Convocation - 2009

Welcome Address by Director-PGDM

Respected Didi Anjana Hazari, President, Gamdhidham Collegiate Board (GCB) and Chairperson, TIMS Governing council, Shri B.G.Hazari, Trustee, GCB and Chairman, TIMS Advisory Council, honoured Chief Guest Mr. Tarun Hazari, Engineering Project Manager, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, USA, distinguished guests of honour, Shri P.D.Vaghela, Chairman, Kandla Port Trust, Dr.A.H.Kalro, Executive Director, AES PG Institute of Business Management, Ahmedabad and former Director, IIM, Kozhikode, Prof.H.K. Kripalani, founder director of the institute and present Administrator, GCB, respected Didi Kishna Bhambhani, Mrs. Nirmal Gajwani, Chairperson, SRC Ltd., respectable members of TIMS governing and advisory councils, principals and heads of sister institutes, faculty and staff members of Tolani Vidhya Mandir campus, distinguished guests and invitees, Media personalities, my dear faculty colleagues and staff members, dear alumni of TIMS, affectionate graduating and existing students, their proud parents, relatives and friends, ladies and gentlemen:

On behalf of TIMS family, it is my proud privilege to welcome you all to this auspicious occasion – the 13th Convocation of the institute. At the outset, let me join TIMS family to congratulate the graduating students for their successful completion of the prestigious education programme. My congratulations to your families and teachers who provided the supportive ambience and shaped your intellect for you to achieve this academic distinction.

Today, we are indeed greatly honoured to have amongst us, Mr. Tarun Hazari, who in spite of various busy schedules, consented to be the chief guest on this solemn occasion. On behalf of TIMS parivar, I extend , a very warm and affectionate welcome to you sir, and express my sincere gratitude for sparing your precious time to come to this land of desert, all the way from US and bless our graduating students.

An engineer by profession, Mr. Hazari started his journey of education from this Vidhya Mandir Campus only. Upon graduation in Mechanical Engg. with distinction from Tolani Foundation Gandhidham Polytechnic in 1982, Mr. Hazari joined L&T as an Associate Engineer in the Heavy manufacturing division.

After two years with L&T, Mr. Hazari received his green card and went to the United States. There, he did his B.S. in Professional Management from Henry Cogswell College with 100 % CGPA. Soon he was hired by Fairchild Republic Company, as a Design Engineer on the T-46 Airplane Project.

After two years with Fairchild, he moved to Seattle, Washington, where he got hired on by Boeing, where he has been since 1987. He has been in many roles from a Design Engineer to Lead Engineer, to Engineering Project Manager on Boeing’s latest Airplane – 787.

At Boeing, he had been recipient of many awards:

• 3 Weight improvement awards
• 3 Employee suggestion awards
• 2 Cash awards
• 747 Breakthrough award by the then Vice President Jeff Peace
• 2002 & 2003 National Deans List and Collegiate All American Scholar
• 2004 Chancellors List
• And numerous group and individual awards

It is rightly said that there is no age bar for learning. Mr. Hazari preferred to be a life long learner. At the age of 42,he completed his MS is Engineering and Technical Management from WSU, Pullman, USA with 98 % CGPA in the year 2006 only.

On personal and social front, he met his wife at Boeing and has three children studying in high school. His eldest son is going to join the same college, where he did his engineering courses. As a responsible citizen, he is very active in community service activities, by participating in various Community Programs including volunteer for the local food bank. His hobbies include Motorcycle riding, skiing, snowboarding, golfing, fishing, camping, hiking, tennis, table tennis and building computers.

We all are delighted and privileged to have with us today, a highly energetic, self-motivated and inspiring young leader- Mr. Tarun Hazari. I take pride in extending my sincere gratitude and heartfelt warm welcome to Mr. Hazari. Sir, we look forward to your words of wisdom.

It’s also my great pleasure to welcome our guest of honour - Mr. P.D.Vaghela. Mr. Vaghela, an IAS officer of batch 1986 from Gujarat Cadre, is a commerce graduate with MBA ( Finance ) and MBA in Development Studies from Netherlands. He has served the nation in various capacities as Managing Director, GIIC, Secretary, Information department, Commissioner of Gujarat Tourism Corporation, Commissioner of Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation and Collector of various districts in Gujarat. From December 2008, he has taken the charge as Chairman, Kandla Port Trust.

