Testimonials

When the IGTC Stars descended on the Star

For the past two years, the success of the Executive Business Management Program in Pune has been solely attributed to the unbelievable contribution of the phenomenal IGTC faculty.  As the largest beneficiary of this program, Mercedes Benz India decided that it was time to give back and warmly welcomed the IGTC Stars on Wednesday 15^th February 2017 to experience the Star Hospitality! It was all thanks to the vision of Suhas Kadlaskar, Director –Human Resources and Corporate Affairs; Colleen Dsouza, General Manager Human Resources and the entire HR team at MBIL.

For the faculty members, the greatest source of happiness and smiles are the achievements of their students, and hence the day was kicked off with an interactive ‘Meet and Mingle’ with the IGTC Alumni (both PGPBA and EBMP) currently working at MBIL.  For the faculty, it was quite a surprise to see so many familiar but naughty faces, now sitting as professionals in the most envied organization.  While for the alumni, it was an amazing feeling to project their progress to their ‘gurus’ and mentors and to acknowledge the IGTC bond that connects all of them together.

Suhas Kadlaskar then took the faculty through a company presentation and shared his perspective on the growth plans of the organization by 2030.  This was followed by a Plant Visit.  However, when the plant managers are quizzed by the same faculty, who have taught them their concepts of Operations and Production Planning, Logistics and Forecasting, it is difficult to field the questions and give usual answers.  It was more like a Masterclass being conducted on the shopfloor, and it was no surprise when the usual 45 minute plant visit ended in becoming an exhaustive but extremely fruitful discussion.

Since IGTC stands for a combination of theory and practice, MBIL had fully prepared to give the IGTC faculty a practical demonstration of their superlative technology and driving experience with their coveted Performance Drive.  This only meant having one’s heart in the mouth (literally) as the ML showed its histrionics safely on a 45˚ incline, as well as demonstrated all the slopes and curves that it could tackle sometimes with not only one but two or three tires off the ground.  And when it comes to the question of training…one can only imagine how the driver was trained to perform this magic.  An absolutely unbelievable experience!

The favorite, must-dos followed – lunch, parting gifts and group photographs – to conclude the first-ever IGTC faculty outing together.  And undoubtedly, first impressions are the most lasting ones!

A heartfelt gratitude to the entire MBIL HR Team for organizing this wonderful and memorable day!!
 

The second Indo-German HR Partner Forum of 2017 was hosted by and at the Indo-German Training Centre (IGTC) on Tuesday, 9^th May 2017.  The topic of the day and agenda was all about HR in the realm of Social Media and #Tagging along with Millennials.  One could not have chosen a better venue nor host for such a trending topic as the very essence/value of IGTC are its students – the Millennials, the most active users of Social Media!

The forum was formerly welcomed by Radhieka R Mehta, Director, IGTC and followed by the Welcome Address by Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC). The audience were treated to a 45 minutes round-up on as to what is “trending” with regard to Indo-German Relations and World/European Politics and Economy.

The trending opening topic was followed up by the 2^nd episode of “Journey of a Senior HR Leader”, a live tête–à–tête in a “chat show”. This time BR Suresh, Senior VP and Country Head HR, Bosch Ltd. was being interviewed by and KS Harish, Country Group HR Head, Bayer, South Asia. The live chat had everyone fully enthralled and mesmerized as Mr. Suresh shared episodes his professional journey over the last 35 years.  Some of the key messages to the Millennials, who were present in the room were: be disciplined, build credibility and embrace change but not every two years as one needs to have the time to deliver so that an organization can appreciate that person’s worth.

After such a lively interactive session it was time for the much awaited presentation of the IGTC students – the very topic of the day – #Tagging along with Millennials! The students had done an extensive in-depth written report, based on their perspective & research, of how each of the twenty three HR Forum Partner Company was utilizing the Social Media with special focus on their HR activities/initiatives. They also did a comparison based on best practices of four organizations like General Electric, Marriott International Hotel, Atlantic BT and Disney who are considered to be the best users of Social Media in HR.  The report contained their inputs/suggestions on how the member companies could increase the use of Social Media in their HR practices and how it would benefit them. It also gave the companies a perspective of what a millennial looks at when applying to a company and how to best reach out to the millennials via use of Social Media.  These individual reports were handed out the respective partners and a synopsis of the report was given via a live presentation by 9 student’s representatives. Amidst the applause and praise for their hard-work and valuable report, the students were also given a “taste” how it is to be treated as a professional as the forum members asked probing questions (which they passed with flying colours) as well as gave concrete feedback.

