Industry Interaction Cell, IIM Lucknow

Anjuman 2012

2012-01-30T22:32:00.000+05:30

Anjuman – The Annual Leader’s Corporate Luncheon stands unique in its aim to bring together students and industry leaders for an informal interaction over a sumptuous Nawabi Lunch. Anjuman 2012, structured along the same lines as its predecessors, brought together renowned industry leaders as keynote speakers and provided an ideal platform for corporate heads, IIM Lucknow faculty and a select set of students to learn from each other.

Organized around the theme ‘ Innovate, Implement and Inspire: Build a Legacy’, Anjuman sought to celebrate the business houses, leaders and institutions who have through their continuous and consistent show of brilliance shaped the county.

The Keynote Speakers for this year’s event were:

· Mr. S D Latkar (CFO, Computational Research Laboratories)

· Mr. Jayant Krishna (CSI Lucknow Chairman & Principal Consultant, TCS)

· Mr. Chaitanya Kalbag (Editor, Business Today)

· Mr. Sheshadri Rajaram (CEO, Erhardt + Leimer India Pvt. Ltd)

· Mr. Santosh Nair (Editor, moneycontrol.com)

The event was flagged off by a keynote address by Dr. Devi Singh (Director, IIM Lucknow) who set the theme of the discussion by expressing how legacy stemmed from the fact that some were brave enough to think beyond the obvious, employ successfully ideas which no one else would dare to employ and then persistently work on those ideas to make a substantial difference to the lives of all those it touched. He pointed out that most of us Indians believe that we are creative but it is our failure to take those ideas to conclusion that threatens our quest to establish India as a global power in the next two decades.

Mr. S D Latkar (CFO, Computational Research Laboratories) shared his long experience with the Tata Group, narrating to the audience not only various innovations he had seen but also the work done in developing Computational Research Laboratories

Mr. Jayant Krishna (CSI Lucknow Chairman & Principal Consultant, TCS) sought, through examples to explain how an enterprise builds its legacy. Narrating anecdotes highlighting the rise of the Tata Group, he illustrated how at times through innovation, how at times choosing to focus on strengths and how sometimes through the sheer desire to change the way you want the world to see you can inspire a company to rise from humble beginnings to become one of the most respected names of the world.

Mr. Chaitanya Kalbag (Editor, Business Today), the first Asian to rise to one of the most senior positions at Reuters, shared with the audience his views on how Indian culture and work ethics are different with in relation to innovation, from that of its western counterparts. He put before the house that perhaps we as Indians should detach ourselves from our culture in order to innovate and build India as an economic powerhouse. He did concede however that countries such as Japan and Korea have managed to embrace innovation as a part of their culture and grow economically while holding steadfast to their traditional values.

Mr. Sheshadri Rajaram (CEO, Erhardt + Leimer India Pvt. Ltd) stated that perhaps it is easier to innovate when you are in charge of a smaller organization than when you are involved in a large company and hindered by countless processes. He used his own experience as an example of how being hindered in a big company before his business education, he chose to work for a smaller firm post MBA and how the satisfaction of being able to innovate as he chooses stops him from even thinking of swapping organizations

Mr. Santosh Nair (Editor, moneycontrol.com) bought to the table his technical insights from moneycontrol.com, impressing upon the audience the need for innovation for a nascent idea to grow and eventually establish itself in the wider scheme of things.

Following the keynote addresses and an insightful Q&A session with the audience, the event concluded with a sumptuous lunch which presented the lighter side of the leaders, as they opened up to informal discussion with the attendees. Speaking about the event, Rishikesh Tripathy, a second year student of IIM Lucknow remarked, “Events such as Anjuman help the students in viewing the regular course work at IIM through the lens of Industry people. These interactions truly are an invaluable part of an IIM experience.”

SAMVIT 2011

2011-12-05T16:28:00.005+05:30

Samvit 2011 - The Annual Leadership Summit of IIM Lucknow was held on December 3, 2011. Samvit 2011 witnessed the congregation of some of India’s most brilliant and potent minds who ideated on “The Sinking World Economy and its Implications for Indian businesses”. The focus was on how India should face the stormy headwinds seeking to derail the progress of its fledgling industries and emerge stronger and surer of her place as one of the vanguards of global economy. This year’s panel consisted of corporate leaders and banking-stalwarts. The eminent speakers included Mr. Aditya Puri, MD HDFC Bank, Mr. KR Kamath, CMD Punjab National Bank, Mr. Roopen Roy, MD, Deloitte Consulting, India, Mr. Srinivasan Iyengar, MD-Strategy, Standard Chartered Bank, Mr. Dharmakirti Joshi, Chief Economist, CRISIL, Mr. Naresh Kothari, President & Co-Head, Edelweiss Financial Services and Mr. Sonjoy Mohanty, CEO, Educomp Supplemental Business. Mr. Sharat Pradhan, eminent journalist, donned the role of Master of Ceremonies.

Leader's Panel at SAMVIT 2011

Opening the round of discussions, Mr Aditya Puri set the tone for the evening with the idea that Indian economy has a bright future. He spoke about the Indian economy being structurally resilient with sound banking fundamentals. He added that India’s economic model is quite different from that of the US and most of the European countries. Further, he expressed optimism for India’s future saying that there will not be a huge impact of current global crisis on India and that 7% growth in GDP is still magnificent. He expressed confidence in the Indian banks and commented that they are safe and secure to run. However, he was circumspect about the surge in commodity prices and proffered that this trend can lead to a drop in growth rate to below 8%. Elaborating on the issue Mr Puri quipped “This is not the only for problem for us, government needs to take supply side measures for a sustainable growth rate in the long term.”

Taking the cue from Mr Puri, Mr. Kamath enlightened the audience with several anecdotes and explained that Indian banks had the capabilities to handle the growing non-performing assets (NPAs) which comprise only a small percentage of the bank’s total portfolio. He laid stress on protecting the weakest links of the economy such as the consumer, Non-Banking Financial Corporations (NBFCs) etc. However he too expressed optimism for the long term growth of the country and stressed on reaping the strong demographic dividends and intellectual property that is inherent to India. He explained that a lot of pessimism has been created about India’s future by the media and philosophically predicted that “The only way ahead is to prepare for challenges and be patient”.

