Quality leadership begins with an idea that is communicated and embraced by others, says Mr Dalmia (Hon. Secretary)

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Hon. Secretary N.L. Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research Shaliesh Dalmia talks at length about the importance of leadership skills among today’s management students. He goes into detail talking about the good leadership skills that facilitates individuals, companies and industries to think differently about how to do business for the benefit of the stakeholders and the society

Shailesh Dalmia is instrumental in taking the legacy of the Educational Society forward since 1997. His deep involvement, zeal and commitment to education led him to be inducted in the Board of Trustees (Governing Body) in the year 2001. His farsighted vision & leadership qualities elevated him to Hon. Secretary of the Society in Jan 2006.

Read the complete interview below

Q: What are the three things that your institute is doing that will enable it to differentiate itself from competition.

A: N. L. Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research established in 1995, enjoys a stellar reputation in business and management circles. When we started in 1997, we were ranked amongst the top 700 B-Schools across India. Now, we are amongst the top Institutes in Mumbai. Good leadership facilitates individuals, companies and industries to think differently about how to do business for the benefit of the stakeholders and the society. It transforms behaviour, creates new opportunities, inspires decisive action, motivates excellence and represents the best of essential leadership skills.

Quality leadership begins with an idea that is communicated and embraced by others. At our management Institute, we train students to think independently and nurture ideas. This process results in grooming the future leaders. When this exercise is driven by values and ethics, it shapes young students graduating from our business school with leadership qualities that will go a long way in building a civilized, prosperous and progressive society.

Q: What are the top three initiatives undertaken by you that are helping your students become more industry ready?

A: As part of our goal to provide the best in education, we follow the philosophy of Kaizen - Continuous Improvement. We meticulously review our actions from the past and in the present, learn from our mistakes and seek opportunities for making enhancements to be at the top of our game and maintain a forward momentum. Feedback from students, faculty as well as non-teaching staff is given prime importance and is regularly referred to, to gauge our performance and learn from our mistakes and reinforce our strengths.

Our governance of constantly

Our Academic Advisory Council, who are established & experienced industry veterans and scholars, follow a scrupulously designed curriculum to empower our students for meeting the current industry requirements & leave no stone unturned in updating them with the latest trends.

We see our role as an educational Institute as one of the responsibility - of impacting the lives of hundreds of students who walk through our doors every day. At N.L. Dalmia, we believe in going beyond the prescribed minimum degree requirements, and learning beyond the standard curriculum. This happens in the classroom as well as through a growing selection of value added courses such as Big Data and Bloomberg certification programs like BMC and BESS that are conducted outside of college hours throughout the week. We also provide students with international exposure and job opportunities by partnering and collaborating with foreign universities as part of our Global MBA program.

We attract the best faculty from IIMs, IITs and US-based universities with strong subject matter knowledge, decades of industry as well as academic expertise and a sense of global relevance. They integrate the knowledge matter with a contextual understanding of how it applies in the real world, focusing on application and execution rather than on memorizing what the book says and training to answer exam papers. This is done by placing greater emphasis on personal experience, case studies, simulation exercises, discussions and research rather than relying solely on more traditional, passive means of teaching. We encourage and motivate our faculties to pursue PhD and by 2020 all of our teaching staff would have achieved this. Guest lecturers and speakers routinely visit our campus to introduce fresh perspectives and knowledge to students and teachers.

We support our excellent faculty and students with our state-of-the-art facility, which is constantly being upgraded. Our students learn in comfort, in spacious, air conditioned classrooms with Cisco enabled wi-fi systems in every corner of the campus, smart boards in every classroom for recording class notes and computers with the latest industry standard software that will be encountered in the workplace. Our students have access to the Bloomberg Professional Service - the world’s most advanced and flexible information platform -  in one of India’s largest Bloomberg Labs with 12 terminals.

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to qualify for your institution and perform well?

A: Our students are admitted purely on a merit basis through national level aptitude tests such as CAT, XAT, CMAT and others.

To perform well at N.L. Dalmia, we believe in going beyond the prescribed minimum degree requirements, and learning beyond the standard curriculum. This happens in the classroom as well as through a growing selection of value-added courses such as Big Data and Bloomberg certification programs like BMC and BLOOM Berg Analyst that are conducted outside of college hours throughout the week. We also provide students with international exposure and job opportunities by partnering and collaborating with foreign universities such as University of Wisconsin- Parkside, USA as part of our Global MBA program.

Q: Which programme/s would you say is/are your best? What is it that helps your institution differentiate itself for this programme?

A: The Institute trains its students to gain proficiency in latest softwares like Tableau, SAS, SPSS and creates industry leaders with contemporary and cutting-edge courses, workshops, practical training and hands-on experience in Equity Research, Valuations, Technical analysis, Data Visualization, use of NeuroScience in consumer behaviour and working on Bloomberg terminals. The students are also sensitized to the society and have incorporated civic engagements like MSR (My Social Responsibility) activities by adopting the Kondgaon village, wherein high strides on issues of literacy, hygiene and livelihood are undertaken. The Institute was conferred with the Social Welfare and Growth Award for Empowering Social Change through Education at the CSR Journal Excellence Awards at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.  The Institute is proud to be associated with INS Hamla to design a curriculum and deliver lectures for various subjects of management for senior naval officers. The institute has also undertaken 5 different projects in the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation area of Thane for the Maharashtra Police. 

Our recent association with Harvard Business School Online will be useful to both the current students and the Alumni to develop business intuition through interactive learning exercises and join a global community of peers.

Q: What are you doing to improve/drive better campus placements for your current students and alumni? What kind of jobs routinely come to campus? What would you say are the key recruitment trends for your college (observed over the past five years)?

A: The academic rigour of business management courses, the real world exposure that the students get and the industry involvement in management classrooms have pitched the institute amongst the leading management institutions in India.

We have to be relevant to what is happening around us. When the discussions at the World Economic Forum brings forth the possibilities of millions of new categories of jobs being created, it is the responsibility of educational institution and particularly B Schools to prepare the changing workforce to meet the challenges and needs of the fast changing competitive environment.

The institute has a great placement record. Every year, top MNCs and blue chip companies like Hindustan Unilever, Zee Entertainment, Tata Croma, Bennett and Coleman, Kantar, Godrej & Boyce Limited, Citi Corp., CRISIL, CBRE, Factset, Linedata Aditya Birla Finance, Darashaw & Co. Pvt. Ltd., B&K Securities etc. visit the campus for placements.