Corporate Expectations by Mr. Saurabh Kaushik, General Manager (HR), Kingdom of Dreams

INLEAD facilitated a workshop for July’13 batch students on Corporate Expectations. The workshop was delivered by Mr. Saurabh Kaushik, General Manager (HR), Kingdom of Dreams & Galaxy Hotel, Gurgaon.

The lecture started with an explanation of the definition of a Corporate. The students were made familiar with the fact that every candidate is different and unique. The emphasis was placed on “being yourself’. Also, discussion was on the fact that how success depends upon knowing our own expectations from ourselves.

Mr. Kaushik highlighted the concept of demand & supply in case of employment and the expectations of an employer. How the three aspects of corporate expectations affect what a corporate demands from the candidate. The aspects included Communication Skills and English Language playing a vital role in communicating with the current set of customers of the service industry.

Also, discussion was held on how professional skills like technical knowledge affect the chances of being hired. He also mentioned the core employability skills like Integrity, will to learn, teamwork and networking.

To conclude, the lecture gave a holistic overview of what the industry expects from a potential candidate exemplifying each element.

According to Ms Palak Bathla, Event Management & PR: “The session was good and interesting. It gave us a fresh outlook towards the expectations in the corporate world. Would like to have more of such sessions.”

According to Ms. Mansha Dua Healthcare Administration: “It was a very good experience. Even though Mr. Kaushik had immense knowledge, he did not get too technical. For someone who did not have prior work experience, it was not difficult to understand the session. I look forward to more of such sessions.”

Expert Session on Personal Transformation & Stress Management (Ms Ekta Chaudhary - Femina Miss India Universe, 2009)

INLEAD facilitated an Industry Expert Session on Personal Transformation and Stress Management for April 2013 Batch students on 5th July. The session was conducted by Ms. Ekta Chowdhury, Former Femina Miss India – Universe.

The session began with Ms. Chowdhury asking a simple question to the students, “What do you want in life?” Varied responses were received by the students as they stated that they would like to have power, money, fame, etc. The session then took a turn when Ms. Chowdhury threw light on the fact some of the desires that the students specified were the main reasons for stress.

Since the session was purely based on experience, she had the students take off their shoes and loosen their ties so as to create a relaxed environment. She had all the students lay on the floor so as to experience their breathing and be in touch with their mind and inner self.

Short discussions ensued regarding stress and its consequences. These discussions were always followed by a meditation session of ten minutes. During the meditation session, she stressed on the facts that one needs to be focused in order to gain mental peace and relaxation.

She discussed that one need not escape stress but instead should face the stressful situations. A very good point discussed by Ms. Chowdhury was to change one’s perception towards stress and she broke the myth that stress always has to be perceived in a negative approach. Instead, she stated the fact that stress can also be positive and this can help one perform better. Overall, the session was educative and different from the usual classes and sessions that the students have attended.

• According to Ms Tania Gupta International Hotel Management April’13: The session was very impressive. We learnt techniques which would relieve us from stress. The meditations and stress relieving activities that were conducted made me realize that it’s not very difficult to relax. Her way of talking and her voice modulation made the session very pleasing.  We would like to have more sessions like these.” 

• According to Mr. Shashwat Mishra International Hotel Management April’13: Ms. Chowdhury enlightened us with various techniques like meditation which are to be utilized for overcoming stress. The topics were better understood by the activities that were conducted wherein all the students were asked to channelize their energy and were to concentrate on their breathing. Look forward to more of these sessions

Event Management: Industry Visit - India International Leather Fair

INLEAD facilitated an Industry visit for Event Management & Public Relations April 2013 batch students to the India International Leather Fair, scheduled from 4th of July to 6th of July 2013.The exhibition took place at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi focusing on Leather Products, machineries and other allied industries related to leather production.

 It was an in-depth learning about organizing an exhibition. The students had an opportunity to witness diverse types of production platforms; new technology based lighting, audio & sound systems. It also facilitated their learning and understanding of the fabrication aspect in an exhibition. 

