Teach Middle East Magazine Jan - Mar 2020 Issue 2 Volume 7 | Page 15

Sharing Good Practice company-under-20-years.html). Fourth, students generally have to contend with a single power base, i.e., course instructor, to achieve success in their academic pursuits. This hinders the ability of future professionals to be prepared for contending with multiple bases of power as they start climbing the initial steps of the corporate ladder. Such challenges can be seen through the differences between a Functional Organizational Chart and a Power Organizational Chart of an organization. This also impacts the ability of the students to prepare themselves for the political labyrinth that is not taught as part of any curriculum. For example, how to survive in an organization with a shrewd and insecure boss who takes delight in climbing the corporate ladder on the initiatives of his/her team members while marginalizing them. REMEDIAL SUGGESTIONS First, the committees deciding the curriculum should be composed of a mixture of eminent professionals from the representative industries, e.g., prominent engineers invited to review the curriculum development for engineering courses, and academicians to ensure that a balanced approach to the needs of the market can be incorporated within the syllabus for the upcoming talent. The respective review should be on a yearly basis and have the flexibility of inviting new members after a specified period, e.g., 3 years, based upon the value addition provided by the existing members. Secondly, prominent practitioners should be invited to attend formal and informal sessions with academicians to devise strategies for narrowing the gap between the knowledge given within the academic institutions and the needs of the prospective employers, e.g., multinationals, family-run local businesses, local corporate entities, looking to hire talent with the desired traits. Such interactions should be at least on a bi-annual basis. Additionally, long-term partnerships should be sought with software firms, especially in technical fields, to provide student packages and training programs for embellishing the curriculum with the required computer skills for students to prepare themselves for induction into the professional arena. Third, provisions should be explored to release periodic findings from ongoing research in a copyrighted format to ensure that timely information is available to key stakeholders before formal publication of all its elements. Additionally, researchers should be invited as guest speakers and as joint panellists with practitioners in the same field to discuss and answer questions from an inquisitive audience comprising primarily of graduating students. Such sessions should be a necessary fixture of the final academic year for students along with site visits to prominent organizations at the forefront of business excellence. Fourth, specialized courses on soft skills should be a mandatory part of the curriculum, e.g., buffering against organizational politics, working effectively in teams, developing strong networks within the organization and the relevant industry at large, cultivating a mindset that facilitates astute choices and timely pivoting in terms of career selection, etc. Such emphasis will ensure that the personality aspect is also developed in the budding professional as an additional skill to compensate for being the repository of mostly theoretical knowledge. Additionally, successful practitioners from a consultancy and managerial background should be invited to address such issues in open sessions of graduating students. Fifth, academic institutions should gain a clear agreement and understanding with the corporate sector with respect to the goals and objectives of the internships for their students. This should be followed up by a joint review between the representatives from the Academic institution and the relevant Corporate entity for efficacy and improvement. Interns should also be required to engage in sessions with fellow students after the completion of their internships to share their profound experiences and key lessons. Sixth, former students at academic institutions who are at the vanguard of successful initiatives in the Digital Age should be frequently invited to engage with the current students and advise on approaches, especially unconventional ones, to forge robust careers in the ever-changing landscape of the rapidly evolving corporate world, e.g., running a business after designing a successful App that solves a real-life challenge. The aforementioned article provides a solution-oriented approach to challenges faced by the corporate sector in gaining desired talent from the academic institutions. It is imperative that the relationship between theory and practice be collaborative, rather than adversarial. The Digital Age is unforgiving, unrelenting, and uncompromising on excellence. Are you ready to accept the challenge? Murad Salman Mirza is an innovative thinker and an astute practitioner in areas within and associated with the fields of Organizational Development, Talent Management and Business Transformation. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muradsalmanmirza/ Class Time Term 2 Jan - Mar 2020 15