Coffee With CEO – A new initiative at Imperial College of Business Studies

There is an idiomatic phrase which goes, “Anything can happen over a cup of coffee”. A casual conversation over a cup of coffee can give you a nice feel of self-confidence, assertion and friendship. The Teacher-student relationship, in a holistic view, has a profound impact in Indian education system and closer is the bonding, fruitful is the learning process. The tradition “Guru-shishya parampara” has come a long way throughout the rich cultural and heritage of India and in present times, it is something more than spiritual mentorship.

Imperial College of Business Studies, Bangalore, in their ongoing effort to this process, came up with a new concept of “Coffee with CEO” where a student gets an opportunity to converse with CEO of Imperial College of Business Studies, Dr. Hari Krishna Maram. A student is selected from the BBA/MBA batch of  Imperial College of Business Studies and he/she gets an opportunity to have a cup of coffee with CEO. This unique kind of experience gives the student a sense of easiness, responsibility and motivation to

Coffee with CEO with I st year BBM student M Vinod

prepare himself/herself well before getting in the vast corporate world after completing his/her education. During the conversation, the student gets a feel of ownership as a part of Imperial college of Business Studies.  This initiative commenced from 7^th of September, 2012 and a number of students has participated in this conversation so far.

It has been a consistent effort from Imperial College of Business Studies to impart knowledge to its students with a sense of active participation and interest in the management education.

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Industrial Visit: Karnataka Soaps and Detergents

Industrial Visit imparts practical wisdom of theoretical learning.  At Imperial College of Business Studies, Industrial Visit occupies an important part of the overall teaching methodology. Reinforcing to this unique approach, students and faculty from Imperial College of Business Studies visited Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited on 20^th of November,2012.

Student managers of Imperial College of Business Studies at the Industrial Visit session : Karnataka Soaps and Detergents

We bring you a short note from the visit. 

Mysore Sandal Soap is a brand of soap manufactured by the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), a company owned by the Government of Karnataka in India. This soap has been manufactured since 1916 when Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the king of Mysore set up the Government Soap Factory in Bangalore. The primary motivation for setting up the factory was the excessive sandalwood reserves that the Mysore Kingdom had which could not be exported to Europe because of the First World War. In 1980, KSDL was incorporated as a company by merging the Government Soap Factory with the sandal oil factories at Shimoga and Mysore. Mysore Sandal Soap is the only soap in the world made from 100% pure sandalwood oil. KSDL owns a proprietary Geographical indication (GI) tag on the Mysore sandal soap which gives it intellectual property rights to use the brand name, to ensure quality and also prevent piracy and unauthorized use by other manufacturers.

A session was conducted by Mr. Venkatesha Gowda, Deputy General Manager,  R&D of KSDL. He explained about the manufacturing processes and marketing system of Mysore sandal products. He said the company was a strong market player in the Gulf, Singapore and Malaysian markets. The products of Karnataka soap and detergents are exported to different parts of India in larger level. Moreover, the company is reported to have done business of Rs 205 crore in the last year and expected to reach about Rs. 260 crore in the current financial year, with a growth of 25 to 30 per cent year-on-year.

The overall experience was full of knowledge and fun for the student managers of ICBS.

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Student Speak : Emotional Intelligence by Mr.Y Jyothi Swaroop Venni (PGDM)

Just like everyone else I reached Bangalore with lot of hopes and I am fortunate to find the B- school IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF BUSINESS STUDIES (ICBS). The concept that is lingering me ever since I reached Bangalore is EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE.  I found it to be very interesting, which gave me a new feeling and solved many mysterious questions hither to left unanswered in my mind. Emotional intelligence enables one to deal with any situation and make most out of life.

