The Hindu Business Line : Hooking up the IIM way

The e-group has definitely created a bridge among the batch-mates, or else we used to invariably end up meeting only at airport lounges. Satish Kumar, Managing Director, Henkel Spic India.

Satish Kumar, Managing Director, Henkel Spic India.

Though the annual alumni get-togethers ensured that they met at least once a year, networking among the IIM alumni, a decade ago was mostly confined to catching up with each other at social dos or exchanging notes when they bumped into each other at airport or hotel lounges. The more social ones, however, made sure that they kept in touch with their batch-mates either over the phone, through letters or by setting up local chapters of the alumni association in their respective cities.

The advent of the Internet, however, has given a new face to the entire concept of networking among former students of the premier B-schools of India. In came the concept of e-groups which enabled members to post not only their addresses and contact numbers on the Net, but also share information about their families, exchange notes about each other's professional advancement and a variety of other issues.

"Our e-group has definitely created a bridge among the batch-mates, or else we used to invariably end up meeting only at airport lounges," says Satish Kumar, Managing Director, Henkel Spic India, who is an alumnus of the 1978 batch of IIM, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

Kumar says that apart from keeping in touch with friends, the e-group has also helped in supporting social causes. "We are presently funding an NGO which organises literacy programmes for girl children in Rajasthan."

Chandu Nair, Director, Scope E-Knowledge Centre

Such groups have more interesting causes too... . such as match making. "Apart from keeping in touch with my batch-mates, I have also even been approached by some of their mothers to look out for eligible IIM bridegrooms for their daughters," says Chennai-based Chandu Nair, Director, Scope E-Knowledge Centre, who is an alumnus of the 1983 batch of IIM-A.

Besides keeping track of batch-mates at a personal level, the advent of these e-groups has led to serious networking on the business front too. From clinching business deals to recruiting talent to even seeking valuable business insights — the IIM alumni over the years have left no stone unturned to make use of their b-school contacts for professional purposes.

Nair recalls that when his company was launched, a number of people had to be recruited. "That is when we got to know that one of our batch-mates runs a staffing solutions company. We have recruited almost 80 per cent of our staff through this company. At the same time we also try and give leads to our batch-mates and even juniors who want to switch jobs or careers."

Ramkumar, Director,Sales, Venus Water Heaters

I. Ramkumar, Director - Sales, Venus Water Heaters, who is an alumnus of IIM, Lucknow, says that he usually networks with his batch-mates to get insight of new markets in which his company is interested. "A number of my batch-mates are into marketing consultancy and banking, and I regularly network with them for inputs on their respective sectors."

Similarly, Kumar of Henkel says that networking with his batch mates came in handy especially during the early days of Henkel in India, when he sought advice from them on marketing, advertising and so on. "But we ensure that we maintain professional ethics. We never seek information about competition, which I think is unethical. It depends how best one can use his contacts for professional interest, but it shouldn't be at the cost of somebody else's professional interest."

Milind Jadhav, Account Director, Euro-RSCG, who belongs to the 1994 batch of IIM, Bangalore (IIM-B), says that serious professional networking happens only at a senior level. "As far as the middle-management is concerned, the networking is mostly restricted to keeping in touch with friends. In case I am pitching for an account and the client happens to be an IIM-B alumni, I may have a preference, but it needn't necessarily translate into a professional or a business deal," he says.

Nair says that apart from networking only with their batch-mates or alumni from their own b-school, they also interact with the alumni associations of other IIMs. "We have organised a series of lectures where alumni of other b-schools have also participated. We have also had cricket matches with various IIM alumni associations and so on."

But he adds that alumni networking in India is still at a nascent stage. "The b-school alumni associations in the US, for instance, even generate funds for the development of their schools. We still have a long way to go to reach that stage," he says.

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