A practical approach

WHAT THEY DON'T TEACH YOU AT B-SCHOOL

Sanjay Kumar Jain

Expectations have always been very high from B-schools and this has led to their unfair criticism. I would clarify that a management institution is not the place to gain specialisation in any particular field.

If you are looking for an accounts or a taxation expert, you should hire a chartered accountant; for legal matters, you should have a lawyer or a company secretary; for systems, an engineer and so on. That then begs the obvious question: why is an MBA degree so sought-after, in that case?

The reason goes beyond technical or theoretical competency "" the strength of a B-school lies in its ability to provide students a platform to improve their presentation and communication skills and to think clearly in a logical fashion.

It provides a general management perspective with an insight into a situation and the power to appreciate it. Which is why, it is better for everybody concerned if the executive-in-the-making understands clearly what he wants from life and chooses his subjects accordingly.

That said, I must point out that even in the short academic period, B-schools manage to cover a plethora of subjects "" finance, systems, marketing, quantitative analysis, HRD, strategy and so on. But remember, knowledge of these subjects is only the foundation on which you grow in your career.

A practical approach is very important and most good B-schools endeavour to provide it. But nothing can replace real life experience. However, if prior work experience could be made compulsory "" as in many institutes abroad "" it would foster practical training and a greater understanding of "reality" in B-schools.

Learning from peers (a critical component of management education) would also be more fruitful then, as you can learn a lot from group projects. Another significant way of building a greater number of practical aspects is by inviting more visiting faculty from the industry.

Finally, I would like to reiterate that what they do not teach in B-school is "living life in real situations" and there is no shortcut to learn this except living life itself. B-school just provides some critical tools to live it better and more productively.

Sanjay Kumar Jain is joint managing director, TT Ltd. He graduated from IIM Ahmedabad in 1993.