B-school can't help you win the race: Kunal Banerji

WHAT THEY DON'T TEACH YOU AT B-SCHOOL: KUNAL BANERJI

Most MBAs are equipped in terms of theoretical knowledge . They can plan out strategy and make charts. But what is lacking in almost all of them is fieldwork and ground-level activity.

For instance, someone without experience in sales and channel managment may think incentives are all about discount "" but that's just the beginning. There's so much more to incentives. What I would suggest, therefore, is that all management students should work for at least four years.

Importantly, this work experience should be at the lowest levels in a corporation's hierarchy. Jobs in sales and the front end of organisation will give valuable insights into how consumers think, what causes consumer delight, and the finer nuances of running a business.

This corpus of knowledge is essential for a company to succeed, and most firms today are realising that their front end staff hold the key to their success.

Unfortunately, a B-school education lacks direct contact with customers. Management institutions work hard at improving your knowledge base and your IQ. But the focus on EQ is completely lacking "" they don't teach you to tap the emotional pulse of the customer.

Another advantage to having work experience before embarking on a management degree is that the theory you learn is utilised much better. After all, in real life, you cannot blindly adopt what the management gurus advise, chapter and verse.

You need to adapt, mix what you've been taught with your experience and the company's style of functioning, to arrive at a customised solution to any business problem.

In the course of my career, I have been associated with some of the best recognised brands in the world, including Mercedes Benz, Seagram, Rolex and Johnson & Johnson. My experience in brand building with these companies has been that business and society are intermingled "" neither exists in a vacuum.

That means that the organisation in which you work and the products you promote are a reflection of not only the financial climate in the country, but also the socio-economic situation. So you need to fashion your products accordingly and, perhaps, more importantly, communicate your propositions to consumers as effectively as possible.

Consider the different needs of consumers in the real estate business. One potential buyer may want a villa with a swimming pool, another may want greenery everywhere; still another may want a shopping mall close by. No B-school or management textbook can teach you how to judge the different needs of consumers.

When you see people trying to push a foreign concept on consumers "" and by foreign, I refer to alien or unwanted, not from another country "" you can be sure that it's the result of book knowledge "" not experience. Deliverables should be based in reality, not fantasy.

Brand building today is a much bandied word. What many B-school grads fail to understand is that it is not just about advertising or public relations. It should be a way of life.

Even if you're selling water treatment plants or enzymes for the pharmaceuticals industry, the tenets of consumer relations don't change.

What B-school graduates often fail to remember is that they are still dealing with human beings, with all the attendant desires, needs and aspirations. And every person who is a part of society is as appreciative of good marketing techniques as a toothpaste or T-shirt buyer.

In most companies, a good management graduate is not expected to do merely a good job. He is expected to excel and the organisation should gain substantially because of him.

That's one reason why companies try so hard to mould the individual to their particular style of functioning. Many companies say "unlearn everything B-school taught you and start afresh". But that's hardly realistic.

Instead, what B-schools can do to prepare their students for the tough road ahead is to make clear what is expected of the students. Don't just guarantee placements "" tell the students that they will have to make a difference to the organisation as soon as they join it.

But that's not what is happening at present. In fact, the trouble with some of the premier management institutions is that students are filled with a sense of their own importance.

B-school graduates expect everything on a platter. And companies that pander to them go on to regret it "" and such students, too, tend to burn out faster. It is far better to offer rewards after they have been earned.

Of course, the converse is also true. Organisations need to empower their employees so that they can enhance the organisation in the long run. That means giving employees the freedom to make mistakes (as long as they learn from those mistakes).

Given time, a little learning and a little intelligence, any one can do the same job as a graduate from a top-notch B-school. After all, it's not rocket science. But what he won't have equal access to the knowledge of others before him, who've faced similar challenges.

The insights of gurus of marketing, finance and strategy can be of immense help. But, that said, remember that B-schools can give you a headstart "" it can't help you win the race.

(Kunal Banerji is senior vice president, marketing, Omaxe. He is a graduate in international consumer and industrial advertising and marketing from the CAM Foundation, UK and has attended advanced management programmes in Melbourne and Hong Kong.)