The Hindu Business Line : Business schools

This is with reference to "B-schools on the mat" (Business Line, September 8). The article does some soul-searching on the functioning and ethos of business schools worldwide.

Business schools have come a long way since the founding of the first one in the 19th century by Joseph Wharton, himself a businessman, in Pennsylvania, US. Wharton was actually responding to the needs of the business community of the day which was tired of training raw recruits in-house in the nuances of doing business in a competitive environment.

Business school curricula, no doubt, have undergone radical changes over the years in tune with the times but have always — not just today — left something to be desired. It is no surprise, therefore, that the schools themselves are "questioning the relevance of B-school curricula in today's market place" which is becoming rapidly globalised. Such introspection is characteristic of American B-schools.

What the successful business executive does today increasingly is the management of change which is is driven more by technology than by any social or political upheaval. Business schools worldwide are trying hard to bring this emphasis into their curricula. Ethics, now in short supply in the corporate hierarchy, also finds some room in the curricula these days.

There is hardly any activity in India that is totally free from racketeering and the presence of fly-by-night operators. Management education is no exception. Such elements must be exposed and weeded out before business schools in India can command respect worldwide.

Kangayam R. Rangaswamy

Letters to the editor and contributions can be sent by e-mail to: bleditor@thehindu.co.in

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