The Higher Education Review

He is the Director of Hyderabad Business School. He has been associated with All India Management Association, Indian Society for Training and Development, Hyderabad Management Association and National HRD Network for the past several years. He has varied research interests and has several research papers in the areas of Banking, Insurance and Financial Services.

Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development for any country. To achieve targets of economic growth and inclusive development, the industry faces a significant requirement of progressive skilled workforce. The magnitude of the challenge is further evident from the fact that about 12 million freshers are expected to join the industry workforce every year. Taking up the industry's challenges as its own, GITAM University established Hyderabad Business School that embarks on a forefront to lay an industry emphasized foundation in its students.

"Recruits being unable to perform on field is a major hassle the industry faces and institutes must understand and train students on this very perspective," says Prasada Rao, Director, Hyderabad Business School. Imbibing practices to develop a student mindset on performance in the job frontier, the institute offers its guidance and teaching to inculcate employment-mindedness.

Hyderabad Business School achieves this feat by ensuring rightful delivery of the curriculum offering with additional inputs like Non-Classroom activities, Soft Skill Development and Internships. An obligatory aspect of industry insight is provided by Industry Experts who deliver 25 to 30 percent of the syllabus.

This ensures the active delivery of the syllabus-based inputs and incorporates industry inputs and practical exposure in the program. The institution has a semester dedicated to industry connect. Students actively get aware of what is in store for them in academia, syllabus and curriculum and the industry's expectations from them. "Pre Placement talks by Industry representatives at the Institute, Preparing students for Written Test, Group Discussion and Personal Interview are ways through which the students find their way to the employer," says Rao.

The institute provides support to its students in their training and placement by a full-fledged Training and Placement Cell comprising students and headed by a Senior Faculty member. The cell helps the students to find suitable placement in the corporate sector. The Placement cell undertakes Interaction with Industry experts. Intensive interaction between the Placement Cell and the industry helps in meeting their placement needs. Identification of a student's strength in an area of specialization is a notable aspect of Hyderabad Business School.

The innovative methods of teaching and industry interactions have enabled Hyderabad Business School in maintaining close tie-ups with big players of the industry like Rane Group, KPMG, ICICI, Tech Mahindra, Neuland Pharma, DHFL, Deloitte and many more. The institute is in discussion with IBM for industry-institute collaboration. These names visit the campus for recruitments that ensure active productivity and performance in niftiness of the ever changing industry. The institute has achieved placements close to 100 percent with packages of over four lakh on an average.

Amongst the many contributing factors to this accomplishment, the faculty at Hyderabad Business School has had an unnerving dedication towards making the students aware of the industry requirements. The faculty's 25 percent consists of Industry Experienced personnel, and 95 percent of the total

faculty hold PhD degrees in their respective areas of research.There is an enlightening presence of doctorates in the campus that come from the industry and help connect the students better in terms of industry relevance to the pursued course by the students.

Overall Multi-Disciplinary Development

Hyderabad Business School caters to research needs of the students and faculty by offering MPhil and PhD programs in various areas of research. The institute has VPs and HRs of various organizations pursuing their PhD degrees. The students seeking PhDs have industry experience of more than eight years. In provision of core subjects, the institute offers operation supply chain as separate specialization in Business Analytics, marketing, HR, Finance, and international business. Spread on a vast area of 164 acres of land with ample amenities that facilitate learning, research and active delivery of the curriculum, Hyderabad Business School, provides exposure to students on cross-cultural, inter and multi-disciplinary learning.

Training and Placements of students are given top priority and various activities in this regard are undertaken. With the mission to serve society by promoting excellence in education Hyderabad Business School aims to produce business professionals with a temperament of strong logic. In this regard, special efforts are made to groom the students to meet the standards of the industry, both in technical knowledge and soft skills. HBS Academies and the Metamorphosis initiatives along with 'Lemonscope Methodology' of connecting every subject with the business/ industry make a difference in students' grooming. There is continuous college-industry interface and interactive seminars on emerging technologies are arranged to provide wide ranging exposure to students. The culmination of these elements ensure in graduation of not just candidates but Business Professionals at Hyderabad Business School.