We are proud to have you with us this evening. I am pleased to extend my heartily welcome to you, sir.

I also take this opportunity to welcome our distinguished guest Dr. A.H.Kalro, former director of IIM, Kozhikode. Dr. Kalro obtained his B.Tech.(Hons.) in Electrical Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur in 1963 and his MS and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the Univeristy of Minnesota, USA in 1967 & 1969 respectively. He started his professional career as Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota and then moved to IIM-A as Professor in Production and Quantitative Techniques. During his tenure of 28 years of professional career with IIMA, he shouldered the responsibilities as a Dean for 4 years and as a Chairman of Ravi J Mathai Center for Educational Innovation also for 4 years. From 1998 to 2004, he had been Director of IIM, Kozhikode and since 2004, he is shouldering the responsibility as Executive Director of AES PG Institute of Business Management, Ahmedabad.

Dr. Kalro is a member of the second Administrative Reforms Commission, Govt. of India. He is a recipient of several scholastic awards. His research publications are in the filed of OR modeling, inventory management, organization behaviour, irrigation and water management, management of educational institutions and institution building in reputed International and Indian Journals.

He has also authored three books and has extensive consulting experience with public and private sector organizations, state and central governments, and International agencies such as ILO, ICA, SIDA and Ford Foundation. He has taught in many MDPs in Japan, Kenya and Sri Lanka.

Dr. Kalro had remained associated with many professional, educational and social organizations in various capacities. Presently, he is on the Board of Directors of BPCL, on the Board of Governance of ICFAI University, NMIMS University, TIMS, Adipur, Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham, Coimbatore, and Chairman of South Asian System Committee, AMDISA. I can’t forget to mention that Dr. Kalro was presented “ The Life Time Achievement Award “ by the Indian Society of Operations Management in December, 2006.

We are indeed blessed to have Dr. Kalro in TIMS family, since inception. I have no hesitation in calling him as our mentor. Sir, it’s my proud privilege to express my sincere gratitude and extend a warm welcome to you to this pleasant evening.

I am happy to extend my warm welcome to all the distinguished guests and invitees present over here.

My dear graduating students, Today is your day- a day you have rightfully earned through determination and hard work during the two years at this prestigious institute. This is a day when you are armed with knowledge and insight to step out into the glaring heat and light of the real economy, ready to face new challenges with new hopes and aspirations.Your assignments, particularly at this point of time, are testimony of the value of your education. The institute has prepared you with the latest knowledge and thinking for you to become an important part of this exciting and fast changing world of opportunities. I would like to assure you that the education you have received at TIMS has fully equipped you to battle your way out. Go out with confidence and take on the world awaiting you. I am confident that you all have the capability and the determination to participate successfully in this transformational era.

I have no hesitation in saying that our students compare with the best in the country. I take this opportunity to convey my hearty congratulations and best wishes to all of you. My message to you is simply “Be open to work that comes your way and use your capabilities to the fullest. Whatever you do, do it well and make your family, society, country and alma mater proud. “.

May I now present a brief report highlighting the activities of the institute on this momentous occasion.

Established in 1995, as a dream of Beloved Rev.Madam J.H.Kanal and thereafter nourished by respected Didi Anjana Hazri, the institute has the vision to be centre for excellence developing ethical professional managers capable of facing challenges of the competitive global environment. The ethics, values and principles of Rev. Kaka P.S. Tolani, Founder of this Vidhya Mandir Campus, stand as the guiding light to help us reach our vision with a humane and pragmatic approach.

The year 2008-09 was a landmark in the history of TIMS. The year has witnessed few commendable achievements.

