Global B-Schools design courses for Indian managers
Foreign B-Schools and Indian firms have found common ground as rapid growth has left many cos short of leaders. Better job designations for IIM grads
By Ambika Naithani, TNN |
MUMBAI: K Ramkumar's inbox is flooded with unsolicited emails. The HR head of ICICI Bank claims that almost every other day, he receives a mail from a major global business school trying to hawk a course from its executive education programme.
Five years ago, this would have been unheard of. Today, deans and professors from the best business schools are jostling for an appointment with Mr Ramkumar and other senior executives to discuss how to train managers at India's second largest bank.
It did take a while for the somewhat insular global schools to figure out the India growth story, but now that they are here, the biggest and the best business schools are trying to make up for lost time. Harvard Business School (HBS) just completed its first five-day executive education programme in Hyderabad.
Five years ago, this would have been unheard of. Today, deans and professors from the best business schools are jostling for an appointment with Mr Ramkumar and other senior executives to discuss how to train managers at India's second largest bank.
It did take a while for the somewhat insular global schools to figure out the India growth story, but now that they are here, the biggest and the best business schools are trying to make up for lost time. Harvard Business School (HBS) just completed its first five-day executive education programme in Hyderabad.
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If a similar course was taught at the Harvard campus, it would have cost $10,000 upwards. An Indian executive gets it for as low as Rs 1,80,000. Foreign B-Schools and Indian companies are finding common ground because rapid growth has left many firms short of leaders, making it the right time for B-schools to enter the market.
Says Ernst & Young human capital services partner Tanmay Kapoor, ���There is a shortage of 20-40% in the leadership positions across sectors.��� Many companies have found internal training to be a substitute but after a point it becomes uneconomical.
Now that foreign B-Schools are willing to offer customised courses at competitive prices, the market has opened up. Wharton Executive Education senior director-executive programmes Sandhya Karpe says that the Indian executive education market now recognises the value of world-class executive education and is eager to invest in the same. Most of these B-Schools have already seen the power of large numbers at work in China. A similar phenomenon is taking place in India.
Tata Sons executive VP, group HR, Satish Pradhan says it is thanks to the inescapable reality of numbers. Also, Indian executives now know the value of executive education and its effect on career prospects. Says the dean of executive education at Insead, Narayan Pant: ���Earlier, executive education was treated like a perk rather than knowledge, but they can no longer be allured by such things. There is a new breed of businesses that want to manage international operations and grow there.���
The seriousness with which Indian companies are taking executive education can be measured by the demand for customised programmes and partnerships with B-schools in co-designing curriculum. ���In open enrolments, 500 participants were put in a classroom which was used more as a platform for promoting a professor���s new book,��� says Mr Ramkumar.
ICICI Bank had its first customised programme in 2005. Recently, Wharton did a 12-day customised program with the bank. Seven professors flew down for 50 mid-level managers. B-Schools are shedding their inhibitions and facing the reality that companies are well equipped to partner with them. But what troubles Mr Pradhan is that many a times, these schools don���t practice what they preach. Not everybody agrees. Says M&M executive vice-president, human resources and corporate services Rajeev Dubey, ���We haven���t experienced unwillingness on behalf of B-schools to co-design the course.���
A key factor that has made B-Schools pliable is that Indian market has both scale as well as profitability. ���The price per programme has gone down by 60% in the last five years,��� says Mr Ramkumar. Though the costs of some programmes may have come down, the bigger challenge is keeping the content relevant.
HBS senior associate dean, chair, executive education David Yoffie says, ���This programme is grounded in research conducted in India, it is about actual situations faced by Indian companies.��� Some Indian firms feel that many B-Schools have content based on North American businesses. Then in European schools, knowledge is around European businesses or at best the Japanese markets. ���The curriculum is on how to do businesses in India but we want to know how to do businesses in Chile, Spain and Mexico,��� adds Mr Ramkumar.
The seriousness with which Indian companies are taking executive education can be measured by the demand for customised programmes and partnerships with B-schools in co-designing curriculum. ���In open enrolments, 500 participants were put in a classroom which was used more as a platform for promoting a professor���s new book,��� says Mr Ramkumar.
ICICI Bank had its first customised programme in 2005. Recently, Wharton did a 12-day customised program with the bank. Seven professors flew down for 50 mid-level managers. B-Schools are shedding their inhibitions and facing the reality that companies are well equipped to partner with them. But what troubles Mr Pradhan is that many a times, these schools don���t practice what they preach. Not everybody agrees. Says M&M executive vice-president, human resources and corporate services Rajeev Dubey, ���We haven���t experienced unwillingness on behalf of B-schools to co-design the course.���
A key factor that has made B-Schools pliable is that Indian market has both scale as well as profitability. ���The price per programme has gone down by 60% in the last five years,��� says Mr Ramkumar. Though the costs of some programmes may have come down, the bigger challenge is keeping the content relevant.
HBS senior associate dean, chair, executive education David Yoffie says, ���This programme is grounded in research conducted in India, it is about actual situations faced by Indian companies.��� Some Indian firms feel that many B-Schools have content based on North American businesses. Then in European schools, knowledge is around European businesses or at best the Japanese markets. ���The curriculum is on how to do businesses in India but we want to know how to do businesses in Chile, Spain and Mexico,��� adds Mr Ramkumar.
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