SPJIMR Podcast

Ms. Megha Tata, Managing Director, South Asia – Discovery, Inc. is in conversation with Prof. Ratika Gore, Assistant Professor- Communications and Head – Alumni Relations, SPJIMR.

They discuss the aspect of leadership that is unique to the world of content and the role of women in the workplace. She observes that while the participation of women has increased in the workforce there are still very few CXO level positions held by women in the Media Industry. She also shares her success mantra or as she likes to call it, 'Megha's five Pillars', namely: Passion, Prioritization, PR(Networking), Perception, and Positive Attitude, that have worked for her in her career journey. They round off the conversation by talking about how digital consumption has been accelerated during the pandemic and the unique opportunities that have come along with it.

SPJIMR Dean Dr. Varun Nagaraj is in conversation with Mr. Sunil Lulla, media industry veteran and SPJIMR alum, class of 1984.

Dr. Nagaraj shares how he interprets SPJIMR’s mission to ‘Influence Practice and Promote Value-based Growth’ to different stakeholders and discusses how SPJIMR alumni can lead such growth. Mr. Lulla and Dr. Nagaraj discuss the unique role of Centers of Excellence in creating and disseminating thought leadership at scale to shape ideas, behaviours, and actions that can benefit the country on the whole.

They talk about the future of management education in India in the post-pandemic world, why education is a lifelong process, how the process of learning is vastly different from that of yesteryears, and the continued importance of an MBA even for start-ups in India. After discussing how industry practitioners could collaborate with academics, Dr. Nagaraj and Mr. Lulla wrap up by discussing the possibility of a Bollywood movie made on the SPJIMR campus!

Mr. Gourav Rakshit – Chief Operating Officer of Viacom18 Digital Ventures, is in conversation with Prof. Vineeta Dwivedi, Head – Digital Communications, SPJIMR.

Mr. Rakshit speaks about how he managed to successfully transition across different industry sectors – FMCG, IT Consulting and Entertainment – and how he decided on the choice of his jobs. He sheds light on how his experiences working for Apple as a client helped pave the way for creating a profitable internet venture in Shaadi.com and tackling the challenges that come with helming a business with a short consumer life cycle. They discuss the phenomenon of India’s Over The Top (OTT) streaming platforms and their future, the reasons for migrating Big Boss to an OTT only broadcast on Voot, the digitization and monetization challenges unique to the OTT market, and the future of cable network due to the rise in OTT platforms. They also talk about Mr. Rakshit’s learnings as a leader from Covid19, his love of building successful frameworks in an organization and his passion for sports. He signs off by sharing some invaluable Guru Mantra for young management students.

Ms. Mansi Tripathy, Regional Vice President – Asia Pacific Middle East, Shell Lubricants is in conversation with Prof. Ratika Gore, Assistant Professor- Communications and Head – Alumni Relations, SPJIMR.

They discuss how leaders are meant to and make tough decisions all the time. Ms. Tripathy talks about how having to flee Kashmir overnight during her childhood gave her a sense of perspective about the real issues in life. She explains the principles and frameworks that she follows when she makes crucial decisions in her professional and personal life, how she embraces the consequences and learns to thrive on them. She further explains the decision making in an organization during uncertain times like Covid19. They round off the conversation by talking about why managers make bad decisions, Ms. Tripathy’s keys to maintaining a healthy work-life balance and the importance of loving the work you do.

Mr. Rajaram Narayanan, Managing Director & Country Chair of Sanofi in India is in conversation with Prof. Vineeta Dwivedi, Head Digital Communications at SPJIMR.

Mr. Rajaram speaks about the availability of Covid vaccines in India, the challenges related to getting everybody vaccinated and what normalcy might look like in India in the next 9-12 months and sheds light on the development and manufacture of Covid vaccines by Sanofi. He also speaks about the present issues and challenges related to the current healthcare infrastructure in India and how these can be improved.

They converse about how Sanofi built power brands like Combiflam, Allegra, etc., how brand recall and trust are built in the pharmaceutical world, the role of innovation in medicines and Mr. Rajaram’s biggest learnings as a leader in these challenging times. They round off the conversation by talking about Mr. Rajaram’s successful career journey, the evolution of his managerial and leadership style over the years, his individual mantras of success, how he copes with stress and why it is essential for young managers to improve their communication skills.

