SIMply SIMSREE!!!

Guest Lecture by Rajnish Borah

2011-10-25T19:37:00.001+05:30

The junior batch of SIMSREE had theopportunity of attending a session by Mr.Rajnish Borah on “Careers in HR”. Mr. Borah has close to 15 years ofexperience in Human Resource Management and has handled diverse HR roles. He iscurrently working as Head, HR, L & TGeneral Insurance.

He insisted that the session should be interactive andstarted by asking the batch what they know about the various HR functions.Following which, he enlisted for the students the various specializationswithin HR such as Recruitment, Talent Management, Employee Engagement, HRIS,Compensations and Benefits, HR Analytics, Training and so on and spoke brieflyabout the role of each specialization. This helped in clearing whateverconfusion the students had in mind about these specializations. He said thatall the HR roles can be divided into four distinct categories: AdministrativeExpert, Employee Champion, Change Agent, Strategic Partner.

He also shared with the students the attributes required forbecoming a successful HR professional. He stated that the ability to understandbusiness is extremely crucial for an HR Professional to succeed. He also saidthat along with an in-depth knowledge of HR practices and the ability tosuccessfully deliver them, a successful HR professional also needs to have agreat amount of personal credibility. He said that although, traditionally, HRas a function has always been relegated to the back-seat and left out ofstrategic decisions, things are changing now because talent has become anextremely critical aspect of business.

Towards the end of the session, he enthusiastically answeredall the questions posed by the students. The session certainly provided thestudents with a clear understanding of the evolving roles in HR. We lookforward to more such interactive and insightful sessions.

Finance Summit - FISCUS 2011

2011-10-24T15:28:00.001+05:30

SIMSREE Finance Forum, the Finance cell of Sydenham Institute of Management Studies Research & Entrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE) organized the Finance Summit “FISCUS ‘11” on 1st October at Indian Merchants Chambers (IMC), Mumbai. FISCUS ’11 brought together students and finance stalwarts on a common platform to discuss a vital issue in the field of finance. The list of speakers included eminent personalities from the world of finance.

Mr. Suresh Kotak

The Summit commenced with the inaugural speech of Mr. Suresh Kotak, Chairman, Kotak & Company. The Morning Session on “Financing the Corporate Needs of India Inc” was chaired by Mr. Gautam Patel, Advisor, Battery Ventures & Managing Partner, Citta Capital. The other Panelists included Mr. Manish Arora, Executive Vice President, Country Head-Product Development & Sales Effectiveness, Yes Bank, Mr. Bharat Sampat, CFO, DCB Bank, Mr. Sunil Sapre, CFO, CEAT, Mr. Vikram Gupta, CFO, Essar Shipping Corporation and Ms. Jayashree Ramaswamy, CFO, Dun & Bradstreet.

Panel Discussion- Morning Session

The Afternoon Session on “Developing the Indian Capital Markets” was chaired by Mr. B. Madhuprasad, Vice Chairman, Keynote Corporate Services. The other eminent speakers included Mr. Prashant Shetty, CEO, IDFC Capital, Mr. Rajiv Anand, CEO, Axis Mutual Fund, Mr. Sunit Joshi, Head-Capital Markets Group, SBI Capital Markets and Mr. Subrata Ray, Sr. Vice President, ICRA. There were Keynote Addresses by Mr. Viney Kumar, Executive Director, IDBI Bank and Mr. Sanjay Jain, Managing Director, head-Global Capital Markets, JM Financial on both the topics respectively.

Panel Discussion- Afternoon Session

All the hard-work put in by the students in organising the event paid off as FISCUS 2011 turned out to be a grand success. The event was enriched by the variety and depth of industry experience of the various panel members, panel chairpersons as well as the keynote speakers. FISCUS 2011 has certainly raised the bar and will serve as a benchmark for all the future finance summits as well as all the other corporate events organised by SIMSREE.

Foundation Day Celebrations

2011-10-24T15:14:00.001+05:30

The auditorium at Sydenham College played host to a talented display ofperformances by the students of Sydenham Institute of Management, Research AndEntrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE).

In keeping with the SIMSREE tradition, Foundation Day saw studentsdressed in traditional attire. The evening began with a Saraswati Vandana andthe lighting of the ceremonial lamp. The proceedings were attended by the SIMSREE Director Dr. M. A. Khan along with other faculty members. Former students ofSIMSREE were also present in the audience-it must have surely been a walk downmemory lane for them. The rest of the evening consisted of a culturalperformance, largely organized by the 2011-13 batch of SIMSREE. There was alsoa short ceremony felicitating the faculty and winners of various awards duringthe last academic year. The surprise package of the evening was a short addressby our most recent alumni (of the just graduated 2009-11 batch).

This was a great opportunity to familiarize the new entrants withSIMSREE tradition. It was surely a memorable evening and was enjoyed by all.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Sujan Roy

2011-09-15T20:57:00.000+05:30

SIMSREE was proud to welcome Mr. Sujan Roy, Head - Marketing Services & Product Planning at Tata Motors on campus for a guest lecture on Marketing Communications for the Automobile Industry. Also, our Alumnus from the 2004 batch, Mr. Rahul Pansare, Head, Marketing Communications at Volkswagen Group, India was present for the lecture.

Mr. Sujan Roy

Mr. Roy told us how love and passion for cars led him to work in various automobile companies over the years. Mr. Roy made a presentation, in which he demonstrated how simplicity and directness are the best marketing tools. He said that the customer should be given information in a simple, easy to understand format. The essence of an advertisement should be understood even with the volume off, since most people turn off the sound during commercial breaks.

Also, he shared an important insight made by David Ogilvy- that the customer is not an idiot. Your wife is your customer. So you should always try to market things in such a way that your wife would be convinced. He also told us how cranks are generally the most loyal customers. They care more about the product and company than the employees. So it is good to listen to them and not dismiss them in irritation.

He then opened the Q&A session. Many questions were asked by the students, about why various cars were positioned the way they were, how to stop companies from losing money on dealerships since people went to local garages etc. We thank Mr. Roy for the insights we gained into marketing for the automobile industry. It was an amazing experience.

MBAuniverse Report on SIMSREE

2011-09-05T18:52:00.000+05:30

A leading MBA portal MBAUniverse has published a detailed report on our very own SIMSREE. The report is extremely positive and covers every aspect of life at SIMSREE-starting with the admission process right up to the time one graduates from here. It also includes quotes from the 2010-12 batch and gives a glimpse of a typical day in the life of a SIMSREEite. The report ends with a note from the present batch to all future SIMSREE aspirants.

The complete report is available at:

http://www.mbauniverse.com/article/id/4940/Life-at-SIMSREE-Mumbai

Guest Lecture by Mr. Niranjan Hiranandani

2011-08-28T23:26:00.000+05:30

SIMSREE was privileged to have Mr. Niranjan Hiranandani on campus on 20th August, 2011. Mr. Hiranandani spoke to the 2011-13 batch on success, how to measure it and what it means to an individual as well as to society at large. Mr. Hiranandani is an Alumnus of Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics. He is also a chartered accountant. He is currently the Managing Director of the Hiranandani Group (a very well known name in India, especially in the real estate sector).

The session began with Mr. Hiranandani describing the real estate industry and further went on to describe the business ventures of his daughter Priya and son Darshan.

Some of the points covered by him were:

Change in global perception about India
Growth and increase in technological prowess of India
Stark difference between the India of the past and present
Sea change brought about in the Indian business environment due to Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization policies of the early 1990s
Business ventures undertaken by his children, Priya and Darshan Hiranandani

With respect to the last point, Mr. Hiranandani emphasized that money does not matter if one really has a good idea and wants to carry it forward through a business implementation. One of his more memorable statements was “Take risk; after all, life should be challenging and interesting”.

The session ended with a Q&A and was found to be extremely interesting and informative by all. We look forward to more such sessions in future.

- Gaurav Mewati (Batch 2011-13)

Guest Lecture by Mr. Sudhir Khot

2011-08-22T14:17:00.001+05:30

The SIMSREE batch of 2011-2013 had the good fortune of getting an insight into the mind of an entrepreneur. Mr. Sudhir Khot, an alumnus of the 1993 batch visited campus to address the newly inducted batch on entrepreneurship. Mr. Sudhir Khot is the owner of Kaijing Agro Services Pvt. Ltd. He currently runs three other ventures viz. Rural Reach, Kaijing Financial Planning and Sahyadri Agricultural Producer Company Ltd. He has been successfully running his entrepreneurial ventures for more than 10 years now.

He insisted that the session should be interactive and result in some sharing of thoughts. He asked the students to put forth their views on entrepreneurship. After listening to the responses of the students, he summed up the concept of entrepreneurship by saying that an entrepreneur is someone who identifies a gap in the system and fills it. He also helped the students understand the difference between an entrepreneur and a small businessman. He explained that the difference is how the Risk/Reward Ratio for an entrepreneur is much better than that for a small businessman.

He advised the budding entrepreneurs on three points:

a) Don’t be stubborn and stick to a single business idea; be open to exploring new ideas.

b) Don’t over-analyze your business idea. If you have a good idea, just follow your heart.

c) If you really want to start a business, the right time is “now”. The longer you wait, the bigger will be your liabilities and it will become increasingly difficult to come out of your “corporate cushion”.

He answered students’ questions regarding the relevance of management education for an entrepreneur, the dilemma about whether or not work experience is required before starting an enterprise, how to deal with initial failures and so on. The session provided a dose of encouragement to all the budding entrepreneurs and introduced all the others to the various elements of entrepreneurship. It was a very insightful and engaging session and we look forward to having more such sessions in the future.

- Gauri Sawant (Batch 2011-13)

Guest Lecture by Mr. Vasant Sanzgiri

2011-08-21T00:21:00.000+05:30

SIMSREE was honoured to have Mr. Vasant Sanzgiri, alumnus of the 1986 batch on campus to address the batch of 2011-2013. Mr. Sanzgiri is currently the Group Head HR for Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd and has worked for organizations like Taj Mahal Hotel, Modi Xerox, DCW Home Products Ltd., Owens Corning India Ltd and ICICI Prudential AMC Ltd. He has diverse experience of 25 years in the HR industry to his credit.

