This New Year, as I sat in my berth reading a book, so that I could prepare myself for the conference which I was going to attend, my co-passenger who had been observing me for quite some time couldn’t withhold his anxiety and asked “Ye aap jo padh rahey hai Rethinking MBA, ye sab theory practical life mei use hoti hai kya?” I took a deep breath and looked at him, his eyes were still curios to know my answer. I replied saying “kisi ne experience kiya hai tabhi toh book mei chapa hai”. He nodded his head rather reluctantly and did not seem to be convinced of my answer. Now, I started getting curios about his question and asked “Par aapko aisa kyu lagta hai?” His eyes lit up bright as if he finally got the question which he had been waiting for and pat came the reply.. “ Mai ITC FMCG goods division mei Area Manager hu, I take newly joined MTs for field induction, but pata nahi ye MBAs apne ko kya samajhtey hai.. College se padh kar nikaltey hai par practical life mei bilkul zero.. aur attitude aisa ki hamey sabb ataa hai… Pata nahi inko classes mei kya padhatey hai”.
By making that statement, I am sure he meant more than ventilating his resentment towards the MTs just hired from from the plush B.Schools – He was questioning the credibility of Management Institutes in imparting Management Education and building Managerial Skills. Now having said this, what do you think is the key reason behind this? Many would contend that MBA should be taken up only after gaining few years of work experience, But given the demand of Managerial potential in the market it doesn’t appear to be a practical solution. Then comes the other aspects which form the core of their curriculum/education – “What is being taught (the content)? Who is teaching it ?(the Faculty).. and most importantly How is it being taught (the pedagogy).” Since the first element is almost standardized across the management schools, we will discuss the other two.
First, let us begin with “Who’s teaching”. By and large, the faculty in majority of B.Schools are the pure academicians who join as faculty soon after completing their MBA or Post Graduation and lack experience in Industry and Research. Given their lack of exposure to the industry and management they cannot relate the theory with management practice. Students may find it difficult to relate the concepts and theories that are taught in the classroom to the actual management scenario. For instance, one learns about the management functions of Planning Organizing, Directing, Staffing, Controlling, in college but can actually make sense of the managerial role in each of them only after being in work for some time. Though they might use interactive mechanisms like Case-Studies and Role-Plays in the classroom, their ability in getting students’ involvement and bringing out learning by discussing the crucial aspects of the case is skeptical. Besides that, there is no institutional effort to help teachers in the management sector grow. More often than not, the faculty are left to themselves for their up gradation. Though they are sent to FDPs, it more out of compliance with norms of accreditation agencies. A conscious attempt to measure and monitor the improvement in teaching after such courses is lacking. The Institutes should spare time & resources for the development of their faculty and encourage them to take up Industry Research which can be used in imparting practical knowledge.
Ideally B.Schools should enable students in learning Facts, Frameworks and theories of management (Knowing), Build Skills, capabilities, and techniques that lie at the heart of the practice of management (Doing) and form values, attitudes, and beliefs that influence managers’ worldviews and professional identities (Being) . Let us understand this with the help of an example. For Instance, "Knowing" about brainstorming, Mind Mapping and other creativity techniques does not prepare the MBA students to DO innovative thinking in the workplace. The latter requires sustained practice with, and immersion in innovative process – how to obtain customer insights, how to stimulate out-of the box thinking, and how to test and craft creative solutions. Similarly, to know how one’s actions and behaviors are impacting others, one must be aware of the values beliefs and assumptions which shape them. However, It is saddening to note that under the current system of education the scale is heavily tilted towards the Knowing component. The MBAs are taught and then tested only for what they Know and not what they can do. The focus of any teaching effort should be towards closing this gap. As without doing skills, knowledge is of little use and without being skills it is often hard to act ethically or professionally.
To make progress in these areas, Management Schools will need to adopt new pedagogies that facilitate the holistic development of an Individual as a manager. They need to move beyond Classroom teaching to a pedagogy that bestows students not only with the understanding of the management theories and concepts but also build skills and attitudes required for making an informed judgment and effective application of these theories under a given context. The syllabus should stressed to be a means rather an end to achieve learning outcomes.
“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.”
Praxis is the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted or practices, embodied and or realized. It also refers to the act of engaging, applying, exercising, realizing or practicing ideas. For an educator, having an adequate praxis is a way out to link teaching to practice. Through a pedagogy that integrates academic “praxis” with professional “practice” an educator can help students develop insights, build competencies and attitudes requires for effective management.
Critical Pedagogy offers a perspective. Here the students’ involvement plays a major role. A starting point for addressing critically is “To go beyond the affirmation and reconstitution of the familiar world to recognize other possibilities”. Under this approach to teaching, students are at the heart of the learning process unlike the submissive learners under the traditional approach who fear the expert status of the autocratic teacher. Here, the role of the educator shifts from an expert to that of a consultant who facilitates learning out of the interaction. Using reflective exercises and experiential learning tools, students are prompted to engage in critical dialogue.
Reflecting critically occurs when the student looks inward and Interrogates hi/her own thinking or actions, recognizing that a wider range of other alternatives are possible. Here the students are considered as ‘critical beings’, in other words, students capable of thinking critically, reflecting critically, and engaging in critical action. The educator here is a problem poser who asks thought provoking questions and asks students to formulate their own hypothesis which are then discussed and tested for their validity through reasoning and logical debate. This process not only enables the students to gain deeper insights into their subjects but also helps them in testing their understanding and application of the learnt concepts.
Techniques such as Storytelling, Usage of Metaphors, Critical Incidents, Experiential Learning are some ways that can be used in classroom as a way to stimulate critical thinking.
While the Critical Pedagogical approach can be invaluable in imparting skills and knowledge, it shouldn’t be adopted blindly without knowing certain limitations.
The main limitations for implementation of this approach are :
Student (Dis)Comfort with critical pedagogy ; Though some students may engage in critical dialogue, one student cohort that exhibits discomfort inhibits the realization of a critical pedagogy by whole.
Management Teacher (Dis)Comfort with the Critical Pedagogy: As the role of management teacher changes from being an expert to that of being a consultant, this requires a change in their approach, and willingness to face the anxiety caused by lack of power in controlling the class. Even those who claim to adopt a critical approach may paradoxically adopt a doctrinate stance and impose content and process on students rather than work with them.
Student Mix: In India, typically the majority of the students are from engineering background. To think about issues from diverse perspectives, to frame problems holistically it is essential to have heterogeneous, multidisciplinary groups to offer insights in classroom discussions.
Conclusion:
The perspectives that we have discussed in the blog may not be absolute solutions in the sense that they depend on other factors like Govt policy, University strategy - expansion Vs efficiency, Increasing control of pedagogy by accreditation agencies etc. but are indeed of immense value in taking a step further towards creating institutions which develop MBAs with the desired competencies for assuming managerial roles and delivering results. The need of the hour is to continuously re-examine the inconsistencies prevailing in current form of education system and mending it to suit and adapt to the changing demands of business where our trained to be managers are capable of both meaningful thought and action.
