Chancellors Message

There are two types of education,

education for living
and education for life.

Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

When we study in a college, striving to become a doctor, a
lawyer or an engineer, that is education for a living. On the
other hand, education for life requires an understanding
of the essential principles of spirituality; it is about gaining
a deeper understanding of the world, our minds, our
emotions and ourselves. We all know that the real goal of
education is not to create people who understand only the
language of technology; the main purpose of education
should be to impart a culture of the heart, a culture based
on spiritual values.

Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

Communication through technology has made the world

a small place yet there is so much of a division. Todays
world needs people who express goodness in their words
and in actions with which the darkness prevailing in
todays society will be dispelled and the light of peace and
non-violence will once again illuminate this earth. Let us
work together towards this goal.
Excerpts from the key note address delivered by Amma during
the closing plenary session of the World Parliament of Religions
held at Barcelona, Spain.

Contents

Message from the Dean

03

Amrita University : 04
Amrita School of Business

07

The ASB Offering : 09

The ASB Campuses : 10
The ASB Faculty : 13
Our Global Footprints

14

The ASBians : 16
Pedagogy : 20
Curriculum : 21
MBA Course Structure

22

The Campus : 24
The ASB Clubs & Committees

27

Summer Placements : 32
Final Placements : 34
Our Recruiters : 36
Faculty Profiles

38

The ASB Faculty Initiatives

56

Honours & Achievements : 57

Industry Interface at ASB

60

Mata Amritanandamayi Math

62

Admission Process : 66

Message from the Dean

Secure knowledge, skills and values

to face the challenges of sustainable

global business with confidence

The Amrita School of Business has more than eighteen years

experience in offering quality management education and is
pleased to have hundreds of its graduates contributing richly to
managerial excellence in global business.
The MBA and MBA-MS programs of the school offer you a
great opportunity for acquiring superior capabilities and multidimensional skills needed for sustainable global business. For the
potential manager and leader, the programs provide knowledge
and skills for effective and inclusive decision-making while creating
an awareness of the critical need for ethical conduct and social
responsibility in business.
The schools outstanding faculty with qualifications from prominent
global institutions is committed to serving you well. They will be
with you every step of the way in your transformation into informed
professionals.
I encourage you to join us and secure a strong and durable
foundation for value-creating activities in business.
Best Wishes.

Dr. V.S. Somanath

Ph.D. (New York University)
Dean, Amrita School of Business

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University) celebrates a milestone; the first decade of service to society and
humanity. Under AMMAs inspiring and motivating leadership and direction as Chancellor of the University, AMRITA
University is marching forward towards higher goals and accomplishments and scaling great heights of excellence.
AMRITA educational Institutions provide a holistic approach to Education for Life and Education for Living.
The University provides the best education in terms of academic excellence, facilities, ambience, pedagogy and
infrastructure. The education one receives at AMRITA inculcates both values and virtues, while instilling the essential
principles of spirituality. An education which caters to both the external and internal, to both the head and the heart,
one which creates an atmosphere to help students understand that serving the society with a selfless attitude is
also of paramount importance.
All the students of Amrita University have ample opportunities for orientation in Yoga, Meditation and Cultural
Education. The students have demonstrated their social commitment and community engagement by participating
in disaster relief and rehabilitation activities after the Gujarat Earthquake in 2001; Tsunami relief operations in Tamil
Nadu and Kerala in 2005-2006, flood relief operations in Bihar in 2009 and Karnataka in 2010. AMRITA students in
all campuses have played an active role in the Amala Bharatham - Clean India awareness drive and campaigns in
their communities, notably in the cleaning of the Sabarimala pilgrimage site before and after the pilgrimage season
for the last three years.

Academic Programmes

which is managed by Mata Amritanandamayi Math,

offers over 150 undergraduate, postgraduate and
doctoral programmes in Engineering, Business,
Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Journalism,
Biotechnology, Information Technology, Arts and
Sciences, Health Sciences, Teacher Education,
Microbiology, Hospital Management, Visual Media
Studies, Mass Communication, Social Work,
Nanosciences and Ayurveda.

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham was conferred the

University status under Section 3 of UGC Act
1956 by the Government of India in 2003. With
campuses at Coimbatore, Amritapuri, Kochi,
Bengaluru and Mysore, Amrita University is
emerging as one of the fastest growing institutions
of higher learning in the country. The University,

Dr. P. Venkat Rangan

Prof. C. Parameswaran

Vice Chancellor

Director, Corporate Relations

4

Recognitions and National Rankings

Biostatistics, Biomedical Engineering, Environmental

Sciences, Virtual Labs, Wireless Sensor Networks,
Computational Engineering & Networking, Cyber
Security, Cancer, Educational Technologies, etc. with
the support of major national laboratories, industry
leaders and agencies like TIFAC, DST, ICMR, ISRO,
DRDO, DBT, DIT, DRDO, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard,
Media Lab Asia, Infosys, MDS Pharma, Biocon etc.
AMRITA is also a partner in the Indian Governments
Ministry of Human Resource Developments
National Mission for Education using Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) for various
national projects in haptics, virtual labs, Educational
Resource Planning, Natural Language Processing
and interactive E-learning systems along with Indian
Institutes of Technologies and Indian Institute of
Science.

Based on the evaluation of all the campuses

and programmes by a peer review committee,
the University has been accredited by National
Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with
A grade, which is the highest possible grade.
AMRITA Vishwa Vidyapeetham has also been ranked
in the ivy league of Indian universities along with the
top institutions in India like Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
(TIFR), Mumbai etc. in the 2009 review of Deemed
Universities constituted by the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (MHRD) of the Government
of India. AMRITA is placed in Category 1 - the highest
category - in this review conducted by a high power
committee (Tandon Committee) consisting of reputed
academicians.

The faculty of AMRITA has published more than 150

books, 300 book chapters and 3000 research papers
in reputed international and national journals in the
past ten years.

Faculty and Students

AMRITA started off in November 1994, as a School of
Engineering in an obscure village called Ettimadai, at
the foothills of Bouluvanpatty ranges of the Western
Ghats in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, with 120
students and 13 faculty members.

AMRITA has attracted grants from various

Governmental and private funding agencies to the
tune of more than Rs. 200 crores in the past ten years.
AMRITA has also bagged or filed fifty major patents
and inventions in the past few years which include
Adaptive and Automatic Insulin Pump, Wireless
Telematics, Virtual Private Network (VPN), Amrita
Hospital Information System (AHIS) etc.

Today, AMRITA Vishwa Vidyapeetham University

spread over five campuses in three different States of
India has a student population of around 17,000 and
faculty strength of 2000, conducting over 150 UG, PG
and Doctoral programmes. Presently, there are over
600 Ph.D/DM holders as faculty in the University,
which is perhaps the best among Private Universities
in India. The staff-student ratio in the University, which
is about 1:8, is one of the best in the country. The
University today is having a total land area of about
1000 acres and built-up area of about 8 million square
feet.

AMRITA has developed a unique E-learning system,

A-VIEW, Amrita Virtual Interactive E-Learning World,
which is a cutting-edge video conferencing software,
customized explicitly for Universities. This system
is the preferred system for this National Mission for
Education using ICT of the Government of India and
is being currently deployed at 600 universities and all
colleges across India free of cost. Other research and
development accomplishments include an adaptive
insulin pump for the benefit of diabetes patients,
which will be at a fraction of the cost of similar devices;
innovative product development in photovoltaics and
storage devices using nanomaterials, which are
primarily aimed at solving energy problems; lowpower wearable wireless ECG monitoring device; low
cost wearable safety device for women; Indias firstever Wireless Sensor Network system for predicting
landslides at Munnar in Idukki district in Kerala etc.

Research Accomplishments
Right from inception, research has been a mission
critical activity at AMRITA University. The research
activities at AMRITA are directed towards societal,
humanitarian and community development and
relief. Many centres of excellence have been
started in cutting-edge areas like Nanosciences
& Molecular Medicine, E-learning, Haptics,

Is AMRITA different from

any other B-School ?

lead

My two years stay at Amrita had been literally life

changing and defining. There is something for everyone
out there. The ambiance and environment fosters
creativity, the warmth of the professors and their personal
touch leaves a lasting impact, the rules and regulation
(though painful) when understood in its true sense would
help one sail through the drudgery of the corporate world
and there is ample opportunity for those interested minds
to pursue their interests in fields of astronomy, music,
photography by being a part of those clubs.
I keep asking myself, Is Amrita different from any other
B School? The answer is an emphatic YES and a NO.
It is the same in the sense that it offers quality, best in
class Management education and it is different in the
flavor that it adds to ones character and belief system.
Its been almost nine years and I strongly feel that the
lessons that I have learnt both in class and outside
(mostly outside for me) are growing within me, its like a
seed that is sown and it takes time to germinate and grow
to a fully blossoming tree.

Sandeep P.R., MBA 2005

Assistant Vice President
HSBC

In the brief span of a decade and a half since its founding, ASB has
built a formidable reputation for itself and its graduates as a Business
School with sound foundations; with a commitment to excellence; and a
demonstrated ability to initiate, innovate, and lead.
The presence of outstanding faculty who have come from some of the
best institutions in the world inculcate in the students traits of observation,
internalization and adoption of leadership qualities. Students are tacitly
taught to appreciate and practice unconventionality, divergent thinking
and meticulous action. Even from day one, the Amrita culture strongly
emphasizes anchoring oneself to principles and values. ASBians are
taught not only to manage themselves and their organizations, but to be
responsive to the needs of others. ASBians know that ability can take
one to the top but it takes character to stay there.
Unsurprisingly, ASBians are excellent team players, and chart their own
path to excellence in a range of top notch corporates across the world. In
tune with these global times, you will encounter ASB alumni across the
world- in places such as Austin, Boston, Dubai, Durban, Hanover, Hong
Kong, London, Melbourne, New York, Sharjah, Shanghai, Singapore,
Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto and Zurich.
An institution with strong values and deep commitment, ASB has grown
over the years like a banyan tree with its dedicated faculty as its core
and its eager students as its expanding roots. Every passing year has
made it stronger and its existence more celebrated. This brochure is a
brief journey into an institution dedicated to value-based excellence, and
an invitation to an education that prepares you not only for a career but
also for life.

AM RI TA SCH O O L O F BUSI NESS

An Education for Life

The MBA Batch of 2014-2016

Figure 1 Educational Qualification of Students

Figure 2: Intended Specializations at Commencement of MBA

Delivering Genuine Value

THE ASB OFFERINGS

Master of Business Administration

The MBA programme at Amrita School of Business
was established in 1996.
The programme
offers an opportunity to have dual specialization
from Finance, Human Resource Management,
Information Systems, Marketing and Operations
Management areas. The programme lays
emphasis on contemporary knowledge and
competencies, and provides opportunities for
experiential learning and community engagement.
The annual intake is 300 students across four
campuses Amritapuri (Kollam), Bengaluru,
Coimbatore and Kochi.

Ph. D. in Management
In an era where knowledge creation and applied
research are being acknowledged as the basis
for development and growth of society, Amrita
School of Business is positioning itself in the
forefront, being one of the few B-Schools in the
country, where a rigorous Doctoral Programme
in Management is offered. The part-time Doctoral
Programme was stated in 2009 with a view to
encourage aspiring scholars to take up research.
The doctoral programme at ASB is especially
meant for working professionals and scholars,
as its flexible structure allows them to continue
working while pursuing their Ph.D. In addition
to ASBs excellent full time faculty, the Doctoral

courses are taught by eminent visiting faculty from

some of the worlds best regarded Management
Institutes. The interest areas of the current
scholars include Business Strategy, Innovation,
Social Media Marketing, Logistics and Supply
Chains, Energy, Sustainable Development, Micro
Finance, SME, Organizational Design, Corporate
Governance and CSR. Presently there are 40
Scholars enrolled in the programme, who are at
different stages of their research..

MBA-MS in Management : Business

Analytics & Systems and EMBA-MS in
Management
Amrita University offers a full time two-year
MBA-MS programme and an Executive MBA
programme at the Bengaluru Campus. The
international twinning programme is offered in
collaboration with the top-rated University at
Buffalo (SUNY), New York State, USA. This
unique programme offers an MBA degree from
Amrita University and Master of Science (MS) in
Management Sciences (Business Analytics) and
Systems from the University at Buffalo, New York,
USA. A highlight of the programme is a 3-4week
visit by the students to the University at Buffalo
(SUNY) and highly qualified faculty members from
the University of Buffalo (SUNY) visiting Bengaluru
campus to teach the MS courses.

AMRITAPURI

Dr. V.S. Somanath

Dean

The ASB Campuses

The Amritapuri campus is located in the picturesque village of Vallikavu in Kollam, across the beautiful backwaters of
Kerala. The campus with its proximity to the headquarters of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math benefits significantly
from the graceful presence of AMMA. This setting helps in greater appreciation of personal and corporate values
among the students.

BE N GA L URU

Amrita University and University at Buffalo, New York (SUNY) jointly offers two year full-time post-graduate twinning
programme in Business Management at Bengaluru campus. A part time two-year Executive-MBA Programme is
also offered for the benefit of working professionals. The MBA-MS degree involves an MBA degree from Amrita
University and the Master of Science degree in Management Sciences (Business Analytics) and Systems from
the University at Buffalo, New York. This international Collaborative programme brings in the finest faculty from
University at Buffalo to teach MS courses at Bengaluru campus. The students enrolled in this programme gain real
time International Exposure during their brief visit to the campus of School of Management, University at Buffalo
(SUNY).

10

Prof. Manoj P.
Chairperson

C OI MBAT ORE
Dr. Raghu Raman
Chairperson

ASB Coimbatore is the flagship campus for ASBs MBA programme and also its part-time Ph.D. programme.
Situated in the foothills of the Western Ghats in a spectacular and serene four hundred acres, the campus provides
an ideal atmosphere for learning. ASB has been consistently placed in the list of top B-Schools in the country.

K OCH I

Strategically located in the commercial capital of Kerala, the Kochi campus is blessed with excellent social and
educational infrastructure, ideal for holistic learning and professional development. Continuous interaction with the
vibrant business community of this fast growing city of India, provides an excellent opportunity for our students to
develop practical insights from the world of business.

Prof. Sunanda Muralidharan

Chairperson

11

inspire

I have had the pleasure

of learning from the
best of the teachers
and with passionate
and enthusiastic
students.

I have had the pleasure of learning from the best

of teachers and with passionate and enthusiastic
students. I never stopped working,reading, thinking,
and writing...and enjoying every minute.But, its the
people at ASB- the faculty and your fellow students
- that make the difference.
The exceptional aspect of ASB is the high degree
of access one has to this dedicated and engaging
faculty who make sure that you are always on
track. They have high expectations and give you
every opportunity to meet those expectations.
Quite simply, being at ASB gave me the opportunity
to work with people who are a true inspiration
to me and who helped me achieve my goal of
getting accepted into an HR role in one of the best
companies in the country. I will continue to build on
that solid foundation wherever life takes me.

Jaya Lekshmy Venugopal, MBA 2009

Manager HR,Tata Steel

12

The ASB Faculty

The ASB faculty have an outstanding pedigree

The ASB faculty brings with them a rich blend of academic rigor and corporate experience. They are from some
of the best institutions in the world such as Berkeley, Kellogg, LSE, Stern NYU, Stirling, Texas-Austin, Cornel,
IIMs, IITs, JNU, ICAI, XLRI etc. Their rich subject knowledge and vast experience gained from a wide spectrum
of organizations such as BHEL, Biocon, Coca-Cola, ESAB, ICICI Bank, Philips, Ponds, SAIL, TISCO enable ASB
faculty to provide a strong foundation in management.
ASB faculty contributes actively in knowledge creation and applied research. Apart from their teaching activities,
faculty find themselves involved in publishing papers in leading journals and conferences, organizing research
seminars and conferences and reviewing articles for reputed journals and conferences.

13

14

15

nurture

If I could I surely would

like to re-live those 2yrs of
my life all over again.

