Prameya ,Issue 8th- September 2014

Prameya Issue 8th- September 2014

Foreword Paulo Coelho said, “Writing means sharing. It’s part of the human condition to want to share things - thoughts, ideas, and opinions.” At Prameya this is our sole belief and pursuit to carry on this legacy on our humble shoulders.

‘Prameya’, the voice of WESchool, Bengaluru is an official bi-monthly magazine.

WE School takes an exceptional approach to the holistic development of students.

‘Prameya’ is the collage of all the talent nurtured and the activities conducted under the care of this premier Business School. Foundation Fortnight has always been a productive and invigorative way of orienting new students.This year ‘NEEV’, as the way it is branded, was a two week long themed session which allowed the student to acclimatize with the new environment and gave them a chance to interact with renowned corporate speakers. This issue begins with the address by our Group Director, Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe and the Dean and Director of the Bengaluru Campus, Dr. Anil Rao Paila. It is followed by the theme article of this issue. Following it we have a series of articles covering the Marketing, Finance and Budget Round Tables.We have also covered the various events celebrated in the college and the hostel of the likes of ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’, ‘Friendship Day’ and ‘Independence Day’. Happy Reading!!

Index Group Directors and Dean’s message Neev for Success NEEV- WE School’s Foundation fortnight Budget Session and Analysis Operations Round Table International Conference on Social Media Marketing in Emerging Markets 26th AIMS Annual Management Education Convention 2014 WE Cafe The Rotaract Club - installation ceremony

Celebrations -WE School’s Favorite guest - Ganpati bappa Friendship Day Independence Day Celebrations Students’ Poems Section Alumnus Speak Achievers wall of fame

The Team Faculty Editor:

Prof. Dr. Sonia Mehrotra

Student Editor:

Vishnupriya Varma

Concept and Design: Chetan Dhole Abhishek Sharma

Co- Editors Anjani Nautiyal Supriyo Ghosh Diptanu Chaudhury Ankita Shrivastava Chetan Dhole

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“The training by which the current and expression of will is brought under control and become fruitful is called education”.

-Swami Vivekananda

From the Group DiA rectors Desk

Group Director’s Address

t Welingkar we are deeply inspired by these words of Swami Vivekananda. Today the role of education is to sensitize and develop the new generation to the needs of the country. Emerging unarticulated needs and realities need a new approach both in terms of thought and action. Cross disciplinary learning, discovering, scrutinizing, prototyping, learning to create and destroythe mind’s eye needs to be nurtured and differently so.WeSchool integrates design thinking in all aspects of teaching and learning.

Students are provided global as well as rural exposures at the same time. Their engagement in several projects and initiatives such as MIT Media labs, D-magics, GRLI, SIFE, Udaan and Munijan have sensitized them to their role as an individual to make a difference and give back to the society.I welcome you to the world of Welingkar.

Dr.Uday Salunkhe Group Director, WeSchool.

“The education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle of life, which does not bring out the strength of character,a spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion -- is it worth the name?”

– Swami Vivekananda

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Dean’s Address

hese words of Swami Vivekananda are the core to the setting and evolving of all modes of learner centric education at WeSchool. WeSchool, Bengaluru, with 7 years of presence in the Silicon Valley of India, is today a well established Institute in Southern India. The Institute has flourished to provide three full time Postgraduate Diploma Programs in E-biz, Business Design and General Management and part- time Executive Education programs in Management for corporates. These programs are strengthened by the innovative curriculum, the mix of industry-academia faculty members, the diverse student base, the corporate connect, alumni connect and the social connect activities carried out at the campus. Prameya – the students’ magazine is yet another initiative that enhances the thinking, reflective and writing abilities of the students.This year we termed our foundation fortnight – for the new batch of 2014-16 as “NEEV”. The NEEV 2014 was conceptualized to provide the students a bird’s eye view of their next two years of learning at Welingkar through interaction with some of the top industry experts from the business and the academic worlds.I welcome all to Welingkar learning ground.

Dr. Anil Rao Paila Dean & Director, WeSchool, Bangalore Campus.

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OUR NEEV 2014

From The Dean’s Desk

Group Director Dr. Uday Salunkhe addressing the 2014-16 Batch

The 2014-16 Batch in action

The NEEV core faculty addresing the 2014-16 Batch

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Neev For Success

“The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty”.

-Zig Ziglar

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n today’s world of competition every individual strives hard to attain success viz- material success(money,cars,big house),emotional success(relationship,self-esteem),intellectual success(learning,understanding,challenging),spiritual success(sense of purpose,belonging),physical success(health,fitness,appearance),commercial success(enterprise growth,profit,reputation).To bag all these successes he has to lay down the strong foundation(neev) upon which his whole life embarks upon.The point is what kind of stones and bricks an individual should use to build the strong foundation that should lead his life to success.These stones and bricks are certain attributes :Honesty,Character,Integrity,Faith,Love and Loyalty which “Faith is to every individual should inculcate within himself to give a strong believe what you do neev to his life.Benjamin Franklin’s saying that “Honesty is the best policy.”Being honest can breed trust.Nobody wants to accompany not see;the reward dishonest person because there is alwaysfear of being harmed by of this faith is to see athat person.Being an honest one can breed trust of his peers,teachwhat you believe” ers,seniors and with wishes and blessings he can easily taste success.

People hanging out with liars will be surrounded with lies and fake -St.Augustine hopes. On the other hand,people who live an honest life and make friends with honest people can never be afraid of being exposed to lies because they are influenced by each other in a good way.Life is easier for honest people to get a successful business, since they can win trust from people dealing with them.And to add with what Chanakya says” A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first”.

Honesty will be proved as best policy when it comes with wisdom.

What do you do when no one is watching you? Do you procrastinate? Do you waste your valuable time? Do you do what you have to do without being told or reminded? Do you look for ways to be helpful without being asked? The stable and distinctive qualities built into an individual’s life that determines his response regardless of circumstances.

