Established in 1973, basically to train managers of the Bangalore-based public sector companies, the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) has come a long way, and is now a global brand, what with top global companies calling at the campus every year for its students or foreign countries seeking to associate with it as in the Singapore case. The institute’s director, Prof Prakash Apte, spoke to Thanuja B M on its plans and the management education scenario in India.
What are your plans for expansion and increasing intake at IIMB to meet domestic demand?
We are looking to increase intake for all courses. Our regular MBA intake will go up to300 by 2007 while the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM) seats will be hiked to between 50-60 next year from the current 40 seats. We started offering the Post Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management (PGSEM) in Chennai in 2005. For next academic year, we plan to expand the programme to Hyderabad and the subsequent year to Gurgoan and other places.
What about new courses?
We are planning to introduce an executive certificate programme of 12-15 months duration in a year or so. It will be a part-time course of 12-15 modules and could just be face-to- face or could include online elements. Also on the cards is a part-rime programme targeted at owner managers of SME and entrepreneurs. There is tremendous entrepreneurial talent in India who need inputs, given the complex economic and globalised environment. They can’t do their regular courses and we have to help them in this manner. This apart, we will be expanding the recently-launched financial risk management and other executive training programmes.
The new initiatives could put pressure on the current faculty. How will you overcome that?
On one hand we are on the lookout for faculty. While we have a sanctioned figure of 90, we currently employ 70 plus regular faculty. On the other hand, we want to reduce the number of management development programmes (MDPs) we do. The objective is to get out of the low-level training and focus on senior-level management and directors while also cutting the pressure on faculty. IIMB does at least 100 MDPs on an average per annum and we see this number slowly coming down to around 70 a year.
The six ELM directors are meeting on January 31 in New Delhi. What will be on the agenda?
We meet every quarter. Things like admissions, its criteria like mandatory experience and cut off points, fees, new courses will be discussed.
Date: 25th Jan 2006
Source: The Economics Times
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