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Well set: IIM-K has carved a niche of its own in the management education scene.

The committee, headed by R.C. Bhargava, former managing director, Maruti Udyog Limited, will among other things, review the courses being offered in the IIMs in terms of their relevance and national priorities, look at their organisational and administrative structure and suggest suitable changes to enable them to “serve better the country’s economic and social development needs.” The expansion plans of the IIMs during the next decade, particularly during the XI Plan, will also come under scrutiny.

The government is also examining the possibility of formulating legislation for the IIMs on the lines of Institute of Technology Act, 1961.

At this juncture, the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIM-K), the fifth IIM in the country established in 1996, is confident of the path ahead given its past experience of transforming hurdles into opportunities. IIM-K director Krishna Kumar, in this context, cites an instance where lack of space that was hindering the construction of a 100-seater dining hall, prompted the authorities to go for a 500-seat dining hall across the road.

On the academic front too, IIM-K was trying to blaze a new trail. It was the leader or had taken leadership in Faculty Development Programmes (FDP) and conferences.

IIM-K was the first institute in Asia to launch an eMEP (Executive Management Education Programme), a distance-learning programme aimed at upgrading the working executive’s skills and knowledge. The eMEP programme marked the beginning of IIMK’s Interactive Distance Learning Programme (IDLP) activities.

Sanal Kumar Velayudhan, member of faculty at the institute, says that the institute has added two new modules — Strategic Management and Finance — to its IDLP in September this year. Two more modules, Marketing and Operations, will be added soon.

“Also, we are going to strengthen our FDP programmes further. The programme content of our FDP programmes and richness of its delivery attract people to our programme,” he says.

Dr. Krishna Kumar insists that what the institute is doing is what is needed. “It is not for our laurels. The development model that we are pursuing is not imaginable for a young institution like ours,” he points out.

The IIM-K director says that apart from starting the Fellow Programme in Management (FPM), the institution has embarked on the idea of promoting post-doctoral research and also knowledge development centres. IIM-K started the FPM from this academic year.

Dr. Krishna Kumar says that soon the fourth phase of construction activities will commence at IIM-K which will result in the addition of 2 lakh sqft. of space to the existing built-up area on the campus.

Its flagship programme, Postgraduate Programme in Management is a two-year long programme open to graduates of all disciplines. The selection is through the Common Admission Test.

The method of instruction for the PGP is a blend of lectures and experimental learning methods such as case discussions, role play, simulation, group discussions and projects.

An excellent placement record puts IIM-K on the international radar. A total of 431 offers were made by 88 participating companies to 155 students of Class 2007. A total of 21 students bagged international offers. The highest domestic pay offered was Rs. 22 lakh and international salary $110,000. Summer internship or placements is another arena for facilitating workplace interface. Summer internship is of eight to 10-week duration.

Students get a chance to apply the various concepts that they had learned at the institute during the first year when they get involved in various placement related projects. The summer placements this year was also spectacular with a total of 66 recruiters, including 22 new recruiters, landing at IIM-K to take in a participating batch of 193 students, including seven FPM students, for summer internships.

The stipend for the summer placements saw a jump of 25 per cent over the last year. Average stipend stood at Rs. 25,000 per month. Accenture Business Consulting and Boston Analytics paid the highest domestic stipend of Rs. 50,000 per month during the 2008 summer placements.

Saurabh Garg, a II-year student and a member of IIM Student Council, a body of representatives of students elected from among them through a non-political process, says that the facilities on the campus, including hostels and library, were satisfactory. Dr. Sanal says that the hostels at IIM-K are far superior to those being provided for students at other IIMs.

The hostels rooms include those having single occupancy and double occupancy. Every hostel has one television and a washing machine. Facilities for making ISD/STD calls are available within the campus. All hostel rooms are provided with LAN connections.

The institute’s Centre for Development of Digital Libraries has the distinction of imparting leading-edge training programmes on digital libraries, giving open access to archives and promoting internationally renowned open source digital library and e-publishing software. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has sponsored IIM-K’s ambitious digital library project. It houses about 20,000 books in print form, about 400 print journals, 30,000 e-books, 15,000 volumes having corporate information and over 12,500 e-journals from India and abroad.

The audio/visual unit at the LIC hosts about 250 educational videos covering a wide range of disciplines in management.

The Video Digital Library beams educational videos across the campus.

Satisfied with the current industry interaction that the institute provides, Saurabh feels that it is one area that the institute can focus on more in the coming years. The institute should attract more faculty in the coming years.

Also the intake could be increased a little, making learning from peers a more diverse affair. “We have a wi-fi campus. Facilities for sports, already available, should be increased,” says Saurabh. He sees the alumni also having a role in the growth of the institution in the coming years.

More than half of the faculty members of the institute have had international exposure.

Since 2004, faculty and students international exchange programmes have been on with several leading management institutions abroad including the European School of Management, France, and the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. During 2006-2007, four students from ESCP-EAP, Paris, studied at IIM-K. Six students from the institute have completed a very rewarding term at ESCP-EAP; one student completed his term at EBS with a full scholarship. IIM-K has been in its own way trying to promote development in and around Kozhikode.

It is now engaged in developing Kozhikode as an IT destination in association with other institutions.

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