Testimonials
Faculty Meet at IGTC
Five months into the pandemic and before the onset of the new academic year, it was time for senior faculty members at IGTC to discuss and evaluate:
- the effects of the pandemic on the economy and how it will influence curriculum changes, and
- the impact and effectiveness of the digital learning methods
To meet these objectives, IGTC organized a faculty meeting on Tuesday 18th August 2020. It was very well attended by all the faculty, most of whom have contributed over a decade of teaching at IGTC. The deliberated on the enhancement of the academic curriculum of IGTC’s flagship programmes – the 18-month, full-time Post Graduate Programme in Business Management and the 1-year, weekend Executive Business Management Programme.
Innovative tools of teaching and assessment were also the focus points of this elaborate session. Tools such as slido, mentimeter, jamboard, testmoz, analyser were demonstrated and shared among the faculty to enhance their interactivity and engagement with the students, and to evolve their teaching pedagogy at IGTC.
Whether it is the physical classroom or the online, virtual world, undoubtedly the faculty anchor IGTC and inspire the team to strive toward excellence in management education. They lead by example, as the perfect role models, displaying agility and resilience to the optimum!
And hence, we strongly believe, “The spotlight should always belong to the ones who make the stars shine!”
Propelling into the New Normal
Four months into the lockdown, it was no longer time for just ensuring “essentials”. It called for a new level of agility to embrace the new normal. And IGTC PGPBA management trainees were certainly up for the challenge! The learning in the digital space was propelled to the highest level of seriousness and rigor, and when we looked back at the end of the term, we were pleasantly surprised at how much had been achieved. IGTC is proud to recap the highlights of the interesting modules taught, the course deliverables and engagements, and the key takeaways by the trainees.
Advertising & Digital Marketing
Understanding Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) to manage advertising strategy, consumer research and media and to ultimately build a career in marketing communications.
- Group assignment on SWOT analysis by utilizing the 5 Step Brand Story Framework of digital marketing
- Group assignment to study customer insights of an ad and create micro-moments that trigger needs in customers to buy the product
B2B (Industrial) Marketing
Developing the ability to take decisions in different B2B scenarios through a graded case study approach, assimilating critical concepts such as Customer Lifetime Value, Wallet Share, and Customer Equity and developing the trainee’s personal skills to apply them in B2B markets.
- Rohm & Haas case study to prepare product strategy and integrated marketing communication plan
- Standard Machine Corporation case study and Electrical Equipment Limited case study for devising price modelling and to illustrate B2B pricing strategies
Business Law
Introducing major laws such as Indian Contract Act, Sale of Goods Act and Negotiable Instruments Act, which develops and builds legal reasoning and analytical skills, an understanding of the legal framework and environment under which the businesses operate.
- Quiz on PESTEL environment to keep trainees abreast about current legal affairs
- Group project and presentations on Information Technology Act, Consumer Protection Act, Companies Act, Competition Act, Employment Contract, Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks and Geographical Indications of Intellectual Property Laws
Financial Management
Learning the tools to evaluate the financial performance of a company or business; and the techniques of project evaluation to understand calculation of cost of capital, dividend policy and sources of short-term and long-term finances.
- Interpretation of Profit and Loss statement, Balance Sheet and Ratio Analysis
- Online MCQ Test on Working Capital Management, Cash Budgeting and Concept of EVA
- Excel based numerical exercises on Ageing Schedule & Time Value of Money, Discounted Cash Flow by using Net Present Value (NPV) & Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Cost of equity by using Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and Dividend Discount Model (DDM)
International Finance
Emerging trends in international financial markets, strategies and techniques for raising funds from such global markets and the relative risks associated with such exposures.
- Quiz on short and long term financing
- Polls on Incoterms, Letter of Credit and Equity Funding through ADR and GDR
- Online MCQ Test on Foreign Exchange Market, Regulations in International Trade, Currency Exposure and Risk Management
- Virtual Group Activity on corporate strategies on managing currency exposure
International Business & Trade Policies
Creating an awareness about International Trade Laws, International Conventions, Foreign Trade Policies (FTP), Export Import Regulations, Special Economic Zones and Industry 4.0.
- Analysis, group assignment and presentations on diverse, contemporary topics, which have emerged as an aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic, such as global sourcing, export of essential items, shifting of industries from China to India, Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD), Anti-Subsidy Duty and the emergence of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” with reduction of imports.
Market Research
Applying statistical techniques in data analysis and improving the understanding of marketing principles.
- SPSS case study that helps future managers in understanding Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning of their product in the market
- Comprehensive project and presentation on each of these 7 market research tools, viz. Cluster, Discriminant & Factor Analysis, Multiple Correlation & Regression, Discriminant analysis and Conjoint Analysis
Sales & Distribution
Endowing the skills to face the various challenges faced by the Sales Head in a continuously changing environment by giving them an overview of the Sales Management Process.
- Role play to understand and manage a sales team, plan quotations and sales budgets
- Breakout room discussions on sales pitches and strategies for increasing product sales
- Framework study for FMCG distribution and trade marketing by inventory & logistics management
Services and Retail Marketing
Learning the nuances of Services and Retail Marketing and its difference from regular product marketing.
- Class activity to introduce 8Ps of Integrated Service Management
- Case study to study Service Gap Model and to introduce concepts of Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
- Designing Service Blueprint to optimise service process
Strategic Management
Defining, conceptualizing and understanding Strategic Management as a process to practice in Corporate Business by studying Blue Ocean Strategy, Bartlett and Ghoshal Internationalization tool and Ansoff matrix.
