4
 "#$% &'()*$'+ $% ,'*( -. (#) !"#"$% !"#$% '( )*+,-. /0**$/0+0& /-++)/($-1 233345$6$178-$/)"-8'+0)%4-*794 "#) :%,)1 ;1%($(0() 3'% .-01<$17 ,'*(1)*= '+-17 3$(# (#) >'+) ?/#--+ -. @'1'7)&)1(= '1< $1/0A'(-* .-* !"#"$% '(")* +( ',-.*/ 0!''12 3(4 5.$6*6 78 9,7/($ :(--*%*2 /( $(' *+'-0 (0 1".'0"2,'- 3"'4(,' 5-06".."($7 B @'*C D4 5)1($+)= EFGF G Education Entrepreneurship: Not So Easy (A) 1  Ashish Mehra, the Founder and Director of Akaash Management Institute (AMI), was surprised when he received a call from a prominent politician on a rainy April morning in 2007. During the call, the politician stated that the land that Ashish had purchased to become the permanent home for AMI was desi gnated as agricultural land. Therefore, the politician pointed out, Ashish could not use the land for commercial use since there were strict regulations surrounding the use of agricultural land for any other purpose. Ashish was a stonished at how an empty barren lot could  be seen as “agricultural land,” especially since it had not been designated as agricultural land on the deed. Before ending the call, the politician also threatened that Ashish would not be able to continue with his plan to build an institute on the land without providing him with some sort of monetary gain. This was the second major hurdle Ashish had faced in his efforts to obtain land for AMI’s relocation over the past few years and the process was really weighing on him. About Ashish Mehra Ashish was born in 1959 and was raised in the small town of Rampur in Najappradesh. His father had only studied through second grade and his mother was illiterate. He lived h is childhood in poverty but that did not stop him from dreaming big an d achieving. He was the first  person from his village to finish schooling. His dedication and perseverance won him admission into one of the premier technology institutes where he received a degree in applied physics. G  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Page 1: Ethics of Educational Entrepreneurship

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Education Entrepreneurship: Not So Easy (A)1 

Ashish Mehra, the Founder and Director of Akaash Management Institute (AMI), was surprisedwhen he received a call from a prominent politician on a rainy April morning in 2007. During the

call, the politician stated that the land that Ashish had purchased to become the permanent home

for AMI was designated as agricultural land. Therefore, the politician pointed out, Ashish couldnot use the land for commercial use since there were strict regulations surrounding the use ofagricultural land for any other purpose. Ashish was astonished at how an empty barren lot could

 be seen as “agricultural land,” especially since it had not been designated as agricultural land onthe deed. Before ending the call, the politician also threatened that Ashish would not be able to

continue with his plan to build an institute on the land without providing him with some sort ofmonetary gain. This was the second major hurdle Ashish had faced in his efforts to obtain land

for AMI’s relocation over the past few years and the process was really weighing on him.

About Ashish Mehra

Ashish was born in 1959 and was raised in the small town of Rampur in Najappradesh. Hisfather had only studied through second grade and his mother was illiterate. He lived his

childhood in poverty but that did not stop him from dreaming big and achieving. He was the first person from his village to finish schooling. His dedication and perseverance won him admission

into one of the premier technology institutes where he received a degree in applied physics.

G H)6)+-,)< AC H*4 H$6C' ?$17#'+= 5-' ;1%($(0() -. @'1'7)&)1( 3$(# $1,0(% .*-& (#) /'%) ,*-('7-1$%(4 "#$% /'%) 3'% $1%,$*)< AC '1

'/(0'+ )I,)*$)1/) A0( 1'&)% '1< -(#)* %$(0'($-1'+ <)('$+% #'6) A))1 /#'17)<= '1< $1()*6$)3 %-0*/)% +).( 01J/*)<$()< 3$(#

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$1$($'($6) -. (#) R1$()< S'($-1% 5+-A'+ D-&,'/(= 3#$/# %))K% (- $1%,$*) '1< /#'&,$-1 *)%,-1%$A+) &'1'7)&)1( )<0/'($-1=

*)%)'*/#= '1< (#-07#( +)'<)*%#$, 7+-A'++C4 MN@OT% %0,,-*( .-* /'%) <)6)+-,&)1( $% 7*'().0++C '/K1-3+)<7)<4 

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After university, he went to the National Technology Institute (NTI), Chandangarh. the top

management school in western India and studied Education Management. Soon after graduating,he joined corporate life and worked for 16 years in senior positions with the leading education

companies in India. He became the President of the prestigious NTI Chandangarh Alumni

Association, a highly networked and affluent body of over 20,000 worldwide members. Duringhis tenure as president of this association, he developed a wide and influential network and hiscontacts held top positions in both private enterprises and government departments.

Ashish had always talked about the three most important aspects for a fulfilling professional and

 personal life. First, one had to have a dream or destination in life: this institution was his life-long dream. Second, one had to have fire in the belly, passionate commitment: he had never felt

more committed to anything in his life. And third, one had to maintain a strict adherence tocertain core values which created the unique identity of a person.

Background of Akaash Management Institute (AMI)

The idea of starting an institution was seeded for Ashish in 1999 during a grand event organized

 by his Alma Mater in Shantinagar to launch its Najappradesh alumni chapter. The then ChiefMinister of the State presided over the inauguration and many top government officials were also

 present. In his address to the gathering, the Chief Minister focused on a single common themethroughout his remarks: “People who belong to this state and have achieved much in their life

tend to only focus on their own growth and rarely do anything for their homeland.” Hecontinued: “People who have done well in their careers and lives should come back to their roots

at a suitable time to do something constructive and substantial for their home state.”

