XLRI completes final placements in less than 4 days

From : The Business Standard

XLRI-Xavier School of Management Jamshedpur today announced that it has placed its entire batch of 245 students of its flagship Business Management and Human Resource Management Programs in just 3.5 days.

The Final Recruitment Process of 2014 saw the presence of 103 prominent recruiters with 254 offers across domains with a variety of roles in Management Consulting, Investment Banking, Private Equity, Corporate Finance, Banking, Sales and Marketing, Strategy, Operations and Human Resource functions.

The placement season witnessed the participation of over 32 new recruiters in addition to the plethora of traditional recruitment partners.

The institute in its initial statement said that in continuation with the trend from the recently concluded Summer Internship Placements, the campus recruitment process was marked by an overwhelming presence of recruiters from the Financial sector domain and advent of new recruiters from the Consulting domain.

The final placement report is awaited.

XLRI witnesses 100% placement in 3.5 Days

From : The Economic Times

The Xavier School of Management ( XLRI) has placed its entire 2012-14 batch in just 3.5 days against the backdrop of a protracted slowdown in the economy, a press release of the institution said here today.

The ongoing year's final recruitment process saw the presence of 103 prominent recruiters with 254 offers across domains where 245 students of its Business Management and Human Resource Management Programs got selected, it claimed.

The placement season witnessed participation of over 32 new recruiters in addition to the plethora of traditional recruitment partners, the release mentioned.

Our Light and Our Life – Bishu Da by Vinoo, XLRI

Philips launched Philips Campus Journos - a contest for current B School students to write stories - and an XLer wrote this about Bishu Da! :)

http://campusjournos.com/2013/07/09/our-light-and-our-life-bishu-da-by-vinoo-xlri/

Do share and like it for an XLer to win the contest ;)

There are lovely pictures too at the link, it will take you back to your days at Jampot.

A sampling of the article :

"From 11 pm to 4 am, there is a never ending stream of students looking to either catch up after an exhausting day of case studies. Bishu da has a flexible credit system and the cheese maggi is probably the most famous item of the menu, more so because it can also be served up the quickest.

The gossip and rumours exchanged at Bishu da’s shed light on the many happenings inside campus. Bishu da is more than a person, he is part of the XL culture, an integral part of the legacy and an institution in himself."

Read the whole article and see the pictures on
http://campusjournos.com/2013/07/09/our-light-and-our-life-bishu-da-by-vinoo-xlri/

and don't forget to "Like" it

My first week at XLRI – Vinoo Kurian Thomas

From CareerAnna.com

Vinoo Kurian Thomas, XLRI (2013-2015)

In perspective

The blue frothy waves crashed onto the shore again and again, never ending, never ceasing. I always preferred the solitude of the beach. The Marina beach is Asia’s longest and one of the most famous attractions in the city. Today, to my surprise, I found that I was the only one in the beach. I couldn’t spot a single other soul on the shore. Come to think of it, I could not see anyone else anywhere. Maybe, it’s my lucky day I figured and began to ponder about the many intricacies of the path that I had chosen. ‘Can I get you something sir’ the voice said, measured, smooth, calm. But there was no form to it. I looked around and spotted no one. ‘Sir? Excuse me sir?’ I snapped out of my reverie and found myself bang in the middle of a pretty airhostess’s inquiries on my general wellness state. ‘No, I’m good’ I replied. I would be at 30,000 feet mid-way between Chennai and Kolkata. I was on the way to Jamshedpur, or Jampot, as we lovingly call it. The end destination was XLRI Jamshedpur, the no.1 private B-School in the country.

The long journey

The journey to XLRI had been a long one and I had often dreamed of visiting the campus. I had decided that even if I had converted other institutes, I would make it a point to surely visit XLRI once for an academic or cultural competition. The one thing that distinguished XLRI wherever one goes is the mention of a culture. It is ever prevalent, ever present. XL Culture was spoken of in public online forums and among friends, but no one ever really knew what it really was except the students there themselves. My journey into XLRI itself was a highly comic one involving the only breakdown of my Honda Activa in a 7-year ownership period about 45 minutes before the test and subsequent breakdown of the autorickshaw  I had hired after my scooters breakdown about 30 minutes before XAT 2013. I alone know the story of how I finally managed to reach the venue in time, regain some semblance of composure and get ready to give my all during those crucial hours inside the hall. But I got through. I had a good score and aced my GD/PI stage leading to a direct convert. I was finally on my way to my dream B-School and one of the very best at that. The journey from Chennai, other than for my occasional day dreaming, was fairly uneventful and a quick train hop later I was at Jampot. The immediate impression could be summed  in one word: TATA. The Tata Group ensures that Jamshedpur is never short of anything. It is a beautifully maintained city. As the taxi rolled in to Circuit House Area, I stared wide-eyed like a kid in a candy store. I wanted to assimilate every moment and store in my mind’s hard drive. I knew this would be my home for 2 years. Once at the campus, I signed in to the MDP Residence block as I had arrived a couple of days prior to the official start when students could move in to the hostels. The MDP residence primarily functions as apartments for top executives who come to experience the very best of management education, compressed into a 4-day or week-long event. The facilities were wonderful and I quickly settled down.

