Scuzzy November 2012 | Issue 16
Vinod Gupta School Of Management , IIT Kharagpur
...Gateway to Nostalgia
CONTENTS From the Desk of Team Scuzzy
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Message from the Editor
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Placements Final Placements VANTAGE 2012
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Cover Story Batch of 2014 Fresher Party’12- Red Carpet’12
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Clubs and Committees FINTEREST MAD MANTRADHARIN SCO PE
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CMI Events and Lectures
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PURVODAYA 2012-Rise of the East
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KALAKAR VIKAS- An Experience Unforgettable
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DRISHTEE Capital - A student driven fund at VGSoM
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Recent Happenings at IIT KGP Mr. President at IITKGP’s 58th Convocation Medical College at IIT KGP Gymkhana Election 2012 KGPians organized Educational Yatra Yes+@IIT KGP celebrates a Polythene-free week
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SHAURYA 2012
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Poems All I wanted to say... Madness
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FROM THE DESK OF TEAM SCUZZY Warm greetings from VGSOM Alumni Relations Committee! Welcome to the fall edition of Scuzzy, the biannual alumni newsletter of VGSOM. The Placement season vantage 2012 yet again finished with a high note. The placement process saw some top notch companies hiring our versatile talents something which VGSOM has become popular for. Recruiters offered some of the most sought after profiles. As many as 35 companies from all sectors of industry participated for grabbing the best of the students and were offering best of the compensation packages. The highest annual compensation offered was 16.5 LPA and average compensation package stood at 11.32 LPA. A total of 102 offers were made for 86 students. VGSOM attracted 12 new companies this year which constitutes 33% of the total companies that visited the campus this year. VGSOM was also awarded the “Outstanding B-School award “at the National B-School awards 2011. The students of VGSOM brought ever greater laurels to the college by winning contest all over the country. With July, started the new academic year and new batch of students were inducted into the college. This was the first batch of students to be admitted on the basis of CAT percentile and not JMET. Last year the IITs jointly decided that they would scrap JMET and use CAT as the initial selection test along with the GD and PI process for final shortlisting. With almost 80% of the batch having prior work experience, the batch is the perfect blend of freshers and students with work experience. The batch saw a slump in students with more than 36 months of experience. However, the batch of 2014 boasts of having people from various backgrounds such as operations, marketing, finance
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR and IT with apt amount of experience. The summers for the batch of 2014 started off with a rush of dream companies offering awesome packages and sought after profiles. As many as 10 companies have recruited till now and highest stipend offered for two months stands at Rs.1.5L. Around 23 students (out of 70) have already been placed; and there are more companies lined up for the coming months. On the student activities front, we are happy to announce that various interest groups and clubs were dynamic throughout the year. This year VGSoM students came up with the plan of an annual an business fest named Purvodaya with the motto of “Believe, Rise and Achieve” and every event conducted by MAD (the marketing club) and Saamanjasya every year were conducted under the umbrella of Purvodaya this year; along with the events from other clubs. Purvodaya was a grand success with students participating from all over the country. It went a long way to improve the visibility and brand of VGSOM. Take a look at some of the wonderful and intriguing events conducted under the umbrella of Purvodaya at Page 14. This year we are also featuring literary contributions from students of VGSoM and we are sure that you will like all. Scuzzy will take you through all the nostalgic emotions that you may have in a while. So what are you waiting for? Turn on your nostalgia and start sifting through your dose of college news! Happy Reading!
Editors
Team Alumcomm
Layout & Design Rajib Layek
Faculty Advisor
Prof.Prithwis Mukherjee
Alumni Commitee Coordinators
Jishnu Roychaudhuri Shilpa Taneja Rahul Bajaj Rucha Pundle Sovan Nayak Lokendra Gayakwad Madhvi Agrawal Rohit Sharma Subhasis Barman Prakash M Muralidharan U Rajib Layek Ashwini Kumar Cover and back page photographs courtsey: Partha Pratim (MBA, 2011-2013)
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FINAL PLACEMENTS VANTAGE 2012 The successfully concluded final placements process for the batch of 2010-2012 has reaffirmed the position of Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur as one of the premier B-Schools in the country. Many new recruiters along with our traditional partners vied to select the best amongst the 86 strong batch. A total of 35 companies took part in the recruitment process, a third of which were new recruiters or companies reaffirming their relation with VGSoM. The students have been offered challenging management roles across industries like FMCG, Consulting, Banking & Finance, Analytics, Media, Infrastructure,Telecom etc.
