The spirit of Mumbai

The “Spirit of Mumbai” is a phrase which will be much abused over the coming days by politicians, and administrators alike. But quite seriously, this time it has become nothing more than a standing joke.

When you do not have a right to live safely, work safely, and return home alive, you can only relate to spirits.

Yes, Mumbai is a spirit, hail the Spirit of Mumbai.

-Gunjan Bothra
PGDM Batch of 2010 (Finance)

The Sorting Hat Speaks Again

It's been a while since I've spoken now,
My verse may be a little rusty.
I think I need to clear cobwebs,
My mind feels old and musty.

I wanted a change from Hogwarts,
I wanted something fresh and new.
Hence, I came to SP Jain,
Where the trees sparkle with dew.

My job profile remained the same,
I had to sort and sift.
And when I saw the students here,
I must say it gave me a lift

For I saw lots of talent,
Come from far and wide.
The group interview selection process,
Was really a fun-filled joyride.

So let's get down to the job at hand,
Let's begin the sorting process.
You're in safe hands (though I have none),
Don't worry, I won't make a mess.

Let me first take up Operations,
Which is used to conditions smooth and rough.
The diligent, earnest people here,
I give to lovable Hufflepuff.

For they are used to sweat and toil,
Most (if not all) have work-ex.
The intensity with which they can work,
Might leave others as nervous wrecks.

Next come the brainy ones,
Information Management is their choice.
Above the hubbub of lesser informed ones,
Rises their intelligent voice.

For they can see reason where others can't,
They can weigh the pros and cons.
To Ravenclaw, I give these geniuses,
Over whom many, in the future, will fawn.

Now I call upon the dauntless ones,
Who will have to brave many a fierce storm.
For they have chosen the world of Finance,
Where things have no fixed form.

They have to deal with market highs and lows,
And bulls transforming into bears.
To Gryffindor I give these souls,
Who have the strength to conquer their fears.

And then we have the clever ones,
Who have the gift of gab.
They can send you on a trip to hell,
And make it sound real fab.

Impressive they certainly are,
They know what they want for sure.
The Marketing people belong to Slytherin,
They have a certain mystic allure.

That's it, that's all, I think I'm done,
I shall now go get some sleep.
I happily leave you to your thoughts,Your musings, wondrous and deep.

-Aditya Gupta
PGDM batch of 2010 ( Marketing )

Celebration means....

A Rainy day,
Four Friends,
One Table,
Four glasses of chai.

Or

An Exam eve,
A ton of assignments,
A 8.30 lecture,
Cricket till 5.30 A.M

Or

Maggi Noodles,
Ghar ki Mithai,
A Hostel Room,
2.30 A.M

Or

3 friends,
3 different floors,
3 different cities,
3 coffee mugs,
1 IP Messenger.

Or

A rain soaked cold evening,
Hot Pakoras,
Flatmates dropping by,
A Party.

Or

You and your mom,
A Sunday evening,
A bottle of coconut oil,
A head message,
Gossip about your MBA days and life.

You can spend millions,
You can spend zilch,
But to celebrate and be happy, all you need is to spend your time.


-Gunjan Bothra

PGDM Batch of 2010(Finance)

Theatre Workshop @ SP

All of the arts, poetry, music, ritual, the visible arts, the theatre, must singly and together create the most comprehensive art of all, a humanized society, and its masterpiece, free man” - Bernard Berenson

In an effort channelized towards inculcating theatre as a form of education, SPJIMR conducted the first of its many theatre workshops lined up for the current year. A Thursday that was meant to catch up on a lot of lost sleep, since it’s the weekend here, was anything like a normal Thursday. Students dropped their respective management hats to don roles totally outside their character.
So how and why did this happen? SPJIMR truly believes in the holistic concept of management with the extra stress always being on non-classroom learning. Students over the years have realized that this is truly one form of learning that makes you experience what you are supposed to learn, thereby ensuring that the learning stays within you for far longer than it would if it was just done through books.
The workshop was primarily designed to give everyone involved in the theatre group a feel of what theatre is all about. What goes into the making of a play behind what finally comes live on stage one fine evening was something that intrigued a lot of the participants, and the workshop was meant to clarify just that. What the workshop also succeeded in doing was to successfully squeeze out the acting juices of the participants in the limited time available.
With a facilitator as enthusiastic and power packed as Ms. Yuki Ellias, who came down to conduct the workshop, there was no letting go of the energy infused in each one of the participants. With these perfect ingredients in place, the workshop truly had the makings of a blockbuster and it certainly did not disappoint. It kicked off with some basic exercises to warm up the crowd (almost literally), before people actually got down to seeing and experiencing the various nuances of theatre in its larger sphere.
One of the most prominent exercises which left an indelible mark on the participants was the one in which we were asked to use our hips, shoulders, nose, knees and any other part of our body apart from our legs to walk. Interesting ain’t it? Things got more crazy when a simple expression of a smile or a frown was magnified as it passed on from one person to the other, thereby exposing to people, how much of a story can be conveyed through often under-estimated expressions.
There was more to come though. The most enjoyable part of the workshop truly followed in the 2nd half by which time, most of these first time actors were starting to find their rhythm and character. We were transformed into clowns, were given jazzy attire to play with, and were asked to entertain the crowd for a good ten minutes each as a group. . What seemed a rather straight forward fun exercise actually involved the most learning. The instructor intervened in each performance and started asking them random questions and through this intervention taught everyone present about the different types of clowns and how the best in every clown comes about when the clown is cornered and it’s this desperation that moulds the clown into the performer.
The icing on the cake though was the finale exercise where a visual space was created right there in front of our eyes. We designed an illusionary stage depicting a club with a fancy reception, a swimming pool, changing rooms, showers and et al. Artists were picked up and were asked to play a game as simple as “Chor-police” in the space that was created, thereby increasing stage awareness and self-consciousness while on stage. What was exhilarating to say the least was to see, how this exercise was repeated in 1/10th the space keeping everything else the same. The exercise truly emerged as being one that exposed artists to creativity and innovation with the limited resources and constraints available, something that most often is the case with stage performances.
Some of the biggest takeaways from the workshop included the amount of freedom that artists possessed as individuals, the teamwork that goes into the making of a production, confirming the fact that no individual was greater than the process for which we had gathered.Participants left the place feeling more rejuvenated having touch sides of themselves that they had never known existed within them. The workshop served its overall objective and with the kind of feedback it received, will ensure to be just a start of many more to come in the months ahead.

