Management Student: LEAD Activity - HULLA BALOO

INLEAD conducted LEAD Orientation Activity- Hullabaloo for all the programs of April 2013 batches. 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 spread over a period of 2 days. The students were to prove their mettle and showcase their latent talents through the activities in which they were participating.

The event kicked off on the 25^th of July starting with Masterchef’2013. A team of 2 main cooks and 1 helper was made and the participants were to produce 1 mocktail, 2 savory items and a dessert as a part of the menu. The challenge was that they were to come up with an innovative menu and dishes as this was one of the parameters. The participants were given 1.5 hours to prepare the dishes and 30 minutes post that to present the same to the judges for tasting. The participants worked hard to come up with a variety of delectable, mouthwatering dishes and delicious mocktails. It was a beautiful and colorful presentation of a variety of dishes.

Along with Masterchef, other participants were showcasing their artistic abilities with Kaleidoscope – Sketching and Painting. The biggest challenge that was placed was that the participants were not supposed to use water colors, poster or fabric paints in their pictures. Even with limited means, the participants displayed brilliant brush strokes sans the brush and paints. Beautiful sketches and drawings were made by the participants which made the day more colorful.

On 26^th July, the day started with all the students participating in Hop to the Top – a series of games and activities which was fun filled and energetic. The games were all timed and required the participants to complete the given task and win prizes. 

 The event was then followed by the AD Mad show in which the participants were to present innovative ads to sell certain items which were given to them. From selling diapers to broken combs, rotten apples to soap made from cow dung, the participants displayed great enthusiasm and energy and entertained the whole audience and the judges.

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, leadership skills etc. The student coordinators and organizers worked tirelessly along with the faculty to make the event a success.

The display of the various skill sets and the colorful performance by the students made the event a success. The participants were awarded by Mr. Deepak Sharma and Ms. Khushboo Singh, Vice President, INLEAD. The event was drawn to a close with the crowing of Mr. and Miss Fresher and the dance floor thrown open for the students.

Following is the list of winners:

      1.       Mr. Fresher: Mohit Jain (Event Management & PR July’13)

      2.       Miss. Fresher: Palak Bathla (Event Management & PR July’13)

     

      3.       Master Chef’ 2013:

a)      Winner - Fusion Chefs:

o   Ujjwal Asthana (International Hotel Management July’13)

o   Deepesh Songara (Infrastructure Management July’13)

o   Nupur Mangla (Event Management & PR July’13)

b)      Runner up – Scrumptious Treatz:

o   Shristi Dhandaria (Event Management & PR July’13)

o   Pranay Mudgal (International Hotel Management July’13)

o   Varun Anand (International Hotel Management July’13)

       4.       Kaleidoscope:

a)      Winner – Partha Halder (International Hotel Management July’13)

b)      Runner Up – Rohin Saini (Healthcare Administration July’13)

c)       Special Prize – Priyanka Kaperwan (Healthcare Administration July’13)

       5.       Ad Mad Show:

a)      Winner:

o Palak Bathla (Event Management & PR July’13)

o Rahul Mallik (Event Management & PR July’13)

o Shivangi Girotra (Event Management & PR July’13)

b)      Runner up:

o Shristi Dhandaria (Event Management & PR July’13)

o Jitanshu Gulati (Event Management & PR July’13)

o Nitin Narang (Event Management & PR July’13)

o Prachi Saklani (Event Management & PR July’13)

      6.       Hop to the Top: Winners

a)      Noodling Around: Dr. Ashish Wasan (Healthcare Administration July’13)

b)      Stack Attack: Shweta Bhatia (International Hotel Management July’13)

c)       Dizzy Mummy – Shivangi Girotra (Event Management & PR July’13) and Sanjana Mittal (Event Management & PR July’13)

d)      Off the Ground – Hemant Kumar (Healthcare Administration Jan’13)

e)      Tilt the Cup – Dr. Priyanka Kale (Healthcare Administration April’13)

f)       Stack’ em up – Jatin Sehgal (International Hotel Management July’13)

g)      Tea party – Prateek Bhati (Healthcare Administration April’13)

h)      Blow’ em away – Dharam Chand (International Hotel Management July’13)

i)        Gemsticks – Deepak Khatri (International Hotel Management July’13)

j)        Roll the dice – Ridhem Gupta (Event Management & PR July’13)

k)      It’s my Jigsaw – Toshi Srivastava (Healthcare Administration July’13) and Varun Anand (International Hotel Management July’13)

l)        Musical Chairs – Varun Henry (Healthcare Administration July’13)

Hotel Management Student: Industry Visit (July'13 Batch) - Radisson Blu, Gurgaon

INLEAD facilitated an Industry Visit for International Hotel Management, July’13 batch students to the Radisson Blu, Gurgaon, a first class business segment hotel on 22^nd July 2013.

Radisson Blu, Gurgaon is an all-suite hotel comprising of 35 suites in 4 different categories. The Deluxe suite priced at 17500/- per night is the most expensive room in the category. The hotel has all day dinning called the TCK which stands for The Creative Kitchen; it’s an 85 cover restaurant which has a buffet for all 3 meals and also houses a live kitchen for all the a’ la carte orders. The other F&B options that a guest can choose from are the “The Cake Shop”, which is thepastry shop and “The Creative Lounge”. The lounge features karaoke nights every Friday and has an extensive list of whiskeys and cocktails and also serves light bites.

This exposure helped the students in understanding the concept of corporate hotels and revenue management system. The visit also helped them in understanding the current market trends and industry expectations from young professionals.

According to Pranay Mudgal, International Hotel Management July’13: “It was a great experience visiting Radisson Blu, Gurgaon. The staff was very cooperative and looking forward to more industry visits.”

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.”