Feature

Making of a good B-School

Abdul Mannan

UNLESS it is a very specialized institution, like a dental college or a medical school, practically all universities around the world try to have B-Schools (business schools) of some sort. Though names may differ (economics, commerce or development,) each will normally have a B-school of its own. Even the prestigious Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) started their own version of B-schools recently. The sudden spurt in the growth of B-schools around the world was the result of the rapid development of the private sector economy, especially in former closed economies like India, Vietnam or the East European countries.

The growth of the private sector has created a demand for more mid level management cadre, both in the manufacturing and service sectors. In the US, the birth place of modern B-schools, the expansion took place in the fifties, when the American economy boomed following the end of the Great War. Its first business school was Wharton (1881) of the University of Pennsylvania. In England and other European countries this happened in the early sixties. As a matter of fact the oldest B- school in the world was the The Aulo do Comercio in Lisbon which started to enroll its first batch of students in 1759. The student learnt the skill of accounts keeping and inventory control. In most universities there were no separate B-schools as we see today. They would usually be a small support department of economics, tucked in some remote corner of the university.

In Dhaka University, which had the country's first business department, it was really another department of the Arts Faculty. In the forties the degree was known as MA Com. One of the earliest business schools in India happens to be the Goenka College of Commerce, Kolkata, which started simply as a department of the Calcutta Presidency College in 1903. Today India has 1400 such schools offering mostly MBA or equivalent degrees, and can cater to the needs of about 120000 students each year, though the number of students seeking admission is double of this. They have some of the finest Business Schools, like their IIMs, IBS and XLRI. Education in these institutions are expensive (around Rupee 12 to 16 lakh per year in some) for an MBA or an equivalent degree. A recent survey revealed that the graduates of these and other equally good business schools can fetch a yearly salary of Rupee 11 to 16 lakh besides other perks and benefits. The survey ranked IIM-Ahmedabad as India's top B-school followed by IIM-Calcutta and XLRI-Jamshedpur. None of these top ranking B-schools are degree granting institutions. They offer Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) which is considered as a Master's degree eqivalent, and the PhD students in IIMs are know as Fellows.

Interestingly the employers are more interested in the skills, attitude and the competence of the graduates rather than the degree itself. The name of the institution just increases the value of the equity of the diploma itself. In Bangladesh though no survey of any kind was done to rank the B- schools, the graduates of IBA (founded in 1966), DU, CU and quite a few private universities have done quite well in the job market. There is no denying the fact that the monopoly once held by the public sector B- schools have been very successfully challenged by graduates from the private sector schools in Bangladesh.

India's popular business magazine Businessworld (June 28) while conducting a study of B-schools in India did a survey on the profile of the students who went to B-schools. Interestingly 87% came from engineering background (these are MBAs). Only 4% were from commerce, 4% from science and 3% from the humanities. 86% of these were males and 69% had job experience ranging from 2-5 years. Though in Bangladesh no such survey was done as far as I know, I can safely conclude that in the undergraduate level about 80% students come from commerce background. In public universities this happens because of the quota policy, and in the private university because of the perception that students with a commerce background should go to study business, though the perception is totally wrong. Again from my long near four decade of experience in teaching in B-school, both in the public and private sector schools, I can safely conclude that on an average students with non business background have done equally good with their business background colleagues. In the graduate level (MBAs, MBS or M.Coms) the characteristic of the population would not change much in the public universities as those who pass their undergraduate get into graduate programmes. In the private universities the scenario is a bit different, and one can get to teach a class of doctors, engineers, architects, media personnel, defense personnel, lawyers, school administrators, pharmacists, or even a soft ware engineers. Everyone has concluded, rightly or wrongly, that to prosper in their profession and career a degree in business is a must.

What makes a good B-schools? Of course its intellectual capital, the faculty and good student intake. Industry interaction of some sort is a must. Access to high speed IT facility and an active learning system are also equally important factors. The world of business is changing rapidly; to keep pace with this change the curriculum has to be updated practically every semester, new issues have to be added and old ones discarded. Today's managers no longer manages they provide leadership. They lead by example and work with others. Today there is no such thing as a boss and a subordinate. Rather that saying you work under me we say you work with me. So, this demands a new psyche in the thought process. To do this successfully a B-school graduate must be aware of history and political science. They must know the chemistry of social interface. They should not shy away from learning a little bit of world civilization, branding it as a non business issue. Today's business activities do not take place in isolation. In many B- schools in the US they teach the art of negotiation with India and China where all the businesses have gone. Dealing with the Arabs need to considered carefully and for this a B-school has to be aware of the Arab culture and custom. The Wall Street Journal has reported one Professor Bidhan Chandra of Empire State College in Saratoga, New York, offers business courses to teach US entrepreneurs the art and skill of doing business with India. He even gives a course or two in how to say 'Namaste', or have your meal with fingers while squatting on the floor. What gift should you bring for the lady of the house when you are invited by your Indian host, and never to kiss her in the first encounter! His business is booming.

Indian B-school graduates are competing for jobs with their American and European counterparts. Recently two graduates from IIM-C have beaten Harvard Graduates for a position in a US multinational. Indian Business School of Hyderabad's finance graduates currently get the highest salary in the world. Can our business graduates come up to this level? Sure they can; you just have to do a few things: sharpen your communication skill, listening skill and brush up your personality. Building self confidence is a must. The B-school administrators must do more than just plan class room teaching of outdated curriculum. They must monitor what is taught and why? Who teaches them and how? How much of student involvement is encouraged in the class room. Otherwise the instructor is interested in just playing the role of a Moulana at a Milad. You listen I talk! This will not make a competitive business graduate. Recently some students of colleges under National University went on street with the demand that the name of their degree be changed from MBS to MBA. It is one of most bizarre proposition as mere change in the title of degree will mean nothing. Curriculum of B-schools must be organic and teaching active. This needs commitment of resources and reforming the entire system. Unless that is done a graduate with a meaningless MBA will just be an wandering 'Abdul' in the job market.

Many pundits may frown at the idea of most universities having B-schools. Well that is the bread earner for most of them. Earning your bread is not easy, but it has to be done.

(The writer teaches at ULAB, Dhaka. He was a former Vice-chancellor, Chittagong University. July 14, 2010)

Erratum
In our July 11 issue, the two pictures on page 2 were wrongly printed with the news item “BU Freshers Orientation”. The pictures were actually for “Young Programmers at Bangladesh University of Business and Technology-IUPC,” printed on page 29. We regret the oversight.

Don't build a boundary around your potential

THE truth of life is that man's limits are self imposed by what the mind is given to believe. If you expand your belief of your own abilities, you will also expand your true realm of accomplishment. A man of whom all are aware, lived his life with adversity, but he constantly believed he could achieve.

* Failed in business at age 31
* Was defeated in a legislative race at age 32
* Failed again in business at age 34
* Overcome death of sweetheart at age 35
* Had a nervous breakdown at age 36
* Lost an election at age 38
* Lost a congressional race at age 43
* Lost a congressional race at age 46
* Lost a congressional race at age 48
* Lost a Senatorial race at age 55
* Failed to become Vice President at age 56
* Lost a Senatorial race at age 58
* Was elected President of the United States at age 60

With all the adversity that faced him, President Abraham Lincoln had no reason to try continually other than the fact that he believed it was his destiny and measure of success to accomplish this task.