Course Work

Courses from the Post-Graduate Programme in Management:

This component of the course work aims at providing inputs in various areas of management, which the student might have missed (or might not have covered to a sufficient level of detail) in his/her Master’s level qualification. The student is required to take First Year courses of the Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM). These courses are approximately of three months duration. Completion requirement is similar to that of the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM). Only after completion of PGDM level course work, can the student start with FPM level course work. Scholars who already hold an MBA degree are exempted from this course work requirement.

Fellow-level courses:
The course work constitutes three levels:
    a.    General Core Courses
    b.    Area Core Courses
    c.    Elective Courses

General Core Courses:
These courses are aimed at providing basic knowledge and skills that FPM scholars require for their role as researchers. For this role, the scholar must be familiar with conducting research in emerging issues of management, using the latest methodologies and research tools. To accomplish this, the scholar is required to take the following core courses:
    a.    Research Methods I (Quantitative)
    b.    Research Methods II (Qualitative)
    c.    Case Writing
    d.    Philosophy of Research
    e.    Research Workshop
    f.    Course of Independent Study (CIS)

Area Core Courses:
These courses are designed to provide the scholars in-depth subject knowledge in the broad area of his/her specialization. These constitute 2 core courses in the domain of specialization.

Elective Courses:
Fellow Programme level electives are designed to give scholars a meaningful exposure to contemporary issues. FPM scholars are required to take such electives from their own domain of specialization as well as from other areas subject to their relevance for the proposed thesis work.

Programme Learning Goals (LGs)

LG1: Knowledge Creation
LG2: Research Competencies
LG3: Teaching Ability

Fellow Programme in Management (Residential)

The Fellow Programme in Management (Residential) was started with the objective of developing out-standing scholars for careers in teaching and research. To accomplish this, the Programme provides scholars with relevant knowledge and research skills that help them become specialized researchers, with adequate depth of knowledge in various domains of management.

Programme Overview:

The FPM Programme is largely residential in nature and takes approximately three to four years to complete. During this period, the scholar undergoes course work and submits a thesis at the end of the Programme. The thesis should make a significant theoretical and practical contribution to the discipline of management or to one of its source disciplines.

The FPM Programme consists of two phases. The first phase of the Programme involves course work, followed by a Comprehensive Research Evaluation. The second phase requires scholars to work on their thesis, which involves the preparation of a thesis proposal, writing of the thesis, a final Viva Voce, an examination based on the thesis.

Thesis Work

Thesis Proposal:

The scholar’s research work would start with the identification of a thesis topic (usually based on guidance/advice of faculty members), and getting a Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) constituted for supervision of the research to be done. The Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) is a three member - committee consisting of a Chair, one member from the allied / same area within MDI and one external member from a reputed overseas university. The student is required to work with this com-mittee to develop a research design, leading to the development of a thesis proposal. He/she will then be required to deliver an open seminar on the thesis proposal to the MDI academic community. In case modifications to the proposal are suggested, the scholar has to carry out the modifications and a revised proposal has to be presented within a given time frame. Once the proposal is approved, the scholar may proceed with the research work towards his/her thesis.

Presentations:

The scholar is further required to make presentations on his/her progress - every six months - where the faculty community and Fellow scholars give feedback and suggestions for improvement. The feedback has to be incorporated within the given time frame. The scholar has to submit the progress report with necessary documents and proof of evidence of progress achieved to the thesis committee members, with a copy to the FPM office.

Thesis Writing:

Work on the thesis represents the final phase of the Fellow Programme. The thesis work of the scholar, in consultation with the Thesis Advisory Committee, is expected to provide some original contribution to knowledge on the subject using a robust research design and methodology and should provide evidence of new knowledge.

Thesis examination:

Once the Thesis Committee has approved the thesis, the Dean / Chair (FPM) would appoint a Thesis Examination Committee consisting of the TAC Chair and two external examiners, of which one can be from a reputed institution abroad. This Committee would examine the thesis and then subject the candidate to an exhaustive and rigorous viva voce examination based on the thesis. Based on the comments of the examiners and the oral examination, the thesis may be either accepted as it is or accepted after modifications, or rejected.

Publication Requirement:

The Research undertaken by an FPM scholar is expected to provide sufficient basis for writing papers in refereed academic journals. One of the objectives of the Fellow Programme is to prepare scholars for academic work and research. Hence the final requirement for qualifying for the title of Fellow is to have at least two papers in reputed peer reviewed International journals, in well-known classification lists like Clavariate Analytics, or journals with a Scopus Cite Score. In addition, scholars should publish a Case in Richard Ivey Case publishing / Harvard Business School Publishing, ACRC etc. The scholar should either be a single author or the first author for this purpose. The scholar has to be aware of the anti-plagiarism clause, and may submit the teaching case with teaching notes to one of the above mentioned case collections.

