Delivering his address at the convocation on March 26, Dr Apte said, “We are poised to enter a new phase of growth. The institute has initiated steps to make necessary amendments in the Memorandum of Association with a view to expanding and diversifying its portfolio of academic, research, training, consulting and other activities both within and outside India. This is expected to open up new and exciting opportunities in the global arena… Two sub-committees constituted by the board are giving shape to the short-term and long-term vision that will guide the institute to the next level of growth.”
Dr Apte said the institute is responding to the growing demand for quality management education number and implementation of the new reservation policy by adding more seats. “IIMB has planned to increase the PGP intake in a phased manner over the next three years. This has been done in view of the limitations that exist in infrastructure and faculty,” he said, adding that the institute was hopeful of ‘substantial support’ from the government.
Taking about student exchange programs, he said that IIM-B has tie-ups with 68 partner institutes in 24 countries spread over Asia, Australia, Europe, the US, and Canada. This year, as many as 81 students, including 64 PGP and 17 PGSEM students, spent a term at the partner schools. And 87 students from these international schools spent a term at IIM Bangalore as well. “Exchange programs are aimed at providing a cross-cultural exposure and a global perspective. They are becoming increasingly popular with the students of IIM-B and with those from its partner institutes,” Dr Apte said.
IIM-B achieved good placement results this year. “As in the past, IIM-Bangalore is a favorite institute amongst national as well as international recruiters. The increasing number of global recruiters bears ample testimony. Not surprisingly, the number of overseas postings have registered a significant increase over the past year,” he said proudly.
Dr Apte also announced additional seats in the Postgraduate Program in Software Enterprise Management (PGSEM) which is designed to meet the specific needs of Indian software professionals. While this year 104 students passed out of PGSEM, the intake will increase to 150 in the next academic year. “In view of the growing demand and popularity of PGSEM, we have decided to diversify the program to off-campus locations and other modes of delivery. The intake in PGSEM has been increased to 150 by adding a 2nd distributed classroom in Bangalore and Chennai,” he announced.
Another feather in IIM-B’s cap was that its Centre for Public Policy bagged the coveted opportunity to design and deliver public policy training to mid-career officers from the Indian Administrative Service. IIM-B was chosen following an exhaustive global search that spanned a year. The Centre for Public Policy, in alliance with the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, will further add to the policy analysis and policy process skills of civil service officers. This program will be inaugurated on April 22 this year at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.
In the field of executive education, IIM-B continues to do well. Dr Apte shared that IIM-B conducted 144 executive education programs this year: “In the executive education programs, our emphasis has been on Corporate Partnership Programs where the company enters into a long-term partnership.” Currently, blue-chip companies like Reliance, Siemens, Indian Hotels, L&T, Apollo Health, HLL, ABB and Cognizant Technology are corporate partners in IIM-B’s executive education programs.
IIM-B’s Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) is also making a significant contribution to entrepreneurial thinking. NSRCEL has launched a counseling and advisory service for businesses ranging from managing BPOs, to developing software, textiles, educational tools, wireless and mobile technology, law, jewellery and even Ayurvedic medicines. The center also runs a six-weeks management program for women entrepreneurs. Said Dr Apte: “It’s an effort to encourage, empower and educate women entrepreneurs to create business enterprises. This program is specifically designed for women entrepreneurs who are interested in starting their first business enterprise and focuses on enabling them to identify viable business opportunities and develop a business plan for their proposed enterprise.” The fourth such program is underway.
Dr Apte shared that there were ten ‘endowed Chairs’ at IIM-B: the BOC Chair in Business Policy, the Jamuna Raghavan Chair in Entrepreneurship, the RBI Chair in Infrastructure Management, the Sir Ratan Tata Chair on Civil Society and Globalization, the Surrendra Paul Memorial Chair in Systems, the UTI Chair in Capital Market Studies, the Wipro Chair in Management, the Hewlett-Packard Chair in ICT in Sustainable Economic Development, the Ministry of Human Resource Development Chair in IPR and the Indian Railway Accounts Service Platinum Jubilee Chair in Railway Finance.
He further noted that there are several initiatives where IIM-B was making good progress – like in the Fellow Program in Management, the Microfinance Group, the Centre for Supply Chain Management and several other such faculty and students’ initiatives.
