Multi-disciplinary setting is USP of our MBA programme: Dr Prem Vrat

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
April 15, 2013
In an interview with MBAUniverse.com, Dr Prem Vrat shares his thought on Management Education scenario in India and the MBA programme at ITM University.
Our USP is its multidisciplinary setting; as three schools of Engineering, Management and Law provide enormous scope for understanding management from a wider perspective: Dr Prem Vrat
Dr Prem Vrat is Vice Chancellor & Professor of Eminence at ITM University, Gurgaon.  In an interview with MBAUniverse.com, Dr Prem Vrat shares his thought on Management Education scenario in India and the MBA programme at ITM University, Gurgaon.

Dr Prem Vrat carries over four decades of rich experience in academia and strategic leadership which includes his stint as Professor of Eminence, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon; Vice Chancellor, U.P. Technical University, Lucknow; Founder-Director, IIT Roorkee; and Director in-charge at IIT Delhi. He has also taught at IIM Lucknow. An engineering graduate from IIT Kharagpur, Dr Prem Vrat did his Ph.D from IIT Delhi in 1974 in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research.

Dr Vrat, who is also an Honorary Visiting Professor at IIT Delhi, has guided over 100 major projects on Industrial Application of Systems Approach and Management Science. He has delivered lectures in more than 450 Management Development programs in India and abroad. 

In this interview, he also talks on focus of ITM University and its future roadmap.

Q:  You have long experience in academia. What are your key observations with respect to average quality of management education in India?

A:

The quality of management education in India has enormous variability. There are some very good institutions and not so good institutions. On the whole the average quality is ‘Average’.

Perhaps focus on holistic thinking and capacity to analyze a situation needs to be strengthened. Issues like operations management, quality, time and cost management require greater attention as compared to what is generally given in many Business Schools. Further, management education should have strong practical bias focusing on current business awareness and application based learning.

Q: What is the focus and USP of the MBA program at ITM?  

A: At ITM University, the USP of MBA program is its multidisciplinary setting; as three schools of Engineering, Management and Law provide enormous scope for understanding management from a wider perspective. Accordingly, MBA program focuses on systematic thinking and prepare managers who can handle variety of situations by matching managerial approach to fit the situation.

Q: What is the total fee for the programme and eligibility criteria? Please also share cut-off score of the written entrance exams like CAT/XAT/CMAT for your MBA programme.

A: The total fee for the two-year program is Rs. 5 Lakh and eligibility criteria is at least 50% marks in Bachelor’s Degree and qualifying CAT/CMAT/MAT. The scores are given a 30% weightage apart from academic percentage in bachelor’s programme, experience, GD & PI in a multi-criteria evaluation Framework. However, written exam scores are not used to screen out candidates using a cut-off. This helps in overall profile evaluation.

Q: ITM University has also announced to start Executive MBA program from this academic year. What is this programme aimed at? What are the other initiatives this academic year?

A: Yes…ITM University will start three year part-time MBA for working executives in Delhi-NCR. The focus is similar to regular MBA except that there is more attention to practical applications and flexible schedules of classes over weekends or in the evening to enable executives to attend classes after their working hours. The part-time MBA programme will also help in strengthening the intellectual capital and quality of teaching-learning processes, due to high quality class-room interaction. In addition, we have 3-year BBA and are introducing two new programs of B.Com (Hons) and B.Sc. (Hons) in Economics after 10+2. Minimum 60% in 10+2 is required for these 3 year Under graduate programs.

Q: How has been final placement 2013 at ITM University?

A: Final placements at ITM University have significantly improved. Some of the companies having visited the campus are: HCL Technologies, INDUSIND Bank, SHAREKHAN, Investors Clinic, NIIT Technologies, City Innovates, Napino Auto Pvt. Ltd., Helios Global Consultancy, PMC Pvt. Ltd., Nagarro Software Solutions etc. Most of them have offered reasonably good packages to our students. We are aiming at 100% placements of the present MBA batch. Further, many companies have offered summer internships for our 1st year MBA students, some on paid-internship basis.  Some of these companies are Honda, Maruti Suzuki Pvt. Ltd., IBM, CEAT, Nestle India, Investor's Clinic etc.
                                                 
Q: The final placements 2013 at different B-school including some IIMs have been affected due to cautious approach of industry. This has generated negativity over post-MBA job scenario. What is your message to the MBA aspirants and students on this?

A: There is some degree of disenchantment about MBA/PGDM programmes which become more visible due to dip in the economy. In my opinion; MBA if right quality focus is given will never become irrelevant because customer delight, value for money, quality, cost, and productivity will always be relevant and much more relevant in case of dip in the economy. Hence this dip gives us an opportunity to revisit our programmes and make them more relevant value proposition to the employers. ITM University has the policy of continuous up-gradation of our course structure and contents through Board of Studies whose members are eminent professionals from the industry and academia.

Q: What is the roadmap for next 2-3 years for MBA programmes at ITM University? Please share your short-term and long-term vision for the institute.

A: ITMU has been consistently rated as the best engineering institutions in the private sector in NCR. Over next 2-3 years; we plan to work towards a similar goal in School of Management as well. Our goal is to focus on excellent faculty- which in last 2 years has enriched substantially; better industry inter-face; summer-internships; international exposure and holistic focus in developing management graduates. We are setting up ‘Centre for Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship’ to give an option to budding managers / engineers to setup their own business instead of seeking employment.

ITMU enjoys a unique locational advantage – within 30 minutes drive from Delhi Airport. We have outstanding faculty associated with us in the visiting / adjunct faculty status from India and abroad. We are planning to further leverage this locational advantage and the widely known quality culture of ITMU, Gurgaon.

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