Consulting: Consulting continued to be the most sought after profile with more than one-fifth of the batch choosing consulting profiles. Regular recruiters like Deloitte India, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Wipro, Infosys, IBM strengthened their association with VGSoM by offering varied profiles such as Strategy & Operations, Enterprise Applications, Technology Integration, Project Management , Business advisory etc. Crème de la crème of the consulting sphere like PWC’s Government Reforms and Infrastructure Development Advisory (GRID), Accenture Management Consulting and i-Maritime reaffirmed the brand value enjoyed by VGSOM in the consulting world. A new addition to this year’s consulting bandwagon was Ericsson which offered leadership roles in the Telecom Consulting domain. Renoir Consulting offered consulting profile in Operation and Manufacturing Strategy
FMCG & Telecom: VGSOM has grown over the years to be a sought after destination for many of the big names from the FMCG sector. Reckitt Benckiser and Coca Cola continued their association with VGSOM. Regular recruiters like Heinz and UB group also made their presence felt and offered diverse roles like Corporate Planning, Operations, Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Sales and Marketing. Telecom giant Idea Cellular offered roles in Supply Chain and Sales
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Banking, Finance & Analytics: VGSoM carried forward the legacy of being a preferred campus for companies in Banking and Financial Services domain. Diverse profiles were offered including Credit, Risk Analytics, Forex, Equity and Fixed ncome and Banking Operations. The gamut of interested Companies included participants like Citibank, UCO Bank, Bank of India etc. With a booming market, analytics sector offered attractive opportunities to the students at VGSoM this year. Analytics giants like Hewlett-Packard, HSBC, Mu-Sigma, and Accenture made their presence felt with related profiles in offerings.
Manufacturing: Along with regular recruiters like Titan, Tata Motors, Tata Telcon, UB Group, large PSUs like Balmer Lawrie, MMTC India Ltd etc participated in the Final Placement Process. Students were offered diverse and challenging roles in Sales and Marketing, Operations, HR, Business Development and Infrastructure Project Management.
Media & Technology and General Management: Media and advertising companies were also among the recruiters this year. Anand Bazar Patrika, Kolkata based diversified Media Group, recruited for the first time from VGSoM in Media and Marketing roles. Similarly, diversified conglomerate such as The Aditya Birla Group, offered General Management profiles in its various group companies. Technology Companies like Infosys and HCL again had a good presence in the Final Placements, with students getting diverse profiles in technology management.
Closing Note: This time we had a heady mix of regular recruiters and several first time recruiters. Overall, it was a satisfactory season with the school succeeding in matching the expectations of the students to the job profiles offered by our recruiters. The recruiters went back highly satisfied with the quality of the students, their domain knowledge and their skill sets. We hope to continue our performance in the years to come and take our school to greater heights year after year.
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BATCH OF 2014 With July, started the new academic year and new batch of students were inducted into the college. This is the first batch taken under the CAT percentile after JMET was scrapped under the joint decision of all the IITs. 70 students with diversified work experiences and educational background were finally inducted after a rigorous Group discussion and personal interview process. The number of girls who accepted the offers of admission saw a huge increase than the previous year. The of boys to girls ratio in the batch stands close to 3:1 and provides a great gender mix. With almost 86% of the batch having prior work experience, the batch is the perfect blend of fresher’s and students with work experience.
The batch saw a slump in people with more than 36 months of experience when compared to the previous batches. The batch of 2014 boasts of having people from various backgrounds such as operations, marketing, finance and IT with apt amount of experience. Even though the strength of the batch is small compared to the previous year, it is a very energetic and enthusiastic one! The students have shown active participation in all the activities within their short stay in the campus. Some of the students have already participated and won national level business competitions and have started bringing glory to VGSOM. Overall, the batch has created a good impression among the professors due to their active participation in academic and co-curricular activities.
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Fresher Party’- Red Carpet’12
THE
DANONE
INDIA
STORY
The very first event for batch of 2012 as they entered VGSOM was the Fresher’s party. It was organized by the Cultural committee to welcome VGSOM’s batch of 2012-14. The event was complemented with various performances by talented students of the new batch. The Mr. Fresher and Ms. Fresher competition was easily the most fun and exciting event of the night. The event kick started with a mesmerizing solo dance performance by Shritha. Followed by a song, performed by Rajib. Girl’s group dance was the icing on the cake. It was then followed by a duet song, a couple of group songs, a group dance and a skit exhibiting “LIFE at VGSOM”. After the splendid performances, it was time to finish off the day on a sweet note by cutting the ‘freshers cake’. Towards the end everyone got a chance to shake a leg on the dance floor. Mr and Ms. Fresher competition constituted various rounds such as - ramp walk, dance, witty question and answer rounds etc., which held to crowning Abhitosh Daw and Lakshmi Priya Vijay as Mr. and Ms. Fresher.
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CLUBS & COMMITTEES FINTEREST
Where we plan to take this ahead!
Current Activities & Future Initiatives
Refresher Sessions during Summer Placement days. Primers on Different Industry send before Final Placements.
The Finance Club of VGSoM
Mission: “To be a centre of excellence in management education and research catering to the needs of organizations in different sectors of the economy with special emphasis on technology driven and knowledge based industries that are characterized by high degrees of globalization, dynamism, complexity and innovation”.
Structure of the club: For the senior batch and junior batch we have a team of five coordinator and four editors per batch.
Knowledge Sharing Sessions Finterest has organized many a knowledge sharing sessions’ so as to simulate the learning process, more so apart from the text books. The sessions have been conducted on varied subjects, viz. on latest happenings in Industry & Market, analysis of deals which might have a far reaching consequences etc.
Summary of well appreciated & informative articles prior to placements. Invite various academicians, industry honchos with preeminent reputation in Fin domain for seminars and workshops for which we require Coordination with CMI.
