Present day business requires a large number of professional managers who have vision, creative and sharp minds, the ability to play multiple roles and to adapt to changing situations, leadership qualities, etc. To study this, a sample of 260 respondents was taken from both private and university departments. From the results, it is found that the quality of management education that is being imparted in management institutes in Punjab is poor. A factor analysis identifies 11 factors`ineffective admission criterion and training', `lack of emphasis on extracurricular activities', `lack of objective and transparent internal assessment system', etc. The quality of management education in Punjab is found to be significantly negative. Partial correlations reveal `lack of emphasis on extracurricular activities' as the most significant factor influencing the quality of management education, followed by `ineffective admission criterion and training' and `overburdened and inadequate permanent faculty'. Regression analysis predicts that `lack of emphasis on extracurricular activities', `ineffective admission criterion and training' and `overburdened and inadequate permanent faculty' explain certain amount of variance.

The new economic order has brought lots of opportunities for businesses with a complete metamorphosis in its milieu. Volatile markets, technological explosions, easy mobility of capital, excessive competition, increased consumer awareness and their fast changing needs, active media, etc., are various changes which have made management of business a very challenging task. Present day business is being characterized by unprecedented changes, alliances, mergers and acquisitions, innovations, disruptive technologies, exploiting new markets, cost cutting, improved service quality, etc., all of which require new ways to be devised consistently to run the business successfully. This indicates that the approach of business management education needs a fresh look to suit to the requirements of the industry. More concentration is needed on quantitative as well as on qualitative parameters.

The growth of business schools in India was gradual till 1990, after which a phenomenal growth could be seen. In 1995, there were 422 management institutes which increased to 1,226 by 2006 and this growth is not evenly spread among different regions of the country. The maximum number, i.e., 378 business schools are located in the southern region, followed by the north-west region (201), the western region (197), the northern region (146), the south-west region (123), the central region (94) and the eastern region (87). In the north-west region, Rajasthan has a leading position with 62 business schools, followed by Delhi (47), Punjab (41) and Haryana (36) (AICTE, 2008). The institutions which are imparting business management education need to understand the gap between the curriculum offered and the industry needs. The design of the program should be at par with the dynamic changes taking place at the ground zero level of the industry. Majority of the institutions need to gear up in order to meet the opportunities and challenges in imparting integrated teaching-learning processes.

Very few empirical studies examining the various issues related to the quality of management education in India have been conducted so far. For instance, Chaudhary (1993) suggests that in order to succeed, management education has to be made relevant and responsive to the environment which it seeks to serve. Shah (2000) examines some of the controversies that continue to plague management education in India—dependence on western material for teaching, curriculum does not imbibe comprehensive holistic perspectives needed for an effective manager, theoretical teaching methodology, good institutes becoming very costly and unaffordable for low and middle-income groups, lack of industry-academia interface, etc. Reddy et al. (2005) opine that management institutes must realize the impending threats from their global counterparts and try to convert their weaknesses to opportunities. Singh (2007) perceives that only those management institutions whose fundamentals are good and who will ensure quality to their users will survive and excel. The present study is an attempt at identifying various factors affecting the quality of management education and for the said purpose, the universe of this study has been narrowed down to the state of Punjab. There were only five management institutes in Punjab till 1995; but, by the end of the year 2008, the number swelled to 84. While the availability of a large number of these institutes to train students for the management profession is an achievement, they would be of no real use if the quality of education being imparted in these institutes is not taken care of.

Management Research Journal, Management Education, Technological Explosions, Management Education, Volatile Markets, Business Schools, Theoretical Teaching Methodology, Business Management Education, Monitoring Agencies, Transparent Internal Assessment System, Alumni Associations, Human Resource Management, Marketing Management.