TAPMI Manipal - Interview with Prof Madhu Veeraraghavan: Director and Chair Professor of Finance

Prof Madhu Veeraraghavan, Director and Chair Professor of Finance of T A Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal, had an exclusive talk with Careers360. An intellect, Prof Madhu Veeraraghavan is ranked in the top ten per cent of the authors around the world by the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).

With an experience of 20 years, a Doctorate in Finance and over 50 of his papers published in international journals, Prof Maddhu Veeraraghavan believes that business schools should work for outcomes that support the Mission of the School. Read this article in which he shares his experience and insights in his interview with Careers360.

Careers360: Tell us something about the institute; when it was set up, vision and mission

Prof Madhu Veeraraghavan: The T. A. Pai Management Institute boasts of a legacy of 37 years rooted in a value system imbibing ethical behaviour, respect for diversity, and zeal to excel in every aspect of life. The Institution is proud of its unbroken placement record over the years and 6500+ alumni, of which one-fifth are currently leading at CXO levels. TAPMI is accredited by both The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International (www.aacsb.edu) and the Association of MBAs (AMBA) (https://associationofmbas.com/). It is consistently ranked among the top 1% of B-Schools in India. Named after our founder, Shri. T.A. Pai, TAPMI was established with a vision of creating responsible business leaders, leaders who dream and achieve but with a resolve to make a difference. This is what we seek to create. Our mission is “To excel in post-graduate management education, research and practice.”

Careers360: Tell us something about the admission process?

Prof Madhu Veeraraghavan: We have a standardised admission process across all programs, but each program may have additional components based on specific profiling requirements. We follow a two-stage process. Stage I includes profile-based shortlisting based on valid CAT/XAT/GMAT scores (whichever is higher), Academic profile (10th, 12th, Graduation, overall academic performance, etc.), Work experience (type of company, total experience in months, etc.), Extra-curricular achievements (State/ National/ International) if any, and the Statement of Purpose. Stage II consists of, English Proficiency Test (EPT), Moderated Group Discussion (MGD) and Personal Interview (PI).

Careers360: What kind of infrastructure can students expect at the institute? Please elaborate?

Prof Madhu Veeraraghavan: TAPMI has one of the most beautiful and modern campuses among the B-schools in India. It has a 44.11 acres fully residential sprawling campus in Manipal. The campus offers excellent facilities through its classrooms, seminar halls, library and reading rooms, hostels, food and mess and excellent recreational facilities. TAPMI is also home to India's largest Finance Lab with 16 Bloomberg and 7 Reuters terminals. We also have 14 world-class interactive classrooms, 25 CISCO and WEBEX licences. We provide excellent on-campus accommodation facilities for our program participants.

Careers360: There is a lot of stress that is being made with regard to interaction with the industry as well as companies that recruit. What are the steps being taken by the institute in this direction?

Prof Madhu Veeraraghavan: We have redesigned our programs with flexible learning at its core to ensure increased industry alignment and better learning outcomes. This includes – regular industry inputs via advisory panels, a new basket of electives (sectoral/contemporary concepts) based on industry inputs, increased co-teaching and delivery of courses in the second year, extended internships, early student onboarding, industry specified and designed courses on offer in term six and industry aligned courses via Coursera . We have undertaken several initiatives such as IGNITE, ASPIRE , a speaker series by distinguished industry professionals and our alumni . Through these initiatives, industry leaders and senior alumni help students prepare to meet the challenges in the VUCA world. We also ensure industry interaction on contemporary issues via the Leadership Lecture Series, CXO Series and Industry Immersion Workshops .

Careers360: Internships are now mandatory as per AICTE guidelines. Does the institute help students with this? If yes, how?

Prof Madhu Veeraraghavan: TAPMI ensures that students get holistic experiential learning through the eight-week internship process. This is where students learn to be managers and apply their classroom knowledge to solve complex business problems. We focus on delivering thorough business knowledge to our students, making them industry relevant right from the first day. We also believe in the power of experiential learning, one of the pillars of education at TAPMI. Every element in our action-based and outcome-centric curriculum is geared towards teaching students through real experiences.

Careers360: Can you please share details if there is any collaboration with universities abroad?

Prof Madhu Veeraraghavan: TAPMI enjoys academic and research collaborations with some of the best business schools and universities around the world such as Southampton Business School, MIT Sloan [Solve Initiative], Monash University, London Business School, Max Planck Institute for Human Development to name a few. We also have student exchange programs with ESC Rennes School of Business, France. ……

Careers360: Please share placement statistics with information on the average package, highest and lowest package, number of students placed and details of companies that have recruited.

Prof Madhu Veeraraghavan: The placements for the batch 2020-22 are in process for the PGDM General and PGDM - HRM programs. We have achieved 100 per cent placements for the PGDM – BKFS and PGDM – Marketing; the highest packages for both the programs are INR 32.21 Lakhs and INR 18 Lakhs per annum, respectively. The top 50 students have an average compensation of over INR 19 L per annum.