He interacted with the newly inducted batch of students and urged them to make use of their two years at SIMSREE to identify and work on their weaknesses. He mentioned three things that the industry looks for in a student: Firstly, the type of projects the student has worked on and his/her learning out of the project; Secondly, the ability of the student to apply the theoretical knowledge that he/she has acquired during these two years; And finally the organizational roles taken up by the students, which demonstrate his/her ability to work in a group. While talking about his alma mater, Mr. Sanzgiri said that the institute has got something in its soul that is unique and those who join this institute have this soul incorporated into their own DNA. It was a very profound thought and made us very proud of being a SIMSREE’ite.

He also urged the students to try and come out of their comfort zones and make the most of the ample opportunities that the institute provides for the overall development of the students.

The session concluded with a question answer session, which helped clear our doubts and gain from his vast experience. We as students feel extremely obliged that he could spare time from his busy schedule to interact with us and give us something very valuable. We look forward to more such insightful sessions from Sir in the future.

- Gauri Sawant, Nirvisha Bhuta (Batch 2011-13)

Guest Lecture by Dr. Kalim Khan

2011-08-19T21:21:00.000+05:30

“Insightful”, “Eye opening”, “Reality check” were some of the responses from the 2011-13 batch of SIMSREE after an hour long session with Dr. Kalim Khan, Director, Rizvi Institute of Management on 18th August 2011. The very unusual session started with Dr. Khan setting the agenda for the day. The session was intended to give the junior batch a realistic view of the MMS/PGDBM courses to which they have newly enrolled.

With his polished oratory skills and thoughtful choice of words, he engaged the audience with ease and also ensured that his message got through to the audience.

Some of the points that he highlighted were:

1. What one can and cannot expect from the course

2. Approach to the course

3. The importance of the right attitude while pursuing the course.

4. Suggested reading material

5. The importance of self-belief and self-evaluation

He also stressed on the importance of participating in various inter B-school events, quizzes, preparing research papers, writing articles, reading books and doing off summer and summer projects. He gave examples of his real-life experiences to explain each point in more detail which could be easily related to by the students.

The 2011-13 batch found the session extremely useful and also decided to implement his suggestions at the earliest. We look forward to hosting more of such sessions in future.

-Kunal Bhusare (MMS 2011-13)

Reminiscence 2011 - Annual Alumni Day

2011-08-18T20:09:00.001+05:30

‘Reminiscence -2011’ – our Annual Alumni Day will be held in Mumbai on Saturday, the 17th of September 2011 from 6:00 P.M. onwards. Further details shall be communicated shortly. Thank you.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Ishmeet Singh

2011-08-18T14:26:00.001+05:30

SIMSREE was honoured to have on campus Mr. Ishmeet Singh, Business Head, Vodafone India- Haryana Circle on the 15th of August 2011. Mr. Singh was there to speak about the advent of the Indian telecom industry, its growth path and challenges faced along the way and likely to be faced in future.

Mr. Singh started off by describing the early days of the telecom sector in India. Telephonic conversations were a rarity, considering the difficulties one faced in making calls and acquiring landline connections. Even the introduction of mobile communication did not improve matters-incoming and outgoing calls were both chargeable at stratospheric rates. Things changed with the development of CDMA technology. This was a milestone which ushered in the era of affordable mobile telephony.

Mr. Singh concluded with the challenges faced by the industry today, especially in view of limited spectrum availability, increasing competition and changing government regulations. Various opportunities are also present, such as the introduction of 3G services. The priority for companies in this sector is maintaining customer loyalty and increased focus on value based services. Intense competition prevails and organizations need to constantly innovate to sustain themselves.

It was indeed a very interesting and informative session and we hope to have many more such sessions in future.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Ramesh Mitragotri

2011-08-17T22:37:00.000+05:30

Awonderful insight into the HR domain was provided by Mr. Ramesh Mitragotri, analumnus of the batch of 1986 and currently serving as the Chief People Officerat Aditya Birla Retail Limited. He has an experience of more than 18 years inthe HR domain in various industries like Philips India, HindustanConstruction Company Limited, India, Owens Corning India Ltd and Aditya Birla Group Cement Marketing Division.
One of the points highlighted by Sir was that’Resources make business possible but People make business happen’.Resources degrade with time but people perform, learn and grow with time.People i.e. Human Power needs to be managed efficiently to aid in the successof the organization. When the goals of the company and the aspirations of theindividual coincide both will reach great heights. Common purpose, availabilityof tools, growth opportunities, appreciation and rewards, collaboration andteam-work is essential to engage the employee. But it is always the employeewho has to manage himself-No one else can.
An HR manager needs to work as a Strategic BusinessPartner, Change manager, HR service provider and an Employee Champion. Thepre-requisites for an HR domain include:
a) To know the business of the company
b) HR domain knowledge
c) Change management i.e. Problem solving ability,clarity and innovative influence to make things happen
d) Personal Credibility i.e. consistence andreliability, integrity, interpersonal relations. Assertiveness, empathy,maintaining confidentiality, sense of responsibility, faith in people and theirstrengths, openness, learning ability and stress tolerance.
Overall it was a very informative sessionand helped clarify many queries related to HR field. We are very thankful tothe inductionteamto have arranged this lecture for us and hope to have Sir again on campus formore such sessions.

- Sonal Sherekar (Batch 2011-2013)

Guest Lecture by Mr. Sachin Khandelwal

2011-08-17T11:48:00.000+05:30

SIMSREE washonoured to have its illustrious Alumnus Mr. Sachin Khandelwal as the guestlecturer for SIMSREE 2011-13 batch. Mr Khandelwal was from the batch of 1992.He is presently the CEO and MD of ICICI Home Finance.

The newlyinducted batch from diversified fields was lucky to be guided by a person ofhis caliber. He shared many of his personal experiences of his MBA like why MBA?, his passions, dos and don'ts in MBA. He also threw somelight on the present economic scenario, e-commerce, TSP (Technological Serviceproviders) and Entrepreneurship options in Banking.

His lecture gaveus a good insight into various aspects of MBA as well as the corporateworld. The highlight of this session was “the 3 ingredients of a successfulcareer – Passion, Attitude and Innovation". Truly an “idea can change yourlife” only if you have the passion and attitude to implement it. We hope tohave more such lectures from him in the future.

- Anjan Rajan (PGDBM 2011-13)

Guest Lecture by Mr. Sidharth Singh

2011-08-03T11:55:00.002+05:30

On the 29^th July 2011, SIMSREE was proud and honoured to welcome our illustrious alumni, Mr Sidharth Singh, on campus. Mr Singh was a part of the 1994 batch and has, since then, been a part of the corporate world. Currently he is working as the General Manager Foods at Hindustan Unilever.

It was an amazingly interactive session wherein Mr Singh enlightened the students with his insights and experience about growing a market and a company’s market share. Taking various example Mr Singh took everyone through the traditional four P’s of marketing, i.e. Product, Place, Price and Promotion and then took things a step forward by adding another and a very important P; Proposition. Mr Singh explained to the gathering how the value proposition offered by a product or service determines how it is perceived by the consumer and that in turn tells us how to promote the product and how much to charge for it. The points were insightful and helped us in altering our view on marketing.

Furthermore, Mr Sidharth Singh also talked about market size and market share and how to grow them. He told us about the three ways to increase the size of a market – by increasing penetration, i.e. increasing the sheer number of people using your product or service; by increasing usage, i.e. increasing the number of times customers use your product or service and by providing extra benefits in order to improve the value proposition of the product.

The best part about the session was that the learnings were through real life examples which meant that the students could participate in the session while at the same time get a glimpse into the mind of an industry veteran. We would definitely like to have more such sessions in the future and hope that Mr Sidharth Singh visits our institute again soon.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Vikram Bahl

2011-08-02T19:21:00.000+05:30

Mr. Vikram Bahl, Marketing Head, Kellogg’s India,took a guest lecture at SIMSREE on revolutionary positioning ideas. Mr. Bahlstarted out by defining a brand. He said a brand is an idea that should makepeople talk about it. Positioning on the other hand is the space occupied by aproduct in the mind of a consumer relative to competing products.

The next question which arisesis, how do you go about positioning? There are 4 points to be followed here.

1. Who is the customer? You should define who you aretargeting.

2. Who else is talking to the customer?That is, you should know your competition.

3. You should know your customerthrough detailed market research.

4. Finally, you should fill a gapin your customers life.

For a product to truly succeedand to be truly memorable, the positioning of the product has to berevolutionary. According to Mr. Bahl, there are five points to be followed tomake the positioning revolutionary-

1. The product should make apositive difference to the customer’s life

2. It should entail a deepunderstanding of the customer’s life

3. You should have the firstmover advantage

4. You should be true to customer

5. You should stay committed toyour idea

Mr. Bahl illustrated his talkwith various examples ranging from Surf Excel, Tata Tea, McDonald’s Happy Pricemenu and Kellogg’s own Special K breakfast cereal.

Surf Excel’s campaign positionedthe detergent in a very unique fashion by focussing on the ‘Daag Acche hain’concept. Other detergents generally focus on the white colour, or softness offabric after use etc. But Surf, which is projected as a premium brand, focuseson the fact that stains are a part of life and not necessarily bad.

Tata tea’s campaign was focussedon ‘Jaago re’ , wherein the tea was used to signify not just getting up fromsleep, but awakening to ones responsibilities.

Similarly the Kellogg’s Special Kcampaign generated a lot of interest and sales were up by huge margins afterthe very first month itself.

The lecture gave us a very goodinsight into the importance of positioning and the way in which goodpositioning can be used to turn around a brand. We hope to have many morelectures like this in the future.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Hemant Malik

2011-07-30T23:46:00.002+05:30

SIMSREE was honoured to welcomeMr. Hemant Malik, COO- Trade Marketing and Distribution, ITC Limited on campus.Mr. Malik took a guest lecture with the students in which he covered the basicsof marketing and distribution. Mr. Malik started out by asking students whypeople buy particular products, what is the meaning of brand loyalty, and howavailability of products affects loyalty.

