Management Education Challenges And Prospects Commerce Essay

In the modern economic scenario all over the world Management as a stream of education and training has acquired a new dimension. Management education is in great demand especially after the change towards liberalization, globalization, and privatization. There are several challenges of management education which require change in character and structure of management education, integration of management education with co-operates structure, up gradation of curriculum and course contain,desigining of different programs for executives, maintenance of an effective and effective system and emphases on reaserch,there are also challenges in terms of Indian business schools, ,changing mentality of students, lack of qualified facilities, Issues of autonomy and accountability of institutions, Relevance to the need of organizations other than mainstream. And to overcome these challenges can be considered as future prospects of management as the Indian economy is booming with a very high rate there is an extreme need of Managers who can apply their knowledge and can break the complexity of problems. The paper will look at some of the key challenges in making management education relevant for development of the country – and deliberates on some of the emerging prospects for the same.

Key words: accountability,. Globalization,. Liberalization,. Privatization,.

Introduction:

Traditionally, the term “management” refers to the activities (and often the group of people)involved in the four general functions: planning, organizing, leading and coordinating of resources and hence management can be refer as an act to accomplish their goals an objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively In simple words, management means managing an activity. When we talk of managing an activity, we really mean to make the activity a success. In other words, we have in mind some goal and we decide about the ways of carrying out the activity so as to achieve the goal. Management is a practice that has two blend a good deal of craft(experiences) with certain amount of art(insight) and some sciences(analysis)

Consider a situation. When a person goes for shopping, his primary aim is to buy what he requires at a reasonable price. He has a number of questions in his mind-what should he buy? From where to buy? How will he reach there? Will he be able to comeback at the right time? And so on. To make his shopping a success, he should think of these questions in advance. Take another example of a housewife. When she gets up in the morning, she has in her mind a number of activities to be performed, e.g., house is to be cleaned, clothes are to be washed, young children are to be helped in getting ready for the school, breakfast is to be prepared, food is to be cooked and packed and handed over to the children while they leave for school and so on.

In the family, she may have three persons to help her- her servant, her eldest daughter and her mother-in-law. Her aim is to divide the work in such a way that all the work gets completed in the right way at the appropriate time. What the housewife does in this example, taken together, to achieve her aim, means management. From the above two examples, we can conclude that management is very useful in our day-to-day activities-it is important while preparing for examination, planning for holidays, studies, preparing home budget, celebrating social functions and so on.

In the modern economic scenario all over the world- “Management” – as stream of education and training has acquired new dimensions. Management is an exciting field where you can have an immediate impact on the operations of any business. The field of Management is dynamic in nature. New tools and techniques are continually being introduced to improve the efficiency, productivity, and profitability of any organization. All organizations and their departments, functions, or groups use Management. methodologies, which include problem solving techniques and guidelines for various related activities. Management education deals with the fundamental, theories and process of business. Education in these fields occurs at an several level including secondary education and higher education. Management education strives to develop management knowledge, understanding and competences through class room or distance based method. Management education is the main component of management development and differs from management training. (bindlesh, 2009-2010)

Management education: Indian context:

In recent years there has been an unprecedented number of technical and management institutions being set up, mostly through private capital. In the field of management education, India has around 1200 institutions providing undergraduate and post-graduate level courses. Since the management graduates and post-graduates produced by these institutions are primarily absorbed by industry, there is a growing need to match the curriculum and structure of management education to better fit the needs of India and to the changes in the industrial and services sectors within the country .Moreover, it is important to properly assess the quality of management education imparted to the students of various institutions (knowledgecommission)

As in 2006-07, there were over 1100 business schools in the country. Of these, 5 were private aided institutions, 903 were private unaided and 149 were government institutions. In the last decade, the country has witnessed a phenomenal growth in enrolment in management education. The current intake stands at roughly 92,000, with the majority of the students enrolled in private management colleges. The distribution of management institutions shows a regional imbalance, with 86 per cent of the colleges concentrated in north and south India. There appears to be a correlation between the number of schools in a state and its economic and industrial development. The regional imbalances in development and the creation of capacity for management education in the state are probably related.

A large proportion of the capacity is filled through all- India examinations conducted at a number of locations throughout the country. Therefore, a high per capita seat capacity for a state does not necessarily mean a higher level of opportunity for aspirants from that state. The per capita seats per lakh of population may be partly a reflection of the state’s capacity to absorb a higher percentage of management graduates .Growth in the number of business schools has accelerated over the last two decades. This acceleration, propelled by the increase in the rate of growth of the Indian economy, speaks also for the entrepreneurial initiative of promoters to seize commercial opportunities in education.

