WHILE MANAGEMENT education, online or face-to-face, is on the rise with a spurt of Master of Business Administration (MBA) and other ancillary institutions taking wing with impressive courses and exciting offers, there seems to be a gap between understanding the needs of key stakeholders and the impact of social media/new media/Web 2.0 for brand building and recall.
More often than not, management education institutes focus heavily on college rankings and surveys. It fails to take note of the perception and voice of the parent, media, governmental industry, alumni and student communities.
In conducting studies for ranking, publications talk to only professionals and faculty in getting their data, which skews the perspectives from reality. Parameters like intellectual capital, infrastructure, placements, industry interactions, systems and processes are considered while arriving at the best set of institutes. Some studies take into consideration a ‘market focussed’ approach including ‘reputation’.
But what about considering the viewpoint of other stakeholders - brand recall among government bodies and signatories, perceptions among media, imagery amongst students - say coaching schools recruiters and vernacular media?
The industry has voiced it’s concerns on the demand-supply gap in minting management graduates and the quality of education in the country’s 1400 odd institutes.
Institutes, therefore, have a need to differentiate and market themselves not just based on their brand image but also by leveraging emerging trends in the web sphere.
I believe this is where social media and Web 2.0 trends come into play. Research indicates a tectonic shift from a ‘command and control’ to a more open ‘influence and persuade’ format in the new web world, thereby creating opportunities for management education institutes to tap and make a mark.
Trust among leadership and authority figures is also slowly eroding, putting more control in the hands of peers. Going forward, content co-creation and individualised information or user generated content will rule the way communication operates.
To top it all, recent news about the American slowdown, sub-prime crisis and the oil price rise have created a fear of job insecurity.
Management education colleges are expected to re-invent their methods of communicating and branding to get a larger mind-share of the community.
To begin with, it is important for leaders in the industry to understand the nuances of social media and Web 2.0 technologies while evaluating the impact they have on image, reputation, branding and communication. A recent example of a management institute facing off with bloggers ended with a bitter taste in the mouth for the former.
Over 44 per cent of the internet usage today, in India, goes in for only social networking with Orkut and Facebook among the favourites among students. Introspection on current methods of communication and knowing where and what their target audiences are visiting, reading and writing on the web world is the next important step in arriving at a coherent social media strategy.
Understanding what the institute stands for and chalking the key messages for its stakeholders is critical for creating a successful brand and reputation. Most management education websites provide information, which is one-sided and top-down in their communication. It is important to note that students today belong to the ’Generation-Y’ (born between 1980-94) and have a different perspective to life and career, while faculty and leaders who impart education are probably from Generation X or even the baby boomer generation. Sometimes, the information hosted may not resonate with the impression, which students and alumni carry creating ambiguity in the minds of readers.
Forums like Moutshut.com and message boards on student portals like Pagalguy.com allow management institutes to get a pulse of what is being discussed about the college and education options. How an institute plans its strategy to persuade and influence online discussions will be instrumental for success in the long-run. The key point is to be honest, transparent and upfront since the new medium is a great leveller. A case in point is the American election and how mistakes and cover-ups were exposed on social media sites and eroded Hillary Clinton’s chances for the Democrat ticket.
Today, recruiters tap social networking sites for potential candidates and some organisations hire close to 15-20 per cent by browsing pages of online participants. Are management education institutes thinking of the imagery these students are portraying and how they can appeal to recruiters?
The question is: Are management education institutes willing to relinquish control and be open about how the various stakeholders can be involved in important decisions? The opportunities are manifold. Organisations like IBM have risen to the challenge creating a blogging policy with the help of employees using wikipedia as a collaboration tool. Do management education leaders emulate it by co-creating a syllabus with students and parents? Or a policy for internet usage with the student and alumni communities? Or arrive at a guideline on plagiarism with the help of students to avoid the need for using expensive software and monitoring? Is there an online risk strategy in place for a potential crisis? Does it mean the end of the dean’s formal letter in the institute newsletter? Is there a need to address blogs penned by students? Can there be an internal knowledge management portal for students, faculty and other stakeholders?
A deeper understanding of the medium, its potential and the risks involved will work in the favour of management education institutes if they need to survive the next wave called Web 2.0.
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