Requirement for Teaching Assistantship:

Since the purpose of the FPM Programme is to rigorously prepare scholars for outstanding careers in teaching/research, there is a need to build collaborative research / teaching skills. Therefore, each scholar is required to work with a faculty member as a ’teaching assistant’ supporting the faculty in teaching which may include teaching, lecturing / case material preparation, course design, curriculum design, grading, etc. FPM scholars are expected to pro-vide 30 hrs. or 03 months in any PGP Programme.

Exploratio - Research Seminar Series

First Seminar
Speaker: Prof. Abinash Panda, Associate Professor MDI Gurgaon
Date: 26 June 2021
The first seminar organized on 26th June 2021 aimed at re-connecting MDI Gurgaon research fraternity, including esteemed faculty, FPM-EFPM alumni, and current scholars. This series sims provide a platform for sharing expertise and experiences of senior MDI scholars from both the current and alumni batches for the benefit of researchers. In the inaugural session, Prof. Abinash Panda (MDI Faculty & FPM-EFPM alumni) spoke about his ‘Experi-ence with Research and Publishing’. He spoke about the challenges he faced while pursuing his FPM as a research scholar, mentors who supported him, how reviewer’s comments were received in the pre-email days and the memories of those good old days. He described the pains he undertook to conduct his research, the toil of compilation, and pushing forward towards his goals with determination despite all constraints. He spoke about the book, The Hero’s Journey, which had a great influence on him.

The talk featured valuable insights on how a research scholar should conduct research, what efforts need to be put in for gaining relevant permissions for initiating research work in companies, the skills needed to accomplish research in a timely manner and the multi-taking required to juggle personal and professional commitments. His inputs on preparing research papers to be publish worthy was invaluable. It was indeed an inspiring saga for all researchers and an enriching experience for the 51 participants.

Some of the golden nuggets from his experience sharing included getting the right mentor, synthesizing and conceptualizing regularly, and standing tall or standing apart. The next seminar in this series will be organized on the last Saturday of this month, i.e. 31st July

Second Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Nidhi Srivastava, Vice President Nielsen Bases
Date: 31 July 2021
The second seminar by Exploration was held on 31 July 2021 and was taken by Mrs. Nidhi V Srivastava (FPM MDI Alumni) on the topic ”My Journey from Research Scholar to a Practitioner”. Ms. Nidhi is a global product leader with Nielsen IQ Bases and shared her insights on the use of consumer analytics to derive a brand-related decision. On asking how her research degree helped her in her job, she claimed that the FPM programme trains the mindset for research. She reminisced her days at MDI, on how the peer discussions at the tea stall and the game of tennis with the fellow scholars enlightened her thinking. She also went on to do institutional research and highlighted how fun it was, while taking the session using marketing analytics. The highlight of the session was the differences and commonalities between FPM and the business world that Ms. Nidhi elaborated on.

Third Seminar
Speaker: Prof. Sumedha Chauhan, Associate Professor - Jindal Global Business School
Date: 28 August 2021
Brief: Prof. Sumedha Chauhan spoke on the topic ‘My Publication Journey’. She advised scholars to read multiple papers. She also advised them to convert subject assignments into papers. She gave a valuable tip of having others critique your paper and learn from the comments of the reviewers. She also suggested citing a few papers from the journal in which you are submitting your paper. She suggested that effort invested in any paper should not go waste. She advised improving it, modifying it, and submitting it again. She suggested that the scholars can get ideas by reading papers. An example of meta-analysis which she gave was to have an appealing topic. She advised going through the last two years papers in A-star journals and collaborating with people with complementary skills. Towards the end, she advised celebrating every success.

Fourth Seminar
Speaker: Dr Sangeeta Goel, Public Policy Consultant SIPA
Date: 25 September 2021
Brief: She spoke on the Topic ‘Case Based Approach to Research’. She pursued her doctoral studies at MDI, from 2011-2015. She has won an Award from Emerald and the Indian Academy of Management. She spoke about the relevance of qualitative sample to conceptual framework. She also elaborated on the potential of such a research to generate rich information and believable explanations. She also focused on the feasibility and ethics of such research.

Fifth Seminar
Speaker: Prof. Ashish Pandey, Associate Professor-IIT Bombay
Date: 30 October 2021
Brief: Prof. Ashish Pandey spoke on the topic ‘Context-specific research in Indian Management’. Prof. Pandey Shared a novel model of relating Atomistic Constructs, Holistic Constructs, Emic research, and Etic research. He also explained about Core cultural ideals such as Panch-Kosh and Karm Yoga; How it relates to history, for instance cultural impact on economic behaviour and historical development of institutions. He then explained about Institutional Uniqueness and Hybridity. Thereafter he shared knowledge on behav-ioural manifestation such as nurturing task leadership, Lajja and Spiritual climate.

