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Foreword Dear SIMSR’ites, Season’s Greetings from the Alumni Relations Office! As we bring this year to a close, we have some very special memories. Safarnama – Road back to ’77, the theme of our annual Alumni event, Nostalgia, brought back to campus over 500 alumni who spent a good evening meeting up with old class mates, seniors and juniors. Two of the batches, 2001 and 2004 were felicitated and they shared their fondest memories of the time spent on campus. Confluence 2014 saw us proudly hosting our alumni who are now experts in their area of operation. The topic this year was Primal Leadership – the Hidden driver. We explored the connection between Emotional intelligence and leadership skills. A never fading topic of discussion, it gave the students insights into what they may expect as they grow in their respective careers. The second annual SIMSR Global Supply Chain management Conference was an informative session bringing together multiple facets of Supply Chain. The agenda included a panel discussion followed by a paper presentation and a Round Table Conference. Please read ahead for more details. IBS@SIMSR celebrated its 5th Year and the highlight was the address by Prof. Paul Marer from the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. Prof. Marer conducted courses in IB for a duration of 6-8 weeks for our PG students. The CII-Western Region had organized their 13th Manufacturing Summit on “Make in India” - the buzzword at this time. Our students greatly benefitted from this experience of knowledge and learning. CII also organized the first ever Tower Run at WTC, Cuffe parade in order to spread the message of health awareness amongst Corporates. The next event is due to be held on 25 th November, 2015.. Do block your calendars and participate. The Self-defense workshop organized by the WDC on campus on Taekwondo was very well received with active participation from both students and staff. Our students had their fun time with the Navrathri celebrations and enjoyed and danced their studies away! All this and much more in this edition of Imprints! As always we look forward to publish Alumni achievements/ contributions and articles. We also appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Do write into us at alcom.simsr@somaiya.edu Happy reading, Vidhya Sharma Alumni Relations Manager
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Nostalgia 2014 Nostalgia, the annual alumni homecoming event is one kicked off from this year, where forty-five alumni from of the most anticipated and magnificently celebrated different batches interacted with each other and the occasions in SIMSR. This year it was no exception and faculty. The multilateral dialogue brought new perspecneedless to say that Nostalgia’14 was a tremendous suc- tive on current job requirements as well as global market cess. The theme for this year was Safarnama – Road scenario. back to 77. Preparations had started well in advance to- By late evening, there were around 500 alumni who had wards the end of which the entire college premise was paid visit to the campus at the call of their alma mater. embellished with lamps, posters, banners, pit stops Furthermore, batches of 2001 and 2004 were felicitated showcasing glimpses of a student’s journey to SIMSR and by Dr. Radha Iyer. The former students were more than beyond. Every committee had put up a stall in the am- glad to come on stage and share memories of their life at phitheater and Chanakya Building lobby.
SIMSR. They were given gifts as a token of admiration
It was since noon, that the alumni had started ar- and good luck for future. To top that there were riving in clusters and Alumni Committee members had spellbinding performances by NSPA and SIMSR’s own begun registering them diligently. The event was inaugu- band MAUJ. The serene classical and fusion music rated by Professor Dr. Satish Ailawadi, Director along mesmerized everyone. After that, the DJ took over the with Prof C.P. Joshi, Dr. Radha Iyer and Ms. Rupali stage and all the students and alumni shook a leg in the Guptare. With the Convocation ceremony happening on open theatre. It was a sight to behold. The ceremony the same day, the entire campus looked like a grand fair ended at 11pm in a grand banquet dinner organized for ground with joyful faces hovering around. After the ini- our Alumni. We gave gifts and collected feedback from tial welcome, the Sports Committee took charge of all them. They were very happy to be back to their own the sport enthusiast alumni and escorted them to the college and bade us a touching goodbye with a promise sports ground. They tried their hands at badminton, to come back again along the road of 77. squash and basketball. Then The AGM (Annual General Meeting) was conducted in which we had 18 esteemed alumni from all walks of life. With them, we shared in detail our progress and achievements for the year, the challenges we face and also the milestones we have set for ourselves as the K J Somaiya Alumni Committee. The meeting provided us with vital insights that would prove valuable in pursuing our vision and mission. The next in the event list was Parichay, the networking event. This is a new initiative
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Confluence 2014 Confluence 2014 was enlightening as it always is! This year we had a vibrant panel not only in terms of quality but diversity as well. The panel consisted of alumni from Morgan Stanley, Talwalkars, L’Oreal, Kidzania and Channel V. The topic for discussion was the HBR article on Primal Leadership which focused on the role of emotional intelligence in decision making. Our prestigious alumnus Ms. Avril Miranda from Morgan Stanley moderated the followed by some honest opinions, suggestions and discussion very meticulously. Every panelist gave experiences of Mr Sandeep Kriplani, Director Active their invaluable insight into the topic by sharing an- Cosmetics Division, L’Oreal. He stressed on the imecdotes from their rich and varied experiences in portance of Emotional Intelligence and recommendthe corporate world.