The origin of my curiosity into this topic goes back to some bad experience I had in my childhood. Ours is a small family that comprised my mother, my father, my sister and me. Like every brother I used to fight with my only sister for several reason

Mr.Y Jyothi Swaroop Venni

s and always ended up with lot of counseling from my parents. One day we had a family gathering I was depressed that I don’t a new dress to wear when my father tried to explain me I suddenly shouted at him with a fierce voice and I said “why do you always try to counsel me and keep your daughter comfortable, why don’t you treat me like your son”, with that my dad was upset and left the place in silence, my mother didn’t speak to me for several days. Just like this I had face many situations in my life filled with emotions, but I never had been able to master them but one incident that moved me the most and deep routed in my mind.

I live in a small town in Vijayawada we own a house in the middle of the city. Rent is the only source of income for my family. As usual at the end of the month I went to collect the rent from tenant’s rambabu and Sri Devi a beautiful couple with three children, they told me that they are in financial crisis and requested to weeks’ time to pay the rent or so I returned. To my surprise Sri Devi started quarreling and it went on for hours and next day morning the house was full of silence. Sri Devi hanged herself to death. These questions gave rise to lot of questions in my mind. Only questions and questions without answers. I found the answer almost after 8 years far away from home in Bangalore well it’s never too late to learn emotional intelligence.

Many people don’t know about emotional intelligence. Some people take it lightly. Those are the people who suffer most as emotions get better of them. Emotional intelligence can be defined as.

“The ability to understand, identifies, assess and control the emotions of one self, of others and groups”. Without emotional intelligence we lack self-awareness hence we fail to understand our own feelings. To understand our self and others we have to keep track of certain crucial emotions like

Anger, frustration, depression, anxiety, insecurity, and uneasiness.

Our families help us to shape our attitudes about emotions, our ability to identify emotions, our way of interpreting events and our ways of expressing emotions. In families failure to understand each other’s emotions are likely to have a long term consequences. Children raised by parents who have problem in understanding each other’s emotions are likely to develop emotional problems of their own. So in the above examples even though I shouted at my father, his silence made me to realize that I am supposed to control my emotions while communicating to elders. In other case the reason for the fight between rambabu and Sri Devi is not the question of money but lack of understanding and control in emotions. If they had had emotional intelligence their children would not have been orphans.

The rise in divorce cases suggests that many people lack emotional intelligence. Exposure or training on emotional intelligence will help you encounter situations in life easily. E I helps you to resonate with so many people in effectively. It helps to focus on behaviors of others as well as you. That will help to improve relations in family and at work place.

Many people are disconnected from their emotions due to negative childhood experience which make them bottle up their feelings. Parents should spare some time of their busy schedules to listen to their child’s emotions and also keep track of them to help them learn E.I

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Imperial College of Business Studies in “Kanyathon”- A Walkathon to save Girl Child

Many of the traditional activities and rituals in India often tend to outline the very existence of Indian girl Children. In the present time of modernity and technical advancement, India often finds itself in an uncomfortable position in regard to gender inequality, dumping female infants and fetuses sniffed in the womb, killings etc. There has been a constant effort from different corners of the civic society to raise awareness to save girl child. Stepping forth with such an ongoing effort, Imperial College of Business Studies along with its academic and student fraternity participated in a Walkathon to save girl child. Considered as one of upcoming good B-Schools in Bangalore, ICBS believes in empowering woman as one of the key factor for India to become a well-developed nation of twenty first century.

Organized by IFIM Business School in association with BOSCO, the walkathon named as “Kanyathon” was attended by Students, Faculties, academic stuff from ICBS. Dr. Hari Krishna Maram, CEO of Imperial College also attended the walkathon along with around with more than 100 students from different programs at ICBS:  BBM, MBA and PGDM (Both batches). The walkathon which took place on 14^th October started at around 7 AM from Kanteerava Stadium Bangalore.