Sixth Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Alok Yadav, National Sales Head-Escorts Ltd
Date:27 November 2021
Brief: Dr. Yadav spoke on the topic ‘Breakthrough Areas in Machine Learning —Artificial Intelligence and Role of Open-Source Resources for Research’. He spoke about how there is an increased need to marry traditional approaches in research with emerging technologies and data sources. He spoke about how research scholars for their thesis work generally have limited resources, data availability, information reach etc. So, in this situation can they rely and take help of free and open source resources (FOS) and include MLAI as a research method. In this session, he discussed how MLAI is being used or can be used for domains like finance, marketing, HR, logistic etc. And the FOS available to support research work.

Seventh Seminar
Speaker: Prof. Devasheesh Mathur, Assistant Professor - Goa Institute of Management
Date: December 2021 - held on 8 January 2022

Brief: Prof. Mathur spoke on the topic ‘Qualitative research to create substantive theories’. He spoke about choosing a research design that allows the researcher to maneuver through the maze of paradigms is critical. The session illustrated how to adopt qualitative research strategies for human-centric processes to allow contextualized exploration and explanation of the research questions and why is it important to understand the paradigms of the researcher’s voice and research objective (epistemology), the nature of knowledge (ontology), and the method of knowledge accumulation (methodology).

Eighth Seminar
Speaker: Mr. Anandan Pillai, Director Client Services, Merkle DWA
Date: 29 January 2022
Brief: Mr. Anandan Pillai spoke on the topic ‘Are marketing researchers ready for exponential growth?’. He spoke about the future of technology and how it is going to be complicated with the arrival of metaverse, blockchain, 5G, AI and other cutting-edge technologies. He shared the key learnings from his experience in the corporate sector while excelling in the digital marketing field. He shared some emerging research topics in the field of digital marketing which would be of interest to doctoral candidates.

Ninth Seminar
Speaker: Prof. Anshu Sharma, Jindal Global Business School
Date: 26 February 2022

Prof. Anshu Sharma, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean at the Jindal global Business School, shared her experiences on ‘Academic Metamorphosis —Transitioning from Research Scholar to Early Career Faculty’. She spoke from her experience about the work roles and expectations from teaching, research, administration, and institution building. She advised the need of wearing different hats for different roles. She advised the scholars to look for support and mentoring opportunities, promotional policies, academic culture, and scholarly activities of the educational institution while making a choice on which one to join. She conveyed that the scholarly impact, contribution, and recognition of the institution at the international level should be an important criterion while deciding on one’s career, while embarking on the academic journey. This was a great learning for those research scholars who would like to make a career in academics by joining a higher education institution.

Tenth Seminar
Speaker - Puneet Bindlish, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Date: 26 March 2022

The 10th seminar of Exploratio was an insightful experience with Mr. Puneet Bindlish, who gave a new direction to the conventional modern management-centric research philosophies. Mr. Bindlish shared his views on the paradigmatic stance the indigenous researchers need to take to conduct context-specific studies and enlightened the audience with the use of Indian scriptures to highlight the various paradigms.

Eleventh Seminar
Speaker: Prof. Swanand Deodhar, Assistant Professor-IIM Ahmedabad
Date: 30 April 2022

"Sitting with the Giants: What's it like to work with your idols" the speaker shared his experiences of working with the research giants and the constructive role of criticism in shaping his research work. The event entailed a discussion around the research process, experience, and opportunities in the US and India. The talk covered the experiences of the speaker as he transitioned, Post-FPM, to the US (Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota) for his second Doctoral Program. The idea was to compare experiences of being part of a Doctoral-Level program in two different countries covering the factors that help in adding rigour to one’s research.

Twelfth Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Brajesh Mishra, Director telecom startups mission, Departments of telecommunications, Ministry of communications India
Date: 28 May 2022

The speaker shared his practical knowledge and hands-on expertise on a wide range of research methods. These methodologies provide the researchers with the much-needed flexibility to pursue their academic passions while also adding depth to the results of their research. He discussed the lessons he had learned from his rapid-fire but in-depth experience with an academic fraternity. In particular, how the convergent mixed method research methodology benefited him on the rigor-relevant front, timely submissions despite the interruption caused by covid, and improving his ability to publish.

Thirteenth Seminar:
Speaker: Dr. Shikha Aggarwal, Associate Professor, Goa Institute of Management
Date: 25 June 2022

The speaker assisted the researchers in picking a publication that features a more streamlined scholarly review process and a quicker response time. Based on her ten years of experience working in the industry, conducting research, and teaching, she provided academics with direction by advising them on how to publish their work in reputable publications. The speaker offered research researchers some advice on selecting the appropriate publication to send their articles to ensure that the journal is among the highest ranked.

