Corporate Interaction Cell

Description:

A guest lecture by Mr. A Vinod Kumar, CEO, SAND Network Pvt Ltd, on the topic “Changing face of Rural India and its Implications for Businesses" was organized for the student of Symbiosis Institute of Business Management Hyderabadon 14th September 2021. The session was interesting and gave a lot of fresh knowledge about the shift in trends and consumer behavior of the rural Indian population and how it can be used to boost business based on the mentioned points and information supplied about the rural market.

Corporate Interaction Cell Events

Description:

“Corpaganza”- The Leadership Summit is the annual leadership summit of Symbiosis Institute of Business Management Hyderabad. The core vision behind the event is to provide a medium to the Champions of Change of SIBM Hyderabad to interact with Industry Stalwarts on burning topics that are of indispensable value for every efficient leader.

The event boasted extremely well-established business leaders from a diverse range of industry backgrounds such as Dr. Sunil Chandy-CMO ITC India, Major General Vikram Dev Dogra, Mr. Amit Nagpal- Story Coach & Chief Community Builder, Blogger Alliance, Ms. Ganga S- Mentor-in-Residence, Society for Innovation& Entrepreneurship SINE IIT Bombay, Ms. Vaishali Neotia- Co-Founder and CEO, Merxius, Ms. Aarti Joshi-Co-Founder, and COO Modak Analytics, Ms. Shilla Shree-Founder, Search Partners, Mr. Mohan Patnaik-Vice President, GSK Global, Mr. Devender Reddy-CEO, Eride India, Mr. Harshwardhan Gaddale- Managing Director, Medha Research and Consulting Private Limited, Mr. Gautam Mukherjee-  Co-founder and CEO, Sportify, Dr. Shailaja- Chief Scientist and Chair, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, who explored different aspects of this under various topics such as Situation Leadership, Surfing on the high tide, The Indian Street Chronicles

With the theme of “Fushioable Approach”, Corpaganza 2.0 covered the importance of applying an open-ended problem-solving approach and the capacity to draw from limited resources.

Various Aspects of the topic were explored through a series of sessions and panel discussions 

• Surfing on the High Tide-The panel discussion by seasoned and established entrepreneurs about the importance of competitive advantage, its scope of constructive addition among fresh entrepreneurs for organizing a start-up, and the key entrepreneurial management functions. Most of the start-ups have one thing in common, they usually fail. But the minority who beat the odds and survive share several traits. For any large, genuine, and sustainable turnaround to occur, one of the key requirements is for the leader & to find ways to fix the problem. The importance of a business plan to aid in the transition from entrepreneurial doers to leaders is also explored while looking at the key factors that motivate entrepreneurs and how they in turn motivate their employees.

• The Indian Street Chronicles- The panel discussion revolves around the simple methods used by street vendors which helps them make their work easier. The smallest retail ideas can be incorporated at the entrepreneurial level to increase the effectiveness of the emerging businesses. The famous Dabbawallas are a six-sigma organization that raises the question of whether “street smart entrepreneurial style” is the next disruption. Multiple leaders belonging to different fronts can quote their views on the topic and discuss if this style of entrepreneurship is feasible.

• Situational Leadership:  The topic was covered by Major general Vikram Dev Dogra who talked about leadership lessons from the Army and the scope of their application in various fields including the corporate workspace. He drew parallels between the leadership styles of the army regiments and the corporate world. He explained various concepts of leadership such as displaying loyalty towards the organization, showing empathy to the team members, and maintaining a reward system in order to encourage the employees. The stories from the Tank Regiment were phenomenal and surely the audience learned a lot from the session.

• The Leadership Escalation: The topic covered world leaders and how visionary leaders channel the energies of those around them toward a shared objective. He mentioned how automobiles pollute the environment and emphasized that in their particular circumstances, leaders are unquestionably born leaders. He discussed what leadership entails to the students and also threw some light on the greatest dangers faced by Indian CEOs.

YouTube Link - Youtube Video

Corpaganza - Leadership Summit 2021

Topic: "Power of Marketing - In the time of crisis"

Date: 27th September 2020, Sunday

Time: 12:30 PM to 01:30 PM

As part of the second edition of the live webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, which focuses on the ideas of Reset, Resilience, and Resurgence we hosted, Ms. Shreya Sachdev, Head of Marketing and Strategic Initiatives at PUMA Sports India Pvt. Ltd. She spoke on the topic “Power of Marketing-In the Time of Crisis”. 

Ms. Shreya explained how marketing is not just about being creative and unique but understanding consumer behavior, adapting to the changing times to discover new opportunities, and thinking out of the box.

The session was very interactive as she conducted live polls with reference to the strategies adopted by PUMA in climbing up the ladder in times of crisis and laid emphasis on the importance of communication in order to understand the new lifestyle patterns of its target customers. She extrapolated that how important it was to create content that was unique, real, and engaging across its website and social media platforms that resonate with the target audience.

Realigning priorities was also one of the steps taken by PUMA that helped them create visibility by showcasing sports personalities like one of us, for instance even though they are at home, they are active, working-out and likewise, we as consumers can be part of it and PUMA as a brand understands the vibe and need of the customers. She elaborated on how PUMA tried to reach out to the corporate customers who have been at home for a while and may want to invest in PUMA loungers as they are more comfortable and easygoing.

There were very interesting questions from students about the online content, marketing strategies wherein she enlightened us about how they look at Google Trends, Amazon, or Flipkart and gather experience from customers who are not PUMA centric and understand their point of view towards sports apparels and footwear. We had a very exciting time interacting with her and got to know how PUMA was the game-changer in these unprecedented times. We would be delighted to have Ms. Shreya onboard again and involve in more such engagements in the future.

Topic: "The 5 AM Club– Own your morning, elevate your life"

Date: 27th September 2020, Sunday

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

The Corporate Interaction Cell of SIBM Hyderabad feels elated to welcome Mr. Akash Srivastava, Regional VP for North, East, and Central India, Schindler India Pvt. Ltd. who spoke on the topic ‘The 5 am Club – Own Your Morning, Elevate your life’.

Mr. Srivastava spoke about his life-changing experience as he imbibed the 5 am club concept into his life. He mentioned it as becoming a disciplined routine amongst his colleagues too, which helped them control the front end of life. 

Sir shared with the students some basic golden rules, the 3-step success formula, and also threw light on the scientific reasoning of waking up early. Specific mention to the 5-6 am, a time being the hour of victory and his immense knowledge and methods, truly brought out the essence of its vitality. 

He also mentioned the 20/20 formula, the ten tactics of lifelong genius, and his personal learning and insights from the 5 am club, which was completely fulfilling and inspiring for the students.

The session was then followed by Q&A where students came up with their queries and displayed their enthusiasm on the topic. We look forward to more such interactions with him in the near future and continue this association.

Topic: "Tackling stress, staying focussed, creating the future of our choice"

Date: 26th September 2020, Saturday

Time: 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM

As part of the second edition of the live webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, which focuses on the ideas of Reset, Resilience, and Resurgence we hosted, Capt. Pranav Prasoon, Head of Human Resources- Renault India Pvt. Ltd., who spoke on the topic ‘Tackling stress, staying Focused, Creating the Future of our Choice’.

Capt. Prasoon began the session by talking about cognitive dissonance with the students and emphasizing on resilience as the way out from the stressful situations these days. He strongly expressed the need to be too calm and peaceful in the current situation, and completely remove stress from the situation. He encouraged students to keep learning and studying and not fear the future.

