'Business boils down to managing relationships'

WHAT THEY DON'T TEACH YOU AT B-SCHOOL

Ashank Desai

At a fundamental level, all businesses are intricate webs of human relationships. They are about people. Every decision a business takes has an impact on people, whether it is the shareholder, customer or employee.

Management students must understand how to be effective in this dimension, because managing a company is ultimately about managing relationships.

Businesses are increasingly realising that their relationships extend beyond their immediate stakeholders to the society at large. That is why management students should be sensitised to the social responsibilities of a business.

While it is important to stay focused on targets and results, it is equally important to achieve these targets through ethical means. Values are as important as the bottomline. And this is a lesson worth learning.

Of course, there are many things that management schools teach that are later honed in the real world of business. For instance, B-schools teach you how to measure the results and outcomes of your actions; they enhance your analytical and problem-solving abilities and enable you to see the root causes rather than look at just the symptoms; and they improve your communication skills.

Though management schools arm students with tools and techniques that stand them in good stead when they become managers, there is one aspect of management that cannot be fully taught "" personal leadership. By this, I refer to an innate desire to grow continuously as an individual, a professional and as a leader.

Leadership goes beyond managing teams or time or setting priorities and agendas. It is about inspiring people towards achieving a larger vision in a manner that is ethical and based on values. It is about setting examples that are worthy of emulation.

Management schools must simulate environments where all students are encouraged to think like leaders and realise their potential to become one.

Ashank Desai is Chairman, Mastek. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, in 1979