Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode

Press Release
OPUS 2005
Operations Seminar at IIM Kozhikode
29th October, 2005

The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIMK) is organizing OPUS 2005, an Operations seminar, at its campus in Kozhikode, Kerala, on October 29^th, 2005. The event, sponsored by Take Solutions, has Business Line as the print media partner, IndiaInfoline as the online media partner, and CII Institute of Logistics as the knowledge partner.

The seminar is organized by OMEGA, the Operations interest group at IIMK. OPUS will revolve around the theme 'Indian Industry at Crossroads: A Century after Industrial Revolution'. The seminar participants would primarily discuss India's emerging position as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and the increasingly important role that operations play in an organization's growth. OPUS 2005 hopes to sensitize management students to challenges faced by organizations, and to expose them to contemporary approaches in the field of operations.

In keeping with IIMK's emphasis on industry-institute interaction, the seminar will feature eminent speakers from the industry presenting their views. The speakers (in alphabetical order) who will be interacting with participants during OPUS 2005 include:

• Mr. G. Ramesh, Head of Knowledge Organization Group - Take Solutions
• Mr. Mohamed Iqbal Dabhoiwala, Lead Consultant - Supply Chain Practice, Bristlecone India Ltd.
• Mr. Narayan Rajagopalachari, Vice President - Global Consulting Services, i2 Technologies
• Mr. Radha Mohan Gupta, Head of Logistics - Reckitt Benckiser
• Mr. T.K. Nathan, Head-Education, CII Institute of Logistics

Team OMEGA
Email: omega@iimk.ac.in

Anudeep Nagalia
Email: anudeepn08@iimk.ac.in
Phone: +91-9447425163

Devroop Dhar
Email: devroopd08@iimk.ac.in
Phone: +91-9847963246

Dr Saji Gopinath,
Faculty Coordinator
Email: saji@iimk.ac.in

Contributed By:-
Media Cell
IIM Kozhikode
Email: media@iimk.ac.in
 

Press Release
OPUS 2005
Operations Seminar at IIM Kozhikode
"Indian Industry at Crossroads: A Century after the Industrial Revolution"
29th October 2005

OPUS 2005, an annual seminar on operations management, was conducted on 29 ^th October 2005 at the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode in their Calicut campus. The theme of the seminar was "Indian Industry at Crossroads: A Century after the Industrial Revolution." The seminar focused on the contemporary issues in operations management, and the challenges faced in the same by organizations.

Dr. Saji Gopinath, faculty coordinator for the event, inaugurated the seminar. In his inaugural speech, he talked about how, despite having cutting edge technology, companies suffered because their suppliers did not have the technology to match the manufacturer's needs.

Mr. Radha Mohan Gupta, Head of Logistics, Reckitt Benckiser, started the seminar with a detailed account of supply chain management, especially in the context of Reckitt Benckiser's operations in India. He mentioned that the two important functions of supply chain management were physical delivery and market mediation. He talked about how systems and technology were an integral part of supply chain management and how Reckitt Benckiser leveraged technology to manage its hundred and twenty five SKUs.

Mr. Mohamed Iqbal Dabhoiwala, Lead Consultant, Supply Chain Practice, Bristlecone India Ltd then took the center stage with an interesting and interactive session on creating value for the customer. He sketched out the current scenario, how the margins were under severe pressure, and how things like policy changes and varying demand affected the supply chain process. He mentioned how satisfying a customer was not only about delivering a good product, but creating further value through processes like speed of delivery,  the quality of support and services offered by the company.

Mr. Narayan Rajagopalachari, Vice President, Global Consulting Services, i2 Technologies dealt with the topic "Driving Agility in an Enterprise". He talked about how the organization that has the ability to thrive in a continuously changing and increasingly complex market would be the leader of tomorrow. He talked about the key characteristics of an agile organization, and how efficient supply chain management helped in maintaining visibility of a product across the network.

