Class-Room.
The word itself almost automatically conjures up a certain kind of image in our mind’s eye. Rows of tables and benches. A fan or two swirling overhead. The teacher’s voice droning on and on regardless of whether the students are paying attention or not. In many ways, the place where creativity is stamped out into rigidity and morbidity, where the routine is supreme and out of the box thinking is discouraged. Given this image of a ‘classroom’ in popular culture, I was really surprised when I first took a seat in a SIBM Pune classroom.
Here, new and original ideas were given space and time to breathe. Non- conformity was encouraged and not strangled. Inventiveness and an ability to think on your feet were given precedence instead of routine and monotony. It was like entering a new world. As far as I see it, my most memorable experience in this ‘brave new world’ happened during one of our Human Resources Management classes. We had to analyse a ‘succession plan’ in a case we’d been given and then have a debate on it.
I’ve been part of such exercises before and while they look good on paper, their execution is always a problem. After a promising beginning, they always tend to lose steam and direction. However, for us, that did not happen. Not only did our professor, Dr. Deepika Pandita, manage to keep the exercise on track, she even actively solicited opinions from those members of the class whose first inclination is to keep quiet.
An environment suffused with healthy debate was created in the class due to which peer to peer learning was maximized and we got to know about aspects of the case which we hadn’t even thought of before. I have a background in Law and hence sometimes my approach towards class activities becomes a bit too hyper-technical. Others from different, diverse streams have their own ways of looking at any given issue, as is evident. The great triumph of this class was that we managed to combine all these different points of view into one seamless whole. There was value addition in all aspects and respects in the exercise. Not one person in the class was left behind as far as participation and/or analysis was concerned. It was a collective effort through and through.
This, truth be told, is what classrooms, both inside and outside B schools should aspire to be. Without this level of involvement, learning becomes a routine task which people are doing because they were told to do so, not because they want to or desire to do so but ‘told to’; and as far as I see it, that is not the purpose of learning. This, in a nutshell, was my most memorable experience in a B School Classroom. An idea of a case study, executed brilliantly, with care, foresight and a sense of perspective. They say winners don’t do different things, they just do the same things very differently. On that day, in classroom X 101, we proved that this particular saying is still worth its salt.
Which ABG company would I want to work for and why?
As a Marketing Student, the ABG company which I would love to work for is Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited. One of the reasons why I crave this opportunity is because I’m intrigued by how one company which has such a plethora of different clothing brands under one roof, still manages to ensure that the message of ‘quality’ to the customer is in no way diluted. Whether you look at Louis Phillipe or Allen Solly or Peter England, it is always noticeable about how this assurance of quality in the messaging to the customer is not diluted despite these brands being targeted to different kinds of consumers. Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited is in itself, a lesson in how to develop, run and manage a company with such a variety of product lines.
- Rohit Sahay
Marketing , SIBM Pune