UJAAS - A Diwali Disco Dandiya Fiesta at IMT Dubai

Its that time of the year when we take out those diyas from the attic and light them up. Yes its Diwali! Now there will be firecrackers bursting in the middle of the night; kids will run around in their new dresses enjoying the variety of sweets and people will dance away all through the night celebrating the victory of good over evil.

Office of Student Services at IMT Dubai campus are all set to bring this spirit of celebration into the beautiful city of Dubai , into our very own DIAC. IMT- Dubai campus is organising “UJAAS “ to celebrate the festival of lights in a truly Indian fashion but with a twist. A combination that is going to set your feet on fire : Traditional Dandiya with rocking Disco!

Diwali is an auspicious religious festival celebrated by all Indians to commemorate the homecoming of Lord Rama after 14 year-long exile and his victory over the mythological demon Ravana. Devotees decorate their houses with diyas and lights. Dandiya or Dandiya Raas is a traditional Indian dance form that originates from Gujarat It is usually performed during the festival of Navratri. An easy dance form enjoyed by both young and old alike, its full of energy and fun. The special characteristic of the dance is the colorful costume worn by the dancers and the colorful sticks carried by them. Both men and women love to be seen dressed in their best traditional attire. The women wear traditional dresses such as colorful embroidered choli, ghagra and bandhani dupattas glittering with mirror work and heavy jewellery, while men look very attractive in their traditional colorful kedias. The dancers strike the sticks with their partners and dance in circular motion, to the rhythm of the music played in the background. A large number of people are involved in Dandiya Raas and two circles are formed by the dancers. The dance is a very lively, active and fast paced art form, thus leaving no scope for laziness. The dancers spin and move their feet and arms in a choreographed manner to the tune of the music, with lots of drum beats.

We at IMT – Dubai are combining Diwali and the mesmerising Dandiya to have a night filled with joy, energy and lights. Come, be a part of it and lets all celebrate universal victory of good over evil !!

International Business and Trade in Dubai

26^th September 2011, Vikram Shah; a noted businessman and an IMT alumni returned to the Dubai branch of his alma mater after nearly a half year’s time but this time as a speaker rather than a participant in the event. For him most of the faces were different but the enthusiasm and eagerness to learn from the students remained as high as the last time he had been here.

His topic for discussion in the lecture was on how international business and trade works in Dubai and how his rich experience and MBA degree has made him an expert on the topic, both in the theoretical and practical sense. From being an IMT student to marketing in charge (OIB, Muscat) to marketing manager (Girodano) to self made business man (AGT) in a brief span of time is incredible. Yet Vikram does not dent that it is of utmost importance to understand all the ins and outs of the trade.

He began by conducting an interactive session with his audience on Inco terms what they meant; what significance they had when dealing with a client and how by using them several types of miscommunications can be avoided. He then went on to explain about how these terms where used in during the transportation of goods between buyers and sellers particularly if one is using the shipping industry as a means of delivery. Thereafter he reminisced about his own experience of running a business in Dubai, from the early days of the financial boom, post the recession and to the present recovery of the market. On request by the students, he began explaining the various business techniques used by the Dubai government, how they were moving away from the business of oil and now into the business of turning sand in to gold, why the current policies were made and his view on the still potential growth of Dubai.

In the end, after this highly interactive session, both students and ex-student (and now for this brief session -teacher) left having learnt far more than they had expected.

Organisational Behaviour

Mr. Shaheeudheen, Director of Human Resource at Divan Erbil was invited for sharing his knowledge in the HR with the students at IMT Dubai. The audience included students from Dual Country Program and two years full time MBA course, Dubai.

Mr. Shaheeudheen holds a MBA degree from University of Bolton, UK. He has over 10 years of experience in Human Resource (HR) and Talent management with active involvement in various aspects of HR and related functions. Having successfully worked with the hospitality industry across Middle East and Africa, he has been instrumental in driving high performance culture with distinct growth opportunities for its teams. In addition he is also an accredited neuro language practitioner, empowering people to deliver their potentials using their own mind language, behaviour and attitude. He has authored and published a book on the observation of human behaviour namely “Stillness if Silence”. Currently, he is managing the HR pre-opening requirement for a five star hotel as Director of HR & Training in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The key points discussed in the lecture were organizational behaviour, influences causing changes in the behaviour, measuring behaviour, value system, emotional intelligence, components to be managed, progressive and transformational behaviour, activities, Maslow’s theory, performance management and talent management. Mr. Shaheeudheen shared his immense knowledge in the field through various interactive examples. He demonstrated how Organisational Behaviour (OB) plays an important role not only in the corporate world but also in any field of our lives. The exhilarating example showing Yanni’s video manifested the role of the OB in the world of music. Mr. Shaheeudheen shared his deep knowledge in the field by sharing an example of the movie K19: The widowmaker. He also suggested the names of veteran authors whose books can be referred so as to have a deep knowledge in the field.

The lecture concluded with Mr. Shaheeudheen clearing the doubts of the students. The lecture was enjoyed by one and all present there, with everyone hoping that there may be more of such knowledgeable lectures in the future.

