In Conversation with Lakshmi Kumar (Dean and Professor, IFMR GSB, Krea University)

IFMR Graduate School of Business (GSB) is a private institute that was established in 1970. IFMR GSB is an accredited institute by SAQS (South Asian Quality Assurance System) and a constituent of Krea University, Sri City. Courses at the IFMR GSB include MBA, integrated courses like BBA+MBA, PhD and more. Know more about the IFMR GSB admissions, specialisations offered, and IFMR GSB placements in the article below.

Careers360: Describe the journey of IFMR GSB and accomplishments so far.

Prof. Lakshmi Kumar: The IFMR Business School was formed in the year 2000 after a lot of thinking by our board members spearheaded by the late Mr. N Waghul who felt that there was a need for good quality management education on a full-time basis. We earlier started a part-time programme which was very successful at the local level in Chennai and so we realised we had the expertise and we could go ahead. So, the launch of the MBA full time programme was in the year 2000 and we had very less faculty and we took about 25-30 students because our focus was not on revenue making but on producing good quality managers for the society. Well, the journey since then has been manifold. Around 2004-2005, we felt that we should get into greater aspects of finance and so we had an MBA in financial engineering as well as in development and sustainable finance.

Even today, we have rechristened it and we call it Quantitative Finance. Many of our finance students, who have done this programme are doing very well either in the corporate or in the academic sector. To name a few there are a couple of them in the USA who are involved in developing financial products. So, we are on the cutting edge of finance I must say. Not just in accountancy which of course many of our students are in accounting, corporate finance, investment banking. Other than these, we also cater to the higher quality of developing financial products for the masses of the people. Having said that, in around 2010-2012 we realised that there is an interest also in other areas so we really went to a full service B-School and today we find that our marketing students are doing very well. We have faculty in all the areas, you name it finance, marketing, HR, operations and recently we have started data science also.

So we have not only these verticals but also combinations because technology with finance or a combination of strategy technology and marketing they go all together. So not just pure courses but a lot of interdisciplinary courses which really help the students understand the practicality of the world because they are absolutely ready to join the corporate. So the metamorphosis has been in terms of physical nature, we were earlier in Chennai to expand. We shifted to Sri City where we built a facility which could house a batch of 180 students and today we take 240 students per batch. Almost all the disciplines are offered, we developed our faculty and all areas we have faculty offering the programme and another unique aspect is of course we are in touch with corporates to help make our programme practical and useful.

Careers360: What sets IFMR GSB apart from other schools?

Prof. Lakshmi Kumar: One thing I would think in the way, we really are apart from other schools is that we are grounded into the reality. When we do our curriculum, it is not just cutting edge curriculum, the latest which happens in the area is delivered by our faculty. Every year the faculty has to revise whatever they teach, whether it be financial accounting, corporate finance, digital marketing, retail marketing. Our faculty is involved in two aspects which add to the teaching, A) They do a lot of projects both with the corporates and as well as research projects, obviously when you do projects unless you are aware of the latest things happening in the sector you will not be able to deliver B) They are expected to publish, so we don't load them with teaching. We tell them they have to publish and that is again a sense of in their area they are experts. These two combined, we have a rich alumni and we have connections with 75-100 corporates. We bring them into teaching every course at least one module and the way we do it is that it's not like a guest lecture. The person teaching either the alumni or the corporate works with the faculty and they integrate it together and teach the course in a way that is seemingly cutting edge as well as practical and in that way, I think we are very different from most b-schools.

Careers360: Please give a brief about the admission process and factors used to evaluate during selections.

Prof. Lakshmi Kumar: We prefer to take people with a valid CAT score. We also would like to see that they have a sectional cutoff because our programme from the beginning has a mathematical component whether you do financial accounting, statistics, or economics all of them have a mathematical component and we stick to that rigour. So we look at a valid CAT score, we look at 77 percentile and above and we take rankings from other competitive exams if they have done exceedingly well like the GMAT or CMAT. But, we prefer to take only the rankers from these exams. Also you are expected to have a minimum of 60% in your class 10, 12 and graduation and once you meet that criteria, you are called for an interview. In March we are going to go to 16 cities of India and conduct these interviews. We already have more than the expected number of applicants but we will have another couple of rounds too. In the interview, we judge two or three things, A) your ability to tell us why you want to do management? Whether you have the attitude to want to learn.

So the management education we deliver might require you to unlearn a lot of things and relearn again. So, in that sense we are looking at if you are having the attitude towards what we are going to discuss. Another important thing we are looking at is Are you capable of working in groups, you know most of our education is individual. However, any corporate job involves working together in teams whether you like people or not. So we also look out on that, that's not a disqualification but these are what we are looking at. Of course, a sense of earnestness that “Yes I want to skill up and I want to go up in life” because there's a big difference, if you are a graduate the kind of salary you will get, the kind of role you will get as compared to when you finish an MBA, the kind of salary you will get and the role that you get.

Careers360: Is work experience necessary?

Prof. Lakshmi Kumar: We don't insist on it because, in India, it's very difficult. Work experience of 12 months is very useful only when you go to the corporate and you see how things work. Would you understand what is the meaning of working in a team, what is the meaning of attitude, we could be a first ranker in class 10 or class 12 and everyone would put us up that “hey you are a great person but the moment you join a corporate or start working you realise that none of us matter at all and all that matters is “can we work together?”. It makes a lot of sense and we would prefer at some point to go ahead with only getting people with experience no matter what experience. But, today we are not there, we ideally prefer to have one or two years of experience.

Careers360: Please give insights on the specialisations offered and how students should opt for the best fit.

Prof. Lakshmi Kumar: insights on the specializations offered and how should students opt for the best fit? See the first year consists, I mean first year and second year consists of altogether six trimesters.

So three in the first year and three in the second. Now the first two trimesters are common to everybody. We have basic common core subjects that we give them. And in those two trimesters, we expose them to all the subjects, whether it be marketing, HR, finance, analytics, operations, all of it, you will be exposed to. Now, as you get exposed to them, you do realize

where your affinity is. You might come to us, let us say to do marketing, but you might find that in the process like marketing something else or maybe I think like some other subject better. The reason I tell you this is the way we teach is slightly different from where they learned. For example, if you've done a BCom or you've done a BBA, you might end up thinking that I want to do finance.

However, you might realize that in the course of time that marketing is my forte. You might realize that I think HR is my forte because I understand people, I have compassion, and I like what is being said regarding the role of a HR manager. So we tell them right in the beginning that for two terms, we'd like you to have an open mind and think of all the possibilities and understand your strengths. If your strength is a particular thing, because you should also view your strengths with what appeals to you. There's no point in saying this appeals to me, go ahead with that, because that cannot take you more than a certain amount

So every area will tell you also what to do in terms of specialization. They'll also tell you the kind of roles you will get. We discuss all that in class right away. In Term 3, it gets a little more specialized where they can make a choice of a few subjects. And at that point, we again try to make them understand how to make those choices. So I would never tell students right in the beginning,

that you know you've decided to do finance you take finance and that's probably the reason why we don't take students into either finance or marketing or HR or international business it's actually very easy for us I could always say that admission is based on we have 60 seats for marketing and 60 states in finance are also there. But we don't do that because we want them to understand their inclination and their skills and then take it forward.

Careers360: What are the key takeaways for students from the course?

Prof. Lakshmi Kumar: So the MBA course actually prepares you along with your internship to be absolutely ready to take on the role that you're going to take. So we finish our second year by March end.

They are ready not just to take on their role, they get skills such that, for example, I'll give you an example. For example, if you're going to join as a risk management manager or a risk management management training, you're absolutely ready to join the team and start working on day one.

Or you could be having a role as a, let us say. digital marketing person in an FMCG. You don't require any more training. The kind of exposure we give you, you will be absolutely ready for the role that you need to go to. So in that sense, the key takeaways are,

Two things, A, you learn a big array of management subjects. So you're exposed to a lot of subjects, and wherever you're interested, you can take it forward. Because we have lots of classic books that come out, which you can buy later on, and you have to update yourself. The MBA is just the beginning. It's not the end.

Because we expose you to a whole load of practical theories and skills, But these theories and skills get updated more and more. So you can't say that this is the end of my education. It is the beginning of your education. And we will also show you the path as to how you can keep getting, keep engaged with the areas you're interested in.

Careers360: So how is the industry connection ensured at IFMR GSB?

Prof. Lakshmi Kumar: Industry connect, we go very deep. So from the year 2000, we've been placing, most of the time, it is nearly 100% placement. Most years are 100%, but the last two years have been very, very difficult. But it's near 100%. And how we are able to do it is, we have this connection with the corporate. We have at least 70 to 80 corporates who visit us regularly beyond the yearly people that we are able to connect and call them over.

So it's not a trivial set of companies that come to us, whether it be JP Morgan, Deloitte. In terms of banking, we have Nomura, so we have almost a whole load of international companies along with Indian companies. For example, JSW group, you take the Adani group, so we also have Indian companies coming. Now, therefore, we nurture this relationship in the following way. What we do is when we talk to a company, we tell them, don't come for final placements, come for internship. See how our students are. Let our students also get exposed to your company. And in this manner, you get an idea as to how our students work.

And if you're comfortable, take it forward for final placement. So today, from two or three pre-placement offers, we have gone up all the way to 60 pre-placement offers. Because whén companies take us, yes, they like to take 20 interns, but they like to translate that into five replacement offers. And we understand, because ultimately the fit has to be right. And also, they hand-hold those whom they give pre-placement, such that they are ready to take on the job as soon as they come. So with corporates, our engagement is very deep. It's deep in terms of placement. It's deep that they engage with our students, with the subjects. And of course, we have corporate visits and other things which everyone does.

Careers360: Explain how practical training and internships are facilitated at IFMR GSB.

Prof. Lakshmi Kumar: So there are two types of training that happens. That's recent, of course. There's something called live projects. So either corporates or faculty who all get research projects or corporate projects, what we do is we ask our students if they'd like to intern with us along with education. Of course, the courses are very rigorous, but we do realize those who volunteer are actually the people who are willing to go that extra mile. And obviously, you know, survival in the corporate world depends very much on that.

