B-schools and the art of going global
They
should take global rankings seriously, creating a dedicated system and staff to
provide the necessary data
In
2003, when a university in China wanted to compete and eventually be recognised
globally, it realised that there was no means of breaking into the mindset —
even among those in China and the eastern part of the world — of favouring
American universities. This mindset was based on popular perception and not on
logic or evidence.
The
university then decided to compile a league table of global universities ranked
on multiple parameters. This eventually developed into the Academic Ranking of
World Universities (ARWU) or simply Shanghai Ranking, and led to many others
getting into ranking academic institutions. Within 10 years, such rankings
became a regular feature and much sought-after by stakeholders from across the
world.
So,
the origins of global rankings lie in the need to find a logical means of
assessing excellence.
Going
global
In
the past decade, Indian higher education has gone global in its outlook and
reach. The number of institutional tieups, exchange programmes, joint research
projects, cultural tours, internship programmes, etc. have significantly
increased.
This
has been in tune with the globalisation of industry. We have also seen global
corporates and consulting majors look at Indian talent more closely. Top Indian
B-school talent being offered dollar salaries and often foreign postings have
become a regular feature. All these factors indicate that Indian B-schools
cannot operate in isolation any longer. They are part of the global
marketplace.
Another
interesting development is that of Indian B-schools becoming a preferred
destination for global students. Now, with all stakeholders getting global,
Indian B-schools have to be relevant globally to survive and prosper.
With
nearly 5,500 business schools in India, only three Indian B-schools could find
a place in the Global MBA Ranking 2016 of the Financial Times. IIM-Ahmedabad
has been ranked 24th, followed by ISB-Hyderabad (29) and IIM-Bangalore (62). It
is evident that there is a dire need for these B-schools to gear up and compete
in the global rankings more seriously.
Rank
and file
Hence,
it is time Indian B-schools took global rankings seriously. This involves five
crucial aspects.
First,
recognise that the global rankings are a routine feature. Ignoring them can
eventually lead to isolation. It is similar to students ignoring assessment of
courses.There is also a debate on rating vs. ranking.
Both
are important and they serve different purposes. Ratings are absolute
assessments (as against defined standards) and help in understanding and
calibrating the progress of the institution. It is a declaration of how the
institution is performing on a stand-alone basis.
While
this is relevant for the institution, in a competitive environment, for the
stakeholders who need to choose, this shall not be adequate.
Ranking,
on the other hand, gives a relative performance scorecard on certain common
parameters on which all institutions under a category are evaluated. In a
fiercely competitive environment for B-schools, ranking plays a crucial role in
selection.
This
selection could determine admission for students, employment for faculty,
placement for industry, grants provided by agencies, or collaboration by fellow
institutions. Recognising various ranking systems is the first step towards
participating in them.
Second,
understand what these ranking systems are all about. There are multiple global
ranking systems and each has its own merits/de-merits. Some focus on research,
some on academic rigour, while others give weightage to industry perception or
global participation. Each ranking system has different followers — depending
on what they are looking for. A research-intensive Shanghai Ranking could be of
interest to a certain audience, whereas the BRICS ranking of QS could be of
interest to others. Indian B-schools need to figure out who are they
addressing.
So
it is important to spend time in understanding the methods of assessment, how
and what form is data collected, when do the results get published and in what
forum, etc.
Third,
make data available. B-schools would be collating the data required for
internal and other compliance purposes.
A
little proactive approach in making this data available to the ranking agencies
will help avoid confusion arising out of wrong representation. For example, the
faculty/student ratio is an important parameter. Do research scholars and
adjunct faculty qualify? How many hours of teaching qualifies them? Similarly,
do we include part-time students? What about online/distance education?
Some
data need to be ‘cleaned’ so that a third-party can recognise that. For
example, your research paper would mention the entity of the researcher as
‘Dept. of Organisation Behaviour’ or simply ‘OB’ and the institution in some
cases could be ‘IIM’ or variations of it.It makes sense to have a senior person
designated to collate and provide the information in the right fashion at the
right time.
Change
for good
Fourth,
consider improvements and changes that would enhance your rating. For example,
do you have proper means of registering visiting faulty — who are counted as
faculty? Have you registered all your research work? We can also look at some
process changes to take it a little further. For example, can you incentivise
collaborative research — especially with other regions — as this not only
enriches your research, but also brings a lot additional points in most ranking
systems.
These
changes are not only going to improve rankings, they will also likely sow the
seed for changing the outlook to be global and globally competitive.
Lastly,
please treat this as a means of genuinely improving the relevance of B-school
in the future marketplace.
Rankings
are a good way of reflecting on what is considered relevant by sections of the
public. It provides the much needed outside-in perspective. Be consistent in
your participation and choose the right ranking system to measure the impact of
your initiatives.
Accreditation
is another important aspect of getting globally recognised and competitive. The
three top international accreditation for B-school programmes are the
Association of Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), Association of
MBAs (AMBA) and European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS).
In
India, we have only four institutions that are AACSB accredited, eight AMBA
accredited and three EQUIS accredited. Global business schools go for all the
three accreditations. Only one institution, IIM-Calcutta, has all three in
India.
If
we can use a judicial combination of diagnostics, ratings and rakings, it will
provide invaluable external insights on how the institution can become truly
global.
Source | Business
Line | 14 July 2016
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
Best Paper Award | Received the Best Paper
Award at TIFR-BOSLA National Conference on Future Librarianship: Innovation for
Excellence (NCFL 2016) on April 23, 2016. The title of the paper is “Removing Barriers to Literacy: Marrakesh VIP
Treaty”
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