Time Travel Into a New Age of Business Education

Business education is a very broad spectrum that encompasses a number of methods and principles which shape the career of students as per the needs of corporate world. Business education not only provides the necessary approach and strategies which should be implemented in order to carry out business or job in a successful fashion, but it also helps in crafting personality of students on the basis of ethics, moral values, and skillsets. Since the initiation of industrial era in this world, system of business education has been adapting and revolutionizing as per trends in global market. Earlier, in the period of 1950, business education was based on the functionalities and principles of the business.

What Do Candidates Look for While Selecting a B-School?

Over 15,000 schools offer business degree programs worldwide. A majority of the institutions including the educators and practitioners believe that they clearly understand and address the expectations of any current or prospective student that intends to enroll with them. This belief is flawed and contradictory since there is significant divergence between students' expectations and the ground reality after the student enrolls for the program. This chapter aims to outline key deciding criteria that may enable a prospective candidate to assess schools before application. The factors include, but are not limited to, drawing up a list of potential schools, shortlist the “top” schools matching the offered programs and aspirations, future career path desired, amongst other important parameters such as diversity, class profile, and financial investment. The factors discussed also highlight the key areas where business schools can meet and exceed expectations and go the extra mile that will help them differentiate against competition.

Factors That Determine B-School Selection

Education is about the moulding of young and unprepared minds. It is a process that incorporates enormous inputs and commitment on the part of all stakeholders involved: teachers, peers, parents, and society. The outcome of education is measured in terms of the status person has gained, wealth, physical comfort, standard of living, and social esteem. Higher education plays important role in shaping the future of a student. Management education is one the most popular courses at post-graduate level. Hence, this chapter is an attempt to understand the factors that a student looks for while selecting a B-school. Primary survey is done to understand the factors affecting students' decision in selecting a B-school. It is observed that teaching pedagogy, placements, faculty, specialization, and fees play important roles in a student's decision process.

Fostering Engaged Prospects Through Digital and Social Media

In the age of innovation, social media is the ideal platform for academic bodies to reach out to prospective students, currently enrolled students and alumni. This chapter explains role and significance of social media in keeping students engaged. Student as customer concept is in trend which keeps academic institutions under pressure to improve quality. Prospective students expect academic institutions to be transparent in their governance and promote simple and easy to use social media and digital channels for information. The inevitable role of social media for connecting alumni and current student worldwide for networking is explained in this chapter. Social media is an affordable tool for academic institutions to connect to larger student network, but it is important to learn how to use the social media to influence and engage students and alumni of both online and on campus program. The objective of this chapter is to use various examples to help readers understand the concept well to attract prospective students and retain current students.

Utopian B-School Classroom Where Expectation Meets Reality

The supremacy of some business schools like Harvard and IIMs in the ranking ladder makes them desirable to the students as compared to the clusters down the ladder. The result is a greater number of admissions in the former category as compared to the latter. The question that arises is, What makes the top-ranking institutions a class apart? The answer is, the creation of the product that is a class apart. The chapter discusses various means including the pedagogy and curriculum to make the business school classroom a conducive environment to create an elite class of future managers and entrepreneurs. The main objectives of this study are to understand the differences in the students and the need for reinventing the pedagogy as to suit the needs of individual student thus converting the conventional classrooms into utopian classrooms for them. The chapter also explains the importance and attributes of a good curriculum in a business school.

Design Thinking in Redesigning Business School Admission Process

Admissions are critical for any business school (B-school). A good school aims at a diverse participant mix who reflect a broad range of industries, functions, countries, and backgrounds to enrich the learning experience. Therefore, admissions or the intake process becomes crucial and decides the fate of both the school and students. This chapter maps the journey of the design thinking tools applied in redesigning of the admission process and its impact in context to a leading Indian B-school. This study has broader implications for B-schools in general as the model will help them understand the need of applying design-thinking techniques in redesigning new age admission strategies.

Digital Marketing Approaches for Generation Y to Position PhD or FPM Program

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview of the changing needs of PhD or FPM program. The focus of its overview will extend to an exploration of the needs and demands of modern PhD or FPM programs. One of the first dimensions of this exploration is the nature of Generation Y students pursuing their PhD or FPM programs. One of the first insights this chapter offers is that this generation merges their knowledge requirements, consumption patterns, and social interactions. This merging happens in the context of digital devices and platforms for Generation Y. This merging is inclusive of their educational requirements. When they wish to pursue their educational goals, they seek the same criteria that they evaluate their either requirements on. These criteria are functionality, ease of access and aesthetics. Going on, the denizens of Generation Y seek to contribute as much on digital platforms as much as they receive. In the context of PhD or FPM programs, the students of Generation Y prefer to communicate with other users, experts, and influencers.

Structural and Functional Pre-Requisites of Management Admission Process

In the last 25 years, along with the opening up of the economy and growth of the industry, there has been an exponential growth of both private and public business schools. Public business schools have also started expanding giving a tough competition to private business schools. There is competition in both the supply (B-schools) and demand side (MBA aspirants) to match the aspirants' needs and get them a rational return on their investment (RoI) through this tool called management degree. To understand the strategy of MBA admission in business schools, it is pertinent to understand the networks of MBA colleges and the created networks of aspirants. This chapter is an attempt to understand the admission strategy of classified business management institutions in the socio-structural context of aspirants. For the classification of management institutions, the author has considered NHRDN ranking of 2018. The chapter also explores the MBA admission strategies of these top business schools in the context of their institutional branding and student networks effects.

Millennials

The Millennial generation (Gen Y) will comprise half of the global workforce by 2020 and three-fourths of the workforce by 2025. With limited career and growth opportunities in many sectors, many higher education aspirants are looking to reskill themselves in the field of management. The challenge is that this generation has a very different value orientation than that of the previous generation (Gen X). Therefore, understanding the learning attitudes and attributes of this generation could provide useful insights into the strategies that might be effective in the admission selection process. This chapter surveyed 560 students recently admitted to the management institute in and around Delhi region to assess their learning motivations. The results show that the students were very confident in their ability to participate and perform well in the course. They were attracted to the teaching methodologies and networking opportunities. The close interaction between the students, peers, and faculty was one of the main sources of motivation for them to join the institute.

Harnessing the Power of Differentiation

Gone are the days when attracting quality students for admissions used to be a cake walk. Nowadays, the admission process particularly for business schools has become a herculean task as it incurs lot of challenges even for prestigious ones. Nevertheless, there are multiple factors likely to impact thought process of prospective candidates while choosing appropriate B-schools like placement track, infrastructure, and quality of faculty, accreditation, ranking, etc. This chapter reviews marketing drives adopted by business schools as an attempt to stand out and differentiate them in a crowded and volatile market and attract students worldwide. The chapter also deals with range of marketing initiatives undertaken by B schools in recent times to attract potential students. Considering the relevance of adapting to the changing market forces, the purpose of this chapter is to analyze innovative strategies adopted by business school in the Indian context. Methodology adopted in the paper is conceptual and analytical. Suggestions are proposed at the end of chapter.