Testimonials

The annual graduation ceremony at most educational institutions are a devoted to celebrating the most important point in a student’s life. This is point were each individual is filled with unbridled optimism towards a future of achieving their hopes goals and dreams. It is a time were we sing peons to the efforts of students, the support of parents, faculty and administration which helped them learn and develop as individuals. As you look at the smiling faces of students you can help but wonder what the future holds for each of them. Some of them will reach for the stars some of them will meter down their goals according their perception.

The day of convocation is a day of idealism and happiness of the days gone by. The students had come in as individuals and strangers while leaving as friends and as a batch with camaraderie and aspirations to lead the transformation of the world into a better place. However learning is a lifelong process and any institute worth its salt recognizes that its primary objective is to instil the ability to learn continuously in its students. They also have to be a microcosm of the real world with challenges and trials mimicking the real world to prepare them to recognize and proactively handle them in the most effective manner. Lastly they have to demonstrate the importance of having a personal value system and a code of ethics that will take them much farther in life than any skills they may learn in a professional course.

It is with this intent that IGTC was formed in the early 1990’s to emulate the structure of a German dual education system to better serve the needs of what was then a rapidly growing India after liberalization. There were obviously concerns of how such a system would prove useful for students raised in a traditional British education system. IGTC has gone on to prove with the success of its multiple batches that a system which facilitated conversion of knowledge into practical applications faster. This is even more imperative in today’s rapidly changing digital world that such academic endeavours grow and develop further. It is important that students look at the big picture of where they fit into the society and environment as whole.

The Convocation Ceremony of PGPBA Batch 2016-2018 of the Indo-German Training Centre Held on 17th February 2018 commenced with the singing of the IGTC anthem, which is a legacy in itself to live by and at its coda the entire hall at The Gallery’ – Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai was reverberating with “Phenomenal we will be”. Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General Indo-German Chamber of Commerce then addressed the students congratulating them on their graduation and reiterated that youngsters are running the country today saying “As world looks at India, India looks at you”, which is not only a great achievement and privilege but also an abundant responsibility.

In the President’s welcome address Thomas Fuhrmann, President, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce and Managing Director at TUV Rheinland India Pvt. Ltd. congratulated IGTC for its 27 years of contribution to providing sophisticated training and moulding students to be enablers of successful businesses. “We, Germans, are very proud to see that the Dual System is contributing to the businesses in Germany and that the concept here is India is immensely well-known and accepted” He ended his address with the promise to become a partnering training organization with IGTC Mumbai in the near future.

Dr. Juergen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General in Mumbai and Guest of Honour urged the students to celebrate this feat as they had gone an extra mile to arrive at this destination. But he also cautioned them not to see this as just another milestone, but as a stepping stone in the lifelong path of learning and development. “The personalities and the way of thinking developed at IGTC despite the challenges and resistances will transform companies helping them thrive and help the country grow”. In conclusion, he hoped that even though graduation speeches are ephemeral, the graduates would cherish the joy of this morning throughout their life.

It was also a touching occasion for Christa Lützenkirchen, Head of Global Human Resources, Covestro Deutschland AG, being one of the primary architects of IGTC’s training programme in her capacity in Human Resources at Bayer, as she reminisced on the challenges faced initially while advocating the dual programme in India. She expressed her pleasure to be present at such a momentous occasion and to see the system implemented so many years ago, still works. “It is not about the ‘I’ but what ‘We’ can do together, it’s about society and not ourselves and this is the philosophy on which IGTC is still run” Her message to the graduating class was as leaders of future it was their duty to feel responsible for themselves and ‘Make the World a Brighter Place’.

The keynote address was given by the Chief Guest R.S. Subramanian, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, DHL Express India. He shared his personal story of beginning his career in the corporate right after graduating from IIM and how in his illustrious career he moved between 12-13 different roles which helped him acquire insights into various aspects of business. He ended by advising students saying “there is no substitute to ‘burnt shoe leather’ where you meet your customer/ consumer face to face and talk which leads to ‘KYC- Know your customer’. Both are extremely important to succeed in your careers. Next deserve before you demand and finally to never stop learning”. He also highlighted the rapidly changing technology landscape of today, while on a lighter note he joked about his struggles of switching to his phone to make notes for this very speech.

Kamlakar Takavale, Vice President, Human Resources, Volkswagen India advised the graduating batch “Industry likes to recruit result oriented people, go- getters, who can play the role of a team member as well as a team leader as well as people who can handle responsibilities & challenges well. You have a dream of being someone who can contribute to decision, strategy & policy making in the organization. IGTC helps you realise that dream with the dual system of education. At the same time, it is essential to gauge whether the company culture & individuals expectations are a right fit or not. The industry also evaluates whether the highly skilled people also has the right behavioural aspect. Thus your training exposure helps the right person for the right job”. He then congratulated them for this milestone.

Suhas Rane, academic faculty for Logistics and Supply Chain Management at IGTC began by informing the audience that even faculty get nervous during convocations companies get a chance to see the final products of the faculty (the students). He then in his classic laconic style had the following advice to his graduating students:

• Be aware enough in life to not constrain your life to a silo and be open to the new things in life
• Prove yourself, challenge yourself
• lf continuously and never waver from the path of self-improvement
• Never give up, there is always a way ahead, it just has to be forged
• Fulfilment in life come from giving, therefore volunteer
• Strive to a goal of self-actualisation and don’t expect remuneration for everything you do
• Failures teach you more than successes

Finally it was time for the graduating batch to share their experience. However this batch decided that their parents, the faculty and companies should have the privilege of experiencing what they had achieved over the last 18 months which they conveyed through a very emotive video.

