IIM Calcutta, one of India’s top B-schools, has a 100 per cent placement record because of the quality of its education, says its Director Saibal Chattopadhyay. In this interview, he speaks about how IIM-C has reinvented itself, its online certificate courses, new offerings such as Business Analytics, and the proposed Bill that will allow the IIMs to confer degrees.
How is IIM Calcutta reinventing itself in the context of requirements of the time?
In 1961, IIM Calcutta was set up as the first National Institution for Management Education in India, to meet certain national goals. The initial objective was to train batches of executives. In the initial years, we were helped by MIT, a renowned global institution with an academic orientation and an emphasis on theory and research. Our academic focus in the early years was more on theories of management.
Since 1995-96, the emerging need to create managers to meet the challenges of globalised businesses as well as developing a new breed of educators, led us to tilt towards practical aspects of field management as well as research. Classrooms were turned into thought workshops rather than simple lecture halls. IIM Calcutta also introduced the research fellowship programme. ‘Content’ was complemented with ‘Context’ and our reputation for holistic management training got enhanced.
Is the proposed legislation (Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2015) going to bring in good changes?
The proposed enactment will immensely help our students and researchers. They can be conferred post-graduate and PhD degrees in management. While the post-graduate diploma and fellowship currently offered by us is well recognised in India, the world still needs confirmation about their equivalence to degrees. Once the legislation is in place, students will no longer have to struggle to convince the world that the diploma and fellowship they obtain from the Institute are equivalent to what other institutions or universities confer.
Will massive open online courses (MOOCs) prove to be game-changers in imparting management education?
Conceptually, MOOC courses are free. Research has shown that the average attention span of students is going down. Thus individuals need to pace their education as per their own comfort. MOOCs allow for this in an optimal fashion. The course conductors do not look at the student’s background. One has to register with the Web-based portals that have arrangements with the course provider and then take up courses of their choice. The classroom situation, project work and timings are just the same as the physical management courses. The students are free to quit any time.
The emerging business model for running MOOCs suggests that the assessment and certificates or degrees will be at a cost. But this cost will be far lower than that required to take part in a physical programme at the same institution. The numbers will justify the revenue potential. There lies the revenue model for providers of such free courses. Initial investments for setting up the technical infrastructure to deliver the courses are enormous – in the range of millions of dollars.
Are you considering such an initiative?
Some of our faculty colleagues are exploring the possibility of offering online courses through SWAYAM, the MHRD MOOC initiative. It is essentially a teacher-oriented initiative. The professors will develop particular courses and methodology. The Government will bear the cost for this project. IIM Calcutta will be a facilitator.
We have also joined IIT Kanpur’s MOOC initiative on agribusiness management. We are developing courses and modules for it.
IIM Calcutta has been offering online courses for working executives for some time…
Yes, we have been offering online one-year certificate courses since 2003. Currently, 20-25 per cent of our revenue comes from these programmes, euphemistically called long-duration programmes (LDP) for working executives. About 19 such courses on various disciplines such as finance, marketing, public policy or human resources in specialised subjects like analytics and health care management are conducted through 50-plus centres run by service providers across the country.
We also offer courses in Dubai, and are exploring other markets in Singapore and Malaysia.
The course fees are substantially lower than the diploma courses. However, in terms of content and assessment, these courses are certainly not any lighter than our diploma courses.
Which are the new courses IIM Calcutta has tailored for the present business environment?
In 2014-15, we started a two-year diploma course on data science (or Business Analytics) in collaboration with the Indian Statistical Institute and IIT Kharagpur. In this collaborative programme, the first such in India, ISI will provide foundations in mathematical and statistical tools and techniques, IIT Kharagpur will train students on relevant technology and IIM Calcutta will teach management and integration of data science in business.
How has your placement record been of late?
We have been achieving 100 per cent placements. For us placement is only a part of the course outcome. We don’t gear our academic activity keeping in mind the placement factor. Placements happen as a consequence of our quality education. The economic slowdown, a couple of years back, however, forced us to extend our placement programme from what is usually a two-and-a-half day affair to five days.
How you are taking forward your initiative on entrepreneur incubation?
The Department of Science & Technology has allowed a fund of ₹7 crore to extend the incubation initiative. So far, with our own resources, we have started the programme with facility for mentoring, physical infrastructure and administrative support. Four entrepreneurs, chosen by a competitive test and a panel of Mentors, have benefited from the opportunity. The DST funding will help us enlarge the number of such aspiring entrepreneurs to around 20 and enable us to offer seed funding.
When will the IIM Calcutta-mentored Indian Institute of Management at Bodh Gaya come up?
The IIM at Bodh Gaya is likely to be operational in August – on Independence Day. The temporary campus is ready. About 6,000 CAT qualifiers have opted for Bodh Gaya in Bihar. A section of IIM Calcutta faculty will be engaged in the dual role of teaching here as well as at Bodh Gaya in the initial years. IIM Calcutta has been mentoring the IIM at Ranchi, which opened six years ago.
Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty