Feb 18, 2008 ~ Dr. Gábor Rekettye, a professor of marketing and head of the Marketing Department at the Faculty of Business & Economics, Pécs University, Hungary, addressed the Batch 12 students of Ohio University Christ College Academy for Management Education, Bangalore.

Dr. Rekettye received his master's degree at the Budapest University of Economics, and his PhD at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, both in economics. He is the author of several textbooks, which are taught at different Universities in Hungary. In addition, he has written over 190 publications in Hungary and abroad. His latest two professional books were published in 2004, one was written about the market oriented pricing the second about international marketing. In 2003 Gábor Rekettye received the highest scientific title in Hungary, "The Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.'

He was in the Ohio University Christ College Campus to brief the students about Hungary. It is a tradition at OUCC for students to go abroad for their consulting projects and the previous year students of Batch 11 had been to Hungary, Pécs University.

He gave a presentation about the economy of the country; he also spoke about the landscape, lifestyle and the growing opportunities in the country. This session brought more clarity to the students of the current batch to decide about their projects.

Mar 22, 2008 ~ OHIO University - Christ College Academy for Management Education celebrated its Eighth Convocation ceremony at the Christ College Campus , Bangalore on Saturday, 22nd March 2008.

Dr. Hugh Sherman, Dean - College of Business, OHIO University, US, presided as the Guest of Honor and delivered the convocation address at the ceremony.

Other dignitaries such as Dr. John Keifer, Interim Director, India Programs, College of Business OHIO University, Fr. (Dr.) Thomas C. Mathew, Principal, Christ College, Dr. B.M. Hegde, former Vice-Chancellor of MAHE , Prof Shiv - Founder Trustee, Co-ordinator of OHIO University - Operations & Program Development, Dr. Raghu Iyer - Resident Director, OUCC AME, graced the occasion.

Among the faculty members present on dais were Dr. Robert H.S. Sarikas , Faculty - Accounting Analysis, Prof. Venkatesh Bhagwath, Faculty - Mathematical Foundations & Statistical Foundations, Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi, Faculty - Financial Market Analysis, Dr. Shalini Verma, Faculty - Business Communications and Dr. R.V. Jayatirtha, Faculty - Service Marketing.

Ershad Abdullah, President - Batch 11 and Priscilla D'Souza , President - Batch 12 too shared the dias with the dignitaries.

The Chief Guest, Dr. Hugh Sherman congratulated the students on their achievements and highlighted the legacy of OHIO University's program in developing business leaders worldwide.

The following students were honoured, as they were toppers in their cohort:

Valedictorian (Rank 1): Ms. Aakanksha Rathi with 3.89 CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average out of 4.00).

Salutatorian (Rank 2): Ms. Nalini Seth with 3.88 CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average out of 4.00).

This ceremony was well attended by approximately 500 students, parents, dignitaries and alumni, and was a great success. It was an opportunity for the alumni to reminisce over their time spent at the institute.

Mar 12, 2008 ~  

"BUDGET MEET", a panel discussion on the topic" Is the Budget 2008 visioning growth momentum or forthcoming election?" on 12th March at Christ College auditorium. The event was an initiative of the student forum at the college. The event was presided by eminent speakers like Prof. G. Thimmaiah, ex-Member, Planning Commission and a well known Public Finance person, Prof. R S Deshpande, Head Agriculture Unit, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, Mr. Subir Roy, Senior Editor & Columnist, Business Standard. Also present were, director of the Ohio - India MBA program Dr. John Keifer and the resident director Dr. Raghu Iyer.

The session began with a brief presentation summarizing the points of the budget. This was followed by a panel discussion which was very informative and covered various topics like excise cuts on capital goods to subsidy and policies related with agriculture. An interesting discussion was put forward as to whether the budget should follow an expansionary fiscal policy or a contractionary monetary policy.

There was discussion about whether the budget has a short term or long term influence on the economy. The panelists made a strong point that the loan write-offs is just a political gimmick and there is no justification as to how the recovery for the loss will be made.

