How Indian B-Schools Should Find their Way?

An Agenda For Whole System Transformation for B-Schools

By whatever means they choose—running businesses, offering internships, encouraging action research, consulting, and so forth—business school faculties simply must rediscover the practice of business. We cannot imagine a professor of surgery who has never seen a patient, or a piano teacher who doesn’t play the instrument, and yet today’s business schools are packed with intelligent, highly skilled faculty with little or no managerial experience. As a result, they can’t identify the most important problems facing executives and don’t know how to analyze the indirect and long-term implications of complex business decisions. In this way, they shortchange their students and, ultimately, society. Things won’t improve until professors see that they have as much responsibility for educating professionals to make practical decisions as they do for advancing the state of scientific knowledge-Warren Bennis

A recent comment in an interview article by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s daughter on why she does not want to hire MBAs is a true reminder of attitude towards MBAs in the corporate circle. She quipped she wants people with life skills rather than over hyped CVs. The MBA programs itself have become overhyped with less content on delivery and more stress on managing a show business.

Being an MBA, while writing this article it is hurting but it is still true. Being a part of the community of MBA teaching fraternity, I too am a part of the blame, and loved my bubblotoniasm and hyperboles till recently. This article is soulful honest conversation with self in an attempt to bring change and inviting fellow bubblotonians for a whole system change.

How Business Schools Lost Their Way

In the HBS article “How Business Schools Lost Their Way” Warren Bennis, the leading Business schools are on the wrong track. He further ads-Today, however, MBA programs face intense criticism for failing to impart useful skills, failing to prepare leaders, failing to instill norms of ethical behavior—and even failing to lead graduates to good corporate jobs.

Carl Rogers, a founder of the humanistic approach to psychology, wrote, “As a In our view, far too many universities and business programs see education as a one-to-many process of transmitting institutionally approved theory and practice published in textbooks. Teaching is based on having information memorized and repeated, rather than developing an experiential and interactive process grounded in training people how to think for themselves, and therefore think better.

During the past several decades, many leading B schools have quietly adopted an inappropriate—and ultimately self-defeating—model of academic excellence. Instead of measuring themselves in terms of the competence of their graduates, or by how well their faculties understand important drivers of business performance, they measure themselves almost solely by the rigor of their scientific research. but because so little of it is grounded in actual business practices, the focus of graduate business education has become increasingly circumscribed—and less and less relevant to practitioners-Warren Bennis

According to Warren Bennis: It’s very different in schools of law and medicine, which deliberately engage with the outside world. Law schools expect faculty members to be first-rate scholars; in fact, articles published in law reviews are often cited in trials. But these institutions also value professors’ ability to teach. Similarly, medical schools carry on advanced biological research, but most members of the teaching faculty are also practicing doctors.

Why have business schools embraced the scientific model of physicists and economists rather than the professional model of doctors and lawyers? Although few B school faculty members would admit it, professors like it that way.

In recent years European and American MBAs seems to have found their way through innovative curriculum designing. London Business School has introduced the concept shadowing business leaders by MBA students. University of California US DAVIS School Partners with Korn/Ferry on MBA Principled Leadership Program.the program was developed in partnership with talent management firm Korn/Ferry and business executives, and it is modeled on successful talent-development strategies used by Fortune 500 firms. Assisted by Korn/Ferry, the School identified a set of 27 leadership competencies that both align with the School’s culture and are most in demand by corporate recruiters.

Sadly in India B-Schools are beset with the same old syndrome and loosing their sheen. Rather MBA schools are more like an Indian Olympics Team where officials,civil servants are on a joy ride, and out number the people who matter the most such as players,coaches and physios.Today in India MBA private schools have become resting ground for non-MBAs i.e. master degree holder or PhDs and retired professionals without core MBA degree and not even any experience in the industry/business.

Ever wondered why a people with fewer qualifications make greater impact

Life is a do it yourself Program. And you are the designer of your own university of success. The success is more about practical learning about business rather than spending years in a university. Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Industry never went to college. Nevertheless the master tactician was known to be well informed in every aspect of business. The attitude towards lifelong self-directed learning distinguishes masters of Indian dalal street from the university and b-school professors.

