INTRODUCTION:

The role of management education in national development is well established as it is this level of education which provides top-level of manpower like engineers, doctors, managers, scientists, bureaucrats, technocrats and teachers etc. who are responsible for accelerating the process of-development further. The institutions of management education are also required to undertake research to generate new knowledge for the scientific and technological advancement and make their knowledge and resources available to community through extension and consultancy services. They are accountable to students, society, and employer and in short to all stakeholders. After independence, there has been significant growth in management education in terms of quantity. From 30 universities and 590 colleges in 1947-48, today we have around 435 universities and 20,700 colleges. During the last sixty years this system of management education has made significant contribution to the society. It is on record that India has given to America 28% of IBM Technologies, 34% of Micro-soft employees, 36% of NASA Scientists, and 38% of Doctors and much more (Dhar, 2008).

In spite of such an expansion and contribution we still fall short of universities and college as only 10 per cent of the relevant age group (17 to 23 yrs) is enrolled in the management education system which is far below the world average of23%. In the world scenario, India still has far too less a number of institutions of management learning. While Japan has 4,000 universities for its 127 million people and the USA has 3650 universities for its 301 million, in India we have only 435 universities for 1.2 bi II ion people. The report of the knowledge Commission (2007) wanted the enrollment in management education to increase 15% by 20 15 for which · it has recommended the setting up of about 1500 universities in next few years. At one hand we are struggling with quantity and on the other hand there is a concern of maintaining quality and relevance. Thus, all those who are concerned with management education need to ponder on the following questions if we want the management education to be relevant to the current times.

· What are the indicators of quality in management education?

· How can we measure the quality and relevance of management education?

· How can we control and assure quality in management education?

· To what extent is management education meeting the needs and requirements of the organizations?

· What strategies can be adopted to enhance the quality of management education?

There is no doubt that we need to improve the quality of management education. This can be possible only with quality thinking.

CONCEPT OF QUALITY:

The concept of quality has been drawn from industry. Not very long ago education and industry functioned independently of each other and displayed very contrasting ethos and values. This is no longer true now as in recent years the two have moved closer towards each other, borrowing ideas and practices. Thus, in industry the values of hierarchy, power and control are being replaced by the values of autonomy, cooperation and sharing of responsibilities - values generally associated with the world of academia. On the other hand, educational institutions are adopting corporate patterns of organization, including strategic planning, delineation of responsibility and accountability. It is therefore, not surprising that the concepts are being considered for application in the field of education (Powar, 2001). Quality by itself is a very complex issue and can be interpreted in several ways.

Absolute Vs Relative Quality:

An absolute quality is an ideal with which there can be no compromise. Quality products are things of perfection. They are valuable and convey prestige to their owners. Rarity, class and expense are three features of quality. In the context of management education, only a few educational institutions are able to offer such a high quality of educational experience to their learner. One can cite the examples of IITs and IIMs in India which can boast of absolute quality. Their raw materials (entering-students) are selective and their products (graduates) are produced at higher price and placed on a higher wages in the employment market.

The relative definition views quality not as an attribute of a product or service but as something which is ascribed to it. From this point of view, quality can be judged to exist when a good or service meets the specification that has been laid down for it. Quality products or services, in this relative definition need not be expensive and exclusive. Infrastructure, curriculum and teaching services may all exhibit quality if they meet some pre-determined standard. The question is - With respect to management education, what kind of quality we would like to have - absolute or relative?

Producer's Vs Consumer's Quality:

The problem in the relative definition of quality is who will lay down the specifications of quality - the producer or the consumer. The views of producers and consumers are not always the same. Thus, the relative definition of quality has two aspects to it. The first is measuring up to specification as decided by the producer and the second is meeting requirements of the customer. The first usage of measuring up to specification is often considered as fitness for purpose or use. This is sometimes called producer's definition of quality. Quality for the producer is achieved by its products or services meeting a pre-defined specification in a consistent fashion. Quality is demonstrated by the producer having a system, known as a quality assurance system, which enables the consistent production of the goods or services to a particular standard or specification. A product exhibits quality so long as it consistently meets its maker's claims for it. In this definition both Bata Shoes and IITians are quality products. So long as products conform to their manufacturer's specifications and standards they exhibit quality. This view of quality sometimes called 'quality in fact'.

