Title:

Globalizing Management Education - A Challenge for both Industry and Academia

Author’s Profile:

Ms Radhika Suri, Lecturer, Amity University Rajasthan

14, Gopalbari, Near Ajmeri Pulia

Mobile: +919829019323, E-Mail: radhika.aur@gmail.com

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 Abstract

Globalizing Management Education - A Challenge for both Industry and Academia

Operationalizing products, people, currency and businesses, eliminating trade barriers, providing
an international regulatory system, offering incentives to Collaborative Scientific Research
comprehensively conceives institutionalizing globalization.

Globalizing management education not only has academic perspective but also has socio-
political, institutional, pschyco-social and cultural aspects.

For Academia – advanced teaching pedagogy for delivering the ever increasing quantum of
knowledge in addition to having an interdisciplinary approach would prove to be of paramount
significance.

For Industry - integrative perspectives in different countries in addition to conceptualizing with a

macro vision whereas executing it at a micro level would be the key to survival.

Regulation, quality assurance, capacity building, giving knowledge parks the status of Special
Economic Zones shall also be the focal areas in globalizing management education. Educational
Institutes will have to center their attention in decision making on the three major stake holders,
namely, government, industry and the public at large.

Globalization has led to a dramatic shift in the work culture. Paper work has reduced
significantly. Use of ecommerce has grown widely. E-learning is the computer and network-
enabled transfer of skills and knowledge. E-learning applications and processes include Web-
based learning, computer-based learning, virtual classroom opportunities and digital
collaboration. Content is delivered via the Internet, intranet/extranet, audio or video tape, satellite
TV, and CD-ROM. Major advantages being that it can be self-paced or instructor-led and
includes media in the form of text, image, animation, streaming video and audio, which is easier
to retain and recall.

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This paper focuses on diagnosing the current state of management education with respect to
globalization, viable options for removing the bottlenecks in globalization of management
education and aligning it to the implications of globalization on industry. The paper also focuses
on the feasibility of establishing educational tribunals as well as the implications of Public-
Private Partnership model as a financial strategy.

Key Words: Globalization, Socio-Political, International Regulatory System, Interdisciplinary

Approach, Educational Tribunals, Public-Private Partnership Model

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Globalizing Management Education - A Challenge for both Industry and Academia

Introduction

Operationalizing products, people, currency and businesses aids the process of globalization.

Eliminating trade barriers, providing an international regulatory system, offering incentives to

Collaborative Scientific Research comprehensively conceives institutionalizing globalization.

Globalization is a process by which regional economies, societies and cultures have become

integrated through a global network of political ideas through communication, transportation,

and trade. The term is most closely associated with the term economic globalization. It means

assimilation of economy and society through inter country transaction of information, ideas,

technologies, goods, services, capital, finance and people.

Globalization is a macro process which integrates various sectors of a national economy with

global macro environment.

Globalization has made a sea change in walks of life – political, social or cultural. Thus, it would

be delusional to expect that education sector would be untouched by it, least of all management

education. Globalization has created enormous opportunities and challenges through global

competitiveness and in the area of these fast emerging changes, there is a need for future global

managers with qualities and competencies in global perspectives which expect the human

development in all walks of life including education.

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An economy must be cautious about Globalization. It leads to a more iniquitous distribution of

income among countries and within countries. Globalization also leads to loss of sovereignty and

countries find it increasingly difficult to flow independent domestic policies.

The most fascinating aspect of management education is that it’s a universal product. Four newer

developments that one can discuss in management education worldwide are:

i) Internationalization of curriculum

ii) Entrepreneurship

iii) Corporate Governance, Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility coming

into the fore-court of Management education.

iv) International Partnerships

Many corporate groups like Wal-Mart, Sony, and Coca-Cola have promoted Management

Institutes in Florida, Japan and New York respectively. This scenario infers that times to come

would be both more competitive and more comprehensive. Knowledge is the driving force in

dynamic economy and society. Emergence of knowledge as a driving force results in both

opportunities as well as challenges. Lately, there is a need for a paradigm shift from individual

thinking to collaborative thinking process, focusing on being & doing rather than knowing; and

from culture of standardization to innovate individualization. It suggests how industry-academia

partnership, networking should build closer collaborative relationships and how accreditation

system should be effective for quality assurance and education resulting to co-creation of wealth

and more employment opportunities in global environment.

