How Contemporary Are IIMs?

A unique benchmarking methodology is used to examine how the core curriculum at the Indian Institutes of Management (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Calcutta) compares with the business curricula of the world's best business schools. The evidence presented here indicates that the IIMs are facing difficulty in adjusting to the new paradigm that requires specialisation and close cooperation with the innovating enterprises aiming to world-class performance rather than with planners and administrators. Curriculum change in the IIMs seems to be based on feasible incremental change rather than on new knowledge, the needs of the students or the demands of an increasingly globalised and interconnected business world. With a greater focus on integration and knowledge creation along with changes in internal systems and processes, the IIMs can match the best business schools in the world.