I s s ue S ev e n F e b | M a r | A p r
EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
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FOREWORD Hello Readers, As we near the end of our academic year, Prameya, the voice of WeSchool is out with the final issue. Prameya has always strived to provide a platform for the wide variety of talent nurtured under the care of WeSchool’s multiple programs. Executive MBA, being one of them, piqued our interest considering the ambiguity surrounding it. Hence, we decided to select Executive education as the theme of this Issue. The issue begins with an address by our Group Director, Prof.Dr.Uday Salunkhe and Dean & Director, Bengaluru Campus, Dr. Anil Rao Paila. It is followed by the theme article on ‘Executive Education’. The Faculty Interview of Prof. AKN Prasad offers an insight into the instigation and development of MDP programs of WeSchool. . It is followed by an article on WeCafe Session by Mr Sameer Malhotra, MD Deutsche Bank post which is an interesting writeup on
NHRDN summit. An InnoWe Manthan Session featuring a session of Mr. Adil Bandukwala, recruitment product consultant, LinkedIn comes next. The CEO Speaks section features Mr. Kattayil Rajinish Menon, Director - ISV & Cloud Strategy, Microsoft Corporation and his session on “Why be an entrepreneur and how do you scale up your business with internal and external focus” followed by the ProtoLab Session. The Alumni interview features Mr. Shrinivas Pai who recently graduated the PGMLP program of WeSchool. It is followed by an interesting read on WeCkt, as its popularly known among the denizens of Welingkar. The events under the purview of Rotaract such as Traditional Day and Joy of Giving Week come next. It is followed by a Book Review and Students Corner Article section towards the end.
With this, we as a team sign off for this academic year.
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CONTENTS Foreword
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Index
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Group Director and Deans Address
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Executive Education
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Guru Speaks
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WeCafe Session
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NHRDN Annual Conference
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InnoWe Manthan
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CEO Speaks
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Prototype Lab Session
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Alumni Interview with Shrinivas Pai
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WeCkt
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Traditional Day
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The Joy of Giving Week
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Book Review
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Students Corner
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The Team
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LETTER FROM GROUP DIRECTOR & DEAN
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world - Nelson Mandela As India continues its march forward and crosses new frontiers, corporate world executives with a more holistic view of business are gearing to spot emerging opportunities and navigate economic environments. Early career success often comes through specialization in a specific functional domain but further advancement requires a more comprehensive, multi-functional perspective. Without careful preparation, this transition can be risky and may take years to complete. The emerging business challenges push the corporate world to create a reservoir of ‘T’ Shaped professionals with a strong base of domain expertise combines with appreciation for the broader perspective of the organizational goals along with leadership qualities. This is where the executive education programs come in handy, Welingkar Mumbai and Bangalore campuses through our Management Development Cell (MDC) run whole bouquet of customized/standardised executive education programs to cater to these emerging needs of the Corporate world. My best wishes to our MDC team for their continuing efforts and success with Corporates.
Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe Group Director WeSchool
Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. - Anthony J. D’Angelo
Prof.Dr. Anil Rao Paila Dean & Director WeSchool, Bengaluru
At WeSchool we are deeply inspired by these words. Today emerging unarticulated needs and realities need a new approach both in terms of though as well as action. Cross disciplinary learning, discovering, scrutinizing, prototyping, learning to create and destroy- the mind’s eye needs to be nurtured and differently so. We believe this attitude is needed not only during the student life but in corporate world as well. This issue of Prameya articulates the need of executive education. WeSchool offers range of customized and standardized executive education programs to a wide number of corporates in Bangalore and across India. Junior Leadership Management Program (JLMP) for Infosys BPO has been the longest running program for seven years now. The fact that the Infosys Management keeps coming back every year with a fresh batch of corporates from their organization in itself is a validation of quality of the program. Similar program has been started for Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions (RBEI). I wish my MDC team more successes in future. My best wishes to Prameya team 2013-14.
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Executive Education by S a ga r S h eth Business Organizations are transcending towards a goal based structure of hierarchy instead of the traditional positional hierarchy. Individuals with specialized Skill-Sets and excellent Business
Acumen in specific indus-
try sectors are required by the organizations to outgrow and outreach its
competitors.
