PRaMeYa September 2013
Issue Fifth
weschool.prameya
prameya
@prameyaWEschool
FOREWORD “Prameya” is an apt name for the voice of WeSchool Bengaluru. It’s the official bimonthly newsletter of the students, by the students and for the students in every true sense. WeSchool, a premier business school has gone beyond academics and indulges in extracurricular activities for holistic development of the students. Prameya, a students’ platform showcases the talent which is encouraged and nurtured under the umbrella of activities conducted by the institute. This issue begins with the Address’ by our Group director Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe and the Dean and Director of Bengaluru campus Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila. Foundation fortnight has always been a productive and invigorative way of orienting new students. As the name suggests, it is a two week long themed session which allows the students to acclimatize with the new environment and gives them a chance to interact with renowned corporate speakers. This years’ theme being “Game Plan”, we have devised the issue of magazine along the same lines. An article by Mr. D Shivkumar(President, AIMA) follows the theme article. It is followed by Our Guru Speaks section featuring an interview with our Faculty Prof. Dr. Jai Raj Nair (B.Arch,PGDBM,Phd). Post Budget Conference, India CEO Forum, WeSchool Faculty Development Program, Faculty Virtual Workshop, and India Destination report are also some highlights of this issue. We have also tried to give a gist of the WeCafe sessions which hosted three corporate guest speakers. It is followed by Achievers wall of fame, MDC activities, WeConnect section featuring an interview with our student Alumni, AIMS events including Dean and Director’s Round table and convention of Management Education, India Innovation Summit, HR summit 2013, and WeKas and WeMitra initiative. Under the events section, we have covered the Rotract events of Blood donation camp, flash mob dance and the installation ceremony of the new Rotract committee. It is followed by a feature on the Independence Day Celebration, Farewell of the 2011-13 batch of WeSchool and the Students corner. We have introduced a few new sections including the Innovation of the month, Book reviews and a photography competition for the students, which wraps up this issue. Wish you all a happy read…….
INDEX Foreword Index Group Director's and Dean's Address WeSchool Achievement Foundation Fortnight - Game Plan Prepare, Don’t Plan by Mr D. ShivaKumar Our Guru Speaks Post Budget Conference India CEO Forum WeSchool Faculty Development Program Faculty Virtual Workshop Wemitra and Wekas Initiative India Destination WeCafe Sessions Achievers Wall of fame Management Development Centre Activities WeConnect with Vishwanath The Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) events Dean and Director's Round table Convention of Management Education India Innovation Summit HR Summit 2013 Rotract Events Independence Day Celebrations Farewell of batch 2011-13 Students Corner - Game Plan of Behemoths Innovation Of The Month Book Reviews Photography Contest
Faculty Editor Dr. Sonia Mehrotra Editor V RamLakhan Annavarpu Concept & Design Mr. William Dayabaran Siddharth Gulati
On Field Team Sagar Sheth Manjunath S Doddamani Gunjan Kushwah Preeti Bisht Ankita Banerjee VijayaLakshmi
1 2 3 9 11 13 14 15 16 17 19 22 23 24 25
28 29 30 33 35 36 38 39 40
Coming together is beginning; working together is progress. – Henry Ford
Group Director’s Address In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear for failure.- Bill Cosby Today the rules of the game have changed. We often hear about the terms such as globalization, triple bottom line, disruptive innovation, sustainability, technological revolution, social responsibility, ethics, governance and the list goes on. To keep abreast with these dynamic changes, there is a dire need for the students to develop global mindset, hone their leadership skills, greater awareness of self and context, holistic thinking skills, develop empathy & ethical perspectives & soft skills. At WeSchool all our efforts are towards grooming our students with these qualities and skill sets. We have always focused to nurture our students as Global citizen managers. Our approach emphasizes the students to learn through application of acquired knowledge and as the next step delve deeper to make the meaning of the knowledge acquired by understanding their individual role and responsibilities towards business, relationships and society. I wish success to the new Prameya team for the Academic year 2013-14 in all the endeavors ahead. Professor Dr. Uday Salunkhe Group Director - WeSchool 1
At WeSchool we are deeply inspired by t h e s e w o r d s . To d a y e m e r g i n g unarticulated needs and realities need a new approach both in terms of thought as well as action. Cross disciplinary learning, discovering, scrutinizing, prototyping, learning to create and destroy – the mind’s eye needs to be nurtured and differently so. I view my job as two-fold: to provide the means for my students to succeed, whether that is through course offerings, research opportunities and more importantly to stand by them and with them as they make this two year journey with us. Prameya – the students’ magazine depicts the students campus life and the happenings at WeSchool. I congratulate the New Prameya Team 2013-14 and wish them luck for their future endeavors. Dean & Director Bengaluru Campus Professor Dr. Anil Rao Paila
Dean‘s Address
WeSchool Achievement BMA confers WeSchool with “Outstanding Institute of Management of the Year Award”
Group Director Dr Uday Salunkhe receiving the honours from the esteemed guest at the event Bombay Management Association (BMA) conferred Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development (WeSchool) with the "Outstanding Institute of Management of the Year" award on its 35th Award Ceremony held on 14 June 2013.This add yet another feather to WeSchool’s hat of accolades. Under the guidance and direction of our dynamic group director Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe, WeSchool has consistently worked towards delivering quality on par with the outside world. . Striving for Inventive and technology driven education while keeping design thinking and innovation as the prime focus has helped WeSchool to set a benchmark in management education. Commenting on the occasion Mr R Ramakrishnan, President, BMA said, "Education plays a crucial role in a nation’s upliftment and business management is essential for the growth of an economy. We are happy to present this award to WeSchool for their instrumental initiatives and projects that have empowered many students to realize their dreams. We wish them all success and offer our continued support for their future endeavours." Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe stated the need of futuristic global leaders to lead India towards absolute stature. To meet this demand, WeSchool has persistently tried to provide a complete package of innovative and tailor made course modules enunciating the need for values and ethics. Through world class faculty, result oriented teaching techniques and experiential learning WeSchool strives to bring out global leaders that have a drive to work passionately in both the evolving economic and social environment. WeSchool was previously honoured with "BMA Outstanding Management of the Year Award" in the years 2004 and 2010.
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Foundation Fortnight Theme - Game Plan Mumbai
Students understanding the importance of the FoundationFortnight
22nd July 2013, This was one of the most important day of our lives as this day would mark the beginning of our management education program at the Welingkar Institute of Management Education and Research and the anxiousness was evident when we all attended the highly anticipated “Foundation Fortnight” program at the Mumbai campus. With lot of curiosity in our eyes and heart filled with high spirits, we entered the campus which was already buzzing with lot of activities. During the time we started getting acquainted with those new friends and we all had the same question “What the Foundation Fortnight is actually all about???” And soon enough we got our answers. We were welcomed by our seniors who helped us settling down and guiding us through the further process. Large banners were hanging on all the walls with the words written on it in big block letters “GAMEPLAN”. Our curiosity was made to rest when we were told that this is the theme of our Foundation Fortnight program. We were then taken to a spectacular boardroom and the place had us completely awed. All of us curiously observed as each faculty came in and took their seats. Then in the midst of loud cheer and thunderous applause from the audience, we saw our respected Group Director Prof Dr. Uday Salunkhe made his way to the dias. The warmth and graciousness with which he welcomed us created an instant amount of charm and respect for him. The positive energy that he channeled in each one of us was remarkable and in his words we saw our glorious future lying ahead. The inauguration of the Foundation Fortnight was done by Mrs. Silke Schmidt, MD of Volkswagen Financial Services Ltd. She shared with us the GAMEPLAN she had designed for development of her organization and also gave us valuable insights on her personal goals. She explained the importance of having a game-plan and what difference it can bring to our lives. We cherished the inspiring session she gave us and we were grateful to WeSchool to give us the opportunity of being in the company of such an esteemed personality. 3
Prof. Dr. Githa Heggde, HOD Marketing, addressing the students
The program continued as we had great insightful sessions by the highly experienced faculty members of Mumbai campus on different sectors of the management education. The games and the ET quizzes conducted for us in between the sessions kept our spirits high. The ET quizzes especially always put our knowledge to test, making us realize the importance of reading ET and there by motivated us to read ET regularly.
