“Climate & Society- The emerging Challenges” by Mr. T.Ramaswamy , CMD Indian Bank.

One of the most exhaustive, comprehensive, cerebral and unimaginably superior lectures ever delivered on the topic ‘Climate & Society’. 

Mr. Ramaswamy, in a serious tone, prophesied that the future would be bleak if the leaders of today cannot shed their inept reluctance in learning from the climate catastrophes of the past. The speaker observed that, we, the civilization of present times, are blessed with the technological sophistication that can distil clear patterns from the infinitely complex history.

Referring to Dr. Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s proposition “To build robustness into negative ones that occur, and being able to exploit positive ones”, he pointed out that it is vitally important to hear out opinions of critics and scientists both.  Taking leafs out of Al Gore’s climate campaign, Dr. Ramaswamy noted that the struggle to bear upon the nations, the gravity of situation on the climate front, has always been there.

In a different context, the speaker quoting Einstein “Not everything that counts can be counted…” cautioned us that in the fight to decode climate changes and their direct correlations to the rise and fall of civilizations, we may end up with conclusions the solutions to which might have slipped away from our hands by then.

The speaker also presented to us, the notion of Alarmists ( CO2 levels dominant) and the Deniers (influence of oceans and changes in sunlight). Here, he advised us that in our endeavour to find answers, we make provisions to hear from both the parties, not just in climate but elsewhere too.

About “Maunder Minimum-period of minimal sunspot activity”, the speaker spent some time ruminating on the monsoons of India, and whether there was a connection. About Marib Dam, Yemen built in 750 BC, upgraded in 1968, Dr. Ramaswamy took us through the rationale behind Yemen tribes moving away from the region following the collapse of the dam.

His lecture included tireless evocation of the forces behind the victims of Tambora volcanic explosion that resulted in crop failures, increased sulphur content in atmosphere, etc. Towards the end, the speaker ran us through the events surrounding Toba’s explosion (74000 yrs ago that killed all but 3000 people on the planet), the recent Tsunami, Global impacts of the El Nino southern oscillation that is depriving India of rainfall.

He also discussed at length, the theories of Eccentricity, precision, obliquity and their combined effect on climate; Thermohaline circulation; The 8.2 ka BP event 6250 BC, sudden cooling of northern hemisphere; 4.2 ka BPGiant release of ice bergs into the atlantic oceans ;ITCZ inter tropical convergence zone and thermal equator; Tipping points in earth’s climate system-chaotic tipping points; “runaway greenhouse dynamics”.

Dr. Ramaswamy ended his delightful lecture of epic proportions with Dr. Jared Diamond’s analysis of societies in his book “Collapse”.

K S Sripathi, Chief Secretary, Govt. of TN

presides over dedication of Great Lakes’ Tecpro Faculty Block

Tecpro Systems contributed Rs 2 crores

 Executive MBA program in Energy Management under the aegis of the C T Bauer College, University of Houston Announced 

On February 04, 2010, Great Lakes Institute of Management dedicated the new Tecpro Faculty Block, in partnership with Tecpro Systems. Mr. Ajay Kumar Bishnoi, Chairman & Managing Director, Tecpro Systems, a leading manufacturer and service provider of Bulk Solids Handling Systems, was at the function, presided over by the Chief Secretary, Govt of TN, Shri K S Sripathi.

Tecpro Systems’ contribution will go towards the faculty block being named after the company. This facility is the ground floor wing at Great Lakes 20-acre campus in Manamai, with a capacity to house around 12 Faculty members, Researchers and a conference room.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Bala V Balachandran said “When you have a passion for teaching, you leave a favorable imprint on the minds of your students. Our Faculty members are some of the most experienced and widely known in their fields forming the Intellectual Capital of our School. The faculty block reflects our commitment to providing our faculty with all the facilities that are conducive to teaching, research and guiding students. The Tecpro faculty Block will also contribute to a positive environment for faculty and student interaction on the campus,”

Dedicating the new Tecpro Faculty Block, Mr Ajay Kumar Bishnoi said, “Tecpro and Great Lakes, together, share a common dream of building a great nation with a bright future. At Tecpro, we relish the fact that we have a role to play in the story of “Indian revolution”. Tecpro Faculty Block is a small beginning in this direction from where the Acharyas of this great B-School will be grooming future leaders. It is our pleasure to be associated with this great institution, ably led by Prof. Bala and we look forward to this mutual association.”

The occasion also witnessed the Announcement of the Executive MBA program in Energy Management under the aegis of the C T Bauer College, University of Houston. This unique, world-class program -- offered for Senior Energy Managers in India and South-East Asia -- is the same as being offered in the US, where it is rated as the top Executive MBA program focused on Energy Management. Prof. Bala V Balachandran added that “In the years to come, Carbon credits and energy consumption will play a vital role in business decision-making in an organization and help in achieving that organization's business objectives. Our aim is to create visionaries in the energy sector. We need to go beyond traditional thinking around oil and gas if our country is to be energy-efficient.”

The Executive MBA program in Energy Management will focus exclusively on energy research and management. Aimed at the top honchos of Indian corporates and future CEO’s associated with energy sector companies, the two-year program will cost Rs. 13.5 lakhs. The inaugural course begins in July 2010; it will focus on nuclear energy, and alternate energy sources like solar and wind power, with executives having to attend classes for nine-day stints, eight times over two years, part of which will be in the US. The faculty will feature a 50:50 mix of Indian and US professionals.

Prof. Bala Balachandran welcomed dignitaries at the function, and Prof. T N Swaminathan delivered the vote of thanks.

2nd International Entrepreneurial Conference and Nirman 2010, A Unique B-Plan Contest at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.

Great Lakes Institute Management played host to the 2nd International Entrepreneurship Conference held on 13th January 2010 at its East Coast Road Campus. On the occasion, the Institute also unveiled Great Lakes i-Lab, an initiative of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Great Lakes.

Mr. R. Sreenivasan, founder and Managing Director of Redington India Ltd and Dr. Ashok Vasudevan, CEO of Preferred Brands International, and visiting professor at Great Lakes Institute of Management presided over the inaugural session and  unveiled South India’s first Innovation Lab as part of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

The Conference aimed to bring together Academia and Corporates on one platform to discuss ideas and methods to not only incubate future entrepreneurs but also reduce the alarming rate of failures seen in entrepreneurial ventures. The i-Lab is intended to provide a unique platform for young business ideas to take root and will lay the foundation for the key Business Modeling Process. The occasion also hosted an enthralling unique Business Model Competition, Nirman 2010, where the brightest and the most entrepreneurial minds from the country were judged and honored by a distinguished panel of judges including Sameer Mehta, founder of Atlas Advisory and COO Mehta Hospitals, Dr. Saibaba, Head, Strategic and Human Resources Planning Section at IGCAR,  Ranjith Menon, VP, IDG Venture India and Rajesh Sukumara, Co-Founder and COO, Pellucid Networks.

The Patriots (class of 2010) were fortunate to have distinguished speakers like Abhishek Humbad,  founder of NextGen, a company in the energy and environment space, R. Ramaraj, Co-Founder and CEO, Sify Ltd and a senior advisor with Sequoia Capital, Mr. Ajit Kumar Chordia, Managing Director of  M/S. Khivraj Estates, depicting their experiences and the challenges they faced during their entrepreneurial journey. The learning experience was enriched by some interesting insights by entrepreneurs like Ms. Sweta Mangal, CEO, Dial 1298/108 for Ambulance and Dr. Kalpana Sankar, CEO and Managing Trustee of Hand in Hand, who has handled several international missions from Rome, China, Maldives etc. and received special commendation from United Nations office of Project Services at Bangkok.

Stalwarts like Padmashri Dr. Bala Balachandran, Founder and Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Mr. Hetal Gandhi, Co-Founder Tano Capital and Ms. Meera Vasudevan, Co-Founder and Exec VP of Preferred Brands International, added the shades of wisdom to the youthful energetic picture created by the young entrepreneurs. 

Great Lakes Institute of Management, owing to its continued focus on incubating Job Creators rather than Job Seekers, has achieved an amalgamation of the youthful passion of new ventures with wisdom of experience to create more and more successful entrepreneurial ventures which are intellectually challenging, social responsible and financially rewarding.

