PIM MBA in UAE: A new beginning

It was indeed memorable to organize a new MBA batch at the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was encouraging to see the spirit of Sri Lankans in Dubai who actively supported our endeavour in bringing management learning to Dubai with what we call, "global reach with local roots".

The obvious reason for Sri Lankans to go to Dubai is to earn. We had to shift that paradigm. It is not only to earn, but also to learn. It should be earn, learn and return. That's where the PIM MBA will be handy. The MBA program in Dubai was launched recently.

The PIM Alumni (PIMA) chapter of UAE played a commendable role in organizing the event. Prarakrama Munaweera who was instrumental in bringing Sri Lankan study programs to the UAE, commended the team effort of the Sri Lankan managers in Dubai to embark on a study program offered by a Sri Lankan higher education institute.

President, PIMA, UAE, Ajantha Premaratne and Secretary Deepal Rajaguru also helped to launch the study program.

I am reminded of what Dr. Travis Perera, Senior Consultant, PIM has been telling about MBAs. They are, in a way, consumers of PIM, receiving the education from us. At the same time they are co-producers of knowledge and skills. Hence the term borrowed from the marketing echelons, Prosumer aptly demonstrates their nature.

Thus, we have a batch of 40 prosumers in Dubai. From the process point of view, the outcome and output is good only when the input is good. That's why I am happy that I sat with our Senior Assistant Registrar, Jayantha Ranapura to interview candidates who passed the admission test for the MBA.

The practice of enrolling anyone who walks in, is for 'study shops' and definitely not for us. Being the pioneering MBA in Sri Lanka and hailed as the best consistently, PIM has a challenge to continuously improve. With rapid technological advancement, the need to have blended learning with the use of ICT tools is on the rise.

Greater flexibility among students and high institutional standards need to be maintained. We have realized the need to ensure quality and relevance at all times. The increasingly competitive challenge is to enhance our prosumers. As it was clearly seen by the response of MBA aspirants, the need for cutting-edge knowledge with a global presence and local pulse is what needs to be fulfilled.

Having a monthly presence by a Sri Lankan resource person to conduct lectures, supported by video conferencing and other e-learning tools will be the way forward.

The MBA launch in the UAE prompted me to move down memory lane. I indeed went through that transformational experience. I started as an engineer and then switched to management, I realized that the MBA would train the learner with a holistic view of a situation. The learner will enhance his functional knowledge from a cylindrical view to broad business knowledge with a conical view. This interconnection transforms the learner to appreciate other functions with a broader prospective or holistic view of the business.

A good MBA curriculum should consist of business realities, challenges, new ways of looking at issues and produce out of the box solutions. From my own experience at PIM and talking to the alumni of MBA holders the single biggest factor that makes them stand out among fellow peers is the 'self confidence' they have gained in experimenting, creating, innovating pathways and questioning the traditional way of doing things.

As a result, the MBA inculcates a mindset to tackle issues in an innovative and integrated manner. Simultaneously, being an MBA will enhance the market value of a person. As for entrepreneurs, they will have professionals producing value for their organizations in a sustainable manner at the end of the day.

Time dimension

The ultimate outcome is the birth of a powerful social network sharing calibre and leading to dynamic forces within organizations and of course pursuing higher benchmarks in professionalism.

Speaking from my own experience, becoming an MBA is the changing of a person's own attitude to fundamentally challenge and stretch one self.

In other words, enhancing a person's capacity to cope with many fronts and priorities and thus maintain work-life balance. This aspect reiterates or complements the aspect of enhanced self-confidence in an MBA holder.

Time dimension is important and must cater to strategic and operational aspects of the business for sustainability in the long term. Equally as the educational thresholds are always going up, the accreditation system and quality assurance are of paramount importance in offering a standard MBA. The success of an MBA program reflects essentially on its Alumni. It gives me pride that PIM being the pioneering MBA offering institution in Sri Lanka, has so far produced around 100 CEOs and 1,000 directors.

It highlights the value of an MBA with its quality and relevance, locally and globally. MBAs should never be Mentally Below Average. It should always be Mind Before Action. It reminds me of what Asian wisdom has taught us, the Seeing-Doing nexus. Samma Ditti (Right seeing) should lead to Samma Vayama (Right action). Being brilliant as an MBA helps the learner to see things clearly and do things cleverly. That's what we need in a turbulent world with chaotic competition all over.

The writer, a Professor in Management, is the Director and the Chairman of the Board of Management of the Postgraduate Institute of Management.

He also serves as an adjunct professor in the Division of Management and Entrepreneurship, Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, USA. He can be reached through [email protected]