The Campus

The next day was mostly spent getting my documents in order. I roamed around the campus a lot, trying to understand the way to and fro different blocks. I spotted Dadu’s which had been around for almost as long as the institution itself. The hostel was maintained really well and to my surprise my room was among the largest in the entire block! Lucky me! The pride forever XLRI store was a definite surprise where one can get branded and quality XLRI merchandise ranging from photo frames to t-shirts. There are two convenience stores, one within campus and other just 2 minutes walk away for the benefit of the students. Overall, I was impressed by the huge expansive campus, with a world class library and fantastic gym. The facilities have all been provided. It is up to the student to manage his time everyday in an optimal manner and develop his own self into a well rounded personality adept at both physical activities and academics. During the first week of orientation here, I often ran into the Jesuit priests who run the college administration. Brought up in familiar waters back in Chennai, I built a good rapport with the priests here who are ever willing to come to the aid of the student community. The next day onwards, slowly students started settling in to the atmosphere. I made a lot of quick friends, thanks in part to our Facebook admits group because of which I already knew a lot of them.

Getting started

The first week comprises of several orientation courses which brought us up to the speed with the case study methodology of learning. XLRI is indeed blessed with departments rich in learned and experienced professors stresses the importance of class participation. The case study method gives a real time experience of the problem in hand, the various options available , helps to create a decision matrix and to choose the best solution to the given problem .Of course one needs to make many assumptions and this helps to enhance learning. My experience has been that since students come from varied back grounds and profile one can learn from their experience and helps peer rating as well.

The Committees

XLRI has been traditionally known for its various committees and the pioneering work they do in their respective areas. There are many to choose from according to one’s ability, skill and aptitude. These provide suitable launching pads for future managers.   There are a number of Committees on campus aimed at fine tuning the leadership skills of students. The few notable ones are

FIRE@X(The Forum for Industrial Relations at XLRI) aimed at bringing about a greater level of interaction between students, faculty and the industry and to create awareness and passion about the field of industrial relations and labour laws.

MAXI(The Marketing Association of XLRI) the oldest committee on campus is designed at popularising the field of marketing at XLRI.

DRACULA (The Dramatic and Cultural Association at XLRI)hosts events providing high quality varied entertainment thereby stimulates the creative potential in the diverse student fraternity on the campus

Welcome

The welcome ceremony on 14^th June 2013 at the state of the art TATA Auditorium that can boast of a fine acoustic system and accommodates 1000 people was a solemn as well as an enriching experience for both students and parent’s community. The introduction of the faculty gave an insight into the diversity and experience  XLRI faculty possess. The address by Fr E Abraham,SJ,  Director was inspiring and thought provoking and outlined  the road map for next two years.

Hectic and fast paced

Life moves at a fast pace at campus .Often 24 hrs is not sufficient to live a day. Yes, here one has to go miles and miles at this speed before one can sleep. I really enjoy this fast pace as there is no single dull moment and there is always something yet to be attempted and completed. Group discussions enhance learning and the joy and satisfaction one get when an idea or suggestion is accepted by the group is an achievement in itself. Of course one learns to accept divergent views and see others point of view.

Home away from home.

One quickly adjusts to hostel life on campus with excellent mess and kitchens with  friendly seniors who are  very approachable and very helpful. Every interaction is enriching and rewarding. The food is tasty and satisfying. The primary lessons of community living by sharing the available resources in this already shrinking universe and brotherhood is rewarding. The motto “ Service before Self” is best learned in such conditions.

Green Campus

Often one hears about ecology and greenery but fails to see these often. A visitor  to the campus is at once thrilled by the sprawling and green campus in the idyllic setting of the Dalma Hills and TISCO. The long sightedness and long term planning of the institution’s founders and their worthy successors needs praise and needs to be emulated. The buildings are not mere concrete monsters but a blend of modern and traditional architecture. Good drainage system is in place to prevent water logging and flooding.

