Meet The Indian Institute Of Management Indore EPGP Class Of 2024

THE BENEFITS OF AN IIM INDORE DEGREE

More than that, adds Debahuti Chakraborty, the EPGP program places a heavy emphasis on developing leadership skills through its coursework, projects, and extracurricular activities, says Debahuti Chakraborty, which further deepens its long-term value to graduates. “The holistic approach to skill-building, which extends beyond traditional business subjects to soft skills like communication and problem-solving, provides a well-rounded education essential for professional growth.”

Certainly, IIM Indore delivers on this promise. In the 2023 ranking of Indian business schools by the Indian Institutional Ranking Framework (IIRF), the school posted averages that ranked among the best in the country in Job Placement and Industry Income and Integration (III), which covers everything from internships to industry partnerships. In the 2023 Financial Times MBA Ranking, IIM Indore ranked among the Top 50 graduate business school in the world for Career Progress and Value for the Money, with students seeing a 160% increase over pre-MBA earnings within three years of graduating from the program. What’s more, it ranked 4th globally in International Course Experience with The Financial Times, which measures exchanges and internships that last a month or longer outside a school’s home country. For Yatindra Prakash Singh, the International Immersion (and other school-sponsored global activities) provided a learning opportunity of a lifetime.

“Through this international experience program, we better understood the European culture and business environment. It helped us in expanding the global network of personal and professional contacts in a significant way. In this program, we can make contacts that can be used later for employment and business opportunities. It also strengthens communication, team-building, and Interpersonal skills.”

AN INTERVIEW WITH SAURABH CHANDRA

What is it really like to live and learn at the IIM Indore EPGP program? This fall, Poets&Quants reached out to Arya Anand, a member of the Class of 2024, and Professor Saurabh Chandra, the school’s program director. Here are their thoughts on what makes the EPGP program so distinct at the school.

P&Q: Pretend you are an ambassador giving a tour at your business school. Name one place you would show a candidate and why was it so important to you?

Anand: “While there are many places on the campus that I would want to show a candidate at the IIM Indore campus, there are two places I’d like to mention here.

2. The IIM Indore Learning Center is a place that instills a never-ending sense of learning and overcoming obstacles. With thousands of learning resources available at students’ disposal, the learning center helps students keep pace with the ever-demanding and changing world management- dynamics.
3. The Olympic-sized swimming pool is one place that teaches you humility and, at the same time, helps you boost confidence. The structure reminds you to be humble and allows you to conquer. It constantly reminds you that the world won’t care about who you are until you show up every day and conquer your obstacles.

These places would help candidates grow through their time at IIM Indore.”

P&Q: What is one thing you wish that you’d done earlier as an MBA student? Why?

Anand: “Done it earlier.

After experiencing what I’m experiencing at IIM Indore, there’s only one thing I think I should’ve done, and that is reach this place earlier. The paramount learning opportunities the institute provides are overwhelming and, at the same time, experiential.”

P&Q: Where were some of your classmates’ favorite hangouts? What do they do and why do they gravitate there? What are some big advantages of MBAs studying in this city?

Anand: “Our favorite hangout place is a spot named “ADDA.”

Adda serves you tea/snacks until 2 a.m., which is quite a life savior during late-night assignments.

After an Intense session of brain-storming on a project or an assignment, we enjoy a cup of tea amidst the cool breeze.

As far as benefits of doing MBA in Indore: Indore’s rich culture and love for food are things to look out for. A city that holds the rank of the Cleanest city in India fills you with joy with some lip-smacking food options.”

P&Q: What are the two most exciting developments at your program in the past year, and how will they enrich the MBA experience for current and future MBAs?

Chandra: “For the participants of the EPGP Programme to have enhanced academic rigor and rich industry hands-on exposure, IIM Indore first partnered with the University of Liverpool Management School and started a Collaborative Online Interactive Learning (COIL) Project.

We would see students working together in inter-institutional teams over a three-week period to undertake a self-managed learning, practically-focused case activity based on 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), where students of both institutes work together on the UNSDGs. These included the UNSDGs in an MBA program that equips candidates with practical skills, values, and perspectives that are increasingly important in today’s business landscape.

Currently, sustainability has become a crucial consideration for the majority of businesses. MBA graduates who work on sustainability-related projects will be well-prepared to lead in the evolving world of business studies. Secondly, the EPGP participants at IIM Indore are offered an Industry Consulting Module (ICM) of 4 credits. Imparting industry-relevant management education has always been an important priority of IIM Indore. ICM is started for the EPGP participants to enhance the Industry-Academia Partnership. ICM spreads over a total of three academic terms for a duration of five months. ICM provides a structured platform to the EPGP participants for continuous interaction with the industry.”

P&Q: What are the two biggest differentiating features of your MBA program? How does each of Do these enrich the learning of your MBA students?