It is not about 9-5 skills that you are prepared for but about 5-9 skills. It is about working smart and letting your money work for you while you enjoy the millionaire life style.

It is about becoming a graduate from school of Hard knocks, Masters in Networking and PhD in Lifelong self-directed learning.

70 percent learning takes place on the job 20 percent though peer group learning and 10 percent in a class room. The recent discovery of 70-20-learning by Centre for Creative Leadership and shifting focus on EQ over IQ after Daniel Goleman’s signifies the need for practical education over rote learning.

Gurgaon is the builder driven dream bubble world cocooning you in a make belief existence in a luxurious air-conditioned four walls. The ostentatious make belief lifestyle makes the wannabe rich bubblomaniacs ignore the realities of outside world that is bereft of governance and system that can sustain the massive influx.

Similarly MBAs live in a Bubblotonian world and so do the B-school academics. Here is an excerpt from the word press blog post titled Dear Academia: Are we thought leaders or thought followers’ Academics exists little bubble. It is our bubblenes what makes us valuable to the society at large. It is our lack of ties to the world outside that shelters us from fads, fashions and distances us from vested interest and agenda. It is the bubbleness that is our strength. The bubbleness becomes a problem though when we spend our time only by looking in the bubble, speaking with other bubble residents; writing and reading texts that are written by or read by other bubbleotonians and inaccessible to anyone outside the bubble.

Sadly we live in the world today that is full of pretentious bubbledom. In corporate life the name of the game is fake it to make it. As my previous mentor advised ek taka ho to sau taka dikhana i.e. if you have one rupees show hundred rupees. The name of the game is branding.

The age of Hyperboles

The biggest bubble has been the MBA degree in India. A snapshot from hell. MBA is bereft of any practical education is taught by academic bubblotonians sans business experience. It is like an accountancy lecturer wearing a suit and tie delivering lecture on financial strategy or retired professionals delivering lecture on organisational strategy after a correspondence masters, while speaking in accentuated hyperboles in an obvious attempt to sensationalise the banal in return get the emotional buy ins from students.

Impression Management: Fake it until you become it

When considering the morality of impression management, we need to consider its end products. If the end is to create positive impression management than it becomes authentic value creation.

If Focus is always fund management and window dressing, the negative impression management is on display. A lucky (or perhaps irritating) few of us are seemingly born with swagger, but for the vast majority of people, confidence and ease comes with practice and accomplishment. This native confidence is likely to be functional: in a world of profound uncertainty, self-serving delusion probably helps people to get out of bed and chase their pet projects.

But it can be poison when the job calls for expertise and accountability, and the expertise is wanting.

If your aspiration does not match with people capabilities, quality suffer the most. That is the difference between posers and doers.

Rich Dads and Poor Dads of India.

“The poor and middle class work hard for their money. The Rich have their money work hard for them.” In a way Indian MBA education is a middle class education. Preparing Indians for an MNC job and follow instructions of the boss in another country.

“Rich Dad World’s goal is to increase your financial IQ, and bring you a world of possibilities, a world of learning, a world of understanding. A take charge world, where you’ll be equipped to take command of your finances and live a Rich life.

Indian Family managed Business class has always distinguished itself in India with other middle class. Be it the attitude towards life or the attitude towards education they followed a practical education approach. It is said when rest of India is busy reacting to weather, drought, calamities and waiting for miracle to happen, the Dalal street penny less would-b- billionaire is busy charting his next ten year plan on how to earn his billion. His mind is full of future money he is going to earn. He acts as if he has all the money and acts on his believes till he makes it.

Life is a do it yourself Program. And you are the designer of your own university of success. The success in Dalal street is more about practical learning about business rather than spending years in a university. Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Industry never went to college. Nevertheless the master tactician was known to be well informed in every aspect of business. The attitude towards lifelong self-directed learning distinguishes masters of dalal street from the university and b-school professors.

The article is about becoming a graduate from school of Hard knocks, Masters in Networking and PhD in Lifelong self directed learning.

It is not about 9-5 skills that you are prepared for but about 5-9 skills. It is about working smart and letting your money work for you while you enjoy the millionaire life style.

