The Hindu Business Line : Managing with more

MANAGERS with potential to assume greater responsibilities in their career are now ascending the learning curve through management development programmes (MDPs). Recognising the need for such programmes, the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore conducts more than 100 courses for corporates, says Prof M.S. Narasimhan, Chairperson, Executive Education, IIMB.

It has even leveraged on technology to include more participants. Take for instance, the Executive General Management Programme (EGMP). During the first and the last phase of the programme, spread over six days, classes are conducted on campus. During the second phase, consisting of 26 Saturdays, participants can either attend classes at the IIMB campus or at select classrooms across the country where the on-campus class is beamed real-time.

A similar programme is conducted for IT and ITeS professionals (General Management Programme). IIMB has tied up with Hughes Direcway Global Education's 47 centres across the country and plans to partner Reliance Web World to beam the programmes. The first batch of EGMP and GMP participants have completed the course and three more are under way, says Prof Narasimhan. According to Mr J.R. Saligram, Co-ordinator, Management Development Centre and Consultant, Centre for Public Policy, the Direcway classroom is the outcome of a rising demand for executive education programmes at the institute. "We find that it is getting increasingly difficult for both executives and the professors alike to move out of their workplaces," he says. Though EGMP and GMP fall under the open programmes category, there are about 40 other open programmes on IIMB's calendar every year. These include courses such as Managerial Effectiveness and Personal Growth, Management Programmes for Women Entrepreneurs, Negotiating and Managing Commercial Contracts, Marketing and Branding, Project Appraisal, Risk Management, and Supply Chain Management. Most are three-day programmes with some running into five days.

At the corporate level, customised programmes are getting popular, with more than 60 companies opting for them during 2005-06.

According to Prof Narasimhan, the Institute conducts about 1,500 days of tailor-made training programmes each year, with about 25 people attending each programme. Managers from Reliance, Siemens, Cognizant, Apollo Clinic and Intel attended this year. An interesting highlight this year has been the response from the retail sector. "We have conducted MDPs for franchisees of Apollo Clinic and BPCL outlets," he says.

It has partnered with business schools in Singapore, Germany and Melbourne to help participants from those countries learn the nuances of doing business in India. It also has tie-ups with top international business schools for joint executive development programmes.

The International Masters Program in Practising Management is a collaborative venture of business schools in five countries: Canada, the UK, France, India and Japan. The Advanced Leadership Programme is jointly offered by INSEAD (Singapore Campus), Lancaster UK and McGill Canada. Participants spend time at each of the partnering institutions during the 10-week programme.

The course fee for the international programmes is about Rs 10 lakh plus travel costs, compared to EGMP and GMP which cost about Rs 1.8 lakh and Rs 1.3 lakh respectively.

The Centre for Public Policy is a one-of-its-kind course that offers MDP for civil servants. The two-year Postgraduate Programme in Public Policy and Management is targeted at mid-level civil service officers, with the fourth batch currently on. There's little doubt that MDPs are major coffer fillers at the Institute. This year, IIMB expects to accrue about Rs 15 crore from MDPs. The Institute mission though is clear: "Anybody thirsty for management knowledge is welcome here," says Mr Saligram.

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