There was a debate over subsidies for fertilizer industry. The panelists also jokingly said "A cow in Holland gets larger subsidy than a farmer in India". A debate over the absence of inheritance tax, volatility in stock market after the budget, wrong benchmarks set as expectations by investors in stock market, debate on defense budget were all the topics covered in the panel discussion.

This event added a lot of value to the knowledge bank of students and such constructive and professional programs are what, MBA students benefit from. This event was a great effort by the 3 students Pravi Dubey, Abhijeet Gupta and Sanjay Rawal and their effort to make the budget booklet was applauded by the faculty and the panelists.

 

 

 

 

 

Mar 21, 2008 ~

Bangalore, 21st March 2008 - OHIO University Christ college Academy for Management Education (OUCC AME) held M.V. Kini Memorial Oration - 2008 . Mr. B. Ramalinga Raju, Founder & Chairman, Satyam Computer Services Ltd. solemnized the Oration and spoke on "Transformation Through Leadership & Innovation". Mr. Raju being alumnus of the OHIO University said , "Being in OHIO University transformed my life and it has changed my outlook towards life and business and many other value system that I've come to believe in".

Speaking to the graduating and presently studying batch of OUCC AME he said, " As you are stepping into the real world you may have given expectations about the same and having someone like myself who has gone through it may serve as a reference point into that extent I feel privileged to share some thought with you. In the last 16-17 years as a part of being in Satyam, I've had a phenomenal landing. In 1992 when we went public, we were less than a million dollar company and we were about 50 people or so. This year we have guided for 2.1 billion dollars of revenue and we have guided for being a 53, 000 people company. It's obviously a lot to do with the hard work that our colleagues have put in and given things that we've done. But it has more to do with the fact that the world has changed and has come to provide us opportunities that we could otherwise not have imagined".

Mr. Raju further said, " The world GDP is now in excess of 50 trillion dollars or so. Indian GDP, as you all know is 1 trillion dollars, about 2% of the world GDP. About 15 yrs. ago, less than 36% of the global economy was the global trade, today it is more than 50%. So we are being more of global citizens as we engage ourselves in various activities in more innovation fashion than obviously anytime in the past. It also happens that the proportion of services in this global economy is now in the excess of 70%. To be more precise 71% of the global economy is in services. But more importantly more of services are getting delivered virtually. Which means location independence is the order of the day. It doesn't matter where you sit and where you operate from in order to provide these services. Imagine what the size of the global economy would be in 20-25 yrs, it is not difficult to come to a conclusion that the world GDP would double and the proportion of services may be even more".

The ceremony was well attended by approximately 250 students, parents, dignitaries and alumni, and was a great success. It was an opportunity for the alumni to reminisce over their time spent at the institute.

Dec 14, 2007 ~ Dr. Mark Fish, the Assistant Professor of Marketing who taught FOUNDATION COURSE OF MARKETING to the batch 12, organized an interactive session on SELLING SKILLS.

Dr. Fish emphasised the importance of selling in a person's daily life. He also mentioned that there is no one best method to sell a product or service. Selling is successful when the most reasonable solution is offered and not necessarily the best.

Dr. Fish also stressed on the fact that a good salesman is one who along with offering a solution closes the deal in his favour and how it involved handling objections & getting a commitment from the customer. An interesting topic that he introduced was "Need Satisfaction Selling". He spoke about SPIN - Situation Problem Implication and Need Payoff and FAB - Features Advantages Benefits.

Ashwin Shetty rendered the vote of thanks and the Marketing Club-Mavens presented the Professor with a souvenir. The session ended with a group photograph.

Dec 03, 2007 ~ With the OUCC Batch-11 just out of campus, the new placement session for Batch-12 took off on 3rd December 2007. The introductory workshop on ‘Aspiration Management' was conducted by Mr. Balaji, senior director, Symphony services. Also present on the occasion was Mr. Ramanan from Ladder consultancy.

The Power of "I"- The core essence of the workshop was to get to feel good about one self and to reiterate the fact that almost everything that affects an individual, he or she is solely responsible for it.

Prof .C Balaji, took all students through a transformational process which helped one loosen up and prepare for the core part of the workshop. After the initial exercise, the feedback session suggested that Batch -12 students felt relaxed and saw a pleasant change in themselves.