The toppers of the class then continued with an encouraging speech that left the entire class aspiring to become future leaders. “The quality of our expectations determine the quality of our actions.” The outcome can only be as good as our effort. What lies in our sphere of control is our efforts so we have to give our best shot. The programme taught us to focus on our goal even when the going got tough. As we were always pressed for time, we learn to think on our feet becoming more creative and resourceful. We learnt to work as a team, adjusting to one another’s weaknesses and playing to our strengths. Some amount of patience and tact was involved but we all emerged as good team players, a learning that will prove to be most essential as we start with the working phase of our lives. And now after all the memories of the last 18 months, we now have the biggest sign of hope – US!!My fellow future managers and CEO’s because we have lots more work to do.” Their final assignment to the batch being, ‘Let us begin today for a better tomorrow’!”

It was then time for the students to reap the benefits of all their hard work- The distribution of the certificates. Each students was called out with a unique title – one that described them the best, each student came up the stage and collected their PGPBA certificate while the entire audience cheered them on with immense gusto.
Some of our Award Winners for the Batch were:
Tanay Kadam, received the ‘BASF Award for Business Ethics and Corporate Governance’ from Paramita Sarkar, Head-Nutrition and Health, South Asia, BASF India Suresh Babu, Head- Compensation and Benefits, BASF India and Swati Arora, Human Resources, BASF India. Through a specially-designed curriculum, top management professionals from BASF enter the IGTC classroom to engage students in a course that sensitises them to the topic of Business Ethics and Corporate Governance. Paramita Sarkar, Head-Nutrition and Health, South Asia, BASF India spoke of the four important aspects of business – Accountability, Fairness, Transparency and Independence. She also spoke of the unwritten codes of conduct while proudly mentioning about how BASF has been continuing to abide by them since its inception in India.

Aadish Tanskale, Anuj Sharma, Purna Gothoskar and Sakshi Aher received The Bayer Scholarship ‘Championing Success’ award from Rohit Sharma, Head- Human Resource Operations, Bayer India and Amruta Ayya, Human Resource. Bayer India presents this award to the 4 students who best emulated values of Bayer- LIFE (Leadership, Integrity, Flexibility and Efficiency) and rewarded them with a cash scholarship of INR 50,000. Rohit Sharma, Head- Human Resource Operations, Bayer India, in his speech left the class with a profound message saying “The chances you take define what you will become. Our job is to be a better person than yesterday”

Rutuja Sindekar and Rahul Shetty received ‘The Siemens Award for Excellence’ from Lakshmi Chatterjee, Head- Strategy, Siemens Ltd.; Pramod Sant, Head of Import Export and Export Control and Customs, Siemens Ltd. and Rupesh Basu, General Manager, Human Resources. The Siemens Award for Excellence is a prestigious award presented to two winners who exemplify consistent demonstration of the Siemens values of “Innovative, Responsible and Excellence”. This award reimburses to the student the entire IGTC tuition fee. Lakshmi Chatterjee, Head- Strategy, Siemens Ltd. advised the students saying “the values of Siemens Ltd. are not only core to our company but also on how to succeed in life, so keep them with you always”

Anindita Subramanian, Gayatri Ghate, Sharvari Agashe and Rahul Shetty received the Dr. Guenter Krueger Award for Excellence from the dignitaries on the dais. This award of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) in conjunction with the Goethe Institut recognizes and awards the top students by giving them an opportunity to study a language course with the Goethe-Institut in Germany. The formal certificate will be awarded to the winners at the next Annual General Meeting.

After the distribution of the certificates Radhieka R Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre gave the vote of thanks and bid adieu to the graduating batch with her final piece of advice “I had a dream to work in Disney world. I used to go to Disney world and I used to be very happy with the parade and for me that was the world happiest place to work there. After working at IGTC, I realised that IGTC has become my Disney world. You all are entering the International work place now and just go there and create Disney Worlds wherever you are!!” Her words thus ensured that the magic of IGTC remained alive in them in all walks of life.

It was then time to capture the final memory as a batch a faculty, corporate partners and the VIP’s for the day – the graduates of PGPBA Batch 2016-2018 posed for a group photograph. They then said their final good bye and marked the end of a chapter in their lives as they ceremoniously tossed their graduating caps towards the skies.

“What could be a better way to start the New Year than with a bunch of fully motivated and charged people who have gone though a year of through training and the pain of spending every other weekend to learn new things?” These were the opening lines of Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce as he gave the welcome address at the Certificate Awarding Ceremony, 4th Pune Batch 2017 on 5th January 2018. He continued by emphasizing on the theme of change, advising them to continue on the learning path as the world keeps evolving and changing continuously.

An evening unlike any other, this year’s Certificate Awarding Ceremony was quite different as two of the participants – Anmol Sahore from Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd. and Saurabh Khera from Wirtgen India Pvt. Ltd. – hosted the ceremony as the largest batch of 58 managers graduated from the programme.

The evening commenced with Master Om Khera, 4-year old son of Saurabh Khera, giving adulation to the faculty by singing the ‘Guru Vandana’.

The first German in the EBMP programme, Frank Hoffman, Regional Director, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, Pune, then took to the stage, saying “Last year I could not join the batch, as the batch was full and that is a testimony to the success of the batch” He praised the course on its relevance in industry and also on how it helped him put things in an Indian perspective.

Rahul Raj, Senior Manager, ThyssenKrupp Industries India Pvt. Ltd., then addressed the audience explaining how the course helped him gain a 360 degree view of business for his international assignment in Germany. He thanked IGTC profusely for shaping the rough uncut stones for the future.
Jayesh Sule, Senior Manager and Murtuza Kothawala, Manager from Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. gave the audience a glimpse of the time that they spent as a part of the Business Environment Germany, an intercultural study programme organized by IGTC in synergy with DHBW Karlsruhe, Germany.

Abhimanyu Bartwal, Country Sales Manager, Oemeta India Pvt. Ltd. created a stir among the audience with his passionate speech “I must congratulate all of you including myself for successfully completing the course. It has been an amazing journey and we have transformed ourselves as future ready managers.” He then continued by beautifully encapsulating all that was taught during the course. He ended his address to the audience by resonating the one feeling that had overcome everyone “phenomenal we were, phenomenal we are, IGTCians at heart…phenomenal we will be”.

