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ShareAshok Ranchhod took over as the director of MICA on Monday. At the end of the term of Prof Atul Tandon as director, Prof Arbind Sinha had been officiating as the director. Prior to joining MICA, Ranchhod was a professor in marketing in the faculty of business, sport and enterprise, Southampton Solent varsity, UK. He shares his vision for MICA with DNA.
How well are you acquainted with MICA?
I worked at MICA in the summer of 2005 to run a course for around four weeks as a visiting faculty. After that, I had never come back to India and this appointment has brought me back to India.
How do you feel to head the communications management institute?
I feel very excited because I bring concepts and ideas from my experiences in the west, especially in the UK, having been a visiting professor in several universities there. I feel like bringing in new impetus and new challenges.
What made you join MICA?
Essentially, I was heading a section in marketing and then I became a research professor and I have done quite a lot of work in research and publishing. The position looked like a very interesting challenge and that's why I took it up. The other thing was that it was in India. I was born and brought up in the west but my forefathers belonged to this place as my father lived in Saurashtra, I have this emotional connection to it, too.
What is your vision for the institute?
I feel that MICA has reached quite a high level. But we want MICA to be a global player. Then I would certainly like MICA to expand the research and expand the capability of the academics in the institution so that MICA becomes well-known all over the world as a special institution. What I would like to see, as well, are potentially more overseas students.
Is it in view of the competition to be posed by foreign institutes in India?
That could be a very relevant point and we would like to keep up on that. Why should an institute from elsewhere come here and have the support from the market place when we are already established and strong and we could be much better than them.
What are the strengths and weaknesses that you see in MICA?
I still have to gauge what's going on. But MICA has lots of strengths because the students are excellent. It has a very good reputation. But we are not on the cutting-edge of research and we need to develop that side. I would like the research to integrate into the teaching and also in producing very high quality streamlined course for the students.