Facilities many

Sir Jehangir Ghandy Library is vast storehouse that caters to the information needs of all and is treasure house of literature related to labour laws and management.

XLRI has many sports and recreational facilities including a multi gym, Badminton, Basket, Football , Tennis , Volley Ball courts and a Recreation and TV Hall.

XLRI has excellent LAN and WIFI connectivity. Undoubtedly XLRI is the most e-enabled business school in our country.

Your Grace is enough

As a devout Catholic I consider myself lucky as there is a beautiful chapel close to my hostel where I can go anytime and spend time in the company of Jesus. Prayer  and worship have come close like never before.  Attending Sunday Mass has also become more convenient

In short Life is good

 My experience is more rewarding as I have a very friendly and helpful room mate. My experience so far has been more than satisfying and rewarding. There are more events I look forward to .One such is the village programme. I have always believed that unless our semi urban and rural population is economically uplifted the battle is not won. Education and health care are the two focus areas where much needs to be done. To eradicate poverty our country should  spend more on these two critical areas. Infrastructure  spending need to be increased so that power and clean drinking water no more remains dreams for our villagers. Management schools have a lot to do in this area as future corporate executives  need to understand where  the soul of India lies .

Vinoo Kurian Thomas is from XLRI 2013-15 Batch and we appreciate him for taking out time for sharing his first week experience at XLRI with all of us.

Village goes digital, courtesy XLRI

From The Telegraph

XLRI student Himanshu Singh with village pradhan Manu Singh Sardar on Sunday. (Bhola Prasad)

Seventy-year-old Manu Singh Sardar had a dream for his village Janumdih in Potka block of East Singhbhum. It came true on Sunday for village boys like Rohit Sardar, an eighth grader, with a digital twist.

Manu Singh, who dropped out of school in Class VIII but went on to become a Mundari poet and village pradhan, always wanted a library for Janumdih.

XLRI students and NGO Kalamandir fulfilled the elderly man’s vision with some 21st century extras thrown in.

While Kalamandir constructed the library near its grass-mat training and weaving centre, XLRI students collected the lion’s share of the 500 books in Hindi, English and Bengali. XLRI students also donated a computer with Internet connection and a webcam to the library that Manu Singh inaugurated on Sunday.

So if Rohit and his friends were excited about Aesop’s fables, Champak, Tintin and Tinkle comics as well as textbooks, they were completely in awe of the Internet. “I know about www dot com and Google,” smiled Rohit, pronouncing each word carefully.

His school, Mutkeshwardham High School, Harina, doesn’t even have a library.

The general management programme students of XLRI who did most of the project’s legwork sounded moved with the digital gateway.

“This was a social project for our group of 10 students, a part of the course where we take up a sustainable social project and implement it. Though it is a part of our curriculum, it gives us pleasure to see villagers happy. If they use the Net and read books, they can achieve so much,” said Himanshu Singh, part of Team XLRI.

He and other students — Deepak Suri, Devesh Thakur, Gaurav Sharma, Mayank Gupta, Ravjit Kokardekar, Mandar Buddhikot, Tanveer Anwar and Paul Jacob — went around telling villagers about books and Internet. 

A computer-trained local youth, Satyajit Barui, will maintain the system. Villagers can learn to browse the Net and chat on the web with anybody, even the district administration if needed. “We will convert this hub into a full-fledged computer system and shift the library to a bigger area. We will also appoint a librarian,” said Monica Bhatia, Kalamandir co-ordinator.

The Telegraph asked Rohit what he would search on the Net.

 “America!” he grinned.

Business class experience

From Hindustan Times

It is an institution where learning is a life-changing experience,” says Anusheel Shrivastava, who is pursuing an MBA in human resource management at XLRI, Jamshedpur. For students at the institute, studying for an MBA degree is not just about learning from books, it’s about gaining knowledge from everyday activities.

“XLRI gives you tremendous scope to be part of a plethora of academic and extra-curricular activities that make learning  fun and interesting,” he adds.

USP: Established a few years after Independence, the business school has earned an impeccable reputation both for academic rigour and its emphasis on a value-based managerial approach. The facilities it offers are comparable to any top-ranked institute.

