Testimonials

As an Inventor Company, Bayer believes in questioning the status quo and thinking ahead.  To be ready for business challenges of tomorrow, they would like students to discover the science behind an inclusive workforce.  To implement this thinking, Bayer announced a competition “Pitch – The Change”, and encourage students from business schools to pitch a business case on ‘Leveraging Diversity at Workplace for a Future Ready Organisation.’

The first stage invited students to submit a 2000 word statement of purpose on the chosen topic.  IGTC sent in 24 group applications.  4 teams were shortlisted to personally present at Bayer House on 28th March, 2017, along with 7 other teams. Shortlisted teams would come together to brainstorm, strategize, and create a solution to one of the toughest HR problems. Innovation Coaches were assigned to teams to help participants, as they had the entire day to interact with Bayer employees and find solutions to the problems of diversity in an organization.

Of the 4 teams, 1 team made it to the top 3 teams, which had to present to a jury at Bayer House.  Although they did not win the competition, the process and participation in the event was the most enriching and valuable experience that the students could have gained.

“HR Seat at the Table”

On the historic day of Tuesday 8th November 2016, a few hours before PM Narendra Modi shook up the entire nation, BASF India hosted all the Indo-German HR Partners through a brilliantly strategized and thought-provoking discussion on “HR Seat at the Table”.

Today, many senior executives in the field of Human Resources have earned a seat at the Executive Table by perfectly blending the people strategy with organisation’s strategy. This meeting was organised wherein leaders deliberated what it takes for the Human resources practitioners to acquire and demonstrate to earn a ‘Seat at the Table’. The key to this is continuous learning and competency building in this direction.

The goal of this meeting was to bring together the shared experiences, thoughts and ideas from the different HR partners on the theme. And then, to help translate that learning into action, rapidly as a team capability building, and ultimately to attain the competitive advantage within their respective organisations.

Dr. Raman Ramachandran, Chairman & Managing Director of BASF India set the tone for the day by sharing his motivating and inclusive thoughtson “HR as a Strategic Partner with Business”. His passion and belief in the strategic importance of HR was evident and contagious, making all the partners smile with pride. His talk was followed by an equally enthralling presentation by S. Raghavendra Rao, Head – Learning and Development and Rupesh Basu, Chief Manager HR from Siemens Limited.

The keynote speaker for the day was Mr. R. R. Nair, an outstanding coach, mentor and recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National HRD Network. Mr. Nair is presently on the Board of BASF India Limited since March 2001 among other excellent memberships he holds. Dr. Lakshmi Nadkarni facilitated a conversation with Mr. R.R. Nair on his life journey and invoked a meaningful discussion through which the entire fraternity gained lot of insights had significant professional learnings.

Based on the inputs received from Mr R. R. Nair, the partners organized themselves into groups and into a workshop mode to brainstorm and deliberate as a team on what they can do to build the next generation HR fraternity in organisations with a long term vision. The competencies that evolved to be critically required were as follows: Employment Contract to Psychological Contract, Self-Initiative, Business Managers driving People Agenda, and Business Acumen.  It was suggested that the meetings and programmes in the next year should be dedicated to hosting programmes that will enable the HR Partners to build these competencies among their teams.

The meeting concluded with a lot of hope and promise to increase the depth of engagement in the coming year 2017!

A journey that started 18 months ago, and now, after studying more than 40 subjects, interning for six months in dream organizations, sitting through numerous examinations and series of assignments, and making everlasting memories; 78 students of the PGPBA Batch 2015-2017 graduated on March 04, 2017.

The Convocation Ceremony was held at the Presidential Ballroom, Hotel Vivanta by Taj – President, and what a ceremony it was! Ketaki Vaidya, PGPBA student, Batch 2016-2018, captures this momentous occasion of her senior graduating batch from a junior, current student’s point of view.

