Scuzzy Oct 2011 by VGSOM IIT Kharagpur

VOLUME1

SEPTEMBER 2011

ISSUE 15

Scuzzy

October2011

V I N O D G U P TA S C H O O L O F M A N A G E M E N T, I I T K H A R A G P U R

From the desk of team Scuzzy SCUZZY has evolved over the years from being a simple alumni newsletter to a mouthpiece of all VGSOM activities.

Warm greetings from Alumni Relations Committee, VGSOM! Welcome to the fall edition of Scuzzy, the biannual newsletter of VGSOM. The placement season, Vantage 2011, yet again finished with a high! The placement process saw some topnotch recruiters hiring our versatile talents; something that VGSOM has become synonymous with. Recruiters offered some of the most sought-after profiles. 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 18 LPA and average annual compensation stood at 12.02 LPA. A total of 117 offers were made for 94 students . VGSOM attracted 15 new companies this year which constitute 33% of the total companies that visited the campus. The season began with 20% of the batch getting PPOs from reputed companies like ITC, Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, TATA Motors, Deloitte India, Deloitte USI, Nomura, Wipro and IMRB and ended on a high note of 1.25 offers made per student from top recruiters.

new professors with versatile corporate experiences and vast academic credentials this year: Prof. Anand Teltumbde Prof. Devlina Chatterjee. Prof. Siddharth Chattopadhay And Prof. Barnali Nag. With July, started the new academic year and the new batch of students were infused into the college. With almost 85% of students having prior workexperience, the batch is a perfect blend of freshers and students with work experience. The batch also saw a surge in the number of students having more than 36 months of workexperience (almost 38% of the class of 2013). The class of 2013 also boasts of people from varied backgrounds of work such as - heavy engineering, operations, marketing, IT and finance.

Various Interest Groups and Clubs were also dynamic throughout the year. The Marketing and Advertising Club (MAD) and the Finance Club (Finterest) successfully completed their quiz competitions: VENALICIUM and Fin’Q Men on a high note. On the other hand We also feel proud to let you TO KNOW MORE Saamanjasya conducted a B know that VGSOM has bagged ABOUT OUR NEW plan Competition – ―Power some of the most prestigious PROFESSORS, to Empower‖ in collaboraawards this year. The first one TURN TO PAGE 7 tion with Confederation of being Asia’s Best B-School Indian Industry (CII) and Leadership Award by CMO Council National Skill Development Corporain July 2010. The second success tion (NSDC). came with DNA and Stars of the In- We are also featuring contributions dustry Group awarding VGSOM as from students, faculty and research one of ―The most innovative B- scholars at VGSOM and we are sure School of the year 2010‖. VGSOM that you‘ll like all of them. Scuzzy will was also recently awarded the take you through all the nostalgic ―Outstanding B-School award‖ at emotions that you may have in a the National B-School awards 2011. while! So what are you waiting for? The students of VGSOM brought ever Turn on your nostalgia and start siftgreater laurels to the college by win- ing through your dose of college ning contests all across the country. news! The institute witnessed joining of four

Happy Reading! 1

Inside this issue: Final Placements 2011

Summer Placements 2011

Learning Approaches

Connect 2011

Class of 2013

Faculty Lounge

Sweet @ Sixty

CMI Activities

creative creativity

MAD Club Activities

Finterest Activities

Jump from 1,2(to) 3

Different Strokes

Answers: KGP Trivia

Final Placements 2011 Vantage 2011 was a stupendous success with 100% batch being placed. With Batch of 2009-2011 securing some of the best job offers in the country, Vantage 2011 culminated in VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur and yet again established its reckoning as among the top B-School s on the offering. With the 100% batch getting placed with an average salary of INR 12.02 Lakhs per annum and profiles worthy of the remuneration magnitude, Vantage 2011 was a resounding success. Apart from the regular recruiters, many new companies joined the bandwagon and reposed their faith in the coveted B-School . VGSOM attracted 15 new companies this year which constitute 33% of the total companies that visited the campus. The season began with 20% batch getting PPOs from reputed companies like ITC, Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, TATA Motors, Deloitte India, Deloitte USI, Nomura, Wipro and IMRB and ended on a high note of 1.25 offers made per student from top recruiters. The recruiting companies spanned across sectors like BFSI, Consulting, FMCG, Telecom, Manufacturing, Technology and Analytics with diverse roles like Investment Banking, Banking & Operations, Risk Advisory, Project Finance, Strategy and Technology Consulting, Sales and Marketing, Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Business Development and many more. Evika Green, an Energy Subsidiary of Evika Group, a first time recruiter offered coveted position of Assistant Vice President to the selected student. Medall, a leading medical diagnostic firm were the first time visitors. offering challenging roles in Market Research and Business Development. Technology and Consulting firms were the biggest recruiters this year giving considerable weightage to the pre-MBA experience of candidates asserting the quality of students VGSOM

attracts. 30% of the students opted for careers in each. BFSI, Manufacturing and FMCG followed next with plethora of new companies participating for the first time in campus placements attracting top talent from the coveted B-School . FMCG & TELECOM: VGSOM has grown over the years to be the favourite destination of sought-after FMCG sector. Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser and Coca Cola were the first time re-

ture Management Consulting, iMaritime, HCL and Cognizant were the first time recruiters along with regular recruiters like Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and HP reaffirming the brand value enjoyed by VGSOM in the consulting world. BANKING, FINANCE & ANALYTICS: VGSOM carried forward the legacy of being a preferred campus for companies in Banking

