Prahlad Kakkar, renowned Ad guru in the inaugural session for the sixth batch of Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) and the fourth batch of Fellow Programme in management(FPM) at IIM Raipur here on Thursday said, “A B-school’s job should be to prepare young managers to take bold decisions by teaching them to calculate the risks involved. This will enable them to add greater value to what they do.” .
In his trademark candid style, Kakkar explained the reason a few companies disappeared off the face of the earth was they did not empower the young managers to take bold decisions.
“Senior managers shy away from risky decisions. So, they should act as mentors to the youngsters who are willing to take risks. Only then can a firm be successful”, he said.
He also observed that these days, students were more obsessed with the package that would be offered than the kind of work they would be doing. As a result they get stuck in a job that they are least interested in and have no conviction towards.
“What makes individuals special is the amount of value that they add to anything they do. Otherwise they are just like everyone else- mediocre”, Kakkar added.He exhorted the students to add maximum value to everything they did.
Kakkar also advised students not to sell themselves short for the sake of a hefty package.The session which marked the beginning of the orientation programme for the fresh batches of PGP and FPM students was attended by students of both first and second year.
Ashish Kumar Chauhan, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the Bombay Stock Exchange and Parthasarthi Ray Innovation Economist & Chairman, Indian Institute of Consumer Studies, Mumbai were the keynote speakers.
Welcoming the guests to the institute Prof B.S Sahay, Director, IIM Raipur described how it was moving towards its vision of creating a world class institute, par excellence.
He also elaborated on why the institute gave so much focus on research. “Quality research gives weight to a professor’s credibility”, he asserted.He said that all possible steps were being taken to provide an environment that would facilitate good quality research.
Sahay also mentioned that IIM Raipur was collaborating with more international universities than ever before and this would give more students an opportunity to participate in the foreign exchange program this year. Ashish Kumar Chauhan in his key-note address warned the students about the notion that the MBA degree was just a golden passport to a high paying job.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Aman Kumar Singh provided a glimpse of the new face of Chhattisgarh.
He described the various initiatives taken by the government like addressing the problem of nutrition and achieving a robust agricultural growth rate of 6%.
“Chhattisgarh is a rapidly developing State that is witnessing large scale development in terms of tourism, infrastructure and manufacturing”, he said.