Revolutionizing Education at GIBS: A Conversation with Prof. Bharath Gopalan

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Prof. Bharath Gopalan, says at GIBS, education transcends conventional boundaries through a dynamic teaching methodology centered around 'Learning by Doing' (LBD). This distinctive approach integrates practical application opportunities into the curriculum. The Classroom SOP ensures a blend of individual teaching styles while upholding essential learning standards.

Prof. Bharath Gopalan is an accomplished author and ontological practitioner with a rich background as a performance and leadership coach. Professor & Chief Process Officer at GIBS. His journey spans over three decades, during which he have led in various industries including steel, cement, automobile, machinery manufacturing, atomic research, and banknote printing. Academically, he holds master's degrees in Human Resource Management and Psychology.

Q1. What are the salient features of the teaching methodology adopted by your college? How does this differ from others?

LBD Model: ‘Learning by Doing’ is ingrained into the course curriculum to create ‘application opportunities’ for trying out the tools and concepts learnt.

Classroom SOP: Though the teaching faculty have to adopt their own style when it comes to classroom teaching, a certain non-compromisable essentials for learning reinforcements have been drawn up as Classroom SOP for brining in some standard practices into teaching

Q2. How are you preparing your students to be Industry-ready?

C-I-C philosophy: One core philosophy, college holds as utmost important is the ‘C-I-C’ philosophy. When we say ‘corporate is our customer’, we consciously orient our teaching as a series of processes in transforming the raw talents into ‘job-ready talents’ as thorough-bred professionals to fulfil the talent needs of our corporate customers. Even the internal nomenclature for the departments in the talent value chain are accordingly deployed, viz. Talent Acquisition, Talent Transformation and Talent Fulfilment

CPMP Programme: We have tied our PGDM prg., with an add-on Certification Programme in Personal Mastery which is completely aligned preparing the students to equip themselves for cracking the selection processes of the corporates.

Q3. What are the qualities you are looking for in student applicants? What qualities do they need to do well in your course?

Energy and Enthusiasm: We have enshrined five core values in our GIBS Values (which is captured in the acronym QUEST) and the centre letter stands E stands for Energy and Enthusiasm

Good conversational skills on a range of topics of professional interest

Inquisitiveness and Learn-ability:

Q4. How do you ensure that your course curriculum is up to date and meets industry requirements?

IAB (Industry Advisory Board) is a forum created at GIBS to have interaction with practicing professionals and industry experts to obtain inputs on contemporary trends in the industry. Job roles and JDS of the emerging jobs for fresher talent are compiled discipline-wise to design and develop Specialization-based Training programs.

Q5. Is your college receptive to innovation, technology, science & entrepreneurship? How? Could you cite some examples of these?

Students go through a year-long programme spread over the first three trimesters in Innovation, Research and Entrepreneurship (IRE). The programme aims to develop entrepreneurial mindset in students with innovative zeal and research bent of mind