6 areas where Pakistani BBA and MBA degrees fall short
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The trouble with BBAs and MBAs popping out of Pakistani universities today is that most of them have undergone hardly any interaction with the real world, whereas business is all about the real world.
Cramming textbook information only helps you if you are an engineering, law or a medical student. A business student cannot afford to rely purely on textbook knowledge. He needs to stay updated about not only his own field, but also all other fields, which means everything from magazines, journals and publications of almost all kinds are important reads.
Go through: Transforming business education in Pakistan
Many corporations complain that Pakistani universities are not producing quality business graduates, and they are correct.
Isolated case studies not enough
Business is not something that can be learnt in the classroom. It is primarily learnt by gaining hands-on experience on the field. And so even the case study method, which seeks to transform business education in Pakistan, is not going to work in isolation.
Experts and analysts have for ages talked about why there should be more industry linkages with universities, but fail to mention that these corporations should not open their internships only for graduates but also for first, second and third year Bachelor’s students.
The students should be made to work right from the start so that by the time they have graduated, they already have enough work experience to feel at home in corporations.
Programmes need better integration with technology
With the growing intersection of technology and business, students should be given training on leading software used in the industry. Most universities have courses dedicated to teaching tools like Oracle, SAP, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project, Retail Pro, MySQL, Google Adwords and Adobe Photoshop. But in most cases, the skill level does not go further than the rudimentary level.
Let me put it differently: Instead of teaching what to do, maybe it's time to teach how it is done.
Networking in the new age
Also, it goes without saying that the biggest asset that any business graduate can have is his network. Only a small chunk of business students currently believe that online social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can yield any good in a substantial way.
That is not true. Recruitment on LinkedIn has shown a significant boost of late. Apart from training candidates on how to write their resumes better, colleges should also help them create professional profiles on LinkedIn.
Explore: Business as usual
Gone are the days when corporations used to solicit thousands of CVs from applicants in MS Word. These days, they are hiring recruitment specialists who use LinkedIn to find the right people, much quickly and much more efficiently.
Brushing up speaking power
If analysts are right and what differentiates business graduates from graduates of other fields is indeed their better communication skills, then business education should seek to transform you into a public speaker.
And, giving presentations is only one part of public speaking. Giving talks and speeches on symposiums is another.
Every business university should have a setup similar to TEDx Events, where students can express whatever new ideas they have got in 4-5 minutes. Such events should be held bi-annually and all business universities must collaborate to let their students compete.
More local case studies and less Warren Buffett exploits
Let me also clear the perception that teaching American case studies in Pakistani classrooms helps solve the disconnect. No, it does not.
Pakistani students could learn much more from local entrepreneurs and business leaders, than by Henry Ford and Warren Buffett. Not only did these men live in a totally different culture, with a totally different set of laws and mindsets, making up for a whole other business environment; but they had access to resources that a common Pakistani cannot even dream of.
Take a look: The sorry state of research at our universities and how to fix it
How about teaching tips and lessons from Hussain Dawood, Chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation; Asad Umar, Ex-President of Engro Corporation Ltd.; Dr Amjad Saqib, Executive Director of Akhuwat; and Salim Ghauri, Chairman and CEO of Netsol Technologies Ltd. Pakistan?
Why are we afraid to teach local success stories to our students? Are we so xenocentric as to believe that if we don't copy the Americans we'll never be as good as them?
Startup incubators a must
All in all, we are teaching our business students to be corporate slaves rather than training them as entrepreneurs; as job-creators and not as job-seekers. Only then can the supply of quality business grads meet the demand.
Each business school should function as an incubator and allow its students to work in teams to come up with their business ideas, with the leading ideas getting funding from angel investors linked to these universities.
The LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship is a step in the right direction. However, the model needs to be replicated across all private and public business schools in Pakistan, for business education to have a viable future in the country.
Related:
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Mehreen Omer is a digital media scientist, a technology buff and a cultural critic.
She tweets @mehreen_omer
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On DawnNews
Comments (120) Closed
Dec 06, 2014 07:36pm
& it falls short in many other aspects as well.
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Dec 06, 2014 07:40pm
I beg to differ on the statement that in engineering and law studies cramming note books can be sufficient. In my opinion, our entire education system (primary, high schools and universities) requires major reforms. Critical and logical thinking is an aspect that is completely missing from our education system. Memorizing a few paragraphs in text books 10 days prior to the exam will never produce people who are capable of applying their knowledge to real world problems.
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Dec 06, 2014 07:53pm
All youngsters boys & girls are requested to concentrate on thier studies and maintain Islamic culture & values. Spend time in studies and take English speaking course improve communication skills and public speaking & develop leadership qualities., be productive, career oriented & be a role model for your community & country., spend your time in research & development; stop waisting your time.
Thank you!!!
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Dec 06, 2014 07:58pm
this situation is same in all universities of Pak
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Dec 06, 2014 08:10pm
The comment
"Pakistani students could learn much more from local entrepreneurs and business leaders, than by Henry Ford and Warren Buffett. Not only did these men live in a totally different culture, with a totally different set of laws and mindsets, making up for a whole other business environment; but they had access to resources that a common Pakistani cannot even dream of."
Although I can't argue that the social and economic factors are different in Pakistan, however I will disagree that students can't learn more from the Mavericks of the global business world. Henry ford, bill gates etc wernt only focused on building up a local startup.. Their intentions were to grow.... Being global is not the worst thing .... Given pakistan's situation perhaps some increase in global trade outward may help the economy.
