The Edge

IILM INSTITUTE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

October, 2016 Issue

BON VOYAGE Student article

Blood Donation camp

International Day of the Girl Child: Six Missions, One voice in support of Women’s Rights.

The United Nations declared October 11th as the International Day of the Girl Child adopted by United Nations in 2011. The International Day of the Girl is an opportunity to highlight the needs and rights of girls and to advocate for greater action and investment to enable girls to reach their full potential throughout their lives. Girls face discrimination and violence in many parts of the world simply because they are girls.

They face unique challenges such as early and forced marriage, violence, poverty and other barriers. With this perspective in mind, the United Nations declaration is “to help galvanize worldwide initiatives to better the lives of girls, providing them an opportunity to showcase their talents and reach their full potential.” Taking this up at an international level gives it the needed impetus and focus that it deserves. To celebrate this day, IILM Institute for Higher Education proudly hosted a panel the prestigious ‘Chat with Diplomats’ event, on the occasion of the “International day of the Girl Child”, in partnership with the High Commission of Canada.

Diplomats supporting Women Empowerment on the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child The panel discussion was represented by six missions, one voice in support of women’s rights. The esteemed panelists were the Deputy High Commissioner of Canada, Jess Dutton; American Ambassador, Richard Verma; Mexican Ambassador, Melba Pria; Deputy High Commissioner of Australia, Chris Elstoft; His Excellency Ben Joubert, The Ambassador of South Africa and Ambassador of Finland, Nina Vaskunlahti.

Mr. Matt Friesen, Head of Advocacy, Canadian High Commission shared how the Canadian High Commission had organized the campaign ‘Run for Her’ which had more than 400 participants and how they had been looking at creative and innovative ways to celebrate and commemorate the International Day of the Girl since its inception five years ago. As part of this initiative, they had organized a Pan India competition entitled ‘Canadian High Commissioner for the day Challenge’, where Ms. Medha Mishra, an Engineering student from Jaipur who won the competition was honored during the event. Medha underlined her commitment to this cause stating that women ‘can achieve stuff’, in a few succinct words. Post this, Mr Matt Freisen introduced the topic of the panel discussion ‘Glass ceiling or a Sticky Floor’ and invited the diplomats

to express their views. He opened the discussion by pointing out as to women often do not get the same opportunities that men get simply because of their gender. He emphasized the need to wrestle with this issue by asking questions like: why are most of the heads of government men, why are most CEOs men, why are most Board rooms male dominated? He added that women continue to face challenges in education opportunities and in career advancement processes. He indicated how this group, a perfect mix of people from diverse geographical backgrounds and representing both genders, was ideal for initiating such a dialogue.

He then invited the diplomats to share their views one by one and moderated the event.

The Deputy High Commissioner of Canada, Jess Dutton, the first speaker of the panel, drew attention to the fact that ‘gender equality is not a just a women’s issue, it’s an issue that’s very important for men as well ’and encouraged everyone to work together to ensure that one day gender equality will be achieved for all.

He also emphasized the need to celebrate the achievements in the area of gender equality while simultaneously keeping in mind that there is still have a long way to go. Citing examples from Canada, such as giving parental leave instead of maternity leave and the 50-50 gender balanced cabinet in Canada, he demonstrated the initiatives taken by the government to support this cause. In comparison to corporate Canada 48% of the workforce is women. And almost 1 million are self-employed. However, only 16% of the corporate board seats in Canada are held by women and there is a surprising wage gap in Canada, for every dollar

that a man earns, a woman earns 72 cents for the exact same job, highlighting the difference in pay structure based on gender. Sharing experiences of his mother, he drew parallels with today’s organizations to demonstrate the progress that have been made. He then cited examples from India and commended the fact that India have women fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force and there are several women bureaucrats, business people, journalists, scientists, entrepreneurs joining this list. He made a reference to India celebrating the Girl Child day every year on 24th January. He then juxtaposed with the story of a 15 year old girl from Bihar, with 2 children, abandoned by her husband, who is now attending school in order to complete her education and be and independent woman.