In continuation to Abhimanyu’s address, Ashwini Potinis, Senior Engineer, A Raymond Fasteners India Pvt. Ltd. addressed the audience and revealed that she and her colleague Nitin Walhekar were the first guinea pigs nominated from their organization for the EBMP programme. However, on witnessing their transformation, their company has nominated 5 participants for the next EBMP Batch.

After the participants it was time for the faculty to steal the limelight as Dr. Mankad, faculty for Managerial Economics; Jaya Joshi, faculty for Individuals and Organizational Effectiveness; Sagar Narsian and Rajeev Chawla, our two faculty for Marketing Management; and Anant Amdekar, faculty for Business Law gave their powerful but short parting messages to the graduating students, imploring them to never stop learning and also discovering themselves.

Ensuing the outstanding speeches by the managers, it was time for the family members, the ones who sacrificed their weekends, to share their experiences. Rajalaxmi Venkatnarayanan, wife of Venkatanarayanan S., General Manager, Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd. was grateful to IGTC saying “Saturdays and Sundays initially were very boring as he was charged up every morning for class and I couldn’t understand why. However as the classes continued we started discussing what was taught in class over a cup of tea, something which would not happen prior to him joining the programme.”

After a wife, it was time for a husband to share his experience. Narhar Gosavi, husband of Rupali Gosavi, Senior Manager, INA Bearings India Pvt. Ltd., “I am extremely happy that my wife was part of this course so I do not mind being the minority gender in spouses here today. When I did my MBA she gave me immense support so this was my time to reciprocate. This was a great opportunity for her and has completely transformed her.”

However the highlight of the evening was the daughter of Shailendra singh Bajaj, AGM – Logistics, Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd., Jasleen Kaur Bajaj. “I don’t know what has happened to my Papa” she asked the audience as she innocently narrated changes she observed in her father during the course “After the start of the programme, he has changed all our names at home. My mother is management, I am the shareholder and my younger sister is the future. Not only had this, during dinner ROTI became Return on Time Invested and ROSE as Return on Shareholder Equity”. She ended her sweet speech by thanking IGTC on behalf of all the little children for making their fathers future CEOs and MDs.”

Maria Arunalayam, daughter of Anil Arunalayam, Senior Manager, Bosch Ltd., proudly stated that she is happy as her dad has achieved this significant milestone in his professional life. She continued “Going back to studies after a long time is difficult and as children we could relate to them in searching through books and last minute projects that they had to put in. I was happy to see my father go through the pain that I go through every day. The course helped him evolve intellectually and emotionally”.

After a nostalgic video made by IGTC for the batch, it was time for the dignitaries to finally take the stage. Dr. Juergen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General in Mumbai addressed the audience saying “I come here because seeing the graduating ceremonies of the batches of IGTC is one of the best shows I could ever see in this country. It makes me proud how the IGTC team and the chamber really put together groups, who only meet 50 times a year, but at these ceremonies I am touched to see the spirit which has been developed over this short span of time. In the end you do this for yourself, to transform your personalities so now you have to encourage your colleague sand peers to do the course. That way everyone will progress in the same pace”.

Dharmesh Arora, President and CEO, Schaeffler India and Guest of Honour, nostalgically reminisced when he finished his executive programme six years ago. Accentuating on the ever changing world, he said “The pace of change has definitely quickened but change has been a continuum forever. The future generation will always be faced with the dilemma of changes that are yet to come. And you will be the inventors for changes to come. I congratulate you for undertaking the change in your life and coming back to education as you will be the ones creating the new world”.

Ramesh Palagiri, Managing Director and CEO, Wirtgen India and Guest of Honour was impressed with the passion, energy and team work that each one had brought to the class. He then stated “You completed the course out of sheer passion and because you wanted to become knowledgeable and make a difference in your companies. My advice to you is – find something you are passionate about at the earliest and even if it takes time but keep looking for it”.

After the speeches it was finally time for the most awaited moment of the evening. The distribution of the certificates. Each participant was greeted with a title that best described them. The evening ended with Radhieka R. Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre, giving the Vote of Thanks “In today’s days and age where everyone wants to look into their smart phones instead of each other eyes, it takes a lot to keep the batch connected. Every year, we feel daunted by the challenge as every batch comes with expectations. However, over a period of one year we bond, change and develop a relationship that will last. It has given us the greatest satisfaction to bond with you and have you as our brand ambassadors”.

The final icing on the cake was the singing of the IGTC anthem which truly resonates what IGTC stand for encouraging every alumni to hum ‘IGTCians at heart, phenomenal we will be!!’

BASF Corporate Governance and Business Ethics Seminar Series

“Ethics cannot be compromised in any situation”

With innovation as the key to everything, it is only natural that BASF strives to better their best each year. Hence, the 7th BASF Corporate Governance and Business Ethics Seminar Series for the IGTC PGPBA Batch 2016 – 2018 was inaugurated in exceptional style at the BASF Innovation Campus, Turbhe.

The entire class of young IGTCians were welcomed warmly and given a detailed orientation to BASF as a Chemical Company by the senior HR Partners and the existing GROW trainees at BASF. This was followed by a tour of the BASF Innovation campus, wherein the students got the opportunity to see testing labs and the various state-of-the art equipment used. The hosts left no stone unturned to treat the students to a scrumptious terrace-top lunch.

Post lunch, Dr. Raman Ramachandra, Head South Asia, Chairman & Managing Director, BASF India, officially commenced the Corporate Governance and Business Ethics Seminar Series by giving an enthralling lecture on how ‘Values create values’ in a corporate setup and the importance of values and ethics in an organisation. Some of the key learnings from his session were as follows:

• Ethics cannot be compromised in any situation.
• Company’s sustainability not only depends on profitability but also its people and environment.
• Company’s values and ethics should be made a part of the entire value chain.
• Awareness about the whistle blower policy and the various other channels that one can approach anonymously to report unethical practices in an organization.
• Importance of the enquiry that the company undertakes to ensure that an innocent person always gets justice.
• The management should Walk the Talk.

The launch day ended with the students being put through some thought-provoking moments. What happens when values and ethics are lost? What happens when values and ethics are adhered to? They had to write an essay with some real life examples on these two questions.

Over the following weeks, the seminar series continued with speakers from the top management of BASF across its various departments such as Procurement, Human Resources, Finance, Legal, and Corporate Affairs, who imparted knowledge to the PGPBA Batch through interactive lectures at IGTC. Every session was unique in it own way as the speakers shared their work experience and examples through case study, TEDx videos and role plays.

The “Inside Job” depicted the fact that how the biggest of the institutions fall victim to doing things in unethical way for monetary benefits. The TEDx video by Prof. Clayton Christensen introduced the class that an individual must not use monetary and social parameters for measuring success. It also taught us the importance of overcoming instant gratification and how integrity helps in making the decision between what is right and what is easy. The clipping from the movie “Talwar” explained the importance of ethics and how money and morals play a vital role in the corporate world.

The series had immense key learnings, some of which are captured below:

• Marketing and Corporate Affairs teams should establish consistent messaging in their communications and pinpoint a common goal to create credibility for their organization.
• It is extremely important to take into consideration not only our own intuition, but also the intuition of the opposite person.
• Treating employees ethically can garner long-term employee trust and loyalty, which conveys a range of distinct benefits to employers.
• The structured consolidation of The Companies Act, 2013 emphasized why companies need to be more compliant today, especially with stringent laws coming into play.
• The court of conscience is bigger than any other court of justice.
• It is all about you as an individual when it comes to ethics.

A key highlight of the seminar series was the session when the students had to present a role play on how does a brand tackle a negative episode or a challenge? How did they face the situation and deal with the media and PR? How did they take onus of the situation to stand by their ethics? It was impressive to see some of the creative and innovative ideas put forth by the students. They presented the Maggi and Cadbury controversies among others. The role play adjudged as the best one was the one on how the Mumbai Police can stand as a brand and showcase themselves on social media, and reach out to the different stakeholders.

The series concluded by strongly instilling Jack Welch’s quote, “Look around you: there are five fewer officers here than there were last year. One was fired for the numbers, four were fired for values.” And that is the essence of life.

IGTC Alumni

Learning has always been a social activity. It is then no wonder why learning through sharing of experiences, has such a strong impact on others. This is what the “Best Practices in German Organisations” aims at, where learning real life experiences can enhance and influence students’ lives. There couldn’t have been a better opportunity to invite IGTC alumni and share their journey with the PGPBA batch of 2016-2018.

IGTC and the PGPBA Batch of 2016-2018 were excited to welcome nine of our alumni who are now leaders in their field of expertise and years of experience.

This was a home coming for our alumni and one could only expect thought-provoking discussions, engaging topics and sharing of real life stories and experiences.

The series was conducted through November and December, 2017.
Following are some of the key speakers:

Dheeraj Rakho! Entrepreneurship; making the jump from corporate to start-up

Yash Somaiya, Entrepreneur,
Alumni Batch 2011 – 2013

Yash Somaiya, a motorcycle buff, music lover, avid reader, spoken word poet and now an entrepreneur our young alumnus has it all. From working with Siemens Financial Services for two years, to setting his own manufacturing firm, Yash was a perfect choice to inaugurate the Best Practices Lecture Series 2017.

Yash inspired the batch by sharing his journey from being a sales employee to becoming an entrepreneur. The session covered concepts on Entrepreneurship, Self-Management, Self-Analysis and putting our best foot forward. The highlight of the session was ‘Deeraj Rakho!’- (Patience) being patient is of utmost importance which one needs to develop professionally and personally.

Yash ended the session by quoting – A wise man once said ‘what gets measured can be controlled and eventually be improved upon.’ Along with an inspiration and motivational video on the 2010 AFM racing season.
 
Supply Chain Planning

Durvesh Javle, Manager – Global Demand Archroma India Ltd, Mumbai , India
Alumni Batch 2009 – 2011

It was a comeback for Durvesh as he returned to the IGTC campus after 7 long years. Feeling nostalgic Durvesh began the session by sharing his experience at IGTC and how life has changed ever since.

The lecture continued on Supply Chain Planning within which he covered topics like Analytics as Career, Evolution and overview of Analytics and Stats vs Machine Learning. The part of his presentation also covered the reviewing, evaluating and analysing resumes. With the increasing pressure on students for placements Durvesh’s insight on the do’s and don’ts on resume’s enabled students upgrade their resume to the market standards. Students highly appreciated the assistance that they received from Durvesh’s feedback.
 
Real Life ‘Gyan’ – International Project Management

Amey Gangal, Director – Risk & Regulation, Global Workforce Strategy, Morgan Stanley
Alumni Batch 2004 – 2006

‘Ye Meri Kahani’, Amey began his lecture on a very happy note by sharing his life journey with the batch. It was an informal and interactive session on people management, change management, effective communication, various programming languages in different industries and politics in organizations. Strategy, Innovation, Finance, and Technology – some of Amey’s forte which he shared with the batch.
 
Life of Consultant

Hitesh Dama, Lead Project Manager, Mott MacDonald Pvt. Ltd. (MM)
Alumni Batch 2004 – 2006

Hitesh Dama, a growth driven professional 14 years of experience came to IGTC to share the life of a consultant. ‘Everyone is a consultant’ as a consultant is a hard working – lazy person, Hitesh quoted and began the session. The lecture gave insight on overall hierarchy, the fixed and growth mindset and how to take charge of your own career. The lecture ended up with the question ‘What are our strengths to succeed in this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world?’ which let to open discussion on various career choices.
The students also did have one on one interaction with Hitesh seeking advices on jobs profiles.
 

