IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Joy of Creation! Featuring entrepreneurs of IIMB
WINTER 2009
IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Dear Alumni, I was fortunate and honored to be invited by PGP ’76, the first batch of IIMB, for their get together at a hotel in Bangalore. In that room full of alumni who have achieved a lot, retired faculty and staff members with their spouses, I was humbled because I was the youngest and passed off as someone’s son. They all made me feel at home and one of their own. I probably had one of the best evenings ever. One of them brought a piano and keyed nostalgic Kishore Kumar songs, and tunes from yester years. One such tune was from Zorba the Greek. Before it started, one of the faculty members offered to teach all of us to dance to that tune. And before we knew it, we all formed a big circle and danced. And it was then, I saw the beauty of our IIMB community – alumni, faculty, staff and family - joining hands and sharing joy. I always enjoy writing the editorial for IIMB Alumni Magazine. It gives me a chance to reflect on the last 6 months and smile on how wonderfully things have taken shape on the alumni front. On 29th September 2009, we registered IIMB Alumni Association as a legal trust that ensures that the institute, alumni office and the alumni association with 11 chapters are now tied together with a common goal. This gives us the infrastructure to operate the alumni association as a professionally managed company with bank accounts and governance controls. It also empowers alumni worldwide to build the association further with initiatives that help the common goals. We have a detailed article about the trust in this edition.
We are happy to inform you that Ms. Ranjini Sivaswamy has joined full time as Editor of the Alumni office. This magazine is her first output since she joined in November and she has worked night and day to give it a direction. Under Ranjini's leadership and with able support from Sushma and Priya, we bring you the Winter 2009 edition of the IIMB Alumni Magazine. We got a fabulous response on various sections and we sincerely appreciate the same. The key focus of this edition is the spirit of entrepreneurship among our alumni. From high tech companies in internet space, to clean energy, to traditional businesses, to retailing, to manufacturing to even exporting fruits, our alumni have created a massive value for our society that we all can look up to. Read all about them in our lead story. We also have two of our faculty members write their views on entrepreneurship. In Salon, we bring you a cross section of alumni from all our programs - PGP, PGSEM, FPM, PGPPM and EEP. IIMB is probably the only management institution in India where two of our alumni are on the board. Both of them have been profiled in this edition. We are also happy to profile the distinguished alumni of 2009. There is lot happening on campus. We have tried to pick the choicest bits of information for you like upcoming student fests, updates on the Campaign for IIMB, etc. In Class Notes, we bring you news from our alumni worldwide. And last but not least, a few words from the old yearbooks to give you a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Happy reading! Rakesh Godhwani Head, IIMB Alumni Association
Ranjini Sivaswamy, Sushma R, Vasantha Priya
IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Editorial Committee: Sankarshan Basu - Chairperson, Alumni Affairs Rakesh Godhwani - Head, Alumni Association Ranjini Sivaswamy - Editor
Contents Entrepreneurs of IIMB
4
Editorial Team:
Back to B-School
10
Rakesh Godhwani Ranjini Sivaswamy Sushma R Vasantha Priya Aparna Dutta - Guest writer
Salon
13
Coming Back
18
Hall of Fame
19
Unmaad
20
Class Notes
22
What's up @IIMB
29
IIMB in Motion
33
Giving Back
36
IIMB on my Mind
38
Design & Production Cicada Media Bangalore
IIMB ALUMNI ASSOCIATION INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE Bannerghatta Road Bangalore 560 076, India Tel: +91-80-2699 3336 Fax: +91-80-2658 4050 Email: alumni@iimb.ernet.in Website:www.iimbaa.org
Copyright, 2009. Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine can be reproduced either in part or full without IIMB's prior written permission
FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY
ENTREPRENEURS OF IIMB
Entrepreneurship and Innovation A twelve member panel of our alumni who have made it big as entrepreneurs, share insights and reflections from their real life experiences They've got to be mavericks to leave their hefty pay-packets and secure careers to take the adventurous road of entrepreneurship. To take up the risks of becoming a business owner, gunning to innovate, create, become an employer, and to finally emerge as a successful entrepreneur is no ordinary achievement. A good number of our alumni took the plunge into entrepreneurship and have made a mark of their own. They did not follow any absolute formula or short cut methods to make their dream ventures successful. Listen to what our panel of alumni have to say about entrepreneurship, the lessons they learnt the hard way up and the best rewards they have enjoyed.
Our panel of alumni entrepreneurs:
All set to create
Dilip Dhopavkar - PGP '82 For someone who is an entrepreneur at heart, being an employee means working within restrictive environments, borders that limit his activity and frustration about not being able to do one's fullest. He has an insatiable need for self actualization - the fuel and the fire that drives the journey of an entrepreneur. Yadav Chandna PGP '79 identifies that it is an inner energy that makes an individual an entrepreneur; you could call it the passion to create. This energy makes him see possibilities, identify opportunities and venture out to create something on his own. Talking about creation in entrepreneurship, Saumil Majmudar PGP '95 says entrepreneurship defies the basic law of physics and creates something that never existed.
Jai Ruparel - PGSEM '01 Mayur Vora - PGP '80 Veena R - PGP '04 Nirmala Sankaran - PGP '88 Yadav Chandna - PGP '79 Hitesh Oberoi - PGP '96 Saumil Majumdar - PGP '95 Jyothi Sharma - PGP '92 Saif Qureishi - PGP '88 A. Vaidyanathan - PGP '83 Amar Lakhtakia - PGP '82
Jyoti Sharma PGP '92 Jyoti Sharma is a distinctive personality who dared to follow her calling to strive for a social cause. Jyoti's concern for the biggest crisis for mankind, water scarcity, led to the birth of Force, a non-profit venture that works towards water secure communities. Her vibrant endeavors won her the Ashoka Fellowship - an international fellowship for innovators in social entrepreneurship. "The IIMs nurture the brightest minds in the country. Wonder what a difference could be brought about if these minds were to take up the task of social transformation, to whatever extent reasonably possible."
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ENTREPRENEURS OF IIMB
Hitesh Oberoi PGP '96 How excited could be the one who is at the helm of affairs of a company that revolutionized the way the country recruited people? Hitesh Oberoi, Director and COO at Infoedge, has fostered the growth of the company, seen it influence and help a multitude of people. Infoedge is the parent company of Naukri.com, the largest internet company in India with over 19 million registered users. "Creating great consumer products which solve everyday problems for lots of people is something which excites us as entrepreneurs."
An entrepreneur is a visionary with a distinctive disposition which Veena Radhakrishna PGP '04 rightly points out that not everyone has it in them. He is blessed with the talent to find and recognize a need. "Recognize the fine line between ambition and greed."
But where is the starting point? Once you come face to face with the entrepreneur in you and a venture idea is born, it is time for an exciting journey. How do you get that idea? A.Vaidyanathan PGP '83 calls attention to the need to have one's eyes and ears on the ground to spot the needs of the market. Once you identify that particular space, your only constraint is your imagination, says Saif Qureishi PGP '88.
Jay Navinchandra Ruparel PGSEM '01
Given that you found an idea, and you have identified a market need, the next challenge is about how you would test if your entrepreneurial idea will work. You essentially need to trust your gut and follow it, says Saumil. Supporting this thought, Jyoti Sharma PGP '92 says that there should be an appropriate mix of gut feeling and analytics. Deliberate too much and you are sure to miss the boat, alerts Amar Lakhtakia PGP '92. Extreme levels of contemplation or baseless excitement about an idea can both prove to be killers of an entrepreneur's dream.
Nine years, 3000 people and a $ 50 mn company - this is no joke. Jay Ruparel is a remarkable achiever and entrepreneur who worked wonders not just for his company but for his home state as a whole. With a potential business idea in hand, Jay decided to establish the business in Gujarat. Today his company, Azure, is the highest employment generator in Gujarat and stands tall in the BPO/KPO space.
Saumil Majmudar PGP '95 A sports enthusiast at heart and a sports entrepreneur at business - that's Saumil Majmudar. The magic was in identifying a business around something he always loved to do. Saumil started Sportz Village with a vision to impart sports education for the younger generation starting from their school days. With a vision to nurture a healthy tomorrow, Sportz Village's EduSports works along with schools to offer structured, curriculum-based sports education. "Enjoy the ride, be patient - and accelerate when ready!"
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Saif Qureishi PGP '88 He is the spearhead of the largest transformer core manufacturer company in India that is worth over 300 crores and employs over 450 people - Saif Qureishi is simply a high performance entrepreneur. KRYFS Power Components is his brainchild that has had a remarkable run since its inception in 1993. All this has been possible with a right attitude to make it happen says Saif. "Prepare to face failure, never feel bad and have the attitude to live to fight another day, every day."
