In days when we read that industry bigwigs like Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo say that lack of focus on technology is degrading the quality of management graduates from the country; or the whole and sole of Tesla – Elon Musk saying that he wouldn’t recommend an MBA, rather he would prefer not hiring MBAs, how relevant and advisable is it to still pursue an MBA in today’s world is indeed a question to ponder upon! However, contrary to the notion above, with every year that is passing, we can see a gradual increase in the B-Schools in India as well as an increase in the batch sizes of existing B-Schools! This has been an interesting trend to observe indeed. While there is no question that majority of the individuals pursuing MBA do so in lieu of better career prospects or to be even more specific – bagging big paychecks! But is that all an MBA is about? Definitely not. Those portraying so are insulting the years of legacy that the Indian Institutes of Management have put in front of us. The kind of rigour they instil in the MBA graduates is something which imbibes holistic development of the aspirant along with academics. And yes, this is what an MBA is about. It is about “learning by doing” as one of the IIMs set up in 2011 – IIM Kashipur stresses upon. IT is about putting theory into practice. It is about peer learning. Moreover, it is about turning yourselves into a better person, a better manager! An MBA is probably the most efficient teacher of the importance of time and professionalism. Strict deadlines, cutthroat competitions with implementations of a bell curve, burning the midnight oil to be prepared for the lectures, presenting and studying of numerous case studies – name a thing needed to be done to be a better manager and you get to learn it in a B-School! Revisiting the point mentioned in the first line of this piece – while Ms. Indra Nooyi complained about the quality of MBA graduates degrading, she never discouraged pursuing MBAs. In fact, she has motivated a generation of female MBA aspirants to join top MBA colleges in India and emerge as world-class business leaders. Similarly, while some perceive the MBA graduates a misfit for the organization, it is probably because of coming across the graduates who did an MBA for the higher paychecks and not for the sake of being a better manager. Concluding, there is no doubt that the B-Schools are here to stay and so are the MBA aspirants. Similarly, the demand for these MBA aspirants is what the single largest factor is making undergraduates think of doing an MBA. Who are we, then, to question the relevance of an MBA in today’s world? References:
https://www.jagranjosh.com/articles/heres-what-pepsico-ceo-indra-nooyi-thinks-is-wrong-with-current-mba-programmes-1478503600-1