What employers value in the MBAs they recruit: rebalancing the management education curriculum

Abstract

This paper seeks to answer the question, “In the Indian context, what insights can employers offer on the knowing, doing and being dimensions of the formation of an MBA graduate, that management education institutes can use to rebalance their curricula?” It uses the theoretical framework developed by Srikant Datar, David Garvin and Patrick Cullen in their 2010 study, Rethinking the MBA. The data for this paper came from in-depth interviews with 18 senior recruiters and a questionnaire survey of personnel from the human resource development function and line managers of 42 companies, 32 in the private sector and 10 in the public sector. The senior recruiters constituted a subset of the 42 respondents. Their ability to develop knowledge and analytical ability better seems to advantage the better institutions. However, on the creativity and the being dimensions (ethics, commitment to organization and learning attitude), MBAs may be more homogeneous. Perhaps this indicates an opportunity for the top-ranked institutes to focus more on the “Being” dimension. Indian employers clearly expect certain functional roles to be filled by fresh MBA graduates. What is expected by the employers in addition is a hands-on approach to work. This indicates that while rebalancing their curricula, business schools must retain a focus on their current strength in the “Knowing” dimension, while augmenting their stress on the “Doing” dimension. Regarding the skill-sets noted by the employers, there is a set that is directly within the scope of the traditional knowledge-skill objectives of an MBA program, like analytical skills. Traditional MBA programs in the top-ranked institutes are strong on preparing students for this set of skills. However, of the eight curricular gaps identified by Datar and his colleagues, only four—leadership, creativity and innovation, critical thinking and communication, and understanding the purpose of business—seem to be very clearly on the radars of employers. Specific skills and qualities that can fit under global perspective, integration skills, recognizing organizational realities, and understanding the limits of models and markets, seem to be under-emphasized. Perhaps B-Schools, at least the top ones, can build on these, thus creating a greater awareness about these as emerging areas of curricular focus. It is the “Being” dimension that seems to call for attention while making any attempt to rebalance the curriculum. Leadership means taking responsibility for implementing change, developing a certain depth as a person, willing to shed any stereotypes that one may have carried into the job, understanding the balance between a career and commitment to an organization, developing a commitment to practice, understanding one’s own limitations, and working out one’s expectations in a reasonable manner. In addition, developing an integrated perspective is an important aspect of developing the “Being” dimension. This is where the challenge for B-Schools lies. These qualities are not easy to develop in a classroom set-up, and call for more experiential methods of learning. B-Schools, by and large, are not as competent in these methodologies as they are in methods that develop analytical, instruction-based knowledge and skills. The qualities that the employers would like stressed fall mainly under three labels which can be directions for curricular change: Practice Orientation, Team Work and Perspective Building. Finally, we present a set of six guidelines that seem to be important from the employers’ perspective as a model for future curricular practice: Introduction of the curriculum through practice; Critical thinking and diagnosis; Integrative thinking; Capability for learning; Focus on a complex made up of Leadership, Team Player, Innovator, and Corporate Citizen; and Apprenticeship before award of the MBA degree.