The Outbound trip that was planned for us was one of the best in our lives. The early morning travel from the campus to the venue was a lot of fun and our group director Dr. Salunkhe accompanying us and interacting with us throughout the journey was great. We were all overjoyed as small kids would do when we reached the venue. It was almost like a beautiful forest with huge trees everywhere around and a constant drizzle of rain made the atmosphere even more refreshing. The inspiring words from our Group Director Dr. Salunkhe made everyone geared up to participate in the sporting events to be followed and we were divided into respective teams for the same. The objective of the task was to break the ice between the students and help them understand each other and perform under challenging circumstances. We played 3 team games which challenged us to develop new skills and methods for problem solving and enhance our understanding about each team member. The games also involved developing the strategy for each game and exploiting key areas of team work and planning. The never ceasing rain and the complete natural environment also helped us to outperform ourselves. Overall it was an enriching experience which we will carry with us all through our lives. The next two days were again a blend of fun and knowledge where we attended the sessions of highly knowledgeable and experienced speakers like Anil Rao Sir, Mr. Vivek Pandit whose enriched experience of working with an NGO and his fight against the act of ‘bonded labor’ gave us lot of insights about the social aspects of life. The Farewell party which was arranged for us in advance became an excellent platform for many of us to showcase their talents, mingle with each other and interact with our seniors. The presence of our Group Director at the event was an icing on the cake. The first half of the Foundation Fortnight came to an end at the Mumbai campus with a very eventful day which comprised of team events and competitions similar a multi-level amazing race which was played in the vast Mumbai campus itself and made an impact on our man-management skills and team building capabilities. The first half of this journey a truly enriching and exciting experience for all the students of the new batch and on the next day, we bid adieu to Mumbai and started our journey to a place where we Prof. Raghu Deshpande introducing the CMC to the batch of 2013-15 all are destined spend the next two years of our life, BANGALORE. 4
Foundation Fortnight @ Bengaluru
From left to right:-Prof. Prakash Unakal (Sr. Associate Dean Business Design), Prof. Mohan Chandra (HOD Business Design) and Prof. Deepuchandran (Asst Prof. Business Design) addressing the students on Design Innovation and creativity.
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The excitement, anxiety and the eagerness with which all of us embarked upon the journey to Bangalore was pretty evident on all our faces. It turned out to be an awesome bus ride with loads of fun and lots of ‘breaking the ice’ moments. We were all excited to know and explore the place where we would be spending the next two very eventful and soul searching years. The bus arrived at our hostel early in the morning and the weather out there was truly amazing. The feeling of taking a deep breath of that fresh air and saying it to yourself ‘This is it...’ was like those we see in the movies. The following day went in settling down in the allotted rooms and exploring the facilities, hotspots and eateries all around the hostel premises.
hall where the inauguration ceremony commenced. The chief guest for the event was Mr. Sudhesh Venkatesh , Head of NHRD and he has also been closely associated with the Azim Premji foundation. Also present at the occasion was our Dean & Director, Bengaluru campus Dr. Anil Rao Paila and the faculty members. The Dean welcomed the new batch with a big smile on his face and his words of wisdom made us realise we have become a part of something really big and of equal significance . The chief guest Mr. Sudhesh Venkatesh enlightened us with his success story and outlined the pre-requisites, motivation factors and the importance of self-actualization that we are supposed to imbibe in our game plans for the future.
The next day was supposed to be our first day at WeSchool and the students were all dressed up for the occasion as we arrived at the college. Everyone had their anxious eyes roaming around the campus in awe and anticipation and one adjective for the campus that would have definitely crossed in everyone’s mind was ‘beautiful’. We were then led to a seminar
After the inauguration ceremony, the moment we all were hoping for finally touched base, ‘Campus Tour’. We were given a very thorough, informative tour of the campus by our seniors and we all were very delighted to explore our ‘new home’. Over the period of next five days, we
Students attending various Foundation Fortnight sessions at Bengaluru Campus.
were in the amidst of some esteemed personalities and bigwigs of the corporate sector who were the invited speakers for different sessions. They shared with us the importance of a strategic game plan that each one should conceive and work upon for the aspired success. Mr. Issac George, HR Head & Treasurer, WiproTech made us aware about the core values that an organization seeks in an employee and advised us to put the company’s interest ahead of an individual’s interest. Mrs. Sangeeta Malkhede, Asst. V.P HRD, CSS Corp made it very clear through her presentation that a strong, well-conceived and adaptable gameplan is the need of the hour in such an ambiguous nature of corporate sector of recent times.
Along with the dignitaries, we had faculty members sessions from every department. The faculty members provided us with valuable insights on the various subjects that we would be studying for the following two years. Also, we were really excited about the fact that the campus provides us with various platforms to showcase our talents and challenge our capabilities through its varied activities and competitions that are held both in and out of the campus. We were also briefed about the various initiatives that have been implemented especially for the students such as Career Management Cell (CMC) which helps students develop corporate skills for better placements. ‘WeMitra’, another initiative wherein a faculty member is allotted for each student for one to one interactions and career counselling sessions. This beautiful journey of two weeks really helped all the students to break the ice between them, to look inside and measure their potentials and prepare themselves to become future managers that would bring about a change in the society.
Students listening attentively as Prof. Mohan Chandra( HOD Business Design) speaks on various aspects of BD.
Prof. Madhavi Lokhande (Head ADC Professor) clarifying the queries of students. 6
Glimpse of WeSchool Prof. Soumya Chakraborthy addressing the students about the ‘We-Kas’ initiative at WeSchool campus.
Prof. Asha Mathew addressing the students.
Prof. Anitha Pillai giving her valuable insights on IT sector to the students.
Prof. Shekhar Prabhakar sharing his experience in marketing with the students.
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Foundation Fortnight 2013-14
Prof. Sudeshna Reddy addressing the students regarding the Green Council and its initiatives in WeSchool.
Students getting involved in various activities during the foundation week.
A group of students on way to the Mumbai Outbound session.
Students enjoying the freshers party at Chembur GymKhana, Mumbai
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Prepare, don’t plan
The
MBA degree is a well branded and differentiated degree compared to other Master’s degrees. The MBA holder is seen in a different light. MBAs tend to earn more than other professions and this draws awe and envy in equal measure. In recent years, the MBA has lost its shine and fewer students are opting for the MBA. The MBA curriculum needs redesign and current MBA students need to rethink their approach. Every MBA plans to be a CEO, plans a certain asset base etc. I would urge the MBA student to prepare as opposed to planning. Planning without preparation is wishful thinking. The first is prepare to be a life
The second is to prepare to be a good follower. B Schools attract bright people who have generally done well in school and college. As a result many of them feel like ‘first amongst equals’. Many MBAs want to become the youngest VP or the youngest CEO or the youngest something. If you want to be a great leader, prepare by being a great follower. Being a supportive follower earns you the respect of your peers, of your subordinates and also gets you the loyalty of your boss. Being a good follower means you need to accept your place in the shadow till its time for you to step on stage under the arc lights. This will need patience and selfconfidence. The self-confidence will come from your continuous learning and the relationships you build at work and at home. 9
long learner. The world is changing fast and to be successful, one needs to keep up to date. Few MBAs read any books or serious articles after their degree. This forces them to rely on old concepts to address new problems. With rapid change, what is learnt in an MBA today could be obsolete in five years.Reading and keeping yourself up to date will help you stand out as a thought leader. Reading biographies will prepare you both for leadership nuances and develop some instinctive answers in tough situations. Learn about new concepts and technologies that are reshaping society, like UID, like wearable computers, like cloud services as fundamental new concepts have a way of disrupting any business.
