The question stated above is common among the academic and industry experts in India.  All they understand is that, there is a huge demand in the quality of education in the management sector. How big the demand is and where exactly we need the change, it is not certain. India as a country can’t claim a very long experience in the management education filed. The Indian Institute Of Management was established in our country only in the early sixties. The aim was to promote awareness of management concepts among the business aspirants.  After the Liberalization followed by privatization made the sector so feasible, that a large number of players enter into this sector. Even though, the present system is not able to meet the demand for the various programs.

Management Studies

When globalization was introduced to our country the scenario began to vary drastically. The competition took the control in the nations and the people got exposed to the global world. The world came to know that our country’s brains are worthier than they have and the realization that India has a natural pool in skilled human recourse.

But we also came to know about the weak areas of our education system.  When our management graduates put into the international business arena, they miserably failed to take the correct decision or to follow the changes.  We are lacking the quality in the education sector and also in the management studies. Quality is an important need in management education and it is the basic necessity. We have to make India a prominent player in the Intellectual Capital for the world we have to focus on the quality in management education so as to provide a dynamic and competent environment for the future managers.

What we have in management education?

We have ten IIMs, the prominent institution in management program, in our country and the recent report says that two more IIMs are yet to come in this field. We have around 1,700 institutes offering various management courses and of which 900 have AICTE certification. Over the past eight to ten years we are witnesses to an incredible growth in the number of educational institution in our country.

But all the figures do not support any improvement in the quality aspects. All the good and bad institutions come under the same umbrella of Management course and we are lacking even a separate controlling and monitoring body for the B-Schools. All the management courses in India is monitored and controlled by AICTE, All India Council for the Technical Education. Why we don’t have an AICME, All India Council for Management Education?

Our curriculum is identified by giving more importance to the theoretical part rather than its applications. A manager or the entrepreneur never asked to reproduce the theory when he is in a real life situation. Our text books cover the social and economic condition of the nation for a name and can see a complete avoidance for the international perspective. We use out-dated case studies with traditional evaluation system. We follow poor admission process and pedagogy but number one issue is still the lack of proper resources and infrastructure. We also don’t believe in having industry linkage while studies and acting like research based study in management is a common offense. This is where India is at its management education.

Where quality stands in Management Education???

Quality and Management education has a visible linkage since the basic knowledge about the business will make the people competent and capable enough to make suitable decision according to the changing environment. So quality should lie in every concept of the Management studies.  When a management graduate is employed in certain industry the employer have definite expectation from the employee.

The survey among the employers in India shows that the employees failed in meeting the prospect. Most of the employers are forced to provide training for them so as to make these peoples skills match with their profiles. So our management education system should rethink some of the aspects like the following to make our pass out students demandable and employable in the industries.

Quality and Management education

Course Structure

There is no point in talking the quality dimension without the proper framing of the academic curriculum.  In India for a MBA program the universities following the same syllabus for the past fifty years. We know the extent of changes happened in the global scenario in these fifty years. So the syllabus needs to be updated timely that highlight the present socio-economic environment of the country as well as the international environment.

This is the time to introduce a research based study in the management curriculum that helps the student to understand the reality of the industries. The projects assigned should be more practical oriented rather than dealing with the theoretical parts only.

Trained Personals

The mushrooming growth of the institutes cause a shortage in the expert faculties and this seriously affect the quality of management education. Most of the new generation institutes are forced to employ the people who just pass out from any such institutions. Hence here the need of a total concern for the qualified teachers who have some industry experience along with the academic back ground is needed. The institution should take the initiative to promote programs like FDP so as to make the faculties compatible to the present situation. Every institute should cheer the full time trainers rather than the part timers, who have enough time to think about the academic process and about the students.

Teaching Aids

We have to provide quality in teaching materials. Most of our universities follow the same case studies and assignments over the past several years. This has to be change. Fortunately or unfortunately our nation and the global world are not facing any shortage in new scams and management issues. The trainers and the curriculum should make use of these resources and make the students a complete awareness about the business environment. The Business journals and Magazines should come under the curriculum and the students are encouraged to publish case studies and research papers in relevant topics.

Industry Linkage

This is one of the main areas we need to look at. When a management graduate is employed in any industry he/she may feel a strange atmosphere and this industry experience turned to be a difficult phase in their career. They find lots of difference from their bookish knowledge and the actual fact and ultimately cause a decline their productivity. This can be reduced by introducing internship programs in the curriculum and a weekly interaction with the eminent guest from various industries.

Career opportunities

The students of each institutes get a proper placement that intern proves their career success. Most of our institutions market their colleges by having the label of 100% placement. But for this race they forget to concentrate the quality and the standard of the employers. Students should get the chance to approach all the possible jobs open in the market and give the opportunity to select the best for them. And the placement process should never be a nightmare to the students; it should be transparent and provide the opportunity to express them.

Career

Government Support

Government need to support all the initiation taken in the sector and promote the quality education in all the level. The Government should act like a facilitator by providing more authority to the Universities and the private institutions to take the needed changes. The system should be flexible and there should be some formal restriction in the accreditation process, so as ensure the quality.

Authority for the Program

There is need of central authority which controls the academic programs for the Management studies, a common cell like AICME. The one central body that formulates the common rules and regulation in the course and the necessary changes in the curriculum, monitoring the evaluation programs etc. A body which also set the criteria for the recognition process and define the basic fee structure. An authority should be there to give a common rank to the institutions in the field, which will enable the institution to improve from there.

This is the education sector; quality should be the basic concern here, because it is the commonly accepted coin. A management graduate under the quality ensured education system will be able to take the right decision on right time in the globalized world. We can hope for a management education system which will have a face of the reality.