Ad Guru @ XIMB

Xpressions 2010 was kicked off with ‘Conclave’ in which eminent speakers were invited to discuss various management topics. Mr. Prahlad Kakkar, the leading Indian ad film director was one of the main speakers. It was a new experience for the audience as they got to know about the other side of Mr. Kakkar, that of a passionate entrepreneur. He talked about the various start up ventures which he initiated starting from the ‘Genesis Film Productions’ in 1977 to ‘Casa Amore’, a wine bar and restaurant, set up in Mumbai in 2001. He talked about the importance following one’s dream. He stressed that no matter how difficult it might appear one should always traverse the path in which one’s genuine interest lies.

Mr. Kakkar discussed the various changes that the Indian ad industry has gone through. He shared some of the ad films which had left a deep impact on him. Then he talked about his other passion, the passion for Scuba Diving. In 1995 he set up 'Lacadives', a scuba-diving school, along with his wife Mitali Kakar at Kadmat Island, in collaboration with the Govt. of Lakshadweep. He is also a member of several organizations founded for marine ecology’s awareness and threw light on the same. Overall it was a highly interactive and thought-provoking seminar on the various aspects of entrepreneurship and advertising added with humorous anecdotes and deep insights which electrified the entire atmosphere.

XPRESSIONS 2010 - THE GAME EVENTS

Xpressions 2010 saw the excitement, enthusiasm and spirit of the students at a new level altogether. Almost the entire student mass of XIMB was divided into 5 game committees, each trying to give a tough competition to the others. These game committees are the flagship committees of XIMB which uniquely prepare their own strategy-packed games pertaining to all the fields of Business arena. The knowledge, skill and experience of the participants are stretched to their extremes to be able to crack the games in each of the modules in Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Operations and Systems in each of the games. Each of these games are created by the students of XIMB from scratch, which not only sharpens their Business acumen but throws an open challenge to other students from reputed B schools of India. And frankly speaking, these students have been awe - inspired by the unparalleled creativity and business prowess showed by the students of XIMB in building up their games. Finally, the toiling of the midnight oil which is an investment each student puts in for the final Day in Xpressions has paid and paid off in a grand way...!!!

Lets see what the Game Committees, which have taken the competition to completely new level and have enlivened the spirit of XIMB, have to say :

Gladiator

A Hero Will Rise…

Gladiator is a test of intellect, resilience, equanimity, and endurance to unearth the Maximus of Management. The game is a simulation of real world management scenarios, which the best brains in the country battle to unravel. A number of modules spread over two days judged the contender's ability to perform in different functional environments with unique objectives. The chosen few battled to scale new heights for the moment of glory. The game culminated with the ardour to take on never ending challenges,and continuously hone skills to ace every opportunity in hand. As the legend goes, a Gladiator has always been a symbol of ultimate power and glory.

Kurukshetra

Aggression Justified!

The business world itself is a war fought day after day.The race to perfection never ends. The battle of intellects continues .So one had to get ready to prove their solid armament of critical hard skills and make the difference between the victors and the vanquished.

With a legacy of 15 years of great battles fought among the best of business sides Kurukshetra again brought forward the arena where the skills of the better was tested against the best; where battles were fought with brains. The glory went to those who could implement cross functional decisions by simulating a real world business scenario with the combination of financial, operational, marketing and human resource strategies.

Aggression only moves in one direction - it creates more aggression.

Helios

Nothing is bigger than the game !

Helios is the management game exclusively designed for undergraduate students. This is among the few B-school management events in India where the participation is only for undergraduate participants. The purpose is a ‘rite of initiation’ of sorts. The game provided an opportunity for undergrad teams to prove their mettle outside their comfort zone in the 'big bad world' of business.

Helios gave undergrad students from across the country, a sneak peek into B-School life - a life of rigor, vitality and a strong dose of fun. Helios not only tested undergraduates on a variety of parameters viz. General Knowledge, Mental Aptitude & Soft Skills, but also develops their business acumen on Finance, Marketing and Operations through the various modules of the game. Helios brought together bright and curious minds from diverse disciplines, and tested raw management potential – whether they can innovate, compete and perform in teams.

Skill City

Home for the creatively spoilt !

