Management education in India has evolved considerably over the past 70 years. The economic liberalization era of the 1990s and the consequent rapid economic development witnessed substantial demand for MBA education, which paved the entry of many public and private institutions to offer MBA programs across the country. However, the mushrooming of MBA schools have left their structural weaknesses around, resulting in a plethora of challenges. The current wave of turbulence caused by the twin influences of technology disruption and the pandemic has exposed the weaknesses in our management education and the need for urgent remedial action to address them.
There has been an ongoing debate on the need for B-schools to rejig what and how they teach. From being just a glorified placement services cell for top companies, they were being asked rather pointed questions about what they were imparting as education. The pandemic has been a period of serious rethinking at all B-schools. Most of them adapted to remote teaching and learning. Business schools in India, only recently, have understood the reach of the digital medium and are now warming up to it. Despite this, they still have a lot of catching up to do.
Management education in India is all set to revolutionize thanks to the rapid and drastic changes impacting the various constituents of the business environment. Beyond-boardroom-skills have been endorsed more because of the pandemic and its effect on the business landscape globally. Skills that will be needed for B-School graduates to succeed in this new normal are being adept with digital, cognitive skills, excellent social and communication skills, and resilience. Aiding to the ever-evolving requirements of the industry, Higher Education Digest has come up with ‘25 Must-Watch B-Schools of the Year – 2021’, which have emerged as the saving grace for students in these trying times and are pro-actively assessing the changing industry needs and transforming themselves to benefit the students, recruiters, and, above all, our nation.