Madhu Veeraraghavan, who joined the Manipal-based TA Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) in 2013, assumed charge as its director in April 2017. An MBA (Finance and Investments) and PhD (Finance – Asset Pricing) from Australia, Veeraraghavan was instrumental in setting up the largest finance lab at TAPMI with 16 Bloomberg terminals. Prior to joining TAPMI, he had held positions at the University of Auckland Business School and Monash University, Melbourne. With over 50 papers in international journals, he has presented his work at top conferences in finance and accounting. In this interview he emphasises the need for academic research. Excerpts:

How has TAPMI, one of the oldest B-schools in the region, adapted its business education to the changing business environment over the years?

TAPMI is a 37-year-old school. We have around 5,500 alumni. Our PGDM programme is highly sought after, and we won a lot of appreciation for the course. In the recent past we decided to branch out and offer specialist programmes. We launched a BKFS (Banking and Financial Services) programme three years ago, which has been well accepted by industry. We are about to launch a PGDM HRM programme. We want any specialist programme we offer to be clearly linked to industry. TAPMI is 100 per cent committed to sending out industry-relevant, industry-ready graduates.

How soon can we see TAPMI in the top 10 business schools in the country?

We have a ‘Vision 2022’ statement. There I have given myself three years. But I am a man in a hurry, so by the end of 2018 or very early 2019, we aim to be in the top 10. We are making sure of our presence in all the great ranking systems, be it Government of India or global.

With new industries coming up fast, how is the curriculum keeping pace? What new courses has TAPMI launched?

A lot of B-schools don’t introspect. They think they have arrived. So they never innovate. TAPMI will definitely not do that. We are a school that continuously innovates. This year we rationalised the entire first-year programme. In the second year, we run a course called SMIC (students managed investment course), where TAPMI gives ₹10 lakh real money to 30 hand-picked students. These students invest the money in the market, and that is the most real-life experience they can get. Our students run BrandScan, which is a disguised market research game. So our idea is to keep launching new courses that are extremely important to industry, and for the students to gain cutting-edge experience. We won’t just be rehashing the same courses that we did 30 years ago. That’s not going to work for us.

Are the new IIMs a challenge? How are you planning to tackle it?

The new IIMs are not a threat to us. But we don’t want to be complacent. We don’t want to be overly confident and sit quiet. I want to be ahead of the curve all the time. I want to set the pace for the new IIMs to be always trying to catch up. We are competing with the top four IIMs in a good way, and are miles ahead of all the new IIMs and many private business schools. There is no comparison on the sort of research we do.

Do you think locational constraint an issue?

I don’t think so. Location is an advantage for us. We are away from the hustle and bustle of the metros, with a beautiful, resort-like atmosphere. I think this is a great place that people want to come to. Connectivity-wise we are a little cut off. That is something you cannot change. We are here because we are here. That has not affected us. For the last 30 years, top students are consistently coming out of TAPMI. We convert the location into an advantage, and have a good product offer. You have to come here to get it.

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