XLRI, NIF sign MOU to Assessing Grassroot Innovations

Jamshedpur, Jan 28 Premier B-School XLRI has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with National Innovation Foundation (NIF) for creation of a research advisory council (RAC).

This council would assess different innovations that NIF would be scouting from eastern states of Jharkhand, Bihar, some areas of West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and eastern UP. According to the MoU signed here on Sunday by NIF national coordinator (business development & micro venture) L Chinzah and XLRI director father E Abraham, the research advisory council (RAC) would comprise of professors of the B-school, industry experts and NIF members.

The innovations to be assessed would be sourced from NIF's 'national register' for grassroots innovations and those selected would be offered support by way of a nomination to the biennial national innovation award as well as by way of offering to bring refinement in the product, protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) associated with the product and by way of offering risk capital investment for setting up enterprises.

The risk capital investment for setting up an enterprise would be offered to the innovator by NIF's micro venture fund.

Also XLRI's student body social initiative group for managerial assistance (Sigma) would be involved in mentoring and monitoring the innovations/projects thus chosen for incubation. The students' body would also assist in market benchmarking the innovation and in developing business plans. Innovative ideas needing wider social diffusion among the local populace would be handled accordingly.

Also, XLRI's recently founded Father Arupe Centre for Excellence (FACE) would document the challenges faced and the strategies adopted in the development of the chosen innovations for the B-School's future educational purposes.

Established by the department of science & technology in February 2000, the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) aims at providing institutional support in scouting, spawning, sustaining and scaling up grassroots innovations and help them grow into self-supporting ventures. Its "Honey Bee" database of around 10,000 innovations collected and documented by SRISTI is part of the National Register of innovation managed and supported by NIF.

According to the NIF national coordinator (business development & micro venture), NIF was looking forward to support from XLRI's Sigma and FACE for "adding value to" the innovations it has come across in the eastern region in the past two-and-a half years of scouting work that it has done. "As NIF cannot do much on its own, following the networking philosophy, we are trying to build capacities here so that existing institutions like XLRI can be brought to the platform to add value to such innovations," said Mr Chinzah, adding that NIF hoped that the partnership would go a long way.

Speaking on the occasion, the XLRI director said that the student body (Sigma) and faculty supported initiative would be of much use to the B-School as "our students need to go out to the villages and see what the real world looks like", adding that even if a few of the 70,000 innovations on the NIF list materializes into something big it would actually be creating ample business. During the last 7 years of its existence, NIF so far has filed 150 patent claims in India and seven in the US, of which 30 and seven have so far been granted. NIF has also so far funded around 100 innovations since 2003.

Ensemble 2008 - A Grand Success!

Another edition of XLRI’s grand flagship event Ensemble was successfully conducted over the weekend. With its theme of ‘Advantage India’ the event was a reflection of the recent dynamism and excitement within Indian industry. The brightest minds from across the best B-schools in the country competed for top honors across all management verticals in this two day management extravaganza.

The showcase event was the ‘Idea Summit’ wherein renowned speakers from different walks of life distilled and shared their experiences, insights and thoughts with a diverse audience. The summit revolved around the vital discussion on inclusiveness in India’s growth story. The competitions were a treat not just for the participants but also for the audience who got the opportunity to listen to extremely innovative ideas put forward by the participants.

Ensemble also consisted of several competitions to test the various managerial concepts that students pick up during their education in a B-school. The central competition – ‘Discessio Imperators’ - sought to find managers who can lend structure to ambiguity and create order out of chaos but testing their ability to adapt to a constantly changing business environment. The other contests covered areas such as marketing, finance, consulting, entrepreneurship etc. There were also informal events held throughout the two days including informal quizzes, crosswords and Dumb Charades to keep the competitive spirit alive in between the main competitions

Ensemble enjoyed attracted participation from the premier business and technical schools across the country who vied for top honours in the 2 day fest. Students came in from top B schools across the country such as IIMA, IIMB, IIMC, FMS Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, IIFT Delhi as well as IIMK, IIML and XIM Bhubaneshwar.

The event drew a slew of support from the corporate circle and included the who’s who of corporate India including the Aditya Birla Group, who was the prime partner for the fest. The individual events also included corporates such as ITC, Tata Steel, Accenture, HSBC, GSK, BIG FM, Tata Teleservices and kitnebaje.com. Other partners included NDTV, Human Capital, Zuari Cement, Swastik, Myntra, the Pioneer, Brand Reporter and the National Innovation Foundation. The interest shown from the corporate world was heartening for both organizers and participants as it can only bode well for increased interaction between the industry and the institute, and will further the strong relationship between XLRI and the corporate world.

The event finally culminated in a fantastic, rip roaring rock show by Span and Parikrama, one of India’s finest rock bands. It was the perfect finale after two grueling days for both participants and organizers, who finally let themselves go to a great performance by both bands. Parikrama played some of their original hits, along with some classic rock songs. They were then followed on by Span, who also entertained the crowd with a heady mix of popular rock numbers and original compositions. Ensemble 2008 was a grand success for the students of XLRI, and has paved the way for further organization of such events of an even grander scale.

Ensemble 2008

XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, the oldest business school in the country, is hosting its annual management fest, Ensemble – 2008, on January 25th and 26th, 2008. Ensemble, as the name suggests, was started to bring together management students across b-schools from both India and abroad. It is now a thriving mélange of case studies, business plan contests, paper presentations and strategy games. Last year, Ensemble 2007, with the theme India Unbounded: Unleashing the Tiger, saw 200 participants from the best b-schools in India battle for top honours and a prize money of around 7.5 lakh rupees.

The theme for Ensemble 2008 is Advantage India: The bird of gold spreads its wings. The Indian economy, with its technical prowess and its large talent pool, is poised for take off. It is consistently averaging GDP growth of about 8-9%, and the biggest companies of the world are queuing up to invest in the country. Ensemble 2008 is devoted to this bird of gold, with games and events organized around the opportunities and the potential that lie ahead. The Aditya Birla Group is the principal partner of the fest.

The showcase events of Ensemble 2008 are the Idea Summit and the newly-christened flagship game, Discessio Imperators. The Idea Summit is a panel discussion where eminent panellists from all walks of life share their experiences with b-school students. The topic for this year’s Idea Summit is India: Domestic & Global Inclusion for Sustainable Growth. The panellists are: Mr Y C Nanda, Chairman of Agricultural Finance Corporation Ltd and ex-Chairman of Chairman of National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD); and Mr S.J.S. Swamidoss, Ex RBI Director. Mr Govindraj Ethiraj will be acting as the moderator.

In keeping with XLRI’s image as a b-school run by students, the events of Ensemble 2008 have all been organized by the numerous committees on campus. The games vary across all business verticals, and enthusiasts of Finance, Marketing and Human Resources will all find something for them at Ensemble 2008. Apart from these, there are events for adventure-lovers, budding entrepreneurs and quizzing enthusiasts. The preliminary rounds of most of these events have already been held, and b-school students from all over the country are converging on the XLRI campus in Jamshedpur.

However, Ensemble 2008 is by no means an ‘All work and no play’ event. The fest will culminate on 26th January with a performance by Parikrama, one of the best rock bands in the country. Not only that, the 27th of January will see XLRI hosting Astarte, the cultural festival of the institute. For more information, please visit the official websites of Ensemble and Astarte.

Impressive PPO's for XLRI Students

In an impressive prelude to the annual placement season, XLRI Jamshedpur has announced a total of fifty seven Pre-Placement Offers (PPOs), translating into corporate invites for one-third of the batch even before signing into the Placement season.

The offers ranged across a varied spectrum of verticals – from Strategy Consulting to Investment Banking, Corporate branding to Human Capital, and Technology Management to Corporate Finance.

