Friday, September 30, 2011

Team IMNU wins the western leg of CHANAKYA, qualiifies for the Nationals!

A team of first year MBA students from Institute of Management, Nirma University have shown their prowess by winning the western leg of CHANAKYA, an event organized by All India Management Association in Lonavala. The team of Shravan Kemtur, Shubhra Sharma, Ankit Shah and Vaibhav Maheshwari stood first in the Business Simulation game. Business simulation is a technique for developing, testing, and evaluating business strategies in a virtual environment before committing real money and effort in the marketplace. They will represent IMNU at Coimbatore for the finals in October.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Games and Titles: Another Eventful Week

IMNU had a hectic yet fun-filled week as it saw two exciting events back to back. The HR club "Imprintz" and the "Expressions" club organised successful events, both of which saw great turnout and participation from the IMNU batch.
Imprintz- The HR club of IMNU organized its second event of the season “Funterviews” on 27th September, 2011. Focused on team work and co-ordination among the team members, the event consisted of two rounds- the first about an HR game and a second interview round. The game was about connecting the jumbled letters in a word by the blind folded member of the team who was guided by the other member. Then in the interview round, the participants were interviewed in a team, but there was a catch, the participants had to be humorous and creative in their answers. Out-of-box thinking was mandatory. The candidates were judged on the criteria of humor, creativity and co-ordination in giving answers with the team members. The event saw a good participation and was flawlessly executed. It was judged by the “Imprintz” club seniors and the top spot was claimed Hardik and Hiren of MBA-FT 2011-13.
The other highly anticipated event, War of Clubs and Committees, organized by the Expressions Club, was held on Thursday, September 28, 2011. It also saw an amazing response from the first year students. Participants were extremely sacrosanct about their respective teams and the roar could be heard far away in other classrooms. The event had fun-filled games like picture-based memory test, taboo and movie quiz to the participants' and audiences' delight. The audience too cheered their favorite teams throughout. This time NCNC (No Club No Committee) of Phaerenikes walked away as winners whereas Sportzcomm did an encore by standing 1st runners-up. There was audience participation as well through games like boys wearing saree while girls were directing them.
 To sum up, one can say that IMNU arrived, and it arrived big!!


(Content:Ankita Agarwal and Anuj Goenka)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Teach For India @ IMNU


Teach For India (TFI) visited IMNU Campus with the intent of creating awareness about the working model of TFI on Aug 20th 2011. The session was conducted by Mr. Yajur Taxali, Recruitment Associate of TFI.
Teach For India is a nationwide movement of outstanding college graduates and young professionals who will commit two-years to teach full-time in under resourced schools and who will become lifelong leaders working from within various sectors toward the pursuit of equity in education.
Mr Yajur began with an overview of India’s educational statistics and emphasized on the contribution of India’s youth towards society at-large. “There is immense potential in the Indian youth” he said. The audience showed keen interest throughout the session and asked intriguing questions. The event was co-ordinated by Anshul Talokar (Campus Ambassador - TFI).

Friday, September 2, 2011

Prayaag 2011 – The Management Conclave, Institute of Management, Nirma University-Day 2

“If you want to learn, learn from the best”. Ravi Dixit, Vice President, Research and Strategic Planning with UTV, was referring to Google’s IPO letter for shareholders as an exemplary governance initiative of a corporation in digital space.
At Prayaag 2011, the annual Management Conclave of the Institute of Manegement, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, he talked about ‘Digital, Social Media and Corporate Governance’ and highlighted the ever increasing quantum of effect and hence, responsibilities of the digital media. 



Mihir Joshi, MD, Gujarat Venture Finance Limited talked about how corporate governance is involved at all stages of venture capital life cycle from raising capital to harvesting returns. He also highlighted how independent directors play an important role in today’s business environment. “Dilution of shareholders, insider trading and the undue advantage that the promoters have in Mergers & Acquisitions are some of the governance issues that plague the Indian economy”. To deal with such issues, he suggested making “Integrity, Ethics and Compliance a part of promotion, evaluation and compensation process as well". He added, “We (at GVFL) expect transparency and highest level of corporate governance from the businesses we seek to fund. Otherwise there is a high probability that we’ll lose our money.”

