OUR PHILOSOPHY The Institute is in search of excellence in the field of management education. Its range of academic activities includes teaching, research,training consultancy so as to continuously create intellectual capital.   THE 3 “A”s OF MANAGEMENT EDUCATION     Prof. Subrata Goswami Senior Professor, Marketing     A graduate of a business school faces a tough challenge from the very first job - adapting to an alien work environment, dealing with older experienced people, taking decisions with incomplete information, etc., etc. How does a B’School go about making the student ready for such challenges? How does it design its programme? Let us consider one suggested model. Management Education can be said to have three basic dimensions - which I would like to call the 3-“A”s. The first A: Absorption (of conceptual knowledge): Let us take a medical analogy – if you need surgery, will you go to a surgeon who has never studied surgery? The answer seems obvious!     The theoretical foundation has to be made strong so that the other components can build upon it. A well designed course structure based on current market needs, competent and qualified faculty, state-of-the art infrastructure – well stocked digital/print library, on line journal subscriptions, latest IT hardware & software, etc. – are essential. The second A: Analysis (of case examples): Taking the analogy a little further – will you go for surgery to a surgeon who has read all the books but has never seen a surgical operation actually being performed? The answer, once again seems obvious! Abstract theory can leave a student confused, as he/ she has little prior exposure to various types of industries, organizations or functions. Case analyses put a focus on issues in a real life examples and help the student understand the situation, look for alternatives and recommend optimal solutions. Just as one picture is better than a thousand words, one case example also helps integrate several theory lessons into one composite learning experience. The third A: Application (in practical projects): Taking the analogy still further - will you go for surgery to a surgeon, who has read all the books, studied others operate, but who has never done any surgery personally? The answer – well, you surely know the answer by this time! A child cannot learn to swim unless pushed into the water. To be really ready for the business world, the student needs exposure to actual “industry”, so that the solutions he/ she will offer to the employers later will be based on reality. This calls for structured industrial training and project assignments. The student can benefit from the domain expertise of the corporate supervisor, while the faculty guide provides direction to the research activities of the project. At the Asia-Pacific Institute of Management, the 3A-s today form the base of the integrated holistic learning process, for AIM believes that management education is all about shaping future leaders of the business world. The 3-A model is accepted as the core of the learning process at AIM.         Next >>