toppers of the programme, which were Cdr. M Raghunandan, Cdr. Maxie Jose and Wg Cdr. Rajiv Sharma.
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The event was flagged off by Mr Shiv Kumar (MD , NOKIA India ), Ms Yukta Mookhey (Former Miss World and bollywood actress), and Mr Mukesh Rishi (Bollywood actor).On the occasion, Mr Shiv Kumar said aItas a great initiative by NITIE, I am sure MANDI will go places in the year to comea. Adding to that, Ms Yukta Mookhey said aIt was great interacting with the students, I wish them the very best in their endeavorsa.

Conceptualized by Dr. T Prasad, MANDI stands as a hallmark in NITIE's curriculum as it integrates the theoretical principles of managerial economics, marketing and basic market research, consumer behaviour etc , with their practical application. It is a socio-marketing initiative, helping in experiential method of teaching. Dr T Prasad says aThe central purpose of MANDI is three-fold. Firstly, to contribute to Navnirmiti and hence make a difference in the lives of thousands of children who lose out on basic education. Secondly, having management students practice the classroom concepts of Marketing, Principles of Management, Business Economics, and Accounting, Consumer behaviour on the field. Thirdly, this unique event intends to impart an additional dimension to the learning of the students who buy these toys.a

The response from the consumers was enthusiastic and encouraging. Little Amit just in his third grade, appreciates the ease the toys can bring to his daily math lesson. Amit had just purchased one each of all 3 toys on offer a Jodo 3D set, Tangram and pharaohas pyramid. MANDI 2008 was a manifestation of NITIEas commitment towards instilling a sense of Corporate Social Responsibility in the managers of tomorrow.
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1001
The course attempts to relate the filmas characters to the theory. The students are asked to watch the movie before coming to class. During the class itself, intermediate clippings of important moments in the film are shown. This leads to greater class participation, and boosts the studentsa understanding of the subject, as the films have a long-lasting effect on their memories, due to the effective use of the visual medium. Prof. Niraj Kumar, the faculty conducting the course said that due to the introduction of such aedutainmenta measures, there has been a marked improvement in the efficiency of his teaching methodology. He now has the attention of the class for the full 90 minutes, as opposed the average attention span of 20-30 minutes, prior to the introduction of these measures. Media house NDTV has also filmed an entire course session for airing in its feature section on NDTV 24x7, NDTV Profit and NDTV India channels.

The course has also been well received by the students. XIMB is getting positive feedback from the students about this course, since its introduction in the current form. Similar use of movies as part of pedagogy has been done in a few courses of the Business Management course as well. This is why XIMB is considering introducing this form of case study in its other courses conducted as a part of the Rural Management programme and its flagship Business Management programme.

Shirshendu Chatterjee, a second year Rural Management student at XIMB said that, aManagement is essentially experiential learning. Introduction of measures like use of films as case studies helps to make the programme more interesting for us students. At the same time, the fact that the films are popular Bollywood movies doesnat hurt because they also provide good entertainment value. Such measures should be introduced across the board, wherever possible, as it will serve to make management education more interesting and a lot more fun too.a
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1002
Prof Bala informed students that starting March 2009, Great Lakes will move to the new campus that it has built along the East Cost Road in Chennai. Consequently, the program will become fully residential. Announcing a 60% increase in intake from the academic year 2009-10. Prof Bala said the next batch will have a total of 260 as against the current intake of 162. He opined that after moving to the new campus, Great Lakes will be able to admit foreign students and host exchange students coming from around the world a both of which were so far consciously avoided due to infrastructure challenges.

Answering questions from the students, Prof Bala drove home the value of a Great Lakes PGPM and spoke about the success of the instituteas alumni. Several alumni attended the session and interacted with prospective students. The next Meet the Dean session is scheduled at Bangalore (9 August) followed by Hyderabad (15 Aug) and New Delhi (23 Aug).

