Rev. Dr. C. Joe Arun, SJ is the Director at Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai. He has done extensive research in the areas of consumer behaviour, strategic management, cross-cultural management, conflict and identity construction. He has published books and scientific papers in areas such as personal growth, globalization and marginalisation, leadership and strategy. He is a founding member of the Institute of Dialogue with Cultures and Religions (IDCR) which researched issues of conflict in religions and cultures. He was bestowed with CSR’s award of ‘Eminent Director of Leading Institute of India’ in January 2017.

Loyola Institute of Business Administration

What is your philosophy of leadership? 

“A leader needs to communicate evangelically in a way that evokes energy in the team” 

Leadership is not an individual project. It is a collective one. You need a team and its collaboration. For this, I prefer to work on the strengths of individuals. Each person in the Institute I believe has a set of strengths/capabilities that have to be made use of at every level of activities. This encourages them to come out with bright ideas and workable ideas. Another thing I do is to set up a system of thinking, to maintain a creative process. I tell them to see new ways of solving issues and innovative approaches to problems.

How do you plan for the marketing and administration of your school?

“Develop a plan that is comprehensive, vision-centric and aligns with the current digital-savvy world”

The first thing I choose to do is ideate. Creating an idea that is relevant and innovative is the first decision I make. 

  • LIBA has proactively collaborated with online education service providers such as Upgrad and Lead Sense to help us offer online programmes and facilitate online learning-teaching –evaluation.
  • Centre for Technology and Innovation (CTI) was conceived to bring about a digital transformation in LIBA and to leap-frog into the new normal environment of the post-COVID era. 
  • In its proactive efforts towards Online Teaching Learning, LIBA has opened a Learning Studio that functions as a technological centre in which online content of learning would be created by faculty and industry experts.

What can an inbound student gain from studying here in your institute?

“LIBA actively mandates innovative Learning-Teaching-Evaluation by empowering the faculty”

To offer Experiential & Immersive learning that is industry-relevant, a new TLA based learning system was implemented by us.

To be an excellent MBA institute we have changed our learning system into innovative, modelled after the Oxford Learning System (OLS). There is a holistic approach to learning by making all the Student Club activities part of the learning process, they are not extra-curricular activities but it is an integral part of learning. LIBA has designed a Personal Growth Lab (PGL) in which students receive personal guidance to become aware of their deficiencies and make themselves positive in their character.

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How does the curriculum of LIBA ensure the best practice of industry?

“We have an organic connect with industry as it plays a dominant role in giving exposure to the students”

  • Close links between the business classroom and the boardroom are apparent at LIBA through our Faculty offering an industry-specific curriculum. They introduce material into a real-world context, showing students a concrete application of concepts. 
  • LIBA has an enviable record of securing 100% placements since the inception of the Full-Time PGDM programme.
  • This year LIBA conducted Placements 2020 virtually due to the pandemic situation and witnessed top recruiters like Asian Paints, Deloitte, CTS, etc.

What do you think your responsibilities to the institute and the students are?

“The mission statements of the top business schools claim to transform students into tomorrow’s good leaders”

I want to form leaders who would excel with ethics. We don’t just teach our students, but we form our students to become excellent in the field of their choice and excel with ethics. LIBA is pretty representative of the rest.

What do you think should be the institute’s top priority over the next 10 years?

“For the forthcoming years, innovation and expansion is our main goal”

Growing in terms of academics and infrastructure is a main priority. 

  • In terms of expansion, we will start three verticals PGDM in Analytics, Healthcare Management, and Logistics. 
  • To accomplish this, the institute will start offering new certificate courses with TCS (analytics), MGM (healthcare) and Kerry-Indev Logistics (logistics) as our industry partners. 
  • They will co-create the curriculum and co-teach the syllabus, provide internships, and finally collaborate in placing the students.
  • The construction of an 85-crore new building with state-of-the-art infrastructure, guided by design thinking, is in progress. This will strengthen LIBA’s resolve and provide space for future orientations.

What has been your vision for the Institute and its growth? 

“To allow knowledge creation along with its facilitation”

It is not the knowledge you want to transfer from professor to student, but to create an environment that instils curiosity, regarding knowledge, in everybody’s mind. LIBA is one of the few B-Schools that has adapted quickly and embraced technology smoothly transitioning to the new normal post-Covid situation. 

What would you like people to know about your institute they may not know?

“We focus on building the character of our students and allowing a holistic, integral and formative growth”

As LIBA focuses on pursuing excellence with ethics, we give importance to the overall development of students and faculty members. We wish to reach the heights of pristine standard of learning. That standard provides a unique and valued position in which a student feels (pathos) , thinks (logos) and acts (ethos) in his or her circumstances based on values of goodness, truth and beauty.

What do you see as LIBA’s greatest strengths?

“LIBA focuses on Excellence with Ethics”

We believe that if excellence is achieved with values that benefit society, that excellence should be seen as monumental. Therefore, LIBA gives attention to the formation of the character of students. What our students become after a two-year study is more important than what they know or learn as information and knowledge. This is why LIBA stands above the rest. 

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What are some plans that you’re currently (or will be) designing for LIBA’s international affairs?

“Student exchange programs and several collaborative arrangements with nearly 15 reputed global universities”

  • Eminent faculty members and students from nearly 18 partner Universities frequently visit LIBA on teaching assignments and Student exchange programmes. 
  • We have collaborative arrangements with nearly 15 reputed universities in the United States, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia for student exchange programmes, faculty exchange and research collaboration. 
  • Similarly, LIBA faculty members regularly teach in foreign institutions through faculty exchange programs. 
  • Recently, LIBA e-signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu – National Louis University, Poland.
  • General Progression Agreement was signed between MBS, Montpellier, France and LIBA. 
  • We expect to engage even further in more international assignments shortly after being internationally accredited by SAQS and becoming a member of AACSB. 
  • We are in the process of linking MoU with top B-Schools in North America and Europe.