ICTBM-10 at IMT-Dubai

The International Conference on Technology, Business and Management (ICTBM), held in the Institute of Management Technology, Dubai kick-started with the inaugural ceremony on the 16th. The three day conference was held from the 16th-18th March 2010.
The ICTBM is supported by AIMS which was established to unify Indian management scholars to foster excellence in education and research and to support practices in all business related disciplines.
The conference hosted around 81 delegates from India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Libya, Oman, Portugal, Taiwan, the U.A.E, Ukraine,the U.K, and the U.S. There were 436 papers given for consideration, out of which 86 papers are to be published in the ICTBM bulletin.
Among the congregation were present many eminent faces of the U.A.E, including the ICTBM Chief Guest Dr. Ayoub Kazim, Executive Director DIAC and Dubai Knowledge Village and Prof Lawrence Loh, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Al Ghurair University –Dubai .
The three day affair included sessions on various aspects of Technology, Business, Management, Finance, Innovation, IT Industry, Human Resource Management, and Marketing.

A special plenary session was held on 17th March where subject matter experts, Prof. Sohail Chaudhary, Department of Management and Operations/International Business, Villanova University, USA and Dr. Subhash Datta, Director, Jaipuria Institute of Management, India shared their expertise on “Perspective on Distance Learning Approaches in a Business School Environment” and “OR Models for Sustainable Development” respectively.
“ All the insights and experience conveyed by the brilliant minds present here at ICTBM-10 have broadened the horizons of everyone’s learning" ,said Dr. Abhilash Singh, the Conference Co-Chair.

Team METH..!!

Volley Ball Tournament

The volley ball matches that have been running for the past couple of days culminated in a highly anticipated final match held between II year Marketing and Finance students. The much awaited match opened to clear skies and an overwhelming crowd at the IMT-D grounds this evening. Red and black colour shirts donned by the Marketing and Finance teams respectively, added to the unbridled excitement.

The match kick-started with the Finance team winning the first of the four sets. The Marketing team backfired by winning the second set but the Finance team countered their score with a win in the third set.
The turning point of the game was the final set that saw the Marketing team battling it out on the field, in the hope of levelling the scores. But a brilliant performance by the Finance team ensured that victory was on their hands.

Nikhil Tyagi, Rohan Popli and Arpit were some of the key players who propelled their team to a successful win. The Marketing team put up a praise-worthy performance and players Deepak Nagar and Nishant Chaudhary deserves a special mention.


Team METH...!!

Human Resource Professionals: Being Facilitators

“People never fail Organizations, Organizations fail people!” says Seema Hallon, the Regional Manager of Dun and Bradstreet for Southeast Asia and MENA region.

On the 9th of February, Ms. Seema Hallon, visited the campus for a second time and delivered a powerful discourse to the students of IMT-D.

The session highlighted the importance of an HR department in an organization. The HR department analyses and evaluates key performance indicators, identifies the key customers, the business model and the business’s investment plans before making the policies and implementing them.An HR department does not coordinate, they facilitate effective decision making. HR professionals are not line managers; they are the strategic partners of a business who help develop policies that are relevant to the current situation.

The HR department also functions as an employee champion. Creation of policies that are beneficial both to the employee and the organization is no easy task. When an employee is happy in the organization, they perform. For, performance is nothing but the sum of knowledge, skill and attitude of an individual.

Last but not the least; she encouraged the students to take an introspective journey so that they can face the challenges that occur during recessionary times.

Team METH...!!

Human Resource Management - Because No One Understands Employees Better!!

"The fastest survive!" People who believe this haven't heard Mr. Partho Bhattacharya's discourse. For, the Director of Human Resources of Better Homes strongly believes, that in the world of Human Resource Management, the fittest survive. Better Homes has been the leading real estate agency in Abu Dhabi and Dubai for over 23 years with over 40 percent market share and a workforce of over 500 employees. And therefore, on the 2nd February 2010, IMT-D was infinitely fortunate to have his esteemed presence in the campus.

Mr. Bhattacharya in his presentation emphasized on being an all round HR professional. "An all rounder ", he says should have experience in all subsystems of HR. Then only does one truly become an HR Manager."

He discussed with the audience the importance of HR in an organization, how it contributes to the business strategic management and helps in putting the right people on the right job. He described HR to be the direct link between success of the organization and the quality of people management.

The HR process he said constitutes of manpower planning, requirements and selection, performance management, training and development; and employee compensation and benefits management so that it added value to its firm and its employees.

He affirmed that as a result of recession, most real estate brokerage firms have had to close shop because they were not able to maintain their overheads relative to low sales volume and high liabilities. He discussed this through an interactive case study where he pointed to his audience the difference between downsizing and rightsizing. He recommends rightsizing because it singles out those employees who are performers and will keep on performing well even during hard times for the company; retains them and develops them to grow in the organization.

