INTRODUCTION:

Indian economy boom in late 90s and early 20 provide opportunity for MBA graduates. Companies were willing to hire this new breed of executives. Many entrepreneurs established their own B-schools. Management become the sought after career for students and key to success in life. It was not only for grade a students who managed to enter into B and C grade, become assured that they have done something in life.

But today scenario has changed because more than half of MBA graduates could not get hired in campus placement. Data has been shown by AICTE that just 47% of MBAs were placed the drop in placements for postgraduate diploma holders was 12%. This number does not include graduates from elite IIMs which are not affiliated to AICTE.

The recent study by ASSOCHAM reported that only 7% of MBA students in India got jobs immediately after course. This data excludes graduates from top B-schools.

Some key reasons for this low employability include excess supply of candidates due to economic slowdown in India in recent years. The second reason is poor quality of tier-3 and tier-4 B-schools in India where there is bad infrastructure faculty members in industry tie ups the other reasons are use of outdated curriculum led to underdevelopment of MBA graduates in terms of basic skills like public speaking, proper dressing sense. The fourth reason is under qualified faculty who join management institutions immediately after completing their post graduation. The faculty lack in industry experience and exposure. Qualified and experienced faculty member have the most impact on development of students. Not only faculty but students who immediately go for MBA program face the problems of lack of experience. Mostly Indian B-schools are the one with greater disadvantage therefore it will be beneficial for the institutions to integrate corporate needs in curriculum.

Situation of MBA graduates can be improved by focusing on various aspects which effect MBA program by understanding where the bottle neck exists.

This is focused on how to improve present scenario of management curriculum, integrating corporate needs in curriculum where we need to identify various ways through which corporate needs can be integrated in MBA syllabus, identifying ways, strategies and principles to teach integration, second this paper will analyze the present level of students according to the selection of subject matter and behavioral change that is expected after undergoing a learning process. Third it is focus on how to provide pre-service and in-service training to teachers. It improves their delivery of disciplines and interaction with the students. And lastly it emphasize on introducing the knowledge of corporate needs in teaching curriculum.

Ways to Integrate Corporate Needs I N the Curriculum an integrated curriculum allows students to pursue learning in a holistic way. In early student programs it focuses upon the corporate needs of curriculum but some drawbacks have come up without having any rules and regulations. To overcome these drawbacks some experts have designed corporate needs, strategies which help the students and teachers to view the business dynamic environment. The Strategies to teach integration are as follows.

Using large and comprehensive case studies:

Will provide area for improvement and development of skill especially in teamwork and a clear demonstration that a single and a clear demonstration business scenario has many considerably different aspects. Also students learn the interdisciplinary nature of business.

Use of industry professionals and doctorate teachers for teaching of MBA subjects:

A Mix of doctorates and industrialists as teachers and team teaching with faculty from different discipline teaching course together help students understand how to improve their understanding and application of methods of different discipline successfully and solve problems from different functional areas. A team of teacher who provide a holistic approach is the need of teaching in 21^st century.

Skill building initiatives:

In B-schools need to understand the importance of soft skills by helping them build interpersonal, dressing and grooming of students and leadership skills to provide them with global perspective of managing business.

Study abroad program:

Can help in integration of foreign setting needs. Studying the problem in different setting helps in examining different aspects of single topic. It does not only encourage students to understand different situation in which a problem can occur but also motivate to find better solutions to the same problem.

It is important to improve integration between academia, policymakers and Industry and community by continuous efforts of business schools in order to improve their delivery of program. Students can get exposure through collaborative, interdisciplinary management research and sponsoring seminars, speaker, series, workshops, networking events, etc. The most relevant part is that industry managers must understand the business problems and give their inputs in the research process by students

Focus on mass personalization of academic program by use of technology Rather than focusing on MBA as one fits all, it must be personalized based on the individual needs and aspiration, use of technology and data analytics for mass personalization of MBA program. Studying number of ways to help people build skills and knowledge to obtain jobs, Most business problems are complex and dynamic in nature and rarely one dimensional, most problem require the understanding of different disciplines with in relation to each other implies interrelatedness of different subjects. Therefore cross functional programs can be integrated through various strategic initiatives like innovation and customer service. Teaching strategy of different Disciplines in MBA (marketing, operations management, finance, managerial economics, etc) should be more interrelated and not in isolation.

Producing future leaders and not employees should be the main focus of MBA program. It is not a matter of acquiring a body of knowledge and set of skills but more personal work by acquiring a clear sense of own identity and understanding and connecting with social aspect to lead. And learning to lead is not an abstract manner. Making entrepreneurs and emphasis should be on creating job providers and not job seeker.

