B-School Reforms

Kudos to Mr.K.Ram Kumar, ED,ICICI Bank Ltd. for writing a thought provoking and interesting (for me)piece about BSchools and the management education(Stagnant B-Schools Need Reforms), in The Economic Times dtd 8/10/11.The article, will definitely disturb the BSchool promoters and functionaries , who are more concerned about the running of the business of business school, with lot of predictability and also the faculties who falls in line to meet the demands of the BSchool management and , the students, who also want lot of predictability and who want to be treated as the customers(which some BSchool leaders also oblige) rather than one of the stakeholders. I will discuss the content of the article point by point.

About CAT.While Mr.Ramkumar feels that CAT is biased in favour of Engineers, I go a little further in believing that it is not a test to prove a student’s aptitude for management education. If CAT is used to test the management aptitude of a candidate, the basic assumption must be that the management is a purely quantifiable discipline, which it is not. Also, those who write CAT must have done hundreds of mock CAT tests at one of the training centres, making the whole process of attacking CAT, just another transaction to score marks, rather than the ability to show an aptitude for managing as a profession. Of course, this is also an outcome of the very business principle that one has to make everything measurable. While studies from the US indicate that there is no correlation between the GMAT score and the success of a person in his managerial capacity, no such studies exist in India. But on thing is sure:lots of people write CAT because once you get through with a high percentile, you are assured of a highflying career with dreamlike salaries and perks. (And, with money being the only reason for work and also the only measure of success, no wonder they become motivated and enthused). The reason for the unfortunate confidence among youngsters: The Hype created about management education. No other education gets a front page coverage of a daily and no other graduates get paid so well. There are thousands of bright young physics or chemistry or psychology or economics graduates or postgraduates or PhDs whose successes usually go unsung.

About Group Discussion(GD).Mr.Ramkumar has commented about the group discussion(GD) being applied by the institution for admissions or by recruiters during placement exercises. I will tell you about my experience. At one of the BSchools where I worked, I was asked to oversee a training process of the students before the placement season started and GD was one of the items in the process. After one group of about ten students completed the process, I was asked to give a feedback. To me , GD is not a process just for understanding the communication abilities or who is first off the block. It is also to understand how you listen to tolerate other viewpoints, how you take leadership in making others successful(by prompting somebody who is reticent to talk),a collaborative and team attitude etc.The group had a GD session with one of the global banks in the very next week. One of the students, who strictly chose to follow my guidelines was full of remorse when he reported that the bank chose two from his group to the next round who were shouting at the top of their voices and not giving any opportunity for others to open their mouths.Of course, I still advice the same way as I used to do, but students tend to believe less in me!

About curriculum. I fully appreciate that the curriculum has to be industry-orientd.But, does industry –orientation only mean that the curriculum has to be so designed so as to get the student the placement in the next recruitment period? The recruiters that throng the campuses will depend on the type of industry that thrives today or expected to thrive in the immediate future.Shall BSchools restrict their curriculum just to make the students placed or shall it be broader that the curriculum will be useful for the students in future too? Should BSchools concentrate on banking industry because MBAs are comfortable to work in banking industry or should they also make students join insurance industry as it is a nascent and yet underdeveloped in the country and which requires lot of manpower to propagate the concept of insurance? In one of the business schools I worked, only one out of 118 worked in sales during their summer internships. Reason: nobody wants to work in sales.

Regarding the industry exposure that the graduating students get, I will put the blame squarely on the industry. Can industry offer lots of internship training to the students? Currently, even the two-months internship is offered with lot of reluctance. There may be a number of reasons for these. One is that there are very large number of students wanting internships.Two, the organizations have to devote some their resources for overseeing the interns. There is no easy solution for this unless there is seamless interface and interaction between industry and institutions. If this exist, in fact a new model of business education can be thought of. Organization sponsorship must be made compulsory for business education(which essentially means that only experienced people will join for the programmes.)After the first year covering the basic courses, the students will go back to their respective organizations.Then they will come back only after a minimum period of two years.These two years will give them an opportunity to relate the theory they learned with practice and even apply some of them in a modified manner.When they come back to the class, they are all able to relate their experiences in their respective organizations, the discussion of which will make the classes more lively.Faculty also will gain lot of new insights.In fact, the faculties can be working with the students during the two years on specific company projects. Can ICICI take lead in creating such a seamless industry –institute interface?

About quality faculty.There has always been a tendency to compare Business education with Medical education, since both were considered to be educational stream leading to professions.But, while in medical education, a PhD is not required to become a professor or a director,a PhD is compulsory if someone wants to become even an Associate Professor in the BSchools today(according to the new AICTE guidelines).I know of BSchools directors/ deans who had not even spent a day in any industry but have become eligible to become directors or deans on the strength of a PhD. And, many of them don’t even write an article or a paper after getting their PhDs. And, Indian universities or standalone Bschools have yet to create professorships in management practice. Harvard Business School has started a separate stream of professors of management practice to encourage and accommodate people with industry experience. I know of at least one BSchool which continued to entertain a faculty without handling any classes or doing anyother work just because they wanted show the requisite number of PhDs on their filings with AICTE and also on their websites.

Another problem on the faculty side is the inability of the institutions to retain them.This is true of even some of the better known names in the field.I happened to work in such an institution where there were hardly three out of twenty who had tenures of more than two years.How do you expect quality faculty to be developed in such scenarios?

I don’t fully agree with the comment( a little dirty to me) that those who were misfits in industry chose to become BSchool teachers. There may be a few. But, there might also be people who are passionate about teaching and who would like to make a difference. Also, it may not be very right to say that teachers have no motivation to invest further in their own learning. I know of many faculties who regularly invests upto 10% of their earnings for self development- in the form books, subscribing to journals and magazines, participation in seminars/conferences, attending special programmes etc . It might also be noted that the salary levels of teachers are not that attractive even today so that more people can invest in themselves. And, how many business executives regularly invest in themselves to upgrade themselves? Very few, I guess.

On Where is the C.K.Prahalad of Indian BSchool Mr.Ramkumar has posed a question :Where is the C.K.Prahalad of Indian BSchool? There can’t be many Prahalads, or Ghoshals or Nohiras or Khuranas; they are rare exceptions. Which of the Indian BSchools (other than, may be, IIMs)provide the freedom that Prahalad or Ghoshal enjoyed? It is sad that even some of the best IIMs don’t produce intellectual property that is truly international. But, then there are limitations. Many of the private BSchools require their faculties to handle anything between 6 to 12 classes a week. Where do they get time to think other than prepare for the classes for the next day? Most of them compromise on the number of faculty just enough to meet AICTE guidelines. And,most of the research work of the reputed professors mentioned above were extensively funded by the universities or industry. Which university or company in India shows the courage to fund research in BSchools?

I would pose a few questions to Mr.Ramkumar:

1.Can you(ICICI Bank) be different from others and stop singing the hype hymns about MBAs?

2.Can you(ICICI Bank) venture into a new thinking which I proposed in para 4 above?

3.Can you(ICICI Bank) stop offering differential salaries for the MBAs?

4.Can you(ICICI Bank) recruit from among all post graduates and place them at the same level and offer the same salary?

5.Can you (ICICI Bank) offer lesser salary for all the new recruits including MBAs from next year onwards?

6.Can you(ICICI Bank) fund specific research in BSchools(other than IFMR)?