Intaglio (conference)

Intaglio is the annual international Business school summit hosted by Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. The flagship event of IIM-C, it was started in 1989 as the National Business School Meet (NBSM), and is widely acknowledged to be the biggest B-school meet in India. Intaglio, usually held over a 3-day weekend in January, serves as a platform facilitating the interaction of eminent personalities from the industry, academia, media and government, holding conferences, workshops and seminars by experts in different fields on a wide range of topics.

Intaglio also includes a large number of competitive and non-competitive events for B-school students, which attract participation from world-renowned institutions from around the world, like Asian Institute of Technology, Australian Graduate School of Management, CEIBS, ESCP Europe, Harvard Business School, other IIMs, London Business School, MIT Sloan, National University of Singapore, University of Toronto and the Wharton School. As a mark of its superior quality of events and processes, Intaglio in 2007 became the first event of its kind in India to achieve the ISO 9001:2000 certification from the International Organization for Standardization. In 2010, Intaglio got the distinction of being the first carbon-neutral B-school event in India. In the 2011 edition, Intaglio is supposed to kick start the golden jubilee celebrations of IIM Calcutta. As reflected in the theme – “Perspectives at 50... Genesis of a new tomorrow”, Intaglio’ 11 will mark the time when Institute comes together as a whole along with the rest of the country to reflect upon 50 years of leadership and excellence, and derive new perspectives for the coming times. With the golden jubilee year, Intaglio’11 is slated to be the biggest ever edition in terms of events, participation and prizes.

History

The precursor of the Intaglio – The National Business School Meet – was started by the 25th Batch in the year 1989. The meet consisted of a myriad of competitions viz. Strategy building competitions, presentation competition “Shastrarth” and the like. The meet was rechristened as “Intaglio” in the January 2005 edition. The festival body applied for trademark in 2007-08, got the (R) for a while but could not get a TM, and hence discontinued the registered usage. Ever since its inception in 2005, Intaglio has seen some of the finest minds, thought leaders and opinion shapers in their fields of work mesmerize audiences with deep insights and candid interactions. A closer look at the recent editions shows steady increase in the number of events and participation.

Intaglio 2008-09: Held on the IIM Calcutta campus from 8th – 11th January, 2009, this edition achieved a distinct mark of success with over 15,000 participants from more than 60 countries across the world. With participation from 190 companies, Intaglio 2008-09 successfully blended the academia with the corporate world. With Knowledge Partnership tie-ups with McKinsey, Procter & Gamble, Deloitte Consulting & IMRB, the festival recorded the highest number of events (18) across business school meets. The total prize money for winners across events amounted to INR 10 Lakhs.

Olympus, the biggest pan-IIM event across all campuses and a showcase event at Intaglio, went international with on-campus participation from 6 IIMs, CEIBS (Shanghai) and Wharton Business School.

Intaglio 2008-2009 saw the likes of Mr. S Hajara (CMD, SCI), Mr.Anil Arjun (CEO, Adlabs), and Mr. Joy Bhattacharjya (Director, KKR). They addressed the audience on the theme of Intaglio’08-09 which was“cultivating leadership, redefining horizons”. Intaglio 2009-10: With a vision of “Answers in an uncertain world”, this edition, held from the 7th – 10th January, 2010, saw participation from various B-schools throughout India. This edition saw the introduction of the first completely online event – Marketplace. With prizes worth INR 100,000, more than 450 teams registered to participate in the war of marketing strategies. Intaglio 2008-09 received wide spread coverage in all major media, across the industry, making it one of the most popular business meet across the country. The total media coverage was worth over INR 20 lakh, which included print ads in leading national dailies and magazines and online banners with popular internet portals. Leading news channels like NDTV 24X7, CNBC TV18, Times Now, Zee Business and several other Hindi and Regional language channel & leading radio channels extensively covered the business festival. Reverberations

Every year, Intaglio organizes "Reverberations", a series of lectures by prominent personalities from diverse backgrounds. Global management thinkers and business leaders come down for "Reverberations" to provide perspectives and insightful ideas on the central theme of Intaglio.

The speaker hall of fame boasts of names like Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Chief Minister, West Bengal, Mr. Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro, Mr. Sarthak Behuria, Chairman, IOCL, Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan, Co-Founder and CEO, Rediff.com and Mr. Leo Puri, Director, McKinsey & Co. among many others. == Corporate Dinner == The Intaglio Corporate Dinner has built a formidable reputation of providing the best networking opportunities and industry connections.

Students, representing each of the prestigious IIMs, get a chance to meet representatives from some of the best companies and gain first-hand knowledge of corporate life. The dinner will provide an informal forum for industry stalwarts to share their invaluable insights and advice, while getting to understand the perspectives of a business school student. Events

Showcase Events

Olympus

Olympus is the flagship event of Intaglio. It aims at identifying the most promising future leader amongst the students of the 6 IIMs (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow) and select international B-schools. The 2010 edition of the event was won by Mr. John Timms from CEIBS, China.

Wizards of Biz

This boardroom challenge aims at testing the all round business acumen of the participants. This game requires the participants to allocate resources, battle uncertainty and tackle competition by making the most of the limited resources available. This is the first competition in the country to have in-house real time business simulation software. Prelims give the candidates a feel of running a full scale business in a completely dynamic environment. Those who manage to clear the preliminary rounds are further put to test in the on-campus finals involving multiple rounds of business challenges where decision making and strategic thinking are prerequisites to survive. The final round is designed to match a high pressure boardroom battle where the participants don the hats of the top level management of a firm for the coveted title.