“It produces not just students with management degrees but also inculcates a sense of social responsibility and ethical behaviour in them. We strive towards producing responsible global business leaders of tomorrow,” says Pranabesh Ray, dean (academics), XLRI. The institute boasts of an excellent placements record and a very strong alumni network.

Programmes: XLRI runs a range of full-time and part-time courses. The flagship ones are the two-year full-time postgraduate programmes in business management and human resource management and the 15-month, full-time general management programme. It also offers a doctoral-level qualification through a fellow programme in management and one-year certificate courses via satellite links called virtual interactive learning (VIL) programmes. The VIL programme is accessed by students in 100 classrooms across India. An executive fellow programme in management, a certificate in entrepreneurship management, an international students’ exchange programme, a certificate course in agri-business management, an executive management programme for defence personnel, PGDM for working professionals and entrepreneurs are in place as well.

Proposed programmes include a master’s in positive organisational development and change in partnership with Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, United States, and the three-country global MBA programme.

To get admission to a flagship programme, candidates have to appear for the Xavier Admission Test (XAT) conducted in the first week of January every year. The candidate has to first register for XAT and use the XAT ID and password to apply to XLRI. The process starts in mid-August every year.

Faculty: XLRI has more than 80 members in the faculty, including 65 permanent.

IT quotient: The IT network helps students learn and collaborate with peers. The campus is Wi-Fi-enabled. The computing facilities  include latest servers and workstations. There are high-end servers, which host the XLRI web page, mail and SNTP server, Oracle, Lotus notes, SAS, DB2 and other software. The institute also has video conferencing facilities.

Infrastructure: The campus is spread over 50 acres and has excellent classrooms and comfortable residential facilities. It has a mix of heritage buildings and modern architecture, a world-class library, top-of-the-line IT backbone, besides a good support system necessary for value-added management research and publications. Residential facilities include four hostel blocks with around 500 rooms for students in two-year programmes. For sports, there’s an indoor badminton court, football and cricket fields and basketball courts and an auditorium with a capacity for about 1,500 people. The institute recently set up an inter-disciplinary behavioural laboratory on campus to enable researchers to explore the minds of prospective consumers across categories.

Clubs and societies: CRUX - consulting and research undertaking at XLRI, aims to nurture research initiatives to develop consultancy skills among students. ECT (Ensemble core team) is responsible for managing the institute's annual international management festival. FINAX is the finance association at XLRI, a committee focused on increasing the knowledge and enthusiasm for finance among students. MAXI, the oldest committee on campus, is a forum for discussions, event, conferences and industry interaction. SIGMA - the social initiative group for managerial assistance creates a platform to network with NGOs, corporate governance cells and government departments for community capacity building.

FactfileFounded by Father Quinn Enright, SJ, XLRI started its journey in 1949 in Jamshedpur

WishlistStudents wish for a stronger industry-academia link across all sectors of management

XLRI enters into partnership with business funding agency to boost entrepreneurship

From The Times of India


The Fr. Arrupe Centre for Ecology and Sustainability (Faces), a centre based at the premier business school XLRI, has entered into a partnership with Freemont Partners, India's first global incubator and accelerator providing mentoring and seed funding to entrepreneurs. The partnership envisions working in tandem to identify, incubate and invest in start-ups which have a sustainability-centric business model. Freemont's experienced management, global access to mentors, partners and alliances provide a value proposition for new and upcoming start-ups before their major round of funding.

Freemont Partners expects to invest in about 25 to 30 companies over the next three to four years, including a few which have a sustainability-centric business model using technology.

Faces is a multi-disciplinary centre at XLRI which envisions providing thought leadership to promote policies, practices and dialogue, which have an impact on holistic and sustainable development of society and enterprises. The center is in the process of building an incubator to support start-ups in this space." Partnership with Freemont Partners will provide young students and entrepreneurs a great platform for mentorship, besides facilitating seed-funding to build a sustainability-centric business," said Faces chairperson Professor Madhukar Shukla.

The centre which has been working consistently on issues concerning social entrepreneurship for years, had organized a meet on the National Rural Livelihood Mission, (NRLM) in July jointly with the India unit of World Bank to get an overall understanding of the NRLM agenda.

The co-founder of Freemont Partners, Ronald D'Souza, said, "Young entrepreneurs in India are looking at building a sustainable ecosystem with innovative products and technology. In partnership with Faces we hope to support this emerging ecosystem, which will have a long term impact on the way we live, work and play." Freemont Partners provides mentorship, strategic direction and access to local and global mentors and partners, said a company functionary.

