WORLD HEALTH DAY -An Initiative of Yuva Goonj (NGO Club) IILM Gurgaon

Campus Life

                           

The World Health Day (7th April) is a global health awareness day. And the highlight of this year was “Depression” which is a common mental disorder that affects people of all ages, from all walks of life, in all countries. The risk of becoming depressed is increased by poverty, unemployment, life events such as the death of a loved one or a relationship break-up, physical illness, health issues and problems caused by alcohol and drug use. Untreated depression can prevent people from working and participating in family and community life. To mark this occasion Yuva Goonj organized a talk by Dr. Rajesh Kumar MD (Medicine) of Paras Hospital for a talk on “Depression, its cause and mental health well- being”.

One of the important causes of Depression seen amongst youth today, is “Obesity”. The drive to remain slim is getting stronger and not able to reach the required status have led people to depression irrespective of their gender. Obesity can cause poor self-image, low self-esteem, and social isolation, all known to be good contributors to depression. Those who are obese can also find themselves ostracized, stereotyped, and discriminated against. The extra weight carried around by obese people can result in chronic joint pain as well as serious diseases like diabetes and hypertension, all of which have been linked to depression.

Dr.Rajesh gave a very interesting lecture on how food habits lead us to the various health issues like Obesity and diabetes and finally leading to “Depression”. He also broke myths about the diet plans that we generally follow due to the paucity of time in our day to day schedule. He focused on the importance of eating in the correct time and the correct proportion.

This was followed by an awareness session by “DATRI” on Blood Stem Cell Donation. Datri helps save lives of those suffering from life threatening disorders like Leukemia, Lymphoma etc. With very few registered donors available in India, the chances of finding a match for an Indian patient anywhere in the world is bleak. Datri is working towards creating a wider diverse database of potential donors across the world that can be accessed by any patient in need of a Blood Stem cell Transplant.

A good number of students and staff had registered themselves soon after the session as donors, an act truly honored by all present.

 

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The Intern: Become Their Favorite on Day 1

Career Development (Placement)

You would be thinking how we can prove ourselves on the very first day of Internship. I am going to explain it through this blog to give you guys more insights about how to impress your Boss and colleagues on the first day of your Internship Program.

Just follow me till the end so that you can get the benefit in many different ways on getting noticed on the first day of your Internship.  There are many Do’s and Don’ts which every intern should keep in mind so that they get the desired learning without any loss.

 

Follow these simple ‘Do’s’, and you shall be on their good books: –

Prepare an elevator pitch beforehand

The best way to introduce yourself on the first day would be to prepare an elevator pitch beforehand so that you don’t have to think again and again about introducing yourself to different persons. This will help you to make a good impression on your Managers and Colleagues on the very first day.

Flaunt the punctual streak in you

One of the most important factor to consider is showing up early on the first day because this will show how disciplined you are and ultimately will give a nice image of you. If needed, get a trial commute before the joining date so that you get an idea of when to start and how to reach.

Listen.Observe. Repeat

Keep in mind that in the initial days you have to just notice how the things are going on in your office environment. Ask questions to the seniors as much as possible because if you did something on your own, no one will be responsible for that act but you. Keep track of how the system works in the office.

Communicate, smile & be humble

The best way to get hold of the things is to make good conversations with the office mates during the break or lunch. Try to understand how they keep the work life balance. Also if they have some sports complex or someplace to leisure after office, go along with them and make good bonding with them.

 

Be careful of these ‘Don’ts’, save yourself from being tagged in the bad books : –

 

Don’t jump onto the conclusion in a blink of an eye

Maybe you will find many awkward things on the first day if you haven’t worked before or not in this type of environment, don’t react or get emotional. Just observe as I mentioned above because you are new and don’t know the reason why these things are into picture. I will suggest you to KEEP CALM AND RELAX.

Learning never stops, it is always constant

It’s possible that you won’t be getting any work for the first day or not that much as you expected, don’t panic or overreact. They are giving you time to get settled down and make yourself comfortable to handle the work further. If you get some work and you are done with it on time, don’t sit idle. Go to your industry mentor and show them your work and get along some notes copy or some piece of paper to note down the corrections, if any. If you are done with that work, then ask for another one. Learning should not stop. Keep in mind that it your lifetime opportunity to learn under no pressure.

