BCIDS BLOG

MBA Bridge Program

2012-02-21T13:58:00.000+05:30

Getting into a B school of your choice is just half the job done.If you aspire to get the dream jobs from your campus , you need to be amongst the top 10 percentile of the students in your batch. This could only happen if you get off to a headstart in your B School. The MBA Bridge program is designed keeping precisely this in mind.

The MBA Bridge program is a powerpacked 6 weeks program consisting of a mix of structured classroom sessions and non classroom practical activities. After getting exposed to various management concepts which include important areas like case- study analysis and grooming & personality development , with the assistance of your personal mentor, you will be ready to get off to a flying start in your B school.

Duration

6 weeks (Full Time)

Fees

Rs.24,000/-

First Batch Commences

1^st March 2012

Eligibility
• A graduate with a call letter / admit card for an MBA / MMS/ PGPM program

• Those who have appeared forCAT/XAT/CET/CMAT/GMAT/MAT etc. will be considered

Does Business need a new language?

2012-02-06T11:51:00.000+05:30

Language plays apowerful role in communication. Through the spoken word we receiveinstructions, communicate ideas, transfer knowledge and convey our feelings.Words conjure up images in our minds. Sometimes, through overuse, it becomes ahabit to use some terms and phrases in spite of their being applied out ofcontext. Business is replete with suchexamples. Take a look at the classic phrase that adorns most company Mission Statements,‘Our employees are our most valuable resources’, or ‘employees are our biggest assets’. In business speak the term ‘resources’ or‘assets’ are used to denote inanimate objects or capital that is deployed inthe pursuit of profit. Assets depreciate over time and usage. Resources getused up. A more humane manner of expression for employees could be ‘capacity’as in - ‘Employees are our most valuable capacity’.... One constantly builds on ‘capacity andcapability’ don’t we?

Another word inbusiness that is used loosely and almost universally is ‘Exploit’; as in- ‘wewill exploit the opportunity’ or ‘we will exploit their weakness..’. I too usedthe word similarly until an employee of an NGO sensitized me to the connotationof the word ‘exploit’- to ‘abuse’ or ‘take advantage of’ or ‘manipulate’someone who is helpless and at a disadvantage. A better term would be‘to make the most of’ or ‘to harness’ as in ‘let’s make the most of thesituation’ or ‘let’s harness the opportunity’. Sounds better doesn’t it?

‘Target Audience’ or ‘Target segment’ is aterm that we can do without. What image does the word ‘target’ conjure up inthe mind? For me I see the sights of a gun, with the finger on the trigger,ready to shoot down the object in the crosshairs, right? I am sure prospective customersalso see the same image when a company representative refers to them thus. Nowonder most ‘Target Audience’ slip away out of sight (pun intended). Wouldn’t‘desired audience or addressable segment’ make better sense? It also soundsnice as well as inclusive, doesn’t it?

There aremany more such phrases and words that need to be stamped out of businesslexicon. I dare say that as academia it is possible to influence the corporateworld through conscious promotion.

Rudolf D’Souza

Director- BCIDS

BCIDS Activities for December 2011

2012-01-12T17:51:00.000+05:30

Collaboration with Lupin Ltd.

BCIDS launched the APSM (AdvancedProgram in Sales Management) for the Top 50 Area Sales Managers of Lupin Pharmaon Saturday, 10^th December 2011.

The program focuses on Functionalskills, Inter-Disciplinary Knowledge and Soft Skills for the chosen leaders. Spreadover 11 months it will have all 3 elements of program delivery, i.e. DistanceLearning through learning material, Faculty interaction sessions through audioconferencing and on -campus class room sessions for soft skills.

Representing Lupin Pharma at theKick-off session was Mr. Abir Chaudhary, Senior GM, Sales & Marketing- IRF,Lupin Ltd.; Mr. Rituraj Sar, Head Learning & Development, Lupin Ltd.; Ms.Shilpa Narayanswamy, Manager- Learning & Development, Lupin Ltd. and Mr.Rohit Sharma, Manager HR-IRF, Lupin Ltd.

APPM Corporate Theatre

The Advanced Professional Programin Management (APPM) students participated in group exercise known as'Corporate Theatre'. It is a great team building and stress-management tool andencourages people to be more effective verbal and non-verbal communicators. Asa pedagogical tool it encourages students to use innovative ideas and synergisefor a meaningful outcome.

BCIDS Activities for October 2011

2011-11-08T17:25:00.000+05:30

The convocationceremony for the third batch of the PPFSM was held on the third of October. Theprogram began with a Saraswati rendition by Anupama Koduganty, a participant ofthe PPFSM program. Mr. R. Vaithianathan, Head – CF&AB, TataCapital Limited delivering the Key Note Address congratulated the graduatingstudents. Mr. Amar Sinhji, Head HR, and other officials also addressedthe participants. Congratulating the participants on successfully completingthe course, they gave them valuable advice on their entry into the corporateworld. Prof Shrilekha Parikh, Head, Academics, BCIDS, congratulated thestudents for successfully completing the PPFSM program. She also reinforcedthat the unique opportunity provided by TATA Capital to young graduates shouldbe grabbed and made most of, as not many youngsters got such rewards so earlyin life. The ceremony culminated with cake cutting & lunch.

