Thursday, December 08, 2011

XLRI brain to boost not-for-profit business - Professor Madhukar Shukla joins seven to co-author teaching manual on social entrepreneurship

From The Telegraph

A mentor in the steel city is leading the way to author a social entrepreneur’s bible in India.

XLRI professor Madhukar Shukla, who heads the institute’s Social Entrepreneurship Trust, will team up with seven academics from across the nation to produce a teaching handbook on social entrepreneurship to guide faculties and students alike.

Shukla, who was presented the Academic Contributor Award for 2011 by the Villgro Innovation Foundation and IIT-Madras’s Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, conceptualised the handbook that the group aims to pen within six months.

Shukla co-authors are Shambhu Prasad of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar; Harish Hande of Faculty of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University; Sourav Mukherjee of IIM-Bangalore; Ankur Sarin (IIM-Ahmedabad); P.K. Biswas, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal; Satyajit Majumdar, TISS, Mumbai, and Krishna Tanuku of Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad.

He explained that few dealt with social entrepreneurship as a subject in India. “There are many who would like to take up social entrepreneurship as a subject or start a social venture. As most of them tend to get no support, the teaching handbook has been planned to streamline issues and topics in the area for their benefit,” said Shukla, a faculty member of organisational behaviour and strategic management.

The group of professors met at the Khemka Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at ISB-Hyderabad to discuss the initiative in November.

The handbook will comprise guidelines for starters, besides an outline of related courses offered by institutes and professional bodies and classroom material such as case studies, articles, documentaries and research papers.

“We will upload it on the Internet. It may also be given the shape of a social networking site or website. We may later publish hard copies,” Shukla said.

The professor has been driving force at XLRI, which acts as a link between students and financial institutions to help them start their ventures.

Parichay, one of the businesses started by students on completing the social entrepreneurship course at XLRI, has been employing tribal artisans to churn out bamboo products in Jamshedpur.

The other ventures started by XLRI graduates are Dream4others, Samanvay and Green 4others.

“Social entrepreneurship is an exciting and active playground. However, to make a positive change you need to know what is happening in the sector,”said Payal Randhawa, director of Delhi-based Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, which is eager to support the teaching handbook project.

“Academics are very important, as they know their field better and are connected with young minds. The handbook will be the first ladder in sharing ideas with the community of social entrepreneurs,” Randhawa added.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

XAT to be pen-based and a good XAT score not enough to secure admission

From PagalGuy.com

The XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur (XLRI) has decided to reduce cut-offs from the 90s to the 80s to attract a good mix of students. XLRI’s Admissions Chairperson Soumendra Bagchi told PaGaLGuY that to ensure an efficient admission process, the XAT (XLRI Admission Test) scores  are not shown to the panelists during GDPI. This means that a good XAT score may not be enough to secure admission at XLRI. Prof Bagchi answers a few more questions on the admission process, the cut-offs and the XAT paper.

Reduced cut-offs
XLRI experimented with reduced percentile cut-offs for calling candidates for the GD/PI process last year. The success of that experiment in getting a diverse pool of applicants – in terms of geographical diversity, as well as different work experiences –  has been encouraging. Based on this, there are plans to reduce the cut-offs to percentile scores of 80s from the 90s.

Is the GD/PI process really independent of the XAT score?
The group discussion/ interview process is independent of XAT. The XAT score is not informed to the panel and the panel refrains from asking about XAT scores. This is to ensure that the interview score is not biased by the XAT scores. The issue we face is that candidates often end up bringing their XAT scorecard to the interview in a bid to influence the panel. But this information is dis-regarded by the panel and the interview scores are based on the interview performance only.

That means a  candidate with a high XAT score can get eliminated in the GD/PI process?
While this is a very general statement, with exceptions, this highlights that a high XAT score is not enough to guarantee a place in the school. The interview process is carried out independent of the scores. The panel members ignore the data even when the candidates tries to bring it to their notice during the interview. Therefore we have found that high XAT scorers sometimes get eliminated in the interview process, if they perform poorly – candidates with lesser XAT scores can get selected if the interview process goes well.

Admission for XLRI programmes
The registration process for XLRI is separate from the registration process of XAT. XAT is the common examination, after which candidates have to register for institutes of their choice. This is determined by the candidates themselves based on their interests, location etc. Due to this we often see interesting situations. Last year,  the topper was a girl had a  B.Com background. Despite she being the topper, we could not take her as she had not applied to XLRI.This has happened earlier too. It is also possible that people underestimate their capabilities. On the day of examination, anything can happen, and good performers can lose out. The same happens for other students as well as every year we get requests after the XAT results are announced. By that time the registration process for XLRI is over. This year XLRI’s registration process is on till December 31, for people to decide.

Who are likely to do well in XAT?
The people who normally do well in XAT are a mix of two categories of people. The first category is the eccentric brilliant and the second category  - the steady performers. The analysis of XAT data as well as XLRI interview data indicates that majority of rank-holders in the merit list come from the second category of steady performers. This category of students is the one that holds its nerves on the day of examination, picks out the doable questions and score on them, without taking undue risks. In the interview as well as in the academic performance during the two years of MBA programme, generally it has been observed that the steady performers often perform better than the eccentric performers.

Preparation for XAT
Candidates should be well grounded in their basics. It is matter of practice which allows quick identification of scoring questions and which ones to leave. Further candidates need to score in a balanced manner across sections. This can only be achieved through practice. A high level of practise carried out in simulated exam-like conditions, would prepare them for the stress on the day of the examination. Since one of the advantages of paper-based examination is all candidates get exactly the same paper, there are no issues regarding tough and easy questions.. The candidates should also get into the habit of reading newspapers on a daily basis which helps them not only in the verbal and reading comprehensions, but also during the interview and group discussion stages.

XAT Pattern
All business schools are looking for people with well-rounded aptitude as well as personality. Further we have been observing that engineers/ people from the science background, who end up as high scorers in XAT often do so by the virtue of their quantitatively oriented courses in their graduation, and they may not be the persons who would score high in group discussion/ personal interview.
To ensure that we have candidates with well-rounded aptitude apart from just quantitative skills, this year’s XAT has been totally restructured with regard to the difficulty level. Apart from being different and being extremely do-able, this year’s XAT stresses more on a commonsensical approach rather than a pure formula-based approach. This restructuring has been done to ensure a far more level playing field, not only for the non-engineers, but also for the steady performers, without being biased towards/ against anybody.

Are there any advantages to  paper-based exams, considering that the world in going online?
1. It allows an equal playing field for people who do not have familiarity with computers vis-a-vis those who have a high level of comfort with computers.
2. The major issue of different levels of difficulty in different question paper sets. This problem can lead to good candidates losing out because they faced a tougher question paper.  The problem of normalisation is subject to statistical errors and XLRI, which has been conducting XAT for large number of years, feels that XAT scores should be free from such errors.
3.  Systems related problems – slow computer terminals etc., are eliminated to a large extent.
4.  XAT was the first to consistently have a written test as a part of its evaluation, and that is being followed by other big b-schools now – the use of managerial decision situations which had been introduced in XAT in 2007, is a section which other institutes have copied.

Further plans by XLRI
There are plans to award financial assistance to students joining in XLRI’s BM and HRM programmes, based on performance in the total selection process. The assistance  is planned to be in form of waiver of a certain percentage of first-year fees, for select number of students, based on the ranking in the final list. The exact details are still to be finalised but the broad plan is in place.

A few reputed schools  have stopped taking XAT, is the exam on the decline?
The number of schools taking XAT has increased to 100 plus this year and we had new institutes taking in XAT candidates. So your question does not actually hold as per the facts.

Can XAT answer sheets be seen by the candidates?
XAT question papers are taken back by the candidates in which the candidates usually mark what they have attempted. So candidates, de facto, have their answers with them. In case of any situation where a candidate disputes the scores and wants to see the OMR sheet, we keep the OMR sheets and they can be seen any time. However so far we have not faced any requests for wanting to have a copy of the OMR sheet.  This year we are moving away from pencil-based answering in OMR sheet to pen-based answering on OMR sheet. That will allow us to be more confident of the entire process. Though this process requires that candidate answer correctly the first time as no change is possible. Furthermore, the paper-based exam allows us to audit the question paper, individual questions or answer sheets any time we want. That way it is far more robust and transparent than the computer based test.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Sad Demise: Mr B Balaji (XLRI 83)

Mr. B. Balaji of XLRI Class of 1983, Director of ADP India (Hyderabad) passed away yesterday after a long illness. His last rites happened this afternoon).

May his soul rest in peace.

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

XLRI holds Private Equity Conclave in Mumbai

From http://xlri.blogspot.com

On Friday, November 4th, XLRI Jamshedpur, one of the premier B-schools in the country played host to some of the biggest names in corporate India when it held its annual Finance Conclave, Gnosis 2011 in Mumbai. The Conclave focused on the role that Private Equity has to play in our country’s growing economy and was titled ‘Investing in India’s Future – The Role of Private Equity’.
The Private Equity sector is tipped for tremendous growth in the immediate future, and speaking about these exciting possibilities were some of the most experienced stalwarts of the industry. The Conclave featured personalities like Mr. Shankar Narayan, MD, Carlyle India; Ms. Rupa Vora, CFO, IDFC; Mr. Subir Nag, Director, ICICI Venure; Mr. Nainesh Jaisingh, Standard Chartered PE; Mr. Siva Shankar, Director, Citibank VC; Mr. Jacob Mathew, MD, Mape Advisory; Mr. Pramod Ahuja, Partner, Tata Capital; Mr. Srinivasan Bharatam, Managing Partner, Milestone Religare Investment Advisors.
Each of these is an expert in his or her own right, and they shared their ideas and opinions, formed over years of consistent achievement in the field, with professionals from the industry, Investors, Media, the student community, and the public at large. The Conclave was aimed at addressing existing dilemmas and even perhaps generating new ones that would point towards the future state of the sector and its influence on the Indian economy, and it more than lived up to its billing.
Speaking at the Conclave, Mr. Shankar Narayan, MD, Carlyle India, explained how the PE firm create value for its investee company, by giving it an access to global network, better corporate governance, risk management etc. Another Speaker, Ms. Rupa Vora, CFO, IDFC presented how the value is created and derived in PE.
Mr. Nainesh Jaisingh, MD, Standard Chartered PE, stressed on the growing significance of India as a target for investors over the last decade, with perceptions about the country among investors having changed at a rapid pace.
After the keynote speeches, the event organizers, Finance Association at XLRI (FINAX) took the opportunity to outline its plans to help further nurture the sustained student interest in the Finance domain at XLRI. Thereafter, Professors Sabyasachi Sengupta and Uday Damodaran, who were representing the XLRI finance faculty at the event, extended an invitation to the audience for lunch.
Post lunch, the esteemed panel gathered at the venue engaged in a wonderful discussion on the topic “Outlook of Private Equity in India” bringing forth various insights about the current scenario of the industry in India. They also discussed the opportunities and challenges of dealing with varied stakeholders, ranging from promoter groups to retail investors.

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

INSIGHT - The 1st Annual XLRI Consulting Conference @ New Delhi

XLRI is organizing INSIGHT – The 1st Annual XLRI Consulting Conference, on 21st Novemeber (Monday) in WWF Auditorium, Lodi Estate , New Delhi,  the theme of conference is “Sustainability - The outlook of business and government with an audience of around 150 people, split between senior experienced people from the industry and the government, and students from top B-schools. The list of confirmed speakers (in alphabetical order) is as follows:

·         Mr. Anand Nayak, Head HR, ITC & Director, ITC INFOTECH
·         Mr. Arun Inam, Senior Partner, Deloitte LLP (Strategy & Operations) 
·         Mr. Ganesh Shermon , Partner & Country Head, KPMG Advisory Services
·         Mr. Narayan Swamy, Director, Investment Finance, Citi Private Bank, India
·         Mr. P.S. Narayan, Vice President and Head (Sustainability), WIPRO Ltd.
·         Mr. Sachin Joshi , Director, CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development
·         Mr. Sarovar Aggarwal, Principal, AT Kearney India
·         Mr. Shankar Venkateswaran, Director, SustainAbility
·         Dr. Tata L. Raghu Ram, Chairperson, Strategic Management Area, XLRI

The other key highlights are Drishtikon-The Sustainability Idea Competition and Sustainability White Paper Series which will be a compilation of top ten research articles on sustainability, written by XLRI students.

We look forward to having your company at INSIGHT 2011, which we believe will provide an excellent opportunity to interact and exchange experiences with peers from the industry.
Please confirm your participation by November 15, 2011.
Limited Seats Available, to confirm participation please transfer Rs. 2500/- to the below mentioned account and send us a confirmation of the same at crux.secretary@xlri.ac.in.

Beneficiary Name: CRUX
Bank: State Bank of India (XLRI Branch, Jamshepdur-831001)
A/C Number: 30264303422
IFSC Code:
SBIN0004660
MICR Code: 
831002019


We look forward to a fruitful interaction.
---------------------------
Thanks & Regards

Maneesh Dhooper
Secretary, CRUX
XLRI, Jamshedpur
T: 8102145369
E: 
crux.secretary@xlri.ac.in
Website: 
http://crux-xlri.com/insight-2011/


Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Barbecue at Whitefield Club - XLRI Alumni, Bangalore

Hey Everybody,

The Barbecue Evening is on!!!  The details are as follows:

Venue:  The Whitefield Club, 57/2 Whitefield Main Road (next to Memorial Church on the Inner Circle Road)
Date:  Saturday 05 November 2011
Time: 07.30 p.m. onwards
What can you look forward to? - Barbecue, Music - lots of it, Karaoke, beverages of the spiritual nature!!

