Preparing Management Teachers and Researchers: The Doctoral Programme at IIMA

SEPIA ECHOES

Preparing Management Teachers and Researchers: The Doctoral Programme at IIMA

"The faculty members at IIMA decided to go ahead with an Advanced Programme in Business Administration that would lead to the title of Fellow of the Indian Institute of Management (equivalent to a PhD degree). The advertisement for the programme was released on March 1, 1971."

The Institute's first Annual Report on a full year (1962-63) articulated IIMA's hope that a doctoral programme would be initiated. In 1968-69 the Institute approached the M.S. University, Baroda and the Gujarat University to allow IIMA faculty members to guide doctoral candidates enrolled at these universities. In the meanwhile, the Institute was making every effort to establish its own doctoral programme. At the 80th faculty meeting (February 10, 1971) the Director announced that a committee set up to examine the feasibility of launching a doctoral programme (headed by Dr. C. Rangarajan) had recommended a Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) that would be equivalent to a PhD programme. At that time, there was some talk of the IIMs at Ahmedabad and Kolkata (Calcutta) gaining degree-granting status, but it was not clear when this would happen. The faculty members at IIMA decided to go ahead with an Advanced Programme in Business Administration that would lead to the title of Fellow of the Indian Institute of Management (equivalent to a PhD degree). The advertisement for the programme was released on March 1, 1971.

"For advanced study in Business Administration comparable to a doctoral degree programme. The programme will train students for teaching and research in Business Administration and positions in Industry. The students will be required to (1) take courses in all fields of management in the first year, (2) choose a field of specialization and take a number of advanced additional courses in the second year, (3) successfully complete the examination in the special field, and (4) submit and defend the dissertation. On successful completion of the programme, the title of Fellow of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, will be conferred."

Advertising the first offering of the FPM, Times of India, March 1, 1971

The advertisement attracted a lot of attention: 278 applications were received, and 59 candidates were shortlisted for further evaluation and interviews. Six candidates were offered admission, out of whom four accepted the offer. However, two of these individuals lacked a prior degree in Business Administration, and thus, they joined the first year of the PGP. The other two were PGP graduates, and so had to study only a few additional courses in their fields of specialization.

Classified Ad 8, The Times of India (1861-current); Mar 1, 1971;
ProQuest Historical Newspaper: The Times of India, p. 5,
ProQuest Times of India Archives (from 1838-2010) database at Vikram Sarabhai Library, IIMA

Abhinandan K Jain, a PGP (1970) graduate and Research Associate at IIMA (1970-1971) was the first doctoral student to graduate with a Fellow title at the 1974 convocation. His dissertation was titled 'Quantitative Approach to Media Planning.' Jain later became a faculty member in the Marketing area (1974-2010) and continued to serve as an adjunct faculty member until 2019.

***Prof. Abhinandan K Jain, our first doctoral graduate, at the convocation held on April 27, 1974. Source: IIMA Archives***

At the 1976 convocation, four participants graduated. The IIMA Alumnus issue of May 1976 featured an interesting article that delves into the motivations behind their decision to pursue this programme. The same issue reported that three students were awarded the IFCI dissertation proposal awards for 1975-76: Deepti Bhatnagar, who proposed a study on employee participation in decision-making, B.L. Chaudhary, who proposed a multi-objective two-level planning for extending banking facilities to rural areas, and V. Ranganathan for a proposal on the application of cost-benefit analysis to rural electrification.

IIMA Alumnus, May 1976, p. 20. Source: IIMA Archives.
Note: The word 'Programme' in the title is misspelled

As the programme gained recognition, the number of fellows increased. This growth was a testament to the quality of the programme and the value it provided to its participants. The FPM Diary published in 2001 notes that approximately 1200 applications were being received by that time.

***FPM Diary of 2001, p. 11. Source: IIMA Archives***

Between 1974 and 1980, 38 fellows registered for the programme, between 1981 and 1990, the institute had 61 fellows, and during 1991-2000, this increased to 77 fellows. Between 2001 and 2010, this further increased to 85 fellows registered with the institute. The years between 2011-20 saw a significant surge in the numbers, with 132 fellows completing their programmes. From 2021 to 2023, 58 fellows graduated from the institute. Note that since 2019 the title awarded changed to PhD. As of 2023, a total of 451 Fellow titles and doctorates had been awarded.

***29 students received their Ph.D. in Management in the 58th Convocation held on April 2, 2023. Source: IIMA Archives***

Article by Team Archives