XLRI to open its new campus by 2014-end

From Yahoo News


XLRI, a premier private business school in India, will come out with a new campus in the National Capital Region (NCR) by the end of 2014, an official said here Saturday.

"The construction work for the campus has already been started. Total investment for the new campus would be about Rs.50 crore to Rs.60 crore," E. Abraham S.J., director of the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) told mediapersons here Saturday.

The new campus will have 120 seats. The renowned B-school would also increase the number of seats in its Jamshedpur campus to 360 from the existing 240 seats in the next year.

XLRI is also launching a global MBA programme, in partnership with Weatherhead School of Management of Case Western University Cleveland, USA and School of Economics and Management of Tongji University Shanghai, China, Abraham S.J. said.

The new full time two-year residential global MBA programme will commence from June, 2013. XLRI Saturday unveiled a new improvised logo for its new brand identity.

XLRI to invest Rs 110 crore for Delhi, 2nd Jamshedpur campus

From The Hindu Businessline

Big plans: (From left) Vineet Nayar (BMD 85 - CEO HCL Tech), Jaspal Bindra(BMD 84 - CEO- StanChart, Asia Pacific) and E. Abraham (BMD 78 - Director -XLRI), from Board of Governors of XLRI, addressing a press conference in Kolkata on Saturday. — A. Roy Chowdhury

XLRI School of Business and Human Resources plans to expand its footprint in the country by setting up a campus in Delhi. Plans are also afoot to set up a second campus in Jamshedpur. Both these campuses will entail a total investment of about Rs 110 crore. 

According to E. Abraham, Director, XLRI, the second campus in Jamshedpur will provide an additional 120 seats for business and human resource management courses, while the Delhi campus, which is to come up in the National Capital Region, will accommodate close to 120 students in its first phase. 

The institute has an intake of 240 students a year at present at its existing facility in Jamshedpur.

“The second campus at Jamshedpur will be ready by 2013, while the first phase of the Delhi campus will be ready by 2014-15,” Abraham said at a press meet to unveil the new brand identity and logo of XLRI here on Saturday.

New Course

Apart from expanding its geographical presence, XLRI also plans to add new course into its offerings. 

The institute has launched a global MBA programme in partnership with Weatherhead School of Management of Case Western University in Cleveland, USA, and School of Economics and Management of Tongji University in Shanghai, China. 

The two-year full time residential global MBA course will commence from June 2013. 

Under the programme, each B-school will admit 20 students from its country (India, China and US). The course will be held in three parts — in Jamshedpur, Shanghai and Cleveland.

Brand Identity

XLRI had roped in Water, the branding and design consultancy of the DDB Mudra Group, for designing the new brand identity. 

“The new brand identity represents the institute’s clear focus and direction that allow greater freedom for the brand to grow nationally and globally,” he said.

500 turn up for Jamshedpur Run organised by XLRI

From The Times of India:


JAMSHEDPUR: Jamshedpur Run, organized by XLRI, was a success with more than 500 people turning up on a cloudy Sunday morning to participate in the annual event, which has grown in popularity since it was introduced four years back.

The enthusiasm in the air was palpable in the institute's football ground since early morning as students, schoolkids, athletes as well as professors and executives converged on the field, ready to have a shot at the winner's trophy.

The marathon was held in two legs - a 10km version for athletes and running enthusiasts and a 5km version for others who might not be as skilled. Arjun Toda came first in the 5km men's category while Jai Prakash won the 10 km event.

In the women's section, Madhubala, a doctoral student at XLRI, won the 5km race.

All the winners were awarded cash prizes and mementos. The prize distribution ceremony was attended by faculty coordinator MG Jomon who congratulated all the participants for their spirit and tenacity.

Sanjeev Varshney, faculty of marketing at XLRI, received a special award for being the first among faculty members to finish the race.

The mood was aptly captured by official marathon theme which invited the residents of this city to "run for your dreams".

The run concluded with XLRI planning to organize a bigger and better version of the event next year. It also plans to work with all members of the community to uphold the ideals of social harmony and youth empowerment in the society.

