IMT Nagpur is set to rededicate itself towards a globally recognized, socially responsive B-School

Sept. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- Sweeping changes are in the works for Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur. Recently appointed Director, Dr. Subhash Datta, has launched plans under which he says, “I intend to transform IMT Nagpur and take it to a different level.”

Exposing students to more on-the-job training, revamping and expanding the summer internship programme, making teaching more purposeful and putting more emphasis on entrepreneurship are all at the core of Dr. Datta’s plans. Passionate about IMT Nagpur creating entrepreneurs, one of the first things he established after taking over as Director in June, was a Centre for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Development.

“We are looking forward to joining hands with the Ministry of Science and Technology – or even angel brokers - to provide the right kind of seed capital for what is recognised as the best business idea in a particular batch,” said Dr. Subhash Datta.

The entrepreneurship centre was rapidly followed by the creation of Centres for Excellence in Supply Chain Management, Corporate Governance, Financial Advancement, Innovation and Research and Sustainable Development.

Aiming to make teaching more purposeful, Dr. Datta studied the situation in the United States and Britain and said, “My personal opinion is that we don’t need a plethora of courses in B-schools. In the U.S. or UK they have far fewer courses. The real deal is how to make students work, how to excite them about their curriculum and make them understand the real value of education.”

Dr. Datta believes his role as a teacher is to be a facilitator who provides the necessary stimulus for students to work. “The bottom line for me is that my students have to be ready for industry. They might blossom into entrepreneurs, or might already have an idea for entrepreneurship, or might ultimately join their family business three or four years down the line. But at the starting point, almost all of them are looking for a job to get some exposure. The entire curriculum at IMT Nagpur has to be aligned to this one fact.”

Empowering students to handle real-life situations is a must, he said. “The education process must be responsive to the continuously changing needs of the business community and must allow the participants to manage more efficiently and effectively to become a future leader.

“Our post graduate programs are designed with this perspective with a judicious mix of rigour and analysis to tackle the complex problems with a strong research focus. The pedagogy that we adopt with case studies, group discussions, industry interfaces and real-life problem solving projects is exciting.”

Along with the curriculum, he is also aiming to reform the examination system. “I believe IMT Nagpur is ready for an open-book examination system, where students are encouraged to research and solve problems rather than memorise content or state facts,” said Dr. Datta. “Go to the library, go to the net, find out the necessary material, talk to other people and find a solution. So why should examinations continue being a closed book, three-hour affair? This system does not test for brilliance; we only create and nurture mediocrity.”

He also envisions a shift from the current philosophy of providing domain-centric business education, like an MBA in Operations, Human Resources, Finance or Marketing. To him, the MBA might have more relevance if it focused on particular sectors as a whole. “It’s time we evolved to MBAs in Banking, or Infrastructure, or Automobiles, etc., so that a manager is prepared to address an industry rather than a generic domain,” he said.

Dr. Subhash Datta strongly believes the two-month internship concept needs to be revised and fine-tuned once again to respond to current needs. He views internship programmes as potent tools for an industry-IMT Nagpur collaboration.

“Treat the internship project as four courses, or 12 credit points,” he said. “The student will begin his summer internship project after the first year, on a relevant problem pertaining to quality improvement in a company. He will carry out his data collection, research and evaluation and at the end of two years, present his thesis. A representative of the company concerned should take the interview at the time of the presentation. This way, the quality of internships will improve and industry will know that IMT Nagpur solves real problems.”

Aiming to keep students updated on all aspects of industry IMT Nagpur has and will continue to host many relevant seminars and conclaves, such as the recently held 'Alpha' Human Resource gathering debating course versus competency. A first-of-its-kind event, Alpha saw HR pros from top 20 companies at IMT Nagpur with more than 50 academicians and 600 B-school students from across the country attending.

Coming up on the horizon is a faculty development program on mergers and acquisitions Oct. 11-13 on the IMT-N campus.

With so many innovations in the works, it is clear IMT Nagpur is poised to take a leap into business education of the future.