Computer training session by Social Endeavor Group@ TAPMI

 

 

“You’ll have so many TV’s akka”. This was the first statement that Renuka made when she entered the G1 Lab, TAPMI. In the era when people of her age are developing online applications and games, she and her classmates did not know what a computer was. To cater to the academic needs of the children and to facilitate the practical learning experience the Social Endeavour Group, TAPMI conducted a computer training session on 3 Feb 2014 for the students of Rajiv Nagar School, near Manipal. Members from SEG visited the school and collected information regarding the needs of the students and their curriculum before the class was scheduled. All the prior sessions were conducted for class 9^th and 10^th. This was the first time that we conducted classes for class 8 students. 30 students of 8th grade attended this session. They  concepts were explained in Kannada by student volunteers and lots of real world examples were explained, to which the kids could easily relate. Topics like different components of a computer and their uses, getting familiar with the input devices, creation and deletion of folders and word documents etc were covered in the two hour session. In order to make it more effective only the basics were covered and more time was given to the children to practice. The session was backed up by a strong volunteer support. 15 volunteers including the SEG members helped the kids to learn the new concepts and also fostered a healthy learning environment. Language was no barrier in the process as the volunteers easily demonstrated to the students. The children were encouraged to ask questions and all the concepts were revised again. The children were provided with refreshments and towards the end of the session their feedback was collected. The joy of seeing them elated on encountering this new device was priceless. SEG thanks all its volunteers for their continuous and selfless support in this noble task. 

Sankalp- Finals@ TAPMI Atharva 2014

Sankalp’s final round- ‘the elevator speech’ stood true to its name by testing the creativity and entrepreneurship skills of all the participants to its maximum. The contestants were rigorously evaluated by all the 3 judges’ to bring out the best of their entrepreneurship talent.

Participants from all the five teams –

• Pegasus (Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai)

• Eccentrics (Goa Institute of Management)

• Green Guzzlers (T. A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal) 

• Avengers (National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai)

• Lesaviours (Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode)

Each team was given a time of 3 minutes to present their B-plan. All the teams came out with different competitive strategies for their plans. This was followed by a heated question and an answer round between the judges and the contestants. A variety of questions were asked on strategies and and their impact.

• The proud winners of the event were Goa institute of Management with Narsee Monjee institute of management taking home the second place.

The event was intellectually stimulating and provided the students a great opportunity to display their entrepreneurial skills.

Make Your Mark @ TAPMI Atharva 2014

Make Your Mark is essentially a marketing event, which took place over two days consisting of troubleshooting a real life managerial crisis, designing a marketing plan and lastly a simulation game.

The judges of the MYM were Prof. Vinod Madhavan, Dr. Gururaj Kidiyoor and Dr. Siva Kumar, judging different sub events for the same, and the participants were from IIM-B, NITIE and TAPMI, with each had a team of two members.

To elaborate upon the events, on day 1 Participants were given a case about a shop run by NGO in Udupi.  They were taken to that shop so that they can understand the problems and clarify their doubts by asking questions to store manager. Followed by which a presentation had to be made citing the solutions for the same.

Next was a marketing plan designing competitions wherein the participants were supposed to select a product among the 4 innovative products given to them previously and prepare its marketing plan.

Day2 saw the simulation game competition called BrandPro. The Simulation consisted of a product and they had to design brand strategy with certain factors mentioned in the simulation. Team which had maximum Share Price index won that round.

The event saw rigorous participation from all the teams and had lots of learning for them in store. The winner was the team from IIM-Bangalore who grabbed prizes worth Rs. 15,000 and the runners up was team from NITIE, who walked away with prizes worth Rs.8000.

TAPMI Atharva 2014 hosts Mr. Sarathbabu Elumalai, Entrepreneur and Social worker

Mr Sarathbabu Elumalai, Entrepreneur, Social worker and founder of Food King Catering Services Private Limited was on campus today to talk to first year students as part of Atharva 2014 @TAPMI .  He is the winner of several awards such as CNN-IBN Award for Young Indian Leader, ‘Pepsi-MTV Youth Icon’ and ‘Example to Youth Award’. His story is a true motivation for people aspiring to rise up in life through sheer hard work. 