Sharing these examples, he encouraged the audience, the future leaders of India to look out for and help such girls, not only in India, but all over the world.

Dr. Anjali Singh with His Excellency Ben Joubert, Ambassador, South Africa

Her Excelleency Melba Pria, Ambassador, Mexico with students

Mr Richard Verma, The American Ambassador, started by expressing his gratitude to the people from his family and on the work front who were his role models and had inspired and influenced him. He specifically mentioned the role his grandmother and mother have played in being mentors for him. He appreciated how these strong women, despite of having difficult circumstances, worked very hard to provide good life and education to their children. Further he highlighted the role of leaders in bringing about gender parity in the economic, legal and political systems. Mr Verma also stated that while holding leadership positions, it’s important for the leaders to ensure gender parity and make things better for women to climb up the ladder.

He added that education, economic opportunity and a fair legal system are essential to ensure level playing field for both genders.

He further reiterated the need to encourage breaking the stereotypes and bringing more people to work for gender equality. He stressed on the fact that women empowerment requires collaborative effort and no one country can work in seclusion in order to achieve this.

His Excelleency Ben Joubert addressing the audience

Melba Pria, the Mexican Ambassador, started her discussion by emphasizing her concern about the need for one day for the Girl Child in the 21st century. She raised questions about how glass ceiling is viewed. The glass ceiling actually the barrier that women face anywhere in the world in their ascending career and Sticky floors mean the downward force that keeps women at middle or low level. She passionately talked about the obstacles that come a women’s way in form of the self-censorship that women are socialized with, the prejudices that women face simply because they are female, the gender based discrimination and sexism that is prevalent. She highlighted that the glass ceiling is a powerful and invisible barrier that hinders the ascending career of women.

Comparing the situation in the two countries she mentioned that in though in India 46% of women are highly educated, only 27% of those women are counted as workforce and get paid, whereas in Mexico, 48% of the women are regarded as workforce. She gave figures to driver home her point that though in Mexico 18% are Financial Officers, 14% Corporate Controllers, 12% Chief Marketing Officers, but only 4% CEO’s!. Reflecting on the reasons behind gender discrimination, she shared the Mexican saying that ‘Women usually have three jobs - they are in their jobs 100% of the time they

are mothers and daughters, and then they are lovers and wives, to their husbands’.

She highlighted that Canada has 27% of its parliament being women, 48% of the Mexican parliament is women and only 12% of India’s parliament is women. Adding on a lighter note she said, “I wonder if men can say the same thing”. Drawing on the experience of Ms. Bianca Trevino, of being assertive about her right to enter the exclusive club of the Mexican Council for Businessmen, Her Excellency Melba Pria brought out the lack of and therefore the need for more successful women role models for the women workforce to look up to. Citing the McKenzie report she shared how closing the gender gap can help increase the GDP of India by 60% by 2025. Stating that women are the largest untapped resource in the world, she enumerated solutions for dealing with this challenge: Break the political leadership ceiling, and conquer the traditional male associated fields.

Mentioning the book Why So Slow, by Virginia Valian she too emphasized the need to acknowledge how far we have come, while being conscious of the way forward. She ended her speech beseeching the audience to be aware that ‘this is not a fight against men, it’s not a fight between men and women, and it is the fight of both genders for equality and fairness’.

His Excelleency Ben Joubert and Mr Jess Dutton with the students of Banyan Tree School

Chris Elstoft, The Deputy High Commissioner of Australia, began his address by sharing that though in his early years when he was growing up, he was not concerned about the ‘He-forShe’ cause. But with the birth of his daughter, there has been a major change in this perspective and now he is very passionate about and engaged with women’s issues. Taking the example of his own eight year old daughter, Mr. Elstoft shared how she believes she is equal to her brothers in every which way, and has the same opportunities that are available to them, but he is deeply aware of the situation that there are differences that exist in society. He added that ‘her safety is not the same as her brothers’, her prospects in the workplace are also not the same. He talked about the initiative that was started about 2 years ago, where they tried to analyze and answer the question as to why, women who constitute 50% of the workforce till a certain level in foreign service drops down to 30-32% by the time thy enter the senior executive rank? What is it about their organization that sees this massive crash in the numbers of women who are entering the leadership cadre? There are a number of tangible barriers that hold women back. One is that foreign ministries in particular struggle with

is because of the demands that are placed on their staff.

