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Research: An Innovative Tool in Management Education |
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K.T.Upadhyaya / Mumbai Jan 11, 2007 10:57 |
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India is fast becoming a hub for IT/ITes, manufacturing, retail, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to name a few. |
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The forces of liberalization, privatization and globalization of the Indian economy have accelerated its pace of growth in general and industry in particular. India is fast becoming a hub for IT/ITes, manufacturing, retail, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to name a few. These niche sectors require not only area specific knowledge but also an understanding of how to run a business. It is this latter need which has led to a sporadic growth of B-schools in India. Since organizations are constantly performing on a razors edge, B-schools are seen as fertile ground to harvest skilled managers who can be expected to start giving result from day one of joining. The challenge which B-schools face today is how to impart industry relevant skill sets to differentiate their harvest (graduates) from the others. The demand for quality B-School graduates is immense. The industry wants managers who are dynamic, perceptive, and possess the competence to sustain the phenomenal growth momentum in this sector. This challenge can be shouldered successfully if the education system in B-schools follow the Blooms taxonomy. According to a committee of colleges, led by Benjamin Bloom, three domains of educational activities have been identified. They are: Cognitive: mental skills (Knowledge) Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (Attitude) Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (Skills) Of these, the Cognitive domain has further been divided into six levels. This is popularly known as the Blooms Taxonomy. These levels are:
The endeavor in the process of acquiring knowledge is to evolve from Blooms first level (knowledge) to the Sixth level (Evaluation). It is possible to correlate the knowledge acquired at various levels in the education system to these learning levels. This can be best explained by an example of a student going through formal education from under-graduate level, to graduation, to post- graduation. At the Undergraduate level, students acquire knowledge about various subjects in a discrete manner. They are taught Languages, Science, Mathematics, History, Geography and Civics in an unconnected way. They acquire (Blooms first stage) this knowledge and comprehend (Blooms second stage) it, without any application orientation (Blooms third stage), barring some experiments conducted in the science laboratories to ground the concepts taught. At the Graduation or even at the Post-graduation level, the learning gets focused to a particular discipline and the knowledge becomes more application (Blooms third stage) oriented. Example of this can be seen in the disciplines such as engineering, medicine, social sciences, management. Case studies in management courses, experiments in engineering courses and surgical operations in medical course are to apply the concepts taught in the class. When these students enter the industry, they are required to analyze issues (Blooms fourth stage) and situations, synthesize (Blooms fifth stage) the knowledge about various areas acquired during their education, form different solutions to issues and evaluate (Blooms sixth stage) which solution would be most suitable. For this, they need to understand and formulate the issues in a structured manner, identify the problem, formulate the hypothesis, collect data and facts regarding these issues, analyze them and come up with multiple solutions to an issue and choose the best suited one. If one look at these steps, they constitute the essential steps of the research process. Conventionally, research has been perceived as having the primary objective of adding on to an existing body of knowledge, which is pure research. What we are talking about here is applied research, which has tremendous potential in society and business, in the sense that it can help businesses in analyzing as well as tackling problems, identifying and tapping opportunities. Hence applied research has the ability to significantly enhance effectiveness in business as well as society. Solutions and opportunities that are identified and formulated purely on hunches and gut feelings rather than a scientific and rational approach as propagated by the research process can often be erroneous, misleading, as well as outrightly risky in a highly globalised and competitive world of business. This research culture and the practice of using research as a problem-solving tool is sadly becoming a rarity because of certain pre-conceived mind-sets and prejudices that individuals as well as organizations often harbour. Research is very often thought of as a hazy, time-consuming, and complicated process, whereas the truth is that business research is a well-defined and scientific discipline, which can deliver definitive and concrete results that help in solving business issues and also identify new opportunities. In order to inculcate an attitude as well as an aptitude for research amongst management students, we have undertaken a pioneering initiative called Idea Research, at the SIES College of Management and Research (SIESCOMS). This initiative has the objective of making students think in a research-oriented manner in order to identify and address business issues. Very clearly this initiative has been designed to integrate the analysis, synthesis, and the evaluation stages (Blooms levels four, five, and six) in the process of learning and education. The tremendous energy, zeal, passion, and potential of young minds is harnessed in this venture with an attempt to instill and develop a research culture and rigour amongst the students by encouraging student-centric research. The researches undertaken are short-term, impact-based, yet simple, with value-addition as well as relevance for the economy, society, and business. Another objective of Idea Research is also to encourage a mutually symbiotic relationship between Corporate, the faculty, and the student community at SIESCOMS through joint researches. This initiative is first of its kind amongst Business schools in India. The Phase I of this initiative was launched in July 2006 and by October 2006, 14 such research projects were completed, involving over 120 students from the Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management, Masters in Management Studies, Post-Graduate Diploma in Banking Finance, Post-Graduate Diploma in Pharma Management and Post-Graduate Diploma in Biotech Business Management. The topics of research were eclectic, issue-based as well as contemporary. The varied researches included: Marketing Strategies used by NGOs Foreign Direct Investment: A catalyst in Indias Development What Do The Corporate Look For In B-School Graduates Aerated Versus Non-Aerated Drinks Epidemics and Capacity Of The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry to handle It Effectiveness Of Advertising Preference For Alternative Medicine In Mumbai A Comparative Study of the use of Indigenous and Imported Raw Materials and Equipments used by the Indian Biotechnology Sector Public sector and Private sector Banks In India: A Comparison, Indian Banking: Evolution Development and Challenges, Treatment And Disposal Of Bio-Medical Wastes, Are MBA students avid newspaper readers? Online Shopping in India As is evident, these researches are an interesting mix of primary as well as secondary studies. In addition to the class-room pedagogy and interaction with business leaders, this initiative has given SIESCOMS students first-hand experience in identifying and analyzing various societal and business issues. Many of the research projects have given varied insights and perspectives on the issues addressed, while some of the researches have an innovative and creative problem solving approach. Another unique feature of Idea Research is that it has been entirely indigenously evolved, developed, and implemented, by a cross-functional team of faculty members led by the Director at SIESCOMS. The phenomenal success of its Phase I can be judged by the fact that when the Phase II of this initiative was launched in November 2006, it met with over-enthusiastic response from the students, who are keen in pursuing many more such research projects. As a continuum to this concept, SIESCOMS is looking forward to joint research projects wherein the enthusiasm and energy of students, the knowledge and academic rigour of faculty and expertise and practical aspects of the research from the industry can be exploited. Now that the research capabilities of the institute have been amply demonstrated, established and proved, the vision is to institutionalize and sustain this effort increasingly towards concerns and issues confronting society and business today. K.T.Upadhyaya (The authors are faculty at SIES College of Management Studies (SIESCOMS), Mumbai) |