Quality in Higher Education: Road to competitiveness for Indian Business Schools

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1 Factors Influencing Internal Branding Process 9 Quality in Higher Education: Road to competitiveness for Indian Business Schools Abstract Archana Krishnan* Low quality of education in higher levels is increasingly becoming a cause of concern. Though lots has been written about the physical infrastructure required to increase the quality of our business management institutions, much research has not been done into the other aspects of business schools such as related to the course content, teaching learning process and the basic methodologies of lecture delivery and understanding of the students needs. The aim of this research paper is to explore the variables that are essential in improving the quality of a business management school. Parameters essential for improving quality are correlated with each other. T test on variables shows how important certain variables are in building a institutional brand through quality initiative. In particular by improving the quality in higher education, Indian business management schools may make themselves competitive in the long run. Keywords: Quality in higher education, Business management institutes, Competitiveness Introduction The higher education in India has grown significantly in the recent years. The number of students enrolled for higher education in India has tremendously increased to become one of the largest systems of its kind in the world in the recent past. However, the system has been grappling with several problems like funds crunch, equity, reorientation of programmes, ethics, value associated to delivering education, teaching learning process,assessment and accreditation of institutions, academic standards of the students, quality of research, innovativeness and creativity. Such factors directly or indirectly affect the student s academic productivity in the educational institutions. Though lots of time and money is being invested in improving the higher education, still educational quality is not maintained on a continuous basis. What is seen is only a quick fix approach to maintaining quality in the educational institutions, especially in times of visit of accreditation committees like NAC and AICTE. Recent reports suggest that Indian Institutions are far behind in delivering quality in education on the world map.only one IIT ( place not mentioned) has been listed as 41 rank among the top 100 educational institutions of the world. It is evident now that we need to improve the infrastructure and teaching methodologies, quality of teachers recruited to teach the teachers to completely overhaul the system. This will only help in providing better * Research Scholar, Faculty of Management Studies, New Delhi

2 10 Opinion-Volume 1, No. 1, December 2011 educational quality for student s and at the same time attract more students from home and abroad. This research paper tries to focus on the students perspective of quality initiatives required in a business management institute which can make it competitive in the long run. Review of Literature Jie and Idris(2009) focus on total quality management practises and its effect on attractiveness of place of study in the Malaysian universities. Two components of TQM were examined i.e. student s need on quality of service, and their impact on performance, defined as the attractiveness of place of study. Chakka and Kulkarni(2010) stress on improvement of teaching quality and learning processes through TQM. The paper describes the methods to achieve teaching quality, evaluation of teaching quality by peer-reviewing, student feedback and evaluation of learning process. The authors propose a new concept of teacher-accreditation, which may be more important over the other accreditations. Sahney et. al(2006) attempts to find the students perspective of quality on select educational institutions, Quality function deployment, interpretive structured modelling and path analysis were used to identify the set of minimum design characteristics that meet the requirements of the students as an important external customer. They focus on identifying and establishing the linkages and relationships between the different items/components under two broad heads customer requirements and design characteristics.pandi et al (2009) focuses on integrated management practices in educational institutions and institutions effectiveness through student s perceptions of quality.singh (2008) stresses that one of the basic objectives of Higher Education is to increase the resolving power of the human mind and also to inculcate the basic tenets of independent thinking and to enliven the indomitable character of the human mind to the young and talented students. Altbach (2005) argues that there are a small number of high quality institutions, departments, and centres that can form the basis of quality sector in higher education.kaul (2006) argues that India should have a proactive demand based policy for private higher education including foreign universities and institutes desirous of setting institutes in India or having joint ventures combined with a regulatory mechanism so that the interests and the welfare of the students are not compromised. Mishra(2011) reports that in Bihar for increasing the gross enrolment ratio in higher education from the existing 12.4% to at least 20% and also enhancing the quality of higher education to attract talented boys and girls, the state government has been contemplating to create centres of excellence in different parts of the state. Problem Definition Decreasing quality in higher educational institution is a cause of concern for all those concerned with the field of education.educational institutions without proper academic support and infrastructure quality produce low quality of students who will not be able to contribute to the nation in the long run. The problem is more pronounced as the number of educational institutions are increasing every year. Thus this report tries to focus on perception of students towards quality initiatives, that should be given paramount importance, which will further help in strengthening the overall brand of the business management institution. Research Methodology Research Design: The study comprised of a descriptive research with a cross sectional design. Data for the study was gathered through questionnaire. which were sent to students of both graduate and post graduate level.respondents were selected as a simple random sample from sampling frame i.e. the institute rolls. A total of 54 responses were obtained. Questions were asked on five point likert type scale(1,strongly agree; 2,Agree;3,Neutral;4,Disagree;5,Strongly disagree). Sampling Tools And Materials Normality of the items under consideration was tested using Kolmogrov-Smirnov statistic and Shaapiro- Wilk statistic,with a lillifors significance level.significance value of p<0.05 indicated that the data was normal. One sample t test was done to know whether the mean of the population from which the sample is drawn is same as the hypothesised mean. One sample t -test was done on variables such as use of IT, and involvement of students in research. Independent sample t test is performed when participants in one condition are different from participants in other condition.this was

3 Quality in Higher Education: Road to competitiveness for Indian Business Schools 11 done between gender and availability of medical and accommodation facilities. Correlation looks at relationship between two variables in a linear fashion. This was done for variables such as cross disciplinary knowledge imparted,teaching methodology, effectiveness of placement cell, course opens new career opportunities, personality development through course content, effective communication among all, industry integration. Result The means and standard deviations calculated for the variables are presented in Table 1.The values are found to be highly significant which depicts how important these variables are towards sustaining and improving the quality of any business management institution. Intercorrelations are shown between the variables in Table 2.Positive correlation is found between cross disciplinary knowledge imparted and teaching methodology (r =.474, p<0.01).correlation between teaching methodology and effectiveness of placement cell is found to be significant at (r =.385,p<0.01). Personality development through the course was found to correlate with course opening new career opportunities(r =.568, p<0.01), effective communication(r =.353, p<0.01), effectiveness of placement cell(r=0.027, p<0.05), industry integration(r =.320,p<0.05).Effectiveness of placement cell does not correlate with industry integration (r =.258, NS). One sample t-test was done on involvement of students in research and latest use of IT. Mean for the variables was found out to be 2.37 and 1.72 at 0.05 significance level. The items showed High agreeableness of the respondents as a measure towards increasing quality in a business management institute.(see Table 3&4). Independent sample t test between gender and availability of medical and accommodation facilities depicts high mean values. Mean values were found to be 1.59 and 1.76 respectively for male and female.(see Table 5).Independent sample t test between availability of medical and accommodation facilities and gender was found to be significant since p<0.05. Since F test significance is <.10,we choose the upper tail value in the first row i.e which is almost significant. This means that availability of medical and accommodation facility has an effect on gender of students.(table 6) Discussion A high correlation was seen between teaching methodology attracting students and cross disciplinary knowledge imparted in the classrooms.this means that with the use of a better teaching methodology such as a two way communication between teachers and students,allows the discussion on variety of related fields which are very essential for developing knowledge in the students. High correlation between teaching methodology and effectiveness of placement cell depicts better teaching methods by an instructor paves the way for improving the overall abilities of the students,which in turn is instrumental is attracting better jobs by leading industry players. This may again help in building brand of the business school. Positive correlations are found between personality development through the course and the course opening new career opportunities, effective communication, effectiveness of placement cell and Industry integration. The course content which may include emphasis on public speaking and putting the innovation and creativity of the students to constructive use,could pave the way for a good personality development in students. Effective communication among all results in a seamless understanding of the student needs during the session. Good Personality development of the students through the course leads to more number of eligible candidates available for placements and automatically draws more industry expats to recruit them. Effectiveness of placement cell only moderately correlates with industry integration. This is because, there are other factors which are responsible for industry integration. One sample t test was done on the items like involvement of students in research, latest use of IT, which are highly significant a measure towards increasing quality in a business management institute. Latest tools in IT certainly helps a person to stay ahead of times. With the use of IT, lectures can be taken home, home assignments can be sent online, use of visual aids can lead to better understanding of the topic of discussion in class. Involvement of students in research would bring to light their creativity and ability to understand deep into the managerial problems.

4 12 Opinion-Volume 1, No. 1, December 2011 Independent sample t-test depicts availability of medical and accommodation facility has an effect on gender of students. In time and reliable medical care inside the campus of the business school puts the students as well as their parents in comfort zone. Good accommodation facilities inside or near the campus cuts down the travelling time for students and lets the students perform better academically. Conclusion The study depicts the quality initiatives that are instrumental in improving the academic productivity of the students. For this the institutions must ensure good quality of time and money devoted to improving the quality of service delivered to its customers. Academic salaries must be high enough to attract excellent scientists and scholars and teacher s who are motivated enough to produce a new clan of students who have the spirit of excelling with a sound foundation. Nevertheless,world class universities require world class professors and students and a culture to sustain and stimulate such a world class environment.. Teachers accountability must be made as an inseparable part of his/her service career which is the need of the hour. Managerial reforms and the introduction of effective administration are required for effective maintenance of all the resources in the educational institutions. India may not be able to build internationally recognised high quality research-oriented universities overnight where students gather knowledge and think beyond just the theory of the subject, but at the moment India has the key elements in place to begin and sustain the process. India will need to create a dozen or more universities that can compete internationally to fully participate in the new world economy. Without these universities, India may be destined to remain a scientific backwater. A combination of specific conditions and resources are needed to create outstanding educational institutions. A successful quality management initiative in an educational institution will increase its standard and market value. Apart from this institutions of higher learning will be able to face any kind of challenge from its competitors. In a phase when foreign universities with their high educational standards are waiting to enter the Indian Educational Sector, Indian Institutions, whether big or small, can give the foreign universities a tough competition, by adhering to quality standards in all their practices. It s high time that the Indian Educationalists wake up to this fact before half of the poor quality institutions become history. Limitations Of Study 1. As the research is only based student s perception in a particular institution, it does not provide a proof that all the other educational institutions can also benefit from the research. 2. Also, this study has been done in a very short span of time. A longitudinal study to track changes in the student s perception of quality initiatives taken over a period of time can provide more insights into the research. Future Research Directions 1. Research could be further fine tuned with a better respondent sample size which will give better results. 2. A longitudinal study to track changes in the student s perception of quality initiatives taken over a period of time can provide more insights into the research. 3. The research could be done with other variables like administrative qualities,methods of conducting examinations, admissions etc.

5 Quality in Higher Education: Road to competitiveness for Indian Business Schools 13 Annexture Table 1 Descriptive statistics (correlation between items) Descriptive Statistics Mean Std. Deviation N Cross disciplinary knowledge imparted Teaching methodology attracts students Course opens new career opportunities Course improves personal development Effective communication among all Industry integration Effectiveness of placement cell Table 2 Correlation between variables Cross Teaching Course Course Effective Industry Effectiveness disciplinary methodology opens improves communication integration of knowledge attracts new career personal among all placement imparted students opportunities development celll Cross disciplinary Pearson ** knowledge imparted Correlation Sig Teaching methodology Pearson.474 ** ** attracts students Correlation Sig Course opens new Pearson **.337 * * career opportunities Correlation Sig Course improves Pearson ** **.320 *.301 * personal development Correlation Sig Effective Pearson *.353 ** communication Correlation Sig among all Industry integration Pearson * Correlation Sig Effectiveness of Pearson **.278 *.301 * placement cell Correlation Sig **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

6 14 Opinion-Volume 1, No. 1, December 2011 Table 3 One sample T -Test Descriptives One-Sample Statistics N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Involvement of students in research Latest use of IT Table 4 One-Sample Test significance values Test Value = 0 T Df Sig. Mean 95% Confidence (2-tailed) Difference Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Involvement of students in research Latest use of IT Table 5 Independent sample T-Test Descriptive table Gender of N Mean Std. Std. Error the students Deviation Mean Medical and Accomodation facilities Male Female Table 6 Independent Samples T-Test(Levene s Test) Levene s Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence (2-tailed) Difference Difference Interval of the Difference Medical and Equal accomodation variances facilities assumed Lower Equal variances not assumed Upper

7 Quality in Higher Education: Road to competitiveness for Indian Business Schools 15 References 1. Altbach,P.G.(2005), Higher education in India, htm,viwed 27 May Chakka,R., and Kulkarni,G.T.(2010), Total Quality Management in Pedagogy (TQM_P): An Update, Indian J.Pharm. Educ. Res. 44(4), Oct - Dec, Jie,F., and Idris,A.,(2009). Education Management: Perception of TQM and Its Effect on Attractiveness of Place of Study, E-Leader Kuala Lumpur. 4. Pandi,P.,Rao, U.S., and Jeyatilagar, D., A Study on Integrated Total Quality Management Practices in Technical Institutions - Students Perspective, International Journal of Educational Administration,Vol 1 No 1, pp Sangeeta,S.,Banwet D.K. and Karunes,S.(2006), An integrated framework for quality in education: Application of quality function deployment,interpretive structured modelling and path analysis,total qulity management,vol 17,No. 2,pp Sanat Kaul(2006), higher education in india: seizing the opportunity, WP_179.pdf,viewed on 28 May Singh,H.J.(2008), Quality Higher Education, Its Status, Problems And Remedial Policy, eppageextractor.asp?src=education.quality_higher_education_status_problem.html., viewed 28 May Sukhadeo Thorat (2006),Higher Education in India Emerging Issues Related to Access, Inclusiveness and Quality viewed 28 May Mishra,B.K.(2011),Move to turn 50 colleges into centres of excellence, city/patna/move-to-turn-50-colleges-into-centres-of-excellence/articleshow/ cms,viewed on 28 May 2011.