The impact of COVID 19 on Online MBA

(1). About Online MBA

Online Education MBA is one of the publications that scholars can take in after commencement to work in the direction of professional increase in management. This online MBA path amplifies the profession of the pupil manifold because it equips them with the ability to thrive in the area of management. The MBA route in India may be carried out in three modes - Regular mode, Distance Learning mode, and Online mode.

An MBA degree inside the Online mode has been gaining a reputation these days because of the many blessings it brings alongside like you may take in an activity whilst concurrently pursuing your degree. This facilitates you get a part over others who simply have the diploma and no paintings enjoy, as work enjoy has pretty a well worth on the subject of an MBA.

(2). Online MBA in COVID-19 Era

Ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe in 2020, the world has learned to live in a digitally dependent environment. The shutting down of schools and college campuses to contain the spread of this deadly disease led to a shift to online education. Students have realized, while even staying at home they can pursue professional degree courses like MBA in online mode.

 Among all other professional courses, Online MBA has gained prominence more because it does not require practical experiments. The lectures are theoretical and may be accessed each time thru the Learning Management System (LMS). Given the fact that a lot of human interaction is going to change after the COVID-19 era, one can see Online MBA as the future leader of management courses.

Apart from that, Online MBA is convenient, flexible, and affordable. It is also not bound by geography. A student from Chennai can pursue the course at an Ahmedabad college without changing location. Many international universities also offer Online MBA courses so that students from across the globe can pursue them from any part of the world.

(3). Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Education

(4). The impact of COVID-19 on online MBA programs

B-schools in India confronted the Covid 19 pandemic by quickly adopting technology-based solutions for teaching and learning. As the classes had to go on despite the lockdowns, the real challenge was to not compromise on the value of MBA degrees. In MBAs, stay interactions, discussions on enterprise case studies, and discipline immersion shape a chief component of the teaching-gaining knowledge of the process.

Without the bodily proximity of the classroom, the effectiveness of such strategies turned into place beneath the scanner. It was a cause of concern for the industry as well, as major companies had hitherto depended heavily on B-schools to hire top talents in the country.

Thus, B-schools across the country had to inevitably face a burning question - how to navigate the challenge of maintaining value in regular MBAs in virtual classrooms, while simultaneously dealing with a global pandemic?

(1). No Summer Internship in Other Organizations

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has directed all its affiliated institutes to instruct college students now no longer move for summertime season internships in different businesses as India is under lockdown. This manner that scholars who have been scheduled to adopt their summer time season internships in 2020 in organizations to interact in real-time projects will not be able to do so because of the countrywide lockdown on account of the Covid-19 global outbreak.

 Instead, it has also asked the institutes to provide their students with internships in which they can work from home. Tweeting approximately the directive, AICTE said, “AICTE directs all its accredited institutes to train college students NOT to take in any Summer Internships out of doors organizations. Instead, colleges/institutes should give challenging problems as internships which can be done from home.” Adding similarly AICTE said, “However, ongoing internships, in which agencies are permitting college students to work from home, shall continue.”

Students always look forward to summer internships in good companies and work hard to get the best opportunity. Many students have said that internships are very important for their careers and have requested AICTE not to cancel internships, but instead, delay them till the situation improves. AICTE has further clarified that it will issue further orders once the situation improves regarding compliance with its mandatory internship policy.

(2). The missing element in online MBA

Professor Ambi Parameswaran, currently adjunct faculty at SPJIMR Mumbai, echoed similar concerns. “Online teaching had its benefits,” he said, “now I could invite guest speakers to interact with the students without having to handle all the logistics.” He admitted that this is something he couldn’t have dreamt of a year ago.

“I thought college students could be noticeably dissatisfied however to my satisfactory surprise, they felt the lessons had been higher than expected,” Prof Parameswaran added. Remember that this was in May 2020 when the common belief was that the pandemic would be over in a few months.

Soon, however, the limitations of online teaching became apparent to both students and the faculty, and there was a mutual feeling that something was amiss. Faculties across B-schools in India realized that they need to take a different approach to the delivery model of teaching, otherwise, the prophecy that MBA degrees impart no practical knowledge will come true.

(3). Changing delivery models in B-school Curriculum

With the emergence of virtual classrooms, the old method of lecturing students from the podium proved redundant in most B-schools. Professors realized that much of the curriculum is already available online and students can easily go and study them on their own. As a result, a change in the delivery model was required to make online classes effective.

