 FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The Review Committee in its wide-ranging discussions, identified four major areas in relation to future directions. These are:

1. Teaching Materials, Research and Consultancy

2. Strengthening Public Policy and Management

3. Governance

4. Finance.

6.1 Teaching Materials, Research and Consultancy

Although the Post Graduate Programme in all the Institutes are doing, reasonably well, there is concern about the lack of emphasis on developing appropriate teaching materials and research. that feeds into teaching. The PGP has developed a multi-disciplinarily curriculum, but multi-disciplinary research has not developed to any extent. It is important to recognise that in professional education it is not only acquiring the tools of management but skills in problem solving that need to be learnt. An understanding of processes as well as broader interactions between the political and economic system needs to be emphasised for better decision making. Relevant teaching materials and Supportive research are at the heart of a successful management programme - and the 'heart' is weak.

The IIMs, and the management schools elsewhere, were a reaction against the long established programmes in public administration which dealt with vague generalisations e.g. delegation, leadership skills. The IIMs need to constantly question their interdisciplinary mix of courses and reappraise their teaching methods so as not to fall in the trap of 'reaching vague concepts and generalisations which cannot be practised. It is, therefore, important that the IIMs strengthen their commitment to teaching materials and relevant research.

Consultancy is an integral part of the activities of IIMs. The underlying assumption is that in professional education opportunities of practice in real and live situations would add to the effectiveness of teaching and research. The Review Committee, however,found that consultancy projects were often not related to the development of' teaching materials nor did they contribute to the agenda of research. The Review Committee urges a clearer delineation of the objectives of consultancy, its relationship with teaching and research and better administrative measures for approval and rejection of projects.

Reviewing the working of consultancy activities in the IIMs, the Review Committee was aware of the many problems of administration and morale it has created. It, therefore, considered the posibility of abolishing individual consultancy as it is now operating. On the other hand, the Institutes countered that their ability to attract good faculty would be seriously affected if consultancy was abolished altogether.

The current practice regarding consultancy fees is that the faculty member shares it with the Institute - two-thirds for the concerned faculty member and one-third 'or, the Institute. It is not clear whether this one-third covers even the overheads of the Institute.

The Review Committee recommends that all consultancy income Should accrue only to the Institutes. Problems in attracting and retaining good faculty should be tackled by leaving the IIMs free to fix suitable faculty salary scales, subject to our recommendations on their financial self-reliance. They may also be left free to create more levels of faculty and encouraged to provide faster performance based career growth. In these matters, there should be uniformity across IIMs.

6.2 Strengthening of Public Policy and management

All the Institutes have in varying measures tried to deal with the public policy and management aspects of public sector, especially the under-managed sectors. They have promoted measures to train students, organise management development programmes for the managers' in the relevant sectors and have conducted research and. provided consultancy. The most substantial intent in this regard has been in Ahmedabad, in their Centre for Man-

agement in Agriculture (CMA). It selects its own stream of students with degrees in agriculture and related subject and experience. Although the first year training is common with the PGP students, they are given a package of courses for specialisation in agriculture management in their Second year. The CMA has done considerable client centred research, has published 150 monographs and produced around 700 cases for teaching.

The CMA, in our opinion, is the most serious attempt amongst the IIMs in dealing with public policy and public management issues. Even here there are some concerns relating to 'excellence' and quality.

The Public Systems Group (PSG) in Ahmedabad is another effort in this direction. It is an attempt to introduce public policy and public management issues in sectors such as health, education, energy, urbanisation, etc. But it remains a loose grouping of faculty interested in pursuing research in these areas without a strong central direction or vision. The research is largely donor driven for many national and international agencies willing to fund such pro- jects. The experiences in IIM-C and IIM-L are similar. The faculty groups in public sector or other public systems is a loose conglomerate of faculty pursuing their research or consultancy efforts without a central focus or direction. They are unable to achieve the requisite thrust or impact.

Looking at the various experiences of IIMs it is our view that if public policy and management is to be promoted seriously, it will require strong central direction and a consistency of tone in mounting courses, research and teaching material - as was the case in the early stages of CMA's institution building process. Without a strong central direction and a resulting clarity of vision, there is the danger that the programme would inevitably be fragmented and be pulled in different directions. There is also the need to develop strong roots. and loyalties amongst faculty which can only happen with a shared vision. But as a part of a larger 'faculty' (PGP) with a different mission it is likely to get diluted, and the., institutional base does not develop adequately. The Public Policy and Management programme in each Institute must develop a strong identity of its own and the place must be able to stand on its own feet. If it is a part of a major programme with different objectives (PGM) it gets smothered by other concerns.

