IIM Ranchi, a premier management school, has created a new policy to give academic credits to students' live projects in the first year of their MBA. These virtual live projects need to be completed during the first year of the MBA, along with the regular classes. This provision is in addition to the academic credits already given to summer internships.  

The projects would be sourced by the students on their own or by the various student clubs in the institute. IIM ranchi has 10 different student clubs focusing on different role domains like analytics, strategy, consulting, finance, artificial intelligence, human resources, marketing, operations, public policy, and digital media. These students have been organising specialised events and workshops for students with special interest in their domain. From next year onwards, these clubs will also focus on getting live projects in their focus domains. 

The stakeholders at IIM Ranchi believe that doing live projects and the first-year coursework will provide valuable learning opportunities and practical exposure to students, particularly students without prior work experience. They also think this will build stronger and more regular company connections. 

Until last year, students did live projects based on their interests. However, the institute observed that the students who had live projects in their first year of MBA had enhanced profiles and better employability. Faculty at IIM ranchi think that the academic credits given to live projects will increase the commitment of students to acquire work exposure and build a professional work culture among students. 

In addition to leveraging the existing corporate associations, IIM Ranchi is planning to sign MOUs with different online platforms that can provide high-quality live projects. Further, as a supporting initiative, the institute plans to create a new Competency Development Cell comprising faculty and senior students to mentor first-year students and improve the quality of these live projects. 

The Competency Development Cell, which is being formed, will also mentor the students in winning national-level case competitions conducted by different MNC companies. Over the last few years, IIM Ranchi has seen a significant increase in the number of students who participate in corporate case competitions and those who win such competitions. In such competitions, IIM Ranchi students work together to solve business problems and present the project as a case in front of the companies. The students who win such competitions will now have the opportunity to present the winning business case solutions as a seminar to their peers in the batch and acquire academic credits for it.