Chairman of Placement’s message: From the perspective of most students, the raison-d'etre of any college, particularly a BSchool , is a satisfactory corporate placement. I am delighted to know that our 2009-2011 Placement Committee has lived up to the expectations of every student who had walked into VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur two years ago in search of an MBA and a career. -Prof. Prithwis Mukerjee, Chairman Placements, HSBC, ANZ, IMRB and Citi Analytics made their presence felt with related profiles in offering

cruiters at VGSOM. Regular recruiters like ITC, Heinz and UB group also made their presence felt and offered diverse roles like Corporate Planning, Operations, Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Sales and Marketing. Vodafone, our regular recruiter offered profiles in Marketing, Systems & IT. TECHNOLOGY & CONSULTING: This sector attracted the largest talent pool from VGSOM. This year, the Big 4- Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte (India and USI) and KPMGparticipated in Vantage 2011 and offered roles in Business Advisory, SCM Consulting, Strategy & Technology Consulting and many more. Crème de la crème of the consulting sphere like PWC‟s Government Reforms and Infrastructure Development Advisory (GRID), Accen-

and Financial Services domain. Diverse profiles were offered including Credit, Risk Assessment, Forex, Equity & Fixed income and Banking Operations. The gamut of interested Companies included participants like Citibank, ANZ, Nomura, CRISIL, Cognizant and Union Bank of India among others. With a booming market, analytics sector offered attractive opportunities to the students at VGSOM this year. Behemoths like Goldman Sachs,

MANUFACTURING: This sector, along with regular recruiters like TATA Motors, TATA Telecon, TATA Metaliks and Welspun, witnessed participation from large number of PSUs like Shipping Corporation of India, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Balmer Lawrie, MMTC India Ltd and Rural Electrification Corporation. Students were offered diverse and challenging roles in Sales and Marketing, Operations, HR, Business Development and Infrastructure Project Management. Titan, a TATA group company, was a first time recruiter offering roles in Operations and Marketing.

Placement Statistics for 2011 Number of students participating in placements No. of companies visiting campus

94 45

No. of offers made

117

Highest salary offered (INR)

18 lakhs p.a

Average salary offered (INR)

12.02 lakhs p.a

Median salary offered (INR)

10.15 lakhs p.a

Summer Placements 2011 Summer Placements for the batch of 2010-12 once again reaffirmed Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur as one of the finest B-School s in the country. A total of 60 companies took part in the placement process which was an increase of over 10% compared to last year. Companies vied with each other to select management interns from a batch of 91 students and offered challenging roles across varied industries such as FMCG, Telecom, Consulting, Banking & Finance, Media, Automobile, Infrastructure etc. The average stipend crossed Rs. 40,000, which was an increase of 8.1% over last year. The highest stipend offered was Rs.1,00,000.

country took part in the summer placements process this year. Recruiters like Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, Reckitt Benckiser, Heinz, Danone and Emami recruited students in large numbers offering profiles such as Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Marketing, Operations etc. Telecom majors Idea and Aircel also offered students roles in Supply Chain Management and Marketing.

large numbers with majors like Citibank, Nomura, ING Vysya, CRISIL, Reserve Bank of India, CLSA, Bank of India, Venture East, NABARD among the companies offering profiles such as Equity Research, Derivatives, Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, Rural Banking, Analytics, Operations and Technology etc.

Consulting: Consulting was one of the most sought-after domains amongst the students with almost one fifth of the batch opting for Consulting profiles. Consulting firms like Deloitte India, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young, Wipro, Frost & Sullivan, Synovate Consulting, Synergy Consulting offered profiles such as Strategy and Operations, Enterprise Applications, Technology Integration, Government Reform & Infrastructure Consulting, Business Advisory. CTRAN offered an exciting new profile of Climate and Infrastructure Consulting. Voltas offered a niche profile of Corporate Strategy and Planning.

Manufacturing & Automobile: Manufacturing and Automobile was the most popular sector among the students this year with more than 20% students opting for it. Majors like Tata Motors, TVS Motors, NTPC, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Tega Industries, Tata Telcon etc offered profiles in Operations, Marketing and Supply Chain Management.

Heavyweights like IBM, Hewlett-Packard, JDA, Siemens Corporate Technologies, Omnitech, TCS were some of the leading IT companies that took part in the Summer Placements.

FMCG & Telecom: Some of the largest FMCG and Telecom companies in the

Banking & Finance: Banking and other financial firms recruited students in

participation of several startups like Hover, Batoi, OOH Media, Sequoia, Verbatim Medall etc. They offered the students crucial roles including Marketing Strategy, Strategy & Consulting, Sales & Marketing which gave our students invaluable opportunity to get a lot of rigorous and hands-on learning during their internships. Internships at Kolkata Police: In a unique initiative Kolkata Police hired interns from VGSOM to undertake projects as a part of winter internships. The projects allocated were live projects which included the study of traffic management system and optimization of routes etc. giving interns the opportunity to understand the nitty-gritties of managing one of the most populous cities in the country.

IT & ITES:

Human Resource: Firms like NTPC and Synergy Consultancy offered comprehensive and strategic roles in the Human Resources domain to some of the students.

The large number of recruiters including many first time visitors, diversity in the profiles on offer and all the students getting summer internships in the organizations and profiles of their choice were the high points of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x;s summer placements. This reaffirms the consistent faith that recruiters have had for VGSOM Students and reflects on the quality of the management education and values imparted to the students in line with the corporate requirements.

