Bid for a CEO of your choice

Indian School of Business 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 mobilised 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.

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.