Education of a Rich Dad’s son

Education of baniya similarly begins seating in fathers Dukaan(shop), while other friends are playing cricket and enjoying life. His playing field is not being a part of gossip group or cricket field but counting cash for his father and maintaining the account at the end of the day. He gets his father or uncle as the coach and mentor to teach him business nuances. He flunks classes not for watching movies with friends but for helping his father or uncle to deal with extra customers during festive business. At the dinner table discussion is not on becoming an engineer or doctor but about art of doing business and making the next business deal.

He is again busy planning for his next business during holidays when friends are preparing for IITs and civil service.

The Future -CEO of the family managed business learns by travelling the world. Being a part of a start up project early. And having a mentor in another businessman who has gone through the grind.

Asharm Vs IIMs

Similarly Ashrams and sadhu babas have much bigger influence in running of a corporate than IIMs and business coaches.

A laxmi puja or Geeta path or a yoga camp is always a bigger team building event than a corporate team building retreat conducted by XLRI.

A businessman would always prefer son to learn practical business skills by shadowing him or another business man friend than spend two years in an MBA.

Honestly more number of millionaires are made by this book and Magic of Thinking Big then an MBA from top business school.

Bill gates started Microsoft and dropped out of college after reading the book’The Science of Getting Rich”. Rhonda Byne after going though failure in life read the same book and made internationally successful documentary’ The Secret”. The whole networking marketing business is based on the ‘ Magic of Thinking Big’.

Education of a Poor Dad’s Indian MNC CEO: The piggy back riders going after low hanging fruits

“The poor and middle class work hard for their money. The Rich have their money work hard for them.”

The MBA education system is itself American. The case studies are from Harvard. American education system is driven by academic experts who are thoroughly research oriented.

When you read a book by expert authors like Jim Collins, Marshall Gold smith, Peter Drucker and Ram Charan, you will be amazed at the level work they have done before writing those books.

All top B-school professors are known experts across the world. They engage with the industry and produce master pieces that become the buzz of the industry. Apart from Dr Udai Pareek and T.V.Rao, the known experts of HR in India, the academic circle’s absence is very perceptible for thought leadership for Indian industry.

And Indian professors except for those who have contributed to academic journals though quality research mostly do a copy paste job in the class room. Instead of bragging about Harvard case study approach why can’t professors brag about their own research in Indian family managed business?

The result is our B-schools have become places where produce copy paste experts who rampantly copy their project reports and learn to get the job done though networking only.

The Indian MBA trend: The rise of AICTE approved teaching shops

Internationally MBA degree standard is set by Association of MBA, UK; AASCB, USA and EQUIS. The colleges are rated on the basis of professionalism in education through a rigorous process. AICTE in India was set up with similar objective but somehow increasingly it has lost its credibility due to corruption are arbitrariness in its procedures.

The MBA education of all other education was started as practical education or finishing school for future business leaders. The practical educations needs real time professionals to teach MBA students on what really happens the business world. You will find people from diverse background coming in teaching management. You will not be surprised to find a chartered accountant teaching organisational behaviour or an ex-army professional teaching nuances of accounting principles whether or not studied it for his master degree but with practical experience in the industry or business.

Nevertheless in India today its embrace all philosophy has become more of a liability. Today in India MBA private teaching shops has become resting ground for all professionals any master degree holder or PhDs and retired professionals with or without core MBA degree and not even an experience in the industry/business. We have embraced the first but not the most important part i.e. practical exposure or experience.

These people once in control are out to prove that real MBAs are not part of teaching fraternity. They will find ways to say that international management graduates even from Harvard are not eligible to teach in India.

After 1994-95 the b-school boom started picking up. When AICTE opened up there was proliferation of b-schools. With the proliferation there was increasing demand for management teachers. Problem is b-schools started for profit mostly relied on retired professionals from industry and army due to cheap availability.

The academic competition through knowledge acquisition became the preference of by gone era. As these retired professionals focussed more on other aspects of management rather than driving educational vision in an academic environment. I can teach any subject attitude by these professionals has led to lack of specialisation and in-depth research in education of management.

Education of a Poor Dad’s Indian MNC CEO: The piggy back riders going after low hanging fruits

Recently when my daughter decided for bachelor in mass-communication instead of a BBA. We supported her whole heartedly. Mass communication is a specialised education and the educators need to be specialised people.

