Ravi J. Matthai
Encyclopedia
Ravi John Matthai was an outstanding management education administrator. He was the first full-time Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He was the son of John Matthai, the first Railway Minister
and later Finance Minister
of independent India
.
A number of reasons are attributed to Matthai's enduring influence on IIMA:
After six years as director, Matthai announced his decision to step down and stay on as professor. He gave two reasons for doing so:first, leaders of academic institutions tended to use their positions for career advancement at an adverse cost to the institutions;secondly, it was important to establish the principle that the director’s position is not hierarchical; he is only first among equals, which was characteristically bold of him, given the cultural milieu prevailing in leading academic institutions at that time..
. The area was then regarded by the government authorities as devoid of any scope for development. Believing that people were the greatest resource for development, Matthai began to work with village communities on issues of livelihood and empowerment in an environment that was (and still remains) among India’s most degraded and oppressive. Volunteers from IIMA and the National Institute of Design
(NID) joined with local citizens in the search for livelihood options that could be sustained in the face of social, environmental and political challenges.
Languishing skills in weaving and leather work were selected in an effort to develop new opportunities for earning that could be outside the control of local vested interests while remaining rooted in familiar and tested capacities. The Jawaja Experiment thus began with Prof. Ravi Matthai leading a small group of volunteers to what seemed a barren patch of land with little resources and even less hope. Forty years later, the Jawaja Leather Association and the Jawaja Weaver’s Association, linked as AAJ, continue their struggle for self-reliance and dignity. They have come a long way. The leather workers and weavers have won a degree of economic independence. Their products are reputed in India and in many parts of the world.
This experiential learning of running a grass root development project, led to the setting up of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand. Ravi Mathai, and two of his former IIMA colleagues, Dr.Kamala Chowdhary and Dr.Michael Halse are credited with conceptualising the need for an independent Institute of Rural Management. The institute was established in Anand, at the express invitation of Dr.Verghese Kurien
then Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board. Ravi Mathai was associated in the initial years in various capacities - being a member on the Board, directly in teaching students, apart from informally mentoring the faculty.
(NID) at Paldi, Ahmedabad
, has a Ravi J Matthai Design Research Chair for `design innovation for enriching school education, craft sectors and design research`. It focuses on developing a range of design research related projects and activities in this area.
The institute library at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand and the Centre for Educational Innovation at IIM Ahmedabad are named after him.
In 1986, IIMA established the Ravi J. Matthai Centre for Educational Innovation (RJMCEI), to conduct research and undertake training activities to influence the management of education systems in India.
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
and later Finance Minister
Finance minister
The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...
of independent India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Early years
Ravi was educated in Allahabad and later graduated from Oxford University with a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics. He began his career at a Calcutta based firm but later moved to the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta in 1963 as Professor of Marketing.Influence on IIM Ahmedabad [IIMA]
In 1965 Matthai was invited by Late Vikram Sarabhai to join IIMA as its first full-time Director. He was 38 years old at the time and did not have an advanced academic degree. Yet, over the next six years, he set the foundations for an institution that was to grow into a top-ranking management school in India.A number of reasons are attributed to Matthai's enduring influence on IIMA:
- First, a clear sense of purpose. IIMA’s concern, as Mathai put it, was “with the application of knowledge”. This meant that the Institute would be involved in teaching, research and consulting. The impact “would be greatest if it were the combined result of all activities”, so faculty must engage in all three activities. Matthai saw clearly that to focus merely on business would limit IIMA. It would also expose it to charges of being elitist in its orientation. IIMA’s ambit needed to be wider: it would be an institute of management, not just a business school. It would develop expertise in important sectors, including agriculture.
- Secondly, Matthai’s conviction that academic activities can flourish only when faculty are given the fullest freedom. In an academic institution, excellence cannot be ordered. It springs forth when people are given the space to grow and to express themselves freely.
- Thirdly, the idea of a faculty-governed institute where decision-making rests primarily with the faculty and not with the director or the board. An example is the admissions committee that is independent of the director. The mechanism has been crucial in insulating admissions from unhealthy influence.
- Fourthly, what is, perhaps, Matthai’s greatest bequest to IIMA: the principle of a single term for the director.
After six years as director, Matthai announced his decision to step down and stay on as professor. He gave two reasons for doing so:first, leaders of academic institutions tended to use their positions for career advancement at an adverse cost to the institutions;secondly, it was important to establish the principle that the director’s position is not hierarchical; he is only first among equals, which was characteristically bold of him, given the cultural milieu prevailing in leading academic institutions at that time..
The Jawaja Experiment
In 1975, a few years after stepping down from IIMA’s directorship, Matthai decided to test whether corporate management disciplines could be related to gut issues of Indian poverty. He selected Jawaja block which included about 200 villages with a population of approximately 80,000 people in a drought prone district of RajasthanRajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
. The area was then regarded by the government authorities as devoid of any scope for development. Believing that people were the greatest resource for development, Matthai began to work with village communities on issues of livelihood and empowerment in an environment that was (and still remains) among India’s most degraded and oppressive. Volunteers from IIMA and the National Institute of Design
National Institute of Design
The article for the postgraduate campus can be found at National Institute of Design Gandhinagar and National Institute of Design BangaloreNational Institute of Design is a design school in India. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy and...
(NID) joined with local citizens in the search for livelihood options that could be sustained in the face of social, environmental and political challenges.
Languishing skills in weaving and leather work were selected in an effort to develop new opportunities for earning that could be outside the control of local vested interests while remaining rooted in familiar and tested capacities. The Jawaja Experiment thus began with Prof. Ravi Matthai leading a small group of volunteers to what seemed a barren patch of land with little resources and even less hope. Forty years later, the Jawaja Leather Association and the Jawaja Weaver’s Association, linked as AAJ, continue their struggle for self-reliance and dignity. They have come a long way. The leather workers and weavers have won a degree of economic independence. Their products are reputed in India and in many parts of the world.
This experiential learning of running a grass root development project, led to the setting up of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand. Ravi Mathai, and two of his former IIMA colleagues, Dr.Kamala Chowdhary and Dr.Michael Halse are credited with conceptualising the need for an independent Institute of Rural Management. The institute was established in Anand, at the express invitation of Dr.Verghese Kurien
Verghese Kurien
Verghese Kurien is the founder of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation , an apex cooperative organization that manages the Amul food brand. He is recognised as the man behind the success of the Amul brand.He is credited with being the architect of Operation Flood – the largest dairy...
then Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board. Ravi Mathai was associated in the initial years in various capacities - being a member on the Board, directly in teaching students, apart from informally mentoring the faculty.
Honors
National Institute of DesignNational Institute of Design
The article for the postgraduate campus can be found at National Institute of Design Gandhinagar and National Institute of Design BangaloreNational Institute of Design is a design school in India. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy and...
(NID) at Paldi, Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
, has a Ravi J Matthai Design Research Chair for `design innovation for enriching school education, craft sectors and design research`. It focuses on developing a range of design research related projects and activities in this area.
The institute library at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand and the Centre for Educational Innovation at IIM Ahmedabad are named after him.
In 1986, IIMA established the Ravi J. Matthai Centre for Educational Innovation (RJMCEI), to conduct research and undertake training activities to influence the management of education systems in India.