The other point about you should try and make your students enterpenures, well I got to say most entrepreneurs arnt made at business schools... And the business schools cannot teach students about local successes because there is a lack of focus on research work which usually yeilds case study papers that business schools use to teach Stridents. I will advocate the opposite, and support a strong academic focus at universities, where by industry connected academic staf are able to conduct research and publish local case studies that should eventually be used at local and international universities.
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Dec 06, 2014 08:15pm
'Cramming textbook information only helps you if you are an engineering, law or a medical student. A business student cannot afford to rely purely on textbook knowledge.'
This is a very ignorant thing to say , all other fields require real world knowledge as well along with textbook knowledge.
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Dec 06, 2014 08:20pm
For your correction, Engineering is also very much beyond cramming. It requires more practical exposure than business graduates. Points which you highlighted are needed to be addressed in every education field not only in business.
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Dec 06, 2014 08:23pm
nice one and good suggestions but it happens in the whole world the same way the graduates are getting educated within the 4 walls rather than exploring
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Dec 06, 2014 08:33pm
I was eeading it and it's awesome but in the end i found out it's a marketing piece for LUMS :) so PR agency failed to inspure one at-least...
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Dec 06, 2014 08:33pm
this not well researched narrative could be true for the plethora of mushrooming non standard MBA programmes not the original IBA MBAs
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Dec 06, 2014 08:35pm
You are true, the same scenario is for engineering students, but i am completely at 180 degrees with first line of your article.
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Dec 06, 2014 08:39pm
Thanks Mehreen. A well written piece.
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Dec 06, 2014 08:44pm
Our educational institutes are producing unemplyable lot. Students have to unlearn many a things they have learnt in class when they join a company and have to learn some new things they dont have idea of. I, being a professional myself, have given many lectures at our colleges and unversities on the subject that let us, industry and acadmia, join hands to improve YOUR product, i.e. your students. Allmost all have appricated my idea and efforts but none came forward to do something practically, nore anybody gave me feedback how they want to improve my basic idea of joining hands.
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Dec 06, 2014 09:06pm
According to the article "Let me put it differently: Instead of teaching what to do, maybe it's time to teach how it is done"
My question is what would be the utility if the system teaches how it is done and ignores the question what has to be done? It will leave a big void in the thought process of the student.
Logical order of the questions is what has to be done? How it has to be done? Who will do it?
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Dec 06, 2014 09:34pm
Respected Mehreen,
You have highlighted very important asspect of business studies in Pakistan,
I would like to add one more suggestion, In UK it is common practice that current industry related problems are discussed in B schools, when i was studying there we discussed heathrow terminal 5 opening dillema, just a one example there are many more like that. So why do our B schools not bring real time stories of failure of our public corporations, whey there is no debate about steel mills, railway, PIA,
This is only being done in Media
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Dec 06, 2014 09:40pm
'Cramming textbook information only helps you if you are an engineering, law or a medical student. A business student cannot afford to rely purely on textbook knowledge.'
Of course, because Engineers don't have to think for the out of the box solutions, they don't have to compete with research papers from all around the world and every time a problem comes up engineers take out their text books and try to solve "Navier Stokes Equations" ( Hint. they cannot be solved). I am not surprised by lack of depth or rather a completely alien to reality view of Author about Engineering , Law and Medicine, obviously its the fault of Author's school, whichever it is. I am however saddened that the editors at dawn allow such idiotic views ( referring to this statement) to be published.
Yes I'm an engineer, An Aerospace Engineer, to be exact . And number of things we have to deal were right out of " text books" are not even 10 % of what we extrapolate and integrate from what we learned.
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Dec 06, 2014 09:45pm
The lady may be correct in many ways but where did she get the information that you could cram your way through medical studies.
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Dec 06, 2014 09:46pm
Many things written in the article are right yet many things are still missing. Seems like who ever wrote the article has not studied in any foreign university. As long as the educational system is concerned, they are all alike (mostly) throughout the world. The case study based teaching was first introduced by Harvard and not by LUMS, IBA, or any other Pakistani institute. Second, there is no mention of how the HEC or govt will play its role in improving the system. I mean all the govt has been doing is increase the number of universities and need based scholarships, thus making higher education so much accessible that all that everyone need is a BA/BSc degree to get admission somewhere. Just take the case of 7-8 new universities started by ANP in KPK. Everyone praises them for increasing the number of universities in the province but does anyone asks the govt that what is the impact of these new universities. Have they been able to improve the quality of education in the province. The reality is exactly opposite. With so much supply of institutes and scholarships, the existing universities have to drop the standard of their intake to make up for the loss (many public sector universities won't survive without a good number of students. The budget deficit is in billions of rupees for some universities.) The bottom line is that everything could be blamed up on the higher educational institutes but one should also see that what are the problems faced by them.
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Dec 06, 2014 09:56pm
Agreed what issues discussed here actually we means our govt and insitution took our studies as business thats why we are lacking in business studies.
I strongly recomend that higher education should.implement one course line for all and online exam for all with same fee structure to produce quality students like LUMS CBM SZABIST n etc institutes.
unfortunately we have enough funds for useless projects not for our country future.
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Dec 06, 2014 09:57pm
Ever heard of IBA?? Ma'am stop living in delusions.
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Dec 06, 2014 10:04pm
No need to change books need to change our behaviours and needs serious focus and vision for youth of pakistan because this youth stands stil have world records beside we have this current scenario.
May ALLAH bless good politician to our country.