ed the audience to read Daniel Golman’s book on
The event started with Sir Isaac Jacob Emotional
Intelligence
for
gaining
in
depth
welcoming alumni for this one of its kind homecom- knowledge on the subject. Also, he shared how stuing event. We began with Mr. Nisheeth Neelkanth, dents from IIM undergo EI assessment tests. Group head Fiction, Channel V who spoke about
Last but not the least, Mr Vishal Rupani, CEO,
how the creative workforce in media industry is Talwalkar HIFI, shared
with the audience a
generally emotionally inclined calling for precise remarkable situation that he encountered in his mentoring becomes to tap out-of- the- box ideas. work where in the right application of EI skills He concluded on the note that in the business world yielded excellent results and immense profits to the more than often professional lifestyle overshadows organization. It was all the more fascinating to hear personal life if left unchecked. It is not easy for an that back in his college days Mr. Rupani had individual to seclude emotions experienced in work- initiated the college PR magazine ‘Horizon’. place and home while trying to balance the two.
In the end the panelists interacted with the
Mrs Sona Mazumdar, National Head Strategic audience and took their queries and doubts. A vote Partnerships, Kidzania shared her own professional of thanks was given by Prof. Radha Iyer. SIMSRites journey and emphasized how she has adapted over were happy to be a part of the event that equipped time and shifted roles from the ones that required them with better understanding of the requisite her emotions to be nurtured to the ones where she leadership qualities in business. is expected to nurture the emotions of her colleagues and subordinates in the workplace. It was
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SIMSR Global Supply Chain Management Conference “The systemic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain“
The second annual SIMSR Global Supply Chain Man- throughs change the firms and often its markets foragement Conference was held on 5th December ever. The feasibility and implementation of such 2014. It was an informative session discussing multi- technological marvels are driven by smarter technople aspects of systematic and strategic coordination logical wonders in the backend processes such as management for supplying products and services internal operations, supply chain and logistics, relarequired by the end customer. The key objective of tionships with suppliers, partners and associates be the conference covered the benefits of SCM in it in terms of usage of Drones, Big data, RFID etc. creating supply chain surplus, building a competitive The panel discussion was followed by the paper infrastructure, synchronizing the goods supply and presentation in which we had prominent industrial leveraging worldwide logistics. In current day econ- speakers who spoke on various aspects and ways of omy, where persistently evolving global companies reducing risks in the supply chain. are forced to keep looking for production center
The post lunch session was an interesting
with least cost of labor and raw material to com- Round Table conference on ‘De-risking the Supply pete in the global market, SCM plays a strategic and chain in global environment). The panel consisted of operational backbone for the organization.
eminent industry experts such as: Mr. Deepak
The event was inaugurated by Prof. Issac Jakate, Mr. Surendra Deodhar, Mr. Chitur Devraj, Jacob followed by welcoming of the keynote Mr. Rajesh Padnekar & Prof. Lamba. The panelists speaker Dr. Apurva Jain, PHD from Purdue Universi- discussed that Risks can come from uncertainty in ty and a professor of Operations Management at financial markets, threats from project failures, legal Fosters School of Business by Prof. J S Lamba and liabilities, credit risk, accidents, natural causes and Dr. Pramod Shetty.
disasters as well as deliberate attack from an adver-
The session was followed by a Panel discus- sary, or unpredictable events. They very aptly exsion on Disruptive Supply Chain Management by the plained that how the risk of supply chain disruption guest of honor Dr. Dirk Hartel (Head of Department has become more prevalent owing to the globalized of Supply Chain in DHBW University Stuttgart, Ger- nature of the supply chain, just-in-time inventory many), Mr. Arun Rao (Head Solutions Design & Op- management, consolidation of vendors through erations - Contract Logistics & Supply Chain strategic sourcing activities, and overall geo-political Services, All Cargo Logistics), Dr. Naag and Prof. changes, amongst other areas. Lamba.
Prof. Rahul Mulay delivered the vote of
The Panelists discussed that successful break- thanks.