Fincon FinCon’12 was a finterest initiative to bring together the industry stalwarts and management students on a common platform to understand the challenges and opportunities these turbulent times provide. The event was a great success and achieved its objective; it also gave a platform to VGSoM students to showcase their ability and also understand industrial perspective towards real life challenges and roadblocks.
The senior batch students have had shared their internship experiences (those with Finance profiles) with the juniors in interactive sessions prior to the Summer Placements. An online session was also arranged through Skype about the Bloomberg Test. Our efforts to sensitized students about the various Certifications of International repute in the Finance domain, viz. CFA, FRM, PRM etc have started bearing fruits. Six students from our senior batch have cleared CFA Level-1 exam. All these initiatives have aided the students to get know how about the Finance domain in a manner that is shade closer to the real world.
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NSE SEBI Seminar: In March 2012, Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT kharagpur became one of the few B-schools in the country to host stalwarts from SEBI, NSE and HDFC AMC as a part of the
CLUBS & COMMITTEES Mark2Market The confidence gathered after the successful issues’ of our newsletter, Fin-O-Menal, prompted Finterest with the idea of publishing a magazine pertaining with the Financial sector. This year we came up with the third edition of our magazine “Mark2Market” which was received with great enthusiasm .It contained students articles from premium B-schools of India .Our faculty and industry stalwarts’ articles also added massive value to the magazine.
Brown Bag Session: In continuation with the trend of brown bag sessions, Finterest organised three more sessions this year. These were students driven discussion sessions. The first was one on“Rating Agencies Demystified”. This session was held in the wake of downgrading of sovereign debts of multiple countries by the biggest credit rating agencies of the world. Second session was on the “Union budget 2012-13” catered to the most significant announcements made in the budget and their potential implications on the nation and the industry as whole. For third session, Sumit Pal Singh shared his experience at the Competition Commission of India, where he worked on assessing the state of competition in the cement industry in India. The topic was especially lucrative given the orders (in June and July) of the Competition Commission against 12 cement manufacturers in India in the case of cartelization.
Gurukool Series Of Lectures: “A Day in the life of an Investment Manager” By Praveen Kumar, Investment Manager - Baillie Gifford. Mr Kumar gave a brief introduction about Baillie Gifford and explained bottom-up approach to invest in a stock. We had an interactive session with him in which he shared his interesting insight on Indian market. He shared the general strategy followed by the fund managers of the leading investment management firms.
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MAD The Marketing and Advertising Club of VGSoM
At Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur our culture is of excellence ~ in all sectors and all facets of business and life. At the Marketing and Advertising Club (MAD) of VGSoM, IIT Kharagpur we try to infuse creativity, flair and imagination into the everyday, stressful life and jazz up the IIT campus and make the marketers of tomorrow come alive. The MAD Club sails far beyond text books, from Brand Analysis to Case Studies; from Key Concepts to Current Trends; from Biz Quizzes to Brainstorming sessions. Our past has been graced by the biggies of the industry like Sujoy Roy - Senior Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, Surojit Sen - Creative Director, Integrated Media Marketing, JWT, Chandradeep Mitra - CEO Pipal Magik and IIM C Professor and Punita Singh - District Governor, Toastmasters International; Founder, Sound Sense Media. And associations range from marketing powerhouses like Toyota, Coco Cola and Red FM to style stalwarts like Spykar and Woodland. The bibles of marketing like Kotler and Anderson have taught us all they can, but the art of persuasion is not something you learn from theory and words…We believe practice makes perfect and hence don’t mind getting down and dirty on the road. From selling to advertising, branding to positioning ~ it’s not in writing papers but actually packing up and becoming a salesman who portrays the enthusiasm and zeal that comes with a marketer. Advertising calls for spontaneity, creativity and the imagination to bring out one’s inner thoughts to grab the attention ~ and to an extent that one doesn’t know what hit them. With events ranging from “A to Z” of marketing we aim to bring out the best of the best, with inputs from the who’s who of the world of business, eminent academicians and Bureaucrats. It’s a club with the vision to make a difference ~ through round the year knowledge sharing “Commercial Break”, marketing quizzes “Venalicium” and the ultimate
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marketing fiesta through “MADison Avenue”. It’s about achieving “Marketing Nirvana” by taking the best “Helicopter Shot” and getting the “Jade”. And the best part is the all-round participation ~ not just from B-Schoolers, but anyone and everyone with the knack of business and the zeal to showcase their talent. All you need is to catch the eye and keep them awed ~ that’s what marketing and advertising is all about. It’s about believing in your MAD quotient and showing the world what you got ~ if you think you are MAD enough then come and join the creative tornado that is Marketing and Advertising Club.
MANTRADHARIN The Consulting Club of VGSOM
Mantradharin is the Consulting club of VGSOM, IIT KGP; comprising of a bunch of bright, consultingenthusiasts. Regular Activities • Case-study solving • Interacting with veterans in this field by person or by video-conferencing • Gaining knowledge by regular internal sessions • Arranging for all India-level case-study competitions among top-notch B-schools of India. We started the year’s activities with a stimulating session on introduction to consulting. The session predominantly focussed on explaining o What is consulting? o What is the need for consulting? o What are the different types of consulting? o Stages in consulting process, actual work of a consultant and qualities of a good consultant. The speaker of the session Mr. Saibal Sen holds a Masters in Management Sciences from the London School of Economics. He has more than 10 years of experience in consulting firms like Arthur D Little and KUBER consulting. He is also the founder of ZENeSYS consultancy.
