Management Education in India: The Present Status and Future Directions

Abstract

The growth of management institutions in India in last 15 years has been rapid. Data on number of business schools established in India from 1995 suggest a ‘mushrooming’ growth in terms of numbers and often at the cost of quality. India has 2000 B-Schools, awarding MBA degrees, or an equivalent and often, more valuable post-graduate diplomas (like those given by IIMs). It is heartening to find two management institutes from India, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) and the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, are placed 11th and 13th in the global ranking of 2011 by Financial Times.This study addresses various issues associated with different categories of management institutions operating in India. Some of the major issues are: the quality of the faculty, students and facilities; pedagogy and recognition; research outputs, executive training, placement and brand equity. These issues are then analysed with respect to different categories of business schools in India : (1) top 30 government and private B-Schools, including (IIMs), (2) university departments of management studies, (3) private autonomous B-Schools approved by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE),(4) university affiliated private colleges, (5) private institutions not affiliated to any universities nor approved by THE AICTE, (6) private institutes in collaboration with foreign universities.There is a need to contemplate what India will need in 2025. Management education in India in 2011 is not what it was in 1950s. Top management institutes’ future should not be what we can learn from Harvard Business School. It should be what they can learn from us.