Changing Dimensions of Admissions in MBA Institutions Mr. Kapil Sachdev 1, Ms. Sunita Ramchandani 2 Assistant Professor, JSSGIW, Bhopal 1, Course Coordinator, JLU, Bhopal 2 Email: kpl.jssgiw13@gmail.com 1, sunitaramchandani508@gmail.com 2 Abstract: Change & innovation have become the essential keys to survive in the competitive world. With the acceptance of the changes in irrespective of every industry, education sectors also feel the same. This paper focuses on the present scenario, various factors affecting & the future aspects of the MBA course. We have analyzed that there is huge gap between industrial demands & potential of the students. We also worked on what are the other courses of actions that can have positive impact on the education industry. Keywords: Gross Enrollment Ratio, Distance Learning, Industrial Demand, Cost effectiveness Introduction Education plays vital role in every individual life. It is not about studying & getting good marks. Education spreads awareness & removes blankets of ignorance & help in knowing the fundamental rights. Earlier the basic needs of human beings were food, cloth & shelter. Now education has become their one of the basic need. Education inculcates human values, helps in personal growth, and gives lots of knowledge. Education provide us art of life. Objectives of the study To analyze present scenario of MBA course. To study the factor affecting the MBA course. To know about the future aspects of MBA course. Present scenario of MBA With the changing dynamics, we can notice both the aspects negative as well as positive. The negative can be in terms of food habits, extensive use of gadgets in place of playing out door games, becoming brand savvy, sleeping late night etc. but, on the other hand, we can see the positive effects children are more active, they are ready to face situations, more confident, keen to do much more in education and are goal oriented even their parents have realized the importance of education. To make the dreams comes true they start toiling hard right from their initial days, and by the time they have completed their preliminary education, they are ready with their future plans that can lead them to achieve their goals. This journey of self discovery compels them to change their plans often due to several reasons. And while in graduation they search for the post graduation courses according to their stream, interest, demand in industry, etc. There are numbers of PG options available and one of the most famous and talked about option is going for an MBA, which is a two year program that can be opted by any graduate candidate irrespectively of their background. In the context of Bhopal city, initially, there were around 10-15 institutions, setting up basic infrastructure at the 27 P a g e
time when the demand for MBA was high enough and the options for the candidates were limited. Today, the scenario is entirely different the number of institutions has risen up to 50-60, the rules and regulation to register the institution for running such type of courses have changed, the demand has decreased and the options are plenty. Because of this situation the education market is facing tremendous competition. The players are taking the help of agents for the admission and giving a handsome amount in terms of commission, providing fee relaxation to the candidates, investing huge amount in the form of marketing, organizing huge events, sponsoring the events, giving advertisements in Radio, Newspaper and Hoardings, thus, in this way, they are not even leaving a single stone unturned. Jabalpur 7% Gwalior 11% Factors affecting MBA MBA Institutes in MP Others 13% Indore 36% Bhopal 33% MBA colleges or Business schools put lots of efforts to inculcate the managerial skills in MBA students to survive & excel in today s hyper competitive business world. But, there are many factors affecting the MBA course. These factors are as follows: If we talk in quantitative terms then total number of MBA institutes in MP is Sr. No. Name of City Number of Institutes 1 Bhopal 64 2 Indore 71 Gap between demand & supply Availability of other courses witho Flexibility o Certification o Cost effectiveness o Customized & Focused o Time saving Less practical exposure in MBA program Distance learning Lake of awareness 3 Gwalior 21 4 Jabalpur 13 5 Others 25 Gap between Demand & Supply The gap between demand & supply has increased. Here meaning of demand & supply is number of students enrolled or interested in MBA course & number of colleges available respectively. Earlier there were 28 private MBA colleges in the year of 2008-09 affiliated from Barkatullah University. Due to stiff & tough competition & rapid change in growth in last five years numbers of colleges has been increased & now there are around 64 28 P a g e
private MBA colleges are registered. The reason in increase the number is engineering colleges has launched the MBA program with engineering course. Selection procedure has become more convenient. Initially there was a specific procedure for taking admission in MBA program but now, other rounds has been introduced to fill the seats of colleges, which may help in fulfill the gap between demand & supply. But, if we see the data of MBA colleges in Bhopal- there is a huge gap in demand & supply. Total number of seats were 6390 & Vacancy after allotment MBA (qualifying exam round) 2013 are 5778. It clearly depicts the picture of the Demand of MBA course. As per the qualifying exam round-2013, 90% vacant seats were filled by the institutions with the help of CLC (College level Counseling) round. Availability of other courses Today education sector is facing a tremendous competition & every institute is trying their best to beat the competitor by differentiating themselves through introducing certified courses which are flexible in nature, focused & customized, cost-effective & short span of time. Students also show their interest in these types of courses. Distance learning This is also one of the major factor which has direct impact on MBA course. There are many universities running distance learning programs apart from full time MBA courses to cover the market. These types of programs are specially designed for a segment such as professionals & house wives. Despite of having some disadvantages this course is flexible & convenient for the students which save time & energy and provide 24*7 accesses to study material. Some of the renowned universities offering such kind of programs- IGNOU, Symbiosis Center for Distance Learning, Sikkim Manipal University, ICFAI & many more. Less practical exposure MBA (Masters of Business Administration) is known as a professional course. Which develop managerial skills that suits to the corporate world like, Leadership skills, Good communication skills, presentation skills, Business ethics, etc. To bridge the gap between corporate expectations & the academics there is need to provide an opportunity to the students for practical exposure while doing MBA. Lack of Awareness Awareness is the initial stage that provides the base for the successful completion of any program. Today, awareness has become the major challenge for the institutions and they are putting lots of efforts to awake the prospects about the course, and make them realize the importance of the same to achieve the desired goal of their life. It is the moral duty of the Government agencies to run some campaigns with the objective of motivating the students for opting the professional courses like MBA. Due to less interest of Govt. for fulfilling this purpose, the private institutions are playing a vital role and running some awareness programmes that suffice both the motives of awareness and positioning for the respective institutions. 29 P a g e