                                               MEGA ALUMNI MEET

Mega Alumni meet is an annual event which brings together Great Lakes’ Alumni from various industries and geographies, having varied managerial experience, into the college campus. Great Lakes alumni is a fast growing network of dynamic and young professionals and future captains of the industry, creating new success stories in various walks of life. The event started with an insightful lecture from Uncle Bala and Professor Sriram. It was followed by a talk on Entrepreneurship by Mr. R Narayanan, Director 20-20 Media. Mr. Narayanan, who has been part of multiple startups, gave some very lucid and pertinent lessons on Entrepreneurship from his experiences. Then, Mr. J.Krishnan, Ex CEO and President - Deccan Chargers gave an attention-grabbing speech on the similarity of Cricket and Corporate Management. He emphasized through examples from Cricket the importance of a frank and open feedback rather than an indirect one which is prevalent in the corporate world today. We also had a product talk by Ms. Sanjana Reddy from Godrej.

Thirty minutes of power packed talk by Prof. Venkat R. Krishnan went on redefining politics which is now understood in a derogatory sense. The talk on “Managing Corporate Politics” by the professor emphasized on the fact that there can be politics which can be used to climb up the ladder of success without indulging in malpractices. He also talked about Impression Management, which happens to be one of the courses in Great Lakes’ curriculum. He said that we all have an impression about ourselves and tend to be bound by its limitations. But the fact is that we just have to believe in what we want to be. Just by believing and acting accordingly one will develop that quality in oneself and one’s impression about oneself will change. The alumni, all of whom are in very prominent positions, truly benefitted from this talk as it is something they face daily.

Following such a charged up speech was time to have an experience sharing session by next generation entrepreneurs- Our Alumni, on their start up ventures. All of them had dreamt throughout, of being an entrepreneur and Great Lakes was the medium which channelized their dream to transform to reality. To name their ventures, Escapade by Divya Singaravelu & Joseph; Jade Magnet by Sitashwa; Prosel Ventures Ltd by Adith Kumar; Binarch.com by Guru Prasanna; Smartlearn Web TV.com by Vidhya Shankar. All of them left the students at Great Lakes enthralled and motivated that you just have to believe in your dream and catch the right bus, everything else follows.

The Alumni were mesmerized by the Life@GreatLakes videos of their respective batches.

Then came the time for some fun. The Patriots and alumni took part in a Treasure hunt which instantly made them feel at home in the new campus. It was 6 in the evening but the spirits were still high. Now came the moment for some social networking.  An awesome beach party with music and off course enticing dining options awaited the Great Lakers. In the end it was a day Great Lakers would remember and look forward to; a time to strengthen the bond with their Alma Mater!

The 6th Batch of Executive MBA programme of The Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai was inaugurated on 16.12.2009 in the august presence of Prof Bala V Balachandran. Mr Ravi Santhanam, MD, Hindustan Motors and Mr Santosh Mishra , IAS, Collector of Kancheepuram were Chief Guests for the occasion along with Prof Shri Ram and Prof R S Veeravalli.

Inauguration started with Invocation and traditional Lighting of Kuthu Vilakku and inaugural was delivered by none other than Dr Bala V Balachandran, Dean and the founder of Great Lakes.

The key addresses were delivered by both Mr Ravi Santhanam and Mr Santosh Mishra. Mr Ravi Santhanam was delighted to be a part of this inaugural function and wanted every student to have a vision. He also wanted the students to lead, innovate, acquire new skills and new capabilities to face the changing business environment, as the modern business keeps itself changing. He was confident that this programme will provide abilities for the young managers to adapt to newly emerging realities.

Mr Santosh Mishra, IAS emphasized that the students should value the human capital and said that " Always look for the faces behind the numbers". He ended his speech with a quote that " there are no short cuts in the life and we need to travel to reach our destinations"

Mr. Manohar Parrikar, Hon. Leader of opposition, Goa on “Leadership, Good governance & Management”

Executive Director Prof. Sriram opened the session with his eloquent display of warm welcome to the guest. He remarked that the decision to enter politics for any individual shrinks in relevance and the individual belittles politics, for the image that the field has gathered over years is anything but pretty. He showered praise on the guest for such an audacious decision.

Mr. Parrikar’s speech began on a note of flirtatious humour, oscillated through the trenches of bureaucratic imagery and political despondence before finally resting on the firm shoulders of his talk on leadership. “I told my ministers; Finance and Education sectors would rest with me. Former everyone clamoured for, agreed after thorough examination of pros and cons but later no one cared for” reminisced the speaker of his first day in office as CM. Responding to a question from the audience, speaker asserted that “Education precedes population in the list of priorities for the progress of our nation”. Education rips past every other parameter and sits right on top, such was the firm contention of the speaker. In referring to Bureaucrats, the speaker claimed that “Bureaucracy is the water in that glass” pointing to the glass before him, he continued “water takes the colour and taste of the politicians”.

