Dr. R Srinivasan has been working as the Head, KIET School of Management (KSOM), KIET Group of Institutions, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. He has done PhD in Financial Risk Management from FMS, University of Delhi. He has a marvelous 35 years of industrial, teaching, research and consultancy experience. He was the Founder Associate Dean of NMIMS, Indore campus. In the past, he has been associated with reputed institutions like Amity University-Noida, IIFT-New Delhi, IMI-New Delhi, IMT-Ghaziabad, IBA-Greater Noida, SOIL-Gurgaon and NIFM-Faridabad in various capacities. He has worked on European Union Funded research projects and has provided consultancy services to the University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt, Germany; Nomura Research Institute; and Technova Global Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon. His teaching and research interests are Finance & Accounting, Financial Modelling, Financial Risk Management, Enterprise Risk Management, etc. He has several research paper publications in leading International and National research journals.

KIET Group of Institutions Ghaziabad

Being a Head, what are your responsibilities towards the students and management? 

"I am responsible to lead the KSOM’s activities, monitor students’ progress and provide them best education"

As a Head, KSOM, my major responsibility is to provide academic and administrative leadership at KSOM and guidance to teaching and non-teaching staff. Also, I need to connect with important stakeholders like students, parents, industry people and university officials as and when required. Ensuring that our educational practices comply with all statutory obligations of UGC, AICTE and other relevant bodies, promoting the institute on various fora and platforms for better branding and visibility, recruiting staff and faculty, assisting college for placement and admission process of students, organizing guest lectures in collaboration with industry professionals, developing norms and procedures for smooth functioning of the department, organizing workshops, providing best industry assignments and internships, doing alignment of courses with national and global curriculum, ensuring faculty development, improving Research and publications facilities in the department also comes under the my scope of responsibilities. 

How do you introduce a practical and industry-oriented approach towards subjects?

"By upgrading our teaching pedagogies regularly and including new programs and activities in curriculum"

I strongly believe that offering an education program is all about how it is conducted and what teaching pedagogy has been followed. An MBA program requires a different perspective and vision. Hence, we follow a few simple yet effective techniques to include practical and industry-oriented approaches such as case-based teaching, simulation activities, role plays, seminars, conferences and workshops etc. to ensure students derive maximum value from their MBA degree.

Which best practices are offered by your department to the students to help them gain necessary skills?

"Mini-major projects, apprenticeships and industry-interaction sessions are offered by us"

Our college has collaborated with reputed industries and institutions for teaching and research purposes. Engagement with business leaders and entrepreneurs throughout the academic year, through discussions and workshops, projects, internships, and other special experiential learning programs, allows our students to work with industry professionals on real-world business issues, giving them the perfect platform to test their classroom learnings on real-life settings and gain new perspectives on the conduct of the businesses. By working in groups and through projects, presentations, research, etc., the students learn to present their perspectives, defend their points of view, and think through management problems, to arrive at solutions. Through these exercises they develop an understanding of local and international markets, environment, and cross-cultural issues, which help them in developing a critical thinking mindset.

How do you strategize and update the curriculum of your college to make it befitting for students?

"Role plays, simulation games and seminars are part of the regular activities of college"

We follow the curriculum designed by the Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) to which we are affiliated to. Hence, our main emphasis is on proper execution of the syllabus defined by AKTU, by mapping activities like Business Cases, MS-Excel exercises, role plays, simulation games and seminars on global organizations, their cultures and working strategies etc. In this way KSOM ensures its students to develop a global perspective, which ultimately helps them survive in this highly competitive world.

How does your department prepare students for placement and higher education?

"Case study discussions, presentations and seminars are arranged by us to prepare them for corporate world"

Our college firmly believes that soft skills are as important as the technical skills for a student's complete personality development. Through case discussions/presentations, role plays and seminars KSOM ensures improvement in the students’ subject knowledge, confidence level and help them in becoming a rounded personality. The classroom activities help in honing their team-building skills and collaborated learning.

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How do you prepare your students to cope up with this competitive world?