The emphasis should be on value creation supports Hitesh Oberoi PGP '96. Adding a safety tip, Hitesh suggests that when you do not have a path breaking idea, it will be better to carry a few years of work experience before entering entrepreneurship. This will contribute to the learning experience in terms of identifying the gaps and finding better ways of working out an existing idea.
Entrepreneur - The innovator Groundbreaking ideas and innovations are the signature strokes of entrepreneurs. Established organizations find it difficult to move away from their regular working patterns into innovation. Both the freedom and the responsibility to innovate lie abundantly with an entrepreneur. He innovates for himself, for the better living of the society and the economy as a whole. Is there an economy without entrepreneurs, wonders Mayur Vora PGP '80. He points out that our education system does not contribute enough to innovation and entrepreneurship. We are groomed with a 'get a job' syndrome. Mayur feels that the focus should be on creative intelligence so that we get to see more and more entrepreneurs coming to the forefront.
From dream to reality check - Matters that matter Once you conceptualize the business, you are at a challenge to present a vision that was not there and to get people to trust and invest in your vision, says Saumil. If you have a great vision, a higher purpose, by all means the entrepreneur in you will be able to inspire people to believe in you and follow you. Those people who believe in you are a great source of encouragement to make your vision a success.
Critically looking at innovation, it is a myth that every entrepreneurial venture should be based on a revolutionary idea. Forget about finding a great idea, says Amar Lakhtakia. Not everyone stumbles upon a magical idea. Innovation can be in terms of product level innovation, efficient delivery models, a unique value proposition or supply chain management, clarifies Vaidyanathan.
Sketching the roadmap of your business requires dexterity. DiIip Dhopavkar says, so as to build a successful and lasting business you need to have power. This power could be knowledge, people or money. Yadav Chandna identifies that an enterprise consists of knowledge, energy (money) and mass
A. Vaidyanathan PGP '83 It takes great forethought and an innovative mind to conceptualize an idea that is ahead of its time. Vaidyanathan has done just that. He established Sumaya HMX Systems that makes 'Ambiator', a low-cost, low energy consuming, eco-friendly alternative to normal air-conditioning. Vaidyanathan conceived this eco-friendly idea when there were very few people who understood the idea of going green. Today when global warming is a burning issue, his innovation is sure to create a positive impact and help in reducing the carbon burden on our environment. "A hallmark of an entrepreneur is his ability to take risk, quite often and navigate uncharted territories."
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ENTREPRENEURS OF IIMB
Dilip Dhopavkar PGP '82 Entrepreneurs often find themselves at crossroads when it comes to ethics and getting things done. Dilip Dhopavkar, all throughout his career, has stood by his values and has the distinction of not having paid a single paisa as bribe. Incredible! He established Everest Electromagnetics which flourished in the engineering domain. He championed in gaining expertise in electro-magnetics and established himself as an authority in this arena. "Discover your own distinguishing power base, use it with honesty and integrity and your reputation as an entrepreneur will make people believe in you."
(machinery or anything that takes away your money, resources or people). A good entrepreneur is an integrator who blends and balances all these factors in style. "When you discover that your natural talent and passion are in absolute sync, you can go places."
One decisive factor that makes or breaks an enterprise is its people. The core team that is set up during the initial days shapes the culture and future of a company and it calls for the need to get the right people on board. Backed by clear and transparent communication, the fabric of the business becomes long lasting. Jyoti Sharma shares that she has been able to adopt a business model that creates a strong network effect of making all stakeholders happy in her non-profit organization. Create a regular value source which could be customers, government or shareholders and sustained growth of your enterprise is assured, points out Yadav Chandna.
Nirmala Shankaran PGP '88 Thomas Friedman commented on HeyMath!, Nirmala Shankaran's innovative venture, as one that is all set to become 'the Math Google' of the world. She founded HeyMath! after identifying huge gaps in mathematics education in the world. HeyMath! came up with innovative ideas and incorporated best practices to teach maths differently. Nirmala led the company's way to transform maths education in Singapore, India and US. She was listed among the 100 IT innovators in India by Nasscom in 2007.
As an entrepreneur you will constantly have to venture outside your comfort zone says Nirmala Sankaran PGP '88. Your business will go through changes, evolution and advancement much beyond what you had envisioned. Though your personal choice can have a command over the growth of your company, there is a huge possibility that your company might grow beyond what you expected. Your small enterprise then becomes a big company where you will have to give way to more people, says Hitesh Oberoi.
Yadav Chandna PGP '79 With three patents to his credit and many more to come, Yadav Chandna is an entrepreneur with an undying thirst to innovate. Having worked for other companies for a long time, Yadav decided to do a reality check with his entrepreneurial skills and took to entrepreneurship at a later stage in his career. He proved his mettle by establishing successful ventures including IDCUBE Identification Systems (Wireless industry) and Sai Products (Packaging and containers industry) that employs over 150 people. "Find what will work for you and discover your own prescription for entrepreneurship."
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ENTREPRENEURS OF IIMB
Amar Lakhtakia PGP '92 Amar is a seeker and opportunities keep coming his way. He founded two successful start ups which have merged with major IT companies, and is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of SherpaZ. SherpaZ is a pioneering new breed of enterprise-class Talent Management Software. Being a speaker, patent holder and a co-author of the book 'From EDI to Electronic Commerce' makes Amar an achiever with many facets to his personality. "Simplicity is powerful but not very obvious! Simple propositions are easily understood by customers, investors and employees."
Mayur Vora says he handled this scenario by creating one more level of 'intra-preneurs' in the company. The mark of a leader is to make people believe in themselves and create a favorable environment so that they are self motivated to work. All throughout the journey of a business, there is a need to give ample attention to cash flow. If out of hundred start ups, only 10 succeed, what breaks the back of those ninety is cash flow. "Turnover is vanity, profits are sanity, cash flow is reality," Saif Qureishi calls attention to this insightful quote. He also asserts the importance of a differentiating factor, the USP. Once you have rightly positioned your business, there is no looking back.
"Don't put off your plans for a venture for later - as time passes, constraints are bound to increase."
Veena Radhakrishna PGP '04
Phoenixes of entrepreneurship
Veena is a young and energetic entrepreneur who has driven the success of Next First, one of the few companies in India with expertise in conceptual mechatronic design. Started as recent as in August 2004, Next First has been able to record tremendous growth and an employment generation for over 150 people.
When 9/11 struck, Jay Ruparel's single biggest customer withdrew his project, only to leave his venture, Azure, in deep trouble. With no projects coming in, over a hundred people on bench, no funds to pay salaries, it would have been easy to give up than hang on. But Jay and his core team withstood the tribulations with immense willpower and today his business is a flourishing 3000 peoplestrong venture. Every entrepreneur has a story to tell about how they battled the horror times.
Mayur Vora PGP '80 Demonstrating the extent of influence an entrepreneur can have over the lives of people, Mayur Vora transformed the fortune of an entire hill station in Maharashtra. His family business, Mapro Foods, has made Mahabaleshwar/Panchgani, the fruit processing destination of the country. The company records a whopping 30 per cent growth in sales every year and is a market leader in western India. Mayur, a mature and composed entrepreneur, envisions his company to be happier than the greatest company. “When everyone’s looking for a job, embark onto the other side and give a job. That is a huge opportunity that entrepreneurship brings you."
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ENTREPRENEURS OF IIMB The fact that you are creating numerous job opportunities gives a sense of purpose and pride. You are your own boss and you have a dream realized. Nevertheless, you have leveraged an opportunity to create tremendous amount of wealth which otherwise would be limited to what you earn as salary. Forget not the wealth of knowledge and the learning experience that you get.
Unless you are prepared to face failure, entrepreneurship is best left untouched. It is not for the faint hearted asserts Amar Lakhtakia. You might be the best management student, but practicalities are far from what one can imagine says Dilip Dhopavkar. "We who come from top management schools have always been successful and never known how failure feels. Entrepreneurship takes you on a roller coaster ride. Failure makes you humble, makes you respect success and cherish it a lot more," says Saumil Majmudar. The right attitude is all that matters.
When you can feel that you are making a difference to the lives of numerous lives, you feel justified having taken up entrepreneurship, expresses Jyoti Sharma. Nirmala Sankaran discovered that as an entrepreneur she has been able to transform ordinary people into extraordinary team. She is also proud about being able to empower women.
Debt, opportunity crunch, friends who are earning much more than you - these comparative thoughts emerge ever so often in the minds of an entrepreneur says Veena Radhakrishna. Nirmala Sankaran says entrepreneurship is a lonely business. In accord, Vaidyanathan says when you go out into the jungle you have to battle it out all by yourself.
Veena Radhakrishna points out that today's environment is much more supportive of entrepreneurs. People today are listening to an entrepreneur's voice and recognizing the value s/he brings in. So if you discover the spark of an entrepreneur inside you, get geared up - you have a world of opportunities in front of you!
But what keeps the entrepreneur going? Unarguably, there is a simple joy and satisfaction in entrepreneurship.
A whole bunch of entrepreneurs from the PGP '04 batch! Amit Arora
Buddy Retail (Retail)
Ankur Jain
Ankur Scientific Energy Technologies Pvt. Ltd
Gayatri Srinivasan
FiveX Capital Advisory Pvt. Ltd (Equity trading/research)
Sameer Mahandru
Indospirit (Beverages/Alcohol)
Mrigank Jain & Saurabh Singhal
Meritline Learners Pvt. Ltd. (B-school education)
Manu Digvijay Singh
Manu & Co. (FX consulting)
Anurag Hans
Manchrang (Entertainment /Drama)
Subodh Vinchurkar
ADPS Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (IT)
Ravi Pratap
TooStep (A social micro-community platform)
Suketu Talekar
Brewcrafts Microbrewing Pvt. Ltd. (Brewery)
Navaneetha R Krishnan
Raising i brows & FFP (Field force productivity)
Ganesh Kumar
Veeyar Engineers and Contractors (Construction)
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BACK TO B-SCHOOL
Entrepreneurship and Holistic Marketing Mithileshwar Jha Professor of Marketing
transaction oriented business model to relationship oriented business model. In transaction orientation one looks at gains and losses each time one is either prospecting or doing a business with an existing customer. In relationship orientation, to put it in a very simple manner, one looks at gains and losses over several repeat transactions in the future. Relationships are also emphasized with customers, channels, suppliers and so on.
Entrepreneurship and marketing, both are about identifying and exploiting opportunities. Yet, there is probably no other function of business which has been more sub-optimally used by the entrepreneurs, particularly, the tiny, small and medium enterprise entrepreneurs. There are several myths distorting the entrepreneur's vision about marketing. This paper attempts to highlight the basic concept of holistic marketing and tries to identify and remove some misconceptions about marketing generally held by the entrepreneurs.
Finally, Performance marketing focuses on not just the business metrics like sales, profit, market share, brand equity etc. It also focuses on the three additional performance metrics related to customer accountability (customer delight, happiness), social responsibility and environmental responsibility.
Holistic marketing framework
These help entrepreneurs and managers consider the implications of their decisions in a holistic manner.
This framework was first conceptualized and presented by Kotler and Keller (1) in the 12th edition of their famous textbook Marketing Management. It was subsequently refined and elaborated in the next edition of the book and its South Asian edition (2).
Misconceptions about marketing Some of the major problems for entrepreneurs come from entering wrong markets, overestimating or underestimating the size and growth potential of markets, being excessively wedded to technology and product and not understanding value proposition, importance on branding channel, pricing and communications
Holistic marketing stands on the following four pillars: •
Internal marketing
•
Integrated marketing
•
Relationship marketing and
•
Performance marketing.
Many of these issues emanate from some basic misconceptions highlighted below:
Internal marketing is about treating employees as customers. It focuses on using marketing tools and techniques on acquiring, motivating and retaining employees.
Marketing is common sensical The fact remains that marketing has concepts, tools and techniques that need to be judiciously blended with intuition to derive maximum success. Plain intuition may not be enough. This becomes particularly acute when scaling-up issues are faced by the entrepreneur where insights based on personal contacts and frequent interactions may not be sufficient. One also has to keep in mind that common sense is not all that common.
Integrated marketing focuses on integration across marketing activities, eg. product and service, communication, channels. In the process it suggests integration across functions like research and development, production, finance and so on. Relationship marketing emphasizes movement from 10 IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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BACK TO B-SCHOOL Marketing is esoteric It is a luxury which only large companies can afford. If you have a good product or service or idea, it can sell itself. Nothing can be farther from the truth. One needs to appreciate that a 'creation' becomes innovation only if it has commercial value. Only when some customers appreciate it, acquire it and are willing to part with their hard earned money which offers a reasonable return to the innovator. Marketing is an important function in value sensing, creation, delivering and appropriation chain.
The key resources in business are personnel, finance, technology, capacity, processes and so on. Growth of brands/companies like, Microsoft, Dell, Nike, etc., in the international domain and Nirma, Rasna, Amul, Infosys, Suguna Poultry in the domestic domain should clarify to the entrepreneurs that: It is not just resources but judicious and focused use of resources that makes a difference;
•
Just resources do not make a difference otherwise dominant companies would not have allowed new comers to succeed;
•
Resources can be a acquired if one has a marketable proposition, and
•
Resources need not be owned, lot of talent is available for hire, both part time and full time capacities are available, research and development capabilities/design capabilities can be hired and
•
Relationship Marketing Marketing is about creating and retaining customers while cost of creation is normally higher than the cost of retention - entrepreneurship and business leadership is about creating markets. Again having created customers one needs to retain them for multiple profitable dealings over a period of time. However, entrepreneurs also need to keep in mind that in their initial days of survival and haphazard growth, they many a times acquire unhealthy customers. These need to be systematically screened, weeded out or preferably handed over on a platter to competitors.
Marketing is resource intensive
•
enthusiasm. Creating a culture of customers where different functions start giving importance to customers, their needs, and their pain and gain points may be difficult and time consuming but may be inevitable for sustained profitable growth.
Performance marketing Entrepreneurs are often blamed for short term, cash flow oriented thinking and practice. They are also blamed for un-ethical practices where 'survival of the fittest' and 'matsya-nyaya' (big fish eating the small fish) may be the rule rather than exception. While cash-flow balancing and survival are important, one needs to take a balanced holistic perspective. Focus on customers, society and environment has offered sustained, profitable growth for several entrepreneurs in the past and would continue to do so. In conclusion, one has to appreciate that marketing is a match making process. One seeks the best fit between what one has to offer and what both internal and external customers are seeking. It is about asking fundamental questions, exploring, experimenting, failing and learning from failures. Overall it is about creating wealth for the entrepreneur while delighting target customers and making them happier with a clean conscience. Entrepreneurs can be the best practitioners of marketing when they integrate their actions like an owner with the thinking of a customer.
Low cost resources may not be always productive and may be wasteful, capability has threshold cost. So what should entrepreneurs do?
Implications for entrepreneurs The basic Implications for entrepreneurs using the above brief analysis are:
Internal marketing Hiring key persons, part time or full time, is key to success. One needs to market one's dream/ambition. Assembly of "yes-men" may be suicidal. If two persons always think alike and agree with each other in business discussions - one of them is redundant. This is not to encourage dissidence but to encourage exploring possibilities.
References
Integrated marketing
Miles, M P and Darroch, J "A Commentary on Current Research at the Marketing and Entrepreneurship Interface," Jr. of Small Business Management 46,1,2008,pp 46-49.
Kotler, P ,Keller, K- Marketing Management (12th edition) N J: Pearson,2005 pp. 16-23 Kotler, P, Keller, K, Kosh, A and Jha, M- Marketing Management (13th edition): A South Asian Perspective, New Delhi: Pearon ,2008, pp 22-28.
Doing one thing well may not be sufficient. Effective communication can excite a customer but a shoddy product or inappropriate pricing may kill that 11 IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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BACK TO B-SCHOOL
Innovating Entrepreneurship K. Kumar Professor Chairperson NSRCEL (N. S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning)
Given the context of India, are these two words antonyms or oxymorons? One may perhaps think so. Is it a mere play with words? One can think so too. But the issue is real. It is time to put innovation into entrepreneurship. It is equally timely to innovate entrepreneurship.
in Silicon Valley. Former President Abdul Kalam has shown the way by pointing to one ocean of problems through his PURA theme. There are many such blue oceans within our reach. It is up to the entrepreneurs to set sail in those oceans and fish out their innovations and build their businesses around them.
The amount of attention given all around to entrepreneurship is perplexing. The glory of entrepreneurship is getting praised in many tones exhortation, persuasion, inspiration, challenge. But when were the people of India not entrepreneurial? A developing (or underdeveloped?) country of billion people with very limited employment generation in the organized sector could not have held together but for the entrepreneurial efforts of a vast number of its people. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor studies in the early part of this decade showed up India to be among the countries with highest incidence of entrepreneurship. It is not for nothing that India is often referred to as a country of shopkeepers.
