The Higher Education Review

Entrepreneurship plays an important role in the economic development of a country. Being a developing nation, India needs entrepreneurs who are competent to perceive new opportunities and are willing to incur the necessary risk in exploiting them. As a support to fulfill the increasing entrepreneurial needs, Thapar University laid the foundation for LM Thapar School of Management (LM TSM) in the year 2007. LM TSM seeks to develop a new Indian business model grounded in the ethos of sustainability and inclusiveness.

The MBA program at LM TSM is all about innovative leadership, global sensitivity, and the entrepreneurial mindset. As the part of a rich legacy, LM TSM believes that creating a new business world must start from home and an old nation like India suits best to start with a revolution. “We are a bit different from the other business schools,” claims Dr. Padmakumar Nair, Director, LM TSM. Understanding the power of unique and independent thinking, the institute constantly strives to develop a curriculum that meets the specific needs of individual students. The institute is constantly pushing the boundaries and stretching the limits of the thoughts and the actions to be the architects of new India by taking students through a journey of self-discovery.

LM TSM follows a strategic theme to develop graduates with an entrepreneurial and innovative spirit who are adept at creating employment rather than looking for employment. “We endeavor to offer an entrepreneurship ecosystem to our students with essential infrastructure, advice and mentoring,” says Dr. Nair. The curriculum is made more entrepreneurial with the incubation centre (venture lab). The students are also offered with a startup option as the part of the course.

“Our goal is to give the most meaningful learning experience to our students. In this thematic area, our primary focus is on content, pedagogy, and overall learning experience,” adds Nair. In this regard, the institute has identified the action steps to improve the quality of curriculum making it responsive to industry needs. The institute is all into developing effective pedagogies for both experiential and classroom- based learning. Science and Technology Entrepreneur’s Park (STEP) under Thapar University is a platform for students
who dream to become Entrepreneurs. It has conducted 76 entrepreneurship development programs since its inception, in the process providing hands-on training to hundreds of people, including students of various reputed institutes, teachers, researchers, farmers, NGOs, entrepreneurs and industrialists. After exiting STEP, they remain attached for consulting and other allied services.

While most business incubation centers focus on research and training, pilot-scale trials and process and product development, the one at Thapar University goes a step ahead by aiding the incubates in commercialization of technology, seeking constant feedback on the results achieved by them, to ensure incubator sustenance as a confidence-building measure and encouraging business- oriented research in the area of agro-biotechnology. These initiatives are aimed at turning the trainees into technopreneurs and agripreneurs.

By adopting such different strategies, LM TSM has been successful in creating a new breed of managers who are equipped with appropriate armor to face the realities and complexities of the twenty-first century. The emphasis of the school is on the student-centric experiential learning, based on the application of ideas and concepts. The course is designed in such a manner that real business cases are used, presented and discussed during class sessions under the guidance of the professor. This methodology is followed with an intention to develop good decision skills among the students because they try to find solutions for the real problems faced by the companies.

“Over the years, the brand ‘Thapar’ has created a niche for itself in the business world. This has resulted in reputed organizations offering challenging profiles to our students through the campus placement process,” states Dr. Nair. Thapar graduates are known for their disciplined approach and strong fundamentals. The unique ‘Thapar’ culture is such that it invigorates the students’ passion for achieving excellence in everything they do. The students are always eager to take up bold tasks, create new benchmarks and be the first to respond to the needs of the society. “We do invite companies to visit our campus and interact with students through pre placement activities including presentations, guest seminars, live consulting projects and so on,” pinpoints Dr. Nair. At LM TSM, students would get the opportunity to identify themselves with company philosophies, recruitment strategies and talent requirements, thus making an informed decision on their career choice. The strong partnerships with corporations help in providing opportunities for the students and faculty, both for learning and practicing through consulting and internships. “We want our students to realize that there are critical challenges faced by local communities, which are important to be addressed while developing their business and management skills,” concludes Dr. Nair.