The final session of the conclave was conducted by Dr. Shreekant Sambrani, Founder Director, Institute of Rural Management, Anand, India. He has also headed his own management research and consultancy organization, Management Analytics Pvt Ltd and has served as a faculty at IIM-A. Drawing from the Amul success story, he emphasized the dictum of inclusive development. Referring to the sub-prime debacle, he said, “In 2008, young MBA’s like you were too taken by the tenet of profit-maximization and it being equal to maximization of shareholders' wealth.” His speech on the subject of corporate governance touched many issues and gave IMNU students a comprehensive view of governance.

The management conclave- Prayaag 2011- was concluded by a vote of thanks by the director of the institute, Dr. C. Gopalkrishnan. The 2-day conclave was an unprecedented learning experience for the students and its lessons will be a topic of discussion in the halls of IMNU for days to come.


(With inputs from Anuj Goenka)

Prayaag 2011 – The Management Conclave, Institute of Management, Nirma University


Ahmedabad- September 1, 2011- With reforms underway to eradicate corruption and governance deficit in the country’s government, it is the perfect time to question the very same in the corporate world too. The Management Conclave - Prayaag 2011- at Institute of Management, Nirma University will throw light on the very same issue.

Inauguration by Mr Rajesh Huddar
The event was inaugurated by the chief guest for the session, Mr Rajesh Huddar, Head –Information Security Practices, Mahindra SSG along with Prof. Dr C. Gopalkrishnan Director, IMNU, and Prof. Ashwini Awasthi.

Mr Huddar spoke on corporate governance from the Risk Management viewpoint. He categorized the risk in an organization as coming from three main spheres, the Physical assets, the Human assets and the Information Technology assets. He also emphasized the increased risk due to the exponential increases in use  of outsourcing social media and technology. He talked about the “Holistic” approach for corporate governance and concluded saying “One needs to set a baseline to get to the next level of governance.”

The next session was taken by Mr Sunil Jhaveri, Chairman – MSJ Capital and Corporate Services Pvt. Ltd. He is a Chartered Accountant with 26 years of experience in the financial markets. He gave the students an insight into how the financial industry functions with respect to Corporate Governance. He used audiovisual media to demonstrate the same. He strongly opined that ‘There are no shortcuts to making money’. Mr.Jhaveri said, ‘Do not treat your customers as mere numbers’, he stressed on the need of good service along with quality products.


The sessions were enriching for the students as they provided a corporate perspective about the topic. The students could link the academic knowledge with the actual practice and hence it broadened their horizons. The interactive sessions helped students clarify the nuances and provided clarity of thought which would be of utmost importance once they enter the corporate world.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Prayaag 2011 - Management Conclave, Institute of Management, Nirma University


With reforms underway to eradicate the corruption and governance deficit in the country’s government, it is the perfect time to question the very same in the corporate world. In the last few years, the country’s economy was hit as much by the scams in the business houses as by the ones in the government and thus it is imperative that we find a way to ensure good corporate governance. The Management Conclave -Prayaag 2011- at Institute of Management, Nirma University will explore the very same issue.

Scheduled on September 1 and 2, 2011, the theme of Prayaag 2011 is ‘Corporate Governance: Transparency to Transformation’. The two day event will ponder on the various issues related to governance like the auditor’s independence, corporate transparency and its effect on product market decisions and judicial activism.

The conclave also features various sub-themes like whistle blower policies, role of boards and independent directors, corporate governance in banks and financial institutions and evolution of corporate governance.

The prominent speakers that will be a part of the event are Rajesh Huddar, Head, Information Security Practice, Mahindra Special Services Group; Savan Godiawala, Director and Financial Advisor, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd.; R. Bhaskaran, CEO, Indian Institute of Banking and Finance; Ravi Dixit, VP Strategic Planning & Network Research Head, UTV Broadcasting; Devang Nanavati, Advocate and TOI Lead India finalist; Mihir Joshi, MD, GVFL; Sreekant Sambrani, Chief Executive, Manan Management Analytics Pvt. Ltd.; Sunil Jhaveri, Chairman, MSJ Capital and Corporate Services Pvt. Ltd.

Content Courtesy: Mahima Singhal