K J Somaiya Mumbai, MICA Ahmedabad, FLAME University Pune Win IMC Awards 2024; Highlight Competency Development initiatives for in-demand MBA Roles

K J Somaiya Mumbai, MICA Ahmedabad, FLAME University Pune have emerged as the winners with Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively at IMC Awards 2024 held at the 14th edition of Indian Management Conclave (IMC), organized by MBAUniverse.com and hosted by XLRI Jamshedpur on September 20 and 21, 2024. IMC Awards are India’s most prestigious awards for Excellence in Management Education. The core objective is to identify, document & recognize the Best-practices by B-schools & Universities

The 14th edition of INDIAN MANAGEMENT CONCLAVE (IMC) 2024 was organized by MBAUniverse.com and hosted by XLRI Jamshedpur on September 20-21. IMC 2024 witnessed a confluence of 25+ distinguished speakers including AICTE Chairman, AACSB International Asia Head, CXOs from ITC, UBER, Axis Bank and KPMG and Directors from IIMs, IITs, XLRI, SPJIMR, MDI… The key highlight of IMC 2024 was competition held for IMC Awards for Excellence in Management Education, popularly known as IMC Awards. K J Somaiya Institute of Management Mumbai won the coveted IMC Gold Award for their newly launched initiative ‘Parivartan’. More than 45 B-schools from all parts of the country competed for IMC Awards 2024.

MICA Ahmedabad won the IMC Silver Award and while FLAME University Pune won the IMC Bronze Award 2024. The Award was presented at IMC 2024 Valedictory function by Mr Prabhjeet Singh, President, UBER India & South Asia and Mr Amit Agnihotri, Founder, IMC & MBAUniverse.com in presence of Fr Sebastian George, S.J, Director, XLRI Jamshedpur. IMC Award 2024 winners were decided by two eminent Jury Members: Dr R K Premarajan, Thought-leader on Competency Management and Professor, OB & HRM, XLRI Jamshedpur and Dr S R Singhvi, Management Consultant; Former Senior Faculty, IIM Indore & MDI Gurgaon.

Organized annually since 2013, IMC Awards identify, document and recognize the Best-practices and successful Initiatives undertaken by Indian B-schools. IMC Awards are India's most prestigious awards for Excellence in Management Education. Here are the details of IMC Awards 2024 Winners and their wining initiatives.

IMC Awards 2024 - Gold Winner 
K J Somaiya Institute of Management Mumbai
Initiative Title: “Parivartan - Enabling Transformation Journeys”
Presented by: Prof. Nikhil Mahindroo, Associate Professor of Practice, K J Somaiya Institute of Management Mumbai.

Key Highlights of the Initiative: K J Somaiya Institute of Management Mumbai’s ‘Parivartan’ is a dynamic framework with two key pillars: Nurturing Potential (NP) and the Student Progression Index (SPI). 

Nurturing Potential helps students recognize their innate capabilities/competencies and take responsibility for their development. Institute identified core competencies/capabilities that organizations seek across sectors, along with differentiating competencies required to succeed in specific roles. To lay a strong foundation, the first year is common for all the students, while in the second year, each student undertakes a major and a minor specialization as per their choice. Accordingly, we have also mapped three differentiating competencies across each of the five major specializations: Finance, Marketing, HR, Operations and Business Analytics & Data Science. The process of nurturing the Potential of our students comprises two aspects: Competency Assessment using a scientific approach and Competency Development through Mentoring Process.  

The Student Progression Index or SPI recognizes that much of a student's transformation happens beyond the classroom. The SPI is a composite score considering 6 parameters as part of the student progression plan. 

IMC Awards 2024 – Silver Winner 
MICA Ahmedabad
Initiative Title: “Establishment of the Data Science and Business Analytics in 2022”
Presented by: Prof. Ashutosh Dutt, Associate Professor, MICA Ahmedabad

Key Highlights of the Initiative: In 2017, MICA recognized the need to address the evolving demands of the industry and the changing landscape of MBA roles. The ability to interpret and analyse complex datasets to mine insights became a necessary skill. This presented a compelling need for MICA to diversify and enhance its offerings to align with industry demands, marking a significant shift from its traditional focus. 

To bridge this gap, MICA introduced the Marketing Analytics specialization in 2017, which was later expanded to Data Science and Business Analytics (DSBA) in 2022. MICA’s goal was to produce graduates who combine strong technical skills with the communication and creative thinking that MICA was already known for, the ideal mixture of left brain and right brain capabilities. Over 200 hours of content were developed, covering a combination of Math, Technology, and Applications in business courses. This extensive curriculum includes programming in Python and SQL, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, AI, and LLMs.

