Upload
prameya
View
221
Download
1
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Â
Citation preview
PRaMeYa
weschool.prameya prameya @prameyaWEschool
September 2013Issue Fifth
FOREWORD“Prameya” is an apt name for the voice of WeSchool Bengaluru.
It’s the official bimonthly newsletter of the students, by the
students and for the students in every true sense. WeSchool, a
premier business school has gone beyond academics and
indulges in extracurricular activities for holistic development of
the students. Prameya, a students’ platform showcases the
talent which is encouraged and nurtured under the umbrella of
activities conducted by the institute.
This issue begins with the Address’ by our Group director Prof.
Dr. Uday Salunkhe and the Dean and Director of Bengaluru
campus Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila. Foundation fortnight has always
been a productive and invigorative way of orienting new
students. As the name suggests, it is a two week long themed
session which allows the students to acclimatize with the new
environment and gives them a chance to interact with renowned
corporate speakers. This years’ theme being “Game Plan”, we
have devised the issue of magazine along the same lines.
An article by Mr. D Shivkumar(President, AIMA) follows the
theme article. It is followed by Our Guru Speaks section
featuring an interview with our Faculty Prof. Dr. Jai Raj Nair
(B.Arch,PGDBM,Phd). Post Budget Conference, India CEO
Forum, WeSchool Faculty Development Program, Faculty
Virtual Workshop, and India Destination report are also some
highlights of this issue. We have also tried to give a gist of the
WeCafe sessions which hosted three corporate guest speakers.
It is followed by Achievers wall of fame, MDC activities,
WeConnect section featuring an interview with our student
Alumni, AIMS events including Dean and Director’s Round table
and convention of Management Education, India Innovation
Summit, HR summit 2013, and WeKas and WeMitra initiative.
Under the events section, we have covered the Rotract events of
Blood donation camp, flash mob dance and the installation
ceremony of the new Rotract committee. It is followed by a
feature on the Independence Day Celebration, Farewell of the
2011-13 batch of WeSchool and the Students corner.
We have introduced a few new sections including the Innovation
of the month, Book reviews and a photography competition for
the students, which wraps up this issue.
Wish you all a happy read…….
INDEXForeword
Index
Group Director's and Dean's Address
WeSchool Achievement
Foundation Fortnight - Game Plan
Prepare, Don’t Plan by Mr D. ShivaKumar
Our Guru Speaks
Post Budget Conference
India CEO Forum
WeSchool Faculty Development Program
Faculty Virtual Workshop Wemitra and Wekas Initiative
India Destination
WeCafe Sessions
Achievers Wall of fame
Management Development Centre Activities
WeConnect with Vishwanath
The Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) events -
Dean and Director's Round table
Convention of Management Education
India Innovation Summit
HR Summit 2013
Rotract Events
Independence Day Celebrations
Farewell of batch 2011-13
Students Corner - Game Plan of Behemoths
Innovation Of The Month
Book Reviews
Photography Contest
1
2
3
9
11
13
14
15
16
17
19
22
23
24
25
28
29
30
33
35
36
38
39
40
Faculty EditorDr. Sonia Mehrotra
EditorV RamLakhan Annavarpu
Concept & DesignMr. William DayabaranSiddharth Gulati
On Field Team
Sagar Sheth
Manjunath S Doddamani
Gunjan Kushwah
Preeti Bisht
Ankita Banerjee
VijayaLakshmi
Coming together is beginning;
working together is progress. –
Henry Ford
At WeSchool we are deeply inspired by
these words . Today emerg ing
unarticulated needs and realities need a
new approach both in terms of thought as
well as action. Cross disciplinary
learning, discovering, scrutinizing,
prototyping, learning to create and
destroy – the mind’s eye needs to be
nurtured and differently so.
I view my job as two-fold: to provide the
means for my students to succeed,
whether that is through course offerings,
research opportunities and more
importantly to stand by them and with
them as they make this two year journey
with us.
Prameya – the students’ magazine
depicts the students campus life and the
happenings at WeSchool.
I congratulate the New Prameya
Team 2013-14 and wish them luck
for their future endeavors.
Dean & Director
Bengaluru Campus
Professor Dr. Anil Rao Paila
In order to succeed, your desire for
success should be greater than your
fear for failure.- Bill Cosby
Today the rules of the game have
changed. We often hear about the terms
such as globalization, triple bottom line,
disruptive innovation, sustainability,
technological revolut ion, socia l
responsibility, ethics, governance and
the list goes on. To keep abreast with
these dynamic changes, there is a dire
need for the students to develop global
mindset, hone their leadership skills,
greater awareness of self and context,
holistic thinking skills, develop empathy
& ethical perspectives & soft skills. At
WeSchool all our efforts are towards
grooming our students with these
qualities and skill sets.
We have always focused to nurture our
students as Global citizen managers. Our
approach emphasizes the students to
learn through application of acquired
knowledge and as the next step delve
deeper to make the meaning of the
knowledge acquired by understanding
their individual role and responsibilities
towards business, relationships and
society.
I wish success to the new Prameya
team for the Academic year 2013-14
in all the endeavors ahead.
Professor Dr. Uday Salunkhe
Group Director - WeSchool
Dean‘sAddress
Group Director’sAddress
1
2
WeSchool Achievement
Bombay Management Association (BMA) conferred Prin. L. N. Welingkar
Institute of Management Development (WeSchool) with the "Outstanding
Institute of Management of the Year" award on its 35th Award Ceremony held on 14 June
2013.This add yet another feather to WeSchool’s hat of accolades.
Under the guidance and direction of our dynamic group director Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe,
WeSchool has consistently worked towards delivering quality on par with the outside
world. . Striving for Inventive and technology driven education while keeping design
thinking and innovation as the prime focus has helped WeSchool to set a benchmark in
management education.
Commenting on the occasion Mr R Ramakrishnan, President, BMA said, "Education
plays a crucial role in a nation’s upliftment and business management is essential for the
growth of an economy. We are happy to present this award to WeSchool for their
instrumental initiatives and projects that have empowered many students to realize
their dreams. We wish them all success and offer our continued support for their future
endeavours."
Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe stated the need of futuristic global leaders to lead India
towards absolute stature. To meet this demand, WeSchool has persistently tried to
provide a complete package of innovative and tailor made course modules enunciating
the need for values and ethics. Through world class faculty, result oriented teaching
techniques and experiential learning WeSchool strives to bring out global leaders that
have a drive to work passionately in both the evolving economic and social environment.
WeSchool was previously honoured with "BMA Outstanding Institute of
Management of the Year Award" in the years 2004 and 2010.
BMA confers WeSchool with “Outstanding Institute of Management of the Year Award”
Group Director Dr Uday Salunkhe receiving the honours from the esteemed guest at the event
3
22nd July 2013, This was one of the most important day of our lives as this day would
mark the beginning of our management education program at the Welingkar Institute
of Management Education and Research and the anxiousness was evident when we all
attended the highly anticipated “Foundation Fortnight” program at the Mumbai
campus. With lot of curiosity in our eyes and heart filled with high spirits, we entered
the campus which was already buzzing with lot of activities. During the time we started
getting acquainted with those new friends and we all had the same question “What the
Foundation Fortnight is actually all about???” And soon enough we got our answers.
We were welcomed by our seniors who helped us settling down and guiding us through
the further process. Large banners were hanging on all the walls with the words written
on it in big block letters “GAMEPLAN”. Our curiosity was made to rest when we were
told that this is the theme of our Foundation Fortnight program. We were then taken to
a spectacular boardroom and the place had us completely awed. All of us curiously
observed as each faculty came in and took their seats. Then in the midst of loud cheer
and thunderous applause from the audience, we saw our respected Group Director
Prof Dr. Uday Salunkhe made his way to the dias. The warmth and graciousness with
which he welcomed us created an instant amount of charm and respect for him.
The positive energy that he channeled in each one of us was remarkable and in his
words we saw our glorious future lying ahead. The inauguration of the Foundation
Fortnight was done by Mrs. Silke Schmidt, MD of Volkswagen Financial Services Ltd.
She shared with us the GAMEPLAN she had designed for development of her
organization and also gave us valuable insights on her personal goals. She explained
the importance of having a game-plan and what difference it can bring to our lives. We
cherished the inspiring session she gave us and we were grateful to WeSchool to give
us the opportunity of being in the company of such an esteemed personality.
Foundation Fortnight Theme - Game Plan Mumbai
Students understanding the importance of the FoundationFortnight
4
The program continued as we had great
insightful sessions by the highly
experienced faculty members of Mumbai
campus on different sectors of the
management education. The games and the
ET quizzes conducted for us in between the
sessions kept our spirits high. The ET
quizzes especially always put our
knowledge to test, making us realize the
importance of reading ET and there by
motivated us to read ET regularly.Prof. Dr. Githa Heggde, HOD Marketing,
addressing the students
The first half of the Foundation Fortnight came to an
end at the Mumbai campus with a very eventful day
which comprised of team events and competitions
similar a multi-level amazing race which was played
in the vast Mumbai campus itself and made an impact
on our man-management skills and team building
capabilities. The first half of this journey a truly
enriching and exciting experience for all the students
of the new batch and on the next day, we bid adieu to
Mumbai and started our journey to a place where we
all are destined spend the next two years of our life,
BANGALORE.
The Outbound trip that was planned for us was one of the best in our lives. The early
morning travel from the campus to the venue was a lot of fun and our group director
Dr. Salunkhe accompanying us and interacting with us throughout the journey was great.
We were all overjoyed as small kids would do when we reached the venue. It was almost
like a beautiful forest with huge trees everywhere around and a constant drizzle of rain
made the atmosphere even more refreshing. The inspiring words from our Group
Director Dr. Salunkhe made everyone geared up to participate in the sporting events to
be followed and we were divided into respective teams for the same. The objective of the
task was to break the ice between the students and help them understand each other and
perform under challenging circumstances. We played 3 team games which challenged us
to develop new skills and methods for problem solving and enhance our understanding
about each team member. The games also involved developing the strategy for each
game and exploiting key areas of team work and planning. The never ceasing rain and the
complete natural environment also helped us to outperform ourselves. Overall it was an
enriching experience which we will carry with us all through our lives.
The next two days were again a blend of fun and knowledge where we attended the
sessions of highly knowledgeable and experienced speakers like Anil Rao Sir, Mr. Vivek
Pandit whose enriched experience of working with an NGO and his fight against the act of
‘bonded labor’ gave us lot of insights about the social aspects of life. The Farewell party
which was arranged for us in advance became an excellent platform for many of us to
showcase their talents, mingle with each other and interact with our seniors. The
presence of our Group Director at the event was an icing on the cake.
Prof. Raghu Deshpande introducing
the CMC to the batch of 2013-15
5
Foundation Fortnight @ Bengaluru
hall where the inauguration ceremony
commenced. The chief guest for the
event was Mr. Sudhesh Venkatesh , Head
of NHRD and he has also been closely
associated with the Azim Premji
foundation. Also present at the occasion
was our Dean & Director, Bengaluru
campus Dr. Anil Rao Paila and the faculty
members. The Dean welcomed the new
batch with a big smile on his face and his
words of wisdom made us realise we have
become a part of something really big
and of equal significance . The chief guest
Mr. Sudhesh Venkatesh enlightened us
with his success story and outlined the
pre-requisites, motivation factors and
the importance of self-actualization that
we are supposed to imbibe in our game
plans for the future.
After the inauguration ceremony, the
moment we all were hoping for finally
touched base, ‘Campus Tour’. We were
given a very thorough, informative tour
of the campus by our seniors and we all
were very delighted to explore our ‘new
home’.
Over the period of next five days, we
The excitement, anxiety and the
eagerness with which all of us embarked
upon the journey to Bangalore was pretty
evident on all our faces. It turned out to
be an awesome bus ride with loads of fun
and lots of ‘breaking the ice’ moments.
We were all excited to know and explore
the place where we would be spending
the next two very eventful and soul
searching years. The bus arrived at our
hostel early in the morning and the
weather out there was truly amazing. The
feeling of taking a deep breath of that
fresh air and saying it to yourself ‘This is
it...’ was like those we see in the movies.
The following day went in settling down in
the allotted rooms and exploring the
facilities, hotspots and eateries all
around the hostel premises.
The next day was supposed to be our first
day at WeSchool and the students were
all dressed up for the occasion as we
arrived at the college. Everyone had their
anxious eyes roaming around the
campus in awe and anticipation and one
adjective for the campus that would have
definitely crossed in everyone’s mind was
‘beautiful’. We were then led to a seminar
From left to right:-Prof.
Prakash Unakal (Sr.
Associate Dean Business
Design), Prof. Mohan
Chandra (HOD Business
D e s i g n ) a n d P r o f .
Deepuchandran (Asst
Prof. Business Design)
addressing the students
on Design Innovation and
creativity.
6
were in the amidst of some esteemed
personalities and bigwigs of the corporate
sector who were the invited speakers for
different sessions. They shared with us the
importance of a strategic game plan that
each one should conceive and work upon for
the aspired success. Mr. Issac George, HR
Head & Treasurer, WiproTech made us aware
about the core values that an organization
seeks in an employee and advised us to put
the company’s interest ahead of an
individual’s interest. Mrs. Sangeeta
Malkhede, Asst. V.P HRD, CSS Corp made it
very clear through her presentation that a
strong, well-conceived and adaptable
gameplan is the need of the hour in such an
ambiguous nature of corporate sector of
recent times.
Along with the dignitaries, we had faculty members sessions from every department. The
faculty members provided us with valuable insights on the various subjects that we
would be studying for the following two years. Also, we were really excited about the fact
that the campus provides us with various platforms to showcase our talents and
challenge our capabilities through its varied activities and competitions that are held both
in and out of the campus. We were also briefed about the various initiatives that have
been implemented especially for the students such as Career Management Cell (CMC)
which helps students develop corporate skills for better placements. ‘WeMitra’, another
initiative wherein a faculty member is allotted for each student for one to one interactions
and career counselling sessions.
This beautiful journey of two weeks really helped all the students to break the ice
between them, to look inside and measure their potentials and prepare themselves to
become future managers that would bring about a change in the society.
Students attending various Foundation
Fortnight sessions at Bengaluru Campus.
Students listening attentively as Prof.
Mohan Chandra( HOD Business Design)
speaks on various aspects of BD.
Prof. Madhavi Lokhande (Head ADC
Professor) clarifying the queries of
students.
7
Glimpse of WeSchool
Prof. Soumya Chakraborthy addressing the students about the ‘We-Kas’ initiative at WeSchool campus.
Prof. Asha Mathew addressing the students.
Prof. Anitha Pillai giving her valuable insights on IT sector to the students.
Prof. Shekhar Prabhakar sharing his experience in marketing with the students.
8
Foundation Fortnight 2013-14
Prof. Sudeshna Reddy addressing the students regarding the Green Council and its initiatives in WeSchool.
Students getting involved in various activities during the foundation week.
A group of students on way to the Mumbai Outbound session.
Students enjoying the freshers party at Chembur GymKhana, Mumbai
The MBA degree is a well
branded and differentiated degree compared to other Master’s degrees. The MBA holder is seen in a different light. MBAs tend to earn more than other professions and this draws awe and envy in equal measure.
In recent years, the MBA has
lost its shine and fewer
students are opting for the
MBA. The MBA curriculum
needs redesign and current
MBA students need to rethink
their approach. Every MBA
plans to be a CEO, plans a
certain asset base etc. I would
urge the MBA student to
prepare as opposed to
planning. Planning without
preparation is wishful thinking.
The first is prepare to be a life
long learner. The world is
changing fast and to be
successful, one needs to keep
up to date. Few MBAs read any
books or serious articles after
their degree. This forces them
to rely on old concepts to
address new problems. With
rapid change, what is learnt in
an MBA today could be
obsolete in five years.Reading
and keeping yourself up to date
will help you stand out as a
thought leader. Reading
biographies will prepare you
both for leadership nuances
and develop some instinctive
answers in tough situations.
Learn about new concepts and
t e c h n o l o g i e s t h a t a r e
reshaping society, like UID, like
wearable computers, like cloud
services as fundamental new
concepts have a way of
disrupting any business.
9
Mr. D Shivakumar, President AIMA
The second is to prepare to be a good
follower. B Schools attract bright people who
have generally done well in school and
college. As a result many of them feel like
‘first amongst equals’. Many MBAs want to
become the youngest VP or the youngest
CEO or the youngest something. If you want
to be a great leader, prepare by being a great
follower. Being a supportive follower earns
you the respect of your peers, of your
subordinates and also gets you the loyalty of
your boss. Being a good follower means you
need to accept your place in the shadow till
its time for you to step on stage under the
arc lights. This will need patience and self-
confidence. The self-confidence will come
from your continuous learning and the
relationships you build at work and at home.
Prepare, don’t plan
10
The third is to prepare to accept failure.
Life will not be one easy journey. A career
is like a long distance flight, there will be
periods of turbulence where one needs to
fasten the seat belt as opposed to jumping
out of the plane. Take the turbulence,
learn from it and prepare for success
ahead. A common mistake MBAs do is to
cover up failure by blaming it on external
factors and others in the system. Owning
up for shortcomings and showing the
willingness to do something about the
shortcomings will prepare you to be a
bigger and better leader.
The fourth is to prepare to work with
diverse individuals. Strong teams are
never made of similar background people.
The ability to work with people from very
different backgrounds helps you
appreciate diversity and also helps you
understand how diversity can be
leveraged for success. The B school and
the projects you do in B school will be a
great place to practice this appreciation of
diversity. Try and form your work groups
with people unlike you and that will help
you build empathy and will also help you
relate differently. This will help you
enormously when you start you
managerial career and you will be required
to deal and talk with shop floor workers in
a factory, distributor salesmen, distributor
etc. who might not necessarily have the IQ
or the EQ to deal with complex business
situations.
The fifth is prepare to speak up, to be
Intellectually honest, the ability to tell it as
it is on behalf of the institution and the
stakeholders. Financial mismanagement
and financial corruption aren’t the key
reasons for decline in public trust of
business houses and leaders. It is more
the spin that businesses are putting out.
Being intellectually honest will always put
you in a position of strength v a v your
stakeholders. A number of people feel
that a white lie or a reasonable spin is
part of managing the ‘ system and the
boss’. I don’t fully endorse that, in a way it
is like saying it is fine for a business to be
a little corrupt in order to get its way!
The sixth is about preparing to be proud
of the institution you work for. In today’s
free information society, employees have
access to all kinds of information and
commentary about their company. It is
easy for middle and junior managers to
be swayed by some of this commentary
and hence devalue the institution they
work for. Pride in your organization is
something that you should always be
prepared to have, you are not an outsider
or a consultant to point out what’s wrong,
you are part of the institution and you
should address the issues. High IQ tends
to make people more cynical and less
positive abut their surroundings if things
don’t go their way. Prepare to be a proud
citizen, a proud company person and a
proud team member. That pride is worth
more self-esteem, than any amount of
money that people can offer you.
Planning a career makes you put artificial
deadlines and timelines. YoungMBAs plan
to be a young VP or a young CEO because
they imagine the associated financial
benefits of that position. My advise to
young MBAs – “ Aim to be good, if you are
good money will follow you, on the other
hand, if you have money, it doesn’t mean
that you are naturally good”
So, In The Final Analysis, Prepare To Be GOOD!!
11
Our Guru Speaks
- A interview with Prof. Dr. Jai Raj Nair Professor - IT
Q. We understand that you did your graduation in B.Arch and then went on to do
PGDBM as well as Doctorate. Do you feel education is a continuous process in
life?What are your thoughts on this?
The amount of learning one can do, does not have an end because knowledge is sheer
power. The market needs people who are multiskilled, so gone are those days when people
say they are familiar with a specific aspect of business. Personally I have been a voracious
reader, I like reading even outside my domain. Nowadays I have been reading about
astrology, so anything that interests me I take it to the next level .That is why I kept on
changing my career but now I have got settled in the academic field. But for a student I
believe one should continue the learning process for as long as possible.
Q. You were among one of the faculty members selected for the Faculty
Development Program Harvard Business School (HBS).
We have couple of questions here on
a. What was the HBS program all about?
b. Please share your experience with all of us?
c. What according to you is so different at HBS as
compared to an Indian B- school?
The program was called GloColl i.e. Global Colloquium on Participant Centered Learning.
As we know Harvard Business School has pioneered and perfected the concept of case
studies for the past 100 years plus. The program was to provide a Harvard experience to the
faculty members from all over the world. It was a 7 day program .The infrastructure of HBS
was fantabulous. The classrooms were designed in a semicircular pattern with all the
amenities. We were given demonstration of how cases should be handled for eg: Its difficult
taking a quantitative lecture with the help of a case study, but they demonstrated us how it
can be done .They have a paper called Corporate Accountability and Leadership this showed
us how a financial case can be converted into a case based on corporate governance.
I believe I have become much more confident as a faculty after being through that course.
There were 143 participants from 29 countries .This was about case teaching methodology
and now the second phase is going to be held in Mumbai in February about case writing.
In IIM Calcutta when I was a student case studies were not so prominent. At Harvard I
12
Prof. Dr. Nair at Harvard Business School
believe the students are more serious with substantial work-experience, so teachers are
more of facilitators at HBS. At Harvard they only stimulate the students and the learning
follows on its own.
Q. Could you in detail elaborate the strategies that we as students should adopt
during our next two years of the management education so as to have a
successful career in future?
My only advice for the students would be to get a bit more serious. Do not worry much for
the placements, the company must chase you. Take it to the next level put in your efforts.
Like at Harvard for a Business Case Study a lot research is to be done before coming to
the class, they would exploit Google to understand the terms they do not understand and
find out their meanings. There is a tremendous amount of pressure that is being built-up
due to the peer group. Here, I see students have enough excuses to not to do that, but
they should understand that this is not a bed of roses. Today students need to be self
motivated, self driven, multi skilled and self disciplinary.
Q. What was your learning from the innovative teaching pedagogy adopted at
the FDP of the HBS program?
My main learning was that if we can completely move to the case study mode of teaching
which our Group Director is actually trying to do. We have a course called as Integrative
Managers, which run on case studies from Harvard which provides a very stimulating and
scintillating discussions in classes on the case studies. So we have made the beginning
but still a lot of ground is to be covered to move to the level of Harvard. We are planning to
implement case based teaching in every subject whether it be marketing or accounting
etc. because this pedagogy is much better and effective.
sectors (Energy, Transport, Rural Development, Social Services, Industry etc.) andS
economy as a whole. With this, the session commenced with Vijay Sir stating the budget
2013 as a ‘plain vanilla budget’. He showed concern about few serious issues with the
budget 2013; which were, interest on deposit in savings account being exempt earlier;
planned and non-planned expenditure; current account deficit etc.
Mr. Suchit Majumdar, the first panelist to speak stated that this was a ‘Robinhood’ budget
where the finance minister was on the track when looking towards the revenues and
promoting FDI and FII to get more foreign investment as there is a slowdown in the
growth across sectors. Another area of importance was the deferment of tax rules.
Next panellist was Mr. Bala Subramaniyam. He spoke about the manufacturing sector that
as the production has come down; excise duty is going to be difficult to pay for this sector.
He explained about the Dividend Distribution Tax and that people are not happy with tax
on small amounts of deposit in savings account. Thus, people tend to invest more in gold
deducing that this budget has not given an “investment angle” to the people. Lastly,
corporate tax and surcharge was also in talk and his point of view was that direct tax will
help the nation and not the indirect tax.
Further, the discussion was continued by Mr. Pratap Subramaniyam who felt that the
budget 2013 was more of a ‘speech’ than a ‘budget’, a story of missed opportunities. He
stated that Current account deficit is of greater concern than fiscal deficit of 5-7%, which
is manageable for an emerging country. Reform agenda could have been pushed, and bills
could have been passed to create economic space. Oil economy was also not taken into
consideration in this budget. FM should have found further new ways of taxation, instead
of taxing the same people again and again.
