Bhavan's SPJIMR Alumni Newsletter 

July 2021 Edition                   

Message from
Alumni Relations Office

Dear Alumnus,

We hope this newsletter finds you and your loved ones in good health.

There are two updates I would like to share with you:

1. Name of Alumni Newsletter:
We have named the newsletter SPectrum. As you know we had received several suggestions for the name. This name got the maximum votes. We thank our alumnus Maheeja Kannamaneni, PGMPW 2017 for suggesting this name. I think it has a nice ring to it… it is simple and communicates that we cover a spectrum, a wide range of people, ideas, thoughts and more.

2. Collaboration with Founding Fuel:
Starting with this edition of the alumni newsletter, we have invited Founding Fuel to specially curate a selection of their best stories for you. Founding Fuel describes itself as “the go-to place for ideas, insights, practices and wisdom essential to build the enterprise of tomorrow”. The venture is co-founded by veteran business journalists, Indrajit Gupta and Charles Assisi, and CS Swaminathan. Both Indrajit and Swami are from the SPJIMR PGDM class of 1992.

Stay Connected! Stay Safe!

My warmest regards,
Ratika

Prof. Ratika Gore
Asst. Professor
Head - Alumni Relations
Alumnus PGDM 1997

Index

1. Announcements
2. College updates
3. Topics of interests
    a) Best of Founding Fuel
    b) Faculty articles
    c) Faculty podcasts
    d) From the archives
    e) Faculty recommended books
4. Alumni in news
5. Programmes & events
6. Online merchandise
7. Stay connected

Announcements

Convocation Invitation

We extend this invitation to you on behalf of Mr. Deepak Parekh, Chairman Governing Council of SPJIMR, for the first ever Virtual Convocation of the 2021 batch. It is scheduled to be held tomorrow on Saturday, July 24, 2021. The ceremony will be held online from 9:30 am IST. Attend here

AGENDA

09.30 am: Announcement of Convocation and Welcome
09.40 am: Declaration: Convocation Open
09.41 am: Invocation Prayer by SPJIMR students
09.43 am: Welcome Address by Chairman of the Convocation, Mr. R Gopalakrishnan
09.53 am: Presentation of Graduation Certificates and Dean’s Top Honours
by Programme Chairpersons
10.45 am: Conferring of Post Graduate qualification by the Chairman
10.48 am: Introduction of the Chief Guest by the Chairman
10.50 am: Convocation Address by the Chief Guest Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson & CEO Salesforce, India
11.05 am: Address by Dr. Vasant Sivaraman, Associate Dean, Academics, SPJIMR
11.20 am: National Anthem
11.25 am: Declaration: Convocation Closed

College Updates

 SPJIMR Participants Win Seed Funding

SPJIMR’s Team Veditva comprising participants, Arshi Gupta, Anurag M N and Vivek Tiwari have made it to the top 12 teams globally in the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge (GSIC), winning seed funding for their unique idea. A total of 50 teams from 29 countries participated in the GSIC, which is organised by the University of San Diego's Center for Peace and Commerce. The seed money is to help build a mobile app called Veditva that will teach basic computer operations to people without access to a computer.

Abhyudaya Sitara

We are happy to share that this year Abhyudaya Sitara, Juned Khan has been selected to represent India in the FIRST Global Challenge, an Olympics-style, international robotics competition that takes place in a different country each year, after passing three rounds of interviews. The Abhyudaya team coached and helped Juned with a video entry for applying to the challenge. He had learned AutoCAD, HTML, CSS & JavaScript in Abhyudaya through the programme’s new computer course, for which Abhyudaya had given him a top-of-the-line Lenovo laptop at home.

Abhyudaya is a year-long mentorship programme through which first year full time MBA students at SPJIMR mentor bright, underprivileged children (whom we call Sitaras) from the neighbouring schools.

Topics of Interest

Best of Founding Fuel

A selection of stories and columns on management
and related topics, curated by

WORKPLACE CULTURE
Meet the Unconventionals
There’s a bold new breed of employees emerging, who challenge traditional thinking and ways of working. Jane McConnell, a global researcher and analyst, calls them gig- mindset people. They are the innovators and disruptors who take initiatives without prior management approval. They are the ones who aid the organization to be more resilient. In this essay, Jane offers insights into this fundamental shift, from her decade-long research on Organisations in the Digital Age and her new book The Gig Mindset Advantage. She cautions that for this breed and for the organisation to flourish, leadership attitudes need to evolve too. Read here

PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Do I need a killer instinct?
When women get the feedback that they are “not aggressive enough” and that they need to learn how to ‘kill’, what should they do? Kalpana Tatavarti, founder director, Parity Consulting & Training, has level-headed advice—for women and men. A specialist in women leadership, she says gender and leadership stereotypes are limiting for men and women—and, of course, for organisations too. You need to develop a wider repertoire of styles crucial to leadership. Read here

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Listen up! A guide to audiobooks
Four audiobook fans, including Akhil Chaturvedi, founder of Provogue, and Prozone, and SPJIMR alumnus, class of 1988, tell us why they got hooked, how it has helped them keep up with books, and their tips to make the most of this format—plus the audiobooks they’e enjoyed, if you are looking for how to get started. Read here

WINNING NEW BUISNESS
The art of the hustle
Clients are fatigued from non-stop meetings in Covid times. So, how do you land your
pitch when presenting to clients on video calls? Focus on actionable, tangible ideas
hat will have an immediate impact on their business. Keep it short, sharp and incredibly
articulate, says Lulu Raghavan, managing director of Landor & Fitch India, and 
SPJIMR alumnus, class of 2000. Listen here

BIG IDEA

Platforms in a Post Covid World

Platforms such as Facebook, Google, Amazon,Apple and Netflix have emerged all-powerful over the last few years. However, the cracks have started showing. Customers are worried about their over-dependence on these entities and their privacy. Incumbent businesses are concerned by the destruction of value. Governments are concerned about platforms’ unbridled power. Sangeet Paul Choudary, a global thought leader on platforms who features in Thinkers50, and bestselling author of Platform Scale and Platform Revolution, explains how this complex story will play out in the coming weeks, months and years.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the stories curated by Founding Fuel may not reflect the views of the institute.

Faculty Articles

A. 'How Zomato, Swiggy's hunger has taken meals off Mumbai dabbawalas plate'
by Dr. Sreedevi R in Mint, July 23, 2021.

B. 'Nurturing a healthy mentor-mentee relationship'  by Dr. Renuka Kamath and Srinath V, SPJIMR alumnus (PGDM, Class of 2007) in BLoC- BusinessLine On Campus, July 22, 2021.

C. 'How to help India’s farmers' by Prof. Deepa Krishnan in Strategy+Business, July 12, 2021.

D. 'Is India’s current account surplus a reason to rejoice?' by Dr. Tulsi Jayakumar in The New Indian Express, July 8, 2021.

E. 'Unleashing the Potential of the Indian Debt Capital Markets' by Prof. Ananth Narayan in City of London, July 2, 2021.

F. 'The ‘Advance Warning’ and ‘Pandemic Building’ metrics to prepare for Covid’s third wave by Prof. R. Jayaraman in The Hindu Business Line, June 30, 2021.

G. 'Sustaining the nascent economic recovery' by Dr. R K Pattnaik in The Hindu Business Line, June 27, 2021.

H. 'Khurshedben Naoroji: The singer who preached nonviolence to bandits' by Dr. Dinyar Patel in BBC News, June 27, 2021.


Disclaimer: Views in these articles are personal to the authors and may not reflect views of the institute.

To view more faculty published articles click here 

Faculty Podcasts

ThoughtCast with Mr. Rajaram Narayanan, Managing Director & Country Chair of Sanofi in India is in conversation with Prof. Vineeta Dwivedi, Head Digital Communications at SPJIMR

Mr. Rajaram Narayanan, Managing Director & Country Chair of Sanofi in India is in conversation with Prof. Vineeta Dwivedi, Head Digital Communications at SPJIMR.

Mr. Rajaram speaks about the availability of Covid vaccines in India, the challenges related to getting everybody vaccinated and what normalcy might look like in India in the next 9-12 months and sheds light on the development and manufacture of Covid vaccines by Sanofi. He also speaks about the present issues and challenges related to the current healthcare infrastructure in India and how these can be improved.

                                                        Listen on

From the Archives

Keynote address by Prof. Mohanbir Sawhney, Kellogg School of Management followed by a tête-à-tête with R. Gopalakrishnan, Executive-in-residence on the need to inject a culture of questioning, connect with customers and build seamless academia-industry partnerships in India.

 Faculty Recommended Books

Alumni in News

 Do share your success stories with the links for us to share.

Programmes & Events

  Management Development Programmes
(MDPs)

                                      Discount available for SPJIMR Alumni

Online Merchandise

You can purchase SPJIMR merchandise online and have the products delivered to your home anywhere within India, through ‘Campus Mall’.

Click on the E-store - Campus Mall

Stay Connected

Not there on official SPJIMR Alumni Portal & App yet?
 - Click here to register on the portal.

 - Click here to download the App for iOS and here for Android.

Changed your job, city or contact details?
 - Help us update your details here.