It is more than 30 years since I first entered the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata, but I remember being overwhlemed at becoming part of one of the premier business schools in the country. Like my batchmates, I felt it was the first step towards building a promising career. Three decades later, though, some questions arise: Where are you? What could you have done better if you could relive the experience? What have you learnt? And more importantly, what did you not learn?
Whichever way you look at them, B-schools provide a learning environment and great networking prospects. They give you an opportunity to meet intellectually-driven, bright, ambitious and competitive students.
While most of the alumni have become celebrated front-runners in business and academia, the few who may not have achieved success in the conventional sense of the word, nonetheless, lead mainly happy and content lives.
That said, I wish I had a few years of work experience before joining my MBA. Also, while the educational curriculum may not have changed drastically, there are areas in which a degree of change is desired in order to equip students to adapt their education to corporate business realities.
Learning and understanding the building and sustaining of businesses is one aspect. However, turnarounds of businesses require a different application. B-schools teach us financial structuring and marketing strategies to aid business turnarounds, but the crux is cultural change.
Another critical issue, often overlooked, is understanding the "people" factor and integrating old and new ideas. Privatisation is going to be a key factor for businesses.
When we graduated, we couldn't comprehend globalisation from an Indian perspective. Transnational corporations, their merits and demerits, were the most sought-after trends. But now, innovation is the new buzzword.
Good leadership skills are the key to being successful. The selection processes employed in business schools are stringent and it is assumed that only a bunch of potential leaders can gain entry. But B-schools can improve in the area of leadership. It is quite possible to develop leadership skills, enhance them and hone them.
Today, we see a lot of non-MBAs at the helm of change in big companies and multinationals.Today, the industry and business schools are working together so that common needs can be fulfilled and success maximised. This is a step in the right direction.
Gautam Vir graduated from IIM, Kolkata in 1978