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Dec 06, 2014 10:09pm
you want to get following skills out an MBA program
1) Presentation skills in native language and English
2)Writing skills in native language and English
3) Learning of Finance and Accounting
4) Learning from leading industry entrepreneurs - thus a program where the university is connected with the indurty
5) the rest and be learned on your own through internet resources
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Dec 06, 2014 10:34pm
Commerce is not even a field of knowledge. It is a sham so hollow that the more blown it appears the more detrimental it is to the mind. Theoretical sciences are of the utmost importance. Bating philosophical marginalities regarding how effective we concieve of the world applied sciences or applied economics are lethargic and on facade the labor looks like a progression but the intellectual realm remains untouched and becomes so rusted that we now have it in front of our eyes in the shape of disordered, disintegrated, bloated education system.
And IBA has now revived the humanities section otherwise its BBA and MBA are nothing but a multitude of "crammed" stuff of 48 courses. Hardly one makes the base for the other and the pressure of studies is enormous. Such an incumbent, derogatory task for a thing as beautiful as mind.
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Dec 06, 2014 10:39pm
Looks most of the Asian especially South Asian universities including Indian universities are concentrating on getting the diploma rather than the required critical thinking. Most of the BBA and MBA given out is not worth the paper they are printed or they are close to a toilet paper! The stress from both students and universities seem to be more in getting the degree and not on the teaching or training. Now with more and more video degrees (correspondence, distant courses) th has become a racket to move to the next level. 50 % of the engineers coming out and almost 70% of the MBA's lack even the basic understanding and are not employable . Key to learn is passion, environment and facilities. Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates and many more are not graduates but had the passion to succeed. Most of the Pakistani readers care only to get the piece of paper which they think should assure them of a job overseas or ME. Not much of a difference in other countries of sub continent either . In India several hundred universities and colleges have mushroomed in the past 20 years but almost all IT companies have to retrain the so called graduates which shows the lack of training and several hundred colleges lack the basic facilities (including toilets) and teachers to churn out good graduates.
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Dec 06, 2014 10:41pm
Business incubation, local cases, presentations for communication skills, internships, u name it and they are all practiced in every decent business school around the country. The author conveniently missed the point by not mentioning the basic fallacy our students make, which is; the way they are trained to think of the education system.
Students take education for wisdom, whereas our education system simply transfers knowledge and fails to make a mind curious ! Thus, i believe that this article simply hints towards the tip of the iceberg where as the problem seems to be more basic and at the grass root level.
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Dec 06, 2014 10:51pm
There is no disagreement that business students should have more practical exposure. But it would be misleading to think that our students read "too much" text books. In fact, today's generation is fast loosing reading habits and this is limiting their thought horizon. In semester system, you need to pass too many courses but you seldom come close to depth of one topic.
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Dec 06, 2014 11:21pm
The goal of a BBA or MBA is all about administration, learning business principles, learning about economics and finance. Both macro and micro economics are extremely mathematics oriented, and requires proper use of high level math as analysis tools - the question is - are the faculty able to make their courses quantitative? Are they qualified to "gather data" from the field, or access it somehow, so that their students get an opportunity to analyse such emperical data? If the faculty are deficient, the programs will be deficient.
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Dec 06, 2014 11:29pm
I hope ppl running our education system or any regulators read this.
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Dec 06, 2014 11:44pm
I think beautiful article written by author. I am a student of Sukkur IBA, doing MBA Case Study Program, not satisfied with MBA. Everyone knows this counts as one of the best business school of Pakistan after LUMS & IBA but I don't think here teachers are focusing on real world business matters. Like, teaching old books with old teaching style. Not even teaching new softwares like ERP and others. They are not producing business graduates but producing pressure cookers. They need to have much focus on teaching methodology and syllabus too.
Thanks
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Dec 06, 2014 11:45pm
When I went abroad then I came to understand very clearly that education system in Pakistan discourages original thinking. As it is, It can never create individuals with new ideas in business or research. Good article.
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Dec 06, 2014 11:50pm
same situation exists in Indian universities
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Dec 07, 2014 12:02am
Mehreen you nailed it. Well written. I have been thinking on same lines lately. Great stuff.
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Dec 07, 2014 12:04am
@amd Dont think so. Get your facts right. The campus recruitments in Indian universities fetch highest packages globally and are accepted without any bias in companies in west
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Dec 07, 2014 12:06am
Others universities like IBA Sukkur, NUST & IBA Khi are also pioneers in entrepreneurship and must be mentioned
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Dec 07, 2014 12:08am
Many of the points mentioned are true for second class educational institutions. However, contrary to mentioned perception most are already being followed in 1st tier business schools like IBA, KSBL, LUMS etc. IBA is the premier example because it has been around for decades and was the first Asian university to gain collaboration with a top North American university in 1950s.
1) Internships in 1st, 2nd, 3rd year and onwards of BBA program-Check.
2) Entrepreneurial programs and competitions-Check.
3) LinkedIn profiles-Check.
4) Software training-Depends on each student's diligence, Placement departments can get you learning opportunities, they can't make you expert software users.
5) Learning from Industry leaders-Have you heard about KSBL's competitive advantage i.e. their compulsory Mentoring program. MBA intake is restricted and each student is paired with a senior corporate executive (mostly CEO) who guides career development right from the start.
6) Local and international case studies-Both are important because we learn from ideas. Unfortunately we don't have publications like HBR but we are definitely making progress and should be there soon.
In a nutshell, better research will definitely improve such articles and focus attention towards required areas.
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Dec 07, 2014 12:41am
I think this is the first article by the writer because it does not have any content or facts. Reality is that Pakistani MBAs are very successful in the world and in some cases better than the some of top university graduates.
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Dec 07, 2014 12:51am
@foaad there are many typos, actually i was typing from phone.. *Reading, *Inspire
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Dec 07, 2014 12:52am
A wonderful article and spot on. I wholeheartedly agree. Especially about the incubator part.