Mr. D Shivakumar, President AIMA
The third is to prepare to accept failure. Life will not be one easy journey. A career is like a long distance flight, there will be periods of turbulence where one needs to fasten the seat belt as opposed to jumping out of the plane. Take the turbulence, learn from it and prepare for success ahead. A common mistake MBAs do is to cover up failure by blaming it on external factors and others in the system. Owning up for shortcomings and showing the willingness to do something about the shortcomings will prepare you to be a bigger and better leader. The fourth is to prepare to work with diverse individuals. Strong teams are never made of similar background people. The ability to work with people from very different backgrounds helps you appreciate diversity and also helps you understand how diversity can be leveraged for success. The B school and the projects you do in B school will be a great place to practice this appreciation of diversity. Try and form your work groups with people unlike you and that will help you build empathy and will also help you relate differently. This will help you enormously when you start you managerial career and you will be required to deal and talk with shop floor workers in a factory, distributor salesmen, distributor etc. who might not necessarily have the IQ or the EQ to deal with complex business situations. The fifth is prepare to speak up, to be Intellectually honest, the ability to tell it as it is on behalf of the institution and the stakeholders. Financial mismanagement and financial corruption aren’t the key reasons for decline in public trust of business houses and leaders. It is more the spin that businesses are putting out. Being intellectually honest will always put you in a position of strength v a v your stakeholders. A number of people feel
that a white lie or a reasonable spin is part of managing the ‘ system and the boss’. I don’t fully endorse that, in a way it is like saying it is fine for a business to be a little corrupt in order to get its way! The sixth is about preparing to be proud of the institution you work for. In today’s free information society, employees have access to all kinds of information and commentary about their company. It is easy for middle and junior managers to be swayed by some of this commentary and hence devalue the institution they work for. Pride in your organization is something that you should always be prepared to have, you are not an outsider or a consultant to point out what’s wrong, you are part of the institution and you should address the issues. High IQ tends to make people more cynical and less positive abut their surroundings if things don’t go their way. Prepare to be a proud citizen, a proud company person and a proud team member. That pride is worth more self-esteem, than any amount of money that people can offer you. Planning a career makes you put artificial deadlines and timelines. YoungMBAs plan to be a young VP or a young CEO because they imagine the associated financial benefits of that position. My advise to young MBAs – “ Aim to be good, if you are good money will follow you, on the other hand, if you have money, it doesn’t mean that you are naturally good”
So, In The Final Analysis, Prepare To Be GOOD!!
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Our Guru Speaks - A interview with Prof. Dr. Jai Raj Nair Professor - IT
Q. We understand that you did your graduation in B.Arch and then went on to do PGDBM as well as Doctorate. Do you feel education is a continuous process in life?What are your thoughts on this? The amount of learning one can do, does not have an end because knowledge is sheer power. The market needs people who are multiskilled, so gone are those days when people say they are familiar with a specific aspect of business. Personally I have been a voracious reader, I like reading even outside my domain. Nowadays I have been reading about astrology, so anything that interests me I take it to the next level .That is why I kept on changing my career but now I have got settled in the academic field. But for a student I believe one should continue the learning process for as long as possible. Q. You were among one of the faculty members selected for the Faculty Development Program Harvard Business School (HBS). We have couple of questions here on a. What was the HBS program all about? b. Please share your experience with all of us? c. What according to you is so different at HBS as compared to an Indian B- school? The program was called GloColl i.e. Global Colloquium on Participant Centered Learning. As we know Harvard Business School has pioneered and perfected the concept of case studies for the past 100 years plus. The program was to provide a Harvard experience to the faculty members from all over the world. It was a 7 day program .The infrastructure of HBS was fantabulous. The classrooms were designed in a semicircular pattern with all the amenities. We were given demonstration of how cases should be handled for eg: Its difficult taking a quantitative lecture with the help of a case study, but they demonstrated us how it can be done .They have a paper called Corporate Accountability and Leadership this showed us how a financial case can be converted into a case based on corporate governance. I believe I have become much more confident as a faculty after being through that course. There were 143 participants from 29 countries .This was about case teaching methodology and now the second phase is going to be held in Mumbai in February about case writing. In IIM Calcutta when I was a student case studies were not so prominent. At Harvard I 11
believe the students are more serious with substantial work-experience, so teachers are more of facilitators at HBS. At Harvard they only stimulate the students and the learning follows on its own. Q. Could you in detail elaborate the strategies that we as students should adopt during our next two years of the management education so as to have a successful career in future? My only advice for the students would be to get a bit more serious. Do not worry much for the placements, the company must chase you. Take it to the next level put in your efforts. Like at Harvard for a Business Case Study a lot research is to be done before coming to the class, they would exploit Google to understand the terms they do not understand and find out their meanings. There is a tremendous amount of pressure that is being built-up due to the peer group. Here, I see students have enough excuses to not to do that, but they should understand that this is not a bed of roses. Today students need to be self motivated, self driven, multi skilled and self disciplinary. Q. What was your learning from the innovative teaching pedagogy adopted at the FDP of the HBS program? My main learning was that if we can completely move to the case study mode of teaching which our Group Director is actually trying to do. We have a course called as Integrative Managers, which run on case studies from Harvard which provides a very stimulating and scintillating discussions in classes on the case studies. So we have made the beginning but still a lot of ground is to be covered to move to the level of Harvard. We are planning to implement case based teaching in every subject whether it be marketing or accounting etc. because this pedagogy is much better and effective.
Prof. Dr. Nair at Harvard Business School 12
Post Budget Analysis Round Table The round table of the finance club “Arthakul” was organized on March 7th 2013. The session started with a floral welcome of the esteemed panelists by Prof. Hema D. and Prof. Vijay Kumar. The students presented a video on the budget to throw some light on the Union Budget 2013-14; adding to which was a presentation where the audience were introduced to the impact of budget on individuals, sectors (Energy, Transport, Rural Development, Social Services, Industry etc.) andS economy as a whole. With this, the session commenced with Vijay Sir stating the budget 2013 as a ‘plain vanilla budget’. He showed concern about few serious issues with the budget 2013; which were, interest on deposit in savings account being exempt earlier; planned and non-planned expenditure; current account deficit etc. Mr. Suchit Majumdar, the first panelist to speak stated that this was a ‘Robinhood’ budget where the finance minister was on the track when looking towards the revenues and promoting FDI and FII to get more foreign investment as there is a slowdown in the growth across sectors. Another area of importance was the deferment of tax rules. Next panellist was Mr. Bala Subramaniyam. He spoke about the manufacturing sector that as the production has come down; excise duty is going to be difficult to pay for this sector. He explained about the Dividend Distribution Tax and that people are not happy with tax on small amounts of deposit in savings account. Thus, people tend to invest more in gold deducing that this budget has not given an “investment angle” to the people. Lastly, corporate tax and surcharge was also in talk and his point of view was that direct tax will help the nation and not the indirect tax. Further, the discussion was continued by Mr. Pratap Subramaniyam who felt that the budget 2013 was more of a ‘speech’ than a ‘budget’, a story of missed opportunities. He stated that Current account deficit is of greater concern than fiscal deficit of 5-7%, which is manageable for an emerging country. Reform agenda could have been pushed, and bills could have been passed to create economic space. Oil economy was also not taken into consideration in this budget. FM should have found further new ways of taxation, instead of taxing the same people again and again. Finally the last panellist to speak was Mr. Bharat Rao who spoke about DTC (Direct tax code) and brought to notice that not much has been done in this area. Adding to this, the budget this time was not so favourable and did not widen the tax umbrella. He also said that approx 46 per cent of corporate turnover will go into the tax. After a great discussion and sharing of thoughts by all the panelists, there was question and answer round to enrich the students. The session ended by greeting the panelists with a token of appreciation by Prof. Hema D. and a vote of thanks by the students. 13
India CEO Forum ‘India CEO Forum on Business and Human Rights Dialogue’ was held on 2nd April 2013 at Infosys Campus, Bangalore on the theme Growth with Dignity, Respect and Accountability - Exploring the implementation of the United Nations “Protect, Respect, Remedy” Framework for Business and Human Rights in the Indian context. The forum was attended by eminent personalities from business, government, academia and civil society. WeSchool was the academic partner of this forum and helped Infosys document this event. Mr. Pooran Pandey, Executive Director, GCN India delivered the welcome address and Mr. Narayana Murthy, Chair of the Indian CEO Forum, Global Compact Network India and Founder Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Ltd delivered the opening remarks. Mr.Murthy appreciated the initiatives of GCN and enlightened the forum on the ways to implement UN Guiding Principles in the Indian context. Ms. Beroz Gazdar Senior VP, Group Sustainability, Mahindra raised concerns that the biggest challenge for Mahindra had been their supply chain and to overcome this Mahindra had adopted a structured due diligence process for their
new vendors. Mr. Asim Parekh, Vice president, Coca Cola recalled how some of their suppliers were reluctant in adopting the human rights standards, however by providing education , Coco Cola was able to convince majority of their suppliers to adopt human rights standards. Ms Sushma Kapoor, Deputy Representative, UN women, spoke on gender bias and violence against women. She also raised the issue of women representation at the executive board and emphasized the need for a conducive environment for women work force and the need for gender equality. Mr. Salil Tripathi deliberated that companies must provide disclosures with reference to human rights policies adopted by them to ensure transparency. Prof. Joe Philip expressed the fact that in Industrial law there are many human right protection clauses. The other panelists agreed and emphasized the need to ensure implementation of such laws in case of human right violations quoting Union Carbide as an example. Mr. Joe Philip also quoted the example of women education in Kerala which has lead to women empowerment and economic growth. With this the forum was brought to a conclusion. 14
WeSchool Faculty Development Program Assurance of learning (AOL) session
Dr Arun Pereira with Dr Anil Rao along with WeSchool faculty members who participated in AOL workshop
Assurance of learning sessions were organized in WeSchool Bengaluru on 26th april 2013. The sessions of the day commenced with the introduction of the speaker Dr. Arun Pereira, Clinical Associate Professor of Management Education at ISB by Prof V. V Raghavan and a welcome gesture by Dr. Anil Rao. The participants were given pre reading material which helped them in grasping the concepts of AOL .
The session started with the road map of the session plan along with the brief introduction about AOL and its significance in the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) process. The whole process was explained in context with the AOL process at ISB, Hyderabad. The session was highly interactive with suggestions and discussions between the speaker and the faculty members. The 1st half of the work shop was theory based where the entire process of AOL was explained in detail with examples to illustrate the following points • AOL process -Introduction • AOL & AACSB • Steps in AOL ( Learning goal , Learning Objectives) In the second half of the session participants were divided into three teams representing the 3 programmes in Bangalore campus. viz PGDM , PGDM-E business and PGDM –BD. Each team had to come up with one significant goal of their respective programmes which was then discussed and modified based on inputs from the speaker and other participants.The teams were asked to come up with learning objectives based on the programme goal decided by them which was further discussed and refined. Dr. Pereira then explained the concepts of Rubrics and participants were asked to solve few examples on the concept. Each team was then asked to design a Rubric based on the learning objective decided by them which was then presented to all teams and modified. All participants were then given a feedback form to rate their learning experience and share some suggestions for the improvement of the session. Dr. Anil Rao and Prof V.V Raghavan then requested each of the programme heads to elaborate on the road ahead for the programmes based on the take away of this workshop thus concluding the session. 15
Faculty members participating in the AOL session in the campus
Virtual Workshop on Applied Statistics for WeSchool Faculty Members In line with the tradition of WeSchool to experiment with innovative ways of learning, WeSchool Management conducted a virtual workshop using the CISCO technology platform on the subject of Applied Statistics for the WeSchool faculty members in the month of June-July 2013. This was a 12 session workshop where in faculty members from Mumbai and Bangalore connected virtually. The resource person for the workshop was an international faculty Dr. Nalini Ravishankar, Professor Department of Statistics University of Connecticut. All the three locations were connected virtually for each session of the workshop. The workshop was attended by 34 participants. The workshop was yet another attempt by the Management to progress with the culture of research at the Institute. The workshop was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Sonia MehrotraAssociate Professor Centre of Excellence for Case Development.
Wemitra and Wekas Initiative
WeKAS - This is a self directed-works team created under the guidance of Prof.Dr. Anil Rao Paila. The team involves faculty who are directly and indirectly involved with the various activities that students participate in, outside the purview of their academic rigour while at We School. The primary objective of this team is to help students to get an all-round development. By motivating and guiding the students to participate across different event in different roles, the team will help them develop their knowledge, skills and aptitude and thus enhance their overall competence. This would arm the students with greater self-confidence and help them broaden their outlook. Finally, the process would also enhance their performance during the Placement Seasons. WeMitra - It is fundamentally a program targeted to the fresh batch joining the campus to give them a sense of being guided and cared while they settle into their life at We School. It involves assigning faculty who would be like a buddy to the students. The students can approach these faculties for any support and guidance they would need. This is a voluntary process and based on the need and comfort of the students. This initiative is a feeder to the WeKAS program as it provides a primary insight into the existing levels of skills and aptitude of the students. 16
DESTINATION INDIA WeSchool, Bengaluru hosted a delegation of 14 students along with 3 faculty members of Grant Mac Ewan University, from Edmonton, Canada, from 9th to 13th May, 2013 as a part of their Destination India programme.
Delegation from Grant Mac Ewan University with Welingkar Bangalore faculty
The delegation was headed by Dr. Makarand Gulawani and Dr. Victor Bilodeau, who have authored the book- ‘ HIGHWAY TO INDIAN MARKETS- A Guide To Doing Business In India’. They were accompanied by another distinguished faculty member from the Grant Mac Ewan University, Dr. Albena Pergelova. The delegates landed in Bengaluru on 9th May, 2013. They were oriented on the cultural heritage of India, combined with a short visit to M.G. Road, Bengaluru. The day was filled with fun and shopping. The next day, the delegation visited INFOSYS, Bengaluru Campus which is one of the major IT companies in India, situated in Electronic City, Bengaluru. Following this, they arrived at the WeSchool campus. They were then briefed about their agenda for the next 4 days.The delegation was segregated into 4 groups, comprising of 3-4 members each, and each group was mentored by 6 of our WeSchool faculty members. These mentoring sessions included a lot of field visits, where the students visited places related to their product to gain practical knowledge and insights firsthand. The sessions were not only informative but also fun-filled. Mentors spent maximum of their time with the students, some of them even hosted dinner at their homes. 17
On the 3rd day, the delegation visited GUHRING, which is a world class manufacturer of round shank cutting tools for the metalworking industry; also a provider of top quality coating, reconditioning and tool management services located in Bangalore.
Students Shahzina Kassam, Heather Ford & Paula Srisai (Dean) with their mentor Dr. Sonia Mehrotra.
The mentoring sessions with the 4 mentors continued there on with more visits planned for the day. On day 4, the delegation visited the city of Mysore which is the cultural capital of Karnataka located 200 km from Bangalore.
The students were given a brief glimpse of the Indian culture by visits to the Chamundeshwari Temple & the Mysore palace. On the 5th day, the students with help from their respective mentors, made a short presentation to the mentors & other senior faculty members of the Bengaluru Campus, they were rated out of total 70 marks, out of which 40 marks were for the country report & 30 for the business strategy that they came up with. The presentations where very well received & the students came up with some really brilliant and innovative strategies for their products. The day concluded with felicitating the faculty in the delegation & the student mentors for the support extended.
Students Tanya Tran,Tammy Tran, Ivan Ricon & Dana Richardson with their Mentor Dr. Githa, Dr. Anil & Dr. Makaran
Mentors & Faculty members listening to the presentations made by students
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In today’s world where everyone is busy running the rat race, his thought was that, we must not concentrate our energies on being competitive but being collaborative. He strongly propagated working together and reinstated an important fact, that we should not be carried away by theory but be practical.
Series
We Cafe Session – Mr. D Shivakumar
A touch base with values always help, he spoke about how one should never measure one’s worth by the salary slips one receives . If a person is good, money will follow them. This is a fine thought in a world where everyone speaks the language of packages. A firm believer of “company comes first” policy he said that while working your company comes first then comes your team and finally you yourself. Also he said that one must never leave a company when one is unhappy. Leave on a high note.
He also mentioned about four vital things in life- Health, family, Money and Job. He said take care and hold on to the first two and the other two will fall in Journey of learning and experience in place. Bangalore couldn’t have started off on a better The key takeaways of this session were note. that in life, sometimes we keep running in circles without really understanding “Don’t just plan...Prepare” who we are and what we want. Running These are the words of the experienced, b e h i n d s o m e p o p u l a r n o t i o n s , learned and inspiring D Shivakumar Former VP sometimes behind things we don’t even completely understand. of Nokia. In his session he shunned the conventional idea of power point presentations and developed a direct connect with the crowd as he shared his beliefs and stories. He mentioned about how you cannot control where you start but you do control where you end. True enough, you are born into certain circumstances and situations but what you do with what you have is completely in your hands. 19
What makes some people who they are is their clarity of life. Being clear on their values, come what may is what defines them. It was a session that made people think, a session that had more than one thought to carry back home.
We cafe with Mr. Rajiv Mehta, CEO, PUMA
targeting the different needs of the market. Nike and Adidas were predominately ruling the market, so Puma came up as a fashion brand and targeted the lifestyle of the people. People now buy 1 pair of Adidas or Nike and 2 or 3 pairs of colorful Puma shoes for casual wears. Rajiv Mehta is fair , honest , positive and creative. He is very down to earth and does not hesitate to change his decision if suggested a better opinion by any employee because he believes in creating leaders and not followers. “ Sycophants stops a person’s growth “ is his conviction.
Rajiv Mehta the youngest CEO always believed in his gut feeling even if he was given no consideration in the beginning of his career. He earned it. Words of Rajiv Mehta would always remain in my mind ‘I had a potential and pedigree but no experience’. Rajiv’s mantra for life was “go with your gut feeling” .One should never be afraid of taking initiatives in life. But after making mistakes, learning a lesson should be your take for life. Keep exploring things that increase your confidence and so as your gut feeling. Many people feel that marketing is the only solution to increase sales. But premium quality products do not need marketing for the rational customers. The manager should reach till the grass roots of his organization .He/She should be aware of the outlets and the environment and services provided at each outlet. Target positioning of the market is must .No need to make economical goods for the masses I phones are the best example for the target consumers of upper middle class rather than Samsung .But still it is cooler to have an iphone rather than a Samsung. It is the sales which gives us the right to marketing. Brand positioning can be done by 20
We cafe with Mr. Gerd Hofner, MD & CEO SIEMENS Technology India
Mr. Gerd Hofner , MD & CEO of SIEMENS Tecnology India enlightened us about his life at SIEMENS. We all know that SIEMENS operates in more than 190 countries in wide range of sectors like power, healthcare, infrastructure, energy e t c . M r. H o f n e r m e n t i o n s t h a t INNOVATIONS keep them strong and they are very crucial for any industry to survive. He also emphasized on his belief that the future needs curiosity, sustainability, visionary thinking, values, openness and finally, the future needs youth. Mr. Hofner told that if one really got an opportunity to work in a different culture, it should be grabbed with both hands. One should always keep in mind that culture per se is not good or bad, it is simply different. He also specifies that one should be open minded , curious ,inquisitive and should respect the difference of opinions. Mr. Hofner quoted his personal philosophy on career that “Don’t make a career plan, always strive to be among the best and make it a point to enjoy what you are doing.” 21
For an employee to stay loyal to a company for such long period of time (25 years with SIEMENS) one should trust the strategy and vision of the company. Mr. Hofner urged us to think about a long term goal and there is no need to fall in love with the company, you can just fall in love with people around you.
Achievers Wall of Fame
1. Dr. Githa Heggde, Dr. Githa Heggde, Faculty (Bengaluru campus) won the gold medal for “J. L. Batra Best Research Paper Award” at the AIMS Convention, 2013. Her paper on “Leadership style, employee work effort and sales job performance: The influence of national culture - A study conducted in India and USA".
2. Prof. Soumya Chakraborty, Prof. Soumya Chakraborty, Faculty ( B a n g a l o r e ) , wa s f a c i l i t a t e d w i t h Ramaswamy P Aiyar - Best Outstanding Young Teacher Award for 2013.
3. Prof. Anuradha Mahesh Prof. Anuradha Mahesh was elected as the Executive Committee Member on the Advisory board of the National Human Resource and Development (NHRD) Network, Bangalore Chapter 2013-15
Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila was elected as Advisory Board member of NHRD Network, Bangalore Chapter, for the year 2013-15. 22
MDC - Executive Education Workshops Professor Dr. Anil Rao along with faculty members with the members of executives of TITAN
Management Development Centre (MDC) is an ever active part of the WeSchool Academia. It runs the Executive Management education program. Here is a gist of initiatives conducted by MDC: 1) Workshop on "Effective Public Presentations" for Titan Industries Ltd held on 12th June 2013. This workshop was a 1 day program in which Executives of Titan had participated. Post the workshop the participants were mentored for about 6 weeks by our faculty to enhance their public presentations skills. 2) 5th NUS workshop held from 15th to 22nd May 2013. NUS is "National University of Singapore" from which students come to India to do Internship as a part of the NUS Overseas Colleges Program in India. This workshop is followed by mentoring of these students to help them develop a Business Model 3) 7th batch of JMLP- Junior Management Leadership Program It is a 16 month program for Infosys BPO which was conducted in Jaipur training about management and leadership skills. Convocation for the same is scheduled on 18 Sep 2013 at Jaipur.
Professor Dr. Anil Rao along with faculty members with the student of NUS
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Connect With Vishwanath 1.How did the learnings at WeSchool help shape your carrier? The Foundation and platform that WeSchool gave on the technical aspects of HR is the first main thing that has helped me start my HR career. The emphasis on constantly learning new things, evolving and networking with fellow professionals has helped me to grow in my career. 2.We understand that you have done Engineering in Mechatronics for graduation, also your previous work experience has been in Testing in IT industry; what made you choose Human Resources as your PGDM specialization? Any particular planned strategy to get into this field? My bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics engineering helped me understand that any problem should be viewed as a system; not as separate entities. When I joined Wipro as a testing engineer, during the initial years I had learned about the process and importance of process methodology. It also gave me an opportunity to lead a team of 4. This is when people and people management started attracting me and I wanted to learn more. Though I have knowledge on systems and process’, understanding and managing people is the most challenging task in the world. Several years have passed and I am still learning, unlearning and relearning the behavior of people. 3.We know that you are the one who came with the concept of "Prameya" for first time in our Institute. What was the inspiration behind it? How were you able to visualize the
Vishwanath S PGDM E-Biz 2008-10 magazine and then reciprocate it in reality? The main objective of starting “Prameya” during our batch was to share knowledge of the Corporate world and to know each other within our batch. I would also want to mention here that my roommate Devaraj, PGDM (Retail) student was also helpful and instrumental in bringing the concept to reality. We envisaged it as an E-magazine which would bring out hidden talents in our batch and showcase it to the world. My entire batch cooperated and my dream turned into reality. 4. How would you describe the future of HR specialization in India, is it still limited to playing an administrative role or has it moved beyond the Strategic Board room level? Though I am not a Pro in HR, from whatever knowledge and experience I have, I feel that it all depends on the maturity of the organization and the HR professional themselves. 10-15 years back, HR was playing only administrative roles but today organizations have matured enough to give HR the strategic role. It also depends on the nature of the business and the HR professional themselves. A few HR professionals understand the need of the business and cater to it immediately but many of them still play an administrative role. 5.Three primary advices, that you would like to share with us and our readers for a promising and fruitful carrier? Always have a goal (begin with end in mind) in any activity you do, have a methodology (Process or way) to achieve it and finally work smart (learn, relearn and unlearn) to achieve it. 24
The Association of Schools(AIMS) events
Indian
Management
Dean and Director’s Round Table Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management, Development and Research, Bengaluru hosted the Association of Indian Management Schools’s Southern Regional Deans & Directors Roundtable on the theme "Doing the Best"- Sharing Best practices in Management Education on 16 April 2013. This was attended by the member B-schools Dean and Directors. Dr. Joe Philips, Director, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bengaluru was the Chief Guest for this event.
Dr.Anil Rao Paila with Dr.Khole(Ex Vice Chancellor,Mumbai University), Dr. Joe Philip( Founder AIMS), Dr.D Y Patil( President AIMS), Dr Bala Subramanyam (Chairman, TamilNadu Chapter) lighting the lamp.
Dean and Director’s Round Table conference held at WeSchool Bengaluru Campus in April 2013
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Convention of Management Education
The entire WeSchool team including Group Director Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Dean Prof. Dr. Anil Rao, faculty members and students at AIMS Convention Mumbai
The Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) organizes an annual management education convention on a theme of topical interest to B-Schools every year. It is a mega event and a flagship programme of AIMS which serves as a plat-form for academia, industry and political leaders to share their perspectives and experiences. This year, AIMS organized the 25th AIMS ANNUAL MANAGEMENT EDUCATION CONVENTION 2013 from 22th to 24th August, 2013 at Bharati Vidyapeeth’s Institute of Management Studies & Research, Navi Mumbai. The theme for this year was ‘Envisioning Management Education”. The event also coincided with Bharathi Vidyapeeth’s 50 year celebration. Students and faculty from various B-schools got a chance to interact with noted industry professionals, International dignitaries and Dean’s on various topics. Some of the prominent speakers who addressed the gathering were Mr.Liu Youfa, General Consulate of People’s Republic of China, who spoke about strengthening Indo-China relations to boost economy and education and Mr.D. Shiva Kumar (President AIMA) threw some light on current industry perspective on MBA Grads. The Interactive conversational presentation between Dr. Dev Dutta Patnaik(Chief belief officer , Future group) and Mr. Sanjay Jog(Group Head HR, Reliance retail) interlinking Indian Epic & Management was also a memorable part of this convention. It was followed by sessions of B.R Singh(FormerDirector‐ HR, Ispat Industries Ltd.), Mr. Arup Gupta(SVP (HR), Reliance Communication) and Dr Vijay Khole, Dr Mr Rao, Dr Devi Singh, Dr Upinder Dhar & Dr P V Ramana. The second day’s session was chaired by Prof.Dr. Uday Salunkhe(Group Director, WeSchool) who commenced the session with an inspiring speech on “Leader as a Teacher /Teacher as a leader” which was well received by the audience, especially by the faculty members present, who raised the challenges they often face which led to a fruitful Q and A session. This was followed by Prof.Darren Meister, (Associate Professor of Information
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Systems, Ivey Business School, Western University, Canada) who addressed the delegation on the same note. The day concluded with presentations by faculties of different colleges on various issues.
WeSchool Bengaluru Campus student representatives with Dean and Director, Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila and Faculty member, Prof. Dr. Geetha Hegde On the third day, Dr.Arun Pereira (Executive Director, Center of TLC, ISB) shared his view point on current scenario of MBA and scope for improvement on the same through various channels. This was followed by Prof. Galit Shmueli’s firsthand experience on MOOC’s and how she practised the same. It was also a proud day for WE-School, Bengaluru as two of our faculty members, Prof. Soumya Chakraborty and Prof.Dr. Githa Heggde bagged two awards. This convention paved a way for WE-students to interact and network with distinguished Corporates personailities, faculties and students. WeSchool has always been an active member of AIMS, our Group Director, Prof.(Dr.)Uday Salunkhe has been a former President (2007-2008) and has played a significant role in expanding its horizon. Dr Anil Rao Paila is the current treasurer of AIMS and we hope to be a part of this legacy in the upcoming years.
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Ninth India Innovation Summit 2013
WeSchool students participated in the India Innovation Summit Ninth India Innovation summit was held this year from 7th to 8th August at Bangalore. The theme of the summit for this year was‘India as the Start-up nation’.The Summit commenced with the welcome address by Mr. Soumitra Bhattacharya, Chairman CII Karnataka State Council & Joint Managing Director Bosch Ltd followed by the opening remarks by the Chairman of the Summit Mr. S Gopalkrishnan(Kris), Executive Vice Chairman, Infosys Ltd. The Inaugural Address was given by the Chief Guest , Honorable Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr. K. Siddharamaih. The Summit involved a series of sessions, lined up on both days. The first session commenced with the Presentation on “Innovation in Startup Ecosystem” by Prof.Rishikesha Krishnan , Professor of Corporate Strategy & Politics, IIMB and Dr.Vinay Dabholkar , President Catalign Innovation Consulting Pvt Ltd. The session was about exploring different methods employed in a startup ecosystem to remain innovative on the Leading edge while being relevant to the market price. It was then followed by a number of sessions discussing on various important topics like the role of incubators in Enabling start-up ecosystems, the rise of Angel funds and competition for Talent, The Incubation by Corporation and Emerging sector of Opportunities for start-ups by prominent speakers like Prof S.Sadagopan, Mr. C S Murali and Mr. Rishi Das The sessions on the Second Day of the Summit focused on the areas like scaling the idea into business, Leveraging Venture Capitals , Demand Generation through corporate and cross border collaborations, the growth of social impact venture and also discussing the women in Start-ups. Many speakers like Dr. Guraraj Deshpande, Ms. Shraddha Sharma, Mr. Mukund Mohan, Mr. Vinod Keni and Ms. Kumud M. Srinivasanet were part of the sessions. The summit concluded with closing remarks by the Chairman. Some students of the We-School got the opportunity to attend this prestigious summit. They had an enriching experience while gaining several insights on the Startups in India and its future by some of the most prominent speakers of the corporate world. 28
IHRD Mumbai HR Summit 2013 Theme: Role of HR in Building Business Leadership The students of WeSchool Bengaluru campus were invited to IHRD Mumbai HR summit held on May 24th and 25th as student volunteers and were required to render assistance with respect to managing various aspects of the event such as reception team, registration team and stage management. Here are some insights and key takeaways of the students who attended the event.