- Archies vs Vintage Case Study to analyse and find the correct industry in which the business fits and functions by studying its external environment
- ITC Case Study to recognise the concept of diversification of a conglomerate
- Microsoft Case Study to identify the organization culture
- Go Global Case to realise the need of globalization by introspecting a company’s abilities
- Tata Case Study on CSR to understand the importance of achieving the golden middle between economic profits EVA of a company and their CSR
Supply Chain Management
Identifying the supply chain challenges across various functions and understanding the relevant system based solutions. The module comprised of trending topics like Block Chain Management, Reverse Supply Chain, Lean Agile & Le-Gile Supply Chains, Inventory Management, Capital Management, Kano Model, Manufacturing Strategies and Product Modularity.
- Mahindra & Mahindra Case Study to describe concept and scope of supply modelling
- 7Eleven Convenience Store Case Study to describe the SCM Framework
- DHL Case Study to formulate GREEN Supply Chain
- BCG Matrix for product portfolio management and Kraljic model for purchase item management
- Fisher’s Framework to understand Forward Supply Chain
- Honeywell Case study to know the benefits of Closed Loop Supply Chain
- Asian Paints Case study to understand the strategy to achieve highest market share with high inventory turnover ratio
With this term load of work in diverse functional areas behind them, the trainees now look forward to their practical training stint in their respective organizations and toward building their final integrated business plans on a business idea! Never a dull moment in the life of a management trainee at IGTC!
Convocation Ceremony 2020
Excellence is not a tool, but an IGTCian’s attitude, desire and passion. Auf Wiedersehen PGPBA Batch 2018 – 2020:Convocation Ceremony 2020
The lights at Royal Opera House glimmered with hope, as IGTC’s PGPBA Batch 2018 – 2020 marched down the aisles to take their seats in the grand auditorium, tassels bouncing in excitement with each step taken. Beneath each black cap was a student with a smile from ear to ear and pride in their eyes. At their side were their proud parents, eager to make time stand still for the evening. Flashlights and cameras levitated each graduate to the status of a celebrity for the day. In the blink of an eye, capstone projects, Monday formals, unending presentations, new and old friendships, walks at marine drive became memories in this chapter of IGTC. Another story was imprinted on our hearts before it sets off to new beginnings.
In the true spirit of German punctuality, the Convocation Ceremony for PGPBA Batch 2018 – 2020 commenced with IGTC Director, Radhieka R Mehta welcoming the dignitaries, graduates, parents, faculty and corporate mentors, followed with an address by Georg Graf, President of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Representative of Freudenberg Group. “I commend IGTC on the choice of venue for this occasion, the Royal Opera House, noting its construction featuring both Indian and German architectural elements, which perfectly encapsulates the conjunction of Indo-German education and society being celebrated.” His vitalizing introduction to the evening emphasized on perseverance being key to his successes.
Mr. Graf’s welcome address was followed by a journey down memory lane by Paurus Nekoo, General Manager Sales, Lufthansa Group and IGTC Alumni of PGPBA Batch 1995 – 1997. He highlighted the changes, but yet similarities, that he sees in IGTC then and now, and how the German Dual Education System has been a hallmark of IGTC’s rapport in the industry since its inception. “When a company selects you and invests in you, they invest their time in you during the practical sessions. There is a higher management focus in your training. This is a huge difference versus other programs.” Mr. Nekoo went ahead to encourage the batch to embrace change, to never stop learning, to believe in themselves and to be humble. From such humility stems sensitivity toward culture, gender, the environment and toward other fellow humans. He punctuated the end of his address by speaking of gratefulness engendered by humility; that every graduate moving out into the real world must venture forth with a sense of gratitude toward their home country, to never forget where they come from.
Following the footsteps of an accomplished alumni, had to be the current champions! On behalf of PGPBA Batch 2018 – 2020, Sanjeev Srinivasan, Manar Lakdawala, Gargi Paliwal, Susan Thomas and Mayank Washimkar delivered the Valedictory Address to the audience.
“When I think of the IGTC Alumni network, it reminds me of Vodafone; always happy to help and follows us wherever we go. Right from admissions, to our search for accommodation, to constantly motivating us to cope with hectic lectures and multiple projects, to guiding us during placements, our Alumni have given a direction to our scattered thoughts. They have passed on the IGTC legacy to us; for us to uphold.” – Manar Lakdawala, trained by ATE Group and recruited by Häfele India.
“Today I am happy to have started my corporate journey as a part of the Managing Director’s team at Mercedes Benz India Limited. Working for business development and strategic projects, now I see the bigger picture that we were all trying to paint with all the subjects taught at IGTC; be it the role of culture in strategy or legal intricacies in data driven marketing.” – Mayank Washimkar, trained and recruited by Mercedes Benz India Limited.
“IGTC has helped students to channel their ambitions in the right direction and to achieve incredible dreams. At this very end, I have realised that our time is limited; so, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” – Susan Thomas, trained by Bayer Group and recruited by Knorr Bremse Technology Center.
“Finally, an intricate web spun out of ethics and responsibility coupled with the analytical skills that I honed in my strategy class has become my framework for the future. Today, I stand in front of you as a young business professional, with the ability to add colour to life and break the monotony. I gaze into the future, unfazed, with a belief that excellence is not a tool, but it is my attitude, my desire and my passion.” – Sanjeev Srinivasan, trained and recruited by Phoneix Mecano India
We are all different pigments of colours but when spun together on the wheel, we come out as one single colour i.e. white. No matter where our journey started, we all have made it here together through the same combination of determination, sacrifice and a whole lot of hard work. Why IGTC is what I am often asked. I reply to that question with another question: “Tell me, what else is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Gargie Paliwal, trained and recruited by Covestro India.
