We live in an era in which one has to adapt to the new normal, appreciate the changed environs and chart a path accordingly. In these turbulent times, certain organisations have shown resilience and grit in managing this transition. Why is resilience such an important factor in these tough times?
Resilience helps companies take precautionary measures to ensure continuity and sustainability. The business environment is dynamic and professionals need to develop agility of thought and action to survive. Higher education, especially management education, has to groom leaders who are resilient, sensitive and able to evolve and adapt to adverse situations.
Managers play an important role in building resilient organisations. The current pandemic makes resilience an important aspect for young managers. Here is how an MBA programme educates and trains future managers to build a resilient organisation:
Leadership strategy: The ability to anticipate the future based on current trends and staying flexible to adapt is a critical skill. Learning not just from our own experiences but also those of others and then translating that into substantive action will enable individuals and the organisation to gain a competitive edge. Strategising, combined with disciplined execution, is the key to sustainability and resilience. A good management programme, therefore, will encourage students to foresee and strategise by solving real-time business problems as case studies, live projects and simulations.
Innovation and adaptation: Generating alternative paths with optimised results, innovating, implementing new will help organisations ensure business continuity. Encouraging an entrepreneurial culture within the organisation will help accelerate innovation. An MBA curriculum is designed to enable students to innovate and manage ambiguity, understand common issues and gain a better understanding of a thriving organisation.
Creative problem-solving: An MBA course helps budding managers to think out-of-the-box and appreciate multiple points of view and adopt a considered approach.. Professionals can foresee and adopt practices that will help deliver better results and not persist with an ineffective course. This will help an organisation analyse patterns and create contingency plans for crisis management.
Real-world knowledge: An MBA acts as a bridge to the real business world. Field trips, internships, live projects, simulations and case studies enable students to understand the application of conceptual knowledge in a real-world scenario. This allows students to discern a novel and complete perspective, deal with disruptive changes in the real world and design and deploy plans that can ensure continued business success.
Empathising and building a community: Building organisational resilience requires employees to display their innate resilience. Empathising with each other and enabling their team to adapt and grow will help the organisation grow even during tough times. While coursework, marks and the degree form a major part of the MBA degree, the relationships built and experiences gained outside class are what makes the learning complete and build a network that provides a bulwark in tough times.
Organisational resilience cannot be built overnight. It needs leaders who understand, care and grow together. The right kind of management education will definitely provide the necessary skills and knowledge for students to go out into the corporate world and create organisations that will grow and sustain.
The writer is Director, SCMHRD Pune
Published - October 21, 2020 05:59 pm IST
