Curriculum 2007-09: Preamble and Structure 

"More important than the curriculum is the question of methods of teaching and the spirit in which the teaching is given" Bertrand Russell

 

Preamble

 

The curriculum rests on the following premises:

  • ASB can be innovative since we are not constrained by a dictated structure.
  • The core courses are most crucial since they prepare the students with the right knowledge, skills and aptitude for an entry level job. Hence the emphasis on core courses through a larger proportion of the contact hours.
  • Moreover, electives are based on personal choice / motivation, and hence we can take advantage of the student’s propensity to work at a faster pace with minimum faculty inputs but still covering a larger extent of a subject. Thus we can afford to keep the required contact hours for electives at a lower level than that for core courses.
  • The past experience indicates that a comfortably paced programme incorporating structured tutorial sessions and mini-projects would be better than the current short terms on account of the heterogeneity of initial competencies of admitted students.
  • Employers seem to be looking not so much for specific skill sets but for the aptitude, and ability of the students
    • to think critically / holistically / laterally;
    • to learn continuously;
    • to adapt to fast changing situations; and
    • to work as team members.

 

  • Internship can be more meaningful
    • if available for a little longer than 8 weeks;
    • if the students had more skills when they undertake internship;
    • if the data analysis and report preparation are guided by ASB faculty; and
    • if the internship effort and report are appropriately evaluated for credits.

       

The premises as above have led to the evolution of the curriculum structure and the  syllabus of the individual courses.

The Structure

 

  • Programme would commence in the month of July of the commencing year and end in the month of March of the 2nd year. (e.g. July  2007 to Mar 2009)

     

  • An intense orientation-cum-bridge module to get the entrants into a mindset for a)self-driven hard work; and b) being a constructive team member.

     

  • The first part of the programme consists of two 75-days terms followed by a 60-days term before the students go for internship. The second part of the programme has two 75-days terms.
  • The courses are given 1 credit approximately for every 10 contact hours (including tutorials). However, nature of the course has been taken into account while assigning the credits. Courses which are more technical / quantitative have been assigned a slightly larger number of sessions to provide for more tutorial sessions.  ‘Computer Applications’ as well as ‘Personal and Interpersonal Effectiveness’ have been assigned only one credit because both courses are dominated by practice sessions rather than theory oriented.

     

  • During the first year, the students are expected to spend on an average for 5 hours a day in the class room to be engaged in structured activities such as supervised reading, practice sessions on communication skills and student presentations.

     

  • During the second year, the structured activities such as tutorials are dispensed with since the students are expected to have gained the ability to work several hours on their own for each contact hour engaged by the faculty.

 

The Instructional Methodology / Evaluation

 

 

  • Emphasis on prior preparation of the background reading. Class time will be used NOT to cover what can be learnt from the text and other background reading.

     

  • Interactive class sessions with emphasis on application through discussion questions, exercises and cases after a quick review of concepts.

     

  • Continuous assessment for feed back on performance and to identify action needed to improve performance.

     

  • For some core courses the final evaluation may be in a later term than the one in which instructions took place so that the concepts / skills learnt during the course are continuously reviewed through application in other courses during subsequent terms.

     

  • Instructor’s assessment may be combined with assessments by ASB designated faculty, the maximum weight for the latter being 30%.

     

  • There will be a comprehensive viva-voce examination towards the end of the 4th term.

     

  • The internship is given 2 credits and the grades for internship would contribute to GPA.

     

  • Grading on 3 - point scale for successful completion: A – Excellent; B – Good and C – Satisfactory.  Grade U – Unsatisfactory or I – Incomplete may require repeating the course or additional work as the case may be.
  • Students would be allowed to continue with the elective courses in the 4th term only if they have a grade point average of  2.0 or more in the courses completed up to the third term.  They can register for a maximum of 24 credits in each of the 4th and 5th terms.
  • They would be allowed to register for the elective courses in the fifth term only if they have no U grade for the courses studied till the end of the third term.
  • They would be awarded the diploma only if they have completed 100 credits with a C grade or better in all the courses and internship accounting for the total credit.

 

 

Structure of Curriculum: 2007-09

 

                       
                       
Course Course Code(s) Lctr Hrs Tut /Prj Total Trm1 Trm2 Trm3 Intern Trm4 Trm5 Credit

Foundation Module (OM100) Over!

