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

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)

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."

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.

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.

Eco Forum hosts Guest Lecture by Mr. A V Rajwade

The Economic Forum at SPJIMR recently hosted a guest lecture by Mr. A V Rajwade on the Subprime Crisis as part of its strategic task to enhance interaction between participants and experts from the field of economics. The Subprime Crisis has been haunting the US economy for the past few months and its impact is now starting to be felt globally, especially on the Asian economies of China and India.

Mr. A V Rajwade, the eminent speaker, has been an independent Forex and Treasury management consultant for over two decades. He currently holds the position of a director in several public and private limited companies as well as being the Member/Chairman of various sub-committees of these companies. He is also a former member of the supervisory board of India Opportunities Fund, Bermuda and Mauritius, and Director of CRISIL, India's first credit-rating company.

Organised on the 1st of December 2007, the guest lecture was well attended by participants cutting across different programs. Mr. Rajwade spoke about certain fundamentals such as credit derivatives, credit default swaps, total return swaps, structured finance, collateralised debt obligations (CDO’s), risk and uncertainty and how all these fundamentals help us to diagnose the root cause of the recent credit crisis/subprime crisis. Overall, the lecture proved to be extremely informative and we look forward to similar sessions in the future.

SPJIMR hosts HSBC seminar on CSR

On 28th November 2007, SPJIMR in association with 'Partners in Change' and HSBC organized a CSR seminar as part of the lecture series on 'Investing in Business Leaders of Tomorrow', conceptualized and implemented by Partners in Change. 25 studens from the Industrial Engineering and Business Administration courses of the University of Twente, Netherlands, attended the seminar as a part of their study tour to evaluate CSR practices and initiatives of business enterprises in India.

The seminar was inaugurated by Mr. Peter Brew from IBLF (International Business Leadership Forum) and Mr. Viraf Mehta, CEO, PIC. Mr. Brew spoke about the need for students to take interest in issues affecting the society at a global level. Mrs. Malini Thadani, corporate head, HSBC gave a brief presentation on the CSR initatives taken up by HSBC in India and abroad.

A documentary titled ‘The Merchant princes of Bombay', which tracked growth from that of HSBC right from the days of David Sassoon, to the growth of charity from philanthropy in latter days, to CSR initiatives of corporate today, was screened. This was followed by a panel discussion on 'The Scope for inclusion of CSR in Management Curriculum'. The panel moderated by Mr. Sarang Tamhane, comprised of Mr. D.B. Raju (Larsen & Toubro Ltd.), Ms. Hima Mehta (Colgate Palmolive) and Ms. Suvrata Gharge ( Head-CSR, Mahindra & Mahindra).

Students and alumni from SPJIMR, students from University of Twente and those from AIESEC, shared their views on CSR and the day ended with a splendid high tea; all for a good cause! CSR aware and skilled human capital is becoming vital to a company's sustainability and not enough is being done to foster it. The DOCC committee took an initiative of organizing this event and very effectively highlighted that CSR is the need of the hour.

SBU Marketing organizes workshop on 'Branding'

SBU Marketing arranged for a two day workshop on ‘Branding’ for the future marketer on the 23rd and 24th of November 2007. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Anand Halve, alumnus of IIMA and founder of the Chlorophyll brand & communications consultancy, Mumbai. The workshop talked about the nuances of branding, giving the participants a preview into how branding is done for various products ranging from eggs to newspapers. It gave them an opportunity to put on their creative hats and act as brand managers for specific products. The participants were divided into teams and each team was given the task of coming up with creatives for a specific product.

Mr. Halve has been in the thick of the advertising world for over 28 years now. He has extensive experience in advertising and research for advertising, having worked in Research and Account Management at major advertising agencies including Lintas, Rediffusion and Enterprise, before Chlorophyll. He has presented research papers on Communication topics at MRSI (Marketing Research Society of India) and is a regular visiting faculty at MICA (Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad), and IIMA (Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad). He has also authored a popular book ‘Planning for Power Advertising’, in the year 2005.

Mr. Halve critiqued the presentations and shared his views on them, making it a tremendous learning experience for the presenters. The workshop saw a huge turnout and was appreciated by one and all. Mr. Halve with his wittiness and good sense of humour, kept the participants in splits whilst recounting his experiences in the advertising world, spanning almost 25 years.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Ramesh Damani

A guest lecture was organized by the Eco Forum on the 19th of November 2007. The eminent speaker invited for the lecture was Mr. Ramesh S. Damani, member of the Bombay Stock Exchange Limited and a broker for over 16 years. Mr. Damani is also a well known host of the TV show, “Dalals of Wall Street” on CNBC TV 18 and a frequent commentator on financial issues on CNBC and NDTV news. The topic for the guest lecture was - “THE BULL RUN” The Stock market boom – Is it real???

Mr. Ramesh Damani commenced the lecture by highlighting the major bull runs over past century. He spoke about the dynamics behind a bull run and the dimensions attached to it viz. price and time. He also gave some basic rules for novice investors such as invest early, think long-term and hold on to your investments. Towards the end, a short question and answer session was held during which questions related to future trends of the stock market, impact of population on growth rage and the impact of BRIC countries on the global economy was discussed.

Overall, the event was an enriching experience for all the participants who came away with a better understanding of complex financial issues. We look forward to more such interesting lectures organized by the Eco Forum, who deserve kudos for a job well done.