Thursday, January 15, 2009

A thought provoking article and a quiz

I wasnt planning on writing for another 2-3 days, but this this article came along, and set one thinking quite a bit. The IIMs, like the police, are a very interesting candidate for reform. Do read the article - its succint, and yet packs in the right information.

Here, then, is my set of Commandments(oops, "recommendations") for the IIMs. All thought inspired by the article. Thank you Shalini.

1. Thou shalt not dilute brand equity by diluting the product.
2. Thou shalt attract the most competent faculty by paying the best salaries and benefits.
3. Thou shalt get rid of all excess flab, expenditure and staff that is there only because it’s a government institution.
4. Thou shalt improve industry interaction.
5. Thou shalt listen to good advice, irrespective of where it comes from – some of the things R C Bhargava says make a lot of sense, and we should not dismiss a good advice just because we do not like the source.
6. Thou shalt not bow to political will. If the politicians want more IIMs , or if they want lower fees (when the IIMs are already not charging much), they can open MMJ School of Management and meet the same standards. An IIM Product will not be a reservation case or a person whose admission is a function of India’s population. 1000 IIM graduates a year is more than enough.
7. Thou shalt use thy faculty and thy alumni more.
8. Thou shalt innovate in the discipline to which thou are committed – Management education, not in politics of examination passing or the politics of dean selection. In short, thou shalt clean thyself internally. And do it periodically.

There is also one other quiz that I created on Braingle. This is about capitals of Indian states. It only sounds easy. Tell me what you think after you've tried it. :-)

19 comments:

~nm said...

Amen to that!

And the link at braingle doesn't work.

delhidreams said...

thou shud write more n more in this new year of ours :) hw hav u been howdy?

Seema said...

I came to your blog, read your post and also finished the quiz.. It's fun.. Looks like i'll do it often now :)

Seema

OG said...

7/11.... not bad (for me)....
:)
and yes, IIM's should never play around with quality

rainboy said...

hey..how have u been..passing by to say hi

Artnavy said...

" You got 10 correct out of 11, or 90.9%. "

Got the Guru gobind one wrong

not bad . . .

Indian Home Maker said...

I think the government should stop running any educational institutions unless they are for public benefit - like Medical colleges. And even here anybody who uses tax payer's money to acquire a career must serve the tax payer or people for a certain number of years (like a BOND that all defence personal sign)

IIM graduates are not serving the nation, they are doing a great job - but this education should be with out any support or interference by the government .
And of course No Private Institution should be forced to admit anybody under compulsion (i.e. reservation it should be a consumer and customer relationship, do a good job and charge good fess).
The Government should totally focus on Primary and secondary education so that every child in India gets to go to a reasonably good basic school. Instead of this.

Let me write a post on this .... Nice post HDWK ... you made me think :)!

Lucifer said...

thats y they rock!!!

Unknown said...

liked the way the thoughts were provoked.... pleasant & polite. But could get(grapple) into the....like police..wala thing.

Aradhna said...

Took the quiz.
Got 9 correct though the answer showed 8 only since I didnt put a space between Tamil and Nadu.

Please keep posting more quizzes.

Anonymous said...

I got all correct! Yay!!
I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I hadn't got all correct(geography student no). I must appreciate your knowledge about India too.I loved your quiz..

Monika said...

7/11 that doesnt make me happy I thought i knew India better :(

first time here came via Mampi's.... nice blog

The Phosgene Kid said...

I'm still working on the capitols of the US, at least I can pronounce those names!!

my space said...

10 correct!
MMM I wish it was mandatory for each student to intern at IIM for at least 1 semester..whether teaching, research, planning whatever..

How do we know said...

hi ~nm: I just checked again.. maybe some temp problem when u clicked on it.

Hi adi: thy wish is granted.. the next post is coming up.

Hi Seema: U shald have taken my advice long ago.. this blog is a window to my heart. Thats why very few ppl who know me personally have access to this url.. :-)

Hi Ajit: Am glad u agree:-)

Hi oo7: Hi to u 2. How have u been? :-)

Hi Artnavy: I am super impressed with you. Either u r very well travelled or very well read, and i m assuming it is the former.

HI IHM: The guys who enter an IIM get an education loan readily enough. They really do not need subsidised education. What's more, they dont even ask for it. Even the IIMs do not want financial support from the government any more. It is the goivernment that continues to force govt aid and subsidised higher education there. Loved ur comment and ur post. Totally agree with you that reservations should be upto a point, and higher education post graduation is not that point. if hte govt cleans up its schooloing act, these reservations will be unnecessary.

Hi mayz: :-)

Hi mahesh: Oops.. completely forgot abt the police connection while inserting that clause..:-) but on a more serious note, police reforms have been on the general public's mind for a while now, thats basically where it came from..

Hi Chiya: 2 more quizzes should hopefully come up soon. How have u been? Gud to c u back!

How do we know said...

Hi Mithe: Geo student! am impressed!! more quizzes will come up soon.

Hi Monika: Welcome to tbe blog. 7 on 11 is good if u ask me :-)

Hi Phos: :-) aah, yes, there are 50 capitals there.. we only have abt 27.

Hi my space: I thought about that for a long time.. maybe we should talk abt it offline.. but my take in brief is that one year of military trng will be easier, and more beneficial.

Id it is said...

That is sad news indeed, if the IIM's are going to be dictated to by the Indian Government about how they should be run. Next to the IITs, the IIMs are currently gaining renown across the world as premier educational institutes of India. Why and what would they want to change given they are doing such a good job? Why try to fix something that's not broken...

J said...

8/11.......had no idea about Durtlang Hills and Ganesh Tok....a fun quiz nevertheless.......

SANTHOSH said...

http://livemint.com/2009/01/19125904/IIT-IIM-pay-review-report-by.html

Oh, and I got a 10er