How India’s B-Schools are navigating a disruptive global landscape

The uncertainties affecting businesses, right from Covid-19 in 2020 to growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), geopolitical conflicts and now US President Donald Trump’s disruptive tariff regime, have seeded chaos into the global economy.

These changes are redefining the flow of global trade and investments and political and economic relationships between countries. The new H1-B visa rules in the US, for instance, have had an immediate impact on India’s global software companies. This, combined with the use of AI, has forced some to drastically downsize their headcount.

These disruptions are expected to have a lasting impact on companies, ranging from new leadership competencies required to business model innovation. Then there are factors such as the government’s clarion call for Swadeshi and Viksit Bharat. Besides, corporations will need employees who can lead them towards a green future.

Rahul Mishra, Professor of Strategy and International Business at the IILM Institute for Higher Education, says, “Understanding the fundamental forces shaping geopolitics and geoeconomics will be a core skill for future managers. Climate change and managing the carbon footprint will increasingly impact decision-making in businesses. Therefore, we require a new cadre of business leadership that is audacious enough to tackle uncertainty and chart out a new path for the future.”

Clearly, it is a pivotal moment for Indian B-schools. All these changes will alter management education and thereby the character and structure of B-schools. How?

The Big Picture

There are a few macro trends that will redefine the future of B-schools in India. To be a successful B-school in the new world order, substantial investments and energy are needed in building AI and robotics labs, making faculty proficient in teaching through an AI lens and preparing students to be competent in an AI-related job market.

Traditionally, the ownership of B-schools was largely with the government. The private sector was involved through a non-profit model of trusts. But in recent years, many privately-owned, for-profit schools such as Masters’ Union have emerged.

By and large, most B-schools in India were standalone organisations. These include all the IIMs and private sector schools like International Management Institute (IMI), XLRI-Xavier School of Management and Great Lakes Institute of Management. Today, a growing number of schools are part of universities like NMIMS, Mumbai (deemed university), Jindal Global Business School (OP Jindal University) and Havells School of Business and Leadership (Ashoka University).

This shift is based on the growing belief that management education has to be multi-disciplinary. For example, Ashoka University is looking to complement its focus on humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and computer science with the new B-school.

Fresh Look

The changes happening in the world of business are being felt in many ways in the academic portfolio of business schools. Perhaps, none more potentially impactful as AI.

For example, at NMIMS Business School, Mumbai, many faculty members have begun weaving AI into their classroom practices. Faculty use AI to enrich case study preparation, and the organisation is planning a series of Faculty Development Programmes to help them integrate AI more confidently into both teaching and research. So, wherever relevant, courses now include modules on how AI can be used—whether in marketing, finance, analytics, or business strategy. For those who want to go deeper, the school also offers an elective in Year II called AI Concepts and Applications in Business, which gives students a structured understanding of the technology and its implications. But there is a catch.

Says Papiya De, Programme Chairman, MBA and Assistant Professor (Communication) at NMIMS: “We hold a simple belief: AI is not something to be resisted, but something to be used wisely. Some faculty members now ask students to submit not only their project reports, but also the exact prompts they used while working with AI tools. ” This shifts the emphasis from the final output to the thinking that went into it, helping the school promote ethical use of AI.

The Governance model

Growing complexities in the Indian B-school landscape, multiple campuses in the country and abroad, greater focus on new programmes ranging from online MBA to executive education and the need to remain financially viable in a competitive environment will require greater attention of the Board of Governors.

Take the case of IIM Lucknow. The Board, led by N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, has in recent months spent a lot of time discussing emerging issues that will impact the future of B-schools and to develop strategies to respond to them.

Says Roopa Satish, Member of the Board of Governors, IIM Lucknow, and a 1992 batch alumna: “Traditionally, educational institutions in India have tended to be more academically focused, with industry adaptation taking place at a more gradual pace. The greatest challenge facing Indian B-schools today is: How do we remain relevant in an era defined by digital transformation and pervasive technology? This was deliberated at length in a recent Board meeting.”

Boards today get into the minutiae of the B-school’s activities. For example, the role that AI will play in businesses and B-schools are aspects that have occupied the attention of many boards.

Adds Satish, “We have to build this long-term thinking capability in our students.” IIM-L has decided to strengthen its collaboration with Indian Institutes of Technology. “We are in advanced talks with IIT Kanpur,” she says.

While the above three are among the most important aspects that will define the future of Indian B-schools, it is by no means a complete list. Globalisation of Indian B-schools and foreign ones setting up in the country are also factors.

What would help, perhaps, is if all B-schools were allowed to tackle these challenges in ways that they feel are the best. On this front, government-backed schools face bigger hurdles, especially the premier IIMs. Despite the Union Cabinet clearing the way for the IIM Bill 2022 that granted complete autonomy to these institutions, there have been reports that there is a gap between intent and execution.

It is time to address some of these issues to ensure that Indian B-schools are ready to adapt to a rapidly changing world.