If India has become the center of global attention, thanks to its market power, passionate entreprenures and bright managers have payed a big role. And Indian Institute of Managements have been for decades the mecca for producing these globally admired managers, and now entreprenures too.
Let’s begin this ‘edutour’ by remembering the genesis of the Indian Institutes of Management.
The seeds were sown in mid-1950s when for the Second Five Year Plan a committee under the chairmanship of industrialist Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar was appointed “to estimate the managerial requirement of future expansions of industrial and commercial sectors” The committee recommended the “setting up of special training facilities outside the Universities for greater flexibility and autonomy, and for quickening the pace of management training and education in India.”
Acting on this advice, the Government of India set up two IIMs – at Ahmedabad and Calcutta. According to the V Kurien Committee Report, Ford Foundation financed the collaboration of IIM-A with Harvard Business School and of IIM-C with Sloan School of Management, MIT. Both IIMs started in 1961 by offering executive development programs. In 1964, they started offering the two-year postgraduate program in management.
IIM-Ahmedabad
In its initial years, IIM-A was guided by the vision of leaders like the late Dr Vikram Sarabhai. The IIM-A website says, “It all started with Dr Vikram Sarabhai and a few other public spirited industrialists realizing that agriculture, education, health, transportation, population control, energy, and public administration were all vital elements in a growing society and that it was necessary to link these meaningfully with industry. The result was the creation of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad in 1961 as an autonomous body with the active collaboration of the Government of India, the Government of Gujarat, and industry.”
Prof Bakul Dholakia, director, IIM-A, adds: “IIM-A was established on December 11, 1961. Everything around IIM-A echoes the vision of the founders and the process of change they initiated.”
For IIM-A, the 1960s was the ‘Decade of Birth’ where IIM-A’s philosophy took roots. Importantly, while Harvard Business School was guiding the process of formation, the management at the institute focused on “the social purpose” while pursuing excellence in management. The 1970s was the ‘Decade of Growth’ where management education started taking roots and the institute gained broader recognition. It launched the Fellow Program in Management and introduced new Management Development Programs. The 1980s was the ‘Decade of Diversification’, when IIM-A expanded it range and reach. Three new groups were formed: the Industrial Policy Management Group, the International Management Group, and the Entrepreneurship Group Introduction of the Faculty Development Program. The 1990s was the ‘Decade of Consolidation’. Taking into account the substantial growth of the previous decades, the institute focused on consolidating its activities. The new millennium has seen an aggressive drive to ‘internationalize’. As reported on this portal, IIM-A has tied up with leading B-schools like Columbia and ESSEC.
Remembering the contribution of Dr Sarabhai, N R Narayanmurthy, former chairman of the IIM-A board, had this to say: “IIM-A was founded by a great visionary, the late Dr Vikram Sarabhai, to produce high quality managers for the Indian context. The institute has, indeed, fulfilled this objective in an able manner during the last 40 years.”
IIM-Calcutta
IIM-Calcutta was established by the Government of India in November 1961 with active support from Sloan School of Management, MIT. Eminent academicians such as Douglas McGregor, Paul Samuelson, Jagdish Sheth, Ravi Mathai, Ashok Mitra, Barun De, Kamini Adhikary, Eshwar Dayal, and Warren Bennis have been associated with the development of the institute. IIM-C shifted to its current campus at Joka, just outside the city of Kolkata (as Calcutta is now called), in 1975.
IIM-C’s collaboration with Sloan School of Management was short-lived and ended in 1963. SL Rao’s book titled From Servants to Masters? quotes The Hill Report on this matter: “It seems clear to me that the Sloan School of Management’s role in Calcutta has degenerated from that of a partner in institution-building to that of recruiting agent… Our present position is that of giving MIT endorsement to activities over which we have no effective control…” The Hill Report was also critical of geographical locations chosen to set up IIMs: “The locations of IIM-C and IIM-A were politically influenced, unrelated to the objectives.”
In 1972, the success attained by the first two IIMs led to the establishment of the third IIM.
