Testimonials

On 8^th August 2017, the Indo-German HR Partner Forum Meet was hosted by its youngest entrant, FEV India amidst the picturesque setting of Talegaon.  At a time, where business realignment and simplification has become the need of the hour, the theme of the day for discussion was appropriately chosen as Change Management, Organizational Development and Innovation Culture.

It was attended by the HR professionals from the following organizations: BASF India, Bayer Group, Bharat Forge, Bosch, Brose Automotive Systems, Covestro, FEV India, Hӓfele, Kion Group, KSB Pumps, Lanxess India, MAN Trucks, Schaeffler India, Siemens, Volkswagen, Wacker Chemie and ZF India.  The meet was hosted by Mr. Neeraj Gupta, DGM HR, FEV India and Ms. Smaranika Mohanty, Deputy Manager, FEV India.

The day commenced with an extremely sharp and detailed presentation on FEV India that was passionately delivered by Mr. Vijay Sharma, Director, FEV India.  He introduced the audience to the organization, its management and its services in the field of engineering, testing and instrumentation. He elaborated on their vision, mission and core values, while proudly claiming that FEV satisfies all requirements in the field of automotive powertrain and vehicle development. Their Technical Centre is already under expansion mode, adding more number of containerised test cells and other equipments.

The HR partners also visited the Vehicle Application Centre of FEV India, wherein they personally witnessed the testing being conducted on a track.

The forum avidly discussed some areas that hold the attention of the HR partners in changing times such as:

• relooking at HR policies
• working on future design based projects
• using quantifications to build business cases
• changing performance management systems
• doing away with merit matrix
• setting performance improvement plans,
• creating an open, listening and feedback culture
• building trust and transparency in the organizations
• ensuring fairness
• coaching managers
• moving to cloud based solutions

The highlight of the day was the live chat with Dr. Lakshmi Nadkarni, Director – Human Resources, BASF South Asia on her professional and personal journey till date.  She exemplified a woman of substance with passion, grit and achievements on one hand and poise and grace on another.  Her words “Life is an inspiring canvas of possibilities” touched the hearts of all the colleagues, as she concluded the day on a sweet, musical note.

After four months of rigorous coursework between February to May at IGTC, the months of June – July involved “going beyond the curriculum” for the IGTC Mumbai students.

‘Silega – An Expedition to Mount Everest’
Sumit Joshi of Silega Global

Sumit Joshi of Silega Global
Bayer, the founding partner at IGTC, decided to re-introduce a management simulation for the IGTC students, which was one of the highlights of the course curriculum in the decade of the 90s. Keeping pace with times, a Business Simulation Game ‘Silega – An Expedition to Mount Everest’ was organized by Bayer India at Bayer House, Thane.

Everest has always been the supreme symbol of man’s personal struggle to achieve excellence, no matter the conditions. Succeeding on Everest depends totally on spirit, discipline, and will. And as in real life, there are only two possible results: success or failure. Silega placed the IGTC students in a challenging and inspiring experience of climbing Mount Everest in order to win a prize offered by an eccentric millionaire. Time was crucial; students must reach their goal in just a month by working and competing in teams of 7 each. Students had to play one of the five different roles within the team of hikers attempting to summit the mountain. How well each team member shared information and made sound decisions determined if they could make it to the next camp and survive the climb.

Together they had to make decisions about how to work together, how to use their personal strengths, which route to take, what equipment to use, and what risks to run.  They had to embrace challenges such as uncertain weather conditions, depleting oxygen levels and limited resources. These decisions affect speed, health, and ultimately the team’s success in summiting the mountain.

The day-long game taught the IGTC students some key lessons in the importance of how to create a common vision for success, evaluate and implement a business strategy, analyse risks and plan for contingencies, cultivate discipline in order to survive and thrive in difficult times, focus on efficiency and orientation towards results, manage tangible and intangible assets, improve interpersonal and inter-group communication skills, work and make decisions under stress and tight time constraints and achieve a flawless execution.

