First Ever Management School to be Promoted & Run by Academicians from the US, Unique CXO Panel to Guarantee Cross Functional Industry Exposure, To Offer 3 Intakes Per Year - in June, October and January Respectively, Program Offered in Collaboration with Georgia State University
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Tuesday, February 10, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- India's academic capital Chennai becomes the home base for The National Management School - the country's first Management school to be promoted and managed by a team of Academicians from the US. Set up at a capital outlay of Rs. 3 crores, the Chennai facility is the first in a chain of schools to come up across the country.
The National Management schools will open doors to MBA aspirants for the academic year June 2009. The full time 2-year Postgraduate Program in Management is offered in collaboration with the Georgia State University. The diploma will be co-signed by the Deans of both the National Management School and the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at the Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA.
Speaking to media on the occasion of the launch, Dr. Sankaran P. Raghunathan, Dean, said "The National Management School will set a new and much desired trend of Insourcing American education, with 100 Professors from the US who are PhDs, many of them chaired professors, and will create the foundation for a complete global management education."
This will be complimented by mentoring by the unique CXO panel comprising over 75 Indian C level executives. The National Management School thus presents Indian MBA aspirants with a peerless learning experience which traverses the best of international cultural and work practices with feet on the ground exposure to current practices in the industry across twelve sectors of the industry, government and society.
Besides the benefit of international academic expertise and the corporate experience, the students will have global exposure, as they will be required to select two countries of choice, as part of their curriculum to not only become familiar with the business customs and practices specific to these countries, but also understand how business is uniquely done in those countries. This will enrich them with the real time experience of acquiring global exposure.
The new venture is founded by a team of professors and spear-headed by Dean Sankaran, who himself is a Professor of International Business, formerly with Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey and at Emory University. The Board of Governors includes a cross section of renowned academicians and consultants -- Prof. P.V. Indiresan, Former Director, IIT Madras, Fr. P.D. Thomas, Former Director, XLRI, Dr. R.K. Raghavan, Former Director, CBI, and Dr. V. Kumar, Professor of Marketing, Georgia State University.
The National Management School has a very powerful roster of professors charting the Academic program to add rigor and relevance to the same.
The academic advisory board is led by Dr. Jagdish N. Sheth, Professor of Marketing, Emory University and boasts a wide cross section of academicians across different disciplines -- Dr. Avijit Ghosh, Vice President, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Dr. Usha Nair-Reichert, Professor of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Ram S. Sriram, Professor of Accounting, Georgia State University, Dr. Thomas Allen, Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Patricia G. Greene, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Babson College, and Dr. Rajan Chandran, Vice Dean, Fox School of Business, Temple University.
The Business Advisory Group chaired by Dr. V. Krishnamurthy, Chairman, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council comprises representation by a cross section of corporates who will set the pace for industry experience in the Indian and global context leading to the development of self sufficient, self assured and highly adept global business leaders.
The launch marks the coming together of the academic and corporate worlds across the Globe to mentor the intellectual power of India. And in its own way, it will contribute to reversing the brain drain both at the student level and at the academic level by providing opportunities for Indian Scholars to work closely with American universities from Indian shores.
The National Management School will be guided by 5Ps - Principles, Processes, Pro-search, Partnership and Parley in pursuit of the definite Purpose of developing the capabilities of students to become generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy. Thus, our promise to our students is to mentor them to become global leaders.
The National Management School campus is coming up at Ambattur in a corporate building. The facility over a 50,000 sq.ft. area will offer our students the best in a physical learning environment. Technology will help them to be in touch with the professors who may be across the world.
The School will take in 120 students for the term beginning June 2009, and 60 each in October 09, and January '10. The Assistant Dean, Ms. Sundari, said, "We are seeking to admit students whose aspirations are high and whose achievements demonstrate such aspirations. We are looking for candidates who are in the top ten percentile based on the CAT/XAT exams or the GMAT. However, our admission is based on a complete profile of the applicant. While academic brilliance is important, we believe that active participation in performing arts or sports or demonstrated leadership in activities, adds to a complete profile".
