2-yr MBA course is best: Harvard dean

When India born Nitin Nohria was appointed dean of the Harvard Business School in May, he received a congratulatory mail from residents of Nohar, a village in Rajasthan.

When India born Nitin Nohria was appointed dean of the Harvard Business School (HBS) in May, he received a congratulatory mail from residents of Nohar, a village in Rajasthan. The mail read: “You are Nohria, does that mean you are from Nohar. We, too are from there.”

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On Thursday, Nohria visited India for the first time after taking charge as the dean of the Ivy League business school to expand the school’s ties with India.

“The response from India was so warm. I think it had less to do with me and more with the stage at which India is today in the global economy. It is more like, if Nitin can do it, so can I,” said the IIT-B alumnus who moved to the US in 1984.

An expert in organisation behaviour, Nohria believes that the most solid MBA course is a full two-year programme and not the one-year courses and online degrees. “Several MBA institutes mushrooming with various courses are bad for the quality of a MBA degree. It dilutes the hard work of those who have gone to good schools.”

“We don’t want to chase demand here. We want to work with B-schools here. We were the co-founders of IIM-A, one of the best schools in the country.”

Eight per cent of the student population is from India or of Indian origin. In the last five years, 185 Indians have received MBA degrees from HBS. “In my generation, almost all who moved abroad never came back, but as opportunities grow in India, more and more come back.”

“In my time, you could either be a doctor or engineer. It was in MIT that I discovered my natural talent for management. But the rigour and discipline of studying at IIT was very useful.”