A business school mourns the passing away of Baroness Margaret Thatcher

The passing away of Baroness Thatcher on 7th April 2013 and will be laid to rest on 17th April 2013 is significant to SP Jain Institute of Management and Research

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher

http://www.spjimr.org/discover_spjimr/discover_spjimr.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahu_Shanti_Prasad_Jain

Baroness Thatcher laid the foundation stone for SP Jain Institute of Management and Research. on April 17th  1981. The speech at this function can be found at http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104629

It was the culmination of the efforts of  S. Ramakrishnan, the then Director General of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,(http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/culture/indology/vidya-bhavan.asp )  and his team in garnering support from  Bennet Coleman and the UK Prime Minister's office for its inauguration in founding the SP Jain Institute of Management and Research in the Bhavans campus in Andheri.

In the old SP Jain campus we used to have this foundation at the entrance of the building and would see it every day when we trudged our way to our classroom above the chemistry laboratory, today I am sure it is enshrined somewhere in the new campus.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS was a British Conservative Party politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. Wikipedia

The growth of the SP Jain Institute has been phenomenal but the institute  & students owed credit for its National & International recognition without much history & credibility to Ms. Thatcher.

Thirty two years one cannot  recollect any other Management Institute in India that was inaugurated by a head of State, much less from a head of state of a leading advanced country like UK at that time or even in recent times.

My alumnus Akhil Chaturvedi remembers as a Management Trainee meeting the Swedish expatriate MD of Wimco who had no idea of SPJIMR, when he told him this is the Institute Mrs Thatcher inaugurated and he was from the  6th Batch his reaction was  "WHO?? Mrs Thatcher, REALLY in India??" That set the tone amongst the rest of the corporate hierarchy to look at us as students beyond Bombay University MMS.

SP Jain has grown global today but one should not forget its origins and its connection with Baroness Margaret Thatcher in a era when there All India Radio was the only means of connecting the country and most roads were bullock cart worthy.

A Tribute to Dr. M. L. Shrikant Hon. Dean SP Jain Institute of Management and Research

Dr. M.L. Shrikant has been associated with the SP Jain Institute of Management Research for 25 Years and it has been his relentless efforts that have brought this Institute to be counted among the best in the World.

I was fortunate to be among the first students whom Doctor taught at S.P.Jain and I value my learning from  this great  Guru.
Let us turn the clock back to 1987 when Doctor Shrikanth decided to come back to India and contribute to management education at a time when Indians were waiting for their visas to leave the country.
Doctor  joined as Director of S.P.Jain a Management Institute which was then affiliated to Bombay University for the Master in Management Studies Program.
In 1987 SP Jain had two outstanding qualities, it  belonged to the Bhavan’s family and was inaugurated by Rt. Hon. Margaret Thatcher, the then Prime Minister of U.K.
Dr. Shrikant has  a brilliant academic record; he is a B.S. ( Production) from the Michigan Technology University and an M.S. (Mechanical) at the University of Illionis.
Until 1974 he was one of the youngest CEO’s in India heading Mukand Ltd. He then went back to the United States to pursue his MBA (Finance) at Cornell and finally completed his DBA from Harvard the Mecca for Management education.
We were fortunate to have Dr. Shrikant as  the Director of our Institute and also as our Professor, he taught us to use the Porter's  Framework for Competitive Strategy at a time when Indian corporates were waking up to global competition.
Our Strategic Management project had to use the Porter’s framework. He hand picked several companies for us so that we could have practical experience in using the Porter’s framework.
We still remember he would refer to Mike (Dr. Michael Porter) and we were intrigued, until someone in the class figured that Doc had known Mike at Harvard. Our awe and reverence for Dr Shrikant was amplified after this discovery.  Doc  I still use the Porter framework for strategic mapping and it has never failed me.
It has been a long journey for Doctor and today SP Jain is ranked among the best in the world for management education.
Doctor this has been due to your vision and tireless striving.Doc has worked hard to raise funds to built a world class campus and a team of  outstanding teachers. Thanks to Doc we are proud to be part of the SP Jain family today.
On the completion of your 25 years in bringing quality management education to India and the rest of the world we salute you Doctor.
Doc your legacy will live beyond your time in your students who will use their education to make India and the world a better place for future generations.

Thank you DOC !

Bio : Dr. Shrikant M.L. : Hon Dean, D.B.A. Harvard, M.B.A. (Finance) Cornell, M.S. (Mech.) University of Illinois, B.S. (Production) Michigan Technology University. Chief Executive, Mukand Ltd. till 1974. Director on boards of several firms, in India & U.S., on strategic issues of Management. Areas of interest : Business Policy, Finance, Business Environment & Research. (Photo courtesy SPJIMR).

Cloud Computing at SPJIMR Business School

Today  I had the honor to speak on Cloud Computing to the MBA Students  at India's premier Business School SP Jain (www.spjimr.org).
With an average work experience of more then six years in the IT industry these students are here on a sabbatical to hone their management skills.

S.P.Jain Institute of Management & Research Mumbai 

The students already use Google Services and they are already mature end users of cloud computing.
Many of the students had done great technology projects and were concerned about the fact that the Cloud was a disruptive technology and a game changer.
They  were keen to know what would be the future of the IT services industry in India. I suggested they follow the stock prices of the Indian IT companies :-) to get a better insight on the future of these companies.
At the end of the session the students were  keen to explore a career in Cloud Computing and they will add value to the organizations' that hire them.
It was great interacting with the students and I applaud the faculty of the Business School for introducing Cloud computing in the students academic curriculum.