This is year 2014, and I am 32yrs old. And if

someone asks me which phase of my life so far
Ive cherished the most, my answer will be - my
2yrs at ASB. I still remember when I had first
visited Ettimadai for my interviews, and the
minute Id entered the building, I knew I was
home. ASB, its faculty, and my peers, became
my foster family within weeks of having stepped
inside. The pristine campus, the intellectual yet
humble faculty, the amazing library, the yummy
hostel food, the group assignments... the list is
endless. If I could I surely would like to re-live
those 2yrs of my life all over again. Ive made
some of my dearest friends at ASB, and my
learnings from the campus (both, intellectual &
spiritual) have made me the person I am today.
Proud to be a part of the ASB fraternity!

Lalita Dhanvada, MBA 2004

Risk Operations Analyst Google

16

...I realize that my time at ASB has had an influence

on the decision being made. That is what ASB has
done for me. It has taught me to think from my heart.
I do not know if an institute can teach you how to be
successful, but ASB sure can nurture some emotions
inside you that can shape success coming out of
hard work and sincerity. I had the good fortune to
learn from some amazingly gifted people who made
us believe in ourselves to take on the world. Time
spent interacting with them taught me more than
time spent inside the classrooms. That is what ASB
campus enables - sowing the seeds of intellectually
stimulating relationships that assume a life as you go
through your two years and thereafter too.

Anup Menon, MBA 2007

Senior Manager
Business Development - Professional Staffing
Randstad India

17

explore

At work, every time

I take a decision
from the heart...

discover

I am very grateful to
the faculty at ASB
I feel really fortunate to have studied at
ASB and be part of the Amrita family. I
learned a lot, not only in terms of technical
skills, but also how to live a good and
happy life from the ASB faculty and
students. For that (and many other things),
I am very grateful to the faculty at ASB as
well as my fellow classmates and friends.
I have fond memories of my two years on
the ASB campus and really cherish my
time there.

Nemit Shroff, MBA 2005

Assistant Professor of Accounting in MIT.

18

ASB opened a whole new world for me. The

professors here have oceans of knowledge and
excellent experience that help students to relate
the theory to practical life. I remember having some
HBR Cases in multiple classes where we discussed
the same case from Marketing point of view, from
Operations Management point of view and also
the Project Financing way. I never studied better in
my life but the two years of MBA at ASB. And this
was only because I could relate the theory to how
companies implemented them in practice. Thanks
to my professors who made learning a wholesome
approach and a cherishing experience.

Sourabh Deshpande, MBA 2007

Consultant, Enterprise Strategy
Microsoft, India

19

innovate

ASB opened
a whole new world
for me.

One of my juniors came up with this song - ASB, the

place to be. I really love the song as it portrays the
true feeling that any ASBian would have. I feel proud
of having got a chance of studying in ASB. Since my
schools days, I never focused on studies. To me,
studying meant only mugging up lengthy chapters
to be able to answer some text book questions and
reiterating them in answer sheets better than any
other classmate.

Pedagogy
Explorations in Excellence
The ASB approach to pedagogy offers its faculty
immense flexibility in course design and encourages
them to push the frontiers. Thus, in addition to the class
work and case studies, our courses have featured
the use of movies and satellite based video lectures,
immersive field exercises, live industry Market Research
projects, NGO collaborations, management games,
video based assignments, reflective writing exercises,
book reviews, business model innovation challenges,
buisness simulation games like CAPSTONE, TED talks,
interactions with corporate, and a deepening integration
of e-learning through online platforms such as Moodle.
Similarly, ASB is a global University Academic Partner
of SAP and SAP is a part of the MBA curriculum and is
used in the ERP course extensively.

Culture is the undercurrent of norms and values that

build up over time as people work together, solve
problems, and confront challenges. The ASB culture
exhorts its family members to constantly develop new
skills and attitudes, the capacity for learning to cope
with a challenging world. Learning as a way of life is
clearly embedded in the daily routine of every inmate
of the campus. The uniqueness lies in the difference
in the learning modes, the formal as well as the subtle
ways we imbibe lessons. From the very first day,
the budding manager is absorbed into a whirlwind
of knowledge, by way of the regular subjects, the daily
classes, and, of course, the indispensable Economic
Times. Breaks from lectures and seminars see student
groups scattered across the campus scripting role-plays,
planning new product launches, analyzing financial
statements, or deeply immersed in the business case
study that is the flavour of the day.

In the end it is all about doing what it takes to inspire a

life long learning and at ASB you will truly get an MBA
education that is benchmarked with the global best.

I can vouch

Unni Krishnan, MBA 2006

for the fact that

our classroom
sessions...

GM, Marketing & Trade Shopper Marketing

WOOX Innovations (Licensee of Philips NV)

20

...are applicable in whatsoever

streams of Business (rather Life).
I have personally experienced the
depth of these sessions-be it in the
Rural Distribution expansion project
of Colgate in the interiors of Andhra
Pradesh or in Negotiations of the
prestigious Airport project of Gurgaon
for Philips. This great business
curriculum is a beautiful blend of the
Marketing principles of Philips Kotler
& the principles of business ethics,
learned through the experience of
Enron, yes here the emphasis is
learning.

Curriculum
A Globally Benchmarked Education

The ASB curriculum is globally benchmarked against the best and the course work is rigourous. The MBA course
curriculum has been designed and is continuously fine-tuned to keep abreast with the changing global business
scenario. What sets it apart is the degree of curricular innovation as the faculty consistently seek to push the
boundaries of learning.
The emphasis on innovation is invariably encountered in the course offerings. There are a wide variety of new
and innovative courses - Business across Cultures, Business Development, Innovation Management, Leadership
Models, Negotiations, Management of the Self for Success and Happiness, Social Entrepreneurship - to name a
few, and these are often supplemented by colloquia from experienced industry professionals, entrepreneurs, and
our alumni. Faculty are very accessible and the students are increasingly encouraged to take up research projects
and think beyond the regular curriculum.
The premier business schools around the world have woken up to the need of including values in the curriculum.
ASB has been a pioneer in this concept. ASB since its inception, had a course on Self Awareness and Personal
Growth to help prepare the students to meet lifes challenges. ASB believes in imparting an education for life along
with an education for a living. As a step in this direction, the course Self Awareness and Personal Growth has been
made an integral part of the curriculum for both years. This course provides an opportunity for holistic learning. It
also involves the practice of yoga and meditation to help the students tide over the requirements of the demanding
course. In addition, Managerial Values and Business Ethics is taught as a core course in the second year. The
emphasis on values extends much beyond the formal coursework - it is reflected in almost every choice.

21

MBA Course Structure

TRIMESTER - I

TRIMESTER II

TRIMESTER III

Business Communication

Economic Analysis Macro Level

Cost Management

Economic Analysis : Micro Level

Financial Management

Human Resource Management

Financial Accounting

Management Information System

Organisational Behaviour I

Fundamentals of Information Technology and

Excel VBA Programming

Marketing Management I

Marketing Management II

Production and Operations Management II

Quantitative Methods for Management I

Organisational Behaviour - II

Quantitative Methods for Management II

Self Awareness and Personal Growth I**

Production and Operations Management - I

Self Awareness and Personal Growth -I**

Self Awareness and Personal Growth -I**

Corporate Skills**

Research Methodology

Corporate Skills**
TRIMESTER - IV

TRIMESTER V

TRIMESTER VI

Managerial Values & Business Ethics

FEconomic Environment and Policy

Legal Aspects of Business

Strategic Management

International Business

Self Awareness and Personal Growth -II**

Self Awareness and Personal Growth -II**

Environmental Management & Sustainable

Development

Corporate Skills

Masters Thesis -I

Self Awareness and Personal Growth II**

Masters Thesis II

ELECTIVES
GENERAL MANAGEMENT *

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT*

INFORMATION SYSTEMS*

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT*

Cross-Cultural Management

Business Analytics and Predictive

Modeling

Business Intelligence

Compensation and Reward

Management

Management of Self for Success

and Happiness
Management Beyond Profit
Managerial Applications of
System Dynamics
Innovation
Enterprise Resource Planning
Entrepreneurship & Social
Business

Customer Analytics
Logistics and Supply Chain
Management
Manufacturing Systems
Product Design and Development
Production Planning and Control

E-Commerce
IT Business Analysis

Employee Selection and

Succession Management

IT Infrastructure Management
Industrial Relations
Software Engineering
Software Project Management
Information Assurance and IT
Services Management

Project Management

International HRM
Leadership Skills
Learning and Development

Services Operations Management

Management of Global Diversity

Total Quality Management

Managing Negotiation
Organization Change and
Development
Performance Management and
Compensation
Strategic Human Resource
Management

*List of electives is tentative and

subject to change
**Single Credit

22

MARKETING*

FINANCE*

MS from SUNY at Buffalo, USA

Executive MBA

B2B Marketing

Commercial Bank Management

Analysis Modeling and Design

Managerial Economics

Basics of Digital Marketing

Corporate Taxation & Planning

Consumer Behaviour

Financial Derivatives

Contract Relationships and

Management

Principles of Operations
Management

Customer Relationship
Management

Financial Markets and Institutions

Enterprise Models

ITES Project and Change

Management

Experiential Marketing
Integrated Marketing and
Communications

Financial Modeling
International Financial
Management

Financial Accounting

Global Marketing

Global Marketing

Marketing Analytics

Investment Analysis and Portfolio

Management

International Law and IP

Management

Retail Management

Project Appraisal and Financing

Sales and Distribution

Management

Risk Management and Insurance

ITES Project and Change

Management

Services Marketing
Strategic Brand Management

Working Capital Management

Public Finance
Applied Econometrics

Financial Accounting

Information Assurance

Business Analytics
Organizational Behaviour &
Leadership
Strategic Marketing

Services Quality Management

Services Quality Management

Strategy and Policy of ITES Firms Enterprise Models

Seminar on Work Life Balance

Strategy and Policy of ITES Firms

Strategic Marketing Management

Cost Management

Strategic Media Planning

Human Resource Management

Analysis Modeling and Design
Information Assurance
Contracts and Relationship
Management
Financial Management

*List of electives is tentative and

subject to change

International Business, Law & IP

Management

**Single Credit

Seminar on Work Life Balance

I am a happy individual
not only career wise but also in life.
I owe a lot to this campus. It has completely changed me as a person.
It has given one great thing which has completely changed my life
-CONFIDENCE. This is the place where I discovered most of my talents
and could identify what I am good at. ASB has changed the way I look
at my career and life. Today when I look back I can say that courses like
SAPG and MSSH have really changed the way I look at life. It has helped
me immensely at my present job as even under tremendous pressure, I
can manage to see the brighter side and enjoy what I am doing. It has
also helped me to be satisfied and happy in what I am doing right now.
Today after more than 5 yrs since I passed out of ASB, I am a happy
individual not only career wise but also in life. I joined ASB to make my
career but it has also made my life.

23

Bitupan Baruah, MBA 2008

Marketing Manager
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

A Living Inspiration

With hills enveloping the campus on the three

sides, nature adorns herself at her best with mistcovered mountains and lush green flora. The
peaceful
environment
stimulates
learning
and creates an atmosphere where students
can achieve focus in their academic work and at
the same time live in close companionship with
nature. The sight of a flock of parrots taking off
from a bush or peacocks dancing to the sound of
thunder makes one hold ones breath and stand
in awe. Away from the pollution and bustle of city
life, the environment friendly campus is a township
in itself with over 4000 students and is ideally
equipped with the best in modern infrastructure
and amenities.

Th e Cam p u s

A 400-acre hillside campus with breathtaking view

of the Western Ghats looming in the morning mist,
the majestic Elephant peak lit up by flashes of
lightning Quite unlike a picture that any B-School
would normally paint.

The campus practices water harvesting, EM based

effluent/food waste management, drip-irrigation
and reforestation programmes.

24

The one-of-a-kind e-learning studio enables

satellite based live multi- way classroom delivery
across the different Amrita campuses. The campus
provides for outdoor sports with two cricket
pitches, four tennis courts, a football ground, a
volleyball court, a basketball court and indoor
games like carrom, table tennis and chess. Also
provided is a modern multi station gymnasium
and table tennis/badminton courts. The Amrita
library is a knowledge repository with its wide
selection of books, periodicals, journals-both
Indian and international, audio- video material and
electronic databases such as EBSCO, Capitaline
and IBID. Amritas digital library, Vidya, a virtual
treasure chest of infotainment, is one of the
premier digital libraries in the country today. The
computer labs are well equipped with the latest
technology and networking solutions. At the end
of a long, challenging day, students retire to the
peace and quiet of their own single rooms - rooms
with a phenomenal view of the distant mountains,
and the natural beauty which is so unique to our
campus. That solitude and tranquility is the key
that opens portals of an inexhaustible energy and
creativity.

This is not just another University, but a very high-quality,

world-class University, focusing on technology and research,

dealing with very concrete issues which have immediate

applications

Muhammad Yunus
Nobel Laureate

25

Get educated at a paradise

Lungs full of fresh air; heart full of sunshine is a regular affair at Amrita School of Business
in Ettimadai, Coimbatore. Surrounded by a necklace of green mountains with ice cream
cloud tips, college life becomes a prolonged hillside holiday that is every student, thinker,
writer and photographers paradise.
The impeccable planning that went into the construction of the university is noteworthy.
The clean roads with herbal plants and trees along the sides, the constant chirps of little,
grey birds, the religious tilling of mud ants bring one into the zone of intellectual thought.
The sustainable architecture of the buildings makes them, environment friendly and long
lasting. The classrooms are naturally lit during the days, numerous well-planned rooms for
conferences and even the sewage water gets recycled for the lawn grass and trees.
Everything for life is available inside the campus: great food for the tummy and thought,
conducive environment for learning, laboratories, libraries and innovation hubs for the
dynamic minds and most importantly, world-class faculty to guide students into the
distinctive paths of excellence. Two years of vigorous activities balanced with work and
fun will transform personalities and uplift minds. Life is definitely good at Amrita School of
Business.
S. Vijayalakshmi
MBA - II year

26

The ASB Clubs and Committees

ASB, a melting pot of different cultures and a synergistic blend of minds and emotions, helps create a
platform for extricating and expressing talents of students through cultural festivals, forum meets, competitions,
sports and games, all organized by the students themselves through the different discipline - specific forums
and event related committees.

Yi Net
An initiative of CII, Yi attempts to
influence, inspire and connect the youth
in a movement to build Brand India- by
means of conducting socially productive
projects. Yi Net of ASB Coimbatore came
into being in December 2008. Since its
inception, it has been a great platform for
MBA students to hone their abilities and
skills in organizing and managing several
activities like business conferences, skill
development initiatives and social events.
Awaaz - the Clarion Call for Change is
an annual event which is a national level
symposium organized by Yi Net at ASB.

Clubs
All the ASB campuses have vibrant and lively clubs which make
life at campus ever so engaging and fun.
Handiques

Anuva

To promote and maintain the rich cultural legacy

of Handicrafts in India, MBA students from ASB,
Amritapuri formed HANDIQUES, an Ecommerce
website to market and sell their product. The main
intention of this venture is to bridge the gap between
rural quality handicraft producers and the global market
using modern marketing strategies. This venture also
helps to prevent the exploitation of the artisans by the
middle-men.

ASB Bangalores Human Resources Club which brings

together the HR visionaries of tomorrow to discuss
serious issues that are plaguing the corporate.

Marcedos

Ethos
ASB Bangalores Operations Club conducts workshops
to educate the members about various operational
concepts around the world. The student members of the
club are today Six Sigma white belt holders. Ethos has
also launched its own magazine which displays several
operations related articles by students.

ASB Bangalores Marketing Club which is the hub of all

marketing related developments around the world and
discussion activities.

27

Nature Club
Amrita has always had campuses which are
closest to nature. A lot is done to conserve
Mother Nature like water harvesting, EM based
effluent/food waste treatment, drip-irrigation and
reforestation programs. ASB Coimbatores Nature
Club adds fuel to this endeavour and organizes
trekking and tree planting events to get closer to
Mother Nature.
Cybertone
ASB Kochis Systems Club has created an online
platform called LOG ASB so that students can
actively take part in the network and communicate.
Dhanam
Kochis Finance forum facilitates exchange
of finance related knowledge through mock
share trading, colloquiums, case studies, group
discussions etc.

