Top B-schools tweak curriculum as firms seek hybrid managers

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

business schools are rolling out curriculum changes to better equip future managers for the changing needs and norms of hybrid workplaces, as businesses actively seek people who can effectively lead teams in different work modes. There is a demand from companies recruiting from campuses; they assess candidates for the capabilities required for the evolving work environment, said Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad director Bharat Bhasker.

The focus at IIM-Ahmedabad is on including case studies on the challenges as well as advantages of the remote or hybrid model in the curriculum. «What should be done, what should not be done in that kind of environment, how managers should get their job done more effectively — we are bringing all that in through case studies or curriculum of our regular programmes and all other programmes as well,» Bhasker said.

The changes are being made across specialisations. Students will be exposed to the challenges of email and Zoom-based communication and how to interpret them, which differs from face-to-face workplace interactions, he said.IIM-Kozhikode has incorporated classroom discussions on remote workforce management and is deliberating changes to curriculum.

«Introducing electives might be our next course of action,» director Debashis Chatterjee said. «Businesses are actively seeking managers who can effectively lead teams in this evolving environment,» said Snehal Shah, associate dean, academic and research at Mumbai's SP Jain Institute of Management Research.

Shaji Mathew, group head for human resource development at Infosys, said the company was seeing an increasing trend of employees voluntarily coming to offices as they see value in working from office, but in a hybrid mode. «In