IIMs grads must serve entire world, not just India: Narayana Murthy

Ahmedabad, Apr 2 (UNI) Describing human resources management (HRM) as the biggest task before any country, Infosys Technologies Ltd chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy today strongly advocated the need to churn out more and more Masters of Business Administration (MBAs) in the country.

Launching the one-year condensed residential full-time MBA course for professionals, called 'Post Graduate Programme for Executives' (PGPX) at Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIMA), he said, ''The course should turn out to be a win-win situation for both the students and the institute.

While the students admitted to the first batch would get a chance to hone their skills to face bigger challenges when they go back to the field, he said, their valuable work experience would enrich the institute and the faculty during interaction and discussion on case studies in specific areas.

Referring to 83 IIMA graduates of the last batch of two-year PGP course accepting foreign placements, rather than accepting jobs back home, he said, ''We will serve the entire world, not just India. Let the rest of B-Schools serve the country.'' ''The IIMA alumni should go abroad as India's ambassadors and demonstrate to the world that they too are valuable globally, could solve the world's problems and could comeback, if they want,'' he said.

Mr Narayana Murthy, who is chairman of IIMA board of governors, said the one-year PGPX has many advantages over two-year PGP. ''It is not only more accelerated, but also more focussed.'' Infosys chief said: ''I also stand to correct my contempt for management graduates after my stint with IIMA at its IT Centre in 1969, just as many MBAs might have contempt for technocrats.'' ''My two years' stay on the IIMA campus eclipsed all my learning prior to that. I learnt that it is the ability to work with men and controlling human minds that perhaps require greater skills. I have sat through classrooms of Harvard and Wharton, and was immensely benifitted,'' he said.

In all, 61 candidates with an average work experience of nine years joined the first batch of PGPX, having scored an average GMAT score of 699 (equivalent to 93 percentile). Their average age on March 31, 2006 is 31.6 years.

IIMA director Bakul Dholakia also harped on the size of B-Schools as one of the six major factors necessary for IIMs to be globally competitive.

He described explicit strategies, international focus, world-class infrastructure, relentless research in management education and consultancy services as the other attributes reqauired to become world-class B-Schools.

UNI