MICA Ahmedabad: Latest News, Events, Photos & Campus Reports

MICA Ahmedabad (The School of Ideas), established in 1992 is the first residential institute in the country. It is dedicated to creating and delivering Leadership in Strategic Marketing and Communication solutions to the industry, government and community. Today, it is the alma mater of professionals, including in leadership positions, in some of the best-known companies in India and abroad. The campus is always buzzing with something new, read on to know about the latest developments, happening at MICA!

MICA & TCS JOIN HANDS TO ENGAGE IN RESEARCH PROJECTS ACROSS DOMAINS OF LEARNING, TEACHING & ASSESSMENT 

Date: November 23, 2023 

*MICA’s Center for Learning & Innovative Pedagogy (CLIP) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TCS. Under the MoU, both the partners will research, innovate and co-create new paradigms in education using creativity and technology* 

AHMEDABAD: In a major academic collaboration, MICA Ahmedabad has joined hands with Tata Consultancy Services, a tech behemoth, to bring in innovations in teaching and learning experiences.

MICA’s Center for Learning & Innovative Pedagogy (CLIP), an innovator in pedagogy and TCS have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to research, innovate and co-create new paradigms in education using creativity, technology and research as its mainstay. The two partners will soon kick start a few projects in the field of pedagogy, curriculum, creativity and assessment. 

The MoU was recently signed by Dr. Shailendra Raj Mehta, President & Director, MICA and Mr. Venguswamy Ramaswamy, Global Head, TCS iON in the presence of CLIP Co-Chairs and Committee members. TCS’s Co-Innovation Network (COIN) is partnering with leading universities across the globe, and the latest collaboration is with MICA’s Centre for Learning and Innovative Pedagogy (CLIP).

Dr. Shailendra Raj Mehta, President & Director, MICA, said, “This MoU is a part of the Co Innovation Network (COIN) academic relationship between MICA and TCS. CLIP is one of MICA's new, emerging Centres of Excellence that has been set up to document and help implement innovations in pedagogy for better teaching and learning experiences. I am sure this recent collaboration will further strengthen MICA's close bonds with TCS nurtured over the years.” 

Delving more, MICA Prof. Ashutosh Dutt, Co-Chair of CLIP, said, “MICA is known for creativity and innovative pedagogy, while TCS needs no introduction in technology. Our joint mission is to leverage creativity and tech to enhance education at all levels, in line with India’s New Education Policy.” 

MICA Prof. Pooja Thomas, Co-Chair of CLIP added, “This is the first step towards establishing a milieu of innovation in Ahmedabad in the realm of education and CLIP is excited to take charge of this.”

Speaking about the partnership, Mr. Venguswamy Ramaswamy, Global Head – TCS iON, said, “The TCS Academic Co-Innovation Network (COIN) allows TCS to create value-based partnerships with leading academic institutions worldwide. We are delighted to welcome MICA to the TCS Academic COIN family comprising 80+ global academic partners. I am sure that TCS iON in partnership with CLIP at MICA will enrich the work we do in the learning and assessment space across the globe. In collaboration with the MICA faculty and researchers, we intend to engage in research projects in learning, teaching and assessment domains and develop world-class frameworks.” 

MICA Faculty’s New Book Delves Into The Transformative Impact Of Artificial Intelligence In Customer Service 

Date: October 30, 2023

AHMEDABAD: Building on its tradition of impactful research and publications, MICA, Ahmedabad, introduces a new frontier in customer service with Professor Varsha Jain's innovative book on Artificial Intelligence. The book, ' Artificial Intelligence in Customer Service: The Next Frontier for Personalized Engagement,’ discusses AI’s role in reshaping personalized customer engagement, offering real-world insights for professionals and researchers.

The book has been co-edited by MICA faculty Dr. Varsha Jain along with renowned scholar Dr. Jagdish Sheth, Emory University, USA, Dr. Emmanuel Mogaji, University of Greenwich, and Dr. Anupama Ambika (MICA FPM Fellow) and published by McMillan, UK. While the launch was held on the MICA campus, Dr. Jagdish Sheth, Prof. Leonard Berry, Mays Business School, Texas A&M, USA, and Prof. Ming Huang, National Taiwan University, joined the launch virtually. 

Speaking at the event, Dr. Shailendra Raj Mehta, President and Director of MICA, said, "This book reinforces the emerging fact that AI is now an integral part of our businesses, and understanding AI with customer service is imperative to run operations. MICA always believes in producing cutting edge research, which leads to global scholarship, and this book is yet another step in that direction.” 