Theodore Roosevelt said:“To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” We don’t live in a vacuum. Your success in life greatly depends upon the successful relationships you build with others. We are all in this together. How do you build these relationships? Well, it all starts with your character of course. Let me give you an example of Narendra Modi,who recently became Prime Minister of India.He already had three consecutive successes as CM of Gujarat.He started his career as Chaiwala at railway station and he spent years building his character to the point that he could become PM of India. He spent years forming alliances with people that would help him further his career and gaining India’s trust. Many of the men and women of great accomplishment are described by various character attributes such as bravery, persistence, charity, patience, etc In terms of time and energy it is much more effective (and more enjoyable) to improve and balance your character than to try and force a behavior change in yourself

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In the life game, when one goes out with integrity, have deep faith in his abilities, have love for his work and loyal to his duties; that person achieves success with self-satisfaction and peace in mind which is the greatest form of success -Mahatma Gandhi

“Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you’re capable.” – John Wooden.

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius is a South African sprint runner.Although both of Pistorius’ legswere amputated below the knee when he was 11months old, he competes in events for single below-knee amputees and for able-bodied athletes.After becoming a Paralympics champion, Pistoriusattempted to enter able-bodied internationalcompetition, over persistent objections of theIAAF.A cancer survivor Lance Edward Armstrong was classified as having won theTour de France a record seven consecutive times between 1999 and 2005.Thomas Edison who attempted 10000 times to invent electric bulbs and many more examples which reflects that these people have one thing in common that they have faith in their abilities and they love what they do.With deep faith and love one remains persistence in his efforts and eventually this takes him to success.

“Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom.”With the above mentioned philosophy let’s make the neev so strong by cementing the stones of honesty, character, ntegrity, faith, love and loyalty. ~ Mohit bagga (PGDM 2013-15)

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NEEV WeSchool’s From theFoundation Professor’sFortnight Desk

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very endeavor one undertakes, one must have a strong foundation about the backdrop of that field. In the same way, S. P. Mandali’s Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research believes in a robust base for the incoming Welingkarites. Through the years WeSchool ‘s tradition of having a foundation fortnight has not only made an impact on the students, but has also proved the inherent skills of the faculty to deliver more year after year.

For the first time in the history of WeSchool the foundation fortnight was conducted in the Bengaluru campus. These two weeks of an induction is aimed at getting students from diverse backgrounds on the same platform. Keeping in mind the vision of WeSchool“To nurture thought leaders and practitioners through inventive education” this foundation fortnight included innovative ways to connect with the new Welingkarites.

The core faculty committee for this event included Prof.

Dr. MadhaviLokhande, Prof. Dr. Savitha G R, Prof.

ShekharPrabhakar& Prof. SoumyaChakraborty. Innovation takes center stage for all the activities in Welingkar, the faculty team decided to come up with a theme for the foundation fortnight.

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The brand logo, a purple colored Banyan tree, was perceived and designed as the essence of the foundation program represented by the words “NEEV”meaning foundation or roots. The banyan tree and its purple color represent the growing knowledge for creating My World- Breakthrough to Excellence, the theme for the foundation program 2014. The design team played an important role in making the guests and the fresh students visualize the entire essence of NEEV by making an actual prototype of the ‘NEEV’ tree and placing that at the entrance.

The faculties, staff and the senior students played a huge role in formulating the entire program.

The faculty took the onus of bringing in speakers. The program was sketched in a 3 stage layout .The first few days were for the Corporate Headsand Entrepreneursto come under the same roof and enlighten the future leaders. In the 2nd stage the overall idea about how an industry is running were given by the Strategic Team which comprised of the VPs and the Senior Management officials. The 3rd stage was to bring together the managers who have executed ideas and achieved excellence in their own fields.

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he first day of the NEEV started with the concept of “Internet of Things (IOT)” expanded by Mr. M.N. Vidyashankar, President-India Electronics and Semiconductor Association. He emphasized about the interoperability, cyber security and scalabiliMs. Lakshmi Pratury, INK Talks ty of the IOT. He stated “How technology reaches the last person in the queue is the main deciding factor.” Ms. Lakshmi Pratury, Social Entrepreneur and among 100 most powerful women, as quoted by Forbes Asia ‘10, shared her story and left an impact on the minds of the listeners. She introduced INK Talks in India to collaborate all the imminent leaders from the corporate world. She expanded the word “FATE” with F standing for Fun with Failure, A for Anger because of Attitude, T for Transition and not Tether and E for Evolve.

INK itself stands for Innovation And Knowledge they bring to light the ‘Billionaires of Moments’ who are not held back by their ‘Fate.’ One of Mr. Hari Menon, CEO, Bigbasket.com the iconic inventor in the telecommunications & technology revolution during the 1980’s, Dr. Sam Pitroda, addressed the listeners through a video conference from Chicago, enlightening them about the government policies and its future for entrepreneurs .

When probed by the anchor, Ms. NilimaPanicker a student from the 2013-15 Business Design batch, about how develop an innovative mindset, Mr. Pitroda said, “If you don’t question, you will never innovate!”An interaction with Mr. HariMenon, co-founder & CEO of BigBasket.com, heralded day two of Neev 2014. “The most valued people in an organization are those with an entrepreneurial mindset”he enlightened the manage-

ment students. Speaking about the retail industry, the challenges of being an entrepreneur and BigBasket.com he captured the attention of one and all in the audience. “Career is not a sprint, but a marathon!” said Mr. Madan Ganesh, VP Goldman Sachs. Focusing on the imporDr. Sam Pitroda tance of setting goals and priorities he provided valuable directions to the new batch of Welingkar.

On the 27th of June,2014 Mr. Perry Goes, Sr. VP United Breweries, held an energetic session about Creating Excellence the UB Way. The interaction was enjoyed by the audience through his video on the UB Group and a few pointers on the organization lifestyle. The day ended on a high note with a panel discussion on ‘Exploring Design Sensibility From a Retail Dimension.’ Young and dynamic personalities like Mr. Kunal Sachdeva, MD Caravan Craft Retail Pvt. Ltd. & Mr. VivekPrabhakar, CEO & co-founder of Chumbak were questioned by Prof.

