Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon, Chairperson, Tandon Capital Associates Inc, addressing the press conference at MCC Boyd Tandon School of Business, Tambaram in Chennai. (File image)
| Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
Internship programmes for four days or a week, leading to a paid summer internship, three months of immersive learning on social issues with NGOs, and integration of liberal arts subjects such as theatre, music, and storytelling to enhance communication skills – a new business school in Chennai is looking to do things differently to stay ahead of the curve.
Still in its infancy, the MCC Boyd-Tandon School of Business boasts of 100 % placement of its first cohort in paid summer internships. P. David Jawahar, Director of the School, said: “This is not very normal, not something that you regularly achieve in 18 months of operation.”
The curriculum for the Post Graduate Diploma programme has been drawn up with added emphasis on subjects such as theatre skills, content writing, appreciation of music, and story telling. These, the management states, would help improve communication skills.
Among other features, the curriculum includes a lab-based course on Generative AI to help students learn about AI tools that would help them in Business Analytics. In the third semester, the students get to spend about 90 half-days with an NGO or work on solving a social problem as part of their social immersion learning. The School has provided 60 % weightage to formative assessment through case studies, assignments, quizzes, and mini-projects.
After a meeting of the School’s Global Advisory Board on Tuesday, Chandrika Tandon, Founder, Tandon Capital Associates, said the stress on internships, social immersion, and integration of Liberal Arts subjects into the curriculum made the course one of a kind. Rahul Mammen, Managing Director, MRF, echoed the same sentiments.
Srilata Zaheer, Professor, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, said most students came from a humble background, and one of the parents spoke to her about the pride that she feels in how confident her daughter had become. “We care about what we are doing to the students who have trusted their two years with us,” said Som Mittal, former President, NASSCOM. Harish Lakshman, Vice Chairman, Rane Group, said that the creation of this institution will have its ripple effect a few years later when people would start talking about it.
S. Gopal of the Sanmar Group appreciated the encouragement being given to entrepreneurial thought among students which, he felt, would pave the way for their success even as professional managers.
The attributes that a business school requires to develop among students should be the ability to solve problems and the methods of communicating it without fear, said Sriram Sivaram, Joint Managing Director, Madras Engineering Industries.
Josh Foulgar, CEO, Zetwerk Electronics, observed that no other business school addressed the need for focussing on supply chain and operations, adding that his company had already hired six students from the school who would complete the course in May.
S. Alfred Devaprasad, CEO, Christwood School, said that the institution was born out of the MCC Board’s felt need to formalise leadership education that would produce leaders who would be grounded, future ready, and ethically sound.
Published – December 17, 2025 01:07 am IST
