Institute of Management in Mumbai | Top MBA College

A 14-day on-field project for MMS first-year students that was started in 2014, where students work with various NGOs for the above-mentioned time duration.

Objective behind the Implementation

To develop students as socially responsible business leaders.
To sensitize the social problems and give them solutions through our initiatives and projects.
To associate with NGOs at the Pan India level and to help them achieve their objectives.
To differentiate our students at the time of final placement.

The Context

A developing country, India has got a lot of scope for social development through different areas of application. However, societal awareness is a big challenge that leads to lack of proper support. To add to this there are areas in society which are not looked at due to social stigma or associated taboo.

Practice

Most of the management institutes give more focused-on management workshops and projects but to differentiate our students and to make them socially responsible we initiated this practice. CSR initiatives were limited to CSR cell students so “Yuva for Seva” has been introduced to give exposure to all the students. This is an on-field compulsory project for first-year students & at the end of the project, they submit the report & participate in a “Poster Competition”. The three best posters are selected and awarded cash prizes.

Students are placed in NGOs across India based on their area of interest and preferred location. This exposure helps them to have actual on-field experience and understand the issues at the grassroots level. This also serves one of the missions of the B school to develop socially responsible, empathetic leaders and help them stand out in placements as nowadays companies prefer socially responsible managers.

Challenges

During the implementation of this practice, we faced various challenges such as placing more than 200 students in various NGOs, continuously monitoring these students’ designing policies and rules, and regulations, accommodating these dates in our academic calendar and evaluating these projects. Important challenges were to motivate students to work in NGO & to convince their parents.

Impact

Through ‘Yuva for Seva’ we have been able to sensitize students and create a sense of social responsibility in them. Application of their experiences in the social service initiatives will help become better management professionals.

Evidence of Success

Students understand the need of the underprivileged section of society and continue to contribute towards various social causes.
Students learn to behave empathetically and carry the mindset in their life journey.
Students learn to work in a team in a productive and efficient manner.
They also learn how a CSR activity can help NGOs.