They staff around from country to country, dragging their families’ with them, which becomes difficult for women whose husbands are unwilling to move for their wife’s career, the way promotions and recruitments are done, and some issues around culture. To help women reach higher leadership roles in the organization, a number of changes have been introduced, such as making the workplace more flexible, enabling part time work, working from home, remote work, using IT solutions to facilitate people being more productive but also being able to balance work and family to name a few. Above all, he emphasized that they are trying to drive a more inclusive style of leadership culture throughout the department. He ended by saying that having a parity of genders in organizational leadership is not only the right thing to do but it is also the smart thing to do.

Dr.Sangeeta Chopra presenting the caricature to Her Excellency Melba Pria

His Excellency Ben Joubert, The Ambassador of South Africa started his talk by acknowledging the major role women have played in attaining freedom as well as being the real democracy in South Africa. After their constitution got signed in 1996, there was a law passed which stated equal opportunities or equal employment. Those are affirmative laws which give specific allowance for 50% of women in workplace.

South Africa is a country which gives lot of attention to issues of women and child rights, there are many initiatives when it comes to that, one is celebrating their women’s day on 9th August every year. This day was specifically chosen because of the march of the women 60 years ago. At the same time he expressed his concerns regarding the fact that despite having various laws on paper, women were unable to get equal opportunities. He also mentioned various initiatives started by their Government in order to facilitate women empowerment but at the same time, he criticized the need to have so many initiatives even today, in order to get women on equal pedestal with men, he said- “when we look at these initiatives they are there because women are not in a place where they need to be in society and workplace. If you have more initiatives it means you have more serious challenge to address.”

Mr Jess Dutton with Mr Anil Rai and Mr Bhaskar Chatterjee, Senior Director IILM

Nina Vaskunlahti, The Ambassador of Finland, emphasized the need for a higher women representation in their political arenas because of the different perspectives that women add. She shared that in Finland, approximately half of the members in Finnish Parliament are women and they actively work along with their male counterparts in organizing political events. Ms. Vaskunlanhti stressed on the fact that women empowerment is not sole responsibility of women, it order to achieve equality, men need to be active members of the same. She also mentioned the importance of having role models and gave example of Finnish Defense minister- “In 1990 Finland got its first Defense female minister, she was first female defense minister in the whole world. A finish minority made it even more interesting. It was position taken by minority. So breaking the glass ceiling twice. First coming from minority then being a women and she did a pretty good job as minister of defense and she also opened possibilities for girls to enter military services until then it was a profession compulsory for boys but then it became sort of possibility for girls”. In conclusion she advised, “To be bold, to be brave, to be themselves” in order to break the glass ceiling.

All the panelists spoke about how important it is to invest in the education of the girl child, because when they are educated, healthy and informed they not only empower themselves, but also their families and the communities around them. The issues ranged from education to reducing gender disparity and increasing women involvement in leadership roles across organizations and politics. This initiative is a small step in this direction.

The event ended by Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Senior Director, thanking the panelists for sharing their views on a subject that is relevant to all people and all geographies. He briefly talked about IILM’s contribution towards responsible management. He shared that IILM offers 10% fee waiver to all its girl students across its three campuses in Delhi NCR and offers flexible work arrangements to all women employees. IILM Institute is a member of the United Nations Global Compact Initiative “PRME” and has earned the coveted ‘Champion Business School’ status. It has a global study programme which connects its students and faculty with institutions of repute in Germany, France, Spain, Canada, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

The evening ended with informal interactions between Diplomats and the students and faculty of IILM over high tea, leaving us all motivated to take this cause forward.

