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

On November 30th, IPSA, the HR club of Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, hosted a lively panel discussion on the theme ”Do We Need a New HR Paradigm to Manage Gen Y?” The event brought together participants and seasoned faculty members of the institute. Student participants Jasmeet Dang, Azad Singh, Pratiksha Vyas, Mazharul Arfin, and Ankita Mishra were introduced by the host Ragini Awasthi. They all made their presence felt on the panel that also included faculty members Dr. Swati Agrawal, Dr. Shalini Srivastava, Prof. Kaveri and Prof. Abdul Kadir. All in attendance benefited from the ideas that were discussed; and the students in the gathering gained a better understanding of HR and what employees expect from them.

An informed and exciting discussion ensued as all the participants did their best to put forth their views. Jasmeet got things rolling on a high note as he said, “Gen Y is in a habit of getting quick results because it has been brought up in an environment which is technologically advanced. 60% of the population is under the age of 35 and 1 million people are joining the workforce in India, which makes it imperative for us to look at things with a fresh perspective.” On the other hand, Azad believed that Gen Y is less adaptable to 9-5 jobs, looks for creativity, changes jobs frequently and also prefers to work on its own.

Pratiksha, who was handling moderator responsibilities with aplomb, further added, “Co-ordination is essential for effective work; and to co-ordinate well, efficient communication is a must. Interpersonal skills are very important for Gen Y, which is 75% of the population.” Mazharul focused on the changing mindset of people and talked about the workforce chain where the CEO keeps employees happy, who in turn make customers happy. And Ankita offering her unique point of view, said, “Gen Y is driven by money because it is the means of their survival. The generation is tech savvy, has a lot of expectations and needs bigger salary.”

As the panel discussion ended, it was time for a question and answer session on collaborative work. Some of the pertinent issues dealt with were the reasons why Gen Y switches jobs frequently and how organizations can have flexibility and deal with the expectations of this young generation. Finally, the host, Ragini Awasthi, took over and summed up the important takeaways from the discussion. She mentioned how Human Resources has evolved in recent times and reflected on the idea that to be a brilliant manager, you need to be able to read people’s minds. Thus ended the enriching session – it not only offered students of Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, an insight into the world of HR, but also encouraged them to express their views, their concerns and their goals.

Student Contributor: Deepshikha Goswami, PGDM 2015-17

The International Relations Committee of Jaipuria, Noida took its international outreach series program a step further by inviting noted academician Dr. Kristine Brands to deliver a talk on “Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility”. Professor Brands is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Regis University’s College of Business and Economics in Colorado Springs, Colorado in the U.S. In this talk, she drew upon her experiences to impart some wisdom on the social responsibilities that corporations and businesses must embrace.

The talk gained in significance as it coincided with the World Climate talks held in Paris that were attended by representatives from 180 countries, putting the spotlight firmly on the topic of Sustainability. Dr. Brands was the ideal person for the talk because of her extensive experience and research interests in sustainability and CSR, IFRS, and XBRL and interactive data. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Institute of Management Accounting.

It was our honour and privilege to have her amongst us and she was given a warm welcome, with Dr. Anurag Singh introducing her to the audience. Dr. Brands then captured our imagination with her informative talk that began with her telling the audience how she began with her research on the subject. It was interesting to see her share a picture of her friend who got her interested in agro-research. It helped her build an instant connect with the audience.

Dr. Brands then moved on to talk about Sustainability and the burning issues faced by the world, from rising pollution levels in Shanghai to carbon footprint, wildfire problems in the west and the increased risk of skin cancer among those with lighter skin. She also shed light on issues like the depleting population of polar bears and melting ice caps. We immediately realized the grave situation we are in and the environmental concerns we should have.

She drove her point home by saying, “We are at the crossroads of sustainability and profits, or economic survival. The problem is that sustainability issues are the ones that are dropped easily.” Dr. Brands then mentioned her wish list for an International Sustainability panel that included names like Pope Francis, Richard Branson, Michael Bloomberg and François Hollande. It was an interesting list that definitely got us thinking.

To end her session, Dr. Brands had useful suggestions for all of us: “You can do various things to reduce your carbon footprint: get an electric car, or any other ideas that you can come up with. At the moment, there are accounting frameworks that are established for sustainability but they are going in all directions.” Dr. Deepak Singh, who offered the Vote of Thanks, made a thoughtful final point where he said that India and the U.S. should work together and bring about changes and raise awareness amongst people at a young age. I feel the session was successful to a large extent in that regard.

Student Contributor: Sohini Guha Roy, PGDM ,2015-17

We had all been waiting for “Spardha 2015”, the Fourth National Sports Meet organized by and held at our institute, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida. The days of reckoning were 4th and 5th of November when more than 850 students from over 26 colleges converged on our campus. The atmosphere was electric and the organizers had taken the efforts to ensure that everything went on smoothly. The stage was set perfectly for budding sportsmen from all over the country to show off their skills.

NTPC, Bikanervala, Soy 4 U, Bisleri, Gold Gym, Hutkar were some of the sponsors for the event, which had been the talking point amongst us for some time now. Finally, things got underway with march of the competitors from all the institutes. The audience cheered on every team but of course the loudest cheer was reserved for the home team of Jaipuria, Noida. Dr. Anup Kr. Singh, who has been with Indian Police Service and is now the Circle Officer, Noida City, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.

We were also inspired by Annie Singh, who might be 11 years of age but has a towering presence as the gold medalist in Delhi state skating championship. The action moved to sporting fields after the oath taking ceremony, which was conducted in all seriousness. We turned our attention to the grounds where a wide range of indoor and outdoor games were lined up for the day.

Cyber games, Volleyball, Table Tennis, carom, chess, Cricket and Tug of war were some of the main sporting events held over two days. While the participants did their best in the field, the audience did everything possible to encourage them. The Athletics events were definitely the biggest attraction of Spardha 2015 and drew crowds in large numbers. The excitement all around was palpable as students remained at their competitive best.

Our Boys’ team was victorious in Kho Kho and Chess competitions while the girls’ team won the Kho Kho, Tug of War, Long Jump, Shot Put and Discus Throw events. Jaipuria, Noida team was also the overall winner, but as per the tradition of not keeping the trophy with the home team, it was passed on to the Runners up. It was this kind of camaraderie that added to sporting atmosphere at the event.

Mr. Anadi Barua, Coach, Indian Girls Football Team presided over the prize distribution ceremony. He tried to inspire us by saying, “You should also focus on physical activities and not restrict yourself to studies alone, because physical activities are good for your overall development.” It was good to see all participants and not just winners taking part in the celebrations that culminated the event.

Student Contributor : Pooja Singh (PGDM Batch 2015-2017)