Referring to oft cited comparison between CEO and CM, he mentioned a CEO can choose his team but a Chief Minister doesn’t have similar freedom. This is when leadership is very important. Giving anecdotes of 1965 war with Pakistan and Kargil he mentioned the importance of leading from the front. He emphasised the pivotal role character plays in the development of a leader.

Through his amazing recollections of adorable short stories, he observed that a leader is one who is “literate, educated and wise”. Through the gripping tale of a herdsman and a consultant, he mimicked the ostentatious outpour of extravagance which could have been avoided. Later, he narrated few anecdotes of his, and through them demonstrated to the audience, the power of “leadership with focus”. In response to another inquisitive patriot (class of 2010), Mr. Parrikar noted that bureaucrats have to made accountable, and this act he contended, would lead to the progress of nation.

The program ended with Prof. Veeravalli’s vote of thanks.

Lock Stock and Trade at Great Lakes:

Great Lakes, with the firing mechanism- a coruscating metallic lock (the biggest mock IPO event); fitted on the wooden butt end -stock of the gun (20 acres green campus); Powered with nine cylindrical smoking barrels (seven of these were Great Lakes teams) fired incessantly for over eight hours.

Even as the met department issued signs of warning, even as the torrential rain consumed the east coast road, Great Lakers escorted the enemy tanks (teams from other institutions) to the war zone. And, soon it began.

Prof. R.S. Veeravalli-Director Executive MBA, opened the event with the characteristic elegance and composure that he is known for. Welcoming the guests, he quipped that Great Lakes has been busy praying for rain this morning, so the visitors would remember the day for a life time. He later remarked that the memorable day has been made possible by the judges who have confirmed to be on the panel, and expressed his deepest gratitude for making to the event despite the deluge.

Judges:

1. Srinivasan Vishwanathan, partner at Apt Talent Partners, Inc
2. K. Ramakrishnan, Executive Director & Head, Spark Capital
3. Mr. R. Narayan, VP, HDFC Bank

Mr. Vishwanathan recalling his meeting with Dr. Bala V. Balachandran (Dean and founder of Great Lakes), noted that his visit to Great Lakes has been a memorable one. He observed “I have not seen such an event anywhere else. Perhaps this is one of its kind; a unique one”. Later he spoke about the sea change in the style of investing today, from what it had been twenty years prior to now. In this context, he noted “I think it was Reliance that changed the way we looked at stocks”. Moving on, he explored the rationale behind the shift. Technology, he opined, shrunk the product life cycles and has brought in short term focus.

The event began with all the teams presenting the companies they represented while investors sifted in their minds, their priorities.
 
T. S. Eliot resignedly postulated in 1915 (albeit in a different context)

Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse

Every one of us, ones playing investors, ones representing the nine companies, all of us submitted to neurotic indecisiveness in the face of suffocating intensity of the game as the event began.

Every single minute, someone in a corner somewhere in the big hall of three hundred switched his priorities of investment. The worried ones left the hall to sip hot coffee in Bajaj Bistro, the jubilant ones sat meditatively staring at the steel structure in the India Cements Amphitheater.

And, so it went on for over eight hours.
Please check out the winners at our Achievements page.
http://www.greatlakes.edu.in/studentAchievements.php

‘Frugal Marketing’ by Jessie Paul, Chief Marketing Officer, Wipro Technologies

Ms. Jessie Paul with her almost effortless soothing voice presented to the class, the microcosm of brand building exercise. She asserted that the purer and traditional modes of marketing are increasingly becoming predictable, whereas the newer, innovative and unconventional practices (owing to their novelty, accessibility, flexibility and frugality) are mostly sought after in the current times. The speaker proffered on the patriots (class of 2010), a challenge-to define one’s uniqueness. Patriots conferred with the speaker; the session was more of an interaction than a guest lecture.

Pointing to the matrix (an adaptation of BCG matrix) on the presentation, she advised the class to identify the firms that they wish to work with, in one of the quadrants. This exercise, she promised, would reveal surprising revelations, and would aid one in career planning. She shared her knowledge of Yahoo’s traditional mass advertising campaigns in contrast to the frugal advertising adopted by Google.

In response to a question from one of the patriots, she replied that, one need not be the best in a huge expanse of space and time; one only has to narrow the space that one wishes to ascribe oneself with. She contended that by narrowing the space down, it becomes easier to define our uniqueness, which (in a much wider space) must have appeared fallible.

The speaker, in her well structured presentation, slowly took to the arduous task of preparing groundwork in answering the fundamental questions – Who am I? Why buy me? Why not buy someone else? - She implied that a brand map of an individual is no different from the brand map of a product or service.

Ms. Paul observed that though firms fudge the figures, the educated consumers of today would pay no heed to unverifiable proofs. Extending the train of thought a little further, she advised patriots that their abilities would remain merely claims in the eyes of a recruiter if they are not verifiable.

Towards the end of the session, Ms. Paul remarked that it is perhaps easier to sell experience than to sell the product itself. She noted that Padmasree Warrior on twitter is trusted more than any TV commercial. In reference to executive branding, the speaker noted that Barack Obama epitomized the whole brand building exercise.

Ms. Paul ended the session contending that social media would continue to dominate the world of marketing in the years to come.

Mr. Srivatsa Krishna, IAS on India’s second war of independence-Making Infrastructure happen

Mr. Srivatsa Krishna presented to the class, facts about India’s dominance in the world. He shared with us, figures on the infrastructure spending of India. And, he commented on the stark contrast between the two. Referring to some of the major and successful infrastructure programs of the recent times, such as the Golden Quadrilateral road network, he observed that the progress is palpable. Speaking about Gujarat’s GIFT project, he expressed his optimism on India’s predominance in the years to come.

The speaker observed that India’s spending on infrastructure is dismally low. He ascribed this state of inept approach towards the most defining parameter of progress of a nation, partly to the underpinning of democratic framework in our nation. He contended that, although corrupt politics are to blame, the private sectors cannot be left out of the sphere of culpability. Furthermore, he cautioned that the reliance on private sectors is neither the panacea nor is the efficacy of private sector involvement over the public sectors empirically proved.

He later turned his attention towards the systematic adulation of India in comparison to China. He argued that the two nations operate on radically different philosophies and the comparison is not only facetious at the face of it but also fallacious. He pointed out that the Shatabdi express, India’s fastest train travels at 130km/hr against the 430 km/hr train of China. He also commented on the phenomenal growth of infrastructure sector in the city of Shenzhen, which grew from a mere nothingness to a mammoth city of 3984 sky scrappers.

Mr. Krishna explained that the democratic framework that runs through the fabric of our society is omnipresent, omniscient and has protected us from the viral foreign invasions. But, democracy comes with a price, and the price is the gradual and selective progress (as in India) as opposed to the rapid development (as in China). To substantiate the point, quoting from his experience, he noted that the Chinese government in their ‘land acquisition’ operations paints the local houses in red, yellow, white and the authorities with unquestionable power of the rule proceed to dismantle the houses without paying heed to the plight of the people living in the houses. But, here in India, land acquisitions are painfully slow. From his anecdotal experience, he quoted the hilarious episode of three individuals in Hyderabad claiming the hussain sagar lake, in response to the government’s land acquisition orders in the city.

With a wild tiger exuding grandeur in the background in his presentation, the speaker concluded the session by asking us ‘The tiger is roaring, India is ready, are you?’

Mr. Mukund Balasubramanian CTO, Photon Infotech and Sachin Bhagwata Director Presales, Photon Infotech visited Great Lakes on 18th July. The guest lecture covered social media, which Mr. Subramanian supposed is the pivot that marketing is currently hinged on. He contended strongly that social media has reached its tipping point and is already showing signs of dominance in the field of marketing. Through the illustrative presentation of the company’s credentials, he presented to the class, the microcosm of the domain that was once in its niche (infancy), but is now all pervasive.

The lecture swathed across the whole arena of social media and the frontiers that Photon Infotech has ventured into. Social media with Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin is a powerful tool for many organizations, so much so that some of the organizations are squeezing more mileage from the net than from the traditional media. Mr. Balasubramanian is confident that the ‘paradigm shift’ in marketing is occurring right now, most of the organizations today are experiencing an uncertain demand largely because social media has increased the dynamic quotient of marketing.

Later Mr. Balasubramanian responded to questions from some of the patriots, shared his experiences from Stanford University, entrepreneurial pitfalls and how to avoid them. He took us all on the journey right from Photon Infotech’s inception through the tough times of ‘dot com bubble’ to the current period. The lecture was concluded with a token of appreciation from Great Lakes.

About Photon Infotech
URL: http://www.photoninfotech.com/

Photon is a Next Generation Internet Consulting Firm specializing in cutting edge business solutions utilizing Web 2.0, SOA, Open Source and Mobile application development.

With more than 600+ customers and thousands of IT projects in mobile, open source, web 2.0, and SOA under our belt, Photon enables large and SME companies alike to leverage our one-of-a kind workforce of elite IT experts to create revenue generating business solutions.

Photon is headquartered in the IT corridor of Chennai, India with offices in Bangalore, Santa Clara, Austin and Boston.

Who created the Good Knight brand right from scratch? Mr. A. Mahendran - Managing Director, Godrej Sara Lee Ltd. Incidentally, he is presently the Deputy Chairman of the Business Advisory Council at Great Lakes.

Mr. A. Mahendran visited Great Lakes on 11th July. His visit preceded the distribution of ‘Good Knight-low smoke mosquito coil’ to the students. Mr. Mahendran wanted the Patriots (Class of 2010 at Great Lakes) to experience the new product and present him some critical and insightful feedback. Why would the Patriots do it? The stakes were high – proponents of the best 3 feedback would fly business class to the Godrej headquarter in Mumbai!

Mr. Mahendran addressed the Patriots on Entrepreneurship: He spoke to the class of 260 seated in the main lecture theater at the Great Lakes campus (one that strikes every guest lecture with its outer humility and inner grandeur), and took them on a roller coaster ride of Good Knight, a product that he co-created back in the eighties. He paused briefly on the anecdotes that he thought were truly consequential in the brand’s success. The speech also touched upon the fundamental shifts in Indian consumer base and the ever changing landscape of opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Strategy and leadership: Mr. Mahendran is closely associated with the institute, and he was at ease sharing some of the strategic moves Good Knight has maneuvered under his leadership. He also explained the significance of an employee pool high on emotional quotient. His insightful clamor for leadership, which he believed the country is in need for, was the moment of transparent display of insatiable hunger – the hunger for the pursuit of excellence, the hunger to sustain and the hunger to improvise.

Incidentally, Great Lakes under the leadership of Dr. Bala Balachandran shares the same philosophy- the indomitable spirit and the illimitable quench on the inside, presented with humbleness and great humility to the world at large.

Towards the end, Mr. Mahendran, in his characteristic calm and friendly demeanor, listened to all the feedback voiced out by the class. He was visibly amazed by the thought provoking responses and the incisive analysis of the Patriots. He was so overwhelmed by the feedback that he instantly revised the number of the declared award – the upper limit of ‘best 3 to fly’ was taken off – he would sponsor everyone to fly to the Godrej headquarter whose responses would be found insightful by his team! That was truly a moment of achievement for the Patriots – it is not easy to influence a top notch MD, but we have done just that with ease!

About Godrej Sara Lee Ltd
URL: http://www.godrejsaralee.com/

GSLL is into the research and manufacture of quality household insecticides, and holds a substantial market share in the domestic market, with some of the most popular brands like Good Knight, Jet, Hit and Banish, which have become generic with mosquito repellents today.

News - DHL Visit

A delegation from the leading express delivery and logistics company DHL comprising of Ms. Niharika Davar (Sr. Director HR-India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, DHL Logistics) and Ms. Malini, (HR Manager, DHL Chennai), visited our campus on 18th June 2009. The objective of the visit was in the words of Ms. Niharika Davar : “We are here to explore opportunities for a lasting and strong association with Great Lakes Institute of Management in the years to come”.

Prof. M.J Xavier (Director PGPM) and Dr. Krishna Ram (Director Placements) delivered a presentation highlighting the achievements and success stories that have emanated from our B-school and outlined the plans for future. This was followed by a discussion on the potential opportunities for mutual association of Great Lakes with DHL. They later accompanied the visiting delegation on a tour of the sprawling 14 acre campus and the guests were very impressed with the world-class infrastructure that is being built within the campus.

