"Management Education in India-Quality Assurance a Big Challenge!" - Prof. Amity Business School, Amity University Jaipur

Management Education in India-Quality Assurance a Big Challenge!

Introduction

In the modern era, an increasing awareness towards quality and its desirability is being felt among the different stakeholders of the knowledge society. The field of education in general and management education in particular is becoming a focal point of attraction regarding quality consciousness. The various regulatory and promotional bodies like the UGC, the ICSSR and the NCTE are making efforts for better quality enhancement. Institutions like NAAC and NAB are engaged in the quality assessment and accreditation of the institutions imparting education, still quality assurance is far from reality. In this backdrop, an effort has been made in this article to understand the concept of quality in education and to highlight the role of various stakeholders for quality assurance and sustenance and to highlight the prominent reasons to meet the challenges.

Concept of Quality in Education

The term quality denotes something which may be perceived but it could not be rigidly defined. The perceptions for quality may take different issues depending upon the parameters, such as:

1. Fitness for the Purpose
2. Excellence and Standards in Performance
3. The Value for Money
4. A Transformation from the Current Situation
5. Capacity Building
6. Culture

If the purpose for which education is imparted is served, then the education is said to be quality education. The excellence and the standards in performance require well defined process of education for quality education. The value for money requires the quality education in terms of world of work, i.e., employability skills and competence. The criterion of transformation judges quality education as per the well accepted indicators. The capacity building emphasizes quality education in terms of developing rationality, creativity, technical skills, leadership and entrepreneurial qualities and strong character building. The parameter of culture emphasizes quality as a way of life in the entire educational framework which should come from within and should not be imposed upon. On the whole, quality education requires a happy amalgam of competence with values and positive attitude having micro and macro connotations. In nutshell, it may include the following illustrative issues:

• Knowledge Creation, Dissemination and Application
• Social Responsiveness and Community Orientation
• Respect for Expertise, Mutual Trust and Objectivity
• World of Work, Parenthood and Citizenship
• Stress of Knowledge, Skills and Attitude instead of Information and Knowledge only
• Participation, Teamwork and Integrated View
• Transparency, Accountability and Probity
• Collegiality, Understanding others Viewpoints and Learning by Consultation
• Other Contextual, Ethical and Moral Duties.

Essential Attributes for Quality Assurance and Sustenance

The quality assurance and sustenance is closely connected with four important attributes, viz., Contextualization, Institutionalization, Internalization and Implementation. The Contextualization requires the quality education in the broader context of real life situation, while the institutionalization requires the educational institutions to make quality ensuring process as an integral part of their activity. Making quality as one’s habit and nature and not as a strategy comes under internalization.  Implementation focuses on paying attention to details and emphasizing on performance rather than promise, of course, with efficiency and effectiveness. These issues require the various stakeholders in education to play unique but complementary roles to ensure quality education.

Role of Stakeholders

The prominent stakeholders in the field of education are to include:

1. Government
2. Management
3. Teaching Faculty
4. Student community
5. Parents/Society

The role of Government in quality assurance and sustenance is to create and promote a conducive environment for promoting and regulating education in the country. The focal points for this role include policies, planning, resource allocation and governance. The role of management concentrates on institutionalization for quality culture and for this purpose; it has to develop the necessary beliefs, behaviors and procedures. Moreover, the management has to develop the adequate infrastructure, both physical and mental covering vision, sincerity of purpose, purity of heart and mind and conviction of doing the best. Competence, strong commitment and full inclination towards internalization are a must in the role of the faculty. In other words, the teaching pedagogy, the contents of the subject and the method of evaluation should be very strong and effective, not due to compulsion but should be a voluntary regular habit or as a way of life. No amount of quality can be improved and sustained unless it is routinely felt by the students, the ultimate direct beneficiaries. Therefore, the role of students in quality education emphasizes the full realization about the right to quality education and their responsibility towards effective learning. It hardly needs to be emphasized that quality education does contribute substantially to the society and the parents. As such, they are required to play a complementary role to make the campaign of quality education a success. The role of all the stakeholders requires a holistic and integrated approach for strengthening comradeship, building partnerships and striking mutual cooperation. But, the scanning of the roles of these stakeholders is left much to be desired which are not far to seek.

Prominent Reasons

The scanning of the roles of the stakeholders results in to the following prominent lapses which have become the reasons for remaining far behind the goal of achieving quality education in general and management education in particular as outlined below:

1. In the process of transformation, quantitative measurement prevails.
2. While developing the culture for education, commercial considerations largely prevail over ethical and moral values and therefore strong character building and objective functioning remained far from reality.
3. The role of government, management and the faculty is very frequently checkered by the different types of pressure groups having conflicting vested interests.
4. As a part of the implementation package, there has been a little recognition of quality for motivation.
5. Particularly for professional and higher education which requires reasonable selective approach has not resisted to the demand for mass education.
6. The various stakeholders widely have to submit the sense of complacency and self centered approach and attitude.
7. Lastly we talk of public accountability which has to be effective but the public accountability in practice is very weak.