The students were told about how an exhibition is conceptualized and sold in a particular domain. They gained insight into setting up of the whole exhibition which involved Octonorm stalls, the size of different stalls, the lights used, etc. It was a good platform where the students got an overview of visual merchandising, kiosks, display through hoardings and sponsorship activities for an event. Students had an opportunity to clearly observe the exhibition starting from the registration counters to the exit check systems.

Overall, it was an over-whelming experience. The combination of a corporate event & an exhibition, equipped the students with knowledge of the 3D environment, stand designs, exhibition displays based on ‘design and build’, creativity, innovation, fabrication, carpeting, hanger designing, branding, lights, signage, floor plan designing, exhibition badges etc.

• According to Mr. Parshant Garg (Event Management & Public Relations, July 12): It helped in understanding the various aspects of fabrication and execution of exhibitions.
• According to Ms 
  

  Sona Sharma (Event Management, Jan 13): We learned about ITPO and the concept of Exhibition commercially.

Healthcare Administration: Expert Session - "Essentials of Finance in Healthcare"

INLEAD facilitated an Industry Expert Session for Healthcare Administration Oct'12 and April'13 batches. The session was conducted by Mr. Sachin Chaudhary Founder & CEO of Medical Second Opinion and Chief Trainer- MHA Training Company.

The speaker elaborated the growing share of Indian healthcare in the global market. He emphasized on the myopia the industry is suffering from in terms of the scope of Healthcare administration. He explained that Healthcare is not only limited to hospitals but is beyond the organizational operations.  He emphasized on the myopia the industry is suffering from in terms of the scope of Healthcare administration. He explained that Healthcare is not only limited to hospitals but is beyond the organizational operations. The healthcare administration students should strengthen their skills of taking strategic decisions along with the operational skills. Apart from this the other topics he touched upon were “Manpower outsourcing, Healthcare IT, Mobile Health and Medical Tourism.

The growing role medical tourism and international medical value customer were also discussed. Mr Chaudhary said that all the processes should be converted in terms of numbers and KRAs. As many Indian hospitals are having 30% of operating margins (EBITDA) and they are spending 13-15% on Human resources, manpower outsourcing becomes a big opportunity

 

•   According to Navleen (Oct 12 Batch): “The speaker touched upon a lot of current issues in healthcare. He gave a broad overview of the financial issues in health industry.”
•    According to Priyanka (MBA-Lateral) Apr’13 Batch: “We learned about new terminologies like (Private Equity) PE, Venture Capital (VC) and RCM.”

Management Student: LEAD Activity - Face to Face: The Big Debate

INLEAD conducted a “LEAD activity – Face to Face: The Big Debate” for Event Management & Public Relations, Healthcare Administration, Infrastructure Management Oct’12 & April’13 batches and International Hotel Management Jan’13 & April’13 Batch.

The debate was planned to encourage the students to examine every side of the important and controversial topics provided, in an atmosphere of reasoned argument and respectful discourse. The enormous effort that students put forth to succeed in this intellectually exciting activity was truly inspiring.

The preparation for the activity began at least 1 week in advance when the topics were provided to the participants. Participants were then divided into main speakers and the interjector team. Following were the topics for the debate:

              1. Should there be electronic surveillance in the workplace? Agree or disagree.

           2. Business Development is more important than operations in an organization? Agree or disagree.

        3. If there are rewards, should there also be retribution in an organization? Agree or disagree.

              4. Is cost reduction more important than quality in an organization? Agree or disagree.

On the day of the debate, the speakers were all charged up and a healthy discussion ensued. Once the speakers finished with their affirmative (in favor of the topic) or negative (opposed to the topic) thoughts, the interjector teams sprang to action with their series of questions in an attempt to gain information and reveal weaknesses in the arguments of the person who had just spoken. The rebuttal team did their best by taking a main point of the speaker’s argument and showing why the other speaker’s argument made more sense. Because a lot of the thinking for this was done quickly, it was one of the most challenging and enjoyable aspects of the day.

The day culminated with the following participants emerging as winners:

             ·         Best Speaker – Ashutosh Sharda (EMPR April’13)

             ·         2^nd Best Speaker – Aditi Mohan (EMPR April’13)

             ·         3^rd Best Speaker – Leesha Gujare (HCA April’13)

             ·         Best Interjector – Priyanka Wadehera (EMPR October’12)

             ·         Best Team – Ashutosh Sharda and Aditi Mohan (EMPR April’13)

Overall, it was a day filled with energy and fun with the students gaining benefits like rigorous and critical thinking as a result of their hard work along with confidence to speak in public.

PR - A decade ago & now. What’s Changed & What’s Not (Ms Meera Krishnan, CEO - Lexicon PR)

INLEAD facilitated a workshop on “PR - A decade ago & now. What’s Changed & What’s Not“  by Ms. Meera Krishnan, CEO, Lexicon PublicRelations & Corporate Consultants (P) Ltd. The Industry Expert Lecture was conducted for October’12 and April’13 Event Management and Public Relationsstudents.

The session began with Ms. Krishnan introducing the class to the concept of Public Relations. She encouraged the students to think and state what, according to them, was public relations. She then further elucidated how PR was all about managing the perception that someone has for a brand or an individual. She discussed, quoting live examples from the industry, why a business entity needs to know its PR requirements and needs.

The session focused broadly on the evolution of Public Relations Industry in the past decade. The lecture threw light on the various aspects pertaining to the constant changes affecting the industry. She discussed how factors like boom in the internet, MNCs coming to India and the changes in media have affected the evolution of PR industry, which ultimately has opened the roads of PR in sectors like Technology, FMCG etc. The introduction to the emerging trends in PR & Media gave students food for thought and made them understand and recognize the level of Public Relations as an industry, 10 years ago and now. This would definitely help them for the future and would enable the students in creating the right career for them in the field of PR.

According to Ms Priyanka Wadehra Event Management & Public Relations Oct’12 Batch: "Ms. Meera Krishnan gave us an insight of what PR is and this expert session is definitely going to help me in understanding the roles and responsibilities of a PR official and would help me focus more on the field. She seemed very passionate about her work and this was evident in the session." 

Management Student : LEAD Activity - "Talk A Lot"

INLEAD conducted a LEAD Activity- Talk A Lot for all the programs of Oct’12 Batch & International Hotel Management Jan’13 Batch on 23^rd May 2013. Activity was planned, keeping in mind the challenges faced by the students while speaking in English. It was also observed, during the class interaction, that students were not really aware of the jargons and abbreviation which are commonly used in the corporates.

“Talk A Lot” turned out to be a thrilling and exciting way of learning spoken English for the students.

Faculties have incorporated activities and worksheets for vocabulary building, introduction to corporate phrases and new words, parts of speech etc. to enhance the language skills of the students.

The activity started with an exciting energizer wherein the students were shuffled innovatively and were made to sit in an arrangement with no one sitting on either of their sides. A compiled docket of worksheet and activities were handed over to the students’ before the session.

We began with the familiarization of the parts of speech through an activity followed by a funny video. Various games like crossword, scrabble, stating the meaning of the commonly used business jargons and elaborating the business acronyms  had the students in a delighted state and all were excited to get the answers right. The spell bee, accompanied with the tossing of the koosh ball, had the students vying for their turn as they competed with each other in a friendly manner. The students continued their out of the box thinking by completing the blank animation strip provided in the docket. The activity was brought to a close with a Video of Speech by the American President Barack Obama.

Overall, the students had a fun filled time and also had their language skills brushed during the activity.

According to Ms Shweta Sighania, Event Management and Public Relations Oct’12 Batch – “It was a stimulating day filled with learning and fun.”

According to Mr. Harish Venugopal, International Hotel Management Jan’13 Batch – “Activities like these are fun way to enhance Language (spoken English) skills.”

International Hotel Management : Expert Workshop on Cross Culture Work Environment (International Hotel Management Batches)

INLEAD facilitated an expert workshop for International Hotel Management Jan’13 and April’13 batch students on 16^th May 2013. The purpose of the workshop was to give young professionals an overview of the global hotel industry and what are the major challenges that an individual faces to work in a cross culture environment.

Ms. Chakraborty began her session with first asking all the participants to write down their thoughts on what are they expecting out of this session. The students were then asked to share their thoughts. The topic of discussion was “Preparing for Journey: International HospitalityJobs”.The main objective was to get the students introduced to different working styles and how international exposure is essential for hospitality industry for the overall learning and development.

The session was to give students an understanding of what to expect when going international for jobs/internships. The session began with an activity wherein the students had to come up with an “out of the box thinking”. the session covered topics like: what to know about the organization, challenges working in a cross culture environment, ground rules- do’s and don’ts and finally the learning’s which summarized the entire discussion.

The session had a lot of important tips that were shared some of which were: how it is important to have tolerance, attitude for gratitude is very important, and most importantly smile, because this is one thing that would connect you with a guest. The session came to an end with a small meditation exercise.

According to Shyam Sunder International Hotel Management Jan’13 Batch: “My learning’s from the session was the understanding of various challenges and how to tackle those while working in a cross culture environment”.

Infrastructure Management : Workshop on Career Prospects in Facility Management (Mr. Aneesh Kadyan)

INLEAD facilitated an expert workshop for InfrastructureManagement April’13 Batch students on career prospects in Facility Management Industry. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Aneesh Kadyan, Senior Associate Director- CB Richard Ellis South Asia Pvt. Ltd.

The expert session was an insight in to the field of Facility Management with lots of inputs on career & scope in Facility management field for young professional. Students were informed about the current growth rate of the industry domain & the factors that have contributed for the same. Mr. Kadyan also shared the mantras from the facility management guru’s for the young FM professionals and importance of communication, pro-activeness & time management in the field of facility management. Concepts of EMS, Green Building & LEED certification were also shared during the session. 

During his interaction he quoted live examples from the industry and shared his real time experiences about problem solving, decision making & client relationship with the students. The above topics helped the students to identify potential career scope in facility management, do’s & don’ts during facility management operations, the expectation of FM companies & Clients.

According to Mr. Ravinder Singh IM April’13 Batch: “I got a better understanding of the current scenario of the FM industry, which will eventually help me to prepare better for the Industry”

Event Management : Workshop on Experiential Marketing (Mr. Sharad Mathur)

INLEAD facilitated a workshop for October’12 and April’13 Events Management and Public Relations students on Experiential Marketing by Mr. Sharad Mathur, CEO, EMG – Experiential Marketing and Events.

The session began with Mr. Sharad Mathur introducing the class to the concept of Experiential Marketing. He explained on how experiential marketing was all about creating an experience for the targeted audience. He discussed quoting live examples from the industry, how one needs to be aware of the audience in order to make the right impression by generating an experience.

He discussed regarding the technological advancements in the industry and how the events industry has undergone development with regards to the use of lights and 3D video mapping. He played videos highlighting 3D video mapping which were very invigorating and gave a very good preview of 3D video mapping.

Video Projection Mapping is an exciting new projection technique that can turn almost any surface into a dynamic video display. Specialized software is used to warp and mask the projected image to make it fit perfectly on irregularly shaped screens. When done right, the end result is a dynamic projection installation that transcends ordinary video projection. This was a new concept for the students and was very educational and informative.

Another concept which was introduced and discussed was Augmented Reality. Augmented reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. The videos on the topic were very scintillating and worthwhile.

The introduction to new ideas and concepts gave the students food for thought and made them understand and realize the level of technological advancements in the industry. This would definitely help them for the future and would enable the students in creating the desired experience for the targeted audience.