Mantradharin at Purvodaya Vishleshan: the main objective of our event “Vishleshan” was to generate ideas and later develop a strategy for implementation and improve the business value for the organizations adopting these ideas/innovations. Chief Guests: Mr Vinit Mathur Chief of IT Service Delivery, Ms Ratna Sinha Head TMDC Tata Steel Mr Samir Chakrabarti Chief of CRM Mr Samir Chakrabarti Chief of CRM Tata steel. Prize money: Rs. 25000/. Teams were asked to present “executive summary” on mailed topics in round one. In round two, 2- 5 teams were shortlisted who presented “Feasibility Analysis of the executive summary” in front of the jury. Karyashala: It was the workshop event by us, which was headed by Mr. Priyankur Roy, GM Global Telecom Consultant at Ericsson. The topic was “Future of Telecommunication”.
Operations Management. We organize regular meetings, lectures, seminars and Industrial Visits to inform Industrial developments about the domain and also to generate new ideas. Being the youngest club of VGSoM, we have grown manifold to be recognized as a premier initiative of the institute.
The same is evident from overwhelming responses of students and executives across the country in our activities like Srrnkhala (our official magazine) and Goldratt’s Cage
Goldratt’s CAGE Goldratt’s CAGE is the brainchild of the Supply Chain and Operations Group of VGSOM. It was one of a kind simulation game which tests the management capability of the participants under a dynamic business environment. This event gave an opportunity to the budding managers to strategize their business in such a way so as to be more efficient and responsive than their competitors but...(and that’s a big but)...in a completely different context of business where the participants would have to apply not only the rules of the game but also their business acumen to the fullest. The was organized by ScOpe’ Supply Chain & Operations Club of VGSoM as a part of Purvodaya’ 2012, the annual business fest of VGSoM, IIT Kgp.
The Supply chain and Operations club of VGSOM Scope seeks to in cultivate the interest in the subject and facilitate discussions on important issues on developments and trends in operations and supply chain domain. The club strives to make available a platform to enable students with a keen interest, ideas and projects to develop these further. We also continuously endeavour to gratify the corporate expectation of VGSoM, IIT Kgp being a forte in
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importance in achieving customer feedback. The session continued with discussions on 3 C’s and brand identity prism called the Kapferer Prism. CORPORATE & MEDIA INTERACTION CELL (CMI) ACTIVITES
Under the banner of ‘Vaarta – The Guest Lecture series’, VGSoM witnessed a plethora of guests from various fields and domains coming for Guest Lectures.
A surprise package on Marketing Strategies. Mr. Viren Razdan – Ex-M.D, Marketing & Advertising, Interbrand
Mr. Viren R a z d a n addressed the audience about the importance of branding for a company. He discussed about disruptive brands like U n d e ra r m o r, Apple, RIM, Amazon, PETA, Zip Car etc… and explained how these brands were able to capture the market share despite the presence of well established brands like Nike, Sony, Nokia, etc... He discussed about various factors that a brand consulting firm considers while assessing a brand. He closed the session by discussing the reasons why some famous brands failed to hold on to market share. As learning from the session he asked the audience to assess any brand on the basis of the brand factors that were discussed during the session.
State of the Indian transport industry. Mr. Nalin Mehta – M.D, Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd. Mr. Nalin Mehta gave a lecture on the major players in the automotive industry and initiatives taken by Mahindra Navistar to grow despite heavy competition. He explained about house of quality & its
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He discussed about the importance of branding strategy vehicle innovation, cost reduction and customer relationship management in the present competitive industry. The session concluded with the brand connect and brand initiatives taken by Mahindra Navistar in encouraging the people, transporters and dealers who contributed to the Transport Ecosystem.
Brand Journey of Tata Steel with a focus on B2C marketing in a highly unorganized market. Mr. P. Anand – Chief of Marketing & Mr. Pankaj Ojha – Senior Manager, Long Products at TATA Steel
The session with Mr. Anand involved taking the students through the Tata Steel brand journey in a B2B environment. He explained the B2B scenario in case of steel as a commodity, introducing the differences between commodities and brands in yesteryears and how the scenario was changing quickly in today’s world with examples like coffee, salt, mineral water, petrol etc…. He stressed on the importance brand development and explained how for a commodity like steel “the supply chain was more important than the value chain”. Mr. Pankaj Ojha continued the session on “Inbound Marketing” and explained how Tata steel has embarked on the journey to adopt the same describing the in-house steps taken to achieve the desired results. He ended the session mentionibng how the corporate world in quickly adapting to inculcate inbound marketing in the daily marketing activities.
