I am happy to know that XLRI is re-starting the evening program for the working professionals at Jamshedpur. This actually means that a bunch of professionals will get immense benefit from the program which eventually will equip them to lead the future.
The BME course which I pursued almost two decades back helped me in my professional assignments. The faculty members of the institute are truly exceptional not only for their wisdom & qualifications but more importantly the values they uphold. The design of the program gives wide range of inputs to the students.
I am sure many of my corporate colleagues will harness this opportunity and get benefitted.
My Best Wishes to the institute and the aspirants.
When I was doing my B.Tech there were 2 fads. One was to seek an admission in a US university and the other was to write CAT or XAT for admission to IIMs or XLRI. I avoided doing both. I wanted some work experience before I could choose to go back to academics.
I again faced the choice of doing a full-time MBA/ PGDBM or BME at XLRI after having 2 years of work experience. I chose the latter for two reasons: one was to do with financials. I didn't have to quit my job. But, the other reason, and as it turned out in retrospect the more important one, was the ability to test theories I would learn in a real work environment.
As the physicists believe, there is nothing more practical than a good theory, because a good theory has to stand it's ground against severe tests of reality through experimentation and observation, I had a wonderful opportunity to accept and discard theories as they were thrown at me in the course of BME with a strong yardstick of validation in real life.
In BME, I didn't have to merely deal intellectually with the theories, a large number of them I could live and validate through my experience in managing people, union and situations. I could bring new insights to the class room from such experiences and go back with new perspective to handle situations differently. Application of organizational behaviour, strategy, quantitative techniques, finance and marketing as well as business law have had a profound effect on my ability to think holistically as I have moved from job to job within the same company.
I wonder if I would have had such deep appreciation of theories and an ability to modify or even invent them based on different situations if I had gone for a full-time MBA. I am indeed grateful to one of my seniors in TATA Steel who actively encouraged me to take up BME.
Bimlendra Jha
Chief Executive Officer of Tata Steel UK
I was always a fun-loving person. I was cool before it was cool to be cool. People who knew me were surprised when I followed a hard day's work at the Tata Steel Plant with evening classes at XLRI for three straight years. If I had not enjoyed myself, I would have quit on day one. I value most the respect I picked up there for (a) data-driven, fact- based, analytical decision-making, and (b) spotting the parallels in seemingly disparate situations. Some of the decisions we take impact the entire subsequent course of our lives. Though it shaped my destiny, I don't recall weighing the pros and cons of going in for the PGDBM Evening Course at XLRI. My future was beckoning impatiently. I had a long list of targets in my youth. XLRI was my ammunition. It still is.
Firdose Vandrevala
Former Executive Vice Chairman
Essar Steel India
I am glad to know that BME Program is being restarted at XLRI. I wish the program grand success. Here are my thoughts on BME program and how it benefits us: "We live in a world which is fast changing & complex web of people, physical assets, technology, financial instruments, regulations, globalization etc. To successfully lead change, we need to build on diverse functional knowledge, team synergy, optimal utilization of resources & technology. We need to drive culture of innovation, high performance, continuous improvement and global networking. I believe that BME program at XLRI offered me an opportunity to open my mind to diverse considerations which help take better decision, lead people better and manage resources optimally to make positive impact in whatever we are doing in this complex environment."
Indra Kumar
General Manager - Chennai Plant
Timken India
XLRI literally has made man out of monkey of me. When I joined XLRI (though I had engineering degree and some work experience (Tata Steel)), we were lacking a broad perspective to manage the operations and understand the business. XLRI opened up our "third eye" to look at the world from a completely different perspective. Business leaders as faculty were an added advantage in this course.
NK Sharan,
Vice President BEG,
Tata Sons Ltd
Doing an evening program of PGDBM at XLRI is the best thing that I have done in my academic career. It did not only widen my perspective but also gave in-depth academic knowledge of the business world. Professionals in Jamshedpur are indeed fortunate for getting an opportunity of doing such a program in a world class Institution like XLRI without taking any break from work. I have personally benefited immensely in advancement of my career by using the knowledge gained during this program"
Pradeep Srivastava
Chancellor, Baddi University, Himachal Pradesh, near Chandigarh
Former Managing Director
The Indian Steel & Wire Products Limited
(A Subsidiary of Tata Steel Ltd)
When I joined the first batch of the 3 Year XLRI Evening Program, I had 10 years experience at upper middle management level of TATA STEEL and had good practical experience in "Operational Management, HR & IR"
This program not only helped me polish my learning in "General Management, HR & IR" but also gave me a very good learning opportunity in "Communication, Public Speaking and Financial Management."
This helped me to grow faster to the top management level.
Prem Sagar
Former Managing Director
Tayo Rolls
While I learned about Finance, Marketing and Organizational Behavior concepts in the BME program, it also enhanced my strategic thinking, problem solving and presentation skills. Putting in close to 100 hours/week between the day job and MBA program for 3- years (how can I forget that!), taught me how to work under sustained pressure. 17-years later, I continue to leverage these skills in my professional career as well as in my personal life!
Rajesh Agarwal
Procurement Domain Head, NGSC Hyderabad,
NOVARTIS HEALTHCARE PRIVATE LIMITED
I was always interested in doing a stint in Marketing & Sales. Immediate benefit I got on completion of my PGDBM was selection in Tata Steel Marketing team. XLRI evening program and the opportunities that opened thereafter helped me work in various areas of business like Operations, Planning, Commercial and various task forces. I could take up different assignments at different locations with ease. Being practicing managers, there were many opportunities to put learnings from the program to use. These experiences are greatly instrumental in broadening my thinking horizon and dealing with various stakeholders.
Overall a program with many fond memories
Rajiv Mangal
President & CEO at Tata Steel Thailand pcl
PGDBM XLRI 1992-95
The simple truth is that I would never have become an entrepreneur had I not attended the Business Management Evening Program at XLRI. The evening program gave me the opportunity to work and study at the same time - most importantly, it allowed me to finance my own education. I was simply a mechanical engineer going into the program with very little idea of how businesses functioned. XLRI instilled this knowledge in me and gave me the confidence to venture out on my own.
B R Taneja
MD & Whole Time Director, ISMT Limited