During the one hour he spent, he walked the students through his life story. Starting with his early days as a schoolboy, he narrated the hardships he underwent and yet how he strived to see the positive side through all of them. He further went on to illustrate an efficient mechanism of minimizing raw material costs by giving an example of the book binding business he involved himself in during high school where he made much larger profits than his competitors.

Talking about his life as a student of Chemical Engineering at BITS, Pilani he shared his experiences of meeting new people who had grown up in set ups much different than his own and how he eventually went on to become the coordinator. He also enlightened the audience about the origin of his efforts towards starting the Hunger Free India foundation and the background of 10^th October as Hunger Free day. The talk was followed by a Q&A session where Mr. Elumalai clarified many questions in the minds of the students with examples from his own life.

Today @ TAPMI Atharva : January 31,2014

SANKALP- THE B-PLAN COMPETITION

After the stalwarts had their say at Polemic, it was the turn of young management students with entrepreneurial passion to showcase their business acumen at Sankalp, the B-Plan competition at Atharva 2014. 4 teams made it to the finals after an exhaustive elimination process that saw teams from the best B-schools in the country battled it out.  The finalists were –

1. Pegasus (Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai) – Aggregators of luxury car rental services in major Indian cities
2. Eccentrics (Goa Institute of Management) – A premium dhaba located on the outskirts of Bangalore
3. Green Guzzlers (T. A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal)  – Synergizing solar and wind energy
4. Avengers (National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai) – A model to eliminate middlemen between farmers and the market – the only rural marketing B-Plan at Sankalp this year
5. Lesaviours (Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode) – Aiming to minimize the crisis of solid waste management

The event was judged by a team of 3 judges. The Panelists are all accomplished achievers with decades of combined experience in various sectors and domains. They fired incisive questions after each student presentation and evaluated each event comprehensively. The teams held their own against the barrage of questions though which is a testament to their levels of preparation, dedication and passion. The teams took criticism on their chin and were very professional on addition to being eager to learn from the criticisms of the judges.

The panel of expert judges –

• Mohan Narayanan – An alumnus of IIT Madras and co-founder and CEO of Kubos Consultancy Services
• Prakash Gurumoorthy – Managing Director- India at Group FMG
• Ashwin Raguraman – COO of Indian Innovation Fund

INFINITY- STOCK MARKET EVENT

As a part of the fest, the finance event “Infinity” was conducted to give the students a chance to demonstrate their financial acumen. The competition was aimed at targeting the uncertainties in the market and helping students wade through turbulent situations. The case which was given was “Reliance Communications – House of Cards”. Students were asked to elaborate on the intrinsic values of the company, the financial performance and the future outlook of the company. Judged by Professors Vrishali Bhat and Durga Prasad, the teams spoke about Reliance’s overview, its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and various lessons learnt from this analysis. Teams from various B-schools such as GIM, NIRMA, NMIMS and SDMIMD took part in the event. Apart from the competition, the event provided a rich learning regarding competitor analysis, investment rationale and valuation. A variety of questions were asked on strategies undertaken by Reliance. The event was intellectually stimulating and provided students with a plethora of information regarding financial decisions and forecasting.

MAKE YOUR MARK   

     

Make your mark, the marketing event, has been rigorously designed to test the marketing acumen of all participants. A series of games and challenges will force teams to assimilate information meaningfully and present valid conclusions and answers to the questions thrown at them. The prelims were conducted today, with the top marketing minds in the country fighting it out for a place in the grand finale happening tomorrow.

A Colorful start to Atharva 2014 @TAPMI, Manipal

The inaugural ceremony for TAPMI Atharva 2014 kicked off today on 31^st January, 2014. Starting in 1986, TAPMI Atharva enters its 27^th year launching itself in a new avatar with plethora of events. It transcends new heights with more than 1200 participants from over 60 institutes and not just across the country but also internationally. TAPMI Atharva 2013-14 has “Transcending Boundaries” as its theme which signifies the growing trend in the world to obviate the boundaries between people, countries and thoughts.

The chief guest for the event was Ms Anita Tripathy, President InVentiv Health and TAPMI Director Dr RC Natarajan. The ceremony began with lighting of the lamp, rendering of invocation and guests occupying the stage seats. Dr RC Natarajan addressed the gathering. Welcoming the gathering the director remarked that one event that makes TAPMI proud and distinguishes the flagship event Atharva of TAPMI from events of other B-schools is Quiz on the Beach (QOTB). He asked the students to enjoy the two days and said such events give important opportunity to meet counterparts of other B-Schools. He extended warm wishes for the next two days.

Vinni Chowdhary, Convener of Atharva 2014 introduced the event TAPMI Atharva 2014 and present an overview. Ms Vinni highlighted the key developments this year of the event. Run for a Cause, a prelude to TAPMI Atharva was conducted on 26^th January 2014. TAPMI Atharva continues its tradition to support a noble cause every year by conducting its “Run for a cause” marathon and this time it associated it with MARD(Men Against Rape and Discrimination). MARD is an initiative by noted Indian Director and Actor Mr Farhan Akhtar. The foundation is involved in spreading awareness among Indian youth to stand up against the incidents of rape and gender discrimination happening across the country. MARD works to bring about a change in the mindset and thereby bringing about a sustainable change in society. The marathon helped in spreading awareness about protection of women and their rights. The proceedings from the event would go to “Magic Bus India” an NGO associated with MARD.

Atharva’s flagship event “Quiz on the beach” enters its 11^th year and promises to give a unique quizzing experience to all avid quizzers. QOTB is the most widespread college quizzing event in this country. This year it has taken a step ahead by conducting preliminary rounds in Chennai along with Bangalore and Mumbai. QOTB 2014 also had an international online round in sync with overall theme of Atharva of transcending the boundaries. The finals of the event will be hosted by Dr Navin Jayakumar at Kaup Beach on 1^st February.

Vinni concluded that TAPMI Atharva 2014 continues to deliver what it has always promised- “an intellectual and challenging environment” for the participants coupled with an element of fun and social responsibility and extended warm welcome to all.

The chief guest Ms Anita Tripathy, encouraged the students to always strive for excellence and extended warm wishes. Dr RC Natarajan then declared the commencement of Atharva 2014.

The ceremony concluded with Mr Neeraj Vishnu Mundayur, Co-convener of Atharva 2014 rendering the Vote of thanks. Inaugural ceremony was followed by Polemic, the socio-corporate debate.

TAPMI – Atharva presents Run For A Cause (Marathon 2014) – in association with MARD (Men Against Rape and Discrimination)

TAPMI Atharva – the annual international B-school fest of T. A. Pai Management Institute entered its 27^th edition with a very noble effort – Run for a Cause. A marathon of 4.1 km, the event was flagged off by the Chief Guest of the evening, Asst. Superintendent of Police (Karkala) Mr. Anna Malai. This was the 2^nd year that TAPMI Atharva organized the marathon and this year the fest supported the NGO – MARD (Men Against Rape and Discrimination), a social campaign run by the noted Indian Movie Director and Actor, Mr. Farhan Akhtar. All the proceedings from the tickets of the participants were contributed to Magic Bus, an NGO that works in tandem with MARD.

Mr. Anna Malai, in his address, encouraged the efforts of TAPMI Atharva and pledged full support from the Karkala Police Department as well. The event was also addressed by Prof. Chowdari Prasad, Dean – PR and Chairman – Admissions, TAPMI, who stressed on the fact that Manipal has been keeping up with its 60 years’ tradition of promoting youth, culture and education and requested the audience to keep up with the tradition in the future. The marathon was witnessed by many TAPMI faculties – Dr. Animesh Bahadur, Associate Dean, Admissions; Prof. Vinod Madhavan, Chairperson – Student Affairs, Prof. Mohan Kumar. Mrs. R.C. Natarajan was also present to witness the marathon, while Prof. Madhu Veeraraghavan, Prof. Vidya Pratap, Prof. Sushanta Sarma participated in the run. More than 500 runners took part in the marathon, supporting the cause to protect women from a common crime – rape.

