BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SVKM’S NMIMS ANIL SURENDRA MODI SCHOOL OF COMMERCE
Mumbai
At 7.30 am, the BBA classrooms at Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Anil Surendra Modi School of Commerce (ASMSOC) come alive with excitement and activity as students log onto the Bloomberg terminals tracking stock updates, currency and commodity prices and analysing the data. “We focus on practical training in our classrooms so that our students become good decisionmakers with social sensitivity and a focus on customers,” says Professor Sangita Kher, dean of the institute
located in Mumbai’s Vile Parle area. The emphasis, she says, is on experiential and analytical learning. For instance, in the fifth semester of the programme, a course in Business Analytics is delivered from the USbased SAS Institute. The students are taught Advanced Analytics, Multivariate Analysis, Business Intelligence, Data Management and Predictive Analytics.
It’s the hands-on experience that makes the institute a preferred choice among students who want to study BBA. The whiteboard in Kher’s office lists more than 11,000 applications for 480 seats this year.
During the three-year under-
graduate programme, the students are made to work on actual balance sheet data of companies and given practical lessons on management, accountancy and portfolio and wealth management. “Our programme emphasises not only the development of analytical skills but also rigorous application of concepts, tools and techniques to a wide range of situations faced by managers. The participative learning pedagogy synthesises a strong conceptual foundation aligned with corporate internship experience,” says Kher. The teaching methods include case study discussions, presentations, classroom debates and role plays.
To keep students abreast of the latest developments in the field, the institute invites senior corporate professionals as guest lecturers for five to ten per cent of the classes. Technology plays an important role in classroom teaching—subjects like Financial Modelling, Derivatives, Risk Management and Debt Markets are taught through advanced techniques using MSExcel; students are taken through virtual industrial tours to get a closer look at the functioning of various industries. Besides, lessons in business simulation encourage the students to learn in a virtual environment. The Blackboard technology provides students a repository of all academic information—from assignments to examination and results. With parents viewed as “important stakeholders in their children’s future”, they, too, are given access to the same database to review their ward’s performance and attendance. Periodically, parents are sent emails with updates.
Students can utilise a central library that has more than 55,000 books and an extensive collection of e-journals and research material.
ASMSOC offers a three-year full-time undergraduate programme in BBA, BCom (Hons) and BSc Finance. The postgraduate programmes include MSc Finance, which was launched last year and the MMS which will begin this year as a part of the dual degree programme for students completing BBA from the institution. “With the phenomenal growth in the Indian economy and the rise of homegrown multinationals, commercial enterprises today are looking at people who are flexible and adaptive to
their business environment as well as sensitive to respond to challenges,” says Kher.
The BBA programme is spread across six semesters with a total of 36 courses. Kher says that academic rigour, a contemporary curriculum, innovative pedagogy, industry internship and guest faculty from the industry give this programme an edge over the others. The board of studies includes industry leaders such as the CEO of Crisil, the president of ICICI Bank and senior management from Ernst & Young.
To enable holistic growth, ASMSOC has 11 associations for cultural and sports activities and community services. Under the Social Responsibility Forum (SRF), students have worked on the beautification of Vile Parle station and with terminally ill children.
The Incubation Centre of Entrepreneurship Cell provides assistance to budding entrepreneurs.
Campus placements in recent years have seen companies like Nomura, Tresvista, Future First, Barclays and TATA Capital come to the institution in order to recruit students.