3rd Annual International Conference on “Management & Social welfare”

Decisions in Management and Social Sciences for Sustainable Development


December 14-15, 2009



For more details, please click here (conference brochure).

To download registration form, please click here.



CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Important Dates:
1. Last Date for Abstract Submission: Jun 15, 2009
2. Abstract Acceptance Notification: Jun 30, 2009
3. Last Date for Submission of Full Paper: Sep 15, 2009
4. Paper Acceptance Notification: Oct 31, 2009
5. Last Date for Author Registration: Nov 15, 2009

Sub-themes of Conference:
Ø Human Resource Management and Development
Ø Behavioral Dynamics in Organizations
Ø Financial Engineering
Ø Natural Resource and Environment Management
Ø Corporate Social Responsibility
Ø Rethinking Marketing
Ø Participatory Approaches and Information Building for Community Development
Ø Energy and Clean Development Mechanism
Ø Value Addition in Operational Chain
Ø Statistics for Management and Development
Ø Optimization Techniques and Fuzzy Logic
Ø Decision Making Using Evolutionary Computing

PSM turns a Master

University of Calcutta has approved Public Systems Management course into a Master Degree course and will now be known as Master in Public System Management.

With the rapid growth of the infrastructural sectors and the investment being made by the global companies in India, the demand for management graduates with Public Systems specialisation is increasing. The Indian Institute of Social Welfare & Business Management, the pioneer in the fields of management education, has started the PSM programmes in 1993 with the objective of meeting some of this demand. The unique PSM Programme was taken up at the behest of the Government of India and in pursuance of the recommendations of a Task Force constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India under the Chairmanship of Prof. Ashok Chanda for efficient management of sectoral services. The rational reason behind Task Force recommendation is that management has been generally associated with business activities in the corporate sector with orientation towards profit. However, in functional areas of public service and public benefits also, professional with management expertise are greatly necessary. Accordingly, IISWBM was called upon to conduct specialised management courses in areas like Transportation & Logistics, Energy, Environment and Healthcare & Hospital Management and produce professionals and experts who can help in optimum utilisation of resources and efficient & effective service to the people.

Convocation 2008

iiswbm, celebrated convocation 2008 on 16th Jan 2009. In all 74 students of PGDBM, 89 students of PSM and 9 students of PGDSM will received Diplomas.

The event was presided over by Shri Prabir Sengupta, Shri Satish Chandra Tewary, Shri Chittatosh Mookerjee, Shri D K Sanyal, Distinguished Guests, Media Representatives, our faculty, staff and students.

iiswbm shines at et-citi

IISWBM’s team shines at ET CITI Grand Masters 2008-09

IISWBM’s Team ‘Prayas’ represented by Manish Kumar Singhal and Mayank Vora stood 2nd in ET CITI Grand Masters 2008-09.Competing with more than 200 teams from the Eastern region, they qualified into Top 6 teams on the basis of an Online Case Study. Followed by on campus rounds of Bourse game, Debate and Management Quiz.

On the basis of cumulative scores all these events IISWBM’s team of Manish and Mayank were joint 1st with IIMC and IIFT, Kolkata and finally IIMC emerged as winners after a tiebreaker

MBA - DAY Events

The Events team of the MBA(Day) Department of Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management is a student body which aims at transcending beyond the limits of classrooms and books to achieve a holistic development of the new age managers. The academic year features three major events which are spearheaded by the Events team under the guidance of the faculty and co-operation of the students. The events are:


INSIGHT : The Annual Corporate Panel Discussion
An interaction between the students and industry personnel to enhance the perspective and better understand the functioning of the business world

PARADIGM: The Annual Alumni re-union MBA (Day)
It is a gala get together where the alumni of the first B-school in India get to hob-nob with the young blood, re-live their past journeys, efforts & share their success stories.

MANAGEREAL : The Annual Inter B-School Event
It is an initiative taken to put the knowledge, skills and nerves of tomorrow’s managers to test. It is a platform for B-School students from the length and breadth of the country to interact and share their ideas and views.