Startups: This year, we also saw the

KGP Trivia! Q1. What is the significance of 2.2 in IIT Kharagpur's context? Q2. Which eatery is famed to have invented the 'Tinku' (Burger)? Q3. Which faculty Of VGSOM has been the Chairman of B.C. Roy Hospital? To find out the answers, turn to the last page. 3

Learning approaches Post MBA: A Journey of Four and a Half Decades By Prof. Arabinda Tripathy

I really feel happy to write in Scuzzy the newsletter of VGSOM. I understand that the newsletter will also be made available to the alumni of VGSOM. I am taking this opportunity to share some of my learning approaches over four and a half decade of professional life as I have perceived, more specifically post MBA. It is needless to stress that the alumni can significantly and effectively contribute to the growth and development of their alma mater. VGSOM itself is an example of the same. VGSOM, the formation of which was facilitated by an alumnus, set the trend of incorporation of B-School in IITs and in technology institutes in general. To a large extent, my association with VGSOM was driven by a desire to contribute to my alma mater; IIT Kharagpur from where I graduated in 1966. Early in my working life I had an opportunity to study for a MBA equivalent programme. At that time I had a job with responsibility for critical deliverables. Further, my job being on the shop floor, I had the responsibility for looking after the work of various employees including their on the job performance, deliverables and such other things. That left little time for preparation for classes, test and the like. The programme was substantially case based and required commitment of time. However, having joined I walked the extra miles to derive full benefit. I did not have any specific aim

to improve my career prospect but to learn about business management related areas. I did achieve that and developed an interest for Operational Research. I pursued this interest by doing M.Sc. in Operational Research at the London School of Economics few years later. This further enhanced my interest in Operational Research. I followed it up with Doctoral work in Operational Research, more specifically in Mathematical Programming, also at London School of Economics. All these years, my primary aim was to pursue my interest rather than looking for any financial reward. In fact the job that I took up in India on my return immediately after my doctoral work abroad offered me a salary that was less than half of my salary in India prior to joining the doctoral work. This in no way deterred my interest in Operational Research. I went on to become President of Operational Research Society of India (ORSI) in 1989 and Editor in Chief of OPSEARCH journal. I also organised the first International Conference on Operational Research for Development (ICORD) in 1992 at Ahmedabad. The conference resulted in a document “Ahmedabad Declaration”. The document became the reference point for action by International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS) for activities to be carried out towards Operational Research for Development. There were two other major outcomes of the conference: a book titled Operational Research for Development edited by Jonathan Rosenhead (London School of Economics) and Arabinda Tripathy (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad) and ICORD becoming 4

a regular activity of IFORS. ICORD was subsequently organized in Brazil, Philippines, South Africa, India (second time) and Brazil (second time). Through the first ICORD conference, I developed interest in the areas of Operational Research for Development, Problem Structuring Methods, Soft System Methodology, and the like; which I continue to pursue even now. Subsequently, I took up assignments in many developing countries like Kazakhstan, Vietnam, South Africa etc. These assignments helped me to understand better the field of Operational Research for Development. Along with Prof. Theodre Stewart, I also started the only M.Sc. Course on Operational Research for Development at the University of Cape Town, South Arfrica. To sum up, in all this four and a half decade of my professional life I was guided by:  There is no age for learning  A clock which is not working is also right twice in a day; accordingly one can learn from all sources with proper attitude  Pursue your interest. Some other basic understandings helped me in my Professional life; one of them being Organisational Position may entrust the authority, but it does not ensure that the person is the only one to have the expertise and the knowledge to discharge it – there may be others who may score higher on these counts. Wish all of you the very best.

Connect 2011—VGSoM Annual Alumni Meet By Shashidhar Shenoy (MBA, Batch of 2012)

On 18th June 2011, a pleasant Saturday evening, the MBA students of Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur organized ―Connect ‗11‖ – the annual alumni reunion in four different metros. By continuing with the tradition of successfully conducting the alumni meet simultaneously at four different locations, the Alumni Committee yet again brought together VGSoM alumni from varied backgrounds and work experiences on a common platform.

The alumni of VGSoM from Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata were treated to an evening of fun and memories of their fun days at college. The alums started arriving early in the evening and were enthusiastically looking forward to meet their batch mates. The meet started with a video of campus life in IIT Kharagpur which made all the alumni emotional and nostalgic about the hostels, the VGSoM building, the eating joints in campus and all the other things which made their life memorable in campus. Then there were video messages by the professors of VGSoM to the alums. There were loud cheers by the alums when their favorite professors appeared on screen.

all to be seen in the meets. At Bangalore, two senior-most Alums from the class of 2001, Mr. Satya Mishra and Mr. Gangesh Thakur, were presented with a bouquet and were asked to narrate their experiences at IIT. They spoke about how the school had grown to what it is right now, the lower batch strength during those days and the school not being recognized among the top tier schools. They also praised all the alumni, professors and current students for their constant efforts in making the school one among the top tier BSchools in India. The mood then changed from a ‗formal ceremony‘ to a dinner party with all alumni, their spouses and students socializing over food and drinks. Friends exchanged numbers and promised to stay in touch, seniors offered advice for their juniors, people enquired about work in different management streams and the chattering had reached its peak towards the close of the night. The concept of conducting the meet at four locations simultaneously

The joy of finding their old friends, the long-forgotten nicknames being called again, the happiness of finding out that their friends and had classmates had made it big in the corporate world was 5

was greatly appreciated and all the alums praised the efforts of Alumni Committee for the wonderful time they had. The alums didn‘t want the night to end and were keen on hanging around reliving the wonderful memories of the college days. However, like all good things, time had finally come to say goodbye to everyone and call it a day. This parting note of the night was echoed by all the people present over there: Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. They simply mean I'll miss you Until we meet again!

Class of 2013 The incoming batch of 2013 reaffirms VGSOMâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s ability to attract the best minds among the B-School fraternity year after year. The bright young VGSOMites are already in the groove and they are ready take the bandwagon of VGSOM ahead.

