IIM Lucknow students are Airtel iCreate Champions!

The event saw a huge participation across national B-Schools of prominence with IIM Lucknow winning the tag of maximum participations from a single campus, as well as the maximum shortlists in the first round. The icing on the cake was IIML's 'Minions of Ahriman' - an all-Siddharth team - winning the Airtel Championship, cutting to size more than 380 participating teams.

“Every ad is an opportunity for the consumer to marry the brand”, says the Marketing Head, Colors TV

IIM Lucknow had the privilege of hosting Mr Rameet Arora, the Marketing Head of Colors TV on campus. Rameet began with an in-depth analysis of Advertising via a Hands-on workshop. Punctuated with over 120 advertisements the 2.5 hour workshop was a true testament to the anecdote on the Theory of Relativity! The IIM Lucknow student community turned up in large numbers intrigued by the meteoric rise of Colors and curious about the man who played a key role in that progress.


The workshop analysed the thought process behind the most creative advertisements and included the mental math that most advertisers used. Mr. Arora highlighted that most good advertisements tell a story and the ads which become memorable are the ones with a simple and engaging truth in them. “Every ad is an opportunity for the consumer to marry the brand”, quoted Mr. Rameet.


With the marketing bunch in the audience aware of the strong nexus that marketers and advertisers have, questions on brand marketing and advertising flowed freely. The most exciting part unravelled in the form of a case study on the launch of Colors, how the channel beat the leader Star Plus and how it continues to remain dominant. The differentiated marketing strategy used by Colors and their brand positioning stratagem amazed yet baffled the IIM students. Ribika, a spokesperson of the Industry Interaction Committee (IIC) which organized the event summed up the evening succinctly with a “Rameet was brilliance personified...we couldn’t have learnt this much in week of classes!”

Directi Case Study Challenge

Directi hosted a National Business Case Study Challenge seeking ideas to promote Blogging among users in India with over 1400 participants in about 487 teams. Team Six Degrees from IIM Lucknow, comprising Suban Walia and Akhil Chugh was one of the 5 teams selected for the Final Presentation.

Doing business, the Himalayan Way!

The talk by Himalaya’s CEO Mr. Ravi Prasad provided the students of IIM Lucknow the wonderful opportunity to learn about brand building from the man himself who has transformed brand Himalaya globally.


Mr. Ravi Prasad talked about the journey of Himalaya and discussed decisions- right or wrong, which has helped Himalaya to reach the position which it has attained today. With the benefit of hindsight he talked about what Himalaya could have done better in terms of decision making.


He talked about health care trend shift in India and as well as shift of consumer to Ayurveda. He talked about success of Liv 52 which has defied all concepts of product life cycles and shared insights on what made the product huge success during all these years since its inception in 1955.


He talked about the most important milestone of creating a brand from the company – Himalaya Health care and then extending it to other products like body care, body oil, chawanyaprash etc. He also discussed ways about how to lend credibility to brands and how to keep consumers hooked and provided live examples. He also discussed about Himalaya‘s international market strategy.


The session was highly interactive and lots of question related to Himalaya ‘s position as compared to leading FMCG giants like P&G and HUL were asked. Audience were impressed and heavily applauded Mr. Ravi Prasad when he shared Himalaya’s stand towards environment and its conscious decision of not introducing sachets until they come up with bio degradable packets. Session was aptly summed up by one of the audience who said that perhaps he has learned more about building brands in these 90 minutes than in the complete course in a semester.

Samvit’09 - The Leaders’ Conclave: Who's who of India Inc. at IIM Lucknow

The Industry Interaction Committee’s cardinal endeavour is to build a conduit from the Knowledge centres of the corporate world to the classrooms of IIM Lucknow. In that pursuit, Samvit (Knowledge potency) was conceptualized to bring the best from the Industry to IIM Lucknow. The flagship event of IIC, Samvit has become an indispensable thread in IIM Lucknow’s brand positioning.


Samvit’09 saw the presence of stalwarts such as Pramod Bhasin (Chairman of NASSCOM & CEO of Genpact), Ajit Balakrishnan (Chairman Rediff.com), Kalpana Morparia (Country Head JP Morgan), Meera Sanyal (Country Head ABN AMRO) and Dr.Biswadip Mitra (MD Texas Instruments). These Industry Leaders were joined by Dr. Sandeep Pandey, a 2002 Magsaysay award winner who chose to throw away a lucrative career to become a social activist. The event was thus rightly titled “The Leaders’ Conclave” given this panel of elite visionaries.


The event was anchored by the affable Mr. Sanjeev Srivastava (BBC India Editor) who ensured that the conclave was as entertaining as informative. The theme of Samvit’09 was “Emerging pillars of the Indian Economy”. The theme was in line with the Indian growth story amidst the wreck of the financial slump where new sectors and a diversified labour force were emerging from the rubble.




The event opened with key note speeches from the each of the leaders. Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan and Dr. Biswadip Mitra shared their insights on technology’s indispensable contribution hitherto and its potential for India. To a question on corruption remaining unchanged, Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan intrigued the audience by focussing on the different facts of corruption and how India emerging from a licence raj era to a fairly liberal environment is per se, progress and an abatement of one type of corruption.


Dr. Sandeep Pandey, renowned for his work for the underprivileged, reminded the audience about the plight of more than a million people who truly constitute the “Unorganized” sector/section and thereby forced to accept punitive measures. His comparison of the price of mineral water to the price of milk drew widespread applause amidst a guffaw. Ms. Meera Sanyal shared her thoughts on the elections she contested. The student community was awed by her rationale and sense of conviction in contesting the elections while managing ABN AMRO in addition to contributing to social welfare activities. A second year student at IIM Lucknow opined that “Ms. Sanyal is the true paradigm of being strong and decisive”.


Mr. Pramod Bhasin delivered a flawless key note address followed by multiple interjections in the panel discussion, and made it clear that India’s progress can be supplemented only by the simultaneous existence of liberalization and social transformation.


Ms. Kalpana Morparia disabused some of the most popular misconceptions about China and drew the panel into an interesting discussion on China’s progress viz-a-viz India. The panel of leaders collectively threw light on how China’s administration is governed by some of the smartest people in the country which facilitates sustained development.


Ms. Meera Sanyal’s parting words to the panel of leaders and to the audience became the cynosure of the talk, when she quipped, “I hope this entire panel joins politics” in the context of Indian Administration needing leaders and visionaries such as those pre-independence.


The panel discussion drew a flurry of questions from the audience including the most appreciated one from a serving captain of the army who said “We have heard of Jai Jawan Jai Keesan. We only talk about the ‘Keesan’, what about the 'Jawan’? Do banks also have models for our needs?”


The 25th of October,2009 saw IIM Lucknow culminate its 25th year by opening a new chapter in its inimitable record. Samvit’10 is expected to be bigger and grander with IIC25 setting the plans in place in advance to add another feather to the School’s cap.

Mahindra War Room 2009

More than 50 teams from the institute battled it out in this national corporate strategy game open to only a select few B-schools in the country. Team Winner’s Curse’s (comprising Piyush Bhomia, Shantanu Singh, Praneet Mishra & Ranjeet Mohapatra) strategy for Mahindra’s Two-wheeler business bagged them the ‘Campus Champions’ crown.

GSK StratEdge

The third edition of the national level case study competition of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd. (GSKCH), saw enthusiastic participants work on rural distribution and impulse purchasing.

Communicating effectively - A new paradigm

The Industry Interaction Committee (IIC) organized a Communication workshop to enhance the presentation skills of aspiring managers at IIM Lucknow. Although students at an IIM come in with a sharp skill set in communicating and presenting, they are continually learning the art of persuasion. The workshop was organized for precisely that -honing the persuasion skills of these budding managers.


The workshop was conducted by Mr. Chendil Kumar, a program manager at the NSRCEL, IIMB and a member of the Guest Faculty, IIMB. Mr. Chendil Kumar is also an ace public speaker who has achieved numerous accolades in the Toastmasters Organization, which hones public speaking and leadership skills). Known to be incredibly droll, Mr. Chendil Kumar began with a flurry of anecdotes that emphasized the importance of persuasion skills in the corporate world. He went to explicate the fundamental structures in analyzing the audience and shared with the audience a set of concrete steps to sell themselves effectively when delivering pitches and presentations.


To keep the audience actively engaged, he invited two members from the audience to prepare and deliver a pitch and solicited evaluations of these speakers from the audience. This session perhaps proved to be the most enriching as the students were lucidly shown where the pitfalls lay and how they need to avoid them in the course of making a pitch.


The workshop ended with Mr. Kumar summing up the oft-used models in communication with amusing snippets from his teaching career. The feedback for the workshop was overwhelming, with over 80 students keen on knowing more and requesting Mr. Kumar to host another session. IIC will continue to host communication workshops in 2010 and 2011 catering to different facets in managerial communication.

Barclays Wealth Vice-President visits IIM Lucknow for a talk

Mr. Chetan Bulsari, Vice President-Finance, Barclays Wealth visited IIM Lucknow on July 11^th and conducted two interactive sessions with the students. Mr. Bulsari is a Chartered Accountant and company secretary by profession and has extensive industry experience.

In the wake of the current financial crisis, the first session was “Global Financial Meltdown & the Way Forward”. This session was exclusively for the first year students at IIM Lucknow to help them understand the real issues which led the financial crisis to its current state and what could be the possible strategies that companies can employ in the future to avoid such a crisis.

Mr. Bulsari also conducted a session on “Risk Management for a Bank & the Role of Treasury”. This session was helpful for the second year students specializing in Finance. Mr. Bulsari talked about different types of risks in Bank Management and explained them through case studies. He also talked about the role of treasury in banks and its functions. He also gave insights on wealth management. The talk was highly interactive and more than 150 students attended the sessions.

This talk was the first of many in the Colloquy talk series conducted by Industry Interaction Committee of IIM Lucknow during the current academic year.

The Road Ahead for MBAs in the IT industry

At the workshop “The Road Ahead”, the students of IIML had the opportunity to interact with Mr. Vishal Anand, Senior Manager from Cognizant Technology Services, who is also an alumnus of the institute. He addressed the students on the need of MBA graduates in the IT industry. He explained how the role of MBAs has changed over the years and how important it was to listen and collaborate with the client.


He detailed out the “two-in-a-box” concept which has led to sustained innovative practices, which are still very relevant to the business. He said that it was mostly the never-say-die-attitude and continuous ability to learn, un-learn and re-learn that was the key to success in the fast-changing industry. He suggested various career paths for MBAs like Business analysis, IT consulting, Business Development , Alliance Management, most of which would be client facing roles and require the building of a good rapport between the client and the service provider.


Mr. Anand emphasized the importance of customer focus and what exactly the businesses expected from an IT service provider. He highlighted how MBAs were crucial and could make a difference to the industry in this difficult economic situation. The students were highly enthusiastic and the session ended with an interactive question and answer session where he shared his valuable experience in Business Consulting with the students.

GEnesis 2009

GE India, for the first time, held an inter-college contest named GEnesis'09. The underlying themes for the contest were "India Security - Integrated Building Security/Surveillance Systems" and "Integrated Renewable Energy Solutions for India". The contest consisted of a case study and a final presentation before the senior GE management. Three IIM Lucknow teams made it to the finals.

J&J Envidea Challenge

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Medical launched this unique case study in select top B-schools with a highly lucrative prize of a pre-placement interview or internship. The competition truly lived upto its expectations even as mentors from J&J Medical gave students insights into the business of medical marketing through this exciting format.

Private Equity Workshop at IIM Lucknow

With India’s Private Equity sector moving into the big league and fund sizes increasing dramatically, management graduates across the country have started showing keen interest in the subject. Keeping this in mind, IIM Lucknow organized one day workshop on Private Equity which helped the students gain insights into the nuances of Private Equity.

The workshop was conducted by Mr. Carlton Pereira, MD of Tano Capital Advisors, a PE Firm and Mr. Chittaranjan Kaul, MD of Executive Coaching Firm Sanvaad. Mr. Kaul, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, has previously worked with Bank of America for 16 years as an International Executive.

Mr. Kaul provided an overview of the Private Equity sector in India and made the students understand the motivation to study Private Equity as a course in a classroom. He also engaged the students in an interaction on the personal, societal, technical and organizational issues pertaining to Private equity.

Mr. Pereira provided a brief history of Private Equity sector and highlighted the important events over the last few decades which have provided the impetus for the PE sector to emerge. Mr. Pereira elaborated on the different types of Private Equity and the entire investment process in a Private Equity firm.

He also emphasized that with the strong global interest in the Indian market, the challenge is no longer about raising private equity funds, but how to extract value from the portfolio investments, turning the focus from financial capital to human capital.

Mr. Pereira discussed two live case studies and used them as examples to explain various Private Equity concepts to the students.

The talk was highly interactive in nature and more than 100 students attended the workshop. Due to their keen interest in the subject, IIM Lucknow has decided to conduct an academic course on Private Equity. The guest speakers Mr. Pereira and Mr. Kaul have agreed to organize this credit course in the Lucknow campus for the second year PGP students from this year.

