D Shivakumar, Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo India, believes that the Indian MBA programme must adapt to the new world of change. The MBA curriculum must move from being analytical to adaptive, focused on people and empathy, he says. He also wants MBA courses to offer more on entrepreneurship and says B-schools have to fine-tune their programme. Shivakumar, an engineer from IIT Madras and an MBA from IIM Calcutta, cut his teeth in that school for CEOs, Hindustan Unilever, before moving to Philips. He then had a long stint with mobile-maker Nokia, which drove the growth of the Indian mobiles market under his stewardship.
In this interview, Shivakumar, who’s on the Board of Governors of IIM-A, dwells at length on the MBA and how it needs to quickly adapt to a fast-changing world.
What do new MBAs need to watch out for when they enter the corporate world?
The world has about 12,000 institutions offering a business degree. In India we have the maximum number of B-schools – 4,000 of them — and India produces about four lakh MBAs every year. Many students take loans in the hope that an MBA degree will help them earn well. Only 20 of the B-schools in India have a salary-to-fees ratio of more than 1. So, the first mistake students make is to shoot for the highest salary job. I would say that they should take the job with the maximum learning.
An MBA course is very different from the workplace. In B-school, the student decides to pick his subjects, his friends and what he wants to do. A job is not like that. The choice of what constitutes a job is rarely in your hands and you need to have the ability to stretch and work in ambiguous territory. MBAs want schedules and a defined timeline. The work-place cannot promise that. I would say have patience, learn a lot and do not compare your organisation with another. Each organisation has its own employer value proposition. And an MBA is a degree and not a guarantee!
The big debate in corporate India seems to be how to go digital. Are the young MBAs who are more social media savvy and net savvy than managers who grew up in the 1980s ready to show the way?
India will have the second highest number of smartphones in the world after China in 2016. Most students and almost all young people will be on smartphones. I know of many rural youth and semi-urban youth who have learnt subjects and topics from the Internet. The Net is a great equaliser in terms of information access and hence the attitude to learn is the key.
Fresh MBAs can teach the older generation many things about social media and how consumers behave and shop in the digital world. These insights, if tapped well, can be a source of advantage. Our e-commerce and digital teams (in Pepsi) are staffed with bright young people who are already moving and shaking things.
What are the qualities you look for in young MBAs when you hire them?
In a future world, one must be a good learner, be able to work in teams and handle success and failure with equal grace. If people can talk about their failures without blaming someone else for their woes, it is a sign of maturity.
How different is the MBA now from the time you were in B-school? Has the time come to re-define the MBA?
The world has changed significantly in the last 25 years. We have a new management concept every 16 months now and hence in about five years, the world has changed on many dimensions. The focus on customer, on innovation, on digital, and on business models are all powerful changes.
The sheer number of choices in the job market is another big change. Today’s good MBA is spoilt for choice. My batch size was 97 and the total number of MBAs from IIMA, B and C was about 320 the year I graduated. Today, one batch is about 500 people. We knew one another and built friendships among 97 people. Today, many students may not know their classmates right through their life.
Jobs have changed; we live in a consulting, entrepreneurial world. Is the MBA fine-tuning its programme to spur entrepreneurship?
It is interesting that when I speak at Harvard or Kellogg’s, the students invariably throw at me questions about their business venture ideas and ask me to poke holes in the logic. In India, when I speak at business schools, the students invariably ask me which company they should pursue for a job. We need more entrepreneurs!
The MBA must adapt to the new world of change. The MBA curriculum must move from being an analytical one to an adaptive one focused on people and empathy. This can only happen if the institute and the professors place a higher emphasis on practical learning. Professors must encourage a lot more industry interaction, B-schools must regularly invite leading managers and thinkers to bring in realism. Professors must take on industry projects and involve their students in them. I am sure there are many alumni out there from every institute who want to give back to their alma mater.
What would you like to see included in the MBA of today?
Far more practical, real, entrepreneurial topics
How do Indian managers compare with the ones abroad?
Indian managers are very good at analytics, very good at figuring out the network to make things happen. From what I have heard from global HR people, we could be better team players and better structural thinkers.
How have Indian managers got into global roles quite seamlessly? Innate abilities or training?
Our system forces us to work hard. David Ogilvy said “hard work never killed anybody, laziness killed a number of executives”
Your advice for young MBAs entering the job market today…
A good career is a marathon, it is spread over 25 years. Have the patience, learn every day. Put your company and team ahead of narrow self-interest and you will win more than you lose. Boundaries are mere lines in a digital world. For this generation of MBAs, the world is your stage. Play on…