Finally, the day that the batch had been waiting for had arrived, their convocation. But this wasn’t just a convocation, it was also an amazing demonstration of the long legacy of IGTC’s relations within the Indo-German business community. The atmosphere was buzzing with energy and pride. In the background, the music of the IGTC anthem was being played, to add to that feeling of nostalgia. Excited as they were, the graduates were already at the venue, well before time.  They were welcomed by us, their juniors from the PGPBA Batch 2016-2018.  As we helped them get ready with their graduation gown and caps, we witnessed the happiness and joy in their eyes.  They had worked hard for this day and truly deserved to be wearing their gowns and caps with pride.  We were equally excited and thrilled to see our buddies (yes, that’s how we address our seniors) graduating. After all, these were the same people who had planned an amazing induction for us, embraced and welcomed us as we began our journey, and proved to be incredible mentors along the way. Even as the event unfolded, they were still being our mentors, albeit, unintentionally, as they made us realize, that to reach this stage i.e. Convocation Day, we had to pull up our socks and contribute towards our training and learning in a much more significant way.

At the same time, unknown to the arriving dignitaries, faculties, corporate guests, and parents and family members of our seniors, the IGTC’s management team was trying to tackle a major crisis; the hired photographer and cameraman had not arrived! But that’s when the power and spirit of being true IGTCians emerged. Soon that one missing photographer was replaced by more than 20 of us taking charge to capture the entire event on our mobile phones and cameras, as well as doing a live broadcast on various social media platforms!

Amidst all that background drama, the event started dot on time, we follow German punctuality, after all! Seated at the dais were the Chief Guest, Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and CEO, Siemens Limited; the Guest of Honour, Dr. Jürgen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General, Mumbai; George Sparschuh, President, Schott Glass; C. S. Mathur, President, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce; Bernhard Steinrücke, Director General, IGCC; and Radhieka R Mehta, Director, IGTC.  The happiness on our Director’s face showed how proud she was of her beloved graduating students.

Even though it was a formal event, it was high on emotions as well, and that became evident right at the beginning of the ceremony, as our Director took to the mike and requested everyone to stand for the IGTC Anthem.  She encouraged everyone present to join in and sing along.  As the Ballroom echoed with the words ‘IGTC you’re the reason we find success’, we could actually feel every word of the anthem coming to life around us.

In his opening remarks, Bernhard Steinrücke threw light on the challenges faced by the world in current times. He spoke about how the changes in politics and economy around us are challenging, but yet can be very fruitful if tackled tactfully. He compared free trade policies of different countries and raised an interesting point by asking if free trade was actually free. He compared the Chinese policies of trade to the EU policies and then discussed the connection and impact of the new emerging markets on them.

President C. S. Mathur, in his welcome address, affirmed his belief in the IGTC’s education process by saying that, “Industry recognises you even before you start your journey. And this is something that IGTC has been proving with every graduating batch, year after year. Education need not always be the conventional one where one learns only through classroom but one should be continuously adding feathers to the cap.” He praised all the graduating students for their achievement and encouraged them by saying, “There is nothing one cannot do. Today, the sky is no longer the limit as we are talking about inhabiting the outer space. Be unconventional and extraordinary because there is nothing that one is incapable of when one decides to put their focus and mind on it.  Play the game well! The results will follow no matter what!”

Consul General, Dr. Jürgen Morhard, in his heartfelt speech, talked about the various ways one can be connected to Germany.  He motivated the seniors by saying, “You are the ones who have to carry the tool box because henceforth you are going to enter into various streams of careers and you are going to represent IGTC wherever you go!”

Chief Guest, Sunil Mathur, MD and CEO, Siemens Ltd., commenced by saying that the IGTC and its programmes are very close to his heart.  This is because at Siemens, many phenomenal people, holding senior positions, are IGTC alumni.  He touched upon the challenges the Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous (VUCA) world puts the industry in, and in spite of the unstable circumstances, how all the stakeholders expect great results from various multinational companies. His speech included comments on ‘Black Swan’ events like BREXIT, demonetisation and Trump coming to power, which can create new business opportunities.  And on the ‘Digital India’ campaign, which adds logic to the workflow by reducing the inevitable human errors, thus increasing the productivity of businesses. He ended his speech sharing his definition of corporate success. “It is not the salary and the size of the cabin that tells about the achievements and success of a person. Today, success is equivalent to your values, it is no more about salary and the position you hold in the industry. Your values influence everything.” In short, his message was to live a life guided by values and to inculcate those in our workplaces.

