It speaks volumes about the educational institute when its students are recruited by corporates around the Globe. Attracting the attention of global corporate leaders is not an easy task, but this is not the case for Chitkara Business School. Under the aegis of Chitkara University, Chitkara Business School (CBS) is one of the A-listers when it comes to shaping proficient managerial wizards. Some of the big names that approach the School for recruitment are Trivago; DHL, Germany; Arabian Gulf Steel, Abu Dhabi; Radisson Blu, Landmark, Dubai; Shangri La, Muscat; Deloitte; Evalueserve; eClerx; Mondelez; Kellogg’s; Bombay Stock Exchange; Tata Croma; Wipro; WNS; Allstate; Ocwen; Ameriprise; Redington; Quark; and Fortis.
Chitkara University, with the vision of promoting academic excellence and expanding the realms of knowledge through innovation, has been bringing dynamic changes into the lives of its students as well as the Industry. The University was founded by Dr. Ashok K Chitkara and Dr. Madhu Chitkara, who now act as Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, respectively. These visionaries, rather than sitting simply at the head of the table, have been hands-on leaders since the beginning. Passionate teachers for more than 40 years now, their effective leadership has enabled the University to bring in laurels after laurels.
The Inception and Growth
Chitkara University, to actively participate in eradicating the lack of skilled management professionals in the country, established the Chitkara Business School (CBS) in 2008. Since then, the School has turned heads with its industry-led curriculum and development of managerial skills among the students. For more than a decade now, the School has been offering undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs in the field of business.
“Our strength lies in our faculty team of 65 exceptional minds and our industry-relevant curriculum. Industry-required skillset is a huge part of our curriculum. We run programs in Marketing, Finance & Banking, Investment Banking, Healthcare, Healthcare IT, Event & Planning Management, Pharmaceutical Management, Sales & Retail, Supply Chain and Logistics Management, Human Resource Management, Business Analytics, Rural Management, and BFSI. Thanks to our Industry partners, E&Y, KPMG, Safeducate, Frost &Sullivan, Fortis, Bombay Stock Exchange, Future First Academy, Wizcraft, ACCA, CMA, and CISI, we are always abreast of the current industry standards,” says Dr. Madhu Chitkara, Vice-Chancellor, Chitkara University.
She further adds, “Our associations with the Industry partners are not limited to A4-size paper agreements. It goes beyond it. For instance, while our Supply Chain students are trained by Safeducate, the Healthcare students are prepared by Fortis and Frost & Sullivan. Meanwhile, our Marketing students are prepared by leading FMCG firms and the Finance and Banking students are trained by Future First, Moody’s, CISI, KPMG, ACCA, and CMA. Our Sales and Retail students are trained by Future Group and other major retail companies, Business Analytics is managed by Ernst & Young, and Investment Banking
students are trained by a team of CFOs.”
Instead of tooting their own horn, CBS lets their students’ accomplishments do all the talking. Student achievements do not lie, and the School’s placement records speak volumes of the pedagogy followed at CBS. Including case-based discussions, simulation exercises, role plays, short projects and internships, exposure programs, and lots of guest sessions from experts, the CBS curriculum is truly made by the Industry, for the Industry. “We help our students in every step of their professional development. They are put through personalized mentoring and grooming. While our faculty act as the ‘Primary Coach’, helping them excel in their academics through intense coaching
in the classrooms, our Industry faculty fill them with weekend classes, short seminars, workshops, live projects, and internships,” adds Dr. Madhu.
The faculty team at CBS, as mentioned earlier, is a team made of some of the brightest minds in academia. A prime testament to this is the 63 Ph.D. holders. Nevertheless, CBS ensures that the team is given the best of the environment and resources to keep themselves updated and upgraded. Moreover, the team is truly incentivized for the research work they do. They are encouraged to travel, teach, and practice besides research. CBS understands and acknowledges the fact that the faculty must be at its best if the students stand any chance of excelling in their education. Therefore, the School encourages the faculty to venture into entrepreneurship and experience the practice so that learning within the classrooms are more practical. The faculty are also enabled to travel abroad and teach at foreign universities (CBS’s international partners). Likewise, they are funded for sponsored projects abroad under the ‘Transnational Education and Research’ scheme.
Managers with Moral Compass Due North
Not just in the industry, CBS graduates do marvels for the society too. Through the NSS and working with many NGOs, they take up projects to spread awareness regarding social problems. To this extent, all MBA students spend at least one month as an internship with NGOs and social organizations to understand social problems and suggest solutions. All these activities assure that CBS graduates showcase experiential learning, tolerance, business communication, subject knowledge, professional attitude, social reasoning, and global acumen.
Looking back, Chitkara Business School has indeed been one of the fastest-growing Business Schools in the country. However, the School has no intention of resting. CBS is planning to launch multidisciplinary programs in business and integrated programs across the segment. “We all know that the world is changing as we speak, so does the requirements of the Industry. Therefore, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Financial Technologies, Data Analytics, Rural Finance & Management, Event Planning Management, and Sports Management are some of the upcoming areas that we plan on incorporating into future programs. We would also like to enter into Executive Education programs in the future” says Dr. Madhu. Setting several huge milestones in a span of 10 years is no mean feat, and Chitkara Business School has proven that it means business when it comes to educating young managers. It certainly won’t be a tall claim to say that the School is all set to redefine managerial education in India.
The X-Factor
While there are educational institutes that promote entrepreneurial skills, only a few can boast of a fully operational incubation center. Chitkara Business School is one of these select few. Chitkara University incubation initiatives, Chitkara University Research and Innovation Network (CURIN) and the Chandigarh-based Chitkara Innovation Incubator
have researchers, faculty, and aspiring student entrepreneurs working across various disciplines to extend the boundaries of knowledge so that their projects can be executed. Similarly, E-Braille Slate is a project devised by DAT for making education for the blind painless and comfortable. The project, under the supervision of Chitkara University Centre for Research and Innovation (CURIN), has a huge social impact as it benefits the visually impaired community on a global scale. This project was especially applauded by the Jury and the present audience.
Likewise, Chitkara University’s Centre for Entrepreneurship Education & Development (CEED) has been igniting young minds to nurture the Nation’s vision of ‘STARTUP INDIA -STAND UP INDIA and EARN WHILE LEARN’. The journey has just begun with firm footholds to conquer the plethora of opportunities wherein students, faculty, alumni and community entrepreneurs get the belongingness of a company. “At CEED, we are on a mission to increase our ecosystem’s productivity by simplifying the task of connecting people with the right opportunities. Broadly speaking, we believe in first creating value within the ecosystem, and then sharing that value with our ecosystem partners, mentors, investors, and startups. With a State-of-the-Art Incubation Space of over 15,000 sq. Ft., located at just 1 km distance from Rajiv Gandhi IT Park, Chandigarh, our startup family has 59 dynamic tech startups that actively engage with each other to share success stories, failure lessons and sometimes, long-lasting friendships. Currently, more than 100 students startups are operational, and the university is very rigorously building an ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs,” says Dr. Madhu.