XL & Xlers featured in the Outlook magazine

2 Xlers (Leena Menon 92PMIR & Sadashiv Nayak 93BMD) are featured the recent issue of Outlook - on India's Best Business Schools - which also ranks XLRI as No 2 ( after IIMA... since IIM B & C did not participate, that will remain a mystery ;-)... and No 1 among the private B-schools

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080929&fname=ALead+Essay&sid=2

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http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080929&fname=DHarvestors&sid=1&pn=3

Sadashiv Nayak 38
CEO, Food Bazaar
XLRI-Jamshedpur, 1993

"An MBA had to be aggressive and an extrovert, and I was neither."

When his family shifted from Goa to Mumbai, a 260 sq ft flat in Mumbai’s small-time suburb Bhayander wasn’t exactly the big city experience the school-going Sadashiv had in mind. From those humble beginnings to a posh apartment in Khar, Sadashiv has indeed come a long way. Initially, money was always an issue: Sadashiv went to engineering college thanks to his aunt’s monetary support. And that’s where he first heard about an MBA.

"Without it, I’d never have been able to shed the baggage of my middle-class upbringing and get used to unabashed consumption through retail," he says, adding that B-school gives an individual a natural passport of confidence. Nayak first joined Asian Paints, where he got a sense of the booming economy. Then, he had a six-year stint at HUL, where he got a taste of the competitive spirit of the regional players. Despite his apprehensions about getting into retail, he felt the need for change.As long as the customer remains unpredictable, he says, retail will be interesting.

By Arti Sharma

---

Leena Nair 39
Executive Director, Hindustan Unilever Ltd
XLRI, Jamshedpur, 1992


"We were always taught never to take things for granted."

Somewhere in Etah, UP, there’s a 500-metre stretch of tarmac named after HUL’s youngest executive director. That’s because, as a management trainee, Leena Nair managed to rally villagers in a ‘Shramdaan’ to connect the village to the nearest main road. Nair grew up in Kolhapur listening to stories of how her family faced hardship. "Although I hadn’t experienced it first-hand, we were always taught never to take things for granted." So while her family could afford to send her to college in a Mercedes, she was made to cycle 12 km each way because her father felt she hadn’t earned the right to that kind of luxury.

Knowing she was good at leading and dealing with people, Nair applied to XLRI despite opposition from the family. She remembers optimism about reforms in B-school, although "the reality of the change was much slower than anticipated". At HUL, they were often "thrown in at the deep end" to figure out if they could sink or swim. One of the key challenges she has faced is reversing HUL’s perception at campus placements. After five years, hul is back to being voted a Day Zero company.

By Arti Sharma

Chapeau to Prof Shukla(of course)

XLRI to help market tribal and rural crafts

From Te Business Standard

Students at the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur plan to link tribal artisans and rural craftsmen with the mainstream market, to increase margins.

Six XLRI students have set up a ‘design and learning centre’ for development of contemporary products using ancient art and craft. The centre will act as a learning centre for the rural and tribal craftsmen. The craftsmen will be encouraged to produce superior quality products. Two professionals designers have been hired for the purpose.

The incubation fund of Rs 3 lakh has been provided by the the XLRI Alumni Association, Jamshedpur chapter. The centre has now been converted into a legal partnership firm.

XLRI Jamshedpur supported a group of six first-year students to start Parichay.co.in, a portal to link tribal artisans with the mainstream market and provide them a platform to reach out to connoisseurs of art across the world. “We at XLRI thought of supporting them with the initial funds required to put the project in place,” reasoned Madhukar Shukla, XLRI faculty.

“We are planning to take Parichay beyond Jamshedpur. The plan is to set up such design and learning centres in multiple locations to tap the potential everywhere. The approximate requirement for the expansion is about Rs 90 lakh,” another team member said.

The Parichay team is designing design prototypes for the product line. The team is also planning exhibitions of the product range at various platforms like Ishanya mall, a specialised mall in Pune for home and office décor, and at Dastkar, a society for crafts and craftsmen that aims to improve the economic status of craftspeople.

