Executive Summary: Industry Requirements and Business Schools

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INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

What should Business Leaders recommend to the Business Schools?
Analysis of the factors which create gaps between academic learning and business requirements
Sojharo 12/29/2011

Technical Report Writing Instructor: A. W. Qureshi

Most of the methods students learn in academia are not implemented in real companies. Due to this, companies as well as newly hired employees (fresh graduates) face several troubles until they get adjusted in the company environment.

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Problem Statement

It has been observed by many companies and business leaders that newly hired employees either possess insufficient knowledge or have not learned such management skills which a typical business require from its them. By one or another way, what business students learn in their academic institutes does not see face to face with what is required in the real businesses or companies. There seems a gap between companies and academic institutes. Due to this gap, companies as well as newly hired employees (fresh graduates) face several troubles until they get adjusted in the company environment. Therefore, the business leaders should play their role and recommend course curriculum and teaching methodologies to the business institutes. With this fact, the problem which is being observed here is “What should Business Leaders recommend to the Business Schools?”

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Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Problem Statement ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Factors involved and problems ..................................................................................................................... 8 Text-books not designed according to local business perspective ........................................................... 8 Not new management methods are taught in schools ............................................................................ 8 Problems of cores and electives ............................................................................................................... 9 Teachers who have no industry experience ............................................................................................. 9 Students unaware of real world issues and cases .................................................................................... 9 No implementation and lack of practicality.............................................................................................. 9 No field work – Assignments solved on internet ...................................................................................... 9 Internship duration is not sufficient ......................................................................................................... 9 No exposure of students to the real business .......................................................................................... 9 No Teamwork .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 10 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 10

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Executive Summary
The subject of this report is what recommendations should be given to the business schools by business leaders in order to design course curriculum for the students. The purpose behind this report was to make analysis of the different deficiencies in the course curriculum and teaching methodologies of the business schools and to recommend the best possible solutions to these problems. The report is argued in a chronicle manner e.g. one factor is defined at one time along with its recommended solution. Methods of analysis include the interviews with internees who have experienced this problem in their career lives and research on the other similar cases. During the research, following factors were found due to which students of business schools do not meet the requirement of today’s industry.  Books of foreign authors are taught in our business schools which are not according to the needs and perspective of local industries and companies. Methodologies and tactics taught in these books are valid to some extent but are different in manner from those which
can be implemented in local companies.



Students often remain restricted to the methods of problem solving which are in their course books. In this age, most companies often face new and unique problems. Managers of such companies often invent new methods to solve these new problems. Students remain unaware of such new methods.



One problem is of course curriculum structure. There are often some courses which are of immense importance and should be core but they are listed as electives so students don’t understand their importance.

   

Most of the teachers teaching in business schools have no business experience. They join teaching job as soon as they finish their business degree. Real life cases are not assigned to the students as their projects or assignments. They remain unaware of what different issues and problems can occur in any business. There is often observed a lack of practicality in these business schools. They focus more on theories than on implementations. Most case studies are solved by students using internet. No field work is done.

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  

Internship duration is not sufficient. Exposure of students to the real business is insufficient. Students lack ability of team work.

Report finds that above deficiencies in course curriculum and teaching methodologies of the business schools exist and are the main reason behind the problem. Recommendations discussed are as following:  Books of local authors as textbooks should be preferred by business schools. Because these authors have the knowledge about the local business and companies and write on the issues which are found in our local businesses.  Academics should remain in touch with business as they can get an idea about the new methodologies which are used in businesses to solve the new problems because such methodologies can’t be found in textbooks.  Business schools should follow the recommendations from the business leaders in order to design their course curriculum. They should understand the significance of courses according to the need of time and market while deciding which courses should to be electives and which should be cores.  While appointing teachers, a business school must keep the standard high and must check whether the teacher has any experience of industry life or has he remained or is part of any industry at current time.  During their academic period, let the students should be assigned projects and assignments by the local business and companies. In this way companies will assign them the cases to solve which in fact occur in real business life for the case studies given in books are not up-to-date.  As students do not implement the management theories they learn, business schools should create the simulated crisis situation in classrooms for them, make them to face these crises and ask them to solve these situations by implementing the theories which are taught in the course.

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 

Business leaders should urge business schools to make it compulsory for students to go for research in the concerned companies in order to solve their case studies. Internship duration should be increased so that students and as well as business leaders get enough time to analyze the usefulness of the application of current curriculum in the real business.

 

Guest speaker sessions should be increased so that students get knowledge about what is happening in the industries currently. Either such courses should be introduced which require students to work in a team or assignments or case studies should such that they can be distributed among members of a team as single project.

Limitations of the research are that business leaders were not interviewed due to the shortage of time. All the research is based on the experience of internees.

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Research Work

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Rough Draft of the Initial Report

Introduction
This report was assigned by Mr. A. W. Qureshi to his student Sojharo of BS III, Faculty of Computer Science in Institute of Business Administration, Karachi. Main problem discussed here is about the factors due to which learning of students of business schools do not meet the requirements of real businesses and industries.

Problem Statement
It has been observed by many companies and business leaders that newly hired employees either possess insufficient knowledge or have not learned such management skills which a typical business require from its them. By one or another way, what business students learn in their academic institutes does not see face to face with what is required in the real businesses or companies. There seems a gap between companies and academic institutes. Due to this gap, companies as well as newly hired employees (fresh graduates) face several troubles until they get adjusted in the company environment. Therefore, the business leaders should play their role and recommend course curriculum and teaching methodologies to the business institutes. With this fact, the problem which is being observed here is “What should Business Leaders recommend to the Business Schools?”

Factors involved and problems
Following factors and problems were found during research.

Text-books not designed according to local business perspective
Books of local authors on the business should be preferred over European authors as local books are written in perspective of the local business and situations and cases which could particularly arrive in any particular country.

Not new management methods are taught in schools

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In today’s era, companies are facing often new and unique problems and cases of which there is no example in history. Therefore, new methods have been formed to solve them. Students should remain updated of these methods by remaining in touch with industries through their institute.

Problems of cores and electives
Some of the academic courses offered as electives are of immense importance for the future business leaders to learn, but for the fact that they are offered as electives, students don’t understand their importance or pay less attention to them

Teachers who have no industry experience
Teachers in business schools are mostly those who have done PhDs in their respective fields but have not spent time with companies. They just learned for the sake of being teachers.

Students unaware of real world issues and cases
Students have not an exact idea that what type of projects can be assigned in the companies or what type of cases are dealt in there often.

No implementation and lack of practicality
Students focus more on the theories of management and in memorizing them in order to pass the exams. In this way, they lack the experience got from implementation of these theories.

No field work – Assignments solved on internet
Mostly students solve case studies, which are given to them as their assignments, by doing research only on the internet

Internship duration is not sufficient
Internship duration should be increased so that students and as well as business leaders get enough time to analyze the usefulness of the application of current curriculum in the real business.

No exposure of students to the real business
Exposure of students to the real business and/or company is insufficient.

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No Teamwork
Students lack ability of team work

Conclusion
Due to the factors discussed it can be calculated that what product is given to the industries by business institutes in form of the employees. These factors should be and can be demolished in order to maintain good health of our industry as well as of institutes.

Recommendations
Books of local authors on the business should be preferred over European authors as local books are written in perspective of the local business and situations and cases which could particularly arrive in any particular country. In today’s era, companies are facing often new and unique problems and cases of which there is no example in history. Therefore, new methods have been formed to solve them. Students should remain updated of these methods by remaining in touch with industries through their institute. Academic Institutions should seek guidance from business leaders in such case and should follow their recommendations in order to design their course curriculum. They should understand the significance of courses according to the need of time and market while choosing which courses should to be electives and which should be cores. Such teachers should be appointed jobs in business schools who either have worked in companies are or currently employed. : During their academic period, let the students should be assigned projects and assignments from the local business and companies. In this way companies will assign them the cases to solve which in fact occur in real business life as the case studies given in books are not up-to-date and every time new and unique type of cases occur in the companies which cannot be sought from academic books. Business schools should create the simulated crisis situation in classrooms for the students and make the students to face these crises and ask them to solve these situations by implementing the theories which are taught in the course.

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: Business leaders should urge business schools to make it compulsory for students to go for research in the concerned companies in order to solve their case studies. Internship duration should be increased so that students and as well as business leaders get enough time to analyze the usefulness of the application of current curriculum in the real business. Guest speaker sessions should be increased so that students get knowledge about what is happening in the industries currently. Either such courses should be introduced which require students to work in a team or assignments or case studies should be team projects.

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Initial Outline of the Report

1. Introduction 2. Executive Summary 3. Problems & Recommendations a. Problem: Lack of local and cultural perspective in business textbooks. Recommendation: Books of local authors on the business should be preferred over European authors as local books are written in perspective of the local business and situations and cases which could particularly arrive in any particular country. b. Problem: Students remained restricted to the methods of problem solving which are in their course books. Recommendation: In today’s era, companies are facing often new and unique problems and cases of which there is no example in history. Therefore, new methods have been formed to solve them. Students should remain updated of these methods by remaining in touch with industries through their institute. c. Problem: Some of the academic courses offered as electives are of immense importance for the future business leaders to learn, but for the fact that they are offered as electives, students don’t understand their importance or pay less attention to them. Recommendation: Academic Institutions should seek guidance from business leaders in such case and should follow their recommendations in order to design their course curriculum. They should understand the significance of courses according to the need of time and market while choosing which courses should to be electives and which should be cores. d. Problem: Teachers in business schools are mostly those who have done PhDs in their respective fields but have not spent time with companies. They just learned for the sake of being teachers. Recommendation: Such teachers should be

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appointed jobs in business schools who either have worked in companies are or currently employed. e. Problem: Students have not an exact idea that what type of projects can be assigned in the companies or what type of cases are dealt in there often. Recommendation: During their academic period, let the students should be assigned projects and assignments from the local business and companies. In this way companies will assign them the cases to solve which in fact occur in real business life as the case studies given in books are not up-to-date and every time new and unique type of cases occur in the companies which cannot be sought from academic books. f. Problem: Lack of Practicality e.g. students focus more on the theories of management and in memorizing them in order to pass the exams. In this way, they lack the experience got from implementation of these theories. Recommendation: Business schools should create the simulated crisis situation in classrooms for the students and make the students to face these crises and ask them to solve these situations by implementing the theories which are taught in the course. g. Problem: Mostly students solve case studies, which are given to them as their assignments, by doing research only on the internet. Recommendation: Business leaders should urge business schools to make it compulsory for students to go for research in the concerned companies in order to solve their case studies. (Example of the one case study solved by students should be given here.) h. Problem: Internship duration is not sufficient. Recommendation: Internship duration should be increased so that students and as well as business leaders get enough time to analyze the usefulness of the application of current curriculum in the real business. i. Problem: Exposure of students to the real business and/or company is insufficient. Recommendation: Guest speaker sessions should be increased so that students get knowledge about what is happening in the industries currently.

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j.

Problem: Students lack ability of team work. Recommendation: Either such courses should be introduced which require students to work in a team or assignments or case studies should be team projects.

4. Conclusion 5. Recommendation

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