AIM: 2019

Academia-Industry Meet 2019

Objective:

Ganpat University- Centre formanagement studies and researchorganized AIM as a part of theircontinuous efforts to support theIndustry focused approach inprofessional courses like MBA. The mainobjective was to bridge the gap betweenclassroom teaching and actual industryrequirements by understanding theirneeds. This meet was the need of anhour as University aims at havingemployable graduates with moreexciting opportunities.

Academic Experts –Ganpat University: Dr. Mahendra Sharma, Pro chancellor,

Ganpat University Dr. Amit Patel, Pro Vice Chancellor,

Ganpat University Dr. Rajen Purohit, Executive Dean,

Ganpat University Dr. Sourbhi Chaturvedi, Dean Faculty

of Management Studies Dr. Maurvi Vasavada, Charperson,

Centre for Management Studies and Research

Mr. Bhikhesh Bhatt, PRO Ganpat University

Industry Experts: Mr. Piyush Gandhi, Senior Vice

President-Finance, Gift City Mr. Hemang Dhebar, Deputy

Manager, Rajkot Nagarik SahakariBank Ltd.

Mr. Vasant Patel, Branch Manager, Rajkot Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd.

Mrs Jolly Shah, Head of the Department- Finance)CIMS Hospital

Mr Jaimin Gajjar, CIMS Hospital, Senior Manager- Human Resource Management

Mr. Ketan Pate, CEO, Hi-Tech Engineering

Mr. Mehul Patel, Business Development and Licensing Head, Asia, Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd

Mr. Amandeep Saini, senior Manager, Hyfun Foods

Mr. Pratik Shah, Regional Sales Manager, Walter Bushnell

Mr. Swapnil Naila, category Manager, Frendy

Ms. Amrita Mashar, Analyst, Trade U Academy-

Mr. Punit Jani, Business Development Manager, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

Mr. Piyush Gandhi mentioned to encourage theculture of stipend to the students for suchinternships which was unanimously agreed to. Itwas also observed by Mr. Jaimin Gajjar and Ms.Jolly Shah that the static format of SIP reportdoes not allow industry guides and students towork on innovative and experimental studiesand hence, the industry experts or guidesshould be given a liberty to change the formatas per their requirement. It was also suggestedthat students should be given chance to exploredifferent department of organization in the firstyear itself so that they can rightly choose a corespecialization in their semester which willenabled them to choose a right career path.

The summit began with the welcome of thedelegates from various industries by DrSourbhi Chaturvedi and a short introductionof Ganpat University and its variousinnovative courses and industry tie-ups. ThePro Chancellor, Ganpat University – DrMahendra Sharma also emphasized on theneed to bridge the gap between Industryand Academic increase the students’employability by getting continuousupdates on the syllabus, curriculum,method of teaching. He also put stress oncareer building tools like soft skills,Leadership, communication, culture ofinnovation and entrepreneurship. Furtherexplaining the main objective of this meet,Dr. Maurvi Vasavada briefed about theIndustry association of Ganpat Universityand highlighted Industry focused MBAprograms offered by CMSR. Round tablediscussion began with a formal introductionof the industry experts and the praise of thestudents of CMSR undertaking SIP or inplacement with reputed organization..

Enhance effectiveness of

Internship based Project and Industry connect

The discussion was initiated by Mr. Mehul Patel whosaid that students should undergo real time on thejob training at company rather doing typical passivesummer internship project which will enhance theiremployability. Moving further on the samediscussion, Mr. Jaimin Gajjar added that instead ofdoing research on repetitive studies, SummerInternship Project should be based on problemsolving research in which students first defineproblem faced by organization and then try to getsolution of the same through research and createwin-win situation for both organization as well asstudents. It will help students to get real timeexposure and will enhance their skill set.

Mr. Amandeep Saini emphasized on reducingclass room teaching hours and devoting thesame to more industry interaction in the formof training, visits or interactions on weekly basislike foreign universities to make students moreasquint with industry requirements. This wouldenable the students understand the theoreticalconcepts with the practical approach.

Curriculum Advancement

It was suggested by Mr. HemangDhebar and Mr. Vasant Patel thatbusiness ethics should be part of all thecourses as it is very important and willpromote social and ethical way oflearning. It was also emphasized thatmore importance should be given toNISM certificates and certificates fromthe regulators like SEBI and IRDA, asthey are mandatory requirements forthe job in this industry and so the samehas to be inculcated in the syllabus, ifpossible. Further Mr. Amandeep Sainisuggested that Data analytics should becompulsory subjects for all thestudents. He added that crossfunctional and value added subjectsshould also be offered to studentswhich will enable holistic developmentof them. Mr. Ketan Patel suggested thatAdvance computer knowledge is veryimportant aspect of the successfulcareer in management so the studentsshould go through advanced computerknowledge including Advance excel,pivot table and ERP.

Public speaking, sharing of ideas and creativityMr. Piyush Gandhi quoted that students pursuingsummer internship at their organizations are doingvery well and are very much acquaint withtechnical knowledge but they are reserved bynature and require more training in soft skills likecommunication and public speaking . This appliesmainly to the students from Gujarat state andbecause of that they are having feweropportunities for getting selected in GD/PIcompared to the students from other state. Even itwas discussed that the lack of communicationability creates series of problems like lack of publicspeaking skill, stage fear or inability to share theirideas and creativity. According to all the experts, inspite of professional communication and emailetiquettes being in the syllabus of businesscommunication in MBA programs, students arelacking in that and so special attention should begiven to that by inculcating hands on training forthe same. Further it was suggested by Mr. PiyushGandhi, Mr. Pratik shah and Mr. Mehul Patel thatin order to grab more exciting opportunities inorganization, institute should conduct mockinterviews to prepare the students for their finalinterviews.

Attitudinal change

As per all the experts, today’s studentsneed change in their attitude. Moreover,it was further observed by Ms. AmritaMashar over the period of time thatstudents are very much apprehensive forthe sales job, marketing profile or fieldwork. And the basic reason behind thesame is their attitude towards learning.So all the expert agreed that studentsneed to be made more flexible with theirlearning.

As per the discussion by experts mentioned above the institute will take the following steps:

Institute is already having businesscommunication in curriculum but morepractical approach would be adopted toteach the same.Institute will conduct mock interviews andGroup Discussions.Role play based teaching would bepromoted more to encourage students’creativity and knowledge sharing in public.Institute will try to incorporate the valueadded courses.

Industry experts together agreed to be part ofacademic council as and when required.Program specific Data identification, reading andinterpretation shall be adopted as part ofteaching and learning process of MBA students.At last discussion was done on the attitude ofthe students.While teaching sales and marketing subject,students need to be taught about the sales andrequirements of sales job. And importance ofsales and marketing profiles.For attitudinal changes exercises on role playand case based teaching would be encouraged.Media Coverage: