After the dorms, this time there is the case of the IIMA Logo. I am late to realise, how stupid and emotionally biased I have been. Like the classical armchair activist, I too commented on IIMA’s attempt to redevelop old structures. How silly and self-centred I was! My alma mater, IIMA, ‘The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad’, planned to demolish or replace old Louis Kahn designed dorms with a new structure. At that time, it was painful for me to think of the campus without those beauties. The dorms have outlived their extended life, and they are safety hazards.
In the past, regarding the dorms, there was a suggestion, and I endorsed it. Why not make the new structure keeping the old façade. Simple solution. Quite stupid. The old dorms were designed in a different era, when students’ and institutes’ needs, desires, and ambitions differed. The students and faculty were happy walking on Stanford Ramp, climbing Harvard Steps or crisscrossing the Louis Kahn Plaza. With time, the new campus developed- it was a concrete structure. It used the current technology and newly defined dreams, aspirations, and needs of the students, faculty, and the institute.
The alumni and faculty lobby were against the change. The alumni draw much strength from the established imagery of IIMA, and thus, change is simply unacceptable. Why get emotional about such things. Why can’t we accept that things will not be the same?
EPISODE -2 THE IIMA LOGO.
The story is repeating itself with a proposed Logo change. Most brands have undergone logo changes to revitalise and contemporaries and reflect the changing world culture. Many alumni raising voices against the IIMA logo change have changed logos across products and services in their professional lives. But the IIMA logo is the Holy Cow! There is an emotional connection, and it is recognised worldwide.
The voices are questioning the lack of inclusiveness and transparency. How can they forget that management and marketing, by nature, are non-democratic? Someone must stick the neck out, take a call and move on. There is no need for logo and identity change to be an all-inclusive process, and there is no need to engage and involve every stakeholder.
I want to think that IIMA Board has followed the process. And if that is right, the rest of us should live with the decision and move on. The institute has been in the news for unwanted reasons.
Management, including marketing, is all about taking an open-eyed conscious decision with the available information and moving on. No one knows if the decision will be right or wrong. And the voices can also not guarantee that their decision would be the right one.
Some stakeholders are hell-bent on stopping the institute from taking decisions, and I find no difference between them and the opposition in national politics or the farmers at the Delhi border. The plan is to oppose everything the board does.
MOVE ON
Change is a constant, biases are permanent, and evolution is part of the process. But no, the voices forget it all, showing a lapse of rational and logical thinking, which the institute is known for.
I suggest we move on. If there is a constructive, positive suggestion or recommendation, table it at the proper forum but be willing to accept the decision, even if it goes against them.
I, for one, refuse to continue evaluating with emotional bias. I realise I am not even a close stakeholder. After commenting the last time, I have not even tried to find out the status.
The class of ’87, IIM Ahmedabad, met online to discuss the 35th reunion at the alma mater. I realised that reunion is about memories and meeting friends, and the institute is a small but integral part of it. It does not matter where the reunion happens if the batchmates enjoy their togetherness. There is nothing extraordinary about the reunion at the institute. Why get emotionally drained at the not-so-well-kept dorms? Why experience the alienating concrete campus at IIMA? Why wander around like in an open Zoo with hardly anyone knowing you?
We stick to groups made of memories, and the institute is just the foundation of such groups. Suppose you understand ‘Na mano Toh Pathar – Mano Toh Bhagwan’. In that case, you will appreciate the utter nuisance and emotional stupidity in the case of the Loui Khan designed dorms and the logo.
Personally speaking
I find there is no need to change the logo. The newly proposed logo (as shared in the WhatsApp group) is chunkier and lacks grace. There is no need to have a different logo for national and international markets. And this call is more about the process transparency and inclusiveness of stakeholders.
BLOG/018/2022
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