The global meltdown of 2008 offers multiple case studies in management. B-schools should cash in on them.

(This article was published in the Financial Express dated March 29, 2010 in which IMT Ghaziabad was the featured B-school in its Campus Page. I'm posting the same here on Ishan Rohit's insistence.)

I think it is appropriate for me to make a disclaimer here-the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the author... :)


According to the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “the only thing that is constant is change”. This dictum has been central to everything in the universe. Everything evolves, and the agent of change galvanises this process.

Management education in India has also undergone change and evolved in the past few decades. It started off by understanding business practices in the western world and trying to implement them in the Indian context. Somewhere down the line, we also studied the slightly different Japanese management styles. Indian institutions managed to incorporate the best of all worlds and put it into a concise curriculum to be taught to budding managers in our B-schools.

But what has come of it? Have we actually created business leaders who can drive organisations through times of crises and prosperity or have we simply created managers who end up making bad decisions in uncertain times?

The economic liberalisation started in the 1990s brought with it economic development in the country. The boom times brought with it opportunities like never before. Management institutes, sensing the need of the industry started responding to the market and began churning out industry-ready managers. The students were given a feel of the industry through internship programmes and the mind was moulded to look forward to the jet setting lifestyle in the corporate world.

Suddenly, the subprime housing crisis in the US snowballed into the worst financial crisis the world has seen since the Great Depression. The Wall Street banking industry caused a lot of damage and their excesses affected the Main Street. There were millions of bonuses given, but some of the over-pampered bankers were committing grave mistakes by way of short-term risk taking. Ill-advised risks were taken in the mortgage business. From mid-2008, the global economy turned upside down and ripples were felt in India, too.

It is said that no crisis should be wasted for the lessons it teaches. So, B-schools around the world are embracing the financial turmoil as a valuable teaching tool.

Maybe it's time to look at management education as something more than just preparing for the corporate world. These days, courses like innovation, creativity, leadership and entrepreneurship are in much demand. It is imperative for B-schools to respond to the changing business climate and come up with these types of courses. B-schools should also take conscious steps to nurture an entrepreneurship mindset among its students.

The real goal of management education must not be in pushing students for plush corporate jobs with mind-boggling salaries. It should rather be in sowing the seeds of entrepreneurship which would create more jobs and propel the country forward. The financial crisis brought with it various lessons to be learnt. The B-school curriculum needs to be revamped to include all these lessons which can ensure better learning, understanding and decision making by the managers of tomorrow. Most management institutes have responded promptly and are in the process of incorporating these modifications in the curriculum.

The global meltdown of 2008 offers multiple case studies in management theory and practice. B-schools should cash in on them to stay relevant.