George Sparschuh, President, Schott Glass, added to Mr. Mathur’s advice on values, “The values associated with the industry are trust, integrity, accountability and fairness. Those are the pillars of success.” His parting words of encouragement to all of us were to spend more time with our family and friends, learn leadership qualities, and align our career with our personal goals. According to him, one way of achieving that was by writing down what we want to do; and then working towards making it happen.”

Following the dignitaries on the dais, our favourite marketing professor Sagar Narsian took to the podium to share his words of motivation and inspiration. He defined success as, “What makes you happy, and fulfils you. It is not by the size of the office you occupy or the number of people who report to you. It is the number of lives you touch and the number of lives that you change. That makes a difference, and that is success. The ability to do what you want, on your own terms and at your own conditions is what defines future success. And that is where the new leadership has to lead new companies; to lead their teams to live life on their own terms and conditions.” He concluded by wishing a thundering success to the graduating batch on this new paradigm of success.

As soon as Prof. Narsian’s speech concluded, our Director, Radhieka R Mehta announced a ‘special surprise speaker’ for the day.  As everyone looked around, somewhere from the back of the Ballroom, an elderly gentleman walked up to the dais and introduced himself as Shrikant Khare, father of the graduating student, Sayali Khare. His short but heartfelt speech about how proud he was of Sayali and how thankful he was to IGTC for shaping her into such a confident young management professional, was truly one of the most touching moments of the entire convocation ceremony.

Finally, it was the turn of our seniors, the graduates, to take on the stage and make their grand finale! Seven of them took the audience through their journey with such mixed emotions that in the end, all we could think of was, “WOW, it’s truly a privilege to be an IGTCian!” One may call it a coincidence or perfect training, their speech was also about values and how they identified and defined them. In their words, “The capability of being agile and being able to tap the power of synergies is the next stage in the evolution, which ultimately culminates in the making of a true leader. The common thread that binds all this (including values) together is innovation – which at the pinnacle, can be a world changing idea, but at the foundation, it could be just a new perspective of looking at an existing process.” They concluded their speech with these beautiful sentences, “If everyone is thinking alike, nobody is really thinking. I think when we decided to come to IGTC, we embraced this spirit of innovation. We placed more importance to the unique course structure at IGTC than just a paper degree.” Their video, capturing the journey through a series of photos and short video clips, drew a lot of laughter and nostalgia.

It was then time for the graduates to receive the fruits of their hard labour – their certificates! Two batchmates announced each winner with a unique title, one that they will always be remembered for at IGTC.  By then, the missing official photographer and cameraman had also arrived and they captured each expression and applause from the parents and family members, who watched with pride as their children received their hard-earned PGPBA trophy and certificate from the dignitaries on the dais.

Every IGTC Convocation includes the announcement of the main awards – Dr. Günter Krüger Award for Excellence, BASF Award for Business Ethics and Corporate Governance and Bayer Scholarships ‘Championing Success’.  This year, there was a new addition, Siemens Award for Excellence.

BASF Award for Business Ethics and Corporate Governance

Through a specially-designed curriculum, top management professionals from BASF including the Chairman and Managing Director, Dr. Raman Ramchandran stepped into the shoes of a faculty member, and entered the IGTC classroom to engage students in a course that sensitised them to the topic of Business Ethics and Corporate Governance.  IGTC is greatly indebted to BASF for their selfless involvement and huge commitment in terms of time and effort.  Dr. Lakshmi Nadkarni, Director – Human Resources, BASF, South Asia presented the award to the two toppers in this course, Prasannkumar Pardhi and Prantik Bhatt.