Organizations who follow the TQM path regard quality as being defined by their customers. From this perspective, quality can be defined as that which satisfies and exceeds customers' needs and wants. This is sometimes called 'quality in perception'. This is a very important and powerful definition of quality. It is the consumers who make the final judgment on quality. Consumer judge quality by comparing their perceptions of what they receive with their expectations of it. The question is - Should we plan quality management education as defined by the market (customer's view) or should we have our own standards?

Quality of Education as Product or Service:

There is another problem with regards to the quality of education. Often, a question is raised whether the education is a product or service? The distinction between a product and a service is important because there are fundamental differences between them which have a bearing on how their quality can be assured. If education is viewed as a production system with 'graduates' emerging from the end of it, for quality assurance the input material (entering students) must pass through a standard set of processes and the output must meet defined specifications. Such a model does not easily fit education because such a model would require initial screening of potential learners so 'as to have raw material of high quality. Some sectors of education do this (like IITs and lIMs) but many following the comprehensive principle of open access do not.

On the other hand, if education is considered as a service then it is largely about the process rather than product. In this sense, it is usually more important how an outcome is arrived at than what the outcome is. In this model quality of physical and human resources used and the quality of technology and management utilized becomes more important in the final production of service. Though it is difficult to measure the quality of service so produced but in the final analysis it is measured by customer's satisfaction. In fact education first begins as a service but ultimately it ends up in the manufacture of educational products. Thus quality of educational service and product both are equally important while analyzing the final quality of education.

The question is -Should we not think of enhancing the quality of both the product and the service of management education?

Criterion of Quality:

From the above discussion certain criteria of quality of education can be drawn as:

· Education is both a product (goods) and service. For analyzing the final quality of education, both the quality of educational service and the product is important.

· Quality of educational service or product can be defined as that which satisfies customer's needs and requirement.

· Quality of educational service or product can be judged if they meet some pre-determined standard/specifications.

Quality of educational service or product can be assured by its producers. So long as product or the service conforms to their manufacturer's specifications and standard, they exhibit quality. Quality can be controlled by continuously monitoring and improving the service or product.

Quality and Management Education in India:

A lot of discussion is going on regarding the quality of management education in India. The most important challenge for business education in India is to sustain quality education. Quality is the only currency, which is accepted universally and it is also true in the case when the product is education. Every student is now quality conscious and it is also imperative that a passion for quality is developed in the international as well as national arena. In management education quality has become a necessity and circumstances require total quality management.

The present economic meltdown has thrown several challenges to business managers and leaders across the world. The current curriculum in management education does not teach students in facing the challenges in business environment. How to manage uncertainty and complexity are not taught in business schools. It merely teaches the concepts with case studies. It does not focus on the challenges arising out of rapid growing technology and the challenges involved in running an enterprise. In India we find the concept of quality management education has been practiced only in some of the premier management institutes. There are a large number of management institutes with poor management excellence. We can identify the following common drawbacks among most of the management institutes which lead to erosion of quality:

· Old pedagogy

· Use of outdated case material and extensive use of cases in foreign context

· Inadequate qualified staff,

· Traditional evaluation system

· More emphasis on theoretical aspects

· Least institute industry linkage

· Lack of proper communication

· Inadequate involvement of students in learning

· Lack of research bases

Quality Control and Quality Assurance in Management Education:

There are some related quality concepts like Quality Control and Quality Assurance which need to be understood with respect to management education.

Quality Control:

It is an after-the-event process which is concerned with the detection and elimination of the final products that are not of expected standard. Control is a historic activity which takes place after the event has occurred and is carried out by a third party and not the producer. It involves checking and monitoring. Testing and inspection are the most common methods of quality control, and are widely used in education to determine whether standards are being met. In management education we have the following two modes to look into the quality control:

· National Education Testing (NET) is one of the ways to screen the product as being used by UGC for the selection of JRF’s/Lecturer’s eligibility.

· Agencies like National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) under the University Grants Commission and National Board of Accreditation under the All India Council for Technical Education. NAAC is involved in institutional evaluation and NBA evaluates programmes for professional courses. The question is – Are we able to control the quality of management education by adopting the above measures and if yes with what results?