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Education can be termed as the sole driving force of this constantly evolving human race that is moving at a radical speed towards transforming and optimizing the environment in which we live in. Education has helped mankind over the generations to deal with facing unforeseen barriers and overcoming them with effective implementation of knowledge and adequate tenacity. This whole concept of being competitive and adaptive to the ever changing environment is the prime objective of education. The world is fast becoming a small well connected strata that will encompass every possible individual from every possible nook and corner of the geography. The primary drivers of such a change are the various businesses and organizations that have managed to touch lives globally and created a need for constant innovation to survive and progress in an extremely competitive environment. To achieve this level of competence, every organization needs business leaders and visionaries that can help take the responsibility to take up challenges of the fast changing landscape that demands new levels of innovation and leadership. Executive Education aims to provide business professionals to explore new avenues and achieve specialized skills that help them develop a global perspective of business practices. The importance of Executive education has now been completely accepted by most of organizations all around the globe. From the fact that the world economies are now interconnected, each organization is looking to develop and nurture individuals who have a global perspective about the way the business environment would react to the changing
paradigms. Such Global Leaders can bring about a positive change in an organization and can lead it to greater heights. Individuals who participate in these type of learning programs develop a new outlook towards their existing business cycle and can reengineer and recreate a more efficient cycle that can give the organization a strong competitive edge which they thrive for. The advent and popularity of such ‘ Value - Addition’ programs is due to the participation of the most prestigious universities around the world such as MIT-Sloan , Harvard, Wharton, INSEAD and many more who have enhanced and marketed the value of such kind of programmes. In India, many of the renowned and prestigious educational institutions such as the IIM’s, ISB, S.P Jain, Welingkar have followed the footsteps of their foreign counterparts and have created a value preposition for themselves by providing various customized programs for business professionals across various sectors and have attracted a lot of professionals even from abroad. Such Indian Universities and Institution also provide modules that are focussed on India as a country and its dramatic rise as an emerging superpower. Such courses have attracted a lot of professionals globally as it provides in depth insights on the Indian market and its economy and draws parallel with other emerging markets to understand the business opportunities available and how they can be turned into profitable ventures.
Custom Made Programs: Business Organizations are transcending towards a goal based structure of hierarchy instead of the traditional positional hierarchy. Individuals with specialized skill-sets and excellent business acumen in specific industry sectors are required by the organizations to outgrow and outreach its competitors. Management Institutes and other Academic facilities that provide executive education have identified this need and have come up with various tailor made modules for professional executives and managers who are striving to adapt to shifting markets, new competitors, demanding customers or any other strategic challenges and delivering custom solutions to each of them with the help of experienced faculty and industry stalwarts. These kind of programs are designed to address the unique set of business challenges and development needs of an organization.
Mid Career Boost: Senior Executives after a certain period of experience in handling a certain set of responsibilities find themselves in a space where work becomes monotonous and there is strong force of young thrifty
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professionals who are looking to outdo them in every way. For such senior level executives, indulging in a very well focused and dynamic set of education module that can help them boost their career and give them a new vision to thrive for. Organizations have taken a strong liking towards this kind of professional regime for their executives and it has provided significant results for both the professionals as well as the organization.
Global Exposure: Business executives and managers that sign up for such professional courses are bound to have interactions with a lot of executives coming from different parts of the globe. They are exposed to different kind of cultures and value systems that bind those professionals which would
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help develop new insights in managing complex and homogeneous human organizations. Understanding the business practices existing in different countries and organizations globally help such individuals to come up with improved and innovative business solutions for their organization.
You Can Never Be Over Educated: The world is evolving at a very scary yet productive pace and it is very essential for organizations and professional alike to keep up with such rapid growth and the only way to go about doing this is to develop new talents, understand the global prerogative and innovate the existing norms that exist. To achieve such kind of knowledge and expertise, Organizations around the globe are ready to invest and push their executives to sign up for various professional educational courses that can help them develop new perspectives about different industries and come up with better business solutions and innovations for the organization. As the saying goes, ‘ It is never too late and never too much to learn.’
Guru Speak Session with Prof.AKN Prasad 1. 1. You have personally spearheaded the Executive Education Program at Welingkar, Bengaluru Campus, so, how has been the journey since the inception of these programs? A. I joined Welingkar as a Full-time Faculty and Head of Management Development Centre in 2007. This was after a Career spanning over four decades,the last of which was my four year stint as Head of Operations in the Polaris BPO. During these four years, I pondered over the education opportunities for BPO Executives, as most of them hail from Tier 2 and Tier 3 Cities with very generic educational background.
JMLP has become a very novel feather in the hats of both Welingkar and Infosys, in terms of creating something out of nothing. They did not seem to have any further growth in the Organization even though they formed the core of primary revenue generators (limited education being the reason). So I spoke to Mr. Samit Deb who was the Head of HR at Infosys BPO and discussed the possibility of an Executive Education for the junior Employees.