Talking about the implications of the book, Dr. Varsha Jain who is also the AGK Chair Professor of Marketing, shared, “This book would significantly help the industry learn how ecosystems can be developed for using AI, what channels would be used, how integrations would happen, how ethics 

and privacy would be maintained, and eventually, the well-being of the customers and employees can be acquired.” 

The book has contributions from eminent scholars worldwide, with new content and real-time examples from major global brands. It is aimed at industry professionals, faculty, researchers, and students who wish to understand how AI operates effectively in the real world. It helps provide a seamless experience and personalized customer engagement.

Sharing his insights, renowned global scholar Dr. Jagdish N Sheth of Goizueta Business School, Emory University, said, “Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and specially generated AI such as chat GPT will have the greatest impact on customer service where bots will deliver better, faster and more personalized customer experience than the front-line service workers in health care, hospitality or hairstyle.” 

Applauding the book, Prof. Leonard Berry, Distinguished Professor of Marketing at Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, said, “Artificial Intelligence in Customer Service will help guide managers to use this powerful technology while stimulating timely academic research effectively. This book is an important contribution to the service literature.”

MICA-CDMC PARTNERS WITH GOVT OF KERALA’s ENERGY MANAGEMENT CENTRE TO PROMOTE ENERGY EFFICIENCY COMMUNICATION

Date: October 09, 2023

AHMEDABAD: In a significant collaboration, MICA Ahmedabad’s Centre for Development and Management Communication (CDMC) has partnered with the Energy Management Centre (EMC) Government of Kerala, to promote energy efficiency communication. As part of the partnership, experts at CDMC, MICA will work on various facets, including identifying specific communication needs, fostering stakeholder collaboration, and developing a communication strategy and capacity building programs, thereby enhancing energy efficiency communication and stakeholder engagement in Kerala. 

MICA-CDMC recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Energy Management Centre, Kerala. Present at the virtual signing ceremony were Dr R. Harikumar, the Director of EMC, Mr Dinesh Kumar A.N., Joint Director, EMC and Mr B.V. Subhash Babu, Registrar, EMC and team from MICA including Dr. Githa Heggde, Dean, MICA, Prof. Manisha Pathak Shelat and Prof. Ruchi Tewari, Co-chairs of CDMC and Prof. Taral Pathak, Committee Member of CDMC. 

Dr. Githa Heggde, Dean, MICA, said, “The partnership marks a significant milestone in CDMC’s ongoing mission to foster positive societal impact by harnessing MICA’s expertise in strategic marketing, creativity, and communication. We are elated to contribute towards creating awareness and bringing behavioural change towards energy efficiency within the society.” 

Delving deep into the partnership, Prof. Manisha Pathak-Shelat and Prof. Ruchi Tewari, Co-Chairs, CDMC, MICA, shared, “We are proud to use once again CDMC’s strength for addressing an issue of global concern- energy conservation and sustainability. 

“We will conduct stakeholder interviews and workshops to identify communication objectives, conduct audience analysis and persona-building exercises, and create a suite of communication materials, including visual aids, infographics, videos, and interactive content. As part of the capacity building programs, we will also create training modules on effective communication strategies, case studies, stakeholder engagement, leadership skills, etc.” 

They added, “The partnership between CDMC and EMC looks like a natural pull because the common grounds of spirit and commitment to action towards sustainability and environment is at the heart, for both CDMC and EMC. We look forward to creating a larger impact through this partnership.” 

Dr. Harikumar, Director of EMC, remarked, “Energy Management Centre-Kerala is excited to embrace this new partnership with MICA to promote collaboration among stakeholders and innovate solutions for the advancement of effective energy conservation communication strategies.”

MICA ALUMNUS AND FACULTY PROF. ASHUTOSH DUTT AWARDED THE 2022-23 MICA-AGK AWARD FOR MERITORIOUS TEACHING

Date: September 13, 2023

AHMEDABAD: Prof. Ashutosh Dutt, Associate Professor of Digital Strategies and Business Analytics at MICA, has been adjudged the recipient of the MICA-AG Krishnamurthy Award for Meritorious Teaching for the year 2022-23. A jury of 2 eminent judges comprising Dr. Abu N. M. Waheeduzzaman, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, and Ms Sukanya Kripalu, Business and Strategy Consultant and an independent Director, made the unanimous decision to choose Prof. Dutt as the recipient of this prestigious award.