Quality Assurance:

Quality assurance is different from quality control. It is before and during the process. It is proactive and anticipatory. Standards and procedures are clearly defined in advance and the workers are trained to be able to meet them. Its concern is to prevent faults occurring in the first place. Quality is designed into the process to attempt to ensure that the product is produced to a pre-determined specification. In a simple way, it is the systematic review of educational programme to ensure that acceptable standard of education; scholarships and infrastructure are being maintained. Quality standards are maintained by following the procedures laid down in the quality assurance system (QAS). In management education, it means to lay down the:

• Curriculum of high quality

• Faculty for quality teaching

• Laboratories, libraries and other facilities for quality research

• Administrative set up for quality support

• Managerial system for providing quality culture

• Physical infrastructure of high standard for effective functioning of academic process.

For this purpose, universities and colleges are expected to set-up Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) for continuous quality assessment and academic audit. Are these cells really functioning, if yes, with what impact?

Assessment of Quality Vis-a-vis Accountability in Management Education:

It is a accepted fact that for implementing programmes of quality assurance it is necessary to first assess the functioning, performance and current standards of an institution and that this has to be done against its mission, goals and objectives. In a way it is to test accountability of an institution. In the simplest form, accountability means being answerable for one's action. The main purpose of the system of accountability is to ensure minimum performance and thus help enhancing the quality of management education. The accountability of a university can be discussed with respect to the following matters:

· Academic matters;

· Administrative matters;

· Financial matters.

However, there has been a debate on the manner in which the assessment of quality vis-a-vis accountability is to be conducted-through internal mechanism (Self-Assessment) or by external agency (Powar, 2002).

Internal Assessment (Self-Assessment):

Many academics, placing stress on academic freedom and autonomy of institutions, believe that assessment of quality should be done through self evaluation. Successful internal assessment presupposes that minds are open and receptive to ideas. It requires the involvement of all major stakeholders and faculty, students and management and close interaction between them. It is necessary to assess the programmes of all the organs and work of all the individuals of the university. Internal assessment may be on the following lines.

· Self-appraisal of teachers

· Self-appraisal of departments

· Internal reviews of the work of Head of Department and Deans of Schools

· Internal review of the work of top-level administrators like Registrars, Controllers of Examination, Finance Officers and Vice-Chancellors

· Internal review of work of Librarians, Directors of Academic Staff College, College Development Council and Physical Education

· Interview Review of the work of Engineers, Wardens and Doctors of Institutions

Is there a system in place in every university and college to assess the quality of each and every input for appraisal and process itself?

External Assessment (Accreditation):

External assessment is a mechanism of quality control in the functioning of management education. The focus is more on the culture of compliance rather than one of continuous quality enhancement. It is on the basis of this external assessment, the decision with regards to the allocation of funds are made. At the end, it finally helps the institutions in the process of quality enhancement. Quality assessment through external agency is now a standard practice in practically all developed and many developing countries and most of them have established accreditation agencies for this purpose. These agencies carry out the assessment of institutions periodically through well laid down and formalized procedures. This generally involves an inspection of infrastructure, facilities and programmes of the institutions by an external team that essentially validates a self-study report submitted by the institution. The report of the external team usually highlights the deficiencies, and makes recommendations for improvement. The evaluation finally results in a kind of certification commonly referred to as accreditation (Powar, 2002). In India, we have National Assessment and Accreditation Council which is entrusted with the task of performance evaluation, assessment and accreditation of colleges and universities in the country. It has laid down the following parameters for assessment:

· Curricular aspects;

· Teaching, learning and evaluation;

· Research, consultancy and extension, infrastructure and learning resources;

· Student support and progression

· Organization and progression

· Organization and management

· Healthy practices/best practices

NAAC makes its assessment on the above parameters by analyzing and validating the self study report of the colleges/universities. The assessment of NAAC helps the system in the following ways:

· Helps the institution to know its strength and weaknesses and thereby improve its performance

· Provide the society with reliable information on the quality of education offered by the institution;

· Provides the society with reliable information on the quality of education offered by the institution;

· Provides the funding agency with objective and systematic database for performance funding.

