Scuzzy
Newsletter of Vinod Gupta School of Management
February, 2011
Volume 1, Issue 14
From the desk of Team Scuzzy
Alumni Committee
Warm greetings from Alumni Relations Committee, VGSOM! Welcome to the spring edition of Scuzzy, the bi-annual newsletter of VGSOM.
Faculty in-charge:
Let’s talk about placements first! The placement season, Vantage 2010, touched a high on all parameters of success! As many as 45 companies from all sectors of the industry participated for grabbing the best of the students and were offering the best of compensation packages. The highest annual compensation offered was 15 LPA and average annual compensation stood at 11.37 LPA, 29% more than past year’s figures.
know that VGSoM has bagged some of the prestigious awards. The first one being Asia’s Best B -School Leadership Award by CMO Council in July 2010. The second success came with DNA and Stars of the Industry Group awarding VGSoM as one of “the most innovative B-School of the year 2010”. VGSoM was also recently awarded the “Outstanding B school award” at the National B school awards A total of 110 offers 2011. The students of VGSoM were made for 80 students with brought ever greater laurels to IBM emerging as the single largest recruiter with 15 offers made. the college by winning contests The first-time recruiter’s list was all across the country. star studded with companies like The institute witnessed ANZ, JP Morgan, Nomura, UB joining of two new professors – Group, NCDEX, Citrix and SCI Prof. Vinodh Madhavan and among many others. As many as Prof. Arun Prasad. Prof. Vinodh 18% of the students were ofis a Doctor of Business Adminfered Pre-Placement Offers by the companies that they had in- istration from Golden Gate Uniterned with. versity and an MBA from SCMHRD, Pune. We feel proud to let you
Dr. Prithwis Mukerjee Student Co-ordinators: Akashdeep Prasad Amey Kolhatkar Divya Goel P. Uday Kumar Yash Vardhan Aashish Doshi Amol Khadikar Ishaan Awadhesh Prabhat Agarwal Sachin Choudhary
Inside this issue: Final Placements
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Our New Professors 5 Class of 2012
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Shraddha
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CMI Activities
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Saamanjasya 2.0
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Alumni Meet 2010
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Marketing and Advertising Club
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Alumni Speaks
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Students’ Corner
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An Innovative Assignment
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Faculty Lounge
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Awards and Achievements
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He comes with an experience of working in the industry as well as that of academia and specializes in topics like Credit Default Swap indices among many others in finance. With July, started the new academic year and the new batch of students were infused into the college. With almost 75% of students having prior work-experience, the batch is a perfect blend of freshers and work-ex students. The batch also saw a surge in the number of students having more than 36 months of work-experience (almost 25% of the class of 2012). The class of 2012 also boasts of people from varied backgrounds of operations, marketing, IT and finance. The extra-curricular activities have been spectacular all year-round. Shraddha, the social responsibility initiative captured everyone‘s heart when we joined hands together and shared our moments of joy with little kids of Disha Seema on the festive occasion of Diwali. Once again, we came together to help these children, painted t-shirts and sold them at the Spring Fest to give all the profits back to them and have more smiles among these wonderful stars. Corporate and Media Interaction continued unabated all throughout the year. The year saw so many eventful guest lectures and summits that the students now can‘t bear the wait till the next guest lecture happens. For a detailed report on CMI activities, turn to page 9. Saamanjasya, the flagship event of VGSoM, was back with a bang with its event 2.0 in Oct. 2010 with a new motto of ―Reach, Realize and Reform…‖.It attracted management students, academicians and the likes from all across the country to contribute to the spirit of corporate social responsibility. Take a look at some of the amazing events that were conducted under the banner of Saamanjasya. I hope many of you would not have forgotten the Alumni Meet – Connect 2010. For those of you who weren‘t there, you missed some great fun with your batch mates and faculty. The good news is we‘ll have a meet again very soon! Hope to see you there. Innovation and creativity lies in each one of us. A fine example of this was seen when the class of 2012 was given assignments like movie-making, online application development and writing termpapers on revolutionary business ideas of tomorrow. Scuzzy gives you a glimpse of new and innovative classrooms of VGSoM. We hope you like the creative ideas brought forward by these students. We also bring you Students‘ corner where some of the first year students have very elaborately described their lives and times at VGSoM. This is your one stop shop for all the nostalgia you may have in a while! We are also featuring contributions from alumni, faculty and research scholars at VGSoM and are sure that you‘ll like all of them. So what are you waiting for? Turn on your nostalgia and start sifting through your dose of college news! Happy Reading!
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Final Placements 2010 The Final Placement Process at Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur culminated yet again on a high note with the recruiters making a beeline to the school to claim their share of the pie. If last year‘s exemplary placement scenario at VGSoM reaffirmed our status as one of the best, this time around, things have only got better! Multiple offers were the order of the season as companies kept pouring in, even as the official placement season ended. The recruiting companies spanned across domains like Banking, Finance, Consulting, FMCG, Telecommunication, Information Technology, Manufacturing and Analytics with roles as diverse as Investment Banking, Banking Operations, Project Advisory & Structured Finance, Corporate Finance, Strategy Consulting, eGovernance, Business Consulting, Supply Chain Consulting, Supply Chain Management, Marketing, Business development and many more. There was a considerable improvement in the profile mix, as well as the compensation offered. The average domestic salary leapfrogged to Rs. 11.37 LPA, which is a jump of 29% from the last year‘s figures. The mode of the domestic salary is Rs. 9.0 LPA. VGSoM witnessed the participation of 45 companies for a batch of 80 students, with many first-time recruiters like ANZ, Citrix, JP Morgan, NCDEX, Nomura, SCI, UB Group, Welspun and many others. Many of the companies recruited in big numbers, with IBM being the biggest recruiter having made a whopping 15 offers for its Consulting arm. The students of VGSoM yet again proved their prowess during summer internships in the corporate world with 18% of the students being offered Pre-placement Offers by the companies they had interned with.
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The season saw a huge participation by the companies from Banking and the Finance sectors, with the crème de la crème of the financial sphere like ANZ, Bank of Baroda, Citibank, JP Morgan, Nomura, NCDEX, Power Finance Corporation, SBI Caps, and others making exciting offers to the candidates. The profiles offered ranged from i-Banking, Banking Operations, Corporate Finance, Advisory and Structured Finance to Business Development in Commodities. Consulting has always been the forte of VGSoM. This year as well, the placement season was besieged with numerous consulting firms like AMI Partners, Avalon Consulting, Deloitte, Deloitte USA, IBM, i-Maritime Infosys, KPMG, Wipro Consulting, etc. Diverse profiles like Strategy Consulting, Business Consulting, IT Consulting, SCM Consulting and Finance Consulting were offered. Overall, Consulting profile accounted for a sizeable 38% of the batch. The Global Decision Management arm of Citigroup Global visited the campus for the first time offering Statistical & Analytical roles. Analytics sector was yet another high this year with companies like ANZ, Dell, HP, and HSBC offering challenging roles. Pricing was one of the exciting profiles offered in the Analytics domain. The takers for the Operations profile more than doubled this year with 22% of the batch opting for companies like ABB, Balmer Lawrie, BHEL, Heinz, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Motors, Vedanta Resources, UB Group, Welspun, etc. which offered a plethora of profiles like Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing Operations, Procurement and others. Companies like BHEL and SCI offered General Management roles, providing immense opportunities for growth. There was a surge in the number of recruiters offering varied Marketing roles with FMCG, Telecommunication, Information Technology and Industry giants vying with each other for the early slots in the placement season. Few of these companies were ABB, Berger Paints, Citrix, DataMonitor, ITC, Tata Metaliks, Tata Motors, Tata Telcon, Tech Mahindra offering distinctive roles like Sales & Distribution, Market Research, and Product Marketing apart from the usual Marketing profiles. All in all, the placement season was a huge success and was a fulfilling experience for the students with a majority of them bagging the profiles and companies of their choice. The recruiters have yet again reaffirmed their trust on the quality of the students of VGSoM.