Looking at various experiences of IIMs and other places, it is suggested that if the public policy and management education systems are to be seriously promoted it would require:

(i) An integrated core curriculum.

(ii) The programme has to be multi-disciplinary

(iii) In the curriculum design of public management the emphasis should be on the context as much as on analytical tools. This will mean a heavy emphasis on the case method or other experience-based 'Methods which bring out, the contextual. aspects as well as the value conflicts and politics of the situation. The difference is between an, emphasis on tool acquisition and problem solving and an emphasis on processes as well as broader interactions between the political, economic and social systems.

(iv) The programme should be a free standing entity. It can either be a separate institute of public management with its mission specially defined as such or as a free standing Centre within an Institute - not as a peripheral activity.

(v) The programme should offer a summer internship offering- real experience in the selected public sectors and internship facilities should be available to the students.

(vi) The programme should have a separate degree.

(vii) It should have its own full-time faculty appointments.

(viii) In the admission policy there should be emphasis On experience in public service.

(ix) The students should be 'streamed' separately to take account of significant differences in background, training, aptitude, and inclination.

Public policy and management is neither public administration, nor business management. It requires a different mix of subjects in its curriculum and a different kind of a student body and faculty. If the Institutes are serious about promoting public policy, and management then the programme must have a coherence, an identity, an ethos and a style of its own. It must be sufficiently large, diverse and autonomous.

Demand for Public Managers

It is clear that there is great demand for IIM graduates front private sector, banks and multinationals and that there is a growing market. However, the 'demand' and 'pull' from public sector and service enterprises is not there as it is from the privates sector IIM-B's experience clearly indicates that in the various sectors they worked in energy, transport, urban planning, rural development, they experienced difficulty in placing their students and in promoting their MDPs. Review of experience has shown that although there is a need in these undermanaged or, more appropriately, mis-managed sectors', there is little demand for the welltrained managers on the same lines as from parts of private sector. Career opportunities in public management, conditions of recruitment and promotion need to be systematically studied with a view to creating this demand.

In this connection, the experience of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), is relevant to mention. Some of the IRMA graduates made a choice to work in the DRDAs in rural areas. They wished to convert their idealism into motivated professionalism. In spite of good and well appreciated work there were no opportunities of advancement for them because the first and second. level jobs in the DRDAs were reserved for IAS and State-level government officers. After a few years most of them left because of the existing system of "reservations". The motivation to serve was there but the system denied them access to be a useful and an integrated part of the system. The problem of 'placement' for IIM graduates in public sectors or government jobs is part of a complex problem of access to jobs and career development in the large scale bureaucracy that pervades most social and economic sectors. IIM graduates must have clear cut access to jobs in public systems where their skill and training will be more beneficial to the organisations compared to Government officials on deputation or tenure assignments. This is all the more important in cooperative organisations, public sector agro- processing units, State level public sector undertakings and agencies involved in development programmes.

Another example is that of the Indian Institute of Forestry Management (IIFM) set up by Government in Bhopal to provide management and policy skills for forestry development corporations and social forestry projects. Here again, access to government jobs has been made difficult for IIFM graduates by the existing policy of Keeping the system closed to only its own members.

For the most part those students will elect to go in for a degree in public policy and management, who wish to make the world a better place. They will, enroll in the programme because of their interest and motivation to serve. After their selection, the mix of courses will provide them the contextual and conceptual understanding to deal more effectively with public management issues. And there are many such young men and women who seek such opportunities to convert their idealism into professional action. A separate programme in public management should be considered. It is important that IIMs strengthen their expertise and commitment to public service and public management.

6.3 Governance

The governance of the Indian Institutes of Management is through their respective Board of Governors. The composition of the Board is more or less the same in each case except for some minor variations. The Board of IIM-A consists of 25 members; IIM-B of 26 members; IIM-C 22 members and IIM-L 26 members.

The Chairman of IIM-A and IIM-C is appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the respective State Governments. In the case of IIM-B and IIML, the Chairman is appointed by the Central Government and does not require consultation with the State Govern- ment.

