Retool, Go Back To School

Suddenly, an MBA is no longer just a course for fresh-faced young graduates keen to secure a job, any job. It’s now also a kind of mid-career pitstop for working executives keen to improve their lot. B-schools, expectedly, are making the most of the shift. As Delhi-based management expert Mrityunjaya B. Athreya puts it, "An MBA institution is now a place to learn life skills in addition to acquiring whatever business skills that may be most in demand in the industry." He goes on to add that "an MBA is no longer just a capitalist curiosity, but a way for people to plan, organise, monitor and control any business or non-business venture".

With applicant profiles changing over the years, B-schools—even the prestigious IIMs—are teaching courses that would interest a varied student profile, not just the hard-nosed banking, finance, marketing, or HR enthusiast. That’s because there is money to be made from courses aimed at a wide range of sectors—such as retail, insurance, hospitality, healthcare, agriculture—and even from "somewhat offbeat" specialisations like forest management, disaster management, brand management and environmental controls management.<"A few years ago, traditional ‘streams’ like marketing or HR management were the only options in an MBA. Now, we teach everything from ‘retail management’ to ‘hospitality management’ because the industry has changed so much," says Prof W.S. William, dean (academics), Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar.

More and more companies also want professionals trained in niche fields like engineers, architects, doctors and others as managers. How else can a top-rung firm differentiate between the 200-odd applicants that often vie for a single open position? And what is to differentiate them since they are all engineers, architects or doctors? Both the professional with a single qualification as well as the MBA institutes are beginning to realise that the right management skills can help turn salaried employees into self-employed businesspersons or even tomorrow’s business leaders.

Prasad Kaipa, executive director, Centre for Leadership, Innovation & Change, ISB, brings some perspective. "It’s the desire to be an entrepreneur that attracts a majority of people to business education in India. As well, for a business school, it is the single-biggest challenge to nurture a person to eventually become an entrepreneur or a future ‘leader among leaders’," he says.

In the past, MBA aspirants went to school thinking of bigger salaries, an improved position in society and exposure to modern business practices. Today, getting trained in a field that is cutting edge—or learning the tricks of a trade that is on the verge of a boom—is also a part of the fix. Take, for instance, Jaydev Thampan, an engineer and production manager for several years with Airtel in Bangalore. Or Nilisha Bardora, until recently with B&K Securities, a brokerage firm in Mumbai. Both are pursuing MBAs to "attune their skills to whatever the job market may want at the present time".

But there is a social angle to all of this too. In contrast to the way big business was perceived even a couple of decades ago, industry now wields tremendous power and control over society. This makes it even more attractive for mid-career knowledge-seekers to learn new courses like entrepreneurship development, hospital management and corporate social responsibility. Typically, this new breed of managers wants to give back to society, or is curious about how ‘new’ factors in the equation such as environmental consciousness and natural resource conservation will impact businesses of the future.

"When students are given the opportunity to choose between prestige in society or more income, they generally choose something that is meaningful to them on both counts," says Dr Ajit Rangnekar, deputy dean, ISB. In striving to strike this balance, over the last few years, students have shown a more-than-usual interest in courses such as rural management, agriculture resource management and even management of food resources.

"Institutions need to keep pace with the changing demands of industry. Which is why many MBA colleges are planning to renew courses regularly," says Prof Suresh Ghai, director, K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai. SIMSR recently introduced a post-graduate diploma course in retail management, the aim being to provide the steady stream of managers required in large retail chains; and also to cater to retail needs in sectors such as insurance, banking and logistics.

SIMSR has also introduced supply chain management and export management as fresh courses and the response has been "upbeat". "The existing demand for professionals at the MBA level is not going to slow down," says Prof Ghai. "Even if there is a slowdown, such as in retail, it will not affect the managers as much as it will impact the front-desk or service staff. Besides, an MBA is still flexible. Even someone with a specialised degree will find room in a related field," he added.

The specialisation demand has seen MBA institutes coming up with a new formula—short-term courses for executives in emerging business sectors; as well as 6-8 week crash courses and even "immersion" sessions that typically last two days and are conducted by senior executives in large businesses (see box). "When the market was closed to investment and money supply was short, there was no use for a degree in banking management. It’s exactly the reverse today, and there is urgent need for people acquainted with modules such as international finance, financial risk management, global supply chain management etc," explains Athreya.

The B-schools say this is just the beginning of a deeper focus on specialisations. As Prof Sushil Kumar of IIM Lucknow says, "There is no doubt that many businesses do not understand that there is money to be made in sectors such as agriculture, food production and food processing. In fact, the smarter companies have even made a killing in trading carbon credits. You only have to keep an open mind to the new possibilities." Kumar teaches one of IIM-L’s newest courses (on carbon credit systems) as well as India’s only course on food management. Clearly, India Inc is buying into this age of specialisation.