'New IIMs not good for the brand'

The decision to enlarge the pool of elite management graduates by setting up seven new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in two years has been met with approval all around.

However, establishing an IIM is no easy task, and the path the government has charted for the new campuses can easily mean that the shade of exclusivity that sets IIM graduates apart will turn a little pale.

The seven upcoming management institutes will require initial support to stand on their feet, and the seven existing IIMs will mentor one each. The older IIMs say they are "keen" to help the new ones, but are also "apprehensive" of issues like faculty recruitment. All institutes are currently facing a major faculty shortage.

The older IIMs have already made it clear to the ministry of human resource development that they don't want to follow the "IIT model". Six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) opened earlier this year at the campuses of their mentor IITs, with whom they are also sharing the teaching faculty.

"We don't have enough space and we do not intend to share our faculty," said IIMAhmedabad director Prof. Samir Barua.

IIM-A will be the mentor for the IIM that will come up in Rajasthan.

IIM-Lucknow dean Prof. Nandy also said: " The fact that four institutes will be opening at the same time and will all be looking around for faculty - that too quality faculty - will be a big challenge."

Dr Pankaj Chandra, the director of IIM- Bangalore, said, "We are excited at the prospect of setting up the new institutes.

The government is already looking for a director and we will help the director set up everything else." That would include having systems and processes in place, helping the new institute develop its curriculum, programmes as well as the admission process.

Another worry is the remote location of the new IIMs. They are all coming up in areas that are not particularly well-developed.

That makes the challenge a little tougher.

IIM-Shillong, the latest entrant into the IIM family, is yet to start functioning smoothly even though it admitted its first batch last year. In fact, several teachers from IIM-Shillong have already taken up jobs at IIM- Lucknow.

"The institute is so isolated that it is impossible to find even a tea shop within a range of two km," said a faculty member of IIM-Calcutta, which is helping the new institute find its feet.

Mentoring also involves imparting a certain culture and attitude to the new institute.

For instance, IIM-A was initially mentored by the acclaimed Harvard Business School. The campus imbibed, and is even now known for, its informal set up - no strict adherence to hierarchies, a team approach to work and valuing work above all else.

Madhya Pradesh's IIM- Indore will mentor IIM-Raipur, which is in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, while IIM-Calcutta will mentor IIM- Ranchi. Prof. Nandy raised yet another concern. "Like it or not, the quality of students that the IIMs admit is bound to be affected. It is simple arithmetic. We will have to lower the bar in order to fill our seats. We cannot have vacancies." The institute is already required to increase its intake from 380 this year to 540 by next year to meet the increased quota for OBC reservation.

IIM placements, which often hit the headlines as students are offered astronomical salaries by corporate giants even before they receive their final degree, might also witness a change.

With more IIM MBA graduates in the market, the companies could well decided to tighten their purse strings, said Nandy.

The four first-phase IIMs will initially start from temporary campuses in buildings owned by the state governments. The 200 acres that are approximately required for each of the permanent campuses have been provided by states free of cost.

IIM-Trichy will be set up at Bharatidarsan University campus, IIM-Raipur at New Raipur Development Authority, the Rohtak campus will come up in Garnawathi village and IIM- Ranchi will be built in Mauza Nagri.

The admission for the management programmes will have to be conducted through the Common Admission Test (CAT) and will take some time to be put in place. So it has been decided that for this academic year, executive development programmes - including those in the public policy domain focusing on civic and municipal services - will be started for government, semi- government and the private sector.

The institutes will admit 140 students in the first phase for the IIMs' flagship post- graduate programme in management. By the end of the second phase, it will reach 560 students per year.

While the new IIMs are yet to shape up, the concerns that the more experienced and older institutes have cited cannot be brushed away.

"If the ministry really wants these new IIMs to flourish, then it will have to give these issues greater thought," said one of the IIM directors. "Mere policy announcements don't make institutes."

Management woes for new campuses

  • Seven new IIMs to come up in two years
  • Campuses in Tamil Nadu (Trichy), Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Jharkhand (Raipur) and Haryana (Rohtak) to become operational from this academic year
  • Campuses in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan will start functioning in 2011-12 as locations are yet to be identified
Old guard raises concerns

Faculty Crunch
Recruiting teachers will be a major concern at a time when existing IIMs are already facing acute faculty shortage. Good teachers, the hallmark of IIMs, are increasingly opting for private schools or foreign universities, which offer better salaries

Remote Location
The new IIMs are being set up in areas that haven't seen much development. That poses a big infrastructural challenge. IIM-Shillong, which admitted its first batch of students last year, is still finding it difficult to run things smoothly

Lower Standards
The quality of students is bound to be affected. The new institutes will have to lower the bar in order to fill up seats

Poor Placement
As more graduates enter the market, the corporates might just tighten their purse strings and reduce the astronomical salaries they currently offer to IIM students

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