In the above context, one would like to conclude that the quality has to be properly perceived and understood and for assuring and sustaining quality education, the holistic and integrated role of the stakeholders is indispensable. There is much to be desired in achieving the ultimate goal of quality education in the present era.

Prof. (Dr.) Vinita Agarwal
Amity Business School
Amity University Jaipur

“Are we boarding the right Train”– Faculty, Amity Business School, Amity University Jaipur

“Are we boarding the right Train”

Are You Sure, You are getting in the Right Course”

Though we get a lot of scores and struggle to get a cut above the rest, many of us still wonder at a point of time are we actually taking the right train which will take us to our desired destination. Taking the train requires some basic needs. You need to have the ticket, which is a must that is a qualification. Second the preparation bout the duration of travel, such as food, water, finance, entertainment etc, same is required for the travel of our education- location, dependency, time in hand, priorities, finance required, etc. Third and the final the dream & destination. Have we utilized all our resources and waiting for our destination to treat us? Or have we planned ahead and kept the necessary back up plan? It is us who make the destination a holiday to remember or a trip we want to forget about

We all know, everything is meant for everyone but we often get influenced either with the travel or with the destination and start wondering if we have boarded the right train.

For some the destination could be decided, but their many trains to board, a direct superfast involving expensive tickets , better , better comfort  and more sincerity in time schedule.

We need to plan ahead and plan well to board such trains. But if deciding a sudden trip, it needs more efforts and more expenses. The train may be many some take longer routes and time and may or may not be starred with facilities. Decide and plan that is the key word.

Another thing that may occur after planning is what if you miss your train!!! Or it is cancelled or kept you waiting for long!!!

Have we planned for a plan B?

This is basically to highlight the fact that you may not be a good planner and have missed some key points that you identify later- the course, experiments, involvement, circumstances etc. If we need to reach our destination on time the Plan B also needs to be ready and functional in case of eventuality.

So dear students, understand the value of everything that you are involving yourself in .

The basic schooling will give us the theory of how trains operate but our destination and mode of travel in consideration of time and resource is our choice.

There are many tools that is services available to guide you for your dream destination but the efforts needs to be put in by your own self.

Even if we have planned and boarded the right train, precautions and safety measures needs to be opted as a matter of force and not be choice. These are nothing but the regular training and internships to give you a drill about the real scenario, the success depends on how seriously we undertake the drill of safety.

And in the journey of our dream destination we should always remember our dream destination is also about boarding a new train so plan your travel and destination well

All the best!!!

Ms. Rajni Sinha Verma

Faculty,

Amity Business School,

Amity University Jaipur,

AUSIC: Amity University Science and Instrumentation Center at Amity University Jaipur

Amity University Science and Instrumentation Center (AUSIC) at Amity University Jaipur has recently inaugurated by Dr. N. R.Narayana Murthy (Co –Founder, Infosys). It is a central research instrumentation facility for faculty members and Research Scholars and provide research platform to them. AUSIC is equipped with sophisticated instruments and presently four funded research projects are running with support of ICMR, MOFPI, DST and DSIR.

“Success Principles in Student’s Career”- Prof., Amity Business School, Amity University Jaipur

          “Success Principles in Student’s Career”

I heard a story about two workers who were approached by a reporter. The reporter asked the first worker, “what are you doing?” His response was to complain that he was virtually a slave, an underpaid bricklayer who spent his day wasting his time, placing bricks on top of another.

The reporter asked the second worker the same question. His response was quite different. “I got to be a part of important and beautiful piece of architecture. I turn simple pieces of brick into beautiful masterpiece.

They are both right. The truth is, we see in life what we want to see. If we search for ugliness, you will find plenty of it. If you want to find fault with other people, you career or the world in general, you will certainly be able to do so. But the opposite is also true.

Attitude defined: is a feeling of opinion which comes inside of us about something or someone or way of behaving that follows from that.

The following is immensely readable and succinct piece about the attitude, we all need to develop and emulate on the rocky road to success.

Attitude 1: Do not expect success to fall into your lap

Success is not something that you run into by accident. It takes lot of preparation and character. There is no substitute to hard work. Henry Ford said, “the harder you work, the luckier you get.”

Lakshmi Niwas Mittal was taken aback when at a seminar he was addressing in India (January, 2005), a young MBA student stood up in the audience and asked him, “How soon I can become like you.” “You have to work hard,” he replied. There is no magic here that one can overnight become XYZ. There is a process in life. I have been a hard working person from childhood. Hard work is not something that is difficult to me. Only a few people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

Attitude 2: Do not lay more emphasis on material rewards as a success

Successful people are generally high on incomes but they do not attach themselves with material possessions.  High materialism can affect your health; can lead to less energy and vitality, higher cholesterol and greater risk of heart disease.

Attitude 3: Have a clear set of goals or purpose in life

Andrew Carnegic said, “If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” Expert on Psychology know that the brain is a goal-seeking organism. Whatever goal you give to your subconscious mind, it will work night and day to achieve. Most of the top achievers have had clear goals for their lives and careers. They also constantly measured their performance against these goals.

