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Joint Student Consulting Project (JSCP) is one of the most valuable learning practices in terms of providing cross-cultural experience and international exposure to our students at OUCC.
This year, 37 students of Batch 11 went to the University of PECS in Hungary for their JSCP. This four weeks learning and consulting activity began in June 29th ‘07 and continued till July 27th ‘07 at the Department of Economics & Management PECS University.
Before getting into the real consulting projects our students underwent one week training to understand the scope of a consulting project and baseline of the cliental organization. The training also involved a real time business plan. Mr. Kevin Aspegren with the help of faculty members from Business and Economics, Pecs University provided this training. For remaining three weeks students, divided in small groups, worked on consulting different projects along with the Hungrian and US students. There were nine consulting projects from various companies and individual entrepreneurs including the companies like RoMedic, G-Pack, Aquaprofit, and FMRI Digonostic Center.
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Apart from the consulting projects different events organized for the students included visits to Lake Orfu, Extreme Sports Park and Wine factory. Inaugural and closing dinner marked the events. |
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The University of PECS- Faculty of Business and Economics, is the largest and one of the most prominent institutions in Hungary. Throughout the project faculty members of the College of Business, Ohio University, OUCC and Pecs University guided the students. They include Prof. Kevin Aspegren, Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi, Prof. John Keifer, Dr. Nanda Rangan, Prof. Lauren Krewatch, and Prof. Scotwright |
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Dr Amalendu Jyotishi accompanied the group of students from OUCC. Number of students taking interest in JSCP is increasing over the years. This also shows the interest among students in learning through international and cross-cultural exposure. |
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| YEAR 2006-07 US STUDENTS’ JSCP at Indian Companies, BANGALORE |
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This year, 15 students from OHIO University College of Business, OHIO, USA were in Bangalore for their JSCP. This three weeks learning and consulting activity began in June 30th ‘07 and continued till July 15th ‘07.
The OHIO University (USA) students teamed up with OHIO University Christ College, India (OUCC) students to do joint consulting for Indian companies. The ratio of the OHIO University, USA and OUCC students for each project was 1:4.
The students worked as consultants to the partner Companies such as Witco, Citifinancials, Concorde Motors, Supervalu, Pantaloon Retail, Karuturi Networks, MPA Financials, WITCO and Generation Next. The nature of project included developing business plans, marketing plans, qualitative and quantitative research, designing stores, devising policies, strategies etc
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The JSCP was broken into three phases: Conceptualization phase, Data collection and gathering phase and data presentation phase. The OHIO University (USA) students worked with the OUCC Indian students only with the Conceptualization phase, where as the OUCC, India students worked on the 2nd and 3rd phase and completed the project.
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Dr. Sean T McGann, Assistant Professor, OHIO University has accompanied the students to India. Mr. Girish, Co - ordinator – Special Projects sourced the projects, handled client relationships and ARP (Applied Research Project). Both Dr. Sean and Mr. Girish guided the students throughout the consulting project. |
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| Apart from the consulting projects a visit to Organic Farm in Mysore was organized for the students. |
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| Internships 2007 – Corporate Testimonies |
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May 5, 2007: As part of a unique Internship Corporate relationship-building exercise, Faculty and Associates at the Program went out to personally meet Internship Guides of the students who did Internships in the months of March-April with companies all over the country. In all, over 60 companies were visited; Nielsen, Standard Chartered Bank, Tata-AIG, Indiabulls, Travel Guru, 3M India Ltd., Marriott International, Byrraju Foundation, RIL, KVK Energy, TVS Logistics, MPA Financials, Trinethra Retail, BSE India to name a few. |
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| The Internship drive had manifold objectives: |
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- Internship supervision - Meeting with students, understanding their profile in the company, understanding company dynamics, providing feedback/advice to students, taking feedback from respective company Guides.
- Extending relationships - Providing program brief, pitching in with possibilities of further collaborations.
- Meeting Alumni in each of the visited cities to rekindle relationships.
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“It is a unique thing to see MBA Programs getting so involved in their students’ internships. The Faculty visits are both unexpected, encouraging and refreshing”, said Mr. R. Anand, GM Marketing, Reliance Industries Ltd., Hyderabad.
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As for the feedback on the students, the companies were very positive about the street-smartness, work ethic and discipline of the students. “It is hard to find students who are keen to take initiative and are ready to put in that extra effort. Working hard is mandatory, but working smart is optional. That’s where these students have excelled. They have worked with zeal, made recommendations, and automated some processes. What else could we ask for?”, said Mr. Girish R. Bijoor, Asst. GM, State Bank of India, Bangalore (Rajajinagar Branch). |
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Faculty visited students in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kolkata, Jamshedpur and Pune over the last month. “It was a move to explore working relationship-building exercises with the Corporate fraternity. The feedback and the reception from different companies has been extremely postive, and gives confidence to us and the students alike”, said Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi, Asst. Director of Special Projects. |
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| Dr. Rajesh P. Narayanan |
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May 2007: Dr. Rajesh P. Narayanan, Associate Professor of Finance at the College of Business in OHIO University, is in Bangalore to teach Managerial Finance to the students of Batch 11.
Dr. Narayanan was recently honored as the new JPMorgan Professor of Financial Services. His impressive research and extensive publications in leading financial journals have garnered national acclaim for him, the Finance Department, the College of Business and OHIO University.