The students thoroughly enjoyed the learning process and reflected on the competencies honed during the day.  As quoted by the winning team, Wind Changers “Silega, an expedition to Everest, was nothing in comparison to what we expected it to be! Our team started out at the very last since our strategy required us to wait out while others trooped ahead. The teams core strength was in accepting one another’s views and if need be altering plans to accommodate unforeseen difficulties. Come storm, snowfall or hail, the forecasting techniques adopted by the team saw us some challenges. The whole experience gave us  good understanding on forecasting, backups on life and most importantly Team Work. All that we conclude with is ‘Together we can, together we will, and together we did!!”

IGTC remains indebted to Bayer for creating this special thrill and euphoria for the IGTC students.
 

Design Thinking
Bipasha Roy, Managing Director and Sameer Shah, Director of Mobius Space Consulting, Pvt. Ltd.

Mobius Space Consulting Private Limited conducted a day-long program titled design.FOUNDATION on ‘The Fundamentals of Design Thinking’ for the students at IGTC. The day-long workshop focused on giving students an insight into some of the methods of the Design Thinking approach. Students seemed to rediscover their creative confidence with the easy to remember frameworks and techniques for problem identification, problem framing and ideation introduced.

The workshop included hands-on activities for breaking fixed mind-sets and giving students new perspectives to reimagine the existing. Students engaged in groups through the day in teams of six to eight. They watched inspiring videos of best practices in design thinking from varied industries and worked on a few inspiring case studies.

Below are some of the learning outcomes of this workshop:

• What is Design Thinking and how to apply to practical problems?
• How to identify opportunities and understand human needs from a deep level of empathy?
• Ways to channelize the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration & foster a culture of creativity and innovation

According to the overall evaluation, most of the participants found the contents and structure of the program relevant and practical.

Experiential Marketing
Janak Vadgama, Director of Taal Rhythmic Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

There are so many products and services out there that companies need to market in a way that will grab consumers’ attention and stick in their minds.  Experiential marketing is a form of advertising that focuses primarily on helping consumers “experience a brand”.  It is typically a real-life event that the consumer can participate in thus creating an impression in the mind of the consumer.

The session is designed to introduce the students to the experiential aspects of brands, how do they think, experiential messages are consumed, and how can organizations use experiential marketing to connect with the target audiences of various brands.  Using live as well as contemporary examples, the lecture engaged the students through all the senses and made them aware of the different aspects that constitute an experience.

Unleashing your creativity
Ashok Karnik, Founder and Creative Director of Spacebar Creative

‘Unleashing you Creativity’, an interactive session designed to give students a different aspect of the advertising industry today.  It taught the student how to reach out to their target consumers based on the product and the brand being sold.  It also gave the students an insight into the various changes in the advertisement industry from the kinds of advertisement being made to the modes of communication being used now days to communicate with the consumer.

After the brief on the innumerable innovations in the advertising industry, the students had to work on a group project where they were required to create an advertising campaign for ‘Mahindra SUV’ keeping in mind the consumer, the brand, and the various modes of communication which would be used. This had to be presented to him within a span of a few hours.

Current Trends in Human Resources
Dr. Anita Bandyopadhyay, Director, Talent & HR Solutions

No business can function without its people. Human Resources plays a very important role in this aspect to empower its people, engage them while keeping a check on the organization environment. The lecture gave the students an idea of the Current Trends in Human Resources. The lecture began with defining the current challenges faces by the Human Resources department in managing people.

he session included the Evolution of Talent Acquisition in organizations, various changes that have taken place on the Performance Management System in Companies, How companies are now moving away from the concept of Talent Management and moving towards the concept of People Management which ensures Empowerment of the people, Engagement of the People and the Environment. The current trends in Employee Engagement were defined and lastly emphasis was given on the importance of Human Resources as a strategic business partner in today’s world.

