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Showing posts with the label B-Schools

Decision Making as Output and Bounded Rationality

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  The classical economics theories proceed on the assumption of rational agents. Rationality implies the economic agents undertake actions or exercise choices based on the cost-benefit analysis they undertake. The assumption further posits that there exists no information asymmetry and thus the agent is aware of all the costs and benefits associated with the choice he or she has exercised. The behavioral school contested the decision stating the decisions in practice are often irrational. Implied there is a continuous departure from rationality. Rationality in the views of the behavioral school is more an exception to the norm rather a rule. The past posts have discussed the limitations of this view by the behavioral school. Economics has often posited rationality in the context in which the choices are exercised rather than theoretical abstract view of rational action. Rational action in theory seems to be grounded in zero restraint situation yet in practice, there are numerous restra
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The Decline of B-School Summers

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To a student of management, corporate internship or summers as is popularly known is an unforgettable moment. The roots can be traced to the early days of management teaching in the US and other Western countries. When a course was introduced on Masters in Business Administration or MBA in popular lingo, it was perceived to be course with practical hands on knowledge to complement the theoretical aspects taught in the class. In fact case study method of teaching, a derivative from the law school, was developed and fostered to build better models and pedagogy to teach the concepts of business decision making. A student would be taught basis foundation skill sets and concepts of business management in the first year. There was to be time for reflection before the student moved on   to the second year. Instead of holidays between the first and second year of course study, the business school culture developed the concept of summer internship. The students were expected to land up a
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B-School Admission Interviews!

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B-Schools still carry certain prestige despite recent downward trend in salaries on offer. Therefore there is a presumed tough selection process beginning from entrance exams to group discussion to interviews to final selection. Incontestably, given the supply-demand mismatch, more than two thousand B-Schools have mushroomed across the country. To a prospective recruiter, B-School degree of the candidate is essential no doubt but the degree itself carries less weight. It is the prestige of the college that matters more. Harvard graduates do not get jobs because they are Harvard graduates but for the fact they managed to Harvard in the first place itself. Institutions have input barriers and the more tougher the barrier, presumably on   the toughest of the students manage to gain an entry. If someone has gained an entry in an Ivy League B-school, it sends a signal that there is something in the candidate that allowed him or her to crack the Ivy League (global or national). Hence
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What Ails Research Driven Student Learning in B-Schools

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In age of information abundance, students no longer treat teacher as an exclusive source of information. Nor are they willing to remain passive recipients of classroom monologue. Teacher’s task is compounded given the heterogeneous nature of the student fraternity.   As Bloom taxonomy states, learning is an evolution from knowledge and comprehension towards synthesis and evaluation via application and analysis.   No doubt, given the information overflow, the surplus generated might remain unharnessed in the absence of ecosystem. In post graduate settings like in a B-School, the transition from rote learning in diverse socio-eco-geographies to research driven pedagogies present its own set of problems. Conventional delivery of courses in research methods and consequent applications like term papers, dissertations etc. are poor diluted adaptations of study methods normally found in doctoral research thus divorced from corporate reality. Often neither they facilitate advancement
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B-School Survival Dilemma

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B-Schools mushrooming all over the place have created their own set of problems. While normally B-Schools entrepreneurs attribute to market conditions for their plight, I argue that it might not be the case. Blaming the market is simplistic and to a good extents the entrepreneurs have to the share of their blame. More on this here
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