Education

Professor Bala Balachandran is considered one of the top 10 management gurus of Indian origin in the United States. He represents the first wave of Indian scholars who moved to top U.S.-based business schools and have since contributed to the growing recognition of India as a resource for ideas and academic talent.

Twenty-six years ago, Bala V Balachandran was the only Indian professor at the prestigious Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Chicago, where he has specialized in accounting information systems and decision sciences. He has been with Kellogg for the past 34 years and has contributed richly.

He played an important part in the formation of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and in the internationalization of MDI Gurgaon. Three years back he decided to set up his own B-school — the Great Lakes Institute of Management, in Chennai.

He has worked with previous governments in various capacities and is an advisor on the present planning commission. He is on the board of directors of the Credit Rating Information Services of India and is working with people like Sam Pitroda to integrate information technology in states like Gujarat, Maharashta, Punjab and Rajasthan.

He is also a consultant to the governments of Israel, Malaysia and Peru.

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Ravi Kumar is a veteran entrepreneur and currently a consultant with The Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning. NSRCEL was set up in March 2002 at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) to synergise with the institute’s focus on entrepreneurial studies. The Centre defines the opportunities perceived by aspiring entrepreneurs, evaluates their strengths/weaknesses and helps them with resources to translate their concepts into profitable business ventures. NSRCEL’s vision is “To be a world class center of excellence for seeding, nurturing and promoting entrepreneurship with emphasis on startups and existing organizations with growth protential.” In this podcast, Ravi talks about NSRCEL’s activities and about campus incubation.

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Professor Maheshwari is the vice chancellor of BITS Pilani, one of the most prestigious educational instituitions in India. He has held various top-level positions at the instituition over the past 35 years. He has published four books and over 80 research papers in the ares of semiconductor electronics and university-industry linkages.

Professor Maheshwari talks about the entrepreneurship programs and incubation center that prevails at BITS Pilani. He also talks about the vision of creating a Silicon Valley around educational institutes in India the same way Stanford University helped develop the valley.

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Apurv Pandit is the chief editor of PaGaLGuY.com, India’s biggest Web site for MBA students. (”Pagal” actually means “Mad” in Hindi)

This site, which had a humble beginning as a discussion forum, has grown tremendously to attract close to 100,000 members.

In this interview, Apurv shares the story behind PagalGuy, site monetization and their future plans.

Prior to this, Apurv has had five years’ experience as a reporter in a number of national newspapers and an international news agency.

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