Journey of an Edupreneur—Design-Thinking Approach

Abstract

My competitive spirit was well—I felt the adrenaline course through my veins and all of a sudden I had a new purpose in life. I knew that I could do this. The decision was made. I had seized the bull by its horns. However, as luck would have it before I could convert my plans to reality, I had to overcome an unexpected obstacle.

—Professor Bala V. Balachandran

An edupreneur (educational entrepreneur) is defined as ‘a person who has served as an educator prior to organizing a business related to education and has invested time, energy, and capital to create, develop, and market a programme, product, service, or technology to enhance learning’ (Hess, 2006). Edupreneurs can, therefore, be former employees in any educational system, in any position with a constant urge to innovate the education system. They generally think out of the box and do things in an unusual way to accomplish goals. Their vision is to do things better so that society can benefit. This makes them adopt a design-thinking approach.

3I DESIGN-THINKING MODEL

The 3I model of design thinking has been developed by IDEO. According to the 3I model, the design-thinking process has three stages: inspiration, ideation and implementation (Brown, 2009; Brown & Wyatt, 2010). The first phase is the problem or design challenge, also known as inspiration. It is at this stage that the design thinker identifies a problem/an opportunity which demands solutions. The second stage is ideation, which involves the creative process of generating, developing and testing ideas. The third and final stage is implementation, where the idea is executed and tested. The overall model complements two types of thinking—convergent and divergent. While convergent thinking is about broad thoughts and concrete understanding, divergent thinking is about innovative thoughts to identify solutions for problems. This study describes the edupreneurial journey of Dr Bala V. Balachandran (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 1994), complementing the three stages of the design-thinking model and two types of thinking.

Before highlighting the aspects of the edupreneur’s journey, it is important to understand the characteristics of a design thinker to appreciate the personality of the edupreneur discussed here. A design thinker has an empathetic human-centred dynamic mindset, is collaborative and optimistic, is open to taking up challenges and risks and can embrace failures. For a design thinker, understanding a problem and providing solutions is an iterative process of generating ideas considering multiple perspectives (Benson & Dresdow, 2015; Bicen & Johnson, 2015; Tschimmel, 2012). A design thinker, being empathetic, also understands the problems impacting people’s lives and provides solutions to solve people’s problems (Brown & Wyatt, 2010; Liedtka & Ogilvie, 2011; Lockwood, 2010). In addition, he uses visual mapping to analyse problems, is comfortable working with missing information as well as ambiguous situations, reflects on feedback received on his solutions and sees failures as learning opportunities (Benson & Dresdow, 2015; Zupan et al., 2014). These capabilities appear to exist in all of us in varying degrees. However, very few individuals use all of these capabilities to solve problems.

Bala V. Balachandran is a versatile, multi-faceted personality. He has an agile mindset and is a humble person. He has the ability to connect with the junior-most person on campus to the senior leadership people with humility. Even at the age of 84, his energy inspires the students and staff of Great Lakes. Professor Bala was a keen observer of a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. He had a customer-centric focus (students) and empathized with them. The article discusses the journey of an edupreneur covering all these aspects.

STAGES OF THE EDUPRENEURIAL JOURNEY

Stage 1: Inspiration

Inspiration results from a problem or an opportunity that motivates the search for solutions. Dr Bala V. Balachandran was inspired by the need for quality education at affordable rates. Creating a business school in India among the best in the world was a dream he had nurtured over time. However, he had a massive cardiac arrest in 2002, for which he had to undergo a quintuple bypass surgery. During his recovery, he was left with two choices—either enjoy his retirement as his family members expected or move ahead with his dream. ‘Should I start the school or be a pain in the neck to my wife—were the choices before me’, he said. The process of creating an institution thus hit a roadblock. Furthermore, to start an institution of his dreams, he would have to invest a major portion of his life savings. Was the risk worth it, given that he was 64? Having been an educationist all his life, should he wear the entrepreneurial hat at this stage of his life?