Music is a language that transcends all barriers. It connects us to one another, reminds us of who we are, speaks for us when mere words are not enough, and reflects our hearts emotions in their real and vulnerable way. Believing in this, the highlight of the Convocation Ceremony was a musical on ‘Dreams and Imaginations’ by the Singing Tree Choir of the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation. Talented conductor, Salomé Rebello, had planned a beautiful set comprising of songs including ‘We Will Shine Like The Sun’ a 2018 winner of the Hongkong Children’s Choir Competition, ‘A Whole New World’ from the award winning soundtrack Aladdin, ‘A Million Dreams’ from the acclaimed soundtrack The Greatest Showman, ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ from the movie Space Jam, ‘Shosholoza’ a mining song sung by the tribes in South Africa for encouragement and hope, and ‘Aazaadiyaan’, an inspirational song from the Hindi movie Udaan. The Singing Tree Choir was beautifully complemented by IGTCians from the junior PGPBA Batch 2019 – 2021, who joined the choir, also played some musical instruments and danced to a beautiful contemporary choreography by Ankit Tanna.
On this high note, metaphorically, it was time for Chief Guest Ronnie Screwvala to take the floor. A man who has left his mark on media, entertainment, sport, e-sport, philanthropy and empowerment of the underprivileged, Mr. Screwvala is undoubtedly one of the most people of the 21st century. He opened his address feeling overwhelmed by the sense of pride that he felt on watching this batch move forward into the world to pursue their dreams. “Most people spend their lives trying to live a life that others want them to live. It takes more than just good education to succeed in today’s global environment: it’s about collaboration without simply competing to win. It’s a tough world and getting an education is no longer an event that ends, it’s a continuous process and each and every student that walks through the doors of IGTC leaves as a perpetual learner, one who never shies away from change, but adapts and rides the waves of the storm.”
Riding strong on the uplifting themes of the evening, the Guest of Honour, Dr. Juergen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General, Mumbai, took the stage to deconstruct what it meant to have dreams, the central theme of the evening. “Dreams without goals are always meant to simply remain dreams. Even when you have the training and the skills to succeed, you need to have the guts to fail. If you don’t fail, you are not trying to achieve your goals. It doesn’t matter if you fail while trying to achieve those goals, because the effort you put in makes it worth the journey to get that point.” This fear of failure should be tempered with a layer of discipline, a lesson that Dr. Morhard demonstrated through iterating his own life experiences.
At this point, every eye in the audience sparkled with dreams and a heart full of imagination. It was time for the maverick, Boman Moradian, the most loved member of the IGTC faculty, to deliver a Masterclass to the graduating batch. While he appreciated the theme of the day being ‘Dreams’, he wanted the batch to be very clear on the ethical dilemmas that they would face during their personal and professional path going forward. He posed an ancient predicament: would you choose to be right or would you choose to be paid? At the end of the day, the question remains: who are you accountable to? As with his lectures, Mr. Moradian concluded with a very clear but lasting answer for all their future endeavors in the corporate world, a poem titled The Guy in the Glass, by Dale Wimbrow (1934). “For it isn’t your Father or Mother or Wife, whose judgement you must pass. The feller whose verdict counts most in your life is the guy starting back from the glass. He’s the feller to please, never mind all the rest, for he’s with you clear up to the end, you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test, if the Guy in the Glass is your friend.”
The evening reached a pinnacle with the felicitation of the award winners. The awards given out were:
- The Dr. Guenter Krueger Award for Excellence in collaboration with Max Mueller Bhavan, Goethe Institut and Lufthansa Group: Abhishek Bhattacharya and Abhishek Dhatavkar.
- The Siemens Award for Excellence: Manar Lakdawala and Sanjeev Srinivasan.
- The Bayer Scholarships ‘Championing Success’ – Abhishek Bhattacharya, Abhishek Dhatavkar, Mayank Washimkar, Prajakta Sontakke and Priya Kumari
- The BASF Corporate Governance and Business Ethics Award – Rushabh Shinde
A heartfelt Vote of Thanks was extended by Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce to the dignitaries for the evening, parents and most importantly to the IGTC faculty and IGTC team on the graduation of another successful batch, who will contribute to the German business community. The students gathered on the stage for one final photograph with their respected faculty and to bid farewell to each other.
While it seemed as though a chapter was closing, one could only sense the junior batch filled with inspiration to write their own story. Each of these students realized that they have to step up to a new challenge, to take the place of leadership from the exiting seniors. No longer are they the ones looking up to others for leadership, but they have to become the ones leading.
The musical evening of “Dreams and Imagination” left everyone with a feeling of hope and pride. What lies ahead is a new adventure and a new sense of hope for the future.
Article contributed by Aishwarya Tadpatrikar and Danesh Fatakia from PGPBA Batch 2019 – 2021.
A new decade inspires a new purpose – the 3C model – for the Indo-German HR Partner Forum!
On 13th February 2020, into the new decade, the Bayer Group hosted the 1st meeting of the Indo-German HR Partner Forum. KS Harish, Country Group HR Head, who has been one of the founding and senior most members of the forum, facilitated the agenda throughout the day with the highest level of engagement. Joining him with equal fervor was the entire HR team including colleagues Vaibhav Rane, Priya DCruz, Jaideep Iyengar and Dr. Rajesh Parekh; and Sarita Bahl, Country Group Head – South Asia, Communication and Public Affairs.
Bayer with its new vision “Health for All, Hunger for None” had recently undergone an integration with global biotech giant Monsanto. This acquisition – its process, its challenges and its outcome – was an interesting case study for the remaining partners in the forum. It resonated with the spirit of the forum that always believes in sharing and benchmarking best practices and learning from each other.
Through an interactive dialogue across various stakeholders, Harish passionately narrated the entire integration story emphasizing on the following topics:
- Managing change and communicating exhaustively to inculcate a culture of oneness
- Magnifying inclusion by creating programmes that enables girls from an agricultural background to enter the sales force and physically challenged individuals to enter the Bayer Shared Services
- Managing performance
Through the detailed case study, it was evident that the Bayer Group had sailed through this difficult phase with success. In a pulse survey conducted, they had emerged with the highest scores on Customer Focus, Experimentation, Collaboration, Pride, Trust and Advocacy. And this really meant huge kudos to the entire HR team!
