‘B-schoolers need industry training like internships in medical school’

M J Xavier, Executive Director, VIT Business School and former founder, Director of IIM Ranchi, says just like medical students are attached to a hospital for a medical degree, MBA aspirants too should be attached to an industrial unit to gain practical, on-field experience. “Like a medical college has clinics to which interns are attached to, B-schools also need to work closely with the industry. Why can’t you have a marketing or an HR clinic working with industry? Only then can the gap between academics and what industry wants from B-school graduates, be bridged,” says Prof Xavier emphatically, in an interview with BLoC.

Prof Xavier, who was earlier with B-schools such as IFMR and Great Lakes, says, “Today, there seems to be a mismatch between what the industry wants and what is being taught. The ‘doctor’ example is apt here, for there is no doctor who is only a pure academician. The doctor brings medical problems back from a clinic to the medical school, where that problem is analysed and dissected. Unless I practice, how do I know the efficacy of my teaching?” (Click here to view a video of Prof MJ Xavier speaking on why the MBA needs to be redefined)

Giving the analogy of the telecom industry, he points to many second rung B-schools (without naming them), and says that the faculty is in 2G mode, whereas students are at 4G level. “Often, students know more than the academicians; that’s the irony,” he says, “Typically, intellectuals should lead the practice, but today, practice (industry) leads faculty. They are unable to catch up (with the growing pace of industry and technology) and there is a big gap.” He adds, “Today, there is a lot of new jargon in the business world such as VUCA and SMAC. The faculty needs to cope with it and come up to speed.”

Typically, feels the Executive Director, MBA graduates fit into mid-level jobs when they pass out of B schools. But with IT and higher computing power, manual processes are automated and powerful computer systems help managerial decisions, making manual inputs redundant, or worse, outdated.

Giving the example of sales force automation that has become a lot more intelligent, he says it is something that automatically dissects data and gives advice based on how each sales person is faring. “Often, this is even better than what a sales manager can give. So a sales manager’s job is gone and you need only a VP, Sales, to report into. Data analysts themselves can give insights today and some of the campaigns can be automated as well. So, if middle-level jobs are shrinking, how do you make curriculum relevant for industry?” he questions.

While corporate jobs are shrinking, there are a huge number of jobs being generated in the social sector; opportunities are overflowing for entrepreneurship in the social sector and for techno entrepreneurs, he points out, hinting at where MBA graduates must look for opportunities.

Talking about the impact of MOOCs, he says in its present form, it has not made a big dent in the Indian education sphere. “Completion rates are an issue, as no one is forcing you to study. I feel a blended model will overtake the traditional model, where partly, the course will be online, with a face-to-face contact classes at regular intervals,” he explains.

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