The MBA is getting a bad rap across the world. Many argue it has lost its impact in the modern day innovation-driven economy.
Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri, Director of the Post Graduate Institute of Management of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, is acknowledging concerns about the current relevancy of the MBA and is taking on a bigger challenge to safeguard the MBA brand, which is been diluted by the deluge of second tier programmes across the country. The institute is combating these apprehensions through specialised programmes, and emphasis on deep critical thinking and application.
Excerpts from the interview are as follows:
With global enrollment ratios for business schools declining, has the MBA lost relevancy in the modern day economy?
● The MBA has become too unipolar. There is this false assumption that most MBAs want to end up in posh, multinational, lucrative jobs. But now the challenge is to make them multipolar. Based on PIM statistics, one out of every five in each graduation batch becomes an entrepreneur. We train people for multifaceted career options in the future. I ensure this in every batch. It’s not enough to load them with theories, but they need to be taught to be practical. It should give concepts that are capable of concrete application. If application comes from experience, why do business schools enroll students to its programmes directly out of university with minimum management experience?
In Sri Lanka, the MBA is offered as a part-time course, not full-time. When I went to India to address several business schools, they were surprised to hear that not a single full-time MBA programme was being offered in Sri Lanka. I explained that our market dynamics were different. We have a vicious cycle of a long wait after A/Ls to enter university. When they pass out, they want to get a job and be employed to earn something. This benefited us by getting the right quality people with the right experience. But now, market dynamics are changing with more millennials coming into the workplace.
We have to face reality. Even in PIM, the average of MBA candidates is coming down. Earlier, we had very mature people representing the top level of the private sector. With the age coming down, we get more mid-level people coming in. I see a change in demographics. If we said no and only went for higher level people, we will be depriving their opportunity of studying.
There is an influx of MBAs from institutes of varying quality. How can employers distinguish the good from the bad?
● There are instant MBAs you can get in 9 months and without sitting for any exams or any rigorous case studies. The problem is that people don’t differentiate between a good MBA and an average one. That’s where institutional recognition comes in.
You say good MBAs get recognition or have a certain prestige factor. Are we taking prestige as a proxy for quality than actual value creation in organizations?
● I don’t agree with that. An MBA should ensure a transformational experience. For example, people as managers have become executors, even in leading organizations. They work hard, from morning till late night sometimes. But, my argument is if they are aware of why they are doing what they do. The ‘why’ part is missing, and this is what brings out insight and innovation. The MBA should be a point for people to have critical thinking and conceptual richness.
If a person’s objective is to learn business, is starting and working on your own company for two years a better option than doing an MBA?
● It depends on the context.
Consider this context: One particular individual has two choices. One is to do an MBA and the other is to start his own business. His intention is not to be an entrepreneur for life, but he wants to learn about business. He comes from a middle-class family, is an engineering graduate and has worked for two years at a multinational. What would be your advice to him?
Eventually, to do a business you need the necessary tools and know-how. So, an MBA would be preparation for that person to get into a fully fledged business. Rather than making a mistake and learning through trial and error, you learn the techniques and application. It’s like building a prototype for a car and then launching the car once you are happy with the prototype. Building the prototype for a business will happen while doing an MBA.
Why are most multinationals in Sri Lanka still headed by foreign nationals? Is there something missing in local business education that prevents us from reaching that caliber?
● Multinationals look at it from a broader perspective. They tend to bring someone from another market, even though it’s costly. One reason is to train them as leaders.
At Unilever, the current head is from the Philippines. Their rationale for this is to train them as global leaders. Sri Lankans are also sent for secondments to countries like Vietnam. To train someone for a larger market perhaps, a less risky market would be Sri Lanka. But the counter argument is that, when you are bringing in expatriates, what is the career opportunity for locals? It’s a trade-off. We have to understand that our market is small. Multinationals want to be a globally responsible entity. Helping a country or local subsidiary to develop, in my view, is not at the top of the agenda. It’s up to the local HR directors to make a case for pipeline development to create local heads for the organisations.
Lets’ talk about the state of research in the field of management. In Sri Lanka, quality and output in management research is low. Is there any specific reason for that?
● The challenge for academics is that they always have to balance between teaching and research. In the US, there are clinical professors who only teach. Then, there are academics who focus more on research.
In Sri Lanka, we have a challenge where a large number of academics tend to be teachers rather than researchers. Research will give you satisfaction and reputation, but teaching will give you money and remuneration. In the long run, solid management research is the key.
What is your vision for PIM? Do you see yourself ranked among top global MBA institutions like Harvard and IIM in India in the future?
● We have set ourselves the vision to be a center of management excellence in South Asia. Someone questioned as to why ‘a’ instead of ‘the’ center of management excellence in South Asia. We see a cluster of premier institutions like IIM in India and LUMS in Pakistan. We want to be in that exclusive class.
Fifteen years ago, people asked ‘do you have an MBA?’. Now, people ask from where you obtained your MBA, not whether you have one or not.
The elite cluster you mentioned are predominantly full-time programmes. Are there any plans to create a full-time MBA programme here?
● There is a market being created by some professional bodies. We intend to offer them a full-time MBA with an industrial exposure component. That’s the model we are thinking of. It won’t be another academic exercise. Right now, we are not actively pursuing it, but probably next year. Definitely the weekend and day options would continue for practicing managers. We were told by our board of study that it’s high time that PIM start a full-time MBA. We are seriously thinking about it.
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30-SECOND BIO
Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri
Positions:
Director and Chairman of the Board of Management at the Post Graduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Adjunct Professor of International Human Resource Management at Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma
Education:
University of Moratuwa, (BSc in Electrical Engineering), Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura (MBA and Phd in Mangement)
Extracurricular Obsessions:
Writing science fiction and mediation
Best Management book ever read:
Simply Managing by Henry Mintzberg
First Job:
Science Journalist for Vidusara