Innovation is a way of life at Jaipuria Institute of Management

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‘Quality before Scalability’ is an oft-heard mantra, but nowhere does this hold as true as in the business education in India. At the turn of the millennium, management institutes were sprouting in every nook and corner of the country. But thirteen years down the line, we notice that very few actually lived beyond a decade. One of those who not only survived but actually thrived – and is today recognised as a formidable brand - is the Jaipuria Institute of Management. Raised in the mid-nineties, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow was established by stalwarts from the domain of education from the pre-independence era. During its fledgling years, the management of Jaipuria Lucknow observed, studied and understood the dynamics of the Knowledge Revolution, and embedded this deeply into its DNA. So, by the time the second campus came up in Noida in 2004, innovations had become second nature to the Institute.

 

“Frankly speaking, Jaipuria Institute of Management has come this far only because of its ability to innovate and keep up with the times, and at a very fast pace,” points Dr. Prabhat Pankaj, Director, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur. “Student Councils, the Individual Development Plan through a strong mentor-mentee programme, increasing focus on industry connect, taking administrative decision-making right to staff and faculty, 24 x 7 accessibility of academic resources to students through E-learning, and social media tools… all such innovations are deeply ingrained within our DNA now. I strongly believe that in the UnCampus philosophy, our years of innovation have come together under one umbrella. All the four campuses are seamlessly integrated, allowing free exchange of ideas and events, and leading to unprecedented collaboration between students, faculty and staff.”

 

At Jaipuria, any time is a good time to bring in an innovation; new ideas don’t wait for the next academic year. Come winter, and Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur will be launching the ‘Winter Social Internship’ through which students will be interning with village panchayats or NGOs for a variety of purposes. Many a time, events happening within the campus inspire innovations. For instance, campus life after classes was always interesting, but a couple of years ago, the concept of ‘Life-after-6’was introduced formally, bringing in a series of value added activities. Today, foreign language classes and guitar classes during the 7-8 pm slot are big hits! The ‘Midnight Reading Hub’ is turning out to be another ‘happening’ innovation at Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur.

 

The atmosphere at all the Jaipuria campuses is quite informal, with teachers acting more as facilitators and students being encouraged to think things through. With knowledge easily available through the Internet, Jaipuria’s faculty focus more on the emotional aspects of students – acting as friends and guides and always keeping the learning process high on the  ‘fun quotient’.  Therefore, most of the teaching in Jaipuria campuses happens beyond the four walls of the classroom, in lush green lawns or on industry sites.

 

“Innovations in Jaipuria Institute of Management often are a natural outcome of the needs of the time,” says Dr. Rajiv Thakur, director, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida. “Technology and this generation’s behavioural choices have a major impact on how education is imparted on Jaipuria campuses. This has led to a paperless mode of education. In fact, the latest Jaipuria campus at Indore is completely digital and has been from its inception because of the lessons picked up from other campuses. Societal demands ensure that traditional folk art and theatre very often become the medium for imparting education in sections where chalkboards prove to be ineffective.”

Jaipuria’s legacy of pedagogical innovations has now reached the threshold of being a game-changer. This year, the Noida campus, will be critically examining SIP projects from a completely different perspective. The aim will be to identify at least half-a-dozen projects that can be ‘game changers’ for the industry and to actually create breakthroughs.

 

Interestingly, the management of Jaipuria Institute of Management believes that one of the major reasons behind their success is that right from the beginning, everyone within the folds of Jaipuria campuses believed they worked for a B-school second to none. Belief generates hope, and hope generates enthusiasm and ownership. This ultimately generates outcome. All campuses of Jaipuria Institute of Management are among the top 5 in their respective regions. Riding on its successful legacy of innovations, the management of Jaipuria is quite confident of producing managers who are well ahead of their times.