“New students in school are like new saplings in garden. School nourishes and nurtures the students and as they grow, school grows too.”
Having achieved resounding success in its nine years of operations, the Department of Management (Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru Campus) added another feather in its cap as it inaugurated the MBA-MS Class of 2016-18 on June 20th, 2016 at its Bengaluru Campus. The Department of Management at Bengaluru Campus has been constantly proving its mettle in the field of management education and has seen a tremendous rise in its performance in the form of good academic records, extensive co-curricular activities and sound placement records. The MBA-MS program in this campus is offered in collaboration with the State University of New York, at Buffalo. The program is unique in nature, as it provides training and degrees in both MBA and MS. The inducted batch has an intake of 60+ students. The increase in batch size stands as testimony to the incremental growth pattern of the programme, as it proves to be a fast growing B-School in India. The incoming batch has a healthy mix of engineering, commerce and arts as well as laterals and freshers. The students are from different regions in India, thus contributing to the diversity in the class.
The distinguished professionals from industry to grace the ceremony were Mr. Sajiv Madhavan, Head of Business Excellence Initiatives, TATA ELXSI, the Honorable Chief Guest and Mr. Dinesh Warrier, Program Manager, HP India, Guests of Honor for the event. The ceremony was also adorned by the presence of eminent dignitaries including Dhanraj, the Director of Bengaluru campus; Prof. Amalendu Jyotishi, the acting Chairperson of Department of Management, Bengaluru; Professor Ram Ramesh, Chairperson of the MS programme, University at Buffalo and the Coordinator of MBA-MS programme at Buffalo; and Dr. Priya Gupta, Professor of Human Resource Management and the Chair of PGP programme for the campus, Dr. Rakesh S. G., the Associate Dean of the School of Engineering.
The ceremony began with auspicious lamp-lighting. Light symbolizes knowledge and purity. This was followed by a beautiful recital of prayer by Dr. Deepika M.G., a seasoned Professor of Economics at the Department of Management, Bengaluru campus. She offered a solemn prayer saluting the Guru, and asking the Lord for guidance and liberation from darkness and for peace and prosperity.
Prof. Manoj, the Chairperson of the Department of Management at Bengaluru Campus, had sent a very warm welcome message to the students from Buffalo in the form of video message. He could not be present at the occasion as he accompanied the second year MBA-MS students pursuing their MS course at the University at Buffalo, New York. The message also consisted of welcome notes by the class representatives of the second year MBA-MS batch.
Prof. Amalendu Jyotishi delivered the inaugural address, in which he remarked on the rigor of the program, the importance of inter-disciplinary approach, the pedagogical advantages of having doctorate faculty and the unique exposure that the dual degree MBA-MS program at ASB offers.
Br. Dhanraj, in his address, touched upon the most fundamental and crucial values of family, of having a scientific outlook with spiritual foundation and the importance of peace, compassion and humility for the sustainable development of society as a whole.
In his address, the Chief Guest, Mr. Sajiv Madhavan, underlined the ten important habits for long run professional success. The second keynote address was delivered by Mr. Dinesh Warrier, the Guest of Honour and a noted alumnus of ASB Bengaluru. Mr. Warrier took the audience through his long and rich journey as a member of Amrita family. He emphasized on the importance of being flexible and going beyond one’s domain to contribute to the larger picture. He also stressed on the need of social responsibility and the culture of giving back to the society which is very much ingrained into the Amrita value system.
Prof. Ram Ramesh stressed the need of having strong conceptual understanding of the functional knowledge of management, along with a sound grip on data analytics which forms the base of decision making in businesses across globe. He remarked that the MBA-MS program at the Department of Management, Bengaluru, offers the right mix of both conceptual knowledge and data-analytics training to the students, aiming to make them well-rounded professionals.
Finally, Dr. Priya Gupta took the students through crucial information about the course structure, the resources available to the students, the rich resource of permanent and visiting faculty and various extra-curricular activities that ASB conducts. Dr. Priya also provided a brief overview of the placements and the companies that visit the campus for summer and final placements. Dr. Gupta invited the students to participate in all the activities of the institute including workshops, seminars and research presentations, as they provide learning not only related to management disciplines, but also on broader contemporary issues and practical knowledge beyond text-based learning.
The day’s proceedings were concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Priya Gupta. She added her words of welcome to the incoming students and encouraged them to make full use of all the resources available at the institute. The induction programme proved a memorable occasion for the new students as they embarked upon this new journey, becoming life-long members of the Amrita fraternity.
The inauguration programme was followed by the Orientation Programme, which runs for 10 days. The programme consists of a series of seminars by the faculty, experts and practitioners in diverse fields. The orientation programme has proven highly beneficial over the years as it provides a sound grounding for the two-year course.
Students of MBA-MS have access to all the resources at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham which include advanced data portals, up-to-date research publication repositories, colloquiums and guest lectures by industry experts, as well functional specialization electives along with the MS courses in the second year.