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Our new Professors Prof. Vinodh Madhavan Specialization: Credit Default Swap Indices, Non-Linear Time Series Analysis, Long-Term Dependence in Assets Prof. Vinodh Madhavan holds a Bachelor‘s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Amrita Institute of Technology & Science, Coimbatore), an MBA in Manufacturing and Operations Management (SCMHRD, Pune) and a Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A., Specialization: Finance) degree from Golden Gate University, San Francisco. He was awarded the ―2009-2010 Outstanding Graduate Student – Doctor of Business Administration‖ award by the Dean of Ageno School of Business, Golden Gate University. Prior to pursuing his doctoral degree at GGU, Prof. Vinodh served in a managerial position for 2 years at Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd – Appliances Division, India, where he was responsible for after-sales service delivery and day-to-day supply chain management. Upon completion of his doctoral degree, Prof. Vinodh served as an Adjunct Professor at Ageno School of Business, Golden Gate University. In addition, he also held the ―Malcolm S.M. Watts III Research Fellowship‖ position at Technical Securities Analysts Association of San Francisco.
Dr. ArunPrasad P. Specialization: Compensation management, Human resource management information systems Dr. ArunPrasad joined the institute as Assistant Professor in November, 2010. He is a Ph.D from IIT Madras. Dr. ArunPrasad comes with a rich industry experience in research and consulting, Compensation & Benefits, HR Operations, HR Analytics and HR -Generalist domain. Before joining VGSoM, he worked with MphasiS (an HP company) as HR - EMEA Region based out of Netherlands. He has also worked with BA Continuum solutions (Bank of America) as Compensation & Benefits specialist. He holds professional certifications like "Certified Compensation & Benefits Manager‖, awarded by CAMI, USA and Situational Leadership II, certification by The Ken Blanchard companies. He was also a visiting/guest faculty at IIT Madras (DOMS) and at Bharathidasan Institute of Management. His research and subjects of interests are Human Resource Development, Strategic HRM, Organizational learning, Competence based HRM, International HRM, Recruitment & Selction, Performance Management & Measurement and Learning (Training) & development. To his research publication credit, he has published research papers in international peer-reviewed journals and presented papers in reputed international conferences.
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Class of 2012 Vinod Gupta School of Management believes that peer knowledge will help students in developing team skills and also helps one to apply their experiences at work in classroom studies for making managerial decisions. VGSoM encourages diversity of students in terms of academic backgrounds and work experience. Below statistics indicate demographic break-up of the class of 2012:-
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Shraddha Spreading colours in life
Shraddha is a social responsibility initiative by the students of Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur. We work towards improving the lives of underprivileged children living in and around Kharagpur.
Diwali Celebrations at Disha Seema School
Diwali is the festival of lights and we all have enjoyed this festival in our childhood. Shraddha celebrated this festival with the children of Disha Seema School, a free boarding school for the children of economically challenged families who cannot afford to send their children to school on their own. On the morning of Diwali a play on Damodar Lila was enacted by students of ISKCON for these kids. In the evening, we arrived at Disha Seema School with diyas, candles, colours for making rangoli and children‘s most favourite item - firecrackers. We were amazed to see the coordination and speed at which the children went about decorating their school and hostel. The whole place was decorated in no time and diyas and candles placed on walls in most innovative fashion. We became children ourselves when we with them. 7
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T-shirt selling at Spring Fest 2011 This is a new initiative recently taken up by Shraddha. Through this we generate revenue for the students of Disha Seema by selling T-shirts. These T- shirts are hand painted by the students themselves. They make some very interesting and innovative designs.
The T-shirt painting was an event to remember. We arrived with a large sack full of Tshirts and colours at the school and made arrangements for them to be painted in one of the classrooms. Each and every child wanted to be a part of this and we had a tough time suppressing that enchanting enthusiasm. We had to help the smaller children put paint on their hands to make designs on the T-shirts. The older kids were artists in themselves and made some exquisite designs. The total work took just under two days to complete and everyone enjoyed a lot by being a part of these noble initiative.
The T-shirts were then put up for sale for 4 days during Spring Fest, the annual cultural fest of IIT Kharagpur and the largest cultural fest of the country. The whole batch participated wholeheartedly for this noble cause and made the event a great success. We received a great response from the visitors at this event and were able to achieve the target. This event also helped us spread awareness about our event and its importance.
By:Rahul Kumar Rahul Mahajan (on behalf of Shraddha team, VGSoM) 8
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Corporate and Media Interaction Activities Marketing Lessons By 'Adman of India'- K V Sridhar aka Pops
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The National Creative Director of Leo Burnett India, Mr. Sridhar Kondiparthi aka K V Pops, was at the Vinod Gupta School of Management on 28th October, 2010 to talk about "Creative Marketing", as part of the industry interaction initiative of Vaarta 2010. The adman of India showed how marketing goes beyond the jargon taught in the classroom. The need was to appeal to the hearts of people as features, quality and price were temporary advantages that can be easily replicated. Today the consumers practically own the brands. Increased public participation is seen in the form of flash mobs and viral ads. The idea is to make people love the brands so that they come back for more. After all, ―we only make products in a factory; brands are created in the minds of the people‖.
The Business side of Management
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Ever imagined a lecture without a Powerpoint Presentation? In this age of technology PPT is the most often used acronym and we just can‘t do without it. The very perception changed today at VGSoM with the session on ―The Business side of Management‖, taken by Mr. Anand Ramchandran, Business Operations Director at Britannia Industries Limited. He described how a fresh management graduate joining an organization needs to first align himself to the goals and vision of the company before being able to contribute in any manner. With his rich and diverse experience in Sales and Marketing, Mr. Anand highlighted how an aspiring leader first needs to understand the product itself and the factors affecting it. He stressed that one must understand the ―Nuts and Bolts of a job well‖. The session concluded with Mr. Anand sharing the vision of Britannia to always concentrate on Product in response to some of the questions being asked. He finally left the audience with a thought to ponder upon, ―Your fate is in the hands of the Consumer (Kanjoomer as Mr. Anand would like to say) and not in the hands of your boss or your company‖.
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Sales & Channel Management - A perspective of L'Oreal
Thursday, November 11, 2010
―Beauty is a Technology, not a hope to sell in Jars‖ With such words started the session by Mr. Duregesh Sthalekar‘s on Loreal India‘s Sales and Channel management. Mr. Sathlekar stressed on the L‘Oreals perspective of taking forward the science of beauty concept with products having a combination science and nature. Explaining the flow of goods Mr. Durgesh mentioned how control of Primary-Secondary Sales is a must for FMCG to be successful. Emphasizing the importance of Secondary Sales he quoted ―High Level is the Buy Level‖ thus reaching the end customer is the winning mantra. Mr. Sthalekar shared his view of Sales being also HR. He shared his experience of working and managing various critical personnel in making sales possible: Sales Representatives, Merchandisers, Beauty Advisers and Supervisors. The session concluded on high note with a short video clip on L‘Oreal which talked about L‘Oreals winning mantra ―Grow Core and Add more.. Market mein Machao Shor‖.