It is never a crime to look good & maybe just a little formal fancy

Till you are not acquainted with the dressing behavior of the organization, it is advisable to wear a formal dress and you can change it according to the environment that runs inside.

Take Control on Emotions

Don’t talk or laugh too much on the first day as you are not aware of the behavior of the fellow colleagues. Try to avoid cracking jokes on anyone if you are used to it for others. Because its an professional place, just smile and do your work.

 

 

Suggested Blogs :

Annual Entrepreneurship Conference : Mobilizing Entrepreneurial Thinking in an Uncertain World

Conferences

IILM institute for Higher Education organized the Third Annual Entrepreneurship Conference on 7th April 2017 at its Lodhi Road Campus.  The conference was centered on the theme “Mobilizing Entrepreneurial Thinking in an Uncertain World”. The focus of the conference was on fast changing uncertain world and opportunities for entrepreneurship and associated risks, structured around three key sessions.

The conference started with the welcome remarks by Dr. Daisy Mathur Jain from Entrepreneurship Development Cell, IILM. In her welcome address she pointed out the tremendous growth in Entrepreneurship in India for our youth brimming with ideas and energy. She took the opportunity to mention that IILM does its best to promote and inspire this new generation through their undergraduate program – BBA in Entrepreneurship – inspiring students to be innovative in their thoughts and actions to grow their family businesses or to grow as entrepreneurs themselves.

The Opening plenary entitled “Mobilizing Entrepreneurial Thinking in an Uncertain World” wherein Mr. Rajiv Chawla, Founder & Chairman of JaiRaj Group of Industries, Ms. Padmaja Ruparel, Angel investor and President Indian Angel Network, and Dr. Sarandeep Singh, Chairman and CEO of Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) Foundation shared their journey and inspired the young entrepreneurs of tomorrow. Mr. Chawla spoke about the exponential entrepreneur and elucidated the five step process to reach there – digitization, deception, disruption, demonitization and dematerialization. Ms. Ruparel, citing significant historical examples, emphasized that India is the most entrepreneurial country and urged the youthful audience to “Just go build it and make it happen!”. Dr. Singh, in his thoroughly engaging speech, underlined the importance of the disruptive mindset, the need to ask the question “Why not?” instead of “Why?” while starting on the entrepreneurial path.

The panel discussion on “Women Entrepreneur’s – Breaking Barriers using Science And Technology” had award winning young women entrepreneurs sharing their experiences and wisdom – Ms. Neha Upadhyay, Founder and Macrobiotic Coach – Guna Organics, Ms. Pooja Bhayan, Founder – Lets Barter, Ms. Ankita Gulati, innovator of a series of Multimodal books designed to help the visually impaired, and Ms. Tarusha Mittal, COO and Co–Founder of Cloudrino. Each of them was part of the WEE Foundation and had started with a problem that they wished to solve, and came up with innovative answers. Through the discussion all four emphasized the importance of perseverance, to get up and start again every time you fall, before you can see some light. They also encouraged the budding entrepreneurs to seek help and support which experienced entrepreneurs and mentors are more than willing to offer.

                                                                                                                    

The closing plenary was based on the theme “Entrepreneurial Journey: Lessons Learned from Front Liners”. Mr. Aditya Singhal, Founder and CEO of IML Jeans Co, Mr. Vaibhav Lall, Founder Khojdeal, Mr. Samit Saxena – Founder & CEO of DJNNI, and Ms. Sonal – CEO and Founder of White Cub Dairy Free Ice Creams were the distinguished panelists. Mr. Singhal underlined the importance of understanding the customer’s needs, treating them as being special and to analyse the demand for the product. He further emphasized the significance of a supportive environment and people around the young entrepreneur to allow the germination of the idea to a full blown set-up. Mr. Lall stressed the importance of translating the idea into action immediately on conception – “Don’t wish for it, work for it!” as he put it. Mr. Saxena urged the aspirants to check the suitability of the idea in the current context and to not get intimidated by the competition, highlighting the approach – build, measure, learn – as the key to success. Ms. Sonal shared her entrepreneurial journey inspiring the students, the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, to take timely action and to market their product well.

The active participation from students and faculties made the conference a great success. It provided an engagement opportunity for students and faculty to listen to new ideas and experiences from distinguished speakers and also to network with established entrepreneurs and investors.

Should-Credit-Ratings-alone-be-used-for-Investment-Decisions

Should Credit Ratings alone be used for Investment Decisions??

General Blog, , ,

Credit ratings are not investment recommendations rather they serve as one of several tools that investors can use when making decisions regarding investing in debt funds or any other investments. The ratings agencies only provide an independent opinion on the credit quality of the investment instruments issued by the issuers. Therefore, the investment decision should be based on many other factors such as liquidity in the market and interest rate fluctuations apart from credit risks. The credit rating provides information regarding the companies in the form of rating symbols which is easily recognizable by the investors to perceive risk involved in investments.

Credit ratings are useful for evaluating any investment, but the investors should not base their investment decisions solely on rating symbols or treat credit ratings as if it was an advice to invest in a particular security. This is because credit ratings also have certain limitations of their own.

Credit ratings provide only an alternative viewpoint to the financial analysis and enable the investor to compare risks in investment portfolios. Also credit ratings address only credit risk and give no insights on other risks associated with an investment such as liquidity risk, market risk etc.

Due to the subjective nature of credit ratings, their accuracy and performance is not measurable, thus making it difficult to compare them across different industry sectors.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has completely changed its position on the importance of the credit ratings given by the credit ratings agencies in India. From time to time, SEBI has imposed many regulations and circulars for regulating the credit rating agencies in India and to protect the interest of the investors. Despite of the fact that SEBI circulars & regulations plug many loopholes but some lacunae remains.

What should investors do ?

  • Investors should not rely only on the credit ratings given by the credit rating agencies.
  • Investors should consider the financial performance of the company before investing in securities.
  • Investors should also track news and developments about the companies whose debt funds they have invested in.
  • Investors should check with suppliers regarding the financial distress which might affect the payments.
  • Investors should also enquire from the customers of the company regarding product and services.

In short, investors should consider the credit ratings given by various credit rating agencies to have a diverse view on the creditworthiness of an investment. The investors must understand that the credit ratings should be used as supplement and not as a replacement of their own judgment, research and analysis for taking any investment decision. Therefore, the investor must understand the nature of the investment and should only invest in what he understands.

Innovation-is-the-mechanism-of-entrepreneurship

Innovation is the mechanism of entrepreneurship

General Blog, , , , ,

A country with large publicly funded science and technology infrastructure and a considerable education base, India has not been able to comprehend its innovative potential due to a fragmented innovation ecosystem. Many initiatives have been taken by the government towards intensification of the innovation ecosystem, the most imperative ones are: i) the establishment of the National Innovation Council, whose mandate is to coordinate various innovation-related activities, and ii) the new Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2013, which is intended to encourage entrepreneurship and science-led solutions for sustainable and comprehensive growth. Centering on the new policy initiative, this article describes the current innovation ecosystem and the challenges it faces, and it discusses the efforts made by the government towards the promotion of innovation for entrepreneurship development and sustainable growth. With the implementation of this new policy the early indications are that India is poised to take a big leap towards innovation-led growth.

The aim of the government has been to build employment opportunities for youth while edging on economic growth. Entrepreneurship development is one of the mechanisms adopted by the Government of India towards the creation of job opportunities. There have been notable efforts taken by the government by announcing conducive policies and also efforts by various government departments towards fulfilling the above vision. The government’s assumption is that support for innovation will augment entrepreneurship development, which will in turn accelerate economic growth.

This article provides the necessary background to place the current innovation ecosystem within the Indian context, highlights some of the related challenges facing India today, and describes efforts made by the government towards the promotion of innovation for entrepreneurship development.

The core of India’s current economic systems goes back to the time of colonial rule and its dictatorial and fragmented formation. The country was made to forcefully serve as a market to its colonial bosses and their industrial products. The foundations of the today’s legal, financial, educational, bureaucratic governance systems were inherited from the colonial period. However, one key area of change following independence involved the adoption of a closed economy that relied heavily on central planning, restricted imports, and nationalization of industries. The people of India, especially the young, crave employment. There is a constraint to employment opportunities offered by the various sectors of economy, but the government does provide employment guarantee programs. However, these programs are targeted at providing basic needs and tend to provide labour-intensive jobs that have no link with innovation. To sustain rapid growth and alleviate poverty, India needs to aggressively harness its innovative potential, relying on innovation-led, rapid, and inclusive growth to achieve economic and social transformation. The innovative potential of the young Indian population, if  provided support through an effective innovation ecosystem, holds potential for developing entrepreneurship and providing the growth and job opportunities that India needs.

