The Hindu Business Line : Aspiring to be world class

In three years, the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business has made a mark, carved out a brand for itself, and provided satisfactory placement for its students despite adverse job market conditions.

Just consider this prospect. N.R. Narayana Murthy, Founder-Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd., a tech-thought leader and a role model; Rajat Gupta, former global Head, McKinsey & Co, a management and consultancy guru, and Dr C Rangarajan, a distinguished economist, former Governor of RBI, and Chairman of the Twelfth Finance Commission, developing the course content, teaching at the institution, and the management students taking on the examination rather successfully.

With a faculty that has such distinguished leaders any institution would surely have the cutting edge. Murthy will teach the students at the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) corporate governance, Dr Rangarajan will hold forth on the economy in developing countries, and Rajat Gupta will hone the students' skills in competitive strategies. Though no different from global B-schools, this model certainly brings a fresh approach to management teaching in India.

The ISB boasts of a Governing Board that includes the who's who of the Indian corporate world... people who have gone through the portals of premier institutions such as Wharton, Kellogg's and the London Business School. The ISB often invites CEOs of major corporations to enrich teaching content and methodology at the ISB.

Despite the first two batches qualifying during trying times such as the equity market meltdown and the harrowing post-9/11 era, the ISB graduates have notched up coveted placements. Significantly, a majority of them have had lateral positioning.

The ISB claims to be a B-school that is different from the others, and its ultimate aim is to become one of the 20 top schools of the world. Conceptualised in the backdrop where barely 400 Asian students get into the top 20 management schools of the world, ISB has charted out a different path for success.

Its Deputy Dean Ajit Rangnekar, a management expert with Price Waterhouse Coopers, told Canvas, that with the global economy going through testing times, traditionally "we have very few global managers from Asia and other countries in this part of the world." A miniscule percentage of Asians were able to get world-class education in top B-schools as the costs were prohibitive.

"Therefore, ISB founders felt why not develop a management school that breeds new thought leaders. Our job is to provide a complete broad overview that is different from other straitjacket education models. Apart from management education, we help them develop holistically, adhering to values, strengthen their communications skills and provide leadership in this challenging environment. For me, it is a dream come true to be with ISB and be associated with young minds."

Touching upon the diverse areas its students come from, Bhuvana Ramalingam, Director, Communications, says, "Look at the other aspect of the management students who are with us. We have an army officer, a doctor, a journalist, and a fashion designer. This is just a representative lot. The best part is that after they graduate they typically change their career profile. This is one significant change from other B-Schools; students of ISB see lateral shifts."

Adds Rangnekar, "Two batches have passed out and the third batch is underway. We have a long way to go. Over the next few years, we will continue to expand and widen our education and research programmes."

Typically, management colleges provide a two-year training, in India as also the US. But to enable managers to complete the course in a shorter time frame, the ISB has designed the one-year course to save on time.

For instance, an average two-year course provides about 650-700 hours of teaching with holiday breaks. But at the ISB the students are given 680 hours of course time at one go and without any vacation. Businesses worldwide need management graduates who have the tools — leadership skills, culture awareness, foreign language proficiency and an understanding of the marketplace functions — to succeed globally.

This is where ISB seeks to tailor its courses to provide graduates capable of meeting the challenge. The programme is based on `open architecture' providing students with opportunities to learn not just from faculty and classroom interactions, but also from exposure to successful leaders and entrepreneurs from the corporate and social sectors, who visit the campus.

A USP at the ISB is the broadband communications network that ensures global connectivity. This wired environment is complemented by a wireless field that enables students to access information; anywhere and at any time. The learning resource centre has an extensive collection of books and database covering management and business.

"We subsidise management education. As against total fund requirement of about Rs 35 lakh per student, a student is charged barely one fourths of this. Even with this, most of them are either funded or manage to get education loans payable in a relaxed time frame. Citigroup, HSBC, GMR Group. McKinsey & Co., are among a long list of corporates providing scholarships," says Bhuvana.

The first two batches from ISB graduated at a time when the recruitment pace had slowed down and salaries pared. The ISB has designed a Rolling Placement process, which is recruiter friendly, assisting organisations to choose the right candidate over an extended period of three months. Reflecting the difference from other B-schools in India, where the entry is significantly for fresh graduates, the rolling placement enables lateral hiring.

Eighty three per cent of the placements for Class of 2003 were for lateral positions distributed across middle and senior management functions, including a CEO. Since most of the students have a few years of work experience, they have also used this platform to shift careers moving across consulting, IT, telecom and other sectors.

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