VGSOM conducts CFO summit Wednesday, October 6, 2010 VGSOM conducted a CFO summit under the banner of Vaarta, which is a series of rolling guest lectures on current issues of managerial interest. The topic of the summit was ―Roles and Responsibilities of a CFO and the changing roles after the Slowdown‖. On this occasion, Mr Madhu Menon, CFO, Tesco HSC; Mr Sanjeev Sancheti, CFO, Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited; and Mr K A Srinivasan, CFO, VenturEast Fund Advisors agreed to grace the campus with their presence and discuss the topic. The three dignitaries started discussions speaking on the roles of the CFO in a modern organisation. The role of the CFO can be broadly categorized as Controller, Strategic Thinker and Governance Head. The evening concluded with the audience enriched with the various responsibilities of a modern day CFO. The parting words of Mr Sancheti – ―CFOs must lead through influence and integrity‖ would remain as a lasting takeaway from the event.
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Saamanjasya 2.0 The year 2010 heralded a new beginning in the rich legacy of Vinod Gupta School of Management with the advent of Saamanjasya. Saamanjasya was conducted in a Grandiose manner inside the sprawling IIT campus, not once but two times in the course of the year. ―Reach, Realize and Reform‖. With this motto in mind, VGSoM organized various events under Saamanjasya 2.0 throwing light on social issues and the need to address them. Although officially inaugurated on 22nd October, the informal events began on 1stOctober when registrations for WIRED were open. ―WIRED‖ is the highly successful online event making use of social networking to promote a social cause. Wired saw a great response with 90+ teams cross India from top notch B schools like IIM B, L, I and S. The novel concept of WIRED yet again proved the kind of positive impact we can have through Social Networking.
The leadership summit, Vichaar emphasized on improving education system to create socially responsible youth. Parsihram, the live NGO case study competition, sponsored by GAIL met with huge success .The growing success of Saamanjasya was reverberated in the second edition with the conduct of Shaastrarth, a parliamentary debate competition in association with the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law (RGSoIPL). Along with all these, continuing the sustainability theme of Saamanjasya, were summits and workshops throughout the year like Sanchaar, workshop on Green Buildings, etc. The concept of Saamanjasya was appreciated among the NGOs and the corporate houses and those who witnessed the zeal and enthusiasm of the students were left highly impressed. Consultancy for the benefit of society: With this aim in mind, Saamanjasya along with consultancy major Ernst & Young presented with a consultancy case study competition Samaaj. It was a huge success with over 225 teams participating from all over India.
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VICHAAR – THE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT The theme for discussion of Vichaar was ―Is our education system creating a socially responsible youth?‖ Growing at a breakneck speed yet being pulled back by a plethora of problems, our country is grappling for answers. It is the youth who has to answer these problems? But is our education system well-equipped to lead students to these problems and provoke them to search for answers? Following esteemed panelists enlightened the audience at IIT Kharagpur on all these aspects: 1. Mr. Seetharaman Mohan ,Director H.R, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited 2. Mr. S. Giridhar Head, Programs and Advocacy, Azim Premji Foundation, Bangalore 3. Dr. Niraj Seth, Associate Director, Ernst & Young, Education Management, India 4. Mr. Nikhilesh Das, IAS (Retd.), Chairman, West Bengal State Branch, Indian Red Cross. 5. Dr. Hansa Nundy, Founder, Disha Seema The summit was moderated by Dr. Chhanda Chakraborti, Asst. Prof. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences , IIT Kharagpur. Mr. S. Giridhar, being a part of the Azim Premji foundation could actually connect with the students by stating daily life examples. Mr. Seetharaman Mohan , Director HR, BPCL, provided a great insight about the relation between the education system and the corporate world. Being the HR head of a leading PSU, he guided the students as to how the companies relate to these social values and what steps do the corporate themselves take to inculcate these values in their employees.
PARISHRAM – THE CASE STUDY COMPETITION This time NGO Khushii had posed a formidable problem, part of which questioned implementation of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Distinguished panel of Judges were: 1. Avinish Jain, Sr. Project Manager, Danone India Pvt Ltd 2. Mrs. Geeta Bhatt, Director, Shikshaantra, Khushii 3. Miss Aparna Singh, Head-Counselling and monitoring, World Action Forum, Khushii 4. Prof. Damodar Suar, HOD, Humanities & Social Sciences Dept. IIT Kharagpur NITIE Mumbai won the first prize taking away prizes worth 20,000 and team from VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur came second to take away prizes worth 15,000. ―Khushii‖ was impressed by the quality and rigor of the solution presented. Khushii plans to implement these solutions in fields.
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SHIKSHAN – THE WORKSHOP SERIES As part of its mission to promote environmental consciousness among the youth, ―Shikshan‖, the educational workshop was conducted during Saamanjasya 2.0 on 24th October 2010. Mr. Debtosh Mishra, senior consultant at Emergent Ventures India Limited and an alumnus of IIM Calcutta conducted this workshop educating the students about the career opportunities that the climate change has presented to us. Mr. Mishra drove home this point by touching upon concepts like CDM, green supply chain etc. which have been the outcomes of this innovative approach followed by companies. The lecture was amply supported by videos, pictures and some complex financial calculations which showed the commercial relevance of these initiatives.
SHAASTRAARTH – THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE Shaastraarth, a one day debating event was organized by Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, the law school of IIT Kharagpur under flag of Saamanjasya on 24th November, 2010. It was an exclusive endeavour aspiring to bring different pillars of managementCorporate, NGOs, Students to a common platform. The event introduced Parliamentary Debating format. Parliamentary Debate is unique as participants on a three on three team basis competed with each other enacting the roles of Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Whip.
SANCHAAR – THE TELECOM SUMMIT Sanchaar 2010, a telecom summit on ―How mobile telephony is changing the face of rural India?‖ was organized by VGSoM, IIT Kharagpur as part of its Saamanjasya initiative. The participants included representatives from mobile value chain like Airtel, Reliance Communications, BSNL, TCS as well as an academician connected with rural research from XLRI. The summit was moderated by Prof. Gautam Sinha,. The summit began with each of the participants expressing their viewpoint on what constituted inclusive rural growth. Mr. amantha, General manager from BSNL noted that connectivity to the remotest parts of the country was BSNL‘s main contribution in the rural telecom growth. Mr. Chandrashekar Singh Chauhan, head of Marketing, Bharti Airtel opined that even though the rural mobile density was still below 25%, there was a difference in the densities that varied between region to region. Prof. Sanjay Patro, the assistant dean of XLRI, Jamshedpur and a professor in rural marketing and research explained how the definition of the rural market meant different things to different people. The summit concluded with all the participants agreeing on the need to grow deep instead of rowing wide into the market, that mobile telephony could be the next all-integrated device after the computer and it could produce the same effect in the rural sectors what the computers and the internet did to the cities. 13
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Alumni Meet—Connect 2010 ―True nostalgia is an ephemeral composition of disjointed memories‖. The memories got a platform to come to life when the VGSOM Alumni Meet was organized on 26th June 2010. Named as ‗Connect 2010‘, this was the first time that a VGSOM Alumni meet was held on such a large scale at a national level in the four major cities - Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. The organizers were a little wary about holding it in four cities simultaneously because of the scale, but the alumni attended the meet in huge numbers and made it a success. The event started with a video of the IIT campus reminding the alumni of their two fabulous years of experience garnered at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. The video made everyone really nostalgic about the days gone by and the alumni were really moved upon seeing VGSOM, the main building, the hostels, their favourite hangouts and all the other little things that made their stay memorable. The alumni were then asked to come forward and share their experiences about their stay at IIT. The Kolkata meet was blessed with the presence of faculty members travelling over from Kharagpur and Kolkata to the venue. Some of the professors who graced the occasion with their presence were Prof. A.N. Sadhu, Prof. K.K. Guin, Prof. Prithwis Mukerjee, Dr. Prabina Rajib, Dr. C.S. Mishra, Dr. Biplab Dutta and Dr. A.K. Misra. At other venues, which were not as fortunate to witness the esteemed presence of the faculty members, video messages of the professors were shown to the alumni. After the alumni, it was the turn of the professors; each of them came forward and spoke a few words about the college and the alumni. The professors wished everyone good luck and best wishes for the future. The Alumni were very nostalgic and many of them were seen calling their long lost friends. ―Hey I am in the alumni meet at Kolkata‖. And the one on the other end said in Delhi said ―Hey so am I…Wish we could meet!―. Soon after, food and drinks were served. And the cupid started flowing, the gossips, the link ups, and the present life. All was discussed as though the clock had flown back a few years. It was wonderful seeing everyone, be it the alumni, the professors or the students, enjoying themselves thoroughly. The concept of conducting the meet at four locations simultaneously was greatly appreciated and all the people who attended greatly enjoyed the event and promised to participate in the future alumni meets with greater enthusiasm. Finally it was time for everyone to say goodbye. No one wished the day should end, but we had to give in to the wishes of the nature. With a heavy heart, everyone bade farewell, taking with them a treasure of memories of and a common emotion “We part, only to meet again”. Cheers!
