B-Schools set New Trends
In a recent research study carried out at IIM Ahmedabad's Ravi J Matthai Centre for Educational Innovation, four B-schools were named trendsetters in business education. They are Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad; Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM), Chennai; School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL), Gurgaon; and Indus World School of Business (IWSB), Greater Noida.
Sanjeev Bhalla, who was a student of IIM Ahmedabad's 2009-10 postgraduate programme for executives (PGPX) batch, carried out the study under the guidance of two professors. He found one common feature in the above B-schools - none had the mandatory approval from All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). Walking out of the club, GLIM recently got the much-needed approval and is currently the only B-school that offers a one-year management programme.
There is one other similarity between these emerging B-schools pertaining to the duration of programme. All of them, barring IWSB, run one-year programmes. This is unlike other B-schools, all of which offer two-year postgraduate management diplomas. Conventionally, one-year programmes are run for working executives who are looking for ‘compacted' management education. Some of the institutes go on to cut out summer internship from the curriculum.
"As all students have already worked in the industry for a minimum of two years, they don't need to undergo internship. The normal 72-week programme spread over two years is taught in the period of 50 weeks," says Prof TN Swaminathan, director, external relations, GLIM.
The selection process for all these B-schools is different from other Indian B-schools. While ISB and Great Lakes use GMAT as the selection criterion, SOIL takes a leadership assessment test, while IWSB has a comprehensive approach to accpeting students.
"We eliminate applicants through exams such as CAT/ XAT and later, we test their problem-solving skills by making them play Tower of Hanoi (a mathematical puzzle using three rods and discs of different sizes) before interviewing them," says Satya Narayanan R, co-founder, IWSB.
