Multiple command: IIM-A to have three deans

In a significant structural change, the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has announced three deans for the business school. Incumbent dean professor BH Jajoo will be the dean of administrative affairs, while professors Atanu Ghosh and Ajay Pandey will be the dean of alumni and external relationships, and faculty, respectively. The tenure of each dean will be three years.

The plan to inculcate such a structural change had been in the pipeline for a few months, but the announcements were made only earlier this month following an internal selection process.

The country’s premier institute is perhaps the first in its league in India to announce three deans to look after different activities. IIM-Calcutta has always had two deans.

“As we grow bigger, we have felt the need to involve more people in the administration and management of the institute for quite some time now. It was felt that the job becomes extremely difficult for one dean, as he has to look after various functions,” IIM-A director Prof Samir Barua told DNA.

The structural change follows the recommendations of the IIM-A’s internal committee on future directions (CFD), which has suggested that external relations and alumni as well as faculty development need to be developed with total focus.

The recommendation was also to include faculty in this critical processes. “It is a common practice in western B-schools who have several deans in-charge of different activities,” Barua added.

Jajoo continues to shoulder maximum responsibilities as he will handle administration and every other activity which requires attention. It was indicated that some more deans may added in the coming months as more portfolios get bifurcated.

Ghosh, an M Tech in Textile Technology from IIT Delhi, is a senior faculty in the business policy area at the institute. He started as a management trainee at the Calico Mills in Ahmedabad and later worked as a manager at Arvind Mills in the early ‘80s. Pande  was chairman of IIM-A’s financial aid committee. He was the chair of the institute’s flagship PGP programme till last year.