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. Even through the batch consist of students with engineering backgrounds, the diversity of streams and specialization backgrounds are really diversified. The adjacent chart indicates the diverse stream-wise break-up of the class of 2013. TOTAL STRENGTH OF THE BATCH OF 2013 IS 105

This year VGSOM has laid emphasis on the quality and quantity of to work experience while selecting the class of 2013. Having given due importance to work experience, a healthy mix of freshers and students with prior work experience has also been maintained. The details of the batch according to the work experiences is shown in the pie chart:

KGP Trivia! Q4. Name the district of West Bengal in which Kharagpur is located ? Q5. In which year was VGSOM established? And who laid the foundation stone of VGSOM? Q6. A new hall of residence is coming up exclusively for the students of VGSOM. Name this hall. Q7. What is CORALS in purview of IIT Kharagpur ? To find out the answers, turn to the last page. 6

Faculty Lounge: Our New Faculty Members Meet our new faculty members who have enriched the VGSOM fraternity with their varied corporate experience and academic excellence.

Prof. Anand Teltumbde Specialization areas: Business strategy, Production and Operations management, information systems strategy, supply chain and logistics. Prof. Anand holds a Bachelor‗s degree in Mechanical Engineering (National Institute of Technolgy, Nagpur), an MBA (PGDM) (Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad) and a Doctoral degree in management from University of Mumbai. He has published more than 25 research papers in reputed international journals and served on editorial Board of a few of them. Prof. Anand has over 38 years of management experience. He was recognized among top 20 people who shaped IT in India by DataQuest consecutively for three years. He has also won Star implementation award from SAP. Before coming to VGSOM, he was Managing Director and CEO of Petronet India Limited, a holding company promoted by all oil companies for creating a pipeline network. He has been also been a Ph D examiner and adjunct faculty of University of Mumbai. Prof. Devlina Chatterjee Specialization areas: Applied Economics, Statistical Modeling, Financial Modeling Dr. Devlina Chatterjee earned a B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur in 1989. After completing her PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad in 1991,

she worked for two years in project finance at the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI). She continued her studies in the US at Penn State University and earned two masters degrees – one in Agricultural Engineering and one in Agricultural Economics. She earned her doctoral degree in management in the Indian Institute of Science in 2010. Dr. Chatterjee has spent eight years in industry, with IFCI (New Delhi), GE Capital (Bangalore) and Antrix Corporation (Bangalore). Dr. Chatterjee‘s research interests lie in applied economics, in particular trying to decode the underlying factors that influence behaviors of individuals, households, businesses and other economic agents. Prof. Barnali Nag Dr. Barnali Nag is an M.A. in Economics from JNU, New Delhi and PG Diploma (Development Policy) and PhD (Economics) from IGIDR, Mumbai, an advanced Research Institute by Reserve Bank of India. She has been a faculty at RIS, New Delhi (a think tank of the Ministry of External Affairs, GoI). Later she joined the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad as Business Research Fellow, from where she went to Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania as Visiting Scholar. Dr. Barnali has been the Associate Editor of South Asia Economic Journal, which is a peer reviewed international journal, published by 7

SAGE, for around four years. She is also a reviewer for reputed international journals like Energy-The International Journal, Energy Policy, International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management and International Journal of Environment and Waste Management. Dr. Barnali‘s current research interest includes economics and business implications of climate change, policy imperatives for carbon baseline determination and quantitative modeling and research on productivity and efficiency in the Indian manufacturing sector. Prof. Siddhartha Chattopadhyay Prof. Siddhartha Chattopadhyay is an M.A. in economics from Delhi School of Economics and a Ph.D. in economics from University at Albany, SUNY with specialization in macroeconomics and econometrics. He has received a graduate fellowship for completing his doctoral studies from University at Albany, SUNY. He has also received an excellence in teaching award and an excellence in research award from university at Albany, SUNY in 2010. Moreover, he was also awarded a special fellowship for his doctoral dissertation in 2010 from University at Albany, SUNY. Before pursuing his graduate studies abroad, he was a research assistant in Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (CSSSC).

Sweet @ Sixty Diamond Jubilee celebrations at IIT Kharagpur — Rohit Sharma (1st Year, MBA) As IIT KGP enters into 60th year of existence, there was celebration mood all around, the campus started undergoing

―Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo‖ as well as the classic rock number ―November Rain‖. The musical performance was followed by the laser show documentary on IIT KGP which left the audiences awe-struck. One thing that made this event special was a large calendar showcasing dates and images of KGPians which forayed into the Guinness Book of World Records for its monster size.

facelift months advance. Halls of Residences, Complexes, Sports Courts and Activities Centres got new lease of life with the overhaul. Students sported the Diamond Jubilee Badges showing the pride that they take in being associated with this long standing prestigious institute.

The Diamond jubilee curtain raiser on August 21st at Tata Sports Complex was an event to reckon with, it started with the allocutions from the eminent professors, who‘ve long served the institute. They shared their thoughts invoking fond nostalgia. Right after this, started a joint concert by ETMS & WTMS who performed to the tunes of soulful melodies like ―Tu Bin Bataye‖, foot tapping song

Union Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee. The Chairman of Board Of governors, Mr Shiv Nadar presided over the course of actions. The Gold Medallists were presented with

the awards by the Prime Minister himself. Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal,Telephone mogul and founder of Bharti Enterprises, received an honorary degree.

August 22, the date when the 57th annual convocation of IIT Kharagpur took place at the newly renovated TOAT (Tagore Open Space Theatre), will be always alive in a KGPian's heart. Many of the ExVGSOMites also treasured this splendid moment. Nitish Wadhwa of 2010 batch was conferred with the Gold Medal for his extraordinary academic achievement.

Celebrations continued in the evening at Kalidas auditorium with a mesmerizing performance from santoor legend Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Pandit Anindo Chatterjee on the tabla.―Music requires the concentration of not just the musician, but the audience as well,‖ said santoor legend Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. The concert included rendition of Raag Jhinjhoti, another compostion of Pahadi as base Raag and number of other melodious motifs. The Splendid evening paved way for the year long Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.

