The Truth about Indian Business
Schools
Page - 2
The quality of the alumni
networks is more important than the number of new buildings created across
campus. It seems that the Ministry of Human Resources of India is too busy
settling caste equations in business schools to bother with taking any action
against opaque business practices to the sellers of the business school myths.
Indeed while starting salaries of business schools, and especially the top
ranked business schools, are often fudged - thanks to game theory mindsets - the
fees of each institute are clear and so is the list of notable alumni from each
business school. This should help students decide where they get maximum
business value for their parents', their own and their bank loan's money.
Just like we have an independent
body to rate IPOs, we should have some independent body which has no conflict of
interest, nor interest in publicity, to help devise these business school
rankings. The size of the economics and number of people affected by the whole
game of B-school rankings mandates this. The government should follow-up their
recent promises to make more IIMs by upgrading institutes under its influence to
IIM status, especially the better non-IIM business schools. This will also help
break the long term monopoly of the top three ranked business schools and focus
them to improve themselves rather than seek controversies or off shore campuses.
There is need for some basic
legislation to help students avoid getting cheated for fees especially from
institutes that spend aggressively on advertising. There should be some
guidelines or code of conduct for business publications and business schools.
Industry bodies and notable business people should take the lead in this just as
they did in creating the IIMs and, more recently, the ISB Hyderabad, which is an
example of a world-class institute. Otherwise, business school rankings seem
destined to fluctuate just like the fortunes of the Indian cricket team,
misleading millions of young Indians and their parents who aspire to gain in the
booming economy.
