services for these highly specialized areas.
n Can you please list out a few basic
principles on which the Xavier model of
education is founded?
As I said at the outset, an endeavor to
attain greater excellence is at the core of
everything we teach. The idea is not just
to produce a skilled person, but to make
a good, well-rounded person with the
required skills. The student is at the centre
of all our activity. It is their future that
we are building. We try to inspire them
to be good professionals. We nurture the
spirit of the person, which has several
dimensions; their IQ level, their analytical
abilities, the spirit of innovation and
so on. To achieve this goal, we have an
excellent faculty. Our focus is on quality,
not numbers. There are some practices
that we follow, which flow from these
principles. We have taken a conscious
decision to keep reviewing and changing
our curriculum to stay in tune with the
time. Thus, we knock out a few courses
and add some new ones almost every year.
This is done after reviewing the feedback.
n How is your model different from,
say, the IIM model of B school?
IIMs get a large corpus of funds from the
government. They can do what they want.
If only we had 25% of the funding the IIMs
have, you would have seen the miracle
that we would have wrought (laughs). But
IIMs do help us in a lot of ways. Some of
their directors and faculty members are
on our board. There is constant give and
take in terms of learning about the each
other’s practices. There are no hard core
differences really. But the only thing is we
have moved to offering degrees now. They
too have the right to offer degrees. So, we
can claim to have pioneered in this area.
We may have a little more freedom than
them and our faculty members are free
to take up any research they want. With
the setting up of the University, multi-
disciplinarity would now get a fillip and
we can come up with more impactful
research work in the years ahead.
n There are so many B schools in the
private sector and some of them have
excellent records in terms of both
academic pursuit and placements. And
yet, the average parent is still obsessed
with the IIM brand. Would you agree
with this proposition? And if yes, what
would you attribute this to?
They probably think the IIM tag sells. But
these days, companies are smart enough
to see through this. They know that
talent can come from anywhere. Not long
ago, talent came only from the metros.
This is no more the case. Today, talent
comes from small,Tier 2 or 3 towns like
Bhubaneswar, even from villages.Thus, in
the long run, it may not work. But we are
not really in competition with each other.
Together, we should aim to beat the world.
There should be enabling policies framed
by the government to facilitate this so that
we achieve global standards.n What exactly do you look for in
a prospective student at the time of
admissions? Just academic record or
something more than that?
We try to assess if this particular person
has leadership qualities. We try to find out
if this person can be a change agent.We
are not just producing an MBA graduate
or preparing the student for the job
market. We are here to inspire the future
of the student. And we have some unique
methods of our own to do this. Students
here are encouraged to take up leadership
roles and we provide the mentorship
needed for it.n But is it really possible to judge the
leadership qualities of a student during
the short time of the interview?
We ask for – and use - a lot of background
information in selecting the student.
Academic record is just one aspect.
The others are the student’s analytical
capacities, communication skills and
clarity of thinking.n The focus of B schools in India
has shifted from creating job seekers
to producing job creators in recent
years. And the start up phenomenon is
evidence of it. How well XUB has moved
with the mood of the times?
There is plenty of talk about it, for sure.
But there is not much to show on the
ground, whether it’s IIMs or others. India
is behind the developed world by 20-30
years. YouTube founded in 2005 and see
what it is today. Instagram was launched
in 2010 and in two-three years’ time, it
became a billion dollar company. We
missed the bus. But I agree that thereis now a conscious shift in thinking.
B-schools don’t exist in vacuums. For
entrepreneurs to emerge and excel, there
has to be an enabling ecosystem. For
example, the ecosystem of Bhubaneswar –
and Odisha in general - has to improve to
facilitate more successful start ups. We at
XUB constantly strive to nurture the spirit
of entrepreneurship in the student. We
have set up a centre of innovation. We also
have an entrepreneurship development
programme. I am sure you have heard of
the success ‘Milk Mantra’ has achieved as
a start-up.Navajyoti, a farmer producing
unit, was incubated here. We also have a
women entrepreneurship cell.n You cited a few examples. But many
start ups that have gone on to do very
well were launched by people who have
never been to a B-school. How do you
explain this?
At the global level too, there are any
number of such examples, the biggest
and most successful of them being
Microsoft launched by Bill Gates. The
role of B-schools – or any school, for
that matter – comes from the fact that
academic information is the most
trustworthy information. It is verified
and peer reviewed. Why do we trust a
doctor? Because the treatment that he
offers comes from his academic study
and background. Thus, there is really no
substitute for academics.n Where do you see XUB 10 years down
the line? What are the future plans?
On July 6, XUB completed six years.
We have big plans for the years ahead.
Soon, we shall have 12 schools under
the University. Some of them are in the
process of being set up. The 11th is the
School of Governance and Public Affairs,
which would build leaders for the future.
The School of Media Studies would move
into doctoral program this year while the
School of Commerce has already done so.
The schools are growing. Some of them
have moved from bachelor programmes to
masters. Others have moved from masters
to doctoral programmes. Currently, we
have a good mix of multi-disciplinarity.
My hunch is the School of Education will
grow manifold in the coming years - and
not just in offering the degrees. It would
be a big contribution not just for Odisha
but the whole of eastern India.Prof. Bikram Bahinipati
Chairperson- Admissions
Xavier University BhubaneswarThe most powerful force in business education is optimism. At Xavier University, the
future leaders harness it with right education and skill sets, which can take them anywhere
as change agents. The student engagement articulates a compelling brand promise,
demonstrates compatibility with their goals and remains at the top-of-mind throughout
their academic and professional journey.