Dr. Krishnaram welcoming the delegation.		Prof. M.J. Xavier with the guests

From Left : Dr. Arthur Warga, Mr. Jamshyd Godrej, Dr. Bala Bachandran, Mr. Adi Godrej, Mr. K.S.Sripathy & Dr. Shashi Tharoor

Chennai, April 28, 2009: Great Lakes Institute of Management held the fifth convocation of its PGPM class of ‘09 (referred to as Champions), third convocation of PGXPM ( Executive MBA) and welcomed the new batch for ‘10 (referred to as Patriots) at a glittering event in Chennai Convention Centre today. The class comprising of 162 & 38 students respectively graduated amidst jubilation and cheer. Present at the occasion were the Chief Guest, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Former Under Secretary General, United Nations; Dr. Bala V. Balachandran, Founder & Honarary Dean, Great Lakes, Dr. Arthur D Warga, Dean, Bauer College of Business, Houston, USA, and Mr. John T McNabb, Chairman, Dean’s Executive Board, Bauer College of Business, Houston, USA.

Speaking at the convocation ceremony of the Great Lakes Institute of Management here on Tuesday, Dr. Shashi Tharoor urged students to strive to make a difference in whatever career they chose. "I believe that as managers you have the responsibility to think about those who are not as fortunate as you are. I had the rare privilege as a young man of working with those who have lost everything the world's refugees. I derived a lot of satisfaction from being able to lend a hand to famailies who has lost everything, including hope. It is a privilege to help human beings. Whatever career you choose, make a difference," he said.

Emphasising on the need to make the information revolution more inclusive, Tharoor said that students had to be aware of the poverty line. "The key to the internet divide is the computer divide. While you in the audience can make use of it, those who do not use it must not be excluded," he added. Pointing out that life was a continuing task of self-education, he said there was always more to learn, even for ambitious managers of global companies.

Congratulating the students on successfully completing the Post Graduate Programme in Management, Dr. Bala V. Balachandran, Founder & Honorary Dean, Great Lakes, said, “We began Great Lakes with the singular focus on creating a management institute of excellence. Through your journey at Great Lakes, we hope we have sowed the seeds of excellence within you. I congratulate and wish you every one of you success in the Great lakes voyage that you have undertaken.”

Dr.Arthur Warga, Dean of Bauer College Houston said that Great Lakes was all set for a take off, a word that had come to be synonymous with Houston the place he hails from. He praised India and said that Great Lakes was going to make India proud. He talked about global warming and said that Houston was known for its energy management program and said that in future, there were plans to teach energy management programs in India at Great Lakes with Houston Faculty.

The mood at the convocation ceremony was one of enthusiasm and joy. Witnessing the historic moment in the audience, were the eminent Board members, faculty, parents, friends, and relatives of the students.

The convocation ceremony concluded with the formal welcoming of the PGPM class of 2010 (nicknamed as Patriots). The event was followed by the inauguration of Great Lake’s new green campus at Manamai Village, Mamallapuram in the evening.

Great Lakers conquer Germany

Prasanna Joshi, Rutvij Oza and Rohit Menon won the first, second and third prize respectively, in the DHL Fast Forward business simulation  Online business simulation worldwide challenge DHL International Total number of participants : 8500+ MBA students and graduates from 120 countries. 

Students from Great Lakes made a clean sweep of the awards at the DHL Fast Forward business simulation contest in Germany. The objective of the business simulation contest was to make a virtual logistics company the world leader by means of forward-looking management decisions, and to secure world quality leadership. The contest was launched in April 2008 under the patronage of German Foreign Minister Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The event had over 8500 participants from 120 countries. 

Starting from an initial pool of over 8,500 participants, 46 participants from 12 countries made it to the Final Round, where they competed in 10 international teams. 5 of these 10 teams had a Great Lakes student as a member. Prasanna Joshi,  Oza Rutvij Siddharth, Rohit Menon, Parth S Bhimani and Adarsh Nand Bahadur flew to Germany to take part in the final round that consisted of two highly realistic cases studies, and were judged by a jury of highly placed experts. The teams competed live for two days at the Post Tower in Bonn, Germany. At the end of the grueling contest , Prasanna Joshi’s team that consisted of a German,  a Turk , an American and an IIFT student-  bagged the top prize worth 25,000 euros.” While all of the finalists demonstrated a very high skill level, the strategic approach, creative ideas and very professional presentation delivered by Team ARBOCADON(the winning team) made a particularly favorable impression on us," noted Walter Scheurle, Board Member for Personnel at Deutsche Post World Net.

Oza Rutvijj’s team (consisting of a German, an American, a Mexican and an ISB student) bagged the second prize worth 15000 euros while Rohit Menon’s team (consisting of Germans, a Filipino and an IIM-C student) won the third prize worth 10,000 euros.