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Management education evolves

Focus has shifted from books to being gadget-friendly, learning application software and developing soft skills

Vijay Pandya

The scope for management careers has never been in question. As an academic expert once put it, everything has to be managed, that is why management is required everywhere! However, with the transformation rapidly taking place in the corporate sector, it became obvious that management education would need to evolve as well to keep up and it has. There was a stage when management education was primarily restricted to the prescribed course curriculum. However, these days there is a greater emphasis on holistic development of the aspirants and preparing them for the stint in corporate corridors to follow. When it comes to industry-academia interaction, the most important thing is making the transition from concepts to reality. To ensure this, there is a greater emphasis on getting management aspirants into experiential learning mode. The emphasis on notebooks and books has been replaced with being gadget-friendly, learning application software and developing soft skills. This is because companies are adopting technology across job functions and there is a visible need for people who are techno-savvy. This is where aspirants are being taught that the market is vibrant. If you stand still, you are a dinosaur and your career can go the way theirs did - dead except for a guest appearance in the Jurassic Park movie series! The entire market is undergoing a shift on a day-to-day basis and as year-on-year trends reveal, things are changing substantially. Management education is in effect all about getting ready today for the day after tomorrow. To ensure that the B-school they apply to will ensure all this, students should do a bit of research and confirm aspects like the course syllabus, methodologies followed for imparting education, infrastructure and above all, placement history as that indicates the industry reputation. If the faculty includes those having exposure across countries to provide a global perspective, the technology is in line with what multinational corporations use, collaborations are in place with International universities and educational institutions for the purpose of faculty and student exchange programmes and research, management aspirants can look forward to being ‘industry-ready’. When the course curriculum and internships are designed to mirror the real corporate world as much as possible, healthy ties with the corporate world ensure that aspirants have exposure to current trends and challenges, preparing them for emerging career opportunities, then the stage is set for a good management career. Mentoring students and giving them greater industry exposure through frequent guest lectures by working professionals and longer stints during internship also helps tremendously. ‘Real Life’ case studies instead of textbook ones provide a higher level of industry understanding and enable aspirants to develop the above required skills and competencies.

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=24584&boxid=13786&ed_date=2012-08-13&ed_code=820040&ed_page=4