The Hindu Business Line : <I>The MBA, 40 years on </I>

Forty years ago, the two Indian Institutes of Management sent their first graduates out to face the perils of the unknown world of work. Four decades of tumultuous change is a long enough period to ponder in retrospect over what has happened. Have the IIMs contributed to the management of industry and commerce as well as other institutions in the country?

The facts

It would be worthwhile for a group of faculty and former students of the IIMs themselves to objectively examine the facts: Besides success stories of the alumni, other measures such as contribution to social causes, research and education — and compare them with a similar group who did not get the benefit of this select group. One hopes that some reader of this column would attempt this, perhaps through the alumni associations. One might at least document the careers of a sample of students, say, out of the first 15 graduating years, who would have had a quarter century in which to make an impact.

No other group of students before or since could have encountered the combination of scepticism, curiosity and barely concealed envy. They embarked on managerial careers at a level that their predecessors could not have aspired for, strictly on the basis of merit at such a young age. Few would believe that it was some years before all students were assured a job before the convocation day.

Dealing with the new animal

Initially, for a quarter of the class, it was a period of struggle and insecurity. Companies simply did not know how to deal with this new animal; they were neither low-paid apprentices nor specialists such as chartered accountants. Even the more enlightened corporations could not be persuaded to treat the MBA as something more than a mere honours in history from a first rate college. The tenure of the probation and training was exactly the same as it would have been if one had managed to get into those jobs directly from a college. And no one made any apology for it. The contrast with today's situation needs little elaboration.

Interestingly, everyone took huge risks then without being fully aware of it. The students accepted an unknown diploma that was never quite officially converted into a Master's degree. The parents allowed debt to accumulate in the hope of wiping them off soon. And employers took on unknown quantities of trainees who were quite unlike anyone they had taken in the past: The small minority of officers out of the `good' schools and colleges usually with well-connected family backgrounds.

Top of the pyramid

A general cursory glance at the names of the leaders of corporate sector might give one the impression that there are many CEOs today from this new breed. Yet, as a proportion, are they really a significant number? Many better-ranking students went overseas, seeking their fortunes at the top of the pyramids. The majority have made it as far as the senior management, some to Board level and occasionally one hears of a few entrepreneurs emerging as a second innings after some years in salaried employment.

True value

The creation of new organisations and new knowledge remain doubtful and lower priorities. One hopes that the altered worldview encouraged by the current economic status of India and the post-1991 policy scene would see the true value of the investment in management education for society as a whole.

S. Ramachander

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