Jochen Wirtz, associate dean, and marketing professor at the National University of Singapore think professors should now act as mentors and help students in the learning process. "Covid has been a healthy shock to the classroom," the veteran professor told the Financial Times.

Professor Wirtz believes that online teaching has brought many benefits to students. As they study the course material in their free time, class time can be used for discussions and breakout sessions. This has evolved into a version that B faculties around the world are using to tackle tough business coaching situations in a Covid-hit world.

(4). Reinventing the B-school curriculum

Under the circumstances that Covid induced, B-schools not only had to change the delivery model but also the entire teaching model involving the pedagogy and evaluation. Most B-schools had to invest in online proctoring and examination software like Moodle and Mercl-Mettl to conduct exams.

Among the crucial changes, B-faculties in India witnessed a fall in the variety of stay case research within the courses. Besides, with travel restrictions that came as a consequence of the pandemic, foreign exchange programs also took a backseat, despite being conducted in a virtual model. Thus, despite paying the full fee, students missed out on all the on-campus fun.

Prof. Dr. Barbara Majoor, Vice-Rector at Magnificus Nyenrode Business University says, “the challenge for us (and everyone) as a business school is to respond quickly and flexibly to the changing environment and needs of our students.” Dr. Majoor feels that the emphasis of commercial enterprise stages has to be on inculcating a spirit of lifelong learning which will help future business leaders to meet and adapt to any challenge in the field.

(5). Bright Times Ahead for Indian B-schools

The concept of online education is not new to top Indian B-schools. Much like elsewhere in the world, Indian B-schools have been experimenting with online teaching and learning for the last 20 years. Even before the pandemic, top B-schools in India have implemented online learning models in the certificate and executive-level courses.

About a decade and a ½ decade ago, Professor Ranjan Das of IIM Calcutta partnered with online delivery services like NIIT and Hughes to create the flagship Long Distance Education model.  However, due to the lack of a good internet connection then, students had to go to a delivery center to attend the classes. But despite the difficulties associated with bandwidth, more than 3000 students were attending various certification courses online.

Similarly, Professor Rishikesha T. Krishna, the Director of IIM-Bangalore, pointed out how beyond stories with online coaching helped them to evolve to the demanding situations of the pandemic. “When the pandemic first hit us, like everyone else, we had to move our classes online. It was relatively easier for us to do this because we already had significant experience in this area,” he said.

Commenting on the hiring traits in B-faculties after Covid 19, Professor Krishna said, “As lengthy because the enterprise and the economy are growing fast, the prospects for business education also remain right because essentially its economic growth, which drives many management jobs.” It explains why after a year of a dip in placements, 2022 finally saw massive hiring by top companies across all top B-schools in India.

(6). New players in the game

Along with the challenges that came with the closing of classrooms, B-schools also faced competition from alternative educators who questioned the practical relevance of academic research in businesses. In India, manufacturers like Upgrade ran campaigns projecting that a web MBA is greater useful than a normal one.

Such campaigns created a vast strain on the educational network in B-faculties and nudged them similarly to show the ongoing relevance of their coaching models. Besides, with B-schools conducting classes online, it became hard to distinguish regular degrees from online ones. Facing this challenge was not easy.

Caryn Beck-Dudley, president and leader government of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), A expert accreditation frame for B-schools, stated the demanding situations going through B-faculty college throughout the world.“It’s highly hard for college proper now,” she stated in an interview.

Professor Greg Whitwell, Dean of the University of Sydney Business School, believes the B school curriculum is being severely challenged and whether it will exist in its current form. However, he believes that B schools have always been very flexible. "B-Schools have reinvented curricula, pioneered pedagogy, invested in assistive technology, built valuable partnerships, and opened up new markets," he said.

Conclusion Note

After almost two years of living through the pandemic, it is quite clear now that B-school degrees are far from being irrelevant. The demand for graduates from top B-schools has not only picked up pace after the pandemic but in some cases, it has also exceeded the pre-pandemic levels by several notches. 

Abhishek Aggarwal, the Executive Director of Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA) sums up the trend perfectly; he says, “ The Covid-19 batch would remember the pandemic more than perhaps what others would remember it for". Nonetheless, he adds, “The massive breather is that enterprise training stays as essential because it turned into earlier than the pandemic.”