HR Leadership Summit 2012 Mr. Sujoy Banerjee - President, National HRD Network, Kolkata Chapter & Group HR and OD, McNally Bharat; Mr. Uday Guha - VP, Business HR, Mining Business, Aditya Birla Group; Ms. Mridula Sankhyayan - VP, Human Capital
Management,Goldman Sachs and Mr. Ayan Banerji - Partner, Edxcare Learning Services. The moderator for the same was Dr. M. Venkatesan - Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. The summit started with a workshop on “Leading through turbulent times” which was conducted by Mr. Ayan Banerji. With some very interactive group activities for the audience, the prerequisites of being a good leader were stressed upon in this workshop. The session continued with a panel discussion on “New Strides in HRM”. The discussion started with a brusque introduction of the topic by the moderator Dr. Venkatesan. He segregated the discussion in terms of four focal points pertinent to HR management, viz. Performance Management, Impact and Suggestive usages of Social Media, striking a delicate balance between Work and Life, Ethics and values. Mr. Sujoy Banerjee talked about performance management owing to right sizing environment and stressed on the fact that organizations are not expecting performance from day 1.
Mr. Uday Guha talked about developing a leadership pipeline and to be wary of employees who were actively disengaged and undermined the achievements of others (popularly termed as CAVE). Ms. Mridula Sankhyayan stressed upon the need to delegating mundane work to automation and a level playing field for all, including women and differently abled people. The discussion ended with Mr. Ayan Banerji speech about the necessity of alignment between the organization’s and the individual’s ethics and
values. After the panel discussion, a presentation on a case study analysis on “Role of HR in Change Management” was conducted. The judges for the same were Dr. M. Venkatesan and Dr. Parama Barai, Assistant Professor, VGSoM. Five finalist teams presented in front of the judges and one winner and two runners up were declared by Dr. M. Venkatesan. Photo (From left to right): Mr. Uday Guha, Mr. Sujoy Banerjee, Ms. Mridula Sankhyayan, Mr. Ayan Banerji and Dr. M. Venkatesan).
Marketing Leadership Summit, Marque 2012: Mr. Anshu Bagai - Director-Marketing, Tupperware India,
Mr. Prabhash Gokarn - Head Marketing, TATA Steel, Mr. Sunder Singh - Global Head - Pre-sales & Delivery, TCS. The discussion was moderated by Prof. M.N.Tripathi - Professor-Marketing, XIMB.
The session started with a workshop on “Yellow Pages” by Mr. Sunder Singh. He covered about covered various topics on Yellow pages life cycle and Business Process, Change in consumer behavior, Challenges faced by the industry and interesting facts about the paradigm shift from printing media to online media. The stand out part of the entire show was the case study on “Super Media” which elucidated the Company’s emergence from bankruptcy. The afternoon session continued with a panel discussion on “Brand Loyalty via Emotional Connect”. Mr. Anshu Bagai spoke about how Tupperware evolved from a “Plastic dabba company” to a brand today which stands for “Women Empowerment”. Mr. Prabhash Gokarn spoke about the emotional challenges in branding for B2B companies like TATA steel and explained how brand connect was created with the channel partner. He continued with his views on a program called “Customer Value Management”. Mr. Sunder Singh took the discussion to a further level and explained how emotional connect pass on to generations with a fine example of Liverpool Football Club. He ended the discussion with a speech on the strategies that TCS used, to create emotional connect with its clients. Photo (From left to right): Mr. Anshu Bagai, Mr. M.N.Tripathi, Mr. Prabash Gokarn and Mr. Sunder Singh).
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Visit: www.purvodaya.com
PURVODAYA 2012 - ‘BELIEVE.RISE.ACHIEVE’ When you realize what obstacles really are, you also realize that you are already empowered enough to get to your dreams. You just have to have an enormous amount of will power. People who make things happen, people who actually make their dreams a reality aren’t any better than you. But they have just learnt how to turn the thoughts into reality by proper execution.
It all began with a dream... a vision, which few of the brave hearts of VGSoM had for their college. Days of sweat and storm, opposition from a lot of others couldn’t undermine their souls and thus PURVODAYA was born - The annual management festival of VGSoM, IIT Kharagpur. Purvodaya was kicked off this year in November. But the seeds of the brilliant idea of having a single business conclave combining the best of “Madison Avenue” and “Saamanjasya”, the previous events of VGSoM, were sown much before. Purvodaya meaning the rise of the East, added another feather in VGSoM’s cap, as the motto of Purvodaya goes Believe, Rise, Achieve. We truly believed, we rose to the occasion and yes we achieved, achievement which goes beyond tangible things but which has lot to do in contributing towards building VGSoM’s brand. Purvodaya comprised of the traditional “Kalakaar Vikas” of VGSoM which had artisans coming from neighboring states to portray their works combined with plethora of events in almost all management domains be it marketing, finance, operations, consulting or entrepreneurship. Purvodaya began on 2nd November 2012 with a glistening opening ceremony which had attractions like performance of the Western technology music society. The Director of IIT Kharagpur inaugurated the 2 day affair. After that there was a fun event called Fission, for the students, in which teams had to multiply Rs.100 to as much as they could in a short span of one hour. The coming two days were packed with events which contributed to the learning and development of not just the participants or organizers but also any person who was even remotely associated with the scheme of things. In the marketing domain events like Leader’s Challenge which focused on diversification strategy of a product; Beddazled, which tested the effective use of social media for marketing; Quizzard and Support my school, ruled the roost. In finance private equity events Lucri Causa, M&A strategy Synergie and Trading events in form of Bull’s eye were organized. Other events such as - Srijan – the B-Plan contest, Goldratts’
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Visit: www.purvodaya.com
cage- operations strategy, Vishleshan-IT Strategy, Ghaasphoos – taking grassroot innovations to a newer level, Shaastharth – Parliamentry debating events, were hugely popular. We also had a plethora of online events like Wired – promoting a social cause, Shutterbugs – photography contest etc.
