IIM Sambalpur Begins Its Virtual Induction Week with 48% Female Students in Its Flagship MBA Degree Program

Sambalpur: Continuing its streak of a high gender diversity, the handcrafted IIM Sambalpur, one of the most promising and dynamic management institutions among the new generation IIMs of the country, welcomed their MBA Class 2021-23 through an august inauguration programme. The virtual session was graced by distinguished and esteemed guests which included Chief Guest, Dr Saurabh Garg, IAS Chief Executive Officer, UIDAI and Keynote Speaker, Lalit Gupta, Co-founder, Edduus, Leadership Coach and ZIIL Malaysia. The induction programme also witnessed a welcome address by Prof Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur. The program began with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, followed by an address by Prof. Poonam Kumar, Chairperson Admissions. The MBA Program was introduced to the other faculty members, staff, students and media by Prof. Merlin Nandy, Chairperson, PGP. The 7th MBA batch with its strength of 169 students is a vibrant combination of gender and academic diversity.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur, said, The Vision of IIM Sambalpur is to “Nurture Responsible Leaders with Entrepreneurial Mind Set” and we operate around our 3 Core Values: INNOVATION, INCLUSIVENESS & INTEGRITY. The ecosystem we have created based on the 3I’s of Innovation, Inclusiveness and Integrity has been instrumental in creating this difference. As an evidence to our Inclusiveness Value propositions, we became the first IIM in 2019 MBA admission with highest gender inclusive with 49 % female in MBA 2019 44% in 2020 and 48 % female in 2021. As an outcome of this, every other IIM’s have started following our inclusive policy and now we are happy to see that this has become trend in all other Institutes. Another evidence of our Inclusiveness value propositions, we have signed MOU with MSME, GOI and India SME Forum to develop small businesses and start-ups in smaller towns so as to make business more inclusive and not confined to big companies in big towns. This year we have 48% girls in a batch of 169 students in MBA 2021-23 from more than 22 different states in India. 67% of the candidates are from Engineering background and 65% of students have prior working experience.

He further added, “The role of IIM Sambalpur is to build entrepreneurial capacity so as to create wealth for our Country and our society. Our unique proposition is to nurture large number of start-ups and entrepreneurs cross the country. hence, we would encourage our young MBA students all those who are a part of the institute to align themselves with our Vision and participate in executing the same. We desire for you all to acquire skills and capabilities to create wealth for the organisation and for yourself. I wish that all the students make maximum and optimum use of their next 2 years hear in developing their managerial and leadership capability and become a responsible leader with an entrepreneurial mindset.”

Addressing the new batch, Keynote Speaker, Lalit Gupta, Co-founder, Edduus, Leadership Coach and ZIIL Malaysia, stated, “We are living in an era of entrepreneurs and leaders. Studying at an IIM, you are sure to have a successful career, whether you join a multinational company or start a venture of your own. There is a huge amount of disruption happening around us and COVID has only accelerated those changes. Technology makes things more efficient. Today we are all connected with each other, and these uber-technologies are disrupting traditional business models faster than ever before. These changes are revolutionary. Leaders have high level of emotional integrity that is about being brutally honest in knowing what exactly they want for themselves. While this is an era of uncertainties, it is at the same time an era of opportunities and possibilities. We have to figure out how to take advantage of these opportunities and possibilities and not get bogged down by the challenges. This is what will create the difference between living and leading. You are at the right IIM to be able to excel at that because the focus on entrepreneurship at IIM Sambalpur is exemplary.”

Chief Guest, Dr Saurabh Garg, IAS Chief Executive Officer, UIDAI, commented, “I congratulate the batch of 2021 as you are living in an era of opportunities and possibilities and you are among the brightest minds in the country contributing immensely to marketing, strategy, operations, sales, human capital etc. The question I would like to pose before you are that ‘Are you going to leading your life or living it?’ Covid has changed the way things were perceived earlier by increasing our efficiency, today we have some of the best tools for time management. The changes are revolutionary in nature and not evolutionary and we are living in a linear world of time and space dimensions surrounded by changes which are exponential in nature. Leaders have high emotional integrity, who am I and what I want in life. Leaders make choices intentionally and consciously. Leaders are curious they experiment; they explore without being scared of failures. As per a statistic 80% of jobs in 2030 has not been invented yet, so to harness the latent faculty of entrepreneurship you must not be worried about failures. You students are one of the luckiest generations, you are entering an era of endless possibilities and opportunities, it is an era of leaders and entrepreneurs and I believe you are in the right institution like IIM Sambalpur who focuses on entrepreneurship and leadership.”

The 5-day Induction program will be addressed by a host of eminent and notable leaders from the industry and the Government. The guests who will honour the induction week include Aishwarya Pratap Singh, Head of Marketing, ITC Limited; Keshav Rao Director, Personnel, MCL; Dilip Ranjan Sahoo, Head HR, Vedanta; Krishna Padhee, Head HR, Hindalco; Harshita Agarwal, VP, Royal Bank of Scotland; Prof. M R Dixit, IIM Ahmedabad; Sucheta Mahapatra, Member BoG Managing Director, Branch International; Arvind Padhi, IAS Director, Country Relations, ICRISAT; Prof. Sabyasachi Sinha; Ashish Garg, Member BoG, BCG; Film Maker, Neel Madav Panda.

Owing to the pandemic, IIM Sambalpur has been conducting online classes which is likely to continue this year as well. Introduction of Flipped classrooms and thereby following a blended pedagogy, allowed IIM Sambalpur to transition quickly and efficiently in the online mode, once the pandemic hit. The institute’s classrooms are equipped with SMART Boards, where students can login and access notes, presentations, curriculum schedules and even test their own knowledge through built-in quizzes. Use of Learning Management Software for online proctored examinations along with an innovative pedagogy like Flipped classrooms, have allowed IIM Sambalpur to be in line with the vision and objectives of the New Education Policy. IIM Sambalpur has achieved 100% placement for its 5th batch despite the pandemic with multi fold increase in recruiters across sectors.

Indian Institute of Management Sambalpur is one of the most promising and dynamic management institutions among the new generation IIMs of the country located in Sambalpur, Odisha, India. MHRD, GOI established IIM Sambalpur in 2015. IIM Sambalpur is Institute of National Importance as per the IIM 2017 Act. Specked in the picturesque settings and nestled in Barapahad (Twelve Hills), the campus lies near Hirakud Dam – the world’s longest earthen dam. The foundation stone of the permanent campus of IIM Sambalpur was laid by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, on 2nd January 2021. The permanent campus is likely to be operational in 2022.

Since its inception, the institute has already taken positive steps for Entrepreneurial Innovation and Experiential Learning. IIM Sambalpur currently offers full-time Master in Business Administration (MBA), full-time Ph.D., Executive Ph.D., and Executive MBA program. Since 2019, the institute has one of the best gender diversity in MBA programs among all the IIMs. The institute is also the pioneer in its unique experiential learning pedagogy called “Flipped Classroom.”