Career

Economics Of MBA Education

Economic Times Mumbai; Date: 13-Jun-05; Section: Learning; Page: 15

YOU’VE done all the right things at the right time. After emerging victorious in gruelling tests, group discussions and interviews, finally you have that cherished admit letter. You are waiting to enter the hallowed aisles of the B-school of your dreams. Before you do that, here is some piece of ad’wise’, which could help you get the maximum out of a B-school education.

The advice is simple: DEMAND. The Indian educational system runs essentially on supply. Teachers supply the ‘most probable’ questions, students supply the ‘most eligible’ answers, which are in turn supplied by a last-minute stack of photocopies. If you apply (or supply) the same fundas in Bschool, by the course’s end you may be short of job-supply.

B-school education is beneficial only to the extent of your demands from it. I remember one of my B-school profs saying, “In a B-school, satisfying your hunger (for knowledge) is solely your responsibility. And if you fail to demand, be ready to starve.” At the end of my two years, I realised “to starve” meant to have no job or a job better not had.

A B-school student needs to demand not just of himself, but also of his classmates, professors and industry.

To demand more of oneself means to always remain enthusiastic. One is sure to find harmlesslooking people turning ruthless competitors when you listen to their introductions. Apart from the usual engineers, CA’s and commerce graduates, be prepared to find a few sports champions, statisticians and historians in your batch. Don’t ever underestimate their ability to add value to business discussions. These are the guys you will usually find thinking ‘out of the box’. Many times in B-school life you will be inclined to question “Am I good enough?” or “Will I make it ?”

That’s the time to demand enthusiasm of yourself, against all possible surprises and setbacks.

To demand more of oneself also means asking procrastination to take a long vacation. So, right from day one, make sure that all your assignment and submission deadlines are met and that it is not at the cost of quality. Let me quote another B-school prof to drive home this point: “If one makes it a point to meet deadlines right from day one, chances are high that you will be placed on day one.” I think that’s carrot enough to send all our lousy habits packing.

To demand more from your classmates means to use each one’s unique talent and skill to improve on the collective intellectual and managerial capital of your class. It may sound bookish, but one of the fundamental qualities of a good manager and a leader is to be a productive team member. If you find someone is good at dataanalysis, demand his analytical contribution in your team assignments. If another is good at presentations, demand his showcasing talent in group case study presentations. This demanding will also help you get rid of parasites, living on some sincere fellow’s hard-work. Each one of you, who has made it to that classroom, has gone through a number of gruelling tests and surely has some unique talent and skill. Demand that these skills and talents be effectively used.

To demand more from your professors means to always keep questioning t h e m . And the most imp o r t a n t question you can ever ask in a B-school classroom is: how does this (concept or theory) help me when I join industry? The more such questions you get answered, the fewer times you will find the need to visit your text book. In fact, if you demand enough of yourself, you will find yourself searching for answers (to these question) in shopping malls and stock markets.

Lastly, a B-school student needs to be demanding of industry. To demand more from industry is to effectively use all the available resources to enhance practical knowledge. The most important resource is obviously industry personnel with their immense experience and tremendous insights. It is my experience that whenever I approached industry personnel to clarify my concepts in an area of their specialisation, they were more than willing to speak to me.

In sum, the quality of your Bschool education depends on how demanding you can get. Hopefully, at the end of two years, if you have demanded enough, you will demand and command a supply of lucrative job-offers. My supply of best wishes to you.

The author is an alumnus of NMIMS, Mumbai