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The FDP was launched by IIM-A in 1979 and is a multi-tier programme for management faculty from India and abroad. It is designed to meet the management education requirements of teachers, researchers, and trainers in HRD, training colleges and industrial organizations. The 16-week long programme covers basic disciplines like economics and statistics and core management areas like marketing, finance, human resource management, operations management and strategy, and also focuses on academic writing, case writing, qualitative and quantitative research methods and pedagogical techniques.

A component of the FDP is, providing information and guidelines to develop expertise in conducting management development programmes, doing consultancies, and providing ways to access funding agencies for doing the funded projects. This year, the programme included exercises and live projects in various courses, and industrial visits to Reliance Refinery and Amul Dairy.
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1129
The inaugural day began with Mr Sanjiv Mital, VC, Bharti Telesoft, talking with the audience about the changing face of the Telecom Industry and the impact of convergence on it. The first day also witnessed speakers like Mr Mohit Rampal, Cellebrum Technologies; Mr Kunal Bajaj, BDA Connect, Mr Srinivasa Addepalli; Tata Communications, Mr Rahul Pandey; Mobile 18 and Mr Ravindra Deshmukh, Dhruv Technology Systems Pvt Ltd. who provided insights on topics ranging from 'Smart phones to Entertainment phones', 'Entertainment & Web 2.0', 'DTH vs. Cable' and 'Mobile television'. The day concluded with a panel discussion on 'Managing Business Convergence' with panelists from various organizations like CII, Amdocs, GTL Infrastructure, Indiagames, IBM, One97, TTML and IDEA Cellular.

The concluding day of the seminar witnessed panel discussion on the topic 'Is content or distribution the King?' with panelists from CII, Nazara Technologies, Bharti Telesoft, SOTL, Publicitas Digital, MSN and Time Broadband and also on the topic 'In the Convergence Ecosystem, will Telecom Houses or Media Conglomerates be successful?' with the panelists from Business India, STAR India, Shemaroo Entertainment, Ernest & Young, Indiagames, BSNL and Airtel. Other topics for the day were 'Mobile payments', 'Mobile Advertising', 'Digital Asset Management', 'Wireless Distribution revolutionizing Media Industry' and 'Role of security in the convergence scenario' by speakers including Mr Probir Roy, Paymate, Mr Rajnish, Microsoft, Mr Mrutunjaya Hiremath and Mr Manish Ranjan, IBM, Mr Rajesh Mishra, UFO Moviez and Mr Rupinder Goel, Airtel.

Also, The institute unveiled its 6th Annual Telecom Forecast - Prevision'09, with verticals being Economy, Global Telecom, Indian Telecom, Mobility, Consumer Electronics, Communication Infrastructure, Telecom Technology, Broadband, Telecom Software and Convergence.
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1131
As a part of the workshop, Mr Mansabdar covered the various aspects of the finance related courses during the two years of the Business Management Program, giving a practitioneras perspective. The workshop was split into four sessions. The first session covered the framework and various aspects to be integrated into a well managed portfolio. He gave insights into the essential metrics used in Security Analysis. While the other session, discussed the various financial instruments actively used and traded currently. The arbitrage/hedging techniques used for Bonds, Contracts, and Securities.

The two-day workshop ended, with a simulation game of aTrading Financial Instrumentsa. The game involved teams comprising students taking up the roles of CEO, risk manager, middle market etc and Mr Mansabdar himself played the role of a amarket makera a made bids/ask quotes to the team depending on the position size. The simulation consisted of 20 products including Equities, FX, Swaps, Options, and Bonds etc. The discussion session after the game, brought out several strategies the participants had adopted during the game. The simulation game was conducted by the first year students of XLRI.

"This session with Mr Mansabdar, was a consolidation of the learning across several finance courses with the much needed real-time perspective.a says Shrikant Thunga, a second year student.
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1132
Avenuesa07 held on October 27-28, 2007, saw participation from countries like US, Singapore, China, UAE, Netherlands etc. Participants in the lecture series included Ravi Shankar, Sam Pitroda, JM Lyndoh and Ashank Desai. It also featured events and competitions with focus on rural development and social entrepreneurship. The event had support of organizations like CII-Yi, TiE and NEN among others.