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Dr. Narayanan teaches undergraduates and graduate students and MBAs in the India Program. He modifies and develops courses, conducts research on current financial services issues and provides leadership in corporate recruitment. |
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| Following is a brief profile of Dr. Narayanan: |
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Dr. Rajesh P. Narayanan is an Associate professor in the Department of Finance in the College of Business at OHIO University. He holds the Gardner Fellowship in Finance. Dr. Narayanan teaches in the areas of corporate finance and financial markets. His current research interests are at the intersection of corporate finance and financial intermediation. He obtained his PhD degree from Florida State University in Tallahassee. Prior to joining OHIO University, he served as an Assistant Professor at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Dr. Narayanan has also been a Research Associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. |
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| Students complete Project at Titan |
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Fri, Apr 20, 2007: Mr. Kumaran, HR Manager, Titan Industries Ltd. and Mr. Keshav Dhotrekar, ASM, Institutional Sales, Tanishq, Titan Industries Ltd., had selected two OHIO-Christ students in November 2006; Salma Raheem and Perin Sholapurwala, for a project, which was a survey on corporate gifting. The students completed their project and presented their findings to the Institutional Sales Head for Titan in Bangalore and South India. The company officials were happy at the outcome and said, "We now have the figures for market which we doubted till now." Providing feedback about OHIO Graduates in general, Mr. Keshav said, "Your students are right on bang. They are of good quality and it is difficult for us to choose out of them. Normally, other students from other schools have to be taught ABC's of Marketing. But with your students, we don’t need to do anything.” |
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The project entailed a study on the corporate gifting market in the IT and IT-related Industry in Bangalore. The abstract of the study is as follows: |
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“A large part of India’s success in the software sector is due to the crucial role played by the State of Karnataka in promoting and providing a boost to Information Technology. Karnataka has emerged as the computer capital and center of high-tech industries, especially software. Bangalore has for long been known as India’s answer to Silicon Valley, and this is the city where most large software companies have set up shop and operate out of state-of-the-art facilities. The Government of Karnataka has also been extremely positive about the software and services marketplace and has helped create the relevant telecom and policy infrastructure conducive to the growth of this sector. |
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The City of Bangalore has positioned itself to help market the software industry. This is also why Bangalore has been playing host to international-class conferences, workshops and exhibitions devoted to the software cause. In fact, the “Technopolis” of India will be holding one of the largest IT events this year for the fourth consecutive time -Bangalore IT.com 2001, Conference and Tradeshow. |
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Visitors can experience Bangalore’s hi-tech climate. The city has the highest number of engineering colleges in the world, almost 50 percent of the world’s SEI CMM Level 5 companies; COPC/ISO recognized Customer Interaction Centers, and over 103 R&D Institutions. |
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It is, in fact, home to GE’s biggest R&D Center outside the U.S.—the Jack Welch Technology Center, which hires over 200 PhDs/scientists every month! To top it all, Bangalore has just been ranked the fourth best “Global hub of technological innovation” by none other than the United Nations. In the year 2001, Bangalore saw a cumulative investment of around US $1.3 billion in the software industry. |
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About 146 new software industries during 2001 and about 110 during 2002 have been established and the total number of software professionals is over 80,000. During 2002-03 about 116 new Software Technology Park Units were established |
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Bangalore is home to a significant number of SEI-CMM Level 5 companies. Worldwide there are 52 companies; in India there are 43 companies; and in Bangalore there are 20 companies with the SEI-CMM Level 5 status. The year 2000-01 saw a growth rate of 69.99% in software exports and the year 2001-02 experienced a growth rate of 33%. The year 2002-03 saw a growth rate of 25%. |
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In the last ten years the IT industry has grown from 5.6 crores to Rs. 12350 crores. The IT boom has succeeded in heralding India and specifically Bangalore into economic development in terms if rate of GDP. |
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Attrition is one of the greatest problems faced by this industry. Several companies are trying to address this issue in various ways. One such way is to gift employees. From our study we find that corporate gifts are usually given to motivate and recognize the efforts of employees. Gifts are given on festivals, for excellent performance (team and individual) and at annual award functions hosted by the organization. The gifting budget for the eight companies we interviewed is Rs. 2,192,606,625. The average annual spend per employee is Rs. 23000.” |
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| Dr. Amalendu participates in a National Seminar |
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Mar 30, 2007: Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi participates in a National Seminar on “Development, Civil Society, And Third Sector: The Emerging Perspectives” held at Mangalore University, Mangalagangotri, on March 27-28, 2007.
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"He has also published a paper on the ‘Role of Third Sector in Development of Drought Prone Region: Insights from Kachchh, Gujarat’. The paper was co-authored by Dr. Deepika M.G.". |
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| Following is an abstract of the paper: |
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Interaction between ‘ecological systems’ and ‘livelihood systems’ has generated debate among the social scientists as well as ecological and biological scientists, since long. In recent years, degeneration of the ecosystem has been a major concern worldwide. It is also known that such degeneration has severe implications on the poor and marginalized group of people who largely depend on these ecosystem services for their livelihood. However, in the interface of causality between ‘ecosystem functions’ and ‘livelihood parameters’, a large number of institutions governing both, need a deeper and meaningful understanding. In this context, the role of third sector assumes importance. |
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The multiple, geo-physical, socio-cultural and agro-economic diversities of Kachchh pose a complex mix of opportunities and challenges in determining a livelihood base for the people in Kachchh. The opportunities refer to a diverse resource base consisting of large land mass, mineral and long coast line besides an enterprising community and strong social capital built through generations of migratory links outside the region. Some of the major challenges facing the region, however, are frequent drought, severe scarcity of water along with increasing salinity; inappropriate management, aggravating the initial disadvantages with respect to natural resources; and physical remoteness. |
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Third sector assumed importance in Kachchh after the devastating earthquake that shook the entire Gujarat, Kachchh being the epicenter. NGOs, Civil society groups, religious institutions, community organizations played a very crucial role in the rehabilitation process. Keeping that momentum going, many NGOs shifted their focus to livelihood, education, health and basic infrastructure issues in Kachchh afterwards. Oxfam (GB) being one such funding agency, focused on livelihood issues with the help of various grass-root NGOs. |
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In this context, the present study attempts to identify the role of third sector in addressing some of the above-mentioned issues. Analysis of the study is based on a baseline survey of about 2600 households conducted in twenty-six villages of Kachchh district. Our finding suggests that the trade off between ecosystem requirements and livelihood requirements is very high. Therefore, any intervention by third sector needs to be sensitive where a higher premium is put on to livelihood issues. |
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| Sandeep Goni – A Winner all the way! |
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Mar 10, 2007: Hard work certainly pays. Sadeep Goni of Batch 11 has brought accolades to the school by bagging the first place in a national paper presentation held in Mumbai. His paper was based on his observational research as the Forum Mall in Bangalore. 10 top B-Schools all over India participated in the “Management Effectiveness Conclave 2007” held at S.P. Jain Institute for Management & Research in Mumbai. The presentations went on for the whole day with colleges like IIM-B, Amity School of Business, IIPM-Delhi, XIME Bangalore, etc.
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Sandeep feels indebted to Dr. Felicia N. Morgan of OHIO University, who had taught him Marketing in November, and who was the driving factor behind his accomplishment. Elated by Sandeep’s accomplishment, Dr. Morgan said, “We, as OU faculty, go teach in India, and try to plant the seeds of ideas… and voila! - students such as Sandeep run with them! This encourages us to work in some other student accomplishments, as well.” |
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| Following are excerpts from an e-mail written by Sandeep Goni to the OHIO-Christ Academy after winning the prize: |
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“Dr. Felicia N. Morgan from OHIO University sowed the seed of the idea of ‘Forum Mall Observational Research’ in my head during her visit to Bangalore in the month of November 2006, when she had come to teach us Marketing. The next step was to make a beginning, which later on was pitched in to the whole Batch 11 as an out-of-class research activity. |
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I started working on this research in the last week of November. Initially, I just observed the movement of visitors in and out of the Forum Mall from the two entries and prepared a report of 3 pages and also did a presentation in front of both the sections ‘A’ and ‘B’ as directed by Dr. Morgan. Dr. Morgan then wanted to extend the project and go in depth with some more aspects of observational research such as shadowing, etc. |
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I wanted to extend this research further, but didn’t know how to proceed. Then finally with the guidance of Dr. Morgan on doing a customer survey as to “what kind of holdings or advertisements attract them the most in the mall”, I decided to again start the research. I did a customer feedback survey considering a sample size of 200 customer per day for three days at the Forum Mall and analyzed the data and prepared the report. |
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In the month on January, I registered my name online for the paper presentation in S.P. Jain Institute for Management & Research but unfortunately, did not receive any mail from them for 1 month! Then, out of the blue, I got a reply from them stating that my paper had been selected for the national level conclave. I again extended the details adding on more information about the infrastructure of the mall, the total built up area, total number of shops inside the mall and categories of shops.
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All this would not have been possible without the help from Dr. Morgan as well as Mr. Girish, who helped me by giving a letter from college to approach the Forum HR Manager to collect vital details about the mall. This helped me to get some important details from the HR team of Forum and include it in my report. It was a restless period of 6 weeks…” |
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| We at OHIO-Christ hope that students like Sandeep will have many more hectic and fruitful weeks! |
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”My sincere thanks to Dr. Felicia Morgan. Without her support and constant encouragement, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to achieve this milestone in my educational career. My dream is to get this paper published in some international journal and I once again ask Dr. Morgan and also the staff of our college to support me to make my dream come true”, hopes Sandeep. |
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| Dr. Robert H.S. Sarikas “Zeke” – A favorite among students; both past and present |
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Mon, Feb 26, 2007: “There is no end to his energy levels, be it in the class or outside of it. I thought Accounting was a dry subject, until Dr. Sarikas started teaching”, says Prateek Sharma, a student of Batch 11 at OHIO-Christ Academy.
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Dr. Robert Sarikas “Zeke” is in India for the seventh time to teach Accounting. Needless to say, he just loves India. His overseas teaching assignments also include China, England, Russia, and Vietnam. In India, he has taught as many as six graduating batches. He has also kept in touch with many alumni and holds them close to his heart. He even traveled all the way to Delhi to attend the wedding ceremony of an alumnus, and he also attended another wedding of an alumnus the following day in Bangalore! In an effort to rekindle his bond with the alumni, Dr. Sarikas is inviting alumni personally for a high tea on Saturday, March 3rd, 2007. “It will be an opportunity for me to meet my students again, and a good opportunity for the students to fell one with their Alma Mater”, says Dr. Sarikas. “I am so looking forward to meet Dr. Zeke again”, quips Rahul, an alumnus who is now with Technopak in Hyderabad. |
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When Dr. Sarikas is not teaching Accounting Analysis (MBAM 605) to Batch 11, he can be seen attending the Aero India Show, reading books on the Berlin Wall, trying out Indian cuisine (samosas, Chicken Tikka, Alu Jeera and spicy Pizzas being the prominent ones) and taking exercise walks. We wish him a happy reunion with the alumni! |
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Dr. Robert Sarikas “Zeke” is an Associate Professor of Accountancy at OHIO University. He did his PhD in Accountancy and Taxation in 1992 from University of Illinois. He is also MAS from University of Illinois and MPA from University of Texas. His research interests are in the fields of International Accounting, Taxation and Business. He is a Certified Public Accountant with experience as a tax professional working for Arthur Andersen & Co. in Houston, Texas and an oil and gas specialty accounting firm (Thomas Leger & Co.) in Houston, Texas. Dr. Sarikas was a visiting Professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Boise State University, the University of Texas and Loyola University of Chicago. His overseas teaching assignments include China, England, India, Russia, and Vietnam. Apart from that, he has had consulting assignments in financial accounting, management accounting, and taxation in Russia, the United States and Vietnam. He also served as an Air Force Officer in an ICBM unit of the Strategic Air Command. |
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| Gearing up for Internships |
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Feb 2007: The students of Batch 11 are all set for their Internship experience starting March 12th, 2007. The students would be doing a 2-week desk-research before that and that will follow the 6-week stint at a company, analyzing the structure and functions of their organizations. |
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Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi and Girish M. will be in-charge of the process. Already, the students have been placed for their Internships both internationally and in India, and the college has roped in companies and institutions like Videocon International, HDFC Bank, Management Next, DTZ International, Infosys, HCL Infinet, Travel Guru, MPA Financial Services, Mafoi, Trinethra Retail, The Byrraju Foundation, ISEC, 3M India Ltd., Indo Nissin Foods, Indiabulls and Tata AIG. |
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| Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi’s Paper gets published in EPW |
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| Feb 2007: Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi, Faculty of Economics and Finance and Asst. Director of Special Projects published his paper on ‘The TAWA Reservoir Fisheries Management: Experiences and Options’ in the prestigious Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No.5, February 03, 2007. The paper was co-authored by Prof. R. Parthasarathy. |
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| Following is the abstract of the published paper: |
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In developing economies, open water inland fisheries not only plays an important role in the nutrition for the poor, but also provide livelihood for many people engaged in fisheries. Reservoir fisheries assume importance to understand the CPR nature of the resources and requires analytical framework to describe the management of them toward an equitable, efficient and sustainable end. A system, which delivers or ensures these, becomes a reliable response to the institutional requirements in CPR type of resources in general and reservoir fisheries in particular. In the case of reservoir fisheries we identify various types of institutional regimes. Each regime has its advantages and disadvantages in terms of allocation of rights, appropriation of the fish resource and distribution of income. In India, these institutions can be broadly framed into three categories, namely, state, private and cooperative managed regimes. TAWA reservoir in Madhya Pradesh is a classic case that underwent various management regimes in the last three decades; these include the fisheries department of the state, MPFDC (Madhya Pradesh Fisheries Development Corporation), private contractor and cooperatives. Therefore, the case of TAWA provides an ideal opportunity to comprehend the performance of these regimes and their implications on productivity (efficiency criterion), wages and employment (equity criteria) and fingerlings stocking and technology use (resource sustainability criteria) across different regimes. Further, the paper details the management practices under the TAWA Matsya Sangh (TMS) and emphasizes that management practices should be integrated with the understanding of resource base. |
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| Dr. Andy Prevost presents paper on Labor Unions as Shareholder Activists |
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Wed, Jan 17, 2007: Dr. Andrew Prevost, Assistant Professor of Finance and Economics, College of Business, OHIO University, who is in India to teach the course on Economic Analysis, presented his paper on ‘Labor Unions as Shareholder Activists: Champions or Detractors?’, which was co-authored with Ramesh P. Rao (Oklahoma State University) and Melissa Williams (University of Houston – Clear Lake) here at the OHIO-Christ Academy. |
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Faculty members and a few students of the Christ College Institute of Management (CCIM), the Faculty of OHIO-Christ Academy and a few students of the OHIO-Christ Academy attended the interactive and intellectually stimulating session.
