IIM Sirmaur: New Academic Session Begins with Virtual Classes

IIM Sirmaur launched the online academic session 2020 with the virtual inauguration of Chief Guest Ajay S. Shriram, Chairperson, BoG and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DCM Shriram Limited.

During the induction program, Chief Guest Ajay S. Shriram shared his experience as part of a successful leading business group, DCM Shriram Limited.

While addressing the students, he said that their first year will be very challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as it will be mostly e-learning quarters to begin with.

He was appreciative of the gender diversity in the current batch. He encouraged students to give top priority to their coursework while attending the programme from the home environment and keep an open mind during online sessions.

He emphasized the ten characteristics of a good leader: value system, networking, optimism, open mind, agility, sympathy, humility, communication skills, digital expertise and family roots.

He also shared the crux of his 40 years of corporate experience from the sugar factory to the top position in DCM Shriram Limited.

“You should never hesitate to jump in wherever you can as I did.” he encouraged. During virtual induction programme, Prof. Neelu Rohmetra, Director, IIM Sirmaur welcomed all dignitaries and students and stated that during these pandemic times, this year has opened a new dimension of learning. The pandemic forced us as an institution to rediscover and innovate to convert the challenge of connectivity posed by the remote location into an opportunity to connect globally. “Today we have grown to connect with expert’s virtually from across nations,” she said.

She stated that IIM Sirmaur is starting two new regular programs, i.e., PhD program and MBA (Tourism and Hospitality Management), apart from its flagship MBA programme.

She also shared that IIM Sirmaur is the only IIM in the country to first time launch a Tourism Management programme. She also cited that our current MBA batch is very balanced in terms of gender diversity as it includes nearly 40 women students.

Vinayak Chatterjee, Founder, Chairman, Feedback Infra (P) Ltd and member Board of Governor delivered keynote talk and dwelt upon the tricky management perspective.

He encouraged students to place equal emphasis on the courses which are generally neglected over the numbers and analytics “Values EQ, SQ and AQ have become extremely relevant in today’s context” he mentioned.

The second keynote talk was delivered by Sumant Sinha, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of ReNew Power – India’s largest clean energy company and member of Board of Governor IIM Sirmaur.

“As one build’s business, one has to build the organisation” he said.

While speaking virtually to students, he emphasized on smart working, the importance of employee engagement, and how roles change in large companies.

Prof. Pradipta Patra the Chair (Programmes), IIM Sirmaur presented a vote of thanks, Prof. Vikas Kumar, Chair Admissions also attended as a panellist.

It may be mentioned that established in 2015, Indian Institute of Management Sirmaur (IIM Sirmaur) has undertaken several new initiatives along academic infrastructural development, industry collaboration, accreditations and linkages.

IIM Sirmaur has become a “Business Education Alliance Member” of “The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)” which is a prestigious business school accreditation body based in USA.

According to Director IIM Sirmaur, Prof. Neelu Rohmetra, this initiative is part of the vision of IIM Sirmaur to internationalize its curriculum and bring it at par with the best practices in top accredited business schools of the world.

The institute is already a member of prestigious professional bodies like CII, NHRDN, AIMS, and AIMA among many others, she said.

IIM Sirmaur would soon enter in MoUs with the prestigious international institutions in USA, Europe, Africa, and Asia as part of its focus on expanding international outreach and collaboration in teaching and research.

From July 2020, IIM Sirmaur has started two new regular programs, i.e., PhD program and MBA (Tourism and Hospitality Management), apart from its flagship MBA programme. Renowned experts from industry, government and academia from India and abroad are going to interact with the fresher’s/new batches during the week long induction programme.

The MBA programme in Tourism and Hospitality Management is part of the commitment of IIM Sirmaur to contribute to the tourism sector of Himachal Pradesh and the local economy in a sustainable manner. IIM Sirmaur has signed MoU with Goethe Institute, New Delhi for course in foreign language (German) for the MBA students.