Mr. Roopen Roy presented an optimistic view to the discussion with the idea that we as a country are more global than we think. Taking cue from Edward Lorenz’s famous Chaos theory and the butterfly effect, Mr. Roy explained how a small disturbance in a place like Lucknow can result into a tornado in Los Angeles. Justifying his stance, Mr Roy said “We should not ignore the small things that happen globally.” Further, he mentioned that looking at the economy only from the GDP and stakeholders’ perspective narrows down the vision. To broaden our view, we should include the needs of the people in rural areas. A more realistic view on our economy is the need of the hour, appreciating what is good but at the same time keeping our eyes open for the impending challenges. On the global crisis, Mr. Roy said that Europe is likely to witness supervised fiscal union with poor countries being brought under the surveillance of European Union, especially Germany.

Mr. Dharmakirti Joshi painted a grim scenario of the future ahead and warned the students of painful times ahead as he suggested that the internal and external firepower to make the necessary changes in policy and governance is missing. He remarked “It will be difficult for us to offset any future downturn without a fiscal muscle power. In 2008, India managed to escape the global crisis mainly because of the policy measures that had already been embedded in the economy such as the increase in the public sector wages, farm loan waiver and NREGA.” He also talked about the growing interaction of Indian industries with the world in that currently around 25% of the revenues for top 50 corporations in India come from outside the country. He also mentioned how economic cycles of India and western countries are synchronised. He said “Even though the long term growth trajectory may be different from the OECD countries but in short term a downturn in western countries leads to a downturn in India.”

Mr Iyenger described the Indian economy as interdependent and said that we should have the resolve to turn around the situation considering what we have done it in the past. He compared the Indian economy with a swarm of bees indicating that the directionality towards growth of India is clear and we are marching ahead but the pace of this growth is in question. He also talked about doing things right and doing the right things. Stressing that the solution to the present scenario is well within our hands, Mr. Iyenger quipped “we are well positioned to take the advantage of the opportunities that shift of power from west to east will bring.” He concluded with the point that there is supporting infrastructure to foster reverse brain drain in the country and that sinking world economy is a big opportunity for us.

Mr Kothari sounded a word of caution “Although Indian economy is insulated at its core with a domestic consumption of close to 70% of GDP and low dependence on the global debt. He felt that India can grow at 6-7% on its own but to grow beyond 8-9%, it has to depend on its global trading partners to perform well.” He explained further “This is mainly because Indian is well integrated in the global economy.” He expressed disappointment that lately there has not been much policy making but only policy tinkering.

Mr Mohanty, an alumnus of the first batch of IIM Lucknow, explained how things have changed over the years. He famously remarked that “We looked to the west for everything but now the west looks to the east. India brings unparalleled innovation to the world.” He urged the youth to be more entrepreneurial in their endeavours. Talking about our adaptability and using the vast reserves of knowledge that we have, Mr. Mohanty said sinking world provides a lot opportunities for the country.

In its 4^th edition, Samvit 2011 lived up to its reputation as the Annual Leadership Summit of IIM Lucknow. The excited student crowd, mingled freely with the leaders in the informal high tea session, which marked the closure of the event. Speaking jubilantly and reminiscing about his favourite moment of the summit, Vamshidar Bandi, a 2^nd year student of IIM Lucknow said “It was an eye opener of sorts for me. Mr. Aditya Puri’s and Mr Kamath’s age old adages make a B-school student wonder what exactly he should be aiming for in his life?” His dreamy smiles however suggested that he had actually found his answer.

Gurcharan Das on Dharma-based Management

2011-09-29T17:57:00.010+05:30

IIM Lucknow added a new flavour to its Leadership Talk Series – Prodigies through a guest lecture by one of the most revered authors of current times Mr. Gurcharan Das. Mr. Das is the author of the bestsellers such as India Unbound and The Difficulty of Being Good. Before becoming a full-time writer, he was Managing Director of Proctor & Gamble Worldwide and CEO of Proctor & Gamble India.

Mr. Gurcharan Das delivering lecture on learnings from Mahabharata

Mr. Gurcharan Das discussed how contemporary leaders can learn some of the important lessons of leadership from one of the greatest Indian epic Mahabharata. He said that intelligence is overrated in today’s world and the three essential qualities a leader should have are – determination or will power, humility but not lack of ambition and integrity. Leadership is all about inspiring others through high energy, strong will power and most importantly through integrity. Leaders face moral dilemma throughout their career and what they choose and the motivation behind their decision defines their character.

IIM Lucknow students learning Management Mantras from Mr. Gurcharan Das

He drew examples of courage, dharma or doing what one ought to, loyalty or righteousness and compassion from Mahabharata. When Draupadi was humiliated in front of everyone she asked Bhisma why was he silent. Dharma says half the punishment should be given to the person committing the crime, quarter to the allies and the remaining quarter should be borne by those who remain silent. Mr. Das opined that today this is the biggest problem of our society - our leaders remain silent such as our respected Prime Minister when the entire nation is full of anger on so many issues.

Further, he talked about one of the greatest warriors (Kshatriyas) from Mahabharata – Karna. Karna despite being enormously talented and ambitious was not treated as a Kshatriya but a Soodputra (someone of lower caste). Krishna realized that Karna was the only person who could lead to Pandavas’ defeat. Krishna approaches Karna to entice him and make him switch sides by offering him entire kingdom, status of elder brother of Pandavas and Draupadi as his wife. But Karna denies saying a mother is not someone who gives birth but who raises you. This thought reflects on our caste ridden society and shows a sense of value, a sense of loyalty of Karna towards Duryodhna and a sense of right and wrong.

Finally, Mr. Das talked about compassion of Yudhistra towards a stray dog who accompanies him in his journey to heaven. Eventually, Yudhistra sacrifices heaven because Indra does not allow a dog to enter heaven, suggesting that one should help someone who comes for refuge to you.

Mr. Gurcharan Das signing copies of his latest book

'The Difficulty of Being Good' for the students

Mr. Das ended his talk with a note that message of Dharma is act of goodness and how his latest book ‘The Difficulty of being Good’ describes this in further detail.

Overall, it was a great learning experience for the students. The insights helped to understand that corporate life and life in general is not just about achieving success but also about making the decisions that are fair and hold moral high ground.

Article in HT: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Dharma-based-management-Lessons-from-Mahabharat-for-IIM-L-students/Article1-751163.aspx

ASK RBI: India’s Economic Performance – The Present & The Future

2011-08-21T03:30:00.002+05:30

Keeping with IIM Lucknow’s continuous endeavour to provide students with exposure to a variety of exciting opportunities and leadership roles, an interactive guest lecture was organized by the Industry Interaction Cell, as a part of Prodigies – The Leadership Talk Series.