The team also takes the initiative to organise various seminars and conferences to broaden the horizons of knowledge.

Genesis 2008

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. - Henry Ford

In this context, ‘GENESIS’, the annual HR meet held by the MHRM department of the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management
(IISWBM) , the first B-School of India , is all set to provide the necessary platform for Beginning and Working together towards Success!

The dates for the most awaited event were 11th and 13th of December 2008.

Theme for Genesis ’08 is ‘Organizational Flexibility: A Competitive Advantage.

Besides Converge, the Panel Discussion, students enjoyed Concur, the whole gamut of management activities ranging from effective interaction with the students of eminent B-schools through management games, to quiz and paper presentations, thereby enabling them to demonstrate their organizing and creative skills.

Interaction is the buzz word, at Confab, the alumni meet, held annually as a concluding chapter of Genesis


The Chief Guest for the ceremony

Mr. Sandipan Chakravortty,
Managing Director, TATA Ryerson Ltd
Chairman,Eastern Region, CII

The Special Guest of Honour

Mr P.K Sahu,
General Manager (HR & IR)
TATA Ryerson Ltd


Manav

Manav is the brainchild of the Dept of MHRM at the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), Kolkata. First started in the year 2004, this annual magazine provides an insight into the minds of the managers of tomorrow. The numerous articles that have paved their way to the pages of the magazine vouch not just for the quality and clarity of thought but also show us how the students of the department think and act. However, it is not just a students’ magazine but a platform shared with equal pride by the esteemed faculty of the department as well. Together it strives to strike a synergy, thereby bringing out the best that one can give. Manav 2008 is also an endeavour in that direction and we hope that with each passing year we create newer and better standards for us to overcome.

Previews from the past...College Days

IISWBM launches new sites

IISWBM launches a new official college & alumni site.

IISWBM goes green!

| Express News Service | Saturday , June 07, 2008 at 01:24:41|

West Bengal is poised to give incentives to green energy projects under a regulatory mechanism and has established a separate corporation to recommend policies. The West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation, which would also provide technical assistance, is open to equity participation in private projects.
SP Ganchaudhuri, director of the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA) and special secretary to the Power department who heads the corporation, said the Central and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions have recommended preferential tariff for grid-interactive green power, but there are no incentives for independent producers of green power, developers of green buildings and such others.

The corporation is a three-way venture among West Bengal Power Development Corporation, West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd, and WBREDA, with each holding a 33.3% stake.

The WBGEDCL is currently preparing a policy on independent green power projects, green buildings and bio fuels, and aims to come out with the policy within a year, Chaudhuri said. The Indian Institute of Social Welfare & Business Management (IISWBM) is helping prepare the guidelines.

The policy would aim at encouraging the use of green energy by real estate developers, civic administration, and common people.

With the prices of petrol and diesel soaring, the state has sharpened its focus on bio fuels and wants a comprehensive policy and regulatory framework in place for jatropha cultivation. Chaudhuri said there had to be a roadmap for promoting jatropha cultivation and the government, besides giving incentives for such cultivation, had to ensure availability of seeds, technology and linkage to the market. “Jatropha cultivation should come under egulatory frame work and WBGEDCL is working on it,” he said.

Chaudhuri said that WBGEDCL was also working as a consultant for other states like Mizoram and the Union territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands in preparing similar policies. Tripura also wants to rope in WBGEDCL as a consultant.

IISWBM President Dr. Pratap Chandra Chunder passes away

[Indian Express, Jan 1 2008]
Former Union minister and educationist Pratap Chandra Chunder passed away at a city nursing home on Tuesday afternoon.
He was 89 and is survived by his wife, Leena Chunder, and four sons. He had been admitted to Apollo Gleneagles Hospital on December 25 with a cardiac problem and underwent angioplasty. However, family members said that his condition continued to deteriorate. He was put on dialysis thereafter and died around 12.30 pm today.

Chunder was born in 1919. He studied law and history in Calcutta University. He later joined politics and became the Minister for Education, Culture and Social Welfare in the Morarji Desai cabinet from 1977-1979. Earlier, he was the Finance Minister of West Bengal in 1968. He was also a member of the state Assembly from 1962-68.

Chunder was also involved with a number of education institutions, including the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), the Asiatic Society, Indian Museum as well as the State Heritage Commission. He had authored a number of books, including Glimpses of Indian Culture: Ancient and Modern.

Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim, who was Chunder’s student, said, “I am shocked to hear of his demise. It is a great loss. Having studied under him, I was close to him and his family and this is a tragic moment for Bengal.”

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and CPM state secretary Biman Bose visited Chunder’s house to pay their last respects and offer condolences to the family. Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi visited the hospital to pay his last respects.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Buddhadev Bhattacharjee today deeply condoled the death of former Union Minister Pratap Chandra Chunder, describing him as a “scholar par excellence”. “His administrative skills and range of wisdom have earned him a special status in our private life,” the governor said in his condolence message.

The chief minister recalled Chunder’s contribution to public life and said that the renowned academician played a significant role by involving himself with different educational and cultural institutions.

“He headed the state Heritage Commission and will ever be remembered by the people of West Bengal,” he said.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said though Chunder was aged and not in good health for quite sometime, his death came as a shock. Mukherjee said he had the benefit of being associated with Chunder as his student in the University Law College and subsequently as a colleague in Parliament when he was union minister.

WBPCC Working President Pradip Bhattacharya described Chunder as a tall political personality.

State Bharatiya Janata Party president Sukumar Banerjee said the nation lost a patriot and great educationist due to the death of Pratap Chandra Chunder.

IISWBM eyes pacts with US schools

[Business Standard / Kolkata December 24, 2007]

Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) is likely to tie-up with The University of Michigan and Kurtztown University in Pennsylvania, for running courses in sports management.

A final decision is likely to be taken by next month.

“The proposal of collaboration came from the University of Michigan. We have not yet taken a final decision on the matter,” said U K Bandyopadhayay, registrar of IISWBM.

The course would include student and teacher exchange programme, and joint research, said Ashoke K Dutta, director of IISWBM.

“We have about 1,800 management institutes across the country. We have to find a niche area, if we have to be distinct from others,” he said.

The institute was also planning to send a team of students to the Beijing Olympic 2008, said Dutta.

“The sports management department has made significant strides this year. Our submissions on the draft National Sports Policy, 2006 , have been appreciated by the Union ministry of youth affairs and sports as well, as the deputy chairman of the planning commission,” he said.

The ministry had also invited the institution's proposals for making the National Sports Development Fund more useful to achieve excellence in sports at the international level, he added.

IISWBM has also collaborated with Institute of International Management Consultancy of Ludwigshafen, University of Applied Sciences', Germany for management courses.

IISWBM Tech Tips Principals

[The Telegraph, Friday, November 23, 2007]

The principals of several city schools are being initiated into the tech revolution sweeping the field of education.

The Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) on Thursday conducted a workshop on new tech tools in education for principals and senior officials of the schools.

The tools can be used both in classrooms and outside.

“The principals and officials were given a profile of course-management software like Blackboard, Moodle, Open Source and Second Life, which are used extensively in the West. They help develop the creative ability of the child and also keep him/her engaged in the process of learning,” said Sudipa Banerjee, a senior lecturer at IISWBM.

The participants were also introduced to concepts like Web 2, vortals (vertical portals), podcasting, open source learning management systems and wireless communication as a medium for imparting education.

The half-day workshop was part of a series of workshops being organised by the institute for teachers and principals. The workshops cover a range of issues, including technology, counselling and vocational guidance.

“The new concepts will enable the schools to play a more effective role in shaping the future of their students,” said Banerjee.