Campus News

Lodhi Road

Sports Activities Football match and tug of war were two sports events organized for the undergraduate students of the IILM Business School, Lodhi Road Campus. The students of all the stages were grouped into four teams, named under popular characters of Harry Porter series - Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. The event which took place on 17th September started with Football Match. Two winning teams of the first round - Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin participated in the final round with Salazar Slytherin winning the match. In tug of War, the two qualifying teams for the final round Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff played in full spirit against each other, and Godric Gryffindor won the match.

The students appreciated and enjoyed the sports events. All the participants, who were colors of their teams and played with great enthusiasm, expressed their desire that they wanted to see such events happening on a regular basis as it gave them another forum to interact with one another. A special note of appreciation goes to all the volunteers and Captains of the events, who helped in coordinating and organizing the event. They displayed great enthusiasm and team spirit. Their efforts in coordinating with the participants, arranging ref-

eree for the match, preparing the field for the games are being recognized.

Iccha Club – Blood donation camp A blood donation Drive was organized at IILM Lodhi Road campus in association with Rotary Noida Blood Bank on the 12th of October 2016 between 10 am and 4 pm.

28 Donors were screened at the Camp. Out of which 19 could donate blood. The event was successful and helped spread awareness about the importance of donating blood that can save millions of lives.

Dandiya Night at LR Dandiya Night is the most sought after evening of the year. This year as well it was celebrated with much gusto on October 13th, 2016. The students from both UG and PG courses along with the teachers got together for a night full of dance, drama, food and fun. Students enjoyed grooving to the beats of the dhol and the games played enthused the crowds with a different energy level all together. The candid photographer for the evening made sure that all of these moments were beautifully captured for all times to come. The event was surely a great success. Overall, it turned out to be a memorable evening indeed.

Faculty article

Mentoring at IILM

The word ‘mentor’ may be described in simple terms as a person who gives a younger or less experienced person help and advice over a period of time, especially at work or school. In this context, ‘mentor’ is understood as a person who provides assistance and guidance to his or her ‘mentee’- the person who is being guided, and the objective of ‘mentoring’ is to bring out and nurture the best possible abilities in the ‘mentee’.

It may sound clichéd, but the fact is that in current times we do not want our leaders to be a knowledge bank. Instead, we want them to manifest themselves as dynamic individuals who are capable of handling various situations and people at work. IILM has the tradition of implementing a robust mentoring program for each and every student in order to ensure that its graduate and post-graduate students are prepared to handle the world outside. The various aspects of the mentoring program at IILM are: • Academic and Career Counselling: When a student is selected to pursue studies at IILM, s/he is also allocated a dedicated mentor, consider-ing the fact that young and fresh undergraduates and graduates have numerous expectations related to their academics, career and future plans. The mentor remains in regular contact with the student providing guidance and insights to the mentee. The focus is on academic and professional planning, in addition to personal development.

• Direction and Guidance: At IILM, the objective is to not only to focus on the core job of guaranteeing academic learning to the students, but also ensuring that within the framework of the mentoring program, mentees share their aspirations and areas of interest with their mentor. The mentor then extends to them all the necessary direction and guidance, which may shape them as effective and successful leaders of tomorrow.

• Identification of Strengths and Opportunities: The mentor helps the mentee identify his

By Geeta Gogia Asst. Prof. French IILM-LR

or her strengths and areas of opportunities and development in order to create a nurturing environment. This allows the mentee to achieve his or her academic and career goals through regular interactions between the two.

To quote a few examples: • There are students who need help in expanding their family business. In such a situation, the mentor usually connects them to the faculty who has specialized in family business studies or the Entrepreneurship Development Cell (EDC) that caters to nurturing young entrepreneurs.

• Similarly, there are students who wish to work with leading organizations. With the rich pool of faculty at IILM, who come from industry as well academic backgrounds, the mentor helps provide an understanding of the industry operations to the mentee. The Career Development Cell (CDC) works closely with the mentor to make the students employable.

Thus, the process functions on the basis of regular interactions, expressing and meeting expectations and sharing experiences and follow ups with the mentees. The outcome of mentoring program is, hence, transformation of undergraduates into responsible business professionals.

