IBAT lures IIM professors

The lure of higher salaries and a promise for better work environment are pulling professors and teachers of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur and Xavier Institute of Management (XIM), Bhubaneshwar, to join the Institute of Business Administration and Training (IBAT), B-school of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology University, Orissa.

In the first lap, around 10 teachers and professors from IIM-Calcutta, XLRI, XIM-B and Management Development Institute-Gurgaon are slated to join IBAT by June 2007.

The whole process, kept under wraps by IBAT authorities, is likely to be made known by May end. IBAT authorities recently took an in-principle decision of bringing in faculty from all the premier IIMs and other management institutes of the country.

Sources said, IBAT is paying salaries which are almost 50-60 per cent higher than the existing scales received by the professors and teachers while also promising them the best of environment at the institute. With an annual business of around Rs 100 crore, IBAT is currently bracing for a slot among the first 15 B-schools in the country.

Says an IBAT spokesperson,"We hope to make it to the first 15 best B-schools in the country in the next couple of years". As for the professors and teachers who are joining IBAT leaving their previous institutions, most prefer to remain reticent. When contacted,

Father E Abraham, Director, XIM-B, said "I am not aware of any professor or teacher leaving XIM-B. If it so happens, it is their personal choice". IBAT's current faculty comprise 30 professional teachers. IBAT authorities plan to raise it by another 15 faculties.