--By Narottam Aryal
Starting from the initial days of management education under the Commerce Department in Shankar Dev Campus some 60+ years ago, to the current era where we have over 100 of various levels in Nepal, we have traversed a long path. However, we have still a long way to go in terms of quality in reference to international standards. In this regard, let me highlight the three key agenda to take our management education to a next height.
• First, providing global exposure to the students and faculty through more and more international collaborations, joint-research exchanges, and placements,
• Second, building local scholarships based on the country’s resources and practices,
• And third, developing a systematic interface between institutes and industries
Among these three key agenda, I find it more relevant to focus on the industry-institute interface. In this connection, let me therefore put forward a five-point framework for a closer relation between the industry and the institutes of management education. I call it the 5-Point I3 model. I3 here means I-I-I, Industry-Institute-Interface.
First, let the colleges become a Knowledge Repository for the Nepali economy and business, and hence, let online or offline researches, market surveys, study reports and any other possible projects be given to colleges to be handled by its staff and students in the business interests of the corporate organizations and with small fees to cover expenses in handling the projects. This will save time and investment for the companies, and will allow real-life projects exposure to the business learners and also lead the business academia apply their learning in real-life situations.
Second, let there be joint seminars, conferences, symposia and conclaves organized by the corporate entities and business education initiatives. Such initiatives add value to the economy, delineate business trends, and allow new and fresh thoughts to be executed. For example, the concept of Business at the Bottom of the Pyramid, developed by the late doyen of business education, former Michigan Business School Dean Prof CK Prahlad and his team, helped develop several businesses targeting the less privileged with high volume of sales and low margin of profits. Let’s work towards developing concepts applicable in the Nepali context and specifically to certain industry domains.
Third, let there be more concrete contributions from the corporate world to business education through funding of a Research Chair/Scholar/Project, contributing to the infra-structure or library with corporate branding, or supporting field visits and exposure of students. This way a more permanent, long term and impactful corporate contribution to business education can be brought forth.
Fourth, engage students as interns, for short periods of one to six months, and provide them some stipend if your practices allow that, and let them learn on the job and also contribute to the functioning of the organization in some form. Since our colleges usually run between 6 and 11 am, this is easily possible to be implemented. The best interns can then be recruited by the organizations on completion of their courses. I know this is on increasing trend, but we need to formalize it more.
Finally, let us have as many senior managers of companies as possible as visiting and guest faculty, to teach modules, explain cases, share business anecdotes, etc. This is the age of collaboration and cooperation. Together we can make a difference in this society!
(Aryal is Principal/Executive Director, King's College. The article is based on a speech he delivered while receiving the MAN Manager of the Year Award 2014.)