And what would it cost me? - Rs.200 per person for the whole package!!!

The members of the batch which has the most representation would not have to pay!!

So get on the phones and give your class-mates a call!!  Don't forget to let me know if you are coming!!!

Cheers!!

Titto

XLRI's Alumni Homecoming 2011

Dear Friends,

Greetings from XLRI’s Alumni Committee ‘ALCOM’! 
November third week-end is fast approaching and we know it’s time for Homecoming. The Alumni Homecoming for the year is scheduled during 19-20(Saturday and Sunday) November, 2011.This little note is to politely remind you of our XL family get-together that strengthen our XL bonds and foster camaraderie among us. The institute is happy to invite you for all the events that are being organized in connection with the Homecoming 2011.Please grace the occasion with your presence. 

I am sure you too will cherish the good old memories of your Alma Mater. The faculty and the students are looking forward towards the event and are keen to interact with all of you. We hope to have a wonderful evening celebrating the family spirit with a few cultural programs besides many other events that are being planned. A copy of the detailed schedule will be send to you soon.
Please have a look at the new services made available at the Alumni Portal (http://alumni.xlri.ac.in). If you have not already registered on the portal, please do so at the earliest. 

Please bring home all our XL friends (teachers, class mates, seniors and juniors) who are yet not in the portal. Ms. Padmini Singh from Alumni office will assist you in registering your name. Her contact details are: Email: alumni@xlri.ac.in This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; Mobile: 9955132937

All of us at XL Look forward to having you amongst us during 19-20 November, 2011.
For any other queries, please mail it to alumnicommittee@astra.xlri.ac.in or contact Ms. Amandeep (7209429704)

Regards
ALCOM

Saturday, October 08, 2011

P. Senthil Kumar (XLRI 84) appointed as Chief HR Officer at Tata Steel

From Orissa Diary


P. Senthil Kumar appointed as Chief HRe Officer at Tata SteelMr. P Senthil Kumar has been appointed as Chief Human Resource Officer at Tata Steel, in the level IL1. He will operate from Jamshedpur and report to Mr H. M Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel Limited.

Welcoming Mr P. Senthil Kumar, Mr H.M Nerurkar, MD Tata Steel said “It gives me immense pleasure to announce Mr. P Senthil Kumar as Chief Human Resource Officer. On behalf of the Tata Steel family, I welcome him whole-heartedly and wish him the very best”

Mr. Kumar is a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from NIT Trichy and a PG Diploma in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations from XLRI Jamshedpur in 1984. Subsequently, he also completed an Advanced Human Resource Management Programme at Ross School of Business, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Before joining Tata Steel he was Director HR & Administration at Cairn Energy India Pty Limited. In his long and illustrious career he has worked in a number of organizations in Manufacturing, Hospitality, and FMCG sectors across a variety of HR & IR roles. Mr Kumar is also a Member of the CII National sub-committee on HR and is actively involved & well known in the HR professional community across the country.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Prof Ram Kumar Kakani (XLRI) co-authors book on Strategic Thinking

Strategic Thinking: Explorations around Conflict and Cooperation.
Saha, Biswatosh and Parthasarathi Banerjee and Ram Kumar Kakani
Sage Publications, Sept. 2011,
ISBN: 978-8-13-210690-6

Strategic Thinking is an exploration of the world of strategic action centered on the strategist actor who remains immersed in the multi-faceted conflicts and contests of the pragmatic life of business. This book explores the various modes through which nodes of power holders are formed or decimated in the organization. It embraces the twin dimensions of strategic motives-deterrence and novel market making-around the theme of governance, without conflating the differences between these differing motives riding on differing dynamics of decreasing and increasing returns.


Dr. Ram Kumar Kakani B. Tech (Andhra Univ.), Fellow (IIM Calcutta) is an Associate Professor of Finance & Strategic Management Area, XLRI Jamshedpur, India. He has worked with industry and was a residential scholar at Copenhagen Business School Denmark, Singapore, & U.A.E. He has authored and co-authored ten management books.

XLRI eyes sporty career

From The Telegraph


No, it’s not all play, but taking up sports marketing management as a career can seem like it. Especially when you get paid for a job that involves professionally managing the careers of idols, ranging from a Sachin to a Saina. 

Sports marketing management is on XLRI’s radar. The premier B-school in Jamshedpur is focussing on the scope of careers related to marketing methodologies in sport before launching a full-fledged course on the subject.

Globally, the sector worth around US$ 38 billion, involves innovative commercial plugging of a particular discipline as well as personalities associated with each.

Marketing Association of XLRI, popularly called MAXI, which is one of the societies of XLRI, will host “Dimensions of Sports Marketing” a symposium, which will be a part of the annual MAXI Mindscapes.
The symposium will comprise well-known sports and business personalities.

This is a much-needed warm-up to XLRI’s plans of launching a course in sports marketing management, as experts thrash out the pros and cons of the up and coming career option.

“Though the field is expanding rapidly, it is still relatively an uncharted territory. The meet will thus deliberate on what exactly the field is, what are its strengths and weaknesses. The symposium will also discuss marketing of any sport through various media,” said Sanjeev Varshney, faculty member of marketing and consumer behaviour, XLRI.

Big names who are expected to discuss the dimensions of sports marketing include CNN-IBN sports editor Gaurav Kalra, Athletics Federation of India president Adil Sumariwalla, World Sport Group senior vice-president (South Asia) Harish Krishnamachar, Innocean Worldwide group director (sports marketing and events) Tarun Chaudhry, and PipalMajik chief executive officer Chandradeep Mitra.

“We are seriously planning a course in sports marketing for students, but nothing has been finalised as of now. I hope this discussion helps us take a stand on the matter,” added Varshney.

The symposium will thus be a good opportunity for marketing students to search avenues in the emergent area, discover what management studies refer to as the SWOT — strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats — of any particular enterprise.

The discussions will also enrich XLRI’s faculty members, who can assess the potential of the field before taking the formal plunge.

In India at present, IIM-Calcutta and Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad, known as MICA, run courses in sports marketing.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

XLRI to map speedster minds

From The Telegraph


For XLRI, thrills on wheels for teenagers are all in the mind, which needs some urgent and hi-tech probing.

Young drivers swerving through busy roads, speeding and honking incessantly and cutting through fellow motorists are attitude problems.

Changing them will prevent accidents, hope the experts. Close on the heels of the tragic death of Mohammad Ayazuddin, former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin’s son, who speed-crashed on an imported bike and more than a month after two teenagers were crushed to death in Ranchi, XLRI decided to map the brain of youngsters to understand the deadly thrills of speed.

The research lab of the premier B-school of the country, inaugurated on September 17, will undertake the study on drivers between the ages of 16 and 25 years to try and find a comprehensive solution that can be later used for social campaigns.

