Good day, Dr. N. Sarulatha. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia.

Uh, yeah. Good evening. This is Doctor Charulata. I have around, uh, 14 years of teaching experience and around, uh, uh, four years of industry experience. I started my journey in teaching after I had my corporate experience. I was working in project management, billing, operations, serving the clients end to end responsible for revenue. Generation for those clients.

In a US based medical billing company. So after, uh, experience of four years in the company, then I moved on to teaching, uh, where I felt that is where my real passion was. And moving on to teaching, I felt my academic credentials has to be strengthened. And that is where I registered for my PhD and I also completed my PhD in management marketing.

With also my net UGC net.

OK. And over a period of time, I have been continuously striving to keep my academic credentials strong. So wherever there was an opportunity, I continue to do update myself through online courses or any other workshops, seminars and conferences. So keeping abreast on whatever topic that I have given and also at the same time.

I was also like, no, my academic experience is also complemented with academic experiences in various administrative capabilities in the NAAC accreditation committee, ranking committee, examination committee. And that is where with all this experiences, I was also moved on and worked as.

As a head in charge in one of my career journey, so this strong academic and industrial collaboration and always like, you know, keeping abreast of whatever in my specific domain has always like given me a good.

Growth in my career journey I have been.

I have also had the opportunity to work on various faculty industry interface programs and even one recent faculty industry interface I did with Craig kids where I we went to the industry, studied about their products, whatever is the requirements, understood their gaps. So this constant touch with the industry and keeping strengthening the academic credentials and. My research area is in social commerce, which is a recent trend which is happening.

And whenever there's an opportunity now, I foresee marketing itself as a.

As a domain, not just into core of like a theoretical paper which has moved further with a lot of changes like no moving on to marketing analytics, social media analytics. So I continue to do my research in the these area and also like you know, keep my foundations strong. Moving on further with advancement of technology as an individual, I have been very focused very specifically with. Catering to the different requirements of the students.

And trying to always bridge the gap between the industrial and the academia through all these activities. So I give a real time experience to the students and there is no skill gap that that is being identified when the students really go for placements and when they take up their own careers. So this is all about me.

I have been also like rank holder in in either during my college days as an university rank holder in my UGPG as well as like whenever I do continue to do my NPTL courses, I try to make sure that I achieve.

Stars again stars elites and get performance.

Awards in those categories.

Thank you for sharing that, Dr. Charulata.

Dr. N. Sarulatha, let us evaluate your specific qualifications and expertise for the role of Marketing Professor. We'll systematically review one area at a time. To start, how would you explain the role and importance of Marketing Analytics in shaping strategic decisions, particularly within a classroom teaching context?

Can I? Can I have the question again?

Of course. Could you explain the role and importance of Marketing Analytics in shaping strategic decisions, particularly within a classroom teaching context?

OK when it comes to classroom teaching.

Of marketing analytics it it it is a paper course which has to be designed as both theory as well as practical. So when it comes to theoretical aspect either.

To teach them a customer basket analysis or an RFM analysis, so we first go through the theoretical aspects, teach them the concepts. At the same time, we also make sure that the practical part of it like no using an Ms. Excel, the like know how to how to apply it in real time is being taught to them as a lab paper. So combination of both theoretical and lab paper actually helps us today.

Like no helps us to gain a, a good proficiency in the paper. And when it comes to marketing decisions, uh, that is how like when you teach, uh, teach it through the lab paper, we teach them how marketing decisions are being or marketing strategies are made. That's how marketing analytics paper has been handled.

Thank you, Professor. To delve deeper, could you outline a specific example, perhaps a particular case or scenario, where you combined both theoretical teaching and practical application to guide students in understanding strategic marketing decisions?

OK, the very simple task of.

Uh, teaching marketing decisions in that aspect, some when it comes to.

Understanding four piece or positioning, say for example, when I used to teach positioning, we need to make them understand what positioning is and then we also need to make them understand what are the different types of positioning. So a very simple activity that I used to do is give them a list of brands and also give them a positioning like methodologies. Strategies that the that the various companies are using.

