The Hindu Business Line : US institute offers training in project management

Chennai March 30 Most of us at some point in time have asked our parents: "What work do you do in office?" The reply would seldom be different from "When you start working, you will know." If you probed further, you would have come across a barrage of jargon.

A cousin working in an IT firm could say something like "We distribute vertical specific ERP licences." An uncle in a bank would probably say, "Our department is in charge of recovery." To a fresh graduate, these descriptions may not help as he is likely to be unfamiliar with an enterprise or even how any business functions.

This is where the North American Business Institute (NABI) steps in. This US-based institute trains candidates across varying levels of project management, starting from a basic course on what a project is and how organisations run to advanced courses on analysing, monitoring and controlling projects.

"Indian companies have some knowledge of project management at the middle and senior management levels. But it is the entry-level candidates who need to understand these concepts and contribute meaningfully to the organisation," said Mr Y. Peratheepan, Chairman and CEO of NABI.

For India, the institute has introduced short certificate courses covering general project management, methodologies in problem solving and industry-specific case studies.

"We use project management models from the US and Canada and tailor them to suit the Indian business environment," he told Business Line.

The courses can also cater to working professionals wanting to upgrade their skills. Canada and the US have about 500 NABI-certified professionals each, he said.

Since setting up an office in India last August, about 50 candidates have been trained by NABI.

Seeing this response, NABI has decided to target educational institutes to incorporate its courses as workshops for graduating students.

It is in talks with Hindustan College of Engineering and the SRM group of colleges, he said. "We will tailor our courses primarily to suit candidates entering the IT/BPO industry."

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