'There's still a lot more to do'
Q&A: Rammohan Rao
| "However, there is still a lot more to do," he adds. Having taught at other B-schools like the Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore in India and at the Stern School of Business, New York University abroad, he says that the ISB is different as it mandates work experience for admission. |
| "Besides, we offer a one-year MBA programme which has become a popular model today. Other schools are also beginning to offer one-year programmes now, making us realise that imitation is the best form of flattery," he says. |
| In conversation with Business Standard, Rammohan Rao discloses what lies ahead for the B-school in the years to come. |
| What's the strength of ISB in terms of faculty and students and what is the kind of growth that you are looking at in future? |
| We have 11 professors as of now and will be inducting five more this year. Besides, we have five visiting faculty every year. In the next four years, we should have a strength of 45 full-time professors at our school. |
| In terms of students, we have grown to 347 students this year and are expecting the number to rise to 415 next year. |
| There are many who wish to join the ISB but are hesitant because of the fee structure (Rs 13 lakh as tuition fees). Will there be a change on this front? Besides, looking at the growing brand value of the school will you be looking at starting a two-year MBA programme for fresh graduates in the future? |
| Yes. Fees have been an issue. But a marginal hike due to inflation is inevitable. And about starting a two-year programme for fresh graduates, we do not have any plans on this front right now. |
| How is the brand value of ISB growing in the international arena? |
| We are attracting a lot of NRIs. We have 60 full-time NRI students this year. We have a student from Pakistan as well this year. |
| We are targeting south-east Asian countries like Sri Lanka and Bangkok now and are looking at having at least 20 percentage of foreign students in the next 3-4 years. This is a difficult task. |
| Most of the students today do a post-graduate programme for a job. So, what's the basic aim of ISB in giving a degree to already working professionals? |
| All the students at ISB have work experience. But many over here, either want a career change or wish to keep themselves updated with new subjects. Besides, students who have prior work experience seem to appreciate the programme better. |
| Whether there is a quantitative benefit in terms of a hike in salary for a student who passes out of ISB is difficult to evaluate. |
| At present, the ISB does not participate in the ranking of B-schools. Do you feel that the ranking procedure is not appropriate and will you be participating in the rankings in future? |
| None of the existing procedures of ranking B-schools is good both within India and abroad. There is no stability in the ranking criteria as well. There is a different analysis done by each research group. |
| Nevertheless, we will be participating in the ranking procedure, two-three years down the line. |
| What are the challenges that you think the ISB will have to face in the coming years? |
| Challenges include attracting top-quality students from India and internationally as well, getting more female students (at present around 16 per cent of the total number of students are female). |
| Besides, we would also have to ensure that we have good research-oriented faculty at the school. |