Black, White and Grey: Strategies from Viswanathan Anand

Students learned some life lessons from an unlikely teacher, five-time World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, who recently spoke on “Strategies from Chess” at the Mohali campus. Analysing his career, as he would a chess move, the grandmaster gave students glimpses of his approach to chess and life. He spoke about playing chess as a schoolboy, receiving the elusive grandmaster title, becoming the world champion, and the challenges he faced and how he overcame them. Self-effacing and candid, he spoke extensively about the slightly-less successful periods of his career, and how he approached and mapped his weaknesses. Much of what he said can be applied to everyone’s life especially that of an MBA student, except perhaps his advice on sleeping eight hours every night! He ended his talk with an inspiring quote: “It’s a lottery, you either get it or you don’t…but you do have to turn up and buy a ticket."

To see the video of Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand’s talk, please click here

Deloitte - India, Head speaks on Disruptive Innovation

“Disruptive Technology helps create new markets,” explained Santosh Anoo to a packed audience at the Mohali campus. Anoo, Head of India Strategy Practice at Deloitte Consulting Overseas Service LLC, was invited by the Consulting Club to speak on “Disruptive Innovation and Disruptive Technology.” Disruptive technologies displace old technology and change the rules by improving products or services in unanticipated ways. Citing examples of Apple Inc. products and TATA Nano, he spoke on products that were disruptive innovations. Underscoring the importance of the old technologies at the time they were deployed, he explained that newer technologies pave the way for a better product, better service, and improved efficiency and hence contribute to overall growth.

Five ways to be an Effective Leader: Ajay Shukla

It is not just motivations but also motives of the team that must be known, stated Ajay Shukla, VP and MD of McGrawHill Education. Shukla was at the Mohali campus recently, where he spoke on “Five ways to be an effective leader” and inaugurated The General Management Club. Shukla shared his personal philosophies for success and encouraged students to develop their potential to be a leader, and master their skills at the same time. Speaking of his varied interests from biking to hiking, he also gave a glimpse on how he successfully manages his work-life balance.

Forecasting FMCG trends

Sharing insights about consumers, market and macroeconomic trends in the FMCG industry, Pankaj Agarwal, Director Sales, Reckitt Benckiser stressed the importance of being able to anticipate and innovate for these trends. Speaking at a workshop conducted for the students at the Indian School of Business, Mohali campus, he emphasised 10 major developments to watch out for this coming decade, including premiumisation, rising middle class purchasing power, increase in organised retail, importance of sales and marketing strategy based on region and the explosive growth of tier-two cities and towns. Discussing the implications of these trends, Agarwal mentioned that these developments posed both opportunities and challenges for the FMCG businesses operating in India. He said, "One needs to map the changing needs and wants of the consumers and then work on the sales strategy of the product in such a way so as increase the sales while fulfilling the demand."

Business Ethics: Deciding between two Rights

The newly created Ethics in Business Forum at The Indian School of Business, welcomed Rajiv C. Lochan, Retired Partner, McKinsey & Company and a key ISB liaison, to discuss dilemmas in ethical business practices and responsible leadership. Lochan led a 60-strong audience of students, faculty, and staff into an engaging discussion on various situations that call for thorough introspection and awareness. Using real-world situations, Lochan helped the participants develop an understanding of dilemmas in which multiple sides of the argument can seem ethically reasonable. The audience debated on how they would confront a mentor who misrepresents their findings in an important meeting and how they would deal with an underperforming but once-exceptional staff member. As the debates drew to a close, skeptics remained, but the process of thinking had been successfully triggered.

The Truth about Design

A good design must aim to improve the end user experience. This and other insights were shared by speakers at the recently-held Product Design Workshop held at the Mohali campus. Organised by EMO club under the guidance of Munjal Global Manufacturing Institute(MGMI), this workshop featured two interesting speakers: Abhimanyu Kulkarni from Philips, India and Arjun Rajappa from Microsoft. Kulkarni and Rajappa spoke about how design can lead to production of an innovative yet a simplified product. They also demonstrated the tools and steps that lead to creation of a good design. They also gave the participants a hands-on learning experience by asking them to design a water bottle for joggers. With the end user in mind, participants were asked to find out the need gaps in the current market and define the persona of the jogger that they want to target. The audience that included businessmen, architects, consultants, product designers, academicians, marketers and students participated in the workshop with much enthusiasm.

Net Impact Club hosts Social Entrepreneurship Meet

Innovators, social entrepreneurs, domain experts, opinion leaders and eminent personalities from the innovation and social entrepreneurship ecosystem were at ISB as part of Unconvention|L, a social entrepreneurship workshop hosted by The Net Impact club and sponsored by the Villgro foundation. Social entrepreneur, Paul Basil, Founder and CEO, Villgro, set the context of the event and was soon followed by experts who helped the audience understand different aspects of setting up a successful social enterprise. The participants learned that it was important to develop an effective business model when starting a social venture. They also learnt that they must envision scaling of their enterprise when they begin the organisation since most investors and venture capitalists are keen that the company is scalable.