Post lunch, all the partners indulged their collective energies and strengths to pave a new way forward for the Indo-German HR Partner Forum in the new decade. Four working groups presented their ideas on the following topics:
- Purpose of the IGTC
- Value Proposition for Business Eco System
- Staying agile and in tune with environment
- Looking beyond Business
The new purpose was defined as the 3Cs –
- Collaborating and Networking
- Contribution to Business and Society
- Competency Building
The fulfilling and enriching day came to a close by bidding an emotional farewell to Dr. Lakshmi Nadkarni, Director HR South Asia, BASF India on her retirement. Dr. Lakshmi leaves behind a legacy by initiating “HR – Horizon Redefined”, a series of joint learning and development programmes for the enhancement of the HR Fraternity. The forum will always cherish her mentorship and guidance!
The next meeting of the Indo-German HR Partner Forum will be held on Thursday 14th May 2020 at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company, Pune.
EBMP Inauguration of 7th Pune Batch
“Sapta” or “Seven” is considered an auspicious number in India, e.g. Saptarang, Saptasur, Saptapadi, Saptarishi, Saptasindhu, Saptadhatu and many more. What could be better than starting the New Year and the New Decade 2020 with the 7th Batch of the Executive Business Management Programme in Pune! It certainly takes an extra mile to achieve success and realize dreams on your career path. Setting aside their personal and family time for the next one year, 53 managers in Pune embarked on their learning journey at IGTC on Saturday 11th January 2020.
Continuous nominations of high potential managers came from the existing partner organizations such as A Raymond Fasteners India, Bosch Chassis Systems India, Brose India Automotive Systems, Glatt Systems, Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India, KSB India, Mercedes-Benz India, Schaeffler India, Škoda Auto Volkswagen India, ThyssenKrupp Industries India and Vulkan Technologies. This, not only came as a strong endorsement of impact of the programme, but also reinforced IGTC’s resolve toward delivering excellence in management training that would lead to sculpting future leaders and impacting profitability for these organizations.
Besides the close partners, the 7th batch also drew managers nominated by other Indo-German member organizations such as Ferrero India, Haimer India, Kuebler Automation India, Pearl Coating, Price Waterhouse & Co, Schuler India, SPXFLOW, Volp Software and Learning Systems India, VR Coatings, Wikus India and Wuerth Industrial Services India. The managers came from leading positions in the automobile, engineering and manufacturing industries with an average experience of 12 years. Being technically strong and operations oriented, most of them looked forward to enhancing their business and commercial acumen and upskilling to enhance their career graph.
Joining the grand inauguration ceremony were the following dignitaries – Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce; Georg Graf, President, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce; Mira Dalvi, Regional Director, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce; Fino Babu, General Manager, Hotel Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre; IGTC teaching faculty Dr. Harkant Mankad, Sagar Narsian, Rajeev Chawla, Anant Amdekar and Jaya Joshi and Radhieka R Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre. All of them applauded the managers on their decision to pursue the programme on weekends and inspired them to continue on this path with all momentum.
Over the first weekend, the managers attended the most thought-provoking lectures on Managerial Economics by Dr. Harkant Mankad in his unique story-telling method. A global perspective on factors influencing geo-politics and world economics enlightened them. It opened horizons and set them thinking on the VUCA world. We wish them the very best for the year that lies ahead!
Certificate Awarding Ceremony, EBMP 6th Pune Batch 2019
What is life without challenges? And what is more cherished than the feeling of having conquered all of them, both foreseen and unforeseen? The Certificate Ceremony of the 6th EBMP Pune Batch was the true embodiment of this victory.
One year of intertwining high pressure jobs due to receding market conditions with a rigorous academic schedule comprising of lectures on weekends, frequent tests, assignments, open book exams, and a detailed final business plan, was no small feat. Surely, each and every one who had fully participated and lived through this journey deserved a grand celebration and recognition, and the IGTC team went all out to organize and host a beautiful ceremony on Saturday 11th January 2020 at the O Hotel, Pune.
The dignitaries for the grand evening were Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director of Škoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd.; Marja Einig, Deputy Consul General, German Consulate General Mumbai; Georg Graf, President, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce and Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. And the other dignitaries were the 55 graduating managers off the dais, who stood tall and proud in front of the audience consisting of their senior corporate partners, faculty and family members.
Bernhard Steinruecke opened the event by sharing his happiness on always beginning the New Year with an event linked to education, upskilling, career progress and transformation. He also highlighted the growth and momentum that the EBMP course has gained among member companies year after year.
President Georg Graf did the formal welcome on behalf of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. In his speech, he advised the participants to remain grounded. While the business of business is business, he urged them to never compromise on their ethics and social values regardless of where the world is going. His key message was “Business of business is now purpose, responsibility and sustainability.”
Chief Guest Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director of Škoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. started his speech by fondly recalling his early days when he was a student too. While he also spoke on imbibing the right values and ethics, he emphasized on humility. By remaining humble, one continues to learn, not only from the people who are above on the corporate ladder but even people who are below. Very candidly, he shared that corporate life is not always smooth. Just like business cycles, there will be ups and downs in one’s career. One has to tide over them. One has to be persistent, not give up and continue to do one’s best. Results come but sometimes it is not as instant as desired. He concluded by stating, “One cannot afford not to continue learning, as we do not know how the world is evolving, the downturn in one’s career also has to be wisely utilized”.
Guest of Honour Marja Einig, Deputy Consul General, German Consulate General Mumbai elaborated that lifelong learning will be one of the aspects which will have to be integrated in the work-life as digital technologies change the whole the way of life, how will robotics and artificial intelligence improve lives and the planet as a whole in a positive, constructive way. She also added, “This strong and lively Indo-German network of mutual support, including your companies who trust in the value of this program since many years, is a fantastic basis for your future development – please stay connected with this crowd for the years to come.”
