Management education has seen exponential growth in the past one decade.Within a decade, MBA education has carved its own niche, adopting modern teaching-learning methodology

MORE than 400 candidates sat for the written entrance test for the MBA programme at the Kathmandu University School of Management (Kusom) while the intake was only 40 seats. Kusom has always been the first choice for students aspiring to get an MBA degree, but the massive number of applicants (10 times greater than the intake) shows that management education has captured the imagination of Nepali students. It’s not only Kusom, business schools (B-Schools) in the country and particularly in the capital have been attracting huge numbers of management students.

With business and the economy modernising, demand for trained managers has surged in the country, making management among the most sought after courses. With the expansion of the service sector, emergence of corporate houses and growing preference for management education, B-Schools have become a thriving business. B-Schools have a relatively short history in Nepal. With the exception of a few, almost all the B-Schools were established in the last one decade. The private sector has led this growth story by setting up state-of-the-art institutions, good faculty and world class syllabus.

As of now, more than one and half dozen colleges affiliated to three universities— Pokhara University, Purbanchal University and Kathmandu University (KU)— are running either Master in Business Management (MBA) or Executive MBA (EMBA) or both. Recently, Tribhuvan University (TU), the oldest university in the country, also introduced MBA although it has been running Master in Business Studies (MBS) for decades. It was only after 1991 that management education entered the mainstream. Kathmandu University (KU) was instrumental in making this happen by setting up Kusom in 1993. With the emergence of two other universities in the c o u• t r y—Pu r b a• c h a l University and Pokhara University—management education got a further boost and so did the number of business schools. Within a decade or so, MBA education in the country has carved its own niche, adopting modern teachinglearning methodology and courses. MBA has now become a sought-after brand among those aspiring to make a career in banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and other industries. Apart from the banking and financial system, demand for professional managers is equally strong in other sectors like tourism and hospitality, energy, agriculture, the public sector and others. With more and more B-Schools opening, management education has improved in terms of both quality and quantity. What makes B-Schools special is that they offer specialisation in management related to various sectors of the economy. The MBA course is designed to understand the changing perspectives in business. MBA graduates are expected to understand new definitions and programmes, think strategically, make decisions and have a practical approach to any problem. These aspects make them expert managers and business leaders.

EMBA
EMBA is a post-experience management education programme that helps managers to advance in their jobs. EMBA is a course designed for working professionals who want to improve their leadership and management skills. It is a relatively new course in Nepal, and lately it has become very popular among working professionals. This programme helps managers to learn, grow and change in their career while working. The course content of EMBA is quite similar to that of MBA but with greater priority on the practical aspects. The EMBA programme like the regular MBA adopts case study, participatory method, group discussion, presentation, field visit and project work as its method of teaching-learning supported by lectures. Three universities— KU, Purbanchal and Pokhara University—are offering EMBA courses. However, B-Schools affiliated to foreign universities are offering Flexi-MBA for working professionals instead of EMBA. They schedule their classes during the weekend and holidays making it easier for working professionals to plan their study.

B-Schools in the country can be divided into two categories— those affiliated to domestic universities and those affiliated to foreign universities. Affiliation with foreign univssersities offers students the option to acquire foreign degrees while studying in Nepal. BSchools like King’s College, Kathmandu Frontier Associates (KFA), Lord Buddha Education Foundation (LBEF), Institution of Banking and Management (IBMS) and Presidential Business School have international affiliation. While KFA, IBMS and LBEF are affiliated to Indian universities, King’s College and Presidential Business School are affiliated to International American University, US. However, professionals associated with domestic universities question the quality of the foreign universities which are providing affiliation to B-Schools in Nepal. Promoters of B-Schools said that the MBA curriculum of Nepali universities was of international standard. They added that business education in Nepal has evolved and improvement is visible. “The MBA curriculum in Nepal is similar to that of renowned business schools in the world. Also, the teaching- learning methodology we have been practicing is not second to any business school in the world,” said LP Bhanu Sharma, principal of Apex College. “But we are a little behind when it comes to providing exposure to students.” According to Sharma, exposure is lacking because there aren’t adequate interactions between B-Schools and the business community. Ashish Tiwari, principal and director of the Ace Institute of Management, said that over the year, he has noticed an improvement in the way business education is provided. “Since the history of our MBA education is not very long, we should not expect more,” said Tiwari. “We are still at a nascent stage, and we need more time.” Most B-Schools claim that they implement project work, participatory techniques, encourage team work, case studies and field visits and some also invite visiting faculty from foreign universities while educating the future managers and business leaders. But still BSchools in Nepal have miles to go in order to achieve international standards. Although it is said that MBAs strive to create jobs rather than seek jobs, this attitude has not been noticed in Nepali MBAs. King’s College Principal Narottam Aryal said that their college was focusing more on producing entrepreneurs rather than managers.

“We even provide seed money to our students to start business ventures while they are pursuing their MBA degree,” said Aryal. According to Sharma, 75 out of 900 graduates who did their MBA from Apex are pursuing their own business. “It is a very promising sign and I believe that it is the beginning of a new era in business education,” said Sharma. “Slowly, the entrepreneurship culture will expand.” With competition becoming fierce, BSchools have started innovating. KFA has started MBA with specialization in banking and insurance. Established a year ago, Uniglobe College (UC) offers MBA with specialization in corporate finance, investment, banking, insurance and micro finance. IBMS offers three types of MBAs—fulltime comprehensive MBA, flexible MBA and MBA executive. The flexible MBA and MBA executive have been specially designed for working individuals who cannot study fulltime and for working executives having a minimum of four years of work experience.

Kathmandu University has started a new Master’s degree programmes in response to growing demand. The university has recently started a new business management programmes which includes a dual specialization module and a trimester system MBA programme. In addition, Kusom has started Diploma in Management and Postgraduate Diploma in Management to teach managerial concepts to students who hold non-management degrees. In a relatively short period, Nepali B-Schools have been making a mark in the country’s corporate sector. They may not be like Indian B-Schools where graduates are hired even before they complete their final year, but the trend of on-campus interviews and placement has begun in Nepal. The Nepali corporate sector has started visiting B-Schools to look for competent managers. A majority of colleges have their own employment placement cells to guide the career of their students.

Placement cells in B-Schools work to develop their link with business making placement of their students much easier. Although the trend of on-campus interviews has not started yet, a few companies have been visiting colleges to scout for suitable MBAs. Kusom has its own employment cell to coordinate job placements. The Ace Institute of Management too has a similar kind of on-campus and off-campus placement mechanism. Recently, Global Bank visited White House Graduate School of Management (WHGSM) and collected resumes of the students pursuing MBA in the school. Joint venture enterprises, banks and financial institutions are the preferred sectors for MBA graduates. “More than 60 percent of our graduates are working in banks and financial institutions,” said Shambhu K Dahal, programme director of graduate studies at WHGSM. Only a few students take the path of selfemployment and job-creation through entrepreneurship.

source:The Kathmandu Post(2011),"MBA Education:The Making of Managers", The Kathmandu Post, 4 Jan 2012