In addition to the events there were workshops Anugraha-The entrepreneurship talk, Kaaryashaala– The consulting wokshop and Abhisamaya-The Scope talk. Purvodaya saw participation from renowned B-Schools of the country like IIMs, IITs, IMT, XIMB and the rest, it was a huge success and reinstated VGSoM, IIT Kharagpur’s image as a leading B-School of the country. Apart from the students, professors and VGSoM staff members also got involved in the events, and played a big role for the success of Purvodaya. A big thank you goes out to the sponsors without whom it could never have been achieved. Some of our generous sponsors included State Bank of India, SIDBI, Ministry of Textiles, Tata Steel, Steris, Coca Cola NDTV support my school, Perkins, Rang De, CoolAge, FLIP, The Financial Express and Spykar. Purvodaya provide the ideal training ground for young managers and future business owners to sharpen their knives, hone their skills and test their wits against their peers before heading out for the actual battle. Apart from the high-intensity clash for supremacy, Purvodaya featured wisdom talks and panel discussions featuring the best from the world of business, eminent academicians and bureaucrats. The virgin rays of Purvodaya will shine over the eastern skies for times to come and will return next year much bigger and better.
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KALAKAAR VIKAS - AN EXPERIENCE UNFORGETTABLE Saamanjasya, as the name suggests is an endeavor to bring about harmonious collaboration for sustainability in the society. Started by the students of Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur in 2010, with a vision of being Asia’s largest movement for social and environmental sustainability, Saaamjasya has come a long way to make a separate place in the hearts and minds of people from the academic as well as the corporate world. This article pertains to the most distinguished offering of team Saamanjasya- Kalakaar Vikas India, a nation that symbolizes “Cultural Diversity” is the nest of the world’s largest variety of art forms, some of them dating back to centuries. While the age of globalization has seen India’s stellar growth in various spheres, it has also seen some of the most ancient art forms of India fading into oblivion. In the nooks and corners of rural India, live many such artists whose only source of pride and income is the art that they have carried forward through ages. We, the team Saamanjasya, came up with this initiative called Kalakaar Vikas to rejuvenate these dying art forms by these traditional artists by providing them with a wider platform for acceptance and sustenance.
Kalakaar Vikas turned out to be the festival of art and creativity, with artists from the remote corners of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa ad Jharkhand, coming to this platform to showcase their talent and expertise. Pipli art, Pattachitra, Madhubani painting, lac bangles, seashell jewellery, hand embroidery- the list of spectacles on display was unending. The idea was to eliminate the intermediaries from the chain and bring the original creators of such marvelous crafts under the limelight. We wanted to give these rural artisans an exposure to the large and diverse customer base ranging from students and academicians all over India, the NGOs and the professionals from the corporate world. Special guests of the event were Mr.A.K.Hota, the development Commissioner from the Ministry of Textles, and Mr. Sukanta Pal, marketing officer of the NGO, Kadam India. Mr. Sukanta Pal appreciated the quality of artists who participated in the fair, and educated them regarding the various ways they could improve their sales and get a greater exposure. Held for three days from November 2nd to November 4th, 2012, the fair experienced an average footfall of 3000 per day, and generated sales of over Rs.3 lakhs for the artisans, despite adverse weather conditions. However, what made us elated, was not these figures but the joy and satisfaction revealed by the artists when we interviewed them on the last day. The positive response received from each and every artists, assured us once again that we are right on the track to achieve the vision with which our seniors started the journey of Saamanjasya.
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DRISHTEE CAPITAL - A STUDENT DRIVEN FUND AT VGSOM “Dreams at first seem impossible, then seem improbable, and finally, when we commit ourselves, become inevitable”- Mahatma Gandhi These words are at the core of the culture at Drishtee Capital. Drishtee Capital is a student run fund focusing on investment opportunities available across various sectors in the market. Currently we are looking forward towards investing in equities only. Drishtee is an effort by a group of finance enthusiasts who want to bring the domain of finance at the forefront in VGSoM and continue the hard work done by the alumni to establish VGSOM as the centre of excellence in Finance. It provides students valuable insights into the challenges faced in the investment industry. The concept of Drishtee Capital is purely a student initiative in which the institution is not directly involved. The faculty is however, extremely appreciative of the fact that theory sessions coupled with real time experience of managing money would mould students into excellent fund managers. We at Drishtee Capital want to grow and make its prominence felt in the industry and student community with your support. Our collaborative effort of semester long preparation for launch of the fund goes into its second phase on January 2013, this is when Drishtee Capital will open for sale of units to VGSoM alumni exclusively. Approach and Methodology: We believe that, to generate long term value, it is essential to invest in companies with excellent strategic and products position, capable of creating growth and strong free cash flow conversion. Starting from free cash flow valuation and other concepts (for example the earnings momentum) as our basis, we have built screening models which allow us to make an initial selection of the available investments. Our initial selection is then checked against the results of macroeconomic and sector analysis, as we believe that “a good company in a healthy sector is better than a great company in a troubled sector”. We then proceed with the fundamental analysis of Business model, Market position, Company financial statements, financial outlook and valuation. Only the companies that pass this selection process are in our core portfolio which is managed on the basis of Modern portfolio theory. To actively manage market exposure (market timing analysis) and for “yield enhancement” of the investments in the portfolio, the fund managers use a trading model which is based on Technical analysis indicators, Bid/offer indicators (based on volumes) For more details, please contact: Ashaf Khan, ashaf@vgsom.iitkgp.ernet.in , +91-8348520966 Dinesh T Kumar , dineshkumart@vgsom.iitkgp.ernet.in , +91-8348525775 Sumit Pal Singh , sumitpal@vgsom.iitkgp.ernet.in ,+91-8798079676
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RECENT HAPPENINGS AT IIT KGP Mr. President at IITKGP’s 58th Convocation !!!
“I would expect you to channelize your creative energy to contribute in an exceptional and significant way towards the nation’s goal of achieving intrinsic growth and sustainable development of all strata of the society,” was Pranab Mukherjee’s appeal to the passing out batch on Sept 15, 2012 . The president, accompanied by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh - an alumni of IIT Kharagpur, and numerous dignitaries including the Governor of West Bengal Mr. M.K Narayanan, took part in a function marking the culmination of the institution’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The morning of the fifteenth day of September in IIT Kharagpur saw it being turned into a fortification. All the dignitaries and the degree recipients were seated in the Netaji Auditorium and the program got underway with Mr. Shiv Nadar (Chairman,Board of Governors, IIT Kgp) conducting it. More than 2000 of degrees were awarded. Besides the B.Tech, M.tech, PhD. degrees there were also 4 DSc. degrees conferred on distinguished personalities including Mr. Arjun Malhotra (a KGPian and the co-founder of HCL). Now coming to the convocation address, the president said many things such as showing us a glimpse into the institute’s history, commending Kgp for its contribution towards the technological advancements of the country and for diversifying the curriculum in the institute.
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Medical College at IIT KGP
The dream of IIT Kharagpur to start a medical college is set to become reality, with the institute receiving a central grant of Rs. 230 crore for a 400-bedded super-speciality hospital. The hospital, which will be part of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy Institute of Medical Science and Research, is likely to be functional in two years. Institute sources said the number of beds would later be increased to 750. Once the hospital starts functioning, the institute will offer MBBS, MD, MS and DM courses, all approved by the Medical Council of India. Officials said the teaching module at the medical college, which will have a tie-up with the University of California, San Diego, and Johns Hopkins University, will comprise elements of modelling, simulation and virtual reality to produce tech-savvy doctors.
Gymkhana Election 2012 RoundUp Once again, the IITians made it a priority to choose their head honchos in sports. The elections witnessed a female candidate and a post-graduate candidate. Surbhi Narain of the Sarojini Naidu Hall won the elections for GSec Soc-Cult, while Indranil Hatai, a Ph.D. student has been elected as the GSec Sports & Games. While we’ve had a post-grad contest the elections as recently as last year, 1999 was the last time a female candidate contested and won – Smitha Uthaman, Soc-Cult. But does that mean KGP is moving away from the alleged chauvinism and sectarianism? The answer is blowing
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KGPians organized Educational Yatra IITians for youth (IFY), an organisation of students from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, organised an educational Yatra for students from Bihar to provide quality learning and creating awareness among rural and underprivileged students. This Yatra was organized by the organisation in association with the Bihar Police from May 5 to May 25, 2012. During the campaign the students was given guidance, motivation and was shown proper approach towards studies. The team visited Gaya, Aurangabad, Rohtas, and Kaimur, apart from a few Maoist-affected areas. “The students from the rural areas lack awareness about various opportunities available to them and they will be told about all of them like various .career options, importance of computer and English education.”, according to Ankit Agarwal, Senior IFY member.
Yes+@IIT KGP celebrates a Polythene-free week!!! The YES!+ team of IIT Kharagpur undertook an initiative to observe a polythene-free week from 11th - 17th April, 2011 in order to discourage the use of plastics and promote recyclable and biodegradable paper. It was open to participation by everyone, in and outside IIT Kharagpur. To support the cause, one needed to carry jute or paper bags with them and demand paper bags from shopkeepers rather than polythene bags when one goes shopping.
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Visit: http://shaurya.org.in
SHAURYA 2012 Shaurya, the annual sports festival of IIT Kharagpur, aims to propagate a spirit of sport amongst the youth. It provides an ideal platform for the students across the country to battle it out and establish their supremacy over the others in a highly competitive ambience. It is an honest effort to prove that academics are not the only alpha and omega of IITKGP, it can also boast of sports spirit and infrastructure meeting International Standards.
Let’s Look Back!!! Conceptualized in 2008, the first edition of the meet surpassed all expectations and witnessed more than 400 participation in its 5 sports from many colleges in the region and became the pinnacle of achievements and victory. It is at present the largest sports meet of the region and aims to be the largest in the country in the coming years. In 2009, Shaurya came with a new theme, “INDIA RISING” and showed exponential growth. From a simple sports meet at its inception, it turned into an extravaganza of sorts, something for the whole of IIT KGP to cheer about. It grew to 8 sports for boys and 3 sports for girls from 5 sports for boys the year before. With its scintillating success, it immediately became an attraction for sportsmen from all over the country to gather and prove their mettle. With lightning strike came the “BLITZKREIG” themed Shaurya 2010, held from 28th-31st October. 9 sports for men, 3 for women, workshops and fun events were a major attraction for the inhouse crowd. Mr. Akhil Kumar, the Commenwealth Gold Medalist, commended and showed his support by giving his esteemed presence at the prize distribution of Shaurya ’10.
The Battle Begins……
This year Shaurya brought with it more excitement, more innovation and above all, a plethora of events hosted in IIT’s own iconic campus in Kharagpur, which includes 2 Gymnasiums, 1Squash court, 4 Badminton courts, 3 Basketball courts, 2 Hockey fields, 2 Football fields, 2 Cricket grounds, 2 Lawn Tennis courts with Astro Turf and flood lights.
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EVENT: This year’s events include Aquatics, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Football, Hockey, Tennis, Table Tennis, Squash and Volleyball. It kick-started on the 12th of October at 6 p.m. in the Tagore Open Air Theater (TOAT) with some of the big shots as the chief guests of the function. We had Subroto Bhattacharya, a national football player and current technical director of Mohun Bagan, who inspired us with his short speech after which Jaydeep Karmakar, an eminent shooting Olympian, took over the mike. The whole of KGP enjoyed as days rolled on and different teams clashed upon each other in different sports.
ideal platform for the students across the country to battle it out and establish their supremacy over the others in a highly competitive ambience. It is an honest effort to prove that academics are not the only alpha and omega of IITKGP, it can also boast of sports spirit and infrastructure meeting International Standards. Coming to the arena…we had stalls from Subway, Dominos and also had interesting activities like Sudoku, Anti-chess and lots of goodies to be won! Looking into the final standings IIT KGP bagged Gold medals in four out of the ten sports held…!! YO KGP …!! The fest ended with Deepika Kumari, the No.2 Archer in the world at the closing ceremony! KGP smiled as she gave away the medals and trophies to the respective winning teams. The whole event was sponsored by Mega brands like NPCIL,LIC,SBI,VICTOR Technifibre, NIVIA, Frank Ross, 93.5 RED FM, Subway and many more.
Workshop & MegaEvent: Fencing, Boxing, Archery, Hand Shadowgraphy, Sand Art
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ALL I WANTED TO SAY… The intercom rings pensively, I don’t know what it says The exchange mails unattended for last fifteen days, The channel files lie dangling on top of one another Quite resembling my life few days further… My mind quietly moves from cubicle to cubicle Searching for solace in middle of this debacle… Of all the risks I have taken, not thinking of any gain Sure I was of this one…of nothing but pain Hapless, unaware droopy eyelids slide across the door… A charming smile greets this face so sad and poor Flush with happiness it seemed like a kind of breeze Confused, taken aback, it was the second I still want to seize. Moments like these doesn’t frequent normal lives On these moments do all the peace and serenity thrives It seemed for a moment all the grief to submerge Just like the bright morning sun rays diverge The routine life swung to a dash of excitement My empty mind decorated with a sense of fulfillment For days I searched for ways to erase my sadness Only to realize...It is “she” and her pursuit of happiness!! It is this friendship that still rings like music to my ears Its melody and tune how exactly I can hear Restless and impatient this mind wants you to find I will be out of your sight …but never out of your mind…
By Aniket Sarkar MBA 1ST YEAR
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MADNESS… Methods to my madness, Live on the boundaries of my being, Often nudge me, To force me into an endless dream...
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A certain noise, Would not let me be myself, Often engulfs me into, Abysses of never ending silence... Some hidden fears, Shake me to my very core, Force me into deep black sea, Leave me drenched on the shore... A hidden monster, Wakes me up at night, It talks of things that never were, Passages of darkness devoid of light... A few dreams, Keep me numb all day, Often challenge my existence, Sometimes leave me astray... Caught in chains, Of my own limitations, I press hard for an exit, To end this lonely desperation... But never do I succeed, In bringing an end to this misery, So I have made it a part, Of my being, my past and my destiny...
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By Happy garg
MBA 1ST YEAR
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VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT (ESTD. 1993) IIT KHARAGPUR
Contact Us: Alumni Committee Vinod Gupta School of Management IIT Kharagpur W.B. - 721302 Write to us at: alumni.vgsom.iitkgp@gmail.com http://twitter.com/AlumComm_vgsom