India’s national innovation system

National innovation system in India is a huge and multifaceted system comprised of knowledge producers such as science and technology institutions, academia, and innovating individuals and knowledge users (e.g., industry-production/services in the public and private sectors). There are financial institutions such as the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), which lend support for innovation and also for commercialization of innovative technologies besides entrepreneurship. Also, various fiscal incentives are offered by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research towards the R&D activities performed by institutions, academia, and industry for supporting, nurturing and leading their innovations towards completion. Strong efforts have been made to harness the innovative capabilities of these structures by connecting them to one another and to industry and society, forming an innovation ecosystem.

India’s innovation ecosystem

Broadly speaking, an innovation ecosystem is a combination of two distinct but largely separated economies: i) the knowledge economy (comprised of knowledge producers), which is driven by fundamental research, and ii) the commercial economy (comprised of knowledge users), which is driven by the marketplace. In India, the innovation ecosystem includes the entire national innovation system described in the previous section, plus individual innovators and entrepreneurs; mentors; government policies; angel, venture capital, institutional, and industrial funding mechanisms, intellectual property rights mechanisms; technology transfer mechanisms; market inputs; and incentives, awards, and other innovation-recognition mechanisms, among others. Ideally, these various structures and mechanisms facilitate the smooth translation of innovations through the various segments of a complex innovation chain that takes ideas from “mind to market”.

Thus, the functional goal of the innovation ecosystem is to enable technology development and innovation. But, how well is India’s innovation ecosystem performing today? According to the Global Innovation Index (WIPO, 2014), India ranks 76th among the 143 countries surveyed, having fallen 10 positions since the last report and having fallen relative to other BRIC economies.

Key challenges faced by India’s innovation ecosystem and entrepreneurship in general are listed and described below are fragmented policy and policy implementation, Inadequate funding of R&D,   Difficult and lengthy funding procedures, Constrained regulations for Angel, venture capital and private equity investors,  Inadequate infrastructure facilities in villages

Conclusion

India has a large, demographically diverse population, with many young people seeking employment. The country is on a path to growth, but the rate of growth has been slow. The government has realized the roots of the basic problems and made appropriate reforms, mainly in the areas of administration, economy, and labour, as it tries to free itself from negative aspects of its colonial legacy. There has been a significant development in the area of science, technology, and innovation in past 20 years, and many initiatives have been undertaken in that direction. Realizing that the innovation-led entrepreneurship development holds promise for expansion, the government has taken key policy initiatives with a robust innovation agenda.

There are formidable challenges in realizing the goal, but as this article has shown, the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2013 is a big step in the right direction, because it addresses most of the key challenges in developing an effective innovation ecosystem. The main initiatives are provision of funds and removing the sluggishness in the ecosystem for innovations by improving linkages and making it vibrant in a comprehensive way. The policy is in place; now, its success depends on its implementation. Some time will needed before conclusions can be drawn about the policy’s ultimate effects on the growth path. However, the new direction reflects strong growth aspirations and resonates with the zeal and zest of the youth who wish to journey on the risky path of innovation-based entrepreneurship.

In a broader sense, innovation is important to the advancement of society around the world. New and innovative products can increase the standard of living and provide people with opportunities to improve their lives. Breakthroughs in medicine and technology have significantly improved living standards around the world. Innovation has also lead to significant improvements in the way businesses operate and has closed the gaps between different markets.

(Career) Trekking In The Advertising Sector

Career Development (Placement), ,

The moment you step foot at IILM Lodhi Road, the process of shaping and molding you for the real world begins. From Day 1 itself, the focus is to get one ready to bag the best possible offer from industry bigwigs, at the end of two years when the PGDM program culminates. This is where a module like ‘Career-Trek’ comes into the picture, this course is different from conventional courses as it offers a practical industrial training. Students get to choose a sector of their choice (e.g., FMCG, Automobile, Advertising & Digital Media, E-Commerce, Manufacturing, Research, Financial Consulting, Real Estate etc.) understand well, and then explore an opportunity to interact with the industry personnel / functional heads to get a detailed idea about various job profiles being offered by the company/sector, competitors, status in market, functions, processes and other related information.

