The Hindu Business Line : Going back to school

Are all AMP courses alike? Yes and no. There may be similarities in target participant profile and coverage, but in duration and course formats, there are definite differences.

All for a refresher: IIM-Bangalore’s first batch of AMPians.

H. S. Rajashekhar

When 60 families stood up and cheered family members receiving their certificates at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) recently, it wasn’t sons and daughters they were clapping for; it was mostly children applauding their parents on completing the year-long Advanced Management Programme (AMP) that IIM-B launched in April last year.

On average, each participant had managerial experience of 15-plus years and held a senior position. Importantly, these participants represented a growing trend among executives — going back to school for long duration programmes to renew themselves for the next big leap in their careers in a changing global business environment.

The AMP, however, is not a new idea. An Internet search for the phrase “advanced management programme” will throw up hundreds of pages. Of course, topping the list would be the AMPs from b-schools such as Harvard, Wharton, Oxford, IMD and INSEAD. Over the years, AMPs have attained exalted status, so much so that Mark Stevens’ book, Extreme Management – What they teach at Harvard AMP, became very popular. Harvard AMP, which had its origins in World War II, is known for its 14 hours-a-day, six-days-a-week programme of 10 weeks. So, it was only fitting that a b-school in the top league should start a programme in India.

Are all AMP courses alike? Yes and no. There may be similarities in target participant profile, programme objectives and coverage, but in duration and course formats, there are definite differences. IIM-B’s AMP is a long-duration programme consisting of on-campus residential modules, an overseas module, off-campus group work on case assignments, online business simulation games and business projects and full-day weekend sessions. This format is advantageous in that it allows working executives to be in a learning mode for a full year.

In its brochure for the AMP, IIM-B identifies two capabilities critical for today’s managers — the need to be functionally competent in a global context and the ability to set and drive the organisational agenda for growth and performance. The AMP seeks to “help participants manage this dual development agenda”. While the programme covers current concepts and practices, participants are enabled to “challenge the assumptions in the future envisaged contexts”. The AMP is also designed to “help participants reflect and examine their personal leadership processes”.

For those interested in some ‘inside insights’ on the first batch of the programme, here are a few:

Who were the participants? Senior managers from the top names in IT — both Indian and MNCs, manufacturing, telecom, retail, capital markets, consulting and so on, and across functions such as marketing, sales, finance, customer fulfilment, human resources, production, operations and so on. IIM-B worked meticulously to ensure diversity in its class, which facilitated valuable cross-industry learnings.

Why do people in established careers want to go to classrooms? While people possibly express it differently, the consensus realisation is that in the 15 to 20 years that they have been busy at organisations, management thought has evolved so much that only a structured classroom course would bring them up to speed, and mere airport readings of popular paperbacks would not do. People also find value in expert-assisted yet free and flexible environments to introspect and reflect on their own evolution as leaders, in a setting beyond the boundaries of their own organisations.

While it is neither possible nor intended to list the faculty and speakers or the subjects and learnings, select glimpses may be of interest here. An outbound learning programme tucked away from metro life and packed with dawn-to-dusk activities including rappelling and rafting kicked off the programme. This was a big hit with the participants. Throughout the programme, Prof Vasanthi Srinivasan’s holistic view of life encompassing professional and personal aspects – going beyond the much flogged ‘work-life balance’ kind of questions – initiated fierce debates on the challenges and dilemmas of leadership. Finance veteran Prof M. S. Narasimhan’s sessions took a strategic view of finance and focused on how organisations can leverage the instruments and markets that are part of today’s complex environment. Prof L. S. Murthy’s sessions brought the focus back to operational excellence. His exposition on Constraints Management to achieve significant improvements in throughput was clearly the highlight. A comprehensive course on Advanced Marketing by Prof Shainesh discussed creating, communicating, capturing and sustaining value and concluded with marketing performance management. And finally, Prof P. D. Jose’s course on Strategy — a favourite with all – distilled insights from a set of case studies that included Reliance and GE, placed equal emphasis on execution as much as on planning.

There were, of course, special sessions by veterans at IIM-B. For instance, Prof J. Ramachandran kindled new thinking with insights on overcoming what he calls the “liabilities of origin” in the context of the players from the emerging economy venturing abroad. Further, many distinguished personalities from industry attended these pre-dinner presentations and interactions.

What was the overseas module like? We attended a module on ‘managing in the global context’ at the ESADE Business School, Barcelona — one of the top-ranking schools in Europe. The learnings were immense and looking at internationalisation from a perspective other than Indian or American, which we are used to, was uniquely enriching. Similarly, our visit to FC Barcelona and our direct interactions with the top management there opened up entirely new perspectives on internationalisation and globalisation in a context like football. The factors behind the success of a bank like Banco Santander in the global banking arena were deeply etched in our minds.

A panel of senior faculty from this top school were also eager to hear about developments in India and they had interesting questions for our group of senior mangers about the creation of the Nano.

In such programmes, it is not wise to skip any module or session just because it is optional or there is flexibility. What you miss will not be easy to recoup. The foundation module is a good example. Even for those with sound management qualifications, this module brought the entire batch to the same level before beginning the advanced topics.

The numerous techniques, tools and instruments used in the leadership and personal growth areas require one to participate seriously and sincerely. This is the one great opportunity of a lifetime where away from the hesitation typical of one’s own corporate setting, it is possible to completely open up, participate, give and receive peer feedback. Be assured, just as this batch did, you will realise that you will immensely benefit.

Lastly, remember that this is not about a degree or a diploma that is to be earned for its own sake. Don’t expect campus placements and the works. At the level of participation this programme is pitched at, it would have been unwise to have designed it any other way. All in all, it is a fine programme — comprehensive in its coverage, well designed and delivered. For a participant who brings two things — a totally open and enthusiastic mind and adequate investment of time for off-classroom studies _ this programme can be truly transformational.

(The writer is with i-flex Consulting and attended the first AMP at IIM-B. These are his personal views.)

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