The dominance of conventional classroom lecturing as a mode of teaching and learning management education has increasingly been questioned for its appropriateness. Hence it is no surprise that leading US business schools, in the recent past, are reported to have been pursuing alternative approaches of non-classroom education.

It was nearly a decade ago that we, at SPJIMR, realized this need. The softer but crucial aspects of management training are "character" or "attitude" building, developing a mind-set for holistic, systematic thinking and recognizing skills for administration; all these in addition to the conventional inputs towards development of analytic, rational skills. In order to pursue a pedagogic strategy that can address these needs effectively, we took the unusual step of de-linking our Institute's MBA program from the Bombay University - a decision that evokes surprise even today. Initially it evoked disbelief. That the Institute has been rated amongst the top ten of now over 800 Institutes in the country, consistently and in different ranking exercises, has vindicated our strategic foresight.

Pedagogic innovations based on commitment to simple but practical objectives, namely 'influencing practice' and 'promoting value-based growth', have found deep roots in our academic program. And, to our satisfaction, a few of these are now being emulated at other institutions. Recognizing the primary accountability of an adult student for learning, and being socially responsive, have been our beliefs, and are epitomized in the words of Einstein and Whitehead that invariably appear epigraphically in all our formal communications.

Currently, our focus is on an important unfinished agenda: an effective and symbiotic relationship between the Industry and the Institute. Development of Corporate Citizenship (DOCC), internship, industry-supported project work, and lecture series are several initiatives in operationalizing the development of such a linkage. We, however, wish to go beyond, and are seeking a stronger and direct participation of the business community for whom we exist. We have several ideas that we propose to present to the business community. We believe that walls that currently exist in the society between organizations that serve each other are a hindrance to overall social performance. We are looking forward to a positive response from the business community to our programs and plans. Any guidance and suggestions towards this end would be most welcome.