Academic Rigor: SDM Institute for Management Development

HER Team
The Abode of Learning Latest Management Practices

Located at the foot of Chamundi Hills in the heritage city of Mysore in Karnataka, Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Institute for Management Development (SDMIMD), receives close to 4,500 applications every academic year for the 180 available seats in the PGDM program, which translates to 25 candidates competing for a single seat. Undoubtedly, today SDMIMD is one of the most sought-after management institutions in the country for PGDM programs. Dr. N.R. Parasuraman, Director of SDMIMD, holds a different opinion for an institute to be considered worthy of the title, \"There are three major aspects for any institution to be labeled as leading one: state-of-the-art infrastructure, efficacy of academia and a strong management or Trust to support the innovative practices of the institute. SDMIMD satisfies all the conditions that are needed to be considered as a leading management institute.\"

Talking about the time of establishment, Dr. Parasuraman says, \"Way back in 1993, our Chairman, Dr. Heggade had a series of discussions with prominent educationalists from IIMs and government organizations regarding setting up a management college of high quality.\" According to Dr. Parasuraman, SDMIMD faculty members have been faithfully following the fundamental system that had been setup by the veteran experts, but with necessary value additions catering to the latest practices in management education. He adds, \"Today, SDMIMD is known for its academic rigor as the students who come here are subjected to rigorous two years of learning, which has been acknowledged by many alumni after they pass out from here.\"

The Institute is promoted by the Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Educational (SDME) Trust, a much admired non-profit educational trust that runs over 40 recognized educational institutions in Karnataka, including engineering and medical colleges. The Trust and all the associate Institutions benefit from the visionary leadership of the Chairman, Padma Vibhushan Dr. D. VeerendraHeggade. Among the numerous management institutions in the country, SDMIMD gained reputation among the management aspirants swiftly, owing to Dr. Heggade\'s powerful vision to establish a centre of management excellence that connected renowned academicians across the country in the early stages of the institute\'s operations.

Although, SDMIMD\'s inherent curriculum has been setup by stalwarts of Indian higher education, the institute has created an elaborate system to revise the curriculum every year, where the institute\'s faculty members, advisory board and major recruiters play equally important roles to ensure that the updated learning methodologies to meet the present day demands of the industry. \"Curriculum revision is a yearly affair here. Our faculty members and advisory board take part in these discussions along with our regular recruiters to come up with an updated mechanism that enables our students to take up managerial challenges in the industry,\" says Dr. Parasuraman.

However, the institute\'s training is not limited to achieving academic excellence. To ensure comprehensiveness of the program in today\'s business environment, SDMIMD hosts numerous events and conferences. With more than 70 lectures in a year from industry leaders such as prominent CEOs, HRs and Finance Professionals about the various aspects of corporate management, Dr. Parasuraman confidently claims that every month witnesses a major event in his institute. He says, \"Students receive the requisiteacademic knowledge from our faculty team, which is blend of scholars and professors with industry experiences. Ultimately in a professional program like PGDM, students want to know about what is really happening in the industry and how the academic knowledge can be translated into the business growth. Corporate talks are very helpful in achieving that.\"

A consistently revised curriculum that has been complemented by frequent guest talks and other events, have made SDMIMD a regular destination for many campus recruiters in the country. An unchanged list of close to 45 names of companies in SDMIMD\'s last five year\'s placement reports goes to show the confidence that the industry has in the institute. However, with an insatiable hunger for achieving more, Dr. Parasuraman and his team strive hard to raise the average salary mark every year, which isRs. 6.05 lakhs per annum now. \"I have been in here for over 18 years now and we are all working for a noble cause. Somehow, at the end of the day, we all like to believe that we are not just working for our salary, but for something that contributes into the overall cause of education,\" concludes Dr. Parasuraman with assurance as he is well aware of the fact that, no student graduatesfrom SDMIMD without realizing the actual meaning of education.

N. R. Parasuraman, Director

He is Director of SDMIMD and has been researching and teaching in the areas of Strategic Finance, Financial Derivatives, Cost Management, Portfolio Management and International Finance.He has published over 30 papers in leading journals on various topics in finance and has also authored a book titled \'Fundamentals of Financial Derivatives\', published by Wiley India, which features in the Business World\'s top 10 management bestsellers in August, 2008. The book has currently gone into a thirdedition. His second book Financial Management � a Step by Step Approach published by Cengage India gives very practical insights into using spreadsheets for understanding and using financial tools. He is a visiting faculty in several IIMs and conducts a number of customized finance programs all over the country.

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