The MBA education is known its generalist approach. An MBA again can fit in any role approach.

The one size fit in approach produces professionals with high ambitions with I can do anything attitude. Today, a management college is no more a place of professional MBA educated professors or industry experienced professionals.

Accept for the top few b-schools in India. The education in MBA colleges is far from satisfactory. And the top MBAs do not prefer to stay in India. What India gets is B-players and C-players.

The lack of originality in modern day education has produced MBAs, who copy paste with impunity and take credit for jugaad anything attitude. Our education is producing more bits and pieces player with vanilla competency preferred by MNCs model of producing canned programs. MNCs do not need experts they need copy paste executives who can present themselves well, as quoted by a senior level person from an MNC consulting firm.

As a faculty of various b-schools in Delhi, author has a practice of examining students on the basis of a research project instead of midterm examination. On a sample size of 50 students taught in last five years, of which 17 first year students and rest 2nd year students examined the submitted reports. Except 6 students an incredible 44 students have copy pasted the report from the internet by doing a last minute shoddy job.

Ber Saraisation of Indian Education

In visit to a school as the project leader of ADB Meghalaya Human Capital project with ADB team last year, we were seating in a meeting in a school, which the project has funded. We heard the noise rather a deafening crescendo seemingly students were loudly reading chapters from the book. When quizzed the principal proudly said the students are preparing for the next day’s examination. In the poor state of affairs of cramming in education how do we expect the students to be innovators? More over the Google University has provided fodder for copy paste education as our education system only focuses on testing knowledge and not its application.

Ber Sarai in Delhi, is a popular area for MBA and PhD students who prefer a short cut root. The shops have expertise in producing project reports and PhD papers if you are ready to pay the price. As per report by a recent news channel, they hire PhDs from top universities to do the job for you.

Now Imagine an MBA who has produced the summer project report not by working in any organisation but by buying a report from Bersarai joins an MNC. What kind of value he will be adding to the organisation. And if he finds a boss again who has gone through similar studies both of them will form a clique and find ways to obviate the system to their advantage.

People low in skills if promoted to a position of leadership will always prefer a team similar to themselves. They work harder than others and focus on relationship building for survival while blocking future talents to emerge.

Professors Virmani, a well-known academician wrote to me about the pitiable condition of Indian PhDs. Following is the excerpt from his email to me â€˜I remember a real life case wherein a PhD Thesis of a student was sent to me by a well known University as one of the examiner.  I found that the entire Thesis was a verbatim copy of my book.  I immediately wrote to the University to disqualify the student.  To my surprise, I received copy of the letter after six months from the University that the student has been awarded Doctorate by the University. I immediately once again wrote to the University. Subsequently, I was informed that the Thesis was sent to three examiners and the other two examiners had strongly recommended the case for award of Doctorate Degree.  Obviously other two examiners had not read my books. You can well imagine the value of PhD Degree from the prominent Indian Universities’.

What we want them to aspire for: A predictable future or impossible future?

The education system in India has produced a Ramnujam but it has produced more munim’s or yes sir people. In a recent discussion with South African friend, who is a coach to various MNC CEOs in India mentioned about the behaviour of Indian executives? At the senior most level it is hard find people who are assertive enough to question a senior western educated foreigners.

Even in higher education our MBA education needs total rethinking.

Industry aversion for Indian Academics

When you read a book by expert authors like Jim Collins, Marshall Gold smith, Peter Drucker and Ram Charan, you will be amazed at the level work they have done before writing those books.

All top B-school professors are known experts across the world. They engage with the industry and produce master pieces that become the buzz of the industry. Apart from Dr Udai Pareek and T.V.Rao, the known experts of HR in India, the academic circle’s absence is very perceptible for thought leadership for Indian industry.

And Indian professors except for those who have contributed to academic journals though quality research mostly do a copy paste job in the class room. Instead of bragging about Harvard case study approach why can’t professors brag about their own research in Indian family managed business?

The result is our B-schools have become places where we produce copy paste experts who rampantly copy their project reports and learn to get the job done though networking only.

In a way Indian MBA education has become a middle class education. Preparing Indians for an MNC job and follow instructions of the boss in another country.