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Globalizing management education not only has academic perspective but also has socio-

political, institutional, pschyco-social and cultural aspects.

Global challenges in Management Education

1. The dynamic business environment – Business Environment in the last couple of

years has seen more changes than in the ever before. The drivers primarily have

been the changing demographics, economic upswings, industry expectations,

future demand for higher education, which would not only the traditional college

going students but also the working executives who need to bolster their careers.

2. Simultaneously Balancing Global Aspirations as well as Local Needs – Stressing

on proving globally recognized and accredited education which ensures that it

fulfils the needs of individual regions, nations and local communities.

3. Quality Compliance- Educational Institutes will have to center their attention in

decision making on the three major stake holders, namely, government, industry

and the public at large. To ensure that the interests of all the stakeholders are met,

it is essential that the management institutes are regulated by the regulatory

bodies.

4. Aligning management education to the Industrial Expectations- In today’s era the

Industry to thrive needs to apply integrative perspectives in different countries in

addition to conceptualizing with a macro vision whereas executing it at a micro

level.

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Corporate leaders can endorse the future of business by advocating the following initiatives to

press forward management education worldwide:

a) Sponsor for quality assurance globally and locally. Global Management Education should

serve the needs of multicultural societies of different countries of the world in virtue of

the cultural and ethnic diversity of its residents.

b) Engage Corporate and Political leaders in envisioning future organizational leaders.

c) Facilitate Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in education will benefit students world over

availability of quality education at affordable prices. Globalization has diverse

consequences on the structure and character of management education world over.

d) Aid multilateral collaboration among Business School.

E- Learning – Application and Implication in Management Education

Electronic Learning (E Learning) is the need of the hour. In the earlier days, people or employers

relied more on hardcopies. Also, employee records etc were maintained in files. Postal service

being the most used form of communication between companies. Competition being low resulted

in work environment being slow in pace. Therefore, being a relaxed work environment. Top

down communication and strict hierarchy was how organizations functioned. Workers

participation was not even thought of. Employee loyalty and strong values and ethics were how

companies worked.

The average age of an employee ranged in the 30’s.

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Globalization has led to a dramatic shift in the work culture. Paper work has reduced

significantly. Use of ecommerce has grown widely. Competition leading to higher requirement

for performance and quality has been how companies work now. Younger people have been at

the top management now. We see people working along with pursuing their degrees. Coping with

temporariness and declining employee loyalty is one of the major changes in the work culture.

Also work demographics have changed. Number of women in the workforce has risen

significantly.

The following points have led to increase in the use of E Learning:

1. Cost –. Web based trainings though have numerous advantages but on the other hand

have high cost of development and production. The fixed cost of such training methods is

high but if there is large number of trainees then the method becomes cost effective. Also

the travel cost of the trainer can be avoided with the use of technology.

2. Ease of use – Few technological tools requires the employee to have prior training given

to him as to how to operate it. The tool being low/high on being user friendly is one

criterion in choosing the method.

3. Access – Some methods using technology might require use of internet. The connection,

speed/bandwidth are also few factors which are essential to be kept in mind. If you opt

for intranet delivery, you have more control over plug-ins and bandwidth.

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4. Physical Installation might be difficult- The installation of some E Learning tools might

not be an easy task. Therefore, it is of great importance to keep this criterion in mind.

5. Do participants require the flexibility to progress at their own pace opt out of material

they are familiar with, and revisit any material as a reference or job aid as they determine

necessary? - E-trainings enable users to proceed through a training program at their own

pace and at their own place. They can also access the training at any time, receiving only

as much as they need.

6. Does the content of the module be delivered uniformly and consistently? – If the number

of employees are many and the information requires to be repeatedly delivered uniformly

and consistently, then use of technology especially CDs would be most appropriate.

7. Is it necessary to update and change the content frequently? – As mentioned earlier

development and production cost in high using technology. Therefore, if it is necessary to

update and change the content frequently then it would be very expensive.

