While there are more than 1,200 institutions in India, churning out over 1 lakh MBAs every year only the top 100 institutions (including IIMs) or so come any close to what can be remotely called a Management School.
Whenever you say MBA, think of IIM ! While taking a creative license to redraft the famous ad caption, the statement nevertheless sums up the mental makeup of most Indians who are not aware of the truth about Indian MBA.
As an emerging economic powerhouse, Indian industry is poised to grow leaps and bounds in the coming decades. Our former President has given us a dream of being a developed nation by 2020. India, therefore, needs a large number of Management Professionals to steer the nation towards excellence and sustainable development.
As a world player, India would expect her Management Professionals to serve not only the Indian industry but also global organisations who are looking at India both as a consumer and a provider.
This creates a need for the Indian Management Professional to be uniquely well rounded and have global management competencies with an Indian perspective.
The truth
While ‘MBA’ conjures up the image of IIM, ironically, the degree given by IIM is not called MBA. The other current big name – Indian School of Business (ISB) – does not even have the so called Government approval (they are too good to need it!) and also does not call its programme as MBA. There is a big world outside the IIMs which dole out MBA degrees in thousands. There are more than 1,200 institutions in India, churning out over 1 lakh ‘MBAs’ every year. This number is next only to the US and China, which have only slightly higher numbers. Only about the top 100 institutions (including IIMs) come any close to what can be remotely called a Management School.
Most of the rest merely go though the motions of completing the syllabus enabling students — many of whom can’t write even one sentence of English properly — to take an examination leading to a printed paper called the MBA certificate. One can well imagine the kind of products these mills can generate. Of the 1 lakh MBA’s, only about 10,000 can be called worthy of the degree they acquire.
More than 900 institutions, out of the 1,200, are affiliated to various normal universities. They take MBA as yet another “course” and consequently teach the subjects the same way as others – chalk and talk. Such institutions can at best be called pseudo B Schools.
Reality check
Unlike other disciplines of knowledge, management is more situational than deterministic. Pure sciences, technology, medicine, law and even arts, including music and painting tend to have certain underlying theories and principles which can and are applied more or less universally.
This is not the case with management. While there are certain principles in management, they cannot be applied in every situation. Also, “managing” concerns itself mainly with people and hence depends on the diversity of demography and culture. India has its own challenges which are different from the other countries.
Despite this situation, most of the MBA colleges in India have syllabi which are typically western in general and American in particular. If you take the example of the syllabus of VTU, it includes study of American culture in detail! Not even a mention of Indian culture, which is what needs to be understood by students in their working life in India.
We have not learnt from the success stories of Japan (and now China) who developed their own Management models which suit their needs and have been very successful. We have ended up with a situation where the top B-Schools make managers for the west and the “others” give a degree which is not even worth the paper it is printed on, in relation to its utility to the burgeoning Indian industry.
While there can be big debates on the reasons for such a situation (and the laundry list of non implementable solutions), the fact remains that one cannot wish away the mess we are in. What can be attempted is to improve the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of inputs to the students, so that appropriate value is imparted leading to better products – at least better than now.
Is there a hope ?
In this grim scenario, there seems to be some hope. Some of the institutes launched recently, have realised the situation and are trying to do things differently. The objective seems to be to develop today’s youth to be equipped for the current and future Indian needs. They have consciously tried to be away from the shackles of AICTE and Universities so that the desired value can be delivered. Such autonomous programmes are likely to provide what is needed rather than make people take what is given by the bureaucratic system of government controlled education.
The situation is very similar to various industries which have flourished in India not because of the Government but in spite of it!
One such institution has been recently launched in namma Bangaluru. Appropriately called ‘Gurukul Institute of Management Studies’ or GIMS (for short), this small little institute is located right in the heart of Bangalore at Chamrajpet. One visit to this institute would reveal as to why it is likely to be the model for management education in future. While most B-Schools try to be clones of the American institutes, both in physical appearance and content of study, GIMS comes forth as a breath of fresh air. Some of the unique features of GIMS are :
Professional Promoters. Most educational institutions are set up by businessmen, politicians and people of similar ilk who do not have even a remote link to what is being taught in their institutions. For them, it is only a business. This makes the education more of a formality. As against this, GIMS has been set up by former practicing executives in top companies. They are now into the field of Management Education, more as a passion than business alone. Hence, one can safely presume that they know what they are talking.
Full Range: Most institutes run comprehensive post graduate programmes in management or any one specialised programme. GIMS has recognised that there are many who would like to acquire specific competencies based on their particular needs.
Hence, they offer a spectrum of autonomous programmes right from short term field specific courses to a full time MBA level PG programme. This enables the aspirants to choose a programme based on the specific needs in line with their career plan.
The Complete Manager: Just providing academic inputs is not sufficient for making an effective manager. Management skills (popularly known as Soft Skills) are of equal importance. Hence, Managerial Skills form an integral part of the curriculum at GIMS. Specific credits are awarded for the skills portion of the curriculum, unlike other institutions.
Cost effective: The price that one pays for the programmes in most B-Schools is more towards covering their huge investments in infrastructure and western orientation, not to mention profiteering!! Only a fraction of the amount goes to the actual knowledge delivery. While the programmes at GIMS are similar in content to the best B-Schools in India and the world, they are priced low. “Here, the concentration is on the value of practical learning rather than high costing ambiance” says the Director of GIMS.
Gurukul atmosphere: India has been a seat of learning with a global appeal. Also the practice has been to receive learning from the Gurus in modest but academically appropriate environs. GIMS has drawn from this philosophy and retains the old world charm of a Gurukul, without the unnecessary opulence. However, the teaching itself is done in the most modern way with all the electronic aids, similar to the best B-Schools, thus synergising the best of East and West.
GIMS is only one such example. Some others who are on the right lines are :
All India Institute of Management Studies, Chennai, Sri Sringeri Sharda Institute of Management, Delhi,
Indian Academy of Management, Mumbai, Programmes by Sambodh Foundation, New Delhi.
Some very new and little known ones are:
Aum Prabandhan Sansthan, Dehradun, College of Indian Management, Ranchi.
It is hoped that more such well meaning groups would come forward to demystify, deglamourise and Indianise MBA as a field of learning and practice. It is further hoped that the aspiring managers, in turn, would patronise such institutions instead of going behind the mirage of westernised education. The Indian industry, who are deluged with unemployable MBAs, would wholeheartedly welcome such initiatives.
We, as an aspiring developed nation, should try to get what we like or we will be forced to like what we get!
