Management education programmes are increasing in Rigour

... says Dr Sanal Kumar Velayudhan, Professor & Chairman International Exchange Program - Faculty of Marketing, Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K). He has designed and directed training programmes in General Management and in the area of Marketing, besides teaching in the post graduate programmes of XLRI. A visiting professor at IIM-A, MDI and BITS Pilani, Dr Velayudhan has handled consultancy assignments in marketing for Central- and State-level Public Sector Units, public sector banks as well as in the cooperative sector. In this exclusive interview, Dr Velayudhan outlines the process of revamping the curriculum at IIM-K for its two-year flagship post graduate programme (PGP). Excerpts...

What sets IIMK apart from other B-schools?
Sensitivity to social issues is a very important feature of IIM-K that sets it apart for the other B-schools. The Post graduate students of IIM-K do a Social Development Project as part of the two year programme in management. This sensitises the students to the needs of the community and makes them responsible managers alive to the problems in the society.

What changes are you making in your curriculum to produce more competitive MBAs? How do you plan to go about this task?
IIM-K has set up a three member core committee of senior members of the faculty for a re-examination of the curriculum. The senior faculty are advised by senior academicians from international universities and also the chief executives from industry. The group is working to enhance the relevance of its programme to the rapidly changing competitive and globalising market and to the demands of a society closely scrutinising the corporate actions.

What’s the single most exciting development, change or event happening with your program this coming year?
IIM-K seeks to enhance the relevance of the programme to the context. The use of context-based multidisciplinary approach to decision making is an exciting and promising idea that IIM-K is exploring.

Kindly share your thoughts on today’s management education programmes.
Management education programmes are increasing in rigour. Further, these are academically challenging and the bright young minds that join these programmes find the programmes quite demanding. The flip side to this is that there is a possibility that such programmes may lose their relevance. And, this is where IIM-K seeks to add value while maintaining the rigour of the programme.