IIM-Bangalore
IIM Banglore was established in 1973. In its initial years, the institute focused on public policy management area. In due course the focus shifted back to corporate management. Today, the flagship postgraduate program in management and fellow program in management are rated highly.
IIM-B also draws its strength from the booming tech-city that Bangalore has transformed into. The postgraduate program in Software Enterprise Management, which was launched in 1998, is designed for the specific needs of professionals working in the software and IT sectors.
Its International Masters Program in Practising Management (IMPM) is a unique international collaborative executive education program offered in collaboration with INSEAD, McGill University, Lancaster University and a consortium of Japanese universities.
Dr Prakash Apte, former director of IIM-B told MBAUniverse.com, “It is a matter of a certain degree of pride that IIM-B has become a premier education institution, contributing towards the expansion of knowledge base in its field of endeavor through research, through innovation in management theory and practice and new initiatives, including a Centre for Public Policy. Its guiding philosophy has been excellence through partnerships with corporates, the government and leading academic institutions across the globe.”
The next three: IIM-Lucknow, IIM-Kozhikode, IIM-Indore
Against the backdrop of liberalization and an expanding economy, the government set up three more IIMs between 1984 and 1996: at Lucknow, Kozhikode and Indore.
Situated on the outskirts of the historic city of Lucknow, IIM-Lucknow was established in 1984. It offers a postgraduate program, a Fellow program, management development programs and consulting programs. IIM-L is also entering into collaborative arrangements with leading business schools and research centers in India, Europe, Canada and Southeast Asia. In 2007, IIM-L took another bold step to set-up additional campus on the outskirts of Delhi in Noida. This campus is dedicated only to executive education.
Dr Devi Singh, director, IIM-L, told MBAUniverse.com: “From a modest beginning in 1984, IIM-L has now grown into a fully integrated global management school. The guiding philosophy of the school has been: create knowledge, influence practice and integrate globally.”
The fifth IIM was set up in 1996, by the Government of India with support of Kerala government at Kozhikode. This is what the vision document of IIM-K – which is headed by Dr. Krishna Kumar – has to say: “The Institute seeks to achieve excellence and a leadership position in management education and to become a major learning resource center in the Asia-Pacific region.”
The youngest IIM, before IIM-Shillong, was set up in Indore in 1998. In its rather short journey, IIM-I has carved a niche for itself: the institute has done well on the placements front with its average salary doubling in three years since 2004. It’s also plans to expand its students’ intake.
Speaking with MBAUniverse.com, former director of IIM-I Dr SP Parashar outlined the strategy for IIM-I: “We are the youngest of the IIMs. We were registered in 1996, and our first PGP batch came out in 1998. The journey of IIM Indore has been fantastic! We are a young school. But we have achieved many milestones already. IIM-I is a fully integrated business school that focuses on all four aspects of management development: Education, Training, Research and Consultancy.”
Students’ intake at IIM-I has rapidly increased -- from just 49 students in 1998 to over 200 students, and a vision to take the number to 300 students in a couple of years.
IIM Indore is housed in a 193-acre campus that is said to be the largest among all the IIMs.
And now some news about IIM Shillong
In a departure of sorts, the seventh IIM is called Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management. The admission process for postgraduate program (PGP) in management is in line with the other IIMs. For starters, in 2008, the institute has a batch of 60 students only, but it is expected that by the third year, the capacity should go up to 120; by the sixth year, it should be able to accommodate 180 students.
To quote the official release issued by governments Press Information Bureau on February 22, 2007: “The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to setting up of Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management at Shillong (Meghalaya). The institute would help generate globally benchmarked processes of education and training in management education, with state-of-the-art management knowledge.” According to government information, the total investment planned for setting up the institute will be over Rs 150 crore. The campus will be spread across 120 acres, and the Meghalaya government has agreed to give the land free of cost. Sanction of non-recurring expenditure of Rs. 120.67 crore, over a period of five years, and recurring expenditure of Rs. 45.08 crore, over a period of six years, for the new IIM has also been approved.
So the IIM journey continues.
May IIMs continue to create the great Indian manager, and entrepreneurs!
