Business schools must adapt to the need of the digital economy: Ranjan Banerjee, dean of BITSoM

The pandemic disruptions have made business schools accept the new challenges, it has made them aware to build in greater focus on learnability, embed technology in every vertical, prepare students for a world where they will have multiple careers in a lifetime, says Ranjan Banerjee dean, BITS School of Management (BITSoM), the business school of BITS Pilani.

Technology is now horizontal, not a vertical anymore, and B-Schools must adapt business education to the need of the accelerating digital economy, Banerjee told Moneycontrol in an interview.

A veteran management educationist, Banerjee said more and more working executives will set aside an annual budget to reinvest in their own learning, and progressive institutions, will expand their offering from long term courses to include products which provide systematic renewal and upgradation. Edited excerpts:

Q) What has changed in management education post the pandemic disruptions?

There is a community of management educators who have learned to teach online. This transformation happened very fast due to compulsion, and it has a) created far more openness to hybrid models and b) given us the opportunity to source visiting faculty globally at relatively short notice.

Business models and the nature of work are changing. The transition to a digital economy has accelerated. Curriculum needs to adapt to a changing digital world, and progressive schools will make these changes faster.

We are today far more aware of the value of offline peer learning. As students come back to physical classrooms, this is one of the greatest differences they experience - interaction and bonding with peers in physical groups.

Future of leadership in data driven. Are you making budding managers well versed with data, AI, etc to make them industry ready?

We are embedding courses on data science, AI in every specialisation. For us technology is horizontal, not a vertical, and every BITSoM student will be digital ready. The only mandatory courses in the second year are around data analytics.

What changes management education sector will adopt to stay relevant?

We will prepare a curriculum for the digital world, build in greater focus on learnability, embed technology in every vertical, do more to a) enhance self-awareness b) prepare students for a world where they will have multiple careers in a lifetime.

More and more working executives will set aside an annual budget to reinvest in their own learning, and progressive institutions, will expand their offering from long term courses to include products which provide systematic renewal and upgradation.

There is a growing noise that B-Schools need to innovate to meet industry and students’ expectations. How are you doing it?

Ans: We are approaching this at two levels. Curricular: We are crafting a curriculum for the digital age. Technology is no longer a vertical. Courses in areas like analytics, data science are built into every specialisation.

Business is increasingly interconnected, and we need to see linkages between the business ecosystem and other ecosystems. Courses drawn from the liberal arts, courses on sustainability, a course on the Indian Constitution, courses on emerging business models, all help to build this understanding.

We need to learn that many problems are unstructured, and the ability to define problems better is critical. Courses in areas like design thinking and systems thinking help in this regard. We also need graduates to be industry ready. Based on industry feedback, a unique set of courses titled winning at the workplace covers areas like advanced project management, negotiation skills, spreadsheet modelling, influence and persuasion, effective listening, critical thinking, learning agility etc.

Beyond curriculum, there is a need to personalise learning to the unique needs and interests of every student. We have a personal development program for every student, a corporate mentoring program, where every student is assigned a dedicated senior industry leader as mentor, two corporate live projects and a social sector live project (over and above the summer internship). Through psychometric testing and personal mentoring, we are trying to a create a self-aware student who can craft his or her own path.

What kind of courses you are adding to stay contemporary?

We have a complete specialisation in entrepreneurship and new venture creation -- we are trying to build entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. I have already spoken about some unique courses earlier -- courses on scaling up, network science, and non-market strategies are also relatively new in India.

ESG is emerging as a big subject of discourse and practice. How are you aligning this at BITSoM

We have a strong emphasis on courses drawn from the liberal arts which help students see connections between business and society. Courses on design thinking and systems thinking build problem solving skills for an interconnected world.  Courses on the Indian constitution and ‘politonomics’ build breadth of perspective. We also have a core sustainability course, and a mandatory social sector live project, which gives students first hand exposure to social issues.

Executive education and online courses are seeing good traction – what’s your vision for that?

Here, hybrid models will be important as many will want to learn without displacement. Further, the ability to integrate learning with systematic job-related projects will be valued, and the ability to leverage technology to customise both content and context of executive education will be a differentiator.