Brand IIM could take a beating if it fails to find quality faculty as it grows.

The managements of the premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are sitting on the horns of a dilemma. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) wants them to add capacity. It reasons this will help in nurturing good quality students who may even take to teaching later, thus increasing the number of good faculty members. This would also help in increasing the gross enrollment ratio (GER), which stands at around 12.4 per cent.

Towards this end, under the 11th Five Year plan, the MHRD entailed, among other things, the setting up of eight Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and seven IIMs.

The IIMs nod in agreement. However, they believe that rapid capacity expansion could defeat the very cause they have set out to achieve. Consider this. The established IIMs increased their student strength by anywhere between 10- and 35 per cent over the last one year.

But where is the faculty to cater to the additional students? At present, the seven IIMs have around 400 full-time faculty members and need another 60. With four new IIMs to come up in the first phase (2010-2011), another 250 faculty members would be required. IIMs meet less than five per cent of India’s need for management education. They not only generate qualified faculty for their own needs but also for other management institutes.

“My concern is that unless we have adequate and good quality faculty, there will be no point in adding capacity. We are expanding a bit too fast because supply of good faculty is not there,” says Samir Barua, director of IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) which saw a 10 per cent increase in its student intake in 2009-10.

Much of the increase in student strength is because of implementation of the other backward classes (OBC) quota — another cause for heartburn. “After the Supreme Court order, we had no choice but to increase the student intake but this only increases the number of people at the bottom of the pyramid,” says another IIM director wishing anonymity.

Devi Singh, IIM Lucknow’s (IIM-L) director adds another perspective. He says, “Though increased student strength would mean that more students would get access to good quality education, two years down the line, at the time of placements, the job market will be under pressure and hence, job profiles and salaries could change”. “Infrastructure is another challenge because when you talk about IITs and IIMs, there is an implicit angle of quality,” adds Singh.

Even Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had earlier told this paper that “…we have to make sure there is capacity to spend. It takes time to set up institutes likes central universities, IIMs and IITs. Sometimes sites are not decided and there is the issue of faculty needs. So, though classes may start and students may come, a full-fledged campus may take time.”

The MHRD had stated its intention to establish seven new IIMs. Four IIMs were to be set up in Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Raipur (Chhattishargh) and Rohtak (Haryana) in 2009-10. The remaining three are to be set up in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan in 2010-11.

In phase-I, 140 students would be absorbed in the Post-Graduate Programme (PGP) course after which the number would be increased to 560 students a year once the remaining IIMs are set up.

Mentoring of the younger IIMs is another grey area. IIM Trichy is mentored by IIM-Bangalore while Raipur by IIM Indore, and Ranchi by IIM Calcutta. Rohtak is getting support from IIM-L. IIM–A is supposed to mentor IIM Rajasthan (which is slotted to start next year).

The task can be taxing with no regular director or teachers on board. For instance, professors from IIM-L have been visiting Rohtak on alternate days, reportedly spending nights at the faculty house in Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. The staff from Lucknow has travelled by air from Lucknow to Delhi and by road from Delhi to Rohtak. So there’s a cost involved too.

Allocation of funds is another issue troubling IIMs. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allocated Rs 400 crore in the 2010-11 Budget to set up new IITs -— 33 per cent higher than Rs 300 crore in 2009-10. The money set aside for new IIMs has been raised from Rs 3 crore (revised) in 2009-10 to Rs 25 crore in 2010-11.

The IIMs, however, are not happy with the budget. The allocation, they believe, is insufficient since the increase will be eaten by inflation and paying extra wages due to the increase post the Sixth Pay Commission. As a result, it could cut into the funds for refurbishing the infrastructure.

It took years for existing IIMs to be set-up and make a name for themselves, point out the directors. Hasty, unplanned expansion could cost them dearly.

Source: www.business-standard.com

The Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, has tied-up with three top Asian B-schools to devise a strategy to attract more students from the US, Canada and Europe.

Along with the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), ISB officials will jointly market the potential of studying management in Asia to Western students. All four B-schools, including ISB, feature among the top 30 in the Financial Times (London) rankings of the Top 100 Business Schools in the world.