The imbalance between demand and supply for management graduates has led to an overly commercial and exploitative environment in management education. It is not clear how many of the recently started institutions are merely speculative and how many are seriously committed to the cause of management education. It is not also clear how many actually meet the norms and standard s established by the All India Council for Technical Education. The regulatory framework and implementation has been unable to link the entrepreneurial initiative to performance in terms of educational quality. It has a control perspective focusing on inputs such also land, faculty, and other infrastructure rather than on the outcomes such as quality of education, research, access, cost effectiveness or relevance. (bindlesh, 2009-2010)

Overview of Management Education in India

Management schools:

State

Number

Percentage

Andhra pradesh

239

13.5

Bihar

0.8

Delhi

3.4

Gujarat

2.8

Harayana

1.9

Karnataka

116

6.6

Kerala

247

14.0

Madhya Predesh

2.9

Maharashtra

202

11.5

Orrisa

247

14.0

Punjab

1.4

Rajesthan

3.2

Tamil Nadu

139

7.9

Uttar Predesh

181

10.9

Uttranchal

1.0

West Bengal

4.8

Source:National knowledge commission, 2006.

CHALLENGES:

There are several challenges of management education which require change in character and structure of management education, integration of management education with co-operates structure,upgradatioon of curriculum and course contain,desigining of different programs for executives, maintenance of an effective and effective system and emphases on reaserch,there are also challenges in terms of Indian business schools, ,changing mentality of students, lack of qualified facilities, Issues of autonomy and accountability of institutions, Relevance to the need of organizations other than mainstream, along with that Growth, balancing global aspiration and local needs, Quality assurance,Sustaning scholarship,Allining with future needs of organizational and also the trouble with these management education is that it is business education and leaves a distorted impression of management.

1.Growth: All the indicators point to continuing increases in the demand for management education .Driven by demographics, economic trends, business expectations, and initiatives that expand access to higher education, future demands will come not only from traditional college-age populations, but also from working professionals who need to retool and reinvigorate their careers. Growth is, of course, a better scenario than decline or stagnation, but how do we maintain quality while continuing to grow? This is not a new challenge. We have shown that most countries have expanded their number of business schools and programs in recent years. We now know that these expansions have led to diverging quality of management education providers. Through strategic investments and accreditation, many schools have achieved higher levels of quality.

However, there are rising concerns about a growing number of institutions that make promises they cannot – or do not – intend to keep and offer programs whose quality is not assured by reputable accrediting organizations. Aspiring business schools in many countries have found it increasingly difficult to build and maintain faculties with both academic qualifications and professional experience who are capable of conducting advanced research and teaching effectively. Similarly ,government financial support for business education hasn’t kept pace with growing demands, leaving some business schools to seek higher tuitions and new financial sources to compete internationally. Limited decision-making autonomy at these schools not only makes tuition increases unlikely, but also constrains their ability to respond to emerging curricula needs with innovative programs.

For all of these reasons, it appears unlikely that business schools throughout the world can support continuing demand growth without significant changes in the way they assure quality, organize faculties, and finance and govern their programs. In some developing countries in Asia and Africa, for example, we expect huge increases in college-age populations. There is great potential in these countries if management education is able to expand while also working toward achieving higher levels of quality .But, doing so will be increasingly difficult in the absence of qualified faculty, sufficient infrastructures, relevant instructional resources, and supporting institutions.

Similarly, many developing countries lack research experience and the emphasis on research that is necessary to shift from vocational training to higher levels of management education. Transition economies across Europe and parts of Asia – though they don’t always face the same demographic trends – require investments to build educational and economic institutions to support entrepreneurship and innovation. Today’s investment in infrastructure – and particularly doctoral education – will impact our future ability to meet demands for quality management education, especially in developing countries. Future access to management education by young people will determine whether developing nations will thrive or languish in the emerging knowledge- based, market-driven global economy. (bindesh, 2009-2010)

Growth of Business Schools in India during 1950-2006

PERIOD

NUMBER OF B-SCHOOLS ADDED

AVERAGE ANNUAL ADDITION

1950-1980(30 years)

118

1980-1995(15 years)

304

1995-2000(5 years)

322

2000-2006(6 years)

1017*

169*

Source: National Knowledge commission, Adapted from Dayal, I., “Developing Management Education in India”, Journal of Management Research, 2(2), August 2002, page: 101

NB: The figures attributed for 2000-2006 is estimation from current data and therefore shown with an

asterisk (*)

Growth in the number of business schools has accelerated over the last two decades. This acceleration, propelled by the increase in the rate of growth of the Indian economy, speaks also for entrepreneurial initiative of promoters to seize commercial opportunities in education. The imbalance between demand and supply for management graduates has led to an overly commercial and exploitative environment in management education. It is not clear how many of the recently started institutions are merely speculative and how many are seriously committed to the cause of management education. It is not also clear how many actually meet the norms and standards established by the All India Council for Technical Education.

