Professor Gita offers insight into the world of Finance Derivatives and highlights rewarding career opportunities in the field.

Choosing the right specialization for your management program is as important as picking the right B School. While the Marketing domain is widely discusses, the Finance sector is still considered to be a niche. It’s ironic that the stream that has consistently offered exciting and high profile career opportunities for management aspirants is believed to be a field only for those who like to crunch numbers. That’s why we have Prof. Gita, KIAMS shedding light on career prospects and dispelling some of the myths surrounding the field.

Prof. Gita is a Asst. Professor at the B School and has 12 years of experience as an academic, having worked with several reputable educational institutes in the country. Her expertise in Finance is evident from her sterling record, and today she shares her experience with the students at KIAMS. As we begin talking about Derivatives in the market, she says, “In the initial days of derivative trading, Commodity Derivatives were popular. However, things have changed now and Options, Futures, Forwards, and Swaps have gained in prominence as well.”

According to Prof. Gita, derivatives should be chosen based on the objective of the investment. That’s something not only investors need to know, but also those who want to work as professionals in the field of derivatives. She delves deeper into the responsibilities for future aspirants, saying, “They are quite similar to that of Equity Researcher or Portfolio Manager. You’d have to carry out an in-depth analysis of the underlying asset and the performance of the Derivative. The goal is to help the investor make a smart investment choice.”

But at the end of the day, aspirants are keen on knowing their career prospects and future opportunities. Prof. Gita leads them in the right direction as far as Finance Derivatives are concerned: “At National Stock exchange alone, the Average Daily Trading of Futures & Options was around 120055.59 Cr in the year 2013-14. That kind of voluminous trading in itself should tell you about the lucrative and challenging careers in the field. Financial services sector and institutions under it have several opportunities for derivatives professionals.”

In fact, Prof. Gita believes that the entire Finance sector is buzzing with exciting options for professionals of today and tomorrow. According to her, Finance goes beyond just number crunching and is, in fact, integral to every business. “Every business needs cash flow and when money comes into the picture, you need professionals who know the basics of finance for decision making,” she explains. “Financial Analyst, Equity research, Financial Controller, Treasurer, Risk Management Professional, Fund Manager – there are several rewarding careers ahead of you.”

Her institute is also doing its best to prepare its students for careers in Finance Derivatives. It has offered them different electives, which Prof. Gita believes can be very useful for interested students. “Futures & Options Basic Course and Futures & Options Advanced course have been specially created to offer students an insight into the field, she says. “That coupled with the understanding of spreadsheet calculations can help students gain knowledge of Finance derivatives to build a flourishing career in them.” Obviously, Prof. Madhuri is positive and enthusiastic about the field of Finance. And, she shares this enthusiasm with her students who look to her as a mentor as they work towards their professional goals.

A freedom to choose your career with a wisely designed course!

Dr. Janaki Naik, an academician with 22 years of work experience has complete clarity and belief that a course may be called well designed only if it improves the employability of a student. She says, “Academia should get inputs from the corporate world, before a course is designed to ensure that the industry get young professionals who can hit the ground running”.

Explaining the process of designing a world-class course she says that KIAMS keeps two major stakeholders at the centre of course design – the students and the recruiters. The course, thus is designed for the market at large and the sector orientation is built in through elective choices. The students have a wide choice as the course is multidisciplinary in nature i.e., a student is free to choose electives across streams to equip himself/herself for a career of his/her choice. This is the USP of the course at KIAMS and one can also do general management if one chooses to, without specializing in any area.

The system builds competencies that the recruiters find a fine combination of subjects which they may not generally find in other candidates. For instance a student from KIAMS may have a dual specialization in HR & Finance, or Operations and Finance/HR. “A wisely designed course”, she states, “Is one which gives a student freedom to choose a career and get formal education for the same, which is generally not possible in our education system.”

