The following is an excerpt from a story about Wichita State University professor Dharma deSilva that appeared in the Sept. 15 issue of The Wichita Eagle.
In 2010, the government in Sri Lanka asked Wichita State professor Dhara deSilva to study eight of the nation’s business schools, mostly in the capital of Colombo, and make recommendations on how to modernize them to make them more effective, given the trends of globalization.
That led to him to stay there for two and half months this summer on a Fulbright Senior Specialist grant to analyze the teaching practices at the schools. For the first time, many of the nation’s largest businesses were invited to gather with government and university officials to talk about how business students are taught.
It was the first time that had ever happened, deSilva said. The business leaders’ biggest complaint: Business schools aren’t connected to them and don’t prepare students with the right skills.