Chapter 41: Management

Introduction

The world of management is changing dramatically being driven among others by forces of global competition, flourishing market economy and most importantly, the breathtaking advancement in technology, particularly in the field of Information Technology (IT). As has been discussed in Chapter 25 (Computer and Information Technology), the impact of IT on business, industry, financial institutions and governments have been pervasive leading to structural changes in their working systems. The advent of the Internet and the emergence of e-Commerce have been changing the ways of conducting business world over.

There has been a realisation, by organisations and individuals, that narrow professional qualifications or functional skills are not enough in a business environment where there is the need to take an integrated, and increasingly global view of how a decision in one business discipline may impact on others – exactly what is taught in business schools. The MBA programmes of business schools reflect the needs and realities of business and industry. They are designed to expose individuals to the full range of skills required for both general and functional management. It is, therefore, no wonder that MBA is now the three-letter corporate mantra.

The systematic study of management as a discipline is of fairly recent origin, although management has always been of some concern of the organised society throughout the history of civilisation. Management education also knows as “business education” or “business studies” leading to the award of Master’s degrees in Business Administration (MBA) was basically an American concept. Since the establishment of the Wharton School of Finance in the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) in 1881, the teaching of business skills in universities was gradually accepted as a legitimate academic activity. The Universities of Chicago and California established their business schools in 1989 and the prestigious Harvard Business School was founded in 1908.

Often business schools grew out of Economics Departments in several universities. In Great Britain, on the other hand, post-experience educational programmes, known as management development programmes, for training the practising managers preceded graduate-level academic programmes in business administration in universities. While the Administrative Staff College (Henley); now known as Henley Management College was established in 1947 for conducting post-experience programmes, a report by Lord Franks (November 1963) led to the foundation in 1968 of the first two business schools in London and Manchester Universities. However, earlier in the 1950s postgraduate diploma courses were introduced in seven universities. The British Management Association also played an important role in promoting management education in Great Britain. Large number of business schools now dot the world map. Some of them in Great Britain, European countries, the USA, and Australia have assumed international character as students from all over the world throng to them.

India: In India also, post-experience education programmes for working-managers preceded academic education in management. The root of management education may be traced to the Training Within Institute (TWI) scheme introduced in the mid-forties, for the supervisory and foreman level employees in the industries as well as the in-company training programmes organised by many British firms.

It was in this background that the first attempt to provide post-experience training facilities was made when in 1949, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) appointed an Expert Committee for examining the issue. The report of the committee led to the establishment in 1957 of the Administrative Staff College of India (Hyderabad-500082) with the technical assistance of the Administrative Staff College, Henley to offer management development programmes for senior managers and government officials. Around the same time, the question of brining management as an academic discipline within the higher education system was also examined by another Special Committee set up in 1951-52 by the AICTE. The Committee recommended, to begin with, the introduction of part-time postgraduate diploma courses in business administration and institutional administration at selected centres.

The introduction of full-time courses was recommended when the required teachers became available. The Committee also suggested the formation of a coordinating and controlling agency for promoting management education. The AICTE acted on these recommendations and in 1953, the All India Board of Technical studies in Management came into existence. The Board initially selected four universities, viz., Calcutta, Madras, and Mumbai, for introducing business administration courses and three technical institutions, viz., Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore), Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur), and Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (Mumbai) (now Veermata Jijabai Technical Institute) for industrial management courses.

In 1961-62, the Government of India decided to establish two autonomous institutions outside the university system, viz., Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) one at Calcutta (1961) and the other at Ahmedabad (1962) to offer two-year full-time postgraduate diploma in business administration. While IIM(C) was to collaborate with Harvard Business School, the IIM (A) was assisted by the Sloan Business School (MIT) for launching the programmes. Subsequently, four other IIMs were established at Bangalore (1973); Lucknow (1984), Indore (1996) and Kozhikode (1996). Annexure 1 gives a brief account of the courses offered by the six IIMs.

Another autonomous institution, National Institute of Training in Industrial Engineering (now National Institute of Industrial Engineering) (NITIE) (Mumbai-400087), was established in 1963 at Mumbai for training engineers in management and industrial engineering and related areas. It now offers a two-year full time Postgraduate Diploma in Institutional Management (PGDIM) which is equivalent to MBA degree.

During the same period, the Government of India also encouraged setting up the All India Management Association (AIMA) (1957) and the National Productivity Council (NPC) (1958) with its network of regional Councils to offer executive development programmes for senior managers. The AIMA now offers two distance learning programmes and also publishes a monthly journal Indian Management. The Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) of the University of Delhi which came into existence in 1955 launched its MBA programme for fresh graduates in 1968. This was soon followed up by many other universities. In many universities the Faculties of Commerce tool the initiative to introduce the MBA programme. Now most of the universities have constituted Management Faculties.