Update curriculum of business schools to improve their syllabus as per the needs of scenario. There is a need to innovate and reinvent the core MBA syllabus to stay relevant to current times. Any factor that affects effective curriculum implementation is of concern to educationists. There are many teachers who are familiar with the new emerging trends in curriculum changes, they may not effectively implement the new curriculum innovation and therefore may not attain desirable learning outcomes. Some experts observe that there is need for further training so that teachers are able to cope up with new challenges in the implementation of new curriculum innovations.

The other strategies for integrated curriculum include teacher’s training in two different ways.

Pre service Training of Teachers:

Pre service training of teachers refers to teacher preparation for the teaching job before they are employed for that job. During 1990s, pre service teacher training reforms led to substantial change within teacher training institutions, as well as within schools, where an increasing proportion of practical training now takes place. These changes had an impact on University.

Learning to negotiate and manage reforms:

From the point of view of both stakeholders and institutions who are called upon to implement reforms concretely in the field. Rethinking career paths in relation to practical training and university, Recognize the substantial part of practical training has been transferred for good to the classrooms, and recommending official recognition of the diversification.

Teacher education programs are planned to cater for all levels of education and training. Pre-service teacher training is very crucial because teacher education is expected to develop communication skills, professional knowledge, skills and attitudes to enable teachers to identify teaching and learning needs of the learners and thus become effective curriculum implementers. The preparation of teachers of management in the pre-service colleges and universities has not been satisfactory. the current management curriculum has the integration of corporate needs and satisfaction as a subject. Most of the teachers of management were not initially prepared in the pre – service training for the new integrated approach. Initially management teachers were trained to handle the theoretical subjects rather than practical knowledge of corporate needs. The integrated approach in the teaching of management presented new challenges to these graduates. some of these graduates could not handle effective content areas of new curriculum.

In –Service Training of Teachers It covers those activities who are directed towards remedies of perceived lack of skill understanding. It is an ongoing process that promotes professionalism and personal growth of teachers. In service education is necessary and appropriate when people need some special training to correct deficits in their skills. it takes place at anytime, either as full time or part time , during the professional life of a teacher. in in-service education it should be ensure that programs are directed towards local needs of the participants and that the participants are fully involved and encouraged to identify their needs and areas of re-training. Teachers need regular in-service opportunities within the educational system to enhance their teaching methodology. They need to equip themselves with new forms of knowledge, new teaching methods and strategies, purpose and scope of new curriculum. Because teacher in-service programs must reach their intended audience they should be accessibly scheduled for teachers who are curriculum implementers.

Six Principles of Mba Program Reform:

Students, B-schools, and businesses would be better served if post-graduate business schools began to implement change in their curriculum. According to these principles Require more courses to develop “students skills” that are vital to managing effectively:

Business schools should require more courses in communication, leadership, human resources, psychology, and other fields that provide post graduates with skills to vital to effectively managing people and team-driven organizations. On top of regular classroom lectures, reading, and paper writing, schools should require more collaborative projects that emphasize the development of student skills. Projects can be for individual or a group but typically they emphasize applied learning that forces students to question, think deeply, weigh alternatives, and create. Project work also involves more management skills-listening, influencing, judging, and selling. These projects help students to learn innovative ideas and knowledge.

Drawback after using this principle:

Business schools often fail to guide students to balance competition with cooperation, Competition backfires. Post graduate students know how to collaborate- to listen to customers and cooperate with peers to come up with creative solutions. Many B- schools have adopted team-based projects to minimize job situations. We caution, however, that a few team-based projects need still collaborative skills, if professors still reward head-to-head competition in the classroom, will motivate student to learn about their weakness and strengths.

Emphasize the basic skills and tools needed for problem solving:

Business schools should introduce and emphasize courses that offer the basic skills and tools needed in problem solving. These include data gathering, data analysis, and innovative problem-solving methodologies and tools, such as system thinking. MBA graduates often stop short of getting to a problem’s root causes because they define those causes in the same way they were defined in a case study they covered in B-school.

Provide strong grounding in theories of economics, measurement, governance, psychology, human behavior, and leadership:

More and better grounding in theory- would help students go beyond in case studies to analyze problems and craft solutions in situations they have never before encountered. If students learn the nitty-gritty of microeconomics, for example they may be more prepared, say, to develop a winning pricing strategy. If they master theories of human behavior, they may be more prepared to suggest solutions to learn or unit motivational problems. By studying the problems in depth the post-graduates can have the proper knowledge of that situation. By delving deeply into theory, the graduates can also distinguish themselves with specialized knowledge that appeals to employers, and the dynamic environment.