The latter half of the workshop was an interactive and experience sharing session, in which the students sat back and realised that by changing the way one thinks and perceives things, one can actually make his /her life better. They learnt that ‘to ASPIRE for something that has value in life and then working towards its success is the right approach to make it big in life'. The examples and anecdotes that Prof. Balaji used were indeed very practical and the students came out of the session with a great amount of positivism. The batch appreciated the session and felt it was indeed a great way to start their placement training sessions.

Dec 04, 2007 ~ Panel Discussion was conducted on "Socio economic impact of Out-Sourcing on India, China and the US" at OUCC. The panellists comprised eight College of Business (CoB) International Business Society (IBS) student members from Athens OHIO-USA campus and Batch 12 OUCC, Bangalore. The Moderators were Sharon Diaz and Arun Mahanthachar .The event was presided by Prof.Shalini Verma.

The moderators started the session by posing various questions on outsourcing .The 8 students from Athens OHIO were Sarah, Joe, Josh, Alex, Susan, Beth, Jay and Brynn.

The Indian students started by stressing the positive effect of outsourcing and how it brings a lot of opportunities worldwide .The American students brought out personal experiences on job opportunities back home and the effect of outsourcing.

The discussion reflected both the positive and negative effects of outsourcing and also discussed growth of China, mostly in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors. The session involved interesting questions from the audience, which ranged from outsourcing practice as one of the major factors of students' dropping-out of school to giving their viewpoints on the discussion by the panel.

The Discussion ended with an understanding that outsourcing has had both positive effects but it is a step towards negating mediocrity from the society. The Panel discussion was followed by sharing of personal experiences by American students on their tour to India.

The Marketing Club, Mavens of Batch 12 kick started the activities for the year 2008 with Tug-of-War, an intra class fest for the Mavens. Though the fest was initially restricted exclusively for the Mavens, later with the over whelming response it was extended to other students as well.

The events for the fest include Pictionary, Debate, Ad Copy and Business Quiz. The activities are spread over a month's time. The events are designed to have 8 participating teams with more than 50 participants. Cumulative scores of all the events will be maintained and at the end of the month one team would be declared ‘Winner of the Tug-Of-War'.

According to the Coordinators, it is a platform for the teams to participate, learn and excel. It promotes competitive spirit among the participants, enhances team building skills and supplement academic learning.

During OHIO University's Winter intercession, eight College of Business (CoB) International Business Society (IBS) student members and Dr. Faizul Huq, IBS faculty advisor, traveled to Bangalore and Delhi. The purpose of the trip was to gain an overall perspective and understanding of the Indian economy and culture and to visit many historically significant and remarkable places including the Mysore Palace, the IT Park in Bangalore, the Red Fort in Delhi, and the Taj Mahal.

In Bangalore, IBS members spent time with the Batch 12 students of OUCC. The US students learned about Indian customs, food, and shopping. The group also took part in a presentation on IT outsourcing and Indian advertising.

According to Dr. Huq, CoB student organizations like the International Business Society enjoy the active involvement and input of professors in their endeavors which include corporate visits, international travel, fundraising, and a variety of other invaluable experiences. "IBSÂ members, among other College of Business student organization members, have the chance to develop reciprocal, life-long relationships with these professors that prove conducive to student involvement both during and after college."

Both the US students and Batch 12 of OUCC were benefited by the ‘ Buddy-Buddy wherein they exchanged their views on cultural, social, historical and economic issues. As a part of this program, they, along with four Indian students, Sharon, Virinchi, Arun, & Amruth and two professors Dr. Mark Fish and Dr. Shalini Verma from OHIO Christ, Bangalore, visited Mysore, the cultural capital of Karnataka.

They first visited Jaganmohan Palace, famous for its antiques and paintings. "Lady with the Lamp" also called "Indian Mona Lisa" and other famous paintings by Raja Ravi Verma left the visitors spell bound. The next destination was the famous Mysore Maharaja Palace. A massive structure, built almost 100 years ago, stands as an extraordinary beauty. The group also visited the Chamundi hills, from where, one can have a bird's eye view of the entire Mysore city This trip gave an insight into Indian culture to the US students, which was the main idea behind this program.