improving learning culture in indian b- schools presentation at national research conference...
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Improving learning culture in Indian B-schools
Presentation at national research conference
“Enhancing the B-school experience in India”
By
A P Ubale
Founder Director
TrEduCon
Content
• Introduction • Research objectives• Sample selection and research methodology• Major findings• Actionable and recommendations• Summary & way forward
Content
• Introduction • Research objectives• Sample selection and research methodology• Major findings• Actionable and recommendations• Summary & way forward
Management education today
Oops , I had a terrible time in international
marketing paper today
What happened ?
They had asked a strategic
management question in an international
marketing paper !!!!!
Venue – a reputed college in Mumbai
Time – Some time after the II year exam
B-schools today
• B-schools are struggling on two fronts
– Attracting good input talent– Satisfying the industry demand
• Some facts*
– Number of B-schools in India – around 1600 from 200 in 1996– Out of 40000 MBA graduates in 2008, hardly 17% could be considered as “employable”– Demand for managerial talent in India 128000 per year
Huge opportunity for a good B-school provided it DIFFERENTIATES itself from the rest
* Business Standard, Aug-2008
Differentiating Factors- India v/s west
• Input quality*– Nearly 80% of entrée to MBA programs are fresh– “MBA” synonymous to merely a “well paying job”– Less developed reading/social skills– Lack of ability to apply the theory to practice
• Practice orientation of academic programs
– Summer projects & other activities –seriousness– Balancing “Grade orientation” vis-à-vis “Learning”– Improving “Attitude” of graduates
• Changing industry expectations - Need for a continuous industry interface
* NKC report 2009 and our own research
Content
• Introduction • Research objectives• Sample selection and research methodology• Major findings• Actionable and recommendations• Summary & way forward
Research objectives
Industry expectations - “Local job
-ready &
yet globall
y oriented managers”
• Desired skill sets / practice orientation
• Experience with current MBA pass-outs
• B-school inputs
Student’s perception about their
MBA
programs
• MBA pedagogy & experiential learning initiatives
• Self-assessment of programs
• Improvements in B-school inputs
Simple and pragmatic changes in curriculum
• Improving experiential learning experience
• Focussing on industry-desired skill-sets
• Overall improvement in MBA program and employability
Content
• Introduction • Research objectives• Sample selection and research methodology• Major findings• Actionable and recommendations• Summary & way forward
Research methodology
Industry expectations• Qualitative assessment• Target group• Sample selection
( n=19)• Discussion guide &
methodology• Limitations
Desired skill-sets & perceived gap in the same
Output 1
Step 1
InputsStudent’s perception• Quantitative assessment• Target group• Sample (67 students from
30 B-schools)• Questionnaire &
methodology• Limitations Step 2
Perceptions on experiential learning
at the B-schools
Actionable and
New initiatives
Output 2
Stage1 – Sample selection ( n=19)
Banking/ insurance &
financial services
25%
Manufacturing / Cement/
automobile etc21%
FMCG16%
IT/BPO11%
Consultancies11%
Pharma5%
Services11% 2 to 5 years
26%
5 to 15 years48%
More than 15 years26%
Sector wise distribution Years of experience
Snapshot
Industry experience
Number of companies worked for
Number of years
Minimum 2 8
Average 3 5
Maximum 12 32
Sample selection
0
1
2
3
4
5M
ark
eti
ng
&
sale
s HR
Fin
an
ce
Cu
sto
mer
serv
ice &
op
era
tio
ns
IT a
nd
Ad
min
istr
ati
on
An
aly
tics
Str
ate
gy
an
d
co
nsu
ltin
g
Tre
asu
ry /
Inv
est
men
ts
• All respondents are from multinational companies• Respondent’s experience with management trainees –
min 4 to 6 • Directly responsible for choice of management trainees• Experience with second rung B-schools
Functional area-wise distribution
Limitations of sample chosen
• 70% of sample is from Mumbai• Dominance of automotive / engineering sector• Not a representative sample of MNC companies in India
– but largely represent the recruiters
Personal interviews - discussion guide
• Personal / telephonic interviews – 45 min to 1 hour• Discussion guide focused on understanding
– The experience of the respondent– Their interactions with MBA graduates– Desired skill set based on job-profile/ responsibilities – Method of training / assessment of individual’s capabilities
desired for the job– Experience sharing on different management trainees /
their attitude / skill sets etc.
