Life @ SIMSR

“Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes.” – Roy T. Bennett. 

K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, or fondly called K J SIMSR, is one such campus that easily catches both your eyes and your heart. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Mumbai, is located an institution known for its state of the art education in management.

After having worked and lived in Delhi for over a year, I thought that I have experienced a very professional and high paced life which is needed for a course like PGDM. Little did I know that I was in for another level of spontaneity and creativity.

It all begun with the induction, a week long program having activities ranging from debates, introductions, role plays, art and craft workshop and what not. It was amusing that each of the activities brought out some or the other qualities of a potential manager, not to forget that these helped everybody to get accustomed with the environment. High point of induction remained the outbound programme that helped each student create a bond with one another.

Apart from the induction of classes students got acquainted to the campus spread over 60 acres having a mesmerizing view, Olympic size athlete track and sports arena. The Ganesh Idol sitting in front of the SIMSR building fills you up with positivity and enthusiasm. Well, yes, enthusiasm to attend evening group task discussions after a hectic day of classes and positivity to assure yourself that assignments will be completed in time.

 

A student driven campus, that SIMSR is, has lots of committees that work on different verticals related to all the events, competitions and activities taking place in the campus. And their interviews, well they are grilling, giving an insight to the upcoming placement season that everybody would face. In these committees, you learn, grow and work in tandem which are essentials for a corporate culture.

Amidst these Harvard cases in classes, presentations and committee work, “All Izz Well” comes as a blessing in disguise. A 3 day inter branch cultural competition, although quite intense but manages to impart the importance of team work in a very fun way.

 

This experience is really amazing and is like a roller coaster that seems scary at first, but is tempting and at the same time can yield a lucrative professional trajectory for an aspirant.

Lastly, enjoying the journey is necessary but set your goals and prioritize them. As my first ever marketing presentation in KJ SIMSR taught me:

“Start with the end in mind.”

Hoping to master my future at SIMSR with ringing bells !!

Arpit Lodha, PGDM CORE (2018 – 2020)

 

Why Study at SIMSR ?

It’s been more than 6 months that I have been a part of SIMSR. But memories of those days of dilemma are still fresh in my mind, when I had admission letter from different B-Schools and needed to pick one. This decision was as troublesome as it was Crucial in light of the fact that my entire future relied upon it. Even after one has zeroed in on a B-school in the wake of measuring all the pros and cons, one keeps wondering whether decision taken is right or not.

To be completely forthright, I wasn’t exceptionally certain about my decision as well, when I chose SIMSR over other schools. However not long after subsequent to joining the school all my incredulity was supplanted by the awe of the magnificence of Campus and its Infrastructure.

Located in the heart of Mumbai city, the campus is sprawled over 60 acres and is well equipped with sports facilities like gymnasium, squash court, badminton court, open chess board, Olympic size athletic track, football ground etc. The institute has one of the best infrastructures with state of the art classrooms, computer labs and a well-equipped fully computerized library with subscription to e-journals and 90000+ books.

 

Course curriculum is tailor-made to inculcate managerial skills in students. To motivate and mentor them, School has 80+ well qualified faculties with rich industry and research experience. More than 60 faculties are PHDs and faculty to student ratio is also quite low (1:6) which is quite good and imperative for Student-faculty Interaction. To supplement regular teaching, guest lectures from eminent corporate professionals are conducted from time to time. SIMSR also provide various live projects and summer internship opportunities to students.

 

At present SIMSR is in a race of gaining AACSB accreditation, which is known for its stringent rules by virtue of which college is getting better day by day. They are also developing their own Bloomberg analytics lab expected to be functional in year 2018 (There are only 13 other such labs across India) which helps student to be industry/job ready.

More than 80% of my batch (PGDM-CORE) has a work experience and are from diverse professional background in view of which one gets the opportunity to hear and take in a great deal about different industries and profiles from the peer group.

College is alive throughout the year with the hustle and bustle of activities and competition organize by 26+ student driven committees which gives ample of opportunity for students to grow professionally and culturally. Membership of such committees promotes and develops leadership qualities in the students. School is not behind in CSR activities as well, “Ankur” the institute’s experiential learning program encourages students to become Social responsible business leaders.

 

To provide student global exposure, College also has International Immersion programme to give a first-hand experience to students of how business is done in other countries. Students visit various companies and have meetings with senior industry leaders in the foreign country. B-school also has linkages with international universities such as DHBW University (Germany), THI Business School, Ingolstadt, (Germany), University of Applied Science (Austria), University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, (Austria) etc.

With its industry oriented courses and rich alumni base, placements at SIMSR is always one the best among the B-schools. 337 companies from multitude of sectors participated in the campus placements which results in 100% placement with highest domestic package of 21 LPA. Our alumni are excelling professionally holding leadership positions in top notch companies who actively associate in building network and serve as mentors for young Minds.

 

Also, last yet very noteworthy reason to study here is that, while in SIMSR you will be in a “CITY  OF  DREAMS” and a financial capital of India which in itself provides one with a huge opportunity to grow in carrier.

 

Rimjhim Nigam, PGDM (2017-19)

SIMSR Brochure and Application form for AY 2018-20 are out now.
Please Visit: https://goo.gl/cTjHaf

Why PGDM- International Business (IB)?

Why PGDM- International Business (IB)?       

In the recent times, the students have been provided with a plethora of career options which at times ends up putting them in a dilemma to finalize the ‘ideal’ career path. Even once you have chosen the career path, there are various choices to make, like which particular course to pursue. Today, I will be trying to address the foremost questions which possible pop up in the minds of any student who is interested in pursuing an International business course:- ‘Why PGDM- IB? , Why should I do it at SIMSR? , What can I pursue after completing this course?’

Firstly, a global mind set is extremely crucial to survive in this competitive business world, where every economy and business is interconnected, thus knowledge of international markets is vital. The importance of International business has become greater than ever due to the increase in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) being involved in businesses overseas and also the increase in cross- border mergers and acquisitions. In today’s era of global connectivity, KJ SIMSR is one of the few Indian institutions offering PGDM in International Business, integrating a traditional course structure with international environment. The course is structured to give students versatility in all the functional areas like Marketing, Finance, Operations and Human Resources in addition to developing expertise in the specialization subjects of International Business.

SIMSR aims to provide it’s students with not only classroom learning through case studies, projects and assignments, but also through participation in co-curricular activities including interactions with key industry experts, some specific in the field of international business which are arranged by International Business Society (IBS@SIMSR). Students are also encouraged to contribute to its quarterly e-publication e-Globuzz, which goes a long way to enhance the perspective of world affairs and changing trends in the International Business Environment. I am a First year PGDM- IB student and I can truly vouch for this, since we have worked on innumerable case studies till now which have helped me widen my horizon, we have also had opportunities to participate in various competitions, have interactions with eminent personalities like the Kazakhstan Ambassador Mr. Bulat Sarsenbayev, the ambassador of Ecuador, these events have surely helped me get out of my shell and become bolder. We have also witnessed a one day IB Summit where professionals from different fields gave us an idea on the current trends in International business which was extremely insightful. We have also been provided with an option to learn additional foreign languages like Spanish and Mandarin which would definitely prove very handy in the long run.

An international business qualification can open up career opportunities in a variety of sectors, in countries around the world. In addition to working within global companies that compete on international markets, graduates of international business MBA programs can also find careers in management, finance and in consulting. Graduates may also seek to work within international corporations in the travel and hospitality industry, which are continually dealing with both businesses and consumers from around the world. Some of the business positions that can be taken up are business advisory, business analysts, corporate investment banking, management consulting, marketing executive and being a product manager.

I strongly recommend that students who are interested in touching upon range of business fields and gaining an in depth understanding of global practices should strongly consider studying the international business course.

 

Sanaya Damania, PGDM IB(2017-19)

SIMSR Brochure and Application form for AY 2018-20 are out now.
Please Visit: https://goo.gl/cTjHaf

Life at SIMSR – It’s not about the destination it’s about the journey

Just to set a precedent, remember Ranchod Das Chanchad saying “Kaabil bano kamyabi jhak marke piche aayegi “, same is applicable in a B-school as to say, ‘don’t run after package’.  In order to elaborate it further, enjoy your journey and hone your skills, ‘package’ will come automatically.

After working diligently with Capgemini for 3.5 years I was excited to start my journey at SIMSR with eyes full of dreams and aspirations. It all started with mad rush from Vidyavihar Station to iconic SIMSR building passing through 60-acre lush green campus, Olympic size athletic track, open chess board, various other KJ Somaiya colleges and lastly a gigantic Indian flag swaying in its full glory.

