Reorienting the Management Education in India

With the liberalization of Indian Economy and IT revolution in the post-1990, B-schools have expanded scope of specialization in finance, and marketing areas during the last decade. The phenomenal growth of MBA or its equivalent Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) was largely triggered by the growth of corporate sector and industrialization in India. Since Business School graduates played a critical role worldwide in building competitiveness of enterprise and industry, MBA education emerged as the most wanted subject in higher education. Increase in demand for professional managers has also fuelled the growth in number of Business Schools in the country. These MBA institutions have produced a large number of successful business leaders and entrepreneurs who have commanded respect not only in India but internationally. Undoubtedly, India boasts of one of the largest universes of B-schools, but we stand nowhere on the global stage. Our top B-schools lag behind on vital international parameters like research, rankings and accreditation. The Indian MBA education is currently passing through a turbulent period. There is absence of an integrated structure that can monitor and regulate the management education in the country. Lack of an integrated education policy for management education is one of the most serious voids in our current system. There seems to be a clear mismatch between the skills that are being taught and developed in these institutions and the employer’s expectations from the hired business graduates who will make future managers. This paper aims at identifying the key skills that are essential to make a successful manager, who can perform his duties well and is well equipped to fulfil the employer’s expectations.