It was the moment all of us were waiting for as we had an opportunity to be a part of the 11th Annual Management fest of Jaipuria, Noida. Udaan 15 was held on the 4th and 5th of December and brought together students from various colleges from all over the country. They did their best and showcased their talents through 18 different activities and games, which were the highlight of the event.

The much awaited opening ceremony was held in the presence of Mr. N.P. Singh, the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar. The campus was buzzing with energy and things took off on an auspicious note with the traditional lighting of the lamp. Dr. V.K. Tomar set the tone for the event when he said that Udaan was Flight of the students, for the students and by the students. And it kept soaring to great heights over the next two days.

Mr. Singh inspired the gathering with his speech where he shared his personal experiences and encouraged the younger generation to look at the poorer sections of the society with empathy. He also asked us to focus on sustainability and social justice. His speech definitely made an impact as one of the students later said, “We learned a lot from him including the fact that the basic goal of our life should be welfare and development of all sections of the society.”

As Udaan 15 was declared open, it was time for various competitions in management and cultural sections. Chanakya (management games), Ad-Mad (advertisement making), Quiziteve (business quiz), Genesis (business plan competition) were some of the management competitions that drew huge crowds. Students from various institutes came up with brilliant entries and solutions, which was also a valuable learning experience for all of us.

The cultural segment of the event had activities ranging from Dubsmash Mania (Dubsmash video making), Trailer (short film making), Vox-Populi (15 minutes before mic), Rubaroo (street play), Radio Mania (RJ Competition) to Bollywood Quiz, Face Painting Competition and a treasure hunt. Each of these events was not only engaging and entertaining but offered a brilliant platform for students to display their skills and boosted their confidence.

Musicana (Singing competition), Delirium (band performance) and Hot Stepper (Dance competition – solo and group) were some of the biggest attractions of the event. The Fashion Show – Rendezvous had participants stepping out in their trendy glamorous best to huge applause from the audience. While the participants displayed their competitive spirit during the competition, the camaraderie that was formed amongst all of us made everyone a winner. And that was mission accomplished for Udaan 15, which spread joy and cheer all around.

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It was a unique opportunity for us as we listened to an engaging talk delivered by Prof. Ken Nishikawa, Professor of Business Management at Konan University, Japan. The session on 3rd December was organized by the International Relations Committee and the seasoned academician made it lively in his inimitable style.

Prof. Nishikawa has 25 years of experience in his teaching career and it reflected in well structured talk he had prepared for us. Dr. Anurag Singh, Committee Chairperson introduced our guest and also talked about Jaipuria, Noida as a tertiary, cross-cultural institute having connections with 13 different universities across the globe. He then described the strong relations India and Japan shared over the years, which was greeted with a huge round of applause.

Prof. Nishikawa used the example of Sharp Corporation to makes his points in the talk titled “Challenge for Organizational Changes in Japan: Through a case study of Sharp Corporation”. It was a poignant case study that offered insights on Japanese Corporate Management. He mentioned how Japanese people adopted an emotional and psychological approach, which was quite interesting to know.

It was a comprehensive talk about the company as Prof Nishikawa told us how Sharp Corporation began with manufacturing cheap radios to calculators. It was then overtaken by Casio, which offered cheaper options. But Sharp fought back and it eventually led to both the companies making profits. There were interesting lessons in the success of the company and its strategies to take on its rivals.

Prof Nishikawa however was quick to remind us that things can go wrong very quickly in business as seen in the example of Sharp Corporation, which has been on the decline. All major banks in Japan hold a stake in the company today. He revealed the company philosophy which was, “Our future is directly linked to the prosperity of our customers, dealers and shareholders, involved in the entire Sharp family.”

But according to Prof Nishikawa, all the management theories that might seem to work at the concept level should be applied after due practice. He added, “Before applying management theories to subordinates and the customers, we should first apply them to ourselves. It’s not theoretical or technical knowledge, but something you can only learn through experience.” And that in itself was an important learning for all of us.

Student Contributor: Shariq Ahsan Hazarika, PGDM, 2015-17