So, many of them do sign up. They join us. They get this experience. So, there are many, many like projects. A simple example is the Center for Entrepreneurship. We actually did a study in Sri City where we live. had entrepreneurs at the bottom of the pyramid.

And when we did that, we tried to find out One, their demographics, what entrepreneurship they do, what help they want. The entire data, questionnaire making, data collection, analysis was done by students, though the faculty drove it. So we got about 15 students involved in that. Now, they even help in further things like designing interventions. So, we get them into a group. So, whenever we do projects there, it's very easy to work with them on such things. So, these are practical things that we give them.

The second thing is internships itself, which is a serious component that we do. We ask corporates to come up with their job descriptions. We give it to our students. We float it to the entire batch. Those who are interested write back and we send their profiles to the corporate, the corporates will shortlist, they might have a test, and then they shortlist updating. So it's very voluntary. Students apply once we get the job description, but the corporates will choose whom they want. So this is the way we go about our internship process.

Careers360: Give details on the placement process and the latest placement statistics.

Prof. Lakshmi Kumar: The final placement again, what we do is, companies, we speak to them in the summer. We start talking to them, those whom we know and the new companies we think we can. So, in the summer, we do all the groundwork by July. So, by July, we know which companies are coming over we do talk to them and then we set a few dates generally it's like a placement week is what we start with and after that depending on when companies do come in so when we have a placement week of course we put the companies in different slots and the job descriptions are sent to the students.

We have a student placement cell, which helps our corporate relations cell, too. It's headed by a faculty. That's a very unique thing about IFMRGSB. Every division is headed by a faculty with administrative help, so that it's all fully integrated. The entire MBA, we know exactly what's happening, because it's headed by a faculty, and all of them report on to me. We float the job descriptions. Some companies insist on certain things that they want people with above 75% marks. Some companies will say we want a CAT above 80 percentile. So, depending on that, we first send it to the students, they apply, then we shortlist depending on the criteria, give it to them.

They come to our campus. They generally have two rounds. One is the technical round, the other is the HR round. And the process, depending on the number of students, happens in one day. It can go on for three days. If there are 100 students to interview, it takes three or four days. So the team stays over. And by the end of the process, they give us the selected candidates. They give us feedback as to why some others were not selected and we give that back as input to our faculties so that they may use that in their next year's teaching. And also the latest placement statistics. So the latest placement statistics is we have 254 students to place.

And out of 254 students, we have 72 more to place. And we have several, about 10 or 15 companies, which are coming quite late. As you know very well, last year and this year have been bad. Till earlier years, actually, we would have placed everybody by February. So the last two years has been quite a struggle with us. We've got companies lIke

A company particularly from Dubai, I think it's called Brandfolio, and they're paying the highest package of 75 lakhs. And in terms of average, it hovers right now around 13 lakhs. But I don't know what it will be at the end of the placement, which will hopefully close down by March end.

Careers360: Would you like to advise prospective MBA students?

Prof. Lakshmi Kumar: Well, I would say keep an open mind. There are only two things which are important, two or three things important in an MBA. To make a choice of college or institution. A look at where you think you will actually get additional skills and knowledge because for 90% of the students, this could be their last degree that they're getting. So get into a place where you think you can add value to the education you've already got. And you need to do a little bit of research, but you will be able to know where you can get that.

Second is, it's an opportunity cost. Because when you are, suppose you've just finished your graduation. What kind of job will you get now? You have to think about what kind of role you will get. What kind of salary will you get? And two years later, will you get a better salary and role with just the job you take up? Or will the MBA add and make you much better off? Most of the time, the MBA adds to the skills that you get and from earning a few lakhs you could go up to all the way to 15 to 20 lakhs. I am not so concerned about what you get a salary just after you earn it.

Finish your MBA. I would tell students to be more concerned about one or two things. One, figure out which area you are suited to in terms of your skills that you have and you're suited to. Specialize and work crazy in that area. Try to get a job even if it is less paying in that area. Work on it. And I've seen many alumni from IFMR who have gone ahead and done exceedingly well. It takes a few years, but they've done exceedingly well. So this is my advice to students.

About Professor Lakshmi Kumar

Lakshmi Kumar, is the Dean and Professor at IFMR GSB, Krea University.

She is a Doctor of Philosophy from IIT Madras, Chennai and has over 35 years of

experience in higher education, having held several administrative roles that have

created impact. She is an accomplished economist, researcher and educator with

extensive expertise in publications in quality journals, funded research projects,

development of interdisciplinary courses in management including macroeconomics,

Development, Microfinance, Management, Behavioral Economics and

Entrepreneurship.

Since 2008, she has been executing numerous funded projects, besides guiding 14 doctoral students in good academic or corporate positions. As a Dean since March 2022, she has spearheaded quality improvement in several areas including in student admission, placement, and faculty development by introducing accountability. Besides this, she has been instrumental in the design and rollout of the Integrated MBA/BBA programme in 2023.