Monday, June 22, 2009
"Make Obvious” Series
Let me present before you a series of articles which are meant to simplify the most complex of theories, which have hitherto been quite evasive for the layman to understand and have never got the glory they deserve.
These theories with the power of their logic and reasoning have stunned the most celebrated and widely practiced concepts of our era and these would be discussed in this series using day to day instances as well as easy to understand examples.
The main aim of the series is to bring to the front those theories which have always stayed at the back drop and have never enjoyed the pleasure of “being discussed” by the family over the supper. I do not intend to claim that these are my original works or my own creation, but I do avow that the idea of educating my fellow “netizens” using this blog as a platform is completely indigenous.
In this pursuit of mine, I would be requiring corrective comments as well as better examples from my fellow “netizens”, which will further extend the cause.
I hope this quest to be a never-ending saga and as indulging as never seen before.
---------------Bon Voyage-----------------------
Taking India Ahead – The B-School Way
The Introduction
While contemplating over how B-schools have helped various nations in gaining strategic as well as competitive advantage, the first thing that caught my attention was the number of entrepreneurs, both successful as well as unsuccessful, that have been handed over to a nation because of the B-Schools.
The list is indeed quite long ranging from woman corporate honchos like Indira Nooyi of IIM-Calcutta to big-wigs like K.V.Kamath, M.D.,ICICI Bank, who is an alumni of IIM-A.
As Jack Welch has rightly said –
The Introduction
While contemplating over how B-schools have helped various nations in gaining strategic as well as competitive advantage, the first thing that caught my attention was the number of entrepreneurs, both successful as well as unsuccessful, that have been handed over to a nation because of the B-Schools.
The list is indeed quite long ranging from woman corporate honchos like Indira Nooyi of IIM-Calcutta to big-wigs like K.V.Kamath, M.D.,ICICI Bank, who is an alumni of IIM-A.
As Jack Welch has rightly said –
“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” ,
The B-Schools in India are proving to be a platform, a launch pad for great leaders to take their thoughts to a flight.
The Critic Speaks
A good thing about B-Schools is the way they nurture relationships. Working as a TEAM, which is the key to growth, is a major feature instilled into the graduates of a B-School.
Also, to contrary, I strongly disagree the way curriculum of all major B-Schools is designed. Most of the curriculum is science and statistics based, which though not incomplete but is insufficient. It is not enough to handle complex, unquantifiable issues like most human factors (societal norms, cultural barriers etc.) and all matters relating to judgment, ethics, and morality.
As Robert McNamara-the developer of many quantitative techniques at Ford and, later, the U.S. Department of Defense-ruefully admits: - These (above said parameters) are exactly what make the difference between good business decisions and bad ones.
With dazzling packages and growing prestiges, B-Schools in a way are indeed failing to inculcate ethics as well as they are failing to make good corporate citizens.
The reason I’m saying this can be had from Professor Henry Mintzberg of McGill University, who says that “the main culprit is a less-than relevant MBA curriculum. If the number of reform efforts under way is any indication, many deans seem to agree with this charge. But genuine reform of the MBA curriculum remains elusive. We believe that is because the curriculum is the effect, not the cause, of what ails the modem business school.”
The Solution - How B-Schools can be The Driver of The Economy
The solutions I intend to provide are evident from the way B-Schools are functioning in India. A point by point debrief of every solution is as follows:-
1. More emphasis on issues pertaining to humanities like Sociology, Philosophy, Ethics, Psychology etc as against abstract financial and economic analysis, statistical multiple regression, Laboratory Psychology etc..
2. Introduction of a MANDATORY entrepreneurship course in every B-School. This can be done through formation of various funds to encourage entrepreneurs.
3. Placement Holiday for all those who want to pursue their own ventures, i.e., allowing pass-out students who didn’t opt for the placements earlier to sit for placements even after a gap of two to five years of passing out in case the venture didn’t turn out to be feasible.
4. Making B-Schools accessible to a larger strata by going beyond the realm of tests based on checking analytical as well as language skills. Wild card entries to people with great Business Plans etc. (Dhirubhai wouldn’t have come so far if the path to success would have passed through various language based tests).
One Last Word
What I intend to convey is a message, that it’s the right time we move forward, riding the tide of the time. Its high time getting rid of the old “Laboratory based Psychology” to move onto a broader perspective which envisages inter-personnel relationship as a main focus, a perspective which not only gives importance to growth but also DEVELOPMENT. Because you can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and be in business tomorrow.
Ending on a positive note with a Chinese proverb and with the hope to see our country shine and become sublime.
“To open a shop is easy; to keep it open is an art”.
Let us all put backbreaking effort to keep this shop open and make it a vivacious example for others to follow.
The Critic Speaks
A good thing about B-Schools is the way they nurture relationships. Working as a TEAM, which is the key to growth, is a major feature instilled into the graduates of a B-School.
Also, to contrary, I strongly disagree the way curriculum of all major B-Schools is designed. Most of the curriculum is science and statistics based, which though not incomplete but is insufficient. It is not enough to handle complex, unquantifiable issues like most human factors (societal norms, cultural barriers etc.) and all matters relating to judgment, ethics, and morality.
As Robert McNamara-the developer of many quantitative techniques at Ford and, later, the U.S. Department of Defense-ruefully admits: - These (above said parameters) are exactly what make the difference between good business decisions and bad ones.
With dazzling packages and growing prestiges, B-Schools in a way are indeed failing to inculcate ethics as well as they are failing to make good corporate citizens.
The reason I’m saying this can be had from Professor Henry Mintzberg of McGill University, who says that “the main culprit is a less-than relevant MBA curriculum. If the number of reform efforts under way is any indication, many deans seem to agree with this charge. But genuine reform of the MBA curriculum remains elusive. We believe that is because the curriculum is the effect, not the cause, of what ails the modem business school.”
The Solution - How B-Schools can be The Driver of The Economy
The solutions I intend to provide are evident from the way B-Schools are functioning in India. A point by point debrief of every solution is as follows:-
1. More emphasis on issues pertaining to humanities like Sociology, Philosophy, Ethics, Psychology etc as against abstract financial and economic analysis, statistical multiple regression, Laboratory Psychology etc..
2. Introduction of a MANDATORY entrepreneurship course in every B-School. This can be done through formation of various funds to encourage entrepreneurs.
3. Placement Holiday for all those who want to pursue their own ventures, i.e., allowing pass-out students who didn’t opt for the placements earlier to sit for placements even after a gap of two to five years of passing out in case the venture didn’t turn out to be feasible.
4. Making B-Schools accessible to a larger strata by going beyond the realm of tests based on checking analytical as well as language skills. Wild card entries to people with great Business Plans etc. (Dhirubhai wouldn’t have come so far if the path to success would have passed through various language based tests).
One Last Word
What I intend to convey is a message, that it’s the right time we move forward, riding the tide of the time. Its high time getting rid of the old “Laboratory based Psychology” to move onto a broader perspective which envisages inter-personnel relationship as a main focus, a perspective which not only gives importance to growth but also DEVELOPMENT. Because you can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and be in business tomorrow.
Ending on a positive note with a Chinese proverb and with the hope to see our country shine and become sublime.
“To open a shop is easy; to keep it open is an art”.
Let us all put backbreaking effort to keep this shop open and make it a vivacious example for others to follow.
(Essay presented at ISB, Hyderabad for publishing purposes)
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