With more than four decades of rich industry and academic experience in India and abroad, Dr Ramana has built ITM Group as a leading educational institution in India. With the Group’s strong multi-city presence in South India and further expansion plans in other parts, Dr Ramana envisages the group to impart quality education at par with the best institutions in the country like IIMs.
The group already has a network of campuses in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Navi - Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Vishakhapatnam and Warangal. Now, ITM is expanding its reach in North through its planned B-school in Delhi-NCR.
A specialist in Strategic Management and Business Management, Dr Ramana strongly believes that the approach of MBA programmes should be highly industry-relevant. In this interview, Dr Ramana speaks on ITM B-schools based in South India, its USPs and the group’s plan to foray into north India.
Excerpts:
Q: ITM Group has rapidly expanded into many cities in last few years. How would you like to position management programmes at ITM Group?
A:
We think that if you cannot get into IIMs you can do well by joining ITM B-schools. We see that after first couple of jobs, ITM graduates are valued equally based on their performance.Q: ITM Group is known primarily for its B-schools in Mumbai. Please share with us about your presence in South India?
A: ITM B-School Bangalore is now 21 years old and has enjoyed 100% placement. In fact many students from North prefer Bangalore, as many good recruiters come to Bangalore ITM and the costs are lower there.
ITM B-School Chennai is now 20 years old and is positioned right in the middle of the largest IT park in Chennai with TCS, Cognizant, WIPRO, Polaris etc as neighbors. There are MOU’s with TCS, HDFC etc and this B-School has an excellent modern campus. The institute has very good IT and Banking Internships and 100% placement are the hallmarks of ITM Chennai.
ITM B-School, Warangal is now 18 years old and has a wonderful small but spacious campus designed only for the intake of 120 students each year. This institute also enjoys 100% placement for many years now.
ITM B-School, Hyderabad is just a year old, and the first batch enrolled in 2012 will graduate in 2014. The B-school has a pretty campus on a 14 acre hill top site!
So, ITM has a strong presence in South, and is looking to increase capacity and intake from academic year 2013-14.
Q: What is the rationale behind such a wide multi-city presence in South India? By contrast you don’t have a similar presence in North…
A: ITM has grown into cities where traditionally a high value is placed on Education as career driver. ITM has a presence in Greater NOIDA Knowledge Park Phase III, where we have started ICICI Bank Sales Training Academy in March 2013. We have planned a B-School at that campus from the academic year 2014.
Q: You have said that ITM Group focuses on ‘Value for Money’ education for students. Do you think that generally speaking MBA/PGDM education is overpriced? What is the ‘right’ price for a good MBA in Indian context? Do mid-tier B-schools (typically ranked between # 30 & #60 in good B-school survey) over charge? Are they blindly aping IIMs, who have increased their fees very significantly in last 4-5 years…
A: I believe there is no right price. Price depends on costs and inputs. The true yardstick for ITM PGDM pricing is the payback for student. In all our campuses and programs the total cost of the program can be recovered in 2 years or less based on average starting salary. For students who are lucky to get a job offer which pays Rs 8 lakh CTC or more, the pay back is less than one year! If the cost of the program is Rs 10 lakh and the average pay is Rs 2 or 3 lakh per year, then obviously the student has no payback!
Q: ITM last year revamped its curriculum to make it more Industry-relevant. What has been the response?
A: The response from Industry for the ‘radically different’ PGDM is tremendous! Industry has adopted this approach in a big way and we have secured over 1000 internships this year, for 6 months on-the-job-training with stipends ranging from Rs 10K to 20K per month.
Q: Tell us about the USPs for each of your B-schools in South India? To start with, what are the unique features of ITM Bangalore…
A: Cool country, very good campus, Bangalore is now a happening place.
ITM Chennai is built around IT Park based setting. The B-school has MOUs with TCS, HDFC etc ensure 100% placement in IT and Banking sector.
ITM Warangal is based in rural setting. But the institute has good faculty strength that includes visiting faculty from ITM Hyderabad. It is fully residential and offers 100% campus placement. The intake for the management programme at ITM Warangal is restricted by its unique design.
ITM Hyderabad is a new campus. It is only 1-year old and things are just settling down there.
Q: Finally, are you also making a foray in North India? What are your plans…
A: We have taken a 6 acre campus with huge spaces and hostel capacity of 250 students in Greater Noida Knowledge Park III, and will start Industry leading PGDM programs there. We will design additional choices to many students from North India who prefer ITM over others!
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