Role of management education in promoting entrepreneurship [www.writekraft.com]

Writekraft Research & Publications LLP
(All Rights Reserved)
(Regd. No. AAI-1261)
Corporate Office: 67, UGF, Ganges Nagar (SRGP), 365 Hairis Ganj, Tatmill Chauraha,
Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Email: info@writekraft.com
Web: www.writekraft.com
ROLE OF MANAGEMENT
EDUCATION IN
PROMOTING
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
1.1 The Background
lndia isat the threshold of the 21st century and moving ahead inthe21st
centurycallsfora clear vision. winds of change are blowing all overthe world
and India is no exception to these sea changes. The economic reforms
initiated in 1gg1 resulted in several transformations
- regulation to
liberalisation and protection to globalisation. All these transformations,
coupled with the move from a planned economy to a market-oriented
economy, demand a new approach to deal with all types of challenges'The
challenges arising out of global competitiveness are further compoundedby
several factors and by socio-economic, technical, political and ecological
changes. The emerging challenges,perhaps, require an entrepreneurial
and
managerial approach, and entrepreneurship education is therefore,more
important and relevant than ever.
India is likely to become the third largest economy of the world in a couple of
decades from now as per a report by Goldman Sachsl. The famous Goldman Sachs
BRIC report argues that the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Chinaare developing so fast that, by 2050, they will surpass most
of the
current richest countries of the world'
It is a matterof pride that India is getting back its position as an economic
power. The country'sGDP is slated to grow at more than 8 per cent. Yet as a
country, it stands at 150th position (approx.) amongst 206 countries in terms
of GDP growth. However, our present systems focuson creating bunches
1 Jir O'Neilland TusharPoddar (2008), Ten Things for India to Achieveits 2050 Potential,
Global Economics, Paper No: 169, June 16 Goldman Sachs Economic
Research

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
whoare more doers (managers, engineers and analysts) than dreamers
(change architects, innovators and entrepreneurs). To sustain and maintainits
Supremacy and lead the next century, the country needs a roadmap clearly
charting what it can further offer to the world'
BY 2050, INDIA IS PROJECTED TO BE
THE THIRD LARGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD
50,000
c
/t0,000
Huge gap
g between three
3 largest
tD economies and
o the next few
:r
c,
UI
ct
20,000N
c
-fo.
10,000 -t'3t'-ry ,-0,600(,
CT
-s,Boo -s,roo
0
IndiaJapan Brazil RussiaUK Germany France

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
India to overtske France in 2018'
;,,,1,!ji5.a-'.!.,,r,;.*t r.,;i!,*'t,*,,r.rij:4r)i
'
CHART 1.1: Largest Economies in 2050
India has completed six decades of Independence and today, country's
population stands at over 1 102 crores. As per the 2001 Census, 31 .2 per cent
of the country'spopulation or 337 million were below the age of 15. This
number will multiply manifold in next two decades thereby us having forty odd
crores of people below the age of 35 years who would look for a better and
brighter tomorrow. The proportion of our population, in the relevant age group,
that enters the world of higher education is only about 10 per cent (2004-05). In
this context, it is worth quoting from the report of the National Knowledge
Commission, which Says, "A demographic explosion in the young population
of the country means that higher education needs to keep pace with the
growth in the relevant population. This is a unique demographic trend and
2www.indiastat.com
2

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
providing higher education for this group is imperative and needs tobe
provided on an unprecedented scale that is challenging. The higher education
sectoritself currently faces major challenges of quality and excellence andof
improving access with inclusiveness".3
Speaking at the 90th annual convocation of the Benaras Hindu University
(BHU), the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, said: "Only 10
per centof
India,syouth go to college as against 40-50 percent in the developed Western
countries". a
80+
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-s9
g5o-s4
6 ls-lg
6 qo-qq
o 35-39
Sso-sl
25-29
15-
1G

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
5-9
0-4
20 - 35 age group:
325 million peoPle (-25 Y")
CHART1.2: India Demographic Profile (2O2O)
3 Th" National Knowledge Commission (NKC) was set up by the Prime Minister Dr.
ManmohanSingh
in 2006 to prepare a blueprint to tap into the enormous reservoir of our knowledge base so that our people
can confidently face the challenges of the 21st century.
National KnowledgeCommission (2009),Reportto the Nation2006-2009 Government of India,
March, Published by:National KnowledgeCommission, Government ofIndia, Dharma
Marg, Chanakyapu ri, New Delhi-1 1 002 1, www. knowledgecommission. gov'in
4
PM calls for improvinghighereducation, Monday, 17th March, 2008, Source: IANS
3

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Access to higher education in terms of the available number of seats in
universities is simply not adequate in relation to the current demand. There
are also large disparities in enrolment rates across states, urban and rural
areas, sex, caste and poor-non-poor.
Giventhat India will soon have the world'slargest number (some 40 crores) of
young people below the age of 35 yearss and rising unemployment rate
estimated to be hovering around 97o, it has resulted in growing frustration
among the youth. In addition, there is always a problem of underemployment.
Growing unemployment coupled with underemployment of the educated
people is a source of concern and is affecting the economic growth of the
nation.
Be it results of the 57th round of the National Sample Survey Organization
(NSSO)6 or India Labour Report 2006 of Teamlease SeruicesT or any other
available estimates, it is a fact that annual average growth in employment has
slowed primarily because lack of job creation and that the unemployment rate

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
for the young graduates is hovering around 30% to 4Oo/". A loudand clear
message from all sources/studies8 implies that this is, perhaps, due to a
mismatch of what our educational institutions are churning out and what the
economy can take in and needs. lt is a widely believed perception amongst all
concerned, including corporate, that "the present education system is geared
towards churning out employees and not employers".
The issue is how to enhance their employability and the problem on hand is
mis-match of industry/economy expectations vis-d-vis what is being delivered
by most of the educational institutions. To give an example from a
5Cll Conference 2OO2; CSFB Report; UN PopulationDivision;BCG Analysis
6 NSSO 57th Round, July 2001 -June 2002
tIndia Labour Report 2006, ARanking of Indian States by their Labour Ecosystem (Labour
Demand, Labour Supply, Labour Laws), A Report by Teamlease Services,
www.teamlease.com
8LaveeshBhandari, "social justice withoutPhDs", The IndianExpress, August 10,2OO7
4