Day 1 was packed with induction activities, informal addresses by seniors, Marketing Lecture (Yes Lecture on Day 1) and an ice breaking session with seniors who seemed content by asking questions like tell us something quirky about yourself. As days passed, much coveted committee selections were brought on and all 26 committees came to select the best talent. If you ever thought you could take the Roadies interview, cracking committee interviews was a glimpse of that, I’m sure you would not be disappointed because you’ll learn a lot. For a couple of days students were juggling between lectures and committee interviews (sometimes 4 interviews at a time).

If you define your self-esteem by your academic performance, chances are you will most likely undergo an identity crisis for few weeks. Lectures were conducted from Monday to Sunday barring a few government holidays, being an autonomous college, each professor decides the curriculum and pedagogy based on industry standards. If you thought solving 1-page CAT RC was difficult then how about solving 25+ page Harvard Cases. Each subject contains mix of presentations, Case studies, group projects, class participation, group activities, YouTube videos, assignments etc. If you’re an Engineer then do remember for Financial Accounting, Debit side should always tally with Credit side (Thank me later). If you think it was hectic how about doing committee work, attending guest lectures, live projects, certifications, participating in various quiz and contests, writing articles for various magazines and preparing for SUMMER PLACEMENTS all together.

All I would like to say is select your peer group wisely because no one is perfect and journey would be awesome when you have your gang standing by your side in your highs and lows. Lastly learn to prioritize and maintain balance between curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Krunal Sampat, MMS-A (2017-19)

SIMSR Brochure and Application form for AY 2018-20 are out now.
Please Visit: https://goo.gl/cTjHaf

THE ART OF MILLENNIAL MARKETING- SHREYASH SAMPAT

The speaker and guest of honour for The BigWigs Speak 2.0 organised by PGDM Marketing Communications students on 6^th October 2017 was Mr. Shreyash Sampat. Mr. Shreyash Sampat is the Associate Director for Content Programming and Development at The Viral Fever (TVF). He also belongs to the Alumni batch of 2011-12 of K.J SIMSR.

The topic for discussion was ‘The Art of Marketing to Millennials’.  The topic was so selected because marketers today are facing a shift in who to attract and engage, as Generation X is aging and the next Generation, i.e. the Millennials will be making up for around 65% of the workforce by 2020. Mr. Sampat spoke about how the Millennials are a generation driven by their ‘Wants’ and not by their ‘Needs’. Hence, it is important how you market to such a crowd. They care about the experience they get while using the product and not the product in itself. He shared various advertisement campaigns which showed how different brands value their customers and build genuine relationships with them, and how they customize content as per the platform of communication.

 

 

 

My Journey to SIMSR

It was an interesting  travail that started off with the decision of me quitting my job , followed by numerous crests and troughs that made me realise my actual potential which encompasses a myriad of skills that was lying latent somewhere in me.

It was 4^th December 2015, last working day at my first job, when I decided to take a new path to live my aspirations. For which I needed to extend my horizons to the next level and hence I decided to go for an MBA.  At this point in time all my friends were already working in some or the other big company. I must admit that it requires a heck of guts to even think in the line of my thoughts but somehow I could managed to show the audacity and confidence in myself to go ahead with my decision.

Tussle Begins!

I channelized all my strength and started preparing for one of the toughest exam of our country, yeah! You guessed it right, our beloved CAT. Target was to get good score in CAT, CMAT, so that I could end up making into a prestigious B-school.

Exactly after 1 year of uphill battle, i.e. 4^th Dec’16 , I appeared for CAT ’16 . Since it was my first shot that I gave to CAT, I experienced my mind stinting with my heart to answer to the question that what if I messed up with my CAT.

Fire was still on somewhere, which didn’t allowed me to stop. I recollected my potential and then started preparing for CMAT and finally my hard work and persistence paid off with my CMAT score of 98.87%. Hence I could clear the threshold marks for KJSIMSR. Here on wards my journey with SIMSR started. Process of final selection took its course and as result I was awarded a rank on basis of which I opted of PGDM- IB at KJSIMSR.

When I entered  the college , I got to interact with some very good intellectual minds , there was a time that I was so afflicted because it was hard for me to match the standard which was already set so high by the students . But then during the rigorous committee selections which actually gave us an enthralling experience to not only realise our shortcomings but also gave us the way understand our real potential. With this the journey to rediscover my potential, whose seeds were dormant in me, started.

I feel that students of senior batches have truly raised the bar so high to make that baptism of converting us to successful managers somewhat facile.

