Are We Commoditising the Mba Degree?
Are we commoditising the MBA degree?
Abstract The popularity of management education has turned it into a big business in India. Business schools have been mushrooming all over the country during the last few years. This phenomenon has started affecting the quality of business schools and diluting the standards of management education, leading to commoditization of the MBA degree. The value of the MBA degree seems to have eroded and most management graduates from tier II and below business schools are considered unemployable by the corporates. This paper traces the deteriorisation of the management education programmes in India and suggests some major remedial measures to improve the standards and value.
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“MBA programmes do not train managers. They only make one believe they do. They teach management rhetoric and cause students to believe they are able to control situations and solve complex problems overnight.” - Henry Mintzberg
Management education has of late become one of the fastest growing industries all over the globe, and especially so in India. The manner in which business schools have been proliferating in all metros and tier II cities in our country during the last couple of decades goes to prove that business education, as a commercial proposition, has become big business. Being a lucrative business, politicians, real estate magnates and charitable trusts have been vying with each other to jump into the business school band-wagon. For many, this was an ideal business with minimum investment, zero risk and assured high returns from the start. But alas, as is the case of every business, the boom period appears to have come to an abrupt end today, as is evident from the unfilled seats for MBA programmes in several institutes during the current academic year. There are a few business schools in Bangalore today, that failed to fill the seats this year beyond 5 to 15, against their sanctioned
Abstract The popularity of management education has turned it into a big business in India. Business schools have been mushrooming all over the country during the last few years. This phenomenon has started affecting the quality of business schools and diluting the standards of management education, leading to commoditization of the MBA degree. The value of the MBA degree seems to have eroded and most management graduates from tier II and below business schools are considered unemployable by the corporates. This paper traces the deteriorisation of the management education programmes in India and suggests some major remedial measures to improve the standards and value.
……………………………………………………………………
“MBA programmes do not train managers. They only make one believe they do. They teach management rhetoric and cause students to believe they are able to control situations and solve complex problems overnight.” - Henry Mintzberg
Management education has of late become one of the fastest growing industries all over the globe, and especially so in India. The manner in which business schools have been proliferating in all metros and tier II cities in our country during the last couple of decades goes to prove that business education, as a commercial proposition, has become big business. Being a lucrative business, politicians, real estate magnates and charitable trusts have been vying with each other to jump into the business school band-wagon. For many, this was an ideal business with minimum investment, zero risk and assured high returns from the start. But alas, as is the case of every business, the boom period appears to have come to an abrupt end today, as is evident from the unfilled seats for MBA programmes in several institutes during the current academic year. There are a few business schools in Bangalore today, that failed to fill the seats this year beyond 5 to 15, against their sanctioned
References: 1. AIMA, Management Education in India, Seminar Papers, 2008, N. Delhi 2. AICTE, Report of the Management Education Review Committee, 2003, N .Delhi 3. Gopalakrishnan. R., Managing Management Education, Hindustan Times, Feb,2004 4. Dayal.I., Developing Management Education in India, Journal of Management Research, Vol 2,2008 5. 23 Bangalore Colleges in AICTE taint list, The Times of India, Oct,2012 6. Only 21% MBAs in India Employable, The Times of India, Aug 2012 7. 225 B-schools Close in 2 years, The Times of India, Oct,2012 Dr.K.Karunakaran (Visiting Professor and Academic Consultant for Management Institutes at Bangalore)