Events from archive

SPANDAN – 1st Cultural Nite for the academic season 2009-10

The 1st Cultural program for the academic session 2009-10 called “Spandan” was organized on 22nd July, 2009 by the Cultural Committee of IIM Shillong at the Institute auditorium. It was an evening filled with the traditional colours of Indian Culture as well as the exhibition of the profound talent of the newly arrived 2011 batch.
 
The evening started off with a welcome address by the Director of the Institute, Prof. Ashoke. K. Dutta. A Rajasthani troupe of Folk Music & Dance had been invited from SPIC MACAY (Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth). The troupe led by Shri Roze Khan Mangiar is internationally renowned for their portrayal of the rich cultural heritage of the Folk music & dance of the vibrant land of Rajasthan. The group consisting of 7 male singers & musicians and 2 female dancers has performed in Germany, France, Holland, UK, Russia, USA, Japan, among more than 50 different countries. The group has also been featured several times on Television by various channels. The far-famed artistes enthralled the audience with a host of song & dance sequences. The music was primarily played with traditional Rajasthani instruments hand made by craftsmen and the two dancers displayed one of the finest forms of dance prevalent today – the Rajasthani folk consisting of dancers balancing up to 7-9 brass pots on their head while showcasing their graceful dance moves, dancing on top of sharp-edged swords and glasses. The male singers, on the other hand, kept the audience’s excitement high with famous numbers like “Nimbuda”, “Padharo Maro Des” and “Damadam Mast Kalandar”.
After an entertaining performance by the troupe, it was time for some local action. The newly arrived PGP batch of 2011 got an opportunity to show what they had in them in terms of their cultural talent. And the performances they gave to the crowd were indeed show-stopping. Be it the sizzling dancers, the rocking singers & musicians, the innate stage actors, they had them all. The scintillating act by a world-class pianist among them is worth a special mention here. The PGP ’11 batch, with their brilliant entertainment, kept the crowd on its feet from start till the end.
“Spandan”, an evening of Indian cultural grandeur and the talent exhibition of IIM Shillong, finally came to an end, with the images of the pulsating evening etched in the minds of the audience for eternity!

Video conferencing with SAP

On July 22nd, The Operations and Systems club IIM-Shillong (OASIS) organized a video conference session for the PGP 2010 and PGP 2009 batches of IIM-Shillong with Mr. Ramakrishna Potluri, Head of SRM Regional Group, SAP Asia-Pacific & Japan at SAP Labs.
The session was for about 70 minutes and Mr. Ramakrishna explained the various career opportunities available for MBA Graduates in the Information Technology sector, he also explained in detail about the various aspects of IT Project/Product Management. This included the roles and scope available with each career opening for the management students of B-schools like an IIM. He related the discussion to his experiences in the industry and the kind of growth and skill sets required for different roles. This was followed by an interactive Question and Answer session.
Mr. Ramakrishna was appreciative of the various topics and ideas that came up during the course of the session. The students too were very appreciative of the discussion and OASIS efforts.

Vision To Victory Research Agenda for Sports

The Indian Institute of Management, Shillong (IIM-S) and the International Sports Tourism Research co-Laboratory (i-Team) of Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA have jointly proposed a research project on the Commonwealth Games to be hosted in New Delhi in 2010.
As a part of the exploratory discussions, a round table conference on the proposed project was organised by IIM, Shillong here on 20th July, 2009 at the India International Centre, New Delhi.
The IIM Shillong and Drexel University’s i-Team will join hands to plan and execute an international research programme for scholars and graduate students titled ‘Sports India’.
The objective of the project is to expand know-how on professional management in sports through field and case studies as well as allied research in India. This research project on 2010 Commonwealth Games is a part of this contrive. Another notable aspect of this research project is to expand local experiences globally by sharing the experience of the 2010 Commonwealth Games to other sports organizations and academic institutions in India and abroad. The medium of sharing this experience will be through presentation of research findings, website postings, reports and scholarly in-depth articles in relevant journals.
There are four research components in the 2010 Commonwealth Games project. These will include resident perceptions study, consumer profiles and economic impacts, social-cultural impacts and an analysis of the organizing committee’s function.
The one day program was initiated under the leadership of Prof Ashoke K Dutta, Director IIM Shillong and Prof Douglas Turco of Drexel University.