Finally the last panellist to speak was Mr. Bharat Rao who spoke about DTC (Direct tax
code) and brought to notice that not much has been done in this area. Adding to this, the
budget this time was not so favourable and did not widen the tax umbrella. He also said
that approx 46 per cent of corporate turnover will go into the tax.
After a great discussion and sharing of thoughts by all the panelists, there was question
and answer round to enrich the students. The session ended by greeting the panelists
with a token of appreciation by Prof. Hema D. and a vote of thanks by the students.
The round table of the finance club
“Arthakul” was organized on March
7th 2013. The session started with a
floral welcome of the esteemed
panelists by Prof. Hema D. and Prof.
Vijay Kumar. The students presented
a video on the budget to throw some
light on the Union Budget 2013-14;
adding to which was a presentation
where the audience were introduced
to the impact of budget on individuals,
Post Budget Analysis Round Table
13
14
India CEO Forum
‘India CEO Forum on Business and
Human Rights Dialogue’ was held on 2nd
April 2013 at Infosys Campus, Bangalore
on the theme Growth with Dignity,
Respect and Accountability - Exploring
the implementation of the United Nations
“Protect, Respect, Remedy” Framework
for Business and Human Rights in the
Indian context. The forum was attended
by eminent personalities from business,
government, academia and civil society.
WeSchool was the academic partner of
this forum and helped Infosys document
this event.
Mr. Pooran Pandey, Executive Director,
GCN India delivered the welcome
address and Mr. Narayana Murthy, Chair
of the Indian CEO Forum, Global Compact
Network India and Founder Chairman
Emeritus, Infosys Ltd delivered the
opening remarks. Mr.Murthy appreciated
the initiatives of GCN and enlightened the
forum on the ways to implement UN
Guiding Principles in the Indian context.
Ms. Beroz Gazdar Senior VP, Group
Sustainability, Mahindra raised concerns
that the biggest challenge for Mahindra
had been their supply chain and to
overcome this Mahindra had adopted a
structured due diligence process for their
new vendors. Mr. Asim Parekh, Vice
president, Coca Cola recalled how some
of their suppliers were reluctant in
adopting the human rights standards,
however by providing education , Coco
Cola was able to convince majority of
their suppliers to adopt human rights
standards. Ms Sushma Kapoor, Deputy
Representative, UN women, spoke on
gender bias and violence against women.
She also raised the issue of women
representation at the executive board
and emphasized the need for a conducive
environment for women work force and
the need for gender equality.
Mr. Salil Tripathi deliberated that
companies must provide disclosures with
reference to human rights policies
adopted by them to ensure transparency.
Prof. Joe Philip expressed the fact that in
Industrial law there are many human
right protection clauses. The other
panelists agreed and emphasized the
need to ensure implementation of such
laws in case of human right violations
quoting Union Carbide as an example. Mr.
Joe Philip also quoted the example of
women education in Kerala which has
lead to women empowerment and
economic growth. With this the forum
was brought to a conclusion.
15
Assurance of learning sessions were
organized in WeSchool Bengaluru on 26th
april 2013. The sessions of the day
commenced with the introduction of the
speaker Dr. Arun Pereira, Clinical Associate
Professor of Management Education at ISB
by Prof V. V Raghavan and a welcome gesture
by Dr. Anil Rao. The participants were given
pre reading material which helped them in
grasping the concepts of AOL .
Dr. Pereira then explained the concepts of Rubrics
and participants were asked to solve few
examples on the concept. Each team was then
asked to design a Rubric based on the learning
objective decided by them which was then
presented to all teams and modified.
All participants were then given a feedback form
to rate their learning experience and share some
suggestions for the improvement of the session.
Dr. Anil Rao and Prof V.V Raghavan then
requested each of the programme heads to
elaborate on the road ahead for the programmes
based on the take away of this workshop thus
concluding the session.
The session started with the road map of the session plan along with the brief
introduction about AOL and its significance in the Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business (AACSB) process. The whole process was explained in context with
the AOL process at ISB, Hyderabad.
The session was highly interactive with suggestions and discussions between the
speaker and the faculty members. The 1st half of the work shop was theory based where
the entire process of AOL was explained in detail with examples to illustrate the following
points
• AOL process -Introduction
• AOL & AACSB
• Steps in AOL ( Learning goal , Learning Objectives)
In the second half of the session participants were divided into three teams representing
the 3 programmes in Bangalore campus. viz PGDM , PGDM-E business and PGDM –BD.
Each team had to come up with one significant goal of their respective programmes
which was then discussed and modified based on inputs from the speaker and other
participants.The teams were asked to come up with learning objectives based on the
programme goal decided by them which was further discussed and refined.
WeSchool Faculty Development Program
Assurance of learning (AOL) session
Faculty members participating in the AOL session in the campus
Dr Arun Pereira with Dr Anil Rao along with WeSchool faculty members who participated in AOL workshop
In line with the tradition of WeSchool to experiment with innovative ways of learning,
WeSchool Management conducted a virtual workshop using the CISCO technology
platform on the subject of Applied Statistics for the WeSchool faculty members in the
month of June-July 2013. This was a 12 session workshop where in faculty members
from Mumbai and Bangalore connected virtually. The resource person for the workshop
was an international faculty Dr. Nalini Ravishankar, Professor Department of Statistics
University of Connecticut. All the three locations were connected virtually for each
session of the workshop. The workshop was attended by 34 participants. The
workshop was yet another attempt by the Management to progress with the culture of
research at the Institute. The workshop was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Sonia Mehrotra-
Associate Professor Centre of Excellence for Case Development.
Virtual Workshop on Applied Statistics for WeSchool Faculty Members
Wemitra and Wekas Initiative
16
WeKAS - This is a self directed-works team created under the guidance of Prof.Dr. Anil
Rao Paila. The team involves faculty who are directly and indirectly involved with the
various activities that students participate in, outside the purview of their academic
rigour while at We School. The primary objective of this team is to help students to get an
all-round development. By motivating and guiding the students to participate across
different event in different roles, the team will help them develop their knowledge, skills
and aptitude and thus enhance their overall competence. This would arm the students
with greater self-confidence and help them broaden their outlook. Finally, the process
would also enhance their performance during the Placement Seasons.
WeMitra - It is fundamentally a program targeted to the fresh batch joining the campus to
give them a sense of being guided and cared while they settle into their life at We School.
It involves assigning faculty who would be like a buddy to the students. The students can
approach these faculties for any support and guidance they would need. This is a
voluntary process and based on the need and comfort of the students. This initiative is a
feeder to the WeKAS program as it provides a primary insight into the existing levels of
skills and aptitude of the students.
The delegation was headed by Dr. Makarand Gulawani and Dr. Victor Bilodeau, who
have authored the book- ‘ HIGHWAY TO INDIAN MARKETS- A Guide To Doing
Business In India’. They were accompanied by another distinguished faculty
member from the Grant Mac Ewan University, Dr. Albena Pergelova. The delegates
landed in Bengaluru on 9th May, 2013. They were oriented on the cultural heritage
of India, combined with a short visit to M.G. Road, Bengaluru. The day was filled
with fun and shopping.
The next day, the delegation visited INFOSYS, Bengaluru Campus which is one of
the major IT companies in India, situated in Electronic City, Bengaluru. Following
this, they arrived at the WeSchool campus. They were then briefed about their
agenda for the next 4 days.The delegation was segregated into 4 groups,
comprising of 3-4 members each, and each group was mentored by 6 of our
WeSchool faculty members. These mentoring sessions included a lot of field
visits, where the students visited places related to their product to gain practical
knowledge and insights firsthand. The sessions were not only informative but also
fun-filled. Mentors spent maximum of their time with the students, some of them
even hosted dinner at their homes.
WeSchool, Bengaluru hosted a delegation of 14 students along with 3 faculty
members of Grant Mac Ewan University, from Edmonton, Canada, from 9th to 13th
May, 2013 as a part of their Destination India programme.
Delegation from Grant Mac Ewan University with Welingkar Bangalore faculty
DESTINATION INDIA
17
Students Tanya Tran,Tammy Tran,
Ivan Ricon & Dana Richardson with
their Mentor Dr. Githa, Dr. Anil &
Dr. Makaran
Mentors & Faculty members
listening to the presentations made
by students
Students Shahzina Kassam, Heather Ford &
Paula Srisai (Dean) with their mentor Dr.
