Volume 3, Issue 1, May 2012A Periodic Newsletter for IIMC Almuni

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From The Editor’s Desk

C o n t e n t s

Lead Story 2Movers & Shakers 3-5Distinguished Alumnus Award 2012 6Post Script 7-9Snapshots 10Memoir 11-12Interview 13-15Events & Happenings 16-21Forthcoming Events 22-23Placements 23-24Executive Education 25-27Management Development Programmes 28Chapter News 29

It gives me immensep l e a s u r e i npresenting the May2 0 1 2 i s s u e o fConnexion. Thisissue covers selectactivities of alumniand the instituteduring the periodJanuary – May 2012.This issue has two

new sections - news on executive education andon alumni chapter. The issue starts with a leadstory on a new initiative of IIM Calcutta –settingup of the IIM Calcutta Case Research Centre(IIMCCRC). With the setting of the Centre, IIMCalcutta has fulfilled a long felt need to have itsown repository of Indian cases. The movers andshakers section highlights notable achievementsof our alumni in various walks of life. Anotherinteresting highlight of this issue is a memoir byan alumnus of the first batch. The memoir echoesthe sentiment of nostalgia of a young boy joininga virgin territory in education – MBA. Theinterview by a successful entrepreneur – alumnusnarrates the secret of success in entrepreneurship.Executive education is an integral part of activitiesof IIM Calcutta and this issue highlights severalprogrammes offered by IIM Calcutta underexecutive education. The news on Alumni chaptercarries events organized by Kolkata Chapter ofIIMC Alumni Association. We would like to

cover news on other alumni chapters in ourforthcoming issues. You are requested to sendus details of activities/events organized by yourchapter of IIMC Alumni Association.

It is our endeavour to continuously improve thecontent, coverage, look and feel of the magazine.Please feel free to write to us with yoursuggestions for further improvement.

Happy Reading!

Ashok Banerjee

Dean (New Initiatives & External Relations)

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Lead Story

IIM Calcutta has launched the Indian Instituteof Management Calcutta Case Research Centre(IIMCCRC), which would build a repositoryof cases authored mainly by IIMC faculty. Thecase method is widely recognized as one of themost effective means of imparting businesseducation. Cases about businesses introducestudents to real-life situations that occur in thebusiness world and encourage the students tobecome decision makers and use concepts learntfrom courses in an applied fashion. The casemethod enables students to interact with eachother and learn from their peers about differentperspectives toward problem solving. Facultymembers of IIM Calcutta have long been usingcase studies, mostly drawn from HarvardBusiness School, as pedagogy in Post GraduateProgramme and Management DevelopmentProgramme. The Institute has over the yearsrealized the need for setting up a formal casedevelopment centre to develop Indian Cases,teaching notes and industry research reports

There are a few institutions that specialize inIndian business cases. The Harvard BusinessSchool and the Richard Ivey School of Businessare two of the largest producers of case studiesin the world. In Asia, the Asia Case ResearchCenter at the University of Hong Kong is thelargest producer of Asian business cases. Whilecases related to Indian businesses are publishedby all of the above centers, they don’t occupythe major thrust of these centers. The distinctivenature of Indian companies and their strategiesand managerial styles are becoming importantnot only to future managers of Indian companiesbut also to managers world-wide that areinterested in seeking expansion opportunitiesin India. Cases set in the context of developedAmerican, European, or Asian countries arenot very appropriate for teaching the intricaciesof dealing with the Indian business houses andthe Indian government and to address prevalent

issues in an emerging market. We believe thatwith the growing importance of India in theglobal economy there will be an increasingdemand for India focused cases amongacademicians and practitioners around the world.

Over the last few years IIMC has developed astrong team of approximately twenty-fivefaculty members who have been exposed tocase teaching, writing, and research throughrecruitment of young faculty members fromcase teaching oriented institutions, and byexposing faculty members to the Colloquiumon Participant Centered Learning at the HarvardBusiness School. . IIMCCRC will offer thesefaculty members and others necessary platformand infrastructure to build a repository of caseson Indian Companies.

IIMCCRC would be financially supported bythe Institute. The centre will also approachvarious Indian Companies and otherorganization through Alumni network and otherchannels in seeking sponsorship for casedevelopment. The activities of the centre willinclude case development, workshops on casewriting, teaching and research, and eventuallybuilding case repository. Such repository ofcases and teaching notes can be used by facultymembers of IIMC, other Indian BusinessSchools/Universities and even Universities fromabroad. The Dean (NIER), Prof. AshokBanerjee and Faculty Coordinator, Prof. IndranilBose will look after the office of the IIMCCRCwith additional administrative support. TheIIMCCRC Office would be responsible forproviding case writing support to facultymembers as well as case editing and review.The Centre will follow a rigorous review processin order to ensure that the cases developed withthe support of IIMCCRC are of highest standard.

The IIMCCRC has set a target of developing10 teaching cases in the very first year of itsoperation.

The IIMCCRC – another uniqueactivity centre at IIMC

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A man who is passionate about technology(preferably, with wheels!), startups (with an ideato change the world!) and football (specifically,Liverpool F.C), this is about Myshkin Ingawalewho is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta, did hisFellowship in 2011. He has successfullydeveloped a device which could ease the doctorsto check the anemic patients. The concept of thisdevice originated when he witnessed a motherand child die during childbirth in rural Indiabecause of complications due to anemia.Knowing that anemia can be cured with simpleiron tablets, Ingawale was shocked to find outthat there was no way to test for anemia awayfrom medical facilities. So he invented one. Hecollaborated with 4 doctor and engineer friendsto start a venture called Biosense Technologies.The vision is to develop low cost health toolsfor the developing world. Their first product,

ToucHb Quik, to be launched commercially laterthis year, is a novel, handheld device that screensanemia without pricking, without needles. Itw o r k s o n a p r i n c i p l e c a l l e dphotoplethysmography (similar to how a pulseox works) but also provides hemoglobin readingin blood, vital for monitoring conditions likeanemia. This product will be targeted at primaryclinics and physicians. Currently, 1 million+people succumb to undiagnosed anemia each

year, most of these women and children in lowresource settings. ToucHb Quik was recentlyunveiled at the TED Global conference 2012 inCalifornia."

A new device to detect anemic patientsdeveloped by Myshkin Ingawale

Movers & Shakers

Krishna Palepu appointed adviserto Harvard University president

Indian academicianKrishna Palepu, analumnus of IIM Calcuttahas been appointed as asenior adviser to thePresident of HarvardUniversity to help guidet h e p r e s t i g i o u sinstitution's international

strategy. Harvard President, Drew Faustannounced recently that Palepu, who has been afaculty at the Harvard Business School (HBS)for almost three decades, will assume his new

position of senior adviser for global Strategyimmediately. Professor of Business Administrationand Senior Associate Dean for Internationaldevelopment at HBS, Palepu will work closelywith the president to help improve and test someoperational proposals of the International StrategyWorking Group, which was convened last yearto consider how to strengthen Harvard’sinternational approach at the institutional level.He will also help develop a more effective andcoordinated approach to international fundraisingand engage Harvard alumni living abroad.

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Movers & Shakers

CA Technologies appointsSunil Manglore as Vice President

CA Technologies, India hasappointed Sunil Manglore,a 24th batch alumnus of IIMCalcutta as its new VicePresident. With over 20years of IT and telecomexperience, Sunil will reportto Lionel Lim, President andGeneral Manager of Asia

Pacific, CA Technologies. Sunil will lead thecharge of expanding CA Technologies’ businessin India. His charter includes optimizing salescoverage, winning new customers, building thepartner ecosystem and managing the operations. Sunil will join the CA Technologies afterDatacraft where he has been the CEO of Indiaand SAARC region responsible for the businessoperations and revenue growth. Prior to that,he has worked with companies like Sprint RPGIndia, Godrej and Boyce. He holds a BE(Electronics and Communication) degree fromGovernment College of Technology, Coimbatoreand an MBA from IIM Calcutta.

Prof. Sushil Khannaon NTPC Board

Prof. Sushil Khanna ofEconomics and StrategicManagemen t Group ,incidentally an IIMCa l u m n u s , h a s b e e nappointed as one of theNon-Official Part-TimeDirectors on the Board of

NTPC Limited for a period of three years witheffect from 30.01.2012.

Rohit Pande makes it big withClassteacher Learning Systems

Following his quest toembark on new heights andnewer challenges, RohitPande, a 32nd PGDM passout from IIM Calcuttastarted his entrepreneurialventure Class teacherLearning Systems in 2000.

After serving as a consultant in Accenture,London, he came to India in 1999 andestablished his own entrepreneurship venture,Classteacher Learning Systems. Under hisguidance, Classteacher Learning Systems hasbecome one of the prominent leaders in thedomain of education technology in India. Hebelieves that society needs to debate theevolution of schools in today’s times andempower teachers to drive change in classrooms.

