Jolted by the prospect of foreign competition on their home turf as a result of the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, Indian business schools have decided to reinvent themselves to stay ahead of the race.
Many leading schools such as the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and the Indian School of Business are identifying best practices to help them benchmark with foreign schools and attract the best students and faculty.
Accreditation, evaluation and grading of programs, as is the norm with business schools in the West, are a few of the things being considered.
Ajit Rangnekar, dean, Indian School of Business notes: “We have always believed that the best public policy for improving educational institutions is to enable and encourage competition.”
Rangnekar’s observations are right on target. Over the next year or so, Indian business schools are likely to see a lot of competition.
According to the provisions of Union Minister Kapil Sibal’s Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010, foreign business schools will soon be allowed to set up shop in the country.
Schools such as Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business (US), Georgia Institute of Technology (US), and York University’s Schulich School of Business (Canada) have already planned campuses in India.
Indian MBA accreditation
Indian business schools hope to make their mark in an increasingly crowded marketplace by closely following global standards.
Many of the IIMs, for instance, such as IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Lucknow and the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, have applied for global accreditation. Both IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore have received approval from European agency EQUIS. IIM Kozhikode has applied for accreditation from AMBA (Association of MBAs), a UK-based organization.
Even newer business schools such as the Chandigarh-based Aryans Business School have become members of US-based accreditation body Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). International accreditation will help students get their degrees recognized globally, while the business school will be successful in securing more foreign partnerships and linkages.
Grading and evaluation
It is a well known fact that Indian business schools vary widely in terms of faculty, curriculum, infrastructure and placement records. This includes schools such as the IIMs, the Indian School of Business, Xavier Labour Relations Institute and Management Development Institute among others.
While Indian magazines such as BusinessWorld, Business Today, and Outlook regularly publish surveys and rankings on Indian business schools in collaboration with research agencies such as Synovate, Nielson, and Cfore, there is much controversy surrounding these rankings and the research methodologies.
For the first time ever, CRISIL (Credit Rating and Information Services of India Ltd), a credit rating agency, has launched a grading exercise for business schools in the country. The agency has graded 24 management programs so far.
Hetal Dalal, head of CRISIL ratings explains: “CRISIL believes that there is an urgent need for a credible, independent, and reliable opinion on the quality of programs offered by business schools. CRISIL’s grading scale will reflect the ability of business schools to impart quality education, and achieve desired student outcomes, through the graded programs. With this initiative, CRISIL hopes to enhance transparency in the sector, help students and other stakeholders make informed decisions, enable business schools to adopt best practices, and support the government in its mission of nurturing quality education in India.”
The grading program classifies management education programs on an eight-point scale. There are also insights into student profile, faculty profile, curriculum and best practices adopted by the institute.
Additionally, each program is graded on a national scale (relative to other such programs across India) and a state scale (relative to other such programs in the same state). This is designed to provide practical decision making inputs to both students and recruiters, who may wish to study in or recruit from specific geographic areas respectively.
Dr M L Shrikant, honorary dean, S P Jain Institute of Management and Research says: “With unusual proliferation of management institutes in the country prospective applicants and perhaps some recruiters will find CRISIL’s grading particularly, perhaps not of the top 10/15 institutes but the next rung of 100 institutes, very useful.”
Clarity in the quality of business education
Dr Shrikant adds that at present there is tremendous confusion about the second rung of management schools. There are also many second and third-rung institutes of dubious quality.
“Hopefully CRISIL’s rating will also highlight those questionable institutes,” adds Shrikant. S P Jain Institute of Management and Research is a Mumbai-based business school that has participated in CRISIL’s grading exercise.
S Sriram, executive director, Great Lakes Institute of Management agrees: “This is a good initiative given the fact that most of the popular business school rankings are so different from each other that it leads to confusion in the minds of the public. Some of the popular rankings are not objective and even appear biased. A standard approach like this will help. For the rating companies this will be a new revenue stream.”
Sriram who is keen on participating in the grading exercise feels that the evaluation exercise will not help education institutes raise money as they are in the not-for-profit sector unlike business organizations. “Rather, it will help position one’s self appropriately and improve branding.”
Dalal observes: “CRISIL’s Business School Grading initiative will create greater transparency in the education sector, and enable all stakeholders to make informed decisions. The beneficiaries of this grading process traverse the entire stakeholder spectrum including B-schools, students, parents, recruiters and investors.”
While the initiative is certainly note-worthy, it remains to be seen how many business schools sign up for the exercise. However, these attempts to identify and work on best practices can only work in favour of Indian schools and help to position them in a dynamic market place.
Vinoo Urs, regional director of India, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business notes: “The presence of international schools in India will present new concepts on business education, management, course work content, and research. This influx of new ideas will benefit India’s existing and future universities, further strengthening the nation’s economy.
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