-Ajay Simha

-Abhinay N

GASPians

PGDM 2008-10

JOY!

After being here for nearly 4 months.. therez one thing that describes it all… JOY! The ‘attitude’ went down the drain, the helpfulness bloomed, some started to come out in their true colours, others who were slow, followed suit. Tragedies formed the bond, Faith strengthened it, selflessness nurtured it, and friendship grew. There were a few hits and misses, but there came a stage when every one was there for everyone who came asking. People listened to those who asked, people respected those who deserved, and people got those with an attitude, down to the ground (for their own good). Today it feels a different place, today it feels a place where joy abounds. Its a place, where the future is not worried about, the past is not pestered about, and the present moment is lived with complete passion. Talent finds itself on the pedestal, knowledge is shared, hobbies are perfected… (assignments, submissions, presentations come out reflecting this).. to an extent that the talent just oozes out. People wish they were back with their folks, but in their hearts they know they will miss this place, that they will remember the madness some day and laugh in their hearts. That on a sad day, they will have these happy memories to cherish themselves. That they met 173 of the most talented people, and had the pleasure of calling them by nick names that they dare not call anyone. And that they stood by them, in the most self less and the most heart warming way, when distress came calling. Perhaps this is what an MBA is, perhaps this is when you feel Joyful, when others around you are joyful, and you feel happy when others around you are happy. Whatever be the time, however high the pressure, it’s moments like these that tell you, that all is not lost. That these moments of Joy you lived will be yours forever. Hope this happiness stays all the way… touchwood!. I am only trying to paint a picture with words.. when you see the photos you will see the personification of what I said

Gunjan Bothra

PGDM Batch of 2010 (Finance)

S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai

Eco-Ganesha 2008

There were a few lessons we learnt as kids; those few which were fondly taught by parents, teachers and the people around us; those which have imbued subtle traits and given us a sense of responsibility towards the environment we live in. Today, we wish to share this concern with those little souls around us, who make the future of the world. L.I.F.E ( Lasting initiative for environment ), a student body at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research has been taking small steps in this direction. Following the tradition of holding ‘Ganesha Idol making’ competition, this year too, L.I.F.E brought to the floor around 400 people to witness the wonderful creations of kids. The idols were made out of waste/recyclable/biodegradable materials like vegetables, fruits, paper, wood, cardboard etc. Year after year, students of SPJIMR have been conducting "Eco Ganesha" to spread the word "We cannot command Nature except by obeying her ".
On 14th September, despite being the Ganesh Visarjan day, Bhavan’s Cultural Centre was brimming with kids and parents who were all enthusiastically waiting to participate in the institute’s eco drive. L.I.F.E, honored by the overwhelming response, started off with an introductory note on how each of us can contribute towards building the synergy between nature and humans. The talk was directed towards building awareness of the hazards caused due to usage of non-biodegradable materials and educating the audience on all the possible uses of biodegradable materials. Children were advised to avoid adopting an exploitative approach towards nature, habitat and environment for creating conditions conducive to sustainable development
This was followed by a humorous play by GASP, the theatre group of SPJIMR to entertain the kids assembled there. Mr. Tiwari of the NGO, Nava Nirmath took over the reins from there and through his innovative methods of teaching, not only kept the kids engrossed in his games, but also conveyed eco awareness through petite messages. People kept pouring in even after 6 p.m to watch the idols displayed. There were idols made from vegetables, cotton, hay, shells, mud, clay., etc. Even the glue used was made from crushed rice or sabudaana. The innovation and creativity of the kids was laudable.
When the kids left and the room was surrounded with idols on all four sides, it was a feast to watch them, all resting in sync with the environment around. L.I.F.E was only happy that it was playing its little role in infusing life back to the environment which we so fondly love.

-Nagashree Natarajan
PRComm

What doesn’t kill you, only makes you better

You wake up one fine morning, not knowing what date it is, not knowing when you slept, not knowing what day it is, and have a general feeling of being confused. And then you ask yourself, what is it that woke you up, and what is it that you need to do. And then you curse….yourself, others around you, and people and surroundings in general.

You have a few submissions to make, and you have a few quizzes to crack, and then there are a few pending things (actually many a pending) that have been begging your attention for quite a while. Your near and dear ones haven’t heard from you since ages, your feelings in general towards all your friends is that off indifference, and that you are at your wits end to make it on time to the class room. And Oh! You have not had your break-fast yet.

