Life @ SoM

L'Oréal Brandstorm West Zone Round @ SJMSOM,IIT Bombay

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 08:45:00 +0000

SJMSOM,IIT Bombay was delighted to host the West Zone Round for L’Oréal Brandstorm for the third year in the running. Brandstorm is L'Oréal's unique business competition for students that provides a platform to unleash their creativity and apply ground-breaking ideas to one of L'Oréal's international brands and distribution channels every year. Since 1992, Brandstorm has given to more than 70,000 students worldwide: the possibility to work on real life challenges and be coached by top L'Oréal executives.

The 2016 edition of the competition featured La Roche Posay. Created in 1975, today La Roche-Posay is recommended by 25,000 dermatologists worldwide. Thanks to the product’s strong values of efficacy and tolerance, transparency and honesty, caring and empathy, it has also become the consumer’s brand of trust. All of La Roche-Posay’s products offer minimalist and effective formulas, containing its very own unique French thermal water as the miracle not-so-secret ingredient. The challenge for this year’s competition was to help the brand on how to attract and recruit new young consumers to the brand (15 to 25 years old). Also, what digital communication or services or strategy can you come up with to stay close to the brand commitments whilst innovating and addressing the next LRP generation of consumers.

Ms. Divya Gera (Corporate HR-Talent Acquisition, L’Oréal India) began by commenting on the lively audience that turned up for this event. She described the journey and evolution of Brandstorm over the years which is currently spanning over 46 countries. The competition is now in its 11^th year in India and has consistently produced finalists competing in the global finale and the battle has only become much more intense with each passing year. That was followed by a short AV clip being played about Brandstorm 2016, its problem statement and a trip down memory lane with Brandstorm 2015.

Ms. Divya Jain welcomed all and conducted a quick poll about how good people felt about their skin and highlighted the problems that every individual faces when it comes to skincare and the promise La Roche Posay holds for everyone. La Roche Posay has a heritage spanning over a 100 years and is recommended by over 25,000 doctors worldwide. She highlighted some telling statistics concerning skincare and dermocosmetics and also, the efficacy of La Roche Posay when it comes to complete dermatological care. She went on to comment on current trends of marketing in the digital era and concluded by wishing all the competitors the very best.

Ms. Ojaswini Mishra graciously welcomed everyone and thanked the venue partner, SJMSOM for holding the event for the third consecutive year and wished all participants well.

All participants were given a minute for setting up their props and presentations. The evaluation criteria for all teams would consist of the analysis and the strategy they employed as well as their style of presentation and the team spirit they displayed.

Gist of presentations:

# Team 1 - Makhan Pao: NMIMS

The team made a very engaging case about how skin deserves preventive care in today’s age and presented insightful statistics about the dermocosmetics market size across geographies including Asia and Western Europe. Depicted La Roche-Posay as a knight in shining armor for dealing with various skin afflictions through the viewpoint of 4 different individuals across the globe.

Theme of the Campaign: All Skin is Sensitive

# Team 2 - Enthu Cutlets: MICA

The team highlighted the global trends in the dermocosmetics market in China, Indonesia and India and demonstrated the concept of "Asianification" for natural skin care trends, stressing on the values of Innovation, Efficacy and Minimalism. They portrayed the profiles of 3 customers namely:
1. Taufique- A social media enthusiast
2. Kiki from Laos – An avid instagrammer
3. Merlin Filla – A working professional who is
extremely concerned about her looks.
The team proposed the “My Skin My Feel initiative” and a host of innovations ranging from gamification to digital mirror and a novel Free Hugs campaign. Their “Reapply reminder app” had a host of ingenious ideas.

# Team 3 - Avant Garde: NITIE

The team had an interesting approach to their presentation depicting a boy involved in a relationship, who goes on a 12-day trip to Paris. The solution to the case was displayed in a 12 step format including various aspects of the case like identifying the problem, an in-depth analysis of the health and beauty market, SWOT analysis of the competitors, business opportunities available among various target consumer groups and the various platforms they intended to mobilize for marketing La Roche Posay.

# Team 4 - Albatross: IIM K

Analyzed the geographic details about global trends in skincare and beauty market following a discussion about changing life styles, competitive and target group analysis. A survey on dermatologists, actors, models and a sample group from target audience helped them find out that the ingredients used in the product are the major concern in this age. Proposed Touch points like an app with multiple features, derma network, live interactions, category specific communities, a campaign with micro detailing via multiple digital channels, remarketing and monitoring techniques that can be presented via Google Analytics.

# Team 5 - Bubbly: IIM Bangalore

Started off with the latest trends and innovations in digital and beauty market. Recommended a product “Sensoband”, a digital wearable gadget to monitor lifestyle and habits. Launching an app named “PERMA”, which supports the Sensoband, and has different features including Skin scan, recommendations, etc. Viral Campaign: based on the theme “Are you Sensitive?” which can make La Roche Posay closer to its target audience.

# Team 6 - Triple S: SCMHRD

Started with a primary and secondary research of the dermocosmetics market and followed it with competitor and SWOT analysis. Plan of launching a campaign named “Why Cover Up when you can be Cover Girl?” on the World Skin Health Day. Launch a Skin Deep beauty App along with marketing by means of La Roche Posay bag and In-Flight brochure.

# Team 7 - SParsity: SPJAIN

Theme of the Campaign: #BeSensitiveBeStrong. They suggested establishing a strong emotional connect addressing issues like bullying. Also, the team defined competitor positioning with their research based on inputs from dermatologists and professors. In order to increase awareness of Sensitive VSkin, they planned to host customer engagement campaigns across premium malls, using Virtual Reality technology for an experiential video.

# Team 8 - Northern Lights: SJMSOM

Started their presentation with introduction of customers and stressed on the significance of 15 to 25 age segment and the opportunity presented by this segment in the digital marketing sector. The team then discussed Health and Beauty, Skincare and Dermocosmetics as market segments with special focus on customer interaction in the segment. Their strategy was based on the theme of MySkinFamily, supported by sub-themes such as MySkinChampions and MySkinScheduler, which were proposed to be implemented with campaigns such as #Welcomebacktocommunity and MySkinStories. Summarized their theme with a futuristic idea in Virtual Reality and its potential for La Roche Posay.

# Team 9 - Transcending Bizzare: JBIMS

The team started with Defined Market Segmentation for the skin products and mapped them on the value matrix. They also mentioned the constraints of the skin care products market like customer understanding, geographical breakdown etc., stating how La Roche Posay can overcome them. They have conducted strong primary research by engaging doctors and customers with their secondary research about customer behavior. They suggested mobile gaming, tie-ups with doctors, kiosks at airports to increase online and off line promotion of La Roche Posay.

# Team 10 - Goal Crushers: SIBM,Pune

The team started their presentation with an overview of La Roche Posay and an analysis of the dermocosmetics market along with target consumer behaviour and competitor analysis. They used the concept of Internet-of-Things paradigm through the use of a Digital Mirror. Gamification as a means of marketing through the “Au-Naturel” app and use of Native Advertising to advertise La Roche-Posay as a product .

Theme of the Campaign: “Take Your Skin Seriously”

# Team 11 - Empresarios: IIM Calcutta

Presented data on Skin Problem Influencers and their effects followed by an analysis of Consumer preferences and patterns of usage. Analyzed the various complements and substitutes to La Roche Posay Their theme was based on the introduction of a Skinography App with features such as DermoConnect, Product QR+ and MySkin Journal and creation of content on Social Media along with usage of minimalist posters and infographics to portray the brand’s importance.

After the presentations were over, the judges applauded the efforts put by each team and did admit that the teams did put them in a spot while choosing the winner. Eventually, they decided to select 3 teams to qualify for the National Finals. Triple S (SCMHRD), Goal Crushers (SIBM, Pune) and Makhan Pao (NMIMS) were declared as national finalists for Brandstorm 2016.

Winners of West Zone Round

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 10:13:00 +0000

Interview with Nagodra Kartik Nileshbhai, a student @ SJMSOM, IIT Bombay

1. How and why did you decide to pursue a management degree?

Coming from a traditional Gujarati family doing your own ‘bujiness’ as we say it was always on my mind. However, when I started my own venture with a couple my friends during the final year of my undergrad, we failed in managing the various management aspects of our venture. As a result, we had to shut our venture down and that is when I decided to pursue an MBA to understand the various intricacies of management.

2. How was your MBA Entrance exam experience?

I started my MBA entrance preparation in my final year of the Bachelor’s degree. I used to work in a group along with 2 of my friends and we ensured that we were able to complete most part of the syllabus before the mocks began. Although I couldn’t qualify that year, the preparation helped for the next year as I only gave mocks and need to prepare the basics from ground up. Giving mock exams regularly and analyzing my mistakes in them went a long way in getting the desired result.

3. How has your SJMSOM, IIT Bombay journey been so far?

It has been full of amazing experiences. In the past 6 months, I have had a chance to interact with people like Mr. Kaushik Basu and Mr. Siddharth Roy Kapoor. Also with the plethora of student activities constantly happening in SJMSOM and IIT Bombay, the campus life has been always abuzz with something or the other. Also because of the prestige of this school, I also got a chance to go for a study tour at TEM University, Paris. So yes, it has been one of the most wonderful journey

4. What were your expectations before joining this college and how different has the experience actually been?

The campus has exceeded my expectations. It is one of the most tranquil places in Mumbai. We have the Sameer Hill from which you can see the Powai skyline and then we have the Powai Lake, which is equally calm and soothing. However, what strikes me the most is the amount of effort people put in various tasks, whether it is a class assignment or an inter hostel competition. That itself motivates to strive and work hard.

5. The first semester of MBA is really hectic. How did you manage your time effectively?

Before joining SJMSOM, I knew that there is not going to be a free meal any day. Studying in one of the finest colleges in the country, you need to ensure that you are always on your toes and grasp as many opportunities as possible. The transition from working in a firm to college is a bit difficult but I used to prioritize my work every day in the morning and did not procrastinate which made life that much easier.

6. Can you state a few qualities or habits that have helped you thrive in your first semester?

I think that if you remain calm and persevere through the initial days in the B school, then you learn to manage and get the best out of your time. I used to attend almost all classes as the instructors are among the best in the country and if you pay enough attention in class you can focus on other extra-curricular activities during the other time.

7. What aspects do you like the most about your college?

In SOM, the student strength in a batch is only 120 and so rather than being colleagues and classmates it is a one big family. There is never a sense of internal competition among the batch mates and everyone will help everyone else. Also the seniors are always there to help us and would selflessly give up their sleep in order to help the juniors. This is one of the most amazing cultures we have at SOM and hopefully will continue in to the future.

8. What were your favorite subjects/areas of academic interest in the first semester?

I really enjoyed the classes on Statistics as well as Marketing during my first semester. In statistics, the cases that we went through helped us in grasping a lot of statistical techniques and their application in daily life. Also in marketing, there were a lot of interesting case studies that were discussed in class. Also the course content is constantly modified to increase its relevance to the current context. When we discussed marketing strategies and its impact for a product as ubiquitous as Parle G, it was quite interesting as well as enlightening.

9. Any advice for other MBA aspirants?

“It's a cruel and random world, but the chaos is all so beautiful”

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:33:00 +0000

Interview with Ankit Nayyar, a student @ SJMSOM, IIT Bombay

Ankit Nayyar, a first year student at Shailesh J. Mehta School Of Management, IIT Bombay is an Electronics and Communication engineer from NIT Allahabad. He has work experience of 20 months as a Software Engineer with Novell Software Development(I) Private Limited. Ankit here is sharing his experiences and life at SJMSOM, IIT Bombay with us.

1. How and why did you decide to pursue a management degree?

After completing my engineering, when I started working for a software development firm, I realized that apart from having a strong technical knowledge, one also needs to learn to manage different things to be more successful than the rest. I met many successful leaders during my college and work life and saw the stark difference between people who could influence, manage resources well and were respected all around and the people who barely completed their work and were not effective as managers or leaders. The latter type, more often than not, slowdown the growth of their subordinates, who do not have a sense of direction from their leaders. All of these highlighted the importance of a good leader and manager and I decided that if I wanted to be one, an MBA from a reputed institute such as SJMSOM would definitely give me an edge over others.

2. How was your MBA Entrance exam experience?

At some level, I was already preparing to be a manager even before I started my MBA. As I was working while preparing for entrance exams, juggling between hectic office hours and exam preparation was challenging. It required discipline and committed efforts to keep me focused. I have always been relatively good at quantitative aptitude, so I directed my efforts towards verbal section. I religiously read newspapers every single day and that helped me quite a lot during the group discussions and the interviews that followed. Having soiled my hands with the mock tests well in time before the actual examination, I had developed a positive feeling and was confident about my preparation. I knew that maintaining my cool on the exam day would be the key to my success. This was exactly what I did, and it worked wonders.

3. How has your SJMSOM, IIT Bombay journey been so far?

Getting into a prestigious B-school like SJMSOM, IIT Bombay was like a dream come true. The minute I stepped into the program, I found myself knee deep in a multitude of tasks and sessions. The first week went away in an attempt to realize the kind of transformation I needed to undergo to become a student once again. The student inside me was lost in the two years I worked as an employee of a firm. In the last few months I have realized that MBA is much more than just academics. You are out of our classroom and then you find numerous sessions from alums and industry experts, projects, presentations and assignments always waiting to keep you occupied. While it took a little time for me to adjust to this hectic schedule, I was surprised to find myself having a lot of fun just as once I did. The learning outside classrooms is what differentiates a good B-School from the rest and I feel that SJMSOM has been doing extremely well in that context as well.