The interactive session with the Millennials gave way to reconnecting the forum companies to “their German roots”, Beate Weber, Deputy Director – Head of Language Department, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan (MMB) & Vaishali Karmarkar, Intercultural Facilitator, Marketing Corporate Training, Faculty gave a brief presentation as to how the MMB would be the “right “ partner in this endeavor.

Post lunch, it was time for the moderator of the “Round Table on Role of Social Media in HR”, Surabhi Mittal, Vice President HR, Lanxess India Pvt. Ltd to ensure everyone stayed engaged and active. The lively debate cum banter on what the companies have been able to do successfully, what challenges they have been facing and what they would like to do differently in the future concluded with the mandatory selfie photo as well as forming a WhatsApp group.

The Future is Now: HR Competencies for High Performance

The year 2017 could not have begun on a better note for the Indo-German HR Partner Forum, with Bosch hosting the first meeting of the year at their immaculate Nashik plant. The quarterly-held meet started with a pre-event dinner amidst the beautiful settings of Sula Vineyards, and carried on with an insightful and meticulously planned day, aptly representing Bosch values of perfection and excellence. On a lighter note, the HR Partners agreed that Bosch had even managed to ensure the opening of the Pune – Nashik Expressway, so that the fraternity members would get a smooth and comfortable ride to their plant.

Mr. B. R. Suresh, Senior Vice President and Country Head – Human Resources, Bosch Limited and his team warmly welcomed the HR Partners. This was followed by a detailed and interesting plant visit to the Bosch Solar Project, the Value Stream of the Production Shop Floor, the Vocational Training and Competence Management Centre. At the end of the visit, what was very unique is that the entire Bosch HR team avidly sought feedback on the plant visit, which demonstrated the high standards of continuous improvement that Bosch stands for.

Following this, it was time for some thought-provoking discussion on what could be the future, joint projects for the Indo-German HR Partner Forum and undoubtedly the senior partners had a lot to contribute and share from their years of experience. It was very evident that it was time to take the forum from a ‘networking and best practices sharing platform’ to a ‘capability building platform’ for all the HR professionals working in the organization. And this promises to be a big step in the right direction.

Post lunch, the HR partners divided themselves into two working groups to share HR competencies from their organizations. Four companies took the lead – Bayer, BASF, Schaeffler and Siemens – and the learning was only enriched with active questions from the others. The day ended with a first-time initiative, a chat show “The Journey of a Senior Leader”. Mr. Ramesh Shankar, Executive Vice President and Head – Human Resources of Siemens Limited was interviewed by the host, Mr. B. R. Suresh. His key message, “Leadership is about personal credibility, so be in touch with your employees, dirty your hands, practice what you preach and build credibility through actions” struck a cord with all the colleagues.

Undoubtedly, the main Bosch value of being “Future and Result Focus” was personified throughout the day and will continue to steer the path of the Indo-German HR Partner Forum in the years to come.

The Certificate Awarding Ceremony of the Executive Business Management Program (EBMP) is a truly momentous and joyous occasion for the Indo German Training Centre. On the 15^th February, 2017, 47 Managers from 17 companies in Pune were awarded their certificates amidst a lot of cheer and joy.
Frank Hoffman, Regional Director, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC), Pune welcomed all the dignitaries, business heads from the organizations, the EBMP participants’, family members and all the faculty.  After congratulating the batch, he motivated them saying ‘Dedication, Passion and Perseverance- Organizations that succeed have these qualities. They make excellent products and that stands out in the market. Your companies have sent you for the EBMP program because they saw these qualities in you and that is what makes you stand out. You are sitting here today evening because you have successfully completed the program proving your companies right.’