“We hope that the study brings about a change in teen attitudes with respect to behavioural and emotional aspects when they take to the wheel,” said Sanjeev Varshney, an XLRI marketing department faculty member.

He added there had been a surge of the number of road mishaps — most involving youngsters — in the recent past.

“We are very interested in trying to find out the lure of speed as far as schoolchildren and teenagers, who are most prone to rash driving, are concerned,” Varshney said.

Varshney, also the brains behind behavioural marketing research lab, expressed hope that research would help reduce the number of accidents.

“Youths need to change mindsets in order to undergo behavioural change. Thus, armed with the research results, we will definitely create social campaigns against speed,” Varshney said.

According to initial plans, the group of students selected for research will have to undergo a written test to help researchers peep into driving attitudes.

The respondents will participate in a group discussion in front of cameras. To know cognitive and emotional responses better, the target group will also play video games, wherein their behaviour will be measured directly by a direct response time machine. XLRI also plans to collaborate with the district administration to make the research a joint effort between the B-school and East Singhbhum traffic department.

Welcoming the move, traffic DSP J.N. Singh said the administration would support any research XLRI undertook to help curb mishap casualty.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Divine season with joy of giving at XLRI

From The Telegraph

Durga Puja in the steel city will be celebrated with a touch of B-school philanthropy this year.

Organised by XLRI, Joyfest or the Joy of Giving Week will start on October 2. This year, the campaign will have new initiatives, which aims to promote acts of kindness like giving one’s time, money and skills freely to the needy.

The festive holidays will not be a barrier for volunteers from B-school, NGOs and corporate firms who will be taking part in the campaign.

Apart from Vastra Samman, a clothes collection drive, which will be held in collaboration with New Delhi-based NGO Goonj and giving dry ration to the needy, the campaign will also host an eye donation camp through XLRI and Roshni, a city-based NGO.

Another NGO, Cause for Change, has come up with the idea of collecting usable medicines and donating them to those who need them.

“There are many who have unused medicines at home. Most of the time we throw them away even if they have not crossed their expiry date. We will first collect medicines, segregate them and then donate it to primary health centres where they actually need it,” said Joydip Paul, one of the partners with the NGO.

A group of XLRI’s entrepreneurship students have decided to recycle used A-4 sheets into notebooks, which will be distributed to city and rural schools for the underprivileged.

Management students will also train village women in business development skills.

Kalamandir, another Jamshedpur-based NGO, will distribute mosquito nets in the villages of Dumaria and Potka blocks.

XLRI Inaugurates Interdisciplinary "Behavioural Lab"

From XLRI, Jamshedpur

Sept 17th, 2011: XLRI inaugurated the "Behavioural Lab" to become India's 1st management school to have an interdisciplinary lab to study human behaviour.

A brain child of Dr Sanjeev Varshney, Chief Coordinator and Area Chairperson (Marketing) and MAXI (Marketing Association of XLRI), "the Lab is equipped with software and equipments to run experiments based on the principles of cognitive psychology, like direct response time machine, and will help in understanding whether the stimulus shown to people is having emotional or cognitive impact. The Lab also has got facilities like one-way mirror observation rooms for group experiments etc. It has subscribed to other software to enable students and researchers in testing image-based stimulus rather than textual stimulus and thereby facilitate product and campaign effectiveness testing," informed Prof Varshney.

The Lab will be available for use across all functional disciplines of XLRI comprising XLRI faculty, Fellow researchers, and postgraduate students. The Lab will also collaborate with researchers and institutes of repute in the field and looks forward to establishing itself as a one-stop solution for all behavioural and neurological research in management sciences. It aims to bring in new and innovative insights in the field of management.

As the first project of the “Behavioural Lab”, the city-based XLRI School of Business has started conducting research to study the behaviour of youth that leads to road accidents. Prof Sanjeev Varshney said that rash driving is matter of great concern for the city. They have started the research considering the rising number of deaths among young motorcyclists.

Prof Pranabesh Ray (Dean - Academics) said that the Lab’s future plans include acquiring more equipment and software for carrying out neurological research by collaborating with local and national level neuro-research centres and leading hospital chains in India. The collaboration process has already been initiated.

“We have plans to study and conduct research on Consumer Behaviour Studies, Organisational Behaviour Studies, Behavioural Economics and Behavioural Finance, to name a few of its primary areas of interest,” said Prof. Ray.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Sad Demise: Fr. Richard Norman

Dear XLers,

I regret to inform you of the sad demise of Fr. Richard Norman, also fondly called
Sam, on Monday, the 12th of Sept, at 3:20 pm, US time. Fr. Norman was very much
part of the community at Loyola and XLRI. At XLRI he was involved in the construction of the early buildings and the faculty accommodation.

May his soul rest in peace.
Sincerely,
Ronald D'Costa
The Boulevard Hotel
Bistupur
Jamshedpur

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Prof Debasis Pradhan (XLRI Jamshedpur) publishes "Marketing Management - A Casebook"




Marketing Management - A Casebook
by Debasis Pradhan, XLRI Jamshedpur
ISBN-13: 9788131515600
324 Pages Paperback 241 * 181 mm
Imprint :Cengage Learning India
©2012

Marketing Management: A Casebook is a comprehensive collection of 16 cases aimed at helping students understand the complex issues that marketing professionals deal with on a regular basis. Cases are Asia-centric, taken from small and large corporations, and include household names such as Reliance Fresh Stores, Burnol, Burger King, and Cafe Coffee Day. With a logically structured approach to case analysis and questions for review, this casebook will be an engaging reading for all students of marketing and international business and will help to bridge the gap between academia and the real business world.

Professor Debasis Pradhan is a Fellow of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand. He is Assistant Professor, Marketing, at XLRI Jamshedpur, where he has been teaching the principles of marketing, advertising and sales promotion, consumer behavior, and rural marketing since 2006. He also has more than two years of managerial experience in the power sector. A prolific writer, his papers and cases have been widely published in national and international journals of repute. He has presented papers at international conferences such as INFORMS Marketing Science Conference (Singapore Management University, University of Michigan, University of Cologne, Rice University), and Academy of Management (Philadelphia). His areas of interest in research include media-mix decisions, consumer decision heuristics, fuzzy goal programming approach in marketing, marketing theory, and bottom of pyramid (BOP) markets.

Love, Actually - Shoma Narayanan (BMD 99) book release - January 2012

From The Indian Express



The popular series of romantic novels Mills & Boon gets an Indian makeover

Tall, dark and handsome. Petite, pretty and perfect. The two shall meet, fall in love and share an amazing chemistry. The altercations and differences notwithstanding, the couple will walk down the aisle and live happily ever after. In Mills & Boon novels some things are forever, like love. However, when the popular romantic novel was launched in India, its publishers, Harlequin Mills & Boon India (HMBI), decided to give it an Indian twist. The authors of Indian Mills & Boon set out on a mission to keep in mind the preferences of Indian readers while conceiving the characters, situations and stories.

