IFMR Digest Sep 2017

INAUGURATION OF 2017-19 PROGRAM
IFMR’s 18th batch of post graduate
program in management (and its first ever
MBA batch) were inaugurated on
Thursday 1st June 2017 by its new
President Mr. Kapil Vishwanathan, who
shared about his own MBA days at
Havard Business School. This was
followed by a lively interaction with IFMR’s
largest batch till date – the incoming Batch
with 240 students. Questions ranged from
Macro-economic concerns (Trump effect),
to Conflict between Founders and
Managers (Infy effect).
Prof G R Chandrasekar, PGP Chairman
proposed the vote of thanks.
The induction and orientation programme,
which involved interaction with alumni,
practicing managers, and faculty to get both
functional and sectoral perspectives, was
done on a fast track basis and regular
classes commenced on Monday 12th June
and the campus is already buzzing with
industry focused academic activities ranging
from case discussions to business dissection
of annual reports.
Director PK Biswas mentioned in his
welcome address that the admission
selection process was conducted over a
period of two months across 17 cities; this
batch has students from 97 towns/ cities
spread across 21 states of India. While
IFMR had traditionally enjoyed good
patronage from women applicants and
has a track record of having more than
30% women at all stages – application,
shortlisting, and selection, this year has
been a record with 36% women. “That it
has taken place without any quota or
bonus marks validates our belief that
given fair opportunity, women will
come to management” – said Director
Biswas. While there has been not much
change in the proportion of engineers
(70% +/- 2%) there has been a surge in
students with commerce background this
year (from the usual 17%-18% to 26%.
Prof Suresh Venkatraman, Chairman-
Admissions also shared his perspectives
on management education and
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