IIM Raipur had one of the Largest Contingent in the Indian Youth Delegation to China

17 students of IIM Raipur were part of the Indian Youth Delegation to China. The delegation visited major cities, cultural and historic centres of China from 17^th to 24^th June, 2016. The delegation was part of the annual initiative by Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs, Government of India to send 200 youths to China. The main purpose of the visit being to promote mutual understanding of values and culture among the youth and to develop better relations between India and Peoples Republic of China.

The delegation comprised of students from all over the country including from IIM Ahmedabad, Kozhikode and Trichy, with IIM Raipur having one of the largest representation among the selected delegation.

The students of IIM Raipur toured in two groups, with one group of eight visiting Beijing, the capital city of China; Xi’an, Nanjing and Shanghai. The other group of nine visited Beijing, Chengdu, Guilin and Guangzhou. The groups visited historical place like The Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City, The Terracotta Warrior Army and Dayan Pagoda; and educational places like Beijing Sports University, Urban planning museum and Chanba ecological district among many.

The tour focussed on showcasing the cultural as well as developmental growth of China. Through visit to various urban planning museum and ecological districts, the students were made aware about reason behind rapid infrastructural and commercial development. The students also visited universities to get a first-hand experience of the educational system and infrastructure in the country.
A special session on Belt and Road Initiative, popularly known as Silk Road initiative was also held, where it’s historical and commercial significance were explained. The presentation of traditional dance forms and cultural exchanges helped in better understanding of the Chinese culture. The students also experienced travel in Bullet train that is going to be implemented very soon in India.

Here are some of the students of IIM Raipur describing their experiences and learning from visit to China.

Aditya Pratap, PGP 2^nd Year, IIM Raipur 

 The trip was a very informative one for me with respect to learning how a nation has reached the peak of development without a common knowledge of English. The trip was a mix of appreciating the engineering and architectural development of traditional China by visiting to historical monuments, and that of modern urban planning and infrastructure in Beijing, Shanghai and Xi’an, which has been developed to cater logistics need in China as an inland port city. The important lesson to draw from China is that they have focussed on developing the facilities that directly affect their manufacturing and exports based economy, which is seamless road and rail infrastructure, dedicated large financial districts and faster decision making process. Our country being an agrarian economy needs to focus, with identical vigour, in agriculture technology development, complete support in supply chain from storage of produce to their selling and seamless logistics infrastructure. 

Chinese youth are very hard working and with complete support of governmental infrastructure they are committed to their goal be it in academics, sports or music, from a very young age.

I would like to thank the Government of India for giving me the opportunity to explore China and present a clear picture of it.

Lakshmi Prasanna, PGP 2^nd Year, IIM Raipur

From the strangers with similar intentions to the friends with noticeable differences; from the  shining early mornings to the glittering late nights; from the 6AM Breakfasts to the 6PM Banquets; from India Gate to Great Wall of China - the overall Indian Youth Delegation to China program never failed to inspire me.

In 8 days we covered 4 important cities of China – Beijing, Xi’an, Nanjing and Shanghai. Each and every city got its own beauty, advanced infrastructure and vivacious culture. The good people always bring out the good in people and may be this was the reason why I always felt good while interacting with them. The Universities (Beijing Sport University, International Law University), the Museums (Terracotta Warriors, Urban Planning Museum, Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall) and the Historical places (The Great Wall of China, Forbidden city, Dayan pagoda) left me with a lot of experiences and new thoughts.  The overall trip enhanced my perception towards sports and urban development. 

Finally, I want to say Xièxiè (thank you) to China for giving me a life time experience and thanks to IIM Raipur and Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports for providing me with such a great opportunity.

Isha Tayal, PGP 2nd Year, IIM Raipur

An Experience, never to be forgotten. The Indian Youth Exchange Program to China introduced me to a country which perhaps otherwise no planned trip could. The hospitality extended to the delegation by the Government of India and the Government of People's Republic of China was overwhelming.

The journey began with a send-off banquet hosted by Chinese embassy in New Delhi and a warm welcome by Indian embassy in Beijing, China. It was followed by an enriching exploration across four cities of Beijing, Chengdu, Guilin and Guangzhou. Each city had a unique feat to offer. From the Great Wall of China in Beijing, to the amazing Karst topography across Li river in Guilin, every place left us awestruck with its beauty, be it natural or magnificently man-made. Visit to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding that houses 80% of global giant panda population was a personal favourite. Interaction with students and professors in various universities, visits to factories and companies, innovation centre and incubators focused on multi-faceted approaches to learning and development.

The program offered an opportunity to explore the synergy between India and China which strengthens my belief on INCH TOWARDS MILES. Above all, the newly developed outlook and exposure through exchange of culture, ideas and values resulted in an overarching exchange experience and new lifelong friendships.

Shreya Agarwal, PGP 2^nd Year, IIM Raipur

 Youth delegate to China - an opportunity not to be missed. The purpose behind the visit to China is to understand the Chinese people, culture, tradition and art form, and strengthen friendly relationship with the neighbouring Country. This was aptly fulfilled by the delegation which comprised of young professionals, students, scholars, athletes, artists and representatives from civil society organizations and political parties. I am thankful to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and IIM Raipur for giving me this golden opportunity to represent my Nation.

The memorable 9 days trip to China started from the IGI Airport, New Delhi and spanned to Beijing, Chengdu, Guilin and Guangzhou. The lavish welcome dinner hosted by the Indian Embassy in Beijing, the stay and travel arrangements, places to visit and the helping nature of the Chinese student volunteers was highly appreciable. The main highlight of the trip was the Cruise on the Li River in Guilin which captured its magnificent beauty and picturesque view. The industrial visits ensured learning about the Startup Ecosystem in China and how we could implement those in our own Country. This short trip became an unforgettable journey with friends owing to the cuteness of Pandas, the fun in teaching Hindi phrases to Chinese volunteers, the hassles of bargaining in English on the streets of Guangzhou and learning the not so difficult Chinese Calligraphy.  

This trip gave me an opportunity to observe the Chinese people and culture very closely and I can surely say that they are very similar to my Motherland.  

 
Mohit Jethi, PGP 2^nd Year, IIM Raipur

 An unexpected opportunity to represent India as a delegate to China knocked my door (my mail box) when I received a mail form Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports about my selection. The “Wow” feeling was amplified upon realization that I was selected out of 1.3 billion people to represent India as a Youth delegate to China? The next big thing for me was, “It’s my first foreign trip, and it starts bang on from China and would cover 4 places there!”

The 200 membered delegation had a total of 17 representatives from IIM Raipur which accounted for 8.5%, that’s something to take a pride for the institute and its students. The visits were memorable, be it to the grand ‘Great Wall of China’, popular Panda base Chengdu, scenic Guilin –a prefecture level city or the bullet train ride from to Guangzhou covering approximately 500 km in 2 hours.

The overall experience was highly enriching and culturally stimulating as it provided deep insights about our Asian Counterpart. Also, this gave me an opportunity to build new relationship and friends.

This trip to China will be cherished throughout my life and will be very close to my heart forever. Whenever I recall this trip, I take pride in saying that’ I represented India as a Youth Delegate to China’.

Indian Car Market:Foreign Brain Vs Desi Dimaag

It started with Hindustan motors in Kolkata, West Bengal, then Premiar, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and now India has the manufacturing facility of world’s biggest names in passenger vehicle industry. It has a very feel good effect in the common people of India on the street because they can test the experience the brands like Hyundai, Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan, Renault, GM, Ford and many more. But the people who are waiting inside the showroom for the customers to selling their ‘Desi’ cars or people in the manufacturing unit whose working days have been reduced from six to four, three or two or have been given VRS to adjust with the low demand of market have lots of reason for feeling not good.

Director and CEO of Videocon Telecom Mr. Aravind Bali at IIM Raipur

Mr. Aravind Bali, Director and CEO of Videocon Telecom interacted with the students of IIM Raipur today. During the hour long interaction, he answered various queries from the students concerning the telecom industry in India and Videocon’s plans for expansion in India. The guest lecture is part of Videocon’s effort for a better association with the premier management institutes around the country and to collaborate on various strategic and management activities.

The session revolved around Videocon’s plans to launch 4G in India and the challenges that it would have to overcome. Mr. Bali started the session with a short presentation to give the students a background about the industry and the rise of 4G technology. He described how the telecom industry had rapidly evolved over the years starting from the humble telephone to wireless and 4G technologies. “Around 1.5 crore mobile handsets are sold every month in India alone”, he said highlighting the pace at which the industry has grown in the country.

Speaking about the challenges of 4G he said, “In India barely 15% of the mobile users have 3G capable devices. Introducing a new technology while its predecessor has failed to achieve a significant penetration in the Indian market would indeed be a challenge.” He also spoke about Videocon’s plans to reintroduce an upgraded version of 2G - the 2.75G- in those markets where 3G failed to make an impact.

As the students probed him about Videocon’s strategies for launching the first 4G mobile plan in India he responded that Videocon telecom has always tried to provide the best technology at the lowest prices and that the company would be following the same strategy for the upcoming 4G launch as well. “At Videocon we aim to provide the best value for money to customers and retailers”, he said. The idea was to make the 4G offering even cheaper than 3G. “Our 4G offering will be 90% cheaper than all the 3G packages available today. Customers will be charged on the basis of the bandwidth they consume”. He also said that it was important for the company to communicate all the benefits of its products especially to customers who weren’t so tech savvy. “This would mean defining the offering innovatively, say in terms of number of movies you could watch or number of songs you could listen to.”

Before leaving, he stressed on the importance of a strong academic industry relationship in order to create a better collaboration on management related activities.

Being a Master or a Misfit depends on your choice! Selecting your dream B-School

Few of the most commonly considered factors before selecting a B-School are Placements, Peer Learning, Faculty, Infrastructure, Accessibility, Specialties, Gender Ratio, Student Exchange Programme, Flagship Events and Alumni network, not necessarily in that particular order. It is mostly subjective and one needs to get one’s priorities correct before homing into a school.

I’d like to reiterate the stated point as it is most important that one understands what one wants from a B-School, because more often than not, given sufficient effort, one ends up getting it. So, get your priorities correct!!!Else you’ll be just another drifter wondering what to do while time flies by and you’ll be doing some job in some company.

Considering the time of posting this, you all have already prepared well and gave your best in your respective exams. So, that’s out of the window.

There are two types of B-Schools, those which offer a Post Graduate Programme with a Generic orientation (IIMs etc.) and those which offer a more Niche orientation (MICA, IRMA etc.), and there are two types of programmes, aone year executive MBA programme and a two year regular programme, the former is aimed towards working executives who wish to seek a better position in their existing vertical and the latter allows more leverage who wish to change their verticals. This is a bird’s eye view and this must be sufficient to give you a generic idea as to the “where” and “what”. There are B-Schools which offer a three year MBA, but three years is too much of a time for an MBA.

Once you have that figured out, concentrate on the factors which are mentioned in the beginning and find out from the internet and your friends who are already studying as to what is the emphasis in the B-School. You will get a fair idea about what the institute wants to do in their vision and mission statements, some might concentrate on Research, some might concentrate on foreign businesses, others might concentrate on building leaders, few others boast of socially responsible professionals and so on and so forth.

Placements shouldn’t be a concern so long as you are in the top thirty. When you go beyond that, you will need to look at the Age of the B-school, Programmes, Events, Corporate Relations, Publications, Faculty, Proximity to a Business Hub and finally the Placement Reports. However, placement reports are fudged by many and they shouldn’t be looked in isolation. There are B-Schools which boast of an average annual pay-out of 15 lakhs and higher, but in reality, it might be somewhere near 6 lakhs per annum. You will need to calculate the Return on Investment for spending a substantial amount of time and money, on the B-School and come to a consensus regarding the viability of you joining it.

Events are a great way of gauging a B-School’s activity as they represent the general level of students in the college. More events with better reach will imply that a B-School is working hard to make a mark (or) is already identified as a viable partner by the local businesses as most of the funding is provided by them. A B-School which is identified by local businesses will, in no time, network with the biggies and good placements are assured. Similarly, the proximity to a Business Hub can also be seen as an equally important factor in the same lines.

Age of the institution is also a measure of gauging the performance of a B-School as it signifies the maturity of general environment within the B-School, although, as a word of caution, this shouldn’t be taken in isolation. In-fact, none of the factors must be taken in isolation and a consensus must be drawn after considering at least four of the factors which have been mentioned.

Before making the final call, look at the B-School ratings from multiple sources, not from magazines or generic websites (some of them receive kickbacks from B-Schools), but from specialist-institutional bodies like TIME, CL, IMS etc. Compare them, talk to various sources like your mentors in your training institute, friends, PagalGuy fraternity etc. Again, talk to multiple sources and don’t go by one opinion.

Finally, the decision to join an institute must be purely yours and must not be influenced by any other factors.

P.S 1: This pertains exclusively to students who wish to pursue a Post Graduate Programme in India.

P.S 2: I’ve attempted to write this article in as simplistic terms as possible without diluting the gravity of the situation and as such is targeted towards those who haven’t the first clue or are on the verge of making a decision!!

The article is written by Ravikanth V,he is a student of pgp 2014-16 batch of IIM Raipur.

Learning from the best: My experience from the HR Summit IIM Raipur

IIM Raipur organized its 1^st HR Summit on 19^th and 20^th of September, 2014 which proved to be a huge success as industry professionals and academicians from all over India shared their experiences and insights on the various topics related to the central theme of “Aligning HR with Business Strategy”. The two day event saw participation of over 50 HR Directors, Presidents and Vice Presidents from the industry voicing their opinions during the six panel discussions.

For students like me who are looking for a career in HR, the Summit gave an opportunity to get an industry perspective.

The Chief Guest, Mr. Narendra Kothari, CMD, NMDC, in his inaugural address stated that better HR policies are the best way of motivating employees and there is a need for performance differentiation during appraisal. In his words, “While hiring a new employee one must try to align the job requirements with the personal requirements.”

Mr. Ramkumar, Executive Director, ICICI bank, built his speech around leadership. He ascertained that techniques can be learned but passion cannot be and as business professionals we should stop identifying ourselves with our specializations. His opinion that we should refer ourselves as leaders and not as HR or marketing professionals was intriguing and made me realize how we limit ourselves as we inch a step closer to the doors of the corporate world.

On the first panel discussion, titled ‘Managing Intangibles – Connecting with Internal Customers’, the panel members talked about the best HR practices across the industry and how they manage, motivate and reward their employees.

I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the third panel, which was on ‘HR as a strategic business partner’. As an HR enthusiast I do feel that HR should move from the administrative role and be a part of the decision making process of any organization. The discussion revolved around the changing roles of HR. Key speakers in this panel shared their opinions about the practices that could be implemented to achieve this.

The second day of the summit was as enriching as the first day and started with the discussion on how organizations can develop a high performing culture. At this time I remembered the article, ‘Characteristics of High Performance Organizations’ by André de Waal which talks about various dimensions an organization should assess itself on to be high performing. The discussion revolved around the same dimensions and the members of the panel shared their firm’s culture and expressed views on the dimensions which their organization focused on to become high performing.

The last panel discussion on ‘Leadership in volatile times’ was very interactive and the panelists stressed that all times are volatile times and a leader should be prepared to face any challenge that comes along their way.

All in all, the 2014 HR summit organized by IIM Raipur was an exciting experience and as a student I found it to be a very enriching journey.