Orientation Programme on Microsoft Dynamics

The Institute has tied up with Microsoft to participate in Microsoft Dynamics Academic Alliance. With this alliance, the Institute will use Microsoft Dynamics (the ERP solution from Microsoft) for teaching purposes. The entire Microsoft Dynamics package is now available with the Institute.
In this regard, an Orientation Program was conducted from 15th to 17th July 2009 by Shri S Tiwari, a consultant from one of the Microsoft’s Gold Partners. The idea behind this program was to provide an overview of the package and the ways of configuring the same for different businesses.
The orientation program was attended by Prof. B Roychoudhury, Shri Shankar Purbey, Shri Achyanta Sarmah, Shri Zicco Shira and Shri Banteilang Syiemiong.
Prof. Ashoke K Dutta and Shri A Mazumdar attended the inaugural session

Sports Sponsorship Management

Douglas Michele Turco, Ph.D., an associate professor from Drexel University's Sport Management program. Prior to arriving at Drexel University, Turco taught sport and tourism courses at Illinois State University, where he was named the University’s Outstanding Teacher in 2002, and at DeSales University, where he received two teaching awards. Turco is also a faculty at IMC FH-Krems (Austria) and IESE Madrid. He has advised more than 50 students on research projects, thesis, and dissertation committees.
Turco teaches courses on sport event marketing, international sport management, sport tourism, and sport management research. He has authored more than 40 research articles in journals including Sport Marketing Quarterly, International Journal of Sport Management, Journal of Travel Research, and the Journal of Sport and Tourism. In addition, he has also authored several books, including Sport Tourism (2002, with R. Riley and K. Swart - 2nd Ed. in 2009) and Sport and Event Marketing (2001, with N. Pope), and presented at research conferences in Canada, South Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, Germany, Cyprus, Spain, Poland, Hungary, and Portugal.His current and most recent studies involve the impact of sport tourism at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2009 U.S. Open Golf Championship, 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 2007 Cricket World Cup, 2006 Torino Olympic Games, 2005 Little League World Series, and Highland Athletic Games National Championship.

Video conferencing with Hero Honda Motors Limited

The students of IIM-Shillong, had an interactive video conferencing session with the Director-Operations (Mr. V.Khasbekar) and the Senior Manager-Planning (Mr.Amit Agarwal) of Hero Honda Motors Limited (HHML).
The video conference was arranged by the Operations and Systems club IIM-Shillong (OASIS). In a video conference that lasted 35minutes in the board room, with one of the top management person in HHML. The students gained invaluable insight on operational strategy in the face of recession, supply chain issues, vendor management, consulting, business processes and the utility of ERP in the real world applications of an auto-maker that has showed 30% growth in sales despite recession.
The Hero Honda team was happy with the new ideas and perspectives that came up in the course of the discussion. The session ended with a note that the event is a predecessor for more important interactions between companies and IIM-Shillong.

Sports As An Agenda For Employment Generation
(Organized by IIM Shillong in association with Assam Sports and Youth Welfare Department) Venue: Assam Administrative Staff College, Assam

With sports and its related activities being identified as a potential area for employment generation, RGIIM Shillong has roped in Prof Doughlas Michele Turco, a sports management specialist from Drexel University, USA to discuss and chalk out a framework for generation of employment through sports gauging the potential available in the North East of India.
The conference organized by IIM Shillong in association with Assam Sports and Youth Welfare Department was attended by sports department officials of the northeastern states of India, viz., Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Assam.
During an interactive session, Prof Turco suggested involvement of other stakeholders including chambers of commerce and tourism department. He added entrepreneurship in sports has increased manifold with non-competitive and recreational sports becoming overwhelmingly popular across the world.
Prof Ashoke K Dutta, Director IIM Shillong also elaborated on the potential of the region and said that proper marketing of sporting events, whether professional or indigenous, by roping in competent expertise could draw attention and help create tourist friendly atmosphere.

Induction Ceremony Of II Batch Students And Celebration Of The Institute’s First Anniversary

The induction ceremony, which was graced by Dr. D. D. Lapang, Chief Minister of Meghalaya as Chief Guest was an event where the bright- faced future managers and leaders of the country were blessed with words of encouragement and counsel.
“It has been a long struggle and now dreams have emerged into reality. Meghalaya is proud to have facilitated the start up of a world class IIM in this part of the country. Determination to succeed is your right and no one can take that away from you,” were expressions of Dr. D.D. Lapang during his address, wherein he accredited praise to the visionary leadership of the Institute.
Success and accomplishments should not be our only source of contention. Instead, we should learn to appreciate the unseen activities done by others which leads to a result, were the words of Prof. Ashoke K Dutta, founding Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong during a stirring gathering on the eve of the Institute’s first anniversary on July 3rd, 2009. Prof Dutta during his address recounted the contributions of past colleagues and friends who urged him forward by able support work.
Earlier during the occasion, the new batch of students were administered a pledge by Prof D K Agarwal, Dean Academic Affairs. Other significant dignitaries present were Shri Rathindranath Datta, Chairman of IIM Shillong, Shri Ranjan Chatterjee, Chief Secretary and Member of the Board of Governors, and Shri Falguni Rajkumar, former Secretary NEC.

