IIMA's student body solves industry issues

With industry stalwarts like Amazon, General Electric, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and the RPG group turning to the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A)'s student run body for consultancy, the Forum For Industry Interaction (FII) has received a 32 per cent rating in exceeding client expectations.

As many as 28 teams, consisting of IIM-A students, were busy solving critical problems faced by the Industry during 2010-11. from all major domains including strategy, finance, marketing, systems, organisation behaviour and operations.

"The quality of solutions provided is reflected in the fact that 32 per cent of the teams exceeded client expectations, and 54 per cent of the teams were rated 'good' by the clients," said Siddhartha Bhargava, a PGP student and secretary, FII.

FII aims to form a successful partnership between the students and the industry, and NGOs and boasts of a clientele consisting of industry stalwarts like Amazon, General Electric, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and the RPG group. In 2010-11, they undertook their first international project, for a Japanese firm.

The FII organises teams of participants from its flagship two year post graduate program (PGP), post graduate program for executives (PGP-X) and the doctoral program (FPM) to solve critical problems faced by the industry.

There is a continuous and exhaustive review process which involves inputs and feedback from the faculty, and the more experienced PGP-X participants.

"We have access to abundant, and unparalleled, intellectual resources, and experiences at IIM-A, which we strive to bring together to provide cutting edge solutions to Indian and global enterprises. We have a proven self regulating mechanism to ensure that our clients receive quality solutions that are innovative and pragmatic," says Siddhartha Bhargava, a PGP student who is the current FII Secretary. More than 350 students have been part of consultant pool with CSI scores of 4-5 in majority of cases.