Vasudhaiva Vyaparakam

Global MBAs, the liberal arts, polyglottery and, as ever, rankings. Outlooks 2018 B-schools package is here.

- Arindam Mukherjee

LAST month, the Financial Times released its rankings of global business schools. What is heartening for India is that the country’s numero uno, IIM Ahmedabad, has found a place among the global top 30. What is even better is that three out of the top five B-schools in Asia are from India. What is not so encouraging is the fact that India has lost out to China, which has taken the top slot in Asia.

While the presence of leading Indian B-schools in the global list is a huge endorsement of the improvement in quality and approach towards business education in India, this has largely been lopsided, with most of the top 10–15 getting the laurels while the rest, for the most part, still follow an archaic approach. Innovation is yet to become mainstream, and progress in keeping up with the demands of industry leaves a lot to be desired. Also, the most important aspect— entrepreneurship—remains absent from Indian MBAs. This goes all the way to the top B-schools, though some are building it into their curriculum and have started thinking out of the box.