Research is a sine qua non for quality B schools. However, research suffers at most Indian B Schools. The presentation diagnoses the problems of poor research outputs and provides a framework to promote research at the Indian B schools.

1. Research in Indian Business Schools:
Challenges and Future Directions
ANUP K. SINGH, PH.D.

2. Living in the Knowledge
Economy
 The 21st century is characterised by the knowledge economy
which, in turn, requires higher level thinking, problem solving,
communication, creativity and innovation skills along with
advanced knowledge
 In order to thrive today, one needs higher education, especially in
fields which are market-linked. Availability of managerial
manpower is a strong indicator of the competitive knowledge
economy. World Economic Forum includes good management
schools in computing the competitiveness of nations
 In recognition of higher education as a lever of the knowledge
economy, the Government of India constituted National
Knowledge Commission in 2005 under the Chairmanship of Sam
Pitroda. The Commission recommended major changes in the
system of higher education, including management education
 In the last two and a half decades, management education in
India has grown by leaps and bounds. Today India has almost
3,500 B-schools under different governance systems. This makes
India the second largest provider of MBA education, after the
United States
 By all counts, management education will prosper in the future.
The existing b-schools are increasing their seats, while new b-schools
are also being increasingly established
 While business education has emerged as the darling of the youth,
there are a host of issues about its relevance, utility, theoretical
foundations, and research-oriented knowledge base

3. Our Past Legacy
 India was a poor country, devoid of scientific, technical and managerial resources. With
its limited resources, it focussed on industrial production than knowledge development.
Although several national institutions of higher learning were created in the 60s and 70s,
they excelled in attracting the brightest and best minds rather than in conducting world
class research
 It followed a path of borrowed knowledge by buying technology rather than developing it.
It imported “Know-how”. Although we depended on western know-how, we did not
emulate their knowledge creation institutions and processes
 The Government got research done through the CSIR labs and other centrally established
organisations rather than getting it done through universities and other educational
institutions
 As her scientific and technical manpower grew, India focussed on research and
development for import substitution
 Indian companies followed almost the same model and invested a minuscule in research.
They preferred to buy technology rather than to develop it
 The same trend can be observed in management education. We brought or bought
American texts and instructional materials
 Our higher education is generally delivered in English. However, the effective teaching of
English in primary and secondary education is restricted in certain pockets. Poor
command over English language further weakened thinking and writing further reducing
research productivity
 Professional associations also implicitly followed the model of import know-how and did not
vigorously promote and argue for knowledge creation and strengthening scholarship in
the institution of higher learning
 Some Indian authors wrote Indian text which were more like “import substitution” than
being original and different, as there was weak knowledge base available
 It not clear that we cannot live with our past legacy if India wants to be active player in
the International arena and be among leaders in the knowledge economy. Higher
activities in research and development sector are closely associated with the knowledge
economy

4. Purpose of Institutions of
Professional Education
 Provide Instruction and Training
 To advance Knowledge
 The former leads to technical capital, while
the latter is conducive to intellectual capital
 Technical capital is essential for performance
of an existing high skill job. It enhances the
employability of an individual as well as fulfills
the manpower needs of the corporate world.
On the other hand, intellectual capital is a
sine qua non for innovation which contributes
to technological and economic
development of the society
 As a corollary, a faculty member has the
core responsibilities of teaching and research

5. Public Vs. Private Good In
Professional Education
 Provide Instruction and Training (Private Good)
 To advance Knowledge (Public Good)
 However, can any b-school worth its salt afford to
neglect research?

6. The Triangle of Individual,
Industry and Society
Individual
Management
Education
And
Research
Industry Society

7. Research in Business
Education
 Just as there are host of issues about business education,
research is also questioned on practical, theoretical, and
methodological relevance, rigour, and effectiveness
 The amount of research output is too little. We need more
quantity and quality
 There is dearth of good business doctoral education.
Hence, poor research and writing skills among existing
faculty members. There is a vicious cycle of lack of trained
researchers resulting in poor business doctoral education
that, in turn, results in non-availability of trained faculty
members
 Furthermore, most research produced in India hardly
meets international standards, as there is less networking
with International associations and research centres
 The proportionate investment in higher education in the
recent years has gone down. Although there is some
funding for science subjects, grants for social science and
management subjects have virtually dried up
 At best there is sporadic research activity in form of
doctoral theses or internally-funded small projects. There
is a dearth of research centres, programmes and networks.

8. Dilemma for Private B-Schools
 Almost 80% institutions of management education on all
India basis are in the private sector. They are self-financing
and do not receive any type of grant from state or central
government
 Most of the schools are small in size and operate with
limited budgets and faculty resources. They find it even
difficult to deliver instruction effectively
 They are under continuous pressure to reduce cost
 The corporate world that is main beneficiary of
management education hardly contributes financially to
such schools. The Interface is one-sided where b-schools
run after the industry for placement of their students
 As a result, they cut corners on research rather than on
instruction and interface with the industry. Schooling takes
precedence over scholarship. They end up reconciling
with mediocrity and poverty of scholarship
 Government, which is chiefly responsible for public good,
is starved for fund for research. Furthermore, it has
suspicion about private sector institutions. Consequently, it
does not fund them

9. Need for Research In B-Schools
 Research is the very essence of institutions of higher learning
 It generates intellectual capital. As a result, it helps in achieving
societal objectives of knowledge creation and innovation
 By doing research, an institution goes beyond students and relates to
other constituencies, like business organisations, government
organisations and peer organisations. Business schools need to do
research to help corporate organisations manage their affairs more
effectively
 It brings reputation to the school. The curriculum of most B-schools is
alike. They differ to some extent in its delivery through differentiation in
faculty and pedagogy. Hence, competitive advantage emanates
from research too large extent and through industry interface to some
extent
 Research also assists a school in attracting talent – both faculty and
student. After all, academic excellence is about good minds
contributing to technical and intellectual capital
 Although research may be resource guzzler, it also creates resource by
mobilising public fund, increase in tuition fees and action research
 Unless a school itself is quite active in research, it cannot promote
attitude and aptitude of research among students which are highly
desirable in the knowledge-based organisations
 B-school can promote think tank to address the specific policy needs of
the society

10. Forms of B-Schools in India
 Centrally funded B-schools (Mostly
independent educational institutions,
like IIMs, IIFT, IIFM) focussing on
graduate and doctoral education
 State funded B-schools, (mostly
located in a university system)
focussing on undergraduate,
graduate and doctoral education
 Private non-profit B-schools, (MDI,
Nirma, BITS) focussing on graduate
and doctoral education
 Private for-profit B-schools focussing on
graduate education

11. Differentiating Between Research-
Oriented and Teaching-Oriented
B-Schools
 Do you have an active Ph.D. programme?
 Do you have an active internally funded research
programme?
 What percentage of your budget is dedicated for
research?
 Do you have competent research faculty
members who regularly take up research project
and publish in reputed journals?

12. Discipline-Oriented
Research
Disciplined-
Oriented
Research
Practice-Oriented
Research
Instruction-
Oriented
Research
Figure 1. Three Types of Research in B-Schools

13. Types of Research: Comparison
and Contrast
Dimensions Disciplined-oriented
Research
Practice-Oriented
Research
Instruction-Oriented
Research
Academic Acceptance High Medium Low
Instructional Excellence Medium High High
Cost High Low Low
Time Framework Long-term Medium-term Short-term
Public Support Needed High Low Low
Corporate Interface Low to Medium High High to Medium
Educational Training Available Partially Available Not Available
Possibility of
High Low Low
Publication
Possibility of
Internal Support
Low Medium High

14. Difference Between Research
and Consulting
Research Consulting
Knowledge Creation Knowledge Application
Academe Professional
Long-term Short-term
Theory Building Problem Solving
Process Project
Cost Centre Profit Centre
Public Good Private Good

15. Societal Norms,
Values, and Resources
Institutional
Mission
Leadership
Intellectual
Capital
Faculty Group
Resources
PMS
Rewards & Incentives
To Faculty
Networking Among
Institutions
Incentives
to
Institutions
For
Research
Industry
Institution
Interface
Quality
Of Higher
Education
Eco-System Model of Research in B-Schools

16. Four Stages in Research Excellence In B-Schools
Integrated Research
(50% Focus on Instruction, 50% on Research)
Internal Research
(70% Focus on Instruction, 30% on Research)
Doctoral Research
(80% Focus on Instruction, 20% on Research)
Wishful Thinking
(100% Focus on Instruction)

17. Roadblocks for Research in
Indian Business Schools
 Lack of internal and external research
funding
 Lack of institutional expectations and
incentives
 Unprofessional professional bodies
 More of repetitive research rather than
creative research
 Deficient research skills
 Poor writing and lack of motivation of publish
 Absence of culture of debate and discussion
 Lack of interface with corporate world

18. What Is Plaguing Doctoral
Education?
 B-Schools are more committed to instruction than research
 Most doctoral students go for doctoral education as an alternative
channel of entry into the corporate world (And they get well paid
for it!)
 Most doctoral programmes lack advanced courses, leading to
poor understanding of research in different fields of enquiry
 While quality parameters for MBA education are well-defined,
quality standards for doctoral education are absent, resulting in
poor planning, monitoring and review
 Lack of fellowships and contingency grants
 Doctoral research has been too theoretical and less industry-focussed.
Further, little support from industry for grant, data
collection, and sharing of information
 A small chunk of doctoral theses result in publications
 Quality of supervision remains a question mark in most cases
 Part-time research is generally more ornamental than a significant
contribution to advancement of knowledge. More of qualification
rather than training for future research

19. Criteria for Good Research:
Converged Views of
Researchers and Practitioners  Critical problem surfaced
 Clear purpose
 Coherent writing
 Credible data sources
 Objective, unbiased
 Provides conceptual frameworks
 Original, innovative
 Generalizable beyond context
 Challenges current assumption
 Recommendation supported by data
 Valid premises
 Lots of good ideas

20. Management As A
Profession
 Management is practice-based. However, it does not require license like
other professions. Management students thus not only need advanced
knowledge but also necessary skills, attitude, and ethical standards.
Management education has to be closely rooted in practice through
experiential exercises, problem-oriented projects in industry, practice study,
block field projects and internships
 One should also realise that practice in management practices are not as
standardized as practices in other professions like medicine and law
 Management academe consists of less practitioners and more
academicians unlike other professions that consist of more practitioners and
less academicians
 It is multi-disciplinary in nature. Some discipline are more academic, while
others are more practice-based. As the managerial work is unified,
management academe needs to be cross-functional
 Management is anchored in practices of various business organisations.
Therefore, the academe has to have in-depth knowledge of certain
industries
 The end-users of management education are quite varied and diverse.
Management students consequently need global education but they also
need cases and exercises based on organisations in varied industries
 For advancement of management education, both disciplinary and
practice-based knowledge is important. Management practices are
continuously evolving and there is a need to have new teaching resources
 Management education has certain disciplines which are more universal,
while other subjects are more local in nature. Especially theories in
behavioural sciences need to be tested for their cross-cultural validity

21. Contd…
 Managers require both analytical and
people skills to be successful on the job.
Analytical skills are easier to teach, while
people skills are difficult
 They need to learn from past but work for
future which is uncertain. As a result, learning
to learn is critical for managerial success.
How to teach this competency? There is no
proven way
 Pedagogical needs of different courses are
different. But generally they tend to be
taught in the same way.
 The research techniques, types of data and
unit of analysis of different fields of
management also differ. Hence it becomes
very difficult to do cross-functional research

22. Criticality
Utility
Creative
Thinking
Validity
Generalizibility
Theory
Building
Practical
Relevance
Theoretical
Relevance
Methodological
Relevance
Relevant and Rigorous Research

23. Strategies For Promoting
Research
 Clarify your mission/mandate and pursue it
vigorously and systematically
 Introduce and strengthen doctoral programme
 Initiate internal discussion forums for sharing research
and knowledge
 Provide reasonable seed money for internal
research
 Increase budget for domestic and international
conferences
 Earmark time to faculty members to do research
 Identify some faculty members who will be
trailblazers of external research
 Recognise and reward faculty engaged in research
activities
 Manage, monitor and review of research activities in
a systematic and effective fashion

24. Conclusion
 Most B-Schools have stayed away from research due to lack of fund,
deficient research culture and reward system. As society benefits from
research, government has main responsibility to fund research among B-schools.
However, B-schools serve society by supplying management
graduates to the industry and by doing research to help organisations
manage themselves more effectively. Industry has a role in promoting
research. More importantly, B-schools need to earmark certain amount of
their budget for research as it helps them increase their reputation and long-term
effectiveness.
 There are three types of research and they are intricately related. Those
schools which cannot do discipline-based research, can focus on instruction-oriented
and practice-oriented research. More important issue here is
intellectual contribution and scholarship.
 Private B-Schools are emerging an important providers of management
education. They have responsibility to invest a certain amount of their
resources for research
 Equally importantly, Government/s need to fund research and invest in
doctoral fellowships in private business schools. AICTE has done its bit in
promoting research among B-schools. The private research-oriented
institutions should be rewarded by allowing higher percentage of overheads
and faculty salary grants
 Funding agencies need to identify ten major B-schools in different parts of
the country and promote research programmes for them for a certain period
 We need research networks which support and learn from one another.
 Last but not the least, the importance of individual commitment to research
is critical. A sapling will not flourish without adequate eco-system;
conversely, no eco-system can help a sampling if does not possess the right
stuff.