Dewang Meheta National Education Awards

Heartiest Congratulations to our students Deepesh Jethwani for securing 7th rank and Naila Kazi for securing 8th rank (2nd Runners-up in Female category) in the 'Best Student in Management Contest' at the prestigious 23rd Dewang Mehta National Education Awards, 2015 held in association with Hindustan Unilever Limited.

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Alumni Recognition - Mr Ravindra Datar

Heartiest Congratulations to Mr. Ravindra Datar, an alumnus of the 1996 batch, for being recognized among the Most Influential Marketing Leaders by World Marketing Congress in Mumbai on 28th November, 2015.

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Cross Cultural Program at Sydenham Institute

SIMSREE was proud to host Dr Hansang Lee and his students from Youngsan University, India Business Department from Korea, Busan. Lee and his team were on a visit to our institute as a part of cross cultural program. They had come to gain knowledge regarding the Indian work culture and career prospects in India. Dr. R.K.Srivastava Co-ordinated with them as our internal faculty. The team also got to interact with the students and other faculty members of our institute. We were pleased to engage them in our culture by introducing them to the " Dandiya Night" held in our campus.

                                  

They were pleased to have interacted with the students of our institute and looked forward to visit SIMSREE again.

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Mindz’15 : Analyze, Strategize, Ideate

Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education successfully organized Mindz’15, a first of its kind strategy competition in association with JLT India Limited. This was the second year into the association and the competition was held in October-November 2015 and was co-ordinated by the Corporate Relations Committee. The first and second rounds were held from 1^st October,2015 to 9^th October,2015. The finale was held at the JLTI office on 5th November, 2015.

Mindz’15 was an inter college event, that tested the statistical, strategic and analytical skills of the participants. This provided an opportunity to the students to prove their mettle against the best and most innovative B-Schools. The unique format of the competition enabled students to experience an ideal corporate interface like never before. Also, it was a first hand learning experience as they teamed up with people already working in the industry.

The competition consisted of 3 rounds:-

Round 1 - Online quiz: An online quiz consisting of 30 questions to be answered in 30 minutes. The top 3 teams from each college proceeded to the next round.

Round 2 - “Peril-O-Scope”: An online simulation strategy game to be played by the qualified teams. The top 6 teams will qualified to the next round.

Round 3 - Case Study: A Case Study presentation to the top management of JLT India Limited. In this round each team collaborated with one team from JLT itself. Each team was assigned a mentor from the Senior Managers, Heads or Directors of JLTI for the case study.

Participation:

Mindz’15 saw a total participation of over 800 individuals. Entry into the event was by invitation only. A total of 8 prestigious b-schools had been invited to this competition. 

·         Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE)

·         Indian School of Business, Hyderabad (ISB)

·         Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS)

·         National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE)

·         K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research (SIMSR)

·         Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune (SIBM)

·         Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay (SJMSOM)

·         Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD)

This competition in itself was unique in the following terms:

·         The online simulation game was played concurrently by the participants and JLTI employees

·         Teams from b-schools which qualified from round 2 were merged with those qualifying from JLTI for round 3 i.e. the case study presentation

·         These teams were assigned a mentor each, who guided them through the case study round

·         The teams had to present the case study to senior JLTI management and their global counterparts for the final round

Prizes:

·         Rs. 75,000/- for the winning team

·         Rs. 40,000/- for the runner up

·         Rs. 10,000/- for the Most Impressive Student

The Finale:

The Final round of Mindz’15- the case study presentation was held on 5^h November, 2015, at JLTI, Mumbai. The top 6 teams qualifying from the second round (Periloscope), both from B-schools and JLTI were given primary topics to present on. Their presentation and ideas were judged by a panel comprising the JLTI management and their esteemed global counterparts. Mr Puneet Stayawadi, CEO JLT India was one of the members on the panel. Every presentation was followed by a comprehensive Q&A round. The contestants were judged on the quality of insights and research on the topic chosen, team work, presentation quality and responses to the questions asked by the panel.

Team 'SimQuest' from SIMSREE won the JLTI Mindz'15 competition after a splendid performance.  
Team 'The Winning Brew' from SIMSR won the runners-up award.

Sanandan Deshpande from the winning team also won the 'Most Impressive Student' award.

 The members of the winning team from SIMSREE were praised for their leadership qualities and the poise shown by them throughout the presentation and the subsequent Q&A round.

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The Corporate Connect - Mr. Sachin Shilavat

Corporate Relations Committee, SIMSREE organized a Corporate Connect session on 31^st October with Mr. Sachin Shilavat. Mr Shilavat is currently Head-Motor and Automotive alliances at Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd with a vast experience of more than 15 years in General Insurance(Retail & Bancassurance), FMCG- Retail/ Institutional sales, Insurance- Retail, Alternate Channels, Direct channels, Channel management, Automotive Alliances.