After five months of meetings and discussions, these four Asian B-schools have now branded themselves as ‘Top 4Asia B-schools’, created a logo which depicts the same, have a common signature, and a website http://www.topasiabschools.com to achieve the creation of an ‘Ivy League’ kind of image for students from developed countries. The ‘Ivy League’ refers to eight north-eastern US colleges — Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth University, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University.

These ‘Top 4 Asia B-schools’, on their newly-created website, reason that “Asia is the new land of opportunity. This is where you should be…to be present to learn to address the challenges of today’s increasingly complex business world. And, it is what makes a vital difference in your CV and to the direction your career is headed.”

“Asian education has now reached a critical mass trajectory. It is in our interest to give students multiple options. Hence, we got together with the other prominent Asian B-schools to jointly market our programmes. This proves more effective than going it alone,” asserts Deepak Chandra, deputy dean of ISB.

Along with their counterparts from the other three Asian B-schools, ISB officials will sometimes travel together to North America and Europe, to promote their cause.

“This could be in the form of World MBA events wherein we travel together along with the officials of the other B-schools or sometimes in pairs. We also plan to participate in seminars besides using collaterals, etc. in the countries that we travel to,” says V K Menon, senior director (Career Advancement & Admissions), ISB.

Menon points out that traditional marketing methods like direct mailers, advertising, etc., are “prohibitively expensive”, hence “this strategy makes senses”. “We have a history of collaboration, especially in executive education programmes,” he adds. For instance, ISB has collaborations with some of the world’s leading corporations including a number of Fortune 500 companies, the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at North Western University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and London Business School.

All the top four Asian B-schools, including ISB, have an international standing, a pedigree and are well-anchored in their own regions. ISB enjoys the distinction of being the first Indian B-school to be ranked among the top 12 global business schools in the FT rankings. All its faculty members hold doctorates.

HKUST was established in 1991. Today, it is regarded as Hong Kong’s premier business learning centre and its MBA programme has been consistently ranked No.1 in Asia by The Economist and world No. 9 by Financial Times in 2010. HKUST Business School is characterised by a blend of East meeting West. It was the first institute in Asia to be awarded dual accreditation by AACSB in the US and EQUIS in Europe.

CEIBS, on its part, has the longest running MBA programme in mainland China and the biggest EMBA programme in the world. The school has 10,000 graduates worldwide and 1,000 are added every year. It ranks No. 22 globally by Financial Times and has been No.1 in Asia for six years.

The Nanyank MBA has consistently been Singapore’s No.1 MBA programme (both Financial Times Global BA rankings and The Economist’s MBA rankings) for several years. It provides a pan Asian experiential learning, spanning China, India and the rest of Asia, while allowing global experience as Singapore is home to more than 5,000 global MNCs.

Source: www.business-standard.com

ROHTAK: With no regular director or teachers on board, the show at Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak — the country’s ninth and newest IIM — is literally being run by a “flying” faculty from Lucknow. Teachers from IIM Lucknow, which is the mentor institute, have been visiting the campus for teaching students and returning after an overnight halt here.

For the last 20 days or so, two professors from IIM Lucknow have been visiting Rohtak on alternate days. The visitors, mostly, have arrived in batches of two and returned after spending the night at the faculty house in Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak. Sources said these teachers hold classes for two consecutive days — on the day of their arrival and the next day, before their departure.

The staff from Lucknow has travelled by air from Lucknow to Delhi and by road from Delhi to Rohtak. Till day, even by rough estimates, the visiting faculty has made 15-20 visits. Some teachers from IIM Lucknow’s Noida campus, too, have visited Rohtak. Dr NK Gupta, chairman, admissions at the Noida campus of IIM Lucknow, is the convener, task force, at the Rohtak institute.

The arrangement at the premier institute of management, which welcomed its inaugural batch of 50 post graduate programme students on June 30, is likely to continue till the time regular appointments are made here. As of now, the measure is considered to be the most cost-effective way of managing the academic affairs at IIM Rohtak.

Confirming the “flying” visits, IIM Lucknow director Dr Devi Singh, who is also the mentor director of IIM Rohtak, told TOI, “It (the visits) cannot be described as expensive since the course itself is very expensive. This is the most cost-effective way of running the academics session at a newly established IIM, which does not have its own regular staff.” All travelling costs, he added, are borne by the IIM Rohtak.

