Leadership Talk by Mr. Venkata Surya Rau, President - Group Manufacturing Services, RIL

As a part of the Leadership Talk Series, the Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Kozhikode welcomed Mr. Velamuri Venkata Surya Rau on 5^th of September 2012. Mr. Rau is one the most honored and revered employees of the Reliance Group.

He has gained 45 years of professional experience in the field of Petrochemicals and Petroleum refining industries. Before moving to Reliance, he was with NOCIL for the almost 30 years and was a member of the company’s core management team.Mr. Rau is currently holding the position of Quality Leader of Reliance Industries Ltd, spearheading the Six Sigma Implementation process in the company. For the last nine years, he has taken the lead of Group Manufacturing Services of Reliance Industries Ltd, rendering technical and manufacturing supports to Seven Reliance manufacturing complexes (including erstwhile Indian Petrochemical Corporation Ltd). Along with this, he is also leading the activities of CREST (Chevron-Reliance Energy Services and Technology) and Reliance Manufacturing Services.

He informally interacted with the students and shared his learning derived from his professional and personal experience. He candidly shared his experience of working for Shell and how he enjoyed the bachelor years of his life in Holland mastering the Dutch language. He advocated a simple philosophy to success – instead of asking the question ‘Why to do a task this way?’ ask ‘Why not to do it that way? This was the success mantra of Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani. Mr. Rau shared few of his personal moments with Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani. One on the incidents that he vividly recalled was during the development of the Jamnagar Nagar refinery. Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani simultaneously placed an order for 3 refineries of almost thrice the average capacity. The machine vendors were shocked to have such a request. What Mr. Ambani had envisaged was beyond everyone’s imagination. He had realized that time is money and by setting up all the three refineries at once he had saved both his time to operate and its associated cost.

Mr. Rau ended his talk by asking a clichéd question – What is the most permanent thing? Students enthusiastically answered – Change. But then he went on to ask two more intriguing questions – ‘What is more permanent than change? - People’s resistances to change’ and finally ‘What is even more permanent than this? – Management’s stupidity that they can overcome a change’.

Guest Lecture by Mr.Anand Pillai, Chief Learning Officer, Sr. Executive VP, RIL

Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) recently hosted Mr. Anand Pillai who shared his insights on the topic of "Personal Branding" with the students. The guest lecture was held on the 19^th of August, 2012. The Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Kozhikode frequently invites eminent leaders of the industry for guest lectures to give practical insights to the students.

With more than 29 years of experience in corporate world, Mr. Anand has handled challenging assignments in general management and as Head of Operations in companies like Tata Group, Hughes Network Systems, Bay Networks and HCL. He has been appointed as a "Member of World Economic Forum, Global Agenda Council on New Models of leadership - 2011" given his thought leadership in the field of Leadership and Innovation.

Mr. Pillai an interesting and energetic speaker engaged the students throughout his talk.  His pragmatic approach as opposed to a theoretical or philosophical viewpoint to business, struck a cord with the young listeners. The main emphasis of his talk was on PLB (Personal Leadership Brands). He laid out the five basic steps towards developing ones own PLB:

• Recognize your Yearning
• Rapid Learning
• Natural Flow
• Glimpses of Excellence
• Element of Satisfaction

Mr. Pillai suggested that the basic philosophy was simple, things that one will do without expecting any renumeration or compensation is the thing that defines a person, and exhibit their personality. Once a person adapts the same as their career, he or she is bound to excel, because this creates a unique personal brand which is customized for that individual and cannot have an external replica, said Mr.Pillai. He also shared his mantra that cleared some clichés of personal marketing; mistaking affirmation for accomplishment, security for significance and immediate victory for long-term sustainability. Mr. Pillai ended his talk with a heartwarming note that, ‘It is not the effort that you put in that counts, but the value that you bring along with it. It is not your achievements that you are remembered for, but the way that you impact people’s lives’.

