1. What are the top challenges that you are currently working to solve for your institute this year?
The major area of concern is in managing the best placement avenues for the students. A majority of the second rung b-Schools are finding it difficult to manage the best of the placements for all the students studying on campus. The problems of inviting the corporate HR Managers to the campus, the HR Managers being skeptical of getting the right kind of skills, coupled with problems with communication, presentation skills and lack of academic rigour together enhances the severity of the problem.
Focus on research has been another major area of challenge in the light of major research findings becoming obsolete and redundant in the light of the advent of internet technologies and the increasing demand of techno-business professionals by the corporate world.
The most important challenge to the different b-Schools of India is in terms of bagging Corporate Consultancy assignments and to deliver them successfully with the highest degrees of customer ecstasy.
2. What according to you have been your most significant progress your institute has made in the last one year?
The B-Schools are finding it increasingly difficult to invite the talent from the corporate world and retain them as faculty members. So, a majority of Indian b-Schools are suffering from the syndrome that the management teachers who are teaching the budding doyens of the corporate world have never been or seen the corporate world, lifestyle, functioning and are least aware of the practical intricacies and nuances of the corporate world.
Improving the Industry interaction has been the most significant progress in our institution. It includes inviting the experts from Industry to interact with the students, appointing some of the executive from middle level management as full time faculty members and sending the students on a corporate internship.
3. What are the qualities you look for in an applicant when short listing for your final selections?
For Students:
During the interview process, the selection Panel will consider academic performance, test score in competitive Exam, work experience (If Any), level of maturity and motivation, Confidence, performance in the interview, ability, extracurricular achievements, honors and awards etc.
For Faculties:
Resourceful: The faculty must possess required resource in terms of Educational qualification, Teaching experience and research exposure.
Industry Insight: Faculty need to have an insight into functioning of an Industry. It may come with either experience of interaction.
Research Focus: A good management teacher must be a good researcher.
Apart from the these basic traits they must have qualities like
– Accountability
– Patience
– Trustworthiness
– Innovativeness
4. What according to you is the one progressive change that you’d like to see in the management education scenario in the country today ?
One having good scores in a MBA degree was sure to get placed in a good company with a good payback. Such was the efficiency and the importance of the degree. But recently the number of colleges providing this degree had brought down the importance of the course. Every other college is offering a MBA degree. This is creating a weak base for the students to succeed in this transition. On the academic floor, the MBA Programme was once supreme. It is a dramatic scenario but not an unexpected one. With the growing popularity of the course which actually marked its downfall, many more will be closing down in the coming months. These institutes no longer see business sense in offering an MBA course, preferring to use the land for more lucrative ventures. As S S Mantha, chairman of the All-India Council for Technical Education, puts it, “Colleges in remote India and institutes of poor quality are not getting students.” Will it again help the course to nullify the current changes and get back to where it actually stood or will it be a mark that the importance of it is degrading?
The corporate world has slowly begun to step into changes things. Some companies have adopted colleges, training their faculty and sharing the latest industry knowledge with them. But many say the biggest step needs to be taken by the government to allow the education system to function freely, so that India can reap the demographic dividend of its large youth population. But many say the biggest step needs to be taken by the government to allow the education system to function freely, so that India can reap the demographic dividend of its large youth population. Internationalization, cross cultures, strategic alliances, partnership & mergers are the new trends in management education. One of the important reasons of Japan’s Climbing to the top ladder of Industrial world is that they believe in “developing people before developing products,” Indian management educations has to think in this direction. The Indian management institutes are the only ones with no international participation. B-Schools in India have to do considerable thinking and envisioning so that the products coming out are capable of meeting the job demands of a global marketplace, though the firms may operate only in some geographical region. What lies ahead for management education is the challenging task of developing the competency level of students to meet corporate expectations. 21st-century corporations demand teaching skills that embed students in an environment where they acquire competence from one another and from their collective experience. It is important for B-schools to induct a few international faculties & provide an opportunity to the students to listen about other country’s business culture & systems. In other words, management institutes must be innovative, flexible and responsive to the dictates of the changing environment.