The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are the premier management schools of India, located in the cities of Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Indore, Kolkata, Kozhikode and Lucknow. They award post-graduate diplomas in Management with various specializations. The CAT (Common Admission Test) conducted by the IIMs is a very competitive test conducted for admission to the numerous graduate programs in Management at the six campuses, and is usually considered the most competitive exam in the world, with a success rate of less than one in a hundred.
IIM Bangalore
IIM, Bangalore was established in 1973.
The melting pot that is Bangalore represents the new India , sure and determined and is therefore a hub of creative and entrepreneurial activity. This element of Bangalore 's personality has contributed to the culture at IIM Bangalore.
A highly accomplished faculty, cutting-edge management curriculum, a motivated student body and state-of-the-art infrastructure are a given, what differentiates IIMB is its strong industry linkages, vital for a business school churning out future leaders. It runs a course for working software professionals who add another dimension to the learning through their varied experience. IIMB also has a public policy programme for civil servants and they get the administration perspective. Students of the regular postgraduate programme have several clubs that interact and work closely with companies across a wide ___domain.
IIMB also boasts of the best student exchange programme in the country; partner schools include NYU Stern, GSB Chicago, Anderson (UCLA) and WHU Germany. In order to provide more students with an international exposure, IIMB has a course on international business that involves project work with a participating company at a foreign ___location. The international linkages at IIM B are so strong that about 70% of the batch has some international exposure during the course.
IIMB provides its students with a unique perspective. The focus is not just on academics but also on personality enrichment to enable future leaders to take shape. This can be seen in the various student activities on campus. Apart from the usual meetings of business leaders and seminars conducted by industry, IIMB also offers its students opportunities in various other clubs. These include ICON- the consulting club which sources live consulting projects for students, Vikasana, the students' social service club, and MARS, the retailing club that operates a state-of-the-art store on campus. The initiatives taken by students last year enabled them to increase turnover 6 times from half a millio to about 3 million rupees.
IIM, Ahmedabad was established in 1961 as an autonomous institution by the Government of India in collaboration with the Government of Gujarat and the Indian Industry. Vikram Sarabhai, a noted scientist and industrialist and other Ahmedabad-based industrialists played a major role in the creation of the Institute. It was registered as a society with a Board of Governors to oversee the functioning of the Institute. The Board has representatives from the Governments of India and Gujarat, the Industry, the IIM-A Society, the IIM-A faculty, etc.
IIM-A was conceived not to be purely a business school, but a school of management. Its mission is to professionalise Indian management through teaching, research, training, institution building and consulting. It also aims to professionalise some of the vital sectors of India's economy such as agriculture, education, health, transportation, population control, energy, and public administration.
In its formative years, IIM Ahmedabad collaborated with the Harvard Business School. Largely as a consequence of this collaboration, IIM-A pioneered the case method of teaching in India.
Its current chairman is N. R. Narayana Murthy.
Along with the other IIMs, IIMA (as it is called) was asked by Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Human Resources Development Minister of the Government of India to reduce the fees charged, reducing it by almost 80%. Given his rabid attempts at reducing the autonomy of these autonomous institutions, the fee reduction raised alarm bells. There was wide-spread media coverage and discussions and a public interest litigation filed by Sandeep Parekh and two others, in the Supreme Court of India brought the issue to a standstill. Mr. Narayana Murthy one of the industry stalwarts was amongst the only persons from the industry who supported the IIMs in their public battle for survival against the onslaught. The issue was resolved when the newly appointed HRD Minister (on a change in the government) withdrew the previous HRD's order. The original fee structure is now being continued for subsequent batches.
IIM Calcutta
The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, was established as the first national institute for Post-Graduate studies and Research in Management by the Government of India in November 1961 in collaboration with MIT Sloan School of Management, the Government of West Bengal, The Ford Foundation and Indian industry. During its initial years, several prominent faculty formed part of its nucleus, including Paul Samuelson, Jagdish Sheth, J. K. Sengupta, among others.
IIM Calcutta shifted to its new campus at Joka, a suburb of Kolkata, with the admission of the thirteenth batch. As of 2004, thirty-nine batches have passed out of this unique campus, loved for its lakes, its quantitative bent of mind, and its emphasis on freedom of thought.
Its websiteis worth a visit. Notice the demonstration links of the extranet - a unique student initiative that maintains links between faculty, students, alumni and corporates via the internet.
IIM Calcutta is also known for its bands JBS and Baro-C, famously named after the buses that 'connect us to civilization' - Joka Band Stand and 12-C.
INCA, or INitiative for Community Action, is a voluntary student body that works closely with NGOs in the Kolkata region.
IIM Indore
The Indian Institute of Management, Indore, was set up in 1998.
IIM Kozhikode
The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, is the fifth Indian Institute of Management.
Established in 1996 by the Government of India in collaboration with the Government of Kerala, it provides education, training, consulting and research facilities in management.
IIMK is located at Kozhikode, in Kerala, South India.
IIM Lucknow
Situated on the outskirts of the historic city of Lucknow, the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, was established in 1984, by the Government of India, as a national level school of excellence in management science.
IIML 's mission is to be a global, socially conscious and integrated school of management, contributing towards management development, both in India and abroad. Towards this, IIML undertakes a diverse range of academic activities and interventions aimed at creation, dissemination, and application of management knowledge and practices. These include : the Post Graduate Programme; the Fellow Programme; the Management Development Programme; Research Programmes; and Consulting Programmes. IIML is also entering into collaborative arrangements with leading business schools and research centres in India, Europe, Canada, South and Southeast Asia.
The Institute has state-of-the-art computing and class-room facilities, supported by an extensive library of books, journals, films, and databases. IIML academic programmes are fully residential. The serene and pollution free campus is well equipped to meet all the essential requirements of its residents.
Website of the alumni association of the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow can be found here.