Socially Useful Productive Work

Working with the rural community towards its development is a central part of the curriculum.  

Students worked with two villages, Damat and Badwal, each with their own peculiar problems. The students applied their management principles and ideas to bring about social change in whatever small way they could - getting drinking water connections, adult literacy classes, the empowerment of women, recreation for children, basic health care and even addressing the problem of widespread alcoholism in one of the villages.

The second batch of students worked with The Academy of Development Sciences, an NGO, in the village of Kashele. Some ground-breaking work was done here in the area of grain banks and the use of tribal knowledge and skills. AICAR's students helped in areas as diverse as streamlining work procedure to branding and promoting some of the products.

Students were sent to villages in Maharashtra to study the drinking water situation and the habits of villagers in relation to drinking water. This was done for a manufacturer who wanted to market inexpensive water purification systems for villages.

  Integrated Communication Agency

A first in the history of business schools: AICAR has an integrated communication agency as part of its management programme.

AICAR students work on advertising, direct marketing and Public Relations campaigns for a number of clients – offering strategic planning to creative services; from production to implementation of campaigns.  The aim of the agency is two-fold: to create breakthrough communication for a small set of brands and clients and simultaneously to help students put into practice what they learn in class as part of their post-graduation management programme

The Rural Marketing
    -Going where the future is

The Rural Marketing camp gave domain specific insights into specialised areas like agri input marketing, demand forecasting for seeds, company visit to Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Com Ltd. (MAHYCO MOSANTO SEEDS LTD.) Jalna, public and pvt. extension programmes with a visit to Krishi Vigyan Kendra and problems concerning agro economics potential.  

This also involved films on the use of IT in agri output marketing, the functioning of market committees and one on one with the farming community, a visit to Mantha Haat gave specific insights into rural consumer behaviour combining education with entertainment.  It culminated with trips to the Lonar Crater, Ellora and Grushneshwar Temple.

  Blazing a new Trial in Insurance Marketing

Students of Insurance and Financial Services created history when they popularised and sold the Janashree Bima (group insurance) scheme among 200 rural households in Raigad district.  The scheme was lunched by the Prime Minister of India to provide insurance to people below the poverty line. This is probably the first such experience of its kind in the world of business schools.  The event was widely reported by the media and was highly commended by LIC's Chairman Mr. S. B. Mathur, who felt that the learnings gleaned from the experience were of great relevance to the life insurance industry.

Students are currently engaged in an industry sponsored project to survey customer sensitivity training needs for one of India's major Life Insurers.

  Jazzvertising workshop

AICAR Exports Creativity Workshop to Asia

AICAR’s “Jazzvertising” Workshop was recently exported to srilanka .It was held in Colombo as Launching pad for Bates Asia in the island.The workshop was conducted like a jam session over two days by Ivan Arthur,Trustee and Dean Communication, AICAR Business School, Prabhakar Mundkur, Director, Business Development, J Walter Thompson and Rajiv Raja, Executive Creative Director, Bates India All three are Musicians and acknowledged professionals in Advertising.

AICAR now has requests to do the workshop in East Asia. Senior advertising Professionals who attended the workshop in Colombo were so impressed that they have invited the team to repeat the programme in countries like Vietnam and Indonesia.

Started as an in-campus workshop for AICAR Students,  ”Jazzvertising” was later modified to become part of AICAR’s Management Development Programme.  The workshop is uniquely designed, using Music particularly Jazz, as text book of Advertising. In February this year, 24 communication professionals enrolled for the workshop, which was held in the campus at Neral.  The participants were from well known Agencies -JWT, Leo Burnett, Lowe, Tbwa, Direm, Everest Integrated Communications and Rediffusion –Y& R.  They included two participants from srilanka.  The workshop was conducted again on demand for Bates’ Mumbai office.

Designed as an intuition jogger, the workshop helps participants to wake up their intuitive skills and to learn how to use them for creating breakthrough advertising

  Looking at Life Differently

Students have been exposed to a variety of  intense experiences to built fresh perspective and reflection on how to live life.  Some instances 

• Pranic exercises - the breath holds the key to life

• Meditation - the journey to being at peace with what is

• Transformational Leadership - Creating a new context in every relation

• Work as a celebration of life 

  Workshop on Product Design

Aspects of design such as modeling, rapid proto typing, multi level tasking and the need for rapid commercialisation in a dynamic environment were touched upon.  The product is what actually delivers value and students were educated on how excitement can be built  around a product be it the ubiquitous stapler, a salt and pepper dispenser, a pen or products involving high level of systems thinking.