FAST FACTS
Location: Krishna Campus VII, Bhubaneswar
Dean: Professor Deepak Gandhi
Approval/ Accreditation: AICTE approved, NBA and NAAC accredited
Flagship programme: MBA
Student intake: 240
Fees (full course): Rs. 650,000
Board & lodging (two years): Rs. 108,000
Admission test cut-offs: CAT - 79; MAT - 86; XAT - 80; KIITEE - 90
Full-time faculty: 46 (Professors: 6;
Associate Professors: 15; Asst Professors: 16; Lecturers: 5)
Faculty with industry experience (over 10 years): 12
Average placement salary: Rs. 3.45 lakhs
Top recruiters: Godrej and Boyce, Hughes, Juxt Consult, Mahindra Finance, Tata Teleservices
Conferences: Indian Economic Association conference
Student activities: Kolloseum Fest, PEGASUS (HR club business quiz)
Web site: www.ksom.ac.in
Other programmes: MBA (Executive) 24 months; PhD

As you enter the institute, your eyeballs roll at the grandeur of the campus. The impressive infrastructure of KIITSOM has competition from the technology, law, rural management schools and the upcoming institute of fine arts, within the same campus.

Earlier known as the Institute of Business Administration and Training (IBAT) the school is now part of KIIT University, established in 1997 and has 19 constituent schools, 50 academic programmes and 600 faculty members. KIIT University hosts about 16,000 students and is backed by Dr Achyutananda Samanta’s (the Founder Secretary) vision of offering quality education from KG to PG.

Dr. A K Jha, Pro VC & Registrar introduces us to the Dean Dr. Deepak Gandhi, who explains the distinctiveness of the MBA programme. This programme has a greater technology orientation as it includes modules on Enterprise Resource Planning, Systems Oriented Architecture; Product Life-cycle Management (PLM) with Dassault Systems. The students have to complete 35 courses in eight terms spread over two years that include core courses, electives and on-the-job training. The course work is quite rigorous since classes start at 8 a.m and end at 9 p.m, comprising lectures, group projects, presentations and computerised learning assignments. The students are evaluated through a relative grading system based on continual and overall performance assessment. Some resources are shared such as the central facility library, for 24x7 access. This library subscribes to over 10,000 e-journal titles through EBSCO, EMERALD and PROQUEST and also gives access to Ashridge Virtual Learning Resource Centre. “This is a useful resource for us,” says Professor Kaushik Sahu who is currently working on ‘design thinking’ and also holds an industry chair (KIIT-DS PLM Chair).  Some faculty members are enticed by the attractive monetary incentives offered by the institute. “But they should not compromise our interests,” says a student.

KSOM has invested both time and resources in institutionalising research in their system. The Knowledge Centre, Centre for Management Development and the Doctoral Research programme are pointers in this direction. While some of the faculty are research-oriented, others are encouraged to contribute to consultancy projects and publish in academic Journal including their own – the KIIT Journal of Management.

Before the students retire to their hostel rooms, there are several engagements for them, depending on their interests. The interest clubs, as they are called, have five wings: literary, academic (that of functional specialisations), cultural, social, movies and the Student Relations Coordination Committee (SRCC) is quite active and acts as a meaningful interface with the management.