Using ITC’s operations as anexample, Mr. Malik explained various concepts including the problems faced byan FMCG major. Some of the problems Mr. Malik spoke about were getting theproducts on time to different kinds of stores, including convenience storeswhich would not have much storage space. The main problem is managing theinventories of various kinds of stores, each having different storage anddisplay formats. Customers prefer buying the freshest possible goods. In fact,some even switch brands if they do not find a fresh product of their brand ofchoice.

Mr. Malik also spoke aboutlogistical difficulties like ensuring efficient transportation of goods. Theexample given was that of wheat flour and Bingo chips. According toregulations, each truck can carry only 9 tonnes of goods. With wheat flour, 9tonnes would only occupy half the space (in terms of volume) in the truckresulting in wastage of space. However with Bingo chips, only 1 tonne (inweight) would occupy the entire space (in terms of volume) in the truck. So thesolution the company came up with was to carry 8 tonnes of wheat and fill theremaining space with 1 tonne of chips, hence making optimum use of space aswell as meeting regulations.

Mr. Malik also spoke aboutvarious issues that companies have to watch out for including making sure that theirproducts are placed in a visible place in stores. Convincing stores to carry theproducts also requires serious effort in the case of big stores, because suchstores are more interested in increasing category sales rather than the salesof simply individual products. So in order to convince them one has to resort tomeasures such as negotiating margins. Also one has to manage warehouses whichare used for storage to ensure that products move in a first in first outmanner. In stores too, older goods have to be placed in front of newer onesotherwise customers would buy the newer ones and the older ones would never besold and would eventually have to be discarded.

It was a veryinformative session for all the students present as we got to hear firsthandhow a major company like ITC manages its trade marketing and operations. Wehope to have many more sessions with Mr. Malik in future.

Asia’s Best B-School Awards

2011-07-27T23:36:00.000+05:30

SIMSREEis proud to announce that we have won the award for the Business School with the Best IndustryInterface and our professor, Mr. Ashish Pawaskar, wonthe Best Professor in Advertising and Communications Management at the Asia’sBest B-Schools Awards. Prof. Ashish Pawaskar is also an Alumnus of our collegefrom the 1994 MMS batch and an active SIMAA Director.

The CMO Asia Advisory Board and the Advisory Council of theWorld Bank Congress took the task of identifying Asia's Best Business Schools.Participating countries included China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, SouthKorea, Singapore, Israel and many many more. The jury included dignitaries suchas Bhaskar Chatterjee, Secretary to the Government of India, Department ofPublic Enterprises, Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises;Michael McDonald, Global Chairman, World HRD Congress; Jonathan Peters, GlobalChairman, Stars of the Industry Group; Dr. Prasad Medury, Partner, Amrop IndiaConsultants Pvt Ltd and many more besides.

This is but one of the many accolades SIMSREE has received. Wehope to continue our efforts with the same perseverance and dedication as nowand ensure that milestones such as these are achieved in the years ahead.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Munjal Kamdar

2011-07-27T23:19:00.003+05:30

SIMSREE welcomed yet another dignitary oncampus. This time it was Mr. Munjal Kamdar, Enterprise Risk Solutions, Deloitteand also an alumnus of SIMSREE from the 1996 batch. The topic for the day was ‘Succeeding In Your FirstJob’.

Mr. Kamdar started off by telling us abouthimself. He described what life was like for him immediately after he leftSIMSREE. With graphic examples and personal anecdotes, Mr. Kamdar explainedsome of the common mistakes made by most management trainees. These mistakescovered a range of areas from etiquette and office protocol to performance andgoals. He also emphasized that failures are natural and eventual but the keything about them is to recognize, acknowledge and ultimately work towardsrectification of past errors. Another very interesting point he brought up wasthe progress of an individual from unconscious incompetence to consciousexcellence. Conscious excellence is something that all of us must strive forfrom the very day we embark on our careers. He concluded by describing hisjourney so far and also gave us some useful tips on the corporate world and howto smoothen our progress through it.

Mr. Kamdar’s session was an extremelyinteresting and informative one and we are very grateful to him for sharing hisvaluable insights with us. This knowledge is not to be found in a classroom ortextbook but can only be learned by experience and we appreciate the same. Wehope to have many more of such educational sessions in future.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Tushar Murdeshwar, Johnson & Johnson

2011-07-20T20:52:00.000+05:30

SIMSREE was proud to have oncampus yet another distinguished personage, Mr. Tushar Murdeshwar, alumnus ofthe 1993 batch of SIMSREE and now Head of Marketing, Johnson & JohnsonConsumer Products Division-India. The topic for the day was ‘IntegratedMarketing Communication.’

The lecture started with a noteon how different media channels have sprung up and grown in India in arelatively short period of time. Just two decades ago, television used to bethe main mode of communicating with the masses, via short commercials on just ahandful of television channels. But with economic progress of the nation, mediahas also grown in terms of the various channels offered as well as in terms ofreach into the nooks and corners of the country. The fact that the customer hasalso evolved has just added to the complexity, with information being bombardedon the customer every second of the day.

Mr. Murdeshwar also commented onTVR ratings, a measure of how many people can be reached through the medium oftelevision. A point worth noting is that the ratings have seen a drastic reductionover the years from 16%- 24% representing peak viewership to a meagre 2.5% atmost today. Hence, it has becomecrucial for the creative media agencies to make the brand message more focussedto create a sharp distinction between them and their competitors. He then spokeon copy strategies, that is what a television commercial should say. The keyelements of these were ‘Who?’, ‘What?’ And ‘Reason to Believe’.

He demonstrated the aboveconcepts with the example of Neutrogena-right from how a brief is given to acreative agency by identifying the key problems, key challenge and core targetsegment to business objective, strategy to be followed, and equity challenge.Ultimately, a way to establish consumer connect is identified by hypothesistesting and building a database of information on consumers. He stressed on how it is important tocreate relevance for the product category by highlighting the core purpose-whyit is necessary to use the product and what need gap it fulfils.

According to sir, IntegratedMarketing Communications (IMC) is about the right person, the right message connection,the right channel mix and the right impact. The effectiveness of advertisingcan and needs to be measured. He emphasized that every big idea must connectwith the audience, differentiate & stand apart, and be scalable-that isgrow well with the business, and the key is that “Less is More”.

He further continued with thesteps to be taken once the big idea is arrived at, with the communicationobjective being used to tell (i.e. awareness generation), recommend and engage(two-way communication) with the customer to finally come up with theintegrated communication strategy and plan, an integrated channel plan, andintegrated selling plan.

The lecture concluded with anexample of J&J’s treatment of ‘Top to Toe’ and an interactivequestion-answer session with the audience. It was indeed a very interesting andinformative session and we hope to see many more of the same in future.

NISSAN STUDENT BRAND MANAGER PROGRAM 2011- SIMSREE STUDENT WINS

2011-07-14T12:38:00.000+05:30

NissanMotor India recently launched the second edition of their Nissan Student BrandManager Program wherein entries were invited from over 150 institutes around India.The aim was to choose 20 bright youngsters to spend six months interning withNissan as Brand Managers to learn the job.

We are extremely proud to announce thatone of the winners is Subir Pinto, a SIMSREE student of the PGDBM 2010-12batch. Other winners included students from illustrious B schools such as SIBMand IIM K.

Nissan Student Brand Managers- Subir Pinto (Second from left)

The NSBM programme is of six monthsduration, from July to December 2011. The selected 20 Student Brand Managershave the important role of bringing the brand closer to the general public and especiallyto the Indian student community via creative marketing initiatives. Followingtraining, these students are to work with the company officials on a number ofprojects. Also, apart from working on different projects, these students willdevelop unique events for creating a buzz around the brand in the studentcommunity.

The competition was open to allstudents who have completed one year of management studies. Participants had tocomplete a pre-specified task which was judged by eminent personalities such asad guru Prahlad Kakkar of Genesis Films, Autocar India Magazine Editor, HormazdSorabjee and Consults Incorporated CEO, Harish Bijoor, all from the automotiveand advertising world.

There were over 2843 entries from 450colleges in 15 Indian cities. Around 20-25 entries were shortlisted from eachof the four zones, with zonal finals happening in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai andBangalore in front of the jury. Out of these, 36 were selected for the finalpresentation in Mumbai, with 18 finally winning the competition.

Congratulations Subir-you have done usproud!

AICTE Approval for PGDBM

2011-07-07T00:01:00.001+05:30

We are extremely proud to announce that the Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM) offered by SIMSREE has been approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

This is the result of sustained efforts by our esteemed director, Dr. M.A. Khan, his predecessors and successive batches of SIMSREE students. Congratulations and a big thank you to all involved in making this happen!

SIMSREE Orientation Programme

2011-07-06T23:58:00.000+05:30

In keeping with SIMSREE tradition, an orientation session for future SIMSREE aspirants of 2011 was held on Saturday, 2^nd July 2011. The session was intended to be an introductory session for those who expect to join SIMSREE as part of the 2011-13 batch. It is also an opportunity for the prospective juniors to interact with the senior batch and get a preview of what their life will be like for the next two years.

Attendees were given a snapshot of life at SIMSREE and were also given an opportunity to get all their doubts clarified. They were free to ask virtually anything-information on the CAP rounds, the various committees at SIMSREE, the academic curriculum and numerous other queries. The enthusiasm and interest of the audience was a very positive sign of things to come. We are sure that the future batch will keep the SIMSREE standard flying high.

Guest Lecture on Capital Markets by Mr. Sunit Joshi

2011-07-02T21:05:00.000+05:30

SIMSREE was honoured to have Mr. Sunit Joshi (EVP, Head - Capital Markets, SBI Capital Markets Ltd) with us on campus for an interactive session on the Capital Markets. The agenda for the session was to give the batch an overview of the Indian Capital markets as well as clarifying students’ perceptions. The lecture was organised by the SIMSREE Finance Forum, and it was very good of Mr. Joshi to take time out from his busy schedule to spend a couple of hours with us.

The session was a very good learning experience for all the students present. Mr. Joshi started out by giving a brief introduction to the Capital Markets, both equity and debt. The floor was thrown open for students to ask him all the questions they had. Some of the topics discussed included reasons as to why the prices of most IPOS are low today. Mr. Joshi said that most IPOs were launched when the market was buoyant, but today it is dull. That is why price is below expected.