Dr. Anuradha which enthused the gathering.

Also during this tenure students were given an exposure in ‘Case Studies’ and interactive sessions with Prof. Aparna Krishnamoorthy discussing various aspects of business world. Bridge Mr. Vivek Prabhakar, CEO, Chumbak Course, an initiative taken by the faculty team to bring together all the students from diverse backgrounds to a common platform, gave the students a glimpse of the entire two years course.The persistent question among students in any B-School is how to fit in and carve a place for themselves, post their management degree. ‘Create My World’ gave the students a platform to showcase their answers and perspectives to how they can achieve Breakthrough to Excellence, an effort to create a team spirit and test leadership

The Sessions

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In Conversation With Neev Core Faculty Team The faculties, staff and the senior students played a huge role in formulating the entire program. To acquire a little insight of the process we spoke to the core faculty team who weaved the whole ‘NEEV’ under the guidance of Dean Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila.

We spoke with Prof Dr.Madhavi Lokhande 1) This was the first time the foundation fortnight was been held in Bangalore campus. What made you chose the name of the program asNEEV? The foundation fortnight had to be a brand in itself, being the first time at Bangalore. Foundation fortnight is an immersion exercise, and an effort to ground the students at the campus and in the eco-system. The connection is - where it gets grounded it has a strong foundationso while looking up for the brand name we came up with NEEV. 2) What was the reason behind shifting the venue and organising the foundation

program in Bangalore this year?

Prof. Dr. Madhavi Lokhande, Sr. Associate Dean- Academic Delivery Cell/Finance and Organization Eco System

Mumbai has its own legacy. Usually students attending fortnight in Mumbai end up meeting the faculty of Mumbai and looking at the ambience and infrastructure there. We thought it is good to organize it here and start at Bangalore itself.

3) What was the thought behind selecting the theme as Breakthrough to Excel-

lence?

If you go back and look at the core values and vision statement of Welingkar, definitely Breakthrough to Excellence is a striking aspect of that. We wanted the student to understand an experience - what it takes to develop the right attitude, and a ‘can do attitude’. If you look at this world being a stage, how do you as a character fit on that stage so, creating my world was the third thought that came to our mind. Our core teamthought that we wanted all this to come into the theme so therefore, it was Breakthrough to Excellence. Objective was to nurture the global thinking mind set of student.

4)What would you highlight in brief about the various sessions in the fourteen days that was planned?

The fourteen days were planned in a way to have sessions from top/strategic management - so we had a CEO and CXO series. This was followed by the talk series of Vice-Presidents, COOs, or senior management people.Panel discussions – with panel members from the operational teams were useful to bring out different perspectives. The other sessions were the bridge courses on Accounting, It, Economics, Maths and HR.’ Create My world’ sessions were where students were asked to work in teams on how they would create their ‘world’.

5) Do you think such an induction period like NEEV should be mandatory for all B-schools?

Most of the B schools have such programs because induction and immersion exercises are very important.

One, it gives the little bit of time and space to settle down in a new campus. Second, when you kick start with lots of passion and energy it takes you to a different level. We looked at this as a kick start exercise.

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6) If you have to compare induction program of 2013 and 2014, what were the differences you felt?

In Mumbai the student population is huge and speakers have dynamic timings, some sessions getting cancelled, some speakers failing to turn up etc. Here we were running sessions back-to-back and we were looking for slots but did not get them as lot of people wanted to have sessions with new batch in foundation fortnight.

7) One the scale of 1-5 where would you rate the batch 2014-16?

Initially all batches are very good, so currently I would rate them 4.5. All the faculties who have visited the new batch are very happy in terms of the enthusiasm level, varied and diverse backgrounds,student gender ratio and combination of work-ex and non-work-ex ratio.

8) Is there anything in particular that you would like to change and be prepared for the next NEEV? Yes, perhaps we were not so well prepared for the student health issues. Initially we got bogged down by it and worried. Most of them seemed to be having a similar kind of problem probably because of food, water, the climate etc. Next time we would like to take care of this issue. The other thing we would like to take care of is doing lots of activities next time as this time being first time the main attention was on getting the speakers. There should be more engaging sessions where students could get an opportunity to speak because this time they were only absorbing the knowledge that was coming.

Prof. Shekar said “The Foundation Fortnight was for the first time held entirely in Bangalore for our students. We decided to brand it as NEEV to create an identity of its own with an association of laying the foundation for the Dr. Savitha G R two year course that the students would be embarking upon. Associate Professor-HR For me as part of the organizing team, the willingness of top executives to spare their time to come all the way to Electronics City to share their experiences and insights with our students was a pleasant surprise. While there were many aspects to NEEV, I would consider the talks and panel discussions by senior industry practitioners as the cornerstone of the whole program. It also provided exposure to a broad swath of topics for the students.”

Prof. Shekar Prabhakar

Associate Professor - Marketing

Prof. Soumya said, “They wanted to do something different even with the paucity of time and limited space for all the activities they wanted to conduct.” He was enthused with the way all the faculty members got involved and contributed, especially with the exemplary work of Prof. William, Prof. Prakash and Prof. Kalidas with respect to designing and making of Neev tree. He aptly mentioned how they wanted a rhyme to the whole thing and rolled one activity after another systematically. He addressed Shekar Sir’s critical role in getting speakers from various walks of life. All forty one speakers who were contacted turned up for the event. Create my world was his brainchild through which he aimed that students will use their creativity and do something outside campus. He endProf. Soumya Chakraborty ed on a very positive note by saying that the batch was good even though he had very Manager - MDC, Assistant Professor - HR less interaction but praised the students; especially he found the videos marvellous and said that the batch set a good benchmark.

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Budget Session And Analysis of growth in manufacturing and infrastructure sector; thirdly, setting up of 5 more IITs and IIMs - Rs. 500 crores allocation; fourthly, urgent need for investment in agro-technology and development (Rs. 1000 Crore set aside to improve irrigation facilities); fifth, FDI limit in defence, insurance hike to 49%; and few more points.

