Financial Resource Management, Marketing Management, Organisational Behaviour, Macroeconomics Analysis & Policy: the subjects taught in one of the premier business schools in India is veritable. Case studies, group presentations, assignments, study groups for term examinations: fostering and bolstering our innate abilities to perform and excel in a group, one must give it up to business schools to inculcate habits necessary for becoming a successful manager through their pedagogy. After all, what goes in comes out right? Then what really differentiates us from the ones who decide to pursue the same degree through correspondence, may be? Is MBA really a-solution-fits-all? Does that mean that at the end of the first year, when we go for our summer internships, it’ll usually be the toppers of the batch who’ll make the most of it? After all, all arguments aside, classroom discussions are more to stimulate your intellect, and group activities can only mildly put to practice what the theory says (or does not).
The thought of a college fest triggers visions of unfettered enjoyment and unbound excitement in students. It gives them the break from the regular academic commitments, which they desperately seek during the rest of the academic year. However, fests are not entirely about fun and enjoyment – planning, relentless working and sheer hard work goes into pulling off an event such as Xpressions ’17, XIMB’s annual cultural and management festival.
In a world where employers want individuals who are capable of multi-tasking, working cohesively in teams, are enterprising, and have well-honed soft skills, organizing such events provide students with the chance of developing these traits. It all starts with the planning phase, where there needs to be a specific road-map: fine-tuning specific days and setting up some crazy deadlines. Teams are formed with people, who might be complete strangers to you, but you must not only get to know them, rather work with them in close coordination for the next six months. Then there is the task-delegation phase where individuals are given specific responsibilities and deliverables that they are responsible for, hence dividing them into teams under various verticals with the achievement of the shared goal(s) becomes the objective. Everything: from sponsorships, financial management, logistics, media and promotional strategies, operational challenges, contingency planning, and of course the eventual execution is handled almost entirely by student bodies. Multiple teams of students, led by their respective coordinators must achieve a high degree of co-ordination and efficiency to ensure that tasks are achieved within strict deadlines, and that the fest runs smoothly.
Students who are involved in organising and managing the fest develop a sense of fellow-feeling and personal fulfilment when they see the results of their efforts. Obviously, being involved in the organisation and management of a fest is voluntary and this is indicative of the intrinsic motivation that the individual has (What’s up, Organisation Behaviour reference?). Students end up working in teams with people of varying dispositions and learn to manage and resolve disagreements. They end up negotiating and doing business with multiple entities when they are involved in the process of securing sponsorship deals, and making celebrity appearances a reality.
Finally, as the D-day gets closer, there are sleepless nights; last minute arrangements if any, socialising with other b-school students as they arrive, juggling between multiple tasks at the fest to ensure these tasks paint a beautiful big picture - Xpressions. Last minute glitches and sudden changes in schedule may only teach one to be calmer and composed even in such stress moments, only to come up with the best possible solution.
What is taught in the classroom is almost always purely academic, with limited scope for them to develop the skills required to succeed in the real world (after all, case studies are you treading on the footsteps already taken). Involving oneself in organising a fest of such magnitude helps students learn things that stand them in good stead. Such people are more outgoing and may have an edge over their colleagues in the corporate world that they will step into.