Background

Professor Bala’s academic journey towards management began in the 1960s. He won a surprise gift for solving a problem combining mathematics and engineering at a workshop conducted by Dr Landis Gephart, professor at Dayton University, USA. To his surprise, it was an opportunity to pursue an MS/PhD course at the University of Dayton, Ohio, USA, with a full scholarship, which had always been his dream. He was chosen to work with Professor Gephart on various research projects on defence aircraft carriers. Later, he pursued a PhD in management and submitted his thesis within two years. He received a gold medal for the best research paper submission. He was the first student to receive the medal from the Operations Research Society of America in 1973.

With his research, academic credentials and work experience at the University of Dayton as an assistant professor, he was offered an associate professorship directly at Kellogg’s School of Business. This was a rare achievement that Professor Bala called ‘money value of time’ signifying the importance of ‘time as money’

…Bala Balachandran is an extraordinary person. He has had a number of careers in a wide array of activities and has made noteworthy contributions in all of them. In my 40 years of association with Bala, I have found him to be the best contributor to the school and to me, going beyond the call of duty, getting things done. I am happy to be a friend and colleague.

—Donald P Jacobs, Dean, Kellogg’s School of Management

Call from the Motherland

His first opportunity to get back to serve his motherland came during the global economic recession in 1991. India had taken a move towards economic liberalization which had to be showcased to the American corporate world to attract foreign investment. Professor Bala offered a proposal to the Government of India to organize the ‘India Business Conference’ through Northwestern University. The proposal went through. The conference was conducted in 1992 with the support of the United Nations Development Programme, which is a part of the United Nations. The conference resulted in Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) worth $700 million of investments in India. The world realized that India is now conducive to foreign investment. The conference became a trendsetter at the global level.

With the announcement of the new economic policies, the Finance Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh realized that the skill sets of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers had to be enhanced to match the latest American management thought. The Kellogg’s School of Business was chosen for the assignment. Professor Bala and his team took up the assignment of designing the syllabus for IAS officers. Professor Bala said,

I was chosen for the assignment. Elatedly, I accepted the offer because now I had the golden opportunity to assist my beloved motherland. It was my father’s dream to see me as an IAS officer, and if only he had lived to see that I had risen to the level of designing a syllabus for the IAS officers, he would have been very proud of me.

…Bala’s ability to deal with bureaucrats and politicians was simply amazing and a treat to watch. I used to think that he knows everyone in this world! Professor Bala has always been my mentor and will continue to be.

—Vinod Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland Limited

Similarly, Professor Bala was instrumental in designing MBA programmes at the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. He also got involved in training programmes for the multinational investor segment in India. His efforts were recognized by the Indian government, which awarded him the Padma Shri in 2001 for his contributions to education and literature.

A leading business magazine recognized Professor Bala V Balachandran as one of the top 10 global Indian thought leaders in the field of management. He had the unique distinction of being an Indian with a chair dedicated to his name in a business school in the United States. He was also a Padma Shri awardee, a great honour for an educationist from the Government of India, in recognition of his distinguished services. He had also been involved in the creation of three top business schools in India (MDI Gurgaon, ISB Hyderabad and Great Lakes Chennai) and as an avid researcher, he had published more than 85 journal papers and several books—Living Legends, Learning Lessons and Yogyathwa, to name a few.

Professor Bala recalled a conversation with his friend, who said, ‘Bala, you are a great teacher, but I am sure that you will not be able to start a business school or manage it on your own’. That provocation was the proverbial trigger. With help from his friends, both in industry and academia and keeping in mind the needs of society, he started his entrepreneurial venture.

Stage 2: Ideation—Testing the Idea

Not long after that, Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, wanted an institution of high standard to be set up in Hyderabad, for which he offered 200 ac of land in 1997. This was how ISB started in 2001, after three years of planning, along with Rajat Gupta and others. Professor Bala now wanted to test the idea of starting an educational institution that was affordable. He, therefore, ventured out to set up the Great Lakes Institute of Management, in 2004. Great Lakes refers to five large lakes in North America—Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior—which provide potable water to many states in the USA and Canada. This signified that education was meant to be consumed by all, and ‘institution’ denoted the vast ocean of learning.

Before moving to its serene campus, the Great Lakes story began in 2003, in a rented office at Saidapet, in the heart of Chennai. Admissions commenced in the year 2004. An alumnus of the first batch said: ‘There was nothing to go by …. We all joined entirely based on the faith we had in Professor Bala that he would help us towards a promising career and future.’ In the first year itself, Great Lakes achieved 100% placement, thus began the growth story.