Educational Facilities

Educational Institutions: During the last one decade there has been a phenomenal growth in the educational facilities in management, often at the cost of quality. Accordingly to the data available from the AICTE documents, the number of institutions offering MBA and Postgraduate Diploma programmes (PGDBA/PGDM/PGDBM) increased from 259 (26,494 seats) in 1994 to 584 (50,318 seats) in 1997. The number was 411 (36,484 seats) in 1995, and 508 (45,288 seats) in 1996. According to the data (without any reference date) downloaded in June 2000 from the website of AICTE, the number of institutions is 647 (52,344 seats). In the 12^th convention of the Association of Indian Management Schools held in August 2000, the figure quoted in 742. The table in Annexure 2 shows that there is an uneven distribution of management institutions in the country. Three States, viz., Andhra Pradesh (108), Maharashtra (115) and Tamil Nadu (105) account for more than 50% of the institutions. The Eastern (including Orissa) and North-Eastern States have only 40 institutions. Orissa and West Bengal account for 34.

The courses offered by these institutions consisting of university departments, colleges and institutions affiliated to them, and autonomous institutions outside the university system need the recognition of the AICTE which is the regulatory authority for management education. There was a time when managers were distinct from engineers. In today’s industrial landscape with rapidly changing technologies; there is lot of coalescing of both functions. However, only five IITs, the IISc (Bangalore) two Regional Engineering Colleges and a small number of engineering colleges offer programmes primarily for engineering and technical degree holders (See Annexure 3). In the university system, large number of engineering and technical institutions have introduced MBA courses. The IITs, of course, has been offering M.Tech (Industrial Management) courses.

As also stated earlier, the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) was established for imparting industrial management education. Twelve university level technical institutions, viz., five Indian Institutes of Technology at Kharagpur, Kanpur, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi, Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore-560012), Indian School of Mines (Dhanbad-826004), Bengal Engineering College (Howrah-711103), Birla Institute Technology (Ranchi-835215), Birla Institute of Technology and Science (Pilani-333031), Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (Hyderabad-500028) and Roorkee University (Roorkee-247667) have introduced Master’s degree programmes in management at their Schools of Management. The School of Management of IIT (Mumbai) has a plan to introduce a dual degree programme which will enable students to do their B.Tech degree along with a Master’s degree in management.

Another reason for the proliferation of management courses is their introduction through the distance learning mode. (see below). Besides the universities, two professional organisations, viz., the All India Management Association (New Delhi-110003) (See Annexure 4) and the National Institute of Personnel Management (Calcutta-700019) also offer diploma level courses through distance learning mode.

Besides the institutions recognised by the AICTE, there are also many private institutions of doubtful credibility which offer courses on a plethora of management topics mostly through distance learning mode. Display advertisements of several such institutions frequently appear in regional and national newspapers to attract the gullible. This has been discussed in Chapter 13 (Dream Merchants of Education – Fake’ Institutions). Besides, several Indian Institutions have started tying up with foreign universities to offer postgraduate degree courses. In some institutions students have the option of completing the final phase of the course in the foreign university. One of the well-known programmes in this category is the residential course of 15 months’ duration offered by the Ohio-Manipal School of Business (Bangalore-560065). The controversial issue of the introduction of courses in India by foreign universities has been discussed in Chapter 14 (“Invasion” of Foreign Education).

Indian School of Business: A significant development in the history of management education in India is the establishment of the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad, which is supported by about 50 of the world’s most successful companies. Two of the top 10 US Schools of Business – the Kellogg Graduate School of Management (North Western University) and the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania), and the London Business School – are collaborating with the project. The ISB will offer three courses: (i) a one-year MBA programme; (ii) Programmes in executive education and development, and (iii) doctoral programme. The MBA programme is likely to cost a student about $ 15,000. Entrance is bused on GMAT score, work experience and interview.

Levels of Courses

Management education in now available at four levels: (i) undergraduate, (ii) diploma (both undergraduate and postgraduate), (iii) postgraduate (both postgraduate diploma and Master’s degree), and (iv) Doctoral (Research Studies).

Undergraduate Level: As discussed earlier, the education in management was introduced only at the postgraduate level. During the last one decade or so there has been a large-scale proliferation of three-year first degree course as an alternative option to the traditional BA, B.Com, and B.Sc courses leading to the award of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS), Bachelor of Business Management (BBM) or Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) degrees.