Sir also spoke about staying focused in today’s time by ‘Getting the clutter out of life’. The importance to avoid digital distractions was also mentioned by him. He also encouraged the students to self-analyze, know their purpose in life, and build upon it. 

Capt. Prasoon enthralled the students with his positive thoughts and filled them with motivation and more strength in this tough time. The students experienced a journey of optimism and hope through this session.

The session was then followed by Q&A where students came up with their queries and displayed their enthusiasm on the topic. We look forward to more such interactions with him in the near future and continue this association.

Topic: "Building Vital Skills for the future of work in strategy and operations"

Date: 25th September 2020, Friday

Time: 06:30 PM to 07:30 PM

As part of the second edition of the live webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, the Corporate Interaction Cell of SIBM Hyderabad hosted Ms. Shilpa Ahir, Head of Strategy & Operations, Novartis Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. who threw light on the topic, "Building Vital Skills for the future of work in Strategy and Operations’'. 

Ms. Shilpa began the session by stating the difference between operations and strategy and then gave insights on how strategic plan shares the vision of the company and what factors are taken into consideration. She also spoke of the various types of strategies to be aligned with the business such as Corporate, Business, Innovation and Communication Strategies. Emphasis was laid on the PR & communication strategy and how it has becomes a top priority for the organization during the pandemic.

She highlighted the skills that matter for strategic planning such as analytical thinking, collaboration, understanding ecosystems to bring in data driven insights and how one can acquire those skills. The session was very interactive and interesting.

We look forward to having more insightful sessions with her in the coming future & continue this association.

Topic: "Being a Catalyst to Change"

Date: 20th September 2020, Sunday

Time: 12:30 PM to 01:30 PM

As part of the second edition of the live webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, the Corporate Interaction Cell of SIBM Hyderabad hosted Ms. Nandini Sarkar, Global Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Leader - India, The Boeing Company, who addressed the students on the subject, ‘Being a Catalyst to Change’. 

Ms. Nandini Sarkar began the session by making us realize how perceptive diversity matters and that it can only be achieved through self-awareness, intellectual flexibility, and broad knowledge. The session focused on the relevance of Diversity in an organization and how it enables out of the box thinking. A key insight provided by her was how each individual brings different things to the table and contributes to the overall diversity that is essential for a workforce and requires understanding your people on an individual level. 

The term Diversity per se reminds us of gender, race, language, age and that is exactly what the iceberg effect is. This is because only these attributes are visible to us, however, in reality, many dimensions like thought process, education, Life experiences, skills, etc. also contribute to diversity and are unreported or hidden from our view. She also elaborated about situations like Merger in any organization wherein there are high chances of conflict in relation to culture between people and how understanding diversity from different perspectives is the key to tackle such issues. 

The session then revolved around the importance of having a diverse workforce in any organization and how this factor alone is going to add on various intangible benefits to the organization as a whole. She went on to state that diversity and inclusion is nothing but a business strategy with talent as a quotient. 

One can conclude that the session was informative, thought-provoking, and interactive as students were able to gain a different perspective on diversity, inclusion, and equity. We look forward to more such interactions with her in the near future and continue this association.

Topic: "What do you have and what do you need in Corporate world"

Date: 20th September 2020, Sunday

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

As part of the second edition of the live webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, which focuses on the ideas of Reset, Resilience and Resurgence we hosted Mr. Dinesh Reddy, APAC Talent Acquisition Lead, PPD, who spoke on the topic ‘What do you have and What do you need in Corporate World’.

Mr. Reddy began by talking about clinical research phases, the growing Indian Biotech Companies, and a gist about the current Indian economic trends.

Sir focused on the behavioural competencies which budding managers need to imbibe and thus discover their potential. He discussed with the students about the new methodologies for candidate assessments and did a live interactive demo for the same and helped students realise their competencies, which could help students assess themselves on those parameters. 

Our honourable guest also gave important insights as to what are some of the key competencies a management graduate need to focus upon, which would help them succeed in the corporate world. 

Mr. Reddy concluded by giving a universal tip to the students for process improvement, which says ‘know, what you need to start, what to stop and what process to continue?’

The session was followed by Q&A where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic. We look forward to more such interactions with him in the near future and continue this association.

Topic: "Disruption-Ready Supply Chains"

Date: 12th September 2020, Saturday

Time: 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM

As part of the live webinar series- SYMBINAR 2.0, we hosted Mr. Naval Sabharwal, Global Head - Supply Chain & logistics, Ramco Systems, who spoke on the topic ‘Disruption-Ready Supply Chains’.

Mr. Naval started by stating that technology plays a very crucial role in the supply chain of today and cannot be ignored. He then spoke on the real-world issues including points such as the omnichannel models- truth vs hype, safety stock out in market place models, the data capture of true consumption, external factors impacting true consumption, human versus machine-based rule setting, variation as the biggest enemy in the supply chain, the gap between the shipper & provider worldwide, and waste in supply chain, for example, the wastage in setup time.

Our honourable guest also talked about the current trends such as AIDCs for accurate sales and stock levels monitoring, replacement of money by coupons, data-based design and benchmark setups, historical sales forecasting data, supplier lead times accuracy, new product introductions to historical sales mapping, Flexi network models, back to centralization, and the world of platforms and marketplaces. 

Sir also talked about Covid-19 and supply chains wherein he explained the black swan and black swan shadows, centralized models doing better, automation giving an edge and the immense help got from cross-lateral team formation.

‘Digital is a journey from automation, optimization, intelligence and to experience’ – this pathway Mr. Naval explained to the students, emphasizing building fundamentals, and to grow on it.

In the conclusion, Sir spoke about the models to measure digital supply chains and the future of digital platform map. The session was followed by a Q&A Session where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic.

We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest.

Topic: "HR in an Automobile Industry"

Date: 8th September 2020, Tuesday

Time: 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM

As part of the second edition of the live webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, which focuses on the ideas of Reset, Resilience, and Resurgence we hosted Mr. Joseph Raviraj, Director - Labour and Employee Relations, Volvo Group India Pvt. Ltd. who expressed his views on one of the key aspects of People Management in his own field of work, "HR in an Automobile Industry”.

This particular session was very insightful and thought-provoking as it discussed a very important topic on the Human Resources. He started off by discussing how HR Management is central to any organization, and how it’s about far more than just hiring and firing employees. In forward-thinking companies today, HR Management focuses on the life-cycle of an employee - recruitment, direction, and management of human assets, and making strategic plans for the future. 

He also discussed the basic principles of HR and the importance of what it carries in any organization. He then spoke of the origins and the journey of HR from a ‘Welfare Officer’ from the 18th century to what we call and refer to as ‘Strategic Human Resource Management’ and ‘Human Capital Management’ in the modern-day. He explained how Volvo’s ‘Service Delivery Model’ was different from other automobile companies in the world. 

During the question and answer session, he addressed the issues of how the pandemic impacted businesses overall, especially how it affected Volvo. He mentioned why they didn’t fire the employee or decrease the wages so far which is a rare occurrence in these times.

We look forward to Mr. Joseph Raviraj again and continue our association with him in the coming future.

