Indian Institute of Management Nagpur had organised a session on ‘On-going crisis in the financial and banking sector’ for the students. Guest speakers on the occasion were Prof Samir Barua, professor and former director of IIM Ahmedabad, and Prof Mahendra R Gujarathi, adjunct faculty at IIM Ahmedabad.
The gathering started with a warm welcome and introduction of the distinguished guests by PGP student Mamyala Sai Anusha.
More than just delivering a lecture, Prof Samir Barua initiated an interactive session with the students. He started with a one-to-one discussion on the debacle of International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC), one of the world’s largest aircraft leasing companies. He discussed about the parent company board’s involvement, whether the board was aware of the asset and liability mismatch, and what factors could have been the reason for the debacle.
Prof Barua also called for the students’ outlook on how would they deal with such a crisis. Appreciating the answers IIMN students gave, he further talked about the effects, impacts and outcome of the various measures students suggested.
While interacting with the students, Prof Mahendra R Gujarathi opened the house for Q&A. While answering to a question raised by a student, he advocated conceptually-related case study approach. He further said that as India is growing, becoming a global player, there is no concern in taking examples from other counties’ economy or investment cases.
To the queries on pedagogy and experiences, and on a good or a bad teacher, both the speakers had the similar opinion. They said, experienced practitioners may or may not be good academicians while many a times a new in the field can be of great knowledge and a good educator to the students; it depends on the approach and the level of study.
The students appreciated the session as a very informative one. The event ended with a vote of thanks. Prof Samir Barua and Prof Mahendra R Gujarathi were felicitated with tree plantation certificates for the trees planted on their behalf in the Sundarbans.