Mr. P. Ravindran, Senior Supdt, Dept. of Central Excise, and adjunct faculty at the CII Institute of Logistics, was the next speaker. He very candidly discussed VAT & Supply Chain Management, with all their benefits and pitfalls, especially from government and tax agencies' point of view. Through lots of anecdotes and real-life examples of various companies and countries, he illustrated the different architectures and implementation methods of Value Added Tax. He said that if a philosophy of management is followed, it should be followed all the way, not halfheartedly. The importance of paperwork, with its associated constraints, and the need for widespread monitoring in case of a VAT implementation was analyzed.

Mr. G. Ramesh, Head of Knowledge Organization group, Take Solutions, talked about "SCM: Challenges and the Road Ahead." Through a highly interactive session laced with personal recollections from his own life, he gradually took the participants through an evolution of SCM. He said that markets shouldn't exist just in the perception of managers, but in the real world, and should be properly tested for their demand levels. He took the audience on an engaging walk through various examples of competent and shoddy SCM implementations.

OPUS 2005 also featured a case study competition named "Opstimum." The preliminary round had been conducted earlier, with wide participation from top B schools across the country. The selected finalists presented their solutions to a panel of judges from the industry and academia. Mr Aditya Suresh and Mr Krishnan R of Great Lakes Institute of Management placed first. The second place was jointly awarded to the teams from IIM Ahmedabad and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.

The participants of the seminar went away with rich learning from the masters from operations management, with a view to incorporate it into their careers. According to Ms Lakshmi R, a first year student at IIMK, "This event brought the field of operations into sharp focus. I learnt that even though it's not considered as 'glamorous' as consulting or marketing, it is of crucial importance to any company's bottomline."

Take Solutions was the sponsor for the event and CII Institute of Logistics was the knowledge partner. The print media partner was Hindu BusinessLine, with IndiaInfoline.com being the online media partner.

Media Cell
IIM Kozhikode
 

Source: E-mail October 27, 2005 / October 30, 2005

Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode

Press Release
Konsult 2005
Consulting Seminar
19th and 20th November, 2005

The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode is organizing Konsult 2005, its annual consulting seminar, at IIMK's campus in Kozhikode, Kerala, on November 19^th and 20^th 2005. Deloitte is the Gold Sponsor for the event, and Rediff.com is the media partner.

Konsult will revolve around the theme 'Consulting in the 21st Century: Prospects and Challenges'. Management consultants are now taking increasingly important roles in their client organizations, being involved in activities ranging from strategic decision making to running continuous improvement projects. As organizations strive to adjust to the changing market scenario and grow, consultants and specialists must continuously adapt to meet client needs and efficiently produce positive outcomes for organizations. This rapid pace of change necessitates that students of business learn about the current state-of-the-art from those who have wide experience in the field and are driving change.

In keeping with IIMK's emphasis on industry-institute interaction, the seminar will feature eminent speakers from respected consulting houses presenting their views on various issues related to the theme. The speakers who will be interacting with participants during Konsult 2005 include:

• Mr. Sam Balaji, Partner, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and MD, Deloitte India
• Mr. Mukesh Butani, Partner, BMR & Associates; former Partner, E&Y
• Mr. Rajat Sud, Associate Director, GRID Consulting, PriceWaterhouseCoopers
• Mr. Jim Hogan, Country Head India, PA Consulting Group
• Mr. Ravind Mithe, Chief Consultant, ECS Limited
• Mrs. Sabitha Rao, Head, Chennai Office, Cerebrus Consultants

For further details, visit the event website http://intranet.iimk.ac.in/~Konsult/index.htm ,
or email konsult@iimk.ac.in .

Contributed By:-
Media Cell
IIM Kozhikode
media@iimk.ac.in
 

Press Release
Konsult 2005
"Consulting in the 21st Century: Prospects and Challenges."
19th and 20th November 2005

The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, organized the inaugural edition of its annual consulting seminar, Konsult, at its campus in Calicut, on the 19^th and 20^th of November 2005. The seminar was sponsored by Deloitte Consulting, and Rediff.com was the media partner. The event saw enthusiastic participation from students and industry, providing an avenue for eminent persons from the consulting domain to share their myriad experiences. It was a forum for educated debate about the field of consulting, with additional discussion on required skills, and the career prospects in this domain for B-School students.