Ms. Sangeeta Talwar, Managing Partner, Flyvision Consulting; a leader behind iconic brands like Maggi and Tata Tea is in conversation with SPJIMR’s Professor of Marketing and Head, Delhi Centre, Dr Ruppal Walia Sharma.

Ms Talwar reflects on her successful career and talks about the iconic brand campaigns and emphasizes why customer centricity and consumer insights are keys to any successful business. They talk about the challenges she faced in her career journey when few women executives held senior positions - she was the first woman in the management cadre in Nestle India. They discuss how great ideas can be turned into long-term sustainable businesses and the importance of innovation, experimentation and collaboration in today’s interconnected world. Ms. Talwar signs off with some inspiring words for all budding corporate executives especially for women who want to make a mark in their careers.

Ms. Sangeeta Talwar, Managing Partner, Flyvision Consulting; a leader behind iconic brands like Maggi and Tata Tea is in conversation with SPJIMR’s Professor of Marketing and Head, Delhi Centre, Dr Ruppal Walia Sharma.

Ms Talwar reflects on her successful career and talks about the iconic brand campaigns and emphasizes why customer centricity and consumer insights are keys to any successful business. They talk about the challenges she faced in her career journey when few women executives held senior positions - she was the first woman in the management cadre in Nestle India. They discuss how great ideas can be turned into long-term sustainable businesses and the importance of innovation, experimentation and collaboration in today’s interconnected world. Ms. Talwar signs off with some inspiring words for all budding corporate executives especially for women who want to make a mark in their careers.

This episode of the podcast is a conversation between Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardee Mr. A. M. Naik, Group Chairman of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Dr. Pallavi Mody, SPJIMR’s Professor of Economics. Mr. Naik talks about his 56-year journey at L&T where he started off as an engineer on the shop floor and went on to become the CEO of the company in 1999 and later the MD, Chairman and Group Chairman of the company.

They discuss his first 90 days as CEO of L&T, how he brought about a culture of value creation in the company and why he decided to make L&T an international organization. He emphasizes the importance of a leader to be an entrepreneur with a professional background. He speaks about how he has contested elections from the age of 6 and how that helped him be a people’s man always through his career. They also discuss the importance of Atmanirbhar Bharat, how L&T started it in 1971 by building India’s first nuclear reactor, why India needs to become a matured democracy to ensure its own growth and why every single Indian needs to contribute to the betterment of society overall. They end the chat with Mr. Naik giving a message to young budding managers as to why they need to think about their role to the country and to the society to make India a strong nation.

This episode of the podcast is a conversation between Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardee Mr. A. M. Naik, Group Chairman of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Dr. Pallavi Mody, SPJIMR’s Professor of Economics. Mr. Naik talks about his 56-year journey at L&T where he started off as an engineer on the shop floor and went on to become the CEO of the company in 1999 and later the MD, Chairman and Group Chairman of the company.

They discuss his first 90 days as CEO of L&T, how he brought about a culture of value creation in the company and why he decided to make L&T an international organization. He emphasizes the importance of a leader to be an entrepreneur with a professional background. He speaks about how he has contested elections from the age of 6 and how that helped him be a people’s man always through his career. They also discuss the importance of Atmanirbhar Bharat, how L&T started it in 1971 by building India’s first nuclear reactor, why India needs to become a matured democracy to ensure its own growth and why every single Indian needs to contribute to the betterment of society overall. They end the chat with Mr. Naik giving a message to young budding managers as to why they need to think about their role to the country and to the society to make India a strong nation.

This episode of the podcast is a conversation between Mr. Partha Sinha, President at Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited (Times of India Group) and Prof. Vineeta Dwivedi, Head Digital Communications at SPJIMR. Mr. Sinha reflects on his journey from being a nuclear design engineer, a banker, a strategy and marketing head of media and internet companies, and an advertising strategist.

Mr. Sinha dismisses doomsday predictions for the newspaper industry. He says the importance of news and newspapers in shaping independent thought in society will stay forever as no other medium has the kind of source credibility. He also explains why Covid was the best possible management consultant for companies globally. He also talks about the Advertising industry and why it is still underrated. Prof. Dwivedi and Mr. Sinha discuss his passion for sports, books and having an area of passion other than work. They round off the conversation by talking about data disruption and he explains why the information superhighway has turned into a ‘prejudices and biases’ superhighway.