Giving industry what it needs

CURRICULA

N M Kondap

Narsee Monjee Vice-chancellor N M Kondap wants to make the institute known as a centre of research.

In the past year, Mumbai's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) has introduced three new post-graduate management courses, launched a doctoral programme and initiated cost-cutting measures that have helped in cost savings of at least 20 per cent across the board. But the achievement that NMIMS Vice-chancellor Nandkishore M Kondap is most satisfied with is the deemed university status the University Grants Commission conferred on the institute last year. There's even a large plaque on the VC's car that proudly proclaims the B-school's changed status.

Kondap's pride in this achievement is understandable. It's helped bring about significant improvements in NMIMS' functioning. "This recognition has brought about major changes in the way we work, apart from the autonomy and flexibility it's given us," agrees the engineer-turned-academician. Technically, Kondap has been in the top seat at NMIMS for only a year (He was dean and then director between 1997 and 2000 and pro-vice chancellor till 2003). But in this short time, the 23-year-old institute has seen enormous development.

Beginning with the organisational structure. Last year, NMIMS reorganised the institute as business units. Accordingly, there are two broad business divisions "" academics and operations. Operations covers business units such as systems and IT, business policy, economics and human resources. "Each unit functions like a business unit in a professional company," says Kondap.

The academic function has been divided into three levels, in ascending order of authority "" a board of studies, an academic council, and the board of management (each with a mix of three or four professionals and academicians). So whether it's an issue of curriculum enhancement or ideas for new courses, everything is systematically reviewed by three different levels of industry professionals as well as the faculty. "It leads to better decision making," adds Kondap.

The deemed university status has helped as well. It makes it possible for the B-school to decide its own curriculum, go out of campus (expand), seek collaborations with other universities and authorise doctorate programmes. All of which NMIMS has promptly initiated. The institute is "in talks" with some American universities for student exchange programmes and Kondap is even considering expanding to locations outside India, although he declined to share details.

Last month, NMIMS also started a doctoral programme with a batch of 40. But right now, the focus at the B-school is on specialised MBA courses. In 2003, NMIMS introduced two one-year diploma programmes, in actuarial sciences and pharma management; this year they will be expanded into two-year MBAs. "The idea is to fuse basic disciplines such as finance with management to create more relevant programmes for growing industries," says Kondap.

The VC is clearly seeking to turn out graduates tailor-made to suit industry's needs. Over the next year and a half, NMIMS plans to launch at least two or three specialised courses for the service sector, such as in retail or telecom management. "We want to focus on the customer now and cater to industry needs," he agrees.

The five-year MBA Tech programme is a direct result of such thinking. NMIMS conducted an extensive industry study before launching the course earlier this year; over 300 engineers across 90 cities were interviewed before the course and curriculum was finalised. Aimed at churning out managers suitable for the engineering and technology sector, the MBA Tech programme will start with a heavy focus on engineering, before tapering off to focus on management in the latter half.

Meanwhile, the changed organisation structure at NMIMS has brought with it a new cost-consciousness. Recently, the institute installed an integrated management system, a software on the lines of an intranet that connects all systems in the campus. The result has been a dramatic increase in productivity and a corresponding reduction in paper wastage. All of which, says Kondap, has translated into time savings of 20 per cent and cost savings of even more.

NMIMS is also working on reducing the institute's dependence on fees (at present, 90 per cent of its revenues still come from fees). Kondap, though, believes that ideally, the contribution of fees to the kitty should be around 25 per cent, with other activities such as consulting, research, customised corporate management development programmes and training making up the remaining 75 per cent. "We should achieve this in the next three or four years," he says confidently.

That's where the importance of research will come in. Kondap wants research at NMIMS to bring in at least 15 per cent of the institute's revenues, compared to the 4 or 5 per cent at present. For that, the B-school needs to move from being just a teaching institute, to a teaching and research institute.

So, the faculty is being encouraged to write at least one research paper a year and student assistantships have been formalised. Close to 60 MBA students assist faculty on research projects or papers, earning around Rs 2,000 a month. "We're propagating the 'earn while you learn' approach," declares Kondap.

He is considering setting up a research institute as well. "The research institute will be for a stronger focus on research, not generating more revenue," Kondap says.