It was the College of Business Studies (Delhi-110095) the University of Delhi which in 1987 first introduced the BBS course. The courses are offered by a large number colleges affiliated to more than 60 universities. Several courses in specialised areas of management have also been introduced e.g., Bachelor of Financial and Investment Analysis (BFIA) in College of Business Studies (Delhi University) Bachelor of Marketing Management (BMM), Bachelor of Bank Management (BBM) and Bachelor of Foreign Trade (BFT) in Pondicherry University. In a small number of universities, the subject is also offered as one of the combinations in the BA degree course.

Diploma Level: Diploma programmes of one-year duration are offered mostly by universities. Some courses deal with management in general (business administration, management, and management studies) but many more are in specialised areas, such as Advertising and Marketing Management, Administrative Management, Capital Market Management, Export Management, Financial Management, Human Resource Management, Industrial Relations Management, Operations Management. Seven universities in Maharashtra (particularly the Pune University) offer a two year (part-time) diploma course open to Bachelor degree holders leading to the award of Diploma in Business Management (DBM). Holders of the Diploma are eligible to get Master of Management Studies (MMS) degree after pursuing study for another year.

Postgraduate Level: As stated earlier, Management is the only academic discipline which is offered by both the university and non-university systems. The eligibility requirement is a graduate degree in any branch with at least 50% marks in the aggregate (see also Annexure 11) (Minimum Standards and Norms for Management Education). Two-year programmes leading to the award of MBA degree (for university courses) and the Postgraduate Diploma (for non-university courses) are widely perceived as equivalent (also see below). As stated above, the Postgraduate Diplomas are offered by autonomous institutions which are recognised by the AICTE. As on December 31, 1997, there were 148 such institutions (See Annexure 5 for an illustrative list). The number of universities which have introduced MBA programme now exceeds 110.

Annexure 6 gives a state-wise illustrative list. Besides the university departments of business management, a large number of colleges and autonomous institutions affiliated to universities also offer the course. More than 60 university departments also offer part-time MBA courses of three-year duration mostly open to working managers. Four universities, viz., Gujarat University (Ahemdabad-380009), Lucknow University (Lucknow-226007), Maharshi Dayanand University (Rohtak-124001), Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (Indore-452003), and Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) (Pilani-333031), have introduced integrated MBA/MMS programme of five years duration (except BITS which needs four years to study). Like any other integrated programme, the admission requirement is a pass in 10+2 examination.

Doctoral Level: In view of the increasing demand for teachers in management, many universities have introduced doctoral programmes. About 60 universities offer Ph.D, and about 15 M.Phil (pre-doctoral) programmes. The Fellowship Programme in Management (FPM), equivalent to Ph.D degree, offered by the four IIMs (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta and Lucknow) has high reputation in the academic circle. (See Annexure 1), XLRI (Jamshedpur) has also introduced a Fellow Programme. The Ph.D programme of the IIT (Mumbai) is also a highly rated one.

Specialisation Courses

The curriculum and course contents for MBA/PGDBA programmes differ from institution to institution depending upon their objectives. Over recent years, the “classic” MBA course has undergone a process of steady evolution in order to match the dynamic nature of management itself. The topics typically covered, however, may be grouped into four broad categories:

1.  Foundation courses which include Economics and Social Environment, Managerial/Business Economics, Accounting and Finance, Quantitative Techniques, Organisational Development/Behaviour,

2.  Application courses such as Computer and Information Technology, Operations Research. Management Control and Information System,

3.  Integrative courses such as Business Policy, Business and Government, Strategic Management, Technology Management, Management of Public Enterprises; and

4.  Specialisation in at least two functional areas such as Marketing Management, Industrial Relations and Personnel Management/Human Resource Management, Financial Management, Production/Operations Management.

In view of the increasing complexity of business operations, the need was felt for specialised programmes in several functional areas such as, Marketing Management, Financial Management and Industrial Production Management, Personnel Management and Industrial Relations, Human Resource Development. The liberalisation of Indian economy necessitated trained manpower in International Business and International Management. Principles and techniques of management are equally applicable to non-business enterprises and several sectors of the economy.

Such applications have come to be known as “sectoral management”. The Government of India took the initiative to establish at least four institutions to offer prestigious courses in sectoral management. Viz., Institute of Rural Management (Anand-338001), Indian Institute of Forest Management (Bhopal-462003), Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Co-operative Management (Pune-411007), and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (New Delhi-110016). Many institutions have also started introducing courses in functional and sectoral management. These programmes are available both at diploma (one-year duration) and postgraduate level (two-year duration). There are now as many as 34 different types of specialised courses (See Annexure 7).

However the largest number of courses in functional management is available in three areas: (1) Human Resource Development and related areas (2) Financial Management; and (3) Marketing Management.

