Business programs remain one
of the most looked after majors, both at the undergrad and graduate levels.
But, the setting in which business schools operate has experienced a huge
change, which makes it imperative for B-Schools to embrace different models and
assessment methodologies to stay relevant. Worried about the difference between
what is instructed to MBA students and what organizations require from them
after they graduate and are hired, educators and business pioneers have for
some time, been asking schools not to discount the significance of preparing
their understudies for this reality.
Students are also being
practical about the need to get themselves ready for the troublesome job
market. Holding a generalist MBA degree may not be sufficient for them. The
pattern towards more niche Master of Science degrees appears to be clear. M.Sc.
specialisms could incorporate banking, marketing, finance, human resource
administration, business analytics, and various others. The only way MBA
programs retain their relevance is by incorporating more human-centered
initiatives. Here are three such initiatives that B-Schools across the world
are taking up:
Action-oriented
learning:
As a part of the core
curriculum, students take part in action learning that puts them in situations
where they have to deal with international management and business cases. And
in the present day, the impetus is also laid out on problems around corporate
social responsibility. Through action-oriented learning, students also work on
consulting projects with students from law, engineering and other streams
bringing together different perspectives to deal with a common problem.
Business
model contests
Students of B-Schools must
participate in various case competitions, that is spearheaded by a student-led
committee. These competitions from around the world are coordinated and
participated in with the objective of accentuating one’s industrial knowledge,
analytical skills, presentation skills, and corporate exposure. Through these
competitions, students also pave their way into jobs across organizations that
are sponsoring these events.
Active
alumni connections
In today’s world, numerous B-Schools
across the world have large alumni bases. This helps them in facilitating a
number of events to connect the present students with successful and
experienced ones through on-campus meet-ups, company treks and dinners across
various cities.
Whilst these pointers bring
about pertinent changes in the approach, it is of paradigm importance for
B-Schools to look at more concerning facets. Bureaucratic aspects that have
persisted and plagued the field for years.
Does a business school truly
need a selective pool of workforce that works with them for perpetuity? And
should this workforce be full-time based at only one institution? Is it
important for the workforce to be committed to just one school? Could the staff
be shared among a few scholarly establishments? They are a costly asset, so why
not share the expenses? This obviously reinstates, that every professor must be
willing to embrace research in their line of study.
The idea of a steady system
of part-time workforce may improve scholastic execution, both in study and in
research. Professors are expected to explore and deep-dive into their field
further, to stay relevant. It might also be an ideal opportunity to promote a
collaborative faculty. This could be through a part-time workforce that strings
together various modules of a course to render the requisite information.
As of now, a lot of teaching
happens in the classroom, where a teacher converses with the understudies and
there is constrained or restricted exchange of thoughts. The classroom ought to
be more of a meeting place filled with dynamism and energy. There have been
changes towards this sort of setting, particularly across B-Schools, yet it
does not suffice. In a viable 'meeting place' where there is a feeling of
transparency, new ideas could be uninhibitedly exchanged, possibly profiting
one’s research. Thoughts could be 'tried' against existing suggestions, and
against valid experiences and challenges.
Numerous academic
institutions restrict their workforce from having a considerable amount of
contribution: there is a bottom-up' command culture. To counter-balance, there
must be a 'top-down' approach, to bring the best out of the faculty and the
students. Pioneers and thought leaders may find it difficult to lead in a
bottom-up style of approach, where both the students and the institution’s
management may not be receptive to an opinion or suggestion.
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