Mentoring Plan for Staff and Faculty Members It is noteworthy to mention that the mentoring program is structured not only for the students but also for the all the faculty and staff members.

When a new joinee becomes a part of the IILM family, the senior faculty and staff members, including the Deans and the Directors mentor them to understand the modus operandi of the system.

During this process, which may be defined as the learning curve, the new joinees understand the dynamics of the system, the process flow of their job profile and are provided continuous inputs and feedback to handle their roles independently.

In a nutshell, the mentoring program is an integral part of the IILM system, which enables each and every individual to define their goals and expectations, draft a plan and then work on the accomplishment of those goals.

Workforce Diversity and Organizational Culture Organizational Culture, as conceptualized by Schein, can be understood as a layered phenomenon with the surface level artefacts visible in an organization as the topmost layer, the espoused values that fuel those just under-neath and most importantly the assumptions and beliefs that underlie the above two layers. Culture is the invisible yet powerful force that drives morale, engagement and performance. Needless to say that the culture of an orga-nization comes from its people and is both top-down as well as bottom-up, resulting from the numerous interac-tions (or the lack thereof) among its people. The diversity in the workforce is therefore, a strong influence sculpting the culture of organizations of today.

Experts are of the opinion that in the glocal world that we live in today, diversity is the key to maximize organizational effectiveness. But what does this diversity really refer to? Is it the variety or multiplicity of demographic features that characterize a company’s workforce, in terms of race, gender, culture, religion, national origin, handicap, sexual orientation and age? Or are we referring to the more intrinsic differences that exist between individuals that surpass the group level differences? Whatever the definition may be, it is true that in any workplace today, we are surrounded by people who often think and work differently. It begins with how people perceive themselves and others and the variations therein, which directly influence people’s interactions and communication within the organization.

The challenge for organizations really is to manage this workforce diversity to benefit from it, to make it advanta-geous. It is ‘Easier said than done!’

What exactly are these advantages that researches keep talking about?

There are several benefits for an organization that embraces diversity in its culture: • Increased adaptability - Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of solutions to problems that arise on a day-to-day basis.

Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individu-al talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer demands.

• Broader service range - A diverse collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural understanding) allows a company to provide service to customers on a global basis. IBM is one organization that created several minority task forces focusing on groups such as women and Native Americans. In the ensuing years these task forces expanded IBM’s multicultural markets growing from $10 million to $300 million in revenue in just 3 years.

• Greater Creativity - A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences.

The organization can draw from that pool to meet business strategy needs and the needs of customers more effectively. All of these benefits have a clear impact on the bot-tom-line of a company.

Challenges of Diversity in the workplace While the benefits of diversity are evident, this path is not devoid of challenges for the organization.

• Unconscious bias is one of the most significant barriers for an organization on the path to embracing diversity. Simply because it is unconscious makes it all the more challenging to overcome. While each individual comes with their own set of unconscious biases, there are some that are common such as those stemming from stereotypes related to women and people from certain cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

• Communication is another important challenge in organizations often resulting from basic differences in the style of communication as well as different mean-ings associated with non-verbal signals. For example, highcontext cultures such as India, Japan and China, rely on implicit communication whereas low context cultures such as USA rely largely on explicit verbal communication. Such differences, when not understood, often lead to miscommunication among teams/employees.

• Resistance to change – Any change is often met with resistance, it is a human tendency. There are employees who refuse to accept the fact that the social and cultural makeup of their workplace is changing. The “we’ve always done it this way” mentality sometimes silences new ideas and inhibits progress.

Implementation of diversity in the workplace policies – This can be an overriding challenge to all diver-sity advocates. Policy level change marks the beginning which then needs to be implemented across the organi-zation.

It is important to recognize and accommodate at the policy level cultural and religious holidays, differing modes of dressing, dietary restrictions and needs of individuals with disabilities.

All the above challenges, while real, can be overcome by building awareness and skills through sensitization training programmes and coaching sessions across all levels.

Most importantly the top management, the leaders need to be good role models, displaying their support for diversity, respecting people from all backgrounds equally.