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Dec 07, 2014 12:55am
I beg to differ with the author on her point pf view as she has conveniently generalized all the universities that offer BBA and MBA programs and not done thorough research. IBA and LUMS work thoroughly on their students and cover all those aspects that she has mentioned in her article. At both IBA and LUMS, local case studies are covered, and not only that local as well as foreign guest speakers are invited frequently to share their experiences, point of views and words of advice. In addition, a special course is offered at IBA for the senior students on Personal Effectiveness where networking, resume building, interview skills etc. are taught to students by none other than the recruiters of the big corporations themselves.
This is why there is always a fine distinction between IBA and LUMS grads and all other business college grads.
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Dec 07, 2014 01:24am
@Asif A What does this even means. Hollow big words, no substance. This is what our education system is already doing. I think you missed the entire point of this brilliant article.
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Dec 07, 2014 01:30am
hey.. I endorse your point since I my am a business school grad.. The main problem is that that we the business graduates do not have any specific technical skill like that of engineering or medical; henceforth we do need a flavor of real corporate world during the course of our degree.. I guess the ideal thing would be that for BBA degree, there should two years of class room studies and then next two for internship in atleast three different organizations. And yes students shall be marked on there performance in internship plus their understanding of the business..
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Dec 07, 2014 01:45am
Awarding BBA and MBA has become a cottage industry world over, and India is no exception. The process of accreditation is rather weak or absent. Very few schools in India are accredited by International Association of Accredited Colleges and Schools of Business or a more lenient Equis from Europe. There are none in Pakistan. One way to assess the quality and relevance of knowledge and skills gained by students is to see if there is a market for them in international labor market. Indian Institutes of Management and a few other institutions are worth emulating. The average salary for the latest crop of graduates from Indian Institute of Management has been Rs. 19 lakhs or (Pakistani Rupees 31 lakhs). Do MNCs such as IBM, Google, Siemens, Coca Cola or Pepsi hire them. Ten percent of all offers to graduates from IIMB came from foreign MNCs. The highest salary offered by an MNC at IIM Ahmedabad was $ 129,000 or 1.29 Crore Pakistanin Rupees. So, those Paksitani schools and colleges may want to learn a lesson or two just in their backyard. Just from across the border. By the way, these Institutes have also produced graduates three of whom are the Deans at Harvard, Northwester and University of Chicago.
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Dec 07, 2014 02:18am
Education now a days is a big business around the globe so institutions also pay attention to what's in demand e.g. what do the prospective students require from their MBA degree, what kind of marketing message would attract the students? Considering a large majority of Pakistani students aspire to be able to go abroad for work after their education, the local flavor does not seem to be an attractive option. So in the larger business context and considering ground realities the business personalities like Henry Ford, Warren Buffet and the likes becomes very relevant.
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Dec 07, 2014 02:29am
'Cramming textbook information only helps you if you are an engineering, law or a medical student. A business student cannot afford to rely purely on textbook knowledge.'
Please do some research before putting out such generic statements. Any field be it engineering, medical, or business requires practical knowledge no matter how many books you have read or memorized. You can however argument that certain fields would require more reliance on books than others, for example even within the business fields, an accountant primarily need to know the accounting principles so if someone is good in recognizing and remembering those principles would do well, same with tax accounting, or even finance where you learn most of your stuff from books, for example different financial calculations and financial models that you would apply over and over again under different circumstances.
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Dec 07, 2014 03:42am
"HE needs to stay updated about HIS" ? I didn't know only men were doing MBA in Pakistan...
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Dec 07, 2014 04:12am
I stopped reading after the first paragraph: Cramming textbook information only helps you if you are an engineering, law or a medical student. A business student cannot afford to rely purely on textbook knowledge. He needs to stay updated about not only his own field, but also all other fields, which means everything from magazines, journals and publications of almost all kinds are important reads.
Really? Engineering involves a lot more understanding than any other field of study. The field of medicine is probably one of the most dynamic fields of study, there are novel treatments and research being conducted on a daily basis throughout the world. If an engineer doesn't understand what he is doing and only 'cramming' what's in the textbook then he/she is not a real engineer. A doctor who doesn't update his/her knowledge will surely fall behind.
This is not to say that business isn't dynamic but your starting paragraph ruined it all for the remainder of your article.
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Dec 07, 2014 04:17am
i really thought this article would talk more about a more rounded education - politics, science, art, humanities- for our business grads, so they can be more in tune with the environment they live in, but this seems to be more about what some of these schools are already doing. Also, IBA too has a Bachelors degree in Entrepreneurship along with a business incubator. Look into that too.
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Dec 07, 2014 04:30am
Just to substantiate my earlier comment. Asad Umar is a IBA Alumnus of 1984 batch, that you recommend as one of the few who could tell a thing or two after their successful track record as a MBA from IBA
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Dec 07, 2014 05:48am
Private universities in Pakistan selling business degrees but no knowledge.
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Dec 07, 2014 06:22am
Even Engineering students need hands-on experience during their course of study. No reputable university worth its name in the western world confers even an undergraduate degree in an engineering discipline unless the student has completed mandatory industrial attachment during his studies.
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Dec 07, 2014 07:34am
Is there anyone in pakistan bothered about it? I mean law maker and breakers not the common mass. Common mass are ther for special purpose-- to fulfill ambitions of law makers and breakers.
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Dec 07, 2014 07:59am
MySQL is a database management system. It is something that people in the IT department use. No business graduate should have to know that. Even if he did he wouldn't be allowed to access it since it falls under the purview of the IT department.
Photoshop is a graphics design application. It is used by graphics designers. Again, there is no need for someone with a business degree to know photoshop.
I think the author should take his own advice and familiarise himself with technology before making recommendations.