So as a first step, I asked them to identify the, uh, brands, different brands with the, uh, various positioning strategies of the company. And after that, then I also asked them the next step, I asked them to identify what kind of positioning type does it come to. So mapping of this positioning strategy and what type of. Positioning that is used to gives them a real time exposure.

What are the various brands and it gives them an exposure also on understanding of course they would be already familiar because those brands have been already existing in the market under which class of positioning that they have belonged to. So this make sure at the end of the day to clearly understand the concepts of positioning and similarly if it comes to marketing decisioning. A very mini project that which we generally give is to understand the fourth pieces.

Especially like no with an unorganized sector, India contributes the unanimous sector. The contribution of GDP is more in those cases when we go down to the field and we conduct interviews among this small scale people, what is the unorganized sector and what are the four piece that they employ? It may be even simple, simple small strategies but there are so many like no small setups in unorganized sector which is very doing well in today's scenario. So understanding of this four piece of marketing.

And what are the decisions? How do they take those decisions? Give them a real time. The speed study actually helped them to understand reality, how good they made decisions on their four piece and what was the background? Because in when when we go for interviews, they actually get an in depth knowledge of about that particular company also and on what background they made these decisions also. So this aspect of. Understanding 4 PS through the field visits in the unorganized sector is one way.

How the marketing decisions are taken? The other way of understanding marketing decisions is say for example, we use Google Analytics when we use Google Analytics. There is a campaign that has been run in social media. How do we analyze the campaign? What was the performance of the campaign in the Google Analytics and what changes can be need to be done to like, you know, improvise the campaign further or like, you know, further run those campaigns or like no change the target population. And again going back after the campaign is done analysis of like in the Google Analytics from where the sources like.

You know different sources of leads came from which?

Gender, which country, which place, who were the users that they actually came like no got the campaign and using funnel filtration in the Google Analytics how decisions are made.

So all these marketing decisions which can be done through Google Analytics can also be one activity which we done for making marketing decisions.

Thank you, Professor. That provides valuable insight into your approach to integrating theoretical and practical teaching. Let's move on to another area. Could you explain how you approach teaching services operations management, particularly when focusing on its application in real-world scenarios?

OK. With the services operations management, there were two projects that I have which have I have tried identifying the gaps, service quality gaps. So we used to do a blueprint again which we asked the students to go for a field study or sometimes if required we also accommodate the students for the field study. So when we go for the field study.

We ask the students to draw the blueprint of the.

Deliverables and then we try to see what are the loopholes available or like no what are the gaps that.

Which we can further improvise on and this is 1 activity and before this a preliminary activity like you know, we can take them on a field visit like where they view the process of service processes like no what is the process that flow? What is the operations that happens in this scenario? And the other study which we generally or I have tried out is. We take different sectors and in every sector, Dubai students into groups through different.

Sectors and in each sector what is the benchmarks that particular industry has and if possible if there is any company, if they are doing any projects in a particular company. So trying to find out what is the benchmark in that industry and where is this company, how it has to head it upon, how to fix that or how to move further. So these are the few activities which we have done while teaching services, operations management.

Understood, Professor. Thank you for elaborating. Could you now share how you handle student evaluation, particularly when it comes to balancing fairness and encouraging diverse thinking in your classroom?

OK, student evaluation. We generally I prefer to confine into multiple.

Assessments. Not one single assessment or one single mode of assessment.

Few, uh, assessments methods which I use. One is the case study, obviously for teaching management students where where like no case study helps us like no to identify the problem, understand the problem and what is the solutions that they will give. So that is one way of assessment. The other assessments that which we use is giving mini projects projects in terms of. Giving a real time solutions for any specific marketing problem.

I generally go by the.

Or they can develop their own or their own products and develop their four piece for the product give bring out a model of it. So that is one way of assessment. So many projects can be either like no, to identify any marketing problems in a particular company or in a in any situations and then providing solutions or to like, you know, come up with a development of a new product.

That can be done, and as communication is very significant.

In in the marketing domain or or even in the service domain, there is a presentation of this mini project and or the model that new product that they have developed if any. So that can be like no presented. So presentation will also carry an assessment mark apart from the other assessment that which we use is.

