KIIT School of Management (KSOM) is a part of the prestigious KIIT University. The MBA college has a long history of academic excellence with many USPs. KIIT School of Management (KSOM) was founded in 1993 and since then more than 4000 students have passed out of this esteemed campus.
There are specific reasons why companies look at KSOM Bhubaneswar for recruitment. In fact there are several good reasons to look at a premier Tier-II B-school like KIIT School of Management (KSOM).
MBAUniverse.com got the opportunity to interact with Prof. (Dr.) Anil Bajpai, Director, KSOM about the uniqueness, learning, placement trends and other USPs of KSOM.
Dr. Bajpai possesses a long multi function, multi organizational corporate experience spanning over 32 years. He is a Ph.D., Total Quality Management, PGDM, IIM Ahmedabad, BE, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, B.Sc. in Physics – St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University.
Dr. Bajpai has in his tenure at the KIIT School of Management initiated and led several new initiatives aimed at making MBA education more industry focused along with pedagogical changes to make teaching and learning more rewarding.
Excerpts of the interview are given below-
Looking from a student’s point of view, what are the key highlights and USPs of your University and B-schools, compared to other B-schools in East India?
KIIT School of Management (KSOM) has a long history of academic excellence, providing industry-focused management education. It was founded in 1993 with a vision to create a trend-setting centre for business education, where young minds are provided the right balance of classroom learning and practical exposure to become successful professionals and inspiring leaders. Since 1993 more than 4000 students have passed out of this esteemed campus. Today, as part of the prestigious KIIT University, KIIT School of Management (KSOM) has delivered on that vision. It has extended its area of influence from eastern part of India to the whole country and already has many impressive achievements to its credit. KSOM, as an institution, believes in making business education highly relevant through constant course updates, regular industries interaction, hands-on exposure, faculty with right mix of industry and academic experience and more importantly a deep sense of responsibility to the society at large.
Some key initiatives which characterize uniqueness of KSOM are:
Konclaves-KSOM organizes three national level conclaves (HR, Marketing and Finance) and a management convention annually. These serve as great platform for knowledge sharing and co- creation between academia and industry.
Konfidant- Every KSOM student is attached to a corporate mentor, the objective is to provide KSOM students with life skills, help them achieve professional & personal goals, make them industry-ready and support them to realize their full potential.
Ko-Educate - KSOM has another unique initiative called “KOEDUCATE” where-in elective sessions across all specializations will be co-facilitated by internal faculties and corporate experts from the industry. This special initiative enriches course content and delivery by cashing-in on the knowledge of both the faculty and corporate expert and enhances focus on the practical application of concepts studied in the courses.
Eastern India has only a handful of top B-schools like IIM Calcutta, XLRI, and XIMB. Will you say that KSOM is one of the Top 5 B-schools in Eastern India? Why so…
KSOM has been consistently ranked amongst top-5 MBA colleges in Eastern India. KSOM’s MBA program is approved by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grant Commission (UGC). In a recent development KSOM has been recently awarded Life Membership by Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia. KIIT University has the distinction of being the youngest institute ever in the country to be declared a University and has been awarded NAAC Accreditation in ‘A’ grade. This is recognition of the high education quality that the institution stands for. Most ranking agencies rank KSOM within the best 50 B-schools of India. KSOM has been consistently ranked as one of the best B-schools of Eastern India, year after year. For more details one can go to http://ksom.ac.in/the-institute/about-us/rank-and-recognition/
KIIT University and KISS are well established institutions in East India. How does it help students of KSOM to be part of the same group?
KSOM is part of KIIT University which is accredited by NAAC with ‘A’ grade. Its 23 campuses span 25 sq. km. and have a built up area of 12 million sq. ft. Apart from academic blocks, administrative blocks and student residences, attractions on campus include a Rose Garden, Art Gallery, Sculpture Garden, Tribal Museum and a 35000 capacity multisport stadium. It serves more than 27,000 students through its 28 Schools imparting globally recognized Bachelor, Master and Doctoral degree programs in 100 plus disciplines spanning engineering, medicine, management, biotechnology, law and more. Apart from global recognition and pedagogical excellence, the University provides best possible academic and non-academic grooming and empowerment that enables a student to make an impact in the global workplace.
KSOM says it focuses a lot on academic program and quality of the faculty. Give us a few hard facts that can justify this claim.
KSOM is known for its high quality academics. KSOM Places significant emphasis on attracting and retaining the best quality faculty. With a teacher to student ratio of 1:10 and more than 50% faculties hailing from IIMs and other premium B-schools, few MBA institutions match KSOM in the quality of faculty. For instance KSOM has several full time faculty members who have studied flagship PGDM courses in IIM Ahmadabad, IIM Luck now and IIM Kozhikode. Faculty members are carefully chosen to have the right balance of skills, with a considerable stint in the corporate industry. Visiting Faculties too form an important aspect of our delivery and many such members are Industry Seniors, Entrepreneurs, Motivational Speakers and Young Achievers.
