Why Rajalakshmi School of Business will focus on marketing

“Modern marketing needs different skill sets such as marketing analytics and there is a large requirement of marketing people in these new areas,” says A. Satish Kumar, seasoned corporate professional and chief mentor to the newly launched Rajalakshmi School of Business.

RSB’s two-year PGDM will aim to churn out specialists in marketing. The MBA programme will give exposure to all the fundamental courses in the first year and in the second year the focus will be purely on marketing with a hefty dose of industry participation and learning. The idea, says Satish Kumar, is to turn out top-notch professionals in a specific discipline. RSB will be the first school in south India to specialise in the marketing discipline. “Industry is chasing only a few good candidates. We need more quality managers in the marketing. We want to create global leaders for global needs,” he adds.

Says Thangam Meganathan, Chairperson, Rajalakshmi Group of Institutions, said, “From the research, the findings were very clear that there was a great demand for management graduates with a clear orientation and direction on marketing. Therefore, from the very first day, we have positioned our B-School to be among the best, where industry will look to us for giving them excellent marketers with management education.”

B-schools, she says, should have a strong and organic connect with trade and industry. Even today, many MBA institutes produce graduates who have no grasp of what really happens in industry. “Even after two years of studies, many companies spend enormous money and resources to train them to become productive. We feel a minimum of forty per cent of courses must be taught by people who work in the industry and are experts in the chosen field,” she explains.

Subhendu Dey, Director, RSB, says, “With the rapidly increasing middle class consumer base having more disposable income than before, India as a market has never been friendlier. This has also created more opportunity by opening up the demand for marketing professionals much more than before. This is irrespective of the kind of industry or the product it produces or service that it offers. Marketing professionals also witness career growth faster than others with their entrepreneurial contribution and strategic decision making to the success of an organisation, as compared to professionals from other domains.”