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- Should community projects be mandatory in B-schools? Yes
This story is from February 5, 2006
Should community projects be mandatory in B-schools? Yes
Yes. It's not enough to just have a degree to be a successful manager
Raghabendra Chattopadhyay, Professor, IIM Calcutta
Community welfare projects should be a part of all B-school curriculum. Unless managers are sensitive to people and social problems, they will never be able to manage a real life business environment.
But rather than making community service a separate course, it should be incorporated within the existing compulsory courses in such a way that it's readily acceptable to students.
The Maharashtra government's decision to make it compulsory in state-run B-schools is a big step. But I hope it doesn't backfire like the NSS programme in colleges and work education in schools.
But at least 100 students are involved in these programmes at present. Similar programmes exist in IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Lucknow and they are very popular too. At IIM-C, there are 36 papers.
Every student has to opt for at least 21 compulsory ones. Though community work is not mandatory, we have included several community-related papers in our curriculum.
Along with teaching the nitty gritty of business administration, we also teach the economic and political history of our country, sociology, political science etc.
This helps them understand the Indian milieu and social compulsions of our country. The social compulsions have a big role to play in the success or failure of any business. A lot of projects are designed keeping community work in mind.
Students automatically choose them. The good thing is, they are not bogged down with the pressure of dealing with a separate subject on community development.
For example, when NGOs come to us with their accounting or resource generation problems, we attach our students with their offices. Our institute's training help these students handle the NGO's problems efficiently.
All B-schools should try this kind of integration. Instead of introducing a compulsory subject on community service, they should first attract students to community work.
This will reduce rejection if the subject is introduced separately, otherwise the purpose behind the exercise will be lost. In fact, it's because of the social awareness of IIM students that they are preferred over Harvard graduates by many MNCs.
As told to Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey
Community welfare projects should be a part of all B-school curriculum. Unless managers are sensitive to people and social problems, they will never be able to manage a real life business environment.
But rather than making community service a separate course, it should be incorporated within the existing compulsory courses in such a way that it's readily acceptable to students.
The Maharashtra government's decision to make it compulsory in state-run B-schools is a big step. But I hope it doesn't backfire like the NSS programme in colleges and work education in schools.
At IIM Calcutta, for the past 10 years, we have been running several community service programmes. Many students take them up enthusiastically. They are not compulsory subjects yet.
But at least 100 students are involved in these programmes at present. Similar programmes exist in IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Lucknow and they are very popular too. At IIM-C, there are 36 papers.
Every student has to opt for at least 21 compulsory ones. Though community work is not mandatory, we have included several community-related papers in our curriculum.
Along with teaching the nitty gritty of business administration, we also teach the economic and political history of our country, sociology, political science etc.
This helps them understand the Indian milieu and social compulsions of our country. The social compulsions have a big role to play in the success or failure of any business. A lot of projects are designed keeping community work in mind.
Students automatically choose them. The good thing is, they are not bogged down with the pressure of dealing with a separate subject on community development.
For example, when NGOs come to us with their accounting or resource generation problems, we attach our students with their offices. Our institute's training help these students handle the NGO's problems efficiently.
All B-schools should try this kind of integration. Instead of introducing a compulsory subject on community service, they should first attract students to community work.
This will reduce rejection if the subject is introduced separately, otherwise the purpose behind the exercise will be lost. In fact, it's because of the social awareness of IIM students that they are preferred over Harvard graduates by many MNCs.
As told to Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey
End of Article
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