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Teamlease studYs 90 Per cent of the employment oPPortunities
require
vocationaltraining, whereas 90 per cent of country'sschool and college
output has only classroom knowledge'
This callsfor a serious attention of the Educationists. A very insignificant
percentage of the people in the work force are employed in the organized
sector. The remaining is engaged in the unorganized sector. Increasing the
entrepreneurial activitiesin the country with a "continuous
supply of innovative
andresilient entrepreneurship" appears to be apossible solution'Today,
looking at the demographics of the country, the policy makers keep fighting
the case of affirmative action and address the issues by creating job
opportunities for people through Quota systems and Reseruations. Onehas
to understand that creating job opportunitiesby introducing
the Quota system
and Reseruations are temporarymeasures, whereas the country needs
multiplesolutions and not a one-time solution. This is because opportunities are being
created within establishmentsand not generating entrepreneurship
through the millions of untapped potential within the country. Instead, one
must look at developing entrepreneurial skills amongst people that can
generate multiple opportunities for employment and can solve so many
problems of the country -both small and big. lt all stems out from the

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
philosophy of dignity of labour (e.g., plumbers, electricians and carpenters).
Forever organizations, business houses and establishments would require
their labour to move ahead and progress. The sector/service however needs
to be organized and well directed. That opportunity exists.
The task in hand is how to make available to young ambitious students wider
options and a variety of skill sets to enable them to have real choices about
their future. Hence there exists immediate requirements for entrepreneurial
management skills and at a much faster pace to cope up with the pace of the global
economy and the focus must be on nurturing new entrepreneurship for industrial
growth towards a long-term sustainable solution as also to sustain
n India Labour Report 2007, The Youth Unemployability Crisis, A Report by Teamlease
Services, www.teamlease.com

Corporate Office: 67, UGF, Ganges Nagar (SRGP), 365 Hairis Ganj, Tatmill Chauraha, Kanpur,
208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
boomperiod for longer durations. For all this to happen, industrial growth has
to be high and the simple long-term sustainable solution must be to focus on
nunuring new entrepreneurS. This forward-lookingapproach can enable us to
move ahead as a country. The risk taking ability of an individual has to grow
andit can only be done when formal training and education is given for people
to start their own businesses and thereby helping in achieving the long-term
vision of the country. lt is widely acknowledged that Entrepreneurship is a
significant determinant of economic development. While India has traditionally
been anentrepreneurialcountry, it fares poorly innumerous global studies
exploring the entrepreneurial and business potential of
countriesandthis
poorpertormance brings down India'sglobal ranking in many fronts'
fndiais ranked 122 out of 181 economies as per WorldBank DoingBusiness
Report(2009). This World Bank Report investigates regulations that enhance
business activity. Again, according tothe annual report of Global
competitiveness Index (Gcl), 2oo8-09, published by the world Economic
Forum, India slipped to the 50th place in the rankings this year from the 48th
position last year. The report says that India'soverall competitive positionhas
been weakened by the macroeconomic instability the government runs one of

Corporate Office: 67, UGF, Ganges Nagar (SRGP), 365 Hairis Ganj, Tatmill Chauraha, Kanpur,
208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
the highest budget deficits in the world'
Developing Entrepreneurial skills amongst students surely can generate
multipleopportunities for employment and can solve so many problemsof the
country- both micro and macro. What is required is to impart to them the skill
sets required for these professions. Thenoncethey masterthe skill sets, they
will have limitless opportunities and in turn will employ many people. This will
have a two-fold benefit to the economy. The coreproblem of unemployment
will become less critical, thereby generating more entrepreneurs!
Thisis
important as creativity and innovation is the make or break of an economy.
People must be encouraged to take up challenges to explore new avenues of
wealth generation. The management schools have to take up the challenge'
Therefore, there is a need, in general, to revamp management education and
review the role of different management institutions in this context'

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
AlvinToffler,inhis famous book "Future Shock"1o,Says" Tohelp avertfuture
shock, we must create a super industrial education
systemand to do this'we
mustsearch forour objective methods in the future rather than the past"'
Education must shift into future tense'"
"There is so much change taking place everyday that yesterday'sknowledge
is
becoming obsoleteand today'sideas will become out-of-datetomorrod' opines
DrP C Shejwalkart'.Similarly, what was relevant yesterday will be
outdated tomorrow.
ln 2OOB, Dr Manmohan Singhl2 commented upon the need for close
interaction between educational institutions and industries to work towards
providing relevant education and gainful employment to young people and in
this context, he expects the private sector to play a larger role, especially in
technical education.
Similarly, whileaddressing a gathering at the Agri-Horticulture Society of India

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
(AHSI) in Kolkata, Dr Abdul Kalaml3 expressed similar concern that every
year millions of graduates are emerging from various universities
of the
country butfewer jobs are available compared to the huge number passing
out.
The above concerns expressed by none other than the Heads of the country
in
therecentpast are nothing but an echoof a lurking truth or a testimony
towardsthe statement made in the introductory paragraph about growing
unemployment.
t0
Futut"Shock, AlvinToffler,Bantam Books. June1984
tl ,,Recent
Trend in Management: ANew Vision", Management Vision2008-10'APune
Space MarketingFeature, The IndianExpress, Pune, November
22,2OO7
12
Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of lndia llT, DelhiMarch
20,2oOG
ttAbdul Kalam, President of India, Financial Express, February 28,2004

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
7
To address the expressed concerns as narrated in the foregoing analysis, it is
invariably always felt that there is a felt need to re-look and re-visit the
requirements of thecountry and thrust areas vis-d-visthe possible roles the
Indian management institutes can play. Towards thisit is of utmost
importance that syllabus and curriculum should be made competitive and
responsive to the needsand be in tune with the changes in the environment
and economy. ltconfirms the vision stated in a sentence by our Prime
Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, at the launch of Bharti School
Telecommunication Technology and Management - ".....when we launched
new economic policies, we did so to unleash the creativity and enterprise
latent in our entrepreneurs..." 14
In a keynote speech at the TiE Entrepreneurship Summit held in New Delhi in
2005, Prof CK Prahladls noted that India must pay more attention to
entrepreneurship, which he described as "the essence of development." The

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
entrepreneurs who gathered at this TiE Entrepreneurship Summit indicated
that, challenges facing entrepreneurship in India are plentiful and as a
country, there is a need to place faith in entrepreneurs and that, the
government needs to play a larger role in encouraging it.
The National Knowledge Commission(NKC) also recognizes the growing
significance and visible impact of entrepreneurship in creating and multiplying
wealth, thereby generating employment oppoftunities in lndia. This concept
predates on the logic of multiplying impact thathas been demonstrated
practically by many entrepreneurs in the past. One man'sidea and vision
triggers greater investments and opportunities to multiply employment and
capital. 16
tn Press f nformationBureau, Monday March 20,2006 on the launchof Bharti School of
Telecommunication Technology andManagement.
15Prof. C.K. Prahlad, Keynote Speech, TiE Entrepreneurship Summit, December 11-13,
2005, New Delhi. Prof Prahlad was Harvey C. Fruehauf Professor of Business Administration
and Professor of Corporate Strategy and International Business at the University of Michigan
Business School. He was globally recognized business consultant who had worked with
senior management at many of the world'sleading companies.

