IMC Awards for Excellence in Management Education

In 2013, to advance the vision of the Indian Management Conclave of documenting and codifying best practices in Indian management education, the 1st IMC Awards for Excellence in Management Education were instituted. Popularly known as IMC Awards, the platform was conceptualised with a clear mandate: to identify, document, and recognise the best-practices and successful initiatives undertaken by Indian B-schools across strategic domains, including admissions policy, curriculum and pedagogy, industry engagement, faculty development, learner-centricity, outcomes assessment, and education technology.

Over the past 13 years, IMC Awards have emerged as India's most respected platform celebrating innovation and impact in management education. Past Awards have been presented by the Former President of India, Union Ministers, Global Management Thinkers, and Business Icons. Award-winning initiatives have been published by leading global publishing houses such as McGraw Hill and Pearson, ensuring that the documented best practices reach a wider scholarly and practitioner audience.

As a not-for-profit initiative of the IMC Conference, the Awards uphold an open and inclusive ethos with no registration or participation fee.

IMC Awards: Defining Highlights

• India's most prestigious awards for Excellence in Management Education
• Conceptualised for documenting and recognising best-practices from Indian B-schools
• Unbiased, eminent jury evaluation purely on the merit of the nominated initiative
• Awards presented by Former Presidents of India, Union Ministers, Policy Makers, Global Thinkers, and CEOs
• Award-winning initiatives published by McGraw Hill and Pearson
• Not-for-profit initiative; no registration or participation fee charged
• Anchored to, and aligned with, the annual Conclave theme

The IMC Awards Process
The IMC Awards follow a rigorous, transparent, and merit-based selection process designed to ensure credibility and academic integrity:

Stage 1: Theme Announcement: Each year, the IMC Awards theme is announced a few months ahead of the Conclave. The theme reflects the most pressing imperative for Indian management education.

Stage 2: Open Call for Nominations: A nationwide call for nominations is issued to all AICTE-approved B-schools, IIMs and IITs, university departments of management, and standalone PGDM institutions. There is no participation fee.

Stage 3: Submission and Documentation: Participating B-schools submit a detailed write-up of their initiative, supported by evidence of implementation, outcomes, and impact metrics.

Stage 4: Shortlisting and Finalist Selection: A pre-screening committee shortlists nominations. Finalists are invited to make a presentation before the eminent IMC Awards Jury during the Conclave.

Stage 5: Jury Evaluation and Live Presentations: Finalists present their initiatives to the Jury and an audience of academic leaders. The Jury evaluates each initiative on innovation, rigour, scalability, and demonstrable impact.

Stage 6: Award Presentation: Winners are announced and felicitated during the IMC Valedictory Session by the Chief Guest in the presence of academic and policy leaders.

IMC Awards 2026 
The IMC Awards 2026 Call for Nominations is open. The theme and evaluation framework is given below. 

IMC Awards 2026 Theme
Leveraging AI for Curriculum and Pedagogical Innovation to Enhance Student Learning
Generative AI has moved from novelty to infrastructure in under three years. More than three out of four organisations now use AI in at least one business function (McKinsey & Company, 2025). As AI demonstrates the potential to automate and replace routine analytical tasks, employers are redefining their expectations of MBA graduates (Gaur et al., 2026).

AI has witnessed rapid adoption among both students and faculty in Business Schools. Several studies have highlighted the potential benefits of AI adoption in management education (Clegg & Sarker, 2024; Krammer, 2023; Mollick & Mollick, 2023). However, emerging research also suggests that unregulated student use of AI may undermine learning outcomes rather than enhance them (Bergenholtz et al., 2026; Larson et al., 2024; Valcea et al., 2024).

Academic leaders and faculty members are therefore grappling with fundamental questions about how to redesign curricula, pedagogical approaches, and assessment practices to preserve and advance student learning in the AI era. These questions lie at the heart of the 16th Indian Management Conclave (IMC). Business schools cannot afford to remain on the side-lines. They must actively shape the curricula and pedagogical practices that will prepare students to harness the opportunities created by advances in AI.

In this context, the theme of the IMC Awards 2026 is: “Leveraging AI for Curriculum and Pedagogical Innovation to Enhance Student Learning.”

Submission Guidelines
The IMC Award Jury evaluates nominations on three key criteria — Student Learning Impact, Uniqueness, and Applicability & Scalability.

Student Learning Impact: What has been the impact of the initiative on student learning outcomes? How was the impact measured? What evidence and documentation support these outcomes?

Uniqueness: To what extent is the initiative innovative in its conception and implementation? Does it demonstrate originality or a thoughtful adaptation of global best practices to the Indian management education context?

Applicability and Scalability: Can the initiative be adopted by other business schools? Is the model capable of being implemented and scaled across different institutional contexts?

Institutions are advised to prepare their nominations with these evaluation criteria in mind. Completed nomination forms may be submitted by email to [email protected].
 

IMC Awards 2025: Winners
Theme: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in B-Schools: Approaches and Outcomes

The IMC Awards 2025 saw participation from 25 leading B-schools across India.

Jury Members:

• Dr Varun Nagaraj, Dean, SPJIMR Mumbai
• Dr Arvind Sahay, Director, MDI Gurgaon

Winners:

The Awards were presented by Shri Vineet Joshi, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India during the Valedictory Session of IMC 2025.

Finalist B-schools included: GIM Goa, Jaipuria Institute of Management, LM Thapar School of Management, Symbiosis School of Banking and Finance, and TAPMI Bengaluru.

Read the full article on IMC Awards 2025

Past Award Presenters and Chief Guests
Over its journey, IMC Awards have been presented by some of the most distinguished leaders shaping policy, business, and academia:

• Late Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Former President of India (IMC 2019)
• Shri Ram Nath Kovind, Former President of India (IMC 2022)
• Shri Vineet Joshi, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education (IMC 2025)
• Mr Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India & South Asia (IMC 2024)

IMC Awards 2026 — Process Opens Soon
The 16th edition of the Indian Management Conclave 2026 will be held on September 18-19, 2026, with Artificial Intelligence in Management Education as the broad theme.

The IMC Awards 2026 Call for Nominations will open shortly. The theme, jury, evaluation framework, and submission timelines will be announced through the Indian Management Conclave website and on MBAUniverse.com.