I am a person with more than three decades of professional experience across the globe, to be precise, in Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa. I started my career soon after completing my MBA (1989) in Marketing and got into teaching accidentally.

It took quite an effort to shift from industry to academia, and today I enjoy doing what I have been doing since 1991. I moved to Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore (then Vellore Engineering College), in 1994 and worked there until December 22, 2021. I have transformed myself into a professional with the solid exposure I gained at VIT. I have played an important role in the transformation of VIT from VEC into an Internationally renowned and world-class educational institution. I have played a pivotal role at VIT Business School as a Senior Professor and member of the core team for getting ACBSP (Co-Champion) and AACSB accreditation for both the Vellore and Chennai campuses.

As a Convenor of VIT’s Riviera (2008–10) International Sports & Culture Festival, I had the opportunity to showcase my organisational skills to one and all by taking Riviera to new heights in terms of footfall and sponsorship for various events.

As a Director, VIT Library-Knowledge Resource Centre (2018–21), I could transform the functioning of the library by adopting open source LMS Koha from licenced Libsys software. I am proud to roll out multi-access to all digital resources both on and off campus by adopting a state-of-the art solution. I have prepared the library as KRC by procuring lots of e-books and e-journals for all the campuses of VIT.

I had the opportunity to secure a Group Study Exchange (GSE) fellowship from Rotary International to visit North Yorkshire, UK, during 1999, and a DAAD fellowship for a Professor assignment at the University of Cologne in Germany during October 2011 to March 2012.

Four Ph.D. scholars have completed their Ph.D. under my guidance to date, and one scholar has submitted his thesis to VIT. This is a more satisfactory aspect of an academic career than any other aspect, as it provides an intellectual contribution to knowledge.

Shifted to D Y Patil Group’s newly established D Y Patil Agriculture & Technical University, Kolhapur, on December 24, 2021, as Professor & Dean, School of Commerce & Management. Later, I also took on the additional responsibility of Dean – Research at DYPATU and started the Ph.D. program inprogram January 2022.

Could you tell us about your educational background?

I completed an MBA from (CSIBER) Shivaji University in 1989, a M. Com. from Kakatiya University in 1991, and a M. Phil. from Nagpur University in 1994. I got an opportunity in Management at Ahmedabad (IIM-A) in 1998. This is a unique programme designed on the lines of the International Teacher’s Programme (ITP) offered by HBS at IIMA and sponsored by the Ford Foundation, USA. This enabled me to undertake a one-year (three trimesters) full-time FDPM programme at IIM A and thus become a proud alumnus of IIMA.

I have decided to move on to pursue a Ph.D. in E-Commerce and took admission for the same at Sri Venkateswara University in the School of Commerce, Management, and Computer Application. I successfully completed the same in December 2008.

National and international experience as a teacher

I have spent a major part of my professional career at VIT (27 years) out of 34 years of work experience. VIT has provided me with the opportunity to transform myself by attending FDPM at IIM A during 1997–98 and undertaking teaching assignments with the Ministry of Higher Education, Government of Ethiopia, under UNDP from 2003–05. Later to be associated with the University of Michigan, Dearborn campus, for guiding the thesis work of MS students who went on credit transfer basis for a twinning programme from VIT for more than 5 years.

The best exposure was gained by undertaking the DAAD fellowship-enabled Visiting Professor assignment with CMIS, University of Cologne, Germany, from October 2011 until March 2012 (six months). During this period, I have taught MBA and Ph.D. students.

Experiential learning and live case discussions are new teaching styles

I believe in adopting the experiential learning method to make the students who have registered for the courses offered by me feel at home, be it in India or abroad. I extensively use lots of research articles and reports to assist the students’ learning process.

Another existing approach adopted by me is using live case discussions to enable the students to be aware of the happenings across the globe on various themes for their own benefit.

Success is defined by lifelong learning

The most important aspect of a successful life is to keep learning throughout your life. I believe in the concept of "unlearn to relearn".

The second-most important aspect of a successful life will be enhancing one’s communication skills (both oral and written).

The last aspect should be being open to adapting to the changes happening around the world. One aspect is important to note: "change is inevitable" in our lives.

The most important books to lead a successful life

The following are the most important books to read for success in life:

•       Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
•       Giants of Enterprise by Richard S. Tedlow
•       The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen
•       The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid by C K Prahalad and Stuart L Hart
•       Wings of fire by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam

Favourite memory from theses to teaching

The most favourite memory for me will be when I saw my thesis submitted at IIM A get published in the ICWAI journal Management Accountant in April 1999. This being the first publication, it will remain very close to me.

Another memorable aspect will be grooming the first and second batches of MBA students at VIT during 1994–96 and 1995–97. We were closer as family, as it was a small batch of students, and seeing them succeed in various walks of life across the globe will be a more satisfactory aspect for me as Professor and Mentor. 

Last but not the least, the happy memories of teaching the students in Ethiopia and Germany. The intellectual capabilities of the students, wary in terms of exposure and grasping, gave me the opportunity to see the extreme ends of the world, and teaching at VIT for both Management and Engineering streams was the peak of my career.

Currently proudly associated with one of India’s leading educational groups, viz., D Y P Group, ever since 2021 till date in building a world-class Agriculture & Technical University at Kolhapur. The Management of the University is quite encouraging and supportive to convert the dream into reality of a world class educational facility for the benefit of end-users in this part of the country.