SIMSR is in the heart of Mumbai , and it offers me a plethora of opportunities,  not only in terms of the events that happen inside the campus but it has also proved remarkable when it comes to industry exposure. Yes from the very beginning we had some of the mind boggling sessions which helped me to get familiar with some of the industry jargon’s and other relevant concepts.
So learning here is not limited to classroom, case studies, assignments,  and meeting the deadlines instead it extends it’s realms to the wholesome development of an MBA student that adds a different flavor to the entire experience.

Hence now I could possibly take a sigh of relief that the road that I chose was absolutely right.

 

Soumya Mishra, PGDM IB(2017-19)

SIMSR Brochure and Application form for AY 2018-20 are out now.
Please Visit: https://goo.gl/cTjHaf

Ganesh Chathurthi Celebrations at KJ SIMSR

We live in a land of festivals where vibrant colors, music and festivity make our country come alive throughout the year and SIMSR is no exception to this. Here, we celebrate all festivals with great rigor.

The festival of ‘Ganesh Chathurthi’ was celebrated with fervor and religious spirit this year at KJ SIMSR on 25th August 2017, Friday. ‘Sthapana’ marked the prelude to ‘Ganesh Chathurthi’ celebrations in the campus.  Amidst reverent thoughts, overwhelming festive gaiety and traditional rituals, we brought Ganapati Bappa to our campus. Bappa was welcomed by students, dancing and singing to the melodious beats of drums in the beautiful rains. The celebrations reached their peak as the day progressed, which also included excellent feast at mess serving traditional delicacies.

Bappa’s idol, the essence of flowers, the holy mantras in the aarti, the sweets, the colorful decorations, diyas and traditional attires, all together set up the festive mood and brought everyone together to forget their worries and problems. Various fun activities, games and gifts added to the festive mood.

The Ganpati Celebrations at SIMSR always gives a feeling of Home away from Home.

Here are a few glimpses of this memorable festival: 

The 4th International HR Conference

In the 21st century the world of business is virtually threatened by new technologies that are emerging almost from nowhere and are capturing significant market share of even secure and successful incumbents. Today’s disruptive innovations are in dire need of proactive leadership to drive the organizational change ahead.

But, are our future leaders prepared for the challenges of leading through disruption and uncertainty? Have they learnt the art to cope up with high-on-energy, the new social-media driven millennials?

When it comes to leading for disruption, recognizing the worth of people can make the difference between success and failure, new HR practices and leadership competencies are required to navigate disruption.

To put some light on this interesting topic, the HR Department of SIMSR, supported by HUMANIST- the HR Club of SIMSR, hosted its 4^th International conference on the topic “Building Organizations of Tomorrow: Leadership Challenges of Human Capital in a Digital Workplace”. The two day event, sponsored by BPCL and SAGE publication, was scheduled for the 3^rd and 4^th of February, 2017 in association with California State University, San Bernardino College of Business and Public Administration and Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia (AMDISA).

Graced by the presence of Prof. Kristen Tardiff from the University of Arkansas, USA and Prof. Lakshman R.Watawala, President of AMDISA, the conference was an august gathering of dignitaries from across the world.

Day 1 comprised of an enlightening workshop on ‘Leading, communicating, and performing effectively as Virtual Teams, in the modern digital world during turbulent times’ by Prof. Tardiff. Post the workshop, a thought-provoking panel discussion on how to tackle leadership challenges of Human Capital in a Digital Workplace was witnessed. Giving the best of two worlds, one panel included professionals from corporate world (namely – Mr Arvind R Sharma, Mr Vaibhav Date, Mr Tariq Hassan Ahmad and Mr Shankha Bhowmick) and the other panel comprised of experienced consultants (namely-Ms. Sudha Moni Jayshanker, Mr. Vineet Sehgal and Mr. Saurabh Kaushik) who discussed the same topic from their point of view. The discussion moderated by Mr. Zubin Zack was very educative and informative for MBA grads.

Day 2 comprised of paper presentations by professors and students from institutes across India. The paper presentations were broadly distributed under four sub-themes: Digital Change (for example, HR Analytics, Gamification, etc.), Disruptive Change (Innovation, Creativity and Flexibility at workplace, etc.), Dispersed Change (Cross-cultural challenges, M&A restricting, etc.) and Demographic Change (Competencies of Millennials, Spirituality and change management, etc.). This was followed by a plenary session.

The conference concluded with award and certificate distribution followed by a closing speech by the faculties and guests present there.