The 4th Business Environment Germany 2017 to the Duale-Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW), Karlsruhe was not the usual IGTC delegation to Germany.  It was an extraordinary group of 25 curious, learning enthusiasts – some young PGPBA (Post Graduate Programme in Business Administration) students, some eminent EBMP (Executive Business Management Programme) managers in respectable positions in German companies in India, entrepreneurs and some passionate IGTC alumni, along with Radhieka Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre – who were passionate about imbibing every little detail like an sponge.
It was not only this eclectic mix that brought the spark to the 12-day Studienreise (Study trip), but more importantly the precise planning and unfathomable warmth of the DHBW faculty – Prof. Dr. Stephan Schenkel, Prof. Volker Ihle, Prof. Peter Lehmeier, Prof. Dr. Birgit Franken, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Herold, Prof. Dr. Dirk Eidam, Prof. Eric Zimmerman, Dr. Anita Dreischer, Ms. Birgit Schlenker, Prof. Dr. Angela Diehl-Becker and Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Schäfer, along with respected Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Mengele from IHK Karlsruhe – that made the trip a truly, intensive intercultural learning experience.  This proudly titled “IGTC team” was nothing less than our family in Germany.  They did not leave any stone unturned to give us the opportunity to see, know and understand a new culture and a new country in the right perspective.  They made the trip the most exhilarating experience!
The roller coaster ride was a jam-packed schedule that ensured we extracted maximum learning with equal amounts of fun and thrill from this programme.  We gained some key insights through our visits to educational institutions such as DHBW and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), official institutions such as the Rathaus (Town Hall) and the Industrie- und Handelskammer (IHK) Karlsruhe, and the various German companies such as dm-drogerie markt, Siemens, Daimler-Benz and SEW Eurodrive.  Some critical insights included:

• The mechatronics lab and application-based innovative student projects at DHBW Karlsruhe
• The commitment towards green energy by the scientists and researchers who were developing fuel from straw at KIT
• The depth of collaboration in the areas of smart cities and technology exchange between Germany and India at the Wirtschafts­­för­­de­rung, Stadt Karlsruhe>
• The impact of dual vocational education and training at IHK Karlsruhe
• The 100% automation in the body shop and 70% automation in the assembly shop at the Daimler factory at Rastatt
• The apt use of Autumated Guided Vehicles (AVG) and the synchronisation of the robots at SEW Eurodrive, a gear-drive manufacturing company
• The use of automation and technology to ease employees’ work and to make processing fool proof and efficient at the central warehouse of Germany’s most preferred retail giant dm- Drogerie Markt

Beyond the company visits, the important other half of the story was the people, the food and the places that made the trip so memorable!  Did we ever imagine being a part of the first-time ever-organized “India Summer Days in Karlsruhe? But it seemed like the most perfect welcome organized for us. Within minutes, it had all of us dancing on stage amidst a pure German audience on authentic Marathi and Bollywood songs.  The visit to Heidelberg, the Bruchsal Palace and the Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments made us all feel like we had entered a fairy tale.  The two most mesmerizing days of the trip were the visits to Strasbourg and Baden-Baden, and the leisurely Sunday in the Black Forest.  The eternally peaceful mass at St. Petersburg, the live demonstration of making a Black Forest cake, the cuckoo clock with Edelweiss playing in the background will be memories that we will all cherish for a very long time.  Visiting the local street festival, rowing boats on a beautiful pond, jumping into water fountains and enjoying a toy-train ride at the scenic and beautiful Schlossgarten, hiking up to Michaelsberg, balancing ourselves between tree tops and coming down zip-lines at the Kletterpark and indulging in maultaschen, spätzle, langos, crêpes, apfelstrudel flammkuchen and varieties of beer…we just did it all.