There is no doubt that this kind of assessment may have long term effect in enhancing the quality of management education in the country. But in this connection, the following issues are of vital concern for larger discussion:

i. How far is it justifiable to assess the quality by adopting quantitative approaches only? Is it not possible to develop some qualitative criteria of assessment also?

ii. What about the process indicators of quality which are mainly responsible for the quality outputs? Is it possible to assess the quality of this factor also?

iii. Are we sure that with the given increase in inputs, there will be an equivalent increase in output. If not how then is it cost-effective?

Suggestions to Enhance Quality in Management Education:

The management education symbolizes the formal or informal learning experience which a person imbibes in the journey towards efficient planning, allocation and implementation of resources such as men, money and material. The qualitative aspect of management education is also as important as its technical aspects. Management Education should not just equip a student with managerial skills and expertise, but also develop in him the right attitude. It should be our endeavor to produce world class technical and management personnel who would be sought globally. Total quality management should be inducted to make the management education effective.

In India All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) is entrusted with responsibility of regulating, controlling and ensuring the quality of management education in the country. The formation of National Board of Accreditation (NBA) has contributed substantially to create awareness and concern for the quality of management education. Apart from that we can suggest the following to enhance the quality of management education:

· Course curriculum:

The curriculum should be realistic and content should be in tune with the changing trends of the economy. For this purpose an industrialist or a senior member from the corporate world can be a member of Board of studies of the institution. Projects assigned should be more practical and while restructuring the syllabus and the courses efforts should be made to develop an optimal combination of acquisition of theoretical and practical skills. The courses should be so designed that critical reading and interpretation of subjects, practical field work wherever relevant and applications of reading and other skills should be given importance.

· Institute industry linkage:

To meet the challenges of the corporate world it is necessary for the management institutions to have linkages between business and industry. Centre for industrial collaboration can be set up to interact with industries through various programmes to impart application knowledge and integrated industrial training to the students and faculty along with the industrial projects.

· Faculty development:

Teachers are a focal point of any education system. As such the quality of management education can be enhanced through faculty development programme. As most of the management institutions are privately owned, the management should encourage the faculty to undergo faculty development programme. Further in house study circles should be created to share the knowledge among the faculty members in the respective b- schools.

· Placement:

Placement is an important aspect of quality. Successful placement indicates that the management institution is meeting the needs of the industry. Top ranked business schools have excellent placement of their graduates. A professionally manned placement department should be set up. It should give a platform for interaction between students and prospective employers. The institution can adopt psychological assessment tools to identify the capabilities of the students enrolled for placement. For example, personality mapping may be used to predict that a student who is ambitious and extrovert would do better in the marketing world while one with empathy would be suitable for the human resource development. However B-schools should not be labeled as employment agencies.

· Infrastructure:

The experience of shopping at malls is better than the old dirty bazaars. The experience of traveling in a metro train is much better than suffering in the city buses. The experience of driving on four or six lane highways is much better the same way. The same way, infrastructure has a meaning in education. World class universities and schools with world class libraries, laboratories and class rooms, in a world class building make a world class infrastructure for education. The cost and resource limitations have made the development of infrastructure a challenge for most of the b- schools. B-schools have to invest in providing excellent infrastructure including residence dorms, well built class rooms, library facilities.

· Evaluation:

The system of examination and process of evaluation are the most important components of any education system. There should be continuous assessment of students in class, projects, examinations, seminars, presentations, line assignments, case analysis, group projects and business simulation games. Proper orientation on assessment methods should be given to all the teachers particularly to the newly appointed teachers. The pattern of papers, evaluation methodology should be properly determined and communicated to students well in advance. Serious efforts should be made in developing question banks by following rigorous scientific procedures across disciplines. If required, regional level workshops may be organized. Of late, various developments have been witnessed relating to quality assurance mainly through the intervention of Information and Communication technologies(ICT) in education like networking of the open learning system with traditional universities inter discipline interactions at intra institutional levels, networking of institutions globally, data based management of management education.

· Feedback:

Students are the best judges to evaluate the teaching mechanism in any institutions. Establish appropriate and effective feedback system at all the institutions. There should be a practice to critically examine the past and present performance of the institutions.