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Dr. Prevost, through a PowerPoint presentation, put forth the essence of his paper to the receptive audience in the discussion room at the campus. His paper basically examines the impact of labor union shareholder activism through the submission of shareholder proposals. The authors examine the effect of labor union-sponsored shareholder proposals on announcement period returns, on the corporate governance environment of the firm including shareholder rights, board composition, and top management compensation, and on long-run firm profitability and shareholder wealth. Taken as a whole, the study results do not support the incentive conflict hypothesis that labor unions use shareholder proposals to extract gains for employees. Rather, it is found that labor proposals generally lead to greater board independence and more efficient top-management compensation contracts. |
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At the end of the presentation, there was an interactive Q&A session, where different point-of-views were put forth. Prof. H.A.C. Poppen, Professor of HR, IR and Labor Laws at CCIM closed the presentation by drawing a parallel between the labor force dynamics in the US and in India. He said that there is no way one can draw similarities and compare the two. “The US Labor force has an Economic orientation, whereas in India, it is the Political orientation that plays an upper hand”, explained Prof. Poppen. |
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After the presentation, in a casual discussion in his cabin, Dr. Prevost expressed, “I will be presenting this same paper when I get to the US. This was, hence, a very good opportunity of a dress rehearsal. The discussion was healthy and it really opened up my thinking into some unexplored facets of my paper too. I presented and I learnt a lot too. The learning was mutual, I hope.” “This has been a presentation of high academic content – not something I come across very often in the classroom. I missed the first ten minutes though. I wish I was there right from the beginning”, quipped Nitin Arya, a student of the OHIO-Christ Academy. |
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| (For Dr. Prevost’s brief profile, visit: http://ohiochrist.edu/faculty.html) |
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| Prof. Venkatesha attends International Symposium in ISB, Hyderabad |
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Jan 2007: Prof. Venkatesha Bhagavath – Assistant Director (Academics) attended the 5th International Symposium on Data Envelopment Analysis & Performance Management organized by International Data Envelopment Analysis Society (IDEAS) from 5th – 7th January, 2007. The venue for the conference was Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, India. Delegates from more than 25 countries participated in the symposium. The main theme of the symposium was to discuss the issues in methodological improvement and application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) – A tool for efficiency measurement of Decision Making Units. |
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The first day of the symposium saw a detailed panel discussion on the need for objectivity in performance measurement mechanism in the corporate world. The panelists comprised of Heads of HR functions from leading Indian and multinational companies and discussion, in addition to experience sharing, brought out different perspectives on performance measurement. The next two days of the symposium saw tutorials, panel discussions and paper presentations on both theoretical and application side of DEA method. Some of the major issues on which the symposium deliberated were:
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- Theoretical Advances in DEA
- DEA – Deterministic or Does it facilitate Statistical Inference?
- Faster Algorithms for Optimization in DEA
- Alternative Methods for Optimization – Fuzzy Logic, FM Algorithm
- Innovative applications of DEA in Health Care, Hedge funds, Banking, Pharmaceutical Industry, Retail, etc.
- Barriers to Application of DEA
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Prof. Venkatesha Bhagavath discussed the issue of bias with input aggregation and DEA model with violation of non-negativity assumption of output entries. Currently, he is working on theoretical aspects of Efficiency Measurement of decision-making units by DEA and other alternative models with an emphasis on application of alternative algorithms. |
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| A DYNAMITE PROFESSOR WHO MAKES LEARNING A JOY |
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Jan 2007: “You cannot go outside until you finish your homework” is an ultimatum mothers frequently use for their children. This is what motivates kids to do their homework: the incentive being - simply do it if you want to go outside and play! Learning is secondary. Student motivation is the students’ desire to learn and take an active role in their learning experience. Motivating students can often be a difficult task to accomplish and it takes special teachers to have the drive to constantly motivate their students towards success.
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Being enthusiastic about what he teaches and having creative classroom activities are two primary ways in which Dr. John R. Schermerhorn Jr. motivates his students and engages them in their learning experience. “He displays enthusiasm and is highly intrigued, committed, and truly values the subject he teaches us. His lectures are always expressed with energy, confidence, and excitement and this develops a positive attitude towards learning”, says Janani Sheshadri, a student of Batch 11.
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Prof. Schermerhorn gives his students a sense of importance, while revealing their imagination and curiosity to learn. Minute details such as his body language, facial expressions, eye contact and tone of voice indicate to the students that he is interested in what he is teaching. “His teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers”, explains Shika Nagrath, another student. |
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Creative classroom activity is another strategy he exploits to motivate his students. Project Based Learning is what he lays emphasis on. Amongst the three appealing projects that he has assigned to his students this year, one requires the students to visit a non-profit organization in India and learn about its purpose, clients, operations, management, and aspirations. In another project, the students are expected to select any one Organizational Behavior concept or theory and relate the same with an example in Indian popular culture/context. These projects stimulate students’ curiosity and intrigue them to want to know more about the subject being taught. Further, Prof. Schermerhorn ensures that the students are creative and work in teams. Along with it being a motivational tool, it also builds various skills such as working with others, enhances communication skills, and leadership skills; all these skills are applicable in the corporate jungle. Indubitably, Prof. Schermerhorn has equipped his students to be better employees, better leaders and better people, besides enforcing academic interest. Surabhi Gupta, a student, says, “His class has wide-ranging implications - from business to politics. The springboard of the teaching combined with perspective-taking may be a particularly constructive force.” “He is very positive in his approach and keeps the class very interactive and enthusiastic. He includes movies and interesting case studies giving real life examples that make us learn better. This is a whole new experience of classroom sessions in terms of informal communication with students. It sure is lots of fun!”, add Pratik Banda and A.S. Nagpal. |
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Undoubtedly, Prof. Schermerhorn takes the opportunity in the OHIO- India MBA program to impart to his pupils one of the most important skills and gift in life - a passion for learning. “He is an effective teacher who is fluent at two crafts — the subject itself and the craft of instructing others in its practice”, reveals Sikkander. With his guidance, attitude and classroom structure, his students have flourished into knowledge-hungry individuals. The Batch 11 students will always remember him as one special teacher who made a difference. |
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| (For Dr. Schermerhorn’s brief profile, visit: http://ohiochrist.edu/faculty.html or visit his website: |
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| STUDENTS RETURN FROM ATHENS, OHIO, USA |
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Dec 2006: It is always a delight to find out those students from our own nurturing grounds coming back to the campus narrating their success stories. Here’s another similar experience of Shailendra and Sauvik Ghosh, who are amongst the twenty odd Athens, U.S. returned students of OHIO-Christ Academy. |
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The students completed their last quarter, which was about four to five month long, in OHIO University campus. Sauvik was one amongst the JSCP students departed to France and had directly joined Shailendra and other students from Bangalore in the U.S. They were paired up with students from Mexico and Brazil for various programs like International Business etc.