We realised that the best Studienreise in another country does not only come from visiting the companies, but only from the people and places we get to know during the trip! Each day, the company and guidance of the enthusiastic DHBW professor made the places come more alive. They explained the history and significance of the places, while also indulging us in retail therapy and fulfilling every little demand.  The cheerful, warm and welcoming nature of the natives in Karlsruhe, who helped us whenever we needed it – whether on trams or in restaurants or with directions in the city streets – made the journey tremendously fascinating.  As we learnt to look outside of pre-conceived notions, we could not help but admire the German way – their dedication towards discipline, cleanliness, freedom, efficiency, perfection, time management and partying!

We realised that the best Studienreise in another country does not only come from visiting the companies, but only from the people and places we get to know during the trip! Each day, the company and guidance of the enthusiastic DHBW professor made the places come more alive. They explained the history and significance of the places, while also indulging us in retail therapy and fulfilling every little demand.  The cheerful, warm and welcoming nature of the natives in Karlsruhe, who helped us whenever we needed it – whether on trams or in restaurants or with directions in the city streets – made the journey tremendously fascinating.  As we learnt to look outside of pre-conceived notions, we could not help but admire the German way – their dedication towards discipline, cleanliness, freedom, efficiency, perfection, time management and partying!

“The value of the IGTC programme is not the one year that it lasts, but the intensity with which it occurs. That is why there are unforgettable learning moments and unique friendships created. However, everything must come to an end and that is why everything is so beautiful!”

On Saturday 12th August 2017, IGTC bid ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to the 7th Mumbai EBMP Batch 2016 – 2017. Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce was the Chief Guest for the warm and intimate evening ceremony.  29 managers from different organizations received their EBMP completion certificates amidst the love and cheer of their most admired faculty and loved family members.

The customary speeches were given by the senior most member of the class – Nilesh Atale, Sr. Manager, Mercedes Benz India Pvt. Ltd.; the best capstone project presenter – Yogesh Gidwani, Sr. Manager Regional Support Centre, Siemens Healthineers; and the first-time ever married couple in the IGTC classroom – Jamila Kottakkal, Senior Vice President, Reliance Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. and Ananth Subramanian, IT Consultant and Entrepreneur.  All of them relived their experiences in class over the last one year – anecdotes and management concepts learnt and imbibed.  They expressed their heartfelt gratitude to all the faculty members, who had made the learning experience so meaningful and memorable.

However, there is always a ‘highlight’ to every IGTC occasion.  This evening, it was the most innocent and almost poetic speech given by Tanusha Bhattarcharya, the 8-year old daughter of Jayanta Bhattarcharya, Manager Projects and Engineering, BASF India.  Undisputedly, she stole the limelight, the heart of every person in the audience and carved a place for herself in IGTC’s book of memoirs.  The back to school days narrated by her and Nilkil Atale, son of Nilesh Atale, Sr. Manager, Mercedes Benz India Pvt. Ltd. about their fathers, was without a doubt the main feature of the evening.

Like an awards night, the certificates were given out with a customized song for each graduating manager, making them really feel honoured, privileged and special on his/her achievement.  The cheers among the batch-mates were overwhelming.  IGTC had once again succeeded in fostering the genuine friendships and timeless bonds among the batch.  Swinging to the tunes of Bollywood songs and the IGTC anthem, the happy evening lasted long enough to let the 7th EBMP Batch cherish their moments and smoothly transition into the wonderful league of IGTC alumni with a promise –

Together we aspire, together we achieve, IGTCians at heart, phenomenal we will be!!

Since there can never be a dull day at IGTC, and every ending has to be the mark of a new beginning, it is no surprise that IGTC has welcomed its 8th Mumbai EBMP Batch 2017 – 2018, with 26 managers from many of its partnering training organizations such as BASF India, Bosch Ltd, DHL Express India, Evonik India, Lanxess India, Orange Business Services, Reliance Industries Ltd., Siemens Ltd, Siemens Healthineers and Volkswagen Group Sales India. It also has a member from the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mumbai and the VFS Global Services Pvt. Ltd. We wish them all the very best for their learning journey!!