Having worked in the Advertising & Digital Media sector for almost two years, I had it absolutely clear in my mind what my choice of industry was going to be. Now the next step, was getting hold of a few industry personnel who would be willing to share their knowledge and experience with us students, this was easier said than done. Now you see personnel in the Advertising & Digital Media sector are notorious for a complete disregard of everything apart from work; in a nutshell they live and breathe the work that they do. Hence convincing them (more conning them than anything else) to take out some precious time for us students was an uphill trek in itself. But finally, I and members of my career trek group managed to fix up not one, not two, but four industry visits. Let me now take you through each of these four industrial visits:

1.DDB Mudra : The DDB Mudra Group, a part of the Omnicom/DDB Worldwide Group, is India’s largest integrated marketing communications and services network. DDB Mudra Group comprises three agency networks and six specialist agencies and eleven strategic business units which offer their expertise under four disciplines (Media, OOH, Retail and Experiential).

DDB Mudra Group is one of India’s most awarded agencies picking up numerous awards at top national and international award festivals including Cannes, Spikes Asia, Clio, Adfest, ABBYs, OAA (Outdoor Advertising Awards), PMAA – Dragons of Asia (Promotion Marketing Awards of Asia) and WOW (Experiential Awards). Their long and illustrious list of clients include Emirates, Hindustan Unilever, PepsiCo, Times of India, UNICEF, Volkswagen and many more.

At DDB’s Gurugram office we met Mr. Kabir Sen, who is a Senior Partner-Client Lead; he gave us a light hearted outlook into the world of advertising. He also spoke about how advertising has evolved over the years and is now playing catch-up to Digital Media; but at the same time he pointed out that a lot yet has to be done to bring Digital Media to the masses in the tier 3, tier 4 and rural areas of India.

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Students at DDB Mudra with Mr. Kabir Sen, Senior Partner-Client Lead

2. MRM//McCann : is a leading Customer Experience Agency that puts people first. This philosophy guides their approach to creating moments that matter to both people and brands. Through data infused insights and engaging creative that is enabled through technology, they build seamless, connected experiences that result in profitable relationships. The agency is part of the Interpublic Group and a lead agency in the McCann Worldgroup network, with 40+ offices across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.MRM//McCann has been ranked among the top 10 digital agencies in the world by size, according to Adweek, MediaPost, and RECMA. Their areas of specialization are Digital Marketing, Direct Marketing, Advertising, CRM, Data & Analytics, and Creative Technology.

At MRM//McCann’s New Delhi office, we met Ms. Nidhi Sharma, Group Account Manager for Lufthansa Airlines, & Ms. Rangoli Mehrotra, Manager-Digital Planning for Lufthansa Airlines. They were extremely gracious hosts and showed us around the premises while at the same time introducing and giving us a brief about every department including strategy, designing, creatives, etc. This helped all my fellow career trek group member better understand the functional departments that each agency has, and also helped decide the department they would like to work in the near future.

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Students at MRM//McCann with Ms. Rangoli Mehrotra, Social Media-Team Lead for Lufthansa Airlines

3. Foolish : is a highly creative, strategically-focused, independent advertising agency in New Delhi. These guys are passionate about creating big ideas for big and small, but ambitious clients. Big ideas that go beyond single executions and act as a platform for one strong campaign after another.Foolish is structured around a passionate, multi-disciplinary team of individuals infused with free spirit, curious minds and restless souls. As a diverse group, each member brings different skills. From spectacular campaigns in TV, print and radio to striking brand identity makeovers, effective direct mail to point of purchase. Whatever the challenge or creative channel, these guys have an unprecedented record for turning brands around and generating outrageous business results.Their long and illustrious list of clients includes Adobe, Café Coffee Day, Xerox, Goodyear and many more.