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They had a wonderful learning experience both academically as well as socially. “Though the students are in no way ahead of Indian students on the awareness or IQ level, the only winning factor they possess is the determination and motivation to make a living,” pointed out Sauvik. The probable reason for this might be the task oriented education from the beginning and continuous assessment of skills learnt. |
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Even though the curriculum was more or less the same, a notable difference found was the ever-encouraging outlook of the teachers. They were always open to newer learning and also to feedback from the students over any topic. “Even if the students had a doubt in the middle of the night, the teachers were always ready to help on the count of an e-mail. There was a substantial amount of mutual learning involved”, says Sauvik. |
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There were also qualities of discipline and confidence learnt. The most laudable feature of the citizens there was a sense of civic duties. “There are programs such as ‘adopt a street’ where a family adopts a certain street in the neighborhood and looks after its cleansing activities”, says Shailendra. The students though not in a position to patch up our country’s welfare activities as a whole, but sure enough they have sowed the seed of a ‘beginning to success’ by implementing these principles in their own lives. Another major difference in the two nations is the see-through and foolproof nature of administration, free from all social and political evils like bribery and wastage of resources etc. The progress in technology has surely led to the overall development of the nation.
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“Apart from the usual curiosity about Indians and their demography, a usual point of inquisitiveness amongst the Americans was of the different languages we speak”, notes Shailendra. Even though many of them had heard about Bangalore, but most of them were unaware of the fact that it was a part of India. The students had an emphatic time explaining our culture. There was also a slight presence of discomfort with respect to the rising inflation and loss of employment opportunities to countries like India and China etc.
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This indeed was a brilliant learning experience for the students not just in the academic sense but also in terms of emerging as a global mortal. According to them, freedom of expression and comfort of mobility and acquaintance is necessary for an overall progress, be it amongst the students or with the teachers. This helps not just in an act of communication and confidence building, but also in the dissemination of knowledge. It was a holistic and reciprocal encounter where in the true motive of OHIO-Christ Academy was realized - that of moulding raw potentials into world-class managers capable of operating in the realms of competition. |
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| FACULTY PRESENTATION – DR. RANGAN |
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December 19, 2006: Dr. Nanda K. Rangan, Professor, OHIO University presented a paper on “Financial System – A Conceptual Framework” on Thursday, December 14, 2006. Students and faculty of OHIO-Christ Academy attended the lecture along with various faculty invitees of other b-schools in Bangalore. The power point presentation was held in the Video – Conferencing room. |
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Dr. Rangan kicked off the presentation by discussing a brief overview of the existing financial system in our country. While deliberating on the financial system and its components, the main points of focus were the goals of the government like monetary policy, fiscal policy and regulatory structure.
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Next in line was the savings and investment aspect, which was directed at the participants and instruments in the savings-investment process. Dr. Rangan highly structured the lecture bringing in classification of financial markets, types of financial institutions and financial intermediation. He elaborated on depository and non-depository institutions. |
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Moving on, types of securities like primary and direct securities were talked about along with he disadvantages of the same, which included search cost, transaction cost, diversification and liquidity. The role of the financial system and its obligations towards the business sector, government sector and household sector threw light on the actual efficiency of the financial system both operational (minimization of the amount of resources required for the performance of exchange transactions) and allocation efficiency (maximum quantity of output of goods and services, in the optimal composition, is achieved from a given level of available productive resources). |
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Dr. Rangan also discussed on monetary and fiscal policies and their co-ordination. Level of interest rates, referring to the interest rates prevailing at any given point of time and structure of interest rates, referring to the patterns of the yields on many interest-bearing instruments, were conferred on for the understanding of the students. Also, how demand and supply chains form an important tool in the fluctuating interest rates were pondered on. The presentation ended with a popular indication towards inflation and its relationship with various issues so discussed previously. |
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Dr. Rangan made it a point to explain each and every aspect of technicality in the easiest possible manner along with examples from day-to-day life incidences. This lecture as every other was also filled with moments of relief where he would add a tint of humor to his questions. He assured the students with questions, which were of their knowledge concerned. |
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| FACULTY PAPER PRESENTATION – DR. MORGAN |
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December 13, 2006: Dr. Felicia N. Morgan, Professor, OHIO University presented her research paper on “Perspective Learning on Research and Research Opportunities in India – The Time is now” on Wednesday. The faculty of OHIO-Christ Academy attended the seminar and also the faculty invitees from CCIM, SBMJC-CMS, and IIPM etc. |
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Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi, Professor, OHIO-Christ Academy introduced Dr. Morgan to the participants of the seminar. He talked about his experiences of working with her and also hoped to see this paper in the published form sooner. |
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Dr. Morgan drew our attention to the fact that India is the center of attraction with respect to a marketing perspective and anyone wanting to study the various changes in this field should be in attendance in order to witness it at a faster pace as compared to any other country. |
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According to her, culture plays a very important role in determining marketing strategies in our country. Moreover, there is a rapid ongoing change in culture and hence, the formal theories in the books developed in the west are not applicable in our industries. There is a need for us to utilize the existing studies and economically evolve into applied research.
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Dr. Morgan discussed the various facets of consumer-brand relationships like nature of channel relationships, structure of supply and delivery networks, competitive spheres, role of the government etc. She believes that marketing can best be understood if pictorially represented. Hence, she makes use of a lot of pictures in her classroom lectures. And here also, one of the main eye-catchers’ was a picture of a roaring wave, which symbolizes the state of Indian Economy racing towards enormous success. |
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She also briefed us on her latest work titled “Branding Implications of Partner Firm – Focal Firm Relationship in Business to Business” also by Dawn Deeter Schmelz and Christopher Moberg besides herself. This expects to get published in the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. |
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Next, she talked about the service networks and a proposed model for relationship between customer and focal firm. The propositions made were how the following factors moderate the effects of partner performance on customer evaluation of the focal firm: - |
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- Partner Firm Performance
- Focal Brand Strength
- Focal Firm – Partner Firm Relationship Strength (customer perceptions)
- Focal Firm – Customer Relationship Strength
- Importance of Partner Service.
