Money Matters

There is a pressing need to redesign the finance curriculum to suit the needs of the industry. Experts demand greater customisation and emphasise that it should be more application oriented.

A complex sector, the finance industry is now looking out for keen analytical minds to drive it. They prefer people, PhDs and experts in Math, Operations, and Risk Management, who are able to work out math models to explain complex scenarios. “I do see an increased attempt by banks and financial services firms to provide training to their employees in fields like risk management,” says Jayanth R Varma, professor of finance, IIM Ahmedabad.

The hunt for analytical minds started post the economic crisis of 2008 and 2011. Many attributed the financial meltdown to the ignorance of finance managers and their academic training, which they felt was not grounded in reality. 

 “In my knowledge, there is insufficient evidence to credibly establish any link between academic training and professional performance that contributed to the financial meltdown,” says Uday Kotak, executive vice chairman and managing director, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. “But yes, the curriculum should be made more relevant to the needs of the industry. It should be better aligned to the ground reality. Of that there is little debate.”

According to Ajay Srinivasan, chief executive, financial services, Aditya Birla Group, what the real world offers is quite different from what is being taught in a B-school. “It is much more unpredictable and volatile. There are unchartered territories. The finance curriculum should recognise this.”

Academic experts are on the same page as industry. In his paper titled “Finance teaching and research after the global financial crisis”, Varma concludes that the finance curriculum in a typical MBA programme has not kept pace with the developments in finance theories. While a lot needs to change in finance teaching, finance theory also needs to change, though to a lesser extent. “Some parts of finance simply cannot be dumped down for ease of teaching,” Varma says. “In the best business schools, I think this is being corrected in the last few years,” he adds.

Varma is not wide off the mark. Responding to the volatile situation, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad included a six-month internship in its one-year residential Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM). It also reportedly initiated a dialogue with the recruiters to remove/add certain subjects as per their need. IIM-A and IIM- C jointly organised a conference to brainstorm on curriculum, which would produce industry ready graduates. 

“Curriculum management is a continuous process and is a function of changing environment, economy and regulations,” says Indu Niranjan, deputy director and professor finance, SP Jain Institute of Management & Research. “We review the curriculum regularly and update it in consultation with the advisory board, which comprises of experts from the industry.” 

A B-school has to offer curriculum at two levels, Niranjan says—the general management level, which deals with basic concepts and framework across disciplines, providing familiarity to students about business operations and functions. There is also the focus to bring in integration across functions. It also offers specialised courses for a function, which deals with advance topics across various verticals within that specialisation. “While we have four broad specialisations like finance, marketing, operations and information management – we have micro specialisations or concentrations within the specialisation to enhance the employability of participants based on market needs,” she adds.

However, a lot needs to be done if India has to respond to the challenges of future. “The greater need is to build character,” says Vallabh Bhansali, chairman, Enam Financial Consultants Pvt. Ltd. “And that cannot be limited to the curricula of a MBA degree. It is the leaders of society and families, who have to take this responsibility,” he signs off.