That brings the real issue into focus, the need to innovate entrepreneurship. Imbibing the best practices of Silicon Valley can have great pay offs. But the best practices of Silicon Valley are not just entrepreneur centric. Aping Silicon Valley in toto is replication - not innovation. The generally prevalent Page 3 style of promoting entrepreneurship hasn't helped either. One is surprised at the agility with which the innovative entrepreneurs in India are closely targeting the ideas of the Silicon Valley kind - one more social networking site, one more theme restaurant, one more on line store. Inspiring? That's not all. Even at tactical level, our budding entrepreneurs argue - pointing again to Silicon Valley - that finishing college is not a prerequisite for entrepreneurship - and innovation for that matter. One is forced to retort - dropping out of college to innovate is replication and not innovation. Again the focus is on low hanging fruit - even in replication.
Therein lies the catch. Our entrepreneurship often tends to be more people doing the same. It also often tends to be a grasp for the low hanging fruit. There is a lot of entrepreneurial initiative no doubt. The less informed - and less globalised, one may add - are generally busy replicating what some other known person had done before. But a majority of the more urban, tech savvy and globally exposed entrepreneurs are also equally busy replicating the glamorous entrepreneurship of the Silicon Valley kind. The net effect is less of innovation and more of replication driving entrepreneurship.
Well, the case is made and rests there. Innovating entrepreneurship is a necessity - not mere kite flying. One can only hope action follows.
But India is not Silicon Valley. The discussion of this issue is intense - perhaps even contentious - and is out of place here. But given this premise, we need our own models of innovation that will drive entrepreneurship. These models will have to assume a different starting point - the endless list of problems that need to be solved for the betterment of the people of India, and not the new buzz that shows up 12 IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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SALON
Praveen Sood - An Exemplary Public Servant PGPPM '05 A beautiful city with a calm and serene lifestyle suddenly outgrew itself to become the software hotspot of the world. Bangalore saw tremendous development and over the years its traffic concerns aggravated beyond endurance. It is in the middle of this chaos that Praveen Sood took charge in 2008 as the Traffic Police Commissioner of Bangalore city. Challenges galore! No one expected anything to change like always. But Praveen had the drive to make things happen and induce a positive feel to the work of the city's traffic police force. This IPS officer, an IIT and IIMB graduate, introduced policies and initiatives that have started to change things at the grassroot level. He shook the conservative style of working and introduced a friendly management approach. Praveen and his team have kicked off many campaigns like 'Unblock Bangalore', 'Car pooling', 'My driver was a drunkard' (against drunken driving) that have become popular with the Bangalore public. He has effectively used technology in traffic management which has made a great difference to the way this office functioned. One of the greatest achievements of the Traffic Police under Praveen Sood's leadership is that the rate of fatal accidents in Bangalore has come down by 15%. The public looks up to him and there is again a hope that things can change for the better for Bangalore traffic.
his life as a student completely cut off from the frills attached to being a police officer. He also joyfully recollected how his two school going daughters took pleasure at their father being busy preparing assignments while they had homework to do. Praveen Sood came back to police service in 2005 with a new outlook and understanding of things. Praveen's work style involved innovation, meaningful dialogue with stakeholders, unlearning the bad things and achieving the impossible which were never heard of in police environment. Yes, he still has the herculean task to revive the city from its bad traffic, but there is definitely hope. The ground work has begun. In the midst of his demanding job he stills find time to enjoy movies with his wife and kids, play some golf and swim. Praveen Sood is a man of breakthrough ideas and great forethought. His vision for his traffic office is to transform from within, introduce permanent sustainable changes and create a work culture that will carry on irrespective of his service term at this office. Heartfelt wishes from IIMB to this incredible public servant!
It's all about perspective and this perspective change in him came with his education at IIMB, says Praveen Sood. In a conscious decision to shrug off the monotony that had crept into his 16 year tenure with the Police Department, Praveen decided to widen his horizon as an individual and as a professional. He joined IIMB and feels that this was one of the best decisions he has taken in his life. Praveen Sood PGPPM '05 (Post Graduate Program for Public Policy Management), came to IIMB taking a break from his career in police. Learning was absolute fun says Praveen with a beaming smile. He enjoyed 13 IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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Deepak Ohri Innovating a new taste to success EEP '99 Deepak took up tough challenges and churned out opportunities from the most difficult situations.
Little did he know while he was working as a dishwasher in his early career that he would once be acclaimed among the top businessmen in the world. From a humble beginning Deepak Ohri took off to become the big boss of one of the most sought after luxury hotels based out of Bangkok.
Today Deepak is a member of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and is on the advisory board of the Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management in Singapore. His vision for the hospitality industry is to create a worldwide benchmark with an understanding of behavioral and emotional touch points of customers.
Deepak Ohri, two time winner of 'Entrepreneur of the year award' by The Art of Travel and Hospitality Asia and CEO at Lebua Hotels and Resorts, Bangkok, is an IIMB alumnus of the EEP '99 (Executive Education Programme) batch. He comes with a hotel management background and has unparalleled experience working with some of the major hotels and resorts in and outside India.
Deepak says it is his wife who has been the pillar of his recent successes. He loves to play golf and his eyes set on retiring early. This Delhiite, at the age of 40, is unarguably the most successful, admired and envied hoteliers. With his charisma, humility and vision Deepak is all set to make many more big and fat successes. IIMB is proud to have him as our alumnus.
He walked into the IIMB campus to undergo an Executive MBA program for The Taj Group of Hotels. Coming back to IIMB recently, Deepak remembered his stint at IIMB as instrumental in chiseling the entrepreneur in him. The lion's share of Deepak's success story goes to how he magically transformed the fortune of Sirocco, today a popular destination restaurant for the world and went ahead to expand the business and launch his brainchild, the Lebua Hotels and Resorts. He has made such an impressive triumph that Dome (umbrella brand for all restaurants at Lebua), Lebua and their annexes are now world renowned luxury destinations. With Deepak at the helm affairs, Lebua won the Overall Best Luxury Hotel Award leaving behind 1500 luxury hotels across the world. It's quite an awe that his hotels are packed to an extent that getting a dinner table might take you a 90 day long wait. Has recession affected his business? It has got some respite to his customers with the wait being reduced to 30 days, chuckles Deepak who sits across tables with the rich and famous global personalities. So what marked about Deepak's style of working? He says his ability to understand and listen to people from an emotional perspective has done wonders. 14 IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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Shobha Moni - Standing tall
PGP '85 For nearly twenty-five years, Shobha Moni, PGP '85 has been embedded in the world of information technology, and certainly ranks as one of India's woman pioneers in the IT space. From the days of COBOL programming to the latest web technologies, she's seen it all. Today, as an entrepreneur in her own right, Shobha, in partnership with her husband R S Moni, runs Triad Software Services, an award-winning Sage partner based in Dubai. Triad offers services in Application Development, ERP and CRM solution deployment, besides consulting and support. After graduating from IIMB, Shobha joined HCL Network and then worked with Computer Point, and Wipro. The year 1988 brought a major transition in life and work: Shobha got married, moved to the Middle East and took up an assignment with Qatar Telecommunications, based out of Doha. The learning curve was steep - operating in Gulf in those days required a change in mindset, from a 'corporate' manner of functioning to a more entrepreneurial style, certainly adding depth and dimension to managerial experience. The first baby steps to becoming an entrepreneur were taken and a training centre was set up in Doha. Shobha and her family moved to Dubai in 1993 at a time when Dubai was booming and the business infrastructure was evolving rapidly, offering new opportunities. As the first employee of Global Technology Services she spearheaded the setting up and growth of an IT solutions company for a Dubai Government entity. She then moved on to Satyam Computer Services as General Manager, looking after their business development in the Middle East for Tier 1 software solutions from Oracle and SAP.
business focus. She brings to the table her cumulative networking experience in the region and supports the company on business development, while her husband complements with his background as a Chartered Accountant and drives delivery. Together, they have embraced change, and thrive on the freedom and opportunities that come with being entrepreneurs. Shobha has two boys, the elder now studying at the University of Waterloo in Canada, and the younger in Class XI in Dubai. "Triad is our third baby! The thrill and gratification of seeing your company grow is the same as having a baby," says Shobha. In between managing work and family, Shobha has also kept up her interests in public speaking, oil painting and classical music. She was the President of Emirates Toastmasters Club in 2006, has received an Excellence Award for Women in UAE from Dhwani, and has even exhibited her paintings at the Sharjah National Gallery. Looking back at the two years at IIMB, Shobha feels that those years were incredibly valuable. At 21 years, she was the youngest to graduate in her batch, which meant intensive learning and picking up survival skills! "The best part is that you make friends for life. There is a strange bond that connects every IIM alumni. We are able to network across the world, and meet up when we travel to their part of the world, even at short notice. "It is important for us to take time off from our busy schedules and give back to the institution that nurtured us. When I visit IIMB and talk to students it is so satisfying to connect and mentor eager, brilliant minds poised to take off from where we were before. I wish IIMB faculty and students a glorious future," says Shobha.