Fourteenth Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Ronak Batra, Researcher, Mckinsey & Company
Date: 30 July 2022

The research journey requires a lot of exposure to different research methods and tools. In the 14th Exploratio Seminar, Dr. Ronak Batra, a Researcher at McKinsey & Company, provided an overview of the Delphi technique and enlightened the audience about how this technique can be aligned with their research work. Delphi techniques are structured group communication processes in which complex issues where knowledge is uncertain, and incomplete are evaluated by experts using an iterative process. This is based on the assumption that a group of experts and the multitude of associated perspectives will produce a more valid result than a judgment given by an individual expert, even if this expert is the best in his or her field. The defining feature is that the aggregated group answers from previous questionnaires are supplied with each new questionnaire, and the experts being questioned can reconsider their judgments on this basis, revising them where appropriate. The event was meant to strengthen the discussions around the Delphi technique in research.

Fifteenth Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Sanjeev Varshney, Professor of Marketing at XLRI Jamshedpur
Date: 24 September 2022

The knowledge and experience that management consultants bring to the table is highly valued in the administration study as well as in the business world. Dr. Sanjeev Varshney from XLRI Jamshedpur summarised the scope and nature of the management consulting sector in order to respond to the questions that were posed by the research scholars. Following this, he focused on the unique contributions that have been made by individual management consultants and consulting organisations.

SixteenthSeminar
Speaker: Dr. Ankur Joshi – Assistant Professor at FMS- WISDOM , Banasthali Vidyapith
Date: 29th October 2022

Dr Ankur Joshi shared his views on the Topic of “ Interesting Tales of Research”.  He shared his lived experiences and journey as a research scholar at MDI. He encouraged the scholars to never forget the human angle of the research journey. He stressed upon the various ways how the scholars can offload the academic burden and make the journey memorable and enjoyable. His succinct way of articulating his views kept the audience highly engaged during the session. One the Hindi quote shared by him “ Bhag Lo ya Bhag lo” (Participate or runaway) highlighted the importance of active participation with fellow researchers and how researchers should leverage rich experience of professors at MDI.  

He also motivated the scholars to make data collection exercise interesting and relevant by sharing his own story of how he travelled across the country and how he interacted with his family and friends by telling stories and gathering their feedback. Probably one advice from him that can sum up the session could be “ We think that things are not going in the right direction but suddenly it turns in our favour. So never lose hope and keep persevering”

Seventeenth Seminar
Speaker: Prof. T T Niranjan, Associate Professor, Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay
Date: 26th November 2022

The speaker, Prof. T T Niranjan, Associate Professor, SJMSoM, IIT Bombay and an avid rock climber, spoke about and drew parallels between mountaineering and research. He talked about the common facets and virtues encountered in both research and mountaineering. While narrating his personal encounters, the speaker elucidated the vitality and relevance of the virtues of perseverance
and passion while engaging in research as well as climbing mountain. While encouraging to nurture the attributes of perseverance and passion to all those who wished to be good at research or in mountaineering, he advised to develop the ability to absorb failures enroute the ultimate aim. He shared with the audience his adventurous climbing experience over the years and how traversing an unknown journey throws up challenges and the ways to tackle them. By drawing analogy between mountaineering and research, he touched upon importance of team viz-a-viz solo journey in climbing and authorship or research, talked about rigour and relevance, discussed the motivational aspects for both climbing and research.

Eighteenth Seminar
Speaker: Mr. Devashis Rath – Sr. Vice President at Ultratech Cement
Date: 24th December 2022

Mr. Devashis Rath , practitioner in the area of Talent Management, Organizational Effectiveness & Change Management shared his views on the Topic of “ Research implementation in Industry: A practitioner perspective”. He shared his lived experiences and journey as a research scholar at MDI and practitioner with Ultratech Cement. His guidance for conducting industrial research can present several challenges such as funding, access to data and resources, intellectual property protection, collaboration and communication, whoever researchers and organizations must navigate to achieve their research goals and deliver meaningful results for the industry related problem.

Mr Rath enforced rigor and relevance are crucial factors for industrial research, as they ensure that research efforts are well-designed, scientifically sound, and ultimately useful for addressing real-world challenges and advancing innovation. He further motivated on achieving both rigor and relevance in industrial research, it is important to establish clear research objectives, carefully design experiments and data collection methods, use appropriate analytical tools and techniques, and ensure that the results are communicated effectively to stakeholders. Additionally, collaboration with experts in relevant fields, such as engineering or business, can help to ensure that research is both rigorous and relevant.