To give the audience a short insight into the life of an IGTC student, Dr. Harkant Mankad delivered a short but powerful lecture on ‘Economics in Hard Times’. He emphasized on how the last decade was extremely difficult and stressful, and the fact that we have entered in the age of perpetual crisis, a sign of time where repeated disruption and less resolution is becoming the new norm.
On behalf of the graduating EBMP managers, a core team of 8 managers – Kalpesh Gupta -Vulkan Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Vignesh N- Tata Technologies Ltd, Susmita Vaikar- Siemens Information Systems Pvt. Ltd, Harmandeep Sokhi- Happy Beverages and Foods Pvt. Ltd, Prashant Bhandari-Bosch Ltd, Sandhya-Kimberly Clark India Pvt. Ltd, Anup Honrao, Anup Upasani- ARaymond Fasteners India Pvt. Ltd and Shreya Joshi- Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India Pvt. Ltd. recreated the avalanche of wonderful memories in the form of a heart-warming video and some personal narratives. The core of their speeches were some promises:
- a promise to remember that before they become future CEOs, they need to remain present CEOs of their own lives
- a promise to be master players of their own game before they take on the world
- a promise to compete with oneself first
- a promise to enjoy every aha-moment with a child-like innocence
- a promise to be fair, to be real, to let synergies drive the world
The evening concluded by the most awaited distribution of trophies and certificates followed by the Vote of Thanks by Radhieka Mehta. The audience stood up for the IGTC Anthem. The graduating batch took a final bow at IGTC. They bid adieu to a year that ended fruitfully, one where they had upgraded their knowledge and renewed their urge to think innovatively and seek excellence.
EBMP Capstone Projects of the 6th Pune Batch 2019
“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”
Nothing could be closer to this adage for the graduating managers of the Executive Business Management Programme, who had diligently invested more than six months, as a part of their learning journey, to work on live projects to impact the profitability of their organizations. IGTC necessitates that the Capstone Project or Final Business Plan is the application of all the acquired management principles and concepts and it marks the culmination of the intense, one-year programme.
The 6th Pune EBMP Batch 2019 of 55 participants was divided into 13 groups. The groups were guided by IGTC faculty and administration to work in the following directions:
New Product Introduction
- Industrial Valve for the power plant industry, which would significantly improve control over fluid flow, result in improved efficiency and longer life of the plant
- Top Latch Seat Structure of a Vehicle, which would be a 40/20/40 split and fold flat functionality, with less number of parts and process offering lightweight and contributing to fuel efficiency
- Building automation software that would improve energy efficiency, safety and reliability of electrical types of equipment in buildings
- Industrial Safety Shoes, which would be trendy, light and fashionable. A combination product ensuring safety not only on shop floor but also in daily life
- Metal Hose Connector, a product that would to help diversify existing Fuel Quick connector business and reduce dependency on fuel line connector business
New Service Launch
- “Un-new”, a modern-day thrift store for pre-owned clothes, to reduce the carbon footprint generated from the dumping of our used clothes
- Trading and disposal solutions for Lithium-Ion Batteries, which focused on imports of these batteries and gave an environment-friendly disposal solution, thereby offering an end-to-end product life cycle management
- “V-Serve”, Car Service Aggregators with pick-up and drop service, along with live streaming of the actual service process of the car, providing convenience to car owners as they can do complete transaction from mobile phone
Plant Setup
- “New assembly line setup for Silent Chain System” which comprised of development, installation and start of production from local facility which will have benefits such as customer proximity, lower costs and better service to customers
- Indigenous Battery Manufacturing Unit establishment with projected market share, plant capacity, flow, and investment decision
- Relocation of an automotive production plant to India to lower costs and increase market share, along with a detailed business case study on Tyre Pressure Monitoring System
Operations Profitability
- Installing a robotic welding assembly line, which improved efficiency of the assembly process and space utilization for optimized inventory control
- A business turnaround, which emphasized fixed cost reduction by applying the Kraljic model for inventory optimization and envisaged reducing the supply costs by offering bundling facility
The projects were reviewed and questioned by a viva panel comprising of IGTC faculty S. M. Fakih, Sagar Narsian and Dr. Suhas Rane; IGTC Director Radhieka R Mehta; senior representatives and mentors from the respective organizations. Undoubtedly, the projects had a serious implication on the profitability and growth of the organizations, which in turn became a strong reason for the overwhelming success of the Executive Business Management Programme.
Indo-German HR Partner Meet
On 14th November 2019, Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India (KBTCI) hosted the Indo-German HR Partner Forum Meet at the Courtyard by Marriot, Hinjewadi, Pune. Representatives from the following partner companies attended the meeting: BASF Group, Bayer Group, Bosch India, Brose India, Covestro India, DHL India, FEV India, Fuchs Lubricants, Hafele India, Hirschvogel India, Kaercher India, Lanxess India, MAN Trucks India, Siemens India, Škoda Volkswagen India, Thyssenkrupp India, TUV India, Wacker India, Wuerth India.
The meeting began with an informative welcome speech and overview on KB Globally and KBTCI by Deepak Joseph, Director – Engineering Truck, KBTCI and Mahesh Shahapure, Head – R&D Knorr Bremse Commercial Vehicle Systems. It was a very interesting and insightful experience for all the attendees to know about their advanced technology products. They briefed the forum about the Scrum structure adopted by them, which has 3 roles such as Product Owner, Scrum Master and Team Member. They promote ‘T-shaped’ teams, where in the members of the team develop skills such as cross-functioning, self-organising, self-managing and collaborating.
Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Head – HR, Admin & HSE addressed the forum on KBTCI’s journey on HR Transformation including the following broad agenda points: Demographic, Attraction, Development, Digitalization and Engagement. He proudly described KBTCI’s House of Values – Entrepreneurship, Passion, Reliability, Responsibility and Technological Excellence. It was heartening to know that in a short span of 7 years for KBTCI since inception, more than 35% of the employees had spent more than 4 years in the company. KBTCI has filed for many patents in the year 2019. The Employee Engagement Committee organizes many events like Engineers Day, Trekking Club, Nutrition Intervention Programs, Cricket Tournament and various CSR activities that focus on engaging employees on technology, sports, entertainment, health and social awareness.
Neeraj’s interactive presentation concluded by demonstrating the impact of the HR Transformation Process, which were as follows:
- In recruitment, lead time was reduced by 60%.
- In people development, training man hours target was achieved 100%, training feedback score was more than 3.5 out of 4.0, and training effectiveness was more than 90%.
- Employee satisfaction and participation was increased.
- People turnover was reduced drastically, and top talent were retained successfully.
Following the insights into KBTCI, it was time for some serious discussion among the HR Partners about the new challenges and future of the forum into the new decade starting 2020. This introspective Community Dialogue Process was spearheaded by Santanu Ghoshal, Vice-President HR, Schaeffler Group and facilitated by Anu Sethi, Head – Human Resource, FEV India. The HR Partners were divided into 4 teams with the following topics:
- Purpose of IGTC Forum.
- Value Proposition for Business Eco System.
- Staying agile and in tune with environment.
- Looking beyond Business.
After a late lunch, the KBTCI HR Partners were given a fascinating tour of the assembly plant of Knorr-Bremse Commercial Vehicles Systems India and Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India. On an informal note, the HR. Partners also ended the day by celebrating Children’s Day and with a promise to stay curious and inquisitive forever! Deepest gratitude to the entire KBTCI team for being the most warm-hearted hosts!!
Supply Chain Management Forum
In April 2019, some member companies of Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) recognised the need to form a ‘Supply Chain Management Forum’, a platform where they can share best practices of the industry and provide appropriate solutions to the industry problems. The key members of the forum include representatives from Bosch Limited, Bayer India, BASF India, Brose India Automotive, Covestro India, Evonik India, Fuchs India, KSB Ltd., Lanxess India, Siemens Ltd., Thyssenkrupp India and Volkswagen India.
The first meeting of the forum was held at Siemens Ltd. on 4th April 2019 to set up the objectives and the functioning of the forum. An engaging dialogue and brainstorming among partners lead to the generation of several ideas of mutual interest or concern such as:
- Recommendations for suppliers / business partner development
- Focus on compliance, sustainability, digitalization, innovation, risk management, tail spend
- management, supplier finance, payment on time (PoT), GST and taxation
- Conducting expert talk sessions and trainings with regard to Purchase / SCM
- Discussing policies, guidelines and alliance sourcing
Considering the latest need of the business to strike out balance between the social, economic and environmental aspects, the second meeting hosted by Bayer Group on 25th July 2019 focused on the topic of ‘Sustainability in Supply Chain Management’. Representatives of the participating organizations shared their respective practices to achieve sustainability in Supply Chain Management (SCM) while also pointed the pain areas in maintaining sustainability.
- Bayer Group believes in adopting sustainability in SCM right from operations to the end of value chain by adopting 4 steps towards suppliers: Awareness, Nomination, Performance Evaluation and Development.
- BASF India states its purpose as ‘Chemistry for Sustainable Future’. BASF’s logistic team aims at reduction of carbon footprints by reducing the usage of coal fuel and road transportation and promoting railways and waterways. However, while doing so challenges such as limited awareness of suppliers, low importance of Environment Health Safety (EHS), resistance of suppliers to change and unwillingness of stakeholders to share responsibility are faced by organisations in the industry.
- “At BASF, sustainability means an alignment of economic success with environmental and social responsibility. To live up to its purpose of ‘Creating Chemistry for Sustainable Future’, BASF India has implemented the TFS (Together for Sustainability) initiative to improve sustainability practices within the supply chain. The company has also started auditing suppliers as a part of the TFS program. BASF shared how its logistics team aims at lowering the overall carbon footprint by reducing the usage of traditional fossil fuel as well as in road transportation, promoting railways and waterways. The company noted that during the implementation of sustainability-focused initiatives, limited awareness and thus resistance among suppliers, low importance paid to Environment Health Safety (EHS) concerns, and unwillingness of stakeholders to share responsibility are some of the challenges faced by organizations in the chemical industry.”
- Thyssenkrupp India shared its efforts toward maintaining sustainability among the civil / erection contractors from the unorganized sectors. It celebrates Supplier’s Day to recognise and to train their key vendor partners.
- Bosch Limited instituted a ‘Supplier’s Panchayat’ which is for ‘Voice of Suppliers’ (VOS).
- Siemens Limited links its organisational values – Excellence, Innovate and Responsible to sustainability.
The next meeting of the SCM Connect will be held in December 2019 and will be hosted by BASF India. The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce acts as an anchor and facilitator of the SCM Forum.
EBMP 9th Mumbai Batch 2018 – 2019 Certificate Ceremony Hosted During German Days in Mumbai
Amidst the grand celebration of the German Days in Mumbai, IGTC hosted another extraordinary Certificate Awarding Ceremony for the 9th EBMP Mumbai Batch 2018 – 2019 at the RWITC, Turf Club, Mahalaxmi. 32 graduating managers had a new story to tell and it looked nothing like their past. Their learnings were significant – holistic but focused, action-driven business acumen, high customer orientation and uncompromising attitude toward personal values, and social and environmental responsibility. Something had changed as they had travelled together on the learning journey for the past one year, making them wiser and more confident to stand out, face challenges and emerge as future CEOs.
The dignitaries for the event were Chief Guest Jürgen Wolf, Managing Director, Häfele India; Guest of Honor Dr. Jürgen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General; IGCC President Georg Graf; and IGCC Director General Bernhard Steinruecke along with IGTC Director Radhieka R Mehta. The audience included many corporate partners, HR partners, IGTC faculty and families of the graduating managers.