In the Linkedin and Facebook age, the trends seems to be more towards personal branding. Many of us have fallen prey to the adage ‘Fake it -till you make it. Impression management is the key to having declared that we have arrived. The adage â€œjo dikhta hai yoh bikta hai ”is more in vogue..

The market is taken over certified practitioners of American management gurus, who actually have been taught to duplicate the work by these gurus. It is all about packaging and the trend is to be sold by the package.

Current trend of certification program by western experts again is producing more piggy back riders. This is a clear indication of lack of excellence and confidence our ability to produce materials through research. MNC consulting firms act as mere marketing agents of American gurus.

In a recent discussion on future of work by top four  major consulting firm’s Indian partners in a HRD network presentation, I was appalled by lack of original research. All of them were suave marketing agents of canned programs i.e one size fits all strategy adopted by premier consultants.

Indian B-School academics instead of focusing on MNCs must focus on Indian FMBs. S.P.Jain is the first institute in India that introduced FMB program and has been an outstanding success. The case studies taught are Indian and student undertake project in Indian FMBs.

The solution is thinking different and bringing immediate changes otherwise, Indian academic brand will further suffer for an identity crisis.

A call for academic activism

The real danger is Indian mega education projects has gone in the hands of MNC consultants who employ copy paste experts to do the job at a minimum cost. As such the Indian education projects are not by product of our aspiration for children, but an import of a project in another country.

The present day academia slumber and lack of educational activism in universities and B-schools have resulted in MNC sales boys taking over India through packaged products. It is time we stop MNC consulting firms flex their muscles and pass any body as an academic/education expert.

The cure lies in academic activism in social media and bringing thought leadership and not only writing for non-descript journals. Thought leadership will come when you are thinking deeply and become a reflective practitioner of your action. Let the classroom become the experimentation ground of creating leaders for the future. If each educator takes a vow that I will mentor a Ramanujam/ a bill gates/ a Sachin world will be a great place. It is about setting impossible goals and helping our pupils adopt a self-directed learning approach through school of hard knocks. The role of educator is to inspire, motivate and handhold the mentee in the initial period of self-doubt.

The real academic activism is going with the industry trends by actively contributing to industry though research as well as providing active thought leadership by driving projects. Associating with government establishments by providing solutions. Then only the reliance of industry and government will improve on Indian Gurus.

Educational change project needs academic vision. A project lacking academic vision as good as a PhD from BerSarai University.

A time for academic engagement

The skillful management of energy, individually and organizationally, makes possible what Loehr and Swartz call full engagement.  "Full engagement requires us to be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our own immediate self-interest. It means being able to immerse yourself in the mission you are on, whether that is grappling with a creative challenge at work, managing a group of people on a project, spending time with loved ones, or simply having fun. Full engagement implies a fundamental shift in the way we live our lives.

Creating a new and different future for ourselves as individuals, for our organizations, for our community requires individual and collective acts of leadership. This is a leadership responsibility that each of us can assume within our own sphere of influence - opening the dialogue, reaching out, connecting, expanding our perspective and by questioning our action.

This calls for an action research by academics and cooperative enquiry to examine our actions and contribution to the society.

Action research is a practice for the systematic development of knowing and knowledge, but based in a rather different form from traditional academic research. It has different purposes, is based in different relationships, it has different ways of conceiving knowledge and its relation to practice. We can define it broadly as  

… a participatory, democratic process concerned with developing practical knowing in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes, grounded in a participatory worldview… It seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practical solutions to issues of pressing concern to people, and more generally the flourishing of individual persons and their communities. (Reason & Bradbury, 2001a:1)

A co-operative inquiry group consists of people who share a common concern for developing understanding and practice in a specific personal, professional or social arena. All are both co-researchers, whose thinking and decision-making contributes to generating ideas, designing and managing the project, and drawing conclusions from the experience; and also co-subjects, participating in the activity which is being researched. Co-operative inquiry groups cycle between and integrate four forms of knowing—experiential, presentational, propositional and practical (Heron, 1996; Heron & Reason, 2001

Play a bigger game- Play It Big and Play it Large

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." Gandhi

The following is an excerpt from the blog article 7 STEPS TO PLAYING A MUCH BIGGER GAME by Dave Navarro” There’s an old saying that “Nothing works until you do” – and it couldn’t be more true. No matter how much you might wish for heaven and earth to move just because you want it to, you have to cowboy up and take action.  The problem is that most of us don’t take actions that match up with our goals - we’re not “congruent” with them and we play small. And that doesn’t get us anywhere.

If you want to shave years off of the time it takes to get to your “stretch” goals you need to do some stretching yourself – you’re going to need to play a much bigger game. No doubt you know this already (you hear it everywhere, don’t you?), but have you really been doing something about it?”

Academics unless play a bigger game the chances of getting dominated by others in your own game will continue. Only option will be to kowtow to the much lesser qualified civil servants, political bosses and MNC sales boys.

A Final word for academics           

         Most people spend more time planning their vacations than planning their careers, according to Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com. "We dream, worry, agonize, fantasize about our careers, and yet many of us just let them happen to us." Indian academics seems to live in a fantasy world similarly.

Monster's F.A.M.E Attitudes

• Think like a Free Agent
• Train like an Athlete
• Prepare Like a Marketer
• Work Like an Entrepreneur

Taylor describes F.A.M.E. as an attitude of lifelong career management. "If you think like a free agent, you're taking responsibility for your own career. If you train like an athlete, you're pouring energy into productive and exciting work. If you prepare like a marketer, you're building an irresistible personal brand. If you work like an entrepreneur, you will succeed in unexpected ways. Entrepreneurs follow the credo "the harder you work, the luckier you get."

What a B-Schools must do achieve a star status and Institution Building?

“When You Design, Package and Plan the Game you own the Game”

Establish a very strong Industry interaction, on all major fronts through a combination of media PR activity, active participation in industry bodies, placements, exchange program abroad, innovative low cost marketing campaign and helping the director become brand ambassador/CEO Coach.

1.      Adopt CEO based approach to Appoint B-School Directors with Authentic Leadership Presence and market them as CEO Gurus-

2.      Establish a DACUM process by involving industry experts to design competency based curriculum design that helps students acquire leadership proficiency through 70-20-10 learning system. Where 70 percent weightage is given on project based learning, 20 percent on peer group master mind learning group interaction and 10 percent on class rooms. Faculty act more like academic and career management coaches by acquiring certification from International Coach Federation.

3.      Establish a competency based grooming mechanism for faculty members and they should be assessed on 360 degree feedback and creation individual development plan though MOOC courses, Faculty Development Programs and regular work based project assignments.

4.      Appoint good faculties with MBAs+Phds/Sr Industry professionals who can Conduct regular EDPs and long term consulting projects with the Industry by involving students that will help effective integration of theory with practice.

5.      Allow non MBAs and PhDs from non-business back ground undertake one year bridge program involving an in-company internship and research project while working under a senior business leader as an executive assistant.

6.      Establish a Professional Doctorate senior fellows in residence program that allows past industry CEOs and VPs to work as adjunct/full professors while pursuing research/acquiring PhD.

7.      Organize summer internship/consulting projects on diverse innovative themes.

8.      Involve faculty and students in international project assignments in collaboration with B-Schools abroad.

9.      Develop partnership with industrial bodies like FICCI, AIMA, HRD Network, ASSOCHAM and CII.

10.  Encourage faculty write blogs, books and articles in newspapers.

11.  Contemporary and relevant curriculum with international orientation with AMBA accreditation rather than AICTE.

Prof Pravat Mahapatra the author of article has more than 27 years of experience with various top B-schools and industry associations i.e. Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra; All India Management Association; Indian Society of Training and Development in leadership positions and internationally with prestigious Maastricht School of Management-Holland, European Union funded project in University of Turin, Italy and Ministry of man power in Oman.

In 2004, when he was selected to lead outreach MBA program for India centre of Maastricht School of Management, he visited top universities in the world including INSEAD, EDHEC, OXFORD, LSE and several others in Belgium, Holland, Italy and France.

An ardent believer of lifelong learning participated in certificate programs in Fordham University, USA and XLRI, India. An MBA from Maastricht School of Management in Holland; a Doctoral Fellow of European Commission funded EU-Cross Cultural Economic Program, Italy.