Commitment to quality is everything: Ron Tuck

Ron Tuck is a name 145 educational institutions (130 of them British) are wary of. That's because Tuck is the chief inspector of the British Accreditation Council (BAC).

Since the BAC was set up in 1984, it is the only independent accreditation body for universities in the private sector that offer further and higher education in the UK. The only other education accreditation authority in the UK is the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), which monitors higher education offered by public-sector universities set up under the Royal Charter or under the Statute.

In spite of his commanding position, Tuck is reassuring. He says he makes sure that the employees and the management of B-schools are comfortable in his presence. He is also circumspect in his comments on most issues, ranging from deficiencies in management education, to the raging debate on the IIM (Indian Institute of Management) fee issue. "I am not in a position to make sweeping comments," he cautions.

However, the man has interesting suggestions to offer on developing management skills in students. For instance, he says that softer skills like leadership, for instance, can be subjects that students begin to learn when they are in high school.

But what about the business schools themselves? After all, most B-schools in India have been in existence for less than 15 years. Surely there must be many specifics for them to focus on? "Commitment to quality is everything," declares Tuck, adding, "If you are a private-sector organisation, you have to be commercially viable. But if you set out with the aim of making money rather than creating quality, you are unlikely to remain a reputable institution."

Tuck emphasises that private management institutes must not lose sight of their commitment to quality even if the financial rewards take some time to follow. But creating a clear vision of quality is not enough. "Don't assume that if the institute management creates a quality policy, it is happening. Communicate the idea of quality to your staff and faculty and monitor it regularly," says Tuck.

The second issue is to focus on the student experience. If students are what ultimately matter in an educational institution, Tuck exhorts the management of B-schools to regularly visit classrooms or laboratories. "Observe what is happening in practice and help the teaching staff to develop their own skills," he says.

The 55-year-old Tuck also talks about the possibility of pink-slips in the management teaching profession. "If the management finds that it has recruited a weak member of staff, then sadly, they must part with that person because the interests of the students must come first," he says. And how do B-schools keep track of the performance of their teaching staff? "Talk to the students, be close to them, be aware what the students are thinking and act on that," he says.

Tuck is convinced that students will be forthcoming enough to criticise the faculty in front of the management: "A good institution will create the ethos where students trust faculty and are comfortable with making criticism."

A critical issue facing most B-schools is to prevent professors who teach the same subject or module for many years from falling into a complacency trap. Tuck points to Tasmac (Training and Advanced Studies in Management and Communications), the Pune-based management school that has a BAC accreditation (institutes outside the UK that seek BAC accreditation need to have a tie-up with a British university).

In Tasmac's case, as a matter of policy, the college rotates teachers across different modules in the same stream after two semesters. This ensures that teachers do not take any subject they teach for granted.

Some issues are common with management institutes in India and the UK. Government interference, the corporate sector's dissatisfaction with the quality of management education and controversies about B-school rankings are familiar themes for Tuck. "The UK government has recently allowed for variable fee rates. It is highly controversial there as well," says Tuck. British employers criticising the business and management education provided in the UK is also a "live" issue.

Tuck points out that universities react by saying that their job is to provide a broad foundation of knowledge and skills and it is the employers' role to make the graduates competent in a business environment.

However, adds Tuck, some B-schools provide a work placement to students for a year in the course of their management degree. That's a practice Tuck favours. "Working in a real business environment helps you relate theory to practice. It also helps you when you go for a job since the business realities sink in," he says.

Tuck maintains his discretion when asked about another contentious issue "" B-school rankings. Considering there are nearly 950 B-schools in India that are recognised by the All India Committee for Technical Education, is an officially-sanctioned ranking system really necessary?

"I have nothing in principle against ranking systems. But the ranking must be on the basis of the right kind of evidence. It must not be just on paper submissions. You have to go into the classrooms and see enough of the teaching, talk to students and staff," he says.

A ranking system will have its pluses and minuses. Apart from providing students the right kind of information, it also gives weaker institutions something to strive for. "On the other hand, it can lead to a sudden focus on grades rather than a focus on the issues of quality," points out Tuck.