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Moving towards the top slot

Anjali Prayag

Business schools are certain that they can give IIMs a run for their niche status.

It's a business where top billings matter. Business schools all over the world are rated based on factors such as infrastructure -- both physical and intellectual-- they provide, the corpus and endowments they possess.

Here two Bangalore-based business schools, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME) and PES School of Management (PES-SM), talk about their achievements and plans that put their alumni on a par with the premium schools of the country.

According to Prof. J. Philip, Director, XIME, it is unrealistic to expect only A class schools (read IIMs) in the country. ``There should be B, C, D and E types also. But one should aim to move up which can happen only through competition.''

The professor talks of the story of IBM and Apple. ``We all know how the latter took on a giant like IBM and sped past it. IIMs have been here for the last three decades and we're just five years old. They better be good for having been around for so lon g.''

Talking of his school, XIME, he says, ``We're the 18th best business school in the country and we have achieved this in five years. In our selection and training, we tolerate no sloppiness.'' XIME will soon move into its new campus at Electronic City, th e hub of the IT corporate world in Bangalore. This Rs 3.5-crore project will possess state-of-the-art facilities with the aim to cater to the new world economy. ``Nearly 60 per cent of our students are placed in the knowledge industry. It's a declaration of our intent,'' says Prof. Philip proudly.

As for grooming the student to take on the corporate life, XIME believes in the value of public speaking and communication. ``We don't entertain late-coming. The students are expected to spend at least one hour a day in the library and the Internet centr e.'' Apart from summer projects and internship, the students have to learn one foreign language and a comparative management system of that country. Seminars and workshops are completely organised by the students to ensure personality development through these activities.

PES-SM has also moved from being syllabus-centric to being activity-centric. They call it the total student development initiative. Says its director, Dr. K.B. Akhilesh, ``We have the orientation programme which is a great equaliser. This gives the initi al soft skill development. Apart from this we have workshops on communication, personal habits and social etiquette.'' The college also has a feedback system for both students and faculty where both groups are assessed by each other.

Apart from these, PES-SM has special activity sessions everyday. Mondays are for spreadsheet modelling, Tuesdays for quality management, Wednesdays for panel discussion (people from the industry), Thursday, the day for personal growth labs. ``We do packa ge our students to suit the corporate world. As a step in this direction, we're have initiated the concept of co-location where companies will be located on our campus. Kshema Technologies, Edurite and Tata Infotech have already signed up for the area.'' About 10-12 organisations will be part of the business school.