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room packed with enthusiastic students awaited eagerly for two prominent leaders from the corporate world, Mr Suresh Balachandra and Mr Pratap Giri to enlighten the crowd about the feasible and non-feasible promises made by the new budget.

The new government came up with promises and highlights for the new financial year. On July 10th 2014, Mr. Arun Jaitley, finance minister of the new government, unveiled the budget points to the people. On 11th July, some of those points were discussed by the panellists. The discussion among the panellists started with a statement, “India’s economy is stuttering under high inflation and the worst slowdown since free-market reforms in the early 1990s and the budget is the first major test of Mr Modi’s reformist credentials since he swept to power in May with a pledge to boost growth and create millions of new jobs.” Few of the key budget points covered in the discussion were firstly, Sardar Patel statue work completion in Gujarat (Rs 200 Crore allotted); secondly, a need for revival

As the afternoon progressed, each topic was elaborated and questions were raised by students challenging the issues raised by the panellists. One of the speaker stated that the Union budget of 2014-15 is a growth oriented and sensitive budget. The thrust on infrastructure and agriculture and manufacturing and rationalization of duties on input costs was welcomed.

From focus on rural electrification, defence or aspects like Swatch Bharat, protection of women, “Beti bachao Beti Padhao” or allocations for the sports university and the artisans reflected that the Govt. has economic and social vision and credible intention even at a micro level.

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Mr Balachandran emphasised on the development and creation of smart cities across the country. He stated that the allocations and the measures announced now gave shape to the Mr Narendra Modi’s initial idea of 100 smart cities. The panellists agreed upon the hike in income-tax exemption limit and the investment limit under Section 80C which would provide much needed relief to the salary earners who are reeling under the impact of high inflation. Mr Giri stated that disinvestment of PSU entities as one of the huge source of Non-Tax revenue for the Government. He pointed out that most economic experts expected the Mr. Modi led government to come up with a huge scheme that would raise at least 70,000 crores or maybe even more. The discussion came to an end by late evening with some better understanding and a hope that the budget will help the Indian economy and consequently the effects will trickle down eventually among the AamAadmi.

Operations Round Table Leaning into operations WE School operations management club – Round table on Lean enterprise

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f there is any word in operations you are searching for, which sums up for all the right practices and right results, it’s LEAN. The term alone covers a wide spectrum of methodologies and theories which are results and value addition centric. Value maximization has been one of the major focuses of organizations ranging from services to manufacturing industries. No wonder why this concept of LEAN, since its inception has caught the attention of management gurus and the techies Dr.S.Devarajan, Sr.Vice President - Production Engineering, TVS Motor Company equally. And no wonder why Limited. moderating the session it has been discussed umpteen times around the world. The event kick started with a welcome speech by the members of the Operations Management Club and a key note address by Prof. Murali Mohan – head Operations vertical. This was followed by a brief Mahindra and Mahindra case study presentation by Ms. Pragyan Paramita, student, operations.

The event was taken over by the conference chairman and moderator Dr.S.Devarajan, Sr.Vice President - Pro-

duction Engineering, TVS Motor Company Limited. The discussion started by stressing on the challenges organizations are facing while implementing lean practices in their respective organizations. Dr.S.Devarajan further commented mentioning his own experiences as to how the raw material costs are going to be un-

controllable in the future. He elaborated on the efforts made by the organizations in encompassing lean

from the suppliers end to the factories of their own. He also mentioned that salaries various other parameters varying from industry to industry are going to cause problems during the process of sustaining lean practices.

Currently in the manufacturing industries, it is very important to strike the right balance between a process being customer centric and the process being Key Process Indicator centric. Mr. M. N.Ramesh, Head, Quality, also from TVS talked about how the lean practices should be strategized in order to meet product demands

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which should and only lead to customer support. Mr. Ramesh mentioned about the prerequisites which should be set for lean practices implementationwhich has to be necessarily the process stability and continuous investigation through Value stream mapping (VSM)

Mr. R.M. Bhatt, Sr. Engineer, L&T , at the Round table conference

Initiation of such practices are one of the major concerns for growing organizations in which involvement of complete organization hierarchy plays a major role in implementation. Mr.Somnath Chatterjee, Divisional Manager- Procurement and Logistics, ITC Limited, Food Division shared his experience of how the company went on to apply efficient reverse logistics in the supply chain when ITC launched ASHIRWAD ATTA. He went on stress on how important Lean practices are for survival. Mr.Somnath emphasized on flexibility improvement illustrating the Toyota production system (TPS) as to how they designed fixtures which not only worked for functioning for 3 models of cars but also supported two more arrangements which might be required for the future car models. Mr. Anthony Thomas, Engineer, Volvo construction Equipment emphasized on how difficult it is to identify the wastes in a process.

Mr.V.Kiran Kumar, Six Sigma Manager - WOW Express, ITC Gardenia, talked about the challenges service industry faces and how Lean practices can prove to be an efficient tool in the process improvement of the domain. ‘IT plays a very important role when it come to applying lean practices in any organization as a whole.

We successfully introduced RFID technology which helped our employees to recognize the guests by name. It makes them feel recognized.’ He said. Mr.B.C.Kalappa, Vice President, Blue Dart Express Limited said that savings in terms of time on the ‘gemba’ was the major focus for a service provider like Blue Dart. He also gave an example where in Japan, square shaped watermelons were cultivated just to make their SKU systems and customer handling systems.

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n the implementations part, panelists came up with a variety of solutions which can be applied for successful lean implementation. Mr. Chetan, Sr.Engineer support services – Fabrication, L&T Construction Equipment, said ‘Elimination of wastes has to be the primary focus when it comes to fabrication shops. To be precise, rework has to be reduced without tweaking the TAKT time.’ Mr.R.M Bhatt, Sr.Engineer support services – Fabrication, L&T Construction Equipment shared his experiences on how IT played an important role in smoothing their functions. ’Production assembly reductions with minimum time required has to be one of ways to reduce the cycle time ’he said, explaining how time reduction without process deviations is one of the important aspects of following lean artistry.