Very specific worksheets that which we give to the students because when we give the worksheets, it actually helps us to understand how far they have understood the concepts like no, the basic concepts that which we have which we have taught in the class. So this is one way of doing it.

Your.

And apart from this, maybe some quizzes. Quizzes can be used and examination patterns is descriptive which is all the very generic. And beyond this, the next step will be to take them to the ER.

Like no participating in any marketing conclaves or seminars or conferences or any intercollegiate competitions which actually also helps them to give a real time exposure outside and meet it. It also gives us an opportunity to network with people. So outside college participation either in the industry or in the other educational institutes is 1 aspect and.

Uh, trying to, uh, assist them, how participative they were in the class classroom participation, how active they were. That can also be like no given a part of assessment. So all this put together worksheets, presentations, mini projects, its presentation, case study, solving, participation, networking and. A field study. Sometimes, like, you know, going out for a field study, interacting with the marketing manager.

That are like no having an interview with them, understanding the nuances what is really happening in the day say for example, if it's about sales promotion, if it is about salesmanship and sales management, like where they really go on that day to spend their time with the salesman. So like no present the interview and what are the insights that they got what is the experiences they sharing or developing a video so. Some of the projects sometimes can be.

Or you can make it as an video and present it or you can like know make it as an oral presentation. Or sometimes you can even write it and submit it as self report. So giving options for the students to make it as an oral presentation or a video presentation or.

Like given options you can present it.

As like no as a report caters to the diversity, even if it's for project assessment that will do so all put together, so will form the assessment for a particular course.

So there are multiple components that goes into the coast, not just one part of the assessment which has been taken as assessment.

Thank you, Professor. You've outlined a comprehensive and multi-layered approach to evaluations, addressing both academic rigor and practical exposure. Next, can you elaborate on your experience and strategy for guiding student projects and research? Specifically, how do you mentor students to ensure the quality and relevance of their work?

Uh, to try to keep it as much as, uh, real time if required. Sometimes, like, you know, we also visit the companies with the, uh, students to, uh, like, you know, have an interaction with the industry people. So we understand better the problems or the gaps to identify the gaps. Generally, the first thing that, which we instruct us, the students when, after they identify the company of their choice or we help them out or whatever by means they choose a project.

OK, with regard to students project, my experience was.

With an interaction with the company people, what is the problem that they want to solve? Identify the problem either by observation or to getting to know from the company or if they feel is everything is well in place or something like that, what is the area of improvement that they can be?

To identify a problem which the company wants to solve like.

Work on two major areas of project which I have worked as, one on the family business aspects and the other one is on the.

Uh, social commerce aspect with family business aspects, I had experiences where students have family businesses setups and many of these family businesses, like know students were trying to move away from their family businesses either because of intergenerational conflicts or they had some preferences for other career options sometimes. But they were also like, no parents who keeps on insisting them to further move on to some other careers because like, no, they feel that family businesses has been.

I've been coming down so in those cases.

We tried, we always asked to develop a model what their businesses, they want to take it to the next level and develop projects accordingly. Sometimes it was required. All these family businesses were like were following the traditional old systems and the intervention of technology needs to be done and this was done by this generation of students. So how can technology intervene?

And take it to the next level, maybe digitization or it may be the entrepreneurship to take your take their businesses to next level. So studying of the existing businesses, what has to be done to take up to the next level or to sustain the businesses where few projects which we have done with the students for them to help them to take up their businesses. Over a period of time from their.

Previous generations, so this was 1 aspect and the other aspects of projects which I have done with the students was with the social commerce or social media in both, both, both senses. So when students had opportunities to work with companies, we identified like no, what is that was required for the companies from the perspective of using social media, social networking.

Insights, their user behavior, building a brand on social media. So all those projects were like, no, I have worked with students since that happened to be also my domain in social commerce.

I was able to guide them through those kind of projects. Apart from this will be the regular marketing projects. Whichever the students have been interested, I have been always mentoring them and.

Uh, like no driving them to, uh, provide solutions which will be, uh, more practical and that can be implemented in the organizations wherever we want. And a few projects, we always try to motivate the students to publish this as research papers in, in the journals or like, you know, and even present it sometimes require, present it in the conferences. That is also being encouraged with the students so they have a platform in which they can go and take it.