If you would like to take a look at their website, head over to http://www.parichay.co.in/

XLRI dean pens biz guide

From The Telegraph

XLRI dean pens biz guide

Pingal Venugopal Jamshedpur, Sept. 22: To have a better understanding of the Indian market, B-school students need more books written by Indian authors. Keeping this in mind, Pingali Venugopal, the dean (academics) of XLRI, finished his fourth book Sales and Distribution: An Indian Perspective. The book will be released by Sage Publication on September 24. In the book, Venugopal dealt with marketing strategies like customer centric approach in the Indian market. India has become a lucrative market for many multinational companies but there are some unique characteristics of the market, which throws up variety of challenges. The book offers guidance how to cope with these challenges. Sales and Distribution: An Indian Perspective highlights behavioural transactions which helps in completing a sale and also deals with the service orientation required for selling products. “Although there are many books for management students available in the market, a greater percentage of them are by foreign authors. The marketing scenario varies from country to country. Unlike European and other foreign countries, the market in India is different and thus needs a separate study. The rising need of Indian authors motivated me to start writing on my subject,” said Venugopal. Venugopal is a postgraduate from IIM, Ahmedabad, and is a professor of marketing at XLRI since 1994. He is the visiting lecturer at IIM Ahmedabad, Calcutta and Lucknow and in American University of Armenia. The other three books by Venugopal are Marketing Channel Management: A Customer Centric Approach, Managing Your Sales Force: A Motivational Approach and State of the Indian Farmer: A Millenium Study. “It often happens that students read marketing strategies by foreign authors but face problems while executing those plans here. Not only in marketing but books should be written by Indian authors because with so much interest of the other countries in India now, I think there will be a growing demand for it also,” he said. The book costs Rs 495.

Mahesh Nair (86batch)'s Photo Exhibition @ Mumbai (Sept 16-24)

Mahesh Nair (86batch) is putting up an exhibition of his photographs "Let There Be Light"
at
Piramal Gallery, NCPA, Nariman Point
Sept 16-24, 2008

Having gone through his book (by the same name), they are really worth the visit

ciao
madhukar

Meet Prof Sharad Sarin

We've had quite a good response for this evening's cocktails and dinner program with Prof Sharad Sarin. John Idicula even pointed out that he's been at XL since 1975 so he's touched quite a few of us as probably the longest serving professor at the insti.

If you'd like to carpool to the KGA, we're allowing postings on the group so people can find others coming to the KGA from nearby localities. Please email with your name, specific location details, and your mobile number.

I'll be picking up Prof Sarin from The Atria at 6:15 PM and then heading directly to the KGA through MG Rd, Command Hospital, Airport Rd, and there's space for 2 more people. We'll be returning the same way after dinner. Please call me on 98451-41464 if you would like to join us.

See you on the evening. This will be in our usual Happy Hours format except that we will be serving dinner early and having the Q&A session post dinner.

Agenda: 7:30 PM - Bar opens
8:00 PM - Dinner starts
9:00 PM - Dinner closes
9:00 PM Onwards - Q&A Session with Prof Sarin
Venue: KGA (First Floor Hall), HAL (Old Airport) Road
Cover charges: Rs 150 (incl dinner), please pay as you enter the hall
Club Host: George Ollapally

Yours,

Kuru

Abhijit Bhaduri's (84PMIR) Book Launch (Sept 20th, Crossword-Saket, Delhi)

A value-oriented approach to business sets this school apart

From LiveMint.com

Posted: Thu, Sep 11 2008. 9:28 PM IST

XLRI | A value-oriented approach to business sets this school apart

“Our institute is located in one of the poorest regions of the country... it (is) important to sensitize our students -- most of whom come from urban centres -- to the poverty around.”

Aveek Datta

Jamshedpur: Perhaps it makes sense that the country’s pre-eminent institute devoted to human resource (HR) management would get it right. However, as any business knows, grooming managers is anything but easy.

A focus on ethics and a value-oriented approach to creating future managers is the niche expertise of the two-year business management (BM) and personnel management and industrial relations (PM&IR) courses at XLRI, Jamshedpur. And this, according to its director, faculty and students, is what differentiates XLRI from other top business schools in the country.

Teacher student equation: A class in progress at the institute. Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/ Mint

Indeed, in the Mint C-fore survey of the Top 50 private business schools in the country, XLRI is ranked first—no small feat for an institute in a relatively remote location and in a segment of higher education that is growing crowded and competitive.

XLRI’s course content, which is on a par with the top Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), also has a lot in common with them. But, according to Jitendra Singh, a professor teaching organizational behaviour at the institute, much of the learning at XLRI happens “outside the classroom”.

“Our institute is located in one of the poorest regions of the country, and we find it (is) important to sensitize our students—most of whom come from urban centres—to the poverty around. Therefore, as part of their course work in the first year, students have to stay in villages with the locals and develop an understanding of their socio-economic situation,” says Singh, who is an XLRI graduate and has been teaching at the school for about 15 years.