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Dec 07, 2014 08:24am
Yes you are right but remember not only in bussiness field all education system need to change from raata base system to practical and research base system, examination system should be conceptual base,
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Dec 07, 2014 08:39am
No offence to any one but to me MBA is more generalistic degree i.e.master of none. MBAs however do have better soft skills like interpersonal commuication, presentation and few of them even have an art to do an impressive drama in front of target audience. But the question is do we really need mass production of MBAs with built in mindset of being manager only ? I think to achieve better progress we need graduates with more focused studies e.g master of Accountancy or Master of industrial engineering or power engineering or international trade and marketing or MIS or master in financial engineering etc but with good blend of soft skills. These graduates can be better fit for the respective jobs than MBAs even with bookish knowledge only.For further growth they can do courses in management and leadership after gaining reasonable experience or even pursue MBA if needed.
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Dec 07, 2014 09:07am
FYI, Engineering is not cramming! It's all about logic's, reasoning, mathematics, analysis, practicals and research work.
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Dec 07, 2014 09:18am
well, I totaly agree that business is not that which can be learned in classroom, business is about running a shop and managing a godown of supplies and products. I would suggest that each MBA should practice on issueing a receipt for the item sold, and different model shops selling items , and godowns management software should be introduced, and a software can be practised at home etc
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Dec 07, 2014 09:18am
This problem is not only for business school but unfortunately with all the other fields too like engineering, architecture, medicine and etc
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Dec 07, 2014 10:02am
"Cramming textbook information only helps you if you are an engineering, law or a medical student. A business student cannot afford to rely purely on textbook knowledge. "
Above statement is completely incorrect. One can not learn medicine, law and engineering with out practical learning of skills.
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Dec 07, 2014 10:12am
@Talha Mir
Very much agree. I think the writer of this blog graduated from just a mediocre, low level institution. None of the fields like Medicine, engineering can be build on cramming.
Every day you come across new challenges.
For Medicine -- it is said that this is not a true science, rather it is an art as well.
For Engineering -- You cant expect new technological advancements just only by cramming, its always and idea, need or thinking which lead to new developments.
Writer should go and get admission in some better university....?
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Dec 07, 2014 10:21am
I would also like to add that our graduate programmes are not teaching the students the importance of communications ( written and oral). Sending your point of accross is very important and that too in an effective manner. The writing skills are well below standard and one reason for that is the usage of too much "online chatting shorthand" in official documents.
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Dec 07, 2014 10:27am
Her bio states that she is a 'digital media scientist' (what does that even mean?), but clearly she has never been near Engineering School. Cramming textbooks is not even close to what engineering study is about. In fact, cramming textbooks is the opposite of how an engineering student prepares for any exam.
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Dec 07, 2014 10:35am
@Talha Mir Do not misinterpret stuff. Every field of education requires thinking beyond what you learn in textbooks. My point was simply being that textbooks can only help you learn the basics of engineering, not business.
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Dec 07, 2014 10:38am
With all due respect, the only skills one can learn from your cited local 'entrepreneurs' are nepotism, tax evasion, over-invoicing and greasing the government wheels in order to establish cartels. I'd rather take my lessons from the neighborhood motor-mechanic who knows more about building a surviving and thriving business than these clowns.
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Dec 07, 2014 10:42am
agreed I am MBA ,, and faced lots of difficulties after getting job . . I have seen many students during my studies Who used to Learn Case Studies :( But finally I am learning
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Dec 07, 2014 10:55am
@Junaid I disagree, you have to understand everything is to a varying degree. A Medical practitioner and and Engineer require less practical knowledge then a business person i.e. Medication for a certain disease will remain the same in most circumstances or configuring a CISCO router will be done in 1 way only which you can google, whereas building a business plan or selecting a marketing strategy for your startup can have a 100 permutations. Don't take these comments personally.
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Dec 07, 2014 11:21am
A very well written article !. WOW Bravo ! This is what i argued in my class in Szabist and one of the typical Cordinators gave a Shut up call !!
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Dec 07, 2014 11:22am
@Asif A people like you have ruined Pakistani education system.
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Dec 07, 2014 11:26am
Do Pakistani BBA and MBA, do they have any educational values?
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Dec 07, 2014 11:27am
I am totally agree with you real world is not just memorizing skills but talking in public about new research also part of real world. here in united states we are missing on hand skills purely, but same time we have tons of presentations and research talks. thats why one come from india with a software degree could get good job easily but an american degree holder takes time to get better job.
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Dec 07, 2014 11:28am
@Riaz all school for money doing the same, here in usa we have same problem. you pay what you get.
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Dec 07, 2014 11:52am
What is a 'digital media scientist' though?
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Dec 07, 2014 11:59am
Beside the students internship after the studies of BBA and MBA it is also need of the hour for the HEC to make a compulsory duration of 1 or 2 semester practical work/intership in a business firm/company during their studies.so that student stunt can use their courses in practice.
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Dec 07, 2014 12:10pm
Many of the points mentioned are true for second class educational institutions. However, contrary to mentioned perception most are already being followed in 1st tier business schools like IBA, KSBL, LUMS etc. IBA is the premier example because it has been around for decades and was the first Asian university to gain collaboration with a top North American university in 1950s.
1) Internships in 1st, 2nd, 3rd year and onwards of BBA program-Check.
2) Entrepreneurial programs and competitions-Check.
3) LinkedIn profiles-Check.
4) Software training-Depends on each student's diligence, Placement departments can get you learning opportunities, they can't make you expert software users.
5) Learning from Industry leaders-Have you heard about KSBL's competitive advantage i.e. their compulsory Mentoring program. MBA intake is restricted and each student is paired with a senior corporate executive (mostly CEO) who guides career development right from the start.
