Abstract:

The anticipated economic growth rate of over 8% in the coming decade in India means that thousands of highly skilled managers will be required across all industrial sectors. In this paper, our intention is to discuss a relatively new MBA programme at the School of Petroleum Management (SPM) at Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) in Gujarat, India. We will outline number of initiatives designed to contribute to an innovative management education curriculum appropriate for the hydrocarbon sector and we will show how SPM is actively engaged with industry so that the students may become effective members of the industry both in India and elsewhere.
SPM was set up in 2006 by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited in order to address the techno-managerial requirements of the sector across the hydrocarbon value chain. The school offers various postgraduate programmes, including an MBA, a Post Graduate Diploma and a Ph.D in Management. The MBA programme is a two year programme organized on the basis of three terms in a year, encompassing both general management courses and a set of elective courses which have been specifically designed to cater to the needs and requirements of the industry. Students follow a case-based curriculum throughout their time at the university, they complete a summer internship within the industry and they participate regularly in outside workshops tailor-made to increase their knowledge of the hydrocarbon sector.
There are a number of additional key ways in which SPM has sought to make the curriculum relevant through Industry Collaboration. These are as follows:
1) During the first week of their orientation programme, the new batch of MBA students attends an industry visit. This allows them to begin to understand the context within which they will be working. Corporations that have hosted these visits in the past include Shell - Hazira LNG Port Ltd., GSPC NIKO Resources Ltd. and Gujarat State Energy Generations Ltd.
2) Students complete a sensitization exercise to familiarize them with the real life situations that can occur in the slums located close to the industry, as well as to sensitize them to socially responsible behaviour. This encourages students to contextualize their knowledge of the industry with particular reference to corporate social responsibility, as an area now of major interest to the oil and gas sector.
3) SPM undertakes an annual review of the curriculum, with the active collaboration of industry, in order to make the curriculum more practice-based. The review panel identifies current trends in the hydrocarbon sector and it works closely with industry representatives to integrate these trends into the existing curriculum.
4) At least 20% of all class-room teaching is undertaken by the corporations themselves. Faculty facilitates this process and parts of the programme are team taught. The aim is to work collaboratively with industry, to co-construct a set of appropriate skills and knowledge.

The model developed at SPM provides a way forward for curriculum design on a specialized MBA programme in an emerging economy. The course content, pedagogical approach, and most especially the four initiatives that involve university-industry collaboration, i.e. industry visit, industry sensitization, curriculum review and team teaching with industry, are all approaches that could be implemented in different institutional contexts, both in India and beyond.