The Board approves the budget and the appointment of the faculty; but it seldom deliberates on substantial issues of policy and strategy. Institutional concerns of autonomy, of raising resources, of providing access to research opportunbities, strengthening the application of the institute's talent and expertise to other sectors of national relevance do not seem to have come up for systematic discussion and consideration of the Board. From our discussion with the Directors of the IIMs, it was not clear as to what role the Board played in establishing and nurturing the future vision of the institutes.

The Committee is of the view that the Board should play a greater role in policy formulation and for providing strategic directions. The Board's primary function is governance. It should not be required to deal with routine administrative issues. While the considered views and ideas of the faculty should be represented before the Board by the Director and the faculty nominees on the Board, the ultimate responsibility for log-term vision, for policy formulation, and for developing strategies for development and growth of the institutes must rest with the Board. In order that the Board could perform the role envisaged. for it, would need certain structural changes. The Review Committee recommends the following changes in the structure of the IIM Boards.

a) The size of the Board should be reduced to a total of 15 Members. The existing IIM Boards are too large and unwieldy.

b) Board members, including the Chairman, should be appointed for a three year term.

c) No person should be eligible for appointment to the Board including the Chairman for more than two terms.

d) One-third of the Board Members, should retire by rotation every year. (This will not apply to ex officio members viz., the Government representative and the Director.)

e) The Board should nominate the new members in place of the retiring members, except for such new members who are elected/appointed by specific constituencies as per Board composition recommended below.

f) The composition of the Board is recommended as follows:-

1) Chairman to be appointed by the Central Government on the recommendation of the Board.

2) One representative of the Government of India from the Ministry of Human Resource Development to be invited by the Board.

3) A Director of another IIM to be invited by the Board.

4-5) Two Senior Members of the Faculty nominated by the Chairman.

6-7) Two Members to be elected by the General Body of the IIM Society.

8) President or a representative of the Alumni Association of the Institute to be invited by the Board.

9-11) Three Members representing the client Sector including one representing public policy and public management concerns to be appointed by the Board.

12-14) Three outstanding intellectuals to be appointed by the Board.

15) Director of the Institute Ex-Officio.

For constituting the initial re-structured Board, the first Chairman and Board Members shall be appointed by the Government of India including the members elected or appointed by the IIM Society. The Board will determine a mechanism where by they will identify which members will retire after the first year, which members will continue for the second and third year. (In many national and international organisations, this is done by drawing lots. Thereafter the Board will have the responsibility to fill Up the vacancies arising out of annual retirement of members. (Please see para below for appointment of Chairman.)

The Chairman and Members of the Board should be carefully chosen so that their willing and active involvement in the Institute's functioning would be possible; for their eminence and high professional reputation, and their ability, to contribute to the governance of the Institute. In order to enable the Board to select outstanding persons as its members from time to time, the Board may evolve a well-thought out mechanism for processing nominations such as consideration of names by sub-committee of Board Members., inviting suggestions from various quarters indicating the qualities and achievements sought of the persons to serve as Board Members.

After the first Chairman of the restructured. Board has completed. his term as per initial appointment by government, we recommend that the successive Chairmen of the Board may continue to be appointed by the government but on the recommendation of the Board. The Government may have the right to decline approval of the name recommended by the Board and in that eventuality, the Board may recommend another name The government's approval or disapproval, as the case may be, shall be communicated to the Board within two months of the receipt of the Board's recommendation. In the absence of a newly appointed Chairman and pending governments approval, the Board should elect one of its own Members to serve as Chairman for the time being.

The IIM Directors are at present appointed by the Board but with the approval of the Central Government. The tenure of appointment is five years. The government follows the usual

procedure for senior level appointments such as, processing the case for approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet etc. We, consider that the tenure of the Director should continue to be five years, The Review Committee is aware of the long delays in the appointment of regular Directors and the difficulties faced by Government at times in processing the approval of the names recommended by the Board. Keeping in view that the IIM Boards can govern effectively only if they are the ultimate repository of all authority within the Institute, we would recommend that the Director be appointed by the Board without any reference to the Government. The Directors' role and authority should be strengthened with a view to ensuring more orderly management of the Institutes. Stronger and more committed Boards would enhance the Directors' ability to manage the Institutions for greater productivity and usefulness.