KSOM uses latest mix of teaching/learning techniques which includes lectures by instructor, case studies, individual research projects, group projects, classroom discussions, videos shown in class, classroom presentations by students, computerized learning assignments and reading textbooks. The school also provides a forum for students to develop general business knowledge and exposes them to a wide variety of speakers, presentations, and events.
With 50+ industry interactions annually, KSOM students are exposed to an industry exposure once a week on an average. KSOM organizes three National Conclaves in the domains of HR, Marketing and Finance. Apart from this, there are several events in a year, including seminar talks, workshops, guest lectures and industry visits. This keeps students updated with current business trends, the key to success for any management education. A key differentiating initiative of KSOM has been Corporate Mentorship, where students are assigned corporate mentors who prepare students for placements and future career.
Bhubaneswar as a city has evolved a lot in last decade. What makes it a good location to do MBA?
Ranked at the top in the Smart City initiative of Government of India, Bhubaneswar is one of the fastest growing cities of India. What works for Bhubaneswar is its closeness to the world class educational institutes and research environment, comparatively lower operational cost and exposure to the global markets. The Temple City is also home to a customer base which is maturing at a fast pace and is willing to try new ideas and concepts. Realizing the market potential large organizations like KFC, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Café Coffee Day, Barista, UCB and Nike have their strong presence in Bhubaneswar. Most big IT majors like TCS, Infosys and Wipro have entered the city to tap into the city's trained manpower. One of India’s first planned city, World Bank has now rated Bhubaneswar as the best place to do business in India which paves the way for exciting job opportunities in the coming years.
How was your Placements 2016? And how are they shaping this year (Placement 2017)
KSOM has an impeccable record of achieving good placements every year. All eligible students with acceptable CGPA secure a placement. Average placement over the last couple of years has been 100%. Many global prestigious companies in private and public sector regularly visit the campus to recruit KSOM students. More than 100 reputed organizations like, Aircel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Café Coffee Day and Bluestar pick up close to 300 students each year.
Among comparable colleges, the institution is one of the best B-schools for placement in India. Our salary level at Rs. 5 lacs average per annum is far better than most other private B-schools. Last year the placement highlight included international offers as well as highest salary of Rs. 14.8 lacs per annum. Students are provided constant support and faculty as well as corporate mentoring helps them get placed in companies of their choice in diverse sectors/industries like investment banking, retail banking, IT, FMCG and retail. For more details one can click on http://ksom.ac.in/recruiters/placement-statistics/
Are your admissions open? What are key timelines and process for seeking admission?
Yes, the admissions are open. Students who have taken CAT/MAT/XAT/CMAT/GMAT can apply to KSOM with a valid score. The test should have been taken for the relevant admission year, e.g. CAT-2016 or XAT-2017 score can only be used for 2017 MBA Admission.
A student can apply through online mode by filling up application form and by paying application fee online. The link for applying online is http://ksom.cn1.formsdotstar.com/online-application-kiitee
Candidates applying through online mode would be required to submit copies of their mark sheets and other supporting documents at a later stage, as instructed by KSOM. Online payment can be done through credit card, debit card and online bank transfers. All relevant details are provided supported at the online payment site itself.
Alternatively, students can apply through offline mode as well, by filling up the physical form and sending it to “Chairperson, Admissions, KIIT School of Management, Campus – 7, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar – 751024”. Students applying through offline mode need to send a Demand Draft of Rs. 1250/-, drawn in favor of “KIIT School of Management” payable at Bhubaneswar, along with the application form. Name and Address of the candidate needs to be mentioned on the reverse of the Demand Draft. The application form can be downloaded by clicking here. The application form and prospectus is also available on payment of application fee of Rs.1250/- at:
-- Chairperson, Admissions, KIIT School of Management, Bhubaneswar
-- Information Centre, KIIT University, Chintan Building, Campus IV, Bhubaneswar
-- Director Admissions, KIIT University, Koel Campus, Bhubaneswar
Last Date of Receiving Application Forms for XAT / CAT / MAT / CMAT 2017- Feb 28, 2017
Group Discussion and Personal Interview dates -To be announced
Programme will begin in July 2017 http://ksom.ac.in/programs/mba-full-time/apply-to-mba/
Finally, what is your advice to students who are looking for Admission 2017?
KSOM’s learn, experience and adapt structure ensures that students seamlessly fit into any role they are assigned on job. This is achieved by a mix of out-of-classroom learning, role-plays, business simulation, live consultancy projects, seminar interaction with business leaders, a structured summer internship, regular workshops, club activities, research undertaken by students and jointly working with the industry through partnership and tie-ups. Continuous industry exposure and practical experience ensures that students are industry-ready by the time they join the business world at the end of the MBA program.
All the Best for the GD / PI sessions! I am sure you will be able to do well and join this elite institute of KIIT University…
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on KIIT School of Management (KSOM) Bhubaneswar