BCIDS Activities

2011-10-11T15:16:00.001+05:30

BCIDS has had an eventful month, during which the second batch of the Management Development Program ‘Arjuna’ for managers of Merck Millipore was inaugurated and the participants of the TATA Capital program were taken for an outbound program.

TATA CAPITAL BATCH at the Outbound Program

The 3^rd Tata Capital batch is in the final month of training. These graduate trainees will be ready to take-up their professional responsibilities by October.

In addition to customized training for the financial services business, participants also learn soft skills. An exciting outbound program at Garudmachi which is based on experiential learning methodology helped them hone their skills in team management, leadership, confidence building and interpersonal relationship building.

Corporate Training

The second batch of Management Development Program, ‘Arjuna’ for Managers of Merck Millipore was formally inaugurated on the 19^th September, 2011. Mr. Prantik Mukherjee – Head, Merck Millipore India, Mr. Devesh Srivastava - Head of Human Resources, Merck India and other senior officials of Merck addressed the participants. Prof Shrilekha Parikh, Head, Academics, BCIDS and Ms Bipasha Roy, Head, External Relations, BCIDS also spoke on the occasion.

The first leg of the program, 5 days’ campus intervention, focusing on Business and Financial acumen Development, was conducted from 19^th to 23^rd September. Professors from SPJIMR and BCIDS, and visiting faculty consisting of top professionals from the corporate world were involved in the training.

BCIDS News

2011-08-29T17:00:00.000+05:30

At BCIDS we have had a busy month of August.

MERCK Serono MDP

On 16^th of this month we had the first 5 days intervention of our Merck Serono MDP for 20 Zonal Sales Managers.

Advanced Professional Program in Management

On 18^th of the month, we launched the APPM (Advanced Professional Program in Management), an 11 month program that includes internship/ placement.

We have successfully completed the 2010 - 2011 batch of Advanced Professional Program in Management. The specialization offered was Retail, Marketing and Financial Services.

98% of the APPM students of this batch are placed in India Infoline Premia, Bharti AXA, TATA AIG, Kotak Securities, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, GEPL Capital, Jaro Education, TATA Croma, Globus, Tata Croma, Shoppers stop, Hypercity, Loot stores, Bharti Axa, Bajaj Allianz, Apollo Munich, Ideal Insurance, Microgen Hygiene, Mittal Brothers, Dalal & Broacha, Wagh Bakri Tea etc.

Induction Program of Professional Program in financial Services & Management (in collaboration with Tata Capital Ltd)

2011-08-09T11:00:00.000+05:30

The third batch of the PPFSM program for Graduate Trainees of Tata Capital Limited began with an induction Program at SPJIMR auditorium on the 4^th July, 2011. The program was attended by dignitaries from Tata Capital and faculty from SPJIMR and BCIDS.

The 3 month program to train graduate trainees of Tata Capital to be industry ready is a fine example of corporate-academia partnership. Tata Capital recruits students from premier Graduate Schools from across the country and puts them through a rigorous 3 month formal, classroom based training programme. The objectives of the programme are:

To familiarize participants with an overview of financial services and basic concepts so that the participant gets a holistic perspective of the financial products.
To familiarize participants with basic concepts in retail lending.
To develop skills necessary for success in the financial sector
To introduce the participants to Tata Capital’s products.

Post the completion of the programme the students are placed in challenging roles including credit, risk, sales and operations.

It was very heartwarming to see some of the participants of the previous batch again at the induction program of the third batch.

Mr. Shyam Mani, VP, Sales & Marketing, Tata Motors was the key note speaker for the function. He extended a warm welcome to the participants who “represented the future “of their company. Mr. Amarsinhji, Head-HR and other officials also addressed the participants. Mr. Rebello, Senior Consultant, Learning & Development, Tata Capital gave an overview of the program structure and advised the participants to make full use of the opportunity given to them and to absorb and learn as much as possible. Prof.Kshirsagar, SPJIMR spoke of his and SPJIMR’s association with the Tata group and also about the values & policies which SPJIMR & TATA’s believe in. Prof Shrilekha Parikh, Head, Academics, took the participants through the course repertoire and clarified expectations.

BCIDS is indeed very pleased to be a vital part of the pioneering initiative of Tata Capital to recruit fresh graduates and train them to become financial services specialists. BCIDS wishes all the participants a very bright and successful career.

Educational Karma-Yogis

2011-07-19T11:08:00.000+05:30

Every committed educator of an educational institute would be asking some/all of these questions at some time or the other.

“How do we bring glory to our institution? How do we make it into a world-class Institution? How do we convert it into a centre of learning? Can we make it a centre for advanced studies? And so on……

After having interacted with numerous schools, colleges, universities and management institutions, I realized that institutions adopt various kinds of approaches ranging from focusing on research to getting reputed companies on the campus for placements, from being strict disciplinarians to providing freedom, from creating industry - academic forums to formalizing international tie-ups and from getting special accreditations to focusing on state of the art infrastructure. And with the educational sector opening up, the competition in this space is similar to the competition one witnesses in the private sector organizations.

However I believe that one of the most effective ways of building a great institution is by following the concept of Karma – Yoga, from the Bhagwad Gita.

