I joined Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) for the same reason as most of my peers, its illustrious alumni base. If CEOs and top business leaders like Mr. Ajay Piramal, Mr. Harish Manwani, Mr. Uday Kotak, Mr. Mani Ratnam and Mr. Nitin Paranjpe owe even 1% of their success to JBIMS, I knew it was the place to go. But what is it about this institute that developed these ex-students into what they are today? Slowly but surely, I found answers in my first year here:
It is 6:30 AM on a rainy September morning. The class has more students than seats, and everyone is patiently awaiting Prof. Boman Moradian’s second lecture. His first one went on for 7 hours straight, and we all came back for more! One of the most well-loved and respected faculty and alumnus of JBIMS, Prof. Moradian graduated in 1975, and went on to become a director at companies like Essel Propack Ltd and Garware Polyester Ltd. If you ask Mr. Nitin Paranjpe - the current COO of Unilever and JBIMS batch of ’87 graduate - about Mr. Moradian’s lectures, he’d probably recall them with the same fondness we do today. Professor Moradian has been teaching Bajaj-ites since 1977.
Faculty like Professor Moradian are not as uncommon in Bajaj as you’d expect. Students of JBIMS are so thankful for the education they received at this institute that despite their seniority in the industry, they take time out of their schedules to also act as faculty for the batch. Senior executives from companies like Reckitt Benckiser, Everstone Capital, JSW Steel and Amazon have made our learning experience not just based on archaic textbooks and academic cases, but also on real business experiences.
Our understanding of true business fundamentals is further improved due our locational advantage, being located in the heart of Mumbai means close proximity to major offices, allowing scheduling of guest lectures to be much easier, which further supplement the erudition of the batch.
Previously, JBIMS had a batch size of only 60 students, with 30 in one class and 30 in the other. Slowly, this number has now increased to 137 students. Despite the increase, it remains one of the smallest batches amongst top B-Schools in India today. The end result is a classroom where everyone knows each other, creating an extension of our own families, where everyone collaborates and competes healthily, just like we would expect top leaders to.
At first, I thought that these facets of a B-School must be common in all the top institutes, but only after interacting with other B-School students have I realised the gold mine JBIMS is when taken full advantage of. Maybe these aspects are what makes JBIMS the “CEO Factory of India” …
Hindalco Industries
The excitement of commodities in the financial world unrivalled. Since joining JBIMS I have learnt more about metal manufacturing processes, with specific reference to the steel industry, thriving on books such as ‘Cold Steel’, the story of ArcelorMittal’s merger. I believe that the importance of these commodities is essential to the progression of our economy and infrastructure, and creation/managing of greenfield and brownfield projects to the point of sustainability makes for a thrilling and productive experience. Furthermore, mergers and acquisitions within the field allow for better efficiencies within firms, and the kind of skillsets developed through the process are why I believe working at Hindalco Industries will provide for the best and most satisfying post B-School learning and working experience. It also helps to know that we can be responsible for up to over 10,000 Crore Rupees in assets!
- Tigran Wadia
MMS - II, JBIMS