EXPLOREM
Kochis Marketing forum aims to open up the creative minds of students by promoting an active discussion of the
latest concepts and techniques in marketing. The forum encourages the students to apply themselves and connect
to real world scenarios using business games and other simulations.
OMKARA
Omkara comprises the entire gamut of internal events organized by the students across the year. The Omkara
committee of ASB, Kochi takes the initiative in coordinating competitions, games, sports events and festival
celebrations.

Student Committees
Placecom
All ASB Campuses have Placement Committees - which take care of students summer and final placements and
Alumni Committees which interact with alumni of ASB and keep them informed about the latest developments in
the ASB fraternity. The alumni act as mentors for the current batch of students and guide them through their career
formation process
Festcom
Republic Day, Independence Day and other festivals such as Holi, Diwali, Dussera, Onam and Gokulashtami- every
festival is celebrated on campus in style. Students and faculty share lighter moments and work together in creating a
truly festive atmosphere on these occasions. The Festival committee makes these wonderful celebrations possible.
Team Colloquia
Working tirelessly throughout the year, this is the student led team that is the window to the external world for ASB
students. Its principal activity is to bring eminent personalities from business, civil society, and the academia to the
ASB campuses. It is an immense learning experience in planning, business communication, logistics and service
management, and building enduring relationships.

28

Pragati The Pride of ASB, Coimbatore

Pragati is the annual national-level business festival

hosted by Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore.
A host of management games in the domains of
Marketing, Finance, HR, Operations and Systems are
offered by 6 student forums: BIZIT (systems forum),
Fortune (finance forum), GenM (Marketing forum),
Jagriti(meta-growth forum), Ozone (Operations forum)
and Relations(HR forum). These management games
are crafted in consultation with faculty members, thus
benefiting from their wide experience and deep wisdom.
Year-on-year, Pragati has proven its mettle by attracting
participation from many leading schools of management
across our country, participants challenging each other
in all domains and aspiring for the grand Championship
award. Pragati is not just a management festival, but
for the students of ASB, it has always been a live lab
for experiments. It is a knowledge-share platform
where business students not just compete but network,
collaborate and co-create ideas.
Pragati 2014, the 17th edition, saw around 300
participants from 30 fellow top-tier management schools.
The key factor for the steadily growing reception is the
immersive experience that the games offer. The fest
was a raging success with its innovation through digital
engagement.

The soul and theme of Pragati 2014 was Business

Beyond Profits. The Social responsibility of Business,
said the Nobel laureate Milton Friedman is to increase
its profits. Friedman had put forth this argument in 1970
and times have clearly changed. The shift in perspective
that doing good can mean doing well is becoming
ever more evident by the day. Thought leaders such
as Michael Porter and Mark Kramer are championing
concepts such as Shared Value, as an effect of this
business evolution. Social responsibility has now
become a strategic direction. As businesses think
Smarter Planet, Shared Planet and Ecomagination,
the question Pragati 2014 put forth was this are you
a part of the purpose driven future businesses? Mr.
Kiran Khalap, Co- Founder and Managing Director of
Chlorophyll , the presiding guest of honour inspired
everyone with his thought provoking talk to explore and
expand the notion of Business Beyond Profits.
Pragati offers a compelling platform to see if future
leaders can walk the talk, by imagining, crafting and
delivering a grand convergence for business students.
The baton is passed on to the incoming batch every
year and Pragati has grown bigger and better over
years. It is a spectacular managerial learning beyond
the classroom and the lessons learnt are treasured
forever by the students.

29

Amritapuri
Vidyut A Multi-Fest : Vidyut is a national level multi-fest (technology and
business) jointly organized by the schools of Amritapuri campuses. The management section of the fest is designed and organized by the MBA students.
The event saw the participation from various schools across the state. The
main event is the selection of the best CEO where participants tested on
negotiation skills, team management and interpersonal relations, stress handling capability and scenario planning.

Yuv Tarang ASB Cultural Fest : Born from a notion to create new
rhythms in ASB, Yuv Tarang emerged as an epitome of both management
skills and talents. The two day intra-ASB cultural fest set the stage for an
exciting display of talents and provided the students a chance to showcase
their talents in extra-curricular activities along with their ability to organize
and manage events. Various stage and non-stage events conducted, which
give an array of opportunities for students who show an inclination towards
enumerating stories, writing poems, cooking, dance, music, photography, and
face painting. An important lesson Participation mattered more than winning
imbibed by all the students during this program. Yuv Tarang a memorable
event that symbolize the unity of the Amrita fraternity.
AMMAs Birthday Celebrations: Proximity to the headquarters of Mata Amritanandamayi Math exposes the students to the nuances of managing mega
events. AMMAs birthday celebration, which is held during the month of September every year, is a mega international event where the students interact
with people from various walks of life across the globe. Over the last few
years, the MBA students involved in the overall management of the special
invitees, interviewing attendees from various walks of life (including special
invitees) and capturing their experiences around AMMA. This interaction with
people is an eye-opener for many students. AMMAs birthday celebration also
provided the students a chance to test and experiment some of the principles
and concepts of project management and event management they had learnt
in the classroom.

Bengaluru

Maiden management fest, Akyka is an initiative to bring together the students

of various institutions spread across the country. The fest provides a platform
for students who are in a continuous hunt for opportunities to show case their
talents in business acumen. Amrita School of Business, which has seen the
brilliance of its students, is getting ready to open its doors to invite future
leaders to share our stage and express themselves.
The theme of our Inter Collegiate Management Fest is on Integrating Society,
Imparting Awareness by voicing the cause against sub standard ambience,
degradation of living conditions and accumulation of filth and waste strewn
around that has plagued the society to the point of ignorant acceptance.
Our event would cover the need for Young India to highlight the issue of
urban degradation and create awareness by bringing all fields of education
to a common ground of participation and learning. As part of our theme, the
fest has collaborated with Amritas Amala Bharatham Campaign; which aims
at cleaning up the community for a greener tomorrow. Aykya team has hence
committed to take up the initiative of cleaning up the urban areas of Bengaluru.
Aykya gives the students an opportunity to generate solutions to real life
problems concerning the society for the community at large. Students also
get an opportunity to learn new skills, brush up their technical expertise and
build their network.

30

Outreach programs : Participated in social outreach program by

Kellogs Akshayapatra CSR activity in government schools in
Bangalore
The Amala Bharatham Campaign initiated by Chancellor Amma in
2010 was showcased to all participants. Leading up to the fest,
a clean-up campaign where the students and faculty undertook
a clean-up drive from the college premises to the gate of Wipro
Technologies.

Kochi
ASTHRA - Social Innovation Conclave
Amrita School of Business at Kochi organized the third edition of its
annual B-fest ASTHRA on 24thand 25thof January, 2014 with the
theme Social Innovation. The centerpiece of the event was the
Social Innovation Conclave, which hosted distinguished speakers
from industry and academia.
Delivering his keynote address, Dr. Rajiv Khosla,Director of
Research Center for Computers, Communications and Social
Innovation, Faculty of Business, Economics, Law, La Trobe
Business School, Melbourne, Australia, spoke on social innovation
driven sustainable society. Shri Rajeev Mukundan, Head,
Sales and Solution, Insurance Analysis, TCS, highlighted the
pressing importance of corporate transition from corporate social
responsibility to social innovation. The other eminent speakers in
the conclave included Shri. Korath V Mathew, Sr. State Projects
Coordinator, UIDAI,Shri. K Paul Thomas, Chairman and Managing
Director of ESAF Microfinance, Smt. Tanie Thomas, District
Coordinator, Kudumbashree and many others.
Mr. Biju Varghese, who provided a new ray of hope for the
physically challenged by innovating a retro fitted car, thus giving
them mobility and independence was honored during the event.
This was followed by an array of business events and games. Over
25 colleges from various parts of the country participated in these
events.
Students Social Responsibility Forum Sahayak This forum at
Kochi works towards creating awareness among the student
community of their social responsibilities and provides the students,
faculty and staff an opportunity to participate in various social
service activities.
SPANDANA Family Food Kit Project of Amrita School of Business,
Kochi helps in providing food and other essential supplies to the
underprivileged in and around the campus on a regular basis. Our
students also help in mobilizing funds to support toilet construction
in the tribal areas of Wayanad district so as to improve their public
hygiene and sanitation. The first year MBA students celebrated
their Diwali 14 with the inmates of the Relief Centre for Destitutes
run by the Corporation of Cochin. Students are actively involved
in organizing Incredible Talents- the Annual Day function of
Sampoorna School for children with special needs.

31

The ASB Summer Projects 2014

32

Summer Placement
An Excellent
Value Proposition
resting on 4 pillars

Ability: Our students are capable, hardworking and committed with respect to summer projects or for that matter,
any assignment entrusted to them. Attitude: Our students bring to their summer projects, a positive and never die
attitude Training: Rigorous Pre-Internship Training from Faculty Mentorship: Mentorship by Faculty, Alumni and
Corporate project guide

Summer Projects A Glimpse

The summer of 2014 saw ASB students involved in wide range of live projects across the country. Some of them
are given below:
A study on the Service Quality of Pantaloons Retail
Bank of India
India at Pantaloons Retail India Ltd.
Post Implementation Review of KPIs in Capital
Projects & Schemes at Tata Steel Ltd.
Customer perception & ways to increase the sales
of modern Atta bread at Hindustan Unilever
Employee Engagement for IT Employees at
Limited
Cognizant
Internal Controls at Pepsico
Inventory Management at Apollo Tyres

Effectiveness of Induction Training in LCV

Marketing department at Ashok Leyland

Capability development and to study the incentives

and the effect of the sales training program at
Godrej

Auditing and Revamping of Maruti Suzuki

Gurgaons Trainee Assessment Diary at Maruti
Suzuki India Limited

Research on Telecommunication at Vodafone

Ltd.

A study on the journey of Vodafone ZOOZOO at

Ogilvy & Mather

Business development at HCL Infosystems Ltd.

Market potential of Berger Paints Silk Brand in

Kollam district at Berger Paints India Ltd.

Kinley water management at Hindustan Coca

Cola Pvt. Ltd.
Offshoring in Europe market at L&T Infotech
Market mapping and activation for Caprese hand
bags at VIP Industries
Customer preference and Competitor analysis for
Honda Mobilio at Honda Cars India Limited
Retail Operations and Promotional Strategies at
Reliance Retail
Sales and Distribution at ITC Ltd.
Finding opportunities and barriers to entry in
software companies in Bangalore at WRIGLEY
Ways to reduce the cost of funds for micro finance
institutions at Reserve Bank of India
Marketing of Car loans and Home loans at State

Event effectiveness at Chennai at Hyundai

Motors India Ltd.
Study of Budgetary Policies and Procedures in
Indian Oil Corporation Limited - An Analytical study
at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
Analyzing the potential of new destinations for the
AirAsia India in the existing route map at Air Asia
A study on Employee Engagement at Britannia
Industries Limited
Revising & Redesigning Standard Operating
Procedures and Layout along with SCM Study at
Saint-Gobain Glass India Ltd.
Market Mapping Of Samsung In Rural Gurgaon at
Samsung India

33

34

Final Placements 2014

Final Placement
In order to fulfill the career
aspirations of the students, it was
found necessary for them to have
expert assistance in specific areas,
beyond their regular academic
training.
Corporate and Industry Relations
(CIR) was established with the prime
motive of transforming every student
into a globally accepted professional,
together with high human values and
life skills to face the never ending
challenges of life. The University
management has demonstrated its
commitment to lead this important
function by positioning a senior
Director to head CIR. CIR functions
encompass
seven key areas:
Learning & Development, Corporate
Relations,
Career
Facilitation,
Entrepreneurship
Development,
Alumni
Networking,
Corporate
Communication
and
Corporate
Training.
In order to benefit all sections of
students across the University, CIR
has centres in all the Campuses,
replicating the form and function
of the main centre, with necessary
modifications incorporated to meet
the varying nature of programmes
offered at such locations. CIR
conducts sessions on soft skills to
make the students for placement
ready. ASB continues to have
100 % placements in some of the
best known MNCs and Indian
Corporations.
2014 saw 102 companies hiring
ASB students for placements
and 229 students getting placed.
The salaries offered in 2014 have
shown significant growth over the
previous year. The average salary
(CTC) offered was INR 5.10 lakhs
per annum, the highest being INR
20.75 lakhs per annum. The batch
of 2012 - 2014 have been placed in
diverse and high-quality professional
organisations.

35

36

37

Faculty Profiles - Full Time

Dr. AMALENDU JYOTISHI - Professor, Adjunct Faculty - University at Buffalo, The State University of
New York, Chairperson - Ph.D. Program & Research
Ph. D. (Economics from Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru University)
He has a Ph.D. in Economics from Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. Prior to joining
ASB, he has worked in OHIO University-Christ College Academy and in Gujarat Institute of Development
Research. In recent past his research focus is on environmental issues including iron smelting and
deforestation, informal gold mining, and climate change vulnerability. He has published his research
ideas in journals, book, edited volumes and working papers. Besides, he has presented several papers
in International and National level conferences and has been acting as reviewer for several acclaimed
journals in the areas of economics, management and other social sciences. He is the coordinator of
Asian Initiative on Legal Pluralism since 2012. Amalendu has been collaborating in research projects
supported by organizations like Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), World Bank,
International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Oxfam (GB) Trust, Aga Khan Rural Support Program
(India), Australian Research Council (ARC), South Asian Network for Environment and Development
Economics (SANDEE).
Areas of Interest: New Institutional Economics, Ecological Economics, Micro and Macro Economics,
Economic Policies, Econometrics.
amalendu_jyotishi@blr.amrita.edu

Prof. AVINASH SHIVDAS - Assistant Professor

BE (Marathwada University, Maharashtra ), MBA (Amrita School of Business), Currently pursuing Ph.D.
at ASB
Started his career as Manager in Sales (Small and Medium Enterprise Division) in ICICI Bank Ltd. Was
responsible for the Liability Product Business for certain major branches in Hyderabad. Then he moved
to Reliance Consumer Finance as Manager in Sales (Small and Medium Enterprise Division) for the
Asset Products. He was associated in setting up this company in Hyderabad. He was also responsible
for setting up the channels as well as motivating them to meet business goals. Worked with HDFC Bank
Ltd as a Relationship Manager (Small and Medium Enterprise Division) for Working Capital Finance. He
was responsible for handling a portfolio of Rs 45 Crores consisting of over 30 SME clients. Generating
new avenues for business was an additional part of his portfolio. He is currently with ASB Amritapuri with
a goal of creating young managers with sharp business acumen necessary to meet the challenges of
current corporate world.
Areas of Interest: Frugal Innovation, Marketing Strategy, Sales and Distribution Management, B2B
Sales strategy.
avinash_shivdas@am.amrita.edu
Dr. BALASUBRAMANIAN P. - Associate Professor
M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. (Jawaharlal Nehru University)
Seventeen years of experience in teaching and research and two years of Industrial experience.
Teaches Core courses in Economics and Elective Courses in Finance like Financial Derivatives,
Financial Modeling and Valuation in the MBA Programme and Behavioural Economics for PhD Scholars.
Published in academic journals such as Vision, MDI Journal and International Conference proceedings.
Helped to organize rehabilitation activities for tsunami victims, focusing on education, counseling and
support of children. Currently Chairperson Student Welfare, Coimbatore Campus.
Areas of Interest: Behavioural Economics in particular, Experimental economics, and Application of
event studies in economics and finance.
bala@amrita.edu

38

Prof. BHAWANA JAIN - Assistant Professor

B.Com.(Hons.) (Delhi University), CA(ICAI), CPA(USA), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
More than 5 years of teaching at ASB, 8 years of industry experience involving 4 years of practice as a
Chartered Accountant, 2 years with Dhabriya Agglomerates Pvt Limited and 2 years with Cyber Media
(India) Limited
Areas of Interest: Earnings Management, Family Business, Accounting, Taxation, Financial Management
and Corporate Governance
j_bhawana@cb.amrita.edu