Bayer Scholarships ‘Championing Success’

The Bayer Scholarship Programme called Championing Success was conceptualized under the leadership of KS Harish, Country Group HR Head, Bayer, and is keenly implemented by his HR colleague and Country Expert – Talent Attraction, Vaibhav Rane.  Through a rigorous and exhaustive selection process, they focus on LIFE (Leadership, Integrity, Flexibility and Efficiency) Values to identify some of the best talent at IGTC, and reward them with a cash scholarship of INR 50,000.  This year, Vaibhav Rane proudly presented the awards to the three power girls – Kshitija Datkhile, Sapna Ashar and Yoga Ramachandran.

Siemens Award for Excellence

Siemens Limited, a founding partner of Indo-German Training Centre, has instituted the Siemens Award for Excellence. With a focus on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization, Siemens is a technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality and reliability.  The Siemens Award for Excellence thus exemplifies consistent demonstration of the Siemens values of “Innovative, Responsible and Excellence”.  It is awarded to two graduating IGTC students and gives them a reimbursement of the entire IGTC PGPBA tuition fees.  Introduced for the first time, it was the highlight of the Convocation Ceremony when Mr. Sunil Mathur, MD and CEO, Siemens Ltd., personally presented this prestigious award to the two winners, Bhargav Ghatpande and Sneha Arakal with these words, “We believe that the Siemens Award for Excellence will inspire students to pursue a path of excellence – towards society, the environment and the nation! Indian industry needs trained and capable future leaders who can contribute to its enduring success in a globalized, competitive world.”

Dr. Guenter Krueger Award for Excellence

This traditional award of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) in conjunction with the Goethe Institut recognizes and awards the Top Two of every graduating batch at IGTC; the very best! Their success is measured as a culmination of their academic grades at IGTC and practical training results.  The award gives the students an opportunity to study a language course with the Goethe-Institut in Germany and to understand best business practices in Germany through hands-on, practical training in their company. The formal certificate will be awarded to the winners at the next Annual General Meeting.  This year’s recipients, Pushkaraj Bhide and Sneha Arakal were given the award by C. S. Mathur, President, IGCC and Bernhard Steinrücke, Director General, IGCC, along with all the other dignitaries on the dais. Undoubtedly, the two of them truly deserved the platform and all the accolades.

As the freshly-crowned IGTC graduates took their seats once again, our Director, Radhieka R Mehta, had the honour to give the Vote of Thanks.  Even though, she was very happy to see ‘her kids’ graduate, it was an extremely emotional moment for her. With teary eyes, she confessed “Only we can understand the immense satisfaction, joy and pleasure, along with the pain, of seeing another batch leave the institute! After all, it is time to let our babies leave the nest to soar the skies.”  The moment she said that, truly there was not a single dry eye in the audience. Her parting words of wisdom to Batch 2015-2017 were “Simple Living and High Thinking. Keep your feet on the ground but eyes on the stars!”

This wonderful ceremony filled us, the junior batch with new motivation and zeal to succeed. It showcased what it took to earn that IGTC PGPBA Certificate and the value attached to it.  In conclusion, we juniors were witnessing our future in front of our own eyes.  And now it’s our turn to carry on the proud legacy.

“Together we aspire, together we achieve,

IGTCians at heart, phenomenal we will be!”

The After Party

True to tradition, IGTC hosted an after party for both the batches at the football grounds at Cooperage. Instead of showing off dancing skills, it was time to show off one’s soccer skills. It was a refreshing change from the usual winding up of a Convocation Ceremony, with lots of good natured rivalry and banter, plenty of skills on display, be it for soccer or cheering, and some cherished bonding time. As the after party ended, everyone had a whale of a time and most importantly, everyone emerged as a winner!

Every year, the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce awards the Dr. Günter Krüger Award for Excellence to the Best Performing Student of each Indo-German Training Centre. This award is given in collaboration with the company finally recruiting the student and the Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan. The award gives the student an opportunity to study a language course with the Goethe-Institutin Germany and to understand best business practices in Germany through hands-on, practical training in his/her company.

