Dr. C. Gopalkrishnan, Director Institute of Management-NIRMA University wants to stabilize the current expansion in the institute before starting the institute’s very own Management Development Center. He also wants to start MBA programs in sectors such as health care and tourism as he believes that growth in niche sectors need a management backing. In the interview he talks about the salient features of IM-NU

What is the unique principle followed by Institute of Management-Nirma University?

IM-NU is an institute for social responsibility and is thus a not for profit establishment. The fees charged for a particular course only covers costs and there is no surplus. All the institutes in Nirma University strive to provide quality education rather than make profit. We also strive to make the students aware of their surroundings so that they become decision makers and managers.

What are the steps taken to make the students socially aware?

In the MBA program, the students have to necessarily work with a non-government organization (NGO) and make real contribution there. This is arranged by the institute. They teach the workers in the canteen,the construction laborers and their children to read and write on a daily basis even though they have their own hectic schedule to follow. They also keep conducting blood donations camps, art of living courses to develop an understanding of India.

IM-NU has recently increased the number of seats from 120 to 180. Do we see a decrease in the percentile cut off in CAT too?

The seats have been increased by 60 but the percentile cut off in CAT will remain the same that is at 90 percentile and above.

What do you look for in a candidate at the GD-PI stage of the admission process?

When a candidate is invited for a GD-PI session at IM-NU we look for qualities such as good communication skills, his knowledge of his own domain, general awareness and most importantly his leadership qualities.

Are existing students from NIRMA university preferred over candidates from other universities?

Our aim is to get the best candidates in the institute from across the country, thus there is no preference given to any student or university. We want the MBA class to have good diversity so that students can learn more about their country as a whole.

Please tell us more about the Family Business and Entrepreneurship MBA Program. How is it different from the regular MBA program?

The Family Business MBA program is for candidates who already have a business running in the family. In the first year of this program, the students are taught the general principles of management and in the next year they are supposed to prepare a workable, bankable business plan. This program essentially helps students to either expand their current businesses or start new ones. It is different from the regular MBA because a) We do not let the students from the Family Business and Entrepreneurship MBA program to sit for placements, thus they have to necessarily return to their existing set ups and b) The curriculum of this program stresses more on small scale business management, entrepreneurship and other such courses. The curriculum has been designed by talking to existing entrepreneurs and from the curriculum followed by schools (mainly in the west) who have the same programs.

What is the strength of the faculty at IM-NU? How do you make sure that the students get the best of the teachers?

We have currently 31 faculty members on board with us. Counting all internal and visiting faculty, the student to faculty ratio in the institute is around 1:10. 65 percent of the faculty have completed their PhDs and we are looking over a period of a year and a half for 100 percent of them to complete their PhDs. There is an elaborate performance management system for the faculty and we rate them according to the feedback given by the students, their research work and publications. We also do not burden the faculty with a large number of courses so that they may deliver their best.

How often is the curriculum revised in the institute? Have you added or deleted any courses due to the recession?

We have a system in place for totally revamping the curriculum every two years; however we do not bring in changes in it due to an incident. Minor changes though are initiated by the faculty and it follows a process of being discussed by alumni, industry experts before finding its way into the classrooms. To keep the students updated of the recent happenings in the business world we keep organizing regular conclaves and lectures by experts.

What about placements? In comparison to the past year, what are you expecting the situation to be this year?

In Placements 2008, although eventually we placed 100 percent of the students, we could only place 70 percent of the batch during the scheduled ‘placement week’. However things are looking up in 2009 with many companies agreeing to come to campus for placements. Last year, 25 percent of the batch was placed in PSUs and we are hoping the trend will continue this year too. Placement 2009 will surely be easier than 2008.

There is a general perception amongst the people that IM-NU does not favor candidates with work experience. Is this true?

With over 60 percent of the batch made of students with work experience, I can safely say that this is not the case. However, we do have an upper limit of three years of work experience of a candidate. This, due to the belief that a candidate with more years of work experience does not necessarily add value to his work.

Update: A candidate with more than three years of work experience can apply to IM-NU, however, the more number of years of work experience does not put him at an advantage. This can also be inferred by the fact that the average work experience in the present class of IM-NU stands at two years.