All the while you believe that an external force has been unhappy with you. That why at all times you are in the eye of the storm. Why can’t you just close your eyes, and have a nap.. without ever giving a thought to what the world will end up like.

You believe in the fact that your destiny is playing around with you, that your very existence is being mauled with what things are in store for you. Oh look at you, once a great singer, a great dancer, a great painter.. oh look at you, reduced to nothing but a book worm. “When was the last time you did something for the first time, and that made you happy…” you think. Generally there are no answers… you thought you had a talent and you were good at something, but you just don’t remember what it was. Not anymore.

You find people, some janus faced, some innocent, some cunning, and some that you can’t categorise. You find yourself behave in a manner you couldn't have imagined. You fail in a quiz or two, get a zero for the first time (this first time thing, does not make you happy.) You blame it on your inability, you blame it all on to yourself, without thinking a dime about what is it that saw you come to place with some of the smartest people around.

And that’s where the inspiration begins…

You find engineers score more in accounts than CA’s

You find commerce students score more in IT than software pros

You find absolutely tongue tied and shy people, chart out excellent poetry

You find actors, where none were expected

You find singers who you never had thought had a voice

They all did it… and so could you…. And then you think about yourself. You look in the image, and search within your soul, and try to find what is it that you are good at. There's no answer. You ask yourself again, thinking that there has to be something special about me, this time its real hard (almost approaching a tear in the eye for some).., and then it clicks…. You learn a lesson.. Life is not about fretting your weakness, its about building upon your strengths..

This in short what an MBA has been.. precisely saying nothing more than a laboratory of mixed emotions, that prong one to self discovery.. that led one to a better understanding of ones own self.. thank these challenging 80 days of your MBA life, you are a tougher, stronger and a more mature person... moral of the story.. what doesn’t kill you, only makes you better.

Gunjan Bothra

PGDM Batch of 2010 (Finance)

S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai

Placements at SPJIMR in full swing

Internship placements for corporate projects at Mumbai based SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) were hugely successful as the institute effortlessly placed its largest batch yet in the face of a not-so-favourable economic situation. The entire batch of 164 was placed on the first day of placements. Signing off with exciting, never-offered-before profiles, the PGDM class of 2009 accentuated the trend that has been seen at SPJIMR. The placement process, that was spread over 27th and 28th August, ended with participants being offered their dream projects in reputed companies across sectors like Consultancy, Banking, IT, Investment Banking, FMCG, Private Equity, Manufacturing, Healthcare& Pharmaceuticals, Telecom and Media. Companies participating in the process included Tata Administrative Services (TAS), ING IB, Miebach Consulting, Microsoft, GSK, Tata Capital, E&Y (Business Advisory Services), Deloitte, P&G, HUL, Marico, Cadburys, Nestle, Intel, J&J Consumer, Motorola, HT Media, Capgemini, CTS, Cummins, Aricent, Wipro, IBM, SAP, Edelweiss, Development Bank of Singapore, etc.SPJIMR also attracted participation for the first time from renowned international firms coming exclusively to SPJIMR. These firms included brand and creative design consultant Landor Associates and leading online auction and shopping website eBay, international networking giant Cisco ,which offered coveted roles for the first time across B-schools.PGDM participants at SPJIMR carry out social projects when the rest of the business schools have summer corporate projects scheduled. It is for this reason that corporate India has to come out with specially designed projects under the "Autumns internship" in the months of September and October. SPJIMR has been known for its innovations in management education. Projects based on its flagship programmes, Development of Corporate Citizenship (DOCC) and Assessment and Development of Managerial Potential (ADMAP), are now being tried at other Indian business schools. It is these reasons that set SPJIMR uniquely apart from other business schools, as clearly endorsed by corporate India lapping up SPJIMR students for their internships.
http://www.livemint.com/2008/09/01125655/Placements-at-SPJIMR-in-full-s.html

Amazon Web Services on Campus

Cloud and Utility Computing for MBA's, are you kidding, eh... no, not at all.

Last week Mr. Jinesh Varia, Technology Evangelist at Amazon visited SPJain, participants were quite curious to know about Amazon and its new Web Services business which has already made such a huge impact on how enterprises work (one of my friend's startup uses the same platform). Few coming from a technology background like me were excited knowing more about the new technological changes happening, and the ones who were not-so-tech-savvy kinds were curious as the Amazon Web Services Case Discussion in one of our courses had been pretty exciting.

As Prof. Nilanjan rightly introduced Mr. Varia, a Google Search on his name weaves a CLOUD of information on Cloud Computing. Mr. Varia has moved on from Amazon's research division to a role of an evangelist and he surely didn't dissapoint anyone as he took us on a journey of development of Amazon Web Services and how its offerings have enabled businesses to come up with new business models. The talk as the name suggested covered Cloud and Utility Computing in the perspective of Amazon which has extended offerings from a Website selling Books to Web Infrastructure provider on the basis of research efforts put in by their scientists.

Amazon Web Services is a collection of Web Services offering a range of infrastructure services (both storage and processing). In a layman terms it’s like what Jinesh mentioned, it’s analogous to the difference between renting a house and owning a house. Renting gives you flexibility, you get a raise and you can move around easily, owning a house you get stuck to a particular place and there are people who prefer both. Now talking about from a business perspective someone starts a business and instead of owning up all the storage and processing platform we rent an infrastructure from a service provider like Amazon and utilize their technology platform.

