TEAM CBS: Mohan Menon (left), governing council member of the Chennai Business School, with other members J.N. Amrolia, A.S. Srinivasan, P.K. Mohapatra and associate Dean Minnie Menon. — Photo: V. Ganesan

CHENNAI: Top-level executives of Chennai-based companies and practising professionals have come together with one objective: to create a business school that will at once be associated with the city and one that will provide a real-life experience for its students during the course.

The new Chennai Business School (CBS) has been incubated by a group of CEOs with "over 500 man years of experience in manufacturing and service businesses in India and abroad." Members of the Governing Council come from backgrounds in industries such as automobile, telecom, information technology, retail, entertainment, communication, engineering among others.

A body of CEOs and academic professionals who have excelled in their fields forms the Advisory Council.

Growing concern

"There is a growing concern in the real world of business that graduates of B-schools here are not getting equipped to handle real life issues of business. Even today B-schools seem to depend on the same set of 40 case studies in the U.S that happened decades ago," says P.K. Mohapatra of the Each faculty a varsity

"We felt that with our experience, we are eminently qualified to incubate a business school project that can give an expose to students to the tools of practical management of business in the Indian context.

The school will deliver one-year postgraduate programme in different knowledge verticals and each faculty would be a `Varsity.'

The school's current focus is in four verticals — `HR varsity,' `Marcom (marketing communication) varsity,' `Retail varsity' and `Telecom varsity.' Next it is planning `Insurance Varsity', `IT Varsity' and `Health Care Varsity'.

Academic rigour

A.S. Srinivasan, Dean, says "Half the course work will be delivered by the faculty, and the other half by practicing professionals with specialised knowledge in the specific vertical. The courses have sufficient academic rigour and intense practical training."

The city campus of CBS is located on Velachery-Tambaram Road, southeast of the city.

The main campus is to come up in the knowledge corridor on the outskirts of Chennai, said J.N. Amrolia, member of the governing council.

The Governing Council members are already in touch with industry leaders for training and placement opportunities, and the response is encouraging, they say.

On asked why the school was begun in Chennai, Mr. Mohapatra says, "Chennai is known for its high quality education and is now seen as a knowledge city.

"And ... quite seriously, Chennai does not have an international class B-school of its own," he added.

Governing council

The governing council, which includes Mohan Menon, P.K. Mohapatra and J.N. Amrolia, is headed by R.J. Shahaney, Chairman, Ashok Leyland.

For details on registration look up at www.cbs.org.in or contact Phone: 044-42424242; Fax: 044-4233 4233.

The course fee is Rs.1.5 lakhs for the full-time course or Rs. 75,000 for the part-time course.

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