Know all about ICFAI Business School Mumbai: An Interview with Dr Pritee Saxena (Director)

Q. Tell us something about the institute; when it was set up, vision and mission.

"IBS is a sincere and transparent institute that delivers the promises made to the students, be it academic delivery or placements." IBS strives to transform its students into Corporate leaders of the future.

IBS Mumbai was set up in 1995, since then IBS has been one of the best B-Schools in the country, providing excellent academic delivery and infrastructure to its students. At IBS, we offer innovative and globally accepted programs and opportunities for all-round development.

Its unique and innovative approach to business education focuses on providing the right knowledge, imparting the required skills for enduring success in management careers, and shaping the professional attitude for corporate success.

As practice precedes theory in business, equal emphasis is placed on concepts and applications. This blending of ideas and actions is achieved through various pedagogic techniques like lectures, case studies, business games, the summer internship program, the management research projects and skill building activities.

IBS trains the students through a series of soft-skills lab sessions scheduled over the duration of the program which enhances the personal effectiveness along with communication skills and domain expertise. In addition, case-based learning at IBS helps students develop good analytical skills, increase their risk-taking capability, adapting to change, and achieving a balance between divergent goals of life.

Q. Tell us something about the admission process?

Admission to IBS is purely based on merit and there is no reserved seats /quota of any kind. The process consists of:

1. First round requires qualifying through IBSAT ( IBS Aptitude Test) that is a Computer Based Test (proctored from home), conducted over two hours duration. It consists of multiple-choice questions aimed at testing the applicant’s ability in quantitative techniques, data interpretation, data adequacy, vocabulary, analytical reasoning and reading comprehension.

GMAT ®/ NMAT by GMAC TM /CAT/XAT scores are also accepted in place of IBSAT. The MCQs are split as Verbal Ability: 50, Reading comprehension: 30, Quantitative Aptitude: 30,Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation: 30

2. Next round of selection process comprises of Group Discussion and Personal Interview (GD & PI). It is conducted for admission to nine campuses of ICFAI Business School. Candidates who have a valid score in IBSAT or any other accepted qualifying exam are eligible to participate in the IBS selection process.

3. A Merit list comprising the students past academic performance and scores of GD and PI is prepared and based on a combination of merit and candidates’ order of preference of campus the allotment is done through the centralized admission process held at IBS Hyderabad.

Q. What kind of infrastructure can students expect at the institute? Please elaborate?

IBS Mumbai campus is spread across 150,000 sq.ft. spanning over 4 floors in the prestigious knowledge park , in Hiranandani Gardens, Powai. The campus houses 34 learning halls with a capacity of 70-100 students per learning hall with state of the art learning aids like smart boards, AV facility and Wi-Fi to enable an enriching learning experience for the students.

The campus has the most contemporary SQL & Analytics lab, SAP lab , English language lab, Bloomberg and aptitude lab that help students gain mastery and expertise in Business & Data Analytics, practice in SQL, Power BI, Tableau, Hadoop and Advanced Excel.

The Bloomberg Lab enables the students to get real-time, hands-on market data and certifications that are globally accepted.

In addition to the above facilities IBS has a library that spans over 6,500 sq.ft with impressive collection of more than 35,000 books on Management and other subjects, 21 international and 60 national journals/magazines and around 3,000 CDs. The library also has subscription to 6 major online databases.

We have four cafeterias to provide snacks and meals to over 2300 students and staff along with 2 kiosks including Café Coffee Day and Nescafe.

Our relaxing corners include the alumni lounge, indoor game room and the fitness center and the photography studio

In short IBS Mumbai campus ensures a holistic learning culture through all its thought out amenities for the students.

Q. There is a lot of stress that is being made with regard to interaction with the industry as well as companies that recruit. What are the steps being taken by the institute in this direction?

Industry academia partnership is extremely important for management education. IBS Mumbai ensures this through various initiatives big and small. These include;

1. Visiting faculty judiciously selected from industry to teach courses.

2. Practicing Managers taking a part of syllabus

3. Live projects for industry

4. Guest Lectures by Industry experts

5. Internships

6. Master Classes on specialized areas like Financial Modelling/ data visualization/Use of Martech/ consulting and other upcoming sectors

7. Certifications offered by corporates through their academic assistance.

8. Coaching and mentoring through senior alumni from Industry

Q. Internships are now mandatory as per AICTE guidelines. Does the institute help students with this? If yes how?

Summer Internship Project (SIP) is an integral part of our curriculum and mandatory for every student; who has completed the 1st year of our 2 year Post Graduate Program in Management (PGPM) to undertake an Internship with an industrial/commercial organization for 12- 14 weeks.

The students could be assigned specific projects in Functional Areas like Finance / Human Resources / Marketing / Market Research / Operations where they can add value to the organization's efforts. Such projects may be identified by the organization and are jointly supervised and evaluated by a guide from the organization and our faculty.
On completion of the project, the student is required to submit a report to the organization and also make a presentation before the senior management, which will be evaluated by the organization and institute.

SIP is an 18 Credit compulsory course at IBS

Q. Can you please share details if there is any collaboration with universities abroad?

We have collaboration with Universities in US and Indonesia.

Q. Please share placement statistics with information on the average package, highest and lowest package, number of students placed and details of companies that have recruited.