Universities must shift to a more sustainable future

The Covid-19's impact on higher education, particularly B schools is evident and can be seen encompassing all academic processes coming to almost a halt midway. The effect of the corona crisis on the future of management education can be found in two viewpoints, one - how B schools are going to cope up with the evolving circumstances, and two - how students need to get ready and choose the correct B school for a successful profession in the 'new normal'.

Prior to the invasion of Covid-19, the business college community was experiencing continued gaps in their basic financial model. This condition was being driven, to some extent, by the decline in demand for MBA graduates. Numerous B-schools immediately responded to COVID-19 by expanding their online presence as a measure and potentially a long-term solution for their ongoing difficulties.

An imperative shift towards technology

The pandemic has increased the utilisation of the Learning Management System (LMS) to contact a lot more audience and take into account a variety of exercises. This incorporates workshops, work from home certifications, mock meetings and guest lectures. This methodology goes inseparably with the vision of expanding the employability of MBA graduates, as the agreement sets in that learning in a virtual mode is industry-prepared expertise that students need to have. Because of this proactive methodology, the teachers and students at these B schools are as of now are comfortable with the online interface and thus, make a conscious move.

Earlier, one might have profited from an online course, but it was looked at as a mere substitute for a full-time course. Presently, B schools and applicants are viewing online learning as an integral part of each course and learning measure. Universities understand the power of innovation in terms of welcoming a variety of guest faculties to address the undergrads from any place

A benefit of online learning is that it tends to be utilised to incorporate simulations that empower critical thinking, and with online chat rooms, students can work together and help peer students. This is a chance for B schools to analyse which courses require the simultaneous presence of staff and members to address questions, mentor and react to logical issues that should be done in a face-to-face setting. The emergency is a chance for business colleges to unload various components of learning and to endeavour to change some of it into online meetings that empower modification and paced out learning.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A)

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A), which were experiencing an uptick in higher education, acted as a catalyst to creating strategic partnerships. Historically, M&A was seen by most educators with absolute hatred. However, given the new dynamics, M&A give a vehicle to maintaining economic viability for establishments facing financial challenges via economies of scale, degree, and fit. For example, the merger of an undergraduate business college with a primary graduate business college could give a steady stream of candidates for various graduate programs as well as enhanced internships and employment openings for undergraduate students.

The invasion of Covid-19 has made already marginal schools much weaker to the M&A interaction. One of the vital pieces in the M&A cycle, is to recognize business colleges or elements that are in a state of financial misery or facing different challenges. Strangely, Online Program Managers (OPMs) could fill in as an outsider intermediary for various B-schools under their umbrella and could offer integrated type of assistance during the M&A transitional cycle. OPMs can also assist in times of unexpected disasters, for example, school terminations prompted by Covid-19. In this job, OPMs could fill in as an important transitional vehicle for assisting schools with managing both the present moment and long haul. It is hard to imagine that after COVID-19 passes; B-schools will at any point get back to the same old thing.

Alas, these actions may not be a complete answer to the problem. To remain competitive in an always crowded field, some business colleges are offering online programs at costs 50 per cent of their comparable traditional programmes. Moreover, to help facilitate the transition to distance learning many B-schools have reached out to the prospering online program managers (OPMs) community. The best will emerge out of this crisis. This is every body's hope.

(The author is Executive Director, Sanskriti University)