Topic: "Leading in Crisis"

Date: 6th September 2020, Sunday

Time: 04:00 PM to 05:00 PM

The Corporate Interaction Cell of SIBM Hyderabad feels elated to welcome Mr. Shailesh Vilankar, Senior Vice President – Field Operations at Schindler India Pvt. Ltd. He spoke on the topic “Leading in Crisis”.

At the beginning of the session, Mr. Shailesh threw light on what is a crisis and how did Schindler as a company set up a crisis team at every location and understood the impact of the pandemic at every location. He also spoke about how revising of the budget was communicated to all the employees so that they know what’s happening in the company to bring a sense of belongingness among the employees. He also spoke about the various HR activities that were conducted for the benefit of employees and their families. 

Going forward he discussed the 5-5-5 approach which he followed during the pandemic i.e. Call 5 customers, 5 employees, and 5 relatives on daily basis. He also gave insights about how to lead through the crisis and ways to stay cool. 

He discussed in detail the growth of Schindler on a global level as well as at the India level, explaining the evolution of technology that the company had undergone. He mentioned how touch screen elevators went for a toss due to pandemic and how the R&D team in 15 days came up with new a technology of Touch-less Solution, Proximity sensors, and Access Card. 

In the next part of the session, he discussed Schindler India’s Growth Story, Training centers, manufacturing facility at Pune, and the Global R&D center in India. To add on, he also spoke about 25:25:25 i.e. how the company wants to acquire 25 % Market leadership, come amongst the 25 great places to work in 25 years by 2023. 

Towards the end, he discussed the management trainee programs conducted as a part of Schindler Career Development Program (SCDP) and Schindler Talent Radar Process (STR). Last but not least he gave insights about the Employee initiatives taken up by Schindler.

Overall, it was an insightful session. It helped the students to broaden their horizons and enlightened them about how to lead through the crisis and consider it in a positive way. The future leaders engaged themselves in the topic and posed some thought-provoking questions and kept the session lively with their zeal and enthusiasm. 

We look forward to having him on the campus soon and engaging in more such knowledgeable and fruitful conversations.

Topic: "Future of asset management - focus on risk associated and management"

Date: 6th September 2020, Sunday

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

As part of the second edition of the live webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, which focuses on the ideas of Reset, Resilience, and Resurgence we hosted, Mr. Prasad Ponkshe, Vice President of State Street. He spoke on the topic “Future of Asset Management-Focus on Risk Associated and Management”.

Mr. Ponkshe spoke about the history of asset management giving examples of barter system from the past. He stated some historical facts about the various stock exchanges that were found in the early 18th and 19th centuries.

Going forward he discussed the investment banking from the front office, middle office, and back-office point of view, describing each segment in detail and explaining the various activities associated with each segment and how the three are linked to each other.

He stressed the importance of being thorough with the basic concepts of accounting, finance, be it amortization, capital or cost of investment, etc. He discussed in-depth about the impact of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Robotics, emphasizing the fact that AI would be the future of Front Office in the coming years. He also mentioned that trading has become easier due to tools and various methods to do research which would eventually benefit the portfolio managers.

He threw light upon investment strategies like Shariah Funds, Catastrophic Bonds, Tender Option Bonds, Mortgage Dollar Role, Asset Backed Security, and Mortgage Backed Security.

In the next part of the session, he discussed the risks associated with COVID, that involve data security, hacking, phishing, fraud triangle, and data privacy in detail and how placing preventive and detective controls can help the audit managers to protect the risks from occurring. He also touched upon concepts like Operational Risks and Enterprise Risk Management.

Towards the end, Mr. Ponkshe discussed how the possibility of an event happening and the impact of that event happening can be used to prioritize and mitigate risks that could affect the cost-benefit. The Q&A session was very interactive wherein he cleared all the misconceptions and confusion of the students patiently. 

We look forward to having him on the campus soon and engaging in more such knowledgeable and fruitful conversations.

Topic: "Growth Mindset – Perform To Transform"

Date: 3rd September 2020, Thursday

Time: 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM

As part of the second edition of the live webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, the Corporate Interaction Cell of SIBM Hyderabad hosted Mr. Manu M, Human Resource - Director, Volvo Group India, who addressed the students on the topic, ''Growth Mindset - Perform to Transform''.

At the beginning of the session, Mr. Manu threw light on how he was instrumental in facilitating some key Organizational change activities which include Cultural engagement, Organizational Development, and Implementation of the HR service delivery model. He believes that a performance-driven culture and a continuous learning environment play a key role in an organization’s success.  

Mr. Manu emphasized on the importance of Performance Management of an organization where a team's high-performance level and organizational culture go hand in hand. For the holistic development of an organization, teamwork plays an essential role by continuously honing key skills such as flexibility, adaptability and peer learning. He highlighted the importance of collaboration and its role in achieving better outputs.

He laid stress on the factor of the evolution of ourselves for growth and development, according to the need of the hour. We need to be flexible enough to anticipate future trends and competition prevalent in the market. It is of utmost importance to transform ourselves from a fixed mindset towards a growth-driven mindset by instilling the desire to learn and accepting constructive feedback. One should always be willing to learn new, effective ways of working and continuously evolve for the better. 

This session highlighted the importance of leadership and communication skills for the growth of an individual. We look forward to having such insightful and interactive sessions with him in the coming future and continue this association. 

Topic: "Leveraging Blockchain Along With The Discovery Of Covid-19 Vaccine"

Date: 30th August 2020, Sunday

Time: 05:00 PM to 06:00 PM

As part of the second edition of the live webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, the Corporate Interaction Cell of SIBM Hyderabad hosted Mr. N Jayapandian, Group Leader (SPA) - Pharma, Bayer, who addressed the students on the subject ‘Leveraging blockchain along with the discovery of COVID-19 vaccine’. 

Mr. Jayapandian began the session explaining the various stages involved in vaccine development. He explained the importance of conducting animal and human trials before submitting the vaccine to EMA or FDA for approval. A key insight provided by him was, how sometimes the animal trial stage was eliminated and the vaccine is submitted for approval due to exigent circumstances like the present pandemic scenario. 

The session was highly informative and relevant as students were able to gain perspective on blockchain technology. The relevance of blockchain technology was well explained with the help of comparative illustration based on situations with and without blockchain technology. He emphasized the importance of having decentralized information storage systems (like the one used in Blockchain technology) so as to ensure safe storage of data. 

In the latter half, the discussion revolved around the various problems and the opportunities of applying blockchain in COVID vaccines. A valid concern raised was to ‘how to track donations in crisis management’. A significant concept dealt with was the different causes of vaccine wastage and the feasibility aspect of Covid-19 vaccine distribution. He mentioned BeLYO, India’s first Covid-19 blockchain platform, and about its collaboration effects. He suggested the students to follow the latest statistical country-wise COVID -19 data on the MiPasa platform.  

One can conclude that the session was informative, interactive, and balanced with a simplified explanation of vaccine development, blockchain technology, filled with statistical data to corroborate the same. We look forward to more such interactions with him in the near future and continue this association.

Topic: "Scope and Potential of Electric Vehicle Market"

Date: 30th August 2020, Sunday

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

As part of the second edition of the live webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, which focuses on the ideas of Reset, Resilience and Resurgence, we hosted Mr. Devender Reddy, Founder & CEO of Eride who expressed his views on the most pressing topic in the current times, "Scope and Potential of Electric Vehicle Market".

This particular session was very insightful and thought provoking as it discussed a very important topic that we all need to address today. He started the lecture showing his motive and aim to reduce Carbon Emissions so as to protect the environment keeping Global Warming in mind. It was clear how he had the urge to shift to EV instead of using fossil fuels which when burnt, pollute the surrounding environment.

He then briefed all of his planned EV vehicles which he intends to launch in the near future. The major advantage of EV is its ability to not pollute and also the access to charge these said vehicles at home. The government is also looking at implementing and granting rights for the customers to have charging points at home to make it more convenient for them to charge their vehicles overnight.

Further, he focused on how successful the EV 2 & 3 wheelers would be in this country. Almost 46% of the population in Urban and 40% in Rural areas use 3 Wheeler Autos for their daily commute. Despite the fact that these numbers have been reducing over the past few years, there is still a huge potential and opportunities in this market.

Although it is a controlled business, there is still a huge margin for them according to Eride. As State Govts are supporting this as well, Eride aims to launch The Shakti Cargo Loaders and Autos. If and when implemented and granted permissions to launch, they would serve as a key and a very economic means of transportation for the daily public of India. The maintenance costs of EV vehicles are comparatively very economic as well.

Only a few players are focussing on this at the moment, which is very surprising. Certainly, Mr. Devender believes that there is a large scope for EV vehicles in India. As 43% of the Urban population use Buses as a key transport, Eride is looking to launch 7187 EV Bus Units by 2025. 

Overall, this was a thoroughly genuine, well thought-out, intriguing lecture from a visionary leader who aims to implement great changes in the transportation and energy sector with his company, Eride.

Topic: "Supplier, Procurement, Logistics sourcing in textile/automotive industry post-COVID-19 times"

Date: 28th June 2020, Sunday

Time: 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM

As part of the live webinar series- SYMBINAR, we hosted Mr. Abhishek Gupta, Head Commercials, Blackberrys, who spoke on the topic ‘Supplier, Procurement, Logistics sourcing in textile/automotive industry post COVID-19 times.’ 

Our honourable speaker has highlighted the need to look at the current business requirements of companies, as their main aim is to bring back their businesses on track, look for advanced analytics to procure real time data, and follow ways to strengthen relations with their customers. It has become important to note that how customers are now perceiving every brand in the pandemic, and how the brands are projecting themselves to their customers. Thus, companies are trying their best to adapt to the new situation, and bring back loyal customers by fulfilling their needs. 

Mr. Gupta shared that the apparel/textile industry contributes 2% to the GDP of India and provides 40 million jobs. The sector is currently facing the challenge of availability of skilled man power, and also high cash flow constraints. 

Talking about the automotive industry, Mr. Gupta told us that the industry contributes to 7% of the GDP and provides 40 million jobs. It is facing short term variations in prices and profit margins are getting impacted. 

Sir also explained that there is a dire need for companies to focus on customer satisfaction, forecasting, sourcing, freight management and storage in the matrix of supply chain logistics. Forecasting needs accuracy and real time data, and sourcing requires efficiency, cost reduction and revisiting sourcing policies. Similarly, storage should be optimised as per sales team forecasts. 

The session was followed by a Q&A Session where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic. We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest. 

Topic: "Post COVID-19 scenario in Insurance Industry and Companies' expectations on core competencies."

Date: 28th June 2020, Sunday

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

As part of the live webinar series- SYMBINAR, we hosted Mr. Shharad Dhakkate, Chief Human Resource Officer, SBI General Insurance Company Ltd. on the topic “Post COVID-19 scenario in Insurance Industry and companies and what will be the core competencies that will be expected in the industry in the immediate future.” 

His session was full of interesting thoughts and ideas with respect to how the future managers have to equip themselves and adapt to new ideas and ways of working in the new normal. The pertinent issue was the impact faced by the insurance industry due to the outbreak of the pandemic and its ripple effect on the demand for insurance products.  

He also elaborated on the kind of plans and policies that companies are coming up with keeping in mind the relief required in the health insurance space to cope up with COVID-19. He was of the opinion that students should maximise this lockdown phase by doing some sort of introspection and know themselves better so as to make better decisions for their lives and careers. 

The Q&A session was full of insightful, thought provoking questions that demonstrates the keen desire of our students to learn. 

Topic: "Pharmaceutical Product Management and its role in the Global World"

Date: 23rd August 2020, Sunday

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

The Corporate Interaction Cell of SIBM Hyderabad is back with its online webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, which focuses on the ideas of RESET|RESILIENCE|RESURGENCE. 

The first speaker to kick start the new edition was Mr. Arunjyoti Dasgupta, Brand Insight Manager at Novartis, India who expressed his views on the interesting topic that focusses on “Pharmaceutical Product Management and its Role in the Global World”. 

The session was truly informative and was segregated into phases. The initial phase emphasized on the overview of the Pharmaceutical industry at a global level providing the students an in-depth understanding. Subsequently the session focused on the various roles and responsibilities that a pharmaceutical company should process through at various levels, ranging from the Regulatory Team to the Global brand head for tactical & strategic planning respectively. 

The session helped the students gain a comprehensive outlook on the pharma industry in the global world. The future leaders engaged themselves in to the topic and posed some thought provoking questions and kept the session lively with their zeal and enthusiasm. 

We look forward to hosting you again Mr. Arunjyoti Dasgupta and continue this association in future.

Topic: "Opportunities & Challenges for Supply Chain of B2B & B2C Businesses in Pandemic Era"

Date: 23rd August 2020, Sunday

Time: 04:00 PM to 05:00 PM

As part of the second edition of the live online webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, which focuses on the ideas of Reset, Resilience and Resurgence, we hosted Mr. Pramod Kumar, Head of Supply Chain Operations, South Zone, Gati Ltd., who expressed his views on the topic Opportunities & Challenges for Supply Chain of B2B & B2C Businesses in Pandemic Era.

Mr. Pramod started the session by talking about the challenges, the opportunities and the changes in Geo political situation with special reference to supply chain. The session mainly focused on B2C and B2B Supply Chain/Logistics. Talking about B2C Mr. Pramod gave an insight about the current market conditions in terms of volume and also spoke about future projections of the same. He also spoke about the recovery of supply chain industry with respect to Gradual Recovery and Spring Theory. 

Moving forward he gave students the brief about Indian B2C E-Tailing supply chain industry wherein he explained with statistics about the Transit Split model. Sir also spoke about the challenges and opportunities in line haul, impact of COVID on industry specific supply chain, broad learning for India due to pandemic, new emerging business lines for supply chain, trends, challenges and opportunities in B2B Supply chain.

Overall, it was an insightful and data driven session. The session helped the students gain a comprehensive outlook on the future of supply chain/logistics. The future leaders engaged themselves in to the topic and posed some thought-provoking questions and kept the session lively with their zeal and enthusiasm.

We look forward to hosting you again Mr. Pramod Kumar and continue this association in future.

Topic: "Employee Engagement is Evolving - Are you?"

Date: 26th August 2020, Wednesday

Time: 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM

As part of the second edition of the live online webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, which focuses on the ideas of Reset, Resilience and Resurgence, we hosted Mr. Pramod Kumar, Head of Supply Chain Operations, South Zone, Gati Ltd., who expressed his views on the topic Opportunities & Challenges for Supply Chain of B2B & B2C Businesses in Pandemic Era.