6) Local and international case studies-Both are important because we learn from ideas. Unfortunately we don't have publications like HBR but we are definitely making progress and should be there soon.
In a nutshell, better research will definitely improve such articles and focus attention towards required areas.
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Dec 07, 2014 12:47pm
A silly and shallow piece of writing.
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Dec 07, 2014 12:50pm
I don't have any experience of higher education here, but I would have thought that most of the points raised would be taught at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, whether for business or any other field. If you can't articulate your ideas in front of a person or a group then what is the point of getting a degree?
The author's last point about startups and entrepreneurship I don't think can be taught. You can facilitate this activity via public and private programs with the funding requirements. I know a few cases of entrepreneurs overseas who had to go to America with their ideas for seed capital and financing because they have many venture capitalists there who are willing to take risks for the right ideas.
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Dec 07, 2014 01:08pm
I would like to highlight some points of the article as its essence :
1) Instead of teaching what to do, maybe it's time to teach how it is done.
2)Pakistani students could learn much more from local entrepreneurs and business leaders, than by Henry Ford and Warren Buffett.
But collaboration with industry is essential for all students whether engineering,law or medical.
Without being aware of the latest trends,students cannot turn into effective professionals.
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Dec 07, 2014 01:09pm
Send them to IIM'S. This year an IIM graduate got a 1.5 crore ( 15 million ) pay package. An IIM or an IIT graduate gets 1.5 to 3 million INR as pay package on and average. And they most after sought candidate by the many world renown companies.
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Dec 07, 2014 01:20pm
It is so unfortunate that she is neither a business studies expert nor corporate guru still she is writing on such a sensitive issue. Dawn should not publish such write-ups from novices or at least title may be different. She has not done any empirical research nor research paper published in a reputed journal. Such an article is damaging to fresh business graduate employment prospects and employers might use this article to discriminate Pakistan fresh graduates.
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Dec 07, 2014 01:43pm
@Junaid I agree. What an ignorant viewpoint taken by author. Seems she considers herself to be superior to engineers and doctors. We have to rely on REAL WORLD KNOWLEDGE miss author. I have experienced with UN and knowledge firsthand how we build bridges with little technology using wooden logs and passing heavy trucks over them. I have seen medical field professionals "IMPROVISE" based on "REAL WORLD KNOWLEDGE" when having one kit and treating 10 people near death.
Please, hold your ignorant views to yourself; Or get up out of armchair and see the world and how our professions are not mediocre compared to your "superiority".
Messed up author.
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Dec 07, 2014 01:45pm
Nicely expressed Mehreen. However would appreciate the mention of AKHUWAT incubation center as well. I am encouraging the students to get out of the classroom and learn. Gone are the days of a perfect 4 who care no one wants a book worm. Employers want a people who have a High Intelligence or High Emotional Quotient Score but also Emotional Optimization. We at the Corporate World need a balanced personality somebody who would be the face of the Organization. A street smart kid.
I am doing my bit by handing out Local Case Studies written by me to my students along with Interviews of Pakistani Entrepreneurs conducted by me. No space for crammers. The average student WANTS degree but a Good student should EARN one. Students must also realize that a degree does not automatically entitle you to a job, it facilitates and supports your person.
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Dec 07, 2014 02:04pm
Our education system is not based on person's interest, passion about what he/she wants to do, its based on getting a good job, "agar parho ge nahi to achi naukri kese milegi".
Engineerign is not cramming the text books, engineering is a passion for innovation, in actual an engineer should have analytical reasoning and good perception and draw logical conclusion. But same state for most of the engineering universities too, "bas naukri chahiye janaab".
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Dec 07, 2014 02:38pm
Nice article.As a business graduate i totally agree.We always lacked in all this.One very important factor are teachers.Mostly teachers teaching us have no practical experience of any industry.They are only related to education.I remember i presented an idea from very basic local market which was firstly rejected called being not practical by entrepreneurship teacher as she had no experience in business.When i showed and debated that it is practically being done in market by businessmen who have no education she got surprised and accepted it.
As far as presentations are concerned most of get good CGPA's but cannot give presentation rather cannot give interview.
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Dec 07, 2014 03:02pm
I graduated from a Pakistani business school, but I do not suffer from most of these shortcomings. Many of my fellow alumni have been very well placed at or near top of MNCs or public sector jobs.
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Dec 07, 2014 03:03pm
@Mehreen Omer let's not be defensive and agree that you made a very generalised statement in your first paragraph.
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Dec 07, 2014 03:04pm
@mkb there are quality institutes in Pakistan as well. In fact the institutes in Pakistan have been offering MBA before even your Indian institutes started offering them. Read history of IBA.
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Dec 07, 2014 03:21pm
@Sunil better than india.
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Dec 07, 2014 03:23pm
Pakistan can follow Indian IIMs. The graduates from IIM are in demand everywhere, even in the west.
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Dec 07, 2014 03:26pm
Ha haha. Look who is talking ? The lone ranger who does not have the experience of the real world. ISOLATED STUDIES NOT ENOUGH. Who is going to give these undergrad students, charge of their ongoing operations ? Not me or the like minded people. Case studies should be enough, if not,too bad. This is the same approach all over the world. One difference is, that when an employee of a firm, while working tries to enroll part-time. Sister, how much experience of BBA or MBA or investigative journalism did you have, before writing this piece of literature ?
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Dec 07, 2014 03:34pm
The article also says "Mehreen Omer is a digital media scientist, a technology buff and a cultural critic". She is a critic - agreed, she may be a technology buff - who cares, but definitely not a scientist. Digital Media technician - maybe.