For details and registration visit:
http://glakes.org/deanSchedule.php
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1004
Inaugurating the program, Mr AK Rath, Secretary School Education and Literacy in the Ministry of HRD, said Navodaya Vidyalayas being residential schools were playing a crucial role in building up childrenas personality. He congratulated the organization for providing quality education to the students, largely from the weaker sections of society. The latest statistics revealed that Navodaya students topped in ranks followed by other schoolsa. The government being aware of the significant role these Vidyalayas played in building and developing studentsa personality at a nascent stage, had therefore taken a decision to double their number to 1000 during the next five years.

Mr Rath confessed that being a fully residential series of programs, doubling Navodya Vidyalayas to 1000 posed a formidable financial challenge. The government therefore planned diverting major share to opening Navodaya schools out of Rs.200, 000 crore planned investment in this field during the next five years. There had also been huge private sector investments in education and this was realization of the role the sector played in the countryas development. He however, regretted that teaching profession in India was not much lucrative and therefore there was acute shortage of quality teachers. It has been planned to double the number of teachers during the next five years against the 50 lakhs at present. Inviting bright people to join the profession, he asked the participants to efficiently perform their role as education administrators and potential managers. He hoped the MDP conducted by MDI will help them perform their function skillfully and make them aware of the latest techniques of management and education administration.

MDI Director Prof CV Baxi welcoming the chief guest expressed concern over a crisis due to various reasons in organizations both public and private. He asked the participants to make full use of the course contents to help discharge better education administration.

According to Prof VK Gupta one of the program directors, MDI is among the few institutions in the country to have launched a management program for the Principals, Deans and Heads of Departments of engineering colleges and polytechnics. The participants also included NITs of Central and State governments besides private bodies and institutes of hotels management. During the last five years when this program was started, MDI has trained above 400 participants in 20 batches. Four more such programs starting next month have been planned during the current year.

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1005
The inaugural session was kicked off by IIFT director Mr K T Chackoas note on the commodity markets. With a special focus on the WTO ministerial rounds, he discussed the contribution of China and India towards the growing commodity markets. Amongst other members present was Mr Sanjeev Asthana, President and CE, Reliance Retail. He stressed on the commodities markets. The speakers emphasised how the span of commodities today includes various previously unknown facets such as kilowatt hours, board feet of wood, arts and even long-distance minutes.

Another facet that surfaced during the discussion was the issue of future water trading. Keeping the current global water issue in perspective, this trading arena holds huge potential for the future. Other modes of tracking may include community trading and trading free time. Mr Vijay Mehta, Chairman, Capital Markets Committee, PHD Chamber, laid much importance on the role of government in developing commodity markets. The market space is currently influenced by a spate of rules and regulations. A particularly protectionist attitude tends to hamper its growth. Frequent policy changes and bans also tend to drive away investors. Thus, it is the onus of the Government to provide and comfortable policy environment for the markets to grow.

The second session focused on new areas such as carbon trading. The symposium provided the optimum platform for the discussion regarding the various parameters of carbon trading. Mr JK Dadoo, who presided over the session on carbon trading was of the view that carbon trading should be moved from the flash scenario it is now, to that of an organised sector in a retail environment. He maintained that such a stride required strong, capital regulation based on a global perspective to engender competitive instruments.

Mr. Aseem Chaturvedi, consultant, Emergent ventures, presented a new idea of personal carbon trading which would not be limited to the corporate scenario but would penetrate to the individual level as an instrument of growth. He expressed the view that in the current market scenario any industry could be provided with an alternative means to capital realization through this potential sale of carbon rights sale. This would provide the investor with a low-risk instrument to trade directly with corporate backing and bring back investor confidence into a shaky market settlement.

Mr. Dipankar Ghosh, partner, Ernst & Young gave an idea about the global scenario regarding carbon markets. The differentiation of the carbon markets from the scenario of environment and status of Indiaas as a supplier of credits to the rest of the world was raised during his presentation.
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1006

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM A)
Fee amount: Rs 11 lakh

Prof Ajay Pandey, the PGP Chairman explains, aThere is a system of income linked fee waiver in place here. Students whose family incomes are less than Rs 6 lakh per year are eligible for this scheme. Those with annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh are granted full fee waiver and others are given graded assistance. This is a mechanical process in the sense that students eligible for this system are automatically given financial aid according to income levels. As of now about 60-70 percent of the students at IIM Ahmedabad have benefited from this scheme. We also have a system of need based scholarships in place in which after considering income linked waiver and education loans, further need for financial assistance is determined and aid is provided. Unlike income linked waiver, aid under this scheme is discretionary in nature,a explains. Banks also have favourable policies as regards loans related to IIM Ahmedabad. Some offer loans without requiring collateral or a co-signor.

IIM Bangalore
Fee: Rs 8 lakh

Prof RV Murthy, Chairperson, Financial Aid explains, aStudents with a family income less than Rs 3 lakh per annum can apply for financial aid. Those with a family income exceeding this amount may also apply. In either case, there is an interview in which the need for financial aid is gauged. Depending on that, a fee waiver of one to three terms is given. Banks have also decided to tie up with our institute and have raised the collateral-free loan amount from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakha. On being asked whether the total aid provided would also increase with the increase in fees, she says aLast year we provided about a crore in financial aid and weall probably be exceeding that amount in the coming yeara.

IIM Calcutta

The school did not wish to comment on this issue. The web site claims that all admitted students with income less than Rs 2 lakh would be eligible for financial assistance.

IIM Kozhikode
Fee: Rs 6 lakh

aStudents with annual income of less than Rs 2 lakh are eligible for need based scholarships. Depending on the annual income, fee waivers of certain amounts are given. A student loan committee helps to decide which bank (amongst the ones that the institute has tied up with) is offering the best agreement. This year, the offer was to take a loan of up to Rs 10 lakh with no co-signor or margin requirements at a fixed rate of ten and half percent or at a floating rate of two percent below the Prime Lending Rate (PLR). More than 90 percent of the batch here has taken an education loana, comments a first year student.

Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon
Fee: Rs 7.92 lakh

Dr BA Metri, Dean (Academic programmes) says, aThere are no issues as far as loans are considered. Banks are coming forward to help students. In the case of a school with a good brand name the pay back period for loans is not very long. Apart from this, meritorious students can also apply for scholarships such as the OP Jindal Engineering and Management (OPJEM) scholarship and the Bharti Foundation Scholarship. Every year around two students at MDI are awarded these scholarshipsa.

Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA)
Fee: Rs 9 lakh

aMICA has a tie-up with SBI and compared to the current market rates we get to take loans at very reasonable rates. The interest rate is about 10.5 percent and this offer is very good considering the market rate of thirteen percent. Further, proof of collateral or a co-signor is not required. The college has an understanding with the bank and therefore conditions have been relaxed for us. To the best of my knowledge, out of a batch of 120, 70-80 students have taken a loan under this scheme for the course fees which is Rs 9 lakh for the two year programme,a explains Mihir Shah, a first year student at MICA.

TA Pai Management Institute, Manipal
Fee: Rs 6 lakh

aTAPMI has tied up with HDFC so that a loan amount Rs 750,000 can be taken without providing any collateral. This amount would cover the entire fees for the MBA course at TAPMI. One parent is required to be the co-borrower. Earlier 30-35 percent of students at TAPMI would take education loans. Now that number has grown to 60 percent of the student body here,a comments Dr V Rao, Director In Charge at TAPMI.



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European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) are highly exclusive international accreditations. Presently there are 113 EQUIS and 555 AACSB accredited universities the world over. As far as Indian B-schools go, IIM Ahmedabad has been EQUIS accredited as recently as June, 2008 and no other B-school in India has been accredited by EQUIS or AACSB.

AACSB examines an instituteas mission statement and how far the stated objective has been met. The schoolas impact in industry, practice, teaching and in terms of management education is closely examined. EQUIS requires institutions to demonstrate quality in all dimensions of their activities as well as a high degree of internationalization. In this respect EQUIS accreditation is more demanding than AASCB.

It is interesting to note that it is only in the recent past that management schools in India have started applying for international accreditation. Prof Asha Bhandarkar, Chairperson (PGP-IM) at Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, explains this, aThis is a direct consequence of the Indian economy opening up and going global. Earlier, Indian B-schools had the lacuna of being too ainwarda looking. In todayas day and age, greater benchmarking is required and international accreditation of Indian B-schools is part of a bigger picture.a

The reasons for so many of Indiaas top MBA colleges applying for international accreditation are manifold. Prof Ajay Pandey, Chairman (PGPM) at Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, explains, aEarlier we had a limited presence in the international education arena. International accreditation is essentially an external endorsement which shows to the world that the institute and its programs are of a certain quality. It will also serve as an incentive for international students to apply to the instituteas programsa.

aCompanies in future are going to give a lot of importance to international accreditations. Hence, accreditation of Indian schools will help students to secure international placements and also be hugely useful for PhD purposesa, asserts Senior Advisor to Chancellor and Distinguished Professor at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Sstudies (NMIMS), Dr Rajan Suxena.

Coming down to brass tacks, what are the explicit changes that one may see in a business school post accreditation and what specific deliverables do sudents get out of it?

Prof Pandey of IIM Ahmedabad comments, aThere will be no direct immediate impact on students. Accreditation serves as a strong signal about a B-schoolas quality and in the long run, the profile of the institute and its students will improve.a

aInternational accreditation will not affect the schoolas India operations. It is simply a validation of the correct processes being in place. As far as changes go, international placements and job opportunities at MNCs would improve for students. Presently, tie-ups between the IIMs and accredited international universities exist. After accreditation, the institute also gets the opportunity of launching its independent programs in foreign countries. Hence more revenue generation is possible for the accredited institute,a explains Prof Prashant Salwant, Chairman of International Business area and Indian Multinational center at IIM Indore.

aInternational accreditation of Indian B-schools could and in fact would lead to an increase in feesa, adds Dr Rajan Suxena.

Presently more of Indiaas top business schools are in the process of securing exclusive international accreditations. International certifications will undoubtedly help us to gauge the true quality of management education in India. They would also improve the global reputation of schools which are revered in India but known little outside the country. As far as the impact on students is concerned, as XLRI Dean Prof P Venugopal says simply, aIndian B-schools have never had a problem as regards intake!a Well, maybe international accreditations will help the intake to be just a touch choosy as regards to where its loyalties lie!



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1008
According to Jindal Haria, President - Vihaan, the money raised through the auction would be distributed to two or more NGOs. His team is currently evaluating offerings by a few NGOs and will be shortlisting some in a week or two. Last year the money collected was used to sponsor the education of girl children through Deepalaya.

For the new batch, i.e. batch of 2010 it was their first experience with the Silent Auction. As an incentive to encourage and involve the students to participate, there were two cash prizes; one for the highest spender and one for the student who helps raise maximum revenue. Another new concept was that the students were allowed to bid collectively; and both these concepts had a large role in collection of the amount.

The single item that raised the highest amount this year was accounting classes, which was sold for Rs. 5000, an increase of over 60% from last yearas figure. A dinner date by Nikhil Jain was sold for Rs. 4000 (costliest date at FMS). The other well fought bids included aa trip to old Delhia, aMantras of success at FMS by a seniora, aSalsa Classesa, aPrivate Equity Classesa, aNotes and Assignmentsa and aChit-Chat and Gossip Sessions.
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1009
Beginning with a brief introduction of World Bank history and its initial operations in India the lecture further delved into the two forms of credit, social investment and the developmental products, given in the form of loans to member countries. The session was followed by question-answer session from students.

A contest was thrown open for 6 best idea flows from students for the following slogan: aImagine you are the Chief Economist of the largest lending institution to developing countries. Faced with the hefty ideals of reducing poverty and improving living standards, your strategy for India would be_________." The best ideas were to be presented to the senior management at World Bank, Delhi.

Addressing students, Mr. V. J. Ravishankar, Lead Economist of World Bank said, aIndia has supported the World Bank with its objectives of operational, fiscal and fiduciary efficiencies thereby ensuring increased loan sanctions. The World Bank has been assisting states and Governments in development activities. Being the most mineral rich state compared to the other states in the union the Government of Orissa has received financial support from the World Bank for its development projects and activities.a

The World Bank has diversified its product offering to include Development loans with an added feature which enables states to initiate the process and take final onus to secure funding for various growth maximization projects. Earlier, loans were sanctioned only on proposal /project submissions by the Central Government. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, was the first to opt for the product. While reviewing project assessment and growth areas, it was found by the World Bank that demand for this kind of product was low, in fact, negligible in most of the Indian states. But soon the state of Uttar Pradesh forayed for the scheme; this was a boon for the World Bank.
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As part of the Leadership Series, Mr RK Mishra, the Lead India Winner will also be addressing the students on August 9, 2008. He will give insights about the changing India of the 21st century and the role managers can play in building the nation and in helping in facilitating better governance. Mr RK Mishra is an advocate of Public-Private Partnerships in the areas of public policy and program implementation. He won Lead India initiative of the Times of India and has set-up aChange Indiaa movement (www.changeindia.in) to channelize the voice and efforts of youth and concerned citizens towards social entrepreneurship, political awareness & civic consciousness. aChange Indiaa provides a platform to participate and influence the formulation & implementation of policies and programs of the government.

aAt IIM Lucknow, we focus on honing our students skills through peer, industry and leader interaction. The idea is to provide opportunities for students to get experiential learning. Meeting people from different walks of life, who are acknowledged leaders, fosters into students leadership skills and nurtures their capability of making a difference in the management and corporate world a, says Dr. Devi Singh, Director, IIM Lucknow.
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1011
Free thalassemia check up was organized in association with Think Foundation, a NGO, committed to the cause of preventing the spreading of this genetic disorder. Every year about 10,000 children with thalassemia major are born in India, which constitutes 10% of the total number in the world. This free check up was aimed at spreading the awareness about this disorder among the younger population and to avoid future Thalssemia majors. As many as 158 people took part in this free check up.
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1012
The second lecture was given by Ms Jyoti Vij, Director, Financial Sector & Corporate Laws, FICCI and alumnus of 1990 batch of MBE-DU. Ms Vij shared her experience of working in one of the Business and Economics institution in India and gave inputs on how to reach to consensus on various policy issues. Both speakers emphasized the importance of having respect for different cultures, perseverance, hard work and dedication. On this occasion, faculty of Department of Business Economics alongwith visiting Faculty from MDI, Gurgaon were present and interacted with speakers and students.
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1013
The objective of the visit is to give both groups of students, who come from different work and study environments, a chance to get to know each other informally. Secondly, this would be an opportunity to jointly work on a common case in the area of Strategy and learn from each other. Prof M.Akbar & Prof Nollen would facilitate a case discussion on ITC e-Choupal. ITCas Agri Business Division, one of Indiaas largest exporters of agricultural commodities, has conceived e-Choupal as a more efficient supply chain aimed at delivering value to its customers around the world on a sustainable basis. The e-Choupal model has been specifically designed to tackle the challenges posed by the unique features of Indian agriculture, characterised by fragmented farms, weak infrastructure and the involvement of numerous intermediaries, among others.
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1015
Also, he analyzed the different leadership styles that are prevalent in todayas context like Charismatic, Autocratic, Democratic, Servant, Transformative and Environmental. He threw light on each of them by taking famous examples like Mahatma Gandhi, Hitler, Sonia Gandhi, etc. But he cautioned that no particular leadership style is generic. A style suited to one situation need not fit in another. The basis for leadership style has to be derived keeping in mind the organizational setup, its vision, the external and the internal environments.

Mr. Mokashi then brought topic of discussion to the practices at Hero Honda. He commented on his chairman, Mr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal, as one of the best leaders he had come across in his lifetime. Also he listed the five mandates of Hero Honda Motors, which are a to be a world class manufacturer, to be the market leader, to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction, to promote team work and to build relations with the stake holders. Students were told about the organizational practices followed in the company. He said that Hero Honda believed in agetting and givinga. He clarified this point by taking the example of the monthly visits conducted by the staffs of Hero Honda to all of its dealers. He also discussed in brief about the other practices like the mentoring program and the employee engagement program.

After wrapping up, Mr. Mokashi spent some time clarifying the doubts and queries the audience put forth. Responding to a question about competitors, he clarified stating that Hero Honda is not a competition driven company. Another interesting query that popped up from the crowd was to prioritize between a leader and a manager. Mr. Mokashi was amused by the question, and referred to it as a chicken-and-egg question. He said, from what he had seen in his 20 years of industry experience, unless one is a good leader, he cannot be a good manager.
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1016
Divided into various sessions, the inauguration incorporated the key note address by MR T RAMAN, consulting editor, Business India. He inaugurated the magazine, athe people treea. He went on to discuss the changes occurring in the world in terms of demographic and cultural shifts, impact of knowledge era. He discussed the HR challenges wherein each organization needs to have sectorial game plan. To proceed with the summit a session was taken by the chief guest of the event, Mr Suresh Jandial, the DGM (HR), ONGC. In his speech, he discussed about the paradigm shift in the mindset of the organization towards its people from cost and a burden to most important investment. He discussed in detail about the HR challenges in oil and energy sector. To curb this problem, he emphasized on the role of HR manager for designing and implementing best human development practice.

The first panel discussion was initiated by Mr Rajeev Mahajan, Head HR and Training, at SBI Life and Mr Prashant Khambaswadkar, Head HR, HDFC Life Insurance started the discussion. MR Rajeev Mahajan in his presentation gave a brief overview about the current scenario of the insurance sector, the areas of concern and the future prospects in the sector. From the HRM point of view he emphasized on the importance of training and development of its people and agents. He also discussed about the crisis of human resources at middle and senior management level, both in terms of quantity and quality. He talked about various HR practices being followed at SBI Life. Adding on to his Mr Khambaswadkar emphasized on the importance of employee engagement and relationship management. To quote his words alife insurance is not a 100 mt race but a marathona. In his discussion he in capsulated the challenges in this sector in 5 Cas viz communication, compensation, career path, camaraderie and common sense. Elaborating on the challenges he gave due emphasis to the humane aspect of any organization. He said as people make the business happen, the demand of the day is to take a call, reach beyond the boundaries and create an environment where equality, simplicity and modesty are the prime characteristic trait of every employee.

The second panel discussion was on the topic of Beyond Business: CSR. The panellists in the discussion were Mr Aquil Busrai, executive director IBM India, Mr Dinesh Agarwal, G.M and head CSR and Mr V.K.Verma, AGM HR TCS. Mr Agarwal started the discussion about how CSR is an integral part at NTPCas mission, vision, policy and operation. He discussed about various initiatives like education, sectoral support, water minimization and waste utilization. He said the main issues involved in implementing CSR practices are people factor, both internal and internal. CSR is not about what has to be done but why and how it is to be done i.e. itas about business strategy based on policies and business processes with predefined targets and dedicated institutional set up. Mr Busrai gave CSR a different definition by associating it to individual social responsibility. He said that many organizations are using CSR as a conscience cleansing exercise which it is not. Also it is not about being against money. Itas about putting money where the mouth is. The principle behind CSR is the involvement of the community you work with. The idea is to give back to the society at the grass root level. He discussed about various CSR practices followed at IBM and what he experienced in his professional career till date. To join in on this topic the third panellist Me Verma discussed the CSR practices done at TCS like adult literacy, relief fund for calamities, training and recruitment of blind candidates and blood circulation camps. He said that itas the satisfaction in the end that drives his organization to get involved in the charity and philanthropy while making business.

The final panel discussion of the day was on the topic HR issues in manufacturing and consumer goods industry. Mr Vijay Deshpande from Greaves cotton and Mr A.D.Burman, G.M. Maruti Udyog ltd were the speakers for the discussion. Mrs Mamta Mohapatra, programme director HR chaired the discussion. He started the discussion with a brief overview of the manufacturing sector and how India is emerging as a global manufacturing hub. He also told the various attribute which has contributed to this demographic shift. While elaborating on the topic he discussed about the critical dependence of manufacturing sector on micro, small, medium enterprises (MSMEas). Discussing on the issues and trends in the sector- attrition of blue collar worker, skill deficit, unionism and the growing trend of aget trained here and make career therea in all the strata of the organization. It is the onus of the HR people to make it possible by employing various strategies like compensation strategy, balancing mix of old and young employee and other innovative practices. Mr Burman another esteemed guest apart from giving information about the industry went on discuss as to how HR practices are executed in best possible manner in Maruti Udyog. He discussed how talent nurturing has become very important and as HR professional what one needs to do is treat all employee and higher level manager at the same level. What is required at the moment is to stay say and serve and make HR more decentralized. Mr Deshpande concluded the discussion by saying that there is nothing as unfit but the secret lies in the principle of self management.

Every panel discussion concluded with interactive Q&A; sessions. Apart from the panel discussions day one saw first round of the student competition- Tantra the paper presentation. The event received several entries from all over India. The best entries were chosen by HDFC Insurance from the leading B schools which made their presentations. The event was sponsored by ONGC (title sponsor), Hay Group (student competition partner), MBA Universe (media partner) and etaxesindia.com (magazine and kit sponsor).
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Click here for the schedule of Acumen 2008

ACUMEN brings together the best talent from the countryas B-Schools. This is where one sees minds battle, strategies drawn and leaders evolve. With electrifying debate rounds, exciting quiz questions and an enthusiastic audience raring to take on the challenge as well, the event provides for an intense battle of wits, strategy and reflex. The audience too have a lot to gain - with gifts from various Acumen sponsors.

On campus after campus for the 7th consecutive year now, ACUMEN has acquired the status of a national brand. Its own insta-recognition logo (the unmissable double-end sharpened pencil), its own consistency of event attributes, its own buzz-generating capacity, and even its own set of devotees.

With Harsha Bhogle as our Quiz Master, ACUMEN is bigger, stronger and sharper. The event will be held within the months of August- December followed by finals at Mumbai in December 2008.

ACUMEN invites participation not only from the best of B-School in India but also from the B-School alumni working in the corporate sector. To know more, please visit http://www.pagalguy.com/acumen/

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Out of the 60 teams which participated in the prelims, 2 teams were selected for the finals. The team aThe Tsars" had Chaitali Roy, Shirshendu Chatterjee, and Tanya Sharma from the second year students and the team "Le democrats" had Anand Ota, Kumar Anubhav and Sandeep Gautam from the first year students.
The final was divided into 5 rounds. The first round was a court case round where both the teams were given a case. The seniors represented an environmental campaign agency and had filed a case of willful pollution of the environment against an organization represented by the juniors. In this round both the teams gave valid points in defence of their cases.

The second round was a debate on aEnvironmentalism- the latest fada. The juniors supported the motion while the seniors opposed it. The third round was the question answer round where each team had to ask relevant questions to the other and the other team had to answer in a similar vein. The fourth round was the audience round where the audience asked questions to the teams.

The last round saw the judges questioning the teams. Mr. Srimoy Kar, the chief guest asked whether development being opposed in the name of preserving the environment was a fad or not. The Tsars were declared the winners and Anand Ota from the Le Democrats was judged the best speaker of the day. The winners were given cash prizes.

Discuss here:
life@XIMB

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