Nineteenth Seminar
Speaker: Prof. Shilpi Jain, Professor & Area Chair - IT and Big Data Analytics, FORE School of Management (FSM), New Delhi.
Date: 18th February 2023

Brief: 19th edition of Exploratio was delivered by Prof. Shilpi Jain, Professor & Area Chair - IT and Big Data Analytics, FORE School of Management (FSM), New Delhi, who discussed a working paper close to her heart titled ‘Teaching Design Thinking and Sustainability through Social Campaigns on Twitter: A Mindshift Approach’. Through the said research paper, she explained how social media platforms such as Twitter could be made a valuable learning and evaluating tool for design thinking concepts to business management students using an integrative case method. The study helped in understanding how twitter analytics can aid decision-making among the campaign owners (students) and improve their customer targeting through message engineering. The discussion threw new insight into ways of integrating science with practice. It was also insightful in the context of demonstrating inter-disciplinary studies involving marketing, information systems and more. The session was very valuable and enlightening for the scholars in the field of social science research.

Twentieth  Seminar
Speaker:Dr. Deepk Jain – Ex- Assistant Vice President Maruti Suzuki Ltd,
Date:26th February 2023

Dr Deepak Jain shared his views on the topic of “Sustainability: A Race against Time - How to Win the Race”.

Sustainability is a priority area where Academicians, Companies, Governments, NGOs and international bodies are contributing to achieve a common goal. Each stakeholder has a unique role to play and there is a need to synchronize, pool resources and knowledge within all stakeholders to achieve sustainability. He covered the SDG targets that are set by the Government of India and how the various states and union territories are performing on those targets. He also covered the Case study on the successful introduction of LED bulbs and Renewable energy in India, the initiatives of Maruti Suzuki limited along with how to set the Science Based Targets to achieve net zero by 2050 by companies.

Twenty-First Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Manu Amitabh, Dy. Director General, Central Public Works Department, GoI, India 
Date: 25th March, 2023

Brief: As a part of Exploratio, Dr Manu Amitabh (FPM 2007 MDI) and currently Dy. Director General, Central Public Works Department, Govt. of India, Delhi, spoke on the topic "An Engineer-Technocrat as FPM candidate? Musings on how to make it count" on Saturday, March 25th, 2023. He shared his journey and model of his thesis and the challenges faced. He shared his thesis on entrepreneurial challenges in the construction industry immediately after the global financial crisis in 2008. His thesis was based on a mixed method and used the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) for its advantages of reducing bias, being more transparent, and direct conversion of qualitative responses to quantitative data. He was the first one to use it successfully in the Indian context. The main lessons from his journey included (i) write a bit each day (ii) spend as much time as necessary in ideation and planning, (iii) choice of areas to be of interest, (iv) proactive approach with work-life balance. His thesis which examined various elements of the entrepreneurial process concluded that while entrepreneurs display risk-taking behavior, it is no different from the general population in new venture settings.  

Twenty-Second Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Harish Kumar
Title: Strength of the Weak Ties: Relevance in PhD and Publications
Date: 29 April, 2023

Brief: This session covered insights and tips on how to navigate the intricacies of the publication process, including selecting the right journal, crafting a compelling manuscript, dealing with peer review, and maximizing the impact of your research. The session also highlighted the importance of emerging technologies that can be used by budding scholars to design their manuscripts in a more engaging and relevant manner.

Twenty-Third Seminar
Speaker: Harshita Singh
Topic: Fostering student engagement through quality Pedagogy
Date: 24th June, 2023

Twenty-Fourth seminar
Speaker: Dr. Sunita Chugh, Founder: CEEE India, Director – Grid Consultants Pvt Ltd, Editor – Fortune Institute of International Business, and faculty HR and Leadership @ School of Inspired Leadership
Topic: Living Life a nutritious way: a societal and intellectual perspective
Date: 29th July, 2023

Twenty-Fifth Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Suman Lahiri, DGM (Business Development), LENZE
Topic: Doctoral Research Journey
Date: 26th August 2023

Brief: The speaker for the 25th Exploratio shared his insights from his doctoral journey at MDI, beginning with the process of identifying a research problem to publishing in a reputed journal. He advised some smart practical tips for arriving at a research problem, educated on the data collection aspect, the relevance of literature review in research, and how we can leverage artificial intelligence ethically and beneficially for our research. From the session, the audience was informed about the relevance of pursuing education in a reputed B-school. Dr. Lahiri also discussed the importance of publishing in a good journal and offered some practical tips for moving in that direction. He advised on how and why to maintain a uniform workload for doctoral program throughout, averting a work saturation usually encountered towards the end. Lastly, the session ended with important inputs from the speaker on the research prevalent in contemporary academics, the importance of mixed-method research, and the pros and cons of it.

Twenty-Sixth Seminar
Speaker:  Dr. Shallini Taneja, Associate Professor, FORE School of Management
Topic: Living the PhD Journey - Reflections & Way Forward
Date: 8th October, 2023

Brief: The 26th session of Exploratio saw Dr. Shallini Taneja sharing the importance of networking in a doctoral journey and research. She expressed how networking helped her immensely in her doctoral endeavors and why a scholar must not shy away from taking some time out and interact with people, whether it is fellow students from their own or other domains or it is professors, or other part-time industry practitioners. Sharing her own experience, Dr Taneja informed the audience of various hurdles that could come during data collection and how to prepare oneself to confront them. The speaker concluded the talk by preaching the mantra of networking and socializing to the doctoral audience. The talk had a lot of practical utility, was inspirational and valuable for budding research scholars, and showed the path for persistence and relentless pursuit toward one's long-term goals.

Twenty - Seventh Seminar
Speaker: Prof. Sakhhi Chhabra, Assistant Professor, Marketing, XLRI Delhi-NCR
Topic: To Hustle the Hurdles: From Student to a Scholar
Date: 04 November, 2023

Brief: Prof. Sakhhi Chhabra shared her experiences of FPM journey on how to hustle her hurdles, in a way, from hustler to achiever. She provided her enriching experience of the journey full of uncertainties. She explained  how the FPM journey is entirely individualistic. The speaker deliberated upon the academic profession talking about the work-life balance, time management aspect, and the preferred routine in the domain. She also talked about the future rewards awaiting in the field of academics in terms of incremental knowledge gain and multiple research and consulting opportunities. Prof. Sakhhi harped upon the necessity to have a collaborative work without shying away in sharing each other’s work. Elaborating how discussion is the key to achieve new edge in the research process, she informed that one needs to complement the same with effective utilization of the resources at the disposal. Finally, she affirmed that, in academics, money comes but with time and patience. Overall, the session was a very much practice aligned and offered basic insights into the FPM journey and the academic profession beyond.
 

Twenty - Eighth Seminar

Speaker: Prof. Joffi Thomas, Professor, Marketing, at IIM Kozhikode
Topic: Ongoing exploration into the Management Learning Process and Impacting Management Practice
Date: 25 November, 2023

Professor Thomas began the conversation to inspire current scholars by sharing his journey as a scholar at MDI and then as a faculty at IIM Kozhikode, Professor Thomas emphasized the importance of experimentation during the journey of a scholar as it will lead to enriching experiences. Professor Thomas highlights the role of the experiential learning cycle in comprehending management theories. Professor Thomas highlighted that research involves gaining deep knowledge of a subject area while also at the same time being dynamic in identifying changes at the institutional or macroeconomic level which can potentially have a significant impact on the subject area. The rigor needed for research was explained by Professor Thomas and he also made the scholars worry about the fact that the journey of a research scholar is not an easy one and is best with frequent setbacks. The two major career choices for research scholars in the form of Academia and Corporate were discussed by Professor Thomas along with the pros and cons associated with them. Professor Thomas stated that the main goal of knowledge is to be able to view events and objects from multiple perspectives and effectively induce the desired change in the behavior of the learner. The discussion concluded with Professor Thomas sharing testimonials of his students in the PGP Program at IIM Kozhikode and how the course he taught helped them to improve their journey as professionals by being able to successfully apply knowledge gained in the classroom to real business problems. In his ending remarks Professor Thomas impressed upon the need for continuous learning for scholars and how it will help them in time to apply the knowledge gained in academia to solve business problems and provide consultancy services to major corporate houses. 

Twenty – Ninth Seminar

Speaker: Dr. Shweta Jaiswal, Workplace Learning and Employee Engagement Consultant University of British Columbia
Topic: Crucial Epochs: A Narrative of Learning, Research, and Professional Evolution
Date: 30 December 2023

Dr. Shweta Jaiswal in the lecture discussed her journey as a research fellow where she faced challenges as well as successes. Dr. Jaiswal at the very beginning of her lecture emphasized that research and FPM is an individual journey and it is unlikely that the experience of a group of scholars will be the same. She highlighted the importance of being
comfortable with one’s own process and journey and comparison with peers most of the times will lead to stress and anxiety. She stressed on the importance of maintaining a work life balance to insure that scholars don’t get burnt out and are able to sustain a high level of productivity through the long and arduous journey that is FPM. Dr. Jaiswal stated that the process of selecting a research area is critical as the academic journey of a scholar will for the
foreseeable future revolve around it. Dr. Jaiswal provided pointers to scholars in selecting potential research areas by giving due consideration to the interest the scholar in a particular research domain and at the same time insuring that the domain is of relevance to both the academicians and the industry. Dr. Jaiswal shared her insights on how she selected HR Analytics as her area for the purpose of FPM, she impressed upon the need for selecting a
cutting edge research area which will sustain for a long period of time. Dr. Jaiswal concluded the lecture by charting out the potential career paths which scholars can follow post FPM. The three major career options that Dr. Jaiswal highlighted were, Teaching and Research positions in Academia, Industry and Corporate roles and Private Consultancy. Dr. Jaiswal
ended the lecture by stating that the career options with experience cease to be mutually exclusive however scholars should be considerate of their own goals and expectations before selecting any of the options available initially.