Before he concluded, he pointed out that it took more than a professional degree to be an HR manager. One had to be a peoples' person; have sound communication skills and knowledge of HRIS. One should also be able address diverse groups but most of all one should have a strong emotional constituency to deal with employee grievances and layoffs.

A company is strong and sharp when their workforce is able to meet the demands of the organization's targets and perform accordingly to achieve them.

Team M.E.T.H..!!

Writing to Win: Getting it Right!!

“Don’t wait for it to be perfect! Get it right, fit for purpose! Because there‘s no perfect!”, says Dr. David Reay.

Students throughout their academic career and beyond indulge in academic writing whether they like it or not. More than often, students prefer not to indulge themselves in such laborious tasks.

IMT-D was honored to have the esteemed presence of Dr. David Reay, the Managing Director of Gibson Consulting based in Knowledge Village. He delivered a most interesting session, highlighting why proficiency in academic writing is essential not only in everyday life but also in business and the workplace. The audience for the workshop was not limited to the students and faculty of IMTD, but to a diverse crowd of academics and researchers who were very well aware of the benefits to be gained from the knowledge that Dr. Reay had in abundance to share. His vast experience in academia before entering the world of business world he as a research fellow and faculty member at universities in the UK and the USA has profoundly influenced him to deliver these words of advice for the betterment of the students, and their efforts. His vast experience in publishing his own research and major research projects in USA and the UK makes this session with him all the more invaluable.

He stated that what any organization seeks foremost in a suitable candidate for employment is the ability to devise solutions. Not just any solution, but those based on sound research and strong arguments. Devising feasible solutions is more than vital for writing proposals, reports, and recommendations; implementing change, and for strategic mapping. Dr. Reay says that in order to develop this particular higher order skill, one has to put in a lot of rigour.

A lot of people, he affirmed, are not able to express their research while keeping in mind the bare essentials and requisites. What they or any other person needs is a tool to help them. One such tool is the Ethos 6 Steps. The first step is to PREPARE core arguments for the report on the basis of the known outcomes. Then GATHER all available resources, and SELECT relevant and accurate facts.

The secret to differentiating relevant data from the irrelevant is to perfect the art of skim -reading. “Read the first paragraph, the conclusion, and the first line of all other paragraphs. By the time you reach the second page you’ll know if it’s right or wrong”, he declared. The next step would be PRESENT one’s point of view SUPPORTed by relevant arguments. Last but not the least is to FINALIZE and edit the entire document. These six steps are the core steps in preparing any kind of academic writing, making connections between facts and matching information to make valid arguments.

He advised the audience to adhere to the specifications, and the writing style required by the party to whom the academic writing is to be submitted. However if the recipient doesn't mention any, he recommended that one should use APA style manual for he believes it to be more user friendly and straightforward in comparison to the MLA style manual. Dr. Reay at the end of his interactive discourse was showered with questions. The audience’s sharp intellect and enthusiasm demonstrated the rising learning curve of IMT-D’s students. The IMT-D students have once again proven themselves pioneers of self improvement and agents of change to driving themselves to get things done right and even possibly perfect!!

Team M.E.T.H...!!

61st Indian Republic Day Celebrated

It’s really quite heart warming to celebrate The Republic Day of India, away from the country, with such fervour and enthusiasm! Even before the day, there was excitement in the IMT air, at the thought of dressing up in traditional wear and having a college event for the day.
At IMT-D, the day of the 61st Republic Day of India started with people dressing up in saris and kurtas, flaunting little Indian flag tags, wearing colours of the flag. The vibrant colours, the inexplicable feeling of pride and patriotism and the goose-bumps after seeing the shots of the Republic Day Parade on the news, all of it contributed to the appropriate atmosphere for the occasion. Everywhere on campus, even the talk was about the significance of the day and more specifically about how IMTians were going to celebrate.
The Sports Committee, for the occasion of 26th January, organised a football match, between Seniors and Juniors. The usual excitement of the match just added to the thrill, which already reverberated in the air! The event started in the evening around five, when the students all gathered in the courtyard lawn for the Indian National Anthem. There was a brief introduction given about the Republic Day, what is the significance of the day, about the parade and about the feeling of patriotism. Then the Dean, Dr. Seth, was invited to say a few words on the occasion. His words were inspiring and his story about the American resident who refused to give up his Indian passport after 30 years of living in the U.S was interesting and thought-provoking.
After the introduction and the speeches, the students were all invited for the National Anthem. The tune seeped through the campus and straight into the hearts of all the students and faculty standing in the field. Everyone stood together, to sing the anthem, and the feeling of that moment is too wonderful to be expressed with words.

After the National Anthem, the friendly football match commenced, with the Senior and the Junior teams pepped up to perform their very best. The Junior team sported the colour red, while the seniors wore the colour blue, and made for a visually enriching experience. The colours though, were just a very small part of the enrichment, the real entertainment being the game and skill of the sportsmen. Both the teams performed their very best, with each moment of the match as exciting as the next. The final score was 1-1, with the captain of the Junior team, Arjun Rajasekaran scoring the first goal, and the second goal scored by Akshat Trivedi from the senior side. The match ran neck-to-neck from beginning to end and overall made for a very exciting hour!
The highlight of the day, it can be said, was the enthusiasm that people showed in dressing up, in cheering for the teams, the fun which came with taking pictures and the true feeling of patriotism, which sizzled through everyone. The Republic Day of India, celebrated the IMT way, was surely a day to remember!



Team METH...!!

NIKAI's Vaudeville:A Grand Success

The much awaited inter college event hosted by IMT Dubai was formally inaugurated by the Dean, Dr. Seth. He welcomed the guests from NIKAI group and the teams from six colleges of across from Dubai who participated in this event. Event began with the debate competition “Convince Me!” which was started by students of BITS Pilani Dubai followed by the teams from S.P. Jain, Middlesex and IMTD. These participants shared their valuable thoughts about “Discovery of Water on the Moon-Boon or Bane for Human Civilization” and defended their views against the questions raised by the audience. The team From BITS Pilani Dubai won the hearts of everyone and stood first followed by Middlesex as the runners up and S.P. Jain at the2nd and 3rd positions respectively.
Another highlight of the event was Electica (Presentation) where four teams from BITS Pilani, S.P. Jain and IMT shared their market researches and views about the Reliability and dependability of NIKAI products .the event was judged by Mr. Bapat, and Mr. Abhilash from NIKAI group who were the platinum sorcerers for the Vaudeville. The centre of attraction of the event was IMT team who presented live research examples and supported their facts with figures and surveys and proved themselves, with them was the team of S.P. Jain in a neck to neck competition but managed to walk away with the winning trophy.
Then came the most awaited event of the day, the Wiz-Quiz, hosted by Mr. Hemant Chaudhary. The event began with six teams and had four rounds. IMT secured the 1st position while S.P. Jain took the second position and BITS stood 3rd.

The stage was set in its crowning glory to welcome the most anticipated event of the year- Vaudeville 2009. The cultural event of IMT’s inter-college festival was marked with unbridled excitement that was later echoed by the audience as well. After the initial custom of lighting the lamp, the guests and the audience were held spellbound by an inauguration dance performed by the very talented Amrita. The first competition of the evening aptly titled ‘Lets Tap’ showcased an array of talented performances from students of various colleges. The group dance competition saw participants engaging in different dance styles that were either contemporary (IMT, Dubai), Indian (Mahatma Gandhi University) or street (Skyline college, BITS). A perfect combination of music, synchronization and some gravity-defying steps made the audience beg for more. United Colors of Benetton, one of the proud sponsors of Vaudeville 2009 gave the audience a glimpse of their Fall Winter collection. The clothes modelled by the IMT students themselves came across as extremely fashionable and wearable as expected out of the brand. The next segment of the event saw teams from two colleges, IMT Dubai and S.P. Jain respectively, battling it out in the Mad for Ad competition. This competition tested the teams’ ability to sell a product with conniving skills. If the parodies made up for some rib-tickling moments, then the following competition, ‘U n Me’ was definitely successful in soothing the senses. The duet singing segment presented some of the finest voices that swooned the audience throughout. Also, the official IMT song sung by fellow IMTians received a magnanimous response. The most awaited segment of the cultural event or in other words ‘Show Stopperz’ had participants scorching the ramp in a bid to win the best fashion show. Be it BITS’s ethnic wear round or Heriot-Watt’s all boy show or the host’s theme based Angels and Demons, it all culminated in a mesmerizing event. The audience was also treated with some lip-smacking delights from Pizza World, Puranmal and Royal Kebab, the other sponsors of Vaudeville 2009. Towards the end of the show Dr Abhilasha took the privilege of announcing the results that included the academics events as well. IMT Dubai took the first runner-up spot in Eclectica while they were declared winners in Wiz Quiz, Lets Tap, Show Stopperz thus, being the proud recipients of the Hero’s Trophy! An exhilarating performance by Point of View, a Dubai based rock band signaled the end of the cultural event and Vaudeville 2009. This festival would surely be etched in the minds of many for a long time.


Team METH..!!