4. What were your expectations before joining this college and how different has the experience actually been?

After reading and hearing about life at B-Schools, I was all set to roll up my sleeves when I entered the gates of the school. The first few weeks were exactly how it was expected to be, but once I adapted to the schedule, things started feeling lighter, I got to experience a variety of things in the campus. And while the going does get tough at times, other times are full of fun and enjoyment. Moreover, because SJMSOM is a part of IIT Bombay, this makes it different from the conventional B-Schools of the country. The rigor of a typical B-school is very well complemented here by the liveliness & innovation of a Tech school.

5. The first semester of MBA is really hectic. How did you manage your time effectively?

Well, it was quite a challenge to begin with. I used to find myself with hardly any time to sleep, let alone keep in touch with family and friends. But I have learnt the importance of time management during that phase. I used to make a timeline in my mind for each day in the morning and I tried to make sure I stick to it. Sometimes when things took longer than expected, I just bumped off less important things from my list. Even then, I had to cut back on sleep a couple of days. The most important thing was to find time for self-study everyday, which made half of the things easier in the classroom.

6. Can you state a few qualities or habits that have helped you thrive in your first semester?

The most important quality that helped me in the first semester was definitely my punctuality. When you have it in-built in your system to be on time everywhere (even back to your room for self study, when needed), you just know how to manage your time before and after that. Apart from that, paying attention in the class and maintaining a track of what was being taught every day helped me keep pace with my studies. I also constantly read newspapers with articles related to what was being covered in course, which helped me develop a comprehensive understanding as well as increased my interest in the subjects.

7. What aspects do you like the most about your college?

As I already mentioned, the best thing about SJMSOM is the fact that it is a part of IIT Bombay, and that keeps the spirits high at all times. Moreover, the college offers an opportunity to pursue our hobbies and passions, be it sports, music dance or anything else, if we really want to do something, the college provides excellent guidance and infrastructure. Also, the Professors here are approachable and their way of teaching helps bring out new ideas about things in the minds of students. Another very important part is the help from the seniors. I am not sure about the participants in other B-Schools; we definitely received a lot of guidance and help from them. The whole culture within the school about cooperative relationships and everyone, even the professors, always eager to learn and improve is truly motivating.

8. What were your favorite subjects/areas of academic interest in the first semester?

The first semester was full of interesting subjects, out of which, I personally liked the courses on Financial Accounting, Economics and Operations Management more than the rest. These subjects helped me to enhance my interest in the field of Finance and provided me with a good base to build my problem solving skills on. I also enjoyed the course on communication. It was very useful and helped me overcome some inhibitions I had, prior to the course related to interpersonal communication.

9. Any advice for other MBA aspirants?

I think it is good to have an idea of what you are expecting from an MBA course. This is important because MBA presents a plethora of opportunities and if one can plan ahead in time and figure out a direction for himself then he can most efficiently gain from such a dynamic course. Apart from that, it is very important to be informed about the changes that happen around the world. MBA can only help you enhance what you already are. Choosing specialization subjects blindly can impact your career irreversibly. Apart from that, keep your cool during the selection process and don’t get disappointed when things do not go your way. You will end up where you are most fit to be.

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 02:57:00 +0000

Interview with Shrey Jain Deepak, a student @ SJMSOM, IIT Bombay

Shrey Jain is a first year student at SJMSOM, IIT Bombay. He is a mechanical engineer from BITS Pilani and has worked with Reliance Industries Limited for 40 months. Shrey shares his experience with us in a small interview.

1. What motivated you to pursue a management degree?

After doing engineering, I worked in a job that offered more of execution than planning. Roles that offered otherwise needed extensive experience and business insights. Best way to accelerate towards such roles is to have necessary academic knowledge that is contemporary as well as practical. I evaluated various options such as certifications, management courses, etc., for this and found 2-year management degree from SJMSOM, IIT Bombay suitable based on my priorities.

2. Please take us through your journey as an MBA aspirant and your preparations for the exams?

As I was working in conventional sector, my job didn’t allow me much flexibility. But I could frame my strategy for studies without worrying about deviations in job. I paid more attention on solving questions in stipulated time than solving very difficult questions. I also ensured to skim whole paper in exam. There are minimum questions in every entrance exam that one must attempt to clear cutoffs. My target was to hit at least this number in weekly mock tests irrespective of the difficulty level.

3.How has been your journey so far at SJMSOM, IIT Bombay?

SJMSOM, IIT Bombay has been an enriching journey. Faculty of every subject has taken care to update course structure as per current business issues. Industry interactions, corporate visits and guest lectures have helped a lot to understand the application of theories. At times I couldn’t match the overwhelming pace or grasp everything that went around. But environment at SJMSOM is very conducive and sufficient resources are available at IIT to gain momentum. Senior students have been very cooperative to help me overcome personal and professional barriers in this regard.

4. Is life at SJMSOM, IIT Bombay just as you expected?

Apparently, The Wolf of Wall Street and 2 States happen only on silver screen! Well, so far, it was pleasant to find that peers at SJMSOM are supportive regardless of severe competition. In spite of being a government institute, SJMSOM is very agile. Management colleges overburden students with academic work, but at SJMSOM students are given lot of freedom to pursue their own area of interest which is necessary to promote entrepreneurial spirit.

5. How important is time management at a B school, especially during the initial semester?

As much clichéd as it sounds, time management matters in first semester. There are only so many hours in a day. I use simple Eisenhower matrix to list out tasks and get things done. Few of your hobbies need to take backseat as these can be pursued in later semesters also. If you’re still falling behind the schedule, a good roommate and a study group can come very handy!

6. Which qualities helped you thrive through your busy schedules?

If one comes to management school with specific goals, he or she can prioritize activities and excel at most desired ones. If one doesn’t have clarity in goals, interact with your peers and mentors for it. It’s not possible to fight all the battles, so we’ve to choose wisely. Good team abilities, discipline, ability to unlearn and relearn helped me to do well in first semester.

7. What are the things you love about SJMSOM, IIT Bombay?

IIT offers learning across management, technology, design, etc. Hence, students from diverse backgrounds are present which makes SJMSOM one of the best places for peer learning. The student intake is optimum, and the institute ensures admission of best pool of students that create competitive atmosphere at college. IIT Bombay has abundant resources and superb infrastructure; this helps all students explore their interests the best way possible. Lot of industry interactions happen, thanks to location benefit. Teacher to student ratio at SJMSOM is healthy, so if one is interested to learn subject beyond academic requirements, he or she can pursue with ease. IIT Bombay has world-class sports facilities which students use extensively.

8. Which subjects did you enjoy the most till now?

It’s amazing that subjects I used to dread are the subjects that I like now. Business speaks the language of numbers, so I paid more attention to Statistics during first semester. Marketing changed the way I perceived various brands and product. Apart from these, I believe Organization Behaviour is subject that has helped me understand people in a better way.

9. Few words you would like to share with the aspiring MBA graduates?

I urge MBA aspirants to be extremely careful while selecting institute. If you associate with good brand, it will take you places. Brands like IIT are recognized across the globe and also have strong presence across various professional sectors. Plan well, act soon, gauge frequently and improve continually. Don’t give up – MBA education is worth a shot.

Study Tour at SJMSOM: A Winter School at Paris and a European vacation!

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 13:41:00 +0000

Even though a two-week long tour with friends in Paris might sound more like a hike where you go backpacking through Europe, but the “Winter School” conducted by Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management (SJMSoM), IIT Bombay in association with Telecom Ecole de Management (TEM), Paris is actually a two-week long study tour wherein 20 students are selected every year to visit TEM, France to gain insights regarding the management education system in a European nation, through various interactive classroom sessions, industry visits and cultural tours as well.

Our journey was a much anticipated one as for most of us, it was the first time we were going to travel abroad. Our tour was planned separately amongst two groups, where one group had planned to visit Amsterdam, Belgium, Paris, Zurich, Lucerne, Milan and Venice, and the other group had planned the trip from Amsterdam, Belgium, Paris, Venice, Rome and Vatican City. Having planned everything meticulously, we waited with bated breath on the night of our travel. The chill of the night had started to set in. With our bags packed, we waited anxiously for the cab. The eerie silence of the night was disrupted by the honking of the cabs which would take us to the airport. As the chauffer drove the car through the deserted streets, we couldn’t stop anticipating what the next couple of weeks had in store for us. After the immigration and other formalities were over, we were ready to board our first international flight from Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. It was a one-stop Russian Airline that was supposed to take us to Amsterdam via Moscow. After a six hour long flight where we crossed the Asian continent, we finally landed in Moscow. It was a beautiful sight from the top. Frost covered pine trees, the rooftops of houses and the ground covered with snow was a sight seldom seen in India apart from places like Kashmir. Despite the urge of visiting the city, we had to spend five long hours at the airport as we didn’t have a transit visa. Finally, we boarded the flight from Moscow and reached Amsterdam in the evening with the chilled breeze blowing gustily onto our faces, which immediately made us wear the gloves, mufflers, caps and then cling to our jackets.

Our tour started in Amsterdam, which is one of the most beautiful small cities in the world. From the canal rides to the famous Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum, and the amazing night life and pub culture, it’s all worth experiencing. We covered an entire city tour with major stops at places like Heineken Experience within a day. With another day to spare, we also didn’t miss out on the visit to the famous Ajax Stadium, Madame Tussauds, and Vondel Park. The same night, we set off for Paris with a short halt at Belgium.

Paris is known by many names: The city of lights, the city of Love and even the city of food. Being one of the most visited cities in the world, the experience in Paris was completely different to what we experienced in Amsterdam. Being the third largest metropolitan area in Europe, Paris had an extremely well connected network of subways, trams and busses. Finding our way would have definitely been a problem, had it not been for the maps provided in every outlet of the subway. And thanks to technology, most people had GPRS enabled mobiles, which helped us in finding our way to the Evry Courcouronnes metro station. Courcouronnes is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, and that’s where TEM was situated. We checked in to Residhome aparthotel, which was one of the best tourist residences situated in Evry. Shortly thereafter, we met Ms. Bhumika Gupta from TEM, who accompanied us from our hotel to the college. After a 15 minute long walk through the streets of Evry, we reached the college. After a short introductory session with some professors, Ms. Gupta had us complete a few formalities, and then we were free for the day. We planned a visit to the Eiffel tower, but before that we needed to have our travel passes, and also purchase some essential food items. I know I’m not supposed to advertise brands, but truly I need to mention Carrefour which had people a part and parcel of our lives during our stay in Paris. It was one stop shop to all our daily needs.

The following day, we had our first session which was taken up by Professor Nigel, who provided some rich insights in the field of mobile internet and marketplace. Shortly thereafter, we had lunch in the college cafeteria and came to attend the second session with Prof. Bhumika Gupta, who conducted an extremely interactive session on Organization Culture and Human Resource Management, where we understood the basic differences in the organization culture in India and France, which even inspired some of us in wanting to stay back in Paris and work. In the days that followed, we had both interactive sessions as well as industry visits. Some of the sessions that were conducted included talks about Google search appliances, interaction with experts from Alcatel Lucent, L’Oreal and lectures on cinema, world economics, supply chain networks and the French culture. Some of the industry visits included a visit to Orange labs, Renault and Airbus. The study tour struck a balance between study and fun. Some of the other visits during the study tour included a visit to Ecole de Mines, Stade de France, UNESCO and Cite du Cinema. The learnings from each and every session was enormous as it brought an international perspective into the way we looked into things. We learnt to look beyond and gained a lot from the experience.

However, this was just a small part of the two weeks we spent in Paris. Every day we used to visit some place or the other in Paris. A walk along the well-lit streets of Champs-Élysée, which runs between the Place de la Concorde and the Place Charles de Gaulle, garnering the pleasure of consuming several French delicacies and looking at the perfectly decorated Christmas market was worth visiting. Apart from that a visit to the top of the Eiffel tower, the enormous corridors of Musée du Louvre, the Notre dame, the Sacré-Cœur, the Indian market at Gare du Nord and everything else had its own charm. The weekend at Versailles, France was an experience that would remain with me forever. The pure beauty of the place was enough to make me fall in love with France all over again. The small but extremely mesmerizing town of Versailles had all of us wondering what would have happened if we could plan our retirement in such a place. Like all good things, the tour of Paris got over and both the groups parted ways.

Next, we visited the 'floating city' of Venice. "The Fish" as they call it, Venice is a cluster of islands separated by narrow and wide canals, in the shape of a fish. The city, with its mask shops, gondola rides, canal cruises, narrow corridors and alleys, the beach at Lido Island separated by the Adriatic sea with a flock of seagulls here and there, is mesmerizing in its own way. To add to its beauty, were the mouth-watering, authentic Italian spaghetti, pasta and gelato. Our next stop was in Rome, Italy the city that produced many great legends. The feeling of just being at the Colosseum was worth remembering. Having covered all the monuments and destinations in the Caesar shuffle, we visited Vatican City the following day. Vatican City is an independent country within the city boundaries of Rome. It is the only existing example of a country within a city, and precisely for this reason Rome has been often defined as the capital of two states. The last day in Rome started with a visit to the ruins in the district of Ostia Antica, which was also known as the harbor city of ancient Rome. The quiet and the serenity of the place made us wanting to not leave the place. But the day had arrived when we were supposed to board the flight to Moscow and back to India. We left Italy to head back home, and carried along with us the memories of a winter school and a vacation well spent. We returned with the hopes and dreams of visiting the other countries of Europe if we could be back again sometime in the near future. Thanks to Paris and a special thanks to the Telecom School of Management for making it possible for us to have the time of our lives!
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Written by Reeju Guha, a First Year student at Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay (2014-16)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being an MBA Aspirant (or How to stop freaking out about your choices?)