In January 2005, Shobha teamed up with her husband to start Triad with a view to offering mid-tier business houses a strong suite of technology products with a 15 IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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Dr. Gopal P Mahapatra - The people's person FPM '89 strong foundation for his life and career says Gopal.
With extensive experience and intensive knowledge in Human Resources, Leadership and Organization Development, Dr. Gopal Mahapatra FPM '89 (Fellow Programme in Management), has established himself as an authority in the profession. Currently positioned as Sr. Director-Organization & Talent Development in Oracle India, Gopal approaches his job with his caliber as a teacher, philosopher, businessman, philanthropist and mentor - a rare combination indeed. In times where HR professionals are not living up to the real significance of their job, Gopal Mahapatra has been able to create a new paradigm in the turf of managing people with a human touch. "Gopal is a personality with very high levels of perceptiveness, who efficiently amalgamates the processes and the human aspects of his profession" says an EC member of National HRD Network Bangalore, an organization which Gopal is involved with for last two decades.
An ever-smiling man, Gopal says the core values his family imparted, are what he has carried throughout his life. Gopal expressed that his goal in life is to help society by enabling individuals and organizations to reach their potential and achieve holistic excellence. Gopal Mahapatra is married to Leena, a painter, and they live with their two kids in Bangalore.
Gopal worked with companies including BEL, INDAL, Gujarat Gas, BPL, TV Rao Learning Systems and was an Associate Professor (HRM) at XIM, Bhubaneswar. His areas of expertise include HRD, organization development & change management, leadership development, 360 degree feedback, mentoring & executive coaching. Gopal has written articles, books and presented papers sharing his knowledge on these subjects. Gopal has been in the Advisory Board and Academic Council of the Indian Business Academy, PES Institute of Management, RV Institute of Management, Bangalore University, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India project on Industry Academia Interaction. He also has been a visiting faculty at IIMB and other B - Schools including IIMA, IIMC, Symbiosis, IIFM, and TAPMI. Gopal reminisces his days at the IIMB campus with reverence and takes pride in having grown with the institute in its early days. As a PhD aspirant, he found great support from the faculty, staff, and students from diverse cross-cultural background. This has been a
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Anup Upadhyay The change agent
PGSEM '04 IIM Bangalore for me has a special meaning - it's the place where I reinvented myself professionally. When I joined PGSEM (Post Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management) at IIMB in 2001, I had been working for 9 years. This long and intense professional experience albeit had a decade worth of unanswered questions, perplexing dilemmas and cynicisms. IIMB gave me an opportunity to interact with faculty and industry peers that afforded me a deep introspection into my own experiences, thinking, beliefs and biases. I came out realizing that I was not alone in this journey of professional self-discovery, and had at my disposal the knowledge and wisdom of many others. I believe that this period indeed was a defining moment of my career and life. After graduating from IIMB in early 2004, my first assignment was to head delivery and operations for Infosys' UK Financial Services practice based in Bangalore. Subsequently in late 2005, I relocated to Chicago to manage Infosys' global relationship with a large European bank. Currently I'm based out of San Francisco bay area, heading the Hi-Tech OEM practice for Infosys' Manufacturing business unit. I live with my wife Richa and our 8 year old daughter Ishita.
Especially times spent together outside the classroom - debating case materials, rushing to get the assignments finished, cramming for the end term tests and many such good times. The eclectic class that we were, equally funny were the incidents - late comers getting the door shut on them at 5 past the hour, late nighters dozing off in the class, people admitting to have read the case study albeit partially; and the class lobbying for an open book test. I will always cherish the experiences. I recently read a quote attributed to Jeff Immelt that seemed apt for the current times - "Those who are waiting for the 'good' times to come back will be waiting indefinitely. The world has changed forever. We need to change our products and services to survive and thrive in the new world order."
My career high point was my first overseas assignment in 1994. I was young and itching to see the world - the next 6 years working in the US contributed to the finest on-the-job learning experience thus far. Two things that I learnt at IIMB that have sustained me over the last few years are •
Numbers never lie. They tell the complete story of a business - its past, present, and potential
•
The resolution of a complex business problem lies in examining it holistically, and then breaking it into small manageable issues that may have quite simple solutions
My best memories of IIMB are those of my classmates. 17 IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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COMING BACK
Alumni on IIMB Board We are happy to announce that two of our prominent alumni, D Muralidhar PGP '77 and Subhash Dhar PGP '92, have come back to the institution to join the Board of Directors. This is a classic example of the strong alumni-institution connect at IIMB.
tremendous amount of knowledge and learning that he gathered here. His vision for IIMB is to assist the institute in churning out more and more entrepreneurs and envisages an enhanced alumni interaction. He looks forward to some fantastic experiences ahead of him at the Board. Muralidhar is an entrepreneur, leader, philanthropist and a family man all rolled into one. Muralidhar lives in Bangalore with his wife Veena and children Adhvith and Ananya. Subhash B. Dhar, a dynamic professional who is one among the top 5 next generation top leaders of Infosys, joined the Board of Directors of IIMB in October 2009. He is from the PGP '92 batch of our institution and has been actively involved in various socially relevant activities at IIMB. He continued to be involved with the institution and was more than obliging to serve IIMB when membership at the Board of Directors came his way.
Muralidhar with his family
Being the first alumni to become a Board member, Muralidhar PGP '77, is excited about his new engagement with the institute. He holds a degree in Chartered Accountancy and has a successful career record. Muralidhar served as the President of the pioneer organization for trade and commerce in Karnataka, the FKCCI and has served many organizations that are committed to the purpose of industrial growth in the state. Muralidhar is currently the Director of Snam Group of companies and patronizes Techweb Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Innova Securities Pvt. Ltd. He is part of the Karnataka State Planning Commission as well, a very coveted position indeed.
Subhash Dhar
Currently, Subhash holds the title of Senior Vice President and Head of the Communications, Media and Entertainment business unit at Infosys and is also on the Board of Infosys Australia. Subhash was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2007. He is also on the executive board of the International Telecommunication Union's 'Connect the World' initiative. His exemplary experience and knowledge will be a great asset to IIMB. Subhash lives in Bangalore with wife Snigdha, son Varshant and daughter Ojal.
Hailing from as early as the 2nd batch of IIMB, Muralidhar remembers his days at the institute as unique and rewarding. Recollecting his education at IIMB, Muralidhar says he was empowered by the 18 IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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HALL OF FAME
Distinguished Alumni Awards 2009 M.S Zahed PGP '76 retired as CMD from HMT and is currently an advisor to American Cancer Society, TCS, CEdge and SBI. He has founded a technology company, Zeemantech, in Bangalore. Ramesh Venkateswaran PGP '80 was a gold medalist of his batch. He served as the Headmaster of Lawrence School, Ooty, and is currently a board member of Patni Computers and Director of SDM IMD, Mysore. N Ravi PGP '82 is the Secretary East with the Ministry of External Affairs in India. He is an IFS from the 73 cadre and has also served as the Indian Ambassador to Vietnam and represented the country in various international forums. Earlier this year, the IIMB Alumni Association invited nominations from our alumni members for choosing the Distinguished Alumni Awards. A thorough process of selection was made by a committee of senior faculty of our institution and the finest from among the nominations have been chosen. The awards were presented on the 36th Foundation Day of IIMB by Dr Shantha Sinha, Chairperson of the Nation Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Zahed, Ramesh and Ravi addressed the audience and shared their joy in receiving this recognition from their Alma-mater. We are sure that the awardees will continue to be a great source of inspiration and guidance to us. They are a strong testimony to our institute's commitment to management excellence and it's a great honour to acknowledge their achievements and present them with the awards.
M.S Zahed, Ramesh Venkateswaran and N Ravi
Since its inaugural presentation in 2007, the Distinguished Alumni Awards are regarded with much prestige and reverence. The institution and the entire alumni community is delighted to confer this award to those among us who have remarkably excelled in their careers, contributed significantly to the society, and made us proud. The alumni who made it to the hall of fame this year are M.S Zahed, Ramesh Venkateswaran and N Ravi.
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UNMAAD
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UNMAAD
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CLASS NOTES
The PGP '76 get together
Class of '76 with faculty, staff, family and friends
Neha Jain sets up performing arts theatre
Sridhar Ramanujam releases book - "Googly - Branding on Indian turf" Veteran branding and communications expert, Sridhar Ramanujam PGP '82 strikes again with Googly, a book that takes an insightful look at branding in an Indian market. Googly is a sequel to his first book, "One land one billion minds". Bhaskar Bhat, MD, Titan Ind-
Sitting left to right - Neha Jain PGP '06, Ankur Chopra Standing left to right Aditi Vadnagare, Sidharth Nambiar
-ustries, commented on Googly saying it is an "immensely readable book on branding which is experiential, anecdotal, but, at the same time, factual." He is the founder of brand-comm, a communications company specializing in brand consulting, advertising and public relations. As a visiting faculty at IIMB Sridhar has contributed a great deal to the institution.
Venturing into a rare avenue for an IIMB grad, Neha Jain of PGP '06 founded a performing arts theatre company in London called Aks. Neha discovered the theatre artist in her at the IIMB campus. She kept her love for theatre alive in her along with her investment banking career. Along with a few other passionate artists, Aks staged its first play in London. Neha Jain is all set to go places with her new roles as actor and director. 22 IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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CLASS NOTES
Navin Kumar starts a new company
Sangeetha Mall writes a novel with IIMB as the backdrop Sangeetha Mall PGP '86 has published a novel, 'Cloud 9 Minus One', woven around a group of friends who were classmates at IIMB. They get together on campus after 20 years for a reunion weekend and the story evolves. This is Sangeetha's first novel, who has turned to writing as a profession. She is currently working on her second book. Sangeetha's husband, Damodar Mall, is also an alumnus from the '86 batch.
With an idea aiming at enhancing employability of fresh graduates, Navin Kumar PGP '99 has launched a new company named iPRIMED. Navin took to entrepreneurship after a successful career at Infosys.
Wedding Bells!
Alumni of PGP '07 gather at the wedding of their batch mate, Dipak Krishnamani, in Chennai
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Conquering limitations - Talk by Malathi Holla In a talk organized by the Bangalore Chapter of IIMB Alumni Association, Malathi Krishnamurthy Holla infused a strong spirit of fortitude and optimism into our audience. She is a woman who overcame the limitations of post polio paraplegia which caught her at the age of two. Since then, it has been a life of struggle battling numerous surgeries and physical pain. Malathi spoke to the audience about how she refused to resign to her fate and went on to become a paralympic gold medalist, won Arjuna Award, Ekalavya Award and the Padma Shri. She represented the country in international competitions in events like shot put, javelin, discuss throw and wheelchair races. Malathi is an Assistant Manager with Syndicate Bank and runs the Mathru Foundation for handicapped in Bangalore.
Amit Arora opens a 24 hour lounge at the Delhi Airport
Ravi Subramanian authors his third book
Amit Arora PGP '04 has launched a 24 hour Resto Bar, first of its kind, at the Delhi Airport. His company, Buddy Retail, will also be running a Business Lounge and Smoking Lounge at the Airport. So alumni, you know where to go when you are in Delhi and grab some discounts!
After the successful run of his first two books, ‘If God was a Banker’ and ‘I Bought the Monk’s Ferrari’, Ravi Subramanian PGP '92 is back with a bang with ‘Devil in Pinstripes’. Talking about the book Ravi says that it deals with the personal and professional lives of a couple who become adversaries at work. His books are a unique genre – fiction written with corporate world as the backdrop.
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CLASS NOTES
IIMB Orators Club on campus
For those fervent orators who want to nurture their talent and chisel their communication skilla, here is a platform. Under the aegis of the IIMB Alumni Association, 'The IIMB Orators Club', has been launched bringing together the passionate orators among our alumni. The club, part of Toastmasters International, is lead by Pradeep Kumar EGMP-2 as its President and is mentored by LA1924 Toast Masters Club, one of the leading clubs in the country. The members of the club gather at the campus every Saturday between 3pm and 5pm for oratory sessions.
Obituary Dr. Poornima Vyasulu, alumna from PGP'77 expired on Sunday, December 6th due to renal failure. She also was the wife of Dr Vinod Vyasulu, who served as the Professor of Economics at IIMB. After her PGDM from IIMB, Poornima did her PhD from IIT Delhi and worked extensively in the field of empowering women at grass root levels. She also headed her own management consultancy from Bangalore. Few years ago she started a support group for counseling people who suffered from renal failures. On behalf of entire IIMB community, we extend our heartfelt condolences. May god rest her soul in peace and give strength to her family.
K Venkatesh launches book on IT Marketing With his extensive experience of over 14 years in marketing IT products and services in India and abroad, K Venkatesh PGSEM '01 pens his first book "Marketing of Information Technology". The book discusses the marketing of four types of IT wares concepts, intellectual properties, products and services. This book is an insightful read that has found acceptance in many academic institutes. Venkatesh currently works with Adobe Systems as its Senior Program Manager.
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Vikas Kothari’s company bags Emerging India Awards Vikas Kothari MPEFB '08 (Management Programme for Entrepreneurs & Family Business) is in the limelight with his company being conferred the ‘Emerging Company of the Year’ award. CNBC - TV18's Emerging India Awards 2009 presented this award to his company for its achievements in the infrastructure sector. The award is a prestigious honour as it is acknowledged as India’s biggest business award by the Limca Book of Records.
Dr. Hema Krishnan is Associate Dean
Little bundle of joy!
Dhanashree and Anand Kulkarni PGP '04 are blessed with a baby boy who was born on the 9th of July 2009. They have named their son 'Arjun'. Anand Kulkarni is the Secretary of IIMB Alumni Association Mumbai Chapter.
Blessed!
Dr. Hema Krishnan PGP '88 has been promoted as Associate Dean of Williams College of Business, Xavier University Cincinnati. A trail blazer right from the beginning, she worked at HPCL after graduation from IIMB, went to pursue her PhD from University of Tennessee and then joined WCB in 1993 as the first full-time lady faculty member.
Saurabh Kedia PGP '05 is blessed with a baby girl
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CLASS NOTES
Talk on materialism, spiritualism and shrama dharma
Alumni in San Francisco enjoy a game of golf
The Hyderabad Chapter of the IIMB Alumni Association organized this thought provoking talk on peace, remembering the 9/11 tragedy on its anniversary. The talk by C.Venkataramaniah PGP '76 demonstrated a new paradigm for peace, synergy, justice and development.
Kiran Holla takes IIMB to 'Capstone Hall of Fame' Shirish Joshi, Hazurasingh Siviya, Mike Bricker PGA Pro & Coach, Sridhar Krishnan and Anup Uppadhayay.
Kiran Holla EGMP '09 was announced the winner of Capstone Hall of Fame challenge, Fall 2009. IIMB is the first Indian college to get this coveted recognition.
Like father like son Our alumnus J V Prabhu PGP ’79 gets the rare opportunity to have his son study at his own alma mater. His son Raghunath J Prabhu joined IIMB this year for PGP.
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COUPLES OF IIMB
Gawir Baig PGP '05 & Uzma Rushdi PGP '06 Parag Kumar & Priya Kanniah PGP '01 with their children Vaishnavi & Shivam
Vishesh Shrivastav & Gayatri Srinivasan PGP '04
PGP '93: Alok, Hyma, Venu, Nagu, Viraj, Neetu, Jyoti & Rupal
Kapil K Gupta & Jolly PGP '96
Sridhar Ramanujam PGP '82 & Saroj Sridhar PGP '83 with their sons
Deepakk Goyal PGP ’07 & Shilpa Goyal MPWE '08
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WHAT'S UP @IIMB Eduniversal Palmes 2009, IIMB has been awarded '5 Palmes', the highest recognition under the evaluation, accorded to "Universal Business Schools with major international influence". "We are delighted to once again receive this recognition as India's top management school," says Professor Pankaj Chandra, Director, IIMB. The Award, presented on October 26, 2009 at the Eduniversal World Convention held in Cape Town (South Africa) effectively positions IIMB amongst the 100 best business schools worldwide.
IIMB retains top ranking
IIMB Selected as Member of GMAC
IIMB has been acclaimed as the top Indian B-school in two international surveys, Eduniversal & QS Report, in 2009. It is for the second time in a row that Eduniversal has honored the institution. In the
The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the association of international graduate business schools and owner of the GMAT exam, has admitted IIMB as its newest member. IIMB was selected to join 178 other leading business schools from 19 countries by the GMAC Board of Directors. David A. Wilson, GMAC president and CEO said, "We are pleased to welcome the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, under the leadership of Director and Professor Pankaj Chandra, to our ranks." "It is clearly recognized as an institution that is at the forefront of graduate management education around the world, upholding the high standards of excellence and integrity that represent membership in the Council."