Mr. Pramod started the session by talking about the challenges, the opportunities and the changes in Geo political situation with special reference to supply chain. The session mainly focused on B2C and B2B Supply Chain/Logistics. Talking about B2C Mr. Pramod gave an insight about the current market conditions in terms of volume and also spoke about future projections of the same. He also spoke about the recovery of supply chain industry with respect to Gradual Recovery and Spring Theory. 

Moving forward he gave students the brief about Indian B2C E-Tailing supply chain industry wherein he explained with statistics about the Transit Split model. Sir also spoke about the challenges and opportunities in line haul, impact of COVID on industry specific supply chain, broad learning for India due to pandemic, new emerging business lines for supply chain, trends, challenges and opportunities in B2B Supply chain.

Overall, it was an insightful and data driven session. The session helped the students gain a comprehensive outlook on the future of supply chain/logistics. The future leaders engaged themselves in to the topic and posed some thought-provoking questions and kept the session lively with their zeal and enthusiasm.

We look forward to hosting you again Mr. Pramod Kumar and continue this association in future.

Topic: "FIRESIDE CHAT"

Date: 28th August 2020, Friday

Time: 05:00 PM to 06:00 PM

The Corporate Interaction Cell of SIBM Hyderabad feels elated to have welcomed Mr. Aditya Adyar, Head HR, Piramal Realty Pvt. Ltd. for engaging the students with his insights in the webinar. We were fortunate to be a part of "Fireside Chat'' with him. It was an engaging, one on one conversation between him and the moderator, while clarifying all the queries put forward by the students, with his personal touch. 

Mr. Aditya threw light on his MBA journey and corporate ideas related to the challenging Real Estate sector. Initially, he began with his perspective on various helpful ways to stand apart from tough competitors and create your own brand image in the market. He also talked about ways to read the pulse of customers and how to cater to their needs, by adapting to the changing times. In this context, the Real Estate sector which is usually an offline platform has learnt how to focus on virtual reality and establish the same connect with the customers. 

Then, he talked about the holistic development of an organisation by focusing on the long term growth strategy of its employees. Further, he gave valuable takeaways for the students, on ways to make the most out of MBA and have an enriching experience. He emphasised on the necessity of peer learning from different groups and sharpening one's analytical thinking through case studies and management competitions. Finally, he shared his learning outcomes from his memorable MBA journey. 

We look forward to having many more interactive and insightful sessions with you in the coming future and continue this association. 

Topic: "Achieving Excellence in Corporate Life"

Date: 28th August 2020, Friday

Time: 06:30 PM to 07:30 PM

As part of the second edition of the live online webinar series “SYMBINAR 2.0”, which focuses on the ideas of Reset, Resilience and Resurgence, we hosted Mr. Pushkar Gokhale, Vice President and Head – B2B, Security Solutions Division, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., who addressed the students on the subject which is a never ending quest, ‘Achieving Excellence in Corporate Life’. 

Mr. Gokhale started the session with an open-ended question where one had to define what success means to them and our constant pursuit of it, keeping in mind the value system and bringing value addition to where we go as aspiring corporate leaders.

The session was highly interactive as it involved students to share their perspectives and give direction to the discussion. He gave a bird’s eye view of understanding an organisation structure, what should be its strategy imperatives, what are the enablers that eventually drives the results of an organisation, focusing on business excellence framework. In order to excel and develop a strong business acumen he emphasized the need to be familiar with commercial laws, taxation laws, GST and Companies Act, etc.

Mr. Gokhale stressed upon the need to be passionate and have a zeal for whatever one does and add value to the organisation in order to achieve excellence. He also emphasized on the constant need to adapt with changing times and be part of the innovation that is imperative for the organisation’s growth and the need for us to stay relevant. In addition, he delved upon why it’s critical to function in a cohesive team environment and how a ‘one-man army’ is a myth. 

He also mentioned about the two Indias’ that exists in ‘Bharat’, i.e. the rural and urban India and how Rural India is looked at as a massive opportunity and potential for growth which will give our economy the much needed fillip and why catering to the rural market, understanding it and adding value is significant.

We look forward to more such interaction with you in the near future and continue this association.

Topic: "Valuation of Real Estate Sector"

Date: 21st June 2020, Sunday

Time: 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM

As a part of the live webinar series ‘SYMBINAR’, SIBMH hosted Mr. Vaibhav Jakhodia, Associate Director & Regional Head, Consulting and Valuation Advisory Services, CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd. to discuss on valuation in the real estate sector.

Mr. Vaibhav has given insights into some of the most prevailing practices adopted for valuation of the real estate sector. Valuation in itself is a concept that is subjective as it involves different interpretations from several users, including investors. 

He emphasized on the kind of techniques adopted under different circumstances when it comes to valuation for a sector as dynamic as real estate as every property has unique characteristics such as location, plot size and floor plan and other parameters used to compare properties. In addition, the impact of COVID-19 was discussed when it comes to real estate valuation.

The session was followed by a Q & A session that showcased the curiosity of the students as they came up with interesting and probing questions

Topic: "Talent in Uberized World: Revolt or Evolve"

Date: 18th June 2020, Thursday

Time: 06:30 PM to 07:30 PM

As a part of the live webinar series ‘SYMBINAR’, SIBMH hosted Mr. Nadeem Pasha, Talent Acquisition Head, Inspirage India on the topic 'Talent in Uberized World: Revolt or Evolve'.

His session was extremely insightful and relevant for future managers as he focused upon the need for the students to up-skill in order to make themselves relevant in a constantly changing world. He touched upon why  it is imperative for students to learn skills that involves machine learning, artificial intelligence, etc. and the need to unlearn so that one can learn again in this phase of transition that we all are going through. It was interesting to hear to Mr. Nadeem mentioning the need for students to be able to tell a story and connect the dots rather than just state meager facts.

This was followed by Q&A session which was full of interesting and probing questions that showed the curiosity of the students.

Topic: "Preparing Budding Managers for post COVID-19 challenges"

Date: 16th June 2020, Tuesday

Time: 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM

As a part of the live webinar series ‘Symbinar’, SIBMH hosted Mr. Ashish Bhalla, Head-Corporate Recruitment & Campus Relations, HCL Technologies, who spoke on the topic ‘Preparing Budding Managers for Post COVID-19 Challenges.’

Mr. Bhalla began by telling the students that safety has become a priority in today’s date, and the client base of IT industry has been impacted. Post the COVID-19 situation every organization is in its revival stage in terms of their inventory, supply chain etc. Now the focus is to adopt better ways to reduce the cost. He emphasized the importance of new managers coming up with new ideas and plans to run the business. He said that they cannot follow the same business continuity plan which was being followed before the current situation. Therefore, “Situation Management “has to be learnt by new MBA graduates and complete revamping of project management is required. He said that the focus should be not in increasing the customers, but sustaining the existing customer base. 

Mr. Bhalla also shared the importance of developing more technology in the current situation, to overcome any hurdles faced by industries. Investment in infrastructure is on hold and more focus is towards healthcare.

On the hiring front, he mentioned that the core job of an IT firm is to hire B.Tech and MBA graduates to strategize the work, know the market and come up with a solid plan. Hence, he focused the importance of upskilling to stay relevant.