The students, though, seem to be happy with the arrangement. “We are not concerned with regular appointments (of teachers) or the mode of travel adopted by the visiting faculty as long as we are taught by extremely experienced management teachers,” said a student at Rohtak.

The institute has hired an entire block on the MDU campus, where classes are being held at present. IIM Rohtak’s building is still under construction at Garnawathi village, about 15 km from Rohtak.

Source: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Hughes Communications India Ltd and the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIM-L) today launched the first executive Global Business Management (eGBM) programme (eGBM) on the Hughes Interactive Onsite Learning platform. eGBM program will help equip managers and professionals with diverse perspective, leadership styles and skills required to lead their organizations in all economic environments. The course leverages use of technology and has been designed to be highly interactive which includes a judicious blend of lectures, case studies, assignments and sessions from senior managers in industry and firms.

Speaking at the launch, Prof. Ajay Singh, IIM Lucknow, said, “IIM Lucknow’s objective has been to help professionals refine their skills and improve the management of corporate and non-corporate sectors, through pursuit of excellence in management education and training.  This programme helps participant master new skills, develop global mindsets and leadership styles to move up further along their career. This new programme provides students with an extraordinary platform for growth, facilitating personal transformation that serves both the individual and the organization, while building a diverse business network that facilitates cross-industry learning.”

“Considering today’s industry environment, professionals look to excel in functional domains without having to leave their jobs.  Thus, executive management programmes like these give an opportunity to those who aspire to move into higher management positions. We have already had more than 25000 students adopt our platform to improve their skills sets and move up the value chain in their organizations” said Mr. Partho Bannerjee, President & Managing Director, Hughes Communications India Ltd.

Hughes has had a successful relationship with IIM, Lucknow with previous management programmes that we have partnered with them. We therefore, have taken the next step of offering this unique course as a first from IIM Lucknow to expand our engagement with them. ” Mr. Bannerjee added.

The case-based curriculum offered through the course includes lessons on global business environment, International business, global perspective on marketing and strategic management and quantitative techniques for executives who present a holistic picture of leadership with an emphasis on practical knowledge and personalized learning.

For more information on the course please visit the website http://www.hugheseducation.com/executive-global-business-management-programme.

Source: www.business-standard.com

The fourth batch of Post Graduate Programme in Management for Executives (PGPX) in Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has seen an average annual salary of Rs 26.1 lakh — an increase of about 30 per cent over the previous year’s average of 20.16 lakh. The fees for the one-year full-time programme is Rs 19.35 lakh.

Of the 66 students seeking placements, 64 have been successfully placed. “The two students remaining to be placed from the 2010 batch have niche skills and location constraints and have rejected one offer each as they are looking for well-targeted positions in specific industries. The institute continues to provide full support in their career search efforts by facilitating interaction with firms that express interest,” a release from the institute said.

“As per the norms followed by international MBA programmes, placement statistics are reported at the end of three months after graduation. Students who participated in the placement process received 1.77 offers per person,” stated the release.

While information technology (IT), IT-enabled services and consulting were the industries of choice for the batch, project management, consulting, operations and business development were the top functions chosen. Eight students of the batch are pursuing their dreams through entrepreneurial ventures in a variety of fields such as clean energy and healthcare.

The batch had an average work experience of 10 years with 80 per cent of the students having spent an average of five years working abroad. “The placements this year have shown that recruiters consider the IIM-A PGPX programme to be a source of top-notch middle to senior level executive talent. We intend to keep building on this momentum and invest in learning about recruiter needs and preferences,” said Saral Mukherjee, chairman of placements, IIM-A.

The batch attracted a diverse pool of recruiters from large multinational companies and conglomerates to small and medium enterprises and even start-up firms. Other recruiters included McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Axis Bank, Google, Amazon, TCS, IBM, Wipro, Mahindra Satyam, HCL, Infosys BPO, Polaris, Genpact, Hero Honda, Mahindra and Mahindra and RIL.

Source: www.business-standard.com