ALUMINOUS
JULY 2016 Issue
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Contribute to the Scholarship fund and
Fulfil the aspirations of a deserving
Candidate to complete his MBA dream
Contact for details:
Ms. Rizwana Sayyed- 022 42355905
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ORIENTATION DAY 2016
The academic year kicked off on June 6th, 2016 at Bhaidas Hall. Our Chief guests for the day were Mr. Aashish Sommaiyaa,
MD and CEO, Motilal Asset Management Co. Ltd. and Ms. Pratibha Chhaya, VP & Business Head for Morphy Richards at
Bajaj Electricals Ltd. Others present at the occasion were Dr. Debashish Sanyal, Dean and Vice Provost, SBM, NMIMS, Dr.
Rajan Saxena, Vice-Chancellor, NMIMS, Dr. Meena Chintamaneni, Registrar and Mr. Shalin Divatia, Joint Secretary
SVKM.
Addressing first year students, Mr. Sommaiyaa, an alumnus of 2000
batch during his speech spoke about his time at NMIMS and corporate.
He spoke about the importance of reading and how he developed a habit
of compulsive reading during his time at NMIMS. He also focused on the
importance of communication skills and how NMIMS helped him
develop on them during his time here. Reflecting on all the
presentations he was asked to make during his time here,
Mr. Sommaiyaa spoke about how he has been able to translate this into
his board room meetings and use them there.
Speaking about the corporate world, Mr. Sommaiyaa advised the
students to stay away from politics in organisations and also spoke about
the importance of
approaching people
directly to resolve issues faster. During his speech, he emphasised on
the fact that one must be sure of what he/she wants in life and he/she
must plan and work towards achieving this.
He also spoke about how each business must add value to customers
and how as a future MBA graduate, one must strive to achieve this. He
concluded his speech by wishing the students the very best. In the Q & A
session, he addressed various questions from the students post which
the session ended.
The second half of the session saw Ms. Patibha Chhaya, an alumnus
from the 1998 address second year students. She spoke about the
importance of one’s thought process and how organising thoughts is the
key to doing well at
work. Quoting incidents from her experiences in her career, she spoke
about the relevance of the course and the importance of learning on the
job.
She spoke about how one must focus on the importance of filtering out
irrelevant data and focussing on data that actually makes a difference.
She also spoke about the importance of keeping up with the happening
around the world and again .
Considering the fast paced environment, Ms. Chayya stressed on the
fact that one must continuously invest in oneself. She also spoke about
how one must get out his/her comfort zone and try new things. Speaking about her own career, she spoke about the importance of mentors
and how having mentors have helped her throughout her career.
ORIENTATION DAY 2016
Closing out on her speech, she asked the students to take
risks and work extensively on developing people skills.
The orientation week also gave an opportunity for first
year students to interact with the alumni through guest
ALUMINOUS
speaker sessions. Ms Swati Guruskrishnan, Vice
President-Nomura (from the
batch of 2000), Mr Priyank
Shah, Founder- Glassapple
(from batch of 2009), Mr.
Rajiv Seth, Executive DirectorCapital Markets, Standard
Chartered (from batch of 1992) and Ms. Surekha Shenoy, COO, MSAS,
Morgan Stanley ( from batch of 1997) were the other speakers at the guest
sessions. Here students were able to interact with the alumni and were
able to understand the dynamics of the industry better. The speakers also
had extensive Q & A sessions, where questions were answered on
selection of specialisation to how prepare oneself for the upcoming two years of the MBA course were discussed.
MESSAGE FROM MR. AJIT GUPTE, CHAIRMAN, NMIMS BUSINESS SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
We wish to extend such an opportunity to students who have the intellect but find it a challenge to put together the financial resources to back their dream. It is with this objective
that we request you to donate a part of your good fortunes towards a deserving candidate.
Your contribution will allow a students’ aspiration see the light of day.