Human Resource Development Management: In this area four types of courses are available viz., Human Resource (Development) Management, Personnel Management, Industrial Relations, and Labour Management. Many courses are also offered at P G Diploma level. The Department of Personnel Management and Industrial Relations of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai-400088) is well-known for its MA (Personnel Management & Industrial Relations) programme in Personnel Management (DPM).

Financial Management: Courses in this area carry two labels, viz; Master of Financial Management (MFM) and Master of Financial Control (MFC). Besides, there are also stray courses in Investment and Portfolio Management. In this area many P G Diploma Courses are also available.

Marketing Management: The courses in this area have such labels as Master of Marketing Management (MMM), Master of Marketing Economics and Management (MMEM), Master of Marketing Technology (MMT), Master of Marketing Administration (MMA). There are also a small number of courses in marketing of specific products. A large number of PG Diploma programmes are also offered. Some of them also cover sales management.

In the area of sectoral management, there are as many as 23 types of courses. The zeal for specialisation has, however, led to unnecessary fragmentation of a topic for which hardly any employment market exists. Some of the major ones have been discussed in Chapters dealing with the concerned sectors, viz., Agribusiness Management (Chapter 16), Hospital and Health Care Management (Chapter 43), Environmental Management (Chapter 32), Hotel Tourism and Travel Management (Chapter 34), Computer and Information Technology Management (Chapter 25), Annexure 7 gives an illustrative list of postgraduate courses offered by a large number of institutions.

Admission Procedure

By and large, there are three steps for admission to postgraduate courses – entrance test, group discussion and personal interview. Candidates short-listed on the basis of the results of the entrance test are required to participate in group discussions. This is followed by a personal interview. Final selections are made on the basis of their performance in group discussion and personal interview. Some States have centralised the entrance examinations both for university and non-university courses. In Andhra Pradesh the common entrance test MBACET is conducted for selection of candidates for the MBA courses offered by all university departments and colleges affiliated to them.

Rajasthan Management Admission Test (RMAT) is used for admitting students to MBA courses offered by all institutions. The Professional Examination Board (Madhya Pradesh) conducts the Joint Entrance Test for admissions to MBA and allied courses in all management institutions. The Directorate of Technical Education (Maharashtra) conducts state-wise Common Entrance Test (CET). Many Universities and non-university autonomous institutions conduct their own entrance tests. Though Uttar Pradesh Government has introduced the Uttar Pradesh Management Common Admission Test (UPMCAT), several universities such as Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University, University of Roorkee conduct their own tests.

IGNOU conducts OPENMAT for admission to its management programmes. Five Indian Institutes of Technology (Kharagpur, Kanpur, Delhi and Mumbai) and the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) conduct a Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) (See Annexure 3). The six Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) conduct the Common Admission Test (CAT) for admission to all their courses. The CAT has high reputation for sifting grain from chaff. Its scores are also accepted by many other institutions offering PGDBA/PGDBM course. However, IIMs have no role either in selecting the candidates or in the conduct of the programmes. Nor does the IIMs vouch for the quality of the courses. The scores of Management Aptitude Test (MAT) conducted by the All India Management Association are accepted by many institutions including several universities (See also Chapter 9 – Admission Procedures).

Distance Learning Programmes

At present, 24 universities including six open universities have introduced the MBA course of three-year duration through distance learning mode. Besides the MBA course, several universities have also introduced Master’s degree courses in some of the specialised branches. Annexure 8 gives a list of the universities. Some of these universities also offer Diploma courses in management and in several other branches of the subject. Annamalai University and Pondicherry University offer a large number of Postgraduate Diploma courses in different branches of management. However, the programmes of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) deserve mention. It offers six programmes, viz., (1) MBA, (2) PGDIM, (3) DIM, (4) Specialisation Diploma Programmes, (5) MBA (Banking and Finance), and (6) Postgraduate Diploma in International Business (PGDIBO). A brief account of these programmes is given in Annexure 9.

MBA-PGDBA Equivalence

As states earlier, management is the only academic discipline which offered both by the university and non-university systems. According to the UGC Act, 1956 only the universities and university –level institutions (i.e., deemed universities and institutions of national importance) can grant degrees. Accordingly, the universities and university-level institutions award MBA and related degrees, and institutions outside the university systems award Postgraduate Diplomas (PGD M/PGDBA/PGDBM). It is mandatory for all institutions offering postgraduate programmes in management to obtain the necessary approval of the AICTE. For years, the PG Diploma was, therefore, perceived equivalent to the MBA degree. Many institutions, particularly the lesser-known ones, in their admission advertisements specifically highlight the point that their AICTE recognised diplomas are equivalent to MBA degree so as to attract students.