Would you sit in a train or a plane without knowing where it was going? The obvious answer is NO. Then why do people go through life without having any goal. Goal gives direction.

Lord Karan F.Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer (in Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held in Jaipur, January, 2012 urged the youngsters to find a purpose in their life. Bilimoria hooked the audience with the story of his success and failure, “I lost everything that I built three times in my life but never lost my purpose in life.”

Attitude 4: Do not get discouraged by obstacles in your life.

Some achievers cited the ability to overcome adverse conditions as a reason for their success. They had something to fight. It is important to understand that as soon as you set a goal, three things are going to emerge that stop most people. These three obstacles are—consideration, fears and roadblocks.

Attitude 5: Common sense plays an important role in life

The ability to exercise good practical judgments in the everyday affairs of life appears to be more important than raw intelligence.

Attitude 6: Success is not necessarily a matter of genius

You do not have to be a genius to be a success, but other personal factors like ability to get things done, passion to achieve, taking work as a mission are also important.

As the Ambani brothers said at a reunion held at Chorwad(January,2012) on Dhirubhai’s  80^th, Birth anniversary, the biggest lesion they learnt from their father was, if you take up some work, take it up with a mission and do not leave it half way.

Attitude 7: Take 100% responsibility for your life to get success

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons or the wind, but you can change yourself. If you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life. Taking one hundred responsibility means you acknowledge that you create everything that happens to you. It means you understand that you are the cause of all of your experience.

Attitude 8: Believe in yourself to get success

Napolean Hill once said, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

If you are going to be successful in creating the life of your dreams, you have to believe that you are capable of making it happen. You have to believe in yourself. Whether you call it self-esteem, self-confidence or self-assurance, it is a deep seated belief that you have what it takes. Believing in yourself is an attitude to success.

Attitude 9: Part-time work is an important learning experience

Work outside school/college teaches to be self-confident, independent, self-responsible and self-sufficient even doing a small job. These traits developed at an early stage of one’s life build a strong foundation for success in the later stage of life.

Attitude 10: You can have success in more than one field

Many successful persons think they could have been a success in other fields too. And many are successes in more than one line of work. In short, a success is a success—the main ingredient is not the field, but development of inner traits and attributes.

Attitude 11:  High achievement will not necessarily bring supreme happiness

Top achievers tend to be happier than the general public, probably because they have found a field they really enjoy. Unlike the general feeling, most successful persons say they would go into the same line of work if they had to do it over again. High achievement is but one of the many factors that can help brings true happiness and contentment.

Attitude 12: Share your success with others

Most successful persons tend to be a caring, giving, concerned segment of society. They are interested in and committed to shaping the future with their gifts and volunteer activities.

Attitude 13: Energy is important to success

Success is a struggle. You need energy to work long hours, to think clearly, to remain positive. Yet very few people work on keeping their energy levels strong and powerful. Low energy is a very big reason that people do not succeed. The proven energy enhancers are: good quality sleep, diet, keeping home and office environment tidy, exercise, getting daily sunlight, positive self-talk, green vegetable juice, etc.

Attitude    14: Not focusing on strengths

The globally respected Strengths Expert, Marcus Buckingham has found that a paltry 12 percent of people believe their strengths are being used at work most of the time. Many workers use their strengths and real talents for less than an hour a day. If you get really clear on your strengths and centre your life around them, you be living at an exceedingly high level of success. You will be more effective, get better results and enjoy your work much more if you know what you are good at and stick to it.

Attitude   15: Presentation skills

The fact is people do judge by appearances. Successful people go further in life because of their awesome presentation powers. A few tips for presenting superbly are: do verbal practice, communicate eye to eye, pause when you speak, vary your voice, get objective feedback, practice using your body gesture, and study the great speakers.

Conclusion: Rest assured—success is a science. Long term it is highly predictable. No matter what field successful people excel in, no matter what time in history they ruled, the achievers have performed a certain way and thought in a similar manner. In fact, the rules of success are so similar in every field of life that many people have excelled simply by coping the thoughts and methods of other high achievers in any field. Just as there are laws of gravity, motion, chemistry and biology, so too are laws of success and, inversely, definite paths to failure. Remember: if some has achieved more than you, it is not usually because he/she is better than you or smarter than you; it usually means that he/she has just learned in his particular field before you have. And whatever someone else has done, you can possibly do as well.

Reference

1)    Jack Canfield, “The Success Principles”, Harper Collins Publishers India, pp.5

2)    Norman Vincent Peale, “The Power of the plus Factor”, Orientpaperbacks, Delhi, pp26.

3)    Robert H.Schuller, “Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do”, Orient Paperbacks, Delhi, pp. 102.

4)    Siimon Reynolds (2010), “Why People Fail”, Penguin Group, Australia, pp.212.

Prof. (Dr.) R.S.Rathee

                                                                                          Amity Business School

                                                                                          AmityUniversity Rajasthan

                                                                                                      Jaipur