IIM-A plans to review course content, connect with alumni

Institute expects the contribution of executive education courses to increase substantially

One of the country's premier B-Schools, the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIMA) today said that the institute is in the process of reviewing the content of its major courses, significant changes are expected to come up by next year. Also, it expects the contribution of executive education courses, that already contribute a significant amount to the institutes revenue, to increase substantially.

Ashish Nanda, director, IIMA said that the institute would follow a three-pronged approach of Connect, Nurture and Grow in its endeavours to move forward. He said, "The vision of the institute is to educate leaders of enterprises who make a difference to their organizations and to the world around them." He expressed that, in the Institute’s endeavor, to move forward, it draws upon reserves of goodwill among the diaspora of its alumni, its reputation among recruiters and potential students, and the commitment of the faculty and staff of the Institute. “To realize our vision, the Institute is following a three-pronged approach: Connect, Nurture, and Grow.”

Ajay Pandey, Dean, Programmes at IIMA informed that course content for most of the courses including those in executive education, Fellow Programme in Management (FPM), post graduate programme in management (PGPM) etc is under review.

"We are working on content delivery, and can expect significant changes by next year," he said.

Arvind Sahay, dean, alumni and external relations at the IIMA pointed out that the alumni are an important stakeholder in the institute's future growth, and IIMA is making efforts to reach out to alumni chapters not just in India but also overseas and engage them more effectively. For that matter, of the total 92 full-time faculty members, 20 are from the alumni. Many are interested in coming back and teaching at the institute, even if for short durations. "The institute at present has an all time high faculty strength of 92", said G Raghuram, Dean, Faculty at IIMA, adding that "with growth in programmes, the institute would gradually try to reach a faculty strength of 100, and eventually to the sanctioned number of 120, over a period of time."

As far as executive education courses are concerned, it contributes nearly 18-20 per cent of its revenues at the moment, and the institute aims to increase that substantially in the coming years. IIMA also announced eleven management development programmes (MDP) for 2014-15 including ones like 'Doing business abroad', 'Family business:organisation, strategies, internationalisation and succession' etc.

On the physical infrastructure front, the institute has recently appointed a Mumbai-based firm Somaiya and Kalappa for restoration of the Louis Kahn buildings.