Skill City - the home for the creatively spoilt, isn’t just a competition. It’s an experience. For the three days spanning the event, creativity was worshiped, team spirit was applauded and strategies were formed, twisted, broken and reformed. Here, it was only your imagination that could have limited you.

In today’s corporate world where change is the only constant and the unexpected is to be expected, future managers and entrepreneurs constantly need to ideate and innovate to stay ahead. Skill City presented a gamut of events combining elements of wit, grit, perseverance, intelligence and of course, common sense! It is the acid test of the team-spirit when situations go horribly wrong; it tested the composure and resilience when a hitherto brilliant-looking strategy fails miserably; and then it tested your common sense a little more with its crazy twists and mind boggling tasks. It is indeed the toughest test of soft skills.

Like the 8 years gone by, the best minds from across the country battled it out once again this year. This was probably one of the few battles where one had a gala time fighting!

Spardha

A social entrepreneurship competition, was introduced by Rural Managers' Association of XIMB (RMAX), during Xpressions 2008.

Spardha tested the social entrepreneurship quotient of participants through a series of stages, encompassing sectors which influence the rural scenario of India. Spardha does not stop at being just a competition. It also aims at generating ideas, concepts and policy suggestions by participants, which can be put to use in real-time situations. This is implemented by XIMB, with the assistance of various partners, including local NGOs.

XPRESSIONS 2010

What is it about:

The three day extravaganza, a legacy that started in 1998, is now one of the most respected and looked forward to B-school events in the country. It is the culmination of over 3 months of planning and efforts of all students at XIMB, with students coming together to organize a melange of the most innovative games, competitions and vibrant cultural events in this part of the country.

Xpressions invites participation from all top B-schools in the country, attracting the best managerial talent to compete against each other. The underlying aim is to challenge the participants to their limits, and create a demanding environment in which the participants can exercise and indulge their creative and competitive urges to the maximum.

Xpressions'10:

Theme:

The theme for Xpressions 2010 was ‘Pulse’. XIMB reverberated with the Pulse of the constantly evolving world of business, the Pulse of a converging and recovering world economy, the Pulse of the youth, the Pulse of a thinking mind, the Pulse of a heart beating in anticipation, in exhilaration, the Pulse, of a celebration.

Events:

The student community creates various business related games which are challenging to the core. The next blog post covers the details of these games. Let us look at the Corporate and Cultural events.

Conclave:

Conclave, the panel discussion, is the inaugural event of Xpressions and is known to bring together reputed personalities from the Indian business world. This year Conclave saw Ad guru Prahlad Kakkar visit the campus and enlighten the students on career related issues.

Home Coming:

Homecoming is an event conducted by XIMB for its alumni. It is an event in which people from the previous batches of the institute visit the campus to mingle with the current students and faculty members.

Celeblitz:

Celeblitz, a celebrity performance, is one of the major cultural events in Xpressions. Celeblitz attracts a diverse audience comprising students from various B-Schools, undergraduate colleges as well as people from in and around Bhubaneswar. This year, Xpressions is all set to pull the local music fans to hear to the magical voice of KK(Krishnakumar Kunnath) performing live on November 14th.

Decibelz:

Decibelz is a forum for all upcoming rock bands to compete with one another. It includes college and b-school bands along with local amateur bands.

Several rock bands including the popular local band Raagaz have performed in Xpressions.

Carnival de Vogue:

This is a fashion show event, in which participants walked the ramp amidst lots of colours, special effects and cheers.

Mr and Ms Xpressions:

Mr & Ms Xpressions presented students with an opportunity to showcase their talent, personality, wit, incomparable style, endearing charm, confidence, flamboyance, and most importantly, the ‘X’ factor to sweep the crowd off its feet. Here, participants expressed themselves in the most creative ways they can think of, and compete with the very best to claim the most coveted crown in the town. This year's Mr. Xpressions was Arjun, a 4th year engineering student from KIIT and Ms. Xpressions was Ms. Tanushree Dwivedi, a first-year MBA student from XIMB.

Thirkan:

Thirkan is a freestyle group dance competition, where participants jive, salsa, pop, lock and hip hop to their own tunes, and dance their way to win exciting prizes.

JLTs:

JLT is an acronym for 'Just Like That', the spirited dance parties of XIMB.

Inquizzitive:

With top teams from colleges and corporates from all around the country fighting it out, Inquizzitive was a quizzing extravaganza where nail biting finishes were the order of the day. It was a partly-business and partly-general quiz.

Pantheon:

Pantheon is the fore-runner to Inquizzitive. It was a series of 3 online quizzes scheduled on consecutive nights from 29th to 31st October, 2010. This event was open to B-School students all over the country. Each quiz was based on a theme which was be disclosed only on the day of the quiz.

Dinner With Director !

Ten new students joined the XIMB family for the term starting on the 20th of september. It was a moment of great joy for all of us. The new students are from three different prestigious colleges, Euromed, REIMS & IESEG.They will be completing a trimester here as a part of the foreign exchange program between their colleges & XIMB . Within two years of its formation, International Relations Committee of XIMB has signed MOU's with twelve international universities for undertaking international exchange programs. As per the tradition, to mark the occasion a dinner was organized for the new as well as the outgoing students on the 17th of September which was attended by director Fr. P.T Joseph, dean administration Fr. Tony , Dean academics Dr. Subhajyoti ray and the members of the IRC student committee. During the dinner the new students were briefed about the life that they could expect to have at the campus. The new students told that they made the decision of joining XIMB because they had heard a lot about the quality education provided at this institute from the previous exchange program students. They also said how excited they were to be in India the land of diversity. The out going students reinforced their belief by sharing their experiences at this esteemed institute. As a whole it was a remarkable evening and ended with hope in the eyes of the new comers and nostalgia was the feeling which could be seen in the eyes of those who were going back .

CONSTRAT Launch at XIMB

XIMB formally launched its Consulting & Strategy club, CONSTRAT on 25th September 2010. The new club seeks to set a new benchmark in terms of the perception of Consulting across Indian B-Schools. The inauguration of the club began, as is tradition, with a flash. The presentation explained the relevance of CONSTRAT and the initiatives planned to ensure its success. The presentation was followed by a speech by Prof. D. V. Ramana who advised the students to keep their focus on gaining knowledge and not to measure the success of CONSTRAT by its impact on placements, as it will then fail to serve the inherent purpose of the club. Prof. Amar Nayak also addressed the gathering and talked about the emerging trends in the consulting industry and the need to re-invent one-self continuously to be better able to advise clients on their increasingly complex and challenging issues. The launch was concluded by the Dean(Academics), Prof. Subhajyoti Ray who wished his best to CONSTRAT.



About CONSTRAT

CONSTRAT or the Consulting & Strategy club of XIMB, is a student association, which seeks to equip the student body with resources to make informed decisions on consulting careers and tools necessary to build successful careers in consulting. The club also aims at inculcating among the student body, a ‘cross-functional’ approach to business problems and develop a strategic mindset in order to come up with feasible solutions. The club anchors these efforts by creating forums for aspirants to learn and imbibe skills and best practices from industry experts and harnessing initiatives that will enable students to assimilate the learning into practical application.
The concept of CONSTRAT has been formulated in order to tap the rapidly changing perception amongst students of XIMB towards 'Consulting' as a domain of interest, a fact being readily proven by:
-Sudden increase in the number of students participating & winning national and international B-School Strategy & Consulting competitions.
-Voluntary use of Consulting frameworks by students in order to solve business cases as a part of the curriculum.
-Induction of 'Consulting specific' courses in the academic curriculum in order to provide students an even better platform to enhance their 'Consulting' skills.
-Close to 26% (31 out of 120) of the batch opting for Consulting profiles during the final recruitment process, Xuberance 2010.
CONSTRAT seeks to achieve its objective through in-house initiatives by the student body of Constrat such as case study discussions and mock quizzes which would be aimed at widening the ‘knowledge base’ of the students. CONSTRAT will also focus on bridging the Industry-Academia divide by conducting workshops by experts from the consulting industry and try to provide students with opportunities to work on live projects.
XIMB is currently in talks with various international B-schools to develop a consortium of B-schools around the world to pursue mutually beneficial activities, including knowledge sharing and networking.
For any questions or collaborations, you can get in touch at : email - constrat@ximb.ac.in

Football Fever- PGP vs Exchange Students

Well, a football match between India and France is not very likely to happen for a long time to come. We at IRC though could arrange a match on similar lines between PGP students of XIMB and the exchange students. The match was as entertaining as it could get with an impressive 5-5 scoreline and some amazing football.

There were some excellent performances from the exchange students. Melik, Thomas, Martin Sellier and Martin were impressive on the day. From the in-house team,Sameer, Satya, Rajesh and Pankaj stole the show. The game had all the ingredients one would expect in an engaging and competitive top class football game. Though the players from both the teams were very good pals off the field, all it mattered on the field was a win and the commitment showed.

Apart from the parties and daily football at XIMB, matches like these will be memorable in many ways and this was no different. One had to be there to feel the heat of the match. At the end of the day everyone was satisfied with the scoreline and voiced the same opinion that we need to have more of these matches. Team IRC will ensure that XIMB will witness more such football in the future.

International Experience at XIMB

Set in the heart of the city of Bhubaneswar is the campus of Xavier Institute of Management, which is a big sprawling campus complete with lush greenery and picturesque surroundings. It is the seat of knowledge and learning and is a wonderful experience to be part of. The student, the faculty, the staff all live within the campus as part of one large family.

XIMB provides to the students under the international student exchange programme, an excellent opportunity to interact and gain knowledge from the learned and experienced faculty who are willing to reach out to students not only in academic but in personal matters as well.

These students, who are a part of this incredible journey; live, learn and enjoy in this campus. It is like a ‘home away from home’ for them. Within a few days of stay, the students managed to pick up the Indian word ‘Namaste’ and promptly use it with anybody when approached !!!

Binsamou Christopher, a French student from IESEG, France, doing the fourth term of PG diploma in management (PGDM) at XIMB said to Expressbuzz, “Though I have a bachelor’s degree in finance and audit from France, the subjects offered here are pretty varied and interesting. Strategic management, accounting, business to business marketing, project management and IT strategy are some of the topics I had not studied earlier. The scope of learning here is vast and the approach is more practical”. Students get to do short term projects as part of their PGDM course with companies like Britannia and Apollo Hospital which definitely adds to the practical aspect of learning. (Article dated 23/08/2010 http://expressbuzz.com/education/namaste-is-the-only-hindi-word-he-knows/199687.html).

But life here is not all about studying. The motto goes “Study hard, Party Harder”. The oh-so-famous JLTs (Just Like That Parties) and Block Parties and not to forget the awesome parties thrown by the International Relations Committee (IRC) are the life blood of the student community here. Starting late at nights and continuing till the wee hours of the morning, gets students to chill out together and forget all academic pressures.

XIM efficiently offers a little bit for everybody. Sports fanatics turn joyous by the variety of sporting facilities available here. Be it football, basketball, tennis or indoor games like table tennis and badminton; numerous matches are organised with great fanfare where everyone participates either by playing in the match or cheering for the game as the audience.

Cultural enthusiasts also get their share by the large number of events and occasions like ‘Parichay’, ‘Sambandh’, etc. which are organized at frequent intervals in XIMB. French students have taken great delight in being a part of such programmes and have thoroughly enjoyed their roles.

The experience goes beyond the campus with a lot of beautiful places to visit and fun places to hang-out in and around Bhubaneswar. Come weekends and hangout places like Mayfair, Pal Heights, TDS throng with the XIMB student masses. Trips to Puri and Konark, visiting the ancient temples, beaches and sceneries have been one of the major highlights of their stay here. Not only that, there are loads of beautiful tourist places in India and the students have made full use of this opportunity to visit places like Goa, Andaman Islands, Kerala and enjoyed a lot.

“Learning the lifestyle and culture of this place adds another dimension to our knowledge.” As a parting note, Martin, another exchange student, says “XIMB is one of the best B schools of India. The members of IRC are very warm and welcoming and made our stay here really worthwhile. I made a lot of great friends here and I am glad to have come here and to be a part of XIMB.”

Feedback about XIMB from Exchange students

"What is it like for the exchange students to come here to XIMB for a term of three months?". We at IRC want everyone to hear it from the students themselves and here we are with a feedback video. We enjoyed every moment with them and are really happy to know that they had a great time too!

The students went around India and visited tourist hotspots like Goa, Cochin, Madurai etc., and very recently, a trip to Darjeeling. They started loving the Indian cuisine which is very diversified across different parts of the country.

They had words of praise for IRC members as well. They enjoyed the periodic parties and football matches we organized for them apart from the JLT (Just Like That) parties of XIMB.

We feel pleased and honoured that they described XIMB in one word as "family". They also sang a French song and dedicated it to XIMB. Watch the video for the song and much more.

Waka Waka at XIMB

The fever of football might have dampened elsewhere after the curtains went down in South Africa but not at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. It was evident by the intensity of the football match which was played between the teams representing 1st year and 2nd year MBA students on 31st July, 2010.



The time was 5:30pm and the venue was the football ground at XIMB.

-->Both teams entered the field amongst loud cheer from their respective supporters and with the blow of the whistle, the clock started ticking. It was evident right from the kickoff that it will be an attacking game.Forwards of both the teams kept trying hard to break the defense os opposition but PGP2 was the first to do so and the goal came in the form of a clean strike from Satya. PGP-1 bounced back and equalized within a minute with a delicate touch by Sourav. The match apeared to be in perfect balance with both the sides pushing to their edges. PGP-2 once again took the lead with a strike by Sameer and just before half-time they doubled their lead with the help of a penalty scored by Gladson. The half time scorecard read 3-1 in favour of PGP-2.

With the start of 2nd half PGP-1 showed that they were not going to fall back that easily and they reduced the margin by a goal from Gokul. PG-2 once again got their 2-goal lead , this time from a own goal by Deepak. Binayak then finished beautifully for PGP-2 and the match was pretty much decided at 5-2. PGP-1 tried hard to fight back and were able to score one in the dying moments- goal scored by Mani. It was too late and the match ended 5-3 in favour of PGP-2.

The whole match was pretty intense and there was great display of skills and competitiveness. If it has to be described in two words: "Total Football".

Meet the members

CORE COMMITTEE

He is unstoppable wherever he goes. He is quick, agile and smart; He is the guy who leads from the front. Thanks to his sporting genes Gladson John Vinod is an impeccable planner charting out different courses of action and delegating them well. His superb co-ordination skills enable IRC to function as a leaderless self motivated team. He is always looking for innovative ways to make the exchange student’s journey of learning and fun one of the most enriching experiences for them. He is the lynchpin of the team who leaves no stone unturned to take team IRC to new heights.




This happy go lucky girl is the epitome of the best fusion between work and fun. Her charming persona would capture your eternal thoughts and a few conversations with her would leave you wondering if god gifted her 30 hours a day. Shalini is equipped with unmatched team management skills manages to turn every work entrusted to her into a gem, a masterpiece. She along with others exemplified the IRC brochure and was also the mastermind behind the uber cool French Nite parties hosted in campus for our exchange students. She is a dynamic team player with a humorous sense of humour.

Fun, frolic and entertainment.. An integral part of “MiSaKh”, Agent 2, sadly without the license to kill, is the one who knows how to manage the “finances” well. All our hopes of having a party filled year lies on the hand of Soumendu who would be handling the finances of our team. Being focussed, down to earth and smart is what differentiates this gem of IRC. A writer of international stature Soumendu always cracks up at unexpected moments which make it fun working with him. Having a let’s-see-what-will-happen attitude easily makes him the coolest one!!

The fin-bond and the perfect brand ambassador of the Lady Sri Ram College is the quiet one who manages everything from the back-end making her the dependable one. Having found the perfect “one” this talented lady of ours, Rajshree, has also been the backbone of many group projects and provided interesting insights to some of the not-so-good imparters of the education. Attention-to-detail and tinsel town like attitude is what marks her identity and was very much evident in the newsletters of which she was an integral part.

This reclusive little lady has a carefree walk whenever you see her but once entrusted with responsibilities she adorns herself with unbeatable strength, courage and towers above the rest. This fun loving and multi talented girl can handle all kinds of responsibilities and is blessed with varied skills. Subhra along with others has been the anchor towards various initiatives like IRC’s newsletter. She was also an integral part of the process initiation for new exchange partners program.




