Is there a landslide or troubled times in MBA education?
Dr. Mahesh S Halale
Professor Dean
SVIM Pune
"People who had some land and money saw a great investment opportunity
in the demand-supply gap and there was a rush to open MBA schools," said
Dhiraj Mathur, executive director PWC
Assochem's
Industry survey in 2012 says only 10% MBAs are employable compared with 54% in 2008.
Students’ knowledge and qualifications are so poor that
they can't distinguish between gross or net profits. Shobha Mishra Ghosh,
director of the higher education (Ficci)
Let’s
have look at some data
MBA
Institutes and Seats
Year Institutes Seats
2006-07
1500 90000
2013-14 3700 350000
Application
for Closure of MBA institutes 70
Applications
for new institutes’ 80 (of which 15 from Maharashtra)
Let’s look at certain facts -
Dr S Ramadorai, Adviser to the Prime Minister in the National Council on
Skill Development
·
In 2020 average Indian will be 29 years old
·
We need to create
around 1 to 1.5 crore jobs per year for the next decade to provide gainful
employment to India's young population.
·
There is an urgent
need for all training institutions to shift focus from ‘persons trained' to
‘persons employed'.
On
very conservative side, if not 9% but India expects GDP growth of 5-6%.
Even
if we project 3% of total workforce needed of 1.5 crs as managerial workforce still
it counts to 450000 managerial jobs.
Tire
II/III industrial/business unit do not need and even if desires so cannot
afford IIM and Ist tire MBA grads. Needs of top Indian business houses and MNCs
are different from middle/low stacked pyramid of Indian Business.
VK Menon, senior director, careers, admissions and
financial aid, ISB says
Overall demand for MBA is far more than the supply of
MBAs can be and no company will give you a job only because you are from a
particular B-School.
Average
B-schools today are just carriers of a given university curriculum, of whatever
is on their neck with respect to running the course. Institutes highly rely on
the procedural aspect such as syllabus (that too not in sync with current
requirement), number of hours teaching, methodical and mechanical compliances
etc. Basically they have mistaken a fact that MBA is a capacity building
professional course, needs more than standard PG course. Passing a university
MBA program with better colors is dummies job today. Still institutes claim
they are top rank institute, on the basis of these results. Secondly placements, unfortunately students
believe it as a only basis of their choice. The data is managed to suit one’s
need, how many really get a job worth of their degree. Better not to speak
about window dressing and manipulation in such vital data.
It is eye opener
question (to all of us) asked by a recruiter to a MBA HR grad “Will you sale
insurance”. This question raises the serious doubt about one’s placement
scenario. It tells how miserably the institutes fail to produce a manager. Some
of the institutes over rely on branding and image building thinking that it’s
the only way ahead. Without realizing and then designing and cultivating sound
core values, one cannot brand. Its ok that everyone cannot be Apple/Microsoft,
but why one cannot be striving to become Infosys/TCS/HCL Tech of education.
There
is something seriously wrong in the way the show is being run.
Are
we in management education BUSINESS really?
Are
we running our business effectively?; better less to speak of your products
then. The crux of the matter is what and how we impart the professional skills
to these managers. When would we ask these questions to ourselves: (earlier
would be the better)
Do
we make MBA grads industry ready?
Do
we focus on their overall development?
Do
we inculcate the managerial attitude in them? (Sorry we have mistaken aptitude
for attitude)
Do we build a managerial confidence in them?
Do we build a managerial confidence in them?
Do
we really teach them how to approach and crack day to day business problems?
Do
we teach them how to think on their own?
Do
we motivate them to gather knowledge rather than pegged syllabus?
Do
we develop leadership quotient in them?
It
is very easy to blame a system. System has got its threshold, it will survive
till then, but meanwhile students at large will suffer and there by the MBA
education.
So
say immediately “me the change” I would like see in my students.
I
feel demand for good managerial skill is intact, it’s a consolidation phase
began. After all it’s a business, it will correct itself but by will charge
cost on you, if you don’t wake up.
