IIM-K, The Young Risk-Taker

ESTABLISHED IN 1996 through a collaboration between Centre and state government, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM-K) is India’s fifth IIM. Spread over 113 acres on two hillocks in Kunnamangalam area of Kozhikode in Kerala, it is among the most picturesque campuses in the country.

As a young business school after the Big Four — Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta and Lucknow, Kozhikode had to formulate a strategy to create an identity for itself. To begin with, it had a permanent faculty of only 17 professors. The rest was visiting faculty from other IIMs and industry. Diversity in faculty helped the institute offer a more holistic education and a number of firsts — post-graduate programmes (PGP) in business leadership (2019), liberal studies and management (2020), and finance (2020). Its 17th doctoral Programme in Management (PhD) is full time, and residential. A PhD (Practice Track) was added in 2019 for working executives. The school offers executive MBA degrees through Interactive Learning Mode and Executive Post Graduate Programme, based out of IIM-K’s satellite campus in Kochi. The first batch of 42 students in 1996 has now grown to over 1,600 across programmes.

“The institute’s three guiding principles include ‘Satyam’ (Authenticity), ‘Nityam’ (Sustainability) and ‘Purnam’ (Fulfillment). It also came up with ‘Vision 2047’ to coincide with 100 years of India’s independence,” says Sandeep Chatterjee, an IIM-K alumni and member of the Board of Governors, and currently supply chain and sustainability leader, IBM.

Taking risks has been part of the school’s DNA, adds Chatterjee. “It is flexible because there have been no real hierarchies, and the board is young as well as experienced. We have healthy debates, but our combined risk appetite is high. We think what’s the worst that can happen? We will fail. That’s fine. This thought process has gone into carving out newer programmes.” It is the first institution to create a technology-enabled and interactive online executive education programme.

Faster Decision-making

The first five batches had a very high risk appetite, professionals willing to experiment vis-a-vis traditional institutes where one has to follow specific channels. “Students were part of building the soul of the institute. Placements were run by us, the mess was run by us; everything was student-driven because we had a very lean staff. Not everybody gets a chance to build an institute,” says Chatterjee.

In 2010, the institute received the AMBA (Association of MBA) accreditation, along with fellow awardees such as London Business School, INSEAD, HEC Paris. It now has the ‘Triple Crown’ — besides AMBA, it has the other two major global accreditations, including from EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) and AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). The institute features in the elite group of less than 100 business schools worldwide with the ‘Triple Crown’. It also means more faculty and student exchange, and more immersive programmes.

IIM-K has a number of firsts to its credit, one of the most notable being gender parity in its flagship programme. From less than 10%, the institute touched a high of 54% women in the PGP batch 17 (2013-2015) and later in PGP batch 24 (2020-2022).

The campus is also home to the first museum dedicated to Indian businesses (established in 2013) in the country. Besides historical artifacts, the museum also has pavilions set up by business houses.

IIM-K has one of the few Centres for Development of Digital Libraries in the world. It is home to ‘IIMK LIVE’ a first-of-its-kind start-up incubation programme supported by the Department of Science and Technology. The centre has so far supported 139 start-ups and 320 promoters under its flagship Business Incubation Programme.

“Over the last two years, IIM Kozhikode has expanded focus by establishing new Centres of Excellence such as the India-Japan Centre, Centre for CLIMATE Studies, Uruppikka (Centre for Macroeconomic, Banking and Finance; Gyanodaya (Centre for Pedagogical Innovation and Publishing) and Centre for Employment Relations and Labour Studies,” says Debashis Chatterjee, director, IIM-K.

Case competitions are a vital part of institute-industry linkages and play a crucial part in placements. Students participate in case competitions conducted by companies and get to present their solution to CEOs. “If your presentation and solution is good enough, if you have won the competition, firms also offer placements,” says Jay Laddha, an alumni working with Accenture. Such case competitions go on throughout the year. There is also the institute’s flagship alumni meet ‘Sangam’, held in 13 different cities across the world every year.