8. Large time zone difference between employees- If the employees belong to different time

zones then it maybe possible that for few employees it would always be an inappropriate

time to attend the training. Web can be accessed from any computer anywhere in the

world while at the same time keeping delivery costs down.

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E-learning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The

information and communication systems, whether networked or not, serve as specific media to

implement the learning process.

E-learning is mostly used in reference out-of-classroom and in-classroom educational

experiences via technology, even as advances continue in regard to devices and curriculum.

E-learning is the computer and network-enabled transfer of skills and knowledge. E-learning

applications and processes include Web-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual

classroom opportunities and digital collaboration. Content is delivered via the Internet,

intranet/extranet, audio or video tape, satellite TV, and CD-ROM. Major advantages being that it

can be self-paced or instructor-led and includes media in the form of text, image, animation,

streaming video and audio, which is easier to retain and recall.

Abbreviations like CBT (Computer-Based Training), IBT (Internet-Based Training) or WBT

(Web-Based Training) are being used as synonyms to e-learning. There is a trend to move

towards blended learning services, where computer-based activities are integrated with practical

or classroom-based situations.

However, E-Leaning poses some learning challenges as well. Typically the creation of effective

E-Leaning requires enormous resources. The software for developing E-Leaning is often more

complex than a faculty is able to use. In addition, the lack of human interaction can limit both the

type of content that can be presented as well as the type of assessment that can be performed.

Many learning organizations are beginning to use smaller CBT/WBT activities as part of a

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broader online learning program which may include online discussion or other interactive

elements.

The recent trend in the E-Learning sector is screen casting. There are many screen casting tools

available but the latest buzz is all about the web based screen casting tools which allow the users

to create screen casts directly from their browser and make the video available online so that the

viewers can stream the video directly. The advantage of such tools is that it gives the presenter

the ability to show his ideas and flow of thoughts rather than simply explain them, which may be

more confusing when delivered via simple text instructions. With the combination of video and

audio, the expert can create the one on one experience of the classroom and deliver clear,

complete instructions. From the learner's point of view this provides learner the advantage of

moving at their own pace, something a classroom cannot always offer.

Virtual classrooms and meetings can often use a mix of communication technologies.

Participants in a virtual classroom use icons called emoticons to communicate feelings and

responses to questions or statements. Other communication technologies available in a virtual

classroom include text notes, microphone rights, and breakout sessions. Breakout sessions allow

the participants to work collaboratively in a small group setting to accomplish a task.

In many models, the writing community and the communication channels relate with the E-

learning and the Mobile learning (M-learning) communities.

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Stakeholders’ Perspectives in Management Education

For Academia – advanced teaching pedagogy for delivering the ever increasing quantum of

knowledge in addition to having an interdisciplinary approach would prove to be of paramount

significance.

For Industry - integrative perspectives in different countries in addition to conceptualizing with a

macro vision whereas executing it at a micro level would be the key to survival.

Regulation, quality assurance, capacity building, giving knowledge parks the status of Special

Economic Zones shall also be the focal areas in globalizing management education. Educational

Institutes will have to center their attention in decision making on the three major stake holders,

namely, government, industry and the public at large.

Now-a-days Corporations face pressures from different stakeholders of the business

environment; changes in the business environment have created coercion to all of today’s

organizations. Managers have to now find appropriate ways of striking the implications brought

by the changes. One way would be of educating human capital to convert previous knowledge

and experience into modern competencies. Thus, Knowledge Management (KM) has a vital role

to play in making management education more allied to the present requirements.

Dominant role that Knowledge management can play in Management Education –

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  Capacity to focus on the key areas of business goals

 Build a large repository in sync with the business goals

 Vigorous process of knowledge sharing

 Creating a learning culture with respect to industry demand

From an organizational perspective:

 KM requires integration & balancing of leadership, organization learning and technology

 Build Organizational culture of trust, fairness and innovation through KM

 Web facilitating knowledge transfer

Financing higher education

Privatization of higher education has emerged in several forms and types in the recent decade.

One, privatization within government higher education institutions takes place in the form of

introducing self-financing courses within government institutions; two, converting government

aided private institutions into private self financing institutions; three allowing to expand self-

financing private institutions with recognition and also without recognition, which may be

termed as commercial private. Commercial private higher education emerges from market forces

and tied to economic and global forces.

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Public-private partnership (PPP) has become a fad particularly over the last couple of decades. It

is as an innovative collaborative idea to tap private resources and to encourage the active

participation of the private sector in national development. It is more vehemently advocated

when public resources are projected to be inadequate to meet needs. PPP is already being

adopted in several infrastructure development sectors, such as the development of airports,

railways, roads, and so on. But, going by media reports, these have mixed outcomes. The policy

initiatives are no longer confined to these; they are being extended to human development

sectors such as education and health.

In the case of education, PPP has been proposed as an important strategy in the Eleventh Five

Year Plan. Among many things, the Eleventh Plan has proposed the setting up of 6,000 new

model schools in secondary education, affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education.

Of these, 2,500 are to be under the PPP model. The intention is to set up these schools in the

backward regions and remote areas where good schooling facilities do not exist, so that quality

education is accessible in the backward regions as well.

Corporate companies with a minimum net worth of Rs.25 lakh are eligible to set up schools

under this model. Each entity should deposit Rs.50 lakh with the government for the first school

it proposes to set up, and Rs.25 lakh per additional school. Each can set up as many as 25

schools. Non-profit companies with prior experience in education need to deposit Rs.25 lakh for

each school. The schools will need to have the sort of infrastructure available in the best private

schools.

In order to achieve competitiveness in global economy, India needs to globalize and integrate its

macroeconomic and institutional regimes. It should tap and use global knowledge for improving

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the quality and level of education and training. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in education will

benefit Indian students through availability of quality education at affordable prices.

Globalization has diverse consequences on the structure and character of management education

world over. Management education is shaped by many variables, including the needs and

preferences of consumers of business education; the knowledge, abilities and skills industry

expects graduates to possess, and the resources business schools need to serve their customers.

After the deregulation of the education sector in 1991, there has been an extraordinary growth in

the establishment of management educational institutions in India.

Corporate Scams Changing the Archetype of Management Education

 The format of business education has changed

 Consumers of business degrees are getting increasingly heterogeneous in their aspirations

and preferences

 The curriculum has been keeping pace with the dynamic business environment.

 Pedagogy has also become more through action – learning, also the use of e learning has

seen an unprecedented pace of change.

 The emphasis has shifted from Employability from Employment.

The dynamic business environment has not been without examples of scams be it US 64, Enron,

Xerox or the mother of all scams Satyam Computers to name a few.

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The UTI scam involved the flagship US-64 scheme of UTI, which was meant to channel the

funds of small investors into instruments bearing high returns gradually developed investor base

of around 2 crore investors. The absolute opacity in the operations of UTI, led to a situation

wherein the Government was forced to announce a huge bailout of about Rs 3,500-4,000 crores

in an order to prevent default in payments to the investors. The consequences of such a situation

are unimaginable. Later, it turned out that the UTI Chairman appointed at this time, Mr. P S

Subramanyam, along with a couple of executive directors, acted wrongly to selectively benefit a

powerful coterie of brokers and industrialists, while at the same time, jeopardizing the interest of

lakhs of small investors.

The Enron scandal, revealed in October 2001, eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Enron

Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas, and the dissolution of

Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the

world. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in American history at that

time, Enron was attributed as the biggest audit failure.

Xerox alleged accounting irregularities involving auditor KPMG, causing restatement of

financial results for the years 1997 through 2000.

A financial scandal to the tune of Rs.7,00,000 in Satyam took the world by surprise, leaving the

investors and the clients of Satyam in lurch. The Chairman of the company, B. Ramalinga Raju,

after resigning from his post, in a letter to one of the board members of the company disclosed

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that Satyam has been showing the inflated balance sheet for the years. The fraud could not be

noticed by even the auditors of the company - PricewaterHouse.

The above mentioned scandals have been just few of the examples of the plethora of corporate

scams that the world has witnessed. These have led to a rampant increase in the application of

Auditory and Corporate Governance measures. Business Ethics, Corporate Governance and

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have emerged as priority areas in the curriculum in most

business schools, though many adopt altogether different approaches in teaching them.