Dr. DEEPAK GUPTA - Professor

B.Tech. (IITD), PGDM (IIMC), M.A. Economics (UC Berkeley), M.Sc Marketing (UC Berkeley), Ph.D. (UC
Berkeley)
More than fifteen years of combined teaching and research experience at ASB and at UC Berkeley as a
graduate student, where he earned separate masters degrees in Economics and Marketing Science, and
an interdisciplinary Ph.D. degree focused on skilled migration.
Worked with Ponds India Ltd prior to Ph.D. Teaches courses at the intersection of marketing and
economics in both the MBA and the Ph.D. program.
Areas of Interest: Globalization & skilled migration, innovation & value creation, higher education &
pedagogy, behavioural decision making, and modelling consumer choice behaviour
g_deepak@cb.amrita.edu

Dr. DEEPIKA M. G. - Associate Professor, Adjunct Faculty - University at Buffalo, The State University
of New York
Ph. D. (Economics from Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru University)
Has a decade long experience of teaching in different Business Schools in the areas of Managerial
economics, Macroeconomics, Economic Policy, Marketing research and Research Methods at Post
graduate and Ph.D. levels. As a researcher, she has published research papers in the area of Economics
and Management and has also developed and published pedagogical cases in the areas of management.
She has presented research papers in national and international conferences in areas pertaining to
International trade and WTO, Agricultural economics, Microfinance and other areas of economics and
management. She has undertaken consulting research assignments through projects funded by Tata
Trust and Ministry of Commerce in the recent years.
Areas of Interest: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Economic Policy Environment, Marketing
Research, Agriculture Economics, International Trade and WTO, Microfinance.
mg_deepika@blr.amrita.edu

Mr. GOPIKUMAR V. - Faculty Associate

B. Tech. (Mechanical Engg), PGDM (Operations), CFA (ICFAI), UGC - NET, Currently pursuing Ph.D. at
ASB
10 years of industry experience and 2 year of teaching experience. He has worked with companies like
Crompton Greaves Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd and Tata Capital Ltd before moving into academia. Worked
with Rajagiri Centre for Business Studies, Cochin as an Assistant Professor for over a year. He is also a
resource person for Indian Institute of Banking and Finance.
Areas of Interest: Financial Derivatives and Risk Management, Commercial Banking, Investment
Analysis, Excel based Financial Modelling.
v_gopikumar@asb.kochi.amrita.edu

39

Mr. GYANENDRA SINGH SISODIA - Faculty Associate

M.Sc., MBA, Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB, ongoing Erasmus Mundus doctoral research fellow at
University of Porto
8 years of experience in teaching, research and industry. Currently, pursuing Ph.D. with ASB. Earlier to
joining Amrita, had been working for BIT Mesra Ranchi, RMSI Pvt. Ltd., and had been a visiting faculty
to Banaras Hindu University and Jammu University. Worked extensively on the DST sponsored project
Establishment of District NRDMS Centre of Ranchi, Jharkhand & Creation of Geospatial Database
for the Development of Spatial Decision Support System. Awarded Erasmus Mundus scholarship by
European commission for doctoral research in Europe.
Areas of Interest: Renewable energy investments and marketing, Renewable energy business
modeling, Renewable energy project evaluation for business risks and policies.
ss_gyanendra@cb.amrita.edu
Dr. HARDIK VACHHRAJANI - Associate Professor
Ph.D. in Management (SVKMs NMIMS University, Mumbai), MBA (Saurashtra University, Rajkot)
He holds his Post Doctoral Fellowship from University of Bologna. He is Six Sigma Green Belt,
NASSCOM Certified BPO Quality Analyst and former examiner for Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality
Award applicants (Indian clone of Baldrige Awards).He holds twelve years of consulting, training and
research experience in the field of quality and innovation management across South Asia, Middle East
and East Africa. He has served 200 SMEs as a consultant, and has mentored entrepreneurs / owner
managers / start ups / professionals across the hierarchies and industries.He is credited with several
publications in national and international journals. He is empaneled reviewer as well as holds editorial
responsibilities for leading journals and conferences. He has received research grants from agencies like
Swiss National Science Foundation (2008), European Commission (2013,2010) and CSaRO, Deakin
University (2013,12).
Areas of Interest: Innovation, Quality Management, Entrepreneurship, Small & Medium Enterprises
(SMEs)
hardikbv@am.amrita.edu
Prof. HEMAMALA K. - Assistant Professor
B.E. (PSG Tech), MBA (BSMED), M.Phil. (BSMED), MFT (PCU), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB.
Been teaching, undertaking consultancy assignments and training for the last 20 years, after a short stint
in industry. Held administrative positions in educational institutes. Previously worked with CK Institute of
Management, Coimbatore as Assistant Dean - Academics. Participated in a Faculty Training Program
at IIM- A. Recipient of Rotary International Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarship, Best Paper - Early
OperationsTrack in 7th Doctoral Colloquium at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM - A),
2013, First Prize in CIIs Case Writing Competition for Teachers, 2012.
Areas of Interest: Production and Operations Management, and Supply Chain Management.
k_hemamala@cb.amrita.edu
Mr. JEAYARAM SUBRAMANIAN - Faculty Associate
B.Tech. (Electrical & Electronics, Anna University Chennai), MBA (HR & Marketing, Amrita School of
Business), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
started his career with M/s Info Edge (I) Ltd, which is a conglomerate with various business units such as
Naukri.com, 99acres.com, Jeevansathi.com, etc. He was a part of the 99acres.com team, in Chennai for
6 months, prior to joining Amrita School of Business. He was into Corporate Sales, handling the existing
piece of business, worth INR 20 lacs. As an aspirant in taking up Research in the field of Management, he
joined Amrita by October 2012 and currently pursuing Ph.D. at Amrita. Apart from this, he is a professional
classical singer and a trained musician for the past 16 years, won two state awards in Bhajan Singing, a
couple of realty shows in prominent television channels and also currently performing concerts.
Areas of Interest: Human Resources Management, Human Resources Planning , Strategic &
International HRM.
jeayaram@am.amrita.edu

40

Mr. MAHESHWAR PRATAP - Faculty Associate

MBA (ASB), B.Sc. (Biotechnology), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
An operations enthusiast with nearly three years of experience across industry verticals like Retail and
Pharmaceuticals. An MBA in operations from Amrita School of Business, Maheshwar started his career
with retail operations at Pantaloon Retail India Ltd. - Indias largest retailer. He joins ASB after a nearly
two year stint with Indias pharmaceutical major, Biocon Limited. In his role at Biocon, he was actively
involved in coordination of activities related to development, industrialization and commercialization of
novel bio-medical devices into emerging and regulated markets.
Areas of Interest: Project Management, Supply Chain Management, ERP
maheshwarp@am.amrita.edu
Prof. MANOJ P. - Chairperson - Bengaluru Campus
B.Eng. (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), MS in Info Systems, NTU, MBA (University of
Surrey, UK), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
Joined Amrita University in 2007 after fifteen years of international work experience, where he headed
the International Initiatives Office from Coimbatore. He was educated in Singapore where he majored in
Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Nanyang Technological University. He completed his Masters
in Information Studies, majoring in Information Systems from NTU and has an MBA in IT Management
from University of Surrey, UK. He was a Naval Officer in the Singapore Navy for thirteen years where
he specialized in Electronic Warfare and, in the rank of Captain. He took voluntary retirement in 2000 to
pursue a career in IT and worked in an International law firm as an IT Manager. He then moved onto be
the Singapore Country Manager for Softbridge Solutions, an IT service provider with offices in Japan,
Singapore and India. Subsequently he left Singapore and moved to Australia where he worked as an IT
Security Analyst in Sydney. Prof. Manoj has a keen interest in IT Security and is a Certified Information
Systems Auditor (CISA). He is presently pursuing his Ph.D. in Disaster Management at Amrita University.
Areas of Interest: IT Security Audit, Information Management, Project Management, International
Business
manoj@amrita.edu
Dr. MRIDULA SAHAY - Associate Professor
Ph.D. (Mgmt), Post Doctorate (Mgmt, Australia), Endeavour Research Fellow, Australia
Has 22 years experience in teaching, research, consultancy & training. She has published and presented
around 60 papers in national/international conferences and seminars. 7 edited and 1 compiled books are
in her credit. She has awarded with Bharat Jyoti Award along with Certificate of Excellence from India
International Friendship society in 2012 and also conferred with the Best Citizens of India Award 2012
from International Publishing House.
Areas of Interest: Strategic Management, Strategy and Policy Planning, Corporate Governance, Higher
Education, System dynamics Modeling
s_mridula@cb.amrita.edu
Dr. V. MURALE - Assistant Professor
MBA., M.Phil. (Bharthiar Univerity), Ph.D. (Anna University Chennai) Post Doctoral Fellow Swiss
Government Excellence Scholarahip Progamme/ESKAS (USI Lugano,Switzerland).
He brings in Nine years of experience in Academics, Research and in corporate training. Prior to
joining ASB he had been associated with various leading B-schools such as IBS Hyderabad, SCMS
Cochin and Karunya University. He was a resource person for many of the MDP programs organized
at IBS Hyderabad and has conducted training sessions for executives of ICICI, HSBC and GE Capital
on the topic Understanding Employee Behavior. In 2014,He was awarded with the prestigious Swiss
Government Excellence Scholarship(ESKAS Scholarship)for carrying out his post doctoral research in
the area of methodological rigor in theory building by applying qualiatative methods at universit della
Svizzera Italiana(USI,Lugano). He has extensively published articles in National and International journal
and presented papers in conferences such as Academy of Mangement Affiliate IAMConference held at
IIM Ahemedabad and CERE conference held at IIM Indore.
Areas of Interest: Intellectual Capital, Social Network Analysis, Qualitative research and Epistemological
and Ontological Dimensions in Management Research
v_murale@asb.kochi.amrita.edu

41

Dr. NEERPAL RATHI - Assistant Professor

Post-Doc (Incheon National University, South Korea, pursuing), Ph.D. (IIT Roorkee), M.A. (Psychology),
PGDIC
Currently, he is also associated with College of Business Administration, Incheon National University, South
Korea, where he is engaged in his Post-doctoral research and teaching. Prior to joining Amrita University,
he had worked with Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Banasthali University, Jaipur. He
had passed National Eligibility Test (NET) in Psychology, conducted by University Grants Commission
(UGC). Dr. Rathi is a keen researcher and has published several papers in various international and
national journals, including Personnel Review; Vikalpa; Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion; and Journal
of Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism. He has also presented 20 research papers in various
national and international conferences in India and abroad.
Areas of Interest: Emotions at workplace, Quality of work life, Employee health and well-being, and
Organizational effectiveness.
r_neerpal@cb.amrita.edu

Dr. POOJA SHARMA - Assistant Professor, Adjunct Faculty- University at Buffalo, The State University
of New York
Ph.D. (Faculty of Management Studies, Udaipur, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Rajasthan), MBA (FMS,
JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth (Deemed) University, Udaipur.)
Dr. Pooja Sharma has nine years of experience in Teaching and Industry. She holds Ph.D. Degree
from Faculty of Management studies (FMS) Rajasthan awarded in the year 2005. Her doctoral thesis
was on Patterns of Advertising on Television: An Empirical study. She has worked at ICICI Bank Ltd.
Retail Assets department for 2 years in Udaipur, Rajasthan. She has taught at different Business school
in Bangalore before joining Amrita School of Business in the year 2009. She is an Adjunct Faculty at
University at Buffalo, (UB) The State University of New York. Her teaching interests are in the areas of
Marketing Management, Strategic Brand Management, Consumer Behavior, Advertising Management,
Integrated Marketing Management (IMC), and Rural Marketing. She has published research papers in
national and international peer reviewed journals. She has also written book reviews and case studies,
and contributed articles to newspapers.
Areas of Interest: Marketing Management, Strategic Brand Management, Advertising Management,
Consumer Behavior, Integrated Marketing Management (IMC), Business Communication and Retail
Management.
pooja_sharma@blr.amrita.edu

Dr. PRIYA GUPTA - Assistant Professor

Ph.D. (Sociology from Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru)
Has received ICSSR Fellowship for pursuing her Ph.D. research. She is qualified in University Grants
Commission National Eligibility Test for Lectureship. She has attended several workshops and
conferences including the prestigious International Sociological Association (ISA) XVll World Congress of
Sociology (July 11-17, 2010) in Gothenburg, Sweden where she presented her paper entitled, Disasters
and vulnerability, survival and resilience of two village communities in coastal Orissa, India,. She has
also presented research papers in many other national and international seminars and conferences.
Areas of Interest: Disaster Management, Sociology of Communities, Sociology of Environment,
Organizational Studies and Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, Leadership,
Industrial Relation and Labour laws, and Labour research.
g_priya@blr.amrita.edu

42

Dr. RAGHU RAMAN - Chairperson - Coimbatore

Ph.D. (Amrita University), MBA (UC Berkeley), MCA (Jawaharlal Nehru University)
Dr. Ramans main research focus is in the areas of Diffusion of ICT Innovations in socio-technical systems,
eGovernance, Big Data Analytics in Education and Health, Social Network Analysis and Virtual Interactive
learning environments. Dr. Raman established the Center for Research in Advanced Technologies for
Education (CREATE), an affordable and accessible educational technology initiative with over $4.6m
in research funding and has over 45 related publications. As an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at NEC
Research Labs, he raised over $16.5m in VC funding for an Intelligent Video surveillance startup. As
Executive Director at Informix/IBM, he provided leadership for product development group in the area
of Massively Parallel Database systems. For over five years, as CEO of Amrita Technologies, a high
technology healthcare start up, Dr. Raman provided leadership that lead to a patented and CCHIT
certified Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system with a global customer base. He is the recipient of
President of India Gold medal for his Undergraduate education at University of Delhi. He serves as an
Advisory Editor for the Journal of Educational Technology & Society; as Member Standing Committee,
National Mission on Education through ICT (NMEICT); as Member, National Resource Group for ICT
in School Education and is the immediate past chair of IEEE Education Society Chapter, IEEE India
Council.
Areas of Interest: Diffusion of Innovations, Big Data Analytics, Social Network analysis, Virtual
Interactive Learning
raghu@amrita.edu
Prof. RAJIV NAIR - Assistant Professor
MBA (University of Stirling, Scotland), MSc (London School of Economics), CIMA (Chartered Institute of
Management Accountants)
An accomplished professional with over 20 years of international experience at senior management
levels in blue chip multi-national companies such as Unilever, Fonterra, Coca-Cola, Dubai Properties and
Etisalat. His career in the UK, the Middle East, Africa and Asia has exposed him to a gamut of corporate
functions from IT and ERP implementation to budgeting and general management. He has a strong
background in budgetary process controls with an outstanding history of managing various projects from
initial conception, through development to implementation. Skilled at strategic management in diverse
industries he is a strong communicator with the ability to ensure execution of time bound deliverables
and a proven ability to build and lead highly efficient teams.
Areas of Interest: Cost controls, Financial analysis, General management and Corporate culture.
rajivnair@am.amrita.edu
Dr. RAJIV PRASAD - Associate Professor
B.A. (Hons, Patna University), MBA (IRMA, Anand), FPM (IIM C)
Has over eighteen years of industry, teaching and research experience. Has been with ASB for the
last seven years. Teaches numerous courses in the OB area such as Organizational Behaviour,
Business Ethics, Leadership Skills, Self Management, Theories of Personality etc. at our MBA and
the Ph.D. Programs. Conducts training sessions on topics such as individual and team motivation,
leadership, organization culture, and work-life balance. Has conducted numerous Training Sessions
for organizations such as PGCIL, ESIC etc. He is also an academic consultant to Vancouver, Canada
based Commonwealth of Learning and developed the Course Material for the Business Ethics course
taught in their EMBA program which is administered in several member countries of the Commonwealth.
Was invited to teach the Business Ethics course as a visiting faculty at IIM Kozhikode in the y ear
2007. Currently working on several projects in the areas of motivation, leadership, group and team
behavior, business ethics pedagogy and its practice, organizational culture and self-management. Is
also working upon a theory of personality based upon the studies conducted during doctoral work in the
area of happiness and its impact upon the workplace dynamics.
Areas of Interest: Humanistic Psychology and Positive Organizational Behavior; Leadership and its
relation to Organization Culture; Spirituality at the Workplace; and Business Ethics.
r_prasad@cb.amrita.edu

