International Exposure Module for GMP (09-10)

Here is the summary of International Immersion for GMP 2009-2010 post on XLRI website

http://www.xlri.ac.in/scripts/internationalexpo.php

International immersion was an exciting & enriching experience of XLRI's one year General Management Program (GMP) (2009-10), five groups of students travelled to 5 different geographical locations across the globe – to Chicago and New Orleans in USA, Munster in Germany, Lille in France and Manila in Philippines, showing the emphasis XLRI puts on diverse international experience that its students would bring to the class. The 3 week long program focused on familiarizing the students with business climate and industrial scenario of their host countries, as well as giving them a chance to execute a project for different organizations there. For example, the group that went to AIM, Manila visited world Head quarters of Asian Development Bank and participated in round table conference on State Owned Enterprises. The group also worked on consulting projects for companies like Cognizant, Jollibee Foods Corporation, Lafarge etc. and helped them in strategy development & developing forecast model. The team Germany was accompanied by the Dean of GMP program, Dr. Pranabesh Ray. Germany is the home of world's most respected companies like SAP, BMW, addidas, SIEMENS, Deutsche Bank etc. Applying class room teachings, the group developed insight into German manufacturing industry through value chain analysis and studied the corporate strategies of big and medium size companies in Germany. The Chicago group got an unique opportunity of attending CII Conference headed by Mr. Sam Pitroda (advisor to Prime Minister of India), also present were business leaders from Chicago & India and professional turned academician, Raghuram Rajan (IMF Chief Economist, 2003-2006). Further, the group made a visit to Chicago Board of Trade. The group also made a presentation on "Destination India" day, highlighting the exciting business opportunities & quality of human resources present in India. The programme for the New Orleans group was hosted by Tulane University. Besides Company projects, students also participated in a strategy simulation game (CAPSIM) where they created and managed virtual companies that competed against each other for 8 simulated years. Students acting as top management of the company took decisions in various management areas of marketing, operations, finance and HR. The group not only completed the simulations successfully but also made it to the global top 10 rankings amongst world's foremost B schools and Corporations who they were playing the game with. The France team went to IESEG at Lille and did marketing & strategy projects for the world's 4th biggest Home-Improvement Retail company, and visited EU Parliament at Brussels and Paris to interact with local businesses. According to the Dean, "the international immersion programme not only helps executive GMP students understand the nuances of new economic order but also showcases Indian talent to the world".

Signing off on a winning note

The Faculty led by Prof Sengupta threw a challenge to GMP batch for a football match.The timing for GMPians could not have been better.With fourth term coming to a fag end, there was little excitement in the routine.GMPians took the challenge.What followed was a break from the late nights and some "Forced" practice sessions in the morning.Sourav Samtani led from the front,even if it meant giving morning wake up calls to the team members.Eventually colleagues used to avoid meeting him at dinner time fearing that he will coax them into a morning session next day.

To pull the rest of the batch to the field,Suraj fired his salvo by his mail...which served both as an invitation and a warning.

Extract reproduced below.

"They were not educated like the learned Romans;  Only thing they could read were the ferocious eyes of their opponents. They did not belong to the noble blood, but they tasted blood to entertain the nobility,
When elite Roman studied astronomy and geometry, they learned the language of swords, arrows, dust and blood.
They were the Gladiators ……the entertainers of the elite.
 2000 years have passed…………………………but the legend continues,

So as the elite GMPians will busy themselves with books, Some would be fighting for the pride of GMP on the football ground.
They don’t enjoy Grades, they don’t cherish Ranks,
What they enjoy is bruised knees and bleeding elbows.
Coming to cheer them is not the matter of Choice; It is the matter of Guts."

The mail did the trick. With GMPians coming out in big numbers, the stage was set for the big show.

 As the Sun dropped a few degrees to welcome a hot evening, the XLRI football field heated up with an excellent football .The standard of play was expectedly high. Faculty team produced a performance in the first half that saw them levelled at 0-0 despite the GMP capturing the ball for 80% of the time. This first half included intense attacks by the GMPians, strong defence and some excellent airborne goalkeeper enabled saves by the faculty team.

Half Time- GMP- 0………………Faculty- 0

On the risk of a little digression, it should be pointed out that the referee was also feeling the intense competitive heat, but made his all time best efforts to keep up with the fast paced game. There were a few controversies regarding referee deciding against giving offside on two occasions but the high voltage drama continued with the right sportsman spirit. It was a fun filled game with spectators from all age groups. Adults, children, extra players and refreshment serving staff all cheered for their favourite side. The huge number of onlookers ensured enormous vocal output. Photographers with their variously sized cameras clicked every detail of the match.

 The second half saw the introduction of young blood from the faculty team. These kids were campus residents and threatened complete demolition of the tiring GMPians. It was this half that saw increasing attacks from the faculty team. However GMPians led by their captain drew the first blood and scored two goals in quick successions. GMPians produced their best display in the past few weeks and proved too strong for faculty team, progressing to the final whistle with a couple of goals more. Thus the lead stretched to 4-0 and XLRI GMP team won the match with a BIG-BANG.

End of the match- GMP- 4…………………Faculty- 0

The agility of our professors and staff members showed their fitness and commitment level. The camaraderie amongst players was evident throughout the game and the post match handshakes and appreciation of each others’   game added to the healthy playing atmosphere. XLRI, we would miss so many things related to you and this match would certainly be one amongst them.  

Photograph courtesy- Durgesh,Omkar,Hemant and Venkat

Article composed by Pracheesh and Ankit

Branding - The GMP style

Since the very day, GMPians stepped into XL, they were enthusiastic about strengthening the brand - GMP. The creativity reached its peak when the mail trails started with various slogans to be printed on their T-shirts..... My mail box would have over 200 mails with multiple ideas and suggestions on what should be the design on our 'planned' T-shirts.... We got many many suggestions and some of them are listed below.
"often emulated seldom matched","XLence is everything, rest is IIMaterial or ISBullshit" , "XLence is everything,rest is all IIMaterial", "...neither S nor M, nor it is L... live life in XL...", "it's here... passion n knowledge gel......n together we XL...", "...the confleuence of knowledge brings XLence...", "Live Life XL size", "XLence Rules"
Arguments and counter arguments in favour or against these slogans kept on pouring in our mail boxes. This was just the beginning of a year full of brainstorming sessions for many more things to follow...We started contacting vendors in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata etc but none of them was ready to print 100 odd pieces as it was too less a quantity for a whole seller. I personally contacted over 20 vendors and asked for samples. Few of them responded positively and most of them simply agreed to send samples but never reverted.
We tried to get in some vendors locally but the quality of the fabric was the issue. Finally we got hold of a vendor in Delhi who was ready to deliver us our most awaited sweat shirts with customized design..
But problems didn't shy away from us even now. The extreme fog in northern India kept on delaying the consignment which could reach us only till the end of January. Rest is just history... For remaining days of winter...the favourite color of GMPians was Black and the most number of times I read XLRI - GMP in a fortnight was on the back of GMPians walking around.
Here is the design we finalized....

And the efforts are on to get t-shirts now!!

Cheers,
Hemant