Practical over Theory

[Applause]

i was born

in a small village of haryana

in northern state in india i come from a

household

where most of us are doctors and myself

being the old one out an engineer

all my cousins are doctors during the

holidays

we all used to meet in the village

and whenever we discussed the lessons

learned in formal education i was

feeling a bit different

all medical education students

were talking about practical they do

of whatever theory they are learning in

the class

to be frank that was not the case with

me and i was feeling a bit different

one fine day i have been asked

will you go to a doctor who has never

seen the patient

and obviously the answer was no

i’m asking you will you go to a doctor

who has never seen a patient

obviously the answer is no no one

want to take that kind of risk

and the follow-up question was why would

a company then

hire an engineer who has

never seen the patient who has

never practiced the theory he has

learned

during the formal education

to be very frank i had no answer on that

day

however that conversation stuff

with me later on i have pursued

my master’s in management education and

from day one

i was focused in gathering the practical

exposure and learning

during my management education

i’m a big believer in science

and science taught us many things

it’s an evidence-based approach so much

so

that even the practitioners of science

believe in practical and hence

i was completely focused in trying out

the practical

real own ground experience during those

days

and obviously i was not getting enough

opportunities

on that day i have decided that whenever

i will be privileged to give that kind

of exposure to the students

i will do my bit of it and that is the

reason

i’m talking to you today i don’t want to

give

the random theory but here

my conversation is to do my bit of it

to create the ecosystem where

the students especially the management

students

are exposed to the real on ground

practical exposure before they join the

industry

and my request to all the industries

please

create enough opportunities for these

students

who can come and get the exposure of

real on ground practical education

when we look at the current mba

ecosystem

there is not much space for practical

work

most of things taught in b schools are

theoretical

when i walk with my peers i don’t ask

them

for any textbook definitions i never ask

them the management definitions

when we walk in the corridors of

corporate

we discuss the practical solutions

and i would request each one of you to

close your eyes

and think about the practical exposure

and the internships you have done and

what kind of

learnings you had and please compare

that

with the text book and theory you have

learnt

which one you are practicing which one

has

helped you in the real corridor of

components

the textbooks we study in these schools

have

cases of foreign countries with

totally different environment in india

the market

is not same as in other countries there

are

layers of market and each layer

has further requirements

the textbooks which we read in mba

are not exactly written with the

market requirements of india there is an

evidence gap between the education being

provided

and the industry requirements today in

india we have to work towards

giving employment to our young

generation

and if we need to do that we have to

bridge the gap

of education and the skill set we need

this gap makes the process of hiring

tedious

because the process is dynamic the

market landscape is changing

rapidly you know before coverage and

after covert

the scenarios have changed but how many

text books have changed in management

education

what are we teaching before internet and

after internet things have changed

before jio or after jio industries have

changed

but how many new textbooks have come

hence this gap has to be

filled in and it is only and only the

practical

on ground real work and internships

where students and especially management

students

will get this learning let me draw

an endology here

my grandfather got married and he was

informed

one day before that

that he was going to marry when my

father got married

he was only shown a passport size

photograph

and he has to agree to marry when i got

married

i was shown in the girl’s photo and

got a chance to interact with her

but the next generation

will not settle with that they want to

meet

they want to understand each other and

it is

they don’t want to settle with one day

exposure

and that is similar to the hiring

process

evolved during last so many years

in my grandfather’s time even if you are

educated and you fill up a form you are

going to get an appointment letter at

home

during my father’s time he has to fill

up a form

and give an exam for that job and he

will get an

offer during my time i have to fill up

the form

give an exam go for the group

discussions and interviews

and i’ll get the job but in coming days

jobs will not come by just this much

interaction

both the employee and employer have to

understand each other

and that’s exactly what i’m doing right

now in my company

we hire a lot of interns and give them

ppo

because the intern likes me

and i like them when the employee

loves the company and the company loves

the employee

that’s the best marriage and

here my request

to all the institutions management

students

and the industry to create that

ecosystem

where we can have happy working together

people have this person who will

i know how will i know that

i am supposed to marry this person

in similar way how will you know

which is right company for you so when

you work

on lots of projects internships

you get a lot of exposure

and this develops an understanding in

you

whether you fit in the company

for that job role or not

it gives you more clarity and confidence

about that job especially

in india we have lot of people who do

business

but have no formal education all these

streets of india

are full of businessman has no

formal education and yes

few of them are really successful

in other way the formerly educated

mbas are afraid of effort to start their

startups

we need to ask this question is our

formal education

limiting people mind to start

new businesses and to me it is the

practical

real on ground exposure they miss

whereas the uneducated businessman is

getting it from

their family if you see the other

countries

they have the culture of

entrepreneurship starting

from the school time their internships

are embedded in their school education

whereas

we have long years of education

and lesser number of days for practical

work

time has come to broaden our vision and

goals

even take into consideration factors

like

five-year plan for the economy

we need to re-imagine leadership

and nurturing leadership through formal

education

we need to develop mindsets we need to

create

mindsets for warfare strategy

the landscape of business the

environment of business

and the needs of consumers and the

ecosystem

is changing rapidly and hence

we need to work on nurturing

the real time leadership

developing the management lessons

theory versus practical

the management lesson has to be the

amalgamation of

theory and practical and for me

the practical part is more relevant

as of now

please don’t take this as a complaint

but this is a request the conversation

we need to start and we can definitely

debate on this developing management

lesson

theory versus practical

and when we talk about the fncc

sector lot of students come to me and

say sir

we love fmcc and we want to join in fmcc

we have more sales people in india

than marketing fox when someone says

they are interested working in fmcc

we expect them to be comfortable

visiting the small kirana stores and

talking to the

small small retailers to understand

their problem

and these so-called formerly educated

mbas

when they go on ground for a week

come back and say that

how much more field work they need to do

and that’s not how fmcg works

there can be different option to

integrate

education and industrial exposure apart

from

the mandatory internship program my

ambition

is to contribute to such an education

ecosystem

where the students and the corporation

can connect to each other there is a lot

of

practical work and both stakeholders

get to learn from each other such an

ecosystem

will help develop better entrepreneurs

exposing them

to an entry stage and not limiting their

mind to the textbooks concepts

and the point here is that one should

never become so much of a theoretical

expert

that stops gaining practical

experiences this is how

you become a real master of

business administration in your

formal education from last five years i

have been closely interacting and

working with young

students and this is my mission

we are absolutely open to create

opportunities for all these students who

are looking for

real practical on the ground exposure

with us

and this is my humble invitation to each

and every student in the country

that we will create an opportunity for

you

to have that real time exposure on the

ground

which will create the the learning for

you

and the connect with the industry

driving value through

internships real practical

on the ground is an idea

worth spreading all the best