Creative inputs for MBAs

Rediff.com carried this article today -

Talks about ISB being the only B-School in India where the students are introduced to the world of arts...Read on



Nitin Bhayana



July 14, 2004

Ever wondered why the MBAs are so boring? In my retail business, I've often come across people who tell me that I should hire them because they've done a great job in operations or inventory control or have a superb track record in rural distribution. This is not to say that these people are not bright.

Unfortunately, though, many of these future leaders lack the key ingredient that is beginning to become more important as we move into this millennium of creativity.

Apart from obvious businesses like retail where a healthy mix of business and creativity is a must, most businesses, whether it is the revamp of Mahindra's jeeps or the Barista coffee shops, could not be possible without creativity.

The trend is more apparent abroad. From music companies to banks, everyone is focusing on the issue which requires some serious re-thinking back home.

Why is it that all our schools and colleges that teach us complex case studies and options trading, give the arts a complete miss? Well, one institution, the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, has taken a bold step -- one that needs to be emulated by management institutes across India.

Vijay Mahajan, the former dean of ISB wanted to spice up the activity on his campus and widen the repertoire of his mature students by introducing them to the world of arts.

Mahajan went ahead to put together an informal team of advisors who would help the institute in devising a loose and informal arts programme.

The effort was to make it both interesting and educative for them. With the help of art collector and businessman Harsh Goenka, art gallery NGMA's (Mumbai) director Saryu Doshi, publisher Sangita Jindal, author Phiroza Godrej and curator Vikram Sethi, a full programme for the campus was designed.

ISB's programme included lectures on Indian art by historians as well as talks by artists from Krishen Khanna to Jitish Kallat on how they chose art as a career. Local artists Lakshma Gaud and sculptor Karl Antao were invited to be the school's artists-in-residence.

The students of business administration were able to see how art work evolves physically. They could delve into the thought process of the artist who was present to answer their questions.

I was invited by the ISB to talk on 'Art as an investment' earlier this week.

Educating people, or rather exposing people to the arts and thus creativity has far-reaching effects both personally and in business.

ISB's initiative is acommendable one and should be emulated by other institutions that could give their students something valuable beyond case studies and number crunching. It will help them develop as multifaceted leaders of tomorrow.

There is creativity in all of us, but institutions need to harness it and make art and culture a habitual experience and, perhaps, also entertainment for people. Frankly, an initiation to the arts need not wait till post-graduation.

For instance, it would be wonderful if high schools took their students out to the museum once a year. Not only will the children learn about the subject, chances are that they will become more well-rounded individuals.

Soon, the arts' elitist stigma may disappear, and, with an educated and sensitive public, issues such as lack of conservation, will be a thing of the past.

Now the fees at the country's premier Indian Institutes of Management are back up to their original levels, so they too could learn a thing or two from ISB.

As for the students at ISB, with the kind of salaries these MBAs will get after they graduate, hopefully, some of them would buy some art as well.