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5th Anniversary of IBS@SIMSR 18th November, 2014 marked the successful com- tion with his views on the Global Economic Trends. pletion of five years of contribution by International He told that, historically the GDP of India and China Business Society (IBS@SIMSR) to complement the has been about two thirds of the world GDP and classroom learning of SIMSR students in Interna- elaborated on how China and India would have a tional Business. The highlight of this event was the modest 5% GDP growth till 2050. He showed a corkeynote address by Professor Dr. Paul Marer of Cen- relation between the form of Government and ecotral European University, Budapest, Hungary. The nomic growth. He then dwelt on the European Unevent was also graced by Mrs. Paul Marer.
ion and the rules governing it. He elaborated on the
Professor C P Joshi, fac-
social and economic challeng-
mentor
(IBS@SIMSR)
es of Northern and Southern
along with the student mem-
European countries and em-
bers
IBS@SIMSR
phasized upon how the disin-
welcomed Mrs. And Mr.
tegration of the Euro zone
Marer to the event. The
could be more disastrous than
event was also witnessed by
collapse of Euro as a currency.
some of the faculty members
In the concluding part of
ulty
of
of SIMSR.
his address, Professor Marer also spoke about the
It began with the recital of the Campus prayer, socio-economic status of some East European counfollowed by a welcome address by Professor C.P. tries like Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine and HunJoshi. Professor Joshi briefly covered the highlights gary. The address was followed by a detailed quesof the annual events organized by IBS@SIMSR like tion and answer round with the audience. Some of the International Business Conference (Pangea), the the queries dealing with the Ukrainian crisis, dollar Inter B-School competition on Country Strategies as a reserve currency, election process of the EU (Commercio) and the International Business Day at and green governance were well answered by ProSamavesh. Professor Joshi also outlined the fessor Marer. The first-hand knowledge shared by achievements of e-GlobuzZ, the quarterly e- Professor Marer and his insights on Global Trends, publication of IBS@SIMSR which was launched on the EU and the East European countries were inval18th November 2009. Professor Marer started his keynote address
uable for the audience of SIMSR students. The event concluded with a vote of thanks by
by introducing himself and gave a backdrop of his our Faculty Mentor Professor C P Joshi and cakeexperiences during his rich academic and profes- cutting by Mrs. And Mr. Marer to mark the 5 th annisional international career. He began the presenta- versary of IBS@SIMSR.
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A Special Note of Thanks As it is said, one of the best ways to learn is through peer learning, what could be a better opportunity for students than to learn from experiences of your own alumni. So, we – the team Imprints on this occasion would like to thank Mr. Siddhartha Khemka, VP, Centrum Wealth Management Ltd for addressing the PG Executive, 2014-15 batch at the institute and sharing his invaluable experience in equity research. The students were delighted to have such a warm welcome and few key takeaways were, “His session provided clarity on how equity investment is as good as or better than any other investment in real estate. “Clearly explained concepts on how equity research is done and its impact on investments and discussed the career path in equity research” “Got substantial information about stock exchange, their formation & operational systems and learnt
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CII Manufacturing Summit on ―Making Make in India a Reality‖
The CII-WR (Western Region) organized its 13th addressed the audience focused on the necessity to Manufacturing Summit on 14th November, 2014 at address the talent shortage despite the overall the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai. The agenda of the surplus of labor in the country. They highlighted summit was “Making “Make in India” a Reality”. that
SMEs
are
the
backbone
of
India's
The summit focused on the fundamental changes manufacturing sector, and ensuring the success of required to transform India into a manufacturing Indian SMEs is a critical step towards achieving the hub. As the Imprints team spoke to the CII YI repre- goal of global leadership. They expressed their consentatives from SIMSR, here is what they had to say, cern regarding the increasing degree of challenges “It was a great learning experience where our being faced by SMEs nowadays and suggested few students got an insight of how going digital and steps needed to address these obstacles. Also, this using big data will help the Indian manufacturing event gave our students an opportunity to interact sector to prosper in the future. “
with various entrepreneurs and helped them to un-
At the event, Mr Sumit Sarawgi, Partner & derstand the importance of the manufacturing secManaging Director,India Leadership Team-BCG India tor in the priority list for India to be a globally was the main speaker. All the eminent guests who successful nation.
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ALUMNI COMMITTEE WISHES EVERYONE..
