“Men Do Not Live Only By Fighting Evils; They Live By Positive Goals” a very well said advice by Isaiah Berlin, the oxford philosopher, especially in these times when our minds are so obsessed with war that all other thoughts have been crowded out. No positive goal of Berlin’s is more worthy of debate than the quality of education that we are being imparted as young people. All attempts to give color to the education –whether saffron or Marxist-are bad; but the real problem is that in the process, important issues relating to the development of the human personality have been lost. Education is not merely memorizing a bunch of facts. Our current system is producing too many such products with narrow minds. With our traditional middle class insecurity about jobs, too many are moving into information technology, other areas where jobs reside; but they do not possess the intellectual equipment to deal with the actual world out there.

Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician &philosopher paid greatest compliment to humanity when he characterized man as a feeble thinking reed:

“Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed. The entire universe need not arm itself to crush him. A vapor drop of water could kill him. But man knows that he will die, and he knows the advantage has over him-the universe however knows nothing of his.”

The prescription for a distinguished human life, Pascal felt, was to know the advantage that the universe holds over us, and to turn it around to our advantage. A liberal education –is one way to do it-to defy the universe in this pascalian manner-because it places the human being at the center of the quest for knowledge .We seem to have forgotten this with a triumph of the IIM /IIT culture and our understandable mania for computers, I.T. etc. Too many young people-I feel –even the CEO’s of our best companies –have a tunnel vision.

Management and management education are such areas where we ought to be thinking about how to breathe life into the syllabus so that education is not merely memorizing bunch of facts, or few concepts upon which the whole superstructure of the management science strives. I would like to call upon all the distinguished, learned & eminent management personalities-to urge and guide today’s youth and future budding managers –to get up; feel their youth like a nimbus cloud, start to create a self-to make them realize that you do not inherit a self, you build it. One way to do is to do it with great books. There is no royal road; but only the many roads, large and small, with innumerable curving paths and a thousand steps and turns leading to real education. Current management education in India needs to deal with certain challenges & try to overcome them -----to make our managers globally competitive—firstly there is a need to equip them intellectually. In my view, it could be possible, to some extent by familiarizing them with –the rich in knowledge, old books, Vedas etc. That does not mean that all the management institutes, universities etc. start teaching old scriptures, books of knowledge etc. rather the emphasis should be on teaching finest techniques, tricks, strategies etc. which our old wise men used to practice and they were successful entrepreneurs, business people. For this purpose, some of the learned persons of history &their notable works should be made part of the curriculum in management education throughout the country. Readings like vidur niti, chanakya niti, etc., which teaches management and administrative techniques used in different areas, are worth giving consideration towards. I myself can feel the difference having studied a little bit of Sanskrit.

Secondly, in my view, after giving the future managers an intellectual weapon—the next step would be to make management education more practical e.g.: -in a country like united kingdom, entry to management courses especially MBA even in a middle rated university is on the basis of at least 2-3 years of work experience. This makes the present student community think about their future in the global context—there arises a need for convergence between the needs of the industry and the kind of end products various management institutes give out. In this context we can defy the age-old maxim…by saying that “managers are not born, they are made”. There is a definite gap between kinds of people B-schools churn out and the skills set required by the industry. In India, generally, college graduates get into B-schools straightway after graduation unlike other countries, say the U.K. and the U.S. where some year’s work experience is a minimum requirement after graduation to enter into a highly intensive, comprehensive management courses. On the other hand, in India what the fresh management graduates have is a continuous academic experience. It will, therefore good if a person has a bit of practical work experience before going to a B-school. They have to know the practical aspects of the industry before they take up a management course. This is the only reason for the gap as these products of different management institutes—are unable to understand grass root problems. People without experience—also become disappointed when they step in into industry as they have a cultural shock. They want to occupy a place of power within two to three year’s time. If these are not met, we see them hopping jobs. Also the academic faculty does not have much industrial experience as they are deeply into academics. Visiting people from industry have their own priorities too and thus, not of much help. So there is a need of practical exposure to be given to the students.

Thirdly one another major concern in present day management education is THE QUALITY of education that is being provided at different management institutes. Various management institutes have mushroomed up in every nook and corner of the country, run by any tom, dick and hary. No doubt some of them flash—certification by AICTE, but that does not ring a bell for ensuring quality. They are just money minting machines, which after getting money for themselves—are damn bothered about the kind of education they are imparting. For sustained growth& maintenance, of management education and business; need of the hour is to develop a continuos, gradual and meaningful relationship between industry and the institute. It may be a private institution, university etc. Continuos industry interaction would also enable them to hone their business skills properly—which are required by the industry and get matched as soon as they come out of their learning centers.

Whether it is an old or new economy; leaders would be required. We would need 20 years to catch with the western countries like USA. In that time US would have gone ahead. So we need to move and perform very quickly. Speed is of great importance. Everything has to be done @ (at the rate of) speed. In the current scenario, people are getting more focused. Earlier the philosophy was diversification and everybody wanted to get into every possible business. But again, the thinking is coming back to –“core competency model”—this is also due to the reason that today capital is scarce &hence it makes more sense to devote all your energies in your core business. Today businesses are selling off non-core areas and focusing on core areas. Globally we are witnessing a trend where people who are not in core business areas are selling it off to the other businesses, for whom it is a core area. Example: -if a company got into the cement business as a form of diversification, it will be taken over by a company for which cement is a core business. We see economies of scale becoming important globally. So there is an increasing trend of mergers, acquisitions & take over globally as well as in India.

Indian workplace is much different than it was five years ago. Everything from corporate structure and hiring practices to schedules and compensation packages has undergone tremendous changes. The 21st century will see radical changes in power, speed and magnitude. We will have to cope more quickly with problems that are much larger and complex than before. More challenges will take place in the next few years than those in the last few decades. People and products not in tune with the changes are fast becoming obsolete. In fact, many of us become obsolete without even knowing it. A changing world demands redefinition of old concepts. We need to reinvent what we are up to The Indian workplace is much different than it was five years ago. Everything from corporate structure and hiring practices to schedules and compensation packages has undergone tremendous changes. In the present context, people with a high degree of leadership skills will be the most sought after. People with technical skills, no doubt would be required. But again, even technology needs human aspect to implement itself. Thus as a young budding Indian manager I:

“Ask less often what is in it (opportunity) for me?
But ask more often, what is in me for it”

This is precisely the crux of the discussion. This kind of attitude can be inculcated in the minds of the managers by making Indian management education more dynamic and able enough to adapt itself to the changing needs in the global context. Management in the future would not be what the age-old definition says-that is just managing the 5 M’s of management i.e. men, materials, machinery, method and money. Rather it would involve much of taking rational decisions----- the ones that would yield maximum pay offs for the business. This and much more can be imbibed into young Indian budding managers by a sound management education.