Management Education

Prof. Hitesh Arora
Due to the vast customer base, businesses across the globe are eying the Indian markets and are keen to start their operations in India. Also, a large number of business initiatives have been launched by the Government of India (GOI) recently in its endeavor to not only make India a manufacturing hub but also to make her economic growth more inclusive. These forces have increased the demand for professional managers many folds, making management education more important than ever. In India, management education is imparted by varied players like universities, autonomous institutes, affiliated institutes and unaffiliated institutes besides open universities providing management education through distance learning mode. Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are considered institutes of national importance.
Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has put up a draft bill seeking to form a ‘coordination forum’ for the 19 IIMs across the country that has sparked a debate over the contents of the draft bill. The ongoing debate is being led by three major players in the management education in India, namely, old reputed IIMs (IIM-A, IIM-B and IIM-C), new IIMs and private institutes. The draft bill proposes to allow the IIMs to grant degrees instead of diplomas.As a result, programs offered by the IIMs would be called MBA (in place of PGDM) and Ph.D. (in place of fellowship). This proposal is being appreciated by the new IIMs as they feel that granting of degree would help in building their brand in the market and would make their courses more attractive to students. On the other hand, the reputed IIMs are opposing this move as they believe that they already have an excellent brand due to better quality and thus, granting of degree or diploma has no relevance for them. At present, IIMs enjoy freedom regarding appointment of chairpersons, directors and faculty members, fixing of fees and remuneration, changes in curriculum and decisions on the institute’s infrastructure. The passing of the IIM Act will snatch away this freedom by making all these subject to the approval of the HRD ministry in addition to remaining under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and audit by Comptroller and Auditor General of (CAG) India.
At the same time, the private institutes are also opposing the Bill since they are the worst hit because such a move would most probably have an adverse effect on their popularity due to inability to grant degrees and may even put their existence in jeopardy. Some private institutes like. They have quality infrastructure, admirable course curriculum and faculty, affordable fee structure and location, along and outstanding track record, and above all remarkable placements. With the new IIMs being able to grant MBA degrees instead of diplomas, it is probable that students will make their preferences based on the nature of certification rather than institute rankings. The courses run by private institutes will lose their sheen once the IIMs begin to award degrees.
The arguments put forth by the old and reputed IIMs (A, B and C) seem untenable for the simple fact that if a universal policy is being framed for IIMs, then all ought to be put under the same umbrella in spite of their market standing and brand. However, this would change the entire game in favor of the new IIMs against the private institutes like offering quality management education jeopardizing the creditability of their PGDM programmes. Allowing IIMs to grant degrees would compromise the position of these institutions. It is strongly felt that there must be a level-playing field for everyone. In fact, the government should draft a ‘Management Education Bill’ rather than an ‘IIM Bill’ to approve all management institutes, be it government, autonomous or private purely on their merit. The future agenda of management education in the country ought to focus on re-orienting itself to meet the increasing demand for professional managers.
(The author is a faculty at Fore School of Management, New Delhi)
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