Institutes can thrive only if they have freedom: Barua
The Economic Times, January 29, 2009, p5
INDIA’S top B-School, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), is waging three battles. Apart from fighting economic slowdown through innovative programmes, India’s premier institute fears losing its autonomy, if recommendations of a pan-IIM board are accepted. Also, it faces uneven competition from deep-pocket foreign B-Schools if allowed entry into India. IIM-A director Samir Barua spoke to Kumar Anand & Sushmita Mohapatra to assert that “government funding at the time of setting up the IIMs should not be a reason to shackle the institutes.” Excerpts:
How long do you think will recession last?
A minimum of two-quarters of 2009. But there is a likelihood of the slowdown continuing through 2009. Recovery from economic downturn may be seen earliest by January-March 2010 and the economy will take a year-and-half to be back on track. Markets would recover before the economy and the earliest sign of market recovery may be felt by early 2010. Factors like the general elections and monsoon will also hold back or boost the market. As far as Obama package is concerned, I think sentiments of Obama victory may not lead to any major improvement in the market conditions. He can make a difference by only coming up with plans that are radically different.
The RC Bhargava Committee (appointed by the Centre to study IIM functioning) has been critical about IIMs. How do you react to that?
The committee has made general statements regarding all IIMs, including the newly setup IIM-Shillong. Not a single statement (regarding enhancing brand image, improving the quantity and quality of research papers, etc) fits in for the top three IIMs (IIM-A, IIM-B and IIM-C). The report is not backed with adequate data. So, we do not get the right picture for IIM-A. Suggesting a uniform policy for all IIMs is, therefore, not right. Further, the credibility of the pan-IIM board as suggested by committee is questionable. Conceptually, it does not make sense. The committee suggests that this 15-member board will make policies while individual IIM boards will implement them. This will make it difficult to assess failure in governance (in measuring performance). We have written to the ministry that academic institutions will thrive only if given freedom to be different. They cannot be straitjacketed. With pan-IIM board having supremacy over other boards, it will take away the autonomy of the institute.
You seem to be critical about the entry of global institutions in the Indian market. Isn’t IIM-A strong enough brand to take on global institutions?
The Centre is keen on passing the Foreign University Entry and Operation Bill that will allow the entry of the foreign universities to offer education in India. As per the bill, these institutes will enter India as deemed universities and will be at par with private B-schools, with endowments as high as 3,000 times that of IIM-A. With the strength of international brands and deep pockets, they will pay faculty more and introduce scholarship programmes to attract talented students.
Do you think slowdown will affect the upcoming IIM-A placement season?
The slowdown will impact placements across B-schools in the country. But since IIM-A is on the top of the B-school pyramid, it will be affected the least. We think sectors like manufacturing, media and insurance will gain from the loss of financial sector that usually picked up huge chunk of students from IIM-A. Our management development programme (MDP) will get impacted due to recession. It is around this time of the year that corporate houses decide on their training spends, and in the current scenario, this is likely to face the first cut.
The Economic Times, January 29, 2009, p5
INDIA’S top B-School, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), is waging three battles. Apart from fighting economic slowdown through innovative programmes, India’s premier institute fears losing its autonomy, if recommendations of a pan-IIM board are accepted. Also, it faces uneven competition from deep-pocket foreign B-Schools if allowed entry into India. IIM-A director Samir Barua spoke to Kumar Anand & Sushmita Mohapatra to assert that “government funding at the time of setting up the IIMs should not be a reason to shackle the institutes.” Excerpts:
How long do you think will recession last?
A minimum of two-quarters of 2009. But there is a likelihood of the slowdown continuing through 2009. Recovery from economic downturn may be seen earliest by January-March 2010 and the economy will take a year-and-half to be back on track. Markets would recover before the economy and the earliest sign of market recovery may be felt by early 2010. Factors like the general elections and monsoon will also hold back or boost the market. As far as Obama package is concerned, I think sentiments of Obama victory may not lead to any major improvement in the market conditions. He can make a difference by only coming up with plans that are radically different.
The RC Bhargava Committee (appointed by the Centre to study IIM functioning) has been critical about IIMs. How do you react to that?
The committee has made general statements regarding all IIMs, including the newly setup IIM-Shillong. Not a single statement (regarding enhancing brand image, improving the quantity and quality of research papers, etc) fits in for the top three IIMs (IIM-A, IIM-B and IIM-C). The report is not backed with adequate data. So, we do not get the right picture for IIM-A. Suggesting a uniform policy for all IIMs is, therefore, not right. Further, the credibility of the pan-IIM board as suggested by committee is questionable. Conceptually, it does not make sense. The committee suggests that this 15-member board will make policies while individual IIM boards will implement them. This will make it difficult to assess failure in governance (in measuring performance). We have written to the ministry that academic institutions will thrive only if given freedom to be different. They cannot be straitjacketed. With pan-IIM board having supremacy over other boards, it will take away the autonomy of the institute.
You seem to be critical about the entry of global institutions in the Indian market. Isn’t IIM-A strong enough brand to take on global institutions?
The Centre is keen on passing the Foreign University Entry and Operation Bill that will allow the entry of the foreign universities to offer education in India. As per the bill, these institutes will enter India as deemed universities and will be at par with private B-schools, with endowments as high as 3,000 times that of IIM-A. With the strength of international brands and deep pockets, they will pay faculty more and introduce scholarship programmes to attract talented students.
Do you think slowdown will affect the upcoming IIM-A placement season?
The slowdown will impact placements across B-schools in the country. But since IIM-A is on the top of the B-school pyramid, it will be affected the least. We think sectors like manufacturing, media and insurance will gain from the loss of financial sector that usually picked up huge chunk of students from IIM-A. Our management development programme (MDP) will get impacted due to recession. It is around this time of the year that corporate houses decide on their training spends, and in the current scenario, this is likely to face the first cut.
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