Nikhil Sawhney, who has just taken over as the president of the All India Management Association (AIMA), wants to start a sustainability MBA in 2024, and hopes that it will set an example for business schools to start similar programmes. “AIMA offers a plethora of courses, and an MBA in sustainability will make our offerings even more relevant,” he said.
Sawhney, who is also the vice-chairman and managing director of Triveni Turbines – manufacturer of industrial steam turbines as well as renewable energy-based applications – told FE’s Vikram Chaudhary that sustainability and geopolitics are skills CXOs must learn. Excerpts:
Established in 1957, AIMA offers testing, distance education, skill development & training, research, publications, executive education & management development programmes, and holds forums for young leaders, vice-chancellors, and women leaders and managers.
A key role AIMA plays is upskilling management professionals – we offer a postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) and PGDM Executive, postgraduate diploma in information technology management (PGDITM), and a postgraduate certificate in management (PGCM), among other courses.
The PGDM and PGDITM are of 24 months’ duration, the PGDM Executive is 15 months’ duration, and the PGCM is 12 months’ duration.
But AIMA isn’t a university …
Our courses are approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in open and distance learning (ODL) mode.
Like the IGNOU, AIMA has been a pioneer of distance education – it was amongst the first organisations to offer internet-based remote proctored tests on a national level, and one of the first to shift its service offerings online (even before the lockdown made such offerings mainstream). Thanks to this experience, we can offer management programmes in physical, virtual and hybrid modes, as required.
Are you planning to introduce new courses?
In 2024 and beyond, the focus will be on sustainability, and we aim to institute a sustainability MBA. I believe it’s very important for academics to be relevant to the ecosystem in which we are operating – today is the age of sustainability, and sustainability isn’t just about getting Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) right, it’s a massive opportunity, it can create huge economic value, and students must understand its significance.
While some B-schools offer MBAs that focus on sustainability, a full-fledged sustainability MBA can set an example for most B-schools to introduce this aspect in the classroom.
Coming from industry, I know it’s a desired trait that companies look forward to in employees.
Is ‘sustainability’ a skill that CXOs also must learn?
Not just CXOs, the entire management pool must focus on sustainability and geopolitics, which are two most relevant skills today – remember, CXOs come out of the management pool only.
Finance, marketing and accounting are important, but sustainability drives policies. In fact, the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently noted that sustainability is a $100-trillion opportunity over the next 30 years.
The current academic year’s summer placements at B-schools paint a dismal picture – even some top IIMs couldn’t place all their students in the designated placement week, and cited tough job market as the reason. Is MBA under risk?
At my company (Triveni), we grew our workforce by 15% last year, and will further grow it by about 10% this year – it’s not that MBAs aren’t desired, they are very much valued. I think it’s a cyclical problem, not structural, and placements will bounce back – there can never be shortage of jobs for talented individuals.
I personally believe that our management students need to become much more entrepreneurial in nature, and create jobs instead of looking for jobs.
Do you also offer short courses?
We offer industry-based skills-oriented certificate courses of 3-6 months’ duration in the areas of digital marketing, business analytics, public procurement, contractual dispute resolution, public-private partnership, digital business management, sustainability management, financial valuation & modelling, digital innovation & transformation for enterprises, business consultancy, retail management, corporate social responsibility, cybersecurity & data privacy, AI & ML for business, design thinking for business innovation, waste management & social entrepreneurship, and social enterprise management. These are offered by lead faculty resources from industry and academia, in the online live mode.
So, we pretty much cover all needed areas of upskilling for both students and management graduates.