He has been involved in the design of multiple

teaching and learning paradigms includingimmersive language learning, inquiry-basedscience program, simulations for classroom andpersonalized learning paths. Recently, he hasbeen involved in conceptualizing Classpad – anew generation tablet for personalized andinteractive learning as well as teaching. Thelaunch of Classpad marks the next level ofinnovation in terms of personalized pedagogystructure and newer applications which aredesigned to equip and empower teachers toteach better and students to learn better.

Classpad facilitates personalized and interactivelearning in the classroom and makes educationaccessible to every student according to his/herindividual intelligence level and talent. Usingthe Classpad, teachers can effortlessly transferclass works to the students’ tablet, share theirown content instant ly and conducttests/assessments comfortably. Students canalso give undivided attention to class lessons,attempt assessments and get immediate resultsto further enhance their learning experience.

In a journey of over 12 years, Rohit has beeninspired by a vision to transform schooleducation through technology. He has beeninvited to various international and nationalforums to speak on the pressing issues prevalentin our education system. He firmly believesIndia is in the midst of a very exciting periodwith today’s technological innovations that helpenhance student learning outcomes andempower educators.

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Movers & Shakers

RoomWale redefineshospitality sector in India

Tanuj Mendiratta, a 46th batchalumnus of IIM Calcutta introducesRoomWale, an online portal for Bed& Breakfast. It provides analternative to people who do notenjoy staying in expensive andmundane hotel rooms while

traveling. RoomWale is a marketplace for B&Bs andguest houses across India, which allows travelers tostay with local people. RoomWale tries to create a win-win situation for both travelers and property owners.The travelers get a large range of accommodationoptions that suit their budget and taste, while the propertyowners can earn extra income by marketing their roomsto such national and international travelers. Beforeintroducing RoomWale, Tanuj spent 2 years in B&Bbusiness and realized that there was a clear lack of anyonline platform that allows travelers to book B&Bs andguest houses across India. Moreover, there is no platformin India which allows home-owners to list spare rooms

of their properties and rent them out on a nightly basis.Thus the idea for starting RoomWale was born. Aninitiative by the graduates from Oxford University andIIM Calcutta, Roomwale.com was started in October2011. The website facilitates bookings for 600 propertiesacross 17 cities. You can choose from a range of guesthouses, budget hotels and serviced apartments. Thoselooking for a longer vacation can opt for a month-longstay at a discount of 30% on the usual walk-in tariff.Guests can claim a full refund, in case the propertydoes not match up to his/her description on the website.

Haresh Chawla joinsprivate equity firm India

Value Fund AdvisorsA 29th batch IIMCalumnus, HareshChawla, the formerG r o u p C E O o fNetwork18 will joinprivate equity firmIndia Value FundAdvisors as partner in

India with effect from 1 June 2012. Hewill be responsible for building andscaling up businesses across sectors, aswell as supervis ing media &entertainment investments. The companyidentifies and invests in mid-sizedbusinesses thus helping them to betransformed into large businesses overfive to seven years. He has spent tenyears at Network 18 and his expertiselies in building viable and profitablebusiness models around brands. Underhis leadership, Network18 grew from asingle business news channel (CNBC-T V 1 8 ) a n d s o l i t a r y p o r t a l(Moneycontrol.com), with revenues ofRs 15 crore in 1999, to a diversifiedmedia group with revenues in excess ofRs 2,500 crore in 2011. He was alsoinstrumental in scaling up Viacom18from a Rs 150-crore business to a Rs1,200-crore conglomerate, placing eachof its brands amongst the top 2 in theirrespective domains, including the verysuccessful launch of Colors. He has hada good stint with start-ups including theHCL Group, where he headed businessdevelopment for HCL Comnet, ABCL,where he had set up the film distributionbusiness and The Times of India Group,where he launched their music label,Times Music.

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Distinguished Alumnus Award 2012IIM Calcutta had launched the "Distinguished Alumnus Award" in 2011, during the Golden Jubileecelebrations. This year's awards ceremony will be held on November 14, 2012 to co-incide withour Foundation Day celebrations. The event was kicked off by our Dean (New Initiatives &External Relations) with a personalised communication to all stakeholders, which is reproducedbelow:

Dear Colleagues,

You must have been aware that IIM Calcutta has instituted the ‘Distinguished Alumnus

Award’ at the time of Golden Jubilee Function held during November 14 -16, 2011.

It has been decided that every year ‘Distinguished Alumnus Award’ will be conferred

on a selected alumnus on the institution’s Foundation Day, November 14. Resultantly

this year the ‘Distinguished Alumnus Award’ will be presented on November 14, 2012.

It is, therefore, time to commence the herculean task of selecting distinguished alumni

for this award to be held in November 2012.

You are requested to nominate any alumnus of IIMC, to the best of your knowledge,

who has left an indelible mark by his/her accomplishments and graced the institute

by his/her contribution in any field of work - corporate, academics, social service,

public service, entrepreneurship, etc. Those alumni who have already been bestowed

with this award in the past and those who are directly engaged with IIMC in any

capacity are not eligible for nomination.

The nomination form is to be filled up with a brief introduction of the alumnus to be

nominated thereby enlisting his/her accomplishments and contribution in the concerned

field of work along with the contact details of the person nominated. To download the

form kindly visit the alumni section of the IIM Calcutta website and click on the

‘ D i s t i n g u i s h e d A l u m n u s Aw a r d ’ t a b o r c l i c k o n t h i s l i n k :

http://alumnilive.iimcal.ac.in/alumni/distinguished-alumnus-award.

Once you are on the ‘Distinguished Alumnus Award’ page please click on the hyperlink

‘Download Nominee Form’ which is under the header ‘Eligibility for Nomination’. Please

complete the form and email it to iimc_alumni_office@iimcal.ac.in.

For the year 2012, the form needs to reach us latest by June 22, 2012.

Please ensure that you fill up as many of the fields as possible before you send in

your nomination. This will help us in the evaluation process.

We look forward to your whole hearted cooperation in this endeavour.

Thanking you,

With Warm Regards,

Prof. Ashok Banerjee

Dean (NI & ER)

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The year 2011 will be regarded as a specialyear in the history of IIMC as this yearwitnessed the launch of ‘DistinguishedAlumnus Award’. We had nominated 9successful alumni from various walks of lifeand felicitated 7 of them. They were Dr DipeshChakraborty, Shri D Shivakumar, ShriSabyasachi Hajara, CMD, ShippingCorporation of India Ltd, Shri Malli Mastan

Babu, one of the fastest seven summiteers ofthe world, Smt. Meena Ganesh, CEO, Edurite,Shri U Shekhar, CMD, Galaxy Surfactantsand Shri Vinayak Lohani, noted social workerfor underprivileged children. The other twoawardees, Dr Ramchandra Guha, notedhistorian and Prof. Mohanbir Sawney couldnot manage to attend the ceremony. Therecipients shared their thoughts with us:

Post Script : Distinguished Alumnus Award 2011

I was honored to receive a“Distinguished AlumnusAward” from the IIMC onthe occasion of theI n s t i t u t e ’s f i f t i e t hanniversary. The IIM wasa great turning point in my

life. Paradoxically - for it had been set up asa great business school - my years at theInstitute prepared me very well for anacademic life, and that too one in areas quitedistant from business and management-relatededucation. It was therefore particularlygratifying to have my small achievementsrecognized by the Institute. No recognition isas sweet as one from one’s own alma mater.

I was a PGDM student of the sixth batch(1969-71). I came into IIM with an honorsdegree in Physics from Presidency College,Calcutta. I was not a typical business schoolstudent. I did not have an engineering degree;the secrets of finance did not grab me; the“data processing” – for that what the subjectwas called in my time – techniques we weretaught in those days were rather rudimentary;marketing was interesting in the concepts itdeployed but I was not the statistics-type. YetI remember thoroughly enjoying my years atIIM and remain grateful for receiving exactly

the kind of education I needed in that periodof my life. When I look back on those yearstoday, I realize that the IIM was my firstexposure to an American-type general-education curriculum that set me on a coursefor the rest of my life.

I had been somewhat of a victim of the Indianschool system where, in my days, you had tochoose between the natural sciences and thehumanities on entering the ninth grade. I don’tthink I was ready to choose. But I was goodenough in Mathematics and Physics andChemistry to be allowed into the “science”stream and later go admitted into theprestigious Presidency College to pursue anhonors degree in Physics (which then wasquite a rage and a competitor of engineeringstudies). But what I really needed was moreexposure to both the sciences and thehumanities to be able to tell where really Imight be suited to contribute. The first yearat IIM provided just what I needed. For thewise makers of the IIM syllabi knew thatstudents joining this very American-influencedinstitute would be coming from a rigid andbureaucratic system that the British had setup for colonial times and that created verylittle room for students’ choices and creativity.

Classes at the IIM exuded a new, unfamiliar

Dr. Dipesh ChakrabartyThe Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History,

South Asian Languages and Civilizations, and Law The University of Chicago.

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Over the last 18months, I have made afew visits to theinstitute, to attend theinaugural session ofthe EntrepreneurshipClub, for the 25th yearreunion and of courset o a c c e p t t h e

‘Distinguished Alumnus Award’, 2011. It was

great to come back and see the growth thatIIMC has had in the last couple of decadesbut also felt like I was being transported backto my days as a student.