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Considering the importance of this critical subject, NKC undertook a study on
EntrepreneurshiplT to further research and investigate the key characteristics
that can enable promotion of Entrepreneurship in India. With this, one can set
up the right kind of institutions and facilitation centre that can create a
conducive environment to encourage Entrepreneurship.
The report praises and appreciates earlier studies and recommendations of
the NKC on Innovation and Vocational Education & Training.
Amongst several findings, the NKC has established some key 'triggers',that help
the nurturing and flourishing of Entrepreneurship, The findings suggest that
there is no "one" factor or stakeholder that contributes to the acceleration
of entrepreneurship. lt is a combination of several factors such as inspiring
business environment, access to finance at the initial stage, fundamental
education, self-confidence and motivation and other socio-cultural and

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
economic situations. Therefore, the fufiher groMh and promotion of
Entrepreneurship in India demands involvement of multiple agencies. Right
from the government, open access to financial institutions, quality of good
practical education through Business Schools and institutions, support from
lndustry Confederations, Chambers of Commerce, network of forums,
incubator suppoftersand the all round community at large including families.
Some of the policy recommendations of NKC can be afticulated as follows:
i) To make Entrepreneurship a core subject in business schools.
This can be fufther complimented by setting up exclusive
establishments that specialize inthe training and education of
"Entrepreneurship".
16National KnowledgeCommission, Report to the Nation2006 -2OO9 Government of India,
@ National Knowledge Commission, March 2009 Published by: National Knowledge
Commission, Government ofIndia Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110 021
www. knowledgecommission. gov. in
17opcit, June5, 2008 Report

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
ii) Though education on entrepreneurship is a questionable topic
by itself, it is widely observed that education plays an impact role on
entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial motivations. This can be fostered
by the above-mentioned points on providing
much exposure practically, analysing constructively, developing
its curriculum and syllabi,industry-research-academia
collaboration etc.
Over the years since the 1950's,the story of higher education has been that
of extended reach and coverage, multi-disciplinary specialization and
diversified. The country has witnessed a significant increase in all frontsof the
higher education system. Be it number of universities or educational
institutions, it has increased everywhere and the Table 1.1 below provides a
consolidated data as on 2006.18
TABLE 1.1: Educational Institutions: 2006

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Central Universities 20
State Universities 217
Deemed Universities 106
Private Universities 10
Total Universities 353
Institutions of National lmportance 13
Institutions set up under State Act 5
Total U n iversities/l nstitutions 371
Total Colleges 17,625
Source: Nehru Memorial Lecture by UGC Chairman at University of
Mumbai, Mumbai, November 24,2006
ttHigher Education in India, Emerging lssues Related to Access, Inclusiveness and Quality,
Sukhadeo Thorat, Chairman, University Grant Commission New Delhi, Nehru Memorial
Lecture, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, November 24,2006.
10

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Inthis context, fortunately, management education in our country has been
attracting attention and is playing a significant role in shaping the economic
destiny of the country. There has been a tremendous growth of management
institutes in India. India has the largest collection of B-schools next to the US
of around 22OO and it is growing at the rate of around 20 per cent annuallyle.
Every year a good number of students pass out of management schools.The
large network of B-schools the country has today need to produce not just
managers but also those who are capable of meeting any business challenge
in a globally competitive environment. Thus, amongst the stakeholders, the
management institutes have the onerous responsibility of contributing their
might to the management education to make a positive difference to the
economy of the country.

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
To take India to the next century, Indian business schools need to change
teaching techniques and should focus on creating more entrepreneurs along
with leaders and innovators2o.
The need of the hour is to create institutions of change (new wave institutions
as termed by NKC). This would encourage youngsters to create positive
changes in society, change the habit of educational institutions to teach by
rote method and focus only on placement and, finally, create larger
ecosystem that impacts entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial motivations,
where increasingly management education is perceived (NKC
recommendation) to contribute enormously.
The following is what John Kottefl, Harvard Business School'sworld-
renowned expeft on leadership, writes on the topic. "Without enough
19Business India'sBestBusinessSchoolsDirectory 2009
20 Sangeet Vargheese (2OO7) BuildingaNationOf Leaders -ON LEADERSHIP www.
businessworld.com

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
leadership from enough people in existing organisations, they become too
sluggish and uncreative to flourish in a world ofchange and globalisation.
Without enough entrepreneurial leadership tocreate and build smaller
organisations, an economy like India cannot keep producing enough jobs to
make it function well (and to keep a democracy stable). Leadership is not the
only necessity for progress, but without enough, scarce resources are not
sufficiently leveraged, economic growth cannot be sustained over long
periods oftime, and democratic institutions remain fragilealways
vulnerable to tyranny and corruption."
1.2 The Growth of Management Education
May be twenty years ago, becoming a graduate degree holder was an
achievement in itself and this conventional wisdom dominated Indian minds
for long. However, today the current job market demands a lot more from its
prospective employees and a student has to be more than a graduate. To

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
gain that e)dra edge over the rest, a student must arm himself with a
professional qualification. The emerging professional qualification appears to
be a degree (MBA) or an equivalent diploma (PGDBM and/or allied) - an
industry centric program. The booming Indian economy and the advent of
liberalization haveled to a paradigm shift in high demand for managers as the
economy is transiting to high growth phase. Firstly, employers look for
differentiators when they seek talent. Possessing an additional professional
qualification isa definite differentiator. Secondly, given the unprecedented
decline in availability of jobs for fresh candidates due to the global slowdown
in 2008_09, students see this time as a great oppoftunity to hone their
existing skills or even add afew more. There is no denying that this
awareness is widely felt and students have understood the value proposition a
fancy management qualification tag brings to the table, resulting in a heavy
demand/rush for this course.
" John Kotter, Harvard University Professor

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
This, in turn, has led education industry to undergo a major renaissance for
the number of multiple oppodunities it offers to students today, thus allowing
each one to pursue their degrees closest to their respective aptitudes and
inclinations. The number of applicants for Common Admission Test (CAT) has
been increasing over the past decade and so the number ofapplicants for
other similar entrance tests across the country is a case in point.
Management education is highly demanded likeother pure professional
courses. In the beginning of 1990, a number of institutions began offering
management programmes in a cascading fashion. About 800,000 candidates
pass out from about 1350 institutes offering two-year full time/part time/three
year programmes as MBA/PGDM holders every year,which is greater than
the number of graduates passing out in China and United States of America
(USA). Year after year, the number is growing in an unprecedented manner.
An increase in the number of institutions should positively be proportional to

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
quality as well. Mere increase in numbers without enough attention quality will
lead to undesirableresults and therefore that is another big challenge
As can be seen from the Table 1.2 and Chart 1.3 below, a phenomenal
growth of business schools has been registered post 2000. There has been
an annual addition of 169 during 2000-2006.22 Coupled with the groMh of
business schools, the country has witnessed a phenomenal groMh in
enrolment in management education as well.
22National Knowledge Commission, Report to the Nation2006 - 2OO9 Government of
lndia, @ National Knowledge Commission, March 2009 Published by: National Knowledge
Commission, Government ofIndia Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri, NewDelhi-110 021
www. knowledgecommission. gov. in

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
TABLE 1 .2: Growth of business schools in India during 1950-2006
Period No. of Business Average annual addition
Schools added
1950-1980 (30 years) 118 4
1980-1995 (15 years) 304 20
1995-2000 (5 years) 322 64
2000-2006 (6 years) 1017 169
Source: Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India
Growth of business schools in lndia during 1950-2006
r No. cf Eusin+cs
55C' 5choo : addetl
I Ave'ag,cannual
t_lE add tion

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
I
1950-1980 (30 1980-1995 .151,395-2000 (5 20c,0-2o06 (6
years) years) years) y€a1s)
Source: Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India
CHART 1 .3: Growth of business schools in India during 1950-2006
This unprecedented number of technical and management institutions is
being set up, mostly through private capital and various entrepreneurial
initiatives of promoters, taking advantage of the ever-increasing demand for
management graduates. Unfortunately, this has also led to a commercially
exploitative environment with much compromise on Quality. Regulators focus
only on physical infrastructure rather than research, qualified faculty and
relevance of courses, thereby creating a mismatch between supply and
demand.

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
In 2006-07, there were over 1 100 br"rsi'ressschools in the country. Of these,
five were private aided ins;tilurtions 301:t were nrivateunaidedand 149were
government institutions.

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Source: Ministry of HRD, ()c,v'ernmerrt:f India
CHART 1 .4: Nurnberr of [/l:tn€roem{]nt l'r:s1:ilutions 2006-07
Since industry primarily abs;orbs lr,: managerrrent graduates and post-
graduates produced by thr:r;r: institrlions, there, i,s €r gfowing need to match
the curriculum and structure of man:rg€)rnen': educi,rtron to better fit the needs
of India and to the changels; in the nrj.rstrial anl serrvices sectors within the
country.Moreover, it is irnpoftant lrr r;heck. tl'rr,rproper assessment of the
quality of management t-'dr.rcationilparted trl tfre studenl;s by various
institutions. The quality of bus;iness r;llrlr:ation is i,rls;o not unifornr with the very
best institutions numberin,:t arrouno l:ts or slth;:l l;ern be comparable to any
excellent school. There arer arouirrd 1200-b,usirres;sr school that are worlh
considering as being furll-fk:dge<j sr:hoolr.; c;atelring toMEIA education.
Referring to the quality oleducatir:n, Prinn,:l [,'lir1i:;trerDrManmohan Singh,

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
prime minister obserued "---------two-thirds of India'suniversities are providing
sub-standard education while 90 per cent colleges are below average'.23
Our education system does not completely reflect real needs of the industry
that faces problems of integrative nature across the traditional disciplines,
such as:
o Working globally in a multicultural environment
a Working in interdisciplinary, multi-skill teams
a Sharing of work tasks on a global and around the clock basis
a Working with digitaltoolsfor communication
a Working in an virtual environment
The Indian industry and employer associations are continuously bemoaning
the fact that our education system is not delivering people who on one hand
have a breadth of basic knowledge and on the other hand can pafticipate also in
solving problems. This requires competencies in effective communication,

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
teamwork, project management and other soft skills like responsibility,
creativity, and micro-entrepreneurship and so on.
Placements for MBA graduates from good institutes continue to be quite
attractive even now. During the downturn, as companies tightened their purse
strings and the number of available jobs continues to shrink, firms are starting
to get more selective in terms of where they hire. Though a mere mention of
an MBA in a resume can give the much needed edge, the MBA tag alone
does not bring with it any guarantee of a job. Equally important is where one
gets the degree from and this is also a factor that influences the decision
making process of the hiring manager.
Despite such size and growth, management institutes are still unable to cater to
the latent demand for business education in India. The rest of the schools
23PM calls forimproving higher education, Monday, 17th March,2008, Source:IANS
16

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
of the current genre are small, regionally focused and of questionable quality.
Nevertheless, the spirit of entrepreneurship is quite evident in the business
education in the country. With a bit of effoft from the policy makers and the
industry it should be possible to build high quality of business education in the
country and bring its level to that of the global best.2a
1.3 The Purpose of the Study
Although entrepreneurship has certainly become fashionable, there are signs
that it has not yet attained full citizenship in the Indian academic world. High
quality and industry focused education is about change, hopefully for the
betterment on the individual student and for the society as a whole.
An Ascribe repon2s states that the first global study of high expectation
entrepreneurship has found that just 9.8 percent of the world'sentrepreneurs
expect to create almost 75 percent of the jobs generated by new business
ventures. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor ("GEM") international
research consoftium (co-directed by Babson College and London Business

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
School) carried out this study. This is a clear indicator for us in India to take
serious note of. A very large percent of employment is from people who
expect to employ around 20 people.
Historically, we in India have focused on creating managers and bureaucrats
rather than employers. At the time of independence, Indian economy was
developing and the political ideology was an inward looking one. Hence the
demand and desired management skills were, perhaps, different then.
However, over 60 years after independence, the Indian economy has become
more mature, we now require different kinds of management skills and this
makes the task challenging for Management Institutes. There is no denying
the fact that the management educational institutions in the country are
playing a major role in professionalizing the human resources so essential for
2a Business India'sBest Business Schools Directory 2OO7 and 2OO8
25Ascribe Business & EconomicsNews Service, November, 2OO5

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
running an organization efficiently and in achieving maximum productivity as
in economic growth of the country. The contribution is not limited to the
sphere of business management alone. lt has expanded in the areas of other
operations and sectors.
India and the Indians have undergone aparadigm shift.There have been
fundamental and irreversible changes inthe economy, government policies,
outlook of business and industry, and in the mindset of the lndians in general.
From a shoftage economy of food and foreign exchange, we have now
become a surplus economy. From an agrarian economy, we have emerged to
a seruice-oriented economy. From the low-growth of the past, the economy
has become that ofa high-growth one and in fact now talking of achieving
double-digit growth and sustaining this. Having been an aid recipient all atong,
India is now
joiningthe 'aidgivers'club. Although India was late and slow in
modernization of industry, it is now a front-runner in the emerging knowledge-
based economy. The government is continuing its reform and liberalization

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
programme, not out of compulsion but conviction, though not at the desired
pace. Politics of coalition governments sometimes hinder the achievement of
this desired pace of change. lndian companies are no longer afraid of
multinationals. They have become globally competitive and many have
become MNCs themselves. An outward-looking, confident attitude has
replaced the introveft defensive approaches. Inplace of denial and sacrifice,
our value system has started recognizing seeking of satisfaction and
happiness. Indian culture, which looked down upon wealth as asin and
believed in simple living and high thinking, has started recognizing prosperity
and success as acceptable and necessary goals.26 with increasing
discretionary disposable income, Indians have become big spenders.
In the last 15 years, several institutes have started offering management
educational programmes in various forms, all over the country. They offer
specialized functional programmes like lnsurance, Retail, Sales, International
* Sriram M S (2007), Rural Management Education in India: ARetrospect, llMA, WorkingPaper (2007-04-01)

