Atul Tandan, Director, Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA) -- one of India's premier communications management institutes -- talks about investing in technology, research and his plans for MICA.
Excerpts from the interview:
What can be expected from MICA in 2007? Any plans to expand to other cities?
In 2007, MICA would be launching new courses in Health Management with an emphasis on studying water, sanitation and hygiene issues in the country, the doctor-patient relationship, and the like. We might also launch a programme in new media or digital media which is the need of the hour today.
Following AICTE's nod, we will be increasing the number of students from 240 to 360 by July 2007. We also plan to introduce a Ph.D programme in communications management by 2008 to train candidates as future faculty. Meanwhile, we have been getting requests to establish more centres across the country but haven't taken a decision as of yet.
How is MICA different from other business and communications schools?
For three main reasons; the first is the focus on lateral thinking. We encourage students to think out of the box at all times. 'MICAMINDS', an initiative by students provides creative business solutions to corporate clients.
At present, our students have taken up around 20 projects -- from brand building to share structuring, to analysing competition and many others. The second reason is the stress on understanding the profile of every consumer group.
We undertake studies on consumer insight, languages, backgrounds, age, traditional mindsets and many other facets. Third -- and perhaps the most important reason -- is the ability to innovate.
How important is research in MICA?
For MICA, research is a part of the pedagogy itself. Not only the faculty, even students are encouraged to do a lot of research. We have a Rural Market ratings' initiative where prosperity in agriculture, widening retail network, development of the small-scale industry sector, availability of education, banking, healthcare services and other aspects from the rural sector are studied.
We also have a Semiotics Research Centre, which intends to provide insights into the meanings and context of language, cultures, consumer behaviour, and the meanings and logic of symbols, graphics and logos, and its impact on marketing communications along with a rural research programme.
We have been investing heavily in updating and converting information into electronic databases, focusing on education through video-conferencing, evolving into a WiFi campus, setting up an in-house radio station and other initiatives to ensure upgradation to the highest infrastructure standards.
All the IIMs and most of the top institutes are facing a massive faculty shortage. What about MICA?
Fortunately at MICA, we have no such problem. Our current permanent faculty to student ratio is 1:8 while the visiting faulty to student ratio is as low as 1: 5 which we feel is ideal for a management class.
The western academia are only too keen to join hands with Indian universities. It is a case of a power shift towards India. Until two years ago, China was on the wish list of every university in the west.
The same can be said about India today. At MICA, we recognise this shift of interest from the west to the east and are involved in designing programmes that help young managers develop a global outlook.