ISB Team Wins Global Investment Competition
Enterprising students from the PGP Class of 2013 recently won the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition (Global VLIC) at University of Texas, Austin. “Team Visolis,” comprising Aditya Jain, Ashish Kohli, Amrita Dutta and Akshat Pipersenia, along with Deepak Dugar of MIT, were the winners at the coveted “Super Bowl of investment competitions.”
The team will receive a prize package worth $75,000 including: $25,000 in cash, one year of office space and $25,000 in consulting services. Team Visolis has also been invited to ring the closing bell at the NASDAQ OMX Stock Exchange on June 11, 2013.
Belgian Ambassador Seeks Collaboration
Belgian Ambassador His Excellency Pierre Vaesen visited the Mohali campus recently and spoke about opportunities for collaboration between ISB and Belgian educational institutes. Describing the merit of Belgian educational institutes, he suggested that their ties to the School be strengthened through exchange programmes. “Majority of the post-graduation programmes are offered in English at the universities and business schools, so the Indian students will not face any problem in terms of language,” he added. The ambassador also invited the School to participate in research in renewable energy, biotechnology and nanotechnology in his country. Reciprocating the ambassador’s gesture, Dean Ajit Rangnekar elaborated on opportunities for collaboration for Belgian industries in the four specialised areas of manufacturing, infrastructure, healthcare and public policy, especially highlighting the four institutes at Mohali campus. He also welcomed the idea of exchange programmes for Indian students and their Belgian counterparts.
Mark Finn on Accounting Fraud
Professor Mark Finn delivered a lecture on accounting fraud to a packed audience at Mohali campus recently. “I am fond of discussing accounting frauds,” Professor Finn began as slides of the infamous Enron scandal splashed across the screen. He explained the accounting loopholes that led to the scam. Describing the intricacies of accounting in companies in emerging economies such as India, he explained, “It is important to understand the accounting issues involved in consolidation because India and Asia have many family-run businesses and sometimes it is not clear who is controlling what.” He expounded on the problems accountants face while evaluating “extent of control” by one firm on another. He then built on the platform of control and consolidation accounting to explain Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) and the difficult task auditors face while auditing the accounts of such firms. Professor Finn also explained how “Variable Interest Entities” (VIEs) help firms involved in high risk ventures, such as film studios to reduce debt in their balance sheets. VIEs also help controlling firms to enter markets that are otherwise impenetrable because of trade regulations.
Business leaders, the catalyst to Indo-US ties: US Ambassador
The US Ambassador to India Her Excellency Nancy J Powell visited the Mohali Campus recently. She spoke about the US-India economic partnership and stressed on the growing collaboration between the two countries in the fields of commerce and education. Appreciating India’s growth in the last few years, she emphasised that for both countries prosper from the partnership, trade gates need to be kept open and new avenues need to be created for businesses to exchange ideas and best practices. Citing from a US study, she stated that of all the technological and engineering firms that were started by immigrants, 33% were of Indian heritage, some of whom have returned to India to contribute to the growing economy. “I am very proud to say that our people, our cities, our states are connecting like never before,” the ambassador added. The collaboration of ideas, especially in the field of medicine, has borne fruit, as demonstrated by the low-cost innovation developed at the John F Welch Technology Centre, GE’s first R&D centre outside the US, where engineers have scaled down the cost of a lamp meant to keep a baby warm from $150,000 to $3000. “This phenomenal growth in the Indo-US ties is not attributed to politicians or diplomats like me, but to business leaders who realised early on how much can be achieved if Indians and Americans worked together,” Ambassador Powell asserted.
Session Begins for PGPMAX Class of 2014
The latest cohort of PGPMAX participants began their 18-month journey recently with an orientation session on campus. As in the past, the class is represented by highly talented and successful senior executives and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds such as finance, marketing, operations, manufacturing, oil and gas, healthcare and telecom. The two-day orientation session was mainly aimed at acquainting the new participants with each other and the School. The group participated in team building activities, attended presentations and also interacted with some of the alumni and staff.