Read The IIT Kharagpur Alumni Newsletter at : http://bit.ly/piCJ8E

The ceremony was also marked by the esteemed presence of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh as a chief guest. Other dignitaries included the Governor of West Bengal Mr M K Narayanan and the 8

Find The Jubilee Celebration Photographs at: http://bit.ly/oORkVh

Corporate & Media Interaction Cell (CMI) In the last few months, VGSOM saw a plethora of guests from various fields and domains coming for Guest Lectures under the banner of ‗Vaarta‘ – The Guest Lecture series‘. A Marketing Continuum was also organised where distinguished personalities from the marketing domain of the industry visited VGSOM and shared their experiences. How Microsoft built the gaming category in India with XBOX!!! - Guest Lecture by Mr.Jaspreet Bindra, Regional Director, Microsoft

The lecture or rather the story as cited by Mr. Bindra started with emphasis on the importance of online media as a marketing tool. He stressed upon the fact that “Internet has to be the first marketing medium and not the 4th or 5th”. He took us through the days when Xbox was launched in India, to the time when it struggled to find its feet, till the time when it captured 64% market share of next generation consoles in India. Mr.Bindra explained that any product launch is a 3 step procedure: Super brand building, Super business building and Market creation & expansion. He talked about how the product suffered from the marketing myopia and how they changed the game by promoting Xbox as not just a gaming console but an entertainment powerhouse. Managing IT as a Business By Mr. Subrata Dutta, CIO at SREI

The nitty-gritty‟s of the world of a CIO were nicely spun together by a very eminent member of the fraternity itself, Mr. Subrata Dutta, CIO of SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited. The session commenced with Mr. Dutta highlighting the stark differences between how IT was perceived „apart‟ of the Business a few decades back and how it has become an inseparable „part‟ of the Business in recent times. He spoke on how a CIO creates his organization along the three pillars of „Plan‟, „Build‟ and „Run‟ along-with discussing an interesting Case study (SunGard case study) with the students to which the response was really encouraging. Light as a marketing tool - Guest Lecture by Ms.Sudeshna Mukhopadhyay, Director, Philips Electronics

“Let there be light and then, there was light! “ – A ride through the rise of the lighting industry was started on this note by Ms.Sudeshna Mukhopadhyay, Director, Philips

Electronics at a lecture in VGSOM, IIT kharagpur. Ms.Mukhopadhyay emphasized on the fact that the lighting industry is undergoing a radical transformation and the future is in the lighting solutions which would reach into new uncharted territories like weather forecasting. Ms. Mukhopadyay was quick to add that light, not only triggers vision but also influences our moods and feelings as she briefed through an introduction to Philips Electronics. She added that light is an effective marketing tool and plays a pivotal role in various sectors including hospitals and health care, tourism and stated the importance of lighting in today‟s world citing examples from the Formula1 Race track of Singapore and the ever-sosuccessful FIFA World Cup 2002 in Asia. She spoke on the effects of light pollution and energy wastes. She concluded by simply asking students to be “conscious users” of light!

Vaarta'11: Marketing Continuum Creative Ideation Process and Branding By Mr. Sanjeev Dassani, Creative Director (Copy) at RK Swamy BBDO

There is no denying to the fact that the whole process of creative ideation seems to be a scintillating one! The VGSOM students will vouch for the fact, more so after their rendezvous with Mr. Sanjeev Dassani, Creative Director (Copy) at RK Swamy BBDO. It scored highly both in terms of tit-bits of insight into how a creative agency works and also audio-visual treats. He endorsed the viewpoint that “Creativity, by definition, is an uncharted territory”. He was also of the view that “the ideas are all around us, we just need to look at things with a hint of inquisitiveness in our eyes”. He also treated the audiences‟ with a good dosage of very aesthetically dramatized advertisements. The junta got all the more excited and asked a lot many questions which were answered very gracefully by Mr. Dassani. 9

'Marketing Strategy - The Indian Telecom Story’ Mr.Joydeep Ganguly, CMO Kolkata Hub, Uninor

The answer to life, the universe and everything is probably „42‟, however the answer to many a marketing dilemmas of the Indian Telecom Sector is Mr. Joydeep Ganguly, CMO of Uninor, Kolkata hub. A gist of more than 16 years of marketing experience compressed into a „2 hour Highly Interactive Guest Lecture' is what the students at VGSOM experienced. Mr. Joydeep took the students on a journey beginning with India of the 90's to the India of today where Telecom has revolutionized everything and how "Life is now dependent on the 6 inches of a handset". He also sensitized the students about the challenges faced by the telecom sector today in the form of Multi-Sim Markets, Document Maintenance and Dwindling Margins. He opined that given these

challenges and the fierce competition in the industry, the number of telecom players in the Indian market would eventually come down.