A course is designed to cater to the length and breadth of the competency basket required. The first years caters to the spread and the second to the depth. KIAMS draws on Bloom’s Taxonomy to create the right spread and depth. The PGDM Curriculum comprises of   sub-systems which are the functional and integrative subject areas of Management. Each course has its own ‘Objectives’ and ‘Learning Outcomes’, which have to be aligned with the PGDM curriculum objectives and learning outcomes. The learning outcomes are in the personal, professional and social domains and the objective of the program is providing professionally trained manpower for industry to manage the functional system for current and future performance levels and providing community and society a member who is aware of his societal responsibilities while engaging in professional activities and who holds the two simultaneously.

The course development at KIAMS maps to the global perspective of management and enables development of new age skills of Strategic thinking, Creative problem-solving, Leadership skills and Communication skills. She believes that faculty evolves with the course and the faculty’s personality coupled with the course content can help young management aspirants succeed in the increasingly competitive world.

KIAMS Director Dr. C.N. Narayana shares his views on the KIAMS differentiation in the coming year

“In KIAMS vision of ‘Excellence’, my focus is primarily to build the academic rigor to give KIAMS students the skills needed to succeed in the competitive world and to reach the pinnacle of success”, says Dr. C.N. Narayana, Director KIAMS, who has recently joined the institute. He was sharing his understanding of the vision of KIAMS is to provide society a center of learning that excels in Management Education, Research, Training and Consultancy. His efforts are directed towards encouraging the faculty members to bring more output on research and publications. “Training and Consulting will automatically follow once we excel in Education and Research”, he adds. KIAMS has the Centre for Executive Education, which is clearly focusing on Executive Education.

KIAMS, Director, Dr. C.N. Narayana believes KIAMS offer an edge over other institutes: “With KIAMS, students have the option of choosing minor electives like Marketing, Operations or even Finance, along with the major electives. This gives them a better opportunity to succeed at the time of placements”. KIAMS also has a unique Industrial Study method, wherein the students are expected to look into the excellence model of specific organizations under the framework of CII and they are encouraged to learn how ratings are done in manufacturing and other industries. In addition to this, it has an 8-week summer Internship across various industry sectors. This gives every student a deep understanding of how various industries work on a day-to-day basis before they begin working toward final placements. KIAMS continually upgrades its curriculum to meet the industry norms. Beginning in the next academic year, the institute is migrating to a semester system and a 4-month LIP (Long Internship program), which will further strengthen opportunities for both the corporate and student community as a whole. These changes have been implemented with industry inputs to make them more relevant.

Dr. C.N. Narayana shares his opinion on PGDM, saying that the program has a stronger focus on industry and student needs, vis-à-vis MBA programs. It has a highly dynamic curriculum focused on industry inputs. PGDM also includes better evaluation methods, case-study teaching and application focused delivery. These Diplomas are recognized by AICTE and commands better acceptance in the corporate world and amongst the student community, as the education and placements are better, too. He believes PGDM has and will continue to have its edge over university offered MBAs.

Work opportunities are growing today with the economic growth of the country. Employability, however, is a function of a student’s performance. Explaining the grading system at KIAMS, Dr. Narayana said that in Management Education, especially in PGDM institutions, both relative grading and CGPA is widely used. KIAMS uses a CGPA out of 4 for every subject. A+ denotes 4 grade points, A denotes 3.75, B+ is 3.25, B is 3 grade points, and C is 2 grade points. Finally, a D is 1 grade point and an F is 0 grade points. According to Dr. Narayana, this shift in grading makes sense: “ This is undoubtedly better than the 35 percent pass marks of the university grading system. The evaluation criteria is different – if you look at passing, which is equivalent to a “D”, this will be more than 45 total marks. CGPA indicates better educational performance in terms of quality. But from the organizational perspective for the recruitment of quality students, it is just the first filtering criteria.” In addition to CGPA, employers also look at aptitude and attitude when making recruitment decisions. Dr. C.N. Narayana is looking forward to leading the institute towards excellence and meeting the challenges of the dynamic world of business. “KIAMS strongly believes in shaping future leaders with holistic development apart from building budding managers. KIAMS has a consistent record of placement and has an edge over others in terms of corporate relations with the backing of Kirloskar Group.” These words, coming from an evidently sure leader and visionary, set the stage for a new way of looking at education in the 21^st century.

