BIMTECH held its 30th Commencement Day ‘Deeksharamb’ on June 16, at Greater Noida. Sunil Mithas (Professor at Smith School of Business, University of Maryland), and Prakash Iyer (motivational speaker, leadership coach and a bestselling author) were the guests of honour.
The third wave
Kicking off the Commencement Day address, Prof Mithas — who is also co-Director at Centre for Digital innovation, Technology and Strategy, as well as co-Director at Centre for Excellence at University of Maryland — spoke on ‘Digitalisation and its impact on the economy and job skills required’.
Talking about ‘the third great wave’ of invention and economic disruption, set off by advances in computing and information and communication technology (ICT) in the late 20th century, he said it promises to deliver a mixture of social stress and economic transformation.
It is driven by technologies — including machine intelligence, the ubiquitous web and advanced robotics — capable of delivering many remarkable innovations: unmanned vehicles and mobile technology that eliminates the distance between a teacher and a student.
According to him, “Whether the digital revolution will bring mass job creation to make up for its mass job destruction remains to be seen”. Admitting that digitalisation has ushered in interesting times, he spoke about internet economy and the hopes and fear of digitalisation, sharing some of the factors that are driving this phenomenon today.
In his address, he also discussed the impact of digitalisation on white collared jobs, and listed those that are highly susceptible to digitalisation. At the same time, he reassured the new batch of 2017-19, that management education actually helps graduates get better paying jobs than graduates with technical knowledge.
‘Be brave and determined’
The second speaker for the day was Prakash Iyerwho, after spending nearly three decades working with multinational companies, chose to step out of the corporate world in 2014 to pursue his passion for writing, speaking, and helping other people unleash their ‘leaders’ within.
In his last role, he was the Managing Director of Kimberly Clark Lever in India. Iyer peppered his address with personal and professional anecdotes. “Perception is an important factor which influences our attitude” he believes, illustrating this point in different ways. He stressed on how strong determination, guts and a positive attitude can help everyone accomplish their goals in life. Using Sachin Tendulkar as an example, he showcased how a person can overcome their mental barriers that inhibit their success.
‘Push the comfort zones’
He urged students to push themselves out of their comfort zones and do things they would not otherwise want to do. He urged them to make mistakes, because they bring in the most learnings. According to him, ‘Curiosity is important’ since it pushes people to do more. The focus, he believes, should not be on one-upmanship but on trying and helping others to do better.
He also said that one must emerge as the ‘go-to’ person for everyone. Pointing out that there are no shortcuts to success, he said “one must want it badly”. His PHD formula — passion, hunger for success and discipline — was very well received by the audience.
He concluded his talk by requesting the students to follow the creed of ‘if it is to be, then it is up to me’, which, he says, has been the guiding force in his life.
Staying relevant
Addressing the students, parents, alumni and others in the audience, Dr Harivansh Chaturvedi, Director of BIMTECH, said, “Despite automation rendering human workforce irrelevant, with the right attitude of reskilling and upskilling, we can all become relevant to the times.” Emphasising the differentiators of BIMTECH from other business schools, he highlighted the fact of diversity in the institute’s fraternity, and of a high female density ratio — 40 per cent — in the current batch.
Annual Report 2016-17 of Centre for Innovation and Development of the institute was also released. Dr Abha Rishi, the chairperson of CIED, encouraged students to share dreams of entrepreneurial ventures. Dr Anupam Varma, Dean of Academics and Deputy Director of the institute, concluded the Commencement Day.
Dr H Chaturvedi (Director), Dr IV Trivedi (National Fellow), Dr K C Arora (Registrar), Dr KR Chari (Dean of student welfare) and Prof KK Sinha (Dean of development) were also present at the event.