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 13:40:00 +0000

This is the time of the year when thousands of young people across the country are on the tenterhooks, waiting for this B school interview call and that shortlist, and then waiting some more - for the final results, hoping that they can make the cut at one of the top business schools in the country. Their anxiety is understandable and yet somewhat misplaced. This piece is an attempt to alleviate some of that anxiety and share some of the experiences that inform my opinions on these issues.

So what are the most common dilemmas that plague aspirants -

When: Should I quit my job and go for an MBA? Should I work for a couple of years and then go to B school or join as a fresher?

Where: Given my percentile and my calls, which college should I pick? How important is the choice of an MBA stream? Can you switch from one stream to another after graduating? What is the value of a college brand in the corporate world?

Why: Is there something specific that I intend to elicit from my MBA experience or is it a stepping stone to greater, yet uncertain and undecided things in my career? Am I joining it for the learning experience or for the benefits of being in the system?

I believe aspirants spend most of their time fretting on the first two questions and forget that the answer to the third clarifies matters significantly. People come to a business school for all kinds of valid reasons - good placements, career shifts, for the college experience, business education before launching an entrepreneurial venture etc. and keeping that purpose front and center helps resolve the many doubts that might creep in as you go along. This clarity is not easy to achieve. For instance, I joined School of Management, IIT Bombay after a very eclectic two years post graduation. I graduated from IIT Madras in 2012 and joined Teach for India. I wrote and failed to clear the Civil Services Mains Exam in 2014, worked briefly as a contributor at an online newspaper and then decided that I needed to make long-term career choices sooner rather than later. I had always looked at a business degree with a healthy dose of skepticism regarding the value-addition that they provide. However, the last eight months or so have forced me to revise that assessment and I can assert that an MBA degree from a good institution is worth the time and money and opportunity cost without being disingenuous. So if one wants to answer the "Why MBA" question, one need not look further than learning opportunity and personal growth. An MBA ideally equips you to handle the professional business environment and is an easy route into the industry. If you do well, your rise can be meteoric. Once you have answered your why question, you can figure out the choices for when and where pretty easily. I wanted to be financially independent as soon as possible and hence I needed to stop experimenting with my career trajectory, put my foot down and make a definite choice. So my time was last year. For some others, pursuing their interests, discovering some hidden talents might have a higher priority and they can take the MBA plunge later.

A simple rule of thumb for those who have recently graduated could be -- if you are not getting into your dream college this year, then it's better to work for a few years and then try again. I know plenty of my engineering peers who didn't make it into their desired B schools in their first attempt but made it through later even though they had lower percentiles, on the back of their work-experience. Also, a penny today is better than a penny (and loan payments) tomorrow! A few good years working in a professional setting also gives you an edge in the interviews because you are considerably wiser than the green fresher. The choice is more difficult for those who are not satisfied with their current job profiles and intend to make a career switch via the MBA route. The competition is stiff and they need to get the scores and build their profiles in order to make it.

Which B school to pick once you have a few choices is another googly that stumps most of the aspirants. There is no right way to answer this question, hence the profusion of professional advice on the subject. B School Rankings can be an indicator but their reliability is often in question. A college can be judged on a long list of parameters and there is a lot of subjectivity in the process. Some of the key factors I would ask aspirants to consider when picking their college are -- placement reports, batch sizes, student-faculty ratio, infrastructure, reputation among peers and industry, location etc. The best way to answer these questions is to do some research, talk to that friend of a friend in a particular college, go beyond the official story and get a sense of the ground reality. I believe most of the colleges fall into certain segments, some colleges have a rich history and pedigree and the pecking order is clear, but there are more similarities than differences in the rest of the schools. It is hard to separate two colleges without accounting for personal choices. Any interested aspirant can probably find out these tiers of B schools and make his own call depending on which parameter he values the most. The stream you pick is absolutely essential for your career since it is hard to switch once you get into the industry. General Management degrees have the advantage of giving you the ability to defer your choice and make a decision later when you have more information. The skills needed for finance are very different from those needed for marketing and if candidates are not clear on what their strengths are, they need to do a lot of soul-searching before they chose their MBA stream. You could go about this process by interacting with students in B schools, reading up on their experiences in online forums like this website and finding out what the job actually entails and if you are up for it. Consultants have to travel constantly, finance guys work on excel sheets, operations people will have to sweat it out in manufacturing plants and so on. This groundwork is essential before you make your decision. Hence, the wiser choice would be to go for a General Management Degree if you are unsure.

All I have said so far must be fairly self-evident for any serious aspirant. So what was the point of this piece? I want to convince people that the incredible levels of stress that people have regarding MBA choices is unreasonable. Eventually, if you work hard, you will get into a good B school (and there is not much to separate the many schools from each other) and you will land a good job. Aspirants often work under the perception that getting into a good school will mean that everything else takes care of itself. But the battle lines have only been drawn once you are in a good school. All of this is training and the real test lies ahead. There is no point in stressing before the D-day arrives and burning out. Your first job post MBA will influence your career direction much more than any choice you make at this stage. If we want to get everything out of our MBA degrees, we must look at the longer-term objectives, realize that your B school choice will be relevant only in the first few years of your first job and ultimately it's how good you are at your skills and what attitudes you have developed towards business thinking and problem-solving over the years, that matter in the workplace. Let's not mistake the starting blocks for the finish line.

Oscar Wilde once said that "A cynic is someone who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing." For too long have aspirants taken the cynical approach to making life choices -- calculating returns on investment, scouring through summer and final placement reports for the compensation details etc., it's time they look at the value they are seeking from this experience, clearly specify their long-term aspirations and then take an informed call. I believe that such an approach would reduce the stress and anxiety levels and considerably increase their confidence levels when they face the next interview panel.

This is not a sprint which is decided once the admission results are out. This is a marathon. You must hunker down for the long haul, rid yourself of myopic reasoning and prepare for life. So Cheer up!

Good Luck.

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Ashish Kashyap is a First Year student at Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay (2014-16)

Alankar - 2014

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 18:05:00 +0000

To say that Alankar 2014 was a grand spectacle, bigger and better than at any other time in its illustrious history, would be just stating the obvious. So I am not going to say that. Instead, I will make the claim that it was also very meaningful and reflective of the changing trends in management and business education. The key shift in the ideation process in recent years has been a holistic, broader view of value creation and the growing realization that value can be created from the unlikeliest of sources, against seemingly unreasonable odds. The speakers arrayed before us ranged from disciplines as diverse as social service, sports and cutting-edge scientific research. The audience was mostly a crowd of young spell-bound would-be entrepreneurs, managers and engineers.

It all began in a very un-businesslike, relaxed session by Mr. Javagal Srinath, the pace spearhead of the Indian attack just a few years ago. Mr. Srinath, being an engineer, felt quite at home with the predominantly IITian crowd and established a wonderful rapport with the audience. He had the audience in splits with his well-timed and precise humour, reminiscent of some of his exploits with the ball. He recounted his experiences in the Indian cricket team, the dressing room atmosphere, the highs and lows of a long career as a fast bowler and the quieter, yet equally meaningful journey after he bid adieu to his beloved sport. However the defining moment of the talk arrived when Mr. Srinath narrated an anecdote from his youth when a fellow young cricketer believed in him so much that he gave up his own fast bowler slot in the team in favour of Srinath as he felt that it seemed more just. Cricket truly was a gentleman’s game, at that moment in Srinath’s life, and it always remained a source of dogged inspiration even at the lowest ebbs of his professional career. When time conspired to take Srinath away from his cricket-fanatic audience, there was a definite sense of melancholy at what a few more hours with one of our cricketing idols could have meant for us.

The talk by Srinath set the tone for the day and we were absolutely enthralled by the next guest – the man who lives and breathes by the credo of “Simple Living and High Thinking”, for whom “service for others” is not merely a catchphrase to be bandied about at appropriate times, but is instead a philosophy of life, the activist-extraordinaire Dr. Prakash Amte. We were also graced by the elegant presence of Dr. Mandakini Amte, his partner-in-crime for so many years. The husband-wife duo who have lived with the tribal people of Maharashtra for the last 40 years or so and worked tirelessly for the downtrodden and voiceless took the occasion to talk about their journey, their vision when they first started out and how they overcame the countless obstacles on the way. Mr. Amte’s wit was a joy to behold and the simplicity and wisdom with which he answered the audience’s queries was a revelation. The seminar hall was jam-packed with people and there was hardly any room to stand for the entirety of the session. Mr. Amte stressed on the need to be conscientious about whatever task we take up as our vocation and reiterated that if you want to change the world, you could start today. Just like that. Ultimately, if you have clarity of purpose, all the seemingly insurmountable challenges will eventually melt away. The human will is a powerful thing and Mr. and Mrs. Amte are exemplars of its sheer indomitable nature. The audience left the talk with a deep sense of gratitude and inspiration, a sense of new-found belief in the possibility of good things happening.

While it was hard to switch off from trying to change the world, intoxicating as the idea is, it was made easy by the easy charm of our third speaker, Miss Monica Tata, CEO HBO India. This was a tale of how you can carve your own niche in the corporate world, how decisions made twenty years ago can have unintended consequences today and how far sheer passion can take you. She spoke about her early stints in sales and marketing just as the Cable TV industry was booming in the post liberalization era. She also kept reverting back to the importance of passion as the “5^th P” in Marketing and how you can derive the maximum utility out of your work if you really love what you do. Miss Tata shared some of the difficult experiences that she had as a professional and how she dealt with unpleasant situations, blatant stereotypes and discrimination and traversed her way through the corporate jungle. She also enlightened the audience about the future of the Television and Media industry and the challenges that still remain in the sector – esp. backward integration and digitalization. The session ended on a lighter note when she exhorted the audience to say no to piracy when the next season of Game of Thrones eventually comes out and resist the temptation of the free and illegal torrent download! Bowled over by her humility and charm, the entire audience did foolishly end up promising her no Game of Thrones piracy.

The next day of Alankar had just one speaker, but she more than made up in substance what the day lacked in numbers. We were with Miss Aruna Jayanthi, CEO Capgemini India. What struck us the most about Miss Jayanti’s session was the confidence and authority she exuded. She was the consummate professional. She avoided talking about herself and instead focused on what the students could take away from an interaction like this. The key areas she wanted us to work on as future leaders were people skills, persistence with ideas, an absolute commitment to delivering the numbers and the ability to convince the entire team about an idea before going ahead with its implementation. She distilled her experience in the consulting industry and shared her interpretation of how corporate life shapes out for many of us. It is not a linear ladder, but is instead a maze or to use her phrase “like a jungle gym”, where you can reach the top through numerous routes. She gave instances from her career where she has taken up assignments which no one else was likely to take up, the unfashionable tasks, because she felt that she would learn something from it despite the unglamorous nature of the profile. There were some lighter moments in her session when she poked honest fun at Organizational Behavior as one of the more painful and necessary pills that you have to swallow in an MBA degree. Miss Aruna Jayanthi is a tremendous role model for female professionals in the industry, simply because she exemplifies a no-fuss, no-nonsense approach to work coupled with belief in the meritocratic nature of today’s work environments.

The third and final day of Alankar had another couple of stars lined up. And invoking a heavenly metaphor is quite apposite because we had with us Mr. M. Annadurai, Program Director of Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan, the man who put us on the moon and then took us to Mars. The sense of excitement and pride was palpable in the hall, even before Mr. Annadurai had arrived. His talk began with his early days in the ISRO, how he received timely and much-appreciated encouragement from the ISRO director when he was just cutting his teeth in the job, how cost-efficiency and delivering projects on tight schedules became second nature and the humongous challenges faced by his team during the planning and execution of both the lunar and the Mars missions. He took the audience through a detailed walkthrough of the challenges in each mission and how they were overcome. We were captivated by the animations of satellite orbital insertion maneuvers that he shared with us. The major idea in the talk was the marriage of knowledge and intelligence to create innovation. He also gave a sneak-peek about the future of ISRO with a reference to the Aditya-I mission to the Sun. The extremely challenging resource constraints under which ISRO routinely pulls of miracles is indeed a source of immense pride and inspiration for all Indians and the audience was suffused with that very joyous feeling by the end of this lecture.

All good things must come to an end and so did Alankar-2014, but not before one last detour into history. Mr. Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, was our last guest and he took us back to the halcyon days of Pandit Nehru and Homi Bhabha when India was taking baby steps in the field of nuclear energy. The key principles on which our atomic energy programme was based on was self-reliance. This principle has stood us in good stead over so many decades, we have made tremendous progress in atomic energy production and also in our strategic programme. Mr. Kakodkar explained the rationale behind some of our historical choices and we were left with a better grasp on the complexities of policy design on a large scale. He also spoke about several other key issues that continue to confound us as a society – esp. the massive migration and uneven urbanization challenge. Even after retiring from his career in public service and research, he continues to be active in the social space and is mentoring pilot projects aiming to boost village economies and provide an ecosystem where employment generation can be achieved locally, thereby preventing migration. Mr. Kakodkar also spoke about the urgent need to deal with issues of land acquisition with sensitivity, the dynamics involved in environmental protests, how people’s concerns must be handled and how the “Not in My Backyard” problem can be resolved in the context of a project of national importance. This talk was a serious introduction to the intricacies of public policy formulation for many people in the audience.

Alankar 2014 was now officially over. For many of us who organized the event, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, beginning at the planning stage and culminating in the goosebump-inducing moment when you get to take a picture with your idol. For the audience, it was an extremely inspiring, educational and humbling experience listening to people who have devoted their lives to things they loved, people who have achieved everything they could have professionally and yet retained the humility and grace that comes with true greatness, people who have spent years battling the odds and hence developed that razor-sharp, zen-like focus and clarity of purpose that is almost always a defining characteristic of a successful organization. Alankar was special and we take this opportunity to once again thank all our guests for agreeing to talk to the students.

For everyone who is reading this, you HAVE to be here next year. It is that good!

written by,

Ashish Kashyap
SJMSoM'16

Interview to Induction

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 11:37:00 +0000

It was a pleasant summer afternoon in Mumbai. Somewhere near Powai, the nervous B-school aspirant in me was wading through the traffic in a rickshaw to attend a B-school interview that would change his life.

As the rickshaw slowed down, I saw the entrance of one of the most coveted educational institutions of India, IIT Bombay. The fantabulous institution reflected sophistication and the pride of being the alma mater of so many bright minds of India. Few minutes inside the campus and everyone feels the strong urge to be associated with the IIT Bombay brand and the institution.

Lost in the serenity of the campus, I didn’t realize when I reached the tall and the esteemed building of Shailesh J Mehta School of Management (SJMSoM) that has gloriously molded many successful MBA graduates. The helpful staff quickly guided me to the infinity corridor for the interview proceedings.

The corridor was filled with smartly dressed aspirants who all seemed determined to outperform the rest. A casual chat with aspirants was all that one needed to realize the infinite potential of the brightest minds in India that filled the infinity corridor. Nervousness slowly made its way in my mind. The eminent standard of the competition and a strong desire to be a part of SJMSoM, batch of 2016, added to the nervousness. I had butterflies in my stomach.

Just at the stroke of 1 PM, we were asked to be seated in the VMCC seminar auditorium. I was impressed, not just with the dazzling interiors of the infrastructure but also with the time efficient operations of SJMSoM. It was the first time I was experiencing a B-school carrying out its interview proceedings perfectly on time.

The streamlined procedures implemented by SJMSoM which were complimented with crisp and efficient instructions ensured quick completion of written ability tests and document verifications. Interviews soon followed.

SJMSoM has adopted an innovative approach while conducting the interviews. For any B-school aspirant those few minutes before the interview are probably the most tensed ones. In SJMSoM, things are different. As I awaited my turn, I was greeted by a friendly smile by a student who was helping in the interview proceedings. He introduced himself and told me about the panel and the types of questions my previous aspirants were asked. Time flew by while talking with him and I was not nervous anymore while entering the interview hall. I believe it played a huge role in ensuring a good interview. Even before the results were declared, SJMSoM felt like home.

The date was 2^nd June, 2014. I was ecstatic. Tension and euphoria gave way to excitement, euphoria and contentment. I had cleared the waiting list for SJMSoM. I was now officially a part of SJMSoM. However the joy was short-lived; we were allotted an induction assignment that had to be submitted before joining the college. Half heartedly, I started the assignment. It required a lot of research; the assignments were tedious. Little did we realize then that as we progressed with the assignments, our interest in the assignment would increase! The interesting case studies we had to refer to, the absorbing history of various cult brands like Royal Enfield, the deep concepts of marketing and finance, the product lines of the FMCG giants like HUL, the financial case studies - all added a perspective to our thinking. I noticed a change in the way I started perceiving various products and services. Even before I joined the college, I had taken the first step towards being a MBA graduate.

Finally the D-day arrived. Mumbai was under a furious rain attack. I remember reaching the hostel armed with two heavy bags and a bed. I quickly got acquainted with the new faces around me. Technology has been a boon to mankind and probably the smart phone has been a blessing for students. Even before the college had started, I knew most of my classmates through social media platforms. There were only a few unknown faces at the start of the induction programme.

‘Never judge a book by its cover’ is a well known proverb. Our experience with SJMSoM was a good example of it. Everyone expected the induction to be a lack luster assembly where seniors would come up with boring speeches that might even put a busy bee to sleep. I remember many of us making plans to visit various tourist spots in Mumbai. Well, the blame couldn't be put on the students. That is how induction programmes are at other institutes. However at SJMSoM, things are ‘thoda hatke’. We had absolutely no idea that the following week would be a sparkling cocktail of enthusiasm, hard work, fun, innovation and bonding.

The first day witnessed various ‘ice-breaker’ activities. Soon we found ourselves sharing our funny and embarrassing experiences and stories. Amid pearls of laughter, more than the names, we got to know about the personas of the students with whom we were going to spend the next two years.

The next day started with a Treasure hunt. The daunting clues and the pressure to be the first in the race made me feel like Nicholas Cage from the movie ‘National Treasure’. The clues were spread all over the vast IIT Bombay campus. My group members and I racked our brains to solve the clues. The event sprouted the leadership and team player skills in all the students. It was one of the most exciting treasure hunts I have ever been a part of. The goal was to educate the students about the campus and it was accomplished.

Many other fun filled activities followed. We sold innovative goods like ‘Glass houses’, ‘Stone soap’, ‘plastic towels’ and other unimaginable and funny sounding products. The innovation and ‘on the feet thinking’ ability portrayed by my fellow mates spoke volumes about the talent SJMSoM housed. In the social network competition, the race to get the maximum likes for statuses and pictures just got crazier and stiffer. We could see statuses and mirthful photos of excited students posing at various points in the IIT campus flooding Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. New friendships were made every day. At SJMSoM, batch 2016 and 2015 bonded like a family. The thrill, excitement and energy just kept mounting as each day of induction passed.

Finally, the last day of induction dawned upon us. It had to end with a bang. Special skits and movies made by batch 2016 of SJMSoM went on till 1 AM. The events ended with huge round of applause for the seniors who took time out from the busy schedules for the induction. We hugged our seniors! In how many B schools can one witness such a thing? Our seniors were our celebrities, our role models.

Well begun is half done. The induction week was a perfect start to the thrilling, exciting and knowledge imparting journey of our lives and I hope that we (Class of 2016) cash in on this excellent start and graduate from this institute with flying colors. SJMSoM had become a home for us within a week and we had become a family!

written by,

Vibhav Mahale

SJMSoM'16

IIT Bombay: Serenity in the Middle of a Mad City

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 09:17:00 +0000

Mumbai: A City of Dreams as some may call it. For many others, it's a city where time runs faster than any other place in the country, where race to survival starts early in the morning with the first blink of your eyes and doesn't take a halt until late in the night. Your ambitions are your best friends and a daily conquest to achieve them is probably your sole inspiration to survive. Amid all this ruckus IIT Bombay campus acts as an oasis in the middle of a deserted land. Established in 1958, IIT-B claims to have produced some of the best sources of innovations in the past six decades. Well, how far that claim is true, is a different story but the serenity of the campus and the tranquility spread all around it is certainly enough to keep you spellbound when you enter the gates of this institute after a tedious ride on the streets of the city.

and Yes..! it's a Rush-Hour click...

Shelters.. with fancy names and even fancier anecdotes behind all of them.. !!

Those indifferent basins of Light.. spreading delight since ages..

Infinity Corridor.. An endless road to enlightenment..!

TUM-TUMs.. as much an integral part of this modest eco-system.

Those smaller blocks which make this beautiful family "A Picture Perfect"

A Beautiful "Lake" which never stopped mesmerizing its onlookers

A humble sun in the city is certainly not an easy feat to find.. unless of course you are in IITB..

Fountains of Happiness, Peace or Knowledge.. whatever you may call them, witnessing them in front of your eyes shall still remain 'Priceless'

A walk down the aisle..

When you can't match up to the speed of Light.. Tame it.. [iitb]

captured by,

Asheesh Pandey

SJMSoM'15

Marketing Continuum 2014 - Report

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 10:09:00 +0000

Marketing Continuum 2014 was organized on 10^th August, 2014 with a theme reflecting the current trends and challenges faced by the Marketing Managers.

In an era where customer wants are continuously evolving, Marketers have to be vigilant and agile in order to match their expectations. In the evolution of Marketing, from delivering values to delivering experience, the role of customer touchpoints has been very significant. Considering the increasing significance of customer touchpoints in today’s competitive markets, and the need for its effective management to achieve customer engagement, Marketing Continuum was themed as follows: “Managing Customer Touchpoints – a Road to Engagement”

The first speaker for the day, Mr. Vikram Swaroop, Head, Marketing Communications, Skoda Auto India Ltd. spoke about the topic: ‘Managing Customer Touchpoints: Next Generation Digital Marketing’. He started the talk by giving insights on how the automobile industry is becoming commodity based rather than brand based. He mentioned the increasing online research by the consumers and also the increase in number of options available to the modern car buyer. He also mentioned that Skoda’s Facebook page has 1.2 million likes; YouTube channel has 8.6 million views and is the only car brand in India which gives the same online experience on a desktop and a mobile. He stressed on a significant point about how Skoda is not in the volume game to compromise on the safety standards. He concluded by saying how important it is in today’s business to manage increasing number of touchpoints owing to the internet usage of the prospective clients.

The second speaker for the day, Mr. Amit Sharma, CVP, Marketing, Max Life Insurance Ltd. delivered a lecture on ‘Customer Relationship Management: From Differentiator to Necessity’ He started the talk by explaining the importance of Marketing in any industry. He then laid emphasis on marketers to stay relevant in the changing market scenario as over the time customers usually tend to outgrow brands. He also talked about the need of marketers to develop effective customer strategies and have atleast level three customization to cater to the ever evolving customer needs. He then explained that customer belongs to everyone and every part of business has the potential to touch the customer at some point along his buying journey. He then explained the marketing chain starting from customer acquisition, moving on to the customer’s on boarding process and then to the customer retention and expansion process.

The third speaker for the day, Mr. Makarand Kulkarni, Head, Sales and Marketing, Glenmark Pharma, delivered a talk on the topic: ‘Customer Engagement in Pharma – New Medicine in Old Bottle.’ As Mr. Makarand Kulkarni described the global as well as Indian pharma scenario, he pointed out the same. He also came up with staggering numbers such as the current value of the global pharma industry, USD 858 bn. (INR 53000 bn). The top five players in the world – USA, Japan, China, Germany, France; of which USA and Japan account for about 50% of the global share. Pharma is not only about bitter medicines but also about Brands. There are 2 types of marketing models in India. First one is RX model wherein a medical Representative pitches about his product to a doctor who in turn prescribes it to the patient. The other model is OTX Model where in a medical representative directly sells his product to a consumer. To conclude, he emphasized once again on the robustness of Indian pharma. He said that Indian Pharma Market is doubling every year and there is still a wide scope of improvement and to capitalize on this chance, it is necessary to pick the right opportunities that come its way.

The forth speaker for the day, Ms. Namrita Sehgal, Director of Internet Marketing, Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces, delivered a talk on ‘Managing Customer Touch Points – A Road to Engagement’. She started the talk by highlighting that the customer journey, starting from planning a trip to booking a hotel, has become more complicated than ever. She said the customer journey can be divided into two sections; The Pre-Stay Journey and the Post-Stay Journey. The Pre-Stay journey involves the following steps: Dream, Explore, Engage, Shortlist, Commit, Pre-Arrival. After describing about the Pre-Stay journey, Ms. Sehgal then explained about the Post-Stay journey which included the following stages: Just Landed, During Stay, Post-Stay & Loyalty. Ms. Sehgal then concluded by stating that the future use of wearable technology, augmented reality and experience zones will completely change the dynamics of managing customer touch points.

The fifth speaker for the day, Mr. Ashish Nanavati, Head, Digital Marketing, Shaadi.com. Mr. Nanavati started with a small introduction on touchpoints and their complexities and highlighted on the role of digital marketers in reducing these complexities. He then went on to explain the concept of bucketing. He spoke about different forms of media including paid, owned, earned and converged media and how each of them plays its part in developing customer relationships. He then highlighted the importance of Data Management Platforms (DMP) in capturing the touchpoints. He explained the importance of DMP in normalizing, analyzing data and tracking it to attract the target users. He then moved on to explain about the condition of E-commerce industry in India and its hidden potential. E-commerce industry is expected to grow by almost 4 times between 2011 and 2015. Mr. Nanavati concluded by saying that already twice as many things are connected through internet than people and in near future almost everything will be connected to internet.

The sixth speaker or the day, Mr. Ambi Parameswaran, Advisor, FCB Ulka Advertising discussed three case studies of Bausch & Lomb, Oreo and Nerolac. The talk started with a brief insight into the changing new generation consumer. The first case study was about Bausch & Lomb - Creating relevance for Bausch & Lomb with youth. He then moved on to discuss about OREO’s ad campaign in US. Most famous ad of 2013 was OREO’s ‘Dunk them in the dark’ which was done during a black out in the Super-bowl. The third case study discussed was about Nerolac Paints Ad campaign. Nerolac was initially perceived as a mass brand. Lastly he discussed about the AutoExpo in New Delhi in 2014. Technology was leveraged to generate interest in the customers for Jaguar. An app with IPad integration helped them in generating 611 enquiries in a short span of time. Lastly, he spoke about various books authored by him and recommended books for the students to read in order to understand branding and campaign management.

The final speaker for the day, Ms. Rupa Roy, Director Marketing, McAfee, India and SAARC, deivered a talk on: ‘Challenges in the Traditional Marketing and the present era of Emotional Marketing.’ She started the talk by explaining about the different forms of advertising and based on a survey insisted that the advertising done using “ word of mouth” is the most effective of them all. She mentioned about the “converged marketing” in which a mix of paid, earned and owned categories of marketing campaigns had to be done simultaneously. Next, she spoke about the constantly evolving dynamics of marketing. She insisted on the importance of innovation and creativity in marketing and also mentioned that without these qualities one cannot survive in today’s world. She concluded her presentation, by urging the gathering to constantly challenge status-quo, innovate and approach problems with a creative bent of mind.

The continuum ended with a vote of thanks by the student co-ordinator for the Marketing club. Marketing continuum 2014, which saw a perfect blend of stalwarts from industry and academia, was a great learning experience for all the students of Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay.

written by,

Marktrix – The Marketing Club,

SJMSoM'15

Operations Continuum 2014 - Report

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 15:06:00 +0000

Operations Continuum 2014 was organized on 2nd August 2014. The Continuum saw a series of lectures centered on the theme: Supply Chain transformation: Supporting growth through innovative and responsive strategies.

Our first speaker for the day, Mr R Radhakrishnan, General Manager, Information Systems (Functional), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. addressed the following topic: Leveraging Business Intelligence for Supply and Operations. He started the talk by explaining about the functional and technical departments of Information Systems at HPCL. He then talked about the history of the Information Technology department at HPCL, and how it evolved. Mr. Radhakrishnan then talked in detail about the petroleum industry in India. He provided valuable information regarding the industry. Next, he spoke about the Supply Chain Management in an Oil Industry. He began with an overview of the supply chain in the oil industry. He concluded by giving a final take on Business Intelligence by stating “We should move from IT literacy to data literacy”.

Our second speaker for the day, Prof. Jayendran Venkateswaran, Assistant Professor, Industrial Engineering & Operations Research, IIT Bombay, delivered a talk on Localization of Solar Energy through Local Assembly, Sale and Usage. He begun his session by elaborating on why utilization of Solar Energy is important. He highlighted the problem of electricity in the rural areas. Without electricity, studying at night becomes a problem for students. As he mentioned, there is no lack of talent in those areas but it is the education which these people lack. He then moved on to the concept behind the Solar Urja Lamp project - to solve the issue of studying without electricity and enable every student to get educated & lead a better life. He stated that the solar lamps are assembled locally thereby involving local people in all aspects, which will be the key to the success of this project.

The third session was focused on the discussion of latest trends in Product traceability by Mr. Ravi Ranjan, Regional Head, Supply Chain Management, Pidilite Industries Limited. He started the talk by defining Product traceability as the ability to trace the product history, location or application of an item by means of documented recorded identification. He then explained the concept of Product traceability and its applications. He said that Radio Frequency Identification and Barcode are two common methods used for Product traceability. Next, he moved on to explain Vendor Management System (VMS), which is a software tool, often web-based, that acts as a mechanism for the business to manage orders and staff. Typical features of a VMS application include order distribution, consolidated billing and significant enhancements in reporting capability that outperforms manual systems and processes.

The fourth session was delivered by Mr. Vikas Sarangdhar, Director, Supply Chain, Gartner Inc. on Impact of Digital Business on Global Supply Chains. He started the talk by quoting the previous speaker’s example and stating how technology was an advantage to Zara as well as Amazon. He then talked about the Gartner Supply Chain Business Layers which they use for their research and advisory. Then he explained the evolution of Internet through the years from 1990 and predicted 2030 as the year of Digital Business. He then focused on the change that was brought in Supply Chain due to the changing demand cycle. Speaking about the threats posed by the competitors, Mr. Sarangdhar explained that new players can come from any sector in the market making it difficult to determine the source of next threat. He concluded that the Supply Chain is now being viewed as a demand driven value network. He ended with statement “The Future is Now.”

The fifth talk for the day was delivered by Ms. Yojana Motiwale, Assistant General Manager (Purchase), A.W. Faber - Castell (India) Pvt. Ltd., on Green supply chain management. She started the talk by stating that Green Supply Chain is something which all Indian companies must try to implement in their organisation. Later she discussed the benefits of Green Supply Chain Management which include sustainability, low costs, product differentiation, competitive advantage, risk reduction adhering to regulations and an overall improved product quality. She also gave us the examples of companies which have implemented Green supply chain management in their operations. Thereafter, she discussed the challenges that India and Indian companies face to implement Green supply chain management. She concluded by saying that "Green Supply chain management is the key towards the sustainable growth and secured future”.

The sixth session was delivered by Mr. Atul Prakash, Vice President, Manufacturing Godrej Industries Limited, on the topic: Sustainability in Manufacturing- A Business Opportunity. Mr. Atul Started his presentation with a thought provoking video named “Light Bulb Conspiracy”, which depicted the necessity of sustainable manufacturing for a healthy development in future years. The deliberation of reducing lifetime of light bulb from 2500 to 1000 hours in the 1920s, change of the everlasting Nylon stockings to fragile one; were some of the prime examples depicted in the video which urged consumers to go for newer products only according to the need. He also explained about the opportunities for sustainable manufacturing by emphasizing on four themes. The themes were, Openness to Ideas, Collaboration, Leadership and Resource efficiency, which are required at this juncture for the effective growth of manufacturing industries.

The last session for the day was given by Mr. Amar N Jha, Vice President, Retail Petroleum, Reliance Industries Limited. The talk was centred around the Oil and Gas Supply Chain, the challenges being faced by them and also the steps taken to overcome them. He first touched upon the recent trends in Supply Chain Management(S.C.M.) which is moving from manufacturing driven to customer driven. The needs of the customer are changing with time. High transparency in quality and quantity, time consciousness, increased level of product and service delivery, better fuel and engine performance are some of the requirements of the modern customer. The design of RIL caters to these demands by electronic method of calibration, remote pricing change, printed bill, Tank Monitoring System, Specialized TT lock and monitoring system and key management system. The session concluded with an interactive session where Mr. Jha catered to individual questions from the students.

The continuum ended with a vote of thanks by the student co-ordinator for the Operations club. Operations continuum 2014, which saw a perfect blend of stalwarts from industry and academia, was a great learning experience for all the students of Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay.

written by,

Opera - The Operations Club

SJMSoM'15

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) / Digital Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 09:25:00 +0000

Mr. Rahul Tamaskar, Program Manager at eClerx, delivered a guest lecture to the students of SJMSoM, IIT Bombay. He started the talk by asking the audience about their understanding of e-mail marketing & their preference towards online shopping. He made the audience ponder over a question that why they used to get e-mails and customized advertisements when they add any item in shopping cart & do not complete shopping. Next, he informed that globally 48% of the customers use smart phones to read the emails.

One of the biggest challenges of recent times is to make a responsive design so that the interface & ease of using e-mail becomes same in all the platforms, be it laptop , tablet or smartphone with different operating systems. He thoroughly described the concept of customer tracking in context of e-mail marketing. Then he pointed out the fact that unsubscribing to e-mails determines the number of interested customers and classified the rest of the customers into genuine & lazy recipients. At this point, answering to a question, he mentioned some ongoing research on tracking the customer’s behaviour like time spent on reading the mail, pattern of cursor movement etc.

He explained the fact that e-mails with odd number of bullet points has a higher chance of being read. He then talked about sales automation in B2B marketing focusing on contact management, order management & product knowledge. Answering on the spread of digital marketing in rural areas he mentioned that SMS marketing is also an integral part of the same and penetration of SMS in all areas is very prominent.

He talked about the Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing and pointed out them as the highest web traffic generator among others but also reminded that they are used for achieving long term goals Describing e-mail marketing as Science, Mr. Tamaskar stressed upon three important points of a successful e-mail marketer, i.e.

· Segmenting the target recipients in different clusters & offering customized benefits in each segment

· Relevant and catchy subject line of the e-mail

· Email address of the sender

Next, he addressed the attribution problem in marketing and stated that individual influence of any medium on the customer is very hard to determine. For example, television advertisements aim for the mass but digital marketing is more aligned to individualistic approach with relevant information. Companies allocate different budget in different approach as their influence, customer base are not exactly same.

At this point he threw some light on the Digital Fingerprinting technique and use of first party cookies in tracking the customer behaviour in digital world. He also touched upon social media marketing and its use. He explained about Drip Marketing strategy where data is fed slowly to potential customers by e-mails or offline events to keep them engaged with the company.

He mentioned some of the prime focus of ongoing research on digital marketing:

· With the advent of mobile, how to make in-app advertisement more relevant to the users.

· How to get more information about users using mobile application overcoming the hurdle of application
sand-boxing.

· How to make consistent user experience in different channels

Mr. Tamaskar also conveyed that it is imperative for budding managers to have a grasp about the digital marketing in parallel with the traditional marketing strategies.

At this point, he pointed out the success factors of eClerx. More engagement with potential customers, drip marketing, strong knowledge management teams are some of the strong pillars of the company, to name a few. Apart from business by reference of satisfied customers, eClerx mainly focuses on Search Engine Management and e-mail marketing to explore new customer and spread the business across the globe. Customer Relationship Management is the important platform in B2B scenario & digital marketing is a tool to help it.

He concluded his talk by presenting the outsourcing delivery model of eClerx. He explained the roles and responsibilities in different hierarchical positions and in different departments with special focus on the process manager role.

written by,

Somenath Mukherjee

SJMSoM'16

HR Transformation at Reliance Industries Limited

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 11:46:00 +0000

Mr. Vikram Bector, Chief Talent Officer, Reliance Industries Limited, delivered a talk to the students of SJMSoM. He started the talk by asking the audience about their transformation journey. He then asked the audience about their purpose in life. Next, he went ahead to explain why is purpose so important in our lives. He quoted Mark Twain by saying that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why. At this point, during his talk, he mentioned why purpose is so important in life. He said that purpose is the key to navigating the problems faced in our lives. He then talked about his own purpose in life, which was to help individuals and organizations achieve their peak leadership potential and become successful in all aspects of life. Next, he asked each and every student to sit beside the person he/she was most comfortable with, and gave the audience a small exercise, which was to discuss their purpose in life with each other.

The session became a highly interactive one, as everyone in the audience started discussing their life experiences with one another. After the exercise, Mr. Bector explained further regarding the personality traits of individuals, strengths and weaknesses. He talked about five of his major strengths, which were Command, Harmony, Input, Learner and Connectedness. He also talked about the weaknesses of individuals, mentioning that if the strengths of an individual are overused, in the long run it becomes a weakness. Explaining further, he said that Command means the ability of an individual to be comfortable in taking charge. However, if the same person is too commanding, he/she might become an outcast. Next, he talked about harmony, which means finding a common ground, which is strength, but sometimes it can become a deterrent if overused, that is, there are certain issues have to be solved by taking a firm stand and not by overlooking them.

Talking about inputs, he mentioned that collecting facts and inputs is essentially important. However, its overuse may lead to information junk. He also mentioned about the other strengths like being a learner and being connected to family and friends. At this point, he mentioned that instead of working too much on the weaknesses, one should actually try to polish one’s strengths. However, he cautioned the audience from having “Derailers” such as anger and temper.

Having talked much about the aspects of life, Mr. Bector then talked about Reliance Industries Limited. He mentioned that RIL was a company which was aggressive in its approach. He mentioned about how Reliance has contributed to several things in our day to day lives, such as the PET bottles we use, the shirts which we wear (if it’s not pure cotton), power supply etc. to name a few. He also mentioned about how Reliance became the pioneer in cheap local and STD call rates, and the other telecom companies followed suit. He mentioned about Reliance’s approach in starting 4G network. Next, he went ahead to explain how Reliance is continually trying to maintain its image as a “Community Neutral”, “Carbon Footprint Neutral” organization. He mentioned that the Jamnagar plant didn’t use a single drop of water from the earth’s reserves. Instead, the water used is water from seas, which has been desalinated. He then talked about how as a Chief Talent Officer, he plans to spend more time in developing strategies for the betterment of the organization. He talked about how Reliance was thinking of leveraging the Big Data into CSR and other activities.

He also talked about the Human Resource Transformation that took place in Reliance Industries Limited., and how that has changed their approach in talent acquisition and delivering their services more efficiently. Answering to a question, he also mentioned that the two biggest professions in the days to come would be the Legal profession and Human Resources. The legal profession, as he mentioned would gain popularity over the years, as there are several cases pending in the courts. He said that, with the advent of the era of innovation and development, there is bound to be more work for the lawyers and judges in issues regarding IPR, property rights and so on. He also said that Human Resources would be an equally big profession and generate employment, as more and more man power recruitment will be required by industries in future.

He concluded his talk by saying how his short duration in Reliance has helped him to gain insight regarding the way senior level managers spend their time on planning and developing strategies. This, as he mentioned, has been a valuable learning experience for him.

written by,

Reeju Guha

SJMSoM'16

Entrepreneurship Opportunities in Emerging India: Logistics and E-commerce

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 05:14:00 +0000

Mr. Rajesh Pednekar, who has rich industry experience in Supply Chain and Distribution, gave a guest lecture to the students of SJMSoM about the opportunities and avenues of entrepreneurship in an emerging market like India.

The session was presented in two parts. First part was about the basic introduction for the students on how to make the most out of an MBA course. It focused on the general guidelines and the best practices.

The speaker described the four E’s of life as follows:

· Education,
· Employment,
· Engagement and
· Entrepreneurship

Mr. Padnekar urged the students to attend all classes and gain knowledge. “Education is something that opens up your mind and sets you free”, he said.

“If you do what you love, you will not have to work single day”, he said. He suggested us to connect with our seniors, mentors and alums using social media. “Work for learning, earning will come later. If required work for free. Be in ‘Gemba’ i.e Japanese term for Workplace. Go out meet real people and engage yourself in solving real problems.”