Certificate Distribution & Passing Out Ceremony

IIM Shillong awarded certificates to successful candidates of the Certificate Course in Retail Management and Sustainable Enterprise and Retail Management at the passing out ceremony on its campus on June 12th, 2009.
 
Shri Shekhar Dutt, Deputy National Security Advisor who was the Chief Guest handed over the certificates in the presence of Prof A K Dutta, Director IIMS. Also present was Shri DAJ Sawkmie, Deputy Director North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences as Special Guest.

Small Business Management

Going beyond its conventional styles of organizing various training programs, this time around IIM Shillong has initiated a training program of local relevance titled “Small Business Management.”
 
In its quest towards contributing management inputs to the local youth population of Meghalaya and North East as a whole the Institute, continues to take responsible steps in enhancing overall development and adding to the local business acumen, this time, by organizing a 5 Day Training programme on “Small Business Management” at its campus at Nongthymmai, Shillong from May 25-29, 2009.

NrityaSandhya, Cultural programme by Spic Macay and IIM Shillong

The Students of IIM Shillong, in association with Spic Macay had organized Nritya Sandhya on April 20th, 2009 at the Institute Auditorium.
The Cultural Event was an attempt to reduce the onslaught of rapid change and global homogenization, and more importantly the marginalization and dilution of our multifaceted Indian heritage. The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical and Culture Amongst Youth, often known by its initials (SPIC MACAY), is a non-profit organization which promotes classical Indian music, dance, and Indian culture, established by Dr. Kiran Seth in 1977 at IIT Delhi. Ideally, SPIC MACAY seeks to conserve and promote awareness of our rich and heterogeneous cultural tapestry amongst the youth of this country, and to facilitate an awareness of their deeper and subtler values.
During the event, the audience was treated to a splendid performance by senior dancer of Jaipur Gharana of Kathak , Prerana Shrimaliji. Preranaji  whose endeavour is to expend the Kathak repertoire by choreographing new and highly acclaimed compositions based on ancient, medieval and modern poetry was accompanied by Fateh Singh Ganganji the famous tabla vadak and Pakhawaj exponent, and Shri Ehsaanji who played the dual role of a singer and a sarangi player.
The evening also witnessed the joyous dance of Bihu, a folk dance of the State of Assam which was performed by young men and women characterized by representation of youthful passion and rhythmic exuberance.

IIM Shillong Golf cup Season 1

In order to foster teamwork and ability to bring out individual through sports, IIM Shillong Golf Cup was held on the 18th and 19th April, 2009 at the Shillong Golf . The tournament that saw 120 golfers participating was organized by the students and alumni of IIM Shillong (Officers of Assam Rifles) under the leadership of the Director himself, Prof Ashoke K. Dutta.
The entire tournament was layed in the Stableford format. Shri Ranjan Chatterjee, Chief Secretary, Government of Meghalaya was the Guest of Honour at the inauguration, while Shri Ashok Thakur, Additional Secretary, Ministry of HRD, Government of India was the first to tee off.
The first day witnessed a competition among the leading business schools of the country. The high tea hosted by His Excellency, the Governor of Meghalaya and also a patron of the IIM Shillong Golf Cup was the highlight of the first day.
On the second day, the competition intensified as participants from leading corporates entered the fray. The event concluded with a grand prize distribution ceremony with Major General K.S. Sethi as the Guest of Honour. The dignitaries who graced the occasion praised and encouraged the efforts of the organizers who achieved this within a year of its operation and with such unique thinking and precision.
Dr. Pankaj Chandra, Director, IIM Bangalore said, “A unique approach by the pioneer batch is applaudable.” Mr. Ashok Thakur mentioned that “IIM Shillong has been able to differentiate itself from the cutthroat competition by taking a much more cooperative effort.”
The delighted Director of IIM Shillong, Prof Dutta congratulated the students and the Shillong Golf Club for bringing this event to a successful conclusion. The tournament as such is an attempt to facilitate an interface between the cream of the Corporate and Academic worlds. The way forward is to make this tournament the most talked about amateur golf tournament within the next coming years.
The list of winners in the tournament are as follows:

Minutes of the Faculty Round Table held on November 21, 2008

Speaker : Prof.  S K Prusty
Topic of discussion : Interactive session on Archives of US-China Virtual Symposium on “Building Virtual Global Communities"

The faculty members of IIM Shillong had an interactive discussion session on the archives of the panel discussion of US-China Virtual Symposium on “Building Virtual Global Communities" held at Drexel University on November 11-13, 2008. Prof. Ashoke K Dutta, Director, IIM Shillong had attended the Symposium at US. His views on the digitalization of higher education, including management education in India were discussed in the faculty round table. He explained the cost-benefit model of digital university campus and emphasized its need and utility in India in 21st Century. Prof. Dutta also briefed about the IIM Shillong’s initiative towards the making of fully digitalized campus. The faculty members of IIM Shillong critically discussed the opinions of different panel members of the Symposium and finalized the coming course of action in line of the digitalization process.