He shared my interest and after discussions spanning over ten months we finally came out with a 16 month long, highly customized and unique program, now known as the Junior Management Leadership Program (JMLP). We initially got an order for ten batches of fifty students each in Version 1, though we were able to complete only seven batches, given the limited time frame. However, we got another order of six batches for Version 2. So the Success of JMLP has become a very novel feather in the hats of both Welingkar and Infosys, in terms of creating something out of nothing. This helped us in convincing other Organizations about the benefits that can be derived from such customized Courses. 2. 2. What kind of Executive Programs does WeSchool offer and how has been the response to these programs? A. JMLP is our Flagship Program with its 8th batch in progress with further batches in the pipeline. Along the same lines, we have another customized course for RBEI (Robert Bosch) employees called the PGPMS or Post Graduate Program in Management Studies which is an autonomous degree equivalent to an E MBA. These Programs are being delivered at multiple locations, for example JMLP of Infosys BPO is being conducted in Bangalore, Jaipur and Pune locations with more centers’ being added with each
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batch. The popularity of these programs can be gauged by the fact that several of the JMLP Alumni of Infosys BPO paid from their own pockets to complete an Advanced JMLP program consisting of 400 hour content delivery leading to PGPMS certification. In fact, we had the convocation of its first batch last month on 29.3.2014. Apart from these programs, we have successfully conducted several 2-3 day workshops with Companies like Titan, ITC InfoTech, Cable and Wireless, etc. 3. 3. There is a lot of ambiguity in the Market with respect to Executive Education, what are your views on this? A. Many Companies are aware of ‘what and why of Executive Education’ but there have been situations where I have had to explain everything about Executive Education from the basic roots. So the Organizations which are well aware of the benefits and ROI of Executive Education seek out Premier Institutions that are known to deliver the best results. This kind of a relationship is mutually beneficial for both the Organization and Academic Institutions. 4. The scale of executive education at a Global level is predominant but has this growth been parallel in India? A. The Change has almost always come from the West and India has always followed the suit of adapting
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Prof. AKN Prasad things a bit conservatively and slowly than rest of the world. Executive Education is rapidly gaining popularity in India now with its credibility increasing as more and more Premier Business Schools start offering Executive Programs to the Market. 5. Many believe that value of the degree is embedded in the reputation that a business school has achieved, based on alumni success and the intellectual capital of its faculty. Is this the reality or just a modern myth? What are your views about it? A. It is true that the reputation of a Business School and the Intellectual Capital of its Faculty plays a very important role in elevating the value of a degree or Certificate provided. But the onus lies on the Performance of the Alumni as well. If the performance is good, not only does it add value and enhance the Certificate but also increases the reputation of the Institute and faculty that provided it. So, it’s a closed circle with each factor depending and contributing to the other. In fact, several of my students who completed the JMLP programs later shifted to other organizations. Their good work in these organizations has led to the popularization of Executive Programs offered by Welingkars. So, in a way my student alumni themselves act as the Brand Ambassadors of our Programs themselves.
WeCafĂŠ with MD of Deutsche Bank, Mr Sameer Malhotra
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Mr Sameer Malhotra, Managing Director of Deutsche Bank has worked in a series of industries starting from manufacturing, back office operations, sales and the list goes on. He, speaking with us shared some very relevant practices which he has followed. One of them is having” a very curious desire to learn”. He said that this quality of his has helped him in his career each time when he moved into the new role. He further stated that in order to learn, he sits with people and understands the work, instead of just monitoring, even if it’s below the dignity. According to him it is very essential for a manager to know what his team is doing to understand the challenges they face. He stressing on the importance of the curiosity, quoted the advertise of Discovery which stated “Put your curiosity to better use”. It is this curiosity which drives the person towards his goal, this is the one which helps the person to give his 100%, he said. His remarks “If you feel you have learnt everything, you have not learnt anything” are still in our ears stressing on the learning and curiosity. He also shared with us, his experience at the London Business School. He further said that the listening skills are very important for any person and people should concentrate on enhancing them. The real challenge of group dynamics comes into play in an organisation when huge amount of focus is on Team work and Team objectives and in such a case, he said that listening skills help to manage people better.
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“There are no shortcuts” he quoted, in organisation or in life to climb the ladder of success. Even those chances which may seem as shortcuts will only work for the short-term, not for the long-term. He said to divulge from the shortcuts in case there are any as they will cause the loss of focus. He suggested the students to get into hard work as the corporate world today is getting tougher and tougher. He also added that just being hard worker will not earn anything unless the person learns from his work i.e. unless he does smart work. This will increase his/her productivity which he/she will sense gradually. He finally said we must enjoy what we do. There is no meaning in doing the work which we don’t love. The surprise of the day came to him in the form of his family which included his wife and two little children who were invited to the WeSchool on account of International Woman’s Day.
Mr. Sameer Malhotra in conversation with the student host of wecafe, Ms. Pratibha Vaidyan
NHRDN Annual Conference Shared Services to Strategic Enabler – 2nd National HR Summit NHRDN organized the 2nd National Summit on HR Shared Service on 19th Feb 2014 at Taj West End, Bangalore. The theme of the summit was “Shared Services to Strategic Enabler”. Students from WeSchool volunteered to be a part of the organizing team and helped organize the entire event. The sessions were attended by a myriad of HR Professionals from several different organizations such as Randstad, Accenture, TCS, Wipro, Bosch etc. The Session commenced sharply at 9.30 am with a Welcome Address by Mr. Kamal Singh (Director General, NHRDN). It was followed by a Summit Overview from Mr. Pankaj Bansal (CoFounder and CEO, People Strong). Mr. Rajiv Krishnan (Partner & India Leader, Advisory Services, EY) talked about how Engagement level of Shared service providers is important. This was followed by a Key Note Address from Mr. Pratik Kumar (President, Wipro Infra. and Engineering - HR Wipro Ltd). The Session was then dispersed for a short tea break before recommencing again for a Session on “Transforming HR into True Business Partners Through HR Shared Service” headed by Session Chair, MR. Harish Devarajan (Leadership Coach, People Unlimited).
