We are talking about Mr B Muthuraman, the man behind the takeover of Anglo-Dutch giant Corus by Tata Steel. Mr Muthuraman, regarded amongst India’s best corporate leaders, has successfully led the globalization of Tata Steel which celebrated 100 years of service on 26 August this year.
Mr B Muthuraman took over as Managing Director of Tata Steel in July 2001 -- from Dr. Jamshed J. Irani. He had joined the company as a Graduate Trainee way back in 1966. Between 1991 and 1995, he headed the Marketing Division of Tata Steel.
Mr. Muthuraman is a B.Tech (Metallurgy) from IIT, Madras. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management -- with a specialization in Marketing & Finance -- from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He also completed Advanced Management Program from CEDEP/INSEAD, France. That aside, a keen educationist, he is the Chairman, Board of Governors, XLRI, Jamshedpur. He is also member of the Board of Governors of IIT Kharagpur.
MBAUniverse.com caught up with Mr Muthuraman recently on the sidelines of AIMA’s National Management Convention in Kolkata to know his views on management education and his advice to young managers. Excerpts from the interview:
You head the XLRI board, and have been in close touch with various leading management institutes. What are your views about management education in general?
My views on the subject are a bit radical. A typical MBA program, as taught in B-schools, is focused on imparting knowledge about subjects like marketing, finance, organization behavior, operations etc. In my view, knowledge about these subjects contribute to only 20 percent of what makes a good manager; 80 percent of good management is based on what I call the behavioral traits of a person – it is the mindset and attitudinal make up of a person that makes him or her a successful executive and leader.
These traits determine if the person has fire in the belly, how he/she handles failures, whether he/she a people oriented person etc. Many of these traits determine 80 per cent of success. Only 20 percent of a manager’s success is based on knowledge, which B-schools focus on. Of course, knowledge and information is important, but its contribution is limited.
So I keep asking myself: how can B-schools and corporates have MBAs enter the management profession, when most of them have crammed the 20 percent knowledge, but aren’t attitudinally ready?
There is a fundamental problem with B-schools. It’s a big issue that B-schools must think about!
How can B-schools mend this problem? What is your advice?
B-schools need to rethink their curriculum and emphasis. It is important to build the holistic personality of students before they work in the managerial cadre. Liberal education, which is sadly getting lost, where students were exposed to multi-disciplines like arts, music, history, philosophy, was helpful in building the human traits that I talked about. Faculty is the biggest challenge – are there people who can make students be more passionate?
Since I am associated with XLRI, I have shared my ideas with them. They are adapting this thinking into their curriculum.
Tata Steel focuses a lot on Executive Education. What has been the experience there?
Yes, we do invest a lot in this area. Way back in 1992, when our profit was less than Rs 100 crore, we were sending our executive to INSEAD in France. In one year, we invested Rs 8 crore on sending eight people to this INSEAD program! But it all paid back. We want to open the mindset of our managers, and executive education brought about that mindset change.
At the INSEAD program, our managers would interact socially with executives from all nationalities, and corporates. They observed their characteristics: how the Dutch think, and how the English think. They also began to know about the DNA of various companies. These interactions are extremely important in opening up minds.
You meet and interact with management students’ everyday… What impression do you gain?
When I interview students at IIMs or any other top B-school, invariably I find that all of them are thinking alike – all their answers are same! I don’t look for the ‘correct’ answers, but I try to judge the attitude or mindset of potential hires.
What is your advice to management graduates? How should they plan their days at B-schools, and their careers?
I believe that if you focus only on marketing, finance, and other functional courses, you are working on only 20 percent success elements. It can get you a livelihood only. My advice is that you should focus on trait building, which will contribute to your long-term success.
On a different plane, my advice to management grads, and to executives, is to seize the initiative for their own growth. Most of us wait for things to happen to us. We like to believe that the responsibility of our growth, and what happens to us, lies with external factors. If you don’t get a promotion, you blame your boss. If you get bad grades, you blame the teachers…. Our mind is conditioned to think like that.
I believe much of the development of a human being happens through self-reflection and follow-up action. Students and executives should spend organized time with themselves – reflect on their thinking process, aspirations, strengths… ‘Reflection and action’ is the mantra for personal and professional growth.