Apart from the talks and Guest Lectures, an official YouTube channel was launched for VGSOM - http:// www.youtube.com/user/VGSOMIITKharagpur. The channel strives to cover all the major happenings and events taking place at VGSOM.

creative creativity By Lokendra Gayakwad (MBA, Batch of 2013)

Yesterday while commuting back from office, I saw a man aged around 55 to 60 years selling toys made of bamboo sticks. The old man wasn‟t employed anywhere and the toy did not boast of a brand name yet the creativity reflected by the showed that the old man has a knack of constructing toys.. This started the chain of thoughts and I thought “Yes there is some creativeness everywhere and in everything we do.” Even trivial actions like cleaning a floor, washing a cloth can manifest creativeness Creativity has nothing to do with any particular work. Creativity has something to do with quality of our consciousness. Whatever we do can become creative if we redefine creativity. :) Creativity is not doing only something new and achieving an unachieved feat. Creativity is doing anything differently to achieve the same feat. Creativity comes by enjoying the work you do , by loving what we do. Will you feel creative when you are sketching? If the answer is yes then ponder on the fact that a two year kid is also doing the same thing. He too is just drawing some lines here and there. What is the difference?? It is just the attitude which makes all the difference. Talking to somebody, you feel time is being wasted. You would like to write a great book, and then you will be creative. But a friend has come a little gossiping is a perfect-

ly beautiful. Be creative. All the great scriptures are nothing but conversations of people who were creative. If you really love doing something it is creative. A man of constant self-introspection, want of happiness and understanding is continuously creative. Not that he is trying to be creative. The way he talks is a creative act. Watch him talking , walking , laughing , anything. You will find certain dignity, decency and creativity in everything he does. Life is not one big thing it is a million tiny things and due attention to these carve your profile. Let go off the ego which goes on saying these are small things. It is our ego who creates trouble, drop the ego and everything is creative. Once you get creative you become confident and hence efficient. Try it out !!! Everyone wants to do some great things, but keep waiting for the right time and the life takes a toll over their dream. So if you want to write something great or want to do great poetry or and want to do a great painting etc etc… Now is the time to don your creative hat and show the world a new you , a dynamic you , a creative you…

MAD Club activities MAD club activities in VGSOM.— ―Follow your passion, and success will follow you‖ – Terii Guillemets

Following our passion – precisely that is what we do in the Marketing and Advertising (MAD) Club of the Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur. Entrusted with the moral responsibility of exposing young minds to the fascinating world of Marketing and Advertising, MAD Club has a host of events and activities lined up to help the budding marketers this year. Over the years the Club is known for three major activities, namely, • MADison Avenue – Our Flagship event • MADazine – Our annual magazine • MAD Quiz – Our annual Marketing & Advertising quiz We are proud to announce that, in addition to these, our Bimonthly newsletter MADjick is all set to join our portfolio. The Marketing and Advertising Club inducted its new coordinators from the 2013 batch 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. This year Venalicium, the intra VGSOM Marketing Quiz, was held on the 27th of August, 2011. And as usual Venalicium generated a huge response from both the batches and to everyone‟s surprise all the 3 prizes were grabbed by students of first year unlike last year where seniors outplayed juniors. Overall it was a well organized and well contested event and MAD Club Quiz Team takes the credit for that. MAD Club will also come up with another Marketing Quiz in January early next year, Jade. This time we are planning to make it a pan-IIT Kharagpur event. MADison Avenue is the flagship event of the Marketing and Advertising Club. During the initial days, the club has been conducting online Marketing events for B-School s and undergraduates. But 2009-2010 saw MADison Avenue shed its online tag and evolve into a more complete marketing and advertising event with its firm roots on IIT Kharagpur soil . That was indeed a significant step in making MADison Avenue what it is today – a premier marketing and advertising fest expected, encouraged and sponsored by a number of corporate-houses.

and innovative events mix, active participation by industry personnel, live case studies and high-on-content workshops marked this edition of Madison Avenue. MADison Avenue‘11, the 2-day event, is scheduled to be held on 29th and 30th of October, 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. Getting the industry participation to the next level and challenging the participants with the real life problems faced by the industry are the key focus areas of Madison Avenue‟11. With a range of challenging events that can test the best in the business, this fest promises to stand out amongst the crowd. 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 mar-keting 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. We are happy to announce that MAD club is proposing to launch a website of its own. The idea behind this is to serve as one stop shop for everything relating to MAD Club. It will also serve as a forum for engaging discussions, an archive for newsletters and as a way to reach the club. With more than 30 dedicated Marketing and Advertising loyalists and with passion as big as a marketer‟s, MAD Club will continue its journey and hopes to make 20112012 a very busy and interesting year. Keep waiting to hear more on this!

The hugely successful last edition of MADison Avenue was sponsored by SAIL, the title sponsors and cosponsored by a number of other corporates like Tata bearings, Steris, Spykar and Big FM among others. Interesting 11

Finterest Activities Activities of all Finance enthusiasts 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 club keeps its members updated on the latest trends and developments in corporate finance, capital markets, investment banking and other related areas. The motto is to give a new dimension to the way VGSOM is perceived for finance in the industry. Finterest was rejuvenated in early 2011 with finance enthusiasts from the Batch of 2011 coming together and forming a strong 15 members team. Since then, Finterest has not looked back. Finterest has selected 4 coordinators and 3 editors from the batch of 2013. A new logo has been launched recently. Here‟s a snapshot of the activities which have taken place till now:

Fin-o-Menal: Fin-O-Menal, the fortnightly financial newsletter of VGSOM covers all happenings in the field of Finance. The structure of the newsletter has been designed to help students in developing different facets of personality. • Budding Finance writers hone their skills towards writing research papers, Cover Stories on Budget, Scams brings in depth analysis of events. • Articles cover Market Updates, Indian News, Finance Updates , Industry Updates etc. aims to keep student briefed about the happenings in the field of Finance. • Fin Quotes and Cartoon sections maintain general interest level of non finance enthusiasts promotes basic awareness about financial happenings. • Detailed and informative articles from Academia act as an important media for peer learning. • This facilitates Summer Internship and Final placement process by building essential knowledge base in finance domain.

KSS (Knowledge Sharing Sessions): Finterest has organized 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 etc. • Furthermore, there have been primers on important macroeconomic happenings like Budget Analysis. • 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 on ―Careers in Banking‖ by Anjali Mullatti, CEO & M.D., Finitiatives Learning India Pvt. Ltd. • The students have also been sensitized about the various Certifications of International repute in the Finance domain, viz. CFA, FRM, PRM, CAIA etc.