Guest Lecture by Mr.Sandeep Dhar, CEO at Tesco Hindustan Service Centre

Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) had the privilege of being audience to Mr. Sandeep Dhar who shared his insights on the topic of "Retail Innovations, including IT, CRM and SCM in Retail" with the students. The Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Kozhikode frequently invites eminent leaders of the industry for guest lectures, keeping the students constantly in touch with the practical aspects of running a business.

The students of IIM Kozhikode, found Mr. Dhar, the CEO at Tesco Hindustan Service Centre, Bangalore, immensely inspiring. Tesco is the world’s third largest retailer with a turnover of over 115 billion USD and employs over 500,000 people across 14 countries. Mr. Dhar brought with him 20 years of experience in retail banking and IT consulting from his time holding prominent positions in various organizations. Alumni of IMT Ghaziabad and the Wharton Business School, Mr. Dhar had a very thought provoking interaction with the students. Mr. Dhar had a very lively interaction with the students. He discussed the importance of identifying the customer and the challenge it offers in business to customer relationship management. He pointed out the specific issues that plague the retail industry where a ‘customer friendly’ stance will not suffice. He urged managers to turn ‘customer centric’ which involves playing an active and appropriate role in the entire life cycle of the customer.

He recalled his experiences in TESCO and earlier stint at Cititbank to emphasis on the age old business mantra ‘Customer is King’. He discussed the role played by high end IT in collecting consumer data and infact using thermal sensing in reducing their inconvienence while shopping. Mr. Dhar also predicted that the future of retail shopping lay in the multiple channel strategies use where customers mixed both e-commerce and physical retailing. He mentioned TESCO’s step in the same direction called ‘Click and Collect’ where customers ordered online and collected from the retail outlet.

Mr. Dhar gave the students a heads up on the challenges faced by the Retail Industry, which is unique and highly competitive. He also patiently answered the many queries posed by the enthusiastic audience. The event closed with students expressing their deepfelt gratitude to Mr. Dhar.

Guest Lecture by Mr.Rajesh Nair, Head – Markets and Pursuits, Ernst & Young

The Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Kozhikode in collaboration with Hriday, the human resource interest group of IIM Kozhikode organized a talk on “Branding Oneself” by Mr.Rajesh Nair, Head – Markets and Pursuits, Ernst & Young on 7th August, 2012 as part of the ongoing leadership series. Mr. Nair’s professional experience covered various roles and responsibilities in his current organization as well as in previous organizations namely Accenture, Tata Motors, ECS Ltd and now Ernst & Young in the field of organizational strategy, organizational change management and post merger integration.

The talk on branding oneself was to give the students of IIM Kozhikode a perspective of how to portray their personality in front of others such as prospective recruiters, colleagues and other audience. He spoke about how branding oneself and differentiating oneself was very important in a competitive world. He mentioned that every person needed to be explicit about his achievements in life.

Mr.Nair used his experience to share how famous personalities also use this method to improve their portrayal of themselves. Adding further, he emphasized the importance of adapting oneself to any situation that he is faced with. According to him, every individual had different aspects attached to his personality that he portrayed when he was with his family, friends or colleagues.  He used HR concepts like the Johari window to drive home the point that self actualization is very important in life.

Mr.Nair used this platform to insist that each and every student reflect upon their strengths and weakness as an exercise and write down how they looked at themselves as it would be beneficial for them in the long run. Overall, the students appreciated his method and believed they would do their best to implement it as soon as possible.

Leadership Talk by Mr. Ajay Kaul, CEO, Jubilant Food Works Ltd.

 

The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) played host to Mr. Ajay Kaul who addressed the students as a part of the ‘Leadership Talk Series’ and especially addressed the topic of "Building a High Performance Organization - Decoding the DNA ". This session was organised by the Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Kozhikode, which spearheads the student’s relations with the industry.

