ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai: Interview with Dr. Lakshmi Mohan, Director on Admissions, Placement, Cutoff

Established in 1991, ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai is a part of the ITM Group of Institutions. The school offers PGDM programmes in 10 specializations and is accredited by AICTE. The institute considers scores of national entrance exams like CAT, XAT, CMAT etc., for shortlisting purposes. Speaking to Careers360, Dr. Lakshmi Mohan, Director, ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai elaborates on the legacy of the institute, mission, admission and selection criteria, placements, campus facilities and more. Read the interview with Dr. Lakshmi Mohan, Director, ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai to know more.

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Careers360: Can you describe the mission and legacy of ITM Navi Mumbai?
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: ITM was established in 1991 and its been 30 years now. It is part of the ITM Group of Institutes. We have two universities at Raipur and Vadodara. We have forayed into Health Science, Design, Hotel Management. Name the stream we are there. We also have three business schools at Chennai, Warangal and Navi Mumbai respectively. In terms of international collaboration, we have tie ups with Queen Margaret University, UK, EMI Normandie and Groupe ESSCA, France.

Students can move to ESSCA or EMI for three months under this collaboration. The tie up with NUS for HR and retail management courses allows our students to pursue a Certification Program on “Design Thinking.”

Careers360: Please give some details about accreditation of the ITM Navi Mumbai.
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: PGDM programmes at Navi Mumbai is accredited by NBA. We are also AICTE accredited and have the equivalence of MBA for our PGDM programmes. This allows us autonomy to decide our curriculum which is industry oriented.

Watch the interview with Dr. Lakshmi Mohan, Director, ITM Business School Navi Mumbai

Careers360: What are the courses offered at ITM Navi Mumbai?
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai offers 10 PGDM specializations. The ITM Navi Mumbai courses include PGDM in Marketing, Finance, Digital Marketing Management, Human Resources Management, Retail Management & Marketing, Operations & Supply Chain Management. Other popular new age PGDM programmes are in Business Analytics, International Business, Financial Markets and FinTech.

Careers360: What are the facilities offered at ITM Business School?
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: ITM Navi Mumbai is located in Kharghar. The autonomous ITM campus is well connected and has all needed modern facilities. The campus is wifi enabled and hosts hostels (boys and girls) that can accommodate 500 students. The hostel also provides four meals and has respective wardens (one for girls and one for boys). A well-stocked library and the various labs form part of the campus. Students can access the 24x7 medical facilities available at the campus. In addition, ITM Kharghar also has facilities like gym, indoor outdoor games, cafeteria, auditorium, amphitheatre to name a few.

Careers360: What is the diversity ratio at ITM Navi Mumbai in terms of gender, streams etc.?
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: “We call ourselves the university of diversity.”We encourage students from Kashmir to Kanyakumari because that creates the culture of diversity. Any student who joins the corporate world needs to work with people from diverse backgrounds. This is what we wish to create on our campus also. So, students of ITM Mumbai get experiential learning on this aspect at the campus itself.

Female students at ITM Navi Mumbai comprise about 41% of the students while the remaining are male students. As for region- about 30% of the students are from Mumbai while the rest belong to almost all states of the country. We have seen a decline in the engineering graduates applying as compared to past years but students from other streams like mass media, art, hotel management etc., are in good numbers. The presence of students from diverse backgrounds helps build a vibrant culture in the campus.

Careers360: Is ITM Navi Mumbai’s PGDM industry oriented? What are the details of the curriculum?
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: Students who join the PGDM course at ITM Business School Navi Mumbai begin with a 2-week foundation course. This is to bring all students to the same level. There are fun elements in this course to allow students to get to know each other.

The first semester curriculum introduces students to all business functions. This allows them to get an insight into the various specializations.

The second semester curriculum deals with the chosen specializations. Students also undergo their internships during this period. One unique thing at ITM Navi Mumbai is students are allowed to attend classes for some days of the week and pursue their projects on other days. This allows them freedom to gain an exposure that is not possible in regular classrooms.

The curriculum also includes social enterprise through NGOs. Yoga, meditation etc. form part of the life style management course that allows students to keep motivated and focused. This is for holistic development of students.The third semester is when placements start.

Careers360: What are the selection criteria at ITM Navi Mumbai?
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: For ITM Navi Mumbai admissions, students must have a minimum of 50% and above in their graduation in addition to valid scores in entrance tests like CAT, XAT, CMAT, GMAT, MAT, ATMA, State CET tests & NMAT by GMAC. Once the initial shortlisting is done, students sit for personal interviews, presentations etc. Criteria like smartness, extracurricular activities, performance in academics are all considered to compute a composite score. This score is used for admission purposes. So, its not one cutoff of an exam that plays a role in the selection process but a combination of various factors.

Careers360: What are summer internships? Please give details.
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: ITM Business School students undergo a 5-month industry internship which allows them to get a glimpse of corporate culture. They get insights on how the industry operates so that they are enabled to align their learning and adapt to the industry. Every year, these internships enable 15 to 20 % students to get placed in the same companies where they have done their internships.

Careers360: Please give details of the placements at ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai.
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: ITM Navi Mumbai placements in 2020 were about 98%. The highest package was 22 lakhs. This was an international placement with Landmark. The average placement was 8.5 lakhs. One of the major advantages for our students is that ITM alumni are well placed in senior positions like CEOs, CFOs, Vice Presidents etc. in various sectors. Here I must say, placements are also dependent on the specialization and the packages varies as per the company and role.

The official website of ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai gives the following details

Careers360: Who are the top recruiters at ITM Business School? Kindly give details
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: Companies from all sectors participate in the placements of ITM Navi Mumbai. Top recruiters of ITM Kharghar include the following

• FMCG - Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Nestle, ITC, Emamietc
• Banks – HDFC last year recruited 55 students. HDFC recruits a good number of students. Most of the banks including IndusInd Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, Federal bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank come for recruitment. 204 students
• Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies that come for placements at ITM Kharghar include L&T Finance and other companies
• Consulting sector firms like Deloitte, TCS, Credence Analytics, Morning Star participate in ITM Kharghar placements. Deloitte in 2021 has picked up 31 students – some during internships and others through regular placements.

ITM is connected to more than 600 companies as a group while ITM Navi Mumbai is connected to more than 300 companies. Placements of ITM Business School for the past year can also be found on the official placement on the website.

Careers360: Why should students choose ITM Business School Mumbai?
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: ITM is known for its industry connect. We create students who are industry employable. Students should choose a school that can give knowledge, skills and at the same time ensure they are employable. We are all that.

We are support our entrepreneurship cell where we look for job creators and not job seekers. Our incubation cell is for this where we encourage students to come forth with their ideas. Our own Capstone project is one good example for this.

Careers360: Any advice to BSchool aspirants?
Dr. Lakshmi Mohan: Every student has to be focused and clear on what they will do in the two years of their study. One important aspect they should look at is the connect with alumni who are well placed and the best guides on navigating the corporate world.

Today’s students are well informed. However, they should check for the accreditations, facilities, placement statistics as well as industry connect while selecting a BSchool.