Symposium | SDMIMD

SDMIMD Partners with CII Mysuru for Symposium on Inspiring Women to Live Fulfilling Lives

SDM Institute for Management Development (SDMIMD) was proud to be the Knowledge Partner for the Inspiring Women to Live Fulfilling Lives symposium, hosted by the CII Mysuru CSR | HR-IR & Women Networking Panel at the Infosys Mysuru campus on February 14, 2025. With over 160 participants, the event fostered meaningful discussions on various dimensions of well-being.

The symposium featured a keynote address by Dr. Ananthalakshmi Venkitaraman, Founder, EquiBeing Foundation, who emphasized self-empowerment and overcoming self-doubt. Expert-led sessions covered financial, physical, mental, and emotional well-being, with insights from industry leaders and healthcare professionals. Interactive elements, including a fun games session and an open house discussion, further enriched the experience.

Dr. Neetu Ganapathy, who conceptualized and led the event, conducted a session on emotional well-being, highlighting the importance of managing emotions, self-compassion and laughter yoga.

The event was a resounding success, inspiring participants to embrace holistic well-being in their personal and professional lives.

Symposium on Business Services and Operations

The Symposium on Business Services and Operations, organized by SDMIMD, was held on January 24, 2025. The event began with an introduction by Dr. Anand Sasikumar, Assistant Professor, followed by the inaugural address by Dr. S.N. Prasad, Director of SDMIMD. Dr. Prasad emphasized the growing importance of AI in manufacturing and services, highlighting the essential skills that business school students must develop to succeed in a technology-driven corporate landscape.

The keynote address was delivered by Mr. Abhijith M.K., CEO of iiiQ, who provided insights into the evolution of Industry 4.0 and automation. He discussed how technology is transforming companies and the varying levels of automation across different sectors. The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Ellur Anand, Associate Professor.

Following this, a panel discussion on "Industry 4.0 in Business Operations and Services: Opportunities and Challenges" took place. The panel featured industry experts:

Mr. Hariharamahadevan, Director-Manufacturing, Schneider Electric Ltd.
Mr. Kochat Narendran, President, Afcom Logistics
Mr. Rishu Kumar, National Business Manager, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank

The discussion was moderated by Dr. Anand Sasikumar. Panelists explored the role of IoT, AI, and data analytics in driving operational excellence, while also addressing regulatory and compliance challenges in adopting Industry 4.0 technologies. The panel highlighted the increasing focus on sustainability, where technology acts as a catalyst, and emphasized the importance of balancing automation with the human touch in business operations.

The symposium also featured an expert talk by Mr. Naveen Kollatur, COO of Driver Logistics, who examined the concept of the circular supply chain and its relevance across industries. He elaborated on customer perspectives related to the principles of reuse, refurbish, and recycle, emphasizing sustainability in modern business practices.

The event successfully brought together academicians, industry leaders, and students to explore the transformative potential of emerging technologies in business services and operations.

Symposium on Business Operations and Services

The SDM Institute for Management Development is organizing a symposium on Business Operations and Services, with a special emphasis on Industry 4.0 and automation. This event provides a unique platform for industry experts, practitioners, and academics to converge and share their experiences on the transformative impact of technology on business operations and services. The symposium aims to explore the evolving business landscape, where the convergence of physical and digital systems is creating new opportunities and challenges.

Program Schedule

International Symposium 2020

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SDMIMD organized the International Symposium 2020 on January 3, 2020. Prof. Devi Singh, Former Director of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow delivered the keynote address during this annual event and opined that India's growth in post-independence and the challenges and possible solutions for the issues confronting the economy. The symposium was organized to coincide with the annual visit of students and faculty from Mays Business School, Texas A&M.

Earlier, the Director of the institute Dr. N.R. Parasuraman delivered the welcome address and presented the need for faculty-student exchange programs in any higher education institute. Dr Parasuraman gave an overview of the international reach out including international tie-up, international accreditation, international conferences and faculty-student exchanges at SDMIMD.

