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Smitten by the MBA bug... .
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With increasing competition among the players and the growing professional outlook of customers, the concept of marketing management has gone beyond the traditional 4 Ps.
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A classroom session in progress. -- Photo: K.R.Deepak.
Sprawling campuses with classrooms that look more like five-star hotel conference halls. Desktop terminals connected to World Wide Web, multimedia presentation facilities and an array of other hi-tech features have become the theme of most of the Management colleges that prefer to be called as B-Schools. The strategies employed by Bill Gates, Jack Welch and Narayan Murthy tend to dominate the discussions over the tea table during breaks.
Well, that is a cursory glance of the environs, at least in the top B-Schools of India. This high profile concept of B-schools have changed the mindset of the young graduates who feel that without a degree or diploma from one of these schools they are redundant. The bug called MBA is calling the shots and the young minds are scrambling to get hold of one.
Though the concept of management was sown in India by Andhra University way back in 1957 it was Ford Foundation that actually revolutionised the programme by incepting the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) at Calcutta and Ahmedabad in the early 1960s. But it was only post liberalisation that MBA programmes had really got a fillip with the multi-nationals setting up shop on Indian soil. The demand for qualified management graduates increased, with candidates making a beeline before management institutes.
This demand coupled with the strategic marketing of the concept had institutes mushrooming all over, and today India can boast of having the maximum number of management institutes after the US. The tally of B-Schools has crossed 1,000 compared to 50 or 60 two decades ago.
But how good are the institutes and what is the quality of product that they are churning out every year is a big question by itself. "The people responsible for setting up the so-called B-Schools have forgotten the basic principle of `demand and supply'. Every year the 1,000 plus recognised institutes deliver over 35,000 management graduates. This has diluted the concept of the programme called MBA," avers V. Bala Mohandas of Andhra University.
MBA students engrossed in discussions in their institute's library.
Today in any interview the first question that one is asked is, `Are you from one of the top 10, 20 or at least 30 institutes?' keeping aside the fact that most of the students from the ranked institutes are campus-placed. The pedigree tag has not only crept into the system but it is controlling the job market in the present context. Who is responsible for this?
The basic reason is the widening gap between good schools and the rest. Let's analyse the two categories of schools.
Good schools: Consider the top 10 B-Schools, IIMs (Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bangalore and Calcutta), the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), the XLRI (Jamshedpur), the Management Development Institute (MDI), the S.P.Jain Institute of Management Research, the Xavier Institute of Management and the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies for an overview.
These institutes grab the best brains in the country. Ninety per cent of their intake comprises engineering graduates from IITs and Regional Engineering Colleges. The format or the aptitude test for admission which is called CAT, is considered to be the one of the most difficult admission test in the world. That itself screens and filters the quality of intake, keeping aside the arduous process of interview coupled with group discussions. The faculty standard is on par with any of the top B-Schools in the world. The infrastructure and orientation programmes are in tune with the latest trend that includes an analytical approach via case studies and simulation games. Emphasis is given to the curriculum pattern and a lot of research is put into them to keep the students abreast with the present market scenario. This is the reason why institutes like ICFAI (Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India) that started off with their core programme called chartered financial analyst (CFA) have diversified into launching the MBA programme. Though within a short span their institute figures in the top 12 list, they have not kept quiet with the success. They have launched seven new professional courses like Certified Risk and Insurance Management (CRIM), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Portfolio Management (CPM), Certified Treasury Management (CTM), Certified Investment Banking (CIB), Global Strategic Management (GSM) and Diploma in Business Finance.
"We have launched these new courses after much research to cater for the growing demand for qualified professionals in specific focus areas," says A. Pattnaik, the centre manger of the institute in the city.
The concept of marketing is indeed passing through a transition period. With the increasing competition among the players and the growing professional outlook of the customers, the concept of marketing management has gone beyond the traditional 4 Ps. The subject has become more dynamic, challenging and research oriented thus opening up opportunities for young people with fire in their belly.
Other category of schools: They say attitudes make a big difference and that's what seem to plague these B-Schools. The promoter of the institute who is more interested to cash in on the boom is least bothered about the student and faculty quality and the infrastructure. The faculty is sub-standard and under-paid and the students who join these colleges are with the mindset "just for the heck of it". In some of the colleges, even the bare minimum infrastructure is lacking, let alone multimedia case studies and simulation games.
But again as attitude is the key there are a few students who have made best use of the available faculty and infrastructure to make it big in life.
With the mushrooming of institutes and their delivering sub-standard products, it is pathetic to see salesmen, with MBA tags obtained from some apology-for-a-college, selling Chinese goods at street corners. "The once coveted degree has lost its sheen unless and until you are from a reputed college. The ideal way to stem the rot is by not allowing any further growth of such institutes and to conduct a uniform nationwide admission test like GMAT, so that the quality is filtered," says Prof. Bala Mohandas.
Well, something has to be done on a war-footing on this count as the options in marketing management and business administration are going to be open as long as people continue to do business in this world.
SUMIT BHATTACHARJEE
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