During 25th to 31 Jul, No credit

Prof. K Ramakrishnan and others       
 OM100 10 30 40 40           0

Quantitative Methods (OM101)

45 hrs, 4 credits

KG Satheesh Kumar

 OM101 30 15 45 45           4

Organisational Behaviour (HR101)

30 hours, 3 credits       Over by 16 Oct

Prof. AG Balasubramanian		 HR101 30   30 30           3

Financial Accounting (FI101) 

45 hours, 4 credits

Rakesh Nair and Balamoni    
FI101 30 15 45 45           4

Critical Thinking & Communication (MC101) 

45 hrs, 3 credits

K Ramakrishnan, Mercy Mathew, Rakhee Sudhir		 MC101 20 25 45 45           3

Computer Applications (IS100) 

30 hrs, 1 credit

KG Satheesh Kumar
IS100 10 20 30 30           1

Personal and Interpersonal Effectiveness (HR102)

30 hrs, 1 credit
Linda Kerr

 HR102 10 20 30 30           1

Management Accounting (FI202) Till: 2 Feb

30 hrs, 3 credit
Ravi Shankar

 FI202 20 10 30   30         3

Research Methods (OM202)

45 hrs, 4 credit
K Ramakrishnan, Thomason Rajan, KGS		 OM202 30 15 45   45         4

Corporate Finance I (FI203) Till:16 Feb

30 hrs, 3 credit
Rakesh Nair

 FI203 25 5 30   30         3

Operations Research (OM203) Till:18 Feb

30 hrs, 3 credit
K G Satheesh Kumar

 OM203 25 5 30   30         3

Human Resources Management (HR203) Till:14 Feb

30 hrs, 3 credit
A G Balasubramanian

 HR203 30   30   30         3

Economics for Managers  Term 3, till 28 March

Rakesh Nair

 EC201 35 10 45  15 30         4

Marketing Management (MK201) Till:15 Feb

45 hrs, 4 credit
V Harihara Subramanian

 MK201 35 10 45   45         4

Operations Management (OM304)

45 hrs, 4 credits

S Balachandran

 OM304 30 15 45     45       4

Strategic Management I (SM301)

30hrs,3credits

V Harihara Subramanian & K.Ramakrishnan		 SM301 30   30     30       3

Corporate Finance II (FI304)

30hrs,3credits

Rakesh Nair		 FI304 20 10 30     30       3

Information Systems (IS301)

30hrs,3credits

S Jagadish		 IS301 30   30     30       3

Manager and Society (EN301)

35hrs, 3credits

Manoj Krishna (Module on Legal systems: 12 sessions)		 EN301 30 5 35     35       3
Management Strategy 2 SM402 30   30         30   3
Internship Presentations       INTRN     40         40   2
Electives         360         180 180 36
Projects/ Field studies/Student Presentations       125 25 25 25   20 30 3
Organised non-course activities        130 50 20 10   20 30  
Supervised Study       165 70 55 40        
Total structured hours        1500 385 340 245   290 240  
Tentative period of the year         Jul- Oct Nov-Feb Feb-May  May-Jul Aug-Nov Nov-Mar  
Working days       360 75 75 60   75 75  
Credits in term         16 24 16   24 20 100
Course Hrs per day       2.9 3.2 3.2 2.8   2.8 2.4  
Total Structured  Hrs per day       4.2 5.1 4.5 4.1   3.9 3.2  
                       
                       

 

 

 

 

Second Year Courses        
         
  Code Credits Credits Remarks
    Term 4 Term 5  
         
Strategic Management II SM402 3   Core course
         
Finance        
Banking FI451 2    
Security Analysis FI452 3   May be shifted to T5
International Finance FI553   3  
Valuations, M&A FI554   3  
Financial Services FI555   2  
         
HR        
Strategic HRM HR451 3    
Organisational Development HR452 2    
Recruitment and Selection HR553   3  
Performance Evaluation HR554   3  
Training and Development HR555   2  
         
IS        
Software Project Management IS451 3    
Enterprise Business Solutions IS552   3  
         
Marketing        
Product Management MK451 2   &n