At Foolish’s Gurugram office we were welcomed by Ms. Gagan Arora – Corporate Head, who gave us a brief overview of how newer players like Foolish are taking the fight to industry stalwarts like DDB & Ogilvy, and on many occasions coming up on top. She also gave us valuable insights on what a recruiter looks for in a potential hire, and also focused on the qualities that are necessary to do well in the Advertising & Digital Media industry. We also had a brief discussion on how Demonetisation affected ad-spends from a client’s perspective and how agencies worked around this temporary inconvenience.

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Students at Foolish with Ms. Gagan Arora – Corporate Head

4. Rep India : These guys are the new kids on the block and consist of an army of creative thinkers, who spend a disproportionate amount of their time on digital. They have a young team from diverse backgrounds with a common motive of building brands through their use of the digital economy, and that is what makes them tick.The range of services that Rep India offer include branding & identity design, web design & development, social media management, Online Reputation Management, SEO, etc.

They have an impressive portfolio of clients like GAP, Burger King, Air Asia, KittySu, and even IILM.

We spent a better part of the evening having an informal chat with Ms. Preeti Kaur – Head HR & Operations, about the finer nuances of working in an Advertising & Digital Media agency. She gave us a complete overview of the role each functional department in an agency plays, and how at the end of a day it’s the duty of an Account Manager to manage all these departments to the best of his/her abilities to ensure timely execution of Client Campaigns.

    She also introduced us to one member from each department including Strategy, Design, and Account Management, who then told us individually about the kind of work that happens in each of these departments. This was by far the most comprehensive overview of the Advertising & Digital Media industry.
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Students at Rep India with Ms. Preeti Kaur – Head HR & Operations

All in all it was an extremely fun, yet informative series of industrial visits and helped pique each and every student’s interest in the Advertising & Digital Media sector. Also, the one message that we all got from the agencies we visited was, no matter how big or small, old or new the agency might be; only a person who is truly passionate and creative about his/her work can make it big in this industry, and no one else.

And for me, it just cemented my belief that Advertising & Digital Media is the industry I really belong to and nothing will change that fact for me, ever. Now can’t wait to graduate from IILM and get back to business.

By Aditya Ray
IILM PGDM 2016-18

Visit to Cashkaro.com

Career Development (Placement), , ,

Hello!

Greetings

I am Ankita Agrawal, PGDM first year student from IILM institute for Business & Management, Gurgaon. I along with 20 of my fellow classmates and our mentor Prof. Ruchi Shah visited cashkaro.com office on 17th march 2017. The office is located in Gurgaon. The visit was a part of our module “career trek” which is an experiential course of IILM allowing students to network with corporate, government and non-profit companies. The main purpose was to understand the e-commerce sector and to connect directly with the employers.

The visit to cashkaro.com was one of the best experiences we ever had. It is a young start-up with many new objectives and opportunities for itself and the consumers. The office was big and sophisticated space with an essence of learning and motivation everywhere in form of quotes. It didn’t feel like we are in to a big organization with some strict code to follow. Everyone was glad to have us there and welcomed us with all smiles. The founder duo Swati and Rohan Bhargava themselves joined us for a glass of coca-cola over an informative chat session. We got to know about how CashKaro started and what was the driving force behind it.

Many of us didn’t really use CashKaro before but after the visit, we all got to know it’s the best site to earn cash back. When we shop at any online portal via Cashkaro, the retailer pays Cashkaro some commission. Cashkaro passes a certain percentage of this commission to the users as Cashback and the remaining is their revenue. For example, if we shop for ‘xyz’ amount, we can get upto 70% of the amount back into our bank account as Cashback.

Also, the employees shared their growing experience of working in Cashkaro. Unlike every other company, Cashkaro offers a friendly working environment wherein the employees communicate with their colleagues without following any hierarchy and there is complete transparency in work. One of the employees named Sanjula Miglani shared how in a span of just 1.5 years, she changed three departments as she learned about each of them and got promoted. The employees seemed to be very happy and open regarding their views about the organization and about working in a start-up. They cleared our doubts regarding cash back and detailed us about what they actually do.