A insightful session with KIAMS Prof. Bidyanand Jha on the rules and nature of learning Entrepreneurship

‘Entrepreneurship is, undoubtedly, the buzzword these days in the business education space. B-schools are leaving no stones unturned in tom-tomming their  ‘Entrepreneurship Cells’, ‘Centres for Excellence in Entrepreneurship’, and ‘Family Business centric’ education. Clearly, the appeal of ‘running one’s own show’, ‘creating wealth’, and being a ‘job creator and not just a job seeker’ is far greater in the youth today, than ever before.

This brings us to take a closer look at the Indian B-school scenario and ask ourselves whether entrepreneurship can be taught… not just in India, but anywhere in the world?

“Yes and no,” says Prof. Bidyanand Jha, Department of Marketing, KIAMS, and Consultant for Strategic Marketing for Kirloskar Group. “Entrepreneurship is without a doubt the most dynamic force in the economy. It is driving the technological boom, which in its turn is driving much of the world’s economic growth. Entrepreneurship is a motive and drive – which is an individual trait. Institutes are interactions outside but do connect inside and create the environment. Entrepreneurship cannot be taught but entrepreneurs can certainly be guided and supported. Institutions can trigger thoughts and ability of the human, that potential entrepreneurs could turn into feasible business ideas, develop a sound approach, and execute it with success. But the drive of doing something of your own.”

Prof. Bidyanand Jha’s words make a lot of sense.There are talks about logarithmic study, big data analysis, and world reknowned experts claiming that they have turned entrepreneurship into a systematic, scientific subject. However, the very meaning and nature of entrepreneurship makes one wonder whether it can ever be bound as a subject at all. How is it even possible for an academic institution to say that we can turn you into a successful entrepreneur, when entrepreneurship is all about stepping into the unknown… conquering unchartered territories? On the contrary, guarding potential entrepreneurs against failure might end up causing them harm. They are more likely to fall into a pattern of endless planning and product engineering, without real-world experimentation. Entrepreneurship, in essence, requires you to prod and feel along, requiring you to be amazingly flexible and empathetic to the market conditions and response. It is Entrepreneurs who create case studies, and not the other way round. They hone their craft through experimentation and collaboration in the real world. They learn best by rolling up their sleeves and building companies. Yes they do need supportive mentors and a cerebral peer group, and an in-depth knowledge of business. But teaching students into successful entrepreneurs in the traditional sense seems wishful thinking.

“There is no doubt about the necessity of management for individual, organization & society,” points out Prof. Jha, while making a case for the importance of a top-quality B-school education for entrepreneurs. “The name of the institute from where you come actually replicate the quality of support and environment on which your idea is nurtured and magnified. While this might not be necessary, it does have a visible impact… especially for the proverbial ‘foot-in-the-door’. Institute’s can also help develop confidence and make potential entrepreneurs trust their ability while going through the scientific process of developing a business plan.”

So how does one recognise the entrepreneur within exists or not. Prof. Bidyanand Jha has a very simple formula. “Good times or bad times, bulls or bears, upswing or downswing; an entrepreneur will always see opportunities.There is no hurdle from the economy, if you have got to offer something that has never existed or is really exciting for consumers. Secondly, you are always looking at things as not how they are, but how grand they could be.”

While entrepreneurship is very enticing and exciting, only those with a huge appetite for calculated risk – and sometimes a leap of faith – should really go full steam ahead. B-schools are very good when it comes to grooming managers for a set system. When you are out to create your own space, B-schools can certainly give you the right peerage, mentors, sound knowledge of management, and even great credentials; but ultimately, entrepreneurship has to be your journey to see your ‘big idea’ through.

