Ashish Nanda, new director of IIM Ahmedabad
After months of delay behind the appointment of the new director at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), Harvard Law School professor Ashish Nanda will finally take charge on September 2, 2013. Currently in Ahmedabad, he spoke to PaGaLGuY exclusively through e-mail.
What is your plan of action for IIM- A?
Right now, my plan is to learn from the faculty, students, alumni, and board of IIM-A. I would defer developing and sharing a plan of action with external audiences before I have had the opportunity to do so with the internal constituencies of the school. Suffice to say at this stage that I am committed to putting my energy and effort into ensuring (a) the school takes its rightful place among the best business schools globally and is well connected with the global exchange of practices and ideas on management, and (b) the outstanding faculty, staff, and students of the school have the best opportunity to achieve their potential.
What are your views on the current slowdown in placements? Do you see that as a reversible trend?
There are some macroeconomic drivers of the slowdown. India is an emerging economy and, despite the recent economic slowdown, has a positive outlook in the medium term. I believe there will be ongoing, and increasing need, for well trained management executives who can lead enterprises in the future: whether those are international businesses, entrepreneurial start-ups, public sector undertakings, or non-profits. I believe IIM-A continue to offer high quality and relevant education to its students and an educational experience that meets but also transcends the needs of the current business cycle.
How are Indian b-schools different from b-schools such as Harvard? Which are the areas which need improvement?
Top Indian management schools are comparable to the top global schools in the quality of their students and the quality of their educational experiences. If we can ensure the Indian management schools are engaged in the global exchange of ideas and practices and that the faculty, staff, and students of the school are provided the opportunity to contribute meaningfully, Indian management schools can become even better and more recognized globally than today.
Will you be bringing in some of the practices of Harvard to IIM-A? If yes, kindly throw light on them.
I have learned a lot from my experiences at Harvard. But IIM-A is a wonderful institution with its own proud heritage and practices. Nor are practices at the two institutions entirely different; in fact, I already see a lot more overlaps than distinctions. So, I don’t have a laundry-list of practices I wish to import. Instead, I will try and learn IIM-A’s practices first and, where an opportunity arises, explore if some of the Harvard practices might contribute to strengthening the school even further.
(Ashish Nanda will be answering some more questions for PaGaLGuY. Keep watching this space for more)