Mr. Bhalla also pointed out the second phase of digitalization which is happening currently; first phase being during demonetization period. No country was prepared for the pandemic, but still organizations have adapted to the situation. He emphasized on the importance of maintaining discipline even in the time of chaos. He reflected on the need to build internal commitment and indulge in self-study. He also suggested major parameters for choosing a company to join. Big companies would be seen surviving the situation, and it is time for new hires to keep learning.

The session was followed by Q&A where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic. We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest.

Topic: "Impact of COVID-19 on Business Analytics Sector, and Learning COVID-19 Data Analysis on Microsoft Power BI"

Date: 14th June 2020, Sunday

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM

As a part of the live webinar series ‘Symbinar’, SIBMH hosted Mr. Amit Chandak, Chief Analytics Officer, Kanerika Software Pvt. Ltd., who spoke on the topic ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Business Analytics Sector, and Learning COVID-19 Data Analysis on Microsoft Power BI.’

Mr. Chandak began by talking about the impact of COVID on business analytics, supply chain and the stock market. He pointed out that the budget for IT industry has reduced by 68% and 13% of staff are working from home or are under layoff.

He also explained that BI, AI and RPA have become more prominent than they were in 2008, making the current year as fully data-driven. Work from home has become the new normal and businesses today need BI as a crucial part of it. In his words, Power BI is the leading BI analytics tool, and allows good integration with other tools.

In the later part of the session, Mr. Chandak gave the students the hands-on experience of basic operations on the Microsoft Power BI tool, and explained how to read and analyze the data on COVID-19. He shared certain data files and made the students to work on them on the Microsoft platform. The students had a great experience learning the new tool, and the session turned out extremely fruitful.

The session was followed by Q&A where students came up with their queries and displayed their strong interest in learning the new concept. We look forward to hosting more such pleasing and informative webinars with our respected guest.

Topic: "Learning from Bollywood Movies"

Date: 7th June 2020, Sunday

Time: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

As a part of the live webinar series ‘Symbinar’, SIBMH hosted Mr. Amit Pandey, Chief Operating Officer, Exicom Tele-Systems Ltd., who spoke on the topic “Learning from Bollywood Movies.”

Mr. Pandey conducted an enjoyable yet highly informative and insightful session with the students of SIBM Hyderabad, wherein he gave useful life and leadership lessons from famous Bollywood movies such as Taare Zameen Par, Lagaan, Anand, Chak de India and Dangal to name a few. During the session, he showed movie clips from these movies, followed by explanation of important lessons for take away. From the movie Taare Zameen Par, he taught us people management skill, stating that people we meet in life are not difficult, but are only different from one another. 

The guest also spoke about how he understands life through observation and based on them has built his own theories which he talked about in the session. One such theory was the ‘Business Card Theory’ which says that as one grows in position in their organisation, their designation gets bigger which reflects in their business cards, but one thing that always remains constant in the card is the person’s name, which is always present at the top, followed by his designation. Key learning from this theory is that a person can never be defined by his designation, which is only a part of him. A person is known and defined by his strong character and self-built brand. Another theory put forth by him was called the ‘Paper Stone Scissor Theory’ which says that paper and stone represent personalities of humans; mentally weak people are papers while mentally strong people are stones, and scissor represents the surroundings. Paper personality will always get cut by the scissor (get affected by their surroundings) while stone personalities will stand strong and can even break the scissor. He gave a lesson that people should become a stone personality and be able to fight their environment. 

Mr. Pandey also motivated students to dream big, start small, get right direction and move swiftly towards it. He explained this by another theory called the ‘U-turn Theory’ which said that when one feels he’s not going in the right direction, he should without any thought take a U-turn and get back on the right track, to be able to reach their desired goals. 

Mr. Pandey also said that people shouldn’t confuse growth with success. Rather, success is a combination of happiness, growth, integrity, ethics and peace. Through ‘Biscuit Theory’ he taught that one shouldn’t get bothered by demotivating and negative people, who try to pull us down; rather we should walk straight and not stop to look at them. Through a small clipping from the movie Chak De India, he gave insight on the characteristics of a leader, that a leader thinks beyond his personal ego and thinks for his entire team or troop. 

All the valuable insights given by him were drawn from influential movies and theories created by himself. He cited many such incredible thoughts with the students, and left them charged with positivity and high motivation. 

The session was followed by Q&A where students came up with their queries and displayed their strong interest in the topic. We look forward to hosting more such pleasing and informative webinars with our respected guest. 

Topic: "How to be successful leaders in times of changes and crisis?"

Date: 7th June 2020, Sunday

Time: 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM

As a part of the live webinar series ‘Symbinar’, SIBMH hosted Ms. Kiran Aidhi, VP and Global Head- HR Operations, Virtusa Corporation India, who spoke on the topic “How to be successful leaders in times of changes and crisis.” 

Ms. Aidhi began by saying that the ability to create time for oneself is one of the traits of a leader. It’s important for one to learn to face fears to deal with reality and keep options open for ourselves, and prevent pushing ourselves into victim mode. Our guest also threw light on having a social support system as it is extremely necessary, to be able to survive in any sort of crisis. 

She also pointed out that when a crisis occurs, the human mind shuts and starts worrying about the future. The only thing he can think of is to be able to survive in the crisis and come out of it. But, as Ms. Aidhi said, a leader will try to go with the flow and sooner or later will find a solution to spend time effectively and not be anxious of the future, which is not in our hands. 

She also spoke about how spirituality and mindfulness can be practiced to keep oneself calm and useful in the times of crisis, and emerge as a leader at the end of the day. Apart from indulging into physical fitness activities, she spoke about neuroplasticity as part of brain fitness activity, which helps in making the brain channelize its energy at constructive thinking and help us take control of any negative thoughts entering our minds. The session was highly enlightening and motivating for the students, and made them understand the role of a leader in any crisis. 

The session was followed by Q&A where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic. We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest. 

Topic: "HR Role in a New Normal Lifestyle"

Date: 6th June 2020, Saturday

Time: 07:30 PM to 08:30 PM

As a part of the live webinar series ‘Symbinar’, SIBMH hosted Mr. Dinesh Menon, Head HR, Metals Business Signode India Limited, to discuss on the role of and HR professional in a ‘New Normal' lifestyle. Mr. Menon shared his own experiences when it comes to the transition he has faced and experienced as a HR professional due to the outbreak of the global pandemic. While we all are coming to terms with the new normal of work from home that involves us to be available at different times as the lines have blurred between office and home, he stressed on the fact that the upcoming generation of HR professionals will have to be flexible and adaptive as change is the only certainty. Further he elaborated on the HR practices at the firm and how Signode has been able to handle this challenge and continued its operations smoothly. There was also the idea floated when it came to immersive learning for the students. The Q&A session was interactive where the students asked questions that were intellectually stimulating. We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest.

Topic: "Merger & Acquisitions and its associated HR Practices"

Date: 6th June 2020, Saturday

Time: 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM

As a part of the live webinar series ‘Symbinar’, SIBMH hosted Mr. Atulaya Goswami, HR Head, India Sub-Continent, UPL Limited, to discuss “Mergers& Acquisitions and Its Associated HR Practices”. In order to explain the M&A process, he gave an insight from the merger of UPL and Arysta Life Sciences and what makes the coming together of these two firms a dynamic combination as an Indian firm has acquired an American company. He also stated that this partnership has given UPL an edge as strategic come together through this integration. While the M&A process can be long but in this case it was fast. The importance of an integration team was stressed upon to make the merger a smooth process and the role of HR in this context. The Q&A session was full of interesting questions that touched upon the company's HR practices, its financials, etc. We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest. 