According to Mr. Tarun Tanwar EMPR Batch: “The lecture would definitely help me to think in a different way I learnt that it is important to connect with the customers and create an experience for them” 

According to Mr. Parth Yadav EMPR Batch: “I really understood the importance of an experience on the targeted audience and this would be very helpful in organizing events in the future”

Healthcare Administration : Industry Visit – Max Hospital, Saket

INLEAD conducted an Industry Visit for Healthcare Administration April 2013 Batch on 14^th May to Max Super Specialty Hospital- Saket, New Delhi, to get an overview of a hospital and its departments. 

"Max Hospital” located in the heart of the city is a super specialty hospital & a unit of Devki Devi foundation, one of the premier names in Healthcare domain in the world. It provides strong infrastructure and technical workforce with access to all requisite facilities. They provide an indoor capacity of 490 beds. An unparalleled standard of medical excellence with special focus on service gives them the cutting edge.

This was the second Industry Visit for Healthcare Administration April 2013 Batch. The visit to a super specialty hospital gave students a deep insight into the practical aspects of healthcare delivery and the inter-relationship and significance of each individual department of the hospital.

The Departments visited were:

·      Clinical Areas:

1.       OPD

2.       IPD

3.       ICU

·      Support Areas:

1. Radiological Services

2. Laboratory Services

3. Administration (HR, IT & Marketing)

The visit was concluded by a short question answer session addressed by Mr. Mehernosh Dittia, VP- Talent Development at Max Hospital.

According to Ms. Yachna (Healthcare Administration April 2013 Batch): “The exposure was good & it will help me in my internship to understand the operations better”.

International Hotel Management- Industry Expert Session - Ms. Sonal Pathak, Director- HR, Radisson Blu, Dwarka.

INLEAD facilitated an Industry Expert Workshop on 9^th May for International Hotel Management Jan’13 and April’13 batches. The workshop was conducted by Ms. Sonali Pathak, Director- HR, Radisson Blu, Dwarka.

The session began with understanding if the students relate to the concept of an Expert session. The students were guided on how such sessions can help one connecting with the industry. Ms. Pathak made the session very interactive and cleared lot of industry myths that students had, during the workshop. She shared lot of facts on Travel and Tourism industry and graphs were used to validate the points being discussed which made it a very interesting discussion.

Travel and Tourism Industry is the largest employer in the world and it is projected to remain the same, with India being the 4th best country for hospitality business; thus bringing out a great deal of career opportunities for young professionals.

The lecture explained how hotel jobs are dynamic in nature and are very unpredictable, though they are global in nature; it always has a local flavor to it. Ms. Pathak also spoke about how hotel jobs can be very monotonous, but each day it has to be approached with different enthusiasm.

The highlight of the session was the alertness and involvement displayed by the students. The data/graphs shown and discussed taught them how to comprehend stats when presented.

• According to Shashwat Mishra IHM April’13 Batch: “The detailed figures and updated information of the entire hotel industry and India’s comparison with the global and Asia – Pacific Hotels, I found them to be very informative.”
• According to Faraz Khan IHM April’13 Batch: “It was not a theoretical lecture; it showed us practical aspects of the hotel industry and the current state of the hospitality industry globally and in India.”

LEAD Orientation Activity - Passage To India (April'13 Batch)

INLEAD conducted LEAD Orientation Activity – “Passage To India” for all the programs of April 2013 batch on 3^rd May 2013. The activity was designed, keeping in mind the blend of students coming from different backgrounds. The biggest challenge for them was to break the ice between each other and be a part of a pre decided team.

The activity was planned in a way where the participants got just a weeks’ time to understand the concept of the activity-“Passage To India”, highlighting the 5 cultures like Kerala, Punjab, Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Further, they were to plan and delegate the responsibilities, prepare the screen play and execute the event. During this period, they met with challenges like Team Conflicts, Budgeting, Presentation, Resource and Time Management.

