Department of Applied Business Economics

About the department

Department of Applied Business Economics was created in 1980 with trifurcation of Faculty of Commerce – the three well-established departments at St. John’s College, Agra namely:

  1. Business Administration
  2. Accounts & Law
  3. Applied Business Economics

The department of Applied Business Economics is a distinguished academic hub committed to advancing innovation, entrepreneurship, and research-based learning in Management, economics and commerce.

Vision and Mission:

The Department strives to:

  • Impart a strong theoretical and practical foundation in Applied Business Economics.
  • Promote research, innovation, and interdisciplinary learning.
  • Foster critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and practical approach to business
  • Encourage collaboration with industry.
  • Develop future entrepreneurs, managers, administrators, educators, and professionals dedicated to the advancement of society and the nation.

Programmes and Courses offered by the department

The Department of Applied Business Economics is one of the oldest and most prestigious streams in the college. It offers both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, opening multi-fold avenues for specialized and advanced study. 

The Department of Applied Business Economics offers the following programmes and courses for the students:

  (a) Undergraduate (B. Com.)

  (b) Postgraduate (M. Com.) 

  (c) Ph.D. in Trade & Commerce, entrepreneurship, and Hospitality & Tourism, Management, economics and Foreign Trade. etc.

Since 2004 the department has been running the Vocational Course in Foreign Trade (B. Com. Voc. Foreign Trade) with great success and continues to send students for summer training in Export Houses.

It is also a home to a dynamic community of research scholars engaged in examining contemporary issues in economics, commerce and management, thereby enriching academic discourse and contributing valuable insights to policy development. By integrating strong theoretical frameworks with practical applications, the department inculcates analytical thinking, critical reasoning, and effective leadership among its students and researchers.

Achievements of the department (since its existence)

Staffed by qualified and experienced faculty with research and professional expertise.

Research Publications:

  • The current faculty members have to their credit around 20 research papers published in reputed international and national journals
  • Co- authored two text books: (1) “Business Economics” with the ISBN 978-81-932034-8-4; (2) “Inventory Management” with ISBN 978-93-87970-98-4
  • Two Book Chapters reflecting their active engagement in frontier areas of research.

Conferences, Workshops, and Seminars/Webinars:

The Department has consistently organized a various academic and co-curricular events that promote research, innovation, and alumni engagement. Some of them are as follows:

  1. Organised one week Faculty Development Programme from 8th June to 14th June 2020 on Moodle Learning Management System organized by Department of Applied Business Economics, St. John’s College, Agra and Spoken Tutorial Project (An Initiative of National Mission on Education through ICT, MHRD, Govt. of India), IIT Bombay.
  2. Organised one day workshop on “Uttar Pradesh mein paryatan ki sambhavnayen Vishay- par ek paricharcha” on 10th November 2022, on the occasion of World tourism day, Under the Ajaadi ka AmritMahotsav program.
  3. A National Webinar on “PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING AND WEALTH CREATION THROUGH MUTUAL FUNDS” was organized in collaboration with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) on August 21st, 2024. Shri Surya Kant Sharma, Senior Consultant, AMFI (Former DGM SEBI), was the keynote speaker. The webinar was well-received by faculty, students, and participants from other institutions. 
  4. A Symposium on “WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES ” was organized on March 10th, 2025 as part of the International Women’s Day celebrations. Special Guests included our alumni Dr. Sumita Dodia, Ms. Pooja Mistri, Ms. Pallavi Gupta, Ms. Aditi Agarwal and Ms. Twinkle. The Symposium was Coordinated by The Department of Applied Business Economics in association with Women Cell of the College
  5. Industrial Visit: organized a study tour to CFTI and Purna Export House as a part of project and field experience for the B. Com. Voc. III year students.
  6. An industrial visit to Kalakriti Kendra, Agra, was organized on April 11th, 2025, as part of the ODOP research project. This visit provided students with practical exposure to marble processing and export operations.
  7. A Freshers’ cum Farewell party “YAADEIN” was organized for the M.Com. Previous and Final year students on 16th March 2023.