By- Dr Gargi Sandilya Counselor & Asst. Prof.

BON VOYAGE

Arushi Sethi PGDM-1st year PG 20161046

IILM, a premier institute for management provides its students with an excellent opportunity to study abroad. It mandates a 4 week global study in Canada, France, Germany or Spain. The global study comes with a mo-tive of providing students with an international business environment. The programme has been a success and it has played a platform where in it provides the students not only with the business environment but also en-lightens them about different cultures across the globe.

IILM has a vision that in today’s business environment, no business can operate in the isolation within the con-fines of one country. Meeting the global rules and regu-lations are important. Hence IILM ensures a mandatory global study exchange where in the students learn how to create and maintain international relationships. IILM provides the students to select from a variety of colleges abroad considering the module the student is interested in. The institution keeps in mind the accommodation and the round air fare amongst others The Global exchange programme at Normandie, France which was taken up in September 2016 was a great success. The Normandy fall programme by Ecole de Management was surely worth it. Founded in Le Havre in 1871, Ecole de Management de Normandie is one of the oldest established French business schools. Incorpo-rated as a Higher Education & Research non-profit as-sociation, EM Normandie operates 4 campuses in Caen, Le Havre, Paris & Oxford. The subjects which were taught to the students were: - Supply Chain Manage-ment, Doing Business in France and Business project. The modules were excellent and well structured. The module Supply Chain Management enlightened the students about how a company or business operates in terms of logistics, resources, workforce, inventory etc. The module included class room sessions as well as practical sessions. The class room sessions were highly interactive and the practical session included a visit to Le Havre Port which is one of the most important port in France where the students were briefed about various procedures of receiving and dispatching shipping goods. The second module Doing Business in France was about how one can have a business startup in the country. All the important details regarding trade in the country were discussed in this module, the module also included a visit to a farm. The third module on business project which was the best of all. The module was taken up by a guest faculty from Norway, MrMaxmikael Wil-de Bjorling, a highly experienced teacher who gave the students numerous ideas about starting up a business etc. The module was followed by a presentation given by students which boosted their confidence and communi-cating skills.

Apart from the studies the college also made sure the students enjoy themselves and have the time of their lives. A very comfortable tour was planned by IILM, they help the student with all the required visa formal-ities, arranged air tickets etc.

As the students arrived in Paris the co coordinators from Ecole de Management were present there to welcome the students.

The warm welcome was followed by lunch and a city tour. During the stay the students had an opportunity to not only explore the city but other countries as well. The stu-dents visited Omaha Beach in Normandy where they indulged themselves in water sports, other places in-cluded Mont St Michel which is an island commune in Normandy, France. One of France’s most recognizable landmarks, visited by more than 3 million people each year, Mont Saint-Michel and its bay are on the UNE-SCO list of World Heritage Sites. This was a beautiful guided tour. The view from the top of this place was breathtaking. The students also had a golden chance to visit nearby cities and countries. Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels were covered by the students. In the most romantic city of the world, Paris students visited ‘Tour Eiffel’ , Notre Dame, Louvre amongst others. Amster-dam being a picturesque city. The students got a chance to explore the ancient monuments, they also took a bike ride around the city where they also visited I AMSTER-DAM and discovered the exciting nightlife of the city. Apart from exploring different places the shopaholics enjoyed shopping in the streets of Paris and Normandy, the students expanded their horizons by learning about European culture by talking to the locals and indulging themselves in exotic and sumptuous European cuisines. Overall, the experience was mesmerizing. The exchange helped the students to develop on personal, academic and professional levels. They come back with lot of practical knowledge and an unforgettable experience. The Global Study Exchange provides the students with a platform where the world is their campus and dreams are not too high.

Celebrating the first convocation of the SBS Swiss Business School Graduates at IILM

IILM, a forerunner in offering international undergraduate education programs in India since 1996, achieved a milestone on September 21st 2016, conferring the first batch of students the Graduate Degree - BBA in Entrepreneurship of SBS Swiss Business School.

