IIMs retain their lustre

MUMBAI: For students who choose not to apply to any of these lesser-known colleges, the decision is a no-brainer: the curriculum is far from business reality, faculty is minimal and, most importantly, few respectable companies participate in the course-end recruitment drives.

At one time, the archetypal Indian MBA did join anonymous business colleges. But now, with no job offer at the end, the decision is no longer complicated: a young graduate would rather take up a job or prepare harder for another shot at an entrance exam which is the gate to a better B-school, says Stephen D'silva, director, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.

...Having said that, the manner in which India's business education sector has developed poses a vital question: Is the MBA for everyone? Across the country, academics, irrespective of the institute they are affiliated to, are relating to Henry Mintzberg of McGill University, Montreal, who devoted a book to his contention that "conventional MBA programs train the wrong people in the wrong ways with the wrong consequences".

Mintzberg's line 'Warning: Not Prepared to Manage' has become a popular catch phrase in internal meetings that B-school boards and faculty members hold.

Read full article: The Times of India, February 19, 2012