Mr. Kaul, CEO, Jubilant Food Works Ltd. (Master Franchisee for Dominos' Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts), had a highly interactive session with the students of IIM Kozhikode. As a leader in a highly competitive industry, Mr. Kaul had very interesting insights to share on the food retailing industry where Dominos’ currently tops the Organized Pizza Delivery segment with a gaint market share of 70%. He discussed the unique brand positioning of Dominos’ as a delivery based brand as opposed to the dine-in path choosen by competitors. He pointed out the specific issues that plague a time bound segment such as pizza delivery and shared the Dominos’ methods that were used to successfully overcome the same.

While throwing light on the journey of Dominos’ from “Hungry Kya” to “khushiyon ki Home Delivery” he laid emphasis on often overlooked factors such as the delivery boy who is the real face of the brand to the customer. Elaborating on the role played by the delivery boys he impressed the importance of human resource management at Dominos’ which sees even its ex-employees returning during peak days to help in delivery, thus is their bonding with the brand he said. He also shared some of the earlier ad campaigns of Dominos’ to drive home the importance of occupying consumer mind space and the communication of brand image. Mr. Kaul also shared his insights into Building a High Performance Organization from his professional experiences. Under him, Dominos has grown leaps and bounds.

Answering students’ questions, Mr.Kaul, insisted that Indian mentality towards delivered food has come a long way, but is yet to grow in leaps and bounds. The event which was an enriching experience for the students closed with some words of graditude and appreciation from, Professor Joffy Thomas, Faculty, Marketing Management, IIM Kozhikode.

Guest Lecture on Sustainable Energy Management by Mr. Amol Kotwal, Deputy Director - Energy & Power Systems Practice, Frost & Sullivan

Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) had the privilege of being audience to Mr. Amol Kotwal who shared his insights on the topic of "Building a sustainable energy portfolio for India for the future" with the students. The event was organized by the Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Kozhikode. IIC frequently invites eminent leaders of the industry for guest lectures, keeping the students constantly in tune with important aspects of business that need attention.

Mr. Amol Kotwal, the Deputy Director - Energy & Power Systems Practice, Frost & Sullivan visited IIM Kozhikode on the 20th of July. He had a highly interactive session with students, who found the session extremely interesting as it added to their knowledge of the Energy sector of India. 

For a developing economy like India, in order to maintain the high growth trajectory Energy security is the need of the hour but this requires new and innovative thinking and effectiveness through structural change. Talking about "Sustainable Energy Management”, Mr. Kotwal focused on how tapping the non-conventional energy sources, is the key for India in order to meet its rapidly rising future energy demands. He also talked about how to overcome the technological challenges which stand as one of the biggest barriers for large scale commercialization of the same.

Sustainable energy management is an emerging area of discussion and is becoming a key component in the strategic decisions of big corporates and Mr. Kotwal, in his speech, touched upon the potential risks associated with attracting investments and related government initiatives in this sector.

Mr. Kotwal had words of appreciation for the Institute which he found extremely beautiful and the excellent hospitality provided.

Leadership Talk by Mr. Uday Chaturvedi, Former Managing Director – Corus Strip Products, UK and Former Chief Technical Officer - Tata Steel Europe

IIM KOZHIKODE welcomed Mr. Uday Chaturvedi on campus on 11th of July 2012. Mr. Uday Chaturvedi (Former Managing Director – Corus Strip Products, UK and Former Chief Technical Officer - Tata Steel Europe) is one of the most revered names in the global steel industry. The event was organized by Industry Interaction Cell (IIC) of IIM K as part of the celebrated “Leadership Lecture Series.”

Mr. Chaturvedi has served as the Director in many Tata Group companies and has held elite positions at Corus Strip Products and Tata Steel prior to becoming the Chief Technical Officer - Tata Steel Europe. He has a vast experience spanning across geographies like India, United Kingdom, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, Japan and Sri Lanka. Having authored numerous technical papers published in International Conferences and being presented with honorable awards like Essar Gold Medal, OP Jindal Gold Medal; Mr. Chaturvedi is undoubtedly one of the most eminent personalities in the global steel industry.