This chick of ours is the one who looks dead serious and seems that she would not pay any heeds to anything even remotely related to “FUN”.. But that s just the first look!!! But really Madhulika is funny and enjoys what she does. It’s her slapstick wittiness that makes all the boring things fun and happening!!! Believe it or not, she’s actually the one who made the interview process interesting and a moment for us to remember throughout. Her diligent and hardworking attitude is what is keeping us hopeful about the start of the exchange program for RM. Glad that we could work together.

SHADOW COMMITTEE

Param in English means ultimate, profound and supreme which is just this Param is. When he is involved you can expect the work to be finished much before deadline. He is so full of energy and he is the live example of "Work Hard and Party Harder" and "One Man Army". At the same time he is a friendly person, you can call him at any weird time and he will be on his way to help and you need not call him for a party; he is sure to reach there first. Any team would be lucky to have him in the force.





Amit gives the first impression of a serious and focussed student. One would get to know him better by befriending him. A person with an uncanny sense of humour, who passionately reproduces the dialogues of Hindi Movies .He is spirited (open to interpretation) and keeps everyone in high spirits. He is a techie with a managerial aptitude- a complete package. A great team player and has his own style of doing things .In short: a versatile and a down to earth person.




Blessed with a sweet smile and compassionate heart Sukanya carves out an exclusive place in everyone’s life. With her ardour she is a darling in every group. Ever smiling smart lady whose smile enthrals you, whose lively talk mesmerizes you, and someone who won’t let you go until you give an ear to what she’s saying. Time just flies away when she’s around.





Shruti is the right mix of intelligence and fun. She is one of the youngest in the batch and one of the liveliest as well. She is one of those few girls who is overtly proud about her hometown. You can notice the excitement in her tone when talking about Delhi. With a commerce background she has a keen interest in Finance domain and will surely scale great heights in whichever field she enters.






Sudheer is a true worker bee; diligent, hardworking and thoughtful. He is one of the biggest football freaks one would meet and his passion and pride in his Telugu identity clearly shows. A compulsive blogger, he can always be found online. The best thing about him is his cute smile which never fails to bring a smile to your face too!

The aura of "May I help you" about Sasmita makes her one of the most indispensable persons whenever you need assistance. Get to know her a little better, and you would be surprised to find a sweet innocent kid within her. Though blessed with a Pentium III processor for normal everyday activities she is the smartest girl everyone looks up to because she is the human epitome of an "Enquiry Centre" as she invariably has all the possible details you might want.

Geo's penchant for life and his never say die attitude are things that set him apart. He has a strong inherent sense of duty that is virtually unshakable, making him relentlessly dependable. He can give an initial impression of being aloof, but that impression doesn't last five minutes into a conversation with him. He is a brilliant quizzer, who has a good knowledge in every sphere, a talented guitarist and above all, a friend anyone would feel proud to have.








Sagnik is an example of one who lives his life to the fullest, enjoys every moment and makes sure that others around him do the same. Though he is one of the most silent guys in class, a small comment from him leaves the entire class in splits. He is sure to pull you out of your despair with his casual, carefree way of life. He is the "Been there, done that" guy who lives in the moment and knows his priorities well. He is a great person to know and work with and a greater person to be friends with.

Darshit is a person with an extra-ordinary zeal to fly greater heights and dig deeper depths. A harmonious synthesis of intelligence, compassion and spiritual wisdom, he is a unique hard-to-find personality. Though one prefers to regard him as an introvert and silence loving guy, he is stupendous when he expresses himself through his quality work. Teeming with loads of innovative ideas, he can be described as a "serial innovator". Apart from studies, his passion for playing cricket, singing and writing are also remarkable. Finally, he is someone with infinite potential ardently willing to be unveiled.

Aravinda is a true gentleman with a big brother personality. He is a friendly person with a pure heart. The silent humour and kind of laugh he has, you can just hope that you are not sitting beside him in the class because once he gets started you will be on the floor. He is a good badminton player as well. People would love him to lead their group as he is a very efficient leader.

Niraj is a rebel who defines his own happiness and lives life on his own terms. He has an incredible ability to get along with people from all kinds of backgrounds. He may seem directionless at time, but under the surface is an intense individual. Now, the secret to his youthfulness - he survives on a liquid diet!