ICBS in “Kanyathon”- A Walkathon to save girl Child

Imperial College of Business Studies, thus, in addition to its ongoing effort on “Go Green”, has reaffirmed its stand on social responsibility to empower woman contributing to the understanding and appreciation of saving girl child leading to a brighter future. ICBS firmly believes in education for all more because making a woman deprived of education simply means depriving a whole generation from it. In this context, it is also mentionable that in accordance to this belief, ICBS has successfully initiated and maintained a good ration of Girl Students in all its batches. To summarize it all, the Saying goes like this:

“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”

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Management Development Program at Imperial College of Business Studies

Imperial College of Business Studies recently organized a Management Development Program in its campus. The two days program event (16th November and 17th November, 2012) was basically focused on helping working professional from a few selected organizations in Karnataka in developing their organizational skills which can be helpful for their professional career growth as well as organizational growth. Most of the participants were teaching faculties and Trainees from different organizations like Government ITI sector from different branches of Mysore, Gundalpet, Kollegal, Chikmagalur, Chitradurga and Bangalore. Professional from other private organizations like Innovative Business School and and Blue Ray Solutions also participated in the program.

MDP session at Imperial College of Business Studies

The first day session started with introduction of Dr. Hari Krishna Maram, Prof. Sonika Sharma and MDP trainees. The Ice breaking session was conducted by Prof Sonika Sharma who conducted a slide-show on Decision Making process in different situation. Decision making process is often influenced by the prevailing situation state of human mind on the basis of which a human mind thinks, reflects and finally makes a decision. Dr. Hari Krishna Maram started his session by talking about Terminology and Competency. He took the discussion further by discussing on Contextualization method, target audience, session plan and different training materials provided. He explained in depth why such training sessions are essential to understand a problem from various perspectives by sharing knowledge and how these training sessions are effective rather than learning things ourselves.

Dean, Imperial College of Business Studies, Ms Sonika Sharma

A workshop on effective communication and competency assessment was conducted by Prof Sonika Sharma. The importance of effective communication skills in modern times and scope of improvement etc. were different points of discussion throughout the sessions. She went into depth by exemplifying the concept of “Attention like Sunshine” which is all about consistent focus that can increase visibility of anything manifolds.

The two days event, that took place in one of the upcoming MBA colleges in Bangalore, comprised of different sessions on Writing Skills, Organizational skills, Task management and many more. A Thanks Giving session was conducted at the end of final session. Imperial College of Business Studies has been organizing such management development skills thereby contributing to the professional and organizational growth of various organizations.

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An Inspiring Session with Ms.Sandhya Sastry

The Bachelor of Business Administration Batch at Imperial College of Business Studies, Bangalore recently received Ms. Sandhya Sastry on 11th of October, 2012 from Cambridge University for a guest session on Higher Education.

Ms. Sastry is a full-time Faculty member at the Lord Ashcroft International Business School, Cambridge, UK.  She is also the Course Leader for the Masters in International Business (Single and Dual awards – with FHNW, Basel, Switzerland; Hanze University, Groningen, Netherlands; Budapest Business School, Budapest, Hungary.  She has done her MBA from the University of Leicester, Masters from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA and she is currently attaining her PhD in International Business Management.

Ms Sandhya Sastry briefed the Student Managers at ICBS Bangalore

Ms. Sastry has a wide ranging management experience, geographically, in international business having worked in a number of countries around the world from UK, USA, South Africa and India to Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Malawi and Zimbabwe.  Her reaching and research interest are diverse.  In the current academic year, she is scheduled to teach International Business Environment & Strategy, Intercultural Issues in the International Context and Sustainable Management Futures.

In the era of globalization, where the world has been reduced to a global village, an international exposure gives a sense of fresh and unique perspective in various aspects of Business Management.  In her session at Imperial College of Business Studies, Bangalore Ms. Sastry gave a brief overview on the various courses one could pursue, if one chose to opt for Higher Education.  She gave a synopsis of the various advantages and benefits that could be garnered from studying abroad.

One of the main advantages of pursuing higher education abroad is the ability to concurrently pursue education while holding down a job.  This made the aspect of financial management easier.  Apart from this aspect of practical financial management, one could opt for courses in Financial Management, or Economics, in particular, Managerial Economics.