It was then time for Radhieka Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre to share her experience of the EBMP Pune Batch 2016. She resonated the thoughts of the IGTC staff and faculty saying “With the EBMP program, we have understood that once in class everyone is a backbencher. There is a continuous fight for the AC remote, tea breaks are very important, maintaining punctuality is as difficult as with our 21 year olds PG batch.  It is interesting to see you all fight over small projects, stand up and make an opinion, if someone talks a little longer, the rest of the class is restless. The faculty and we at IGTC have thoroughly enjoyed your participation, the questions, and the way you interacted and made the class a strong learning experience.”

She then introduced the EBMP participants, who would share their journey of the last one year, through a presentation called ‘From Concepts to Capstone.’  Shreyas Cadambi, Divisional Manager, Mercedes Benz India Pvt. Ltd. began by quoting Benjamin Franklin ‘We are all born ignorant, but one must really work hard to remain stupid.’ He went on to explain that it was their decision not to remain stupid and in order to do something about it, they decided to go back to school.’

The 5 power women of the EBMP batch shared their journey of realizing dreams that seemed improbable to achieve.  “In a fraction of a second, there is dream to achieve, a dream between ambition and emotion, professional and family, between self and selfless, between a giver and a go-getter, and we transitioned through this year. Today, as we stand with this scroll of honour in front of you, life rewinds itself to this day when we took this decision to step into the unknown. The path was not easy and we knew it but we feel that if life doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change you. A roller coaster of a ride which presented a lot of punches. But to take it on your chin and meet the hardships heads-on teaches you a lot of adaptability and flexibility. Every day of this year was a new learning and a new discovery and we stand here having achieved a wonderful dream. In the end we leave saying –if you want something you never had, you have to do something you have never done.”

Vaijnath Sangekar, Deputy Manager at Thyssenkrupp Indistries India Pvt. Ltd. said “In the last one year, I am now an ordinary employee converted with extra-ordinary features and smart working capabilities. The biggest gift I got was the gift to read.”  The entire batch profusely thanked all the faculty members for their invaluable contribution to their lives.

Mangala Krishnamurthi, Deputy General Manager for Financial Controlling, Bosch Ltd. addressed the audience to share her experience as the business manager to Rajender Kirrola, deputy manager at Bosch Ltd.  She gave us an account of his transformation “Being from an accounting background and a controller, the first thing any controller does is to say no to any proposal because we have to save cost.  But now Rajender is very different. He looks at a problem from the entire business point of view.  This has made a big impact to our business as he comes up with new solutions and this is only possible because of this one year EBMP course.”

After the journey from ‘concepts to capstone’, the dignitaries took to the stage. Chief Guest Mr. Andreas Lauermann, President and Managing Director, Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. in a motivating speech urged them to keep on learning as the world is moving faster according to him “What we are facing in our economies and the world is more complex because we are living in a big network and this gives us a lots of challenges, but every challenge is a chance. We now have technological megatrends and new things are coming especially with digitalization.  Digitalization is completely a game changer even in the automotive industry.  Surrounding markets are changing as now we are facing an intense and global competition, and this is all part of globalization. Lastly, regulations around the world are changing and it’s getting stricter and has to be for the betterment of the environment and this brings complexity to the business.  Connectivity is important in today’s day and hence companies like Tesla have an edge and are able to compete with established automobile organizations.” Mr. Lauermann concluded his speech by saying, “There one famous sentence that I remember – Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.  Through this program we expect that we bring more entrepreneurship in our company again and hence this program is very valuable for us.”

Guest of Honour Mr. Ravi Kirpalani, Managing Director and CEO, Thyssenkrupp India began his speech by stating, “More than 50 years ago, Peter Drucker in the year 1964 said two things about the future – it is not easy to know what the future is going to be like and more importantly it’s likely to be different from what we know and think today. There two opportunities that we can leverage from this uncertain future, the first is to exploit the gap between when a discontinuity appears and its full impact.  And the second is how you can impose with your ideas on a yet unborn future. A completely new idea that will help change what the future might look like.”

He then moved on to explain what it will take to develop a leader of such an uncertain and unknown future. “The role of the leader of the future is somebody who creates an extraordinary intent at its core, who has the courage to go beyond the drift, and finally it’s about taking risk, to anticipate and deal with ambiguity. But the most important thing is to have the passion to make your dreams come true.” Mr. Kirpalani then also elaborately spoke on about the 4 bits – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual capacity – that are ideally required to win.  He concluded his speech with a profound quote from the Upanishad which says that your ‘Deepest desire becomes your destiny.  As you desire so is your intent, as is your intention so is your will, as is your will so is your deed and as is your deed so is your destiny’.

After the speeches, it was time to hand out the certificates. The certificates were handed over to the participants as their family members, faculty, colleagues and company mentors cheered them on.  The pride and sense of accomplishment in the eyes of the participants was palpable.

Accelerators – Driven by Ideas”, a Business Innovation (BI) Day was hosted by Mercedes Benz.  The objective is to brainstorm, foster and ideate a plethora of ideas which in turn will be evaluated via crowdfunding in a winner takes all initiative!

The questions asked were:

• Do you have an original idea that can improve the way we live, work and play?
• Have you developed an application or technology that will address everyday problems or social needs?
• Does your idea connect people and networks, ultimately enabling us to live better lives?

An online form was released, which had to be filled by the students of various MBA colleges in Mumbai and Pune where they asked individuals to express their innovative ideas for the automobile industry. Various institutions such as NMIMS, JBIMS, Symbiosis, K.J. Somaiya and Indo-German Training Centre (IGTC) participated in this event with a grand total of 500 entries being registered for the event. These 500 entries were screened and the top 100 entries were selected.

20 students from IGTC were invited to Centre of Excellence (COE) at the Mercedes Benz India headquarters on 18^th March 2017.  All students were given a color code as they entered the Mercedes-Benz office, dividing them into groups of 10. The event commenced with a brief introduction to the Mercedes Benz brand followed by a lecture by Kaustabh Dhargalkar, Mentor, Centre of Innovation and Enterprise, IIM Ahmedabad.

Round 1 was a team activity called ‘Spark Plug’ where individual teams were given 20 minutes to innovate a model. It was picturized to resemble the reality show ‘Shark Tank’, where teams pitched their ideas to venture capitalists. The ‘Sharks’ were Sanjeev Mandpe, General Manager, Sales, Planning and Operations; Tushar Wankavar, General Manager, Sales and Kaustabh Dhargalkar. The winning team of this stage gained an advantage, where they were given preference to choose their topic for Round 2 ‘Hackathon’ and the order in which teams would present.  2 members from each team were nominated to present their ideas. Once the idea was pitched to the Sharks, crowdfunding started where every student was given a note and had to drop the note in the box of the team whose idea they thought best.

After lunch Mr. Kaustubh Dhargalkar delivered a lecture, where he gave great insights into how innovations can be superimposed from different fields. To beat the post-lunch lethargy, a game Paper-Stone-Scissors was played.

The final Round 3 was ‘Fastrack Ideation’, wherein teams had to brainstorm and come up with as many ideas as they could regarding any industry and department in a span of 2 hours. The Sharks were simultaneously calling on students whose ideas were pulled up and that student had 30 seconds to explain how their idea was worth looking into. A total of 230 ideas were collected from all the teams and 150 were screened by the Sharks.  25 of these were shortlisted and not surprisingly, 7 were from IGTC students.

The Award Ceremony commenced where IGTC students, Rutuja Sindekar and Anuj Sharma were a part of the team, which won the award for the Hackathon based on crowdfunding.  Ashwini Anil and Prabodh Jadhav were part of the team which won the Fastrack Ideation on account of the fact that their team had the most number of ideas selected and screened.

Memories of the day will be treasured, as each student left with a certificate, a photograph to remind them of this day and the learning ‘To never stop dreaming and keep innovating, for the world is our playground!’

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 programs in the next year should be dedicated to hosting programs 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 programs 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 Program 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 Program 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.”