HR roles have morphed from Transactional to Functional to Strategic
The other chairs of the session recognized Mr. Rajeshwar Tripathi (CPO, Automotive and Farm Equipments, M&M) and Mr. Prithvi Shergil (CHRO, HCL Technologies) who had a lot of animated discussion with the audience on Dave Ulrich Model and how Shared services is about turning information into valued services. The attendees reassembled for a Post Networking Lunch session on ‘Avoiding Pitfalls and ensuring success in the Adoption of Shared Services’. This session was chaired by Dr. Jitendra K Das (Director, FORE School of Business). The other Speakers of the session included Priya GopalKrishnan (Director- HR, ING Life), Mr. Ramesh Ranjan (VPIndia HR Services and Global HRIS) and Mr. Raghavendra K (VP and Head- HR, Infosys BPO). The amplitude of their discussion was focused on how changing times call for a
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change in measures and how HR has evolved over the years adopting with the evolving Business Models. This was followed by a short tea break post which the session on “Interplay and Necessity of Technology in Shared Services”. The session was headed by Mr. A. Krishna (Sr. VP- HR, Bosch) while the other panelists included Mr. Saakar Anand (VP- HR, CA Technologies), Miss Shelly Singh (Co-founder, People Strong) and Miss Sagarika Ghoshal (Director HR, Metro Cash and Carry). They also spoke at great length on how HR roles have morphed from Transactional to Functional to Strategic. The concerns and advantages of shared services were also the highlights of the session. This was followed by a very interactive and interesting session by Dr. S Chandrasekhar (President and Global HR Head, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory) on “Tools and Framework for Value Measurement”. He talked about how savings cannot be in themselves a rationale for making shared services work and how Operation and hygiene level services are just as important as strategic roles. The Summit finally came to its conclusion with a vote of thanks from the Director General of NHRDN, Mr. Kamal Singh.
how savings cannot be in themselves a rationale for making shared services work
Group of WeSchool volunteers attending the second national NHRDN Summit.
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InnoWe Manthan WeSchool had the honour of welcoming Mr Adil Bandukwala to our Innowe manthan initiative in the month of March, 2014. He is a Social Media Professional with a proven background in Talent Acquisition and Internet Media. Currently associated with LinkedIn in Bangalore, as a Recruitment Product Consultant which is a part of the Talent Solutions Team and previously held positions like Talent Acquisition Social Media Advisory to Dell, India. He has been ranked as one of India’s Top 20 HR Influencers on Social Media for two consecutive years now, 2012 and 2013 by SHRM. He dropped out from SCMHRD to pursue entrepreneurship and went on to do Post Graduate Diploma in Business Entrepreneurship Management from EDI, Ahmedabad and passed out with a Gold medal and student of the year award. He enlightened the students on the veracity of social media in the 21st century and also drew attention to the fact that benefits of participating in social media have gone beyond simply social sharing to building reputation and bringing in career opportunities and monetary gain. He brought to light the emergence of Indian online market with help of some mindboggling figures.
He stressed on the importance of having a LinkedIn profile and how it can be used to connect with potential employers. He stressed on the fact that LinkedIn is, by far, the most active and successful social media hunting ground for talent utilized by businesses of all sizes. Moreover, third-party recruiters see LinkedIn as an indispensable tool, as their worth and ability to make placements for their corporate clients is largely dependent on both the size and quality of their networks. LinkedIn has become an indispensable hunting ground for nearly every job hunter.
Dr. Anil Rao Paila in discussion with Mr. Adil Bandukwala
LinkedIn has become an indispensable hunting ground for nearly every job hunter. 14
CEO Speak Series with WeSchool, Bengaluru had the pleasure of organizing ‘CEO Speak Series’ in association with CII-YI on 14th March, 2014 Mr. Kattayil Rajinish Menon, Director – Independent Software Vendor (ISV) & Cloud Strategy, Microsoft Corporation was the invited speaker. The theme of the session was “Why be an Entrepreneur and how do you scale up your business with internal and external focus”. His insights while interesting were very relevant and practical. He has been leading the hugely successful “Microsoft Bizspark’ program that helps software start-ups succeed by giving them access to Microsoft software development tools, connecting them with key industry players, including investors, and providing marketing visibility to help entrepreneurs starting a business.
Dr Anil Rao with Microsoft Director Kattayil Rajinish Menon and Ms Shipa shree of CIIYI He spoke at length on several topics related to entrepreneurship in what turned out to be a very fruitful and productive session for students. successfully crossed the barrier and attained enterprise capability. There are many things that startups today miss out and
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Why be an Entrepreneur and how do you scale up your business with internal and external focus ? they remain in the glorified state of their idea. He articulated as to how startups should start building strong internal pillars and institutionalize the entity and the idea. This is also required even externally with getting customers to validate and actually partner with the startup and it’s only through this proactive/reactive interactions that startups mature to full-blown enterprise entities. He further discussed the parameters required for setting up a sustainable startup ecosystem that aims to create a culture of innovation, inclusive growth on a self sustaining basis. He also interacted with students on several aspects of Cloud Computing, its scope and relevance in value generation for the firm or organization. The session reached its conclusion with a round of Q&A followed by felicitation of Mr. Menon and vote of thanks.
