Rendezvous with Dr. Sengupta
Dr. Sengupta has 47 years of teaching,research and consulting experience. He has held the chair in HRM at Amrita. He has worked with the Planning Commission, Central Social Welfare Board, Office of the Registrar General, India and the then Ministry of Community Development and Cooperation, Government of India for about eight years.He joined IIM Calcutta in 1967 and retired in 1997 as Professor of PM and IR. He also spent nine months in Manchester Business School, England for training and research in Organisational Behaviour under Prof. TomLupton. He has international research experience with ICPE in Lubljana, Yugoslavia and with the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands. He has also produced many publications including three books and several monographs.
Many thanks to ASBian magazine for giving us permission to use this interview.
How did your career with ASB start?
I worked at IIM- Calcutta from 1967 to 1997. It was in February, 1997 when I was nearing retirement that I accidentally met Dr. Sanjay Banerji, who is one of my former students. He told me about the Amrita School of Business an upcoming institute in Coimbatore of which he was Director at that time. Dr. Banerji persuaded me to teach the Human Resources course for the first batch of students. As I like traveling and seeingnew places, I thought I would take up this opportunity. That is how my career with ASB started. After one year,
I got an offer from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. I did not take up this offer but instead continued to work for three more years at ASB. As my wifewished to move back to Kolkata , we moved back.However, I continue to come here to teach for twoterms a year.
How different is ASB now from when you started?
In the beginning I was given accommodation at Kovaipudur. I remember that my meals were supplied from the Amrita campus itself. I also remember that at that time the canteen had a thatched roof which collapsed during a storm. The business school classes were held at the Amrita School of Engineering building. Since then the physical infrastructure has hugely improved. In the earlier years, there was uncertainty about the quality of jobs that were got through campus placement so the students worked extremely hard on their studies to build up
the reputation of ASB. Nowadays, with assured placements, students are able to participate in a wide range of activities and showcase their different talents. My personal belief is that, to be a good manager, a person has to be theoretically sound as he/she is required to make decisions on a continual basis. These decisions are based on assumptions. Theory tells them whether these assumptions are right or wrong. A good manager should be capable of diagnosing social situations.
What according to you is the direction ASB should take? What is your vision for ASB?
ASB should work to improve its image. I am not talking about the business magazine rankings. Rather we should make ourselves known to the industry as well as to the academic world by making contributions in terms of research, training and consultancy services.
What according to you are the qualities of ASB students that distinguish them from students of other business schools?
An outstanding quality of ASB students is their respect for teachers. I still get e- mails from my former ASB students enquiring about my health and giving me advice on how to take good care of it.
Sir, do you remember any of your outstanding students?
All my students are doing well now. To name a fe w, Supriya Nair, who is coming to meet me next month is working at TCS, Bangalore. Krittika, who did extremely well three years back is also with TCS. Another student, Mathumathi from Hyderabad, is working in a high position in Hughes Software Systems, Gurgaon.
Even at this point of time you are so passionate about teaching. What is it that motivates you?
I believe in spending time meaningfully. That is why I love teaching rather than getting involved in family or apartment politics. I am also associated with various projects at the Ranchi unit of the Ramakrishna Mission. This includes projects for tribals, scheduled castes, empowerment of rural poor, and farming systems for tribal villages.
Any advice you would like to give the students?
I don’t believe in giving advice. I believe my students are capable adults who can decide for themselves what is good for them. I just want to convey my best wishes to them.
Anju Kamal
Anju Varghese Philip
Sreeja Kumari
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