36th Foundation Day - Dr. Shantha Sinha delivered lecture on Deficit Childhood Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Dr. Shantha Sinha spoke to the IIMB community on the pressing issue "Deficit Childhood Implications for India's Democracy". Dr. Sinha elucidated the nuances of laws governing child rights in India, its open ends and also the positive impact that child rights activities have achieved in the recent past. The talk was sensitively and heartily received by the audience.
Dr. Shantha Sinha
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WHAT'S UP @IIMB
Our very own signature store
IMB has launched its official merchandise store which brings to you souvenirs that carry the spirit of IIMB. The store was launched at the campus this August and has been a great success. A full-fledged online store, www.iimbstore.com, is also launched to reach the global IIMB community. Watches, bags, apparels, electronic gadgets, business gifts and much more are available imprinted with the IIMB logo. Log on to the online store or drop in at the campus outlet to own and carry the name of your alma-mater.
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WHAT'S UP @IIMB
Talk Series by entrepreneurs of IIMB
Tejas@iimb
A V Asvini Kumar PGP '81
The IIMB Alumni Association and the NSRCEL have jointly initiated a talk series showcasing the success stories of IIMB Alumni who are entrepreneurs. The first talk of the series was delivered by A V Asvini Kumar PGP '81, founder of Thinksoft Global Services. Asvini has many years of experience in the IT services business, including 15 years as an entrepreneur. He spoke to the IIMB community about his experiences as an entrepreneur, the tough early days and the success that came as a result of many years of hard work.
Knowledge broadcast from IIMB
Unarguably a never depleting repertoire of ideas and insights, the IIMB think tank is sharing its knowledge through an online journal named Ideas & Insights. This journal comes as a separate mini portal on the IIMB website and reaches the inbox of subscribers as a newsletter on a monthly basis. To keep abreast with the Institute's thoughts on various subjects, do log onto www.iimb.ernet.in and sign up for the newsletter at the Ideas & Insights section.
IIMB Management Review has kick started an initiative to capture the knowledge generated and shared at IIMB through faculty-student interaction both inside and outside the classroom. The initiative is called tejas@iimb and the information is all shared at the website http://tejas-iimb.org. Tejas@iimb will share knowledge generated as a part of course projects where the students seek out the real world applications of the concepts taught at institute, interactions with industry experts and eminent thinkers, and interviews with IIMB academicians.
100% Placement success IIMB impressively concluded its summer placements for first year PGP students on the 10th of November the entire batch of 348 students was placed in 5 days with 180 students getting placed in slot zero itself. Around 150 companies participated in the process out of which close to 70 were first time recruiters on campus. As many as 64 students were offered internships in international locations. Investment banks, FMCG companies, PE and consulting firms were amongst the top recruiters. Sapna Agarwal PGP '93, Head - Career Development Services, expresses her gratitude to the alumni who supported her in bringing opportunities for the students.
Sapna Agarwal PGP '93 Head - Career Development Services
Wall Street Journal and IIMB Management Views from IIMB is an exclusive column written every two weeks for the Management page of India.WSJ.com by faculty members of the IIMB. The themes cover contemporary issues related to international business, economy and society.
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WHAT'S UP @IIMB
New IIMB Board Members
Dr Narendra Jadhav
Kris Gopalakrishnan
Member, Planning Commission
Chief Executive Officer, Infosys
Dr Narendra Jadhav is a leading educationist, eminent economist and policy maker, well-known social scientist and author. Prior to his appointment as Member, Planning Commission of India, Dr Jadhav was the ViceChancellor of the University of Pune.
Kris Gopalakrishnan is one of the founders of Infosys Technologies. In June 2007, he took over as the CEO and Managing Director of Infosys. He also heads the Innovation Forum of CII Karnataka, of which IIMB is an active partner.
Subroto Bagchi
Rajendra S Pawar
Vice Chairman, MindTree Ltd.
Chairman, NIIT Limited
Subroto Bagchi is a cofounder of MindTree Ltd, an IT consulting company. In July 2009, Bagchi was elected Vice Chairman of the Company. He is also the Chairman of MindTree's Innovation Council and he holds the role of 'Gardener' at MindTree, helping shape future leaders of the Company.
Rajendra S Pawar is a cofounder and the Chairman of NIIT. He is a member of National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development. He heads the Quality Committees of various Industry bodies, including the South African President's International Advisory Council (PIAC) on Information Society. 32
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IIMB IN MOTION
Divya Roongta Against all odds
Divya Roongta PGP '06 is an alumnus who showed great determination all the way through her education, overcoming the challenges that visual impairment posed her with. Divya was diagnosed with macular degeneration at the age of fourteen. Till then, Divya's vision was normal, but later her vision started deteriorating steadily. Yet, she didn't lose heart and neither did her parents give up. Today, Divya is an Executive currently based in Mumbai, working with the Corporate Finance team at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Earlier, she had worked with Morgan Stanley. Divya was diagnosed with this disability while in the 9th grade. After the initial shock, she and her family tried to work around the problem. They found a couple who helped people like Divya by recording books on tape. Back then, books on a tape wasn't a very wellknown concept. For Divya it came as a boon. Until her BBA graduation from Ethiraj College Chennai, Divya continued to use books on tape as course material for studies. "I must admit, initially I felt very lost and didn't know how I'd cope. As I met people with similar disabilities I drew strength from them to look forward positively and never give up," she reminisces.
move out of my home in Chennai and live in a hostel away from them," she says. Managing to talk her parents into letting her move to Bangalore, Divya got enrolled into the PGP batch of 2004-06 at IIMB. She graduated and bagged a great offer that brought her to Mumbai. "I couldn't have survived those two years at IIMB without the help of my batch mates, seniors and professors. I did most of my exam preparation and studying with my batch mates and when they weren't available, my seniors always helped," she says. Many faculty members were also extremely cooperative, she says. Some of the professors would read out what they wrote on the board in class or help her with extra coaching after class hours. "I think, though IIMB doesn't talk about it too much in the media, the system is designed to take care of a lot of things. Nobody in the admissions panel or placements, etc., ever even brought up the subject of my disability. I was always treated like a normal student and that gave me the confidence to feel like that as well," she adds.
Divya has always found people to support her. "After I was diagnosed, be it in school or college, I found people were extremely supportive. Nobody ever refused help. I was allowed a scribe in school, also at IIMB," she adds.
Divya's positive spirit extends beyond the classroom and workplace. Recently, while in between jobs, she used the break to travel around and meet old friends and family. She even went climbing and conquered Mount Kalsubai, which, at 1646 meters, is the highest peak of the Sahyadri range in Maharashtra...something she really enjoyed and is very proud of!
What comes through very strongly with Divya is her confidence and a never-say-die spirit. "All the while in college, my parents were concerned about how I'd cope but there was the comfort factor that I was still living with them. Once I got a call from IIMB, they really started worrying because it meant having to
IIMB extends inclusive education for students who are challenged with disabilities such as low vision/blindness, hearing impairment and loco motor disability/cerebral palsy. We are happy to see that our efforts in this front have helped many a lives like that of Divya.
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IIMB IN MOTION
The IIMB Alumni Association Trust
Rakesh Godhwani Head IIMB Alumni Association
Sankarshan Basu Chairperson Alumni Affairs
The IIMB Alumni Association Trust There is an old saying that the stronger the roots of a tree, the bigger it will grow and longer will it last. Once the seed is sown and it takes shape into a beautiful sapling and then a tree bearing the sweetest fruit, the entire journey of growth requires not only enormous amounts of sunshine, water and food but also care, trust and patience. The IIMB Alumni Association is no different. To ensure the alumni association grows bigger and lasts longer, it needs rock solid foundation. We are very pleased to inform you that for the first time in IIMB history, we have formally registered the Alumni Association as a legal trust under the Societies and Trust Act. In an interview to the IIMB Alumni Magazine, Professor Sankarshan Basu, Chairperson Alumni Affairs at IIMB and Rakesh Godhwani, Head IIMB Alumni Association share some of their thoughts, hopes and aspirations for the IIMB Alumni Association Trust.
