The Hindu Business Line : Financial crisis is now B-school study material

Mumbai, Jan. 4 The best thing to do from a crisis is to learn from it. That’s precisely what B-schools in India are doing: turning the global financial crisis into a part of their management course.

S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research has already launched a credit-based specialised course on the crisis for their two-year post graduate management students featuring the growth and fall of the global markets.

“When something as historic as this crisis is going on in the world, we felt we should do something about it, and wanted our students to have a sophisticated understanding of how complex the crisis is,” said S.P. Jain Institute’s dean, Dr M.L. Shrikant.

In October, the Economics and Finance faculty held a brainstorming session to explore links between macroeconomics, central bank policy and collapse in many global markets. Dr Shrikant said, “Our management students have been given handouts from various academic sources on to read about the crisis and explanation by the faculty, which is being followed by assignments and panel discussions.”

Full-fledged subject

Management Development Institute, Gurgaon is also exploring the option of including the current slowdown as a full-fledged subject, offering one credit for their students from the next academic year.

“We have that as a plan for the next batch,” said Prof. Ashok Kapoor, Communications and Marketing department. He said the course will evolve as the financial crisis improves, stagnates or worsens.

Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is also launching a lecture series on the crisis for their students and research scholars. “The aim is to explore what changes need to be done to stabilise global financial institutions,” said Ms Ishita Solanki, Global Partnerships & Corporate Affairs, IIM-A.

“In the 1997 Asian crisis, the failure was caused from the corporate sector whereas in the current crisis, it is from the financial sector in developed economies,” she said.

The institute feels students should understand good corporate governance is one of key factor in securing long-term committed capital that is essential for sustainable economic growth.

Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur, has already included how the financial turmoil is affecting various sectors like auto, retailing and accounting. “This is being dealt in the sessions of the existing courses and projects are based on the current scenario itself,” said Prof P. Venugopal, Dean of XLRI.

These lectures and courses are coming at a time when B-school applications have jumped over 20 per cent in recent months, as many financial professionals who are losing their jobs, or not getting jobs, are turning back to college.

“In the 1997 Asian crisis, the failure was caused from the corporate sector whereas in the current crisis, it is from the financial sector in developed economies,” she said.

The institute feels students should understand good corporate governance is one of key factor in securing long-term committed capital that is essential for sustainable economic growth.

More Stories on : Education | Financial Markets

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page