Management schools adopt different ways to groom students into managers or entrepreneurs. They often organise lectures to let students listen to experts, take students on industrial visits and also arrange for internships.
A few schools also adopt novel techniques like letting students experience first-hand entrepreneurship by arranging for fairs or bazaars on their premises.
The teachers in the management schools say providing students an opportunity to organise bazaars helps them implement the techniques they have learnt and also encourages them to come up with novel ways to sell their products. Or, innovate on products as well.
The students’ skills were on display recently at the Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College, where the Entrepreneurship Development Cell organised the SREC Bazaar.
According to a press release, the bazaar was a competitive environment where students invested in a number of items – from food to footwear – to sell them to fellow students and faculty.
In all there were 85 students who sold innovative photo frames, leather goods, garments, varieties of food from biryani to chaat, ice creams, terracotta jewellery and much more. The products attracted 2,500 students and faculty and the net sales stood at Rs. 85,000.
The Department of Management Studies also gave away prizes to best performing students.
A few days ago the GRD School of Management had organised a similar bazaar, where goods from plastic toys to flowers were on sale. The bazaar was an opportunity for students to not only put on sale innovative products but also use innovate ways to sell the goods, according to another press release.
The Avinashilingam University recently organised a fair but that was to showcase products made by women and the occasion was International Women’s Day.
The institution had joined hands with the Women’s Development Corporation for the purpose. The PSG Institute of Management annually organised a week-long programme where students would have to sell products to the public using their marketing skills.
They would make use of the money given to them by their faculty.