Impressed by Prof. Dutt’s innovativeness in pedagogy, specifically the animated videos, the jury members observed: Usually, multivariate and data analytic classes are not easy to teach, but Prof. Dutt does an excellent job as an instructor. His teaching philosophy ensures inclusiveness, engagement, and a supportive learning environment that encourages intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and personal growth, and that is what he practices.

Dr. Shailendra Raj Mehta, President & Director, MICA, said, “Prof. Dutt’s deep passion for teaching is reflected in the innovative design and pedagogy for courses across Digital Strategies and Business Analytics areas. This award is a tribute to MICA’s founder, Shri AG Krishnamurthy’s great legacy and foresight and a way to thank our faculty for taking MICA to ever greater heights.”

The judges’ evaluation was based on the selection criteria, which included a review of teaching philosophy, sustained teaching excellence and relevance of teaching effectiveness over the past year.

Dr. Githa Heggde, Dean, MICA, said, "Prof. Dutt is an exceptional teacher and a fantastic student mentor. He continuously brings innovative teaching techniques to the classroom and is also the co-chair of CLIP (Centre for Learning and Innovative Pedagogy) at MICA. He keeps himself constantly abreast with industry trends. He well deserves the coveted award." 

Prof. Dutt graduated from MICA in 2006 and returned to MICA as a faculty in 2017. He shared, “As an alumnus and now a faculty, I have experienced the magic of MICA from both sides. This journey has been filled with memories, challenges, and countless learnings, and I owe so much of it to each one, from the students to the staff that makes my daily life at MICA seamless.”

A student said, “Most people are scared of numbers and analytics, but the way he taught subjects like Multivariate Data Analysis, he made it very easy and inspired many students to pursue Data Science and Business Analytics as a specialization. For me, the best part about the course was the assignments that we were given. Ashutosh sir picked up a real-life business problem example and asked us to work on it. The assignment was challenging, but we got to learn a lot of new things while doing it.”

MICA ANNOUNCES TRANSITION

Date: September 11, 2023

AHMEDABAD: MICA Ahmedabad on Friday announced a transition of its leadership as Dr. Shailendra Raj Mehta will mark the completion of a seven-year term as President & Director, and Distinguished Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in 2024. MICA’s Governing Council will soon initiate a global search for his successor. 

In a statement, Dr. Tridip Suhrud, Chairman of MICA’s Governing Council, said, “On May 31, 2024, Dr. Shailendra Raj Mehta will mark the completion of a seven-year term as the President, Director, and Distinguished Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at MICA. At that time, he will step down from his position. The Governing Council of MICA is set to initiate a global search for his successor. It aims to conclude this process in a timely manner, ensuring a seamless transition and handover.

Throughout Dr. Mehta's tenure, MICA has achieved unprecedented milestones. The institution has ascended to new heights, establishing itself as a major powerhouse in Research. It proudly ranks among the top five institutions in the country in terms of research output featured in leading global management journals. The esteemed faculty at MICA have won the country's top awards in Research and Teaching. MICA's students have won many of the major national Business School competitions.”

Dr. Suhrud further added, “Under Dr. Mehta's visionary leadership, MICA's endowment has more than doubled, bolstering its financial strength and stability. The institution has successfully founded several new centers of excellence. Additionally, MICA has diligently cultivated a robust network of global partnerships, fortifying its international standing and reach.

As Dr. Mehta's tenure draws to a close, MICA stands as a testament to his exceptional leadership and dedication. The institution's growth trajectory and accomplishments reflect his unwavering commitment to fostering all-round excellence. The Governing Council of MICA wishes him well on his future academic journey.”

Note: MICA – The School of Ideas is India's premier institute for Strategic Marketing and Communications, located in Ahmedabad. (MICA is no longer an Acronym).

MICANS attends a Unique Workshop to Imagine an Evolving Tomorrow

Date: November 30, 2019

MICA students attended a unique workshop that helped them envision the cultural context of an evolving world. The ‘Futuring’ workshop was conducted as part of a Cultural Analysis and Application (CAA) course in collaboration with Quicksand, an interdisciplinary consultancy that works in the areas of design, innovation, and future studies.

‘Futuring’ is a field of study that uses systematic processes for thinking, picturing possible outcomes and planning for the future. A total of 67 students of second-year attended the workshop and learned about the importance of this area through speculative design and trend forecasting. They used various tools to synthesize futures and present trend outcomes. The students worked on various themes such as food, technology, fashion, and media to imagine their futures. 