The ceremony was marked with inspirational speeches, sharing personal life lessons from the dignitaries to the graduating managers:
- Bernhard Steinruecke, in his opening remarks, reiterated that skilling and reskilling should be a lifelong process that is imperative to keep pace with the changing world. He also commented on the beautiful coincidence of having the soccer legend Klaus Augenthale’s presence during the German Days, who was going to coach young girls in the game of soccer. There was no doubt that IGCC has many innovative ways to instill the message of skilling and reskilling!!
- IGCC President Georg Graf advised on the importance of both professional and personal ethics. Passionately, he exclaimed “You and me are responsible for our value systems. One should not believe in people who put others in a corner and claim that they are the ones behind the work done. There should be disbelief in people who want to build concreate walls and live behind the walls.” He concluded his speech by appreciating the good work done by IGTC and complimenting the family members of the graduating managers for their unstinted support in the learning process.
- Guest of Honour, Dr. Jürgen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General congratulated everyone on their success and reflected on how it was a proud moment for all the IGTC faculties and families. He shared his personal story of how participating in a rowing competition taught him the value of team work and the importance of having the most appropriate leader. In this experience, he also learnt life lessons of always having a vision of what the fellow competitors are doing. He concluded his speech by stating “Indian hearts and German minds have always had a lasting impact. IGTC professors have given the toolbox and the program has changed you internally. Now work according to your instincts to create a phenomenal impact.”
- Chief Guest, Jürgen Wolf, Managing Director, Häfele India shared his personal experience of the time when he was completely unaware of the know-how of different departments in his organisation. His quest for learning made him know more about each of them. Even at the age of 62, he ensures that he learns something new daily. This helps him overcome challenges and inadvertently gets exposed to more knowledge. He also strongly advocated that learning is perpetual and it should never stop.
With such a distinguished dais and audience present to applaud the graduating managers, they also ensured that they spared no effort to brilliantly showcase their year-long learning journey, which had culminated with the holistic capstone project:
- Vikrant Yevle, Research Executive, BASF India Limited was the first to take the stage to introduce each and every batch mate with a personalized introduction that did justice to the camaraderie that they had grown to develop at IGTC.
- Gurpreet Kaur, Key Accounts Manager, Häfele India and Disha Aggarwal, Director, Pheonix Appliances Private Limited elaborated that course was perfectly designed to enhance their thinking process and decision making skills and to mould their future as desired by them. One of the best things that they claimed to take back from the course is the experiences of their fellow classmates and professors. Everyone had brought some experiences to the table when they started this course but they soon realized that whatever they had learnt, whatever that has brought them to IGTC, won’t take them where we want to go. And hence they learnt how to unlearn and to prepare themselves to be in the management of change.
- Himanshu Mamtani, Zonal Manager – Key User Sales, Bosch Limited presented the futuristic, important and value adding project in his organization, because it had an environmental cause and impact. The project involved developing BS VI injectors for light commercial vehicles on roads with lowest cost and ease of adaptability that will further simplify the use of tractors and other off-highway applications within 4 years from now. With the programme learnings, the group was able to make the project economically viable, work on reduction in cost/unit, and dive deep into exploring the savings potential. He summed up “learning is called as experiential as when we learn, we are able to emit, able to demonstrate improvement at our workplace in-terms of KPI improvements”.
- Sayontoni Banerjee, Senior Executive and Rohit Mishra, Business Development from Siemens Limited, presented their capstone project, which was a live business plan to localize the existing Siemens Vacuum Circuit Breaker (designed at Germany), so that it would make their electricity grids better, smarter and more reliable. This project was perfectly positioned under the ‘Make in India’ program driven by the government. Their project aimed to reduce the cost over existing product and import content, to drive business through direct and indirect channels, to improve the market share and profit margin, and to improve operational efficiency and control inventory by standardization. All aspects of marketing, operations, finance, costing and strategy, culminated to positively reduce the material costs. This led to higher margins and ultimately identification of a higher addressable market through kit concept for global Siemens factories and Channel Business for Retrofit and OEMs. The team profusely expressed their gratitude towards the distinguished faculty for their mentorship and support in the execution of this live project.
- Philomena Fernandes, HR Business Partner, Inde Global Consulting LLP and Mandar Vilankar, Senior Manager, Quality Assurance, Siemens Limited presented their entrepreneurial project, wherein they had joined hands with a start-up named Brightsandz to embark on a mission to spread awareness about Electro-Magnetic Pollution and to promote the use of laptop radiation shields. They assimilated their yearlong learnings in a) understanding the market, b) formulating a promotional strategy and focusing on the price cohort to arrive at the apt price c) studying the advantages of the patent law which could be applied to product development and its promotions, d) creating a material flow and a single line flow for production that helped them to cater to the increased demand with cost optimizations and e) preparing the P&L and other financial statements. Based on these learnings, they were able to help Brightsandz to sell more than 300 plus pieces of the electromagnetic shield in the last six months as compared to 500 pieces in the previous five years.
- Viraja Redkar, Strategist, Uma Surgicals and Disha Aggarwal, Director, Pheonix Appliances Private Limited shared their social cause project, which was based on integrating a day-care and old-age home together under the same roof. Learning about the changing demographics and an increasing average life span in the subject of Economics, there was no doubt that these two industries (childcare and eldercare) were going to see a huge boom in the future and never go out of demand. This team based their project on assimilating the 8Ps of service marketing, supply chain and its effects, and correct pricing that would influence the service to emerge with a strong, impactful project that moved the audience due to the sheet passion with which they believed in it and presented it!
- The graduating managers’ extraordinary tribute ended with a personal poem penned by Himanshu Mamtani, Zonal Manager – Key User Sales, Bosch Limited, thanking each and every faculty member with a little anecdote, on behalf of the entire batch.