However, in August 1999, AICTE in a public notice under the caption “Attention MBA Aspirants” said that many institutions “are unauthorisedly using AICTE’s name in their advertisements wherein Post Graduate Diploma in Management (viz., PGDBM/PGDBA, etc.) are said to be equivalent or at par with MBA or MBA level courses”. The advertisement warned that such unauthorised and improper use of AICTE’s name attract penal action under the Indian Penal Code. The notice further states that “AICTE merely authorises institutions to conduct on (sic) PG Diploma Programme in management”.

The notice then listed 11 institutions whose 12 programmes have been recognised to be equivalent to MBA or corresponding Master’s degree (see Annexure 10). The public notice created a lot of confusion and led to a storm of protests in the media. It also created the impression that AICTE is the appropriate authority for granting equivalence. In December 1999, the AICTE issued another public notice saying that it merely “approves” institutions for conducting degree and diploma programmes in technical education including management. It added that it is the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) which is the appropriate authority for granting equivalence and advised that institutions desirous “of getting their programmes evaluated and granted equivalence by AIU” should approach it. This notification implies that the clain fir equivalence can be made only if the concerned institute obtains the necessary clearance from the AIU.

As discussed elsewhere, the determination of equivalence of certain awards, both Indian and foreign, is necessitated for purpose of admission to universities and recruitments in public services. The AIU has been doing this for quite some time particularly in respect of foreign degrees. According to the AIU, the universities, as statutory bodies, are free to accept these recommendations or to determine their own equivalence. It has now undertaken the task of granting equivalence to the awards granted in India by foreign institutions which have entered into tie-up arrangements with Indian Institutions (See Chapter 14 – “Invasion” of Foreign Education).

Nomenclature of Awards

As has been discussed in Chapter 11 (Nomenclature of Awards) there is a wide variety of nomenclature of awards in management. There are two categories of postgraduate awards viz., postgraduate diplomas and Master’s degrees. The postgraduate diplomas are named differently – PGDBA, PGDBM, PGDM. Master’s degree has also several named, such as MBA (the most widely used one), Master of Business Management (MBM), and MMS. While the awards MMS stands for Master of Management Studies in most of the universities, in some, the expansion is Master of Management Sciences. There are also other instances of the same abbreviated form of awards for three different courses, e.g., MCM (Master of Computer Management, Master of Corporate Management, and Master of Cooperative Management), MBM (Master of Business Management and Master of Bank Management).

It is in the specialisation areas that there is a preplexing variety of nomenclature even for courses dealing with the same topic. In some universities, the name of the topic is added to MBA in parenthesis e.g., MBA (Marketing), MBA (Personnel Management), MBA (Financial Management). However, in most of the universities the names of the branches precede the term “Master of “ for example Master of Personnel Management (MPM), Master of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Master of International Business (MIB). Examples of different nomenclature used in respect of three branches of study viz., Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, Human Resource Management and Development and Financial Management, have been given in Chapter 11 (Nomenclature of Awards).

Quality of Management Education

Of late, the unbridled proliferation of the management institutions both in the university and non-university systems and the resultant deterioration of the quality of the programmes offered by some of them have come under sharp criticism in many quarters. The main reason for the mushrooming of management institutions is the market demand for management graduates. Those passing out of reputed institutions are picked up by top companies and often before the results of examinations are formally announced.

Ambitious graduates, crazy about taking up management course, who cannot get through rigorous entrance test like CAT, try their luck in any institution which is prepared to admit them. Not all companies opt for top institutions for recruitment. Many pick up the next best available product. It is the third category, if any such categorisation is possible, of institutions which sadly lack infrastructural facilities worth the name, is the refuge of the largest number of students wanting to get a head start in management. Such institutions include not only the autonomous ones outside the university system but also many private enterprises affiliated to universities.

Many private players consider establishing a management institution as yet another business venture without making any substantial investment to develop the necessary infrastructural facilities. AICTE has specified a mandatory minimum standards and norms for establishing a management institution (See Annexure 11 for relevant extract). Many institutions hardly conform to the mandatory minimum requirement. It is not uncommon that some sponsors even borrow computers and a couple of thousand books to satisfy the AICTE inspection team. AICTE’s portfolio is quite large and it is widely perceived that it is unable to discharge its regulatory responsibility particularly in respect of management institutions. Hardly any management institution has opted for getting its programmes accredited by the AICTE’s National Accreditation Board (See Chapter 8 – Recognition, Accreditation and Ranking of Institutions). It may be exclusively for management education.