2. Balancing Global Aspirations and local needs.

A recurring theme throughout this article has been tensions between global aspirations -of countries, schools, faculties, and students – and pressing local needs. These tensions are revealed on many dimensions: curricula, strategy, and collaboration, for example. Further economic integration calls for strengthening our curricula emphasis on global perspectives, but we cannot ignore unique histories, politics, and cultures. At the same time, as many schools seek global recognition for world-class quality, and accreditation focuses on the best schools in the world, we cannot forget that wider access to quality management education can contribute to economic and social progress in countries or regions with fundamentally different goals.

While supporting national initiatives to fortify international competitiveness, we must also capitalize on the advantages offered by multilateral alliances and increasing student and faculty mobility. Although these tensions are quite natural and are to be expected in dynamic and competitive environments, we should also be mindful that management education can enable both global and local success.

The powerful forces of globalization, advances in information and communication technology, and further liberalization of services trade will not only demand more from management education, but also enable us to achieve local and regional goals and objectives. For example, international alliances and exchanges of faculties and students create opportunities to build banks of localized cases studies, which can be shared worldwide through electronic channels.

Expanding global footprints of individual schools give rise not only to globally savvy graduates, but also represent an investment in local economies. The real and more important question is,”How will we capitalize on these opportunities to balance our global aspirations against the needs of our regions, nations, and local communities? The GFME is particularly concerned about efforts within some countries to develop international graduate management schools that, by design, are highly selective and expensive to support.

Achieving, and consistently improving upon, the highest level of quality is certainly important. Doing so can assist countries to attract knowledge eEnterprise, serve as a foundation for broader management education objectives, and attract talented faculty and students. However, the GFME believes that these efforts should be complemented by broader strategies to expand access to management education, including undergraduate education, while ensuring sufficient levels of quality across education providers with diverse missions and stakeholder groups.

Not every school in every country need hire from the dwindling supply of doctoral faculty or attain the highest level of accreditation when, clearly, the most pressing regional concerns are low overall educational attainment and extreme poverty, for example. At the same time, well-intentioned investments in world-class business schools should not come at the expense of investments in other quality management education programs that are accessible to a broader portion of the population. Rather, they should be viewed together as complementary investments in the future of business and society (bindlesh, 2009-2010)

3. Quality Assurance:

We have argued that expansion in management education has brought greater diversity among the programs and providers in management education. Schools have different missions and aspirations; vary in governance structures, faculty characteristics, and financial models; and are embedded in a wide array of cultures, histories, and governing systems. All of this diversity is to be nurtured and celebrated.

Diversity means that students and employers have choices to meet their unique goals and accommodate their circumstances. It also fosters innovation among schools and programs. However, as management education grows and students, graduates, and faculties become more mobile, we must be increasingly concerned about the maintenance and assurance of quality. AACSB International and EFMD s EQUIS have developed deep, yet flexible ,standards to assess quality and support continuous improvement.

These standards cover the full breadth of quality dimensions: mission, strategy, faculty, students, staff, curricula, educational outcomes, and research. The standards define quality and, because they are linked to the mission of the school, they are designed to ensure that quality depend simplicity on whether the promises of schools and expectations of students and employer are met. The standards allow for a wide range of promises, as long as they are communicated accurately and delivered sufficiently .Unfortunately, growing demand and competition can increase the incentive for schools to exaggerate promises, leaving their graduates with unmet expectations. In the environment we described above, with doctoral faculty becoming more scarce and with shrinking financial support from governments, there are tremendous pressures to cut corners, promise more, and deliver less. In short, there are incentives for schools to compromise the integrity of their missions.

Global accreditations, such as EQUIS and AACSB, are essential to ensure quality. But, we have shown that they cover only a small fraction of the institutions that deliver degree-based management education. Moreover, most of the globally accredited institutions are in higher-income countries. In some countries, national accreditations, assessments, or regulations fill the void. Unfortunately, in others, including some regions where demand for management education is exploding, viable and effective systems to promote quality in management education do not exist or are severely underdeveloped.

Transparency is important for our working definition of quality. If quality is about delivering on the promise of the school’s mission and meeting expectations, then it is important to ensure that accurate data and information about the institution are available to the public. Appropriately so, accreditations have tended to focus on institutional improvement, while national systems are often regulatory or administrative in nature. It is thus noteworthy that few global structures currently exist primarily to inform and protect students and employers against the hazard of implausible claims .Business school rankings publish data and information about programs and claim to play a role in holding programs and schools accountable for meeting student and employer expectations.