In concluding the session, Ms. Sandhya thanked the team for taking time out on a weekend to organize the event.  She commented on how she also gained from interacting with fresh young minds brimming with eagerness and enthusiasm.  She felt these were the very minds at Imperial College that would benefit from such new opportunities.  The interaction with Prof. Stuart Wall had added considerable benefit to the students and several of them expressed their desire to take the CIEC custom course after taking stock of the financial aspect involved.  The students in turn definitely gained through the interaction, having several future avenues opened up to them which gave them a head start on planning for their careers.

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STUDENT SPEAK : Hari Kumar Kotakonda shares his view on the Importance of Career Planning

STUDENT SPEAK :  Hari Kumar Kotakonda, PGDM 2012 -14, shares his views on the importance of Career Planning.

Deciding about your future is not quite easy. The task becomes even more complex when you have so much information, so many people whose opinions you cannot ignore, stiff competition to encounter and so many pressures to cope with.

Everyone needs to straighten out thoughts concerning the future. What am I really going to do? Can I really get there? How? Am I sure of the routes? What are the risks? If I don’t make it do I have any other options? Where? When? Are my subjects appropriate? Most students come face to face with such questions at some time or another. Why not then begin the process of career decision making in a rational manner to eliminate any chances for regret.
The process of career planning stretches through the secondary and senior secondary years at school. It essentially requires an adequate understanding of oneself in terms of academic potentials, attributes, talents, interests, personality, values, expectations and resources. This basic understanding helps in location of suitable options. It has been observed that when planned routes to a career or optional careers are chalked out during school years, keeping in mind all attributes, preparation to enter a course and career are adequately motivated and effective. This motivation stirs the young through preparation, study, competition and self-confidence.

Hari Kumar Kotakonda, PGDM 2012 -14, Imperial College Of Business Studies

Good career planning envisages a match between requirements for a job, aptitudes, interest, personality and expectations. Awareness of “true” motivation, aspiration, strengths, dislikes, limitations and weaknesses are essential. This awareness must be as specific as possible. It must be backed by actual achievements and behaviors and if required, supplemented by objective test results (only by qualified experienced counselors). The test results, however, are often used loosely for giving judgment on suitability of career options. I would caution students and parents against the singular use of testing results for career decision making.
When you are choosing a career, you have to consider what you expect from your job – power, money, status, discipline, command or challenge. Interest in the job is absolutely vital for growth in any profession.
You may have noticed some people complaining perpetually about work. It may be worthwhile investigating, why is it so? Unflagging involvement comes with interest and reinforcements come in the form of promotion, monetary incentives, recognition and involvement. Progress comes with determination as well as concerted effort. Success leads to what is generally termed as ‘job-satisfaction’. In choosing a career it is important that you know yourself well, what you want from your profession and also what the world of occupation has to offer.

 

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Imperial College Students rock at the workshop on Stock Trading

The BBM Students of Imperial College of Business Studies, Bangalore recently (on 28th September, 2012) had a workshop on Stock Trading, conducted by Mr. B.S. Kishore – Program Director (Online Course) & Chief Technical Officer, Stock Market Institute, Bangalore.

Imperial College Students attends the workshop on Stock Trading

Mr. Kishore completed his PGDBM from WLC, Bangalore.  He started his career in 2004 as Zonal In-Charge for Sales and Collections in Reliance Communications.  He subsequently turned entrepreneur and joined hands with Basket Option and Sri Chenraj Jainji, who was known to him since his days at India Bulls.  He has been part of all the Ventures of Basket Option as a Strategic Partner, eventually leading to his current position as Program Director and CTO.  He also takes care of the Online Promotional activities.

The Session began with the introduction to the basic stock market setup in India.  Mr. Kishore gave a brief overview of Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).  He gave insights into concepts of Demand Account, Gambling, Fundamental Analysis of investment options, and technical analysis for making timely calls on stocks.  The bottom line in this line of business, according to him was to avoid emotion, fear, greed and hope.  He advocated a pragmatic and practical approach that required one to be guided by rationality and logic.  He stated that one’s key approaches in doing business should be to be reliable, to understand and to be intellectual.