Four Dimensions of Business Excellence

Mr. Shandilya Oza, worked with TATA Group of Companies for two decades as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Business Excellence.

He comes with 30+ years of Global experience with consistent success in integration of organizational performance and competitive benchmark comparison. He has Demonstrated business acumen in driving sustainable growth and improving profits. The batch couldn’t have asked for more as Mr. Shandilya Oza addresses the batch for the first time at IGTC.

Mr Oza, has worked with TATA Group of Companies for over two decades as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Business Excellence thus his topic for the lecture focused on Four Dimensions of Business Excellence. Diagnose, Design, Drive and Deliver were the key area of discussion.
During this insightful session the students learnt systematic approach for the transformation from “Good” to “Great”, being responsive to change, understanding a company’s core strengths and weaknesses and how important it is to move beyond silos as integration is paramount to attain success
 

Introduction to Product Design and Idea Generation

Aaditya Koshe, Proprietor of Anant Engineering products
Alumni Batch 2007 – 2009

Aaditya Koshe our multi-talented alumni is a cyclist, basketball player and runner while he designs Industrial Automation, robotic vending machines and Developed a range of pneumatic products. Fascinating isn’t! The batch felt the same as this Best Practices Lecture Series was different from the rest. As exciting the topic sounds the lecture too was fun filled with activities and idea generation.

Activities like Mind Mapping, Developing “P” Charts and Mind Storming Chart kept the batch busy and thinking. To make it more exciting the class was divided into groups and were given various tasks in product designing marketing which kept the class on the toes.

By the end of the lecture the students had generated innovative ideas and designed products and presented them to the class.
 

Sustainable Procurement

Vaishali Baid, Maersk Procurement, Mumbai
Alumni Batch 2010 – 2012

IGTC’s alumni, winner of the Bayer scholarship ‘Championing Success’, Vaishali Baid is our young and dynamic leader, trained and worked with Bayer Group of Companies and now at Maersk Group. In her 4 years at Bayer Group of Companies Vaishali has worked in different sourcing positions. The session was all about procurement and moving towards a sustainable future. The lecture comprised of case studies, videos and questionnaire. Some of the key learning for the session were Innovation of sustainable future, sustainable supply chain, ethical work culture and a holistic view on research and discussion on Nike case study.

The students appreciated her brilliant style of presenting the topic and enthusiasm with which she interacted with the entire class.
 

What all it takes to be successful in the corporate world.

Rayomand Karkaria, Chief Manager, Solution and Services, Siemens Ltd.
Alumni Batch 1992 – 1994

“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them” and how to create and choose the path to success in corporate world? Rayomand Karkaria had the answers for all. One of our oldest Alumni came with 23 years of experience at Siemens Ltd and plethora of experience to share with the batch. A very simple session with immense industrial exposure he shared his own journey towards the various roles of leadership while growing in the corporate world. Rayomand kept the batch engaging as he kept the session an open dialog where the students were given an opportunity to ask questions on having a successfully career and sustaining in long term job.
 

Corporate Character

Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Deputy General Manager, Human Resource, Quality & I.T. ,
FEV India Pvt. Ltd.

Amongst all the alumni’s for the Best Practices in German Organisations Lecture series, we had a leader from the corporate world with an experience in Human Resources Information Technology and who demonstrates the history of working in the automotive industry. Neeraj kumar Gupta, an Engineer, a recruiter and a skilled employee engager came to share his passion for working at FEV and his journey to continue to grow in corporate ladder. He emphasised on several factors including globalization, rise of social media transparency, empowerment to individuals and stack holders. He also includes a task where the class had to discuss it in the group as to why it is important to define corporate character.

The students gained a lot of value from the lecture as Neeraj interacted with each one in the class and gave them insights on the recruitment process.

A Day of Qualitative Engagement

The last meeting of the Indo-German HR Partner Forum for the year 2018 was hosted by the leading quality certification company, TUV India Pvt. Ltd. on 7th November 2017. It was attended by the HR professionals from the following organizations: BASF, Bayer, Bosch, Brose Automotive Systems, Covestro, Evonik, FEV India, Hӓfele, Kion, KSB Pumps, Lanxess India, MAN Trucks, Mercedes-Benz, Siemens, Volkswagen, Wacker Metroark Chemicals and Wacker Chemie.  Anjali Joshi, Senior General Manager – Human Resources played the perfect host for the day along with her entire team.

The day commenced with a brief introduction to TUV India. Anjali hosted a candid conversation with Manish Bhuptani, Managing Director, TUV India on his ascend to the C-Suite. He attributed his internal growth story to his steadfast determination along with having a clear target and strategy, which has helped TUV attain highest growth profits in the year 2016-2017. His dialogue was a natural demonstration of his total involvement, passion and pride for the organization.

The HR partners were then given an interactive walk-through the key HR initiatives undertaken at TUV India for their employees in the field of L&D, employee connect and culture building. However, the eye-opener for the day was the extremely fascinating visit to the TUV product and food testing laboratory, which is one of its kind in Asia. Here, the HR partners were given a detailed explanation about the various testing techniques that are undertaken before products are certified with a stamp of quality by TUV India.

Post lunch, the forum continued its series of interviewing a senior HR Partner. The chosen speaker for the day was someone who has always been recognized by the entire forum as a ‘Gem of a Gentleman’ – Suhas Kadlaskar, Vice President Corporate Affairs and HR, Mercedes- Benz India Pvt., Ltd. This special tête-à-tête was interestingly hosted by his friend, Kamlakar Takavade, Vice President- HR & Admin, Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. It was truly a pleasure to hear Mr. Kadlaskar speak about his inspiring journey – from being the first employee of the prestigious ‘Star’ brand to his post retirement plans.