“It was a great opportunity for me to interact with large pool of HR professional from diverse industry vertical. It was a good learning experience for me and the takeaway for me was current strategies used for Succession Planning in different industries.” Anand Tiwari PGDM Business Design 2012 -14
“The IHRD Mumbai HR summit was a great opportunity for interaction with HR leaders from some of the biggest brands in the market. Our participation at this event was unique in the sense that we were able to pool student volunteers from we school Bangalore and Mumbai, thanks to a joint effort between me and my Mumbai counterparts, a classic example of synergy that leads to value creation for all.” Ali Asgar PGDM Business Design 2012 -14
“While I got to learn about what business leadership is, the who's who in HR field and their insights on the theme gave a different perspective to the working of an everyday HR professional. For me it was a great learning and networking opportunity.” Saurabh Garg PGDM Business Design 2012 -14
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Donate blood and save lives
Students of WeSchool participating in Blood Donation Camp With the message of ‘Donate Blood Save Lives’, Rotaract Club of WeSchool organized a Blood Donation Camp on 7th August 2013 in association with We R Green Club of We School and Red Cross Society. The event was built around the message of lending a helping hand to those who are in serious need of Blood. The donors were encouraged to come forward and not only donate blood but also give a sliver of hope to those in need. The event was publicised by distributing bookmarks at the toll gate of Electronic City and by inviting various Corporates in E-City. The event was youth driven and therefore colleges from the nearby areas were also invited. The event saw huge participation from not only the students of We School but from various Corporates. This overwhelming response led to the collection of 107 units of blood. It beat the earlier record of 67 units by Rotaract Club of Welingkar. The event was supported by Red Cross Society with their expertise and skill. The volunteers from Red Cross were instrumental in the success of the event. Certificates were awarded to the donors appreciating them for taking time out of their busy schedules.
R O T A R A C T
The event was spearheaded by Rtn. Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila, Prof. Anita Pillai and Rtn. Lata Amashi and with their guidance, the Rotaractors were able to motivate other people and drive the event. After the completion of the event, Rtn. Prof. Dr. Anil Rao presented the volunteers with mementos for their support. Also, Rotaract Club of Welingkar was awarded a Certified Donor Award for its contribution towards this noble cause. 30
Flash Mob....A initiative to save lives
Rotaract members performig at the UB City mall
The Rotaract club of Welingkar joined hands with the Rotary Club of Diamond District, Bengaluru to spread awareness about Breast Cancer and fund treatment for under privileged and deserving patients. The funds would be raised through a marathon known as “5k Breast Cancer Awareness Run�. The proceeds from the Run would be used to fund surgeries for at least 100 patients below the poverty line at the Mazumdar-Shaw Cancer Center (MSCC) at highly subsidized rates. In order to urge people to participate for this noble cause the students of Rotaract Club of Welingkar, Bengaluru performed a Flash Mob at UB city mall at 5:30 pm on 18th August 2013. The final performance culminated in an impromptu jig in which the performers were joined by many of the onlookers. The students went a step ahead in urging the crowd to support the cause by singing tracks. There were 25 performers who took centre stage and managed to garner a lot of attention from the bypassing crowd. Owing to the grand success of the first performance it was decided that the flash mob be repeated twice, once at 6:30pm and next at 7:30pm. In between the performances, the rotaractors took up the initiative of selling bibs(tickets) for the marathon.
WeSchool students trying to garner public support for the cause by playing musical instruments and singing 31
Investiture ceremony of Rotaract Club
R O T A R A C T
District Governor Rotarian KS Nagendra along with the newly elected Board Members of the Welingkar Rotaract Club Investiture ceremony of Rotaract Club of Welingkar, was held on 15th Aug 2013. The occasion was graced by The District Governor Rotarian. K.S. Nagendra, Rotarian Jeetendra Aneja, Director, Youth Services, R I Dist. 3190, Rotarian. Sanjay Agarwal, President, Rotary Bangalore Junction, R I Dist 3190, Rotarian Arihant Kumar, DRR, R I Dist 3190, and Rotarian Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila amongst other dignitaries and vibrant Rotaractors. The Induction of the Board Members was commenced by Rotarian Jeetendra Aneja, Youth Service Director, R I Dist 3190. The induction of new Rotractors was conducted by Rotarian Sanjay Agarwal, President, Rotary Bangalore Junction & DRR Rotary. Arihant Kumar. DRR Rotary Arihant Kumar, Rotarian Jeetendra Aneja and District Governor Rotary. K.S Nagendra addressed the new Rotractors and motivated them with their thought provoking speeches for “Nation Building� initiatives. Their speeches instilled the spirit amongst the young crowd to aspire for an enterprising future and wished them luck in all their endeavours. As the new President of Rotaract Club of Welingkar, Rotarian Abhishek Bhave delivered his acceptance speech emphasizing on Team Work. A reflection of the year gone by in form of a movie and presentation encompassing all the projects of (2012-13) was given by Rotary Neha Kandpal, Secretary (2012-13) Rotaract Club of Welingkar. The ceremony came to a conclusion with the vote of thanks by Rotary Pragyan Paramita, Secretary, (2013-14), Rotaract Club of Welingkar. 32
INDEPENDENCE DAY: On 15th of August, We celebrated our 67th independence day and at WeSchool, the atmosphere was filled with air of freshness, vigor and patriotism for our country that has remained steadfast under some difficult times created by both internal and external factors consistently over the period of 66 long years. The new batch of 2013-15 were the chief organizers of this event and one could easily notice the sense of responsibility and excitement on their faces to showcase their talent, individuality and teamwork that led to grand success of this event. The day started with the Flag Hoisting ceremony which was done by our Dean Dr. Anil Rao Paila along with the two chief guests Mrs. Rama N S and Mrs. Revathy Ashok and all the faculty members while the ‘Best National Anthem’ in the world was sung with great pride and honor. The theme of this year’s Independence Day was ‘Women Empowerment’ and rightly so we had this two esteemed women in our midst Mrs. Rama N S and Mrs. Revathy Ashok who are the best examples of our theme. Mrs. Rama who previously worked with Infosys and currently working with NCR as Head of Operations spoke at great length about women education quota in Indian Education System and was in favour of atleast 50% quota for women in every education institute around the country. She also mentioned that women of this age need the support of men to gain the status of equality in the society and celebrating the success of people especially women would help making our country a better place for them to live in. Guests with Dr. Anil Rao Paila after Flag hosting ceremony
Student choir performing the national song during the celebrations 33
Different forms of dances being performed by students
leader and held envious positions at senior management level both at the national and international platforms and voted as one of the ten most powerful women in Indian IT industry shared her views on the theme. She encouraged the young minds in the audience to Vote for their future leaders, to raise their concerns about the wrongdoings happening in their surroundings and should engage with the government to help bring about the change in the society. She also pressed on the young minds to become holistic leaders of an inclusive society where women can flourish with ease and can feel safe about themselves. After the inspiring session by the two ladies, the students of the new batch had some very interesting performances lined up for the audience. There were variety of dance sequences which included folk dance, western/contemporary style dance on the tunes of some of the best patriotic songs and an intriguing dance sequence based solely on hand movements and expressions, all of which was a treat to the audience. Also, some music talents were also on display as the students showcased it with their group and solo performances which were well applauded. One of the most interesting performance of the day was a skit performed by the students depicting the real life plight and courage of an old lady who owns a tea stall near our college and it managed to touch the hearts of all the people in the audience. “Respect and let the women of your country thrive and flourish and see your country rise to greater heights...!!� Jai Hind.