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Business, and Financial Management etc. The objective of this research
essentially looks into the reasons for an increase in the number of
management educational institutes, which offer two-year management
programmes and their initiation, if any, towards creating entrepreneurs.
However, jobs are far fewer than the number of pass outs and quality is
uneven (not of comparable standard). There exist many factors such as -
infrastructure, industry-academic interface, competitive and updated curricula,
modules and lesson plans, faculty, systems of evaluation and certification that
are responsible for such quality. lmproving the quality of the management
education is a major challenge today. The quality of a management institution
reflects on the quality of the pass outs that in turn depends on the grooming of
employable skills or competencies of the students. The need of the hour is to
improve the quality of the pass outs to the acceptable (by industry standard)
levels of competencies along with more entrepreneurs.

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
As per available facts based on different sources like the AICTE Website2T,
Report of the Synergy Sub-group onIndian Institutes of Management2s, and
Special suruey repofts like "the world of B Schools"2e, India has witnessed a
phenomenal increase in the number of approved management institutions at
the post-graduate level from 242to 1012 (between 1994 and 2007), a more
than four fold increase in a span of 13 years. One may also note that the
numbers are varying given a plethora of sources of data and again on year-to-
year depending on pending compliance of AICTE formalities and new
approvals:
27www.aicte.ernet.in
28 Report of the Synergy Sub-group on Indian Institutes of Management, December 1995

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
2e Business World(1994),India'sbestbusiness schools,pp36-41, October19-1November

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
TABLE 1.3: ALL INDIA PICTUtli:Si OF h4AN,AGEMENT EDUCATION
INSTITUTIOI{S APF'IIOVEDBY AlCTE, 1994
MBER
NUI/ll:lE:tl C)F
REGION OF lNSTll-tJ'flOf,lS
i-__.-
t- 2, _1, 34
t_ :'1_ _[ 164
t_ 1'l_ _l 68
t- :!t - 76
SOUTH-WEST L_ l'_-l 15 __l
t_ ;2:;t _ t

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
CHART 1.5: All India Pic;tures cf [t/ana1;em€nt Education Institutions Ap;rrovecl lry
rlCT'E,11)9.1
Then there are scores of Franchise.ls of Univerrsities in most towns, offering
as many management progriemmesi l-he numb€)rsi are varying (year to year)
depending on pending compliaps6 rtrf ,qlCTli fo'rrralitiesandnew approvals.

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Lakhs of students jointhese institutes and every one successfully completes
those programmes. The problem is about their employability.
However, a general feeling and a growing concern are that the standard of
management education is declinings and thissector is emerging as
"commercial'business enterprises. Further, jobs are fewer than the pass outs.
Prof Khurana3o in his book, "From Higher Aims to Hired Hands," argues that
famous B-schools, including Harvard, have lost track of their original mission to
produce far-sighted leaders who can help the economy run better''ls. it true for
India also?
Until those dynamics change, it will be hard for top business schools to
resume their traditional -- and vital -- role as training grounds for the next
generation of entrepreneurs.
Keeping in mind this future scenario, there needs to be a re-engineering of

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
management education must be carried out. The future global manger would
require new skills, among others,Intrapreneurshipsl and Entrepreneurship.
Management schools will have to develop these skills among students.
Needless to say,that the courses should be need based and syllabi must
change periodically to keep pace with the ever-changing world of business.
The goal being not to just impart technical legal skills, but to enhance
judgment which students will bring to their responsibilities as entrepreneurs.
s"From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The SocialTransformation of Business Schools and
the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession", Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 2007
3t Intrapreneurship is corporate entrepreneurship, whereby an organization seeks to
expand by exploring new opportunities through new combinations of its existing resources. lt
is a tool for stimulating and capitalizing on individuals in an organization who believe that
something
can be donedifferently and better.

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
21

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
No doubt, the role of these institutions is undergoing a paradigm shift in the
wake of liberalisation and more change is required. Therefore, there is an
urgent need to restructure management education to meet new challenges of
the 21 Century and accordingly, there is a corresponding need to revamp and this
study proposes to explore how to make such education more relevant.
1.4 Definition of important terms
For a long time,there was no equivalent for the term 'entrepreneur'inthe
English language. Three words commonly used to connote the sense this
French term carried were adventurer, undertaker and projector. These words
were interchangeable and lacked the precision and characteristics ofa
scientif ic expression.
According to Cole32, there are four types of entrepreneur: the innovator, the
calculating inventor, theover-optimistic promoter, and theorganisation
builder. These types areunrelated to the personality but to the type of

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
opportunity, the entrepreneur faces.
Despite the interest in the characteristics and phenomenon, there is little
clarity on who is an entrepreneur or what is entrepreneurship (Cunningham &
Lischeron, 1991; Kuratko & Hodgetts,2004). An entrepreneur has been
characterized as a leader manager (McOlelland, 1961), innovator
(Schumpeter, 1934), a risk taker (Brockhaus & Honnritz, 1986), an initiator and
creative thinker (Hisrich, 1989, 1990) having internal locus of control (Rotter,
1966; as in Brockhaus &Honrvitz, 1986), and different from managers
(Penrose, 1995). lt is still difficult to answer the question looming large for
more than six decades now -who an entrepreneur really is (Evans, 1942). lt
suggested that the definition of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship has to
conceptualize beyond setting up of new businesses (Shane & Venkataraman,
2000). Moreover, in developing countries, the boundary between small
t'Cole, A. (1959)Business Enterprisein its Social Sefting, Haruard University Press, Boston,
1 959.

