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Visiting Wisdom and CEO Quest

Students at S P Jain have benefited from the presence of some of the most respected and renowned people at the campus. Normally, one afternoon of the week is devoted to non-academic development programs, in the form of guest lectures.

These special lecture sessions are conducted by distinguished and eminent industry leaders, academicians, and eminent and distinguished personalities who give students a rare 'real world' glimpse of what the skill sets required by a manager are. In addition, these professionals discuss detailed inputs about the course specialization streams, and of course, the job market scenario in the UAE, Singapore, and other countries.

CEO Quest is another interesting and relevant initiative at S P Jain where CEOs and top executives from leading corporates and business houses are regularly invited to the campus to share their success stories, which is followed by an interactive Q and A session. This benefits the students largely because of the sharing of real life experiences and knowledge.

The Visiting Wisdom and CEO Quest initiatives play a very important contributory role towards the program’s enhancement and development and form an integral part of the students learning. Hearing these speakers at a frequency of one lecture per week substantially adds to the global learning experience. It has been S P Jain's honor and privilege to host many prominent speakers in the past, some of whom are listed below.

Guest speaker: Mr. Rajive Keshup Designation : Regional Account Director- AT&T Operations, MEA Lecture Topic : “Telecom industry in the Middle East” Date : 21st January 2010 Campus : Dubai Key Learning : Mr.Keshup spoke about the growing trends in the telecom industry and how telecom players in the region leverage upon global strategies to grow locally. He emphasized on the huge potential for growth the Middle East market offers, as well as the importance of client relationship in driving business. He also illustrated how a collaborated approach towards doing business in a global environment prevents players from re-inventing the wheel. He further spoke about the career opportunities and the necessary skills to work in the Telecom Industry in the MEA region.

Guest speaker: Mr. Andre Verdier Designation: Senior Vice President -Supply Chain, i2 Lecture Topic: “Integrated Supply Chain Management, the Symphony of Execution” Date: 13th January 2010 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Andre, kicked off the session giving functional outlook as Supply chain = Planning + Execution. He emphasized on the importance of both planning and execution as the world moves towards integrated supply chains. He shared his learning while designing integrated supply chains for various companies in his career. He emphasized on the importance of a move from CPFR to VMR towards VMA (Vendor managed availability). He also debunked many nuances that would go a long way in shaping young brains as future supply chain innovators by answering questions. He ended the session by briefing up on cases study of integrated supply chains of Itasalat and Chrysler.

Guest speaker: Mr. Krishna Gopal [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Vice President – MEA-SAARC (Sales) & Global Alliances, Tech Mahindra  Lecture Topic: “Software Service Marketing” Date: 29th June 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr Gopal spoke about the various factors for success in the software services industry – emphasising on marketing and processes. He started the lecture with a discussion about the students’ career goals and desires and their comparison with reality. He then went on to explain the flow of processes for marketing of software services. The discussion had intricate details about the future industry trends. He also threw some light on the skills required for a successful career in this field.

Guest speaker: Mr. Harshit Jain [Click for detailed profile] and Mr. Sajith Kumar Designation: Emirates NBD, Vice President and Head of Liability, UAE and CEO of JRG Metals and Commodities, UAE, respectively                                                                       Lecture Topic: “Challenging times - How are Organizations Navigating through them”  Date: 25th June 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: The main focus of this discussion was sustainability of organizations in the post financial crisis. Firstly, the speakers threw some light on the various types of the operational risks that the organizations have to sail through in these tough times. Speakers also discussed the way Emirates NBD is trying to cope up. This took the discussion towards the nature of financial markets in Dubai and UAE. Towards the end, the discussion was mainly focused on explaining various Future and options hedging strategies that companies typically adopt to mitigate risks.

Guest speaker: Mr. Iqbal Noor [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Vice President - Recruitment and Training, Du Telecom, UAE Lecture Topic: “ Wishing for Marmalade!” Date: 24th June 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: “Wishing for Marmalade” is the metaphor for our desire of expecting homogeneity and uniformity. Marmalade has a mild fruity flavour and the fruit actually loses its identity. Mr. Noor drew this analogy for explaining the uniformity in “traditional” societies. He compared the society in Dubai to fruit salad, where each fruit retains its identity, but still, the whole salad has one identity. There is scope for many cultures to coexist in Dubai. There is no single flavour which is uniform like in marmalade. His discussion was lined with anecdotes about various trends and job profiles explaining the work culture and the cosmopolitan nature of Dubai. It was helpful for students to understand life in Dubai and considering it for career opportunities.

Guest speaker: Mr. Bharathakrishnan N.Murthy [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Head-Training, Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies, UAE Lecture Topic: “Private Banking & Wealth Management Services” Date: 20th June 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Murthy threw light on the wealth management prospective for GCC. There was a prologue about the ways in which the world over meltdown has affected the GCC region. Next, he talked about the various measures by bankers to overcome the situation. This drew the discussion towards the current challenges for risk management. There was deep focus on the new and upcoming personalised services which the banks are offering, and how they have evolved in the region.

Guest speaker: Mr. Robert Garden, Designation: Managing Director, Royal Bank of Scotland, Middle East Lecture Topic: "Banking-The future shape" Date: 18th June 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning:Mr. Garden started the discussion with a brief overview of how the current crisis has affected the banking sector, and drawing up the future of banks as the financial intermediaries. In a framework, he explained how important De-leveraging and De-risking (2Ds) are for banks to fix their balance sheets. He tried to validate this model by taking the indicative performance of some banks in the past and compared it with their performance at present. The discussion then focused on the strategies adopted by RBS for gaining competitive advantage in the current market.

