Final placements last year saw a 22-25% hike in the salaries offered

…says Dr M A Khan, Director, Sydenham Institute of Management Studies Research and Entrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE), Mumbai having completed 26 years imparting business education. At this juncture, he talks about his hopes for the institute and shares views about Indian management education in an interview with Serena Kallian.

Where do you see Sydenham Institute of Management Studies Research and Entrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE) in the near future, how is it poised to be unique in the current system?
We have been in the business education arena for 26 years now and we have slowly climbed up in various rankings and in the future we hope to be among the top management institutes in the country. What sets this institute apart is the kind of infrastructure it has, our esteemed faculty especially our visiting faculty; the location has also been a great advantage for SIMSREE. We are located in the heart of the financial capital of the country. Our focus has been on experiential learning and so we have always encouraged better Industry associations. Students are given the freedom to organise various events, seminars, conferences etc and in general to be at the helm of things.

What would you say are some of the challenges faced by Indian management education today?
In my opinion higher education in India has been improving over the years towards better quality. However, this change has not been uniform. If one has to look at management education in India then the major challenge would be the lack of adequate industry exposure to management students. Students across many management institutes continue to be taught theoretical models within classrooms with no relation to its applications in the industry.
If I could point out to the scenario in Maharashtra in the past few years there has been an increase in the number of management institutes without adequate faculty and facilities like placements. Meanwhile the number of students taking the state entrance test for management programmes has decreased to a great extent. Students are not getting value for the time and money they invest in this education and so at a certain level it isn’t fair to them.

Who according to you is an ideal candidate for the management programme at SIMSREE? What are some of the attributes considered in a candidate?
The entire admission process for the MMS & PGDBM courses are conducted by the Directorate of Technical Education, at SIMSREE we accept the top 100 students who have been selected by the technical education departments’ selection procedure which is a centralised process.
Some of the attributes that are valued in a student are a hardworking nature, quick decision making skill and a well read mind. Work experience though not a mandate is preferred in a candidate.

Could you brief us about the placement scenario at SIMSREE? Plesae highlight the minimum/maximum/average salary, the major recruiters and the kind of roles that are offered to students.
At the final placements last year we saw a 22-25 % hike in the salaries offered to our students. The average salary was at 9.6Lakhs; the highest was at 12.5Lakhs. Some of our major recruiters have been Citibank, ICICI, several public sector companies from the finance and banking sector. We have always had a good presence of finance companies on campus. The roles offered to our student are that of managers at level 2 positions in the companies, as research analysts etc

Which according to you are some of the upcoming sectors for management graduates?
I would say the banking sector, telecom, public sector companies, education sector and the courts of law/legal system and administration. Managers are needed in almost every field today.

Your words of advice to all aspirants...
Do not restrict yourselves to classroom learning; go out and find opportunities to increase your knowledge and experience. Be creative, curious and eager to learn more.