While over 20 titles are now locally published and distributed every year through Harlequin, Manish Jain, country manager of HMBI, says that the success story dates back to 2008, when they launched the India operations. The company’s network, which is more than 100 years old, comprises 1,300 authors from diverse backgrounds. An author development programme is conducted through the contest titled Passions Aspiring Authors Auditions (PAAA). “The first Indian Mills & Boon, titled The Love Asana, was launched in December 2010 and written by Punjab-born Milan Vohra. The second winner of the PAAA contest, Aastha Atray’s book will be launched in December 2011,” says Jain, adding that the cover of the novels will also have Indian faces, selected via a model hunt.

While Jain is hopeful that Mills & Boon will continue to receive a positive response from the Indian audience, in Mumbai, Atray is working on the final draft of her book, His Monsoon Bride. The 29-year-old journalist writes about communities, people and relationships — three genres that describe the 2,000 word story, Poor Rich Girl and the Man with a Menacing Grin, which won her the contest. “I read about Milan Vohra winning the contest last year and decided to give it a shot," says Atray, adding that she took just over an hour to write the story. Set in Mumbai, the typical Bollywood narrative has a boy and a girl who hate each other at first and eventually fall in love. “We all love the typical Indian love story. The leading lady in my book, Amrita, is also a journalist. She is curvy and shy about her weight. The hero, Mehtab, is a perfect man,” says Atray. While she feels that sticking to a formula is tough, she believes that the challenge lies in making it fun. “I followed my editor’s instructions and made sure that the language, setting and characters were Indian,” says Atray, pointing out that it was not easy to extend the story from 2,000 to 35,000 words. “The aim was to offer something new to the readers,” she adds. Atray is looking forward to another book, probably a relationship saga. Her favourite love story is Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds.

The first runner-up of the contest, Poonam Dabas, meanwhile, has also set her tale in India. The Delhi-based English teacher’s story has a warm setting that is endearing and vibrant. Having grown up reading Mills & Boon in school, she feels that back then the novels were more “soft” and not “explicit” like now.

Shoma Narayanan, second runner-up of the contest, agrees. The Mumbai-based banking professional submitted a 2,000 word story about a couple who part ways after college and meet years later, at a friend’s wedding, to realise that they are still in love. “It’s subtle, not explicit or steamy and something that Indian readers might not be comfortable with,” says Narayanan, who’s story is set in Mumbai and travels to Kolkata and Hong Kong. “I have been writing short stories and have read a couple of Mills & Boon novels. Romance, love and crime are genres of writing you can never go wrong with,” says the author, adding that she captures the new Indian woman in her book — who is honest about her emotions, is upfront, not submissive and considers the man to be an equal partner. “The face of the new Indian women — how they approach love, relationships and career — is an essential ingredient of the book,” says the author, who is looking forward to a January release of the book.


“Many men submitted entries for the contest, but it’s the stories of these ladies that touched the editors’ hearts,’’ smiles Jain.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Hi-tech market research facility at XLRI from Sept. 17

From: The Telegraph


Students of XLRI will soon be armed with hands-on market research skills, thanks to an advanced laboratory on campus that will allow them to delve into the mind of prospective consumers.

The behavioural marketing research lab, which will be inaugurated on September 17, is the brainchild of Marketing Association of XLRI, popularly known as MAXI.

Conceptualised last year, the ambitious lab is aimed at providing students and teachers with cutting-edge research tools designed to peer into the unconscious mind — said to influence consumer choices — and study behavioural trends.

The lab aims to explore market solutions, as crores of rupees ride on launch of products while a majority fails to impress consumers.

According to surveys, nearly 60 to 70 per cent of products flop despite intense pre-launch marketing research. Besides quality of products, political choices, social behaviour and economic patterns will also be studied in the XLRI lab. The basement of TMDC auditorium on XLRI campus has been chosen for the laboratory.

“We are setting up the lab at the basement of TMDC auditorium. We will soon complete work and inaugurate the lab on September 17. Hi-tech gadgets in the lab will introduce advanced research facilities on campus,” Sanjeev Varshney, a faculty member of the B-school’s consumer behaviour department, told The Telegraph. He added: “The lab will not only study marketing but also organisational behaviour and related areas.”
The lab will have a camera set-up to record people’s responses at an interview room. It will include a direct response machine, which displays through multiple monitors a subject’s reaction to the advertisement of a product. It will also have a video-mixing equipment and a conference room.

To set the stage for the best possible dress rehearsal for students before they enter the corporate arena, XLRI is also planning to team up with Apollo Hospitals Pvt Ltd and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, to further enhance the upcoming lab with medical tools.

The B-school will also maintain a pool of 3,000 respondents, drawn from urban and rural areas, to help carry out surveys at any given time.

Friday, September 09, 2011

Say Hello to social change

From The Telegraph


Father E. Abraham, the director of Xavier’s Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur, is an authority on human resource (HR) education. He has authored several research papers and books on HR practices in Indian industries. Under his leadership, XLRI has turned into one of the top management institutes in the country. His insistence on ethics and social responsibility in the B-school curriculum has become even more relevant in an environment of corruption in both the government and private sector in India. In an interview with he reveals how B-schools can bridge the rural-urban divide and groom future leaders with a conscience and empathy for the underprivileged. The Village Exposure programme is XLRI’s way of making future managers socially responsible.

Why did you introduce the Village Exposure programme?
You must be aware that XLRI is quite different from other management institutes. We emphasise a lot on students being socially responsible and sensitise them to the hard realities of rural India. Villages in India have not benefited in an equitable manner from the country’s high economic growth in the last two decades. So it’s imperative for management students — future leaders and managers — to bridge the yawning gap between rural and urban India. The three-day Village Exposure programme seeks to play the role of a catalyst in ensuring there is all-round, inclusive growth across India by exposing future leaders to rural life. It is an elementary effort towards sensitisation of students who come from a predominantly urban background and have limited exposure to village life.

Do you think one can understand rural India in three days?
lNo, it is not enough. That is why I say this is an elementary effort. We’ve been organising village visits since 2006 but now we are making this programme more formal. Now students go for it in the initial stage before they start their one-year or two-year courses. This is meant to orient them to the situation in rural India from the very beginning. And, actually it’s more than exposure — they have to stay there, live with the villagers and eat with them. For most of them it is a rude shock. From this year we are taking the process a notch higher by getting students to apply organisational behaviour studies to real-life situation. For instance, when they visited a farmer’s market they analysed the supply chain and tried to diagnose the problems. Then they found out ways to solve these problems so that farmers can earn better and get fair returns on their hard work.
In other words, students are now taking up bottom-of-the pyramid projects [The phrase is used in reference to the development of new models of business that target the poorest socioeconomic group, often using new technology] whereby they can contribute towards solving day-to-day challenges of villages located in and around the campus. This is how many of the students voluntarily stay in touch with the villages for several months. Some of them keep visiting on weekends till the end of the term. In a few cases, they maintain the link even after they have passed out.

