The document discusses the employability of MBA graduates in India, highlighting that only 7% from non-top schools are considered employable despite the existence of these institutions. It raises critical questions regarding the value of pursuing an MBA, the effectiveness of various programs, and the role of companies in enhancing employability. The author also suggests considerations for choosing the right college and curriculum while emphasizing the need for a ranking system based on student recommendations.

1. Doing that MBA: It’s about asking the
right questions
Anirban Das
There is an oft quoted statistic. According to an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry
of India study, only 7% of Indian business school graduates, outside the top schools, are actually
employable. This raises the following questions
a) How is it that the colleges who ‘educated’ the remaining 93% students are still functional?
b) Why hasn’t any magazines quoting the above article named any of these colleges? Maybe
one day, we will see an article titled ‘Top 100 MBA colleges Students should avoid’?
c) Why is there such a large deviation in the top 100 colleges in the very business magazines
that quote the above statistic? It wasn’t too long ago when a college which exhorted
students to ‘dare to dream beyond the IIM’s’ found a top ranking mention in many of these
magazines, forcing many students to stop dreaming and wake up.
Since there are no answers, let’s use the College Student- College- Company (CCC) perspective
framework (just invented, everything sounds so cool with frameworks) to ask more questions.

2. College Student perspective:
Why do an MBA at all? Let’s look at a 2x2 matrix, an MBA favorite.
Most important reason for doing an MBA? Not salaries or job offers but developing
a) multiple perspectives on the same issue
b) the ability to ask the right questions
MBA after graduation or MBA after reasonable workex.?
What was the purpose of that graduation after all? Why would anyone in their right minds want to
study for 2 more years after completing 3-4 years of graduation and 12 years of schooling? In any
case, how many of us really knew what to do after graduation, right? And we expect an MBA will
show us the way?
But once we have worked a few years in corporate, we begin to realize our areas of interest and
the skills we lack. And we are in a mood to listen now, in fact we yearn to go back to college days
and wish we had paid more attention in class. Wouldn’t it make far more sense to do an MBA with
some work experience under our belt, wherein we are in a far better position to appreciate and
apply the learnings?
Part time MBA vs eMBA vs Full time MBA
If the objective is to increase learning, nothing beats a Full Time MBA. If the objective is to further
career prospects, nothing beats a Full Time MBA.
With MBA
*Perhaps more confused, but
oozing confidence,
& higher salaries.
*Loads of grunt work here
too, but with fancy titles
*Likely to be ahead in the rat race.
*Or Join a new rat race
*Or Become an entrepreneur and
'follow your passion'
*At the very least, finally
understand what the new recruits
are talking about
No MBA
*Confused, zero to low salary,
loads of grunt work
*Likely to Lag behind in the race
(current skills have become
obsolete, new recruits know more
than you, its not just about
performance anymore)
Zero work experience High work experience

3. India MBA vs Overseas MBA?
If most of the global companies are looking at India as the most attractive investment destination
and you still want to spend a king’s ransom doing that MBA from US/ Europe, then good luck.
Integrated MBA?
If one will be consigning his/her basic graduation to the bin anyways in favor of an MBA then why
not study Business Administration for 5 years and term it Integrated MBA? Great branding! But
then what is the logic of doing something for 5 years when it can be completed in 1-2 years?
Whom does this product really benefit, the student or the college?
New Age MBA?
To make matters more interesting, there seems to be a buzz about 'New Age MBA’? And what
exactly is ‘New Age MBA’? One college defines it as MBA in Technology Management or MBA in
Data Science. I guess all the reputed IIMs missed a trick here, since they continue to teach old
age MBA, yet continue to do well. If I can learn a technical skill in 2 months, why do I need to
spend 2 years? And now maybe we will have MBA in Mechanical, Civil, Electrical engineering,
etc.
College selection criteria?
a) Thumb rule: Return on Investment
= (Median annual salary post MBA) > 1 means good
(Costs of doing MBA)
b) Quality of Faculty (Qualifications, experience, student ratings)
c) Percentage of students getting placed
d) Quality of placements (Type of companies, job profiles, etc.)
e) Professionalism (does the college honor its commitments and on time)?
f) Unofficial rule: will you feel proud talking about your college after passing out?
g) Red flags? Heavy duty ads highlighting ranking, swimming pool, and basketball court.
h) Note: The highest package is not applicable to you, hence irrelevant.
College perspective:
Attracting talent
a) Teachers: Quality teachers attract quality students which in turn attract quality companies.
If you want great teachers, you need to increase your talent pool (look beyond PHDs) and
pay market prices. Look at IMT Ghaziabad or ISB Hyderabad. Are you willing?
b) Students: Quality students attract quality professors. What steps are you taking to improve
the incoming quality of students each year?
Retaining talent
What percentage of your faculty time is utilized in value added activities (teaching/ research) and
what vs non value added activities?
Teaching pedagogy

4. The top colleges have moved from lecture based to case based pedagogy. Have you?
Curriculum
a) Including ‘new age’ topics like Data science, AI, etc. is fine but have the basics been
covered? Do you teach Quality, Theory of constraints, Blue Ocean Strategy, Behavioral
Marketing?
b) Do you teach students to take decision based on social responsibility instead of looking at
only profit?
c) Do you teach students to handle stress in corporate life and the importance of leading a
balanced life?
d) Is your curriculum vetted by Industry experts?
Placements
a) Are you attracting the companies with right credentials or is it a free for all?
b) Do you have a list of blacklisted companies?
c) What is the level of college support to the Placecom team? Is it fair to expect students to
sacrifice their study time towards Placement activities?
Company perspective:
If you are part of the group cribbing about 93% students as ‘unemployable’, what is your role in
making them employable?
a) A few companies after having completed their recruitments, ask students to forgo the
remainder of MBA program in Tier II colleges after placement? Why? Will the company lose
millions if the MBA completes his/her program? Have you reimbursed the student’s time and
money in doing the MBA program?
b) Are you recruiting on the basis of mindset or on the basis of technical skills which can be
developed in-house? Most companies insist on MBAs and then use their recruits for grunt
work, essentially negating over 90-95% of their MBA learning. The real need is for specific
skills, not MBAs. For this 5%, would it not be worthwhile to sponsor a 2 month training
session?
c) Are you using the Internship program effectively to attract potential recruits, expose them to
real life business problems, appraise his/ her mindset & fit with company culture during this
period?
d) Are you playing an active role in vetting the college curriculum?
e) You want recruits who can solve real business problems. How many problems have you
shared with colleges in the form of caselets/ challenges? This is a great way to crowd source
solutions, identifying potential recruits & promoting the company
I would like to conclude this article with a final question. Can we have a universal ranking for
colleges based on Net Promoter Score principle? A common independent third agency could ask
the student “How likely are you to recommend this college to your friends and relatives?” on a
scale of 1 to10. Interview at least 50% passouts. Customers (students) know best. Keep it simple.

5. The original article appeared in India’s premier business magazine, Business India dated Oct
2019
About the author: Anirban Das is an entrepreneur (Founder of Sweet Chillies), a bestselling author
(humorous fiction), magazine columnist, visiting faculty to Tier 1 management colleges in India
industry consultant and a motivational speaker.
You can connect with Anirban on his social media handles given below
 Website: www.authoranirban.com
 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authoranirban/
 Facebook: https://bit.ly/2PDeOqj
 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anirban-das-2a108620/
 Twitter: https://twitter.com/authoranirban
 Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Anirban-Das-87