Sunstone Business School, leading specialised Management School for working professionals in technology industry that has restructured the learning experience for working professionals in India through its Problem Based curriculum and collaborative learning platform. What is more, Sunstone has emerged as the most respected program for working professionals in the country. It is started by successful industry professionals and backed by the Spice Group. Sunstone launched its first batch in Jul 2011 in Delhi region with 25 students, and currently it enrols ~200 students year pan India and some overseas locations.
In a free-wheeling chat with Jayashankar Menon, Rajul Garg, Director, Sunstone Business School shares more information about SBS.
JM: How according to you can Sunstone change the landscape of management education in India?
RG: We see a dichotomy in the market. On one hand, since the knowledge economy is growing in size, the value of business skills is greater than ever. Professionals need understand the bigger picture better, be better leaders, better communicators, have better business acumen and so on. On the other hand, MBA as a product is losing its sheen. We read article all the time that question MBA as a product. We feel the need is re-imagine MBA. Take it apart and re-assemble it to suit the modern world. This is what we are trying to do which can change the landscape of management education in India.
JM: Can you elaborate on the areas of interest such as:
RG: Focus on experiential learning: Experiential learning in management education is not just an addition but the very foundation of management education. Management by default is experiential and unless you can put yourself in a situation and apply your mind towards understanding business problems, its very hard to develop such thinking. We, as a program, are almost 100 percent experiential in nature. Changing roles of faculty as a coach rather than a lecturer: The moment you move towards experiential learning, the role of faculty evolves to a coach rather than a traditional lecturer. The key focus is to inspire, energize and engage students and facilitate learning by creating an environment of learning. Students can then leverage that platform themselves.
JM: How Sunstone is able to address the need for learning rather than need for degrees?
RG: We are an autonomous program. We chose to be so because we want to focus on upgrading our curriculum continuously and be true to student learning. Today, if we find pieces of curriculum thatare not maximizing student learning we chop them off, and increase weightage of curriculum that does. This is required to be agile and focused. Students are aware of this and they come to us for this very reason. The crux is this is whether you want to see management as a degree or as a skill. We think of it as a skill that can be learnt and is extremely valuable and helps you increase your own productivity.
JM: Future of MBA globally with Sunstone model and similar initiatives worldwide.
RG: Certainly there is a lot of interest right now around technology driven intiatives. I feel that while many of them are focusing on upgrading technology, the real value is in upgrading pedagogy. That is the secret sauce. The tools are already good enough for most part. The future of MBA I feel is in it being transformed to a skills program – and that takes it more to its past! It started as a vocational program and it needs to be go back to being vocational in nature.
JM: How is technology leading the disruption in education in education?
RG: If we look in India across sectors, its still very early days. Balck-boards are being replaced by white boards, circulars are being replaces by emails. However, true disruption will happen when method of teaching itself transforms. That is happening at a much slower pace.
JM: Can you throw some light on the aspect of designing education systems for experienced professionals.
RG: In many ways, experienced professionals provide a good platform for experimenting with new forms of pedagogies and methods. Firstly, they can make their own decision since they are paying for it themselves. Secondly, having been in the industry, they have a sense of what is valuable vs. not. And finally, they would have a high bar and only do things that they really think add value. The key in designing education systems for them is collaboration and practical. Adult professionals can learn from each other in the first place and share their experiences. Secondly, they need to be able to relate it immediately. You can’t talk about abstract things. We have enjoyed this process and I believe emerged with a solid method and curriculum which is potentially usable across other formats as well.
The News Hour India by Kenath Jayashankar Menon 