IIM Indore Director Prof Himanshu Rai says, “ Practical knowledge prepares students for corporate world”

The past few months have seen the world struggling to combat the challenges posed by COVID 19 pandemic. Education sector, which also faced the brunt of the lockdown caused due to the pandemic, is gradually treading on the path of recovery by quickly adapting itself to the new changes. IIM Indore Director Prof Himanshu Rai in an exclusive interaction with Careers360 talked about the institute protecting the interests of the students when things were thrown out of gear, what measures have they taken to ensure that the placement drive is not affected. Rai also highlighted that though they are pursuing online management education, it is the practical knowledge which prepares the students for the corporate world. Read the full interview of IIM Indore Director Prof Himanshu Rai to know about the wide array of topics that he has spoken about.

Careers360: Covid 19 pandemic has posed a lot of challenges in the past few months to the education sector. What steps have you taken to protect the interests of the students and how did you overcome these challenges at IIM Indore?

Prof Himanshu Rai: COVID has had an impact on every stakeholder of the Institute—be it students, faculty members, staff or even the families residing on campus. However, we have effectively managed to take care of all the regular activities at the Institute—be it academics, administration or the institute maintenance. The major challenge was the transition of academics from offline to online mode. We have now shifted all the academic programmes to online mode eventually. Apart from this, we also shifted our major events organized by the students to online mode and even postponed the annual convocation which was scheduled in March 2020. We built up the learning management system to upload lectures for those who did not have sufficient bandwidth and/or had connectivity issues. The community members of IIM Indore stood together in the times of lockdown and not only volunteered to take care of the institute, but also took initiatives to contribute to the society in every way possible—for example, our security guards volunteered as special police officers during the lockdown at the local police stations.

Careers360: There was a delay in the commencement of the academic session for 2020 due to coronavirus. What changes did IIM Indore adopt so as to ensure that things were streamlined especially for the new batch of students?

Prof Himanshu Rai: We are conducting online classes for all the programmes at the Institute now, including the new batches as well. We also completed our placements for the batch 2020 through online mode. All the quizzes, tests and exams; along with assignment submission are currently being done digitally. The students who are facing issues in internet bandwidth, have been provided a facility to shift back to the campus as well. We have tried our best to make online learning experience comfortable for both the students and faculty members. Most of our programmes which didn’t have much practical sessions, are now revised with various simulations and online group discussions being included in the curriculum. This ensures that the subject is as interesting as it was offline and students are able to learn practically as well.

We understand that the pandemic has not only affected everyone physically, but also emotionally and mentally. To ensure the mental and emotional wellbeing of the community members, we have also started an online counsellor service which is available 24*7. The Institute has ensured social distancing and sanitizing, and other measures over and above the mandatory regulations as per the government guidelines to be implemented on campus.

Careers360: Normally by the end of the year, the placement cell gets active and companies start coming for recruitment of candidates. Do you see any paradigm shift on the part of the recruiters? When is the full-fledged recruitment drive expected to begin?

Prof Himanshu Rai: Our recruitment drives have been scheduled this year keeping in mind the changes in the academic calendar. Overall, recruiters have been understanding and accommodating of the minor changes in schedule as many of them have had to shift their hiring timelines as well.

Careers360: What steps is IIM Indore planning to take to ensure that the students get well placed since the job market is not very robust as of now?

Prof Himanshu Rai: At IIM Indore, the placement activities are driven by the students while the institute plays the role of an enabler for these. The student committees are working closely with our marquee recruiters as well as several new companies who are hiring this year to ensure as many opportunities as possible for the current batch of students. Students are also aware of the situation and are preparing accordingly. Our communication to them is the same as last year, and that is to work on their resumes and skills that their preferred recruiter would look for.

Careers360: While going through the selection process of IIM Indore, it is mentioned that if the personal interview will be conducted in online mode due to the prevailing situation of COVID 19, then IIM Indore will do away with Written Ability Test. Do you think it will have an adverse effect on some students as some are good at expressing themselves in words rather than in one to one conversation?

Prof Himanshu Rai: Personal interview is one of the most important factors which decides the admission to any school. Given the uncertainty, since conducting online Written Ability Test (WAT) was not possible for the candidates who appeared for the online interviews, the Admissions Committee after due deliberations and considerations, decided to drop the WAT component and its weightage for all the candidates for the PGP and PGP-HRM admissions process of IIM Indore for 2020. Although conducting online interviews may have technical challenges like poor connectivity or PC or laptop issues or a non-tech savvy interviewer, the virtual mode will ensure that the academic year starts on time this year. Verbal communication is an important aspect of analysing the capabilities of an aspirant through personal interviews and group discussions, however, the current situation warrants this decision in order to maintain process transparency, fairness, and consistency. So far as WAT is concerned the sheer logistics involved (ensuring fairness) make it difficult for us to hold it should the interview process happen in the virtual mode.

