Banking and insurance companies are getting into partnerships with B-schools. The rush for such alliances is so great that a UK based life assurance company Paternoster has approached Indian business schools to forge a partnership to start a course in insurance.
Other insurance companies, which are in talks with B-schools, include ICICI Prudential, HDFC Standard Life Insurance and Aviva Life Insurance.
According to sources, these companies have approached the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, S P Jain Institute of Management Research and Institute of Insurance and Risk Management, Hyderabad to start a programme in insurance management.
"We have recently formed a sub-committee to look into the demand-supply gap issue in the insurance sector. If the B-schools come together with the insurance companies to offer industry- specific programmes, it will not only benefit the sector but also give more opportunities to students to pursue a programme of his choice," says R Kanan, President, Actuarial Society of India.
ICICI Bank, one of the major recruiters from B-school campuses, is also in talks with 15 such schools in the country to design subject-specific curriculum with certificate and diploma programmes.
Schools like Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, L N Welinkar Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal, to name a few, have been approached by the bank to launch courses in customer service, wealth management, treasury etc.
The bank and the schools are in the process of designing the programme and it would take another year for the courses to be ready.
"We believe that B-schools are not ready for industry. They don't teach the skills the market requires. General management courses are not enough and thus we have decided to invest in terms of knowledge. We have told the institutes to find opportunities and we are ready to fund them," says K Ramkumar, group HR head, ICICI Bank.
The bank is also incentivising professors to write Indian case studies. "If the companies want to get good people, participation and taking ownership of the same is required. The problem is there is no vocational education for the burgeoning Indian service industry," says Ram Kumar.
Talent Management International, a talent acquisition and talent management company is facilitating such tie-ups between academia and industry.
Says T Muralidharan, executive chairman, Talent Management International Network, "The trend is that industry and education is coming together to create a balance. Industry does not have patience to wait for graduates to come out of colleges, recruit them and then train them. Thus they are joining hands with academia."
In the past, the retail industry has come up with such solutions and partnered with the academia to meet the manpower shortage.
Pantaloon Retail, for example, has started full-time post graduate retail management courses for students and employees in six colleges - Narsee Monjee Institute of Management, BLS Institute of Management in Ghaziabad, Chennai Business School, Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Kolkata, Asian School of Business Management, Bhubaneshwar, and Indira Institute, Indore.
Each institute has about 50 students per batch with 10 Pantaloon employees. Selected employees get two years of paid leave and half the course fee.
Dabur too is designing a six-month course for their front-line employees along with SP Jain Institute of Management. Besides, Dabur will also help in designing the curriculum for the students.