The ground realities of business

WHAT THEY DON'T TEACH YOU AT B-SCHOOL

Business ethics must be lived but, perhaps, can not be taught. I have not experienced or heard of

B-school classrooms attempting to teach the chapter called "reality in business". In fact, I don't think the same can be simulated in a classroom environment. There can be no substitute to the experience gained by living a particular situation.

B-schools do not clearly address the aspect of business that deals with its practicalities and the ground realities of competitive existence. Neither do they teach about the genuine nature and nuances of emerging markets, nor about the constantly changing scenarios and how to cope with such dynamic environments.

At B-school, you never get the chance to deal with the kind of people you have to in real life. Nor do you learn the skills of dealing with your own employees. The vast array of personalities you will come across during your entrepreneurial ventures can in no way be replicated in a classroom atmosphere.

Most B-schools require their students to work on case studies. In most cases, these case studies try to recreate real-life scenarios.

While this is an excellent way to prepare a person for entrepreneurial challenges ahead, it does not match up to the kind of pressure that one would have to deal with in real life. And someone who is as passionate about entrepreneurship as I am will understand what I mean when I say that that is the kind of pressure on which I thrive.

B-schools also do not teach you value-based living that should integrate with numbers, targets, goals, family, organisation and the environment. In my opinion, a course at business school is "hope"; reality, of course, is so much different. It is the individual's constant touch with peers, home and industry that helps narrow this gap. B-schools do not teach you to address this change.

S Yogeswaran graduated from Bharathiar School of Management and Entrepreneurial Development, Coimbatore, in 1989