What is the new lifeblood for the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century? Undoubtedly, it is our educational institutions, which are the source of most scientific advances, scholarly discoveries, creative processes and innovations. When it comes to the business education in India, apparently, not many colleges are seeking to be a substantial force for the scholarship of discovery by expanding their student’s entrepreneurial ambitions. Located in Delhi, Jagan Institute of Management Studies (JIMS), however, has been an exception in this scenario. JIMS intends to become an institute of academic excellence that incubates new ideas in Management and Information Technology with a holistic concern for better life, environment and society.
In fact, JIMS in 25 years of its being has created a niche for itself in the fields of Management and Information Technology. Established in 1993, it has now acquired a commendable position as one of the premier institutes of the country. The Postgraduate programs namely, PGDM, PGDM-International Business, PGDM-Retail Management are approved by the All India Council for Technical Education and are accredited by National Board of Accreditation (NBA). All programs have also been granted equivalence to MBA degree by Association of Indian Universities (AIU). The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has accredited JIMS with A grade.
It is also among the few top management colleges in Delhi to start a Fellow Programme in Management, a full-time doctoral level programme to equip students for careers in research and management. The institute has been awarded the prestigious accreditation certification named South Asian Quality Standards (SAQS) from the Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia a SAARC recognized body. The Institute continues to remain in the list of Elite B-Schools (Top 75) of India for the 4th year in a row in National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India.
Creating an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
“Nowadays there is an immense need to bring students into ‘start-up culture’ and provide a platform where they can convert their bright ideas into innovation. We have established Jagannath Incubation Centre (JIC) in the campus to encourage, support and promote entrepreneurial abilities among the students across all programs – MCA, PGDM, PGDM-IB, PGDM-RM,” shares Dr. Pooja Jain, Director, Jagan Institute of Management Studies (JIMS). The objective of JIC is to give boost to ‘Make in India’ and ‘StartUp India’ initiatives of the Government of India and make the students ‘Employment Provider’ rather than the ‘Employment Seeker’. Dr. Jain adds, “JIC has a vision to develop, enhance, and carve out the inner entrepreneurial potential of the students by way of providing them an opportunity to present their views in front of venture capitalist, firms and investors. The incubation centre aims to convert feasible ideas into actual business propositions which will not only add value to individual but will also benefit the nation as a whole.”
The practical approach of the Post Graduate Diploma in Management offered by JIMS encourages student to experiment with new ideas and develops their entrepreneurial drive. JIMS has also established an Institutional Innovation Cell as per the norms of Innovation Cell, Ministry of HRD, Government of India under which it organizes various events related to entrepreneurship, innovation and design thinking.
“Our E cell named Tarkash is very proactive in organizing events every year for the knowledge enhancement, exposure, guidance and hand holding of our students. E summits, Entrepreneurship week, Business plan competitions, Simulation exercises, guest lectures, mentorship sessions, participation in events pan India are among the few from the gamut of activities,” claims Dr. Jain. Apart from this, the students at JIMS benefit from the diverse faculty experience in developing their ideas. Few of the Patents filed by faculty members recently are: Relational Artificial Intelligence System, Method and System of the data-warehousing and business intelligence using a data storage model, Load Balancing of Server Clusters, Method of Constructing and Designing Fuzzy Controllers and many more.
Dr. Jain pinpoints, “As businesses are changing and industry expectations are changing, we have revamped our research endeavors according to industry expectations with regular discussions with them. We are now focused to solve business problems and design solutions for them in the form of short term consultancy assignments and designing training and workshops as per their requirements.” For instance, JIMS has signed MoU with Bawana Industries and Badli Industrial Estate to bring a closer coordination and connect among the academia and industry in the areas of research, consultancy and training. “For Institutes, motivations to collaborate with industry include the improvement of teaching, chance to apply theoretical learning into practice and understand real business scenario. For firms, the motivations to collaborate with institute includes gaining access to complementary technological knowledge learning in form of MDPs/trainings from experience faculty and getting pool of skilled workers,” explains Dr. Jain.
