Date:27/07/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/07/27/stories/2004072701000400.htm

Back B-schools told to focus on benchmarking

Our Bureau

Bangalore , July 26

INDIAN management education has to concentrate on benchmarking because this means accepting that somebody is better than you and striving to be better than or even surpassing those standards, according to Dr R. Natarajan, Chairman, AICTE.

In his inaugural address at a seminar on `Enhancing Competitiveness of Indian B-Schools' in Bangalore on Monday, he stressed the need for the education system to be a change driver and to be transparent, equitable, receptive and competitive.

Mr Ajit Balakrishnan, Chairman & CEO, Rediff.com, in his keynote address elaborated the need for a thought leadership from the faculty. "This will attract consulting and executive education which in turn will lead to alumni success which will be the driver for the financial success of the institution," he explained.

He felt that our goal should be not to produce more IIMs but to raise the level of management education itself throughout the country.

"Competition is not an omen to worry about but a positive facilitator of enhancement," according to Mr N. Srinivasan, Director-General, CII.

It was important for institutes to follow diversity in students and faculty, have a number of research projects and encourage learning through case studies, he said.

Earlier, Prof J. Philip, Director, XIME, said that once the GATS regime opens up, one could expect fierce market battles in education too.