IIM INDORE PGDM 2008-2010

Event Management FirmOB-II Group Assignment 1

Submitted By:Abhay Negi

Amit KanodiaAshish Sahare

Manish JhaSanjeev Kumar

Date: 24 October 2008

EVENT MANAGEMENT FIRM

Entrepreneurship is the essence of the season in this fast moving world. Everybody is talking about owning a business. Riding on this wave 5 people Abhay, Amit, Ashish, Manish and Sanjeev planned to enter into entrepreneurship. Looking at their experience and qualities they planned to open a venture into event management firm which they think is ably fit with their personality.

Event Management consists of managing various types of events from stage shows to corporate events. Stage shows mainly consists of award functions, fashion shows, dance shows, etc. Corporate events include various intra-organization events. Clients for the event management company are big corporate and cultural societies. Event Management Company looks after the event from its planning stage till implementation stage. The functions of event Management Company are as follows:

1. Pitching to customers for the events

2. Link between the client , sponsors and media

3. Planning and designing the event concept and theme

4. Logistics and Operations related to event

5. Implementing the event

These are the broad functions of the event management company which is well supported by finance and IT department. We will discuss the role of each person in detail in organisation and how they will handle the functions effectively and smoothly.

Manish Jha: Human Resource and Personal Relations Representative

Personality traits:

A human resource and personal relations representative plays a pivotal role in spreading awareness in the general public about an organization. It goes well with my personality trait of interacting with people and understanding them. Manish has a knack of understanding what people would think and then reframing my words based on the same. Strong communication skills backed by a penchant to take up initiatives are his key strength areas. He has got opportunities to leverage these at different platforms. While working for his employer EMC India, Manish was selected into the University relations brand building team for the company. This allowed him to travel across different engineering campuses and conduct seminars and sessions where he shared information with students on the preparation methodologies and the difference between college and corporate life. This also gave him opportunities to use my creativity and take up some new initiatives on behalf of the branding team. Once while they were at a campus to conduct sessions the response was very poor and

the team was very discouraged. He decided to organize a small quiz and few informal games to generate interest. It resulted in lot more students attending sessions from the next day and the campus had a large number of applicants for internship in the company.

His vision:

At the company, he would use these strengths in my interaction with my colleagues and clients to put my point across in a better way. He would take up new responsibilities and new initiatives which would drive the companies’ future. Mixing work with fun whenever possible and handling stressful situation in a composed manner excites him. He puts in a lot of trust in my friends and believes that they trust him and he goes out to help them whenever they need him. He likes taking up the responsibility of his team, family and also owes responsibility to give back to the society.

Role as a PR representative:

As a personal relations representative of the event management company it becomes his paramount duty to spread awareness among the stakeholders and other common people about the company’s objectives and future plans. He has to ensure that things are kept and relayed in proper perspective and right information reaches right channels. It would also become his duty to see to it that the company receives good publicity and Manish would take different routes to follow this practice. One of the routes would be organizing some small informal events at Tier 2 cities and gaining expertise in the domain and then moving on to big cities and mega projects. Performing in smaller cities would also allow the company to reach to the masses and target the common man through their events. Once the common man understands that they as a company are capable enough to organize events they can then win the trust of other institutions to get mega projects. He will go and talk to few big business houses and persuade them to allow them organize their events. All the big business houses have their own annual days and this happens on a really large scale with lot of high profile invitees attending them. This in turn would allow him in networking and approaching even a greater number of people for the events. Once they get acquainted with the events of these business houses, he will approach some big program organizers or concert stars like A.R. Rahman with the company’s report card and persuade them to allow the company organize concerts for them. If they are able to organize 3-4 big concerts it would establish that they are capable enough to handle high pressure events and it would symbolise the maturity level of their company.

Role as an HR representative:

As a human resource manager for the company Manish has to look at the prospects of hiring right kind of people who have the motivation levels to work in a starting company and who can handle failures that come with new companies not being able to find good projects. These people have to be enthusiasts who are excited by the prospect of being part of a future story and these should not be the people who come with a lot a baggage in their minds and who want easy hygiene factors. He would also have to keep in mind that dedicated employees do not face any issues with the organization and they are kept happy. He will ensure that the

culture within the organization is a very open one where anyone can talk to any level and give their opinions without any fear or apprehension. It will also be kept in mind that the organization structure has to accommodate a good and well defined role system for each and every person and this would be based on the person’s skill set. The overall organization structure would be a flat one and there would be specific departments that handle various operations and we would create specialist departments to deal with specialist sectors like movies, songs, entertainment and sports. There would be constant job rotation within these sectors and all the earnings that the organization receives would be well spread out through the organization. No employee would get the feeling that he is not involved in the overall decision making. All the employees would be empowered to decide the events that we are going to target and if the feasibility team finds it suitable enough that employee would be given the responsibility to drive the event.