Topic: “Changing Role of an Operations Manager in Times of Uncertainty and Turbulence.”

Date: 6th June 2020, Saturday

Time: 04:30 PM to 05:30 PM 

As part of the live webinar series ‘Symbinar’, SIBMH hosted Mr. A. Ram Gopal, Plant Head, Signode India Limited, Rudraram, to discuss “The Changing Role of an Operations Manager in Times of Uncertainty and Turbulence.” His major focus was on effectively communicating the importance of a perfect process that incorporates traits that can be valued, is capable, available, flexible, adequate and has a flow, in order to achieve the pull, i.e. making it comprehensive as and when the customer needs it. He believes that these characteristics of a perfect process leads to an outcome that can be seen through high quality, low costs, improved delivery and a high sense of morale. The session was insightful, engaging and made the students practically understand the nuances of operations as a field of study. The Q&A session was interactive where the students asked questions that were intellectually timulating. We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest.

Topic: Virtual HR Management - Challenges and Opportunities

Date: 31st May 2020, Sunday.

Time: 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM.

As a part of the live webinar series ‘Symbinar’, SIBMH hosted Dr. Vishwanand Pattar, HR Business Partner, Corteva Agriscience Global Services Center, who spoke on the topic ‘Virtual HR Management - Challenges and Opportunities.’ 

Dr. Pattar gave the students insights on how Corteva Agriscience is virtually managing human resources effectively and making sure that the employees aren’t facing any issues in a tough time. He told that the purpose was to increase the productivity of the employees working from home and give off fruitful results. 

The company involved itself in talent acquisition programs virtually and did assessments for their background verification. He told the students that they held virtual Onboarding sessions for the same, every Monday. They also made sure that the employees did not face any issues while working, and also delivered laptops for those who didn’t have one at this time. Medical check-up of the employees when the lockdown eases are another part of the HR plan. Corteva Agriscience, HR Department, as he mentioned, was also doing a training & development program virtually which went for eight hours, and they also engaged with them on chat to allow room for any queries from their side. Performance management through feedback sessions and employee engagement was also being performed by the firm in these tough times of pandemic. The session was followed by a Q&A Session where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic.We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest.

Topic: "Future of the Workplace".

Date: 31st May 2020, Sunday.

Time: 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM

As a part of the live webinar series ‘Symbinar’, SIBMH hosted Mr. Raghava Avvari, Head HR, Fractal Enterprises LLP, who spoke on the topic ‘Future of the Workplace’. 

Mr. Avvari was of the view that the world has become less predictable after the pandemic manifestation. For that reason, he pointed out that organizations now want to create psychological safety for its people, and that ‘skills’ have become the new currency, making geographical locations of employees less important. He said that it's crucial now to stay alert, aware, and connected as far as mobility is concerned, and the world from here on will be in our pockets. 

He mentioned that the greatest challenge is that the workforce will be a mix of five generations, which is a ‘Multi-Generational Workforce’, and to up-skill oneself and work together in synchrony will be challenging for all. 

He also said that organizations have been doing a lot to enable people to work remotely and people’s overall productivity has increased. One reason being mentioned was that they are not monitored at every point like they were in their offices. Mr. Avvari mentioned that compensations too are not being designed as per location and good quality work is being wanted and appreciated. There has been high pressure of doing more with less.

He made the webinar very interactive with the students, by engaging them into a thought- provoking Q&A session and sharing some very insightful ideas with everyone. We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest

Topic: "COVID-19 & its implications on Human Resource Functioning"

Date: 24th May 2020, Sunday.

Time: 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM

As a part of the live webinar series ‘SYMBINAR’, SIBMH hosted Mr. Shiv Rawat, AVP - National HR Head, DTDC Express Ltd, who spoke on the matter “COVID-19 and Its Implications on Human Resource Functioning”.

Our honorable guest said that the COVID-19 situation has made people army men, as it has taught to deal with unpredictable situations and do more with less available and accessible. It has not only imparted us with the skill to deal with challenges but also taught us health maintenance.

He explained that in this critical time, there’s no timeline for strategy as everything keeps changing with the blink of an eye, and has forced businesses to change their business models. It has pushed people to think out of the box and removed barriers of dependency. The situation has also paved the way for the importance of ‘e’ or ‘electronic’ ways of doing things such as e-learning, e-conferences, etc.

He also explained the challenges companies have to face and overcome w.r.t. human resource management such as increased grievances, convincing employees to work even on pay cuts, and how to define work-life balance as more people start to work from home. He also informed the students of the situation’s impact on the HR budget, recruitment budget, rules of engagement, and employee connect. The 3 R challenge which he pointed out were Recruitment, Rightsizing, and Recruitment Pressure. Fear of losing talent and specialized workforce was another point of concern as mentioned subsequently by him. Employee wellbeing will become a matter of high priority as they cannot be forced to travel in the disease-struck scenario, and that new rules of working remotely, social distancing, tracking employee yet not invading privacy and logging temperatures, were some of the important points which Mr. Rawat spoke about in the conclusion.

The session was followed by a Q&A Session where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic.We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest.

Topic: "Impact of COVID-19 on Financial Markets"

Date: 23rd May 2020, Saturday

Time: 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM 

As part of the live webinar series - SYMBINAR, we hosted Mr. Arpit Khandelwal, Senior Manager - Investment Compliance, Invesco India Pvt. Ltd who spoke on the matter “Impact of COVID-19 on Financial Markets”.

It was an insightful session for all the finance students as they were able to understand how the financial markets and economy has been hit due to the onset of this global pandemic. The session predominantly focused on the volatility that exists in the market and the impact on jobs, different sectors and the changes in interest rates to cope up with the challenges.

The '20 lakh crore' package announced by the government was also discussed in depth as the students were curious with respect to its outcome and benefits that will accrue. The session was interactive that allowed students to actively participate during the discussion.

The Q&A session saw students asking questions that were intellectually stimulating. 

As part of the live webinar series- Symbinar, we hosted Mr. Amit Sharma, Vice President-HR, Volvo Group India Pvt. Ltd. who spoke on the matter ‘Will remote working become the new normal post-pandemic?’.

Our guest put forth his viewpoints in the session and introduced us to new perspectives towards the current happenings. He talked about the current scenario of work from home and told us that the new way of working has led to increased productivity of people. He also pointed out that people in organizations now need to look into different ways to carry out employee engagement activities, recruiting, compensation plans, and suggested reimbursement to use broadbands at offices. Sir also dealt with an important question as to how to implement employee relations in situations of remote working. He also made the students see work from home, from the perspective of the size of the organisation.

He also spoke that the retail industry has now welcomed the ‘work from home’ concept with open arms, to which it was earlier reluctant because of it being a high-touch industry and need of direct interaction with its customers. Productivity, efficiency, and well being of the employees have increased with the new way of working. Sir also informed us about few key challenges that we would face with the change, such as clarity of goals and leadership, infrastructural challenge, collaborations, a balance between work and private life and also taking care of oneself both physically and mentally.

The session was followed by a Q&A Session where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic.

We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guests. 

In continuation of our webinar series 'SYMBINAR', we hosted Mr. Sunil Naik, Director – Human Resource, India & South Asia, DHL Global Forwarding.