Following are the bank details:
Account Name: NMIMS B .S Alu m n i Assn . Scholar ship a/c
Account No: 50200015368537
RTGS NEFT /IFSC code: HDFC0001027
Branch Address: 108/D, Ram n ivas Lajpatr ai Road, Vile Parle W est, M u m bai -400056
Alumni can contact Ms.Rizwana Sayyed, Alumni Relationship Manager for further details on how they can contribute to
the scholarship fund. Phone: 022 42355905 Email: [email protected]
LEND A HAND
The Alumni Relations Cell organised a workshop conducted by Mr Havish Madhvapaty, TestFormula
Education
Pvt Ltd on "Marketing Research using MS Excel". The workshop was sponsored by "Edu4sure" which is an initiative by
With great pride NMIMS Business School Alumni Association announces the inception of
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Mumbai Coffee Meet 2016
The 2016 Coffee Meet season
has begun. This month, the
Alumni Relations cell of SBM
NMIMS, Mumbai organized a
coffee meet on June 11, 2016 in
Mumbai.
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The coffee meet was a resounding success. Over 80
alumni from various batches attended this meet.
Held in the new building, the cell was successful in
recreating those times of happiness from college days and evoked nostalgia in the alumni present at the meets.
Following an address by members of the
Alumni Association, SBM, NMIMS, the alumni
were shown around the new campus and for many
of the alumni, it was their first visit to the new
campus and they were awestruck by it. With
alumni ranging from batches as early as 1992 to
the most recent 2016 batch, memories were
created in what turned out to be a day of
nostalgia.
It was a special moment for the Alumni Relations
Cell also, as the event was attended by the
founding members of the alumni cell and
members of the succeeding batches. Rest assured,
everyone had a great time and the Alumni Relations
Cell assures you, this is only the first of many more
event planned out for the year.
Stay tuned for more updates !
ALUMINOUS
Interview
Mr Vijay Chandok is the Executive Director (Designate) of ICICI Bank Limited, responsible for the Commercial Banking
Group, Small & Medium Enterprises and Corporate Agri Group and the International Banking Group (IBG). Prior to his current
role, Mr. Chandok was the Head of ICICI Bank Limited’s Retail Assets, Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) Group and Rural &
Agri Banking Group. He is also the former Vice Chairman of ICICI Home Finance Company Limited. He completed his Masters in
Management Studies from NMIMS, Mumbai in 1993. Mr Chandok was awarded the Alumni Achievement Award by NMIMS for
the year 2016.
Mr. Vijay
Chandok
Q1. You have successfully held various positions across different divisions in ICICI Bank. What were the major
challenges you faced during the journey and how did you overcome them ?
Over the past two decades, I have indeed had the privilege of working in various roles in different parts of the bank. I started as a
member of a team and over the years have had the opportunity to lead teams. These roles have required me to scale up businesses,
turn around businesses and even build businesses from the scratch. As I look back, each of the roles had its own challenges but, as I
thought about them then, I saw that each of these challenges also had an accompanying opportunity. An opportunity to dream, an
opportunity to conceptualize ideas and an opportunity to design/draw a plan based on an understanding of the competitive
landscape, an assessment of stakeholder expectations and the evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of the business.
It has indeed been a fulfilling experience designing and shaping the contours of business and building teams along the way, as I
focused on the opportunities my various roles provided.
I would like to add that I’ve been fortunate enough to have the continuous support of my superiors, who have been instrumental in my
ability to leverage these various opportunities over the years.
Q2. In an era where people tend to switch companies quite frequently, you have been with ICICI Bank since you
joined them from NMIMS as a Management Trainee and you have now become the executive Director there. Please
tell us more about how you’ve been able to achieve this.
I was delighted when I got an offer from ICICI Ltd. on campus. It was my dream job then and I have enjoyed every single day here
since then. The various roles that have been assigned to me over the years have kept me highly energized, engrossed and motivated. I
have learnt and grown tremendously through this journey – through the various opportunities, and the enormous independence given
to me in shaping the same. Through various business cycles and the highs and lows, I have seen this organization being consistently
fair and investing in building capacities of its employees and empowering them. I have been a beneficiary of this culture and I have to
admit that, I owe what I am today, to ICICI Bank.
I would also highlight one important lesson that I learned early on in my career is the importance of
continuous learning and the need to reskill and develop new capabilities. I remain paranoid to remain
relevant in the business system and that has propelled me to continuously endeavour to improve my
capabilities.
