THE economic growth and development in the age of globalisation and technology requires skilled workers who can create and run efficient and competitive business enterprises. The development of commercial and entrepreneurial skills among business leaders has become a key enabler to successfully compete in the world market.

Developed countries have a vast network of market-oriented business schools which supply top-quality business leaders to private-sector businesses.

However, in Pakistan, except for some elite business schools such as Lums, IBA and LSE, business schools established in the public-sector universities have failed to produce good business leaders, ones who are trained in market-demanded entrepreneurial and operational skills.

There is a mismatch between the required skills in the market and the curriculum taught in public-sector business schools

Not a single business school in the public-sector universities is included in the top 15 business education institutes in the Higher Education Commission (HEC) rankings, let alone the international rankings.

The oldest established seat of learning in business and commerce in Pakistan, the Hailey College of Commerce at the Punjab University, is a left-behind institution where the quality of teaching and learning of key business-related subjects has deteriorated over time.

Reasons for the below-average performance of such business schools are many and varied.

First, there is a mismatch between the skills demanded in the market and the curriculum. The changing nature of business markets and the emergence of new forms of commercial enterprises require new set of skills from employees.

These new areas of specialisations include e-commerce, computerised accounting, supply chain management, retail and wholesale management, real-estate management, hospitality management, etc. But the curriculum, developed in the 1960s and 70s, still focuses on manufacturing enterprises.

Second, these business schools lack administrative and financial autonomy which makes their operations ineffective. Faculty members are recruited centrally in the university that places more emphasis on the academic skills rather market-oriented professional skills of the applicants.

Further, teachers’ salaries at these business schools are lower which discourages professionals (CAs, CMAs, corporate lawyers, trade specialists, taxation experts, etc). As a result, ill-trained teachers are hired who place more emphasis on text books than on case-based and experiential learning and on what is happening in actual business markets.

Third, there is a dearth of local textbooks and study materials. Though this factor cannot be directly blamed on these business schools, it is deeply affecting students’ learning as the majority of books are written in the context of advanced countries.

It may also be termed as a market failure as no big international or local publisher is present in the market.

Local book sellers prefer to sell low-priced pirated copies of international books. The absence of study material on the local business climate and industry characteristics has widened the gap between classroom learning and market practices.

Fourth, the academia-industry gap is affecting real business environment learning and employment opportunities for the students of public-sector universities.

Although, the HEC has set up the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (ORIC) and business incubation centres in various universities, these entities remain ineffective as they lack financial resources and trained staff to engage private-sector businesses for conducting joint research projects, practical training and market exposure.

The fifth area of concern is the prevailing operating and working conditions for the faculty of these schools. Many students perform poorly owing to non-standardised teaching methodologies, subjective assessment criteria and ineffective feedback system. Besides, the operating environment for the faculty is discouraging as they are still regulated through old rules of bureaucracy that place too much focus on compliance rather than innovation.

The solution lies in introducing massive changes at the structural and academic fronts in these business schools.

The first step should be to effectively align the curriculum with the changing market and industry demands. Stakeholders from various industries should be consulted for replacing old courses with new practical ones so that students can find suitable jobs in a fast-changing world.

The best practice in this regard can be setting up private sector-funded chairs on various subjects such as accountancy, taxation, trade and marketing.

The second step should be to make these business schools administratively and financially autonomous in hiring the best talent form the market to enhance their faculty positions and design market-driven financial management policies by collaborating with banks and other financial institutions to overcome their resource-shortage issues.

The third step should be the designing of attractive incentives at the government level to invite international publishers of business education books. They can then establish offices in Pakistan and collaborate with the local academia to publish standardised books on local markets and business practices.

The fourth step should be the strengthening of ORIC offices and the business incubation centres by effective industry-academia linkages. This can be achieved through a close collaboration between local chambers of commerce and industry and the universities through joint research projects, industry apprenticeships and executive development programmes.

The aforementioned steps can only be taken with strong collaboration between the management of the public sector universities, the HEC and local industry. The National Business Education Accreditation Council, set up by the HEC to monitor affairs of business schools in universities, should ensure the implementation of best practices.

Another good technique might be faculty-exchange programmes with leading global business schools so that the local faculty can study the modern system to be followed for governance and teaching in the public sector universities.

moazzam.ali@aiou.edu.pk

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 25th, 2017