Do you think most MBA graduates nowadays have tunnel vision as they are groomed to maximise profit for business houses rather than protect local communities or the environment?
Across the world, including India, most organisations in their quest for profit maximisation have often overlooked the short and long-term damage to the silent stakeholders and the environment. However, in the last few years, many forward-thinking organisations have embarked on a “triple bottomline approach” in which due importance is being given to embedding sustainable practices across various aspects, including economic performance, environmental issues and social dimension (labour practices, human rights, society and product responsibility). Yet, a lot more needs to be done and organisations across all sectors have to keep pushing to embed sustainable practices across their respective industry and organisational value chains. It is possible for organisations to “do well by doing good”.

Can unethical practice among business leaders — vis-a-vis 2G spectrum or the Satyam scam — be stemmed at the root if B-schools insist on teaching ethics?
Yes. If management institutes instill a sense of ethics in students, MBA graduates will certainly think twice before undertaking wrong business practice. Their conscience will remind them that if they go to jail, the corporation’s reputation will suffer in the long run. However, undertaking short-cuts or unethical practices to gain market share or increase profitability is fundamentally wrong irrespective of whether one gets caught or not. Our primary intent in making “business ethics and corporate citizenship” a compulsory course for all students is to shape responsible business leaders for tomorrow. But, I also believe that such a course in a management institute can only work if a sense of ethics and empathy is inculcated in students at home and school from early childhood.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

XLRI launches course in healthcare management with Apollo Hospitals

From The Economic Times


KOLKATA: XLRI Jamshedpur has joined hands with the Apollo Hospitals Group to start a one-year full time course in healthcare management. The first batch of the programme, christened Executive Diploma in General Management & Health Care, will kick-off from March next year.

The course designed and developed jointly by XLRI Jamshedpur and Apollo Group will have 28 courses which will be taught in one year. Faculty members from both the institutes will conduct the programme and will entail a one-month internship in healthcare industry.

"This alliance with Apollo Hospitals will provide a plethora of opportunities for those planning to pursue a career in healthcare industry. The need for professionally trained hospital managers is being increasingly felt in Indian hospitals, whether private or public," said XLRI director E. Abraham, S.J.

As per a recent CII report, employment opportunity in healthcare is expected to increase by at least 2.5 million by 2012. "This program will help in creating management professionals with domain knowledge and will offer ample career opportunities in both the management and health care sector either in a business role or a functional role," said Abraham.

Graduates from any recognised university and in any discipline with minimum of three years of experience after graduation can apply for this program. Aspiring candidates will have to appear for a written test, to be conducted at seven selected centres of Apollo, followed by interviews at XLRI campus. After successful completion of the program, students will be awarded certificates jointly by XLRI and Apollo Group.

Incidentally, Apollo Hospitals and XLRI have also partnered to promote leadership and management education by introducing a one-year postgraduate certificate in general management for Apollo Hospital employees.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Prof Sanjay Patro of XLRI selected for the chief marketing officer (CMO)-Asia 2011 award.

From Times of India

JAMSHEDPUR: Senior academician and marketing faculty at XLRI has been selected for the chief marketing officer (CMO)-Asia 2011 award.

Sanjay Patro, who teaches the intricacies of marketing to budding managers at the noted B-school, will be honoured with the "best marketing professor award" in Singapore on July 22.

Patro will be given award and citation, mentioning about his contribution to the field of marketing in the contemporary times. "This is the first award to be won by a marketing faculty at XLRI and I am happy to have been selected for the coveted trophy at Asian level," said Patro.

Patro, with 25 years of experience in the field of marketing, including his 15-year association with XLRI, said: "The jury (for different streams), which comprises professors of specific fields, conducts a study at the Asian level and selects the names for award(s) in different streams."

Patro, who was surprised when informed about his selection, said: "Recognition in the field of education at the Asian level is a big thing as it honours the individual and the institution equally." The XLRI faculties have expressed delight on his achievement. "Definitely, it's an honour to be recognized at the Asian level and that too in the field of education," said Madhukar Shukla, faculty, humanities.

Monday, July 04, 2011

XLRI Canada Summer Picnic Invite - July 9 ,2011 (Saturday) -6 days to go

Just a reminder with the location and details for the Annual Summer Picnic for XLers and Family.
Time: 12:00 pm onwards, July 9 ,2011 (Saturday)
Location : Sunnybrook Park (Picnic Area No. 2), Toronto
Directions : Most convenient to use the Entrance marked in Black on the Map off Leslie St.
Pot Luck Lunch - Each family brings a dish/snack to share in a pot luck format
Please bring our own soft drinks, styrofoam plates / cups/ napkins/spoons/ forks etc. Please bring lawn chairs, Duree/sheets.
If you have a Stove, pls bring that along to to heat up the food if required.
(if your friends want to come along, welcome too)

Looking forward to seeing you all there. Please give me a call in case of any issues in getting there or need pickup arrangements.
Regards,
Siddharth

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

XLRI Faculty Visit to Washington DC

Fr.E. Abraham, Director XLRI and Prof. Jitender Singh, Chairperson International Relations are visiting Washington D.C., during 16-17 July 2011.

They have expressed there keen interest to meet XLers in Washington. Quick response of Alumni from Washington will be appreciated.

Dr. MG Jomon
Chairperson, Alumni
joe@xlri.ac.in

Sunday, June 19, 2011

XLRI alumni meet Singapore - save the date - 19th august

Folks,

It's been a while since we all met so it's time to plan the next alumni meet :)

We are arranging this meet at the American club - hence the advance booking/notice :)) A special thanks to the salwans who are helping with the venue/ organization :)

Details on the meet will come shortly - but would love to hear thoughts on what would people like to do apart from meet & greet!

And as always, enthu junta who would like to help organize, pls send me an email!

Do block the date in your calendar and share this with all XLers you know who'll be in and around Singapore but not on this group!

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Regards
Pooja Arora

Sunday, June 12, 2011

XLRI Canada Summer Picnic Invite - July 9 ,2011 (Saturday)

It is that time of the year again. Last year for the first time we had two
picnics one in Summer and one in Fall.

Hoping to do the same this year.
Since the Sunnybrook Park location has been our traditional Summer Picnic spot,
would like to keep it the same this year also.

Date : July 9, 2011 (Saturday)
Time: 12:00 pm onwards
Location : Sunnybrook Park, Toronto (will give exact spot closer to the time)
Format: Potluck

Hoping to see most of you there. Please e-mail/call with your suggestions and
confirmation.
Regards,
Siddharth

Friday, June 03, 2011

"A Flawed God" - novel by Arjun Shekhar (90PMIR)

From flipkart.com

A Flawed God is Arjun Shekhar's (90PMIR) first book published by Hachette, which presents a compelling point-of-view about corporate ownership through a fast, funny story/ spoof.