Chandra: “The two biggest differentiating features of IIM Indore are these:

1. International Immersion Module of EPGP is a dedicated executive learning program designed and conducted in collaboration with one of the top-ranking international business schools. The international immersion module spans over one academic term duration. This module, designed with our eminent international academic partner institute, allows the participants to enhance their ability to work in a cross-cultural environment. The international immersion module is designed to inform the participants about the world economy’s increasingly globalized economic environment issues and enable them to understand and compare the businesses in emerging and developed economies. The prime objective of this module is to improve the business acumen of the participants through company visits, meetings with business and government leaders, and interactions with distinguished faculty of international repute. The international immersion creates a perfect platform for participants to learn about global business and to broaden their knowledge about various aspects of rapidly globalizing economies. Unlike other study tours, linking the module to credit evaluation encores the rigor of academics of IIM Indore. In the academic year 2023-24, 38 participants of the EPGP batch joined the “Advanced Leadership Programme” offered by SDA Bocconi in Milan, Italy.

2. EPGP participants are provided online preparatory courses well before (approximately one month) commencement of EPGP classes. The following below-mentioned courses are provided to the participants:

Quantitative Methods

Finance

Spreadsheet Modeling

Financial Accounting

Mathematics for Management

Management Communications

The offering of the above courses to the participants helps smooth the transition of the participants from the corporate work culture to an academic environment. Preparatory courses provide students with foundational knowledge, essential skills, and confidence to succeed in more advanced academic programs like EPGP. The above preparatory courses are particularly valuable for filling knowledge gaps, easing transitions, building core skills, and preparing for exams before their arrival at the IIM Indore campus.”

P&Q: What is the most innovative thing you have introduced into the MBA program recently? How has it been a game-changer for your program?

Chandra: “IIM Indore understands the increasing demand for knowledge of Analytics with the EPGP participants, as a majority of the recruiters coming for placement on the IIM Indore campus are looking for knowledge of Analytics and are seeking experts who can extract meaningful insights from complex data and drive data-driven decision-making across various business functions. IIM Indore was already offering a few analytics courses like Marketing Analytics, Business Analytics, Accounting Analytics, and similar courses to the EPGP participants. Looking into the importance of increasing demands for analytics, IIM Indore introduced an Advanced Analytics course for the EPGP participants. This course is a three-credit course offered by the renowned teaching partner offering a workshop titled “Workshop on Advanced Analytics for Data-Driven Decision Making” in the EPGP Term-V.”

P&Q: What are some aspects of IIM Indore’s programming and culture that make it appealing to women? International students?

Chandra: “Women participants are vital contributors to the academic community, enriching the learning environment, challenging traditional norms, and paving the way for a more equitable and inclusive society. Thus, IIM Indore always believed in having a healthy gender ratio in the EPGP cohort for many years and still believes in maintaining the same for the years to come. Here are some aspects outlined below that make the EPGP Programme of IIM Indore:

Promoting Gender Equality: IIM Indore values and supports women participants and reinforces the message that gender equality is a fundamental right and an essential aspect of a just society, and we are committed to supporting that.

Internal Complaints Committee (ICC): The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is formed according to the provisions of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The ICC’s twin functions are: First, to hear and address complaints regarding sexual harassment at IIM Indore; and second, to spread awareness about gender-related issues and the functioning of the ICC. An aspirant willing to join the EPGP Programme can apply for the program if he/she meets the eligibility criteria to take admission to the EPGP Programme. IIM Indore has earmarked a few seats for International Participants also.”

Student	Hometown	Undergraduate Alma Mater	Last Employer
AKSHAY AGGARWAL	Delhi, India	Bharati Vidyapeeth’s College of Engineering	Eshopbox Ecommerce
Arya Anand	Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir	Chandigarh University	Career Builders
Debahuti Chakraborty	Bongaigaon, Assam	National Institute of Technology, Silchar	Oil India Limited
Tsangpo Luit Kashyap	Guwahati, Assam	Assam Engineering College	Irrigation Department, Government of Assam
Chhavi Malhotra	Faridabad, Haryana	Amity University, Noida	Fr. Agnel Group of Institutions
Ayush Nag	Ahmedabad, Gujarat	Manipal Institute of Technology	Kevision Systems, India
Yatindra Prakash Singh	Bhagalpur, Bihar	Birla Institute of Technology	Tata Consultancy Services
Sumit Saini	Panchkula, Haryana	VIT University, Vellore	State Bank of India
Tapan Sharma	Jind, Haryana	Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana	EPAM Systems
Preyanshi Singh	Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh	Rungta College of Engineering and Technology, Bhilai	Tata Consultancy Services
Vivek Vishe	Mumbai, Maharashtra	Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Andheri	BPCL