IIM Indore, Mumbai Campus participants were in for a delight when the Industry and Alumni Relations Committee arranged a Guest Lecture by Mr Shajan Ninan, Founder & CEO, Kaizen Center for Finance and Entrepreneurship, Alumnus of Harvard University.
With over 17 years of progressively diverse experience in Investment Banking, Equity Research, and Financial Advisory, Mr Shajan Ninan has developed extensive experience in originating and executing a broad range of strategic and investment banking transactions for publicly traded and privately owned middle-market companies in the United States. His case based teaching equipped Business school instructors with the expertise to effectively plan, teach, and evaluate case discussions in the classroom settings designed for students to learn not only the instructor but from each other by bringing their collective experience to solve real world business problems.
Beginning with his humble upbringing, Mr Ninan described his life at Wall Street and also spoke about his entrepreneurial venture. He also gave examples of a few disruptive stories to emphasise the learning - Not to underestimate your rivals. According to him, Success comprises four components - dream, faith, humility and service. Dream to aim for what your heart wants. Have faith to move forward regardless of obstacles. Possess humility to see others significant than yourself. And lastly, consider service as a social responsibility.
He introduced the class to strategy, its types and how it should be used to formulate and implement to create value. He then delved deep into the importance of strategy and how to incorporate it in various business scenarios. He also discussed various new frameworks to solve a case study. He began by defining how a case is a big picture view of the way a company is going to win. He asked us to put ourselves in the shoes of the protagonist to be able to analyse the case better.
Mr Ninan indulged sometimes in teaching us to apply the concepts and frameworks appropriately. The students of PGP-Mumbai actively participated in solving the case by putting forth their observations and viewpoints. He put our brain cells to work and his session was a good kick-start to a wonderful week. Participants found a new perspective of solving a case study and it proved to be an invaluable session for them. We are sure some of his learnings and values will help the students look at some aspects of the corporate world in a new light and hence encourage them to learn and explore.