Business literature is flooded with articles that centre on the issue of whether business schools are producing MBAs in line with the needs of the business community. Some authors have expressed deep concerns on the mismatch between industry needs and business schools’ programmes, while some have taken a serious view on the curriculum and teaching in the MBA programmes and some have highlighted the skill requirements as areas of concerns.
The world of business has always been undergoing changes and restructuring itself over the last two decades. Such changes have necessitated change in the skills required of leaders. Given the relationship between management education and business world, market forces like globalisation, technology revolution and new workplace requirements influence business education significantly. The stakes are huge given that corporations and education institutions spend almost a combined USD 2.5 trillion on management education and training worldwide. The tremendous impact that management education can create is true in an Indian context as India is becoming an integral part of a globalised business agenda. Hence, Indian business schools need to be provided with the right direction to remain relevant.
Honing leadership
There is a widely prevalent source of literature that strongly criticises the B-schools’ understanding of what the business community wants and the relevance of curriculum and pedagogy in students learning those skills. Though such literature source is less prevalent in the Indian context, one must agree that management education is a global phenomenon and is no longer unique to a particular country. What is applicable to the U.S. or any other renowned B-schools is equally applicable to B-schools in India. In fact, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and the recently established Indian School of Business have looked to the West for advice on structuring their MBA programmes. IIM at Ahmedabad and Kolkata took the help of the Harvard Business School and MIT’s Sloan Management School respectively during their formative years.
Collectively, the criticisms of business school curricula represent something of a “laundry list.” Major types of criticisms have been on placing too much emphasis on quantitative and analytical skills, and insufficient attention to leadership and interpersonal skills. There is also criticism on the inadequate emphasis on international dimension of business and ethics, as well as, poor communication skills (Porter & McKibbin, 1988).
In 1976, the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) began a comprehensive study to test the knowledge and skills determined to be essential for graduates of accredited business schools. The AACSB, in this Outcome Measurement Project highlighted a set of skills as crucial for success in the business world: leadership, oral communication, planning and organising, information gathering and problem analysis, decision making, delegation and control, self-objectivity and disposition to lead. It was noted that these skills were not necessarily taught in business school curricula, but were frequently cited by corporations as required in the business world today.
Confirming criticisms
A longitudinal study conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education during 2002-2004 found similar issues that highlighted the pitfalls in MBA education and questioned its relevance. The study concluded that there was a huge gap between the recruiter’s perception on required competencies and the B-schools’ understanding.
The solution lies in building a coherent synergy amongst all responsible stakeholders. The need for understanding the skills, knowledge elements, and attitudes required as competencies of MBA graduates needs no emphasis. Such a requirement will be addressed by B-schools only if the curriculum and pedagogy is capable of absorbing and updating the changing needs of business. To understand this changing need, businesses and B-schools must get together and act in a collaborative fashion to ensure that maximum synergy is obtained from such collaboration. It is also essential that regular inputs from industry and B-schools are obtained. Based on such inputs, there must periodic curriculum reviews, changes, and upgradation of pedagogical practices.
To ensure that such a system works cohesively, the policy environment must enable innovations and encourage such practices. In short, a four-P MBA framework forms the response mechanism — an enabling environment as Policy , businesses and business schools as Providers , curriculum and pedagogy as Process , and knowledge, skill, and attitude as Purpose . How each of the four Ps need to respond individually and collectively forms the remaining part of the series.
The writer is Dean of Planning and Development, SASTRA University, Thanjavur.