Cloud Computing is at the heart of that strong technology platform. Cloud Computing is an extension of Grid Computing where XML based Web Services are accessible to users (Services in the Cloud) to provide control over the technology infrastructure supporting them. Amazon is a pioneer in Cloud Computing Technology and it’s a perfect example of how research efforts can help you to extend beyond your traditional business.

Mr. Varia used the Animoto story to put across this point. This cool website which enables user to upload pics, mix music and create videos out of it was doing well. One fine day they come up with a Facebook App and all of a sudden the number of user hitting them takes a Quantam jump. As it was based on Amazon Web Services they were able to cope up with the increase in numbers easily. AWS enables businesses to scale-up and down based on seasonal variations and removes overheads of managing the changes in infrastructure.

Amazon Web Services runs with the motto We innovate for you, so that you can innovate for your customers. People running the business(web based) don't waste time on day to day operational activities of maintaining servers etc. and they can concentrate on innovation so that they create more value for their customers. Mr. Varia shared stories about many entrepreneurs who have leveraged new innovations in technology to kick start their business and become successful. He asked everyone to utilize the opportunities available especially in India which according to him is on the verge of becoming a huge economic power and the environment is just apt for such things.

There were lots of questions asked, lots of nice discussions, from both a technology and business perspective and I am sure Mr. Varia would have enjoyed those discussions. The students surely enjoyed it and left the session much enlightened with knowledge of Web Based Businesses and motivated to try out things on their own.

For me it was about understanding how quickly technology has evolved, from my Lab in college two years back, when I tweaked numerous settings of a Globus Toolkit to setup Two Linux Box Grid (that was some achievement :)) to Clouds of Amazon. The challenges and opportunities rapid changes in technology throw up surely provide a great platform for both managers and entrepreneurs to learn, innovate and create successful enterprises.

---
Abhishek Deshpande PGDM(08-10)
PRCom

Technorati Tags: Jinesh Varia, Amazon Web Services, SPJIMR, SPJain

ASSIGNMENTS of 2009

(Inspired By Summer of 69, By Bryan Adams…..)
I got my first real assignment,
Got it with a real close deadline,
Worked at it till my group got mad,
Was the assignment of 2009.

Me and people from the class,
Had grouped and worked real hard,
Some quit, some got frustrated,
Always knew we never made a start,
Oh, when I look back now,
The assignment seems to last forever…
Boy, if I had the choice, I would have never had it completed,
Those were the dread days of my life….
Those assignments of 2009…..

Ain’t no use in complaining,
When you’ve got a submission to do,
Spend my time fighting the deadlines,.. oh COCO that’s when I met you!!..
Standing in the GW room, You told me that it will be postponed for ever..
And when I saw your cynical smile, I knew that it was now or never…

Those were the dread days of my life…
Those assignments of 2009..

Man we were killing time,
We were chatting and playing, and having a great time..
I guess that assignment will be forgotten forever.. forever.. forever… yeah!!

And now the times are changing,
look at everything that’s come and gone,
But when I remember those assignments,
think about it wonder what went wrong.

Standing near the GW room,
I Felt that they would last forever,
Boy as if I had a choice, I knew the submissions was now or never..
Those were the BEST days of life…

Those assignments of 2009….

-GUNJAN

PGDM- 2008-10 ( Finance )

The Celebration That Was…

It was August 15, the Year 08,
The anniversary of India’s Birth Date.
The SPJIMR family came,
Together to salute India, the lovely dame.
The occasion began as tradition told,
The national flag on the staff unfurled.
Respect writ in the masses’ face,
As the national anthem took its pace.
Proud Indians renewed their pledge to serve,
Their motherland in all its verve.
Post this there was a cultural fest,
Where SP’s students proved to be the best.
Adi and Supriya led the show,
While talent came forward in a beautiful flow.
The freedom struggle came to life,
When dancers depicted peace and strife.
United India in harmony sang,
“Mile Sur”! Oh with what joy our voices rang.
A thespian treat thrilled every sense,
India viewed through a 61 year old lens.
Enthralling was the story told,
By actors from the SPJIMR fold.
‘Vande Mataram’ was the culmination of it all,
And on this lovely note, the curtains did fall.
And in store was a lovely treat,To bistro, we all went to eat

-Reshmi Mathew

Anandwan- the abode of joy

When you hurt your knee, did you remember that old man by the lane with one foot? When you threw an old rotten fruit into the bin, did you realize there was someone out there whose limbs were being cut and thrown coz they were rotten too. When you sang for your picture perfect partner, did you realize that there are thousands who have been painted in haste? Yes, there is a world other than the perfect one etched out for you. There is a world that believes in carving out the best from what has been given to them. This little world, set out to make the impossible possible, taking the deaf and dumb, the blind and less fortunate along in the march, is a small abode of happiness we happened to take a peek into. It is Anandwan – the abode of joy.

Year after year, Anandwan has been inviting the students of SPJain, silently though, through the special bonding both the organizations fondly share. When PGDM batch of 2008 set out on a 20 hour journey, little did they know that they would bathe in bliss on reaching this little town. Anandvan is a noble initiative, started by Baba Amte, to treat and rehabilitate leprosy victims from the disadvantaged sections of society. Today it is not just a shelter for these patients, but serves the livelihood of 3500 people, serving the blind, deaf and dumb. It is a self-sufficient village with people engaged in more than 100 different occupations. All they need from outside is oil, petrol, salt and sugar. It’s only after this visit we realized how handicapped we were.

