Faculty Speak: Dr. Anup K. Singh, IMI Delhi

An accomplished teacher, trainer and consultant, Dr. Anup K. Singh is Professor of Human Resource and Organization Development at the International Management Institute, Delhi and also Dean of Corporate Relations at the Institute.

Dr. Singh has a long association with MBA education – he has been a Director at the Institute of Management, Nirma University and a professor at the MDI, Gurgaon. He has also been a Visiting Scholar at the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Business Administration, Northwestern University. In a brief chat with Advanc’edge MBA, Dr. Singh shares his views on MBA education and placements in India.

As Dean of Corporate Relations and Placement in one of India’s most highly rated B-schools, how do you perceive the global financial crisis affecting MBA graduates this year and the next? Which are the sectors that you foresee as the hotbeds for MBA recruitment in the coming years?

The global financial crisis has affected almost all countries of the world.  Fortunately India is less affected.  As a result, the India centric companies are going ahead with their plans and their recruitment.  For example, SBI is recruiting in a major way, while foreign banks have gone flat. We at the IMI are expecting new companies on the campus. I personally feel that except the foreign financial and banking sectors, no other sector will be affected in a major way.  Other sectors at present are indeed cautious and playing safe.  But by the next year, the situation will be normal.

In such tough times for the markets, do you feel recruiters will look for any added qualities or skill sets – intellectual or emotional – in MBAs they hire in the coming final placement season? How is IMI, in particular, preparing students for that?

Recruiters want stability and dynamics from MBAs.  Their major grievance has been that they invest so much in the training and development of management trainees but the latter just leave them without making any significant contribution.  The corporate world also expects them to show greater dynamics, energy and enthusiasm. We continuously counsel students to work with a company at least for a period of two years.  Most of our students have stayed with their first organization. We also invest in their competency development relevant to the corporate world.

The number of youngsters striving to get admission to an MBA (or equivalent) programme has seen a consistent and sharp rise over the past few years. What do you feel are the most important considerations that one should keep in mind while deciding on an MBA?

There are a large number of MBA schools.  However, only the top 50 among them are able to deliver quality education.  Students have to be very careful and do their homework.  They should not invest a lot of money and end up with poor education and placement.

You have had wide exposure to global business education as well. How do you think Indian MBA education is placed vis-à-vis international programmes at the same level?

MBA education in India, especially as offered in premier schools, has come of age.  It is indeed at par with global benchmarks.  However, Indian scholars need to do more research and the corporate world needs to help B-schools in developing instructional materials.

What would be your advice to the prospective Indian MBA?

• Try to get admission in one of the top 50 B-schools
  
• Avoid sectoral B-schools or functional MBAs if you are looking for a career in general management, as such programmes reduce the employability of a student.  They provide only limited job opportunities to MBAs after graduation and even after the first job.  Students are not exposed to different business verticals and realities.
  
• Start preparing for the entrance tests from the second year of college itself
  
• Remain in touch with seniors who are doing an MBA