Vlahalla 2012

Valhalla 2012 ended yesterday. The winner of the sports events...
Basketball (M)-XLRI
Basketball (W)-XLRI
Swimming- XLRI
Throwball- XLRI/IIMC
Volleyball (W)- XLRI/IIMC
Volleyball (M)- IIM Raipur
Athletics- XIMB
Table Tennis- XIMB
Badminton- SIBM
Football-SIBM

The finals of Throwball and Volleyball (W) was washed out and hence XLRI and IIMC were joint winners

XLRI-XITE coaching initiative for SC/ST students to enable admission without reservation

From PagalGuy.com

First batch of XITE’s MBA coaching program

Neha Badrai (22), currently pursuing a Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) from Xavier Institute of Tribal Education (XITE), had never considered doing an MBA. Originally from West Singhbhum in Jharkhand, this Scheduled Caste (SC) student decided to give it a try since her institute in collaboration with XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur started a new SC/ST MBA coaching class last September. For Neha’s batchmate, Anupama Soreng, on the other hand, the new course was like a dream come true since she always wanted to do an MBA. Born into a family of farmers, Anupama is keen to break the mould and take on a corporate life. Both the girls are eagerly awaiting a chance to do well in the ensuing MBA entrance exams.

Neha Badrai, Final Year BBA student at XITE

The primary idea of these classes was to secure SC/ST students entry into MBA institutes sans the ‘reservation’ route. According to Father E Abraham SJ, Director, XLRI, and one of the pioneers behind the idea, the idea is to help SC/ST students achieve dreams on their own. “Jharkand has a huge number of SC/ST students who do not have the best of opportunities in life. Though the government has provided them  reservation in government b-schools, as an educational centre, it is our duty to help these students to do well in life on their own terms.”

Towards this end, XLRI has given XITE a grant of Rs 1 crore to be used over a time-frame of 5 years. These funds have been allocated to set up the infrastructure for running the coaching classes, building a computer centre, and towards creating publicity through advertisements. The actual coaching is carried out by a set of enthusiastic PGDM students of XLRI, in a bid to give back something to society.

Having finalised the plans for these classes during the second half of 2011, the authorities had  little time to advertise or promote the course amongst students of the state. Thus, the first batch of 24 students, were those pursuing their third year in BBA from XITE itself and are now in the final year of their course. In addition, the coaching classes began in September 2011, which gave the candidates little time to prepare for the entrance exams. Yet, the students took the exams but none of them fared too well.

According to Father EA Augustine SJ, Director for Xavier Institute of Tribal Education, the idea this time is to expand the advertising range of the course not only to heavily-tribal infested places like Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Chaibasa and Dumka in Jharkhand but also other states like Bihar and Odhisha.

Praising the efforts made by XLRI students in lending a hand towards training of the SC/ST students, Father Augustine said, “The XLRI students put in a lot of work towards this project.  While a couple of teachers from XITE had been asked to look in on the classes, everything from the course structure, to the teaching sessions as well as individual mentorship had been provided by the XLRI students.”

The concerned XLRI group of students are as enthusiastic about the coaching classes as the SC/ST students are.  One such, Chandrani Bhattacherjee,  said that the proposal to start such a project was received well among the students. “We sent in a group mail about the project to the batch and were overwhelmed with the number of students willing to work on it,” Chandrani told PaGaLGuY.

Initially, a few XLRI students interacted with SC/ST students to understand their requirements. “While most of them seemed comfortable with Quantitative Aptitude, English seemed to be the weak point for many,” Chandrani said. She added that once a rough idea had been formulated about the requirements of the students, a core group of about 20 students was formed to handle the coaching classes in its entirety, including deciding a formal course structure.

Sneha Joshi, another XLRI student connected with the project said that the core group drew upon their own coaching lessons while preparing for MBA to form the course schedule. “We asked for regular feedback from the students and altered our teaching methods accordingly,” Sneha said. She added that each one of the SC/ST students in the coaching classes had been provided with a personal mentor from amongst the XLRI student community.

XLRI has also approached a number of coaching institutes to help with the mock test papers for this year’s classes. “We have finalised a deal with one of the coaching institutes. It will provide us the mock test papers at a fee. However, staff members at XITE will be in-charge of conducting the mock tests,” Father Augustine said.

In the first stint, classes were held five times a week and students travelled from XITE to XLRI and back by a bus specially arranged for them. A similar schedule will be put in place this year too. As yet, the coaching provided was free of coast but the idea is now to levy a minimal fee of  Rs 1000-1200 per month. “If we do not charge a fee,  students will not take the classes seriously,” said Father Augustine. He also specified that while the  coaching provided to students will be XAT-specific, they are free to appear for the other MBA entrance exams too.

The enrollment process for the classes will begin around the second week of May. The new session of the coaching classes is scheduled to begin from 2 July, 2012.