TAPMI Atharva 2013-14, one of the marquee events conducted by TAPMI, this year has a total of 7 events, namely: Quiz on the Beach (QOTB) – The International Business quiz, Polemic – the Socio-Corporate Debate, Sankalp – the B-Plan Competition, Make Your Mark – the Marketing Event, Infinity – the Finance Event, Xpressions and Run for a Cause. This year TAPMI Atharva is living up to its theme of “Transcending Boundaries”, as it goes international with its quiz – QOTB  and makes waves with Run For A Cause- Marathon, an event that is an attempt to stand up for women. The event witnessed outstanding participation this year, and is poised to be even bigger next year.

Innovation in Healthcare – Overcoming the healthcare challenges of India : Mr. Mukul Bagga, MD, Quest Diagnostics India

Students of TAPMI had this opportunity of attending an Expert Talk session which saw the presence of an eminent personality from the Healthcare domain, Mr. Mukul Bagga. Mr. Bagga is the Managing Director at Quest Diagnostics; a Fortune 500 company with 30% share in the US Healthcare market. Prior to working with Quest Diagnostics, Mr. Bagga was associated with some of the prominent names in the Healthcare and Life Sciences Industry like, Novartis, Johnson and Johnson and Ranbaxy.

Mr. Bagga started the talk with a statement of facts about the situation of the Healthcare sector in India. He put forward various facts that formed the framework on which the rest of the discussion was based. There was a lot of student interaction involved in the process with the students of TAPMI pitching in with their valuable inputs, that they have acquired during their learning.

The present day Healthcare industry stands at a staggering $132bn, contributing 8.1% to the overall GDP of the country[1]. Having said that, India is still considered to be of the least advanced countries in the world as far as healthcare is concerned. Mr. Bagga drew some facts from the extensive industry related data and tried to correlate these facts with the present day scenario in the sector.

Having moved into diagnostics recently, Mr. Bagga has profound expertise in the pharmaceuticals sector and helped the students to identify some of the reasons why pharmaceuticals is not a growing sector in India. The major reason as agreed upon are:

• Price Control policies laid down by the government
• Patenting policies practiced by the pharmaceutical companies
• Distributor lobby, where the distribution muscle can impede the growth of the sector

Mr. Bagga identified the various drivers for the largely healthcare dominated market in India, where in 60% of the market belongs to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The various drivers are:

• Consumer Awareness
• Changing Age Profile
• Rising Income Level
• Rising Population/Urbanization

All these drivers have led to various results like changing lifestyle, increasing investment levels, need for preventive healthcare, better quality expectations etc. Mr. Bagga pointed out some of the challenges that are affecting the healthcare market in India, and with the inputs from the students, summarized these to be Affordability, Accessibility, Awareness and Quality.

With the identification of the problems, Mr. Bagga led the students into a brainstorming session, to give a feel about how real life problems are solved in the industry. At each and every step, he took the inputs from the students, to help them understand the various dynamics involved in any decision making process.

All in all the students of TAPMI got a very wide understanding of the healthcare industry and how the challenges in the industry can be worked upon. The experience of Mr. Bagga added to the learning experience of the students, who were able to appreciate the importance of classroom learning in practical world problems.

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[1] As per the 12^th Planning commission report

Brand Management Workshop – 23 November 2013

Marketing and General Management forum (MGM), the marketing core of TAPMI has initiated a series of workshops M-POWER, to provide knowledge and exposure to the students by organizing interactions with industry leaders. 

As a part of the M-Power series, MGM, in association with Placement Committee recently organized a workshop on Brand Management. The three hour workshop was an interactive session with Mr.Prashant Parameswaran, Head- Consumer Insights, General Mills – Asia, MENA and Turkey.

