Understanding the Importance of Business School Curriculum

and Their Role in Shaping Effective Executives

Deconstruction of Business School Curriculum

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and
self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

- Theodore Roosevelt

The above words have been spoken by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26 th and the youngest President of
US. He was a writer, naturalist, soldier and above all a Leader. The B-Schools all around the world
have claimed to make efficient Leaders and Managers for shaping the current and future business
world. However, the relevance of management education for practice has often and long been
criticised by both the practitioners and academic scholars. The scepticism emanates primarily from
the following two concerns:

i. The relevance of course curriculum in accordance with the organisational reality and business
context
ii. Misalignment between ‘skills needed in business’ and ‘what is imbibed in business schools’.

With this, the first question that comes to mind is what management is and what is its relevance.
Management education offers all necessary tools to equip one with the necessary techniques of
successfully handling various business and management related issues. Besides providing the basic
management capabilities, it also provides:

i. The ability to use the contingency approach for solving business problems.
ii. Combining the best parts of several solutions into a unique and better solution.
iii. Having a global perspective.
iv. Working with and learning from others.

In a conference organised by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Ideafactory in 2015, they discussed about shaping the future leaders and what the B-Schools across
the world need to inculcate in their course curriculum to meet the future demands. The discussion
included members from OECD, Professors from top B-Schools in the world and business leaders
from top companies. With that, they concluded that today business schools need to change their
approach i.e., focusing more on Character than Skill, Experience than Knowledge, Process than
Content, Character Accountability (CPA) than GPA.

With this context, to understand the attributes that makes a person good executive along with
understanding the requirements accordingly to shape the course curriculum of the B-Schools, this
research study has been conducted. With the increasing impact of business managers in corporations,
society and over all eco-systems, it is necessary to understand the best way possible to teach and train
them effectively and responsibly so that they can manage business enterprises in the growing
complexities and vulnerabilities of not only business but also our overall economy, society and
ecosystems.
Methodology

Sampling of the Population

To collect the research data, we used convenience sampling to collect information from a
conveniently available pool of respondents. The pool consisted of mainly MBA graduates, working
professionals and students falling into the age-group of (21-37) years and work experience ranging
from (0-7) years.

We collected 34 responses from the pool of respondents using a unique referral code (the Reference
No. was in the form of “Section_GroupNo.Roll No.”) for easier data identification and analysis.

Questionnaire/ Online Instrument Development

Considering the pandemic situation, we adopted an online research methodology (used Google –form)
to conduct the Primary research. A questionnaire was prepared consisting of 42 questions, with an aim
of assessing the Core Competencies, Critical Thinking, Design Thinking, Systems Thinking, Values,
etc. of the respondents and analysing them later.

The questionnaire was typically a mix of both close-ended questions and open-ended questions.
Open-ended, were long-form questions that offered the respondents the ability to elaborate on their
thoughts. Whereas in close ended questions the respondents were asked to select one from the options
provided. These questions were based on the principles of the four measurement scales – nominal,
ordinal, interval, and ratio. The questions also ranged from qualitative to quantitative.

Pilot Testing of the Instrument

Prior to sending the research questionnaire to the target respondents, a pilot testing was conducted to
identify flaws, discrepancies, and shortcomings, if any. The process used for the said testing was
simple wherein a group consisting of 7-8 Members filled out the form. Some of the feedback received
were pertaining to the complexity of the questions, length of the questionnaire and also suggestions on
some questions that can be added for further qualitative understanding of the topic. Much of the
feedbacks received were constructive and helped the research team for improving the instrument.
After a thorough study into the feedback, we modified the questionnaire as per requirement and then it
was circulated among the target sample respondents.

Process of Data Collection, Challenges and Experiences

Considering the situation of COVID19, collection of data physically was practically not feasible.
Instead, a Google form was sent out consisting of all the questions to all the potential respondents.
Due to the limitations, as mentioned earlier the data was collected using convenience sampling. This
process was helpful as it was incredibly prompt, uncomplicated, and economical, the details of which
were discussed above.

One of the major concerns received from the respondents was the length of the questionnaire.
Excluding the general respondent data, the research tool had a total of 34 questions due to which
many respondents either lost interest whilst filling it or seemingly did not fill out the form at all. Some
of the learning from designing and implementing this research tool can be listed as follows:

i. Some of the questions could have been grouped together to form a single question.
ii. Considering the extensive research, the long questionnaire could have been dissected into 2-3
tools and the whole research could have been conducted in a span of two weeks instead of
one. It could have given the respondents enough time to complete one small questionnaire at a
time with out hampering the quality of response received.

Data Analysis

Process of Data Cleaning

The sets of data are basically collected for the primary purpose of comparison and it requires
uniformity in all responses. Incomplete/corrupt data need to be sorted out and eventually removed or
else replaced. The following process has been followed for data cleaning:

Deletion of
Uncleaned Data
Checking for
Data Extraction Checking for Column after
Data Uniformity
to Excel Blank Cells formation of
w.r.t. questions
clean data
column

Final entry of Conversion of Identifying the Data Coding for

data from excel Negation Q&A Negation better
to SPSS to Positive Q&A Questions understanding

As shown in the figure above, data cleaning has been done by removing the blank spaces which will
unnecessarily lead to massive deviations in the parameters adjudged. Also, the noise level in certain
questions is high, so by bringing uniformity in all responses this problem got eliminated. For example,
people responded with numbers, ratios, words and percentages for a certain set of questions.

Finally, in this data cleaning process, we have taken the opposite results for the questions posing a
thought which are reverse in lines with the variables it belongs to (by subtracting the response in these
questions from 8, as we have the scale from 1-7).

Process of Data Coding

The questionnaire was designed based on the following attributes i.e., Core Competencies, Critical
Thinking, Design Thinking, Systems Thinking and Values. Apart from that the rest of the questions
have also been further categorised and accordingly the coding is given to all the questions for easier
analysis of the data. The categorization is tabulated below:
S.L. Parameter No. of Questions Code
1 Effectiveness through learning 1 ETL
2 Core Competency 5 CC
3 Values and Ethics 1 VE
4 Critical Thinking 4 CT
5 Design Thinking 2 DT
6 System Thinking 4 ST
7 Values 4 V
8 Core 1 Core
9 Concepts 1 Concepts
10 Qualitative Analytical Skills 1 QAS
11 Cross Functional Analysis 1 CFA
12 Clarity and Transparency in communication 1 CToS
13 Technical Prowess over Intent and Purpose 1 TPoIP
14 Financial Knowledge over Social Knowledge 1 FKoSK
15 Efficiency of Value Chain Operations over Stability of 1 EVCoSE
Ecosystems
16 Holistic Understanding of Business 1 HoB
17 Advertisement over Transparent communication 1 AOTC
18 Emotional Intelligence over Learning to Manage 1 EILMIR
Industrial Relations
19 Business School with Appropriate Curriculum 1 BSwAC
20 Business School with Profitable and Responsible 1 BSwTPR
Training