Ashish Sahare: Creative Department Representative

Background:

Ashish is native from Nagpur. He did his schooling from Nagpur. For engineering he came to Mumbai and completed his computer engineering from Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Mumbai. During his college life he was actively involved with extracurricular activities. There he developed interest in event management. He has successfully organized various events during his school life and graduation. Celebrity night organized by him during graduation is the largest event in the college till now. This event was attended by more than 8000 people. His activities continued during his post graduation too. In first year of his post graduation, he was part of organizing team of Indore Marathon 2008. He is also a part of organizing team of Livewire which is again a celebrity night organized by IIM Indore. And this will continue on in second year of his post graduation too.

Personality Traits:

He is very creative person. In whatever he does, he brings lot of new ideas in play. He always believes in innovation which can be seen in his work. Every time he wants to do things differently by bringing in some innovative changes which nobody has implemented earlier. Along with the new ideas in work, he puts lot of energy and enthusiasm in work. He is very proactive person. He always keeps bubbling with energy and keeps the environment around him cheerful.

Role as Creative Head:

He is the only one in group who has seen in and out of managing the event. Earlier he had organized various events and is well versed with designing part of the event. The main role of Ashish will be to design the structure of event and adding his creative inputs to make it look attractive and new. He will be the overall makeup man for the event. He will be responsible for giving the looks to the event by designing its entire structure including stage, seating, arrangement, programs, backgrounds, decoration, etc. He will also be responsible in

designing various publicity materials from invitations to brochures, pamphlets and hoardings. He will also design advertising content for the event.

Ashish will be closely working with IT and Operations team. Along with IT team he will be designing various materials required during the event which can vary from audio mixing to background display on screen. Due to his IT knowledge he will be a great help to IT team in designing the contents. As his ideas will be implemented by the Operations team, he has to closely monitor the work of Operations team and look that his ideas are being implemented in proper and correct way.

Role as Executive Committee Member

His creative skills will be put to best use in designing of the event. Also his ability to bring in energy and enthusiasm in work environment will help in effective and smooth work. He will bring lot of ideas on table in executive meeting for planning of event which will help team in deciding on new theme for each event.

Sanjeev Kumar: Head of Operations Management team

Background and Personality Trait:

Sanjeev holds a degree in Chemical engineering from IT BHU. He worked with Infosys and SAP Labs before joining IIM Indore to pursue MBA. With close to 3 years stint at SAP Labs he expertise in ERP domain. While working at SAP Labs apart from ERP software development he has been associated at client side implementation of ERP. At IIM Indore he has specialized in Strategy and Operations management.

Sanjeev has strong analytical skills and a keen eye for finer details. He has a pleasant personality and gels well with team members. He likes to play chess and outdoor sports.

Operation Management Role:

Operations Management is the core implementation part for the event organization company. It requires operation management skills to start from the planning of event, scheduling to final completion of event. All the resources have to be managed effectively and efficiently. It also involves proper contingency planning, Total quality management and Operational risk management. At every stage there can be unforeseen bottlenecks, which need to be handled tactfully. Stakes are very high for Event Organizing Company in particular, as all the efforts put in preparation and planning can go in vain if on final day there is some problem in event organizing. Operation management in this context includes Site surveying, Client Service, Brief clarification, Supply chain identification, Procurement, Scheduling, Site design, Technical design, Health & Safety and Crowd management.

Role as head of Operation Management division:

Because of his interest and expertise, Sanjeev has been natural candidate to head Operations management team. With chemical engineering background, he had exposure to operations followed in a typical chemical industry. Further his experience in ERP implementation has

given him insight to the streamlining of business processes and best practices followed by various industries. He also has an expertise in Supply chain management, which is very important in Operational aspect of Event organization. He is very keen about meticulously planning each and every stage in organization of event. With his ability to analyze all finer details, he can effectively handle the contingency planning and risk management. As he has experience in working in the Product Development organization, he gives a lot of emphasis in having perfect quality. This will help in conducting total quality management for Event organization.