“The teachers should learn new technologies to hold the interest of the students, who are becoming tech-savvy,” she added.

The principals and senior officials of Calcutta International School, Delhi Public School, Ashok Hall, Ballygunge Siksha Sadan and La Martiniere for Girls, among other institutes, attended the workshop.

IISWBM wins AIMA’s National Management Competition

Chayan Bhattacharjee and Sudipto De from Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) Kolkata won the first prize at the 4th National Management Competition organized by AIMA.

The grand finale of the competition was held at AIMA auditorium in New Delhi on August 25. The second winners were Anusha Nadar and Nisha Gandhi from St. Francis Institute of Management & Research Mumbai and Achint Bansal and Ritesh Patel from International Management Institute (IMI) New Delhi were at the third position.

At the final round of this competition, students from 12 B-schools gave their presentations on the theme- “Seventy Million Employable Indians: Strategy for Global Competitiveness”. These B-schools include S P Jain Institute of Management & Research Mumbai; Birla Institute of Management & Technology Delhi; Rai Business School Delhi; Annex College of Management & Reserch Mumbai.

Dr Y V Verma Director- HR & MS of LG Electronics was the chief guest at the event.

The competition was kick-off with an address by Mr Kamal Singh, Director-CMD, AIMA. In his welcome address, Mr Singh said, “AIMA’s objective is to build managerial excellence in our country. This competition is created to recognize budding managers in Indian B-schools. The competition has received tremendous response.”

Mr Alok Bhardwaj, Vice President of Canon India, earlier in his keynote address said, “The whole mindset of Indian industry has changed today. We can be globally competitive by harnessing our talent and other natural advantages.”

The list of the competition jury included Mr Rajiv Sahdev, General Manager Moser Baer; Mr Rakesh Sahay, DGM, NTPC; Dr Mohan Agarwal, Director of Jaypee Business School and notes management consultant Mr Rajiv Khurana.

When MBAUniverse.com asked Mr Buasrai, Executive Director of IBM and chairman of the competition jury, to share the elements which judges used in evaluating the performances of the students, he said, “There are several criteria like written text, which we read very thoroughly and presentations. In the presentation, we were looking for originality, creativity and most importantly the content.”

When MBAUniverse.com asked Mr Bhardwaj how these competitions are beneficial for management students, he said, “The students get academic knowledge in their schools but these events are to give a boost to them and to prepare them for real life. These events build on teamwork which is very important.”

Chayan Bhatttacharjee, the winner of the competition, while sharing his happiness with MBAUniverse.com said, “It is our privilege to represent our institute here. We are first batch of Retail Management students. The honour given by AIMA is really touching and will help us grow as a person.”

Winner of second prize, Anusha Nadar said, “It was a great learning experience. Winning is the best part of it. The learning, which we achieved this afternoon, was amazing. We thank AIMA for organizing such programme which is very encouraging for us.”

LG’s Dr Verma summed up the whole event when he shared his experience with MBAUniverse.com. He said, “I think this was a well organized event. The students presentations were good. The theme was also very relevant. India can become a global power house if we focus on our advantages, and that’s the focus of this event today.”

MBAUniverse.com was the media partner of this initiative.

IISWBM 2nd course on disaster mgmt

Financial Express|ECONOMY BUREAU|Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 0143 hours IST

KOLKATA, JUN 27 : IISWBM has announced its second course on disaster management this year. The institute had successfully introduced a six-week certificate course on disaster management last year, which got an overwhelming response from participants drawn from a cross section of industry, government departments and undertakings.
The course is a need-based, intensive and comprehensive one to enhance capacity building of personnel involved in disaster management.

It has inputs to increase knowledge, skills and to help participants to increase preparedness and evolve strategies for prevention and mitigation of sufferings of the affected population.

Among other things, it will familiarize the participants about the organisational set up of the Central and state governments and how to communicate with various bodies in times of disaster, said SP Mukhopadhyay, professor in-charge, disaster management, IISWBM.

The course will commence on July 2, 2007, at the IISWBM campus.

IISWBM'ite make it big with Billiards

The Telegraph: Calcutta:
Calcutta: Like father like son. Sourav Kothari, son of former IBSF World Billiards champion Manoj Kothari, turned professional this year and within few days he has qualified for the World Professional Billiards meet to be held at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds from July 18-22.

The other Indians who will be in fray are defending champion Geet Sethi, Ashok Shandilya, Devendra Joshi, Pankaj Advani, Dhruv Sitwala and Alok Kumar.

The senior Kothari had won the amateur title in 1990 and turned pro the next year. But Sourav decided to go for the professional hunt only at the age of 22.

“I am in very good form and expect to do something noteworthy in the world meet,” Sourav told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

Since Sourav is playing both snooker and billiards, he is scheduled to take part in a snooker meet in Mumbai in June-end.

“Till June-end I will play both snooker and billiards but after that I will concentrate only on billiards before leaving the city on July 15,” the junior Kothari said.

Talking about his plans after the Mumbai meet, Kothari said that he would devote five-six hours a day on board. “Dad will be here and he would do all the fine-tunings in the 15 days,” he revealed.

The management student of the IISWBM had recently made his highest break of 523 while practising at the Bengal Rowing Club for the world meet.

“During the last few days, I have been playing really well and if I can keep this up, you can expect a surprise in July,” he said.

Sourav is expecting tough challenge from the cueists from England, Chinese Taipei, Thailand.

Tips on bio tools

[The Telegraph] [ Tuesday, March 20, 2007 ]

The oldest B-school in the city, in a “first-of-its-kind effort”, is providing industry training to students of its bioinformatics department.

Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) has organised the training and workshop on bio-tools on the campus with help from experts of Chennai-based company Helix Infosys. The programme started on Monday and will continue till Friday.

Bioinformatics is the use of computers to handle biological information, while bio-tools are used to extract information from biological databases.

“Bioinformatics is coming up in a big way but, there is very little collaboration between industry and academia. This is an excellent opportunity for students to get industry exposure,” said Veera Talukdar, head of the bioinformatics department at IISWBM.

The training, being provided to 60 students, will cover a range of topics — from gene analysis and protein prediction and structure to drug designing. Forty of the students are from the B-school. The rest are from institutes across India.

The students are being trained in batches of 30 on software created by Helix to study pair-wise alignment, multiple alignment, protein modelling and simulation. The fee is Rs 1,500 per student.

“The workshop will provide students first-hand knowledge about tools that are being used by bioinformatics companies for research and development,” added Talukdar.

Detailed training will be provided on genetics and proteins. The workshop will also provide an introduction to drug designing. The institute plans to organise an advanced course on the topic in April-May this year.

IISWBM wins International Energy Awards

The Director , Prof Ashoke K Dutta attended the World Energy Engineers Convention on 12th and 13th September ,2006 at the Washington Convention Centre , Washington D.C and received the following 2006 Chapter awards on behalf of the Association of Energy Engineers, India :

Best International Chapter Newsletter

Best International Community Service

Best International Student Chapter

President urges IISWBM to take his PURA project to Bengal villages

Express News Service Kolkata, December 6: President APJ Abdul Kalam on Wednesday urged the Indian Institute of Social Welfare & Business Management, India’s first B-school, to take up his vision of providing urban amenities in rural areas or PURA to improve the lot of West Bengal’s villages.

Addressing the convocation of the institute, Kalam said West Bengal has 37,000 villages with a population of 8 crore, according to the 2001 census. Villages with potential can be grouped into 500 clusters or 20 to 30 each, with a population of 1 lakh, for implementing PURA, Kalam said.



Prof Ashoke K Dutta, director of the IISWBM, in his welcome address earlier, had taken pains to explain how the institute was not like other B-Schools in that it consciously stressed social research and development while seeking to nurture entrepreneurship with novel courses.

The president, as if picking up from here, detailed his PURA vision, which rests on the premise that physical and e-connectivity would provide the villages economic connectivity.



The programme would then lead to knowledge connectivity and market connectivity.

“I would recommend that the institute undertake project work for creation of at least 19 PURAs in the 19 districts in West Bengal,” Kalam said.

He pointed out that India has 300 universities churning out 3 million graduates every year, of whom 90% are employment seekers and only 10% become entrepreneurs or employment creators.

“I am sure many of the graduates from IISWBM will create enterprises in many PURA complexes in West Bengal and improve the lifestyle of our village community and be an active partner in the Developed India Mission,” he said.

In a speech packed with ideas, the president dwelt on a host of issues, from just-in-time management and total quality management to the development of societal transformers and entrepreneurs, peppering the talk with anecdotes from his career as a scientist-manager in the space programme and the Defence Research & Development Organisation.

Earlier, the award of post-graduate diplomas was turned into a brief ceremony since the president was already running late after a series of programmes during the morning. The graduates were simply asked to stand up while the degrees/ diplomas were conferred on them.

However, when the IISWBM official started reading out the names of the medalists, Kalam intervened politely and had a word with director Ashoke K Dutta and took time to present the medals individually to all the winners.

Numercial model of Bengal delta aquifer system developed

Kolkata, Nov 10 (PTI): A three-dimensional numerical model of the Bengal delta aquifer system has been developed by scientists of the US Geological Survey and the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management.

This modelling effort addresses the sustainability of the deep part of the Bengal delta aquifer system as a source of arsenic-free water and to test alternative water management schemes.

A seminar on "Groundwater modelling in Bengal delta" here today referred to the modelling of English Bazar block in Malda district and East Kolkata wetlands by the scientists.

Through these modelling efforts, some questions yet to be addressed were found to be whether the groundwater of English Bazar municipality (at present arsenic-free) would be contaminated with arsenic in the near future and also if pollutants would move from east Kolkata and solid waste dumping grounds and contaminate the aquifers.

The speakers at the seminar discussed what would be the effect of heavy groundwater withdrawal in and around east Kolkata's wetlands on the regional groundwater flow pattern.

IISWBM sources said its scientists had made a breakthrough in groundwater management with the aid of mathermatical modelling, considered a state-of-the-art technique.

The Institute, they said, had set up a groundwater modelling laboratory in collaboration with USGS.

Groundwater modelling is an important tool that helps scientists and engineers understand and manage the groundwater systems and their problems.

India Inc charts the right course

[Mumbai October 25, 2006][Business Standard]
Companies are back guiding management schools and structuring courses for them so that they can absorb the right talent from these institutes.

Pantaloon Retail and e-Serve are actively participating in developing course content for B-schools, jointly certifying courses and later absorbing the trained students in their companies.

Pantaloon Retail, for instance, has tied up with L N Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research in Mumbai, K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Asian School of Management, Bhubaneshwar and Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), Kolkata for retail management courses. The retail chain has sponsored employees undergoing training at these institutes. However, the deal is that the other students will be absorbed into the Pantaloon fraternity, provided they meet the grade.

“For us at IISWBM, such an arrangement makes sense, at least in the immediate context. Other than providing guaranteed placement for the students, it also provides the students an opportunity to get trained in core areas of expertise in the field of retail management. On graduating, the students will be taken on a management trainees by Pantaloon retail and then assigned responsibility post confirmation,” says Gairik Das, course co-ordinator, IISWBM.

This model of tailoring courses benefits both the companies and the institutes – while the companies can reduce costs on manpower training and have a ready source of skilled personnel, trained to suit the needs of the company, the institutes gain credibility by maximising on the placement guarantee while admitting students. The course fee for the specialised Pantaloons retail management course at IISWBM is Rs 2.5 lakh for two years. The current batch has 60 students with 10 being sponsored by the company.

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