MOU Signing Ceremony between IMT Hyderabad & Advance Auto Parts (AAP)

Hyderabad, 14th July 2022: Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Hyderabad and Advance Auto Parts (AAP) signed an MoU on Thursday, July 14th 2022 to cement their relationship by creating an enriching experience through quality learning and growth.

The inaugural session began with the welcoming of all the dignitaries by Ms. Anagha Menon and Mr. V. Thyagarajan, second-year students of PGDM 2021-23. This was followed by the lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries, Director Prof. (Dr.) Sri Harsha Reddy, and Dean Prof. Chakrapani, post which the audience was serenaded by a soulful rendition of Saraswati Vandana by Sweksha Tiwari, a second-year PGDM student.

The Director started his address by expressing his happiness about the collaboration with AAP, a Fortune 500 Company with headquarters in the United States. He emphasized the shared vision of IMT Hyderabad and AAP to nurture socially responsible individuals in today’s world. He presented a new meaning to the acronym IMT where ‘I’ stands for Insights, ‘M’ stands for Manpower and ‘T’ stands for Training. He emphasized the importance of providing insights beyond manpower and training.

Mr. Mahender Dubba, Managing Director at Global Capability Center (GCC) of Advance Auto Parts India, expressed that it was a great honour and privilege to associate with IMT-H. He highlighted the need for the relationship to not be transactional but a 360-degree relationship where both campus and corporate can work together to upscale our future talent. He spoke about the 3S: Skills, Scale and Speed as the key drivers for setting up the Hyderabad center. Advance truly believes in creating a culture of innovation, transformation and building business capabilities. These are the primary focus for the center. He further elaborated on the work culture at Advance Auto Parts India, Global Capability Center which encourages people to communicate effectively across all management levels.

Mr. William Pellicciotti, Senior VP, Chief Accounting Officer, Advance Auto Parts highlighted how the culture of Advance gives more importance to maintaining work life balance and why foundation is important to make an advance in any career.

Mr. Ryan Cotterman, Senior Director Accounting, Advance Auto Parts spoke about GCC’s roadmap for growth via the principles of Accelerate, Care and Growth

Mr. Jayanta Ghoshal, Director, Finance at Advance Auto Parts India expatiated the three types of finances namely Operations Finance, Corporate Finance and System Finance.

Mr. Vishwesh Khandkar, Director, Pricing, Advance Auto Parts India elucidated how Advance Auto Parts India is a niche combination of auto, retail and e-commerce. He explained that pricing is not a unilateral decision and how it affects business transformation.

Ms. Vibhuti Lal, Transformational Human Capital Leader, Advance Auto Parts India drew attention to the six cultural beliefs at Advance which are ‘Own and Overcome’, ‘We All Belong’, ‘Inspire Serve Grow’, ‘Lead Bold Change’, ‘Courage to Solve’, and ‘Together with Speed’. She acknowledged the efforts of summer interns from IMT Hyderabad and presented all of them with pre-placement offers.

Mr. Mahender Dubba and Prof. (Dr.) Sri Harsha Reddy officially signed the MoU in the presence of all dignitaries. The event concluded with a brief question and answer session, gifting of mementoes to the AAP team, followed by the Vote of Thanks by the Dean, Prof. Chakrapani.