It was indeed a proud moment for SBS Swiss Business School, as well as for IILM to see their students, dressed in ceremonial robes, eager to receive the Degree.

The convocation ceremony was held at the Lodhi Road Campus at 3.00 PM. The proceedings started with the arrival of the Chief Guest, Prof.

Bert Wolfs, Dean, SBS Swiss Business School.

the beginning of the Convocation.

The Dean took the permission of the Chief Guest to declare the convocation open. She welcomed and introduced Prof. Bert WolfsAcademic Dean, SBS Swiss Business School. Prof Wolfs is a PhD, MDP (Harvard Graduate School of Education) and a founding member of SBS Swiss Business School and holds the position of the Academic Dean and DBA Program Manager at the institution. Dr. Wolfs is also a lecturer on SBS educational programs with a special

Prof. Bert Wolfs, Academic Dean, SBS Swiss Business School addressing the graduating batch The academic procession comprising the Undergraduate Faculty Members was led by Dr. Anjali Singh, Dean of the Undergraduate Business School (UBS).

Recitation of Saraswati Vandana by the students of Banyan Tree School and lighting of the lamp by Prof. Bert Wolfs, Mrs. Malvika Rai (Chairperson of IILM), Dr. Shuchi Agrawal (Director UBS), Dr. Anjali Singh and Ms. Izabela Karanfiloska, (Program Manager, MBA, SBS Swiss Business School) marked

interest in entrepreneurship and e-commerce and holds the Albert Einstein Peace Award from IAEWP. Furthermore he is a certified lecturer of Swiss Vocational Education Training (VET) students. Dr. Singh also introduced Ms. Izabela Karanfiloska, Program Manager – MBA, SBS Swiss Business School.

Dr. Singh also welcomed the graduands, parents and other guests. In her address, she declared that graduation ceremony of the Bachelors of Business Administration (Entrepreneurship), SBS Swiss Business School marked an occasion of great honor and pleasure.

This was followed by a special Address by Ms. Izabela Karanfiloska who began by congratulating all the graduands. She emphasized that the Convocation Day stood as a moment of great pride for the students, and was an emblem of the successful partnership between IILM and SBS Swiss Business School. In her encouraging words, she said that it was now time for the students to apply everything they had learned and acquired during the course of three years on Campus in their real lives. In her brief speech, she enthralled the students by saying that it was now their time to achieve everything they wanted to. She ended her speech by wishing success to the students for the next phase of their life.

The Dean then presented the candidates from IILM - the Undergraduate Business School to be admitted to the degree of Bachelors of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship, announcing the names in alphabetical order.

The Degree was handed over

to thirty qualifying graduates by the Chief Guest, and the candidates who could not receive the Degree in person were conferred the Degree in Absentia.

The Chairperson, Mrs. Malvika Rai was requested to give away the medals and certificates to the meritorious students as follows:

• Dr. Kulwant Rai Gold Medal for securing first position was awarded to Priashna Singh.

•

Dr. Kulwant Rai Silver Medal for securing second position was awarded to Nikhil Ku mar.

•

Award of the Special Prize for the Best The sis was conferred upon Shitiz Garsentia.

After the award ceremony,

Dr. Shuchi Agrawal delivered her Address. She initiated her discourse by ac- knowledging the importance of this first Convocation of SBS Swiss Business School’s graduates, which marked a flagship point in the School’s and IILM’s partnership.

Considering the boom of ‘Make in India’, the SBS Swiss Business School’s curriculu aims to nurture innovative thoughts and actions from the students which may help them develop their family businesses or to grow as entrepreneurs themselves, thereby carving new heights of success.

Dr. Agrawal mentioned that IILM Startup Labs have been incorporated to support and bolster a start-up company’s creation and activity in the early stages before it becomes self-sustainable. Early facilities and access to an exceptional Eco System consisting of Renowned Mentors, Industry Experts, Serial Entrepreneurs, academic/ Experts and Investors

form the potencies of the IILM Startup Labs, which aim to provide an environment where students and entrepreneurs feel that their experience with IILM is most productive and inspiring.

