Having burnt its fingers with e-commerce major Flipkart, the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is considering bringing in new norms for recruiters to avoid a repeat in the future.

Earlier last week, Flipkart had decided to postpone by six months the joining dates for 18 new recruits from the institute.

Speaking to BusinessLine , Asha Kaul, Chairperson, Placement Committee – IIM-A, said, “For the first time, such a long deferment of joining date has happened. We are planning to review our policies for the recruiters and make suitable additions.

“The placement committee will meet after the internships of the students are over. We will consult with the faculty and students and firm up recruitment norms to be shared with future recruiters.”

Compensation issue

IIM-A had also raised with Flipkart the issue of increasing the compensation amount for the deferment. But the e-commerce player seems to be in no mood to change its stand.

Flipkart had offered ₹1.5 lakh as joining bonus for the six months of deferment.

Even as there has been no breakthrough with Flipkart, the institute believes that the relationship with the e-commerce player has remained far from turning sour. “There is nothing like IIM-A versus Flipkart. Had this letter not been leaked, the matter would have been resolved amicably. Decisions on corporate restructuring are not taken overnight. Even if they had an inkling of the same they should have given the students a heads up,” said Kaul, adding that the students of the institute are capable of dealing with such situations.

For the Flipkart issue, Kaul believes it to be more of a sectoral phenomenon than an isolated case of the company. Meanwhile, other companies have started approaching the students with their offers. “More than the financials, what matters is the roles from student’s choice. Flipkart or no Flipkart, the students are bright enough to rise to unprecedented heights,” Kaul said.

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