There was emphasis on the debt market, since most people have a clear idea about the equity market, but debt market is still a bit of an unknown entity. People had questions about why companies still prefer to raise money from banks as compared to taking loans via bonds. The reason given by Mr. Joshi was that the bond market is not very highly developed hence interest in participation is not very high. This is also the reason why FII in the bond market is less. Since the market is not fully developed, it is difficult to exit before maturity.

Mr. Joshi also discussed why the impact of FII entering or leaving the Indian capital markets was so high. He said that when FII money is exited from India, it flows to other countries, so it has a high impact. Whereas when domestic investors remove money from equities, and invest in some other financial instrument like mutual funds, it indirectly goes into equities via some other route. Hence the impact is not so high.

It was an extremely informative session, and gave the students a new perspective on the Indian Capital markets. We hope that Mr. Joshi would be able spend more time with us, and help the students in understanding more about the Capital Markets.

SIM’ergence 2011

2011-03-18T22:11:00.000+05:30

We came, we saw, we conquered...these were the thoughts that were uppermost in the minds of all the SIM’ergence 2011 attendees. As promised, SIM’ergence 2011, the flagship corporate event of SIMSREE, was a grand show-with eminent panelists, a great lineup of Corporate and Knowledge speakers and not to mention our illustrious Chief Guest. The theme this year was ‘India-New Decade, New Horizon, New Challenges’.

The event kicked off with an inaugural ceremony, which included an address by the Director of SIMSREE, Dr. M.A. Khan. This was followed by speeches by the Corporate Speakers who spoke extensively on rural markets, the future of marketing and consumption and the macroeconomic environment of India. The Knowledge Speaker spoke on Financial Inclusion, which was the theme of the day. Two panel discussions followed on ‘Rural Markets-Unearthing the Latent Potential’ and ‘Financial Inclusion-The Race to the Bottom of the Pyramid’. The discussions were enjoyed by all, largely due to the skill and experience of the speakers and moderators. Both discussions were extremely informative and the audience gained many valuable insights by simply listening to them.

The high point of the day was the address by the Chief Guest, Mr. Niranjan Hiranandani. Mr. Hiranandani spoke on his life and career and enlivened the audience with many personal anecdotes. There was also an interactive Q&A session where Mr. Hiranandani patiently answered the many questions posed to him.

SIM’ergence 2011 saw an audience of 300-strong which included both corporates as well as students from various B-schools across the city. Needless to say, the event was a great success and has definitely raised the bar for future SIMSREE events.

For more details, refer to the March 2011 issue of Simposium.

SIMSREE Students Win Dandekar Trophy 2011

2011-03-04T14:34:00.000+05:30

It is with great pride that we announce that two students of our very own SIMSREE, Michelle Rodrigues and Clitus Fernandes, have won the prestigious Dandekar Trophy 2011 presented by the Bombay Management Association.

The Dandekar Trophy was awarded to the best paper in a paper presentation competition. The topic for the same was ‘Managing Well in Uncertain Times’. Twenty B-schools from across the city participated in the competition and SIMSREE emerged victorious. This is the first time that SIMREE has won this trophy and we are sure it will not be the last.

Our heartiest congratulations to Michelle and Clitus-you have really made us proud. To read the winning paper, please refer to the March 31st, 2011 issue of Simposium.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Dharmendra Rai

2011-03-04T14:09:00.002+05:30

We were honoured to have on campus an extremely distinguished guest-Mr. Dharmendra Rai, National Sales Head and Vice President at Benchmark Asset Management Company Pvt Ltd, Assistant Vice President at J M Morgan Stanley and Mumbai’s first and only Licensed Mind Map Trainer.

Mr. Rai conducted a session on Mind Maps- a technique used by many of the world’s most intelligent and successful people for idea generation. Stalwarts such as Walt Disney have found this technique effective for brainstorming and innovation. It is also useful for enhancing lateral thinking which, as we all know, is a necessary skill in today’s competitive world.

A mind map essentially encourages the brain to work in the way it is best suited for-pictorially. The basic principle underlying mind maps is to start with a central concept and work your way outwards. The original concept results in a series of second level concepts which can be further extended to third, fourth.... successive concepts. The depth to which one must go depends on the creator of the mind map. Rather than thinking in a linear manner (which bores the brain and hence blocks further idea generation), one is encouraged to think in all directions. Emphasis is placed on representing each new idea or concept graphically rather than verbally. This further stimulates the brain to become more creative and innovative.

Mr. Rai practically proved this by conducting a small experiment. He also explained how mind maps have been proven to improve one’s creativity, concentration power and idea generation ability. He also stated that mind maps are a tool which aids the worldwide shift from merely an age of information to an age of knowledge.

It was a very interesting and enjoyable session. This technique will surely help us to fulfil our roles as managers and leaders of tomorrow in a more efficient way and enable us to achieve new levels of excellence.

Banking Workshop by Mr. Nitesh Gawade, a SIMSREE Alumnus

2011-03-04T14:08:00.000+05:30

We at SIMSREE were privileged to host a workshop on Banking conducted by Mr. Nitesh Gawade, a 2008 alumnus of SIMSREE. Mr. Gawade is the founder of Edify Solutions. The workshop was conducted in two sessions of four hours each and was intended to apprise students of the various profiles available in the banking domain and the skill set required for each such profile as well as the expectations of employers. This was applicable to five specializations, namely, Finance, Marketing, Human Resources, Operations and Systems.

Day 1 of the workshop saw two topics being covered-Basic Banking and Banking Systems. Basic Banking started with the fundamental functions of banks and then moved on Retail Banking and Corporate Banking. Job profiles and responsibilities in these domains were clearly mapped out. The career path one might expect to follow here was also traced. Banking Systems covered a wide variety of topics-ATM, ECS, Internet Banking, IT Infrastructure, Core Banking, CRM, Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing. Again, we were made aware of the various roles open to us and the responsibilities associated with the same. The skill set needed in such a position was also touched upon.

Day 2 saw a wider variety of topics which were covered by Mr. Gawade’s colleagues. The session opened with a briefing on Treasury Process and Systems by Ms. Dhruvi Vora (again a 2008 alumnus of SIMSREE!). Treasury Mid Office i.e. Treasury Operation were covered by Mr. Gaurav Chheda. The session concluded with a summary of various Banking Profiles and skill set requirements by Mr. Gawade.

It was indeed a very interesting and informative session and cleared many misconceptions in the minds of students regarding Banking. We hope to host many more such educational sessions in future.

Guest Lecture By Mr. Samir Gupte

2011-02-25T19:07:00.000+05:30

The junior batch of SIMSREE was privileged to have a guest lecture with Mr. Samir Gupte, President and Country Head at O&M on the 11^th of February. Mr. Gupte took a lecture on Rural Marketing, with a focus on the strategies used by HUL. It was a very informative session as Mr. Gupte started out by explaining what the rural market is like, what the difficulties in communication are etc.

Many innovative ideas were discussed, like the portable TVs and DVD players used to play advertisements to the villagers as part of the Khushiyon ki Doli campaign, the Vodafone search towers used at the local fairs, etc.

Since most of rural India is not exposed to modern technology, there is need for innovative ideas to get the message across. Lifebuoy in particular had one innovative campaign where local gurudwaras were involved. This had to be done subtly so as to not hurt the religious sentiments of people.

Thus it was a highly illuminating session, which contributed to awakening the interest of the entire batch in Rural Marketing. We look forward to having more such sessions with Mr. Gupte.

SIMSREE wins four Star News National B-school Awards !!!

2011-02-19T20:40:00.000+05:30

It gives us immense to pleasure to let everyone know that SIMSREE has received not one, not two but four awards at the Star News B School Awards 2011.

SIMSREE won the awards for:
1. Outstanding B-school (West)
2. Best B-School with Industry Related Curriculum in Marketing
3. Best B-school with Excellent Industry Interface.

Our very own Prof. Ashish Pawaskar, an alumnus of SIMSREE from the batch of 1994 also won the award for the Best Professor teaching Marketing Management.

Hence, it was an awards galore at the Star News event.The Chaipersons along with Prof. Pawaskar had gone to collect the award on behalf of all the students of SIMSREE.It was a great feeling holding the awards in the hand because such awards are given to recognise the hardwork and sweat that is put in by an institute. It recognises all the good work that an institute has done in the past one year.

SIMSREE students had worked hard this year too as they do every year and it is their hardwork, determination and grit which is recognised and because of that we have a shower of awards being bestowed upon SIMSREE.

We wish that SIMSREE students keep on performing well in the years to come and receive many more such awards year on year.

Proud to be a SIMSREE student!!!!

Thanks and Regards,
Mukul

SIMSREE AT THE STANDARD CHARTERED MUMBAI MARATHON 2011

2011-01-22T09:33:00.000+05:30

“SIMSREE is here to show, Green is the way to go!!!” This is one chant that definitely could not be missed at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2011, given the enthusiasm with which we endorsed it. Yes, SIMSREE was a part of the Dream Run this year (and a noticeably vociferous one).

SIMSREE supported the Sanskar Foundation, which is an NGO dedicated to health, environmental, social and civic issues. It aims to empower citizens to make a significant contribution towards protecting and nurturing the environment. SIMSREE also ran for “Eco-Binders”-the project which won the MUNIJAN competition organized by the University of Mumbai in October 2010.

We feel that environmental consciousness is one issue which has not always received the importance it deserves. To do our small bit to remedy this, we decided to endorse the idea of “going green” in an individual’s daily life-each and every one of us, be it a student, working professional or just anyone can and should contribute to preserving the environment-no matter in how small a way. It could be as simple as using the blank pages of half-full notebooks instead of throwing them away (Eco-binders anyone?) or simply doing little things like switching off lights and fans, using public transport or recycling. This is the message we wanted to bring out-you CAN make a difference.