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Marketing and Advertising Club The Marketing and Advertising Club of the Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT, Kharagpur, was set up to kindle the interests of the young minds to the world of Marketing and Advertising. The Club is known for three major things, namely,
MADison Avenue MADazine MAD Quiz The Marketing and Advertising Club of the 2012 batch was inducted in early August, 2010 and
since then MAD club has been in a frenzy of activities. The annual intra-VGSoM MAD Quiz is held for the students of VGSoM every year. In 2009, it was known as Jade and Mr.Samresh Shah was the Quizmaster. This time the MAD Quiz was known as Venalicium and it was conducted by the MAD Club Quiz Team on the 20th of August, 2010. There were a lot of participants from both the batches and it came as no surprise when the seniors bagged the 1st and 3rd prizes. The 1st years had to settle for a 2nd position. On the 8th of September, 2010, there was a seminar organized by the club for the students of VGSoM and the B. Arch students of IIT Kharagpur. Mr. Anil Sharma, the CMD of the Amrapali Group, a leading name in small-scale housing in India, spoke on ―The new management techniques for shaping the upturn-survive, outperform and succeed‖. It was quite an insightful seminar where the speaker talked about overcoming the economic downturn and flourishing in his business. MADison Avenue is the flagship event of the Marketing and Advertising Club. Since its inception, the club has been conducting online Marketing events for B-schools and undergraduates. But in 2009-2010, MADison Avenue stepped out of its virtual world into the IIT Kharagpur campus. MADison Avenue‘11, the 2-day event, is scheduled to kick start on the 26th of March, 2011 and this year the focus is to concentrate on events that reflect futuristic concepts that are growing trends in the field of business in general and marketing in particular. This fest promises to be a potpourri of innovative ideas and talent across the country. The MAD club has also started work on MADazine, the annual magazine released by the club every April. This magazine contains a collection of intellectual discussions on different aspects of marketing by the academia as well as the corporate world. It also compiles some of the most prominent real-time issues going on in the Marketing and Advertising worlds and their solutions. Apart from this, the magazine will also contain a collection of articles from the students of VGSoM and a set of interviews of some of the czars of the Industry. The club consists of more than 30 dedicated Marketing and Advertising loyalists. It is not just a club, but rather a platform for the corporate moguls of tomorrow to explore hard-core marketing beyond the limitations of the text books and to understand advertising beyond words, beyond ideas and beyond the classrooms.
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Alumni Speaks The new work-force in your Organization: Gen-Y Sampreet H Ramachandra Class of 2009 Do you recognize the fact that a new work-force has entered your organization? – today‘s 20-somethings often called Generation Y. Marketing departments in many industries take these demographic distinctions seriously in order to identify their specific needs and to speak to them in their language and connect with them better. But are organizations looking within to see and understand the demographics of their work force and appreciate the differences. After-all employee satisfaction is as important as customer satisfaction. So let us try to understand Gen-Y at the workplace.
Aspirations:
Gen Y is probably the first generation to have the kind of never-seen-before access to
the world that it has. Also the world itself has been increasingly dynamic in the last few decades and this generation, thanks to the internet and telecom revolutions has had 'real-time' access to the world which is its prime differentiator from the previous generations. What the earlier generations had to pick up through personal contact, literature & guidance, this generation picks up through podcasts, social networking and the virtual world. The speed and access to information (knowledge) has brought a tremendous amount of exposure, awareness and variety into the lives of Gen Y. This in my opinion has made us more vivid and individualistic than our previous generations. Hence the aspirations are more eclectic and individual centric than those that are family centric or community centric. The aspirations are beyond borders of any kind - they want to be more mobile, they want to develop skills that draw inspiration from various sources, they demand a wider choice and are specific about what they pick, there is a sense of impatience when it comes to progress and they want to achieve much more and much earlier than their predecessors. Having been in India it would be incomplete to discuss the point about change in aspirations without factoring in the changes in the environment of this country. A growing India and the innumerable Indian success stories have given a boost to the morale and confidence to the young Indian. Today 20-Somethings are able to fathom their strength and look at the world as an opportunity and have the necessary creativity and the latitude to explore in order to excel. The question is no more 'how good you are?', the question now is "how better you are compared to yesterday'. Today's youth make role models of not those who persevered to succeed but those who shot up to success. It is not the Jack Wech‘s or the Tatas that are looked up to anymore for inspiration but the founders of Google and Facebook. There has also been a paradigm shift in the aspiration of power as I see that this generation now aspires influence and association rather than sheer raw power. 16
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The Work-Place: The work environment has become increasingly important over years and many times takes precedence over many other benefits at the workplace. Global and cross cultural teams are a reality and Gen Y wants to be able to ignite ideas and move people across cultures and geographies. Gen Y also has a different view on time, they do not want to be bound by time or place, they are just as happy checking their blackberry mails on a weekend as long as they enjoy flexible works hours during the week. Many offices today have granted remote access to their employees and the youth prefers the flexibility. The only objective is to do something worth the while with the time they have. Since place of work is less important today and people are often found job hopping, skill development has gained a lot more importance. The young work force while looking for challenging assignments to keep them stimulated is also looking for personal development which is again in line with the idea of individual centric aspirations. It isn't mere marketing or coincidence that has increased the number of executive MBA programs across the globe. Today's workforce is far more connected with the outside (outside the company) world than ever before and 'keeping-up-with-the-Jonses' has a lot of 'Jonses' to keep up with. Todays' youth also seeks a collaborative work environment with a healthy disrespect for the authority of age. Latitude to experiment, freedom to decide and avenues to excel are far more important while material benefits are considered a given.
