IIM Bangalore - the 1st IIM to award MBA degree in Convocation 2018: 593 students get MBA degree in place of diploma

IIM Bangalore becomes the first of the 20 IIMs to award MBA degree to its current post graduate batch 2016-18 instead of Post Graduate Diploma in its 43rd Annual Convocation held on March 17, 2018 at its campus. After the IIM Act 2017 has taken effect from January 31 this year, IIM Bangalore has moved forward to award MBA degree to its current batch while other IIMs including the top ones are mulling over the idea whether to continue with the PGDM or award Degree and are waiting for the laid down norms and rules to go ahead.

Congratulating all involved for the historic passing of the IIM Act, IIM Bangalore Director G Raghuram said, IIMB has taken the lead in moving towards grant of degrees. Today we can grant degrees to the Post Graduate Programme in Management students. For the other programmes, we need to go through an exercise to see how best they can fit into a degree-granting mode.

The students have graduated from IIM Bangalore in the presence of chief guest Shri Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Piramal Group and Shriram Group, Professor G. Raghuram, Director, IIMB, Board members including Shri N S Raghavan, and members of the faculty. The graduates were cheered by their proud families too, many of whom had made the trip to Bengaluru to capture the joyous moment.

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593 students awarded MBA at IIM Bangalore
43rd Annual Convocation ceremony of IIM Bangalore witnessed 593 students of flagship 2 year post graduate programme being awarded MBA degree. Speaking on the occasion, Professor G. Raghuram shared, Today, 593 students have graduated: 20 students from the Fellow Programme in Management, 22 from the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management, 71 from the Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management, 1 from its earlier avatar called the Post Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management, 73 from the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management, and 406 from the Post Graduate Programme in Management.

While listing student achievements, Prof. Raghuram made special mention of the Fellow Programme and Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management. This is the third year in succession a hat-trickthat we have 20 students graduating from the Fellow Programme. This year is also very special for our Fellow Programme as the 250th student just graduated. I would also like to mention that our Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management celebrates 20 years and has just graduated 1500 executives.

8 Gold Medalists include 2 women students
Among the graduating students this year, eight have been awarded gold medals. Out of the eight gold medallists this year, two are women.
In PGP (Batch 2016-18), Pratik Anand, Umang Mehta and V Vageesh received the gold medals for first rank, second rank and best all round performance, respectively.
In PGPPM (Batch 2017-18), Richa Valechha has won the gold medal for best academic performance.
From PGPEM (Batch 2016-18), the gold medal for first rank and for best all round performance went to Gaurav Kumar and Sunil Kumar Vaya, respectively.
In EPGP (2017-18), Pragya Dalmia has won the gold medal for first rank, while Jigar Doshi has won it for best all round performance.
Wishing the graduating students success, Prof. Raghuram said: Follow your dreams and do see how a larger contribution to society can fit into that. And come back. As often as you can. Contribute in whatever way you can to the growth of our dear IIMB as we move on our journey to foster excellence in management, innovation and entrepreneurship.

3 Learning Lessons from Chief Guest at IIMB
In his inspiring address, Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Piramal Group and Shriram Group, and the chief guest at IIM Bangalores 43rd annual convocation, recollected his learnings from his own college days and shared three learning lessons. When I was in Jai Hind College in Mumbai, it was not just academics, but the motto of the college that made a deep impression on me. That motto was:I will and I can.

He said that for any individual to be successful, a few life lessons are vital.
Lesson-1: Deep Driving Desire
First, there should be a deep driving desire, followed by action and deed, which in turn will make and fashion your destiny. If you are passionate about something, you will develop the will and ability to do it. That has been the kernel of thought in our group too.
Elaborating his point to get success, he said: In 1988, when we entered into the pharmaceutical industry (our group was traditionally into textiles), our rank was 48 in that industry. By year 2000, because of our will and determination, and how we worked based on that, we became Number 5.

Lesson-2: Choose the less travelled Path
He said that the second lesson he learnt is that we need to have the courage to go on the path less travelled if we were to make exceptional growth in our careers. You need to take the risk, even suffer pain at the initial stages. But in the long run you will be the beneficiary.
He cited the examples of Bill Gates and Jamshedji Tata, who he said acquired exceptional success by following that path,When our group made an entry into lending to real estate that was also a value creating decision.

Lesson-3: Value Based Judgement
The third lesson is that your judgement has to be value based in business, and that will create economic value in the long run. Even in short term, appreciate that values will create economic value in your career.
He said further, Another vital element for success is that you need to have association with good people and mentors to overcome the slippery slopes of life.
Next, you need to prioritize your life first your health, then your family, and then your business or profession.
Last but not the least, do have a sense of gratitude at all the privileges that you are getting. Therefore, have an obligation to give back to society.

Board member NS Raghavan, who is also patron of IIMBs incubation hub, the NSRCEL, highlighted the institutes milestones during the academic year 2017-18. IIM Bangalore has a remarkable history of contributions to the Indian society and economy, and aims to provide the best management education to its students enabling them to support important national initiatives and also enhance the institutes position globally. The IIM Act brings in a lot of autonomy but also much bigger responsibilities. We will now be held accountable for higher levels of transparency, governance and global positioning. I am sure that our students will continue to strive to make India a respected and pre-eminent country in the world.
He also spoke about the global rankings IIM Bangalore has achieved, IIMBs Women in Management Club which aims to promote gender equality through talks, summits, panel discussions, workshops, informal meets, networking events and mentoring sessions, and the schools initiatives on gender diversity. In both PGP and EPGP at IIMB, women constitute almost 30 per cent of the class. This is very gratifying and heart-warming and I do hope that this number will continue to grow in the coming years.

To the graduating students, he said: You are a vital component of the new generation of Indians that will shape our countrys destiny, improving the lives of our fellow citizens and enhancing our countrys position and status in the world. Please realize that you are entering the world at the most exciting time in our history. So grab the opportunity with both hands, make a difference and bring laurels to yourself and to your alma mater.
Located in Indias high technology capital, IIM Bangalore is in close proximity to some of the leading corporate houses in the country, ranging from information technology to consumer product companies, giving it the added advantage of integrating classroom knowledge with practical experience.

Along with ten disciplinary areas and five centres of excellence that offer courses and conduct research on questions facing various sectors of industry, IIM Bangalore has set up three faculty recruiting centres the Centre for Management Communication, the Centre for Public Policy, and the N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning.
IIM Bangalore has recently launched an India-Japan Study Centre to promote understanding of Japan in India and India in Japan through research, teaching and policy outreach efforts.
An Israel Centre at IIM Bangalore has been set up to act as a hub for research on Indo-Israeli interactions in the fields of technology innovation, business strategy and history, government policies and culture, by uniting scholars, business community and students.

Accredited by the EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) for period of five years in 2016, the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) of IIM Bangalore has been listed among the top 25 in the QS Masters in Management Ranking 2018. This ranking assesses institutes based on five different metrics, which are alumni outcomes, class and faculty diversity, employability, thought leadership, and value for money.

MBAUniverse.com will continue to bring highlights and learnings from Convocations at leading MBA colleges. Stay tuned!