Students are now more informed in their decision-making. As a result, B-schools need to stand out amongst their competition over multiple factors. A strong industrial tie-up is one of them, says RITESH GOYAL
In today’s academic scenario, it is no secret that the popularity of an MBA is soaring by the year. Gone are the days where students settled for substandard programmes to improve their academic profile. Thanks to various educational portals and the influence of social media, students are now more informed in their decision-making. As a result, B-schools need to stand out amongst their competition over multiple factors. A strong industrial tie-up is one of them. Here’s how it is beneficial to a B-school.
Specialised programme by a top firm: Businesses and B-schools have a mutual relationship where the latter provides a steady stream of management students to the former. While this informal relationship benefits both parties, many firms usually raise concerns about the lack of domain knowledge and requisite skill-set from the new crop of students. As a result, top firms offer to provide tuition in these areas through a specialised programme. The firm’s top brass prepares a curriculum that extensively covers the particular domain while providing an extensive range of education in relevant professional skills, which will allow students to acclimatise to the company’s work culture. By creating such a holistic programme, businesses will recruit students who qualify as finished products and don’t need any further investment in training.
By collaborating with such firms and implementing their specialised programmes, B-schools will stay ahead of the curve, and blur the lines between theoretical and practical know-how.
Student networking: One of the primary reasons why students invest their time and money in an MBA degree is placements. It assures them of reaching an elevated position within an organisation after two years of extensive education in a B-school. Therefore, by tying up with organisations from different domains, B-schools can provide quality industry exposure to its students.
Moreover, an internship helps students build contacts and build a professional network. They can positively use this relationship by applying for a role in the same organisation or requesting their seniors to put in a positive word-of-mouth review about their work to a different organisation. It will help them acquire their favored job role and progress in their profession excellently.
Gives credibility to B-schools: An impressive placement record allows B-schools to demonstrate the strength of their industrial tie-ups. These B-schools can confidently proclaim the fact that the best amongst the industry recruit students from their campus, and they end up having stellar professional careers in terms of job role and salary. As a result, these B-schools can position themselves as one of the best in the country. Naturally, students will find the encouragement and interest to apply to these B-schools to lead successful professional careers. Hence, the admissions of B-schools link heavily to their industrial tie-ups.
The writer is Managing Director and CEO, GIBS Business School, Bangalore
