Raising the bar

Management education in India has begun to move up the learning curve. There are plenty of options available for aspirants and the key parameters for selecting institutes today are corporate engagement and global exposure. 

Jagmohan Bhanver, CEO, Indian Institute of Financial Management (IIFM), points out that management education is not about theory anymore. "It's about theory backed by corporate engagement at every stage possible. It's about getting insights into the corporate world even before getting an offer letter.

This can happen in varying degrees depending on the number of industry projects undertaken by the student and seminars organised by the college on aspects like current challenges and best practices.

The advisory board that lends thought leadership to the college is a key factor in connecting the college to the corporate world."

While most new management colleges offer the above in varying degrees, the bottom line is that employability is directly proportional to the factors of corporate engagement and global exposure.

Therefore, the extent to which an institute emphasises on these two factors can make a major impact on an aspirant's career prospects.

For instance, at IIFM corporate engagement has been taken to a new level. Student admission interviews are conducted by an external panel whose decision is given more weightage in the selection than the internal IIFM management.

In any given interview the ratio of senior corporate people to IIFM management is 3:2. In fact IIFM follows a formal methodology - Innovative Corporate Engagement (ICE). As part of this, corporate engagement is sought in unique ways.

Apart from the above, the curriculum itself it vetted by the industry every six months. CEOs and senior corporate executives are called every week to share their perspective and encouraged to mentor some of the students who are interested in that industry.

Global exposure has also been integrated in various ways. The regular two year full time MBA program integrates some modules of American Academy of Financial Management, USA.

Students have the option to study the final year at Seneca College, Canada followed by a one year work permit, where they get a firsthand experience of interacting with other students from diverse cultures. There is also a dual degree program, which combines MBA and MS in Law from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, US, which is beneficial for students planning a career in corporate law in the US.

"Management pass outs need to be global citizens. They have to have the ability to interact with individuals across cultures and boundaries. World economies are interconnected and interrelated, so solutions to management problems do require a keen global perspective, Jagmohan adds.