L&T’s AM Naik to be new IIM-A Chairman

Larsen & Toubro Chairman AM Naik has been selected as the new chairman of Indian Institute of Management- Ahmedabad (IIM-A), India’s top-ranking B-school he served as a board member for seven years. Naik will take over from Raymond’s chairman emeritus Vijaypat Singhania who completes his five-year term in March end.

Naik and IIM-A Director Samir Barua confirmed the appointment. The Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) picked up Naik over others like HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh and RA Mashelkar, former director general of India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, names suggested by an IIM-A committee headed by Arvind Ltd chairman Sanjay Lalbhai.

The ministry finalising one of the names proposed by the institute, is already being read as an important step towards the much-sought autonomy. When contacted Naik said, it was too early for him to comment. “I just got the letter. (I) have not applied my mind on what I need to do,” said the chemical engineer from Gujarat who rose through the ranks at L&T, the engineering conglomerate. IIM-A’s Samir Barua welcomed the appointment and said, Naik is a respected figure and comes from the infrastructure industry which is important for the growth of Indian economy.

Barua pointed out that it was the first time that the ministry has appointed a candidate proposed by the institute and saw it as a major step towards IIM-A autonomy. The MHRD, Gujarat government and the society of the institute have approved amendments of the Memorandum of Association (MoA) and the appointment of Naik is a signal that the ministry has followed the revised MoA process,” said Barua.

Autonomy would give IIMs the power to appoint their chairpersons and directors, apart from deciding faculty salary, student fees, sale and purchase of assets and setting up of foreign campuses.

Source: The Economic Times, February 29, 2012

>IIM boards to select Chairman, Director

>The government is in favor of granting full autonomy to the boards of the state-run Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) to select their respective Chairman and Director, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said on Thursday. “We want the IIM boards to select their respective Chairman and Director so that we (the government) distance ourselves from the (selection) process. The board can set up a search committee and give us the names to be appointed,” Sibal said.

Reiterating that the boards of B-schools should function cohesively and effectively, Sibal said the managements would given the kind of autonomy they need to function in an environment in which they can provide solutions to the government. “The governance structures of the B-schools must also change. Their boards must be effective, cohesive and efficient. We want all stakeholders to be represented on the board,” Sibal said on the margins of the IIM-Bangalore 36th annual convocation.

Noting that the board must have a leadership of its choice to lead the institution, Sibal said the IIM-B was blessed with a leader (Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd) as its chairman, who has shown the global community how in the most difficult of circumstances, Indian companies could be global players.

“For him (Ambani) to chair for a second term and take the kind of interest is something I feel grateful for. It shows how our business community has realized that without excellence in education and investment in education, not in terms of just money but time, the country cannot move forward,” Sibal said.

Source: The Economic Times, April 1, 2011