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
business owners and entrepreneurs is often blurred (Thomas & Mueller,
2000).
Therefore, a workable definition that spans across levets of success, size of
activity, or social stratum in which such activity takes place was developed
and used in this study. An entrepreneur is an individual who establishes and
manages a business for profit and growth. The business is the primary source
of income and it consumes majority of the time and resources of the
entrepreneur.
Consequently, the activity of establishing and managing a business for profit
and growth is entrepreneurship.
When business starts afresh, without any previous family background of any
type of business, the person referred to is a first generation entrepreneur. lf the
business already exists and continues to the next generation of family, it

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
refers as second-generation entrepreneurship.
This breed of second generation entrepreneurs couldget formal knowledge
from education in B-School and our analysis that follow confirm the
assumption.
1.5 Objectives of thestudy
In the backdrop of above scenario, our present system ofmanagement
education is extensively focussed on employment search, and neither on
employment creation nor creating situation of gainful employment. Our system
is geared towards creating "doers" than "dreamers" and B-school campuses
come alive with eager students clamouring for the best placements and the
heftiest pay packages. In the process, we fail to achieve to give ample scope
to an individual for being creative and innovative. The incentives of becoming
an entrepreneur is much low than an incentive of becoming an employee in
the present educationsystem. Most often, the biggest consideration for a

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
student, when heishe applies to a B-school, is the placement record of that

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
particular institute. However, how fair is it to consider B-schools as mere
portals meant to facilitate placements? What is the way fonrvard?
A degree'sworth is only realised when one can apply the highest degree of
that knowledge. Thereby, a good educational programme is not about
placements but the application of knowledge absorbed.
lncidentally, in this context, the report prepared by the Planning Commission
has strongly recommended self-employment as an option to deal with
unemployment. However, today, very few Indians are entrepreneurs as India
has less than 1% of population who stad their own business.
For the purpose of an international comparison, an entrepreneurial boom
exists in both India and China. New business staft-ups in China are up 16.2o/o
from 13.7"/" last year; 6O "/" is opportunity-driven;7oo/o of the Chinese think
entrepreneurship is a good career choice; and 32o/o expect to start a business
in the next three years. Chinese government'spolicies are most supportive-

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
new funds, new incubators, science parks are all recent initiatives.
lmprovements in education, funding, and commercial infrastructure are still in
demand.
The scenario is similar in India where one in every ten people is engaged in
entrepreneurial activity, and the gender gap narrows in India. Nevertheless,
India has the highest level of business exits (15%) among GEM nations in
2006. The communications infrastructure is excellent, yet governmental
bureaucracy and the presence of'bigplayer'companies make it difficult for
staft-ups to establish themselves. Surprisingly, lndia is behind in developing
new policies in support of entrepreneurs.33
GEM Global2006 report releasefinal

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Fifteen percent (15"/"1 level of business exits is surely a very high price that
we as a nation are paying. Enormous resource goes waste. Numerous job
opportunities are lost, not to speak of the disillusionment of the budding
entrepreneur. lf this enterprising young Indian had undergone a structured
study programme of entrepreneurship training, he/she perhaps would not
become a statistic. lt is no wonder that GEM authors are surprised that we are
lagging far behind when entrepreneurship education is concerned.
Therefore, there is an urgent need for our management education institutions
to shift the focus from "Placement" to becoming institutions of change,
encouraging youngsters to plunge into entrepreneurship. The scope of
entrepreneurship development in a country like India is tremendous.
Perhaps, "Over emphasis on placement has undermined development of
entrepreneurship among MBAs. In a country like India where we need a band of
job creators, not job seekers, this is a great challenge. The B-School must
address this urgently."to

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
"One of the only ways this generation is going to achieve a lifestyle that is
better than their parents is through entrepreneurship." 35
Given that management education in our country has been attracting
attention, and is poised to play an astral role in shaping the economic destiny
of the country, the question comes to mind of how to take advantage of this
professional course to the advantage ofall stakeholders. The large network of
B-schools we have today needs to produce not just managers but also those
who are capable of meeting any business challenge in a globally competitive
environment. Institutions need to really create more and more practical
experiences for students and lookat amalgamating with external
organizations. The quality of a management institution isreflected on the
34Dharni P. Sinha, "Management Educationin India, Perspectives andChallenges", ICFAI
University Press, 2004,www.icfai.org
3sMarilynKourilsky,former Vice President of the Centre forEntrepreneurial Leadership
25

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
quality of pass outs that in turn depends on the grooming of employable skills
or competencies of students. Obviously, colleges following mandatory training
along with classroom lectures daily would have an edge over others.
Neveftheless, in many colleges what happens is that the student is taught
how to swim "onpaped'andnot in water, and when he/she actually comes
into the professional world (the swimming pool), many struggle and lot many
sink.
For quite sometime, the debate is around:
o Can B-schools teach entrepreneurship?
o Does an MBA degree give students the extra edge and
confidence to take that plunge into the unknown?
.
.
Entrepreneurial drive has to come from within and cannot be
taught.
The trigger of entrepreneurship was external and so on.

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
The fact that entrepreneurship has been taught at Harvard Business School
for about six decades (first taught as a process,not as a person) and the
course - "The Entrepreneurial Manage/'was introduced into the required
MBA curriculum in the very first year in 2000 is an important testimonial to the
debate. ltmarked an important milestone in the evolution of teaching
entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School.36
It is true that there exists large.numbersof successfulentrepreneurs who had no
formal B-School training. "Entrepreneurs are neither born as entrepreneurs
nor full of knowledge; they are people like everyone else, but have found
ways to develop the necessary entrepreneurial skills". This is how IESE Prof.
Pedro Nueno3T sees it. Though some may learn entrepreneurial skills from
36"Entrepreneurship: ll can Be Taught", Q&A with Richard G. Hamermesh, paul w.
Marshall, Michael J. Roberts, and Howard H. Stevenson, Lessons from the classroom,
Harvard Business School WorkingKnowledge,April 22,2OO2
3t Prof. Pedro Nueno Emprendiendo hacia et 2O2O( Entrepreneurship Toward2O2O ,2OOs

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
their families,which gives them a head staft, Nueno insists that starting a
company is not something in a person'sgenes.
Again, as noted by Prof. Philip Anderson3s, "we don'tpretend that you attend
a graduate school or course and come out to be an entrepreneur....
education is not a requirement to be a successful entrepreneur but it can be a
useful accelerator and it depends on the individual".
Therefore, perhaps, entrepreneurship canbe taught in the classroom and to
be made effective, the MBA/PGDBM (or allied) syllabi, which are largely
structured to groom students to become better managers, need to be
restructured.3e Often, the classes are separated in the second year, based on
specializations - say Finance or Marketing. This compartmentalizing is not a
good idea for promoting Entrepreneurship, as an entrepreneur also needs to
know how to make plans, projections, raise funds and run the business.
After experiencing the impact of a recession in the economy in 2o0g and
growing unemployment coupled with many job cuts and retrenchment, the

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
time is ripe and most appropriate to re-visit the basic objective and purpose of
these Management Institutes and how the existing curriculum can be
restructured to encourage and promote study of entrepreneurship. The large
network ofB-schools that exists today needs to produce not just managers
but also those who are capable of meeting any business challenges in a
globally competitive environment.
In this backdrop, as mentioned earlier it is imperative that syllabus and
curriculum responsive to the needs of the society (individual and social
concerns and value systems) as in conformity with the aptitudes and abilities
of students. lt requires a continuous evaluation, industry interface and
38Director of Rudolf and Valeria Maag International Centre for Entrepreneurship and 3i
Venturelab at INSEAD, during his trip to India for a launch of an entrepreneurship portal with Cll
spoke to Business World Online'sChetna Mehra at wwlv.businessworld.in
3e Business India'sBest Business SchoolsDirectory 2OOg
27

