In conversation with Prof (Dr.) Sanjiv Marwah, Director, JK Business School Prof (Dr.) Sanjiv Marwah, Director, JK Business School
Job prospect of B-schools in 2021?
Amidst the significant disruption caused by COVID-19 pandemic, though the companies are still hiring, their expectations from young graduates in terms of skill-sets have increased for obvious reasons. The year 2021 will be the year of recovery in a big way, although top packages might see a hit but the total number of placements and the average package will remain unaffected.
What are the new trends to be seen B-Schools Curriculum in 2021?
The curriculum for all B-schools will undergo transformational changes and will become more rigorous and skill-oriented in a gradual manner in 2021 with the adoption of National Education Policy. Practical knowledge and application-based learning will be the key focus for all the institutions. Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools; the same has been put forward quite well in the NEP 2020. Blended learning broadens the horizon and develops skill sets, which are essential for the students to succeed in the 21st century’s technologically advanced environment. Also, it offers flexibility to students to enroll in part-time courses so that they have more control over how they choose to structure their personal learning experience. Blended education offers online components to allow increased flexibility, while attending classes and at the same time interacting with cohorts and professors to build a business network in a similar way as in a full-time course which is the need of the hour.
Going forward we at JKBS, betting big on outcome-based approach and problem based learning in order to harness the “higher-order thinking skills” (HOTS). This will foster analytical and critical thinking abilities of students and help them make data-based decisions and inculcate cross-cultural perspectives so they can function seamlessly in a global business environment. Thus, our focus will be majorly on working on real-time projects with industry professionals to give students firsthand experience of the real-world scenarios.
In the last few years, there has been exponential growth in data generated by people and objects has far outpaced the growth in talented resources that can derive value out of it. There is an unusually high gap between the supply and demand of outstanding professionals who can understand the data and derive useful business intelligence from it. Inorder to bridge this gap, Business Analytics is undoubtedly the need of the hour.
Business Analytics will be the core pillar B-School curriculum to achieve growth and competitive advantage. This is also to ensure that upcoming generations are having a strong learning base in one of the most alluring careers in days to come.
What challenges are you facing in providing digital education?
As coronavirus upends the world, we adopted Google Meet under G-Suite as our preferred platform for the delivery of lectures to ensure that students don’t miss a single class of their ongoing trimester. Google Classroom is an excellent platform as a one-stop solution for all course-related activities including examination and evaluation. Therefore, COVID- 19 did not impact our learning pedagogy much. The students were well-acquainted with the online classroom learning during their regular classes too. We ensured that our students stay safe during these unprecedented times and their learning doesn’t stop.
The only disadvantage of online learning is the loneliness of a learner which creeps in when you’re engaging with technology and learning all by yourself. It can cause fatigue. To address that, we facilitated group discussions, joint presentations, and assignments in order to increase interaction among peers in virtual classrooms. In the future, there has to be a judicious mix. B-schools have the responsibility to prepare students for a corporate career. So, teaching students to perform tasks online and work with team members is crucial and inescapable.
Industry-education partnerships have always been an important part of JKBS, digital education has highlighted the need for such support more than ever. As it will augment the research facilities to students and groom them to deal with the challenges arising due to the technological advancements.
What is the scenario of campus placement for the next batch?
At present, companies might be reluctant to hire, but to maintain a relationship with business schools in the future, they will be taking part in the placement process and hiring students. In Spite of the challenges companies are hiring, it will definitely increase from the next batch onwards. Also, placement prospects of business schools aren’t going to be affected in terms of the numbers but in terms of the highest packages given. We are hoping that by the next placement session situations will improve and will come under control.