The Manager: People managers are left with no choice but to be accommodating and appreciative of the Gen Y ways. Many managers understand the importance of this in order to keep their workforce motivated and focused towards the goal they want to achieve for their teams. The biggest example is the IT industry which has the largest workforce from Gen Y and has adapted best to get most out of their employees. Managers today have to be clever and not just accommodate the ways of Gen Y but have to find ways to leverage the ways to realize the potential of their team. Today many companies while blocking access to popular social networking sites have created their own internal employee networking sites, because they understand that this generation depends on collaboration and communication and that can help in getting work done better and faster. Many organizations have instant messengers because it is faster, easier and a comfortable mode of communication for Gen Y. Many managers have learned to be more liberal about monitoring the work-times of employees and in return have gained extended hours of support from their employees even during off hours/days creating a win-win situation. Managers also have to learn to adopt technology as fast as Gen Y and future generations in order to keep pace and reach out to them in their language. Companies today have set up virtual classrooms and innovative training material over podcasts and webinars. This generation of the work-force is visibly and starkly different for the earlier generations and an organization would do well to recognize and appreciate this difference and consciously work towards developing systems, mechanisms & policies to inspire, motivate and make the most of the strengths of this young, vibrant and dynamic generation.
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Students’ Corner KGP ka tempo high hai!!!
Shashidhar Shenoy N Class of 2012
As MBAs we are all quite familiar with the 4 Ps of marketing or the five forces of strategy. But only KGPians will know that there are 2Ts which form an inseparable part of our stay here -Trains and Technology. These 2Ts have fascinated me all my life. The long whistle of a zooming train in the middle of the night used to stir up my emotions like no other and I used to yearn for going on long train journeys. In a similar manner, technological advances which made life easier for the humankind never ceased to impress me. When I was a kid, I used to visit my uncle‘s place only for two reasons – to explore a new computer that they had bought which was a rarity in those days, and to stand on the terrace of their house and wave hands to passengers on the trains on the Bangalore-Mysore route. So, when I finally got admission in the railway and technology town of Kharagpur, there was little hesitation in quitting my job and coming here. Kharagpur is home to the longest railway platform in the world and is a major junction for the Indian railways. All trains on the
East-South
and
East-West
routes invariably pass through this station. Equally famous in Kharagpur is the Indian Institute of Technology, the first of the world class engineering institutes started in India. The IITs are known world over for producing the best quality engineers year after year.
But the only dilemma facing me when I got an admission was whether a management course in middle of a technology hotspot was the right choice or not? After all, location seemed to be the most important thing in choice of a management institute. Would the two years in a remote place like Kharagpur be as rewarding as some of the self-advertising, money squeezing B-schools in Western India? It was a tough call to take but the experiences in my work life came to my aid. I observed the daily happenings I the company where I worked – one of the technologically admired companies in the world. I realised that technology had the highest scope for management. It is relatively easy to manage small scale industries or firms which operate under little number of constraints.
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But the real challenge for a manager lies when the technology gets advanced and quick decisions have to be taken under a wide variety of constraints and limitations. And how well a manager uses this technology to improve the daily activities in the company determines the success of the company. No wonder then, we see a large chunk of MBAs having engineering backgrounds. With these thoughts in mind, I left all the comforts of my workplace to be a part of this technology hub in middle of the jungles of Bengal. There is technology everywhere inside the IIT campus. People here are so obsessed with technology that even the hospitals, swimming pools, and gymkhanas inside the campus have the prefix ―technology‖ attached to them! Work on the cutting edge technology for the next generation happens here and an expert in any field is right in the department opposite yours, if not in the same department. We got exposed to so much of technology here and felt that we could be aptly called as ―technomanagers‖. No other costly B-school claiming to have a location advantage could have given us the same exposure to technology. When I found the two Ts that define Kharagpur, there was one important thing I had missed – there is little else apart from these two Ts here. For someone coming from a big metropolitan city, the difference was out there in the wall – no motor vehicles inside the huge campus, no shopping malls or multiplexes, no choice of fine restaurants, not even street lights on the road outside the IIT boundary wall. It took some time getting used to the life in midst of greenery, cycling through the huge campus, the humidity of the place and the food at the hostel. But the journey was made very easy, thanks to the friends that I made here. Having stayed and worked in one city all my life before, the kind of diversity that this place offered me was simply amazing. One thing that was common to everyone studying here was the determination to succeed and the motivation to keep going despite many hurdles. One fourth of my MBA life is already over and even as I write this article sitting in the comforts of my house during the semester break, I am filled with a sense of pride of being a part of a great institute and a deep desire to go back to the two Ts which have influenced my life all along, to the greens of Kharagpur, to all those places where we roamed around in KGP, and to the place which I have come to know now as my home away from home.
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KGP Diaries
Dhirumoni Rabha
Class of 2012 Day 4 in Kgp Campus, 21st July, 2010, 1600 hours, IST: Right now I am sitting in my room in the Mother Teresa Hall of Residence of IIT- Kgp, in the last wing of the topmost floor of the 4 storey building, and I have never felt lonelier. I am missing my family, my friends, my crazy roommates in the old University that I left barely a month back, my city of Guwahati—lush green amidst the constructions and freshly washed by the heavy monsoons typical at this time of the year. I miss the familiarity of the streets of Panbazar, full of books of all kinds, a source of awe for me since always, and the never ending chain of small eateries that would spring forth at every possible nook and corner. I miss the towering presence of the old Cotton College, my college-the hundred and ten year old institution that gave me and my friends, and likewise, generations of others, including my parents, a lifetime of wonderful memories to cherish. I miss the simplicity of my people, the uncomplicated manner in which they function and deal with all the big problems of life. I miss our mighty ―Budha Luit‖, the Brahmaputra, broad and majestic, flowing across the valley and sweeping away all the dirt and the disturbance in its strong currents. Add to this a touch of the unfamiliar. A small town called Kharagpur in the West Midnapur district of Bengal, erstwhile famous for the military camps of the Raj, a district torn between the Leftists and naxalism, long forgotten and neglected by the power-hungry politicians. Now of course Kharagpur has also turned into a strategic air-base of the IAF. And then there is the IIT-Kgp, the first of the world renowned Indian Institutes of Technology. Is it fear that I sense in me? Or, is it apprehension? I am neither sure nor worried. But two years in this place, a faint doubt crosses my mind. Fast forward 4 months since. 27th November, 2010, 1600 hours, IST: One semester is over in the campus. The unfamiliar has turned familiar, the strangers acquaintances, the perceptions altered, the quest the same. That very evening when I sat fretting about restlessly in my room in an almost empty floor, I later met childhood friends and University seniors from back home. Thus began my induction into the great Kgp culture that is 60 years old. IIT-Kgp….umm, where do I get started now? At the first glance, nothing more than the brand name ―IIT‖ impresses anyone. Kharagpur is a small town; a sense of frustration creeps in amongst the more ―urbane jantaa‖, especially the B-school students who come back to books and routine after a brief fling with absolute freedom in their jobs. Kgp brings to a close the familiarity of shopping malls and posh restaurants, the relief of a relaxing weekend after going through an ostensibly Herculean 5-day stint. Fortunately, for freshers like me, the routine is not too much to take! Soon, it becomes second nature to refer to Kgp as ―Junglepur‖, what with wild elephants visiting us in the evenings! What is it that we yearn for after settling down in our jobs? When the monotony of work becomes too mundane to bear anymore? When Thermodynamics and IC Engine texts begin to lose their charm? When the space crunch in our concrete jungles makes us want to escape to some quiet and peace? True we do not have exotic beaches or snow-covered peaks. But Kgp is a universe in itself. Also equally true is that we are not the B. Tech. crowd here, the much pampered ―cream of the nation‖! 20
