Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM Indore) hosted its 18th Annual Convocation on Thursday, March 30, 2017. The two day occasion witnessed a Pre-Convocation ceremony on March 29, 2017. The ceremonies were marked by the presence of esteemed guests and parents of the graduating students.
The convocation is held each year to confer the title of the Fellow of Indian Institute of Management Indore for its Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) and diplomas to the successful participants of Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP), Post Graduate Programme in Management (
PGP-Mumbai) and Post Graduate Diploma in Management for Executives in Mumbai (PGPMX, Mumbai). The second batch (2012-17) of Integrated Programme in Management (IPM) also graduated this year with a total 100 students. They received Integrated Diploma in Management for the same.
During the Convocation, 16 FPM and 3 FPM-Industry participants received the title of Fellow of IIM Indore. 449 participants of PGP and 62 participants of PGP-Mumbai received the Post Graduate Diploma in Management. 100 IPM participants received the diplomas of Five Year Integrated Programme in Management. 41 participants of EPGP and 21 participants of PGPMX-Mumbai received the Executive Post Graduate Diploma in Management.
Professor Srikant Datar, Arthur Lowes Dickinson Professor of Business Administration, HBS One Harvard Faculty Fellow, and Senior Associate Dean for University Affairs, Harvard Business School was the Chief Guest for the Convocation.
The Annual Convocation began with an amazing colourful convocation procession where the Chief Guest, Board and faculty members of IIM Indore walked through the aisle towards the convocation venue.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Deepak Satwalekar, Chairman of the Society and Board of Governors, IIM Indore said that one needs to choose what he/she wants to do and this decides how a person defines success. ‘Higher aspirations and contributions to the society will define who you are and what kind of role models you seek for while graduating from such prestigious Institution’, he said. He encouraged the participants not to copy someone else, not to try becoming someone else and be self. Discussing about the change in system, he noted that today is the right time to enter business as the world is more innovative and receptive now. He concluded his address mentioning that what matters is who remembers you, for what and how long. He then declared the convocation open.
Besides the Scholarships and Awards given to students during the ceremony on March 29, 2017, medals for Academic Excellence were presented to the following PGP Indore participants by the Chief Guest:
- The IIM Indore Gold Medal for Scholastic Performance Rank 1 to Nishant Sangal.
- The IIM Indore Gold Medal for Scholastic Performance Rank 2 to Akshat Kumar Bansal.
- The IIM Indore Gold Medal for Scholastic Performance Rank 3 to Tamarish Sinha.
- The IIM Indore Gold Medal for the Best Woman Participant for Scholastic Performance to Sakshi Gupta.
IIM Indore Gold Medals for Scholastic Performance were presented to the IPM participants as per the following details:
- IIM Indore Gold Medal for Scholastic Performance Rank 1 to Aishwarya Mangla.
- IIM Indore Gold Medal for Scholastic Performance Rank 2 to Shruti Garodia.
- IIM Indore Gold Medal for Scholastic Performance Rank 3 to Pulkit Agarwal.
- IIM Indore Gold Medal for the Best Woman Participant for Scholastic Performance to Aishwarya Mangla.
IIM Indore Gold Medals for Scholastic Performance were presented to the PGP Mumbai, PGPMX-Mumbai and EPGP participants as per the following details:
- PGP-Mumbai – Modi Dhruv Vikram
- PGPMX-Mumbai – Manish Ahuja
- EPGP Batch (2016-2017)- Rupak Laskar
This was followed by the Convocation Address by Professor Srikant Datar. His address revolved around economic growth, trading wealth and social justice; and qualities of humility, courage and trust. He began his address congratulating the parents and families of the graduating students first and said, ‘I honour all the parents present here, as they sacrificed a lot to help you live a better life than theirs. They deserve equal right to celebrate for making all the students what they are today.’
He then shared his perspective on international developments and noted how globalization and digitalisation have affected our lives. He also discussed about how the economic shift due to globalization during 1970’s and the twentieth century has affected employment and how it affects the developed and the developing nations.
Discussing about technology and digitalization, Professor Datar mentioned about self-running cars and how they may affect the employment of the drives across the globe. ‘However, we need to see to the positive effects the machines have brought in. Self-driving cars would help in reducing traffic and accidents. It would also help in significantly reducing the number of cars owned by people across the world, as renting cars—on a particular location, similar to OLA and Uber would be simpler. Hence, loss of jobs is concerning, but the benefits of technology are equally strong’, he explained. He then discussed about a few ideas like providing larger safety for the people who lose their jobs, giving broader training to the employees, reducing employee payroll taxes, etc. to encourage the use of technology and innovation in business.
He then began discussing about humility, courage and trust. ‘Stay humble, it helps you remain thankful for what you have. Have courage. When faced with a choice, select the one which is correct, and not the one which is convenient. Build trust. A big challenge today is building trust between society and business, and young leaders with innovative and positive thoughts can bring about this change’, he concluded.
Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIM Indore then spoke about the various major updates at IIM Indore. He mentioned that IIM Indore recently received its first international accreditation from the Association of MBAs (AMBA, a UK-based accreditation agency), for four of its full-time programmes – Two Year Post Graduate Programme in Management (both at Indore and Mumbai), One Year Full Time Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) and Five Year Integrated Programme in Management (IPM, 4th and 5th Year). The Institute has been performing significantly well in the areas of research outputs and this year a record 16 participants were conferred as the Fellow of Indian Institute of Management Indore for their Fellow Programme in Management. He also mentioned about the new General Management Programme for Executives started at the Institute and the inauguration of Incubation Centre which would help the young entrepreneurs become successful. He concluded his address congratulating the graduating students and wished them luck for their future.
The ceremony concluded with the National Anthem.