CSR can be promoted with very diverse objectives and one of the angles can be firm adherence

to ethical and transparent standards in the mandatory corporate disclosures. Several corporate

governance codes mandate business to disclose ethical, social and environmental risks stemming

from there activities with scope for punitive action whenever they fail. CSR activities along with

socio-economic development and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increase also leads to

corporate brand building.

Several business schools in India teach co-creation philosophy of Prof. C.K. Prahlad, a

philosophy wherein all stake holders work together as co-partners and create value for the

organization by enriching with their individual experiences.

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Quality Assurance in Management Education

After the deregulation of education sector in 1991, there has been a remarkable growth in the

establishment of management institution in the country. Despite a large number of management

institutes in India, only a few have been accredited with the international standards like European

Quality System (EQUIS), Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation

(FIBAA), of Europe. In India National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National Assessment

and Accreditation Council (NAAC) OF India accredit the programs and institutions respectively

in the country.

Globalization as mentioned above has led to mushrooming of B Schools all over the world.

Therefore, creating an unprecedented need for regulation and performance assessment using

National and International Accreditation standards. Fraser (1994, p. 107) pointed out that, “in

some countries, accreditation would imply that at least a threshold standard was intended and

being achieved.” For example, in the United Kingdom professional bodies accredit courses of

study (programmes), meaning that graduates will be granted professional recognition.

Based on the INQAAHE (2001, pp. 2–3) approach to explaining accreditation:

Accreditation is applicable both for an institution as a whole and for a programme. It is very

difficult to define accreditation, because the concept is changing by the day. Although the

terminology nowadays is imported into Europe too, the meaning there differs from the meaning

of the term in the US, just as the role accreditation plays differs. Instead of a definition, some

characteristics of accreditation are given:

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· Accreditation is a formal decision

· Accreditation is based on an overall assessment of the HEI or its core activities

· Accreditation is based on the assessment of at least minimum requirements (threshold

quality)

· Accreditation concerns a yes/no/conditional decision

· Accreditation will have consequences, for example

- In the professional field

- Concerning recognition

- Concerning funding

- Concerning student aid

Accreditation might be seen as providing a formal quality certificate to an HEI or a program

showing that the HEI or the program meets at least expected minimum requirements.

The UNESCO view reinforces this: it has two definitions of accreditation:

1. The process by which a (non-)governmental or private body evaluates the quality of a

higher education institution as a whole or of a specific educational programme in order to

formally recognize it as having met certain predetermined minimal criteria or standards.

The result of this process is usually the awarding of a status (a yes/no decision), of

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 recognition, and sometimes of a license to operate within a time-limited validity.

(Vlãsceanu, et al., 2007, p. 25)

2. The instrument by which one institution, without its own degree awarding powers or which

chooses not to use its awarding powers, gains wide authority to award, and/or gains recognition

of its qualifications from another competent authority, and to exercise powers and responsibility

for academic provision. This authority might be the State, a government agency, or another

domestic or foreign higher education institution. (Vlãsceanu, et al., 2004, p.26)

According to the European Training Foundation (1998)

Accreditation is the award of a status. Accreditation as a process is generally based on the

application of predefined standards. It is primarily an outcome of evaluation.

The European University Association [formally CRE] defines accreditation as:

Accreditation is a formal published statement regarding the quality of an institution or

programme, following a cycle of evaluation based on agreed standards (CRE, now EUA,

2001).

Significance of accreditation of B-Schools and other management institutions is growing

internationally. Accreditation of Business Schools has been used extensively in Europe

and USA to ensure that they fulfill the purpose for which they have been set up.

Accreditation has improved management education and there have been considerable

improvements.

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Need for Educational Tribunals

A bill to create a mechanism for providing speedy resolution of disputes pertaining to

higher education institutions was on Friday, August 27, 2010 taken up by Lok Sabha with

Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal saying it would provide

architecture for resolving issues of the future.

The Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010, moved by Sibal, proposed to set up a two-tier

structure of Educational Tribunals at the national and state level to adjudicate on the

entire gamut of disputes that arise in the higher education system.