This year AVENUES 08 is the ensemble of business and management events to be held over two days with the primary objective of bringing on the confluence of the management students and the industry. It will try to achieve this objective by hosting a series of lectures, competitions, games, panel discussions and workshops. The events and contests will be presided and judged by participants from industry and academia. Avenues 08 will reach 100 top global universities and around 150 business schools across India, along with undergraduate colleges, corporates, IIT Bombay students and alumni.

For more details on various events, visit www.sjmsom-avenues.in
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The different events in the Sports Day were, 100 meter Race, Cricket, Handball, Long Jump, Tug of War, and Shot putt. The events witnessed participation from students as well as the faculty. The attraction of the day was the Cricket Match played between the faculty and the students. The Tug of War was another event that drew cheers from the crowd. The experience of the first ever Sports Day was fulfilling for all the stakeholders of the institute i.e. the faculty, the staff and the students.
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1136
Quoting the newspaper articles on mergers and acquisitions from around the world Ms Anne Nemer, Asst. Dean and Executive Director, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania said aWith the economic growth in the past few years, developing countries are becoming more and more international. Therefore the need for a global mindset is imperative for managers and leaders. In fact one of the worldas first managers with a global mindset came from India; Mr. Jamshedji Tata. The world today is multi-polar and the technological advances have led to a global rebalancing, in the coming years the GDP growth of the developing world will soon overtake that of the developed world.a

The lecture enclosed the importance of innovation and its connection to survival in the industry by citing the example of Bombardieras latest innovation ECO4, an energy efficient train, where 75% of the products to be sold in the next five years are yet to be innovated or invented.

Ms Anne Nemer encouraged the students to make the best use of a diverse culture like India to broaden their horizons of thinking and understanding cultures. She further emphasized the importance of not only learning but also teaching and the role of social and professional networking.
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Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck will comment upon the influence of the real events that lie behind his debut film which addresses some of the totalitarian excesses of the former East German state and in particular the effect that the Stasi, the secret police, had in East Berlin on creativity and culture. Sir Richard Dearlove, former Head of MI6 and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, will give his insights into the issues and challenges that were encountered at that time.

The annual Xchanging German Lecture series, hosted at the School, is an initiative jointly organized between Judge Business School, Cambridge Universityas Department of German and Dutch and Pembroke College. David Andrews, CEO and founder of Xchanging, and a William Pitt Fellow of Pembroke College said: aIt is not sufficient to simply talk about creativity. What is really impactful is to learn firsthand from the people who are at the forefront of their industries and those who have directly engaged with culture. This new series of lectures is a unique opportunity to interact with some of Germanyas most notable cultural icons.a
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'Married but Available' is about Abbey who graduates from the management institute of Jamshedpur and walks straight into a job at Balwanpur Industries in Northern India. As the first MBA from a premiere institute to be hired by the family owned business, he knows that every step of his attracts undue attention. It doesnat help that heas an HR man whose business is to meet and get to know people across the ranks. This means thereas hardly anybody in the company who doesnat have a view of who Abbey is and what Abbey does or should do. Add to this the complications of being newly married to a woman whose looks and personal wealth make him the envy of most others, a crusty golf playing boss who believes in straight talk and a sudden turn in the companyas fortune that catches Abbey unawares. It's up to him now to apply all that HR wisdom learnt in business school to the dilemmas confronting him at work and in love.

Abhijit Bhaduri did his MBA in HR from XLRI, Jamshedpur in 1984, and heads the Human Resources team of Microsoft. He did his Bacheloras degree with Honors in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, India and then did his Post Graduation in Human Resources from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He also has a degree in Law from Delhi University, India. Abhijit loves theatre and has acted in plays staged in India, Kuala Lumpur and US. While in US he hosted Movie Magic, a radio show about classic Hindi movies and film music.
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With recent measures announced by the government and the RBI with regard to the opening of Indiaas banking sector, it will be challenging for all entities to tackle the new rules of the game. The competition would be tough and managing risk would become one of the most important issues. How easy will it be to realign the process? Where will banks raise the required capital from? These are some of the issues that the symposium will aim to address.

