Jindal Global Business School (JGBS) is India’s 1st multidisciplinary global business school. One of the most sought after MBA colleges in India, Jindal Global Business School is a part of O.P. Jindal Global University. Established in 2010, JGBS is located on a 100 acre campus in Sonepat (Haryana) in Delhi NCR. JGBS offers a multidisciplinary global business education to foster academic excellence through industry partnerships and global collaborations.
Pursuing MBA from JGBS Sonepat (Delhi NCR) is considered better by many MBA aspirants than doing it from a non-university management institute. Apart from offering flagship 2 years full time MBA, JGBS also offers MBA Business Analytics with IBM; Global Executive MBA; Executive MBA; Integrated BBA-MBA among others.
Dr. Tapan K. Panda, Professor at JGBS is an MBA from Utkal University as well as from Houston. He did his PhD. From Utkal University. Dr Panda has recently taken over as the dean of JGBS, Sonepat. In an exclusive interview with MBAUniverse.com, Dr Tapan K Panda shares his vision to further enhance the JGBS effect and future plans.
Excerpts from the MBAUniverse.com interview with Dr Tapan K Panda, Dean JGBS follows:
Congratulations on your appointment as the Dean of Jindal Global Business School. What is your vision for the B-school?
Jindal Global Business School (JGBS) is unique in many ways. One of the most important dimension is global access and internationalization of learning. The multi-dimensional environment helps to build global managers.
My vision for the B-school is to ensure that every student gets an opportunity to have some global exposure through our immersion program, semester abroad program and MS program. This will help them to learn in multi-cultural environment and experience the varied way of doing business across the world. I propose to bridge the industry- institute divide and to make the class rooms ground for solving real time business problems. I propose to build future business ideators and change masters.
What are the key strengths and USPs of your institution? How do plan to leverage and enhance it?
We are a multidisciplinary business school. We are above the narrow focus of business; we try to understand business from a holistic view. We have an advantage due to the presence of our other schools like law, public policy, international affairs and liberal arts.
While the school focuses on core learning domains in management like marketing, finance, human resource management and operations, students are free to choose relevant courses from other schools through cross listing. Secondly, the global network of institutions that JGBS enjoys that allows students to go to business schools abroad in all parts of the world including USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand through our immersion program, semester abroad program and one-year Master’s program.
The third factor is experiential learning environment in which students are exposed to modern pedagogy that helps them to explore their hidden potential. Jindal Institute of Behavioural Science (JIBS) helps us in analysing each student and planning their growth path. There is a dedicated laboratory for competency mapping. So we pay attention to individual student development and growth. The industry- institute connection is also an important factor for a student to look forward to. The faculty members with strong industry connect build the bridge between students and industry for real time learning. These are certain achievements and networks of JGBS that I would like to leverage and take it forward in future.
You have been associated with some of the leading B-schools in India like the IIMs and Great Lakes. What are the key changes you have seen in Indian management education ecosystem in last 5-7 years?
Indian management education has seen a sea change in last decade. There was a sudden spur of business schools across the nation due to AICTE. So from paucity we moved to abundance. Then the whole concept of management education failed in India as they couldn’t create the desired skill set for converting students to managers. They couldn’t create workforce for jobs available in the market nor the right kind of faculty and pedagogy was available in the country for such programs.
The promoters of these so called business schools treated business schools as cash cows as it didn’t involve labs/expensive equipment as a result of which the surplus generated went out of the business school domain and was invested in engineering education leading to management education becoming a fad. There was no plan ‘B’ for the business schools which could have been entrepreneurship education. While focus was on teaching obsolete content, the tech-preneurship landscape was changing and management education missed the bus to bring in innovation and cognitive entrepreneurship into its domain. It was a pure play short sightedness. Finally leading government business schools forgot the mandate and were into an expansion plan without a focus on creating adequate soft and hard infrastructure.
How important is Globalization for Indian B-schools. What are the globalization initiatives at JGBS?
The business schools were busy with a focus on domestic market and in the process, we forgot the challenge of global markets. It’s important for Indian business schools to adapt itself to the emerging global challenges and build professional competency among Indian students to face those challenges. Indian business schools have to globalize quickly not by opening schools abroad but by creating an environment of free exchange of ideas among students, faculty and promoters.
This process will bring in global best practices and also encourage Indian business schools to think global and act local. JGBS is focussed on this philosophy and has a strong network of universities abroad for its students and faculties. More than student and faculty exchange, we have country focussed centres where students get a chance to work with professors. Students can visit to our partner schools and universities across the globe and take courses, get degrees by completing their desired credits through a credit transfer mode.
What are key initiatives you are planning to take at JGBS in coming months? How will these initiatives benefit students?
There is a multi- pronged approach followed at JGBS. We are partnering with corporates, setting up business analytics lab, co-designing and co-teaching programs with industry partners like KPMG, refocussing on family owned business programs, integrating newer domains into our programs like hospitality, banking and financial services and strengthening faculty base for greater learning environment. These initiatives will help students to be industry ready and also undertake studies which will give them advantage over other management school students.
How are you planning to position your MBA Program for coming years? What will be its USPs and key highlights?
Our MBA program will be multidisciplinary, industry ready, globally focussed and move towards catering to creating professional managers, nextgen family owned business managers and entrepreneurs. We would like to create business managers for future who are socially conscious, strategic in approach and towards solving greater business problems in a globalized world. We would like to create managers who can work in any multi-cultural environment and should not have a narrow focus while solving complex business problems. These managers will have the potential to build large business enterprises as well as work with already established organizations with an entrepreneurial spirit.
How has been the response to Admissions process? Is there more interest, and are applications higher?
This year has been a revelation for us, All the hard work done by the previous dean and senior management in re-positioning JGBS is bearing the fruit now in terms of not only number of applications but also quality of applications. We have students with 99% in XAT already with us. The generous scholarship scheme has helped us in reaching to good quality students who are offered almost zero tuition fees (students can check my scholarship scheme also) for good candidates. We have achieved substantial jumps in our MBA applicants this year. The bridge course is also helping on keeping the applicants engaged with the school before they join the program here.
What is your message to MBA Aspirants, looking for a MBA qualification? Is MBA relevant in today’s times?
MBA will be always relevant, at any point of time as it makes a specialist first who grows up to become a generalist in future. MBA degree is all about solving problems: business, society or the globe. The approach to solve problems, create value and make the civilization grow largely depends on the management students. The challenge for creating a better and equitable world lies with us.
Students are here to build business, nations and a world which is better than what they inherited. They should keep their eyes open and first be sensitive to the challenge and opportunity in the air, look for an entrepreneurial ability to build value; whether inside the organization of their employer or for their own enterprises. As long as they are growing from a skill orientation to knowledge orientation and applying the learning to lead from the front, they will always succeed.
My message is: learn management skills, acquire knowledge about business and world, solve problems be business or society, generate value and lead for the future. If you can build yourself to face these multitasking environment, then you will leave a legacy of your own. Leave those imprints on the sands of time that you, among billions could change the world and shape the future of business and society.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on Jindal Global Business Scholl (JGBS) Sonepat