Mr. Deepak Mohanty - Executive Director RBI

The students were introduced to the framework and nuances of India’s monetary policy by Mr. Deepak Mohanty, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India. Following an address by Dr. Amrendra Sahoo, Regional Director, RBI Lucknow, who discussed India’s challenges and listed possible paths for the county to tread in the future, the keynote speaker, Mr. Mohanty, who has served as a special advisor to the IMF prior to his current position and holds post graduate degrees from JNU and Yale University, discussed the importance of monetary policies and their implementation by Central Banks. He then described the RBI’s framework before extensively explaining how the RBI conducts its operations. The main lecture concluded with a discussion on the challenges faced by the RBI in the present scenario.

The event, aptly titled “Ask RBI”,was a highly innovative concept wherein questions were invited from the audience via social media before the event. Most of Mr. Mohanty’s lecture was based around the queries of the students and those not addressed within the body of the talk were dealt with in detail in the ensuing Q&A session.

The experience was enriching for all in attendance and the rich flow of thoughts brought new ideas to surface. It was surely an enlightening talk for all and the attending students had much to take back home from this session.

Anjuman 2011 - The Annual Leader's Corporate Luncheon

2011-03-22T04:12:00.001+05:30

Anjuman – The Annual Leader’s Corporate Luncheon, is one of the most anticipated events at IIM Lucknow. Anjuman 2011, structured along the same lines as its predecessors, brought together iconic leaders as key note speakers and provided an ideal platform for corporate heads, alumni, IIM Lucknow faculty and a select set of students to interact and learn from one another.

The theme for Anjuman 2011 was “Renaissance 2030: Shape the Change” and the keynote speakers this year were Dr. Devi Singh (Director, IIM Lucknow), Mr. H.K. Dua (Padma Bhushan and MP, Rajya Sabha), Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani (CEO, Naukri.com), Mr. Ashank Desai (Founder, Mastek Limited) and Mr. Baru Rao(COO, Capgemini, Europe).

The event was flagged off by a keynote address from Dr. Devi Singh (Director, IIM Lucknow) who succinctly summed up the salient challenges facing India, and the possible paths the country should tread in future, to ensure holistic development.

Mr. H.K Dua (Padma Bhushan and MP, Rajya Sabha) expanded the ambit of the discussion by stressing on the role of youth in India’s development. Exhorting the young management students of the campus to take an active interest in the administration of the country, Mr. Dua harped on the need of fresh ideas for sustaining India’s economic growth in the new millennium.

Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani (CEO Naukri.com) gave a personal tinge to his discourse as he enumerated examples from his life to describe how an individual’s endeavours fit in the greater scheme of things. Stressing on the need for entrepreneurial skills, Mr Bikhchandani praised the Indian social system for consistently churning out new ideas, which according to him are invaluable in shaping the future course of the nation.

Mr. Baru Rao (COO, Capgemini, Europe) regaled the crowd with his immaculate Urdu, as he successfully speckled the serious discussion with humorous anecdotes from his life. Marvellng at the great growth that India has achieved in the past, he talked about the need for inclusive growth and social integration, as necessary measures to rein in India’s continued prosperity.

As the sunny morning progressed into forenoon, the event shifted into an interactive session where the guests sought to engage the key-note speakers on a wide array of issues relevant to contemporary India. The rich flow of thoughts brought newer ideas to surface as the leaders balanced their positions vis-à-vis the inputs from the crowd.

The event concluded with a sumptuous lunch which presented the lighter side of the leaders, as they opened up to informal discussion with the attendees. Even as the orange hues of the evening sun signaled the successful closure of the luncheon, the campus was abuzz with the reflections of the event gone by. Speaking about the event, Karan Sehgal, a first year student of IIM Lucknow, remarked “Events like Anjuman are few of the unique ways in which industry interaction is facilitated at IIM Lucknow. By bringing together such a diverse set of leaders, teachers and corporate, Industry Interaction Cell has successfully amalgamated the best of campus education with industry experience.”

Samvit in National Media!

2010-11-30T18:53:00.000+05:30

IIM Lucknow hosts leading bankers at Samvit 2010

2010-11-28T23:01:00.000+05:30

Samvit, IIM Lucknow's Leadership Summit, ended today on a high note. The two day event drew to close today with some of the biggest names in the corporate world and economists coming down to the campus for a panel discussion. The theme for this year's event and the topic for the panel discussion, "Financial Regulation & Development in India: Challenges & Prospects" saw the very best of the corporate world and policymakers thrash out ideas that could lay down the growth platform for the country in the years to come. The Master of Ceremonies for this year's panel discussion was Mr. Bhupesh Bhandari, a senior editor with Business Standard.

The key note speakers for this year's event were - Mr. Atul Khosla (Country Head Oliver Wyman), Mr. V Bunty Bohra (CEO Goldman Sachs India), Mr. Vikas Vasal (Executive Director KPMG), Mr Sanjiv Bhasin (CEO DBS Bank) and Mr.Suresh Senapaty (CFO Wipro Ltd.) and Mr. Amitabha Ghosh (Former Governor, RBI).

Mr. Bhandari set the tone for the event by driving home the importance of financial regulation. He said that the Indian economy has a unique identity of its own and that any resemblance it shares with the US economy in terms of structure or policies is a matter of happenstance. He also remarked upon the key roles which the soon to be instituted Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) has to play.

Speaking on the topic, Mr. Amitabha Ghosh (Former Governor, RBI), commended the role of RBI in formulating policies for the economic wellbeing of the economy, but was also critical about the scale and efficacy with which these policies are being implemented. He was of the opinion that instead of government bodies formulating policies, an environment of discipline wherein all the financial players have a set of "Self Regulations", a practice that once incorporated at the top level would percolate to the lower levels and ensure overall economic health.

Mr Sanjiv Bhasin (CEO DBS Bank) quipped that regulations might be something that might not go down too well with a few, but the regulation is of immense importance in the current volatile macroeconomic environment. He said that for regulations to achieve their true purpose they should be relevant to the market and the overall macroeconomic scenario. Elucidating his stance he mentioned that these regulations have a widespread impact on common people, so the regulators have to be very cautious while laying down norms.

Mr. Suresh Senapaty (CFO Wipro Ltd.) delivered a spirited speech in which he talked about the various phases of economic reforms and the importance such reforms hold for the future. He said that with limited or no social safety cover , the policy makers should come up with policies that mitigate any risks that might emerge in the capital or the debt market.Pressing on the importance of a deeper secondary debt market, Mr. Senapaty spoke about an environment of confidence in which all segments of the society can prosper.

Mr. Atul Khosla (Country Head Oliver Wyman), delved into the topic of inclusive growth. He stressed upon the enhancement of risk coverage in public as well as private markets. Mr. Khosla said that overall consumer protection should be at the apex of any policy initiative.