Guest speaker: Mr. Prakash Rao [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Deputy General Manager – Logistics, Landmark Group Lecture Topic: “Supply Network Modelling – Organization Consolidation” Date: 18th April 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Prakash Rao spoke about how Supply Chain Value Proposition has changed and there are new rules that have been laid down, the end result is projected to be Increased Flexibility, Speed to Market, Increased Velocity of Inventory and Information, Increased Collaboration and Flexibility between Suppliers and Service Providers. System Technology Life Cycle consists of Shortening, Outsourcing and Offshore Manufacturing, He mentioned that a key Component of Logistics Strategy is Channel Design and Network Strategy. Network Strategy is a long-term plan, benefits are more but the required time period for implementation is long, He went to explain the strength of a supply chain by using the following quotation - “Strength of a chain Lies in its weakest Link “but “The Strength of a Supply Chain is the Collective Strength of Entire Network”. He then spoke about the transition from Centralized Distribution Centre (CDC) to Origin Consolidation and also validated it with reasons for the transition. The reasons cited were: Capacity at Jebel Ali Port was a big constraint; Centralized Distribution Can Make Supply Chain Vulnerable; Increase in Nodes lead to increased Lead times / Costs & Inventory; Pressure on existing facilities, resulting into increased Capex commitments. Students were appreciative of the learning that they received from this informative lecture.

Guest speaker: Mr. Bithin Talukdar Designation: Solution Marketing Manager at HP Asia Pacific & Japan Lecture Topic: "Career Guidance-topics" Date: 27th February 2009 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Bithin Talukdar is an alumnus of SPJIMR, so the talk was very informal and friendly in nature. The batch had mailed him specific queries prior to the session, so his presentation was centered on those specific queries. He started talking about giving a brief overview of his 15 year career. Students were impressed from the varied roles in various different industries he had worked in. He then proceeded to the courses of utmost importance that are taught in a B School. Also he talked about some industry experiences that are not taught in any schools but are most important for success in professional life. He talked about his recruiting experiences to derive the major factors that recruiters look for. This was very helpful to the students as it could help them in getting the essence of being recruited. He talked about the preparation needed for going to an interview. The talk then moved on to the opportunities students should look for in the current financial crisis. The talk was followed up by students' Queries.

Guest speaker: Ms Elke Willaert Designation: HR Manager-DHL, Dubai Lecture Topic: "HR in the Logistics & Supply Chain industry" Date: 26th February 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: DHL is one of the largest third party logistics providers now a part of Deutsche Post. It has 500000 employees worldwide as of today, as per the speaker. In the speaker's opinion, HR functions in a Supply Chain Organization are not very different from that in the other businesses. The challenge ofcourse is to motivate the front end employees to deliver with a smile. To achieve this, the learning and development and the performance management system has to be development oriented to motivate and train employee to deliver the desired service. In times of recession, training and development becomes a must in order to train workforce in the skills that are critical for bringing in more business and to develop the workforce capability for the boom to come. Further the performance management system titled Motiva8 was discussed along with the programs adopted by DHL to enhance employee engagement. The strategies adopted during recession were also discussed. It was stressed that in case rightsizing is necessary the way it is conducted is very important to make the employee feel that the employer is left with no other choice and make his experience of departure less painful and as pleasant as possible so as to leave a positive image of the employer brand in the minds of the employee.

Guest speaker: Mr. David Ang Designation: President, Singapore Human Resource Institute (SHRI), Singapore Lecture Topic: "National Manpower Strategic Priorities - Issues and Challenges for HR Practitioners/Business" Date: 24th February 2009 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. David Ang, President of SHRI was invited by Prof Veena Jadhav to speak to the students about what challenges companies and the HR personnel face during this economic downturn time. He started by describing the achievements by the Singapore Human Resource Institute. One of the major achievements was that SHRI organized the World level HR congress with 2000 representatives from around the world.The talk then proceeded to the indicators of the economic downturn. As described by Mr. Ang, there are seven Es - economy, exchange, euro, East Asian economies, and east as in middle-east, emigration and environment. Some data was presented to depict the downturn. The discussion then passed on to the measures taken by the Singapore government to boost the economy. The implication on the people was discussed. This was followed by some questions by the class that were focused on the strategies of the companies for recruitment in this downturn and how the companies will create a comeback to the business world.

Guest speaker: Mr Adhir Mane Designation: Group HR Director, Landmark Group Lecture Topic: "Interactive Session" Date: 14th February 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: The speaker chose to speak on the issues raised by students. HR professionals should do functional jobs instead of directly taking up the roles relating to strategy. Internal benchmarking is important for a large organization. A case of the fashion section was elaborated which was following practices which are good but were not recognized and followed organization wide. An HR professional must learn how to deal with ambiguity. Regular updating of skills is necessary to be in sync with new ideas and philosophies and also for effective job delivery. A policy change should be evaluated from the point of view of the history of past practices, cost impact of the policy change and practices followed in other businesses. Information about the trends can be obtained through networking, internet, business magazines and peers. Internal systems of different divisions may be looked into to acquire information about new internal innovations. Concept of shared services and centers of excellence should be used to outsource the administrative functions to get more time for the strategic planning. Desired performance can be achieved when the KRA of all the concerned employees in the processes are interlinked.

Guest speaker: Mr Cedric Durth Designation: HR Director, Schneider Electric, Gulf Countries Lecture Topic: "Practical HR in Schneider Electric" Date: 13th February 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Schneider Electric is the global specialist in energy management. They supply power plant equipment along with energy saving solutions for an establishment. The issue of global compensation and benefits was discussed with example of an employee from Paris sent to Thailand. Talent at Schneider is expected to behave, think and perceive to deliver sustainable high performance. A Schneider employee should have the ability to stick to the Schneider values which are passion, open, straightforward and effective. The speaker elaborated about employee coding at Schneider which is done to ensure that the job codes of an employee is similar, however the designation may be changed as per the system in the subsidiaries. Competencies are assigned on the basis of job codes and on the basis of grades of a person within the function. Dictates for new HR professionals- Master your payroll and know your head count, communicate so as to make people understand, make sure that the minority is heard in a diverse workforce setting. Efforts should be made on employer branding and making the organization an employer of choice. An appropriate reward policy should be in place.