Role as a member of Executive Committee team:

In addition to handling Operations team, Sanjeev will also be part of Executive Committee team. The executive committee team discusses major strategy, planning and all important aspects related to the company. With the maturity and knowledge gained in his industrial experience, Sanjeev becomes an important member of this team. While working with Infosys and SAP Labs, he had many opportunities to interact with Customers. Further he had an industry exposure in Sales and Marketing area as a summer intern during his MBA. With these abilities he provides a very significant contribution to sales and marketing strategy for the organization as a member of executive committee team.

Amit Kanodia: Finance Department Representative

Background:

Amit is a BBM Graduate from ICFAI University. He has a year's experience in Pharmaceutical Distribution (Family Managed Business) in the finance and strategy functions and another in D. E. Shaw & Co. (Hedge Fund). Particularly interested in Finance, he is also pursuing his CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) of which he has cleared the first level.

Personality Traits:

He is a confident person with good communication skills and leading abilities, possesses a pleasing personality and is good with people. Always up for challenges, he never falters under pressure.

Experience in family business has enriched his decision making capability, increased his risk appetite and instilled an entrepreneurial flair. It has also given him insights into managing a business especially the finance function where he worked quite a lot in working capital management can cost control. The stint in the hedge fund has instilled a keen interest for finance and markets.

Role as Finance Department Representative:

With his experience and background, he’ll be a good fit as the lead of the Finance department where he will manage and oversee the following activities

Raising and managing Capital: As a start up raising capital is always an issue. We will look at both external debt and equity participation. Other issues include debtor

management, repayments, issues related to new capital requirements and treasury management.

Cost Control: The business will have a large number of varied costs. Managing costs well is imperative to the profitability of the firm. Negotiation with contractors, keeping a close check on the outflow of cash and auditing will be of prime focus.

Working Capital Management: Working Capital accounts most of the investment of this business and managing liquidity well is necessary for good financial health of an event management firm. Good management of receivables, payable and inventory is necessary to free up capital and also make use of trade discounts, etc.

Taxes: The industry falls in the gamut of a lot of taxes and the goal will be timely payment and minimize the liability

Generating Sales is the driving factor of the business and Amit can contribute in multiple ways. He can be quite effective in making the sales pitch and also maintaining relations with key people on a continuous basis. His family contacts will also come in handy here.

Role as a Executive Committee Member:

As a part of the Executive Committee, Amit brings to the table a keen business sense and representation of the Finance department. He could be quite valuable in shaping the strategy of the firm and evaluation of the viability of the events undertaken. His abilities of nit picking and paying attention to detail would give him the role of the Devil’s advocate within the Committee.

Abhay Negi: Information Technology Executive

An IT Executive in a company is responsible for the development and maintenance of the complete IT infrastructure of the company. He should have a good understanding of the other business functions and contribute towards developing strategies for using IT for improving the overall business processes and improving efficiency. He should be well aware of the current technologies and have the necessary expertise to implement them in the organization.

Background:

Abhay has a strong fundamental understanding of IT systems, current technologies and relevant industry experience to take up the responsibility of an IT executive of the organization. He has an engineering degree in Computer Science from IIT, Delhi followed by two years of work experience in a software startup developing a web services based product. He has worked both on a product development effort and a client project and hence understands both types of development processes.

Personality Traits:

Abhay possesses the necessary skill set and expertise to perform all the responsibilities which have been stated above. His passion for technology, good technical knowledge and his understanding of the business present him as the right candidate for the job. His experience

in a startup has helped him gain an insight into the running of an organization which could also come in handy.

Role as IT representative:

His role in the company would be to head the IT operations in the company. It would essentially involve providing the IT infrastructural backbone to all the other business functions of the company. Designing and maintaining the website which acts as an interface to the clients would be an important part of his job responsibilities. It would involve introducing technology in whatever way possible to help the finance, operations, marketing and the HR departments to work efficiently. A web based CRM solution can be developed which could integrate all the different functions enabling better information sharing. He also needs to work closely with the creative team making their ideas into reality. The responsibility of providing all kinds of hardware and software support needed for all these activities will be provided by him. Apart from this the system and network administration of the whole company would also be supervised by him.