ISB's 1 year course may get extended to 1.5 years

Global economic meltdown of 2008 and changing needs of industry and business is forcing B-schools to review curriculum. Indian School of Business (ISB), known for its one-year residential Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM), is likely to extend the duration of the course by including six-month internship. The institute is also looking at removing/adding certain subjects as per the need of recruiters. 


MBA education and B-schools came in for heavy criticism for failing to adapt to changing global economy, particularly after the sub-prime crisis in the US that raised a need for ethical business practices and leadership skills at corporations, more so at financial institutions. Harvard Business School was among the first to address these needs by putting more weightage on industry experience.

 
In India, IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Calcutta recently organised a two-day conference "MBA Education: The Road Ahead" where some 30 B-Schools and recruiters participated and started a process to prepare a curriculum that can produce industry ready graduates. Both the IIMs carried out a survey which suggested that many recruiters do not get expected skills in the recruits. The next conference will be organised at IIM-Calcutta in October. 


Many B-Schools, including IIMs, are expected to use the outcome of the conference for curriculum change in the near future. SP Jain Institute of Management & Research changed its curriculum recently and Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) has kickstarted the process. Faculty at Harvard Business School Srikant Datar, who authored the book "Rethinking The MBA: Business Education at a Crossroad", is going to organise similar conferences in the US, Europe, Latin America, China and Africa by April 2012. 


ISB had reviewed its curriculum some five years ago. "It is necessary to review curriculum of MBA course every five years. We have seen that a large number of B-Schools have changed their curriculum after slowdown. We have also started the process in May this year," said Dishan Kamdar, senior associate dean of ISB, who is also chairman of the curriculum review committee. 

Source: Economic Times