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Dec 07, 2014 03:52pm
@tai stop being delusional yourself. IBA does not even have the best business program in Pakistan - let alone taking on the world.
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Dec 07, 2014 04:07pm
There are many things wrong with BBA programs. We had to memorize 3-4 pages each of solutions to a number of questions for subjects like cost accounting and managerial accounting that the teacher would hint could be in the exam. BBA program is for people good in "rattafying"
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Dec 07, 2014 04:26pm
"The trouble with BBAs and MBAs popping out of Pakistani universities today is that most of them have undergone hardly any interaction with the real world, whereas business is all about the real world"
Could you please provide data of your research. Did you conduct any MFS (mass field survey) to support your illusions. When we judge some thing we just don't go by the face value, we need to conduct a thorough research keeping in mind the equation between yes & no, have & have not, opportunities & the opposite. Your comment will at least help me to come to some conclusion.
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Dec 07, 2014 04:45pm
Pakistani business books should be tailored to local environment - the author has point - copy and imitating USA or UK is not the solution - upgrade the libraries - develop high school and improve primary schools too. Most of the students , their background so poor - lack of knowledge - just speaking random English is not enough. Yes successful business tycoon should be invited at graduating days instead clowns like Ibad and Mamoon - who have not contributed any to the society at all let alone to business or educational environment - Getting elected in local chambers is not a 'Tugra" to be too proud of .
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Dec 07, 2014 04:48pm
@Masoud I'm myself an MBA grad. Hence I speak from experience :).
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Dec 07, 2014 05:34pm
I had been a corporate executive for 37 years- an entrepreneur for last 7 years and a visiting fellow with many technical and management institutes in India for the last 30 odd years. For the last 6 years, instead of teaching at leading high profile metro institutes, I am voluntarily teaching at institutions in rural parts of some of the least developed parts of the country. That is where +65% of our population lives and is behind left behind for generations. Most of management graduates we are producing at top ranking institutions go on to work for multinationals. It is the students from lower down institutes who go on to work in PSUs and manufacturing sector. The teaching needs there are different. They need to get exposure to national issues and cased dealing with those. BBA and MBA studies have unceasingly been given an elitist urban looks where as what our countries need are managers sensitised to local and nation specific issues. That is the reason, 65 years plus , neither India nor Pakistan have a single global brand product show. Compare it with China, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore etc. and we can see how ineffective our Management study curriculum has been to meet national objectives.
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Dec 07, 2014 05:38pm
The aim of an education is to provide a basic framework for logical thought and intelligent decision making. Current events, passion for industry and an ability to do it come with experience.
Though no education is 100 % perfect and will give you everything you need to get to a c-level job. If it provides the above framework, and a confidence to discover the rest, the student is ready to go out into the world.
Graduate students shouldn't expect to be force fed...but let loose to discover. Don't expect it.
And employers should expect that if they want to improve business...they should keep investing in training of good employees.
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Dec 07, 2014 05:55pm
Well said Miss.
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Dec 07, 2014 05:56pm
Its not a good investment if our MBA schools are teaching the likes of "Oracle, SAP, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project, Retail Pro, MySQL, Google Adwords and Adobe Photoshop." Most of these are technical in nature and best left to computer studies graduates. But seriously - Google adwords and Photoshop ? And MS-Office classes at university ? I always held a disdain for MBA's and this just confirms my suspicions.
I am all for localized case studies, that is one of the reasons IBA, Karachi, is considered a better business school than LUMS.
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Dec 07, 2014 06:06pm
I must say that do not blindly try to follow whatever western education system is doing. Me being a doctor and my brother being an engineer both have experienced that our education was told again and again that it is not upto the mark my educationists but when we came in practical field we found our education way ahead that the highest standard western country we live in. Not only theory but practice as well of one year in pakistan put us equal to others with more than 5 years experience.
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Dec 07, 2014 06:09pm
do not always compare yourself with what others say we are far better than many. Listening to that you come from pakistan many westerners automatically assume you are way behind them. Even the qs '' do females get higher educatin in pakistan and are they allowed to become doctors comes up very frequently.
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Dec 07, 2014 06:21pm
Teacher is the weakest link. The poor fellow has no clue what the real business is like. A teacher is hardly exposed to current business practices, the challenges at hand and the opportunities to be extracted. The best teacher here would pick a textbook cram it and regurgiate to the class. Send these teachers out to the real world first through sabbaticals or whatever.
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Dec 07, 2014 06:39pm
I worked in Europe and USA for 15 years in banking and technology. Many of my closest friends were Pakistanis. I have to say I agree with the report as the level of skill, knowledge and communication in them was quite less than competitive organizations demand. I had literally carry some of them on my shoulders so that they could survive the demanding environment. Ofcourse I was happy to do it because they were less like colleagues and more like dearest friends. But this lack of quality education made it difficult for them to rise as the Europeans and Americans are not forgiving when it comes to output. Pakistani universities should expand cooperation with industry and Indian companies to overcome this deficiency.
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Dec 07, 2014 06:58pm
@Hassan you must be the only one to think so.
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Dec 07, 2014 08:33pm
Well written article.
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Dec 07, 2014 08:55pm
education need to be correlated with industry requirement . Big co wants ready made workers not want to spend any penny on training . Profit making is only their motive. Now a days communication is very important in any profession not only for bussiness . Try hardto get people skill
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Dec 07, 2014 09:02pm
Three pillars (in that order) of an effective and relevant college education system:
1. Grounding in the conceptual framework
2. Experiential (& service) learning
3. Giving back to society
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Dec 08, 2014 04:54am
@Sunil
I could say the same for Indian Chartered Accountants. They are probably among the worst. Seems like India is churning them out by the gazillions. Must be cramming.
