The Higher Education Review

The B-School journey for every aspirant begins with a lot of dreams, hopes and an aspiration to climb the ladder of success. Foreseeing the exceptional need of graduates who are instilled with wholesome skills and values coupled with realizing the absence of an appropriate platform where the aspiring business students can attain a value-based quality management education, M.P. Birla Institute of Management (MPBIM) was commenced in 1999. Instituted with the initiative of Sri N Ramanuja, the then Chairman and Managing Director of HMT Limited, Chairman of Bhavan's Bangalore Kendra, MPBIM is affiliated to Bengaluru Central University and is approved and accredited by AICTE and NAAC. Located in the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, in the heart of Bangalore urban, the institute boasts of avant-garde facilities in its campus which have become possible because of the noble donation by Smt. Priyamvada Devi Birla, wife of Sri. Madhav Prasad Birla, a well-known industrialist, and philanthropist.

Owing to the relentless efforts of all its members and producing valuable graduates since the establishment, MPBIM has earned a niche for itself in the modern management education sphere. Conducting a two-year full-time MBA programme, the institute prides on impartial student intake procedure that ensures the enrolment of each student purely on merit basis. In fact, given the quality and excellence in delivering education at MPBIM, every year, the top 6 percentile of MAT and top ranking PGCET students enter to enrol at MPBIM. "We always aim to create a holistic environment for our learners, for which, we endow the students with a learning experience beyond academics through off-campus learning at the institute's Out Bound Adventure Learning Centre at Garwale in Kodagu district where they get a package of diverse training in a very unconventional model of outbound adventure learning,' shares Dr. Viswanath, Director General, MPBIM.

This Centre is equipped with proficient trainers and equipment

that helps in intensifying the students' performance in the activities organized there, that consists of adventure learning, slurry enclosure, river crossing, trekking in the forests and many more. "The Centre also imparts Art of Living and yoga, so that the students can have better stability of mind, health, and soul,' pinpoints Dr. Viswanath. Likewise, for making sure that the students achieve a holistic development, the institute focuses on need-based skill development in leadership, teamwork, problem-solving and analytical, initiative/innovation, adventure, and adaptability, to name a few. As the institute is determined to churn out industry-ready managers, the students are further encouraged to participate in annual Marketing Exhibition, which enables them to exhibit product and innovation in front of industry personnel. The institute also organizes exclusive Business Leadership Forum talks where industry leaders share their experiences with the students along with conducting certification programmes for its students in the areas of Marketing, HR and Finance.

"Owing to the relentless efforts of all its members and producing valuable graduates since the establishment, MPBIM has earned a niche for itself in the modern management education sphere"

An Ideal Business Ambience
The two most important factors that today define the standard of a management school is undoubtedly its emphasis on entrepreneurship and research activities. And MPBIM masters in both. MPBIM takes the plunge to introduce its students to the real-time business practices through rendering them the opportunity to get insights from the unique skills of locals, their marketing initiatives while immersed in their rural-traditional lifestyles and sports in Kollegal- 125kms from Bengaluru, a taluk headquarters in Chamarajnagar district. Here the students get to witness actual rural India and gain some vital lifetime experiences by interacting with the local rural entrepreneurs and traders. On the other side, the institute is beatified with the Bhavan's Management Research Centre (BMRC), that caters to scholars not only from MPBIM but also others.

Till date, MPBIM students have come out with 22 research publications. The institute has also associated with Southern Economist a Journal of repute to conduct seminars and symposia on current topics relevant with business, with

Bhavan's Management Institutes in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar for faculty exchange, skills-oriented courses, and seminars and concluding an MOU with North Dakota State University,USA. Moreover, the institute conducts Symposia on international events of business importance like Greece Crisis and BREXIT.

"The way of grooming the next-gen leaders have changed drastically today. Hence, we leave no stone unturned to nurture our students in a true sense- from conducting Marketing Exhibition to quiz programmes in Business and Business Plan competition to IT Quiz," opines Dr. Viswanath. The institute has signed a MoU with CII Young Indians for conducting various programmes for students' progression. Dr. Viswanath adds, "MPBIM has an annual 'Paradigm' Management Fest which is managed by students, this lets them earn essential managerial and leadership skills. Even students take the lead in organizing many Business events that include IT Quiz competitions, too."

The proficient faculty members of the institute as well, don't just sticks to classroom lectures, but also round the clock motivates them to incur knowledge from different modes of learning. In fact, the students of MPBIM are advised to register for MOOCs to gain knowledge and acquire skills of practical problem-solving. A former student of MPBIM who is currently serving as the Talent Acquisition Lead at Philips, says, "Our professors were always available to help and made the classes very interactive. We were encouraged to come up with new ideas and projects apart from just the course work which really helped during interviews." Placing its students in companies like Ernst and Young, Indus Ind Bank, JARO Education, Society Generale, to name a few, MPBIM envisions continuing inculcating basic human values, building social responsibility and promoting scientific & innovative thinking among the graduates.

Dr. N S Viswanath, Director General
PhD in Economics preceded by Masters' degrees in Statistics, Agril Mkg Mgt (Agri Business), Economics. He is specialized in Trg & Development & Managerial Skills. He has successfully guided eleven scholars for PhD degree in Management & Seven are on the programme. He has over twenty years of Industrial as well as Academic Experience totalling to over four decades. He has over seventy papers, technical reports & reviews to his credit.