 Mr.Parameswaran has previously worked with Colgate-Palmolive and Nielsen Company, India and has over 15 years of experience in branding. The three hour workshop spanned across branding, understanding the customer, getting, analyzing and interpreting valuable customer insights and sustaining the brand. 

The workshop started with an introduction to branding, the basic principle of brand building demonstrated with advertisements and insightful discussion on the same. The discussion moved on to ‘Customer Connect’ – connecting the brand and customer, the strategy required and the challenges faced. The session exclusively focused on the importance of identifying ‘Brand Champion’ – the specific group of customers which our product would target. Steps to identify and articulate a brand champion were discussed quoting several products/brands as examples. 

The process of how to capture customer insight was explained in a sequential manner. The process involves uncovering the psychological and behavioral aspects of gaining customer insights which is not just about gathering statistical facts. 

The next part of the workshop involved explaining the final step to sustainable brand building- how to build a sustainable brand and acquire the ‘growth idea’, which is a series of process starting from identifying brand champion and analyzing consumer insights and ending in formulating a ‘growth idea’. There was also a brief overview of the benefit ladder framework that was presented, which ranks new products based on the rational or emotional benefits they offer. This helps us identify in what stage our brand is.

Mr.Parameswaran also gave several examples from his own company, some of which included the branding for Pillsbury, how they had begun, how the brand grew and how they sustain the brand in the long run.

The speaker concluded his session to a standing ovation from the audience, post which some more questions were posed. Mr. Parameswaran keenly answered all the queries posed by the enthusiastic students.

The event was well received among the students. They had gained several new perspectives and valuable insights to branding, customer connect and sustainment, which is essentially several years’ worth of learning and experiences packaged in a workshop. 

Business Plan Making Workshop: Mr. Shantanu Bhagwat, VC, Seed Investor, Entrepreneur – An OMEGA initiative

 

The Organisation for Managerial Entrepreneurial Guidance and Assistance, more commonly known as OMEGA is one of the elite committees at TAPMI, which takes care of entrepreneurial activities in the college, and also serves as the consultancy wing of the college. On 29^th October, 2013, OMEGA roped in Mr. Shantanu Bhagwat, noted venture capitalist, seed investor and entrepreneur to conduct a workshop on Business Plan (BPlan) making. The workshop required active and utmost participation from the participating students, and involved numerous case studies (derived from real life situations and ventures), sample BPlans, discussions and practice sessions to give a real feel of the process and the challenges involved in making a BPlan.

Mr. Shantanu Bhagwat is a man of impeccable credentials, having real world experience from both perspectives, that of the entrepreneur and that of the venture capitalist. He has also served as an Indian diplomat in London and other places as an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, and is also a graduate from the prestigious London Business School. He brought in this wealth of knowledge to share with the students.

Mr. Bhagwat started off by defining the objectives of the workshop. Then he proceeded to give a quick gist of what is entrepreneurship, and who is an entrepreneur. The students were encouraged to analyse deeply and decide if entrepreneurship is for them, as it is a very difficult career path to follow, being laden with obstacles.

Then Mr. Bhagwat started explaining, in detail, the basics of Business Plans: what they are, what is their purpose, how are they to be structured, what are the essential points they should cover, etc. Through interactive techniques, case studies, and sample Bplans, he now taught the students the nitty-gritties of the entire concept of entrepreneurship and business plans. He addressed various questions that any aspiring entrepreneur has to think about, such as feasibility of the business idea, when to start, process of starting, operational difficulties and overcoming them in a start-up, what kind of data to be collected, recruiting decisions, legal issues that arise, revenue model planning, structure of the Business plan, how to get funds, how to pitch to a prospective VC, etc.

Finally, Mr. Bhagwat also went on to give examples of failed start-ups and the learning to be derived from them, and the top ten common mistakes committed in the process. The session ended with Mr. Bhagwat motivating the students with experiences from his life, and highlighting the key lessons that can be taken from those experiences.

The Business Plan Workshop was a very useful initiative brought to the TAPMI students by OMEGA, and many of the students ended the workshop with more drive, enthusiasm and inspiration to follow their entrepreneurial dreams.