Arjun Shekhar is one of the founders of Pravah, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to encourage urban youth to become active citizens. He worked as an HR professional for several years before that, and now runs a consulting firm called Vyaktitva which explores the relationship between an organization and its people. He has used his consulting experiences to write A Flawed God, a novel set in the corporate world.




An ordinary corporate executive turns assassin to save his firm from ruin with the help of the master of a secret guild out to revolutionize the corporation... Sanchit Mishra a.k.a. Sancho is staring bleakly at his performance appraisal form when an invitation from the mysterious Progress in Work Collective lands on his desk. His colleague and confidante, Pause Daniels, urges him to dig deeper. Soon he finds himself sucked into a secret world of anonymous superheroes out to revolutionize the business world by attacking that flawed god it worships – the share market. This parallel life pumps some self-esteem into Sancho, preparing him to do what’s needed when the firm is taken over by a multinational and an ugly industrial relations situation ensues. The case for the transfer of ownership from shareholders to employees is made through Sancho and Pause’s story in this witty, fast-paced corporate allegory.

XLRI ushers in job creators, batch 2

From The Telegraph


Jamshedpur, June 1: XLRI today inducted another group of aspiring entrepreneurs into its fold.

The premier B-school’s entrepreneurship development centre (EDC) on XLRI campus inaugurated its second batch of postgraduate programme for certificate in entrepreneurship management (PGP-CEM), with 53 students, three up from the first batch. 

The inductees also got a chance to interact with M.J. Xavier, director, IIM-Ranchi, who was the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony.
Also present were XLRI director Father E. Abraham, dean (academics) Pranabesh Ray, dean (administration and finance) Father C.L. George, and EDC chairperson Prabal K. Sen.

This year, the entrepreneurship course has two new subjects — advertising and market research — based on feedback from the first batch. Many students had said these were a crucial part of any 21st century enterprise.

“Advertising is vital for an entrepreneur. A good advertising strategy means that a company has an edge over the others in the same segment. Market research, on the other hand, helps one to find the opportunities that need to be tapped and how,” said Sen.

Unlike last year, projects will be formulated only under the guidance of a faculty member instead of an organisation.

The new students, chosen out of 300 applicants, have come from across the country. They have diverse backgrounds such as management, law and others, but a single aim of being job creators instead of seekers.
It’s for them that the B-school started the entrepreneurship course.

“The programme will help nurture young and dynamic job creators,” said Father Abraham.
And going by the performance of the first batch, a fair start has been made. Around 60 per cent of the students already have their own start-ups.

Sen added that the state government had given a Rs 2-crore grant to develop EDC infrastructure. Hopefully by next year, the PGP-CEM will be a residential programme, if a dedicated building comes up on XITE (Xavier Institute of Technical Education) campus, Gamharia.
Classes will start from tomorrow.

Interestingly, 16 of the new entrants are already self-employed. 

But as Xavier said: “Students enrolled in the PGP-CEM course must feel lucky because as soon as you enter the XLRI campus, your market value increases.”

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

XLRI Alumni Meet Dubai - 27th May 2011

Dear all,

Further to the mail sent earlier regarding the alumni meet , this will be held on Friday 27th May from 7 pm onwards at the Four Points Sheraton in Mankool, Dubai.  A separate banquet hall will be available (directions in the lobby).

The cost will be AED 100 per head (Indian menu with unlimited soft drinks / juice).  Those who would like to have an alcoholic drink, can pay for it separately at the counter.

I would request all those who have not confirmed to do so asap so that final numbers can be given to the hotel. Gurvit is the summer meet coordinator and his mail ID is gurvit2006@gmail.com   

Regards

Leya

Thursday, May 19, 2011

XLRI Alumni meet in UK

Arifa and Sharky are planning a gala dinner with private room hire at Crowne Plaza hotel , St James Square, London on June 11th evening  for xlers in London.

Estimated cost per person GBP50
 
Will update more details when I have them
Kim

XLRI Alumni Meet in Basel, Switzerland

Dear XLer,

I would like to cordially invite you all to the XL Alumni Meet 2011, to be held at Basel, Switzerland.

The plan is to have the meet on the first weekend of June. However, since Thursday and Friday are holidays, we could meet either on Wednesday (1st of June) or Thursday (2nd of June). Please fill the form below to confirm your participation and give your preference for the date -
http://tinyurl.com/6kjj2w4

We shall meet at 5:30 pm for drinks and then head for dinner at around 7:30 pm. The venue shall be finalized soon and communicated to you.

I hope that we will have a great time and re-live the fond memories at XL :)

Warm Regards,
Maneesh Dhooper
PMIR 2010-12

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Intelius’ Naveen Jain (BMD82) Turns to Moon Mining, Philanthropy

From India West

BERKELEY, Calif. – Naveen Jain is the chief executive officer of Intelius, a Bellevue, Wash.-based Web security firm with annual revenues of $150 million and more than 350 employees.

Before that he founded and headed InfoSpace, which became a very successful publicly traded data aggregation company before encountering problems at the end of the dotcom era.

Jain in April launched Mountain View, Calif.-based Moon Express, which he co-founded with the plan to mine the moon for its rare materials.

But all that the serial entrepreneur wanted to talk about while being interviewed here by India-West on the sidelines of the Economist conference (I-W, April 8), was h is philanthropic work – that and the fact that his children are following in his footsteps.

“I’m spending 60 to 70 percent of my time on my philanthropic work,” he exclaimed on a rainy day at a Berkeley coffeehouse.

“Entrepreneurship can solve basic human problems and many of these fundamental problems relate to health care and education.”

Jain currently sits on a number of science, technology and education boards, including chairing the education and global development initiative of the X Prize Foundation.

He wants to fund a $1 million incentive challenge at X Prize for an entrepreneur who creates software running on a mobile device, able to be operated by minimally-trained individuals, that can diagnose common diseases in the developing world.

A trained village person would perform the tests and the results would be sent to medical experts at nearby hospitals for follow-up care. “The device could be rented out for $5 a day by a village girl,” he enthused.

The inventor who comes up with a solution, maybe even if the device tests just the five or six most common diseases, could win $1 million, depending on the X Prize panel’s decision.

“The reason I like challenge grants is that you get what you incentivize,” Jain said, adding, “There’s lots of smart people out there.”

Another X Prize grant he may fund is $1 million related to one of Jain’s favorite fields of study, neuroscience. “The brain has a plasticity. It is constantly being wired and rewired,” he said, pointing out that only a fraction of brainpower is used in such activities as reading.

Jain wants to fund accelerated learning made possible through game technology.

He will award a grant to someone who can come up with a “multi-sensory game, with motion, sound and an intense emotional experience, in a video game system, that is effective, addictive and viral, and that enables learning.”