Guest speaker: Mr Tapan Bhattacharya Designation: Asst General Manager (Operations), Dolphin Construction Lecture Topic: "Dynamics of HR in the Construction Sector in the UAE" Date: 13th February 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: The guest speaker started the lecture by discussing HR practices in the construction sector. Mr Bhattacharya gave us some interesting facts about labour and other property rules in the UAE. Dubai is characterized by expatriates comprising of 84% of the population from 202 countries. The labour population is 1.2 million. Land ownership lies only with the ruler. Transfer of ownership is by natural succession. In SEZ's there is freedom to hire and fire people which is not the case with the businesses in other locations. The Emiratization law also does not apply to the free zone area. The environment, health and safety department has strict regulations regarding adherence to the laid down laws of safety. HR professionals need to have business knowledge to be able to perform effectively. Particularly for the construction industry, knowledge of the differentiation in the function of designer, estimator, cost controller etc. should be acquired in order to select suitable persons for the job. An HR professional in a construction sector can make a difference by administering his role efficiently and with an aim to make a difference to the lives of the masons and laborers who operate in tough working conditions. It was a very informative and enriching session.

Guest speaker: Mr K P Dutta Designation: Vice President-HR, Sembawang UAE (Pte) Ltd, Abu Dhabi Lecture Topic: "Strategic Compensation & benefits, and Competency Framework" Date: 12th February 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: The session deliberated on the compensation strategy of a firm. Mr Dutta explained that diagonal slice cutting should be used across job grades to map the talent pool in the business. In order to design the strategic compensation an organization has to first slot the employees into key talents, medium critical talents and lower critical talents. The pay bands are then designed by comparing the JE of the key jobs with the market and deciding on the pay philosophy of being above or below the median. The pay bands are fixed for different types of talents within a band forced distribution, on the basis of percentile based on the employee performance to decide which employee to place in which quartile. An HR Manager should always try and know the business in order to be respected. He should use the language of the line manager to get his attention and buy in. Students found this to be a very insightful lecture.

Guest speaker: Mr. Aaron Wong Mun Yat Designation: Chief Financial Officer & Alternate Chief Executive, GE Capital, Hong Kong Lecture Topic: "Hong Kong's 3 tier banking system and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's role in banking stability". Date: 23rd January 2009 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Aaron Wong has over ten years of international experience in finance and accounting. Mr.Wong discussed the working of GE and briefed the audience on matured Hong Kong's banking system and the role of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Some of the facts that Mr Wong informed us about were: Hong Kong has one of the highest concentrations of banking institutions in the world; 69 of the largest 100 banks in the world have an operation in Hong Kong; Hong Kong follows a 3 tier banking system-Licensed Banks, Restricted license banks and Deposit taking companies; though Hong Kong is Special Administrative Region of China, it has an independent central governing body- Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA); HKMA has already adopted Basel II norms whereas The People's Bank of China is yet to implement the same. The relevance of the concepts discussed kept the students interested. The students were enthusiastic to know lot more about the banking system in Hong Kong and the operations of GE which encouraged them to ask a wealth of questions. The session was a right balance of theoretical knowledge and real life experiences and thus students were satisfied and were appreciative of the learning that they received.

Guest speaker: Mr. Anurag Chandra [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Founder and Managing Director, Aurora Consulting, Abu Dhabi Lecture Topic: "Strategy and the Balance Scorecard" Date: 22nd January 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: More often than not MBA students are taught to measure performance in terms of purely financial data. However, what is very frequently forgotten is that this data is a lag indicator and not a lead indicator of things to follow. Usage of financial data alone in measuring performance is perhaps unwise. Mr. Chandra introduced the students to a new paradigm in terms of looking at organizational performance. His approach to the subject and simplicity of thought was effective in conveying the crux of what the balanced score card method was. His ability to illustrate how such tools are effective in the context of today’s businesses was indeed appreciated. It was indeed a pleasure to be a part of his lecture.

Guest speaker: Mr. Louis Lim Designation: Partner, Bain & Company Lecture Topic: "Emerging Market Pyramid - how to conduct business in an emerging market" and "What do consulting companies expect from MBA graduates" Date: 21st January 2009 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Louis Lim has over ten years of international experience in consulting. Mr. Lim discussed the emerging market pyramid and explained how companies conduct business in emerging markets. He also pointed out what steps are necessary to be successful in an emerging market and supplemented it with a case study. An overview of the emerging market pyramid used by Bain was given to the students which sparked a lot of questions on various points. Students were shown a case study of Tangs and how it increased its market share in the Philippines market from 43% to 52%. Mr. Lim also gave a thorough presentation on the expectations of consulting companies from MBA students. The students were given a peek into the interview process of Bain & Company and what does the firm look for in potential candidates. The session was structured well and was very precise. The concise nature of the lecture prompted the students to ask a lot of questions which sparked good discussion among the speaker and the participants. The lecture also gave the students tips and helped them in their preparation for the interview rounds of consulting companies.

Guest speaker: Mr. Prakash Bhojwani [Click for detailed profile] Designation: President and Vice-Chairman, Time Machine World Holdings, Dubai Lecture Topic: "Doing Business in Dubai" Date: 21st January 2009 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: From his extensive experience in the field, Mr. Bhojwani brought to light key aspects of conducting business in Dubai and most of the Middle Eastern regions. Mr. Bhojwani spoke about his inspiring journey in the business world in Dubai and the Middle East as an entrepreneur. He emphasized the importance of trust, relationship building, decision making and determination by live examples from his past transactions in the region. Dubai, according to him, was the ideal platform for business due to its strategic advantages with respect to geographic location, administration, infrastructure, opportunities and diversity of cultures residing in the region. The basic point that was driven home was the concept of sticking-to-basics, acting with clear vision and determination, which, he stated, is vital for development of businesses in the Middle East. The session was followed by an informative Question and Answer session where Mr. Bhojwani clarified that inspite of business principles changing in Dubai over the decades; it still remained a haven for entrepreneurs and enthusiasts with a zeal for business.

Guest speaker: Mr. Sandeep Bhattacharya Designation: Vice President ASEAN, Ramco Systems Singapore Lecture Topic: "Understanding the role of a Business Development Manager for IT" Date: 20th January 2009 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Sandeep Bhattacharya, an alumnus of NMIMS, spoke to the students about what makes a successful Business Development Manager. He instantly connected with the students with his quick wit and his method of involving them in the presentation. He presented a very detailed picture about what constitutes a BDM. He talked about the personality traits of a BDM, the essential rules that any BDM has to follow and what key sales characteristics any BDM has to pick up to make his mark. He presented a lot of real life problems and threw open the discussion to the students. The response of the students to the picture presented by Mr. Bhattacharya of a BDM was amazing. They whole heartedly asked a wealth of questions which ranged from getting clarity on the roles of a BDM as well as scenario based queries. He talked about how important, tough and crucial the role of a BDM is in the current downturn. The lengthy session was interspersed with lots of queries from the students and nuggets from the career of Mr. Bhattacharya. He ended the session by discussing a few real life case studies about how real life scenarios unfold and what to expect out of the role. He also gave immensely helpful insights and information on the upcoming sectors and areas in which there is tremendous scope for IT companies.

Guest speaker: Ms. Kei Mizuno Designation: Recruiter, People Development, People & Culture Lecture Topic: "Career talk from Vestas" Date: 9th January 2009 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Ms. Kei Mizuno is one of the head recruiters at Vestas' People & Culture Division. Accompanying her was Mr. Xin Li who is one of the graduate trainees at Vestas currently in his last leg of the 24 month training that each new recruit at Vestas undergoes. Ms. Mizuno started the talk by telling the audience about the philosophy of Vestas and its mission. Vestas is into harnessing wind energy and is one of the world's largest players in the alternative energy sector. She also explained in detail about the graduate training program at Vestas and how it has evolved. The details included the eligibility criteria, the duration, the expectations and the path followed by the recruits. This raised a lot of related questions in the crowd each of which Ms. Mizuno answered and was pleased at the response and the curiosity of the students. At the end of lecture, she involved the whole audience in a pop quiz where she asked the whole audience a set of questions based on her presentation and even gave away prizes to a couple of winners. She also told the dates when the students could start applying to Vestas. All in all, it was a very enlightening talk in which students got to know about a company that is in a very different sector from where almost all of them had worked.

Guest speaker: Mr Adhir Mane [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Group HR Director, Landmark, Dubai Lecture Topic: "Performance Appraisals" Date: 27th December 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Mane talked about the Performance Management system in general and the system being designed in his company- Landmark, specifically. The lecture focused on the changing role of HR, which is driven by business strategy. Mr. Mane outlined the HR initiatives being taken in his company along with Hewitt associates in line with the company strategy. The lecture included a small video highlighting the dos and don’ts of performance appraisal. The lecture was very insightful as it talked about practicality of issues associated with HR, particularly with the Performance Management Systems. The lecture helped in setting the benchmark of an ideal performance appraisal to be followed in an organization. Knowledge of the specifics of the procedure and implementation of Performance Management Systems would help us to understand the process and enable us to appreciate the importance and impact of Performance Management System in aligning employee efforts with the business strategy. This was followed by an informative Question and Answer session.

Guest speaker: Mr. Sambamurthy Natarajan [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Partner, Mckinsey & Co Lecture Topic: "Case Analysis" (Part II) Date: 24th December 2008 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Due to an overwhelming response received from the students for the session conducted by Mr.Natarajan on 22nd Dec, he was requested to conduct another session in campus on 24th Dec. The agenda for the class was to take the students through the procedure of solving a business case study. Mr.Natarajan walked the audience through a case solved by McKinsey. Some of the key learning was: Understanding the various steps involved in solving a case, Importance of a logic tree and the advantages of it, Understanding the importance of meticulously laying down the steps while solving a case and deriving useful inferences. The relevance of the topic discussed kept the students interested. The students were enthusiastic to know a lot more about case solving and understand the challenges faced by a consultant. The speaker encouraged the students to give their inputs to solve the case and was appreciative of their innovative ideas, thus making it a good learning experience for everyone present.

Guest speaker: Mr. Arvind Mathur Designation: Asia GBS Portfolio Planning Leader, Procter & Gamble, Singapore Lecture Topic: "Corporate IT Strategy" Date: 23rd December, 2008 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Arvind Mathur has been working with P&G for almost a decade now and has led many initiatives for GBS division of P&G. His focus was on how GBS had changed P&G's way of working over the years. He explained how P&G is trying to convert GBS from a cost center to revenue making center and the steps that they had taken to do so. He told the students the gradual transition as to how GBS was giving them a strategic advantage over the competitors. He gave an insight into GBS's IT and business strategy and also how over a period of 10 years they had taken some of the key functions of P&G under their umbrella like customer relations, consumer relations, finance etc. He also talked about how the IT strategy of any company is so intertwined with its business strategy and how P&G had come to benefit by having a great working relationship of its CEO with its CIO.

Guest speaker: Mr. Sambamurthy Natarajan [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Partner, Mckinsey & Co Lecture Topic: "Case Analysis" (Part I) Date: 22nd December 2008 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr Natarajan introduced Mc Kinsey to the students. He gave an insight into how Mc Kinsey works and where they are present. The firm has very closely knit teams which put in a lot of effort. The average working hours of a consultant at Mc Kinsey can go up to 65-70 hours. Every consultant worked in various projects at a time and it was not necessary for the consultants to have prior domain knowledge. Mc Kinsey has a very diverse culture and even has doctors as their employees. Mr. Natarajan also gave a brief introduction to case solving methodologies. He discussed the procedure of arriving at a mutually exclusive and exhaustive number of events. He also discussed the issue tree and hierarchy tree. The discussion on 22nd Dec ended with the students asking a plethora of questions on Mc Kinsey and methodology of solving case studies and the students requesting for another lecture on 24th December.

Guest speaker: Mr. Prashant Chayya [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Global Science and Technology Director, Cadbury PLC, Singapore Lecture Topic: “Entrepreneurship” Date: 9th December, 2008 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Chayya, an Engineer from IIT-Mumbai has been an industry veteran for the last 3 decades. With his profound knowledge, he enlightened the students with the 3-facet formula for success in the 21st Century – Market Awareness, People Management and most importantly, Conceptual Thinking abilities. He inspired several in the crowd by emphasizing that age was not a deterrent for starting a new venture, and supported his argument by giving examples of several young successful entrepreneurs. He also spoke about variety in entrepreneurial personalities, stages of their life cycle and the required attributes to become one. To make the session interesting, he used some brain teasers which ensured a light mood in the crowd. His approachable attitude gave rise to several questions regarding the process of starting a business in Singapore, which he undertook enthusiastically. The session definitely stimulated students’ minds and encouraged them to foresee themselves as budding entrepreneurs in the days to come, and was appreciated by all.

Guest speaker: Mr. Dhimant Shah [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Head - Multi-asset proprietary trading desk a focus on credit products, JP Morgan, Singapore Lecture Topic: "Bonds and Derivatives Trading" Date: 6th December 2008 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Shah has been working in the banking industry for more than 14 years. The agenda for the class was to share his knowledge on financial markets and highlight to students the nuances to be a successful trader. The key learning from the lecture was -Understanding of Financial markets and an overview of various instruments of financial markets, Determinants of Foreign exchange rate, How to create balance in economy by rightly managing capital flows and current account deficit of a nation, Current financial crisis-Reasons for the same and future outlook, The relevance and the familiarity of concepts discussed kept the students interested and helped them to widen their horizon. The students were enthusiastic to know lot more about trading and understand the challenges of being a trader which encouraged them to ask a wealth of questions. The session was a right balance of theoretical knowledge and real life experiences and thus students were satisfied and were appreciative of the learning that they received.

Guest speaker: Mr. Rohit Gandhi [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Managing Director, Tech Mahindra (Singapore) Pte. Limited Lecture Topic: “The Role of IT in Business Growth” Date: 3rd December, 2008 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Gandhi has been working in the IT industry for more than 24 years. He brought with him technically and culturally rich experiences to share with the whole class. The basic agenda for the guest talk was giving an insight into the role of IT in business growth. He used the example of the telecom sector to explain how the IT knowhow of an organization gives it an edge over its competitors. Mr. Gandhi gave us real life examples of Tech Mahindra’s presence in this sector as well as his own experiences. He explained to us the role of innovation in terms of business concepts apart from technology innovation as well as the challenges faced by telecom companies in addition to the objectives and motivations for transformation. He also spoke about the market perspective and strategies for different countries of the APAC, hinting at the importance of learning the etiquettes of the country. He went on to speak about the “people” facet of the process and relevant tools used to understand and solve people issues. The relevance and the familiarity of concept interested the students and allowed them to contribute to the guest lecture by asking a wealth of questions. The students were very satisfied with the guest talk and were appreciative of the learning that they received.

Guest speaker: Mr. Atim Kabra [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Founding Partner of Frontline Strategy Limited Lecture Topic: "Private Equity" Date: 25th November 2008 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Kabra talked about the Private equity market in detail. Focus of the lecture was on sharing with students the nuances of doing business. He gave us an insight of the do's & don'ts while starting venture capital. The lecture rightly highlighted that business of private equity differed according to the company requirements and at a macro level on the economic situation of the country or place and was not restricted to the academic definition of private equity. He also stressed on the fact that to be successful one cannot ignore the importance of Organizational Behavior and explained to us the importance of having good client relations and how one should treat clients and expand their network to be successful. He also shared with us his views on the current market scenario. Students found the lecture very informative and were enthusiastic about clearing their queries.

Guest speaker: Mr. N. S. Srinivasan [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Founder and Chief Mentor of Medha Mind Enhancement Company (P) Ltd. Lecture Topic: "Simplifying Power Performance" Date: 24th November 2008 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Srinivasan talked about how the brain works between a range of frequencies and what frequencies give the brain a power to perform better and more efficiently. He explained the various stages action a person would find himself and also his awareness of his surroundings at those stages. He stressed on the fact that with a determined effort and a planned approach the mind could be trained to work at higher frequencies where the human awareness is heightened and performance is improved drastically. He concluded by illustrating the power performance principle by asking students to come forward and understand their own breathing patterns and their control over stress. The lecture raised a lot of questions in the minds of the students and fired up their curiosity to understand this process better.

Guest speaker: Mr. Steffen Steensbaek [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Regional Manager, Supply Chain Management, Maersk Logistics Middle East Lecture Topic: "Supply Chain Consultancy" Date: 4th November 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Steffen gave the students exposure to Supply Chain consultancy and how it is done. Maersk Logistics offers end to end supply chain solutions to its customers by identifying the strategic priorities, benchmarking, mapping current process, conducting gap analysis, preparing future scenarios and implementing solutions. Participants were made to do a mini case on identifying ideal strategic locations for optimal distribution and procurement management. He gave a sneak preview on inventory management and practical examples of supply chain consultancy done by Maersk Logistics.