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Dr. Morgan emphasized on the importance of customer contact personnel and their contribution in brand imaging and equity development, whether they are from focal firm or the partner firm. The seminar ended with a question and answer session where the scope of this study in India’s rural scenario was questioned. The suggestion made was to recast this study for a wider scope of development in India. There were also discussions on multiple branding and factors responsible for the selection of brands by the service sectors. Professor Doraiswami, CCIM gave an example of Wockhardt Hospitals as a service industry involved in research. |
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| FACULTY OF THE MONTH: Dr. Nanda K. Rangan |
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Dr. Nanda K.Rangan, the Executive Director – International Operations and Charles E. Chair O’Bleness Chair of Banking and Finance, completed his graduation as a B.E. in 1971 at the University of Madras and worked with the Sri Ram Group of Companies before moving to the USA for higher studies. In the USA, he successfully completed an M.S. in Finance as well as Ph.D. in Finance both from Texas A&M University. He taught as an Assistant Professor of Finance in the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, IL before moving to Athens, OHIO College of Business where he joined the Finance Department within the college as a Professor. |
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Numerous research works of his has been published in world-renowned journals such as the Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Banking and Finance, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Financial Services, Financial Review and Financial Management etc. “The Role of Syndicate Structure in Bank Underwriting?” Rajesh P. Narayanan, Kasturi P. Rangan and Nanda Rangan, Journal Of Financial Economics, 72, 2004 and “The Effect of Private – Debt Underwriting on Bank Public Debt Underwriting” Rajesh P. Narayanan, Kasturi P. Rangan and Nanda K. Rangan, Review of Financial Studies (forthcoming) being the most recent publication. |
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Dr. Rangan has been honored with several awards. He has been awarded the “Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher”, Southern Illinois University, 1989; “Outstanding Researcher” Southern Illinois University, 1990; “Researcher of the Year”, Southern Illinois University, 1992; “Researcher of the Year”, Southern Illinois University, 1994; “Outstanding Graduate Teacher”, Southern Illinois University, 1995; “Superior Presentation Performance Award” FMA, 1996; “Excellence in Teaching”, OHIO University, 2001; “Outstanding Academic Paper in Financial Institutions and Markets, EFA, 2002 to name a few. |
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His research interests include corporate finance, financial markets and institutions, managerial economics and business statistics. He claims to have grown with each and every opportunity that presented itself. Although his career was not planned by the book, economical status was never considered an important criterion at work. Dr. Rangan was the main force behind the creation of India Program of the College of Business, OHIO University. He believes that this program could not have evolved to its current stature without the support of Dr. John Keifer and dean Glenn Corlett. He envisions making OHIO-Christ Academy a global platform along with fastening up the country’s development process. |
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His major sources of motivation that re-energizes him time and again are his students who seem to be on the path of ever growing success. The prominent difference he finds between the students in India and the rest of the world is the makeup of the educational system. He thinks students in India should develop a disciplined active reading pattern and develop work ethic as well as motivation to indulge in continuous learning. |
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“Indian students are much more adaptable than others when it comes to global learning. But there are not many institutions, which produce eminent graduates to meet the ever-increasing demands of the flourishing industry of India. Supply is less than demand. Hence, the companies grab the students at a chunk of a price. There is a huge need for high-quality programs on one hand and on the other, to churn out panache students.” commented Dr. Rangan. He also quoted an example of a survey conducted in the UK according to which India needs at least another three to four thousand institutions to produce quality students in order to cope up with the current demands in the market. |
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According to him, India is booming at a phenomenal rate. The economy is growing at a rate of 10% with it doubling over a span of seven years. As a solution to the problem of insufficient human resource in the country, Dr. Rangan suggested measures like focusing on the education sector, improving infrastructure, searching for the right kind of talent etc. At the same time, there is a high displacement rate of employees in the organization. The best talents are always attracted by all equally. “Some of the important reasons may be clashes with the ideology of the management, lesser growth opportunities etc. Therefore, there is a need to stabilize these factors in order to retain the best talents in the interest of the organization” says Dr. Rangan. |
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On the current trends in marketing, he opines, “There is a necessity in the market. The average youth is now earning tremendous amount of money. There is an increase in the purchasing power of the common man. Consumerism has led to a sustained need and hence, an effort to meet them in every aspect possible. Society should not prescribe norms in order to define the requisites of the entire community and form a narrow outlook.” |
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On a lighter note, his favorite pass-times are music, sports and books that keep him company when he can take time out from his busy schedule. Primarily he reads material related to political sciences and finance. He is very passionate about sports and also has a niche for Indian classical music, which he has undergone training in as a child. Dr. Rangan presently is based in Athens along with wife Rajeshwari and two kids, who are pursuing their education. |
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| Working in Teams: Tips for Practicing Managers |
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CAPSIM PRACTICE ROUNDS – FEEDBACK FROM B10 Dec 2006 ~ Batch 10 students are done with their MBA Coursework, and are already strapping up their boots for the corporate world. Strategy was the last course they completed. As part of the course on Policy and Strategy, the students of Batch 10 completed the simulation game CAPSIM, which was put into practice by Prof. John Keifer, Faculty of Strategy, OHIO University. The idea was to implement strategy intent, compete with the rest of the teams (companies) and create value for shareholders while considering all aspects of a business management profitably. |
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Feedback on the experience of playing the Strategy Simulation Game was elicited from the batch of students by Kranti Dugar and Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi. |
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The game has certainly laid down principles of governance and guidelines for future batches and on the larger front, for the managerial section of the industry. While it had been an experience to remember for some, it turned out to be a nightmare for a few others. On one hand, where skills of cooperation and teamwork ousted the fear of working in a dynamic industrial environment, it also instilled feelings of competitive hostilities on the other. In teams where leadership qualities were not stabilized and decided upon, there was disappointment and confusion amongst the members. |
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Decision-making capabilities and logical bent of mind were focused upon. While some felt a lack of cooperation and coordination, some others were teeming with ideas. Respect for the respective members and mutual aid were the important qualities felt to be of utmost importance while running an organization. The game also brought into focus the significance of presence of unity in the teams. |
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There were moments when even leaders of the teams succumbed to fatigue and frustration due to lack of an appropriate team spirit. This added on to the doom of their teams’ performance. There were also students who felt the need of being neutral in order to arrive at a more practical methodology of working. Yet another student had the opinion that “Communication is the key to success. Listen to what others say. Try to arrive at a solution that is favorable to the team and not individual sentiments. Evaluate all pros and cons. It is a part and parcel of the teamwork. We have to cope with it. Difficulties can be sorted out by understanding one another.” |
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CAPSIM taught future managers to learn the techniques of management under extreme conditions maturely and deal with challenges successfully. Those who failed to do so were made to realize their weaknesses and build on it. The interpersonal styles of functioning also helped them in exploring different facets of the same problem and bring out a comprehensive result minimizing the chances of errors in decision-making. “I have learnt a lot about basic financial ratios and concepts. Being a marketing student with no background of finance was a disadvantage, but now I understand the impact of each department, interconnections and relationships between many factors. It helps understand critical organizational functions and develop better strategies”, quoted a participant. |
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As an end to one phase of learning, there were suggestions made by the students for improving the game for the coming batches and adopt it more professionally to the existing industrial scenario. Demands put forward by the students were “Include company takeovers and JV’s”, “The decisions taken at the beginning of the program should not be final and should have provisions for change and development”, “Explain the relationship and impact of different factors in each department better” and “The dividends issued have no relevant bearing on the stock price”.
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Professors Shivaprakash A.R. and Kranti Dugar evaluated the performance of the teams in the simulation game. “The moves of your competitors in the marketplace have a direct bearing on your performance.” says Nikhil Pappu, one of the students. Previously, in the final CAPSIM practice debriefs, Prof. Shivaprakash had told the teams, “Strategy is not about outsmarting the competition. It is about creating space for oneself. It is not about winning, but about building capacity to win”. |
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Thus, CAPSIM for Batch 10 was on the whole consistent in training the students for realistic strategic management implementation. Grippingly, the Andrews and the Chesters have led the pack this time. This has never been the case in CAPSIM. “The timing of this teamwork experience couldn’t have been better, given the fact that the students are getting placed in companies that would require them to work in teams effectively, what with stress, et al”, quipped Prof. Shivaprakash. “This is a big learning experience for the students. For the junior batch of students (B11), we are planning to start the simulation in January 2007”, added Prof. Keifer. |
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| Dr. Schermerhorn holds an interactive V-Con session |
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Wed, Dec 6, 2006 ~ Dr. John R. Schermerhorn, Jr., Charles G. O'Bleness Professor of Management in the College of Business at OHIO University, conducted a Video-Conference session for Batch 11 students. This was prior to the start of his classes on Organizational Behavior, which will start in January 2007. |
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Introducing the students to the subject of Organizational Behavior, Dr. Schermerhorn advised the students to be "Thoughtful consumers of MBA", rather than "Naive consumers of MBA". He highlighted the fact that students should try and recognize the relevance and application of OB practices in the Indian context, given that most research on OB is done in US and in Western Europe. The the students were very participative, and asked many questions to Dr. Schermerhorn, who was sitting in Copeland Hall at the CoB at OHIO University, the other face of the globe! |
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Dr. Schermerhorn displayed enthusiasm to work together with the students to find insights to Leadership applicable in India. For one, he showed an authentic Indian video of a Kerala backwater boat race (Vellam Kali) to highlight the importance of individual performance in teamwork! He also clarified course content, structure, schedule and grading composition. But in “Schermerhorn style” (as he himself puts it), he said that the students should be on a real vacation during Christmas and advised the students to come back fresh and motivated for his course in January. |
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The session was a success. “The numbers looked good and the quality of sound and video was good. This is encouraging”, said Mr. Reji, Sytems in-chrage at OHIO-Christ academy. “We will conduct more sessions in the future. With each session, we get better”, quipped Mr. Girish, Asst. Director of Administration. |
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Brief Profile: Dr. John R. Schermerhorn Jr. joined OHIO University in 1989 as the Charles G. O’Bleness Professor of Management. He received his PhD from Northwestern University and an MBA with distinction from New York University. He is the author or co-author of many scholarly articles and four books: Management, Managing Organizational Behavior, Basic Organizational Behavior, and Management and Organizational Behavior Essentials. His teaching and consulting in management and organizational development focus on human resources strategies for productivity improvement. He has conducted training programs for firms in the United States and other parts of the world. Before joining the faculty at Ohio University, he taught at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he also served as head of the Department of Management and associate dean of the College of Business Administration. Dr. Schermerhorn is the author and co-author of numerous journal articles and book chapters. He is author of Exploring Management (2007), Management (Ninth Edition, In Press), Core Concepts of Management (2003), and Management and Organizational Behavior Essentials (1996), and senior co-author of Organizational Behavior (Ninth Edition, 2005), Core Concepts of Organizational Behavior (2003), Introducing Management (2000) and Basic Organizational Behavior (Second Edition, 1998), all popular college textbooks published by John Wiley & Sons. His books are available in Chinese, Dutch, French, Indonesian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish language editions. |
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A current and past member of the editorial boards of several journals, Dr. Schermerhorn received the excellence in leadership award for his service as Chair of the Management Education and Development Division of the Academy of Management. He has won awards for teaching excellence at Tulane University, The University of Vermont, and Ohio University, where he was named a University Professor, the university's leading campus-wide award for undergraduate teaching. |
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| Satyam Recruits! |
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Friday, Dec 1, 2006 ~ December 1st, 2006 witnessed the presence of Satyam Computer Services on campus to recruit students. |
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A three-member team that comprised of Archana Muthappa, General Manager, Human Resources; Sanjeev Kumar, Dy. General Manager, SAP and Dinesh Kumar, Consulting and Enterprise Solutions represented Satyam. Mr. Nirmal, Corporate Relationship Manager at OHIO-Christ Academy, upon whose invitation the panel was in campus, escorted them to the seminar hall. Mr. Dinesh Kumar made a presentation about Satyam and the opportunities in the various areas of Finance, Marketing and HR. Archana indicated upon the kind of quality that they were looking for specifically good communication skills, great attitude, enthusiasm and sound basics. |
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Eight students from OHIO-Christ Academy participated in the interview process, and performed like true bobcats. There was a group discussion section as well which was held in the open air out in the actuary. This was followed by interviews. |
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Out of the 8 who were interviewed, 6 got short-listed and 4 of them were offered the final package. "There is a lot of positive energy amongst the students", said Mr. Sanjeev. To add on to this Ms Archana complemented, “There is a lot of enthusiasm and students seem to have pretty good communication skills, a great attitude with a willingness to learn, which is what we wanted to see from the bunch.” |
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| Dr. Rangan delivers lecture in a Panel Discussion |
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Thu, Nov 30, 2006 ~ Dr. Nanda K. Rangan, Executive Director of International Operations, College of Business, OHIO University, gave a talk on the topic “Indian Economy- an Outlook” while taking part as a member in a Panel Discussion organized by the Christ College Institute of Management (CCIM) held in the Main Auditorium, Christ College. |
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Talking on “How US investors perceive the Indian markets?” Dr. Rangan highlighted the value creation, financial, social, technological, economic and cultural aspects of the American stance towards the Indian markets.
The other two panelists for the event were Dr. V. Ranganathan, Professor of Economics & Coordinator, Economics and Social Science Area & Energy Sector, IIMB and Mr. S. Harikrishnan, Deputy General Manager of Forex, RBI, Bangalore.
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Gaurav, a student of CCIM, opened the event to the audience, which comprised of Faculty members and students of CCIM and OHIO-Christ Academy. Prof. T.S. Ramachandran, Professor of Finance, CCIM, moderated the Panel Discussion. |
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| Dr. Felicia will teach Marketing for Batch 11 |
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Thu, Nov 9, 2006 ~ Dr. Felicia Morgan, Asst. Professor of Marketing at the College of Business, OHIO University, will be in Bangalore on Nov 20th, 2006. She will be teaching Principles of Marketing (MKT 501) to Batch 11. This is her second visit to Bangalore this year. A market Academician and well-published Researcher, she loves Indian food and likes to travel too. “I am looking forward to teaching the new batch of students. Last time I was in Bangalore, I went to a dhaba too! I love Indian food, especially alu paratha and mishti doy!”, she says.
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Dr. Felicia N. Morgan is Assistant Professor in OHIO University and is a PhD in Marketing from Arizona State University (2004). She holds an MBA from the University of New Orleans and her research interests are in services marketing and management, services branding, service networks, marketing communication, customer experience management. Her professional experience spans over 10 years in marketing management and finance within the services sector. She also enjoyed an early career as a professional musician. |
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| Dr. Rangan is in India |
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Thu, Nov 9, 2006 ~ Dr. Nanda K. Rangan, Executive Director, International Operations, is in India. He reached here on the 20th of Nov, 2006. He is currently teaching Foundations of Finance (FIN 525) to Batch 11 and in addition, he is focusing on Networking with the Industry. This is Dr. Rangan’s second visit since the inception of the new batch (Batch 11) at the Christ College campus. Last July, he had addressed the batch in a 2-hour session on “How firms create value – Market arbitrage”. |
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Dr. Nanda K. Rangan joined OHIO University in 1995, and holds the distinguished Charles E. O'Bleness Chair in Banking and Finance. He chairs the Finance Department and is the Executive Director of International Operations. He received his undergraduate degree in engineering from the University of Madras and his MS and PhD from Texas A&M University. Prior to joining OHIO University, he served as chair of the finance department at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He has published extensively in leading finance and economics journals. His teaching, research, and consulting interests include corporate finance, financial institutions, financial markets, and public policy. He is the recipient of several awards for excellence in teaching and research and serves on the editorial boards of three journals. |
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| Titan Industries Ltd. hires students for projects |
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Fri, Nov 3, 2006 ~ Mr. Kumaran, HR Manager, Titan Industries Ltd. and Mr. Keshav Dhotrekar, ASM, Institutional Sales, Tanishq, Titan Industries Ltd., met with Mr. Girish M. regarding placements for OHIO-Christ students. |
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Salma Raheem and Perin Sholapurwala, students of Batch 11, were selected for a project, which is a survey on corporate gifts. The project will kick-start immediately and will run for a period of one or one and a half months. The students would work 2-3 hours in a day for around 4 days in a week. They would be paid expenses and would get a certificate. |
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Providing feedback about OHIO Graduates, Mr. Keshav said, "Your students are right on bang. They are of good quality and it is difficult for us to choose out of them. Normally, other students from other schools have to be taught ABC's of Marketing. But with your students, we don’t need to do anything.” |
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| Students celebrate Diwali, crack a difficult case! |
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Fri, Oct 20, 2006 ~ For some people, Diwali is about cracking cases, and not bursting crackers! Ask Gaurav Kumar Singh, and he will tell you that. Helped by classmates Achala Raju and Yashas Patwardhan, Gaurav cracked a difficult case in Binomial Probability Distribution, which was given by Prof. Venkatesha Bhagawath, Professor of Mathematics and Business Statistics. |
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The major challenge of the case was to optimize the number of rooms in a resort, so that overbooking could be avoided and revenues could be maximized. The students calculated the expected revenues for different numbers using Binomial Probability Distribution. The expected revenue was plotted on a graph with a regression line. The regression equation was then maximized to arrive at the optimum number of rooms. |
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Prof. Bhagawath believes in case studies as important tools in management pedagogy. “A case study is the best method to traverse beyond mere conceptual understanding of a tool or technique or method. The idea is to teach application in real-life scenarios. Points that are limited under usual classroom discussions can be brought out with the help of case studies”, states Prof. Bhagawath. |
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| Incidentally, this team was the only team in a class of 100+ students that was able to crack the case. |
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| Following are brief profiles of the students: |
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Gaurav Kumar Singh: Has a degree in Commerce from the Bangalore University and a work-experience of one year. He has a keen interest in Statistics and Finance and wants to specialize in Finance at the OHIO-MBA Program. |
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Achala Raju: A former Christite, she is a B.Com Graduate from Bangalore University. She has done projects for ICICI Mutual Funds and Restolex Pvt. Ltd. She is looking at a Marketing specialization in her MBA. |
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Yashas S. Patwardhan: Is a B.Com graduate from Bangalore University and had Advanced Accountancy as his main subject. He has worked for two years with Aviva Life Insurance. He wants to specialize in Marketing in his MBA. |
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| Citibank NRI Services recruits from Campus for the third time |
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Wed, Oct 18, 2006 ~ Pre-Placement Talks - Citibank NRI Services Mr. Vinod Eashwar, Regional Sales Manager, South and Asst. V.P., Citibank NRI Services and Mr. Narasimhan C.S., Asst. Sales Manager (also an alumnus of the Program) visited the campus on Wednesday, Oct 18th, 2006 for pre-placement talks with the batch graduating Nov 2006. In a meeting with Prof. Shivaprakash A.R., the Director of the Program, Prof. John Keifer, Faculty, OHIO University, Dr. Ted Compton, Faculty of MIS, Mr. Kranti Dugar, Research Fellow and Mr. Girish M., Asst. Director of Administration, OHIO-Christ Academy. Mr. Vinod was brimming with praise for the OHIO-India graduates. “Your graduates are very real on expectations. They know what to expect from their job and know what is expected of them”, he said. With training becoming more and more a component involving expenses and resources, Mr. Vinod s |