When our bus entered the Ashram, the first thing that struck us was the peace and serenity of the place. We could hear the chirping of birds, watch people busy at work, catch students of a nearby school hopping around, cattle grazing – there was rhythm in every action. We grabbed a quick yummy lunch and were ready to travel another 3 hours to talk to Dr. Vikas Amte, a man who calls himself the jailor of the prison called Anandwan. As we passed through the open fields, we could witness the sun setting behind us and a new spark dawning in our hearts. Dr. Vikas Amte, a man of grit and vigour, might not be too refined in his talk, but it’s his heart you connect to when he speaks with such passion about his work. Here is a man who lives in a remote village in Yawatmal with a “Land Army “ of 100 people to save their own people. They have set out to stop the suicide of farmers, provide irrigation by building dams and through rain harvesting. Now we know there are people who crib and here are people who act. We received a cordial welcome with delicious poha and steaming tea while Dr. Vikas spoke about his father and family, their journey till date, the innumerable obstacles they faced, the initiatives they have undertaken and how successful they have been in their endeavours. He displayed various products made by the people of Anandwan. There was truth in his talk, confidence in his walk and passion in the future he wished to chalk out for India and her people. When he left us or rather when we left him, we knew that our society needs many such people and we could be one among them. We had dinner and went back to our dormitories. Anandwan had taken care of every minute detail of our stay. We felt grateful to them.

We woke up the next day to walk around Anandwan and witness the miracle they have built over years. A group of us took a stroll by the nearby lake, a walk which we can never forget. The scenic beauty was breathtaking. We walked across a school where students were melodiously singing ‘itni shakti hame dena data, manka vishwaas kamzor na ho’. It meant a lot and we could relate to the context very well. Groups of villagers passing by greeted us with a warm smile, talking to each other with sign languages, carrying those who could not walk and leading those who could not watch the road ahead. It was extremely heartening. Then we were guided through the different occupations that are done there. We witnessed footwear being made of tyres, x-ray sheet flowers, beautiful greeting cards out of twigs and husk, jute bags, huge machines weaving clothes, artistic wall hangings made of mint covers and many more. The artisans were so skilled that it took us a few seconds to realize that people who were sewing were blind, cards were being made with the help of toes, nails were being hammered with precision despite not being able to see anything. How many of us are deaf, dumb and blind towards the job at hand? Here was a lesson to learn.

The real big thing was yet to come. We were told that there was an orchestra of performers awaiting us to make our stay memorable. This one was mind blowing. You can even list it as one of the wonders of the world. This troupe of handicapped people has been keeping anandwan running for the past 6 years earning crores for it. A couple of songs and the audience contributed a staggering 16k rupees to Anandwan’s kitty. That is good enough to say how captivated they were with the performance. Voices as sweet as nectar, steps as perfect as on screen and a narration that strung them as that of the beads of a necklace, made it look elegant and beautiful.

When we wound up for our journey back, our backpacks seemed heavier. We now knew the responsibilities we carry as we sketch the future of an emerging india and the worlds we have to take along with us to have a complete inclusive growth. We also realized that all of them whom we term as disabled are just ‘differently-abled’. They do not seek pity, but an opportunity to live, just like you and me or as Dr. Amte subtly frames it - All they need is a chance, not charity.

-Nagashree Natarajan

PRCom

LST - Unlocked

Lock, Stock and Trade in news
http://www.mbauniverse.com/innerPage.php?id=ne&pageId=1363
http://www.coolavenues.com/bschools/080804/spjimr-trade-1.php

Boom Shankar strikes the right chord

Here's the story of a band that has mastered the fine art of managing music - The success story of Boom Shankar, SPJIMR's very own band!
(Article featured in DNA)

SPJIMR wins TATA Crucible 08 (Indore Leg)

SPJIMR family extends heartiest congratulations to Siddharth Natrajan and Vijay Pillai (PGDM particpants) for winning the Indore Leg of the TATA Cruible 08!

Visit http://www.tatacrucible.com/campus/report2008/indore.html for more details.

bhavITva – Disruptively Innovative!

1st March 2008
This year, the theme for bhavITva, the annual Information Management conclave of SPJIMR, was ‘Disruptive Innovations and their role in redefining the technology and business landscape.’ Mr. K. Ananth Krishnan, Chief Technology Officer, Tata Consultancy Services was invited for an interactive guest lecture with the students of SPJIMR on 15th January 2008. The topic of the session was ‘Changing business environment forcing Indian IT companies to innovate.’ This discussion provided the backdrop for bhavITva 2008.

bhaITva 2008 was held in partnership with NASSCOM and IAMAI. BizTech2.0 was the media partner. The keynote speaker of eNNOVATION was Mr. Ninad Karpe (MD, Computer Associates, India & SAARC). Guest presentations on a variety of innovation related issues were given by Mr. Abhay Gupte (President, ITO, EDS India), Mr. Ravi Trivedy (Executive Director, KPMG) and Mr. Rajdeep Sahrawat (VP and Head of Innovation Initiative, NASSCOM). The guest speakers were later joined by Mr.Vishwa Kiran (VP, R&D, Accenture India) and Prof. Oscar D’Souza (Faculty, SPJIMR) for a panel discussion. The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Ivor Soans (Managing Editor, Enterprise Technology, BizTech2.0).

bhavITva 2008 saw the launch of IMZine, the annual IM magazine published by SPJIMR along with ‘IM The Guiding Spirit’ mentorship programme for its PGDM Information Management participants. bhavITva 2008 was successfully conceptualized, planned, managed and executed by the Strategic Business Unit for Information Management (SBU-IM) team at SPJIMR comprising of participants of the PGDM program of SPJIMR.

