IMC 2017 Theme Paper
IMC 2017 Theme Paper: ‘Reimagining MBA Curriculum for Future’
Key Trends & Framework
Amit Agnihotri
Founder & Convener, Indian Management Conclave
“Overall, the inexorable shift from simple digitization (the Third Industrial Revolution) to innovation based on combinations of technologies (the Fourth
Industrial Revolution) is forcing companies to reexamine
the way they do business. The bottom line, however, is the same: business leaders and senior
executives need to understand their changing environment, challenge the assumptions of their
operating teams, and relentlessly and continuously innovate.”

Klaus Schwab,
Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum
(World Economic Forum, 2016a)
"India is really at the beginning of Fourth Industrial Revolution… The foundation of this revolution is
Connectivity and Data. We are at the beginning of an era where Data is the new Oil... With our large talent base, we will have a competitive advantage in this era.”

Mr Mukesh Ambani
Chairman, Reliance Industries at NASSCOM Summit 2017
(The Economic Times, 2017)
"Job creation is a real challenge going forward for India. I would say it is a looming crisis. I say this
quite frankly for India, and there have to be major and concerted and urgent measures taken to tackle the skills challenge; otherwise, there will be a real
problem in our hands and a demographic dividend will become a demographic deficit or crisis in the years to come”

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Singapore's Deputy PM
(Delhi Economics Conclave, July 2017)

Imagine that today is 2025, and a new batch of graduates from your business school is entering the workforce. How will their careers different from those of graduates of 2017? What skills and competencies will the employers value most? What kind of curriculum and learning experiences will these graduates need in their MBA program to excel?

To generate debate and create a possible blueprint of what our Future MBA curriculum should be, the 8th Indian Management Conclave 2017 has adopted the theme of ‘MBA Curriculum for New Era’. This pre-conclave discussion paper aims to highlight some key challenges and possible approache. Enriched by the inputs from experts obtained at the deliberations during the conclave, this paper will be revised and published for wider dissemination.

To think about the Future MBA Curriculum, let’s examine the issues in three interlinked parts:
1. Changes in Economy, Business & Industry
2. Future of Jobs
3. Possible contours of MBA Curriculum for New Era

Changes in Economy, Business & Industry
The first industrial revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to 1840. The second industrial revolution came in the early 20th century, when Henry Ford mastered the moving assembly line and ushered in the age of mass production. The third industrial revolution was the change from analog, mechanical, and electronic technology to digital technology which began in the last 50 years. We are now at the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

This Fourth Industrial Revolution, a period of digital transformation, will have a profound effect on businesses, jobs and by implication on management education. By 2020, the Fourth Industrial Revolution would have brought us advanced robotics and autonomous transport, artificial intelligence and machine learning, advanced materials, biotechnology and genomics. These developments are expected to transform the way we live, and the way we work. Some jobs will disappear, others will grow and jobs that don’t even exist today will become commonplace. What is certain is that the future workforce will need to align its skill-set to keep pace.

According to World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, technological megatrends like Mobile Internet, Cloud Technology, Big Data, New Energy technology, IoT, Sharing Economy, and demographic trends like change in nature of work, rise of middle class, climate change are key drivers of change.

 

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Retrospective
 
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