Speaker Addresing The Students
Prototype Lab Session The Business Design team at campus organized an introductory session on their prototype lab for all the WeSchool faculty members and the staff on 4.4.2014. The session was to make aware all, of the way design thinking can influence our working in different fields. The campus prototype lab is equipped with different kind of machines as potter’s wheel, wood cutter, and the electric thremocol cutter. The session was introduced by Prof. Mohan Chandra and his team members took the session forward explaining how effectively and for different purposes the machines available could be used. The faculty and staff had an enjoyable session and tried their hands on different machines to create prototypes of their liking. Everyone’s creative skills were at their best.
A Prototype of WeSchool Bangalore Design being the DNA of WeSchool thinking and an important element in all the program delivery and learning this prototype lab is a step forward towards management commitment towards Business Design thinking.
Metal Cutter and Grinder Woodbandsaw
Vaccum Forming Machine
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Alumni Talks with Shrinivas Pai Q: Give us some details of your educational qualifications. A: I have done my Bachelor in Arts from Karnatak University, Dharwad and now Post Graduate Program in Management Studies from Welingkar, Bangalore. Q: How long have you been associated with Infosys? A: I have been associated with Infosys BPO for 8+ years now. Q: What made you opt for Executive MBA program? A: The need for a formal management education was always there. In the corporate world today, it is not a big deal if you have done an MBA; but it is a big deal if you have not done an MBA. Q: How has the WeSchool Executive MBA helped you in your career curve? A: This question is a little early because I graduated just last Saturday :) , but the dividends are already coming in – I was recognized in the HR community of the organization and have been assigned a big data analytics project purely on the basis of me completing this course. Q: Highlight for us some key benefits of JMLP and AJMLP WeSchool programs? A: JMLP+AJMLP can be considered as a thali of management subjects. Each item (subject) is a delicacy by itself and also adds to the overall goodness of the entire dish (course). We do not deep-dive into any subject, but get a
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JMLP Batch 2013-14
taste of all subjects – know something about everything in the classroom and research on everything about something as per your interest in your free time. In the end, you turn into a confident, informed individual. Q: It must be a challenging task to manage education while being a full time professional and then you have a family to manage. Tell us the secret recipe to strike this kind of a trio worklife- education balance. A: I tried compartmentalizing – When at work, I only focused on work; at home, focused on family; on weekends, focused on Welingkar-related work. Easier said than done, but I tried. Support from spouse is also very important. Q: What would you like to convey to our student community, should one finish education and then join work or is it a good idea to work for few years and then join education? A: My personal opinion is that a student should work after graduation and then do an MBA. The work experience and the time spent in getting the hands dirty at the shop floor bring in a different flavor when you get back to theory in the classroom. You will be a more rounded individual who will be able to appreciate better the nuances of what is being taught.
Wecket Cricket in India is not just a sport rather it’s a religion. It is the sport which is appreciated and enjoyed the most as compared to other sports played in India. Despite the fact that Hockey is our country’s national sport, it is cricket which is played in the every nook and corner of the country. We Indians literally venerate and adore our cricketers and It is the cricket which unites and ties the whole India in one string. “Wecket” since its inception in 2009 which was an initiative by Mr Jamil Ahmed, who was the student of 2009-11 batch of We School has been played with the unflinching vigour and enthusiasm. The main objective of this initiative is not only to play cricket but inculcate and nurture the qualities of leadership, competitiveness, coordination, team spirit and discipline inside the students. “Wecket”, is the abbreviation of WE Cricket for which cricket aficionado students remains so excited about and curiously wait for this tournament to begin. Determination, Dedication and Discipline are the three D’s inevitably needed to succeed in each and every walk of life. Taking into consideration these key aspects of building one’s personality, We School organises “Wecket” every year since 2009.
This event strongly promotes the spirit of “Respect all, fear none” This year that is 2014 without any exception was played with the unruffled passion and fervour. There were total 10 teams in the battleground and were ready to vanquish each other for clinching the victory. This year as juniors have only 3 teams in their group so one alumni team was put in the juniors group. There were 2 groups of 4 teams each so in the first stage there were only two matches between the four teams of each group, fixture of which was decided by the chit system. The top 2 teams from each group directly qualified for the quarter finals and the last 2 standing team from each group played with each other for an eliminator round in which the team which won from the respective group go to the quarters and then the run rate was compared of the last standing team from each group and whichever team has the highest NRR(Net Run Rate) qualified for the quarter finals so top 7 teams were selected for the quarter final, the 8th team of the quarter final was the winner
Celebration of Victory
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Alumni and E-Biz team posing together with the winner’s trophy. of match between the faculty and the Alumni 2 .The winners of quarter final matches played in the semi-finals. The final was played between E-biz senior team and alumni 1 team. But due to shortage of time, this year we came out with some innovative result as both the finalists were declared joint winner and the trophy and the title was shared by both the teams. Event as usual was a huge success and all the teams played within the spirit of the game. Everyone was ecstatic the way proceedings had gone and the best two teams of the tournament share the title. The envy, grudges of bad decision, disappointment of dismissal, resentment was left on the field by the participant and it was the WE School spirit which triumphant.
both the finalists were declared joint winner and the trophy and the title was shared by both the teams.