He imagines hundreds of thousands of people online playing and learning. “If this country can create better learners, we will leave a better country for our children,” he said.

Jain is a director on the board of Singularity University and also a board member of the nonprofit Kairos Society, a global network of undergraduate students using entrepreneurship to solve world challenges.

If the concept sounds familiar, it is because Kairos was founded by Jain’s son, Ankur Jain, a student at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania who has been profiled by the national media. The New York Stock Exchange and the United Nations co-hosted the 2011 Kairos Global Summit Feb. 25-26 in New York.

Young entrepreneurs from around the world, including 24 from India, attended the event, Jain said, clearly proud that his son is following in philanthropy.

In addition, he said, “Our daughter, Priyanka, has started the IcareWEcare organization to do social good socially,” he told India-West. “Previously, she was the founder of Circle of Women for high school girls to build schools for girls in developing countries.”

His latest venture, Moon Express, which Jain chairs, is building robotic rovers alongside scientists at NASA’s Ames Research Center near South San Francisco. The machines are designed to look for materials that are scarce on Earth.

“From an entrepreneur’s perspective, the moon has never truly been explored,” Jain told the Los Angeles Times. "We think it could hold resources that benefit Earth and all humanity.”

The other two cofounders are CTO Barney Pell, former head architect of Microsoft’s Bing Internet search engine; and CEO Robert “Bob” Richards, founder of International Space University, and a former NASA manager.

MoonEx has received a NASA contract that could be worth up to $10 million. The company is among several teams hoping to win Google’s Lunar X Prize competition, a $30-million race to the moon in which a privately funded team must successfully place a robot on the moon’s surface and have it explore at least one-third of a mile. The team also must transmit high-definition video and images back to Earth before 2016.

“Mankind is standing on the threshold of finding precious minerals and metals on the moon that in the future will power everything from electric car batteries to aerospace applications,” Jain told India-West last week by e-mail.

“This is just beginning. The non-radioactive isotope, Helium-3, which is rare on Earth, but believed to be more abundant on the moon, is sought for use in nuclear fusion research.

“I believe we are about to uncover the moon’s many vital resources, including large quantities of platinum that will solve Earth’s present resource and energy problems and make a better world for my children and for generations to come. I started Moon Express to find the resources to significantly improve the quality of life on Earth.”

“MoonEx should be ready to land on the lunar surface by 2013," Jain told the Times. “It’s our goal to be the first company there and stay there.”

Jain grew up in New Delhi in a poor family. He said his father worked for the government, but the family stayed poor because his father steadfastly refused to take any bribes, meaning he could never be promoted.

“My mother was not educated, but like most Indians, she cared deeply about education for her children. She thought it could make a difference in people’s lives.”

Jain received an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee in 1979 and an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur School of Management in 1982.

In 1983, Burroughs accepted him for a business exchange program in New Jersey and in 1989, he was hired by Microsoft, where he later worked on the Windows NT and Windows 95 operating systems and was on the management team that launched the Microsoft Network.

Jain founded InfoSpace in March 1996 and served as CEO until 2000. His net worth ranked him high on the list of Forbes’ richest Americans, but problems at InfoSpace led to him finally resigning as CEO in 2001 and leaving the board of directors a few years later.

Jain said he bounced back and founded Intelius to help people “manage their own identity.”

“You have to protect your family, whether you are hiring a teacher or a gardener or anyone else.” The company does background and security checks. Many of those who worked under him at InfoSpace joined him at Intelius, he said.

Jain was awarded the “Light of India Business Leadership Award” for “visionary entrepreneurship,” by the Times Group April 25. Indians from around the world voted for the award.

XLRI Courses Go Green

From Edu Leaders

XLRI Jamshedpur, a premier B-school, has revamped its syllabus to make business professionals more sensitive towards environmental and social issues.

The issues have been integrated in the syllabus for students pursuing post graduation in management, personnel management and industrial relationship.

The institute has roped in its Associate Professor Tata L. Raghu Ram and US Fulbright scholar Gerard F. Farias to teach lessons on environment and social relationship under in its new course – Sustainable development to corporate strategies.

The course, Ram said, will help students evolve strategies for social concerns like environmental degeneration and also earn profit for business.

The syllabus also focuses on teaching students design for high performance organisations, application of complexity theory to organisation sciences and the role of business in sustainable development.

Monday, May 09, 2011

XL Alumni Meet Dubai Chapter Summer meet

Hi Greetings from XLRI !!! The time to connect with your Alma Mater is back!!! And we are very excited to invite you with your family to the Alumni Meet in Dubai. We are in process of finalizing the venue and the date of the event is 27th of May. We need some the following information about you though. It will be great if you could fill it up and send it across ASAP. For any other information please call me at the number mentioned below.
Thanks and Regards,
Gurvit Malhotra
+971 55 99 62 560



First Name *
Last Name *

Date of Birth *


Programme *

· ( ) BM

· () PM&IR

· ( ) Other:



Batch *

Organization *
Designation *
Contact Number *
Address *

What is the status of your availability? * It will be great to have you with us!!!

· ( ) Sorry but I won't be able to make it

· ( ) Its Tentative

· ( ) I am surely attending


How many from your family will be attending?


--

Gurvit Malhotra
Official Disc-Jockey
Sr. Executive Member - Placement Committee
PM&IR, XLRI Jamshedpur
Mobile: +971 55 99 62 560
p10083@astra.xlri.ac.in

Monday, May 02, 2011

Round up of Upcoming Alumni Meets

Dear All

XLRI Summer Alumni Meets, 2011 have been scheduled in the month of May. The batch of 2010-2012 is working really hard to make them a grand success, much bigger and magnificient than the last year.

Schedule for the meet:

Please spread the word.


City
Date
Venue
Hyderabad
7th May
Boulder Hills, Gachibowli, Hyderabad
Delhi
14th May
The Parkland Retreat, Main Chhatarpur Mandir Road, Satbari, New Delhi
Chennai
21st May
Railway Officer's Club, Sterling Road
Mumbai
21st May
Mayfair Banquet Hall, Worli, Mumbai
Bangalore
28th May
The Royal Orchid
Kolkata
21st May
Floatel 9/10, Kolkata jetty, Opp. SBI HQ, Strand Road, Kolkata.

However, they are really struggling with the sponsorship and I am afraid they might have to cancel a few venues due to lack of liquidity. The Summer Meets last year were a great success due to the support shown by the XLers in arranging sponsorship. I organized the meet last year and I know how tough it is for the organizing team while managing their internships.

On behalf of the organizing team, I request you to look into the matter and contact the undersigned if you wish to sponsor.

Raghuram Bommaraju
Secretary, Alumni Committee
BM(2010-2012)
Ph.: 9204 067 454

Regards
Shubham Singhal
BM(2009-2011)
XLRI, Jamshedpur

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