The gradual opening up of the small and medium sectors in India in the face of World Trade Organisation (WTO) pressure makes it incumbent on all the SMEs in the country to upgrade their technological and human resources base. For that's the only way they can compete with global players. Unfortunately, cost and quality remain fairly alien concepts to the highly protected Indian SMEs. There is a crying need for `changeagents', who will bring a competitive edge to business in the small and medium sectors.

Entrepreneurship & Management Processes International (EMPI), a Delhi-based business school, seeks to nurture talent for the two sectors. The EMPI Business School runs two programes, a post-graduate diploma in business management (PGDBM) with specialisation in entrepreneurship, and a three-year graduate studies in entrepreneurial management (GSEM).

Training programmes for the small and medium sectors are not entirely new in India. A number of such short-duration programmes are conducted by the government from time to time in different parts of the country. ``These programmes provide technical inputs, but the participants do not get the feel of management of SMEs,'' says Gurnam Saran, president of EMPI.Saran is also chairman, SPARK Consultants (Pvt.) Ltd, and managing director (India), Strategic Thinking Group. He feels that entrepreneurs in the small and medium sectors must come out of the ``dependent mind-set'' and``that can happen only if they are exposed to the new management principles and practices''. The Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) or vocational courses offered by Indian universities only equip students with technical knowledge.In fact, such programmes often create a negative brand value for the students, pointed out Pankaj, consultant with the EMPI Business School, at the national workshop on `Consultancy Clinics & Network Approach for Achieving Competitiveness of SME Clusters', recently held in Delhi.

The need of the hour then is to create a cadre of highly trained management students, who will enter the small and medium sectors. EMPI has succeeded to a large extent in guiding well-trained professionals to join SMEs. Dr V A Eshwar, professor and director, EMPI Business School, reveals that 30-35 per cent of the students who passed out of the graduate programme last year entered the small and medium sectors. ``Of course, most of them were joining their family businesses,'' says he.

The realchallenge for EMPI lies in enhancing the employability of those GSEM students who do not come from business families. ``That is happening, but the numbers are too few at the moment,'' says Saran.

``We impress upon our students the need to take up jobs that offer challenges. Today, the cream of management students move into over-managed companies where their true potential remains untapped. Perhaps their potential would be better utilised if they were to joined SMEs,'' says he.In fact, S P Agarwal, joint advisor, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), in his paper presented at the national workshop stated that ``B-schools can provide consultancy skills relevant to SMEs. There is an increasing need to have nucleus in-house capabilities for the acquisition of appropriate technologies, design, development and upgradation of products and processes in SMEs''.

Agarwal also noted that there is a need to strengthen the R&D facilities in SMEs. The courses offered by EMPI could provide thetechnical and managerial inputs for R&D in these sectors. ``Of course, it is a voluntary decision on the part of students to join the SMEs. But we guide them in their decision making through various psychometric tests conducted by a panel of psychologists appointed by EMPI,'' says Saran.

EMPI also has a consultancy wing that is in the process of setting up `consultancy clinics' at the various SME clusters in the country. ``We will win the small sector entrepreneurs with our tailor-made solutions. We will also assist them in implementing them,'' says Saran.

``In the long run, our aim is to set up centres of education along with these consultancy clinics. EMPI graduates could join these consultancy clinics,'' he adds.

EMPI also has an institutional exchange programme with one of Italy's premier management schools, the Scuola di Amministrazione Aziendale School of Management, University of Turin. EMPI's diploma of GSEM is also recognised by the SAA school of Management, University of Turin, for aninstitutional exchange programme with credit transfer option and further studies in the fourth year.

The institution is also working towards setting up an EMPI Centre for Japanese Management Studies in collaboration with FAAAI-AOTS for teaching Japanese Management Association special capsules.