It was a great walk down the memory laneand I felt extremely honoured that I had beenchosen to receive this coveted recognition.

Meena GaneshCEO – EduRite, 20th IIMC PGDM Batch

culture that was nothing short of revolutionaryin my small experience. There were manyrituals of everyday democracy by which ourprofessors suggested a degree of “equality”with students that would have beenunimaginable at Presidency College. Theytreated us like adults. It was a completelynovel experience to be told that we couldaddress our professors by their first names(admittedly some of us failed to do this); theywould share cigarettes with us or let us smokein the classroom (not a great habit but veryrevolutionary if you think of our times). Wecould go and talk to them outside of class.Pedagogically, doing special projects with theprofessor was also a new thing for me. Doing“research” in the library or the field was partof education. All this was new. But what wasmost beneficial for me was the fact that theIIM aimed to give you very broad educationin the first year at the Institute. We hadwonderful teachers giving us very fundamentalinstructions in Statistics (Professor Harlekarand Manish Bhattacharya), in finance (N. K.Rao, Sitangshu Chakraborty), in economics(Nirmal Chandra, Ranjit Sau, PareshChattopadhyay), in history (Barun De), in thebehavioral sciences and group dynamics(Nitish De, M. Athreya, D. P. Sinha, Kamini

Adhikari, Dilip Lahiri), and so on.

Thus a new world of the social sciencesopened up for me. While I did myspecialization in a functional area of businessin my second year, I realized through thosetwo years of broad exposure to a variety ofsubjects that I was at heart a social scientistand that history, and especially Indian history,was the subject I initially wanted to explorefurther. This meant that, in addition to takingmany of the “business”-related usual courses,I went on to do many elective and special“reading” courses with Professor Barun De,our renowned professor of history.

I later on did a Ph.D in History – my onlydegree in the subject – from the AustralianNational University and taught at theUniversity of Melbourne before moving tothe University of Chicago. But it is to thatearly exposure to the humanistic disciplinesat the Institute – and to Barun De’s inspiringteaching in particular – that I owe at the leastthe basis of my career in the social sciences.

I hope the Institute still thinks of itself asoperating in the broad field of education ratherthan as a place that simply imparts the skillsof business.

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First and foremost, Imust say that I amextremely elated toreceive this awardfrom my alma materand this I regard asa source of great

honour and privilege. One always has atremendous sentimental attachment to one’salma mater and to receive any recognitionfrom the alma mater is not only a matter ofgreat honour but also that of great joy. Asmentioned during my acceptance speech, Iam certainly grateful to the Award Committeecomprising Chairman, Board of Governorsand other members for considering me worthyof this recognition. Since its inception IIMChas earned and maintained its great reputationas a centre of excellence and is indeed one ofthe best B-Schools in the country. It has manyunique features not shared by other B-Schools– particularly its emphasis on human valuesand Indian ethos embodied in its Management

Centre for Human Values. It is indeed a novelidea to try and inculcate the values taught bygreat Indian saints into the future managersof our country which is particularly significanttoday considering the importance attached tobusiness ethics by the world at large.

I think everyone who has studied at this greatinstitute would like to dedicate his/herprofessional achievements to IIMC whichlays a strong foundation for the future successof all its students. As Swami Vivekanandasaid "Education is the manifestation ofperfection already in man". In addition toone's parents and family, teachers have animportant role to play in an individual'supbringing and shaping his or her characterand personality. I take this opportunity toexpress my sincere gratitude to my professorsat IIM Calcutta for the knowledge theyimparted and the values they inculcated inme. I once again thank the Awards Committeefor this honour.

Sabyasachi HajaraCMD, Shipping Corporation of India

First ever faculty-student play held at IIM CalcuttaThe first ever faculty-student acted play was staged at the auditorium of IIM Calcutta inJanuary 2012, titled, “Half a glass of champaigne”. Incidentally it is the first ever amongany IIMs too. It took almost 6 months totransform the dream into reality. Thefaculties casted in the play were Prof. AnupK Sinha and Prof. Runa Sarkar ofEconomics Group, P r o f . P r a s h a n tMishra of Marketing Group, Prof. ManjuJaiswall of Finance & Control Group,Prof. Abhisek Goel o f B e h a v i o u r a lScience Group and Prof. Megha Sharmaof Operations Management Group. The play had evoked enthusiastic response amongststudents and faculty.

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IIM Calcutta has setup the IIMC GiftShop which stocksand sel ls I IMCbranded merchandiseand memorabilia inthe campus. Thiss h o p w a sinaugurated by theChairman, Board of

Governors on April 02, 2012 in the presenceof the board members, director, deans,professors, some students, officers and staffs.The inauguration was complemented with themaiden purchase of some memorabilia itemsand merchandise by the Chairman, BoG, ShriAjit Balakrishnan followed by other boardmembers. The shop is located at the Tata Hall.

This shop has been a distant dream for manyyears for IIMC. But the idea of establishingthe shop strategically came up and took itsshape during the prestigious Golden Jubileecelebration that witnessed participation ofimportant stakeholders of the instituteincluding alumni and old retired professors.This shop definitely echoes the sentiments ofthe IIMCans comprising the current studentsas well as alumni.

The gift shop currently stocks more than 50varieties of items which include branded t-shirts, shirts, caps, laptop bags, sports bags,travel bags, wrist watches, time pieces, ecobottles, capsule speakers, key chains,organizers, pens and many more. Each andevery item is branded with IIMC logo and issourced from the best available brand in therespective domains. One can buy items fromthe gift shop either by cash or debit/creditcards. We have plans to start online shoppingin the near future through payment gatewayson IIMC web portal.

IIMC Gift Shop launched

Snapshots

Shri Ajit Balakrishnan,Chairman of the Society andBoard of Governors of theInstitute has been re-appointed as the Chairmanof the Society and Board ofGovernors of IIM Calcutta

for another period of five years.

Re-appointment ofChairman, BoG

On the bas is of therecommendations made bythe Search Committee, Prof.Anindya Sen and Prof. AshokB a n e r j e e h a v e b e e na p p o i n t e d a s D e a n

(Academic) and Dean (New Initiatives &E x t e r n a l R e l a t i o n s )respectively with effect fromJanuary 2, 2012 and willcontinue till the last workingday before the beginning ofsummer vacation of 2015.

New Deans appointed

Prof. Partha Priya Datta ofOperations Management Grouphas been awarded a scholarshipb y t h e F o r e i g n a n dC o m m o n w e a l t h O f f i c e ,Government of UK, to participate

in the prestigious Chevening Rolls-RoyceScience and Innovation Leadership Programme.

Prestigious Cheveningaward to our faculty

As an expression of compassion and solidarityfor the Japanese, 34 students of PGPEX-VLM(5th batch) 2011-12 volunteered to participatein the reconstruction work in the tsunamiaffected area of Rikuzentakata, along withEngineers and Managers of MAEDACorporation of Japan during their Japan visitfrom February 19 to 29, 2012.

Students volunteered inreconstruction work in Japan

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Memoir

I wonder that it hasbeen 45 years nowthat I have passedo u t o f I I M C ,exactly in the year1966. Those weret h e d a y s , m yfriends, where an‘MBA’ was a virginterritory, where the

‘CAT’ exam that everybody could prepare fordid not exist and there weren’t a long line ofcampus recruiting companies following useven before we got our degrees.

But, we were pioneers! There was a ‘multiplechoice’ entrance test which I experienced forthe first time and which I appeared for at thePlanning Commission Offices in New Delhiand it was on the test paper that I first saw theword ‘binary’, however there was a sense ofsatisfaction after I finished the test and hopedfor the best.

This was early 1964 when my parents used tostay at Guwahati in Assam and even I left thehostel and shifted there after my exams atDelhi University ended understandably tocontemplate and plan for the future. About aweek later, one afternoon, I happened to receivean envelope on my name by ‘normal, ordinarypost’. It was sent by the Warden of DelhiUniversity Hostel containing a ‘Telegram’from IIMC asking me to appear for an interviewin Delhi the next day at 10.00 AM. LogisticallyAssam was quite far those days and travellingby train would consume 3 days whereas airtravel was almost unaffordable. Since I neededto travel via Calcutta there were chances ofmy getting considerations specially for being

a victim of the conspiracy of bad planets thatdesired my reconciliation to a non-IIMC careerof ‘what might have been’.

However my father was stern and he was notready to accept that. We immediately hurriedto the bank, spoke to the manager for sometemporary ‘adjustment’ and then rushed to theGuwahati Airport. We enquired to the IndianAirlines manager to find out if I could catchthe early evening flight, possibly the last oneto Calcutta so that even the last flight to Delhicould have been taken to reach there by 11.00PM. Finally I managed to catch the flight toCalcutta and that assisted me to get into theDelhi flight just at the time of closing the door.

