AIMA will help Indian management turn disruption into opportunity
T.V. MOHANDAS PAI, President, All India Management Association
T.V. Mohandas Pai is President of the All India Management Association (AIMA) & Chairperson Manipal Global Education Services Pvt Ltd. He spoke about a number of issues including AIMA and private education. Edited excerpts:
As the newly elected President, what are your roles and responsibilities and what are your plans for AIMA ?
It is a privilege to lead AIMA, which is the apex body for developing management excellence in the country. As its new President, my primary responsibility it to strengthen the organization, upgrade its existing activities and to align its capabilities to serve the emerging needs of Indian management.
My plan for AIMA is focused on the theme for this year - Leadership in the age of disruption. As innovation and technology disrupts existing businesses, how should leadership cope with this rapid change and succeed. This is the big issue of our times. This can come by various studies, interaction with innovators, evaluation of impact and reorienting business strategy. We need nimble fast moving enterprises to succeed with a new management architecture.
AIMA is developing its research and technological capabilities and expanding its global footprint. We founded the India Case Research Centre earlier this year and it should start producing Indiafocused case studies very soon. I would like AIMA’s digital education, training and testing portfolio to grow and become the preferred resource for students and companies alike. Creating more international platforms for intellectual exchange between Indian and foreign business leaders would be another priority. I would also like to see greater collaboration between AIMA and the local management associations in fostering management excellence in the regional business clusters.
AIMA has just completed 60 years. What have been some of the milestones of AIMA in the last 60 years and what is the roadmap for the future?
AIMA has played a central role in developing the country’s management capability since its foundation in 1957. AIMA has provided thought leadership to Indian management and delivered management education, training and testing services to Indian organizations. AIMA’s importance was recognized by the government and AIMA has been a permanent invitee on IIMs’ boards since 1961.
AIMA began by offering an advanced programme in management in partnership with MIT and went on to democratize management education by pioneering post-graduate diploma in management by the distance mode. AIMA made management education more accessible to students beyond the big cities by launching MAT that could be used by all business schools. AIMA trained bureaucrats and army officers in management through customized programmes. Over the years AIMA has produced over 45000 management graduates who are now leading Indian industry.
After building management capability in the country for many decades, AIMA has focused on developing India’s global competitiveness during the new millennium. AIMA has established an Advanced Management Programme in the Silicon Valley in partnership with Haas School of Business and it regularly sends delegation to international leadership conferences organized by Horasis and St Gallen University.
In addition to expanding overseas activities, AIMA has added to its portfolio of domestic flagship events. It has created India’s only peer management awards in the form of the Managing India Awards and it has set up National Leadership Conclave as a platform for dialogue between the government and the industry managing the economy.
Recently, AIMA has expanded its portfolio of services to the industry and the students. Apart from The India Case Research Centre, another major mile stone for AIMA has been setting up the Management, Entrepreneurship and Professional Skills Sector Skills Council or MEPSC. Another feather in AIMA’s cap has been its second office in Delhi – inaugurated by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.
The future roadmap for AIMA is clear. The organization will continuously develop its capability to help Indian management turn disruption into opportunity. It will focus on management research, technology and globalization and strive to become a leading management think tank in the world.
You are on the board of the Manipal Global Education Services. What, in your view, is the role of private colleges like Manipal and do they produce employable youth?
Private colleges have saved India and created the human capital to meet our needs. They turn out over 65% of India’s graduates. Without them we would be lost. Pl remember all government institutions are not IIT’s and IIM’s. The great majority in the States sector are poorly run and managed. As affiliating Universities the private colleges dominate the merit list all over. They produce employable graduates. All press statements are exaggerated about employable youth. When you have an abundance of riches and huge nos apply to you, you can be choosy but cannot condemn the rest as unemployable. World over training for employment is needed. We need not get carried away by some silly reports and keep on reproducing them ad naseum.
How can India’s education system be more reoriented towards helping with skill development and thus creating more jobs?
Industry needs to get involved, the gap between academia and industry needs to reduce. Further a massive apprenticeship Programe, funded by govt, is needed.
Reskilling of the workforce (because of the fastpaced technological changes) is becoming quite difficult. How do organizations tackle this challenge?
Well they need to allocate proper budgets for this and be prepared. But it is a common challenge globally as jobs gets automated.
Technology jobs are facing a hit due to mass layoffs and automation, due to which hiring has slowed down. What can companies do to cope with this?
We are not seeing any mass layoffs but reduced hiring. In India they still have 12/15% attrition, a sign that plenty of jobs are available. Companies in tech have increased utilisation by over 10% over the last three years. This has slowed down new hiring. Companies need to relook at their portfolio and reorient their sales and delivery.
There seems to be a crisis in leadership in Corporate India today. Why is this and what are the traits a good leader needs to survive today?
I do not think there is a crisis but the earlier generation of leaders are fading out. We are yet to see the new generation in a dominating position but there are very many great leaders like Anil Rai Gupta of Havells who are making an impact. We are in the transitional phase, the change after the Liberalisation generation of leaders.
What are the key skills that you would look for in an employee?
Learn ability and problem solving skills, good people skills and good communication.