It was wonderful for all Operations students to listen to Mr. Sunil Naik as he was able to connect with the students on pertinent issues in the area of logistics and the possible future for the industry. 

He gave some insightful examples and instances as to how DHL has operated and managed to function despite the challenges faced due to the outbreak of COVID-19. 

He also emphasised to the students to evolve with the continuous changes, embrace the new normal and upskill in order to sustain themselves and be leaders of the industry. His analysis has enabled the students to think of operations as a vital cog in the wheel as far as the economy and industry is concerned.

The session was followed by a Q&A where students came up with thought-provoking questions that showed their desire to learn.

As part of the live webinar series- Symbinar, we hosted Mr. Sekar Jeganathan, Sr. General Manager- Organisation Development, Amara Raja Group, who spoke on ‘How COVID-19 can change the way we work in the future?’.

Mr. Jeganathan began by talking about how in history the world has faced pandemics and that past has always found a cure to the situation. Our guest-focused on the economic changes the world is currently facing in terms of booming sectors of e-commerce, e-learning, and conducting important online events and conferences. He gave instances about the e-sports and virtual concerts taking place which is a big change in trends. Sir also highlighted the current focus on going local in order to save the economy from further deterioration.

On the human resource front, sir elaborately spoke about the three types of workforces likely to become mainstream post the pandemic situation, them being; physical workforce, remote workforce, and the gig workforce. All these changes, he said, would also mean a change in the system and the managers’ way of thinking while in a company. ‘Change management’ needs to be understood to be able to deal with the scenario, said Mr. Jeganathan. Counselling, design thinking, and being tech-savvy is another aspect that will become crucial, and also mentioned that communication has become a critical point in this situation.

More importantly, he mentioned ‘Empathy’ as the core value to be imbibed, in order to be able to deal with the employees and develop systems accordingly to attain employee satisfaction. Lastly, sir talked about how Amara Raja Group has taken the initiative and built upon remote working guidelines for its employees, its mode of attendance taking, vendor connects, and essential supplies to migrant labours, like resolutions to the current circumstances.

The session was followed by a Q&A Session where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic.

We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guests. 

As part of the live webinar series- Symbinar, we hosted Mr. M.S. Unnikrishnan, Managing Director & CEO at Thermax Group, who spoke on ‘Insights on COVID-19 management and post-pandemic preparation’.

Our guest began by talking about India’s response to the pandemic, which included the early lockdown declaration and our stock of medical equipment such as ventilators and test kits. He further elaborated on the cure to the disease through vaccines and India’s involvement in the process.

Mr. Unnikrishnan spoke about India’s economic conditions just before being hit by the virus and its effects post the situation. He also elaborated how the poor population of the country has been severely hit and the immediate need to make food available to them. Sir also talked about small and medium scale industries which are facing difficulty in this time of crisis, and mentioned that how heavily large-scale industries depend upon them. He also explained his views by mentioning the key six areas where he foresees a change in post-pandemic days, which includes Geopolitics, macro-economics, regulations across the globe, human behaviour, industry dynamics and technological interventions. He concluded by indicating that the current situation would end soon and hence there is no need to panic and develop the ability to face the situation.  

The session was followed by a Q&A Session where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic.

We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest. 

As part of the live webinar series- Symbinar, we hosted Mr. Pulkit Mittal, General Manager- Digital Transformation at Seedworks International Pvt. Ltd., who spoke on ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on Agribusinesses and its future outlook’.

He began by introducing the students with the term agriculture and what the rising concerns for the population are. An idea about the performance of the Food-Agri business companies was also put forth by him. Talking about the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, the students learnt that agri-business is facing relatively less disruption as compared to other industries such as banking.  The use of digital technology and labour shortage was also talked about extensively.

Mr. Mittal also emphasized on resilience, reimagination and reform as the key points to bear in mind as part of the future outlook. He has also highlighted the importance of understanding the regulatory changes, business continuity plan, consolidation and precision application as the key focus areas for the future. He then briefed about how Seedworks International is working in these harsh times, and what initiatives has the company taken to tackle it, in terms of digital transformation, cause-based campaigns, following contact-less mechanisms and many others.

The session was followed by a Q&A session where students came up with their queries and displayed their keen interest in the topic.

We look forward to hosting more such informative webinars with our respected guest. 

In continuation of our webinar series ‘SYMBINAR’, we hosted Abhishank Babbar, an integrated communication consultant currently working as Director at Burson, Cohn & Wolfe, one of the largest communication firms in the world. 

It was indeed an honor for us to have Mr. Abhishank Babbar as a speaker as he managed to engage the students with thought-provoking examples and insightful analysis. He discussed the future of marketing post-Covid 19, specifically on the importance of digital marketing and how it will be the most sought after area in the marketing ecosystem. 

The opinions on brands creating value during this pandemic are something that made all of us ponder upon. We as consumers today seek value, which is why a lot of firms have to think beyond merely generating sales, and create a strong connection and brand recall amidst the changing consumer behavior. 

Mr. Abhishank’s idea of engaging with students through the creation of a campaign is something that can be touted as a step towards experiential learning. 

The session was followed by a Q&A where students came up with interesting questions that showed their enthusiasm and curiosity to learn. 

We look forward to hosting more such webinars in the future.

In continuation of our webinar series ‘SYMBINAR’, we hosted Mr. Debashish Ghosh, VP, and India HR Head at Berkadia, to speak on 'How Covid19' will impact people's practices in organizations. 

It was wonderful for all HR students to listen to Mr. Debashish Ghosh as he managed to engage the students on pertinent issues such as why 'Work from Home' wasn't allowed before and how today it is the way of the new disruptive world. 

In addition, a whole gamut of topics ranging from HR practices, growth, and employee engagement, and improvement in learning were discussed. 

The exposure received through such sessions stands the future HR Managers in good stead as they will be the key catalyst in shaping and engaging the future workforce. 

The session was followed by a Q&A where students came up with interesting questions that showed their eagerness to learn. 

We look forward to hosting more such webinars in the future. 

The Corporate Interaction Cell of SIBM – Hyderabad has come up with a new initiative in this phase of lockdown, ‘SYMBINAR’ a series of webinars that aims to foster learning from home. The first of such webinars was hosted on this Sunday, 26th April, 2020. The speaker for the session was Mr. Vikas Sharma, Senior Vice President, HR Head for HCL Technologies Infrastructure Service Division. The session was attended with much vigour, enthusiasm by the students. Our Director, Dr. Ravi Kumar Jain joined us and offered his views on the current situation. The faculties of the institute also participated keenly posing interesting questions.

Mr. Vikas Sharma’s session was engaging and insightful as he discussed the impact of COVID 19’ on today’s industries and the possible shift in the working world post the pandemic. It was interesting to know that his organisation could foresee and anticipate this outbreak and accordingly come up with measures to facilitate a smooth transition. Further he stated that work from home which is already becoming a reality could be the new norm which will require discipline and commitment. Employee engagement is another pertinent issue that was discussed which involves communicating with the employee with respect to their roles, career advancement and growth in the organisation in the face of the looming uncertainty due to the outbreak of CoronaVirus.

The session was followed by a Q&A where students came up with thought provoking questions that reflected their concerns with respect to the job markets, future prospects and the revival of the economy.

We look forward to hosting for such webinars that will broaden our perspective and propel continuous learning from home in this hour of quarantine.