“Culture and values don’t merely support strategy, but the culture and values are the strategy. Most exceptional leaders grow into their capabilities, not because they want to be great leaders, but because they are trying to be worthy of the people they lead. If you want others to expand their capabilities, first expand your own.” This insightful quote sets the tone for an engaging interview with Dr. Jai Singh, Managing Director & Trustee of the Indus Business School, Pune. In a conversation with Education Post’s Prabhav Anand, Dr. Singh discusses the challenges and opportunities in management education, the impact of technology, and the essential qualities for success in business.
As the Managing Director and Trustee, how do you balance maintaining the legacy of the institution while also adapting to the evolving needs of the business world?
Our Core Values are not negotiable, however with changing products, lifestyles and the impact of technology, we progressively upskill our students
Our Core Values, which have become a trademark that differentiates our students from their counterparts are epitomized by the word ASPIRE which stands for:
Attitude: Our students’ approach & outlook towards people, work, tasks and responsibilities will be positive – always and every time.
Self-discipline: Our students will be self-disciplined irrespective of whether being observed or not, in whatever they do.
Perseverance: Our students will never give up till the goal is achieved or mission accomplished.
Intelligence: Our students will always be found to excel in whatever they do, by virtue of their strong foundation of knowledge.
Resourcefulness & Reliability: Our students will be solution providers and can be entrusted with responsibilities.
Ethical: Our students’ actions will be conducted following the highest standards of ethics, honesty and personal integrity.
Leading organizations, institutions be it government establishments, private sectors or educational institutions are known by their core values, value systems and culture which differentiate them from others and make them stand out in the crowds.
Another aspect on which emphasis is laid at IIEBM is nationalism. The approach of ‘nation first’ emanates from the founders of this institution who are senior decorated officers of the Indian Armed Forces.
Celebrating landmark events that shaped our nation like 1971 Indo-Pak Vijay Diwas, Saragarhi Day, Army Day, Kargil Vijay Diwas, Constitution Day, etc to name a few are part of the training calendar in addition to Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations.
The year 2022 marked the beginning of India’s Amrit Kaal. In our tradition, Amrit Kaal is regarded as the most auspicious time to start anything new.
As the Amrit Kaal unfolds, India is witnessing an unprecedented explosion in economic growth and opportunities. India is now the world’s fifth-largest economy. From a 3 trillion-dollar economy, India will grow to become a 40 trillion-dollar economy by 2047, ranking among the top three economies of the world.
The country’s major economic contributors will come from traditional and modern agriculture, technology services, the handicraft industry and business outsourcing. In other words, a bright future beckons the current generations who are pursuing their post-graduate management studies. They would not need to look at Western & European countries for opportunities; rather they can create opportunities and explore establishing enterprises/businesses and contribute towards the prime minister’s vision of ‘Make in India’.
Your curriculum, “Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PGDM),” was designed to anticipate the role of technology in management. How do you foresee technology shaping the future of business education, and what challenges does it pose?
When we started IIEBM, we differentiated ourselves as the pioneers in e-business Management Education as the internet and other technologies were in a very nascent stage. However, over 2.5 decades all businesses and processes have become technology-enabled. We are imparting training in applied usage of new technologies like Data Analytics, Machine Learning, AI, Chat GPT, etc which are evolving at a very fast pace and current generations need to be in sync with them to be relevant in today’s global business arena.
In today’s business environment, you have to keep learning progressively as technology becomes obsolete very rapidly. However, the thrust has to be on application rather than on coding or programming. The main catch is to understand the market, and changing lifestyle, which fall in the domain of traditional business studies.
We lay a lot of emphasis on the adoption and application of technology to improve business processes, monitor operations and maintain real-time contact with our customers/stakeholders/business partners.
The application of Information and Communication Technology to Key Business Processes is a must if organizations are to increase productivity, build transparency and function on a ‘real-time’ basis.
Technology already has a very profound impact on education and its role is going to become more important in years to come. The dreaded pandemic is testimony to how different technology platforms and tools revolutionized the way educational institutions teach and how students learn opening infinite possibilities for educational institutions.
One of the most significant ways in which technology is transforming education is through the rise of online learning platforms like EDX, CISI, SAP University Alliance, Coursera, HBS Online, Moodle, Swayam, etc which enable students to get access to industry-relevant global educational content from top universities across the world.
Technology has made education more accessible and allows students to access global content, learn at their own pace, and connect and interact with professors and peers from across the world, thus fostering collaborative learning and opportunities to network. This helps in giving students a global perspective while still being locally aware of market trends and scenarios.
Technology also enables educational institutions to collect and analyse data on student performance which can help in identifying individual specific areas of improvement and adapt teaching methodologies and pedagogy and make the training more personalized and result oriented.
It is important students are comfortable with understanding and using technology platforms and related tools during the course of their studies as when they join leading organizations, which is why they will be required to constantly upgrade themselves on the latest skill sets which will only be possible using online platforms.
Having said this, over-dependence on technology/tools can result in student’s inability to think on their own or apply their mind to situations/challenges at hand. One must always remember that ICT or different technologies/tools should be used as a means and not an end; technology should always be used with reverence.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of management education globally, how do you perceive the current challenges and opportunities facing institutions in preparing students for the complexities of the modern business environment?
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire world was faced with, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Sudan conflict, Israel-Hamas war, the global food and energy crisis, climate risks and the looming debt crisis in many developing countries, it is prudent that traditional business frameworks, theories-in-use, thought process and approaches will not work well in such a world.
One will not even be able to predict how things will turn out or shape up and what can be the perfect solution to tackle when faced with such situations or circumstances. There is no perfect solution and we have to be prepared to operate in a VUCA World.
In the early 1990s, VUCA was the US Army War College’s response to the collapse of the USSR. With the demise of the “Eastern Bloc” as “the one enemy,” the challenge was to find and implement new ways of seeing and responding under conditions of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.
Management institutions will have to be proactive in their approach to collaborate and align with industry expectations in real-time with respect to domain knowledge, technical expertise and related skill sets.
Institutions will have mastered the art of understanding disruptive technologies/innovation/ business models with a focus on data-driven management. In order to succeed, Institutions and students will have to be open to un-learn, relearn and keep themselves abreast with the latest technologies and trends.
In the context of fostering entrepreneurial mindsets among management students, how does your institution, or, more broadly, the management education sector, encourage and support the development of innovative and entrepreneurial skills to empower graduates in navigating the competitive business landscape?
Col. Vinod Marwaha, our Founder President and Managing Trustee who is also a serial entrepreneur firmly believes that “one should not only be a job seeker, rather be a job creator.” Since retirement, he has dabbled in diverse businesses across different industry verticals.
His vision behind establishing IIEBM was to create “battlefield-ready business leaders and entrepreneurs.” Keeping in view his vision for the youth of our nation, since the inception of IIEBM, entrepreneurship management has been a mandatory specialization with credits attached to it.
We provide guidance and resources for idea generation, feasibility analysis, market research and validation of business of business concepts and promote students in developing business places, conducting prototype testing and refining their ideas through mentor feedbacks.
We have two entrepreneurship programs for students to co-relate their theoretical knowledge with real-life practices. We also have an Incubation Cell where we encourage students to work on novel, self-sustainable projects. Talks by young entrepreneurs are planned to stimulate young minds as well as discuss their plans with mentors.
Students are encouraged to prepare bankable project reports to test the sustainability of their proposed enterprises. It is a matter of pride that Blue Tea India Founder who received funding from Shark Tank is an alumnus of IIEBM. There are many alumni who have established their start-ups after completing their PGDM from the portals of IIEBM.
We assist students in accessing funding sources, grants, or seed capital through partnerships with investors, venture capitalists, or angel investors.
We recently hosted Start-up Pitch 2023 at our campus where more than 20 start-ups including our students put across their business ideas in front of investors and fund houses.
In what ways does the Indus Business School promote international collaborations and exchanges to provide students with a broader understanding of the global business environment?
At IIEBM, Indus Business School, we have been proactive in fostering international collaborations and exchange programs to enrich students’ understanding of the global business environment via different means like academic partnerships and exchange programs, international faculty and guest lectures, global immersion programs, student exchange and networking, international internships and placements, etc.
We have collaborated with reputed international universities and business schools like UDINUS Indonesia, CISI, SAP University Alliance, HBS Online, and Edx to establish exchange programs.
We organize guest lectures by industry experts, international business leaders, and academics from global institutions to share insights on the international business landscape.
Under the Global Immersion Program, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) gives students an opportunity to go for exchange programs to different countries, stay with Rotary host families, and intern in multinational organizations. This helps students understand the importance of managing across cultures and gaining a global perspective; a key necessity for future business leaders.
Our academic partnerships facilitate student exchange programs where students from partner universities visit us and viceversa, fostering cultural exchange and networking opportunities.
We also encourage participation in international conferences, competitions and forums by our faculty and students to engage with peers from different countries which helps in expanding their global network.
We assist students in securing international internships/placements through tie-ups with multinational corporations/ organizations which provides hands-on experience in global diverse business settings.
What qualities and skills do you believe are non-negotiable for someone aiming to excel in the field of management, and if you could give one piece of advice to aspiring managers and business leaders, what would it be?
Culture and values don’t merely support strategy, but the culture and values are the strategy. Most exceptional leaders grow into their capabilities, not because they want to be great leaders, but because they are trying to be worthy of the people they lead. If you want others to expand their capabilities, first expand your own.
One should never compromise on their values or principles, have the highest standards of integrity, be a good human being, and most importantly have national pride.
My piece of advice to aspiring managers and business leaders is to be honest and sincere in their intent for whatever they do, always persevere, be consistent, take ownership, and have self-discipline.
Personal Insights:
Leadership is a responsibility and not an entitlement, a decision not an accident, a matter of wilful actions, not genetics. Whether or not you learn to lead greatly, in the end, is a choice.
Courage, it is said, is not the absence of fear, but the ability to act in its presence.
You cannot turn wrong people into right people with money. If someone needs financial incentives to perform at a high level, he or she lacks the intense inner drive, and the productive neurosis required to do greater things.
Military leaders make middle-class salaries, there is nothing resembling profit sharing or stock options. Far more powerful than any amount of money is respect among fellow soldiers/colleagues.
In building truly great organizations, the primary purpose of a compensation/incentive system is to make sure to attract and retain the right people – self-motivated and disciplined, who embrace your Core Values and not motivate the wrong people.