Target group
• Students from second rung B-schools– Students in final year of MBA program– Pass outs over last 3 years
• Students with an experience of experiential learning programs from different B-schools across the country
Stage 2 - Sample B-schools ( n = 30)
More than 3059%20 to 30
17%
0 to 1022%
10 to 202%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
Bangalore Delhi Goa Gurgaon Hyderabad Indore Manipal Mumbai Nagpur Nashik Pune
More than 30
20 to 30
10 to 20
0 to 10
B-school ranks
B-school rank and city
Stage 2 – Sample selection ( Geographical)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Bangalore Delhi Goa Gurgaon Hyderabad Indore Manipal Mumbai Nagpur Nashik Pune
Respondents
Number of B-schools
N = 67
Number of B-schools - 30
Respondent profile ( n= 67)
200710%
200815%
200925%
201044%
20116%
• 80% respondents are from second rung B-schools• Students passed out from B-school one year back
and final year students dominate the sample• Experience on experiential learning and expectations
from industry
Year of passing out
Respondent profile
Sales23%
Marketing4%
HR7%
Finance19%Customer service &
operations7%
IT and Administration12%
Analytics - MR6%
Strategy and consulting1%
Treasury / Investments14%
Others7%
Banking/ insurance & financial services
23%
Manufacturing / Cement/ automobile etc
19%FMCG13%
IT/BPO12%
Consultancies4%
Pharma7%
Services10%
Hospitality3%
Others9%
Functional experience of working population (n=34)
Sector wise distribution of working population (n=34)
Limitation of sample
• Dominance of metro area students / B-schools• Dominance of investments / finance professionals
Questionnaire and methodology
Assessing preparedness P1• Self realization• Important skills ( MS-Excel, Reading,
Communication, relationship building)• Need for industry
mentorship/interaction needs
Scale chosen 5 pointer• Slightly agree• Agree• Neutral• Slightly disagree• Strongly disagree
Effectiveness of various industry interaction programs
• Summer training• Industry exposure week• Visiting faculty/ lecture• Short term projects • Mentorship programs• Alumni interaction• Student festivals/other activities
Scale chosen 5 pointer• Was not followed at our B-school• Not effective at all• It was ok ( didn’t make much
difference)• Effective• Highly effective
Content
• Introduction • Research objectives• Sample selection and research methodology• Major findings• Actionable and recommendations• Summary & way forward
Industry perception about B-school pass-outs
Major strengths
• Information gathering
• Presentation skills
• “Well informed” about the world around them
• Communication skills
• Energy levels
Attitude
• MBA is a passport for a great life – parents / media
• Focus on “marketing” in a country where “sales” has more opportunities
• Inability to understand – “ what it means for me?”
• Book-oriented & not willing to “ Dirty their hands”
• Desire spoon-feeding
Where the students stand …
Expectations from B-schools
Skill-sets
• Relationship building / sensitivity towards Indian & local culture
• Ability to understand “the world & the change” - analytical reading
• Analytical tools – MS Excel
• Level headed-ness / being close to ground realities
• Knowing your-self
• Entrepreneurial abilities
• Application orientation – balance of theory and practice
What is desired….. Where B-schools can help?
• Functional orientation to be coupled with holistic approach towards business & management
• “Observe, relate and learn” attitude
• Enhance quality of current industry interactions
• Be a facilitator - let the students lead
• Enhance customization – individual’s “self-knowledge”
• Eliminate spoon-feeding
Enhancing quality of industry interaction and imparting “practice orientation” is the desirable course of action, for second rung B-schools as per the industry respondents
Based on these inputs, the student’s perception about their MBA program was
studied
Student’s perception – Self realization
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Self awareness Improvement in self- realization due to
program
Career counselling/ exposure level
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
Slightly disagree
Slightly agree
Neutral
Neutral21%
Slightly agree32%
Slightly disagree
11%
Strongly Agree30%
Strongly Disagree
6%
Awareness about self – program inputs
Awareness about jobs and opportunities
P1 – Self realization• MBA programs cant be
called highly effective on most of these parameters
• Awareness about jobs / career opportunities – good
• Respondents don’t perceive MBA programs to be effective for career counseling initiatives
Student’s perception - skills acquired in MBA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Practicalknowledge
Communicationskills
IT skills Relationshipbuilding skills
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
Slightly disagree
Slightly agree
Neutral
Impact of MBA program on key skills desired by the industry
• Respondents are concerned about practical knowledge level imparted by their MBA program
• Respondents are happy with inputs of their MBA programs on key skills
• Industry perception about these key skills is different from respondents
Industry v/s student’s perception
• Considerable difference in both stake holder's perception about value created by MBA program on key skills
• Indian B-school’s MBA program’s success is measured on placement as the sole criterion
• Industry rates being “job-ready” to be a major criterion to determine the success of a MBA program
• Difficult to eliminate biases of respondents could be based on– Work experience + tendency to overrate own schools– Optimistic perception by the current batch students
Yet there is a need for enhanced industry interaction …..
Current industry interaction measures
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Industry exposurew eek
Short termprojects outsidethe curriculum
Student festivals /seminars /
conferences
Mentorshipprograms ( formal
or informal)
Visiting FacultyLectures
Summerinternship
Not follow ed at our B-school
Not effective at all
It w as ok ( did not makemuch difference)
Highly Effective
Effective
Industry interaction opportunities
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
Need of a mentor Opportunity to buildcontacts
Faculty & mentors bedifferent
Slightly disagree
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
Slightly agree
Neutral
Neutral8%
Slightly agree13%
Slightly disagree
2%
Strongly Agree77%
MBA program can do far more to impart experiential learning
Dedicated industry mentors can improve the program effectiveness
Some inputs
• Clarity on career goals / path to reach the same is largely absent during 1st and 2nd year MBA programs– 40% of respondents did not what they aspired as a job out
of the MBA– 40% were not clear, took the jobs as it came along way– Remaining lacked clarity on their career aspirations
• Formal mentorship programs are absent in nearly 80% of the b-schools surveyed
• Informal mentorship programs present in the form of – Alumni interaction– Visiting faculties – Other activities
• Industry emphasis on practice orientation is present in B-schools but seems to have limited relevance
Findings
• Summer trainings , industry interactions, conferences etc. are some of the most effective practical knowledge drivers for the respondents.
• Concerns emerge from both industry and respondents about successful use of these programs
• Some of the innovative practices followed at the B-school with respect to industry interaction– Entrepreneurship workshops– Low value businesses– Dual industry trainings– Innovative summer projects
Content
• Introduction • Research objectives• Sample selection and research methodology• Major findings• Actionable and recommendations• Summary & way forward
Enhancing Employability
• Trained long term continuous intervention from experienced professionals acting as MENTOR for the students in conjunction with 2 years of academics
• MENTOR– Different from a teacher / professor – His hindsight becomes a foresight for the students– Understands the uniqueness of each student, her
aspirations and abilities– Helps in realizing the goals using,
• Skills • Direction• Practice
LEAP Workshops
• Workshops that can be integrated with B-school curriculum– Learn– Enjoy– Achieve excellence– Practice
• Methodology – Designed keeping Indian student’s condition in mind– Practice orientation through rich on-the-field activities
along with academic initiatives– Systematically impart application orientation– Live industry interaction– Mutually beneficial
Mentorship – a desirable input
• Need for mentorship program is acknowledged by the respondents. A GAP does exist in the current system.
• However, imparting mentorship programs around the conventional model of mentoring on various identified skill-sets may not appeal.
• Current system of delivery – assumed by our mentorship model needs to undergo a change.
• Innovative delivery of mentorship program is desirable for attracting attention.
LEAP workshops based on this study
• Know Thyself
• Reading financial dailies
• Building sustainable relationships
• Doing business on street
• MS-Excel – Basic building block
• Sector specific overviews
• Management simulation games
Content
• Introduction • Research objectives• Sample selection and research methodology• Major findings• Actionable and recommendations• Summary & way forward
Summary and way forward
• Back to basics – as far as management education for masses is concerned
• Innovative academic delivery through practice oriented programs based on industry inputs is the need of an hour
Thank you
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