IIM Sambalpur students were delighted to attain a Guest Lecture by Mr Shajan Ninan, Founder & CEO, Kaizen Center for Finance and Entrepreneurship, Alumnus of Harvard University.
Shajan Ninan has over 17 years of progressively diverse experience in investment banking, equity research, M&A, and financial advisory businesses in Wall Street. He brings a practitioner’s perspective to the classroom with his case method training. Currently, he is engaged in offering participant-centered case-based workshops and seminars in finance and entrepreneurship areas. In his effort to bring real-world experience into the classroom, Mr Ninan is also engaged as a guest lecturer in many imminent b-schools in India.
Being humble, Mr Ninan first shared his life experiences 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 big to aim for what your heart wishes. 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 concepts, its types and how it should be used to formulate and implement to create value in real world business scenarios. He then dived 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 helped us in articulating facts to apply the concepts and frameworks appropriately. The students of IIM Sambalpur 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 learning curve to sharpen our bright minds. 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 further.