<p><em><strong>Prof. M J Xavier,</strong> Former Director of IIM Ranchi says the newer IIMs have no option but to support the bill as they are dependent on the Government for funds. While the older IIMs cry `autonomy' and the government says `accountability', the truth lies somewhere in between</em><br><br>The reason why the discussions on the IIM bill has degenerated to the level of a street-fight among different stakeholders is that it has failed to present an overarching vision. Right now, it is a free for all battle. It is perceived that the HRD Ministry is trying to micromanage the Institutions through this bill. The Alumni and the older IIMs are up-in-arms to protect their exclusivity. The faculty members do not want to get out of their comfort zones and are fighting fiercely to protect their pay, perquisites and entitlements. The newer IIMs have no option but to support the bill as they are dependent on the Government for funds. While the older IIMs cry `autonomy' and the government says `accountability', the truth lies somewhere in between. Let me elaborate on these points.<br><br><strong>Autonomy and Image Dilution</strong><br>The main argument put forward by the proponents of autonomy is that why fix it when it is not broke. They feel that the excellence achieved by IIMs (sic) will get diluted. Unfortunately the way IIMs function now is far from satisfactory. Most IIMs are already in a mediocrity trap. Hardly any impactful research output is coming out of the IIM system. There are vested interests and mismanagement all over the place. Currently these inefficiencies are passed on as increased fee to the students.<br><br>The other major argument put forward by the older IIMs and their alumni is the dilution of the IIM image. What were they doing when the Government quietly added so many new IIMs. Reservation has been discreetly introduced for students and the same is going to happen to faculty recruitment too. Is it not dilution of the brand? What were these image conscious people doing when these major decisions were made? Why cry foul now? At the same time, there is no denying the fact that the proposed bill could bring-in a few more bureaucratic controls.<br><br><strong>Exclusivity Vs Inclusivity</strong><br>It is the older IIMs and their alumni who stand to gain by remaining exclusive. But they dare not speak about this as they know that the Government is keen to push for inclusivity. Instead they are harping on the issues of autonomy and image dilution.<br><br>Present Government clearly wants to be inclusive; but is using an industrial age model to reach out to a larger audience. Replicating IIMs is neither feasible nor can it provide quality management education to the masses. We need to think of information-age models to maintain exclusivity while being inclusive. I shall describe one such approach in the later part of the article.<br><br>Inclusivity also means taking along the newer IIMs in their fold. While there are more than 500 faculty members in the IIM system, there is a shortage of faculty across IIMs. The fault lies in the way we are expanding. We could use technology to reach out to larger number of needy people with the least resources. India has to develop its own models for delivery of quality education and not copy the West.<br><br><strong>Unanswered Questions</strong><br>How can we make IIMs inclusive? How do we take them out of the tunnel vision of a `business school' to a `management Institute`? Currently the focus is on global multinationals which suits the elite group of students and the pseudo intellectual faculty. It is easy to teach western concepts using western case studies and prepare students for Corporate jobs in the West. What is the contribution of IIMs to build Indian businesses? What have they done to address the management of social sector - energy, water, health, agriculture, education, environment and diversity? Anyone doing research on these are looked down upon by the elite faculty. Then why call themselves as `Institutes of management'? What role IIMs can play in the Government missions – Digital India, Make in India etc. Simply rechristen them as `Institutes of Business'. How do we make them world class institutions?<br><br>I am not sure whether the bill addresses any of these critical issues. The policy makers should set the direction for the Institutions. Instead they are trying to micromanage them. It is unfortunate that there is lack of vision at the Government level as well as at the Institute level.<br>Why can’t the stakeholders sit together to develop a vision to take the Institutions to global standards. Understand the priorities of the Government to be inclusive. We need to figure out as to how IIMs can be Inclusive without compromising on exclusivity. How do we make India competitive? What about social sectors? Can we contribute to policy areas - Digital India, Make in India, Smart cities, Infrastructure etc.?<br>While the Government is thinking of Digital India, why not include education in that? This paper presents a digital model for taking IIMs to the next higher orbit.