The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at IIM Bangalore hosted the 3rd Edition of the ‘Foundations of Management’ summer course from April 21 to April 25, 2025. The five-day residential programme comprised sessions delivered by IIMB faculty members and senior doctoral scholars. The programme saw the participation of 60 final year undergraduate students from various colleges/institutes in Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Sushanta Mishra, Chairperson of CTL, inaugurated the programme with a Welcome Address, encouraging the participants to take advantage of the multidisciplinary learning experience. The programme included immersive sessions aimed at providing an exposure to core management areas. Senior IIMB faculty members, Mukta Kulkarni, YLR Moorthi, Rejie George, Ashok Thampy, and Srivardhini Jha, led the keynote sessions, introducing the participants to the areas of OB & HRM, Marketing, Strategy, Finance & Accounting, and Entrepreneurship, respectively.

The follow-up sessions, led by senior doctoral scholars of IIMB, included the topics of managerial decision-making, econometrics, fundamental accounting principles, inventory management, strategic management & industry analysis, application of optimization methods, and value exchange, among others. 

The details of the keynote speeches are summarized as follows:

• Prof. Kulkarni, Dean (Programmes) and faculty of OB&HRM area, delivered the opening keynote address. Her session shed light on the cultural and emotional dimensions of effective organizational behaviour. She discussed the foundational elements of effective organizational behavior, crucial for India’s emergence as a global leader.
  Anshul Kapoor, from the OB & HRM stream, offered a perceptive take on ‘Motivation in Organizations’. The session introduced multiple approaches to understanding motivation and its significance for both individuals and organizations.
• In his address, Prof. Moorthi, faculty of Marketing area, provided an overview of marketing, blending foundational frameworks with memorable anecdotes and real-world relevance. The session explored cultural nuances in marketing strategy, the need for creative thinking, and how Indian and global brands can differentiate themselves in crowded marketplaces.
  Rochak Khandelwal, senior scholar from the Marketing area, touched upon behavioral marketing through the lens of ‘value exchange’, positioning the consumer at the center of the marketing process. He explored the 5-stage model of the buying decision process, detailing each step from need recognition to post-purchase behavior.
  Another scholar from the Marketing area, Midhila K S, delved into the topic of Services Marketing, its growing importance and the unique challenges. She explored how services differ from products through real world examples, highlighting the expanding role of services in consumer lives.
• Prof. George’s session covered the essential strategic management frameworks that guide organizational analysis and competitive positioning. He introduced SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) as a foundational tool for evaluating internal and external factors impacting an organization. A few other strategic tools discussed in the session were PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental) analysis, the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) model, and internal analysis frameworks such as the Resource-Based View (RBV) and the VRIO model.
• Prof. Thampy’s address offered a broad and practical introduction to the foundational concepts of finance and accounting, crucial for all aspiring managers. He explained the core elements of financial statements—assets, liabilities, and equity—and how they are reflected in a balance sheet. The session emphasized how understanding financial statements and the principles behind them empowers managers to make informed decisions, assess organizational health, and ensure transparency and accountability.
  In his follow-up session, Sanchit Jain discussed fundamental accounting principles and explained its central role in the structure of the balance sheet. He incorporated interactive exercises designed to help students learn how to classify assets, liabilities, and equity, and to analyze how different types of transactions impact the financial statements of an organization.
  Joel Christopher, in another session, drew attention to the fundamentals of stock valuation, starting with an introduction to the Time Value of Money (TVM) and its importance in valuing companies. He leveraged interactive problem-solving exercises and used real-world examples to make the session intuitive and engaging.
• Prof. Jha led an introductory session familiarizing the students to the basic concepts of entrepreneurship. A follow-up session was conducted by senior scholar, Bidisha Bhattacharjee. She introduced the “what, why, and how” of entrepreneurship, delineating it as the pursuit of opportunity regardless of resources controlled, and can be practiced at any age or background.
  Building on previous sessions, Charu Rastogi further introduced the concept of ideas and opportunities in entrepreneurship. She discussed practical idea evaluation techniques to help students identify a ‘good’ idea. Her session also highlighted the difference between ideas and opportunities, thereby explaining how ‘action’ can help transform a promising idea to a viable opportunity.

Sessions on Decision Sciences

Chinmay Divekar, senior scholar from the Decision Sciences area, guided participants through the fundamental principles of decision science with a focus on probabilistic risk and its managerial relevance. Another scholar from the area, Kunal Rai, introduced the students to the fundamentals of sampling in statistics in another session. Kunal used interactive exercises (such as selecting words from a paragraph) to demonstrate different sampling techniques and highlight the impact of sampling choices.

Boggadi Sudheer Kumar Reddy explored the application of optimization methods to solve real-world management problems, with a focus on linear programming and network theory. His session provided an in-depth examination of network theory concepts, including the shortest path and minimal spanning tree problems, and their practical representations.

Sessions on Productions & Operations Management

Satyajit Roy, from the Productions & Operations Management area, provided a foundational overview of key OM concepts, including process analysis, capacity analysis, workload balancing, and explained their impact on operational efficiency.

In another session, Karthik Ramaswamy introduced the concept of inventory management, and the analytical models used to guide inventory decisions in organizations. Further, Shiril Saju built on process analysis by highlighting how service processes differ fundamentally from manufacturing processes, particularly in their variability and customer interaction.

Sessions on Economics

Sabhya Rai, scholar from the Economics area, emphasized how data-driven insights can sharpen managerial decision making. The session introduced tools to understand associations between variables using covariance, correlation, and simple linear regression.

Shivali Sharma explored foundational models of firm competition in oligopolistic markets, beginning with an introduction to the different competitive settings that firms encounter. She discussed the Bertrand model, Cournot model, and Stackelberg model to interpret firm behavior, analyze strategic interactions, and understand how these models lead to different Nash equilibrium outcomes in real-world oligopolistic markets.

Session on Information Systems

Manisha Rathi, senior scholar from the Information Systems area, shared an overview of the evolution of digital information systems, from early enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms to the era of widespread internet connectivity and mobile technology.  

Pon Rahul followed up with an engaging session that explored the analytical applications of Language Models (LMs) in management. The session also covered practical use cases such as sentiment analysis, trend extraction, and decision support.

Sessions on Strategy

Sonal Nayak introduced the students to the fundamentals of strategic management and industry analysis, focusing on the key elements of firm strategy and the influence of external macroeconomic factors on organizational performance.

In another follow-up session, Roma Mondal shifted the focus from analyzing the external environment of the firm to examining its internal environment, emphasizing the importance of internal resources in strategy formulation.

Sessions on Public Policy

Swetcha Poladi examined the pivotal role of the service sector in India’s economic landscape and the influence of public policy frameworks in shaping its growth and regulation. The session traced India’s service sector evolution over recent decades, culminating in contemporary developments such as the rise of the gig economy and digital platforms.

IIMB's Director, Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan, concluded the programme with an interaction with the young cohort, sharing his valuable insights on the future of management education and the evolving industry.