Growth opportunities with sustainability management courses

Pervin Malhotra

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Q.Could you please tell me something about the scope of pursuing a course in sustainability management? I am a BTech graduate in environmental engineering?

— Pranav Bansal

A.The changing landscape of risks in the 21st century has a potential spillover on society at large and the environment in particular.

As a result, businesses worldwide have started feeling the pinch. Increasingly stringent legislation to cope with these risks has made it necessary to introduce environmentally responsible and stakeholder centric management practices.

Even the UGC has mandated that B-schools under its umbrella offer environment management as a core subject. Another important development in the policy sphere is the introduction of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which mandates that high-net worth companies ( Rs 500 crore and above) must spend 2 per cent of their profits on social development activities. SEBI, the capital market watchdog, has also made it mandatory for the 100 top listed companies (on BSE & NSE) to submit annual business responsibility reports.

To cope with this changing landscape of risks a number of courses incorporating formal training, exposure and environment have been introduced to create a pool of environmentally and socially conscious  professionals by acquainting them with the issues that impact organisations:

For instance, TERI University, Delhi offers a full-fledged MBA in Business Sustainability. Other prestigious institutes that offer programmes on sustainability management include IIM (Lucknow) which offers a post-graduate programme in sustainability management (2-year, FT) at its Noida campus.

Xavier School of Sustainability Management, Bhubaneswar under the aegis of Xavier University also offers a relevant course. Symbiosis Institute of International Business, Pune and the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai, offer an MBA in Energy & Environment and a PG Diploma in Industrial Safety & Environmental Management, respectively. Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon offers a PG in management with a specialisation in Energy as well as a Post Graduate Executive Programme in Energy Management.

Similarly, MDI, Gurgaon offers an Executive Post Graduate Programme in Energy Management. Other institutions, including IIM (Kolkata), IIM (Bangalore), IIM (Ahmedabad), IIM (Kozhikode), IMT (Ghaziabad) have also added courses related to responsible and sustainable management practices to their traditional management curriculum.

Students graduating from these programmes are primarily absorbed in CSR and sustainability divisions or departments of various private and public sector companies; in consultancy organisations like KPMG, PwC, E&Y, Deloitte that have dedicated verticals on responsible and sustainable business practices. Even financial institutions have started rising to the occasion by hiring professionals who can help them make responsible investment decisions; Notable among these being IFC, Yes Bank, HSBC, Deutsche Bank etc.

Girls in IITs

Q. We are parents of two bright school-going daughters who are studying in Class XI. Both of them want to get into the IIT. However, we have been told that very few girls manage to make it to the IITs. Is this true? And if so, what is the reason? — Om Saini

A.Sadly despite excelling at the school level, a comparatively low number of girl students have been making it to the IITs over the years.

While 79.2 per cent boys qualified the JEE Advanced 2017, only 20.8 per cent girls managed to do so (6.8 per cent girls figured in the Top 1000 and 9.3 per cent in the Top 5000). Although women constituted 14 per cent (7,137) of those who qualified the JEE Advanced this year, only a third finally joined (20 per cent in the NITs). Currently, girls comprise barely 8 per cent of the total student strength.

The reasons are many. Sadly, parents, more so those in rural areas, are still likely to spend money on coaching classes and college fees for their male children. Moreover, parents still prefer sending their daughters to a campus closer to home.

However, good things are in the offing. To bridge this acute gender gap, a 14 per cent hike has been proposed in the number of seats earmarked for female students, taking the total number of supernumerary seats in the IITs to 1,440. Fee waivers, stipends and scholarships for meritorious women candidates have also been mooted. Special women help-desks have been set up on many campuses to help clear doubts regarding selection of course and institute.

So as far as your daughters are concerned, you need not worry and encourage them to work hard and aim high, and not let statistics come in the way of their aspirations.

What is the scope of health management in India?

Q. I am pursuing final year of BHMS. After graduation I want to get into healthcare management. What is the scope in India? — Kashmera Shroff

A.India’s healthcare industry is booming at an avg. growth rate (CAGR) of 16.5 per cent. The total industry size would be $280 billion by 2020 (from $160 bn in 2017).

As you would perhaps be aware, doctors are just one part of the healthcare system. Professionals with a specialised health management degree are also sought after.

While several super-speciality and multi-speciality hospitals such as Apollo, Escorts, Max, Fortis, Wockhardt, Medanta etc., have emerged, many regular hospitals have also undergone a corporate make-over. This has generated the need for distinctly qualified and trained managers and administrators who understand the dynamics of business and quality delivery and information systems in hospital and healthcare industry.

There are several well-paying career opportunities in healthcare management e.g. for hospital administration professionals, biomedical waste management experts, pharma project management, NGO consultants, assistant medical superintendents, medico-legal experts (lawyers), HR professionals and quality & risk management experts, logistics management, —blood bank administration, emergency management, business development professionals and health insurance professionals.

Medical tourism has emerged as a promising sector thanks to treatment costs being significantly lower than in Europe and USA.

India’s medical tourism sector is estimated to be worth $6 billion.

The demand for professionals outweighs supply in healthcare management sector.