Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/59979
To become a globally competitive economic power, Asia must create a system of business schools behind that of the West, unable to satisfy the intense demand. For example, the prestigious Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore accepts only 60 to 100 students per year—from a pool of 50,000 applicants. That kind of discrepancy between supply and demand exists at most of the top programs in Asia, forcing hundreds of thousands of qualified students to settle for less desirable schools or leave the continent altogether for their business education. Federal governments in China and India serve as one for- midable obstacle to private organizations that want to create more top-tier programs. In the United States, many of the very best universities are private; but in China and India, pri- vate universities find themselves in a kind of educational no- man's land. In China, for instance, no international universi- ty can gain government consent to open its doors on the mainland; and no native school can teach anything but a gov- ernment-mandated curriculum. In India, the University Grants Commission (UGC), which was created by an act of India's Parliament, establishes and maintains higher educational standards throughout the country.However, an Indian school can receive "deemed uni- versity" designation only through the UGC. Only a deemed university can call its graduate business degree an "MBA." Under this system, very few private deemed universities exist. It is widely alleged that private universities in India achieve "deemed university" status not by virtue of their programs, but by the influence they can generate within the political sys- tem. As a result,many high-quality private schools are unable to offer a legally recognized MBA degree. Instead, top-tier schools such as the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) offer Post Graduate Diplomas in Management (PGDM). Unfortunately, the PGDMis a degree that some accreditation organizations refuse to recognize. Moreover, the tradition of Ph.D. programs in business administration does not exist in India. To meet the demand for doctorally qualified faculty, the IIMs, for example, have established the Fellow Program inManagement (FPM). This program is recognized as the equivalent to Western Ph.D. programs by the Association for Indian Universities and the Indian government. I do not know of any organization that has done a true audit of these alternate programs to determine whether the PGDMis truly equivalent to a WesternMBA or whether the FPMis equivalent to aWestern Ph.D. But it has become cru- cial for international accreditation organizations to look at such designations more closely and work with schools in Asia that are interested in continuous improvement. To follow a 46 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005 truly global course for education and accreditation, Western organizations must do more to understand business educa- tion in the Asian context. Collaborative Standards Many directors of Asian business schools would welcome direct interaction with Western management education organizations, both to share their circumstances and learn strategies to set their missions, increase research output, and develop their faculty and curricula. These directors share a common objective—to raise the international profiles of their schools. The stakes, however, are much higher for the Asian business education market. To become a globally competitive economic power, Asia must create a system of business schools better equipped to serve its large population effi- ciently, effectively, and on par with educational systems else- where in the world. In my interactions with Asian business school directors, I have learned that, given the market, many feel forced to cur- tail their international ambitions. Instead, they settle for cor- nering their local markets rather than establishing truly national and international status. Western organizations, however, have an opportunity both to work with Asian business schools and to build their brands in the Asianmarket. By offering sustained guidance andmen- torship, accreditation organizations such as AACSB Inter- national can work to develop a truly world-class system of education throughout the Asian continent. They could work within the region and culture to put mission-based continu- ous improvement into practice. Such collaborative work could focus on three primary areas of improvement for schools: inputs, processes, and outputs. To improve inputs, for example, schools would work to strength- en their operational frameworks with several strategies: s Monitoring the quality of students admitted into the programs. s Requiring the GMAT for admission. s Mandating learning outcomes in each course of study. s Setting the standard for IT infrastructure. s Evaluating classroom design and ambiance. To ensure the quality of their processes, school administra- tors and faculty would develop systems such as the following: s Evaluating teaching methods and pedagogy, while rec- ognizing the need to rely on adjunct faculty in amarket where