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C.R. Sukumar

Mr S.S. George

HYDERABAD, July 17

THE Icfaian Centre for Management Research (ICMR), an affiliate of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI), the Hyderabad-based premier management education establishment, has achieved a record in the Indian management courseware development arena with as many as 62 case studies submitted by it on the Indian corporates getting the approval of the European Case Clearing House (ECCH), the largest source of management case studies in the world.

The ICMR, which is the only member of the ECCH from India, has chalked out an ambitious plan to emerge as one of the largest contributors of case studies to the ECCH.

It proposes to take the total case studies approved by the ECCH to at least 150 before the current fiscal-end.

The Icfaian centre expects this to help it increase its stature and visibility in the field of management education enable it establish as the country's largest case developing centre, the ICMR Associate Dean, Mr S.S. George, told Business Line in an interview.

The excerpts:

What is the strategy behind ICMR's contribution of case studies to ECCH?

The ICMR attempts to develop relevant and topical content for the students of its business schools, which will also benefit the general academic community.

We believe that case studies are an important pedagogic tool in the management education.

While case studies are used extensively in all the Icfaian business schools, we would like to popularise and promote the use of case method of teaching in other business schools as well.

In order to do this, we must first have a large collection of cases for instructors to choose from. Given the paucity of good case studies that are relevant in the context of the business environment in India, the case study development initiative is a part of our endeavour to develop such an extensive collection.

How does this enable ICMR to gain mileage in the global biz schools arena?

The amount and extent of research work carried out by any business school is of extreme importance while making a comparative study of such schools. By making our case studies available at the ECCH, we expect to increase our own stature and visibility in management education. As the ICMR is a part of the larger family of the ICFAI institutions, the ICFAI foundation and its affiliates will also gain a more prominent presence in the field of education.

What is the profile of ICMR case studies approved by ECCH?

As on May 1, the ICMR has made 62 case studies available at the ECCH. The cases cover a wide range of management subjects and companies. These cases, organised by functional areas, are broadly classified into eight categories — finance, business strategy, marketing, human resources & organisational behaviour, operations, information technology and systems, entrepreneurship and leadership, and business ethics and corporate governance.

What are the major benefits expected to accrue to the ICMR students from these case studies?

Case studies attempt to simulate learning-by-doing. A case brings to life the various dimensions of a manager's job. It requires the reader to analyse the situations on hand, make decisions wherever required and defend those decisions with logical arguments.

There are many benefits to the Icfaian Business School (IBS) students from the case studies developed by the ICMR.

We develop real-life, business issues-specific, and situational case studies. Students can correlate and understand theoretical concepts and their applications better with the help of these case studies.

We develop case studies that deal with current business and management issues. Students are thus benefited by knowing and discussing current issues.

Further, the case studies provide opportunities to students to improve their analytical capabilities. They help them to develop skills to identify problems and learn to choose the best solutions from a number of alternatives.

The ICMR, as a member of the ECCH, has access to all the case studies submitted by the member institutions and corporations across the globe. Cases at the site can be accessed through a comprehensive online bibliography.

Users who do not have access to the Internet can use a searchable CD-ROM to locate cases on topics of their interest.

Are ICMR case studies, approved by the ECCH, going to be published and sold in the global market? If so, what sort of royalties is expected to be received by the ICMR from the ECCH?

All the cases at the ECCH, including the ICMR cases, are available to a global audience for inspection and purchase.

Corporate users are charged 4.95 pounds for each copy of a case and academic users are charged 2.90 pounds.

For each ICMR case purchased from the site, the ICMR receives royalty payments of one pound per case.

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