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Careers360: In wake of Covid 19, it has been observed that a lot of companies and especially multinational and IT companies are switching to work from home on a permanent basis. Now while hiring the candidates do you think that the students would have to settle with less salary which otherwise would have been more if they were to be physically present in the office?

Prof Himanshu Rai: We have not observed work-from-home being a factor in the compensation being offered by recruiters. Most recruiters have been competitive in their offers this year as well. Our placement strategy also hasn't deviated from regular strategy besides some changes in how processes are conducted. We are trying to align our processes with the virtual environment and making efforts to make them more efficient. So far we have been receiving positive responses with respect to PPOs and we are working closely with our marquee recruiters to ensure the best outcome possible for our students during these unprecedented times.

Careers360: Does IIM Indore have scholarship programmes? If yes what are they and how can the students avail it?

Prof Himanshu Rai: IIM Indore extends financial aid to the participants in need of financial assistance. The objective of the Need Based Financial Assistance (NBFA) at IIM Indore is to ensure that no participant is deprived of education at the institute for financial reasons. All participants admitted to the Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), PGP HRM (PGPH) and Integrated Programme in Management (IPM) with annual family income below Rs. 9, 00,000 are eligible to apply for financial aid.

The NBFA Committee undertakes a two-step process for deciding the number of awardees and quantum of aid. The actual NBFA awarded would be a percentage of the maximum amount of financial assistance the institute decides to offer to a participant in the year. This would be decided on year to year basis. The percentage would be decided based on the family income and assets of the participant’s family. Disciplinary records of the participants will also be considered while awarding NBFA.

In the first stage, the participant’s financial need will be assessed by evaluating the application submitted by the participants. Second stage, based on the first stage assessment, some of the participants are called for a personal interaction with the NBFA Committee. During this interaction, NBFA Committee evaluates the financial need of the participant, as well as verifies the genuineness of the details provided by the participant in the application. Based on the outcome of the above, applicants are provided financial assistance.

This policy is further being strengthened to provide complete tuition waivers to deserving candidates in need.

Careers360: Online education is now the norm across the world. Do you envisage this to be the future norm or just a temporary phase? Please elaborate.

Prof Himanshu Rai: Classroom education can never be substituted with e-courses. Learning needs to be both in the classroom and outside as well. However, in the current COVID19 times, B-Schools have done everything in their power to ease the learning and enable smooth admission processes. This may be a temporary thing, but pursuing a degree during a difficult economy may help the participants gain new knowledge and skills during the crisis and they may benefit after the economic recovery when they graduate. However, education can never be restricted to books and laptops since networking and practical knowledge enhance students’ skills to prepare them for the corporate world.

Careers360: Tell us something about the five year integrated MBA programme and how is it evolving as it is relatively new? What was the main objective of introducing this programme?

Prof Himanshu Rai: Launched by IIM Indore in 2011, the five-year Integrated Programme in Management (IPM) is the first of its kind in India. The programme has been accredited by the Association of MBAs, London (4th and 5th Year). It is a unique and creative programme meant for young students with managerial and leadership aspirations. Through the IPM, IIM Indore seeks to attract young students, and mould them as outstanding leaders through a world-class education.

IPM is aimed at students who have passed out of class XII/Higher Secondary or equivalent from schools across India. After 3 years of intensive study of foundational disciplines, the IPM students train as managers along with the students of the Institute’s 2-year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), undertaking the same course package in management studies in years 4 and 5.

IPM students are required to complete a social internship at the end of year 2, and a business internship between years 4 and 5. This experiential learning inculcates leadership qualities in them and hones their managerial skills further. We have recently launched a student exchange programme for the IPM students as well and we have collaborations with more than 35 foreign institutions.

At the end of the five year Integrated Programme, the participants would be awarded with Bachelor of Arts (Foundations of Management) and Master of Business Administration (under the Dual Degree Programme) by IIM Indore on successful completion of programme requirements. Apart from academic programmes, the IPM participants are exposed to various extra-curricular activities in order to inculcate in them leadership qualities and managerial skills. The IPM participants have formed several Clubs/Committees through which they complement their academic activities.

Careers360: What is the word of advice that you have the budding managers with regard to the selection of the course and the institute and how they should cope with the prevailing situation since a lot of money is spent in paying fees if one is studying from a reputed institute.

Prof Himanshu Rai: Enrolling in any programme during the pandemic may feel tricky, considering the fee structure and industry and the job market uncertainty. However, economic recessions are the best time to invest in education in order to increase one’s competitiveness, career stability and earning powers. Even though the aspirants may be sceptical about online education, these online programmes adapt to the current lifestyle and provide synchronous and asynchronous classes. There’s an uncertainty associated with online learning and even enrolling in any course amid the pandemic since everything is unprecedented and unconventional. However, enrolling in any programme during a difficult economy may help the participants gain new knowledge and skills during the crisis and they may benefit after the economic recovery when they graduate.