Guest speaker: Mr. Ken O'Donnell [Click for detailed profile] Designation: International Consultant in the fields of Quality Management, Strategic Planning and Organizational Development Lecture Topic: "Excelling in a Chaotic Environment". Date: 26th October 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. O'Donnell talked about the "Chaos" that is yet to come. He spoke about the ability that encourages each individual to have solutions for particular and general issues and spoke of how each person must think out of the box to solve very relevant issues that he/she face or perhaps, is facing. He encouraged introspection before active action and intense self analyses of our strengths and faults which would then enable the discovery of most answers to problems that come from within. Once we have found the answers within, he said, and then active action becomes more definitive and easier. It was a very enlightening and interesting session.

Guest speaker: Mr. Morten Frimand [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Regional Manager, Human Resources Development, Maersk Logistics Middle East Lecture Topic: "Logistics & Supply Chain Environment" Date: 22nd October 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr.Morten Frimand explained from an HR perspective about challenges in the Middle East and how Maersk formulates its market strategies. Talent management and retention is a major challenge in the supply chain environment. He explained how Maersk conducts its recruitment and the important role of IT in managing resources and information.

Guest speaker: Mr. Ricco Poulsen [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Branch Manager, Damco, UAE Lecture Topic: "3 PL Market in UAE" Date: 19th October 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr.Ricco Poulsen had given a brief introduction of Maersk Logistics and the A.P Moller group some of the major players in the 3PL Market. He gave us an overview of the 3PL Market in the UAE and the challenges in the 3PL market. We got insights on major players in the 3PL market, capacity issues in the ports, Dubai as an re export hub, future international trade agreements with UAE .He informed us that the Maersk is trying to unlock the potential of petrochemical industries as production is moving mid east because of low energy costs and proximity to raw material. The overview helped us understand the UAE market better from a supply chain perspective with a perspective on the current and future trends.

Guest speaker: Mr. Ajai Kumar Dayal [Click for detailed profile] Designation: General Manager, Retail & Marketing, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group L.L.C, Dubai. Lecture Topic: “Creation and Marketing of Retail Brands in the UAE.” Date: 17th October 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Ajay Kumar Dayal talked about the creation of a retail brand in UAE. He enlightened the group on the various nuances that exist while marketing and creating a retail brand, where a holistic shopping experience is to be the address for its target customers, and this holds the key to successful brand recognition, awareness and eventually loyalty. Students were given insights on how he developed ‘Better Life’, a leading retail chain, operating in the consumer durable appliances market. Mr Dayal explained the insights needed behind identifying different segments of customers and how they, as a product, position themselves among their target customers, in this case, mainly women. He also discussed the role of developing good customer relationship programs that are one of the key touchstones to be focused on in building a brand. He ended the whole discussion by giving students information on the various opportunities existing in the UAE market. A very interesting and interactive Q and A session followed, concluding an insightful and interesting lecture.

Guest speaker: Mr. Nigel Phang Designation: Director, Business Solutions, DDI Asia/Pacific International Ltd Lecture Topic: “Bridging the Gap between Business Leadership Development Intention and Reality” Date: 17th October 2008 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Nigel Phang from DDI Singapore shared the latest research and findings from their Global Leadership Forecast 2008-2009, which surveyed more than 13,700 business leaders and HR professionals from 76 countries around the world. Mr. Phang informed us that to keep a finger on the pulse of leadership trends and best practices, DDI has been conducting the Global Leadership Forecast study once every 2 years over the past decade. Among the themes examined in this latest edition are: current leadership quality, leadership development practices, global leadership, leadership successions. Mr. Nigel shared the Singapore findings versus global findings during the session. He uncovered why leadership development programs often fail to deliver their intended results and how the world’s most successful organizations develop leaders differently. The session illustrated how weak execution and misguided strategies can undermine even the best-intended leadership development programs, and he spoke about identifying ways to drive for desired results.

Guest speaker: Mr. Trivikram Jayacham [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Human Resource Manager, Acer Computers, Middle East Lecture Topic: "The Competitive edge at Acer through HR & Culture" Date: 25th September 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr Trivikram Jayacham started the lecture by giving us a brief about Acer as a company. He then went on to explain the various HR practices that the company has inorder to keep their employees happy and motivated. Acer is a people's investor company and is known for its recognition programs like L&D opportunities, right culture, bonus sharing and employee involvement and has obtained various awards like European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), MRM award, etc. for its best practices. He also spoke about how one can be a good HR Manager by giving specific instances for this. He spoke in detail about some of the unique HR practices that Acer follows - Acer is involved into Six Thinking Hats strategies as identified by Edward de Bono to increase the productivity of meetings. Management by Walking (MBW): HR walks the floor and envisages the culture of the organization. Open Door Policy (ODP): Anyone can communicate directly to any other person at any level in the organization, irrespective of the hierarchy. Acer has learning management systems (LMS) in place. It involves people by incentivising to form committees and deliver learning modules. HR's job is to become dispensable. Acer regularly runs Opinion Surveys to understand the voice of the employees. As a good HR manager and senior management, one should show your trust in the people, empower them to make decisions, communicate values by holding skits, showing commercials, playing games or taking employees for outings to nice places. It was a very informative and interesting session.

Guest speaker: Mr. Johnson Alexander [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Director-Human Resources and Quality, Health, Safety & Environment, Dulsco LLC, Dubai. Lecture Topic: "Trends in the UAE in HR and HR Outsourcing" Date: 23rd September 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Johnson Alexander's lecture was filled with interesting facts. He spoke about the HR outsourcing trends in UAE as well as in Dulsco. Outsourcing for "middle level management" is not preferred in U.A.E. Outsourcing at lower levels is more prevalent Blue collar workers are supplied to almost all organizations in U.A.E. by Dulsco, but white collar workers (mostly South East Asians) are supplied to mostly logistics companies like DHL, FEDEX, Unilever, Al Futtaim, etc. Later he provided us with some interesting data like - in U.A.E, in banks, 4% of employees need to be from the emirates, whereas in other private sectors, 2% of employees need to be from the emirates. Only 14000 emirates are unemployed, but these are mostly unskilled hence companies are reluctant to take them. He concluded the session by explaining how there are limitations in applying succession planning in companies because it can create serious gaps at different levels as nowadays employees hop jobs faster than promotions, so if you had decided to promote an employee and he leaves, then you are left with creating holes in the organization; therefore career planning is more feasible. If succession planning is in place for top level, then at least top 20 people should be identified instead of top 10 so that even if anyone leaves, the impact is not high else impact of diminishing of the top 10 layer will create blunder.

Guest speaker: Mr. Steve Halligan [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Managing Director of Dubai based Leadership specialists-The Core Group. Lecture Topic: "Employee Engagement" Date: 21st September 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Steve Halligan spoke about what an HR Manager should take care of during Employee Engagement. He also mentioned how one should stop being greedy because GREED leads to Low Job Satisfaction, Diminishing Quality of Work, High Attrition, Poor Commitment, Low Productivity. He mentioned that one should practice what they preach otherwise it leads to "The People Asset Paradox". He used the saying - "Managers do things right - Leaders do the right things". According to him - If you want better than average employees, then you had better provide better than average employment. He also mentioned that rent in Dubai is going crazy. It is not possible to give salary increase to everyone because even a 5% hike means a lot of cost to the company. One possible solution is to provide company apartments which are available at subsidised rates. Students found this to be a very insightful lecture.

Guest speaker: Mr. D. K Sharma Designation: Head, International Technology Operations, Global Consumer Group, Citibank NA, Singapore Lecture Topic: “IT in BFSI – Necessary / enabler / strategic differentiator” Date: 9th September 2008 Campus: Singapore Key Learning: Mr. Sharma gave us a brief overview on the operations and technology division of Citibank. He spoke about the strategic initiatives taken by Citibank like the core banking system, customer care initiatives, profitability and performance management, selective sourcing. He also spoke about the disruptive innovations like the SMRT card developed by Citi, websites like PayPal, attrition rate and how to track it using CRM. He also talked about data centres and distribution of IT costs. He quoted several examples like I-phone based banking in Hong Kong, Harris gambling chain in U.S just to describe the importance of IT in the banking domain.

Guest speaker: Mr. Gopi Krishna Madhavan [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Executive Vice President/ Head of Human Resources, First Gulf Bank (FGB), Abu Dhabi. Lecture Topic: "HR in the banking sector: Challenges & Opportunities (First Gulf Bank – a case in point)" Date: 23rd August 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Madhavan talked about the challenges (Emiratization, Staffing, Diversity Management etc.) and the opportunities existing in the banking sector currently and explained these while taking us through a conceptual model of HR at FGB. He explained in detail to the group how they were able to bring about a performance-oriented culture at First Gulf Bank while increasing employee engagement. He highlighted on how important it was for HR Professionals to acquire business knowledge and to work at aligning HR strategy with business strategy. The speaker also talked about the challenges of setting up a new business from the HR point of view and about the various initiatives the HR section has taken at FGB. Everyone attending the guest lecture found a lot of value from it and appreciated the information and presentation of Mr. Madhavan. The students raised many queries and gained many insights on the HR section of banking and the procedures in UAE.

Guest speaker: Mr. Dave Crane [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Managing Director, The Life Designers, Sharjah, UAE Lecture Topic: "Life Design - Part One (Self-Improvement & Motivation)" Date: 11th August 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Crane told us about how we need to do a SWOT analysis of our lives and determine where we need to improve viz., personal life, health, work life, happiness etc. He spoke about how our paradigms are very individual and how we should be able to readjust our paradigms by recognising other people’s paradigms and be flexible so that we may be able to change them or adjust to new ideas and positive vibes relatively easily. There were several highly interactive but individual tests like his Life Design card and Questionnaire, and the Hedgehog chart, which opened minds to very surprising results. Mr. Dave also spoke about how we should each find out what our passions are and then to work in fields related to our passions in career, life and the real world demand. –Our own personal “hedgehog”, he called it. He guided us in the thought that we should work to make our strengths stronger rather than wasting too much time on worrying about our weaknesses. Finally he took questions from the audience and answered each one of them very clearly and sparred the time to speak to some who wanted a more personal consultation with him. He was with us for three hours and no one realised the time fly by. A truly productive session with more to come.

Guest speaker: Mr. Ian MacDonald [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Executive Director, Gold and Precious Metals Division, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) Lecture Topic: “Commodities Market in Dubai” Date: 29th July 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Macdonald started his speech by speaking about the structure of DMCC. He spoke about the role of DMCC in the Dubai corporate world and how it is in line with the vision of the Sheikh in making Dubai a financial hub. He then went on to explain how the commodities market works and the initiatives taken by the DMCC and the Govt. of Dubai. He also spoke about the new initiative – Dubai Commodities Asset Management Company. Finally he gave us an overview of what he thought of the future of the commodities market especially with respect to gold. He gave the students the opportunity for interaction, answering many questions related to the gold commodities market and its position with reference to the future. An interesting and interactive session, it opened the doors to a new market for exploration and study.

Guest speaker: Dr. Khalid M Kadfoor Al-Mehairi [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Founder, Emirates Advocates & Legal Consultants, UAE and Chairman, Institute for International Law, UAE. Lecture Topic: "UAE Legal Structure and its Operations" Date: 24th July 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: The Logistics & Supply Chain Management batch of January, 2008 had a guest Lecture by Dr Khalid M.Kadfoor Al- Mehairi, an illustrious legal professional in Dubai on the UAE legal structure and its operations. Dr Khalid opened the speech by drawing attention to the fact that UAE is one of those few countries which have a constitution ever since the country got independence in 1971. Dr Khalid elucidated the hierarchy of the UAE courts and the basic functioning of the legal system in the Emirates. Once the basic concepts were explained he went on to explicate the dynamics that exist between the seven Emirates and how each of them are trying to reach a standard uniform legal arrangement especially with regards to transport related taxes.At the end of the lecture Dr Khalid opened the house for a Q& A session. In this session he answered questions posed by the students and the faculty present. He gave his honest views on how independent the judiciary was from the executive in the UAE. He also shared his student days and the difference between the US and the UAE legal system.

Guest speaker: Mr. Gunjan Bhardwaj Designation: Senior Senior Consultant , Ernst & Young AG, Germany Lecture Topic: "Innovation Management" Date: 23rd July 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Bhardwaj spoke about Innovation Management as a whole, with reference to Brand innovation and strategy innovation, and the two methods by which innovation is achieved, namely incremental and disruptive He also spoke about the Blue Ocean Strategy in business. He then spoke in detail about the various drivers of a firm. Finally he interrelated all this by giving interesting examples of people like Steve Jobs, L.N Mittal etc. who are all pioneers and touchstones in the process. He cited the words of Peter Drucker who said that ‘Innovation and Marketing are the two main functions of any organization’ and argued convincingly for it. He also gave key insights about organizations in various industries, which have achieved excellence by managing business, process or product innovation. The talk culminated with an interactive question and answer session on how E&Y helps organizations achieve the innovative edge in these ever changing consumer preferences. It was attended by all the students from the GMBA batches and proved to be an interesting and informative session.

Guest speaker: Prof. Amitabh Basu [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Director, Idendesign Strategies Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, India Lecture Topic: "Retail Branding" Date: 18th July 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: The students of SPJCM Dubai had the opportunity to interact with Prof. Amitabh Basu. He shared his experiences in the field of retail while working with Shoppers Stop in India. He also talked about his company Idendesign, which designs retail campaigns for various retail brands. He talked about visual merchandising and product placement in retail outlets that help improve the sales of products. The students also got an opportunity to look at the various setups and displays created by his company for various retail organisations and got to know the thinking process that went behind it. This lecture gave us valuable insights about the field of Retail the retail industry.

Guest speaker: Mr. Martin Beattie Designation: ManagingDirector,AccessConsultingLtd.,Dubai Lecture Topic: "Overview of the UAE Real Estate Market and the Implications for Property Finance" Date: 29th June 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: A very energetic session in which the speaker provided the participants with information and intelligence regarding the Real Estate Industry in the United Arab Emirates. The areas covered during the lecture were: Drivers and Constraints to the Real Estate Industry in the U.A.E, data to support the fact that the current high growth rate in the Real Estate market is fuelled by a real demand matched by the supply of quality stock, demographic breakdown of the Investors, the operating procedures of Finance Institutes such as Tamweel who are supporting the industry with appropriate mortgage mechanisms. He also spoke about Case studies on Amlak and Tamweel detailing Company profiles with an overview of products offered, their Business Models, Strategies, and Analysis of Financial figures. He also gave the students overviews of various laws and legislations related to the Real Estate Market, Project Finance Options available for Developers, Trends and Analysis of future growth in the Industry. Apart from the information shared, Mr. Martin encouraged the class to be interactive and ensured that he discussed all queries to the satisfaction of the participant raising it.

Guest speaker: Dr. Earl Naumann Designation: Professor of Marketing, American University of Sharjah. Lecture Topic: "Financial benefits of being customer centric" Date: 4th June 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Dr. Naumann went through his rich experience of having worked with Corporates like IBM, AT&T etc. and showing them the importance of focusing on the customer. Using real life company examples, he demonstrated how increasing customer satisfaction leads to increased profits. He also informed everyone on the need to continue building their knowledge base as any college based knowledge becomes outdated in a couple of years. Besides this, he also informed us on the need to continually innovate and improve customer oriented practices as in the end, it is these practices which make the difference between the no.1 & no.2 position.

Guest speaker: Mr. Harshit Jain [Click for detailed profile] Designation: Head-Liabilities and Transactional Banking division, ENBD, Dubai Lecture Topic: "Careers in Finance in Middle East" Date: 3rd June 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Jain started by giving an insight into his life and how his career progressed over the years. He spoke about the choices he had to make keeping his career interests in mind, thereby enriching students with his experiences. He then moved on to give valuable information on the various departments and career choices that are typically possible in a bank. He spoke on investment banking, consumer banking, wholesale banking, treasury management, Risk department, Transaction Services etc. For each of the divisions, he mentioned the functions and the skill-set required. He finally concluded his talk by taking questions from the students. He provided all the information that the students were looking for and answered all their queries. The talk helped the students get a better and a clearer understanding of the possible career choices in a bank and hence equipping them to make better career decisions.

Guest speaker: Mr. Andrew Sinclair Designation: Founder/CEO of Alphatraxx, Hong Kong. Lecture Topic: "Hedge funds" Date: 3rd June 2008 Campus: Dubai Key Learning: Mr. Sinclair provided insights on how hedge funds work and who are the people/institutions involved in hedge funds. He gave a captivating account of how he moved from real estate to capital markets/hedge funds in his career. He laid out the impact and role that hedge funds have played in the sub-prime crises. He also gave his views on how the world economy (and in particular the Asian economy) might be impacted by the sub-prime crises. In the end, he held a Q&A round with the students and answered their doubts. It was a very informative and interactive session.

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