I arrived at Delhi at about 11.00 PM andmanaged to take a taxi and reach my closefriend Kannan’s residence around 12 midnight.Although he was shocked to find me there, therelief I felt was incomparable. The next day Iattended the IIMC interview, probablyconducted at the Indian Express Building onBahadur Shah Zafar Marg and was interviewedby Prof. Barun Dey, Prof. Kamini Adhikariand one other person. Then the rest, as theysay, is history. Incidentally, I travelled back toGauhati by the AT Mail, in an overcrowded

Memories of Another Day and AgeBy Raju Swamy

IIMC First Batch (1964-66) @ Emerald Bower, BT Road

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hard-surfaced sleeper compartment, withouta reservation, but accommodated most kindlyby the ‘TT’ just for Rs.5/-!!

During the first few days of IIMC, somethingthat struck me was the enthusiasm amongstthe faculties and staffs in welcoming us. Thehighlight was the quality of the hostel roomsand the classrooms of the institute. Theattention given to minute details to help usadjust to a relatively revolutionary changeprevalent in the ambience of the institutioncompared to what we had come across in atypical Indian college or university iscommendable.

We were awed by the qualifications of thefaculty team most of whom were young or nottoo old. They were all PhDs from the US andmajority of them including the Indians spokewith an American accent. Though theirapproach and interaction was quite informal,they never compromised with the teachingmechanism thus creating an extraordinarymotivation to learn. The emphases onquantitative methods and the behavioralsciences, backed by world-class teachingfaculties, like Profs. Shiv Gupta Krishnamurthyand Suresh Srivastava help me even now whileconsultation. We also had distinguishedfaculties from MIT including Warren Bennis,Theodore Alfred, Miles Kennedy and others.

Someone I remember most was our first Dean

of PGP, Prof. John M Wynne, from MIT. Verypleasant and approachable, I think we have toacknowledge his huge contribution at the verystart for setting such high standards in and offthe classroom and within the campus premises.

Emerald Bower was an old and impressivemansion which possibly was owned by theTagores at some point of time. It housed a verygood library and few administrative officeswhen we started. The campus comprised twohostels, Tagore Hall and Ramanujam Hallallotting one room to every two students (thetwo girl students were housed in the IndianStatistical Institute Hostel).

The Campus was in a traditional Calcuttaneighbourhood where we stood out as somesort of ‘Martians’. We would often visit ournearest ‘Café and Watering Hole’ - for masalachai, hot milk, luchees and alu placed at SintheeMode, well within walking distance. For anexotic meal, we would go to ‘Samar’, a budgetChinese restaurant in Shyam Bazar, where wewould order noodles, then smother it with‘tomato’ sauce and enjoy the change. Therewere occasional trips to Chowringhee and ParkStreet and at times to Hindustan Restaurant,a halt for vegetarians like us and rarely toAmber for Mughlai food.

The institute even had a Doctor on board, Dr.Das, extremely amicable and who spokeEnglish like a true Bengali. We nick-namedhim Dr. Hari Bol Das, possibly because wewould often notice from our hostel window,dead bodies being carried to the cremationgrounds from the general direction of his homelocated in the neighbourhood, with cries of‘Hari Bol, Hari Bol’!

I could just go on and on, but I need to take abreak for some essential professional work.May be, later some time, when I am in theright mood, I can tell you more.

Memoir

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K. Ganesh , asuccessful alumnusof IIM Calcutta, isa s e r i a lentrepreneur withfour successfulventures in the last25 years. He iscurrently the CEOof SMARTHIN-KING, the premier

online tutoring provider of higher educationand the CEO & Founder of TutorVista, a newage consumer internet company in educationservices space catering to over 20,000 studentsin US and UK and employing over 3000 peopleacross India. Both these companies are part ofthe Pearson Group (NYSE:PSO, UK: PSON),the global leader in education, teacher training,education technology and school solutions.He has been featured in several internationalmedia, including The Economist, Fortune,Wall Street Journal, New York Times and BBCWorld, for his unique accomplishments ofstarting and scaling green field ventures. Hehas been inducted in the Board of Governorsof IIM Calcutta recently. He was interviewedby Aloke Guin, PRO of IIM Calcutta forConnexion.

IIMC: How did the concept of TutorVistahappen?

Ganesh: I got the idea for starting TutorVistain late 2005 while traveling around the UnitedStates. In India we see the US as the leader ofhigher education. It produces the maximumnumber of Nobel Laureates, files the maximumnumber of patents in the world and arguablyhas the best institutes in the world. During myvisit, I was shocked by the amount of mediadebate over the crisis faced by the US schooleducation system. My curiosity was piqued

and I decided to research the question further.When I went deeper, I found that while thepublic school system is good and the teachersare good, personalized education is simplyunaffordable. It costs something close to $40to $60 per hour. TutorVista was born with theidea of creating a low-cost service which caneasily be fitted in the monthly budget of a USfamily. It was largely enabled by technologicaldevelopments, such as better internetconnectivity considering the widespread growthof personal computers in the last few years.

IIMC: What was the response in initialyears?

Ganesh: The response to TutorVista has beenexcellent. Although parents in the US wereinitially reluctant knowing the remote natureof tutoring, they were easily convinced aboutthe effectiveness of our tutoring taken intoaccount our excellent tutors and personalizedtutoring services. What also greatly helped uswas that our tutoring while being at par withan offline learning centre costs only a fractionof the price. This helped TutorVista become apart of the monthly budget of an average USfamily. We managed to change the paradigmof one-on-one tutoring as it was no longer seenas something which only a few could afford– with us it became accessible and affordable.

IIMC: How did you market TutorVista?

Ganesh: We have used minimal offlineresources to market TutorVista. The marketingfor TutorVista was done using various onlinechannels like Google ad-words that featuresspecific keyword targeted advertising. Asalready specified we also got a very positiveresponse and mentions from a lot of leadingonline education sites and blogs who tried ourtutoring and saw the benefit it offers to students.Being an internet company, our entire

Entrepreneurship is like anaddiction: K Ganesh

Interview

14

marketing dollars were spent on onlinemarketing – SEM and SEO and now socialmedia.

IIMC: What is the speciality of TutorVista?

Ganesh: Affordability, convenience andeffectiveness are the key reasons why studentsare attracted to our service. TutorVista’s pricingmodel is designed to persuade customers tobecome habitual subscribers. In fact our serviceis so affordable that it can easily be incorporatedinto the monthly budget of any household thathas a school going student. Our tutoring ishighly effective as it invests a lot of time andeffort to get a student matched with a tutor ofhis choice. I think that adds a lot to a student'scomfort level in learning a subject. At thebusiness model level, the model is disruptive.It has taken a hitherto face-to-face service thatwas a privilege for the super-rich and convertedit into an always-on, affordable service for themasses.

IIMC: How do the convergence betweenoffline and online mode of education coexist?

Ganesh: The convergence between offline andonline modes of education does exist but onehas to be sure of the right time and the rightplace to introduce either of the models. Forinstance TutorVista was started off as an onlinetutoring company focused mainly on the globalmarket. The use of internet in the US marketwas largely prevalent and a huge number of

students were looking for help, thus it struckus with the sense to start building our businessthere. In fact internet companies also targetedthe US market first as it has the largest onlineconsumer base and the fastest adoption ofinternet products and services.

Launching TutorVista in India was a naturalextension but we were very clear that a 100% virtual, online model will not work in Indiaas internet penetration was low, local teachersare available in plenty, the consumer mindsetis more aligned to face-to-face tutoring andthere is no great price arbitrage advantage likewe have in the US. Basically the same reasonswhy an Infosys or a Wipro does not do anysoftware development for Indian companies!

However, we did see a huge opportunity foreducation in India but for a non-virtual model,not driven completely by internet. Weconceptualized a technology leveragededucation model for India but it is not purelyonline.

Therefore, in the domestic market, we decidedto take a completely different route and thatis when we acquired Edurite and set up theIndia business. Then known as EduriteTechnologies, it is focused on a more brickand mortar business to business kind ofoffering. We have built up three different linesof business for India. One is the digitalclassroom business, the second is the test prepbusiness and the third is the school managementbusiness. However, now with the internethaving become much more accessible in India,we are starting to put in a lot more effort ininternet tutoring and internet product sales forTutorVista in India.

IIMC: What do you expect in 5 years fromnow?

Ganesh: We are expecting to be able to caterto millions of students worldwide withtechnology enabled content, affordablesolutions and services. At a personal level, I

Ganesh with his batchmets during their campus days.

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a m i n v o l v e d w i t h s t a r t - u p s a n dentrepreneurship development initiativescomprising incubating and mentoringprofessionals. I am hoping in the next fiveyears, I would be able to promote 20 companiesand be involved in guiding and scaling thesestart-ups.

IIMC: Who inspired you to be a successfulentrepreneur and what about the journeytill now?

Ganesh: I think more than a person, a uniqueidea or business opportunity has been myinspiration to be a successful entrepreneur.The idea for our various ventures has stemmedfrom my experience in identifying challengesand opportunities in each sector. During thefirst few years of my career in the hardwareindustry, I came across customers who facedissues with the maintenance of their computerand this gave birth to IT&T. In 2000, duringthe dotcom boom, email support seemed criticaland could be done from anywhere in the world.That gave me the idea of starting CustomerAsset with funding from US-based venturecapital firms, Softbank Venture Capital andNewscorp to address the international callcentre and BPO sector. In May 2002, ICICIOneSource acquired Customer Asset. Afterserving a one year contractual exit period, ittook me two more years to set up my latestventure, TutorVista. In between, in early 2004,I invested in a Data Analytics firm, Marketics,where I was the sole investor, mentor andchairman and later in 2008 I sold it to NYSElisted WNS. I was then advising and scalingMarketics and simultaneously pursuing newideas. I spent a good portion of 2004 doingdue diligence on the TutorVista idea byconducting surveys amongst the target audiencein the US. The survey findings not onlyreaffirmed my belief in the business model butalso gave me an idea of the challenges that Iwas likely to face. I incorporated TutorVistain late 2005 with a personal investment of Rs.

50 lakh to provide online tutoring to studentsacross the world, by leveraging theadvancements in technology.

Entrepreneurship is like an addiction. Onceyou get hooked on to it, you need the fix tokeep you on constant “high”.

IIMC: What will be your role being a newmember in IIMC Board of Governors?

Ganesh: I am a firm believer in academia-industry collaboration. I look forward toparticipate and contribute to the institute inthis area and to develop entrepreneurship andinnovation initiatives. I feel IIM Calcutta canbe in the forefront of creating employment andgrowth for our country by encouraging andspawning new entrepreneurs not just from IIMC students and alumni but the entire easternregion of the country. I also look forward tobring closer interaction and joint initiativesbetween the institute and the alumni.

IIMC: What is your idea of perfecthappiness?

Ganesh: Doing the work you love and lovingthe work you do. If you can get up everymorning and look forward to the day with allits pleasures and pressures, you are lucky tobe a happy man. Don’t know about “perfect”happiness but to quote Dale Carnegie –“Remember, happiness doesn't depend uponwho you are or what you have, it dependssolely upon what you think."

IIMC: Any message for your alma mater…

Ganesh: All of us have one life and let us liveit to the fullest potential. The opportunity inIndia today for starting something new, creatingvalue and employment through disruptivebusiness models is huge. So break away fromyour shackles, get out of the constraints thatare holding you back and pursue your dream– whatever it may be whether in corporatesector, social sector or entrepreneurship.

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The 47th annual convocation was held on April02 with chief guest of honour, Shri Kapil Sibal,Hon’ble Minsiter of HRD, Communication &IT, Government of India and presided over byMr. Ajit Balakrishnan, CEO – Rediff.com andthe Chairman of IIM Calcutta’s Board of

Governors. The schedule commenced withDirector, Prof. Shekhar Chaudhuri presentingthe annual report of the institute for the year2011-2012. To illuminate the niche gathering,the Chairman, Board of Governors, Shri AjitBalakrishnan took them through some of theselective research works done by the facultyof the institute. Ten students receivedFellowships this year. Diploma was awardedto successful PGP students which included298 in PGDM and 52 in PGDCM. Diplomawas also awarded to 44 students in PGPEX.The Acting Chairman of PGPEX-VLMannounced that 34 PGPEX VLM students willbe convocated at IIT Madras during theconvocation ceremony to be held later thisyear.

47th Annual Convocation

On March 1, 2012, a large delegation of seniorpersonnel from Cardiff University, UK visitedIIMC. Their intent was to renew the MoUbetween the two institutions and make itoperational; the MoU was lying dormant forthe past few years and no activity had takenplace between the two institutes. IIMC hasbeen very keen on starting an activecollaboration since Cardiff is one of the topUniversities in the UK. The visiting team fromCardiff Business School was headed by Prof.George Boyne, Dean of Cardiff BusinessSchool and included senior personnel like MsRhian Thomas, Head of International Officeand Ms Laura Davies, External Relations

Manager, etc.

Mr. Roddur Sen, Head - External Relationswelcomed the delegation to IIMC and startedthe meeting with a round of tea andintroductions. Prof. Ashok Banerjee then madea presentation on IIM Calcutta and its currentachievements and activities. A detaileddiscussion was then held on various areaswhere implementable collaborative effort canbe made. This proved very fruitful and twoareas were identified as immediatelyimplementable. It was agreed on both sidesthat ‘Student Exchange’ and ‘FacultyExchange’ programmes will be started betweenthe two institutes from 2013.

The agreement signing ceremony was hostedby Director, Prof. Shekhar Chaudhuri followedby exchange of gifts. The visit concluded witha guided campus tour followed by lunch atTata Hall. The Cardiff delegation went awayvery satisfied with the visit and promised tocome back in the near future to explore furtherareas of collaboration.

Renewal of MoU with Cardiff Business School

Events &Happenings

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Padma Vibushan, Dr. Y.V. Reddy, who servedas the Governor of Reserve Bank of India from

2003 to 2008, addressed IIM Calcutta on 16thFebruary as a part of Economics Conclaveorganized by Colloquia. As the Dean(Academic) introduced him to the audience,Dr. Reddy in his own endearing mannerexpressed his pleasure in addressing the futuremanagers of the country. Dr. Reddy in aninteractive session addressed many key issuesregarding the current scenario in globaleconomy and how India is positioned in it.

Dr. Y.V Reddy in Economics Conclave

With an objective to interact with the bestacademic minds in the area of corporate financeand financial markets, the Financial Researchand Trading Laboratory has recently introducedFinance Lecture series at IIM Calcutta. Thefirst of this series was held on March 2, 2012.The world-renowned accounting theorist andexperimental economist, Prof. Shyam Sunder,

James L. Frank, professor of accounting,economics and finance, Yale School ofManagement spoke on "Financing of a PublicGood by Taxation in a General EquilibriumEconomy: Theory and ExperimentalEvidence." The discussion was held in theFinancial Research and Trading Laboratory ofIIM Calcutta. Ashok Banerjee, professor ofFinance and Control and the coordinator ofFinancial Research & Trading Laboratorypresided over the event. The Director of IIMCalcutta, Prof. Shekhar Chaudhuri and about15 IIM Calcutta professors from all academicgroups were present. Students and professorsfrom Jadavpur University (economicsdepartment) also attended the lecture. At theend of it all, Prof. Ashok Banerjee, felicitatedand thanked Prof. Sunder for his lecture atFinance Lab.

Prof. Shyam Sunder in Finance Lecture Series

Events &Happenings

Swami Vivekananda memorial workshop wasorganized by the Management Centre forHuman Values at IIM Calcutta on February 3,2012. The workshop was conducted by Dr.Gururaj Karajagi, an eminent educationist andthe Chairman, Academy for Creative Teaching,Bangalore, on the topic of “Developing EthicalLeadership”. The workshop was inauguratedby Prof. Shekhar Chaudhuri, Director, IIMCalcutta.

Workshop on “Developing Ethical Leadership”

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Students of IIM Calcutta had the enviableopportunity of having this question answered

by Mr. Shashi Tharoor, member of the IndianParliament and former Union Minister of Statefor External Affairs. Mr. Tharoor who is alsoan acclaimed author, columnist, journalist andex-diplomat addressed the question - “Who isan Indian?” His hour-long speech made aremarkable impression on the audience. Hewas at his erudite best, unlocking his vastknowledge on Indian history, philosophy andtheology. At the same time his characteristicwitticisms, thought-provoking one-liners andanecdotes held the attention of everyone presentin the auditorium.

Shashi Tharoor on “Who is an Indian?”

Events &Happenings

The 4th CARISMA – IIM Calcutta Workshopon Optimization Methods, Risk Analysis andNews Analytics: Applications in Finance wasa great success, achieving record attendanceand further establishing its reputation as theonly workshop in decision support systems inIndia. It took place at the Financial Research

& Trading Lab, IIM Calcutta campus during14-17 March, 2012. The workshop was jointlyorganized by The Centre for the Analysis ofRisk and Optimization Modeling (CARISMA)of Brunel University, London and IIM Calcutta.Speakers were from CARISMA and IIMCalcutta. The workshop was divided into threesections. Part I was for Linear & IntegerProgramming: Modelling Systems andembedded DSS, while Parts II & III were forStochastic Optimization Modeling and Solutionmethods & News Analytics. A total of 35participants from 14 Indian states and 1overseas participant from Oman attended thisworkshop. Out of 35, there were 18 students(PhD & MBA), 16 academicians/researchersand 1 industry practitioner.

The 4th CARISMA – IIM Calcutta Workshop 2012

Deepak Nayyar, the ex-Chief EconomicAdvisor, Govt. of India, ex-VC of DelhiUniversity and an ex-faculty of IIM Calcutta,addressed IIM Calcutta on 15th February asa part of Economics Conclave organized byColloquia Cell. In his speech on “India in theWorld Economy” he traced the path of Indianeconomy from the first millennium to thepresent day. The event was attended by theDean (Academic) and the faculties ofeconomics, IIM Calcutta.

Dr. Deepak Nayyar in Economics Conclave

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The Center for Entrepreneurship andInnovation along with the EntrepreneurshipClub hosted the 5th Annual E-summit on 29thJanuary at IIM Calcutta . NationalEntrepreneurship Network has accredited E-Summit as the biggest entrepreneurship eventin East India. The summit was attended bymore than 400 students from various MBAcolleges in West Bengal and other states. The

event was graced by speakers from the industryand academia circumscribing various industrieslike media and entertainment, micro credit andsolid waste management. The key note addresswas delivered by Mr. Ambarish Dasgupta,Executive Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers.Other illustrious speakers included Mr. PrateekChaturvedi, Co-founder, BrewCraftsMicrobrewery, Mr. Parag Gupta, Founder,Waste Ventures, Mr. Ramakrishna NK, Co-founder & CEO, Rangde.org, Mr. AnirudhAgarwal, Founder, Eterno Woods and Mr.Chandradeep Mitra, CEO, Pipal Majik. Thespeakers discussed on sessions like ‘Off theBeaten Track: Turning an unconventional ideainto a venture’ and ‘Technology ventures beingthe drivers of Indian growth’.

5th E-Summit

Events &Happenings

The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute inassociation with the University of Calcutta,Jadavpur University and the IIM Calcutta,o rg a n i z e d " E n g a g i n g C a n a d a : AMultidisciplinary Conference” at IIM Calcuttaduring December 3-4, 2011. The conferencebrought together scholars from universities,business schools, social science and science& technology research institutions, as well as

executives from firms and officials fromtrade organizations to discuss research workand linkages that have significance forIndia-Canada research collaborations.Shastri President, Dr. Braj Sinha, informedthat this has been a significant year forShastri, in light of the 'Engaging India' and'Engaging Canada' series taking place inCanada and India and the Education Summitthat took place in June that welcomed a

delegation of 21 Indian Vice-Chancellors andthe Chairman of the Indian University GrantsCommission to Canada for discussions withtheir Canadian counterparts. Among thespeakers at the conference was Mr. SimonCridland, Head of the Advocacy Programmeat the Canadian High Commission in NewDelhi. A panel discussion on 'India-CanadaTrade' was also held during this conference.

Engaging Canada: A Multidisciplinary Conference

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Events &Happenings

IIM Calcutta has always endeavored to providethought leadership in every facet ofmanagement education and practice. It is mostnaturally implemented in the year in whichthis magnificent institution celebrated itsGolden Jubilee, Intaglio 2012 that sought toinspire young leaders to break conventionalmethodologies and come up with path breakinginnovations. What could have been a betterway for the grandest B-school summit in theAsia Pacific to manifest itself, than to providea clean canvas for the young leaders to paintwhat the future might look like, through TabulaRasa, as it was named. Tabula Rasa was notonly the theme for Intaglio 2012, Olympus,the flagship event of Intaglio, was everything

it promised to be and probably much more.The first round was especially worthmentioning, since it was a bit of a con – thoughit was declared later to be an ‘icebreaker’ roundmeant to warm things up and set the start forthe contest. There were quite a number ofrounds, starting from the one involving role-play and acting skills to a general knowledgequiz followed by a fun round involving legoblocks and a round of card games where street-smartness was rewarded and then finally theround of card games where trust wasacknowledged. Then there were Modulus , asecurities trading event, State of Affairs - aninteresting operations based case studychallenge, Empires of the Mind - an IPL stylebidding, a quiz competition hosted by quizmaster Souvik Basu, a riveting Hindi murdermystery play called ‘Kashmakash’, Marketrix- a digital marketing competition, Chanakya- an event in which participants tested theirskills in developing , testing and defendingtheir policies, Great Innovation Challenge -where contestants faced real life scenariosabout an unnamed airlines followed by manymore.

Intaglio 2012

During a session in Intaglio, the noted film-maker Prakash Jha shared his thoughts withIIMCans. He took us into the glamour world

through his journey followed by an interactivesession with the attendees. Talking at lengthabout the research which goes into each of hismovies, he briefly mentioned about hisupcoming movies, soon after which thediscussion bifurcated into the current issuesin India (which are generally the centerpieceof most of his movies) such as Maoism andincome-inequality. He concluded his discussionhighlighting the significance of involvementof management students in social projects andidentifying solutions related to inequality andpublic policy in India.

A session with Prakash Jha

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Events &Happenings

During the Intaglio, there was a special sessionwith Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of Art

of Living Foundations (which is now UNESCOrecognized and records an amazing figure of300 million followers round the globe),delivering a mesmerizing speech onspiritualism to a full house audience. Abstruseas it was, Ravi Shankar’s speech was wittyand most importantly had a very contemporarytake on spiritualism and yoga well appreciatedby the audience. However, he saved the bestfor the last, a 22 minute meditation session foreveryone in the audience.

A session with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

IIM Calcutta’s annual cultural festival, CarpeDiem kicked off with much fanfare on the 3rdof February 2012. The event was inauguratedby the Dean (NIER) Prof. Ashok Banerjee.The events included drama, dance, music,

fashion shows, creative writing, word games,debates and quiz. Students from across the cityand beyond participated in the event. TheDramatics Cell presented, The Devil Within,directed by Khushboo Kaushal, Ravi Bhushanand Gaurav Jindal, which tackled the issue ofcommunal hatred. Bandish, featuring grammynominated artist Shubhen Chatterjee, enthralledthe audience with their fusion music, producinga unique blend of Indian classical and westernmusic. The mime performed by the Padmashriaward winner, Niranjan Goswami was the oneto remember and cherish for long.

Carpe Diem 2012

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ForthcomingEvents

The Second Lecture onFinance Lecture SeriesOn June 13, 2012 Prof. Utpal Bhattacharya,Associate Professor, Finance at the IndianaUniversity Kelley School of Business willspeak on “Firm Mortality and Natal FinancialCare". The talk will be held at 11 am in theFinancial Research and Trading Laboratory ofIIM Calcutta.

Workshop on Case Writing,Teaching and ResearchThe newly launched Indian Institute ofManagement Calcutta Case Research Centre(IIMCCRC) will hold its first workshop onCase Writing, Teaching and Research in thenew academic block of the campus on June14-15, 2012. The two – day workshop will seethree eminent speakers. The Day 1 will have2 workshops, Managing Case Writing to beconducted by Mr. Jeroen van den Berg, CenterManager of the Center for Business CaseStudies, Hong Kong University of Science andTechnology, followed by Case Selection andCase Writing by Ms. Anjali Raina, ExecutiveDirector, Harvard Business School IndiaResearch Center. The Day 2 will have oneworkshop, Art of Case Writing to be conductedby Prof. Jim Erskine, Emeritus Professor ofOperations Management, Richard Ivey Schoolof Business, Canada. The workshop promisesto be an exciting event with lots to learn fromthese three leaders in case writing, teaching,and research. It will also be an opportunity tonetwork with speakers associated with thethree leading case repositories in the world -Ivey, HBS, and ACRC (HKU).

Golden Jubilee to concludeon November 14The two-year long golden jubilee celebrationwill come to an end on November 14, 2012when we will see the release of the much-

awaited corporate film on IIM Calcuttacapturing its nostalgic journey over 50 years,filmed by noted filmmaker Shri Goutam Ghose.The occasion will also mark the release of aprestigious commemorative volume on IIMCalcutta featuring many moods of the country’spremier management institute during itsjourney of 50 years since inception; the projectis being authoritatively handled by the notedhistorian Dr Indira Chaudhury of Sristhi Schoolof Arts Design & Technology, Bangalore. Thisis going to be an ideal occasion in opening theArchive which will stock all the valuable andmemorable pieces of our institute like awards,mementoes, MoUs, exchange materials, pressclippings, documentary films, promotionalmaterials, programme brochures, annualreports, newsletters, placement brochures,photographs and many more.

Financial ResearchWorkshopIn 2011, the Finance Lab at IIMC received asubstantial amount of financial support fromthe Ministry of Finance, Government of Indiato conduct research in finance. FinancialResearch Workshop, which will be held at IIMCalcutta on 16 & 17 November, 2012, is oneof the many initiatives that are being undertakento support and encourage high quality researchin finance by IIMC. The workshop will bringtogether reputed academics from all over theworld and provide a venue to present anddiscuss research reports on various areas offinance. Academicians, including faculties,research scholars, and doctoral students, wouldbenefit from this conference. The paperpresenters will get an opportunity todisseminate their work and interact with theeminent scholars, some of the brightest mindsin the field as well as with the editors/associateeditors of reputed journals in finance.

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ForthcomingEvents

India Finance Conference2012The India Finance Conference 2012 (IFC2012), jointly organized by Indian Institute ofManagement Calcutta, Indian Institute ofManagement Bangalore and Indian Instituteof Management Ahmedabad will be held duringDecember 19 - 21, 2012 at IIM Calcutta. TheConference will have discussions on themeslike asset pricing and volatility in financialmarkets, corporate finance decisions, includingchoice of capital structure and dividend policy,innovations in both financial and operationalrisk management, quality of financial reporting

and adoption of IFRS, role of corporategovernance, executive compensation andownership structure, computational finance,high frequency trading and financialeconometrics and financial policies, inclusion,institutions and regulations. The best threepapers will be awarded prizes. The IndiaFinance Conference traces its roots back tothe two International Finance Conferencesorganized by Indian Institute of ManagementCalcutta in 2009 and 2011. Later, the name ofthe conference was changed to India FinanceConference (IFC). The first India FinanceConference was held at Indian Institute ofBangalore during December 20-23, 2011.

47/17 PGP Final PlacementsIIM Calcutta’s final placement process for thebatch of 2010-2012, kicked off on 20thFebruary 2012 and concluded by 23rd February2012. The process was conducted in slots, witheach slot lasting for two days. Slot-0 took placeon the 20th and 21st of February and Slot-1on the 22nd and 23rd of February 2012. Theprocess concluded by the end of slot 1, withall of the 352 students who sat for the placementprocess receiving job offers by the end of thefourth day. Earlier, the lateral placement processbegan in the first week of January andcontinued till the third week of February. Evenin these tough economic conditions, IIMCalcutta re-affirms its status as the “FinanceCampus” of the country with Financecontributing the largest number of offers(28.53%). Also, consulting companies madea significant portion of the pie with 26.80%of the offers. This was closely followed by

Sales and Marketing (22.48%) and GeneralManagement (8.93%). The batch of 2010comprised 34% freshers and 66% studentswith prior work-experience. Among them, 15% of the students had work-experience of morethan 36 months.

By placing one of the largest batches of theIIMs in less than 4 days, we have reaffirmedthe faith of our recruiters-cum-partners in ourprocess. Be it the worst of times or the best oftimes, IIM Calcutta has always been thepreferred destination for recruiters. This weestablished by producing the best placementfigures across the country in the fourthconsecutive year.

The 5th batch of PGPEXPlacementsThe placement for the 5th batch of PGPEXhas been completed successfully. The batchhad a total of 44 students where 3 of them

Placements

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Placements

were on sabbatical and 4 did not participate in

the placement procedure. The remaining 37

students who did participate in campus

placement have been satisfyingly placed. They

have been offered with senior management

positions that included Vice President at Take

Solutions and iNautix Technologies Ltd,

Executive Assistant to the MD of Medtronic,

Head Strategist to CEO’s Office at Wipro BPO,

Senior Business Manager at Cognizant

Technology and HCL Technologies Ltd and

Senior Consultant at Cognizant Business

Consulting. Name of the companies that

participated in the recruitment process are Bain

Consulting, McKinsey IT, Keane Consulting,

Microsoft, Google, Cognizant Business

Consulting, Infosys, Amazon, iNautix,

Carestream, Corporate Executive Board,

Accenture, HCL Technologies, Take Solutions,

Tech Mahindra, Dr. Reddy’s Lab and Wipro

BPO. The sector wise distribution of offers

include 11 in consulting, 18 in IT consulting

& telecom, 7 each in product management and

sales & marketing, while 5 in business

development and 1 in general management.

51 companies participated in total extending

49 total job offers. The first time recruiters to

IIM Calcutta’s placement programme for the

5th PGPEX batch were Sears IT, Medtronic,

Keane Consulting, CGN Consulting, Fi-Tek,

Microsoft, Accenture BPO and Wipro BPO.

The highest number of offers (10) was made

by Tech Mahindra whereas the highest paid

offer was received from Take Solutions. The

highest pay package offered was that of Rs

28.00 lacs while the average being of Rs 20.40

lacs.

The 5th batch of PGPEXVLMP PlacementThe 5th batch of PGPEX VLMP program had

34 students out of which 3 were sponsored

implying that only 31 students participated in

campus placements procedure. Consulting

stalwarts like Mckinsey & Company, Cognizant

Business Consulting, Wipro Consulting, TATA

Consulting, CGN & Associates, Renoir

Consulting, CII Consulting and Amazon

participated in the placement process. The

students have been offered roles of Consultant,

Senior Consultant, Counselor and Senior

Specialist. The other functions in which

students have got offers include Operations,

IT, Supply Chain, General Management,

Business Development, Innovation, Research

& Development. So far 25 companies have

participated in the final placement process

making 33 offers to the candidates and in

addition seven PPOs were received from the

companies that participated in the internship

process. Hence a total of 40 offers were

extended to the students of the 5th batch. The

salaries offered were ranging from Rs 8.0 lacs

to Rs 16.80 lacs. Shinsei Bank offered the

highest salary of Rs 16.80 lacs. Tata Consulting

and CGN & Associates extended the four

highest paid offers. The sectors included auto,

pharma, metal & mining and oil & gas.

Amazon, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Murugappa

Group, CGN & Associates, Renoir Consulting,

Hero Moto Corp, Ess Dee Aluminium,

Cognizant Business Consulting, GVK

Infrastructure, JDA Software and Empire

Industries were among the first-time recruiters

this year.

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ExecutiveEducation

IIM Calcutta has always been widely acclaimedfor the various innovative programmes it hasintroduced over the years. Earlier IIMC usedto offer short duration managementdevelopment programmes. Later in 1999, IIMCfelt the need of offering managementdevelopment programmes of longer duration.These programmes were largely offered on-campus and through physical contact sessions.In 2003, IIMC launched it's first satellite basedprogramme which allows participants to attend

classes from their respective locations. Thismode of executive education has attracted alarge number of participants, mainly due tothe flexibility that it offers. So far IIM Calcuttahas offered about 43 Long DurationProgrammes both through the satellite baseddistance learning technology and in the on-campus mode and has catered to over 13000domestic and international participants. Thisissue highlights the experiences of some ofthe participants of a few programmes:

Long Duration Programme

Vikram JoshiAVP Sales, international markets (Airlines domain) for Kale Consultants Ltd.

Advanced Programme on Strategic Management, Batch 1

I think for me success is theab i l i ty to en joy one’sprofessional career along withy o u r o r g a n i z a t i o nacknowledging the services

offered by you as indispensable which in myopinion stands as a WIN-WIN situation.

I owe my success to IIM C for providing megreater insights of thinking ability. During thedifferent and difficult situations faced by usin professional and personal life, it is ourdecisiveness which helps us make or break thesituation in the barometer of success. As anindividual if we can manage to put rightingredients together (facts and assumptions)then the accuracy of decision making becomesmanifold and I think that is my biggest takeaway from IIMC.

Today I am an AVP of an IT company (KaleConsultants Ltd) in the Airline domain.Although I do not belong to the Airlinesbackground in any way, today I am successfully

leading a big market place making myorganization the number one in the world evenwhen it is an Indian Company. I think after Icame out of NIIT/IIM C there was a radicalchange in the way things work for me. WhatI think is that the most important ingredientfor success in life is to be in control of whatyou want to do.

Usha MalikSenior Manager, Patent Research Services, CPA Global

Executive Programme in Business Management, Batch 16

The EPBM course wassuggested to me by my bossand he felt this would add tomy experience and make me amore effective manager.

Although I was apprehensive initially regardingthe course rigor, its content, the faculty, theeffectiveness of interactive learning media aswell as the usefulness of the course, now after10 months into the course I feel very confidentabout the entire package and thank my bossfor coaxing me to pursue it. Having been alecturer myself sometime in my career, I find

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that the IIMC faculties are matchless in theirknowledge, preparation, content delivery andhandling student queries. Each of our facultieshandled all the queries very patiently and addedinterest to each of the subjects with the helpof case studies. Subjects like FinancialAccounting and Macroeconomics which onceseemed alien and unfathomable to me, nowappear understandable due to the great effortsof our faculties. In the same way, eachprofessor bestowed their knowledge andlearning on us in their own unique way makingthe entire experience memorable and highlyinformative. This was my first time use of theinteractive technology and it worked magicallyin witnessing the professor, seeing the slidesand hearing him while making questions aswell. The camera and live technology needsa little more work but overall the interactivelearning session makes a great way to reachout to more than 300 students spread all overIndia. The campus visit was an icing on thecake and I am sure it has surely seeded fewentrepreneurs amongst us. Personally I feelmore confident and plan to implement all thatI learnt here in my work. Also I have madegreat friends amongst the students and faculties.

Anand KrishnaAdvanced Programme for Marketing Professionals, Batch 2

It has been a really wonderfulexperience to study at IIMCalcutta. It helped me a lot tobe one step ahead from othersand the insights provided byour professors are incomparable

to that of others. In the middle of the courseI shifted my job and in the interview most ofthe questions were focused on the curriculumand how is it different from regular distanceeducation programs offered by otheruniversities. They offered me a job whichoffers more of strategic role and requires greater

responsibility than a regular marketing job.

Prajna Paramita SamantrayExecutive Programme in Supply Chain Management, Batch 3

Before completing the EPSCMcourse from IIMC, I tried towork in Supply ChainManagement practice at WiproTechnologies but was deniedthe opportunity. However, soonafter the completion of this

course, I was happily accepted into SCMpractice for SAP-SCM-APO project and thattoo without having to face any interview. I amreally satisfied working in this project as I amable to apply the knowledge which I gainedduring the EPSCM course and I think it is allbecause of the brand value attached with IIMC.

New LaunchIIMC has launched the all new ExecutiveProgramme in Corporate Regulations: Legaland Business Implications for workingprofessionals through the satellite platformof NIIT Imperia. The programme has beendesigned to impart in depth understanding ofregulatory and legal framework in businesstransactions to professionals working in thisfield.

The key objective of the programme is todeal in detail with the regulations in capitaland forex markets, IPR, foreign investments,etc. The programme blends theoreticalprinciples with case studies, experiencesharing and best practices. In addition, amandatory 3-day campus module at IIMCalcutta will be offered at the end of theprogramme.

The programme will give an overview offundamentals of business laws and contracts,corporate laws involving JVs and M&As,law of investment and competition, consumer

ExecutiveEducation

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protection laws, labour laws, environment andregulatory challenges, WTO law anddevelopment, international dispute resolutionand protection of IPRs (national andinternational perspective).

Further details can be found at:

a) http://programslive.iimcal.ac.in/executive-education/ldp/programs/niit/executive-program-corporate-regulations-legal-and-business-implications

b) http://niitimperia.com/executive-program-

in-corporate-regulations

Programmes Next Quarter

Below is a list of programmes for whichadmissions will open in the quarter June toSeptember, 2012. For more details please clickthe links given below:

a) http://programslive.iimcal.ac.in/executive-education

b) http://www.hugheseducation.com/

c) http://www.niitimperia.com/

Programme Title Satellite Platform Duration Start Date (tentative)

Executive Programme in CorporateRegulations: Legal and BusinessImplications NIIT Imperia 6 months Jun, 2012

Executive Programme in Global Hughes CommunicationsBusiness Management India Ltd. 1 year Sep, 2012

Executive Programme in Global Hughes CommunicationsEconomics for Managers India Ltd. 1 year Sep, 2012

Senior Management Programme NIIT Imperia 1 year Oct, 2012

Executive Programme on ManagingBusiness Decisions NIIT Imperia 1 year Oct, 2012

Executive Programme inApplied Finance NIIT Imperia 1 year Nov, 2012

ExecutiveEducation

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IIM Calcutta has been offering Management Development Programmes (MDPs) in traditionalmodes (Face-to-face classroom sessions) since its inception. Typically, these programmes areof shorter duration ranging from 3 days to 3 weeks. Every year the faculty members of IIMCalcutta offer Short-duration Management Development Programmes in their areas of expertise.This issue provides the MDP Calendar for the period June – September 2012:

Management Development Programmes

Sl. Name of the Programme Programme Directors Duration Fees*(in Rs)No.1 Personal Growth and Team Building Prof. B.N.Srivastava June 25-29, 2012 45,000/-2 Communication and Presentation Skills Prof. Leena Chatterjee &

Prof. Vidyanand Jha July 02-05, 2012 45,000/-3 Leadership and Team Building Prof. B.N.Srivastava &

Prof. Chetan Joshi July 02-06, 2012 45,000/-4 Marketing to the Rural And Prof. Ramendra Singh &

Bottom-of-the-Pyramid Markets Prof. Prashant Mishra July 07-09, 2012 40,000/-5 Managing Financial Institutions Prof. Rama Seth July 07-10, 2012 40,000/- ( R )

35,000/- (NR )6 Strategic Choices during Recession Prof. Ranjan Das July 13-14, 2012 20,000/-

for achieving Competitive Successand Growth

7 C-Level Strategic Decision Prof. Rama Seth July 14-17, 2012 40,000/- ( R )Making Skills 35,000/- ( NR )

8 Managerial Leadership and Prof. B.N.Srivastava July 16-21, 2012 54,000/-Conflict Resolution

9 Finance for Executive Prof. Purusottam Sen & July 23-27, 2012 50,000/-Decision Making Skills Prof. Manju Jaiswall

10 Management of Creativityand Innovation Prof. Vidyanand Jha July 23-27, 2012 50,000/-

11 Value Investing Prof. Kaustav Sen August 01-02, 2012 25,000/-12 Developing your team for Prof. Vidyanand Jha &

superior performance Prof. Amit Dhiman August 06-09, 2012 40,000/-13 Managing the Sales- Prof. Ramendra Singh &

Marketing Interface Prof. Suren Sista August 11-12, 2012 30,000/-14 Disruptive Innovation and Prof. Ranjan Das August 16-17, 2012 20,000/-

Sustainability as sources ofCompetitive Advantage

15 Becoming Effective Sales Managers Prof.Prashant Mishra & August 20-23, 2012 50,000/-Prof. Ramendra Singh

16 Advanced Management Programme Prof. Biju Paul Abraham & August 20-31, 2012 2,25,000/- M-IProf. Krishanu Rakshit (M-I) November 10-24, 5,15,000/- M-1&II)

2012 (M-II)17 Workshop on Corporate Governance Prof. Sushil Khanna &

Prof. B.B.Chakrabarti August 22-25,2012 40,000/-18 Building and Leading Market Prof. Prashant Mishra,

Oriented Organizations Prof. Krishanu Rakshit &Prof. Abhishek Goel September 03-05, 2012 40,000/-

19 Corporate Citizenship: Managing forEffectiveness Prof. Nimruji Prasad J September 03-06, 2012 40,000/-

20 Business Law for Managers Prof. R.Rajesh Babu &Prof. V.K.Unni September 07-09, 2012 35,000/-

21 Managerial Effectiveness Prof. Leena Chatterjee &Prof. Rajiv Kumar September 10-14, 2012 50,000/-

22 Alternative Profit Models Prof. Ranjan Das September 12-13, 2012 20,000/-23 Managing Retailing for Superior Performance Prof. Suren Sista &

Prof. Prashant Mishra September 17-20, 2012 50,000/-24 Managing Talent and Enhancing

Employee Engagement Prof. Amit Dhiman September 20-22, 2012 27,000/-25 Marketing Strategies for Profitable Prof. Prashant Mishra &

Growth in India Prof. Ramendra Singh September 24-27,2012 50,000/-26 Strategic Cost Management Prof. Purusottam Sen &

Prof. Manju Jaiswall September 26-28, 2012 30,000/-

*Service Tax as applicable will be charged extra on above feesFor details on each programme, please visit http://programslive.iimcal.ac.in/calendar

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IIMC Alumni Association, Kolkata Chapterwas organized Nostalgia 2012, which wascombined with a Pan IIM meet onentrepreneurship held on May 12 at BengalClub, Kolkata. A few IIMC students and around60 IIM alumni, from IIMC, IIMA and IIMBgathered to listen to a round table discussionon Entrepreneurship. The Panel was moderatedby Prof. Ranjan Das of IIM Calcutta and thepanelists were Mr. Madan Mohanka, CMD,TEGA Industries (IIMA Alumnus), Ms KhushiKhanna, Founder and Director, MARG (IIMCAlumnus), Mr. A. Mondal, CEO, Stone IndiaLtd. and Mr. G.M. Kapur, Head, INTACH(IIMC Alumnus). Prof. Das invited each ofthe panelists to share their experiences andlearning in the course of their journey as anentrepreneur. Mr. Mohanka highlighted theteething troubles that are inevitable inestablishing a successful venture and MsKhanna then mentioned the agony of successunder the constraints of personal bandwidth.Mr. Kapur discussed how an entrepreneurialapproach can also be applied to non-commercial ventures while Mr. Mondal talkedabout an innovative green project that he iscurrently involved with. Prof Das summed up

the discussion highlighting the various stagesof entrepreneurship. After a lively debate, allthe guests enjoyed a hearty dinner at the BengalClub.

Annual Report: KolkataChapterThe Kolkata Chapter of IIMC AlumniAssociation was involved in a number ofactivities during the last year. They havepresented gold medals to the students comingfirst and third in the PGPEX – VLM course atthe convocation held in April 2012 and alsoto the Best Girl Student graduating this yearalong with awarding cash prizes to the top 10students of IIMC graduating this year. Theyhad awarded 5 students with Merit-cum-Meansscholarship of Jadavpur University and donated6 computers to an NGO run by Mr.Shyamalendu Das at Joka aiming to impartcomputer literacy to children of the area.

The Association has masterminded GuruSpeak,the flagship annual workshop which hasattained its cult status. Extending serious one-day training session to senior professionals,this one-of-its-kind advanced managementworkshop with a contemporary global Guruis being successfully organized every yearsince 2004. The 2011 edit ion wassimultaneously held at Mumbai on 25November 2011 and at Kolkata on 26November 2011. The Guru was Prof. VenkatRamaswamy, Hallman Fellow of ElectronicBusiness and professor of Marketing at theRoss School of Business, University ofMichigan, Ann Arbor, USA.

Kolkata Chapter organized aPan IIM Meet & Nostalgia 2012

Chapter News

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT CALCUTTAJoka, Diamond Harbour Road, Kolkata 700104,

Phone: 91-33-2467 8300 – 8304, Email: newsletter@iimcal.ac.in

Editorial Team: Professor Ashok Banerjee, Dean (New Initiatives & External Relations), Shri Roddur Sen,Head : External Relations, Siddarth Gowrav, Alumni Secretary and Aloke Guin, Public Relations Officer