Dr Akshaya Srinivasan, Professor of Marketing, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, US, accompanying the team from U.S, made preliminary remarks. Dr Neetu Ganapathy, Faculty – Systems and Business Communication and Coordinator gave an overview of the events planned during the symposium. The inaugural session was followed by the interaction and knowledge sharing sessions between the students of SDMIMD and Texas A&M University. The cultural program by both the institute students were scheduled post-lunch.

Earlier in the week, the visiting students had a visit to companies of different sectors and interaction with the heads of the organizations.

CSR Symposium 2019

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SDMIMD has organised One Day Symposium on Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Development on February 26. The symposium was organised in collaboration with European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and Third Sector Research Resource Centre, University of Mysore.

The program was inaugurated by Prof. Hemantha Kumar, Vice Chancellor, University of Mysore. Dr.N.,R.Parasuraman, Director-SDMIMD has delivered introductory talk to the event.

The keynote address to the event was delivered by Prof. Ulrich Hommel, Director, Business Schools Development - EFMD Global Network. Prof.Ulrich has expressed concern that business education is becoming commercial as days passed by. He emphasised that business institutions need to be more responsible towards society. He believes that Corporate Social Responsibility should be embedded in the business eco system. Ethics, responsibility and sustainability must be under-pinned. He also called upon academics towards responsible research in business and management.

The program was designed by distinguished talks, technical lectures, and panel discussion.

Mr.B.Muthuraman, Ex-Chairman Tata International & Ex- Vice Chairman, Tata Steel Ltd. was the distinguished speaker. His talk was focussing around the emerging issues of CSR. Mr.Basavaraju R, Executive Director, GRAAM delivered a technical talk on how to design the CSR projects. Mr.Prasanna V.R, CEO, Sikshana Foundation spoke on ways of implementing the CSR projects.

A panel comprising of Mr. William D’Souza, Executive Director-MYKAPS, Mr. R. Guru, Managing Partner-N.Ranga Rao & Sons, Dr.N.R.Parasuraman, Director-SDMIMD, Dr.M.R.Suresh, Professor of Marketing-SDMIMD have deliberated on “CSR and Sustainability of Interventions: Opportunities and Challenges”. The panel was moderated by Dr.M.Indira, Chairperson, Department of Economics, University of Mysore.

The one day event has culminated with the valedictory talk by Dr. N. Muthukumar, President & Whole Time Director, Automotive Axles Limited.

The symposium has received overwhelming response and was attended by more than 100 registered participants from industry, NGOs and academics.

The program was co-ordinated by the Symposium Chairpersons - Dr.M.Indira, Professor, University of Mysore and Dr.B.Venkatraja, Assistant Professor, SDMIMD.

International Symposium 2019

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On January 7, 2019, SDMIMD organized an International Symposium for the faculty and students from the Mays Business School, Texas A&M University. The symposium inaugural talk was delivered by Dr. Julian Gaspar, Clinical Professor and the Head of the Centre for International Business Studies at the Texas A & M University as the distinguished Chief Guest. In his opening remarks, Dr. Julian Gaspar expressed his views on the changing face of international business which is an aftermath of Brexit and the political risks which potentially every nation has been facing.

The program commenced with Dr. Neetu Ganapathy, Associate Professor, SDMIMD, Mysuru, providing an overview of the program. Dr. N. R. Parasuraman, Director SDMIMD, Mysuru delivered the welcome address and spoke about the changes around the world which are impacting international business.

The second session saw the knowledge of students from Mays Business School being put to test with a business quiz. This was followed by a series of games aimed at team building. In the afternoon session, Kalanubhav, the cultural wing of SDMIMD, showcased the best of Indian culture to the visiting team. The students of Texas University also used this platform to exhibit their talent. The program concluded with a ceremony to felicitate the visitors.

