XIM University, Assistant professor: Dr. Arup Roy Chowdhury Interview

A Talent Management Specialist and an experienced Academician, Dr. Arup Roy Chowdhury is currently serving as Assistant professor at XIM University, Orissa. Having a demonstrated history of more than two decades of enriched work experience in different fields of Strategic HRM, Industrial Relations, he has done extensive research in the area of Management Styles, Performance Management, Competency Mapping, HR Planning, Job Load Adequacy, HR Audit and Legislation for Business. He is a certified Psychometric Assessor, External Assessor, Lead Auditor, ISO 9001 Auditor, and a certified Job Evaluator as well. 

What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

“Facilitating career conversations and opportunities”

To facilitate skills and capabilities, and cognitive development of MBA HR students for enhancing their Employment and Self-Employment opportunities, I take the lead role in mentoring and guiding the students. I groom the students into visionary, competent, committed, compassionate and value-based HR leaders. Facilitating sessions on confidence building, personality developments, tips to face job interviews, etc. are my duties. I largely focus on excellence for each student, regardless of their race, gender, income level, or location.

What can an inbound student gain from studying here at your department?

“Quality learning and practical pedagogy”

At School of Human Resource Management, XIM University, the focus is more on grooming highly effective and competent human resource professionals with a holistic understanding of business, society and government. We empower our students with the knowledge, skills, and long-term vision that lead to innovation, service to society and growth. I incorporate more application based teaching in the subjects I taught as the pedagogy to bring more clarity to the students to understand the concepts through the lens of a HR practitioner. Moreover, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and possibility is an integral aspiration and working element of XIMB since its inception.

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects?

“Elaborative and diverse industry based pedagogy and projects”

To groom a competent HR professional/practitioner, learning has to be facilitated more through experience rather than confining to books only. The focus and emphasis of our course curriculum and teaching pedagogy is oriented towards Application-based learning to provide real life exposure to students. We assist in developing the mindset of students in understanding concepts based on evidence, logic, reason and critical thinking. Students are encouraged to get involved in live projects so that they can understand how to define the problem statement and generate alternate solutions by adopting constructive approaches in real-time scenarios. Collaboration with SMEs/Industries for imparting Professional Development Program for students is being practiced. Partnership and Research Incubation projects are carried out. In addition, more options related to specialized courses are introduced with an option of electives like HR Audit and HR Accounting, HR Analytics, Design Thinking, NeuroScience of Leadership has been introduced based on the advice of industry experts as well as industry requirements. 

What best practices do you offer to help students gain necessary skills?

“Blended Learning with modern techniques and live projects and research work”

Students are encouraged to get themselves engaged with organizations and undertake live projects in the HR domain. The idea is to facilitate learning through practical exposure to HR issues in real-life scenarios. The real-life business problems are usually given in the form of a story and students are asked to find possible alternate solutions, considering various environmental factors. Topics related to the course are given in advance to the students to make the oral presentation with/without the help of audio-visual aids, followed by Q&A sessions at the end. With the help of customized software tools students are exposed to real HR situations and to take strategic decisions. The use of movies/video clips to explain the management concepts is being used that aids constructive learning. Periodic online guest lectures are conducted through webinars and video conferencing by industry experts and academicians. Students are encouraged to carry out research work under the guidance of faculty and convert their research into publishable papers in peer-reviewed journals. Moreover, doubt clearing sessions in addition to regular classes. 

How do you strategize the curriculum to make it befitting for the students?

“Structural direction in respect with subjects and practical applications”

The core courses are designed to provide wide exposure to the participants in Organisational Behaviour, Human Resource Management Employment and Industrial Relations disciplines. The students also go through core courses from other management areas like Accounting, Communication, Decision Sciences, Economics, Finance, General & Strategic Management, Information Systems, Marketing Management and Operations Management, so that they develop a holistic and complete understanding of the complexities of business environments and business organizations with ethical and social sensitivity. The student’s workload, including class sessions, required readings, term papers, project work and field visits, is expected to require about 70 hours per week. Electives for the MBA-HRM program commence from the fourth term in the second year. Although more electives are usually offered from OB/HR/IR areas, the students are encouraged to take electives from other areas as well to gain an all-rounded understanding of business management and acquire cross-functional skills. In an effort to continually update the syllabus, keeping with faculty interests and industry requirements, elective courses are added and deleted from the list.

What are your views on the placements of the students from XIM?

“Hosting a range of industries with wider roles and profiles”

The dedicated team of Career Advisory Services of XIM University under the able leadership of qualified professionals ensures 100% placements of students in reputed organizations. Over the years, the institution has hosted several prominent recruiters like Deloitte, Cognizant, L&T, Capgemini, IBM, Infosys, Accenture, EY GDS, Aarti Industries, Vedanta, GAIL, Tata Steel, Manipal Group, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindalco, Adani and many more who have continued to repose their trust on our students. Adobe, Saint Gobain, Licious, Royal Enfield, Samsung, Royal Enfield, Titan and DTDC to name a few, are some of our new recruiters who stood testament to the growing brand equity and reputation of this institute. Over the years, an array of impressive roles has been offered to the students in the area of Talent Acquisition, Learning and Development, HR Business Partner, HR Analytics, Industrial Relations, Compensation and Benefits, Research Analysts, etc. in the department. Depending on the interest and career aspirations of MBA HR students, XIM always encourages them to pursue higher studies like PhD in reputed institutes in India and abroad. Proper guidance is being extended to the students for quality preparation as well. 

