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The changing profile of B-schools
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"A number of working men and women are now joining B-schools About 40 per cent of the students are graduate engineers. That's natural because the number of engineers is so high. A whole lot of people from other professions are also taking to management."
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- Photo K. Ananthan
He is a corporate strategist turned professor.
A postgraduate in management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, he headed the sales and marketing department of BPL.
He also worked for Philips and Nelco.
After spending over a decade devising marketing strategies for corporates, V. K. Menon decided to don a different role.
And this had a lot in common with his previous assignments.
As professor of marketing at SDM-IMD, a business school in Mysore, he put his practical experience to good use.
Mr. Menon's new role as the Director of Admissions, Indian School of Business (ISB) has taken him to various cities and his team is now on a nation-wide tour to create awareness on the school's Post Graduate Programme (PGP) in management.
In the city to address an info session organised by the ISB, V.K. Menon spoke about B-schools and their changing profile to M. Allirajan.
WITH SO many B-schools around how does a student choose the right one? "In India there are more than 1,000 B-schools now. Students have to know all the details about the school in which they intend to join.
If need be, they must visit the campus. They should have a clear idea beforehand," he asserts. Has the profile of students joining B-schools changed in recent times?
"A number of working men and women are now joining B-schools. The ISB has positioned itself as a school that caters to the requirements of `experienced peer group'."
And the yearlong PGP, the flagship programme of the school, is tailor-made for this group. "Many professionals take a break to study management. Since, two years will be too long a period, the course duration was reduced," Mr. Menon explains.
"All those who finish the course join the middle-level managerial ranks in leading companies," he adds.
"About 40 per cent of the students are graduate engineers. That's natural because the number of engineers is so high. A whole lot of people from other professions are also taking to management."
But will it be possible to cover all aspects pertaining to management in such a short time? "In a year the total contact study time at ISB is about 700 hours whereas it is about 740 hours in schools having a two-year programme. So there is not much of a difference," he points out.
How difficult is it to teach such a diverse group?
"Teaching no doubt is a challenging task. We have an in-house training wherein the faculty members help students identify areas of weakness."
Ask him about the preferred choices for the electives and he says with a smile, "it follows the same-old pattern. Consulting, Marketing and Finance still continue to rule the roost."
V.K. MENON
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
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