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.