Earlier this year, Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM), Chennai, in association with Illinois Institute of Technology’s (IIT Chicago) Stuart School of Business, Chicago, U.S., launched a new course — MBA in technopreneurship. The first batch will commence in the last week of August. Bala V. Balachandran, dean, GLIM, talks on what the course is all about and how it is different from other conventional MBAs.
Inspiration behind introducing the course
Business models of today have changed. Disruptive technologies and the Internet of things have revolutionised the way people and businesses function. This, coupled with design-related thinking, paves the way for new business ideas and products. In such a scenario, if one aspires to become an entrepreneur, traditional methods will not help. A new way of thinking using technology is required to move businesses forward. Thus, one must have a technology backup coupled with an understanding of disruptive technology. This involves tweaking an existing product or service using technology, so as to boost its functioning in a business, thereby bolstering an entrepreneur’s skills.
Programme outline
The programme will have three modules — the first at Great Lakes, the next a blended module and the last one at IIT Chicago. At the end of the programme, participants will receive an IIT Chicago MBA and a Great Lakes certificate. With disruptive technologies, machine learning and digital advancements in the entrepreneurship space today, such programmes have a competitive edge.
As part of the course, students will spend four weekends (spread over September to December) at the GLIM campus in Chennai, and around six to eight weeks (May-June) at IIT Chicago. There, they will attend classes, participate in several industrial visits and meet venture capitalists, serial entrepreneurs and startup gurus to foster and exchange ideas.
What sets the course apart from a traditional MBA
This course is a combination of an engineering school and a design school. What we mean by design school can be explained through examples such as an iPhone or smartwatches, which are the outcome of a design. In short, the same need that one wants is given in a different format using different technology, making it more effective yet elegant and easier to carry. This is precisely what our technopreneurship course seeks to impart to students — tweaking the traditional MBA to make it interdisciplinary, to cater to careers of the future.
Employment opportunities
Employment opportunities are ripe — in India and abroad — for people graduating with a degree in technopreneurship. One doesn’t necessarily have to go abroad for employment once they are equipped with this degree. One can command a job from where he or she is based. That is the key advantage of the course.
(The last date for application is August 15.)