After celebrating the Silver Jubilee in December 2016, IGTC Mumbai did not anticipate that the next milestone was just round the corner.  However, the positivity generated among the corporate partners and alumni took everyone by surprise, and sure enough June 2017 witnessed the admission of 100 meritorious students in the 26th Batch of the 18-month, full-time Post Graduate Programme in Business Administration based on the German Dual Education System.  A new record was established.  The process had begun in January 2017, when approximately 350 applicants filled out their forms in hopes of becoming future IGTCians.  A written examination and group discussions in end April 2017 ensured that only 200 deserving students were selected to attend the interviews with the 37 Participating Training Organizations, most of them being German conglomerates.  The tension at IGTC was palpable since all the 200 applicants wanted to give their best and impress the companies.

The companies that participated included ACG Pan Pharma Technologies Pvt. Ltd., B|Braun Medical India Pvt. Ltd., Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd., BASF India Ltd., Bayer Group of Companies, Bosch Automotive Electronics India, Bosch Chassis Systems India Pvt. Ltd., Bosch Ltd., Brose India Automotive Systems Pvt. Ltd., Cerebrus Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Covestro (India) Pvt. Ltd., DBOI Global Services Pvt. Ltd., DHL Express India, EPCOS India Pvt. Ltd., Evonik India Pvt. Ltd., Extentia Information Technology, FEV India Pvt. Ltd., Forbes Marshall Pvt. Ltd., Häfele India Pvt. Ltd., HDFC Ergo General Insurance Company, Helpline Impex Pvt. Ltd., Hirschvogel Components India, Kion India Pvt. Ltd., KSB Pumps Ltd., LANXESS India Pvt. Ltd., MAN Trucks India Pvt. Ltd., Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd., NRB Industrial Bearings Ltd., Schaefer Systems Intl. Pvt. Ltd., Schaeffler Group, Schott Glass India Pvt. Ltd., Schott Kaisha Pvt. Ltd., Siemens Financial Services, Siemens Healthcare Pvt., Siemens Ltd., SMS India Pvt. Ltd. and TÜV India.  They made requisitions for interns in an array of functions including Sales and Marketing, Finance and Controlling, Operations, Procurement and Supply Chain Management, Human Resources and Corporate Communication to name a few.

What stood out during the entire admission process, was the infinite contribution of the current IGTC students, PGPBA Batch 2016 – 2018, who teamed along with the IGTC administration to ensure a smooth run of the entire process.  From answering emails of prospective students to clarify the smallest and silliest of doubts and apprehensions to handling nervous wrecks entering the interview rooms, they participated fully and shouldered every responsibility with a smile!

“We had a tough task ahead of us but we were extremely excited and optimistic to carry out the three-day admission process. The main goal of our team of volunteers was to make sure that each applicant gets a fair chance to prove themselves before the participating organizations. On each of the scheduled days, we had to deal with over 18 different organizations, who were conducting different interview processes. Some conducted excel and psychometric tests, group discussions while some engaged in skype and telephonic interviews. We had the freedom and opportunity to discuss and interact with the senior panellists from the organizations, and in many cases we were pleasantly surprised and inspired to know that they were our alumni! The process flowed seamlessly, and we did not require any of our back-up plans for certain unwanted situations. Like a game of Sudoku (as often mentioned by Radhieka ma’am), the right candidates fit into the right organizations and within 72 hours, admissions to IGTC Mumbai were closed.”

Volunteers from PGPBA Batch 2016-2018 

Siemens Scholarship for Management Students

As a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, Siemens Ltd. introduced the Siemens Scholarship for Management Students at IGTC.  As a part of this valuable initiative, Siemens sponsors the entire tuition fee at IGTC for 10 meritorious students from less privileged backgrounds (with annual family income less than 4 lacs).  The practical training for these students as a part of the dual education programme will also be undertaken by Siemens.  Three business panels from Siemens Ltd. interviewed the applicants before selecting their final, most deserving trainees.