Following this, a core team of four partners – Kavery Thammappa from BASF, Ricky Kumar from Covestro, Rosettee Silveria from Wacker Chemie and Rupesh Basu from Siemens – anchored a presentation on ‘HR Capability Building’ as an integral project to be undertaken by the forum. They presented the model that will be essential for all HR Partners in the future. The forum proposes to build these competencies through joint programmes. The project was very well received and appreciated by all the partners.

After the presentation, a brief discussion on HR interventions was a breath of fresh air as the topic revolved around ‘How does HR maintain the human touch in today’s world of digitalization?’ Some of the topics discussed were around learning and development, employee engagement, strengthening the relation between employee and manager, managing teams of young talent, programmes to improve performance, role of HR to simplify policies for employees and role of HR as a change champion.

The day ended on an optimistic note with a promise to work closer and collaborate deeper in the coming year 2018.

The German fraternity has always worked and synergized with each other. Hence, when the Max Mueller Bhavan announced its two-day ‘Step up with German – Study & Job Fair 2017’ in Mumbai, it was natural for the Indo-German Training Centre (IGTC) to extend its full support.

On Day 1, IGTC held a presentation session about its Dual Study Programme for a Career in Management along with a helpdesk as a part of the job fair. The help desk was packed with a lot of curious students, job seekers and professionals wanting to enquire on the programmes and how they can get enhance their career opportunities in Germany.

On Day 2, IGTC organized and moderated the panel discussion on ‘Work Culture in German Organisations’. The distinguished panellists were chosen keeping in mind age and gender diversity along with their experience in diverse functional areas of German organizations.

• Rupesh Basu, General Manager – HR, Siemens Ltd.
• Neena Nikam, Head – Marketing Communication, Wirtgen India
• Alok Badamikar, Manager – Aftersales Strategy, Mercedes Benz India Ltd.
• Sapna Ashar, Business Analyst, Deutsche Bank Operations International

The panel discussion was moderated by Radhieka Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre. And the aim of the panel discussion was to create a more detailed awareness about the unique and universal work culture prevalent in German organizations. All the panellists focussed on the pride of being associated with a German brand in their roles as being the interface between the German headquarters and the Indian operations.

The first part of the discussion revolved around the strengths of a German organization. Here the first buzzword emphasized by all the panellists in the opening remarks was ‘structured approach’. They focused on some of the key behavioural strengths of Germans – punctuality, division between private and professional lives, directness of communication, value structures and complete focus on the task at hand.

Sapna Ashar explained how direct are Germans in their communication where the answer is either ‘Yes or No’ with no scope for ‘Maybe or All Most Done’. She spoke about Positive Impact, an initiative followed by Deutsche Bank to make their colleagues responsible and accountable for the work that they are performing.

Rupesh Basu quoted, “We Indians are more forthright and share everything but don’t expect that from Germans in the first meeting. Don’t ask too many questions on the private side.”
Alok endorsed “99% of the problems in an organisation are because of communication.” He further stressed on the advantage of knowing the German Language, which can bridge the communication gap between colleagues from both countries and then things can become easy. He also said that something being ‘Urgent’ or ‘Top Most Priority’ is not understood by German colleagues as it only denotes that you did not plan something well enough.

The panel also focussed on the strengths that Indians bring to the German organizations – flexibility, innovation, hard work, working with their hearts, warmth, openness and hospitality.

Neena Nikam narrated the incident of organizing trade fairs in India, wherein she often faces various challenges and hurdles but the Indian approach of ‘Jugaad’ comes to her rescue. She calls the night before the event as the ‘magical night’ when everything falls in place. In her opinion, her German colleagues are equally understanding of the Indian circumstances as long as the results get delivered.

The panel discussion concluded on a note that working professionals must take the best of both the countries / worlds and try to live by the Indo-German way. It’s ironical how it fits in with IGTC’s philosophy of ‘Nurturing management professionals with an Indian heart and a German mind!’

IGTC students understand the true meaning of Triple Bottom Line
60 students engage in a two-week CSR immersion

July 2017 brought in the most inspiring experience for 60 PGPBA students at IGTC Mumbai, as they participated in a two week Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) immersion from 17th July to 28th July, 2017. Education, healthcare, hygiene and sanitation, skill development and livelihood were some of the spheres that the students worked on, with tremendous support from the various partnering organisations.

BASF India
15 IGTC students were associated with the landmark CSR project at BASF. This project was initiated to commemorate the company’s completion of 150 years. A detailed presentation about the project and the role they had to play was given to the students.

For the 1st week, they were split up into teams to penetrate stores at Turbhe – the slum earmarked for the project. A 10-minute walk from BASF office, Turbhe is home to about 74,000 people and touted to be the second largest slum after Dharavi in Mumbai. The objective was to reach out to residents, doctors, chemists, schools, NGOs, etc. and find out as much as possible about the existing water supply, sanitation facilities and women’s hygiene practices. They also had to assess the impact on health and overall well-being of the people owing to poor facilities, how the residents perceived the provisions and amenities given to them and their willingness to opt for better solutions provided by BASF.

Armed with very useful data and compelling insights, they stepped into the 2nd week of the project where the task was to analyze the data they had and create three consolidated modules on Finance, KPIs and Awareness- all ultimately required to produce a successful and self-sustaining model for three sub-projects namely; Water ATM, clean refurbished toilets along with a sewage treatment plant and a unit producing bio-degradable sanitary napkins.

Bosch Ltd.
Bosch has a very prestigious 3-month, short-term CSR programme called Bosch’s Response to India’s Development and Growth through Employability Enhancement (BRIDGE), which focuses on enhancing employability and life skills to school dropouts – youth between the 18 – 25 age group. This specially designed programme is delivered by Bosch through BRIDGE centres across India. After completion of the BRIDGE program, Bosch provides 100% job placement assistance to the candidates in finding job in semi-organized or organized sectors.

The Bosch CSR team visited IGTC and gave the PGPBA students a detailed briefing on the BRIDGE programme. 21 IGTCians volunteered to work with the Bosch team for this important project. They were divided into three groups for different locations – 6 students for Nasik, 5 students for Pune and 10 students for Mumbai.

The CSR immersion began with a more detailed orientation for all students at the respective Bosch offices. They were briefed on mobilization pitch, strategy, and new centre sign-up pitch to be made to the principal. Also all the supportive promotional materials – banners, pamphlets, brochures – were provided to everyone. A detailed schedule was prepared for the next 10 days. After resolving the queries, all the trainees visited to an ongoing batch of BRIDGE class, as they wanted to understand the content and effectiveness of it.

The IGTC team in Nasik generated more than 70 enquiries, out of which 34 enrollments happened in 6 days and 2 centres showed interest to support the BRIDGE programme. The Pune team managed to mobilize 7 communities, out of which more than 65 interested students gave their details. In Mumbai, IGTCians visited 45 colleges in various localities such as Nerul, Borivali, Vashi, Panvel, Khar, Navi Mumbai, Dadar and Thane out of which 15 colleges showed interest. Also 15-20 employers were contacted in retail and service domain to support employment of the students completing the programme.

Evonik Industries
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has proposed 17 goals for steady and environmentally sustained development of organizations to be achieved by 2030. As a member of WBCSD, Evonik Industries has taken up the responsibility for Sustainable Development of Society by concentrating on 5 of the 17 goals – Eliminate Poverty, Quality Education, Sustainable Cities, Gender Equality and Good Health for all ages.

Keeping this is mind, IGTC students brainstormed and proposed ideas to achieve these goals. Some of the ideas suggested were distribution of packaged food bags in slum area, voluntary teaching in semi-urban area of Mumbai, cleaning certain areas in Mumbai to support our Prime Ministers Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and arranging health checkup camp in schools. The students also visited an NGO in Saki Naka who provided quality education for underprivileged children, along with giving vocational training and basic software education like Microsoft Word Document, Excel, Tally etc. to young adults.

At the end of their 2 week stint, they proposed a strategy for the CSR team of Evonik which will be executed in November 2017.

Siemens Ltd.
Siemens involved the IGTC students in two projects –
‘Sanjeevan Mobile Clinic’ in Thane with the NGO SNEHA
‘Education Livelihood, Healthcare and Governance’ for the people of a small town called Jawhar with the NGO AROEHAN

The Sanjeevan Mobile Clinic has a doctor, a pathology lab, an x-ray machine and an ECG machine, all provided by SNEHA. The objective was to create an awareness that even the underprivileged sections deserve a good and a healthy life. The students visited various communities in Mumbai and researched the problems faced by the residents of these communities. They found out there are no solid waste disposal solution and clean drinking water available in certain areas. The communities are financially vulnerable and cannot afford to retain a normal healthy lifestyle. Then they had to propose a plan on how Siemens can help these communities. Team IGTC helped SNEHA do the cost benefits analysis and study of mobile healthcare services around the cities.

Siemens and the NGO Aroehan work collaboratively to improve the standard of living of the people in Jawhar in four main verticals – Education, Livelihood, Healthcare, and Governance. To begin the IGTC students carried out a Tree Plantation Drive with some other trainees at Siemens. Post the drive, these students worked closely with Aroehan to help them in their initiative. The first project was to create a brochure that would help them advertise their initiatives in the various verticals to the outside world. Then, the students identified a new problem; Jawhar had the only government hospital amongst 19 villages, which resulted in patients travelling from far to reach the hospital. IGTC students met with local drivers and helped Aroehan sign a rate contract with them, so that these drivers would transport pregnant women to the hospital, free of cost, whenever required. The students also helped to create an awareness about the importance of sonography. They created and showed a documentary to pregnant women and encouraged them to do sonographies, so that corrective actions could be taken at the right time. By the end of the project, IGTCians helped Aroehan create an MIS software using MS Excel to capture and combine data of all villages which would help in the efficient working of the NGO. This eliminated the manual recording of all data and made analysis related to availability of resources and implementation of strategies much more scientific and effective.

Students of IGTC Mumbai
“We felt honored at the thought of being able to work with such prestigious companies on their various CSR projects. The experience was indeed enlightening and educative on how value cannot always be in terms of profit, but can also be in terms of encouraging the well-being of the society. This could have never been taught in any classroom, but only when we go out in the field and understand it for ourselves. We sincerely thank IGTC for this wonderful experience.”

One day, One trophy, Eight teams, 72 players, a fierce battle for glory!!!

Sometimes there are events that make one wonder, “That’s too coincidental to be a coincidence”. When IGTC announced Saturday, 7th October 2017 as the day to host our first ever ‘Football Meisterschaft 2017’, little did we know that it would synchronize with the opening of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in India and the culmination of the German Days in Mumbai hosted by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. And hence, when such coincidences happen, they end up raising the spirit of the game to a different level altogether!

The IGTC Football Meisterschaft was conceptualized to celebrate the IGTC Anniversary and to bring the current students and alumni to bond together over their most loved activity! With all fervour, the IGTC management and current students brainstormed to plan it as a ‘6 vs 6’ league with 8 teams captained by IGTC alumni. Voluntary participation was welcomed from all PGPBA and EBMP alumni and students. And to select the final players and teams, an official IGTC Auction was organized on Saturday 16th September 2017. No one would have ever envisaged the intensity, seriousness and strategies with which the 8 captains engaged in the auction. Every captain desired nothing but the best players. By lunchtime, we were ready with the 8 teams – Outta Shape FC, Despacitos, Die Schwarzgelben, Team Bonita, Green Blazers, White Hawks FC, Footbrawlers and Team Charles.

