Panelists
Bakul Dholakia – Director, IIM-A
Arun Maira, Chairman, BCG
Dharni Sinha, Chairman,COSMODE
Indrajit Gupta, Deputy Editor, Business World
P Viswanath, Director, T.I.M.E.
Ravi Yadavilli, Asst VP, GE, ISB Alumnus


Hyderabad: The Panel Discussion held recently at the ISB Campus drew large crowds both from the Hyderabad community and the ISB students. The topic was such. It prompted CNBC to air a special programme on the topic ‘Have B schools lost their sheen?’ the previous evening.

Do B schools add value? They certainly do – was the verdict. But there were caveats. All the panelists agreed that B schools need to do a lot more to enhance their value. Ravi Yadavilli felt that they need to develop creativity, risk taking abilities, and decision making capabilities amongst students. They also need to stop emphasizing on teaching and should promote entrepreneurship and businesses.

Indrajit Gupta was critical about B-School research and felt that it was too unrealistic and ‘ivory tower’-ish. They did not add any value to education. He also felt that despite India having reputed management institutions for a long time there has not been even one big idea that has been contributed by Indian researchers. Gupta felt that it was sad to see that top B schools considered themselves superior and did not contribute to improving the ‘poorer’ B schools knowing fully well that India needed a lot more quality B schools. With the country growing at a fast pace the need for good managers will be at least 15,000 a year and there is a crying need for more B Schools. Bakul Dholakhia remarked that one should enhance the large number of existing B schools instead of trying to create new ones. When asked about what would he do if here were to establish a new B-school today, Dholakia remarked that the Indian School of Business is a great example of what we could create afresh.

Arun Maira was the only panelist without a B school association, either as a student or as faculty. He brought in the perspective of the recruiter and what companies look for in b school graduates. He remarked that it was not analytical skills but soft skills of people management, leadership skills, decision making skills that were more important. He felt that B school graduates should guard against a sense of arrogance upon graduating as that would spell the end of learning. ‘ If you feel that you have arrived then there is nowhere left to go’, he said. Maira also remarked that that one should know where one wants to go, what one wants out of one’s life and not determine success in terms of the money earned. Direction and focus is important, he remarked.

Dharni Sinha added spicy remarks on how B schools need to be relevant to today’s real life issues of businesses. There has to be more interaction between B schools and industry and students should be given more real life experience. Viswanath strongly emphasized the need for the development of soft skills and guidance to students in choosing their carers.

It was an entertaining discussion with the audience actively participating with the panelists.

Reachout's News Bureau
August' 2005