Stage 3—Implementation—A New Campus

Concerns about space led to the planning of a residential campus. With this plan in mind, Professor Bala and his team approached the state government. The result was favourable with a plot of land allotted near Chennai. However, due to various concerns, the plan had to be shelved. Professor Bala sold his house in Chennai to raise funds for the institution. He decided to purchase land in the village of Manamai, near Mamallapuram. The aim was to build a unique school of higher education different from other institutions. Also, to have a pleasant academic and physical environment for the campus, a place in the outskirts of the city was the best choice.

The design of the landscape reflected the efforts, and sharing—a metallic pillar called the tower of reflection, carefully selected statues—of Buddha, Tiruvalluvar, and a woman pouring water for a child to drink—in the middle of the Kalam Lake. The 27-ac LEED platinum-rated green campus is a first of its kind. Professor Bala could finally implement his idea of starting an edifice.

In Pursuit of Customer Centricity

The regulatory body for technical and management education in India, AICTE, did not have a provision for approving a one-year programme (PGPM—Postgraduate Programme in Management) for a Section 25 Company, not-for-profit organization. The one-year programme (PGPM) depicted Professor Bala’s mantra of ‘money value of time’. His determination and conviction in the deliverability of the format resulted in the recognition of PGPM from AICTE, the first instance of approval for a one-year programme in the country. His concern for those who could not leave their jobs to study further and still sought to upgrade their careers ensured that the executive programme started almost simultaneously. In India, part-time education did not enjoy a respectable status as the quality of engagement for such courses did not meet market requirements. This gap offered a significant opportunity to establish a course that could be a game changer in the history of part-time education. To change the negative perception, the part-time programme was called the Executive MBA for senior working professionals with the highest quality standards focused on industry requirements. A world-class quality curriculum was framed and implemented. In addition, a new offering, PGPM Flex, was a blessing for those who could not afford to take long breaks (10 days at a time each quarter) while at their jobs. In this format, executives were offered weekend classroom training leading to an MBA. Each of these initiatives reflected Professor Bala’s design-thinking approach of identifying customers’ problems and finding an optimum solution.

Professor Bala also met parents, students and executives during the meet the dean programmes to understand the needs of his customers. During one such interaction, the parent of a prospective student asked, ‘Can you introduce a course of this standard for students with less than two years of experience?’ This acted as a spark. After moving to the Manamai campus, the first strategic event was the commencement of the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) for students with less than two years of experience. A faculty at Great Lakes terms this sequence of the one-year programme coming first and the two-year programme happening later as opting for the reverse logical order. This action demonstrated that the need in the market determined the sequence—customer centricity.

Professor Bala’s ability to innovate and understand the requirements of the customer led to a programme in a new area, i.e., analytics. The Great Lakes Analytics Programme Post-graduate Programme in Business Analytics and Business Intelligence has been ranked number one ahead of the IIMs and other Premier B Schools in the country in a ranking survey published by Analytics India Magazine titled ‘Top 10 Analytics courses in India’. This programme had cutting-edge curricula around neural networks, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Thus, Professor Bala’s strategy of responding to customer needs at the right time and in the right way was instrumental in Great Lakes’ growth.

According to Professor Bala, it was necessary for Great Lakes to be tested and acknowledged by the best. Accreditations offered a good opportunity for this. Pursuing accreditation was an intelligent move towards branding in the competitive market as well. Great Lakes had already received the prestigious AMBA (Association of MBAs), UK accreditation for all its programmes PGPM/PGXPM/PGDM and PGPM flex) in 2014. It became the youngest institution to receive the AMBA accreditation in India, perhaps in the world. Great Lakes was also accredited by SAQS (South Asian Quality Assurance System) in 2015. SAQS is an international system of strategic audit and accreditation designed to assess institutions in widely different national contexts. In 2017, its two-year PGDM programme was accredited by the National Board of Accreditation.

