In today's business world, things change overnight "" companies go out of business, products get outdated, employees are rendered jobless and so on. Dealing with this level of change is not easy, and it goes much beyond change management. It is more about seeing and reacting to 180 degrees of change. This is a critical area to which most B-schools don't pay much attention. In fact, there is hardly anything in the
B-school curriculum that prepares students for such rapid change.
The need of the hour is to train students to react appropriately and handle aptly the rapidly changing business environment. B-schools need to look at a more flexible education system so that graduates are ready to deal with such changes.
Surprisingly, the model followed by most schools is an antithesis to what's happening outside. The education model is a lot more structured, where management is taught with very little scope for creativity. In the real world, graduates need more of creative and imaginative thinking.
Therefore, B-schools must look at encouraging creative and innovative thinking. Rather than teach existing management techniques, students need to be trained in new techniques, and encouraged to come up with their own methods.
The leaders of tomorrow cannot survive on just out-of-the-box thinking, they will need to think beyond the box itself.
Take the Nano, for instance. Days after its launch, four other companies are looking at developing a similar car. Setting up a new assembly or manufacturing plant usually takes about two-three years.
But these companies cannot afford such time; their response has to be quicker. It is this pace that B-schools must train their students to match.
Another area where B-schools have been lagging is in developing leadership skills. Students aren't trained to become leaders and bring passion to work. The course material focuses primarily on managing people and students becoming good managers.
Good leaders are those who inspire people with their passion and are able to motivate them to perform better. B-schools need to instil the understanding that everything depends on people "" eventually it is all about one "P", which is people.
Today, leaders need to find, retain, train and get the best out of their workforce.
More than training students on management philosophies, the need of the hour is to instil good leadership skills in them.
Akkshay Mehta graduated from IIM, Ahmedabad, in 1987
