Why the MBA needs a revamp
It’s only been tinkered with when what’s needed is an overhaul, says Great Lakes Dean
Suresh Ramanathan, Dean of the
Great Lakes Institute of Management, believes that the MBA of today is like the
Ambassador car of yore — sturdy and reliable, yet any improvement can only be
mere tinkering. The MBA programme too is seeing mere tinkering while the need
of the hour is an overhaul.
Speaking recently at the Madras Management Association on
‘Reimagining business education in a dynamic world’, Ramanathan highlighted
three issues with the MBA of today. “These are the result of a classic problem
— change blindness. We fail to recognise gradual changes in the environment,”
he said.
The first issue is commoditisation. A rush to capitalise
on demand has led to the burgeoning of business schools, most of which have
nothing new to offer. The uniform curriculum focuses on exposure to a wide
range of functional areas in the first year and specialisations in the second.
“The result is ‘strategic herding’ — a tendency to copy from one another and an
overall loss of value in industry,” said Ramanathan. As a consequence, several
B-schools are closing shop. The second issue is the focus on short-term
outcomes. “Like it or not, business schools,
Suresh Ramanathan, Dean, Great Lakes Institute of
Management
especially in India, are placement factories. Students
evaluate RoI based on the salary they can earn after graduation, relative to
the fees they pay,” he said. Nothing wrong with that but, he asks, are students
prepared for the non-linear growth of technology that can make their skills
outdated? What happens when they need to solve more abstract problems,
integrating facts across functional areas?
The final big issue Ramanathan flagged is the lack of resources
for knowledge creation. India, he said, is woefully behind other countries in
research, and despite confidentiality agreements, industry is reluctant to work
with academia. “So academicians rarely provide usable insights to industry, and
industry finds little utility in collaboration,” he explained.
Ramanathan offered four key prescriptions, that are by no
means exhaustive.
‘Embrace customisation’
Apart from a lacklustre job market, B-schools have to
contend with online learning platforms and specialised programmes which offer
to upskill young professionals in specific areas at a faction of the cost of
most Bschools. B-schools can collaborate with industry to create
specialisations and certifications that meet specific needs,” he elaborated.
‘Need to celebrate diversity’
Over 70 per cent of a typical cohort are likely to be
engineers. The lack of diversity breeds sameness in thought and reasoning,
whereas businesses are shifting their recruiting philosophies to embrace
diversity of thought, said Ramanathan.
‘Focus on lifelong learning’
With rapid changes in the workplace, knowledge gained a
few years ago may be obsolete. A shift in mindset to focus on relationships
rather than transactions is vital. “Several leading schools around the world
are trying to create programmes aimed at alumni so they can upskill or reskill
themselves,” said the Great Lakes Dean.
Platform approach
What is needed is a train-thetrainer programme, where the
best talent can help train faculty who could then take on PhD students. Such a
programme would bring together leading academicians from around the world and
industry partners who may share data or collaborate with faculty. “This may
help overcome the need for heavy investments by individual schools,” said
Ramanathan.
“The trusted Ambassador is now a relic. It served its
purpose admirably but it’s time to herald a new standard in business
education,” Ramanathan concluded.
Source | Business Line | 14th November 2019
Regards
Mr. Pralhad Jadhav
Research Scholar (IGNOU)
Senior Manager @ Knowledge Repository
Khaitan & Co
Mobile @ 9665911593
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