The two year full time academic program comprising 720 hours of class room work with 36 courses over 2 years comes at a cost of Rs. 9.6 lacs. This is American business education at Indian fees. Students can apply online at
www.nms.edu.in Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business is ranked 5th in the country for its part-time MBA program for working executives and has been in the top 10 ranks for the past 13 years in a row. Several of its specialized masters level programs are ranked in the top 10 in the country. RCB is the fifth largest school with 212 professors. Dr. Fenwick Huss is the Dean of the school. For more info visit
www.nms.edu.in.
Influence Lifestyle Store today launched the much awaited luxury spa "Influence. The state of the art spa is a perfect blend of the traditional and modern approach to beauty, rejuvenation, and relaxation. Influence promises to provide an unparalleled experience with its exotic and unique massages, facials, body massage, wraps, scrubs, pedispa. Spread across 5000 sq ft, the Spa has been designed keeping in mind a contemporary and western approach to spa therapy. The staff at the spa has been specially brought in from Bali and has undergone extensive training by international consultants.
One of the signature treatments at the Influence Spa will be the renowned "Vichy Shower Massage" which is known as the rain massage; a rain bar with 12 shower jets that can be adjusted for either a light rain massage or targeted high pressure massaging on specific tension points along the spine and legs. The downpour is followed by a 30-minute massage using a warm blend of essential oils leaving one floating amongst the rain clouds.
The spa will also specialize in Chroma hydro thermal therapy: a technique from ancient Egypt, where water, heat and colours along with massage were employed to change the mood and lift the spirit and work on chakras and also to stimulate the immune system and protect against illness. It would also help in resolving imbalances and disorders. Influence spa would also cater some of the most lavish beauty and skin treatments such as; Luxury Gold facial and gold body scrub where the skin would be covered in subtle golden veil and exquisitely massage leaving the skin soft and glowing.
Besides the above signature treatments, one can also enjoy an array of, European and Thai massages such as; the five-element shiatsu massage, deep tissue massage, Thai yoga massage, Swedish massage , Balinese massage, etc. Reflexology, detoxifying therapy and lymph drainage are also some of the other unique spa treatments that would be available at Influence, all of which have significant benefit on health and wellbeing.
Influence Spa has also provide for special couples therapy packages, where couples can leave behind their hectic lives and seek out some quality relaxation, pampering and rejuvenation together. Which also works as an ideal anniversary or birthday gift!
Another talked about treatment at the Influence spa is the Rose and Wine delight: the finest ingredients from nature brought over in their raw forms to replenish the skin, Balinese rice and grape seed wrap, grape seed oil deep tissue massage followed by a facial and a luxurious grape wine and rose petal bath.
Speaking on the launch Mrs. Varsha Jain, Managing Director, Influence Lifestyle Stores Pvt Ltd, said, "The Influence spa is yet another imitative to bring luxury and indulgence to Chennai offering nothing but the best both in terms of service and quality of products. Exotic therapies from the world over have been brought in to relax, pamper and beautify the senses. Our services will cater to anyone who is looking forward to self-indulgence, wellbeing and the highlife. The services at the spa will start from the price range of Rs. 2000 onwards. I am confident the Spa will set new standards for luxury, beauty and relaxation. The spa would be open on all days between 9 am and 9 pm. We have also kept in mind the pricing factor to be reasonable. The total investment in spa is around 2crores with most of equipments imported from Italy, the products used are from Thalgo, France."
The investment for Influence brand in Chennai has been Rs. 8 crores. The company is anticipating multiple locations in Chennai, as well as expansion plans in South of India; Hyderabad, and Coimbatore and in the north and west of India; Delhi and Mumbai. Influence expects to be present in four other locations in the city by 2011. The store will also house a fine dining restaurant and a boutique retailing designer wear from a gamut of India's leading designers.