Thirtieth Seminar

Speaker: Dr. Gaatha Narang, Senior Analyst, Accenture Strategy & Consulting | Talent & Organization
Topic: Scholar Meets Suit: Navigating the Pathway to the Consulting Landscape
Date: 27 January, 2024

In an insightful session titled 'Scholar Meets Suit: Navigating the Pathway to the Consulting Landscape,' participants delved into the nuanced differences between scholarly research and the dynamic realm of consulting. Dr. Gaatha skillfully guided the audience through real-world consulting scenarios, unraveling challenges, and meticulously mapping each research stage - from 'Problematizing' to 'Implications' - to its equivalent in the fast-paced, client-centric consulting environment. This one-on-one mapping provided participants with a comprehensive understanding of the essential skill sets required, equipping them with the knowledge to seamlessly integrate scholarly excellence into the vibrant practitioner world.

Thirty-First Seminar

Speaker: Prof. Sonam Chawla, Faculty & Assistant Dean, OB&HR, Jindal Global University
Topic: Teaching (Facilitating) Triumphs: Small Changes, Big Impact with Learning Science.
Date: 28th February 2024

Prof. Sonam Chawla provided a very effective session with insightful learning which was aimed to help us to facilitate a learning session. The session was very interactive which helped to have a ground reality of how to deal with the audience. The audience can be of varying demographic characteristics. She provided us with directions on how to engage our listeners and have a wonderful and interactive session. The session showed us how to create a fertile ground to deliver insightful learning. It made us realize how one can dig upon one own knowledge and connect to prior learning as well. It evolved a thought of how to connect with students and the learners when we dig into a session.
It guided us to develop experimentation with the students where one can make the learning like a beautiful journey rather than a goal to achieve. The session evoked that the learning process can be developed as a need that the students will enjoy and connect with themselves. The learning should never be aimed just to score marks. Rather, it should aim to have mental growth of the learners where the theory can be connected to the practical world. This will provoke the students and create a willingness to learn. Finally, the contributions of the session made us think that teaching can be so fun and impactful. Also, one can learn maximum when one teaches or facilitates a session.

Thirty-Second Seminar

Speaker: Prof. Deepak Pandit, Chair Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, BML Munjal University, Gurugram
Topic: The Challenge of doing Applied Research
Date: March 30th, 2024

Attracting enthusiastic scholars ready to delve into the nuances of applied research, Prof. Deepak's latest session on Product Architecture and Assessing Innovativeness in India’s Automotive Sector was a great success. Prof. Deepak explained how product architecture and innovation levels inside companies are related, based on a wide range of actual data and previously published research.
The creative way in which Prof. Deepak established a concrete connection between product architecture and innovation by leveraging publicly accessible data from a well-known Indian automaker was one of the session's highlights. In-depth knowledge about how various architectural strategies can greatly impact a firm's capacity for innovation was imparted to scholars.
The practical ramifications of these findings for businesses working within the highly competitive automobile industry were also the focus of the stimulating and energetic conversations that took place during the event. Scholars also discussed how these insights can be useful to upcoming researchers who want to work in both academia and business. The seminar gave scholars practical methods for fostering innovation inside their companies and a road map for negotiating the ever-changing terrain of Indian automotive innovation.

Thirty-third Seminar

Speaker: Dr. Nikhita Tuli, Assistant Professor, Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad
Topic: What is an Experimental Research Design
Date: 27th April, 2024

Summary: In this edition of the Exploratio Seminar, Dr. Nikhita Tuli discussed the intricacies associated with Experimental Research Design. The session began with Dr. Tuli highlighting the importance of identifying the objective for carrying out research, she elaborated that research is for the purpose of exploration of a new phenomenon or concept, for the purpose of classification and describing an existing phenomenon or object and to finally establish relationships and causality between two events or phenomenon which were previously treated as unrelated or distinct. Dr. Tuli explained experimental research as the testing of the hypothesized relationship between an Independent and a Dependent variable by manipulating the Independent Variable. The seminar moved towards designing an experimental research framework as Dr. Tuli elaborated on the process using examples of her research that focused on assessing the impact of inclusive advertisements vs non-inclusive advertisements. She highlighted the importance of control variables in the research framework to obtain reliable results by factoring these variables in the research design. She concluded the session by discussing a prospective experimental design which dealt with evaluating the use of AI in classroom teaching.

