As an academician in Business Management education for over a decade and being associated with various B-Schools across India, the biggest disagreement that I had in my career is coping up with the blind adoption of western model of management education to Indian students, advocated by our business schools. Another factor that I was convinced of is the lacunae of Indian Business firms, in adopting home-grown business practices and indigenous business models,that can provide solution to various socio-economic challenges that we face in our country today.

I would like to invite your attention to the fact that India dominated the global market 300 years ago by almost contributing 17 % to world GDP, when we had followed practices based on shrewd financial acumen and people management skills based evolved out of the India Gurukul system. But on the contrary, today we contribute less than 2% to global trade, when we rely on western education and business models propagated by western thinkers. We should acknowledge the fact that one of the worlds first book on economics ”Artha Sasthra was penned by an Indian by the name “Kautaliya”. Hence the Indian business schools should focus on a developing a system based on these practices that has its root in our tradition and culture which that prevailed in ancient and medieval Bharath.

Pluralism is a unique characteristic of our culture & society and our responsibility lies in imparting education to manage business in this pluralistic society. Management schools should be willing to learn from the society they belong to, for instance the retail management classes should deal with operational models of Indian Local Bazars and Mandis, along with lessons from Walmart and Tesco.

There are hundreds and thousands of such successful indigenous business models and ventures in India – the Dabhawalahs of Mumbai- who undertake delivery of millions of lunch boxes to workers with a higher degree of accuracy. The teachers of Indian business school should appreciate the fact the entire exercise requires the adoption of high quality supply chain management practices and exemplary people management skills. “Redbus” -an indigenously developed bus ticket booking portal, designed to meet needs of traveling executives,was another example of a successful Indian business venture, and it is very much essential to apprise our management students about the achievement of entrepreneurs from India .

There are several occasions where western business models miserably failed in addressing economic recession across the world. Most recently the banks from America and Europe wielded to external factors and collapsed in the sub prime crisis ,where as the shrewd business models followed by Indian banks and their regulator helped us to have an impressive and incomparable growth .These examples emphasis the need for having a management curriculum based on Indian scenarios and it is the responsibility of Management faculty to work together in these lines

This article is by Dr.V.Murale. He is an assistant professor(SG) at Amrita School of Business, Kochi.