Since the era of economic liberalization of 1991, selection in the country’s top B-school is often considered as a ticket to success. The new breed of MBA graduates were seen as the saviours who had the potential to put businesses on fast track. The MBA degree in itself became a symbol of making big in life. But slowly and steadily there has seen a decline in this pursuit and it makes for reasons to reckon upon.
As per the industry experts, topping the chart is outdated and irrelevant curriculum. Delving further it shows that there is an obvious gap between academics and dynamic industry needs. Another reason topping the chart is, too much influence from the international case studies. In the wake of learning the best practices from the foreign universities and organizations, we have in turn adopted their curriculum and case studies in entirety, leaving no space for the Indian examples.
India is seeing a downfall in private investments and finding jobs for the youth is becoming difficult. The way to entrepreneurship and start-ups is definitely one way forward for employment generation. But does it make sense if the MBA curriculum is loaded with what foreign start-ups did, when we too have some best home-grown brands?
India is a varied ecosystem in itself and what applies in the US will not always make sense on this land. It is time for the Indian B-school curriculum to be more adaptive and inclusive of Indian brands and use them as referral studies to be taught to today’s youth. Another problem faced on the curriculum front is the MBA is a professional course yet, the institutes adopt the scientific model of teaching, just like any other discipline. There it is important to learn from the best industry experts, who bring in both the best and worst practices of business.
Over the past decade, there has been a constant effort by a series of Indian business authors to bring this knowledge to everyone who seeks it. Be it marketing, strategy, leadership, stakeholder management and myriad other business topics. These authors come from all walks of life including academicians, industry veterans, research scholars and subject-matter experts who share their deeply researched theories and experiences. When there is so much happening on this front, it is important to be a part of this exploration.
But in this fast-paced life, will it not be nice if we could simply hear them speak at our own pace. The lockdown and the Work-from-Home culture does seem relaxed but I can assure you it needs more time management. This allowed me to capture the journey of these fabulous Indian business authors in the form of a podcast. The podcast culture is fairly new for the Indian audience but if industry experts are to be believed, it is sure to make its mark.
Secrets of Storytellers (SOS), is an attempt to cover authors from different business areas by a recent XLRI graduate, Shubham Agarwal. It is tuned on the lines of a conversation with prolific authors, addressed as Storytellers. Each episode asks one secret from these storytellers, hence the brand name. The idea is to interview and learn while listening, and not to compromise on either content or time. SOS has covered eminent authors like R Gopalakrishnan, Director – Tata Sons, who emphasised the need to have 20-30 shapers to make India a 5 trillion dollar economy. According to him, shapers run an institution, and display a certain mindset, behaviour and actions. Tamal Bandyopadhyay, of the famous column, ‘Banker’s Trust’, talks about the state of banking and finance in India. While, Dr. Shashank Shah, a Harvard scholar, stresses the need for businesses to think ahead of shareholder to stakeholder management. The podcast interviews many other authors, all of whom have spoken about their subject matter and its relevance in the Indian context.
On the lines of what our Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, it is indeed time to be Vocal for Local.
We strongly suggest the podcast for everyone. Listen to them on:
Direct on Web:
https://anchor.fm/secrets-of-storytellers
Spotify:
https://spoti.fi/2XAmDAc
Apple Podcasts:
https://apple.co/3hR0q8Z
And almost all other platforms which you might be using for listening to podcasts. Do follow them, if you find value in it, on LinkedIn.