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Dec 08, 2014 04:55am
@Mahmood
IBA was the premier example. Now it's LUMS.
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Dec 08, 2014 05:00am
@harsh
Are u kidding ? Other than in IT I have seen Indians to be among the worst workers in Middle East, Far East and U.S. They get by by grouping with their fellow peers and seniors. Even for IT projects they are skyping back in India to get by.
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Dec 08, 2014 11:46am
Then they have the misconception that they can earn high salaries at entry-level. Studying US-based case studies and bringing too much bookish thing is not enough in the culture and environment we are dealing in. They need to be practical.
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Dec 08, 2014 12:18pm
@Malveros : No I am not kidding. What I mentioned is the ground reality and not some general observation. The point mentioned by you about Indians is valid regarding the software skill because some companies push inexperienced people into onsite assignments and train them on the job but we are not talking about the software skills here, we are talking about the quality of education. The same Indians who group together or skype back quickly gain experience and are able to survive because the education is not so bad in India. With Pakistanis it is more difficult because unless the education is sound, picking up new skills is problematic.
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Dec 08, 2014 12:36pm
@Sheraz Are liberal arts included in business education in Pakistan? As business education is a truly hybrid kind of education - not simply learning accounting, finance, operations, marketing, management, research methods, business law, information technology, and strategic management - with a multi-disciplinary approach (Sociology, political science, natural science, philosophy, humanities, communications, aesthetics/arts, etc.). Paid internship - or better still co-op work opportunities (one semester working for a company, one semester in class) - are also superior to unpaid ones as the latter are often used for slave labor.
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Dec 08, 2014 12:51pm
@AdnanK No marketing? That's the discipline that deals with bringing buyers and suppliers together, the fundamental focus of companies who want to sell something (product, service, idea). Without marketing, there is no need for accounting, finance, managerial economics, and all the rest. :-) (Of course, communications is a big part of marketing, as it of all core business disciplines.) This is what happened to American auto giants while Japanese firms were stealing their lunch. General Motors was driven by finance; Ford by accounting; and Chrysler by a hybrid and technology. (Plus, being an oligopoly - 3 majors plus one tiny American Motors acquired by Chrysler - they had a predictable "competitive" response to each other: New models every year with lots of chrome and shiny-pointy stuff, little quality and fuel efficiency and safety. Japanese Toyota first foray did not succeed. Then they embarked on a huge "marketing research" project - studying American consumers, and competitors, including European ones. 50 years later, Toyota is number one in global market share, profitability, and quality.
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Dec 08, 2014 01:03pm
@Danish Zamir Case method, pioneered at Harvard, is supposed to give you a taste of the real world, albeit mostly American. Get a hold of their annual case catalog and you will find even foreign companies and organizations. They have a several part case study on the "Tiffinwalas" of Mumbai who deliver lunch from thousands of homes to thousand of workers. In fact many of their case studies are multi-part and are being updated constantly with new information. (Of course, being a graduate of a Harvard institution - Harvard Business School - getting a high-paying job is easy. But most people attending have lots of job experience prior to entry in their MBA program.) Most internationally respected MBA institutions are publishing their own case studies. Your university can start its own program for top students to write case studies - based on secondary and primary information of real Pakistani for-profit and non-profit organizations. (At top schools, one case course can involve several hundred cases - so lot of careful reading and analysis.)
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Dec 08, 2014 01:13pm
@A. Khan I think you are wrong. These and other tools - SAS, SPSS, CRM software, Project Management, etc. - are essential for any professional, especially business professionals and managers. Their use should be encouraged and integrated in most courses that students take. Many large schools in the US have group license agreements with different software vendors so a student can get a good suite of useful software for personal use at a subsidized price (less than $100?). Many corporations expect new hires to bring these skills with them on Day One.
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Dec 08, 2014 01:26pm
@Malveros Huh. How many Indian workers have you worked with to make such a sweeping statement? It is not a coincidence that you are seeing Indian CEOs and COOs of international firms and not just IT ones. They all came through the ranks of their firms. The same, to a lesser extent, is true for Pakistani and other Asian professionals. Indians and Chinese professionals have very good reputation in the West, especially in the STEM (Science Technical Engineering Mathemathics) fields, which are now all the rage in political, education, economic and industry circles in the US. I wish India and Pakistan and other Asian countries strengthen their humanities/liberal arts education as they contribute to the progress in innovation in their societies.
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Dec 08, 2014 06:30pm
@foaad no, its really not. LUMS is just doing the very last thing the writer mentioned, so it was mentioned in a few words.
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Dec 09, 2014 06:32am
@Babar Really....name a few Pakistani entrepreneurs/ top executives in Fortune 500 or even Fortune 5000 companies
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Dec 10, 2014 10:44am
really such a nice article. private and public sector universities must read and apply in their universities..........in the four year of Business graduation i just learn one thing get more and more grades but the situation is different we r not learn for become a slaves of corporate sector ........we should have to realize we are the job creator...........i request to must fallow all uni ...............................
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Dec 11, 2014 02:42am
Sirf aik cheeze AGR kr lein to hum bohat tezi se dunya ka sath har maidan main muqabla kr saktay hain, apni tmama taleem KO apni koomi zubaan urdu main kr dein.masal k tur pe germay aur Japan taqriban khatam ho Gaye Lekin 5 saal main pehlay se zyada azeem ho kr ubheray. Wajah sirf sari taleem in ki apni qomi zubaan main hain. Saray developed mulk taleem apni qoomi zubaan main hain, aur tammam trakee pazir mulk English main.
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