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Traditional Day Celebration The Rotaract Club of Welingkar R.I Dist 3190 celebrated Traditional Day on 22nd January 2014 at WeSchool 20
The Rotaract Club of Welingkar R.I Dist 3190 celebrated Traditional Day on 22nd January 2014 at We School with tremendous enthusiasm and fervour. Traditional day is celebrated every year to extend reverence to every culture and religion of that exists in India as part of the WeSchool family members. On this day each one of us comes dressed in our traditional and ethnic attire. There is immense pride and joy felt across the campus. In this manner the Rotaract club of Welingkar provides a unique platform for all the Indian cultures to be experienced at the campus at the same time. Witnessing this colourful Multi-Ethnic collage in the same vicinity makes us all proud of our Indian roots. The formal event started 5:15pm with a kite flying competition. All the guests and participants were welcomed at the entrance in a traditional style by putting a “tilak� on their foreheads. The kite flying was followed by three more different traditional games. The first game was inspired by the tradition of stealing shoes of the bridegroom during the marriage ceremony.
Faculty on Traditional day
There were two teams, which took part (seniors and juniors). The objective of the competition was to collect as many pairs of shoes as they could from the audience within a minute. The participants as well as the audience participated with great exuberance. The total number of pairs collected in total was 69 and the winning team managed to collect 37 Pairs. The second game was inspired by the practice of creating some meaningful structures of paper cup. One volunteer each from juniors, seniors, alumni and Faculty was invited to participate. The participants had to make a pyramid using paper cups. The third game involved picking up a single chickpea from one container using a straw and putting it into another container. Once again four volunteers were called up from the audience. The one to transfer the most chickpeas in one minute was declared the winner.The event concluded with a prize distribution ceremony to award all the winners. The prizes were distributed by our Dean Dr. Anil Rao Paila. The event came to end with lip smacking refreshments served to all.
Students actively participating in the events
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Joy of Giving
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We make a living by what we get... We make a life by what we give
The happiness and satisfaction felt after helping the needy is incomparable and Welingkar Bangalore took a step forward in this direction with an initiative to help the children of Indira Gandhi International Academy (IGIA), which is an NGO at Yelahanka for Sri Lankan refugee children. At the time of Sri Lankan Civil War they lost their near and dear ones. Many of the war victims took refuge in India. Today, in different parts of India they try to find shelter and earn their own livelihood. Indira Gandhi International Academy (IGIA) is one such NGO which houses more than 200 children. The breakfast, lunch and dinner from Monday to Saturday is provided by ISKON whereas the Sunday meal is prepared in the school premises. The school takes care of their free primary education and accommodation from Class-1 to Class-10.They also provide shelter to students who want to pursue their higher education. There are 2 students who are pursuing their graduate courses in commerce and there is one student who is pursuing her engineering course at Impact College, Bangalore.
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We School, Bangalore hosted the donation drive from 6th March to 13th March’2014. The donation included more than 150 pairs of clothes, necessary stationeries ,some essential medicines. and some old textbooks which could help them develop interest in studies.
Rtr. Pragyan & Rtr. Abhishek giving the clothes collected at We School to the Staff of IGIA for their students.
Rtr. Neeraj & Rtr. Abhishek giving the Stationaries collected at We School to the Staff of IGIA for their students.
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We School also conducted a “Creative Writing Competition” at IGIA NGO on 3rd April’2014 and the topic for the same was “School or Education”.
Prof. Anita Pillai presenting the award to the 1st prize winner in “Creative Writing Competition”
Rtr. Abhishek presenting the award to the 2nd prize winner in “Creative Writing Competition”
Prof. Anita Pillai presenting a memento to the principal of IGIA, Mrs. Parvathi.
There were 13 participants out of which 2 were selected as winners. The children and the management were gratified by the We School magnanimous approach to help the children and we truly lived to the spirit of “Joy of Giving”. Our belief in,
Prof. Anita Pillai, Rtr. Manjunath, Rtr. Abhishek, Rtr. Pragyan & Rtr. Neeraj along with giving the Staff & the children at IGIA.
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Share your pleasure take others pain Humanity and utter happiness is what you gain was once again reinforced.
The Review Inside the Mind of the Shopper The Science of Retailing By Herb Sorensen
shoppers spend a quadrillion seconds in supermarkets and they’ll waste 80% of that time.