The digital head of the company involved us in few activities wherein we expressed our views regarding the company’s website and its other functioning. We were also briefed about their upcoming projects and short-term goals. It was really exciting to know about what working in a start-up feels like. This motivated each one of us to pursue career in a start-up and e-commerce sector.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank our professor for giving us this opportunity to visit the company and also to the Cashkaro team for making the learning so fruitful for us. We now have a clarified goal regarding our interest areas. The students of IILM look forward to work with you in future for sure.
Thank you.

Analyzing E-commerce startups using basic business fundamentals

General Blog, Uncategorized, , ,

Over the last two years, we have seen a large number of startup e-commerce companies shutting shop or downsizing. Many well-known companies like Snapdeal, Pepper Tap, Flipkart, Zomato, Tiny Owl, etc. reported huge losses, shaking confidence of investors and raising serious questions on the credibility of Indian e-commerce opportunity. Many of these were termed as Startup Unicorns, and were valued at over $1 billion. So how could so many companies, backed by some of the smartest investors go so wrong?

Let’s go back to the basics, and reiterate some high school fundamentals in accounting, finance and economics. The basic purpose of all businesses is profit which is a function of revenue and cost. The aim is to maximize revenue and minimize costs. So what is the basic revenue model for ecommerce companies? Most e-commerce companies earn commissions from transactions between buyers and sellers. Revenue forecasts are calculated by considering the average revenue per transaction and the number of expected transactions. Most venture capitalists and private equity funds over valued startups considering the large transaction volume. Going back to the fundamentals of valuation, a company is valued on the revenue, profit or cash flow the business can generate over the next 5-10 years. In case of many of these startups the metric used was Gross Merchandise Value or simply, Total Order Value, but is this revenue for the e-commerce platform? The revenue is merely a commission on this value unless the company is selling the products it is manufacturing. This led to inflated valuations and gave these companies access to funding which has not been used in the most rational manner.

Analyzing the costs, the cost of customer acquisition was very steep due to deep discounts, freebies, high marketing spend, free returns, free shipping etc. Even though a significant number of consumers have switched to online shopping, the actual reason of this switch is not convenience – but the availability of better deals online. So if the discounts are withdrawn, the consumer stickiness is at risk. The marketing ROI is debatable, and there is no easy way to reduce the cost without impacting customer loyalty.

Another significant cost component to consider is the hefty pay packages being offered to employees. Many senior employees were hired from leading technology or consulting companies globally. These companies have gone to the best colleges including IITs , IIMs , ISB to recruit. While it is understandable that having good talent on board is necessary to compete with well-established global giants like Amazon, it seems the rationality of deciding the salary costs was compromised in many cases.

Another factor which has contributed to failure is hasty decisions made by co-founders to make expensive acquisitions, expanding to new business areas or to new geographies without stabilizing existing businesses, spending lofty amounts on rebranding, etc. While the entrepreneurial spirit in the youth is a key driver of growth in these ventures, guidance and control from experienced industry personnel including investors can be a powerful guiding rail for the journey.

IILM Summer Internship Program 2017 – The Experiential Way

Career Development (Placement), , , ,

For the whole year student shuts heavy books, and semester by semester opens heavier ones to study for the ever upcoming exams. He worries about assignments, projects and imminent mid semester reviews. Sound familiar? A student’s academic life in college reads like a bunch of old theorems- dull and unchanging. Winter semester is preceded by fall and soon the year ends with us having achieved high marks but no knowledge of how we achieved them. Summer time is  perhaps the time for our students to pursue their passion and live their future goals by networking with corporates & professionals.

Our curriculum mandates a 3 month summer internship, to provides a first hand experience of the business environment. Moving from the classroom set up to the real world space, this process makes our students more adaptive at handling real life problems hence making them effective decision makers.

Our students will be spending their summers interning at their dream companies! 

Amidst the PG academic session, classes & projects, every year from early February onward the IILM campus gets all worked up with top brands on campus to hire students for the Summer Internship Program. There’s a huge association with industries, sectors &  established line of start-ups for the on the job training with young (highly inspiring) entrepreneurs. To name a few companies who hired IILM PGDM students for SIP’17 – Mondelez International (Food Processing Industry), SMC International (Financial Services), WNS (Business Process Outsourcing), Hettich (Manufacturing sector), ITC limited (FMCG), IMRB (Consulting), JLL (Consulting) & Eazy Diner (Food and Beverage Industry).