Well, we came, we saw and we walked (and even danced) our way from start to finish. Each and every one of the participants took up the cause enthusiastically and there was no lack of energy at any point. On the contrary, our energy levels seemed to rise with each additional step we took. The icing on the cake was the impromptu dance across the Marine Lines flyover and of course, our triumphant foray across the finish line. And you know what the best part about all this was? It was entirely eco-friendly...

SIMSREE students meet the FIRST LADY OF USA, Mrs. Michelle Obama

2010-11-09T12:17:00.000+05:30

It is with great pride and joy that we put this news down on paper. Adding another feather to the already well-adorned cap of our alma-mater SIMSREE, a group of our students has gone where many prominent personalities can’t even imagine of going. They are a part of the select few who met and welcomed the US first lady, Ms Michelle Obama on 6th November in Mumbai.

A few weeks back, these SIMSREE students made the college proud, by winning MUNIJAN 2010. Mumbai University inaugurated MUNIJAN (Mumbai University New Initiative for Joint Action Now) competition this year which is a student social responsibility initiative. The aim of this competition was to encourage students to think in terms of their responsibilities towards the environment, the world and society. The winning SIMSREE team consisted of Akanksha Sharma, Michelle Rodrigues, Akanksha Bhalla, Upasana Koul and Pratik Mittal. Their idea was called ‘Ecobinders’. The plan consisted of implementing a system to rebind unused pages from notebooks into new books. This idea was judged the most implementable and sustainable, as well as being very relevant to the lives of students.

Now these five people have gone a few steps ahead and have taken the college to new heights by getting a chance to meet the first lady of the United States of America, Ms Michelle Obama. After the historic meeting, Akanksha Bhalla said, “Our project reminded her of her early days when she was involved with social work and had worked on many social issues. She said she could relate to it and had done similar projects after she graduated from Harvard Law School.” The meet was initially scheduled for 5 minutes but it extended to 20 minutes as Ms Obama got really engrossed in interacting with the team. Another team member, Michelle said this after meeting her namesake, “Our idea not just provides a solution to deforestation, but also promotes education. She loved our idea and told us that since it is an important project and is relevant globally, so we must take it to a global level”.

It was an opportunity that many people will give an arm and a leg for and these eco-warriors got it on merit.

Even during the MUNIJAN competition, ‘Ecobinders’ had fascinated everyone present and these invitations put another stamp of approval on this ridiculously simple initiative and also on the quality of students that come out of SIMSREE. Kudos to them all.

Here are a few links about the same that was covered in various national and regional newspapers.

DNA - http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_university-students-to-give-green-tips-to-michelle-obama_1461910

Indian Express - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/At-University-library--Michelle-to-meet-kids-and-budding-managers/707272/

Gulf News - http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/michelle-to-meet-poor-kids-pupils-1.706593

Pudhari - http://epaper.pudhari.com/epapermain.aspx

DNA - http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_mumbai-university-students-impress-michelle-obama-with-their-idea_1463138

Guest Lecture by Mr. Bharat Shah

2010-09-21T21:20:00.002+05:30

In the medium to long run markets will remain bullish and by the end of this decade the BSE Sensex will reach 6 digits. Though it may sound startling, this was the first message that Mr. Bharat Shah, CEO and Managing partner at ASK Investment, gave us during his guest lecture on 21st September 2010. Mr. Shah stated that this valuation of the markets is based on the growth numbers and opportunities that are present in the economy. Historically if we see the markets have grown by a multiple of ten in each decade- rising from few hundred points in the 1980s to the current five digit levels. But the 6 digit forecast is not merely based on the past trends, rather it is based on the expectation of growth that is still to occur.

In terms of Purchasing Power Parity, India produces around 7.5% of the world's total GDP. If we compare the price that we pay in the market for Indian businesses it is around 2.5% of the total capital markets. Also the global portfolios have Indian presence at a mere 0.35%. Hence we see a clear value-price gap in the numbers. Also the value itself is an upward rising number. This is not because the GDP of other countries is not going to grow or show a negative growth but because India's GDP will grow considerably faster than most other economies. So as the price and value will converge, we will see a CAGR of around 18% in the Sensex taking it to 6 digit levels in the next decade.

Let us dig deeper into the growth story. Amongst the EMEs, Brazil is driven mostly by agriculture, China by its manufacturing and Russia by its resources. Only India is driven by agriculture, manufacturing, services and (to a small extent) resources. The huge domestic consumption of India (around 83% of GDP) fuels this growth. This also means India is much less exposed to shocks from the developed economies than its BRIC peers. Being a country with an average age of 29 years, India has higher energy to pursue higher levels of growth. Mr. Shah said that with a better governance India can achieve a double digit growth rate within the next three years.

Mr. Shah also gave SIMSREE students some cardinal rules to be followed if they want to invest in the equity markets. He said that investing is a very serious activity which should not be subject to the roll of the dice. The trick is to identify a good business, ascertain the capabilities of management and most importantly to buy gold at the price of silver. This is one sure way of making huge profits in the equity markets. It requires a disciplined approach towards valuation and a rational view about the markets. At the conclusion of the lecture all of us were very optimistic visualizing the four decades of wealth creation that lie in front of us.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Mangesh Vaitla

2010-09-21T19:54:00.001+05:30

Our esteemed alumnus and Director at C2L BIZ Solutions (HK) Pvt Ltd, Mr. Mangesh Vaitla took a guest lecture on 17th September 2010. The general area of discussion was how different management specializations have their own application in the field of IT and his lecture changed the way most of us look at the IT sector today. The learning that made a mark was that IT is not all about coding. According to Mr. Vaitla, IT is all about making use of the technological advances to make businesses more efficient. Be it Sales, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources or Operations, each have their own place in IT and IT has its own place in each and every one of them.

Big businesses globally are changing the way they look at IT. In many cases they do not treat it as a separate vertical anymore. Rather, IT is seen as the core which will ensure processes, which are unique to the firm, are at the center around which the personnel can rotate. This ensures that even though the people keep changing the fundamental knowledge and practices of a firm remain intact and are passed from one set of employees to another. Many firms, therefore, are now unwilling to outsource some of the critical parts of their business.

Sharing his thoughts on outsourcing, Mr. Vaitla said that most of the outsourcing from USA is based on need. Without the cost effectiveness provided by outsourcing, it would be very difficult for many firms to maintain same level of profitability. Hence the demand for IT outsourcing and in turn the demand for Indian IT services sector shall not see a huge dip in the coming years. However, according to Mr. Vaitla, Indian IT companies should not focus only on outsourcing which makes a huge chunk of their profits today. He said that it is time for Indian firms to move to a product oriented approach and spend more on R&D. Some companies have already started taking steps in that direction. We thank Mr. Vaitla for giving us such a deep understanding of the sector which has been one of the major driving forces of the India growth story.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Kapil Khandelwal

2010-09-07T16:08:00.001+05:30

On the 5th of September, SIMSREE proudly welcomed our prestigious alumnus, Mr Kapil Khandelwal on campus for a guest lecture. Mr Khandelwal is an alumnus from the batch of 1992-1994 and is someone who regularly visits the campus for guiding the students with insights he has gained through his long career in the industry. Currently he is the Director and CEO at Makven Capital and is also an Independent Board Member at Healthcare and Life Sciences Venture. He works closely with the ministry of Human Resource Development and the HRD minister Mr Kapil Sibal. He is one of the business leaders in healthcare and life sciences and information, communications and technology (ICT). He serves several boards in the sector and brings unique operations and consulting experience of connecting the healthcare and life sciences value chain from early drug discovery, drug development, care delivery, healthcare providers and intermediaries and payers. He has over 15 years of industry and consulting experience. Mr Khandelwal holds the unique distinction of being among the elite club of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) in the early-phase drug discovery in the world.

During his interaction with the students, Mr Khandelwal talked about the three economic depressions he has faced in his working life and told us how he tackled them and came out on top in all three cases. He also made us realise that the new education policy that allows foreign universities to set up shop in the country will mean that we will be facing a new kind of competition in the job market and believe me, it was a sobering thought! He also urged all of us to think about some international tie-ups for the institute and I’m sure steps will be taken in this direction soon. The session in its entirety was a great experience and we sincerely hope that more such sessions take place in the future to make us more aware about the ground realities of the business world.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Boman Moradian

2010-09-07T15:57:00.001+05:30

Mr. Boman Moradian, 1975 Alumnus of JBIMS, Proprietor Telesis Consultancy Services, Director Essel Propack, Director Garware Polyester Ltd, took a lecture with us on 31^st August 2010. The topic of the lecture was “Introduction to Operations Management”.

The audience which included both the seniors and the juniors were totally absorbed in the 4 hour long lecture. Mr. Moradian made use of three examples- an automobile plant, a person being checked into a flight and the movement of documents in the creation of a new credit card to explain how the basic process flow remains the same, regardless of the unit being worked upon.

Mr. Moradian started by telling us that text books are unnecessary to truly understand Operations Management. Instead you need to simplify your thinking. In fact, that was the key point in his lecture- simplify, simplify. He recommended a number of books which would help us bring about a change in the way we think. Mr. Moradian also turned several myths on their heads, such as, buying new machinery to increase production and efficiency. He said that new machinery rarely solves problems, rather it creates new ones, because it has never been tested before. Not only that, it is very expensive and does not give adequate returns on the investment. Instead, he said that it was much more sensible to buy one generation old machinery which is in good condition.

Mr. Moradian also explained the basic terms of Operations Management and the basic concept of a process consisting of a number of operations. He also explained the three basic measures- the Credibility measure, the Opportunity measure and the ROCE measure to us. Mr. Moradian also explained some basic truths to us, like, the Customer is the CEO.

All in all, it was an amazing lecture – interesting and informative. We hope we get the opportunity to have more lectures with Mr. Moradian.

Forex Workshop by Mr V. Rajagopal

2010-09-07T15:45:00.000+05:30

Mine! Yours! Thanks nothing! Yours or Mine? These were the thoughts going around in the heads of the second year finance students at the end of a two day Forex workshop conducted at SIMSREE. Mr. V. Rajagopal, once chief dealer-Forex treasury in ICICI and Kotak Mahindra bank, introduced Forex markets and its various terminologies on Monday 29th August 2010. In a four hour session he explained the working of international Forex markets and the role of a dealer.

On Tuesday 30th August, he along with his colleague Mr. Subramanium conducted a day long workshop. In a setup which had 8 different banks with their respective currency dealers, information screens and phone lines, Mr. Rajagopal created a simulated Forex market. He kept all the dealers on their toes by constantly changing the macro-economic conditions. At the end of the session the students were both thrilled and exhausted. The workshop helped clear many concepts that had been studied in textbooks but never practiced.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Vasant Sanzgiri

2010-08-26T23:00:00.005+05:30

After a host of people from the world of finance who enlightened all of us with their insights in the seemingly incomprehensible world of finance, SIMSREE today welcomed an eminent personality from the field of Human Resources. Our esteemed alumnus, Mr. Vasant Sanzgiri, visited the campus today 26th August 2010 for a guest lecture on his field and to throw some light on his wide experience of almost 25 years. The wealth of experience Mr Sanzgiri has can be gauged from the simple fact that most people attending the lecture and listening in rapt attention were not even born when he joined his first job.

Mr Vasant Sanzgiri currently holds the post of Group Head, Human Resources at Shapoorji Pallonji Group. Previously he has held important positions such as Executive Vice President HR at ICICI Prudential AMC. During the lecture, Mr Sanzgiri spoke about his experiences with various companies and how each of them helped to grow into the person he is today. He also provided some information about the working of the human resources department in a company and most importantly what recruiters look for in a candidate during an interview. It was a very good experience for all of us and it cleared many of our doubts.

The interest in the lecture was apparent from the fact that people were lining up to ask questions to Mr Sanzgiri. The session was immensely engrossing and helpful for everyone and we sincerely hope that we have more of such interactions in the times to come.

- Vipul Aroh

PGDBM 2010-2012

Guest Lecture by Mr. Chetan Sharma

2010-08-26T00:17:00.002+05:30

It was a guest lecture with a twist. Rather than giving a theoretical lecture, Mr.Chetan Sharma -alumnus of SIMSREE and Vice President, Bancassurance, Royal Bank of Scotland on 25th August 2010, chose to share some of his experiences with us. He spoke about all the problems he has encountered and the mistakes he has made in his career starting from his days at SIMSREE. It was of particular relevance to us as it is likely that most of us will face similar decisions in our careers.

Describing his initial tough time during his summer internship he told us how he learned to take work seriously. When he started work at IDBI he faced number of difficulties such as managing people much older than him. After his spell at IDBI, he moved on to DCB and then onto ABN AMRO. He told us about his swift rise; he got two promotions in two years and was finally made Vice President. He was one of the youngest ever Vice Presidents.

Mr. Sharma also gave us some tips on investing and the stock market. He said he himself had made a few mistakes and ended up losing a lot of money on the stock market more than once. According to him, contrary to popular belief, investing in the stock market is not a gamble, but both an art and a science. He recommended a number of books to us, to read in our two years at SIMSREE. These books will help us understand the stock market much better.

We also had a question and answer round, in which the class asked him a number of questions, including how he managed to balance his professional and personal life and how he assumed a position of authority over people twice his age. Mr. Sharma answered all our questions finally ending the session with the promise to help all of us should we need his guidance. It was a really amazing session, as we got to hear about how life really is in the corporate world, and what we have to do to reach great heights in our careers. He told us that anything is possible, provided we give our all, and are really clear about where we want to go.

- Ami Parikh

MMS 2010-2012

Guest Lecture by Mr. Dhananjayan Govind

2010-08-17T11:25:00.002+05:30

Mr Dhananjayan Govind, CEO, Home Entertainment Business, Moser Baer Entertainment took a very interesting session for us on 17th August 2010. He is an alumnus of the 1991 MMS Batch of SIMSREE and has about 20 years of experience in the industry. He has immense experience in the paint industry, telecom sector and the entertainment industry.He began the session by giving us a brief of SIMAA(Sydenham Institute of Management, Alumni Association). He told us that SIMSREE has come a long way from the time he was part of the institute in 1991 to today where it is a very well known college in Mumbai.Sydenham being a student-driven college implies that there are tremendous opportunities for one here. He encouraged us to make full use of the resources at our disposal to become the best. He stressed upon important factors such as the importance of self-learning, attending brand summits and conferences to enhance our knowledge and even higlighted the fact that we as SIMSREE students should make full use of the learnings obtained from this college.He gave us his own personal example of his college days where he and his team of friends had come up with some novel ideas such as 'Biz Snippets' and a booklet on 'The great authors of Management'. He brought out all the aspects of entreprenurial activities and gave us a very detailed description of entrepreneurship.

We had a brief Q&A session with him where he highlighted the fact that we as B-school students have to go that extra mile to achieve our dreams. He told us that time management is of the essence alongwith having a voracious appetitie for reading. He brought about the importance of taking a decision only after one has weighed its' pros and cons.He also said that not only is IQ of utmost importance but also EQ(Emotional Quotient) is required today.

He discussed why India is not on the forefront of the global growth spree, as compared to China. According to Mr. Govind, it is because India is primarily focussed on the services industry and the only break-through innovation possible in this sector is that of the process itself, a philosophy that is heavily bordered on the six sigma approach.

Furthermore, the path-breaking process innovation methodology in the services sector can be imitated, but technological marvels like the iPad & iPhone are products that give us the competitive advantage. “Competitive advantage is something that cannot be easily replicated,” he said to the students, “It is no longer innovation, it is execution.”

With respect to the industry, he told us that manufacturing and HR are the growing sectors for today. Finance and Marketing are not as lucrative as they have been and as such these fields face tremendous challenges. In marketing, he made it very clear that it is of prime importance that one understands all the nuances of sales by working in that field for 3-4 years and then proceeding to better marketing position. This, according to him, would make a marketing manager adept at taking the right decisions when it comes to marketing.

He ended the discussion by telling us that we should constantly look to update ourselves with the latest in the field of management. We should also strive to make a difference to the institute and should always be grateful for the help and encouragement that this institute provides us.

-Subir Pinto (PGDBM) & Akansha Sharma (MMS)
Batch of 2010-2012

Guest Lecture by Mr. Purvesh Shah

2010-08-16T23:37:00.009+05:30

SIMSREE organized a guest lecture with one of its prestigious alumni members Mr. Purvesh Shah on the evening of 16th of August, 2010. Mr. Shah currently is the Executive Director UBS Investment bank’s Asia Equity Sales. The guest lecture was a highly interactive one that broadly focused on the role of investment banking and the outlook of investment banking industry on emerging markets. He had a stint in London for three years before coming down to Mumbai. The inclination towards this sector stemmed up from a summer project that he had done with DSP that had continued beyond the two month tenure at SIMSREE when he was a student here.

The biggest learning given by him was that he stressed upon analytical thinking and building upon a perspective while formulating any strategy. The other aspect he pointed out was that one could make the most out of one’s job by being in a firm for a significantly longer period of time for a better understanding of the organization and to build a track record in the company for oneself.

The lecture was followed by queries on the part of students wherein many topics were touched upon like the role of emerging economies like China and Latin America in the world. Being our very first guest lecture, it was indeed a great learning for us and helped us greatly in refining our thinking to analyse upon a wide range of issues. Also, it put forth a broad perspective before us regarding Investment Banking as a career choice. We are very grateful to Mr. Shah for taking out his time and interacting with us.

-Vishuddha Thakkar

MMS 2010-2012

Freedom

2010-08-15T23:40:00.000+05:30

Freedom is the state of being free from all evils,
Freedom is the road full of all challenges,
Freedom is the opportunity to rise above self,
Freedom is the language which has no barrier,
Freedom is the science of discovery of inventions,
Freedom is the right of excellence,
Freedom is the duty of being right all the time,
Freedom is the choice of transparency over even translucent,
Freedom is the essence of democracy,
Freedom is the culture of multiples,
Freedom is the music of harmony,
Freedom is the race to kindness,
Freedom is the honor of compassion,
Freedom is the judgment of inclusion,
Freedom is the exclusion of cynicism,
Freedom is the credit of all debts,
Freedom is the art of belonging,
Freedom is the collection of collaboration,
Freedom is the prank of innocence,
Freedom is the seclusion of isolation,
Freedom is the technology of connecting,
Freedom is the energy of soul,
Freedom is the medicine in time,
Freedom is the minerals of body,
Freedom is the mechanism of creativity,
Freedom is the cost of salvation,
Freedom is the behavior of morals,
Freedom is the lecture of discipline,
Freedom is the blend of all ages,
Freedom is the border of privacy,
Freedom is the communication of intuition,
Freedom is the map of one nation,
Freedom is the species of all universals,
Freedom is the game of courage,
Freedom is the movement of rivers,
Freedom is the rock of mountain,
Freedom is the determination of willingness,
Freedom is the bound of commitment,
Freedom is the moment of truth,
Freedom is the test of humility,
Freedom is the friendship of youth and old,
Freedom is the marriage of conviction and courtesy,
Freedom is the foundation of great thinking,
Freedom is the history of social,
Freedom is the connoisseur of commensurate,
Freedom is the act of silence of embarrassment,
Freedom is the statue of peace,
Freedom is the award of restrain,
Freedom is the law of civilization,
Freedom is the hypothesis of principles,
Freedom is the approximation of accuracy and perfection,
Freedom is the desire of least but best,
Freedom is the blessings of forefathers,

For whatever Freedom more is, its priceless!!
--- give it a thought.. Happy Independence Day

- Dinesh Agarwal

MMS, Finance

Dr Welukar at SIMSREE

2010-08-14T09:58:00.001+05:30

Dr. Rajan Welukar, Vice Chancellor of University of Mumbai and the ex-director of SIMSREE, greeted the batch of 2010-2012 at SIMSREE yesterday. In his first visit to the campus after becoming the Vice-Chancellor Dr. Welukar shared some of his plans for the Mumbai University in the years to come. It is his vision to make Mumbai University more student centric and have a great level of student involvement in all activies. Talking about his role as a Vice-Chancellor he said, "I do not want to lead the University of Mumbai. I want University of Mumbai to lead all the universities in India." We at SIMSREE are proud to have been associated with a visionary like Dr. Welukar. We hope to continue this association and we would be very glad to help in anyway to make his future endeavours successful.