On the chosen day, teams marched onto the Cooperage Turf amidst sounds of delighted cheer followed by frequent thuds of the football as the teams warmed up. The ground was packed and the rules were set by the referees, who blew their whistle to begin the knockouts between both the pool teams. 12 league matches were played with all determination. Adrenaline levels rose as over a dozen goals were scored during the day. Points started adding up on the score board, and finally we had identified our 4 semi-finalists – Outta Shape FC and Despacitos from Pool A and Team Charles and Die Schwarzgelben from Pool B. The supporters cheered crazily as the semi-finals began. Everyone had their favourites and they didn’t spare any efforts to express themselves. It was the survival of the fittest. Outta Shape FC and Team Charles defeated Despacitos and Die Schwarzgelben respectively to march into the finals.

As scheduled, Mr. Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, IGCC joined the IGTCians to witness the grand finale. The two captains – Krishna Raghavan (Outta Shape FC) and Sanket Shinde (Team Charles) joined the referee for the final toss. Mr. Steinruecke and Radhieka Mehta did the formal handshake with the entire team, wishing them well for the finale.
It was the moment of truth for all the IGTCians present on the turf, as the referee blew the whistle for the final match. The match was intense from the first minute with Outta Shape FC dominating it significantly. The bar was raised when Dirk Gonsalves scored the first goal for Outta Shape FC. Team Charles remained focused, gave them stiff opposition and played an attacking game. The score was 1-0 in the first half.

At half-time, the teams converged to revisit their strategies and boost their levels of motivation and team spirit. Team Charles intensified their level of attack but unfortunately in vain. In the last few minutes, Tejas Pinto scored the second goal for Outta Shape FC to establish the fact that no one could come close to friendships established during IGTC years – the trio of Krishna Raghavan, Dirk Gonsalves and Tejas Pinto from Batch 2013 – 2015. As the time ran out and the referee blew the whistle, IGTC had the first team champions for their Football Meisterschaft 2017 trophy – Outta Shape FC!!

The trophy was awarded by Mr. Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, IGCC along with Ms. Radhieka Mehta, Director, IGTC to the team captain, Krishna Raghavan from the winning team. Dirk Gonsalves was declared the top goal scorer with 7 goals in the tournament. Certificates were handed out to all the participants of the winning and runners-up team.

The glory shall lie in the name of Outta Shape FC until IGTCians find another team next year to hold the prestigious trophy.

I have always seen smart people eagerly waiting for opportunities which offer them an ‘exposure’! These activities are usually off the track and also not found in top charts of people who keep calculating return on investment in a conventional way. I was in a search of same magical experience called ‘exposure’ which will enrich me and broaden my horizons.

A four week intensive German language course offered in Germany is the award one gets for securing the first rank in a management post-graduation course at Indo-German Training Centre, a division of the IGCC! “Let’s bag one more Deutsches Zertifikat for free and make friends jealous by uploading Kaffee-Kuchen photos from the black forest simultaneously” was the initial thought came into my mind when I heard the good news. This was not even a tip of an iceberg; I was fully unaware that a fantastic ‘exposure’ opportunity, I was searching for long, was approaching towards me.

On a beautiful sunny morning in June, about a hundred enthusiasts from more than 35 countries were attending a simple but warm welcome in few hundred years old Hospitalkirche at the renowned Goethe Institute Schwäbisch Hall in South West of Germany. We were all connected by a single common bond and that was a love for the language Deutsch. For me, Goethe became the live gallery showcasing the world culture!

How can we learn language in isolation? Language escorts people, thoughts, emotions, lifestyle, culture, art, history and much more! By living on German land, eating German food, visiting German monuments, relaxing in Bier gardens, watching German theatre, traveling in Deutsche Bahn and spending half of every day to learn new vocabulary and grammar from highly devoted teachers along with friends around the globe, we were absorbing millions of things unknowingly. I was pleased to experience this kind of well- planned fun-filled multidimensional learning process at Goethe. Mere preparation for certificate exams is too shallow was something I could term as happy realization!

People were very curious about the unique land called ‘India’ and used to bombard me with many difficult questions about Indian lifestyle, people, religion, festivals, judiciary system, the reason for gap between rich and poor, furthermore they were curious to know about the Government’s stand on prostitution and migrations just to name a few. I became an undeclared Indian ambassador in this informal international conference and this made me to rethink about my own motherland.

People here celebrate life! No one can say that they don’t have any problems or difficulties. Without much philosophical chaos, they live happily, work sincerely and party hard of course! DB officer tries his best to explain me the easier route in English even during busy hours, subway waiter asks me whether my day in Nürnberg is going comfortable, young guide beautifully unfolds the history of Ludwigsburg though I was just a single person in her tour, 70 years old teacher climbs on chair, jumps, sings, dances so that we can understand the meaning of new German words! This wholehearted approach along with expressions and a bit of humor is easily noticeable everywhere, time wise micromanagement beforehand goes without saying. Disciplined freedom, clear boundary between personal and professional life, clarity in day to day communication with decent etiquette are few salient attributes of Germans I soaked up in my one month stay there. High tech infrastructure, excellent facilities and systems, use of poka-yoke (mistake proofing) principle without disturbing aesthetic beauty and simplicity facilitate easy life which improves efficiency of every German who ultimately contributes to the nation’s development. Understanding the German way of doing things is the key to strengthen the Indo-German relationship and not just learning their language, was a thought revolving in my mind along with the list of friends waiting for German chocolates while boarding the flight to India!

I was not a first timer in Europe; but I tried to decode Europe for the first time. I kept my top-end camera aside and started capturing, I reduced calls to India and started communicating more with people there and I defrosted my firm opinions and started perceiving everything a fresh. After having self-cooked dinner, I used to get lost while seeing the colours of sunset and bong of old church bell in the background used to add a little more depth to my self-talk! Learning language was just a mere door handle to explore a new style of living and ultimately to discover me, my choices and my concepts of happiness!