43

Dr. R. RANI GEETHA PRIYADARSHINI - Associate Professor

MBA, M.Phil., Ph.D. (BSMED, Bharathiar University)
Recipient of Ramaswamy P Aiyer Best Young Teacher Award instituted by Association of Indian
Management Schools (AIMS), awardee of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)s Young
Teacher Career Award, CII Industrial Fellowship Award and CII Best Yi Net Mentor Award. She is a
qualified award assessor for CII EXIM Bank Award for Business Excellence and a qualified psychometrician
(Thomas International, UK). She has been a consultant to TV Sundaram Group of companies, Wipro
Technologies and Larsen & Toubro and has had academic associations with PSG College of Technology,
University of Toledo and San Diego State University, USA.
Areas of Interest: Organization Development, Performance Management, Competency Mapping and
developing Assessment Centers, Organizational Effectiveness of MSMEs.
rg_priyadarshini@cb.amrita.edu

Ms. REMYA V. MENON - Faculty Associate

MBA (ASB), B.A. (Economics), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
Started her careerwith the banking industry and worked for around 3 years with HDFC Bank and HSBC
Bank. Subsequently, she was associatedwith the Corporate and Industrial Relations (CIR) unit at the
Amritapuri campus of AMRITA and worked as a Soft-Skills Trainer and Placement Manager for over 3
years. Prior to joining ASB in 2012, she had a short stint with the Marketing Department of Amrita Institute
of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Kochi.
Areas of Interest: Digital Marketing, Services Marketing, Rural Marketing
m_remya@asb.kochi.amrita.edu

Prof. SANDHYA G. - Assistant Professor

PGDM (ASB), B.Com., Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
Has over 5 years of experience in academics with Amrita School of Business. She has been a Branch
Manager and Key Accounts Executive with AFL Pvt. Ltd. (Logistics Division) for over four years and
worked as an Administrative Officer with a private concern for three years. Before moving into academics
she had a short stint as a counselor and trainer at Heromindmine Institute, a soft skills and corporate
training institute.
Areas of Interest: Consumer Behavior, Customer Relationship Management, Marketing Research,
Services Marketing, Green Marketing.
g_sandhya@asb.kochi.amrita.edu

Dr. SANGEETHA GUNASEKAR - Assistant Professor

Ph.D. (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai)
A gold medallist in her graduation and post graduation, she has received her doctoral degree from Indira
Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai. prior to joining here, she was teaching at XLRI,
Jamshedpur, KPR School of Business, Coimbatore along with teaching as visiting faculty at various
institutions including Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai, PSG Institute of Management,
Coimbatore, AEGIS Global Academy, Coimbatore. She has also worked in the industry as manageradministration for over two years. She also has to her credit adapted the book Basic Econometrics: 4th
edition (2007) by Damodar N Gujarati and 5th edition (2011) to Indian audiences. Her research experience
includes work done at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, UNDP and the Department of Economic
Affairs, Government of India, for Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore. Presently she
is working (with Ms. Sofi Dinesh) on a funded project for NSE- IGIDR Corporate Governance Initiative.
Areas of Interest: Econometric applications, reforms in transition economies and economics of
institutions.
g_sangeetha@cb.amrita.edu

44

Dr. SANJAY BANERJI - Professor Emeritus

B.Sc. (Engg.), Fellow (IIM-C), UNDP Fellow (Kellogg School of Management)
Founder Director / former Dean of Amrita School of Business. Earlier, worked in Hindustan Steel Ltd/
SAIL and Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon.
Life Member of Coimbatore Management Association. Senior Member, American Society for Quality
(ASQ), Certified Quality Engineer-ASQ, 1993-96. Lead Assessor certification from Victoria Group, U.K.
UNDP Fellow at Kellogg School of Management, Fall 1993, Visiting Professor at Malardalen University
Sweden, as a part of EUREKA program. Currently leading AACSB accreditation at Coimbatore.
Areas of Interest: Project Management, Quality Management, Supply Chain Management and ERP &
Management, Business Ethics, Environmental Management and Sustainable Development.
s_banerji@amrita.edu
Prof. SHOBHANA MADHAVAN - Associate Professor
B.E.(Delhi College of Engineering), PGDM ( IIM-Ahmedabad), M.P.S. (Cornell University, USA), Currently
pursuing Ph.D. at Deakin University
Ten years of teaching experience and ten years of international development consultancy experience.
Worked as a consultant in national parks in countries such as Madagascar, Vietnam, and Lao PDR.
Consulted for organizations such as WWF-Indochina, Asian Development Bank, Cornell Institute of Food,
Agricultural and Development, and GFA Terra Systems-Germany. Author of Cross-cultural Management
Concepts and Cases (2011) published by Oxford University Press which won the Indian Society for
Training and Development (ISTD) Best Book Award in 2013.
Areas of Interest: Cross-cultural Management, Social Marketing, Social Entrepreneurship.
m_shobhana@cb.amrita.edu

Prof. SHRIKANT G. KULKARNI - Professor

BE (Metallurgy) from VNIT Nagpur (1972), PGDBM from XLRI Jamshedpur (1979), Submitted Ph.D.
Thesis at Nagpur University
Eight years of research and production experience in TISCO and TRF Jamshedpur, followed by eighteen
years experience in sales and marketing at senior managerial positions with reputed organisations like
Philips India, ESAB India, and Advani Oerlikon Ltd in different locations in India. Was trained in sales
and marketing in ESAB AB in Sweden and Germany. Sixteen years of teaching experience at Amrita.
Chairperson of ASB, Coimbatore from April 2011 to June 2014.
Areas of Interest: Sales & Distribution, Consumer Behaviour, B2B Marketing, Corporate Governance.
sg_kulkarni@cb.amrita.edu

Ms. SHWETA PREMANANDAN - Faculty Associate

B.E. (Gujarat University), MBA (ASB) , Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
One year industry experience in IT services. Four years teaching experience in Amrita School of Business
in the area of Information Systems. Currently working on the research area of Culture and management;
and E-government systems.
Areas of Interest: E-Government systems, Culture and Management, Management Information
Systems, Software Engineering
p_shweta@cb.amrita.edu

Ms. SMITHA NAIR - Faculty Associate

PGDM (Finance), B.Com. (Actuarial Science), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
One year of academic experience and nine years of industry experience mainly across Finance &
Accounts, Risk Management and Compliance in Banking and Insurance sectors with companies like
Reliance Capital and Dhanlaxmi Bank.
Areas of Interest: Commercial Banking, Insurance, Risk Management, Corporate Governance, Strategic
Management
n_smitha@asb.kochi.amrita.edu

45

Ms. SOFI DINESH K. G. - Faculty Associate

MBA (Sambalpur University with the University Gold medal in Marketing), B.Sc. (Gangadhar Meher,
Sambalpur), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
She started her career as a faculty for Spoken English and IELTS training in Coimbatore. Ms.Sofi Dinesh
was also involved in training Japanese students in enhancing their English language communication
skills at KGISL Coimbatore. Joined Amrita School of Business after being in the medical transcription
industry as MT and proofer for 4 years. She plans to pursue her research interests in Corporate
Governance reforms and its impact on performance of SOEs in India in the years to come. Currently she
is engaged in an NSE funded research project on Corporate Governance with her supervisor.
Areas of Interest: Business Communication, Consumer Behavior, Services Marketing, Retail Marketing.
sofidinesh@am.amrita.edu
Dr. V. S. SOMANATH - Professor, Dean - Management
MBA (New York University), M. Phil. (New York University), Ph.D. (New York University)
Thirty four years of academic experience, including twenty three years abroad at Hong Kong University of
Science and Technology, New York University, Oklahoma City University, Pace University, San Francisco
State University and University of San Francisco. Has also taught in academic programs in Canada,
China, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Has published in recognized US academic journals such as the
Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Money and Finance and the Journal
of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money. Worked briefly for the United Nations (Center
for Transnational Corporations) in New York.
Areas of Interest: International Finance
somanath@amrita.edu
Ms. SONI VIVEK - Faculty Associate
B.Tech. (EEE) (Amrita School of Engineering), MBA (ASB), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
With the passion for teaching and research Soni started her career with Amrita School of Business,
Amritapuri and is also now pursuing her Ph.D. in the area of Marketing. She has actively participated in
large seva activities of Mata Amritanandamayi Math and the Amrita University. She was the Master of the
Seminar at the International Conference on Enhanced Education 12 by AMMACHI LABS.
Areas of Interest: Business Communication, Marketing Communication, Green Marketing
sonivivek@am.amrita.edu
Prof. SOUGATA RAY - Assistant Professor
M.A. (Economics), PGDM (ASB), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
He has a teaching experience of 4 years at ASB, Amritapuri in the area of Economics and Finance. Prior
to joining ABS, Amritapuri has worked in the Financial Services Sector for over 7 years with companies
such as Peerless Securities Ltd, Apeejay Securities Pvt Ltd, IL&FS Investsmart Securities Ltd. Pursuing
PhD from ASB, Coimbatore in the area of Finance. Doctoral Fellow at School of Economics, University
of Porto, Portugal under Erasmus Mundus India4EU II Project Scholarship.
Areas of Interest: Economics and Finance
sougataray@am.amrita.edu
Dr. SUDHAKAR MENON ACHATH - Professor
B.E. (EEE, REC-Trichy), MS (Econ, Texas-Austin), M.A.(Math., Texas-Austin), Fellow (IIM-B)
Has eleven years of experience in industry, and twenty-three years in teaching andresearch in India and
abroad. He started his career as a commissioning engineer in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Bengaluru,
and thento an academic career with Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, and the University of
Texas at Austin. In 1982, Dr. Achath received two awards in commissioningwhile in BHEL. Dr. Achath is a
member of the Indian Econometric Society, Society of Computational Economics, and Statistical Society
Canada. Dr. Achath received the 17th Dewang Mehta Award for best teacher in operations management
in 2009. He is also a rank holder in the 1966 entrance examination to Sainik School, Kazhakoottam.
Areas of Interest: Optimal design, quasi-likelihood method, imprecise probability
s_achath@cb.amrita.edu

46

Prof. SUNANDA MURALIDHARAN - Chairperson - Kochi Campus

MBA (CUSAT)
Has over 28 years of experience in industry and academics and has been with Amrita University since2000.
In the industry, she has been actively involved in project consultancy, including project monitoring, and
rehabilitation of sick units. She was the financial consultant for some major projects including the Cochin
International Airport project during her employment with Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy
Organization Ltd. (KITCO). She has a keen interest in capital markets and has headed the capital market
operations of a financial services company as Assistant Vice President. With over 20years of teaching
experience, she has also developed study material in her areas of interest, which have been published
by ICFAI and NCDEX.
Areas of Interest: Corporate Finance - Valuation, Corporate and Financial Restructuring, Project
Finance and Appraisal, Financial Markets.
m_sunanda@cb.amrita.edu
Mr. SURESH APPUKUTTAN - Faculty Associate
B.Tech. (Agricultural Engineering) Kerala Agricultural University. PGDM (ASB) Currently pursuing Ph.D.
at ASB
He has over 14 years of experience in multifarious industrial segments including portable engine
based industry to IT and telecommunication. He has worked with companies like Bharti Airtel,
Reliance Communication, Sistema Shyam Teleservices, Honda Siel Power Products Ltd before moving
into academia. He also has been associated with an NGO working in the sector of natural resource
management. He has worked with DC School of Management and Technology, Vagamon Idukki as an
Assistant Professor before joining ASB.
Areas of Interest: Fundamentals of Information Technology and Excel Programming, Rural Marketing
Management Information Systems, Marketing Research
sureshappukuttan@am.amrita.edu
Dr. SURESH M. - Assistant Professor
M.E., Ph.D.(IIT B)
He has over eight years of experience in industry (operations and projects). He holds a Ph.D. in Project
Management from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and Masters in Industrial Engineering from
PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. Before Joining Amrita School of Business, he has been
working as Corporate Trainer in the area of Project Management at Larsen & Toubro Limited. During
his tenure at L&T, he has trained 1000s of project executives in the area of project management. He
is trained and interested to teach in the areas of Project Management, Supply Chain Management,
Production and Operations Management, Production Planning and Control, etc. His research mainly
focuses on Construction Project Management, Operations Management and Decision Sciences. He has
several international publications on his credit in areas related to Project Management.
Areas of Interest: Project Management, Supply Chain Management, Production and Operations
Management, Production Planning and Control, Decision Sciences.
m_suresh@cb.amrita.edu
Dr. SUSHANTA KUMAR MAHAPATRA - Associate Professor
Post Doctoral Fellow - European Commission (University of Bologna, Italy), Ph.D. (Economics, Madras
Institute of Development Studies through University of Madras), M.Phil., M.A. (Economics, Sambalpur
University)
Has worked in NABARD-BIRD (Bankers Institute of Rural Development) as Senior Researcher at the
Centre for Micro Finance (CMF) and subsequently at Centre for Insurance and Risk Management (CIRM)
at Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR), Chennai. He has collaborated in research
projects supported by organizations like ILO Geneva, CARE Foundation, Harvard School of Public
Health, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Ministry of Rural Development
Govt of India, SBI and NABARD. He has worked as a Consultant to Japan International Co-operation
Agency (JICA) through Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. He has previously
worked as a Senior Scientist within a multi-disciplinary team at JRD Tata Ecotechnology Centre, M.S.