KIAMS’ prof. V.S.Pai shortlisted to present papers at SIBR conference in Bangkok

Joint Research with Prof. Hiremath of KIAMS evinces positive reaction in the international academia

For over a decade now, Prof. V.S. Pai of KIAMS has been travelling the world (over) for his research works; and come June 2013, Bangkok will be added to this impressive list of destinations. Between 6^th and 8^th of June 2013, Prof. Pai will be amongst a list of international invitees at the SIBR Conference on Interdisciplinary Business and Economics Research, hosted by the Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University, Thailand.

“This shortlisted paper is a joint research with Prof. Chetan Hiremath, who is a Professor of Stats and Quants at KIAMS as well. We studied the performance of 45 companies – 15 each from three groups of firms, namely foreign subsidiaries, domestic private, and public sector companies in India. Our intent was to determine which of these displayed superior economic performances. We analyzed data for two points of time – 2002-03 and 2011-2012 – using four measures of economic performance. These include operating profit margin (OPM), net profit margin (NPM), return on net worth (RONW) and asset turnover ratio (ATR). We employed the WELCH Test (W-test), Bonferroin post-hoc test the Linear Discriminant Analysis technique as well as Chi-square test. Interestingly, our findings reveal that, all of them performed at par. This is very important for Indian industry as it indicates that even after two decades of liberalization of the economy, domestic firms have remained as competitive as their international counterparts.”

His list of impressive research works notwithstanding, Prof. Pai is as keen on hearing other luminaries as he is about presenting his research papers. He says that the pull of rubbing shoulders with researchers and academics on an international platform is a great motivation for him.

“Co-authoring the paper with Prof. Chetan Hiremath, has been a wonderful experience. This paper is driven by use of statistical and quantitative tools, and therefore was of interest to him. The paper has benefitted much from his expertise. Infact we have already started work on another paper, which is an extension of the present paper I’m about to present in SIBR 2013. I remember, Prof. Hiremath was so excited with the progress of this paper, that once when he came rushing to my office to defend his statistical findings, he nearly tripped over and fell down. Fortunately, I was right in front of him, and was able to help him regain his balance; saving him from becoming a laughing stock for those around!”

Once the paper is presented at the SIBR Conference on Interdisciplinary Business and Economics Research, the detailed version will be sent across to an international journal for publication.

“Researchers thrive on three essentials – sheer passion for research, publication – especially in peer reviewed journals abroad – and the joy of finding something new in the world of business. Sound research skills, tenacity, patience and the grit to question the status quo can make you do wonders. KIAMS is very supportive of faculty members doing research. Infact my entire trip to Bangkok is funded by the institute.”

Prof. Pai is positive that when the right kind of opportunity comes their way, KIAMS will make it possible for its faculty to visit countries in the Americas and Europe, to present their research finding.

“Nothing is a greater boost for a elite B-school like KIAMS – especially the student community – to see the faculty enhance its reputation on the global stage, bringing glory to the institute,” he concludes.

Professor Bidyanand Jha of Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies does India proud at the 7th Global Conference of University of Colombo

In what is a matter of great pride for all Indian B-schools, Professor Bidyanand Jha of Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies has won top honours for India in what is recognised as one of the most prestigious conferences globally. The 7^th Annual University of Colombo Conference, had 45 shortlisted paper presented by eminent faculty from countries spanning from Australia to Germany. The sheer magnitude of this feat by Professor Bidyanand Jha of KIAMS can be gauged from the fact that there were 30 submissions from the best brains from the topmost institutions of India; Professor Jha’s paper was the only one selected from India for presentation at the 7^th Annual University of Colombo Conference.