Ashish was greatly inspired by the Chief Minister’s address and a year later, still inspired by hiswords, Ashish decided to leave his well-paying and reputable job with a leading multinational

company to transform his passion and beliefs into reality. Ashish started the AkaashManagement Institute in 2000 in a rented building in the Dayashahar district of Najappradesh

with only 5 students. Its mission was to provide quality and values-based managementeducation.

Ashish had built AMI on an uncompromising commitment to the core values of ethics, integrity,

equality, merit and societal service. In India, the measure of quality among managementeducation institutions was dictated by the number of companies that visited campuses to recruit

students, and these companies based their decisions about where to recruit on the quality of thestudents being admitted to the institutions. Prospective students’ perceptions were also greatly

influenced by the quality of campus recruitment: the more difficult it appeared to gain admissionto a school, the more applicants seemed to apply. He felt that his institution needed to stand tall

among hundreds of institutions, and therefore he knew the admissions process needed to be quiterigorous. He believed that the quality of students would certainly make his institution more

appealing to the parents and other stakeholders. Ashish based the admissions decisions on the

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applicants’ scores on India’s most strenuous Common Admissions Test (CAT) as well as on a

rigorous group discussion and personal interviews.

Ashish was a businessman, entrepreneur and professor who believed that real management

education should be taught through experience, exposure and expertise supplemented with thetextbooks. In this context, he invited corporate managers from all over India and abroad to guestlecture on an almost weekly basis and in some cases invited them to serve as formal visiting

faculty. AMI also sponsored excursions to the top organizations in the area to enhance studentlearning and also to encourage awareness of AMI for networking and recruitment purposes.

The First Crisis

It had been three years since AMI had opened its doors, and by 2003 Ashish knew that he would

soon need to build AMI a campus of its own in order to accommodate its growth and increase itscredibility. Ashish went to the Chief Minister and explained AMI’s history and how it had been

inspired by the Minister’s 1999 address in Shantinagar.

Moved by Ashish’s story and the growing prominence of AMI, the Chief Minister promisedAshish that he would be able to purchase land, under an educational land quota, in order to build

a permanent home for AMI. With that assurance, he started the planning process to meet variousgovernment requirements for the formal land acquisition.

Ashish initiated his preliminary work by approaching the concerned government officials to

 procure the land. Ashish followed up with the District Collector and Divisional Commissionerregarding the land purchase, both of whom were graduates of his alma mater. He received their

cordial support and on a warm day in June of 2003 they showed Ashish the various plots of landthat could be allotted to him for his educational institution under the educational quota.

One of the options that the officials showed him was perfect and Ashish quickly gave his consent

to that plot of land. The District Collector then sent a proposal with his recommendations to theChief Minister’s office seeking his written approval.

After a week, Ashish received a call from the land registration office to meet an individual for

 price negotiation. Ashish was quite surprised about the need for price negotiation since the landhad been identified for educational purposes, which meant it was supposed to have a reserved

 price and not require any negotiation. Ashish politely declined the request to negotiate the priceand informed the officials that he was aware of the process for acquiring educational quota land

and that it did not involve price negotiation. He explained that the Chief Minister had offeredhim the land under the educational quota and requested that the Government issue a demand note

for the reserved price and then he would pay it promptly by cheque or demand draft. Thegovernment official to whom Ashish spoke made it clear that he “must be mistaken” and could

not purchase the land without going through the price negotiation process. Furthermore, he

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made it clear that the price negotiation process was to negotiate and fix a price over and above

the reserved price of the land and the additional money would go to the Chief Minister’s office.

Once Ashish realized that the government officials were demanding exorbitant money above and

 beyond the reserved price as a bribe, he repeatedly sought an appointment with the ChiefMinister to plead his case and to remind him that it was upon the Minister’s own invitation thatAshish had returned to his home state. The chief minister, however, refused to grant him an

audience.

After conversations with other officials from his alumni network and further investigation intothe process, it became apparent that the Chief Minister had offered Ashish the land in error; he

was not actually able to promise the land under the quota as originally indicated. It also becameclear that the government officials were willing to still make the land available to AMI, but only

if paid a bribe. Ultimately, he refused the government land allotted for “educational purposes”and decided to purchase private land through the regular real estate market.

Subsequently, he purchased a barren lot at market price from a private party the following year.

The Second Land Use Hurdle

With the land debacle behind him, Ashish spent the next two and a half years building the staff,

designing the plans and raising the money to formally relocate AMI to the new plot of land.

Just before he was to break ground in April of 2007, Ashish received the call from a politicianwho demanded a huge sum (roughly 4 months operating cost for the school) as a bribe. He

threatened to block AMI’s use of the land by notifying the relevant authorities that the land wasdesignated for agricultural purposes only. Ashish knew that land designated for agriculture

could not be utilized for any other purpose, but the land that he purchased was arid anduncultivable and clearly not for agricultural purposes. He also knew that the politician had

 power and influence over the relevant department. The politician continued to make it known,however, that he would keep the secret to himself if Ashish paid the bribe.

Ashish was surprised by the politician’s threat and was growing tired and frustrated by the many

hurdles to obtaining land for AMI, but paying a bribe, even in the name of helping his institution,was out of the question. However AMI was growing and needed a permanent home to both

house its students and help it remain credible in the increasingly competitive Business Schoolmarket. How could Ashish avoid paying the bribe but without further delaying the building of a

campus? Whom should he approach and how?

Last Revision: 6/2/14