2017

SDMIMD is one of the premier B-Schools in the country and is the first to get European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) accreditation for three years, in India. EFMD’s Program Accreditation System (EPAS) is awarded to the institute 2-Year Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) Program. The program also received the American Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) accreditation in January 2017. With this, SDMIMD has become the only institute in the country offering PGDM program with Twin International Accreditation. 

 

“It takes a great deal of determination and self-assessment to achieve accreditation, which, in itself, is a rigorous process of evaluation and review. The three year accreditation demonstrates EFMD's strong confidence in the holistic nature and high quality of our flagship program” said Dr. N.R. Parasuraman, Director of the Institute, during his welcome address. 

 

Member of the Governing Council, Mr. B. Muthuraman, Former Vice Chairman-Tata Steel and Dr. K.R. Srinivas Murthy, Former Director, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), lauded the efforts of the Institute in being different from the conventional B-Schools, and desired greater inculcation of the Dharmasthala ethos in the course orientation in the years to come. 

 

Institute’s alumni members, faculty & staff members, and invitees were present during the meet. 

The 9th edition of Annual Leadership Talk (ALT) was delivered by Mr. Salil Ravindran, CFO, Marlabs, on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 in SDMIMD Auditorium. Mr. Ravindran with his immense experience and functional exposure with cross border Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) focused his talk on Mergers & Acquisitions and key challenges involved in it. 

 

The speaker said that even though it’s a well planned process there are cultural, financial and legal constraints involved when organisations undergo M&A. One of the key aspects he stressed was how organisations need to operate and develop their outlook during M&A process, which can help them to add value. During the talk, Mr. Ravindran quoted the example of IGATE and his contributions in adding value to it; subsequent acquisition of Patni Computer Systems by IGATE Corp; and, acquisition of IGATE Corp by Capgemini. Some of the famous mergers and acquisition was also discussed during the talk. 

 

The talk concluded with insights about career opportunities in the domain of Investment banking and Corporate Finance to the young managers. This was followed by Q & A session. The program coordinator Dr. Jayakrishnan, Faculty – Marketing; Dr. N.R. Parasuraman, Director of the Institute; Faculty members, students, corporates from Mysore and invites were present. 

The Startup Charcha event held for the second year in succession had Mr  Aroon Raman, Managing Director, Telos Investments and Technologies (also the author of  best-selling books) delivering the Key Note address. The theme of the address was on Starting and Building a Great Company. Startup Charcha event this year also had a Panel Discussion on the theme Strengthening the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem and Implications for Management Education, moderated by Dr M R Suresh, Professor and Faculty Coordinator of E Cell at SDMIMD. The Distinguished Panelists were Mr Vijay Mane, Founder- www. aftershoot.in, Mr Deepak Nesarikar, Social Entrepreneur and Co-founder- EcoNest projects, Mr Digvijay Bhatkande, Social Entrepreneur and Co-founder-EcoNest projects, Mr Sukumar Rangachari, Director- Pointcross. In addition, there was a brief talk on Tech startups by Prof Rajendra Todalbagi, SDMIMD.

 

In his Keynote address Mr Aroon Raman highlighted the importance of Product, Quality, Cost, Delivery and Service around which startups could build their strategies and gain competitive advantage in the market. He cited his own experience in excelling in business which had multinationals as competitors. He also highlighted the importance of identifying dimensions that do not change. Underlining the relevance of listening to suggestions, he said that it could come from any quarters. He stressed the importance of taking a long term view of business and ethical dimensions while being pragmatic. In another brief talk Prof Rajendra Todalbagi highlighted the case the of a tech startup in the education sector and indicated as to how students from smaller cities could become successful tech entrepreneurs.

 

In the Panel discussion moderated by Dr M R Suresh, Professor, SDMIMD, many aspects of entrepreneurship and overcoming initial difficulties of startups were discussed. The distinguished panellists highlighted the enabling role of the government and the importance of structure to implement policies. The panel members also highlighted the positive features of the Startup policies of the government and stated that the reduction in procedural bottlenecks and the financial support for getting patents as important benefits for startup entrepreneurs from smaller cities. It was important to have the financials right and understand the logic of doing business they further emphasized. Role of government in providing an enabling environment was important but crucial decisions rested with entrepreneurs they added. The panellists underscored the importance of incubation centres in management institutions for the alumni as that would reduce their risk profile in the initial years of a startup. Relevance of action based pedagogy as part of management curriculum was very important to encourage students to turn entrepreneurs according to the panellists.