The symposium will revolve around three sub-themes and will have a session on one of them. The first session will focus on the changing dynamics of the banking sector and will have the following speakers: Mr Abhijit Sen (Chief Financial Officer, Citibank NA), Mr Sunil Gulati (Group President, Yes Bank Ltd) and Mr Rashesh Shah (Chairman and CEO, Edelweiss Capital).

The second session will focus on risk management and the emerging issues with regard to the same. Speakers in the session include Mr S Venkatraman (senior director, ratings- CRISIL), Mr Mohan Shenoi (treasurer, Kotak Mahindra Bank), Mr K G Bhandari (senior VP & head, risk management-IndusInd Bank) and Mr Ashvin Parekh (partner and national industry leader, financial services-Ernst & Young Pvt Ltd).

The third session aims to discuss the role of banks and corporates as partners in growth. This panel discussion will be moderated by Mr Rajrishi Singhal, (Consulting Editor, The Economic Times). Other participants in the discussion will be Mr Govind Sankaranarayanan, (CFO-Tata Capital Ltd), Dr S Subramanian (head, investment banking, Enam Securities Pvt Ltd), Mr Parag Patki (CEO, SME Rating Agency of India Ltd) and Mr B K Mandal (Director, finance- Shipping Corporation of India).

For more information, visit www.iift-seminars.com/finance.
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Who exactly is an MBA degree by distance learning for?

The demand for management education is constantly on the rise and very few people can spare two years for a full-time MBA programme or afford the fee for these programmes. Working professionals with these constraints along with family commitments do not have any other option when it comes to choosing an MBA programme. A distance learning MBA course is the best possible option for these people.

How is the MBA by distance learning programme at IMT structured and what are its objectives?

The distance learning MBA programme is mainly for working professionals. It is for a duration of three years and is equivalent to a full-time MBA in terms of the difficulty level of examinations and course content. The programme at IMT is approved by the distance education council division of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The distance education programme suits working professionals with classes held on Saturday and Sunday and with the presence of 80 study centres across India. There is an entrance test conducted for admission to the three year distance learning programme. There is also a one year programme for which there is no admission test. The total fee for the three year course is Rs 60,000 whilst for the one year course the fee is Rs 20,000.

What kind of students does this programme cater to? How many students change jobs after this programme or move up in the same company?

A lot of people are BTech and software graduates. They do not have a lot of exposure in the areas of business and finance. This course provides them with market exposure and knowledge of the latest trends in finance and HR. Approximately 30 percent of graduates switch jobs after completion of this course and about 40 percent move up in the same company.

What differentiates the distance learning MBA programme at IMT from other distance MBA programmes?

IMT is the only institute offering a distance learning MBA programme that is only involved with management studies. IGNOU offers courses in BA, MA along with its MBA programme. IMT on the other hand only deals with programmes concerning MBA. As far as other institutes are concerned, the distance learning programme offered by IMT is 28 years old. IMT was the first institute to offer a distance management programme. The classes held over the weekend form part of our Personal Contact Programme (PCP). There are nation -wide study centers, provision for 20,000 books in our digital library as well as self-explanatory study materials and facilities such as video-conferencing.

How does the institute try to compensate for what a person would experience in a full time programme?

In the model that we follow, a Personal Contact Programme is in
place. In this programme, classes are held on weekends and this helps
students interact with one another and faculty. Case studies are
discussed and we also have a facility by which video conferences can be
held. In this way, a classroom environment is achieved. There is also a
digital library which can be accessed 24/7. Full time programmes have a
summer internship programme which serves to provide students with
industry experience. Students that are enrolled in this programme are
working executives and do not need exposure of this nature. As far as
group activities are concerned, the last semester of this programme is
reserved for project work.

What is the drop out rate for students in this programme?

The drop out rate is 15 percent.

When should a person opt for a distance learning MBA?

Working executives have limited time at their disposal. A lot of them wish to upgrade their skills in order to hold higher positions in their organization. These days, an MBA is necessary to achieve this. Part time programmes have classes held regularly and this model proves to be difficult for working executives. Distance learning provides a lot of flexibility for students. At IMT for instance, the three year programme may be completed in a maximum period of five years. Students that have time constraints and wish for flexibility in the programme should opt for a distance learning programme.