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
updating and upgrading intune with changing needs of the society of which
they are a paft. Introduction of new courses and emerging subjects keeping
pace with the developments, and updating of the curriculum should help in
maintaining standard and quality. ln the final analysis, the need of the hour is
to improve the quality of the pass outs to the acceptable (both industry as well
as society) levels of competencies along with more entrepreneurs. More
emerging topics and new entrepreneurship courses should be introduced on
an ongoing basis at appropriate levels enabling the students to enter the
world of work as a contributor to the economy rather than a burden onthe
society. Therefore, it is vital to revisit the curricula as per the job requirement
in the market periodically.
Based on foregoing, following were the objectives of the research:
To study the objectives of students enrolling management
courses

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
ii) To study the perceptions of the students regarding
entrepreneurship (awareness, whether entrepreneurs are born
or made or both, formal education as background, are they
taught enough, feeling about gaps and suggestions)
iii) To study the syllabus and curriculum of management institutes
iv) To seek opinions of authorities on coverage and curriculum and
possible amendments
v) To study the extent of impoftance given to entrepreneurship as an
option to placement
vi) To study whether any Institute is offering Entrepreneurship as a
specialization like Marketing, Finance or HR
28

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
vii) To study the views of aspiring managers about the emergence of
Entrepreneurs
viii) To study whether post-liberalization aformal professional
education is necessary to become an entrepreneur or not?
The research study pertains to the years 2003 to 2008. Given a wide
classification of "Entrepreneurs", thestudy concentrates on general
Entrepreneurs only.
1.6 Hypothesis
It is felt that management institutions are neither encouraging nor focusing on
entrepreneurship education in the process of admitting as well as in the
delivery ofthe programme. The quality of the pass outs and trend in their
placement clearly point out that we are not creating "Entrepreneurs". There
appears tobe no connectivity between Management Education and
Development of Entrepreneurship inIndia and this call for introduction of new

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
entrepreneurship courses at appropriate levels. We see very few high profile
new faces in the country'sbusiness landscape (apart from old Tata, Birla,
Ambani, Premji, Narayan Murthy and a few new ones like Kiran Mazumdar
Bob Shaw, Biyani) and in this context, the role Management Education or
Management Institutions can play is very important.
In this backdrop, the hypotheses set for the research are:
i) Managementinstitutions are notoffering study of
Entrepreneurship asaspecialization subject like the popular
ones namely, Marketing, Production or Finance or HR. A serious
gap in the curriculum, perhaps, is the absence of the studies in
entrepreneurship in India. Inorder to solvethe problem

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
entrepreneurship courses should be introduced asa
specialization.
ii) Formal education may not be a pre-requisite for Entrepreneurs
during pre-liberalization era but post-liberalization aformal
education will go a long way in creating entrepreneurs who are
the mainstay of any economy.
1.7 Reasonfor choice oftopic
Management institutes in lndia, over the years, have been churning out job
seekers by providing professional degrees and diplomas to motivate young
minds, whereas the need is how to make available to young ambitious
students a wider options and a variety of skill sets to enable them to have real
choices about their future. In a country like India where we need a very large
band of job creators, not job seekers, this is a great challenge.

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
The management institutes irrespective of locations, must provide a
launching pad for an exciting professional career.All attempts & initiatives
must focus towards that. Here again, as the literature survey indicates, an
over emphasis on placement has undermined development of
entrepreneurship.
The younger people are more likely than average to be thinking ofstarting
their own businesses,ao and the power to influence and change the world is in
the hands of the students. Today, the students have a multitude of
opportunities, wide range of choices and access by viftue of which they are
educating themselves and they are well informed. They also seek to enquire
into their future and discover the best possible answers. They have immense
potential toinnovate, manage and to achieve the best use of available
resources.
ooGlobal Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Repor.ts

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Studies and research have further recognized that many students may well be
discouraged from starting abusiness because of perceptions of the risk of
failure (and its consequences), since training and advice are not made
available early enough within schools and institutes of higher and fufther
education, and because of a lack of effective role models. How to raise funds
and when to staft own business are the other two most frequently asked
questions before starting an enterprise.
Hence, with sweeping changes taking place across the globe and with the
economy painting a gloomy picture, managers and management graduates
are turning to stafting their own venture. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly
clear from research, studies, discussions and deliberations in various forums
that management education has to revamp in a comprehensive manner and any
incremental changes are inadequate.
Given this background, students couldbe the right target in general and in

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
pafticular those students pursuing management education with an objective of
becoming entrepreneurs immediately after passing out and/or after acquiring
some working experience. The country is definitely not interested in churning
out of business administrators in huge quantities with a serious quality issue.
The risk taking ability of individuals has to grow and it can only happen when
connectivity between Management Education and Development of
Entrepreneurship isestablished. Developing entrepreneurial skills amongst
students at the right age surely can generate multiple opportunities for
employment and can solve many problems of the country- both small and big.
The need is, perhaps, to impart skill sets required for these professions to
them. Then, once they master it, they will have loads of opportunities and in
turn will generate employment. This will have two-fold benefit to the economy.
The country'score problem of un-employment will mitigate at a rapid pace
and more entrepreneurs generated. This is essential as creativity and
innovation is themake or break of an economy. Students must be
encouraged to take up challenges to explore these opportunities and many

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
measures can be adapted to this effect right at the higher education entry
level.
Given this context, it is definitely time to re-look and re-visit the requirements
of the country and thrust areas vis-d-vis the possible roles these management
institutes can play in creating real Masters and Entrepreneurs. The topic
chosen for the thesis is an area of concern for all parties involved, viz.,
Government Authorities, Students Community, Parents and Academicians, to
name just a few.
Other factors being comparable, for a student the choice is Pune, the Oxford
of the East and the Centre of education, located in the Western Region. There
are institutions in Pune where all the students are from outside the State of
Maharashtra, forobvious reasons of abetter industry exposure as well as
better placements as compared to other institutes in remote locations. ln the
above background, Pune offers a vast range of schools, colleges, institutions

Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
and universities where students prefer to pursue studies selected by them.

Corporate Office: 67, UGF, Ganges Nagar (SRGP), 365 Hairis Ganj, Tatmill Chauraha, Kanpur, 208004
Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
CONCLUSION –
Data collected, analyzed and presentcld in previor"rsChaptersobtained
through quantitative and qualitative research has pr,rvided very valuable&
revealinginsights and views about the role thal managementeducation could
providein promotingentrepreneurship and mucl'r neededinitiativerequired
by the managementeducationalinstitutions in this direction:
 A large majority of studentf€Spr)nsilsntsbelongs Io 20-25 yearsage
group. Research studiesdo show that there exist celrtain relationships
amongsocio-economic and demographic factors in the context of
decision makingon entrepreneurialactivity.
 The study indicatesthat the In,:liarr woman is more enterprisingthan
her counterpartselsewhere (men are 1.44 times as likely as women to
start businessagainst generally, men are twice as likely as women to
staft businessesworldwide)
 A common broad consensusarisingout of this research is that career
enhancementand job placernents best describes the objective of
managementeducation in Pune'during2003-2008.
 Studentswhose fathers have tlreir owrlbus;inessenrol for management
studiesso that they could become self-employed and start a business of
their own. Fufther, male studerntsare nloreinclined to enrol for
managementstudiesso that they can become self-employed as
compared to female respondents.
 Promotingentrepreneurship, as; partol managementeducation does
not appear to be focused in Puner as cornpared to initiatives elsewhere
in India. On the contrary industry feedback. is that management

Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
institutes are not even been able to churn out readily employable
postgraduates.
 On oneside, a unanimousfeelilrgof studentsis that the management
institutes do notteach enoughon entrepreneurship. On theother hand,
the entrepreneur respondentsopinethat they partially owe or don't
owe at all to their MBA degreeor institute for b,ecorning an
entrepreneur becausethey were hardly taught how to :;tart a business.
 With the rapidly changing busirressenvironrnent, today managementis
a complex subject. Further change is inelvitable and ceftainly, the age
old method of training (workingin one'sfathers' office and learn on the
job, rotating through variouslinefunctionr;)is neither adequate nor
good enoughany more. lt is a fact that in the past (may be duringpre-
economic reform era) wehave come across a nurmber of successful
entrepreneurswho did nothave any formill trainingor education. No
doubt, an entrepreneur'spedigreeisincident,al, but nonetheless,
education could be a usefulaccelerator and could rCefinitely better
preparea person to be a successf ul entrepreneur.
 lrrespective of presentcoverar;e on entrepreneurship in the curriculum,
an overwhelmingly largemajority of studentrespondentsfeelsthat a
special curriculum on Entreprerreurship asaspecialization subject
should be introduced in ManagementInstituteswith the objective of
generating more"Entrepreneurs"rather tharr just Managers. The
feeling is same amongfemale studentsas well, though they are less
likely to start their own business as compared to male students.
 The study period coincideswith the economic slowdown 'n 2008-2009
{this crisis is the "first low tider fc,r a '/oun,Eer generation that has only
known high tide"), resultingin poor placernents. May be recession is a
good time to encourageB School studentsto become job creators rather
than job seekers. Another upsideof this slowdown in 2008-2009 isthat
expectations are becoming realistic on both sides with, perhaps,
unintended rippleeffect. "Sturlentsmay have hit the entrepreneurship

Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
routein the absence of the usualbig packet job offers, but the
experience may shift the focusaway from plar:emelntscclmpletely - at
least in some big businessschools - which are a big positive step in the
right direction".
 Entrepreneursareneither born nor madealone but are a combination
of both born and made. This indir:::atesth,at, like any other individuals,
they don'tnecessarily have full knc,wlerdgeon eintrepreneurship by
birth but given an opportunity to learn they are capable of developing
necessary entrepreneurialskills. Perhaprs, thrr>ugh effective
entrepreneurship education, peoplecan access :;kills and knowledge
needed to start and grow a new business.
 lt is quite apparentand evidr,rntthat it is no morea debatable topic
whether entrepreneurship can be taught in the classroom or should be
taught in the classroom as perc:eived to starl with but the morerelevant
issue in the uppermostmind aprpearsto be what should be taught
(curriculum)and how. The man,:rgelmenteducation has to be
revamped in a comprehensivemanner. Incrementalchangesare
inadequate. Entrepreneur'stalentcan be horred through s;tructured
interventionswhere managementinstitutes can play a big role by
recognizingand nurturingthe traits of entrepreneurship anrongstits
students.
 Today the need of the corporate, is the best f it managers who
understand whatis happeningat the markr:rtplace presently and what
would be the marketscenario, businessenv rortment ancl challenges in
the next twothree years. The industry feelsthat managementstudents,
even after gaining two - year managementeducation, are still notable to
develop new ideasand apply managerials;tratergies and are not
"industry fit". To bridge this perceived gap, there sh<>uld bean increase
in industry academiccollaboration.
 Both sets of respondents(studentsand entrepreneurs)listpositive
attitude as one of the mostim6loilant r:haracteristics of an

Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
entrepreneur. Attitude, even otherwise, is also very importantas
pointed outby the Skills Gap Survey Report(2010)"lf ,irrew MBA
comes to a company withthe right attitude, the needed skillsr:arr be
acquired on the job. But, if the new MBA doesnothave the right
attitude, it can be very difficultfor the candidateto succeed in his or her
new environment".
Limitations of the study:
One of the limitations faced in this sturly has been the lack of organized data
on Entrepreneurs, Managementlnstitutesand the number of students
enrolled for managementcourses. A study to preparethe baseline data and
further study on the topic could presentan interesting lead.
The scope of the study wasbroad. lHence, it has been really demandingto
maintain the study in a perfectfocus. The main limitation of the study is that
rt covers 6nlr7 Puneinstitutions, asagainst a large number of similar
institutions i:lcross the country. Thus, extrapolation of the findingsbased on
Puneinstitutes, iacro$s Indiamay not be appropriate, though it is apparent
from literature review that entrepreneurship education istaught in pockets
rather than across the broad spectrum of the managementinstitutes that are
spread in almost every corner of the nation.
Secondly, there exists a number of Institutionsin Punethat are imparting
managementeducation. Decision is;sur: waswhether to consider all the
institutions or the only ones which are recognized by approved competent
authorities like AICTE, University of Purreor Deemed University or likes?
Thirdly, the coursesoffered by these institutionsare of differenttypes -
Degree to Diploma, GeneralManagementto Sipe,:ific FunctionalManagement
as also of varied durations. Question was whethr.rr to includeall categories of
programmesor only regular MBA courses?

Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
Consideringall the concerned issuesarnd keepirrgin mind the scope of the
research, the study focused broadly on recognizerlManagementInstitutes and
regular managementcourses (post gra.duatedegree and post graduate
diploma).

Phone: 0512-2328181
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084
To Order Full/Complete PhD Thesis
1 Thesis (Qualitative/Quantitative Study with SPSS) & PPT with Turnitin Plagiarism
Report (<10% Plagiarism)
In Just Rs. 45000 INR*
Contact@
Mobile: 7753818181, 9838033084

Role of management education in promoting entrepreneurship [www.writekraft.com]

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (14)

Similar to Role of management education in promoting entrepreneurship [www.writekraft.com]

Similar to Role of management education in promoting entrepreneurship [www.writekraft.com] (20)

More from WriteKraft Dissertations

More from WriteKraft Dissertations (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Role of management education in promoting entrepreneurship [www.writekraft.com]