Need for change in CAT format, management education: Rangarajan

Ahmedabad, Nov 17 (UNI) Noted economist and chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Dr C Rangarajan today said there was an urgent need to bring about a transformation in management education in the country and also review the format of the entrance tests like the CAT and GMAT.

''The tests are very difficult for many. Some may not be too academically great, but they maybe well-equipped for management. But they have to miss out on account of tough tests,'' he said while addressing the inaugural session of the Second Annual Conference of the Asia Pacific Busines Schools, being held at the IIM-A here.

He said alternative modalities should be worked out by experts for the purpose.

About 60 business schools from New Zealand, Korea, Australia, China, Belgium, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan are participating in the two-day conference.

Emphasising that there is a need to foster a greater degree of independent and creative thinking, Dr Rangarajan said, ''We also need to discourage a culture of conformism to familiar modes of thinking and action. It is no longer enough to adapt established management theories and techniques, we need to be more forefront in developing new management ideas.'' He said the Asian economies are at a point where fundamentally new growth dynamics are coming into play, and hence it is no longer enough to generate economic growth by employing more and more labour and capital.

''They must prepare themselves for the next stage of growth based on innovation and rising total factor productivity. This requires a change of the emphasis in management education,'' he added.

Suggesting that changes have to be brought in the content, methodology of teaching and creation of knowledge, he said management schools do not pay much attention to research as they do to teaching.

''These schools need to take thought leadership role more seriously. Much of the theorising about Asian economies happens in North America and Europe. Asian business schools need to play a bigger role, thinking about what is happening in their own backyard and conceptualising emerging trends in the region,'' he observed.

Dr Rangarajan also stressed on the need for management education for the public sector. ''There should be specially designed courses for government and public sector as good governance is a pre-requisite for a thriving economy. Even, private sector will benefit from good governance,'' he said, adding that ''more markets did not mean less government but a different one.'' UNI MMG SSS MQA VV2031