In the absence of any system of ranking of institutions by any independent agency the students aspiring for management degrees find it difficult to choose the right ones. The employers also face the problem of sifting the grain from the chaff. They may not necessarily take the contents of glossy brochures sent by many institutions to promote campus recruitment at their face value. The first ever attempt to rank management institutions was undertaken by Business Today in collaboration with the Hyderabad-based COSMODE (See Chapter 8 – Recognition, Accreditation and Ranking of Institutions). It is not surprising that the 50 institutions listed therein are those whose reputation is well-known. (See also Update to Chapter 8 for AIMA-Business India Survey of Business Schools and the second COSMODE survey).

The institutions appearing in this ranked list have been included in Annexure 5 (Non-University Management Institutes) and Annexure 6 (University MBA Courses). The list of top 50 Business Schools ranked by the Asia Week (May 5, 2000) includes nine Indian Institutions, viz., (1) IIM Ahmedabad, (2) IIM Bangalore, (3) IIT Mumbai, (4) Birla Institute of Technology and Science (Pilani), (5) TA Pai Management Institute (Manipal), (6) Narsee Monkee Institute of Management Studies (Mumbai), (7) International Institute of Management (New Delhi), (8) Bharathidasan Institute of Management (Tiruchirapalli), and (9) B K School of Business Management (Gujarat University), (Ahmedabad). IIM Calcutta, whose name is conspicuous by absence, reportedly did not participate in the survey.

How should then the aspiring students make a choice of institutes? The following check-points may be worth considering:

(1)  Admission Process: Whether the institution insists on a minimum of 50% as the eligibility requirement and whether it follows the standard admission procedure consisting of entrance test, group discussion and interview. The rigour if the filtration system is one of the important criteria to assess the standard of the institution.

(2)  Computer Facilities: The importance of computer and information technology hardly need any emphasis. It is necessary to find out only the number of computers available, but also their quality, availability of appropriate software packages and the nature of computer faculty.

(3)  Library Facilities: It is not only the number of books available in the liabrary that matters. The collection covering all the areas of study must also be up-to-date. How many journals the library subscribes? Whether the library has Internet facility to enable the students to exploit the vast information resources of the World Wide Web.

(4)  Faculty: Many admission advertisements flaunt the names of visiting of guest faculty and advisers, mostly company executives and retired management teachers. What is more important is the number of permanent faculty, their experience and the period of service in the institution.

(5)  Summer Placements and Field Work: Summer Placements and field work are two important elements of management education. They facilitate peer group exposure which is a valuable learning experience in itself. For this purpose, the management institutions must develop contacts with the business, industry and other establishments. However, there are many instances of students being asked to fend for themselves. What is the track record of the institute in this matter?

(6)  Placement of Students: Does the institute have a full-fledged placement assistance cell possessing a comprehensive database of potential employers? However, the visibility of a management institution in the employment market is one of the crucial factors to attract companies to take part in the campus recruitment process. It takes considerably a long time to build up such a reputation. The performance of the products of earlier years to a great extent is a contributory factor. As the statistical data provided earlier shows, majority of the institutions are not more than four to five years old.

Concluding Remarks: Management will continue to be one of the best career options for many years to come. However, the indiscriminate recognition accorded to many non-deserving institutions in resulting in students getting MBA degrees which fail to get them any foothold in the world of business. It is now time that the UGC and the AICTE introduced some us of quality filtration. The management professionals have an important role in this matter. Three steps are worth considering (1) introduction of a GMAT type of the admission test acceptable to all institutions; (2) introduction of a quality rating system by an independent agency; and (3) AICTE persuading by the NBA.

Though it is easier said than done, students aspiring to enter the world of management need to do some homework to identify institutions which will help them to achieve their career objectives.

Update

Ranking of Business Schools: In Chapter 8 (Recognition, Accreditation and Ranking of Institutions) reference has been made to COSMODE - Business Today ranking of business schools. This has also been discussed in Chapter 41 (Management)under the heading Quality of Management Education. The All-India Management Association (AIMA) and Business India in collaboration with the Delhi-based Management Development Research Agency (MRDA),have also done a survey for ranking business schools. The results have been published in Business India (September 18 - October 1,2000) COSMODE-Business Today has conducted yet one more survey and have published the results in Business Today (November 21, 2000). However, non-comparability of these two rankings, because of widely differing methodologies and parameters has given rise to controversies and confusion. Comparison with prudent methodologies and parameters adopted by several newspapers and news magazines, such as US News, Business Week, and Financial Times, therefore becomes inescapable. A brief account of the findings of these two surveys follows:

(1) The AIMA - Business India Survey of Best B-Schools: It used "objective scores to rank the top 10 B Schools", Another 307 schools were "rated through indexes". The survey excluded the institutions which were established after 1997 and all those which " did not meet the criteria of two passing-out batches". The structured questionnaire used for the survey had 98 questions grouped under 27 parameters. A total of 1,750 points were allocated to the parameters to evaluate each school. The distribution of the points was spread over six different categories and weightages were assigned to each: (1) Intellectual Capital of Faculty (7 parameters and weightage 32%); (2) Placement (4 and 23%); (3) Facilities to Augment Learning (7 and 17%); (4) Infrastructure (5 and 11%); (5) Industry Interfaces (3 and 11%); and (6) Growth (1 and 6%);

The survey presents three separate lists: (1) Top 10 schools; (2) The next 20 (rated A+) and (3) The remaining 282 schools rated A(45), B+ (50),B (52), C+ (71), and c(64).(Through the report mentions that beside 10 top schools 307 schools were "rated through indexes", the actual number is 301 (19A+ plus 282). The name of the Xavier Institute of Management (Bhubhaneswar) appears both in the 10 and "the next 20" lists).

The top 10 schools (listed by ranks) are (1) Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabed (IIMA) (2) IIML (3)IIMB (4) IIMC (5) Management Development Institute (6) Faculty of Management Studies (University of Delhi) (7) Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) (8) Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (University of Mumbai) (9) S P Jain Institute of Management (10) Xavier Institute of Management (Bhubhaneswar).

The next 20 schools (rated A+) (listed alphabetically) are, (1) Bharatidasan Institute of Management Studies (2) Development of Management Studies (IIT Delhi) (3) FORE School of Management (4) Goa Institute of Management (5) Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (6) Indian Institute of Rural Management (7) Institute of Management Technology (8) Institute of Rural Management Anand (9) International Management Institute (10) M S Patel Institute of Management Studies (Faculty of Management Studies, M S University of Board) (11) Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (12) National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) (13) Nirma Institute of Management (14) R A Podar Institute of Management (Faculty of Management Studies, University of Rajasthan) (15) Sailesh J Mehta School of Management (IIT Mumbai) (16) Symbiosis Centre for Management & H R D (17) T A Pai Management Institute (18) University Business School, Punjab University (19) Vinod Gupta School of Management (IIT Kharagpur) (20) Xavier Institute of Management (Bhubaneswar).

The survey is very comprehensive and provides an excellent insight into both the positive and negative aspects of management education. Some of the observations based on the analysis of the data collected deserve special mention. The following are selected excerpts:    

On Campus Placement: The MBA illusion is based on the dreamy salaries the top Business School graduates are earning... Consider this, all ye dewy-eyed hopefuls (and there parents): our survey shows that 67% of MBA students don't get campus placement... But even among them who get jobs on campus, as many as 45% got less the Rs. 10,000 per month as starting salary... Forty seven percent of the institute surveyed, most of them from this [ B] category, did not even offer campus placement. Most of such B- School are inadequately funded and not run professionally... Not much thought has been give to the fact that as the B-Schools are post-graduate teaching institutions, they should have matching budgets (p.81).

On Inadequate Faculty Strength: The luxury of having adequate faculty isn't available in many cases. In 54% of institutions surveyed, there permanent faculty. Most institute claim that they get by with high quality visiting faculty who are on permanent call. Visiting faculty charge Rs. 500 to Rs 1000. per hour for the best. For the other, it could be as low as 160 per hour... The faculty -student ratio is also low while the international norm is 12:1 meaning of faculty for every 12 students, here the ratio is one faculty for every 30 students.. At the lower end of the spectrum, the faculty are either absent, under - qualified, certainly underpaid and massively exploited.

On visiting faculty: Visiting faculty, usually people from local universities moonlighting on side, and a jobless band of MBAs, have become a major source for most of the 'MBA teaching shops' also known as 'management boutiques', which operate on the fringe of MBA boom. There is also another band of 'nomadic teachers' with doubtful academic credentials who hop from institute to institute in a two-wheeler on the weekends, returning home with a cool packet as teaching fee.

On Intellectual Capital: Is the intellectual capital of our B-schools growing? Far from it...As many as 70% of the institutes did not have a single member of the faculty who had published a research paper. As to books, there is hardly any institute outside the top 50 category where a faculty member bas authored any work

On Libraries: While every school surveyed affirmed that they had a library when it comes to providing budgets for libraries, ample space for books and provision of seats for students, there is predictable chaos.

On Western Bias: Be it the case studies, the system of teaching, summer placements, or project work, all of these institutes seem to have a more than pro-western orientation - ostensibly to prepare students to face global markets.

On Engineering Graduates: 58% of MBA students in the top institutes have an engineering back ground, while the percentage drops sharply. Overall, the percentage of engineering graduates is 18%. That these students have already passed through one filter is likely to have helped them secure a place in the business institutes. The CAT and most other tests are object-oriented which makes it easier for the engineers to score (pp 96, 119). (See the last section of this update for a list of institutions which have introduced management programmes exclusively for engineering graduates).

