Program Type: PGDM

Eighth Annual Convocation of IMI Kolkata in Blended Mode

International Management Institute Kolkata held its Eight Annual Convocation ceremony for the Class of 2018-2020 on 29 January, 2021. The convocation was held over a Blended Mode where 158 students including 75 girls received their PGDM degree, virtually, in the presence of the Chief Guest, Shri Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman of the Ambuja Neotia Group. The faculty members of IMI Kolkata were present on the Alipore campus whilst the students and esteemed guests were present over the digital media.

The ceremony commenced after the Holy Lamp was lit by Professor Mohua Banerjee, Director, IMI-K, Professor Rachana Chattopadhyay, Dean of Academics, IMI-K, Dr. Soni Agrawal,Associate Professor, IMI-K and Dr. Rituparna Basu, Associate Professor, IMI-K.

Delivering the welcome address, Shri Sunil Mitra lauded the institute for staying true to its motto and encouraged it to focus on experiential learning for management on behalf of the board of governors. He also commended the institute for creating a niche for itself in the field of management education among the top Indian institutes and maintaining its consistency of quality even during such unprecedented times. Delivering the commencement address, Mr. Mitra shared lessons from his own experience of management learning by stating, “The study of managerial science is a junction between modern education and training.” He also congratulated the dynamic faculty structure of IMI Kolkata and the parents of the graduating students who all played their role in their overall success.

“Having a curious mind is a shortcut to stay updated” mentioned Shri Harshavardhan Neotia talking about the increasing accessibility of knowledge as we carry little boxes of information inside our pockets wherever we go. He also mentioned the importance of having constructive conversations between peer groups instead of banter as the company of an individual plays a heavy role in shaping one’s motivation and interest. To dive into the wisdom literature of Bengal, according to him, is what has helped him envision his projects from the grass root levels of this country.

Further he spoke on how the pandemic has further inculcated a strong sense of gratitude, “Most of the businesses I am associated with have got severely affected but the sense of empathy and gratitude is strong. Having witnessed the plight of many in the country, I am grateful for having my family close with a square meal on my plate.”

Professor Himadri Das, Director General, IMI began his speech by congratulating the young fresh graduates. “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”- Winston Churchill. Using this quote, Professor Das focused on the how the pandemic can be viewed from two perspectives. The first perspective is to grieve in sorrow and cry over the pandemic while the latter is to look at this as an unforeseen situation which has given rise to a number of innovations. He believes that agility: speed of handling an issue and adaptability: willingness to handle an issue are the two words which would be of high importance and value in the upcoming future of the business world.

He emphasized on the advantages of technology in formal education and work from home atmosphere where one can save a lot of time. This time should be invested in self-development to leverage skills and build networks.

He threw light on some key changes that took place during this pandemic. Recruitment, one of the predominant activities of a B-school, which could never be imagined in a physical mode, was completely done online with all the students being placed successfully in top organisations. Professor Das called the batch lucky for graduating in the heart of a pandemic which has given them many key learnings for life that may be used to leverage themselves for future uncertainties.

“As we mirror the year 2019-2020, we are ignited with a new sense of beginning”, the opening words of Professor Mohua Banerjee, Director, IMI Kolkata, further set the mood of the convocation as she presented the Director’s Annual Report 2019-2020. Dr. Banerjee featured the core belief of IMI Kolkata i.e., the close cooperation with the business sector and growing alumni network are essential to understand the needs of the industry along with contributing to the pool of knowledge. She briefly presented some of the key highlights such as the recruitments, scholarships offered to students, the launch of several management development programmes to equip students and working professionals with better expertise and the upgradation of new software for better efficiency. She also mentioned the inexplicable focus on Research by the esteemed faculty members. Lastly, she heartily congratulated the graduating students and wished them all the very best for their future endeavors and new aspirations as responsible citizens.

The ceremony concluded with Dr. Rituparna Basu, Associate Professor, IMI Kolkata thanking the Guests of Honour, the parents and family of the graduating students and lastly the students for their presence over the virtual ceremony. Shri Sunil Mitra declared the proceedings of the convocation closed as the session slowly drew towards the end followed by the National Anthem. The Board of Governors present at the event were Shri V C Agrawal, President – Corporate HR, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group; Shri Sunil Bhandari, Executive Director – Corporate Service, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group; Shri Subhasis Mitra, Group Company Secretary, CESC Limited; Professor Himadri Das, Director General, IMI and Dr. Pradip K Bhaumik, Professor Emeritus, IMI New Delhi. Professor Ramesh Behl, Director, IMI Bhubaneswar also participated in the event.

The Distinguished Guest Lecture Series at IMI Kolkata for the year 2013 began with Lieutenant General Ashok Kumar Choudhary, AVSM, SM, VSM General Officer Commanding Bengal Area, visiting the Institute campus on July 12, 2013.

Lt. General Choudhary spoke on “Perspectives on Leadership and Management: The Army Way” wherein he discussed the leadership concepts and practices in military situations and the military leadership. He threw lights on how military leadership works and in what ways it is different from corporate leadership.

He mentioned that there is an interrelationship between leadership, management and in case of army command. But it is only good leadership that can make commands effective and management efficient. Therefore, in his opinion, leadership is a broader concept than management.

The General Officer discussed at length the importance of leadership in military, in particularly, where it is impossible to persuade people to risk their lives for no material rewards without a powerful substitute. He opined that the incentive has to be moral, which can only be created by high quality leadership. Indian army, therefore, is emphasizing on the pre-eminence of human factors in military affairs. He stressed that in military leadership ‘man’ is considered the most important factor.

While discussing the traits of leadership he laid out a list of attributesnecessary for military leadership which primarily included: Alertness of mind, bearing (Desirable Physical Appearance, Dress and Deportment), courage – physical courage and moral courage –, decisiveness, ability to communicate clearly, concisely and authoritatively, the ability to act normally in an abnormal situation and continue to think rationally when his men have ceased to think and be decisive in action when they are paralyzed by fear, dependability, maturity, the ability to put business before pleasure, endurance, enthusiasm, ability to take initiative, integrity, tactfulness without the loss of moral courage, judgment, knowledge, loyalty,sense of humor, the ability to be happy and keep the environment stress free so on and so forth.

In the concluding part of his lecture the General Officer elaborated on the practice of regular monitoringof the leadership in the Indian Army using three broad criteria, namely morale, esprit decorps and discipline.