Mr. Vikas Vasal (Executive Director KPMG), pointed out that the focus of economic activities have shifted from the west to the east. In the new light, it is important to device strategies to tap the massive growth potential that India has. Commending the core Indian values of prudency, Mr. Vasal said that it is due to these virtues that we largely went unscathed in the worst economic crisis after the Great Depression.

Mr. V Bunty Bohra (CEO Goldman Sachs India), was of the opinion that higher inclusion and robust capital markets are the need of the hour. He also highlighted the importance of governance stability and oversight.

The discussion was followed by a Q&A session in which the students and faculty of the institute probed the leaders on a variety of topics concerning the financial sector. Samvit - 2010 drew to a close with the event Consilium - The policymaking event, in which two member teams presented their views on fiscal and monetary policy.

The two day extravaganzas saw teams from other institutes such as MDI and IIM Indore come down to the campus and participate in the various events organized as a part of Samvit. The event was cordially accepted by both the faculty and the students. Speaking about the event, Ayush a first student said, "The event has been a revelation of sorts to the students at the campus. Not only have we been treated to a host of competitions, but also we have gained insights into the current and future economic conditions of the country".

IIM Lucknow’s Samvit – 2010, begins on a high note

2010-11-27T23:38:00.000+05:30

Samvit - the Annual Leadership Summit of IIM Lucknow began on a propitious note today. The theme for this year’s summit is “Financial Regulation & Development in India: Challenges & Prospects”. The premier institute hosted Dr. Subir Gokarn, Deputy Governor Reserve Bank of India to unveil the theme for Samvit on the 13th of November. The main event for this year’s Samvit is the panel discussion which is scheduled to be held on the morning of Sunday 28th of November.

Over the years, Samvit has signified the homecoming of some of the biggest corporate leaders in India for the panel discussion at IIM Lucknow. Some of the names that have been associated with Samvit in the past are, Ms Kalpana J Moraparia (Chief JP Morgan India), Ms Meera Sanyal (Head ABN Amro), Mr. Pramod Bhasin (Chairman, NASSCOM), Ms Naina Lal Kidwai (India Head HSBC) and Padma Bhushan Dr. J J Irani. In continuation of the tradition, this year the institute is playing host to noted bankers and industry stalwarts – Mr. Atul Khosla (Country Head Oliver Wyman), Mr. V Bunty Bohra (CEO Goldman Sachs India), Mr. Vikas Vasal (Executive Director KPMG), Mr Sanjiv Bhasin (CEO DBS Bank) and Mr. Suresh Senapaty (CFO Wipro Ltd.) – for the panel discussion. Former RBI Governor Mr. Amitabha Ghosh will also be present to express his views on the challenges and prospects of the current regulatory environment.

In the run up to the main event, the first day of Samvit saw some exhilarating events being organised on campus. The students also got a feeler of the finance world through “Stratagem – The national level Mergers & Acquisitions Competition”. The unique event allowed the students to delve deep into financial concepts and exercise their wisdom at real time scenarios. “Finquizitive – The finance quiz” had the participants by their breath till the end. The highlight of the first day was the finance workshop conducted by Mr. Vaidya Nathan, a certified trainer who works in close association with brands such as JP Morgan Chase, Citibank and Deutsche Bank.

Speaking about the event Hansraj Mishra, a second year student from IIM Lucknow said, “Such events which bring the industry and the academia on a common platform provide a fresh perspective to the holistic learning at B-school. More such initiatives should be taken in future”. In all the first day of the event was fun filled yet insightful. The institute now awaits the panel discussion that shall be held on Sunday morning.

Citibank Head demystifies the world of LBOs at IIM Lucknow

2010-11-24T22:00:00.009+05:30

The students of IIM Lucknow got their fair taste of the world of finance through the guest talk by Mr Rahul Shukla, Head Corporate Banking, Citigroup, India. Mr Shukla, who had joined Citi in 1991,was most recently heading the bank's telecom, media and technology practice in the Asia Pacific. Under his leadership, Citi's TMT franchise was recognized as the best in Asia by Finance Asia and the Asset Magazine for 3 years in a row.

The theme of the talk was centered around leveraged buyouts and the mathematics behind the same. Mr. Shukla began the session with a brief introduction to the leading private equity players in the Asian markets. Mr. Shukla thereon extensively covered the various phases that constitute the LBO process. He highlighted the key drivers of an LBO, its illustrative transaction structure and financial model output that is expected of the analyst. Mr. Shukla concluded the session with LBO valuation and an extensive Q&A session. The students were completely at awe for his sharp rhetoric and in-depth understanding of the core issues.

The lecture was organized as a part of Prodigies – The Leadership Series by the Industry Interaction Cell, IIM Lucknow. This talk was in continuation of the institute’s endeavor to expose students to a variety of exciting job opportunities and providing them the necessary exposure to leadership roles.

Dr. Subir Gokarn - Deputy Governor RBI unveils theme for Samvit-2010

2010-11-16T01:46:00.000+05:30

IIM Lucknow’s Annual Leadership Summit is set to reach an unprecedented scale this year. The summit is scheduled on the 27^th & 28^th of November 2010 with DBS Bank being the Title Sponsor for the event.

The Summit will span two days with the first day comprising competitions involving policy design, M&A and financial engineering workshops while the second day will see the who’s who of the finance world in India ideate on “Financial Regulation & Development in India: Challenges & Prospects” which is the theme of the Summit.

Over the years the Summit has been host to some of the biggest names from the corporate arena in the past. Some of the leaders who have been a part of this august event in the past are Ms. Kalpana J Morparia (CEO - JPMorgan), Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan (Founder & CEO - Rediff.com), Mr. Pramod Bhasin (Chairman - Nasscom & President and CEO - Genpact), Ms. Meera Sanyal (Country Head - ABN AMRO), Dr. Biswadip Mitra (Country Head – Texas Instruments), Dr Sandeep Pandey (2002 Ramon Magsaysay Award winner), Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai (Country Head, HSBC) and Dr. J. J. Irani to name a few.

While the Key Note Speakers for this year is strictly under wraps, IIM Lucknow students can hardly wait. Radhakrishnan, a second year student comments “Every year Samvit has seen India’s biggest Leaders come to IIM Lucknow. Given that the Indian economy is shaping up and the global economy expanding, the theme of the summit is highly germane for all of us and we are looking forward to big leaders congregating at IIM Lucknow”

To unravel the theme for this year’s summit, IIM Lucknow will host Dr. Subir Gokarn, Deputy Governor RBI on the 13^th of November. Dr. Gokarn will set the ball rolling by sharing his insights on “Financial Regulation & Development in India: Challenges & Prospects”. The Summit thus will see a number of high profile speakers come to IIM Lucknow before the Summit to share their insights as preludes to the Big Day itself. Rudraditya, a coordinator with the Industry Interaction Cell, IIM Lucknow which is organizing the Summit commented “We want the Summit to ultimately become one of India’s biggest incubators of ideas. To that end, you will see the event evolving”

Lessons in Marketing - Mukul Deoras - VP & GM Colgate Palmolive

2010-11-02T22:51:00.001+05:30

The students of IIM Lucknow were treated to a thrilling talk by Mr Mukul Deoras – VP & GM Colgate – Palmolive South Asia Region. The top honcho of the USD 15 billion giant was not just insightful about marketing concepts but also affable to queries by inquisitive students. Mr Deoras primarily touched upon topics such as product development, pricing, promotion, distribution channels and removing bottle necks in the supply chain. The central theme was how to establish urban luxury goods in the rural segment and tap the demand that lies at the bottom of the pyramid. Frequently quoting the book “The Fortune At The Bottom Of The Pyramid” by Dr C K Prahalad, Mr Deoras focussed a lot on rural marketing channels and the tremendous marketing potential that exists among the rural poor.

The highlight of the session was Mr Deoras’s vivid explanation of the LUP – Low Units of Production business model. Mr Deoras provided adequate examples of brands such as Nirma that worked extensively not through the modus of high working capital but through carefully planning and executing high product turnovers to ensure high profit. He also talked about various marketing strategies that can be used to attract the uninitiated rural consumers. He extolled the virtues of initiatives such as Arvind eye hospital and quoted similar examples from across the globe.

The students of the college responded enthusiastically to the queries put up by Mr Deoras and frequently quizzed him on matters pertaining to subjects such as promotion, branding, packaging etc. It was indeed an event one could learn from. Concluding the talk Mr Deoras commended the students for their response and wished them luck for their future endeavours. The talk was organised as a part of Prodigies – The Leadership Series by the Industry Interaction Cell IIM Lucknow. The talk was in continuation of the institute’s endeavour to expose students to a variety of exciting job opportunities and providing them the necessary exposure to leadership roles.

Careers in Media and Entertainment - Session by Ajit Thakur

2010-09-05T16:39:00.001+05:30

It was a homecoming of sorts for Ajit Thakur as he reminisced about his life to a jam-packed room of enthusiastic IIM Lucknow students at his alma mater- Indian Institute of Management Lucknow. His talk primarily concentrated on different career opportunities in media sector. Mr Thakur took excerpts from his own career to educate the students on likely path to be adopted should they dream of a career in media, and surely there were many dreamers.

Mr Thakur is the current business head of Sony Television responsible for a whole gamut of media business activities inclusive of programme creation, content research and commercial handling. His tenure in Sony was preceded by very successful stints at Balaji Motion Pictures and UTV Motion Picture. Prior to venturing into Media sector Mr Thakur gained considerable marketing and sales experience handling key brands such as Coca Cola and Unilever , which in his words “equipped him to tackle the rigours of any kinds of marketing job”. Mr Thakur’s experience across different sectors helped the students get a holistic picture of “Marketing and Sales”, as he narrated his life’s journey from IIM to his present vocation.

The session gave students a flavour of various media sectors and the different growth potential present across them. Upon asking his preference for a sector Mr Thakur quipped “Movie making is much more innovative and creatively satisfying but it is television where you hone your business skills”. He expressed his enthusiasm about the new media segment saying that the advent of new technology will revolutionize the entertainment sector by expanding its reach like never before. Mr Thakur was optimistic about radio industry and urged students to work in this niche sector by saying "It (working in radio sector) is one of the fastest ways to become a General Manager”.

The talk was organised as a part of Colloquy – The Talk Series by the Industry Interaction Cell IIM Lucknow. This talk was in continuation of Industry Interaction cell’s endeavours to expose students to a variety of exciting job opportunities through interaction with the best in the global industry. Some of the big names who’ve been associated with the talk series are Mr Tarun Tripathi (Former Marketing Head Yash Raj Films), Ms Latika Khaneja (Collage sports management) and Mr R Balakrishnan aka R Balki of Cheeni Kum and Paa fame. The session was received very cordially by the students who had a good time talking to a fellow alumnus and a marketing mogul in all rights.

Exploring the bottom of the pyramid - ITC eChoupal visit

2010-08-20T22:27:00.002+05:30

The students of IIM Lucknow recently visited the ITC e-Choupal project running in Hardoi which is 2.5 Km from Lucknow. e-Choupal is an initiative of ITC Limited, a large multi business conglomerate in India, to link directly with rural farmers via the Internet for procurement of agricultural and aquaculture products like soybeans, wheat, coffee, and prawns. e-Choupal was conceived to tackle the challenges posed by the unique features of Indian agriculture, characterized by fragmented farms, weak infrastructure and the involvement of numerous intermediaries. The programme involves the installation of computers with Internet access in rural areas of India to offer farmers up-to-date marketing and agricultural information. As a part of the day long visit the students visited three places

• E-Choupal – Present in villages usually at the house of a prominent person in the village. In this case, it was a schoolteacher in the Madhavpur village who has been running this e-Choupal for the last 10 years. He is the sanchalak and he disseminates information about prices, weather, fertilizers, seeds etc. to the farmers in the village. He has a computer set-up at his house and he receives information through it on a daily basis.

• Choupal Saagar – This is where the farmers bring their produce to be sold to ITC. This is accompanied by a retail outlet where these farmers can buy various kinds of daily necessities. A lot of students purchased stuff from this store lured by the heavy discounts.

• The Hub – This is where the purchased produce is stored. In UP, it is mainly wheat. This is in juxtaposition to the Choupal Saagar

The students got an insight into how the scheme of things works at one of the most popular rural models which is garnering attention worldwide. The students enjoyed the visit thoroughly and made the very best of the trip by interacting with the farmers and gathering insights that can be instrumental in the development of rural India.

SPORTS & CELEBRITY MANAGEMENT – TALK AT IIM LUCKNOW!

2010-08-20T03:31:00.005+05:30

Miss. Khaneja

To give the students a sneak-peak into the field of Sports and Celebrity Management, the Industry Interaction Cell (iic) of IIM Lucknow organized a session by Miss. Latika Khaneja, founder and director of Collage Sports Management. Miss Khaneja talked about her “virgin attempt at sports marketing” which was basically her effort towards helping budding cricketers establish their foothold in the cricketing world. What started off as a simple non-profit cricketing club has now diversified into one of the largest sports management company in India.

Among her illustrious clientele are Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and Abhinav Bindra, besides a whole gamut of others. The highlight of the session was the story of Virender Sehwag, of how the company leveraged his boy next door image to transform him into one of the biggest brands of India. Miss Khaneja deliberated on the difference between sports marketing and sports sponsorship. She mentioned that while sports sponsorship is more about garnering financial support for the players, sports marketing is a different genre of activity that comprises a win-win situation for both the player and the company. Mentioning about the new avenues of sports management she also shared her thoughts about Team Tennis - a new project by Collage towards professional training in tennis.

The session received rave reviews from the student community. Mukund a second year student had to say “The session was quite informative. It would definitely motivate the students to consider such offbeat career options in the future”. The talk session was hosted as a part of Colloquy – The talk series by the Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Lucknow. IIM Lucknow is slated to host some of the biggest names in Sports and Bollywood this year to give its students exposure to new career paths. The elite Management school believes in strong industry exposure to complement the curriculum, and with the curriculum being made highly contemporary, the Industry Interaction Cell is opening up channels across India’s twin loves – Bollywood and Cricket to make the course learning consummate.

Business of Entertainment - Workshop by Tarun Tripathi!

2010-08-07T01:12:00.007+05:30

Mr. Tarun Tripathi is the Former Head of Marketing, Yash Raj Films (YRF) and Mr. Tarun Tripathi is the Former Head of Marketing, Yash Raj Films (YRF) and ex-Director, MySpace India. He joined YRF in 2002 and has been responsible for film marketing tie-ups, the most significant being that of ‘Hum Tum’, ‘Dhoom’ and ‘Bunty Aur Babli’. Following a productive 5-year stint at Yash Raj Films, he joined MySpace.com as Director-Marketing and Content, for its India operations. The social networking site launched its customised Indian beta version under his supervision. Prior to joining YRF, he worked with global advertising agency Grey Worldwide (Mauritius) and KPMG (Mauritius). Mr. Tarun Tripathi currently teaches the course – “Business of Entertainment” at MICA. Tarun is a master of the Entertainment game. Be it the fundamentals of entertainment as defined through cultural entities or creative dimensions in marketing movies, he is IIM Lucknow's undisputed entertainment guru. He held the audience spell bound with his insights on the music industry and the marketing strategies used for Hum Tum. Tarun's most endearing trait is his passion for giving back to IIM Lucknow. The 8 hour workshop which spanned two days took the students through a comprehensive journey of the Culture Industry of which Entertainment Business is a part. The workshop was not the only delight though. Tarun also floated 2 competitions - a Case study contest and a Live Project. The case study contest focussed on emerging trends in social media while the Live Project was floated in association with Star One. Both competitions were of high significance to the student community best indexed by participation by over 160 students from the second year batch alone! On the whole, the workshop offered great insights into an industry that has recruited very few professionals and it opened up channels for new career options to IIM Lucknow's whiz kids. He joined YRF in 2002 and has been responsible for film marketing tie-ups, the most significant being that of ‘Hum Tum’, ‘Dhoom’ & ‘Bunty Aur Babli’. Following a productive 5-year stint at Yash Raj Films, he joined MySpace.com as Director-Marketing and Content, for its India operations. The social networking site launched its customised Indian beta version under his supervision. Prior to joining YRF, he worked with global advertising agency Grey Worldwide (Mauritius) and KPMG (Mauritius). Mr. Tarun Tripathi currently teaches the course – “Business of Entertainment” at MICA. Tarun is a master of the Entertainment game. Be it the fundamentals of entertainment as defined through cultural entities or creative dimensions in marketing movies, he is IIM Lucknow's undisputed entertainment guru. He held the audience spell bound with his insights on the music industry and the marketing strategies used for Hum Tum. Tarun's most endearing trait is his passion for giving back to IIM Lucknow. The 8 hour workshop which spanned two days took the students through a comprehensive journey of the Culture Industry of which Entertainment Business is a part. The workshop was not the only delight though. Tarun also floated 2 competitions - a Case study contest and a Live Project. The case study contest focussed on emerging trends in social media while the Live Project was floated in association with Star One. Both competitions were of high significance to the student community best indexed by participation by over 160 students from the second year batch alone! On the whole, the workshop offered great insights into an industry that has recruited very few professionals and it opened up channels for new career options to IIM Lucknow's whiz kids

Ex. MD Technopak, visits IIM Lucknow for Retail Consulting talk

2010-08-06T00:11:00.001+05:30

The Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Lucknow invites industry experts to deliver domain specific talks in the campus under the “Colloquy” talk series.

Mr. Harminder Sahni, MD, Wazir Advisors, Ex MD Technopak visited IIM Lucknow on August 5^th and conducted an interactive session with the students. Mr. Harminder has extensive industry experience in Retail sector business including launch of new brands, implementation of new projects for clients and for brand licensee and supply partnerships between Indian and international firms. He has consulted for clients in India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Hong Kong, Europe, North America and South America , including manufacturers, marketers and retailers.

The theme of the session was “Retail Consulting in India – Challenges and Best Practices”.

Mr. Harminder talked about organized and unorganized retail formats and shared his insights on how the micro segmentation of the consumer base is taking place in Modern retail stores. The absence of talent gunning to enter the industry -- one of the biggest challenges facing the industry -- was also delved upon.

Students were curious to know about the key strategies behind private labels and the same was reflected in the number of questions they posed to the speaker. Current issues in Retail such as failure of Subhiksha and the debt restructuring at Vishal Retail was also discussed.

Overall the session provided an excellent insight into the ground realities of Retail in India. The session made for an excellent learning opportunity for students interested in pursuing a career in retail marketing management.

IIM Lucknow students learn lessons in Bollywood

2010-07-31T16:27:00.002+05:30

R. Balakrishnan (Director, Paa and Cheeni Kum)

The IIMs have played host to many a CEO and budding entrepreneur in the past – learning the latest in management trends across the traditional industry verticals. Tuesday evening came as a welcome refresher when IIM Lucknow invited one of the most creative minds of the country - R Balakrishnan, aka R. BalkiAd Film Professional-turned-Film Director par excellence, Balki is the Chairperson and Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of Lowe Lintas and the director of Cheeni Kum and Paa. for an interactive session with its MBA students.