Thirty-fourth Seminar

Speaker: Dr. Preeti Jain, VP - Corporate Finance, Accenture
Topic: From Seedling to Scholar: Achieving Breakthroughs!
Date: 21st May, 2024

In the 34th Exploratio, Dr. Preeti Jain illuminated the power of small, consistent improvements. She eloquently shared how even a 1% enhancement in often-overlooked areas can yield exponential results over time. Drawing inspiration from Toyota's incremental innovation, Dr. Jain emphasized that cultivating minor habits leads to significant transformations. Her insights highlighted the profound impact of aggregation, showcasing how these tiny steps can collectively create extraordinary outcomes. Attendees were left inspired by the notion that remarkable success is within reach through deliberate, steady efforts.

Thirty-fifth Seminar

Speaker: Prof. Alaknanda Menon,  Asst. Professor, Business Environment and Strategy, School of Business Management, NMIMS Mumbai
Topic: Navigating hats and Balancing Academic roles: Research, Teaching, Admin and Consulting 
Date: July 06, 2024

Prof. Alaknanda in the 35 th Exploratio scrambled the collusion between teaching, research, administration and consulting. She focused on providing a balance between these four domains. As a young scholar entering into academia brings a lot of responsibilities and expectations. The individual has to decide and make a balance between these phenomena. Usually, a fresher in academics is expected to have teaching hours ranging from 90 to 270 hrs. 

The availability of courses is distributed among the trimesters. The assistant professor has to take up the core courses as well. Also, the schools might have a combination of UG and PG students. The content, complexity and example of the cases involved for both the groups are really going to be very different. Now, when it comes to research, the fresh entrant is not expected to have publications in the initial five years of the career. But, as time progresses, the expectations are built up and one is involved to have more of publications.

The administration roles are the ones that nobody can escape. One must get involve in such activities no matter what. The administration activities can be either related to placement activities or admission activities or maintenance of the different cohorts of the college. The last important part being considered is the consulting activities. Such instances come with huge money but still, one must balance between the consulting and the research activities.
Thus, it can be concluded that these four are the major elements of the academic profession. It depends on the priority and balance of the individual about how one is going to carry it in the future.

Thirty-sixth Seminar

Speaker: Ms. Anishya Obhrai Madan, Industrial Liaison Officer, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Topic: Overcoming Common Research Challenges: Practical Tips for Managing Time, Resources, and Academic Setbacks
Date: 27th July 2024

36th Exploratio Seminar was held on 27th July 2024. Ms. Anishya Obhrai Madan, Industrial Liaison Officer, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, was the esteemed guest speaker, sharing her valuable insights on the topic, “Overcoming Common Research Challenges: Practical Tips for Managing Time, Resources, and Academic Setbacks.”. Being an alumnus of MDI, Ms Madan reiterated to the scholars that MDI provides them with a lot of critical resources, which they should use efficiently and effectively.

For assignments, papers, and readings, she advised the scholars develop the habit to annotate. They should make a system for how they will keep track of all the amount of work that they’re doing, to ensure it doesn’t become overwhelming later. She reminded them they had to be very efficient in how they use time & balance all the multiple things they do in order to succeed.

Ms. Madan counselled that PhD is a journey which is to be driven by self-motivation. The onus lies on the scholars, thus, there’s more responsibility on them.  And if they don't manage their time well, then it'll lead to delays and reduce research quality. Some strategies suggested by her for efficient time management & utilization of resources were Structured Planning, Pomodoro technique, Eisehower / Covey matrix and so on. One useful Mantra shared by her was “Do, delegate, delete, and schedule” based on urgency of tasks. She also advised the scholars to become familiarized with the language of their profession—the language of their readings, classes, and research papers, to survive.

She emphasized on the significance of the role of mentors in the PhD Journey of a Scholar’s journey. It is important to have someone to guide them through this journey when they’re stuck, whether personally, professionally, or emotionally, which is why support systems are equally important.

In the context of publishing, she remarked that as they go through the journey, they will have to learn how to handle rejections constructively and to take negative comments in their stride. Since it's their work, they want it to be published as soon as possible. But if at first they get negative feedback, not to take it personally but to look at the comments, incorporate them, and end up with a better product. Getting negative feedback doesn't mean the end of their research career. It just means they have to resubmit after incorporating the feedback till it gets published.

On work-life balance, Ms Madan commented that the line in between is not so distinct. In research, it's just managing things with life going on around you. So, the two will come together. And if you’re a working professional, then you have work, research, and life like a triangle, and all 3 are important in your life.

In closing, she concluded, Challenges in research will come up: They are not obstacles, but opportunities to innovate and grow. Each problem encountered will be a chance to deepen your understanding and push the boundaries of knowledge because now you have entered the zone of production of knowledge. The entire journey is a learning experience in itself. You will grow as a person and come out a different person at the end of it.