"Leadership"

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.- Theodore Roosevelt

Institute of Management Technology, Dubai, recently organized a guest lecture on Leadership. Dr. Kamal K. Jain ,faculty OB & HR from IIM Indore was invited to share his knowledge and views on the same. The students of both IMT Dubai Full time M.B.A program and IMT Ghaziabad PGDM (Dual Country Program) attended this lecture.

Dr. Kamal K. Jain has done his doctorate from Agra University, India. He received merit scholarship from the Ministry of Education, UP Government and Agra University for being a meritorious student. Prior to joining IIM Indore, he was working as Professor of Strategic Management/HR with University Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia. He worked in this university for more than 5 years. He has a teaching experience of more than 32 years and has held various academic and administrative positions. He has taught courses like Management, Organizational Policy and Strategy, Human Resource Management, Managerial Leadership, Collective Bargaining and Negotiation, and Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management. He has supervised 8 Ph. D candidates so far. He is a visiting faculty of some of the universities all round the globe.

The lecture was an interesting session as the problems and roles of a leader were explained with interesting examples in the form of videos and his own past experiences. The reasons of some problems which leaders commonly face and the role played by trust in the organization and the followers were explained. In the session Dr. Kamal K. Jain also focused on what will be the need of the future and how the role and technique of leadership will change. He enlightened the students with his knowledge that how the leaders should always be prepared for the change by which they can make optimum use of the opportunities and gain the first mover advantage.

The session was an interactive session where the students shared their views and their doubts were cleared by Dr. Jain. He also invited the students to the campus of IIM, Indore, India and provided his contact details for contacting him in future regarding their doubts. The students enjoyed the session and appreciated the initiative taken by the institute to organize such a valuable session.

VAUDEVILLE’11

Bigger, better and grander as it was expected to be this year, Vaudeville, the annual inter-college fiesta organised by IMT-Dubai and Student hub, DIAC in association with Puranmal, Bank of Baroda, Dare to Compete, Creme 21, Amara, Gulf technical, UAE Exchange, Kaya Skin Clinic, Soy To Chutney and Jenny Flowers on the 8th March, 2011, did reach the celestial point. The dawn to dusk extravaganza comprised of a plethora of events, both academic and cultural.
The astounding footfall of around 600 and 380 participations from 18 universities from all over UAE is evidence big enough for its victory. We are thankful to various participating universities - BITS Pilani – Dubai; Canadian University of Dubai; Murdoch University; American College of Dubai; Heriot Watt; MAHE Manipal; SP Jain Center of Management; London American City College; Winchester; Hult International Business School; Western International School; SZABIST; Wollongong University; BIT RANCHI, RAK; Middle Sex University; Emirates Aviation College; Preston University; Middlesex University – for their cooperation and support.
The academic events kick started the morning with a huge turn up and included events such as Impossible Marketing, Jeopardy, Eclectique and Money Machine which not only tested the wits of the students but made them put their business skills to practice as well. The buzz in the campus was unmatched. The winners of Impossible Marketing were IMT Dubai and BITS Pilani.
IMT Dubai won the trophy for Eclectique and University of Wollongong Dubai was the runners-up. Jeopardy was won by Western College, BIT Ranchi, RAK being the runners-up. The events were appreciated and enjoyed by all the participants and the audience owing to their thought provoking structures.
In the afternoon, “FraGgeD” a LAN Gaming event was held which brought together all the gaming enthusiasts, competing for top honours in the games of Counter-Strike which was won by Heriot Watt and Age of Empires, won by IMT Dubai.
The heart throbbing cultural events commenced in the evening with the lighting of the auspicious lamp which was graced by the presence of Mr. Ibrahim Jamel, Director of Operations Education Cluster TECOM who was the Chief Guest; Dr. Farhad Rad-Serecht , Director , IMT Dubai; Mr. Ashok Gupta, CEO, Bank of Baroda,the guest of Honour; Padmashree Smt. Geeta Mahalik, Padma Shri & Sangeet Natak Academy awardee and Dr. Abhilasha, Head of Office of Student Services, IMT Dubai. The lamp lighting was followed by vandana presented by Dhanashree Warrior through her graceful Bharat Natyam moves.
The crowd in the amphitheatre was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of Smt. Geeta Mahalik’s performing art which was followed by various inter collegiate competitions. Sound of Music, the singing competition was won by BIT Ranchi, RAK. Talent Station, which grabbed a lot of appreciation, was won by BIT Ranchi, RAK again and so was Dance O’ Mania. Mahe Manipal bagged the runners up trophy for dance. Cest’ La Mode saw the sizzling Guys & Girls from IMT Dubai walking the ramp with their ‘to die for’ attitude. Loop De Ville, war of the DJs, which was the USP event of Vaudeville’11 was won by DJ Nitesh of the university of Wollongong Dubai. Apart from the competitions, the food stalls were a hit amongst the students.
There was close competition in almost all the events, hence making judging the toughest job of the day. However, with their outstanding performance in all the events and five trophies in their kitty, BITS-Ranchi, were adjudged the overall winners of the day.
We are grateful to our media partners– 106.2 HUM FM, Dare to Compete and Wazzup? for their constant support.
It feels great to declare Vaudeville’11 a huge success after all the running around and constraints that were confronted during the various phases started from planning. Apart from the pride that we IMTians take in being able to organize something at this level, we aspire to grow every year with new ideas and unrelenting hard work.