New Delhi: Dr. Asit K Barma, Director, BIM Trichy has announced that the institute is planning to consolidate its course curriculum, pedagogy, and design. He also gave a hint that the new second campus of the Institute will be ready by 2024.
Few people are aware of the history of one of the oldest PGDM B-schools in India, Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM), Tiruchirappalli, which is one of the top-ranked B-schools in the NIRF Rankings 2022.
Over the last four decades, BIM Trichy has continued to produce MBAs who became CXOs of leading Global and Indian companies. Dr. Asit K Barma, who joined as the Director of BIM Trichy two years ago, is now transforming the institution into a multi-campus, multi-program institution.
Dr. Asit K Barma's Interview on BIM Trichy Integrating its Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Programme Design
In an interview, when he was asked about his early priorities, he answered that his top aim was to reposition the institute in the new business order. Given the current B-School landscape in the nation, any old legacy institute or organisation must make sure to prevent following in the footsteps of Nokia or Kodak.
Expressing his content, he said that the BIM Trichy is considered as a boutique business school that focuses on sustainability and new technology applications. The institute has been chosen by the Tamil Nadu government to serve as the academic partner for the prestigious CM's two-year Fellowship Program. Only the best IIMs are allowed to administer programmes like this for other states.
Talking about the BIM Trichy's Progress and Key achievements, Barma said that the Financial Trading and Analytics Center with Bloomberg and NSE Smart Trading Simulation software has been established by BIM Trichy, the only institutes in Tamil Nadu to do so. This centre not only assists students with cross-disciplinary research and project work, but also with CMT and BMC certification preparation.
Only a handful B-Schools in India can boast of having a Real-time Contextual Marketing Lab put up by us, filled with open-source software solutions like Salesforce Social Studio. O-Nine solutions and InChainge software applications are available in the institute's Centre for Operational Excellence for supply chain 4.0 simulations.
Further, he said the institute is currently attempting to work on Metaverse Labs and the integrated supply chain for drones and the academic staff and students are also developing intellectual property for transdisciplinary applications.
By utilising the institute's affiliation with the CM's fellowship programme, BIM have established a Center for Sustainable Development and is strengthening the public policy and capacity building capabilities. These are the signs of BIM Trichy's repositioning and fresh beginning, added Barma.
Considering BIM as a company that combines the advantages of a heritage institution's sound governance with the adaptability of a modern start-up, he said that the institute is included among the top 100 business schools by NIRF this year, and in the following three years, now the goal is to rank among the top 40.
Director's Comment on India's Management Education
He said that the B-School mushrooming is lowering the bar. A problem is the scarcity of competent management science professors. Because of this, the value of an MBA is being questioned. People inquire about the return on investment because so many MBAs are unemployed in the field.
Over time, there has not been a considerable increase in the number of CAT candidates. The majority of B Schools are private institutions and are not RTI-eligible. Public disclosures of admission and placement statistics are lacking. The majority of self-funded B Schools experience considerable faculty attrition, he added.
Taking into account the consequences, all B-Schools must be subject to RTI coverage and required to make essential information publicly available. Anticipating a big industry consolidation with the institute moving forward, Dr. Asit K Barma said that the Government-funded B Schools like IIMs will do well in the upcoming shake-up, as will those with strong specialisations like MICA (in the communication field) and XLRI (in human relations).
He said that the direct establishment of campuses or investments by foreign universities in India are both permitted. Considering a virtually unchanging catchment area, it is noteworthy to observe the growth of management education in India. The institute has decided to shift the XLRI/ MICA approach to concentrate on developing strong proficiency in new technology applications and sustainable development fields, where the institute can compete on an equal footing with the best IIMs.
BIM Trichy's Industry-designed and Industry-delivered Programs
Speaking about the adoption of industry-designed and industry-delivered programs by BIM Trichy, he said that the institute was adjudged the Best B-School for Industry-Academia relations at the World Education Summit 2022 in Hyderabad.
BIM Trichy is one of the pioneers in introducing industry-designed and industry-delivered programs in new-age areas like Fintech, RPA, Blockchain, AI/ML, Derivative analytics, Supply Chain 4.0, and so on, and is committed to contributing to developing the local ecosystem and integrating this with the institute's pedagogy to hone application skills.
MoUs Signed by BIM Trichy
Moreover, the institute has signed an MoU with TN Irrigation Management and Training Institute of the Ministry of Public Works Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu to bring management insights into water management.
A few BIM students have worked with the International Centre for Clean Water at IIT Madras Research Park to construct a model in the water management area. BIM also signed an MOU with the Institute of Design Thinking, Chennai, to promote design thinking at the grassroots level to develop better products and improve service delivery, thereby contributing to the local ecosystem's overall competitiveness.
Working with a few local dairy and hatchery companies, conducting MDPs for BHEL and L&T, doing CSR impact analyses for City Union Bank, and helping many B Schools in the area with guest lectures and thought leadership contributions are just a few of the things that the institute is currently doing.
In order to facilitate the CMT certification training, BIM Trichy and the Chartered Market Technician Association have inked an MOU. The Students will benefit from the course's technical insights into the financial market and investments, which are a component of modern market analysis.
Plan to Develop New Second Campus
The new campus was created by a renowned, award-winning architect who was inspired by the Cauvery Belt's temple architecture. The strategy has received Board approval, and the institute is obtaining the necessary clearances from several departments.
However, the campus will be finished by 2024 and will soon release tenders for construction. There won't be any outside grants involved; this will be entirely self-funded.
Changes to be Made In Order to Align Curriculum & Pedagogy
Several studies on the future of works suggested a shift towards Social Enterprise or Society 5.0. He succinctly described by saying that the Pi-shaped programme architecture and distinctive industry and society education curriculum and pedagogy make the students more compassionate, believe in sustainable living, and be skilled in the use of emerging technologies.
The Offsite Outbound Leadership Lab, Personality Growth Lab, Courses on Universal Human Values, and Practice Courses on Research Incubation, Social Immersion Program, Personality Enhancement through Sports, and Learning Execution through Clubs and Committees are just a few of the interventions the institute offers. In addition, the curriculum is very current, with a three-stage review process overseen by the brightest brains in business and academia.
Collaboration Details of BIM Trichy and TN Govt
The Director went on to share the details of the Institute’s collaboration with the state government. He revealed the objectives of the TN CM’s Fellowship program, which are as follows:
- A pool of educated and action-oriented resources must be established, for the government to focus on policy efficacy, gap analysis, and building internationally referred benchmarks for policy and programme outcomes,
- Create a "programme structure" for the various sectors of Tamil Nadu using academic rigour and examples of best practises in policy and governance from around the world.
- Create and execute a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework to evaluate the government's performance in Tamil Nadu's many departments and industries.
- Create and evaluate the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for service delivery and compare them against the global best practices.
- Create a magic quadrant of service delivery processes based on their maturity and impact, then develop and deploy a measuring system for each KPI across diverse industries.
- Establish a framework for measuring and evaluating policy outcomes, gaps, and course corrections for Fellows and the government.
- Give the Fellowship resources the tools they need to find impact-creating strategies and scale them up.
- Understanding the state economy, tying economic activity to policy, and budgeting for higher value chain activities.
Finally, the director concluded by giving a piece of advice to the MBA aspirants saying that they should consider the cost of not getting an MBA rather than the return on investment.
They shouldn't base their decision on the highest or average CTC, and don't trust unaudited placement data; instead, look for a programme that can support their holistic development. He also asked the students to be curious and open to learning new things and interacting with others. Because the value they add to the system is what matters most in the end.
About Dr. Asit K Barma
Earlier, in February 2021, Dr. Asit K. Barma, an alumni of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Madras, was hired as the director of BIM Trichy. He is well-poised to use his 30+ years of experience in both academia and industry to develop the organisation into a multi-campus, multi-program institution.
Dr. Asit K Barma has held senior leadership roles in CMC (formerly IBM & now TCS); Tech Mahindra; Hinduja Tech and ValueLabs. He has taught at IMT Ghaziabad, IIM Kashipur and JAGSOM/ IFIM.
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