Business Dining Workshop at Taj Residency

On the March 14, 2009, 30 final year students of IIM Lucknow gathered at the Taj Residency, Lucknow, for a Business Dining Etiquette workshop, conducted by the Taj Residency trainers.

While the students enjoyed a four-course dinner, they also learned nuances of dining etiquettes. Everything from appropriate seating arrangement, proper way to hold the silver ware, the plate setting, holding a glass and a napkin, to hosting a dinner, raising a toast as well as how to eat special dishes while maintaining an engaging conversation were learnt by the students.

Proper dining etiquette is a lost skill today. Many students are accustomed to fast food and extremely casual dining situations. Like all soft skills which an MBA graduate must possess, knowing proper dining etiquette is important not only before but especially after getting hired.

Stepping in to fill this gap, Industry Interaction Committee (IIC), a student body at IIM L , organized this non-traditional workshop, especially for the benefit of the second year MBA students who will be passing out on the 17^th of March and joining the corporate world.

The workshop saw overwhelming response from the students. The participants felt this workshop helped them understand the intricacies of dining and this will provide them the confidence needed to leave a lasting impression with key clients in the competitive job market. 

Public - Private Partnership, Project financing in realty sector by Mr. Anirban Chakraborti from Punj Lloyd

In keeping with its legacy of inviting guest lecturers from diverse industries, IIM Lucknow organized the first talk of its kind, on “Project Financing in Realty Sector” by the Guest Speaker, Mr. Anirban Chakraborti, Project Controller, Punj-Lloyd - the 2nd largest EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) player in the country.

Mr. Anirban Chakraborti, alumni of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad ‐ Class of 2007, has also worked with E&Y Business Advisory Services as a financial consultant.

Mr. Chakraborti elaborated on the key issues and challenges involved in the financing and procurement for these large scale infrastructure projects. He also highlighted the complexity of executing such projects especially with regard to personnel safety on projects undertaken in politically unstable countries, which constitutes a significant portion of the new infrastructure projects in the world.

He evoked greater interest by examining a few recent most examples of important projects such as DIAL, HAIL, Delhi Gurgaon Expressway, Vizhinjam Sea Port, some of which have been the topic of much controversy of late.

Going by the interest expressed by the students, Mr. Chakraborti discussed in depth the two main models in EPC projects, namely the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and the Public Social Private Partnership (PSPP) model. Discussion brought out the need to ensure competition and avoid a private monopoly.

The talk, highly interactive in nature, saw a good participation by the students with keen insights shared by Mr. Chakraborti.

Anjuman - A Grand Success

Distinguished guests from Industry and the Government, students from prestigious B-Schools of India, Alumni and Faculty members of IIM Lucknow along with the media, attended Anjuman – The Corporate Luncheon of IIM Lucknow on the sunny morning of 17th of January.The second edition of Anjuman provided a platform for stalwarts of various domains to share their expert opinions with the students, facilitating an exchange of ideas and perspectives on fast-emerging trends in the modern world of business. The theme for the discussion was, “Sustainable Development-Fuelling the Future”.

The discussions revolved around the conflict between economic development and environmental concern. To throw some light upon the issue, key speakers Mr.Harsh Manglik, Mr. Vikram Akula and Dr.J.J.Irani were specially invited. 

Mr. Harsh Manglik, the chairman and geography managing director for Accenture in India, stressed upon the fact that sustainability is not an option. It is the way corporate entities will have to rework their business model. Rural employability forms a very important part of the whole process which has no definite answers or pathway and should form the basis of finding new concepts of working. The three key ideas presented by him were access to knowledge and to capability building opportunities, presence of market opportunities and inclusion of the bottom of the pyramid. Mr. Manglik explained the concepts with the help of fundamental principles of inclusion and scalable opportunities. 

This key note address by Mr. Manglik was supported by Mr. Vikram Akula, the founder and chairperson of SKS microfinance. The organization has a mission to eradicate poverty through the provision of financial services to the poor. Mr. Akula emphasized the need of sustainable development in the field of micro financing by addressing the issues of access to capital scalability, increased capacity and very high cost of capital. He also highlighted the concept of creative Capitalism and how the budding mangers can use it to create a sustainable model for giving everyone a chance to have access to finance. In his own words, “…Creative Capitalism should act as a promise of economic freedom to all who have been left behind.”

Dr.J.J.Irani, director on the boards of several corporate firms said in clear words that we can no longer rely on our past and should look forward to the youthful opportunity presented to us to make a difference to the future. 

Table discussions were other highlights of Anjuman. Different mixes of guests, students, alumni and faculties were seated at tables which provided each of the participants a unique opportunity to interact one on one. Different panels discussed topics related to the theme and shared their thoughts and ideas. The topics touched upon Green Marketing, Rural development, Sustainable organizational structure, Environmental stability, Energy management and Role of Academia in sustainable development for the future. The common thought that cropped up during the discussion was the integration of efforts by private and public sector. The representatives of different sectors across various domains came to the common conclusion that sustained efforts through policies and implementation, are required to give our future generations a deserving chance to flourish in a more aware environment. 

The rich interaction of students, faculties, corporate representatives and media persons helped in spreading the message of sustainable development in an effective way. The theme sustainability was reflected by the impression it created in the minds of one and all and the thoughts they have carried and will pass on to many more people they will meet in the due course of their work and social life.

Anjuman - The Corporate Luncheon

“There must be a better way to make the things we want, a way that doesn't spoil the sky, or the rain or the land” - Sir Paul McCartney

Our way of life is placing an increasing burden on the planet. As the world's population continues to increase, we see a world where over a billion people live on less than a dollar a day. From the loss of biodiversity to apocalyptic climactic changes, our consumption patterns are having a negative effect on the environment. To put it bluntly, we are living beyond our means.

The answer lies in a development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In short, we need ‘Sustainable Development’. Aptly thus, Indian Institute of Management Lucknow has decided to base this year’s edition of its annual management conclave ‘Manfest’ on the theme of ‘Sustainable Development- Fuelling the Future’.

Sustainable development is an eclectic concept, as a wide array of views fall under its umbrella. It encompasses a number of areas and highlights sustainability as the ideal mix of environmental concern, economic equity, social progress and a heavy dose of political commitment. Thus, a healthy discussion on the theme requires representation from all stakeholders of the society.

IIM Lucknow, entering into its Silver Jubilee year, proudly presents Anjuman - the corporate luncheon, as part of ManFest. Anjuman endeavors to provide this platform for stalwarts of various domains to share their expert opinions on the topic. It aims to foster a decisive resolve to deal with the issue among the people who can create the maximum impact. The esteemed guest list will include revered policy makers, top industry captains, representatives from the social sector, faculty, senior alumni from the institute, and current students.

                                                                

Format of the Luncheon:

Aadaab

Welcome Note and Introduction

Alfaaz

Speeches by the key-note speakers followed by discussion facilitated by the Anchor

Aalaap

Conversation over Lunch

Asaas

A glimpse into IIM Lucknow

Alvida

Closing Note

         Date: 17^th January, 2009                   Venue: IIM Lucknow

A talk on 'Demand & Funding of Mortgages and the latest trends in consumer finance' by Mr.Sujan Sinha (Sr VP and Head of retail assets, Axis Bank)

Mr. Sujan Sinha, Senior Vice President and Head of retail assets at Axis Bank, delivered a guest lecture at IIM lucknow on ‘Latest trends in consumer finance and mechanics of demand and funding in mortgages’. Sharing his assessment of the current crisis in India, he opined that the current crisis is not a home grown crisis and is difficult to project what problems are still to come in the American economy. But, showing the faith in Indian consumer, he felt that this crisis will first see the revival of consumer spending and then the revival of corporate India. He believed it was fortunate that the policy norms kept the exposure of Indian banks limited. Thus, the current crisis is more of a result of lack of faith in the financial system than any underlying losses.

Due to this crisis realty sector is badly hit. Due to crunch of liquidity, the small builders are forced to sell properties at a lower prices, this is pushing prices in the real estate market southwards. Now this unexpected drop in prices is influencing buyer to get into a wait and watch mode expecting a further price drop. Thus, the sales of real estate are dropping further trapping the industry into the vicious demand cycle. This is also affecting the supply side of real estate and builders are stuck with semi finished projects for which they are not able to arrange finances. But, the aggressive moves by RBI to help liquidity in the market would bring back the sanity in the market. Also cut in crucial rates by RBI will also ensure a correction in time deposits that are at an all time high to come down to single digit interest rates.

He concluded the discussion on a positive note praising past IIM Lucknow recruits for being aware of ground realities and long term thinking. The session was very well received by the students and was punctuated with regular questions.