How Has the Role of Faculty in Management Institutes Evolved? Let's Discuss

The role of faculty in Management Institutes has changed in the West. I am sure that it is the same in India too.

I hope the content of the presentation will be of some use to members of the faculty who access it. Please feel free to pass your comments on; even critical comments are welcome and will be much appreciated as it helps me to keep on learning. Thanking you all in advance.

Let me start with first things first. It is a revelation to see such a presentation. The contents in some of the slides are, however, familiar. Providing acknowledgment wherever necessary not only gives credibility to the presenter but also establishes the authenticity of what is being said. I wish to mention the areas that need attention.

General

The slide background is dominating. At the bottom left corner, it interferes with the text. The background slide could be made in a lighter shade. Interference should be avoided. Now there is plenty of overlap in many slides and a lack of visual clarity.

Slide 4

HE - Is it Higher Education? If so, please expand, giving the abbreviation in brackets for the first time. Later, the use of only the abbreviation would be alright. As a subset of Knowledge, "Behavioral aspects" could also be added to Technical/Subject.

Slide 5

At the core of the model, HOD’s, etc., is mentioned; it is not clear. It is better to add at least one more word to HOD before writing etc. While the title is about forces on HE TEACHERS, teachers are also shown as a force impacting HOD’s, etc. This is not clear. Does this denote other teachers/peers?

Slide 6

Competitive advantage comes from uniqueness. It has to figure in the model. Is the uniqueness referred to as "Distinctive Competence"?

Slide 7

In the apex of the triangle, can we add ‘developing’ to ‘teaching’? What is R&R in the core - Roles and Responsibilities?

Slide 8

What are T, R, and S? Vision, Mission, Goals, and Strategies are having INPUT arrows. No OUTPUT. Why? An organization is driven by the above four, so an output arrow has to be there. In the legend box, it would be appropriate to write the expansion for KPI and CSF in capital letters.

Slide 9

What is conveyed in this slide? Are the cells to be filled with YES or NO or something like that?

Slide 10

QAA, HOF, HOD, L&T need to be expanded/explained.

Slide 11

Only HOD’s activities have been enumerated. What about others?

Slide 21

What do the numbers indicate? What is the measurement basis/scale?

Slide 22

In Teacher’s characteristics, another model (outside this presentation) indicates TEACHING SKILLS, CONCERN (for students), and SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE as the prime factors that determine his/her efficiency/efficacy. In student’s characteristics, NECESSITY, ZEAL, MOTIVATION, etc., are said to be important for being an effective student.

Slide 28

Can it be construed that all the bullet points are besides the main lectures and experiential programs? Students also learn from each other.

Some More General Comments

Some of the slides have animation in which the bullet points come one by one and fade away as we move to the next. This is the best to get the student’s focus. However, many slides have all the bullet points appearing together. This has to be checked and corrected wherever necessary. If the topic is to highlight the changing "Roles and Responsibilities" of faculties in the present-day context, then it would be apt to summarize the same as a comparison in a table towards the end of the presentation. With my limited knowledge, I could not decipher this. Even in the beginning, one or two slides may be introduced as to how the teaching was practiced in the past, about five decades ago, when we were in our teens. As far as the change in styles in the Indian context is concerned, I am not aware of it to give my specific views.

Regards, V.Raghunathan

Dear Raghunathan, Thank you very much for taking the time to study my PowerPoint presentation and provide valuable constructive feedback. I have given my responses in brackets after your comments.

Slide background is dominating. At the bottom left corner, it interferes with the text. The background slide could be made in a lighter shade. Interference should be avoided.

Now there is plenty of overlap in many slides and a lack of visual clarity.

(I did not prepare the background; a company in the USA did it for me. Our son arranged it. I am editing the slides to ensure the symbol on the bottom left corner does not interfere with the text by shortening the references and moving details to the bibliography.)

Slide 4

HE - Is it Higher Education? If so, please expand, giving the abbreviation in brackets for the first time. Later, the use of only the abbreviation would be alright.

(Done)

As a subset of Knowledge, "Behavioral aspects" could also be added to Technical/Subject.

(Behavioral aspects are covered under Attitude.)

Slide 5

At the core of the model, HOD's etc. is mentioned; it is not clear. It is better to add at least one more word to HOD before writing etc. While the title is about forces on HE TEACHERS, teachers are also shown as a force impacting HOD's etc. This is not clear. Does this denote other teachers/peers?

(I have changed the core to "A TEACHER," a generic term to include all teaching staff irrespective of rank/designation. I made a distinction between a peer and a "Boss.")

Slide 6

Competitive advantage comes from uniqueness. It has to figure in the model. Is the uniqueness referred to as "Distinctive Competence"?

(Yes, Distinctive Competence and Uniqueness are the same. I have included that word, too.)

Slide 7

In the apex of the triangle, can we add 'developing' to "teaching"? What is R&R in the core - Roles and Responsibilities?

(I have changed "Teaching" to "Developing Students." R&R refers to Roles and Responsibilities, which is in the title. I have included the abbreviation there.)