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But we are VGSoMites, with an identity of our own! Amongst us you will find a compassionate girl with a soft corner for the kids of Disha Seema, a senior who loves the Nescafe stall beside the School above all things in Kgp for the simple reason that we can always go there and eat despite missing breakfast in the mornings, a future entrepreneur who envies the confidence of the B. Tech. students only to discover that his limitations are what he perceives, that those can be overcome. Why, we even have perfectionists who swear by the crazy ―bakar‖ sessions of the VS Hall of Residence and will not take a word against their canteen food, this despite being geeks who barely get time from continuously improving themselves! And then there are the cynics who still complain that they do not feel ―connected‖ to Kgp yet, that they do not like anything much around. I understand. I used to be one of them too. I still have a long list of dislikes and could go on and on with it but I am not complaining anymore. There are at least some things that I just love about Kgp, one of which is the Jnan Ghosh Stadium. It is a place where I occasionally hang out in with my two B. Tech buddies from campus. We sometimes go there to get away from the loud and noisy crowd and talk till up to late at night, be it about wishfully dreaming of driving Lamborghinis someday or about the pending BTP (B. Tech. Project) deadlines, or about the NY Times Best-Sellers list and Classical and Quantum Physics. During winters we‘d go there during the day and lie down on the grass, under the warm rays of the sun and do what we did best-talk. Sometimes when I have nothing much to do I still go there during the day and read a good novel or scribble my thoughts down. There is absolutely no disturbance and it gives me a sense of liberation, my own little exotic getaway inside the campus. Then there are the people who were strange faces months back. Now each of them has a name, right from the mess worker to the friendly shopkeeper to the doctor at B C Roy who treats for mild fever. There are so many other things as well-the whole stretch of 2.2 including the more famous ―PAN‖ loop and it‘s legendary fights, the lore of the Frust‘s Corner, skipping meals all week just ‗coz they are not serving non-vegan meals‘, the Mechanical Engineering building next-door to School, the knowing smiles that pass between boring lectures, the never-ending cribbing about the futility of even trying to understand the basics of Finance, the mad frenzy of activities going on all year round and the days when we are too tired to do anything, the pressure during exams which, I am certain, will even make Bernoulli forget his own concepts, the cool Prof every girl adores and the seemingly distant mentor who solves all the problems in a clean sweep. All these and more give me reason to believe that life comes full circle at Kgp, until then it just goes on. These may not be extraordinary things, just snippets of everyday life. Nevertheless, these make it all the more easier to leave behind the dust and the dirt of the more sophisticated concrete jungles and become a part of an alternate universe, filling it constantly up with a myriad of colours. The biggest lesson I have learnt here so far is that IITians are very smart; they are the movers and shakers of tomorrow. But there is a more apt form of Management that they are adept at-―jugaad‖, and that too, just-in-time. There is a lot to learn, a lot more to unlearn and a long way to go. So, cribbing does not help. Just as the DoSA (Dean of Student Affairs) said during our induction, there is a pot of gold waiting for us at the end of the rainbow called IIT Kgp. No matter however much we get the feeling that our peers are way smarter than us, that we do not belong to this ―Junglepur‖, we have to claim our pots of gold someday. And for this reason itself our being here in Kgp stands justified. After all, not everyone who aspires gets to be an IITian. Food for thought!
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Induction program for class of 2012 Niloy Ghosh Class of 2012 ―Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away‖ – Anonymous The induction programme in Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur has been an endeavour in that direction. It lasted for 7 days from the 2nd of august to the 9th of august. The 20092011 batch of VGSOM conceived of a unique way to welcome the juniors into the college. The process was completely student driven and student oriented, aiming mostly at facilitating a seamless induction of the students into the life at a B-school. True to the concept, it included an exciting mix of high pressure intensely rigorous assignments along with several fun activities. The programme started off with an ice breaking session. The students introduced themselves and got the opportunity to showcase their special talents. This also enabled the people to know each other well. The entire batch was then divided into groups. The first group activity was a marketing contest. The students had to market familiar products using totally innovative strategies. This was followed by a case study discussion on the marketing strategies that SAIL , the leading steel making company of India, has to take to upscale its presence in the retail domain. The second day included quizzes related to Marketing and Finance and a couple of games which tested the public speaking abilities of the students. There was Turn coat where a person has to speak on two sides of the same topic, Innovative story telling which was similar to turncoat. Two participants were called up from a group and each of them had to present the story alternatively. Both these events checked the spontaneity and the creative bent of mind of the students. The third day the students were asked to prepare skits that pass on a social message. The students came up with some very creative ideas. The best message portrayed was how students in a B-School should take up the responsibility to serve their country rather than just running blindly behind money. These events gave the freshers a feel of the next two years of their life at VGSOM. After the informal introduction, it was time for some serious action. Three guest lectures were organized as part of the induction program. The first one, a GD/PI workshop, was on 5th of August by Mr. Ayan Banerjee, the Founder and Head of Learning & Development at Edxcare, Kolkata. Mr. Banerjee has around 20 years of varied experience ranging from project management, corporate training and content development to financial services. This workshop introduced to the students a variety of preparation strategies and delivery techniques to enhance both the quality of their professional presentations as well as general facility and confidence in oral expression. The workshop turned out to be dynamic, interactive and a feedback-oriented session, designed to help the future managers face the corporate world with confidence. Students were given valuable insights on appropriate business communication techniques.
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The workshop was followed by mock Group Discussions which helped the students to apply these techniques extensively thus adding even more value to the participation. The pace was quick,practice was plentiful and information enlightening. The workshop ended on a positive note with the students satisfied and elated with the profound insight and value gained. The next day was a session by Captain Mohan Ram - advisor at TVS Motor Company and Mr. V Kovaichelvan - Sr Vice President- HR. They discussed their experiences with TVS Motors and how they‘ve worked to make TVS a household name. Real life examples, like the TVS King, were quoted to make the students understand how extensive market research was conducted to ensure that the customer obtains value for money and,in turn, a cycle of customer delight and finally customer loyalty ensues. The final day concluded with a lecture by Mr. Suresh Nair, professor at Business school, University of Connecticut. Prior to professorship, he was a visiting consultant at GE health care, Merrill lynch and Booz & Co. Accompanied by his extensive experience in the consulting domain and his vast teaching experience Mr. Nair passed on the profundity of consulting in financial and health care services. He mainly spoke about the modelling techniques, creative modelling, creative data gathering etc. He also talked about the use of stochastic dynamic programming in search for optimal solutions. Overall, the three lectures were very interactive and informative. The students were very much intrigued by the lectures and the eminent personalities armed with their vast experience and expertise made the entire activity, worthwhile. The students posed several questions and in the process gained immense knowledge. Their first week into college has been very exhilarating. The programme concluded with the elections for the posts of the class representatives- a very significant position of responsibilty. All the groups had scored points according to their performance in each of the rounds and the group which scored the highest was declared the ―VENCEDORS‖. The induction programme gave the new joinees a chance to interact with the seniors as well as their batch mates who come from diverse backgrounds and also, it presented them with an opportunity to know their latent talents and their weaknesses, so that they could build-up on them. In a nutshell, the hard work and planning of the senior batch paid off very well and the event culminated into a huge and popular success.
