The challenge for IIM-A now is to succeed as a thought leader in management: Samir Barua, ex director IIM-A

Samir Barua, Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad from November 2007 till August this year and credited with introducing numerous reforms at the institute, discusses his tenure and the state of affairs at the IIMs with Shamni Pande in an email interview.

Q. As you look back on your tenure as director, what do you think have been your biggest achievements?

A. I look back with immense satisfaction at my tenure of five and a half years as Director. I am listing a few of the many achievements of the IIMA during this period.

> After protracted negotiations, a new MoA and Rules that provide far greater autonomy to the Institute now govern the institute's functioning. IIMA is the only public institution in the country that enjoys such autonomy. An example of the autonomy was the selection of the new director - it was done by a board sub-committee and not a committee constituted by the government.

> The financial position of the Institute improved significantly. The institute achieved operating surpluses for the first time in its history in 2011, and that situation has continued since then for the last two years. The corpus increased substantially (by about 60%) as a result of the surplus generated, despite having to set aside over Rs. 100 crore in the last five years to fully fund its pension liability (that it assumed from the government).

> IIMA achieved international recognition: EQUIS accreditation (the first school in India get the accreditation); ranked at 56 among all business schools globally by the Economist in 2012 (the only business school from India to figure in this prestigious list); Financial Times ranking PGP and PGPX in top 10 among comparable programs globally; Eduniversal ranking PGP-ABM at No. 1 all management programs in agri and food-technology sectors globally. IIMA is the only school from India that has all its post-graduate academic programs ranked globally.

> The institute established a collaboration with Random House to publish easy to read books in management authored by institute faculty under the banner IIMA Business Books series. By the end of 2012-13, a total of ten books had been published in the series. The books have been highly appreciated by executives and several titles have become best sellers.

> The institute took a significant step in dissemination of the intellectual output of its faculty. A portal that provides web based access to cases and other academic output of faculty members was established. Over time, the portal is expected to become the disseminator of quality cases and teaching material authored by contributors from other institutions too.

> The institute took significant strides in the last five years towards supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in India through the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE). The Centre has been recognized as the best such centre in the country. The Centre has attracted more than Rs. 1500 million for supporting entrepreneurship in India. A book titled, 'Stay Hungry Stay Foolish' documenting the journey of several entrepreneurs from among alumni of the institute was brought out by CIIE. The book became a best seller. Lakhs of copies of the book have been sold thereby inspiring youngsters to become entrepreneurs. The book has been translated into several Indian languages.

> The institute significantly strengthened its position in executive education. Further expanding its global footprint, the institute is partnering three well known management schools, one each from Brazil, Russia and China in conducting a program titled 'BRICs on BRICs' for top management of companies from the four countries.

> Measures were taken to improve relationship with alumni and the IIMA society. There has been visible strengthening of engagement with alumni and the IIMA Society. This would benefit the institute immensely in the years to come.

> IIM-A took the lead along with IIM-B to establish and stabilize computerized testing for CAT. This has benefited the entire community of management schools and students.

> IIM-A championed the introduction of placement reporting standards in India through creation of Indian Placement Reporting Standard. This has the potential to benefit students and recruiters who suffer from excessive noise in the placement related data that is made available by business schools.

> Formal performance measurement systems for both faculty and staff were designed and implemented. This formalization of measurement of contribution would result in significant improvement in the academic output of faculty and enhancement of efficiency of the administration in the future.

> The process of faculty recruitment was streamlined. There has been a significant improvement in the quality of applications being received by the institute. Measures were also introduced to broad-base opportunities for younger faculty members for research as well as to get exposure to the world of practice so as to ensure their all-round development.

> There has been significant addition to quality infrastructure and improvement in the quality of old infrastructure at much lower costs than initial estimates. There has also been significant improvement in the quality of services offered on campus. The new facilities are at par with those at the best business schools globally.

