The Directors’ Conclave, the flagship event of AIMA's CMS has
been targeted at a mix of the top management educationists and corporate
heads, and has been successfully conducted for over seven years. The
Conclave brings together the best brains from industry and academia.
The event has been acclaimed for its topical relevance and practical
usefulness. It is organised with the objective of providing industry
academia interface by creating a platform for practicing managers
to share their valuable experience and ideas for the larger good.
Theme : Globalization: Issues & Challenges for Indian
B Schools
For more than a decade, AIMA has been facilitating the Interaction
of Industry and B Schools through Directors’ Conclave. 11th
in the series, the Conclave was organized on 7th March 2007 in association
with International Management Institute (IMI) at Delhi. The theme
of the Conclave was Globalization: Issues & Challenges for Indian
B Schools. Eminent personalities addressed the gathering of about
150 Deans and Directors of B Schools and HR heads from across the
country. Significant recommendations have been made. Discussions centered
around the need for greater mutual collaboration between industry
and institutions, global exposure of faculty and students. Padmashri
Dr Pritam Singh, Prof. R A Yadav, Vice Chairman AICTE and Swami (Dr)
Parthasarthy, Minister of State were the inaugural speakers. The first
session of the Conclave was on The Making of a Global B School.
This session was chaired by Prof. Mendu Rammohan Rao (Dean, Indian
School of Business, Hyderabad). Dr. Prakash G Apte (Director, Indian
Institute of Management, Bangalore) shared his views on Building
Global Manager : B School Perspective . Dr (Mrs) Reena Ramachandran
(Director General, JK Business School, Gurgaon) was the second speaker
of the first session and she spoke on the Leadership role
of Indian Management Education in the International Scene.
Dr Sunil Abrol (Director General, Consultancy Development Centre,
Ministry of Science & Technology, New Delhi) presented the Industry
Perspective on the Profile of a Global Manager.
The topic of the second session was The Business
of Business Education and the themes covered were Networking
and Collaboration amongst B Schools, Governance and Organizational
Structure of B Schools, Collaborations & Exchange programmes (Local
/ National / International). The speakers in the session
were Prof. M M Pant (Ex. Pro Vice Chancellor IGNOU), Dr. N M Kondap
(Vice Chancellor, NMIMS Mumbai), Dr. S. P. Parashar (Director, Indian
Institute of Management, Indore) and the session was chaired by Dr
K K Nohria (Adviser, Crompton Greaves Ltd, Mumbai and former President
of AIMA)
The Industry Business Schools Interface : Developing Global
Managers was the topic of the panel discussion. Mr P Dwarakanath
(Former Director-HR, Glaxo SmithKline Beecham) and Mr G K Agarwal
(Executive Director-HR, NTPC) presented the Industry perspective on
the theme and views from academia were presented by Dr B S Sahay (Director,
IMT, Ghaziabad), Mr R Bhaskaran (CEO, Indian Institute of Banking
& Finance, Mumbai) and Dr. C S Venkat Ratnam (Director, International
Management Institute, Delhi).
The Conclave ended with a presentation by faculty members from IMI,
highlighting the Salient Contours of the Conclave.
AIMA and Coimbatore Management Association organised the 10th Directors’
Conclave on 29 December 2005 in collaboration with Jansons Business
School, Coimbatore.
The theme for the Conclave was “Emerging Contours of
Business: Issues and Challenges for Business Schools”.
Sub themes included “Profile of a Global Manager: Industry Perspective”,
“Building Global Manager: B-School Perspective”, “Contours
of Management Education” and “Industry-B School Collaborative
Agenda”.
With economic growth, the demand for trained managerial manpower in
all organisations in social, economic and public service activities
is increased sharply. It is essential that our B Schools deliver quality
education to meet the new challenges and the growing competition.
Up to what extent is today’s management education relevant to
business practices? AIMA, as the national apex body for the management
profession in India, has been involved over the years in answering
this question and to bridge the gap between the exceptions of industry
and how B Schools should groom managers through the Directors’
Conclaves.
Col. S. C. Mohan, Director AIMA-CMS, welcomed the delegates and dedicated
the day’s proceedings to the late Prof. Peter Drucker. In his
inaugural address Prof. R. A. Yadav, Vice Chairman, AICTE said that
institutions that teach business management should produce professionals
who are adept at learning continuously. We need professionals with
values, he added.
In his keynote address, Mr. A. Sathish Kumar, Managing Director, Henkel
India, Chennai said that B Schools should teach their students basic
skills for problem solving, making them proficient in learning in
a multidisciplinary environment. Dr. S. Ganesan, Director, Jansons
Business School summed up the proceedings.
The other speakers at this Conclave were Mr. T. S. Natarajan, Chairman,
Jansons School of Business, Coimbatore, Mr. J N Amrolia, Executive
Director, HR, Ashok Leyland, Mr. P Dwarkanath, Director-HR, Glaxo
Smithkline Beecham, Dr V G Ratnam, Senior Vice President- Business
Development, Pricol Ltd, Coimbatore, Dr Prakash G Apte, Director,
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Prof J Philip, Vice Chairman
and Director, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship,
Bangalore, Dr S P Parashar, Director, IIM Indore, Prof M M Pant, Ex-pro
Vice Chancellor IGNOU, Dr V Mukunda Das, Director, School of Communication
and Management Studies, Cochin, Fr. Romuald D’souza, Director
, Institute of Management, Goa, Dr. C S Venkat Ratnam, Director, International
Management Institute, New Delhi, Dr. C R Swaminathan, CEO, PSG Industrail
Institutes, Coimbatore, Mr. B. T. Bangera,MD Hi Tech Arai Ltd, Madurai,
Mr. Asit Mohapatra, Vice President (HR), ION Exchange India, Mumbai,
and Dr. R Nandagopal, Director, PSG College, Coimbatore.
“Management Education in India: Some Contemporary Issues and
Recommendations” has recently been published by AIMA in association
with Excel Books Pvt. Ltd.
The book is a culmination of the vigorous and consistent efforts made
by AIMA in its capacity as the national apex body for management profession
in India. There has been an unprecedented growth in management education
in the last decade and this has naturally provided a context to reconsider
challenges that arise out of this scenario and also discuss relevant
changes to improve the existing quality of education.
AIMA took the initiative of suggesting a road map for development
of management studies in the country. It first prepared and widely
circulated a discussion paper "Management
Education In India - Its Evolution and Some Contemporary Issues (Pdf
File, 259kb)". This was followed by three successful Conclaves
in 2004 at Delhi (November 16t), Mumbai (November 29) and Bangalore
(December 13), whose proceedings were put together in the form of
a Research Paper by Prof. S L Rao, former President of AIMA and noted
management writer, and Dr B Bowonder of the Tata Management Training
Centre. This has finally culminated in a book, which contains not
only important but also extremely useful issues regarding management
education in the country today.
Mr. R Gopalakrishnan, Director, TATA & Past President, AIMA, explains
the relevance of the book in his excellent Foreword, “it has
become increasingly clear from the deliberations of the Conclaves
that we have to revamp management education in a comprehensive manner.
Incremental changes are inadequate. Upgrading the teaching skills
of the faculty, redrawing the curricula to bring it closer to practice
through live projects and enhancing the infrastructure such as web
enabled resource have to be part of a broad common agenda. AIMA’s
initiative in bringing out this publication is intended to disseminate
widely this action agenda so as to catalyse the transformation process.
Changes are taking place across the globe and we cannot afford to
wait any longer! I am sure that management schools will respond with
alacrity”.
And if they do, the great efforts of this book will be both justified
and rewarding!
