SJIM Bangalore

Dr R Narasimhan is the Dean of SJIM, Bangalore. He is a visionary who takes up challenges and experiments with the teaching methodologies that are relevant in these changing times. Under his leadership, he has always aimed at playing the role of a facilitator for growth. 

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

“The opportunities to work in a challenging environment has kept me connected”

Privatization of higher education started in a big way in the mid-1980s offering challenges and opportunities to edupreneurs. The initial 15 years of massive privatization saw some of the private institutions challenging even well established public institutions both in terms of quality and openness for experimentation. This was the context of my early period of association with education. 

What is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

“Traditional leadership styles often cause hindrance”

In the academic sector, you work in an environment where people around you are intellectuals and they do not like being seen as led by someone. They are brilliant in their own way and command respect with the students for their unmatched ability to teach. A leader in an educational institution can at most be a facilitator and play a supportive role and solve problems for them. I have always been conscious of this fact and therefore my career has always been enriching and rewarding.

How do you strategize about the key programs and plans for the marketing and administration of your institute?

“The transition and changes are continuous in academics”

The academic environment poses a unique challenge when it comes to strategy. It is not like introducing a new product in the market and throwing away the old product. The person leading an institution must have a good grasp of what has been happening during the past five years, present and what would happen in the next five years. Changes happening should be such that you build competency on the one hand and make changes in the curriculum on the other hand. If an institution loses sight of even one of them, will invariably get into issues.

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

“We have a strong industry connection through our incubation centre and corporate engagement cell”

Every specialization course offered in SJIM has an industry component and practice module. Students get the opportunity to listen to industry experts related to every elective course. This apart they need to submit dissertations on specific problems faced by the industry. It is not that best practices come only from the industry. Sometimes, it could be the other way round too. 

Any insights into how your institute could be more welcoming to students of different races or economic backgrounds?

“SJIM is open to students from all walks of life”

SJIM by its own mandate admits students not only with diverse geography but also with socioeconomic background. Investment in education is kept at a bare minimum while entry-level barriers are limited to enthusiasm, high ambition to achieve and capability to cope up with demanding academic deliverables. 

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

“The role of an education leader should be the catalyst for growth”

A leader in an educational institution should play a supportive role and should create opportunities for students and faculty to bring out their full potential. This is done through many enabling factors such as staging conferences, conducting additional certification courses, enabling students to explore diverse cultures and creating opportunities to showcase their leadership talent. The leader should never shy away from experimentation. Sometimes an idea may fail, but this not should be a deterrent to trying out new things. This is the only way to grow. 

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

“Educational institutions should be the springboard to empower students to discover themselves”

The onus of what students want to learn and how they want to acquire the knowledge and skill should predominantly rest with the student. There is room to reform the evaluation system in education, specifically higher education. We have experimented with the current evaluation system for a pretty long time, for close to a century. Another area that could be paid attention to is research. We need to refocus research as a healthy enabler to a more meaningful teaching-learning activity rather than an output-oriented – number of publications - activity. 

When you first came to SJIM, what was your vision for the institute? Has it evolved over time, and how far along in implementing that vision are you?

“The main objective has been to adapt to outcome-based education”

Both faculty and administrative staff have been working here for many years and refined the processes and activities over time. The school has a strong brand name with the corporate and community. However, more recent development in the accreditation process insists that the institutions must also be able to measure the educational outcome in conformance to set goals. Getting the institution ready for accreditation is a priority at this point.

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

“Faculty in SJIM is something that we seem to be very conservative about”

SJIM’s faculty is the right blend of strong researchers, strong teachers and strong contract teachers – all these three categories of teachers are absolutely essential to teach management students. Contract teachers in SJIM are the people from corporate backgrounds who have deep dived into a wide range of problems that companies face in performing their businesses. They are also committed to sharing their experiences with the students at the same time willing to adapt to academic responsibilities. Conforming to its location, SJIM has a campus structure that elevates one’s expectation and poses a challenge to perform.

What do you see as SJIM’s greatest strengths?

“Alumni are the embedded wealth of SJIM”

The institution’s alumni are present all over India and abroad. Several decades of uninterrupted and selfless education to thousands of people have created an invisible alumni base in society. They always fondly and profoundly recall their days with the institution. They will continue to inspire the students to reach greater heights. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you see, both for higher education in general and for SJIM specifically?

“Having an international recognition and reputation”

Going forward, internationalization of higher education is expected to be even more pronounced. Some of India’s neighbouring countries have raised their quality of education to global levels and are competing with the US, EU and Australia in attracting Indian students. India is in crossroads. 

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Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth and the aspiring students?

“Learn to assimilate and assess information in your own best interests”

For the aspiring student choice as well as opportunities are aplenty now. At the same time, the way they are connected, they are prone to easily get carried away by the unfounded opinions coming from unexpected quarters. 

What are some plans that you’re currently (or will be) designing for SJIM students?

“To promote agility to adapt among the students in the coming years”

SJIM is now engaged in analyzing how businesses are going to be performed in the next five to ten years and whether the current tools and knowledge would prove to be good enough to equip the students to fit seamlessly in such an environment. There are emerging areas, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning, internet of things which are now making inroads into the way businesses are conducted these days. New business platforms are being created and students do not seem to be doing the same thing over and again. Students with versatility seem to survive the challenges much better in the business world. 

How do you tend to establish a healthy relation and environment in your institute?

“Discipline is the hallmark of freedom”

A disciplined community enjoys maximum freedom. The environment in SJIM is free and stress-free. Every individual in SJIM, student, faculty and administrative staff, knows his/her responsibility and is free to decide when and how to do and deliver. We hardly spend time micromanaging things. Cases of indiscipline are a rarity. In fact, this is not even by design, this has evolved over time in SJIM as if that is the spirit and soul of SJIM.