SIMSREE Welcomes Batch 2010-2012

2010-08-14T09:57:00.001+05:30

We (the 2009-2011 batch) officially welcome the batch of 2010-2011! The induction programme for the new batch kicked off today with an address to the batch by the Director I/c Dr. M. A. Khan and some of the faculty members of SIMSREE. This was followed by few ice-breaker activities. Over the coming few days the induction committee plans by way of many activities to get the juniors in the groove for MBA. Once again WELCOME TO SIMSREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marketing & Me

2010-08-12T16:51:00.000+05:30

As I stepped into the exciting field of marketing little did I know that it is more a study of human behavior, a kind of human anthropological study wherein lie the real answers (well, most of the times at least) to most of the questions marketers since ages have pondered upon! It is not just about the art of buying and selling anymore. We as a dignified consumer want an overall experience- after sales services, support, tech updates, the works basically!

“Striking the deal” starts well in advance when the consumer gets all his information beforehand these days. Resources are ample- the Internet, magazines, media, word of mouth, peer circles, the information is out there and it is fast to hit you by- On Your FACE! The point is what you make of it!

As a consumer it is overwhelming sometimes with the kind of new products and services that are hitting the market these days. Everyday there is some new gizmo, a new technology almost smothering our already over cluttered minds. When all this happens is it that a helpless consumer stands there gazing in blank space about this bombardment of information around you? And the answer is a surprising no! As the choices around us increase, we make some rather predictably irrational decisions of buying! There have been an increasing number of studies about what exactly lures us into buying something, a thing sometimes which we really don’t “need”. As any amateur marketer, we were taught that people have needs and wants- well we may be thirsty and refreshing cool water drink could suffice our basic need but a Cool new ad showing our favorite celebrity gulping down a Pepsi makes us want it to satisfy our parched souls! Our aspirations are aroused by subtler instincts like our peer groups following a certain trend, our idol effortlessly carrying out a grotesque task using a certain facilitating product! We have these impulses getting triggered for more than once for making a decision that somehow does not validate at the end of the day.

The catch is we do make some predictably irrational decisions when we buy, and that too unconsciously! Have you ever noticed we always have an anchor price, a model, a prototype in our mind when we purchase anything? Well we haven’t noticed this consciously till now, however it certainly makes sense. Now let me explain what does it mean. An anchor price is like a threshold value entrenched deep in our minds- like the first time you just dropped by while window shopping on your favorite flat screen LCD, you register its price, features – all this time without the intent to do so! Then when we really go to make the real purchase of that much touted flat screen just before the FIFA world Cup, to enjoy our game with a whole new experience we subconsciously compare those already registered features, price when we look at those other new models in the store. This “ANCHOR effect” price and features are wired into our brains once we see that perfect gizmo we want to own. The fact is that the power of the first decision can have such a long lasting effect that it will percolate into our future decisions for years to come.

Socrates once said: “ The unexamined life is not worth living”. The adage holds true to most of our first anchors that we register in our brains until we get wired to them. These anchors illustrate many choices that we make – from the trivial to the more profound ones!

What also intrigues me that how some marketers show a flash of genius when they want us to sell something which can be something which we may not really need. We always use relativity while taking those supposed important decisions. There was a very interesting study done on supposedly smart set of group of people- Scenario1:A popular magazine subscription is made available with 3 choices, option one: a internet subscription for Rs.600/annum (with access to all the articles since last 10 years), option two: a print subscription for Rs 1250/annum and option three: a internet plus print subscription for Rs.1250/annum. Now what would a clear thinking , rational individual decide in this case: clearly the internet subscription is better than the option two, however the marketer for this magazine has been smart over here with offering us the third option with print along with internet subscription which seems more value for money. Obviously most of these smart people who were a part of this experiment opted for the third option seeking its more value for money goodness offer!

Now in second scenario this same group of smart individuals were given only two options; option one: either the Rs.650/annum internet subscription of the Rs.1250/annum print subscription. Interestingly it was found that most of them unlike in scenario one, in here scenario two opted for the first internet offer which now made more sense! Clearly the marketers knows that we as consumers go through this dilemma most often, hence they make our life simpler with providing us with options which will be easier to choose from. In scenario one, while the print alone offer made little sense, the print+internet offer gave all the more impetus to go ahead and take it up immediately. That is the truth of smart marketing- and the power of relativity!

Another of the most enthralling discoveries for my marketing journey has been that how a completely unassociated, non related, independent group of large people can together paint the reality which is better for most of the times, than a learned focus group specially called upon to present their takes. A huge crowd traditionally has always been thought of being a disturbance in coming up with a certain sane, intelligent conclusion, a huge gathering allegedly, is rather inconclusive in presenting their results in a comprehensive format. However this does not hold true (on a larger scale). World’s biggest market research agencies collect data from distributed independent people from all across to present their preferences about a certain product, latest TV soap to the latest political campaign! Certainly this industry has grown huge by tapping into this “wisdom of the Crowds” and providing their clients with conclusive research about what really the consumer likes and wants!

These humble observations made on my side are just a stepping stone to this journey which has just begun, many more such facets are yet to be discovered and to be written about! Till then, long live marketing!

- Priyanka Titkare

PGDBM, Marketing

Does Outsourcing Spell the Extinction of In-House HR?

2010-08-11T17:08:00.001+05:30

Throughout my first year with MBA, I have heard people, students and professionals alike, disparaging the profession of HRM. It is a common belief that ‘The best and the brightest don’t go into HR’ and when people asked me about what I wanted to specialise in, I have faced various discouraging responses like, “There is no scope in HR”, “HRs do no work” and so on. A popular question most HR aspirants encounter is “Why HR?” A short question that is never easy to answer, at least never to the satisfaction of the interviewer. One such interviewer told me that soon HR departments would cease to exist and all functions would be outsourced. Although I debated passionately, I found myself pondering on whether I was going to be redundant in this field I had chosen.

According to Mary F. Cook & Scott Gildner, "Human resource (HR) outsourcing means having a third-party service provider or vendor administer, on an on-going basis, an HR activity that would normally be performed internally."

HR outsourcing can be classified into two broad categories: (a) Transaction and Administration Outsourcing and (b) HR consultancy. While transaction and administration outsourcing deals with the day-to-day and month-to-month activities like payroll management, employees benefits management, and pension management, HR consultancy is a much more complex process that constitutes management of strategy and policy functions of the organization.

Most of the major economies around the world have undergone deregulation and globalisation wherein the rules of the game have changed. Markets are wide open for entry of new players including well-established MNCs and private entrepreneurs. Technology is changing the business of human resources. Research indicates that an HR department spends 80% of their time in managing tactical and transaction oriented HR operations. If these processes are outsourced then the trained HR staff could be re-deployed to the core process which will add substantial value to the organization. With-in the past decade, HR professionals have embraced technologies that offered freedom from often daunting levels of administrative work. The vendor's investment in technology gave employees better, faster service and cost efficiency making it a winning proposition.

The areas impacted by HR outsourcing in the past include some of the most transaction-heavy functions of personnel. This covers areas such as hiring, payroll processing, health benefits and retirement account management, collections, employee training, and IT areas that support the information and records needed by personnel.

Outsourcing takes on an entirely new meaning, however, when there are viable products in the market offering companies the opportunity to outsource every facet of HR work--including the function itself. Their marketing strategies have overtaken the heads of HR and are now aggressively directed towards CEOs and CFOs. Some industry sources believe that outsourcing is the future of HR, thereby quickly resulting in the extinction of in-house HR departments.

While technology has transformed HR and will continue to, technology should be seen for what it really is--a delivery channel. Likewise, outsourced services are not a threat—they are a tool. The HR's challenge is to effectively deploy all available resources. This requires understanding the possibilities and limitations of each service delivery option. In today's global business environment, where competition is fierce and talent is relatively scarce, HR plays a critical role in creating outstanding products and services that create a shared experience of the company by employees.

A popular argument in favor of outsourcing has always been its cost advantage. In a competitive market, many companies are looking for ways to cut costs. Outsourcing has been a popular strategy to reduce operating costs. However there is a pivotal difference between cost and value. No outsourcing arrangement can ever be an effective surrogate for a company's culture--this is why HR needs to be a vital part of the organization.

Rather than being a threat to HR, outsourcing certain non-core functions can be a way to quickly gain a competitive advantage by reducing costs, improving quality and concentrating on the core business. However it is important to note that there are ripple effects and impacts to placing these responsibilities in outside hands. If the staff of a company perceives outsourced HR companies as a threat, internal conflicts could arise. It usually is not a popular move to eliminate internal jobs and switch to a provider service to save money. This could lead to job insecurity and employee dissatisfaction within the company. Outsourcing also increases data privacy risks and the complexity of managing that risk. Even if an internal employee is overseeing the outsourced operation, there are still many issues that can go unnoticed and unaddressed, threatening the security and confidentiality of stored information.

In the past mainly lower level jobs were outsourced to cut costs, but today almost every profession is in jeopardy; the jobs of accountants, analysts, tax-professionals, architects, attorneys, radiologists, or technical writers, to name a few. Threats can be seen as opportunities and people are generally known for their resilience in turbulent times. Whether we choose to perceive outsourcing as a threat or an opportunity depends on our mindset, our actions, and most of all: our approach. An interesting teaching from Buddhism tells us, "As we are the ultimate cause of our difficulties, we are also the solution. We cannot change the things that happen to us, but we can change our responses." I chose not to be afraid of my career choice and the changing world, but rather to do my best with all the resources that are on offer.

- Cheryl D’Souza
PGDBM HR

Credit Suisse visits SIMSREE Campus

2010-08-06T15:11:00.002+05:30

Credit Suisse - Mr. Sandeep Kripalani, MD, Credit Suisse & Head of Prime Services

In today’s world the customer is looking for two things -diversification and customization; said Mr. Sundeep Kripalani, MD Credit Suisse and Head of Prime Services Asia Business Development. He visited the SIMSREE campus on Wednesday 28th July for an interactive session with the students.

