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’.

Views of IIM Raipur students on Union Budget 2016

"I am presenting the budget when the global economy is in crisis," Jaitley said in his opening remarks, adding that India, however, remained the bright spot in this gloom, turning difficulties into opportunities”. With this in mind, the management students of IIM Raipur gave their views on the Union Budget 2016 –

 Rajat Lakhotia, a 1st year management student feels that the taxes and cess imposed on services to initiate rural welfare programs clearly indicates a shift towards rural economy. Major Banks were trading in green after the announcement of increased legroom for recapitalization of PSU banks and focus on rural infrastructure. The focus on infrastructure vis-a-vis roads and highways was a positive signal for infra giants.

Shivam Jaiswal, another 1st year management student thinks that the move to provide 100% tax exemption, for the start-ups, for the 3 years is a brilliant step toward pushing more number of Entrepreneurs in India. Also, the incentives being given to the new manufacturing companies and small enterprise companies will give a boost to the Start-Up India initiative. The other good point in the Budget 2016 is the money allocated under MNREGA, Swachh Bharat and roads.

Shreya Agrawal, a first year management student presents her views that focus on agricultural sector and leveraging the technology to provide transparency and convenience to farmers is a key point in Budget 2016. Connecting states and districts through increased road projects and achieving the mission of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ will help in providing a conducive environment for businesses in India.

Ritisha Choudhary, a first year management student says that The Union Budget of 2016-17 has paved way for massive reforms and promising opportunities. With the robust growth achieved and reforms in health insurance, LPG, HRA allowance and stress organic farming, rural infrastructure, Make in India, promoting affordable housing, relief to small tax payers, resource mobilization for agriculture, rural economy and clean environment; this budget has the potential to bring India on a faster track of growth.

Amey Limaye, a 1st year management student says that the Union budget 2016-17 is majorly pro-poor budget. The provisions related to LPG connections with state support, increase in tax deduction for rent, additional exemption for housing loans etc. clearly shows that the lower and middle income class have a lot to benefit from the budget. Special focus has been put on Health, Education, Infrastructure, Agriculture and Banking sector. Overall, the budget seems to fulfill the hopes of many sections of the society.

Pushp Mitra, a 1st year management student says that “The Union Budget of 2016-17 had the imprints of Prime Minister than our Finance Minister whose major thrust is to uplift India’s rural villages, encourage small entrepreneurs & showing some “Achhe Din” for common man who earlier said that Budget would be Pro-village, Pro-Poor & Pro-Farmers. The adherence to Fiscal deficit with emphasis on growth & development besides the increasing infrastructure are the highlights of this year’s budget. It's a friendly budget which is inclined more towards the welfare of farmers & infrastructure with reduced benefits to corporate.”

Last Minute GD/PI preperation Tips

Owing to multiple requests from Candidates ,IIM Raipur recently organised a google Hangout session on 'Last Minute WAT/PI tips' .In case you missed it Watch the full video of the hangout here

Career in CAT Coaching – is it a good idea?

Hi, I am Ravi Handa and I run an online cat coaching course via my website www.handakafunda.com .Although I started the course in early 2013, I have been involved in the CAT coaching space since I got out of college in 2006. I have seen my fair share of candidates trying their hand at CAT coaching and that prompted me to pick this up as the topic for the blogpost when Rohan invited me to write on the IIMRaipur blog.

The ABCs of MBA interview Prep

As an MBA aspirant, there are few things you should know while preparing for your interviews.

Basic understanding of your college material and work profile is a must.

Condition your mind so that you answer questions like a manager – that’s what the interviewers are looking for.

Dress appropriately and be well groomed before your interview.

Economic and current affair know-how is a must.

Failure to get into a good college is not the end of the world – always maintain the right attitude.

Get subscriptions for publications such as The Economist, Mint, or Times of India.

Have fun preparing – all this is pointless if you do not enjoy it.

Interests and hobbies will be questioned – don’t lie about them on your resumes.

Join online discussions in various chat rooms and threads.

Know your strengths and weaknesses.

Learn as much as you can about the colleges before deciding to join one.

Make study groups to hold mock discussions – keep it informal, but speak about pressing topics in our world 

today (Russia-Crimea Incident, Oil, Chinese Economy, Eurozone, 2008 Crash, etc.).

No one expects you to know everything – it is okay to say that you don’t know something.

Only the confident get selected – maintain your confidence levels.

Pester your mentors/contacts to help you learn key concepts.

Quantify your progress.

Read anything and everything that crosses your eyes.

Stop procrastinating.

Time management skills are extremely important for an MBA aspirant, so work on them starting today.

Understand and improve your political and state-specific know-how.

Verify all facts before mentioning them, so that you don’t make a fool of yourself.

‘Why MBA?’ is perhaps the most commonly asked question, so get a good answer for it.

X-marks on your CV such as failures in college, lack of extracurricular activities, etc. should be worked on, and valid reasons for the same should be prepared.

You should try to steer the interview in the direction you are most comfortable with.

Zone in on the area that you would like to specialize in – Finance, HR, Operations or Marketing – with reasons for choosing so.

All the best!

Vishnu KC, PGP16 ,IIM Raipur

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.

Making a difference through social media communication: A case of Rice Bucket Challenge

   

        When Manjulatha Kalanidhi woke up on that bright Sunday morning of Aug 24, little did she know that she had become an overnight internet celebrity. Clutching a cup of coffee in her hand, she was on her way out to fetch the morning newspaper when the telephone started to ring. On the other end was her sister excitedly chattering something about a story that was published in ‘The Hindu’ about the ‘Rice Bucket Challenge’, an initiative that Manju had launched as a response to the extremely popular Ice Bucket challenge that was doing rounds on the internet.  Calls started pouring in from friends who wanted to congratulate her on the success of her idea. She logged into her Facebook account and found her page flooded with #RBC posts. The original picture, had received over 500 likes and 200 shares. Someone had already opened a Facebook page for the Rice Bucket Challenge, and followers were growing at a rapid pace.

IIM Raipur qualifies for the national finals of ‘The Maverick'

IIM Raipur, one of the premier management institutes of the country, qualified for the national finals of ‘The Maverick', a business acumen challenge organized by Deloitte. The challenge was thrown open, for the first time, to the top 54 B-schools of the country and saw huge participation with around three thousand entries.  ‘The Maverick’ is One-of-its-kind platform to help uncover the young generation’s capacity for Unconventional Thinking, Innovation, Leadership, and thinking sustainable solutions for current day business problems.

Our team, Brainsters, consisted of me, Ashish Mehta, and my team mates, Hemant Nagalkar & Gurjot Singh. We are proud to declare that we made it to the East Zone regional finals and are going ahead to compete in the nationals. The challenge saw teams battling it out in a case-study competition, which required formulation of comprehensive strategies. The competition sought to expose the participants to the real, global corporate work environment, and learn how to work in teams, respect and leverage diverse perspectives, engage in client conversations and presentation scenarios, while also interacting with experienced business leaders.

The contest culminated in a four-minute presentation before a panel comprising of the top echelon of Deloitte's management. The teams were subjected to rigorous questioning to gauge their spontaneity and understanding of the case study.

We, as a team, contribute our success to the team coordination and dedication shown by each of our team members. The biggest learning for us was to learn how to design, propose and defend solutions for challenges that have significance to economy, current day business and corporate world. The event also emphasised on how we need to contribute back to the society.

The event also celebrated the spirit of inclusion and Diversity through ‘Be the One’ and gave exposure to the culture and value system of Deloitte which makes it the best company to work for. The interaction with the Partners & Directors of Deloitte was once in a lifetime experience and insights given by them will help in shaping our careers in future.

The article is written by Team Brainsters,IIM Raipur 

Equinox 4.0 - The Experience

Equinox 4.0 - Crave, Create, Conquer

The Oxford Dictionary defines the term Equinox as that time of the year where day and night is of equal length. Indian Institute of Management Raipur named its annual fest as Equinox, when it became the first institute among the new IIM's to start the trend of organizing its own annual fest in early 201. It was an amalgamation of diverse business events and cultural extravaganza, which is the ultimate signature of any successful college fest.  Equinox 4.0 was the fourth edition of the Business-cum-Cultural festival of IIM Raipur, which was held this year from 31^st January to 2^nd February. Every year, this fest draws huge participation from B-schools all over the country, and this year was no exception. The event witnessed unparalleled reach and visibility among the corporate and b-school fraternity.

Any successful event needs a lot of planning and ground work which needs to be done before  the actual event on the D-day. Equinox 4.0 was no exception to this. There was an immense opportunity to learn working with diverse set of teams and people in this event, and I thoroughly relished the challenge of leading and coordinating the activities of various functional teams viz., Sponsorship, Event Marketing, Venue Management etc. being some of the prominent ones among them.

Without the support of sponsors, this event couldn't have been conducted in such a magnificent manner. The initial stage of the event planning was all about finding the appropriate sponsors for the various set of events conducted by the eight different clubs in the institute namely, CEC, CUSP, Finatix, Hridhaan, Kartavya, Mantra, OPEP and Quizzing. We listed down the potential sponsors list obtained from the various industry contacts in the city of Raipur, and allotted designated teams to the various companies to follow up on the progress of individual companies. Some of the major sponsors of the event were NTPC, SAIL, IDBI, Chhattisgarh Tourism etc. Radio Mirchi was signed as the radio partner for covering the event.