However, they, too, cover only a tiny fraction of the programs offered worldwide, and educators have questioned their methodology and accuracy. There are growing concerns that rankings actually mislead, rather than inform, the public. Ranking shave also led to unfortunate outcomes such as promoting homogeneity among programs and creating incentives to invest in short-term gains over long-term sustainability.

4.Aligning with future needs of organizations:

By examining global economic and business trends, we have attempted to isolate the emerging needs of organizations around the globe. For example, we argued that the integration of economies will require stronger emphasis on global perspectives, fracturing value chains will require graduates to master important skills rather than just apply knowledge, and emerging emphases on social responsibility and sustainability will require new ways of thinking about business strategy. We should caution that these are only examples and are rather subjective. The point here is not that the needs of organizations have changed over time; they have and always will. What’s new is that the pace of change has been accelerating. How can business schools structure themselves and build systems to learn about, predict, and react quickly enough to emerging needs? Recent criticisms have exacerbated this challenge. Targeting MBA programs, for example, some critics claim that business schools have become overly academic and, as aresult, less relevant to business. Others have claimed that the content of what schools teach does not currently match the requirements of business. For example, some argue that schools do not place enough emphasis on the development of interpersonal.

Communication, and leadership skills in business programs, or that entrenched functional silos within curricula do not support the holistic requirements of business. Two obstacles make this challenge particularly difficult to overcome. First, there are few substantial industry-level collaborations between businesses and business schools to discuss, debate, and jointly-define the future of management and management education .

Many business schools have strong relationships with practicing managers and leading businesses and are constantly monitoring the business environment and making projections to refine and revise curricula. But, these individual efforts cannot capture and share the benefits that would be created from higher-level interactions between business and education communities.

Business leaders and management educators do offer their opinions to one another, but these opinions often seem disconnected and idiosyncratic, because they are informed mostly by personal experiences, rather than broader discussion and analyses. Second, we have seen that decision-making autonomy has, in some cases around the globe, been only slowly delegated to the institutions that deliver management education .Moreover, funding formulas and other factors such as rankings have created limited incentives to change – much less change quickly – in response to emerging needs.

For example, although demographers have shown that the students of the millennial generation are more interested in social responsibility relative to money than the previous generation, some schools are reluctant to adapt their curricula and programs accordingly for fear that their reputation will suffer from the lower salaries their graduates would earn. We have described five pressing challenges for management education. Each is important in dependent of the others, but they converge in ways that signal a sense of urgency .

Management education is, by no means, facing a “perfect storm.” The challenges are not insurmountable. But, management education leaders must be proactive. In the next section, we present five recommendations that, if implemented, hold great potential for helping business schools and the people, organizations, and societies they serve to navigate the difficult terrain ahead (bindlesh, 2009-2010)

5. Changing Mentality of Students:

As Management education is expanding at an unprecedented rate there are many management institutions coming up and and there are lot of students enrolling in those many management institutions and as a result the changing mentality is kind of challenge and we need overcome these challenge now a days their mentality is totally changing students are more interested in degree based knowledge they are only concerned with degree and placement not with the real management knowledge and thus due to these the are is no proper cultivation of knowledge among those management students .These has a long time impact as the knowledge what they have with them is only a theoretical knowledge but not the practical knowledge as most of them have not applied their knowledge on the field rather they have applied only inside the four walls of the classroom.

Source: Management education for future managers: Issues and concerns, Prof: Sameer Pingle

PROSPECTS:

The prospect of management education are very wide in India as our Indian economy is booming with an un presedentend rate there are various industries coming up and as a result we are need in managers to manage those industries .Also the prospectus of management education lies in overcoming those challenges and then the question arises how to overcome these challenge these challenges can be overcome by following ways: Provide decent salaries and professional ambience to faculties, Send the faculties regularly for training programs to update their skills and abilities, Develop right mind set and attitude, Focus on quality of education not quantity, There has to be interactive sessions for the students rather than mere preaching what is mentioned in the books, You cannot become a crack shot unless you lose some ammunition.

1)The students have to be exposed to the industry through interface so that they understand the practical problems in corporate world. This boosts more confidence among the students

2) It is essential to have more visiting faculties with diversified and rich industry experience. It is like having diversified menu on a platter. It should be made mandatory for every business school to have a fulltime faculty for each functional specialization like Human Resources, Marketing, Finance, Production, etc., Besides, they can have visiting faculties who are passionate towards teaching for every specialized functional skill

3) Look for the professors who are passionate in teaching rather than who pass their time in classrooms. The passionate professors would love to share their knowledge, experience, expertise with students to take on the real corporate battles. Take the professors with research, consultancy, and industry and also with teaching experience as it enriches the teaching process. Blending all these ingredients would make a faculty as outstanding.

