My exposure to Two B-Schools

After serving in the banking industry jobs for over 25 years and 3 years in a manufacturing cum export company in Hyderabad and elsewhere in various positions, it was a dramatic turn for me to have entered academics in May 1999.  I lived in backward rural areas as also in Mumbai Metro for my banking jobs.  May be my flair for training and long years of experience in management led me to join TAPMI, Manipal. Entering my fortieth year of service, there is enough to look back from so many angles; with almost 50-50 exposure to public and private sector. I feel I have always been learning many things in a hard way and did justice to all the assignments so far.

In the past eleven years itself, during my exposure to two b-schools in Manipal and Bangalore, besides my teaching the MBA students courses like Banking Management, Financial Management, Executive Communication, Accounting, Financial Services, Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, Retail Banking, Industrial Relations, Business Laws, etc.,  life taught me so many lessons. Quite frequently, my former students keep asking me about the two experiences. It is pretty difficult to pen down but I would scribble some thoughts.

Both are in private sector offering autonomous 2 Years PGDM. That is probably the only similarity.  One is in rural location and other in Metro; one is managed through Faculty Governance and other by a Family Management.  One is over twenty five years old and the other just five years. In one, I was Chairman-Admissions and the other Registrar - rendering my administrative skills besides academic pursuits. They both have different styles of Governing Bodies, Admissions, Curriculum design and delivery, Evaluation Systems, Faculty Recruitment, Service conditions, Placement facility, Student Activities, Alumni Relations, International Exchange mechanism, Web site info management, Focus on Research and Consulting, and so on. Even their approaches to Accreditations with regulators and B-School Rankings are also entirely different.

Interestingly, I had chosen the former even though in a remote location to rejoin and pursue my career further. I keep reminiscing my past in all the Organisations I worked in, and compare them too.  Life is a big leveller and one has to be learning lessons on an ongoing basis with an eye on continuous improvement (KAIZEN).