Considering that entry in to distance learning programmes is relatively easier compared to other programmes, what value do companies attach to such a programme?

The entry is not relatively easier, it is much easier! As far as the value that companies attach to such a programme is concerned, as is the case for a full time programme, there are a large number of institutes which are offering a distance learning programme. However, there are only a few institutes which have quality programmes. The process which is followed to become a Chartered Accountant (CA) is similar to what is present in this programme. The entry is quite easy but clearing the entire course is not. We also have an entrance test for admission into this programme. Every semester, 4,000 students enter into this programme and the number of students that takes the examination is twenty times the number that is admitted.

What in your opinion is the principle need for an MBA by distance learning?

The demand for management education is constantly on the rise and very few people can spare two years for a full-time MBA programme or afford the fee for these programmes. Working professionals with these constraints along with family commitments do not have any other option when it comes to choosing an MBA programme. A distance learning MBA course is the best possible option for these people.

What are the main differences between a part-time MBA and an MBA by distance learning?

The main issue with part-time programmes is the model of regular classes which is followed. Students enrolled in these programmes go about their work lives in the day and then attend three-four hours of classes in the evening. It is not practical and as a result of this issue, the demand for distance learning MBA programmes is increasing. The Personal Contact Programme at IMT which includes the classroom sessions held on weekends allows for sharing of views between students and interaction between students of the class which is extremely heterogenous in nature. This programme also leads to sharing of information and interaction with faculty members. In the sessions held in this programme, lectures are held for the first hour and the remaining two hours are allotted to classroom discussions.

For a person who does not have any issues with spending three-four hours every day for classroom sessions, a part-time MBA is the best option. Of course, with a part-time course the fee is also much higher than that for a distance learning MBA. In part-time MBA, the selection criteria are difficult, examinations and interviews are conducted and usually all the applicants clear the programme. In distance learning, the entry is easy but clearing all the examinations is difficult because of the fact that students usually have job and family commitments while enrolled in the course. A lot of filtering happens during the programme and about 30 percent students clear the course. A part-time programme has the same faculty in the entire process which comprises of teaching, viva-voce and examinations. In this model, there is different faculty at each stage of the process. There is also a lot more flexibility in a distance learning programme. At IMT, the three year programme may be completed in a maximum period of six years.

When it comes to the job market, a part-time MBA and an MBA by distance learning have equal value.

There exists a perception that MBA by distance learning is at best a compromise solution to practical difficulties in oneas career and location constraints. What are your views regarding this issue?

The various types of MBA programmes on offer (full-time, part-time and distance education) differ hugely in terms of time required and cost of programme. For instance, the full-time MBA offered at IMT costs Rs 8,00,000 and the MBA by distance costs Rs 60,000. For a person who has family and job commitments and wishes to do an MBA, there is no other option apart from an MBA by distance education. A full-time programme is characterized by case studies and a large percentage of freshers. In comparison to this, MBA by distance learning is generally pursued by students with work experience. On an average, students have five-seven years of experience. Thus they have sufficient industry experience and wish to gain some level of theoretical knowledge. An MBA by distance learning provides this and also offers a lot of flexibility.

The MBA craze is increasing day by day. There are 25-30 reputed MBA colleges that provide full-time MBA programmes. There are of course limitations in terms of intake of students. After 5-7 years of work experience, there is hardly any difference between a full-time MBA and a distance learning MBA. Currently there are very few institutes offering a part-time MBA. For example, between IMT and MDI there are only 180 seats for part-time MBA. This number is not sufficient to meet the demand for MBA. In comparison to this, a batch of MBA by distance learning at IMT consists of about 10,000 students.

It is said that MBA by distance learning is best for people who wish to migrate within a company and that it helps little in changing companies. Some people also feel that it mainly serves as a resume value-add. What would be your thoughts regarding this issue?

I do not agree with these views. From the graduates of this programme, about 25 percent move up in the same company, 20 percent start their own ventures and others switch jobs or take up other things. There are about 40-50 universities in Ghaziabad itself that are offering MBA by distance learning. Of these only three-four have a record of hundred percent placements. The quality associated with this degree completely depends on the institute.



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Why did BITS Pilani start an MBA programme?


We have had an MBA programme in place since 1970.
After an overall restructuring of BITS educational system was carried
out, the MBA programme was changed to be an MMS (Master of Management
Studies) programme. Discussions took place in 2006 and we decided to
revert to the MBA programme. It was also determined that the
eligibility criteria for admission to this programme would be an
integrated first degree of BITS or BE/ BTech from other recognised
universities rather than simply completion of 10+2 education as was the
case with the MMS programme.

How does the MBA programme at BITS Pilani stand in comparison to the MBA programmes offered at the Indian Institutes Technology (IIT) schools of management?


We cannot really compare in this manner since the MBA programme
at BITS Pilani is a very unique programme with the following features.
There is a feature of practice school of five and half months in which
students intern at companies and faculty from the institute regularly
visits the company to evaluate the studentas work. We place emphasis on
leadership and problem solving in a course called aBusiness and
Societya. There are lots of case studies from Harvard Business School
and IIM Ahmedabad which are included in the MBA course. BITS also has
an alumni base of over 30,000 persons and every week alumni visit the
institute and share their industry experiences. Alumni also mentor
students through video conferences. We also stress a lot on soft
skills such as negotiation which are essential in business. The
programme here also has a lot of flexibility incorporated in it which
allows students to attend courses across disciplines. An example would
be that of a pharmacy student in the BE programme attending a course
such as risk management in the MBA programme. At times, such students
also give the regular MBA students a run for their money! Most courses
do not require students to have attended related or preliminary courses
prior to a course. Every year, the management department also delivers
a lecture on the principles of management which is attended by students
of all programmes under the institute and also by BE students who have
finished their second year in college.

Please provide a brief overview of the procedure for admission to the MBA programme at BITS, Pilani.

The procedure that has been followed so far has had eligible candidates appearing in an online test consisting of engineering and management aptitude modules. Shortlisted candidates are subsequently called for group discussion and personal interview to BITS Pilani for the final stage of the selection process.

What is the total cost of the programme?

At present the cost in terms of fees etc. is approximately Rs 60,000 per annum.

Could you provide details of the online test which is held to screen applicants? How many students appeared for this test last year? What were the test cutoffs to get a call for group discussion and personal interview?

The online test has two test modules. The first test has questions related to engineering and the second is a management aptitude test. The former has the same questions as the test for admission to the ME course offered at the institute. At the time of application, students also specify their preferences for courses offered at BITS, Pilani. The instituteas official website also briefly describes the details of these tests. Approximately 1,000 students write the entrance examination conducted by the institute. The policy followed by the institute does not allow me to publicly disclose the test cut-offs since these vary from year to year.

What are the eligibility criteria for admission for this course?

Students which have an integrated first degree from BITS or have completed BE/BTech from other recognised universities are eligible to apply for this course.

How many seats are available in the MBA programme and what is the ratio of calls given to seats available?

It would be difficult to provide exact figures as a number of students who apply to this programme also apply to other higher degree programmes. The institute has been steadily increasing the intake for the MBA programme. The first batch in 2006 had 15 students. The intake for batches since then has been 20 and 32 and we plan to increase the batch size to 60. The ratio of calls given to seats available is variable and a broad range of this ratio is 5:1 to 10:1. Simply speaking, if 1,000 students write the entrance examination and the MBA programme has 30 seats then 250 to 300 students may be called to BITS, Pilani for group discussion and personal interview.

Please provide an overview of placements of graduates from this programme?

The first batch of students that graduated from this programme has secured jobs in MNCs across a wide range of job profiles. Deloitte recruited two students for the post of senior financial analyst. JP Morgan and Frost & Sullivan also recruited a student each for posts of Team Leader and Reasearch Analyst respectively. Other companies which recruited from BITS, Pilani were Perot Systems, Citizen Group, Infosys and Kinapse consulting. The average pay package of graduates from this programme was Rs six lakh per annum.

Why did BITS Pilani decide to offer a specialization in IT and engineering technology? Do these specializations prevent students from moving across sectors, if they wish to do so after having worked for some years?

BITS Pilani is known for its strong engineering and technology programs. It was natural to leverage this core competency for the MBA Programme. The goal of this MBA programme thus is to create managers and leaders for an increasingly technology driven workplace. Presently two streams of electives viz. Engineering and Technology Management and ITES management are being offered. We offer many finance related electives like financial engineering, risk and insurance management, strategic financial management etc as well as marketing related electives like retail management systems, e-business, internet marketing and market research. Thus we have not taken anything away from the functional areas of study but added electives that would give our students a footing in an increasingly technologically complex work place.

IISc has recently announced the closure of its MBA programme. What are your thoughts on the future prospects and indeed sustainability of non-management institutions that run MBA programmes?

We feel a business programme amidst an engineering and technology university has many advantages in terms of faculty, interdisciplinary research, infrastructure, student activities, guest speakers, events, student interaction etc. The business schools at Sloan, Stanford, Wharton, Hass etc are examples of highly successful institutions that run MBA programmes along with many other courses.

How is the hostel accommodation for MBA students at BITS, Pilani? What would be the approximate living expenses?

Hostels have single room accommodation, are connected to the messes and have internet connectivity. The living expenses though would depend on many subjective factors and would usually be in the range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per month.

What is life outside of academics like at BITS,Pilani?

BITS Pilani is known to provide an environment which helps to develop a well rounded personality. A cavalcade of student managed events, a large number of clubs, a state of the art students activity centre and other features of campus life make people cherish their time at BITS, Pilani. The BITSAA (BITS Alumni Association) is a very active association and there are many activities which are in progress all over the world. There is also a Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) on campus that promotes entrepreneurship development through its various activities.



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1143
Organizations and entrepreneurial characteristics have changed from local to a global outlook. Government roles have changed from regulatory to facilitating the businesses. Western markets have lost their dominance and new markets have emerged with potentially great strength. Products and services are conceptualized for global markets rather than just for local. Legal compliances, governance have undergone a major change. People and talent acquisition in the business processes are no longer country specific. The conference aims to discuss these emerging contexts in the overriding reality of sustaining growth and expectations of countries, organizations and people.

Papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in a special issue of the Global Business and Management Journal (GBMJ) (Vol. 1, No.1. Authors interested in publishing their papers for the conference must submit their work on or before October 25, 2008.
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Day 1:
Mr Shekhar Gupta, the editor in Chief of the Indian express, inaugurated the event with the keynote address on the theme of Vista 2008 - 'Emerging economies, Emerging Realities'. The flagship event of IIMB Vista, 'Numero Uno, the hunt for the next CEO', started off with the icebreaker rounds. This year, Numero Uno turned international with students representing McGill University, Yale and Lahore University of Management studies.

Another event 'The Bzzwings B-plan competition' was contested by over 320 teams all over India. Eight of these teams, three from the IIMs who reached the finals presented the plans. Pritam Sarkar and Smriti Khullar from IIM Bangalore bagged the first prize with their venture - Professional Trainers is firm that intends to bring the world of wellness right at the door step. The runners up, Anshul Gupta, Radhika Tandon and Adithya MR were also from IIM Bangalore with their social entrepreneurship venture that was based on Seed Distribution in rural areas.

Mr Ramesh Kumar, VP Strategic Planning, Ogilvy shared his views on good ad-making through an advertising workshop. The seminar was followed by a competition that asked people to come up with advertising ideas for one of three concepts and the winner was the team selling cattle insurance.

Day 2:
Gurcharan Das, the author of India Unbound, spoke about where India is positioned right now, how it got that way and where it can go in the future. The debating competition Dhrishtikone was won by the team from IIM-Bangalore, beating out the team from XLRI Jamshedpur. Finesse, the flagship event of the finance club had 250 people participating in the elimination round.

Competitions were held on various management modules like 'Hire Wise' made participants to solve the HR problems of a company, 'Retailor' focused on marketing through pricing and operations & 'Baadshah' searched for an individual in advertising, and was vied for by over 200 contestants. The second round of 'Trojan Horse' had six teams tested on strategy in a simulated retail market. The highlight was the final round of the brand-new event, 'Sparsh'. In the previous rounds, teams had visited two NGOs in Bangalore to get a feel of the problems faced by each. The final round involved each team presenting their list of solutions to representatives from the NGOs. In 'Numero Uno' participants were divided into teams and given certain physical and mental tasks to complete. The next round saw each participant being given a certain amount of seed capital a and asked to go anywhere in Bangalore and generate profits.

The panel discussion on 'Strategic Co-operation among Emerging Economies' saw participants like Professor Jayanta Roy (CII), Mr Narayan Ramachandran (Global Head, Emerging Markets Division, Morgan Stanley), Prof Saikat Sinha Roy of Jadhavpur University, Mr Chris Oberoi (Managing Director, Goldman Sachs), Prof PG Apte of IIM Bangalore and Sanjay Mansabdar, Allegro Capital Entrepreneur debate on the topic.

The day rounded off with the traditional Post Meridian dinner, where all the participants and students met and build contacts with representatives from the industry.
1146
The Best HR Academic Input (Syllabus) award in a management school was shared with other management institutes such as XLRI, TISS and SCMHRD. The HR Club at LIBA consists of various small clubs like finance, marketing, quizzes, student affairs and post-budget analysis, where students manage and coordinate events/discussions. The Placement Brochure from LIBA was awarded for informative, precise and creative presentation. The brochure details LIBAas history, international associations, and activities apart from curriculum, conferences and career opportunities for students.
1148
The puja was inaugurated on 'Panchami' by Mrs Ranjana Dasgupta (Director a Globsyn Group) and Mr Romit Dasgupta (Director a Globsyn Group). Some of the inmates were brought to the pandal on stretchers by the club members as they were unable to walk. For the next four days cultural programs like dance, drama, musicals etc. were arranged and the inmates were also served aBhog Prasada.
1149
The festival starts with the event aColloquiuma on October 23, 2008 which aims to explore the consequences of environmental pollution. The day culminates with a performance by Mr Jay Thakkar, an Indian Classical Flautist. The flagship event of the festival is the panel discussion 'MindSpeak', which will be conducted on October 23-24, 2008. The theme for the discussion is aThe Transforming Pyramid: Marketingenuity in a aBranda new worlda. Some of the panelists for the discussion are Mr Vivek Malhotra (UTVi), Mr Abhijit Pradhan (Superstar Business Solutions), Mr Balesh Sharma (Vodafone Gujarat), Mr Sudhir Jain (Business Standard), Mr Pradeep Hejmadi (TAM India) Mr R Rajesh (PepsiCo, India) and Mr Anand Chakravarthy (BIG 92.7 FM) amongst others.

Over the three days, MICANVAS will host various formal and informal events. The formal events include 'SBI Bankonus' a the marketing strategy plan, 'Manoranjan Ka Baap' a the marketing and branding strategy for IPL, 'UTVi Invision' a the making of a communication plan for Tata Nano, 'Mudra Spark' a the paper presentation, 'EDC Cerebus' - the B-plan competition, and more. The informal events include 'AXN Last Man(ager) Standing', 'Spotlight' a the theatre festival, 'Business Barons' a the bizz quiz, 'Two To Tango' a the salsa workshop, 'Cinema Paradiso' a the film workshop, 'MY FM Midnight Treasure Hunt, Sell Hell, Slide Rules...' and more. 'Adrenaline' - the rock concert will be held during the evening of Oct 25, which will witness 'Indian Ocean' and 'Them Clones' performing live.

For more details, visit http://micanvas.mica-india.net/
1150
Following are few of the events to be held at Prayaaga08:
1) Quest to reach Olympus: Compete in various aspects of management a HR, Finance, Marketing, Strategy, Operations.
2) Tata Kwizkraft a Students against the corporates to test the Business Quotient.
3) Hermesa Vision (The Equity Research Contest) a For budding finance managers to come up with research reports on companies in various sectors of the economy.
4) Epic Cycle (The Ad-Mad Show) a Compete in humour, creativity and effectiveness.

Apart from the above events, there are other events like Deal Ya No Deal, Titanomachia, Pole Star, Gibberish, Demeter, Athenaas Scroll and more. Also, 'Enigma' - a series of online events has been launched.

For further details and to register, visit: http://www.jbims.edu/prayaag
1152
The highlight of the mela is the games designed by students for corporates like Frito Lays, Corporation Bank, Amul, RPG Spencer, and Red FM. In the games, the props as well as acting will be performed by the students themselves.
1153
1) Rohit Nalwade, CEO and co-founder of Consumer Vision Technologies Pvt Ltd, an IIT Bombay incubated technology startup.

2) Bhavin Turakhia, founder, CEO and chairman of Directi.

3) Shashank Dixit, founder of DeskEra Inc, and co-founder and CEO of Krawler Networks. An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, Shashank Dixit has been the President & CEO of Krawler Networks since he founded the company in 2005.
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Students of Retail Management a NMIMS, Mumbai organized a seminar called aRetail Renaissancea at a city based hotel on Friday, October 17. Professionals from retail giants such as Future Group, Raymonds and Aditya Birla Retail attended the seminar. They discussed the impact of FMCG, IT, logistics, real estate and HR on the present and future of the retail industry.

Speakers stressed on how the retail industry had evolved with the customer becoming an exceedingly important player. "Stores used to operate in a product centric manner. The model was that of a product being evaluated against another. The focus has shifted to the customer now. The market is rapidly driven by the customer. It is very important to know the customer", explained Mr Suhas Datta, Retail Industry Lead, Global Delivery Centre Network, Accenture.

The speakers cited real life examples of global customer-centric retail stores, much to the interest of the audience. Mr Suhas Datta said, "An American retail chain like Best Buy has customized its store for its customers. The store items are rearranged according to the customeras needs. Customers have personal attendants and the entire business revolves around the customer."

Mr Neeraj Joshi, Head Operations, Raymonds added, "Zara, a Spanish retail chain has a customer visiting the store on an average of 17 times in a year. The profit levels are 20-30%. These are phenomenally high numbers! They have a centralized design team which keeps track of trends in fashion and is highly reactive with design of apparel. The store maintains limited stocks of the latest items and thus there is exclusive appeal and reduced risk for sale of stock. Customers who express interest in an item are categorically told that if they postpone the purchase for even later in the day then they run the risk of not getting the item as it could be sold out by that time! People that frequent this store have got used to this approach to retail."

A member of the audience asked the speakers about the viability of self service malls in a country like India. "In India, people with money have always had everything customized for them. If a prominent person enters a store then attention is showered on him and people would be at his beck and call. It is the white collar guys who are fine with democracy in a retail store. People in the service industry are not so and they will need to be factored in when retail does change in the future" answered Mr Damodar Mall, Group Consumer Director of Future Group.

He further said, aThe Indian customer is used to being pampered. There exists a certain level of social capital intimacy between the buyer and the retailer. The modern form of retail cannot beat its traditional form. A lot would depend on how modern retail uses automation. Technology which is complex and intimidating will fail. The modern day customer has grown up on technology. In this country, people are not even ready to take tea from a vending machine so expecting them to shop online is a bit difficult.a

The moderator of a panel discussion asked the panelists about the possibility of a retailer hiring an FMCGas manufacturers and releasing the same product under its own banner. Mr Shammi Dua, National Manager - Logistics and Customer Operations, Cadbury answered, "A brand and a commodity are two separate things. A brand comes with the promise of quality. When a person eats something or applies it on his body then he wants to be assured of quality. A retailer would have to create a brand and nurture it for it to be successful."

The seminar concluded with a discussion on workforce management. Mr Sanjay Muthal, MD - Nugrid Consulting, NHRD put forth an interesting point when he said, "People join organizations and leave bosses. Companies conduct exit interviews which serve no real use as a person would have decided two-three months before the interview that he wishes to leave. In exit interviews, people usually talk about general issues such as money and job opportunities. Instead, companies should conduct aStay Backa interviews in which they speak with employees who have been with the company for some time, ask them for their views about the company and make sure that the positive things that they mention are continued in the company."