Gross Enrollment Ratio Gross Enrollment Ratio is a statistical measure used in education sector to determine the number of students enrolled for higher education and examine it to analyze the ratio of the number of students who live in that country to those who qualify for the particular grade level. It can be calculated as GER = number of actual students enrolled / number of potential students enrolled job training, paid assignments, conduction of different kind of surveys, etc. Need to deliver the quality education; it can be achieved through appointing experienced candidates and inviting industry experts to share the reality of the corporate world. Government has to come forward with some effective course of action to motivate and make aware about the professional courses. Research Methodology While comparing the GER across the world, India s GER of 16% was much below the world average of 27%, as well as that of other emerging countries such as China (26%) and Brazil (36%) in 2010. India aims to increase its gross enrolment ratio (GER) from 18.1% to 25.2% by 2017. "About 82% of the students in the age group 18 to 23 do not have access to higher education. said Planning Commission member Narendra Jadhav. Future aspects of MBA course To retain the brightness of the course there is growing urge to not only formulate the strategies but it must be implemented smartly. We can feel the change in other industries with the passage of time; the same should be followed in the education industry, studying the various factors affecting the MBA course, it has been realized to introduce the some changes that could improve the effectiveness of the course. To justify the above following points can be considered- More practical exposure should be provided to the students apart from summer internship in the form of on the We have adopted empirical research methodology to collect the data. Primary and Secondary sources were used to collect the data that includes questionnaire, websites, published data & newspaper articles. The study was conducted in Bhopal with the sample size of 50 students. Analysis of Data Q.1 Gender Male Female 35 15 There are 70% male & 30% female took participation in this survey. 30 P a g e
Q.2 Education Qualification UG Graduate PG Others 27 10 3 10 More than 50% of the students are under graduate & 20% are graduate and equal percentage of students are involved in other courses, only 6% of students have completed their post graduation. Q.3 what career option you will opt after completing your graduation? 40% of students are moving towards traditional PG courses, 24% of students are opting short term diploma courses, 20% of students interested in other courses & comparatively very less students are interested for MBA. Q.4 What are the reasons for choosing MBA as PG course? Better Placement Opportunities for Degree Interest Entrepreneurship 3 3 1 1 Short - term Diploma Courses MBA Traditional PG Courses Others 12 8 20 10 As only 16% of students wants to do MBA, out of this 37% are doing for sake of degree & equal percentage of students 31 P a g e
think it provides better placement opportunities, very less in numbers are interested and as they want to become an entrepreneur that is why they go for this. 100% Placement Assistance More Practical Exposure Quality Education Satisfied with current curriculum Q.5 What are the reasons for not opting MBA as PG course? 20 10 12 8 Availability of short term customize courses High Fee Structure Lack of Practical Exposure Not Interested 10 8 4 20 Out of 100%, there are 84% those who do not want to opt MBA for many reasons such as, availability of short term customized and flexible courses, high fee structure and lack of practical exposure thus, they are not interested. Q.6 If you opt MBA as your PG course then, what are your expectations? Findings If 100% students opt for MBA course then majority of them i.e. 40% want cent percent placement assistance, 24% of students look for quality education, 20% students want more practical exposure and 16% are satisfied with the current course curriculum. From the above study we have found that the interest of the students towards the professional course is less than other certified diploma courses. They are keen to do traditional PG courses and such other courses which are specific, small in duration & are flexible in nature. The study shows that very less students are opting MBA as their PG course and majority are doing it just for the sake of degree. The main reason behind this fact is earlier this course was fulfilling the objective of 32 P a g e
the students by providing better placement opportunities but now it has lose its charm. The other reasons are high fee structure and lack of practical knowledge and due to all these reasons students are not opting MBA as their PG course. Study portray that if students wish to be a part of this program, they have some expectations from the management institutes such as 100% placement assistance, secondly they want quality education after that more practical knowledge which assist them to shape their career and equipped them to perform well to reach their goals. GER is also describing the actual scenario of higher education & the major cause of this is lack of awareness. There is huge gap in demand & supply due to increase in number of college (conversion of engineering colleges into management institutes) on the one hand & on the other hand students are least interested that adversely affect the quality of education. Suggestions It is a great demand of time to have the broader view considering the challenges facing by the institutions in the market. There is need to work on the both the internal as well as external environmental factors that have great impact on the existence of the course. Various approaches can be adopted with reference to the changing world scenario. Conclusion As the coin has two faces in the same way the professional courses have some drawbacks that can be controlled with the optimum utilization of the recourses. Instead of focusing on the problems we must think for the possible solutions. MBA is a professional course that prepares the students according to the need of the industries and institutions are playing a crucial role as an intermediary. Still institutions are expected to contribute more & more through polishing the skills of students as per the demand of the industry. References http://myeducationservices.wordpress.com /2011/04/13/importance-of-education- %E2%80%93-why-it-is-important-in-life/ http://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/im portance-of-education/article4619651.ece http://www.topmba.com/where-tostudy/asia/india/doing-mba-indiabusiness-school-reputation http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/va dodara/vocational-education-can-make- Gujarat-a-modelstate/articleshow/27873452.cms http://www.ugc.ac.in/oldpdf/pub/he/heist ategies.pdf http://www.mponline.gov.in/portal/service s/onlinecounselling/administration/frmcoll egelist.aspx?cid=mba 33 P a g e