Mr.Gaurab Ganguly, Consultant, Application Services Global Delivery and Ms.Namratha, Operations Manager- Enterprise Services, HP, shared a slightly different point of view on Lean enterprise as a whole.

The processes have to be customer centric and it may not be necessary that the methodologies have to be from the traditional translation of lean manufacturing into IT services industry.’ The process or the organization as a whole should be able to address the spike in the demands when it comes to IT industry. The fundamentals for setting a lean enterprise can be as simple as fulfilling customers’ basic requirements.’

The discussion saw students asking various questions and seeking clarifications which the panelists really appreciated. The students’ interaction went beyond the conference theme to touch upon the current industry trends and its integration with various concepts put forth during the discussion.The panelists were really pleased to see students translate the theory in to matter of actual projects. The evening drew to an end with a dinner organized for all the panelists and signing off remarks by them.

The Operations Round Table Organizing Team

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International Conference on Social Media Marketing in Emerging Markets

The Dignitaries giving an introduction about the conference

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he International Conference on Social Media Marketing in Emerging Markets organised by Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, (WeSchool), Bengaluru, India in association with Academy of Indian Marketing (AIM) took place on 25th & 26th July, 2014 at ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru.

Ones day usually starts with checking WhatsApp messages, progresses to checking updates on facebook, moves on to following the trends on twitter and ends again with sending a message on whatsapp and also uploading a picture on Instagram. Practically one’s life has turned virtual today and there is no hiding from this reality. Technology has been embraced and even its products wholeheartedly, since it offers us such convenience. Not only ones personal life but also professional lives are online these days.. Most of the people are on

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LinkedIn. The ease that the social media tools offer to business makes it the best friend of every professional.

This conference was aimed to enhance the understanding on social media marketing tools that could help in developing models and methods to enhance the effectiveness of marketing in emerging markets.

The sub themes were designed to keep in mind the range of topics which would be important from the perspective of the theme of the Conference.

The Conference highlighted on the following topics :

Using Social Media for On - going dialogue with the consumer

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Social media today definitely blurs the lines between advertising and communications as social media spurs conversation. Conversation is very different

from content, which is usually static and is consumed but does not lead to interaction. Social media rings in the attention age, where information is at our finger tips but attention is at premium. An important and exciting opportunity for businesses on social networking sites is the possibility of engagement. To hear what the customer really wants, to understand their deepest desires and everyday cravings, is an unprecedented opportunity offered by social networking sites.

3. Social Media Opportunities across dif-

ferent sectors

Digital marketing can be used for a diverse set of goals across many sectors. The goals include driving sales, creating awareness, building engagement, customer service etc. These could apply to technology, FMCG, services etc. Social Media has the potential of creating an impact across various sectors.

4. Impact of Social media in the B2B space

Although the connection between social media and B2B is not obvious at first glance, B2B companies have in fact a lot to gain by leveraging their respective positions in the industry, provided they are talking to the right audience. Social media is not “just� another media channel. Its nature and scope make it a unique instrument to leverage interactions between not just two parties (such as a company and its customers) but between multiple actors (e.g. a company, its customers, employees, collaborators, public and non-governmental agencies, external talents, etc.). This perspective is particularly relevant in the B2B context, where it helps to think about the environment as an ecosystem where companies can get a competitive advantage as the go-to party that has the tools and platforms to bringing all the actors together.

5. Social Media Analytics & ROI Social Media Analytics & ROI go hand in hand which is the most crucial factor to be considered which influences the choice of using Social Media. We invite research papers in the following areas but not limited to

Social Media Metrics, Social Media Measurement tool, Measuring ROI of the Social Media efforts.

6. Content Marketing & Social Media In line with the conference theme of social media influence in emerging markets context, this track focuses on the rise of content marketing largely due to social media impact. Awareness is important because 93 percent of online experiences begin with a search engine query. It is important to rank in search engines because three quarters of all searches do not move past the first page of results. As content marketing strategies drive success, websites of a business or organization are more likely to land on the first page of results. 79% of businesses use social media (including blogs) for content marketing, with Twitter (55%) the network of choice, ahead of Facebook (54%) and LinkedIn (51%).

Content marketing has proven benefits for risk mitigation, lead generation, customer nurturing and more, and companies are taking notice: B2B marketers will allocate approximately 26% of their total marketing budgets to content marketing in 2013. It is also seen that 61% of consumers feel better about a company that delivers custom content and that 65% of social media users learn about products and services of a company or organization. The outcome that consideration strives to get include: informed decision making, favourable comparisons, lower bounce rates, social recommendations and brand trust.

Social media is transforming all aspects of marketing from brand building, communications and advertising to customization and customer engagement.

Researchers and marketers are grappling with the profound impact of the rapidly evolving social media on viral user-generated content, its impact in shaping consumer perceptions and constantly changing landscape for developing business cases to proactively engaging with stakeholders.

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26th AIMS Annual Management Education Convention 2014

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The Dignitaries addressing the crowd at Pune AIMS conference

IMS is a networking organisation of business schools in India. Founded in 1988 as a registered society, The Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS), a non–profit professional organization, has since grown into a powerful network of over 650 top management schools of national and international repute in the country. It is the second largest network of management schools in the world and the official representative of Indian Management Schools in India as well as in some important International forums.

The AIMS National Conference was held from 21st to 23rd August, 2014 in Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YASHADA), Pune.

‘Rejuvenating Management Education’ was this year’s theme with Prathibha Vaidyan, Rishab Bansal, Bharti Ramrakhyani, Neelima Panicker, Shaan Panda, Rinki Ghosh, Priyanka Ghei, Ritu Kukreja, Amrita Nandi and Gangadhar Vedula participating from the Welingkar Bengaluru campus. The event started on the 21st

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of August 2014, with the inaugural speech by Dr. Joe Philllip, Founder President, AIMS who threw some light on the organization and conference. Dr. Apoorva Palkar, President AIMS invited Mr. Abhijit Pawar, MD, Sakal Media group to grace the event.The first plenary had Dr. E Abraham, Dr. Pramod Kumar, Dr. V Pandurangarao who discussed the issues and challenges which come up in admission process. Second plenary was undertaken by Mr. Hebbar who focused on how faculty development works at Harvard. There was also Mr. Ahmed who pointed out the chronic issues of faculty development in majorly 17 cities across the nation. This was followed by the discussion on issues of research orientation and continuous learning.