Balki is known for his no-nonsense approach to advertising as exemplified in his “Daag Achche Hain” campaign for Surf Excel. His “Jaago Re” ads for Tata Tea and “Walk when you Talk” Idea Cellular campaign have brought in a much needed fresh social voice to advertising. His penchant for exploring different creative avenues led him to Bollywood. He wrote and directed Cheeni Kum, with Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu in the lead. Paa (2009), starring Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan and Amitabh Bachchan was his second directorial venture.

The interactive talk was held on campus as part of ‘Prodigies – the Leadership talk series’ facilitated by the student run Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Lucknow. Based on the theme of ‘Ad & Film Making – Through the Management Lens’, it was very well received by the IIM Lucknow community with a jam-packed auditorium. From the Lalitaji of Surf to the Auro of Paa played by Mr. Bachchan Senior, Balki had the audience floored with his anecdotes. Over the course of an hour and a half, he took the students through his journey of ad making, playing out different ads and explaining their significance, story board and the like.

The session gave the students a flavour of how the Indian advertising industry works in general and how Lowe Lintas, with Mr. Balki at the helm, succeeded in producing top-notch, eye-catching ads. Highlighting the nuances of designing integrated ad-campaigns, he shared his perspective on the changing consumer behaviour in India which throws up new challenges to today’s marketers. The students were particularly amazed about his experiences as a director to some of the most noted actors in Bollywood.

“The advertising world is a business of disparate, different brains”, says Balki. It is ready to play, ready to risk all the challenges and accept new ideas. For instance, Surf Excel, a detergent brand, is celebrating the glory of being dirty! TATA tea puts an awakening thought in your mind each and every day! Havells is ready to experiment with a new idea each time! Marketers have now become more forthcoming in implementing out-of-the-box ideas generated by advertisers – ideas which do not necessarily highlight product benefits but rather make the consumer’s life more interesting.

The greatest challenge for Balki is to take up the most boring brand and making it the most noticeable. He says success comes only to those who step into the discomfort zone. The best advertisements are those that remind you of the brand and not the ad itself. Commenting on the talk, Dheeraj Sarwaiya, a second year student said, “Today’s MBA student is more enterprising and bold than ever before. We have students who choose not to tread the beaten path but simply follow their dreams in unconventional fields. These talks are a good source of inspiration for us to pursue what we truly believe in.”

US firm puts IIM-L students on biz network!

2010-03-14T23:03:00.006+05:30

In a first-of-a-kind development, a US-based software consultancy firm approached the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L) to be a nodal centre for introducing to the market its new software product which essentially happens to be an operating system providing networking platform.

US Tech Solutions, the New Jersey-based company, announced the venture officially much to the cheers of management students who look it as an opportunity to be a part of business enterprise much before they graduate from the coveted institute.

Ian Tomlin, sales director of the product, said that the platform was an improved version of various social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. The system brings together business entities together while at the same time maintaining the much needed security to the date. In the initial stages, the platform would be opened to business houses, institutes and entrepreneurs.

Vice-president (corporate strategy), Dhiraj Adya said that it would be like an operating system by which one can have a webpage where one can post information — from products to suggestions to e-mails to SMS.

Himself an alumnus of IIM-L, Adya claimed that this is for the first time that a global consultancy is officially launching the software product suite at a B-school.

The company also conducted a case study competition exclusively for IIM Lucknow Students, and Team 'SPAM' emerged as winners.

Colloquy: The Leadership series 2009

2010-03-14T00:26:00.008+05:30

The Colloquy leadership series organized by IIC invites thought leaders from various spheres to share their valuable knowledge and experiences with the budding managers of tomorrow. Some of the notable industry stalwarts who visited the campus in 2009 were:

Mr. Chetan Bulsari, Head (Finance), Barclays Wealth
This session was aimed at educating students on the real issues that led to the financial crisis in its present shape and what could be the potential strategies that could be employed by companies to better the situation. In a second session he helped the second year students, majoring in Finance, understand the nuances of Risk Management in a Bank & explained in detail the critical role played by the bank’s Treasury.

Mr.Anuratna, Global Marketing Manager, Citi Private Bank
Primarily focused at the first year students, this talk by Mr. Anuratna Chaddha centered around the credit crisis, its origins and the mechanism of its spread to all economies. Further, Mr. Chaddha shared deep insights highlighting the key steps that financial institutions such as Citi were taking to emerge from the crisis and start their progress towards growth. Drawing from his personal experiences, he also shared with the students his perspective on the prime challenges he encountered while working in diverse geographical locations such as South Africa & Sub Saharan Africa, which was a very important take-away for students.

Anirban Malakar, Business Head, Maxus Global
Mr. Malakar held an engaging talk on "Media Strategy and Media Schedules" for students of IIM Lucknow. He highlighted how advertising companies go about promotional strategies for corporates. He also shed light on the importance of 360 degree campaigns by companies involving various technology components to create bigger impact and increase reach to the consumers. Mr. Malakar talked about how one should go about placing advertisements and campaigns in different media like print, TV, magazines etc. The session was a great learning experience for the students who gained useful insights into the media strategy domain.

Mr. Bijoy Daga, Head Invest Banking group
Mr. Bijoy Daga, a CA with over 14 years of experience in Relationship Management, Asset & Structured Finance, Advisory Services and Project Finance and currently heading the Investment Banking group at IL&FS Financial Services Limited, took a session on Project Finance. This highly-engaging session primarily dealt with examples of live deals in tune with the current market trends in the International and Indian arena.

Beyond Kotler: The retail and experiential marketing Workshop

2010-02-06T00:02:00.005+05:30

Mr. Vijay and Mr. Rajesh of 141Sercon, a WPP Company, delivered a flawless and highly engrossing session on Retail and Experiential Marketing at IIM Lucknow on the 6th of February. Speaking to a packed room of over 100 participants, they walked the students through a whole new world of marketing communications. By opening up new channels of thought in Social Media and how it is changing the face of marketing communications, the highly learned duo, disabused multiple fallacies and passé understanding of marketing communication. The workshop also touched up solutions that 141Sercon has executed for its clients and delved deep into some of the most popular case studies in the world of experiential and retail marketing.

The session proved to be highly interactive with multiple questions on the relevance of social media, the cluttering of the web, the relevance to the Indian context, indices for measuring the results of below the line advertising taking precedence. An interesting anecdote involved a student questioning the relevance of social media in the context of the usage of Facebook in B2B contexts and the presenters breaking the common myth that social media revolved around social networks and Facebook.

Amit Haralalka, a first year student and a marketing enthusiast felt that the session was an eye opener for marketing students, thanks to the numerous case studies on Burger King, Ikea, WHO et al which helped relate to the content easily. IIC, which coordinated the workshop, was inundated with requests for another session on digital marketing by the company the next year around. Vijay and Rajesh were more than happy to come back to IIM Lucknow and termed the student participation as well-informed and precise. On the whole, a highly engaging afternoon and time well spent.

