Well known management academic Dr Ajit Prasad took over as the Director of IIM Lucknow in November 2015. Prior to joining IIM L, Dr Prasad has taught at India’s premier management institutions including SPJIMR, MDI, Delhi University amongst others.
IIM L is India’s fourth IIM and has a large second campus in Delhi NCR, which focuses on Executive Education. IIM L has recently been given the responsibility by MHRD to mentor IIM Jammu, which will begin its first academic year in August 2016.
MBAUniverse.com spoke to Dr Prasad on this vision for IIM Lucknow and plans for IIM Jammu. Edited excerpts from the interview follow:
MBAUniverse.com: In the backdrop of rising competition from other IIMs, ISB and other B-schools, how do you see the current position of IIM Lucknow? What’s your vision for the institution?Dr Ajit Prasad: IIM L is one of the top 4 IIMs in India and is an institute of excellence. From a modest beginning three decades back, IIM Lucknow has now grown into a fully integrated global management school. The Institute nurtures leaders capable of making difference in the management of corporate and non-sectors.
Yes, being in the top league, there is a lot of competition. We recently conducted an internal workshop to revisit our vision and identify areas of further improvement. Based on that discussion, we have identified Research as a key focus area. We have chalked out detailed plans for this. We want to be featured high on national and international rankings and for that research is an important area.
We don’t plan to add any more courses or increase class size. Instead, our focus now in on improving learning outcomes for our participants. We are reducing our class size significantly and taking many other steps to meet this objective.
MBAUniverse.com: Coming to IIM Jammu, you plan to start the new academic year in August. How do you plan to do admissions in just few weeks!
Dr Ajit Prasad: The responsibility to mentor IIM Jammu has recently been assigned to us by Ministry of HRD, Government of India. While the timelines are challenging, we have the requisite experience as we have already mentored IIM Kashipur, IIM Rohtak, IIM Sirmaur.
We have already announced the admission policy for IIM Jammu and propose to finalize the admissions by July 25. The focus will be more on quality of admission seekers. We have therefore kept high benchmarks for the admission process at IIM Jammu. The classes are to commence on August 1 at the Noida campus of IIM Lucknow and after one month in Jammu to avoid any delay in admission and academic session. And now we have the software in place already, what is required is the hardware.
MBAUniverse.com: What will be the USPs of IIM Jammu?
Dr Ajit Prasad: The state of Jammu & Kashmir needs holistic development in terms of higher education especially the technical and management education. Setting up of an institute of national importance that is mentored by a top IIM itself reflects a positive initiative from the government for promoting the region.
We will use all our expertise and network to build IIM Jammu into a good B-school. For the start, we have kept the batch size small – 45 candidates only. In near future too, we will focus more on the quality and profile of a small class size of 45 to groom the students than going to increase their numbers.
We will provide a great learning experience for students as faculty from IIM Lucknow will be teaching there. The overall design, quality and delivery of PGP will be to the standards of a top IIM.
MBAUniverse.com: Since Jammu is not on the corporate and industry map, what about the placements?
Dr Ajit Prasad: We at IIM L will be helping IIM Jammu on industry engagement and placement. We have high powered placement committee looking after industry linkages at IIM Lucknow. These will be available to students joining IIM Jammu.
MBAUniverse.com: Coming back to IIM L, where do you see the institution in next few years?
Dr Ajit Prasad: As I said, we are certainly amongst the top B-schools in India today. We are recognized as the fourth best IIM in India. We are at par with very best private B-schools. Going forward, we will further cement our position by taking strategic initiatives like enhancing research and increasing internationalization. Further improving our teaching-learning outcomes is also a focus area. So IIM Lucknow will further enhance its position as a premier management institution in India in coming years.
Related Article
IIM Lucknow Placement 2016: 100% students placed in 3 days; Sales & marketing steal the show
IIM Lucknow: shortlists with 76 percent weightage to CAT 2015 scores
IIM Lucknow new director Dr Ajit Prasad set to join by November end
IIM Lucknow summer placement 2015 over in 4 days; breaks its own record
IIM Lucknow short listing criteria for PGP 2016-18; announces 38% weightage to CAT 2015 scores
IIM Lucknow Placement 2015: Largest ever batch gets 100% placement; MBA market Upbeat
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on IIM Jammu