Arthasankalp - SPJIMR goes gaga over the Union Budget

29th February, 2008

The Economic Forum 07 continued the SPJIMR tradition of screening the Union Budget live as a part of the committee’s flagship event Arthasankalp. The D-day was preceded by a series of ‘Knowledge Transfer’ sessions and daily sector-wise updates. When the countdown for the telecast had begun, an audience quiz was just right to set the tone and the standard for the live telecast. While the budget was being telecasted on-the-spot highlight interspersed with SENSEX data were projected to dynamically capture the market sentiments on the budget.

To take the endeavor forward a panel discussion for a post budget analysis was organized on 2nd March 2008. The discussion was moderated by Ms. Mini Menon (Senior Editor and Head of News Features - UTV). The esteemed panel constituted of Mr. Sandeep Shanbhag (Personal Finance), Mr. S. Naren (Head Equity- ICICI Prudential), Ms. Ashima Goyal (Professor - IGIDR) and Mr. Jiban Mukhopadhyay (Ex Economic Advisor - TATA Group). Various insightful points about oil bonds, loan waiver for the farmers, taxes etc. were raised and critiqued in the discussion.

Such innovative ways of disseminating practical knowledge has helped the participants keep abreast with the economic dynamics that have been shaping the country. The Economic Forum did a great job at spreading awareness about the budget and came close to achieving its mission statement ‘Connecting to the world of Economics.’

Ehsaas '08 Colors SPJIMR With Different Strokes

The SPJIMR campus was painted with a thousand different colours and a million sparkling smiles on the 18th of February 2008. The DOCC committee of the institute organised ‘Ehsaas’ which left all the participants with a feeling of utter satisfaction. It sensitized them to the differently-abled youth of the country. It served as a platform for these young aspirers to showcase their talent and potential to the society.

This year the event kicked off with welcoming the kids in the auditorium where they subsequently displayed their talents in dance, music and drama. The performances were interspersed with games and impromptu performances by the kids. This was followed by a fun-fair organized in association with Leo Toys and a drawing competition conducted in association with the Rotary Club. The kids indulged themselves at the stalls set up by the participants and won gift vouchers to buy attractive gifts of their choice from the stalls present.

Through DOCC, the participants aim to gain exposure to the challenges faced by the society and help develop sustainable solutions for them. ‘Ehsaas’ is an endeavour in this regard and the event did manage to strike a chord in every heart. The interaction with the differently-abled children is a step forward in nudging the managers of tomorrow to be more proactive and harmonious with the society as they assume their corporate responsibilities.

SMIA Hits The Nail On The Head!

The marketing discipline has always been more art than science; corporations have spent untold billions on marketing without any exact way to determine how much the resulting 'Brand Equity' or 'Consumer Awareness' contributes to their bottom line. With this in mind, SPJIMR organized the Marketing Effectiveness Conclave to showcase real life instances where marketing initiatives have helped enhance marketing effectiveness.

The event also hosted the SP Jain Marketing Impact Awards, a competition in which companies presented their best marketing initiatives – which were judged for the return on marketing investment. The finalists for this year were Ginger Hotels, Motorola, Marico and the first international entry of Pentland. At the ringing of the final bell Marico was declared the winner for its advanced IT based Sales Information System with Motorola as the runner up for the impact of their marketing initiatives.

The keynote address was given by Mr. S. Sivakumar, Chief Executive of ITC agro-business. The brain behind the award winning e-Choupal model talked about the evolution of marketing thinking with special regards to the social marketing network in rural India and how firms can make a fortune at the bottom of the pyramid.

The event included a panel discussion of industry experts, discussing how to make marketing accountable to the business. The discussion ranged from the limitations of quantitative metrics in marketing to Brand Equity and how to effectively leverage its benefits for business. Prof. Atish Chattopadhay commented, “A data driven basis for making broad, strategic marketing trade-offs are yet to be established. This event aims to create awareness about the fact that the trade-offs were made on the basis of projected financial impact and long-term sustainability of the organizations."

SPRINT '08 Makes A Successful Debut

The Sports Committee at SPJIMR recently hosted the institute’s first ever inter-collegiate sports meet – ‘SPRINT ‘08’. Top B-schools from across the nation including IIM-I, SCMHRD, NITIE, JBIMS, NMIMS and KJSOM participated in the event to make it a grand success. With over 200 representatives from the participating teams descending on the campus, the institute was able to experience firsthand, the electrifying atmosphere of an Inter B-school sports fest.

The festivities kicked off with a gala opening ceremony that included hoisting of the games flag, lighting of the ceremonial torch and an oath taking ceremony by all the team captains in true Olympic style. The games were then declared open by Dr. Sesha Iyer, Director of SPJIMR. Sports ranging from cricket and football to badminton and throw-ball were conducted during the event.

After two days of excitement and festivities, SPJIMR walked away with the tag of overall SPRINT ’08 champions with an excellent all-round performance. On the whole, all the matches were played in the true spirit of the game and gave an insight into the athletic prowess of B-school participants. Special commendations go out to the Sports Committee for their excellent handling and execution of the event. We, at SPJIMR hope that SPRINT becomes a permanent fixture of the annual calendar and enhances its scope and size year after year.

