"Management Education, the IIMs and the Uneven Formation of Managerial Capitalism in India, 1955-1980"

This essay explores efforts to create new forms of Managerial Capitalism in India during the
post-independence era. It first discusses the efforts of the early advocates of business
programs, both in India and the United States, and their visions of the role trained graduates of
these programs might play In Indian business and public administration. It focuses mainly on
the first two Indian Institutes of Management in Ahmedabad and Calcutta during the 1960s. It
then sketches the role of the first generation of new graduates in Indian business organizations
up through 1980. While certainly highlighting some successes these graduates experienced in
some organizations—particularly in multinationals—it will also explore the uneasy integration
of many others during these organizations. Many graduates were marginalized in their new
positions due to doubts about the value of their training; others became involved in intrafirm
conflicts over their roles. Overall the essay will shed light on the uneven processes of
transformation in Indian business during the first decade and a half after the IIMs started
producing graduates.