Siemens Limited, a founding partner of Indo-German Training Center, has instituted the Siemens Award for Excellence.

With a focus on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization, Siemens is a technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality and reliability. The Siemens Award for Excellence thus exemplifies consistent demonstration of the Siemens values of “Innovative, Responsible and Excellence”. It is awarded to two graduating IGTC students of the Post Graduate Programme in Business Administration (PGPBA) based on German Dual Education System. The award also includes a reimbursement of the entire IGTC PGPBA tuition fee to the awardees.

Mr. Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Limited, “Siemens is a responsible corporate citizen and focuses on contributing to the sustainable development of the economy, environment and society. We believe that Siemens Award for Excellence will inspire students to pursue a path of Excellence – towards society, the environment and the nation! Indian industry needs trained and capable future leaders who can contribute to its enduring success in a globalized, competitive world.”

Quotes Radhieka R Mehta, IGTC Director, “We deeply value the recognition given by Siemens to the IGTC students.  This will ensure that the students push themselves beyond the status quo to aspire for higher levels of achievement.  The three chosen parameters of Innovative, Responsible and Excellence will drive and define their professional success.”

German Companies Strive for Intercultural Competences

The Key Element of the IGTC DHBW International Exchange Programme

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Lao Tzu! The first step of the compact and intensive 12 day International Student Exchange Programme titled “Business Environment India” and “Business Environment Germany” between IGTC and the Duale Hochschule Baden-Wuerttemberg (DHBW) was taken in in 2012, when it was conceptualised and put into motion. And ever since than the programme has transformed from steps to an “Autobahn” where the miles are just flying by! Or use swallowed up?

The objective of this international exchange programme was very simple – to give the IGTC and DHBW students an opportunity to gain an exposure to all aspects of each other’s country – be it in the field of education, culture, social and business life, industry and corporate work etiquettes and lifestyle. But today it has evolved into a much more important knowledge sharing aspect – imparting “intercultural competency and sensitivity”.

The importance of this aspect was reconfirmed by Prof. Dr. Bernhard Herold, Head of Department, Business & Commerce Management, DHBW while referring to the main reason for this year’s student’s participation in “Business Environment India” programme: “Our delegation primarily consist of students who have been encouraged and motivated by their training companies to take part in this unique IGTC organized “Business Environment India” exchange programme. This is mainly due to the fact that most their companies have a global presence in some form or the other including in India. And secondly, intercultural competency/sensitivity is a big topic back in corporate Germany”.

The 5^th exchange programme took place from 9^th to 18^th January 2017. It consisted of 25 students and 2 faculty members; Prof. Dr. Birgit Franken, Professor being the second one. The programme consisted of industry visits to Tech Mahindra, DHL India, Haefele , Tata Motors, Bajaj (both in Pune), Crawford Market and Dharavi.  They got a glimpse of “German” activities during their interactive sessions at the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) , the  German Consulate and the German School . There were Guest Lectures on Logistic & Supply Chain Management along with a live demonstration by  a Dabbawalla, Tata Group – Indian Leadership, DBOI Global Services Pvt. Ltd. –The German Expat experience of  working and living in India and the most fun lecture – Intercultural Understanding with performances by Indian students studying German followed by a Indian “Dress-Up” & Mehendi session. The Mumbai Marathon, where two students spontaneously participated, the Mumbai Sightseeing Tour and the trip to Elephanta were some of the cultural highlights.

“I am really thankful for the chance to join the programme. I have learnt a lot about culture, people and business in India” – Vanessa Scheck, Härter Stanztechnik

“Especially nice was the Indian hospitality and the willingness of the IGTC students to spend their free time doing activities with us” – Annika Felhauer, KIT Karlsruhe

I had a great time in India. I really, really want to come back . The programme was very interesting. A perfect mix of Indian cultural and company visits. – Nico Bartelt, SEW Eurodrive

