IIT Kanpur MBA Blog

Date: 14th January, 2011 Speaker: Dr. Puneet Prakash About the speaker: Dr. Puneet Prakash is an Assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University since 2005. He holds a Ph.D in Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University, an MBA from IIFT, Delhi, PG Diploma in Development Policy (IGIDR), and M.Sc. (5-year Integrated) from IIT, Kanpur. He is also a visiting faculty to IIT Kanpur, Fall 2009. Abstract of the talk: The seminar started with a brief discussion on market and the categorization of market participants into risk averse, risk neutral and risk seeking behaviors. Dr. Prakash then proceeded to discuss the Modigliani – Miller theorem that Corporations are risk neutral and that if investors want to manage risk they could do it as an individual rather than through the company. The underlying assumption is that a company and a individual have the same capability to manage risk. As this assumption is not a universal truth, not all corporations are risk neutral. Any...

Date : 7th January, 2011 Speaker : Dr. Puneet Prakash Biography of the speaker: Dr. Puneet Prakash is an Assistant professor, 2005 – current, at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has done his Ph.D in Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University. He completed MBA from IIFT, Delhi, PG Diploma in Development Policy (IGIDR), and M.Sc. (5-year Integrated) from IIT, Kanpur. He is also a visiting faculty to IIT Kanpur, Fall 2009. Abstract of the talk: In the paper mentioned, it is examined as to why credit rating standards change over time. Drawing upon the literature on certification intermediaries, it is argued that rating standards are related to the economy-wide credit quality distribution, and as the distribution changes, so do the standards. Empirical tests verify this predicted relationship. In particular, with a rise in economy–wide dispersion of the distribution of credit quality, rating standards become more stringent. However, an increase in mean probability of ec...

On 29th Dec. 2010, Dr. Subhanu Saxena, the Global Head of Marketing and Sales, General Medicine of Novartis visited the department and provided insights into pharmaceutical industry. During his long career at Novartis, he has handled many challenging roles, dealt with diverse business conditions and travelled to various parts of the globe. His commitment to the field of healthcare is supplemented by his passion towards ancient Indian literature and philosophy. The seminar was aimed at sharing the speaker's insights in the healthcare industry and share with the audience the various challenges, innovations, technological initiatives and management practices prevalent at Novartis. Dr. Saxena began by sharing with the audience some information on the healthcare industry in general, and Novartis in particular. The high financial margins of Novartis are indicative of the robustness of business along with diversification of interests to strengthen revenue flows of the company. The amount ...

IME day celebration marked the completion of 35 years of establishment of the IME department in IIT Kanpur. This day was made special by the presence of our prestigious faculty members like Prof. Sadagopan, Prof. Kripa Shanker, the alumni of IME department, the long term staff members and students accompanied by a lot of other folks. This event coincided with the informal inauguration of IME Building, a dedicated building with the state of art facilities for the IME department. The mood became nostalgic as Prof. A.K. Mittal, who has been associated with IME department since its inception, shared his journey with the department since 1975 with 3-4 students to the current size of approximately 120 students pursuing diverse courses like M.B.A., M.Tech and Ph.D. Prof. Mittal shared how the department was branched off from the Mechanical engineering department and prospered under the visionary leadership of Prof. Batra and Prof. Mittal himself. Initially, the department offered only M. Tech...

Topic : Energy Conservation Background of Speaker : Mr. Srinu Babu Matta, Divisional Manager (Engg. Services), Tata Motors. The topic of Energy conservation is very crucial to the current and future aspirations of our nation. The speaker, who holds a key position in Tata Motors and has experience in multiple roles, introduced the audience to the various facets of energy conservation through a comprehensive presentation. The speaker highlighted the current dire circumstances faced by the Indian consumers. Roughly 12% shortage of energy is always seen in the nation leading to frequent power cuts as well as constraining the ability to electrify the villages present in the interior parts of the country. As of date, there are more than 1 Lakh villages which are un-electrified. Quoting several official sources, the speaker elaborated that the chasm is only expected to widen due to growing population, expanding industry, large scale consumption. The need of the hour is to pursue energy conser...

Day 2 of Prabandhan had the same infectious dose of enthusiasm in all the students and participants of the events to be held on the final day of the Annual Management Conclave. The students and participants were all set to get their creative juices flowing as the final round of Saudagar : The Marketing Extravaganza got underway. The final 5 contestants were presented with a challenging marketing assignment which required them to make a marketing presentation for a varied product range. The product range sprung quite a few surprises on the contestants and left them gasping for breath as the clock ticked by. The teams had to present their marketing strategy to the elite panel of judges comprising IIT Kanpur faculty. The audience were regaled with some entertaining and innovative marketing by the participants who then had to face some grilling by the judges. The competition was tough but the deserving winners were Dextrous Dou from SIMSR and runners-up were IITK’s very own PSR team. Befor...

Pragyaan : The Lecture Series Day 1 of Prabandhan 2010, Annual Management Conclave of IIT Kanpur Topic of Lecture : PPP in Waste Management : Opportunities, Barriers and Way ahead Speaker : Mr. S N Mukhpadhyay, COO IL & FS. The Day 1 of Pragyaan, the Lecture Series in Prabandhan 2010 kicked off with a discourse on the globally emerging field of Waste Management. Mr. Mukherjee began the discourse by pointing out the two aspects by which we look at management. We have one view which focuses on revenue, income generation and consumption led growth. However, the second view of management is the focus on the impact of this consumption driven growth process on the environment. The world as we see it is driven by the former view leading to sustainability issues faced in the present as well as in the future. Mr. Mukherjee focussed the attention of the budding managers in the audience to the emerging field of Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM). He explained that this field is an import...