Engagement is a very important aspect of life. If one is not happy at ones’ home, then one can’t give ones’ best at work. He spoke about 5 M’s of Marriage – Mind, Money, Manners, Meals, Maturity.

Entrepreneurship is continuous pursuit of opportunity without regards to resources currently controlled. He urge the students to make materialism irrelevant; enhance knowledge through continuous education; manage relationship expectations; practice emotional self-awareness; commit to physical ideal; make networks; adhere to code of ethics and focus on time efficiency.

The second part of his guest lecture was targeting the logistics and the supply chain management in Indian e-commerce.

The session started with the Jobs business model. JOB – Just Over Broke. An employee is only paid that much that he can come to office the next day. He described the pros and cons in the JOBs Business Model as follows:

Limited Upside

· No capital invested
· Work as a cog in other system

Unlimited Downside

· Universal Constraint – Job is selling time for money(Max 24 hours are available )
· No price freedom
· Usage increase is always lesser than actual
· Can sell to only one customer
· All innovations/inventions belong to the company.

Mr. Padnekar also discussed about the current state of Indian Logistics – challenges and Opportunities. Quoting one of the challenges in Indian logistics, Mr. Padnekar described the lack of efficient cold chains to transfer pharmaceutical products which require strict temperature controlled environment.

He said that the prospects for budding entrepreneurs are looking positive considering the huge budget allocated for entrepreneurship in the recent financial budget. The session ended with discussing some important Taxation tips.

It was a knowledge enriching session wherein the students of SJMSoM got more insights on how an entrepreneur can save more money as compared to an employee in taxation. The session included valuable inputs on the ground realities of best practices for MBA and Entrepreneurship. This session enabled us to learn something which we do not learn in books.

Written by,

Udit Kataria

SJMSoM’16

Consulting Induction Program

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 06:03:00 +0000

Consig, the Consulting club of SJMSoM organized the Consulting Induction Program for the batch of 2016. This session was organized in collaboration with ZENeSYS Learning, a leading firm in consulting talent development. Mr. Karan Ahuja, AVP ZENeSYS, was amongst us to demystify the concepts of Consulting and to provide us with a road-map for a successful career in the same. He comes with a diverse experience in Consulting, having worked with PwC, Booz & Co, Reliance, etc.

Mr. Ahuja started the session with the basic definition of Consulting, explaining that it comprises the following three steps:

Identifying business problems
Analyzing facts and possibilities
Coming up with a solution and advising it to the customer

Consulting is a very challenging job, where a consultant has to prove his credibility and meet the expectations of his clients on a day-to-day basis. A consultant is expected to be good at data analysis and problem solving. He should be the “Jack of all trades” and “master of none”, as he would be working in multitude of domains for which the specific knowledge could be gathered from the domain experts. His job is to study the “Best Practices” from whichever industry, and implement them for his customer.

Mr. Ahuja was candid in explaining some of the negative perception pertaining to consulting. Critics argue that consultants are expensive, generalists, who lack specific knowledge and responsibility and more often than not, provide infeasible solutions. Consultants, however, view themselves as smartest people around who are free from internal interference. One of the most important qualities of consultants is that they don’t pass the buck in moments of crisis. A consultant always keeps in mind the opinion of his clients, as they themselves have a breadth of experience in their fields.

Mr. Ahuja then moved on to explain the various types of consulting. Firstly he explained the difference between Strategy consulting and operational consulting. Strategy consulting involves more of providing solutions with respect to future planning such as new product line, mergers and acquisitions, new businesses etc. Operational consulting on the other hand involves solving existing business problems such as reducing operational/manufacturing costs and time, improving profitability etc. He then went on to discuss IT consulting by giving crisp definition of the same. IT consulting means solving business problems using technology. There is a substantial demand for IT consultants in the market today. He also provided a brief insight into boutique consulting option such as sports consulting.

Further into the session, Mr. Ahuja explained the pros and cons of choosing consulting as a career. The life of a consultant is exciting. He gets to work in various domains and places. He is paid handsomely and is entitled to a lavish lifestyle. But, at the same time, he is also expected to work for extended hours and deliver every time. There is a lack of stability as he is always on the move.

Mr. Ahuja also explained the general career path followed by a consultant. A consultant, in the beginning of his career, is involved in a lot of market research, data compilation and power point presentations. As the time passes and he gains experience by working with and looking at his seniors, and gradually, he grows into a real consultant, capable of understanding and analyzing data, connecting the dots and finally coming up with solutions. He then moves into management roles where he handles different projects and deliveries. He finally explained what role Zenesys could play in developing one’s consulting career. Zenesys consulting competency certification (ZC3), an integrated learning and training based accreditation program is one of their top offerings. It involves select students from leading business schools in live projects. There are multiple online learning modules as well as mentoring by experienced consultants.

The session was very engaging and informative for everyone present. The audience got a clear picture of what consulting is all about. Some of them expressed their keen interest in consulting with clarity of which particular role as a consultant to pursue, post the session. Mr. Ahuja responded to all of the queries from the audience with zeal. The session ended with its purpose fulfilled. The Class of 2016 was more informed about consulting than they were, two hours earlier.

written by,

Consig, The Consulting Club

SJMSoM'15

HR Continuum - 2014 Report

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 11:14:00 +0000

The Human Resource Continuum - 2014, which was themed Transformational Role of an HR in Modern Business, covered the latest trends in Human Resource management. The one-day event provided one of the best learning experiences for all the students. It served as a platform for the inquisitive students to get face to face with industry stalwarts. An enlightening session by an eminent speaker was followed by a round of mutual interaction between the speaker and the students.

Our first speaker Mr. Anubhab Goel, Founding Member & Business Head, PeopleStrong HR Services stated that in the 21st century HR moved beyond Employee relations and customers; today HRs’ are required to Innovate. Talking about Transformations of Human Resource, Mr. Anubhab Goel said that Human Resource Managers’ are increasingly taking up roles of Strategic Business Partners. Hence the role of HRM is becoming increasingly more prominent. Human Resource Manager’s are now using lots of analytics and lots of transparency through which it is building big data. All transactional boxes can now be clubbed as Processing Hub: Customer service, analytic center, transaction center, governance center. Major HR responsibilities now include designing cost effective rewards for employees, developing and sustaining a workforce, mitigating employee related risk.

Our second speaker Mr. Kishore Poduri, Senior Vice president, Head-HR, DBS Bank (India) began the session by mentioning how innovation evolves and he stressed upon the point that homogeneous groups dampen the innovation and heterogeneous groups foster the innovation. Innovation is a new method, idea, product etc. Purpose, values and culture are the vital parameters in any company success. It is the culture which motivates the employees to go in the right direction and aligned to the values of the company, which is totally enabled by HR function. To bring in innovation every employee should take the ownership in the business he/she is involved in and acting swiftly to the changes plays an important role. And there should always be fun element to make processes lively and at large it yields maximum output and encourages all the stakeholders involved. And he focused on HR as lead enabler in the company and he explained how it helps employees to come up with ideas and embed values in the system.

Our third speaker Dr. Ajitabh Ambastha, Head Learning & Development, TATA Capital, linked the assets and processes to state that these are the two factors that strongly influence the performance. He put this in a mathematical model: Assets x Process = Performance. He moved on to speak of reputation and brand as competitive advantages. The people, systems and process of an organization can be copied. It is the Culture and Execution of Strategy that are the two differentiating factors. Mr. Ajitabh then moved onto the topic of PCMM – People Capability Maturity Model. It is a framework that focuses on continuous improvement and development of human assets.

Our forth speaker Dr. R. Krishna Murthy, Director, Industrial Relations Institute of India, started the session by clearly stating that businesses at present are operating in an environment of ambiguity and high degree of unpredictability. Moving on to the next issue of relationship dilemmas, Dr. Krishna Murthy mentioned that the major goal of relationship management is to maintain harmony and to manage performances under conditions of conflicts and tension. Citing an example of labour unrest, he commented that most of the problems arise because of the lack of communication and dialogues between the concerned parties. The common norm is to decrease the communication instead of increasing it once tension is being created. He emphasized on the importance of engaging into dialogues to break the deadlock in such scenario.

Our fifth session was a panel discussion involving Mr. Sanjeev Dixit, Chief People Officer, Allied Blenders and Distillers and Mr. Amit Sawant, Deputy General Manager, Corporate HR ACG Worldwide. Prof. Ashish Pandey, who served as a moderator in the panel discussion, introducing the topic “Are students from elite business schools delivering the results in the corporate world as expected?” and also explained about primary research for choosing this topic. Mr. Sanjeev expressed that Elite colleges expected to have better quality, expected ROI and Value Proposition way higher than other colleges. Mr. Amit Sawant thought process went to recruit graduates from not so elite colleges. Graduates from non elite colleges might not get same salary as from elite colleges but when looked after 3 or 4 years they might end up getting same salary.

Our sixth session was taken by Dr. Sumita Datta, Independent Consultant and Professor at SP Jain IMR. She began the session by discussing the different generations at work places – Baby boomers, Gen X and Gen Y. She went ahead detailing some of the personality traits of each generation. Dr. Datta then moved on to speak about the problems that arise with different generations working at the same place. She highlighted how both Gen X and Gen Y are eyeing the top post of baby boomers. The session moved towards discussing how these two generations are very right in their expectations and how the personality differences in Gen Y need to be handled by organization.

Our seventh session was taken by Mr. Irfan Abdulla, Director, Talent Solutions, LinkedIn India. He started his session with a simple yet relevant thought- “Access to information is not the most important thing, what is important is quick access”. He said that out of the 670 million workforces in the world, 277 million are on LinkedIn, and it is flourishing because of the details it provides about the person. The ‘identity’ and the ‘insights’ on LinkedIn are unique. A Google search of your name brings your LinkedIn profile as the first result. There are several thought leaders, amongst the 1.5 plus unique publishers on LinkedIn, who write insightful articles. Mr. Irfan also talked about the best practices of Social Media recruiting. He stressed upon the importance of understanding the target audience, measuring results and engaging top talent. He said that recruitment has moved from backroom to boardroom.

The continuum ended with a vote of thanks by the student co-ordinator for the Humane Club. Human Resource continuum 2014, which saw a perfect blend of stalwarts from industry and academia, was a great learning experience for all the students of Shailesh J. Mehta school of Management, IIT Bombay.

written by,

Humane - The HR Club

SJMSoM'15

Technology Continuum 2014 - Report

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 12:19:00 +0000

Technology Management Continuum 2014 was organized on 22nd March 2014 with a theme reflecting the role of technology in sustaining the businesses in a dynamic world. The Continuum saw a series of lectures centered on the theme: Business Sustainability through Technology: How companies are surviving and thriving in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world

Technology has undergone a dramatic revolution and has deeply impacted our lives in ways we could not have anticipated even 10 years ago. Smart phones, tablets, GPS navigation tools are just some of the technologies that are changing our lives. The challenge is for us to make sense of the implications for our business.

Our first speaker Mr. Girish, Head - IT, Marico Limited, started his session by explaining about one of the important challenges of business – advertising and sales promotion management which accounts for 15% of expenditure. The processes have to be re-engineered totally so that firm can go 100% paperless and integration with advertising agencies is possible. Seamless ability to share should exist yet control needs to be maintained. Enabling analytics and plug and play for international markets are some of the other expectations. The information challenges here are the information black hole, IT integration with partners and integration with SAP.

Our second speaker Mr. Ashish Varerkar, Head - Microsoft Practice, L&T InfoTech, started his session by saying that customers are collaborating with each other, sharing information and influencing decision-making. When social information becomes embedded in your tools and processes, you become a fully connected and engaged enterprise. Gamification employs game design techniques that provide a real time feedback environment. Big data is another emerging field that the company focuses on. Big data helps in analyzing the voice of the customer. It also helps in targeted marketing campaigns that are much more effective and cheaper than normal campaigns. Better voice of the customer in real time helps in better product improvement that is mostly proactive rather than reactive. This helps companies to stay ahead of its competitors.

Our third speaker Mr. Datta Kuvalekar - Head R&D- Forbes Marshall said that values of Forbes Marshall like family spirit in the organization, integrity, innovation & entrepreneurship and value delivery to customers, members & society help it in constantly moving towards its goal of becoming a developed company. He also said that these vision and values help the company to be a fantastic place to work. Innovation helps the company in providing smart solutions which are more eco-friendly to the customers. Collaboration helps in the benefit of all the stakeholders.

Our forth speaker Dr. Tapan Sahoo, VP Engg. Research, Design & Development, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, started the session by explaining how Maruti Suzuki is tracking the VUCA. Maruti Suzuki has a Triple bottom line where profit represent economic, planet represent environment and people represent social. About 90% of carbon emission in the life cycle of the vehicle happens at the stage of usage. Though the rest 10% carbon emissions are small on the overall scale, it’s a significant number in absolute terms. Of this 10% emission, majority of it takes place at the tier-I and tier-II suppliers’ end. Therefore the sustainability initiatives cannot complete without active involvement of these suppliers.

Our fifth speaker Mr. Praveen Chaudhary, Lead - Supply Chain Analytics, HP Global Analytics stated that the business challenges currently HP is facing are dynamic and accelerating market trends such as decline of PC market, growth of multi-architecture devices running competing operating systems, competitive landscape, business model and go-to-market execution and significant macroeconomic challenges. These risk factors are prevalent across the Hi-Tech industry. Competitive pressures, economic weakness and uncertainty and business and disruption could seriously affect revenue, gross margin and expenses. If execution of strategy, product and service transition and distribution of products and services are not managed effectively it will lead to decrease in profitability and gross margin.

