We Are Part Of The Larger Ecosystem: Durga Prasad, TA Pai Management Institute
TA Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal started as ManipalInstitute of Management in 1980 and was renamed the very next yearto honour the founder. It received AICTE accreditation for its PDGM course in 1989. Director Durga Prasad lists out education, research and community engagement as priority areas for the institute.
Prasad says that the desired graduate outcomes for the institute are very clear. These are leadership, initiative and problem-solving skills, technological literacy, lifelong learning, global citizenship, cultural awareness and ethics. To achieve these attributes, the institute is focusing on flexible and customised learning, internationalisation, leadership development and enhanced industry interface.
To ensure that the institute is aligned to industry expectations, TAPMIinvites industry leaders as part of ‘Director’s Roundtable’. Through the discussions, the key expectations that have been identified are digital prowess, analytical rigour, leadership and communication skills. Yet another expectation is cultural fit and the recruiters, when they come to campus, also assess this aspect, informs the director.
“To bridge the gap between the classroom and the company, we run industry immersion programmes wherein the industry visits us, and our students visit the industry. Accordingly, we restructure the curriculum,” says Prasad.
At the same time, the institute is also cognizant of what students want today. Besides seeking tools to upgrade their competency, they want a wholesome experience in the class and beyond. They want to hone their skills to influence people, cross-cultural communication, international exposure among other aspects, says the director.
An important marker of the changing times is inroads of AI and other disruptive technologies and the institute has started several new courses like data analytics and setting up of analytics to be abreast of technological changes. Courses like data mining, research collaborations, guest lectures and workshops on AI are also in the pipeline.
Community Engagement
A number of MSMEs are located in the vicinity of TAPMI who would have issues related to product design and marketing. The institute provides feasible solutions to them. “As a business school we are part of the larger ecosystem. We run a credited course called SEVA (Sustainability, Environment, Values and Attitude), wherein students work with local MSMEs and community to come up with solutions.”
The institute’s website, describing the course, states that it looks at “at increasing the core competency of students to understand sustainability in business, conducting responsible businesses and the processes of ethical business management. The course is structured such that students are able to grasp theoretical knowledge, identify real-time examples of problems and solutions and apply the same using knowledge and specific steps.”
Preparedness For Global Issues
The director talks about the leadership attributes that the institute is nurturing on environmental and larger social issues, besides just corporate leadership.
“We have a one-year programme on leadership development assessment, in which we look at leadership capabilities of a particular student. Depending upon his potential, we develop his potential, especially in sustainability area. In fact, our objective is to touch one lakh lives over the next 10 years.”
For a better global understanding, including geopolitical and economic, TAPMI is running a course on international business to help students understand the political and economic issues in a systematic way. And the institute is planning to start a course on culture and business to sensitise students regarding the cultural differences between various geographical regions that are critical elements in business today.
Challenges
Acquisition and retention of talent is the biggest challenge for B-schools, says Prasad. According to him, giving the faculty flexibility along with commensurate pay packages is the panacea. “We encourage the faculty to visit industry to provide solutions to industry problems,” he says. This also helps create better industry-academia engagement which would benefit the students.
He also points to the challenge that Indian B-schools must prepare for – entry of international B-schools on Indian soil. This competition will improve the quality of B-schools, including quality of teaching and infrastructure.
