The session on No longer a stepchild: How the management field can come into its own, was a

continuation paper on the paper discussed by Rajesh, which emphasizes on the emergence of
management field as a mature one, compare to the established field like sociology and
psychology. Though the way in which the maturity level assessed may not perfect, still it helps in
getting a broader picture about the developments in management field. In last 50 years, though
there is significant increase in institutes, student intake, and the articles published and cited, there
are a lot of challenges faced by the institutions when it comes to ranking and applicability of
research.
Though this paper author tries to evaluate whether the current model is at risk using institutional
theory, which states that if there is evidence of shift in rhetoric, or that the institutes previous
reputation is undeserved, or if rise and acceptance of alternate legitimate institutions happens,
then most likely there is chance for deinstitutionalization of current models.
A shift in rhetoric can be seen when the perception of good form of research changes from
publications in good journals towards real world research and when there is need that PhD
degrees should be dominated with applied research than methodology along with appropriate
balance between research and teaching. Also there is evidence of undeserved reputation when we
see the change in ranking B-schools by taking perception of employers and students instead of
old format. Also reduction of number of organizations sending employees to B-schools and that
they started their own training sessions is a signal towards the same. So students got dismal job
prospects as MBA is now a common degree. The rise and acceptance of alternative legitimate
institutions like emergence of more customized and flexible programs to suit various industry
which may be less expensive, E- learning and executive business programs, Demand more for
customized MBAs and value for thought leaders training than the institutions indicate towards a
change in the management education field.
Through these observations, author proposes some changes in the existing system to sustain the
development of management field. There is requirement of authors to publish real life scenarios
to support their thesis would help in integrating theory with practice, also the language to be
manager friendly. Researching managerially actionable problems or the issues raised in common
platform of top CEOs should be taken up and their insights are to be taken. Also the editors
should focus up select papers on real problems faced by managers. Teaching takes time away
from research, so teaching should also be given due importance. Ideas generated in research
should reach idea entrepreneurs and business managers through newsletters and conferences. E-
learning programs and executive sessions are to be arranged for senior management people to get
a better knowledge of business environment and will also generate income.