Sonia Mehrotra.
On the 3rd day, the delegation visited
GUHRING, which is a world class
manufacturer of round shank cutting
tools for the metalworking industry; also
a provider of top quality coating,
reconditioning and tool management
services located in Bangalore.
The mentoring sessions with the 4
mentors continued there on with more
visits planned for the day. On day 4, the
delegation visited the city of Mysore
which is the cultural capital of
Karnataka located 200 km from
Bangalore.
The students were given a brief glimpse of the Indian culture by visits to the
Chamundeshwari Temple & the Mysore palace. On the 5th day, the students with
help from their respective mentors, made a short presentation to the mentors &
other senior faculty members of the Bengaluru Campus, they were rated out of
total 70 marks, out of which 40 marks were for the country report & 30 for the
business strategy that they came up with. The presentations where very well
received & the students came up with some really brilliant and innovative
strategies for their products. The day concluded with felicitating the faculty in the
delegation & the student mentors for the support extended.
18
In today’s world where everyone is busy
running the rat race, his thought was
that, we must not concentrate our
energies on being competitive but being
collaborative. He strongly propagated
working together and reinstated an
important fact, that we should not be
carried away by theory but be practical.
A touch base with values always help,
he spoke about how one should never
measure one’s worth by the salary slips
one receives . If a person is good,
money will follow them. This is a fine
thought in a world where everyone
speaks the language of packages.
A firm believer of “company comes first”
policy he said that while working your
company comes first then comes your
team and finally you yourself. Also he
said that one must never leave a
company when one is unhappy. Leave
on a high note.
He also mentioned about four vital
things in life- Health, family, Money and
Job. He said take care and hold on to the
first two and the other two will fall in
place.
The key takeaways of this session were
that in life, sometimes we keep running
in circles without really understanding
who we are and what we want. Running
behind some popular notions,
sometimes behind things we don’t even
completely understand.
What makes some people who they are
is their clarity of life. Being clear
on their values, come what may
is what defines them. It was
a session that made people
think, a session that had more
than one thought to
carry back home.
Journey of learning and experience in
Bangalore couldn’t have started off on a better
note.
“Don’t just plan...Prepare”
These are the words of the experienced,
learned and inspiring D Shivakumar Former VP
of Nokia.
In his session he shunned the conventional
idea of power point presentations and
developed a direct connect with the crowd as
he shared his beliefs and stories. He mentioned
about how you cannot control where you start
but you do control where you end. True
enough, you are born into certain
circumstances and situations but what you do
with what you have is completely in your
hands.
We Cafe Session – Mr. D Shivakumar
Series
19
targeting the different needs of the
market. Nike and Adidas were
predominately ruling the market, so
Puma came up as a fashion brand and
targeted the lifestyle of the people.
People now buy 1 pair of Adidas or Nike
and 2 or 3 pairs of colorful Puma shoes
for casual wears.
Rajiv Mehta is fair , honest , positive and
creative. He is very down to earth and
does not hesitate to change his decision
if suggested a better opinion by any
employee because he believes in
creating leaders and not followers. “
Sycophants stops a person’s growth “ is
his conviction.
Rajiv Mehta the youngest CEO always believed
in his gut feeling even if he was given no
consideration in the beginning of his career. He
earned it. Words of Rajiv Mehta would always
remain in my mind ‘I had a potential and
pedigree but no experience’. Rajiv’s mantra for
life was “go with your gut feeling” .One should
never be afraid of taking initiatives in life. But
after making mistakes, learning a lesson
should be your take for life. Keep exploring
things that increase your confidence and so as
your gut feeling.
Many people feel that marketing is the only
solution to increase sales. But premium quality
products do not need marketing for the rational
customers. The manager should reach till the
grass roots of his organization .He/She should
be aware of the outlets and the environment
and services provided at each outlet. Target
positioning of the market is must .No need to
make economical goods for the masses I
phones are the best example for the target
consumers of upper middle class rather than
Samsung .But still it is cooler to have an
iphone rather than a Samsung.
It is the sales which gives us the right to
marketing. Brand positioning can be done by
We cafe with Mr. Rajiv Mehta, CEO, PUMA
20
Mr. Gerd Hofner , MD & CEO of SIEMENS
Tecnology India enlightened us about his
life at SIEMENS. We all know that
SIEMENS operates in more than 190
countries in wide range of sectors like
power, healthcare, infrastructure, energy
e t c . M r. H o f n e r m e n t i o n s t h a t
INNOVATIONS keep them strong and they
are very crucial for any industry to survive.
He also emphasized on his belief that the
future needs curiosity, sustainability,
visionary thinking, values, openness and
finally, the future needs youth.
Mr. Hofner told that if one really got an
opportunity to work in a different culture,
it should be grabbed with both hands. One
should always keep in mind that culture
per se is not good or bad, it is simply
different. He also specifies that one should
be open minded , curious ,inquisitive and
should respect the difference of opinions.
Mr. Hofner quoted his personal philosophy
on career that “Don’t make a career plan,
always strive to be among the best and
make it a point to enjoy what you are
doing.”
For an employee to stay loyal to a
company for such long period of time (25
years with SIEMENS) one should trust
the strategy and vision of the company.
Mr. Hofner urged us to think about a long
term goal and there is no need to fall in
love with the company, you can just fall
in love with people around you.
We cafe with Mr. Gerd Hofner, MD & CEO SIEMENS Technology India
21
2. Prof. Soumya Chakraborty,
Prof. Soumya Chakraborty,
(Bangalore),was faci l i tated with
Ramaswamy P Aiyar - Best Outstanding
Young Teacher Award for 2013.
Faculty
1. Dr. Githa Heggde,
Dr. Githa Heggde,
campus) won the gold medal for “J. L.
Batra Best Research Paper Award” at the
AIMS Convention, 2013. Her paper on
“Leadership style, employee work effort
and sales job performance: The influence
of national culture - A study conducted in
India and USA".
Faculty (Bengaluru
3. Prof. Anuradha Mahesh
Prof. Anuradha Mahesh was elected as the
Executive Committee Member on the
Advisory board of the National Human
Resource and Development (NHRD) Network,
Bangalore Chapter 2013-15
Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila
Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila was elected as
Advisory Board member of NHRD Network,
Bangalore Chapter, for the year 2013-15.
Achievers Wall of Fame
22
Management Development Centre (MDC) is an ever active part of the WeSchool
Academia. It runs the Executive Management education program. Here is a gist of
initiatives conducted by MDC:
1) Workshop on "Effective Public Presentations" for Titan Industries Ltd held on 12th
June 2013.
This workshop was a 1 day program in which Executives of Titan had participated. Post
the workshop the participants were mentored for about 6 weeks by our faculty to
enhance their public presentations skills.
2) 5th NUS workshop held from 15th to 22nd May 2013.
NUS is "National University of Singapore" from which students come to India to do
Internship as a part of the NUS Overseas Colleges Program in India. This workshop is
followed by mentoring of these students to help them develop a Business Model
3) 7th batch of JMLP- Junior Management Leadership Program
It is a 16 month program for Infosys BPO which was conducted in Jaipur training about
management and leadership skills. Convocation for the same is scheduled on 18 Sep
2013 at Jaipur.
MDC - Executive
Education Workshops
Professor Dr. Anil Rao along with faculty
members with the members of executives
of TITAN
Professor Dr. Anil Rao
a l o n g w i t h f a c u l t y
members with the student
of NUS
23
1.How did the learnings at WeSchool
help shape your carrier?
The Foundation and platform that
WeSchool gave on the technical aspects
of HR is the first main thing that has
helped me start my HR career. The
emphasis on constantly learning new
things, evolving and networking with
fellow professionals has helped me to
grow in my career.
2.We understand that you have done
Engineering in Mechatronics for
graduation, also your previous work
experience has been in Testing in IT
industry; what made you choose
Human Resources as your PGDM
specialization? Any particular
planned strategy to get into this
field?
My bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics
engineering helped me understand that
any problem should be viewed as a
system; not as separate entities. When I
joined Wipro as a testing engineer, during
the initial years I had learned about the
process and importance of process
methodology. It also gave me an
opportunity to lead a team of 4. This is
when people and people management
started attracting me and I wanted to
learn more. Though I have knowledge on
systems and process’, understanding and
managing people is the most challenging
task in the world. Several years have
passed and I am still learning, unlearning
and relearning the behavior of people.
3.We know that you are the one who
came with the concept of "Prameya"
for first time in our Institute. What
was the inspiration behind it? How
were you able to visualize the
Connect With Vishwanath
magazine and then reciprocate it in
reality?
The main objective of starting “Prameya”
during our batch was to share knowledge of
the Corporate world and to know each other
within our batch. I would also want to mention
here that my roommate Devaraj, PGDM
(Retail) student was also helpful and
instrumental in bringing the concept to reality.
We envisaged it as an E-magazine which
would bring out hidden talents in our batch
and showcase it to the world. My entire batch
cooperated and my dream turned into reality.
4. How would you describe the future of
HR specialization in India, is it still
limited to playing an administrative role
or has it moved beyond the Strategic
Board room level?
Though I am not a Pro in HR, from whatever
knowledge and experience I have, I feel that it
all depends on the maturity of the organization
and the HR professional themselves. 10-15
years back, HR was playing only
administrative roles but today organizations
have matured enough to give HR the strategic
role. It also depends on the nature of the
business and the HR professional themselves.
A few HR professionals understand the need of
the business and cater to it immediately but
many of them still play an administrative role.
5.Three primary advices, that you would
like to share with us and our readers for a
promising and fruitful carrier?
Always have a goal (begin with end in mind) in
any activity you do, have a methodology
(Process or way) to achieve it and finally work
smart (learn, relearn and unlearn) to
achieve it.
24
Vishwanath SPGDM E-Biz 2008-10
25
The Assoc iat ion of Ind ian Management Schools(AIMS) events
Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management, Development and Research, Bengaluru
hosted the Association of Indian Management Schools’s Southern Regional Deans &
Directors Roundtable on the theme "Doing the Best"- Sharing Best practices in
Management Education on 16 April 2013. This was attended by the member B-schools
Dean and Directors. Dr. Joe Philips, Director, Xavier Institute of Management and
Entrepreneurship, Bengaluru was the Chief Guest for this event.
Dean and Director’s Round Table
Dean and Director’s Round Table conference held at WeSchool Bengaluru Campus in April 2013
Dr.Anil Rao Paila with Dr.Khole(Ex Vice Chancellor,Mumbai University), Dr. Joe Philip( Founder AIMS), Dr.D Y Patil( President AIMS), Dr Bala Subramanyam (Chairman, TamilNadu Chapter) lighting the lamp.
26
Convention of Management Education
The entire WeSchool team including Group Director Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Dean Prof. Dr. Anil Rao, faculty members and students at AIMS Convention Mumbai
The Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) organizes an annual management
education convention on a theme of topical interest to B-Schools every year. It is a mega
event and a flagship programme of AIMS which serves as a plat-form for academia,
industry and political leaders to share their perspectives and experiences. This year,
AIMS organized the 25th AIMS ANNUAL MANAGEMENT EDUCATION CONVENTION 2013
from 22th to 24th August, 2013 at Bharati Vidyapeeth’s Institute of Management Studies
& Research, Navi Mumbai. The theme for this year was ‘Envisioning Management
Education”. The event also coincided with Bharathi Vidyapeeth’s 50 year celebration.
Students and faculty from various B-schools got a chance to interact with noted industry
professionals, International dignitaries and Dean’s on various topics.
Some of the prominent speakers who addressed the gathering were Mr.Liu Youfa, General
Consulate of People’s Republic of China, who spoke about strengthening Indo-China
relations to boost economy and education and Mr.D. Shiva Kumar (President AIMA) threw
some light on current industry perspective on MBA Grads.
The Interactive conversational presentation between Dr. Dev Dutta Patnaik(Chief belief
officer , Future group) and Mr. Sanjay Jog(Group Head HR, Reliance retail) interlinking
Indian Epic & Management was also a memorable part of this convention. It was followed
by sessions of B.R Singh(FormerDirector‐ HR, Ispat Industries Ltd.), Mr. Arup Gupta(SVP
(HR), Reliance Communication) and Dr Vijay Khole, Dr Mr Rao, Dr Devi Singh, Dr Upinder
Dhar & Dr P V Ramana.
The second day’s session was chaired by Prof.Dr. Uday Salunkhe(Group Director,
WeSchool) who commenced the session with an inspiring speech on “Leader as a Teacher
/Teacher as a leader” which was well received by the audience, especially by the faculty
members present, who raised the challenges they often face which led to a fruitful Q and A
session. This was followed by Prof.Darren Meister, (Associate Professor of Information
Systems, Ivey Business School, Western University, Canada) who addressed the
delegation on the same note. The day concluded with presentations by faculties of
different colleges on various issues.
WeSchool Bengaluru Campus student representatives with Dean and Director, Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila and Faculty member, Prof. Dr. Geetha Hegde
On the third day, Dr.Arun Pereira (Executive Director, Center of TLC, ISB) shared his view
point on current scenario of MBA and scope for improvement on the same through
various channels. This was followed by Prof. Galit Shmueli’s firsthand experience on
MOOC’s and how she practised the same. It was also a proud day for WE-School,
Bengaluru as two of our faculty members, Prof. Soumya Chakraborty and Prof.Dr. Githa
Heggde bagged two awards. This convention paved a way for WE-students to interact
and network with distinguished Corporates personailities, faculties and students. We-
School has always been an active member of AIMS, our Group Director, Prof.(Dr.)Uday
Salunkhe has been a former President (2007-2008) and has played a significant role in
expanding its horizon. Dr Anil Rao Paila is the current treasurer of AIMS and we hope to
be a part of this legacy in the upcoming years.
27
Ninth India Innovation Summit 2013
WeSchool students participated in the India Innovation Summit
Ninth India Innovation summit was held this year from 7th to 8th August at Bangalore.
The theme of the summit for this year was‘India as the Start-up nation’.The Summit
commenced with the welcome address by Mr. Soumitra Bhattacharya, Chairman CII
Karnataka State Council & Joint Managing Director Bosch Ltd followed by the opening
remarks by the Chairman of the Summit Mr. S Gopalkrishnan(Kris), Executive Vice
Chairman, Infosys Ltd. The Inaugural Address was given by the Chief Guest , Honorable
Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr. K. Siddharamaih.
The Summit involved a series of sessions, lined up on both days. The first session
commenced with the Presentation on “Innovation in Startup Ecosystem” by
Prof.Rishikesha Krishnan , Professor of Corporate Strategy & Politics, IIMB and Dr.Vinay
Dabholkar , President Catalign Innovation Consulting Pvt Ltd. The session was about
exploring different methods employed in a startup ecosystem to remain innovative on the
Leading edge while being relevant to the market price. It was then followed by a number
of sessions discussing on various important topics like the role of incubators in Enabling
start-up ecosystems, the rise of Angel funds and competition for Talent, The Incubation
by Corporation and Emerging sector of Opportunities for start-ups by prominent speakers
like Prof S.Sadagopan, Mr. C S Murali and Mr. Rishi Das
The sessions on the Second Day of the Summit focused on the areas like scaling the
idea into business, Leveraging Venture Capitals , Demand Generation through corporate
and cross border collaborations, the growth of social impact venture and also discussing
the women in Start-ups. Many speakers like Dr. Guraraj Deshpande, Ms. Shraddha
Sharma, Mr. Mukund Mohan, Mr. Vinod Keni and Ms. Kumud M. Srinivasanet were part of
the sessions. The summit concluded with closing remarks by the Chairman.
Some students of the We-School got the opportunity to attend this prestigious summit.
They had an enriching experience while gaining several insights on the Startups in India
and its future by some of the most prominent speakers of the corporate world.
28
The students of WeSchool Bengaluru campus were invited to IHRD Mumbai HR summit
held on May 24th and 25th as student volunteers and were required to render assistance
with respect to managing various aspects of the event such as reception team,
registration team and stage management.
Here are some insights and key takeaways of the students who attended the
event.