IMC Awards 2024 – Bronze Winner 
FLAME University Pune
Initiative Title: Student Agency 
Presented by: Prof. Sajith Narayanan, Associate Dean, FLAME University

Key Highlights of the Initiative: The Student Agency was born out of the recognition that traditional management programs are falling short in making students be fully job ready from the word go, an aspect that is needed to get placed and thrive in a competitive job market. The Student Agency initiative is an innovative educational program designed to give 2nd year students of MBA (Communication Management) program real-world, hands-on experience by allowing them to run an advertising agency on campus. This student-run agency operates like a professional business, where students come together to form an agency. These Student agencies are responsible to get and manage client projects, providing services like brand identity creation, digital marketing strategies, content development, social media management, and search engine optimization (SEO). Students take on various roles such as Creative Director, Strategy Director, Content Specialist, Media Planner, Performance marketer and more. The initiative is structured to offer students experiential learning opportunities that go beyond traditional classroom education by allowing them to work on live campaigns, engage directly with clients, and handle the complexities of running an agency and doing live campaigns. 

MBAUniverse.com will be soon publishing more details of the IMC Award 2024 Initiatives for the benefit of management educators and decision makers.

Other 10 Finalist who made presentation in the Jury Round were Bharathidasan Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli, Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB) New Delhi, IBMR Group of Institutions, Jaipuria institute of management, Noida, Jaipuria School of Business Ghaziabad, NTPC School of Business Delhi/NCR, SIOM Nashik, Siva Sivani Institute of Management (SSIM) Hyderabad (names in alphabetic order.)

IMC Awards 2024 Themes: Identifying Contemporary MBA Roles & Competencies 
MBA Placement 2024 season has been unlike any other in the recent history. A survey by MBAUniverse.com of Placement trends across Top 50 B-schools in India revealed that this year MBA salaries have come down significantly. Further, the percentage of MBAs who were left unemployed on the date of completion of their program was at a record high. This data must be seen in context of a stable Indian economy, growing corporate sales and booming stock market. Have industry expectations from MBA Program and their graduates changed? Is there a disconnect between Industry talent expectations and the output of B-schools? Looking at the recruitment trends, it seems so…A key trend is hiring MBAs for specific ‘Job Roles’. In this context, IMC Awards 2024 Theme is “Identifying Contemporary MBA Roles & Competencies: Initiatives by B-schools & Faculty”

IMC Awards 2024 Decided by Eminent Jury; Presented by UBER President
IMC Award 2024 was presented at Valedictory function by Mr Prabhjeet Singh, President, UBER India & South Asia and Mr Amit Agnihotri, Founder, IMC & MBAUniverse.com in presence of Fr Sebastian George, S.J, Director, XLRI Jamshedpur.

Mr Prabhjeet Singh is the President of Uber and leads the Mobility business in three countries: India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He joined Uber in 2015 from McKinsey where he was an Associate Partner. Mr Singh is an IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad alumni.

IMC Award 2024 winners were decided by two eminent Jury Members: Dr R K Premarajan, Thought-leader on Competency Management and Professor, OB & HRM, XLRI Jamshedpur and Dr S R Singhvi, Management Consultant; Former Senior Faculty, IIM Indore & MDI Gurgaon. Dr R K Premarajan is a thought-leader in the domain of Managerial Competencies and Career Development. While at XLRI, he was appointed as the L&T Scholar of HR during 2002-2005. Dr Premarajan has more than 30 years of academic and corporate experience. Prior to joining XLRI, Dr Premarajan, served as Senior Executive with the Corporate HRD department of Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T), Bombay in 1994. Dr SR Singhvi is Management Consultant & Advisor and is Former Senior Faculty, IIM Indore & MDI Gurgaon. Dr Singhvi has been a much sought-after marketing faculty at the leading B-schools including IIM Indore, IMI New Delhi, MDI Gurgaon and IMT Ghaziabad. He is widely respected for his emphasis on academic rigor and teaching excellence. Dr Singhvi was a UNDP Fellow at Kellogg School of Management, North Western University, USA and participant in Case Writing and Case Development at Harvard Business School. Prior to his academic career, Dr Singhvi spent more than two decades in managing large enterprises including SAIL in leadership positions. Dr Singhvi has been associated with the conceptualization of Indian Management Conclave (IMC) conference since its inception in 2010.

IMC Awards: India’s foremost Award in Management Education
In 2013, to further the vision of IMC Conference, the 1st Indian Management Conclave (IMC) Awards for Excellence in Management Education, popularly known as IMC Awards, were launched. The core objective of IMC Awards is to identify, document and recognize the Best-practices and successful Initiatives undertaken by Indian B-schools. Today, IMC Awards are India's most prestigious awards for Excellence in Management Education.

IMC Awards Highlights

• Past Awards presented by Former President of India, HRD Ministers, AICTE Chairmen, Global Thinkers and Business Icons
• Award Winners Selected by eminent Jury on the merit of nominated initiative.
• Not-for profit initiative. No registration or participation fee is charged.