How few B-Schools are multiplying campuses and offering much more to the students

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The last couple of decades has really been a rollercoaster ride for business education in India – starting in the early 90’s when business schools began mushrooming in the most unexpected corners of the country. Following a period of consolidation – where the fly-by-night operators had to shut shop – new, innovative management colleges soon emerged on the horizon, compelling the old boys to pull up their socks.

One such business school, which has caused people to sit up and take notice, has been Jaipuria Institute of Management. Starting out in 1995, with a 60-seat campus in Lucknow, not only has Jaipuria Institute scaled to four campuses within a very short period of time, but has also increased its intake strength to more than 800 graduates.

In 2015, two campuses of Jaipuria Institute of Management – Lucknow and Noida – were ranked amongst the ‘Top 10’ B-schools in North India in surveys by National Human Resource Development Network (NHRDN). 

Jaipuria Institute of Management is not the only one that has outperformed while scaling up. The more famous example remains that of the IIMs. Starting in 1961 with IIM Calcutta and IIM Ahmedabad, ‘Brand IIM’ added just four more campuses over a span of 50 years. However between 2010 and 2015, in a short span of just 5 years, the IIMs launched an astounding 14 campuses across the country, mostly in Tier 2, and Tier 3 cities. While there was widespread fear amongst many – including those within the folds of IIM – regarding the dilution of ‘Brand IIM’, scaling quickly has been an immense success story for the IIM.

Those for procrastination might safely conclude that the IIMs had been around for 50 years, before scaling very quickly. It is for this reason that the case of a relatively young B-school chain like Jaipuria Institute of Management becomes crucial.   

Jaipuria Institute of Management has evolved a method that ensures that students may be separated by locations, they still form a part of a single campus. Jaipuria call it the the UnCampus philosophy. Student Councils, the Individual Development Plan through a strong mentor-mentee programme, increasing focus on industry connect, 24x7 accessibility of academic resources through E-learning, and social media tools – the UnCampus philosophy brings together years of innovations under a single umbrella. All the four campuses are seamlessly integrated allowing free exchange of ideas, events, even centralized placements; leading to quite a dynamic collaboration between students, faculty, and staff.

Sample this: The Jaipuria Group of Institutes have a pretty advanced student and faculty exchange programme with 13 academic partners spread across the globe - from University of Illinois, and Eastern Mennonite University, in the USA, to Universities of Applied Sciences in Finland (Europe), to University of New Castle in Australia. Now, if as a PG student you do not make it to one of the international student exchange programmes, you will have to pick a different Jaipuria campus for a semester.

Another aspect that encourages scale is that, when it comes to innovation, Jaipuria Institute of Management does not follow the academic year cycle. A couple of years back, the concept of ‘Life-after-6’ was introduced formally right in the middle of the year. Today, Foreign language classes and guitar classes during the 7-8 PM slot are big hits. The ‘Midnight reading hub’ is turning out to be another  ‘happening’ innovation at Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur. This year, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, will be critically examining SIP projects from a completely different perspective. The aim will be to identify atleast half-a-dozen projects that can be ‘game changers’ for the industry. The idea is to actually create breakthroughs. Also, come winter, and Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur, will be launching the ‘Winter Social Internship’ through which students will be interning with village panchayats or NGOs for a variety of purposes.

Of late Jaipuria Institute of Management has figured in numerous award lists. The IMC awards 2015 held at ISB Hyderabad, recognised B-schools under seven categories; one of these being the B-school Attracting ideal Participants profile, an award that went to Jaipuria Institute of Management unanimously. The clincher, apparently, was Jaipuria’s Individual Development Plan or IDP, designed to identify the dreams of each student of Jaipuria Institute of Management and assess their potential to achieve their dream. This is a training need analysis tool based on the Vedic principle of ‘ruchi’ or interest, ‘yogyta’ or ability and ‘vishwas’ or belief. It takes the interest of a student, matches that with ability and builds on their belief to achieve success.

Jaipuria Institute of Management has a rather simple method of adhering to global standards; they start an accreditation process. In this way, not only does the next institute know what are the current practices globally, it almost builds itself. Jaipuria, Lucknow and Jaipuria, Noida are accredited as ‘A’ grade institutions - the highest ranking given by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

To conclude, with the focus shifting from ‘elitism’ to ‘management for all’, a number of well-established B-schools are quickly trying to catch up. However, the first steps are about getting the template and philosophy right. Only when this is done, will it be possible to multiply campuses on a sure footing and with speed.