This article is written by Prasha Mishra, of PGP 2013-15. She can be reached at pgp13101.prasha@iimraipur.ac.in

The World without God: Bidding Farewell to the Master

16 Nov, 2013, 8:00 AM

Finally, the day has come. I know that the wearing track of Wankhede, along with the feeble Caribbean batting line-up will make sure that this will be his last day on a cricket ground after a marathon service of 24 years to the game. I still remember, way back in early 90’s, when I was a kid, a ‘Boost’ TV commercial introduced me to a curly-haired young cricketer, who would later become the ‘God of Cricket.’ Eager eyes, child-like agility, elegant strokeplay, aggression ahead of its time, profound humility and immense love for the game; be it 1996 world cup semi-final, where he was the lone-warrior against a dominating Sri Lankan bowling, or his 1998 heroics against the mighty Australians that made Shane Warne reveal that Sachin haunts him in his dreams, he carried the burden of the expectations of the nation, with sheer pride and true grit. Who can forget his precious 136 runs at Chennai against Pakistan in 1999, despite being injured, like a wounded soldier, resolute Sachin kept his struggle on and took the team very close to the victory, though the team collapsed with his departure. Against the same opposition in World Cup 2003, he tore their bowling attack apart and exhibited supremacy over the lethal Pakistani bowling attack with his swashbuckling innings of 98 of just 75 balls. 

Injuries are part and parcel of every cricketer’s life. Sachin too, had to struggle with tennis elbow problem and there was a time when it appeared that he would never be able to play his natural game again. It reminds me of the famous article (February 2006) titled ‘Endulkar’ writing him off and proclaiming that his retirement was near. But again it was his unconquerable will with which he fought back. Resurgent Sachin silenced all the critics with his fabulous performances in 2007. In 2010, at the age of 37, he was awarded ICC cricketer of the year award. On 2^nd April, 2011, India won the world cup and he was the highest run getter for India with 482 runs in 9 matches. 

With more than 34000 international runs, a century of centuries and most of the batting records in his name, Sachin is set to bid adieu to the game. We are on the verge of the culmination of an era that witnessed the indomitable spirit of the ‘little master’, who earned a godlike stature in India with his unfading grace and truest form of dedication. It is 9:30 AM now, and I am entering my class in spite of knowing that the match will surely be over in next two hours, and very soon, he will be hanging up his boots ending one of the greatest cricket careers ever seen, and I will be sitting in a corner of the classroom, 1200 km away from Wankhede, along with 1 billion other teary eyed devout, giving him an emotional send off .God is great!

This article is written by Siddhartha Tiwari, PGP 2013-15. He can be reached at pgp13055.siddhrtha@iimraipur.ac.in .

STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAMME AT IIM RAIPUR

With the objective to bring a global perspective to all its programmes and activities in a fast changing global economic environment, IIM Raipur signed 6 MoUs in December 2012 for semester exchange programs with some of the finest MBA colleges in the world. This not only has come as an opportunity for the students to obtain global exposure but has also helped the institute to mark its presence on a global scenario. 

Apart from being the top rankers in FT regional and global rankings, the partner colleges are situated in some of the best education hubs around the world. The colleges include IESEG School of Management Paris, IPADE Business School Mexico, Asian Institute of Technology Thailand, Grenoble Ecole De Management Grenoble, HHL Graduate School of Management Leipzig and ALBA Graduate Business School Athens.

Four students from the Batch 2011-13 were selected for the semester exchange program. Three of them had the opportunity to study at IESEG France and one of them made it to HHL Leipzig, Germany. Their experiences are shared at http://iimraipur.blogspot.in/2013/05/semester-exchange-ieseg-france.html and http://iimraipur.blogspot.in/2013/04/semester-exchange-at-hhl-leipzig.html

IESEG School of Management Paris is one of the top 10 ranked business school in France and ranked 6^th in academic excellence. It also has the highest accreditation from the French Ministry of Education.

IPADE Business School Mexico stands 2^nd in Global MBA rankings and has a strong presence in different national and international rankings. Monterrey. IPADE has been accredited by AASCB. It also holds 95^th rank as per the Financial Times rankings in 2012 in the world.

