The value add of the IIMs
Let us then begin our walk down this path with a question that I have been grappling with for a few days – about what defines the value of an IIM. Are they really are as good as they are made out to be?
There are many reasons why I have thought about this question. The first is the selection process that is followed to select B school students in India – where your managerial aptitude is judged on your performance in a 2 hour ritualistic ceremony called the CAT. A B – school is as good as it’s selection process; and while there is no doubting the impartiality of the IIM selection process, is it good enough?
My biggest crib with the selection process is that preparing for the test takes precedence over almost everything else in an aspirant’s life. The focus of any MBA aspirant is not to improve one’s technical, analytical, management or social skills – but to master hundreds of problem types and shortcuts in order to crack the world’s most demanding aptitude test.
One may argue that the CAT does test the skills that are desirable in managers – decision-making skills (X: do I answer 1 mark or 2 mark questions), dealing with uncertainties, perseverance (Y: I’ve been studying for this since my engineering days!), the ability to take risks and so on. But by focusing so intently on the CAT, we encourage people to stop adding value to their real lives and instead, to focus solely on cracking the test.
Another reason this question keeps popping up is that none of the IIMs are recognized to be in the league of any of the top 50 B – schools in the world. This makes one question if the quality of learning in an IIM is world class or not.
So where does the much vaunted value of an IIM diploma lie? We could try to answer this by asking what students want out of an IIM. On top of the wish list of most would be money – a dream fuelled by media reports of astronomical dollar – denominated salaries bagged by a few students. Some would be drawn by the prospect of learning, others by the brand – a very powerful one in India.
I, however, think that the best learning you take out of an IIM is confidence – confidence in your capabilities, borne out of having triumphed in a contest of 2,00,000 people. And no learning can be more valuable than that! Paradoxically, it is in the CAT madness the true value of an IIM lies!
In my next article, we will touch upon my pet themes of hyperbole and calvin – stay tuned, folks!
posted by ashwin at
11:29 PM
7 Comments:
That is an interesting perspective, dude. Guess you have a popular blog here!
By
Anonymous, at 4:09 PM
Hah... ever the devil's advocate Ashwin!!
Believe me, the IIM's will not teach you all the much hyped, well worn cliches that hundreds of MBA aspirants vomit onto the desks of the interview panel.... no the IIM's wont teach you leadership, or time management or give you "Confidence", you tend to get that yourself over the 2 gruelling years you spend there. What an IIM teaches you is finance, marketing etc etc etc... best that people understand this harsh reality and get on with it.... maybe your next post should be upon the fresher mindset of the IIM degree!!!
Sumanth
By
Anonymous, at 8:43 PM
Invictus my man:
To clarify - as we discussed the pther day, the value add is more to do with winning the battle within yourself, do discover the iimer in you. This is certainly open to debate and I welcome you to it. To each, his own perspectives!
By
Anonymous, at 11:59 PM
The IIMs help u develop good work-habits by subjecting the best and the brightest to a very rigorous curriculum. The key to the brand is, as u rightly pointed out lies in the selectivity of the admission procedure.
But don't go by the rankings dude.
IIMs are world-class in their own right.
By
shrikanth, at 10:22 PM
Cool Article on IIM, I agreee to the cribbing part ... but well both of us have to be in the system to fight the system.
By
Anirban, at 2:51 PM
Ashwin... its a choice u make, isn't it... hype - YES... cut-throat competition - UNDOUBTEDLY but u get to study and wrk alongside the finest brains in the country and find urself at the beginning of a very steep learning curve. U can reach the place where ur IIM contemporaries reach without an MBA but the struggle is a lot harder... I think the effort u put in, in ur IIM days pays off in some way 'coz ultimately ur branding urself! And Obviously, its the money!!
As some wiseguy has said : Every morning i go thru Forbes list of 40 richest Indians. If my name is not in there, i go to work..!!
By
Dewdrop, at 12:29 AM
On most occasions I wont be found championing for the IIMs, its system or the supposed "god like fac" there.
not going to do that here either, but ...
couple of pts. :
"...in a 2 hour ritualistic ceremony called the CAT."
the only thing ritualistic abt CAT is prob the 2 hrs (as of now). consider most exams uve given till date and possibly the no. of times youve complained abt how unfair the examination system is. how it never tests your aptitude, potential or intelligence but mainly your ability to mug a month before the exam.
Then take a look @ the CAT. not only does it attempt to test your apptitude but you can keep going back to it for the rest ofyour life. & CAT usually isnt usualy the be all and end all of an admission to the IIMs.
"The focus of any MBA aspirant is not to improve one’s technical, analytical, management or social skills – but to master hundreds of problem types and shortcuts in order to crack the world’s most demanding aptitude test."
anyone who has sufccessfully cracked the test will let you know that mastering hundred of shortcuts is not going to get you v. far.
& even if you do the end result (if you crack) will do atleast 2 things. hopefully, in the process you will learn a lot more than prob types. u will acquire more skills than shortcuts and u will be placed @ a certain minimum level (@ par with others) from where they can take you further on.
Also, what you might consider learng prob types (in DI for instance) are prob bookish learng just for you because you are where you are. It is completely possible to reach the same level through regular handling while say ...someone is on the job.
The test doesnt care how you acquire skills - whether u read extensively , are forced to practice by virtue of your work or go to a coaching center to learn .. as long as @ the end of the day you can compete with your peers and are @ that min level from where you can move on.
"we encourage people to stop adding value to their real lives and instead, to focus solely on cracking the test."
trying to crack the test, preparing for intvs.. dont really devoid me of adding value to my life. It makes me do many thigns that I am otherwise just too lazy to do. It also makes me define my purpose and goals more accurately with each passing day ...
Ultimately, any test is only as good as the effort you put in and the results yielded (in non-score terms).
By
Anonymous, at 7:39 PM
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