Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
Tamil Nadu’s first internationally benchmarked B-school has set its sights on being ranked among the country’s top three B-schools and break new ground in business management education
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| Glim facade: long cherished dream |
A glaring lacuna in the education space in Tamil Nadu, especially in Chennai — the conspicuous absence of a top-grade internationally benchmarked B-school — was fulfilled with the inauguration of the Great Lakes Institute of Management (Glim) on April 29 this year. Promoted by US-based academician and globally renowned management guru Prof. Bala V. Balachandran, J.L. Kellogg distinguished professor at the Stuart Graduate School of Business (SSB) of the Illinois Institute of Technology, Glim has set its sights on becoming Chennai’s top B-school and breaking new ground in business management education.
Glim is the realisation of Balachandran’s long-cherished dream to offer world-class management education in India at affordable price. Its strategic alliance with SSB envisages exchange of students and faculty, and the joint award of a postgraduate international certificate in business management after students complete Glim’s fast track one year programme. Given Balachandran’s academic reputation and eminence, Glim has roped in many eminent leaders of corporate India to serve on its Business Advisory Council (BAC) while prominent management experts from India and abroad are on its Academic Advisory Council (AAC). Among them: Ratan Tata, Kumaramangalam Birla, Jamshyd N. Godrej, N.R. Narayana Murthy, Venu Srinivasan and others figure on the BAC and expert international faculty including Dr. V.G. Narayanan of Harvard Business School, Dr. Paul Prabhakar of SSB, Dr. Seenu Srinivasan of Stanford Graduate School of Business are in the AAC.
With such big names involved in setting standards for Glim, Balachandran plans to shape the new B-school into an institution which blends the best academic practices and experiences of the West with the values and ethos of the East, India in particular. "I want our students to become masters of ‘business readiness’ rather than business administration," he says. "The existing business schools need to do some innovative thinking to adapt to the changing world and their curriculums have to change to create a new genre of business leaders. Our focus is on customer-centricity and our ‘customers’ include Glim’s beneficiaries — students who receive the best and most practical business education, and their employers, viz, business and industry which needs high quality ready-to-use managers," adds Balachandran, a mathematics and statistics postgrad of Annamalai University, who pressed on to complete his Masters in engineering at the University of Dayton, followed by an MBA and Ph D in industrial administration at the renowned Carnegie Mellon University, Boston. Since then his contributions to the development of the science of business management has won him numerous scholastic honours, awards and fellowships including the Padma Shri in 2001. Currently Bala-chandran is designated chairman of the institute’s AAC and honorary dean of Glim.
Balachandran has first-hand experience of world-class B-school management (in addition to considerable teaching and corporate consultancy experience) and was deeply involved in the planning and promotion of the Rs.250 crore (capital expenditure) trail-blazing Indian School of Business, Hyderabad (estb. 2000). But unlike the capital-intensive ISB, Glim has been conceptualised as a relatively low cost B-school. Though like ISB, the postgraduate programme in business management at Glim is an intensive one-year study programme spread over eight terms, it is priced at a mere Rs.3 lakh, as against Rs.13 lakh at ISB.
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| Balachandran |
"Our students will finish the course in 12 months as compared to the 18 month programme of most B-schools, where in the last three months there is very little teaching-learning activity. By packing five courses into each term and increasing the number of contact hours, we enable students to finish the course in one year and find a job in the next year, which is more than likely to pay the cost of the programme. This is what I term ‘money value of time’ as opposed to ‘time value of money,’" says Balachandran.
Since his strategy is to minimise capital expenditure and start-up costs, Glim is currently utilising a leased, (though fully air-conditioned) modest, three-storey building of 15,000 sq feet in Saidapet. Male students live in rented premises nearby and females are housed in working women’s hostels. Besides investing some of his own savings in the project, Balachandran’s reputation has persuaded several NRIs and Indian industrialists to invest Rs.20 crore in the B-school’s corpus which is slated to rise to Rs.30-35 crore within the next three years. The Tamil Nadu state government has offered Glim 20 acres of land in the IT corridor on the scenic East Coast Road for constructing a campus of its own. The new campus will be ready within a year.
Glim’s first batch of 130 students has been admitted on the basis of their performance in the CAT exam conducted by the IIMs, GMAT or the institute’s own entrance test (GET). They are instructed by two full-time faculty members: S. Sriram, former professor at the S.P Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai, and Dr. R. Narasimhan, a former professor of the Sri Venkateshwara College of Engineering, Chennai, who will soon be joined by two more full-time faculty. The efforts of the permanent faculty will be supplemented by visiting professors from US based B-schools and members of the AAC. In addition, six professors from the Stuart Graduate School of Business will be deputed to teach at Glim for one term.
In the medium term the Glim management has set its sight on being ranked among the top three B-schools in the country. Commencement of a part time executive MBA programme in 2005 is already on the drawing board as is an ambitious plan to build an industry oriented research centre. "We want to develop sensitive radar which picks up the changing philosophy of rural business management and build a great training cockpit for CEOs, nimble and flexible enough to make mid-course corrections based on customer feedback," explains Balachandran.
Given the detailed planning and international linkages forged by Glim right from the start, it’s almost certain that Chennai’s first internationally bench-marked B-school will make up for lost time.
Admission & fees
Currently the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai offers a full-time, one-year postgraduate programme in management (PGPM), an intensive fast track course with no breaks between terms.
Academic programmes. Vertical specialisation areas: manufacturing management; entrepreneurial marketing & family business; healthcare & hospital management, management of technology fusion
Admission requirements. A bachelor’s degree in any discipline. All applicants should have written the CAT conducted by the IIMs or GMAT. Candidates who have written CAT can take the online Glim entrance test (GET) at any suitable time and will be evaluated on basis of GET score, an interview and group discussion. Issue of application forms begins in December
Tuition fee. Rs 3.08 lakh per year (including residential accommodation)
For further details contact Glim, 24, South Mada Street, Srinagar Colony, Chennai 600 015.Tel: 44 222 00 226. E-mail: admissions@glakes.org
Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)
Hawaii Pacific University
Offering perhaps the world’s most perfect combination of picture postcard environment and scholastic excellence, HPU attracts students from across the US and over 100 countries
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| HPU vista: diverse population |
Located in magical blue Hawaii — an archipelago of sun-warmed beaches, swaying palm trees and breathtaking sunsets — the Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) offers perhaps the world’s most perfect combination of picture postcard environment and scholastic excellence. The largest private and second largest university in Hawaii, HPU attracts more than 8,000 students from 50 US states and over 100 countries annually and can justifiably claim to "prepare students to succeed in the international community of tomorrow".
The university is ranked among the nation’s best colleges and universities in the 2004 edition of U.S. News and World Report’s ‘America’s Best Colleges’. In the universities-Master’s category, HPU is listed in the second tier of western regional universities. "Having Hawaii Pacific University listed as a ‘Best College’ validates our position as a nationwide leader in providing rigorous and quality education to our students," says Chatt G. Wright, president of HPU.
Hawaii Pacific is also ranked among the top 15 schools in the US for having one of the most diverse student populations and for attracting international students. Adds Wright: "Our programmes are conscientiously designed to enable students to succeed in their chosen careers. They provide competencies required by today’s employers and are designed to develop understanding and appreciation of life. Despite the university’s nationally recognised growth over the past decade, Hawaii Pacific has retained the atmosphere of a small college. Our faculty and staff are dedicated, highly qualified professionals committed to giving personal attention to each student."
Established in 1965, HPU offers more than 40 undergrad and nine postgraduate study programmes. Its faculty comprises 445 full and part-time professors with over 77 percent of them awarded doctorates.
H
awaii. Popularly known as the Aloha
state (aloha is the Hawaiian word for welcome), Hawaii’s location on the newly emergent east-west trade route has transformed it into a major international business centre and one of the world’s most preferred tourism destinations. It consists of a group of tropical islands in the central Pacific Ocean. Formed by a prolonged series of volcanic eruptions millions of years ago, the Hawaiian Islands chain comprises Niihau, Kaua’i, O’ahu, Maui, Moloka’i, Lana’i, Kahoolawe, and the Big Island of Hawaii. A US-backed coup toppled the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, the territory was annexed in 1898 and Hawaii became the 50th state of the US federation of states in 1959. Today Hawaii — a tropical paradise with an average temperature of 26oC — is the most popular domestic tourism destination in the US and attracts visitors from around the world.
Honolulu. The capital of Hawaii, Honolulu has one of the lowest crime rates in the US and was ranked first among America’s large cities for the purity of its air and water. Students enjoy a host of outdoor activities through the year. Water sports such as surfing, body boarding, fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling, canoeing, and windsurfing are among the most popular activities. Other sports and activities such as volleyball, tennis, hiking, golfing, running, biking, hang-gliding, skydiving, sailing and boating, may also be enjoyed year-round. Besides its unique outdoor activities Honolulu, with its wide array of fine restaurants, dance clubs, bars, and cafes, is ideal for fun nights out.
Campus facilities. HPU offers its students two distinctive campuses. The main campus is located in the centre of downtown Honolulu, brimming with the hustle and bustle of city life and mesmerised tourists. The other campus — Hawaii Lao campus spread across 135 acres in the green foothills of the Koolau mountains eight miles from Honolulu — houses an academic centre, six dormitory blocks, a cafeteria and provides breath-takingly beautiful and serene vistas. HPU students can take classes on either campus.
HPU has a library on each of the two campuses offering a combined collection of over 160,000 volumes. The International Student Office helps students from over 80 countries with US immigration and naturalisation laws and procedures. The university also houses more than 50 clubs such as the scuba, eco, sports clubs and student business organisations. For people who love the sun and sea, Hawaii with its palm-ringed beaches offers excellent opportunities for jet skiing, water polo, sail boarding and surfing. Indeed for the scholastically inclined individual who loves the outdoor life, HPU would be hard to match.
Admission. Unlike most US universities which insist on SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores as mandatory for admitting international students, Hawaii Pacific University does not. Students who do not submit TOEFL scores are required to pass the university’s English placement exam and subsequently join the English Foundation Programme (if necessary). Approximately 70 percent of those who apply for admission are accepted.
The basic criterion for admission into HPU’s undergraduate programmes is successful completion of Plus Two or its equivalent. For entry into its graduate programmes, a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent is the basic requirement. For further information write to the Hawaii Office of Admissions, Hawaii Pacific University, 1164 Bishop Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813. E-mail: admissions @hpu.edu; website: www.hpu.edu.
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ccommodation. Students have a choice of living in university-leased apartments in Honolulu or in halls of residence on the Hawaii Lao campus. Special shuttles run every 30 minutes between the downtown Honolulu and Hawaii Lao campuses, which makes commuting back and forth easy.
Apartments leased by the university provide linen and kitchen facilities, though food and groceries are not included in the rent. The rooms in the six halls of residence include double and triple suites with shared bathrooms. Accommodation here includes 14 meals per week in the Hawaii Lao Cafeteria. University officials also have a listing service for private rentals. "Students can choose between the city centre of downtown Honolulu and Waikiki or the more tranquil residential atmosphere of the Hawaii Lao campus. And since it’s only a 15-miniute ride between the two campuses, students can take advan-tage of both," says a HPU spokeswoman.
Degree programmes. With its enviable student-faculty ratio of 18:1, HPU allows for "greater interaction and exchange of ideas between students and professors and an education designed to help students succeed in the 21st century through a combination of a dynamic liberal arts curriculum, outstanding faculty and an approach that balances classroom theory with practical application". The university offers an array of undergraduate degree programmes in the science (computer and environmental science) as well as the arts (economics, interaction studies) streams. The undergraduate programme is of four years duration, but students may graduate whenever they have earned the required number of credits for their degree (124).
The HPU Graduate School offers five graduate degree programmes (see box). The university operates on a semester basis with traditional fall and spring semesters (September 8-December 20 and January 25-May 11). But it also provides for extensive summer and winter sessions which are optional to help students accelerate their degree acquisition process.
HPU also offers the opportunity of earning a dual degree — students can plan their academic programme with their academic advisor and earn a BA as well as a B.Sc degree.
HPU’s scholastic options
Hawaii Pacific University offers the BA and B.Sc degrees in over 40 subjects
and Masters degrees in nine disciplines.
Undergraduate
Bachelor of Arts. Communications, economics, history, human resource development, human services, humanities, international relations, international studies, justice administration, literature, political science, psychology, social sciences, sociology/ anthropology
Bachelor of Science. Computer science, nursing, marine biology and oceanography, pre-medical studies, environmental science, accounting, business economics, computer information systems, corporate communications, entrepreneurial studies, finance, human resource management
The Graduate School
MBA; MA: human resource management, communication, diplomacy and military studies, global leadership, organisational change, teaching English as second language; M.Sc: nursing, information science
Tuition and living expenses (annual)
Full-time tuition (for most majors) $10,922
Living expenses (food, housing, utilities) $7,928
Books, supplies and health insurance $2,050
NB $=Rs.46
Summiya Yasmeen