"By ensuring their participation in college activities and encouraging them to believe in themselves"

We make sure that our students regularly participate in competitions organized by other B-Schools, institutes, universities, industry associations and corporate houses. Besides this, all the KSOM’s activities/events are planned and executed by the student teams. KSOM expects the students to take ownership and responsibilities of all the initiatives of the KSOM. Teachers play the role of a facilitators, by guiding and counseling the students as and when required. 

Which extracurricular activities are conducted by your college to enhance the skills of students?

"A wide variety of technical activities, sports events, and cultural fests are organized by us"

There are about 40 actively functioning clubs in KIET. A faculty coordinator is assigned to each club. The clubs organize extra-curricular and co-curricular activities. All the clubs are managed by the student executive body, which is responsible for planning, organizing and execute its activities. An annual sports event ‘Spardha’, cultural event ‘Epoque’, technical fest ‘Innotech’, management fest ‘Manifest’, etc. are organized at our college. In addition to all the conferences, seminars and workshops are conducted from time to time, which are fully, in all respects, managed by the student teams. 

What challenges are you facing to uplift the education quality of your department?

"Remaining relevant to developments taking place in the industry and update the subjects/syllabus to match up the industry requirement are the major challenges faced by KSOM"

AKTU is nimble footed and every year the AKTU Board of Studies (BOS) meets to look into the latest development in the corporate world; and accordingly, the same are included in the MBA curriculum. In addition, the KSOM keeps engaging with industry people to identify the ‘New-Age’ industry relevant courses from different domains of management and motivates its students to complete those courses through various online platforms, so that they remain industry ready.

When you joined this college, what was your vision for it and how are you trying to achieve the same? 

"My aim was to make this college the first-choice college for the students by offering best education to them"

My vision when I joined the KIET Group of Institution was to make the college best for students so that they can stand apart from the crowd and can learn best management practices. All the faculty members of KSOM are highly supportive, which is helpful in putting the KSOM vision into practice. 

How does the curriculum of your college ensure the best practices of industry?

"Although we follow the University designed curriculum, value added courses are included in it time to time"

The AKTU curriculum always are contemporary and up-to-date. KSOM’s main focus is on effective implementation. The classroom teaching is well complemented by indulging the students by way of events and activities including case discussions, presentations, business simulation, seminars, conferences, workshops, etc. to make the students industry ready.

How does your college enhance the skills of faculties and prepares them as per industry standards? 

"Training the Teachers, workshops, conferences, seminars, FDPs, MDPs, EDPs are integral part of KIET’s culture"

KSOM works on the philosophy of being student for life. Learning, unlearning and relearning is part of its culture, so that the teachers do not shy away from learning new skills, with the emergence of new technology. Since, the field of management is ever changing in nature, the management faculty also need to constantly re-skill and upskill themselves, to remain relevant in the industry. Similarly, every teacher is mandated to publish at least 1 research article per year in any journal of high repute. Our faculty are also encouraged to participate in Faculty Development Programmes, Management Development Programmes and conferences, organized by reputed B-Schools. 

What approaches do you bring in apart from curriculum to teach the students? 

"Events like conferences, seminars and workshops are regular feature of KSOM which strengthen the student’s skills"

KSOM firmly believes that classroom teaching-learning is not enough. An MBA student has also to develop critical thinking and analytical mind, so that he is able to take decisions even in the toughest of situations and to wriggle the business as it develops only about 50% of the requisite skills in a student. Hence, we regularly conduct events/activities viz., conferences, seminars, workshops, management fests and sports etc. and ensure full participation of students. Besides this, the students are motivated to participate in events/competitions organized by other institutes and organizations. 

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Any valuable advice which you would like to give to the students to have a prosperous career ahead? 

"Skill Enhancement is the mool mantra of KSOM"

We all know very well that only a Degree in Medicine, Engineering, Commerce, or Humanities is not sufficient for a student to reach greater heights in the corporate sector. The essential of business is of utmost importance; and MBA is the best fit for anyone to survive in this competitive world. And pursuing a full time MBA degree from KSOM, encapsulates the essential practical skills and knowledge which are in demand in industries, in students and working professionals. KSOM offers best management education at a very low cost, thus providing one of the best ROI. Hence I would like to advise my students to make best use of their time by pursuing the MBA program with a specializations of their choice and excel in life.