IIM Indore
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore, established in 1996, almost 34 years post the first IIM, has catapulted itself to rank among the top 10 B-schools in India. It is the sixth in the family of state-supported management schools. Since its inception, it has been a leader in the field of management education, interfacing with the industry, the government sector and PSUs. This is the only IIM that apart from providing a broad array of programmes within its campus, also offers a Post Graduate Programme in Management at its Mumbai campus in Belapur.
Academics
The institute has divided its programmes into two branches — academic programmes and executive programmes. Under its academic programmes, the institute offers the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) in Management (Mumbai), Fellow Programme in Management (FPM), Fellow Programme in Management-Industry (FPM Industry), Five Year Integrated Programme in Management (IPM) and the Faculty Development Programme.
Under its executive programmes, it offers the Management Development Programme (MDP), Post Graduate Programme in Management-MX, Mumbai (PGPMX-Mumbai), Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP), Customised Programmes, Certificate Course in Business Management for Defence Officers (CCBMDO) and Broadband Based Executive Education Programmes (BBBEEP) for industry executives who wish to propel their careers by pursuing management education. The institute also has a strong student exchange programme with several prestigious international business schools.
“We also offer inter-disciplinary learning and research in our academic programmes by providing exposure to a format which integrates data, information, perspectives and concepts, from various basic disciplines aimed at advancing fundamental understanding to solve real life problems,” explains Rishikesha T. Krishnan, director, IIM Indore.
Faculty Development
There are over 85 permanent faculty members at IIM Indore. These include resident as well as eminent visiting faculty from both Indian and foreign universities.
“Our faculty members have access to some of the finest resources in their areas of interest which helps build long-term collaborative relationships with foreign faculty and institutions,” says Krishnan. He adds that at IIM Indore, faculty members are enabled to realise their full potential through the many initiatives offered to them. “Under our focus on participant-centred approach to management education, we have over the years, deputed 25 faculty members to attend the Participant-Centred Learning Programme at Harvard Business School, Boston,” says Krishnan.
IIM Indore’s Special Interest Groups or SIGs conduct various workshops, guest lectures and conferences for the purpose of acquainting the participants and faculty with the past, current and the future scenario of various themes, thereby encouraging them to undertake research with a new perspective.
Campus
The 193 acre campus is home to over 1700 students. The campus is equipped with various sports and recreation facilities such as auditoriums, badminton courts, meditation and yoga room, basketball court, football ground, swimming pool, table tennis, gymnasium, billiards, squash court, lawn tennis court, steam bath etc. The institute has several men’s hostels, women’s hostels, faculty quarters, hostel for married students, etc.
Industry Tie-ups
“IIM Indore has always been cognizant of an institute’s role in shaping the thought processes of its students and has, therefore, made social sensitivity a mainstay of its residential programmes,” informs Krishnan. The IPM students are required to complete a social internship at the end of the third year. “Students have to undergo a 6-7 week social internship in the CSR units of different companies such as Aditya Birla, BHEL, Tata Steel, etc. or NGOs such as Goonj, CRY, etc,” he explains.
What Sets It Apart?
“IIM Indore’s educational approach ensures that its graduates are well-rounded and competent leaders who have a strong grounding in both functional and industry expertise, a global mind-set, and sensitivity to societal issues,” says Krishnan.
The students have to undergo a unique rural immersion programme which enables them to understand the social context in which organisations work and exist. Experiential learning forms the core of the institute’s pedagogy where students visit a company once a week in the first year to carry out a study on various industries and key players in the industry. This enhances their exposure to organisations and provides them a backdrop for analysing managerial contexts of different cases.
Another example of out-of-the-box learning methodology is the Himalaya outbound programme where participants are made to motivate themselves to perform in an unfamiliar ambience and work as a team through outbound exercises conducted in serene locations in the Himalayas.
The author is a Mumbai-based education journalist
(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 14-12-2015)