The first speaker to address the seminar was Mr Sam Balaji, Partner, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and MD, Deloitte Consulting India. Starting his talk on the topic "Consulting in the Telecom Industry" on a humorous note, he said that the world's first consultant was probably the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. He said that clients hire consultants for objectivity, fresh ideas, and their skills and experience. He discussed the telecom market, especially that of the US, in detail, considering the issues arising out of increasing convergence. In a time when markets are being redefined by disruptive innovations, he stressed that reinvention, adaptation, and perpetually staying market relevant is the name of the game. He said that the tradeoffs between mobility and bandwidth are reducing, thereby fuelling growth in the wireless segment. He mentioned that the business model pioneered by Indian companies, of outsourcing all technical operations while retaining only the marketing function, could become a model that's followed worldwide. He noted that ethics play a very big role in the consulting industry, which is marked by confidentiality issues and conflicts of interest. In conclusion, he emphasized that learning should not and would not stop when the students passed out of the campus and became consultants, since expectations of clients are very high.

Mr James P Hogan, Managing Consultant and the Chief of Party on the DRUM (Distribution, Reform, Upgrades and Management) Project, PA Consulting Group, then spoke on Development Sector Consulting, drawing from the wealth of his consulting experience, from 1973 to present. He detailed the unique characteristics of development sector and government consulting, stressing how it is much larger in scale than private sector consulting. It is more long-term, involves many principals, and has to take care of more institutional, bureaucratic and political issues. Speaking primarily about public sector energy utilities, he noted how energy, especially electricity, was a vital ingredient to economic development. Due to the scale of this sector and the sheer number of stakeholders involved, he said that even partial success can make a huge impact on the lives of millions. He also mentioned that the public power sector in India is in urgent need of reform, but since it serves a vast population, it is necessary to rebuild our ship as we sail along. However, he said, he could see perceptible improvements in the institutional mindset. In the end, he quoted Schumpeter, "Unless you made a difference in the lives of people, you haven't really been successful."

Mr Abhishek Goenka, Partner of BMR & Associates, spoke about consulting in general from his varied consulting experience in the Big 4 firms. He said that in today's business scenario, you can't escape consultants, even as SEC mandates the Sarbanes-Oxley act are changing the face of consulting. Stressing the importance of client loyalty and the large costs of a dissatisfied client, he said that it is necessary to underpromise and overdeliver. He emphasized the crucial need for people skills, since no matter how big your firm is, consulting still boiled down to one person talking to another. He also mentioned that strategy is just the realized consequence of a professional's learning and what is a brilliant idea today will be a commodity tomorrow. From the viewpoint of B-School students who aspire to be consultants, he said, "Daily life as a consultant will seem to be a never-ending sprint, but you will still need to retain your long-term perspective and presence of mind to plan out your life as a marathon."

Mr Rajat Sud, Senior Principal Consultant, GRID (Government Reforms and Infrastructure Development) Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers, talked about the nuances of government and energy sector consulting in India. Many critical development metrics, like population below poverty line, school enrolment and completion, infant and maternal mortality, improved significantly when infrastructure improves, he noted. He mentioned that government sector consulting opportunities have greatly increased in recent times due to several change drivers, like the increased focus on governance, risk management and regulatory compliance issues, the innovative application of IT, the right to information act, and rising decentralisation. To give a practical view, he took a case study of a distributed performance improvement programme in a newly-formed govt-owned power company in Karnataka and discussed its strategy, supply chain, and revenue cycle in detail. He stressed that in the public sector, there were so many large and competing interests that it was necessary to focus on implementable rather than ideal solutions.

Ms. Sabitha Rao, Head, Chennai Office, Cerebrus Consultants, gave a holistic picture of Human Resource consulting. She detailed the four essential aspects of HR consulting, namely sourcing, performance, training and employee welfare and explained how each of these has evolved over the years. She mentioned that right since she passed out of IIM Calcutta, over two decades ago, B-School students have been averse to choosing HR as a specialization. This is not due to any inherent demerits, but to the perception of Finance or Marketing as being more glamorous that creates peer pressure. Starting from her first job at AF Ferguson, and going on to joining a consultancy startup, she cited her varied experiences in both line HR and consulting in different countries and industries. Giving the example of several failed mergers, she noted that while the financial due diligence is done to the last possible cent, there is much less emphasis on studying and reconciling the work-cultures of both companies, leading to integration problems. Ms. Rao stressed upon the fact that personal credibility and professional respect were indispensable for any consultant, especially when dealing with the senior management of a company.

On this occasion, Mr Balaji, Partner, Deloitte Consulting LLP, launched the new issue of Spandan, the bi-annual student management journal of IIM Kozhikode. Conceptualized, designed and developed by the students of IIMK, Spandan was first published in 2000. Already into its fifth year, Spandan is today read and appreciated by students of premier B-Schools across India as well as corporates. An online copy is available at http://intranet.iimk.ac.in/spandan/.

There was an evening performance of the ancient martial art of Kerala, Kalari Payattu, performed by CVN Kalari. This is the same team that has performed in movies like Asoka and the recent Jackie Chan-Mallika Sherawat starrer, The Myth. This display of breathtaking skill was enjoyed and appreciated by the seminar speakers and students.

The seminar was of great help to students in learning more about the consulting domain and fine-tuning their prospective career paths. Ms. Kanika Goyal, coordinator of Konsult 2005, said, "I did have a general idea about the consulting field, but this seminar brought many small details into sharp focus. I got a new clarity and insight, especially in the field of government and development sector consulting."

Media Cell,
IIM Kozhikode
e-mail: media@iimk.ac.in
mediacell.iimk@gmail.com
 

Source: E-mail November 17, 2005 & November 20, 2005

Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode

Press Release
Arthanomics 2006:
Finance Seminar at IIM Kozhikode
"Towards Mature Financial Markets: The Indian Transition"
14th & 15th January 2006
 

The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, organized the 2006 edition of its annual finance seminar , Arthanomics, at its campus in Calicut, Kerala, on the 14^th and 15^th of January. The theme of the seminar was "Towards Mature Financial Markets -The Indian Transition." The seminar was a big success, with wide participation from both students and corporates.

Mr ML Jain, AGM - Kerala Region, Bank of Baroda, who was the chief guest, inaugurated the seminar. In his inaugural address, he emphasized that there was a dire need for young managers if India's high-growth trajectory was to be maintained and taken further. For that, it was necessary to overcome fear and break status quo. He stressed that the country's growth has to reach the grassroots also, so it was necessary to focus on social, not just economic growth.

The event commenced with a team from NCDEX conducting a three hour workshop on commodities and derivatives trading. The workshop imparted knowledge to the participants regarding the commodity markets in India, their evolution, product conceptualization, design and contract specifications, risk mitigants and settlement process. It was supported by a demo of an NCDEX trading terminal to view live action on the quotes placed by the market players. This workshop was especially apt as a Bull Run is widely expected in the commodities space.

Mr Manish Gupta, Head, Structured Trade, Citibank then addressed the participants. He mentioned the various ways in which financial corporations provide finance through structured trade instruments at every step of the supply chain in all industries. The ways in which these instruments are applied were mentioned, such as factoring, forfaiting, insurance, and ECA (External Credit Agency) guarantees. Then he discussed Commodity Trade Financing (CTF) and how the old regulations that restricted lending to commodity traders were no longer viable in today's scenario. He gave an overview of the new paradigm of lending, where the bank almost entirely mitigates the borrowing company's risk, by paying directly to the borrower's suppliers, and receiving payments from its buyers.

The next speaker to take the stage was Mr CJ George, MD, Geojit Securities, who gave a very candid view of how the primary markets in India really functioned. He first gave statistically backed information and many examples to show how the Indian secondary markets (Exchanges) were among the most efficient and transparent in the world. But he said there was a need to make the IPO market more friendly to the retail investor. To balance the lopsided Bull Run driven by FIIs, a counterweight of large number of retail investors, and domestic FIs (Financial Institutions) was essential, he stressed. Talking about the menace of benami accounts, he related that if the government can ensure supply of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) to remote villages, even if they had to be carried on elephants, then it can certainly take steps to prevent misuse of the exchange markets by vested interests.