Slide 8

What are T, R, and S? (Teaching, Research, and Service) Vision, Mission, Goals, and Strategies have INPUT arrows. No OUTPUT. Why? An organization is driven by the above four, so an output arrow has to be there. In the legend box, it would be appropriate to write the expansion for KPI and CSF in capital letters.

(An oversight; I have included arrows to the CFS/KPIs box and also to the Set Standards box.)

Slide 9

What is conveyed in this slide? Are the cells to be filled with YES or NO or something like that?

(I will be asking the audience to fill in approximately the amount of time spent on various activities. If it's a mixed audience, we will be able to see what they do. In the modified version, I will be discarding the Principals' column.)

Slide 10

QAA, HOF, HOD, L&T need to be expanded/explained.

(In the UK, QAA stands for Quality Assurance Agency. I think in India we have NAAC. HOF stands for Head of Faculty, HOD for Head of Department. L&T is Learning and Teaching.)

Slide 11

Only HOD's activities have been enumerated. What about others?

(The presentation was for tutors to highlight how a tutor's role changes as they get promoted to an HOD.)

Slide 21

What do the numbers indicate? What is the measurement basis/scale?

(The gap shows what the members would like to do as opposed to what they were doing when surveyed on a five-point scale.)

Slide 22

In Teacher's characteristics, another model (outside this presentation) indicates TEACHING SKILLS, CONCERN (for students), and SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE as the prime factors that determine his/her efficiency/effectiveness.

(You are right. I know of a case where a student refused to fill a feedback form about a tutor. When asked why she did not answer all the questions, she pointed to her last statement. It read, "If the tutor can answer my questions in class, it shows his/her subject knowledge/experience and concern for students. Hence, no need to answer a standard questionnaire.")

In student's characteristics, NECESSITY, ZEAL, MOTIVATION, etc., are said to be important for being an effective student.

(I have come across students who entered the university as mature students. One wrote an exceptional piece. I used to give an introductory lecture on Operations Management and then ask students to give me 10 keywords from the lecture. Students had to write a 250-word piece highlighting how all those words were linked and relevant for an organization's success. I still use that student's work as a model when I give lectures.)

Slide 28

Can it be construed that all the bullet points are besides the main lectures and experiential programs? Students also learn from each other.

(Maybe the slide is not clear. It's about how students come to know about a program being offered; for example, if I were running a special program on Research Methods. The "Word-of-mouth" covers students learning from each other.)

Some More General Comments

Some of the slides have animation in which the bullet points come one by one and fade away as we move to the next. This is the best to get the student's focus. However, many slides have all the bullet points appearing together. This has to be checked and corrected wherever necessary.

(Thank you very much for the advice; I have not gotten around to doing the transition of bullet points. I will do so in the next version.)

If the topic is to highlight the changing "Roles and Responsibilities" of faculties in the present-day context, then it would be apt to summarize the same as a comparison in a table towards the end of the presentation. With my limited knowledge, I could not decipher this. Even in the beginning, one or two slides may be introduced as to how teaching was practiced in the past, about five decades ago, when we were in our teens.

(To ensure it's not a chalk-and-talk, I ask the participants to tell me how things have changed over the years. Usually, in the audience, there will be some who were taught in the days gone by when a lecturer wrote on a blackboard and students copied it verbatim and did not even have the time to ask questions. Then came photocopying, overhead slides, now computer projection, and access to the web, etc.)

As far as the change in styles in the Indian context is concerned, I am not aware of it to give my specific views.

(One major difference that I find, in the Indian Management Institutes context, is the lack of industrial experience of many lecturers. They rely on bookish knowledge. In some institutes, it is changing, as I have seen many with industrial experience getting into academia now.)

Regards

An interesting article has appeared in today's TOI newspaper. It discusses the need for change in management education in India. Some of the points discussed in the post and the attached presentation, such as skills, knowledge, attitude, industrial exposure, employability, and educational purpose, are featured in the article. Please read the article as it showcases new perspectives that could enhance Indian education.

V. Raghunathan

The article certainly echoes some of the things covered in my presentation. I am sure things will change for the better once people in influential positions start taking note and implementing what is covered in the article.

I recall a conversation I had with a "Professor" in HR. I asked her whether her students had an opportunity to visit an HR department. She said "Yes." I asked her if she had worked in the field before taking up teaching. She said "No." I asked her what she did when students visited an organization. She said she just accompanied them. She did not even bother to go and talk to the staff about problems faced, how they solved them, etc. I find the same situation with many lecturers in other fields: they finish their basic degree, do an MBA, and go straight to teach, without any practical experience.

I hope more people will access my presentation and make comments on it. One academic whom I sent it to gave me the following feedback:

"I understand your slides are meant for presenting in a B-School to improve the overall quality of faculty by addressing their multiple roles and responsibilities. The slides are quite useful and informative to the audience. With your explanation, I am sure the participants will be able to grasp the issues quite easily.

A few points: By and large, academic institutes in India are controlled in a hierarchical manner and rarely are the faculty empowered. Hence, in all the meetings, the participants do not share their views and prefer to remain silent rather than being the target of fire."

Another wrote, "It is relevant in the Indian context too, mostly applicable to autonomous institutions and private universities."

I hope these corrections meet your expectations. Let me know if you need further assistance.

Regards