Design curricula- so that students can learn-by doing- to apply multiple disciplines on the job:

Colleges should make changes in their curricula, so that students can integrate their learning and apply multiple disciplines on the job after recruitment. Instead, students are usually forced to learn about each of the fundamental business disciplines (such as finance, operations, and marketing) in a silo-like fashion. They should grab the proper knowledge in some specialization which helps them to take decisions effectively and efficiently.

Encourage students to take electives outside the traditional core curriculum:

B-schools must encourage student to take full advantage of courses outside the traditional core curriculum. At present most students don’t appear to be diversifying their course load because of the useless subjects which are not needed. Perhaps this accounts for the lack of differentiation we see among the post- graduates in interview. We also find that post- graduates too infrequently have in-depth knowledge of specific industries, the government, or global nongovernment organizations. This creates a tremendous void, given the demand in business for expertise in such topics as global markets, economic alliances, and government privatizations. Then also sometimes they have a failure in interviews because of lack of skills enhancement. As during the course they more focused on curriculum rather than upgrading their skills and development.

Create differentiated curricula and allow students to concentrate in specific industries:

Colleges should commit themselves to re-creating differentiation in their curricula. Although it may be too risky for a college today to completely leave the main stream, MBA program can still allow students to concentrate on an industry. There should be some industry specific course should be introduced in the curriculum so that indirectly students can learn proper knowledge of industry.

Some more specific changes can be made in the curriculum, as these six changes should be made, while reforming MBA program. Many business schools have made these dramatic changes in their curriculum and introduce some specific courses related to industry so that students should know about the industry working environment. Most of the b-schools have not changed their curriculum as they think changes are coming drastically in the environment so there is no need to change the curriculum. This type of thinking made the students negative in aspect of b-school. They mostly prefer to not come or not to pursue that course further.

Analyzing The Level Of Students According To The Behavioral Changes After Learning Integrated Courses:

Students needs in today global economy are focused not only the skills to read, write, listen, and speak English fluently, but also on the ability to communicate in a way which will be recognized and appreciated by their future counterparts in the international working environment. Both students and specialists want their English language learning to be targeted to this aim and they often also want their success in this to be measured using an internationally recognized benchmark. This brings into question the effectiveness of the available textbooks, namely to what extent they match students needs and how efficient they are in preparing the students and the specialists to communicate in authentic working environments.

The students should be equipped with these general language skills in order to properly put into practice the specialized terminology which they are expected to master once they start their working lives. Once fully equipped with the listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, the students can continue their training that involves familiarity with some legal concepts and terminology. The motivation to continue to study specialized languages and even to sit for examinations that offer a high-level language qualification may vary from study to work related reasons. At this point the problem of the available English textbooks arises, namely their suitability to match student needs. As we have mentioned the teachers are faced with the problem of choosing the right teaching materials. The starting point should be student motivation and the entire materials design has to be subordinated to this. Skill based education is lacking in all the higher education fields in India and Management. The focus of b-schools need to shift from theoretical knowledge to skill based education with a more practical and dynamic approach. For improving the skills according to corporate needs best programs should be introduced and workshops and seminar should be conducted for increasing their efficiency.

In today’s world corporate is becoming dynamic and uncertain to fulfill their requirements students need some special knowledge and skills. Infrastructure and proper facilities should be provided by b-school so that no hurdles came in the creativity of students mind. If environment is grooming and faculties are teaching corporate needs in curriculum than there should be a certain feedbacks given by students. There will be no excuse for lack of knowledge about corporate needs. As a result there is behavioral change in student after learning all these skills. After changing the environment of b-school teaching some students gain the confidence of being a manager or they are assuming at least some of corporate needs are fulfilled to get jobs in this dynamic environment.

CONCLUSION:

Change in integrated curriculum is successful in making students more aware of today’s dynamic environment. students participated in an integrated curriculum have demonstrated a more positive attitude about themselves and institute. Similarly, teachers are provided with a new opportunity to work together, increasing collegiality. They should work together to provide enhance learning experiences and a variety of instructional approaches through integrated curriculum. It’s our opinion that integrated curriculum is widely supported to every MBA graduates. Integrated curriculum is need of every B-school to increase their student skills and achieve their goals. It is in human nature that changes are adopted soon by the students, teachers and parents. In aspect of changes in curriculum, discipline subjects should be attached in the way so that every subject led to be practically viewed. After understanding the business needs into curriculum students are able to develop more problem solving skills. Developments in problem solving skills help the students to face the challenges of business scenario. Teachers should be encouraged to get proper training before teaching MBA students, not only doctorates but industry professionals should become part of curriculum to provide practical and real life knowledge. Collaborative research of top business schools and industry for providing continuous information about real life situation faced by industrial managers which should be prioritized for enabling better delivery of MBA program.

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Received on 29.04.2019 Modified on 20.05.2019

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2019; 10(3):936-940.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2019.00153.0