Finally, it was time to award the much-awaited certificates and trophies to the graduating managers, to give a vote of thanks to the dignitaries for their precious time and encouragement, to take a trip down memory lane with a video flashback, and to end it all with a ceremonial cake cutting and a little jig on DJ Bravo’s Champion! It was surely an afternoon to remember, followed by an extended after-party at the IGCC Oktoberfest with the German band Die Kirchdorfer! The euphoria and memories will remain etched just as deep as IGTC’s best wishes to all of them for a very bright and phenomenal future.
Indo-German HR Partner Forum ‘Building and Sustaining a Great Place to Work: DHL’s Journey’
DHL Express, the world’s leading international express service provider, has been named the Best Workplace in Asia for 2019 by Great Place to Work Institute. To learn the secrets of this journey, the 3rd meeting of the Indo-German HR Partner Forum was held on 14th August 2019 at DHL Express (India) Office. The discussion theme for the day was “Building and Sustaining a Great Place to Work: DHL’s Journey”.
Representatives of the following partner companies attended the meeting: Baerlocher India Additives, BASF Group, Bayer Group, Bosch Limited, Brose India Automotive System, Covestro India, Fuchs Lubricants, Häfele India, Kärcher Cleaning Systems, Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India, Lanxess India, MAN Truck & Bus India, Schaeffler India, Siemens Ltd, TUV India, Volkswagen India, Wacker Metroark Chemicals.
All dressed in bright yellow, the young, vibrant DHL HR Team welcomed the HR Partners warmly to their pride, their Great Place to Work. The hosts of the day were R. S. Subramanian, Senior Vice President and Country Manager and Sunjoy Dhaawan, Vice-President HR, DHL Express Limited. It was a pleasure that Bernhard Steinruecke also chose to attend the meeting and spend the day networking with the HR Partners.
R. S. Subramanian opened the day with an extremely engaging presentation on DHL Express. DPDHL Group has about 550,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. They have created a culture which prioritizes hard work, passion, pride and focuses entirely on the customer. They aspire to be the most global, most quality driven and most customer centric organization. To meet this objective, their strategy for year 2020 is based on 3 key pointers:
- Focus on what has made them successful to achieve industry leading performance.
- Connect across organization to achieve quality and service excellence.
- Grow by finding and capturing new opportunities.
‘First Choice’ is how DHL imbibes the practice of Continuous Improvement. They have imbibed a culture and mindset to address challenges, solve issues sustainably and strive for excellence. More than 170,000 employees engage in Performance Dialogs. It is a community of 36,000 trained experts, experienced in the methodologies and established with a proven set of tools and techniques to help each other to improve on a daily basis. They have 29,000 process improvements to their credit.
Hand-in-hand with process improvements, comes responsibility to their employees, to society and the environment. This strong sense of responsibility has a major influence on the way they conduct business and is the foundation of their corporate culture. They aim a target of zero carbon emission in 20 years. They plan to achieve this by the following 3 steps:
- Go Green – The program’s main objective is to reduce and/or avoid emissions of greenhouse gases and local air pollutants
- Go Teach – The program aims at turning society’s attention to improve future opportunities of young people by employability training
- Go Help – Partnership with the United Nations in Disaster Management Response Teams
It is truly credible that they have touched 15500+ children, planted 50000+ trees, rehabilitated 500 drug users, trained 300 youth, saved 220+ lives through first aid and trained 3000 police personnel in crisis management.
After a short networking break, Sunjoy Dhaawan engaged the HR partners with the DHL Journey over the last 6 years of creating and sustaining a Great Place To Work and how people practices have contributed as a chief enabler in ensuring motivated people delivering great service quality, which ensures customer loyalty and profitability. The openness with which the entire HR Team shared their best practices, initiatives and numbers was indeed very encouraging and inspires trust in the forum members. It was also very engaging to note the DHL 1-2-3-4-5 Story around culture building. The culture at DHL Express is driven by strong respect for employees, customers and community. This forms the core reason for the existence of the company and the practices followed.
- One signifies that employees stand as As One, which makes them ‘The Logistics Company for the World’
- Two signifies the 2 guiding principles of ‘Respect’ & ‘Results’
- Three signifies the quest to deliver on 3 bottom lines for key stakeholders – provider of choice for their customers, employer of choice for their people, and investment of choice for shareholders, while being responsible to the environment
- Four signifies the 4 pillars of the FOCUS Strategy – motivated people, great service quality, loyal customers, and profitable network, denoting the virtuous cycle of engaged employees, quality focus through processes, customer loyalty and strong business performance
- Five signifies the 5 core competency framework that defines and measures people leaders
Undoubtedly, the magic mantra at DHL is Speed, Can Do Attitude, Right First Time and Passion. They are a strong believer of the quotient P = GQ, which means people deliver growth and quality.
After lunch, the HR partners were addressed by the Director – Customer Service on the Insanely Customer Centric Approach. He enlightened the audience on how team DHL ensures future success by creating a culture that is truly focusing at placing the customer at the center of everything they do. His statement “we don’t carry shipments, we carry emotions”, struck a chord with every partner.
The HR partners were then given a tour of the Customer Service Floor and taken to different HR Kiosks to give an impression of why DHL is one of the best workplaces. Through the diverse DHL HR Kiosk, they learnt about DHL’s Internal Awards, WeCare Programmes, Employee Health and Wellbeing Initiatives, Talent Acquisition, Reward and Recognition, CIS Learning and Development, Employee Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion. It was also very inspiring to see the digitalization journey in HR for DHL Express as they have been able to digitalize the entire employee lifecycle experience through which they engage the heart and minds of 3200 employees spread across 50+ offices in India.
As a fitting conclusion, Bernhard Steinruecke gave DHL a new meaning to their acronym – Dedication, Human and Legacy, and the HR partners could not help but remain in awe to this giant logistics service provider. What a wonderful learning experience at a Great Place to Work!