“Goes to show that if you truly and passionately believe in a subject, then you should go after it at all costs. With the support of the management at KIAMS, I had been researching the young Indian consumers’ perception of Mobile Internet for commercial purpose for nearly one year before this conference. The subject truly intrigued me and I was more than happy to present my research at the conference. The most overwhelming experience was when – as one of the ‘top 5’ papers at the Conference – I had the honour of presenting my findings to what seemed like the entire University of Colombo! The huge hall was filled with dignitaries, faculty, and students of University of Colombo, as well as the international participants.”

While the second prize did include a sum of 1,50,000 Sri Lankan Rupees, it was the honour attached to the event that certainly carried more weight for Professor Bidyanand. Since his research paper is to be published in the January edition of the Colombo Business Journal, Professor Bidyanand –who is back in KIAMS – is currently busy adding a few modifications to the paper, addressing the comments he received at the Conference.

“The mobile gadgets with internet facilities for various operations, has gained popularity among young consumers. It is essentially to be connected with their social and commercial groups. However, the gap between standardization and adaptation of Mobile Internet for commercial purpose in the country still persists. While industries are looking for transformation of their process from physical to virtual market, empirical research in the field of standardization verses adaptation is still limited in the field of young consumers. In order to enrich the literature in this context, which is currently limited, my paper explores the young Indian consumers’ perception of Mobile Internet for commercial purpose.”

Professor Bidyanand’s subjects for research in this paper are the young under-graduate and postgraduate consumers between the age of 15-22 residing in metropolitan cities. The sample size for the data collection has 250 responses, of which nearly 200 respondents reported that they use Mobile Internet enabled device.

“I see this as a new beginning. God willing, next year I will bring another award winning paper for KIAMS, in another International Conference. I’m targeting the NSU (National University of Singapore) conference, and an opportunity to be published by a few more international journals.”

Professor Jha believes this particular paper has changed his outlook towards research. He has learnt new techniques to improve the quality of his research work. He has already begun to share his insights with his students at KIAMS.

Academic rigour “a way of life” at KIAMS – Says, Prof T. Viswanathan, KIAMS.

Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies’ (KIAMS) Professor T. Viswanathan has a philosophy in life – ‘No Pain, No Gain.’

When it comes to academic rigour at KIAMS, he says, “The Faculty Council of KIAMS, our visiting faculty and our partners from the industry conducted a three-day workshop to design and develop the framework for academic rigour.”

Prof. Viswanathan said that KIAMS teaches management education in a holistic manner and that the sole purpose of academic rigour is to identify the expectations of industry and make students ready for industry through a robust process.

“Today in our country the problem of employability is more critical than unemployment,” he said. “Industry feels there is a wide gap between the required competencies versus the actual competencies available. In order to bridge this gap, a few companies have started their own finishing schools at a huge investment. KIAMS aspires to develop the appropriate competencies in its students through academic rigour.”

In order to maintain a high level of academic stringency, Prof. Viswanathan said that the curriculum is revised every three years with input from industry experts and visiting faculty. It is further adapted by getting feedback from recruiters, alumni and faculty who been involved in consulting assignments, conferences and corporate training programmes. Following all that input, a draft proposal is made and sent to an expert panel for vetting and approval.

He pointed out that the KIAMS curriculum includes real life examples, contemporary topics in every discipline, case studies and simulation exercises.

“Academic rigour is a compendium of hard and smart work with a flavour of fun,” said Prof. Viswanathan. “It facilitates the students in their bid to excel in multi-skills and multi-tasking. It is a way of life at KIAMS.”

Students in every course must do intensive reading and have strong knowledge of basic concepts, guiding principles and the application of concepts in real life scenarios.

KIAMS indeed puts the ‘rigour’ in academic rigour.

“In a span of ten weeks, the students must complete at least 16 assignments, about eight to 10 tests, projects, presentations and a case study,” said Prof. Viswanathan.