Internships – The Real World Training 

The experiential learning offers our students to work in their interest domains. Students are offered a range of profiles during the internship period of 3 months. These profiles range from different departments, such as – Marketing & Sales, Financial Services, Human Resources & Operations.  With recent SIP hiring on campus there are various profiles which are being offered to our students, to name a few –

  • Business Sales
  • Employee Engagement
  • Data Analyst
  • Channeling Sales
  • HR Generalist

So, how does the process of SIP really works at IILM?

The students are given a committed faculty & industry mentor. Industry mentor is the person who is an employee of the company where he/she is going to start the internship. SIP Projects play a very significant role in the internship period, all the projects are evaluated by faculty mentors before they are allocated to the students. The faculty mentors also visit companies and interact with the industry mentors on a regular basis to keep abreast of the students’ performance. There’s a regular interaction between the assigned faculty mentor & the student during non working hours on how to prepare their reports. The project is culminated with a presentation by the student before a panel of company representatives and the industry mentor at the company premises.

Indeed, an over whelming achievement is experienced by the students by the possibility of receiving the ‘Pre-Placement Offer’ on the completion of their internship period. It is earned and gained only with the immense and sincere efforts done by the interns

 

IILM Career Trek Visit 2017 – Review I

Career Development (Placement)

For many IILM students, the internship and job search extends far beyond the Delhi-NCR campus. As a part of campus placements drive, students of batch 2016-18 made use of the opportunity to visit companies, covering across 23 sectors to understand the sector specific requirements.

In particular, for The IILM Career Development Centre, the Career Trek is one of their hallmark events. So, what exactly happens during this Career Trek?

For the organizer, the trek is the result of months of planning and coordination with many companies. All students are taken for a limited spot on this trek regardless of their experience in this field, as the goal is for them to broaden their exposure and to network for potential job opportunities.

Fabio Rodriguez Santiago, President of the IESE Marketing Club stated, “We need the trek to cater to our entire student base. We have some participants with very strong marketing experience in big firms like Coca-Cola whilst others are career changers with little previous exposure to the industry. We plan the mix of companies and content of visits in such a way so that it is enriching regardless of your marketing knowledge.”

The Career Trek is primarily student driven. This means that every year, the companies that are included could change depending on students’ interest.  In the month of March students & the placements team optimised the activity of Career Visit to large corporations like – Audi , Whirlpool,  Bisleri, and Mercedes-Benz,  leading banks like ICICI & YES BANK as well as fast-growing start-ups such as Make My Trip and Cash Karo. Not only did the students learn trends from industry leaders, they were able to participate in discussions on current projects involving gender equality and sustainability.

Acquainting with industries like – Automobile, Banking, Consumer Durable, E-commerce and many more are ultimately giving a lot of exposure and career boost to  young professionals on campus. These industries have the all round reputation for the overall personality development and grooming for its employees.
The Career Development Centre also organized a panel with young entrepreneurs at the Lodhi Road campus, who shared their experiences about the marketing challenges faced by starts-ups. Of course, no trek would be complete without Happy Hour to wrap up the busy day.

Let’s see what students have experienced :-

  • “Overall the trek proved useful to me. Coming from a non-marketing background and looking into potentially moving to a marketing role, it helped me gain a 360 view of the business”   17425947_1496118200400511_2020080846988599168_n
  • “It was a unique experience to learn about a company, not from papers or pictures, but from the recruiters and employees. It was amazing to be in their work environment and to see the passion they have for their work.”   17309171_1490679790944352_2882660304084705530_n
  • “Inspiring, informative and fun for everyone.”

From the companies’ perspective, the trek gives them a chance to interact with IILM students in a more intimate setting and to hear their ideas. According to company professionals,

  • “The companies shared were that they were very impressed by the energy and inputs given by IILM students”.
  • “Presenting to the IIILM PGDM students was really exciting. For me, it wasn’t a class of MBA students, it was a community of really cool, curious and eager individuals. I am very thankful for the insights gained from such an international audience.”            17309245_1490675774278087_6029245993411904955_n

 Ultimately, every trek is only as successful as the efforts put in by the students.

For those first year students who missed out on this year, there is always next year. Get an insight on IILM PGDM Campus Placements & Summer Internships at www.iilm.edu/placements.

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