The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) is a famous public management school based at Bannerghatta, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. 

History of the institution

Post Indian Independence, Prime Minister Nehru expressed the desire to develop science and technology indigenously. As India created a technology base, the need for investing in talent and resources was also felt. This led to the establishment of a chain of prestigious Indian Institutes of Management. The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) was established in 1973, the third out of the 20. 

In 1972, a Prof. Ravi J. Matthai headed a committee that saw the rising need for graduates from the already functioning IIMs at Calcutta and Ahmedabad. He recommended that two more be set up and that they should be oriented towards the public sector to serve its growing needs for management graduates. As a result, IIM Bangalore was set up the following year. With free land offered by the Government of Karnataka, the institute was set up with T. A. Pai and N. S. Ramaswamy as chairman and director respectively. It was inaugurated by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on 28 October 1973. 

Different programs offered

The programs offered at the IIMB include:

Doctoral Program: 

Fellow Program in Management (FPM)

Post Graduate Programs:

1. Post-Graduate Program in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM)
2. Post-Graduate Program in Enterprise Management (PGPEM)

• Executive Post-Graduate Program in Management (EPGP)

• Post-Graduate Program in Management (PGP)

Executive Education

Executive Education Program (EEP)

Full-time MBA programs offered

IIMB offers three full-time MBA programs: 

• Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM)
• Executive PGPM
• Fellowship Program in Management (FPM)

Tuition fees

For the years 2018-20, the tuition fees for the PGP program is Rs. 21 lakhs. Students will have to pay Rs. 3,50,000 at the beginning of each semester. Tuition fees are inclusive of books, cases and any materials issued to students. It also includes rent for single rooms at the hostels. 

Admission Cycle

Eligibility for application: Candidates should be graduates from recognized universities. Domestic candidates should have relevant CAT scores while international students may apply using their  GMAT scores. 

Candidates must hold a bachelor's degree, with a minimum of 50% marks or equivalent CGPA. Candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Differently Abled (DA) categories must also be graduates with a minimum of 45% marks. Candidates may also submit an equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India.

Those students who are yet to appear for the final year bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification examination and those who are have appeared for their undergraduate examination and are awaiting their results may also apply. Students belonging to the general category should have obtained a minimum of 50% marks or equivalent. Students belonging to the SC/ST/DA category may apply with at least 45% marks. 

Admission Process

The admission process at IIMB is continuously refined based on cumulative data provided by CAT and students' academic performance who apply. Based on these parameters, the student's past academic performance, performance at the interview and prior work experience, a student is selected for the program. 

The selection criteria and weights given to each parameter are based on data from earlier cycles and on inputs from the IIMB faculty and other stakeholders and are revised annually. The admission committee fixes the criteria and weights for the year before looking at candidates' individual information so that the selection is unbiased. 

For its new batch of PGP 2018-20, the IIMB has announced its new admission criteria. Here, CAT 2017 has been granted 40% weight, while all the other parameters will add up to 60%. With its emphasis on taking students with a ‘consistently good academic record’, the institute has now allotted 50% weight to academic performance. This is valid for the phase 1 of the selection process. 

In phase 2 of the admission process, CAT 2017 scores will be allotted weight of 25% while Written Ability Test-Personal Interview (WAT-PI) together will be allotted 40% weight. This makes it necessary for candidates to not  just excel in the CAT but also do a winning job at the Personal Interview (PI) and Written Ability Test (WAT).

In the WAT test, the candidate will be given an essay topic to write on in not more than 30 minutes. At the PI, candidates will be tested on the basis of academic performance, work experience, personal traits, etc. PI and WAT will be evaluated separately. After phase 2, the parameters on which students will be shortlisted include: 

Parameter: Weight allotted

CAT 2017                                                   25%

WAT                                                           10%

PI                                                                30%

10th board                                                 10%

12th board                                                  5%

Graduation                                                10%

Work Experience                                      10%

Total                                                           100%

 Points to remember: 

• Those who are selected from phase 2 will have to provide three confidential reference letters from their employers or faculty. This will be necessary for their PI evaluation. 
• The interviewing panel will multiply the candidate's work experience score by his or her quality of experience score. 
• Students will be rated on a five-point scale (0.25 - 0.5 – 1 - 1.5 - 2) by every member of the interviewing panel during the interviews to check for quality of work experience. To arrive at a weight work experience score, the student's average quality of work experience score will be multiplied by the pre-PI work experience score. Similarly, the student's work experience or  professional experience component score of phase 1 will be revised to arrive at a weighted work experience score. 
• Certified chartered accountants, cost accountants and company secretary candidates are also eligible for weight under the parameter of Professional Course. 
• For a weighted work experience score, each candidate's work experience score (maximum 8 in the pre-PI stage) will be multiplied by the quality of work experience score on a 5 point scale (0.25 - 0.5 – 1 - 1.5 - 2) as provided by interviewers during the PI process in phase 2. 
• Work experience score and the professional course score is considered for selection under a common parameter of work experience – since both provide professional work experience relevant to a management programme.

Facilities

Students at IIMB enjoy a holistic education. They interact with eminent people such as business leaders and intellectuals, and learn a lot from them. The institute also provides them with several opportunities both inside and outside the classroom, such as sports competitions, entrepreneurial activities or industry interactions. 

Infrastructure: The management of IIMB believes that effective learning can only take place if the atmosphere is congenial so that curious minds are more receptive to what's being taught. So, the classrooms here have world-class infrastructure that supports classroom teaching and the overall pursuit of knowledge. 

Hostels: There are several spacious single rooms available to all students in spacious, beautiful and well-maintained hostel blocks. There are 10 hostel blocks, an executive block and executive accommodation at the Management Development Centre (MDC). Students living in the hostels are provided with 24-hour Internet connectivity, use of fully automatic washing machines, laundry and ironing services and access to the music room and recreation room. Intercom facility is also available in each hostel, which is linked to the institute's intercom. 

For visitors, there is also a guest room facility. 

The Library: The IIMB library is housed in a building of four floors and covers an area of 55,000 sq feet. Its comprehensive collection of books is mainly related to management and related subjects. Its collection of books, back volumes of journals, government publications, technical reports, conference proceedings and non-book materials is a whopping 2.09 lakh!! 

It is a member of 34 online databases, 695 print journals and 850 e-journals. Students can find over 16,000 full text journal titles in the databases here subscribed by the library. It regularly receives 150 newsletters and 2200 Annual Reports from public and private organizations. Its collection of information also includes 4125 CDs, 415 Video Cassettes, 310 VCDs & DVDs and 235 Audio Cassettes. 

Computing Facilities: Among comparable institutes, the IIMB is the only one to have a fully Wi-Fi enabled campus. This Computer Centre is available for use 24 x7. Printers can be used here and in the hostel blocks. High speed Internet, very competent intranet, sharing software, and internal messenger make work easier and faster.

Sports Facilities: IIMB stresses the need for all-round development of a student's personality, and to achieve this, it has set up a wide range of sporting infrastructure. This includes grounds for playing cricket, basketball, tsepak, soccer, tennis, volleyball, badminton and throw ball, apart from indoor games. Students participate in competitions at various levels. This institute also has a sophisticated gym and a jogger's park. 

Music Room: A state-of-the-art music room with superb acoustics, electric guitars, bass, amps and a Tama drum-kit makes musically-oriented students break into music easily and melodiously.      

Canteen facilities: For each type of accommodation within the hostels, there are dining and canteen facilities. 

Quality of faculty team

IIMB's faculty team does cutting-edge research in all areas of management that would benefit students, public and private sector companies and government. Their research appears in leading academic and scholarly journals, apart from which they also author text books and working papers. 

With the research they carry out, new courses and executive education programs are introduced. With IIMB being a hive of innovation, faculty members often collaborate with industry in India and abroad. Thanks to IIMB's accent on innovation and research, the institute has been chosen to set up Centres of Excellence that emphasize on various specialized aspects and industries. One such centre is the N. S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning which serves as a catalyst for entrepreneurship and is also an incubation centre for start-ups. 

Tie-ups with other foreign institutions

IIMB has tie-ups with 114 management schools and universities all over the world.

Placement facility provided

The placement process in IIMB is conducted over two stages. It begins with the laterals process where firms arrive on campus to interview students with work experience and offer them mid-level managerial positions. 

In the second stage, firms are grouped into units based on the profile they offer. This year, 100% of students of the 2018 batch received either a Pre-Placement Offer (PPO) or a Lateral Placement Offer (LPO) before the start of the placement season. This stage is considered the final placement stage. 

The verdict

The respect and reputation of the IIMB are borne out by the presence of its knowledgeable and research-oriented faculty and students whose performance only gets better every year.