Bala's new baby

CURRICULA

Bala Balachandran

He visits India every year, but this has been Bala Balachandran's longest stint so far "" almost four months down and more to go. The reason isn't hard to find. The Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) in Chennai is claiming exclusive rights to Balachandran's attention right now.

"Bala Uncle" (as he prefers to be called by his students) is the honorary dean of the newly-founded institute. It's a position he's familiar with.

Balachandran was instrumental in setting up two other B-schools in India "" Gurgaon's Management Development Institute (MDI) and Hyderabad's Indian School of Business (ISB). Both are now among the top-ranking B-schools in India. "MDI, ISB and GLIM are like my sons," he says.

Right now, though, it's the third baby that's claiming Balachandran's attention. GLIM, which was founded in July 2003, started operations in April this year with two batches of 64 students each.

According to Balachandran, 10 "leaders" from the US and India have funded the institute "" about Rs 5 crore has already been invested, with a total commitment of Rs 10 crore over the next two years.

Incidentally, he's the only academician in the group. The institute is named after the Great Lakes of Michigan in the US, where Balachandran lives.

At present, GLIM is housed in a modest building in the vicinity of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Anna Salai University. A residential campus is planned outside the city, which should be ready within two years.

GLIM is rather short on faculty as well. It has just three full-time faculty members "" the institute will add more later this year, says Balachandran.

The 25-professor strong visiting faculty, though, is from some of the best B-schools, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Everything else is in place "" from the course curriculum to the placement pitches to companies, which have already started.

Why Chennai? For one, it is Balachandran's birthplace. That apart, Chennai has its own advantages. The city isn't really in the big league when it comes to management institutes "" only Loyola and Anna Salai offer MBA courses in the city.

So GLIM won't be too troubled by competition. But Balachandran is positioning the institute in another league altogether. "There is a definite need gap in the global management education on offer for young professionals with two or three years' work experience," he explains.

Moreover, he says that after 9/11 and given the unstable economy internationally, Indians are looking beyond the US and Europe for higher education. So the institute will boast of faculty from some of the world's best B-schools such as Wharton, Stanford, Kellogg, Columbia and Stuart, apart from the Indian Institutes of Management.

Then, the GLIM course, too, is designed on the lines of global formats: unlike most Indian B-schools, which offer two-year-long programmes, the GLIM course will be a fast-track course of one year.

"At GLIM, we decided to cut down on the time that goes in summer internships, vacations and placement procedures, which comes to about four or five months in most two-year courses," says Balachandran.

Besides, for professionals keen to get back to work with a management degree under their belt, a compressed course makes more sense.

That's similar to the ISB model, but there are some critical differences between GLIM and ISB. Fees at GLIM will be Rs 3 lakh a year, which is less than half of the Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh that ISB charges. Then, the institutes share philosophy, but not faculty.

"In a way, I was representing Kellogg at ISB. At GLIM, I will represent myself," he declares.

Perhaps the biggest difference, though "" which may also turn out to be GLIM's biggest selling point "" will be the super-specialised course structure, which is based on learnings derived from international B-schools like INSEAD and Kellogg.

The course is designed such that a student can specialise in two functions, for example, marketing and organisational behaviour.

The first six months of the course will involve mostly classroom teaching where students will have to take four core courses from a choice of 16.

These will cover the conventional functional disciplines such as marketing, financial and risk management, operations management, family business management and healthcare management, apart from subjects such as economics, quantitative techniques and information technology.

In the second half, students will choose from 16 elective courses ranging from modules like technology fusion in entertainment and cost accounting in retail.

This micro-specialisation will enable students to get business-ready with expertise in emerging specialist areas and relevant practical training as part-time projects (internships) with companies.

The projects will run concurrently with the lectures. The idea of verticals and horizontals, derived from Kellogg, is aimed at making the specialisations more relevant for the student.

Also, dual specialisation can enable the student to have a cross-functional perspective to analysing business systems, which Balachandran feels is sorely lacking in management education in India.

"We are focused on the customer "" both the student as well as the employer," he says. Apart from the courses already on offer, Balachandran is planning to widen the choice before students.

Although nothing's been formalised as yet, Balachandran is seeking arrangements with institutes such as IIT and Anna Salai, for certain verticals.

"If a student wishes to choose a vertical we cannot offer, such as leather technology, there's no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to learn it elsewhere. Institutes should exploit the opportunities of other centres of learning in the same locality," he says.

Balachandran also plans to encourage students to undertake part-time projects with companies in the industry where the student's interest lies. This will ensure that students will be "business-ready as soon as they complete the course," says Balachandran.

Little wonder, then, that GLIM graduates won't be MBAs "" they'll be Masters of Business Readiness. The readiness won't be restricted to India.

"Management education has to be more Asia-centric. It has to cater to the needs and demands of this region," says Balachandran. So, in a bid to cater to the emerging industries in Asia, the GLIM course offers verticals such as cost accounting in retail, technology in entertainment and healthcare.

Balachandran also doesn't want to ignore the emerging importance of China. "Managers have to be trained for trade with markets like China," he states. So he's roped in a qualified language trainer to teach basic business Chinese as a mandatory subject at GLIM.

The Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM)

Over the next three or four years, Balachandran plans to devote his time to teaching, mentoring, consulting and acting as brand ambassador for GLIM. Would he rather assume a new role "" of an institute-builder? Quips the 67-year-old for whom GLIM is a "vision come true": "I'm all of these, but I'm a born teacher. Everything else comes later."