Dear Friends, Greetings! This issue brings to you a timely discussion between Kuldeep Goyal, CMD, BSNL, who was a participant during the ISB Kellogg Global Advanced Management Programme, and Professor Srini Rangan, the mentor for the programme. It now becomes clear how a PSU is surviving competition from other telecom operators, including foreign players, in the third-generation space. The mantra is strategic changes in operation and vision. Continuous learning is the key driver to build and sustain organisational growth. We at CEE believe that investment in learning generates results unsurpassed. In an article penned by me, I somewhat justify why it is vital for a firm to invest in big time learning. We met with more alumni in various cities, and each meeting has made me believe that we have now created a strong network of leaders and doers. Each Alumni Chapter has a lot of action in the pipeline. I look forward to stay connected with all of you through more forums. Read on, and do share feedback. Best Wishes Deepak Chandra Associate Dean, CEE Alum Postings Alumni Meet CEE Alumni ‘Glue Together’ During the last few months the CEE Alumni met at Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. Bangalore Chapter Meet At Bangalore a huge gathering of CEE alumni met at ITC Windsor Manor. Present at the occasion were Professor M Rammohan Rao, Dean of ISB, Deepak Chandra, Associate Dean, CEE, and senior management members from CEE. Chandra welcomed the gathering, urging the alumni present to use the occasion to “create camaraderie with a purpose”. Dean Rao shared with the alums the growth story of the ISB, and the milestones achieved so far. Manish Sinha, CEE, informed the alumni about the common goals and agenda that the various alum chapters were to observe. He also briefed the gathering about the process of election for office bearers. It was followed by a systematic secret balloting, and the end of the evening saw the President and the Secretary of the Bangalore Chapter proudly take their new bastions. The office bearers elected to the Bangalore Chapter are: President: Rajesh Gupta, Managing Director, Bearing Point Secretary: Rajmohan Krishnan, Sr. Vice President, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. Mumbai Chapter Meet Braving rain and water logging in several parts of Mumbai, a large number of CEE alumni met at the Grand Central in Mumbai. The evening provided valuable insights into the experiences of the CEE alumni, about their learning while at ISB, and how executive education programmes had helped them in their careers and organisations. It was also a great moment of coming together and making plans for the road ahead. The office bearers elected to the Mumbai Chapter are: President: Ashok Malhotra, Managing Director, Mettler Toledo Secretary: Amarjit Batra, Head, New Business & Global Trade, eBay India Ltd. Delhi Chapter Meet At the Delhi meet a gathering of CEE alumni relived their experience while at ISB. Dean Rao and Deepak Chandra shared the vision of ISB on its way forward. At the Delhi meet too the secret ballot process was adopted, and Chapter officer bearers were elected. The office bearers elected to the Delhi Chapter are: President: Vijay Kiyawat, Special Advisor, Duraline Corporation Secretary: Krishan Malhotra , Executive Director , Pricewaterhouse Coopers Pvt. Ltd. Chapter Representatives Meet at ISB On September 14, 2008, all the Chapter officials met at ISB to take forward their plan of action for the Alumni Chapters, and discuss about the focus for the first year. Students from the Class of 2009 at the ISB, belonging to the Consulting Club, carried out an assignment and recommended a plan of action for the ISB-CEE Alumni Chapters. The recommendations were based on primary research, secondary research, benchmarking and in-depth analysis. Dean Rao and Deepak Chandra also put forth their expectations from the Alumni Chapters. The Chapter office bearers presented their views on their Chapters and indicated their area of focus. Several details like frequency of the events, web portal requirement, nature of activities, and the details of the task ahead were deliberated upon. Everyone agreed that getting all alumni to ‘glue together’ would be a vital component, and needs to be executed on priority. The core team will now take ahead the vision and plan the activities. This meet of the Chapter officials was an occasion to experience the possibility of creation of a highly empowered platform which could bring together the industry and the academia, and leverages it extensively for the benefit of all. The meeting provided valuable insights into the experiences of the CEE alumni, about their learning while at ISB, and how the executive education programme helped them in leaps and bounds in their careers. It was also a moment of coming together and envisioning the road ahead. Alum Selected for LSE Programme Alumni Dipankar Ghosh, Vice President - Strategic Initiatives, Infotech Enterprises Ltd, has been selected for the Chevening Scholarship for the Gurukul Leadership and Excellence Programme, 2008 at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gurukul is a unique 12-week, advanced leadership programme, created by LSE specifically for India’s future leaders. Each year, the Chevening Gurukul Scholarship Programme enables twelve exceptional Indian men and women to participate in an intensive exploration of the challenges of top leadership in a globalising world through a programme of academic studies, field visits and seminars, debates with practitioners, and individual projects of direct personal relevance. The Programme addresses the issues faced by leaders in all fields - “how to lead more effectively”- by encouraging the scholars to analyse changing ideas and practices of leadership and exploring the implications for Indian leaders. It provokes critical thinking and provides unique opportunities for scholars to test their own hypotheses with policy makers and practitioners, as well as with academics and opinion leaders Dipankar attended the CEE AMP Programme in November 2007. He will be at LSE between September 24 to the December 22 2008 and can be reached at dippyg@gmail.com Alum Mural The programme opens your eyes to fundamental values, which you forget when you are engaged in business, - Rahul Kothari, Director, Pakona Engineers, during the Leadership in Family Business Programme, 2008 The course came at the right time, gave me an idea to work upon, and hopefully I will create a business out of it - Samdani Basha, Programme Manager, GE Infra, during the Leveraging IT in Core Business Functions, 2008 A programme to inject leadership in the blood -Kishore S, Assistant General Manager, Grasim Industries Limited, during the Leadership Skills for Top Management Programme, 2008 Academics, like spiritualism, is in our roots. We only need to rediscover it by regular engagement -Sanjay Kothari, Managing Director, RadhaMadhav Advisory Sevices, during the Venture Capitalist Development Programme, 2008