Great Innovation Challenge

The Great Innovation Challenge tests the participants on creativity and innovation, qualities that differentiate an outstanding manager from a good one. The event gives participants the opportunity to work on live problems faced by Intaglio’s knowledge partners in a real life environment. An onsite field visit, interaction with company executives and thorough mentoring by the festival’s consulting partners helps participants get to the crux of the problem at hand and devise innovative solutions.

Consulting Knights

Intaglio’s Showcase event, Consulting Knights, challenges the participants with a comprehensive case developed with the fest’s corporate partners that tests their ability to understand the heart of the problem and search for answers. Traditionally, one of the most prestigious events at Intaglio, Consulting knights has seen participation from all over the world including the likes of NUS, Wharton etc.

Domain Events

State of Affairs

This is an operations event where the participants are tested for efficiency, Effectiveness, Business Operations, Management of Resources, Distribution and supply chain optimization. The cases simulate a tough macro-environment where regulations are becoming stringent by the day and competition is eating into one’s marketshare.

Marketplace

This competitive event puts to test the ability of participants to create a versatile marketing plan which not only builds a brand but also stands the test of time. Participants are given freedom to develop a brand from scratch, choose channel strategies and brand communication mediums.

Modulus

Alertness, agility and an unemotional approach are the essentials of a trading floor. Financial modelling is at the core of facilitating split second decisions which set apart the winning trading strategies. Modulus engages finance enthusiasts with a simulation of the real trading floor conditions. The event requires teams to come up with a model that mimics the real world to successfully outwit and outthink the competition floor. Empires of the Mind Empires of the Mind is a strategy game with applications of Game theory where participants are challenged to look at the broader picture of a given problem. The participants are judged on clarity of thought, superior decision making skills and ability to foresee what the competition does not.

Murphy’s Laugh

This event tries to fit the participants in the shoes of an IT project manager confronting everyday decisions in planning and execution. The competition forces you to choose on critical decisions viz. geographics to explore, licensing vs. outsourcing, trading or hiring experiences.

Campus Events

Corporate Catalyst

Corporate Catalyst provides participants an opportunity to work as Investment Bankers identifying a potential target, valuing that target and deciding upon how go about acquiring it. It requires them to get into the nitty-gritty of valuation, negotiate with competitors, and finally convince the client about their pitch.

Pixellated Chaos

Pixellated Chaos mixes the elements of game theory, collusion and treasure hunt to create a fun filled experience for its participants. The event has drawn participation from a large number of teams in every edition of the festival.

Addict

Addict is an advertising competition which tests the participants on creativity, content and Communication – essential features to attract customers to an advertisement. With an ever expanding media, striking the chord with the customer is getting difficult. Addict is the battle of minds to get their message across the table amidst this chaos.

Design your event

Intaglio allows corporate houses to devise events tailor made to their specific needs. The corporate can then put the skill and wit of the budding managers by confronting them with challenges that the firm faces in its activities.

Regalio

The Inauguration Ceremony marks the beginning of Intaglio. A packed house witnesses the inaugural addresses of key thought leaders: captains of industry and academia and are then witnesses to a cultural show that stretches across the canvasses of dance, music and theatre.

The inauguration ceremony for Intaglio 2008-09 found a soulful start in the performance by the students’ musical band of IIM Calcutta JBS BaroC. Dedicating their performance to the Mumbai massacres, they held the audience spellbound for the next 20 minutes. In what can be called an expert rendition by an amateur band, their music contained an engrossing fusion of the modern with the classical.

The fest was inaugurated in a solemn lamp lighting ceremony by Mr. Ajay Sinha, MD (Rural Marketing), Aditya Birla Group and Mr. Sudeep Grover along with Prof. Saibal Chattopadhyay, Dean, IIM Calcutta and Mrs. Leena Chatterjee, Faculty Advisor, Intaglio 2009. Social Initiatives

Intaglio undertakes several social initiatives. Thus, Intaglio is not just a world class B-school meet, but also a platform to spread social awareness. With increasing emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility, team Intaglio also decided to contribute towards the well being of the society.

In Intaglio 2008-09 started by holding team-building, creativity and public speaking workshops in Kendriya Vidyalaya School; this was a year-long initiative taken by the Intaglio team.

With 2009 being the year of general elections, Intaglio partnered ‘Jaago Re’ in spreading awareness about the elections to the youth of India. Furthermore live events like inviting NGOs working with local artisans/children to exhibit their handiworks and screening daily social documentaries, were conducted.

For the online audiences, the stories and challenges our partner NGOs faced were showcased. In the 2011-12 edition, these partnerships will be developed further to make them a permanent feature of Intaglio. Student Leadership Programme

With participation from more than 160 national & international business schools and over 175 corporates, SLP would provide students a platform to interact with some of the brightest minds from across the world. SLP includes talks and panel discussions by eminent personalities like D Shivkumar, the head of Nokia India, S.K. Roongta, the Chairman of SAIL and the CEO of KKR, Joy Bhattacharya. In addition, students can also compete with participants from top Indian and international B-schools in On-campus events with prize money worth Rs. 1,10,000.