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