Mr Shilavat spoke on the evolution of the insurance industry from the time when customers had to wait in long queues for an insurance to the current where getting an insurance takes only a few minutes. The insurance industry, like any other, has grown massively with the entrance of many private players into the picture as oppose to the presence of only government institutions initially. He emphasized that only product innovation and technology can prove to be a differentiating factor when there are so many companies targeting the same customer base and with an increased level of awareness about the different products among the customers. Although the government is trying to encourage people to get automotive insurance, a lot more needs to be implemented in terms of execution of regulations  in order for people in general to understand the importance and necessity of having an insurance. Till then the companies will find it difficult to reach to a wider base of customers especially in reaching the two wheeler vehicle insurance customers in rural areas. Any other effort by any company in increasing the awareness about insurance product would be seen as a strategic move to enhance product sales. He also spoke about his professional journey in the varied industries and his learning from them. He concluded by stating that a marketing personnel needs to show ownership of the business he/she is selling and take complete responsibility for the job.

The session provided students valuable insights in the insurance marketing sector. We would like to thank sir for his valuable time and knowledge sharing with our students.

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Coffee with Alumni Mr. Manish Daswani

On 26^th October, 2015, we were privileged to have an interaction with Manish Daswani, an alumnus of the 2003 batch, for an engaging session over a cup of coffee. The venue for the session was the swanky Bank of America office at Nariman Point in Mumbai. Manish, a payments & cash management professional is currently working as Director, Commercial Cards in the Asia Pacific cards team at Bank of America.

‘Work hard, stay humble and be honest; not just to your work but also to yourself’, was the advice that Manish gave the students before the students asked him about the topics of their interest. Manish explained about his transition from a Marketing graduate at SIMSREE to working as a Banking professional. He emphasized on the fact that every job role does not require one to be an expert in theoretical knowledge. It is equally, if not more important to demonstrate the ability to take ownership and lead by example. He asked the students to focus on developing these softer skills during their tenure at SIMSREE.

Manish then explained the various career options in banking and spoke in detail about corporate banking roles in particular. A healthy discussion followed about thecash management business and the opportunities and threats in the same. Students’ doubts on Mobile Wallets, disruption of banking through fintech, growth of SMEs in India, and the focus of Banks in these areas were cleared by him. Manish also helped the students understand the methods of revenue generation of banks, difference between cash management and treasury, difference between and the importance of Mobile Wallets and Payment Banks and how the introduction of these may affect the Retail Banking sector in the longer term. This was then followed by Manish’s views on digital money, fintech, bitcoin, and contactless cards.

Towards the end, Manish discussed various career options available in the banking sector for students specializing in marketing. He encouraged the students to introspect and to think about their areas of interest and expertise, and to try and establish their careers in an area that they are passionate about. ‘You will probably spend one third of your adult life working– might as well make sure it’s fun’, he concluded.

The Alumni Committee thanks Mr. Manish Daswani for the enriching session and hopes to continue this association. 

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Batch Reunion 2005

A reunion for the 2005 batch was organized by the SIMREE Alumni Committee to celebrate ten glorious years of its graduation on 24th October, 2005. The venue was the college campus, where the alumni relived the magical days of their college life. The meet was graced by the presence of Dr. M.A. Khan, former Director of SIMSREE and by our esteemed professor, Mr. Aashish Pawaskar. The evening began with the alumni touring the college and reminiscing their days together. They spoke of the changes that have taken place in the college since they graduated. The alumni also recounted inspiring stories of their journey after graduating from the college. This was followed by a speech by Dr. M.A. Khan highlighting college affairs and accomplishments around the year. Sir also sent his best wishes to fellow alumni for scaling greater heights and bringing glory to their lives and the institution.

Mr. Pawaskar requested the alumni to contribute to various college activities, in any manner they could; may it be monetary or otherwise. We also witnessed an interactive discussion with our alumni on ways to reinforce the purpose of alumni meets and suggestions to further strengthen alumni engagement.

Informal discussions followed after a cake-cutting ceremony to celebrate the occasion. Brief photography sessions for the gathered crowd culminated the evening. Delicious food and beverages were served after the session and the alumni had freewheeling discussions with the representatives of the present batch. Mr. Shailendra Jahagirdar, an alumnus from the 2005 batch, concluded the event by congratulating the Alumni Committee for the lovely evening and their unrelenting assistance in making this reunion of the 2005 batch successful evening.

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