At the time of writing this, the live internet stats revealed that there were close to 3,844,290,105 people from around the world online. Over 168,464,899,765 emails were sent, 3,977,654,365 searches were made on Google alone, and there were 2,102,439,759 active members just on Facebook. Additionally, there were over 359,114 laptops, 2,886,249 smartphones, and 335,890 tablets sold on just this one day.
From the times of print and mass media to search engine marketing and personalized marketing strategies, we have come a long way. But has our education become completely relevant to cater to the exponential growth of diverse industries? Have our MBA curriculums adapted to the modern trends?
How Relevant are the MBA Courses in India?
In India, a full-time MBA course covers core concepts on Accounting, Strategy and Frameworks, Human Resource Management, Organizational Behavior, Leadership, Marketing, and Information Technology. Though the curriculum is comprehensive, an Indian Express report reveals that they are obsolete and fall short of current industry expectations and job skills.
Here’s Why Digital Marketing Should be a Focus Area for MBA Programs:
To Make the Graduates Employable
According to an ASSOCHAM report, only 7% of the MBA students graduating out of B-schools were employable. The rest did not possess industry-relevant skills or exposure to get hired by potential companies.
The report also claimed that apart from the economic slowdown, one major reason for the poor employability ratio has been poor education standards and irrelevant curriculum. There is a gap between what students study and what is expected out of them. This makes it inevitable that MBA courses with curriculum inculcating in-demand skills will increase the employability ratio.
To Get Them Better Salaries
The same ASSOCHAM report also revealed that despite spending close to 4 or 5 lakhs on their education, an MBA aspirant draws a salary as low as Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 10,000. The problem even persists with the top B-schools, and one of the key solutions to tackle this is to revamp the entire MBA course ecosystem.
Brands, today, need digital marketing experts and analysts to stay ahead of the competition and connect with their target audiences, and that is where skilled digital marketing graduates come into action. MBA graduates with specialized skills in digital marketing are preferred more by companies and startups, and according to Payscale, the average salary for digital marketing managers is Rs. 4 lacs per annum. An increase in experience and specialization skills is followed by an increase in the amount as well.
To Meet the Growing Demands of Diverse Industries
Throwing in some more statistics from research on Statistia.com, India (in 2017) had more than 460 million people using the internet, making it the world’s second hottest online market after China. The trend reveals that by the year 2021, the numbers will increase to more than 635 million. With such a massive increase, it only makes more sense for brands having a market in India to switch to the digital medium to target, interact, and take their brand and products to their potential consumers.
As brands continue to eye the Indian market, they will need not just qualified but innovative, proactive, and sensible people with them to take the brands’ vision and products to their customers. This calls for the need of digital marketing not just as an ancillary course, but as an integral part of every MBA program.
To Make Graduates Job-Ready
According to Professor K.Y Bhushan, a senior advisor at the IBS, it’s not just about digital marketing today but about several allied technologies like Big Data analytics, IoT, and more that influence marketing and promotions as well. With tons of companies looking for individuals with a blend of the most in-demand job skills, MBA needs to be tailored to courses and content that will make a graduate job-ready in today’s competitive market.
Parting Words
Abhijit Bhaduri, management consultant, and author opines that the Indian business schools should step up their game to address the gap between what students study and experience in the industry.
Abhijit believes that the shaping forces of the world have to be brought into the classrooms for more effective learning and that is why professors and practitioners must work together and co-create course content. With the AIMA also aiming to make the Indian Management education the second most prominent in the world by 2025, we can expect to see a revolution in MBA courses in terms of the curriculum in the near future.