· Students centered learning:

Under this process, each individual student is valued and trusted and the teacher must be clear about fundamentals of innovative learning. Student centered teaching is about attitudes and relationships that need to be built and nurtured.

· Values:

Future managers should know the practical aspects of work ethics, like how ethics can be developed, how they can be managed at workplace, how individual makes his/her values, what are the contents of ethics which can be utilized to motivate human resources at work place since "organizations are not having ethics only people have". Values are something that cannot be defined and taught, they are only inculcated over a period of time. There is some mismatch between recruiters’ expectations and Indian B-school graduates, as the recruiters look for completely dependable graduates on whom the company or the organization can rely. But no management institute can produce such students, as this is not a value, but a skill. An institute can only enhance existing values/skills, but can't create them. So is the case with creativity. Business ethics is something that shouldn't be compromised. Developing values that enable decision-making in grey areas characterized by inadequate information or conflicts (like profit vs. integrity) is a tricky issue.

· Governance:

Governance of institutions should be transparent. There should only be one body with norms specified for accreditation or ranking of B-schools. Government bodies should not interfere with ranking and accreditation issues. The government should only lay down the norms, rules and regulations or, in case of the curriculum, lay down the broad outlines. It should be mandatory for all the institutes to comply with the criteria, but they should still have autonomy in fields like selection of students, faculty, up-gradation of courses etc. This rating creates a feeling of competition and helps other institutes set benchmarks for them.

Other suggestions:

· Reimbursement of tuition fees of a topper in the class for the whole year.

· Internship programmes to enable student to work in real world situations

· Providing seed money to transform an idea in to a product for selected ideas with commercial potentials.

· Signing MOU’s with foreign universities to facilitate internship, fellowship and other extensional activities

· To make students socially sensitive business leaders, they may be given mandatory social projects. The idea behind this project is to get each students select a social cause study in its totality by working along with the selected NGOs and evolve an innovative managerial response to manage social issues, such as education, girl child, gender discrimination, corruption, environment, poverty.

· As most of the management institutes are found in cities, student with urban background can be taken to rural areas and exposed to rural life. Medical camps, industrial camps can be conducted in those areas to enable the students to get acquainted with rural life.

· Quality education is also a function of competencies in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes, capacity and competition Vis -a-Vis needs. It is described as efficiency in meeting the set goals, relevance to human and environmental needs and conditions and "something more" in relation of excellence and human betterment.”

An Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) system to be established with in an institution under which students, staff and management satisfy themselves that control mechanisms are working to maintain and enhance the quality. IQA is the totality of systems, resources and information devoted to setting up, maintaining and improving the quality and standards of teaching, scholarship (student learning experience), research and service to community. An institution must have a clear policy for IQA and clear procedures for it; an adequate system for the approval, monitoring and periodic review of programmer and awards an adequate system for the assessment of students, quality assurance of teachers, learning resources and adequate information system.

CONCLUSION:

Indian management education is in the midst of massive transformation. Though the MBA/PGDM sector experienced significant growth in the last decade, the level of dissatisfaction amongst both corporate and students is on the rise. With the foreign universities opening more and more centers in India coupled with aggressive marketing strategies, Indian management education can retain its identity and integrity only if it can provide a world class quality of education. In management education, quality has become a necessity and the circumstances require total quality management. Our analysis leads us to believe that there are high quality business schools in India. Today Indian B-Schools are facing formidable challenges. In the current scenario regulatory changes, growth in Indian economy, a culture of entrepreneurship and the impact of digital technology in learning has created unprecedented opportunities. All the leading management institutes are responding to the rapidly changing scenario and emerging as winners. The rapid growth of management education over the years has resulted in the dilution of its quality and standard, which in turn has affected the quality of man power produced. There is, therefore, a need to develop a quality culture in our institutions of management education. This will require the quality of mental infrastructure more than that of the physical infrastructure because quality depends upon our vision, sincerity of purpose, and conviction to do our duty. There is an inter linkage between quality and excellence. Excellence would be attained only through establishing quality education in vast majority of educational institutions of higher learning.

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Received on 03.10.2014 Modified on 22.10.2014

Asian J. Management 6(1): January–March, 2015 page 37-43

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2015.00007.4