A peep into IIM-C's board room

Ajit Balakrishnan, Chairman of IIMC's board, has a piece about a recent board meeting. The board was reviewing proposals for a revamp of the PGP course curriculum.

The interesting thing to me is that not the comments made at the meeting. It is that Balakrishnan has thought fit to share some of the proceedings with his readers. This is hardly typical of boards. The agenda item itself would be "secret". The proceedings would be "confidential". So much that even at supposedly "faculty-governed" academic institutions, faculty have little clue as to what is discussed in their own boards. True, there are faculty nominees on these boards but try eliciting information from them!

I concede that not all matters discussed in the board of an IIM can be shared with a wider audience. But many matters can. And matters related to the strategic direction of the Institute certainly should be shared.

Changes in MBA curricula are a matter of intense discussion worldwide. What IIMC board members and what IIMC faculty have to say on the subject is certainly a matter of public interest. Balakrishnan has rendered a valuable service by giving us a peep into IIMC's board room. Congrats, Balakrishnan- and more power to those who favour greater disclosure rather than less.