The programme for the DHBW was not only about “fun& living the experience” but it also entailed an element of serious study-material. The students were split into groups of fives and in order to receive their participation certificate, had to give presentations in English which were graded. These grades are a part of their final grades of their course back in Germany. Their  research and gathering of information/ inputs had to be done onsite ie.  based on the programme agenda. The topics were as follows:

• Brand and Origin as selling points (USP) in India and recommendations for foreign suppliers
• Challenges for foreign companies in India recruiting and retaining personnel
• Logistic systems in India – best practice and suggestions for German companies
• Particularities of distribution channels in India as market entry barriers for German companies
• Influence of faith and religion on corporate governance (management) and everyday working life

But as the famous saying goes “ All is well, that ends well”, and such was the scene at the end of the programme. Each one of them aced their presentation held under the watchful eyes of Mr. Steinruecke, Director General, IGCC, Radhieka R Mehta, Director IGTC, the two DHBW faculty members and most importantly the IGTC students! Thereafter it was all about fun & frolic at IGTC  as the IGTC students introduced them to Bollywood dance moves and  the DHBW delegates in return sang some classical German Christmas Carols and latest German Pop song and distributed German Christmas delicacies around

The programme was very good. I really enjoyed it and my impression about India changed completely. It was really a great experience and I recommend it to everybody a the DHBW! – Luisa Bell, TI Automotive

This one sheet is not enough space to express all the things I liked and should say. So let me just point out that it as a tremendous trip – a completely new experience! I guess I will come back to India! – Tim Lewender, H. Vollmer GMbH ab 1.10. Gienger KG

The BASF Seminar Series on Corporate Governance and Business Ethics, under the aegis of the Million Minds project, has been developed in collaboration with academia in order to promote good governance practices.  It comprises 20 hours of teaching, training, seminars and case study development.

The contents include an overview on sustainable development, corporate governance in India and ethical dilemmas at workplace. This specially designed curriculum is delivered by senior BASF managers as faculty members, and it succeeds in its objective of sensitising and preparing the youth to emerge as responsible corporate citizens.

As an Inventor company, Bayer understands that young talent is fundamental for long term sustainable growth. The Bayer Scholarships Programme called ‘Championing Success’ are an effort to recognize and appreciate meritorious students across various institutions.  The rigorous and exhaustive selection process conducted gives weightage to consistent academic brilliance, fluid intelligence and personal interviews.

The winners receive a scholarship amount of Rs. 50000/- each. The scholarships signify Bayer’s commitment to corporate citizenship.  Bayer also supports a wide range of projects worldwide in the fields of education and research, environment and nature, basic social needs, sports and arts.

On 7th November, 2016, for the 6th year in succession, BASF India inaugurated the Corporate Governance and Business Ethics Seminar Series at the IGTC. The series was commenced by Dr. Raman Ramachandra, Head South Asia, Chairman & Managing Director, BASF India.

Over the following weeks, the top management from various departments such as Procurement, Human Resources, Finance, Legal, and Corporate Affairs, held interactive lectures at IGTC with the students. They covered various topics like HR and Ethics – Connecting the dots!, Evolution of Corporate Governance & Business Ethics in India, Corporate Governance begins with Self Governance, and Corporate Governance and Business Ethics in Finance and Corporate Communication.

The purpose of these lectures is to prepare the young students for the corporate world, while incorporating good governance and business ethics among them.

To help students to connect classroom theories to real time industry practices, IGTC unfurls a lecture series on ‘Best Practices in German Organisations’. With real corporate stories coming straight from industry, the series is piloted by alumni and senior managers from partnering training organisations to give the students a real-world view of different functional areas in an organisation.

Some of the distinguishes speakers include: Christian Rummel, Executive Director & CFO, Siemens Ltd.; Ray Naussedat, Vice President – Group Finance, DBOI Global Services Pvt. Ltd.; Murali Viswanathan, MD SCHOTT Glass India Pvt. Ltd;  Rupesh Basu, Chief – Talent Acquisition, Siemens Ltd.; Anand Srinivasan, Head – BU Polycarbonate, Covestro India; Shishir Joshipura, MD, SKF India Pvt. Ltd..