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ISB’s Dr. Rajendra Srivastava (centre): successful stewardship

Asian countries, especially neigbouring China. with state-of-the-art infrastructure, digital connectivity and
Various explanations are offered for this paradox. international outreach and students selectivity, they pro-
Among them: the syllabuses and curriculums of B-schools vide their privileged students opportunities to make great
tend to focus on US-style free markets, while the Indian breakthroughs in innovative, original research. That’s why
economy is government dominated and highly regulated; India’s best B-schools are national assets that deserve de-
socialist era licence-permit-quota government regulations tailed scrutiny and SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, oppor-
prevent graduates from applying education and knowl- tunities, threats) analyses that the annual EW B-schools
edge acquired in B-schools; managing ubiquitous corrup- rankings provide institutional managements and postgrad
tion in government and industry regulatory agencies is not students searching for business management education
factored into B-school curriculums. Neither are ways and best suited to their aptitudes and aspirations.
means to manage legacy corporates and conglomerates in However given the abundant information available
which inexperienced sons and daughters succeed first gen- in mainstream media about government promoted IIMs
eration entrepreneurs and promoters. The relatively poor which routinely top national rankings surveys and admit
competitive record of India Inc when compared with For- a mere 2.5 percent percent of college graduates who write
tune 500 companies suggests that the education dispensed their annual joint Common Admission Test, for several
by India’s best B-schools is not quite in sync with the needs years past your editors have restricted themselves to rat-
and requirements of industry and the economy. ing and ranking next-best private B-schools which absorb
Nevertheless there’s no reason to believe that the coun- 98 percent of students who write CAT but don’t make it into
try’s best B-schools are not sentient learning organisations the IIMs. They also need information that enables them to
with vast scope for improvement. Given good leadership, choose B-schools that will best fulfil their career progres-
India’s top-ranked private B-schools, promoted, construct- sion goals.
ed and commissioned at great expense, have the potential To compile the EW India Private B-schools Rankings
to re-imagine and conceptualise innovative, organic sylla- 2021-22, the Delhi-based Centre for Forecasting & Research
buses and curriculums to stimulate a massive productivity (C fore) persuaded 1,117 knowledgeable sample respon-
leap in India Inc and other sectors of the economy. More- dents comprising a mix of B-school faculty and industry
over with their excellent, globally benchmarked campuses representatives countrywide to rate the most well-reputed

JUNE 2021 EDUCATIONWORLD 79