There was a panel discussion on quality and accreditation and had Mr. Douglas who highlighted the importance pertaining to accreditation and the need for their documentation in this regard.

Dignitaries at AIMS conference Pune.

The issue of making accreditations compulsory was stated. Improvement on the traditional method of teaching was proposed. There was also Mr. Khurana who stressed on the point that his students are using international resources like MIT courseware and courser to be at par with the international standards.

Plenary 3 was on technology and innovation and Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Director, Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management enlightened the audience on how technology and innovation can help in rejuvenating Management Education. He aptly pointed out a few challenges faced by education and business such as reach, talent, affordability, inclusion, leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship, governance, quality and excellence, research and development. He concluded with statement that innovation comes out of technology and that process is more important than the result.

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Corporate engagement in management education and public and private university and autonomous institutes were the other topics discussed at the conference. A number of paper presentations were made by numerous B-schools from all over the country. Their presentations focussed on the ‘Management Week’ that their respective colleges had observed on technology and innovation.

AIMS therefore focuses on management education, propagates thoughts, and creates a system which will bring change and highlighted integrity of institutes.

Thus not only did this conference serve as a great platform where knowledge and information was shared with a classic blend of experienced speakers, but also worked as an avenue for students across the country to meet one another and understand varied psyches and perspectives.

WE Cafe T

he very first episode of We CafĂŠ of the academic year 2014 was held on 27th August. The guest for the day was none other than Mr. A Muralidharan, President, Volvo Construction Equipment.The host for the day was was student NeelimaPanicker PGDM Business Design batch 2013-15. Mr. Muralidharan has been associated with Volvo for over 13 years and is known for churning the business at Volvo Construction Equipment.

Mr.A. Muralidharan, President, Volvo Construction Company, at WE Cafe

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His presence at the campus generated a lot of buzz among the students and the audience was filled with excitement. The students along with the Dean, Dr. Anil Rao Paila and other faculty members extended him a warm welcome.

Volvo Construction Equipment is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of construction machinery. Mr. Muralidharanbelieves in doing business ‘the Volvo way.’ Volvo construction started in 1832 in a machine shop in Eskitstine.Rethinking the future with sustainable transport’ and ‘To create shared value for business and society’ are the key objectives at Volvo Construction.Beginning with a brief introduction about Volvo Construction, he went on to talk more about the company. He emphasised, “India can outpace China because of its decentralized economy and the green shoots of recovery in India”. Mr. Muralidharan threw light upon the 24*7 power supply promises by the Government of India and that the employability and entrepreneurial skills are key requirements of the Indian economy.He also spoke about the initiatives taken by the government to extend broadband services to

rural India. Commitment to sustainability,women empowerment, health education and infrastructure were the key areas of discussionat this We Cafe On the Corporate Social Responsibility front Volvo is involved in programs like GOONJ for education, programs for disaster relief and spreading awareness on traffic safety.

Mr. Muralidharan stressed on the importance of time management and how one can be more productive through effectively managing one’s time. Mr. Muralidharan laid emphasis on the importance of being a team player and to get inspired from the Japanese work culture. With a workforce of approximately 110000 in 18 factories worldwide and 5 truck brands, Volvo is the leader in more than one way in their field of businesses. The employees of Volvo practice ‘The Volvo Way’ religiously. Mr. Muralidharan’s speech was followed by a few questions from us that touched upon the do’s and don’ts of the operations,strategies of planning, work life cultureetc His colleagues from Volvo Construction are proud to be associated with such an ignited, knowledgeable and dedicated mind. His family members (his wife and daughter) also spoke about his effective time management skills. The gave the students an all-round perspective of Making of a successful professional Not only did this session of We Café include the professional attributes of Mr. Muralidharan, but alsohis passions beyond work and career. After learning that he is an admirer ofKarnatic music, one of the trained classical singers of batch 2014-16, Ms. Pavitra,gave a live musical performance whichwas followed by a guitar performance and ghazal by Mr. Divesh Bali.

Ending the program on a lighter note enthralled the already stimulated audience and gained the admiration of the guest speaker for its creative and innovative ideas.

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The Rotaract Club of Welingkar District 3190, Bangalore The Installation Ceremony

Rtn. Vijay Saraf, President Rotary, Bangalore Junction lighting the lamp

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he prestigious event of the installation of Rotaract club of Welingkar was held on 15th Aug, 2014. The occasion was glorified by dignitaries from R.I. District 3190. Our Dean, Rtn. Dr. Anil Rao Paila and Faculty Members of WeSchool also graced the occasion with their presence. Manyrotaractors from WeSchool also attended the event.

The meeting was called to order by Rtn. Vijay Saraf, President Rotary Bangalore Junction and Rtn.Mandar Dixit, Club Director – Youth Service, Rotaract Bangalore Junction R.I. Dist. 3190 (201314). This was followed by welcoming the dignitaries

by Rotaract Club. After this Rtr.Ankita Shrivastava gave a beautiful rendition of the Invocation song.

The dignitaries were then invited for the Lighting of the lamp. Shrivastava gave a beautiful rendition of the Invocation song. The dignitaries were then invited for the Lighting of the lamp.

The welcome address was given by the Dean of Welingkar, Rtn. Dr Anil Rao Paila.The members were then addressed by Rtn. Mandar Dixit, Club DirectorYouth Service, RotaryBangalore Junction. It was followed by the keynote addressbyRtr. AbhishekBhave, Past President, Rotaract Club of Welingkar(13-14).

In his address he mentioned that Rotaract Club of Welingkar was awarded the trophy for the Best Supporting Club and also received certification for Best Installation.