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How do you enhance the skills of the students and expose them to real-world challenges?

“Diverse co-curricular and industry interface programs”

As a policy, the University encourages students to develop team skills and citizenship qualities in addition to academic accomplishments. Enough scope exists in the campus for extracurricular activities through participation in interest-specific, voluntary student associations and other pursuits such as sports, social service, book clubs, music, debates, quizzes, contests, etc. HR leaders are invited to offer Immersion Courses for the students with the objective of providing insightful discussions on specific topics, which are normally not covered in the regular course curriculum. Over and above the regular courses offered in the program, students are exposed to industry practices through talks that are conducted by senior executives and industry leaders. In addition, project assignments, seminars by eminent scholars and executives, and summer training in the industry help the students acquire practical knowledge about human resource problems in today’s organizations. As a part of the Flagship HR Conclave, students and alumni from various IIMs and other reputed colleges are invited for an array of events in XIMAHR that includes article writing, case studies, collective bargaining event, HR quiz, etc. We along with other schools of XIM University organize TEDx- a global experience for passionate students to uncover new ideas and to share the latest research. School of HR exposes students to the glorious corporate competitions giving them a shot at their dreams come true. With Exemplar to guide them, one can see himself/herself on the dashboard of any big corporate competition.

What has been your vision so far and how are you trying to achieve the same?

“Enriching self and students for lifelong learning”

I switched over to academics from the industry due to my passion for teaching and I thought that this was an excellent opportunity for me to:

(a) nurture young and bright minds 

(b) impart a harmonious blend of practical and theoretical knowledge to my students

(c) enhance my academic leadership through research, innovation and pioneering thinking.

So far, I’m satisfied with my contribution and my pedagogy has been appreciated by my students. However, I’m a continuous learner, and hence I’ll keep on learning and will continue to disseminate knowledge to my students.

How does the curriculum of your department ensure the best practice of the industry?

“Blending expert advisory and industrial perspectives”

Our curriculum is continually evolving, structured collaboratively by stalwarts from academia and industry. The course content is delivered by world-class faculty. Thought leaders from industry regularly share their experiences, thus providing students an excellent blend of theory and practice. Additionally, students have multiple opportunities to bridge the gap between theory and practice through internal research projects, consulting assignments and running of student affairs on campus. The Strategic Academic Advisory Board (SAAB) of the HRM School has eminent persons from academia and industry and senior professors from the School. The SAAB brings in viewpoints from diverse fields and domains and provides a perspective and vision that adds depth and breadth to our thinking and actions. It is the sounding board for our dreams and supports us in turning them into actuality. Discussions that have taken place in the SAAB meetings have fed into strategy formulation, opened up ideas for the introduction of new courses and helped us in charting out possible new directions that the School can move towards.

How does the department prepare the faculty according to the industry standards?

“Effective and intensive personalized development programs”

It is important that faculty take responsibility for their own professional development rather than being compelled by the authorities. School of HRM, XIM University has a proper system of carrying out personalized Professional Development where the faculty are accountable for their Professional Development in an organized way. School of HRM, XIM University facilitates a more radical unbundling of the role of the faculty, enabling individual faculty to take on more differentiated roles that play to their strengths, preferences, and areas of expertise. Faculty are encouraged to participate in the Faculty development programs to improve their craft. Our Faculty development system provides flexibility to faculty to spend more time on high-value activities that require deep teaching expertise and relationships. Faculty along with industry experts emphasize developing cognitive capabilities like value creation, collaborative behavior, solution finding, trust conduct, user-centricity & learning to dive deeper into any subject needed by students to unleash their maximum potential.

What approaches do you bring in apart from curriculum to train the students?

“Emphasis on mastery-based learning and rapid digitalization”

In the School of HRM, we focus on making people managers who emerge as committed, compassionate and value-based HR leaders. Our focus is always on cutting-edge, innovative and experiential learning that creates a competitive advantage in our students to thrive in an increasing boundaryless world fraught with volatility and uncertainty. Our pedagogy is designed for students to mould them as inquirers, knowledgeable thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, and balanced and reflective leaders. Technology has made the model even more compelling, enabling personalization at a level that’s difficult to achieve in the traditional classroom. Smart adaptive-technology programs can integrate instruction, practice and feedback to allow students to work at their own pace. Formative and constructive assessments of students which are efficient, immediate, and fair are adopted, and the XIM Learning Management System for remote and hybrid learning is a progressive initiative for a future of blended personalized learning in the classroom. Partnering with industry experts and HR leaders in this digital era thus helping our students to develop in them the requisite job-ready skills.