He interacted with the students of IIM Kozhikode and shared his learning on “Strategic Leadership and Change Management”, drawn from his personal and professional experiences of successful leadership that he demonstrated over the years. Mr. Chaturvedi also interacted with Prof. Debashish Chatterjee, Director, IIM K and several other faculty members.

During his tenure as the Managing Director of Corus Strip Products, UK, in the midst of the global financial crisis, he demonstrated exemplary levels of Strategic Leadership and pioneered several Change Management Initiatives which turned the Corus Strip Products division into a profitable and self-sustainable enterprise and took it to greater heights of business excellence. Known for his Strategic Leadership and Change Management Initiatives, his colleagues at Corus rightly said "You Came, You Listened and You showed us How to WIN.”

Mr. Chaturvedi was extremely pleased with his visit to God’s Own Kampus and had kind words of praise reserved for the Institute, “One of the late management Gurus whom I knew personally very well for many years had once told me that the smell of a place communicates a lot about it. I would say that I was very impressed from the moment I set foot my at the Calicut airport to the time I left the city. A wonderful manicured garden with attractive buildings, highly courteous and inquisitive student community supported by very knowledgeable teaching fraternity and finally, the Director make the presence felt in all walks of life at the Institute...All in all, I can say that it would be an honor to anyone to become a part of this establishment”

Workshop in Supply Chain Management by Mr. Ali Hasnain Ghoghai, Senior Manager at DHL Supply Chain Solutions

IIM Kozhikode hosted a first-of-its-kind workshop in Supply Chain Management on the 7^th and 8^th of July; conducted by Mr. Ali Hasnain Ghoghai, Senior Manager at DHL Supply Chain Solutions, a revered name in the global Operations-Supply Chain domain. The event was organized byIndustry Interaction Cell (IIC) in collaboration with OMEGA (the operations interest group) of IIMK.

Mr. Ali Hasnain Ghoghai’s managerial experience spans across Solution Designing, Operations, Procurement, Supply Chain Management and Commercial Negotiations in Retail - Electronics, Food Products and Petrochemicals, E-commerce / E-retail Industries. He has extensive experience involving Global Freight management, India/GCC/UAE Land Transport management, Warehouse management, Inventory management and Strategic Supply Chain Planning. Mr. Ghoghai is an MBA Gold Medalist from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research with specialization in Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

The workshop was conducted over two days. Two lectures were scheduled on the 7^th of July followed by the presentations of the top 5 teams who qualified for the DHL Supply Chain Case Challenge.

The first day (07.07.2012) saw a lecture-cum-interactive session on General Outline of Supply Chain Management like highlighting the key differences between SCM in theory and SCM in practice and the core skills required for SCM and basic market offered career paths for different SCM professional roles.  Mr. Ghogai also talked on the Emerging concepts in SCM in India like FTWZ (Free Trade and Warehousing Zones) and LLP (Lead Logistics Partner), GST (Goods & Services Tax) and its impact on the Supply Chain industry. A post dinner informal career counseling session followed when Mr. Ali dealt with questions on individual careers based on the individual’s past experience and skills.

The mainstay of the workshop is the "DHL Supply Chain Case Challenge". The case was all about designing a warehousing and transportation solution for an e-commerce company. The top 5 teams were shortlisted by Mr. Ali Ghoghai himself. These teams presented on Sunday (08.07.2012) and were jointly evaluated by Mr. Ali Ghoghai and Prof Saji Gopinath - one of the revered names in the QM & OM department,IIMK. The session ended with a concluding speech by Prof. Saji Gopinath, and felicitation of Mr. Ghoghai by Prof Gopinath and declaration of results.

Mr. Ali Ghoghai who was highly impressed with the presentations of the top 5 teams promised to revisit IIM Kozhikode often in the future.