IHRD Mumbai HR Summit 2013
“It was a great opportunity for me to interact with large pool
of HR professional from diverse industry vertical. It was a
good learning experience for me and the takeaway for me
was current strategies used for Succession Planning in
different industries.”
Anand Tiwari PGDM Business Design 2012 -14
Saurabh Garg PGDM Business Design 2012 -14
Ali Asgar PGDM Business Design 2012 -14
“While I got to learn about what business leadership is, the
who's who in HR field and their insights on the theme gave a
different perspective to the working of an everyday HR
professional. For me it was a great learning and networking
opportunity.”
“The IHRD Mumbai HR summit was a great opportunity for
interaction with HR leaders from some of the biggest brands
in the market. Our participation at this event was unique in
the sense that we were able to pool student volunteers from
we school Bangalore and Mumbai, thanks to a joint effort
between me and my Mumbai counterparts, a classic example
of synergy that leads to value creation for all.”
Theme: Role of HR in Building Business Leadership
29
Donate blood and save lives
ROTARACT
Students of WeSchool participating in Blood Donation Camp
With the message of ‘Donate Blood Save Lives’, Rotaract
Club of WeSchool organized a Blood Donation Camp on 7th
August 2013 in association with We R Green Club of We
School and Red Cross Society. The event was built around
the message of lending a helping hand to those who are in
serious need of Blood. The donors were encouraged to
come forward and not only donate blood but also give a
sliver of hope to those in need. The event was publicised by
distributing bookmarks at the toll gate of Electronic City
and by inviting various Corporates in E-City. The event was
youth driven and therefore colleges from the nearby areas
were also invited.
The event saw huge participation from not only the
students of We School but from various Corporates. This
overwhelming response led to the collection of 107 units of
blood. It beat the earlier record of 67 units by Rotaract Club
of Welingkar. The event was supported by Red Cross
Society with their expertise and skill. The volunteers from
Red Cross were instrumental in the success of the event.
Certificates were awarded to the donors appreciating them
for taking time out of their busy schedules.
The event was spearheaded by Rtn. Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila,
Prof. Anita Pillai and Rtn. Lata Amashi and with their
guidance, the Rotaractors were able to motivate other
people and drive the event. After the completion of the
event, Rtn. Prof. Dr. Anil Rao presented the volunteers with
mementos for their support. Also, Rotaract Club of
Welingkar was awarded a Certified Donor Award for its
contribution towards this noble cause.
30
Flash Mob....A initiative to save lives
Rotaract members performig at the UB City mall
WeSchool students trying to garner public support for the cause by playing musical instruments and singing
The Rotaract club of Welingkar joined hands with the Rotary Club of Diamond District,
Bengaluru to spread awareness about Breast Cancer and fund treatment for under
privileged and deserving patients. The funds would be raised through a marathon known
as “5k Breast Cancer Awareness Run”. The proceeds from the Run would be used to fund
surgeries for at least 100 patients below the poverty line at the Mazumdar-Shaw Cancer
Center (MSCC) at highly subsidized rates.
In order to urge people to participate for this noble cause the students of Rotaract Club of
Welingkar, Bengaluru performed a Flash Mob at UB city mall at 5:30 pm on 18th August
2013. The final performance culminated in an impromptu jig in which the performers
were joined by many of the onlookers. The students went a step ahead in urging the
crowd to support the cause by singing tracks. There were 25 performers who took centre
stage and managed to garner a lot of attention from the bypassing crowd. Owing to the
grand success of the first performance it was decided that the flash mob be repeated
twice, once at 6:30pm and next at 7:30pm. In between the performances, the
rotaractors took up the initiative of selling bibs(tickets) for the marathon.
31
Investiture ceremony of Rotaract Club of Welingkar, was held on 15th Aug 2013. The
occasion was graced by The District Governor Rotarian. K.S. Nagendra, Rotarian
Jeetendra Aneja, Director, Youth Services, R I Dist. 3190, Rotarian. Sanjay Agarwal,
President, Rotary Bangalore Junction, R I Dist 3190, Rotarian Arihant Kumar, DRR, R I
Dist 3190, and Rotarian Prof. Dr. Anil Rao Paila amongst other dignitaries and vibrant
Rotaractors.
The Induction of the Board Members was commenced by Rotarian Jeetendra Aneja,
Youth Service Director, R I Dist 3190. The induction of new Rotractors was conducted by
Rotarian Sanjay Agarwal, President, Rotary Bangalore Junction & DRR Rotary. Arihant
Kumar.
DRR Rotary Arihant Kumar, Rotarian Jeetendra Aneja and District Governor Rotary. K.S
Nagendra addressed the new Rotractors and motivated them with their thought
provoking speeches for “Nation Building” initiatives. Their speeches instilled the spirit
amongst the young crowd to aspire for an enterprising future and wished them luck in all
their endeavours. As the new President of Rotaract Club of Welingkar, Rotarian Abhishek
Bhave delivered his acceptance speech emphasizing on Team Work.
A reflection of the year gone by in form of a movie and presentation encompassing all the
projects of (2012-13) was given by Rotary Neha Kandpal, Secretary (2012-13) Rotaract
Club of Welingkar.
The ceremony came to a conclusion with the vote of thanks by Rotary Pragyan Paramita,
Secretary, (2013-14), Rotaract Club of Welingkar.
Investiture ceremony of Rotaract Club
District Governor Rotarian KS Nagendra along with the newly elected Board Members of the Welingkar Rotaract Club
32
ROTARACT
Guests with Dr. Anil Rao Paila
after Flag hosting ceremony
Student choir performing the national song during the
celebrations
INDEPENDENCE DAY:
On 15th of August, We celebrated our 67th independence day and at WeSchool, the
atmosphere was filled with air of freshness, vigor and patriotism for our country that has
remained steadfast under some difficult times created by both internal and external
factors consistently over the period of 66 long years.
The new batch of 2013-15 were the chief organizers of this event and one could easily
notice the sense of responsibility and excitement on their faces to showcase their talent,
individuality and teamwork that led to grand success of this event.
The day started with the Flag Hoisting ceremony which was done by our Dean Dr. Anil
Rao Paila along with the two chief guests Mrs. Rama N S and Mrs. Revathy Ashok and all
the faculty members while the ‘Best National Anthem’ in the world was sung with great
pride and honor.
The theme of this year’s Independence Day was ‘Women Empowerment’ and rightly so
we had this two esteemed women in our midst Mrs. Rama N S and Mrs. Revathy Ashok
who are the best examples of our theme.
Mrs. Rama who previously worked with Infosys and
currently working with NCR as Head of Operations
spoke at great length about women education quota
in Indian Education System and was in favour of
atleast 50% quota for women in every education
institute around the country. She also mentioned that
women of this age need the support of men to gain
the status of equality in the society and celebrating
the success of people especially women would
help making our country a better place for them to
live in.
33
leader and held envious positions at senior management level both at the national and
international platforms and voted as one of the ten most powerful women in Indian IT
industry shared her views on the theme. She encouraged the young minds in the
audience to Vote for their future leaders, to raise their concerns about the wrongdoings
happening in their surroundings and should engage with the government to help bring
about the change in the society. She also pressed on the young minds to become holistic
leaders of an inclusive society where women can flourish with ease and can feel safe
about themselves.
After the inspiring session by the two ladies, the students of the new batch had some
very interesting performances lined up for the audience. There were variety of dance
sequences which included folk dance, western/contemporary style dance on the tunes of
some of the best patriotic songs and an intriguing dance sequence based solely on hand
movements and expressions, all of which was a treat to the audience. Also, some music
talents were also on display as the students showcased it with their group and solo
performances which were well applauded. One of the most interesting performance of
the day was a skit performed by the students depicting the real life plight and courage of
an old lady who owns a tea stall near our college and it managed to touch the hearts of all
the people in the audience.
“Respect and let the women of your country thrive and flourish and see your country rise
to greater heights...!!”
Jai Hind.
