Top Educators and Policymakers believed that a higher level of research and innovation is much needed to transform management education in India for realigning the management system for a sustainable tomorrow, at 6th National Research Conference organized by AIMA in New Delhi.
The two-day conference on “Transforming Management education for a sustainable tomorrow”, which ended on Feb 8, saw a number of eminent academic leaders exchange thoughts and deliberate on the realignment required in management schools to expose their students to more research oriented education.
The distinguished speakers at the forum including Dr. K.P. Isaac, Member Secretary, AICTE; Prof. Dr. Michael J Barnes, Professor & Dean, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU); Prof. D.K. Bandyopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, GGSIP University, Delhi; Dr. M. Ponnavaiko, Vice Chancellor, SRM University; J.K. Mitra, Professor, Faculty of management Studies, University of Delhi; Mr. Harpreet Singh, Executive Director, Educomp Raffles Higher Education, Educomp Solutions.
Dr. Michael Barnes, Professor & Dean, O.P. Jindal Global University emphasized on the need of collaborative research initiatives by B - schools in the country. “Management education is a combination of planning, organization, leading and controlling under a global umbrella,” he said.
“The knowledge interaction in the classrooms and beyond determines the outcome and the future of the students. It is not something that can be “goggled”, which is the one source of knowledge of today’s generation,” he said, adding, “B-Schools play an essential role in aiding a sustainable tomorrow and Management education should focus on collaboration and multi-disciplinary research not just in India but with other institutes of global repute.”
Dr. K.P. Issac, Member Secretary, AICTE said that Industry-Institute relationship, should be strengthened to facilitate flow of ideas, generate knowledge and bring innovation. “There is an urgent need to bring innovative approach in industry institute relationship. Industry should take steps to develop “Research Parks” which would include setting up of an R&D centre within the institute. This would facilitate flow of ideas and generate knowledge, technology and innovation for the growth of the corporate and will open up the possibility of creation of new companies.”
Dr. Isaac also pointed out the need to change the curriculum defined by the learning objectives to demonstrate the outcomes. He said that the curriculum needs to be fine-tuned according to the requirements of the industry.
Prof. J.K. Mitra, Professor of Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi said that B-schools should take students from diverse background to create better scope for innovation. “Management is the only discipline which is taught in the post graduation without any undergraduate support. A good institute is the one which draws students from various disciplines as heterogeneity is something that creates a better scope for innovation and new thought process,” he said, adding, “Corporates should also recruit students not only because of their academic merit but also on the basis of their innovative capabilities.”
Another session at the conference focused on transformation of the learning processes. The eminent panelists included Prof. D.K. Bandyopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, GGSIP University, Delhi, Dr. M. Ponnavaiko, Vice Chancellor, SRM University, Mr. Harpreet Singh, Executive Director, Educomp Raffles Higher Education, Educomp Solutions Ltd. amongst others.
Prof. Bandyopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, GGSIP University, said that the educational pattern of the country needs to be aligned in a way so that the concept of sustainability gets inbuilt in the process. “An educational institution develops the seeds of tomorrow in the nation’s growth. The philosophy of sustainability needs to be created in the minds of the students by bringing a change in curriculum with emphasis on broadening the thought process,” he said.
The concluding session of the day witnessed Directors of the top B Schools of the country like IIFT, FORE School of Management share their views on the need to build world class B-Schools to help prepare future business leaders of the county who will facilitate the process of achieving a sustainable tomorrow.
The annual conference brought together over 200 guests Academic leaders, Industry leaders, policy makers, stakeholder, government organizations and delegates from across the country provide an ideal platform for knowledge exchange.
The AIMA conference also provides a platform to researchers, policy implementers, stakeholders to present Research papers, monograms, case studies, research reports and doctoral thesis on the theme and sub-themes. Over 52 research papers were presented as a part of this conference. According to AIMA, the conference supported United Nation’s proclamation of the year 2005-2014 as the decade of education for sustainable development emphasizing that education is indispensable element for achieving sustainable development.
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