Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
Observing that previously business schools were focused merely on creating, advancing, and disseminating knowledge, IIM Indore director Prof Himanshu Rai said that with enormous learning sources available today, including the internet, educationists need to curate knowledge.
“We need to practice what we preach, implement the theoretical learning we impart to the students, and also focus on solving real-life problems,” he said during the inauguration of new batches of the Executive Fellow Programme in Management (EFPM – 12th Batch) and Executive Fellow Programme in Management & Governance (EFPMG – 2nd Batch) on Monday.
Lt Gen Devendra Pratap Pandey, commandant, Army War College, was the chief guest for the occasion.
Rai said that IIM Indore, with its collaborations with the government and administrative bodies in the nation, has been proactive in finding solutions and contributing to strengthening the traffic in various cities, empowering women in terms of financial independence, assisting the school teachers of the state in managing time, and much more.
“EFPM and EFPMG have been designed in line with our mission to solve the real-life issues faced by the nation. While EFPM would bring scholars from the industry, EFPMG allows the serving army officers to pursue their academic goals, and the programmes enable the research scholars to work on research that would benefit the nation as a whole,” he said.
He advised the new batch to find what they are passionate about and choose that topic for research because it would help them solve problems they care about. “Make the right choices. You may often be tempted to take a shortcut while you struggle to balance your academic pursuits and jobs. You might be able to achieve your goals, but you won’t feel content. Make sure that if you do something, you give your cent percent to it,” he concluded.
Lt Gen Pandey said that India today has emerged in every field in the international arena and has been able to meet future and global challenges.
“The Indian army has also played a significant role in strengthening the Indian defence system. Programmes like EFPM and EFPGM offered by a premier institute like IIM Indore would further help the army officers augment their knowledge and participate in the research that would benefit the Indian army,” he said.
Lt Gen Pandey said: “There’s no age limit for learning. We have selected serving army officers through a robust selection process to be a part of these prestigious programmes offered by IIM Indore,” he said. The army officers are adept at crisis management and decision-making. These programmes would add to their managerial and leadership skills and assist them in pursuing research in the areas of their interest under the guidance of the able faculty members of IIM Indore.”