Different forms of dances being performed by students
Dr Anil Rao Paila impressing his hand print on
the women empowerment support sheet
34
xxxxxxxxxxx
Farewell of Batch 2011-13
35
A Farewell Night with addressing the Batch followed by Music, Dance and fun
Group Director
In a world crippled by economic and socio-political volatility, how does an organization
sustain its profit margin, how does it keep its diverse workforce engaged and productive
and ensure that the best-of-breed talents are hired? What should its game plan look like?
We have deliberated on the transition of HR from an organizational watch-dog and
business support function to a key business partner, ad nauseum. The focus has now
shifted to redefining strategic decisions to align to the changing needs of a global
workforce. Organizations, revered the world over, with distinct nature of businesses and
organizational structures have heralded an era of unconventional practices in HR
strategies.
IBM, Inc. has always been a market leader, be it research and development or otherwise.
The organization discarded its ‘a dark suit and a sincere tie’ dress code way back in the
mid 90s in favor of business casuals, much ahead of its peers. At a time when homosexual
preferences were spoken about in hushed whispers in organizations, IBM introduced its
welfare benefits program for the partners of its gay, lesbian and transgender employees.
HR implemented changes that allowed seamless integration across the organization
allowing almost 40 percent of IBM’s 400,000 employees to work remotely. HR’s proactive
stance during acquisitions and subsequent integration helped IBM absorb more than 125
acquisitions and save USD 6 billion since 2005. IBM’s corporate mantra of a ‘Smarter
Planet’ transcends to its organizational strategies too. Having realized the significance of
a robust learning and development architecture in an organization in such turbulent
times, IBM invests approximately USD 1700 per employee to impart new skills and
develop competencies in its workforce.
IBM encourages its employees to use social media platforms having identified the impact
social media channels have in recruitment, employee engagement and organizational
brand building. IBM has gone a step forward and defined certain best practices that it
expects its employees to follow when communicating through such social media
channels.
IBM was a front-runner in implementing business analytics to map personal goals of
employees and the business deliverable that is expected. This analysis ushered an era of
performance based culture, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of communication and
feedback.
Having introduced simple gamification(1) models in routine employee record processes
such as employee profile maintenance, IBM has upped the ante for its peers.
Human Resources – Game Plan of the Behemoths
Students Corner
36
Perhaps IBM’s feat lies in its landmark ‘Global Enablement Teams’ (GET) model. With a
vision to foster a globally integrated workforce that worked in tandem to drive growth and
progress across the organization; in 2008, IBM launched the hugely successful GET
model where key employees in mature markets like the United Kingdom were assigned to
mentor and assist employees in the growth markets. This nurtured a system of co-
learning, rendering leaders with deeper global mindsets, defined competencies in
cultural adaptability and better connected country teams to the global company agenda.
From digital stone-age tabulating machines to the intelligent Watson, IBM’s
metamorphosis has been catalyzed by its robust and proactive human resources
capabilities and this will go a long way in strengthening IBM’s position as the global
market leader.
SAS Institute, the market leader in advanced analytics reaped benefits of its ‘employee
first’ approach with a 37 consecutive years track of record earnings. Regarded as an
extraordinarily munificent employer, SAS did not retrench even a single of its 13,000
employees in the recession-hit 2009, when its competitors were busy downsizing. The
CEO, Dr. Jim Goodnight, firmly believed in constraining his short-term revenue goals in
favor of consolidating his employees’ faith in the organization’s HR culture.
With an enviable annual turnover of 2-3 percent while the industry languishes at 22
percent, SAS has proven that highly motivated and engaged employees who trust their
organization and are in turn valued for their contribution, partner in an organization’s
growth.
The leitmotif of this article was to put forth the avant-garde people strategies that
industry stalwarts have adopted to combat the effects of a dynamic and erratic industry.
It is evident that sustainability measures entail a robust framework of HR policies that
integrate a diverse workforce; a workforce that can ably partner in an organization’s
evolution.
ANKITA BANERJEE
PGDM 2012 – 14
37
A new app, “Fantex”, lets you make money in a stock market for athlete
and celebrity careers. Fantex allows celebrities and athletes to file for
initial public offerings, released a beta version earlier this last month,
followed by a prompt retraction from the App Store, according to
TechCrunch.
1.Fantex – Celebrities IPO
Weartrons, a group of New York-based developers, has come up with a solution called
Run-n-Read that lets you read text on your tablet while running.
Consisting of a tiny clip-on device that can be attached to a headband or the collar of your
shirt, the system works with an e-reader app on your tablet to track the movements of
your head and shoulders. Keeping the text bouncing in sync with your eyes, the system
essentially makes reading while running in a stationary position as easy as reading while
standing motionless. In order to turn pages, users simply tap the device once for a
forward page turn and twice to page backwards. In addition to its reader features, the
system also doubles as a fitness tracker.
2. Clip-On Device Lets You Read Your Tablet While You Run
Innovation of The Month
In an innovative move, companies may now be able to fund early stage innovations in
the communication sector as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), thanks to
a new initiative by the Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA).
Founded in 2010, Comcubator was the country's first ever communication technology -
Business Incubator - that was started with the support of Department of Science and
Technology (DST), Government of India.
Online retailer Flipkart has launched a payment gateway service called PayZippy for
Indian merchants, pushing competition in the online payments industry which has
incumbents like CCAvenue, PayTM, PayU, Citrus and others.
Besides, the payment gateway, a customer facing product is in the pipeline and will be
launched soon, the company said.
PayZippy powers card payments for websites and mobile sites. This system has been
used by Flipkart.com for an extensive period, with significantly higher success rates than
market, the company said.
3. MICA gives companies a platform to fund start-ups
4. Flipkart Launches Payment Gateway PayZippy
38
One small idea can ignite a revolution just as a single matchstick can start a fire. One such
idea—putting employees first and customers second—sparked a revolution at HCL
Technologies, the IT services giant. In this candid and personal account, Vineet
Nayar—HCLT’s celebrated CEO—recounts how he defied the conventional wisdom that
companies must put customers first, then turned the hierarchical pyramid upside down by
making management accountable to the employees, and not the other way around. The
book is a refreshing and frank look at the challenges facing leaders looking to transform
their company, culture and employees. Nayar discusses his experience leading HCLT and
its transformation from a $700 million dollar company that was losing market share to a
$2 billion dollar company at the front of their market. He explains how he succeeded in
reversing accountability which meant to get certain element of the
hierarchy to be more accountable to the value zone. This book is a
journey that continues to repeat itself time and time again because
managers are force to react to its environment and the uncertainty of
running a business.
Individuals will see an example of the actions and evolution involved
in realizing a new way of working. Just about everyone wants to
work this way and this book provides an example that can help
crystallize your thoughts and how you communicate with your peers
and management. A must read for management students and
upcoming entrepreneurs.
Book Reviews
Employees First, Customers second- turning conventional management upside downWritten by Vineet Nayar
The Art of War
Written by Sun Tzu
Translated by Thomas Cleary
This book was written in sixth century B.C by Sun Tzu, a high-ranking
military general, strategist and tactician of Chinese military. This
book contains 13 illustrious chapters all pertaining to the facet of
warfare and battle. The most fascinating aspect of the teachings
provided in this book is that it amazingly retains its full value in terms
of wisdom and acumen for the readers even in such ‘interesting’
times.
Each of the chapter emphasises on a certain specific aspect of warfare and each of them
beautifully transpires metaphorically as wisdom for our day to day life. The art and
strategy described during a warfare in this book is analogous to today’s dog-eat-dog
business environment. It completely mirrors the manner in which the businesses in
corporate world interact and compete with each other such as a strategic merger between
two organizations in which one buys out another is similar to a country conquering its
counterpart. ‘The Art of War’ provides a great read and provides management strategies
and solutions to day to day conflicts in form of ancient military warfare tactics. If you have
even a slight bend for war and history, this is the ‘management’ book for you.
39
Photography Contest
by Pragyan Parimita, PGDM 2013-15
by Prassana Sinnarkar PGDM 2013-15
40
Just
for L
aughs
Prin L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management, Development & Research.
102/103, Electronic City Phase 1, Next toTelephone Exchange,Hosur Road, Bangalore-560100
Welingkar - Electronic city campusTel : 080-42678300 (primary number)Tel : 080-28521066/28522514 (alternate number)Fax : 080-41742108www.welingkar.org