4) You cannot make a successful manager in classrooms. What is needed is the industry interface which builds confidence among the students. Whatever the doubts the students possess can be clarified and verified with their exposure to corporate world. The theoretical background in the classrooms along with practical exposure in the corporate world can make successful professionals

5) The project work should be contextual, relevant and should focus on the current scenarios. MBA is a professional degree and it should train and groom the students to be true professionals to take on the challenges being faced in the business environment.

6) Make accreditation mandatory to ensure quality of education. Take stringent action against the illegal and unauthorized MBA colleges.

Management education in wider context of society:

In the 1950s, when India sought to give an impetus to its management education with assistance from abroad, particularly the United States, rationality or positivism was at its peak in the West. Knowledge in each field was considered separate with its own reasoning and technology. Science and technology was separated from history, sociology, or philosophy. Observation and fact was the guiding source for knowledge, a position that encouraged a compartmental view of management education .Further, the establishment of management institutes in India outside the University system distanced management education from other fields.

Management did draw from a number of other fields, including science, technology, psychology or sociology. But since its own knowledge, methodology and objectives in society were different, management education did not have to go deep into the bases of the other fields or the wider context of society itself .A majority of management education organizations in India is oriented primarily to teaching. The materials used for teaching are also not of relevance to the student background or living experiences in India. The focus on campus interviews, careers and jobs further detracts students from gaining a disciplinary understanding of the specializations and society in which they have to innovate and be influential leaders. There is need to increase research support not only in management but also in the many of its supporting disciplines.

Structure of management education:

To realize the full potential from the resources devoted to management education, all management education organizations have to be brought in line with the governance norms suggested by the Group. There are presently six types of management education organizations. These are:

Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) set up by the Government of India.

(2) University departments of management studies.

(3)Colleges (government or private) affiliated to universities.

(4) Private or government institutes approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

(5) Private colleges or institutes not affiliated to any universities nor approved by AICTE.

(6) Private colleges or institutes offering MBA courses in India in collaboration with foreign universities, where degree/diploma/certificate is awarded by the foreign university.

New management education:

As the dawn of the new century draws nearer a new world order seems to be emerging from shadows marked ,more than anything else by global trends. What this means, in effect is that regardless of the happening in specific region of the world, there is a coming together a synthesis of a changes of a monumental proportions as perhaps never before in history which are truly and discernibly on a global scale. (ravi, 2003) Keeping in mind the future scenario, re-engineering of management education must be done. Our future global manger would require the following new skills.

* Information Management Skill

* Information Technology Management Skill

* Decision- making in very dynamic environment.

* H.R.D Skill* Innovation/ Credibility

* Service Sector Management Skills

* Time Management Skills

* Stress Management Skills

* Environment Management Skills

* Entrepreneurship

* Customers Services Management Skills

1) Entrepreneurship Management schools will have to develop these skills among students.

2) Management Institutes will have to introduce new Service Sector Management Courses, like Travel and Tourism Management, Hospital Management, Construction Management, Hotel Management, Consultancy Management, NGO Management, Advertising Management, Banking and Insurance Services Management, Farm Management etc

3)Needless to say, courses should be need based and syllabi should be changed periodically

4) Lack of specialization is one to the problems of our MBA programme. MBA student must have specialization at least in one discipline

5) Management is a performing art. Thus efforts must be made to imbibe work related values.

6.) Management education must be made ‘ Mass Education’ rather than the ‘Class Education’ and that too, without compromising on quality (bindlesh, 2009-2010)

CONCLUSION:

Management education is such a two edged sword that if it is used wisely it can be proved to be beneficial but if it is used in a wrong way it may harm and also be dangerous. As mentioned earlier our management education is really very helpful in producing he managers for the future so that they are able to manage the industries and companies as most of our Indian industries form the main component of our Indian economy if our management education will be only theoretical not practical then it would be difficult for them to manage their own professions and economy too. The four pillars for effective management education are industry experience, consultancy experience, research experience and teaching experience. When faculties possess these four areas of experience and expertise, then it ensures qualitative management education.

The problem with us is to imitate the western management education blindly. By the time we take best out of them, the content and curriculum gets outdated thus resulting into obsolescence.

Educational qualification is the brick and mortar of a specific career path. Let us make Indian management education qualitative and affordable to all.

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