And present it.

Thank you, Professor. Your mentorship approach appears thorough, with a strong emphasis on practical relevance and fostering students' growth through real-world exposure and scholarly contributions. Could you now describe your communication style in the classroom? How do you ensure structured delivery while also maintaining student engagement?

OK, my classroom lecture goes this way. A session classroom session goes this way. I usually start with. But the explaining the concept that is the very first thing that I do because obviously in a class we will have a diverse learners where where their learning abilities will be different. One learn by listening, one learn by watching and video, one learn by doing an activity. So when when it comes to a classroom session, the initial sessions which I start by lecture method with a PPT PowerPoint presentation if required, if it is supported by a video then. For those concepts. So whatever concepts, concepts that has been.

Yes, of course, I explained the concept of consumer decision making, the different stages of consumer decision making. The activity maybe today I did in my class was I give them some list of products, ask them to choose any two products, say for example a health insurance package or buying a smartphone or like no, you want to install a food delivery app and you want to order food. So give them a list of products and to select any two products from them and.

In thought I try to give them some worksheets which they can practically do. Say for example if it's a consumer decision making process I have been teaching so I give them some.

Identify what will you do? As an individual.

From the marketers perspective, how does the customer sees what triggers the need? Like what are the sources that they look for information? What are the criterias that they will use for?

Evaluation of alternatives, what are the criteria that they will use for purchase decision and what are the like? No, what will be the outcome after the post purchase behavior? What will be the outcome of it? So I try to give this as an activity in terms of group activity and also mentor students in trying to do this process. So when they do them by themselves this activity, they really understand how complex the decision making processes.

They also understand what each of the stages actually really mean to the marketer. What does it mean to the customer? At the same time, it also helps you to understand like how a marketer has to work on the different strategies across each stages. It doesn't close very simply with like no identifying the needs of the customer and then just marketing the product. The any marketer must be able to.

Know what is the process that they go through as a customer? What is the journey that they go through across these stages. So accordingly they able to develop their marketing strategies. This is how the session will go with the worksheet aspect. So if required maybe for some concepts like no where it is required, there can be there is a videos that can be played and depending topic they may not be required to have a classroom session. It can be. A session like, you know, with experts from outside.

From industries or from academia, preferably with industries because as academics we are be able to always support it. Expert lectures from academics or real-time visits to the field. Having a field visit where students go to the field to the market, say accompanying a salesman on a particular day gives a real time experience how how the sales activity is happening. Or developing some products designs, product designs using Canva.

And give some solutions for those things.

And as an assessment for the entire course like no, a mini project.

Can be given to the students which will also help them to apply the concepts whatever they have studied in the course and provide some solutions. Gives them a practical exposure.

Thank you, Professor. Your structured yet dynamic approach, incorporating diverse pedagogies, does reflect a strong commitment to engaging students across different learning styles. Let's now focus on your Ph.D. work. Could you briefly outline your research focus and its implications for advancing academic or industry practices in marketing?

OK, my PhD was in the area of social commerce.

So my study was specifically with the fashion.

Uh, segment. So, umm.

How everyone is using social media especially in today's scenario? I completed my thesis in 2019 but actually the trend is more now. We have a lot of people using social media and every business has started having their accounts with social media. So when you have accounts in social media, we use social media for so many reasons, especially in businesses they use for branding, promotion. Like having the visibility, social media is available.

My very specific intention of intention in research is how to monetize using social media if you are just going to use for running because at the end of the day for every business, this monetization becomes very, very important. How do you social media and monetize it?

So that is what my research was always intended to. So even in today's scenario, I continue to do my research in the area of social commerce. So at the end result is how does it result, how does it end up in the customer making a purchase?

So my study was an empirical study on the facilitative role of social commerce in consumer decision making with fashion detailing. That was my specific study in PhD SO.

At at a long run at a long run over a period of time. My intention is since many of them use social media, my intention is to get into research to in depth in more to make.

Topics of social commerce more prevalent and really something which can be used in businesses, not just the visibility, not just the reach, not just the impression and the engagement doesn't alone matter in social media beyond it.