Bid for a CEO of your choice
Indian School of Business (ISB) students will
now have the chance to ‘Shadow a CEO’ for a price
- bid for India Inc’s Who’s Who and spend a day with one to get a few management
tips.
The programme that began last year has seen the list of CEOs - who will be put under
the hammer - grow. Over 30 CEOs, including Adi Godrej, Analjit Singh, Chanda Kochhar,
G V Sanjay Reddy and Nitin Paranjpe are on the list. The bidding process will be
conducted online.
The funds mobilized will be used for charity.
The bidding will be held from September 27 to 30. Last year, 16 CEOs had participated
in the process and Rs. 15 lakh was generated through the auction. The money was
given for charity.
Chanda Kochhar, G. V. Sanjay Reddy and Nitin Paranjpe
are going under the hammer this year. The top three bidders for each CEO will be
short-listed and need to submit a Letter of Intent on why they are bidding for a
particular CEO.
A panel comprising faculty and administrative members from ISB will review the letters
of intent and decide collectively on who is the most deserving student to shadow
the CEO.
After the winners of the bidding process are announced, the CEO can match the amount
raised by the students, with equal or more, and the funds raised from the auction
will then go to a NGO of the CEO's choice. The bidding process is open to all students
of the ISB.
Several students, however, did not agree with the way the programme was conducted.
One of them said on condition of anonymity that though he would love to "shadow
a CEO" for a day, he cannot afford to participate in the auction with the bidding
going into lakhs. "I do not have the money to participate. So I have decided to
keep out of the programme."
ISB Dean Ajit Rangnekar said everything is done
for a good cause. "The first edition of this exercise was so successful that we
decided to continue with it this year. Not only the students, but the CEOs were
also very enthusiastic about the programme. I think, in India, the concept of philanthropy
is limited to donating money to temples. We should teach the students to service
the society as well," said Rangnekar.
The institute will organise an open auction where students will bid for a CEO of
their choice. The funds raised from the auction will go to an NGO of the CEO's choice.
This initiative is part of the Joy of Giving Week by the Give India Foundation.
"We are all ecstatic about working with these CEOs who dominate India's business
world. The objective of this programme is twofold - engage ISB students in the act
of giving and provide a lifetime opportunity of spending a day with a CEO, watch
them at work and imbibe valuable leadership lessons. The bidding process begins
next week and over 60 per cent of the students are expected to participate from
a batch size of 575 students," said
Sidharth Malhotra,
an ISB student.
Courtesy: Business Standard
