Poor management research in the India: time for collective responsibility

Abstract

The article acknowledges the fact that developing nations such as India may have challenges in allocating public funds for academic research, given that there are many primary requirements that need to be met for its citizens. However, it emphasizes that the problem may just not be centred on the lack of adequate funding. The paper points to some historic reasons for poor productivity in research including, a) unproductive competition among institutions due to a false sense of self sufficiency, b) lack of adequate research infrastructure at the individual institution level together with the, c) long standing thinking in India that has considered teaching to be the core activity in our University system. It emphasizes the need for collaborative action across institutions that by themselves do not have the wherewithal to upgrade the quality of research. It also stresses the need to build specialized competence in individual faculty members to strive for excellence in a core academic activity, be it research, teaching or executive training and administration. The traditional view of a faculty being a superior performer in all aspects of academics may not yield the results needed to attain global standards of excellence. Like teaching, research requires a separate and detailed agenda in the Higher Education Policy.