Searching for the Mahatma: Insights on Gandhism from Top MBA Colleges in Delhi NCR

Top MBA Colleges in Delhi NCR like Ishan Institute of Management & Technology have regularly engaged in intellectual pursuits that put the construct of a free market with freedom ahead of a free market itself. Coming straight from the horse’s mouth and that too from one of the top MBA Colleges in Delhi NCR which in itself has been a supreme epitome of free market mechanism, the statement may appear to subversive if not paradoxical. History repeats itself, first as tragedy and second as farce. Being an academician who has spent the formative years of his career teaching macroeconomics that is built on positivism, one can only appreciate the stark truth that is ingrained in opportunity cost, sacrifice ratio and compromise.

While most business schools that render MBA programs stylised on Anglo-American manuals of management stop at the teachings of the Chicago school that there are no free lunches in economics, top business schools in Delhi NCR like Ishan Institute of Management & Technology extend this learning to embrace yet another truth that the need for achievement, power and affiliation are all based on the quantum of the self that we are willing to sacrifice. To love a goal is to achieve it. To achieve a goal is to submit to a mission. To submit to a mission, is to sacrifice the gloss. To sacrifice the layers of gloss is to be content with the core. The distinction of the core and gloss perhaps is a capability that true managers, executives and business leaders possess in abundance. Almost a hundred years ago, the Mahatma had showed this to the world. Great business acumen, great transaction oriented behaviour, great team building, great enterprise creation and even great social and community building stand on the pillars of how much we are willing to compromise. Perhaps it is this understanding that makes the Mahatma truly invaluable to business schools. As documented in one of the earlier blogs, there is a scope and necessity for the evolution of an Indian school of business management. Whenever this foetus gets engineered into a new born baby, it shall evolve inside the womb of India (as an economy and a market) and shall inherit the genes of Gandhism to the fullest.  In the next few paragraphs we take a look at the rationale behind this statement and why Gandhism has to make its way stumbling and staggering into the academic curriculum and marketable skill formation of aspiring Indian managers and business graduates.

Gandhi and the Science of Adapting to Time, Space and Scale: Gandhian Innovation

There are many facets of the Mahatma’s life and teachings that show different colours. There are many instances which to a business executive may seem to be logically inconsistent. As much as the Indian school of thought bases itself on obedience versatility and the spirit to experiment go for a toss. Innovation gets strangled in the rough and coarse hands of compliance mode of governance. The biggest truth that emerges out of the different colours of Satyagraha is that truth should not be sought in the bisection of actions into black and white. The market is a place full of colours. Each colour calls for a different solution to a unique problem. Adaptation is the truth that continues to evolve in a market that always evolves. Adaptation along the parameters of time, space and scale leads to the engineering of optimal solutions that fit into situations. The realization of this teaching of Gandhi is the foundation of Gandhian innovation and design thinking for bottom of the pyramid markets like India. It is Gandhian innovation that can enable win-win situations for the corporate sector to do well in the market by doing good to the society. This is what top MBA Colleges in Delhi NCR should ideally do to enable business graduates solve the management challenges of the 21^st century.

Gandhi and the Art of Human Engineering: Leadership in Focus

There is a standard principle of individualization in Homeopathy stated by Dr.James Tyler Kent. The principle asserts that each individual has a distinct and unique biological system. Hence prescription for any ailment is based on the individual under consideration. Based on the fact that every individual is distinct there is both a scope and necessity to take cognizance of the individual. Diversity is central to the social fabric of India and as we step into the 21^st century there are conclusive evidences coming forward that constructed teams that are high on diversity of race, community and gender are much better placed to handle different business situations. Diversity manifests in multiple problems. Diversity when it emerges out of differences of skills, backgrounds and opinions and held together by the glue of leadership becomes a boon and when left tampered with to neutralize the complementary effects arising out of differences leads to disaster. The capability to move forward with a diverse set of stakeholders like investors, clients and employees together is a skill that has to be learnt, emulated and repeated constantly. This is where Gandhism becomes a great manual for the modern day practicing manager to follow.

India and Bharat are two distinct pictures emerging out of the same land and as we step into the 21^st century it is becoming crystal clear that the reconciliation of the market and the nation is easier said than done. To integrate free market democracy while consolidating free social democracy is the steepest of mountains and the most uphill of tasks. At Ishan Institute of Management & Technology, one of the top MBA colleges in Greater Noida we have been engaging in mentoring MBA and PGDM students to achieve just that through high quality business research backed by inputs on social sciences like economics and sociology. We are the fist graduate business school and MBA college in Greater Noida.