On the University System: In a university system, heading a department that teachers management can be quite difficult times... However, more than funding, it is in changing curriculum that a university college faces difficulties. Jamnala Bajaj, for instance, had to wait for two full years before its comprehensive curriculum approved by the academic council. In the case of IIMs, despite their governmental moorings, the institute[s] enjoys tremendous autonomy (pp 90, 94).

On B-school Governance: Barring such exception, governance in Indian B-Schools leaves much to be deserved. The survey shows that across the entire spectrum, and including the best of the lot, B-schools fall for short when it comes to governance. Infrastructure maintenance, decision-making and the institute's contact with the outside world is massively wanting. Students seem to bear the brunt of every thing [A sad commentary on B- school which provide education on governance !] .

On Current Concerns: Where are B-schools headed? What could be their future model ? what new standards can emerge from these schools? The models being experimented with and those on the drawing board address the concerns of faculty famine, fall in intellectual capital, inadequate revision of curriculum, inadequate infrastructure, poor governance, obsession with getting best placement rather than best careers, selecting opportunities solely on basis of region among others.

(2) COSMODE-Business Today Business School Ranking 2000; while the earlier survey took note of 322 business schools this one covered 140. According to the report, at the time of finalising this survey 744 schools were listed as accredited by the AICTE. A recent study done by COSMODE for the Government of India showed that 70% of these schools did not meet AICTE's minimum standards (see also Annexure 11 to Chapter 42 - Management). this survey covered only those schools which were established by 1996. Out of these, the 140 schools that responded were considered for ranking. The IIM (Kozhikode) did not take part in the survey. The survey took two parameters into consideration viz., "objective" (700 points) and "perception"(300 points). The distribution of points are; (a) objective:(i) physical infrastructure (100) (ii) academic infrastructure (150) (iii) financial management (100), (iv) intellectual capital (120), (v) governance (30), (vi) efficiency index (200); (b) "Perception" Score: (i) recruiter (200), (ii) alumni (40), (iii) faculty (30), and (iv) students (30).

The top ten schools in respect of "academic infrastructure" are IIM (Bangalore), IIM(Lucknow),IIM(Calcutta),IIM(Kharagpur), IIM(Ahmedabad), Fore School management (New Delhi), MDI (Gurgaon), and IRMA. As regards intellectual capital, the top ten scorers are IIM (Ahmedabad), IIM (Calcutta), MDI (Gurgaon), IIM(Lucknow),IRMA, IIM (Bangalore), IIT (Kharagpur), NITIE (Mumbai), International Management Institute (New Delhi) and Faculty Management Studies, University of Delhi. According to perception of recruits, the top ten schools are IIM (Bangalore), IRMA and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (all scored 200 points), ICFAIAN Business School (Hyderabad), Xavier Institute of Management (Bhubaneswar), Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (Bangalore) and XLRI (Jamshedpur) (all scored 175 points), Fore School of Management (172 points), Nirma Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) and Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD (Pune), (both 170 points), IIM (Bangalore) which was number 2 in the previous survey, displaced IIM (Ahmedabad) to occupy the first slot. The rank-wise list of First 25 schools follows (the previous rank is given in parenthesis).

(1) Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (2); (2) Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (1); 3.Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (3); 4. Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (5); 5. Institute Rural Management, Anand (NE - Not evaluated) 6.XLRI, Jamshedpur (4); 7. management development institute. Gurgaon (8); 8. Indian institute of Management, Indore (NE); 9. SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai (9); 10. Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi(NE); 11. Naress Monjee Institute of Management studies, Mumbai (10); 12. International Management Institute, New Delhi (19); 13. Fore school of Management, New Delhi(33); 14. Institute of Management Technology, Ghazaiabad (11); 15.Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management studies, Mumbai (7); 16. Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (13); 17. T A Pai Management institute, Manipal (15) *18.Xavier Institute ot Management &Entrepreneurship, Bangalore (NE); 19. Faculty of Management studies, Delhi (6); 20. Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai (NE); 21.Vinoda Guptha school of Management, IIT Kharagpur (NE); 22. Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD, Pune (17); 23. NITIE, Mumbai (NE); 24. Nirma Institute of Management Ahmedabad (NE); 25. K J Somaiya Institute of Management studies and research, Mumbai (20)

Management programmes for Engineering Graduates: Annexure 3 to chapter 41 (Management) gives particulars about programmes offered by five IITs and IISC which are open to Engineering Graduates. A complete list of Institutions offering such courses follows: