Looking Through a Rose Tinted Glass: The Power of Iims

“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.”

            Looking through a rose tinted glass: The power of IIMS

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Like many MBA aspirants, he took CAT exam to get through the top colleges of India. He gets into a Tier 2 college and also comes on the waitlist of IIM-Sirmaur. He was stuck in a dilemma, whether to wait for a call from IIM or go ahead with IMT Nagpur.

Piyush did his research on both the colleges. IIM-Sirmaur was still in a developing stage, having a visiting faculty while IMT-Nagpur was fully developed with 10 years into the running. There was no movement in the waitlist of IIM, so he thought to go ahead with IMT-Nagpur as he didn’t want to take a chance of leaving out the opportunity to pursue his MBA degree.

A month into the program, he got well-adjusted in the college with good friends, distinct faculty and a rigorous course line to follow. Appreciation and recognition in small ways followed amongst his friends as well as faculty for his presentation skills and acumen. He saw himself developing as a student manager and loved the life at IMT. But within 2 months he got a call from IIM-Sirmaur. He called up his parents immediately to convey the “good-news” to which they ended up deciding that he should take up this coveted opportunity as it was an IIM after all.

More than 3000 B-Schools have been approved by AICTE but still students hold a prominent image for the 19 IIMS. Overall it’s believed that it provides a top notch education and a high profile job. Even the new IIMS have a handsome average salary of 12 lakhs per annum, enough to attract the brightest minds of India. IIM has been appreciated across the globe which adds to its prestige.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TO THE “IIMS”

The three oldest Indian Institutes of Management — IIM Calcutta, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore — were established many years before India embraced the market economy model. With recommendations that came from the Planning Commission and working in a socialist framework, they have functioned autonomously to evolve best management practices and, with some help from America, today figure among India’s best-known global brands. A recent study by executive search firm EMA Partners revealed that only 28% of CEO’S of India Inc.’s top 200 companies had an IIM qualification.

“IIM”, these magical letters have launched several thousand corporate careers, shaped the destiny of Corporate India and even boosted careers and marriage prospects. But is the magic fading? …..

"It's certainly a diminishing trend," says K Sudarshan, regional managing partner, Asia, EMA Partners. A similar study done by EMA Partners in 2009 had revealed that half of India Inc.’s top CEO’S had an IIM degree. Sudarshan recalls instances of HR heads of some MNC companies in the FMCG insisting on an IIM (A) degree as a prequalification. That, he says, is a matter of the past.

Even as IIMS struggled to meet the demand of a booming economy in the mid-2000s, other institutes stepped up to fill the gap. "Graduates of IIMS are becoming a smaller and smaller part of India's knowledge ecosystem," says Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education and former Infosys board member. "Of the 30 million students in colleges, eight million graduate annually. The IIMS would be graduating 2,500-3,000. Twenty-thirty years back, when the education system was smaller, the best people went to IIMS. Now there's a 50% reservation in IIMS. So many people are applying and you have to go through a cramming test to enter these places."

There is no definition of a ‘Low Cut-off’.  However, we believe that some of the cut-offs are so low that it is affecting brand IIM. We believe that those seats should go unfilled instead of being occupied by relaxing minimum standards in such a manner. Although, most IIMS prevent their students from revealing their CAT percentiles in their resume, it would be foolish for the IIMS to believe that recruiters are not aware of the state of affairs. Although the efforts towards promoting diversity are appreciated, the relaxation of cat percentile standards has also been noticed by them. There will be consequences that schools will face in the long term.

50% Reservation for students. People who get 60% in CAT (common admission test) are also making it through IIMS, now an additional 6 IIMS are added. What’s happening to the IIMS?

WHAT FACULTY IS FACING AT THE NEW IIMS

Mr Rajeev Roy:

When I came to know of the new IIMS in 2009, like most of the others IIM alumni, I too was unhappy with the government's enthusiasm for opening up new institutions and hoping that sticking an 'IIM'  brand on it will take care of institution building. Since then, I have heard a lot of people ridiculing the new IIMS, uncharitably calling them 'Timbuktu' IIMS or 'Baby' IIMS.

In 2012, when I was planning on changing my job, I decided to apply to IIM Raipur and I hoped to contribute to the institution building at this new place. I was accepted and I joined in February 2013. I spent a year and then quit in February 2014. In that year I was very disturbed by the way the institute fed off the goodwill generated by older IIMS and made a mockery of management education.

I must add that I speak only about the wrong-doings at IIM Raipur, which I witnessed, and I do not speak of other new IIMS. I have heard very encouraging news about the great things being done at Kashipur, Udaipur and Trichy. To counter the growing criticism, the management has gone on a hiring spree. Every six months or so, the institute invites applications for faculty positions and receives about 300 applications. They select about two or three and one or two decide to join. This year, from a reduced applicant pool, the institute has made a huge number of offers and about 10 have agreed to join. Obviously, this lowering of hiring standards will harm the long term outlook for the institute. This year (2015) government opening 6 more IIMS without even giving them proper infrastructure would even worsen the existing situation.