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Rtn. Vijay Saraf, President Rotary Bangalore Junction addressing the gathering

Rtr. Yash Mehta, President Rotaract Club of Welingkar during his Acceptance Speech

A collection of past year records were displayed as an array of motion pictures, presented by, PragyanParamita, former Secretary of Rotaract Club of Welingkar(13-14).

The gathering then had the privilege of being addressed by Rtn. Vijay Saraf, President RBJ, followed by the induction and installation of the current Rotary President Rtr. Yash Mehta. Rtn. Vijay Saraf also applauded the merits achieved byRotaract Club ofWelingkarin the past years.

The installation of the current President of Rotaract, Rtr.Yash Mehta was followed by his acceptance speech. Rtr. Yash also highlighted that he brings along a vital experience of being a former President of Interact Club Jamshedpur and expressed his desire to bring out the best with the his current team and set new benchmarks for the years come.Following the Presidents Acceptance speech, the new Board of Directors of the club were felicitated with their badges and congratulated by Rtn.Shashidhar,DRCC and Rtn. Mandar Dixit.

The badge distribution continued with the felicitation of other Rotaractmembers by DRR, Rtr.Adeshwar.

The gathering was next addressed by DRCC Rtn. Shashidhar, wherein he highlighted the level of commitment it requires to be an active member of the Rotaract club. He also brought to light the importance of being in the Rotaract Club, both on a personal as well as on a professional level. The newly inducted members were provided with guidance by his speech.

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The Board Members of TheRotaract Club of Welingkar, Bangalore along with the Dignitaries

At the end of the gathering the current Secretary, Rtr. VishnupriyaVerma, took the opportunity to extend the gratitude on behalf of the Rotaract Club of Welingkarto all the dignitaries for sharing their valuable experiences and precious time with the team.The dignitaries were also presented with a small of token of gratitude.

The entire team then paid their respect to the National Anthem, after which the meeting was adjourned.

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WE School’s favorite guest

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Ganpati Bappa!!

ome August and everybody at WE School and Woodstock awaits the arrival of Ganpati Bappa. The enthusiasm amongst the students reaches its epitome. All the students, junior and senior, work as a team and enjoy giving their helping hand. Be it the decoration, collecting donation from the faculty or college mates, shopping for the pooja materials or cooking the Prasad.

The events team begun preparing for Ganpati’s arrival a couple of weeks prior to Ganesh Chaturthi. As this marks the first major festival for most of the students away from home, making it a pleasant experience and a success was the foremost interest of the Events Team.

Ganesh Chaturthi marks the birth of Lord Ganesh, who is also known as Vigna harta or the one who removes obstacles. Depending on the traditions and faith, this day is followed by 1-11 days of Sthapana of the idol. This festival opens doors of warmth and love among the students of Welingkar, Bengaluru. Irrespective of religions, beliefs, backgrounds and gender, this occasion unites the Welingkarites in a nostalgic bond.

As for the venue, the recreation room in Woodstock Ambience is where Bappa abodes for one and a half days!!! The events team along with a few zealous volunteers geared up for two day event.

With great enthusiasm and fervor, the two day event begun with the arrival of Bappa early in the morning on this 29 September 2014, followed by the Sthapana pooja. The students experienced a wonderful tradition of the rituals being performed by the Pundit. The Poojas and Aartis were followed by ‘Prasad’ distribution to all the residents of Woodstock Ambience. This continued with day long celebrations in the form of activities like dancing and singing.

Students performing Arti at Woodstock Ambience

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Students At WE School ,Bengaluru with the Ganesha Idol

This routine was continued in the second day. The day was marked by the visit by our Dean Dr. Anil Rao Paila at the Woodstock campus during the evening pooja. The Idol was escorted to Begur Lake for Visarjan in a beautifully decorated vehicle accompanied with Dhol beats. A lot of students participated in the procession enthusiastically for the three hour long journey to bid ‘Baappa’ goodbye. The success of the event was a result of the dedication of the events management team and other students of WE School, Bengaluru who were united merely by devotion and spirit. The event wouldn’t have been possible without the helping hand of the Woodstock staff. The presence of our Dean did make a difference to all of us.

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Friendship day

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riendship day was the first event that was celebrated at the hostel of Welingkar Bengaluru campus, Woodstock Ambience. This day holds a lot of significance for the youth today and even though the students of Welingkar were still trying to understand one another, what was

not new was a common thread of friendship. Being the first event of the fresh academic year and for the newly formed Cultural & Events Committee, there was a lot of energy in the atmosphere at Woodstock Ambience.

The newness of place, people and the paucity of time wasn’t a spoilsport to the enthusiasm and spirit of the cultural secretaries and events team. After hours of brainstorming for the activities, they came up with an event which not only brought everyone together but also got smiles on many a faces.

Beginning with a slow start due to an untimely evening downpour, the momentum picked up in the later part of the event. The Treasure Hunt that was organised by the events committee left several minds boggling for clues and keeping everyone on their toes. Luring the participants with the reward of a pack of Snickers Bar, the organisers successfully managed to keep the spirits high. A couple of the junior batch 2014-16 students, Areeb Alam & Sajal Kumar turned DJs for the evening, belting out some great house music and making the crowd sway tirelessly. Innovation being an integral part of the learning at Welingkar, the ‘Fish Pond’ ensured that the crowd remained enthused about the evening. A very well decorated box was placed in the Cafeteria for students to pour out their emotions through chits of paper for one another. The organisers then read out a selected few interesting chits, which kept most of the people engaged and entertained for the evening. Refreshments and snacks were arranged for all in the cafeteria which was appreciated and devoured by the students. The DJs played their music for another half an hour, with most of people dancing like there was no tomorrow and leaving them wanting for more. With the spirits and energy levels shooting through the roof, this first venture of the cultural and events committee was a whooping success.

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Independence Day Celebrations

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he people’s aspirations were articulated in Nehru’s famous words: “The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavor? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.”

Welingkar Institute of Management & Research Bangalore celebrated this day with great enthusiasm, which grows with each passing year. It was a day marked with words of wisdom and encouragement from our special guests and a glimpse of our culture through songs, dances and narrations.