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Oh suppressed smile boy N. M. Leepsa Research Scholar, VGSoM Oh suppressed smile boy Where are you? Are you lost out of this world? Are you lost in the world of imagination? Are you lost in any beautiful eyes? Are you lost in her dreams? Are you lost in the world of love? We cannot find you here Then forgive her beauty That made you lost out of the real world Then forgive her heart That also had fallen in love with you Then forgive her mind That cannot stop thinking about you Then forgive her eyes That dreams of you day and night Then forgive her lips That smile when you call her name so softly Then forgive her ears That wait so eagerly just to listen a few words from you Then forgive her hands That want to hold your hand in all walks of life Then forgive her feet That go out of dwelling to have a glance of you Then forgive her age That commands her to steal your heart So if you are lost in her And she is lost in you too Then express you truly love her The way she loves you
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1st Sem at IIT KGP Rahul Aggarwal Class of 2012 ―We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams.‖ -Jeremy Irons When I look back now using the former of the two God-gifted machines, I find that last six months were truly one of the most enriching experiences of my life: academically, personally and socially. Like most of the software engineers, I was also leading a ―Physically‖ comfortable and ―Mentally‖ torturous life. When I joined VGSoM, things got reversed for at least first 2-3 weeks. In fact, the realization of the most basic thing that I was now enrolled in the coveted MBA degree from the most desired words on resume ―IIT‖, itself kept me motivated against the de-motivating forces of physical pain that I was to bear in the first 15 days. These forces include: Hostel Rooms: When I was allotted the room: the cot was in broken condition; water was yellow in taps; walls were covered with spider webs; cistern was not working; the speed of the ceiling fan was slower than the slowest rickshaw in Junglepur. It was almost going to be a remake of the horror movie, ‗The Ring‘, had the tube light been not working; thankfully it was! Homesickness: This started when I consistently scored zero in Mathematical Models of Management Decisions (pronounced fondly as Triple M D) subject in the weekly class tests. Only Kamdhenu Diary‘s milk could have helped me sail through this one! Jungle vehicle: A BICYCLE: Initially cycling caused my bum to pain, my legs to swell, but in no time I got used to it. Food: Only turn-off for me at IIT KGP (except curd-most tasty component of lunch). As the saying goes here, the above mentioned forces do not last for more than 15 days as I mentioned. After that, there‘s more than everything to admire here. The 2200 acre campus is a self-sufficient ecosystem. It is so serene that you may even miss your partner (or would-be partner) here (though teachers usually make sure that the latter doesn‘t happen!). In simple terms, it‘s indeed heaven inside the campus. And yes, how can I forget the central library-truly a paradise for peace (and privacy :P) lovers! With one CCD and more than 8 restaurants, you will never feel the need to go outside campus to ―try‖ something new (:P). There are many small markets outside every hostel for the basic commodities. A tech-market is also there that houses shops for fulfilling all needs. Though for workouts, a worldclass gym, swimming pool, tennis ground and football grounds are also there but till now I never used any of them. Though all the above things are not unique to IIT but one thing that differentiates it from other colleges is DC++ which is a peer-to-peer file-sharing system that connects whole of the IIT and has data in excess of 152 Terabytes! The high speed internet connectivity of 100 Mbps with no restriction on downloading makes this place a paradise for net savvy people.
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Oh wait… I almost forgot that I have come here to study! So, let me throw some torch on life at VGSoM. Classes usually start at 8.15 in the morning and unlike other B-Schools, run till 12:30pm except for Mondays when we subconsciously hone our oral or written communication skills in the context of business. Nevertheless, in the first semester, we study the basics of all trades viz. finance, marketing, operations, IT and HR. The general mode of teaching is usually case study method coupled with theoretical insights from the books of renowned authors. It is a highly enriching experience to attend classes from the world class faculties who hail from institutes like London School of Business, University of Texas, IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Delhi, MICA, etc and have a long experience in industry & teaching. Their focus is primarily on building the conceptual clarity while making studies a fun and not on just completing the course and grades. For Example, in the subject, IT, we indulged in a very unique concept of examination this year where the students were asked to make either one movie or an online application using cloud computing in the groups of three. Also, we are asked to write a 12 page thesis on any innovative thing that has the potential to generate business but is not currently being practised. To supplement our learning in classes, we also get to attend the series of guest lectures where the prominent industry leaders share their valuable industry experiences with us and provide us with the practical applications of the concepts in business. So, do we study the whole day? Well of course not! To supplement our learning in classes, we usually take part in many student-managed committees and clubs for practically actuating whatever we learn here in theory. One such committee is Shraddha that works towards improving the lives of the underprivileged children through a school located within the IIT Kharagpur campus. Every once in while we go there, distribute goodies and celebrate festivals like Diwali, etc with the children. This gives a sense of peace in mind (that works as an antidote to the guilt of bunking few classes!). We also take part in various events, quizzes and competitions across all B-Schools in India and have won more than 14 awards in last one year (2010-11) while competing with teams from IIMs, XLRI, NITIE, SIBM Pune, etc. A lot many other teams remained finalists representing VGSoM throughout the country. All the above factors have contributed to a great deal in our personality development. Consider the fact that our class comprises of students from 19 different states of India. Where else do you get such diversity? I was allotted hostel with a south Indian Matka (slang for MTech here!) who doesn‘t understand Hindi (though he likes Hindi songs and Katrina Kaif alias Sheila :P). But we are doing well. The multiplicity of courses and diversity of people are, perhaps, the things that distinguish IITs from other institutes. The learning in behavioural aspects which I have got from here can never be taught in any class. Consequently, I am a more matured individual who knows how to deal with people from different backgrounds and how to manage the most precious resource called ―time‖ to make myself ―dedicated to the service of Nation‖.
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An Innovative Assignment- Movie making and Zoho Applications In a unique and innovative assignment under Management Information Systems, students of 2010-2012 batch of VGSOM made various short movies and ZOHO applications. The short movies were meant to highlight the new technological developments as well as the problems faced by the world and their solutions. The topics varied from ―discussing the financial aspect of a football club, its revenue model, situation of various Leagues and bankruptcy of clubs‖ to ―Islamic banking” to “Apple’s both sides of story” to “Ubiquitous computing” to various other. The movies were uploaded on Youtube and Facebook and were viewed and liked by over a thousand viewers. Similarly the ZOHO applications were meant to solve business models in an efficient way using ZOHO platform. The ZOHO applications took into account various stages involved in an Order to Pay Cycle and optimized them with the help of ZOHO platform. All the movies and applications can be found on Facebook page of ―VGSoM 2010-12‖. The ZOHO applications were evaluated by Mr. Aravind Natarajan of ZOHO Corporation along with Professor Prithwis Mukherjee. They were quite impressed with the innovation and work VGSOM students have done using ZOHO platform. Similarly the movies were evaluated by Mr. K. V. Sridhar, National Creative Director, Leo Burnett along with Professor Prithwis Mukherjee, and were praised by many who saw them. For people with no experience in direction, edition and interviewing, the movie assignment gave them enough to learn. All in all it proved out as yet another successful innovation of VGSOM. Few links:
Ubiquitous Computing www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G-FIfcYLv8
VGSoM Oorja—The Energy Quest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feDdHwhIvrk
Apple—Both sides of story http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36F23r3ZToA
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An Innovative Assignment– Writing a term paper In our pursuit for innovation, we constantly thrive to bring uniqueness to our studies. This year, students of VGSoM, IIT KGP got the chance to mix innovation with research by working on a Term Paper of their own along with making movies and Zoho Applications assignments for Mid Term Assessments. Students were instructed to write a Term Paper on the topics which are good prospects to become the next big thing in the world of business. Term Papers submitted by students ranged from topics like Neural Trading, 3D Interactive Simulation to Vertical Farming, Clinical Decision Support System etc. Dr. Prithwis Mukerjee, professor of Management Information System Course for which these assignments were given, was quite impressed by the enthusiasm and research done by the students. A lot of research is being done in many institutes in India, but most of them go unnoticed. So, we here at VGSoM decided to make our research as popular as we can. All term papers were uploaded on Scribd, a popular social publishing site and posted on facebook page of the college and also respective pages of students. The floatation of Term Papers on facebook got tremendous response from the friends of students. Dr. Mukerjee also decided to publish a book on the term papers. All the management termpapers authored by students were great but due to limitations the book could publish only 16 papers. All the term-papers which were submitted by the students could be found online at this link: http:// www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=164710846875034&topic=301
FINTEREST—The Finance Club of VGSoM The Finance club of VGSOM - Finterest, is dedicated to nurturing and enhancing the fin-quotient of students and also to increase industry interaction with our college. The aim of the club is to keep the members updated on the latest trends and developments in corporate finance, capital markets, investment banking and other related areas. Finterest regularly organizes Knowledge Sharing sessions, Workshops, etc. to discuss important topics in the financial domain. The stimulating discussions help the students to keep abreast with the latest happenings and develop independent perspectives. The club also publishes a weekly newsletter highlighting the major events in the financial world. It provides for an interesting read about the important events of the week which might get missed out in the tight academic schedule.
