“Pressure Creates Its Own Bonds”

Blurb: “In IIM Ahmedabad it was a case study method, which I think was a good idea because it’s a dramatic shift from the education that you have till graduation level”

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“The worldview that is imparted in a business school is a narrow business orientation. Therefore, a lot of MBAs who come out are substitutable”

What has been the biggest takeaway from your B-school experience?

A couple of things. One is that it ground a lot of learning in real-life applications. It enabled the application of knowledge in real-life. Through that learning, it became possible to put passive knowledge into active use. 

The greatest value of B-schools is not what happens in the classrooms. It’s in the discussions with batchmates and friends, in the dorms. The conversations that you have with very intelligent people, coming from very diverse backgrounds, and the ability to work with them is the biggest takeaway for me. 

In a B-school, you are exposed to a lot of pressure. Given that pressure, what is B-school life like and what kind of bonding happens? 

The pressure is typically high in the first two terms. The first three months are very stressful, whereas in comparison the second year is quite a breeze. And pressure creates its own bonds. Most of the activities are group activities. There is not so much of individual work. It opens you up and also makes you respect people with different perspectives. 

Do you think that B-school students are also exposed to diversity per se, besides, of course, geographical diversity? Would you say they are a homogenous lot?

In some ways that is true. The backgrounds are very diverse. But certainly, the worldview that is imparted in a business school is a narrow business orientation. Therefore, a lot of MBAs who come out are substitutable. The creativity of an individual is not spoken to. This has been a shortcoming of business schools. It has changed to some extent, but I suspect it hasn’t changed a lot. I had a great time at IIM but I am not a great fan of the MBA programme. It converges thinking instead of opening it up. 

There is a great emphasis on entrepreneurship. Similarly, sustainability is another important agenda. What was the scenario in your days?

There were some odd references, but in a real sense, nobody thought they would be entrepreneurs. A few persons who came from business families went for it. That was also a case of continuity; it wasn’t a startup kind of entrepreneurship. Barring a few, the goal of most was to get a multinational job. 

Sustainability was not there but social consciousness was there. There were always people in a given batch who took up jobs in the development sector, working with the rural sector and NGOs. 

What is the biggest unlearning that B-school pass-outs undergo when they join the corporate world?

One of the illusions that an MBA gives you is that all problems are solvable, the belief that you know the answer and you have generalised skills that can be applied across all situations. It’s only partly true, it’s more wrong than true. Over the years you realise that specialist knowledge has its value. Working in real life the diversity is much greater.

Your smartness and the pride that you have in your intellectual ability is something you have to unlearn. And you realise that in itself it doesn’t mean much. 

Within the top league B-schools, is there a differentiating factor?

My own sense is that it’s exaggerated. I would only say is that in IIM Ahmedabad it was a case study method, which I think was a good idea because it’s a dramatic shift from the education that you have till graduation level. There were no textbooks. And the tests were also about cases. 

What has changed about B-schools in the last 20 years or so?

There are new subjects, of course. And the quantitative orientation has gone up, which I am not very happy about.

A lot of youngsters want to go abroad for higher studies, but when it comes to management education, our B-schools are still coveted institutes. Why is it so?

Partly because it’s much more difficult to get into IIMs which is why there is a sense of accomplishment, though they are not rated very high in global rankings. The second reason is that you get very good jobs and salaries. Also, it takes a lot of money to go abroad. But more than anything else, social respect in India is very important, and the social respect that comes from studying at IIM apart from the material advantage is rewarding enough for you not to think that you are missing out on something. 

In the IT sector, the opportunities are far greater internationally.  In the managerial sector, it’s not that dramatic. And it’s not certain that you will get a good job internationally. And when you come back to India, unless you have studied at a top-end university like Harvard or Wharton, it’s not so easy to get a job here. So, for a host of reasons, an Indian MBA carries a lot of weight. 

Finally, anything you wish you could have done differently while in B-school?

I certainly don’t wish I had studied more. If anything, it would be that I could have made friends with a more diverse set of people. It would be non-curricular, certainly. 

Meha Mathur

BW Reporters The author works as Senior Associate Editor with BW Businessworld