Prof Prafulla Agnihotri

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Trichy is about to complete its first year of existence. PaGaLGuY catches up with its director Prof Prafulla Agnihotri to know how the year went. The most important takeaway from the short interview was that the job market slowdown may lead IIM Trichy to not expand its intake in the coming academic year.

How has the first year been for IIM Trichy?

Not bad at all. I could rate it 4 out of 5. It was important for me to have a proper academic campus which I have managed in the short time given to set it up. The classrooms and other infrastructure were also set up in days. The hostels were made ready within days too, not to forget the faculty and non-academic staff who also we got aboard in record time.

But there is more to be done?

Yes. To begin with, I never realised that there was no Wi-Fi on the campus. I just took it for granted that since it is such a done thing these days, it would be there. I am getting it done this year. Another thing is the library which will be up and running soon. We are investing more than Rs 75 lakhs on the library alone so that it has all the latest books and journals from across the world. The person manning the library will be someone who had worked with top libraries across the globe. Am going to make sure that digitally too we are abreast with the global scene. I will have bean bags and sofas in the library who says libraries have to be boring places with desks and chairs? And there is the new campus which will be coming up and I am not going to have the government agencies build it because if they do, it will look like any other government building.

Do you face any limitations because of operating from within the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Trichy campus?

Not really, NIT has been very helpful in every way. But we want to do things differently which I guess we will be able to do in our new campus. The permanent campus for the institute will be built on 200 acres of land between Bharathidasan University and Anna University of Technology on the Trichy-Pudukottai highway. But it will be ready after a few years. This year I will be installing generators in the hostels as there are power problems here and I dont want studies to be disrupted. I am also going to install televisions in the hostels. Since the female students share the hostel with NIT students and all our hostels are within the NIT campus, NIT students will also be able to enjoy these facilities. Besides, we are taking a lot of interest in landscaping our gardens and beautifying the place, which will add to the atmosphere.

Any faculty expansion plans?

Yes, we should achieve a strength of 20 by this year end. Faculty was a big problem for me and I did not want to start an IIM without having permanent faculty on board. I didnt want my students to be at the mercy of just a few or no permanent faculty when they are beginning their MBA life. We have already made offer letters to a couple of professors. One professor might even join in 2013 but spotting good faculty and getting them aboard is a continuous process. We will be 14 permanent members soon and 20 is the number we will reach by the time the new academic year is through.

Among the non-teaching staff, too, we have taken great pains to get the right people. We got 87 applications, we shortlisted 25 and finally took 3. This is just to tell you that we did not take it easy on any aspect.

Will you increase the PGP intake during the coming academic year?

I would love to, but seeing the global scenario, I will not. I also have to think of placements. No point increasing the intake if I am not able to give them jobs at the end of the term. Already the global market does not seem too good at the moment. If this momentum remains, jobs could be an issue. Even for the first year, I wanted to initially take 65 students only. But we got so many applications. Finally from 95, we got the strength down to 85. Of this, one left for IIM Bangalore which I was perfectly okay with and refunded his fees entirely.

Any changes in the admission process that you are planning?

Am doing away with the group discussion (GD) and replacing it with a written test. It has been proved time and again that in GDs, only those who are assertive and aggressive take over the floor. This year the interviews will be in-depth. We are strongly looking for the right kind of people to join IIM Trichy and the interviews will help us a great deal in it. The attitude and personality of the applicant will be checked at the interview level. And yes, we are looking at getting more women in class. Women definitely help diversity in class. Their views and approach to events and issues is often different and more interesting.

Does the ongoing IIM autonomy issue bother?

Not really, I can say that we are fully autonomous. The ministry does not really interfere in everything like it is perceived. We can employ our own faculty and we make our own rules.

Is IIM really a global brand or is it that only we in India think of it that way?

When I was at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and clearing immigration, the officer at the airport spotted the word ‘IIM’ on my passport and smiled. When I asked him whether he knew what an IIM was, he said ‘of course’ and that everyone in the world did. So that should answer your question hopefully.