There are different narrations and explanations given about this concept. But let me limit the meaning of this concept to this one sentence. “Taking an action with an objective of meeting a higher goal”

If, as a committed educator, we apply this principle in the context of an educational institute, it would mean taking actions which would benefit all the stakeholders associated with the institute.

Who are they??

Students
Parents
Teachers
Administrators
Recruiters
Organizations
Society

Clearly, it is the student who is at the fulcrum of this educational ecosystem. Just Like by watering the roots, the entire plant gets watered, similarly by nurturing & developing the student, the entire educational ecosystem gets enriched. And as a committed educator who is a part of this same ecosystem, you alongwith your institution would automatically reap tangible and the intangible benefits of taking these student- oriented actions.

Hence if you have to build great institutions, the questions that you would need to ask are:”What kind of learning experience can I create for my students so that my students would be” Choose whatever you want from the following:

Inspired and committed
World class managers
Responsible & Law abiding Citizens
Skilled Professionals
Globally renowned research scientists
Good Human beings?

To make this happen, educators have to take the role of a mentor to the student. So the next time you see a student not completing the assignment on time or faltering in the examination, you have 2 choices.

Scold him and blame him for his failure
Apply the Karma-Yoga principle and ask yourself: Where can I improve so that my student never falters again in the examinations??

Ashissh Dikshit

Head – External Relations, BCIDS

Enhance Competencies and Make Graduates Employable

2011-06-15T11:51:00.000+05:30

Graduate Employability Skills

India’s so called ‘demographic dividend’ of a younger population compared to developed countries is viewed by many as a great opportunity. On the other hand, this could also be viewed as a huge challenge. The NAASCOM employability report has stated that only 25% of graduating engineers and 10% of other fresh graduates are employable, indicating that a vast number of qualified students are not quite industry ready.

The task of meeting the national/global talent needs with trained and employable graduates is huge and one often wonders where to begin.

There have been some heartening moves by the government, non-governmental agencies, academic institutes of repute and corporate houses to make higher education more relevant to industry, but a lot more needs to be done. It is unrealistic to expect that a student would become ‘employable’ merely by receiving some lectures on how to acquire employability skills.

It would actually be useful to identify important variables that contribute to the ‘employability’ goal.

These are:

1) Identifying Graduate Attributes (qualities and skills a university community expects their students to develop during graduation) These can be listed as –

· Technical Competence (in area of specialization)

· Effective Communication Skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing)

· Research, discovery and information retrieval skills with capacity to use information

· The capacity for critical, reflective thinking in all aspects of intellectual and practical activity

· Multifaceted problem solving skills and capacity for team work

· High ethical standards in personal and professional life with capacity for self directed activity.

It may be reasonably seen that the employability skills are actually a subset of graduate attributes.

2) Identify Employability Skills, and Develop Suitable Teaching Approaches

Identifying employability skills is only one part of the issue. Mapping and developing curriculum that articulates course aims, topics, teaching approaches and stated outcomes is even more challenging.

Presented below is a compiled list of employability skills and researched teaching approaches that have met with positive results.

Employability Skills	Teaching Approaches
Communication Skills	· Spoken English & Grammar tailored for adults through interactive sessions · Writing & Presenting Verbal & Written Reports · Role Plays & Demos, Working in groups
Grooming & Confidence	Steady Practice in small batches, workshops with trained grooming instructors (generates confidence)
Current Awareness	Games, exercises-Reward / Penalize quizzes
Managerial Skills (leadership, planning & organizing, time management, problem solving, team work)	Case study, Decision making activities, opportunity to be part of Associations/clubs, guest faculty on how to… what if?, team projects, group discussions, outbound exercises
Sales / Customer service & domain knowledge	Industry faculty, role play, out of class projects
Self Management	Developing e-portfolios, work plans, career planning exercises, log books to record and monitor own performance
Attitude & Ethics (Can-do, ownership, motivation)	Storytelling, competitive assignments, working for a cause.(SKILLS DIFFICULT TO TEACH IN SHORT TIME)
Work Experience	Internship of at least a few weeks

3) Adopting Appropriate Assessment and Reporting on Skills Acquired

While academic institutions develop a toolkit for assessment of graduate attributes, it would still leave a gap in specific assessment of employability skills. More work needs to be done in this area.

In conclusion it may be observed that the process of learning that contributes to producing a productive, holistic individual has to begin early in life and is a process of lifelong continuous improvement.

Prof. Shrilekha Parikh,
Head-Academics, BCIDS

MDP - ARJUNA Module III

2011-04-27T16:45:00.000+05:30

The third classroom intervention in the Management Development Program, ‘Arjuna’, for select managers of Merck Specialties Pvt Ltd, was conducted in the first week of April. The 5 day classroom sessions on Strategy and Marketing Management ended with presentations on Strategy by the participants. Mr. Prantik Mukherjee, Director, Merck Specialties Pvt Ltd, and other business heads were also present at the presentations. Mr.Mukherjee appreciated the fact that the participants had absorbed what was taught during the program and incorporated their learnings in the presentations, showing that the program had been effective.