47

Swaminathan Research Foundation Chennai. He has published his research ideas in Books, journals,
edited volumes and working papers. Besides, he has presented several papers in International and
National level seminars and acted as reviewer for several journals. He is the recipient of prestigious
Malcolm Elizabeth Adiseshiah Doctoral Merit Fellowship from Madras Institute of Development Studies,
Chennai. Recently he has received the prestigious European Commission Post-Doctoral Scholarship
Erasmus Mundus India4EU II Programme. At ASB, he teaches in Master and Doctoral Programme and
guides PhD scholars in the area of Economics and Environment.
Areas of Interest: Micro and Macro Economics, International Economics/Relations, Environmental
Management and Sustainable Development, New Institutional Economics, Governance, Economic
Policies, Micro finance and Micro insurance, Natural Resource Management and livelihoods, Research
Methodology
sushanta_mahapatra@asb.kochi.amrita.edu
Prof. C. S. UDHAYAKUMAR - Associate Professor
M.A. (Sociology), M.Sc. (Yoga), T.C.Y. (Kaivalyadhama), P.G. Dip. (Yoga), P.G. Dip. (Guidance and
Counselling), Dip. (Saiva Siddhaantham), Cert. (Indian Psychology)
39 years of corporate industry and teaching experience. Publications include a) A compiled and edited
volume titled Beyond Personality - Collected Works on Self Awareness and Personal Growth and b)
Useful Guidelines Concerning Yoga Practices. Has presented and read a number of papers of Yoga,
Values, Spirituality, Personal Growth etc in various international and national conferences and seminars.
He started his teaching career in the art and science of Yoga and Yoga Therapy in the year 1976 when
he joined the YOGA ACADEMY, an offshoot of the Swami Sivananda Vedanta Yoga Center, founded
by Swami Vishnudevananda who was one of the chief disciples of Swami Sivananda of the Divine Life
Society, Rishikesh and under the tutelage of the late Dr. B.V.Reddy. He had his vocational education
and higher studies in Yoga, Yoga Therapy and allied subjects in KAIVALYADHAMA, Lonavla in Pune
and also in KYM Institute of Yoga Studies, Chennai, under the guidance of Dr. T.K.V.Desikachar, son
of the the legendary Mysore T. Krishnamacharya. He was also closely associated with the Krishnamurti
Foundation India (KFI) and was with their new education schools both in Varanasi and Chennai for
several years. He was the Founder-Director of YOGAKSHETHRAM-Foundation for Yoga Studies in
Chennai before joining the Amrita family in as a full time faculty in 1996.
Areas of Interest: Yoga Education, Self Awareness and Personal Growth, Spirituality, Integral Studies,
Cultural Education etc.
cs_udhay@cb.amrita.edu

Ms. VANDANA M. - Faculty Associate

PGDM (HRM and Marketing, ASB), B.A. (M.G. University), Currently pursuing Ph.D. at ASB
Faculty Associate since 2013 in the HRM area with industry experience in training and development
and general HR functions at IBS Software Services, Trivandrum and Nature Soft Pvt. Ltd., Chennai.
Associated with ASB Kochi as Visiting Faculty (OB and HRM) from 2009 to 2013.
Areas of Interest: Training and Development, Organization Behaviour, Leadership, HRM and
Communication
m_vandana@asb.kochi.amrita.edu

Dr. VIVEK MENON - Associate Professor

B.E. (CSE, ASE-Bharathiar), PGDM (ASB), Ph.D. (Computer Science, AMRITA), CISA
Has thirteen years of teaching and research experience and joined AMRITA in 2001 at the Coimbatore
campus. A Visiting Research Scientist at the Center for Unified Biometrics and Sensors (CUBS),
Dept. of CSE, State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo from 2007-09, his ongoing collaborative
research on smart environments with SUNY at Buffalo has featured in prestigious international journals
and conference proceedings published by the IEEE, Springer-Verlag and Elsevier. He has presented
research papers at international conferences and workshops held at St. Louis, Liverpool and Seoul and
has delivered invited talks/lectures in various forums. A Cisco Certified Network Associate(CCNA) and

48

Cisco Certified Academy Instructor(CCAI) during 2002-05; he is currently a Certified Information Systems
Auditor (CISA) since 2013. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and IEEE Computer Society, a Senior
Member of ACM and serves as an Academic Advocate of ISACA for Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. He
is also a member of AIS.
Areas of Interest: Cyber Physical Systems, Smart Environments, Business Intelligence, Cloud
Computing, Object Oriented Systems, IT Strategy
vivek_menon@cb.amrita.edu

Part time faculty

Dr. O. S. DEEPA GOPAKUMAR - Assistant Professor, Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore.
Ph.D. in Statistics (Bharathiar University), M.Phil. (Bharathiar University), M.Sc. (Madras University)
Deepa was first rank holder in M.Sc. and has more than 18 years of teaching experience in UG and PG
courses. She was with Bharathiar University before she moved on to Amrita University.
Areas of Interest: Statistical Quality Control, Statistical modeling, Bioinformatics and Data Mining
os_dmenon@cb.amrita.edu

Prof. JAY MISRA

B.S., M.S. (Engg., Pittsburgh), MBA (Harvard)
Taught at Stanford Business Schools MBA program for 5 years, guest lectured at Harvard Business
School, and more than two decades of teaching experience at Amrita and various universities. Has
held senior management positions, including being Managing Director for George Soros, Vice President
at Capital Group, and marketing management roles at Intel and IBM. Published 2 books Business
Telecommunications and Business Telematics. Supervised cases written at Stanford and Harvard.
Areas of Interest: Entrepreneurship, Growth Strategies.
jay@amrita.edu

Dr. (Col.) P. N. KUMAR - Professor, Dept of CSE, Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore
Ph.D., M.Tech (IIT K), FIE, FIETE
An alumnus of National Defence Academy Pune, IIT Kanpur and Defence Services Staff College
Wellington. He has 26 years of service in Defence with vast experience in Software Project Management,
Technology Management in a Telecommunication and IT environment and Training. Projects executed
include a War Gaming Model for Airborne operations, Decision Support System for career management
of officers of Army and Y2K projects at Defence HQ. He was Head of Dept at Military College of
Electronics and Mechanical Engg, Secunderabad and Faculty in College of Military Engg, Pune. He was
a visiting professor at Army War College Mhow, Defence Services Staff College Wellington and Institute
of Armament Technology Pune. Served as GM (Technical) of Defence Forces at Ladakh (J&K), Assistant
Military Secretary (Automation) at Defence HQ, New Delhi and Head Technical Wing for Parachute
Brigade of Indian Army. Currently Professor, Dept of CSE at Amrita School of Engineering and Visiting
Professor at Amrita School of Business at Coimbatore, Bengaluru and Kochi. He is an adjunct faculty
of State University of New York, Buffalo. Chairman Board of Studies for the Undergraduate and Post
Graduate Programs in Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and former Chairperson of the Dept of CSE at
Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore.
Areas of Interest: Agent Based Modeling of Financial Markets
pn_kumar@cb.amrita.edu

49

Prof. PRASHANT R. NAIR - Vice-Chairman - Dept of CSE, Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore
B.E. (ECE), PGDM (ASB), MIETE, MCSI, MIEEE, MISTE
Fifteen years of teaching, research, training, consultancy and academic administration experience in the
Information Technology department at Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore. A rank holder from the third
batch of ASB, Coimbatore. Has taught in academic programs in USA and Europe at University of California,
San Diego and Sofia University, Bulgaria as an Erasmus Mundus fellow. Has 30 publications in reputed
journals, books and conferences. Is on the program committee of over 60 international conferences including
the IADIS WWW/Internet conference and editorial board of CSI Transactions on ICT, a Springer Journal.
Awards won include IEEE Education Society Chapter Achievement Award (2013) and Computer Society of
India (CSI) Academic Excellence award (2011 & 2013). Is holding several leadership roles in professional
bodies. Positions currently held include National Vice-Chair, IEEE Education Society; Joint Secretary of
IEEE Computer Society; Member of National Student Committee & Regional Student Coordinator of CSI
and Treasurer of Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) Tamil Nadu region. Has
been instrumental in winning best CSI student branch for Amrita School of Engineering out of more than 600
universiites/colleges in India in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Has the distinction of organizing the top 4 student events
in India of 4 major professional bodies, namely IEEE, CSI, IETE and ACM viz. IEEE All India Student Congress
(AISC) 2013, 29th CSI National Student Convention (NSC) 2013 - oldest computer science student conference
in India, IETE National Technical Paper Contest 2012 and regional contest of ACM International Collegiate
Programming Contest (ICPC) Asia Pacific region (since 2010). Other major events organized including one of
the top engineering techfests in India - Anokha (since 2010); one of the top distributed computing conferences
worldwide, ICDCN 2014; Network Forensics tutorial of international conference; IFIP Networking 2010 at IIT
Madras and one of the first cloud conferences in India in 2009 along with IBM. Was a member of the Indian
delegation to ACM ICPC World Championship of Programming at Orlando in 2011, which made a formal bid
for India to host this world championship for the first time. Is on the management team of Amrita Technology
Business Incubator (TBI) and has been serving Amrita University as the Vice-Chairman for Internal Quality
Assurance Cell (IQAC), since 2008.
Areas of Interest: Enterprise Computing, ICT tools for Supply Chain Management, Cyber Security and
Software Engineering
prashant@amrita.edu

Mr. J. SHRI KRISHNAN - Senior Faculty, ICTS, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

B.Sc., MCA, DCPA (National Computing Centre, UK) PGDCS
Thirteen years of experience in academia. Interest areas include Object Oriented Software Engineering,
Object Oriented Modeling using Design Patterns, Software Project Management, Database Management
Systems, Enterprise Computing, Infusing Technology in Education, E-Commerce, ERP, SAP.
j_shrikrishnan@cb.amrita.edu

Dr. SHYAM NATH - Adjunct Professor

M.A. (Economics), Ph.D. (Economics of Taxation) and PDF Maxwell School, Syracuse University (New
York, USA)
Over 30 years of teaching experience at University level in India and abroad. 20 years of active participation
in consultancy and research for national and regional governments and international agencies (UNDP,
UNCDF, The World Bank, UNU/WIDER, USAID, UNRISD, ECA, AERC, Commonwealth Secretariat). Has
published research articles in international journals, books and national and international consultancy
reports which include reports for Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Recently finalized book
and report while visiting University of California at Berkeley are environmental and natural resource
challenges in SIDS and social policy management in small countries. Currently, he is engaged in a
research project Globalisation, Climate Change and Urban Public Finance as ICSSR Senior Fellow
(Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India).
Areas of Interest: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Sustainable Economic Development,
Public Finance and Policy.
shyamnath@am.amrita.edu

50

Prof. M. SREEVALSAN - Head - ICTS, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

B.Com., MBA (MKU), CCNA
More than twenty years of Experience in IT field. Has designed and led the team to network over 2000
PC campus network at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and the E-Learning infrastructure. Involved with
leading IT-enabling projects of the University.
Areas of Interest: Computer Networks and Security, OS, Systems Administration, IT Infrastructure
Design and Implementation.
sree@amrita.edu

Mr. VAIDYANATHAN S.
B.Tech. (Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur), PGDM (IIM Ahmedabad)
Eleven years of industry experience in FMCG and IT, working with MNCs such as Coca Cola and
adidas, and Indian IT companies such as HCL and UST Global. Areas of experience include Operations,
Sales & Distribution, Marketing, Business Development. Functional experience includes leadership
roles and working closely with senior management on pricing models, profitability analysis and contract
negotiations.
Areas of Interest: Quantitative Methods in Management, Operations Research, Statistical Methods in
Data Analysis
vaidyanathan@am.amrita.edu

51

Visiting Faculty
A.V. Shyam PGDM Business Intelligence
Aaditya Vidyarthi

B.E., MBA

Business Consultative Sales Management

Abhijath V.

B.Tech(Hons.), PGDM

Service Operations Management, Project Management,

Advanced Quality Planning and Management, Quantitative

Methods in Management, Production & Operations

Management, ERP
Ajesh B. Nair

MBA, PGPM

Sales and Distribution Management

Anand Menon

MBA

Sales and Distribution Management, Marketing

Management - II
Anantha Narayanan

B.Sc.(Engg), DMS,

Product Design & Development, Logistics and Supply

MIMA, MIIPE Chain Management

Anbu Rathinavel

Ph.D.

Learning and Development

Anju Bist

MBA

Environmental Management and Sustainable

Development
Archana Subhash

M.Sc., MBA

Business Communication

B. Sukumaran

ICWA, C.I.I. B, M.Sc.

Cost Management

Balagopal P. K.

Ph.D.

Commercial Bank Management

Balaji Chetlur

B.Sc., M.A., FPM (IIM-A) Performance Management

Banumurthy N.R.* Ph.D. Econometrics*

Bhumika Gupta*

Ph.D.

Human Resource Management*

Biresh Sahoo*

Ph.D.

Advanced Micro Economics*

Chandra Sekhar

B.Com., FCA

Financial Accounting

Chandrasekar M.K.

B.Com., PG Diploma in

Experiential Marketing

Marketing & Sales

D.D. Roy*

Ph.D.

Research Methodology-III*, Psychographic Analysis and

Market Segmentation*
Deepak S Kumar

FPM (IIM Kozhikode)

Services Marketing

Rajeev Chawla Ph.D. Strategy Marketing

Remya Neelamegam

Ph.D., Kellogg

Global Marketing

52

Thithi Bhatnagar

Ph.D.

Understanding Subjective Well-Being for Effective Work

Relationships
Ganesan V.S.

MA, LLB, LLM

Industrial Relations, Legal Aspects of Business

Gita Srivatsan

FCA

Working Capital Management

Gopakumar V MBA Retail Management

Govind Babu

MBA

Internet Marketing

Jairam Reddy MS Business Analytics

Joy Chakrabarthi

M.A. (Political Science)

Strategic Brand Management

Jyothinath Ganguly

B.E., MS

Strategic Management, Taking Innovation to IT

Markets
Kameswaran S.

M.Com., CA

International Finance Management, Corporate

Taxation
Kaushik Gopalan

B.Com., PGDM

Retention Management

Kumar Ramamurthy

MBA

Project Appraisal and Financing

Lakshmi Rangarajan

Ph.D.

Economics, Financial Markets

Madhava Priyan M.P

MBA

Employee Selection and Succession Management

Mala Ramanathan*

Ph.D.

Research Methodology-II*

Manish Rai

MS

Service Quality Management

Menon N.R.

M.Com., Ph.D.

Self awareness & Personal Growth

Nagaraju Kesari PGDM Strategic Sourcing

Padmanaba Aital

ME, Ph.D.

Supply Chain Management

Pampa Mukherjee*

Ph.D.

Advanced Qualitative Methods*

Pintoo Shome MBA Logistics

Prakash V.

MPA, Ph.D.

Industrial Relations, Talent Management

Prasannavadanan

M.Sc., CAIIB, MBA

Customer Relationship Management

MBA

Environmental Management and Sustainable

Thampi
Praveen Bist

Development
Raj Sreedharan

B.Sc. Engineering, ENC, Management Information Systems

DIISc. Electronic Design

Technology

53

R P Nair

MBA

ITES Strategy and Policy

Raj Sreedharan

MS

Fundamentals of IT

Rajesh Madhavan

B.Com., PGDCM, MBA

Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management

Ram Bishu*

B.Tech., MBA., MS,

Business Analytics, Quality and E-commerce*, Design of

Ph.D. Experiments*
Ramachandran T S

MBA

Financial Management

Ramasubbu T. K.

B.E. (Hons) Mech., MBA Strategic Sourcing

(Marketing)
Ramaswamy Ph.D. International Financial Management
Shanmugham
Ramesh Chandran

MBA (Indiana University), Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management

CFA, USA
Ramesh Gopala Swamy MBA

Global Software Project Management

Ramesh K.

M.A., MICA

Strategic Media Planning

Ramnarayanan

MST, MBA, CPIM

Supply Chain Mangement

Viswanath

(APICS, USA), PMP

Ravichandra T.

M.Tech., Ph.D.

Strategic Human Resource Management

Rishiraj Dasgupta

B.E., PGDM

Financial Management, Project Appraisal and Finance,

Financial Modelling, Cost Management, Advanced

Financial Management
Sampatkumar B Aratti

MBA

Compettion and Benefits

Sandeep Rao

MBA

Employee Training and Development

Satheesh

MBA

Strategic Brand Management, Marketing Management II

Shankar

MS

Working Capital Management

Sheela Prasad

LLB (Bachelor of Law)

Legal Aspects of Business

Shiv Prakash

MBA

Advance Financial Management

Shriram Y. K.

B.Tech., PGDM

Human Resource Management

Siddhartha Saxena

MBA, M.Sc.

Industrial Relations

Srinivas Ramanujam

MBA

Project Management Practice Perspective

Krishnamoorthy

54

Srinivasan S

MBA

International Financial Management

Sriram Venkata

MBA

Managerial Values and Business Ethics

Sudhanshu Kumar*

Ph.D.

Time Series Analysis*

Sukumaran B.

BAL, M.Sc., CIIB.,

Financial Accounting, Cost Management

Subramanian

CAIIB,CA
Suma James MSW Personality Development
Sumeet Bahl

B.E., MBA

e-Commerce

Sumesh Ramankutty

MBA

Managerial Values and Business Ethics

Sunil Kumar P.

LLM

Legal Aspects of Business

Sunil Puliyakot

M.Com., PGDRM (IRMA) Economic Environment and Policy

Supriya M

M.Tech.

Fundamentals of IT

Sushila Hariharan

MBA

Consumer and Retail Banking

Tilak K

MBA,IBE, Cowan

Service Quality Management

University
Udaya Mishra* Ph.D. Research Methodology-II*
Unmesh Vakil

M.A. (Statistics), MMS

Merchant Banking and Financial Services

(Finance)
V. Parvathi Ph.D. Organizational Behaviour-I
Vasant M Cavale

MBA (IIM)

Business Communication

Vatsal Singh*

Ph.D.

Human Resource Development in Knowledge Economy*,

Learning Innovation and Entrepreneurship*

Venkatesh Bhagavath
MS Business Analytics
Venugopal G

PGDM

Supply Chain Management

Vijayaraghavan S.V.

ACA, PGDM (IIM-B)

Strategic Financial Management

Vishal Kumar

MBA, CA (Inter)

International Financial Management

Vishwanathan P.K.

Ph.D.

Environmental Management & Sustainable

Development

(* PhD program faculty/courses)

55

ASB Faculty Initiatives

Dean of IBS Case Development Centre; The NonSustainable = Enjoyable Intuition: Potential Negative
Effects of Sustainability on Enjoyment Inference
by Anupama Sukhu, PhD student and Teaching
Assistant in the Consumer Sciences area at Ohio State
University, USA; Soft Skills Workshop by Ms. Manisha
Lewis, Chief Training Officer for Corporate and Industry
Relations at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University,
Amritapuri Campus. In addition to the external experts,
ASB faculty also present research findings as part of the
monthly research seminar series.

Faculty and staff at ASB are encouraged to advance

their knowledge and equip themselves with latest skills
relevant to the current business scenarios. This in turn
benefits the students as they get exposed to the latest
trends and techniques in the business world, well before
they graduate.
Faculty Development Programmes (FDP) and research
seminars are regularly organized at ASB to help
faculty widen their knowledge base and enhance their
pedagogical and research skills. Some of the FDPs
and research seminars conducted at ASB include:
Sustainability through Social Entrepreneurship by Dr.
Harry Hummels, Professor of Ethics, Organisations
and Society at Maastricht University and Managing
Director at SNS Impact Investing; Academic Writing
and Publication Understanding Basic and Significant
Issues by Dr. Neharika Vohra (Professor, IIM
Ahmedabad); Evaluating the Internationalization of
Emerging Market Multinationals: Role of Managerial
Intentionality by Prof. Raveendra Chittoor, Assisant
Professor (Strategy), ISB Hyderabad; Indian
Manufacturing: Jobless Growth During the 2000s by
Dr. Jayan Jose Thomas, Assistant Professor, IIT Delhi;
Case Study Workshop by Dr. Nagendra V. Chowdary,
Centre Director and Associate VP, Aegis Global
Academy, Coimbatore and Founding Head and Former

ASB faculty and students were actively involved in

organizing SAMYOGA - an India Platform Research
Matchmaking event held at the Bengaluru campus,
which aimed to connect Indian researchers with
European Researchers across all disciplines.
Following the success of the International Conference
on Sustainable Development and Governance: Building
Commerce and Communities jointly organized by Amrita
School of Business and Deakin University, Australia in
December 2012 at the Coimbatore campus, Amrita
School of Business and Deakin University, Australia
jointly organized a two-day International Symposium on
Corporate Social Responsibility (IS-CSR), focusing on
the themes of sustainability, governance and effective
outcomes in December 2013 at the Bengaluru campus.

56

Faculty Honors and Achievements

Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi (with co-author Jyothi S.) won
the best paper award for their paper on Sustaining the
Profits: A panel Data and Technical Efficiency analysis
of Economic Sustainability during the International
Conference on Creating a Sustainable Business:
Managerial Implications and Challenges (ICSBMC-12)
organised by Jaipuria Institute Management, Jaipur in
December 2012.
Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi and Dr. Sushanta Mahapatra
(with Prof. Maarten Bavinck) edited the proceedings of
the International Conference and Workshop on Legal
Pluralism in Natural Resource Management organized
at Amrita School of Business (ASB) in December 2012
-- Legal Pluralism in Natural Resource Management:
South and Southeast Asian Perspective, Excel
Publishers, New Delhi, 2012.
Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi undertook a Project from
International Water Management Institute (IWMI) on
Urban Agriculture: A Sustainable Solution to Alleviating
Urban Poverty, Addressing the Food Crisis, and
Adapting to Climate Change: A Study of Bengaluru,
implemented by the RUAF Foundation, with financial
support from the World Bank for the study period 20102011.
Dr. Hardik Vachhrajani (with co-author K. Mandalia)
received the Best Research Paper Award for their paper
on Factors Affecting Sales Ethics in Life Insurance
Sector of India: A Critical Review of Literature at the
3rd International Conference on Business Ethics,
Governance and Sustainable Enterprises organized
by Gujarat Technological University (GTU) in February
2013.
Dr. Hardik Vachhrajani, who visited the University
of Bologna, Italy as a post-doctoral fellow from 2010
to 2011, re-visited the university as visiting academic
in Novermber 2013 (both visits under the prestigious

Erasmus Mundus fellowship). Dr. Vachhrajani also

visited the Deakin University, Australia as a visiting
academic to pursue collaborative research projects in
the area of Innovations in SMEs.
Dr. Hardik Vachhrajani was invited to be a member
of the final judging panel for an international youth
event Challenge:Future Make.it.Work Competition
held at IEDC-Bled School of Management, Slovenia in
September 2013. During the summit, he also addressed
a roundtable on The Poverty and Youth: How new
leaders will put the poverty into museums?
Prof. Jeayaram Subramaniam and Dr. Hardik
Vachhrajani presented a case study titled Do SMEs
innovate?, and won the runners up award at the
International Case Competition conducted by ICBM
School of Business Excellence at Hyderabad in
November 2013. This case has also been accepted
for publication in UDAAN - Journal of Business
Management published by the organizer.
Dr. Mridula Sahay was appointed as an Editor for
the following journals -- Journal of Business and
Management Sciences, American Journal of Rural
Development, American Journal of Educational
Research. She is also on the editorial board of
International Journal of Applied Science & Engineering.
Dr. Neerpal Rathi won the Young Researcher Award
during the 4th International Research Symposium in
Service Management-4 (IRSSM 4) held at Kerala in
July 2013.
Dr. Pooja Sharma presented a research paper titled
Building an Effective Supply Chain Model for Kirana
Stores in India through MFI Intermediation: A Market
Potential Analysis at the 2nd International Workshop
on Inclusive Finance: Making Finance and Insurance
Markets Work for the Poor conducted by XLRI
Jamshedpur in September 2013.

57

Shobhana Madhavans book on Cross Cultural

Management has won the first prize at ISTD Book
Awards 2014.

Dr. Pooja Sharma presented a research paper titled

Marketers Are Finding New Strategy through Innovative
Marketing Communications, Will Consumer respond?
An Empirical Study at the International Conference
Convergence 2013 Role of Innovation in Business
at IFIM Bangalore in May 2013. The Conference was
organized by IFIM & Academic Partners included
University of Applied Sciences, Lubeck- Germany and
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

Dr. Neerpal Rathi, awarded a Post-doctoral researcher

in Incheon National University, South Korea for one
year.
Dr. Deepika M.G. working on Export competitiveness
of Plantation Crops in India in the context of WTO under
CDS research projects, Ministry of Commerce, India

Dr. Priya Gupta presented a paper titled Vulnerability

among communities facing Natural Disasters: A study
on Coastal Odisha India at 4th International Geography
Congress held by PG department of Utkal University,
Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha with Focal theme:
Coastal Zone Management: Issues and Challenges in
January 2013.

ICSSR Funded Research Project titled The Role of

Rural Institutions in Enabling Adaptation to Climate
Change in the Agricultural Sector Across different
Ecosystems in India (with G Sridevi, Satyasiba
Badamatta and Sushanta Mahapatra)
A Collaborative Research Project with Australian
National University funding support from Australian
Research Council Discovery Grant titled Going for
Gold: Safe Livelihoods for Informal Gold Miners in South
and Southeast Asia and seed grant from SANDEE
to conduct a study on Informal Gold Mining in NilgiriWaynad region of India

Dr. Priya Gupta presented a paper titled Managing

Attrition in Retail sector at the 3rd National Conference
on Human resource Management (NCHRM 2013) held
at New Delhi by Management Development Research
Foundation, New Delhi in April 2013.
Dr. Rani Geetha Priyadarshini, was awarded the
Dewang Mehta Best Teacher Award for Teaching
Excellence in the HR area by the Dewang Mehta
Foundation Trust in October 2012.

Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi and Maarten Bavinck edited a

book (forthcoming) Conflict Negotiations and Natural
Resource Management: A Legal Pluralism Perspective
from India, Routledge, Taylor and Francis, UK.

Dr. Sangeetha Gunasekar and Prof. Sofi Dinesh are

currently working on a project titled Impact of Board
Characteristics on Firm Performance: A comparison of
private sector firms with SOEs in India funded by the
National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the Indira
Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR),
Mumbai under the NSE-IGIDR Corporate Governance
Research Initiative since October 2013.

Dr. Mridula Sahay, won awards Bharat Jyoti Award

for exemplary services in the education sector by India
International Friendship Society and The Best Citizens
of India Award by International Publishing House.
Dr. Neerpal Rathi, won Young Researcher Award in
Research Symposium at the 4th International Research
Symposium in Service Management organized
by Marian International Institute of Management,
Kuttikanam, Kerala on July 2-6, 2013.

Prof Sougata Ray is currently pursuing his research

on Issues related to Multiple Borrowing in Microfinance
Sector in India at School of Economics, University
of Porto, Portugal under the Doctoral Exchange
Scholarship of Erasmus Mundus India4EU II Project.

Dr. VivekMenon has been accepted into the Academic

Advocate Program of ISACA and has been designated
as an ISACA Academic Advocate for AMRITA
VishwaVidyapeetham. The ISACA Academic Advocate
serves as a link between research, teaching, and
practice in the areas of IS Audit/Assurance, Security
/ Cybersecurity, IT Governance and Risk professions.
ISACA is an independent, nonprofit, global association,
which engages in the development, adoption and use
of globally accepted, industry-leading knowledge and
practices for information systems and has more than
115,000 members worldwide.

Dr. Neerpal Rathi and Dr. P. Balasubramanian

appointed as Research Sabbatical by Tata Consultancy
Services
Hemamala Krishnan, won the best paper award in
the Early Research Track-D in the 7th IIM Ahmedabad
Doctoral Colloquium paper titled Modeling Logistics
Systems Using System Dynamics
Gyanendra Singh Sisodia, got Erasmus Mundus
India-4EU II Scholarship for one year and he is currently
in University of Porto, Portugal.

Dr. Vivek Menon (with Mr. Ashish Kirtikar of Aegon

Religare) finished runner up in the finals of the GRC
2.0 for SMAC quiz held during ISACA India Conference
2014 organized by ISACA Mumbai Chapter at The
Palladium Hotel, Mumbai from July 25-27, 2014.

Dr. Sudhakar Achath, awarded a fellowship to pursue

further studies and research in the Department of
Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sakatchewan,
Saskatoon, Canada.

58

Student Honors and Achievements

Dr. Bhima Swathi of Coimbatore campus represented

India as a student facilitator at the annual Asia Pacific
Area Conference (APAC) of the European Society
for Opinion, Marketing and Research (ESOMAR)
organized in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from April 7-9,
2013.
Rahul Raj, Shivangini Agrawal, Chaitanya Udyavar
and Swagat Narayanan of Amritapuri campus won
the BEST MANAGEMENT TEAM prize at SIMTHESIS
2012, a national level B-Fest conducted by Saintgits
Institute of Management.
Ravi Teja and Rakesh Kumar of Amritapuri campus
won the second prize in the IT Strategy game Vaibhava which was a conducted as a part of Aegle
2012, a national level B-Fest by Albertian Institute of
Management, Kochi.
Rakesh Solanki and Nisha Nair of Bengaluru campus
(joint work with Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi) presented a
paper A study of factors at Bank-level affecting the Nonperforming assets of the Banks, at BA Conference,
organized by Great Lakes Institute of Management,
Chennai from December 22-23, 2012.
Rohini M and Neekita Hari of Bengaluru campus
(joint work with Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi) presented
a paper Impact of Macroeconomic Variables on
Stock Market Indices Value: A Cross Country Indices
Study, at NCETB 2013, organized by Department of
Management Studies, Christ University, Bengaluru

from January 28 - 29, 2013.

Sachidanandham L. of Kochi campus won the fifth
place in Nissan Student Brand Manager Contest 2012.
Amrutham Babu, Bhavya M., Hima Sudarsan and
Pritika R of Kochi campus won 1st prize in Theories
and HR games as part of Daksh 2013, a national level
B-Fest conducted by De-Paul School of Management,
Angamaly, Kerala.
Rahul Sukumaran, MBA, II Year selected by ESOMAR
as their student facilitator from ASB Coimbatore for the
annual APAC Conference 2014.
Amrita Banerjee, MBA II Year presented a paper
Emotional Exhaustion and Work Attitudes: Moderating
Effect of Personality among Frontline Service
Employees, in 3rd biennial Conference 2013 held at
IIM Ahmedabad.
Vijayalakshmi S, MBA, II Year won a Best Paper Award
, Sustaining Brand Equity in a Competitive Scenario,
presented in the Marketing Conclave Markit organized
by Loyola Institute of Business Administration,Chennai
on September 26-27, 2013.
Prathimma Vinothini M, MBA-II Year won a Best Paper
Award , Rejuvenation and Hospitality - The Holistic
Value Model , presented in the Marketing Conclave
Markit organized by Loyola Institute of Business
Administration,Chennai on September 26-27, 2013.

59

Industry Interface
Industry interface is an important lifeline for any business school and Amrita provides its students multiple
opportunities to experience and learn from the practical wisdom of experts from industry and academia. Industry
interaction is organized by Team Colloquia and CII-Yi Net.
ASB Team Colloquia regularly organizes colloquiums and workshops by a galaxy of professionals from industry,
academia and society, who share their experiences and wisdom with our budding managers. Some of the prominent
speakers who addressed our students include Nobel Laureate Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, Chairperson of
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Green Campus Initiative (via A-VIEW), Mr. B. Suryanarayanan,
Director, Sales South Asia, Intel on Inside Intel, Mr. P.S.N.V. Narasimham, Exec. Vice President, Microland on
Strategic HR Management, Mr. Joseph Korah, Director and Center Head Cochin, Cognizant Technology Solutions
on 10 Important Lessons in Management, Dr. P.K.C. Bose, Global Manager-Business Communication, Saertex
Pvt Ltd. on Managing Business, Mr. K.M. Subhash, Founder of Trinity Mobility, Bangalore on The Innovation
State of Mind, Mr. Rajesh Nahar, CEO, CBazaar on Opportunities in E-Commerce, Mr. Andrine Mendiz, CEO,
SaltMangoTree CMC on Digital Marketing Tools and Techniques, Mr. Amit Agnihotri, Chairman, MBA Universe, New
Delhi on Beyond MBA, Mr. Sanjit Ravi, AGM, ICICI Bank on Managing the transition from Campus to Corporate,
Mr. M. K. Krishnamoorthy
Regional Manager (Results and Market Development Wing), The Times of India, Kochi on Importance of Media,
Ms. Madhuri Menon, HR Consultant and Former Vice President (Human Capital), IFMR Trust on HR - Future and
Challenges, Prof. Stanley Nollen, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University on Indian Software
Industry, Dr. Paul Couchman, Head of the School of Management and Marketing at Deakin University, Australia
on Entrepreneurship in Natural Resources, Dr. Neharika Vohra, Professor, IIM Ahmedabad on Skills for Managers

60

in the 21st Century, Ms. Brenda Roberts, Executive Director, Center for Living In Harmony on Role of Spirituality
in Business and Methods of Implementation, Mr. Deigo Guidi, Director and Founder Irribizia Consulting on Social
Innovation and Sustainability, Mr. Matti Rajakyla, Olympian Swimmer, Swim Through a Swimmers Life, Squadron
Leader (Rtd) Unni Nair on Experience: The Joy of Life. Mr. Mani Chinnaswami, MD, Apachi Cotton, Pollachi on
Brand Ethics, Mr. Kumar Rajgopalan, Retail Coimbatore Association of India on Retailing, Mr. Anbu Rathinavel,
Sr. Vice President, Polaris on The Great Expectations from MBAs: A Learning Perspective, Dr. A. Subash Babu,
Professor, IIT Bombay, on Manufacturing Excellence - Perspectives and Practices, Mr. Gopi Kallayil, Marketing
Manager, Google, USA on Social Good through Social Media, Dr. Bernhard Ostheimer, Professor, THI Business
School, Germany, on Augmented Reality Usage in Retail.
In addition to the regular colloquia conducted on campuses, ASB initiated a distinguished lecture series with
speakers from USA addressing the students across all the 4 campuses via the A-VIEW platform. The distinguished
speakers include Prof. Anantha Sethuraman, CEO, DFMSim, California on Product Marketing, Prof. Swaminathan
Natarajan, Executive Director, Chase Wealth Management Technology group, J.P. Morgan, New York on Excel
VBA Programming, Prof. Santhosh Nair, Strategic Vendor Manager and Mobile Operations Manager - Corporate
Engineering, Google, California on Negotiations, Devashree Saha, Senior Policy Analyst and Associate Fellow,
Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, Washington D.C. on Microeconomics, Prof. Harish Sharma, CoFounder at ravaani, LLC, Texas on IT Strategy, Prof. Sunny (Santosh) Kumar, Sales Director, Accenture, Chicago
on Sales and Distribution Management, Prof. Gopi Kallayil, Chief Evangelist, Brand Marketing, Google, California
on Brand Marketing, Prof. Anand Patwardhan, Professor, School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland,
College Park, MD on Sustainability and Development, Prof. Jairo Hirata Prado (Lokesh), Regional Quality Launch
Manager, GM on Manufacturing Quality System.