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Oct—Nov 2014
CII Tower Run—Mumbai 2014
Mumbai experienced its first Tower Run on 23rd free passes to the event. Also, CII YI SIMSR online November at WTC, Cuff Parade organised by CII. promotion team tweeted about these free passes to With an intention to create health awareness create buzz among the students of different instituamong the corporate and to bring the rapidly ex- tions of Mumbai. The “DO YOU KNOW” facts on Fapanding sport to Mumbai, CII succeeded in waking cebook and tweeter, and the preparation selfie conup Mumbai on a Sunday early morning. Recognized
and
promoted
test on Facebook called attention for this initiative. by The entire CII YI-SIMSR support team had a pre
World Tower Running Association (TWA), based in event training on Saturday, 22nd Nov 2014 about the Austria, and supported by Municipal Corporation of activities and the flow of the event. On the final day, Greater Mumbai (MCGM), Tower Run had two the support team provided assistance to the particievents:
pants throughout, from registrations till refresh-
- An individual event
ments. The event saw diversity in the participants
- A relay of four members
ranging from corporate and school children to gym
As Mumbai was going to witness this grand mara- professionals and elder citizens. SIMSR’s All Womthon, CII YI—SIMSR was entrusted with the respon- en team left their mark by achieving top position in sibility of creating awareness about the event in a the women’s team event of the Run. week .The task was challenging but they accepted it The CII YI-SIMSR team that helped make this event with full enthusiasm. CII YI -SIMSR offline promotion successful had their bags filled with lots of learning team visited major colleges of Mumbai to popular- and experiences. The team gained hands on experiize this event few among which include NITIE, TISS, ence in event promotion both digital and personal RUIA and Welingkar. The students in these colleges marketing as well as event handling. tasted the importance of healthy living when they This very first initiative was such a huge success that had to win short races during the promotion, to get it promises to exhaust us again on 29th Nov 2015.
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Not just another self-defense workshop!! ‘The thing a woman has learnt is that anybody gives you power. You just take it.’- Roseanne Barr With this as their core belief at heart, the Women’s
Develop-
ment Cell (WDC) of SIMSR, works towards empowering students such that they carry forward the motivation to promote an environment of gender amity and sensitivity. To achieve its won- World Taekwondo Headquarters and the objectives, WDC organizes events, workshops and coach of the Indian Youth Taekwondo team. He was programs on gender amity, women’s welfare and accompanied by Master Hardik Unadket, 2nd Dan continuously try to recognize individual efforts to- Black Belt from Kukkiwon. The workshop was a wards equality and empowerment.
grand success witnessing a participation of more
One of the initiatives of WDC, on these lines, than hundred participants including both students was the second edition of Self-Defense Workshop and faculty. The key takeaways from the workshop held on 28th November, 2014.It was a one day work- were learning the nitty-gritties of Taekwondo, basic shop focusing on the world famous martial art form Taekwondo techniques and self-defense moves and of Taekwondo. Taekwondo is one of the only two lastly the Do’s and Don’ts in case of an attack. Asian martial arts that are included in Olympic “The workshop was very beneficial. We learnt some Games. This martial art form was originally prac- great moves for defending against common holds ticed by Korean martial artists who were studying in like front choke and back choke. It was a wonderful China during Japanese occupation of Korea. Post the experience”, said Shruti Gupta, one of the particiend of Japanese occupation, martial art schools pants. “Such self-defense workshops should be held known as Kwans made Taekwondo popular within regularly in schools and colleges to boost the confithe country and internationally as well.
dence of students and martial arts must be made a
The workshop was conducted by Grand mas- part of physical
education”, said
a faculty
ter, Jeong Hee Lee, 7th Dan Black Belt from Kukki- participant.
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OCT-nov 2014
Dandiya Raas – A night of dance and music
On Oct 7th , SIMSRites celebrated the unforgettable The evening started with Aarthi and Prasad folDandiya Night organised by the Student Activity Fo- lowed by the famous moves of garba. Prizes and gift rum. The bright chaniya cholis and kedias created coupons were distributed to the Best dressed Male/ the perfect aura for the evening. Boogieing to the Female and Best dancer Male/Female. The event music was fun, not only for those who participated brought an end to all Navaratri celebrations at but also was a visual treat for those who preferred SIMSR on a fun filled note. to watch from the side-lines.
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Imprints Team Editors Srabana Chaudhari M — 9769076920
Divya Kaul M — 9876331089
Content Manager And Designer Gulshan Deepchandani M — 9860699431
Designers Tanvi Bhutani M — 9833905774
Aayush Chadha M — 9665759865
Junior Team
Ridhi Gupta
Swinston Dalmeida
Anshumala Sinha
Lovina Murdia
Priyal Doshi
Rishikesh Dabholkar
Ayona Chowdhury
Rohan Pai
Contributors
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