Convocation program for English Foundation Certificate Course (EFCC) - 0110

2011-04-19T15:05:00.000+05:30

The seven-month English Foundation Certificate Course (EFCC) for Chinese students conducted by BCIDS in collaboration with SPIT ended on April 9^th, 2011 with a brief ceremony to present the certificates to the Chinese participants. Dr. Prachi Gharpore, Principal, SPIT , Prof Shrilekha Parikh, Head- Academics, BCIDS and the faculty for the course, Dr. Indu Kulkarni, Prof Anita Toor, Prof Emelia Noronha and Ms. Menaka Warrier addressed the participants, and gave away the certificates to the successful participants. The participants thanked BCIDs and the faculty for their support. BCIDS wishes all the participants of the EFCC program success in all their endeavours.

April Intake for APPM

2011-03-26T13:06:00.000+05:30

The admission process for the next batch of APPM has already started and application forms can be obtained from the BCIDS office. The important dates are as follows:

Last date for submission of application forms: 19th April,2011

BCIDS Entrance Test (BET): 24th April,2011

Personal Interviews for shortlisted candidates: 24th April,2011

Results will be declared on 9th May,2011

Eligible candidates are requested to note the above dates and to submit the application forms in time.

Educational Summit at BCIDS

2011-03-26T13:03:00.000+05:30

BCIDS organized an educational summit at the end of February. Faculty from various degree colleges in the city participated in the summit in which Dr.Sesha Iyer, Director, SPJIMR was the keynote speaker. Dr.Sesha Iyer spoke on the value systems that should be present and inculcated in every organisation and how it should be a constituent unit of the education system. He also elaborated on the SPJIMR philosophy of value-based growth. In the interactive session with the participants, he gave useful tips to the faculty on how to motivate students and to facilitate enhancement of their knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Professor Shrilekha Parikh, Head- Academics, BCIDS, gave a brief overview of the academic structure in BCIDS. Mr. Ashissh Dikshit, Head, Business Development, BCIDS, spoke of the benefits of the APPM program and the opportunity for graduates who aspire to improve their employability. Ms Bipasha Roy, Head, External Relations, BCIDS spoke on her experiences while placing the students of the previous batch of APPM.

The responsibility for the organisation and arrangements for the summit was entrusted to volunteers from the present APPM batch, and BCIDS is pleased that the students did a wonderful job.

HR Confluence

2011-02-25T10:44:00.000+05:30

The H.R. confluence organized by BCIDS was held on the 31^st January. It aimed at exploring ways to make the APPM program more effective in terms of aligning it to industry needs. It was felt that an interaction between industry-academia would help achieve better clarity in terms of employability skills to be imparted, pedagogy in the class room and out of class learning, the course duration and internship model and managing student expectations from the course.

The program was attended by industry representatives- Mr. Naresh Mehta, Director- Retail Operations-Raymond’s, Mr. Manohar Kamath - CCA & Head of Operations-Shoppers Stop Ltd., Mr. Lokesh Tanwar, Associate Vice President HR (West)-Bharti-Axa Life Insurance, Mr. Samir Parekh, Vice President - Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Ltd and academicians like Mr. Kamlesh Sajnani - Managing Director - IMS Learning Resources, Mr.Hariharan - Trainer, Dr. Prachi Gharpure, Principal SPIT, Prof. Parimal Merchant, Director, Centre for Family Managed Business-SPJIMR, Prof. S. K. Palekar, Chair-Executive Education-SPJIMR other faculty from SPJIMR and BCIDS

There was stimulating and useful interaction between the industry representatives and the academicians. While appreciating the curriculum design and the pedagogy, the industry speakers felt that there should be even more emphasis on skills relating to oral and written communication, relationship building and customer focus and also on developing mental toughness in participants to enable them to withstand the work pressures in the corporate world.

A summary of the meet could be articulated as:

1) Align and manage expectations with ground reality (what a student aspires for and can realistically get)

2) Communicate a ‘career path’ instead of ‘next job’

3) Heavy emphasis on oral and written communication, team work, Relationship Building and Customer Focus.

4) To heavily use ‘Role Play’ as a teaching tool.

5) Out of class assignments.

6) Explore the option of having a program that has a mix of in class and on floor learning.

BCIDS is appreciative of the industry representatives’ suggestions and their enthusiasm regarding our programs. BCIDS has already started to implement most of the above strategies in the present batch of the APPM.

APPM Update

2011-01-20T14:43:00.000+05:30

Participants of the APPM (the flagship program of BCIDS) went for an exciting outbound personality development program at picturesque Garudmaachi where their skills in team management, leadership, confidence building and interpersonal relationship building were tested and polished. The participants were very appreciative of the experiential program where learning was fun. The international participants of the EFCC program also participated in the program.

The friendships formed by the APPM and the EFCC participants during the O2 festival continued during the trip to Garudmaachi as well. Prachi Gaur, Cultural secretary, APPM says, “The Chinese students sportingly participated in innumerable events and the crowd’s response to the hip-hop dance performed by the Chinese students was amazing. It is also the first time in O2 that international students participated. It was indeed a memorable experience that all of us will cherish for a lifetime.”

The next batch of the career oriented APPM is to start in July, 2011 and issue of application forms for the same have begun. Interested candidates can approach the admissions department of BCIDS.

Certificate Program in Management Skills

2011-01-20T14:37:00.000+05:30

New Year, Same Goal

With the dawn of the New Year and the new decade, BCIDS marches on with renewed vigour and vitality. Our goals of improving employability among youngsters, and supporting corporate in their quest for excellence in their human resources remain our focus.

As mentioned by us in our earlier article, “there is an urgent need to find appropriate ways of tapping the latent managerial talent in youth today. The graduates and also the undergraduates from all streams need to undergo a basic managerial skills training program to be amongst those who are capable of handling work with enough domain knowledge in areas like marketing, finance for non- finance managers, human resource management, economics and in Relationship management to build skills to be emotionally intelligent. Researchers in the past have shown that Intellectual Quotient gets you the job but to retain the job one must possess emotional quotient or emotional intelligence.” The Certificate Program in Management Skills (CPMS) launched in February, 2009 was a result of our desire to nurture the latent managerial talent in our campus students, to help them attain skills that would help them prepare for a career. Enthused by the success of our previous batches, we plan to launch the fourth batch of the CPMS program in February, 2011. Details of the program are as follows:

Certificate Program in Management Skills (CPMS):

This program strives to provide undergraduates the necessary soft skills and hard skills required to excel in their professional and personal life.

The core objectives of the program are:

a. Impart and enhance soft skills

b. Build confidence

c. Bridge the academia career gap

d. Impart essential functional skills in Finance, Marketing, HR

e. Apply economic fundamentals to decision making

Course duration: 70 hrs

Course Commences: February,2011

Eligibility: Undergraduates and graduates from any stream

Fees: Rs.8000/-for Bhavan’s Campus participants (12000/-for non Bhavanites)

Venue: Bhavan’s Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Studies, Munshi Nagar, Andheri(W), Mumbai. Contact Details: 022 24784412 / 9223221759 E-mail: info@bcids.org Visit: www.bcids.org

2010-12-23T16:20:00.000+05:30

December brought the participants of the Management Development Program, ‘Arjuna’ for Zonal and Area Sales Managers of Merck Specialties Pvt Ltd to our campus for four days for the second leg of the program, which dealt with ‘People and Leadership Development’.

BCIDS students were enthusiastic participants at various events at the O2 fest of Bhavan’s College They participated in sports, solo singing, group dance, peacathon etc. We are proud to say that the international students from China pursuing the English Foundation Certificate Course program reached the finals of the Group dance competition. The remarkable thing about the achievement of the Chinese students is the fact that students of the APPM program coached the Chinese students and supported them in their efforts- a fine example of Indo- Chinese co-operation!

The APPM, the flagship program of BCIDS is a 11-month certificate program and has a 2-month internship component built into it. The second batch of this program started in August this year and will be ready for internship in May, 2011. The initial preparations for the internship/placement of the APPM participants have already begun. The program offers three specializations- Retail, Financial Services and Marketing. The APPM program offers training in a combination of hard skills and soft skills. An exciting outbound program at Garudmaachi, has been planned for Dec 23^rd and 24^th to help hone the participants’ skills in team management, leadership, confidence building and interpersonal relationship building. The Chinese students will also participate in this outbound program.

"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing."-Dale Carnegie

BCIDS is fortunate to have on board people who enjoy their roles in improving employability in youngsters.

BCIDS wishes all the readers - Merry Christmas

Cultural Program for the Chinese Participants

2010-10-26T17:46:00.000+05:30

The participants of the APPM organized a beautiful program showcasing Indian culture to welcome the Chinese students.

Some of the programs presented by the students were:

Prayer Dance
Bhangda
Cultural Ramp
Salsa
Funny Dance

The program ended with the Vande Mataram Rendition. The Chinese participants enjoyed the cultural program and were also showed keen interest in learning the dancing steps of the dances.

Induction program for the English Foundation Certificate Course (EFCC)

2010-10-26T17:37:00.000+05:30

The Inauguration and Induction program for the seven month English Foundation Certificate Course (EFCC) program was conducted on the 27^th September, 2010.

The EFCC program in collaboration with SPIT has been designed to train Chinese students in spoken and written English language and communication skills. Thirty four Chinese students have enrolled for the seven month course, after which they will seek admission to other undergraduate courses like BMS, B.Com, B.Sc(IT) etc. The students were given a ceremonial welcome followed by a brief inaugural ceremony in which Dr. Prachi Gharpure, Principal, SPIT and Prof Shrilekha Parikh, Head- Academics, BCIDS addressed the participants, welcoming them, and wishing them success. This was followed by a colourful cultural program presented by the enthusiastic APPM participants. The sessions for the EFCC began on the 1^st of October.

Convocation Ceremony for the APPM (Batch 2009-10)

2010-09-29T14:35:00.000+05:30

The convocation ceremony for the APPM (Batch 2009-10) was conducted on the eighteenth of September. The Chief Guest for the ceremony was Prof Renuka Kamath, Head (Dept. of Marketing) SPJIMR. Speaking on the occasion, she complimented BCIDS for strictly adhering to high standards in teaching and assessment. Addressing the participants, she spoke of the unforgiving corporate culture where mental toughness and hard work were prerequisites for success. Prof Shrilekha Parikh, Head, Academics, Ms Bipasha Roy, Head, External Relations and Ms Megha Gawde, Projects and Facilities head, BCIDS, also congratulated the participants. The participants expressed their appreciation and gratitude to the staff and faculty who transformed them and helped them to take their first steps towards their careers.

