IIM Bangalore, a first choice for many students: Dr Devanath Tirupati, Director In-charge

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
October 30, 2013
MBAUniverse.com visited IIM Bangalore recently and interviewed Dr Devanath Tirupati, Director In-charge, IIMB about his views on what makes IIM B a unique institution.
My view is that IIMs and quality B-schools need not worry as there is plenty of demand for top class MBA education in India.

Established in 1973 and located in India’s high technology capital, Bengaluru, IIM Bangalore offers a stimulating learning environment on its 100-acre campus in the heart of the city. IIMB says its mission is to “build leaders through holistic, transformative and innovative education”.

IIM Bangalore offers many long-duration post-graduate programmes, including the flagship Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM), and the one year full-time residential Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP).

While traditionally regarded as the ‘third IIM’ after IIMA and IIMC, IIMB has made strong progress in last 5-6 years, with a stellar placement record and a strong faculty line-up, making it a hot contender for the ‘best-IIM’ tag. 

The leadership at IIMB went through a change of guard when Institute’s director Dr Pankaj Chandra stepped down in September 2013. Dr Chandra is credited with taking many bold steps to make IIMB a vibrant and international institute.

Dr Devanath Tirupati, Dean (Academic), IIM Bangalore, is Director In-charge till the Ministry of HRD/ Government finalizes its search and appoints a full-time director. Dr Tirupati is a distinguished academician, having taught at IIMA and University of Texas at Austin. He has a Ph.D from the prestigious Sloan School of Management at MIT, USA.

MBAUniverse.com visited IIM Bangalore recently and interviewed Dr Tirupati about his views on what makes IIMB a unique institution.

Edited excerpts:

Q: Recently CAT numbers dipped by 7-8 %. Is this a worrisome sign for MBA education?

A: Yes, the CAT numbers have dipped. But for an institute like IIMB we are not affected. We still have a very stiff student selection process. For just 300-400 seats, we have almost 200,000 applications. This is better than all the elite western MBA institutions.

My view is that IIMs and quality B-schools need not worry as there is plenty of demand for top class MBA education in India.

Q: IIMB started out with a focus on Public Policy. Over time it has diversified into all areas related to management education. How do you see the evolution of IIMB?

A: It is true that in 1970s IIM Bangalore was a school with a strong focus on the public sector and public policy. Over time, we diversified. Innovation and entrepreneurship have become key areas of interest even as we grew our strengths in traditional areas of management. In the last few years, our thrust has been to be an internationally recognized B-school. This is a natural evolution of an institution, and I don’t see any conflict in our original vision, mission and execution. Without any doubt we are one of the eminent B-schools in India, and are fast gaining global recognition.

Q: From a prospective student’s perspective, when she has choices of say IIMA, IIMC, XLRI etc, why should she join IIMB? What is unique about IIMB?

A: Students need to make up their mind about what is their focus, and what is the kind of education they are looking for. Each school has its strengths. Typically, placements is what students consider first when they decide on a B-school, but they should look beyond placements.

As far as IIMB is concerned, apart from the traditional areas of management, we are very strong on developing an entrepreneurial mindset amongst the students. We have gone the extra mile and have done a few things to encourage students to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.

To promote the spirit of entrepreneurship in our students, we started the concept of ‘placement-holiday’ where students, after completing their MBA, can take a break from the placements to pursue their entrepreneurial venture. If they wish, they can return after 2-3 years, and participate in the placements. The entrepreneurial cultural of the Institute is one of our USPs.

IIMB’s NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Leaning (NSRCEL) conducts activities like teaching, research, mentoring, short-term programmes in entrepreneurship and family business, seminars/panel discussions, entrepreneurship facilitation initiative, and the most important of all the incubation facility for entrepreneurs.

IIMB students have opportunities to do short projects with the start-ups/ incubates as part of their course and gain some experience/ insight before they graduate from the Institute.

Bangalore is the tech and entrepreneurial capital of India with globally recognized businesses based here. At IIMB, we participate in creating the next wave of ideas and practices.

Q: Talking about Indian MBA education, while we have a rich history of more than 50 years of MBA education, we have fallen behind our Asian peers, especially China. Taking International Accreditation as a yard stick, China has 9-10 schools with triple Accreditation (AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA), while in India there is not a single school which has got even two of these Accreditation. Do you agree that we have fallen behind?

A: These are two different questions and I shall treat them separately.

Accreditation is a choice that an Institute makes. IIMB has no problem getting accreditation. And in this regard, I do not think we are behind China. It is just that we do not see value in having 3 accreditations.

Regarding research, yes China is ahead. However, you have to understand the context of Indian MBA education. India follows a much more democratic decision-making process in everything, including how our higher education institutions will be run. We don’t have a fixed view or mandate from the Government. Our institutions are allowed autonomy and freedom to set our goals. When this happens, sometimes, we tend to take far too long to deliberate about obvious goals. But once we set out to do something, we do a good job of it.

So I agree, our B-schools are not as globally recognized as we can be. But off-late there has been a strong realization and we have started integrating with the world.

You must remember that IIMs also have a social mission and responsibility towards the nation and society. We are not here just to promote businesses, and corporatization.

Q. So you agree that we are now more open to globalization and internationalization…
 A: Yes, it is happening slowly and is much more than it was in the past. When I was in IIM Ahmedabad, the questions were being asked about why we should worry about International Rankings as we get the best students who get best placements. But today the thinking has completely changed.

We are changing in tune with the changing scenario. Both IIM Calcutta and IIM Ahmedabad participate in Financial Times Master of Management (MIM) programme rankings. And so do their work-experience based PGPX programmes.

Q: How do you look at Dr Pankaj Chandra’s tenure as the Director of IIMB?

A: Dr Chandra brought a lot of changes for the betterment of the institute. He took a lot of new initiatives. IIMB is better placed today than say 6-7 years ago. So I think Dr Chandra made a significant contribution to IIMB.

Q: So today do you think IIMB is ahead of IIM A and IIMC?
 A: I don’t believe in these rankings! For me what matters most is if you are on the right path, you will become the best, and will get that recognition. Indeed, we are proud that IIM B is the first choice of many students.

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