Mr Anil Jhala, CFO, Birla SunLife Insurance, gave the next talk on Key Drivers of Growth in the Insurance Industry. He started with a historical overview of the insurance market, from the first company in 1818 till the IRDA act of 2000, which opened the field for private players. He said that India represents only around 0.66% of the $ 3.2 trillion global insurance premium market, and has much potential for growth. He emphasized this point through demographic data; saying that a rising population, greater per capita income, improved regulatory mechanisms, and more household savings, the Life Insurance sector would witness a boom in the next few years. Referring to pension schemes, he said on a humorous note, that the risk now is not dying early, but living longer. With interest rates at extreme lows, young people will have to invest astronomical amounts of money to be assured of a safe future, post-retirement. He stressed that Life Insurance was a measure of social security and one of the most important long-term sources of funds for the government.

The second day's proceedings started with Mr. Partho Mukherjee, Head, Treasury, UTI Bank talking about currency and interest rate derivatives. He outlined how policy, the yield curve, liquidity of the underlying markets, the players and volatility play an important role in shaping the framework for a sound derivative market. The absence of potentially big players like the PSUs make the derivatives markets rather nascent. Yet derivatives remain the fastest growing market in the treasury space. He was confident of Mumbai becoming the next commercial hub in Asia, provided there is a fine tuning of regulations. He explained with an example how innovative products in banking evolved out of a need to provide customized solutions to demanding clients.

Mr. Hemant Tanna, VP Investment Banking, ING Vysya, concluded the seminar with an interactive and informative talk on tapping international debt markets. He noted that ECB (External Commercial Borrowings) guidelines were the single most important reason for India being relatively insulated from the South East Asian crisis. He engaged the audience in a discussion on the intricacies of syndicated credit and the finer points of market norms and practices associated with it. A case study and numerical examples were utilized to emphasize the above points. He concluded the talk with a brief overview of project financing and mentioned how it was not just about cash flow predictions but rather about allocating the various risks associated with the project to the parties best suited to address these.

The event also consists of a paper presentation on the topic " Financing the Infrastructure Growth in India over the Next Ten Years," in which students from top B-Schools across the country are taking part.

The Platinum Sponsor for Arthanomics 2006 is Bank of Baroda. The paper presentation is sponsored by Larsen & Toubro. Hindu Business Line is the Print Media Partner for the event, IndiaInfoline the Online Media Partner, and State Bank of Travancore is the Associate Sponsor.

…………………………………………………..
Media Cell
IIM Kozhikode
E-mail: mediacell.iimk@gmail.com
Website: www.iimk.ac.in
 

Arthanomics 2006
Annual Finance Seminar of IIM Kozhikode
14th and 15th of January 2006

The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, will organize the 2006 edition of its annual finance seminar , Arthanomics, at its campus in Calicut, Kerala, on the 14^th and 15^th of January. The theme of the seminar is "Towards Mature Financial Markets -The Indian Transition."

The 'Feel Good' Factor about India in the international arena is increasing and it is imperative that India sustains this by means of achieving stability in its Financial Markets, thereby increasing Retail and Institutional Investor confidence. Arthanomics 2006 aims to chart this journey towards Mature Financial Markets. The seminar will cover the path for transition under the broad framework of Nyaya (Regulations), Neethi (Standards of Conduct) and Kriya (Actions).

The speakers who will address the seminar participants include:

• Mr. Hemant Tanna, VP - Investment Banking, ING Vysya
• Mr. Manish Gupta, Head - Structured Trade, Citibank
• Mr. Partho Mukherjee, Head - Treasury, UTI Bank
• Mr. C J George, MD, Geojit Securities
• Mr. Anil Jhala, CFO, Birla Sunlife Insurance

For more details, visit http://intranet.iimk.ac.in/~arthanomics
or call 9846274946 (Ashwin), 9846700238 (Suma).

…………………………………………………..
Media Cell
IIM Kozhikode
E-mail: mediacell.iimk@gmail.com
 

Source: E-mail January 12, 2006 & January 15, 2006

B A C K

For Current Seminars - Click here