Q3. You see a lot of fintech companies coming into the financials space. What are the
prospects for such companies and what is the impact they have on traditional banks/NBFCs?
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Banking has clearly evolved over the last couple of decades and has undergone significant changes, especially in the last few years.
Across banking, customer experience is the key focus and given the high internet penetration enabled through smartphones,
banks have been riding the technology wave/curve to deliver their products and services in a most seamless and efficient manner.
In that sense, the concept of fintech is neither new nor has it caught the banks unawares. Banks have spent enormously on
creating a distribution network and have been using and embracing technology ranging from mobility and analytics to robotics
and artificial intelligence to serve their customers better and further.
Having said that, we find that fintech companies have indeed been able to offer innovative banking solutions to our customers
and potential customers. The way I see it is that traditional banks would do well to keep a tab on the development or innovation
in this space and adopt/partner at the right stage.
Further, as this space evolves, going by the policies and guidelines set by the regulators; most of these fintech companies like the
payment banks are not really likely to be competing directly with traditional banks in a material way. In fact, handled rightly,
there might be a significant possibility to realize synergies with the fintech companies as there will be lots of room for
collaborations and partnerships and opportunity for banks to widen and enhance their scope.
Q4. The banking sector has been under severe stress due to the rising NPAs. Please share with us your views on
the same.
The stress and NPA situation in the Banking industry is due to a combination of factors. The delays in implementation of
various projects have resulted in cost and time overrun. This in turn has impacted the project viability in some of the corporates
owing to lower cash generation in relation to the leverage taken by them. The sharp decline in commodity prices and weak global
demand has compounded the problems to some extent.
While the Government and other stakeholders are working assiduously to ensure project completion and removing roadblocks by
providing an increasingly facilitative environment and addressing project specific issues, the recovery is expected to be gradual
and painful, involving sale of assets and write down of debt and equity.
As I see it, through this readjustment process, there would be need for equity infusion into PSU banks over the next few years.
This phase, though challenging, shall pass.
Q5. While you have had a number of achievements in your career, what has been the proudest moment of your
professional life?
As I look back at my career with the bank, the ‘professional’ in me does feel satisfied with the broad and multiple canvasses that I
have been allowed to shape/design. My personal high, though, is when I was awarded the ‘Top Leadership Award’ in ICICI Bank
amongst my peer group in the domain of nurturing talent and innovation. This award were special to me as they were based on
the feedback from the people I worked with and it represented their mandate.
Q6. Who is a person that you considered as a role model early in your life? How and why does this person
impact your life?
I have been fortunate to have worked with sharp and energized minds and have learnt from all of them including my colleagues. I
have been amazed by Mr. Kamath’s ability to look at the big picture and to think out-of-the-box, also for thinking big and taking
risks. I admire Chanda’s meticulous attention to detail, her efficiency, focus and her poise even under extreme pressure.
Q7. You were recently awarded the “Alumni Achievement Award” for 2016 by NMIMS. When you take a trip
down memory lane, are there any special memories that you recollect from your times at NMIMS?
NMIMS holds a special place in both my professional and personal life. As my finishing school, this was where I formed my
professional identity, discovered my love for finance and widened my world-view through the various debates, discussions and
projects. The enriching arguments with my professors and the various assignments and case studies have given valuable
perspectives, life learnings and of course cherished friendships. One such friend, from my early morning brain-storming sessions,
is now my partner - my most treasured takeaway from here.
Q8. Any particular advice that you would like to give our budding managers at NMIMS drawing from your own
journey?
Extending upon what I mentioned earlier, the biggest learning and highest growth can be enabled through treating challenges as
opportunities. When I say this, this involves multiple dimensions in itself. It requires one to keep an open mind to welcome
challenges, to have a solution/problem-solving orientation and most importantly, to take people/stakeholders along. I wish the
students the very best of luck. It’s an enjoyable ride ahead – with a lot of promise. With your education here and the right
attitude, the world is for you to conquer.
To become a member of the Alumni Association, please contact Ms. Rizwana SayyedPhone: 022 42355905 Email: [email protected]
We invite articles for Alumni Speak column, applications for Alumni Round Table Conference,
feedback and any updates from you. Please write to us at : [email protected]
The Alumni Editorial Team
Merla Sri Chandrahas