Students’ Activities:

The department is known for consistently producing university rank holders and high achievers in the University examinations. The Department successfully organized Student Cabinet, Freshers’ Meet and the Voice of Commerce Students a singing competition for the students and distributed trophy and certificate to the winners. Organized workshops: on “student development” and the other on “training on career in retail banking, insurance and mutual fund” conducted by the IBS Business School for students.

Student achievements:

  • Dolly Adwani D/o Shree Mohan Lal student of M. Com. Final (App. Bus. Economics group) was awarded Gold medal in the University convocation for securing highest marks in the M. Com. Previous. 
  • Balwant Sahani D/o Shree Kripal Singh student of M. Com. Final was awarded Gold medal in the Inter College University sports competition in Taekwondo and also selected for participating in the all-India Taekwondo competition at Rohtak.
  • In 2019, Divya Agarwal an M. Com Final student cleared NET in the first attempt.
  • Shivani Jain qualified for the UGC-NET Examination in June 2024.
  • Sparsh Verma (M.Com. student) cleared the NET examination for the third time (2022, 23 & 24) and secured Rank 17 (General) and Rank 2 (OBC) in the Delhi University (Delhi School of Economics) Ph.D. admission interview.
  • Navya Anand Porwal, 2023-24 M.Com. batch student, cleared the NET. 
  • Sakshi Chauhan one of the students of the batch cleared NET JRF 2024-25

Alumni:

Its Alumni have excelled in diverse fields like, Chartered Accountancy (CA), Company Secretary (CS), Masters in Business Administration (MBA), banking services, entrepreneurship, and civil services.

Industry Interface: 

Through the B. Com. Voc. program and departmental activities, there is an emphasis on guest lectures, workshops, and industry visits.

Commerce Association:

The department benefits from the college’s vibrant ecosystem of societies like Commerce Association, debates, quizzes, sports, and cultural events like the annual youth fest etc. ‘Self-Development Through Mutual Development’ as our Motto of our Association. The association has each and every student of the three departments as its active members.  The activities of the Faculty of Commerce are spearheaded by the Commerce Association of each year. The association plays an important role in making the department a front runner, in and out of the college. 

Objectives of Commerce Association:

  • To enable students to develop Skills expected from commerce Graduates.
  • To act as catalyst in the process of overall development of students.
  • To expose students to the practical aspects of business, industry and commerce.
  • To develop team spirit among students.
  • To develop leadership, entrepreneurial and organizing skills among the students.

 

Head of the department

Prof. Raju Thomas

                     M. A., M.Com., Ph. D.

Head, Department of Applied Business Economics

 

E-mail: rajutp316@gmail.com

Faculty Members (Present)

Name

Prof. Raju Thomas

Designation

Professor and Head

Education

M. A. (Economics) (Barkatullah Vishwavidyalaya,

Bhopal, Bhopal in 1993)

M. Com. (St. John’s College, Agra in 2004)

Ph. D. (Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra in 2009)

Research Experience

2006 – till date at DBRAU, Agra

Teaching Experience

2011 – till date (Professor, St. John’s College, Agra)

Email id

rajutp316@gmail.com

Name

Dr. Matthew Bhaskar Singh

Designation

Assistant Professor

Education

M.B.A. (AKTU, Lucknow in 2006)

M. Com. (Dr. RML Avadh University, Ayodhya in 2010)

Ph.D. (SHUATS, Prayagraj in 2022)

Research Experience

2014 – 2022 Research Scholar at SHUATS Prayagraj

Teaching Experience

2007 – 2009 Assistant Professor (Jhunjhunwala Business School, Ayodhya)

2009 – 2025 Assistant Professor (KNIPSS, Sultanpur)

2025 – till date (St. John’s College, Agra)

Email id

Singh.mathew@gmail.com

Retired Faculty Members

  • Dr. K. K. Bansal (1980 – 2007)

  • Dr. R M Kapoor
  • Dr. P. N. Asthana (2007 – 2014)
  • Prof. Andrew Prakash Singh (2014 – 2022)
  • Dr. Manish Masih

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    Contact Details

    M G Road, Agra,
    Uttar Pradesh 282002
    +91- 7599080224
    stjohnscollegeagra@gmail.com
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