Independence Day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of the Nation’s assumption of independent statehood. This Independence Day marked the 68th Independence of India on the 15th of August; 2014.It is a gazette holiday to remind us of our freedom and the people who fought for it. It is the day when peo ple pay homage to their leaders.

Ms. Aruna Newton, President of the ELCIA hoisting the flag

Mr. Hariharan, GM, FANUC India, addresing the students

This Independence Day was celebrated with record participation from the students of Welingkar Institute of Management and Research, Bangalore. The program started with a tribute to the National Flag of India with the Flag hoisting followed by the national anthem.

The honorable chief guests were Mrs.Aruna Newton, President of the ELCIA (Electronic city of India Association), Mrs.Rama, CEO of ELCIA and Mr.K.G.Hariharan Pillai G.M. of FANUC and an IIM Indore alumnus.

The Flag hoisting was done by Mrs.Aruna followed by the National anthem. She gave an enlightening and encouraging speech to the students. She stated that the youth is the future of India and India is going to be the youngest country by the end of 2020.

The program was followed by a Solo song by ‘Ankita–‘Ae mere watanke logo’-which reminded us of our legendry Lata Mangeshkar. Following were group songs

by Dipatnu and group and a couple of group dances.

There was also instrumental music played by one of the students .Prathamesh recited a poem which had the patriotic vibe and a strong magnetic power,to take us back to the past when our great leaders were fighting for freedom .The program ended with a speech by our Alumni-Sandeep.This brought us to the end of the Cultural Program .It was followed by the Installation Ceremony of Rotaract.

By the end of the day, everyone seemed so much soaked in excitement and happiness with the Independence Day celebrations! Looking forward to many The entire college seemed to be colored in our trimore such occasions of togetherness! colour, from balloons at the entrance, to posters on the board and to rangoli at the entrance .Flowers was decorated at the corridors of the college and badges of the National Flag were given to all students.

The Cultural team organized a cultural fest under the guidance of our faculty Mrs. Anita Pillai.The Team organised free refreshments for students.The chief guests were Mr.K.G.Hariharan and our honourable director Mr. AnilRao. The Program started with a small skit presented by the students based on ‘Perception of people in India’. It aroused a sense of patriotism in the crowd

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A Drama Performed by the Students

Poem On Hope There will be a better tomorrow Something that is missing today Will find that abundance tomorrow I guess it’s called the gift of hope The wish to be a better person To improve on one’s own footprints To follow the correct guidance And leave a lasting imprint To accomplish what is left today To fulfill a goal once desired The probability of it happening tomorrow Is higher than the dismay of today We better live with the idea Of a new opportunity Than the disappointment Of yesterday We rather look at things New and bright Than what has been left and not alright It’s a matter of time And we shouldn’t commit the crime Let’s hold the feeling warm and close The dream of glory and awakening The strength to fulfill our dreams The sentiment of hope There’s nothing sad and gloomy dull and dry, If we have the one tool To hold us high The tool of change The dream of betterment We can conquer and achieve Only if we don’t forget ‘to hope’.

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-~ Anjani M Nautiyal PGDM (2014-16)

The New begining I feel like a day old bird Just hatched out young and scared I do not have feathers on my body To protect me from the color red No one to support And no shoulder to cry No one to teach how to spread my wings And go up in the air to fly The feeling within pricks my heart It makes me weak from inside But I am forced to show to the world That I am as strong as a rock outside What seems to be heaven Turns out to be a ruthless place Suddenly I wake up from my dream and realize That I have to win cuz it’s a race!

So let us start with a new beginning And hope for a better tomorrow Taking it up as a challenge Lets forget about all pain and sorrow I believe in my heart that tomorrow will be a bright sunny morning Which will make us all stand up and fight for the new beginning

~Upmanyu Roy PGDM E -Biz (2014-16)

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Alumnus Speak

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ttending the last two days of NEEV was nostalgic for Glin Anto, an eminent alumni member of WeSchool Bengaluru from 2009-11 batch who has been work-

ing with ‘Deloitte’ for the past two years. Visiting the campus after three years brought back a lot of memories, Glin confessed.

Sharing his experience of the two days that he attended Glin said that it was very interesting. Knowing the students, witnessing the ideas they brought through ‘Create My World’ and the showcase of talents on the last day of the program made him feel that the batch is a very promising one.

Stressing on how crucial the induction program is for

the new batch of students Glin said that it would have given them a glimpse of business atmosphere. Also having the foundation fortnight in Bengaluru campus which they had in Mumbai campus previously helped the students in getting to know the faculty more personally.

Speaking of his experience at Welingkar, Glin said that it helped him tremendously in ‘Deloitte’. “The subjects that were taught gave me an industry perspective and helped me focus on not only my specialization but also to understand how all the specializations are interlinked”. He also spoke about the element of ‘Innovative Thinking’ that Welingkar stresses upon to help students keeping up with the dynamic industry.

Addressing to the budding minds of business Glin advised to make use of everything of what a student gets at Welingkar during the course. He says, “The infrastructure and the faculty here will create opportunities for them to grab. Getting exposure from other institutes through taking part in conferences, seminars, and competitions is also important as they give the flavor of the changes in the industry.”

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Achievers Wall of Fame Students from WE School, Bengaluru Campus completely dominated the the Organizers Cup competition at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Bengaluru, in most of the sports events

Table Tennis , doubles winners Manoj Kumar (E-Biz 2013-15) Neeraj Dhanwani (PGDM 2013-15)

Table Tennis .Singles Winner Vivek Guntnuru (E-Biz 2013-15)

Volleyball - Winners WE School, Bengaluru (14-16 Batch Team) Pratyaksh Sharma (c) Taron Pereira Sourav Ghosh Ashish Jhanjee Vibhuti Sharma Vishnupriya Varma Nikhil Kawale Chetan Dhole

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we Prin. L. N Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research 102/103, Electronic City , Phase -1, Next to telephone exchange office Hosur Road, Bengaluru,560100 Tel. 080-42678300, 28521066,28522514 Fax: 080-41742108 www.welingkar.org