Great Lakes Gurgaon Principal talks about evolving role of Business Education, Admission, Course Launch

In an exclusive interview with Shiksha.com, Dr. Jones Mathew, Principal of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, shared his forward-looking vision for the institution and its evolving role in the world of business education.

In an enlightening discussion with Shiksha.com, Dr. Jones Mathew, Principal of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, shared his forward-looking vision for the institution and its evolving role in the world of business education. As the landscape of management education continues to shift, Dr. Mathew highlighted how Great Lakes is adapting to meet the demands of modern enterprises and foster a dynamic learning environment.

From integrating cutting-edge AI skills into the curriculum to revamping the admissions process and expanding placement support, Dr. Mathew provided a comprehensive overview of how Great Lakes is preparing its students for a rapidly changing job market.

With a strong emphasis on academic excellence, industry relevance, and social responsibility, Great Lakes is poised to make a significant impact on its students and the broader business community.

Q: What skills are companies looking for in MBA graduates?

A: Specifically, skills that they can use right away in their organizations; soft skills; analytical skills; problem-solving skills; and now AI skills. And of course, hard skills such as statistics, product and brand management, and data synthesis, are also in demand.

Q: What is your vision for the Great Lakes Institute of Management?

A: To develop Great Lakes, Gurgaon into a Centre of Academic Excellence and a place where management students get a healthy blend of cutting-edge knowledge, industry-ready skill set, and a compassionate and sensitized mindset for the less privileged. I also visualize Great Lakes, Gurgaon to be an industry and society-oriented research powerhouse. 

Q: What are some major changes in the Great Lakes admission process?

A: Some major changes in the Great Lakes admissions process include giving equal priority to various factors such as academic performance, entrepreneurial potential, a social mindset, a sustainability perspective, and a demonstrated willingness to learn. We encourage more women to join our programs. A combination of academic scores, business acumen, past work experience, and communication skills is important going forward with relative comfort in modern technology.

Q: Does Great Lakes train students for placements?

A: Great Lakes is a knowledge and skills school. As part of our commitment to our students, there is a very carefully curated Corporate Readiness Program that prepares students to choose the right career and crack job interviews. There are internal and external service providers who give students the right inputs to shape their destinies. Faculty mentorship is also in place to give one-on-one support to all students. Our proximity to the corporate hub of Delhi NCR gives our students exposure to a host of Industry experts who come to campus regularly. We have had fantastic placement outcomes since inception.

Q: Many top management institutions are launching programs for working professionals. Is your institute planning to follow the same path?

A: We are one of a select group of B schools offering a fully residential, rigorous, high-impact management program for working executives, known as the PGPM. This flagship program of the school admits students with an average of 3.5 years of work experience.

Our PGPM (1 year program) has been around for over 12 years, well before many other institutions launched similar programs. Additionally, we offer a two-year, AICTE-approved online PGDM for working professionals, which includes optional on-campus modules.

Q: What are some new and unique courses offered at Great Lakes?

A: Great Lakes, Gurgaon has been a pioneer in launching courses in analytics, digital strategy specializations, platform-based advanced digital marketing courses, business intelligence courses, sustainable finance courses, natural language processing courses, machine learning, and deep learning courses (as applicable to business management).

Q: AI is aggressively impacting the design industry. Is Great Lakes planning to incorporate AI learning into its management education curriculum?

A: Since 2013, AI has been embraced at Great Lakes, Gurgaon, long before it became a "thing". And now with the advent of Gen AI, courses and pedagogy are being modified to include the application of this new empowering tool in the learning process. 

Q: Could you tell us about the courses offered at Great Lakes that are popular among aspirants?

A: Digital Enterprise Strategy, Technology Product Management, Web & Social Media Analytics, Marketing & Retail Analytics, Business Consulting, and Project Management are some courses highly subscribed at Great Lakes.

Q: Are there any scholarships available that can benefit candidates pursuing higher education?

A: Scholarships at Great Lakes Gurgaon are entirely merit-based and have to be earned based on their performance in the program students are a part of. These scholarships are highly aspirational and are awarded at the end of the program.

Q: What are some of the latest collaborations that Great Lakes Institute of Management is looking forward to?

A: Great Lakes, Gurgaon is working closely with industry in the area of process reengineering, warehousing and logistics management, data management, metaverse marketing, HR analytics and Fintech. In the academic domain, Great Lakes, Gurgaon has activated plans for increasing immersion opportunities and exchange programs, collaborating with foreign scholars in the areas of high impact research and funded projects. We are putting together programs to be run with government bodies such as AICTE.

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