Meet Dr. Joe Arun, Director, Goa Institute of Management who is a Doctorate in Anthropology (PhD) from Oxford University (London) and has single-handedly built institutions (Institute of Dialogue with Cultures and Religions or IDCR, and XIBA, Palayamkottai in Tamil Nadu), and evolved an Indo-French model of educational and cross cultural leadership at Loyola College, Chennai. His experience in education lists institutions like XLRI - Jamshedpur, IIT Madras, and Loyola Institute of Business Administration is unparalleled. Much of his world vision toward business education springs from his teaching experience at ISEG School of Management (Lille Catholic University, France), Angers University (France), and as a Professor of Crosscultural Management at an Audi plant in Ingolstadt School of Management (Germany), and Department of Textile and Fashion Technology, Fujen University (Taipei, Taiwan).
As many of you embark on a journey into the management world, here are a few insights that will make your MBA preparation, a whole lot easy.
Start Early. Start with the basics
It’s the first rule of thumb at Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard, that a general first education should be the first priority. Anybody who goes for a specialization in these institutions must go through first aesthetics, philosophy, logic, and a general understanding of the world. If I do not know all of this, I cannot be a good student of chemistry or physics or whatever you do. Foundational education is very important. To anybody aspiring to pursue a career in management, I would recommend General Management first, and then, based on your interest, you can go after a specialized diploma/ certificate course.
After a 2-years general MBA, you will come to know all that is under the umbrella of the field of management. But if you proceed directly on a one-and-half year specialization in, say, Marketing, you are likely to end up saying to yourself “I do not know any other thing, apart from Marketing”. At times, management graduates tend to block themselves like this. It’s like a disproportionate human body, where the legs are too big, and the head too small. Grind yourself into theory and practice in all possible aspects of management in a two years general management course, and then you can specialize.
Be it an individual or a B-School – what matters most is the core.
A core education is what you should judge before deciding on a B-school. These 3 should be central to your decision:
- Diversity – Follow a school which keeps students and the faculty in diverse groups.
- Excellence – Look for a B-school that is not satisfied with mediocre performance, but is always striving for the better 'I'.
- Infrastructure – Make sure that the institute you choose facilitates your quest for knowledge and learning in terms of the latest in technology, classrooms, extra-curricular facilities and other interactive forums.
It might be a B-School, but you still have to place Education above Commerce
Liberalization in India (early nineties) made an impact on management education in India – and life in general– it was looked at more in the light of commerce and markets. Educational institutions became shops for jobs It is not the Indian way of thinking, which has always looked upon education as building character and learning to be cultured. This was lost to globalisation; and management studies was the epitome of evaluating people as ‘salary giving’ objects. MBA students should develop an amalgam of different areas. You must be physically fit, emotionally mature, and intellectually sharp and spiritually sound. PQ, EQ, and SQ are all important. Above all, look for an integral education, so that you are integrally developed as a person.
You are out to build a career. Academic rigor has to be the top priority
I suggest that students first look at the academic rigor of the B-school. Say to yourself, “I am not going there for fun. My learning can be fun, but only when there is academic rigor.”A good faculty and a well thought out Programme are crucial. Next comes the Infrastructure that contributes to your learning; and only then, the placement and the salary.
Strong connect to industry produces the best learning experience
A company like Tech Mahindra will go to the best campuses, select the best students, train them for a year or two and make them fit into their company. Individuals are made into ‘Mahindra subjects’’, similarly every B-school has an emphasis or an approach to learning that forms the character of students in that way. If this process is connected to industries, every B-school will be able to form leaders with competencies needed for different roles in a counter.
If you are looking at a ‘specialized’ MBA, don’t go by rankings
B-schools have similar courses. What makes one stand out is the emphasis. If your emphasis is in Marketing, then you’ve got to go to Harvard. Going by rankings will get you nowhere. Rankings are all about perception. The media constructs an impression based on what they call ‘identity construction’. Social realities are always constructed. When the rankings are done in metros, small cities with amazing B-schools are often not viewed. So do a complete research before taking any decision. . Be extremely rational and have your facts in your file that leads to a discerned decision.
Doing an MBA means that you are getting grounded on basic and foundational principles of business. For that you need a proper environment and competent faculty to accompany you with the process of formation. Leaving aside the rankings, you should look for a B-school that forms you to become competent, committed, creative and compassionate persons.