Herb Sorensen is a preeminent authority on observing and measuring shopping behavior and attitudes within the four walls of the store. He has worked with Fortune 100 retailers and consumer packaged-goods manufacturers for more than 35 years, studying shopper behavior, motivations, and perceptions at the point of purchase. Sorensen’s patented shopper-tracking technology “PathTracker “is helping to revolutionize retail marketing strategies from a traditional “product-centric” perspective to a new “shopper-centric” focus. Herb has conducted studies in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. His research has been published in AMA’s Marketing Research, The Journal of Advertising Research, FMI Advantage Magazine, Progressive Grocer, and Chain Drug Review, and he has been utilized as an expert source for The Wall Street Journal, Supermarket News, and Business Week. Herb was named one of the top 50 innovators of 2004 by Fast Company Magazine. What do you really do when you shop? The answers are fascinating and for retailers, they’re cash in the bank. In Inside the Mind of the Shopper: The Science of Retailing, world-renowned retail consultant Dr. Herb Sorensen, Ph.D. written in 2009, uncovers the truth about the retail shopper and rips away the myths and mistakes that lead retailers to miss their greatest opportunities.
Every year, says Sorensen, shoppers will spend a quadrillion seconds in supermarkets and they’ll waste 80% of that time. Sorensen analyzes consumer behavior–how shoppers make buying decisions as they move through supermarkets and other retail stores–and presents powerful, tested strategies for designing more effective stores, improving merchandising, and driving double-digit sales increases. Then, in Part II, Sorensen presents revealing interviews with several leading in-store retail experts, including crucial insights on using technology and retailing to multicultural communities. This book is in the area of interest on how bricks and mortar retailers can apply self-service selling strategies used by Amazon within the four walls of their store. What makes it is interesting to readers is the visual analysis of the eye movement of shopper, and the emphasis on the concept of Shopper Seconds per dollar (meaning how long does it take shoppers in the store to spend a dollar?).
Herb Sorensen
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Students Corner on Executive Educaton by ANKITA BANERJEE | PGDM 2012-14 Executive education usually refers to programs and courses targeted at professionals working in managerial and executive roles, or those who aspire to. Most executive programs offered by business schools last between two and six days, but some can take over a year to complete parttime. Content-wise, executive education focuses on improving the knowledge and skills needed to become an effective leader. Most executive programs - unlike management degrees like an MBA, MSc, or Master in Management - focus on sharpening specific aspects of an executive’s toolkit, such as accounting, finance, strategy, or negotiation. Some executive programs - like modular general management or Executive MBA programs – impart broad training for current and future managers and executives. Sometimes, specialized executive programs are designed for professionals working in certain industries (like healthcare or IT), or those working in or transitioning to specific managerial or executive roles. Executive programs are usually offered on the campuses of business schools, though they can sometimes take place at other venues like resorts or conference centres. Some providers - particularly those offering global-oriented programs - take advantage of the short format and international partnerships to offer their programs in one or more different locations.
Most executive programs are ‘open-enrolment’ programs, meaning that anyone is eligible to apply. This is in contrast to custom programs typically offered to specific organizations and the course content is largely defined by the organization’s industry. In most cases, executive education does not lead to a formal degree (except for an Executive MBA). Some institutions, however, will offer professional certifications or certificates of completion. The genesis of executive education can be traced to the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, which in 1914 began offering Course XV, Engineering Administration, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At that time, the concept of providing business training in the academic environment was gaining popularity, thus MIT created a program “specially designed to train men to be competent managers of businesses that have much to do with engineering problems.” Harvard also began offering short five-week selections of standard MBA material in the late 1920s. Executive education then gathered momentum after World War II. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 — commonly known as the GI Bill of Rights — allowed veterans to take advantage of education benefits. Subsequent executive education programs, including the 13-week Advanced Management Program at
executive programs - like modular general management or Executive MBA programs - impart broad training for current and future managers and executives. 25
Harvard University and the four-week Institute for Management at Northwestern University’s School of Commerce (now the Kellogg School of Management), developed in response to the need to rapidly train line executives for general management in the post World War II era. Frederick Taylor, Michael Porter, C. K. Prahalad, and other respected academic business thinkers — Don Hambrick, Ram Charan, David Ulrich, Michael Hammer, Gary Hamel and many others — are the true pioneers of executive education and the ongoing effort to facilitate wealth creation and other new concepts aimed at making stronger businesses while improving the welfare of the world.
ed institutes for obtaining an executive education. Given that an executive education requires a disproportionate amount of time and financial commitment, it is strongly counselled that the institute selection be done with absolute objectivity.
WeSchool, Bangalore offers several executive education options including full time and part time programs. The content is aimed at developing a genre of T-shaped professionals, individuals with sharp domain acumen, complemented by a greater appreciation of the super-ordinate goals of the organization. We School’s corporate clientele for its executive education includes Infosys BPO, Bosch India, Ernst & Young to name a few. These proWE School is one of the popular grams customized to the needs of each of the industry requirements emphasis institutes offering executive on innovative thinking and developing education in India. exemplary leadership traits. One of the early movers in this space of offering Executive education offers the benefits of customized executive education programs management education at a stage where WeSchool is one of the popular institutes among the B-schools that industry opt for the individual has the requisite professional and managerial acumen to assume in India. executive roles. While traditional MBA courses accept candidates with no profes- Harvard Business School’s webpage on executive education statistics show that 64% sional experience, executive education courses are designed for individuals with of the participants of the open-enrolment more than 3-5 years of work experience. programs are international students while its custom programs have 3,230 participants. This alone speaks about the evolvPremier institutes like Harvard Business ing trend of executive education and how School, Stanford, MIT-Sloan, London School of Business, INSEAD and the likes individuals and organizations have realized the need for continued career and of ISB, IIMs WE School, TAPMI closer home are some of the highly recommend- professional development in the wake of
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global economic volatility. Valeria Rosati, executive director, infrastructure, at Hastings Funds Management, speaks about her accelerated development program at London School of Business; “At a personal level, I can no longer use my character as an excuse not to improve behaviour (examples for me were listening more and work-life balance). The programme not only taught me how to address weaknesses but also that playing to my strengths is essential. The experience has allowed me to step back from work and see the bigger picture. For instance, as an investment professional I had always seen marketing as focused on form over substance. Now, I know it is about getting the whole organisation closer to the customer. For the first time I am getting involved in this area.”