The two day conference saw the exchange of information, knowledge and experiences on a large scale. Indeed, the 4^th International HR Conference left an impactful learning experience for students of SIMSR.

Team Humanist

A Journey Down the Memory lane

Nostalgia
On the 21st of January,KJSIMSR organised the annual Alumni Reunion- ‘Nostalgia’ .The name of the event couldn’t have been more apt .It really made our alumni nostalgic when they visited the campus.The theme of the event also added to the gush of reminiscence .It began with Dr.Monica Khanna , Director, addressing the alumni, followed by a short performance by the students. The batch of 1986 was felicitated to honor their 30th anniversary.  Faculties including Dr.Radha Iyer also addressed the alumni.Through this, the alumni got a chance to know about the various initiatives that the students are taking in their respective  committees by setting up their stalls for the event. Alums caught up with old friends and *socialized* with each other. Things like “Remember that place where we used to play cricket ,there’s a building instead” *was how they visited their old times* .More than a normal get- together, this is also a platform where  SIMSR celebrates the achievements of its alumni.

In the evening the event started with *Mr. Sameer Somiaya* ,President, Somaiya Vidyavihar,addressing the alumni. The highlight of the event was a  performance by the renowned Bollywood singer Shriram Iyer.
The chief purpose of the SAR is to keep SIMSR Alumni connected with their Alma Mater. Somaiya has a huge alumni base spread across the globe and Somaiya strives to build lasting relations with all its alumni so that we can leverage the huge network of alumni and can also contribute towards the development of Somaiya Vidyavihar.

Melange’s Contingent Lead (CL) Meet Program at SIMSR gets rolling!

MELANGE 2017, the flagship event of our Institute is the most awaited fest of the year. Organized by a set of few enthusiastic and dedicated students, Melange sees an amalgamation of various Management, Cultural and Informal events, which makes it one of the biggest B-school fests in India. The event has grown leaps and bounds over the years and has kept pace with the changing times.

Organized in one of the largest campuses of India, the Somaiya Campus, Melange grabs eyeballs from about 32 Institutes within campus and over 200 colleges across the country. This year, what is more interesting is the theme of our fest: GET! SET! START-UP!

In recent times, START-UP culture has attracted youngsters and budding entrepreneurs.The vibrant work atmosphere, ideation and the feel of independence resonate with it. To share the same feel, we invited Contingent Leaders from various colleges across the nation on 21st Jan.,2017. The CL meet organised by K J SIMSR witnessed the participation of Contingent Leaders of various top B-colleges as the official Representative of Melange in their respective Institutes.
Some of the college represented were Symbiosis Institute, Xaviers Institute, MET, SIES , MITSOM , D.Y. Patil University and many more.

The event saw a fruitful collaboration and exchange of ideas between CLs of different colleges. The interesting discussion revolved around the theme “Get! Set! StartUp!”,some new ideas bubbled up, some similar views were shared and new friendly bonds were made. As put by SIMC Institute’s CL , the meeting was like “Convergence of Indian Young Minds”.

As they say, Divided by borders, United by Thoughts!

The event started with a warm welcome of our CLs through a short video on their respective college fests to acknowledge and applaud the hard-work and effort they put to make those events a grand affair. Proudly presented was the legacy of Melange and  then the CLs were walked down through Melange 2017’s three day plan starting from 16th Feb, 2017 to 18th Feb, 2017.

To get to know our CLs more informally, we organized few fun activities like Quiz titled “CLIMAX KE BAAD” where in questions regarding celebrity owned/sponsored Startups were quizzed about. It was fun to test how many our CLs are the true movie Buffs and Celebrity fans. The second game played was PICTIONARY on famous start-ups. This time, our team’s aesthetic and creative skills put to test when we drew and our CLs tried to guess the Start-up and at times even laughed hard at our drawings. The winners of both the games won goodies as a part reward. Nevertheless, it was a fun interacting with them and knowing that we got an enthusiastic batch of CLs.

At the conclusion of our CL-Meet Program, CLs shared their reviews, feedback and Insights on our board and the session ended on a happy note.The success of our first Melange CL Meet was truly remarkable.

With that we officially marked the start of Melange 2017, making the Melange page go live post the meet. We extend our regards and gratitude to thank all our CLs to take out some time from their schedule and making it a memorable day for all of us. Looking forward for more such successful collaborations with other B-Schools and a grander event in the years to come.