Asian Institute of Technology Thailand is the Asian pioneer in international management education. Established in 1968, the institute designs its masters and executive programs to develop practicing managers in Asia’s emerging markets.

HHL Graduate School of Management Leipzig is one of the best business schools in Europe and the best in Germany. HHL is internationally recognized by Financial Times, Princeton Review, America Economia, QS, DAAD and more.

ALBA Graduate Business School Athens, one of the premiere management institutes in Greece, possesses considerable experience in European Projects management and implementation, active in the field of innovation with regards to enterprises.

Grenoble Ecole De Management holds the triple crown of business accreditations that distinguish the world's leading business schools. On average, GGSB is ranked 50th best executive education provider in the world by the Financial Times.

With a partner network of some of the best institutes of the world, IIM Raipur provides opportunities galore to its students so that they understand the importance of cross-cultural issues in managing the business and have that extra edge through world class education.

For more details about the partner institutes, please visit:

http://iimraipur.ac.in/ie_partner.htm

UNSUIT

Where do we see ourselves after our MBA? Mostly in the board room of our dream company in that snazzy suit (of course with a six figure salary). Rest everything is logical, but why a suit? Maybe because it is the norm, or maybe I would be branded informal (or I don’t have the time to press my shirt). Does it bother me to wear a suit even in the summer? Yes it does. Why do I still wear it?

The “suit” was popularized in a period of sartorial revolution during the early 19^th century. The apparels worn before that were elaborately embroidered and jewelled clothing. The suit which were considerably simpler and comfortable replaced those in the formal spheres. Is it time we take the evolution a step forward? Suits are the norm in the business spheres since the 19^th century. We in the 21^st century are encouraged to innovate and make processes efficient. That involves breaking norms that are just there for the sake of convention. The suits serves it purpose in the cold countries well, but in countries like India, it surely causes discomfort and raises the air-conditioning bills. Estimates say that the power savings can be to the tune of 20% for office spaces.

The Japanese story

“This summer, I will not allow anyone with a tie or jacket into my office”

-          Yuriko Koike, Japanese Environment Minister

After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster, Japan has stepped up its energy saving efforts. Energy consumption data is telecasted along with the weather report. And amidst all the steps, there is a small revolution: “Cool Biz”. The working class is encouraged to not to wear suits and ties to keep cooling levels to the minimum at least in the summers.

The Indian way out

The working class cannot change their ways until their bosses and simultaneously their customers change the way they dress. But, that does not mean everything has to take the top down approach. We at business schools can take the initiative. We can restrict the use of suits inside the campus during orientations, presentations and other in-house activities. We can approach the companies coming for interviews or corporate talks and inform them about our “green initiative” and convince them to forgo the formality of wearing suits (we can surely bank on the placement committee for that). This will also influence them to take notice, encourage them to think in this direction, maybe implementing it in their respective companies. Personally, I have met quite a few corporate bigwigs who think of the suit as a liability when the weather forbids.  

The Message

The initiative is not only aimed at the direct benefits of limiting the use of suits, but also penetrating the larger consciousness of people. Maybe it is time for the Indian philosophy to come to the rescue of the world once again.

“It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection.”- Bhagvad Gita

We have to improvise according to our situation and conditions, not just blindly ape others. “Go Green” slogan is for the future and it is necessary to take every possible step to contribute towards it. Among all the big talk of change, we should not forget the basics. Switch off the lights and fans and of course air conditioners when you leave the room. And please turn off your laptop/computer after reading this post, before you fall asleep.  

References:

1. TK Arun. Economic Times (2013). http://economictimes.com/opinion/comments-analysis/weird-but-true-shedding-of-clothes-by-men-can-reduce-global-warming/articleshow/19875338.cms

2. Brooke, James. The New York Times (2005) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/business/worldbusiness/20iht-japan.html?_r=0 

3.   Wikipedia. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_suits

Contributed By: Mahesh Nath Sahu, PGP 2012-14. He can be reached at pgp12080.mahesh@iimraipur.ac.in.