“Always dream for high and work towards your goals with perseverance and dedication”, Dr. R. Satish Kumar motivates the youth

Interview by Sakshi Aggarwal

Dr. R. Satish is the Research Guide, Examiner and Thesis Evaluator for PhD in management at VTU Belgaum, Jain University Bangalore, Christ University Bangalore and Manipal University Manipal.

Dr. R. Satish Kumar holds B.Tech (Mechanical), M.B.A and Ph.D. degrees. He obtained his Ph.D. in management from University of Brussels, Belgium.

He has published over 35 research papers in both national and international journals of repute and presented papers at national and international conferences. He is heading the Ph.D. Research Centre of IFIM Business School. Dr. Satish received “Bharat Jyothi” Award for his outstanding contribution in the area of Management Education by India International Friendship Society (IIFS), New Delhi in the month of April 2015. Dr. Satish is also serving as Secretary of Shirdi Sai Baba Charitable Trust (Regd.), Syndicate Bank Colony, Bangalore.

His areas of interest are Consumer Behaviour, Business Marketing, Product & Brand Management, Integrated Marketing Communication, Services Marketing, International Marketing, Strategic Marketing, Bank Marketing, and Strategic Management.

Dr. R. Satish’s experience in the education sector

I worked in industry and started my teaching career as Assistant Professor at TAPMI Manipal which is AACSB accredited premier Business School. I had great learning both from my students, faculty colleagues and then Director Dr. Nagabrahmam. After that, again I went back to industry and joined IFIM Business School. I had the opportunity to work under Prof. R.K. Vijayasarathy who was former Professor at IIM Bangalore. Here I started my career as Associate Professor and later became Professor-Marketing Area and Chairperson Academics. Again, from here I went back to industry and joined Alliance University as Professor and joined IFIM Business School in the year 2013 as Professor.

My stint with the industries such as NIIT Ltd, Radiant Software Ltd and Firepro systems a Panasonic Group Company gave me complete insights into the corporate world and the Competencies required to excel in corporate world. Later when I taught at TAPMI, Alliance University and IFIM Business School I could translate my rich experience in corporate at senior level positions to the classroom teaching. The satisfaction you get in teaching students is immense and once these students excel in corporate world you feel you have really done something to the society.

The value creation in converting Wheat into Bread is double, converting raw diamond to diamond is eight times, and teaching students thereby transforming them into corporate professional the value creation is infinite. This satisfaction makes education industry as one of the most preferred profession.

Read about the faculty at IFIM Business School here.

Dr. R. Satish’s philosophy of leadership and his leadership style

I believe in transformational leadership style. When I worked as Dean-Research & International Relations, I listened to the ideas of my faculty colleagues, staff, students and management which helped me in accomplishing the objectives with the help of all the stakeholders. At present, I am serving as Professor and Chair Marketing Area.

Significant challenges faced by Dr. R. Satish as the Professor & Chair-Marketing Area of IFIM

Major challenge here is the time management and prioritization of the tasks such as teaching, research and institution building activities.

Curriculum at IFIM Business School

We have BOS (Board of Studies) comprising of corporate practitioners, academicians and alumni. While designing new course architecture and curriculum, we take the feedback from all the stakeholders which makes our curriculum relevant and contemporary.

Growth of students through placement opportunities available at IFIM

The campus recruitment provides the students' opportunities to get into their dream companies and accomplish their career objectives. We prepare the students through mock GD and PI exercises along with the mentoring program. This will enhance the confidence level of our students and make them job-ready professionals.

Read more about the placement opportunities available at IFIM Business School here.

Dr. R. Satish’s relationship with the students

I always treat the students with empathy and concern for their well-being. I have open door policy whereby students can come to me at any time during office hours and discuss things. This has helped me in developing a cordial relation with the students.

Ideal school environment according to Dr. R. Satish and how he encourages that at IFIM Business School

My ideal school environment will be built on trust and mutual respect. I believe in participative management whereby all the stakeholders’ views will be considered while taking important decisions.

Top qualities according to Dr. R. Satish that an aspiring PGDM/BBA/Law student must possess

The top qualities of the students are positive attitude coupled with knowledge and skills required to excel in various functions of the management. The students should possess good communication and interpersonal skills to manage the teams. Students are required to update their general awareness by reading newspapers and business magazines.

Goals in mind for IFIM Business School for the next few years

My goal is to support the management to make this institute a premier Business School where all the stakeholders will be happy and meet their objectives.

Suggestions for the current youth and the aspiring students

Be positive. Always dream for high and work towards your goals with perseverance and dedication. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. Winners never quit, and quitters never win.