Regarding the need for maintaining high standards of academic rigour, Prof. Viswanathan said, “India is going to have a larger work-force population in the future. While it is expected to increase the productivity level, industry feels there is a huge gap between the expected skills and the actual skills, which the students must energise through academics. The students must then equip themselves to acquire the skills expected by industry.”

KIAMS’ Prof. V. S. Pai co-authors case study accepted by Asian Case Research Journal

The lessons that Indian companies can learn from Kraft’s acquisition of Cadbury have been highlighted in a recent paper co-authored by Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies’ professor, Dr. V. S. Pai.

The case study, to be published by the Asian Case Research Journal, University of Singapore, concentrates on the central question: How can a company extract value from an acquisition?

In brief, United States-based Kraft Foods, Inc. (KFI) acquired the United Kingdom-based Cadbury plc, gaining entry into the Indian market. The aim was to use developing markets to achieve a five per cent organic growth rate and hope that Cadbury India’s strong position would expand Kraft’s presence in the Indian market. But nearly a year after the acquisition, Kraft was moving slowly in India and appeared content to consolidate Cadbury’s market presence.

Obviously, change was in the air. Kraft had to decide whether to continue consolidating the Cadbury brand in India or use Cadbury’s strong market presence to launch brands from Kraft’s global portfolio. Kraft bought Cadbury for $18.5 billion, a 70 per cent premium over Cadbury’s stock price. It’s common knowledge that when a company pays a premium rate to acquire another company, the acquisition has to help the acquirer grow and increase its profits.

The paper co-authored by KIAMS’ Dr. Pai examines Kraft’s attempts to grow the India market through its Cadbury acquisition, with a view to: examining the motivations for an international acquisition, evaluating the effectiveness of an acquisition decision, critically examining the value of a firm’s resources and identifying ways to use resources to create value in an acquisition.The authors contend that the Kraft-Cadbury case offers several lessons to be learned by Indian companies considering mergers or acquisitions. According to them, a firm should carefully evaluate an acquisition by using the attractiveness, cost of entry and better-off tests; they noted that  while the Cadbury acquisition passed the attractiveness test, both the cost of entry and better-off tests are still unanswered.

Secondly, they point out, a resource-based strategy calls for carefully evaluating a firm’s key resources and deploying them in the right context. They believe that in all likelihood, Kraft hasn’t fully deployed Cadbury India’s valuable resources to launch its own brands.

And finally, they say an acquisition is only as good as its integration, which is a key to making it a success, and in the year since the acquisition, Kraft has been rather slow in integrating the Kraft and Cadbury units in India.

Dr. Pai has more than 27 years of academic experience and has conducted research in strategic management, guided three Ph.D. scholars successfully, completed an ICSSR, New Delhi-funded research project and published several research papers. His publications, which number around 70, have appeared in refereed journals, business magazines and national business newspapers. The business cases he has written have been uploaded to the European Case Clearing House (ECCH), Cranfield University, UK and have won prizes in international case competitions held in Canada.

Co-author of the paper, Dr. Ram Subramanian is a professor with the Department of Management and Information Systems, School of Business, Montclair State University, New Jersey, U.S.A.

A Ph.D. from the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, he has published research papers in several refereed international journals of repute.

KIAMS Professor’s Transition from Business to Academia Benefits Students

Professor Arvind N. Sinha is not afraid of change. The KIAMS professor made a transition from the corporate world to the academic environment of KIAMS and has never looked back. “I’ve always had an inclination for academics. It gives you the opportunity to share your experience with the younger generation as well as giving you the ability to keep pace with the evolving thought process of youth.”

His choice to pursue a professorship in management after spending time in science within the corporate world also seemed like a natural progression for Professor Sinha. “The choice of management was natural. There is a strong linkage. Sciences find their application through technology, and technology is brought to optimum utilisation by management. Understanding the sciences has helped me tremendously throughout my career, whether it is marketing electronic components, recruiting engineers or teaching financial management.”

