BITS Pilani launches School of Management to meet challenges of disruption

Offering two-year full-time MBA, the 'new-age global' B-school in Mumbau aims at covering emerging technology, design thinking and analytics

In what it claims is a 'new-age global business school' aimed at preparing young leaders in an age of disruption, BITS Pilani (Birla Institute of Technology & Science) has now launched a 'School of Management'.

With an investment of over Rs 1,500 crore spread over 10 years and a permanent campus to come up by 2024, the BITS School of Management (SoM) will offer "futuristic curriculum" in its two-year full-time residential MBA degree program. 

With the 60-acre-wide permanent campus being set up in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the B-school will start academic sessions in July 2021 with an initial batch of 120 students from a temporary facility in Powai, Mumbai.

Commenting on the launch, BITS Pilani chancellor and BITSoM chairman of governing council Kumar Mangalam Birla said the new B-school aims to become a globally competitive institute from India. He added that it seeks to redefine the paradigms of business education in the country through evolutionary thinking and knowledge relevant to the current business landscape.

"The accelerating trends of digitisation, sustainability, and de-globalisation are reshaping the world in more ways than one can imagine. In a world marked by uncertainty, it is time to introduce a new way of thinking and prepare young leaders for this age of disruption," said Birla. 

In terms of pedagogy, the two-year MBA program will not only teach the fundamentals of business such marketing, finance and strategy but also provide relevant future-focused courses on emerging technology, design thinking and, data analytics. Amplified by modern workplaces’ needs and to prepare future-ready leaders, BITSoM will provide distinctive specializations in entrepreneurship and innovation, e-commerce and digital leadership, finance and investments, leadership and strategy, and marketing and consumer insights.

In an attempt to provide students a platform to learn from the brightest minds across industry and academia globally, BITSoM will include globally renowned faculty members from top B-schools such as NYU Stern School of Business, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Singapore Management University and Kellogg School of Management, among others, in addition to leading industry practitioners. 

Led by Birla, the B-school's governing council will also comprise leading academicians and industry experts. Further, BITSoM will provide students access to the BITS Pilani alumni network – including 3000+ CEOs of leading Indian and multi-national companies and 4200+ founders who have shaped global businesses. 

According to Birla, the MBA program will motivate students to think differently, enable them to overcome complex challenges, and help them leverage the power of technology to unleash their potential. As a result, all students will take a module on ‘Winning at the Workplace’, designed to develop cognitive and behavioral capabilities as well as provide students with global and contextual perspectives with courses such as ethics in business, the origin of management in India, and Indian philosophy and leadership.

Meanwhile, BITSoM has also committed to make it a zero-carbon footprint campus in fullness of time.