Inauguration and induction of the Centurions (as IGTC now calls them)

As per tradition, on 1st August 2017, Bernhard Steinruecke welcomed the “centurions” at IGTC to the world of Indo-German relations and the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce with his fascinating narrative that left everyone enthralled and speechless.  He emphasized on the similarities between Germany and India, especially when it comes to culture and concluded his session with his essential German speech, which was by default the first lesson in German language for the incoming students.

Following his address, Radhieka Mehta inducted the newcomers to the IGTC family and emphasized on the next 18 months as being a ‘lifestyle change’ as they embark on this intensive learning journey.  She spelt out her vision to create the very best leaders, who will aspire, work and achieve together to emerge phenomenal in every aspect of life.  The IGTC team – Sajita, Veena, Rashmi and Tisha – then firmly laid down the rules of the game at IGTC and the expectations from the batch to adhere to strict discipline and no compromises.  Undoubtedly, the message was loud and clear – IGTC was the first step in training them for the fast-paced rigmarole of corporate life.

The current students and alumni also had their share of contribution to ensure a seamless transition for the newbies.  The spirited and fully empowered ‘seniors’ made various presentations and hosted games such as ‘Speed Meeting’, ‘Rhythm Makers’ and the traditional ‘Treasure Hunt’ which ensured that the ice was broken, and everyone was comfortable in their new learning environment.  On a lighter note, advice was also given about the restaurants they should visit, faculty they should beware of and recreational places in the vicinity.

Alumni Arun Roy, Chief Financial Officer, Chervon USA (he was earlier with Bosch Power Tools) took the students through his two-decade journey from being a student to a top management professional in the international business world.  His humility, gentle demeanour and presentation on leadership styles left the batch awestruck.  It was amazing to see his connect with the institution even after so many years.  Ekta Dusija, Project Manager – Marketing at Bayer Group systematically imparted her success mantras to the students, focusing on the dos and donts not only at IGTC but also in the corporate life.  On a completely different note, multi-talented Karthik Shivshankar (Dr. Guenter Krueger Award winner from Batch 2010 – 2012 and Bayer Scholar) spoke about quitting his thriving career in technology, innovation and chemicals at BASF to follow his passion of being an upcoming vocalist and entering the world of music.  It also endorsed the fact that the IGTC doors were open to all alumni despite their personal ambitions and choices made in life.  All the alumni sessions were extremely interactive.  They gave every word spoken at IGTC a deeper perspective and a reality.

IGTC has always emphasized on the difference between introduction and induction.  The wheels have now been set in motion for PGPBA Batch 2017 – 2019 and we hope for a beautiful ride here on!  IGTCians at heart, phenomenal we will be!

I chose to join IGTC because it came highly recommended. Its ethos and unique dual education system with its focus on both theoretical and practical training is very attractive. I hope IGTC’s PGPBA will give me a great practical edge, a strong theoretical foundation and an excellent introduction to the business world. 

Rohit Padmanabhan, inducted as a trainee with Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd. 

The thing that intrigued me about IGTC was its innovative and hands-on approach towards management studies. What an opportunity to work and study in equal measures. Having a flavour of how German organizations work while I was at Siemens, I believe IGTC will help me rise to my full potential and help me polish my skills and make me a good professional. I am thrilled to be a part of the IGTC family and very excited about the next 18 months of my life and its outcome! 

Vidyanshi Rajkrishna, inducted as a trainee with FEV India Pvt. Ltd. 

IGTC is known for its distinctive way of training and the German Dual Education System. The benefit from the dual system is that we graduate, not only as qualified MBAs, but enter the industry to contribute from day one. IGTC pays attention in enhancing communication and presentation skills, encouraging initiative and expression of creative ideas, maintaining a healthy positive attitude, assuming responsibility and leadership roles. The knowledge and skills gained at IGTC will go a long way in accelerating my career graph in the corporate world. 

Ketaki Sanjay Deshmukh, inducted as a trainee with Indo-German Training Centre 

When the IGTC Stars descended on the Star

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Future is Now: HR Competencies for High Performance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The questions asked were:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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