1. 1. The institute has been rated as an “A“grade management institute by Business India survey in October 2008.
2. 2. The intake capacity has been increased from 60 to 120 students from the academic year 2008-09.
3. 3. The Annexe of TIMS, with state-of–art infrastructure, was inaugurated on 3rd March, 2009 by Dr. A.H. Kalro.
4. 4. In the loving memory of Respected Madam J.H. Kanal , founder of TIMS, the existing TIMS building is renamed as “Jamwanti Kanal Tolani Institute of Management Studies”.
5. 5. A state level summer projects competition – SPARK – was organized for the first time under the sponsorship of Gandhidham Chamber of Commerce and Industry. I am happy to announce that from the next year onwards, SPARK will be a National level Competition.
6. 6. TIMS annual social awareness program, Awaaz- Ek Behtar Kal Ke Liye – received overwhelming appreciation from the society and the best three documentaries were awarded by Kutch Management Association.
7. 7. An additional specialization in Human Resource Management has been introduced from the academic year 2009-10.
8. 8. From this year, in addition to MAT score, CAT score will also be considered for admission to TIMS 2-year full time PGDM program.
9. 9. Jigyasa – Search for Knowledge – a weekly quiz contest was introduced for the first time in the regular activities of the institute.
10. The regular activities of Mantavya, Vaktavya, Jigyasa, Book reviews, Movie Reviews and ET sessions had been well received by the students and helped them in building their self-confidence and all-round personality development.
11. Grand Alumni Meet was organized on 4th January,2009, wherein 75 alumni from India and abroad attended the meet and shared their experiences.
12. The year also witnessed the usual number of seminars, guest lectures and addresses by eminent speakers from academic institutions and industrial organizations.
13. The placement process this year witnessed participation from a diverse Set of companies including few first time recruiters.
14. Our founder faculty – Prof. Sampada Kapse was awarded a prestigious degree of Ph.D. by Pune Univeristy. On behalf of TIMS family, I heartily congratulate Dr. Sampada Kapse for her great achievement.

It is a matter of great pride for all of us that TIMS enjoys an excellent reputation in Gujarat and neighbouring states. With diplomas being conferred on 59 graduating students today, the number of management graduates from the portals of the institute stands at 722. The skills of TIMS’ graduates are honed by the diversity of activities they engage in during the time they spend at the institute. TIMS alumni are occupying high positions in industry both in India and abroad. We keep on receiving appreciating feed-back of our alumni from the industry they are working with. We also keep on getting frequent messages from many of our alumni expressing their happiness and gratitude for what they gained at TIMS and appreciating the activities of TIMS.

Since inception, the institute has demonstrated its total commitment to excellence in every aspect of its functioning. It is ready to take on the impending competition in management education from other institutes. We are endowed with the state-of-art infrastructure, reservoir of outstanding students and alumni, who are the real brand ambassadors, expert and dedicated faculty, understanding administrative staff and enlightened governing & advisory council members. We are in the process of enhancing the value of our PGDM program by reviewing the existing program and streamlining the academic processes. With the support and concerted efforts of the stakeholders of TIMS, I am confident that TIMS will be one of the top 10 management institutes in India.

All these commendable achievements would not have been possible without the dedicated, sincere and untiring efforts of all my colleagues, staff, students, alumni and other functionaries who put in their best for the overall growth and development of the institute.

Before I conclude, I would like to leave graduating students with few thoughts to ponder over.

You will be tested to keep your ethical and moral fortitude and it is very easy to get carried away. It’s up to you to stay alert and not get sucked into disreputable conduct, business practices or anything else which has even the slightest whiff of indecency. Live by consistent set of values. The chief mission of education is character building and the heart of character is VALUES. Respect, compassion, equity, integrity and an innate dignity of life are some of the values that you must hanker after.

Whenever you are unable to resolve an issue, use your intuition, consciousness and values that you have gained in the institute as well as in your educational experience to resolve conflicts of major interest.

In order to make a difference in the crowd of MBAs and to become a person of real success, you must be able to carefully blend fairness, smartness and innovation. The smallest idea can create the biggest innovation. I hope you would experiment, innovate, set and implement new ideas immediately, to better the world around you.

In your professional career and life, never forget the seven virtues, which will be your constant and never failing guide to your ultimate success. They are__

Spread the philosophy of TIMS through integration of your thoughts, actions and deeds, wherever you are and whenever you get an opportunity to do so. Our blessings are always with you. The whole TIMS family is proud of you.

Finally, my very best wishes to all of you for a happy, prosperous and peaceful life. Enjoy whatever you choose to do and come back as often as you can to share your experiences with us and to re-live the memories of the time you spent at TIMS. We would always be there to welcome you back again and yet again.

Let me conclude with my prayer to God to bestow good fortune on all of you. May God bless you all, in all your endeavours. Once again, on behalf of TIMS family, I warmly welcome you all to this auspicious ceremony of TIMS Convocation 2009.

Thank you and Jai Hind.