Guest Lecture 1617

Entrepreneurship Talk by Ms Akshra Kumar

‘E-cell Swayam’ had organized an entrepreneurship talk on the Preparation of a Business Plan and Related Strategies for a Start-up by Ms. Akshara Kumar, founder-Truly Essential (Chaitanya Agro Herbals), Mysore; and Chapter Co Chair, Young Indians (Mysuru Chapter) on October 13, 2016 in the Institute Auditorium.

Ms. Akshara in her talk introduced the basics of business plans, emphasizing on how to relate the business with forming any business plan. She touched upon product strategies, value proposition, and customer relationships. Further, Ms. Akshara explained about how customer relationship is important for any business in the world, and elaborated on strategies for customer acquisition, customer retention & boosting sales, to increase customer base.

The speaker concluded the session by saying, “at the starting or launching of any idea ‘YOU’ are the most important thing, so one must believe in oneself”.

Talk on CII Young Indians (YI) - YUVA

Mr. Utsav Agarwal, Director of Bhoruka Aluminum Limited and Representative from Young Indians (YI), the chapter of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) introduced Young Indians chapter and YUVA platform to SDMites of PGDM 2016-18 batch on September 29, 2016. Mr. Agarwal motivational talk started with leadership, qualities that a leader should possess and focused on Nation building. The instances and experiences shared by the speaker about how an individual can contribute towards Nation building was interesting. Mr. Utsav Agarwal also highlighted the various activities that Young Indians carries out through YUVA, which is a platform that Young Indians (YI) provide for students to enhance their leadership skills and to build corporate network.

Guest Lecture by Mr. Sunil Subramaniam

Mr. Sunil Subramaniam, AVP-HR at Blue Ocean Market Intelligence delivered an invited talk on ‘People Analytics’ on September 17, 2016 at the Institute Auditorium. Mr. Subramaniam chose to keep the delivery interactive, discussed on tools used in analysing people with their social media profiles; and application of people analytics for better understanding of employees within an organization. This talk was organized by the Students Committee.

Mr. Subramaniam felt that analytics should be driven by a futuristic approach, wherein companies are no longer looking into reporting past performance, but were instead more interested in the trends that were shaping the future of any industry. Addressing a question related to information security, Mr. Subramaniam responded that security, and privacy of data and information, was still a large looming concern for many organizations.

Alumnus on Campus - Mr. Raj Singh from KPMG

Basel norms are the buzz words among the banking sector and Mr. Raj Singh, alumnus of SDMIMD, and Vice-president, KPMG Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd., spoke on this buzz word on August 20, 2016 to SDMites. Starting from the historical perspective of developments that happened right from the Great Depression, Mr. Raj Singh informed how it is very important to cover the risk. He illustrated how the provision for risks to be created and erosion of capital needs to be arrested through appropriate risk control mechanisms. He also mentioned about the salient features of the Basel norms and indicated how they are going to help the economy by risk minimization and enable better settlements.

‘Innovation is Core’ - Prof. Fabrice Galia

Prof. Fabrice Galia, Professor, Burgundy School of Business, France, addressed SDMites on August 20, 2016 in his address to the audience focused on innovation and mentioned that no field can survive without innovation, that applies to the field of finance also. Prof. Galia stated that both product and service innovations are required to create value. Innovation, he stated that, derives a push from the demand as well the technological developments. The innovation at the organizational level as well the personal level play major role in improving the business and economy. Prof. Galia opined that all the business activities including the support activities have to be innovative to add value to the customers. His conclusion was to build the innovation culture across the entire organization be it government or private, to stay competitive in the market.

CEO on Campus - Mr. Balagopal

SDMIMD students got the opportunity to hear Mr. C. Balagopal , a beaurocrat turned entrepreneur . In his special lecture organized on August 8, 2016, he gave several interesting tips to the students. Mr. Balagopal mentioned about the strengths and weaknesses of the present educational system, and asked the students not to be afraid to make mistakes. He suggested that students should try something new and involve in trial and error experience. This would enable new ventures and new products. Mr. Balagopal also asked to learn about conveying bad news, particularly in an organization when reporting to the higher ups. His advice was to keep trying and then succeed. The session was very useful to the students.

Guest talk by Mr. Kalyan Chakarvarthy

Mr. Chakravarthy Kalyan, Senior Manager, N. Ranga Rao & Sons Pvt Ltd. visited SDMIMD on 8 August 2016. He shared his experiences in Marketing with 2nd year students. He spoke about his journey in Ranga Rao & Sons Pvt Ltd since 1999 and the lessons he learnt while working in the Sales vertical. He stressed upon the importance of understanding the retail dynamics to be successful. Being the alumnus of SDMIMD, he advised the students to be passionate about their chosen field and work hard to achieve the goals.

Talk on Digital Marketing, Big Data and Analytics

Mr. Bhaskar Kalale, Senior Vice President, India Operations, Theorem Inc., and his associate, Mr. Ashok Srinivas, delivered invited talk on topic Digital Marketing, Big Data and Analytics, on August 2, 2016. The talk pointed out the differences between the traditional channels and the digital channels of analytics. The speakers emphasised on - big data, being Volume, Velocity, Veracity, and Variety.

Interactive Session on HR Strategies

It was an experiential sharing for an HR Professional and great learning for HR specialization SDMites of PGDM 2015-17 batch on Saturday, July 30, 2016. The interactive session on ‘HR Strategies’ lead by Mr. Praveen Kamath, General Manager - Human Resources, Wipro Limited. The discussion covered recruitment career options for HR, Succession planning, Role of an OD practitioner, Changing Performance Culture, Organizational dynamics in the context of emerging countries. The session concluded with Q&A and discussions on the topics covered.

Webinar on Marketing by Alumnus

Ms. Ranjani Madhavan, Marketing Excellence Leader, 3M, Switzerland and alumna of the institute addressed the marketing students of the institute through Skype on July 20, 2016.

After illustrating the value creation from marketing with help of some international cases, Ms. Ranjani helped the participants understand the different job profiles related to marketing domain. She also shared many tips with the students regarding how to prepare for a marketing career.