What is the purpose of the IIMB Alumni Association (IIMBAA) Trust? The IIMBAA Trust's primary objective is to create linkages between IIMB and its alumni, and enable professional networking among the alumni. The Institute has a vision and a clear roadmap of growth ahead of itself and the Trust ensures that the alumni are a key pillar of strength and support for the same. The IIMB Alumni Association has a rich and diverse set of members who are business and thought leaders of today. We owe it to our Institute, which has given us the opportunity to excel in our careers and
life, that we stand by it at all times. And by doing so, we all create a strong network of individuals who also benefit from each other's knowledge, connections and expertise. The IIMBAA Trust provides a legal framework to meet these objectives. The Trust allows the alumni to now operate and function independently, help the common goals and empower alumni drive this further. The Institute then becomes an umbrella for all of us to align our goals and gives us a common identity. One of the most important aspects of this Trust is that it is registered at IIMB, with the Director, Deans, Chairperson and Head of Alumni Association as Trustees and ex-officio members. This ensures that from an administration and governance point of view, the Alumni Association is deeply enmeshed within the IIMB fabric and will give its unique color as well.
Could you explain the structure of the Trust and how it will function? As explained earlier, the IIMBAA Trust brings the IIMB community of faculty, staff, alumni and students together to a common goal. If you look at our alumni base, we are scattered all over the world and are from across all programs of PGP, PGSEM, FPM, PGPPM, EPGP and EEP. We have 11 Chapters across the world and each member of that city is part of the City Chapter. A Chapter has 3 office bearers - President, Secretary and Treasurer. They are the members who will actually do the day-to-day work for alumni initiatives like networking events, ensuring database of members of that city are updated on the website, periodic communication, management of funds and local bank account for that city and an annual report that rolls up to the alumni office at IIMB.
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IIMB IN MOTION All of these office bearers who are elected democratically every two years will form a Council. This Council will meet every year at least once and have periodic communication to ensure that all activities are aligned to a common goal and they share best practices, work together for Anusmaran, our yearly get-together in May, etc. Two members from current students will join the council too and ensure that student interests are represented at alumni levels and alumni is engaged in student programs. This council of up to 35 members will elect a President and Vice-President of the Council. These two members will be on the Board of the Alumni Association which has 5 members. The Chairman of the Board is the Chairperson of Alumni Association at IIMB. The other two members are the Dean Administration and the Head of IIMB Alumni Association. This Board is the executive of the association and will ensure that the alumni worldwide and the Institute come together in harmony for a common goal. The board will also be responsible to give a broad level guideline of the function of the Association, lay down rules and byelaws in consultation with the Council and the Trustees, and ensure the IIMBAA gets a face and a platform for high level decision making. The diagrams and pictures below might help to explain this structure better. We feel that it is critical to bring all stakeholders of IIMB together. We studied close to 25 top schools of the world and found that each has its own way of doing the same. After lot of consultative discussions with various senior alumni and faculty members, we thought this structure is the best suited one for IIMB. Not only does it give autonomy to alumni to manage their own bank account and run their own events, it also ensures that the Institute participates in that event and there is a tie up for a larger goal.
About IIMB Alumni Association • Legally registered body with members from all programs of IIMB – PGP, PGSM, FPM, PGPPM, EPGP, NSRCEL and EEP • Executive office at IIMB • City chapters • Batch representatives
a. Maintaining a website and central website www.iimbaa.org b. Bi-annual IIMB Alumni magazine c. Reunion weekend every December d. Anusmaran worldwide in May every year e. Managing the Tax and Legal compliances of IIMBAA Trust f. Assisting the Campaign for IIMB initiative of fund raising for the Institute The IIMBAA Trust becomes a critical keystone of this entire plan that will help us deliver results for above mentioned targets. A very important message that we would like to give to all our alumni is that this is a participative and democratic trust. The alumni will elect the office bearers who will draft the action plan as per the over-arching goal, work with the individual alumni of their city, and help IIMB Alumni Association a well networked and strong body that serves as a pillar of support to IIMB.
Trustees • 5 in number (exofficio) • Director • Deans (academic and administration)
Alumni Association Board
Chapters
We think that these are the best times for IIMB Alumni Association. We have now secured a full-fledged secretariat at IIMB with 5 full time team members including both of us (Sankarshan and Rakesh). Our job is to ensure that there is central co-ordination of the IIMBAA Trust and we drive the following initiatives:
IIMBAA structure
Alumni Affairs
Institute
What are the plans of the Alumni Association for 2010 and beyond? And how does the Trust fit in those plans?
• Chairperson IIMBAA • Head IIMBAA
Batch Representatives
Board • 5 in number • Chairperson IIMBAA • Head IIMBAA • Dean Administration • President of Council • VP of Council • Past President (non voting member)
Council • Up to 35 members – 3 office bearers of each 11 chapters and 2 student reps • Council will elect President and VP
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GIVING BACK
Campaign for IIMB Campaign for IIMB, the fund-raising program for our institute, received encouraging response from the alumni community. The institute is on a growth trajectory and will use the resources shared to build infrastructure, invest in research, student initiatives, industry connect programs and also create more management programs for the emerging world. We are very pleased to share some major donations made towards the campaign: Shashi Yadavalli PGP '98 was the first one to respond to the campaign and donated USD 1000 for internationalization initiatives of the institute. He is based out of New York and works for Deloitte.
Shashi Yadavalli PGP '98
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GIVING BACK
PGP Class of 2009
Gopal Mahapatra, FPM '89 donated Rs 1 Lakh to encourage research students participate in conferences and to take care of their travel needs. He is based out of Bangalore and works for Oracle The PGP '09 batch collectively donated a whopping 12 Lakh towards infrastructure development and various student initiatives. Besides the above, the PGP '08 has donated Rs 9 Lakh last year for encouraging students on case study writing, making outstanding achievements beyond academics like social work and also infrastructure development for hostels. Over last 3 years, the PGP '92 batch continues to drive the Rajesh Kaushik Memorial scholarship of approx 3 lakhs that takes care of tuition fee for a deserving student. It is drops like these that make an ocean. A big THANK YOU to all of you for your support so far!
Gopal Mahapatra, FPM '89
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IIMB ON MY MIND
A leaf of nostalgia from Impressions PGP '87
the onset of the placement fever, the endless filling up of bio-data, the borrowed ties, the GDs, success, the failure, the flights to Corporate Headquarters, the salary, the perks, the rejections, the acceptances…
A hundred odd birds of passage wanted to get 'there' and alighted on the stark expanses of a stone walled campus that was to be their home for next 21 months. Not unlike the stones that were being chiseled and cemented into impressive edifices all around, they let themselves be drawn into the making of an intricate web of hopes, dreams and relationships. And when the time came to migrate to greener pastures, they left. But not before leaving some indelible impressions on the environs that they had made a part of themselves. The story of their passage through this sanctuary can best be told through vignettes that will outlive most of the theories and sciences that they imbibed here.
the celebrations, the spirited dancing, the skits, the gorgeous dresses the girls wore, the digs, the jigs, the farewell dinner, the candle lights, the saucy awards, the party games… the lectures, the quizzes, the term papers, the MR projects, the Profs, the grades, the medals, the diploma…
And finally: the parting, the bear hugs, the solemn handshakes, the 'All the best's and 'See you's, the lumps in the throat, the sorrow, the anticipation, the plunge into the world beyond…
Will we forget: the orientation programme, the tentative reaching out to each other, the break-in-parties, the Hostel A charisma, the rumbustious seniors, the exploring walks round the campus…
Parting is such a sweet sorrow…
the rash of dumb charades and JAMs before the Inter IIMs, the Mangame trophy, the sports fiascos, the Social that never was, the Manifest that did not see the light of the day, the sporadic forays of the culfests in town… those nights under the Institute gates, the negotiating rounds with the Staff Union, the takeover of the Mess, the delectable dishes served up by the girls, the dish washing, the team spirit… the breaking for the summer, the project assignments, the all-India tours, the frustration of market surveys, the TA/DA claims, the fun of working in an organization without any attached strings, meeting mortals from other IIMs… the dreaming up of NEXUS, the initial stumbling, the race against time, the apprehensions, the last week all-out efforts, the D-day, the small crowd at the inauguration, the teeming thousands the next evening, the following euphoria…
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IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE
One thing can change a lot
One song can spark a moment,
One candle wipes out darkness,
One flower can wake the dream,
One laugh can conquer gloom.
One tree can start a forest,
One step must start a journey,
One butterfly can herald spring.
One word must start a prayer,
One smile begins a friendship,
One hope can raise our spirits,
One hand-clasp can lift the soul,
One touch can show your care.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One word can frame the goal.
One heart can know what's true,
One vote can change the nation,
One life can make a difference,
One sunbeam lights a room,
You see, it's up to you!
A poem written by Sukanya, a 10th Standard student, daughter of our Buddhadeb Dasgupta, current student in AMP 3 (Advanced Management Program)
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