MBA SPECIAL .......LEAPS OF CREATIVITY ..B-Schools Think Out of Syllabus, Get Innovative

B-Schools Think Out of Syllabus, Get Innovative  Institutes introduce innovation and design courses as part of flagship MBA programmes, aimed at equipping future managers to survive the downturn     The ‘Love Watch’ discovers love for you. It analyses data from the wearer’s wrist and clarifies the nature of feelings — love, infatuation, attraction, lust, admiration, indicates the other person’s excitement levels, analyses ECG, pulse rate and perspiration to give a love signal. A handshake is all it needs. While this is one of the several product ideas hatched byagroup of MBA students in the product innovation class of Bharatidasan Institute of Management – Trichy, several other top business schools in the country including the Indian Institutes of Management and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) are introducing innovationand design thinking as part of their flagship MBA curriculum. The aim is to equip future managers to survive in a competitive environment, which has been going through aprolonged economic downturn. “Product innovation is becoming a tool for survival in today’s economic scenario,” says Abhishek Kumar, assistant professor at BIM-Trichy. “The route to recovery from recession lies through innovation to create excitement in the market, stimulate demand and thereby push consumer spending,” he adds. A month ago, BIM Trichy introduced a course on product innovation. The course is designed to develop an understanding of product innovation process — from opportunity identification to idea and concept generation and its commercial evaluation to product development and launch. From January, SPJIMR will introduce a course on design thinkingand innovation in the first year of its MBA programme. The course is designed on the lines of a similar course run by Prof Srikant Datar at the Harvard Business School, who recently visited the institute to conduct a workshop for faculty from SPJIMR, IITs and IIMs, among other top institutes. For the first year, SPJIMR will select a small group of students and run the programme as a pilot. After a year, it plans to get companies to buy into the course. “We believe when the business environment is turbulent, you need to invest more time and resources into innovation,” says Renuka Kamath, head of marketing at SPJIMR. This year, IIM Kozhikode introduced a course called ‘Product Innovation and Development’ as part of its Executive Post Graduate Programme. In 2011, the institute had introduced the same course in its flagship MBA. The course examines the strategies, processes and methods used by companies, and the innovative methods of new-product development. “The best way to fight economic slowdown is to developnewproducts with innovations,” says G Thangamani, professor of quantitative methods and operations management area at IIM-K. Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi runs a course ‘Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation’. The ideas from the classes get implemented as part of the problem solutions in live projects that are floated for the students by various multinational companies. Besides, FMS also has collaborations with incubation centres that fund the feasible ideas and all such activities are coordinated by Entrepreneurship Cell of the campus. “Given the high level of competition, the process of conceptualisation and looking at things differently is bound to gain precedence over other things,” says Pritam Khandelwal, associate professor for entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. Innovation should be looked at in a broader context, says Devanath Tirupathi, director in-charge, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. “Innovation is important because it allows for leap-frogging. Leap-frogging is what leads to growth. With innovation, one goes beyond the catch-up game,” he says, adding he believes innovation and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. Lightbulb Moments on Campus IDEAS GENERATED Love Watch Analyses data from wearer’s wrist and clarifi es the nature of feelings — love, infatuation, attraction, lust, admiration. Indicates other person’s excitement levels, analyses ECG, pulse rate, perspiration to give a love signal after a handshake Microwave Geyser Normally, geysers are using heating fi lament technology for water heating. This product is will use microwave technology (magnetron) for heating water. The technology is considered a good alternative for quick water heating to reduce power consumption in households. Helmet with Bluetooth Headset An integrated single-unit helmet with blue tooth capability. The circuitry would be built into the helmet, making it an electronic device as a whole. The hearing unit and mic would be an integral part of the helmet. Automatic Cocktail Dispenser Mixes various constituent drinks in standard proportion to make popular cocktails at home. The thought behind the idea: If there can be instant coffee and noodles, why not instant cocktails? Courses at B-Schools Bharatidasan Institute of Management Trichy introduced a course on product innovation last month SP Jain Institute of Management and Research will introduce a course on design thinking and innovation in the first year of its MBA programme from January IIM Kozhikode introduced a course called ‘Product Innovation and Development’ as part of its Executive Post Graduate Programme this year RICA BHATTACHARYYA & ANUMEHA CHATURVEDI ET131119