IPS officers for over 10 years, and has been delivering customized Training programs for leading PSUs like NTPC, NBCC, BHEL, EIL and for Defence Officers. This stands as another proud moment for IILM.

Dr. Agarwal also talked about the proud opportunity which IILM got by inviting Mr. Naveen Jain, who was awarded the IILM Distinguished Global Thinker Award to interact with the students. Mr. Jain is an exceptionally successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur and a billionaire, and he delivered a Lecture on “Using Innovation and Entrepreneurship to Solve Humanity’s Big Challenges. The Institute has been organizing Training Programs for IAS and

Congratulating the fresh graduates and their proud parents, Dr, Agrawal mentioned that the Convocation Day marks a transition phase in their lives, and they should capitalize by taking stock of the past and assessing the bright future that lies before them. In her inspiring words, she mentioned “In every ending is the challenge of a new beginning. Your future is without doubt bright” She also encouraged the students to take pride in our rich

socio-cultural heritage and use both modern and traditional knowledge to arrive at innovative solutions to some of our pressing societal challenges.

In her concluding note, she acknowledged and expressed her gratitude for the commitment displayed by all the Faculty Members and her colleagues, who have been serving not only as teachers, but also as mentors to the students, for shaping the students wonderfully. She also thanked the Staff who work throughout the year to support the smooth functioning of the administrative and academic processes.

In the end, quoting legendary words of Rabindranath Tagore ‘jodi tor daak shune keo na

ashe, tabe akla chalo re� she exhorted the audience to be honest and bold, and to believe in themselves to find that the world is at their feet.

This was followed by the Grad-uation Address by Prof. Bert Wolfs.

Congratulating the graduands, he honored them for their achievements in the realms of scholarship, leader-ship and character. He men-tioned that their degree makes them a member of a special family and special society.

Citing Ralph Waldo Emerson words “the reward of a thing well done is to have done it�, Prof Wolfs mentioned that any form of recognition is not to be accepted but definitely to be enjoyed.

He, then, thrived the students to not be complacent with their current achievement but to continue to strive to-wards even loftier goals.

The Professor stated that the students had excelled in scholarship, leadership and character, which were not ran-dom choices, but formed the essence of a fulfilled and ful-filling life. He encouraged the students to embody a positive attitude backed by purpose. And the only way, he under-lined, was to take a small step in the direction every day. He inspired the students to culti-vate leadership qualities over their lifetime, since leadership is an attribute which is not taught, but comes from within and continues to manifest it-self even in the face of oddity. He encouraged the students to find a purpose, a vision, and a mission as an entrepreneur and follow that purpose to get the ends they desired. He reiter-ated that persistence matters, which along with a positive at-titude makes the essence of a

true leader. Prof Bert also emphasized that the goal of a true leader is not to get power, but to achieve the vision.

Quoting Thomas McCaully, “the measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out” Prof Wolfs mentioned that our daily choices and decisions reflect our character. Being honest and honorable while others are watching, is important. However, he remarked, it is more important to be true to oneself as at the end of the day, these private day to day decisions eventually reveal an individual’s character to themselves and to the rest

of the world.

Prof Wolfs infused the thought in the graduands that it is only by setting difficult goals as entrepreneurs and achieving them that they can find their true self-worth and satisfaction. Stating that each person’s goals are different, and what comes easily to one person might be difficult for another, he advised the fresh graduates not to squash others’ dreams and to instead work towards achieving their own goals. He guided the graduates to remain curious, open to learning, open to other cultures and diversity for the rest of their lives. He added that with diversity and sustainability they will

have a winning edge. Closing his speech, he congratulated all the graduates for this honor.

The Dean, IILM UBS then sought permission from the Dean, SBS Swiss Business School and declared the ceremony closed.

The audience then rose for the National Anthem after which the Academic Procession and the fresh Graduates assembled for group photograph.

All Graduates, parents and other invitees were welcomed to partake of high tea, during which the Management, the Director, the Dean and all the Faculty Members interacted with one another and shared.