Though it was a competition, the students showed the spirit of camaraderie and helped each other with their preparation.  The activity gave insight in to team building, creativity and leadership skills.

The display of the various skill sets and the colorful performance by the students made the event a success. The intrinsic detail management and the entertaining performance led to the felicitation of the Punjab Team as winners. Mr. & Miss. Fresher and Best Performer were also awarded by Mr. R.C Gupta, Executive Director to encourage and recognize the individual mettle of students. Following is the list of winners:

• Mr. Fresher: Shashwat Mishra
• Miss. Fresher: Aditi Mohan

• Team Punjab (The Winners): 

1. Sona Sharma
2. Neeraj Verma
3. Ranbir Singh
4. Tanbir Singh
5. Parvinder Singh
6. Priyanka Kale
7. Preeti Chauhan
8. Swati Sood
9. Shweta Ramakrishna
10. Aparna Sharma
11. Faraz Khan
12. Jaswant Kumar
13. Navjot Singh 

• Best Performers: 

1st : Tanbir Singh

2nd : Ashutosh Sharda & B. Ravindranath Palliwar 

• Special Appreciation

1.  Arun Kumar 

This has initiated the way for the learning of the corporate values and ethics for the students and would serve as a good example for future.

Healthcare Administraiton- Supply Chain Management in a Hospital

INLEAD facilitated an Industry Expert Workshop for Healthcare Administration April’13 & Oct’12 Batch on 1st May 2013. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Gaurav Khurana, Regional Head – Operations, Fortis Healthcare and the topic of discussion was Supply Chain Management in a Hospital.

Mr. Khurana began the session by discussing Material Management which has become a distinct function in a hospital. Depending on the size of the hospital it could be a separate department or in a smaller set up it could be under the care of the Healthcare Manager. Materials in a hospital range from consumables, stationery and management of equipment’s besides the pharmaceuticals and optical goods.

Mr. Khurana discussed all the components of the Supply Chain including all the 5 M’s and highlighted the basic functions of material management. He also elaborated the fundamental principles of Supply Chain Management like Marketing Intelligence, Negotiation, Standardization and Inventory Control Techniques like VED, ABC and FSN Analysis. He explained the different types of expenditure like CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) and OPEX (Operational Expenditure) and the details of procurement process.

• According to Mr. Abhishek, Oct’12 Batch: “A very Informative session and easy to understand from a student’s perspective.”
• According to Mr. Tanbir April’13 batch: “The practical solutions discussed for the real time problems will give a better understanding when we enter the industry and handle these issues ourselves.”

To conclude, the session was precise and comprehensive highlighting all the important aspects of the supply chain management.

Workshop on Branding and Marketing by Mr. Ajay Sharma

INLEAD facilitated an Industry Expert Workshop for October’12 and April’13 Event Management and Public Relations students on Marketing and Branding. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Ajay Sharma, Vice President, India Momentum Worldwide - McCann World Group.

The session began with Mr. Ajay Sharma introducing the class to the McCann World Group, one of the largest communications network in the world, offering niche marketing solutions. He then dwelled on the academic definitions of Brand Equity and Brand Language and how brand managers take any route in establishing the Brand Equity.

The discussion centering on the 10 principles to establish the Brand Equity through Touch & Feel, Advertising, Public Relation, Promotions and Communication was very edifying and fruitful. It would definitely assist the students in understanding the strategies utilized for advertising and marketing. The discussion of each principle accompanied with examples from the industry enabled the students to understand them and gain clarity regarding the tactics utilized for Branding and Marketing.

• According to Ms Aditi Mohan, April’13 Batch: “The session gave me insight that I had to unlearn in order to become better at what I would do.”
• According to Ms Shweta Singhania, October’12 Batch: “The 10 Golden Rules to build brand equity were very informative and unique.”

The class was also engaged in a group activity wherein they were to devise and plan the creation of a need of a particular product for the consumers. To conclude, the session was very fruitful and enlightening. It was very interactive and productive.