> As a part of golden jubilee celebration of the institute, several books were published and a film made on the journey of IIMA over the last fifty years. The documentation is immensely valuable as a record of history of management education in the country.

> IIMA along with IIMC started a dialogue on changes needed in management education with many business schools (over hundred) through a series of five conferences on different aspects of management education - it is likely to continue in the years ahead.

> IIMA along with IIMC started a dialogue on changes needed in management education with many business schools (over hundred) through a series of five conferences on different aspects of management education - it is likely to continue in the years ahead.

> In 2008-09, IIMA perhaps became the first business school in the world that started educating some students absolutely free. In 2008-09 the Institute supported education of 23 students absolutely free. The next year, the number of such students increased to 45. In addition to complete fee waiver, the Institute also provides graded fee waiver to students who hail from economically poor families. The total support provided to needy students in the last five years is about Rs. 400 million.

> The involvement of the Board of the Institute was significantly enhanced in framing the strategy for the institute and getting it implemented.

> The prestige of the Institute was enhanced as an organization that not only functions on the highest principles of governance for an academic institution but would also defend vigorously any attempts to tarnish its prestige.

> Several specific measures were institutionalized to improve the effectiveness and integrity of the processes within the institute, including introduction of and stabilization of staff incentive system based on performance.

> The original informal culture that was the hall mark of the institute was brought back: the director became accessible to all, including the junior most in the staff. This visibly enhanced the commitment of staff at all levels.

> A system was established whereby the compensation paid to non-permanent staff of the institute was aligned with what they deserved to be paid for their contribution to functioning of the institute.

> The institute became proactively conscious about protecting the environment. There has been significant greening of the campus. In addition, measures were taken to optimize power consumption and conserve water.

Q. You faced much resistance to change during your tenure at IIM-A.
A. There is always resistance to change in any organisation. The areas where there was resistance were: (a) greater emphasis on knowledge creation, that is, research and publication by faculty, (b) institutionalizing of a formal system of measurement of contribution by faculty and specifying of the expectations from faculty, thereby increasing faculty accountability, (c) greater alignment of goals of individuals with the goals of the institute, thereby to an extent restricting the freedom of choice of an individual and (d) transfer of greater administrative responsibility to staff, through removal of unnecessary supervision by faculty, thereby freeing up faculty time for academic activities. I think that these agendas remain valid even today for the institute.

Q. I believe some members of the faculty sent a petition against you?
A. Almost a year before my term as director was to end I had alerted the then chairman of the board and told him to start the process of identifying my successor. I had hoped for an overlap of a few months between my successor and me so that the transition could be smooth. I have witnessed organisations face difficulties during such transitions. However, partly due to a change of chairman, there was delay in identifying my successor. The 'petition' by faculty was against asking me to continue as director during a crucial period leading up to the convocation. I think such a decision is the prerogative of the board of any organisation. The petition was uncalled for and was an error of judgement on the part of a section of the faculty who signed it.     

Q. Is it a similar to the situation faced by Pankaj Chandra at IIM Bangalore?
A. I am not aware of the situation faced by Prof. Pankaj Chandra at IIM-B. If he has faced a similar situation, then my view about such an episode would be exactly what I have said in response to the earlier question.

Q. It is said the IIM-A is in precarious financial health.
A. Funds are always needed for development and growth of any organisation. I would, however, disagree that the financial health of IIM-A is precarious. The financial situation was precarious when I took charge as director. I left the institute in reasonably sound financial health.

Q. What are the biggest areas of challenge and concern for the IIM-A and IIMs in general?
A. I have already alluded to the challenges facing IIM-A in my earlier responses. IIM-A has succeeded beyond expectations as a teaching institution. The challenge for IIM-A now is to succeed as a thought leader in management. It must aspire to become a fountainhead of ideas on a variety of issues in management and governance facing not only organisations but governments and societies.

The challenge faced by newer IIMs is a little different. They have to first establish themselves as academic institutions.

(This interview has been updated to include a new question and answer on top)