When the chips are down

Updated on: Monday, August 24, 2009

I have never looked at teaching as a profession. It is something I worship and for me it’s like going to a temple,” says Dipak C. Jain, Dean of Kellogg School of Management, turning the pages of his telephone diary where bits of papers, visiting cards and currencies find a place.

True to his first love, the professor of marketing will be getting back to school. Jain retires as Dean of the prestigious institution ending this August to resume responsibilities as faculty member. “I haven’t been taking up a formal course. Now, after eight years I will get back to full-time teaching,” says the happy professor, who was recently in Chennai to open the facilities at the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

He spoke to Education Plus on the management education scenario, best practices followed by Kellogg’s during the downtrend and the Foreign University Bill. One of the most important initiatives that Mr. Jain took after resuming office as Dean in 2001 was to revive the strong alumni network. In fact, today he credits it for helping the B-school tide over the tough times including the economic recession.

“We connected with more alumni so that they could place our students, essentially pass-outs who work with small and medium enterprises,” he says. Kellogg today boasts of 50,000-plus alumni network.

Besides, it has become “a ritual” for Kellogg to meet up with all recruiters, discuss the recruitment strategies and understand the market requirements. “We do it very pro-actively and call it ‘Recruitment Round Table’,” he says.

Other placement strategies adopted include increasing the number of people working in the recruitment cell, initiating students to take up family business and increasing the staff head count.

“We have a robust curriculum and we have put in more resources than in the previous years to fight the slowdown,” says Mr. Jain.

Citing an example, he says that during a downturn some universities have gone for a budget cut. “We instead went on hiring our students as faculty, where the package offered is also good. Over 150 faculty members were recruited full-time.”

Admitting that the recruitment scenario is only satisfactory, the professor says that, “The number of offers was lower than last year and the salaries weren’t high either, but overall it has turned out to be like the last academic calendar.”

In times of recession, the West generally sees an increase in enrolment in universities, and Kellogg, too, received a sizable number of applications. Its application in the first round saw an increase of over 15 per cent, while in the second and third round by a few per cents. “Kellogg received over 6,000 applications for an intake of 600 students, and the quality of students is going up year after year,” he says.
Going global

Mr. Jain ruled out plans of Kellogg’s tying up with any more Indian universities, other than its association with Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. Talking about Foreign University Bill and why it must be introduced with similar standards as that of the West, the professor said that foreign education would open more avenues to students. “It will be a good move for foreign universities. Not everybody in India can afford to study abroad, so you need to go to them.”

When the chips are down

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