JIMS always works towards strengthening relationships and expanding partnerships with Industry and big corporate entities. The institute has adopted multi-disciplinary approach to learning with exposure to industry through visits, guest sessions from renowned industry speakers, annual corporate meets along with experiential learning through internships and engagements such as seminars, conferences, symposiums, workshops, conclaves and so on. In addition to that, faculty members of JIMS conduct FDPs/MDPs on regular basis to bring together key researchers from academic and industry to create a platform for enhanced learning. “JIMS strongly believes in “learning from others”. This philosophy is at the heart of our new endeavor – ‘Academic Collaboration’. We have tried to collaborate with reputed universities and institutions to provide a larger platform for student learning, faculty growth and collaborative research,” states Dr. Jain. Auckland Institute of Studies (New Zealand), Malaysian University of Science and Technology (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Lincoln University College (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Nilai University (Malaysia), University of Sunderland (U.K) and Northemburg University (New Castle) are the few international collaboration JIMS has managed to make in last 2 years.
In Tune with the Latest Tends
Industry 4.0 is fourth Industrial revolution. It refers to the combination of several major innovations in digital technology that includes advanced robotics and artificial intelligence, cloud computing; the Internet of Things; data capture and analytics; smartphones and other mobile devices and so on. “As an Educational Institution or an academician, we adapt to prepare students learn the latest technologies. Our curriculum has been designed keeping into consideration the requirement of different industries such as Banking, Financial Services, manufacturing, FMCG, Telecom, Insurance, Consumer Durable, Hospitality,” says Dr. Jain. JIMS revises its course curriculum every three year in consultation with Industry representatives, academician, alumni’s and inhouse faculty members. Dr. Jain adds, “At JIMS we aim to make our students corporate ready and take up responsibility with a difference. Students are enriched with industry updates through guest lectures, workshops and seminars, wherein an intelligent awareness on current corporate issues and challenges is discussed. The curriculum also comprises of self-directive learning modules including MOOCS, Social Sensitivity Project, Live Projects, Industrial Visits and many more.”
JIMS offers quality management education to all aspiring managers of tomorrow through Virtual Learning in all its programmes. Dr. Jain shares, “Our faculty members use an array of teaching methodologies for different courses, thereby improving the learning experience. The process of teaching and learning methods include – simulation exercises, Advance excel training, SPSS and training on Data Science using R and Python and Application Development.” The institute also offer students to enroll for courses through Massive open online course (MooCs) which is a new and flexible way to learn skills. In addition to that, JIMS has installed Smart Boards in every classroom to enhance students’ learning experience by projecting visual elements. Online Aptitude Test series are also designed to help in increasing employability of the students.
“We equip students with the skills that are required to succeed in the corporate world through one-on-one mentoring, Group discussion and interview preparations, résumé writing and career education workshops. We have 100 percent placement record for the last year batch with highest package of Rs 21 Lakh,” claims Dr. Jain. In a nutshell, Post Graduate Diploma in Management program, a two-year full-time program, offered by JIMS is designed to equip students to develop skills and to take on managerial, entrepreneurial and leadership roles in this rapidly changing world. “We emphasize on building strong conceptual and analytical foundation and enable our students to be better decision makers. We not only groom students for shaping their career in domestic business organizations but business organizations that have international presence,” pinpoints Dr. Jain.
While, JIMS proves to be an ideal place for those wishing to engage in academic pursuits and seek intellectual fulfillment, Dr. Jain and her team have several plans for the coming academic years. “We at JIMS are committed to leading the changes required to sustain and grow in the higher education industry. Till date, we have taken some important steps in this direction; however, other broad-based and cross-disciplinary initiatives are also needed on which we will work on: Increasing International visibility, Deliver High-Value, Technology integrated Business programs to Educate, Increasing faculty interaction with outside world through research, consultancy, longer duration MDP, workshops, FDPs, IPR’s, Strengthen Relationships and Expand Partnerships with Industry/Corporate,” concludes Dr. Jain.
Dr. Pooja Jain, Director
Dr. Jain has been associated with JIMS, Rohini since 2002 in various capacities as lecturer, associate professor and professor. With more than 17 years of experience that includes both academic and corporate, she is actively involved in teaching, research and training, in areas related to consumer behavior, Sales management and rural marketing. She has completed her doctoral on ICT application for rural consumers. She regularly conducts Management development programs on diverse topics for junior and middle level business executives. She has presented number of papers in national and international conferences and published research work in various esteemed journals. In addition, she has also developed multiple cases for classroom teaching and some of them have been published in journals of repute.
She is passionate to learn and explore new dimensions of marketing. She also loves to mentor young minds and help them channelize their thoughts into practice. She maintains a fine balance between administrative acumen and academic excellence.