“By three methods we may learn wisdom:
first reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and
third, by experience, which is the bitterest.” ― Confucius
Globally business schools are often accused
of shelling out unethical leaders whenever global companies collapsed. Some
business leaders often blame that business schools don’t keep pace with the rapid
changing global business environment. And the business schools often blame business
world for not associating and interacting with them. Who is to be blamed in
this regard? This article underscores bridging the gap between the business
world and business schools through empathy, understating and mutual respect.
What
Business Schools Don’t Teach?
Most students opine that business
schools don’t teach what is essential in the business world. It is true to some
extent. Business education is not a technical education to do experiments in
laboratories to test and verify the theory and formulae. Business education is
learnt by the management graduates mostly by trial and error method in the corporate
world. You cannot become a crackshot unless you lose some ammunition. The
students must get exposed to the industry to gain experience to grow as
successful managers and leaders. They must explore, experiment, fail, fall and
bounce back to grow as successful leaders. Additionally, the students who
intend to pursue business education or management education must have work
experience to reap its rewards. It enables them to relate theory taught in the
classroom with their practical work experience. Unfortunately, in India most
students pursue MBA or management education continuously without having
employment experience. The ideal concept of Indian education is from KG (Kinder
Garden) to PG (Post Graduation).
Business
Schools Serve as Platforms to Management Graduates
Business schools serve for management
graduates as platforms to explore the corporate world. They cannot make these
graduates as full-fledged managers and leaders overnight. They teach something
of everything, not exactly everything of something. They teach various subjects
opted by the students. They impart business education to students with
theoretical concepts backed by case studies of successful leaders. It helps
students get into the shoes of the situation, explore various options and make
decisions accordingly. In fact, the real knowledge comes to management
graduates only in the corporate world as they experience realities and understand
the real challenges to gain their confidence.
Business
School versus Business World
There are a number of other challenges
for the existing gap between the business schools and business world. Business
schools prepare students based on outdated curriculum. However, the industry
expects the students to be plug-and-play employees who must be productive on
the very first day in the corporate world. Additionally, the qualified
management graduates find it challenging to adjust to the corporate realities
as what is taught in the classrooms is totally different than what is
experienced in the workplace. Presently the teaching pedagogy in business
schools is mostly faculty-centric, not student-centric and industry-centric. The
curriculum in the business schools doesn’t keep pace with the latest trends,
times and technologies resulting in a huge gap between the corporate expectations
and campus realities. Hence, to bridge the gap between the business schools and
business world, both industry and institute must interact regularly to find out
the expectations to deliver goods accordingly. There must be periodical visits
by management educators to the industry and the industry experts’ visits to the
business schools. It helps bridge the gap between the business schools and the
business world. It helps students understand and appreciate the expectations of
the industry and mould accordingly to grow as successful managers and leaders.
Bridge
the Gap between Academia and Industry
The educators in the business schools
must be a blend of industry, teaching, training, research and consultancy
experience. It helps them integrate their knowledge in various spheres and
share with students successfully. Additionally,
it is essential to encourage specialized courses to prepare the management
graduates to become master of their trades, not just jack of their trades.
Both business schools and business
world are two sides of the same coin for management graduates. The greater efforts must be made by business
schools to bridge the gap between academia and industry. To conclude, instead
of blaming business schools, it is better to empathize with each other,
understand the limitations of others and rise up to the expectations to ensure
quality management education.
“You can teach all sorts of things
that improve the practice of management with people who are managers. What you
cannot do is teach management to somebody who is not a manager, the way you
cannot teach surgery to somebody who’s not a surgeon.” ― Henry Mintzberg
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Professor M.S.Rao, India
Founder of MSR
Leadership Consultants India
Recipient
of 10th International Prestigious Sardar Patel Award―2015
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A very good article on management education in India. This article reflects your passion to management and your energy and experience as an educator.
ReplyDeleteKindly post more articles on executive education also.