What do you see as the department’s greatest strengths?

“Functional Competence of faculty members and research focus”

Our Faculty members are grounded in the vision and values of excellence and ethics set by XIM University and possess a sense of belongingness with a high degree of Learning and Research orientation. Also, we encourage and provide students with an opportunity to pursue Independent Research Projects (IRP) as well to build on the interest and willingness of students to learn about a specific topic and develop their research skills. The IRP comprises a research project carried out over a period of one or two terms. It contributes to a deeper understanding of the human resource management discipline. IRPs are customized offerings and are optional. We have a good Industry-Academic interface as well wherein we collaborate with industry experts on real issues and challenges.

What valuable advice would you give to the students to have a prosperous career?

“Be your natural self and stay organized in your actions”

Avoid imitated aggression. You’re expected to meet the expected deliverables from you by being a driver, completer and finisher, and this you can attain only if you are a good team player. Take time to organize your thoughts before answering during discussions. This reflects your character that you think about the problem in a logical way. Develop an overall approach before diving into details. Challenge yourself to identify trends that are not immediately obvious within the data. Don’t feel rushed into performing calculations; take your time. Take your peers, managers through your steps so that you can demonstrate an organized approach.

How do you ensure that students are being prepared for the future?

“Learning from practical exposure of different scenarios”

The MBA-HRM program provides students with a robust grounding in Human Resource Management theory and practice, woven together with a holistic business perspective with ethical and social sensitivity. The program is designed to develop highly competent human resource professionals and it imparts the knowledge, skills and experience essential for managing human resources in an organization. Leadership talks by eminent industry experts are organized every month to make the students understand that leadership and management cannot only be learned from textbooks and classrooms only. The Immersion Courses, Seminars and Projects aiming at generating and evaluating alternative solutions to management issues are arranged regularly. The students are thus prepared to face with confidence the problems they may encounter in their professional careers through blended learning. 

What can an inbound student gain from studying here at HRM, XIM University?

“Rigorous and certified academic environment matching globally”

XIM University provides a vigorous and visible research environment to its students with a goal to establish a sound research culture and a habit of intellectual leadership for the nation. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), USA, has certified that the MBA-HRM curriculum of XIM University, Bhubaneswar is aligned with the recommended requirements for HR degree programs as outlined in the SHRM HR Curriculum Guidebook. This certification places the MBA-HRM program of the School of HRM, XIM University as a globally aligned curriculum program that is benchmarked against the best academic curriculum standards and therefore is a great milestone in the development of the School of HRM as well as XIM University, Bhubaneswar. This is another step forward for internationalizing the academic curriculum and academic environment of XIM University and standardizing its alignment at the global level. The outcomes have been reaffirmed time and again through the performance of students at National Level business competitions, through the impact, our interns have made in organizations, the live projects undertaken and appreciation for their performance in various sports and cultural events. Our alumni continue to scale up the corporate ladder and make an impact through their knowledge, skills and abilities.

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Tell us something about your department’s international affairs?

“Student exchange programs and expert inventory”

Students have the opportunity to spend one term, during the second year, at Universities in Europe through the student exchange program. For the work done in different places, the students get credit transfers. Our students have done their exchange program courses in SGH Warsaw, EUROMED Marseille Institute of Management, France, IESEG School of Management, Lille Catholic University, Lille, France and REIMS Management School, Reims Cedex-France. The students are provided with an opportunity to take up Immersion Courses, taught by thought leaders and professionals worldwide in their areas of interest. The invited faculty provide exposure to and understanding of upcoming areas in the industry and new initiatives in the field of HRM. This unique educational innovation enables the students to broaden their horizons, learn about the cutting-edge developments in their field and explore newer opportunities.

What challenges do you face to uplift the quality of education at your department?

“Enhancing technology and faculty strength”

The MBA HR program makes the students understand and experience business problems and find their creative and feasible solutions. Due to globalization, organizations are moving across national boundaries and employees are getting heavily exposed to cross-cultural management practices. Thus, as a business school, we need to adopt innovative teaching pedagogy in order to prepare global management professionals. While greater use of technology in education may be inevitable, technology simply cannot replace a good teacher. A good teacher can change a student’s trajectory. In the highly complex, turbulent and uncertain context that organizations face today, the conceptualization and implementation of effective human resource management practices cannot be emphasized enough. In order to survive, it is imperative that businesses attract, develop, motivate and retain a highly competent and diverse knowledge workforce. This also requires highly competent human resource professionals who possess a holistic understanding of business, society and government and are well-equipped in all aspects of Human Resource Management. The need of the hour is to sustain our aforesaid unique strengths by imbibing the same to the new joinee and to sustain the prevailing traits e.g. zest, grit, optimism, self-control, gratitude, social intelligence and curiosity which can contribute immensely in academic success.