Convocation of PPFSM-0110

2010-09-29T11:50:00.000+05:30

The convocation ceremony for the second batch of the Professional Program in Financial Services & Management (Batch 2010) was held on the 9-Sept-2010. Mr. Govind Sankaranarayanan, CFO, Tata Capital, was the keynote speaker. Mr. Amarsinhji, Head, HR and other officials also addressed the participants. Congratulating the participants on successfully completing the course, they gave them valuable advice on their entry into the corporate world. Earlier, Prof Shrilekha Parikh, Head, Academics, BCIDS, welcomed the gathering and spoke words of encouragement to the participants on their entry into a new chapter in their life. The participants had put together a brief presentation on their three months at BCIDS- snapshots on their transition from being fresh graduates to becoming young trainee managers of Tata Capital-poignant memories that were sure to stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Corporate Training for MERCK Specialities Ltd.

2010-09-01T12:15:00.000+05:30

The Management Development Program, ‘ARJUNA’ for Sales and Business Managers of Merck Specialties Pvt Ltd was formally inaugurated on the 9^th August, 2010. Mr. Prantik Mukherjee, Director, Chemicals, Mr. Devesh Srivastava, GM,HR and Corporate Admin, Merck Ltd and other senior officials of Merck addressed the participants. Prof Shrilekha Parikh, Head, Academics, BCIDS , Prof Kshirsagar, Advisor to the Dean, SPJIMR and Ms Bipasha Roy, Head, External Relations, BCIDS also spoke on the occasion.

The first leg of the program, 6 days’ campus intervention, focusing on Business and Financial acumen Development, was conducted in the first week of August. Professors from SPJIMR and BCIDS, and visiting faculty consisting of top professionals from the corporate world were involved in the training. The participants were put through a 2 day outbound Personality Development Program as well. The second campus sessions of the program will be conducted in December, 2010

Induction of Advanced Professional Program in Management – Batch II

2010-08-31T11:15:00.000+05:30

he induction ceremony for the Second Batch of the 11 month full time Advanced Professional Program in Management (APPM) was held on the 14^th August, 2010 at the SPJIMR auditorium. The Chief Guest Mr. Binoj Vasu, Executive Vice President and Chief Learning Officer, Human Capital Management, Yes Bank Ltd, addressed the participants and advised them to make the best use of the opportunity given to them, in what would most probably be their last year of college education, to become complete professionals. The other Guests of Honour were Ms. Rupinder Sandhu Anand, Sr. Director - Sales & Marketing, South Asia, Diebold South Asia and Mr.Manohar Kamath, Customer Care Associate & Head of Operations, Shoppers Stop Ltd.

Ms. Rupinder Anand spoke on the importance of commitment to one’s organization and to one’s profession. Mr. Manohar Kamath elaborated on the opportunities in the Retail Sector, and in Shoppers Stop in particular. Ms Megha Gawde, Project and Facilities Head, BCIDS gave a brief introduction to BCIDS and Prof Shrilekha Parikh, Head, Academics, BCIDS spoke on the transition from College to Careers and the qualities that the participants would need to inculcate for a successful career.

BCIDS wishes all the participants of the APPM Batch II all success.

Induction Program of Professional Program in financial Services & Management ( in collaboration with Tata Capital Ltd)

2010-08-19T12:17:00.000+05:30

The second batch of the PPFSM program for Graduate Trainees of Tata Capital Limited began with an Induction Program at SPJIMR auditorium on the 7^th June, 2010. The program was attended by dignitaries from Tata Capital and faculty from SPJIMR and BCIDS.

The 3 month program to train graduate trainees of Tata Capital to be industry ready is a fine example of corporate-academia partnership. Tata Capital & BCIDS with abundant support of SPJIMR put together an excellent program that combines managerial skills and knowledge of financial services. The first batch graduated in October, 2009 and is currently doing well in the company.

It was very heartwarming to see some of the participants of the first batch again at the induction program of the second batch. Ms Rhea Baliwala & Mr.Anubhav Jha of the first batch of PPFSM anchored the program.

Mr. Vivek Bhatnagar, VP, HR, Tata Capital congratulated the participants and spoke on the Tata Group’s values and policies. He extended a warm welcome to the participants who “represented the future “of their company. Mr. Rebello, Senior Consultant, Learning & Development,Tata Capital gave an overview of the program structure and advised the participants to make full use of the opportunity given to them and to absorb and learn as much as possible. Prof Kshirsagar, SPJIMR spoke of his and SPJIMR’s association with the Tata group and also the philosophy behind the creation of BCIDS to create employable graduates.Prof Shrilekha Parikh, Head, Academics made a brief presentation on BCIDS and gave the participants some inputs about the pedagogy used in BCIDS training programs.

Education Fair

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BCIDS is participating in

Times Education Boutique, MMRDA Grounds Mumbai, 23-25 April 2010 Stall No. 341.

“EDU-MANTRA’2010”- advance Education Fair along with The Times Of India in Guwahati, 26th & 27th April 2010.

