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