'B-schools can't cover the gap between wisdom and knowledge'

WHAT THEY DON'T TEACH YOU AT B-SCHOOL: RAVI SHARMA

Ravi Sharma

What is provided at a B-school "" indeed, at any institution "" is knowledge. What we apply in real life is wisdom. There is a huge gap between knowledge and wisdom, and no institution can teach you to cover that distance. Only experience can fill that gap.

So, what B-schools need to do is provide students with experience, so that instead of graduating with only pure knowledge, they leave not just with knowledge, but some wisdom as well.

Management graduates today are more methodical, more exposed to management techniques and more comfortable with technology. But when it comes to practical experience, they are still as innocent as B-school grads were 20 years ago.

But then, look at any B-school in the country. In the past 20 years, there have been hardly any changes "" perhaps 10 to 20 per cent, at most "" in the curriculum or the style of teaching. Whereas during the same time, business has taken a 180-degree turn.

In the old days, what business needed were marathon runners "" leaders who could stick to the same route and follow the same goals, year after year. There are no marathons now "" now, you need to run "n" number of 100-metre races. And each race is over a different course, with different participants and different referees.

The days when companies took holistic views of their chief executives' performance are long over. Earlier, CEOs were assessed on the basis of their performance over five years or so.

Now, you are only as good as your last quarter's results. So the need to be flexible and focused on the short term has increased tremendously. But, unfortunately, B-schools are still churning out people who haven't learned to be adaptable and open to change.

Change is a constant in today's business environment. The culture of companies keeps changing "" either because of mergers and acquisitions, or as a result of the last quarter's results. Only those managers will be successful who can be rapidly absorbed in the changing organisation.

I must point out that this is not about teamwork. On its own, teamwork means nothing. At B-school, you associate with people with similar backgrounds, similar education and similar aspirations.

In the corporate world, differences abound "" whether cultural, professional or aspirational. What managers need is to inculcate the belief that nothing is wrong, only different.

Perhaps one way of inculcating flexibility and adaptability in management students would be through short-term projects. One year of the management programme should be devoted to projects with companies. This will, of course, require considerable coordination with industry. Companies need to give time and space so that students from various B-schools can come and work with the company's managers on real, short-term projects.

At present, most students have a hit-and-trial method of opting for a course of action. That's a big gamble, and doesn't always pay off. Early in my career, I changed five jobs in as many months. I tried out assignments in R&D, maintenance and purchase before I finally settled on marketing.

What I lacked was guidance as well as a clear understanding of my strengths. That is why I firmly believe that if a student completes five or six short-term assignments before he graduates, he will be better placed to assess his strengths and chart his future accurately.

The "summer training" students undergo at present doesn't really serve the purpose. The work they do during that time is inconsequential "" most companies send them off to do market surveys. Knocking on doors and asking people what detergent they buy doesn't prepare B-school grads in any way for the real world.

Besides, they're not really part of the organisation they are interned with "" they hover on the surface, without participating in any of the thinking that goes on in the company. And more often than not, the "strategic plan" trainees are asked to devise for the company never see the light of day.

What B-schools need to do is to expand the horizons of their students. As I see it, there are two ways of doing that. One way is, of course, through the assignments with companies. The other is to increase exposure within the institute. That requires increasing interaction with industry.

B-schools should invite industry leaders as guest lecturers and have their students test their knowledge against these people's experience. Of course, it's already being done, but the pace needs to be stepped up dramatically.

(Ravi Sharma is the managing director and president, south Asia, Alcatel India Ltd. He graduated from the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, in 1990)