The discourse was followed by selected videos presented by the Stock Market Institute.  These helped the students understand the present stock market scenario and the economic changes that shaped them.

Once the initiation process had concluded, the students gathered for a Real Time Pit Trading exercise.  The students got engrossed in the activities in earnest, losing track of time and surroundings, involving themselves in the process wholeheartedly.  The furor of the ensuing activities could have put the National Stock Exchange office to shame.

Overall, it was a unique experience for the budding managers, who learned about the nuances, nitty-gritty and boiler room atmosphere of Stock Trading.

Find the live action video covered during the event here 

Vision of the Vice Chairman, Imperial College of Business Studies, Bangalore

Dr. Hari Krishna Maram is the Vice-Chairman and CEO of Imperial College of Business Studies, Bangalore. He is a recognized educationist and a visionary. An alumnus of ISB, he is associated with a number of entities in education and social service sectors such as Global Career Solutions (Director), Vision India Group (CMD), Bangalore West Lions (Trustee) and Managing Committee – BMA. In this interview, he talks about MBA education in India, its’ future and he gives us an insightful understanding of the methodological approach of

Dr. Hari Krishna Maram is the founder, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Imperial College of Business Studies, Bangalore.

MBA education, as imparted by Imperial College of Business Studies, Bangalore

Q: How do you feel about the essence of MBA education at present? From Indian perspective, how much relevant it is?

CMD: The face of Business Education will Change in the days to come, and it will be better aligned with the new realities of the world. Management Education in India is facing intellectual dominance, (Such as) ideas, concepts, theoretical constructs and case studies of the West (led by United States).

Q: The Number of B-Schools in India has been increasing every year. How do you think ICBS can contribute significantly amongst this increasing number of business schools in India?

CMD: Today in India, we have roughly 4500 business schools. We, at ICBS, focus on moulding character & career of each student. We believe in producing graduates who are equipped to meet the challenges of these re-defined expectations of Business Leaderships.

Q: Please mention a few points about the pedagogy followed at Imperial College of Business Studies, Bangalore.

CMD: ICBS provided experiential learning opportunities for students in practical courses and projects including providing support and mentoring. The experiential learning programme offers students an opportunity to apply their in-class learning to address live business issues, planning an Entrepreneurial venture in practical and to develop their own business ideas.

Q: Almost all the MBA aspirants face dilemma regarding work experience. Fresher often thinks people without work-ex doesn’t get enough opportunity in final placement and people having work experience often get confused about relevancy of their work experience. What is your view?

CMD: The belief is that given the work experience, the students would acquire managerial wisdom while they complete their MBA programme. This mechanism has however been found to give uncertain results. It is not uncommon to find that students (who are) fresh out of college pass outs with better managerial wisdom than those with several years of work experience.

Q: How ICBS educates/motivates the students so that they can offer spectacular contribution to the corporates.

CMD: Industry expects management graduates to have adequate leadership and entrepreneurial skills. Without these skills, a graduate’s value is considerably diminished as companies require managers who can take charge of tasks and teams and not just people with considerable knowledge and spreadsheet skills. We, at ICBS, focus not only to equip the students with skills, we also impart ethics and strong sense of social responsibility among the students.

Q: What is your view on entrepreneurship? How Imperial College of Business Studies promotes entrepreneurship among the students?

CMD: We, at ICBS encourage our students to think like entrepreneurs. We promoted our students to start our College Cafeteria as a first step. We, are not much interested to become only placement agencies. Imperial college is a place where leadership is promoted and nurtured with long-term vision, to make business sustainable and socially relevant. Our students have to demonstrate competence, leadership character and sympathy for the needy.

We wish Imperial College of Business Studies all the best ! Let the college grow as one the favorite destination for the top students seeking Best management education in Bangalore in particular.