Indian Institute of Management Shillong

About College:

The Indian Institute of Management in Shillong is the last of the so called ‘old’ IIMs, though it isn’t quite so old yet, having been established in 2007. Due to the fewer options for management courses in the north-east of the country, the decision was taken to establish this institute, as recommended by the MDONER (Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region). The courses imparted here include the flagship 2-year Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM), a Fellowship programme and year-round courses for the faculty and corporates. There are several international collaborations in place inked by the IIM-S. Examples of collaborators includes the Virginia Commonwealth University, Hamburg Media School, the Ocean University of China in Qingdao and the Nanyang Technical University

There are two very interesting centres at the IIM-S. One is the CEDNER (Centre for Development of the North-East Region). As the name suggests, this provides both short as well as long-term programmes to facilitate the north-east of India. These courses are relevant for the local communities, and work hand-in-hand with the people. On the policy level, the institute has already made a name for itself, having played a crucial role in drafting the sports policy before the South Asian Games 2016 held jointly in Guwahati and Shillong. Sustainability is a crucial requirement in the north-east and so the IIM-S has also done its bit towards the ideal. It conducts an annual conference on the theme known as Sus Con. 

The other unique centre works on business facilitation with China. The course imparted here is known as the PGPEx-MBIC which stands for Post-Graduate Programme for Executives- Managing Business in India and China. Here, the students are trained in Chine language, culture and tradition so that they can work smoothly in China. It is a fully-residential course open to candidates with prior industry experience. The idea is to create a pool of professionals ready to dive into work involving collaboration between the two Asian giants. 

Unlike the IIMs which are even older, the IIM-S never had much of a diversity issue. This is because by the time the institute started taking its first few batches, this thinking had already emerged, so the admissions were done with this being kept in mind. The CAT is mandatory like at the other IIMs, followed by an interview and usually a WAT (Written Ability Test). Overseas candidates need to go via the GMAT route. 

The present campus of the IIM-S remains a temporary one. The move to its permanent 120- acre campus has been mooted and is set to complete soon in a different part of the city. The classrooms are equipped with videoconferencing facilities and state-of-the-art smart interactive boards. Due to the digitization of academics, a lot of sessions here are conducted using its learning management system on the Moodle platform. The library is one of the best stocked in the entire region. It has been named after the Exim Bank as they were the initial funder for this. It also has an automated system to access the books as well as scores of international journals. The hostels are quite well-equipped as they have to be, due to the fully-residential nature of the programmes here. The guest houses here have been tastefully decorated, keeping the heritage of the place in mind. 

The city of Shillong is known for its vibrant culture and especially for its love for music. No wonder, the IIM in Shillong also has a thriving student cultural scene, with a good number of events being conducted the whole year. Sports is another area the entire state is well-known for. That is why, there are a number of clubs towards such interests. There are clubs that cater to co-curricular interests. Those clubs are Con-Quest, Eco-Biz, i-Cube, Markathon, Niveshak, Op-Era and us-HR dedicated to consulting, sustainable business, entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, operations and human resources respectively. In addition, there are also committees dedicated to the hostel, cultural activities, placements, public relations, alumni connect, IT and sports. Symphony is the name of the Literary Committee. 

There are several events as well that are held annually. This includes The Podium which is the annual corporate connect round for IIM-S. Then there is the entrepreneurship summit titled EmergE. The management fest is called Khlur Thma which is held alongside the annual Gold Cup. Udaan is the business conclave while Melange is to connect with the alumni of the institute. A smaller chapter is held in different cities in the month of May, known as Nexus, conducted in the cities where students are undergoing their internships. Even though this is a relatively younger IIM, the alumni network is already quite strong, having made a good name for itself in the industry. IIM-S even has a TEDx dedicated to the institute. 

Due to the reputation already carved, the campus placements have also been improving rapidly. Recruiters for final list as well as internships includes the likes of Deloitte, Dabur, Volvo, Yes Bank, Siemens, Egon Zehnder, Flipkart, Google, GSK, Hyundai, IB, ITC, HSBC, Amazon, KPMG, JP Morgan Chase, Bosch, PwC, Nestle, Snapdeal, L’Oréal, RBI, SBI and Renault-Nissan. This and a lot more have contributed to the high ranks received by the institute across rankings. Outlook India ranked the IIM-S at 13^th among management schools, while the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) placed it at 26^th for the same category.