Path forward for B-schools

The 2008 financial crisis pushed the world to revisit Milton Friedman’s idea of shareholders’ wealth maximisation. Business schools worldwide responded effectively by revamping curriculum with greater emphasis on ethics, robust financial governance, social responsibility and sustainability.

The Covid-19 pandemic is another such a rare shock as well as an opportunity to change our fundamental thinking. Business schools have responded quickly, making remote learning a reality. However, the challenges are more. A recent survey indicates an increase in the number of applications to top business schools in comparison to 2019. Graduates are delaying their entry into the job world, and are looking for upgrading their skills and capability to be better prepared for a post-pandemic normal.

Curriculum and course design

The pandemic has provided an opportunity for B-schools to think critically and creatively about the curriculum and course design.

There is hardly a B-school in India offering a bunch of elective courses focused around crises management.

For example, there should be an HR course emphasising on ‘mental health and happiness of the employees’, especially in a time of turmoil. A course on ‘economics of crises’ can be of great help to students who are planning to get into the consulting field.

On the sales and marketing front, students must learn how to maintain and accelerate revenue during the time of crises such as a pandemic. The crises period also calls for unprecedented collaboration among organisations of diverse goals. However, unfortunately, a course on collaborative governance is almost neglected by B-schools as well as students.

Virtual world

Managing work in a virtual world is the reality today. So, as we advance, programming is bound to be just another basic competence that every professional must have. Also, members of a ‘work-from-anywhere’ team would require a new set of skills. Not to forget, business models are transforming as artificial intelligence and augmented reality are altering the rules of the game, and we must pay heed to that.

The pandemic has also made the case of ‘Industry 4.0’ stronger and automation is bound to be adopted faster, across geographies. This requires a fresh look at the changing dynamics of industry value chains and ecosystems and the rules of free competition. The students should be well-equipped with knowledge and competency to contribute to digital manufacturing, smart logistics and supply chains, digital transformation for companies, data manufacturing and design etc.

Therefore, B-schools are required to offer courses that are aligned with the technological realities of an organisation.

Opportunities

John F Kennedy once remarked that “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” The Covid-19 pandemic is neither the first nor the last crisis.

The strongest and long-term response of B-schools must come from its core – teaching and training. Revamping curriculum and courses should be coupled with pedagogical innovation.

At least leading B-schools in India have experimented well with case pedagogy and computer-based simulations to inculcate experiential learning.

Going forward, gamification, non-computer-based simulations, project-based fieldwork, mentoring by corporate practitioners etc. would differentiate between good and great B-schools.

(The author is an associate professor in a management institute)