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IIM, XLRI, SPJIMR to teach students to deal with frauds like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), XLRI Jamshedpur, and SPJIMR Mumbai are now focussing on teaching students the importance of ethics and corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.

BusinessToday.In | New Delhi, Monday, June 25, 2018 | 19:27 IST

Diamond merchant Nirav Modi and the King-Of-Good-Times Vijay Mallya both may have fled the country after scams worth thousands of crores, but they have made it to course studies in India's top business schools. India's best business schools are redesigning their business ethics courses to teach students what they can learn and what could have been done to avoid such scandals. The Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), XLRI Jamshedpur, and SPJIMR Mumbai are now focussing on teaching students the importance of ethics and corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.

Case studies like Uber scandals, PNB fraud, Vijay Mallya case and Infosys row have been included in course structures of these B-schools to make young minds aware about business practices that should be avoided to bring a positive change in society. Uber scandal involves a series of allegations against the company and subsequent exit of its founder and CEO Travis Kalanick. The Rs 14,000-crore worth PNB fraud, also biggest banking scam in independent India's history, involves Nirav Modi and India's second largest public sector bank. These B-schools have also included studies on former Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka's exit from Infosys after his fallout with the company founders and Vijay Mallya's non-payment of loans to several banks in India.

"We hope that various courses such as corporate governance and ethics influence students to move beyond a knowledge and skill-building objective to a more purposeful existence that can bring a positive change to the society," The Economic Times quoted Padmini Srinivasan, chairperson of two-year MBA course at IIM Bangalore, as saying.

These institutes believe that little changes in the course structures could bring positive changes in students' mindset, which will help them in taking difficult decisions. Corporate governance as a course comprises topics like compliance and shareholder maximisation and salary structures but that's changing now towards improving governance and sustainability in companies besides focusing on making profits. Through these topics, institutes hope to find solutions to ethical dilemmas CEOs face.

SPJIMR in Mumbai offers a unique mix of experiential and traditional learning methods. The institute's business ethics course comprises interviews with industry leaders to understand the value of business ethics and understanding problems businessmen face while taking critical decisions. These interactive sessions with top industry people can help impact the decision-making ability of students, say experts.

Similarly, XLRI Jamshedpur, which is one of the best business schools in the country, has added at least 30 business cases to help students understand the contemporary issues facing the corporate world. Institutes like IIM Kozhikode have added India-centric studies to their business ethics course structure. This has been done to make it relevant for the industry in India.

Experts, however, believe that these institutes alone can't help inculcate good values among students and that companies also need to play a major role in nurturing talent with strong values.