According to the Bill, the tribunals would act as forums for fast-track and speedy

resolution of issues in institutions in order to build an effective system of checks and

balances in higher education.

The state tribunals would adjudicate matters concerning teachers, employees and students

of institutions in the respective states.

The national tribunal would deal with all matters concerning regulatory bodies in higher

education and also matters involving institutes located in two or more states.

The bill also provided for imprisonment up to three years or fine of Rs 10 lakh or both to

those who fail to comply with the orders of the state or the national tribunals. The

Standing Committee had recommended several changes, apart from pointing out that the

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bill was drafted in haste without proper consultation, particularly with the private sector.

However, the Ministry has not accepted any of the recommendations.

Moving the Bill, Sibal said this was the first of a string of four bills to reform higher

education that his ministry proposed to bring to the Parliament, including one to curb

educational malpractices and another for compulsory accreditation of educational

institutions.

Sibal said the bill proposed to provide for the future, considering the fact that India would

need 800 more universities and another 35,000 colleges by 2020. "By no way the

government can build and set up these number of colleges and universities. So the players

will be different and the system will be different. This will throw up a lot of disputes that

will increase exponentially," he said.

Noting that the country was not prepared for the future, he said the bill was to provide

architecture for the future. "Time has changed. What we have to deal with the past is no

more relevant today. What we need is for the future and this is the opportunity to provide

for it," he said appealing for unanimity in passage of the Bill.

Conclusion

Globalization undeniably is here to stay. The future will witness increase in world

integration and collaborative ventures. India too shall not be an exception to this.

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Therefore, each country should identify the opportunities to be embarked upon and ways

to combat the challenges that globalization shall bring along.

In regards to management education, we would witness E learning being the buzz word.

Also, Public Private Partnerships, International Accreditations and setting up of

educational tribunals is what one identifies taking a prospective view.

Management institutions will now have to be more cautious in identifying and managing

stakeholders’ needs. Also, Internationalization of curriculum, Corporate Governance,

Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility coming into the fore-court of

Management education is what future would bring along.

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 References

[1] Dayal, I. “Teaching of Management: An Experience of Learning to Teach” - 2 Ed.,

Ane Books Pvt. Ltd.

[2] Naik, B.M. (2000). Industry – University Partnership, Global Trends and Relevance

for India, University News, April14, 5-7

[3] Bodie, Z., Kane, A. and Marcus, A.J. (1999), Investments, 4th Ed., New York,

McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc

[4] Dayal, I. (2002). “Developing Management Education in India”, Journal of

Management Research, Vol. 2 (2)

[5] www.zeenews.com/news651009.html

[6] www.naac.gov.in

[7] www.efmd.org

[8] http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/peerreview.htm

[9] http://www.wilmu.edu/education/clinicalstudies/conceptframework.aspx

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 Appendix

Source: Managing Service Quality

ISSN: 0960-4529

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 Figure 2

NAAC EQUIS
Curricular Aspects Context, Governance and Strategy
Teaching-Learning and Evaluation Programmes
Research, Consultation and Extension Students
Infrastructure and Learning Resources Faculty
Student Support and Progression Research and Development
Governance and Leadership Executive Education
Innovative Practices Contribution to the Community
Internationalization
Resources and Administration
Corporate Connections

Source: ww.naac.gov.in and www.efmd.org

Figure 3

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Source: EFMD, Belgium

Figure 4

Figure 5

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Source: http://www.wilmu.edu/education/clinicalstudies/conceptframework.aspx

Autobiographical Sketch

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Radhika Suri is Lecturer in Amity Business School, Amity University Rajasthan. She has 5+
years of experience across Teaching both graduate and post graduate level students, Research,
Grievance Redressal, Training & Development, Recruitment, Quality Assurance and
Enhancement. Prior to joining Amity, Radhika served at a reputed Indian Media firm.

Her qualifications include MBA (HR & IR), BA (Mathematics, Economics & Statistics). She is
also pursuing Diploma in Training & Development from Indian Society for Training &
Development.

Publication:

Agarwal V. & Suri R., Employee Performance Appraisal through 360 Degree Feedback

Mechanism: Empirical Findings and Implications, RIMT Journal of Strategic Management &

Information Technology, 2010.

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