JP Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Citibank, Reliance Capital and Axis Bank were some of the leading recruiters in the Finance Domain who deemed it fit to offer Trading, Investment Banking, Treasury, Commercial Banking, Equity Research, Human Resources and other coveted roles to students right out of their summer internships.

The Hay Group, Ernst and Young, Hewitt, Mercer, TAS, the Aditya Birla Group and Deloitte were among the recruiters vying for a piece of the Consulting, Human Resources and General Management pie in the batch by confirming their interest in interns.

Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Nokia, Asian Paints, ITC, Cadbury, and Nestle were the leading FMCG and consumer durable majors that snapped up trainees choosing to pursue a career in marketing, branding and sales.

Microsoft, CTS, IBM, and a host of systems majors were pleased to extend offers in Business Development, Human Resources, and Marketing to students.

‘’While the performance of our students was no surprise in itself, and justifies the recognition accorded by the Industry, the offers are hopefully just the beginning, and set the tone for a robust placement season’’, said Prof. Uday Damodaran, Placement Coordinator, XLRI.

In addition, with more Pre-Placement Offers yet to come in, and Pre Placement Interviews scheduled over the next few weeks, the number is likely to see a significant increase as the students enter the Lateral Recruitment Programme and Campus Recruitment Programme.

HSBC Intelligensia '08

On 12 Jan, at XLRI Jamshedpur, SAPPHIRE (Student’s Association for Promotion of Personnel Management, Human Resources and Industrial Relations) organised an event named INTELLIGENSTIA ’08 in association with HSBC bank. The event comprised of two competitions – Antithesis (a debate) and Minerva (a quiz). The topic for the debate was whether “vintage is losing ground in today’s competency driven workplace”, and it was a hotly contested motion. Minerva consisted of three gruelling rounds of quizzing, which had diverse questions from the field of HR as well as general management.

The chief guest at the event was Mr Mohit Seth, Senior VP, Talent Management, HSBC. Accompanying him was Ms Nidhima Malhotra, who is a member of HSBC’s Campus Awareness Team and an XLRI alumnus. Mr Seth gave away prizes worth Rs 60,000 to the winners and later delivered a talk on talent management. With Nike T-shirts on stake as audience prizes, the event saw huge participation from XLRI students and was a grand success. The chief guest expressed his appreciation for the smooth organisation of the event and hoped for more collaborative efforts between SAPPHIRE and HSBC in the future, thus further cementing the relationship XLRI has with corporate organizations.

XLRI Leadership Expedition

XLRI, School of Business and Human Resources truly believes that leadership and learning are inseparable. It is the first Indian B’school to encourage experiential learning in the form of a Leadership Expedition held every year in the month of March. Taking inspiration from the Wharton Leadership Program, the annual event at Wharton Business School, XLRI Leadership Expedition (XLE) was started three years ago. XLE exposes students to hardships and adverse conditions through challenging adventure activities with the objective of developing leadership traits amongst the participants. Every year, a unique location is chosen. In the first year, it was climbing the Mt. Everest Base Camp (altitude of 18,480 feet) followed by a bike ride from Pune to Kanniyakumari (3000 km) in the second year. What is unique about XLE is that every year a new social or environmental cause is propagated. For instance, the mission of the 2006 XLE was spreading AIDS awareness whereas the 2007 XLE aimed at spreading tourism along coastal India.

This year, plans are in progress to scale the Island Peak in the Himalayas. This peak, situated to the south of Mt. Everest, scales to a whopping altitude of 20,305 feet. Students will attend a 2 month long training camp conducted by mountaineering professionals to build up the required stamina. The team shall also undergo a week long equipment training session from one of India’s premier mountaineering institutes. The expedition is organized by the Adventure and Nature Club of XLRI, popularly known as XLANC in campus. The committee has decided that this year’s theme shall be selected in a unique fashion, in that an NGO would be given the option to decide the theme for the expedition, thus helping them promote their cause without any consideration in return.

