Executive MBA Programs

Posts Tagged ‘Curriculum’

“We don’t need no education”, sang pop-star Pink Floyd way back in the 70’s in the famous super hit album, “The Wall”. While this may sound all right for idealistic rebels, it certainly does not apply to the current education scenario.

According to the estimation, the combined market capitalization of listed private education companies in India is about US$ 40 bn market with a potential of 16% five-year CAGR. Other meaningful and fast-growing areas include vocational training at US$ 1.4 bn.

With respect to the research topic “ Innovative pedagogy in education”, I now explore the same in the B-school context.

Definitions of ‘innovative pedagogy’ and ‘curriculum’

The term ‘curriculum’ has various meanings. In relation to the term ‘qualification’, the best definition is: a document that relates to the desired implementation of an entire educational programme, leading to a diploma. The document always contains descriptions of the following: objectives – contents – educational structure – assessment/evaluation. The extent of detail can vary. The development of a curriculum is a matter for the individual B-schools within the legal frameworks as laid down in the constitution.

The term ‘innovation’ is also ambiguous: innovation as something totally new (never experienced before); because it is new to the users. Since the beginning of the decade a distinction has been made within B-school education between three renewal strategies linked to the method of financing and the character of ‘an alternative approach’:

(1) Basic strategy: involves the changes that are made to keep management education up to date and to make it attractive and more effective; ‘daily’ innovation is financed from the normal budget.

(2) Breadth strategy: implementing new working methods that have already been tested elsewhere; make locally applicable and specialist rather than just adopting innovations. Extra means have been earmarked for every institute of B-school education.

(3) Depth strategy: involves two different innovations: (a) something completely new and/or (b) something new for which the regulations can/may be set aside, and which will involve temporary additional project financing over several years, for which a critical assessment of the innovative idea will take place in advance. Only those ideas with truly innovative potential can be elaborated on in the project proposal that will be submitted for further approval.

NIIT initiatives:

NIIT has already implemented some new innovative pedagogy for educating professionals. Some of them are following:

Institute of finance, banking and insurance (IFBI):

IFBI addresses the manpower needs of financial-services space in India, where at least two million new jobs are likely to be created between now and 2012. IFBI started in september2006 and offers a postgraduate diploma in banking operations to all graduates which includes an internship and placement alliance with ICICI bank and other private and PSBs.

Evolv:

NIIT acquired English-training Company Evolv in January 2008. Evolv has a repository of 50 courses to improve soft-skills. Evolv is a communication and service delivery-based consulting, auditing and training company. The training methodology goes far beyond the classroom – it includes rigorous on-the-job monitoring, mentoring, refreshing knowledge and periodic assessments. Evolv as a Human Resource consultant is increasingly gaining involvement in their clients recruitment/selection drive as well as in the curriculum design phase.

Imperia:

Imperia provide management education for organizations and working professionals. Some of India’s leading B-schools such as IIM A and IIM C are partners and these conduct live classroom sessions for Imperia students. NIIT Imperia Centre for Advanced Learning has been specially created to provide quality management education and customized learning solutions for organizations and working professionals. Today’s professionals need to continuously build their domain-specific and managerial credentials to perform better at work and move up the growth curve. To help meet these needs, NIIT Imperia offers Executive Management Programs from the most prestigious institutions in the country.

Business school students may need training in ethics and moral reasoning more than most other students. Research found that students in business school ranked lower in moral reasoning than students in philosophy and medicine. A study of top business schools in the United States that found business school education not only fails to improve the moral character of students, but potentially weakens it. Business ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability have arguably become more important to both the business world and business schools in recent years. The Masters of Business Administration program is regarded as the premier business qualification for practicing managers with career aspirations. It would seem logical that MBA programs would address the topics of Business ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in a clear and strategic fashion.

MBA- Masters in Business Administration is the most prestigious management degree that a student aspiring for successful career opts for. The notion that MBA can be done only by management or business students, is just so invalid and also many engineering, marketing and even language students have proved it wrong by taking MBA as their Masters course. In fact many students go for MBA courses even after doing their majors in their specialized fields that is due to the increasing demand of the MBA degree holders in the industry. MBA has become a passion among students and they are very keen to pursue courses in the same field.

With the expansion in the market and the globalization of the industry, more opportunities are knocking the doors of the students, and students are becoming more aware for the need of a proper training to polish their management and analytical skills, before entering the actual work environment. The design of the course varies in accordance to the students requirements; there are different curriculum structures available for different groups of people, such as:

v     Full- Time MBA

v     Part Time MBA

v     Distance Learning MBA

v     Executive MBA

v     Online MBA

Also, to fit the individual needs of the students according to their respective subjects, the fields available for MBA specialization are:

MBA in Accounting and Finance

A full time course in Accounts management is preferred as it enables you to get an in-depth knowledge about subjects like reporting, finances, risk management, taxation, planning and implementation. This course is highly required by people working in the accounts department to keep their finances, taxes or books statements in order.

MBA in Consulting

Consultants are the people who play an important role in the growth of their company with the help of their finance and general management skills. They are also responsible for solving issues over customer service or providing advice for the strategies related to new products or brands to be introduced in the market. The study programs for the MBA in consulting focus on subjects like finance, product design, marketing, management, information technology, business organization, customer service, etc.

MBA Criminal Justice

The course is mainly taken by the professionals already working in the law field or by the students planning their career in the same field. The students in this field are skilled with the qualities to work in the most difficult situations and to handle people with different social and economical backgrounds, engraved with different values and believe. The main subjects covered under this include courses like, social and cultural awareness, business administration, forensic sciences, public policies, political structure, law enforcement, etc.

MBA Engineering

MBA in engineering is generally taken by the engineering students who are keen to learn more about the business aspects of this field. Engineers from different fields like computers, aerospace, mechanical or civil engineering seek this course to polish their skills on subjects like finance management, product development, marketing strategies, etc.

MBA in Hospitality and Tourism

Hospitality and tourism forms an important part of the career opportunities in which students aim to pursue their career. MBA in the same field helps them acquire managerial positions in the top most hotels, airways, restaurants, or some other job opportunities related to tourism. The topics focused in the course are leadership skills, risk management, finances, human resources etc.

MBA in Marketing and Media

This is the most in- demand MBA course as more and more students are opting for career in marketing and media management. Moreover it’s a very new course under the MBA curriculum, so as per now, only few institutes are providing this course like Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Indian School of Business, Sikkim and Manipal University, etc. The students take this course to master on the subjects like marketing strategies, media management, Public relation skills, and Communications management