XLRI Endowment Fund (XEF): WE ARE GAINING MOMENTUM

Dear

I am happy to share that as on April 1, 2012 we crossed the first milestone of XEF (XLRI Endowment Fund), crossing Rs.1 crore. This happened because of the generous contributions by :

Jose Parayanken (Rs.50 lakhs) : BME-81, Founder & Managing Director, Mozambique Holdings. Ltd. Recipient of the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in January 2012. Recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2011

Jaspal Bindra (Rs.20 lakhs) : BM-84, Group Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, and Member, Board of Governors, XLRI. Recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2011

Vineet Nayar (Rs.5 lakhs) : BM-85, Vice Chairman & CEO, HCL Technologies, and Member, Board of Governors, XLRI. Recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2010

N Krishnakumar (Rs.5 lakhs) : BM-83, Co-Founder & Managing Director, MindTree Consulting. Recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2012

Surojit Shome (Rs.5 lakhs) BM-86, MD & Country Head, Rabobank International, India

Samir Sahu (PM-86)and Ingrid Sahu (BM-86) (Rs.5 lakhs)

Alok Sinha (BM-86)(Rs.5 lakhs), MD, Oil & Gas Group, Standard Chartered Bank

Harish K. (PM-85)(Rs.2 lakhs)

Chris Doyle (BM-73) (Rs.1 lakh)

Sudhir Mathulla (BM-84) (Rs.50,000)

Ashok Krishen (PMIR – 86)(Rs.5 lakhs)

Our analysis reveals, that as of April, 2012 the breakup of contributions has been:

Amount	Contribution(s)
Rs.50 lakhs                          1 Rs.20 lakhs                          1 Rs.5 lakhs                            5 Rs.2 lakhs                            1 Rs.1 lakh                              10 Rs.50,000                             22 Below Rs.50,000                 16

Our target is to cross Rs.20 crores by the end of April 2013.This means we have to raise nearly USD 4 million.To meet this target, we plan to have alumni get-togethers in U.S.A., Dubai, and Singapore, besides alumni meets in the country.

Some of you are keen to know : what would XLRI do with the funds?

1. Upgrade the existing Physical Infrastructure to world-class standards.The new campus may cost us around Rs.50 to Rs.60 crores.
2. Create Chair Professorship. Each Chair would need around Rs.4 to 5 crores.
3. Scholarships or loan to the needy students.
4. Support Global Research.
5. Support the expenses for Global Branding of XLRI.
6. Support the social initiatives of XLRI in the area of education for poor, rural entrepreneurship and alike on a sustained basis.

A news write-up in April 5 Telegraph stated that IIM-A has set a target to raise Rs.250 crores, that is, approximately USD 50 million. By April 5, they have raised about Rs.8 crores, and in the Golden Jubilee Celebration held in December 2011, the alumni promised to contribute Rs.38 crores. I am confident Excellors would be equally generous.

Sharad Sarin
Coordinator : XEF

XLRI degree day with India Inc.

From The Telegraph

HM Nerurkar (right) presents the Sir Jehangir Medal to NR Narayana Murthy on Wednesday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

XLRI, Jamshedpur, hosted its 56th annual convocation at Tata Auditorium on Wednesday, officially conferring post-graduate diplomas on 257 smiling faces.

Students of business management as well as personnel management and industrial relations — shortened to BM and PM&IR by everyone — numbering 235, three of fellow programmes in management and 19 from the Dubai campus, got certificates as well as business sustainability tips from invited stalwarts. 

Infosys founder and chairman emeritus N.R. Narayana Murthy as well as Standard Chartered Bank group executive director and CEO (Asia) Jaspal Singh Bindra addressed the outgoing batch of cub managers.

Corporate legend Murthy also received the 46th presentation of Sir Jehangir Medal for Industrial and Social Peace. 

“On behalf of about 140,000 Infosians, I receive this honour with much gratitude. I will try to work harder and smarter. In the last three decades, I have learnt many lessons that includes openness to new ideas, meritocracy and excellence in execution. The barrier for success is generally within one’s self, generally between the mind and the mindset,” said Murthy to resounding applause. 

He added that the mind should triumph over mindset, giving birth to new and efficient ways of working.

“Even though your schooling is over, your education continues. From my experience, I have learnt that you have to keep jumping to identify and take the right opportunities in life,” Bindra said in a lively address peppered with many anecdotes from his life. 

“Just work as a leader, don’t work out of fear,” added Bindra.

