Guest Lecture by Mr. Sujan Roy

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.

Read More

MBAuniverse Report on SIMSREE

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

Read More

Guest Lecture by Mr. Niranjan Hiranandani

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)

Read More

Guest Lecture by Mr. Sudhir Khot

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)

Read More

Guest Lecture by Mr. Vasant Sanzgiri

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)

Read More

Guest Lecture by Dr. Kalim Khan

“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)

Read More

Reminiscence 2011 - Annual Alumni Day

‘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.

Read More