Fin‘QMen-The Finance Quiz: Intra IIT quiz ‗FIN‘QMEN brought the B.Tech and MBA students of IIT Kharagpur to a common platform. The aim was to promote interdisciplinary interaction and peer learning. The quiz had was divided in two stages. First round was an online round for screening purpose. Second round constituted top 5 teams which competed in a four stages. The quiz had questions from business and finance. The event was conducted in collaboration with the quiz club.

Activities in store: 1. Magazine

The confidence gathered after the successful issues of the newsletter, FinOMenal, has prompted Finterest with the idea of publishing a Finance magazine of VGSOM. This is expected to scale up what all we are currently achieving with the fortnight newsletter. There will be articles and various useful pieces of information contributed by Industry honchos, Faculty and the student community. 2. Virtual Trading and Simulation Game Finterest is planning to organise virtual trading game which will emulate real time experience of stock market trading. It will be held at an All India Level which will bring management student from all over India to a common platform. Students will be given virtual money and made to invest in actual stocks. 3. Finterest Blog and Discussion thread Finterest also plans to publish its articles and newsletter through blog., It aims to connect with large chunk of blogging fraternity and section of MBA aspirants who generally have lots of queries regarding finance during their preparation. This medium will be made interactive through its discussion sections where people can ask generic questions about finance. The questions will be answered promptly by Finterest and in long run will be helpful in building brand VGSOM. 12

Finterest’s Facebook Page: http:// www.facebook. com/Finterest

The ―JUMP‖ from 1 2(to) 3!! By Balajee Rao, MBA, Class of 2011-2013

Sounds more like an oxymoron isn‘t it? These six syllables can actually make sense if one keeps in mind the shoddy performance of the Indian Cricket Team in the recently concluded Test Series in England. With a series win in both the ODIs and the Test matches in the ―non-glamorous‖ Caribbean (in terms of TRP and revenue generated), the Indian team landed in England with the tag of world champions and a NUMERO UNO Test ranking. India being a cricket crazy nation, opinions have gone through the roof; some blame it on the players and some on the administration. To be precisely precise it has been a combined effect of both the actors. There has been a problem, a problem that has persisted through years, but we kept our heads buried in the sand and refused to acknowledge it. Moreover the success of the team in the World Cup and the emergence of the cash rich IPL has coaxed us to turn a deaf ear. The BCCI could have imagined that the number one tag, possibly a magic wand, is enough to claim the series in England, but sadly, it wasn‘t to be. The tired and over confident Indians were up against a prepared England. Good teams do not tire, if they do, more often than not they end up as the losing side. Taking a look at the number of matches they play in a year, it is child‘s play to conclude that it is easier for India to be on the top as compared to the other

international teams. They also have all the money but if not administered well, there is no meaning to it. Preparation cannot happen overnight, it is a long drawn process, starting with identifying the right personnel and then taking it forward. You have to improve as a team with every match, if you are not, you become stagnant. Indians have always been admirers of skill and gave attitude a cold shoulder, not paying heed to the fact that it is the amalgamation that creates magic on the turf. It is actually the mentality of the subcontinent, Pakistan has produced some of the finest bowlers to have played the game, India is arguably the best batting side ―on paper‖ in the world but both the teams are known to be highly inconsistent. Why cannot a sub continent team be tagged ―The Invincibles‖? It is because we are complacent; we do not care about the routine things that are an integral part of the game. Top teams like Australia and England were also infected with injuries, but they always had reserves. Imagine the plight of the Indian team had Zaheer pulled out during the World Cup. England‘s Stuart Broad was immediately packed off home after a dismal performance in Sri Lanka to play for his county. The result is

there for us to see. It is time the BCCI put its head down and devise ways of utilising the monetary resources for better preparation back home. Creating a pool of reserve players in close coordination with N.C.A. should be the primary objective of the management. The demographics of the country give leverage to the administration to unearth talent and groom it for the future. Success speaks a lot more than failure but failure teaches you a lot more than success. India has the resources to bring about the change but it is not possible with the lousy attitude it carries. The cricket administration has some tough questions to answer in order to expedite India‘s ascend and make their perch there, permanent. Sketch by Mallika Nawal (Ph.D. Scholar, 2006):

KGP Trivia! Q8. The 'Grand Old Man' of IIT Kharagpur Prof. Gitindra Saran Sanyal passed away recently. He was associated with VGSOM in an advisory role as well. One of his student had established GS Sanyal School of telecommunication (GSST) in his honour. Name this Student. Q9. Motto of IIT Kharagpur is a sanskrit shloka ―Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam‖. What does this means in English? Q10. Which is the only theatre (movie hall) in Kharagpur which is equipped with digital projection and surround sound system? To find out the answers, turn to the last page.

Different Strokes Showcasing the versatile talents of VGSOM students.

मेरा गन ु ाह

आलोचना

- Prabhat Agarwal (2nd Year, MBA)

- Mohit Rastogi (2nd Year, MBA)

हे अपऩरयचित भन ! भुझे भेया गुनाह फता दो झयते रोिन के अश्रुओ भेया अऩयाध चगना दो क्मों तू नह ॊ ददखाता सौंदमय के अरॊकाय भुझे कणय क्मों फटोयता शब्द ततयस्काय बये क्मों नह ॊ ऩहनाता भुकुट जिससे गरयभा झये साॊस को कय पियक्त तन से, भीत ऩे अऩयण कया दो हे अऩरयचित भन ! भुझे भेया गुनाह फता दो भरू को बय सभुद्र से प्मासे यहना क्मा भेया गुनाह है सयर िॊिरता के स्ऩशय से िुड़े यहना क्मा भेया गुनाह है तरु से सूखे भधुिन भे ऩतझड़ की कल्ऩना क्मा भेया गुनाह है पिम के िरे यास्तो को भेय ठोकये फना दो हे अऩरयचित भन ! भुझे भेया गुनाह फता दो क्मों डूफता हू अॊत भे ऩय सभाप्त नह ॊ हो ऩाता हूॉ दो ऩर के मभरन भे ऩूया िीिन िी िाता हूॉ फ़ियोज़ भे फहकय तेये काॉधे भे स्िामबभान से सो िाता हूॉ हे भेये साथी ! तुभ िाहो तो ऩूयफ से एक औय सूयि उगा दो हे अऩरयचित भन ! भुझे भेया गुनाह फता दो