The next stage of the pre-event planning was all about marketing the event so that it gets the desired coverage and participation from among the premier institutes across the country and the local colleges. Various channels were employed to achieve this successfully viz., social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter; mailers and follow ups to dedicated PoC's from institutes across the country to spread the word there. Various tools like daily quizzes were employed efficiently in social media by Bharath Raju and Sumit Ranjan's team of PGP 2013-15 batch, as part of the event marketing team, headed by Rajat Katiyar of PGP 2012-14 batch. 

LAN Gaming event picking up heat among many local students from Raipur, Bhilai and other cities of Chhattisgarh

The D-day arrived on the 31^st of January, and Equinox 4.0 started with a big bang. The on-the-spot event, LAN Gaming witnessed huge participation from colleges across the cities of Raipur and Bhilai and was a tremendous success. The business events went along all day in parallel, and participants from premier institutes like the other IIMs, IIFT, XLRI, FMS, MDI and a host of other institutes thronged to win the various flagship and business events held in the campus. 

Footwork- the Dance Competition of IIM Raipur

Salvation Regained from Bhilai giving a guest performance at Armageddon - The War of Bands 

The second day witnessed similar impressive participation in the business events through the day, and as the evening set in, glitz and colour was in the air, as group Dance competition and Armageddon-Battle of Bands were held as part of the cultural events, which witnessed heavy participation from the local colleges and with crowds thronging to support the various teams in action, the campus was completely filled with action. The final day, the 2^nd of February began with heavy crowds thronging the venue for X-Quiz-It, the flagship business quiz which was open to both students and corporates alike. 

Verve - The Fashion Show Competition of IIM Raipur added extra oomph to the Equinox 4.9

As the day wore on with more business events, the final night set in with the eye-catching Verve-Fashion show competition. Various teams graced the occasion with supreme designer outfits on par with the best fashion shows in the country. The event was a mega success, and was definitely the most popular event in Equinox 4.0. 

DJ Night at IIM Raipur

The relief and celebrations of the students was very evident and went late into the night, as the fest culminated with some high-adrenaline dance moves by the students on the dance floor, with the most popular DJ of Raipur DJ Kawal along with DJ Rizwan rocking the show with the DJ night.

I certainly owe my heartfelt thanks to everyone and mainly Vijay Krishnan, Bir Bahadur and Manoj H of PGP 2012-14 batch  who contributed in making this Equinox 4.0 reach never-seen-before heights, and let’s all strive to make Equinox 5.0, much bigger and better.

This article was contributed by Gugan N. of PGP2013-15. He can be contacted at 13pgp080.gugan@iimraipur.ac.in

Inaugural session of ICSM 2014

ICSM Conference Co-Chair Dr.Vinita Sahay with Mr.Tushar Vyas of Group M and  Mr. Niteen Bhagwat, Managing Director, Asterii Analytics at the inaugural ceremony of ICSM.

The chilly morning of 10th of January 2014 marked the beginning of IIM Raipur's International Conference on Social Media for Business, and with some aplomb at that. With social media coming to the fore of human interaction in this decade, this conference was organised with the objective of pondering over the implications of this emerging pattern on the business world. The conference was inaugurated on an inquisitive note, posing questions on social media, ranging from the longevity of this trend of social media to its utility, both psychological and financial, for the corporate. On the extent of impact that social media has had on the homo sapiens, it was so touted by Prof. Vinita Sahay, Conference co-chair, that the quintessential myth of Narcissus has been realised at large, with today's youth posting selfies online and yearning for likes, comments and shares.

The importance of social media has been brought to the front very often. But the reason why this change that social media has brought about is so effective is that the entire way of life has changed. Our interactions have changed, our social needs have evolved and the social media has fueled this transition. Mr. Tushar Vyas, Managing Partner (South-Asia), GroupM said, "There is no more social inside the web, the entire web has become social... The kind of disruption that social media has caused in the existing inertia is unparalleled." The implications that have emerged from the homogenisation of social media range from issues as grave as politics, crime-fighting, natural disasters, governance and social activism to as bourgeois as fashion trends, sports and entertainment.

Social media, in its essence, is nothing but a manifestation of who we are, as humans. Mr. Niteen Bhagwat, Managing Director, Asterii Analytics defined social media as "human behaviour, amplified by technology." We as human beings have certain traits which define our most base, innate desires. Social media websites have put these traits on display for the entire world to see. It is this newfound broadbase of traits and desires that are being levergaed by the corporate entities and even other people to forge connections, catalysing a new-age social revolution and consequently, en masse social transformation.

As the age-old adage goes, "well begun is half-done." Suffice to say, what an enlightening start to a probing endeavour that is ICSM 2014.

This post is written by Rohit Garg, PGP 2013-15. He can be contacted at pgp13105.rohit@iimraipur.ac.in