Dr Anil Rao Paila impressing his hand print on the women empowerment support sheet 34
Farewell of Batch 2011-13
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A Farewell Night with Group Director addressing the Batch followed by Music, Dance and fun 35
Students Corner Human Resources – Game Plan of the Behemoths In a world crippled by economic and socio-political volatility, how does an organization sustain its profit margin, how does it keep its diverse workforce engaged and productive and ensure that the best-of-breed talents are hired? What should its game plan look like? We have deliberated on the transition of HR from an organizational watch-dog and business support function to a key business partner, ad nauseum. The focus has now shifted to redefining strategic decisions to align to the changing needs of a global workforce. Organizations, revered the world over, with distinct nature of businesses and organizational structures have heralded an era of unconventional practices in HR strategies. IBM, Inc. has always been a market leader, be it research and development or otherwise. The organization discarded its ‘a dark suit and a sincere tie’ dress code way back in the mid 90s in favor of business casuals, much ahead of its peers. At a time when homosexual preferences were spoken about in hushed whispers in organizations, IBM introduced its welfare benefits program for the partners of its gay, lesbian and transgender employees. HR implemented changes that allowed seamless integration across the organization allowing almost 40 percent of IBM’s 400,000 employees to work remotely. HR’s proactive stance during acquisitions and subsequent integration helped IBM absorb more than 125 acquisitions and save USD 6 billion since 2005. IBM’s corporate mantra of a ‘Smarter Planet’ transcends to its organizational strategies too. Having realized the significance of a robust learning and development architecture in an organization in such turbulent times, IBM invests approximately USD 1700 per employee to impart new skills and develop competencies in its workforce. IBM encourages its employees to use social media platforms having identified the impact social media channels have in recruitment, employee engagement and organizational brand building. IBM has gone a step forward and defined certain best practices that it expects its employees to follow when communicating through such social media channels. IBM was a front-runner in implementing business analytics to map personal goals of employees and the business deliverable that is expected. This analysis ushered an era of performance based culture, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of communication and feedback. Having introduced simple gamification(1) models in routine employee record processes such as employee profile maintenance, IBM has upped the ante for its peers. 36
Perhaps IBM’s feat lies in its landmark ‘Global Enablement Teams’ (GET) model. With a vision to foster a globally integrated workforce that worked in tandem to drive growth and progress across the organization; in 2008, IBM launched the hugely successful GET model where key employees in mature markets like the United Kingdom were assigned to mentor and assist employees in the growth markets. This nurtured a system of colearning, rendering leaders with deeper global mindsets, defined competencies in cultural adaptability and better connected country teams to the global company agenda. From digital stone-age tabulating machines to the intelligent Watson, IBM’s metamorphosis has been catalyzed by its robust and proactive human resources capabilities and this will go a long way in strengthening IBM’s position as the global market leader. SAS Institute, the market leader in advanced analytics reaped benefits of its ‘employee first’ approach with a 37 consecutive years track of record earnings. Regarded as an extraordinarily munificent employer, SAS did not retrench even a single of its 13,000 employees in the recession-hit 2009, when its competitors were busy downsizing. The CEO, Dr. Jim Goodnight, firmly believed in constraining his short-term revenue goals in favor of consolidating his employees’ faith in the organization’s HR culture. With an enviable annual turnover of 2-3 percent while the industry languishes at 22 percent, SAS has proven that highly motivated and engaged employees who trust their organization and are in turn valued for their contribution, partner in an organization’s growth. The leitmotif of this article was to put forth the avant-garde people strategies that industry stalwarts have adopted to combat the effects of a dynamic and erratic industry. It is evident that sustainability measures entail a robust framework of HR policies that integrate a diverse workforce; a workforce that can ably partner in an organization’s evolution. ANKITA BANERJEE PGDM 2012 – 14
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Innovation of The Month 1.Fantex – Celebrities IPO A new app, “Fantex”, lets you make money in a stock market for athlete and celebrity careers. Fantex allows celebrities and athletes to file for initial public offerings, released a beta version earlier this last month, followed by a prompt retraction from the App Store, according to TechCrunch.
2. Clip-On Device Lets You Read Your Tablet While You Run
Weartrons, a group of New York-based developers, has come up with a solution called Run-n-Read that lets you read text on your tablet while running. Consisting of a tiny clip-on device that can be attached to a headband or the collar of your shirt, the system works with an e-reader app on your tablet to track the movements of your head and shoulders. Keeping the text bouncing in sync with your eyes, the system essentially makes reading while running in a stationary position as easy as reading while standing motionless. In order to turn pages, users simply tap the device once for a forward page turn and twice to page backwards. In addition to its reader features, the system also doubles as a fitness tracker.
3. MICA gives companies a platform to fund start-ups In an innovative move, companies may now be able to fund early stage innovations in the communication sector as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), thanks to a new initiative by the Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA). Founded in 2010, Comcubator was the country's first ever communication technology Business Incubator - that was started with the support of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.
4. Flipkart Launches Payment Gateway PayZippy Online retailer Flipkart has launched a payment gateway service called PayZippy for Indian merchants, pushing competition in the online payments industry which has incumbents like CCAvenue, PayTM, PayU, Citrus and others. Besides, the payment gateway, a customer facing product is in the pipeline and will be launched soon, the company said. PayZippy powers card payments for websites and mobile sites. This system has been used by Flipkart.com for an extensive period, with significantly higher success rates than market, the company said. 38
Book Reviews The Art of War Written by Sun Tzu Translated by Thomas Cleary This book was written in sixth century B.C by Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician of Chinese military. This book contains 13 illustrious chapters all pertaining to the facet of warfare and battle. The most fascinating aspect of the teachings provided in this book is that it amazingly retains its full value in terms of wisdom and acumen for the readers even in such ‘interesting’ times. Each of the chapter emphasises on a certain specific aspect of warfare and each of them beautifully transpires metaphorically as wisdom for our day to day life. The art and strategy described during a warfare in this book is analogous to today’s dog-eat-dog business environment. It completely mirrors the manner in which the businesses in corporate world interact and compete with each other such as a strategic merger between two organizations in which one buys out another is similar to a country conquering its counterpart. ‘The Art of War’ provides a great read and provides management strategies and solutions to day to day conflicts in form of ancient military warfare tactics. If you have even a slight bend for war and history, this is the ‘management’ book for you. Employees First, Customers second- turning conventional management upside down Written by Vineet Nayar One small idea can ignite a revolution just as a single matchstick can start a fire. One such idea—putting employees first and customers second—sparked a revolution at HCL Technologies, the IT services giant. In this candid and personal account, Vineet Nayar—HCLT’s celebrated CEO—recounts how he defied the conventional wisdom that companies must put customers first, then turned the hierarchical pyramid upside down by making management accountable to the employees, and not the other way around. The book is a refreshing and frank look at the challenges facing leaders looking to transform their company, culture and employees. Nayar discusses his experience leading HCLT and its transformation from a $700 million dollar company that was losing market share to a $2 billion dollar company at the front of their market. He explains how he succeeded in reversing accountability which meant to get certain element of the hierarchy to be more accountable to the value zone. This book is a journey that continues to repeat itself time and time again because managers are force to react to its environment and the uncertainty of running a business. Individuals will see an example of the actions and evolution involved in realizing a new way of working. Just about everyone wants to work this way and this book provides an example that can help crystallize your thoughts and how you communicate with your peers and management. A must read for management students and upcoming entrepreneurs. 39
Photography Contest
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Prin L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management, Development & Research. 102/103, Electronic City Phase 1, Next to Telephone Exchange, Hosur Road, Bangalore-560100 Welingkar - Electronic city campus Tel : 080-42678300 (primary number) Tel : 080-28521066/28522514 (alternate number) Fax : 080-41742108 www.welingkar.org