KIAMS Foundation Day Celebrations One Institute, Two Locations

Online, August 23, 2012 (Newswire.com) - 25 November 1990 was an inflection point in the history of the hoary yet contemporary Kirloskar Group. This was the day the illustrious Shri S L Kirloskar laid the Foundation Stone of the Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies (KIAMS).The physical location was Harihar but the intent was National. 22 years on, KIAMS operates proudly from two locations - Harihar and Pune. 25-26 November 2012 saw the Foundation Day being marked in both locations seminars relevant for the students and aspiring managers. The speakers addressing the students on either location included executives from Industry (Mr. Parashuraman, Sr VP, Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts and Mr. Suresh Muke, Head HR, Tata Motors), Public Organisation (Mr. Sanjay Sahay, IGP,Eastern Range, Davangere and (Retd) Col J S Bhullar) and NGP (Mr. Ramesh Swamy, Unnati).

Col. J.S Bhullar in Pune led the charge from the speaker's dais asking students "Do you have it in you?" His speech covered the four P's - Positiveness, Persistence, Perseverance and Professionalism and was aimed at giving students a valuable reference point to help them in their career planning efforts. He talked about leadership qualities and how leadership in the armed forces differs from that in the corporate world, encouraging students to keep an open mind and be ready to grab the opportunities life offered. He told students to work more on their strengths and weaknesses, advising them to have multiple goals to increase chances of success in life. Col. Bhullar also stressed having an optimistic attitude as the key to success.

In Harihar, IGP Sahay raised the question of the idea of implementing management principles in the administration of Government and public sectors. Is there a mismatch between the requirement and the present status of management education and its output, he asked. Do the classical management concepts of Peter Drucker and the like, encompasses the Government sectors- defense, health etc or is it applicable only for the corporate sectors? If the answer is on a positive note, then what are the additional input requirements for the management professionals to be successful in the projects undertaken in the government sectors? The total gamut of requirements like how much of uncertainty s/he can handle, resource crunch, diffused command & control, pressure & stress, type of people to handle etc are unlike in a corporate environment. Developing such management traits in a professional manager in this country will help him/ her work efficiently in various organizations of the government/public sector, he said. This really gave some food for thought to the students who listened to him with rapt attention.

Moving to Industry, Mr. Parashuram his thoughts on some of the challenges and experiences of the Toyota Production System. Market (TPS) competition, he said, was very tough competition. Customers expected good responsiveness, where time was of the essence. TPS helped to meet these challenges. The market also decides the selling price, therefore whether an organization makes profit or loss is ultimately decided by the cost of manufacturing. 70-80% of the price comes from the material cost. Reducing waste is the philosophy of TPS and this helps us to be cost conscious. Anything that does not add value o a product is waste and it is identified and eliminated. Kaizen - continual improvement, root cause analysis, PDCA - all can be deployed towards ultimate customer value.

While Mr. Parshuram focused on TPS, Mr. Suresh Muke in Pune told students about the various HR practices in his company and how many of the practices started by Tata have gone on to be implemented as laws throughout the country. One interesting practice Mr. Muke noted was the 360-degree feedback system implemented in only a few companies.

He talked about how employee satisfaction policies are implemented; the various allowances and perks provided to employees and the safety measures and other schemes to help employees both within and outside the organisation. He also spoke about different meetings organised by the Tata group on a periodic basis, including morning meetings held on the shop floor every day to try and redress any shop floor workers' grievances. He gave valuable tips to students in regard to survival in the corporate culture and how various opportunities are awaiting them.

Finally, Mr. Ramesh Swamy addressed the issue of how to face challenges. Whether an NGO or an industrial organisation, challenges called for use of good Analytical Skills and Interpersonal Skills. An answer to any question depends on how you perceive the question. Communication is the tool to address the challenge of perception - then one can get to the real issue. He illustrate his thoughts with a number of specific examples-

The richness of inputs from experts was shared across both locations of KIAMS. It is such industry sharing that makes the motivation with which the foundation was laid come to a full circle, when the students gain knowledge to become the beacons of knowledge themselves in the future.