दयू गगन के ऩाय से कय यहा िाय भुझ ऩय िो फायम्फाय कह ॊ शयण की िगह नह ॊ है िो सफका भामरक तनपियकाय कबी कबी झरक यौशनी की अन्मथा सियदा सत्ता है अन्धकाय की क्मों िो कयता है मे ज़ुल्भ मे अत्मािाय भन भेया ह कयता भुझसे िशन फायम्फाय उसकी सत्ता के भोहये हैं हभ फकन्तु िड़ता का भोह कयते हभ स्ित् िरामभान हो ऩाते िो अगय सयर सुगभ हो िाती िीिन डगय क्मों यखता िो सभस्त अचधकाय हभ हैं क्मा तनश्छर तनिीि फस िरते फपयते कतयव्मों का बाय अफ फहुत हुई भनभानी औय अत्मािाय नह ॊ सहें गे मे दष्ु टता फायम्फाय कयना है अफ तनष्ऩऺ पििाय औय अिाय क्मा ज़रूय है भानि औय उसका व्मिहाय होगा िो अतत फरिान अगय िो दे गा शभा हय फाय हभें िो कयना है अफ हभे आिाय िह िो भाॊगे ऩर ऩर का ित्मुत्तय फढना है फस उसी ऩथ ऩय िो कये मुध्घोश उसकी सता ऩय रड़ना होगा ऩयािम से फाय फाय अॊततभ सुख की शय्मा मभरने तक फायम्फाय

Sketch by Mallika Nawal (Ph.D. Scholar, 2006):

Sketch by Deepika Ahuja (1st Year, MBA):

Different Strokes… continued Showcasing the versatile talents of VGSOM students.

Lose or Cruise – A Binary Choice

Everything For You

- Avijit Pal (1st Year, MBA)

- N.M Leepsa (Research Scholar, VGSOM)

Being at a loss is a feeling you shouldn‟t feel If you are keen enough to make it a zeal. Lessons are what you take away from a loss, Opportunity is what you get to cover the flaws. Remember, even evolution stems from losing in the present Only to add new skills and starting from the nascent. It is darkness which provides you a sense of light, Its the losers who make the victor seem bright. Life is a sojourn with experiences galore, Get off the worries and come to the fore. Where chance is a risk and risk a choice, Capture the melody or become a noise! Victor has the might, being hard to beat, You have the sight of what not to repeat. Fight to the hilt, when battles arise, Loss is not the end, but an option to rise.

When joy comes like breeze wind When smile stays in gate of mind All feeling flows like the river kind Love of your my heart remind My soul sings many wishes Peace appear like god blesses Happiness touch you like angel‟s kisses All for you and your success Life too short and so long my desire To do everything for you with care A cheerful face in Life Empire Lively sunrise everyday to acquire My wishes so pure and my feelings so true That comes from heart like morning dew Everything you dream be it for you Sorrow and suffering if ever come be few No friends leave you new or old They be with you in days of hot and cold A praying hand be there to hold Stay forever with or without gold

Sketch by Ranjeet Kumar Singh (1st Year, MBA):

You stay as winner in hearts of million God stay with you for truthful vision No egos or pride pull legs when you risen Each day each moment bliss be woven All these smiles I want to return From thought of your which are born Those have dwelt in my lips in times of thorn Let those smiles your lips now adorn

KGP Trivia! Q11. Which alumnus of IIT Kharagpur is a recipient of CBE and Padma Bhushan ? Q12. On 16 September 1931, freedom fighters imprisoned in this jail celebrated the killing of sessions Judge Mr. Garley, who had passed death penalty to the famous freedom fighter Shri Dinesh Gupta. The Jail authorities could not tolerate this ‗misbehavior‘ and killed the freedom fighters in their cells. Name the Jail. To find out the answers, turn to the last page. 15

ALUMNI COMMITTEE: Faculty in-charge: Dr. Prithwis Mukherjee

Student Coordinators: Aashish Doshi Amol Khadikar

Ishaan Awadhesh Prabhat Agarwal

Mail Us @ alumni.vgsom.iitkgp@gmail.com

Sachin Choudhary Jishnu Roychaudhuri Lokendra Gayakwad

The Official Facebook Profile of Alumni Committee: http://www.facebook.com/#!/vgsomalumni

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Rahul Bajaj Rohit Sharma Rucha Pundle Follow Us On Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/AlumComm_vgsom

Answers to KGP Trivia! Ans1. It is the exact length of the Scholar's Avenue (2.2 kms). Ans2. Chedis. Ans3. Prof. Gautam Sinha. Ans4. Midnapore West. Ans5. VGSOM inceptionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;1993. President of India, late Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma. Ans6. Chanakya Hall of Residence. Ans7. CORALS stands for: Centre for Ocean, River, Atmosphere and Land Science. Ans8. Arjun Malhotra (Co-founder Of HCL). Ans9. Strive for Yoga which is art of all actions. Ans10. Bombay Talkies. Ans11. Baron Bhattacharyya. Ans12. Hijli jail (Now a part of the IIT campus).

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