Group Director, WeSchool Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe states that “Executive PGDM education is not only for the high-fliers, it is meant for those who are ready for a change in the career trajectory and will use the opportunity to gain and use new knowledge differently to meet personal and organizational goals”. 27
Executive education and the business administration courses in general received severe criticism after the 2008 global financial meltdown. It was opined that it does little to businesses other than attributing the manager with a false sense of entitlement – often seen espousing their new found managerial evangelism to an established and functional workforce and adversely affecting the business. Post-recession, executive education has experienced a paradigm shift in course content and delivery allowing greater flexibility and applicability in an individual’s professional path while organizations benefit from mature business executives who are able to look at the bigger picture. As the world stands at an economic and socio-cultural crossroad, education will have far greater and deeper ramifications than previously anticipated; it is obvious that executive education will have a potent role to play in shaping the future industry leaders.
The Team
which made it possible
I had the opportunity to be part of Prameya team for yet another year (2013-14). The year though began on a slow note with respect to deliverables from the student team but frequent interactions helped them pick up the pace. Towards the end I did note a refreshing change in each of them. My best wishes to each one of them to prosper both Dr. Sonia Mehrotra in their personal and professional lives ahead. Faculty Editor
V. RamLakhan Annavarpu Student Editor
Siddharth Gulati Designer
It was always my wish to work for a magazine. WeSchool provided me the opportunity which I had missed in Graduation. I got a chance to work with some of the most talented people I had the fortune of meeting. Be it the creative streak of Siddharth or Sagar’s command of words, not to forget, the diligent worker Manjunath and chirpy Gunjan. It took us some time to gel, but once that happened, there was no looking back. It was also a pleasure working with the seniors Ankita and Preeti who always held their end of the deal. And a very special mention of Dr. Sonia Mehrotra, who patiently guided us, never losing her cool. All in all, it was a very fruitful and learning experience.
When Ram asked me to join Prameya as the designer, I was excited at the prospect and took it on with fervour. It helped me fiddle with different design techniques and its integration in real time. It was a valuable learning experience to work with a such diverse team.
It has been a pleasure being a part of this incredible team in creating some valuable content and depicting the wonderful memories that we all shared. I enjoyed my time being associated with this particular facet of WeSchool and I would like to thank all the people who were involved in co-creating this magazine. Sagar Sheth Co-Editor
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Manjunath D Photographs & Logistics
Gunjan Kushwah Jr. Contributor
Ankita Banerjee Sr. Contributor
Preeti Bisht Sr. Contributor
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My association with Prameya started from my FF in Mumbai where I was selected for Prameya team.Since then it has been a fruitful journey with continuous learning in different facets of magazine publication.I enjoyed working with the enthusiastic team who not only met their deadlines but also supported each other.This was a stepping stone for me to gain the essential managerial skills.Over and above all ,many memories are associated with this magazine which i cherish looking back.
It was an exhilarating journey with lots of challenges.I used to write poems but writing for a magazine which would be read by top honchos of the corporate world, invigorated me for more structured thought process. It was learning out of practice. Collecting data, conducting interviews and then weaving them in the strings of words was an unprecedented experience altogether, and it has ameliorated my writing skills. The entire Prameya team worked with utter enduranceand mutual trust.
Prameya was an epiphany of sorts. Embracing my inner journo and having an exhilarating development experience working around tight deadlines; with an awesome team to boot. Thanks to the research that I had to do for my articles, I unlearnt and re-learnt a few concepts, which I am certain will help me in my professional and personal evolution. The acme was having a cohesive team that helped me realize my potential. My best wishes to my team-mates and the future Prameya team!
“Being a part of Prameya which is so successful and well regarded that really contributes, gives me a great personal pride and satisfaction.� This is a true fact that upon the conduct and contribution of each member lays the fate of all other. Heartfelt appreciations on the remarkable team work. I have really learned a lot from all the Team members, faculty, special thanks to Ram for managing the whole work, Sonia Maam for supporting us and the Readers for reading. Thank you!
Prin L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management, Development and Research 102/103, Electronic City, Phase - 1, Next to telephone exchange office Hosur Road, Bangalore - 560100 Tel: 080-42678300, 28521066, 28522514 Fax: 080-41742108 www.Welingkar.org