XLRI Jamshedpur and Loyola University Partnership

In February 2007, XLRI signed an MoU with the School of Business Administration at Loyola University Chicago, U.S.A., to promote faculty and student exchange(s), in addition to joint research and programmatic activities. This partnership brings together two Jesuit institutions of repute, in addition to helping further connect two leading economies of the world.

As part of this agreement, Dr. Arup Varma, Indo-U.S. Professor of Management Studies at Loyola, and an XLRI alumnus of the 1984 PM& IR batch, is spending a term at XLRI, teaching a course in International Human Resource Management. In addition, a group of 16 graduate students (both MBA and MSHR) from Loyola will be visiting India from January 2 to January 12th, 2008. They are pursuing a course titled Global Study Abroad (India), under the guidance of Dr. Arup Varma. During their stay in India, the students will participate in several company visits in New Delhi, and also do some sightseeing in New Delhi and Agra. From Jan 6th to 12th, they will be at XLRI, where they will participate in joint classes with PM&IR students, in addition to interacting with students, faculty, and staff. Further, the students are also scheduled to visit companies in Jamshedpur, in addition to visiting some local villages to see how micro-credit is helping some tribal communities become independent and self-sufficient. Next year, Loyola will host a group of students from XLRI.

The faculty and students at XLRI and Loyola are very excited about this partnership, as it gives students at both institutions an opportunity to immerse themselves in the local culture and learn about the country and its people, in addition to studying and understanding business practices. We are confident that this partnership will continue to grow, in the years to come.

XLRI Alumni Pitch for Social Entrepreneurship

Jamshedpur: (Financial Express, Sunday 30,2007): Entrepreneurship opportunities for young MBAs coming out of institutions like XLRI have never been so good, feels a majority of the 35 XLRI alumni, who gathered on their Silver Jubilee ‘Homecoming’ visit here on Thursday. Howvever, the alumni felt there was strong need for B-schools to encourage social entrepreneurship.

With more and more companies focusing on their core business, there would be a surfeit of opportunities for young MBAs to get into entrepreneurship roles, said R Ramakrishnan, who was with Asian Paints for 18 years before moving over to Bajaj Electricals seven years ago and is currently its executive director.

Ramakrishnan, urged his alma mater to find ways ‘so that more of us’ could get into social entrepreneurship as the country was faced with huge challenges in the ‘‘health, education and development with social equity’’. He the next 15 years would throw up enough opportunities for the current batches of MBAs to become entrepreneurs.

The interaction between the 35-strong batch of 1982 and current students threw up interesting observations.

Ramachandran Kannan, who is with Careers India, observed that moving from their era 25 years ago of specialisation in marketing, HR, finance, systems, etc., today there was need for a lot of free enterprise. Even though there were ‘‘employment opportunities galore’’ there were a whole lot of self-employment opportunities, particularly in the space of innovation, technology, etc, he added.

Batch members suggested that there was need for a more structured method of grooming entrepreneurial talent at the B-School. ‘‘There are a lot of challenges with respect to the environment, governmental factors, competition, globalisation, etc., and, therefore, the need to develop the soft skills and the mindset for entrepreneurship,’’ said Kannan.

Members of the 1982 batch also deliberated on whether the structured course on entrepreneurship being developed by the B-School could be extended to social entrepreneurship.

One among the batch who lamented working for a corporate rather than running his own business, as this could have given him a lot of satisfaction, sought his alma mater's intervention in developing soft entrepreneurial skills in future students. ‘‘Being an entrepreneur is a totally different ball game than working for a corporate,’’ he said.

Cushrow J Jassawala, COO, Thomson Press, thought industry, companies and business in general would in the future be increasingly taking risks. Therefore, growth opportunities for young MBAs would be ‘enormous’. One would have to think differently and not accept the situation and fall in line, as growth and opportunities lay on the path less traversed, said Jassawala, who had been with Voltas, a Tata enterprise, for a long time.