How is the Indian situation different from that in the US?
In India, we only have 15-20 per cent of MBAs going for investment banking and consultancy jobs. But it is going to rise every year. Here, we start with a post-graduate programme. The programme in the US is for undergraduates first. The ideal combination for the Indian business education would be to create a four-year programme (10+2+4). And the first two years should be mandatory liberal arts. There is nothing better in management than to have a foundation in liberal arts. Studying humanities teaches the business leader of the future to be a humanist first. Education was designed for the absolute power-holding people in the feudal system — kings and emperors — so that they became humanistic rather than autocratic.
I am optimistic about Indian institutes though — because we are very good at improvisation. And the market opportunity is very big here. An MBA is not just for businesses. IAS officers need business degrees. You could have an MBA for politicians. There have recently been programmes for retailing. Institutes here can scramble and offer all those.
But the biggest paradigm shift in India can be brought about by government policy. The Indian government will change paradigms by changing policy and that could shape the future of management education here.
We are currently witnessing a tussle between the various education regulatory bodies in India. What, in your view, is the right model?
AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) is not a true accreditation body in the manner that ASCSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) is. This is why Indian management schools are increasingly going for foreign accreditation. They put 2-3 years of investment in your institute, and help your institute acquire the accreditation. The key ingredient for MBA institutes today in India is to create a global reputation, and for that a global accreditation is necessary.
There is regulatory tension for management schools in India with four fronts of regulation: the UGC front, the AICTE front, the private universities, and now foreign universities with autonomy to establish campuses here. Indian management institutes are going to see a shake out.
Soon MOOCS (massive open online courses) will also become legitimate. What is peripheral becomes core, what is core becomes peripheral. MOOCS were initially laughed at by top American universities, but now all of them offer these courses. It is a matter of time before this trend makes what is not legitimate today very legitimate.
What advice can you give to someone investing in setting up a new business school in India? What model works?
In India, I will advise that person to start at the undergraduate level first. Wharton started with the undergraduate programme; Singapore Management University has become world class with its undergraduate programmes. We have this caste system here, that a postgraduate degree holder is more sophisticated than a graduate.
In my university, my under-graduates outperform the post-graduates. The postgraduates are counting the hours to get a job, while the undergraduates are more serious about their studies.
We need to backtrack and go to high schools, and impact certain high schools offering the international baccalaureate degree. We are getting easily 200 applications annually and we select about 20-25 from India. I don’t know where they have the money. My university will cost the kid a quarter of a million dollars for four years of education. But parents are putting in the money.
My view is that they will not need to put in this money, if they have an option here within the country itself. - See more at: http://www.businessworld.in/news/opinion/interviews/%E2%80%98india-is-a-big-mba-market%E2%80%99/1313057/page-1.html#sthash.uE8oMw9W.dpuf
Educate, Empower, Elevate
Prof. Bholanath Dutta
Founder, Convener & President
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