Over the years, Professor Bala ensured that the Great Lakes Institute signed MOUs with international institutions of repute. The Stuart School of Business, Yale University, Bauer College of Business, University of Bordeaux and Nanyang Technological University, to name a few, have partnered with Great Lakes. Great Lakes had to put in significant efforts to maintain quality to match market requirements. The curriculum, pedagogy, faculty, environment, the kind of people who chose this institution and graduated, the value and desired position of students and the kind of organizations that hired them were continuously monitored against global standards.

…I have known Bala well for around 15 years. He has devoted tremendous effort, time and wisdom to making the Great Lakes Institute of Management a very successful institution. The Godrej group is proud to have been associated with the Great Lakes Institute of Management as a supporter.

—Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group

Insights from Interviews: Stakeholders’ Perspectives

Madan is among the junior most staff in Great Lakes. A youngster in his late 20s, he had been looking for a bride, without much success. Professor Bala who interacts generously with his staff understood the concern of Madan. He always treats employees as family members and Great Lakes culture imbibes a family environment from this. This is clearly an example of human centric nature of design thinker. The stature and rank of Madan did not come in the way of his care and eagerness to seek a solution for the young lad’s problem. He arranged a special offering to the deity, Lord Ganesh, and after the prayer, handed over a garland and a small idol of Lord Ganesh to Madan. Madan said, with a sparkle in his eyes, ‘In just three days after that we were able to find a bride for me’.

Mani is the in-house shop keeper selling stationery and small utilities to the students. Mani narrated:

‘One stunning thing about Bala sir is that he is oblivious of his high stature, he acknowledges warmly the greeting of the smallest man around. When he sees me, he asks me about my family, he knows my wife by name and enquires about my children. Once on his birthday, I had a gift for him, and I did not know how to approach him at his office or residence to give it to him, as I found it inappropriate. I shared a word with his driver and asked him how I shall get the present to him. Sometime later Bala sir himself was at my shop, asking ‘Where is my gift?’ I felt blessed on that day. It was an image of his favourite Deity cut in stone that I gave him. He had it taken to his house and a few days later he sent a message to me that he would polish it and take it to the United States. My heart was filled with gladness ….

He ended saying ‘it is very rare that you will find a person of his stature being so as humble and caring as Professor Bala’.

Communicating from the Heart

…It is amazing how Bala single handedly started and put up the Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai. It is not easy for an individual with no financial support from the Government to set up the kind of management institute that the Great Lakes institute is. I wonder how he succeeded in doing all this, dividing his time between Chicago and Chennai, and he still continues to remain the affable and affectionate person that he has always been.

—Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Group

For the most part of the academic year, Professor Bala spent time in the United States as he continued to be a tenured Professor at Kellogg’s. However, during his absence from India, he kept in constant touch with the entire Great Lakes through e-mail. While he made it a point to communicate instantly for issues that needed immediate address, he also wrote to the entire community regularly. The so-called fortnightly communications averaged more than once a fortnight over the years. These were generally addressed to the current batch of students keeping the alumni and the staff in the loop, too.

These e-mails generally had important parts to them. One of the parts would inform the Great Lakes family about the developments taking place in and around his vicinity and in the vicinity of the institution. Another part dealt with birthday greetings to Great Lakers. In the initial stages of the institution’s formation, he would wish each student or staff member by name. But as time passed and with alumni numbering in several thousand, the birthday wishes got restricted to a general wish for those celebrating their birthdays in that particular week, month or fortnight. However, till he was alive, he continued to write personal mails to each and every staff member on their respective birthdays invoking the blessings of God. Another important part of the mail constituted lessons on leadership that he wished to teach the students. This part would also sometimes contain some important messages regarding current issues that the students need to take note. The concluding part generally was a motivating and moving call for the students to rise up and meet their challenges head-on.

His communication to the Great Lakes community was filled with meaningful content. For example, there was an element of knowledge which was obvious (talking about developments that are affecting Great Lakes or that are happening in his personal life or attempting to teach lessons on leadership or on other general things in life that a student must be aware of), but there was more. He infused energy into the interaction through his own demonstrated demeanour and by relating to icons that represent great energy. He also called upon his wards to act energetically and assured them that doing so would lead to the desired results.

Next, there was an element of deep affection and connection with students. He was their uncle and they are his nephews and nieces. He demonstrated that his connections with students were way above and beyond that between a client and a service provider in the service industry. It is a lifetime commitment to a relationship that has a mutual concern in it.

