AICTEs MBA & PGDM Policy Blueprint revealed at IMC 2017: 3 categories of B-school for graded autonomy, new Curriculum framework announced

In the wake of passing of IIM Bill by the Lok Sabha recently, countrys 500 PGDM B-schools are a worried lot. There have also been apprehensions about the nature of model MBA/PGDM Curriculum that the recently appointed AICTE committee will recommend. At the 8th Indian Management Conclave (IMC) 2017, on August 4-5 AICTE Chairman, and Heads of Board of Management Studies and MBA Curriculum Committee announced the blueprint of the 3-Tier categorization for graded autonomy and the framework for new MBA and PGDM curriculum. The announcements by AICTE officials at Indian Management Conclave were welcomed by 200 Directors & Deans attending the conference.

Addressing IMC 2017, Dr Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, said, AICTE wants to give more autonomy to well performing B-schools, and help guide B-schools that are not performing well. We plan to categorize all PGDM B-schools into three tiers or segments. Top performing about 50 B-schools will be given more autonomy and freedom. They will also be involved in supporting others in the middle and bottom rung.
Related links:

• IMC 2017 kick starts at IIM Lucknow Noida campus on the theme Curriculum for New Era
• IMC 2017: All set to begin - AICTE Chairman, top Deans, CEOs to address the conclave on Aug 4 & 5
• IMC 2017: 8 reasons why to attend Indias biggest, MBAUniverse.com @ IIM Lucknow Conference on Aug 4 & 5

AICTE Chairman was delivering the Valedictory Address on August 5 at the 8th Indian Management Conclave that was organized by MBAUniverse.com and hosted by IIM Lucknow at its Noida Campus in Delhi NCR.

Dr Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE addressing8th IMC 2017 on August 5
Earlier addressing the Conclave, Dr Janat Shah, Director, IIM Udaipur and Chairman of AICTEs Board of Management Studies, offered a glimpse of the proposed 3-Tier categorization of B-schools. In his talk titled, Management Education for Next Decade: A Roadmap, he said, To improve the quality of management education, we should have a 3-tier system. Tier-I B-schools, which can be 40-60 B-schools, should be high quality research institutions with global standing. Tier-II B-schools, which can be 200-300 in numbers, should be focused on Teaching and have a National standing. Tier-III B-schools which will be the largest in numbers (1000-2000) should be regional and sector focused in their approach.
Credited for successfully positioning IIM Udaipur as one of Indias leading research focused B-school in a short span of six years, Dr Shah heads the AICTEs Board of Management Studies which functions as the nodal body for formulating MBA and PGDM Education Policy.

AICTEs move to categorize B-schools into three tiers is a welcome step. In its Vision 2025 for Management Education document, released on August 8 2014 at 5th Indian Management Conclave in New Delhi, the EPSI and IMC had advocated meaningful segmentation of B-schools in three different tier Global B-school, National B-schools and Region/Sector focused B-schools. In his welcome address on August 4, Amit Agnihotri, Founder & Convener of IMC, had again revisited the Vision 2025 framework.

Amit Agnihotri, Founder & Convener of IMC, revisited the Vision 2025 framework on August 4
Addressing the Conclave on August 4, Dr Bimaraya Metri, Director, IIM Trichy and Chairman of the recently appointed AICTE Committee on MBA Curriculum reforms, talked about the approach that the committee will be following to formulate the policy and recommendations.

As a committee, we consulted a large number of experts including corporate sector representative from 40 companies on what are key expectations from MBAs. Based on these interactions, we have identified six learning outcomes or program goals for any MBA program. Our model curriculum recommendations are based on meeting these goals through a combination of foundation and elective courses, said Dr Metri.
Elaborating further at Indian Management Conclave 2017, Dr Metri spelled out the six learning goals as:

• Business and Domain Knowledge
• Global and Cross Cultural Exposure
• Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Strategic Thinking
• Effective Communication
• Leadership and Team work
• Social Responsiveness

Our model curriculum will be flexible and will be aimed at meeting these key learning goals, Dr Metri concluded.

Dr Bimaraya Metri, Director, IIM Trichy and Chairman,AICTE Committee on MBA Curriculum at IMC 2017
While categorization of B-schools into three tiers and new curriculum framework will be applicable to 500+ PGDM B-schools like XLRI, MDI, SPJIMR and others, no comments were made on its applicability to many other types of MBA programs offered by Public Universities and Private Universities.

On August 4, delivering the Inaugural Address on Conclave Theme MBA Curriculum for New Era, Dr Ajit Prasad, Director, IIM Lucknow said, IIM Bill will have a positive impact on IIMs. It will particularly help our students who wish to go abroad of higher studies and research and will now have an MBA degree. However, IIM Bill is expected to impact PGDM B-schools negatively. He added that MBA curriculum should have a higher focus on soft skills, and liberal arts subjects like Politics, Philosophy and Economics must be taught. He also recommended small batch sizes of 45-50 students in a class.
Widely recognized as Indias biggest and definitive management education conference, the eight edition of annual Indian Management Conclave saw more than 30 speakers including CXOs from McKinsey, Reliance Jio, NASSCOM Chairman, and Whos who from Indian Management Education.

IMC Awards for Excellence in Management Education 2017 were presented by AICTE Chairman and MINT newspaper Editor R Sukumar to six B-schools for their remarkable initiatives aimed at improving their MBA Curriculum.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more highlights and learnings from the landmark conference.