Management Development: a serious concern

Abstract

In this age of globalisation, multiple pressures are intensifying for the under developed and developing countries. It is a struggle for economic survival, where the larger fish will eat up any small fish not clever enough to learn the rules of the game. In this market oriented competitive world, management development has increasingly become linked with economic output. Additionally, education is no more just an intellectual exercise. It is compulsively being recognised as a large sector of human and financial resources, requiring strategic management and a purposeful development of the concerned personnel for quality and effectiveness. This paper is based on my Ph.D. study focusing on education management (Shah: 1998). It provides a discussion of the concept of management development and some concerned approaches. The relationship between ‘management’ and ‘development’ in the present day context of ‘change’ is highlighted to emphasise the need for serious and meaningful policy in the area. Issues faced in education management are analysed as indicative of lack of relevant expertise, and the significance of contextual factors is emphasised in educational planning and management for improved output.