…I have known Professor Bala Balachandran for several years now. His highly persuasive skills have seen me addressing the students of Great Lakes several times over the past few years. Whenever we have met I have always come away with a new perspective on some issue or the other. I know his students continue to remain in touch with him which only emphasizes his humane qualities.

—Ramadorai, VC, TCS

…Bala’s great sense of humour and wit stimulates deep thinking. Here is one of his famous one-liners—‘It is true that something is better than nothing, but nothing is better than nonsense.’

—Bharat Doshi, CFO, Mahindra & Mahindra

He often used naughty and mischievous humour in his communication with youthful adults to connect with them easily despite his being at an age where others are easily dismissed as grandfathers. It is also usual that there is an element of stretch, where he sought to raise the bar for the students and inspire them to work towards achieving them by directing belief in themselves. For example, he once said: ‘Outwork your competition, outwork your people, outwork your cohorts, and even your classmates. That is why I always talk about BE DISTINCT or EXTINCT’. By giving examples of inspirational figures and by highlighting inspiring works he set examples for his wards to follow. Some of his prominent messages along these lines are as follows:

Yes, we are different thus we will make a difference Winners never Quit, Quitters never win.

You may think that you are only ONE in the world, but, for the world you are the ONE… Awake by insight; Arise by hindsight; Achieve without oversight; Astonish with Foresight

Besides these, there is also a very strong undercurrent to calling his audiences to be in the present, to have their ears to the ground and to be ready to grab the passing ball. On one side he, like a true researcher that he is, he remains at the forefront of knowledge and he communicates about what lies a step ahead in terms of the emerging future technologies, methods and opportunities, but one that is aware of both the ‘time value of money’ and the ‘money value of time’, he calls for an alert mind that is hooked on to the present.

Besides this, there are four core messages which he prods his wards to reflect upon. ‘Succeed with integrity, passion with compassion, mobility with nobility, and ability with humility’. Another quote he often shares is, ‘surrender your ego, succeed with your logo’. These reflect the important life lessons he always wishes to remind his students of. This message is deeply hidden in the karma yoga project that is unique to Great Lakes. The karma yoga project, on the surface, appears like a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, i.e., does something positive in the villages surrounding the college. But going deeper, one would see that it is an opportunity to instil in his students the values he holds dearly. The students, most come from other parts of the nation, have little connection with Tamil, which in turn, is the only language the villagers know. Most of these students have lived in cities, and, therefore, this is probably the first exposure to village life. And still, they set out in teams to work amongst the villagers, seeking to serve the young and old alike. Those who persevere pick up these important lessons of life, which Professor Bala seeks to impress upon his students.

…He is prime proof that age is just a number. In a very short period of time, he has established the Great Lakes Institute of Management as an outstanding Institution in India. Through this institute, Bala has imprinted his core philosophy: the academic and professional excellence can be built on a foundation that rests on human values. I have always benefitted from his deep knowledge, his insights and expertise that he has shared with me.

—Sunil Kant Munjal, Joint MD, Hero Motor Corporation Ltd

As a direct lesson for leadership, he would often quote from the principles of leadership that General Collin Powell enunciated. Though he sought to cover all principles, he would take them up at random to reflect on lessons the student community must imbibe.

…Bala has redefined age. He exudes all the 3E’s of energy, enthusiasm and excellence to an extraordinary degree. Bala is a walking symbol of how one should live one’s life to be always happy. He does what he enjoys and enjoys what he does. Bala is a self-contained and perpetual happiness machine.

—R. Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, Tata Sons

At the end of 2017, Professor Bala faced another major surgery. This time, his family wanted him to step back from his role. Professor Bala had two choices to either continue his role or listen to his family. He realized the need to find a successor to take the legacy of the Great Lakes forward. In 2019, he decided to step away and became Dean Emeritus of Great Lakes. He also found a successor.

CONCLUSION

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

—Walt Disney

Professor Bala passed away at the age of 84. He was an inspiration to the Great Lakes community and many who knew and interacted with him. This article documents Professor Bala’s journey to start Great Lakes and co-relates his design-thinking approach to the different stages of growth of the Institute.