Fellow Programme in Strategic Management

The Fellow Programme of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta is a full-time doctoral programme in different fields and related disciplines of Management. The objective of the programme is to prepare students for careers in teaching and research in Management or in the related disciplines, and also for positions outside academics, which require advanced research and analytical capabilities. The fellow program at IIMC focuses on training outstanding scholars whose teaching and research will advance management education and practice, and is capable of meeting the continued need for qualified faculty in leading business schools in India and abroad.

The programme offers a unique opportunity to engage in high-quality intradisciplinary as well as interdisciplinary research. A distinctive feature of the Institute is that its faculty resources are not broken up into water-tight departments, but are treated as belonging to one unit. This makes for a degree of cross-fertilization of ideas as also a quality of multidisciplinary research that is practically impossible to attain under the conventional university set-up. At the same time, a long-standing strength of IIM Calcutta has been its recognition of specialized research in the basic disciplines at par with and even exceeding the standards of the best universities.

The student, on completion, is awarded the title "Fellow of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta". The Fellow Programme in Management and the Fellow Programme in the areas related to Management are recognised as being equivalent to a Ph.D. by the Association of Indian Universities. The Government of India has also recognized the Fellowship in Management of this Institute as being equivalent to a Ph.D. degree in management education of a recognised Indian University.


-Curriculum:

The Programme consists of coursework followed by a dissertation. The coursework phase is of two years duration covering six terms. In the first year, students of the Fellow Programme in Management take courses along with the Post Graduate students, while those specializing in the management related disciplines, undertake doctoral level courses. Graduates of the four IIMs applying to the Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) with a CGPA of 6.00/9.00 and above (or its equivalent) are automatically eligible for direct admission to the second year of the Fellow Programme. Applicants with the equivalent of PGDM from any of the universities/institutes with a minimum CGPA of 6.00 out of 9.00 and/or equivalent, may request for direct admission to the second year and this may be granted at the discretion of the PGP & Fellow Programme Committee. Similarly, Students with a Master's degree or above in any of the pure discipline areas can be admitted to the second year of the Fellow Programme in the area as per discretion of the FPR Committee and the Group. Waivers may be granted for particular courses to suitably qualified candidates on the basis of their prior proficiency. At the end of the first year, the students are required to take up a summer project in the industry or work on a term paper under the guidance of a faculty member related to the major area of specialisation. In the second year, FPs are offered a wide range of courses inclusive of the electives the group offers to PGPs. In addition the Fellowship students have the flexibility to take specialized FP level courses which are not offered to PGDM and PGDCM students. Some groups may insist that FPs take only doctoral level courses in their second year.

On satisfactory completion of the course work with the requisite CGPA, a Comprehensive Qualifying Examination (CQE) is held. After qualifying in the CQE, the student is required to submit his/her proposal for dissertation to an interdisciplinary Thesis Advisory Committee consisting of Thesis Supervisors and at least two other faculty members. Finally the student writes the dissertation which is evaluated by a Thesis Examination Committee (including external experts), and the student publicly defends the dissertation before the Thesis Examination Committee.


-Specialization in Strategic Management:

The courses in Strategic Management area are of two kinds. First set of courses are those that doctoral students do along with post graduate program students. These are designed to provide the students both Strategic and General management perspectives. The imperative of according perspective to the students is taken care of through these as both compulsory and optional courses are designed keeping in view of the latest developments in the field. These courses help them appreciate various aspects pertinent for practitioner and vantage is achieved. These courses help integrate the previous learning which was along the functional lines, focus on participating firm, provide various frameworks, concepts and skills required to formulate and implement strategies that are critical to its long-term survival and growth of the firm. Various aspects that are to be taken care of and the issues that arise during formulating and implementing of the strategies are covered in depth. Pedagogy for these includes case discussions, presentations, industry seminars and project works. Reading material provided is comprehensive and based on journal articles which offer revealing insights and relevant to practice. The courses under this stream include Strategic Management (compulsory course), Industry and Competitive Analysis, Mergers and Acquisitions, Strategic Choices in Information Age. In addition to these, students can also enroll for cross listed courses (offered by other groups) and gain additional specific insights. Second set of courses offered by Strategic Management group are Doctoral Seminar Courses. These are exclusively meant for doctoral students. These help in getting an in depth understanding and appreciate various aspects of Strategic Management. Two doctoral seminar courses titled Evolution of Strategic Management I and II are designed to achieve this, broadly along strategy content and process research lines. Theoretical traditions that contributed to Strategic Management are made familiar and an attempt to give the required background of the same is achieved through third doctoral course, Theoretical Foundations of Strategic Management. Different research methodologies employed in the Strategic Management research and various issues pertinent to the same are made familiar through fourth doctoral seminar course, Methodological Issues and Directions in Strategy Research. Pedagogy for these courses includes presentation of articles, critical reviews and class discussions. At the end of these courses doctoral students shall develop critical appreciation of the literature and research and ready to contribute to their area of specialization.