ISB students bid to ‘Shadow a CEO’

With people across the country coming up with innovative ideas to spread joy in the lives of the under-privileged or needy, a handful of students from Indian School of Business, Mohali – along with their Hyderabad counterparts and other B-Schools across the nation – are bidding to win a chance to spend a day with CEO of their choice.

The proceeds of this unique online auction, which kickstarted during the Joy of Giving week or “Daan Utsav”, will go toward charity.

Students with matching bids to the CEOs will get to spend a day with the person. The money from the highest student bid in the programme, which is into its sixth year, is matched by the CEO and the collected amount of money goes to a charity of the CEO’s choice.

“As of now, 18 CEOs have signed on to participate this year but we are expecting a total of 20 to 25,” said ISB student Amogh Panje, who is one of the organizers of the event. The bidding starts at Rs 5,000 but finishes at a lot more. “Last year, we raised Rs 5,00,000 and that is not accounting for donations from the CEOs,” Panje said.

Deeksha Anand, an ISB student of the Class of 2015 and current treasurer of the Graduate Student Board, said that this year, the programme will feature the likes of Kumar Birla of the Aditya Birla Group. Live bidding started from October 2. “Last year, Narayana Murthy of Infosys brought in the highest bid which went to charity,” Anand said.

The objective of the programme is twofold – engage B School students in the act of giving and provide them with a lifetime opportunity of spending a day with a CEO of their choice to imbibe valuable leadership lessons. The number of CEOs participating in the initiative has increased over the past five years and helps raise awareness about the concept of social responsibility across the country.

Rs 5 lakh raised in 2013

Last year, 13 ISB students had won bids to shadow CEO of their choice and raised an amount of around Rs 5 lakh for charity. Some CEOs who participated last year included Adi Godrej, Narayan Murthy, Sunil Lulla, Hemant Kanoria, Deep Kalra, Amit Chandra and Sanjay Nayar, among others.

This year’s CEOs

This year, some participating CEOs include Kumar Mangal Birla, Deep Kalra, Harsha Bhogle, Sudhanshu Vats, Rajat Sood, Bhaskar Bhatt and Sanjay Nayar. More CEOs will be on the list.

Joy of Giving

Daan Utsav – earlier called Joy of Giving Week – is a national movement that aims to engage Indians in different “acts of giving” through money, time, resources and skills – spanning corporate, NGO and government sectors, and also schools, colleges and the general public.

Article Courtesy of The Times of India