Indras' Drishtikona on the MBA

Mr. I R Sharma asks the most important questions for India. He tries to provide answers to some of them but definitely he makes it a point to make you question the status quo and think what can be done.

He blogged sometime back about the value of an MBA in India. A list of questions.

...the first question doubts the necessity of these BBA and then MBA courses and why are these becoming so popular.

Is it only because the boys that have these degrees can get some jobs? There is no research on the type of jobs these boys are getting engaged in.

Is this education relevant to the long term requirement of business and society?

How good is the quality of the education provided in most of these business schools?

How good is the quality of the faculty engaged? Why do we not get to know about their research works?

Why are even our top management schools such as IIMs not placed in global ranking?

Can the faculty provide the right direction to the students when they themselves don't have sufficient exposure in actual management of enterprises?

Is this education of management becoming the exclusive preserve of the affluent classes or higher middle class?

Are the most of the business schools other than some very famous ones not absorbing those children who fail to get into other professional courses?

Is it the easiest way the mediocre finds to get a professional degree?

How good is the content of business education? Should MBAs be more specialized in content?

Are the schools more interested in raising their resources? Should there be some cap on fees?

How good are the ratings of B-schools appearing in various news magazines? How serious is the present shortage of faculty?

How many of the members must be on the permanent roll of the B-schools and what percentage should be visiting?

Why can't all admissions to the B-schools be made through one common entrance examination?

What should be the basic qualifications for those seeking entrance? Why are the requirements of recruiters not researched?

Why can't some value training be a part of the MBA?

Why are they not useful to smaller enterprises and the rural India?

How can one create a manager out of somebody who has never worked before joining the B-schools?

Do the people with work experience find it difficult to adapt to an academic environment?

Are the present MBAs better in handling the people working for them in best way in actual business situations?

Do they have the soft skills required for it?

Whew! That was a long list of questions? It just goes on to show the paucity of "quality" MBA programs in India. I guess I will answer these someday.

What are your experiences in your country?