Mr. Kripalani talked about the changing roles of private banking, investment banking and asset management – the three core areas of business for Credit Suisse. The boundary between these is blurring very rapidly. The roles of each are also changing like providing a diversified portfolio to a private banking client or giving a personalized service to an investment banking client. Since most of the financial institutes now are not pure-play investment banks or private banks, they already have the infrastructure in place to meet this requirement. The challenge is in deciding who benefits how much from each transaction.

While discussing his own department he explained how Prime Services is the most valued of all departments in an institution like Credit Suisse since prime services gets it revenue directly from clients by way of brokerage. He showed how Prime services can cover more and more functionalities climbing from Trade Booking to Product Development.

Reminiscence'10,Alumni Day on 20th March,6.30 pm onwards

2010-03-03T21:40:00.007+05:30

Dear Alumnus,

Invitation for a fun- filled evening to rejoice and relive those wonderful days of SIMSREE.

It is time to kindle old memories, meet long lost friends and talk about old times. And also, it is your time to share your new experiences and moments of life.

So we welcome you to the ALUMNI DAY-2010.

REMINISCENCE '10

Events Highlights:
* Dinner with Cocktails
* SIMSREE Leadership Forum
* Live performance by Radio Band
* Musical Fusion by SIMSREE students

Address :
Mahila Vikas Mandal (M.V.M) Banquets,
Opposite Y.B. Chawan Centre,
Jagannath Bhonsale Marg,
Near Mantralaya, Mumbai 400 021.

Directions from CST : http://tiny.cc/Un3nh
Directions from Churchgate : http://tiny.cc/2E0Yd
Please tick the option of include large map to get full map view from the two points.

Contact:
Saurabh Aggarwal 9769683345
Urvisha Dodia        9819935084
Dinesh Agarwal    9324296928
Vidita Shah            9870570399
Saagar Vijan          9892699228
Archit Bansal        9920700450
Varun Doshi          9372992465
Rohit Khot             9820893928

SIM'ergence 2010

2010-02-28T14:24:00.001+05:30

ABOUT SIM'ergence:

SIM’ergence is a word derived by combining SIMSREE (Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research & Entrepreneurship Education) & convergence. It symbolizes an effort of SIMSREE to provide an interactive platform to combine ideas & thoughts by corporate’ who are stalwarts in their area of expertise.
This years’ corporate event summit SIM’ergence 2010 is held in collaboration with Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC).

DETAILS ABOUT SIM’ergence 2010:

‘India Today: A storehouse of untapped Potential’

India, one of the rapidly growing economies in the world, is a host of number of economic activities. In spite of its robust growth, India is said to house a huge untapped potential. Tapping this potential is the need of the hour for India in order to sustain its growth. What can India do to become a developed nation by identifying the potential?

‘Emerging SMEs, Energizing India’

India has nearly 3 million SMEs, which account for almost 50% of industrial output and 42% of India’s total exports. SMEs contribute around 18% to GDP of India. As most of the developed economies struggle to recover from the sub prime shock, SMEs can be very instrumental in propelling India in the league of the developed nations. What lies ahead for the SMEs who already are playing a vital role in the Indian economy?

Event Details:

Date: 11th March, 2010
Venue: BSE Convention Center
Timings: 09.30 am – 05.00 pm

Guest of Honour:

His Excellency Shri K. Sankaranarayanan – Governor of Maharashtra

Keynote Address:

 Mr. Ajay Piramal, Chairman Piramal Enterprise.
Guest of Honor:
• Address by Shri. Rajesh Tope, Hon'ble Minister, Higher & Technical Education, M.S.
Corporate Speaker:
• Address by Shri. Dilip Dandekar- President-elect IMC, Chairman and MD (Camlin Limited)

• Shri J.S.Saharia – Principal Secretary for higher & Technical Education, M.S.

Panel Speakers:

Panel: ‘India Today: A storehouse of untapped Potential’

 Mr. Suresh Kotak – Chairman, Kotak & Co. (Ltd.)
 Mr. G. Chandrashekhar - Chairman, Agri Business & Food Processing committee (IMC) & Associate Editor, The Hindu Business Line
 Mr. Amarjeet Singh - CIO of Indiabulls
 Mr. Girish Agrawal – Director, DNA Money *

Panel: ‘Emerging SMEs, Energizing India’

 Mr. Manish Dhameja- MD Standard Chartered.
 Mr. S. Venkataraman - Senior Director - Research, CRISIL
 Mr. Deepak K. Doshi – President Indian Small Scale Paint Assn. Star Paint & Oil Industries*
 Mr. Shailesh Haribhakti - Managing Partner, Haribhakti & CO.
 Mr. Sanjiv Saraff - Vice President ICICI Securities Limited*
 Mr. Ashwin Merchant - Founder & Director, Marketing Klinic (World Plus)*

(*- Tentative)

Expected Audience: 500 (A mix of corporate & students across India)

Contact details for SIM’ergence 2010:

Sanket Chatwani - +91 9819 277 625
Vinay Deshmukh - +91 9920 922 939
Tushar Bansode - +91 9820 597 490

Corporate Events Committee
Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research & Entrepreneurship Education

Registration Fees:
For Corporate: Rs.700/-
For IMC Members: Rs.500/-
For Students: Rs.300/-

Bhagvad Gita for Tiger

2009-12-12T14:02:00.004+05:30

People born in India could hardly relate to golf back then when Tiger was roaring in the woods on PGA tour. An unmatched champion competing only with himself at one point referring to the Canadian open shot.

I have seen him play life and admire the concentration level, unfazed by all means, determined to win till the point of theoretical possibility.The year of 2000 was magical for him, a legend in the making him.

None knew what he did off the field and it never mattered. Rather, nobody bothered.

Its like the warrior, his goal is to achieve on the battlefield.

Hence, what happend of-late to his personal life should be none of concern of any of his fans. It has happened to the best and it takes courage to admit to anything of the sort he has done. The whole golfing community awaits his accentuated performance of highest delivery.

The nail in the coffin has been struck with he deciding not to play golf for indefinite period. Now, that is not only loss to game of golf; but challenging his privy is a matter of what we have become of society. If all his fans, the sports lover love the game of golf, we can let him settle those dispute on his own. He knows best, he understand the situation, he and only the direct concerned are aware of the facts.

It shame to make it a public gimmick and make a Champion fall from his pinnacle and drop his armor.

As the Bhagvad Gita Says,

akirtim capi bhutani
kathayisyanti te 'vyayam
sambhavitasya cakirtir
maranad atiricyate

People will always speak of your infamy, and for one who has been
honored, dishonor is worse than death.

karmany evadhikaras te
ma phalesu kadacana
ma karma-phala-hetur bhur
ma te sango 'stv akarmani
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not
entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the
cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not
doing your duty.

niyatam kuru karma tvam
karma jyayo hy akarmanah
sarira-yatrapi ca te
na prasiddhyed akarmanah
Perform your prescribed duty, for action is better than inaction. A man
cannot even maintain his physical body without work.

naiva tasya krtenartho
nakrteneha kascana
na casya sarva-bhutesu
kascid artha-vyapasrayah
A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his
prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor
has he any need to depend on any other living being.

tasmat sarvesu kalesu
mam anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir
mam evaisyasy asamsayah
"Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me, and at the same time
you should continue your prescribed duty and fight. With your mind and
activities always fixed on Me and everything engaged in Me, you will
attain to Me without any doubt."

Thus, Woods please take the to the TEE whack it hard for all the condor, albatross, eagle, birdie and at least par in hole to fill all the bogeys of golfing green of life.

!!Golf awaits the Tiger of the Green Woods!!

Thanks and Regards,
Dinesh Agarwal,
MMS 2009-2011,
Alumni Committee Member,
Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education.

mail : alumni@simsree.net
web : http://www.simsree.org
Blog : http://simsreeblog.blogspot.com/
twitter: http://twitter.com/simsree

COPENHAGEN

2009-12-02T20:09:00.001+05:30

Leaders from all over the world are going to meet at copenhagen to discuss the future of our atmosphere or for that matter our world.The expectations are high but a lot of people say that it's just another vacation for our elites to take a break after coming out of recession.

It is a meet which can to some extent decide our existence for more number of years to come.What do youll think?

--
Krunal B. Desai
General Secretary
SIMSREE
www.simsree.org
http://simsreeblog.blogspot.com/

In Search of

2009-11-25T01:34:00.005+05:30

In search of…

The rising sun says with it golden rays,

The ocean with it waves from the deepest trench,

The trees from their arms bench,

The wind of the driest desert,

Pave the way for us.

With start of day began the exploration of every being

Our search for goodwill and mind's peace

Higher than sky are our aspiration

Stronger than mountains are our foundations

Spiritually pure than the heavenly bodies

Underlining the constellational unity

The river's silent beauty

Deeper than the length of cosmos

We must seek to achieve our goals.

The music from its consciousness

Says never lose your deliberation.

Boost like sharp fire,

And as mild as ice.

The shadow from their darkest part

Never fall apart.

The blood from its deep

Never lose your color.

Mechanical as wheel and natural like water.

Life is a three sided mirror

One the world perceive of our

The other side is scene of the world,

And one we are.

This all stand on a two edged sword,

Good and evil.

Dinesh Agarwal,
MMS 2009-2011,
Alumni Committee Member,
Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education.

contact :+91 9324296928
mail : dinesh.agarwal@simsree.net
tweet: http://twitter.com/simsree
web : http://www.simsree.org/
An old poem wrote some years ago.

Branding

2009-11-24T11:18:00.001+05:30

What is Branding?

Recently i came across an interesting definition of branding.

It said branding is a process of saving time because once your product/company is a brand you don't have to waste time in selling your product because the product will sell itself as it's a brand

--
Krunal B. Desai
General Secretary
SIMSREE
www.simsree.org
http://simsreeblog.blogspot.com/

Is Mr.Bal Thackerey right on hitting out at Sachin Tendulkar?

2009-11-23T23:56:00.003+05:30

I feel sachin should be left alone.He in his statement said that he is first an Indian and then a Maharastrian which is very true.Everyone is first an Indian and then a gujarati, marathi, muslim etc.

Is it justified......