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Faculty Lounge Trends to Track - Mobile 
Prof. Prithwis Mukerjee
I know that I am not the first one to say so but the fact remains that the future of the world wide web is -- literally -- in your hands. In your mobile handset that is ! And the faster you get your hands wrapped around this new technology the better for you. But why this sudden realisation on my part ? Let me backtrack a little bit. Many years ago, I had the opportunity to design a computer network for a client and we were agonising about the amount of bandwidth that we should provision for. Since bandwidth was an expensive commodity in those days -- a 64Kbps internet access was available from VSNL for about Rs 12+ lakhs / year -- we were being very conservative with our requirements but a senior colleague gave me a warning that I have never forgotten : Never estimate the size of a bridge by counting the number of people swimming across the river ! His message was that once you start using a technology you will realise how much more you can with it and your requirements and expectations will explode. Cut to the early days of the laptop, say 1994 when I first saw a Rs 5 lakh DOS laptop and wondered why on earth will someone pay that kind of money for what could effectively be done with desktop machine ( which was then retailing for something close to a lakh ). Thankfully my employer, in its wisdom, decided that we engineers on the field would be better off with laptops and it goes without saying that ever since then I have never ever used anything other than a laptop -- even when it comes to the machine that my family uses at home. The convenience of using a laptop is now a self evident truth -- there is no point in elaborating that any further -- but this paves the way for the next leg of my argument today : the move to the mobile. I am not one of those who have to be first to use any new gadget but nevertheless I have been using a mobile since 1997 (when Modi Telstra introduced the service in Calcutta and talk time was about Rs 10/minute, even for incoming calls) but till about last year I used it only for voice calls and SMS. Though my Airtel connection ( a direct descendant of the Modi Telstra service) offered an expensive and flaky GPRS connection I was loath to use it because it was so unreliable but my Sony Erickson handset had an automatic image-to-Blogger upload facility that I found irresistible. But that was it -- I would shoot pictures and push them into my blog but this too stopped once my handset crashed and was replaced by my current Samsung 3310 -- which did not have this facility. But the world has a way of creeping up on you and there is no army that can stop an idea whose time has come ! I realized the joys (and actually the ease ) of sending my Tweets through SMS and discovered that a stripped down, no frills version of Facebook could be accessed free of cost and then I was on. The experience was however not without some pain.
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Having become used to broadband speeds, the raw GPRS connection was rude reminder of the early days of BSNL dialup internet (only the whine of the modem was missing !) This was frustrating -until one of Facebook friends told me about Snaptu -- the free mobile app that really makes it easy to access a large number of interesting sites even on the slow and unreliable GPRS service that Airtel offers in the backwaters of Kharagpur. That is when I realized it : the app is the key ! I do not have an iPhone ( and will probably never have one, given my aversion to proprietary, expensive and snobbish products) and am still waiting for good Android phones to break through the 10K barrier so while I read about apps and appstores I have not had the chance to use their apps but I am now convinced that mobile apps are the way to go even if you do not have 3G in your area. A well designed mobile app like Snaptu can make a world of difference to your mobile experience as I have now realised after installing and using the apps for Google Maps, GMail and now SBI mobile banking. Doing all this is possible with your mobile browser ( and Opera is the best mobile browser at the moment ) but having a custom designed app makes it far more convenient. I have been using Internet banking for many years now but now I am all charged up to go mobile with a vengeance. Even though I know GPRS will cost me money while the broadband at home and work is paid for by my employer ( and indirectly by the Indian tax payer, may his tribe increase ) I am still fiddling with my mobile apps because I know that that is where the the future lies -- and unless I am at home with this technology I run the risk of falling behind the curve of what is going to be the most interesting feature of the technical landscape of the future. I have heard eminent people say that if one compares the growth rates of mobile and broadband penetration then it is a matter of time before the mobile will be the dominant and preferred mode for accessing the inexhaustible resources available on the web. So the need of the hour is to get mobile internet now ! Even if you do not have 3G, even if you do not have Android and you are stuck, like me, with a non-smart phone and a simple GPRS connection -- look around for a few smart apps, download them and get going. If possible today !
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Awards and Achievements Team Members
Prize
Event
Festival
Organizer
Sourabh Agarwal Aditya Zutshi
1st
Sathiyaseelan Murugaiyan, MP Vijaya Prabhu
1st
Shweta Jain
1st
Ashish Rahul, Subham Chattopadhyay
1st
Quiz
Trident
NITIE
Balaji M
1st
Coolpix
PARAGANA'10
NMIMS
Ashish Rahul, Subham Chattopadhyay
1st
Online Marketing Quiz
FRAGE
SCMHRD
Live Project with a conIIM Ahmedasulting firm INSIGHT, 2010 bad MIB,Delhi Arjun- case study comSchool of Ecopetition nomics Sanchay, food supply chain operations simulation game Atharva TAPMI
Amrita, Punit Saurabh, Sujay Santra (Ikure Solutions ,Pvt Ltd, a STEP incubated Company) & Prof Dhrubes Biswas (Head RMSOE & MD, STEP-IITKGP)
1st
Global Academic Cup (GAC)
Aditya Zutshi
Official Brand Ambassador of British Airways India
British Airways Brand Ambassador Hunt
Prateek Kumar Jain
2nd
B Plan Competition
Economic Business Research Forum, Nokia Finland Nokia- Finland
-
British Airways Association of Biotech Led Enterprises in collaboration with Department of Biotechnology Government of India
Al Gore Sustainable Tech- Cicero, A Trans nology Venture National AdviCompetition sory
Prateek Kumar Jain
2nd
Venture Competition
Ashish Rahul, Yash Wardhan Aggarwal
2nd
The AMUL Marketing Campaign
Varun Bajpai, Ritesh Sinha
2nd
IT Paper Presentation
Ambuj Agarwal , Ritesh Sinha and Varun Bajpai
3rd
Pallav Maheshwari, Rahul Mahajan and Utsav Mone
3rd
Investment Banking Competition
Sampurna Rakshit and Swarnabha Ray
3rd
Marketing case study
Bhagyashree Wattal, Harsh Vyas
3rd
Tata Crucible—Kolkata Round
Tata Crucible
Tata group
Finalists
Tata Crucible—Kolkata Round
Tata Crucible
Tata group
Ashish Rahul, Subham Chattopadhyay
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ASMANJAS
IRMA NMIMS
Udghosh
TISS
Greed is Good
SIBM NIRMA
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