<br><br><strong>A Digital Model for IIMs</strong><br>The new IIM Bill provides an opportunity to bring better coordination and utilization of faculty resources thorough the use of technology. For the sake of convenience, we shall put students into four tiers. The Tier-I students (those getting admission to top 3 IIMs) may continue to receive face-to-face learning, the Tier-II students (those admitted to other IIMs) may be given blended learning, Tier – III (working people wanting part-time course) can be taught through a pan IIM MOOC platform and Tier-IV (students in small town with no sustained access to Internet) may be given recorded video lessons on CDs.<br><br>The first step should be to set up studio class rooms with video conferencing facilities in each IIM and network through NKN (National knowledge Network). The best faculty in each IIM should be identified for each subject so that their classes can be made available to students in all other IIMs. The Tier-I students will continue to get face to face courses while the Tier-II students (those from other IIMs) would take advantage of the faculty resources through NKN connectivity in addition to their own faculty. Those passing out of IIMs (whether old or new) may be awarded MBA degree.<br><br>The second step should be to set up a common MOOC platform by IIMs and offer courses through the same. This would take IIMs to a much larger audience of working people. The bill should provide for setting up of a separate distance education cell which will manage delivery of quality management education through this mode. The Tier-III students who complete the required credits may be awarded PGDM (Postgraduate Diploma in Management). Currently individual IIMs are offering their distance programs. Instead the pan IIM committee can do a better job of offering the distance programmes.<br><br>The third step should be to record all these classes, edit them and make them available on the net as well as on CDs. Additionally IIM faculty should be encouraged to author lessons specifically for the offline audience. The courses may be dubbed in regional languages so that the same can be made available to Tier-IV students who have no sustained accaess to the Internet. Those who take up automated online examinations based on these lessons can be given PGCM (Post graduate Certificate in Management).<br><br>By this I am not saying that we can eliminate face to face learning. All formats of learning (face-to-face, blended, online/mobile and self-study) will be made available at different price point. 100% face-to-face programs may be priced at Rs. 15 to 20 lakhs, the blended delivery models can be priced at Rs 5 to10 lakhs, The online models can be priced at 1 to 3 lakhs and the self study model can be priced at Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000.<br>While this is applicable to the regular Masters Programme, the executive Masters can also be planned on these lines. One could evolve varied models by combining face-to-face, online and self-study portions to suit individual needs and price them accordingly. Through a judicial mix of face-to-face, online/mobile and self-study methods we can deliver custom-programmes to suit every individual. Students in top three institutes will predominantly get face-to-face instructions and will be exclusive. Using the revenue generated from other programmes, we can make offer many scholarships and fee waiver to deserviong students who get admission to to Top tier institutes. This will help the IIM system to attract the best in the country (as at happened during the 70s and 80s) to join the exclusive club. Currently we have the upper middle and upper class students populating the Top Tier Institutes which defeats the whole purpose of excellence.<br><br>Those who are skeptical about this approach only need to look at the banking Industry. Currently we have multichannel model for banking, viz., branch-banking, ATM, online banking and mobile banking. The dominant banking mode has shifted from branch banking to ATM and online/mobile. The same is sure to happen soon in the education industry too. Workplace reimagination is the big buzzword now. Same is applicable to education too. So classroom reimagination is warranted to be relevant to this digital era and Gen Y business leaders.<br><br><strong>Accountability Vs Autonomy</strong><br>In sum, we need to think differently and set a vision that takes IIMs to the next level. Accountability will remain a rhetoric if we do not set goals and objectives. Accountability in the present context is understood as complying with the norms and administrative guidelines set by the government. On the contrary, true accountability is when the Institutions work towards the vision and reach the goals agreed upon mutually by the Government and the Institutions; needless to say that Institutions should be given functional autonomy to perform to the full potential. <br><br><br><em>Write to xavier_mj@yahoo.com</em></p>
