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.