Speaking about the course, Bikram Bindra, course facilitator said, “With the minutiae of everyday business often taking up so much time in the corporate world, there is increasingly a need to focus on the bigger picture and step back to see how our larger cultural context is shaping the world. Future studies is an important discipline that enables business leaders to design, innovate and be prepared for not just an unpredictable today, but also an evolving tomorrow.” 

Prof. Pooja Thomas, course facilitator said, “MICA has always used cultural understanding as a formidable tool in understanding consumer contexts. In fact, our core courses in the first year build on their abilities to read culture for marketing. This course sharpens this by giving students industry facing methods, approaches, and attitudes as well as the experience of applying it in a live industry case.” 

To define, futurists are people who actively view the present world as a window on possible future outcomes. They watch trends and try to envision what might happen. This is a skill that has immense importance in today’s evolving world for businesses.

In the end, Shriraj Mukherjee, a 2nd-year student said, “The workshop was a great cultural tool to a business managers arsenal, especially while designing for futures - products, experiences or even imagining what the future will look like and what kind of events/actions might lead us there. As an industry professional, one is preoccupied with immediate situations and such a toolkit will help one to anticipate upcoming threats/disruptions/opportunities which might be hard to detect otherwise.”

MICANS wins 1 lakh at a National-level competition

Date: November 25, 2019

Second-year students of MICA have emerged as national winners of a competition organized by the Titan Company Ltd. The winners Sayantan Guha and Pranav Joshi from ‘Team Mosaic’ won a cash prize of INR 1 lakh and pre-placement interview offer of Titan Elevate 6.0 competition. They were asked to propose a case study solution on ‘Digital Disruption for Titan.’ 

The six qualifying teams including MICA, XLRI, IIM Ranchi, NITIE, IMT Ghaziabad, and SCMHRD, Pune decide on the digital trends and strategies for Titan. The preliminary round was a campus round, based on their submissions, 6 teams were shortlisted and were selected as campus winners across all B-schools. The semi-finals happened in the “Integrity” campus of Titan in Bengaluru and finals were held at Oterra Hotel, Bengaluru. The final round involved presenting the case to the panel and was followed by a detailed question and answer round. 

When asked about the experience in the face of stiff competition, Sayantan Guha, a second-year student said, “It was a great learning opportunity because we got an opportunity to visit the Titan office and had an interactive session on Digital with Mr. Krishnan Venkateswaran, the Chief Digital Officer of Titan. The mentors assigned to us gave us a good perspective on the business of Titan and how the business really works. We knew the finals were going to be tough battling it out with the top colleges but perhaps the belief in our idea made us get through all the nervousness.”

The judging panel included senior management of Titan comprising of Mr. Krishnan Venkateswaran, the Chief Digital Officer at Titan, Mrs. Suparna Mitra, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Watches and Accessories division and others.

Eminent Ad-maker and Film Director R. Balki visit MICA

Date: November 21, 2019

MICA recently organized an annual marketing festival namely MICANVAS showcasing all aspects of marketing and branding. The inaugural guest session was kicked off by the presence of a well-known film director and Ad-man, R Balki. He is famous for his movies like Cheeni Kum, Paa, Padman, Mission Mangal, and some iconic advertising campaigns

While interacting with the students, Balki said, “Do not force the weight of having a “noble cause” onto brands - sometimes they just cannot take the weight and will fall flat in the desperation of corporates to be associated with doing something good. The consumers may not see the nobility – the company only sees it! Let brands do the work of brands!” He jokingly called himself a culprit of starting the social media advertising in India and mentioned that there is a race of corporates and brands to associate with a cause or a noble action “as everyone wants to be seen doing good.”

Reminiscing his days at Mudra Advertising Agency that led to the formation of MICA (formerly known as Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad) he said, “I was a MICAn before MICA and my connection with MICA is very deep. I was possibly in the first-ever batch to get trained in creative advertising conducted by Mudra. No one believed that advertising people could be trained. Mr. AG Krishnamurthy got the idea of building MICA and his vision founded MICA.”

Shedding light on one of his most successful ad campaigns ‘Daag Ache Hai’, he said, “It was a strategy that came about when someone with a very confident personality will always praise his enemy. To celebrate its biggest competition ‘dirt’, the brand invited people with a tagline ‘Daag Acche Hai’ as the brand was confident of its abilities.” On a concluding note, he told the students to be aware of what is coming at them. “Content is intimidating. Do not let watching overpower your creativity. Be aware of what is coming at you.”

MICANS Gift Colourful Walls to Telav School Children

Date: October 24, 2019

This Diwali, students of MICA, Ahmedabad beautified the walls of a government secondary school in Telav. As part of their social service, Jagriti, the student-run social service wing of MICA that promotes social service and societal marketing, took up an initiative to paint the walls of Telav Secondary School, located near the campus.

A total of 25 students from first-year and second-year post-graduate program volunteered for the activity. The students painted the pillars that lie on the exterior of the school building, outer walls as well as three classrooms.

A first-year student Akriti Ananya, also a member of Jagriti said, "As part of their CSR activity, Indigo Paints provided us with the colors and brush. We had floated a form for the students to participate in the activity and took care of other logistics like transport, food, etc for the students."

Bharatbhai Patel, Principal, Telav Secondary School said, "We had not informed the students about such an initiative. When they saw the school and classrooms painted the next day, they were surprised and overwhelmed. The wall that they liked the most had a depiction of natural disaster."

Speaking about the process, a first-year student and a member of Jagriti, Siddharth Chauhan said, "The principal was extremely helpful and extended his support for the initiative. Since it is a secondary school, he was wanting the walls to be informative so we painted walls on the themes of the solar system, natural disasters, water cycle, global warming, to name a few. He wanted the walls to add value to the learning of the students." 

MICA hosts an Interactive session with COO OF IndiaMART

Date: October 14, 2019

MICA hosted Mr. Dinesh Gulati, Chief Operating Officer, IndiaMART at the campus recently. An interacting session with the agenda of “Make Doing Business Easy” was organized by MICA Leadership Series (MLS). Mr. Gulati, with a career spanning over 7 years at IndiaMART, has been responsible for overall customer delight, people efficiency and setting out core strategies for the organization. 

He commenced his talk by enlighting the students about the business ecosystem and how digital exploration has allowed both small and large businesses to explore this arena. Speaking about the content, He said “To make content go viral it has to be creative and not expensive. Video is becoming an indomitable tool across the industry and a combination of videos and vernacular content can help businesses to expand to small tier cities”.

Sharing his journey, he talked about how IndiaMART has become a one-stop solution for both small and large entrepreneurs to make their products available online. He also emphasized on Democratisation of opportunities with India being one of the world’s highest data consumption country creating a wonderful ecosystem for the businesses. 

His parting words were “IndiaMART is a two-way marketplace allowing a direct interaction for both buyers and sellers on the platform creating a community and networking effect”. The session was concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Vaneet Chhibber, Professor and Associate Dean, Marketing and External Relations, MICA.

MICANS win National B-School Competition

Date: August 27, 2019

MICA, Ahmedabad, India’s premier institute for Strategic Marketing and Communications found itself on a celebratory high, winning a national B-school competition launched by MNC Ab InBev. In an intense power-packed grand finale held in Bengaluru, the team, comprising second-year MICA students Jeffrey A. Modak, Samriti Goel and Vivek Jayakumar emerged victorious, battling it out against four teams from 3 B-schools that include Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) New Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Kozhikode, with their winning concept.

The nationwide B-school competition, in its first-ever iteration, saw applications from 20 top MBA colleges in India, receiving over 6000 team registrations, 2200 team applications, and 1100 Round 1 submission. Students were asked to choose one challenge out of the three given by the company focussing on marketing, strategy and sustainability functions while creating concepts.

Speaking about the same, Jeffrey Modak, a second-year student said, "We did a market analysis and saw the potential for a blue ocean strategy (creating an uncaptured market) in developing a premium customizable product." 

The team name – Corona Pyaar Hai, a reference to AB InBev’s in-house brand Corona, generated a lot of buzz among the jury, dignitaries, and guests in attendance. A perfect mix of wit and the sound business strategy worked in favor of the team, as they presented their bold, unique and disruptive the finale. The winners bagged a cash award of Rs. 1,50,000 and a golden chance at interviewing for the coveted Global Management Trainee (GMT) program.

The judges panel comprised of high-profile industry stalwarts - Ben Verhaert, Business Unit President, AB InBev South Asia, Vibha Paul Rishi, Former Executive Director (Global), Pepsi, presently a board member of Tata Chemicals, Taj Hotels, Asian Paints and ICICI Bank and Dr. AK Siva Kumar, Professor for Public Policy at Kennedy School at Harvard University and former member of National Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India.