Fin Games:
The Finance Club organized two games namely “Discovering Harshad Mehtas" and “Discovering Warren Buffets" on 11th November 2008 to give its members a real time hands-on experience on the Stock market and Portfolio building. The first game was about aggressive day trading while the second was on developing long term investment strategies.

ConQuer:
ConQuest, The Consulting Club organized ConQuer, A set of events to give insights into the world of consulting. The events comprised of: ConQuiz,  A quiz about various consulting verticals, Industry Insight, a sector analysis competition about how the US meltdown has affected various sectors in India including Oil and Gas, Financial Services, Real Estate, Retail, Logistics, Telecom, IT and Media & Advertising and Negotiation, an event aimed at giving hands on experience to students about how negotiations actually takes place.

Diwali Celebrations:
The festival of Diwali was celebrated with great zeal and vigor. The whole campus was lit up with sparkling diyas and decorative lights. Creative rangolis made by the IIMS students added colours to the occasion. The students presented themselves in traditional outfits setting the atmosphere for a cultural get together. The evening was initiated with the lighting of the borne fire by IIMS Director Prof. A.K.Dutta, which was followed by various fun activities involving the student and the faculty community. The sky was decorated with the colourful blast of fire crackers.

Cult Nite: 
The Institute organized its 1st cultural night on 20th October, 2008, which consisted of the performance by the famous Rock band “SNOW-WHITE". The events took off with the classical performances such as BharatNatyam and Drums Ensemble by the students of the Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong. This was followed by singing, dancing and mimicry performances by the IIMS students. A small show by the IIMS band increased the liveliness of the crowd. The night was concluded with a Rock show by SNOW-WHITE who rocked the college for 3 hours. All the students including the faculty members were exuberated, showing their enthusiasm by thumping their feet to the beats of the rock music. That night was the first cultural landmark in the history of IIM SHILLONG portraying not only a thrust on academics but also in extra-curricular activities.

IIM Shillong on “Events that shook the Wall Street":
The month of September was marked by fall of iconic banks across the world, primarily the wipe out of the last of the standalone I-Banks of Wall Street. On 9th October 2008, The Finance Club of IIM-Shillong organized a session on the events that led to the worldwide disaster, how the story unfolded, the possible implications on the world of Finance and also the placement scenario at B-Schools after Wall Street. This was presided over by the finance Club mentor Prof. Suvendu Bose.  Prof. Dipak Gandhi also joined the party and threw light on “Casino Capitalism"- how actually is the financial system in the US governed and how did these I-Banks “gamble" their money in the market which led to the biggest crisis of our time. 

Niveshak Wall Street Special Edition released:
The Finance Club also came out with a Wall Street Special Edition of “Niveshak –The Investor" which was released by the esteemed professors after the brainstorming session. Niveshak is a students’ driven financial monthly magazine of IIM Shillong.

DGQA Seminar on Quality & Security

DGQA Seminar on Quality & Security held in the presence of Prof Ashoke Dutta, Director and faculty members of IIM Shillong

Brain Storming Session

Held, Brain Storming Session on the ways and means to overcome the Faculty Shortage in the Management Institutes in India. Participants expressed their grave concern over the growing disinterest in Research works in Management Studies.The Director highlighted the desire of IIM, Shillong to tackle this major problem facing the Management Institutes. Mr Shantikam Hazarika of the Assam Institute of Management and Father Joseph,Vice Principal of St Anthony’s College expressed their opinions that students already holding  a PhD degree in other subjects could be inducted for pursuing PhD in Management Studies. Dr Shrivastava, Member NEC, Shillong appreciated the achievements of IIM Shillong and assured the assistance of NEC in all respects. . Among the others who participated in the Session were Prof K.K. Choudhury, Director Army Institute of Management, Prof Petiya, Director, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Mrs Rekha Modi, Founder of Stree Shakti etc. A Videoconferencing with Prof Galen Godbey of DeSales University on “Peep into the Future of Management Education“ was also organized on the occasion. It was participated by the Director of IIM, Shillong the faculty and the students. The discussion centered on the scope and opportunities of Research Collaboration in Management Studies between India and America.

Group Discussion of Principals of Colleges

Held, Group Discussion of Principals of Colleges in Meghalaya on “Challenges in the Field of Higher Education.” During the GD, for the first time in India a software based video conference was held using Intellisys Vennfer software where the participants interacted with Mr. Soumen Chakraborty of Intellisys Vennfer, Kolkata.

MDP programme on “Best Business Practices for Project Management”

Held MDP programme on “Best Business Practices for Project Management” designed for Meghalaya State Civil Service Officers.