Vinimay 2008 - SPJIMR's first Consulting Symposium

The second of February, 2008 was a historic day in the history of SPJIMR. The first ever consulting symposium, ‘Vinimay ‘08’ was organized by the Consulting Committee of the institute. Bringing together stalwarts from the field of consulting, retail and academia, the symposium proved to be a huge success.

Vinimay 2008 was broken into two events. The first was a case analysis competition for consultants from the industry called ‘Crack-a-Case’. Consultants with a maximum of 3 years of work experience were invited to submit their report analysis on the case. Three teams were selected to make the final presentations on D day. The eventual winners were Amrit Singh and Shalini Upadhyay from ECS.

The second event was a panel discussion on ‘India Entry Strategy – Retail Sector.’ The panelists were Sadeesh Raghavan (MD, India Domestic Business, Accenture), Saurine Doshi (Partner, A T Kearney), Rakesh Biyani (CEO, Pantaloon Retail India Ltd.), Abheek Singhi (Partner, BCG) and Prof. Prem Chandrani of SPJIMR. The panel was moderated by Vivek Law (Editor, Consumer Affairs, CNBC TV18). The discussion proved to be extremely insightful and diverse viewpoints from the eclectic panel added to the educative experience.

Overall, Vinimay 2008 was a ground breaking event and has ended up setting an enviable precedent that needs to be replicated in the future.

'Men Without Shadows'- A Magnum Opus by GASP

On the 20th of January 2008, the GASP (Guild of Actors at SP) ‘08 presented an adaptation of Jean Paul Sartre’s ‘Men without Shadows’ at the Institute’s auditorium.

GASP has been built over a tradition of stepping beyond regular academia under severe time constraints. It has helped participants don their creative hats to conceptualize, visualize and recreate the magic of intense, thematic and social plays. The uniqueness of GASP stems from the fact that it is a production completely handled by students, right from brainstorming for the idea, to the script selection, to the cast auditions, to direction, lights, music, backstage, et al.

The play was a stupendous success and played before a packed auditorium of over 300 viewers. The team is now set to explore other avenues for showcasing their well orchestrated efforts and recreate their magic on stage.

Lock Stock Trade 2008: The biggest IPO this side of Dalal Street!

SPJIMR in close association with the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) organized Lock Stock Trade (LST) on 19th January, 2008. LST aims to provide students with guidance from entrepreneurs and venture capitalists on how to anticipate business risks and work within limited resources. LST is a unique event due to a trinity of factors - The Mock IPO simulation concept, the real life investable businesses and the Business Analysts from the MBA program.

LST 2008 attracted global participation from reputed international Business Schools like Thammasat University, Thailand and S.P. Jain Centre of Management, Dubai. The keynote speaker was Captain G.R. Gopinath, Executive Chairman, Deccan Aviation. The business ideas presented at LST have always carried a social touch to them. The relevance of this sensitivity was seconded by Capt. Gopinath himself. “Businesses in India today have to obviously be profitable and scalable. But additionally they must also be inclusive – both demographically and geographically. This is why I did not build just a “Bombay-Delhi” airline. India lives in its small towns and villages.”

The event is a step forward in building responsible leaders and visionaries to change the development landscape of India through entrepreneurial ventures.

Khoj 2008 - Taking the bull by the horn!

Khoj 2008, the premier Inter B-school Equity Research Paper Competition was hosted on 12th January, 2008 by SPJIMR. Organized annually by the SBU-Finance committee of our institute, Khoj provides a platform for interaction between industry professionals, academicians and students in the area of Equity Research.

The sixth edition of Khoj ’08 witnessed over 300 registrations from around 70 B-schools including the IIMs, ISB, MDI, XLRI and FMS. Five teams were eventually shortlisted for the final round of presentations held on D-day. The panel of judges comprised of eminent professionals from the field of financial research, the mutual fund industry and brokering houses. At the end, the teams from IIMK and IIMC walked away with the top two prizes.

Sponsored by the leading Indian brokerage house, ‘K R Choksey’, Khoj ’08 proved to be a tremendous success and a huge hit with audiences across all fields. It has also firmly established itself as pre-eminent equity research competition for B-school students in the country.

SPJIMR team finishes Runners-up at TBLA

The finals of TBLA ’08, held recently at the Taj Hotel (Mumbai) saw the team from SPJIMR performing exceptionally well. ‘Team Sanchar’, consisting of Ashish Upadhyay, Raghava Attinuru, Sunrita Bhowmik and Swagata Basak from the PGDM programme won the First Runners Up award at this event.

TBLA ’08 witnessed about 230 registrations from the top 7 Business Schools in India, which TAS visits for placements. Fifty-six entries made it to the campus defence round. The SPJIMR round witnessed a record high of 14 entries at this stage. The top team from each campus made it to the final round, where the SPJIMR team eventually finished second.

The judges for TBLA presentations were Mr. Allen Rosling and Mr. Ishat Hossain, Executive Directors of Tata Sons. For finishing runners-up, ‘Team Sanchar’ received a cash award of Rs. 50,000 and a bunch-load of goodies from the Tata Group Chairman, Mr. Ratan Tata.

