SDMIMD: Interview with Dr (Lt Col) Prasad S.N (Director)

In this exclusive interview with Careers360, Dr (Lt Col) Prasad S.N (Director) talks about SDMIMD’s journey since inception, admissions, placements and more. Check the entire article for the complete interview where Dr Prasad also talks about SDMIMD’s unique features.

About: SDMIMD is a private institute founded in 1993. Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Institute for Management Development courses include the flagship PGDM, Ph.D. and Management Development Programs, FDP etc. SDIMIMD admissions for PGDM is based on (CAT/ CMAT/ XAT/ MAT/ ATMA/ GMAT) scores and a personal interview.

Careers360: Describe the journey and elaborate on the vision and mission of the institute.

Dr Prasad: SDMIMD was founded in 1993. Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade the Chairman of SDMIMD Mysore set up the college when Mysore did not have any higher education institutes catering to management. SDMIMD’s vision is to be internationally recognised as a unique institution that has pioneered a philosophy of management education and governance that is Indian in ethos and character and global in relevance.

The mission of the institute is to create inspirational business leaders and entrepreneurs who will relentlessly pursue individual and organisational excellence with creative tenacity, intellectual maturity, and social responsibility. SDMIMD successfully deals with change, effective and inclusive value creation for the individual and society. Dr D. Veerendra Heggade has established rural development and self-employment centres in 27 districts of Karnataka. SDMIMD has trained 23 lakh people for two months (full-time residential training for self-employment).

Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Institute for Management Development, Mysore offers a PGDM programme that is AICTE approved. The PGDM programme started with an intake of 60 seats and now has an intake of 240 seats. SDMIMD is accredited with ACBSP and EFMD.

We started an ESG modular specialisation which gives equal importance to the environment, social and government parts along with internships. The institute has partnership relations with several European, US and other Asian bschools including the ones in China, Taiwan etc. SDMIMD provides education in yoga, wellness training and is involved in developing the same in rural areas. The institute has taken two initiatives - one is to integrate all the courses in artificial intelligence, the second is to concentrate on student research. We have a total number of 420 students ( 2nd year and 1st year included).

Careers360: What makes SDMIMD unique in comparison to other institutes?

Dr Prasad: The institution gives importance to ethics and values. Industry leaders come to the campus to interact with students and more than 60 lectures are given by eminent achievers, corporate leaders, social achievers and NGOs. We have a socially relevant project where students spend more than a week with NGOs. Here, students get to know about the unprivileged society and work on a series of presentations to NGOs on modifications that can be made for development.

Careers360: What is the eligibility criteria for PGDM at SDMIMD?

Dr Prasad: Candidates must have secured 60% marks in class 10, 12 and graduation along with valid scores in the entrance examinations like CAT/ CMAT/ XAT/ MAT/ ATMA/ GMAT/ GRE.

Careers360: What is the cutoff for shortlisting of students?

Dr Prasad: Every year SDMIMD cutoff varies but in general it ranges from 68% to 75%.

Careers360: Does work experience matter when it comes to admissions? What are various factors and weightage taken into consideration for admission?

Dr Prasad: We have a three-tier admission process. SDMIMD Mysore admissions consist of two parts - the first part includes a screening of the marksheets, applications, and consistent scores. Weightage for a consistent academic record is 30%, while 20% is for entrance scores, 5-10% for past work experience and 30% for performance in personal interview. The personal interview is conducted by faculty and senior alumni members where the written ability and attitude of the candidates are tested and a merit list is created accordingly.

Careers360: Vernacular medium vs English medium. How much of a role does this factor play in the selection process?

Dr Prasad: We have regular managerial communication courses of 4-6 credits. SDMIMD brings experts from outside to train the students who need English communication skills. A major constituent of the placement is from microfinance companies who want the candidate to know the local language in addition to English and Hindi very well. We give equal importance but classroom instructions are conducted in English.

Careers360: What are the various specialisations available and when are students required to opt for these (during admissions or mid-course)?

Dr Prasad: In first-year, the PGDM course deals with the fundamentals of all branches of management including economics, communication and knowledge seminar which includes fiction and nonfiction works.

A strategic management course is included in the 2nd year that covers activities of all branches of management. Students can choose electives in many areas like Marketing, finance, HR, Operations, Systems, AI, Business Analytics and ESG modular specialisation additionally.

Careers360: Explain what student value addition, internationalisation and accreditations mean for students at SDMIMD.

Dr Prasad: Because of international partnerships with the University of Paw, Paris Business School and others, students are exposed to different people and varied learning. As we have international accreditation students get to meet a lot of foreign faculty who come to the institution to teach them. We have the highest number of research papers in peer-reviewed journals. We also have in-house publications on contemporary issues and case studies. The student learnings in the 10-15 summer internship projects are produced as books.

Careers360: Please explain the benefits of associations with TCS ION, and Infosys Springboard for professional online content and supplementary studies?