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Mata Amritanandamayi Math

The Mata Amritanandamayi Math (MAM) is a registered Public Charitable Trust dedicated to serving humanity
without distinction of nationality, caste, race or religion. The Math has its International Headquarters at Amritapuri,
Kollam, Kerala (India) with a global presence. Mata Amritanandamayi Math has numerous philanthropic activities
and institutions that reflect AMMAs message of love and compassion. AMMAs charities are globally known as
Embracing the World.

UN Recognitions for MAM

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) has given the distinguished award of
Special UN consultative status to Mata Amritanandamayi Math in 2005. Subsequently in 2008, the UN Department
of Public Information (DPI) has awarded associate status to the Mata Amritanandamayi Math. MAM joins a list of
17 organizations that have been conferred both honors in India in the past 3 decades. MAM is the only organization
among that list of 17 that has a wide variety of charitable projects in India, and in many of the countries around the
world, including USA. This DPI associate status allows the Math to convey issues of concern around the world to
senior officials within the United Nations. Along with its international charitable arm, Embracing the World (ETW)
charities, the math has engaged in disaster relief activities and rehabilitation to the tune of $ 60 million in India, USA,
Japan, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Kenya etc since 2004. Since 1998, $ 70 million has also been provided in healthcare charity.

AMMAs International Recognition & Acclaim

Satguru Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (AMMA) has given darshan to over 33
million people across the world and has been invited to address global fora.
1993, Chicago - AMMA spoke at the World Parliament of Religions
1995, New York - AMMA addressed the Interfaith Celebration , 50th Anniversary
of UN
2000, New York - AMMA delivered the keynote address at the Millennium Peace
Summit - UN General Assembly

2010, AMMA being conferred

honorary doctorate at
State University of New York

2002, Geneva - AMMA delivered the keynote address at the Global Peace
Initiative of Women Religious & Spiritual Leaders at UN
2003, Kochi - AMMAs 50th Birthday Celebrations over 50,00,000 people including
representatives from 191 countries, prayed for world peace and harmony
2004, Barcelona - AMMA delivered the keynote address at the Closing Plenary
Session of the World Parliament of Religions
2005, Cannes - A film on AMMA Darshan - The Embrace by Jan Kounen was
screened at Cannes Film Festival
2006, New York - AMMA was presented with the Interfaith Centre of NY 4th
Annual James Parks Morton Interfaith Award after speaking on the topic
Understanding and Collaboration between Religions
2010, Buffalo, New York - AMMA was conferred Honorary Doctorate in Humane
Letters by the State University of New York (SUNY).
2012, Shanghai - AMMA spoke on Co-existence and Engagement Between
Cultures for the conference on Harmony through Diversity and Dialogue at UN
Summit, Shanghai, China

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2012, AMMA Speaking at

UN Summit - Shanghai, China.

Disaster Relief
MAM has undertaken a number of relief and rehabilitation programs in India
and abroad. Since 2004, over $ 60 million have been spent on disaster relief
activities by AMMAs charities all over the world -- Uttarakhand Floods (2013),
Landslides in Kerala (2013), Japan Earthquake/Tsunami (2011), Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh (2010), Haiti Earthquake (2010), Bihar Floods (2008), Kashmir
Consoling Tsunami affected

Earthquake (2005), Hurricane Katrina and Rita (2005), Mumbai Floods (2005),
School fire in Tamil Nadu (2004), Tsunami (2004), Earthquake in Gujarat (2001)
and Latur (1992), etc.

Humanitarian Activities
Amrita Self-Reliant Villages (Amrita SeRVe) - Village adoption program with
the goal of helping them establish the required infrastructure to become selfreliant role-model villages for the country. Launched during AMMAs 60th Birthday
celebrations in September, 2013, currently 101 villages have been selected
across the country.
Amala Bharatam - Massive public cleanliness drive launched in 2010 to create
social awareness of humanitys debt to our beautiful earth and nature. More than
1000 clean-up drives have been undertaken all over the country.
Amrita SREE

Amrita SREE: Free vocational training to 6000 Women Self-Help Groups (SHG)
consisting of over 100,000 women from impoverished agricultural families with
start-up capital to begin small home-based businesses post-training.
Vidyamritam: Full scholarships to around 50,000 children (ages 10 to 15) of
people living below the poverty line, including children of farmer suicide victims
Amrita Kuteeram: Free housing scheme launched in 1996, with over 45,000
houses built to date all over the country
Amrita Nidhi: Monthly Pension scheme for destitute women launched in 1998,
with over 69,000 beneficiaries today.
Amrita Niketan: An orphanage located at Parippalli, Kollam, Kerala caring for
five hundred children from the most disadvantaged sections of society, mainly
from tribal areas.
Anbu Illam: Care Home for Senior Citizens at Sivakasi.

Amrita Nidhi

Mass Wedding Ceremony for the poor: Initiated in 2003, project helps couples
who cannot afford a proper wedding. Over 1200 marriages have been conducted
for impoverished couples including Tsunami victims.
Amrita Keerthi Award: Instituted in the year 2001 to recognize and commemorate
the outstanding contribution to Indian Culture, Vedic Tradition and Sanathana
Dharma.
AYUDH (Amrita Yuva Dharma Dhara): The Maths initiative for youth that
promotes satsangs, social service activities, yoga and meditation.
Green Friends: Established for the preservation and protection of the
environment, Green Friends instills love and reverence for Mother Nature.
Free Meal Scheme: The Math feeds over 10 million poor and under-privileged
people every year.

Mass Wedding Ceremony for the

poor

Mothers Kitchen: In USA, AMMAs devotees run Mothers Kitchen in 40 cities,

providing over 40,000 meals for the homeless each year

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Amrita Aranya Jeevanam: Indigenous Peoples Project for all-round

upliftment of adivasis/tribals. This project provides vocational training and
means for livelihood in addition to providing educational and health facility.
Legal Aid: Inspired by AMMA, more than 1000 lawyers from all over India
have pledged to give free counseling to the poor.

Educational
Amrita Vidyalayam Schools More than 60 schools across the country
MAM Industrial Training Centre for the youth, Kollam, Kerala
Amrita Speech and Hearing Improvement School (ASHIS) for children,
Thrissur, Kerala
Amrita School for Visual Media Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Amrita Shilpa Kalakshetra- Extension Centre for artisan development in
woodcarving and handicrafts, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Amrita Institute for differently abled, Kozhikode: A school and therapy centre
for the mentally challenged.
Vocational Training: Institute of Peoples Education (sponsored by
Government of India)

Health
Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Kochi, Kerala is a 1500-bed,
super specialty hospital with 800 full time doctors, 4500 employees that
offers international quality medical care at affordable/subsidized rates. This
has become one of the best hospitals in Asia with many firsts to its credit in
facilities and patient care and offers free and partly subsidized services to the
poor and needy. AIMS extensive infrastructure comprises 60 departments,
24 modern operating theatres, 210 Well-equipped Intensive Care beds,
a reference diagnostic clinical laboratory, including advanced Molecular
Biology and Cytogenetics Labs, a state-of-the-art Diagnostic Imaging
Centre, Medical, Dental, Nursing, Nanosciences & Pharmacy Colleges
and Research Facilities. Patient care is enhanced by a fully computerized
and networked Hospital Information System and a fully digitized Radiology
Department. The hospital was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of
India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 17 May, 1998. Since inception in 1998,
over 8 million patients have been treated of which 2.6 million received
completely free treatment, Over $ 70 million have been spent on conducting
free/subsidized surgeries, free medical camps and other charitable activities
in the healthcare domain since 1998. Over 6 lakhs outpatients and 50,000
inpatients are being treated every year. The Hospital also houses the health
sciences campus of Amrita University. Other healthcare facilities of MAM
include Amrita Kripa Charitable Hospitals, Kollam and Kalpetta, Amrita
Kripasagar Hospital, Mumbai, Amrita Ayurvedic Clinic, Kollam and Amrita
AIDS Care Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. Free medical camps conducted at
ashram centres throughout India.

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Spiritual
Ashram headquartered at Amritapuri, Kollam with
23 Mata Amritanandamayi Math (MAM) Centres in
India. (Website of the Math: www.amritapuri.org)
MAM Centres in 40 countries.
20 Brahmasthanam Temples throughout India and
in Mauritius.
IAM (Integrated Amrita Meditation) Technique
taught free of charge nationally and internationally.
Amrita Kutumbams a focused group of householders for enabling them to practice AMMAs
teachings in their life and to bring up their children
in a value oriented life.
AMMAs

teaching

are

made

available

in

books, tapes, CDs, in more than 40 Indian and

international languages.
Matruvani, monthly magazine published in 8
Indian and 7 foreign languages, now one of the
largest spiritual magazines in terms of circulation
all over the world
Immortal Bliss, quarterly magazine, published in
English.

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Admission Process

Eligibility for MBA Programme @ Amrita

The minimum qualification required to apply for admission to the MBA Program is a Bachelors Degree (10+2+3
years of education)
Criterion
AMRITAPURI
BENGALURU
MBA-MS

COIMBATORE

KOCHI

10th

Min 50%

Min 50%

Min 50%

Min 50%

12th

Min 50%

Min 50%

Min 50%

Min 50%

Degree

Min 50%

Min 50%

Min 50%

Min 50%

Entrance Test (any one)

CAT

MAT

NA

GMAT

GRE

XAT

CMAT


NA

IBT-TOEFL*

NA

(Min 79)

NA

NA

*TOEFL score required only at the time of admission

Degree in any discipline which is recognized by the Association of Indian Universities

Those appearing for the final year of the Bachelors degree examinations may also apply subject to
completing their examinations and viva-voce, if any, before 30th June 2015.

Such candidates are advised to produce a letter from their college Principal/Head of Institution stating the
examination dates, at the time of personal interview and/or admissions.

Consolidated marks sheets must be furnished before Oct 31, 2015.

Degree certificates to be furnished by Dec 31, 2015.

If an admitted student fails to meet the eligibility criteria, he/she will be required to withdraw from the
programme.

For the MBA MS program jointly offered by Amrita and the University at Buffalo (SUNY) at Bengaluru, a
minimum IBT - TOEFL score of 79 is necessary.

NRI and students of foreign origin are required to take the GMAT test (a maximum of five percent NRI and /or
foreign candidates may be admitted through GMAT with a minimum score of 550). The completed application
form is to be sent to - The Director - Corporate and Industry Relations, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham,
Amritanagar P.O., Coimbatore, India.

Candidates with appropriate industry experience will be for admissions. Their work experience will be given
due weightage (the stature of the company, the work profile and period of employment will be taken into
consideration)

Selection
Names of candidates who are short-listed will be posted on our website,: www.amrita.edu/asb. A personal interview
(PI) is expected to be held around the third week of March 2015. Interviews will be held at Amritapuri, Ahmedabad,
Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and New Delhi.
The date and venue of the interview will be intimated to the shortlisted candidates by email and post/courier.

66

Selected candidates are required to pay the first installment of the fees within 15 days from the date of intimation
of final selection.

Batch Size
The number of seats available for the 2-year MBA Program starting in June 2015 is 300 (120 in Coimbatore and
60 each in Amritapuri, Bengaluru and Kochi).

Orientation Program
In the third week of June 2015, the School will organize a two week orientation Program for the new batch. This
preparatory program is mandatory before students begin their regular program of studies.

MBA Fees Structure 2015-2017

Fees (in Rupees)

Amritapuri Bengaluru* Coimbatore Kochi

Tuition Fee

3,60,000

7,50,000

6,00,000

3,60,000

59,000

68,000

82,000

64,000

40,500

41,000

40,500

40,500

36,000

36,000

48,000

32,000

19,000

21,000

30,000

21,000

76,000

82,000

90,000

70,000

5,000

5,000

5,000

5,000

(Paid in 4 bi-annual installments)

Other Fees
(Paid in 2 annual installments)
One time charges
(Paid at the time of admissions)

Hostel Fee**
Hostel Rent
(Paid in 2 annual installments)
Establishment Charges
(Paid in 2 installments)
Mess Bill ***
(Paid in 2 installments)
Caution deposit
(Paid at the time of admission)
*Cost of educational trip to University at Buffalo (SUNY), is extra and to be borne by the students. Actual cost will
be intimated to students at a later date.
**Students are expected to stay in the campus hostel facility. However, the students who are living with their
parents in the city where the campus is located are exempted from this rule, if they are located within 30 kms from
the campus. Such students can avail the transportation facility provided by the institute.
***Could change for the second year.

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Laptop Policy
Students are required to bring their own laptop at the start of the orientation programme.

Refund Policy
1. Fees paid are refundable as per the latest UGC norms. If a student withdraws from the program before
the admission closes, the full amount of the fees paid will be returned after deducting Rs.1000/- towards
administrative expenses. If the student chooses to withdraw after orientation program, the fee amount
returned will be a prorated amount, on a term basis.
2. Caution deposits will be refunded after the settlement of liabilities.
3. Hostel fees will be refunded on a pro-rata basis.

Admission e-help desk

Amrita School of Business will be running an e-help desk for handling queries from aspiring applicants. The
candidates can mail their queries to:
asb@am.amrita.edu (Amritapuri campus)
asb@blr.amrita.edu (Bengaluru campus)
asb@amrita.edu (Coimbatore campus)
asbkochi@amrita.edu (Kochi campus)

Policy on Ragging
Anti Ragging clause under UGC Regulations 2009 - Ragging is totally prohibited in the university, and anyone found
guilty of ragging and/or abetting ragging, whether actively or passively, or being a part of a conspiracy to promote
ragging, is liable to be punished in accordance with these regulations as well as under the provisions of any penal
law in force.

Instructions
(For filling up application forms as well as communicating with the campus of your FIRST choice)
1. Please have one permanent address which does not change right from the time of application till the
commencement of classes in July 2015. All postal communications should be sent to this address.
2. Please provide an e-mail id which you will be using during the entire admissions process. Do not change your
e-mail ID, during the admission process.
3. Address all your queries to the email address of the campus of your FIRST choice.
4. Please read the instructions carefully before you begin to complete the application form.
5. Please attach semester-wise/ term-wise/ year-wise mark lists (photocopies only) of your UG degree. This is
over and above the consolidated list and SSLC/HSC mark list (photocopies only).
6. Students with work experience should attach a copy of their appointment order and /or their most recent pay
slip.
7. All information regarding interview calls and final selections will be published on our website. Your ASB
application number will be your website access code. The information given on our website can be treated as
firm and final. Candidates need not wait for intimation via post / courier as there could be postal delays.
8. Please send the completed application form to the campus of your FIRST choice, enclosing a DD of Rs.
1,000/- The DD should be payable to the city highlighted below:
Amritapuri

- Amrita School of Business payable at Kollam

Coimbatore - Amrita School of Business payable at Coimbatore

Bengaluru

- Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham payable at Bengaluru

Kochi

- Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham payable at Kochi

68