When asked to comment on their exceptional performance, the team members expressed their unanimous thanks to all their well wishers from the institute for helping them achieve this feat. Special mention was made of Prof. Jiban Mukhopadhyay (Professor, Economics Department) for guiding the team throughout and being a personal witness to their glory. Once again, congratulations to the winning team and wishing them all the best for their future.

Another Feather in our Cap

Deepak Bhaskaran and Shiv Vipin SV emerged as the Second Runners-up at the Grand Master Competition organized by The Economic Times (West Zone). The event included an online game, a case study presentation and a quiz by quizmaster Derek'O'Brian. (20-12-2007)

Kaavya B and Kulpreet Kaur won the 2nd place in a marketing paper writing contest at DRiSHTANT 2007-08 by IIML. Their topic was ‘Management in Indian Retail Arena.’

Congratulations to the winners!

We also acknowledge the commendable achievement of Abhijit Petkar, Jagnoor Singh and Mohit Agarwal in Loreal E-Start. Their team is one of the 1300 teams shortlisted for the second round of this online marketing simulation game from 40000 teams across 110 nations. Wish you all the very best for the next round!

(Data compiled by CultCom)

Leadership Series at SPJIMR

Luminaries from both the corporate and the social sector shared their insights on ‘Business Leadership in the changing Socio-economic context’ at the Leadership Seminar organized at SPJIMR. A panel discussion by Mr. Lalit Kumar (President and CEO, Reliance Pharmaceuticals Ltd), Mr. Sanjay Sachdeva (Country Head, Shensai Bank), Mr. Viren Popli (Senior VP, Star India and an alumnus of SPJIMR), and Mr. Ujjwal Banerjee (‘Lead India’ finalist and Manager, Akanksha Foundation) was moderated by Prof. Jiban Mukhopadhayay, ex-economic advisor of TATA group and currently a senior faculty member at SPJIMR.

A potpourri of issues like the role of the corporate in developing infrastructure, globalization, structuring of organization in a dynamic environment, and the role of the government in bringing about a socio-economic change were addressed by the speakers. The event witnessed active audience participation and a number of issues were discussed and debated.

Prof. Lata Dhir, the convenor for the event shared with the audience the vision of establishing a centre for leadership at the institute. She also touched upon the various initiatives taken in that regard. The event concluded with Dr. Keith D’souza, co-convenor of the seminar, summing up the discussions and delivering a vote of thanks.

Leadership Series - A LeadCom initiative

Spandan '07 - A Trip Down Memory Lane

December 15, 2007

Spandan ’07, the annual alumni reunion of SPJIMR was held at the SPJIMR auditorium in mid-December. It witnessed a huge turnout of 225 alumni along with their families. The event started off with the lighting of the auspicious lamp by Dr. Sesha Iyer (Director, SPJIMR), Prof. Kshirsagar, Mrs Varsha Parab (Registrar, SPJIMR) and an alumnus of the institute. It was followed by an invocation song by Nivedita Ramesh and Jyothsna, first year participants of the PGDM course.

Dr. Sesha Iyer addressed the gathering and stressed on the importance of a strong alumni network for an institution and suggested specific ways of fostering the same. Shreyas from AlCom ’07 (Alumni Committee) then presented the tasks and future plans of the committee towards building a close-knit alumni network. It was followed by the felicitation of the batches of 1992, 1997 and 2002 by Dr. Sesha Iyer and Prof. Kshirsagar. It was a moment filled with nostalgia and brimming with pride when the alumni were called on the dais with their testimonials being read and nick names being called out. Mr. Akhil Chaturvedi (Batch of ‘88) from the Mumbai Alumni Chapter updated the proceedings of the Mumbai Chapter. Mr. Muralidharan and Ms. Purvi Shah spoke about their experiences in SPJIMR and thanked AlCom for organizing the event on such a grand scale. The felicitation ceremony concluded with Prof. Kshirsagar addressing the alumni and Vinay Trivedi from Alcom ‘07 delivering the vote of thanks.

Spandan ’07 also witnessed the launch of ‘Future of the Past’, a book authored by Mr. Alpesh Patel (Batch of 2000). It was launched by Prof. A.B.Kulkarni. The event concluded over dinner with the alumni reminiscing their past and sharing their joys of the present. As Salonee (member, AlCom ’07) aptly put it, 'reunions are aimed for re-establishing old ties' and Spandan ’07 was successful in making that happen.

Boom Shankar Creates Histroy

Boom Shankar, SPJIMR’S first in-house band comprising of 1st and 2nd year PGDM students created history on the 15th of December 2007. With an astounding performance that blew away all competition, Boom Shanker won the first place at SCMHRD’s ‘Launchpad – The battle of bands’. Along with a trophy and gift vouchers worth Rs.10K, the band earned a direct entry into Channel [V]’s Launchpad ’08, one of India’s top competitions for national rock bands.

The members of Boom Shankar include – Aniruddha Kundu (Lead Guitar), Nitin Sharma (Rhythm Guitar, Vocals), Sameer Walzade (Bass Guitar, Vocals) and Yudhishthir SJB Rana (Drums). The performance of the band deserves special mention in light of the fact that it was formed a week prior to the event. When asked to comment on their stunning performance, the band members credited their hard work and the support of fellow PGDM participants for their success. Special mention was also made of Mrs. Varsha Parab, who helped the band members in procuring instruments at short notice and backed them in their efforts.

Wishing Boom Shanker all the very best for days ahead and hoping they make us even prouder by emerging as the country’s top rock band, a few months from now.