Sakal Edugyan - 2010, Stall No. 6, Yash Plaza Jalgaon 30th April-2nd May

BCIDS Guest Speakers - Feb'10-March'10

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BCIDS Guest Speakers 2009-2010

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In BCIDS, Saturday is a holiday for its 11 month APPM course students. They instead, visit top industries every Saturday!

BCIDS has been inviting 2 speakers from the corporate world every Saturday. The concept behind introducing Guest Speaker Intervention for BCIDS flagship program APPM has been to educate students on applying theory to practice, by the leaders in the industry amidst changing market scenarios, inflation, cost cutting and growing attrition rates in companies. The initiative involves inviting Star Speakers from senior positions in the industry from various sectors. This has added to our mission of ‘Day 1 ready candidates’. The Guest Speaker’s valuable experience has helped the students visualize the complexities of a real life scenario. Coming straight from the industry has been beneficial to the students of APPM course.

Many of the industry stalwarts have visited BCIDS more than once such as Madhavi Lall, Regional HR Head, India & SA, Stanchart Bank.

“After a 6 months' gruelling academic session on campus, the batch will join Wholesale Banking Operations across the country in January for a 6 months ON-JOB learning experience. Standard Chartered India partnered Bhavan's Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Studies to create this unique curriculum and Lead the Way in developing Raw Talent.”

Mr. Naresh Mehta, Director Corporate HR Raymonds, who came for a Guest Speaker session on the ASK (Attitude, Knowledge and Skill) model, came once again for an interactive session with the students.

“I was very happy with their level and quality of participation. They came across as a bunch of bright students. I look forward to interacting with the students again next week”

Many of these Guest Speakers not only helped the students in honing their skills but also provided their insight into BCIDS curriculum to make it more in line with the current industry practices.

"It was a pleasure interacting with the students. They were great batch of students wanted to learn." Vineet Arora Head - Product & Distribution at ICICI Securities.

The feedback from the industry was always very insightful and heart warming.

"The students were quite enthusiastic and knowledgeable. They were quite good in grasping English as well. though only a few interacted with their queries the engagement level was high. Would surely look forward to keep in touch with you and the Institution."
V Mohan, Director-HR & Legal, HEINZ

Being from the industry each Guest Lecturer brought in their unique experiences along with their individual personalities to the classroom. Many had innovative interactive sessions with the students. e.g. Mr. Shreepad Parkhe- Head - Client Relationship at SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd, conducted a session on Customer Relationship Management with some interesting activities on CRM.

In total, BCIDS had over 40 such Guest Speakers in the last 6 months. Many of these Guest Lecturers were from the HR function. It provided the APPM students an opportunity to understand their expectations while hiring talent. It also gave the HR heads an opportunity to have a closer look at our APPM batch.

Stanchart to train grads in corporate banking - BS Reporter / Mumbai December 19, 2007

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“While the MBA segment is being tapped effectively, there are other segments which can be an attractive source of talent if tapped with some innovative thought process. Corporate Banking, along with other areas has been growing at a very fast pace in India, hence, there is an urgent need to expand the talent pool and look at creative and more productive ways of recruitment.” Madhavi Lall, head – HR, India, Standard Chartered Bank,

To meet the rising demand of professionals in corporate banking, Standard Chartered bank and S P Jain Institute of Management Studies and Research (SPJIMR), through Bhavan’s Centre for Inter Disciplinary Studies (BCIDS), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to introduce a special training programme on corporate banking for graduates.

The bank plans to double its workforce by 1,000 employees at various levels in the next three years, and at the junior management level, it plans to pick up graduates from 31 different colleges across seven cities and train them at BCIDS for around five months. The students will be placed with the bank at an average salary of Rs 4.5 lakh per annum.

The programme will start in May 2008 with a batch size of 40 students and recruitment at most graduate colleges across the country will begin mid December 2007. Students with their bachelors in commerce and science can apply for the same.

Besides paying the students a stipend during the training phase, Standard Chartered Bank will also bear the fees for the training programme and residential costs all accounting to Rs 1.5 lakh per student.

The programme has been developed in guidance with senior professionals from Standard Chartered Bank. Through this novel programme, students, not only get an induction into Standard Chartered, but shall also be eligible for SPJIMR’s higher level management programmes after they serve a mandatory period in the bank.

Some of the topics the programme include general management, core banking, managerial economics, financial accounting, banking regulations, global markets, cash management and marketing management.

The admission process includes online testing, group discussion and personal interview.

(read the article also at http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/stanchart-to-train-grads-in-corporate-banking/308007/ )

BCIDS marches on............

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Reported by Jayalakshmi Jain-Program Coordinator, BCIDS

BCIDS bridges the gap- The current education system has created a wide gap between the graduates and employability. After 16 years of education, a student still requires to undergo few more years to be suitably employed. BCIDS under the academic guidance of SPJain institute of Management and Research, bridges the wide gap in the education system through its APPM program in Retail, Financial services, Marketing and Systems.

The journey began with the launch of the APPM course in the year 2008 with an aim to create industry-ready graduates from day 1. The launch ceremony was attended by the likes of Bachi Karkaria-eminent journalist, Ajit Joshi MD CROMA, Ms. Veena Mankar-MD Swadhaar Ltd. & Mr. Mushtaq Aalam, Head HR, ICICI Prudential Ltd. This event was featured in the Bombay Times as well. Ever since, there is no looking back.