Apart from having a component of business ethics as part of the curriculum, various student communities are involved in social initiatives—some of which include putting together a clothes bank for distribution among the poor as remuneration for community welfare work and providing a marketing channel for the products of tribal craftsmen in India and abroad.

XLRI was founded by Quinn Enright, a Jesuit priest, in 1949. “Tata Steel officials requested Father Enright to open an institute to train the local trade union leaders and help them bargain better with the management on behalf of the workers, and that is how XLRI came into being,” says Sharad Sarin, a professor of strategic management at XLRI since 1972.

XLRI, in fact, stands for Xavier Labour Relations Institute, but now the institute goes by just the acronym.

Over the years, XLRI has earned a stellar reputation. In 1953, a two-year day programme in industrial relations and welfare—rechristened PM&IR in 1985—started at the institute. The two-year full-time business management programme was launched as early as 1968.

At present, other than its business management and PM&IR courses, XLRI runs 18 long-term management development and general management programmes on campus and a host of others through its satellite-based learning system. In addition, the school has two international campuses in Dubai and Singapore.

Though the business management programme has been going strong for four decades, even today many perceive the HR programme to be XLRI’s forte. While there are many competitors to XLRI for a two-year MBA (master’s in business administration) programme, there is virtually none for its PM&IR course, says Sarin. “This is despite the fact that after the BM programme started, there has been greater demand for it than PM&IR among aspiring candidates,” Sarin adds.

The XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, as it is known today, boasts of alumni comprising executives placed at the top of the corporate ladder with reputed companies across the globe.

The final placements for the batch that graduated in March this year saw a total of 298 offers being made to 180 students, with 31% of the offers coming from leading domestic and global finance companies.

The number of foreign placements, however, was few (12, to be precise).

Some faculty members say that XLRI students are more inclined to serve within the country than abroad. “We do have companies offering international placement at XLRI, but we have not gone overboard with trying to promote foreign placements. There is such a lot of demand and opportunities in India itself,” Singh says.

XLRI has lofty plans for the future, and is in the process of implementing them. The institute has already obtained permission from the All India Council for Technical Education to double the number of seats in its PM&IR course to 120 from the next academic session.

“Our major thrust for the future would be to provide global exposure to the institute and its students, and we are already in talks with a number of universities in the US and Europe for student and faculty exchange programmes,” says the director of XLRI, E. Abraham.

Work has already begun on the construction of a hostel for international students on campus. The institute is also waiting for more land to build an entrepreneurship development institute near its existing campus, which would also have incubator facilities for budding entrepreneurs.

The XLRI campus—located in the Circuit House Area (east) in Jamshedpur—might be smaller compared with some of the other business schools in the country, but it is well kept and picturesque. It has all the amenities to help students take a recreational break from rigorous academic sessions.

“When we are not in the classroom or busy preparing projects, we love chilling out in the lawn in front of the cafeteria in the wee hours of the morning,” says Vidhi Garg, a first-year business management student.

For some, the not-so-big campus is an advantage. “It is good in a way that the campus is not that big. By the end of the first year, I already knew the names of all my batchmates and most of my seniors, and now I know most of my juniors by name,” says Sharath N., a second-year business management student.

Faculty members say that the “cozy” campus facilitates a deeper, more informal bond between teachers and students.

“My accommodation is a stone’s throw from that of the students’. So, even if they need my help in the middle of the night, they just come and knock at my door,” says E.M. Rao, professor of personnel management, industrial relations and labour laws.

“The kind of proximity we share with our professors is amazing. This is something that we could not have got at any of the IIMs, where one needs to take an appointment with professors well in advance,” says second-year business management student Prasanna S.

Though academics is on the students’ minds for the better part of their stay at XLRI, extra-curricular activities are actively encouraged. “One day, professors saw us playing badminton at 4am, and soon after a decision was taken to schedule no classes between 4.15pm and 6.30pm so that this time could be utilized by the students as they please,” says Jeevan Kumar, another business management student.

The annual XLRI-Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) sports meet is a matter of immense pride for the students here. Right now, XLRI students are gearing to reclaim the trophy that went to IIM-C the last time round in February.

Bangalore : Cocktails and Dinner with Prof Sharad Sarin - Sept 18th

Hi,

We are fortunate to have Prof Sharad Sarin visiting Bangalore next week. We will be having an evening of cocktails and dinner with him. There will be no formal presentation but Prof Sarin will take a Q&A session for 20-30 mins. This will be in our usual Happy Hours format.

Date & Time: 7:30 PM, Thurs, Sept 18th

Venue: KGA (First Floor Hall), HAL (Old Airport) Road

Cover charges: Rs 150 (incl dinner), please pay as you enter the hall

Club Host: George Ollapally

Regards,

Kuru

WNS Appoints Karthik Sarma (98PMIR) as Chief People Officer

September 10, 2008 11:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080910006527&newsLang=en

WNS Appoints Karthik Sarma as Chief People Officer

MUMBAI, India & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE: WNS), a leading provider of global business process outsourcing (BPO) services, today announced the appointment of Karthik N. Sarma as Chief People Officer of WNS Global Services.

“We are delighted to have Karthik join us to help WNS further the growth and development of our global business,” said Anup Gupta, Group Chief Operating Officer, WNS Global Services. “Karthik’s extensive experience will enhance WNS’ commitment to attracting, retaining and developing high quality talent by offering a rewarding career proposition to our employees.”

Karthik joins WNS from Infosys Technologies Ltd, where he managed Human Resources for its international operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Previously, Karthik was the global head of recruitment, managing both campus and lateral hiring programs. Prior to Infosys, he worked with Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), Greaves Ltd and Tata Motors.

He holds a Masters Degree in Human Resources from XLRI, Jamshedpur in India and a Bachelors Degree in Industrial Engineering from Bangalore University.

Chapeau to Madhukar Sir (as usual)

International Experts on XLRI Board

From The Telegraph

Jamshedpur, Sept. 7: In keeping with its global ambitions, XLRI has decided to include experts from international institutions in its board of governors.

In the initial phase of the move, a first among B-schools in India, XLRI has received two confirmations: Francis Estrada, president, Asian Institute of Management, Manila, and Abol Jalilvand, dean and professor of Finance, School of Business Administration, Loyola University, Chicago, have agreed to be a part of the 21-member board of governors.

“The mantra for success of any institution is to think beyond India. All the universities I have got in touch with have responded positively. There could have been no better time than this because this is the time when the foreign market wants to tap the potential in India because of the economic boom,” said XLRI director Father E. Abraham about the move.

Estrada and Jalilvand would be inducted into the board after a meeting on November 15.

XLRI will be the first B-school in India to include foreign experts into its board.

Although the IIMs — Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Indore, Lucknow — and the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, have visiting faculties from foreign universities, none has foreign members contributing in the decision-making process of the institutes.

XLRI, too, has been collaborating with around 15 international institutes and universities for faculty and students exchange programmes.

Talks are on with a few more universities in the US and Europe, but the B-school doesn’t want to divulge details just yet.

“The talks are at a primary stage. But, we will try our best to tie up with more foreign universities in order to lend our faculty and students better international exposure,” said Abraham.

As of now, he is naturally excited about XLRI’s board going international. This, coupled with the existing tie-ups, the director believed, would encourage more foreign students to come and study at XLRI.

“I hope once XLRI is fully established as a global business school, foreign students will get attracted to our campus. As it is education is cheaper in India. Therefore, we can get a better response from students of other countries,” hoped Abraham.

With two international experts having confirmed their participation, XLRI is now looking for more experts like deans, principals and directors from European countries, including France and Spain.

Ruchi Varshneya (98 BMD) running a marathon, needs sponsors

Ruchi recently sent me this mail.

Hi Kim,

I wanted to ask for some help from you. I wanted to share my recently found passion with you and also ask for your support.

I am training to run a marathon!! Completing a marathon means a victory of mind over body for me as I have no running experience and a regular busy life raising children and working full time not to mention the after effects of having twins on my body :-).
This intersects a passion of mine - helping at least some of the destitute children in India.

A link to my fundraising website is :
http://www.ashanet.org/princeton/marathon/runners/publicmypage08.php?runnerid=2008TA579

As a fellow XLer, I would love to get your support towards primary education of not-so-fortunate children back home.

I have registered for the following events:
Half Marathon (13.1 miles) at Sandy Hook Beach, NJ on Oct 5, 08
Full Marathon (26.2 miles) in Philly on November 23, 08 - My Goal

I am progressing well. I ran 12 miles each last two Sundays, I am running 4 days a week averaging around 25-30 miles per week.

I never believed I could run, but the coaching program of Asha for Education revealed other wise...

Best Regards,
Ruchi

XLRI on "Sahara Samay" (Sept 6th, 10am & 4:30pm)

TV Channel "Sahara Samay"

will be telecasting a coverage

of

XLRI's Students' Rural Visit prog

on

Saturday, Sept 6th (10:00am and 4:30pm)

in a program called

"Karobaar"

or so the reporter told me just now ;0)

ciao

madhukar