Dr. Shalini Nath Tripathi, assistant professor in marketing at Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow campus, has an interesting career graph. She started as marketing professional. Given her keen interest in the subject soon got pulled into doing corporate training. She then left it to join academics. Now she again goes back to her corporate experiences and networks to create an ideal learning environment for the class.

Dr Tripathi’s corporate journey started with Modi Korea Telecommunications Ltd. Where she got hands on marketing experience being a functional head in customer relations. She oversaw different product promotion campaigns which were backed by extensive customer satisfaction surveys and solutions to customer complain and grievances.

Given her grasp of the marketing subject she soon invited conducting regular training programs for network communication executives. From there started her journey as a teacher in academic, Dr. Tripathi says, “while conducting these classes teaching came to her naturally and she would problem solve for her class even after they went on the field and came back with their problem set”

Coming to Jaipuria Lucknow in 2005, Dr. Tripathi is teaching services marketing and marketing management; doing research in the areas of services marketing and strategic marketing and co-ordinating the PGDM (Retail Management) program of the institute.

Coming back to how her industry experience helps her in making her classes more interesting – “My industry experience helped in enriching my marketing classes with real life corporate examples,” she says, which she supplements by having guest lectures by industry veterans on relevant topics. “when I invite industry experts, I brief them on what aspect of their experience is best to share from an academic point of view. I can do this as I have been on both sides. So not just simple industry gyan but learning’s of practitioners that students can relate to what they are studying in the class room.”

As a faculty member, she is also involved in academic research, question paper setting, academic project monitoring and student mentoring-placement training

She is a prolific researcher and is currently working on a study based on service recovery processes followed by banks.

Her experience at Jaipuria Lucknow has been “a learning experience so far, both on the academic (teaching) front and in terms of research.”

And she summed up her advice to students in a quote by Anthony J. D’Angelo – “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”

Dr. Raj Ojha joined Jaipuria Institute of Management around six years ago. At that time, his colleagues informed him that ‘students generally do not take interest in Economics, so you have a challenge on your hands here’. Professor Ojha firmly believes that a subject is as interesting as its teacher. Over the years, not only have the students at Jaipuria Lucknow come to enjoy his classes, many also count Economics as their favourite subject.

“I believe in the philosophy that the best teachers inspire their students. I try to work in this very manner at Jaipuria Institute of Management. I create an incentive to learn and make students realise that active classroom participation is indispensable for them. If a concept or topic is particularly difficult, I start right from the basics and confirm with quizzes whether it has been understood, before going to an advanced level. Without fail, I lay emphasis on the significance of the concept in practical decision-making situations. I also build scenarios around day-to-day life so that students are able to relate.”

Professor Ojha believes that being a teacher at Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow has been a very encouraging and enriching experience.

“I teach Managerial Economics, Macroeconomics and International Economics. Though all three subjects are very dear to me, Managerial Economics fascinates me the most. Jaipuria Lucknow allows for, and in fact encourages, ample research opportunities.”

Interestingly, most of Professor Ojha’s published research work concerns the economics of the rural space and agriculture in India. His paper on ‘Participatory innovations in agricultural technology dissemination – A case study of national agricultural technology project, India’, was published in the IIML Case Series 2006-07. His acclaimed works include ‘Poverty dynamics in poorest pockets of rural Uttar Pradesh’ (Economic and Political Weekly, April 2007), ‘Vulnerability in rural areas – Potential demand for micro insurance’ (International Journal of Rural Management, 2006) and ‘Collaborative agricultural development – A case study of land reclamation project’ (Metamorphosis, January-June, 2007).

“Currently, I am researching a subject which is very close to my heart. It deals with whether the decrease in income inequality in society is only an ‘equity’ agenda, or whether it is also good for business in general. So far, my findings have been quite remarkable.”

Apart from his teaching and research responsibilities, Professor Ojha is the Chairperson of Students Affairs at Jaipuria Lucknow, a post which requires him to be at his energetic best. Since Professor Ojha is on various committees in Jaipuria Lucknow, he is deeply involved in academic administration. Over and above these regular responsibilities, Professor Ojha has been looking after the logistics function of various institute events like the IIC and the Annual Convocation of Jaipuria Lucknow for the last five years.

Professor Ojha’s message to his students at Jaipuria Lucknow is, “Make the best use of the inputs you receive from Jaipuria Institute of Management to realise your potential to its fullest.”