International Symposium 2018

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An International Symposium was held on January 8, 2018 at SDMIMD, Mysuru. The symposium was mainly directed at the students from Texas A & M’s Mays Business School, with whom SDMIMD has an exchange program. Dr. Julian Gaspar, Clinical professor, Texas A&M University and Dr. Pradeep Rau, Professor-Marketing, George Washington University graced the occasion.

The program began with Dr. N. R. Parasuraman, Director, SDMIMD, welcoming the gathering. Dr Neetu Ganapathy, Associate professor, SDMIMD provided an overview of the programme. Dr. Gaspar made the opening remarks and spoke about globalisation and its effects.

Dr. Rau, who delivered the keynote address, opined about the challenges in the field of education. He spoke about the evolution of graduate management education and the diverging trends in global management education across the world. He compared management education in the U.S to that in India. He also elucidated the role executive education plays in the development of professionals and mentioned about the changing trends with respect to executive programs.

Later, the students from Texas A&M university interacted with the students from SDMIMD. Team building and knowledge sharing sessions were facilitated to help them to get to know each other better. Post-lunch, a cultural extravaganza was organised by Team Kalanubhav of SDMIMD. This event showcased the culture of India. The students from Texas also participated during the cultural programme. In the evening, the exchange students visited SKDRDP, Mysuru and learnt about its activities.

International Symposium 2017

A batch of 23 from Texas A&M University, Texas visited the Institute as a part of the Symposium on January 9, 2017. Of the 23, 22 were students who were guided by Dr. Julian Gaspar. ‘Samprati’, the event organization club of the college arranged a warm welcome for the Texas students. As a first step towards providing them the comfort, in new environs each of the Texas students were assigned a buddy from SDMIMD. The team also arranged a lot of games and fun events for the Texas students. The ‘Kalanubhav’ club of SDMIMD put together a wonderful evening complete with dance and music. It was a whole new experience for the students from Texas. They thoroughly enjoyed the whole show and even tried to step into the Indian culture, when they danced to the tunes of Indian music. When they parted, the satisfaction was clearly visible in each of their faces. Altogether, it was a learning experience for them as well as us. Different SDMIMD students who got a chance to interact with them were amazed by their perspective of life.

International Symposium 2016

‘Social Business is not philanthropy or CSR. It is an effort to solve the social problem and making society sustainable. Every social business is entitled to give two returns in Social Business – financial return and social returns’ thus said Paul Thomas, the Founder and Director of ESAF Microfinance and Investments Pvt Ltd (EMFIL), during the keynote address delivered at the ‘International Symposium on Microfinance in India’ organized by SDMIMD in coincides with the visit of International Students from the Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, Texas, USA. Read more>

International Symposium 2016

‘Social Business is not philanthropy or CSR. It is an effort to solve the social problem and making society sustainable. Every social business is entitled to give two returns in Social Business – financial return and social returns’ thus said Paul Thomas, the Founder and Director of ESAF Microfinance and Investments Pvt Ltd (EMFIL), during the keynote address delivered at the ‘International Symposium on Microfinance in India’ organized by SDMIMD in coincides with the visit of International Students from the Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, Texas, USA.

Highlighting the programs of the Micro-credit enterprise development program, Mr. Thomas shared the achievement of the micro finance sector in social, training, women empowerment, counselling and other bunch of other services.

Following the talk by Mr. Paul Thomas a special video talk on 'Intelligence, Ability and Social Responsibility' was delivered by Mr. K. Ramkumar, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, which was very well received by the audience.

Earlier, in his welcome address Dr. N.R. Parasuraman, Director of SDMIMD brought out the challenges confronting management students in Finance with fast-changing global volatility like the present Chinese yuan crisis, and the rise of special social schemes like microfinance which seeks to do what conventional banking has been unable to.

Dr. Julian Gasper, Director, Center for International Business Studies & Clinical Professor of Finance, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University; students from Texas A&M and SDMIMD, faculty members and invites were present.