People

Yale tide gift

Sunder: research support plea

"The purpose of this joint venture is to build capacity for research and scholarship at Glim. The programme will involve faculty interaction and exchanges, joint research and concurrent publication of case studies. Glim has invested Rs.3 crore in this venture in the first phase and we will lend support through our ideas," says Sunder, honorary director of research at the institute.

A mechanical engineer from the I.R Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Jamalpur, Assam, Sunder pressed on to acquire a Master’s and doctorate in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon University, USA after serving with Indian Railways (1966-69). He switched to teaching and research in the US and in the course of a distinguished career in academia has served as associate professor at the University of Chicago (1973-82); professor at University of Minnesota School of Management (1983-88); professor of management and economics at his alma mater Carnegie Mellon University (1988-99) before moving to Yale where he teaches currently.

His passion and preoccupation, however, is business and economics research for which he would like to see a more supportive environment in India. "The great weakness of higher education in India is lack of talented people in teaching and research. This issue requires to be addressed seriously. Research is expensive and time consuming and the administrative structure of our colleges and universities discourages teachers from spending time on research," says Sunder.

The solution, according to him, is to develop a higher education system which supports research programmes. "The business community, the prime beneficiary of talent emerging from B-schools must commit itself to supporting an education model which produces not only qualified MBAs but also incorporates Ph D programmes that will attract young talent," says Sunder. He believes that Glim, headed by interna-tionally renowned business management guru Bala V. Balachandran, J.L. Kellogg distinguished professor at the Stuart School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology, is a model institution in this respect.

Henceforth Sunder’s energies will be canalised into working with Glim’s faculty to develop research programmes in various spheres of business management and into 25 other research projects with which he is currently involved. Simultaneously he is working on a new book analysing corporate failures in the US. "Right now Yale University is developing a blueprint for setting up a live trade-room facility within Glim’s new campus in the IT corridor on East Coast Road, which will be ready in a year’s time," he says.

Quite clearly Glim, which within a year has established itself as Chennai’s premier B-school, is all set to give India’s high profile IIMs a run for their money.

Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)

Stanford standard bearer

Srinivasan: long-term partnerships offer

"India is the most happening nation worldwide and respected for its IT innovations. Its talented English speaking knowledge workers and young population make it one of the world’s largest markets for higher education. We would like to tap this large pool of youngsters interested in enhancing their prospects through quality education that SGSB offers. We had been pressing for inclusion of India in the itinerary of Executive Forum tours since 2000 and I am glad we could make it this year. We are here to explore possibilities of forging long-term partnerships to offer executive training and education in the years to come," says Srinivasan, a mechanical engineering alumnus of IIT Madras with a doctorate in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon University, USA.

A former Larsen & Toubro production executive who signed up with Stanford in 1974 in the marketing faculty, Srinivasan has over three decades of teaching and research experience in highly-reputed institutions such as University of Rochester, Indian School of Business, and SGSB. He believes that Indian executives can benefit from SGSB programmes because B-schools in India are way behind their US counterparts in pedagogy development. "Most Indian B-schools are merely teaching their students ‘best practices’ without emphasising reflective thinking, analysis of complex business scenarios and applications. Moreover most of them don’t create opportunities for continuous faculty-student interaction with alumni. It is important that B-school graduates remain in constant touch with senior professors and this can happen only when alumni meets and executive forums are organised," says Srinivasan.

According to him, Indian B-schools including the high profile IIMs suffer several other disadvantages such as rock-bottom faculty pay packages, inadequate infrastructure, poor quality reading material, inadequate research opportunities and abject financial dependence on government. "These are some of the factors behind their poor research culture. The scale and quality of research activity is the defining characteristic of a B-school. Experienced faculty should be encouraged to go abroad for sabbaticals to pursue research. In SGSB we are willing to extend full support to genuinely interested academics from India," says Srinivasan.

The enthusiastic response of managers in Indian industry to SGSB’s executive forums has convinced Srinivasan that the Stanford delegation’s maiden visit to India has opened many doors. "The response has been very encouraging and we are confident that this is just the beginning of a long-term association with India. Other plans on the anvil include identifying partners to offer the Stanford MBA through twinning programmes," he says.

Srinidhi Raghavendra (Bangalore)

Multi-talent teacher

Tandon: education thru music

Tandon’s induction into the heady world of music began at age four when she began tinkering with her father’s tabla and sitar. Recognising her talent, her parents enrolled her in Kanya Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, a renowned but picky music school in Muradabad, where she impressed her teachers with her musical talent and won the best student of the year award three years in a row way back in the 1950s.

However it was during her post-graduate years in the Gokuldass Girls’ Degree College in Muradabad, that Tandon’s parents enrolled her for music and dance training with renowned artistes. Thus, Shovna Narayan taught her the nuances of kathak, while Shiv Kumar Sharma was instrumental in honing her tabla skills. Ashtaq Hussain Khan fine-tuned her sitar playing.

Public performances resulted in a teaching assignment with the DAV school in 1985 where Tandon was hired as a tabla teacher. Since then she rose to the post of head of the music faculty in 2000.

Despite her musical talent, Tandon describes herself as an educationist rather than musician. That’s why she has been spearheading the Education For All and anti-polio campaigns in her school and villages nearby. "Education and health are two issues which need to be addressed urgently for the nation to progress. All educational institutes need to look beyond commerce to benefit society in general. For this we need genuinely humanitarian people interested in education to enter this field," says this role model teacher.

Moreover as founder chairperson of Amrita Swar Sansthan, a music school affiliated to the Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad, Tandon has been tirelessly promoting music and dance among youth for the past six years. Tuition fees are rock bottom and admission to the talented poor is free. She also directs an annual ballet dance competition for youth, encouraging participation from youngsters across the social spectrum. "Music is a discipline and integral to education. Study of music helps to build confident, impressive personalities," she says.

Indeed her life is her message.

Neeta Lal (Delhi)

Encouraging response

Browne: motivation investigation

 David Browne, director of Middlesex University’s business management programmes was in India recently to offer advice to aspiring B-school students and gauge their motivational levels. "Back in London, the application form doesn’t tell us much about a student. I want to make sure that those seeking admission into Middlesex University’s business management study programmes are sufficiently motivated. This was the basic purpose of my visit — to meet applicant students," he says.

At the end of his seven day visit during which he met prospective B-school students in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad, Browne was impressed by their enthusiasm for high quality education. "India has an enormous population. To transform it into an asset to develop and expand the economy, this young population needs access to quality education," he says.

An alumnus of Imperial College (UK) and London School of Economics who served with Kingston University before signing up with Middlesex U 18 months ago, Browne advises India’s growing number of B-school aspirants to acquire work experience before enrolling in a B-school. "If you have basic work experience, an MBA can enhance it. That’s why in our B-school programmes, work experience and a minimum age of 24 is mandatory," says Browne who has also spent seven years teaching in Sierra Leone and Gambia.

And though this stringent admission requirement could hurt Middlesex U’s student recruitment drive, Browne is convinced it’s the right way to go. "The basic difference between European and American B-schools is that we give great emphasis to developing core, hands-on management skills, while they churn out technically competent managers with analytical rather than management skills."

Browne takes particular pride that Middlesex has the largest number of Indian students of any university in Britain, and the indication is that the university’s B-school will prove as popular. "Though ours is a new B-school, because of our rigorous admission requirements, it is already being accepted as one of the best in UK. Perhaps our proximity to London and affordable tuition fee structure has something to do with our popularity. Whatever the reason, I expect to see a lot more Indian students in our business management programmes," says Browne.

Quite obviously the Indian response to his visit was good.

Autar Nehru (Delhi)