Taking the values of integrity and hard work from the time that he spent in the business world, Professor Sinha believes that the opportunities for students in the field of CSR will continue to exist as the industry evolves. “The concept of CSR has expanded to sustainability. Though at the entry level there may not be many opportunities, as they progress up the corporate hierarchy, there may be plenty of opportunities in sustainability mapping, audit and reporting, CSR implementation, green capital, etc.”

In evaluating the qualities that make a good manager, Professor Sinha believes that there are three main components that a manager must possess. “The first is creativity. That is the ability to build a whole picture from the bits and pieces, i.e. to see and cast a vision. The second is integrity. The managers must be true to themselves and those they serve and to those who serve them. Last is ability. The manager must be able to deliver high performance.”

Professor Sinha, in looking back at where he’s come from towards where he is heading, also has advice for students who are thinking about moving into management. “The only way to do a great job is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. Further, I would like to quote Anita Moorjani: “In truth, I’m not my body, my race, religion or other beliefs, and neither is anyone else. The real self is infinite and much more powerful – a complete and whole entity that isn’t broken or damaged in any way. The infinite me already contains all the resources I need to navigate through life, because I’m one with universal energy. In fact, I am the universal energy.”

“I Keep Reminding My students At KIAMS that Finance Is Pretty Much Like itself-Not A 100 Metres Race, But A Marathon” – Says Atul Kulkarni, Visiting Faculty, KIAMS

Way back in 2001, Mr. Atul Kulkarni was an enigma to both students and faculty members at KIAMS. Why a practicing – and flourishing – Chartered Accountant should take up a full-time faculty position in management education was beyond their comprehension; even his friends and erstwhile colleagues believed he was in KIAMS for a break of sorts. They thought he’d be back to where he came from within a couple of years. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

“My association with KIAMS is nearly 13 years old now. I did not enter it on a whim, or for a break. I was looking for a good B-school where I could polish my capabilities as a teacher. I wanted to understand the profession thoroughly. My association with KIAMS started as full-time faculty and has now evolved into visiting faculty.”

Mr. Kulkarni’s evolution has truly been inspiring. Having metamorphosed into an accomplished teacher at KIAMS, he was snapped up by Infosys in 2006 to set up its Centre of Excellence for finance and accounting at its Bangalore BPO. As the Head F&A CoE, Infosys, Mr. Kulkarni effectively developed domain training programmes across all levels in the organisation. By March 2010, he realised that his job at Infosys was done, and rather than shift to a different corporate house, he decided to freelance; thus making his expertise available to many other players in the industry.

“Ever since March 2010, I have conducted trainings in organisations of all shapes, sizes and nature across India. They include companies like Accenture, Intelenet and GMR. Since I am on the panel of approved trainers for Addecco, I have conducted various programmes for their clients as well.”

Mr. Kulkarni feels that whatever the domain, setting of training objectives and understanding those objectives are essential for effective results.

“You imbibe different values when you work at different organisations and tend to carry them forward to the new organisation. But when you are by yourself, not only is your learning curve really steep, but you also start valuing little things which you would’ve ignored earlier. Today, if I need to get a print-out, I think ten times about wastage of paper. Yes, having worked at Infosys matters; it is a value driven company. But going solo is a different ball game altogether, and it makes you think about the importance of instilling a sense of ownership… in a company or a B-school like KIAMS; as faculty or as a student.”

He feels that while the current outlook might be gloomy, Finance is an evergreen field. In fact, a down precedes a high, and therefore opportunities in Finance are only going to expand; be it banking, insurance or the stock market.

“I keep reminding my students at KIAMS that finance is pretty much like life itself – not a 100 meters race, but a marathon. Very often I see students panic when they see things on the downturn. The essence of long- term success lies in your ability to withstand these short- term downturns, and develop yourself in the process. Instead of looking for places where opportunities are, you should first see what you are made for.”