Anjuman: The Corporate luncheon at IIML

2010-01-24T23:28:00.003+05:30

The Industry Interaction Committee on the occasion of Manfest 2010 hosted the third edition of Anjuman - The Corporate Luncheon on 23 January 2010. Anjuman has been the platform where stalwarts of various domains to share their expert opinions on a contemporary theme, which this year was “India – Expect, Explore, Experience”. This year IIM Lucknow had the opportunity to invite the following industry leaders:

• Dr. Wilfried Aulbur - CEO, Mercedes–Benz India
• Ashok Swaroop – MD of B.Development and Corp. Affairs Citi South Asia
• S. Ramodarai – VC TCS and former CEO TCS
• Pankaj Saluja – Partner Bain Consultancy
• A. Vaidheesh, CEO J&J Medical India

Each of the speakers presented his views on the theme and shared his opinions on it.

Dr. Wilfried Aulbur felt that sustainable mobility is a key aspect of future growth and meet the needs of the society. He said that the demand for cars was outstripping the infrastructure growth in India. He added by saying that population growth and rapid urbanization were fuelling demands for cars and adding to the problems. He felt that India should develop a road mobility infrastructure plan specific for it and not blindly copy the solution from West.

Ashok Swaroop initiated his talk by contrasting how things have changed from 1970s compared to today. He was referring to the fact that the batch of 2010 at various B-Schools would be facing a demanding consumer, whose tastes have changed and will continue changing. He stressed on the fact that India has become disparate with close to 40% of the population still poor. He believes that both state and civil society have realised this and expects to see major investment in social infrastructure. He left us with an inspiring and optimistic note “There are more things in India that unite than the things that divide”.

Mr. Ramodarai emphasized on the importance of both India and China in shaping the global economy. He felt that a major chunk of labour force of the future will come from these two countries. He lauded the role played by both Indian and Chineese, who have been part of many patents and innovations in the recent years. He stressed that new education methods should be adopted to make 500 million people skillful and ready for the global challenge.

Pankaj Saluja shared his views on how foreign firm should make an effective entry in the Indian market. According to him, the companies should aim higher by targeting the mainstream markets by quoting examples like Lo’real, Nokia and Gillete. Localise the 4Ps and cited how Frito Lays used this strategy to launch Kurkure. Effective cost structure should be maintained. The companies should invest in local talent. His final advice was that the companies should be selective when it comes to partnering, M&A and forming Joint Ventures. He cited the example of Bharti Walmart in the Retail sector.

When P&G chose IIML over others...

2010-01-15T22:52:00.003+05:30

Conducted exclusively for IIML, the P&G Information & Decision Solutions (IDS) Case study Competition had hundreds of enthusiastic students from both the batches competing against one another. A panel comprising senior managers from P&G, including Ms. Priscilla China from P&G Malaysia judged the final round of the contest. The judges were extremely pleased with the quality of the solutions which according to them “came very close to P&G’s own solution of the case”.

Crisil Young Thought Leader'09

2010-01-12T22:47:00.004+05:30

This year the Special CRISIL Young Thought Leader Trophy for Business School with the highest number of winners went to IIM, Lucknow which topped the chart with 3 Thought Leaders. The winners won a call for a final interview with CRISIL's business heads for an entry-level position in CRISIL.

"Modern Trade is here to stay", says HUL VP

2010-01-09T20:47:00.003+05:30

The growth of Modern Trade (MT) in India has been slow for the past so many years. But of late, the growth has been characterized by the increase in the number of private labels. And this was the main topic of discussion during the session on Modern Trade by the Vice President of Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Mr. Manish Tiwary. He delineated the growth of MT in India and its relevance to the Indian Consumer. He touched upon Unilever’s growth strategy in Modern Trade and strategies developed by the company to counter the threat of the Private Labels from Reliance and The Future Group.

IPL CEO enthrals prospective managers at IIM Lucknow!

2010-01-09T00:43:00.002+05:30

IIM Lucknow woke up to a freezing Saturday morning with Great Expectations! The Prestigious Management school has witnessed some of the best CEO’s from India Inc. deliver Key Note addresses over the past 6 months, but Saturday promised a whole new degree of Entertainment. Mr. Sundar Raman, the CEO of the Indian Premier League was slated to deliver an address on “Sports Management with IPL as a case in point”. The energy thawed the freeze across the IIM campus with students anticipating a highly enriching session.

Sports Management in India is increasingly becoming a highly sought after career for budding managers from India’s premier Business schools. Managing a sport in India demands no less than the most prolific Business minds in the country. Given this, To discuss and interact with the Big Daddy of Entertainment promised to be exhilarating experience for some of the brightest young minds in the country. The address by Mr. Sundar Raman witnessed a full house with passionate Managers and equally intense Cricket fans coming out in full strength. Managing the Indian Premier League is a challenge of monstrous proportions and its CEO showed why. Strategies and Cricket proved to be the hottest ideas exchanged with Bollywood being discussed sotto voce.

Mr. Sundar Raman’s session proved to both Entertaining and Enriching. According to Arvind Charanyan, a student coordinator of the Industry Interaction Committee which organized the event, “Mr. Sundar’s session was phenomenal. We have a lot of students who are very keen on pursuing a career in Sports Management. This session was a dream come true for them.”

If the student enthusiasm at IIM Lucknow was anything to go by, Management Strategies will find their way into net practise in the offing!

IIM Lucknow students are Airtel iCreate Champions!

2009-12-16T22:59:00.002+05:30

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

2009-12-11T01:03:00.003+05:30

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

2009-11-26T22:56:00.001+05:30

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!

2009-11-17T21:06:00.002+05:30

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

2009-10-26T22:49:00.002+05:30

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

2009-10-15T18:19:00.001+05:30

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

2009-10-06T23:00:00.001+05:30

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

2009-10-01T23:50:00.001+05:30

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

2009-09-06T16:45:00.001+05:30

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

2009-08-30T01:43:00.001+05:30

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

2009-08-28T23:02:00.001+05:30

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

2009-08-26T22:57:00.001+05:30

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

2009-03-18T23:25:00.003+05:30

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

2009-03-18T23:17:00.007+05:30

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

2009-03-02T19:48:00.001+05:30

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

2009-03-02T19:00:00.001+05:30

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

2009-01-07T19:08:00.001+05:30

“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)

2009-01-07T03:12:00.001+05:30

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.