On-job training experience- BCIDS’ curriculum includes internship as a compulsory component. With companies like CROMA, Hypercity, The Loot Store etc. assuring placements for the BCIDS interns, BCIDS has a great beginning for the first batch of its APPM students.

Highly qualified educational consultants (MBAs and Engineers) are appointed to counsel and filter the candidates, finally shortlisted by our panel members through BCIDS Entrance Test (BET) and interviews and set in the moulds of successful entrepreneurs, by our faculties to bejewel the corporate crown.

Systems Management introduced - For the July 2010 session, Systems Management has been introduced in collaboration with Sardar Patel Institute of Technology (SPIT), that encapsulates all of the systems certifications under one roof as compared to the piece-meal courses offered by other institutes.

BCIDS’ corporate alliance- BCIDS boasts of an enviable kitty of corporate clients such as Tata Capital, ICICI pru, Stanchart, Times Group etc. who did various programs with us for their recruits such as Professional Program in Wholesale Banking, PG Program in Management and Insurance, PG Program in Relationship Management, Professional Program in Financial Services and Management etc.

Guest Lectures- Eminent guest lecturers are invited to address the APPM participants each week to discuss current issues, trends and concerns of the industry. Speakers like Shubhada rao- Chief Economist Yes Bank, Makarand Khatavkar-MD HRD Asia Pacific-Deutsche Bank and many others from HEINZ, Lowe Lintas Standard Chartered Bank Ltd., Retail Association of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Hypercity, WNS , Castrol, Bharati Axa Life Insurance Ltd., Axis Bank, Deutsche Bank, HUL, L&T Infotech, Diebold, Aditya Birla Retail Ltd., Croma etc. empower students to face the challenges of the industry from day 1 of their completion of graduation.

Placement Cell- BCIDS’ Placement cell provides 100% placement assistance to all candidates. The current batch students are already placed with CROMA, The Loot Store, Hypercity & others.

BCIDS on the E-Map- Research shows that there has been a 150% growth of Indian male/female on facebook, in the 16-24 age brackets, over the last 1 year. Young people being a core market of social networking sites, BCIDS has started its Social Media Endeavour by having their profile across various social media entities such as a Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, Youtube etc. The aim is to increase the reach to various parts of the country and the world around and spread the word about our objectives in the education arena, our role as an interdisciplinary centre. There are ambitious plans of integrating web seminars, virtual classrooms etc. to support the academics throughout the year.

All these activities have stepped up our constant endeavour to impart quality education and create better employability for the students, not just within our country but across the borders too.

BCIDS APPM Course

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11 months Management Program

Leaders for a lifetime...

Creators of a progressive world....

When was the last time you heard of “employable graduates”?

Not until now!!!

Bhavan’s Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Studies ( BCIDS )

under the Academic Guidance of

S P Jain institute of Management and Research

offers

ADVANCED PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM IN MANAGEMENT

With specialisations in

Retail

Financial Services

Marketing

Systems

Key Information About BCIDS and APPM

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Under the academic association of S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), Bhavan’s Centre for Inter-Disciplinary studies (BCIDS) was created to groom young professionals to work in fast growing domains of banking, insurance, retail, financial services, marketing etc.

We believe that not all jobs require MBA’s. The fast growing domains require graduates with the right management inputs, and the right attitude and aptitude that will equip the participants with the ability to drive a team in the hyper competitive markets of today.

Our collaboration partners for various programs conducted by BCIDS are; Croma (TATA Enterprise), Standard Chartered Bank Ltd., ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Ltd.,Tata Capital Ltd.,Tata Communications & Times School of Financial Services, Institute of Advanced Security Training & Management, Alchemist, and many others .

The APPM is an 11 month fulltime management program with internship. The specializations offered are - Retail / Financial Services / Marketing. The APPM has been specially developed to identify and nurture talent for roles of Junior & Middle level executives. The classroom intervention is supported by pedagogy inputs and trainers from SPJIMR & the Industry.

APPM was started on the philosophy of offering employability at the end of the course. After initial classroom training the participants are placed for internship to understand the values, products & processes of an organization. This gears the participants in being productive from day one to top & bottom line of the organization.

Student Speak

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Saikumar S. Swamy ,Management Trainee, TCS

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about PPM is the invaluable knowledge & the practical experience that I have gained. The Pedagogy followed at PPM is very innovative it is just not about mugging up from the text book and reproducing it on the answer sheet. Its career focus approach; excellent general management topics and industry interaction kept me updated and prepared be to be ready to face the corporate world. Thanks to PPM, I have an edge over the other graduates.

APPM - Advanced Professional Program in Management

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The APPM is an 11 month full time professional program called the “Advanced Professional Program in Management”. The program consists of an internship component to make the participants industry ready. It consists of four verticals.

Retail Management
Financial Services Management
Marketing Management
Systems Management

APPM is the result of one whole year of research done along with professors from SPJIMR, Industry Professionals and a Market Analysis to understand the importance and the success of launching such a program. The curriculum has been designed as per the industry requirement.