'We must not ape the West but be unique'

IN CONVERSATION

MANESH SHRIKANT, dean of S P Jain Institute of Management and Research, is a man of many parts "� former CEO of Mukand and PhD from Harvard "� to name a few. He shares his views on education with Business Standard. Excerpts:

Why did you decide to disaffiliate SPJIMR from the Mumbai University?

S P Jain was a sick institute when I took over as the dean. I realised Mumbai University's curriculum was absurd. I saw a tremendous opportunity here.

There was room for new avenues, experiments and strategies. I had different ideas to bring changes and meet the industry standards.

The disaffiliation gave us the freedom to design the curriculum, revise it at regular intervals and plan our own programmes. I would not have been able to do that had we been a part of Mumbai University.

So what do you think educational institutions lack today?

Colleges should look at becoming distinctive. If you look at American B-schools, they are distinct from each other. We need to develop that distinctiveness in India. Unfocused strategy and aping the west is what most institutes are doing today and this should be done away with.

Do you think value-based management education holds water in today's competitive world?

Too much competition is counter productive. Management education is not only a matter of knowledge but skills and attitude too. An MBA approach needs a good analytical mind where you also need leadership skills with time.

Good CEOs today are not only the ones who are successful, but they are also humane. The emphasis should not only be on getting the students jobs but also to prepare them to develop there careers in future.

Endurance and excellence has to be brought in education and it comes only from three things "� values, values and values. Students should be taught the principle "� compete to excel and collaborate to produce.

Is reservation in education a solution to our problems? Is a separate OBC university a good idea?

The whole debate is political. What should be looked at is strengthening the educational base of SC/ST and OBCs. Reservation should start from bottom up and we should give them more specialised resources.

Take care of them so they become stronger and contribute to the development of society. I understand the problems but the way we are solving it is not right.

The idea to introduce a separate OBC university is good but then the university should be far more superior in inputs than the other educational institutes. To start with it should be at the BA or BCom level. Also public private partnership can bring changes in education.

What's the challenge that management education is facing today?

Our management education is only 30-40 years old so it cannot be compared with the 150-year-old institutes like Harvard and Oxford. There should be uniqueness in the education we offer.