Also present were Tata Steel managing director and XLRI board of governors chairman H.M. Nerurkar and XLRI director Father E. Abraham, other board and faculty members, students and their parents.

Students also came for their share of the spotlight.

The XLRI medal for best all-rounder went to Deepanjan Deb and best all rounder (woman) went to Neeti Kumar.

In the BM, the first five toppers were Siddhartha Saran, Aadith Raman, Aniruddh Vallabh Kamat, Shambhavi and Sunny Suresh Shahadadpuri.

Their PM&IR counterparts were Kakunuri Bhargavi, Meenakshi Narayanan, Manan Deepak Shah, Sameer Kumar Agrawal and Prateek Rungta.

Invitation from XLRI: Fr Arrupe Centre for Ecology & Sustainability

Dear friends

I am happy to invite you for inauguration of

Fr Arrupe Centre for Ecology and Sustainability (FACES)

at the

Learning Centre, XLRI

at

11:00am on January 14^th, 2012

I am happy to share that Dr Ajoy Kumar, MP East Singhbhumi has accepted to be the chief guest at the function. Dr Harish Hande, Managing Director, SELCO-India and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee 2011 will deliver the keynote speech on the theme of “Sustainable Energy for Rural and Under-served Markets” on the occasion.

While Dr Ajoy Kumar needs no introduction for the citizens of Jamshedpur, I am pasting a short note on the Centre and on SELCO and Dr Hande below.

---

Fr Arrupe Centre for Ecology and Sustainability is a multi-disciplinary activity centre at XLRI to provide thought leadership to promote policies, practices and dialogue which have impact on holistic and sustainable development of society and enterprises. The Centre will engage in three key activities of

(1) Knowledge Creation (e.g., undertaking and sponsoring research on and documentation of sustainable programmes, enterprise models and practices),

(2) Knowledge Dissemination (e.g., organizing conferences and roundtables to provide a platform for sharing sustainable models of development) and

(3) Knowledge Application (e.g., providing thought leadership for “Embedded Sustainability” through consultancy / MDP / capacity building programs).

----

SELCO Solar Light Private Ltd. (SELCO-India)  is one of the largest solar technology providers in India, having reached more than half-a-million people by installing solar lights in 120,000 households, microenterprises, and community facilities.

By achieving this scale, SELCO has demonstrated that the poor can indeed afford sustainable technologies and maintain them. SELCO adopts a three-prong strategy for reaching the poor -  it offers “customized products” by designing solar technology applications to specific needs of the customers (e.g., 2- or 4-light system for the home, head lamps for night workers like midwives and rose pickers, or electricity for sewing machines); it provides “doorstep financing” by linking the customers with credit institutions, like rural banks, cooperatives, even self-help groups; and it provides “doorstep service” through prompt, personalized help through its wide network of service centers.

For his work Dr Harish Hande was awarded the 2011 Ramon Magsaysay Award (considered to be the Nobel Prize of Asia)  as a recognition of “his passionate and pragmatic efforts to build social enterprise that brings customized, affordable and sustainable electricity to India’s vast rural population, encouraging the poor to become asset creators.”

Dr Harish Hande is a B.Tech (Hons.) from IIT, Kharagpur, and holds a PhD degree in Energy Engineering from University of Massachusetts, U.S.A. He was awarded the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2007, and was also the recipient of Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy (U.K.) 2005 and 2007, and Tech Museum Award (USA) 2005. In 2008, he as featured by Business Today as one of the 21 Young Leaders for India’s 21st Century, and by India Today among the 50 Pioneers of Change in India

Besides being the Managing Director, Board Member and Co-Founder of SELCO Solar Light Private Ltd. (SELCO-India), Dr Hande is also a Board Member of E+CO (USA), Greenpeace-India and Small Scale Sustainable Infrastructure Development Fund (S3IDF), India.

We look forward to your presence and request for appropriate coverage of the event

Thanks and regards

Madhukar

==========================

Dr Madhukar Shukla

Prof (Strategic Mgt & Organisational Behaviour)

& Chairperson, Fr Arrupe Center for Ecology & Sustainability

XLRI School of Business and Human Resources

CH Area (East), Jamshedpur 831001, Jharkhand (India)

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.

XLRI eyes sporty career

From The Telegraph

XLRI campus in Jamshedpur. (Bhola Prasad)

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.

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.

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

From: The Telegraph

The TMDC building where the new lab will come up. Picture by Bhola Prasad

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.

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 PRASUN CHAUDHURI, 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.