Dr Prasad: TCS ION teaches the difference between theory and industrial works to the students. Infosys Springboard has 13,500 courses dealing with things related to soft skills, and ESG. We supplement our ESG specialisations courses with Infosys springboard specialisations.

Careers360: Give details on the activity-based collaborations with the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), CII and how they benefit students?

Dr Prasad: BCIC is one of the largest organisations with more than 900 industry members (Microsoft, Toyota, Alphabet, Google and many more). Around 18 to 19 panels deal with all kinds of interventions and activities. Students and faculty members from SDMIMD participate in programmes conducted by BCIC. We have a platform called SDMIMD BCIC Center for Excellence where leaders from BCIC are invited to address our students.

Careers360: How does SDMIMD ensure diversity – gender-wise and region-wise?

Dr Prasad: In any given year the statewide representation at our campus comes from 18 to 23 states. This year, 21 states are represented in the campus with many people coming from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh etc. As to Gender diversity, we have 49% girls and 51% boys. Out of this, 30% are from engineering, 50% from commerce and 30% from the remaining fields.

Careers360: What are the measures undertaken to ensure industry connect for the students at SDMIMD?

Dr Prasad: We invite industry leaders to address and create opportunities for the students. We have 60-75 lectures from industry people. SDMIMD holds four international conferences in HR, marketing, economics, finance and finally on budgets. Detailed feedback is taken from students and changes are made accordingly. An AI and ML course is conducted by two eminent PhDs and they are very popular among students. We take both written and verbal feedback on how our students perform and what things need to be taught.

Careers360: How is holistic development facilitated at SDMIMD?

Dr Prasad: Students need to have interpersonal skills, regional and gender diversity. We have 23 to 24 student clubs dealing with marketing, technology, silicone and many more. Off-class interactions are much more than in class interactions. SDMIMD conferences are organised by the students thus honing their organising skills. Batches of 10 students are formed to go through 40 books in addition to the textbooks. Each batch then gives presentations on these.

Careers360: How does SDMIMD incorporate technology, sustainability and liberal education in its curriculum, and teaching methodology?

Dr Prasad: We instruct the faculty to formulate questions and problems for students such that they think and analyse to give the answer in spite of using open AI. We conducted two workshops on leveraging AI to research for case studies. Sustainability and ESG is a necessity and useful to incorporate in socially liberal projects every year.

Careers360: Explain how practical training and internships are facilitated at SDMIMD.

Dr Prasad: The 60 day internship programme is facilitated during April and May and is qualitatively evaluated. There will be faculty and industry guides and at the end of internship, a detailed interview will take place. Students present a report which is preserved both in electronic and hardcopy forms. Throughout the internships, students get to work, assess and judge the kind of business they are working with and how the environments of a particular industry can be made better. The personal learnings of the students are listed.

Careers360: Give details on the placement process and the latest placement statistics.

Dr Prasad: We have a placement manager at SDMIMD. We also see regular recruiters coming every year. Placements mostly take place in IT sectors with companies like Infosys, TCS and others participating in the recruitment process. Furthermore, during the past five years, we have had a significant presence in microfinance, banking and more recently, consultancy in all forms. The faculty committee overseeing the placements gets in touch with the industry recruiters and placement manager on a regular basis. SDMIMD gives details of the students to the organisation through placement brochures in both electronic and printed form. SDMIMD placement process takes place from September to March.

If the latest figures are to be looked at - 115 students are placed as of now out of 167. The average salary package was Rs 11 LPA and the lowest package was Rs 7 LPA. SDMIMD highest salary package ranges from Rs 13-13.5 LPA.

Careers360: What are the scholarships available to students?

Dr Prasad: The institute provides admission scholarships, merit cum means scholarships to the students at the time of admission. If a girl student secures 60% marks and above (boy students with more than 70% marks) in the 10th, 12th, graduation and entrance examination they are eligible for Rs 75,000 as an initial scholarship which is adjusted in the 2nd instalment of the fee. The top three students are provided with merit cum means scholarships every term. Every year, SDMIMD spends more than 1 crore rupees for scholarships.

Careers360: What would your message be to MBA aspirants?

Dr Prasad: Attitude is extremely important and thereafter confidence can be built. As youngsters have the energy to work effectively, most organisations give preference to them. So, maintain energy and be physically and mentally fit.

Dr (Lt Col) Prasad S.N: Dr Prasad has over 20 years of experience as an officer in the Indian Armed Forces including 8 years as an aeronautical engineer. Dr Prasad comes with more than 11 years of teaching experience in Human Resource Management, Leadership, Materials Management, Equipment Life Cycle Management and Logistics. Dr Prasad has completed his BE (Mechanical) from the University of Mysore, ME (Automobile Engg) from Pune University and was awarded with PhD from (VTU), Karnataka in the area of Technical Training with an emphasis on using simulators and technology.