Our sixth speaker Mr. Sandeep Sethi - Head - Service Improvement & Innovation Group at ICICI Bank, stated that the innovation framework is “innovation = idea + implementation”, Idea can be brought in by any methods, they could even be inspired, the only criteria for an idea is the value and novelty, but value to the customer is most important. How does ICICI facilitate innovation? i) Nurture and facilitate innovation culture at ICICI bank. ii) Guidance on project prioritization. iii) Facilitate removal of resource roadblocks. iv) Getting all stakeholders together, makes the process faster.

Our last speaker Dr. B Ravi, Institute Chair Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, IIT Bombay, stated that the medical devices and equipment market in India is estimated to be around US $ 4 billion, of which 75% is imported. This market is expected to be around US $ 5.8 billion by the end of next year. The Medical Device Innovation Training, conducted at IIT Bombay, consists of three stages: define, develop and deliver. The define stage consists of identifying the problem, forming a team and listing the requirements. The develop stage consists of evolving the design concepts and selecting the material. The deliver stage is where the students deliver the device they manufacture. He pointed out that there is a valley between the surgeons and the engineers, a ravine between the engineers and entrepreneurs but a deep canyon between the latter and the patients. It is this canyon which needs to be crossed.

The continuum ended with a vote of thanks by the student co-ordinator for the Technology continuum 2014. Technology continuum 2014, which saw a perfect blend of stalwarts from industry and academia, was a great learning experience for all the students of Shailesh J. Mehta school of Management, IIT Bombay.

written by,

Technology Continuum Team

SJMSoM'15

An International Classroom - Study Tour to France

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 13:30:00 +0000

Most of the good things in life often tend to keep a low profile. Study Tour at SJMSOM is one such opportunity. Though not much spoken about in the outside world, it certainly adds a strong value to its Management Program. Every year around 20 odd students get a chance to go and spend 2 weeks with a college located in world’s one of the most beautiful cities, Paris. The study tour, partly sponsored by the college, is organized in collaboration with Telecom Ecole De Management, France during the winter semester break in December.

This year was no different. 17 of us got an opportunity to go for the study tour and the experience, as they say, was one of its kind. It all started on 9^th Dec 2013. The group embarked the flight to Paris and so did with them, their hopes and expectations from this much awaited Study Tour. This was after all going to be the very first International Flight of our life for most of us. The feeling of leaving our home-land and entering a completely new country for the very first time was enough to keep everyone excited and awake all through the flight. At last, 13 hours passed, including a few hours of transit at Doha and the flight landed at the destination. Paris, it was.

The city welcomed us with icy winds and a spine chilling weather. The temperature was a tad below zero degree. But still not cold enough to freeze out the high-held spirits of the group. We boarded the pre-arranged bus at airport and after a one hour ride, at about 3 PM, reached the Hotel in Evry, a beautiful town adjacent to Paris. The group relaxed in the hotel for a while and then decided to go out for a walk to witness the very first experience on the streets of France. The inaugural session for the tour at the college was scheduled next morning and we were already feeling lucky to be a part of this wonderful experience.

The next morning we were all ready to visit the college for the very first session. Ms. Bhumika Gupta and Prof. Chris Wert from Telecom Ecol De Management accompanied us from the hotel to college. It was a 15 minute walk and we were all excited to have a closer look at the French Culture, to observe their pedagogy and above all to meet new people from a completely different part of the world. The study tour had promised all this in an extremely balanced manner and till now it had delivered nothing short of our expectations. After almost an hour long introductory session by Ms. Bhumika Gupta we headed for a walk inside the college campus. We visited various departments, met a few students. Interacted with them, discovered their views about Indian Culture. All this was just a fraction of tremendous learning experience that we were going to be a part of in the upcoming days. Even more gratified, we headed for the lunch in college cafeteria.

Post lunch there was a company visit scheduled in Snecma, a French multinational aircraft and rocket engine manufacturer. We went there and got an excellent welcome from the officials of the company. They were also very keen to interact with us and share their experiences with us. It was as good a learning opportunity for them as it was for us after all. We visited their huge manufacturing plant and learned about the operations there. World’s one of the finest aircraft engineers were telling us about the nuances of an excellent manufacturing process. It was a moment of sheer proud and satisfaction. Finally after an eventful and enlightening day we headed back to our hotel in the evening.

In the upcoming days we had several cultural excursions and company visits of such sort. We visited Stat De France. Cite Du Cinema, the headquarters of companies like Orange, BNP Paribas & SFR. We talked to their employees, learned about their operations. Along with this we also had several sessions on M Learning, Entrepreneurship etc. in the college. All this contributed a lot to the direct knowledge that we gained for this study tour. But this direct knowledge was still only a limited slice of what this tour was all about. The bigger part of the learning and fun was experienced on the streets of Paris. Our very first encounter to the French culture did bring us a lot of insights about this new country. The beautiful architecture and places in Paris, left us all delighted, amazed and thrilled to the core.

Every night we used to come back to hotel holding the charisma of a world class tourist place in our mind. The excitement of conquering the unending heights of Eiffel Tower, the mystery behind the painting of Mona Lisa in Musee de Louvre, the fun of exploring a new French Cuisine at every meal, coupled with infinite small conversations that we had with French people did only unearthed and showed us an unforeseen aspect of education. Days were passing by, one after another and we knew they were not going in vain. The time had been so fruitful and enlightening never before in our life. The places which we had always dreamt of and had heard about in books and movies were there in front of us for all two weeks. What else could we have asked for?

And finally the day arrived. Amid all this fun and enjoyment, the program reached its conclusion. The place which we had started liking as much as our home, bid us Good Bye in the most humble way possible. Certificates got distributed by the college authorities to the participants of the Study tour. We in turn thanked and presented the entire team of Telecom Ecol De Management with small mementos. A fun filed roller-coaster ride in another part of the world came to a fantastic end. We left France to head back home, keeping the fond memories of a well spent winter vacation intact in a cherished corner of our heart and with a strong hope to visit this wonderful country once again, probably in some other role.

Written by,

Asheesh Pandey

SJMSoM'15

Half MBA

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Sun, 04 May 2014 15:49:00 +0000

When someone opts to go for MBA, there are primarily two things on his mind. First, a major salary hike after 2 years of MBA. Second, an improved profile to leverage upon in the future. For a select few, networking is part of the agenda too, which surely is a very important aspect of MBA. Everyone knows that the way through these two years is hectic. However, a new entrant is not exactly sure what ‘Learnings’ are going to be there in this journey. You talk about getting value addition through an MBA course. But you do not know how exactly is the ‘Value’ going to get ‘added’ to you? That newcomer was I, around 10 months ago.

The first lesson came quite early. Just after the induction program, we had to prepare for the Fresher’s cultural night. The senior heading the induction team had a word of advice - “There is no limit to the number of events in which you participate, but it would be advisable to go only for one”. I took his word and became a part of fashion show only, but there were others who participated in 2 events and found it difficult to manage time. MBA course repeatedly makes you figure out what you want to do and what you don’t want to do. It’s an epic lesson in ‘Self Awareness’. You realise that the strengths and weaknesses asked in interviews are not just random HR questions. A more self aware person is likely to adapt quickly to the demands of MBA.

Linked very closely to choices in MBA is the whole scenario of ‘Decision Making’. During your work, your managers make the decisions for you. In college, as members of clubs and teams, you take many decisions and implement those on your own. You drive events in the college, be it organizing workshops, business fests, academic sessions, alumni sessions, media interactions, admissions etc. The learning and networking through these activities are immense and these activities also form the core of the senior junior bonding. A select few become the Heads of Clubs and Teams and if they do good work, this Position of Responsibility often becomes the highlight of their college life. Your decision making ability helps you make the right, or for that matter, wrong choices! But this is one aspect which really enhances your personality. More so in a place like my college, where anything and everything is driven by students, the admission process being a testimony to that claim.

One very important thing that you do is that you learn to stay busy. You leave behind that comfortable life of a software engineer (a fair generalization I think, considering the number of software engineers who go for MBA these days). In that comfortable life, you find that two new movies ‘Die Hard’ and ‘Twilight’ are releasing on the same Friday. You can’t miss ‘Die Hard’ and your girlfriend will break up with you if you don’t take her for ‘Twilight’. Thankfully, you have two of your best friends called ‘Saturday’ and ‘Sunday’. So you watch one movie per day! These best friends go for a vacation during your 1st year of MBA. You would be beyond yourself with rage if your boss called you for work on a Saturday. However, it is a pleasant surprise if you get a Saturday off during MBA. Working on Saturdays and Sundays slowly and surely gets into your system. This is the part where you learn to stretch your limits. After all, a high profile manager needs to learn to walk that extra mile.

At the classroom level, you also get associated with several groups. For your presentations and projects, the class gets divided into groups. 90% of the work in MBA would be done in those random groups. And unlike your workplace, where there is a boss who everyone is supposed to listen to, a group here has no boss. Who allots work? Who takes accountability? That’s the uniqueness of group dynamics one faces. There is always someone very dedicated and there is always a free-rider in the group. Your quest for balance in a group is a fascinating experience. And it’s not just about the amount of work everyone does in a group. It is also about working with individuals of different cultural backgrounds that adds to the richness of your experience.

A scary and funny incident which repeats itself too often for one’s liking is the exam. There is a mid- term exam and a term end exam. A new term comes in 2 months and again there is a mid-term exam and a term end exam. Then there are the surprise quizzes which beats the hell out of everyone. Being a 99 percentiler, I never thought I would sit down to study one day before the exam fighting to survive the paper rather than score well in it. It is not that the subjects are too difficult. It is just too much to comprehend in too little time! This pressure you face during exams will hold you in good stead when you face similar situations in your work as prospective managers.

The things I have talked about so far give you their own sweet and sour experiences. However, the best part of my Half MBA has been the opportunity I have got for extra-curricular activities in my college. The amount of extra-curricular activities that students take up is huge and these activities often help you unravel your hidden talents. A batch-mate of mine has taken more than 10000 photographs after joining the college and people are crazy for his photography. Another friend has rekindled his love for athletics and is winning all the races. Another friend just keeps on winning all the poetry competitions organised here. On a personal note, I have taken up writing in a more serious way than I had ever done before. If you have talent, you are bound to get the opportunity. How well you grab your opportunity depends on you.

All in all, if I have to choose one thing which MBA does to a person, I think it would be “Structuring”. You do not learn any rocket science in your MBA course. All you do is learn a few basics, develop a keen eye to detail, work in groups, network with people, develop decision making and diplomatic abilities, and improve your personality by overcoming the pressure and deadlines of your work and extra-curriculars. That is how you structure yourself.

And that’s only 1 year I have talked about. My 2nd year is yet to unravel its mysteries. I have observed my seniors in that path and I have seen how sentimental they were in their last days of college. The emotions overflowed and everything they did came with a hash tag of #OneLastTime. It was all about how they were going to miss their most beautiful college and the most amazing MBA life. Amongst all this, I find it quite intriguing how you realise the importance of a place or a person once that place or person is beyond your reach. The best moment is always the moment that has passed. You never think deep enough to realise that the moment you are living in could be the most priceless instead. It is really difficult but you need to develop that foresight; the foresight which tells you how you are in the midst of a phase which you will miss terribly once all of it is over. That is what I have decided; to get into my 2nd year thinking of it as living the best moment of my life yet. All of it starts in July with the induction of the Junior Batch. Well and truly looking forward to it. The end of Half MBA. The beginning of Half MBA.

by,

Mridul Shandilya

SJMSoM'15

Farewell to SoM'14

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Thu, 01 May 2014 13:28:00 +0000

A week of planning, a last rescheduling and finally the day was here when we bid an unofficial goodbye to the 2014 batch of Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay. Unofficial coz this was a party thrown by the SoM'15 batch to SoM'14 and you know what I mean when I say “party” right? ;-) So the location was finalized, theme decided, invitations sent out and unlimited drinks ensured! It was 30th March 2014, a day before Navratri began, so that the “religious” guys too could get themselves soaked into alcohol once before the “dry” rituals began.

Zitar in Hiranandani was the venue finalized. Although small and a little congested, it was the best a batch of 80 could afford for a 120 strong senior batch. And yeah the proximity to campus and the lovely ambience won us over at first look. The time was 7 in the evening but although punctuality is drilled into us MBA students, this was one deadline we were definitely not gonna meet. To add to the delay was a World Cup T20 match between India and Australia. So people started to trickle into the venue at around 8 and went straight to the Television. And it was only after India had ensured a comfortable victory and we had celebrated our love for our team, that the party finally began! And How!!!

Now this was 1 party in which I played multiple roles. During the party, I went from co-ordinator to personal bodyguard to gate keeper to bouncer too! Disadvantages of not being an alcoholic may be? So the party started with a few rounds of whiskeys and vodkas and once everyone was tired after a little dance, we seized the opportunity to unveil a little surprise we had in-store for SoM'14. This was a short video we made for our seniors showing their journey from day 1 to the end of 2 years and all the special moments of it. The efforts went in to making that video were immense, after all it was not our journey, it was theirs. And yeah they liked it! Certainly did…

Then came the tradition of doing a paper dance… Kinda difficult tradition to follow given the gender ratio at SJMSoM… But nevertheless, some lucky guys did get a chance to dance with the lovely ladies. This was supposed to be followed by some other games for some selected seniors but then by now, not many were in a state to play games. This is when my role switch happened to a gate keeper. Keeping the guys who had no sense of themselves in another area away from the others who just wanted to have a nice time. Gets necessary to avoid any untoward incident. We are after all representing SJMSoM, IIT Bombay and carry the institute’s tag along with us.

Every party has a moment where it all quietens down a bit. People who want to eat, form a cartel at the buffet corner. Some just wanna go take a walk outside and grab some fresh air. Or some other kindda air may be… ;-) While others just wanna sit and do nothing. And this was time for one such moment in our party. Would you call it a lull or just the silence before the storm? I guess the latter is more apt. Because, what followed was truly a storm! We managed to get the games started and that was when the energy levels went through the roof! It was time we invited some of the popular seniors on stage and asked them to perform tasks. Simple, known, tried and tested tasks but yet very effective and highly entertaining. Old is gold they said, well said!

So after the proposals and the dances and some other small tasks, it was time to unleash the last bit of the DJ on the crowd to help let them loose. Well, totally loose and beyond control. Would that be all that bad? I would personally think otherwise. After all it’s the end of a journey for them, a 2 year long, difficult, hectic, fruitful and fulfilling journey! The dancing was on at full swing for a long-long time. This was the time the seniors forgot all the good and bad that they have seen so far, and just dance! Dance with all the energy, dance with passion, dance with joy, dance with their batch mates and we, juniors join them in their celebratory dance! It was time to let it all go!

Just when your body cannot take it anymore but your mind does not want to stop, comes a voice from the manager of the place, “ladies and gentlemen, this is the last song of the night”. That’s when you realize that its 1:30 in the night, the last night you will get together as a batch. After your body has given all its energy, that “once more” starts to ring in your head. And that is when people like me had to take up the role of a bouncer. Just to ensure that everyone vacates the place with dignity and the manager is left behind happy and content.

With then we ensured that enough autos were available to take all of us back to IIT and thus we bid adieu to the batch of 2014. The seniors had been amazing right through our 1st year, helpful and fun and this was our little way of saying “Thank you”! Oh and my role as a personal bodyguard? Well, some things are best left untold…

Written by,
Pushkin Kasat
SJMSoM'15

E-Summit @ IIT Bombay

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 19:58:00 +0000

A number of eminent speakers from across the industries, competitions, workshops, food, music and contingents from all over India, that's all the ingredient you require to cook a successful e-summit. Just concluded E-summit 2014, IIT Bombay gave us all a perfect intellectual start for what is going to be a perfect year. The 2 day summit evinced interest of all bright entrepreneurs from every nook and corner of the country.

Organising such events at such a large scale might be a nightmare for organizers but it was a dream come true for the participants. Meeting and listening to your favorite role model and living their life journey with them was one of the many platform that event provided to groom the future entrepreneurs.

On one side through "I have a dream" Mr Anand Kumar was sharing with audience about how a nobody sees a dream, faces tons of difficulties and then ultimately makes it happen, and on the other side Mr Sachin Bansal of Flipkart was showing the extent to which you can flip your wing to touch the great height.

Graduates and post-graduates from different colleges participated in many events. Through Idea-Blaze they solved the problems for start-ups, through "Pitch in" they pitched their innovative ideas, Investors hat provided them opportunity to slip into investor's shoe and judge the viability of business plans of others. Many such event laid ground for them to brush their business, managerial and entrepreneurial skills.

Investor's arena provided a perfect platform for starts-up to pitch in their idea to investors (venture- firms) and get much needed fund to survive in this competitive environment.

At the end as a coordinator I saw many happy, many sad or long faces but the end goal was achieved. They came from all over India, they participated, they excelled, they learnt and last but not the least they enjoyed and will cherish this for life long.

by,

Honey Bhushan

SJMSoM'15

Sports at SJMSoM, IIT Bombay

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 03:59:00 +0000

Life at SJMSoM, IIT Bombay cannot be described in few sentences. Apart from academics, which almost takes 50% of awake time on any given day (Yes, even on Sundays), the better half of the day goes into preparing for competitions, a little bit of entertainment and last but not the least SPORTS.

Sports not only give an opportunity to relax but is also an excuse to exercise and have fun. From an MBA's perspective it also helps in networking with people from other departments and colleges as well. Here at SJMSoM, IIT Bombay; we have awesome infrastructure for sports which attracts everyone to pursue one or the other games he/she is passionate about.

There are a lot of opportunities at IIT Bombay in terms of Inter PG and Inter Hostel tournaments where students participate to explore and compete with each other in various sport events. I barely remember adjusting to the new environment of IIT when the first event of swimming was organized. A bit amazed at the quickness of the arrival of event, we participated first time as the SJMSoM department where we won silver. There was no looking back from there on. Today, when we have almost completed the end of our first year, we can proudly say that we have fared decently in various inter PG events. Gold in Table Tennis, gold in squash and hoping for a good performance in Inter PG volleyball competition which is happening even as I write this article.

But, the story doesn't end here. Some of you might be wondering that SJMSoM is a B-school, so what about the inter B-school competitions? You are right. Being in close proximity to various B-schools here in Mumbai, we have more than enough opportunities to participate in the sports events organized by various B-schools. We participated in sports events organized by NITIE, S.P. Jain, K. J. Somaiya and MISB Bocconi. At S. P. Jain’s sprint, we won 3 golds and 2 silvers in swimming and 2 silvers and a bronze in athletic events. K. J. Somaiya’s medal tally stands at gold in volleyball, silver in chess and a silver and bronze in athletic events. Also, we won the first prize in a cricket quiz conducted by MISB Bocconi.

Sports not only helps us to meet and interact with different people, which is one of the major points of doing MBA, but also gives a platform to students for showcase their talents and getting better at it. It develops various skills such as leadership qualities, ability to work in a team and so much more which I guess is known and understood by all.

I sincerely hope that we keep on participating with the same enthusiasm and win more and more medals every year…. Amen!!!

written by,

Aditya Agarwal

Sports Secretary

Class of SJMSoM' 15

Today is different

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 05:11:00 +0000

That multicolored tinge, over the skyline of Hiranandani, seemed like the trails of ‘gulaal’ thrown in the air, as if some imaginary lady left those trails while dancing her way back unmindfully. The setting sun on the back of Hotel Renaissance looked weary from the day’s toll. The lake facing balcony on the second floor of A-wing has always been a refuge for me, a refuge from those dizzying, soul-numbing moments and hullabaloo of my daily routine- a place, a space which soothed me with a psychedelic serenity and made me feel one with it. Today the calmness felt heavy. I could hear it whisper me a pensive note! Today I felt like I was floating back and forth in time. Today is different.

July 11^th, 2012 it was. The Duronto express clad in all sorts of colors from outside seemed very metaphorically iconic to beacon me into a colorful ride. It wasn't that I was boarding a Duronto for the first time; it’s just that imaginations take you anywhere pleasant you want to be and I was totally pepped up for my upcoming MBA days, like anyone else. The idea of a sabbatical from the shackles of a ‘job’ for another 2 years presented me with so many escape routes and possibilities that it literally felt like an adventure to begin with. That 28 hours journey to the ‘City of Illusions’ and I already started making friends; friends who would go on to define the journey beyond those meager 28 hours.....forever. Illusion-ed I was as I landed finally to reach Hostel 1- the Queen of the Campus; DREAMS...well, I had many, but all scattered like the pieces of a puzzle- stand alone making no sense at all; and the euphoric mind posed a great challenge to enable me to look at the bigger picture. But one thing was sure, like the wish of most of the middle class small town boys in India who aspire to step into an IIT one day, a wish that largely remains unfulfilled; I was going to live one of my long cherished aspirations, though in a different way. “Der aye, durust aye”.....Now that I was inside that jigsaw puzzle, the situation demanded me to clear all those blurs from my mind and recognize my strength so that I could go through all the pain, all the ups and downs in the days to come and not lose faith. But, I was already confused, unsure of what it all meant, unsure of who I was! Inside, I was just a small town boy, from an ordinary school, then from a not-so elite college, passing on to become a nondescript engineer in one of those nondescript software companies. Basically, I was a ‘Nobody’, to my own self. Today that silence by the lake still posed some of those doubts, some questions still puzzled me the same way but the road from a ‘Nobody’ to being a SoMite was something that made certain difference. Certainly, Today is different.

Let me float back, I thought....Those rigorous sessions, life-threatening assignments ad night-outs that made the clock tick faster and made hours paradoxically longer! Everything around seemed to move in a constant tizzy; I was a part of it too. The giant bats on the trees and the killer reptiles on the ground became my alibi. The land of insomnia was uncommonly generous on me. Loop: Classes, Dikshas, Assignments, Continuums, Project: End Loop. (And I thought all these days the programmer died inside me!) But those late night nuisance from your neighbor, the birthday bumps, the innumerable small chitchats, mimicking each other, pulling each others’ legs, occasional laughter became the much needed palliative. Every day, it was a race against time and the medal was ‘a good placement’. Days turned into months, months into a year but the incessant rain of Mumbai seemed the truest companion we had for the most part. Today the clouds above formed thin patches; today it wasn't gloomy enough to vomit raindrops. Today it seemed quiet, forlorn. Today is different.

I by the lake side balcony could well sense the redolence around. The time travel went on and on.....One year down the line and we were ready to wear the Crown (of the Campus). Hostel 12 was full of independence, introspection and hard work. The routine remained the same, the source of motivation changed; after all, the case study competitions were round the corner. Routine: Group-discuss- slog-qualify-lose in the end-repeat; Venue: A-216 / A-208. Surprisingly, that is how my romance with this corner of the A wing started in spite of having a room in the D wing , as I spent most of the small breaks here, philosophizing! Life never felt so good....Then came placements. Rejections, rejoices, heart-breaks, laughter, broken dreams, renewed vigor followed. Once again, life gave an immensely intense opportunity to feel good or bad for others, to rejoice because someone had raised the bar for everyone else, to empathize because you had to make someone else believe in their dreams even when everything was falling apart, because you knew when time came that ‘someone’ would do the same for you, always....because anyways you couldn't have done otherwise! We stood side by side. Friendship never had been better. Today, sadly the time has come to go apart. Today is strife with uncertainties. Today we are poised to say good bye. Today I feel uncomfortable standing here. Today is different and I so very wish it were not so.....

"It was the best of times it was the worst of times....
The journey has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride and needless to say there are tons of memories to last an entire lifetime...
The big failures and even bigger successes...
The tears and the smiles...
The love lost and the one found...
The friends who left and those who chose to stay...
As I said...It was the best of times it was the worst of times...."
#poemcopied

written by,

Abhishek Banerjee

SJMSoM’14

The Debate Series

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:53:00 +0000

A leader is many a times judged by the way he puts forward his thoughts in a subtle manner, his ability to listen to others, his responsiveness to think from a different perspective and the refinement he does to his thoughts by incorporating the best from others. What can be the best arena, other than debate, to develop this basic quality any leader should have.

As a part of nurturing future leaders, CONSIG, the Consulting club of SJMSoM, has taken up the initiative to revive the debating culture of our college. The debate series has been started with a brief up on the two basic types of parliamentary debating and the key players in each of the debating types.

The compositions of both parliamentary types are briefly described below for the debate novice.

Asian parliamentary type – This type of debate is contested between two teams with 3 members each, with one team being proposition/government and other one being opposition. The proposition is comprised of Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and a Government Whip. The Opposition is comprised of the Opposition Leader, Deputy Opposition Leader and an Opposition Whip.

British parliamentary type – This type of debate is contested between four teams with 2 members each, with two teams forming proposition/government and other two forming opposition. The proposition and opposition would have a closing group and opening group. The proposition opening government is comprised of Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and proposition closing government is comprised of a Member government and Government Whip. The opposition opening is comprised of Opposition Leader, Deputy Opposition Leader and opposition closing is comprised of a Member Opposition and an Opposition Whip.

With the tone set for the future debating culture at SJMSoM, ball has been set for the roll to create an everlasting snowball effect on the destined leaders.

by, Harsha Gollapinni

Member, CONSIG Club, SJMSoM

Crack the case study – tips from the winning teams

noreply@blogger.com (SJMSOM) — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 14:37:00 +0000

Marktirx, the marketing club of SJMSoM - IIT Bombay, organized a knowledge sharing session by seniors (SoM 14) who had “cracked” various case studies competitions. The winning teams shared various tips and suggestions on how to ace a case study competition based on their valuable experience.

The event, “Crack the case study – tips from the winning teams”, which was scheduled on January 23^rd, 2014 was one of the most awaited events of the season amongst the highly inquisitive batch of SoM -15.

TIP #1:

Every winning team agreed on the fact that primary research is one of the most important parts of the solution of a case study. In competitions like HUL-Lime, which gives high importance to primary research, one can actually show the primary research by putting up the photographs to augment the fact that one has done primary research. Deloitte’s case study competitions needs to be backed by research and Amazon cases competitions expects the participants to have a thorough understanding of the case. One should try and fit in all the aspects of business be it Marketing, Finance, Operations, Systems, HR etc in one’s solution. This rule is applicable to most of the case study events.

TIP #2:

The “how you present” is as important as “what you did”. The presentation of your solution should be attractive and informative at the same time. Use of tabulated and graphical data helps in achieving the same. When the limit on the number of slides/pages is minimal, make the use of the available space efficiently to stack multiple data. Making proficient use of MS Excel is important.

TIP #3:

Last but not the least important tip: Clear thinking, proper business plan and reaching to a logical conclusion are very essential to crack any competition.

***

We, Marktirx - 15, on the behalf of our entire batch, would like to thank all the seniors for putting in efforts to guide us on how to go about solving a case study.

By, Shashank Chepuri

Member, MARKTRIX, the Marketing Club of SJMSoM, IIT Bombay.