Pedagogy at SPJIMR

SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) is recognized as one of the premier business schools in India. SPJIMR is a constituent of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, a trust of national eminence. The Institute grew rapidly from one of the three B-schools in Mumbai in 1981 to one of the top ten B-schools in the country by 1994-1995. Since then, SPJIMR has consistently been cited as a top 10 B-School in India and is noted for academic innovations and pioneering programmes, particularly in the social sector. The guiding philosophy of SPJIMR is “Influencing Practice” and “Promoting Value Based Growth”. SPJIMR sits on a sprawling 45-acre campus and is centrally located in Mumbai. SPJIMR accepts students into its two-year Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM), equivalent to MBA. In this article, we will look at the pedagogy of SPJIMR in detail.

Professors at SPJIMR follow a case-based approach of teaching wherein the participants are expected to complete the pre-reads, analyze them and come up with their recommendations before attending the class. Classroom, therefore, is meant less for teaching and more for interaction where participants from diverse backgrounds put forth their viewpoints adding value to enrich the discussion in the session. Group assignments and presentations make up the highest percentage of weightage in terms of evaluation in every course. This helps the participants enhance their team-building skills, brush up on soft skills and prepare for the corporate world that awaits them. Courses like Decision analysis simulation (DAS) serve as a valuable learning tool to appreciate the elements of business planning, conduct competition analysis, and experience the effects of business decision-making through simulation.

To put to use the theory that is taught in class, SPJIMR offers an ideal platform for its participants to pursue autumn internships at reputed companies spanning the domains of consulting, investment banking, private equity, operations and supply chain, sales, product management and many more. This is different from the practice of summer internships offered at other B-schools as participants from SPJIMR are better equipped with the subject knowledge of their specialization taught in term-4, to solve the challenging problems in their respective domains.

In order to supplement their learnings from the classroom with cutting-edge inputs in their area of specialization, participants from SPJIMR are given an opportunity to pursue a three week long intense, fast-track course, referred to as Global Fast Track (GFT) at top-ranked foreign universities which include (but not restricted to) Cornell University (Johnson School of Management), Michigan State University (Eli Broad College of Business), Darden School of Business (University of Virginia) and Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper School of Business). This programme is mandatory and the project submission made during the course is counted as a part of the credits in the evaluation.

Apart from the mandatory GFT program, participants at SPJIMR are given another opportunity to pursue International Exchange Program (Intex) at partner B-schools to further enrich their understanding in the electives of their choice. The strong academic content of the program that focuses on innovation, analytics and sustainability combined with the cross-cultural immersion makes this experience truly enriching for the participants. This program provides an opportunity for the participants to build upon the concepts covered at SPJIMR. In a similar manner, participants from partner B-schools pursue a few courses at SPJIMR, further adding to the cohort diversity of the batch.

Apart from the common business courses in the first year and core specialization courses in the second year, SPJIMR offers the chance for its participants to pursue a minor degree in the areas of Analytics, Consulting, Finance, Information Management, Marketing and Operations & Supply Chain.

SPJIMR understands the importance of supporting the cause of financially needy participants and hence offers financial assistance/ scholarships to them. Merit cum - Means Based Financial Assistance, Mirae Asset Foundation (MAF) Scholarship and Merit-Based Scholarship are a few initiatives to provide monetary assistance to meritorious and needy students.

Note: The views expressed in this article are that of SPJIMR and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha